Last Man {Standing} -DempseyTwoshot-

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[bg=302646][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=style,width: 500px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; opacity: 1;] This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten Feel the earth move and then hear my heart burst again For this is the end It was a cold day in District one. Colder than it had any right to be. The ceremony was a small one, held graveside with only a handful of people attending. Their mother had managed to drag herself out of bed for this briefly, before returning to her hideyhole of pity and self-loathing. Ambrose had had to restrain Todd from inflicting violence of the few others that had come. "Friends" of Damiens that wanted to pay a small measure of respect; and likely contributing factors to the reason his baby brother was dead. But they, just like everyone else had departed hours ago and so it was just him and the gravestone. Damien Tyson Dempsey. Three words carved deep into the rock but carved even deeper into Ambrose's mind. He was gone. All the nagging and worry had been correct. Damien was taken from him so soon, so young. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Inside his chest his heart felt heavy, as if a fist was clenched around it. Here lies Damien Tyson Dempsey, no longer able to drink, smoke, do card tricks or make me laugh. He'd have cried more if his eyes weren't already puffy and ringed with red from his last weeping session. Instead he lowered his head and placed a hand on the tombstone."Confound it all Damien." Every word was a shivering breath; not from the coldness of the air, but from the quivering wreckage of his heart. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."He put his other hand on the grave to steady himself as he felt the tears starting to come again. "You weren't supposed to be the first one of us to go." He felt a hitch and let out a hiccuping sob. "It was supposed to be me. It should've been me." Another sob erupted from his mouth, searing his vocal chords with agony. "It should've been me, older than the president and passing away in a bed surrounded by my children and my children's children, you and Todd with families of your own and gathered around because none of us grew up to be like our parents." The tears were flowing freely now, spattering on the stone and his hands. "You were supposed to grow up. You were supposed to find love.""I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The words came out in a wail as his knees finally gave out, the soft earth cushioning his fall as he slid down the marker."I was proud of you. I... I am proud of you. I love you. I was so concerned with holding the family together that I never stopped to think about your feelings. I never told you... I never told you how I felt, how you lit up my day or inspired me to paint, I can't... I c-c...." His apologies devolved into sobs as he wept openly. Here lies Damien Tyson Dempsey. Buried with a piece of his brother's heart.

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I've drowned and dreamt this moment
So overdue, I owe them
Swept away, I'm stolen
Let the sky fall, when it crumbles
We will stand tall, face it all together

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[bg=302646][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=style,width: 500px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 10px; border-radius-bottomleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-radius-bottomright: 10px; opacity: 1;] Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy, she'll beat you if she's able You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet Now it seems to me, some fine things have been laid upon your table But you only want the ones that you can't get Rain. Ambrose clutched the umbrella tightly as the coolness of the water splashed all around him. It was depressing to be here a second time for the same reason. Years later perhaps, but that didn't make the sting of the pain hurt any less. Todd, Todd, Todd. What did the world do to you? The Peacekeepers said you drank yourself to death. That you were so wasted that you grabbed a bottle of drain cleaner in a drunken stupor and downed it. And Kaelen is nowhere to be found. Poor boy was probably the first to find you and couldn't handle it." Ambrose let out a sigh and dropped his gaze. "But how did you handle the boy Todd? You can't lie, Letty found bruises on him even after I had that little chat with you. I thought you were better than this Todd! His voice started to rise in pain and anger. "We were supposed to be there for each other!WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE EACH OTHERS BACKS. He was shouting at the top of his lungs now. YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE DAD TODDY! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO LEAVE ME ALONE! The umbrella was thrown as he brought his fist down to punch the headstone. Tears had started to mingle with the raindrops running down his face. "Why'd you leave me Todd? I don't want... I can't do this on my own." The volume of his voice receded and he knelt at his brother's grave, pants getting stained by the mud. "No, no, no, no. It's my fault. It's my fault again isn't it? Just like with Damien. Yet not. With him I was too much in his face. You? I pulled away when I should have made more of an effort to draw nearer. You needed me and I wasn't there for you. You were hurting yourself and I couldn't see it. I thought... I thought If I stopped talking to you it might ring a bell, make you realize that something was wrong. It didn't. And your family paid the price." Ambrose wiped at his face with a free hand and stood, sniffling softly. "I've got a family of my own Todd. A handful of daughters and a loving wife. I've got to be strong for them, because clearly I wasn't strong enough for either of you. And I'll find Kaelen if I can. I'll treat him like he was my own son. I'll always felt that way about him anyway." The umbrella was collected and he straightened up, casting a longing look at his two brother's graves before he turned to go. Never again. I won't bury another member of my family. I swear it. I won't. Desperado, oh, you ain't getting no younger Your pain and your hunger, they're driving you home And freedom, oh freedom, well that's just some people talking Your prison is walking through this world all alone