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Jimmy closes his eyes as he falls, waiting for the inevitable impact of the ground below—
—and hits something cushioned instead.
When he opens his eyes, he finds himself in the back seat of a car.
Outside the window, he can see the oppressive dark of the void between worlds swirling around them, held at bay by the walls of the vehicle. The interior is lit by the dim glow from the headlights, and when he looks up towards the driver’s seat, he catches sight of a familiar toothy grin in the rear view mirror.
Jimmy swallows. “Don’t you ever die before me again,” he says. His hands clench into fists at his sides.
Joel scoffs. “Like hell am I making that promise,” he says. “I’ve been trying to die before you for ages.”
“Well, don’t!” Jimmy insists. “That sucked. I hated that.”
In the rear view mirror, Jimmy sees Joel’s eyes harden; there’s something sharp and jagged in there, something Jimmy’s seen before, but never directed at him.
“Yeah, did it suck, Jimmy?” he snaps. “Did it suck having to mourn someone you love?” Joel snorts, utterly mirthless. “Yeah. Taste of your own blimming medicine, innit? For the record, it doesn’t get any easier.”
Jimmy goes quiet. He doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s a long minute of silence, punctuated only by the thrum of the car’s engine.
Eventually, Jimmy says quietly, “I can’t stay, can I?”
Joel sighs heavily. “Not this time,” he says. There’s a bright light now visible ahead of them, still distant, but quickly approaching, like the end of a long tunnel.
“I was so close,” Jimmy groans.
“Hey, fourth place isn’t bad at all!” Joel says. “And you killed loads of people, way more than ever before! You did well, Jim. Really, really well.” The eyes looking back at him in the rear view mirror are soft now. “You should be proud. Heck, I know I am.”
Jimmy ducks his head, a little bashful from the praise. “Hey, there’s always next time,” he jokes.
Joel nods. “Next time,” he says, and there’s not a shred of irony in his voice.
And as the light finally reaches them and engulfs his surroundings in blinding white, Jimmy thinks that he might be beginning to believe it.