[u](Collaboration Post Featuring Major Ursa as Knox and YoshiSkittlez as Ruby & Mr Gold)[/u]

Ruby and Knox had practically made it to Granny's Diner when Ruby stopped suddenly in her tracks. She had been so immersed in the thought of sharing a bed of cheese fries and a coke that she almost didn't hear it; but with those notions allowed to leave her mind due to the distraction, it couldn't have been clearer.

"Wait..." Ruby said softly to Knox and turned around in a small semi-circle, her eyes wide and bright in an effort to try and see through the darkness, hoping that they would take her to the source of the noise. "Do you hear that?"

Knox turned to look back over his shoulder at Ruby, an eyebrow rising ever so slightly, but his mouth drawn into a firm line. Seemed like nothing this night was going to plan…first his damned security footage and sign-in logs, then his drinks, now his cheesy fries. The side of his mouth twitched irritably in the darkness, and the man didn’t bother to try and figure out Ruby. “We’ve had problems with raccoons in the past, don’t concern yourself with them.”

"No..." Ruby let the word trail off as she continued to look around her black surroundings, seeming to be lost in thought before suddenly saying, "its Mr. Gold...something's wrong." She turned quickly to face Knox with a worried look on her face that gradually turned into confusion, realizing that Knox wasn't hearing what she was. "You can't hear him?" She didn’t give time for Knox to answer though as her feet began to carry her away from Granny's Diner and instead began down a smaller set of streets that eventually connected into an alleyway.

Knox rolled his eyes, though this action was largely unseen in the darkness, especially since Ruby was now actively searching for this phantom sound of hers. Letting out a small but unmistakably annoyed sigh, he followed her down this way and that easily, sure this was either some sort of game to her or…maybe she had her drinks already, and was currently inebriated? At some point, he was just going to have to just give up and just leave, like he had intended a little while ago…when he glanced over and actually noticed where Mr Gold was leaning in the darkness, moments before Ruby herself did. Only momentarily caught off guard by this, he hurried on over.

The area was pitch black, not even a street lamp lit her way but Ruby could see Mr. Gold's dark silhouette hunkered down near the ground with his arm keeping himself braced against the wall. Her nose immediately picked up on the strong odour of sweat coming from him, and he seemed to be mumbling incoherently to himself before being launched into a coughing fit coming from deep within his throat. He was too busy trying to keep from falling over and maintain some sort of breathing (though incredible staggered) to even notice Ruby there. "Knox! Over here I found him!" 

Without a moment of hesitation, Knox hefted Mr. Gold up onto his feet. He was curious as to what exactly happened before they had come to the scene...but he did turn to give Ruby a rather…pleased look? “What a sharp sense of hearing you have…” Pausing for a moment, thinking about where they were exactly, and who exactly he was helping keep on his feet.

Ruby stooped down and picked up Mr. Gold's cane that had been lying on the ground where, holding it with the uttermost caution, not wanting Mr. Gold to have any reason to want to 'get her back' if something had happened to it. The older gentleman was shaking somewhat violently, causing Ruby to furrow her eyebrows and tilt her head to the side but the dazed look he once held in his eyes seemed to slowly recede, bringing back his mind from wherever it had been.

"Wh-wha-" He tried to speak but was forced into another coughing fit, making Ruby shake her head, feeling her heart-rate quicken to the intensity of the situation. As much as she loathed Mr. Gold for everything he had done to the people of Storybrooke; to Granny, he was still a man...and he needed their help.

"I'll call Robert." She offered, fishing her fingers into her extremely tight shorts pockets to pull out her phone, beginning to dial the number for Storybrooke's Sheriff Department.

"Give...me...*cough*...that!" Mr. Gold outstretched his free arm, snatching his cane back from Ruby, initially startling her and making her jump causing the phone to fall from her hands and crash down onto the asphalt beneath them. Mr. Gold, coming out of his coughing fit attempted to stand tall once more and used his cane to hold himself up, trying to push Knox away. "I don't need your help."

Ignoring the actions and weak resistance of the older man, he turned to Ruby and gestured for her to collect her phone, “A panic attack is a strong possibility. The hospital shouldn’t be too far off, we should bring him over as soon as possible.”

"Yes-" Ruby shook her head again as she bent over to collect her phone, ignoring Mr. Gold rolling his eyes and turning his face away from them, though was forced to bring his fist to his mouth to cover a few more, less strenuous coughs. Ruby bent down to pick up her phone and wiped it off, frowning at the hairline crack across the screen but now wasn't exactly the time to bitch about it. She got back up and stuffed the phone into the extremely small pocket in her red shorts and got onto Mr. Gold's right side. Sure he had the cane to help him there, but she was more of an 'emergency backup' if for some reason both Knox and the cane failed to aid him.

"Panic attack...that would be equally likely as your friend here keeping her legs closed." Mr. Gold scoffed under his breath, of course referring to Ruby, and again tried to jerk his shoulder away from Knox before speaking with his normal voice to Ruby, "It was more than likely that over-priced lasagne your Granny makes; come back to kill me off..." 

"...a panic attack is nothing to be ashamed of, Mr Gold...sir. At your age, a heart attack would be equally likely, bad diet or no." Knox's expression didn't change, after all...this man was having some sort of attack only moments ago, "Just stay calm, the hospital is only 'hop and a skip' away..." The man, holding up this older man, actually cringed at that saying. His father said that a lot, in relation to short walks to here or there, but it just seemed so awkward and misplaced coming from Knox's own lips.

Mr. Gold, again rolled his eyes and used his tongue to wet his dry lips before letting out an agitated sigh, taking the phrase 'hop and skip' to heart just a bit more than he should have given the condition of his leg.

"You hop...I'll watch." He replied bitterly but agreed without even saying anything about it to go to the hospital with them.