End of an Era

AN: Okay this story is based on SFGrl's fics After All and And Miles Before I go to Sleep. Thank you SFGrl for letting me write a fic based around yours. This fic is based before After All and this is part 1 of 2.

I'm setting this just after Joey moved out, if you remember, at the end of that episode Chandler sits on the window sill in his apartment looking out at the rain. This is where this fic picks up from.

Disclaimer: I do owe the Friends etc etc etc…

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Chandler sat by the window, he missed Joey; he hated living on his own, even if it was temporary until he found a new roommate. Chandler spent so much of his childhood alone which is why he loved having his friends around. They made him feel like he was in this protective unit – the 6 of them against the world. However since Joey moved out Chandler realised that this perfect reality wouldn't last forever. I mean eventually one of the group had to move or get married or generally grow-up but Chandler never, not in a million years, expected Joey to be the first to take that stand and move out.

Joey was more than just a friend to Chandler, he was the closest thing to a brother that Chandler had, and he treasured that. As an only child Chandler yearns for the picture-perfect family, loving parents, brothers and sisters, but the closest he'll ever get to that is his friends, especially Joey.

And now he was gone.

Chandler felt selfish, he knew that Joey wasn't doing this to hurt him; he was doing it because he wants to stand on his own two feet, and now with a steady job Joey was in the position to achieve that.

Chandler was actually very proud of Joey – but that didn't make the pain go away.

Chandler sighed; he knew he was being childish over the whole thing. Before Chandler could continue his rambled thoughts the apartment door opened. Chandler turned his attention away from the rain and looked across the apartment.

Three men entered, Chandler had no idea who they were.

Chandler stood up and walked towards them. "Hi, can I help you with something? Are you looking for someone?" Chandler asked politely.

The men snickered at Chandler.

"How about we help ourselves?" One of the men replied.

Chandler was confused, a getting a little scared, who are these men?

They walked closer to Chandler, gradually blocking any access to the apartment door.

"What do you want?" Chandler asked nervously, he started to step back away from them.

"Depends on what you got." And that was the last thing Chandler heard before one of the men drew his fist back and slammed it into Chandler's gut. He doubled over in pain, winded so he couldn't call out for help, before Chandler could even think about fighting back another punch connected, this time to his head.

The apartment spun widely and Chandler's head was ringing, he attempted to pull himself to his feet but a swift kick sent him tumbling back down to the floor.

Chandler didn't know how long they were hitting him, time seemed to slow down, all Chandler could focus on was the pain from each impact. He tried to protect his head with his hands but that just encouraged them to kick harder and to kick at his hands, he would pull them away in pain and another blow would hit him square in the head.

He was scared, for the first time he was actually scared for his life.

After what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality would only have been a few minutes, the beating slowed down. Chandler was half-unconscious, his face was bloody and bruised and he couldn't move a muscle. The men turned their attention to the apartment, they started to walk around and picking up items, it wasn't long before they had cleared the entire apartment out.

Chandler was still on the floor, fighting to stay awake, he knew that these men were robbing him but Chandler was powerless to do anything. He just begged that they would take what they want and leave him alone.

Finally when the men had cleared out every last thing they turned back to Chandler and started to cruelly beat him again, this time with his own hockey stick.

SLAM

It made contact with his back, Chandler couldn't even scream in pain anymore.

SLAM

They hit his head, and that was the last blow Chandler remembered.

But it continued; they hit him with the hockey stick another 5 times before they heard voices from the hallway. They paused, walked over to the door and looked through the peep-hole.

The rest of the gang, minus Joey were pilling into apartment 20 having just returned from Joey's place.

"You think we should check on Chandler? He was pretty upset." Monica asked concerned.

"Nahh, leave him be, he'll come round in a couple of days." Ross said confidently.

The door to apartment 20 closed and the chatter faded away.

The men in Chandler's apartment decided to call it a day, it had been a productive day, and they'll make quite a nice profit from selling all the stuff they had stolen. They threw the hockey stick down and casually walked out of the apartment closing the door behind them.

Chandler was lying in a pool of his own blood, hanging onto dear life.

TO BE CONTINUED…