A/N: This is my first "Oliver Twist" chapter fic. Yes, I know I'm probably killing all of you with the three "Oliver Twist" stories in the span of a technical two and 1/3 or so days, but I just can't stop thinking of the Dodger/Oliver friendship possibilities... XD Sorry! Anyway, here's chapter one, and I've already got a slight handle on chapter two, which will probably be up later today. (I know: you're all thinking, 'kill me now!' XD)

Again, this is based on my interpretations of the scenes and characters of the 1997 made-for-TV movie, so anything you don't recognize directly from that is my expansion. Most of this and my other stories are all expansion, though, so no suing is needed. lol.

Word of warning (as always): though this is not intended to be slash (those who enjoy it are welcome to plug away as they wish, however), Dodger and Oliver do have an immensely strong/-innocently-intimate-at-times relationship in each of my stories. It is strictly meant as friendship, though, and will never go beyond that.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Oliver Twist"/Oliver Twist. As far as I know, Charles Dickens and 'The Wonderful World of Disney' (Disney Productions or ABC?) do.

This chapter was inspired by:

"Oliver won't peach. He's not like that…"

Dodger had faith in him, even if the rest of them didn't.

Repentant

He didn't want to hear this, didn't want to be here. He didn't understand why he was needed anyway; Sykes, Fagin, and Nancy were perfectly capable of hatching a plan to…to kidnap Oliver…

He shuddered and swallowed the bile threatening to rise in his throat. How could they do this? He knew why…

It was his fault Oliver had gotten caught, after all. He had been the one to tell him to steal from the wealthy gent—Mr. Brownlow, he remembered from the courthouse—when he knew it was better to do a first-time nabbing in the crowded square. He'd just wanted to see if his prized protégé could do it…

He would admit, if strictly to himself and Oliver, that something in the back of his mind had cried out to him when his friend had ducked behind the man. Alarm bells had gone off, shrilly and clearly, so he hadn't even heard the bloke's niece sound the warning. He'd merely run to grab the expensive watch Oliver had been trying to steal, taken the boy's hand in his own, and begun the chase that he would dearly regret only forty-five seconds later.

He had tried to keep Oliver safe, he truly had, but his efforts had been futile the second that fish merchant had the sense to glance at the right corner at the right time. Seeing Oliver being dragged away had been the worst thing he'd ever witnessed in his seventeen years, and he'd seen plenty that others would argue was a million times more horrific.

He might have agreed with them, too, if that boy hadn't been the one thing he'd actually cared about with all of his heart since he was nine. Oliver Twist, though such a goody-goody, had become what the rest of the boys, differing according to age group and level of received or dished teasing, took as either his best friend or little brother. They knew he loved him.

Fagin and Nancy saw it, too, though he wasn't afraid of that.

Nancy, being such a beautiful, kind soul at heart, understood and adored their close relationship; she had relayed to him once that it was the loveliest thing she'd seen since she… She had trailed after that, but he could guess.

Fagin, at least on some level, understood as well. When he watched the two out of the corner of his eye sometimes, Dodger could swear he saw the twinkle of a smile on his face. It was the strangest thing, but it was almost as if the man respected their bond.

Sykes, though…they tried to keep it from him as best they could. Dodger had warned Oliver to hide many a time when they had been together and heard Sykes coming. Being so companionable around the man would have been a perilous move for them both, but especially for Oliver.

For some reason, Bill Sykes had always hated Dodger. He had never known of anything he did to merit such rabid dislike from the man, but he also knew the feeling was mutual. The menace remained in place, though: if he ever found out about how he felt for Oliver, there would be heck to pay.

He wouldn't rough him up too badly, maybe a broken bone or six, but Oliver…Sykes would get to Dodger by seriously hurting the kid or—more than likely—worse, and he couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.

When once asked why he was so protective of Oliver by the gang's next oldest boy, he'd simply answered with one of the fondest smiles the lad had ever seen from him and stated the truth: he needs me.

What he hadn't said had been plain, so the boy had left it. Dodger needed Oliver just as much.

He vaguely heard the mentions of him and a group of the boys following Oliver on his way to town one day soon, how Nancy would then meet up with him and lead him to the alley, where Sykes would be waiting to drag him in and 'quiet' him.

"And you, Jack Dawkins, get the most important task of all…" Sykes's foreboding words and sadistic laugh brought him to attention again, and his heart sunk. No, please… "You will have the gunny sack where Oliver will be put once we've 'taken care of him', eh? We'll get him back here just as we would a sack of potatoes!" Dodger glared at the man heatedly; couldn't he see he wanted no part in this? "Sorry, pup. You ain't gettin' out of this one."

He peered down to see Sykes's fingers tapping something hidden beneath his coat; specifically, where his gun was concealed.

Comprehending the implications of such an action, Dodger barely held himself back from reaching into the jacket and pulling the trigger on himself. Sykes was going to kill Oliver if he didn't cooperate, meaning…

Oh, dear Jiminy, he had found out! But—but how?

Then, not understanding why, he remembered the boy who'd questioned him about his behavior toward Oliver. There had been something wrong about him, though he hadn't recognized it then. When he thought back to the lad's eyes, he understood: they had glowed with the same, murderous light that never left Sykes's.

He only now recalled that he was the fiend's favorite.

How could he have been so stupid?

"Yeah, that's right, Dodger," He could still hear Sykes through the hands that covered his ears, and he pressed harder. His own eyes were tightly shut in denial. "I know…"

Hours later, those words rang in his head. The moon high in the sky as he lay sprawled on his bed, the rest of the boys were asleep, Nancy and her devilish beau having gone long ago.

~Oliver was officially his weakness.~

A/N: Thanks for reading!