Title: These Exiled Years

Author: Ryo314

Rating: T

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the concept of Scrubs.

Summary: After the unexpected death of a patient and some drunken confessions, JD starts out on a strange new relationship. That is until the patient's bereaved son takes everything that makes JD who is he is from him.

Note: Well, here is chapter four. I hope you enjoy. I would like to thank my beta Wolfie for making sure I kept people in character and finding some missing words. I don't know when the next chapter will be up because I have a statistics test this Wednesday, but I am almost finished with the final chapter.

Warning: This is a slash story: JD/Perry. If you do not like these stories, please stop reading because all flames based on the fact this is a slash story will be cruelly mocked along with their flamer in the next chapter.

These Exiled Years

Chapter IV

"The family seems to have two predominant functions: to provide warmth and love in times of need and to drive each other insane." Donald G. Smith

The three stared at each other; Steven was propped on the arm of the couch staring over at Harry, Harry was in a short chair on the floor staring at the guy on the couch, and the guy on the couch was looking nervously between Harry and Steven.

"So," said the guy nervously, "Harry is an interesting name...for a girl."

"At least I know my name," said Harry bitterly; the guy immediately shut up.

"Harry, be nice. Just because you sold you soul to the devil for a date to the prom doesn't mean you have to take your bitterness out on other people."

Great. I have no idea who I am, some stranger has taken me to stay with his sister who hates him and me by association, and I've got no way of figuring out who I am. Why does their fighting remind me of someone...

The guy suddenly heard a very sarcastic voice in his head.

"I'm sorry. Crazy person says what?"

Another voice responded, but this once was angry instead. "What!?"

"Atta Girl."

"You okay over there, Jim?" asked Steven, waking the guy from his thought. Man, I hate the name Jim.

"Jim?" said Harry, turning away from the guy on the couch.

Steven shrugged. "I named him."

"He's not a pet," said Harry. "You can't just name him."

"I really hate the name Jim."

Harry looked over at him. "What would you like to be called?" It was definitely an odd question to ask someone.

The guy blinked several times. I've never had to name myself, at least I don't think I have. I don't even know. "I don't know."

"Fine," said Harry, shrugging and leaning back in her chair. "I'm going to call you Amnesia Guy then."

Steven shook his head. "You can call him AG for short."

Something clicked in the guy's head. A...G...that can't be my name, can it? Who names their kid AG? But something about that just seems right. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. God, I want to know who I am!

He looked up and saw that Harry and Steven were still arguing. "AG sounds good." Harry and Steven both turned toward him.

"You can't be serious," said Steven.

"Yeah." The guy shrugged.

"Okay," said Harry. "AG it is."

The three of them sat in silence for several moments. "So," started the guy, "how did you end up with the name Harry?"

"That was a gift from our father," explained Steven. "He is a big music fan, plays in a band; he named each one of his kids after the lead singers of his favorite bands. I'm Steven Tyler Miller as in Areosmith. She is Deborah Harriet Miller as in Blondie."

"We have an older brother who is Frederick Mercury as in Queen," Harry added; the guy couldn't help but notice Steven wince when Harry said that.

"But how did you end up with your name as Harry?"

"I hate Deborah, I hate Debbie, and I hate Harriet. Harry is the only name I can live with."

"No matter how stupid a name it is," Steven threw in.

As Harry and Steven got into yet another argument, the guy got back to thinking about his own life, which was hard considering he knew nothing about it.

I wonder if I have a brother or a sister...or a stupid name. God, why is it so fucking hard to come up with anything to tell me who I am! As the guy listened to Harry and Steven argue, a weight began to settle in his chest.

He was lost in his thoughts until Harry addressed him again. "I'm guessing we need to find you a place to sleep. I've got a guest room; it's pretty sparse, but there's a bed, and it's clean."

"Shouldn't your brother stay in there?"

Harry looked over her shoulder at Steven, who was still sitting in the arm of the couch; she shook her head. "No. I'll give the guest room to who I dislike the least. Hey, you win!" Steven's jaw dropped, and yet another argument began between the two siblings.

XVIIIIV

"When will I be able to get out of here?" asked the young woman, lying in the hospital bed in front of Perry. She was an attractive young woman, but she was on the skinny side and seemed all too pale.

Now normally, he tried to keep his sarcasm and anger to himself when dealing with patients, well some of the time, but the day was already getting on his last nerve and he'd only been at work for two hours. Not to mention this was the third day that JD was missing, and the brief relief he felt about knowing JD was not avoiding him had turned back into worry and anger. Not anger at JD, but anger at not knowing where the younger man was, and anger at not being able to do anything about.

"If your vitals remain steady," replied Perry, "a few days."

"A few days!?" the woman shouted. "I have a photo shoot tomorrow. If I'm not there, they'll give it to some other girl. Do you know how long it took me to get where I am?"

"No," said Perry, making a note on the chart in front of him. "But I bet I can guess how many meals you've had to skip." The woman's eyes went wide. "It's not hard to figure out you know. You pass out at one of your photo shoots, they bring you in here and you're suffering from exhaustion, malnutrition, and dehydration, and a nurse could play xylophone on your ribs. A word of advice, it's not worth it; your career will probably go down the drain if you're dead."

The woman's mouth dropped open, and Perry hung the chart back on the bed, not really caring. "There is no career out there worth dying over," he thought. "Especially one that involves torturing yourself."

Kelso appeared from around the corner in front of him and began walking in his direction. "Perry, just the man I wanted to see?"

"Speaking of torture." Perry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm in a bit of a hurry right now, Bob."

"Well, this will only take a minute. It's about Dr. Dorian." That got Perry's attention. "I've noticed he hasn't worked his shift the last two days, and I know he follows you around like a puppy, so if you could tell him-"

"Blow it out your ass, Bob," said Perry, stalking off down the hallway. The last thing he wanted to hear was Bob telling him he needed to find JD and get him back to work.

"I know I need to find JD, but I'm not too concerned about getting him back so he can work for you, Bobbo."

As Perry continued down the hall, he thought about what he needed to do to find JD. The first step was probably to talk to his friends again.

"They're probably gossiping over at the nurses' station; it's too hard to actually do any work around here." It was easier to think he was the only one worried about JD, than to admit that JD's friends were probably just as worried; he was used to being alone when it came to emotions.

When the nurses' station came into view, Perry knew he was wrong, which he would never admit aloud. All of JD's groupies were crowded around the nurses' station, but a dark cloud seemed to have fallen over them. Elliot was talking as Perry approached.

"She said there was nothing she could do?" said Elliot. "What kind of cop is she?"

"She said unless we can tell her where JD was the day before he disappeared or who he was talking to, she doesn't have anything to go on."

"I just can't believe JD would just leave," said Elliot, shaking her head. "We have to find him. There has to be something."

"We're gonna find him," said Turk.

Elliot's pager suddenly went off, and after checking the display, she spoke again. "I've got to get going. I'll talk to you guys later." She hurried off.

"She's holding up surprisingly well," said Turk, watching Elliot walk away.

"Yeah," said Carla, "but it's a front. She's gonna break hard soon."

Turk nodded in agreement. "I've got to get to surgery, baby." He gave her a brief kiss. "I'll meet you for lunch later."

After Turk had walked away and Perry was sure that Elliot wasn't going to come back screaming, Perry walked up to Carla. "I take it you reported Newbie missing."

"Yeah, but without any information to go on, the police can't do much. I just wish Bambi would have told Turk where he was the night before he went missing. Turk asked and asked, but Bambi wouldn't tell."

Perry winced inwardly. "Are you saying that if you knew where Newbie was that night, it might be able to help find him?"

"Yes," replied Carla; she suddenly studied him carefully. "What do you know, Perry?"

"I might know where Clarissa was that night."

Carla clenched her teeth. "Where was he, Perry?" Perry stared down at his feet and mutter his answer. "What was that?"

"He...was...with...me," Perry repeated quietly. "He was moping around outside the hospital because of Miss Williams's death, so I took him to a bar."

"All night?"

"No, he kinda passed out at my place afterwards."

"Your place?"

"Which is probably why neither of us told you."

"Is there more?"

"Not unless you count the make out session, the fact we slept in the same bed, and we would have kinda been a couple had he shown up for work." Perry shook his head. "Nope. Nothing else."

Carla stared at Perry; it was obvious she didn't believe there was "nothing else." "As glad as I am to know where he was, as strange as it is, I don't think that's actually gonna help us find Bambi. Not unless you kidnapped him."

"Yeah," replied Perry. "He finally annoyed me to the point where I kidnapped him and buried him alive somewhere. Plus, I didn't want him telling people about my apartment." Perry's pager suddenly went off signaling him to end the conversation. "I've got to go." He walked away without another word, leaving a confused Carla in his wake.

XVIIIIV

AG's first night in Harry's apartment was a little awkward. He had to listen to Harry and Steven argue about just about everything they could think of until he finally couldn't take it anymore and went to hide out in the guest room that Harry was letting him stay in.

Without Harry and Steven's incessant arguing, however, AG was left alone with his thoughts, which wasn't much better. All he could think about, until he finally fell asleep, was the fact he didn't know anything about himself and that he was staying with two complete strangers. AG tried to remember anything at all; he tried until his head had actually began to hurt, but that may have been more from the bruising on the side of his head and the fact he had a slight concussion.

When AG woke up the next morning, he laid in bed for awhile and stared at the ceiling; he'd had a dream the night before, but he couldn't remember it no matter how hard it tried. Something was telling him that the dream would have told him something about himself. AG was hoping that he would have woken up and remembered just one thing about him, but there was nothing new in his empty mind.

Suddenly his mind drifted to a daydream. He was suddenly an adventurer in a dark cave. After avoiding numerous booby traps, adventurer AG came up upon an dusty, ornate chest. Wiping off the dust, adventurer AG cheered when he saw "Memories" engraved into the lid of the chest.

"Yes!" shouted AG. "Now I just need to avoid hostile natives."

When he noticed he was back in the guest room, AG's hopes sank.

I don't think it's going to be as simple as finding some chest...My memories are probably more of a small statue that I have to piece together after adventures all over the world. I wonder if Steven and Harry want to be my sidekicks...I wonder if other people have long drawn out thoughts like these.

AG shook his head and slowly got out of bed. He made his way back into the major part of the apartment. No one was in the living room, but AG followed the smells of food to the kitchen. Harry, dressed in ripped jeans and an old t-shirt, stood at the stove, cooking.

"Morning," she said, without even turning around. "Have a seat."

AG looked from Harry to the table and back again before finally sitting down. "Um...where's Steven?"

"Work."

"Oh." AG was silent for a minute. "Don't you work?"

"Nope," replied Harry; AG watched as she cracked an egg into whatever she was making. "How do you like your eggs?"

AG thought for a minute; no answer came to mind. "I...don't know."

Harry visibly winced, and she turned to look at him. "Sorry. Forgot. How about scrambled?"

AG shrugged. "Sounds good."

Harry went back to cooking, and AG started looking around her kitchen. Unlike her living room, it was not decorated to the point of clutter. There was a calender on the fridge, next to a picture of Harry and an older man and a clock on the wall, but other than that, it was pretty neat and sparse.

"If you don't work," said AG, "what do you do?"

"I'm in college. I wanna design computer games."

"Do your parents pay your rent?"

Harry scoffed. "No." AG suddenly remembered her comment from the night before about her family turning their back on her.

Harry suddenly turned around with two plates full of scrambled eggs and toast. "You wanna know how I afford this place?" she asked, setting a plate of eggs in front of AG.

"Is that an offer to tell me?"

"Only if you don't try and be all sympathetic about it when I'm done," replied Harry, taking her own seat. "I hate when people are like that."

AG shrugged. "Deal."

"Okay. I had a uncle...he was actually my dad's uncle, Uncle Bill, and he was a great guy. Never had any kids of his own, but loved his nieces and nephews. Well, three years ago, when I was eighteen, my uncle told his family he was gay. Perfectly okay with me, but the rest of my family was horrified. My father tried to talk some sense into them, he's ten years younger than all his siblings so he's a little less conservative, but when your own wife wants to disown the man, it's kind of hard."

"Your mom?"

"Step-mom. My real mom ran off with some Spanish Don Juan when I was two. Dad married Julia just before I turned four. Anyway, under my step-mom's orders, Dad told my brothers and I not to visit with Uncle Bill anymore. I didn't listen, and I'm glad I didn't. Turns out the reason my uncle told the family he was gay was because he had AIDS, and about two years to live."

"My parents, more so my step-mom, threatened to throw me out if I continued to visit Uncle Bill. I'd already graduated from high school, so I left. I moved in with my uncle and started to take care of him. Drove him around, cooked, cleaned, helped him out. Before he got too sick, he decided we needed to go to Europe, and we spent a month traveling in England and France. It was amazing."

"When he got so bad I couldn't take care of him myself, I hired Hospice to help out. He finally passed away two years, and a month later than when he first told the family his news. I think he held on that extra month just to prove the doctors wrong."

"I'm sorr-" The look on Harry's face told him to stop before he finished the word.

"I always knew he was wealthy, but it never mattered to me. He was just my uncle. I planned his funeral and the wake, but I never went to the reading of his will; he always told me he was leaving to charity. All his nieces and nephews went. Two days after the reading, my uncle's lawyer called, I'd gotten to know him. Nice guy. Name was Ted."

"Ted?" said AG; that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Yeah. Real happy guy, always cracking jokes." The familiarity faded. "He asked me why I hadn't gone to the reading, and I told him about my uncle leaving it to charity. Turns out, not all of it was left to charity. A fourth of my uncle's fortune was left to me, along with whatever I wanted from his home, his Indian motorcycle, this apartment in which the rent is paid up for five years, and my college education for whatever school I want." Harry looked up at AG. "You wanna know what a fourth of his estate was?"

"What was it?"

"16 million dollars. I get two thousand each month, and the rest when I turn twenty-five."

AG's jaw dropped, and Harry just smirked. "Eat your eggs," she said. "They're getting cold." She took a bite of her own breakfast.

XVIIIIV

Perry peeked around the corner, trying to see if Carla was standing in the hallway. Ever since he had told her JD was with him the night before, she'd been hounding him to tell her why.

"By now the entire hospital probably knows that JD was at my place, especially if Carla told Laverne. Hell, half the place probably thinks that I'm the reason JD is missing if it's gotten around that he was at my place."

Thinking he spotted Carla at the end of the hall he was about to walk down, Perry turned back around and was to head back the way he came. He walked smack dab into Carla. Perry's jaw dropped, and he looked back over his shoulder in confusion. "How did you-How did you do that?"

"Do what?" asked Carla, studying him carefully as she crossed her arms.

Perry shook his head. "Never mind. What can I help you with?" His words were polite, but his tone said to back off.

"You know, I can almost understand you taking JD out to a bar to try and make him feel better, but actually letting him stay at your apartment?"

"It's true." Perry pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"What is going on, Perry?"

"Nothing!" Several interns and a few visitors meandering down the hallway turned to stare, and Perry started walking away.

"We are far from done," said Carla, following him.

"What now?" He turned to face her and crossed his own arms to match her stance.

"I just want to know what is going on with you, Perry." She tilted her head to study him more carefully. "You've been acting weird even before we found out JD was missing. It's like-Oh my God." Carla's hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"What?" asked Perry suddenly very nervous.

"You are acting like you like him..." Carla's voice had dropped to a whisper.

"What?!" Perry was trying to sound angry, but he knew his face was turning red. "What is this? I don't blush!"

"You like JD, don't you? Like like?"

"What are you? Five?"

"You do!"

"I'm leaving!" Perry stalked off down the hallway, but Carla was on his tail.

"Perry?"

"Still leaving."

Carla let out a frustrated sigh, continuing to follow him. When they passed a supply closet, Carla quickly checked to see if was empty, grabbed Perry's arm, and pulled him inside.

"Isn't Turk going to be angry about this?" asked Perry, watching as she locked the door.

"Not as mad as JD," retaliated Carla; Perry shut up quickly. Carla took a deep breath. "Now, what is going on?"

"Even if there was something going on, why would I tell you? The only person in the hospital who can spread a rumor faster than you is Laverne, and I know you would tell her."

"Doesn't the fact that I haven't told anyone that JD was with you the night before count for anything?"

"Let me think...NO!" He tried to make his way to the door, but Carla stopped him.

"Perry, I am the closest thing to a friend you have in this hospital. You can trust me."

Perry stared at her, looking at the determination in her eyes; he sighed in defeat. "If there was something to tell you, you couldn't tell anyone else."

"I wouldn't."

"Not even that Turtle Head you call a boyfriend."

"Not even Turk."

Perry took a deep breath. "I took Newbie to the bar the other night so he wouldn't be alone, and maybe the kid had one or...four too many." Carla glared at him, but Perry continued talking. "Maybe after he had a few too many, he told me some things that he probably wouldn't have said if he was sober."

"Like what?"

"Like 'I really care about you.'" Carla's jaw dropped, but Perry still continued talking; he was now, however, gritting his teeth. "Maybe after thinking about it a little, I realized I really cared about Newbie too. Maybe after that, he threw up outside, and I took him back to my place."

"I can't believe this..."

"Maybe after talking a little more that night..." "Amongst other things." "We kind of were considering trying to make something work between us." Perry stopped talking and stared at a very shocked Carla. "Carla?" No response. "Carla?"

"I can't-What-" She finally got a sentence out. "Did you two sleep together?"

"If you count sleeping in the same bed." Aloud, he responded with a very angry. "No, we did not sleep together!"

"I can't believe you're gay! I mean, I can believe that JD is, I've always kind of wondered about him, but you."

"I'm not gay!" Perry ran a hand through his hair. "I just-I just like Newbie...a lot." As if his energy had spent in his entire explanation, Perry leaned against the wall.

Carla walked over to him and set her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay if you like him, it kind of explains the fact you always kind of let him follow you around." Perry shook his head and let out a sigh. "We're going to find him, Perry."

Perry looked up her and smirked. He really did want to believe her, but with him being gone three days, and even the police saying they didn't have much to go on, things weren't looking good.

"My day can only get worse if Carla doesn't keep her word and tells Laverne. Man, the hospital would have a field day."

TBC

This is a quote taken directly from the show. Not mine.

This sort of naming is based off two things. My dad is a fan of all those bands (My brothers and I are not named after lead singers), and there was a kid at my high school who was named after Steven Tyler.