A/N: I'm so sorry for the extremely late update! I've been so busy with school, end-of-year exams, summer college classes, summer AP homework, other fics (plus, I'm on vacation with family right now and have been trying to get this up for the last few days)... Gosh, I'm tired! XD

The chapter title refers to the fact that this is the third time Dodger's 'gutted' Oliver: first was in kidnapping Oliver, twice was last chapter (agreeing to and carrying out Sykes' plan), and thrice was now, when he has to report his findings to Sykes.

In this scene in the movie, there is a part where Dodger asks Sykes for a half-guinea in exchange for the information he's passed. I omitted this from my fic because, honestly, even in the movie it felt so out of place (at least for me, who focused on the Dodger/Oliver friendship factor throughout the whole thing)! I mean, if Dodge were really Oliver's friend (which he is), he wouldn't sing just because he's a tad poor! Seriously! So please, for those who like that scene, I'm begging you to read this, and understand why I didn't add it in! Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Oliver Twist"/Oliver Twist. ABC, etc., and the great Charles Dickens do, respectively. If I owned either, there would have been even more Oliver/Dodger friendship evidence than there already is!


This chapter was inspired by:

Dodger scrambles from the horse stall and pushes through the crowded streets.

It doesn't even matter that the half-guinea has disappeared.

No amount of money is worth the life of that boy.


Even knowing he was being followed, Dodger never thought it would come to this. After all, being corralled into an empty horse stall by a drunken assassin out for his best friend and surrogate Mother's blood was never the direction he'd seen his life taking.

"Well?" Sykes demanded, teeth gritted and body as close to Dodger's as it could possibly get (the boy knew a few good women—and even men—who would faint at such a sight). "What'd you get? Is she betrayin' me like I know she is?"

Sykes' eyes were so hazy with intoxication that Dodger silently wondered how the man was even still standing. A bubbling started in his stomach, almost as if his body were warning him. How ironically appropriate.

He'd been cornered into doing this job, and if he wanted his best friends alive and (God willing) happy, he now had to tell the truth of Nancy's scheming and Oliver's eventual rescue. He could only pray they would understand when everything was said and done. (And oddly enough, though never having been very religious, prayer had been coming through for him lately.)

But for the sake of Oliver's faith in him, Dodger prayed with all of his heart that time would not come anytime soon—or better yet, never come at all.

Swallowing thickly, Dodger at last replied icily, "She went over to Bet's, and they walked to work together. That's all." He reached up to fix his jacket collar, eyes modeling a mysterious sheen. "Now, can a bloke be left to finish his afternoon stroll in peace?"

Apparently, Sykes didn't think appreciate such tom-foolery, for he grabbed the hands messing with the collar and twisted the fingers in irregular, painful directions. Dodger gasped at the pain, but made no other noise.

"I mean it, Dodger," Sykes growled savagely, taking the teenager's collar in a vice grip and hoisting Dodger several feet off the ground. The boy had to fight to catch even the smallest breath, and no matter how much he struggled or kicked or tried to yell for help, he knew there was no way out. Sykes grinned maliciously. "I've known you too long, Jack. You're lyin' to me." His expression went vicious again. "I know you are! You're tryin' to save Nancy's hide as well as that brat's, and I won't stand for it!"

He fiercely shook Dodger in time with each emphasized word, and when the shaking finally stopped, the boy's head slammed into the wall. The black spots resulting from this, combined with the shortness of breath, left the teen with very little to work with.

This was bad. Very, very bad. At the moment Dodger was extremely vulnerable, and it would only take Sykes a few well-placed punches or a single bullet to take the pickpocket out if he really wanted.

Meaning escape plans were out of the question.

So he did the next best thing.

"I'm not…lying, I…swear," Dodger rasped out with what little breath he could garner. "I don't care…if you don't…believe me, but it's…the truth, Sykes."

The rage in the man's eyes only burned brighter, and Dodger wished for the umpteenth time that the man would just get what he deserved—like a bullet through the head or the rare public hanging, the kind dealt to only the worst of the worst.

True, Dodger was a street kid, run out at nine years old by his worthless Father shortly after his Mother's death.

True, his first friend out on the streets had been a young girl with a job where she gave of herself and with a beau who convinced her it was all she was good for.

True, he had joined a gang of pickpockets and chosen to call their disgusting, dilapidated hideout a home.

But he'd be damned if anyone hurt those he loved while he still breathed.

"Don't you dare lie to me, boy," Sykes snarled, reinforcing his hold on Dodger's collar. "You'd better tell me the truth right now, or I swear you can forget our deal." Dodger tried to hide it, but he tensed as Sykes leaned in until their noses were nearly touching. "But don't think Nancy and Twist are off the hook," Sykes sneaked in, clenching his teeth as his wild eyes twinkled murderously, "'cause if you make that fateful choice, I'm gonna make you watch as I murder 'em with my bare hands."

One look at his face told Dodger he wasn't kidding in the slightest (not that he ever was), and the seventeen-year-old had to close his eyes and force himself to swallow the swiftly-rising bile in his throat.

There was no way he could tell Sykes the truth, but if he didn't… If he lied again and Sykes saw straight through him as he had time and time again… Either way there was a rather large chance that at least one of them would end up dead, no matter how hard he tried to prevent it (and God knew he was trying as hard as was possible)…

Once again, he found himself between a rock and a hard place. That seemed to be happening an awful lot lately.

Slowly lifting his eyes to peer into the worthless git's, Dodger curled his lips back and tried to look as menacing as possible. His mind racing and heart pounding, he took one second to do a once-over of Sykes' face (and mind and black heart, just for good measure) before making his decision.

"Nance," he struggled even to get her name—and such a beautiful name it was, and such a beautiful girl belonging to it—past his chapped, trembling lips, "went to Mr. Brownlow's to try to find a way to sneak Oliver back over. They're meeting tonight at midnight, London Bridge."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished with all he might have been to suck them back in and erase them from memory; or better yet, he wished some miracle would happen where both Nancy and Oliver came out of this safe and Sykes came out dead. He wished for anything but this torturous agony that came with betrayal—and unwilling, blackmailed betrayal at that.

And what a perfect way to break him from his thoughts: the next thing Dodger knew, he was lying amongst a stock of previously-neatly-stacked hay bales about five feet away from where he and Sykes had just been "negotiating." Looking up, he found a Cheshire Cat-grin on Sykes' face that could scare the daylights out of anyone, and he felt the blood rush from his face.

Bill Sykes only got that look when he was going out for his own blood, when the killing was his and his alone.

Oh, dear Lord…Oliver, Nancy!

Such mind-numbing panic drove instinct to the forefront; a faulty mistake, for not a moment after scrambling to his feet he was back on the floor. Feeling his hurt ankle throbbing, he looked back to see his bandages had burst open and the wound had reopened, sending crimson blood streaming. Glancing up, Sykes watched the thick red with a fascination akin to only mass murderers and the insane (Dodger well thought he qualified for both).

"Bit of a weakling, are we, Jack?" the man taunted in a silkily-impish, almost dazed voice that clearly conveyed how very much he was enjoying all of this. "I've been wanting to kill you for years," a grimy finger made a slow slicing gesture under Dodger's chin, and the emphasis involved drawing a thin line of blood, "but I've never had the chance till now…"

And just when Dodger swore if Sykes didn't just do it already he'd do it himself, the man slipped a half-guinea into his hand before standing, eyes a smoldering of embers and jaw line taut. There was killing to be done.

Turning away from Dodger, Sykes fixed his coat, nodded to a passing couple, and shot off into the afternoon as if nothing had happened.

And just like that, it was over. The confrontation ended, the truth out, two unsuspecting victims awaiting their deaths.

Dodger swore he was in Hell.

And then, something clicked.

Oliver… Nancy… Two unsuspecting victims… Mr. Brownlow at London Bridge… Midnight…

Oh, God…!

Clambering to his feet without even a backward glance or wince at his injury, Dodger left the worthless half-guinea to the beggar children as he fled as fast as he could across town.

If he could just get to Oliver in time…just get there quickly enough to hide him or run away with him or...or anything but have him face Sykes alone! The poor child would be dead before the hour was up!

Nothing more could be said for him than this: he loved the Twist boy dearly. With all of his heart and soul.


~Dodger never asked to be Oliver's life or death, but he'd choose life every time.~


A/N: Sykes' line about wanting to kill Dodge is actually from the movie. I'm not sure if it's exact since I'm across-country and don't have the movie with me (and as far as I know it's not on You Tube yet), but I think I pretty much got it! Maybe a word or so off, but oh, well! XD

If this isn't as good as usual, I'm really tired, trying to get used to a time-zone change, and because of these things I haven't edited the second half of the chapter yet! Sorry!

Thanks for reading, as always!