Yup…I can update!! Haha I will be trying to make them sooner than years apart LOL!!

(Gracias to my beta LoVe23!)

Tristan lay in silence with Rory in his arms. He sighed as he absently ran his fingers through her hair. She snuggled closer to him as if trying to burrow into him. Tristan suddenly winced. Pain laced through his body as different sounds hit his ears. Rory was now above him with fear in her eyes. She held his face in her hands. The sunset behind her gave her an angelic glow. He smiled through the pain that clouded his eyes.

"Tristan!" she screamed. "Please don't leave me!" Tristan groaned in pain and slowly shook his head. She lay on top of him gripping his hands. She continued to murmur against him; her tears leaving trails of regret. He breathed deeply hoping to be able to gain strength to sit up. But Tristan's attempt was futile; his vision went black as she let out a cry.

"Wake up son…please wake up…" a different voice laced through the air. "Don't you dare let go!" it screamed. The sight that met him when he opened his eyes was not the one he hoped for. He was now being hugged tightly. The smell of cinnamon and citrus hit his nostrils.

"Grand dad?" he said groggily; fogging the object over his nose and mouth. He tried to lift his hand to remove the annoying mask.

"Leave that there," Janlan patted is hand. He then reached up to brush the hair away from his eyes. He heard a door close and a constant steady beat of a machine. Tristan breathed in deeply.

"Three days is too long to go without seeing my favorite grandson…" Janlan smiled sadly. Tristan was too tired to give any acknowledgement to his words. Janlan pulled the chair closer to Tristan's bed and sat down never taking his eyes off of him.

"I need you to promise me something Tristan…" Janlan searched his eyes for any sign of understanding. "I need you to take care of yourself more for the next few days; I am working on something…pretty soon" he stopped abruptly. "You'll see soon…" Janlan smiled. Tristan furrowed his brows in confusion. Janlan chuckled and leaned down to peck Tristan on the forehead.

"I'll see you soon son…I'll see you soon." As his grandfather walked out the door Tristan couldn't help but feel a moment of abandonment, even though his grandfather assured him he would be back. Tristan sighed deeply as a nurse walked in. She smiled as she wrote something down and then came up next to his IV.

"You'll be released tomorrow…so now you just need to sleep," she aimed a needle into his IV. Tristan slowly fell into a deep sleep.

Rory felt empty as Tristan disappeared right in front of her. Tears blurred her eyes. The familiar headache clouded her mind again. She cried out in pain as it seemed to hit every nerve in her body. Suddenly something calming ran through her veins; helping her nerves begin to relax. Frantic voices surrounded her and a familiar hand gripped her hand hard. She opened her eyes slowly to see the eyes of her mother. Tears were streaming down her face. Rory reached her free hand forward to wipe them away.

Rory was awake.

(Day Four)

As promised the day before Tristan DuGrey was currently on his way back to his prison. His grandfather didn't show up…he didn't call…he didn't even leave word with anyone. But unbeknownst to Tristan; he had. Tristan fell back into the daily routines. Slowly letting go of everything that defined him and giving himself into the everyday tortures. Day five…Tristan felt the cracks begin. He dropped his boots on the floor and dropped on his chair. His muscles ached and his head was currently trying to see how to let his brain seep through his ears. He wiped the sweat from his brow. He spent the last five hours scrubbing every inch of the common room with a small tooth brush and hand towel. He smirked as he remembered the face of his superior.

The morning line up after his return seemed to be holding a lot of hostility.

Tristan stood erect next to his bunk facing a similarly standing Jamie.

"DuGrey, again with that insipid piece of string tied around your wrist; remove it!" the voice screamed in his ear.

"Sir I find no reason to…" he answered coolly.

"Take it off…or your roommate and you are going to be scrubbing the common room with a toothbrush. He heard Jamie groan and saw him hang his head for a second.

"No…it will just be me…Jamie can go…" Tristan glared right back. "…Sir" he added

"Your death DuGrey!" he turned back to Jamie. "Out Trager!" He spat motioning him out.

"But-" Jamie began

"Out!" he snarled. Jamie gave Tristan a sad look and then quickly walked out. When Tristan finished moments ago, they had thought he would have only done it half way. But he finished…he finished every inch. His torturer said nothing, just a grimace and walked away.

As he was looking for his toiletry bag, Tristan noticed the sleek black phone. Tristan was missing his friends…he wondered. He pushed the 'On' button. When the phone came to life, he noticed he still hadn't listened to the message from his father. His finger wavered over the call button…and then hit it. After hitting all the required numbers he held it up to his ear:

There was a shifting sound, followed by grunt. "Tristan!" he paused waiting for an answer.

"Too good to answer the damn phone eh…" he laughed sarcastically.

"You insignificant brat…let me tell you something that you should already know by now. 'You will never go anywhere in life, you will never make any money without me and believe me boy, you will never make a name for yourself…" he gave a sigh of satisfaction.

"Shape up or you'll stay there forever."

Tristan dropped the phone, not even bothering to turn it off. He needed to get his mind of those words…fast. He felt the anger and anguish building in his gut. He opened another drawer on his desk. His stomach dropped…the collection of letters that he had written Rory sat there. They stared back at him…mocking him for being such a coward. He picked up the four envelopes all dated and they were all stamped. He hung his head and set them back down. Picking up a blank piece of paper he began a new one.

Mary,

I'm sorry…

I was born hated

I grew being unwanted

I am unneeded

And I will die unloved…

So don't worry about me; I mean nothing.

-Tristan

Tristan put his pen down. His eyes stared at the words…daring them to disappear. He slapped the paper in anger and fisted it in his hand. The tightly crumbled ball of paper soared through the air. He leaned forward placing his head in his hands as his body trembled with emotions. He growled as he shifted up and pushed everything off his desk in hopes of relieving some of his anger. He flipped his desk and sent it crashing to the floor. He picked up the lamp and smashed it against the wall. He grabbed the dresser and pushed it to ground. Someone came up behind him and held him tightly trying to stop his rampage. He growled louder and tried to force the hands off.

"Tristan!" the arms spoke. But Tristan was only seeing red. He pulled and when that didn't work. He picked up his foot and sent it slamming into the person's foot. The arms let go; so fast that Tristan lost some of his equilibrium sending him stumbling into the wall. Tristan stood and sent his fist through the window. The glass shattered and some of the million pieces cut through his skin. The arms took him again and held him tightly. Tristan was frozen now. Realization finally caught up with his body. There was a murmuring coming at his ears. A pain tore through his chest forcing him to sag against whoever was holding him. Blood coated his whole hand now. He felt a foreign sob crawl up his throat. Tristan dared to look up at the person who was trying to stop him. It was Jamie…his face full of worry and concern. The sob won and fought through Tristan's resistance. He hung his head. He gritted his teeth as the pain gave him another jolt. "I am Tristan DuGrey…" he managed to say without waver.

"Yeah Tristan I know, what happened why all this…?" Jamie tried to help him stand. But Tristan shook his head.

"I am Tristan DuGrey…I am not my father….I am somebody!" he screamed. Jamie now understood and slowly nodded.

"Where the hell are they…they must have heard by now?" Jamie muttered as he finally was able to get Tristan to move. Tristan was now unresponsive. He helped him sit on his bed. Jamie grabbed a sheet from his bed and gently wrapped his hand in it. The door burst open and in came the cavalry. Some yelled for the perpetrators and others just gasped.

"Someone call Janlan DuGrey NOW!" a voice screamed. Jamie looked up and saw them inspecting the damage. The doctor walked in followed by two nurses. Jamie moved away and let him do his work.

"DuGrey," the doctor kneeled by him. But Tristan didn't move or blink. "Med bag Harriet," he motioned for one of the nurses. He pulled out his stethoscope. "I am going to check your heart Tristan," he said before he moved forward. But he got no answer, so he just did as he said. One of the nurses was working on his hand. He turned to Jamie, "Judging from the window did he…?" he left it at that.

"Yes," he answered simply still looking at Tristan worriedly.

"Help me move him to the infirmary," he spoke to the school guards. Two of them came forward. "Careful with the hand!" he ordered as he saw one of them reach for the injured one. Jamie watched as they all left. He didn't know what world he was living in. He muttered an audible curse as he looked down.

Janlan DuGrey sat in a lawyer's office signing documents and hating the day he decided that he didn't ever need more than five hours of sleep a day. It was wreaking havoc on his body. His phone rang. He noticed the caller id, it was his personal assistant.

"Sorry, I have to take this, it might be an emergency." Janlan looked up at the team.

"No problem sir," One of the lawyers nodded as he adjusted his glasses and went back to the paper work.

"Nelson, I told you not to call me unless Armageddon broke loose!" Janlan sighed.

"You are needed at Military Academy," his assistant simply stated.

"Get the room done now," he stood tall at attention. "Call Dr. Anderson and tell him to send me everything; he'll know what I am talking about," Janlan paced. "Get me all the paperwork from Collegiate faxed to my office," Janlan looked back into the office. "Get me a meeting with Dr. Aisner," he heard the scratching of pen on paper. "Thanks," he added and then hung up. He rubbed his eyes and called down to his driver.

"Get the car started we're going over to see Tristan," he said and then hung up. He walked back into the office.

"Sorry to leave but an emergency has come up. Please, anything that needs to be signed, send to my office, and I will have it sent back to you the next day." Janlan buttoned his suit blazer and slipped on his page boy hat. The team stood up and nodded. The same guy that spoke earlier came up to him.

"We'll be in touch Mr. DuGrey," he nodded as he reached to shake his hand. Janlan shook his hand back and nodded in gratitude at the unintended interruption.

He then made his way out of the building as quickly as possible. He had to go see his boy.

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