The One With The Bachelor Party Two:
"All That You Can't Leave Behind"

When Chandler finally came to, he found himself alone in a small, dark room. It was eerily quiet, and it was cold.
Chandler moaned loudly, and tried to sit up. His head felt heavy, and his vision was fuzzy. He pulled himself up to
a sitting position, then leaned up against the cold stone wall. Where was he? What happened? Where were Ross and Joey? He shook his head, trying to rid it of the cobwebs and throbbing. He blinked furiously, and tried to focus. Suddenly, the sound of heavy, ominous footsteps filled the air, and Chandler braced himself as the footsteps drew closer to the room. He heard keys being jangled, and a lock turning. Then, the door to his cell opened, and suddenly, the room was flooded with light. Chandler used his right arm to block the ray of light, and squinted in an attempt to identify the person who had entered. The man was dressed in a uniform, and looked like one of the men that had taken them from the restaurant. He walked toward Chandler, and stood over him menacingly.

"What is your name?" the man said in broken English.

"Ch-Chandler. Chandler Bing."

"Come with me, Chandler Bing," The man said icily, and grabbed Chandler's arm.

Chandler stumbled to his feet, his head throbbing from the sudden change in altitude. He was half led-half dragged out of the room, and into a larger room. The room was brighter, but just as empty as his cell. A small, wooden chair sat in the centre of the room. The man who had brought Chandler into the room pushed him toward the chair.

"Sit," he said.

"Where are my friends?" Chandler asked.

"You ask no questions," another man said, as he entered the room.

"But..." Chandler protested.

"Shut up and sit down!" the man pulled out a large baton and jabbed it into Chandler's stomach. Chandler doubled-over and grabbed his stomach, as he struggled to catch his breath. He felt tears stinging his eyes, and silently wondered if he would ever make it home again.

***

Ross sat in the small room, staring at the walls that surrounded him. He had never felt so alone in his life. He sighed heavily, and silently awaited his fate. Suddenly, the door to his cell swung open, and a uniformed man entered, and pulled another black bag over Ross' head. Ross was led outside, and was pushed into a truck.
The truck began moving. He wondered where they were taking him. He wondered what they had done with Chandler and Joey.
After another 40 or so minutes, the truck stopped, and Ross was pulled out, and thrown to the ground. His mask was removed, and he saw that he was in the middle of nowhere. Large, thick trees surrounded him in nearly every direction. The road on which they had travelled was narrow and rough. One of the drivers emerged, and he and another man picked Ross up, and took him off the road, and into a patch of trees.

"This is it," Ross thought,"This is where I am going to die."

Once they had reached a small clearing, the men grabbed a shovel, and threw it at Ross. Ross caught the shovel, and stared at the men quizically.

"Dig," one of the men said, pointing at Ross' feet.

Ross paused for a minute, then realized just what it was they were asking of him.
They wanted him to dig his grave.

45 minutes later, Ross had made little progress on his own grave, subconsciously trying to delay the inevitable.
Suddenly, Ross heard the sound of a truck engine, and glanced up. One of the men who was guarding Ross walked toward the road, while the other continued pointing his machine gun into Ross' face, forcing him to continue. Ross stopped when he heard footsteps approach. He looked up, and was relieved to see a familiar face.

"Joey!" Ross said happily.

"Hey," Joey said, as he was pushed toward the clearing. He, too was given a shovel, and instructed to dig.

"Have you seen Chandler?" Ross whispered.

"No, you?"

"No."

The men continued digging in silence, all the while wondering how they were ever going to get out of there alive.
An hour later, Ross put down his shovel, and struggled to catch his breath. His arms felt like Jello, and he was covered in sweat. He looked over at Joey, who was still digging. Ross looked up at the guards, and saw that one of them was asleep. The other was peering around, obviously bored. Ross looked over at Joey, and tried to get his attention. When Joey finally looked up, he saw Ross motioning toward the guards. After a few minutes, Joey finally got the hint. The two men climbed out of their respective holes quickly, and ran toward the guards. Ross grabbed the machine gun from the sleeping guard without incident, but once the other guard saw what was happening, he yelled for help. Joey struggled with the man, but was eventually able to overpower him. As he fought, he could hear Ross yelling.

"Joey, come on!"

It was then that Joey heard the shots ring out. The other men were fast approaching, and were shooting at them.
To Joey's surprise, Ross shot back.

"Wow, Ross I had no idea you were a fighter," Joey laughed, as they darted into the trees. They could here the group of men several yards behind them.

"It's amazing what you'll do when your life is on the line," Ross said breathlessly.

Ross and Joey ran through the thick woods, dodging trees and potholes, and strange-looking pools of water.
The guards continued to follow them, firing sporadic gunshots in their direction.

"Ross, do you know where you are even going?" Joey finally asked.

"Well, I am running away from the gunfire, Joe," Ross yelled, as they headed deeper into the jungle.
As they continued to run, Ross wondered how they would get home, and if they would ever see Chandler again.

***

"What is your business here?" the uniformed man asked Chandler for what seemed like the hundreth time.

"I told you, I am here on vacation," Chandler said angrily. Once again, his answer was met with a whack to the
head by one of the guards.

The uniformed man looked at Chandler, his eyes gleaming. He then looked at the sketch that he had in his hand. The sketch was of a foreign man, possibly American, who had been accused of stealing drugs from his boss. The uniformed man was certain that he had his man.

"What is your business here?" he asked yet again.

"Kiss my ass," Chandler yelled breathlessly.

The uniformed man had had enough. He motioned to the guards, who pushed Chandler off of his chair. They picked him up, and dragged him back toward his cell.

"Teach him some manners," the uniformed man muttered, as the guards took Chandler away.

***

~New York City, two weeks later~

Rachel walked into Monica and Chandler's apartment, and found Monica staring blankly out of the living room window.

"Any news?"

"No. The Embassy said that they found their belongings at a hotel in Bangkok. But they haven't found any of them," Monica explained quietly.

Ross, Joey and Chandler were supposed to have been back a week earlier. Monica had initially become concerned when she never heard from Chandler after their first day in Thailand. She'd thought that maybe he was having too much fun, but when they had missed their flight, Monica began to panic. She'd contacted the US Embassy, and had asked them to investigate.

"I'm sure they are fine," Rachel said, trying to sound convincing.

Monica was quiet for a minute, then turned and faced the window again.

"We are supposed to get married next week," she said softly.

"I know, sweetie. I'll bet he'll make it back in time."

"Yeah," Monica whispered sadly. In her heart, she was not so sure.

***

"Ross, wake up," Joey stood over his friend, his eyes darting back and forth.

"Wh-what is it Joe?" Ross sat up slowly. Nearly two weeks of sleeping on the dirt, in holes, and up against trees was starting to take it's toll on Ross' back. He winced in pain as he stood up slowly.

"I found a road," Joey said.

"Really?" They had run so deep into the jungle, that they had lost any sense of direction. Eventually, the men chasing them had given up, figuring that Ross and Joey would never survive the wilderness alone. Little did they know that Ross was an avid fan of The Discovery Channel-the plethora of seemingly useless information had come in handy over the past two weeks.

"Yeah, about a half a mile that way," Joey pointed toward the horizon.

"Great," Ross said, as they headed in toward the road, "I just hope the road leads to civilization."

Four hours later, Ross and Joey found themselves in a small villiage. A small, skinny man approached the strangers warily. He looked them up and down, and kept his distance.

"Do you speak English?" Ross asked slowly.

The man stared at Ross blankly.

"ENGLISH!" Joey yelled.

"Dude," Ross said, "He's Thai, not deaf."

"I know," Joey said, as Ross shook his head. He then turned back to the confused man.

"We need to find Bangkok," Ross said slowly.

"Bangkok," The man repeated, smiling broadly.

"Yes! yes! Bangkok!" Ross said happy that the man understood at least that much.

"Bangkok," The man said, pointing up the road.

"Thank you!" Ross said, grabbing the man's hand and shaking it.
The man motioned for Ross and Joey to stay put, as he ran into a small, run down house. Joey and Ross looked at each other, but decided to stay in the same spot. The man emerged five minutes later, with two bags. He handed each of them a bag, and smiled proudly.
Ross peered into the bag, and saw that the man had filled it with fruit and nuts.

"Food! Real food!" Joey said excitedly. The things that he had been eating over the past two weeks could hardly qualify as food, especially the bugs. Joey shuddered at the thought. Ross and Joey thanked the man enthusiastically, and headed down the road toward Bangkok.

***

Chandler awoke in his cell, and could literally feel his face pulsating. The daily interrogations were beginning to take their toll on his face, as well as his psyche. He wondered who these people thought he was. He sat up, and gingerly touched his swollen lip. He wondered if Ross and Joey were going through the same thing. He silently prayed that they weren't. He wasn't sure how much longer he could handle this. They obviously wanted something from him-but what? How was he going to convince these people that he wasn't the man they were looking for? He sighed heavily. He didn't know how long he had been here. He had no idea what day it was. He knew that he had been here for a while, and if he counted the number of daily interrogations he had been through, then it would be...3 weeks? Maybe a month. Chandler just couldn't be sure. The only thing he was sure of, was that he missed Monica terribly, and the idea that he may never see her again scared him to death. He couldn't imagine not spending his life with Monica. She was his everything.

***

Monica layed on the sofa, curled around a pillow. She had been crying all morning, and now all she felt was numb. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. She trembled slightly, and let out a large, shaky sigh.
Her friends had been with her most of the morning. She had sent them away, claiming that she needed to be alone. But what she needed was the one thing her friends could not provide. She knew that they were hurting too. The loss of the three men in their lives was devastating. Rachel was still in denial, convinced that they would be back. Phoebe was so depressed that she rarely even spoke. They both knew how much Monica was hurting, and wanted to help her on what was supposed to have been her wedding day. The pain of their loss was almost too overwhelming to bear, and yet the three friends know that they had to cling to each other, or they would go mad.

"Chandler," Monica whispered into the air, "Where are you?"

***

"This story is unbelievable," the man in the suit said, as he twirled his pen in his fingers. Ross and Joey had finally made it back to Bangkok, though it had taken them another 3 days. Once there, they found the U.S. Embassy, and told them what was happening. They also inquired about Chandler.

"We have nothing on your friend, but...I have a few "unofficial" contacts. Let me make some calls."

***

"Your American contact is calling," the uniformed man sat behind his desk, when his assistant came in.

"Put him through." The uniformed man said.

"Hello? Patrick! It's been a long time my friend! Okay. What is the name? Chandler Bing?" The uniformed man tapped his fingers on the desk. "Can you fax me a photo? Excellent."

The uniformed man talked to Patrick for several minutes, awaiting the arrival of the fax.

"Ah, yes, here it is. Oh. So this is Chandler Bing. Yes, yes, I am afraid he was accidently killed a few weeks ago. Yes, it was very tragic, we did not know who he was. I am very sorry Patrick, had I known he was an American, I would have phoned you immediately. Yes. Oh, I am afraid there isn't much of a body to recover. Okay. You too Patrick, goodbye."

The uniformed man smiled slyly. He was not going to let this man go so easily. Not when there were still questions to be answered.

***

Ross and Joey sat in stunned silence. Chandler was dead? How? When? Patrick seemed to have little information.
They left the office, feeling numb. While they were excited that they were finally going home, they were devastated that they were leaving one behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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