Ch 17

Same disclaimer as always. Qwerty! You get a chapter! YAY!

Jake's head hurt very bady when he woke up from his alcohol-induced slumber.
Did I really drink that much ? He shook his head and rubbed the sleep out of his good eye. All he could see around his living room were empty bottles.
At least Bruce threw away the pizza...Was that yesterday?
He couldn't remember. All he could think about was THEM with Rae.
So they wanted to play family. What gave HIM the right to sit up there at the table with them? Ronnie was just a government scrub.
I saved the world. But I guess no one cares when you're yesterday's news.
And they were exploiting his child in the process.
My kid. MY flesh and blood.
Who could blame them? Cassie was America's favorite daughter.
And together, they'll be America's favorite family.
The mere though of it made him sick. HE was the leader. HE made all the tough, life-or-death decisions. HE made sure they survived, even when they were in the valley.
If only people knew how badly she screwed us by giving up the Blue Box...crap...this is making my head hurt...I need something to calm my brain down...
He rolled over to the refrigerator, opened it up, and looked around. OJ. Sour milk. Instant Salad. A half-carton of eggs. Some hamburger meat. 5 slices of American Cheese. Old chinese takeout.
No beer.
Jake slammed the door.
Well, Jakey-Boy, you know what this means.
Going back to his bedroom, he picked up a worn 49'ers baseball cap from his bedpost.
I hope no one cares it's a 49'ers hat.
One thing that Jake didn't forget about California was that Bay Area Loyalties were still vicious.
Jake picked up a windbreaker that Marco must have left hanging on the back of his door. He put it opn and took a good look at himself in the mirror.
With his eyepatch and three-day growth, he looked like a pirate. Blackbeard.
He laughed to himself.
I bet Rae would have a fun time with me looking like this. I hope I get to see her again.
The sky outside was an ominous gray. So Jake zipped up his windbreaker. put his cap on, and grabbed his wallet from his nightstand. Hopefully, people wouldn't stare at him like he was a freak.
Ok $7.68, Let's go.
___________________________________________________

Hi. No one is available to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep. BEEP!
Jake, man, this is Marco. PICK UP THE PHONE. PLEASE. We're all worried about you. Honestly. You know my number. Call me back on my cell,.
He hung up his cell phone. 3 times he called Jake after the ceremony. 3 times he got the answering machine. If Jake's intention was to completely isolate himself from the outside world, he was doing a very good job of it. Marco's worry was completely overriding the fact that he was next to the rooftop pool of the D.C. Four Seasons with Tobias and Ax. It was a gorgeous day. But Jake's insistence on being anti-social spoiled Marco's mood.
Is he still not picking up?' Tobias asked from the pool.
Marco nodded his head and slumped back in his lounge chair, defeated.
I don't get it Bird-Boy. I don't understand. Every time I try to reach out, every time I try to help him, he moves farther and farther away. We're supposed to be boys. I don't know why he's acting this way.
Tobias climbed out of the pool. The hot sun felt great on his back.
It's nice to feel sensations like this again, but man, there must be some great thermals around here...I miss my wings...
Tobias! Earth to Tobias!
Tobias snapped out of his mini-trance and took a seat next to Marco. Marco just didn't get it. Sure his mom died', but they saved her. She and Jeremy (A/N: Marco's dad) were living together again. Marco didn't know how it felt to lose someone forever in this war. All the partying, dining, and nice hotels in the world would never replace Rachel, Elfangor, or Tom. Even Loren was not the same person she once was. There were two things that you could do in response to losing a loved one. You could wallow in that pain, or you could choose to move on. Tobias was sick of wallowing in his own misery, He spent three years doing that. All he wanted to do now was move on.
But everytime I close my eyes, I see her face...
Jake's depressed, Marco. He doesn't feel like he has anyone to turn to. And the only people who could possibly make him happy are...are...aren't available to him anymore. I should know. I felt the same way he feels now. I still feel it sometimes. All it takes is seeing something that reminds you of that person, and that pain comes from deep down inside your heart and spreads through your body. It cripples you.
Tobias sighed and leaned back in his chair.
Sometimes it can just be a face, or a favorite meal you used to share, but anything that reminds you of the people you lost tears you up inside.
But he didn't lose Cassie, Tobias. She's still here-
Yeah she's here, but she's with that jerk. Did you see him yesterday? He was all over Rae and her. He would barely let her breathe.
Marco's eyes narrowed.
I saw him at one of the clubs here, kissing all over some girl. He doesn't deserve the both of them.
Tobias adjusted his chair.
It's Cassie's choice. She wants to be with Ronnie.
I wish that we could make her see that he's so wrong for her.
Their conversation was interrupted my Ax in human morph pushing a service cart full of food up to where they were sitting.
Hello Marco and Tobias, As. I ordered room service. I hope you do not mind. Ind.
That's ok, Ax-man. Tobias and I were just talking, that's all.
About what? Ax dug into a hamburger.
We're wondering if both Jake and Cassie are happy with the way things are. Tobias said.
Well, I noticed from your facial expressions that you were not pleased with Ronnie. I am not happy that he appeared in the place of Prince Jake. Prince Jake saved us on many occasions. Ronnie has no idea of the sacrifices-
That's what we're trying to say, man. You got some ketchup on you nose, Marco pointed out.
No matter. Ax took another huge bite out of his burger.Mmmm, grease. Ease.
But what can we do about it? It's not like we can stop the wedding- Marco started to say.
I think if we can get Cassie to see the truth, we can help both of them. They still have a chance to make it right., Tobias said, choking up, It's what Rachel would have wanted.
So what are we going to do?
We're gonna get them back together.