DESTROYED

Chapter 22

SUMMARY: Mark and Roger meet up with Alexi; Sam and Julian find them at the Life Café; Collins returns to MIT much to the distress of Angel.

It should also be noted that this story is nearing its conclusion, and loose ends are gonna be tied up. I'm in the stages of thinking up a dramatic ending, which may or may not include a death (I'm still pondering that option).

Roger and Sam glared at each other, both holding their ground and not flinching for one second. They were in the Life Café and Mark had just handed the tape over to Alexi when the doors opened and two familiar faces were looking at them with nothing short of pure hatred. How Sam and Julian found out they were there? Probably a couple of their subordinates had seen them enter the place, and maybe had recognized Alexi Darling too, so now it was on. Mark and Alexi were still in their seated positions, both too afraid to want to move, but finally Mark joined Roger, standing up next to him. This was not what he was expecting. Alexi slowly moved her hand to put the tape in her bag, out of view from Sam and Julian, and tried to remain unnoticed in their dark eyes. But Sam's focus was no where but on Mark and Roger… it was like he was already attacking them with just the sheer emotion and anger on his face. Things could easily escalate into violence as he was always, they knew, impulsive and paranoid especially when threatened.

"Well," Julian scoffed. "Nice surprise."

"Whatever you say," Roger shot back. "Didn't think you had the balls to show up around here again."

Sam held the knife in his pocket. "And why do you think that, Roger?"

He smirked and shook his head. "You really got no idea?"

"Enlighten us." Sam dared.

"You sure you wanna know?"

"Can't be that bad."

"You sure of that?"

"Say it."

"What'd you think, Mark? Should we tell 'em?"

"Hell no, let them find out for themselves," Mark replied. "Course by then it'll be too late."

Julian tensed up. "Too late for what?"

Roger casually sat on the table and fiddled with his jacket. "Your total incompetence not withstanding… Angel's still alive."

Taunting them wasn't actually a smart idea, and the look of shock from Sam and the confused, even dazed look from Julian, was enough to tell Roger and Mark that they hadn't been expecting that news. Once again, they failed to strip Angel of his life… how many chances do these guys need? Honestly, who'd think it'd be so hard?

"Excuse me…" Alexi stood up and rushed past all for of them, not making eye contact. They watched her leave and Sam turned back to them.

"Who the hell was she?"

"She looks familiar…" Julian added and tried to think of where he recognized her from.

Mark and Roger exchanged knowing looks and moved to leave, but the other two blocked their way, and the situation quickly tensed – other patrons of the Café looked over to see what was going on, including the employees.

"Move." Roger instructed darkly, and Mark put his hand on his shoulder to restrain him. Roger's impulses weren't really under control, and his passion was something that could easily turn against him in a situation like this. "Now."

"And you, after what happened to your friend, think you got the balls to tell me what to do?" Sam mocked. He never looked more dangerous than he did now, but Roger wasn't one to back away from a fight if he had to…

"Sounds like an admission of guilt."

"Sounds like you ought to be careful."

"Oh wow," Roger sarcastically retorted. "Didn't know you were so concerned for our safety."

"Just merely suggesting," Sam replied and stepped aside. "Wouldn't wanna see your pretty vocal cords shredded to pieces like Angel's."

"Why would you say that?" Mark challenged, satisfied knowing Alexi had the tape. He wasn't sure if he could trust her, but he was damn sure more willing to than to trust the alternative… he didn't want to risk them getting hold of the tape. "Got somethin' to hide?"

Julian shrugged and stepped aside, tapping Sam's shoulder so he could do the same to let them through.
"Not at all. Just goin' about business as usual."

"And what business is that?" Roger queried, walking past them. Mark quickly followed behind. "The business of killing kids with that crap you cook up?"

After all four of them were outside the café, things heated up and Julian resisted every urge grab Sam's knife and do away with these bohemian freaks. The four of them moved into a more secluded spot, in a back street just behind the Café, where they wouldn't be disturbed by people passing by. The only bad thing was, if things did turn violent, this would also be the perfect spot to cover up the crime and help would be too far away to be of any use. But it was a risk all four men had to take.

"Recreational pharmaceuticals. We don't force it in their veins, they come to us."

"Ahh I get it," Roger chuckled. "Innocent bystanders."

"Accommodators to peoples needs."

"Drug pushers."

"Business dealers," Sam put his spin on it. "We don't force anyone to do anything."

"Except Angel," Mark turned up the heat even further. "Forced him to do a lot, didn't you?"

A small sigh escaped the back of Sam's throat at the total ignorance of Collins' friends. He knew it was them who poisoned Collins against him and it was their fault things turned out the way they did. If he and Collins were still together, he'd probably have the motivation to give up this lifestyle all together, but now his ex's heart lay with someone else and it hurt badly. Sam stepped closer to Mark.

"That wasn't very nice."

"Nor was slicing Angel's neck open," Roger growled, standing just behind Mark so that he could back him up. "Nor was raping him; nor was turning his and Collins' lives into hell… that wasn't exactly the picture of niceness either."

"You can't prove we had anything to do with that," Julian pointed out, totally ignorant to the advantageous situation the two men in front of him were in, and both had to resist smiling and laughing at that comment at all costs. Things would play out as they're supposed to. Roger saw Sam's hand in his pocket, obviously holding something that could prove to be dangerous, so he grabbed the back of Mark's shirt and pulled him back to stand next to him, just out of arms-length of Sam.

"We're not the cops, Julian. We don't have to prove anything… we know it was you two," Roger replied. "And besides the fact that Angel told us… well, not us. He told Collins that it was Sam who attacked him last week, but now since his throat's not exactly working right now, he hasn't been able to say who came into his hospital room yesterday. How convenient."

"What I wanna know," Sam ignored him. "Is what you both are doing here, when I thought you would be at the hospital."

"Actually we were coming to see you." Roger sat down on a dirty old chair that had been thrown out by the café.

"Oh? Why's that?"

Roger looked at Mark. "Wanna tell them now? Or drag it out?"

Mark shrugged nonchalantly. "I'd rather wait until the ten o'clock news, but now's good too."

Sam and Julian glanced at each other, nervously – whatever these two were going on about, it couldn't be good. They were too relaxed and seemingly enjoying dragging this out in front of them…

The four of them fell silent for a few moments and an eerie atmosphere took over – one of foreboding pain and imminent danger. A bird perched itself nearby and stared at them, momentarily distracting Mark with the noise it made, but he quickly refocused and kept a safe distance away from Sam and Julian.

"What areyou talking about?" Julian demanded. "You boys honestly don't wanna go messing with us."

"Oh really? Sounds like a challenge there," Roger pushed.

"And you'll lose. You don't know what you're dealing with," Sam explained, wanting them to understand the full ramifications should they choose to do something reckless… something stupid. "Angel didn't."

"There are choices," Mark was now ready to come clean. "And they both happen to be yours, Sammy. You can either go to the copsabout what you did… or you can lose your business."

Sam burst out laughing at that proposition, and wondered how Mark could be so naïve. "You're kidding, right? Not much of a deal."

Roger leaned forward. "Well, it's better than the alternative. At least he's giving you choices."

"You make it sound like he's got something over us," Julian spoke up, cautiously. "Know something we don't?"

"You could say that."

"More like we got something you don't. Well, we did. Now Alexi Darling from that show, Buzzline, has it." Mark added.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sam was getting agitated now. And as we all know, it wasn't a good idea to piss him off. His mental stability was basically always on the edge of a knife – it could go in any direction, but usually resulting in dire consequences for the ones responsible. To sum him up in one word? Psycho.

But Roger took this as their cue to leave… being in the position they were, if they laid it fully out of them in this spot, Sam and Julian wouldn't hesitate to inflict punishment on them – not to mention the danger it would put Alexi in.

"Something about a confession caught on tape," he told them. "You know, man you should really be more careful about what you say. Never know who could be watching."

He and Mark quickly left before either of the two other men had a chance to register his words. Making it back onto the main street, just outside the café, Mark turned to Roger.

"D'you think that was a good idea?"

"What?"

"They're gonna run for it now, I know!"

"Mark," Roger smiled and patted his friend's back. "You don't know how the mind of a junkie works. No matter how much they wanna escape, often enough they'll be drawn back to wherever they get their fix. Not to mention they got their entire lives here… before they get a chance to run, it'll be over. Trust me, bro. I know what I'm talking about; hell, I was one. I know all about the mindset."

"Whatever you say." Mark looked behind him, nervously. "Come on. Let's go, I need to make a phone call."

"To who?"

"Alexi."

"Why?"

"I'm giving her permission to air the tape…"

WITH COLLINS AND ANGEL

Stroking his lover's face, Collins kissed the tears away while Angel silently cried at the suddenness to which the professor would be departing for Massachusetts. He needed him here, but it was not to be…

"I'll be back in a couple of days, baby, okay," Collins whispered soothing words of comfort but wasn't really convincing himself, let alone the love of his life. "Mimi, Maureen, and Joanne are here, they're not goin' anywhere. Roger and Mark will be back, you know they'll look out for you…"

Another tear slipped down Angel's cheek and Collins used his thumb to gently brush it away. Standing at the end of the bed, the three girls were almost gushing at the love they saw – it was clear just how much Collins wanted to set things right. Everything was coming together now, and this would be the time when they all needed to stick together.

"I'll be thinking of you the entire time, sweetie," Collins continued. He wanted to at least bring some peace to Angel's troubled heart and mind before he left. But what more could he say? "I won't be long."

He gave Angel a sweet, tender kiss on the lips, savoring every second that passed before reluctantly pulling away, leaving Angel wanting more. He looked up at the girls with fear.

"You sure you'll be okay with him?"

"It'll be fine, honey," Maureen assured with sincerity. "It'll be a girl's night, right Ang!" she added, mischievously. Angel smiled and blinked multiple times in response, agreeing with her. Collins also managed a small smile, but remained entirely apprehensive and wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. Collins kissed Angel's forehead, and then his fingers.

"I love you," he whispered. "More than anything. I'll be back soon…"

Joanne then elbowed Maureen in the stomach, causing her to yelp and jump back, rubbing her midsection.

"What the fuck? What the hell was that for? What'd I do now?" she seemed genuinely confused.

"Why don't you ever say things like that to me?" Joanne sulked.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Maureen groaned. "Is this about that waitress? I swear, I was just asking where the bathroom was!"

"No this isn't about the waitress, it's about—" Joanne paused. "What waitress?"

Maureen froze. Oh shit. She was in deep now. She looked at Mimi. "You didn't tell her!"

"Um… no… you told me not to."

"I didn't think you'd actually not say anything!"

Joanne pulled Maureen's arm to get her attention. "What waitress!"

"Come on baby you know how I feel about you. It was nothing! You know it's nothing, right?" Maureen was once again left to fix the situation she had caused, while Mimi, Angel, and Collins watched with amusement and slight confusion. Pouting her lips and giving Joanne the 'puppy dog eyes' look. "Pookie? You know that, right?"

"No," Joanne replied, stubbornly. "Honestly I don't! I don't know anything with you anymore, Maureen!"

"Guys, shut up!" Mimi scolded. "This is so not the time or place!"

Still sulking and wondering about what exactly happened with this 'waitress', Joanne stormed over to a seat in the corner of the room and sat down. She didn't wanna look at Maureen right now. Maureen went to the other side of the room and turned away from Joanne… no matter how rocky their relationship got, it usually worked out in the end. Mimi turned back to Collins.

"That reminds me… Julia wants to speak to you."

"Julia?"

"Yeah… she and Mark came back earlier, but Mark and Roger disappeared again and she's outside. She wants to talk to you before you go."

Collins frowned. "Why didn't she come in here?"

Mimi shrugged. "I tried convincing her to, but she said something about it should be just us for now. I dunno… she just asked me to pass on the message."

A few minutes later, after having said goodbye to Angel and the girls again, Collins stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. There, sitting across from him almost asleep on one of those awful hospital seats, was Julia. He smiled and walked over to her, reached out and lightly grazed her cheek with his finger, getting her attention. She looked up and smiled wearily.

"Hey," she greeted and sat back, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"How you doing?"

"Been better," she confessed lightly. "What about you? And Angel? Hanging in there?"

"He's awake. He's doing okay," Collins reported.

"That's awesome. I knew he'd pull through."

"He's not in the clear yet, you know…"

"Yeah I know. But I believe he'll be okay. Don't you?"

Collins thought about that… he never really gave himself a chance to think about what might happen, and in the event of Angel's death, it would be over for him. But the positive thought of Angel pulling through this mess was somewhat stronger and more present in him.

"Yeah," he replied. "I do."

3 HOURS LATER

"How is he?" Mark asked Mimi as he and Roger entered the room. It was the first time he'd seen Angel since the second attack and it was a horrifying sight… but at least Angel was comfortable. Or so he seemed. About half an hour after Collins left, he had fallen back asleep and Julia had joined them in the room. During that time, Mark and Roger had both talked to Alexi about the possibilities of what could happen after the tape gets aired on Buzzline that night and were hoping to make it back to the hospital before Collins left so they could finally let him know what was going on, but obviously they didn't make it in time.

"Better than he was," Mimi replied, sitting on Roger's lap who had pulled a chair up next to Angel's bed. "Heartbreaking when Collins left, though."

"When did he go?" Roger also asked her.

"'Bout two hours ago. Didn't say when he'd be back."

"Let's just hope he knows what he's doing."

"Uh-huh."

Maureen was busy trying to get Joanne to talk to her again, while Julia was watching the television, blocking out everything that was going on around her. Mark walked over to her and touched her arm, startling her.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Forget it," she replied and sat up on the empty bed so he could sit down too.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just… tired. It's all too much."

"I know. And it's not gonna get any easier," he laughed. "This is about as good as it gets here."

"It's not funny."

"I know. But then again nothing here is… trust me, it'll work out."

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me, okay?"

"Hmmm..."

Mark joined her in stretching out his legs on the bed and rested his back against the pillow. It was the first time in days he'd got to really lie down and he was gonna take this opportunity for everything it was worth.

"Having fun there you two?" Maureen winked at them and grinned. She knew Mark never really got over her leaving him, especially for a woman, but this was a chance he could start over with someone knew. "Wanna get yourselves a private room?"

"Shut up Maureen."

"Aww poor Markie. He's blushing!" she squealed.

In response he threw a pillow at her which she blocked and poked her tongue out of him. "Maureen!" Joanne snapped. "We're in a hospital with our friend hooked up to a bunch of machines over there. Fucking grow up!"

Julia watched the interaction between the lovers with fascination… fascination at the diversity of all these people, these characters and how different they all were, yet how much the loved each other and got along so well. That was the beauty of this community… celebrating diversity rather than condemning it and having the freedom to be and do whatever you want without fear of reprisal or being ostracized. It's what society should be, but apparently it took poverty and having real dreams to accomplish what should be in this world… not conformity. These people had the freedom and confidence to do and say whatever they want and didn't care about what the rest of the world thought of them or their lives. They lived to survive with each other. They lived for their art and their friendships. Suddenly everything she knew to be important in her life lost all meaning and importance… and everything she once took for granted took on a new life – a new meaning. As corny as that sounds, it was a world you had to experience to be able to understand. Julia's experiences of the past week were enough to either deter her forever or make her want more… and having someone like Mark around certainly pushed the idea of staying around to more favour.

At the same time, Mark had lost interest in what Joanne and Maureen were doing, and kept an eye on the time. Hopefully Alexi would keep her word and air the footage… then it would be the death of Sam and Julian – or at least their lucrative drugs and guns business ventures. Roger was also paying close attention to the time, and knew Sam and Julian would be tuning in to the same program… if Sam was anything, it was predictable if you pushed the right buttons. Bait him, and he'll usually follow.

"Mark?" Roger hissed. "Go on!"

Mark nodded and reluctantly sat up on the bed. Getting to his feet, he reached up and changed the channel on the television, which didn't escape anyone's attention.

"Hey, I was watching that!" Julia protested but wasn't too bothered to move. Mark sat next to her again.

"Guys, you gotta see this," he told everyone. Luckily Angel was still asleep… this wasn't something he should be subjected to. Even Maureen settled down long enough to see what was gonna happen and she sat next to Joanne, linking hands with her. Joanne didn't bother to push her away, and even drew her closer as the introduction to Buzzline appeared on the screen. This was it. Samuel and Julian were screwed.

THE NEXT DAY

Leaving Angel's bedside was the hardest thing he's had to do yet… being exactly a week after Sam and Angel's encounter in the alleyway, Collins knew exactly what he was gonna do and say when he got there. It wasn't surprising as to the insensitivity of his colleagues to have to drag him away from someone he loved who had just suffered tremendous amounts of pain for no other reason than being who he was. If the members of the MIT facultyhad to findout about Collins' and his friends backgrounds and lifestyles, then it would be done on his terms. Angel was in tears when he left, and Mimi promised not to leave his bedside – it was okay for her to do so, as she was yet to break any of her promises to Angel, so he could believe her a lot more than he could trust Collins… and he hated that. But not being able to move much or speak, he had no choice but to resign him self to the situation and accept that things were gonna happen as they were supposed to. He saw it as another betrayal on Collins' part – he promised not to leave, and now he had broken that promise – whether these circumstances were foreseen or not.

Now, at 6:00 PM in the evening on that sunny Friday, Collins stood outside the entrance to Devon McAdams' office, loathing the very thought of having to see that man again. Oh well. It would be the last, for after tonight he had no intention of stepping back into this place again. The only real good thing to come from being here was his friendship with Julia, which had blossomed to the point where he now cherished her as he did with all his friends. In his left pocket, his fingers curled around the already scrunched and folded up papers that contained the very words he wanted to speak…

Removing them from his pocket, Collins unfolded the papers and looked down at the words. Somehow, they didn't make as much sense to him anymore as they did when he wrote them earlier that morning. He wasn't nervous, but he wasn't looking forward to this either… this group of people epitomized everything he came to loathe in people – greed, self-love, snobbery, ignorance… everything he was not. Everything he didn't represent. Collins had the feeling Devon chose him specifically to do this for that very reason… he wanted to see the anarchist professor fall flat on his face.

"Asshole…" he muttered.

He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in!" came a booming reply. Collins opened the door to see Professor McAdams with three other members of the faculty whom he recognized, and one person whom he didn't. "Ahh, Professor Collins!" Devon stood up with an ugly, smug smile on his face. "Come on in!"

Silently, Collins did so and closed the door behind him. His legs were beginning to feel like lead and his heart was bouncing around all corners of his chest cavity. This wasn't fair. The three other teachers he knew, Elizabeth Trevor, Simon Carmichael, and Lawrence Jordan were people that he was friendly with, but they weren't very social. He just nodded a quick hello and stepped forward.

"I'd like you to meet the republican representative from the governor's office, Dr. Timothy Halton!" Devon grinned. Again, remaining silent, Collins shook the elderly man's hand.

"Hi," he said softly.

"So this is the young man who will be addressing us tonight?" Dr. Halton eyed Collins, inspecting him for any flaws. If only he knew… Collins thought. He wasn't gonna make this easy for any of them, so he didn't have to pretend that he liked this 'Dr.' or any of them anymore. Right now, Collins was simply consumed with his loathing of Devon McAdams who was seeking this opportunity to screw him over, royally.

"He is," Devon confirmed. "Sir, this is Professor Thomas Collins. He teaches computer-age philosophy here, and is a well liked and respected member of the faculty by his peers and students." Ha! What bullshit. Students, yes, he got along with quite well. But his peers? Other teachers? Rarely.

"I see," Dr. Halton replied. "Well, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you, young man." Patronising bastard.

"The pleasure's all mine, sir." Collins plastered a fake smile to his face. "Glad I could fill in for Professor Davidson at the last minute."

"Yes, it is quite a shame," the man replied. "I quite enjoyed the seminar he gave last month. Very informative. But I shall assume that you shall give no less of a standard address tonight, am I correct?" He has no idea, Collins thought maliciously.

Collins smiled and nodded. "Trust me, sir, it'll be something I doubt anyone will be forgetting." I'll show these fuckers… and screw Devon over in the process.

Dr. Halton smiled and patted his shoulder. "Ahh confidence. That's what I like to see in today's youth. Well I am definitely looking forward to it." What's with this moron? With the pole shoved up his ass, I'm surprised he isn't touching the moon!

"Thank you, sir."

Dr. Halton then turned to Devon. "Well, if you'll please excuse me, I shall go find my lovely wife and find usour seats," he looked at Collins. "Good luck, young man. We'll all be watching you, be sure of that." Yeah, no fucking pressure. With that said, the doctor left and the other three teachers excused themselves, leaving just Devon and Collins alone. After the door had been closed, the smile on Devon's face vanished only to be replaced by a menacing glare.

"Don't think I won't be watching you either, Tom," he growled. "You once destroyed the virtual reality equipment, cost this institution a lot of money, and now here you are giving a speech at one of the most important functions of the year…"

"Well, someone must really fucking love me then," Collins snapped sarcastically. "Let me tell you something, Devon. I don't give a damn about any of this… I know why you picked me to do it, and I know there's nothing you'd rather see than for me to be humiliated. Don't think I'm stupid, man… you have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Is that a threat?"

"Call it whatever you want. Stay the hell out of my way, and just maybe we'll both get through this night unscathed."

"Don't you dare—"

"Don't I dare what?" Collins stormed up to him; their faces inches from each other. "You dragged me here away from someone whom I care about, who was almost killed by my psychotic ex and you want me to give this speech? For no other purpose than to humiliate me and declare yourself the winner? Well guess what, Devon? Fine. You win. I don't care… but I do care about getting home to my family, after tonight in which you'll never have to hear from me again." Built up feelings of resentment had turned into pure, unadulterated hatred and the temptation to throw Devon head-first out the window was intense. But Collins kept himself cool and calmed.

"You can kiss as much ass as you like. But don't expect me to play along…" he then turned his back to him and left the office, slamming the door behind him. This was war.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I decided to leave Collins' speech to the next chapter (Yeah I know, I suck! Lol) I wanted to end this chapter on a little cliffhanger. Anyway, the speech is definitely in the next chapter. In the next chapter, after the speech Collins returns back to New York just in time to see Julian and Sam get what's coming to them. Also, another attack on one of our favourite bohemians (don't worry! It's not Angel this time!) Also, Angel mutters his first words since Julian attacked him. A Mark and Julia moment too (I know it was meant to be in this chapter, but the direction of the story suggested I shall leave this little sub-plot for a little later. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it!) I was really tired when I wrote this chapter, so I will go over it again in a bit and fix any plot holes. But please review!

Again, like I said at the beginning of the chapter, the conclusion to this story is fast approaching so I just wanna say thanks again to all who keep reviewing and giving the kind words. You all are awesome! Group hug! HUGS