A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, they really made all the difference. I wasn't too happy with this first chapter but lately I've been going through this phase where I have all these ideas and can't seem to get the motivation to continue anything, so the fact that I'm actually continuing this means a lot to me. Thank you all again.

I forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter … so here it is: All characters belong to Jonathan Larson. No profit is being made from this. All I really "own" are Roger's brothers, sisters, and whoever else you don't recognize from the play.

The answering machine waited patiently as Roger took a seat at the kitchen table, the message indicator flashing venomously. "Did anyone ever tell you," he questioned as he hit the playback button, "that you have the ability to scare the shit out of people?"

Mark rolled his eyes and sat down next to him ominously. "For once in your life, just shut up and listen."

The message played back as it had before, yet this time, Mark didn't pay much attention to it. He instead gauged Roger's reaction, which went from confused, to somewhat angry, to shocked in a matter of moments. When it ended, Mark gently pushed the paper Roger's way.

Mimi had gotten off the couch towards the end of the message and entered the kitchen area, resting her chin on Roger's shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She ran her fingers through the tips of his short, blonde hair and sighed before kissing his cheek lightly.

Roger nodded and began folding the paper into fours, and then, in turn, unfolded the paper to its original form. "I should call."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "Julie called not too long after, but I spoke with her. She said the same as Jimmy did and that he'd be waiting at the house for your call I guess."

Mimi walked over to the kitchen and began pouring two glasses of soda. "How many brothers and sisters do you have, babe? I always knew you had them, I just never knew how many."

"Four," Roger answered out of his stupor. "Jimmy's the oldest. He has to be close to thirty by now. I know he got married a few years ago, but I never met his wife. And I'm assuming he's gotta have a kid or two.

Then there's Lindsay, who's a year older than me. She has a little girl too. She sent me a picture one time, after she was born. Then it's me, Joey, who's…god, in college. He's somewhere around twenty or twenty-one. And Julie's the baby. She's eighteen." He glanced down at the paper. Frustrated, her ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe this shit, Mark. Just the other day I talked to my mom. She seemed happy and healthy…normal. And now this."

"Don't give up hope. Just call and borrow Joanne's car to get up there. Your family needs you, and it sucks that you don't know what could happen, but miracles do happen. They happen everyday."

"I know that. And I'm going up there, as soon as I talk to Jim. I want to be there for my mom like she's been there for me. I haven't seen any of them in years, man. Jimmy and I, we said some horrible shit to each other before I left for the city. We haven't been on good terms since. I don't know any of them anymore, and they don't know me. I don't want that shit to start up when I'm there. I just want to be there for my mom."

Mimi sat on his lap and began gently rubbing his back in small circles. "Then go be there for her. Don't let any of that stop you. Hopefully they can over look all the bad blood between you all and you can all be there for her, as a family. It doesn't matter whether or not they know you anymore. You never know, give them a chance and maybe you all can get close again."

"Meems is right. It might take time, but you're only going to have one set of family, Rog. Of course you have us, but I'm talking about blood family. Deep down, I'm sure you all still have a lot of love for each other left. You just have to take it with a grain of salt and see how things pan out."

"And if you want to do this on your own, we'd understand," Mimi pointed out. "I'd come with you in a heartbeat, but only if you want me to be there for you."

"So would I," Mark nodded. "And I'm sure Collins would too, if you ask him. But it's up to you."

That managed to put a small smile on Roger's face. "Thanks. But let me call my brother before I make that decision, see how much tension is between us and all." He reached for the phone, and Mimi jumped off of his lap.

"What do you say to a cup of coffee?" Mimi suggested, yawning as she headed back over to the couch.

Mark nodded as he saw Roger dialing. "Sounds good to me. But you're buying."

She laughed and grabbed their jackets, tossing Mark his. "You're dreaming, camera boy."

The Life Café was packed with the typical Friday crowd, but somehow Mark and Mimi managed to grab a small table near the bar. After a few minutes with their menus, they settled on cheeseburgers, with two coffees.

"I never knew Roger and his family didn't really get along. I mean…from as much as he told me, his rehab had been a tough subject for all of them, but I just assumed that everything was, I don't know…" She grabbed two sugar packets and poured them into her coffee.

Mark shrugged and did the same to his. "Things have always been rough with Roger and his family. Growing up, we lived across the street from each other. His mom and my mom were good friends and even went to the same book club. But things got pretty shitty fast once Roger's mom and dad divorced. They moved across town, and we didn't talk again until high school."

"By then, he was smoking, drinking, doing a little pot on the side. Got in trouble with the cops a couple of times. Gave his mom a hard time, plus she had four other kids to deal with. But who didn't give their mom a hard time then? His mom always pushed him to go to college and make something of himself, but he loved music. He wanted to move to the city and start a band, and after we graduated high school, he took off for New York."

She took another sip of her coffee and rested her chin on her hand. "So is that why he doesn't get along with his brother?"

"Sort of. He and Jimmy always had different ideas, different ways of handling things. Jimmy wanted to be a cop and he always had his head on straight. His was the oldest, so he felt that after his Dad left them he had to be the man of the house. He saw all the shit that Roger put his mom through and hated him for it. He said he was turning out like their dad. So the day that Roger left, they got into a huge fight. He didn't want to end up finding Roger dead on a street corner in ten years. He wanted to see Roger make something of himself, and he didn't see music as a real career for him. When Jimmy called today, that was the first time Roger heard from him in six or seven years."

"Wow," Mimi said. "Does he know about—"

"April? The drugs? Rehab." Mark nodded. "Yeah. It just gave him another reason to hate him. The rest of Roger's family never took any of this as hard as Jimmy did. And because of Jimmy, Roger won't go home to visit."

"That's terrible."

"Yeah." Their cheeseburgers had arrived, and Mark took a bite of his. "And now he's going back home for the first time in years to find his mom, who was basically his only supporter, sick. It's scaring the shit out of him."

Mimi thought about all of this for a minute while chewing on her burger. "So what about his dad? Has Roger heard from him?"

Mark shook his head. "Not really. He moved out to California years ago. Got remarried, I think. Hasn't kept in contact since. Doesn't even pay child support."

"What a scumbag," she hissed. "I never got it, you know, how a father could just abandon their kids."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "Me either."

They chewed in silence, and Mimi twirled one of her curls around her finger. "Do you think his dad will come back with all of this going on? I think that's enough to throw the poor boy over the edge."

Mark shrugged again. "He hasn't come back in fifteen years. I don't see him coming back for this, either."

"Jesus, I don't really know what to say."

Luckily, someone squealed behind Mark and through her arms around him with a giggle. "Pookie! I haven't seen you in forever! Where the hell have you been?"

He rolled his eyes and Mimi covered her mouth with a snort. Maureen. "Hi, Maureen. Where's Jo?"

"Parking the car," she answered, flouncing over to Mimi and enveloping her in a hug. "Hiya, Meems."

"Hey Mo." She scooted over to allow enough room for Maureen to pull up an extra chair. "How've you been?"

"Good! I just got home from another audition and Joanne and I decided to catch an early dinner before stopping off at the loft anyway. Where's Roger?" She glanced around, as if he was hiding and she had missed him when she had walked in.

"Back at the loft," Mark answered. "He's—"

"Hey everyone." Joanne drew up a chair from an empty table and sat down next to Mark with a smile. Always the professional, she was dressed in a business suit and her classic Doc Martens. She grabbed a French fry off of Mimi's plate and popped it into her mouth. "Where's Roger?"

Mark sighed and rubbed his temples. "He's at the loft. He found out today that his mom's in the hospital."

"You're kidding," Joanne gasped. "Is she going to be all right?"

Mimi shrugged her shoulders. "She had an aneurysm this morning. When we left, Roger was about to call his brother back to find out more."

Maureen rested her head against Joanne's shoulder, who in turn wrapped her arm around Maureen's waist. "That's so sudden. I mean, one day someone could be here, and the next…gone."

Mark could have sworn he saw a tear fall out of Maureen's eye. He didn't even ask why they had all gotten so silent all of a sudden because he knew they were thinking about the same thing he was: Angel.

"If he needs to go back home, my car is his for the borrowing," Joanne offered. "Just say the word and I'll drop it off whenever he needs it, tonight even. We can always take the subway home."

"That would be great. He'll probably decide to head back either tonight or in the morning, either way."

"Does he need any of us to go with him?" Maureen piped up.

Mark shook his head in uncertainty. "You know how Roger deals with things. If he doesn't ask, you don't push it."

"Exactly," Mimi chimed in. "I told him I'd love to go with him, but I'm not sure what he feels right now. We'll probably know more when we get back."

"Yeah," he added. "We should probably head back now." He pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and set it on the table. "You guys coming, or staying?"

Joanne shook her head. "I'm starved. I had three back to back meetings and haven't eaten anything all day. You guys go ahead. We'll be by within the hour. Give him our love."

"Please," Maureen added, giving Mimi a hug and reaching across the table to kiss Mark on the cheek.

"Will do." Mark pulled on his jacket and headed toward the exit with Mimi, his arm around her shoulders.

They didn't have to look far for Roger. Upon arriving at the loft and finding it empty, Mimi discovered that the door that led to the roof was cracked open. It took one glance at each other before they both took the metal stairs to the toptwo a time.

The found Roger near the opposite end. He was seated in an old, rusty lawn chair that Mark had stolen from his parents years ago, a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. He was hunched over slightly, as if he was about to be sick. Immediately, Mimi ran to him and crouched before him, taking his face in her hands.

"Roger, baby? Are you okay? What happened?"

Mark inched closer to the lawn chair, but hung back a few feet. "Did you call? What did you find out?"

Roger cleared his throat and nodded, his eyes first meeting Mimi's and then Mark's. "Yeah."

"How is she?" Mimi pushed. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She's dead," he spat bitterly, taking a swig of the beer. "She died this afternoon, in the operating room."