Okay, this chapter should take care of Roger moving away from the loft. There are a few references to his past, but none those parts should really make sense yet. Don't worry though, Roger's past will be revealed (eventually)! Enjoy!

Roger

I yawned and arched my back, stretching after a nice, long sleep in a decent mattress. I'd forgotten what such a luxury was like after years in the loft and before that the hard pavement.

I got up and trudged into the kitchen, where I could hear people arguing.

"No Johnny," Reed nearly yelled, "You're not going out!"

"If you're going to keep me locked up at least give me something to do." Johnny complained.

"It's for your own good to stay put," Sue said, her voice significantly quieter than the other two.

"Then why can't either of you go out?" Johnny asked, "I can understand why you'd keep Rock-ass locked up, but why me?"

"Hey!" Ben said defensively, "At least I'm not a fire hazard!"

"Then why don't one of you two go get it?"

"Because none of us can leave here, Johnny," Reed said, "Is that so hard to understand?"

"What's going on?" I asked, cautiously entering the kitchen.

All four heads whipped around at the sound of my voice. Sue's legs, hands, and neck were invisible and Johnny had steam rising off of him, and I could see little flames shooting across his body. Things was definitely, pardon my pun, a heated argument.

"Did we wake you?" Sue asked, her fingers coming back into view.

I shook my head. "No," I answered truthfully.

"Roger can go and get it!" Johnny said, the steam slowing down, "He's normal and the press doesn't know about him. He should be able to get it no sweat!"

"What exactly do you want me to get?" I asked cautiously.

"Just some kind of video game system. X-box or Playstation 2 would be nice. Sue and Reed won't let me." Johnny answered.

"Fine." I said, causing all four of them to smile somewhat, "I'll go get it. No sweat off my back."

"Thanks Roger," Johnny said, "Here, I've been saving up."

He stuffed a wad of bills into my hand.

I nodded and headed back to my room and changed before heading out the door. I remembered seeing a video game store just a few blocks down when Johnny had gotten lost on the way back to the Baxter Building.

I was nearly there when an all-too-familiar voice sounded through the air.

"Roger!" I heard Collins yell, "Roger, wait up!"

I turned around, almost scared that he was going to start yelling at me. It didn't make matters better that Mark was with him.

"Hey Roger," Mark said, panting for breath a little bit, "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Yeah, we were expecting you for dinner," Collins said, "We actually managed to get a pretty decent meal. Mark thought you'd be here, especially after he got your video."

"You aren't mad?" I asked, a little frightened of the response I was going to get.

"I was a little," Mark admitted, "But then I realized it was all a joke. I mean, come on Roger. I knew you wouldn't do something like that after Santa Fe and all those months of searching for Mimi. It was like a big game of hide-and-seek."

"He figured we'd find you around the Baxter Building, since you said stuff about your cousins and all." Collins added.

Mark nodded. "And I was right. Come on Roger, the games over. You can come home now."

"But…" I began and both of their smiles fell.

"You weren't actually thinking of staying with them, where you?" Mark asked, fear seeping into his eyes.

I couldn't bring myself to say yes, but neither could I say no. I hadn't really thought about whether I was really going to desert my bohemian family or not.

"I…I…" I stammered.

Collins got very serious. "Listen Roger," he began, "You are going to come back with us and you're not going to complain. You saw you're blood, but you told me. You told me, Roger. How could you think of going back? You saw them, and now it's over."

I nodded meekly. He was right. I had told him about my past, and now I was beginning to hate my decision of ever going to find them.

"You're right," I whispered finally, "Let's go home."

"What about all your stuff?" Mark asked, "It was gone when I got back."

"It's with them," I said, "But I'm not going back."

"Your clothes," Collins started.

"I'll get a job and buy some more."

"Your guitar." Mark said.

"I'll buy a new one."

"But how?"

I stiffened up and glared down at Mark before lightening up. "Don't worry you're pretty little head over it." I said sweetly, pinching his cheeks, "Mommy will take care of it for you."

Mark slapped my hands away and laughed. "Don't do that again," he warned, "You sounded just like my aunt."

I grinned and stuffed my hands in my pockets. My stomach lurched when I felt the wad of bills Johnny had given me. If I wasn't going back, what the hell was I supposed to do with the money?

I could spend it, or I could wait and give it back to him. Well, if I wasn't going to go back…

"How about we go to the Life?" I proposed, "My treat."