Madianna- Glad you like Thor and Loki! Poor Hal, indeed! Don't worry, you'll hear about Geoffrey's crazy party soon enough!

Time to meet Claudius and his friends, find out about Thor and Loki's first lessons, and see them meet the rest of the Gang. But what will Edouard do? Will he cuase a scen in front of everyone?

"Thor! Loki! Over here!" The two brothers turned to find Richard waving at them. Thor grinned. Loki groaned. "Come on, Loki!" Thor chirped, grabbing hold of his brother by the arm. "Let's go and see our new friends!"

"You mean YOUR new friends!" Loki said, rolling his eyes, but he allowed Thor to drag him over.

"Hey, guys!" Mercutio greeted enthusiastically. "How were your lessons?"

"Great!"

"Okay…"

Mercutio gave them a great big grin. "Well, we have some other new students here. The ones from Italy." He gestured to them. "Guys, meet Herod, Postumus, Claudius and Agrippina."

The four nodded in greeting.

Thor bowed.

Loki gave a nod.

"This is Claudius' older brother, Germanicus. And that's their sister over there: Livila, and that's Sejanus, a friend of theirs."

"H-H-Hello," one of the six stuttered. "I'm C-C-Cl-" his head twitched in annoyance and he clenched his fists tightly. A taller man placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, you do it," he encouraged.

"Cl- Cl- Cl- Claudius! I'm Claudius."

"You have a stammer?" Thor asked.

"Y-Y-Yes."

"I'm Herod," the tall, tanned man said. "Claudius have Cerebral Palsy. We think. He have stammer and limp, but he a good guy. Aren't you, Claudius?"

"Y-Yes, Herod."

"Hey, Retard! Move it!"

The Gang turned to see Lennie being pushed onto the floor by Edouard and the Allies. They kicked and jeered at him:

"Retard!"

"Dumbass!"

"Cripple!"

"Homosexual!"

"Spastic!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"He got disabilities?" Herod asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Richard said. "That's Lennie Small. He's got mental disabilities. He can't do anything by himself."

"Claudius!" Herod exclaimed. "He worse than you!"

Richard ran forward, and in one swift moment, whacked Edouard on the nose. Edouard staggered backwards and clutched his nose.

"Gloucester!" he exclaimed. "Hunchback Boy!"

"Prince Prat…" Richard seethed, standing in front of Lennie, who was crying and clutching his face. "You leave Lennie alone. NOW."

"Lennie!" called a voice. "Where'd you go? Lennie!"

Edouard and Richard turned at the sound and looked back at each other.

"LEAVE. NOW."

Edouard sneered. "Hunchback Boy's got guts. Don't he, fellas?"

The Allies laughed amongst themselves.

A snitchy looking man stepped forward, shoved Richard over, and went straight over to Lennie. He sneered down at him. Then, without warning, kicked him hard in the gut repeatedly.

Lennie howled in pain, and soon, the sound of rushing feet echoed throughout the area, and Slim, George and the other American students came running towards them.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"CURLEY, LEAVE THE GUY ALONE!"

"WHAT'S YA PROBLEM?!"

"LENNIE!"

"OH, JESUS CHRIST!"

George was the first to reach them. He grabbed Curley by the collar of his shirt and threw him towards Thor and Loki's direction. Thor and Loki grinned at each other, before beating him up. Curley yelled in pain, but no one took any notice.

Rushing down beside him, George placed a hand n Lennie's shoulder. Lennie was curled up into a ball, clutching his legs and howling.

"Ssh," he soothed gently. "It's O.K, Lennie. I'm here, it's O.K…"

But Lennie carried on howling. His scream was so ear piercing, that everyone in the area and around it had stopped everything that they were doing and stood still, watching and listening intently. Some laughed. Some looked pained.

This had to be one of the worst fits Lennie had thrown. It was truly unbearable to see and hear. It was horrible.

Rolling onto his back, Lennie laid eagle spread on the concrete, howling like a banshee. There was blood all over him. On his face, his hands, his clothes. He lifted up his hands from his wound, and that was also covered in blood.

"AAAAAAHHHH! AAAAHHHH!"

George had to put his hands over his ears. He leaned over and placed his hands on the side of Lennie's head.

"C'mon. C'mon, Lennie, calm down. It's O.K. C'mon. It's George. You're gonna be O.K. Ssh. I'm here. I'll never leave you. It's gonna be fine. Just you and me, remember? You and me. Nobody else. We'll have those rabbits, and the farm, and you and me will have no trouble. No meanness. No fightin'. Just you and me. C'mon, Lennie, think of those rabbits. The rabbits you wanna tend. You wanna tend them, don't ya? Just think of 'em. All those different coloured rabbits, Lennie. All of 'em. You and me. Just you and me. Just us two. The way it should be. George and Lennie. Us two. Just you and me… "

Slowly, Lennie's howls subsided. He sobbed. Heart-breaking sobs that brought tears to everyone's eyes. No matter how sweet and gentle this giant would be, life would always be hard to him.

It wasn't fair. How could life be cruel to a bastard like Edouard, and so cruel to such a sweet guy like Lennie? What the hell was wrong? Why was it this way?

It wasn't fair.

It REALLY wasn't fair.

Crying, Lennie finally opened his eyes and looked up at George. His lip wobbled and tears cascaded down his face. George started to cry as well. He didn't sob, he just cried. He pulled away from Lennie and the latter slowly sat up. He took one long look at George, lip wobbling, and leaned forward and buried his face in his clothes, howling again.

Everyone was silent. Even Loki, who had appeared to be so serious and emotionless, stood shell shocked, horrified at what had just happened.

Richard had climbed to his feet and stood next to Anne, who had also buried her face in his clothes. Richard look impassive and his face was grey and cold, but he held her tightly, not letting her go.

Edouard sent furious, jealous glances at them both.

Claudius and the other Italians looked stunned. What was this? What had happened?

Clarence didn't laugh. Nor did Hal or Mercutio. They were silent. They were angry.

Hermia slapped Tybalt round the face, tears down her face, as she yelled at him for what he'd done. She pounded her fists against his chest, and hit him over and over again until Geoffrey had to pull her away, and comfort and hold her in the same way as Richard was with Anne.

His gaze looked with Tybalt's. A murderous gaze so fierce that it sent Tybalt running.

Everyone stood silent. No one was laughing anymore. Not today. Not after this.

George wrapped his arms around him in a strong, reassuring way, and hugged him back. He let out a deep, rattled breath and placed his head on top of his.

Tears were cascading down his face.

In the Nurse's room, George patted Lennie on the shoulder comfortingly. Warwick had strolled onto the field, happy that there had been no recent fights, and had literally face palmed when he saw the mass of children standing silent like statues.

He'd been so pleased, yet worried. Children were meant to play and be noisy, not still and quiet.

Then he saw the blood.

Then he saw the tears.

Then he saw the faces.

Then he saw everything.

Warwick had grabbed both Edouard and Clifford by the ears and shook them both, yelling at them.

He'd called for the Head of Discipline- Mr Hugh- and several other teachers to take the Allies away. Richard had followed. He'd punched Edouard, so he went too.

He'd went very willingly.

Warwick had gasped when he saw the sight of Lennie, howling and covered in blood in his best friend's arms. He'd got Slim and George to help him to the Nurse's room. They'd placed his arms around their shoulders and they'd taken him in.

Lennie was still howling.

And that's where they'd been for the last half hour. The Nurse had wiped up the blood and then placed TCP on his bruises. Lennie had howled even louder and clutched George's hand so tightly that both hands had gone white.

He'd been very brave.

Then the Nurse left to speak to Warwick, and George and Lennie had been left alone.

This is what was happening now.

Sitting up beside him, George had smiled down at him. Lennie was lying on one of the Nurse's beds that nauseous children would lie on when they felt ill. He looked terrible; bruises and open wounds reddened his face, and his eye rims were red and puffy from howling and crying.

George, his eyes also red from crying, took his hand.

Lennie opened his eyes and looked at George, his golden hair covering a large purple welt on the side of his face. "What's gonna happen to me, George?" he asked, voice hoarse.

"You're gonna stay here and rest. That's what," George quickly replied.

Lennie looked worried. "With you? With you, George?"

"With me. Always you and me, Lennie."

Lennie smiled, but then he looked scared. "You ain't mad at me are ya, George?"

"No, Lennie, I ain't mad."

"You ain't gonna give me hell?"

George's face crumpled. Lennie always assumed George would yell at him whenever he did anything bad. And he did. He did give him hell. But not all the time. Never all the time.

"No, I ain't gonna give ya hell. This wasn't ya fault."

"You ain't gonna leave me are ya, George?"

"No. Never. You and me, remember, Lennie?"

At that, Lennie face's finally relaxed. He gave a small, soft sigh and laid back against the pillow.

"You'll be here with me when I wake up?" he asked, and George nodded assuringly.

"I'll be here. I'll always be here for ya, Lennie."

"'Cause I got you to look after me, but you got me to look after you, right?"

"Yeah."

Lennie closed his eyes and sighed again.

"George," he mumbled.

"Yeah, Lennie?"

"Do I still get to tend the rabbits?"

"Sure. Sure ya do."

"Different coloured rabbits like in Sacramento?"

"Sure. Whatever ya what, Lennie."

Lennie, smiling a true, genuine smile, laughed. He squeezed George's hand and laughed.

How different it was from his howls. How innocent it was.

How joyful it was for George to hear him laugh so soon after crying. After making his voice hoarse from screaming.

How unique it made him.

How delicate it made him.

He'll be crushed.

He'll be kicked.

Teased.

Laughed at.

Bullied.

All of his life.

And yet… he didn't seem to care at all. He didn't seem to notice.

As long as he'll have George with him, protecting him, he'll be fine.

But could George do that? Could he look after him all of their lives?

Could he guarantee his safety after all this happening again and again everyday?

George didn't know if he could answer that question.

But he'd try.

Oh, he'd definitely try.

Because he was his best friend.

His saviour.

His protector.

Because he was the only thing he had.

Because he loved him.

And he wasn't going to give up on him without a fight. That, you can be assured of.