A/N: hey guys! i think i officially suck at regular updates :( sorry, guys. this chapter is a lot shorter than the other ones...but it's kinda there for a reason. I'm guessing it'll all make sense as the story progresses. anyway - please read, review, comment, etc! And thanks for all the reviews I've received so far :)

Disclaimer: i don't own LWD

It was well into midnight. Not a soul stirred. There was a heavy feeling to the darkened atmosphere, an ominous sensation to the suspiciously quiet neighborhood. The moon was full and bright, a silvery contrast to the inky-black sky. The stars were pinpricks of white, scattered unorganized across the heavens. The orange glows of the street lamps, with the exception of the moon and the stars, were the only light source. Or so one would think upon first glance of the street.

Nearly all the beautiful houses were darkened as their inhabitants dozed peacefully. One house had a dull yellowing glow in what looked to be one of the bedroom windows. If a stranger happened to be passing this street right now, they would be struck with curiosity, wondering what the individual was doing up there at such an odd hour. They might think that whoever lived in that bedroom was studying late into the night, or hard at work on a project. Or they might reason the inhabitant was doing a bit of bedtime-reading.

All of their reasonings would be wrong, because the person who lived in that particular house, in that particular bedroom, wasn't thinking about his growing schoolwork at all - in fact, that was the last thing on his mind. He was busy in his room, planning dark things, his mind on overdrive. He was busy thinking through strategies that would involve pain for the recipient of his plans- and a lot of it, too.

He stared at his shaking fingers, anger bellowing up inside of him like an uncontrollable fire. His messy hair was messier than usual, his eyes bore holes into his hands, and he was experiencing a state of flow that would have made psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi very proud.

Unknown to him and outside his bedroom, a younger boy was hesitating, his knuckles mere nanometers away from the dreaded door. The boy took a deep breath, calming is aching heart, and gulped. All right, Ed, he told himself. It's now or never. And "never" was not an option for Ed, for he knew that he could get into a hell of a lot of trouble if he chickened out. It was best to face the music and get it over with. Pain for him would be limited, as his parents were still asleep, which would mean that The Secret Meeting would have to be very quiet.

Ed sighed, prayed to the God Almighty of Idiotic Cowards (like him), and knocked. He winced, bracing himself for It.

"Come in," a gruff voice snarled.

Ed peered open the door cautiously so as not to make too much of a sound, and entered. It took his eyes a while to adjust to the light, and when he could see again, he was staring at him.

He was scary - especially scary at twelve fifteen in the morning. He was glaring at Ed. He was more powerful that any other man Ed had ever met in his already short-lived life. He...

...opened his mouth and said, "I need you to go through with it."

Ed felt as though the wind had just been very quietly knocked out of his very being. "What?" he asked, abashed. And fervent. And now even more scared than ever.

"You heard me," Derek replied calmly. "Operation Save-My-Ass is now officially put to use. You know what to do. We've talked about this before."

Edwin took a deep breath. "Derek, come on, don't you think it's a bit - ?"

"Risky?" Derek interrupted shortly. "Hell yes, I do. But you know what, Edwin? Risky is my middle name."

"Actually it's Maynerd," Edwin muttered in an undertone.

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing, sir."

"I want you to get started with the...essentials, let's call it. We'll work from there. I just thought I'd let you know. Now leave just as quietly as you came in." Derek turned around until the back of his computer chair was facing Edwin - a sign that he had just dismissed Edwin. A sign that he no longer wished to carry on this conversation. A sign that Edwin was raving mad to open his mouth and say, "But, Derek!" in that weak protesting voice that Derek loathed.

Derek wheeled back around again, his eyes narrow slits. A danger sign. "Did you not understand what I just said?" he asked coldly.

"I-I did," Edwin stammered. Come on, man, pull yourself together - Derek's just your brother. Besides, he can't hurt you without waking up Dad and Nora. Feeling slightly more relieved, Edwin continued, "I just don't think this plan is going to work."

Derek rolled his eyes. "You leave that sort of worrying to me. Now go."

"But..."

"Edwin!" Derek growled softly. "Leave. Now."

"Derek - "

In one fluid motion, Derek jumped to his feet, grabbed Edwin by the collar of his shirt, opened the door, and shoved him out. He then proceeded to very very quietly shut the door, leaving Edwin to blink in the darkness.

Edwin sighed again, convinced this plan of his Derek's was going to lead both of them right into the pit of hot water amid flesh-craving crocodiles, but aware that he was powerless to stop his determined and stubborn older brother.

God save me.