First, I just want to say thank you so much for all your reviews! Right now we're just laying the ground work for the story to come, and I know it's a little overwhelming, but just wait! You'll love where this is going.

This chapter went through so many rewrites that its' not even funny. It was probably the hardest chapter to write so please review and tell me what you think.

I own nothing in this story, including That 70's show and its characters and all the vague and not so vague references I make to Alighieri, Blake and Milton, As well as Greek mythology and whatever else that might make its way in this work of fiction.

The Devil you know...

"This isn't rock and roll, this is genocide."

David Bowie, Diamond Dogs.

Hyde and V watched unseen as Jackie asked Hyde's past self be asked the question that had been haunting him for what now seemed like days. He waited on baited breath for his past self to answer. He subconsciously rubbed his wedding ring as a reminder to himself that no matter what happened here, he still had her. And then before he could hear his response, the room became dark and everything, including Jackie, his old self and V had disappeared. Darkness surrounded him. He could hear voices talking around him, talking all at once.

"V?" He shouted. "What's going on here?" The blackness seemed to envelope him, making it hard to breath. Finally, a hand seemed to come out of no where and grabbed Hyde by the shoulder.

He was now back on the deserted highway. V was still gone and Hyde found himself suddenly thirsty. He started to walk back to the gas station for something to drink when V showed up, grabbing Hyde's hand.

"What the hell was that?" Hyde yelled.

"The collective decided that you can't see the past." V said nonchalantly.

"The who?"

"The collective." V answered. "Never mind who they are, point is, they don't want you to go back, I tried to explain to them about your uh, circumstances, but they said I can't break the rules for you, so uh, here we are."

"So uh, no crazy time travel?" Hyde asked. He had to admit he felt relieved.

"Nope." V replied. "Instead, you get to walk this desolate wasteland that is your psyche and hope that you remember something soon."

"I remember what I was going to say." Hyde said hopefully.

"Back in the hospital room?" V asked.

"Yeah." Hyde cringed.

About Three Months Ago.

"Red started yelling at the doctors and the nurses to bring you back, and everyone else was crying." Hyde's past self sounded as uncomfortable as he felt.

"What about you?" Jackie asked softly.

"I… I was leaving."

Jackie turned to him. "What do you mean you were leaving?"

"I thought you were dead, I didn't see the point in staying around."

"So I was dead, so that was it? Well she's dead, might as well go home, is that it?" Jackie asked threateningly.

"No, it wasn't like that at all." The past Hyde stated, but Jackie wasn't buying it. She was now sitting up on the bed with her arms crossed, her gaze narrowed.

"Then what was it like, Steven?" Jackie asked. "Tell me."

Hyde shrugged and the all too familiar words poured out his mouth uncontrollably.

"I don't know."

"Get out." Jackie demanded, pointing to the door.

"Jackie, don't you think you're being a little overdramatic?" Hyde asked as Jackie pushed him off the bed.

"Get out!" Jackie yelled again. This time, Hyde didn't argue as he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

The Present…

V looked over at Hyde incredulously after Hyde was done telling him what he remembered. "That's the best you could come up with?"

Hyde shook his head. "Yeah, I really want to kick my own ass right now."

V stared at Hyde for a moment. "Well, you did tell her that you wouldn't be the guy who said the right thing at the right time."

Hearing his own words thrown back into his face made the whole thing even worse. He knew he had said the wrong thing back there, but he couldn't help but feel a tad bit resentful. Jackie knew Hyde was bad at expressing himself.

"I'm still not sure why Jackie flipped out at me."

"Yeah, women." V muttered sarcastically.

"I mean it though, I know what I said was dumb, but you'd think she'd be just a little more understanding."

V stared at Hyde incredulously. "I swear I'm this close to leaving your ass here to rot. She spent the day getting mentally poked and prodded by a guy who keeps reminding her of her death, which for anyone else would be annoying, but for Jackie…the point is, there are things that are occurring in Jackie's world right now that, pardon the expression, suck major ass, and all she wanted was for you to tell her that you were scared when you thought she was dead."

"So what, she thinks I wasn't?"

V threw his arms in the air. "That's it, I'm leaving. Find your own way back." He started to walk away.

"No, wait." Hyde called after him. V paused but didn't turn around.

"I really didn't mean that." Hyde continued, "And I get it, I should have said something else here, but obviously I made up for it somehow, and that's what's important right?"

"You're an idiot." Was all V could say.

Hyde knew it was true. He had no right to put any of this on Jackie. "How bad is it?" He finally asked.

"Jackie's lucky she has someone who's looking after her."

"Me?"

"You? Hell no, I'm talking about Donna. What are you doing right now? Oh right, you're here, with me. Good job on that."

"Were you this sarcastic with Jackie?" Hyde asked. More now than ever, he wanted to know what Jackie had gone through in her 'dream'.

"Jackie was easier to deal with." V replied flippantly.

"Now that I don't believe." Hyde said skeptically. "I bet Jackie was even more freaked out than I am."

"Actually, she was quiet calm about the whole thing, well, for the most part."

"What do you mean, for the most part?" Hyde asked. He was now even thirstier than before. "Damn, I could really drink some water."

V handed him a canteen filled with water. "Drink that."

Hyde took a sip of the cool water and handed the canteen back to V. "What do you mean, for the most part?" He asked again.

"I can't tell you about that." V told him. "But you'll experience it soon enough, you always do."

Hyde knew that when V said you, he wasn't just talking about Hyde. V even walked like Forman for crap's sake, and seeing him look at him with such distain wasn't making things any easier.

"You really hate me don't you?"

V shook his head. "I don't hate you, it's not who I am."

"And who, exactly are you?" Hyde questioned.

V shrugged. "I could ask you the very same question. Do you even know who you are anymore? Think about it, you have no memory of the last three months, you're invisible to your friends, and you're here, with me… again, I implore you to tell me who you are?"

Hyde took a deep breath. "Uh, I'm Steven Hyde."

"That's your name yes, but who are you?"

"Steven Hyde."

"Who are you?"

"Hyde."

"I didn't ask you your stupid name, I asked who you are!" V shouted in Hyde's face.

"Well I don't know what you want me to say!" Hyde shouted back.

"Tell me who the fuck you are!"

Hyde shook his head and stepped back. He felt like he was Alice and he was arguing with the caterpillar.

"You know this." V said softly. "Come on."

Something inside Hyde felt like it was about to break. He no longer wanted to be stuck in this world where there was no one except an arrogant jerk who treated him like crap. If he wanted that, he'd just go find Edna or Bud. All he wanted to do was go home and be with Jackie.

Jackie. Her face popped into his head, smiling at him like he was the greatest thing in the world, but he knew she was wrong. He wasn't great. He was a screw up, just like Edna had predicted.

Hyde ran over to the side of the road and threw up in the grass. After he was done, he looked up at V who, for the first time since he had met him, was smiling sincerely.

V walked over and extended his hand out to Hyde.

"Come on." V said to him. "We've still got a long way to go."

Hyde took his hand and let himself be pulled up.

"But what about what you asked me?"

V smiled. "It's okay, there's still plenty of time to figure that out. You'll see."

They walked down the highway, the gas station was no longer in view and the sun was coming up from beyond the horizon. Soon enough, Hyde began to talk. He told V about his childhood, about growing up with Edna and Bud, about all the times Bud ran out on them, about the time's Edna ran out, of when he almost left with the punk girl Chrissy, about the Formans and how they were there for him when no one else was. He told them about his friends, Eric, Donna, Kelso and Fez. Finally, he told V about Jackie. Hyde knew that V knew everything already, especially the part about Jackie, but it felt good to talk about it anyway. After years of being closed off to everyone, talking about his life was almost cathartic.

"She's the one who got me to meet my real dad you know."

V grinned. "Let me guess, she nagged you until you did it."

"And when I said okay, she shut the hell up."

They both laughed. "So tell me about what happened with her." Hyde requested.

To Hyde's shock and dismay, that's exactly what V started to do. At first, Hyde could barely believe it, but then he remembered where he was, and knew he had no right to judge. It made total sense that Jackie was a princess, lost and trying to find her way through the big black woods. Hyde listened to the story intently, only interrupting to ask a question here and there.

"You said she rescued my soul right?"

V nodded. "Yeah, she was supposed to just remember, decide to live or die and then that would be it, but not Jackie, once she learned that her precious prince was in trouble; that was it. Nothing I said would convince her to just go home."

"And she really told Cinderella to fuck off?"

"Not in so many words, but yeah." V replied, laughing proudly. "She's a real spitfire."

Hyde stopped walking. He stared at the back of V's head as V continued to walk before V finally stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" V asked as he turned around.

"You're in love with her." Hyde accused. It wasn't the first time Hyde had made the accusation, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

V looked at him sharply. "You really don't get it do you? Do you know how many girls just like Jackie I've had to guide? They come and they go and that's it. I do my job and they choose whether they want to live or die and I'm not a part of it except to make sure they know their choices, but her… she changed everything."

Hyde couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, she does that."

"So maybe I am in love with her, but not in the way you're thinking."

"But you don't want her with me, is that it?"

V shook his head and gave Hyde a look that told him he was being an idiot. "No, I do, because you're what makes her happy. You're the one she chose. So remember that the next time."

Hyde suddenly felt very foolish. "Sorry."

The two began walking again. "So um, why was Jackie's dream or whatever it was you know, different?"

"You mean less boring?" V asked.

"I guess."

V shrugged. "I told you, the person chooses where they go. I mean, it's all the same place of course, but we rarely tell you that. We certainly didn't tell Jackie."

"So she has no idea she was really in hell?"

V made a face of disgust. "You think this is hell? No, Hell is… no, you'd know hell if you were there, trust me."

"Ah, I just always figured Hell would be a lousy place with nothing to do." Hyde joked.

V smiled but then shook his head. "Purgatory, the place in between, for those who are still… see, all around you are other souls who are trying to find their way, and just like you, they're being guided by people like me. You can't see or hear them and they can't see or hear you, but they're there. Some will live, some will die, and yes, some might go to hell, where they will spend the rest of their existence living a life of boring monotony and florescent lighting."

"But I thought you said I wasn't dead or in a coma."

"You're not." V answered. "Congratulations, you're the first actual living, breathing, flesh and bone body that has ever come here. We're thinking about making you a cake."

Hyde crossed his arms. "What does that mean?"

"You'll get your own holiday." V said. "It means we need to get you home as soon as possible." "But don't worry, as long as you don't eat any pomegranates, you'll be okay."

Hyde stared blankly at V's joke.

"Pomegranate? Persephone and Hades? Oh for the love of God, read a book sometime, because that was freaking funny."

Hyde closed his eyes, ignoring V's remark about Hyde's lack of a sense of humor. He knew the only way to get home was to remember, but the memories were still eluding him.

"Don't try to remember everything all at once." V suggested. "Do you still remember that day Jackie and the rest of them left?"

"Yeah." Hyde answered. "Uh, I had been working that day."

The memory came to him in a sudden rush, hitting him like a tidal wave after a storm and hurting him just as much. He fell to his knees with his head in his hands as he did his best not to scream.

"I guess I should have warned you about that." V shrugged indifferently.

Hyde looked up at V with one eye. "You mean that's going to happen every time I remember something?" He felt like someone had just whacked him on the back of the head with a hammer.

"What was it?" V asked.

"Uh, um, it was um, this guy."

"That's helpful."

"He was wearing a grey suit, and he was in the record store."

"Tell me about him."

A little over three months ago.

The record store was quiet at two pm on a Wednesday afternoon. Hyde sat on his stool by the cash register reading the latest Rolling Stone Magazine, Leo was on his usual spot on the couch. He knew that in an hour, Donna and Fez would show up and the three would go visit Jackie at the hospital, leaving Leo and the new employee, Cara, in charge for the rest of the day.

And then the man in the grey suit walked in. He looked out of place in a record store, let alone one owned by Hyde. Something about him made Hyde on edge, but he ignored it, thinking it was just his hatred of "the man."

"Can I help you?" Hyde asked.

The man in the grey suit cocked an all white smile at Hyde and ran his hand through his thick blonde hair. "I am, I'm looking for Sympathy for the Devil."

Hyde nodded. Even though the man was far too dressed up for Hyde's own tastes, he had to admit the man knew good music.

"It's in the rock section." Hyde pointed to the direction of the Rolling Stones. "Beggars Banquet."

"Thanks." The man smiled at Hyde and walked over to where Hyde was pointing. Hyde nodded and turned back to his magazine.

"Do you have any Tommy Johnson?" The man asked, making Hyde look back up from his magazine.

Hyde shook his head. "If we did, it'd be in the blues section."

"They say he sold his soul to the devil." The man spoke softly, almost in a caress.

"Yeah, the things we do for fame." Hyde chuckled.

"You look like a man who would strike a deal with the devil for the right price."

Hyde tried to hide his nervousness. "Well, I don't think I'd sell my soul for the ability to play the guitar." He joked.

The man quirked his lip up. "No, I don't think you would either."

Hyde raised his eyebrow. "So, about that record."

"Keep it." The silver haired man replied with a slight hiss. "I much prefer Paganini."

The present, whatever that means.

"That was only the first time he came around… so uh, he's important right?"

V gave a slight nod. "Yeah."

"Shit, so um, I guess I need to remember more right?"

V grinned. "Just keep walking, maybe if we're lucky we'll come across a dragon you can slay."

"You've slain a dragon before?" Hyde asked incredulously.

"Pfft." V shrugged. "Who hasn't?"

Hyde shrugged. He really didn't want to know the answer to that question.

"It is rather ironic that he'd ask you if you'd sell your soul." V said after awhile. "You know, given that you had."

"Yeah about that, I'm like, whole again right?"

V tried not to laugh but failed. "You're invisible to everyone but me, and you're asking if you're whole? Yes, yes, you're totally and completely whole."

"A no would have sufficed." Hyde argued. He ran up to V and two started walking down the highway again.

"So uh, what's up with pomegranates?"

V patted Hyde on the back. "Well, once upon a time, there was this beautiful maiden who happened to be the daughter of the goddess Demeter…"

This will be the last chapter for awhile that deals with Hyde being in Purgatory. The next chapter will be going back in the past and will be Donna centric, and very important. The more reviews I get, the faster it'll be put up.