Author's Note: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I don't think any of you realize how much your comments have changed my week. I've been having a serious stress issue lately, and school is slaughter (luckily, I'm on break). Let's pray this means updates. If things work out well enough over winter break, I may be able to update every few days! How does that sound to you guys? Yay! Or Nay? And plus, all of you Jack fans are gonna hate me for this! I'm tearing at his heart's strings even more in this one. Ah, Roger sure does make things wonderful! OH! And flashbacks are italicized like so.

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Chapter Seven

The clouds in the rather dim sky cracked into veins of light. A puddled England street glimmered from the heavenly gift, though one spot in particular kept a bleak setting. Three figures stood in awkward silence as eyes glanced in several directions. One cleared his throat out of the sake of embarrassment, another retreating his hands within the confines of his sleeves, making sure they hid their shaking. Only one had the audacity to speak up amidst the strange silence.

"Hello? Ralph? Jack?" Angela swayed back and forth between the two, trying to catch a glimmer of expression on either face. To her frustration, each time she could sneak a look, the other pair of eyes would turn. "What's going on? What aren't you telling me?!" She demanded in a whinier tone with a childish glare. She rushed back to her silent boyfriend and hung herself around his neck. Ralph clenched his teeth together as if to keep words from spilling out. He turned his head down just a bit to get a better view of his own neck.

There it lay, a lovebite the size of a quarter. The shades of red and deep purple blended together with another lover's pride and affection. Just as it seemed Angela was close to noticing it, Ralph quickly whipped a hand to shield it. "R…RALPH! What was that?!" She hollered, clinging to his fingers. "Wh…What are you talking about…?" His hesitant manner of speaking only caused her hands to clench tighter around his, their knuckles both turning a ghostly white.

All the while, a speechless choir boy knew not what to say. All he could do was take in everything through the sky of his eyes. He was powerless in this situation. He didn't matter anymore. "Oh my god Ralph, is this some kind of hickey?! What were you doing while I was out looking for you?!" The delicate girl who stood between them seemed to melt away with an envious rage at the thought of what he could have POSSIBLY been doing. "I…uh…" Ralph looked at Jack, tearing himself apart with the truth and what sounded right. To his surprise, the red head braved a smile, shrugging his shoulders coolly. Almost as though he was saying he himself didn't care.

"It's…just a bruise. I slipped in the church and hit my neck…on a bench…" Clearly, a lame excuse, and nothing could have sounded stupider…She can't really…"Why didn't you say so Ralph? You scared me!" Angela worriedly wrapped her arm around Ralph's again and pulled him in the other direction. "I hope you find your friend Jack! I'm sorry I have to go so soon!" She called behind her shoulder, too preoccupied with Ralph's 'injury' to further acknowledge the confounded Jack. He stood with his mouth slightly open, watching Ralph disappear from his sights again. For some strange reason, it felt like it would be the last time they would ever meet…

"Goodbye," he whispered softly and lifted his hand as if to wave the air around him away. A few times, he did spin around his wrist in hopes of clearing the clouded vision around his eyes. No matter how many times Jack whisked his hand this way or that way, a murky miasma enveloped his eyes. "Crying again…?" His shameful eyes burned of salty water even though he fought them. The shivers of his hands never stopped and now protruded from his coat sleeves to comfort his contracting stomach. Some higher power seemed to be dealing out blows in any open spot Jack had. Nausea swept over him at every angle until he gave way to the ground. I can't stand this anymore…

Water droplets hung along the window pane of a decaying factory. They gingerly crawled down the glass to listen to the single voice speaking in the dusty workshop. Inside, Roger lay on a conveniently placed water bed with his long legs stretching towards the hanging lights. He chuckled as he listened to a muffled voice speak to him on the phone. His toes flexed up and down repeatedly in sheer happiness over what he was being told. "You really came through for me this time. I guess I owe you a lot now, don't I?"

A finger twirled itself around a messy curl, quickly unwrapping itself. Each time, it sprung up back into the vines of his jungle like hair. His lips grew wider in a grin, pushing back the springs of black against his face. "Yes, I know what I'm doing. I'm really good at it, too. Better than you even, so don't worry. You just focus on taking care of that idiot until I have time to, okay? Thanks. Bye!" Bursting with a new vigor, Roger slammed down the phone and jumped into the air. "I can't believe this! I'm so excited! I get to act! I've always wanted to!"

His tanned feet ground themselves into the quilted blanket below him. A small shriek came from his mouth, and he seemed unlike himself. Letting himself fall back, Roger grabbed hold of a stuffed animal that had been carefully placed on the headboard of the bed. He then sat it before him and critically pulled on the sides of its bow to make them even. While he did this odd chore, he spoke a few words to his 'companion'. "Josef, I get to act again! Jack shouldn't disobey me and now he's gonna get punished!" The head of the lifeless animal flopped backwards in the direction of a rusted pair of chains attached to the ends of the bed.

Roger rolled his dark eyes behind the shade of his bangs and curled into a ball around his friend. "What are you talking about Josef? Sex doesn't help anyone in a time like this!" A silence grew after that and the two eyes stared at each other as if they spoke in a way no one understood. The other moving person in the room was almost able to sneak past Roger's radar, but the squeak of wet shoes perked the sadist's ears and he immediately shot up. "YOU'RE BACK!"

Jack pressed himself into a concrete wall in shock, catching the toy that flew at him. "Roger! Did I wake you…?" He winced hesitantly as the cool support crept up his back. Roger remained silent for a moment, rising to his hands and knees. While he wobbled against the waves of the bed, dots began forming against his skin. These goose bumps coaxed a few child like sounds from Roger's throat, tears coming to his eyes. "Jack," whimpered the newly frightened image, much to the choir boy's anxiousness. His knees lost strength and crashed into the ground. What's wrong with him? This isn't…right.

"Jack I had that dream again…and you weren't there when I woke up so I thought you…you…" The tanned boy quivered before looking directly at Jack. "You left me again! Like before!" Before… Jack was already on his feet before he knew what he was doing. Chains around his heart seemed to be drawing him nearer to the parallel version of Roger who had started screaming at the top of his lungs. Rather than his usual monstrous howls that shattered bravery, they only brought shards of ache into the hearts of those forced to listen.

Kneeling unsteadily on the jiggling mattress, the stunned red head could only try to calm Roger down. Each time he started to speak, another disheartened sob interrupted him. It seemed nothing could be helped. Roger was turning out to be like…Ralph…N…No I can't let this happen anymore! "R…Roger! Please!" Jack cried as he turned over the limp being into his arms. The curls in the front of his face fell sideways, opening Roger's eyes in full view. The black orbs glistened against the hung lighting in a way that made them look like two hidden pearls deep beneath a murky sand. "Please stop crying…"

"I can't! You were gone and my chest…" Roger breathed, sitting up a little so his arms could fly around the sides of Jack's neck. "My chest started hurting again. Remember why?" Roger's fingers trickled leisurely until they'd met with Jack's. "Roger w…" "It hurts still," he groaned, threading their hands together. A heat began radiating into Jack's freckles, darkening his face against his weak protesting. The power he had over Roger never existed, and in no time, his hands were between the thin fabric of Roger's shirt and his bare chest. His hands jumped slightly as they ran over a course patch of skin above the heart. "It's still there. You remember, don't you?"

"Boys, please calm down. We're only here to help you. Just come with us, and you'll be alright," stated the apprehensive soldier as he watched the tears flow from every savage in sight. Only one remained dry. "NO! Don't defend that traitor! Let me kill him now! NOW!" The attention turned to Roger whose spear was raised high into the air, his eyes reflecting the flame that had caught a nearby tree. "GIVE HIM TO ME NOW!" On the other side of the chaos, Ralph nestled his own arms together, gasping for air. "STOP IT!"

As if overtaken by the very beast they slaughtered, the suntanned warriors charged towards a dazed Ralph. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Ordered an armed soldier, his gloved hand doing little to sway the attackers. Jack, who had hung back, shielded his face from the burning sun that cast a shadow over those who he had been controlling this whole time. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he looked upon the footprints taking up the sand and saw a strange gleam from the head soldier's hand. "ROGER! ROG…"

The smell of gunpowder drew out a ribbon of blood that dyed the white sands of the beach. A hole exploded into the ground behind Roger and he froze. The other children screamed in terror, rushing in the opposite direction. Ralph clung to the officer he'd been with for the time being and grew weaker with each passing moment. Jack could feel a single drop of sweat pass down his sunburned cheek in slow motion. Roger seemed surrounded in a circle of embers raining down from God's holy hand. His hand held tightly over his heart in an attempt to stop the rush of ruby from leaving his thin body. The wind tipped him sideways and he was forced to view the other boys being rounded up like the boars they hunted. They were scared and wild, and no one understood what was going on. Were they going to leave him?

"ROGER!" The same desperate voice that screamed for him before was now beside him. Jack's callused hands pressed against Roger's until the blood slowed its travel. "You have to hang on a bit longer! COME ON ROGER!" The choir boy continued to beg over the buzzing that had begun in Roger's ears. His coal black eyes began to roll in all directions, towards the flames, the fear, the friend...

"HEY YOU! GET OVER HERE!" Roger saw Jack snap his head as a barrage of suited men rushed towards him. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Jack bellowed gruffly, lowering to the ground as a predator does when it pounces. Roger's blood seeped from between his fingers into the sand, disappearing like nothing was never there. "J…Jack…" The ruffian was forced to watch a soldier take Jack down with a swift kick to his ribcage, landing him on top of Roger as though he would have protected him anyway. The last thing seen was a small trail of blood fall from Jack's lips as he gave a weak smile to his collaborator. "It's okay Roger…I got you…" The blood seemed to mix into the pool forming around Roger's exposed wound all on its own, but the two couldn't grip their consciousness long enough to find out… "Goodbye island…"

"Goodbye island," Roger whispered in a voice that showed how clearly unstable he was. "Jack is gonna forget you. Jack's gonna forget EVERYTHING!" His small frame slithered back into a ball in Jack's lap, his face digging into the wet fabric of Jack's coat. "I won't…I won't forget anything. Why would you think that…?" Jack asked even though he wished he hadn't. His breath escaped in a huff as Roger dug his fist into the already weak stomach Jack was trying to cover. "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID WITH RALPH!"

The room grew quiet after Roger's short rant ended. A series of cries returned the sound once again and Roger shot Jack a hard stare. "FINE! Fine," he suddenly mumbled, shutting his eyes to gather up his strength. "You have a choice. You can go after Ralph like I think you want to…or you can still stay and help me. I won't make you stay and I won't beg you anymore…I just want to see you happy…" He ended his short speech with a kiss on each of Jack's knuckles. That was all.

Jack sat for a moment, his eyes unfocusing the longer he thought. Roger was making promises, but was this really Roger? Could the helpless creature clinging to him really be the one who'd chained him to the very bed he kneeled upon? Jack rubbed the throbbing bite that blemished his otherwise colorless shoulder. "I…" The last words Ralph stoically claimed earlier repeated relentlessly in the back of Jack's unsure mind.

"You've known me for a long time Jack. This shouldn't be so hard. You know I'm not…that kind of person. I was caught up and didn't know what I was doing…and I regret what happened…so…let's end it here. It's safer that way, for you, and for me."

He pressed his cross against his lips and took one last deep breath. God please guide me towards the right decision. I must forget what pain and misfortune has occurred. Please help me to move on…

"I made promises too Roger and I said I would help you," he began while tucking the stuffed animal Roger had thrown between his hands. "I shouldn't have betrayed you like I did today. I'm sorry…I'm not going to leave you as long as you need me." Roger contently snuggled into Jack's embrace, the shiver leaving his body instantly. "That makes me happy Jack…so VERY very happy…" As Roger pressed closer into Jack's hold, a carnivorous smile crossed his face and a bloodthirsty look flashed in his eyes. Thank you so very much…

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Author's Note: Yes, Roger is quite an actor. UGH! This chapter was really hard for me for some reason. I just haven't written well in a very long time. Anyway, Roger is probably my favorite character to work on in this because of how evil he can be. He's really childish though, since he keeps a stuffed animal (picture Kon from Bleach!). I named it Josef after Josef Stalin. I have a feeling Roger would love those types of people, so I went there. I have a whole story about the name, but I don't wanna waste time telling it! Anywho, I hope you semi liked the chapter and ideas and thoughts are appreciated! I'm contemplating revealing more about what happened between Jack and Roger on the boat to London (after Roger was shot), but I'm not sure. If you do comment, please tell me if you'd like to see this! It would help my decision a lot!

THANK YOU!