Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the story idea and only some of the witty remarks. I own so little; so please don't steal.

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When Eric opens his eyes, he is aware that his head is throbbing. He can't remember ever having the effects of a migraine being so painful. He feels as if someone had physically entered his head and decided to throw some tacks and pins into his brain. Trying to blink the fading pain away, he tries to think how he ended up on his couch in a place he can't really place.

"You're awake."

Eric jumps, his head shooting up from the couch and resuming its round of throbbing. The speaker is a dark boy sitting a distance away from him, hunched over in his seat watching him. Eric searches his head frantically for some sort of explanation. Where is Sam? He never goes anywhere without Sam.

"I guess you want to know to know where you are."

Eric brings his arm behind him to support him, as the throbbing is making him a little light-headed. He winces and realizes there's an awful bruise on his arm – looking at it, he remembers a little bit. This boy who looks at him like his next meal had come up to them as they were walking back home. They had wanted to walk around him but suddenly the boy had grabbed him (and made this bruise, whoa). He had tried to fight him off, and so had Sam.

"All you need to know is that you're under the care of the Lord of the Flies."

The boy had done a very good keeping Sam away and had knocked the wind out of his brother. Eric was about to return the favor when suddenly, his head was locked in a vice grip from something he could not see. Stars that could not be blinked away filled his sight and the hand around his arm was pulling him along until he could not keep conscious from the pain.

"Your parents will be warned not to contact the authorities. Not that that would matter; the Lord would have that problem taken care of in that case."

"Who are you?" Eric managed to croak out. The window next to the couch explained they were in one of the high-rises he had seen in the city, but he could not tell exactly which one. He did not know if they were still on The Island. The room looked like a waiting room of sorts, with soft chairs and a table with an innocent vase. He might have thought he was in a hospital, except there was a cold atmosphere surrounding the very building. "Where am I?"

The boy did not respond for a while, and Eric had started to give up getting an answer when in a low voice, came, "This is the Lord's headquarters."

"Who?"

"The Lord of the Flies," the boy said bluntly, before closing down the inquiry. "Roger," he adds, when Eric opens his mouth to ask his name again. "I've been charged to keep you in line."

"What do you want me here for?" Eric asked, feeling the need to shrink into the corner of the couch. He supposes he could try for the door, but Roger looks like he could stop him before he got there. Something about the dark boy is dangerous, Eric knows. He has to weigh his options carefully. He has to make Roger off guard.

"Bait," Roger says, calculating as he watches Eric over folded hands. "We will use you to lure out your brother."

"If you wanted Sam too, why didn't you take him with you?" Eric shot. His head is starting to ache again, and he tries to turn away from the setting sun outside the window, but it doesn't seem dependant on light.

"It's not about your brother, but the company he will keep. The Lord knows that he will be in contact with a certain individual that we must dispose of. You will lure him out and we will destroy him before he destroys the city."

Eric is about to ask why he doesn't use the police to arrest the person in question, but he knows almost instinctively that Roger and the aforementioned Lord probably aren't working in condition with the law. After all, they would not have kidnapped him if they were. He does not know what he had gotten into, and he doesn't care to know. He must act now. He makes a movement to swing a leg off the couch and get a running start.

Just the twitch makes his head explode and Eric cries out, clutching at his temples. Wild fire and ringing invades and attacks his head. Roger stands and walks over to him, looking amused and self-satisfied. "I wouldn't try and escape if I were you," he said gravely, squatting next to Eric to get a look at his pain-stricken face. "I can really make you hurt."

He wants to send out a telepathic message to Sam for help but he can't even formulate any words, the flaring pain is so intense. The way Roger watches him, he knows the boy is making it hurt more for kicks. There's a sadistic smile on his lips and the pain gets white hot. He has to stop it someway. He doesn't think he has the strength to lash out; his knees feel like jelly at the moment.

He must go for the surprise factor. And there is one way to do it. Eric summons all the strength he can muster through the torture and leans forward to kiss Roger. Roger's focus is broken and Eric sighs in relief when he feels the hurt subside. He collapses back on the couch, trying to rub the remnants of the mental attack away. Roger looks at him, unreadable.

"Do that again."

Eric looks at him incredulously. "No!" he says, because this captor is bat-shit crazy and it wasn't like he kissed him because he wanted to. But Roger frowns and the smarting is back, beating into Eric's head like a rough drum. So when Roger descends on him, Eric lets him kiss him, and opens his mouth obediently when Roger bites him.

[=]

"So let me get this straight," Jack says, struggling to keep up with Simon, who apparently had an annoying habit of skipping every other step while walking. That, paired with the habit of making him cancel his morning and afternoon classes and threatening to report him on charges of indecency and sexual relations with a minor if he refused, made this Simon character that Jack still did not really know all the more irritating. "You can foresee the future."

"To an extent, yes." He turned in mid air, nearly colliding with a man coming in his direction on the sidewalk. The streets were relatively packed for ten o' clock in the morning. Simon's shoes, worn and faded, slapped the pavement in an even beat as Jack quickened his pace to avoid losing Simon in the crowd. He did not envision the city as the ideal spot to be discussing their powers or whatever Simon wanted to discuss with him. "I see it in sleep and sometimes in faints."

"And this has something to do with me how…?"

Simon's smile, if possible, grew wider. "Why not? If you can see what's happened to something just by touching it, why shouldn't we meet?" Jack opened his mouth and Simon interjected before he could get a word out. "And make out and go the full monty, et cetera, et cetera." No one passing them bothered to give them a second look; in all other standards, they are just a pair of ordinary teenagers mucking around and skipping school. "Likes should attract likes, right?"

"I think it goes opposites attract," Jack said darkly.

"That logic also applies to us, I think." Jack really wished Simon would just crash into someone already. He refused to believe anyone had such luck that by skipping backwards, they managed to avoid moving bodies they weren't actually looking at. But then again, with the way Simon was skillfully maneuvering himself, he had probably already seen this scenario.

"Cut the crap, kid. Tell me what you're up to."

Simon cocked his head, finally pivoting on his heel before falling into step with Jack. "Alright, I'll level with you. It's not something I can freely discuss, though. I think he might have eyes and ears everywhere." Before Jack can ask anything about who the obscure pronoun he is, Simon pulls him into a side street, where there are relatively less bodies roaming around. The atmosphere around Simon changed; glancing around, he shoved his hands in his pockets and started.

"A couple months ago, I had these really awful nightmares that kept me up all the time. It was always the same thing. The Island on fire, and I was trying to get away but I just couldn't. There was always some way of dying I kept falling into. I was always afraid that it would happen the next day so I could never focus right. There's that feeling, you know, that lets you know it's not just a dream. I wasn't just being afraid of fire. Everything was gone.

"There was always this figure I could never shake. This man in a black suit, just standing over the city, watching as it was destroyed. I don't know who he is; but the strangest thing was that instead of a human head, he had this grotesque pig's head. He had this horrible laugh that would ring in my ears long after I'd woken up. I have a feeling this guy's the cause of the destruction of the Island, but I can't find anything out about him.

"Recently, I've been dreaming about other people too…I saw you in a dream of mine. Whenever I tried to delve deeper into who you people were, I never ran into the fire again. So, analytically, I concluded that if I found all of you, I could stop the whole destruction apocalypse thing from happening."

Jack turns to him, looking skeptical. "So this is just what you speculate?"

"When you can see the future, you take these feelings very seriously," Simon insists, nodding feverishly. "I wouldn't have come to seek you out if I didn't think there was any merit behind my hunch." There is a silent I probably wouldn't have slept with you either that he doesn't voice and Jack feels a little irritated at being reminded. All this strange information is making his head buzz.

Apparently, Simon can hear inside his head too. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"That buzzing." Simon scans their surroundings, slowing down slightly. They have made their way deep into the alleyway and Jack thinks they probably won't be able to get anywhere fast with all the trashcans and stray cats around them. But Simon continues looking around carefully. "We've got to go," he says, his pace suddenly quickening.

"Why?"

"Don't ask question, just come on!" His next step hits the ground running and Jack follows him, quickening to a gallop. He hears the buzzing again and it sounds somewhere above their heads. He looks up around them and sees a floating disc stalking them. "Don't look at them!" Simon shouts. "Just keep running!"

Them? As Jack blinks, he sees that there are several discs following the first one. Their metallic color flashes in the light coming from around them. There are little lights on them that flash periodically. Jack doesn't know what they are, but he has a feeling he shouldn't stick around to find out.

When they burst out the alleyway, they find themselves on a road alongside the river that cuts through the city. Simon turns sharply and runs down the road, barely stopping to apologize to the few people around for running into them. Jack quickly catches up to him and glances around his shoulders. The shapes are tight on their trail.

"I don't think we can just outrun them," Jack calls. "They look like trackers."

"What choice do we have?" Simon cries, breathless. As they pass an outdoor café, Jack seizes something off one of the empty tables and throws it behind him. The flying glass is dodged by one of the shapes, but the water that flies out splashes over one of its partners. The disc fizzes unhappily and wobbles in the air as if drunk.

"Water!" Jack yells, and grabs Simon's hand and veers them onto the road and down the slant and to the river. "They won't follow us here!"

"Ah, but-"

Jack pulls them both into the river just as one of the discs sends an electric shock at their heads. He feels Simon struggle next to him and he navigates them into the shadow of a nearby bridge before the thrashing next to him makes me resurface. "What?"

"I can't swim!" Simon gasps, clutching at him helplessly. "My mother wouldn't let me near the water since I was prone to faints!" The disks are searching overhead for them and Jack knows it won't be long until they find them hiding under the bridge. He looks around as Simon catches his breath, holding to him around his neck. Simon's eyelashes, dripping with river water, are close to his face but Jack sees a nearby pipe. Mapping out its course with his knowledge of the city, he knows it will empty out into a nearby branching off of the river. At the moment, it is mostly underwater. He figures it must be at least a minute or so of quick swimming to get by. The discs don't see them yet.

"Do you trust me?" he asks quietly. Simon's eyes flash and Jack sees uncertainty there, but the boy nods slowly. "Take a deep breath; we're going through that pipe." Simon looks and he frantically turns to Jack. "It won't be long, I promise. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and hold onto me, okay?"

Simon's face is terrified but he nods again and takes a deep breath as Jack starts swimming toward the pipe. The movement alerts the discs and they aim a spark at them. The water makes Jack's skin tingle but he feels Simon holding onto him tightly and kicks into the pipe. The current makes them move quicker, but Jack feels Simon squirm next to him. It is dark, but a straightforward path; Jack shoots them both into the clear water again and surfaces, inhaling deeply. The discs have not followed them.

Simon is white and he is shivering in the water. Jack swims them both to the shore, where they sit at the river's edge. Simon runs his hand over his face and shakes the water from his hair.

"What have you gotten me into," Jack says flatly before Simon can say anything. The boy looks nervous for a second before laughing. Jack ignores him and shakes his hair out, feeling his wet clothes cling to his body uncomfortably. He is going to have to explain to his dorm mates why he smells like fish.

"Thank you," Simon says, squeezing water out of the loose parts of his clothing. "If it were just me, I'd…"

Someone running by distracts him and they both look up to the road. A frantic blonde boy spots them and calls out. "You've got to help me! Some thug just kidnapped my brother!"

[=]

The Lord of the Flies summons Roger to his office and lets the young man stand before his desk as he looks over the map of The Island. "How is our captive?"

"Submissive," Roger says, thinking of when he stopped kissing Eric, the boy flushed and pushed him away. "He is easy to manipulate, I think."

"I hope so. He must call out his twin and draw out that seer. Without the seer, those rebels won't know what to do and we can pick them out one by one." The Lord opens a cabinet and pulls out some manila folders and places them before Roger. "These individuals are our public enemies."

Roger opens the folders and looks over the faces. There is Eric's twin, a mischievous boy who shares his same face. There is another blonde, friendly and not very bright. One is rather fat with thick glasses. The oldest is a haughty-looking redhead and the youngest is an unthreatening teenager. He glances at the Lord.

"We must dispose of their seer," the Lord says, tapping his finger on the youngest boy. "Without Simon Green, they will not be able to predict our movements and will not be able to see us carry out their doom. They will try and stop us; Mr. Green has already started collecting his allies. Our seer says he has already sought out Jack Merridew," he explains, pushing the redhead's photo toward Jack. "Of course, by taking Eric, we will be forcing his twin to find someone to help him and they will undoubtedly cross paths. If we can get rid of Green before they make contact with Castilian or Stout, we have our plan in the bag."

Roger nods. "I suppose we cannot just take them?"

"Taking our twin already has us scrambling to tie up loose strings. If we took all six of them at the same time, we risk drawing attention to ourselves. We still do not have the power to take over The Island yet and I do not want us to try if the other specials try to overwhelm us."

Roger agrees. "So we must make Eric send out a message to his brother when the time comes so we can take out Green. Once we destroy their seer, they will have no one to turn to and will scatter." The Lord nods. "Make sure he knows his position."

Roger nods again. "Of course."

To be continued

[=]

Note: I said I wouldn't. I guess I lied, didn't I?