In this three-part story I prove once and for all that angst does not require death or gore or even injury. All it requires is suggestion.

Jealousy

Vlad watched the two of them, his face kept carefully dispassionate. His best friend and the women he loved. That bond of friendship had shattered well over twenty years ago, damaged again and again by the actions of the one who'd begun the bond. Vlad wasn't even sure why he'd gone along with Jack's crazy schemes so long ago if they'd only end with his heart broken and that friendship scattered in pieces around him.

Ugh, and they were kissing again. He didn't comprehend what she saw in him. He'd just take that same sledgehammer to their bond, couldn't she see that? Jack had destroyed every friendship, every relationship he had, leaving a trail of dreams behind him like scattered leaves.

All she had to do was say the word and Vlad would gladly take her away from him, steal her in the night, whatever it took. Anything to save her from the inevitable conclusion in which Jack crumpled her up and left her on the side of the road the same way he'd done before. The same way he always did.

Vlad turned away in disgust as he held her fast in his arms, his face roving over hers with all the grace of a slab of raw liver.

How did she stand him?

-00000-

Maddie wasn't entirely sure why she put up with him anymore. But she kept smiling even though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She had to. Everything she'd done, everything she'd accomplished was wrapped up in Fentonworks. But Jack had such a raging ego that everything bore his name, his trademark, his face on everything! Even the bread was molded to look like him. Could a man get any more self-centered?

She remembered when she'd gotten pregnant the first time. They were so angry at each other over it that she wasn't sure how or even why he'd proposed. She'd been scared, terrified of what this would mean for her future. She wanted to be a mother, of course, but not yet, not right now, not while she was still in grad school.

Not with him.

Even after she lost the baby they still went through with the marriage. He'd insisted. Why hadn't she left?

Maddie's eyes noticed a movement, saw a flash of black suit and white hair. If only she'd had another option.

But she hadn't. And she still didn't. Not with children in the picture.

-00000-

Jack felt the presence watching him. Something about the accident had left Vlad with an almost oppressive force of personality, given his gaze an inhuman sense of weight. He held his wife closer in response, kissing her deeply. She wasn't as into it as he was, he could tell, so he increased the force of it, dipping her and licking at her lips.

He remembered how Vlad was in college, pining after Maddie when he thought neither of them were looking. He remembered the reunion when Vlad started hitting on Maddie with all of the force of personality the accident had granted him. God, he'd been so obvious! Of course Jack noticed it. He even noticed the way she looked at him, the regret in her eyes.

That same regret in them now.

Jack lifted her in his arms and, completely ignoring the fact that they had company, carried her up the stairs. He would make sure she knew where she belonged. The kids could keep Vlad occupied for a while.