Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer rights apply.

Warning:Updates will most definitely be slow. Sorry, guys.
This contains SLASH, in other words: same sex couples. It also contains drug use, violence, sexual situations, and MAY contain a(n OC) death. This story is marked for mature readers only, please treat it as such.

Pairings: Will be sporadic, and a surprise. I'm not ruining the story by telling you end pairings.

Beta'd By: Sarah2437 (Thank you for your hard work!)

Getting Back Together Again

Chapter XXIX - The Bond Experience

Racetrack was in what looked like a jail cell, except instead of bars in front of him there was solid metal. His hands were held above him by handcuffs swung around a metal pipe. He had to stand on his toes so he wouldn't have to dangle by his hands. It was uncomfortable, but the more prominent concern on his mind was 'how the hell did I get here?'

He wasn't left on his own for long, however. The metal door in front of him swung forward, squeaking on its hinges.

"Slingshot," he breathed out, relief evident in his voice as he recognized the other man from Sean's gang. "Thank fucking god. Listen, you've gotta get me out of here!" he demanded, jerking the chains that held his hands even though his wrists ached with the motion. "There's gotta be a key you can find, or-or-"

Slingshot laughed as he approached, making sure to kick the door shut behind him. "God, you're stupider than I thought. I'm the reason you're in here, you idiot," he explained, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as he stopped halfway between Race and the door. "I'm the one that did this to you. Or did you forget that part?"

Racetrack blinked at him as things started coming back to him: getting out of the house, deciding to go see Sean, then someone grabbing him and yanking him into a car before everything went dark. "This is a pretty fucking awful joke," he said as he got his bearings. "Where's Sean? He put you up to this shit? Because it isn't funny."

"It might be beneficial for you if you stop being an idiot," Slingshot snapped. "This is not a fucking joke, and your precious boyfriend didn't plan this." He crossed his arms as he gave Racetrack a dark smirk. "This one's all me, baby boy."

Racetrack stared back for a few seconds. "I think you've got something in your teeth," he finally said.

Slingshot rewarded him with a punch to the gut.

"Hey, school starts in an hour," Blink said as he wrapped his arm tighter around Mush. They were sharing his bed. His parents were fine with it, as they were very familiar with the amount of sleepovers he and Mush had. This sleepover had just gone a bit different from the ones in the past.

"You aren't helping me wake up," Mush complained, turning over so he was facing Blink. "What if I don't want to go to school today?"

"Then I'd say let's skip," Blink replied, closing his eyes and burrowing himself against his best friend's chest. "And we can just repeat last night all day. You're the one who insists on being responsible all the time."

Mush sighed, gripping Blink closer to him. "I know, I know," he mumbled. "But if I wasn't the responsible one we'd never go to school."

"Hm, I know, right?" Blink replied with a smile, his eyes still closed. "It'd be so great, wouldn't it?"

"Until we're summoned to court for truancy," Mush said before scooting off the bed. He slapped Blink lightly on the arm. "C'mon, time to get up."

"Ugh, you ruin everything," Blink complained, immediately stretching over to retrieve his eye patch from the end table. "You see my phone anywhere? I should really charge it before we leave," he said as he strapped on his eye patch.

"No," Mush answered slowly as he looked around the room. He grabbed his pants from the floor and started going through his pockets. "In fact, I don't remember having my phone at all yesterday." He dropped his pants back to the floor when it became apparent they didn't contain his phone. He turned to Blink and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I kind of forgot about it with everything else that happened."

"Oh, yeah," Blink replied, getting out of bed himself. "I don't think I had my phone yesterday either, now that I think of it. Did we leave them over at your house, you think?"

Mush shook his head. "I don't think so. I washed our clothes. I would've seen them if they were around." Mush's eyes widened as he remembered what happened to their phones. "Itey took them, didn't he? Before we started drinking?"

Blink nodded as he smacked himself in the forehead. "To prevent us from drunk texting. Yes. I completely forgot," he said as he rolled his eye.

"He might have forgotten to give them back," Mush guessed.

Blink sighed. "Man. Alright, well, maybe if we go early enough I can charge it in the library," he said, pulling some clothes out of his dresser. "It's definitely gotta be dead by now." He knelt down to the bottom drawer -Mush's drawer, thanks to the many times he had slept over- and pulled out another set of clothing before handing it off. "Let's just hope he remembers to bring them."

Mush grabbed the clothes with a smile and a nod. "I'm sure he will." He dropped his clothes onto the bed before pulling on the shirt Blink picked out for him.

Blink sighed as he pulled on his pants. "My Mush: ever the optimist," he replied with a smile.

Mush swept forward to swiftly kiss Blink on the lips. "There's absolutely nothing to be pessimistic about," he replied with a smile.

Spot rolled off his bed and grabbed the gun he kept stashed under his mattress before he took stock of his surroundings. He was still half asleep, so it took him a full minute of blinking about his room before realizing where he was and that he wasn't in any danger. He still swept the room with his gun clutched in front of him just in case.

When Spot was convinced his room was void of any assassins he glanced about some more. He never woke up on high alert unless there was a reason, and he couldn't remember the last time he had a nightmare.

He heard his knob turning and ducked into a roll, bringing his gun in front of him and pointing it to the door.

Slingshot immediately put up his hands as the door swung open, dropping the cup of coffee that he had brought up with him. His eyes were wide as he stared down the barrel of Spot's gun. "Woah," he breathed out as he processed his surroundings. "If you don't want to go to school it's fine. You know I'm not going to force you. You don't have to threaten me."

"That's not-" Spot started. He blinked at Slingshot for a few minutes before shaking his head and putting his gun on the end table. He swung himself back onto his bed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I'm not going to school today."

Slingshot squinted at him. "You okay, there, Boss? Did something happen?" he asked, walking farther into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Besides the fact that you dropped coffee all over my fucking carpet?" Spot replied, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Excuse me for having a reaction when there's a gun pointed at my face," Slingshot replied, rolling his eyes. "I didn't exactly expect you to be in killmode at seven o'clock in the god damn morning."

"If your reaction to being held at gun point is to drop coffee all over the place then I need a better second," Spot said, opening his eyes and grinning at him.

Slingshot walked over to the bed, grinning back. "Hey, coffee can be a deadly weapon as long as you're dropping it in the right direction."

"Yeah, and my fucking carpet is a perfect place to be aiming." Spot rolled his eyes. "Very tactical."

"You wanna explain to me why I walked into your room to a loaded weapon?" Slingshot asked, crossing his arms and looking down at Spot on the bed.

Spot smirked up at him. "Sling, you're always coming in to a loaded weapon when you come in here," he said, grabbing at his crotch.

Slingshot rose an eyebrow as he smirked. "That a come on, Boss?" he asked, climbing on top of him without waiting for an answer.

"Take off your shirt," was Spot's only response. He was feeling anxious and wired, and he knew it was too early to be getting into some trouble to distract him from it. This was the next best thing.

"You charmer, you," Slingshot replied in a deadpan voice, rolling his eyes. He obediently removed his shirt before Spot rolled them over so he was on top.

"This works better when you don't talk," Spot advised.

Itey was content to lie in bed, despite the fact that it was a school day and he didn't set an alarm last night. If he missed school then he missed it. He had Skittery back, and it was a sweet and caring Skittery. He had rubbed his back last night and made him dinner and was constantly leaning over to kiss him.

Itey wasn't an idiot, of course, and he knew all the cuddling and sucking up wouldn't last forever, but he'd appreciate it until it was over. In fact, that just made skipping school today a better idea. He knew Sarah wouldn't like it, but-

Itey shot up in bed, shoving Skittery off him as he remembered Sarah. Fuck. Sarah. How the fuck could he so easily have forgotten all about her last night?

"Fuck," Itey muttered, jumping out of bed and checking the time. He had time. If he hurried he might be able to catch her before class started and explain things to her. Not that he had any idea exactly what it was he could say to her. But he would think of something. "Fuck," he muttered again. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Wha'sits?" Skittery mumbled from the bed. He turned over, towards where Itey had been sleeping and patted the now empty space. He blinked open his eyes when his hand reached the edge of the bed and it became clear he was alone. He looked around the room before his eyes finally landed on Itey. "What're you doing?" he asked groggily. "Come back to bed. You aren't seriously thinking about going to school today, are you?"

"Yes, absolutely I am," Itey snapped back. "I've gotta go see Sarah. I've gotta-"

"Who gives a fuck about Sarah?" Skittery interrupted, he sat up on an elbow. "Come back to bed and lemme fuck you."

Itey paused from hastily putting on some pants so he could turn and narrow his eyes at Skittery. "Are you fucking serious right now?"

Skittery blinked at him for a few seconds before looking up in thought. "Er, I meant, 'come back to bed and lemme make love to you'?" he replied. He looked at Itey hopefully.

Itey threw his alarm clock at him. "I give a fuck about Sarah, you fucking asshole!" he exclaimed before going back to putting on his pants. "I've gotta explain to her why the fuck I picked some insensitive jerk over her, and-"

"Your insensitive jerk though," Skittery pointed out with a smirk.

"Even though I promised her I wouldn't ever do such a thing," Itey continued, content to ignore the boy in his bed. "And then I've gotta tell her what happened last night, and why I never fucking called her, and-"

"For the record," Skittery interrupted once more, "because you're an honest guy, and you're probably going to want to tell her exactly what we did last night, I'm going to go ahead and say that's a bad idea. I'd especially leave out the part about the whip."

"Your jokes aren't fucking helping, Skitts!" Itey snapped as he threw on a shirt. "And you are making me regret this decision so fucking much. Could you just shut up so I can pretend like I made a good decision last night?"

"Woah," Skittery replied, finally getting out of bed. "You are mad," he unhelpfully pointed out. He walked over and gave Itey two pats on the back. "Maybe you should sit down and take a couple deep breaths. Calm down a little."

Itey shoved past him on the hunt for his shoes. "Still not helping," he replied.

"I don't understand why you're freaking out about this," Skittery said, stepping off to the side to make sure he wasn't in Itey's way. "You picked me over Sarah, right? So why do you care how she feels? You trying to keep her around in case you need a rebound or something?"

"Oh my fucking god, I can't believe this is how you fucking think," Itey muttered under his breath, hopping on one foot as he tried to maintain his balance while he tied his shoe standing up. "I've gotta go," he said in a louder voice as soon as both shoes were tied. He gave Skittery a once over, his frown growing as he realized the other boy was still in his boxers. "You can take a bus or something," he suggested as he headed for the door. "Doubt I could stand you in the car anyway," he muttered.

"Hey, c'mon. That's not fair," Skittery replied, following Itey towards the door. "I'm trying here. I promise."

"Yeah, Skitts, I know," Itey snapped, not slowing down his stride. "That's kind of the problem."

Skittery finally stopped following when they got to the front door. "C'mon, baby, give me a break. I'm new at this!" he called at Itey's retreating back.

"I'm such a fucking masochist," Itey muttered to himself as he climbed into his car.

Bumlets froze as he opened his front door to Bam standing on his porch.

"Yo," Bam greeted with a smile and a wave. "I promise this isn't as creepy as it looks."

Bumlets raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Because it looks like we're back to the stalking thing," he said before walking past Bam to get to his car.

"Promise I was going to knock," Bam replied, turning around and starting to follow. "Thought you might want a ride to school," he offered, shifting to get the keys out of his pocket while hurrying after Bumlets. He dug them out and quickly pressed the unlock button. "It's a convertible," he sang.

Bumlets's eyes widened as the Camaro across the street flashed its lights, the car roof already down. "Where the hell did you get that?"

Bam shrugged, going for a nonchalance that was ruined by the huge grin on his face. "We own a lot of different cars," he explained. "It's usually not a problem borrowing one for the day." His smile widened as Bumlets approached the car and started looking it over. "So does this mean you're in for the ride?"

"You're a suck up, you know that?" Bumlets replied as he got in the car. "Does this mean you're giving me a ride home, too?"

"But of course, darling," Bam replied, sliding in the car himself and pecking Bumlets on the cheek before starting up the engine. "Can't ever get to level three if I don't impress you, yeah?"

Bumlets tried and failed to suppress his smile. "And what, exactly, happens when we get to level three? You'll have to excuse me; I'm used to playing baseball, not leveling up."

"A common mistake," Bam replied, glancing over at Bumelts for a few short seconds. "Bases imply that all you're interested in is the physical interactions. Levels are all about the human interaction. Though, to be fair, I should tell you that level three does involve some making out."

Bumlets laughed. "I might be able to handle level three." He frowned as Bam's face instantly lit up. "When the time comes," he corrected with a pointed look at the driver. "Still on level two, remember?"

Bam sighed dramatically. "Yeah, yeah. Patience. Got it." He waited until they were pulling into the school parking lot before he getting to the point of why he picked Bumlets up in the first place. He gave the other boy a quick look, his expression becoming serious as he turned off the ignition. "So, you said you know Spot from school, right? You've got classes with him or whatever?"

Bumlets frowned before shrugging. "Yeah. I mean, we've hung out a few times. Sometimes we have lunch together. Does it matter?"

"No," Bam quickly replied. He gave Bumlets a sheepish smile. "I know how that sounded," he said a few quick seconds later, his voice calm. "That sounded like I'm jealous of Spot."

Bumlets just quirked an eyebrow at him.

Bam immediately returned a frown. "I'm not. C'mon, you couldn't possibly think …"

"Didn't say a word," Bumlets replied with a small smirk before he climbed out of the car.

"That's not the reason I brought up Spot, you ass," Bam said with a smile, following him out of the car. "He brought somebody from your school over before," he explained, his smile no longer as wide. He glanced over at Bumlets and shrugged at him. "Was just wondering if you knew him. Calls himself Racetrack, I think."

Bumlets blinked at him. "Yeah, I know him. Why?"

"Oh, yeah, huh?" Bam replied, giving a forced shrug as he tried and failed to keep a frown from forming. "You seen him around lately then?"

Bumlets squinted at him before shaking his head and heading towards the school. "I don't know why the hell you're doing this, but I don't dig the jealous act. Especially when you're jealous of someone I haven't hung out with since we were kids. It's fucking creepy, dude."

"That's not why I asked," Bam replied, grabbing at Bumlets's arm and pulling him back.

"Dude, get the fuck off me," Bumlets demanded loudly, jerking his arm away.

Swifty was suddenly between them, seemingly appearing from nowhere. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, glaring up at Bam.

"Seriously?" Bam asked, pulling a face and looking at Bumlets. He pointed to Swifty. "He feels the need to do this? Dude, what the hell have you been telling people about me?" he asked, crossing his arms and frowning at Bumlets.

Bumlets frowned back before shrugging and dropping eye contact. "You were acting like a crazy stalker guy who ends up killing the object of his affections, so that's what I was telling people."

Bam's shoulders visibly shagged. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"So what was it you wanted to know about Racetrack?" Bumlets asked with fake enthusiasm, content to get off the subject of stalkers.

"It was nothing. Did you really think-"

"Racetrack?" Swifty interrupted. "You see him this morning? I've been looking for him all over. He's been getting here at some ungodly hour because he's gotta ride with his mom, so he should be around somewhere."

"Oh," Bam answered as he used his forefinger to scratch at his cheek. "So it might not actually be nothing then."

"Did something happen to Racetrack?" Swifty asked at the same time Bumlets asked, "Did you do something to Racetrack?"

Bam bit the inside of his cheek. "He may or may not be missing."

"Sarah, hey, wait up!" Jack called as soon as he saw her. He rushed up, freezing when he realized that she was with her brother.

"Jack," David greeted before his sister could, his eyes wide. "Hi! Hey! How are …" He shrugged as he let the conversation drift when he realized he was coming off a bit overeager. He cleared his throat and before deciding on "How's it hanging, bro?"

Sarah frowned at her brother. "'How's it hanging, bro'?" she asked before glancing over and narrowing her eyes at Jack. "What happened? One of you did something," she accused.

"Neither of us did anything," David replied, his eyes wide as he shot a look towards Jack.

Jack put his hands up in surrender as he tried giving Sarah a reassuring smile. "Nothing happened. For real."

Sarah's eyebrows rose as she looked between the two of them. "Oh, one of you definitely did something. And I'm going to find out what ..."

"You're wasting your time, Sarah," David quietly warned his sister through clenched teeth.

"Not when I find some great blackmail material on you," Sarah replied just as quietly. She gave Jack a smile. "So, Jack, what can my cute little baby brother and I do for you?"

David's eyes immediately widened. "That is not what happened," he insisted, making sure he was quiet enough that Jack didn't hear him. "And I do not appreciate the implication."

"What? Jack's hot," Sarah quietly replied as she threw a smirk at her younger brother.

"Sarah!" David admonished. "Be quiet!"

Jack looked between the two of them with a raised eyebrow. "Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?"

"Absolutely not," David quickly replied, putting his hands out in front of him.

Sarah forced her brother's hands down as she tried her best to stifle her laughter. She was only partially successful. "Did you need something, Jack?" she asked through her smile.

Jack scratched the back of his head. "I was just wondering if you guys still talk to Racetrack?"

David and Sarah frowned at each other before looking back at Jack. "Not really," David admitted. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No," Jack replied too quickly, a frown forming on his face. "I mean, nothing's for certain yet," he assured them when all they did was stare.

"I assume this has something to do with," David glanced over at his sister, "Sean and his friends?"

Jack shrugged. "Potentially. I mean, I don't really know. I heard some rumors, and I just wanted …" He shrugged again. "Guess I just got concerned."

"Well, yeah," David replied. "Why wouldn't you? I'm concerned right now, for instance," he said, talking fast. "Exactly what was it that you heard?"

"Exactly why would Sean and his friends be a cause for concern?" Sarah asked, crossing her arms at she glared first at Jack and then at her brother. "What the hell aren't you telling me?"

Jack glanced at David, who was biting the inside of his cheek and shifting from foot to foot. Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't tell her already," he muttered to him.

David didn't need any other form of permission. "So, Sean's this big gang leader over in Brooklyn, and Bumlet's new boyfriend-guy-man is working for him, and so is Jack, and apparently there are all these rumors about how ruthless Sean is, and-"

"Got it, Davey," Sarah interrupted him, her eyes wide as she tried to take in the new information. She rounded onto Jack, and she opened her mouth to speak just to snap it closed again. "Okay," she finally said, pointing to Jack, "We'll deal with all that information later. You know, things like why the hell you would join a gang." She took a breath to help her get back on track. "What does it have to do about Racetrack? What were the rumors?"

"Someone came by the house yesterday to tell Sp-Sean that Racetrack was missing. He had something he had to show up for, but he didn't, I guess. I don't know much about that part," Jack explained. "But Sean doesn't seem to care at all. He didn't send out any scouts to trace him or anything. So, I was just wondering if maybe it really was nothing, and he'd be at school, except I can't find him anywhere."

"Is Racetrack part of this gang, too?" Sarah asked with a frown. "Do you think he might've been kidnapped or something?"

"I don't know," Jack replied as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm still new, and Sean's got tons of people under him. Racetrack might be one of them. I know Sean doesn't let anyone who's not a member get anywhere near the house, so he might be. But if he was then Sean should've been more … I mean, usually he freaks out if he thinks one of us is in danger."

"So let's go ask then," Sarah broke in.

Jack blinked at her. "Ask who?"

Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "Go to the gang hideout or whatever and ask around for him."

"Sarah, you can't possibly think that going to a gang hideout is a good idea!" David hissed out. "Did you hear him just say that only members are allowed near it?"

"We'll be with a member though, won't we?" Sarah snapped back, jerking her head towards Jack. "Plus, I thought Racetrack was your friend. And I thought you were the "new and improved" David," she said, going as far as using air quotes.

"New and improved David?" Jack asked with a snort, looking over at the other boy.

"Shut up, Jack," David demanded before looking over at his sister. "I am new and improved, but that doesn't mean-"

"So let's go find him then!" Sarah replied.

"I'm with Sarah," Jack spoke up. "You can't tell me you'd be content sitting in class while Racetrack is being held hostage or whatever."

"There's police for that, Jack," David pointed out.

"Police don't get involved in gang business, David," Jack snapped. "In fact, to my understanding, they're paid pretty well to avoid doing just thatt. And clearly Sean doesn't care, so who do you think is going to go find him?"

"You two are talking about going up against gang members!" David pointed out in a hiss, looking between the two of them. "You can't honestly be thinking about this!"

"I'm not trying to go head to head with them," Jack replied back. "But if we can find out what gang has him or where they're holding him we might be able to persuade Sean to do something."

"Yeah, David," Sarah said, crossing her arms and frowning at her brother. "Now's hardly the time to be a pussy."

"I'm not-" David started, bulging his eyes at his sister. "This isn't- You can't just-"

"Racetrack's in trouble, Davey," Jack pointed out quietly. "I know you can't just ignore it."

David sighed, glaring at both Jack and his sister. "You guys are completely nuts!" he snapped before sighing again. "Fine, let's go then," he said just a few seconds later, heading back towards the car.

Jack and Sarah smirked at each other before high fiving and following after David.

Itey was looking everywhere for Sarah, but had yet to find her. He bit his lip as he thought about where else she might be. It was imperative that he got to her before Skittery.

"Itey!" Blink called out before appearing at his side and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Don't suppose you have my phone with you?"

"We were hoping that you still had them from when you took them on Saturday," Mush explained from close to Blink's side.

Too close, actually, Itey decided as he turned to look at them. "Er, yeah, I think so," he replied, sliding his backpack off his shoulder. "Put 'em in here and forgot all about them," he explained, fishing out the phones. "You two have a good time then?"

Mush immediately colored as Blink avoided his eyes. "Yeah, it was good," Blink answered for the both of them. "Probably won't have a repeat anytime soon, though."

Mush jerked and turned to look at his best friend with wide eyes, "But I thought you said that you'd-"

"I meant the drinking thing, Mush!" Blink explained quickly, his eye widening at the other boy before glancing at Itey.

Itey's smirk grew as he found the phones and handed them off. "Something happened after Skittery and I left, huh?"

Blink glanced away, scratching at his temple. "Well, something might have …"

"Blink and I are boyfriends now," Mush explained confidently as he tried to turn on his phone. "Hey, I still have battery power!" he announced, smiling as he showed his phone to Blink.

"Gr-great," Blink stuttered, trying his phone as well and getting just as much success out of it. He pointedly looked at his screen as his phone booted up.

Itey, meanwhile, was looking between the two boys, his smile widening by the second. "You guys totally had sex, didn't you?"

Mush and Blink both flushed red. It was Blink that eventually stuttered out the answer. "Th-that's personal."

"You guys!" Itey gushed, pulling both of them into a hug. "Fucking finally! I'm so happy for you!" He released them as he laughed. "Man, saw that coming forever ago."

"Yeah, I remember," Blink replied, rolling his eye. "Go ahead and gloat as much as you want."

"That goes without saying," Itey replied, still wearing a wide smile. "Certainly don't need your permission to brag about how I got a power couple together."

"Power couple?" Blink asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Blink," Mush asked slowly as he stared at his phone. "Did you miss any calls from Mr. Higgins?"

Blink looked down at his phone only for his eye to widen. "Loads," he confirmed before glancing back at Mush with a frown.

"I'm going to call him back," Mush decided hurriedly before pressing dial on his phone and walking a few paces away.

Blink bit the tip of his thumbnail. "I hope Racetrack's okay. Mr. Higgins never calls that much," he said, scrolling through his phone to see if he had gotten any texts about it.

"What's up, comrades?" Skittery greeted with a smile. He threw his arms over Blink's and Itey's shoulders before leaning over and swiftly kissing Itey on the cheek. "Beautiful fucking day, eh?" he asked before he looked at both of them. "Or … not a beautiful day?" he guessed, his smile slipping as he took in their worried looks.

Blink shook his head before stepping out of Skittery's hold. "I don't know. I'm worried about Racetrack. Mr. Higgins called us a bunch on Sunday, which he never does. And Racetrack tried to call me once on Saturday, but nothing after that."

"I'm sure he's fine," Skittery replied. "He's grounded, right? He probably just snuck out on Sunday or something. Not like he's just going to up and disappear."

"He's gone," Mush announced as he came back over. "Completely vanished. Mr. Higgins hasn't seen him since he let him out of the house on Saturday." He ran his hands through his hair as he started pacing.

"Oooh-kay, so maybe I was wrong," Skittery replied, looking between the three other boys.

Mush was content to ignore him. "His dad wasn't even sure where he was heading off to. He just assumed he'd be hanging out with us, but of course, I didn't have my phone." He pulled at his hair. "If I had answered his phone call this probably wouldn't be happening."

Blink put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mush, you can't possibly blame yourself for this. This wasn't your fault. Did he fill out a missing person's report? Did he tell you if there was anything we can do?"

Mush shook his head as he stared at the ground.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Skittery announced, his face lighting up again. "Racetrack always hangs out in Brooklyn, right? Well, who would know more about the seedy underbelly of Brooklyn more than the Brooklyn gang leader, amirite?"

Mush's eyes widened as he snapped his attention to Skittery. "That's it," he breathed out, already taking off towards the school. "You know where he would be?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Er, home, I think," Skittery shouted after Mush. "His bike's not in the parking lot."

Mush whirled around before heading back towards the parking lot. "Okay, we'll go there then," he decided as Blink rushed to catch up with him.

"Oh, we're going right now?" Skittery asked, following after them. "Yeah, that's alright." He turned towards Itey. "You okay with leaving school like this?"

Itey gave his best friend a disbelieving look. "Racetrack's missing, Skitts."

Skittery tightly shut his eyes as he gave his head a small shake. "Right, yeah, it's pretty emotional. I get that."

As soon as they got to the parking lot they ran into Dutchy, who had an overly wide grin on his face, and Specs, who was clinging on to Dutchy's arm as if his life depended on it. "Beautiful fucking day, isn't it, you guys?" Dutchy asked with a wide smile.

Mush pushed past him, not even giving him a second look. Blink wasn't close behind, giving him only a half-shrug in apology.

"Or … not a beautiful day?" he asked as he turned to look behind him where Blink and Mush were headed.

Skittery stopped in his tracks to look between Dutchy and Specs with a frown on his face. "How the fuck did this happen?" he asked before looking at Dutchy. "You take up witchcraft or something?"

Dutchy just beamed at him before Itey came up behind Skittery and gave him a light shove on the shoulder. "C'mon you guys," he encouraged, looking at Skittery and Dutchy but not stopping his stride. "Field trip. Let's go."

Skittery nodded his head before following his best friend, Dutchy and Specs only a few paces behind.

Against Spot's better judgement he let Slingshot talk him into using the stairs instead of the drainpipe to get to the main floor. With the promise of Slingshot cooking him breakfast and the contentment only an orgasm can give, Spot hadn't put up much of a fight. He was regretting that now.

"Don't understand why the hell you have a problem just using the window," Spot complained. He smirked at Slingshot. "Think it's going to break because you're too fat? You have put on some weight recently."

"I think it's going to break because it's thin aluminum," Slingshot snapped. "And if I were you I'd save the insults unless you no longer want breakfast."

Spot let the conversation drop as he turned the hall for the lobby steps and was met with a room full of Manhattan boys. He glanced around, trying and failing to identify the strangers. He leaned towards Slingshot. "Are these mine?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Just the three, sir," Slingshot whispered back.

Spot turned to glare at the room below him. "Who the fuck brought all these fucking strangers to my fucking house?"

"Hey, I only brought two," Bam spoke up, pulling Bumlets and Swifty behind him as he separated from the circle. "And you already cleared one of them," he reminded his boss.

"I only brought two!" Jack pointed out, pulling David and Sarah behind him as he exited from the other side of the group.

"I brought-!" Skittery started, only to stop and frown. He looked at the five boys around him before looking back up at Spot and shrugging his shoulders. "I brought everyone else," he finished, this time without the enthusiasm.

Spot blinked at everyone for a few seconds before turning to Slingshot. "Where the fuck are my god damn snipers, Sling? I shouldn't have to deal with this fucking shit."

"'Where the fuck is god damn Racetrack?' is the better question," Mush snapped as he pushed to the front of the crowd.

Spot rubbed his head. "Sling, if I had fucking snipers these people would be dead, and I wouldn't be getting a fucking headache," he said, turning towards his second-in-command. "You see now why they're so important? So go get some fucking snipers, for Christ's sake."

"You can't just not care about Racetrack," Blink said, now standing beside Mush. "He's not at school. His parents are frantic. No one's seen him since Saturday! That's three days, and you're content to ignore it?"

Spot clenched his fists as he tried to control his breathing. "If he's not my gang then he's not my problem. I've got better things to be doing with my time."

"You can't be serious," Bam asked incredulously. "You're not going to do anything?"

Spot turned and zeroed in on the other man, frowning at him. "What would you prefer I do?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Save him?"

Bam looked around him as he tried to decipher the reason behind his boss's sharp glare. "Um … yes?" he tried.

Spot immediately whirled around and started back up the stairs. "Fine, if you want me to. I'll grab my gun."

Bam once again looked around him, this time taking in all the surprised face. "That … that went way easier than I thought it would."

Slingshot just sighed and rubbed his head from the top of the stairs where Spot had left him. At least Spot was too distracted to keep on the snipers thing.

Stealth was sitting on Spot's bed when he made it back to his bedroom for his gun. Spot had been expecting it. "Say what you're going to say," he demanded as he grabbed the same gun he had used this morning.

Stealth clasped his hands together and looked up at his boss. He shook his head for a full minute before finally answering. "Whatever you're going after? It's an inside job," he finally said.

Spot immediately gnashed his teeth together. "Fucking traitors," he snapped, checking his gun for bullets before pulling some extra magazines from his nightstand drawer. "You know who?"

Stealth bit his lip and stared down at his clasped hands with no hint that he hand even heard the question.

Spot waited for an agonizing thirty seconds before he gave up. "Stealth, I'm kind of on a fucking time crunch over here," he finally snapped.

Stealth jerked his head up and looked at his boss for a few seconds. "No, I don't know who it is," he finally admitted, "but I know it won't be good."

Spot rolled his eyes as he went to his closest to pull out another gun. "As opposed to that other time we had traitors and they took us out for fucking tea?"

"I don't think you're coming back, King," Stealth said quietly from the bed. He shook his head as he bit his lip. "I can't see you after today."

Spot stopped rummaging around in his closet for extra magazines as he turned around to face Stealth. He took a deep breath before shrugging at the other boy. He continued when the silence stretched on. "Always knew I'd go out swinging," he said, smirking. He went over to the bed Stealth was sitting on and squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks for, you know," Spot said, shrugging. "Anyway, it's been a good run." He quickly turned away to walk back into the hall, the hunt for extra ammo forgotten.

He turned around to address Stealth one more time, but was uncharacteristically interrupted.

"I'll rip out their fucking heart if they succeed," Stealth promised.

Spot smirked at him. "Wouldn't expect anything less."

He'd have much rather taken the drain pipe, but if he was going to die today then he needed to leave Slingshot in charge and appoint a new second.

"It'll be best if we split up and start combing the streets," Jack suggested above all the ruckus.

"Sean's gotta have some kind of underground network for this kind of thing, right?" Bumlets asked, turning to Bam.

"He better," Mush declared as he overheard Bumlets. "This is Sean's fault in the first place. If Racetrack had never-"

"Watch your fucking mouth," Bam snapped back. "And remember exactly whose house you're in right now. It's only by Spot's command that you and you're friends aren't dead."

"Don't fucking talk to Mush like that," Bumlets growled back, pressing himself in between them.

"Then tell Mash Potatoes over there to stop talking shit about shit he doesn't know about," Bam argued back, tilting his head in Mush's direction.

"I don't think you should be making fun of people's names, there, Bam," Skittery broke in.

"What the fuck is going on?" Speed asked as he came into the lobby. "We take down another gang? We going to Bronx territory or something?"

"What? No, I'm not in a gang!" David replied when he heard him. He put his hands up as his eyes remained wide. "None of us are! We just-"

"They just want Spot's help even though they've been insulting him since they got here," Bam interrupted, glaring at Mush.

"We were not," Bumlets snapped as he put his hand on Bam's chest. "Can you just calm down, please?"

"We're not going to be calm if some fucking assholes are insulting Spot," Speed cut in. "Especially not in his own fucking house." He glanced up the stairs before shouting, "Hunter! Get the fuck down here! We're having a rumble!"

"A rumble?" Skittery asked, his eyes lighting up. "Fuck yeah! Now we're talking! Let's kill those little fuckers who dared to take our Racetrack away from us!"

Itey was content to stand by his side and ignore him. "I realize I came here with Skittery," he told Sarah. "And I know that looks bad but-"

"Itey, now is not the time, okay," Sarah replied. "We'll talk about it later," she quickly promised before turning and pushing her way through the crowd to get away from him.

Swifty quickly followed after her, shooting Itey a glare along the way.

Blink grabbed Itey's shoulder as he tried to go after her. "They'll be time later," he said. "We've gotta focus on Racetrack. We've gotta find him."

"This is like the best dream I"ve ever had ever," Dutchy said, turning to beam at Specs. "I've got no idea how any of this happened, but it's really exciting, isn't it?"

Specs frowned at him. "I seriously have no idea what's going on or what I'm doing here. And you've been talking about a dream all morning. I told you I don't want to fucking talk about it!"

"Hey!" Slingshot yelled from the top of the stairs. "Will everyone shut the fuck up, please!"

The noise got a little more bearable as half the people in the lobby listened to him.

"Ruuummmmbbbbllllllee!" Hunter shouted, throwing himself onto the banister to slide down.

"No fucking rumbles," Spot growled, suddenly appearing behind Hunter and throwing him off the banister and onto the floor. "No fucking anything," he said, addressing the now quiet lobby. He cracked his right knuckles. "I'm going to go get Racetrack, and everyone else is going to sit the fuck down and wait."

"You can't be serious!" Blink said before he could stop himself.

Spot fixed him with a glare. "Why the fuck would I say it if I wasn't serious? You're too soft anyway; you'd just get in my fucking way." He turned towards his second-in-command. "You're in charge. I don't want anyone leaving the building," he said before addressing the crowd below him. "Stealth's the new second until I get back."

"Stealth?" Bam asked quiet enough that only Bumlets heard him. "Man, I was for sure I was next in line for that job."

Stealth stood behind Spot on the top of the stairs, refusing to take his eyes off his boss.

Slingshot nodded in confirmation before stepping up and addressing the lobby. "Alright, you heard him, boys. I don't want anybody out until Spot comes back. Speed," he said, finding him among the crowd. "Spread the word: we're in lock down mode."

"Knew I could count on you, Sling," Spot replied, patting him on the back as he went to move past him.

Slingshot grabbed his arm as he did. "You really think you're invincible, don't you? You're going to go out without any type of backup?"

Spot shrugged back. "This is gang business; it's gotta be dealt with by us. And I need you guys here to make sure that these whiney kids don't get in my way."

"Except it's not gang business, is it?" Slingshot hissed out, not letting go of Spot's arm. "Racetrack isn't part of the gang, Spot. You're putting yourself in danger just because of your stupid-"

Spot ripped his arm out of Slingshot's hold as he sent him a glare. "Bam asked me to," he reasoned. "That makes it gang business."

It wasn't an hour after Spot had left that Jack got cornered in the kitchen by Stealth. "Gather up your boys."

Jack just blinked at him. "Who?"

Stealth glared at the ground for a few seconds before grabbing Jack's arm and pulling him along behind him. "Your boys. The people you came here with."

"Who? David and Sarah?" Jack asked, trying to resist being pulled away.

"All of them," Stealth snapped.

"What? Like, Mush and Blink and-"

"What the hell else does 'everyone' mean?" Stealth interrupted as he led him up the stairs.

"They aren't going to listen to me," Jack replied. "Most of them hate me. Why can't we use your boys? You're Second-in-Command now, aren't you? That means they've gotta listen to you."

"At least one of my boys is a rat," Stealth replied. "If you want to find Racetrack then we'll have to use your boys."

"And what the hell makes you think they'll even listen to me?" Jack asked as he was pulled along a hallway that led to the lobby.

"Because you're a king," Stealth said. "Just like Spot."

"Look, you little psycho," Jack replied, "I don't know what you're thinking in that messed up brain of yours, but not one of those people out there is my friend."

Stealth finally stopped walking to turn back and smirk at him. "That's fine. Kings were never meant to have friends."

TBC

Yep, Specs is psychic. Guess whatever Stealth's got is spreading. Haha. ;P

In other news, please don't kill me.