"Are you scared?" The red-haired lunatic asked him bluntly, slowly turning a large knife over between his long fingers as if it were a toy. Bart was stuck sitting on a chair, seemingly tied up as he couldn't move his limbs, only his head was responsive. Looking around proved useless as the room was pitch black, he could only make out Bob in the dark. Bob, looking more murderous than Bart had ever seen him. Despite the life-threatening situation, Bart simply scoffed.

"No. I know you're not going to kill me, Bob." He was acting cheeky, but deep down memories were brewing, old fears were threatening to resurface - pictures of the homicidal maniac he should be afraid of.

Bob was staring at him mockingly as he spoke softly. "Then you are more foolish than I thought. You know I can still hurt you for as long as I wish," the tip of the knife was brought to an inch away from his face, "before I take your life."

Bart flinched, staring at the blade right in front of his eyes. The man was looking downright mad, the same way he used to years ago. Something had gone terribly wrong somehow, but he needed to keep his cool at any cost. "What about the past few weeks? I know you want me, not to kill me or torture me. And... I want you, too."

"You would give yourself over to me willingly? Why would I accept when I can end this nonsense now?" Bob laughed in disbelief.

"B-but... You don't want to anymore, you... we've changed."

"Have we? Why do you think I've been away, Bart? This time apart was a blessing. Now that I'm back to normal, it's time I fixed some mistakes. Soon it will all have been a bad dream." The blade was lowered from his face, but Bart knew the madman was ready to cut and slash him at any moment.

"Wait! We can just... keep going. I know you want to, I do, too... I want you, it's all weird as hell but I want you really badly... You can't kill me!" He added quickly, eyeing the glint of the knife.

"This charade has gone on for far too long. I should have succeeded in murdering you twelve years ago."

"But... Then you would still be in prison, it's better this way, don't you think?"

He gulped as Bob's eyes turned as dark as their environment, showing no emotion beside rage and resentment. "Because you think justice will be kind to me after what we've done? You think we can have any kind of normal relationship?"

"No?" Bart laughed nervously. "No, we can't, but I don't care about that, I'll keep it a secret, I don't want anyone to know about us either! Please, Bob."

Those last words seemed to have an effect on the ex-Sideshow who looked stunned for a moment. But when he came to, he lunged at him lightning-fast and Bart squeezed his eyes shut, feeling himself fall backwards to the floor. When he opened them again, Bob was lying on top of him.

"So you will be mine?" The redhead whispered after a few seconds. His features had softened slightly, but there was still a sort of danger that Bart was more comfortable with. Their faces were so close together that he could see the gold circles in his eyes.

"I'll be all yours," Bart replied with a wide grin.

Bart woke up sticking with sweat in the middle of the night, his heart pounding in his chest. Glancing around nervously, his survival instinct slowly subsiding, he made sure he was alone in his room and sighed loudly. Checking his alarm clock, he was relieved to see it was only 2 a.m., so he still had a few hours of sleep before having to go to work. But his current heartrate wouldn't allow him to rest yet, his nightmare was still vivid in his mind. Turning in his bed, he stared out the window. He recalled the nights when he was younger when he would expect Bob to climb the outside wall and into his room to gut him like a fish. It had been years since his last nightmare involving the maniac, why would he have a new one now that things were radically different?

Rubbing his eyes in frustration, he breathed slowly and tried to relax. The image of Bob had been so terrifying. At least, until the end, where it could have ended up as quite a pleasant dream like he had a few nights ago, if it wasn't for the panic he had gone through.

He let out a tired chuckle in his empty room. His relationship with Bob was so fucked up.

.

"Morning." A sleepy Bart yawned loudly when he walked into the kitchen where everyone was having breakfast, not even noticing they were all staring right at him.

"Happy birthday, Bart!" They all screamed simultaneously, startling him in the process, and Marge hugged and kissed him happily.

"Are you alright?" Lisa asked when she noticed faint dark circles around her brother's eyes.

"Thanks, guys," he replied in a coarse voice. "Yeah, I'm good. Just a tough night, that's all."

Lisa decided to let it go for now, at least in front of everyone. But she knew something strange was going on with her brother, and she needed to make sure Bart was alright before she left for college in a few months. So as soon as the rest of the family was gone for the day, she stayed behind a little longer and found her brother in his bedroom.

"Bart? Can I talk to you before I leave?"

"Huh? Sure, what's going on?" He replied absent-mindedly while playing on his phone.

"You tell me, Bart," she inquired with an awkward laugh, causing her brother to glance up at her with a confused look. She took a second to choose her words carefully. "I have a pretty good idea what's going on, and... you know you can tell me, right?"

Bart frowned slightly, his eyes darting left and right for just a second too long. She knew she was spot on. "Tell you... what?" He asked. His acting confused wasn't very convincing, Lisa knew him too well.

"You know, I'm happy you've been going out more, but I know it's not with your friends - I've talked with Milhouse," she added with a sideways look. "And last night when you got a phone call, you just ran off to your room to answer."

Bart gulped visibly and hesitated. "And... What do you think is going on?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you've found someone," she replied with a sly smile, while Bart was looking shocked, then mortified. "I'm happy for you. For your job, and your girlfriend. I'm glad things are looking up for you."

Her brother looked confused and remained silent for a short moment. "Err, thanks," he smiled. "Thanks, Lis."

She left for school after their little talk, relieved for Bart. Now she knew she could leave for college without a worry for her family.