I DO NOT OWN UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO DUSTIN LANCE BLACK AND JON KRAKAUER. I WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE THIS AFTER WATCHING CLIPS OF THE SERIES, RESEARCHING THE CASE, AND WATCHING A COUPLE MOVIES I ENJOY. BRENDA LAFFERTY WAS A WONDERFUL WOMAN AND I WANTED SO BADLY TO GIVE HER A HAPPY ENDING.

FACE CLAIMS

REUBEN ANSLEY- TOBEY MAGUIRE

BRIAN BULSARA- REMI MALEK

Reuben Ansley's Apartment. Chicago, Illinois. September 16, 1983.

The endless sounds of the Windy City played on through the streets and up to the penthouse of Reuben Ansley. On a night that he should have been getting wasted, laid, or both, he was alone in his study; smoking a Cuban cigar with his eyes darting around like flies that were buzzing around for the purpose of being nuisances. He stared out the window to his left to see the night time skyline of Chicago looking back with it's darkness covered in speckles of light.

Reuben was on the worsening part of 40 with no wife, no kids. What he lacked in family, he made up for in professional success. At 19, he had published his first novel: The Freshman Boy. It was your typical young adult novel that wasn't really based on Reuben's own high school experiences; but more on what he imagined high school to be from books, movies, TV shows, and music. When he had started to write the novel, he'd never actually thought that people would actually like it; but like it they did. Millions of copies had been sold not only in the US, but the world as well; earning Reuben a Newberry Medal for his writing and a Caldecott medal for his illustrations. For some reason, kids and adults alike seem to relate to his protagonist: Fredward "Freddy" May. He was a wallflower from a strictly religious home with no ambitions or social life to speak of; until he falls in with an artist named Roger Deacon and his theater nerd sister: Rachel. Was Freddy based on Reuben's own childhood? Of course. The only difference was that Reuben never had the friends he needed to bring him out of his shell; a fact that he had lamented to this day.

The smash success of The Freshman Boy had demanded a sequel. So, Reuben ended up writing The Sophomore Boy, then The Junior Boy, and finally, The Senior Boy. Each novel brought Reuben success and money, but also self loathing. He'd never intended to be one of those writers who just churns out one young adult novel after another so as to give kids something to do during the study hall. When Reuben had first sat down at a type writer, he'd envisioned himself as a master writer of dramas and romances; not this...dribble. The problem was this dribble was what everyone wanted from him now and his fans would raise serious Hell if he tried to publish anything else. In the middle of this pity party that Reuben was throwing for himself, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts; followed by the entrance of his only real friend and agent: Brian Bulsara.

"Reub, my man. I just got the reviews for Senior Boy, and the critics are going down on you." Brian said with glee in that English accent that always put swooning chicks in his lap as he handed Reuben a stack of reviews from various literary critics. Reuben quickly glanced over them, saw the positive comments that seemed more like ass kissing, and promptly put them on the desk.

"That's great, Bri." He said nonchalantly as his agent and friend was dumbfounded.

"Didn't you read them? They're saying that this is your best work yet!" Brian exclaimed eagerly as he moved to face his client and friend. "My agency is insisting that you strike while the iron is hot and announce that you're taking Freddy May and his pals to college; big boy on campus!"

"I don't want to take Freddy May to college, gosh damn it!" Reuben exclaimed as he angrily put out his cigar.

"What the Hell crawled up your arse, Ansley?" Brian asked in shock as he didn't know why Reuben was pissed by success.

"If somebody had told me when I first wanted to be a writer that I'd end up writing nothing but young adult novels, i'd never have started. I might just as well be making freaking beanie babies!" Reuben exclaimed as he threw the reviews to the floor.

"Don't you think you're over reacting just a smidgen?"

"I sit here all day in this office, writing about experiences I never got to have for a genre that I loathe."

"If you don't like these teen coming of age stories, why did you start?" Brian inquired genuinely.

"Because...it was a form of wish fulfillment." Reuben admitted with a sigh. "I wanted what Freddy has and I felt like I could live vicariously through him. I wanted to write stories that matter, like those epic dramas or the romances that can make you believe in true love. This wasn't what I wanted out my career."

"But look at everything that these books have given you: money, fame, and bitches." Brian pointed out.

"Oh yeah, money that brings every parasite on their knees towards me, fame that makes it damn near impossible for me to go out without being hounded for an autograph or pestered with questions about Freddy May, and bitches that stick around for 1 night stands and then slip out so that they can tell their friends that they got laid by a literally genius." Reuben mocked as he felt imprisoned by his lifestyle.

"A hundred other chaps would give their left testicle to live your life." Brian pointed out.

"Then they can have it! I feel smothered, i'm cooped up in this fancy living Bull shit. I need to get away." Reuben declared as Brian thought for a few minutes before getting an idea.

"What if you went back to where it all started, back to East...what the Hell is it called?" Brian asked as he tried to remember the name of Reuben's home town.

"East Rockwell, Utah and why the Hell would I go back there?" Reuben asked in return as he scoffed at the very idea. "I haven't been back there in 20 years and I wrote Freshman Boy to get the Hell out of there."

"All great writers go back to their hometowns when they feel like they're running on empty, it's a rite of passage." Bulsara declared with excitement. "You could go back, rediscover your roots, maybe you'll get inspiration for a new novel?" Reuben said nothing as he mulled the idea over. Maybe going back wasn't the worst idea. There was a chance he could escape the fans and the brown nosers and that made the trip tempting.

"Fine, i'll go for a vacation...but you gotta tell the agency that I am done with Freddy May." Ansley demanded.

"Reuben come on, they'll tan my hide..." Brian complained before being shot a glare by Reuben that told him this matter was non-negotiable.

"Fine...i'll tell them that you want to take a break before starting on another book." Brian compromised as Reuben stood up from his desk with reluctant determination as he went to get his bags packed for his trip back home.

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