~In the Light by Led Zeppelin

*****

February, 2000
Somewhere away from Llanview

He smacks his lips together slowly, eyes still closed. As he comes to, he feels a throbbing in his temples. He swallows, recognizing the fuzzy feel of his tongue in his overly dry mouth. Todd Manning knew all the signs. The familiar signs of the morning after of immersing his pain and depression in any variety of alcoholic beverages.

Now it was just a question of where he woke up this morning.

The dull throbbing in his head is joined every now and then by a sharp pain. He slowly brings his hand up to his forehead, eyes still closed to the harsh reality that would greet him all too soon. He flinches as his fingers touch a painful, sensitive spot. He groans. A new bruise. Wonder which door, wall, or floor he had kissed for that one.

Turning his head slightly, he slowly opens his eyes. His hazy, hungover eyes see only a gray blur surrounding him. He blinks quickly twice, trying to clear his vision. Figure out where he was. As he blinks a few more times, something begins to come clear in front of him.

Bars.

He sits up quickly, ignoring the nausea that sweeps over him. Flinching as the throbbing in his head intensifies when his body bolts upright. His breathing quickens as his eyes scan his surroundings, surroundings that he had never wanted to see again. The gray walls. The standard issue cot. The iron bars. Holding him in. Always holding him in.

Jail.

His hands push his hair back from his face as he closes his eyes, desperately trying to remember the events of the previous night. It had started out normal enough. After sitting on the couch in his small apartment all day, mindlessly flipping through the channels, he had headed to a local bar, a typical dive. A dark place where no one would bother him, where he could drink himself numb. Where he could stare at the doorway and imagine every brown haired woman who walked in was her.

But it never was.

Todd squeezes his eyes shut, willing himself to push past the haze of his hangover to remember. An alley. Next to the bar. He didn't remember leaving...but he remembered the alley. But there was something....something he was missing.

He brings his hands up to his face, rubbing slowly...when he suddenly stops. He pulls his hands away slowly. His ring. Their ring.

Gone.

He clenches his fist tightly, his confusion and anxiety giving way to anger. His safety net. He needed it. Anger is what had kept him alive this past year and a half.

He bolts off the cot, ignoring the hangover symptoms plaguing his tired body. He slams his hand against the bars.

"Hey!" he screams, "What the HELL....LET ME OUT!"

*****

Across Town...

Jamie Matthews sits on his bed, slowly rocking back and forth. Numb. Nauseaus. It was surreal to him, like a strange, bizarre dream.

"Think, kid, think!" his father's rough voice rips through his haze.

"Huh?"

Parker Matthews rolls his eyes as he stares at his son. Idiot. Always had been, and from the looks of it, he always would be.

"Was there anything by her?"

Jamie shakes his head "no".

"Why the hell'd you leave her there?"

"I wasn't gonna, but some guy stumbled into the alley. I figured I should just hide."

Parker shakes his head slowly, sighing with frustration. "You at least wear gloves?"

"Yeah," Jamie replies quietly.

"Well at least you learned that lesson," Parker sneers, towering over his son. Jamie looks up at him, into those cold brown eyes. Expecting the usual. Bracing himself.

"And you're sure the cops didn't see you?"

"They didn't see me. They ended up taking that guy. He was like hanging over her. Seemed pretty wasted."

"Good. That's good," Parker mutters. He reaches out towards his son's face. Jamie sees his hand coming and flinches slightly. Parker notices. Not too many things about his son go unnoticed. His hand continues towards his son's face, lightly slapping him on the cheek. Jamie's eyes widen in surprise. "Light" was not normally in his father's repertoire. The strange moment is interrupted by the ringing of Parker's cellphone.

"DA Matthews...oh yes I heard.....Terrible....Really, already? I'm on my way," Parker says, feigning his most sympathetic voice. He closes the phone and tucks it back into his jacket. He leans down so he is eye to eye with his son.

"They got a suspect already. Must be the guy you saw them take in. Don't worry," he says, then stands up and turns to leave. As he gets to the door, he turns back to Jamie.

"You did good, kid. Didn't let that little slut get the better of you. She deserved it, they all deserve it," he says, his voice even but hard as steel.

Jamie watches his father go. Last night, with her, all of his father's lessons had run through his head. Had taken him over, without even a second thought.

But the reality of his actions was sinking in. He lays down on his bed, curling up into a little ball.

A rapist. A murderer.

That's what he was now. And even though, thanks to his father's connections in this small town no one would know, Jamie knew. He would always know. But, at the moment, that didn't even matter. All that mattered was that he had been spared that morning. Spared of being the target of dear old Dad's morning workout. And why?

Because he had made his father proud.

To Be Continued...