Acts of Desperate Men

Black-Angel-001: this is the end chapter. thanks for reading and giving me great reviews! you guys are all awesome and have been the continued inspiration behind this project. that said, there is a sequal to this story in the works. to the reviewer 'hmph': you wanted it, you're gonna get it. don't know how much more hurt you want than what will be in this, the sequal, i mean. and yes, who killed joanne will be revealed in the sequal. now, without further ado, the end.

Acts of Desperate Men

"Aloha oe aloha oe e ke onna no na noho i ka lipo. One fond embrace a hoi a aeu until we meet again." --Hawaiian lyrics of Aloha Oe, by Queen Lilioulikalani of Hawaii

That shingle was loose, too, thought Roy as he climbed the ladder. He was clear to go back to work in the next four days, had passed his PT eval, and was anxious to get to the job he loved. Just like he was anxious to get this leaky roof fixed.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The sharp, angry tone startled Roy, making him loose his balance a little. He gripped the roof tightly and put his feet more firmly against the ladder and worked on calming his thudding heart. Looking at the ground, he saw Johnny, Reia, and his two kids standing there staring up at him. Johnny's hands were on his hips, and he was glaring. Reia's arms were folded across her chest, and she was glaring. Chris and Jenny were staring at him with 'I told you so' expressions and Chris was shaking his head.

"I told him to wait for you, but he wouldn't listen," said his traitourous son.

"Roy, get down from there, now!" Johnny went to hold the ladder while Roy, very reluctantly, climbed down. "Are you nuts? Do you want to break your neck again?"

"I never broke my neck in the first place," Roy said defensively. "It was fractured."

"You're splitting hairs. And, besides that, you just got you're arm out of the cast weeks ago almost! You want to break THAT arm again?"

"I am not going to fall off the roof-I spend half my time on roofs and ladders on the job, anyway."

John started counting off on his hand. "There was the time you fell out of a building, then fell off the roof, there was the time you fell off the roof after you were electorcuted, when you grabbed the escaped convict who was at the edge of the roof and you two fell off, when you-"

"You know what I meant," said Roy with exsasperation.

Reia stepped up to him, shook a finger at him. "No tiene sentido!"

"What?"

"You have no sense!"

"What were you doing up there anyway?" John looked up at the roof in question.

Roy sighed and scratched his chin. "I was going to fix the leak that's up there. The living room carpet and coffee table are practically ruined because of the continual and steady leak whenever it rains."

"Why didn't you wait for me, I would've fixed it for you."

Roy began to lead the group back into the house. "Because I can fix a stinkin' roof, Johnny."

As Johnny launched back into a tyrade about the dangers of fixing a roof after just recovering from serious injuries and a coma, and the stupidness of not waiting for someone to help you at least hold the ladder, Roy smiled to himself and looked out the kitchen window at the sun and greenery. Joseph Campbell was still in prison, he was going back to work, Johnny was getting back to his talkative self, and the kids were slowly but surely opening back up and talking about their mom again. Roy was satisfied. Not content; he couldn't be that until the person who killed Joanne was in jail, but he was satisfied with his life for the moment.

"Oh, yeah, Reia, did you hear? Roy's got a girlfriend."

That brought Roy back to the present. "I what?!"

Johnny grinned and winked at his girlfriend. "Yeah, pretty thing in phlebotomy-"

As Roy and John began their verbal sparring match and the kids and Reia watched with amuesment, Roy absently corrected his earlier thoughts.

He wasn't satisfied.

He was very satisfied.

FIN

Black-Angel-001: and we are done. thanks again for being such awesome R&R's, with a special thanks to hotflash for her awesome support and encouragement!, and i hope you'll check out the sequal when it comes out, which will be sometime next week. (i think i hope i pray -crosses fingers-) you guys have been beautiful, good night!