Title: Epic
Author: HMC
Pairing: Duh.
Rated: R for mature issues, and for horror coming at the end
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Blah, blah, blah.
Notes: This chapter contains the shameful (shameless?) use of the name 
Schuler Bob.
Summary: Jay and Silent Bob are put to the ultimate test.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Betrayal

Someone's living room. It smelled like a home. There was a scent of 
coffee and laundry detergent wafting through the house, plus the smell 
of flowers coming from somewhere. They could have been real flowers, 
or it could have just been really expensive air freshener. Bob 
couldn't tell. The TV was nice, relatively big, with a VCR sitting 
next to it. They had a coffee table, with actual coffee mugs on it. 
Bob had to give a half smile, that the only purpose he'd ever had for 
a coffee table was to put his feet on it. It was a nice place, a lot 
fancier then the apartment he shared with Jay. 

*Jay.... Jay? What is going on?*

The sound came drifting from down to hall to him, and he followed, 
once again recognizing the voice and regretting it. Hearing a crunch 
under his foot, he looking down and realized that the floor was 
littered in picture frames that he correctly guessed had been hanging 
on the walls. They'd all been smashed on the floor. Someone had been 
very upset....

From the sounds of it, that person still was.

He followed the noise into the kitchen, where he found even more 
destruction. Dishes were all over the floor, in several thousand 
pieces. The contents of the cupboards had been emptied and strewn 
about the room. Food had splattered the wall, and the dining table 
was overturned. Someone had really gone ape shit on this place. And 
that's when he heard it again. That quiet, sobbing sound coming from 
behind him.

Whirling around, his heart skipped a beat. He recognized the figure 
causing the sounds of anguish.

Bethany Sloan huddled against the wall, curled up on herself with the 
phone against her ear. She looked like she was trying to talk but was 
failing miserably. Her ebony black hair had seen better days; now it 
was knotted and wild, lying in sweaty strands against her skin. Salty 
tears ran down her face, leaving shiny, yet textured streaks. She 
shivered, slightly rocking back and forth.

Bob resisted the urge to run forward and comfort her. He knew it was 
impossible anyway. 

Bethany twitched, somehow giving Bob the impression that someone on 
the other line was talking now, trying to get Bethany's attention, or 
at least trying to get her to talk. Bethany shook her head into the 
phone, searching for the strength to talk, or for the strength to 
control her tears for just a few moments. 

"Oh, Mom.... he left, he left, he left.... He's not coming back!" She 
wailed, sobbing. More words from her mother, and Bethany managed to 
force her tears down, only letting small gasps out, along with the 
occasional tear. 

"He left. He doesn't want me anymore.... Doesn't want a wife that 
can't have his kids...." She moaned, scrubbing at her eyes with her 
palms, desperately trying to rid herself of the tears. Bob shoved his 
hands deep inside his pockets, a grim look on his face. Bethany had 
never mentioned anything about this to him. Of course, he had known 
about the divorce, Rufus had mentioned it sometime during that journey 
that they'd taken way back when. He'd never mentioned the 
circumstances behind it, though, and Bob hadn't felt the need to ask. 
After all, it wasn't his business.

Hell, it still wasn't his business, yet it was being shoved in his 
face.

Bethany related the story over the phone. "The doctor says it was the 
infection, it just destroyed my uterus. And, I cried, and I asked the 
doctors if they could fix it.... I begged them to find a way to fix 
it.... but it's too late now. And I came home to tell him.... He's 
gone.... He said he wanted a family, and I could never give him what 
he wanted. He wanted a baby boy, mom! A baby boy that we could name 
after his dad! And I can't give him the one thing he wanted! God 
dammit!" She picked up a plate that was yet to be smashed and fixed 
that problem by hurling it at the window. Burying her face in her one 
free hand, she growled a sort of hybrid sob/scream. "I loved him. I 
thought he loved me."

There were a few moments of silence, in which Bob could hear the 
muffled murmurs of words and a soothing voice from the other end of 
the phone. Bethany lifted her head, a look of pure scorn appearing on 
her face. Her eyebrows drew together, putting deep creases in her 
forehead. Bob unconsciously stepped back, recognizing that look of 
pure rage. 

"*What??*" She demanded of her mother, sitting up a little straighter. 
"How can you say that?" A little quieter. There was an incredulous 
look on her face that got more and more horrified as the seconds 
dragged on. "No! I don't care!! Well, fuck you and FUCK GOD!!" She 
slammed the phone on the floor, banging it repeatedly into the tiles, 
again and again. She didn't stop until the handset had been smashed 
into pieces, and only then did she let the broken machine slip from 
her fingers. 

She slumped against the wall, utterly miserable now. The corners of 
her mouth twitched treacherously, pulling her lips down. 

"How could you? HOW COULD YOU!!!???" She cried, punching the ground 
with a clenched fist. "How could you do this to me? Why?? Why me?? 
I did my best! What about what I wanted!? Fuck, I *hate* you!" She 
leaned her head back, screaming at the ceiling. "I hate you!!" 

And she collapsed into helpless, bitter sobs that wracked her entire 
body. 

The scene faded fairly quickly, Bob noting with a slight disgust that 
he'd gotten used to the transitions between worlds.

"Who do you think she was talking to just then? Who really betrayed 
her?" Azrael asked.

"I don't know." Bob muttered. *just leave me alone, let this be 
over, go away, I don't want to think right now, I just need to sleep*

"I think you do."

Silence. *I can't handle this. It's too much, I don't want to see 
these things anymore*

"I could explain that last one, but I happen to know for a fact that 
you're smarter then you let on. You just think about it real hard. 
Understand, Schuler Bob?" 

Bob couldn't find the strength to answer. He just remained standing, 
facing the next door. Azrael was suddenly behind him, pushing him 
towards the fated portal. The portal that would no doubt lead him to 
some scenario of despair.... of pain. 

A hand on his lower back ushered him towards the door, and he 
regretfully stepped through.

Weakness

....tbc....