Publish Date: 10/02\2003

A/N: Just an idea that ran through my head while writing Deadly Sins. It wouldn’t fit anywhere in that story, so I decided to make it a separate piece because I just loved the idea.

Chapter 1: Sacrifice

The year was eighteen-ninety as the sun set over the vast city of Chicago. Even after the fire great fire less than twenty years prior had destroyed so much, the people of Chicago rebuilt with a renewed vigor. Now, in the years that followed, there was so little evidence that there had ever been a fire that it seemed as though it had never happened. Hundreds of immigrants came from all over the world in hopes of a new start and a new future, but as so many that headed west discovered, the golden promises turned to brass quickly.

Over population, and lack of jobs brought poverty upon the great city leaving many young men and women out of work. As desperate times call for desperate measures, they were soon coming to different ways of forging out their way in life. Those that were accepted quickly turned to gangs that had been running rampant in the streets for since before the fire. Little was done to stop those characters, as the city hall was full of crooked politicians and money loving scum. The employment of the groups weren't unheard of. Mob rule of Chicago was being birthed.

The leaders of such gangs were exalted as heroes by the lay-people. They were someone to be feared and respected, revered and honored, but not made friends. The life of a leader was a lonely thing. None of them were ever completely free from the restricting bonds that kept them from acting openly, never able to be completely themselves. For they weren't their own persons, they were the gang's, and there was no time for self pleasure. Every move you made was watched every motion you took had to be guarded.

The hours were terrible, the gratification was lousy, and the stress was terrible, but they couldn't do anything. The few that could hold up under such pressures were thrust into the position by those around them whether they wanted it or not. Most of the time, it was not. Once placed in the position, there was no way out, it was a lifetime membership. Sometimes those memberships were terminated early than expected. Pride kept them from running.

Unarguably, it was a lonesome life. One that few would chose for their own, but one that most had very little control over. For being leaders, they really held a small amount of power. It was all a front to make everyone think you were in control. The pain of self-sacrifice was a daily reality for most of those leaders as they gave up something dear to them every day. Loneliness, grief, and the every powering anger there the company they kept.

One leader knew this pain more keenly than others did this night, though.

There was sadness in his blue eyes as he looked out across the waters of Lake Michigan. The gentle sound of the water lapping against the pier where he stood a seemingly calming noise, but it did little good to soothe him. The dirty fingernails of his strong hands dug into his arms, biting the flesh, but he didn't care. The physical pains a strangely pleasing distraction from the other emotions he didn't want to be feeling.

Light from the setting sun hit his defined face, casting shadows and causing the planes and angles of his countenance to be magnified. One would have thought him a statue there except the wind blew over him, ruffling his dirty blonde hair and making his clothes wave in its ever-persistent presence. His eyes glittered with a thousand unshed tears that he wouldn't allow to fall. What a perfect picture of leadership.

Heartbreak.

::*~*::

Slow, hesitant footsteps on the otherwise deserted pier alerted him to the presence of another. So involved in his reflections he had been he hadn't realized someone approached till much later than normal. A possibly dangerous mistake if this messenger was hostile and his muscles tightened as he turned slowly. He rotated with such gentle ease, one would have never guessed he had been surprised. The icy blue eyes gleamed coldly in a face of granite and the one who approached almost recoiled at the obvious hate apparent there.

As recognition came over the man as to who had approached him, he relaxed slightly, unclenching his fists. A friendly presence had come, but then again, one never knew their friends from their foes, but no suspicion entered his mind as he saw who it was. As he looked at them, his shoulders fell in… defeat, maybe regret? There were so many sudden emotions swirling across his face the one who approached hardly recognized him.

Jack Gable, the leader, never looked like this.

"What do you want Elizabeth?" he growled, annoyed by the interruption as she stared at him blankly. "I asked you a question," he spoke aggressively as he got no response, uncomfortable with the way she was surveying him.

Slowly, she worked her jaw, trying to remember what she had come out here to ask him. There had been something, hadn't there? But she had come out expecting the overly confident smart-mouthed leader of one of the Chicago's largest gangs, not someone she recognized. They had known each other for years and she had never seen this much raw emotion in her whole time with him combined as she beheld now. The smirk he wore was deceiving though; his eyes were still brimming with anger.

"What, Liz?" he asked roughly, his voice masking his expression. Wrapped in complete self-confidence, but laced with terrible hostility.

"I was just-" she started but took a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts and he confidence. "I was just wondering how you fared? Joe said that you've been out here all day and I thought…" her burst of courage waned as she stared into his eyes. Being the leader, he was famous for many things, but intimidation was his specialty.

"You just thought you would rip yourself away from him and see how I was?" he said in a cruelly mocking tone. "How touching," the sarcasm in his tone did nothing to dispel the obvious fury in his voice.

Again, she cast her eyes down to her feet, saying, "I was worried about you." He gave a mirthless laugh.

"Right," he smirked. "You were worried about me."

Liz's head snapped back up and looked at him sharply. The unlined accusation that was laced into his comment, Liz knew that something else was meant by his words. Very few else would have picked up on this, but she knew him better than most.

"What was that supposed to mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You mean that Joe was wondering where I was, I'm late for the poker game I was going to play with him," Jack answered. "So to get on his favored side, you offered to check up on your good friend," Jack spread his arms to gesture himself. "Well in answer to your question, I am fine. Now leave," his last words were hard and even the sarcasm was dropped from it to leave only the stinging barb.

"I'm allowed to care for you as well as Joe," Elizabeth pointed out, not backing down. Knowing that once she retreated, she would never get another chance to talk with him about this. "I don't do everything simply because - because-" she sputtered.

"Because you love him?" Jack prompted, raising his eyebrows, and she flushed a bright red.

"I am not in love with Joe!" she denied hastily, and Jack laughed, turning away so she wouldn't see the hurt in his eyes.

"You don't love him," he said deadly as he leaned back against the wooden support. "That is the biggest lie you have ever told me, Elizabeth."

"I'm not in love-" she tried again, only to be cut off.

"Silence," he commanded and she immediately shut her mouth. Though he was her friend, he was also her leader, and she respected and feared him like the rest. "I've seen the way you look at him," he turned slowly and looked at her before he continued, trying to master the feelings that sprung alive inside of him at the mere sight of her. "I've see the way you hang off of his every word," he began to advance upon her, and she backed away slowly. "The way you smile when he walks into a room, and the way you almost glow," he moved forward until he had her backed against on of the wooden supports, moving forward till he was practically towering over her. "I've seen you accompanying him, you aren't subtle," he hissed through clenched teeth. "So don't you attempt to convince me otherwise."

He was so close to her now she could feel his breath on her cheek. His eyes were inches above her, shining with - something as he stared into her face. Breathing was suddenly a near impossibility for her, as his presence seemed to suck the air right from her lungs. A nail dug into her back as she pressed up against the wooden surface behind her, the wooden planks beneath her feet creaked with their weight. The indistinguishable look in his eyes was clouded with a tight control that was quickly giving way to a completely different emotion.

… Was he going to…?

Then as quickly as he had cornered her, he pulled away, turning back out to the water. A heavy silence hung over them for several long moments and Jack bowed his head, clenching and unclenching his fists. Elizabeth didn't move, she barely breathed, she was afraid of what was going to come next. Never in her long memory of her time with this boy, now a man, did she remember him acting like this. Jack had always been one to act with his head, not with his heart, mind over mater. Being the leader of such a large group called for the cool, levelheaded actions that he possessed. This was hardly the same person at all.

Finally he spoke, "And I've seen the way that he looks at you too," his voice was barely audible as he breathed the words that choked him.

"What?" Liz breathed, not moving.

"He's in love with you too, you know," Jack closed his eyes as he spoke the words that ruined him. "He has yet to realize this," as he said those phrases, you could have sworn he heard his own heart breaking.

Elizabeth was very still for a moment, unsure of what to do or say. At the words he spoke, her heart had leapt with a strange excitement, but there was so much sadness in his voice. Why would he be sad that his friends were in love?

"Liz?" he spoke, his voice suddenly husky, breaking her from her reverie.

"Yes?" she could barely speak.

"Leave me, now," he ordered roughly.

"But-" she started, shocked at the order. How could this man switch masks so quickly?

"Liz, just listen to me for once! Leave! Joe -" he paused, taking a deep breath before finishing. "Joe is waiting."

At this her eyes flashed with a dark anger. Leader or not, she had known him far before his time of power and first and foremost he was her friend. Someone she cared about, and she was not going to be ordered around like some whipped puppy. Who was he to dictate to her the feelings that he seemed to think he knew better than she did?

"You assume you understand what I desire?" She charged. "You know nothing! You say you are my friend, yet you act so that I can hardly believe I know you!" She took a few bold steps forward. "Joe is a friend, just like you, not a love interest! I-"

With lightning quick speed, he whirled around, clamping a hand over her mouth and grabbing her arm in the process. "I'm not blind, Elizabeth," he growled, the apparent anger in his expression hit her like a slap to the face. "I'm not stupid either," the malice in his tone wasn't hindered by the normally smooth, diplomatic intonations. "So get out of here, and never come back here pretending to care about me!" The ice in his eyes bored into her as he stared hard into her wide eyes.

Slowly, her eyes welled up with tears under his intense gaze and he released her roughly, pushing her back towards the land. Stumbling slightly, she drew herself up, trying her hardest not to cry. The tears would wash away what little dignity she had managed to keep. Holding her head high, she met his eyes firmly, determined not to waver.

"I do care about you," she tried to keep her voice as steady as possible, but heard it start to waver. "Lord knows why, but I do," her vision was blurring quickly with the mounting tears in her eyes, making Jack fade into noting more than a swirl of colors and shadows. Knowing that if she stayed much longer, she would break down crying, she whirled around on her heel and ran off of the pier as fast as she could in her restricting skirts.

Watching her go, Jack saw the lamplighters watch the strange sight of the girl darting past them. The evening was upon them and the last rays of the day's sun had faded during Liz's last words. The world around him was dark, but he still didn't return to his place of dwelling. Moving slowly, he leaned back against the wooden support he had first reclined when the woman had arrived.

Jack knew he had hurt her, he had seen it in her eyes as she had stared up into his. The betrayal of a friend hurt deeply, he knew, but he had spoken the truth. Only an idiot couldn't see that his only two real friends had fallen in love with each other. Inside, he knew that he should be happy for them, but he wasn't. The thoughts only brought him pain. So he had spread the pain to the one that he couldn't bear to upset.

The lamplight waved in a distracting pattern across the waters as stared into the black emptiness that surrounded him. A lonely tear glittered as it slid down his cheek unbidden, but unhindered. Somehow, you'd think that knowing that she was hurting too would make him feel better - but somehow it only made things worse.

::*~*::

Angry and frustrated, Liz charged down the streets, not paying attention to the whistles and rude calls from those that were on the streets. Vulgar outcasts and vile men who regularly paid to spend the night with a woman lined the streets even at this late hour. Homeless children and their mothers begged for a crumb of bread or a half a penny from those that passed them by. At one point, Liz had been that child begging on the streets, now she was different. Today, she was a member of a gang, one of the few females to be counted among their numbers.

These sights and sounds went unnoticed by her tonight though as she ran into the tenement that she called her home and darted up the stairs to her apartment. It was anything but fancy, but being in a gang didn't always pay that well and besides, who would expect an experienced robber to live in such conditions. With the thousands of dollars she had stolen, you would think that she would have picked a life of luxury, but the money had been stolen for the gang and in the gang it stayed.

Entering her apartment, she slammed the door, rattling the thin tenement walls that kept her separate from her neighbors. One of which happened to be Joe. The rest of the building that hadn't been made known of her presence by the slamming of the door was alerted by the scream of complete frustration that she uttered soon after. Everything inside of her was aggravated. She wanted to tear that egotistical Jack Gable apart at the seams for being so presumptuous.

Pacing restlessly, she couldn't ease the nagging feeling that tugged at her as she walked back and forth. Something inside of her was unsettled by the conversation she had with her leader, friend, and confidant. They had always been able to talk, hadn't they? So why was he so closed to her tonight? Had she done something wrong? Sighing loudly, she went over to a window and opened it.

The pane of glass slid open after much pulling, showing a direct passage to a rusted old fire escape. The cheap metal had become worn and dangerous far before its time, but the escape did prove useful for one thing. Access to the roof. True, there was another way, but that meant leaving her apartment and climbing all of the stairs just like everyone else did. If she had done things the way everyone else had, she would be a married woman by now, possibly with children of her own and a future. No, she had never been one to fit in the mold.

Without taking any caution, she stormed up the metal stairs to the roof of the building. Hoisting herself over the low wall that lined the flat roof, she pushed through some of the laundry of some of the other residents. Carefully, she stepped over some crudely formed wooden toys and other scattered debris that lay over the roof. Wrapping her arms around herself, she fought off a sudden chill that wasn't due to any cause of the weather.

The air was warm for spring in Chicago and the wind was mild and pleasant as it blew across the city. Hints of spring could be seen in the park if one ventured far enough to see it. One of the residents had been telling her of the flowers that had bloomed back in her home country of England. Surely they had been very beautiful. Bitterly she thought how she had never been anywhere but this wretched city.

Soft salty tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to blink the back. She had been admitted into a gang for her ability to cry it had been for her ability not to cry. What would the others say if they saw the glimmering trails rolling down her soft cheeks? Somehow, it didn't matter right now. So involved in her thoughts she didn't hear another come up on the roof with her.

"Hello Elizabeth." The soft greeting and she quickly wiped at the tears, unsure of whom to expect. Turning, she saw that it was Joe every word of the hurtful discussion with Jack came flooding back.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked harshly and instantly regretted her hard words. Joe hadn't done anything to her, it had been Jack, so why was she taking it out on him?

"How are you?" he asked politely, ignoring her question and moving along side her by the edge of the wall.

"I'm fine, thank you," she answered softly upset that she had been so quick tempered with him before. It wasn't his fault that Jack had made her so confused and irritable.

"I heard you scream," he began smoothly.

"Are you sure it was I?" she questioned without missing a beat.

"Quite," he returned. "I would know that voice through the midst of a crowd of others," he complimented genuinely and she felt the heat rise on her cheeks.

"You always have been a terrible flirt, Joe," she pointed out.

"I only flirt with the prettiest of girls," he took her hand and kissed the back of it swiftly and with a very urbane air.

Elizabeth's foul mood was melting quickly with Joe's ever-pleasant presence. If ever there had been someone who could make her feel better after such an encounter with his or her infamous leader, it was he. The jokes and easygoing manner that he had mastered so thoroughly helped put her at ease and her mind to rest. As he put a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to look at him, he smiled down at her.

"Now, where have you put your charming smile?" he asked, tipping his head to one side and Elizabeth couldn't help but grin. The boyish antics of the man that she stood with always brought up her spirits. "There is my girl," his own smile widened and Elizabeth enjoyed the pet term that he had given her. 'My girl.' "One question still remains I'm afraid," Joe quickly returned to the subject at hand. "What could have occurred to cause you to become so upset?"

"I'm not upset," Liz continued to smile, attempting to convince him of the truth of his words.

"I feel that you are lying," he frowned and dropped his finger from her chin. "Why would you lie to me?"

"So we are up to two questions now, are we?" She attempted to be witty.

"Would it have anything to do with our dear leader?" He raised his eyebrows in an inquiring manner.

"I do believe that would be three," Liz counted and Joe looked slightly vexed.

"Why are you avoiding the questions Elizabeth?" he brushed a stray hair away from her face and Liz resisted the temptation to inform him that that was the fourth question he had asked.

"I avoid nothing," she answered instead.

"Yet you insist on avoiding any question I pose you," Joe sighed.

"I shall dodge not another inquiry of yours, sir," she promised valiantly.

"Then will you tell me if any of this episode has to do with our dear leader, Jack?" He asked with slight sarcasm in the word 'dear.'

"I went and spoke with him, if that is what you mean," She offered, not wishing to rehash the topic of their conversation.

"He was rude as always?" Joe snorted, obviously holding contempt for his friend's manners.

"Actually, his behavior was justified," she defended and Joe raised a single eyebrow.

"How so?"

"I provoked him, he wished for me to leave but I wouldn't," she condensed it, removing any hints to what the conversation had held.

"That is no excuse for the offence of a lady, my girl," Joe observed and Liz blushed. The strangeness of compliments from Joe still held an unusual amount of embarrassment for her.

"I wasn't offended," she informed. "Slightly distressed, yes, but offended I was not," she clarified and he arched his eyebrow again.

"Distressed, how so?" he asked and Liz realized that she might have given too much information. How could she tell him about this?

"Jack said some things that were disturbed, that is all," Liz attempted to brush it off, but Joe wouldn't let her.

"How do you mean?"

"It really was nothing, Joe," she smiled up at him sweetly. "Let us forget about it."

"Did he hurt you?" Joe's eyes were suddenly dark with passion. "Because I swear on my mother's grave that if he even touched you I will -"

"No," Liz shook her head and stepped closer to Joe, taking his hand in a friendly, comforting manner. "Jack did nothing physically to hurt me," She answered honestly and he eyed her suspiciously. "I promise, Joe," Liz rested her free hand on his smooth cheek, smiling softly and his eyes shifted.

"Liz," he said heavily, his eyes roaming her face and then locking with hers. Suddenly, Liz got the feeling that his thoughts were anywhere but Jack and her conversation. This instinct proved to be right for in the next instant, his lips were over hers and Liz nearly died from shock.

As her breath mingled with his, she became lightheaded and he wrapped his arms around her firmly. The security and safety she felt in his arms was phenomenal and she let him kiss her deeply. After all, wasn't this what she had been waiting for? The pressure of his mouth over hers was intoxicating, but not overly so. His kiss was like that of light champagne, familiar, pleasant, enough to make her feel giddy but grounded at the same time. This was a much-needed distraction however, a welcome distraction, a wanted distraction, and she molded her small form against his. As they lost themselves in the emotions swirling out of each other, neither one noticed the tears that began to slip down her cheeks once more. Joe finally pulled back and rested his forehead against hers before whispering the fated phrase.

"I love you," he breathed and her heart swelled.

Yet - there was something missing. A piece of her heart wasn't there as Joe held her in his arms. She had left it behind with the man on pier. The man who was trying his hardest not to break down.

Because leaders don't cry.

A/N: As always, constructive criticism is craved. This is just a random idea piece, if you want me to continue it, or write more, please leave a review saying so. If not, this will remain a one-shot work. Thank you.