Class time, Voyager Style

Jeff awoke slowly the next morning. He knew what was coming in the next few hours.

Luckily, the school had given him permission to skip today, under the circumstances.

He donned his jeans, a flannel shirt Bogg had given him a few years ago ,and his sneakers.

He knew it wasn't cold outside, but right now that's how he felt deep inside his heart. Cold and misty.

A slight tap came on his door.

"C'mon, kid. Breakfast gettin' cold," came Bogg's sluggish voice.

They had been up half the night talking and neither of them were quite awake yet.

"Coming," Jeff sighed and emerged from the door. Shit, Jeffrey thought, how can I eat now?

Phineas smiled when he saw the shirt.

"Hey, I remember when I got you that shirt!"

Jeff grinned. "You should, you got it from Betsy Ross,"

"Oh, that's why the colors look familiar." Phineas tried to make the moment light.

Though his heart was heavy, Jeffrey had to chuckle at Bogg's last remark.

It was quiet during breakfast, neither of them knowing what to say. Jeffrey had decided they had said what they needed to the night before and just continued eating.

Phineas took care of the dishes while Jeffrey cleaned off the table.

"C'mon, kid. It's time we got goin," Phineas sighed.

He was REALLY going to hate this!

Yes, there had been a few times he and Jeff had been separated, but he had always been able to find the boy.

But, now, now he was going to be away from him for more than a few days.

The only thing that helped matters was the fact that Jeff was going to be safe and sound at Voyagers Academy.

They headed down the hallway and met Olivia and Morgan halfway along.

Jeffrey's brown eyes met with Morgan's own. They didn't have to say a word...they knew how each other felt.

She forced a smile and he could tell she had been crying. He gulped back his own threatening tears.

Fuck, Jeffrey, act like a man!!!

When he'd been a young boy, his father had told him that a real man didn't cry.

Then, after he and Bogg had been partners for awhile, they had gone to help Babe Ruth and Cleopatra.

When they had noticed the Yankee Stadium was missing, it had torn Jeff's heart out, but he'd been ashamed to cry, until Bogg had told him,

"Hey, it takes a grown man to cry!"

At that memory, Jeffrey allowed the tears to flow; he felt Bogg's strong arm around him, and he moved closer to the pirate.

They got to the chambers and the four of them slowly walked in.

"You ready?" Bogg asked Olivia.

She nodded and turned to face her young partner. She placed her hands on Morgan's thin shoulders and fought the tears.

"You'll be fine here, Morgan. There will be a lot of people here to help you."

Without saying a word, Morgan flung her arms around Olivia and the two them hugged each other.

Don't go, Olivia! Please! Morgan hollered inwardly.

"Jeff..." Bogg gulped.

Jeffrey heaved a heavy sigh and looked at his father.

"I'll be okay, Dad. I know I will," Jeff lied.

Phineas grabbed his son in a hug.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," he whispered in the boy's ear.

"I'll be waiting..." came the response.

With that, Olivia and Bogg got into position and Bogg made the necessary adjustments on his omni.

The last time Bogg saw his boy with through eyes filled with tears.

Jeffrey kept looking at the empty spot where Bogg and Olivia had been.

After he had been standing there for a few minutes in dead silence, Morgan touched his shoulder lightly.

"Jeffrey..." she whispered.

She made him turn to her, and he looked down at her eyes.

She saw that he was crying and trying very hard to hide it.

"Jeffrey, you don't have to hide your tears from me," she said. "I know how you feel."

"He's...only been gone five minutes..." he said through the tears that freely flew down his face. Angrily he brushed the tears. Fuck, Jeffrey!

"I don't want Olivia to go either, but we can't do anything about it."

She wrapped her arms around his waist as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Morgan smiled slightly as she rubbed his back and he cried on her shoulder. She felt the teardrops on her shirt, but she didn't care. Not one bit.

Morgan knew Jeffrey had stopped crying when he straightened up and rubbed his face. "Sorry about that," he sighed.

"About what? We just watched our parents go Voyaging without us. It's okay for you to fucking cry."

He looked at her seriously. "Why aren't you fucking crying?"

She forced a smile. "You're crying for both of us."

Jeffrey reddened. The only person he felt he could really cry in front of was Bogg.

And now Bogg was gone.
He shook his head.

Yes, Bogg and Olivia were gone. Now he and Morgan had to get on with their lives until the two Voyagers got back to take them away from this dreadful place.

"You hungry?" Morgan asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hungry?" Jeffrey blinked. How the hell could he think of food right now?

Morgan shrugged. "When was the last time you ate?"

"This morning. Bogg made bacon and eggs, but I couldn't taste 'em."

"Think you can eat now?"

"Maybe."

"Let's go." Morgan grabbed Jeff's arm and he reluctantly followed her.

As they ate, Morgan and Jeffrey talked about their voyages while they had been away from each other.

When Jeffrey told her about meeting Babe Ruth and Cleopatra, her eyes widened.

"Cleopatra? What did she look like?"

Jeffrey shrugged. "How the fuck should I know? I was like, what? Twelve?"

Morgan chuckled. "Oh, yeah...twelve-year-old boys don't dig girls."

"Well, we don't," he said a little defensively.

They went for dessert.

"So," Jeffrey said as he bit into a big chocolate cake. "Where do they have you staying?"

Morgan looked down at her key lime pie. "A fucking girls' dorm. It's half way across campus. You?"

"The boys' dorm. Guess I have a roomy, but I have no clue who he is. I just hope it isn't fucking Roger!"

"Roger?" Morgan questioned.

Jeffrey nodded. "He's a big pain in my tuba! First day of classes, and he gets me into a fight, can you fucking believe it?"

"The ass hole," Morgan groaned.

"Yep. I didn't want to fight, but he kept at it. So, I through him over my god damn shoulder."

Morgan smiled. "Watch out for Kung Fu Jeffrey!"

Jeffrey almost choked on his cake. When he got his voice back, he answered, "Nah...make that Judo Jeffrey."

Finally, the two of them were laughing. Soon they were laughing so hard they couldn't stop. Jeffrey now knew why he liked Morgan so much.

He hated it when they had to go their separate ways. He held her for the longest time, not wanting to let go. "Remember, if you need someone to talk to you, I'm always here for you," he said.

Morgan nodded in silence. She was going to be alone again...at least until she saw Jeffrey again in class tomorrow.

Jeffrey lugged his knapsack and dufflebag to the dormitory, where another student showed him to his room and left him.

Sighing, Jeffrey opened the door and saw a young blond boy standing there and staring out the window. Who the fuck was that? A least he knew it wasn't Roger, who was dark haird.

"Hi. I'm Jeffrey Jones," he murmured.

The boy straightened his shoulders. "I'm Kris Abrams." He turned around and grinned at Jeffrey. "Guess we're stuck with each other, huh?"

Jeffrey smiled. "Hey, I'm glad I'll be stuck with you, Kris. I was afraid Roger would be my roommate."

Kris groaned. "We're going to have to watch out for that guy."

Jeffrey walked into the room and put his bags on his bed. "Yeah; that's what Bogg said."

Both boys sat on the beds and talked till midnight.

When they turned off the lights, Jeff couldn't help but think of Bogg. He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

"Bogg, where ever you are, I hope you're okay," he whispered into the darkness.

While they had been reminiscing, the friends had neglected to notice that the door had bee left ajar.

A lone figure had been standing there long enough to know that Jeffrey Jones was no longer with his partner.

Roger walked a few feet away from the door and put his cell phone next to his ear.

“Yes, he's fucking here. And his ugly ass partner is no where to be seen...yes, I'll keep an eye on him. It will be my fucking pleasure,”

Roger hung up the phone, looked over towards the door and an evil smile showed on his thin face.