"Ow! Sh-t! Come on, you stupid…." Roger shouted, banging a fist against the television set which had broken down, prompting the musician to try and fix it

"Hey, Roger," Emily called from the metal table where she and Mark were playing a round of Battleship and Mimi was teaching Penny how to braid a friendship bracelet. "You know, one phone call, and we can have someone come down here and do that job the way it was meant to be done. I'd be more then happy to take care of the bill."

"Thanks, Emily. But I got it under control."

"I hate to remind you, babe," Mimi giggled, glancing over at her boyfriend. "But you said the same thing over five minutes ago, and you're still fooling around with that thing."

"I said, I can handle it!" Roger groaned.

"Mimi?" Emily sighed in exasperation. "Perchè gli uomini devono sempre essere così macho?" (Why do men always have to be so macho?) Roger couldn't help but look up, the expression on his face a combination of a confused frown and a scowl when he head Mimi laughing in response to Emily's question. Ever since Mimi had taught Emily Spanish, and Emily had, in turn, taught Mimi Italian, they often had small conversations using their consecutive native tongues, and sometimes, using the other's language. They always alternated, mostly because Spanish and Italian shared many similarities, so Mark and Roger were never sure exactly which language they were using, which made their attempts at translation difficult.

"I-4," Emily called, returning to the game she and Mark were playing. Mark glanced down at his board and after a brief hesitation, let out a groan of defeat.

"Hit," Mark sighed. "And you sunk my sub: my last piece. You never loose at this game, do you?"

"Hasn't happened yet," Emily grinned. At that moment, Penny's stomach started to growl.

"Hungry, Penny?" Mimi smiled.

"Yeah."

"Okay then. Who's up for Chinese?" Emily announced.

"We can't afford Chinese," Mark pointed out.

"We can if we go to Mr. Yao's place. Even though the Center's been closed for over a year, he still gives me frequent customer discounts." Mark laughed in appreciation.

"Between your numerous 'frequent customer discounts' at lower Manhattan's restaurants and your gourmet cooking skills, Emily, I sometimes wonder how we ever managed before meeting you."

"Roger, are you coming?" Mimi asked, crouching down beside him. Roger barely looked up from his fiddling with the television's wiring.

"You go down, Meems. I'll come join you in a bit, okay?"

"Okay, just don't take too long." Mimi kissed Roger's rough cheek before leaving with Mark, Emily, and Penny. For the next five minutes, Roger continued to mess around with the television wiring. Finally, he managed to hook them up in an arrangement that looked right. However, one blue wire still was unattached at one end.

"Great. Now where do you go?" Looking around, Roger finally noticed one bolt that he overlooked. Grunting, he went to attach the blue wire to the bolt. However, the second the two connected, a sudden electrical surge rippled out into him. Roger's entire body went rigid for half a minute before the surge stopped. Instantly, his muscles unclenched, allowing him to fall back onto the Loft floor, unconscious.

The first thing that Roger was aware of was the dull throbbing pain throughout his entire body. Groaning, he forced himself into a sitting position.

"Oh, man," he moaned. "How long was I out?" Roger opened his eyes to check his watch, but the sight waiting for him left him stunned. He was in the Loft, but it was completely different. The entire place was in even worse shape then it usually was. The old couch was completely ripped to shreds with a large gaping hole in the seat cushions, and the metal table was coated with a thick layer of rust. The pipes on the wall were so brittle, they had snapped in two. Around the floor and shelves, the empty beer bottles were dusty and clouded over. The entire place looked like it had been abandoned for decades. But there was one thing that made those differences seem insignificant. The entire wall that held the window that he'd looked out of so many times, the one Mimi had come through like Peter Pan that one time. It was gone. Almost as if something had torn it right off.

"What the …" Roger slowly moved forward to look out onto the street. Once again, the sight made him flinch in shock. Everything was completely devastated and destroyed, looking as if a storm of bombs had rampaged through the entire neighborhood. "Oh, Go… What happened!?"