Disclaimer: I don't own Rent or the James Bond characters mentioned
AN: Hiiiii! This is the third chapter I've written tonight, although the first two were for my new fic, Come Sing About Love, which is a fic made up of songfics, and it's MarkRoger, so go read it! Roger is hi-frickin-larious in it, or at least Katy thinks so x3 Anyway, yeah, I figured that rather than writing a third chapter of that I'd write a chapter of this, since I kinda left you guys hanging. Enjoy! Oh, and I've eaten 7 pieces of chocolate, although it's more like 14, cause they're really long rectangles about twice –or maybe thrice- the size of a normal piece… so I'm kinda whoooeeeooooeeeooo... If you've never listened to the OBC or seen the show and you're like, "WTF why is the conversation rhyming?" you need to remember that there are songs that weren't in the movie. -.-
Angel and Collins could hear Roger talking to Mimi when they walked up the sidewalk. "But now it just may be a happy new year!" Roger said. Angel was happy that Mimi and Roger appeared to be happy; they had been since Christmas Eve. Roger must have gotten over his annoying anti-social-ness.
When Roger and Mimi noticed them, Angel struck a pose. "Bond, James Bond." Collins announced in his deep voice.
"And Pussy Galore, in person!" Angel giggled like a little schoolgirl, holding up her blowtorch. Mimi grinned when she saw it.
"Pussy, you came prepared!"
"I was a boy scout once! And a Brownie, 'til some brat got scared…" The girl-scout incident was a little painful for Angel. She had known that she was meant to be a girl for a long time, so her abuela had signed her up for Brownie scouts. The adults had tried to be tolerant, and the kids hadn't noticed, but one day a little girl heard an adult refer to Angel as a he and freaked out. That was the end of that, and she was transferred straight into boy-scouts, which she quit soon afterwards. Collins turned to Mimi.
"Ah, Moneypenny, my martini!"
"Will bad champagne do?"
"That's shaken, not stirred." Roger couldn't do James Bond, but it was pretty funny. It got a half-giggle, like an A for effort.
"Pussy, the bolts."
"Just say the word!" Now was the fun part. Angel had never worked a blow torch, but the metal was melting. She just had to keep it going so they wouldn't solidify again.
"Two minutes left to execute our plan!" Mimi said when she looked at Roger's watch.
"Where's everyone else?" Collins asked. He had figured they were late, but Mark and Joanne weren't the type, and Maureen had seemed so excited over the phone.
"Playing Spiderman," Roger answered. Angel and Collins wondered when they'd be back down here.
About two minutes later, it was almost time. Roger signaled to them when his watch hit 55 seconds, and they all chanted together, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" And a few added in "Open sesame!" when the door fell down. Collins wrapped his arms around Angel and gave her the first kiss of the year as everyone else turned to face Benny, who had just walked up from down the street. They broke their kiss to stare at him.
"I see that you've beaten me to the punch," Benny said, too brightly for the circumstances.
"How'd you know we'd be here?" Roger said, defensively.
"I had a hunch." Benny didn't seem to be as mad as they had expected.
"You're… not mad?" Mark was obviously confused too.
"I'm here to end this war. It's a shame you went and destroyed the door," Benny said, eyeing the now useless door lying in the snow, its bolts completely melted off.
"Why all the sudden the big about-face?" Mimi asked, glaring at him. Benny laid a hand on her shoulder.
"The credit is yours. You made a good case."
"What case?" Roger tore Benny's hand off Mimi's shoulder and pulled her closer, holding her around her waist.
"Mimi came to see me and she had much to say," Benny replied.
"That's not how you put it at all yesterday!" Mimi shouted, moving closer to Roger.
Benny backed off. "I couldn't stop thinking about the whole mess. Mark, you'll want to get this on film."
"I guess," Mark muttered. He held up his camera, even though we could see that it wasn't really working, since he didn't bother to aim. He obviously wanted to just get this over with, and didn't care about filming.
Benny's voice changed once the camera was lifted, as did his face. He suddenly became the picture of generosity, a dazzling smile flashed at the camera. "I regret the unlucky circumstances of the past seven days," he began, using 9 more words than he really needed.
"Circumstance?" Roger cut in. "You padlocked our door!" Benny kept his smile, but his eyes looked lie they were about to shoot lasers at Roger.
He continued, "And it's with great pleasure on behalf of CyberArts that I hand you this key." He presented a document with a grand flourish, and Angel just as grandly signaled for applause, which turned out to be a slow, pathetic clapping, but then he noticed that Mark had lowered his camera. He gestured to put it back up and film him.
"I had no juice in my battery," Mark explained.
"Reshoot!" Benny yelled.
"Oh, I see," Roger said, "This is a photo opportunity."
Maureen mimicked a newscaster. "The benevolent god ushers the poor artists back to their flat. Were you planning on taking down the barbed wire, too?"
Roger gasped melodramatically. "Anything but that!"
"Clearing the lot was a safetly concern," Benny replied defensively. "We break ground this month, but you can return."
"That's why you're here with people you hate," Maureen yelled. "Instead of with Muffy at Muffy's estate!"
"I'd honestly rather be with you tonight than in Westport," Benny said, walking towards the group of friends. Roger pushed him away.
"Spare us, old sport, the soundbite!"
Obviously, this tactic wasn't working, so Benny went on the offensive. "Mimi," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Since your ways are so seductive, I'd persuade him not to be so counterproductive."
Roger pulled her away, holding her close. "Liar!" he shouted over her head.
"Why not tell him what you wore to my place?"
Mimi turned her head to yell, "I was on my way to work!"
"Black leather and lace!" Benny exclaimed. "My desk was a mess, and I think I'm still sore!"
Mimi broke from Roger's embrace and pushed Benny away. "Cause I kicked him and I told him I wasn't his whore!" she yelled to the rest.
Benny walked back over to her and grabbed her shoulder, glaring at Roger. "Well, does your boyfriend know who your last boyfriend was?" He smiled when Roger backed away even more and crossed his arms.
"I'm not her boyfriend," he shouted at the two, "I don't care what she does!"
The damage done, Mimi sank away from both Benny and Roger, and Angel rushed to comfort her. Glaring back at everyone else, especially Benny and Roger, she said, "People, is this any way to start a new year?" She walked to Benny. "Have compassion, Benny just lost his cat."
Benny looked over at her. "It was my dog, but I appreciate that."
"My cat had a fall, and I went through hell," Angel said softly.
"It's like losing a – how did you know she fell?" Benny backed away, and as Angel floundered for a response, Collins held up the bottle of champagne.
"Champagne?" he asked.
"Don't mind if I do," Benny replied as he poured himself a glass. "To dogs," he toasted.
"No, Benny, to you." Mark replied as Benny headed back towards his car. He drove away, and immediately the atmosphere loosened, but not between Roger and Mimi, who wouldn't look at each other. Angel put an arm around Mimi's shoulders and Collins put an arm around Roger's, and they turned them to face each other.
"Let's make a resolution!" Angel said, giving Mimi a glass of champagne.
"I'll drink to that," Mimi said, and swallowed it down.
"Let's always stay friends," Collins said, pushing Roger a bit towards Mimi.
"Though we may have our disputes," Joanne said, and Maureen continued.
"This family tree's got deep roots!"
Mark helped Collins push Roger towards Mimi. "Friendship is thicker than blood!" he said to his friend, who crossed his arms and refused to budge.
"That depends," he said towards Mimi.
Mimi put her hands on her hips and said, "Depends on trust!"
"Depends on true devotion!" Roger tried to back away, but Collins and Mark gave him another push forward.
Joanne turned to Maureen, who appeared to be eyeing a busty partier across the street, and grabbed her hand, saying "Depends on love!"
Mark gave Roger a last push towards Mimi. "Depends on not denying emotion!"
"Perhaps," Roger said, and he and Mimi turned away, but they were pushed back towards each other as their friends shouted at them,
"It's gonna be a happy new year!"
"I guess," he said again, and the same thing happened, but finally he looked at Mimi and pulled her into an embrace, saying, "All right."
Angel put an arm around each of them, smiling, and said, "It's gonna be a happy new year!" She, Collins, Maureen, and Joanne headed into the loft to celebrate, leaving Roger and Mimi alone. Roger came in a moment later, and Mimi after about a minute, and they partied all night, until 6 am, when they all gradually drifted off, Angel warm and cozy in Collins' arms on the couch.