I don't own the Adam Pascal songs in this chapter. I'm merely renting them (pun fully intended, haha.) Here is the last chapter of Undiscovered. Enjoy.

Roger was in a rehearsal at CBGB’s, playing a new single they were working on, Model Prisoner, when his hands started shaking again. Try as he did to play through it, the shaking spell gradually worsened and he had to stop playing.

“You OK, Rog?” Dominic asked, concerned. The boys were used to the fact that Roger now only stopped playing when he had to; and it could never be sure when he had to. They were just concerned that he might be in pain and that would scare him.

Roger nodded and took off his guitar with Travis’ help. Travis set it on the floor and Roger looked at them, his cheeks burning.

“I-I’m sorry, guys…” he said. “I-I really have been trying to play through it, but it just keeps getting worse, especially when I get nervous…” He looked at the boys. “What are we gonna do? Do you think we’ll lose our slot because of this?”

“No,” Dominic said immediately, catching Travis and Brandon’s gaze, “we won’t. We can’t. Nathan’s been very understanding about all this. You told him about it shortly after we got the slot, but you said you’d play your heart out until you couldn’t anymore. Plus, he said his decision was firm.”

Travis and Brandon knew Dominic was talking about Jaclyn helping them out in secret by learning Roger’s part on the guitar, but Roger wasn’t going to know about that until he had to, or until they surprised him. They knew, if he found out too soon, he would become stubborn and refuse Jaclyn’s help. He was sometimes too independent for his own good. But at the same time, they knew he could become too dependant for his own good, especially with this condition.

Roger nodded. “I know,” he said. “I sure hope not. It would have all been because of me…”

“Hey now, none of your infamous self-pity,” Travis said firmly. “We’ll figure something out.”

Roger nodded mutely. “I hope so,” he said.

They all turned as they heard a door open. Jaclyn walked in. “Hello, boys,” she said, smiling at Brandon, Travis, and Dominic.

“Hi, Jaclyn,” they said in unison.

Jaclyn caught Travis’ eye and he went into the back storage room to get something.

“What are you doing here, Jackie?” Roger asked.

“I came to watch you guys play,” Jaclyn fibbed, looking at Roger and hoping her expression didn’t betray her secret.

“Jackie, you know we only practice from seven to nine,” Roger said.

“Oh, right,” Jaclyn said, playing dumb.

After a moment of awkward silence, Roger said, “Well, guys, we’re done, if you need to go.” He looked at Dominic and Brandon. “Where’s Travis?”

“He’s getting something from the back storage room,” Dominic replied. He’ll be along.”

Roger shrugged and looked at Jaclyn. “Do you, uh, need a ride home?” he asked her.

“No, thanks,” Jaclyn said. “Travis is gonna give me a ride home later.”

Roger looked surprised and slightly suspicious, but still, he nodded. “OK,” he said. “Let me or Mark or somebody know when you get home, OK?”

“OK, I will,” Jaclyn said, and she smiled at him before walking away.

“Look, guys,” Roger said, lowering his voice and looking at Brandon and Dominic when Jaclyn was out of earshot, “take care of her, OK? She and I may not have a romantic relationship going, but she’s still a good friend. She and I have both been through a lot together.”

Brandon and Dominic nodded. “We know,” they said.

“Don’t worry, man, we got it under control,” Dominic said, patting Roger on the back and smiling. “You go on now.”

Roger smiled at him and nodded. “All right, later,” he said, and he turned around, picked up his guitar, and left.

Jaclyn turned around after she heard the door shut after Roger left. “Is he gone?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Dominic said, smiling at her. “Do you still wanna practice?”

“Yes,” Jaclyn said, “absolutely. Hey, Travis,” she called to the storage room, “the coast is clear.”

Travis came out of the room, grinning. “You’re a sneaky little devil,” he teased her.

“I prefer demoness, if you don’t mind,” Jaclyn retorted, laughing and pretending to swish her tail in midair with her hand.

Travis laughed. “OK, well, let’s see how well you do,” he said, and they started to play.

-

A few weeks later, Jaclyn, Brandon, Travis, and Dominic finished their rehearsal. Jaclyn had again given Roger the excuse that Travis would give her a ride back to the loft later, so Roger would leave, enabling them to practice together in secret. The bands biggest night of the spring season at CBGB’s was coming up fast, the college students’ spring break (she knew Roger had way too many college fan girls to count) and Jaclyn didn’t know when she might have to step in for him. She knew, however, that she would have to, so she intended to be as prepared as possible for Roger’s sake.

“Hey, Travis,” she said, when they were putting away the equipment, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Jackie,” Travis said, as he took the guitar from her, put it in its case, and put it in the storage room, “what’s up?”

“You don’t… mind that I’m playing for Roger… instead of you, do you?”

Travis looked at her, surprised, and then, to her surprise, he laughed.

She looked at him, confused. “What are you laughing about?” she asked.

Travis regained his composure and looked at her. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m just really surprised you would ask something like that.”

“Why are you surprised?” Jaclyn asked. “I’m curious.”

“Well, because, do you have any idea how good you are?” Travis asked. “You’d only taken lessons in D.C. for six months, and already you’re almost as good as me and Roger. You’re amazing.”

Jaclyn smiled appreciatively. “Wow,” she said, “thanks, Travis.”

“Besides, I know you’re doing a good thing for Roger by doing it, and we’re helping you help him, and that’s that,” Travis said. He smiled at her. “It’s OK, really.”

“Are you sure?” Jaclyn asked, worried.

“Yes,” Travis insisted, “it’s great. For one thing, it was your idea.”

Jaclyn nodded, regarding this. “Yeah, I guess it was,” she said.

“And another thing, you’re a girl,” Travis said. He grinned at her.

Jaclyn was surprised again. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked curiously.

“I don’t mean anything by it,” Travis said, recovering quickly and shaking his head. “I just mean that I find a female guitarist sexy.”

Jaclyn laughed. “Why, thank you, Travis,” she said, smiling at him.

“No problem, babe,” Travis said, smiling up at her. Jaclyn laughed. Travis was always so sweet to her, and he had a sense of humor and was very laid-back. She liked that so much about him. She started to walk away to see what else she could do to help disassemble everything, when he said, “And hey, you know what?”

She turned around and looked at him. “What?” she asked.

“Before this idea of yours, we were only just a band—”

“— with some fame attached—”

“— and after you leave the band, whenever that happens, we will still be just a band; and yeah, we’re kinda famous.” Travis grinned at her and they both laughed. “So don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, OK?”

Jaclyn smiled. “OK, I’ll try not to,” she said. He smiled back at her and they walked out of the room so he could take her home.

-

The long-awaited night of the college spring break performance at CBGB's had arrived. Roger and the boys were playing their new single, Model Prisoner, when Roger felt his hands starting to shake. The tremor wasn’t as bad as he had had in the past, so he played through it and managed to finish the song. But with every shake, he felt his cheeks flaming with embarrassment and his confidence plummeting.

Finally, he had to stop. He looked back at Dominic, Travis, and Brandon, his heart pounding. He spoke to them on his headset, but they didn’t respond, and he figured his headset wasn’t working properly.

Damn it, he thought, not now! Please, not now!

“G-guys,” he stammered, pressing the small button on the right side of his headset. If he pressed this, he could speak to the boys without the audience hearing. When they didn’t look at him or respond, he knew they couldn’t hear him. He wanted to signal them, but he knew the audience would notice.

He knew that tonight, somehow, amongst the screaming girls and hooting, crazy boys, the show much, somehow, go on.

But how? If he couldn’t play, what was the point of them having a slot, especially to play during one of CBGB’s biggest nights?

Offstage, Jaclyn was watching Roger anxiously with painful sympathy. She knew she had to go on eventually, but she didn’t know when. And she knew the timing had to be right. Only she, the boys, and Nathan knew she was here.

“Travis,” she said into her headset, pressing the button, “when do I go on? Roger looks like it’s happening again and he’s about to lose it, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Travis looked over at Roger and then looked at Jaclyn, surprised. For some reason, he obviously hadn’t noticed. “Sorry, Jackie,” he said. “He looks like he’s talking to us or something and I don’t hear anything. I think his headset isn’t working. You’d better make an appearance.” Jaclyn made to enter onto the stage, but he said, “But before you do, can you get a new headset out of the storage room for him?” Jaclyn nodded and went to go get it. “And Jaclyn, hurry!”

Jaclyn nodded and rushed to the storage room and grabbed a new headset for Roger, and walked toward the stage entrance. Then she walked on.

At first, it seemed as though Roger couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He stared at her as she came onstage with a guitar over her shoulder and a headset on.

Before he could say anything, she handed him the new headset. Then she turned to the crowd. “Sorry about that, everybody,” she said to the audience. “I guess Roger had a little technical difficulty.” The audience laughed, to Roger’s surprise. “How are you guys doing tonight?” Jaclyn asked them.

The audience cheered and Jaclyn looked at Travis, Dominic, and Brandon, who were smiling at her. She grinned at them, looked at Roger, who was looking confused, and then looked at the audience.

“Now, you may all be wondering who I am and what I’m doing here. So, introductions… I’m Jaclyn Conway and a friend of Roger’s. We’ve known each other for about a year and a half now. My sister was his high school sweetheart, but unfortunately, she was killed in a car accident on April 12, 1981. Long story short, I tracked Roger down and we became friends.

“Well, you all know that recently, Roger was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, which he has been trying very hard to positively live with, and for that, I think he deserves a big round of applause.”

She clapped her hands together, and within a few seconds, the audience joined her, cheering and clapping. “We’re all proud of him for doing what he has to positively deal with what might have instead been something that destroyed his passion,” she went on. She walked upstage. “Now, he doesn’t know it yet, but for the past several weeks, I’ve been working really, really hard with his band in secret to get where they are in performing for you guys. I wanted to help him and this seemed like the best way I could think of. I know you guys have been his fans since, well, forever, but I’m not trying to replace him. I’m only trying my best to help him and I hope you guys are OK with that.”

Judging by the applause and cheers that followed her little speech, they were OK with it. She looked up at Roger and asked, “Of all people, though, are you OK with it?”

For a long moment, Roger was still and didn’t respond. Then he nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “I’m OK with it.” He looked at the audience. “So you guys are OK with a girl joining Mute?” The audience cheered again and Roger looked at them, and then at Jaclyn, his eyes twinkling. His shock at first in seeing her was now gone. “But maybe she should show us what she’s got first?” he teased, grinning at Jaclyn.

The audience cheered and Jaclyn laughed. “All right,” she said, grinning, and she looked at Travis, Dominic, and Brandon. “What should we do for them, guys?”

“Well, why don’t we do that new song you showed us a couple weeks ago?” Travis asked her on his headset.

“Oh, Rhyme and Reason?” Jaclyn asked him on her headset. “OK, that sounds great. One second, though.” She turned to the audience. “This is a song I wrote for Roger and Andy while I was in D.C. for about six months, trying to find myself. When I discovered I had a health scare— breast cancer— I realized that I really shouldn’t take my family here for granted.”

While she was saying this, she noticed the door in the back of the building opening. To her shock, Mark, Collins, and Maureen walked in. For a moment, while they found available chairs in the first row, she couldn’t speak. Then she swallowed past the lump in her throat and spoke.

“And wouldn’t you know it,” she said to the audience, “they just walked in, fashionably late”— she gestured to Mark, Collins, and Maureen in the front row and gave them a teasing look— “Mark Cohen, Tom Collins, and Maureen Johnson, everybody.”

Maureen was obviously ecstatic at having the spotlight turned on her, but all three of them were even happier— albeit, very surprised— that Jaclyn was doing this for Roger. They beamed at her as she went on.

“And, well, with that said, if it’s OK with Roger, I’d like to dedicate this next song, the song I wrote while in D.C., Rhyme and Reason, to my sister, Andy Elizabeth Conway.” She looked at Roger, who nodded and smiled at her. “This song’s for you, Andy. May the angels lead you in?”

It’s so cold
Let’s take flight
Well, we won’t need a net
Hold on tight

A new ride is unveiled
And we won’t need to try
So there’s no way to fail

A desperate look in our eyes
Holding onto one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just letting to discover
Ah, yeah, oh

It’s OK to realize
Being born into nothing
No one and nowhere
It’s all a surprise

A desperate look in our eyes
Holding onto one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just letting go to discover

That love don’t need a reason
And love don’t need a rhyme
I’m standing here pleading
And you just cover your eyes
Yeah

A desperate look in our eyes
Holding onto one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just letting go to discover
That love don’t need a reason
And love don’t need a rhyme

I said love don’t need a reason
And love don’t need a rhyme
I’m standing here pleading
While you just cover your eyes
Yeah, oh

It’s so cold
Let’s take flight
It’s so cold
Hold on tight

Roger joined in with her in tight harmony during the second chorus. Although he was shocked— he had never known she could sing, let along so well— he felt himself unconsciously wanting to join her. Singing was in his blood and it felt almost unnatural not to sing with her. So he was.

They hit the last words in tight harmony and Jaclyn sang the last words softly, bringing the song to an end. Before she knew what was happening, as the crowd cheered, Roger came over and hugged her gratefully. She looked up at him and saw he, overcome with emotion, was crying. Finally, it seemed, he had come to truths and had closure about Andy's death so long ago. She beamed at him and wiped the tears away with the pad of her thumb.

Then she took his hand and they walked to the front of the stage just as Travis and Dominic exploded into the opening driving chords of Book of Endings. Jaclyn grinned and squealed excitedly and she felt her blood start to pump and her adrenaline starting to rush. She gestured to Roger and they both started dancing around the stage and singing the first words, a tribute to his fans.

Ice is forming around her broken heart
4 this morning, she wrote him one last time
Journal entry #42409
‘He just needs some
‘Well, he needs a bit more time’
I know you take your time
As you whittle me that card
But I want you to know
I just put in new alarms

I don’t wanna be a book of endings
Take a little time
I’m just pretending
Every single one of you haunt me every night
I don’t wanna be the scars I’m bearing
I’m just a little shy of not quite caring
Every single one of you haunt me every night

In the beginning of the song, Jaclyn felt not only a connection to the screaming fans— this was, after all, Roger’s playful stab at his crazy stalker fan girls— but also a connection to Roger, about what had happened before she had run away to Washington, D.C. and everything had turned upside down and had to slowly be righted again. And now, she felt it all finally was.

Like soldiers marching
One by one they vie
For attention
A blessing in disguise
Friends forever, ‘cause I’ve seen you 15 times
I deserve you, every second of your time
I know ‘Hello, how are you?’ don’t seem like much to you
But I wrote you this song and I owe it all to you

I don’t wanna be a book of endings
Take a little time
I’m just pretending
Every single one of you haunt me every night
I don’t wanna be the scars I’m bearing
I’m just a little shy of not quite caring
Every single one of you haunt me every night
Every night
Every night
Yeah

I don’t wanna be a book of endings
Take a little time
I’m just pretending
Every single one of you haunt me every night
Yeah, I always make you cry
‘Cause I’m just that kind of guy
Never know the reason why
Never know the reason why
Never know the reason why

The song ended and she walked with Roger to the front of the stage and beamed at the audience. Then Jaclyn laughed as Maureen, Collins, and Mark jumped from their chairs onto the stage before the security guards could react. Jaclyn was distinctly reminded of Maureen’s story about her protesting of Benny’s treatment of the homeless and the Bohemians back in 1989, but she was happy they could come be with her and Roger onstage regardless.

She finished the last rocking chords with the boys and was surrounded by her family in a massive hug. She was flying high and nothing could bring her down off her Cloud Nine. It was hard to believe that, a little over a year ago, she had been undiscovered.

Sing! Music is an outburst of the soul. – Frederick Delius

Hey, everybody, guess what? It’s over. I’m pretty happy with the ending overall, I think. I was imagining Jaclyn singing with Roger in my head while I was writing it.

Some of you may also be wondering about Mark and Maureen’s and Maureen and Roger’s relationship. Well, I tried my best to prove that Mark and Maureen would be a good post-Rent pairing, since I’m a huge Mark/Maureen shipper, and I think they never should have broken up. But I probably didn’t do as well with proving that as I could have, because it a new thing for me and kind of against Rent rules. But fan fiction is born of something already in existence, so I tried, I really did. I hope you liked what I came up with.

In the end, with Maureen, instead of her helping with Roger in her kind of unhelpful way, she really just needed to stay out of the way, watch from the sidelines, and try to be normal for once. That's why I didn't put her in to help out in the last couple of chapters. And while I always saw her as helping Roger out after Mimi's death, she’s Jaclyn’s best friend, so she was always going to take Jaclyn’s side on the subject of Roger, post-Washington D.C. They’re still friends, though, and I hope I proved that with this story.

Oh, also, some of you may have been wondering about a hinting of Jaclyn/Travis romance in this chapter? Well, I considered that, to be honest, but I really did like them as friends in the end. Travis is a very laid-back guy (based on a good friend of mine in real life) that would be there for Jaclyn and support her throughout her working toward helping out Roger in the end. There is no true romance between them. They are simply a very good girl-guy friendship dynamic I played around with for a while. Sorry if I led you on. I wasn't intending to. I hope you liked them as much as I did.

I guess that’s the extent of my thoughts for now. I don't know when I'll be posting up a new story next, especially with graduating in 94 days from today and starting a six-day-a-week summer job on June 3rd, right after I get back from New York City (who's going to see RENT and Wicked at the Nederlander and Gershwin Theatres for graduation? I AM, YEAH, BABY!!!), so I simply may just not have any time. But I’m updating now, so in true Elphaba and Glinda-like fashion, “I hope you’re happy!”

I’ll try my best to come around and read and review for you guys, since I’m looking forward to more chapters from all of you (especially Renthead621, Rosablasifann08, and broadwaylover07.) So perhaps you guys and I can believe this isn’t goodbye after all. Keep checking back to see if I've got more new stuff!

As always, don't forget to review. I love feedback and it isn't necessarily always a free ride. We writers always appreciate hearing what our readers think of what we write, so go on and do it. :)

Until next time, lots of love,

Renthead07