I just found this, but I thought it was very interesting. I liked the AU concept, mostly because the whole Shakespearean-Tragedy-Where-Everybody-Dies Thing...while it worked in the movie and I was ultimately happy with how the entire film panned out, I think that Billy not blackmailing Sullivan would've worked, too. If he'd just taken a breath, stopped himself, and looked at the bigger picture, he could've just faded into the masses.

I really liked that you applied Costello's psychology of outwardly mistrusting Billy (even to the end) and inwardly trusting him more than anyone to French; it definitely seemed not only believable, but totally in character.

Wow, this comment's gotten long, so I'll end by saying thank you for posting, it was a great read.