Quinn squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. This was the third time that week that the 'cafeteria raids' had gone on. She was, for the most part, content at her school, even with its lousy reputation for students who were even lousier than the school. She managed to sneak by without being noticed, without being significant in any way. Being a Mercer, there was a huge ruckus that went through the school on her first arrival there; rumors that involved her brothers and the reputation that they had left behind for her to drown in. When she got to her first class on her first day, her teacher stood up to introduce her to the class, but she cut her off when she was about to say her last name. She shot the teacher a glance when she gave the name "Tregan" - her middle name - the teacher was quick to recover and silently comply with her. Within the week, the excitement of the new Mercer coming soon died when the name never appeared on any of the role call lists; Quinn made sure of that. She evaded any bullying and harassment by being uninteresting to the populace, but was acutely aware of those who were suffering instead. Like today.

Some poor student had accidently stepped into the path of the 'king', as the brute of a male self proclaimed himself to be; and who could disagree? The students paid homage to him, just like any commoner would to a lord, and he regarded them with as much respect as any other lord would. None. This agitated Quinn to no end. She had grown up in a hierarchy family lifestyle before coming to the Mercer household, and knew the ins and outs of being at the bottom of the 'blood line'; the end where no one noticed when they stepped on you. The student body was run in, basically, the same way. There was the 'royal family' – self proclaimed king, his queen, prince, jesters, dukes, lords, ladies, and jokers. Then there were the aristocrats, the knights of sorts; tainted so poorly even Don Quixote would have lost all hope for them. The middle class, which was the majority of the student population, who, like Quinn, managed to slip by unnoticed; and were happy to keep it that way. They just wanted to do what had to be done without any interruptions. Then, there were the commoners, the lowest class of the pyramid. They were the geeks, the losers, the druggies, and any individual who the 'king' had it out for. A system so well designed, it was almost impenetrable, built to exact failure on those who tried to change the system. Those individuals never lasted long. Like the poor sap who was discovering that the hard way in the cafeteria at that very moment.

It really wasn't his fault from the get go. He was new, a transfer student from Canada, of all places, and was unaware of the system the 'king' had put in place. He had the imponderable joy of learning the rules the hard way. Through the king's assassins – knights turned ninja. They were, to say the least, effective. They never failed in their 'missions' and they were feared through out the student body. With them securely under the king's control, and their loyalty in no danger of wavering, there was no chance of the system changing. This poor fool was also learning that the hard way. Painfully.

The assassins had the boy elevated above the rest of the cafeteria on top of the middle table; being pelted with flegs. The favoured weapon of the assassins for humiliation exploits. Flegs is a two part method of humiliation. First the victim is pelted with eggs – raw and slightly on the rotten side; an odor that is very hard to ignore and even harder to get rid of. Second, after being coated generously in rotten yolk, the victim is pelted with small cloth bags filled with rice and coated with flour. This caused more pain than the eggs, the goal of the bags being to be thrown as hard as humanly possibly, and the flour to leave the victim in a snowy coat of gooey egg and flour which was difficult to clean off. This made it easy to point out the 'accused' and leave them wide open for ridicule and avoidance of the entire populace. This method was effective and gathered the entire student body to rally together as a whole for the demise of one; regardless of political position.

When the flegs run out, or the king becomes bored – which ever came first – the student is thrown off the table; another show of strength, the goal being the same as a shot put competition. The farther they fly, the more points; a favoured game in the royal court. All this 'bravado' was just the build up to the finale. After the victim has been thoroughly destroyed and humiliated, to the point where they can not support their own weight anymore – or they don't want to – the king comes in for the final strike. The slow, timed steps he takes towards the fallen, echoing not only in the silent cafeteria, but also in the victim's head, all a means to cause terror and install fear into the masses. With slow, precise movements, he finishes off the victim however he feels like. Sometimes it's duct taping to the flag pole, sometimes it's the stripping of the victims clothes and chasing down the halls, and others it's just being beaten to a bloody pulp. The king was unpredictable in his methods. This also was used to control the masses. Fear was the best weapon he had.

The bell rang; not soon enough for the boy curled up on the cafeteria floor, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. The royal court filed out first; king, queen, prince, and so on. The other students watched, almost awestruck by it all. It was pathetic. The rest of the students filed out after, some taking care to step over or around the boy on the floor, others walking on him. Quinn swallowed hard, angry. This was to much some days. The cafeteria raids were getting too out of hand.

It wasn't too long until the room was empty, save for the boy on the floor and Quinn. She waited. When she was sure that every other student was safely tucked away in what ever class they had, she walked over to the boy. He was in bad condition. She couldn't be sure, but his nose looked broken. He had bruises forming all over his face, and she was sure there was more under his clothes. She knelt down beside him, gently coaxing him to roll over onto his back. She was going to have to be quick if she was going to help him. It wouldn't do either of them any good if she were caught helping him. It would only destroy everything she would have done for him up until that point.

"Please…" he whispered out, his voice hoarse. A few tears pooling at the corners of his eyes, slipping down his temple. Quinn pretended not to notice. "Please…no more."

She took a deep breath. "It's okay," was all she said.

She got right to work. She opened her purse and pulled out a small package of baby wipes. They came in handy more than once. She pulled out one and began cleaning his face as best she could. The egg was stuck in his hair, and the smell was pungent. When she was done, she fished her keys out of her purse, and put them in her pocket where she could quickly access them. Putting everything else away, she lifted the boys arm and, as gently as was possible, lifted him to his feet. He was unsteady, understandably shaken up and sore. She led him through the cafeteria kitchen, the staff giving no notice to the two as they hobbled through. This was, sadly enough, not the first time for them either. When they reached the back door, Quinn kicked it open and led the boy to her car, which she always parked at the back. The nobles and their fancy cars took up the best spots at the front of the school, and the rest were first come first serve. It was just easier to park where no one else would fight her for it, and where the kitchen staff generously let her in without protest.

She wasn't surprised when she saw Jack leaning against the passenger door of the car. A cigarette was dangling from the corner of his mouth as he lazily turned his head to where she was. Jack skipped almost every class he had, so she wasn't surprised that he would bum a ride home with her. She had worked hard in her earlier grades, taking all of her maths, sciences, English, and language courses. When she hit grade twelve, she had ample amounts of spare time, only needing to come to school every other morning, having the afternoons off. Jack, on the other hand, took off what ever parts of the day he wanted. He wasn't 'the school type' as he had told her once. He was more content playing his guitar and smoking.

"What's the story behind this one?" Jack asked, opening the back door as she slid the half conscious boy into the back seat.

She propped him up and secured his seat belt before replying. "Flegs and a royal beating. That answer it?"

He nodded, "Yeah sounds about right." He climbed into the passenger seat.

"Poor sap…" she mumbled, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car.

"Glad it's not you?"

She didn't respond. With Jack hardly ever at school, and the name difference – according to the attendance list – no one knew that she and Jack were related. That also had a little something to do with why she parked at the back of the school. She wasn't necessarily hiding; she was just avoiding the truth.

"What are you going to do with him?" Jack asked, looking at the guy in the rearview mirror.

"Hospital. I think his nose might be broken and I heard a nasty crunch when the king kicked him."

"Why do you call him that?" He looked at her now.

"What?" she gave Jack a quick glance.

"King. Why do you buy into their little game? Why not call him by his name?"

"You need to be human to have a name."

Jack was thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Even dogs have names." He pointed out.

She sighed. Dogs didn't treat other dogs the way this brute treated his 'subjects'.

They were silent the rest of the ride. The boy in the back would groan every so often, but stayed relatively silent. When they reached the hospital, Jack helped her pull the boy out of the back seat and carry him inside. The glass doors opened with an airy sound, the wheels screeching as they turned. Quinn knew how much Jack hated hospitals, and, to tell the truth, she wasn't a huge fan of them either. She always felt like she was breathing in sickness every time she stepped in. Nothing good ever seemed to happen to her when ever she was in a hospital. She was either in it for her own ailments, or because Bobby or Angel had been stupid and gotten themselves into some deep shit. Either way, no good news was ever delivered from the hospital to the Mercer home.

The trio hobbled to the front desk, the boy nearly dead weight between the two of them.

"We need help." Quinn said, rapping her knuckles against the class of the secretary desk.

A large woman sat behind the protective glass, in a chair much too small for her. She had frizzy blond hair and a nose to small for her pudgy face. She looked up at them with pale, dreary eyes, and gave a sigh. This wasn't her first fleg victim either, apparently.

"Not another one." She said with almost a groan. Quinn just nodded. "This has to be the third time this week that we've had patients come in looking, and smelling, like that!"

"What can we say, high schools a bitch." Jack grunted, heaving the semi-conscious boy up.

"We'll get a wheel chair and have him looked at. What are the…uh symptoms?" the secretary asked, grabbing a pen and clip board.

"Possible broken nose maybe fractured ribs. I heard a nasty crunch when he was…kicked, and bruising. That should be about it."

"Honey, high school wasn't as dangerous when I was there." She gave a sigh.

Quinn just nodded as she and Jack gently placed the boy into the chair a nurse had brought over.

"He should have a wallet in his back pocket." Quinn said. The nurse thanked them both before wheeling him off, out of the waiting area. Quinn let out a deep breath before turning and heading for the door. She just wanted to get home and not think for the rest of the day.

"Are you not going to stay with him?" Jack asked, walking beside her to the car.

She shook her head, "No, he should have a driver's license or library card or something with his name on it in his wallet. They'll be able to find out who his family is; they always do with king victims."

"There you go again." Jack gave a snort.

"With what, Jackie?" she gave an exasperated sigh, grabbing her keys from her pocket and jamming them into the car lock.

"That king business. It's just so juvenile." He lit up another cigarette before climbing in.

"No smoking in my car." She shot him a look. Jack just shrugged, knowing she wouldn't do anything about it. "King isn't a term of respect, as far as I am concerned. If I were to use his name…it would then have to mean he was human, and anyone who can do that to another person with no remorse can't be human." The car sputtered to life, and she slowly pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

"Hell, Quinn, Bobby beats people up all the time and I don't see you calling him "Michigan Mauler" all the time."

"That's different! With Bobby, there's a sense of camaraderie. He gets frustrated, or someone picks a fight, or he picks a fight, but when all punches have been thrown, everyone is still…more or less, friends at the end of the day. It's like when he calls you Fairy, or me Techie. It's not to climb the social ladder, or look cool, it's because that's who he is. And we know he loves us and cares about the people he beats up…because that's just how he treats his friends. The only time it is not that way is when something wrong has gone on; Bobby doesn't hurt people for the sake of hurting people." Her brow furrowed as she spoke; most of the time she was a black and white thinker, especially when it came to her brother's 'extra curricular activities' but she was finding she had a lot of gray areas with them too.

"Well aren't you a funny little thing." Jack said, blowing smoke out the corner of his mouth.

"Shut up, Jack." She muttered, squeezing the steering wheel with both hands.

Thankfully, the car ride was a short one. The Mercer home was conveniently located near the hospital, which they frequented on many occasions. Quinn pulled up into the driveway, shut off the car, and made her way into the house; Jack ambling behind her. She flung the door open, leaving it that way for Jack, shook off her shoes, and scurried up to her room to drop her bags. She had had enough of today and was very glad that she didn't have to see anyone from the school.

She grumpily flopped onto her bed, determined to not get back up for a good three minutes; at least. Her frump was broken rather quickly when a loud knock echoed through her small room. She muffled a stream of curses into her pillow before yelling out a barely audible 'what' before sitting up. Bobby walked in, holding a bottle of beer in his hand, staring at her with a somewhat cross expression. Quinn groaned internally; what did she do now?

"Skipping classes are we?" Bobby asked, placing his free hand on his hip; trying to intimidate her.

Quinn rubbed her face, "No sir, I don't have classes in the afternoon today. We go over this every other day." She gave a yawn before standing up and pushing past Bobby to go down stairs. She could hear him clunking down the stairs behind her. Damn he was loud.

She veered off towards the kitchen when she got to the bottom of the stairs, headed straight for the fridge and the first thing of juice she could get her hands on. She needed a good nap, and she had some homework she needed to get done. She rummaged through the fridge a bit before settling on an orange, due to the juice that they didn't have, and settled at the table.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?" Jack asked as he came into the kitchen.

She shook her head, "No I'm free tomorrow. Why?"

"I need a ride."

Shocker!

"Where and why?"

Jack gave her a smirk, shaking his head. She was nosy, but she didn't care. She was going to get a reason before she drove Jack anywhere. If shit went down, her ass was the one Bobby was going kick right after he finished kicking Jack's. Bobby loved Jack like a son; he would forever be the baby of the Mercer's even though she was the youngest one now. She didn't care overly, though. They were all her big brothers. That was good enough for her.

"I'm going to see my girl tomorrow, and I need a ride to her house." He said, ruffling up her hair. "Nosy Nelly."

She swatted his hand away. "Fine, I'll give you a ride." She shoved a piece of orange in her mouth. "But you owe me."

"Owe you what? This?" he asked, dragging her out of her chair and throwing her over his shoulder. He started heading for the door.

"Jack stop! Put me down now!" she yelled, beating her hands on his back; it did no good. He just laughed.

Upon reaching the front door, he threw it open and carried her down the front steps, dropping her into a nearby snow heap. She screamed as the cold bit at her skin and soaked her clothes. He pinned her down with his knee and rubbed her face down with a handful of snow. She fought him as best she could, but it didn't work. She spat up the chunks of ice that were forming in her mouth, covering her face with her hands. This left the rest of her unprotected. Jack grabbed more snow and started shoving it down the collar of her shirt. Being the youngest for so long had made him the brunt of all the face washing and other brotherly bullying in the Mercer home. When Quinn came along, Jack was no longer the target, but the cohort in the face washings. He was finally on par with his brothers; and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

When he eventually stopped, Quinn's face was red from the snow and the anger flaring up in her cheeks. Jack was laughing his head off, pinning her in the snow as her rear started to go numb with cold.

"'Kay let me up." She said, trying to push him off.

"No chance," he grinned devilishly, and the process started again.

Between the handfuls of snow to her face, Quinn managed to scream out Bobby's name before her mouth was filled with snow again. Bobby came barging out the door, eyes scouring the front yard for the source of the scream. When he saw Jack giving her a face wash, he laughed and stood there for a minute before going over and pulling Jack off. Her face was very numb and prickly, and she gave a sigh of relief; all too soon. Bobby grabbed his own hand of snow and gave her a third wash. Now she was pissed. Both boys were laughing at her, and she was about ready to pop. She mustered all the strength she could and pushed Bobby off with both feet, sending him flying across the yard. She quickly pushed herself out of the snow heap and walked over to Jack, who was laughing, and punched him in the gut. He let out a very satisfying grunt and doubled over at the waist. Quinn smirked, pushed him down into the snow, and headed inside. She closed the door behind her, locked it, than ran to every other door and window in the house and locked them all.

It wasn't long before there was loud banging to be heard from the front door. She walked to the window, where both Jack and Bobby were angrily knocking, and streaming cruses at her. She was going to pay for this later, she knew, but for now she was going to enjoy it.

"Are you going to stop face washing me?" she asked through the window. Both bows glowered angrily at her, but eventually conceited as the cold bit through their thin clothing.

This was going to have to suffice. Bobby was, generally, a man of his word, so she took a risk in trusting him on this one. She slowly unlocked the door and let them both in.

"Damn it, Techie!" Bobby exclaimed. "It's fucking cold out there!"

"Funny how that didn't matter when I was the one in the snow being face washed. Feel this!" She said touching her cheek. Bobby placed his palm on her cheek, which she could barley feel over the numbness and the heat prickling her face back to life.

"How many did Jackie-poo do before I got to you?" He asked. Her face was very red, and very cold.

"You were lucky number three." She said, smirking.

"Jackie! That's not very nice! Picking on your sister like that!" Bobby said, giving Jack a small whack on the back of the head. He was such a hypocrite.

"Look who's talking!" Jack shot back. "You came along just in time to finish her off!"

"You both suck, as far as I am concerned. Which is a lot, considering it's my face you were rubbing!" Quinn shot, trying to warm her face up with her hands.

Bobby laughed, "Well we all knew sooner or later Cracker Jack would get jealous of not being the baby anymore and start resenting you."

"Shut up, man." Jack said, pushing past Bobby to the kitchen, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Quinn just sighed, and headed upstairs to the bathroom for a hot shower. Her whole body was starting to convulse with shivers as the cold and wetness began to set in.

"Don't think this is over!" Jack called from the kitchen.

"Don't think I won't refuse to drive you tomorrow!" she shot back before closing the bathroom door behind her. All she could hear as she turned on the shower was her brothers' rough housing in the kitchen beneath her. She laughed. Stupid boys.

The Quinn from this story is the same Quinn from my other story "Crutches". I've written multiple stories about this one character, and they all take place during different times of her stay with the Mercer's. So, they may not all match much, but that's because they aren't really a time line of her life; just stories of her life.

Hope you enjoyed chapter one! I have no idea when I'll update.

Yorkie-s