Author's note: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned the Crow franchise. I do not now, nor do I ever, claim to own the Crow franchise. This is a work of fanfiction. Thank you, have a nice day, and I hope that you enjoy the story.

Prologue: Plans For the Future

"You're not serious are you?" Danny asked while holding the heavy bag his older brother, Bobby, was beating on.

"I'm completely serious," replied Bobby without breaking his rhythm. "I mean, I can't do this forever. Might as well go out while my record's solid."

The record he was referring to was his professional MMA record. He was 7-0 so far with five of his wins being by knockout. While he hadn't had many fights by some people's standards, he was beginning to get a fair degree of notice. Talk already circulated that within the next year or so he might get a shot at the title in his weight class.

"That's not the point," retorted Danny.

"Then what is the point?" asked Bobby as he drove a hard knee strike into the bag.

"You're on the verge of stardom and you want to chuck it all in?" replied Danny as he tried to maintain a solid hold on the heavy bag after Danny's knee strike. Danny was also an MMA fighter, but with less than half the fights to his credit as his older brother, at least fights that were in the ring. When it came to life outside the ring, Danny had leaps and bounds more fights than his older brother, a detail that was a sore spot as far Bobby was concerned. Danny was something of a hothead, and Bobby was forever looking after him to keep him out of trouble.

"I don't care about stardom," said Bobby with one final punch before stopping and going over to a nearby bench to fetch his water bottle and towel. "I care about Anna."

Danny followed Bobby to the bench to continue their conversation. To look at the two of them, it was hard to believe that Bobby was the older of the two by several years. Bobby was barely over six feet tall and fought in the middleweight division. In fact, his overall build made him look more like a track athlete than a professional fighter. Danny, on the other hand, stood several inches taller than his brother, fought in the light heavyweight division, and definitely looked like a fighter. Combine this with the fact that the two of them had noticeably different hair colors, with Bobby's being a light brown, almost blonde, and Danny's being dark brown, almost black, it was hard to tell that the two of them were even related.

"So your Jap gir…" began Danny before Bobby, quick as lightning, slapped him across the face.

"I told you to knock that kind of talk off," scolded Bobby, who suddenly seemed like his brother's physical equal. "Mom and Dad raised us better than that."

Danny sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. Deep down, he knew Bobby was right and that he was better than his statement had made him out to be. On the surface, however, he was genuinely bitter at Anna because she had some sort of inexplicable hold on Bobby. "I'm sorry," he admitted to Bobby after taking a couple of calming breaths. "You're right."

Bobby's posture softened when Danny admitted his error. Rather than keep the focus on Danny's words, he lightly punched his younger brother on the shoulder. "Come on," he said with a smile. "You need to help me finish my workout. I've got a big match in a couple of days. Without you in my corner, I don't stand a chance."

Danny smiled in return and let out a brief chuckle. "I'll always be in your corner," he said as he returned Bobby's light punch on the arm.

"I know you will," replied Bobby. Then he gave Danny a warm brotherly embrace to show his younger brother just how much he truly meant to him. "And I'll always be in yours."

To be continued...