TITLE: Second Life

CHAPTER/TITLE: Chapter One/Stability

RATING: T (language and mature content)

SUMMARY: "Jack didn't notice when Joe's vacant expression suddenly shifted. He did notice when the gun cocked. His heart ripping a hole through his already bruised and beaten chest, Jack slowly turned around. Bones was lying on the ground, his eyes now blazing behind broken frames, a pistol nestled in his hands." Jack goes missing. The Mercer brothers pull out all the stops to find him, until they discover what his baby brother has been up to, and what, or who, he's turned into. Post-Four Brothers. Pre-Death Sentence.

A/N: Crossover time! Four Brothers meets Death Sentence. So, yeah, it's been done. But I think this might be a bit different than what you've read before. I tried to put a twist on things. Things are going to get ugly, brotherly, and dark. I will warn you now, you all might hate me by the end of this. I wanted to have a little fun and go against my usual grain. This takes place after the Four Brothers film finishes, but before the Death Sentence storyline begins. I tweaked the Death Sentence plotline quite a bit, but left in a lot as well. You'll understand later. I promise. Sounds crazy now, I know. I hope you enjoy the little nods to the other movies, dialogue, etc from other Hedlund, Wahlberg, etc movies that I sprinkled in. (HINT: The title of this chapter is one of them!) This is very Jack-centric, with some serious Darley boys and Bobby-centric moments. So, buckle up for a hopefully interesting ride. I hope you enjoy my first dabble into the world of crossovers.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Four Brothers or Death Sentence or any of the respective characters. I just "got my love to keep me warm"! Christmas season. My apologies. I own only my love for both films and writing fanfic for you wonderful people.

Please / Thank you.

Read / Review.

Left / Right

Up / Down

Look ^^ A diagonal line! Totally not on purpose! Wow. No more caffeine for me. Good thing I wrote the story long before I am writing this bloated introduction. Enough of my boring blathering.

Chapter One: Stability

Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…

It was the most beautiful sound Bobby Mercer had ever heard.

Beep…Beep…Beep

Its steadiness seeped into his subconscious and stilled his shaking hands. Its fluidity quelled the burning rage inside his stomach. Everything about that seemingly simplistic and trivial noise brought Bobby comfort. It drummed against his head and beat against his heart.

Beep…Beep…Beep

More powerful than any speech. More magnificent than any piece of music.

Beep…Beep

Bobby had a lot of favorite sounds.

The rev of an engine…The cock of a gun…The laughter of his mother and brothers…The slicing of skates against ice…The clamor of beer bottles…The ding of the bell of a boxing match…The way a power tool roared and grinded as if alive…The first time Jack spoke his name…The pop of his punch against another man's jaw…The opening notes of Marvin Gaye masterpiece…His mother's singing along with Diana Ross…The subdued strumming from his brother's guitar…Jerry calling and telling him he was a father…Angel's hollering hoot when he accepted the diploma no one except his family imagined he would ever obtain…

Still, none of them came measurably close to comparing to this.

It wasn't merely the dull droning of a machine. It wasn't simply some soft sound in the background. This singular sound was the most important thing in the entire world.

His baby brother's heart.

Jack's life.

It was all clinging together and singing with that one noise.

It was the only thing reminding Bobby that his brother was even alive.

Jack could have been sleeping for all Bobby knew. With his pale and sallow features, the unconscious form in the hospital bed could have even passed for a corpse.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Jack was alive. Barely, but alive nonetheless.

Victor Sweet was buried in the river, and with the guillotine no longer hanging over his family, Bobby spent nearly all of his waking hours focusing on that beeping.

Sometimes Bobby would fill the silence with a hockey game, boxing match or rerun of an action movie. He estimated he had watched Speed and Apocalypse, Now nearly a half dozen times each since Jack was brought in. Never would the volume be loud enough to drown out the sacred sound.

Other times, Bobby would talk to Jack. He told him about the showdown with Sweet. He gave a vivid and comical, and a bit inflated account of the following interrogation. He provided updates on how Jerry and Angel were doing with fixing their mother's house and Bobby and Jerry's vehicles.

And then sometimes, Bobby begged.

He pleaded with Jack to wake up. He implored him to open his eyes. He commanded Jack to move his fingers. Anything. He would do this until the tears came and then would make himself stop, using the mechanic melody of Jack's heart to calm himself.

Jeremiah stopped in every day before and after work. He brought Camille and his daughters every Saturday. Angel tried to be there as much as Bobby, but was working with Jerry now. Sofi came almost whenever Angel did, and then showed up alone quite often, to Bobby's surprise and feigned chagrin. She talked to Jack too, just as the brothers did. She even brought her three sisters, aunt and grandmother with her once. They performed a prayer in Spanish and Sofi's grandmother sent Angel and Jerry home with what looked like a week's supply of home cooked food. A woman who had worked with Evelyn also shocked the brothers with food, words of sorrow and a promised prayer.

Some manager of some record label from some borough of New York began calling Jack's cell phone once every hour one day until Bobby finally answered. He delivered the news to the aggravated man who said to call if Jack wakes up, and then hung right up without question, concern or goodbye.

A few reporters, bloggers, and fans called after that and Bobby stopped answering Jack's phone.

All this chaos was stabilized by the continuous beeping. It was the only thing keeping Bobby sane. The only thing from him stopping his own heart.

Beep…Beep...Beep.

Jack...Jack...Jack.

And then one day, Bobby's stability began to scream. One single, solitary note.

Bobby's entire world crashed into chaos.

Jack had flat lined.