The Missing Link

Alrighty, people, welcome to my Four Brothers story. I have been working on this for a while, since I saw the movie back in August, but it was mostly just working out the characters, and the plotline. I really started to work on it when I got the movie for Christmas, and so here is the first chapter! It is an AU story, as I made Jack survive, because I couldn't bare not having him there... anyway, here you go!

I obviously do not own the Brothers or anything related to them, just the things that you don't recognize from the movie. Though I would love to own Bobby... or Jackie... or Angel...

Ooooh, okay, The Missing Link is just a working title, and will probably be changed sooner or later. I just needed a title and it was the only thing I could think of, even if it is really lame.

Chapter One
Cleaning Up the Trash

"Angel!" whined a handsome male in his early twenties as he slowly descended the staircase of their home. He was a skinny one, and tall as well; the tallest of his entire family, in fact, standing at 6'2". The joint proclamation of this male's brothers regarding a reason for his scrawniness was that he'd never been in the military, nor prison, and he still smoked, a habit he'd picked up over a decade ago. Reasonable reasons as they were, the youngest of the four Mercer brothers took no incentive to start bulking up; he said it was pointless – he was a rock star, he had his choice of mounds of female fans, so there was no reason. This male was a rock star indeed, if only a middle-class one. He had the signature cool leather jacket (which he wore everywhere, even then as he walked around his home), of course he played the guitar for his own band (or used to – they hadn't played together in months), and he sand. What a beautiful voice he had – his mother always told him so, and would often request of him a song, greatly embarrassing him. His light brown hair was always a mess, but his eyes –almost adark, forest shade of green – were pretty enough to make anybody fall for him, just by looking into them.

Jack Mercer called to the sibling he was closest to age-wise once again, hopping from the third-last stair to the floor. With a whiny undertone to his voice, he stepped into the kitchen to discover the youngest of his older siblings retreating from the refrigerator, beer in hand.

"What are you bitching about now, white boy?" inquired Angel, leaning his back against the counter and lifting the opening of the beverage to his mouth. He wasn't quite as tall as his little brother, but he wasn't that far off either. Angel was strong and kind of muscular, and no doubt could throw his youngest sibling the length of the house without much effort. His head was shaved of hair, to his siblings' great amusement, and he had a smile that would put everybody in Hollywood to shame. Dogtags hung around his neck most of the time, and on warm summer afternoons their silver shininess contrasted magnificently against his bare chocolate chest. This, however, wasn't by far one of those "warm summer afternoons" – it was a freezing morning in the dead center of a Detroit winter, and he was wearing a baggy old T-shirt and a comfortable pair of navy blue lounge pants.

The younger brother flung a ball of material at his sibling, who caught it with ease in his vacant hand. Angel placed his drink on the countertop before grasping the material in both hand and hastily shaking it out. His expression altered from curious to perplexed as he glanced between his little brother and the skimpy black lingerie in his hands. After a moment he offered a goofy grin. "What's this, fairy? Finally found a dude kinky enough to wear women's lingerie?"

"Shut up you bastard," quipped Jack. "That's Sofi's." At the name, Jack's voice lowered a couple octaves, almost to a growl. "I found it on my floor." He crossed his arms and scowled in an attempt to appear dangerous, while his colored brother shook his head. "Angel, this is getting way too fucking annoying. Bad enough we have to live with her, hear you two fight, and then hear y'all make up, but finding that shit? In my fucking bedroom? That's damn disturbing, man. Brother, start cleaning up after La Vida Loca! And don't give me any of that, 'you're just jealous 'cause I got a woman and you don't' shit, because it ain't gonna work."

Angel made a sour-looking face for a moment before shrugging. "Don't throw a hissyfit now, fairy. I'll have a talk with her once she gets home, okay?"

"You know if I was Bobby she wouldn't be calling this place home no more, right? He ain't as forgiving as me; he'd throw her and all her shit out into the streets before she can say onomatopoeia."

The African-American man in his mid-twenties paused for a moment in thought before nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can't even say that honor-made-a-piss word, whatever the fuck it is." He returned his beer to the fridge and went to exit the room, pausing momentarily to ruffle Jack's messy hair with his free hand. "I'll go scour Bobby's room before he gets back; he finds anything in there he'll be pissed."


Big brother Bobby never arrived home until mid-afternoon, ignoring his siblings' inquiries about where he'd escaped to – Angel had awoken at 9, and Bobby had already been gone by that time. Ascending the stairway after kicking off his boots and throwing his jacket over the banister, he barked something about the devil living with them and corrupting the angel and the innocent. Curious as to why Bobby was ranting about his woman (and it what obvious that this was regarding Sofi), Angel waited a moment before following in his brother's footsteps – literally.

"Bobby?" inquired the black male to his eldest sibling, standing outside a closed door.

Said brother sat on his bed; well, it was his bed now, it used to belong to his mother, but she was murdered a couple of months ago. The four Mercer brothers had taken revenge on Detroit, to get back at those responsible for his angelic mother's demise. Of course, they had almost lost one of their own in their vengeful quest; luckily, Jack had made it through, thanks only to a man they didn't recognize. Jack had told him everything he remembered about the guy, but that wasn't much because of the nature of the situation. They had searched for the person who aided them, but had come up short, and weren't about to go door-to-door to inquire about the shootout of a couple months ago.

Flashback:

"JACK!" Bobby yelled from inside their home. He'd tried to get out to help his littlest brother, but it was useless; those people from the mysterious van were raining gunfire upon the Mercer house relentlessly. Jack had to hold on, he had too… if he died, Bobby would never be able to forgive himself. He'd been too involved in taking his anger out on Jeremiah to notice Jack venture outside to see who was outside. Maybe if he'd just given Jerry the benefit of the doubt, or at least a chance to explain himself, or just been civil about it, he might have been able to protect Jack.

"BOBBY!" the youngest Mercer returned his brother's call. His voice sounded so pained and terrified, it could have instantly ripped one's heart apart. People should never, ever scream like that; it could bring tears to anybody's eyes, and nearly did just that to the male he shouted to. He's been shot in the shoulder after exiting the house, and was currently bleeding profusely and staining the snow atop which he rested, writhing in pain. Tears were coming to his eyes and he was sweating, despite the extremely low temperature – it was, of course, winter in Detroit.

The battle for Jack's life began. Bobby and Angel were shooting like madmen from their posts inside the house, hoping beyond hope that they could save their brother. Sofi had been told to go to the back of the house to escape the gunfire – nobody was concerned, at the moment, with where Jeremiah was. Just as heavy fire rained upon their household and Bobby had to crouch for cover behind the brick wall, Jack's blurred vision showed him a dark-clothed, pale-faced figure leaning over him. 'Oh, shit…' thought the youngest Mercer, groaning and wishing for his brothers to come outside, 'it's one of those fucking hockey-mask freaks… they're going to kill me…'

"Jackie?" inquired a shaky, masculine voice, originating from the pale-faced person. "Fuck, Jack!" The stranger was exasperated, kneeling next to him in the snow on his injured side. "Don't worry, Mercer, don't worry, I won't let you die. You're going to be alright." With that, and a sharp, painful gasp from the injured male, the stranger applied pressure to the wound, hoping to help. As he began carefully tending to the injury, he calmly stated, "Just keep breathing, Ja –"

"BOBBY!" he screamed again, fearing even more for his life. That hurt like hell, how could it save his life? He needed his brothers, and he would not accept help from anybody who wasn't a sibling. There was an upside to this stranger – he could protect him from any more flying bullets. Jack's eyes widened visibly as he gazed behind the new arrival to the fight; somebody was coming towards them, firearm in hand and aimed. "Behind you, fucker!"

After freezing for a moment, the mysterious person swung around, his arm at a right angle, and struck their assailant in the knee with his elbow. There was a grunt of pain from the attacker as his knee went out of place; he swiftly took aim and placed his finger on the trigger. Seeing this, Jack's rescuer rose to his feet and knocked the weapon so that it pointed into the air, and let the man shoot once. Then he took hold of the barrel of the gun and began beating on the man's forearm ruthlessly with his fist. After feeling a hand grab at his hair, the stranger elbowed the enemy ferociously in the face and chest, and then once in the neck. Out of sheer pain, the evil person collapsed.

"Jack; are you alright?" inquired the stranger, kneeling back down, while he bit his bottom lip. "Please say you're okay."

"JACK!" yelled Bobby's voice suddenly, out of the chaotic mess of noise that had been occupying the last couple of minutes. "Get the fuck away from my brother, asshole!" Strong, hurried footsteps were pounding their way towards the pair on the ground; it sounded like 3 pairs of feet: the three other Mercer brothers.

The savior looked up hurriedly, knowing that with young Jack in this condition they were not likely to believe that he'd been helping him; actually, they'd probably shoot him on the spot, not giving them the chance to inquire as to whether he'd been about to kill the youngest Mercer or not. The man rose and fled over the snow and out of their sight; they were much too worried with Jack to go chasing people at the moment.

"Just hang in there, you fairy… keep breathing… don't die on me…" Bobby's sobs came.

End of Flashback

Jack hadn't been killed that day, luckily. He says it was all because of that stranger, that guy who was looking out for him… but who was it? None of them knew. None of them could even hazard a guess as to who Jack's guardian was. It's had been a couple months since the accident – it was January now – and Jack healed up just fine. Of course, he was in the hospital for near two weeks before they released him (early, at Bobby's "forceful" request), and they were still hesitant to make him do any physically demanding work, "for his safety". This included hockey. Jack was convinced that his brothers were trying to get him back for being stupid enough to go outside in the midst of everything that was happening.

Bobby's was red-faced at the moment, something he usually wasn't. Sure, he could lose his temper easily, especially when his family was concerned, but he wasn't one of those red-faced, vein-popping, freaking out people. He was a "shut the fuck up before I blast your ass into last decade" kind of guy.

He was the shortest of all his brothers, around 5'10", and had some fair muscle on him. Being the eldest, he of course felt responsible for anything that happened to his family, and also felt that it was his responsibility to take care of it. Most women would find him irresistibly attractive, which he enjoyed very much, but he didn't really go for one-night stands. Or, at least, his brothers didn't think he did. Bobby had dark hair that was normally slicked back, and a small bit of facial hair that gave him that dangerous and almost rugged appearance. His attire could have been considered punk-ish, where he usually wore baggy pants, and often hooded sweatshirts.

Angel's knuckles rapped against the door, coupled with a slightly irritated, "Bobby?"

"What do you want, dipshit?" the white male growled, discarding his black hoodie into the closet.

The other brother slowly and cautiously opened the door, entering with a slightly upset look on his face. "What did Sofi do now, man? 'Cause you ain't usually bitch about her like that unless she just did something to really piss you off."

Bobby glared at his brother as he leaned back onto his comfortable bed. "Don't start with me, boy. She was disturbing business, interrupting me… you're just lucky all I'm doing is yelling about her, instead of kicking her ass – and yours – out. So just go clean up the house or something, and have La Vida Loca get some food ready. I'm hungry."

Angel peered skeptically at his oldest brother, before nodding, exiting their mother's former room, and shutting the door. Looking ceiling-ward, the colored man ran a hand over his face and mumbled, though only audible to him, "Love you, Ma… wish you was back here." "Sofi, baby!" he then called as a door slammed downstairs. He slowly walked back to the staircase leading downward, and stopped at the top, looking down at her. "I need to talk to you."

"No, you need to talk to that damn brother of yours, Ang –" she snapped, her voice beginning to rise to a level where Bobby could surely hear.

"Sofi, shut up. We need to talk."

She sighed, bringing a hand up to clutch her aching forehead, and began to ascend the stairs. She did not need to get into another argument, her head already hurt like hell. When she reached him, Angel placed his hands on her waist and engaged her in a passionate kiss, ending only when Angel remembered what the senior Mercer had told him, and the conversation with the junior Mercer earlier that day. "Sofi…" he began, eyes still shut in puzzlement of what to say to make it gentler. He sighed, and then said in a stronger, more Angel-like voice, "Girl, you need to get your stuff picked up. Jack and Bobby are off the wall about it, and if you don't get everything all neat and tidy Bobby's gonna disown us."

The female pouted sexily, but when she discovered that her partner was unfazed, frowned and nodded.

"Angel!" the voice of the only female in the house yelled. The rest of the building's current occupants mentally swore, all looking in the addressee's direction with glares plastered on their faces.

He nodded slightly before drawing in a large breath. "What do you want now?"

She had moved now to the top of the stairs; they could tell because her voice was louder than it had been when she stood at the end of the hallway. "Where do you want me to put –"

"Anywhere, so long as it ain't in any of our fucking rooms, or anywhere where we'll see it! We don't need any more of a reminder that you live here that the shouting and moaning you do all the time," Bobby answered, not taking his eyes off the television, on which a hockey game was playing. He seemed to still be in a bad mood, but truthfully he was merely exhausted.

Sofi decided against a flippant reply, as she knew it would only cause more trouble than was already present in the Mercer home. Picking an armful of feminine clothing up off of the floor, she made her way down the hallway, peeking into different rooms to see what was there. "Angel, what about –"

Her boyfriend's reply was simply, "What Bobby said, a'ight?"

She sighed, and pushed open the door only to be greeted by stale air. After adjusting her eyes to the darkness of the unlit room, she shifted the clothing to one arm and allowed her free hand to explore the wall for a light switch. She looked around this room in confusion: it looked as though it had remained untouched for several months, and the dust could vouch for that. Clearly it had not been touched by the Mercer brothers since their mother's murder; everything was still neat and intact. A bed stood unruffled and still made, while a couple posters were still plastered to the walls. A pile of outdated magazines, along with many novels, leaned against the side of the bed, and everything just looked overly clean – definitely Evelyn's doing. With a shrug, she walked in and deposited some of her belongings onto the bed, disturbing it from its lifeless peace, only to notice something atop the powder blue pillow. Sofi walked over and claimed the small piece of paper into her hand, and quickly read over its sparse, quickly scribbled and yet extremely neat contents: the letter H followed by several numbers; a phone number.

It took her only a moment to realize what it was, at which time she called out her boyfriend's name once again. Frustrated, he – along with another man, more than likely Bobby – started up the stairs, and straight to the room. They both paused at the door for a second, as if unsure they'd seen this room before, but shrugged it off as they entered.

"What is it now, La Vida Loca?" Bobby inquired quickly, effectively holding back his anger and annoyance with the woman.

Without missing a stride, Sofi walked over to the eldest Mercer and handed him the little slip of paper. "It was on the pillow…"


So, what did you think of it? I hope you did like it. Feel free to leave a review, if you want! It would be much apprecited. And I am already started on the second chapter, maybe I'll even have it up before school starts! ...in 2 bloody days... But if I don't have it up by then, I promise I'll have it up by the weekend! Bwahahah...