It was three A.M when Elwood woke up that morning, sitting up and nearly hitting his head on the bunk stacked on top of his own, which belonged to none other than a Mr. Jake Blues. Jake, being fourteen, and Elwood being twelve, he always woke up before his brother. He swung his long legs, unusually long for a boy his age, over the bed and stood up, putting on his sunglasses. Then he had an idea. Elwood grabbed his harmonica, which was sometimes his only friend, and quietly climbed up the ladder until his mouth was right next to his brother's ear. He began to play, loud and clear, Jake's favorite blues song, which Curtis would sing to them each night. Jake sat straight up, shouting a curse, and hit his head on the ceiling. He looked around in a wild panic for a moment, then saw his brother and scowled. ''Damnit, Elwood!'' Jake shoved his younger brother away, causing him to fall back and land on his side. ''Morning, Jake!'' He rasped, recovering from his hard fall. The older brother grumbled and blinked, then put on his sunglasses and hopped down, not bothering to use the ladder. He helped his younger brother up. ''Jake, come on, they're selling that badass car down the street, and you can pass for sixteen, right?'' Elwood sounded so excited, which was rare for the normally mellow child, as he grabbed his brother's wrist. ''El, you can have a car when you're older. I'll buy you a Caddy, I promise.'' Jake ruffled the younger's hair, then grabbed Elwood's fedora, placing it on the younger's head. ''Hey, I bought that for you to match mine, you better fucking wear it.'' Elwood hung his head, nodding. ''The Penguin said that we have to get out of the orphanage today, 'cause it's gonna be in the papers.'' Jake nodded. ''Come on, I know somewhere we can go. It's a surprise.'' Elwood sighed and walked to the closet, getting down their suit jackets and handing one to Jake. ''Close your eyes, I gotta get some stuff together.'' Elwood, anxious, closed his eyes. Jake walked to the closet, getting two bathing suits and towels, then placed them in an indiscrete bag. ''Come on, let's split before Penguin gets pissed.'' Jake walked out the door, and Elwood followed, and the two worked their way out of the orphanage and onto the street.
''Hey, asshole, where's my money?!'' A voice reached after Jake and Elwood as they neared the pool. Elwood, not hearing them, ran ahead and started to get their place by the pool set up. Jake, however, turned to see a group of teens, around sixteen, approached. Jake took off, running towards his brother. ''El, keep your glasses on, and act like you don't know me.'' Elwood was confused, but only nodded, and sat back, getting out a book and taking his fedora off. The boys got closer, and eventually got up to the pool. Jake stood his ground, staring them down. Without saying a word, they approached him and two guys grabbed Jake's shoulders. Elwood looked up, slightly frightened. Then the leader of the group took a step towards Jake, then hit him in the stomach, hard enough to make Jake double over. Elwood lost it. He lunged at the kids, and Jake yelled, trying to move towards him. They quickly restrained both brothers, but not before Elwood managed to give the leader a punch to the nose. He only smirked. ''Joilet, this your brother?'' Jake didn't respond, he just glared. One of them gave Elwood a shake, and his sunglasses fell. His mismatched eyes, a dark brown and light green, stood out clearly. The leader laughed. ''A little freak brother, eh, Joilet? How about we do you a favor! You don't need a freak brother. Doubt he can even swim.'' He gave Elwood a shove, and he coughed, and they started to take off both of the brother's jackets. Jake, calm and collected, while Elwood seems tense. They tore off their shirts, and Elwood winced. The scars were there, ones he had been 'graced' with by bullies at their previous school. Jake noticed and frowned, while the boys just laughed. "Freak!" The leader nodded towards the pool, and they hauled a scared and shaken up Elwood towards the water, throwing him in. ''If you tread for three minutes, you get out!'' He smiled, faking innocence. Jake freaked, trying his hardest to get away, shouting and kicking. Elwood splashed around in the water, coughing and sputtering. One of his shoes kicked loose, and he could barely get above the surface. The kids continued to laugh. Jake went into hysterics. Elwood managed to make it to the edge of the pool, but one of the kids stepped forwards, stepping on his fingers. Elwood cried out and retracted his hand, then started to sink down, nose going underwater. The leader snapped, and the kids stepped back. Bubbles rose from where Elwood went under. Jake kicked the kid holding him in the crotch, but another stepped forwards and took his place. Elwood stopped moving. So did everyone around them. ''Fuck this, Man!'' The youngest, who Jake had kicked, took off, and the rest followed, the leader coming in last. Jake dove in, hauling Elwood to the surface and over the side of the pool, onto the concrete. ''El, come on, wake up! I'm gonna kill those bastards, but come on, Elwood, just.. Wake up!'' He shouted, slapping his brother. His head rolled to the side, limp. ''Shit, shit shit...'' Jake mumbled, and ran to the bag, grabbing his phone. ''911? Yeah, my name is Jake Blues, me and my brother got attacked, they threw him in a pool, he's not breathing… Just hurry, we're at St. Docussia pool, near the orphanage. Yeah, we live there, now hurry the hell UP!'' Jake shouted into the phone, then went back to his brother's side. The pool was empty, obscure, rarely used. It was Jake and Elwood's haven, where they played blues and dipped their feet in the water and read books, told jokes, and dreamed. ''El, wake up, please..'' Jake beat on his brother's chest, then started CPR, which he had learned from Curtis a year ago. Water dribbled out of Elwood's mouth. He heard sirens in the distance. Jake picked up the smaller, frail kid and ran, trying to get closer. People on the sidewalk gave him strange looks but he pushed through them, not caring. When he got to the ambulance, they loaded Elwood into the ambulance and took off, leaving Jake standing on the side of the road in shambles.
Ten minutes later, Jake made it to the orphanage, and ran to Curtis, who was playing his keyboard for some of the younger kids. He was still soaking wet, and in a wild rush. Curtis jumped up and lead Jake away, then squinted at him. ''Jake, what the hell? Where's your brother?'' Jake retold the story on autobot, his mind somewhere else. Curtis mumbled something obscene, then pulled Jake towards his car, loading him into the backseat and taking off towards the hospital.
\\Hey! This is my first Blues Brothers fic, so I'd love to know what people think of it! I'm writing more chapters as you read, so yeah! Please comment/review, if you can spare the time! Disclaimer: I DONT OWN THE CHARACTERS!\\