A/N: I first want to thank all of you who reviewed, thank you so much, reviews are what keep me writing!
I'd also like to apologize for the short length of these first two chapters, I am in the middle of studying for finals so my writing time is very limited, so it's either short work or no work, sorry. The second half of this chapter is Jack related, and this is a Jackcentric story, but I'm not done with it yet and I wanted to get this part posted...
Obligatory Disclaimer: Not mine.
Abberation, Chapter 2
The motorcade crept slowly down the street towards the cemetery, Jerry's SUV following the archaic hearse, following their mother. The silence in the car was deafening, tears had been shed in the privacy of bedrooms, bathrooms and bars, but not one of them would mention the red-rimmed eyes they all carried for the memory of their mother. Bobby gazed out the passenger window, taking in the grim ambiance of the Detroit streets, the dilapidated buildings and the homeless huddled in doorways causing a burning rage to swell in the pit of his stomach as they passed. He'd grown up in these streets, he'd learned to take their punches in stride, to survive and overcome their hostility, but they had taken his mother and for that he could not forgive them, he would not. Jamming his fingers into his temples he tried to quell the oncoming migraine, letting out a heavy sigh when it provided no relief. This was not how he wanted to spend his day, he'd rather get drunk beyond functioning and pass out for a few days, but the chances of that happening were slim and none.
Angel's gaze broke as Jerry pulled up alongside the crumbling curb, they were here. Dragging himself from the vehicle he joined Bobby and Jerry as they took their places behind Ma's casket, waiting to accompany her to her final resting place. He didn't understand any of this, any of it at all. The idea that someone was capable of hurting Evelyn was beyond his comprehension, she had done nothing but help people in all her years in Detroit, and this was how the city repaid her, with her death. He shuffled along anxiously, the precession was moving much too slow for his liking and the sheer amount of people who had turned out made him nervous. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to be within a hundred miles of this cemetery, he wanted to be back at base, with structure and discipline, where everything made sense and control and thinking was overrated and out of his control. He wanted to go back, to just a few days ago. He wanted to be able to protect her, to be with her in that corner store, to give those murdering bastards what they really deserved, to wrap his hands around their throats and inflict the pain on them that they were now causing him. But he knew, as he followed that gleaming oak casket, he knew that it was too late for that, too late to protect the woman who had protected him for years.
Jerry silently took his place at the side of Ma's casket, bowing his head as the minister spoke of the greatness of Evelyn and the sorrow that had brought them together on this dark day. He toned out the words after that, preferring to remember Evelyn through his own experiences rather then those of this man he hardly knew, to pay tribute to the woman who had saved his life even though he had been unable to save hers. Drawing a large, quaking breath into his resistant lungs, Jeremiah recalled the way Evelyn would scold him for being late to their weekly dinner, the way she would play hide and seek with his daughters and let them stay up late and eat too much chocolate, only to defend herself with a smiling, "They're my only granddaughters, it's my job." He would miss that most of all, her radiant smile and the way she had an answer to everything whether it was what he wanted to hear or not. Smiling softly at the thought of her laugh, Jerry gently placed a rose on top of the slick casket before turning towards the car, hoping the tears that trailed down his face would be mistaken for the rain that fell softly around them.
