thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! thanks also to those who favorited/followed me. it all means so much to me! :) hope you like this update!

A Day at the Beach

The first week of school went well, or as well as it could. Julia was enjoying her classes and was telling her mom about them when she called that afternoon. Jack was having a good time back at school with his friends as well as football practice. Lucy, however, was another story. When she wasn't at school or at cheer practice, she was pouting around the house which she had no problem displaying in front of her father.

Lucy had searched high and low for her phone or keys around the house, but Steve knew her well enough that he locked them in his desk at his office. It was Saturday morning and Steve was driving her out to the high school for one last SAT prep class before she took the test the following weekend; she didn't talk to him the entire way there. Once he dropped her off, he went in to work where Danny and Chin were already in the conference room.

"Hey," Steve nodded at them.

"What's bugging you?" Chin asked him.

"Hurricane Lucy?" Danny offered. It was no secret that Steve's middle child easily gave him the most headaches.

"Well, she's been downgraded to a category three," Steve said with fake enthusiasm. "She's gone from slamming doors and telling me I'm the worst to not talking to me at all."

"Means you're doing it right my friend," Danny assured him, having had his own battles with Grace when she was in high school. "She'll be over it in a few days."

Steve wasn't overly worried, these spats with Lucy always panned out. In any case, she had snuck out so she had to know that there were going to be consequences for it. He knew that her attitude was starting to take a toll on everyone in the house though. When Steve had lunch, he left to go pick up Lucy at the high school so he could take her home; again, she was silent most of the way.

"How was your class?" Steve asked as he drove; Lucy was leaning against her door with her head against the window.

"Fine," she mumbled, sitting up the whole way; she hesitated before she asked the next question. "Jenna told me that there was a back to school party at the U tonight." Jenna was Lucy's best friend since elementary school. Her older sister went to the University of Hawaii with Julia and Grace.

"Sounds like fun," Steve agreed, only letting Lucy go to parties there before because her older sister was there. "If it was next weekend you could go."

"Daddy," Lucy complained.

"Two weeks Lucy," Steve said, his tone implying that he said this repeatedly. "You were grounded for two weeks, not one."

"This totally sucks!" Lucy exclaimed as he pulled into the driveway and she hopped out of the car. Steve followed her up to the house, though she slammed the door before he got there. He sighed, going inside where Lucy was currently pleading her case to her mom.

"All of my friends are going to be there," Lucy continued.

"Lucy, your dad and I both agree," Alexia was telling her; she was home with Jack since it was her afternoon off. "Sneaking out is serious and you're going to have to take responsibility for that."

"This sucks!" Lucy repeated, stomping off towards the stairs. "This house is a total prison!"

"Lucille Jane," Steve said sternly. "You're not going to talk to your mom like that."

"No, it's ok Steve," Alexia told him. "You know what, she's right."

"What?" Steve and Lucy both asked at the same time, each of them surprised.

"Mhmm," Alexia nodded, going over to the hook by the door to get her keys. "She's been stuck in the house doing nothing but studying for the past week." She held out the keys, which Lucy eyed skeptically. "You can take them," Alexia encouraged and Lucy took them from her. "You should go to the beach," Alexia suggested. "Actually, since your brother's friends cancelled this morning you can take him surfing with you."

"All right!" Jack said from the top of the stairs where he had been listening. He was restless as he was stuck at the house, so he was excited to get to go out. "I'll go change."

"Mom," Lucy complained; this wasn't how she wanted to spend her Saturday.

"Take it or leave it," Alexia shrugged and Lucy rolled her eyes before going upstairs to change as well.

Lucy and Jack didn't talk the entire way to the beach. Lucy was still annoyed with their parents and Jack, abnormally, wasn't going to try to push her buttons too badly. They parked the car in the lot by the beach, grabbing their boards from the back. When they were all little, Steve and Lex had taught them all how to surf. As they were walking over towards the beach, Jack looked to his older sister.

"Thanks for taking me surfing Lucy," he told her genuinely.

"Sure kid," Lucy smiled a little at her not so little brother anymore. They stopped to drop their beach bag and towels while Lucy pulled up her hair. Further down the beach she noticed someone. "Oh great," she muttered to herself.

"What?" Jack asked, following her gaze. He saw Jessie, who had spotted them and was coming over. "He's not giving you a hard time, is he Lucy?"

"Nah," Lucy answered honestly. Jessie was harmless, but she appreciated her brother's concern; he had gotten the protective gene from their dad. "Why don't you head out and I'll meet you out there?"

"K," Jack nodded, heading out towards the ocean. Lucy ignored Jessie as he came over, grabbing her towel and laying it out in the sand. They had broken up two weeks prior, with her being the one that had broken up with him this time; they typically went back and forth.

"Hey Lucy," he said, observing her in her bright green two piece. She continued to ignore him, sitting down on her towel and watching her brother surf.

"What are you doing here Jessie?" Lucy finally asked.

"Surfing," he grinned, sitting in the sand next to her towel. "Like everyone else here." Lucy had noticed a few of his friends out in the water.

"I meant over here," she clarified, her tone annoyed.

"C'mon Luce," he said, using his shortened version of her already short name.

"No," she shook her head, looking over at him now. She wished she hadn't looked over at him. He had this wounded puppy look in his hazel eyes that he could kill her with. "You know what? You're the one that shot down my California plan."

"I didn't shoot it down," he said in exasperation, not believing they were about to have this argument again. "I just said it was crazy-"

"Oh, because that's different," Lucy scoffed.

"C'mon Luce," Jessie repeated. "You know what I mean. There's no way I'd get into UCLA."

"USC," she muttered to correct him.

"Oh, because that's different," he said to tease her, mocking her tone from before. She rolled her eyes, looking back out at the water. "I don't want to go to either school, or any school for that matter."

"That doesn't mean..." She trailed off, becoming more alert as she couldn't spot her brother. "Where's Jack?"

"Right there," Jessie pointed as Jack's head popped out of the water. He grabbed his board again, paddling out further. "Look, all I was saying was it would be better if you stayed in Hawaii. It would be easier for us."

"Well, I don't want to stay in Hawaii," Lucy reiterated.

"And I don't want to move to California," Jessie said again.

"Then I don't know why we're even having this talk," Lucy retorted.

"Because it's not for an entire year Lucy," Jessie said. "I don't know why you're freaking out so bad about it now."

"If we just drag it out then-" Lucy stopped when she noticed people panicking and hurrying to get out of the water. Jack, who was further out than most, was paddling back in as well. That was when she spotted the reason for the panic; there was a fin in the water.

"Oh my God, JACK!" Lucy screeched, getting up and running towards the water while everyone else was running away from it.

"Lucy!" Jessie shouted, getting up and hurrying after her; he was afraid she was going to dive in after her brother. As Lucy got to the water's edge, the salt water splashing at her ankles, Jack was among a few people left leaving the water.

Jack was doing exactly what their dad had taught them to do in such an event. Move slowly back towards the beach, making smooth strokes as to not splash too much and attract attention. The second was to keep an eye on it at all times, but Jack had lost sight of it. The third and last thing was if, unfortunately, they couldn't get away in time they were to hit the shark as hard they could in the gills or eyes to scare it away.

"Do you see it Lucy?" Jack shouted, still being several yards away. Lucy searched the water frantically for the fin, but couldn't find it.

"I think it's gone!" Lucy called back, her voice hopeful though she knew it probably had just descended below the surface. "Just keep swimming Jack!" She watched the other surfers get back to the beach, with Jack being one of two left in the water. What was only a few seconds felt like hours. Jack was fairly close when Lucy spotted the fin again.

"JACK!" she screamed. Just as Jack turned his head, he was knocked off his board. "Oh my God!"

"Lucy, don't!" Jessie shouted, grabbing her waist to keep her out of the water.

"Jessie, let go of me!" Lucy said, trying to push his arms off of her. She saw the fin dart away, fleeing the scene. At the same time she saw Jack surface and start swimming back. It was only a few feet before the water was shallow enough for him to get up and run the rest of the way out to his sister. Out of breath, he collapsed against her, both of them falling over into the sand.

"Oh thank God," Lucy said, sitting up to look Jack over.

"You all right kid?" Jessie asked, kneeling down to them.

"Did it get you anywhere?" Lucy asked, turning her brother every way to check him for wounds.

"No, Lucy," Jack said, trying to get her to look at him. She was literally checking each hand for ten fingers. "Hey." He had to grab Lucy's face between his hands to get her to focus. "I'm fine. After it knocked me off, I kicked it in the gills." He shrugged, letting go of his sister. "My board probably got the worst of it."

"Um, I'd say so," Jessie said from the edge of the water where Jack's board had washed up. When he lifted it up they could see the large bite taken out of the side of it.

Steve was still at work that afternoon, combing through evidence of a recent case with Danny and Chin. The silence in the office was driving them all crazy, so they turned on the tv for background noise. When they heard the breaking news come on, they turned up the volume more to listen.

"A local beach is closed today after a shark attack earlier this afternoon," the reporter said, standing on the beach in front of empty ways. "Officials say it was a tiger shark, approximately twelve feet in length."

"Damn," Danny commented; he looked over to his partner who was frantically pulling his phone out. "What's with you?"

"Jack and Lucy went surfing today," Steve answered, instinctively calling his daughter. From where he was in the conference room, he could hear her phone ringing in his desk drawer. "Dammit." In his panic, he forgot that he had confiscated Lucy's phone. He couldn't call Jack because he wasn't allowed to have a cell phone until he was in high school.

"Hey, look," Danny pointed out. "They just said that no one was hurt." As Danny finished saying this, Steve was preparing to call Alexia but she was already calling him.

"Lex-"

"They're at the house," Alexia immediately told him. "Everything is fine. They're both just shaken up."

"Good, they're all right" Steve sighed, relieved. "I'll be home soon, ok?" Steve left work immediately, heading home to check on the kids. When he got there, he didn't see Alexia's car in the driveway, but Jessie's jeep was there.

"Oh come on," Steve groaned, not up for this right now. When he came into the house, Jessie was sitting on the couch alone. He could hear the others upstairs.

"Hey Mr. M," Jessie nodded at him. "I'm just waiting on Mrs. M so I can take her back to get her car."

"You drove Lucy and Jack back here?" Steve asked; Jessie nodded.

"Lucy was freaking out," Jessie explained. "I didn't think that she should drive."

"Thanks Jessie," Steve told him as he noticed Alexia coming down the stairs. He came up on the bottom flight, meeting her half way. "Are they ok?"

"They're fine," Alexia promised. "Jack's in his room, Lucy's in the shower. I think she's more panicked about it than he is."

"Was she in the water?" Steve asked; Alexia shook her head.

"Jack was, but he got away from it," Alexia said; Steve looked her over once.

"You seem really calm about all this," Steve commented.

"I didn't want to upset them more," Alexia said, running a hand through her hair. "But, I think I'm having that aneurysm Danny keeps talking about." Steve gave her a half smile, squeezing her hand. "I better go get the car," she continued. "Check on Jack please?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded as she went the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Ready Mrs. M?" Jessie asked, standing up.

"Yep," she nodded, leading the way outside.

"Later Mr. M," Jessie told him, following Alexia outside. "Tell Lucy I'll call her later."

"Yeah," Steve nodded, heading upstairs. Jack's door was open partially, so Steve knocked on it as he was opening it. Jack was sitting at his desk on his laptop, clicking through pictures of sharks.

"Oh hey dad," Jack said, shutting his computer. "What's up?"

"You doing all right kid?" Steve asked, sitting on the edge of Jack's bed.

"I'm fine dad," Jack laughed, holding up both of his hands. "Lucy already checked, I still have all ten." Steve gave a half smile to his son.

"What happened out there?" he asked; Jack shrugged.

"I was out in the water and I saw this shadow under me," Jack started out saying. "I figured it was a turtle or something, so I ignored it. I couldn't see how big it was." Jack looked at his dad. "The news said it was twelve feet?"

"A tiger shark," Steve confirmed.

"I hid my board in the garage," Jack told his dad. "If mom saw the bite, she would probably flip."

"Probably," Steve agreed, not wanting to let Jack know how badly he would flip with he saw the bite mark. "How did you get out of there?"

"I did what you told me to," Jack answered. "I swam clean, me and Lucy both kept an eye on it, and I played defense, not offense."

"You hit it?" Steve asked in surprise of his thirteen year old.

"Kicked it," Jack clarified. "In the gills." Jack looked at his dad curiously. "Have you ever touched one before?"

"Nope," Steve shook his head. In all his time in the water he had encountered sharks a few times, but they never came close enough. He had hoped none of his kids would ever get that close to one.

"It was really..." Jack struggled for the words. "Weird. It felt kind of like sand, but super solid at the same time."

"Sure you're all right kid?" Steve asked.

"Fine," Jack promised. "You should probably check on Lucy though, she was really losing it at the beach."

Steve nodded, getting up and kissing Jack's head as he walked by and out of the room to go check on Lucy. She was laying on her bed, her hair still wet from her shower. When her dad knocked on the door frame, she looked up to see who it was. She didn't say anything as her head fell back against her pillows. Steve pulled the chair from her desk over to the bedside, turning it around backwards and taking a seat; he waited for her to start.

"Did you see Jack's board?" Lucy asked, turning her head to the side to look at her dad; he shook his head. "I wouldn't." She turned to look back up at the ceiling. "It's scary, it was almost his face."

"Hey," Steve said, getting her attention; she looked over again. "You both did really good today."

"I didn't do anything," Lucy said in frustration, sitting up cross legged on her bed, facing her dad. "I tried to get in after him, but Jessie wouldn't let me." She brushed her hair behind her ear. "He's stupid," she muttered, disliking him right now for more than one reason.

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Steve told his daughter. "But, he did good today too." She rolled her eyes. "You know you're not supposed to go out there Lucy. More swimming and splashing would have drawn more attention. And you would have put yourself in danger."

"But it didn't feel right just leaving him out there!" Lucy said back. "That thing was going to make him lunch and I was just supposed to watch?"

"Jack told me you kept an eye on it while he swam back," Steve said. "You did good sweetheart, you really did."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Lucy mumbled, playing with her hands.

"That's fine," Steve agreed, getting up and replacing her chair.

"Daddy," Lucy said as he got to the doorway. When he turned around, she was up and throwing her arms around him to hug him. Steve hugged her back tight, kissing the top of her head.

Steve had left his two youngest children upstairs, going to dispose of Jack's board before Alexia got home. He didn't want her to see it and worry more, though when he saw the bite radius his stomach sank as well. Dinner was quiet, but all right as no one brought up the incident. Julia called her dad with worry once she found out, but he promised everything was ok. That night, both Steve and Alexia were wide awake in their bed, both laying on their backs and staring up.

"You awake?" Steve asked, turning over on his side.

"What do you think?" Alexia answered, turning as well. Before Steve could reply, they heard footsteps in the hall that headed down the steps. "Sounds like we're not the only ones up."

"I got him," Steve said, getting up.

"No, I can go," Alexia said, getting out of bed first.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she promised, leaving the room. Steve knew what she was about to share with Jack, so he understood that she was the best one to talk to him right now about what he was feeling. She found Jack sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at a glass of water.

"Sorry mom," Jack apologized. "Did I wake you up?"

"It's ok," Alexia promised, sitting next to him; he wasn't looking at her. She knew that he would never openly admit to being scared about what happened that day. "It's all right honey, to be scared about what happened earlier." Jack didn't say anything. "You wanna know something?"

"Sure," Jack nodded.

"I've touched one," Alexia said. Steve had told her earlier how Jack had asked if he had ever touched a shark before. Jack looked at his mom in surprise "Or, rather, it touched me."

"What happened?" Jack asked. "Were you surfing?"

"No," Alexia shook her head. "One time, when I was twelve my dad took me and Uncle Seth out deep sea fishing." She smiled a little. "My mom said that I was too little, but I begged her to let me go."

"You were on a boat?"

"Well, it was really hot," Alexia explained. "So, before we started fishing, my dad let me and Uncle Seth jump off and go swimming." He had thought that, by letting them go before fishing, it wouldn't attract any sharks.

"By yourselves?"

"He had to stay on the boat," Alexia went on. "Plus, Uncle Seth was seventeen and a really good swimmer." Jack nodded. "Anyway, we weren't in the water a couple minutes before we noticed the fin. My dad wanted to jump in after us, but he knew the splashing would make it worse." She sighed. "It wasn't circling or acting aggressive, so my dad said just to stay still, that it would check us out and leave."

"Then what happened?" Jack asked.

"Your uncle held onto my arms to help me float, so I wouldn't kick too much," Alexia answered. "It came up, bumped my leg to check me out, then left. And we swam like hell back to the boat." She studied her son's reaction. "I didn't sleep after that."

"Really?" Jack asked; she nodded.

"Your uncle and your grandpa took turns sleeping on my floor," she recalled with a smile. "And you know what?"

"What?"

"After I worried for about a week, I got back in the water," Alexia answered. "And everything was fine."

"You're ok with me getting back in the ocean?" Jack asked. He knew how his mother was, how she constantly worried, especially about him and his dad.

"We live on an island honey," Alexia smiled at him. "The ocean is hard to avoid." Jack smiled back.

"Love you mom."

"I love you too honey."

so it came out very jack/lucy centered, so the next one with be more focused on julia and one of her relationships (it won't be nearly as traumatic as this last one was, promise lol) hope you liked it! please let me know your thoughts! :)