Ava heard a woman giggling in the hallway and crinkled her nose when she saw Uncle Jack and an unknown, dark haired woman locking lips, in a rather heated public display of affection.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" the woman asked as she turned to leave.

"Oh my god, that lady looks just like mom," Ava thought. "Well, if mom liked to dress like a tramp and hang all over Uncle Jack, that is."

"Eight o'clock," Uncle Jack told her.

"Hi darling," the mystery woman said. "It's nice to finally meet you. Your…uncle, talks about you all the time. I'm sorry," she said, turning towards Uncle Jack, "It's still so hard to think of you as an uncle," and she almost started laughing.

Ava's brow furrowed and she looked at Uncle Jack in confusion. He didn't respond to this woman's comment but Ava could see his jaw was clenched and she knew from experience that he only did that when he was about to lose his temper. Whatever was going on between him and this woman, he did not seem to enjoy being teased.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the woman said, throwing her arms up in mock surrender. "I'll see you tomorrow at eight, Uncle Jack."

As the still unnamed woman brushed past her, she reached out and touched Ava's shoulder, "Take care, Angel."

"You too, ma'am," Ava said with a polite smile which quickly turned to a frown when she focused her attention back to her uncle. "Who the heck was she?"

"She's a coworker."

"That woman sells computer software?"

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly; is she part of your employee benefit package then?" Ava asked.

Again, she got no response, just that clenching jaw. "Nice mood you're in today, Uncle Jack," she quipped.

"Ava, are you here for a reason?" he asked. "I don't think you would have stopped by my place unannounced if you didn't have something on your mind."

He leaned against the wall beside his front door and motioned her inside. Those flashes of anger she had seen earlier had all but disappeared. "I heard a rumor," he continued as he followed her into his apartment and shut the door behind him. "I heard that you've been getting into fights at school and that your mother had to meet with the principal about it."

Ava looked away from him and glanced out the window, his breathtaking view almost made her forget that this city was a dump.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he pressed.

"It's true, she met with them and nothing came of it. Nobody even bothered asking for my side of the story."

"I'll ask; what's your side of the story?"

"They've been saying things about mom…" Ava blurted out and then paused, hoping that a delay would make what she was about to say easier. "Uncle Jack, I know what happened to her. I know why she had to go to Arkham. But the kids at school, they said that what dad did to her while she was there was even worse. They said she got pregnant with me because dad…It can't be true."

"Don't listen to those kids, Ava; they're only saying those things to hurt your feelings."

'What was he like, Uncle Jack?" she asked suddenly.

Now it was Uncle Jacks turn to pause and the fact that everyone got so uncomfortable when she mentioned her father left her with more questions than answers.

"Well, first and foremost, he was devastatingly handsome," Uncle Jack laughed, eliciting a groan from Ava. "He was a brilliant man, no one can deny that, and he had strong feelings for your mother, feelings I'm sure even he didn't understand. But he was also arrogant and that arrogance got the better for him. I'll tell you one thing though, no matter what he may or may not have done, you don't deserve to pay the price for his misdeeds."

What kind of an ambiguous answer is that?

Ava was getting tired of feeling confused and uncertain all the time. She rubbed her eyes, trying to conceal her tears as she dealt with the frustration of waiting for answers that never seemed to come.

"Why can't we live with you, Uncle Jack?" she asked for the one hundredth time.

"Ava," he said. "Your mother and I don't…"

"I know, I know, you don't have those kinds of feelings for each other. I'm not asking for the two of you to fall in love. We can just live together, and then I could go to a different school."

"That would be running away, Angel. You've got to stand up for yourself," he answered firmly.

"Mom doesn't want me to fight back. Whenever I do, I get the same 'violence begets violence' lecture."

"I hate to say it; but your mom is wrong on this one, Angel."

"Did I hear that correctly? Did you just say mom was wrong?" Ava asked, dumbfounded.

"Come on, let's get started," he said while he motioned her into the spacious living room.

"Started on what?"

"Well, if you're going to stand up for yourself, I'm going to show you how to do it properly," and then he winked at her. "Repeat after me: I am not going to take any shit."

"I am not going to take any shit!"

"That's my girl. Listen, Angel, don't tell your mother I'm teaching you martial arts…and don't tell her I let you swear either; you know how she gets."

"I won't tell," Ava promised and flashed a genuine smile for the first time in months.

Ava ran down the street at full speed, filled with so many conflicting emotions, it was hard to even think straight. At one point, she had thought about calling the police. Uncle Jack was a murderer and deserved to be in jail, but something inside of her just couldn't do it, couldn't turn him in.

The closer she got to home, the more emotional she became and when she walked through the front door, so many questions plagued her mind that she felt overloaded and could scarcely feel anything at all.

Her mother was in her face in an instant. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady," she yelled. Ava looked into her eyes for just a moment and felt her resolve start to slip.

"I have a lot of explaining to do? That's great mom, that's just rich! I'm not the one who's been lying every single day for the past fifteen years."

"What?"

"You heard me. Uncle Jack sure is a great salesman; he drives a real hard bargain. In fact, he drives it right through your fucking kneecap if you dare to say no to him. But you knew about all that already, didn't you?"

"What did he tell you?' her mother asked, her voice filled with a strange mix of apprehension and fury.

"He didn't have to tell me anything; he showed me. I got to see him on the job."

Ava watched as her mother gasped, then covered her mouth with her hands in a belated effort to hide her shock.

"I went to talk with him after school today, mom. He's always so understanding when I tell him about my fights; but instead of meeting him at this apartment, I ended up following him to an old warehouse on 5th street. I got to see him in action and he let a lot of your well kept secrets escape when he didn't know I was around."

"Oh god, please, no," her mother sobbed.

"He said we only lied to protect you. Did you hear that mom; we? I'm guessing he's referring to you and him."

"Ava, you don't understand."

"You knew about all of this, didn't you? You knew he was involved in my father's murder, his own brother, and you gave him a key to our house. My god, he's walked me home from school, he's slept on our couch and the two of you apparently sat down together to plan out the lies that my life would be based upon. How could you do that?"

"Ava, he and your father, they're not….."

"They're not what?" Ava interrupted.

"They're not brothers. They're not even related."

"So now you decide to start telling the truth? You're fifteen years too late, mom," Ava said as she pushed her mother aside and walked down the hall towards her bedroom.

"Ava, please," her mother begged.

"Is there something else you feel like sharing, mommy dearest? How about telling me who killed dad? Jack swore he didn't do it personally, but I bet you both know who did."

"No, I can't tell you that," her mother sobbed.

"He's my father. I have a right to know."

"I can't tell you that," her mother said with a pained expression on her face. She reached out and tried to take Ava's hand.

"Don't you touch me; you're a god damn liar. I hate you. I hate you!"

She slammed the door in her mothers face and threw herself onto the bed. In that moment, she had hated her mother so much, she wished she were dead, but that feeling didn't last; it couldn't last. The rage she had worked so hard to maintain, crumbled as she listened to her mother's endless tears and heard her fall to the ground, just outside her door. Ava stood up and walked to the door. Her hand rested on the knob, but she couldn't bring herself to open it and it was her mother who broke the silence.

"I'm so sorry for what I did. I love you, Munchkin. You mean everything to me. Please, please don't shut me out."

If her mother had lied to her all these years, did that mean the stories her cold hearted classmates had told her, were true? Her heart broke to think that her mother could have suffered as much as people had said. Unable to stand it any longer, Ava opened the door. Her mother was right there, still on her knees, overcome with her grief. She almost fell over in her surprise, but managed to stand and wipe the tears from her face. The effort proved futile, as they were quickly replaced with a fresh batch.

The two women faced each other and Ava could see the remorse in her eyes.

She was about to tell her mom that she loved her too, when she was blinded by a flash of light and her mother's body was propelled forward with such force that they both crashed to the floor, quickly buried in the ashes of what had once been their living room.

Ava lay there for a moment, dazed and unable to hear anything except a loud ringing in her ears. Slowly, the sound of police sirens filtered in and she became aware of the weight of her mother's body upon her.

"Mom…..Mommy!" Ava cried to no avail.

Her vision began to clear and Ava was able to distinguish the silhouettes of two men standing above her. She was overjoyed, unable to believe that help had arrived so quickly.

"Please, help my mother," Ava pleaded.

Without a word, her mother was lifted off of her and the second man raised her off the ground and slung her roughly over his shoulder.

"She'll get the proper medical attention, don't worry," a muffled male voice said.

All she could see was the sidewalk; it was bouncing up and down in her field of vision as the man ran down the street. Where was the ambulance? Shouldn't she be on a stretcher?

Wait, something's not right…

"Put me down," she demanded just before being dumped unceremoniously into the trunk of a car, catching one last glimpse of daylight and a man in a black ski mask, before the lid was slammed shut.

As she felt the car peel out and speed down the road, Ava realized she was alone. She had no idea where her mother was or if she were even alive. Her hands felt around blindly, trying to find some means of escape. Something dug into her hip and she rolled onto her back, feeling a glimmer of hope when she realized the source of her pain was her cell phone.

I'll call the police; there must be some way for them to pinpoint my location.

Ava flipped the phone open and was disheartened when she saw the 'low battery' indicator flashing.

"Just one call," she thought and actually jumped, letting out a single cry of alarm when the phone rang unexpectedly in her hand.

"Ava," the voice of the man who she had once believed was her uncle yelled.

"Please, help us," she pleaded.

"It's okay, Angel. I'm not going to lose…."

His voice cut out as the phone went dead and Ava was once again left alone in the dark with nothing but the roar of a car engine to keep her company.

I don't care if you're my uncle or not, just find us, Jack

Author's Note: Thanks again to emptyvoices for her help and as always, thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed. I really appreciate it.