A/N: What up humans/ aliens! Thanks for the super awesome reviews as well as reading/ favouriting/ following, makes me feel awesome :) So I know I said this would only be 3 or 4 chapters but I'm gunna need 5 because I just keep having ideas XD so here is chapter four. This is my take on what happened to Nick when he was nine but don't worry it's not graphic! Plus I thought I'd reverse the roles a bit and make Greg protective of Nick for a change ;)

Please Review :) xx

Chapter 4: Better Than You

A nine year old Nick Stokes sat at the dining room table drawing happily as his parents got ready to go out for the evening. The rest of his siblings had gone off the movies for the night, but Nick couldn't go because he was too young so Jason had agreed to come round and babysit with a friend. Nick was not looking forward to it at all.

"Ok bye sweetie" Nick's mother said giving him a kiss. Nick stuck his tongue out in disgust and the woman laughed. "Now, you be good for Jason."

"He will be" Jason said confidently looking at his little brother with a raised eyebrow and Nick nodded his head vigorously.

It was about ten minutes after their parents had left when there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be her!" Jason said excitedly and went to answer it. Nick continued drawing after being strictly warned by his brother to stay out of the way.

Moments later a tall girl with long, wavy blond hair appeared in the dining room smiling at Nick. She had a short skirt on and a skimpy vest top, but Nick didn't think anything of it at that age.

"Are you Jason's friend?" Nick asked the girl inquisitively. She nodded "But…you're a girl!" he said sounding outraged.

The girl simply laughed. "Aww well ain't you a cutie" she said in a thick Texan accent. "My name's Lucy and I'm here to help look after you."

"Hey Lucy, I'm Nick…but you can call me Nicky" the little boy said already liking the pretty girl.

"Ya know, I think I might" the girl said coming and squatting down beside Nick. "You like candy Nicky?" she asked taking a bag of jelly beans out of her purse.

Nick nodded and sneaked a glance into the girl's purse. Inside was another bag filled with the same white powder Nick had seen Jason putting in his nose four years ago. He still didn't understand what it was.

"What's that for?" he asked pointing at the white powder. Lucy kept calm and simply smiled.

"That's erm…grown up candy, for me and Jason. You're too little to have it" she explained gently.

"Am not" Nick protested folding his arms "I'm nearly ten, that's double digits!" the girl just laughed again.

"Nick, stop being such a brat!" Jason said coming out of nowhere and taking Lucy by the arm "Come on babe let's go…eat the candy" he said with a smirk and she smirked back. "You stay here or else!" he added with a threatening look at Nick.

"Here you go" Lucy said handing the bag of jelly beans over to Nick and then Jason dragged her from the room as she giggled.

Nick continued with his drawing for a while whilst happily eating the candy, when he heard a loud thud come from upstairs. Frowning, the curious young boy decided to go and see what was happening. He ran quickly up the stairs and headed for his brother's bedroom. He looked in horror at the sight of his brother lying still on the floor with his eyes closed and shirt ripped open. Lucy lay over him giggling. Her hair was now messy and the straps on her t-shirt had fallen from her shoulders.

"What's wrong with him!?" Nick asked terrified at the sight of his brother.

The girl look startled for a moment before smiling at the little boy. Unbeknown to Nick at that moment she was as high as the empire state and so was his brother.

"Nothing Sweetie he's just sleeping" she whispered and put a finger to her lips.

"Oh…ok" Nick said not sure if he believed her or not, but that's what it looked like to him.

Nick may only have been nine but he was very bright for his age and could normally tell when something was wrong. He wished that had been one of those times.

"Say Nicky, why don't you show me your room?" the girl asked innocently. Nick thought it to be a bit of an odd request but nodded anyway. She staggered over as he led her down the hall. "How come you've barricaded your closet?" she asked looking at the piles of books and toys in front of the door.

"Jay locked me in there once." Nick told her solemnly. She seemed nice enough, someone he could trust. "He's so mean to me. He always yells and he pushes me and hits me!"

"Aww Nicky that's awful!" Lucy said seeming genuinely upset. "I didn't know Jason could be so cruel. You don't deserve that, you're a good boy" she said putting a hand on the little boys arm. "Let me give you a special hug to make you feel better." She said with somewhat of lopsided grin which Nick didn't take much notice of.

"Ok" he said innocently and wrapped his arms cautiously around the girl she put her arms around him too.

But the small boy did not notice her hands getting lower and lower down his back…

"How is it your fault?" Greg demanded now. He was getting pissed. He knew how much of an ordeal that had been for Nick and to think someone who was supposed to be his older brother had caused it…that just made Greg mad. "What did you do!" he nearly yelled that time after Jason did not respond.

Jason gave a shaky sigh and explained how he had been the one to invite Lucy round to snort the cocaine in the first place. The more he explained the angrier Greg got, he couldn't believe he'd tried to make Nick see this guy. Jason said he wasn't sure what happened after that because he passed out, but when he came round…

"I felt like shit" he explained running a hand down his face. "I could hear something, but it seemed muffled. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and my head was pounding, the world was spinning. My hearing cleared suddenly and I realised the sound was Nick screaming and crying, but I didn't register why because I was off my head with drugs. I managed to stand up and began to stagger down the hall to the bathroom to try and sort myself out, and I came to Nick's doorway and…"

Jason paused looking down at the floor as tears began to well in his eyes. Greg normally tried to see the best in people no matter what they'd done, But Nick was his best friend and he had been a child…he felt no sympathy for the man sat beside him whatsoever .

"He was so scared" Jason said his voice now quiet and shaky "he kept screaming that he didn't like it and he wanted her to get off him, but she wouldn't let go. He saw me and our eyes met, the fear in his eyes…I'll never forget it. He yelled my name and begged for me to help him…but I didn't" Jason confessed tears now falling. "The drugs were taking over my body and I couldn't register what was happening…so I just walked on by…"

Greg totally lost it then. He didn't care about himself anymore, he never did. He just didn't want to make Nick face this bastard again. The horrible memories Jason must bring. Greg decided If Jason wasn't going to be a brother to Nick then he would be, and part of being a brother was making sure you had the other one's back.

Greg pulled the car over suddenly much to Jason's surprise and turned off the engine "You are one of the most disgusting people I have ever met and I put murderers behind bars!" he yelled "I don't care how freakin' high you were, how the hell could you just stand there and watch that happen to your little brother! He was scared out of his mind but all you cared about was yourself. But even before that, hitting him? What the hell was that? That's not what brothers do!"

"You don't think I know that!" Jason yelled but Greg didn't even filch.

"Clearly not!" Greg argued "Dou you realise how much trauma that has caused him, a trauma that you could have stopped if you'd have just pulled yourself together! Nick is the least deserving person I know for something like that to happen to because he has always been there for me and I will always be there for him. If his real brother isn't going to be there for him then I want to make sure I'm a damn good substitute!"

"But I am…I do want to be there for him, that's why I'm here!" Jason protested, he seemed to have forgotten about the gun for the moment as Greg continued to glare.

"Screw this and screw you" Greg whispered angrily "I am not going to take you too Nick's place and defend you, when you don't deserve to see him ever again!" He had never felt so pissed off in his life.

Jason just looked at the kid in shock and awe. Nick had always described Greg to be so mellow and happy, he seemed it, but the guy sat before Jason was absolutely fuming with his eyes narrowed, if looks could kill the Texan would most definitely be dead. The worst part was Jason knew every word the kid said was true…but he wasn't prepared to give up on Nick just yet.

"I don't need you to defend me" Jason said raising the gun, Greg following the barrel with his eyes "I need you for…something else…." And with that he hit Greg, hard, around the side of his head with the gun. Greg fell sideways in shock hitting his head against the dashboard. He was knocked out instantly.

Luckily, Greg had pulled over on an un-busy street. Jason jumped out the car and pulled Greg out from the driver's side, opened the back door and threw him down across the back seats. He then got in the drivers chair and started the car once more, pulling out into the street.

"You are not going to take my brother away from me" Jason growled as he looked at the unconscious Greg in the rear-view mirror. "I'll make sure of it…"