Chapter Nine

The closer it got to her birthday, the less Lock slept, and the more keyed up she grew. She was a little excited to find out what Jackie boy had up his sleeves, but nervous too. Now, two days before her nineteenth birthday, she'd had maybe three hours of sleep for the last four nights, and was holed up in her room.

Wake up! she snapped at herself when she dozed.

The reason she wasn't sleeping was because she wouldn't allow herself to get any sleep. She did anything to stay awake: she stopped taking her pain killers, hoping the pain from her shoulder would keep her awake, but she soon only adjusted to it; she started drinking all sorts of energy drinks and a lot of stuff with caffeine, but it made her too shaky; she tried loud music, but she could always fall asleep to music; so, as a last resort, and started to put the tip of her knife into the tip of the left index finger.

"Lock?" Jack came downstairs. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Staying awake," she said emotionlessly, twisting the blade. "What are you doing?"

He snatched the knife away, throwing it across the room, and grabbed her hands. He sat close to her, holding her hands tightly, and gave her a concerned look.

"Bobby says that you've stopped taking your pain killers. . .Why? Don't you hurt?" he whispered.

"I'm not going to sleep," she said stubbornly. "And I've gotten used to the pain by now. . ."

"Lock, why won't you sleep?" he asked, nuzzling her neck.

"They get so much worse around my birthday. . .I can't fucking take it anymore. . ." she mumbled.

"You need sleep. . .This isn't good for you. . ."

"No, I'm not going to sleep, Jack," she growled.

Though I know how much I need to. . .

"Lock, I'll stand guard. . .All night if I have to. . ." he murmured, kissing her neck.

She growled lightly, not seriously, and Jack pulled back, kissing her mouth. She didn't want to give in, but the bastard knew how to convince her. Her eyes fell shut, she forced them open, and pushed him back.

"Stop it, Jackie boy," she whispered. "I'm not going to sleep. . .I won't."

"Fine, I'm not trying to make you," he smiled, kissing her lightly.

"Liar. . ." she muttered, giving in slowly.

"Love you too," he snickered, releasing her hands to hold her face.

Damn him. . .she thought, hands going to his waist on their own.

She closed her eyes, focusing intently on Jack, trying to stay awake, and felt herself want to sleep. Jack moved slowly to her neck, his hands going gently down her arms, and she shifted to a more comfy position. Jack seemed to hesitate, so she let him know it was fine by laying her head on his shoulder. He got the point, tending to her neck and she felt sleep try to consume her.

"Don't leave me, Jack," she begged. "Please."

"I won't, I promise. . .If I have to, I'll take turns with Bobby. . .would that be all right? If Bobby and I take shifts watching you?"

She nodded, so close to sleep, and Jack gently got her to lay down. She felt fear rise as she put her head on the pillow, but when he curled up to her, it vanished. She fell asleep with Jack wrapped around her tightly, safe and content.

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When Jack didn't come back upstairs for a while, Bobby got nervous, and went down. He knew Stray wasn't sleeping lately or taking her pain killers, he was really worried about her, and Jack had offered to see if he could get her to sleep.

Poor baby girl. . .I hope like hell Jack didn't get his ass kicked. . .he thought, slowly opening her door.

Jack looked up at him, curled closely to Stray, and mouthed 'Shut up!' at him. He nodded in understanding, she was actually sleeping, and he sat in a chair. Stray growled in her sleep, flinching badly, and both Jack and Bobby reached and touched her face. She stilled, relaxing again, and was out. Bobby looked at Jack, seeing how concerned he was, and whispered.

"She been doin' that a lot?"

"Yeah. . .I have a favor to ask. . ." he breathed.

"So ask."

"Think we can take shifts? She needs to sleep, but someone has to be awake to keep the nightmares away. . ."

"Yeah. . .actually, I can go pull out the couch bed, make it up, and all three of us can crash there. . ." he said quietly.

"All three of us?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. ..She'll be in the middle, I ain't wakin' up with you spooning me," he teased, leaving.

Fuck. . .This'll be awkward as hell. . .but it's for baby girl. . .he told himself.

He pulled out the bed, stripped the old sheets off of it, and put fresh ones on. He figured he'd help Jack out and made up a side of the bed for Jackie, using the boy's own bed stuff, then put his own stuff on his side. He looked it over, thought it would be fine, and headed to Stray's room.

Shit. . .eight-thirty. . .It's going to be a long ass night. . .

He motioned for his brother to untangle from Lock, then carefully picked her up, and nodded to her blanket and pillow. The girl made a noise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck, and he let Jack head up first. They got her all settled in, Jack taking first watch, and Bobby went to call Jerry.

"Hello?" Jerry mumbled.

"Hey, it's Bobby."

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"I know you wanted me an' Jack to watch the girls tomorrow night, so you and Camille could do a Valentine's Day date. .. But we might not be able to. . ." he waited for Jer to blow.

"What's goin' on, Bobby?" he didn't sound pissed, but worried.

"Well, Stray hasn't been sleeping lately. . .The day after tomorrow is her birthday and it's not a good time for her. . .We finally got her to sleep, but we need to take shifts watching her. . ." he slowly explained.

"Shit. . .That poor girl. . . You know what, Bobby? You do what you need to for her, we can always plan another date or find another sitter," Jerry said.

"Thanks, Jer. . .I'll call you tomorrow to let you know if we can watch the girls. . .A'ight?"

"Sure thing, Bobby. . ." he muttered. "Later, man."

"Later, Jerry," he said and hung up.

He figured he'd take a shower, eat, have a smoke, then switch shifts with Jackie. He got his shower, putting on pajama pants and a black wife-beater to sleep in, and went downstairs. Jack was dozing lightly, arms wrapped tightly around Lock, and Bobby quickly ate something and had his smoke, then he woke Jack up.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he muttered.

"Switch," Bobby whispered. "Go eat, smoke, whatever you need to do. . .I got her. . .Then get some fucking sleep. . ."

"Oh. . .All right. . ." Jack mumbled, getting up.

Bobby slipped into the bed, covering up, and lay on his side to keep an eye on Stray. He felt so bad for her, she was scarred by her past, but he knew just how she felt. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked confused.

"Jackie?"

"Nope, it's Bobby, baby girl," he murmured. "Shift change. . ."

"Oh. . ." she gave him a shy look.

"Wanna come here?" he asked, lifting an arm.

"Can I?" she asked shyly.

"Of fucking course," he grinned.

She snuggled up to him, hiding her face in his shoulder, and he gently put his arm around her. She exhaled, relaxing, and was back to sleep in no time. He listened to her breathe, waiting to see if she'd have a nightmare, and Jack came back.

"Well," he teased, sliding under his covers.

Bobby watched as Jack rolled so his back was to them and knew he was trying to get some sleep. He relaxed, staying awake, and watched for nightmares.

"No," Lock growled suddenly, twitching. "No, Rod. . .Stop it!"

"Stray," he said firmly, pulling back so he could wake her. "Baby girl, wake up."

She growled, whimpered, and tried to fight him a little. He gently held her arms still with one hand, carefully brushing her hair from her face, and worked on waking her up.

"Stray, it's Bobby. Wake up, you're dreaming. . ." he said in her ear.

"Bobby?" she whimpered.

"Yeah, baby girl," he let her arms go. "You're safe now."

Stray immediately clung to him, crying quietly, and his heart sank for her. He pulled her closer, rubbing her back, and tried to calm her down some. She started trembling, burying her face in his neck, and sobbed.

"Lock, I'm so sorry. . ." he whispered.

"I can't go back to sleep, Bobby. . .I can't!"

"Yes, you can. . .I'm right here. . ."

"No! I can't!" she growled. "I won't!"

"Lock. . ." Jack whispered. "Come here. . ."

"I'm not going to sleep," she said again.

"Fine, you don't have to," Jack said. "But I am. . .And I want you over here with me, so I can sleep. . ."

What in the hell are you up to, Jackie boy? Bobby wondered.

Lock slowly let him go, turning to look at Jack, and went to his baby brother. Jack cuddled close to her, melting into her was more like it, and gave Bobby a 'Don't worry, I got this' wink.

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Jack snuggled into Lock, feeling Bobby give him a confused stare, and hoped the idea he had would work. Unlike Dr. Reid, Jack knew how to do reverse psychology the right way.

"Night, Lock," he yawned, briefly kissing her.

"Night. . ."

"Night, Jackie," Bobby smiled, catching on.

"Night, Bobby," he said, closing his eyes.

As if he really were going to sleep, he relaxed every muscle in his body, and slowed his breathing. He was still very awake, but he figured that Lock wouldn't be able to hold out very long.

Shit. . .she's stubborn as hell. . .he thought.

She was wiggling her toes furiously, reminding him of when a junkie is jonesing really bad, and staying awake that way. He waited, keeping up his charade, but she wasn't giving up without a fight. For over an hour she wiggled her toes like crazy, refusing to sleep, and he tried to think of another plan. He couldn't do what he normally would have, not with Bobby right there.

That would be fucked up . . .And embarrassing. . .And Bobby would kill me for sure. . .he thought.

Soon, her feet must have cramped or gotten tired, because her fingers started drumming away. He figured it was the beat to some song, but didn't know which one, and he started getting a little frustrated. Then her feet started back up, fingers still drumming on his bare back, and he couldn't take it anymore.

"Lock, cut it out," he mumbled, pretending that she woke him up. "I can't sleep with you doing that shit . . ."

"Fine, then I'll just leave," she muttered, slipping from the bed.

"NO! Lock!" he hissed, racing after her.

She ignored him, going up to his room instead of her own, and sat on his bed. He walked in and sat next to her again twitching feet. She was fighting so damn hard to stay awake, she wouldn't look at him, her jaw clenching, and he felt helpless.

"Lock," he sighed, dropping his head to his hands, "you're exhausted, burned out . . .You need to sleep some more. . ."

"No," she growled. "I don't."

"You know what?" he had gotten fed up with her stubbornness, she was worse than Bobby. "Fine. Don't sleep. Do whatever the fuck you want, I'm done!"

Her feet stopped their frantic movements, he felt her glare at him, and he ignored her. He stood up, walking to the door, and out into the hall, trying his best to not cave in and run back to her.

"So much for 'not leaving me', huh!?" she snapped, whipping something of his into the hall.

God dammit! he growled, heading back to her.

"NO! Go away, Jack!" she yelled. "You're done, remember? Get away from me!"

"This is my damn room, Lock!" he shot back. "You are not fucking throwing me out of my own room!"

"Fuck you then!" she shoved past him. "Fucking bastard!"

He didn't dare try to stop her, for fear of hurting her or getting into a physical fight. He did, however, follow her. She stormed back downstairs, ignoring Bobby completely when he asked for an explanation, and slammed the door to her room. Bobby caught Jack's arm just as he went by.

"What the fuck is going on!?" he growled. "First, she won't go back to sleep, then she storms up to your room, and the next thing I hear is you two yelling at each other!"

"I think this is our first fucking fight, and it's all because she won't get the sleep she needs and I'm fucking worried sick about her!" he barked. "Now, let me the fuck go!"

Bobby went to say something but the sudden crashing from downstairs stopped him. Without hesitation, they both bolted for Lock's bedroom.

She was destroying a bunch of old mirrors Ma had put in the basement years ago, smashing them all over the floor, and Jack stopped Bobby just as she whipped one at the wall. She kept throwing them until they were all on the ground, in a million pieces, she was pissed and scared, not a good combination in her. Her bare feet were cut and bleeding, bloody foot-prints were all over the floor, and she was breaking apart just like the mirrors. She screamed, collapsing to her knees amongst the shards of glass, and covered her face, sobbing.

"I'm so sick of being shattered!" she shrieked, slamming her hands, palm-down, into the glass. "I can't fucking live like this!"

"Jack, help me," Bobby pleaded, moving for her.

Bobby skittered across the floor, slicing open his own feet, and grabbed her hands. Jack followed, feeling sick from all the blood, and saw what Lock had in her hand.

"Bobby! Move!" he yelled, grabbing the back of his wife-beater and yanking him back.

Lock was so pissed off, she had blood all over the place, and a large, curved piece of mirror in her right hand. She tried to get Bobby with it, but missed, so just threw it at him instead.

"Fuck!" he hissed as it caught his leg. "Stray, stop this. . .please. . .Stop, baby girl. . ."

Lock looked at her hands, seeing the blood for the first time, and started to cry uncontrollably. Bobby and Jack slowly moved to her, Jack keeping a close eye on her hands, and Bobby standing before her. She hung her head, her beautiful hair obscuring her even prettier face, and just cried.

"I'm sorry. . ." she whimpered. "I'm so fucking sorry. . ."

"Shhh, baby girl," his brother whispered. "Can I take you upstairs and get you cleaned up?"

"I-I-I d-didn't mean to h-hurt you, Bobby," she cried. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Come here, sweetheart," he whispered, holding his arms open.

"I'm all c-covered in-in b-b. . ."

"Does it look like I give a flying fuck?" he smiled warmly. "Come here. . ."

Jack kept close eye as she slowly stood up, she stared at the floor, and let Bobby hug her. She kept her bloody hands at her sides, not hugging Bobby back, but Jack could see her sink into his older brother, and Bobby scooped her up.

"Jack, get the shit I'll need. . .Put it on the counter in the bathroom, please?"

"Sure thing. . .You gonna need me?" he asked, heading for the steps.

His brother's blue eyes misted up, he nodded, and Jack didn't hesitate any longer. He ran upstairs and to the bathroom. He got out gauze, old rags, rubbing alcohol, antibiotic ointment, tweezers, and her pain killers, then waited for Bobby.