This is all about Samual "Aces", who we finally know to be Missy and Sweet Pea's older brother!

Chapter Nine

"He was loyal and brave and honest. He was funny. He always knew what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to join the Army and go places. He wanted to go far and change lives, save lives. When I was nine, he left for the Army. We saw him when he would come home for leave. When I was fourteen, two men showed up in uniform at my front door. They didn't say what I thought they were going to say. They didn't say what I told my sister and my mother that they said. I told them they said that he was killed in action in Afghanistan. But what really happened is that they came to my door, I answered and they said I'm sorry son, your brother missing in action."

"Missing?" Jones asks.

"Sweet Pea," Betty mumbles.

Fangs puts his hand on my shoulder.

Missy stands up with her hands on her hips looking angry. She takes two steps forward and slaps me across the face. Jones stands up to grab her before she scratches her nails across my cheek. He pulls her back as she screams at me.

"It's okay, Jones," I say. "I deserve that."

"No you don't," he says.

"I do! I lied to her. I lied to my sister about our brother and no matter why I did it…I still lied. She has the right to be mad," I admit.

"Sweet Pea," Jones says, letting Missy go. Betty walks over to her and puts her arm around her. They talk in quiet tones. I am guessing Betty is trying to calm her down enough to get away from me.

"You were trying to protect your sister and your drug addict mother of weeks and months and maybe years of fear of the unknown," Jones says, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nod, trying to believe him but it hurts. It hurts knowing that I hurt my sister by keeping this to myself.

"That's what you've been dreaming about?" Missy asks, turning around. Betty keeps her arm on my sister, trying to tame her as much as possible, which I appreciate.

I look around, trying to forget everyone that is around me.

"Yeah," I admit.

"You've been dreaming about all of the different ways he could have died and you didn't tell us? You didn't tell me that they said they couldn't find him and that was it? They never found him?"

"No," I say. "He was eventually presumed dead."

"Presumed?" she asks.

"I know, Missy. Believe me, I know," I say. "I don't want it to be true either. Why do you think I didn't want to tell you? I didn't want you to feel this way!"

"Then why did you tell me?" she asks, tears running down her face. Now I can feel that pain in my chest again, hurting so bad I don't know if I'll win the battle this time. I bite my lip so hard I draw blood.

"Because you begged me to!" I shout back.

She starts sobbing. Betty catches her, turning her around and trying to help her as she cries, trying to make sense of it all. Betty starts to walk away with her, moving her away from us. I sit back down, running my hand down my face. I feel two people sit beside me but I don't pay attention to them. I am too busy trying to hide tears that I have not felt in a long time.

"She'll be okay," Jones says.

I don't say anything. I can't.

"Is this for him?" Fangs asks, holding out my memorial bracelet.

I nod with my face still covered by my hands.

"And your tag?"

"Is his," I finish for them.

They are clearly trying to put it all together.

"He was nine years older than you?" he asks.

I nod. "And eleven older than Missy," I add. "My mom was sixteen when she had him. Then our dad left for a while. He came back and stuck around for a little bit, long enough to have Missy and I. He left when I was a kid and we never heard from him after that."

"What about your mom? When did the drugs start?" Fangs asks.

"Early on. There were complications with her first pregnancy with Aces. She was given pain killers and she was young and stupid and poor. So she started stealing them when she would run out. She just became addicted to anything after that. When he came back for her, she always went to him because she was an addict and she was weak."

"That's how they had you two?" Jones asks.

I nod.

"And you left right after you heard what happened to Aces?"

I nod again. "The next day. I begged Missy to come with me but she refused. I tried to get her to come but she said she wanted to stay with our drug addict of a mother. She was never abusive or anything so I thought it would be okay. I thought since I knew…"

"Since you knew that Aces was missing and not dead, it would be better to leave so that it felt like you weren't really keeping anything from them?" Jones asks.

I agree again.

"You came here because you knew you could get away?" Fangs asks.

"My dad was a Serpent for a while but he was kicked out for not being loyal. I thought maybe I could be a Serpent too. I came here, I joined and I never looked back. I thought that it would make me feel better. I thought that it would make me forget that I have no idea what happened to my brother and I never will," I say.

That's when the tears come. They're terrible and awful and painful. They are so scary that I I cover my face and lean down, hunching my shoulders. I cry hard, letting all of the emotion out that I have inside.

Jones and Fangs put their hands on my shoulders and we sit together for a few long seconds.

"In unity there is strength," Fangs says.

"In unity there is strength," Jones repeats. I can't quite get the words out. "Telling us was the right thing to do. We are united in the burden you carry, Sweet Pea. Now we can share with you our strength."

I love writing about the Serpents! Is Aces who you expected him to be? I know a lot of you guessed things very different from what he ended up being but some of you got it right! I'm going to wait until I have 30 TOTAL REVIEWS on this fanfic before I post!