.:Chapter Eleven – When You Start To Become Suspicious:.

"From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past." ~Lion Feuchtwanger

"Alright guys, let's re-work All Downhill From Here," Ronan spoke into the intercom, his voice broadcasting into the recording booth. He and Robert were sitting in a control room while the DarkElements were standing in t a sound booth, headphones over their ears, and two microphones in front of them.

"What key do you want it to be in?" Sydney replied.

"It doesn't matter," Ronan replied with an easy-going smile as he leaned back in his chair. "I just want you guys to have fun with it. I know that you're going to do a good job. It's going to be great, since compared to the first time you recorded it your voices have matured" He frowned as Robert pushed his hand away from the intercom button and leaned close to the microphone.

"And try not to screw it up," he added. "We don't have all day to be here and I have other things to do." He clapped his hands together loudly, causing Ronan to jerk to the side, clasping his hands over his ears. "So let's get this over with as quickly as possible."

Inside the booth Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah all exchanged glances but didn't say anything. They had learned quickly that back-talk was going to cause nothing but trouble and while they were working, they didn't need trouble. Patrick lowered his head, making sure his dark fringe was covering his face, and rolled his eyes.

"Alright," Riley mumbled under her breath as she moved towards the microphone. She turned her head away from the mic and placed her hand over it so her voice wouldn't be picked up. "He's really whacka today," she commented. "More so than usual." Her brothers and sister laughed a little, falling silent as the opening chords of the song blasted through the sound booth.

Riley waited for her cue before she started to sing.

"You're hiding something cuz it's burning through your eyes." Riley sang, leaning closer to the microphone and closed her eyes. No one knew why, but whenever she was recording, she closed her eyes, as if she was afraid to see the anyone watching her. In contrast, while she was on stage, she hammed it up as much as possible, to put on a good show. "I try to get it out but all I hear from you are lies." She took a breath, quickly glancing at her father and music producer, who seemed happy, before continuing singing. "And I can tell you're going through the motions I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?"

Riley smiled over at her brothers and sister as they all leaned forward to sing the chorus of the song. "Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here"

Rhuben cleared her throat and instinctively pushed her headphones harder onto her ears. "Your good intentions slowly turned to bitterness" she sang into the microphone, staring hard at her father's reaction. He had an apathetic look on his face, arms crossed, and staring at them intently.

"Turn to bitterness" Noah repeated.

"Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss" Rhuben sang and backed away from the microphone.

"Let's go!" Patrick screamed loudly.

"And I can tell you're going through the motions. I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?" Rhuben sang again and made room for her brothers.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down." Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney all smiled at each other as they really got into the song, putting emotion into their singing. "You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here"

"And I can't believe you pulled it off again." Noah and Sydney sang as Riley, Rhuben, and Patrick jokingly head banged to the beat of the song. "Or notice till it all sets in. You'll deny it till you're at your bitter end"

"And I can tell you're going through the motions." Sydney took the next part of the song, doing a small solo. "I figured you were acting out your part. Once again we're playing off emotion. Which one of us will burn until the end?"

Ronan couldn't help but smile to himself. He was getting goose bumps. It was obvious that the Jacksons loved to perform with each other and that when they sing they have the time of their lives. Over the years, he had noticed that whenever they were with their father they were kind of subdued and not as lively, but when it came to working on music, they were so energetic.

"Catalyst, you insist to pull me down. You contradict the fact that you still want me around. And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here." Noah sang as Patrick moved next to him at the microphone for his 'screamo' solo.

"And you keep pulling me down" Patrick screamed.

"Pulling me down, pulling me down" Riley and Rhuben sang in unison, smiling at each other.

"You contradict the fact that you still want me around" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney harmonized.

"And it's all downhill from here. And it's all downhill from here" They sang and finished the song with bright smiles and congratulating pats on the back as they took of their headphones and dropped them around their neck.

"So, what'd you think?" Patrick asked, gasping for air. He winced a little as he swallowed. "Ow, I think I hurt my throat."

"We'll get you a throat lozenge later," Robert replied flatly. "Riley, you were a little flat at the beginning, Noah, your voice cracked in the middle, and Sydney, you need to sing more from your diaphragm."

"I thought I did a good job," Sydney muttered, sounding like he was going to cry.

"You did, don't worry," Ronan replied and then turned off the intercom, turning to Robert with a stern expression on his face. "Hey, Rob, take it easy. The kids are doing a good job and they've been working hard all morning. Especially since you dragged them out of bed early this morning, and made them come straight here." Robert opened his mouth, but Ronan rushed to continue.

He had never confronted Robert about this, over the years he had sat back and watched as Robert practically drove his kids to the ground. It didn't help much that it was obvious that Robert's own kids would rather spend time with Ronan than they did with their own foster parent. He was always worried about it, that something was going on at home, but he could never strike up the nerve to ask him about it. Robert Jackson is a very intimidating man, and although Ronan was older than Robert, he still felt like a little kid next to him.

He had seen Robert get angry once, and he didn't want to see it every again.

But this was important and it needed to be addressed.

"Plus, they have school work to do, and since you're homeschooling them, they're getting pressured for their grades too. I think that you should give them a small break," Ronan shrugged. "At least for a couple of days or so. Let them be kids. Let them make friends."

Ronan fell silent, waiting for Robert's reply. He could see why his kids were intimidated of him, Robert stood at a good 6'2, towering over his children. And if that wasn't bad enough, he had large arm muscles, and cold grey eyes that looked like you were about to be in trouble when they looked at you. It was amazing that Gustavo got away with anything that he said about Robert, if it were anyone else, they would probably be dead.

Robert took a deep breath, as if he was trying to control his temper, before speaking.

"Ronan, you don't have kids, so you wouldn't understand," Robert snapped as he turned his steel grey eyes on the younger looking man. "But when you're your children's manager and they have competition in breaking into the American market you need them to be the best. And they're not going to be the best if they're constantly taking breaks and making friends." He moved forward and slapped the intercom button once more. "Again, from the top!"

Ronan shook his head.

A/N: Woop, sorry, I thought about it and realized I needed one more chapter about my characters and then it'll go back to the boys. Did you guys recognize this from my old story? Not much of it is changed, in fact, I think only a few lines are. But other than that I hope that you guys liked it anyway.

Thanks to shotinthedark, Rage-Against-Time, BigTimeFan-'10, BigTimeRush-DarkElements-Fan, youspinmelikearecord, DarkElements-Jackson-Fan, LogieLuvr914, blue ice, Lella-Kiley-Luvr, Ash, and 2lazy2signin, for reviewing.

Cheers,

-Riles