~Author's Note~

I was so happy about how many reviews I got with the last chapter and how fast they came in that I did nothing but spend time on this and another story idea these past few days. Honestly guys, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Huge shout out to all of the guest-reviewers; I haven't gotten that many since Broken Cords. Shout outs to ElenaKickShipper , theScribblerWP , and Aznmissy04 as well. You guys all commented on my writing style and writing ways and it really made my day. Go on ahead and check out their stories which are some pretty awesome ones :)

Now there are some guest appearances in this chapter that actually weren't originally planned but it just came to me as I was writing so I went with it. Keep in mind this is an AU so let me know how I did haha xD.

I'm just gonna answer a few reviews and then you guys can start reading.

Guest Reviewer for Chapter 4 : I figure with Jack and Kim's attitudes that something would explode between them to cause a divorce; no matter how much they loved each other. Not everything is a happy ending. But, these two are finding each other again so you never know what could happen.

Guest Reviewer for Chapter 11 : Jack has been fighting for Kim as hard as he can, ever since she knocked some sense into him, and that's why Kim is so confused with her feelings. :)

Guest Reviewer Chloe for Chapter 11 : I tried with the angst and for some reason I did manage to get a semi-jealous Jack in here when I didn't even mean to. Apparently when I see a review I never forget it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Leave a vote on my profile poll with your option on what you would wish for my next story to be or if you have a prompt to give me tell me about so I can bring it into consideration. I do listen to you guys, 'cause you guys have always been here for me :) Read, enjoy and review!

12

I can see you're sad, even when you smile, even when you laugh

I can see it in your eyes, deep inside you want to cry

'Cause you're scared, I ain't there?

Daddy's with you in your prayers

No more crying, wipe them tears

Daddy's here, no more nightmares

We gon' pull together through it, we gon' do it

~Mockingbird by Eminem~

"How is he doing Kimmy?"

Kim doesn't look up from Scott's sleeping form; running her fingers up and down his hand. Jack sighs softly, moving into the room and glancing over at Haley who is sleeping soundly on the chair pulled up next to Kim. He sets down the bag of clothes he brought for Kim by the door, shoving his hair out of his eyes from the shower he had just taken back at home.

The surgery went fine, the doctors were able to fix his left shoulder blade without too many bumps in the road. It was actually more serious than they had seen at first, Scott's shoulder blade had gotten pushed out of the socket from the powerful impact of the collision. They managed it and Scott was expected to make a full recovery within three weeks. The doctors had also hounded over Jack after they saw his arm, stitching up the gash and picking out the specks of glass. He would have to get the stiches out in about a week, because he let it grow so bad in such a sort amount of time.

"Kim you can't still be mad at me."

The sun was barely peeking out from over the horizon out of the opened window; it was the next day around eleven in the early morning. Kim still doesn't answer, too lost in her memories. She was confused and worried, yet thankful that Scott was okay.

Her heart still was dealing with tidal waves for Jack and Reese; as stupid as it seemed.

Jack moved towards Kim, rubbing her shoulder. She snapped her head towards him so fast Jack nearly fell backwards himself. "What Jack? What else would you like to ruin?" Her tone was so cold that it was like a sheet of snow just slapped him in the forehead.

He exhaled, removing his hand from her shoulder and running it through his tasseled hair. "I asked how Scott was doing." He kept his voice soft, knowing he was treading on thin ice already.

Kim turned back around to her son, it pained her to see the IV located in the nook of the inside of his elbow.

"He's d-doing fine. Doctor Krupnick said he would make a full recovery."

Scott's doctor was a nice redheaded man around the same age as Kim with a happy attitude and no-nonsense mind. Jack nodded, clearing his throat. "Um yeah. He seemed pretty nice when I heard him talking to you guys."

In other words, Kim hadn't let him enter the room on his own free will. Jack and Haley hung out in the food court until Kim had dosed off holding Scott and then Jack sneaked in and put Haley to bed as well.

"Jack why are you here? Why don't you just go back home and down a fifteen-pack of Miller Light?"

Jack shook his head, "I thought you knew that I changed Kimmy? I told you so many times. Scott is my son. Your my wif—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Jack. I am not connected to you in anyway."

Why did it hurt her to say these things out loud? She was fueled by malice, but there was still love in there too.

"Kimmy please."

Silence pursed his words and it was so deafening that Jack swore you would be able to hear a pin drop from afar.

The next thing Jack knew, Kim had turned and grabbed the bag of clothes by the door, digging through it for something wear. Before Jack could say anymore she turned her front away from him and quickly stripped; throwing on a new shirt and pair of pants. Jack kept his eyes to the floor, wanting to keep modest for Kim. She threw her dirty clothes into a spare pocket in the duffel bag, turning back around and taking her seat next to Scott again.

Jack wasn't sure what to think by Kim's behavior; she seemed to be jumping off the walls.

"Kimmy, what's the matter? Why did you just strip like that? That isn't you."

She scoffed, "You know Jack that used to be me a long time ago. Remember? I used to feel confident every time I would do that for you."

Foggy visons of such times crossed Jack's mind but he pushed them away, knowing nothing good would come of it if he remembered those times so fully. "Kim."

She was quiet for a minute. "I'm just a shell of that woman now Jack. I'm too broken to be fixed."

"Hello Miss Crawford, how is our little guy doing today?"

As if on a timer, Doctor Milton Krupnick walked in and then abruptly froze when he felt the tense atmosphere of the room. Kim turned her head at his entrance, Jack looking from her to the doctor. Doctor Krupnick laughed nervously under Jack's glare. "U-Uh am I interrupting something? I can return later if you'd like?"

Jack took a step forward, "If you could return—"

Kim stood up, effectively cutting Jack off. "Now is perfect Doctor. And I think Scott is doing okay, he slept through the night like you promised he would." Jack grumbled to himself, taking a seat in the pulled out plastic chair Kim used to be sitting in.

Doctor Krupnick gave Kim a collected smile. "That's great news Miss—"

"You can call me Kim."

Doctor Krupnick sent her a flustered smile, "Kim. That's great news. That means his body is busy fighting off the bad things in there. Let me check his vitals real fast." Doctor Krupnick moved over to the machine reading his heartrate, grinning when he got the results back. Jack looked towards the two with a pissed off look, not liking how Kim was acting around the guy.

Suddenly, Scott's eyes fluttered open and Kim moved over to sit on the hospital bed next to him. She wrapped a gentle arm around his shoulder, careful to mind the bandage.

"Hey honey. How'd you sleep? Okay?"

Scott nodded, yawning. "I had another dream about Grey Hounds Mommy."

Kim felt her heart clench, her mind shooting back to that fateful night with Jack when everything was at least semi-normal. Jack avoided looking at her as he remembered the same thing, diverting his attention to the ground. "Grey Hounds huh? That's awesome buddy." Jack answered, considering that Kim was too in shock to react. Scott looked over at his father, just realizing he was in the room.

He had missed him.

"Daddy . . . you're here?"

Jack grew puzzled but hid his perplexity, instead sitting up and grabbing Scott's hand. "Of course I'm here bud."

"Mommy said you left for a little while—"

Jack sent Kim a look while the latter just started to stroke Scott's hair, guilt engulfing her. Jack rubbed Scott's hand. "Haley and I went down to the food court to get something to eat. But trust me, you didn't miss out on anything. The cheesesteaks sucked ass." Jack lowered his voice down to a whisper but Kim heard him anyway and rolled her eyes.

Scott giggled and Doctor Krupnick grinned at the father-son bonding happening in front of him.

"The reason the cheesesteaks taste so bad is that the molecules inside break due to improper manhandling of the cells therefore causing the steak to taste worse than it actually is. If you were to freeze it correctly and take care of the meat than the favor would be amazingly better." The doctor was meant by three dumbstruck looks staring back at him and his cheeks heated up in a blush. "S-Sorry I wanted to be a science professor my whole life and then I got laid off. I went back to school to become a doctor and here I am. All that old science stuff still lingers with me though."

Kim sent him a calm smile, "I think it's cool you still remember all of that stuff."

Jack held up a hand, "I'm not gonna get food poisoning from the food right?"

Doctor Krupnick shook his head, "No, we wouldn't have enough seats to take care of all of the sick people if that was true."

Jack shook his head, looking back at Haley curled up in the chair still dead asleep. "Great . . . "

Doctor Krupnick clapped his hand together. "Alright Scott my boy, any pain?"

"No."

"Headaches? Tummy hurt?" Scott shook his head which caused the doctor to look at Kim. "It seems as if everything is going great. The best thing Scott can do right now is rest and allow his immune system to get better and send red blood cells to his shoulder to allow proper blood flow. I'm going to add some painkillers into his IV tube. Most likely they will put him back to asleep which is what we want."

"Thank you doctor."

Doctor Krupnick sent her a beam, "You can call me Milton if you would like."

Kim nodded and stood up to shake his hand, Scott dozing off. Jack stood up as well when Doctor Krupnick turned to face him. "It was nice meeting you . . . "

"Jack."

" . . . Jack. Scott will be perfectly fine I can assure you." Jack shook his hand, being sure to hold the doctor's hand in an extremely tight grip to get his point across of 'back off on Kim'.

"You as well Milton. Thank you." Jack grit out his answer through clenched teeth. The doctor seemed to shrink under Jack's gaze and scampered out of the room faster than Kim could speak her apologies. She sent Jack a death glare which he returned. "Why are you flirting with him?"

Kim looked over at Jack, flabbergasted. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"That Krupnick guy. You were all over him and don't even damn well deny it."

Kim grew furious, pressing a kiss to Scott's forehead before grabbing Jack by the elbow and leading him out of the room. She left the door ajar behind them incase Haley woke up or Scott needed anything but Jack blocked any entrance to the room with his body.

"First of all Jack, stop shooting shit out of your mouth. Learn some facts before you go off on people. I talked to him last night as he was taking Scott's vitals and you were nowhere to be seen. He's married to this woman named Julie with three kids. He said he couldn't wait to be off his evening shift to go home and see his family—considering it was his wedding anniversary. There's a 24k gold carrot damn wedding ring on his ring finger!" She keep her voice low but the venom in her words was enough to get her point across.

Jack sent her a disbelieving look, "Maybe I wasn't there because you wouldn't let me in the damn room Kim! Last time I checked you didn't allow Haley and me from going in there. Haley had to fall asleep with her head on my lap as we were draped over uncomfortable ass chairs."

"Well maybe if you—"

"Excuse me, is there a Jackson Brewer here?"

An older man in his fifties came up next to the two with a younger man in his thirties with black, slicked back hair next to him. Jack turned away from Kim and crossed his arms, showing the muscles there. Kim scoffed quietly at her ex-husband's old habit as he used to do that all of the time to ward off unwanted people by attempting to 'scare' them with his beefy figure.

"That would be me. What can I do for you?" Jack kept his voice deep and unwavering, while he was racking through his mind to see if he recognized their faces.

The older man observed Jack, who was clad in a dark pink sleeve-less Nike shirt and blue ripped jeans, and then looked over at Kim. She looked worn, extremely tired and done with the actions of Jack. One of Jack's old band tee-shirts was over his her torso, a Simple Plan concert anniversary one, with some Nike sweatpants.

The man finally looked over to his younger partner for this certain case before holding up a badge.

He spoke in a raspy voice, as if that last cig he smoked was too much for his old body and bones. "I'm Gwen Owens with Child Services and this is Jerry Martinez the Second from the Seaford FBI Unit Section. We got a report from a woman about her child being abducted by you unfairly about five years ago. She didn't know what to do for all of these years and couldn't get the help she wanted until now."

Jack felt like his entire world was closing in around him.

She wanted Haley back?

Jack had thought the papers were filed years ago about him gaining full custody.

The only thing Jack was sure of right now was that Martinez the Second was a much respected man in the Seaford Police Force. His father was a great man and served for many years before a murder's crazed obsession ending up exploding in Jerry Martinez the First's face. A simple bullet to the heart and he was dead. So his son went up through the ranks to try and one day avenge his father. Jack had never personally met the man but he had always wanted to when he was in service.

Now, he just wanted to run and hide.

Jerry was an inch shorter than Jack in height but just as broad-shouldered. He had curly black hair that was slicked back to promote his cleanly shaven face so everyone knew who he was. Jack wasn't sure if there was a Spanish accent in his voice considering he hadn't talked yet, but you could easily tell of his origins. He had on a black muscle tight tee-shirt with an FBI labeled bulletproof sleeve-less vest overtop his shirt. There was a gun holster on his side with his FBI badge resting next to it and then some handcuffs towards his back.

His left hand was hovering over his gun, while his eyes didn't leave Jack's—watching for any sudden movements.

Jack struggled to speak and Kim placed a hand on his bicep, "Jack, what are they talking about?"

"I-I don't know! The p-papers were signed over to me when Haley was born! April, that bitch said she didn't want anything to do with her! Haley is in my full custody!"

Gwen held up a hand. Grey hairs were laced throughout his bleached blonde hair, wrinkles present on his face. He was taller than Jack but Jack knew he was younger and stronger. "Mister Brewer," Jack looked at Gwen, a fire in his eyes; "I'm going to need to take Haley. Is she here?"

"You aren't getting my daughter." Jack moved so the door to enter Scott's hospital room was ultimately blocked.

Jerry moved forwards, looking directly at Jack. "Sir, you need to move out of the way."

"You aren't going to get anywhere near my damn daughter."

Jerry's grip tightened on his gun holster. Kim moved forwards, grabbing Jack's calloused hand. "Jack just let them do it and then we can go right up to Child Services and get her back—it will take less than an hour Jack."

"Sir, now."

Kim tugged on his hand. "Jack don't do anything stupid."

Jerry started to pull at the latch, "Yo . . . man listen. If you don't move I'm am going to have to take that as disobeying a police officer which is another form of assault. I don't want to do that dude. Now come on, I'm trying to help you out. I know you used to be on the force; my dad always talked about you." Jerry kept his voice low and commanding, showing he wasn't just bluffing.

Jack looked at him; knowing exactly what he was going to do.

"You can kiss my ass you son of a bitch. You aren't getting my daughter!"

Kim was pushed out of the way by Gwen who snuck into the room as Jerry went after Jack. Kim went after Jack, trying to grab him before he did anything too stupid. Jerry shoved Jack to the ground, Jack's head hitting the titled floor of the hallway too hard.

His vision started to go black and he could hear Haley and Kim in the distance but could do nothing to stop it as everything went dark and Haley's final words echoed in his ears.

"Get off me! You aren't my superhero! Daddy!"

"Brewer!" Jack didn't look up, instead keeping his eyesight on his bloodied hands. "Brewer you made bail. Now get the hell out of my cell."

He finally looked up, seeing Officer Joy Han with an irritated look on his face. Han was from Chinese descent, a short little skinny guy who was known by his killer karate skills. Black hair in a buzz cut covered his head and the only thing signaling that he was a cop besides his bland look was the Police Logo over his heart.

Jack used to know Han, they actually used to be on the same training team back when they were still learning the ways of how to be cop. Jack stood up slowly, cracking his knuckles and holding in the wince when one of his cuts stung from the movement.

Han was holding the holding cell open for Jack, who cracked a smile as he passed him. "It was nice seeing you again J."

Han rolled his eyes, "Come back so that I can get a real job again will you? They threw me on druggie duty as soon as you left. Apparently my 'outbursts' are hard to control when you don't know me." Jack laughed, patting Han on the shoulder.

"Good luck J. I'll be in touch if I need you again."

Han nodded as Jack walked out of the room, seeing Kim waiting for him.

His heart suddenly felt heavy as he got closer to her, Kim seeing the glassy look of his eyes before Jack even knew tears were coming out. Kim shushed him and gently grabbed his arm, leading him out of the Police Station and into the alleyway next to it. He was heaving big breaths, trying to hold it together. "Jack, Jack it's going to be okay. We will go up to Child Services and get her back."

He shook his head, Kim's arms locking around his torso. "Kim . . . Haley is all I have left anymore. She is the second most important thing in my life an-and I just can't lose her t-to that b-bitch! Kimmy, I can't."

Kim can't stay mad at him, it's too heartbreaking to watch him. She simply pulls him into her arms; allowing him to sob. "We will get her back Jack. I promise." He nods, willing to believe her just for this moment. "But I have a question . . . what's your number one most important thing in the world?"

He chuckles bitterly, "You."

Kim doesn't know what else to say so she humbly lets him cry.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to go and get some food for us alright? Do you want anything?"

Jack shakes his head and she leaves her hand on his shoulder for a moment more before she walks out of the room; leaving Scott and Jack alone.

Jack grabs Scott's hands, "Hey bud. How you feeling?"

Scott is still in a deep sleep from the drugs, but Jack acts as if he can hear him.

"I'm sorry about everything bud. The accident, leaving you guys . . . dropping you when you were little. Thank God I caught you but it still bothers me, it always has actually. Kimmy said it was fine but it always plagued me buddy."

He sighed, rubbing circles on Scott's limp hands.

"But we had you. I was so damn happy we got you and you were healthy and everything else and that your momma didn't die like the doctors said she would. I knew when the doctors told us about the family condition that we wouldn't be able to have any other kids after you but I was okay with that because I had the two people I loved beside me; Kimmy and you. I was okay with that because I loved Kim. I loved you. But then something happened, I don't know what, and I got terrified of having to become a father. Having to get some responsibility. I know it was pathetic; to be scared of such a stupid thing. But . . . I don't know. It felt like my teenage years were stripped from me because of my father. I didn't want to go through life without having some time to party. Looking back on it I know it was stupid and your momma was right because it was. Everyone grows up."

He starts to play with Scott's fingers, a tear slipping down his cheek.

"I'm sorry for leaving you on your own all of these years Scott. You did nothing to deserve it. I'm sorry for all of the harsh words I spoke and for leaving it all up to your mommy. I don't know if you will ever understand how truly sorry I am for all of it. Now Haley is gone and it's like leaving you all over again—that unfixable pain that haunts you . . . you know? I'm supposed to be your superhero but I feel like all I have been is the villain."

A song comes to mind from his teenage years, one he used to listen to all of the time. One that gave him something remotely close to hope.

"I used to uh . . . um . . . there was this song I used to listen to all of the time buddy . . . one by Eminem. Mockingbird. And in that song he talks about just wanting the best for his kids and wanting to give them some type of hope to always have; to grow up different than he did—better than he did. I want to be like that. I want to give you and Haley everything because I'm sorry for not being a father for most of my life. I want to fix it." Jack lets go of Scott's hand to rub his eyes, reaching into his shirt to grab his necklace and pull it over his head.

He stares at the ring for a moment, chuckling soberly.

"I fucking love you guys, if I like it or not." He slowly sticks the ring on his left ring finger, moving and hold Scott's hand tightly once again. "I'm gonna make sure you get your mockingbird because I'm your superhero."

Jack doesn't see it but it's there, barely noticeable through Jack's tears.

The tiniest of smiles is on Scott's face, his dream wonderland filled with vague apparitions of a younger Daddy and happy Mommy.