DISCLAIMER: Not mine unless it is. Chapter title is "Mercy" by Duffy... or OneRepublic. I like both songs, so it's up to you.

Chapter 12:

"Rachel," Jack growled as Rose whimpered once more and shifted herself even closer to Jack's body, if it was possible. It was almost as if she was trying to melt into Jack, just so she wouldn't have to go up against Rachel. Jack only wished he could give Rose what she wanted.

"No, Jack, not Rachel," Rachel replied with a looked that seemed so foreign, yet so natural on her round face. "My name is Sam Nickels." Almost as if on queue, three men, all of them familiar to Jack due to his afternoon at the skating rink, walked into the room. Jack's eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched. The one thought running through his head as he set Rose on the floor and pushed her behind him was that he was most likely going to have to fight his way out and the odds weren't very good.

"I don't care what your name is, just let us go," Jack told Rachel as he felt Rose sink to the floor behind him, her arms clutching his right leg tightly to support herself. It wasn't a request. Jack wasn't going to bargain or beg for their safe departure. Of course, that was exactly what Rachel wanted and she probably wasn't going to let them go until Jack was on his knees and pleading for freedom.

"I'd rather not," Rachel replied with bloodlust in her eyes. Jack now knew they were fucked. He had been wrong. She didn't want him to plead. She didn't want to him to anything but let her kill him and Rose, probably after a lot of pain, tears and suffering. Most likely, she wanted to torture Jack by slowly killing Rose, or vice versa. It depended on which of the unlikely couple Jack and Rose made that Rachel hated most. Or wanted to screw around with most.

"Y'know, Jackie, it didn't have to be like this," Rachel informed Jack casually as she began to circle him, the predatory look still in her eyes. "I liked you. If you had only picked me," Rachel said wistfully before abruptly snapping back to attention, acting just as crazy as Jack knew she was.

"But instead you picked my stupid sister, my stupid spoiled sister daddy took to live with him when he left his family behind," Rachel continued with a nasty sneer on her face. "That bitch gets everything that I deserve. I mean, what's so good about her? Why did dad take her when he left our mother, why not me? Why does she get the perfect life when I'm stuck living in a small, crappy apartment, trying to ignore my mother and her exploits?"

As Rachel went on about her shitty life, Jack felt a twinge of pity for her. She had gone through so much of what he had gone through and he felt bad for her because he knew how much it sucked. Even though he didn't condone her current behavior, Jack figured he could still feel bad. But, more than anything, Jack was scared. If Evelyn hadn't saved him, he could have ended out a raving lunatic like Rachel was. He could have been going around, killing people and having other people thrown in jail, for reasons that were still unclear, reasons that Jack needed to know, whether Rachel was going to kill him or not.

"Why?" Jack asked, interrupting Rachel's rant, after turning to check on Rose for a brief moment. She was still shaking from the pain and fear, which Jack had felt due to her hold on his leg, but she was conscious. As long as she was conscious, they still had a chance.

"What?" Rachel spluttered. She was outraged that Jack had cut her off as she went on about how her mother would let men rape her while she stood on the side watching until Rachel got smart enough to not come home. Or at least, not come home until her mother was passed out for the night. For someone who was so traumatized, she seemed a bit too open with her past for Jack's comfort.

"Why did you frame Bobby? I didn't know you or Rose back then. Why did you take Bobby from me?" Jack asked. So many things didn't make sense to him where Rachel was concerned, but this was the most important. It was the one thing that had been plaguing Jack non-stop ever since Bobby had been arrested that night all those months ago.

"Your brother," Rachel spat, "was a jackass to me. He didn't even know me but he started in with me after I accidentally scratched the paint job on his car anyways. Son of a bitch went all out on me, nearly put a dent in my car when he slammed his fist down on the hood."

Jack's eyes went wide as Rachel continued to complain about Bobby's unnecessary aggression. If he weren't in the midst of a flashback, he would have noted how even though she had dropped her innocent act she couldn't seem to stop rambling.

Flashback

"I'm going back to New York and you can't stop me!" Jack exclaimed angrily, shaking the spatula he was holding at his brother threateningly.

"Jackie, you still ain't walking straight and you still get tired fast. You ain't ready to go anywhere," Bobby said, shaking his head at his brother's folly.

"I'm tellin' ya, Bobby, I'm ready," Jack replied as he slammed the spatula on the kitchen counter and turned down temperature of the oven so the leftovers he was heating up wouldn't burn.

"You're just going back so they don't replace you in that fairy band of yours," Bobby shot back.

"There's nothin' wrong with my band, you ass," Jack yelled. "And so what if that's why I'm going back so soon? I like my band and that's where I wanna be," Jack continued, this time his voice a bit more demure due to the fact that Bobby was right. Goddamn, Bobby was always right.

"What about your job?" Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow. And Goddamn his stupid eyebrow.

"I'll leave it," Jack replied simply. "When did I even say I was going to stay?" Jack asked rhetorically. He never said he would. In fact, it was a known fact that he would be leaving no matter how much he truly did enjoy reading through manuscripts of unfinished books. "Why would I even want to stay?" Jack added, his eyes narrowed.

"Because this is your fucking home, Jackie. Your family is here, not in New York. Why are you going back to that band when you know it's shit. You'll be back in a year, jobless and pissy. Just skip that and stay," Bobby growled.

Jack closed his eyes briefly. He knew the rule about Bobby always being right and he knew this was probably not an exception, but if he had ever wanted an exception it was this. He didn't want his band to fold. He didn't want to lose the one thing he had finally managed to accomplish on his own, without the help of anyone else. His band was the one of the few things that hadn't been given to him by his family in one way or another. And he knew he was probably running away by going back to that band, but if running away was wrong, he didn't want to be right.

"Fuck you, Bobby," Jack said calmly as he opened his eyes and glared at Bobby. "Why can't you just fucking believe in me for five minutes? Why can't you just tell me that I can do whatever the hell I want? That's what a good brother would do." Jack knew he shouldn't have said that, but he also knew that Bobby knew he shouldn't have insulted his band.

"Y'know what, Fairy?" Bobby began. Jack couldn't read his tone or his face. "Do whatever the hell you want," Bobby continued, echoing Jack's desired sentiments. "I don't fucking care. You want your band? Go. I ain't stoppin' ya, but don't come crawling back here when it sucks and you finally realize it." With that, Bobby stormed out of the kitchen.

Jack winced as he heard Bobby grab his coat off the coat rack with such force that the damn thing began to teeter unsteadily until it fell over with a loud crash, a loud crash that was only made louder by Bobby slamming the front door behind him.

"Fuck," Jack mumbled as he yanked open the oven door and pulled out his meal, burning his thumb along the way. "Fuck," Jack cursed again as he dropped the leftovers unceremoniously on the counter and turned around so he could stick his throbbing finger under the cold water the kitchen sink so graciously provided.

It was only when his thumb had gone numb that Jack felt the heat behind him, causing him to curse again. He whipped around again, slammed the oven door shut and turned of the gas. "Goddamn you, Bobby," Jack finally said out loud.

After putting the leftovers on a plate and grabbing a can of beer from the refrigerator, Jack hobbled into the living room. Of course Bobby was right. His leg was still sore and his shoulder let out a stab of pain whenever he tried to play guitar, but Jack was scared of what would happen once he didn't have his band anymore.

Hours later, after enough time had passed for Jack to thoroughly mull over everything that happened that afternoon, the door opened and shut loudly, causing Jack to bite his lower lip. If Bobby was still mad about their fight that morning, even after all the time that had passed, Jack knew the argument was far from over. Not that it matter. Jack knew Bobby was right. God knew he wasn't ready to admit it, but Bobby would win this one in the end. Jack had just been hoping that the argument would be swept under the rug and no one would say anything when he didn't leave the next morning, or when his band mates called to tell him that they were giving him the boot. Bobby was good at gloating, so good it made Jack sick to his stomach.

"Stupid bitch, screwed up my brand new paint job and had the fucking balls to start with me," Jack heard Bobby grumbled as he stalked into the kitchen. Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He had gotten lucky, Bobby wasn't mad at him anymore, which meant the fight would most definitely disappear and there would be no gloating in Jack's near future. Or well, at least not gloating caused by the previous disagreement.

End Flashback

"Y-you killed those kids and sent Bobby away because he yelled at you?" Jack asked in disbelief as his gaze flickered from Rachel to the scar he had on his thumb from the burn he had acquired that day and back to Rachel again. It all seemed too surreal. Who the fuck did that?

"No," Rachel said in annoyance as she grimaced at Jack. He had interrupted her again. "I killed those kids because they'd been stealing money from me for weeks. They were a pair of amateurs. Thought they were invincible because they got away with it the first few times. Then they slipped up. I was gonna kill 'em anyways, but I figured framing your brother would be more fun than committing my usual perfect murder."

"R-Rach," Rose whimpered from behind Jack. Jack couldn't see her, but if he could he would have shot her a look, pleading her to stop. What the hell was she doing? Rachel wasn't going to listen to her, no way in hell. "Stop it, please, Rach, just stop it." Jack could tell from the tightened death grip on his leg that Rose was using all her strength to plead to her sister.

"I thought I told you to call me Sam!" Rachel barked, ignoring Rose's plea. Just as Jack had thought, Rachel would never listen to Rose.

"How'd you do it?" Jack asked as he felt one of Rose's hands shift to his lower back. She had finally noticed the gun sticking out of his waistband. Jack nearly let out an audible sigh. He had been stalling waiting for Rose to find it. At least now he knew that even if they had to fight, Rose had some way to defend herself. Jack inwardly thanked God that even though he was pretty sure Rachel knew he was stalling, she wasn't going to pass up the evil villain rant. And that was exactly what Wes had been counting on when he had attached the miniscule recording device to the inside of Jack's shirt.

"Frame your brother?" Rachel asked as excitement flickered on her face, taking the place of her fury faster than Jack thought possible. He had seen it happen a few times since Rachel had walked into the room, but it still astounded him each time. "Well, it was really easy actually," Rachel began simply.

"After you two went to bed the night after my altercation with your brother, I had Kimmie sneak into your house and steal one of your brother's guns, one that had his finger prints all over it. She's the smallest and the quietest, so I figured she could get the job done and she did. The next night, I took the gun, shot the kids and then dumped it in the dumpster down the block.

"I had Wallace wait down the block. When the shooting went off, he called the cops and waited until they showed up. He told them that he was walking home when he heard the shots and came running. He said he'd seen a guy leave the house and dump a gun into a dumpster before running off. After giving an exact description of Bobby to the cops and identifying him in a line up, it was over for your badass older brother," Rachel finished with a triumphant look on her face.

"Fuck," Jack whispered. Even though he had been trying to make a plan, he was still listening. Every word that came out of Rachel's mouth made sense. Bobby had even yelled at him the morning before his arrest, asking him where his gun was. Jack had just thought his brother had misplaced it, not that that was an action Bobby was likely to be guilty of committing. Just like it didn't make any sense that Bobby would kill those kids over a petty disagreement, like the cops thought he had. Sure, Bobby fought, stole, cheated and so much more, but he never murdered unless he was under attack or someone he loved had been murdered first.

"So, do you see why I can't let you out of here?" Rachel asked amicably. "You know too much. Even if I hadn't told you, I'm sure you would have figured it out. You were well on your way to it. Besides, I couldn't let you go after Nate. He's my favorite," Rachel added as she walked casually over to the blond man with the ponytail and slipped an arm around his waist before rising to her tiptoes and nibbling on his earlobe.

"And here I was thinking you liked me," Jack replied, praying she couldn't hear the nervous tone in his voice. He didn't care if she liked him. He really needed a way out.

"Oh sweetheart, exclusivity doesn't suit me," Rachel cooed, almost lovingly, causing Jack to blanch inwardly. It was revolting. She was revolting. Everything about her made his stomach churn. It was evident to Jack why Rose hated her sister so much, and she didn't even know Rachel was a mob boss.

"So what now?" Jack asked. He didn't need Rachel to fill in the rest of the blanks for him. Now that he knew who she was and why she did what she did to Bobby, the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together seamlessly. She had done everything she did to keep Jack unawares of who she was. She played the innocent bystander every time. Even if someone had hypothesized that Rachel was Sam Nickels, Jack would have never believed it.

"I'm still debating which of you to kill first," Rachel began with a calculating look on her face. She looked like she was trying to remember what she had for dinner the night before, not the order of a hit list. "I could take you first and watch my perfect sister suffer as one of the last people she cares about dies, but I am rather eager to torture dear Rosie a little more…" Rachel trailed off, weighing her options. Jack kept trying to think of a way out. When he couldn't, he slowly slipped one hand behind his back and motioned for Rose to take the gun and let go of him. Once he was sure Rose was ready, Jack spoke again.

"What if we just fought," Jack offered, lunging forward before Rachel had a chance to respond. Jack had Rachel pinned to the ground for a few brief moments before her men realized what was happening. Jack felt one of them grab his shirt when a deafening bang filled the room.

Jack didn't have to look up to know Rose had shot the guy who had been reaching for him. Instead, he punched Rachel in the temple, knocking her out, if only for a few minutes.

After jumping to his feet, Jack saw that, somewhere during the few minutes the fight had been taking place, Harley and Johnny had finally caught up and were currently sparring with the remaining men. Jack tore his gaze from his companions and turned his attention to locating Rose once more.

She was sitting on the floor, her fearful eyes wide and glued the gun she was still holding. Jack ran over to her, pulled the gun from her limp hands and shoved it back in his waistband before picking Rose up again and cradling her in his arms.

"It's gonna be all right, Rosie, don't worry," Jack assured her as he held her close. He understood her fear. She had shot someone, perhaps even killed him. It didn't matter how evil he was, some people just weren't cut out to hold gun, not to mention use them, and Rose was one of them.

"I… I killed him," Rose mumbled as Jack carried her out into the hallway, away from the last two brawls that were taking place in the room she had been kept prisoner.

"Shh, it's okay Rosie," Jack whispered. As he carried her down the hall, his pace increasing with every moment that passed, he continued to whisper what he hoped were soothing words to the damaged girl in his arms. His only hope for her was that she wouldn't become as accustomed to holding a gun the way he had.

A/N: Sorry that took me so long. I had issue. My beta will attest. This chapter is for her because of her ability to solve my issues so effortlessly. Love you girlie!!

Reviewer Replies:

Ghostwriter and JainaZekk621 - Thanks you guys!

Maxiekate - Thanks! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it makes sense. lol.

Umi Pryde - No problem!! Thanks for the review and I hope you liked the flashback. I saw an opportunity for a Bobby moment and I thought of you!!

As for the rest of you... PLEASE REVIEW!! I promise, reviews do make me want to work harder to put up chapters and this story's almost done! Not to mention that somehow I compressed two chapters (because I changed the plot a bit) and it's really only three more until the story's finished. Whoops. :D

Love and Luck,

Gaby