So here is the next chapter. And you didn't have to wait as long as before. yay! I'm proud of myself. Unfortunately this chapter isn't beta'd, but its okay. Just ignore any mistakes you see. :D Thanxs to everyone who have reviewed I really appreciate it. I also appreciate those of you who have favored and alerted this story, I'm sooo happy you guys like this story! So keep reading and keep reviewing, it makes my day!!!!

Chapter 21

"Sir, what exactly is this about?" Jack asked sitting behind the examination table, his hands handcuffed together. They had taken Bobby into a different room.

"We got a report that three of the four Mercer brothers were seen beating up an innocent man earlier tonight," Officer Cauls said sitting across from him.

"Exactly how reliable is this source?" Jack snapped trying to control his breathing. He was furious. He wanted to go home. Be with Christina.

"None of your business at the moment. What I want to know is where you were at exactly 11:45 tonight?"

"I was with my brothers," Jack kept it short since he wasn't sure what Bobby was going to say and he didn't know if they had Angel or not.

Cauls sighed irritably. The last thing he wanted to deal with where the Mercer brothers. He had heard a lot about them through the guys at the station. He was just glad that he was single and they couldn't make any cracks about sleeping with his wife.

Jack looked up at him, "please, I didn't do anything, all I want to do is get home to my girlfriend. She had a hard day and I really need to be with her."

Cauls sighed. The kid looked sincere. If he had the power he would probably let him go but he didn't and he needed to get the information for the boss.

"Just tell me what happened and tell the truth. The faster you tell me the faster you'll get out of here," he lied. In reality if they did actually beat him up they would be spending the night in jail, then have to be set before a judge.

Jack sighed and wondered if he should tell the truth. Would Bobby be telling the truth?

"I was banging your wife," Bobby chuckled as the officer slammed his head down on the table. That one was going to leave a mark.

"Look asshole, we don't have time for this because the fact is your little brother is in the other room and he could be confessing for all we know and your just holding up the time where you'll be sharing an eight by eight cell with a public toilet."

Bobby just shook his head, "you know normally I would be telling you all sorts of bullshit to get me out of this situation but I can tell you that me nor my brothers did anything wrong tonight, and until I talk to Jack I ain't telling you shit."

"Why would I let you talk to your brother? So you can get your stories straight? No. If you see your brother it will be in a jail cell. Hey if your lucky we might let you share," the officer smirked.

Bobby clenched his jaw. He couldn't believe this was happened. He had no problem spending the night in jail, he'd done it before. But Jack, he wouldn't last, not on his own. He had to be there to protect him.

"What about my one phone call?"

The officer shook his head, "not until after you tell me what happened."

"Fine," Bobby sighed. If he knew Jack then he would probably be telling the truth so he might as well get it over with.

"Look we didn't hurt this guy because we were bored. The guy tried to rape my girlfriend," Jack said.

"Then you should have called the police, not gone after him yourself," Cauls said back sitting down across from him.

"Look what exactly would you have done. There was no proof of who it was. Not until my brothers and I followed him and he admitted it."

Cauls sighed, "look-"

"Are you married?" Jack asked abruptly. Cauls shook his head.

"Girlfriend, daughter?"

Again Cauls shook his head knowing where this was going.

"Then put yourself in my shoes. The woman your madly in love with is attacked and almost raped. What would you do? Sit back and hope the police could do something or get up off your ass and do something about it?"

Cauls stared steadily at Jack. What would he do? He would have done the same thing as Jack, except the guy wouldn't be alive to charge him with assault. He voiced his opinion to Jack.

"Thank you. Do you need anything else?" Jack sat back in his chair.

"You can have your phone call," Cauls stood up and grabbed Jack's elbow. Jack obediently followed him to the front office where the payphone is.

"Bullshit," the officer who had been interrogating Bobby snapped.

Bobby groaned, of course the one time he told the truth they didn't believe him.

"Look buddy, you obviously don't know much about me, but what you should know is that I protect my own and if one of my own gets hurt. I'm damn well going to do something about it."

"I don't care."

"Then can I have my damn phone call to tell my family I won't be coming home tonight," Bobby snapped losing patience.

"Certainly," the officer smiled smugly at him. Bobby took a deep breath and willed himself not to do anything he would regret.

Jack stood silently as the phone rang in his ear. He thought of calling Christina but figured she was asleep and didn't want to disturb her so he decided to call Jerry. He wouldn't be happy.

"Hello?" Jerry's tired voice came through.

"Jerry, don't get mad and let me talk," Jack pleaded.

"Aw man, what the hell did you do?"

"Bobby and I sort of got arrested," Jack waited but there was silence on the other end of the phone.

Finally after a moment of silence, "what do you mean sort of?"

"We went after the guy who attacked Christina, then he called the police and got us arrested."

Jerry stayed silent but Jack could hear him sigh heavily. He knew Jerry was disappointed in him but if he could go back he'd do it all over again.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Jerry promised. Why was it that he was the one that was bailing his brothers out of trouble.

"Thanks Jer," Jack said softly and hung up the phone after they exchanged goodbyes. He turned around and saw Cauls watching him.

"Let's go," he led Jack to the back, most likely where the cell were.

Jack wasn't in the cell for more than ten minutes when another officer came up to the door with Bobby in handcuffs. When he opened the door he violently pushed Bobby in and took the cuffs off.

"Have a nice night," the officer sneered at Bobby.

"You will too when your dreaming of me," Bobby snapped back. He turned around and smirked at Jack who just shook his head at him.

"Well how does it feel to finally be in the slammer," Bobby patted his shoulder.

"Shitty, it sucks. I don't want to be here," Jack stood getting angry. He wasn't angry at Bobby, just the situation. He gently banged his head against the wall before turning around back to Bobby.

"Did you use your phone call?"

"Yeah," Bobby said relaxing on the bottom bunk of the small bunk bed that was in the corner of the cell.

"I called Jerry, he said he's going to help us out," Jack replied.

"Of course," Bobby grinned.

"Who did you call?" Jack asked.

"Angel. Had to call and ask why his ass didn't get hauled in here with us."

"Typical," Jack muttered. "What did he say?" he continued.

"He got home in time and told Sofi everything. She told the police that he was with her the entire night. They had nothing on him."

Jack nodded. He didn't know when Jerry was going to get there. For all he knew Jerry was going to make them stay the night just to teach them a lesson. Jack stayed leaning against the wall while Bobby relaxed on the bed. Bobby looked a little too comfortable here. He didn't know how long they were there when Jack noticed Officer Cauls walk up to their cell.

"You guys are getting out of here," he said.

"Really? Is Jerry here?" Jack asked.

"No, I got a Paul Wilson offering your bail," Cauls unlocked the cell and let the two of them out before closing it.

"Paul Wilson? That's Christina's father," Jack whispered to Bobby. Bobby was just as confused.

"What the hell is he doing here? "

They walked out to the front and the first person Bobby and Jack noticed was Alex sitting in a chair. Then they noticed Paul standing up at the counter filling out some paperwork. Jack walked over to Alex and sat down.

"What are you doing here?"

"I called Jerry to tell him you guys were arrested and he told me what you had been up to. So I told Paul and just the fact that you did all this to get back at the guy who hurt Christina was enough for him to help out."

Jack nodded, "Jerry didn't say anything about that when I called him."

"Yeah I woke him up when I called and told him to go back to sleep because we would take care of everything."

Bobby sat down next to Jack, "we appreciate it."

It was odd for Bobby to show appreciation to another human being, let alone another male but he couldn't let this one go. After they way he treated Alex in the past, he could have left him to rot in that jail cell. Of course if Jack wasn't with him he probably would still be in the cell. Paul finally turned around and walked over.

"I'm so sorry about all this," Jack immediately stood up.

"Yeah," Bobby mumbled but stayed seated.

"I don't know if you know what happened and I'm sorry you had to come here tonight but I can honestly say that I would do it all over again," Jack said holding his head high.

Paul stood there and looked in Jack's eyes. He saw the determination in them and he did recognize the love he had for Christina. It would take a long time for him to be completely comfortable, but maybe in time he would be able to deal with it.

"Relax son, I know what you did and why. And I would have done the exact same thing," Paul nodded and held his hand out.

Jack was speechless, he was actually getting the blessing; if that's what you can call it, from Christina's father. All it took was getting arrested. He placed his hand in Paul's and they shook hands.

"Thank you," Jack sighed in relief.

"Jack Mercer," Jack turned at the sound of his name and saw Officer Cauls walk up to him.

"Yes."

"You said the guy who you and your brothers beat up tried to rape your girlfriend correct?"

"She's also my daughter," Paul said now interested in the conversation.

"Yes well we had a woman call in earlier reporting an attack and attempted rape that occurred in the same place you said-"

"That was my other daughter Ava," Paul interrupted.

"Ava James?" Cauls asked for confirmation.

"Yes," Paul nodded.

Officer Cauls nodded his head, "well your story checks out so you will still have to go to court but we now have some information on this guy so we're going to catch him and have him put away."

Paul sighed relieved, but he still wished he was able to get his own hands on him.

"So can we go now?" Bobby said standing up himself.

"Yeah your all free to go. You'll get a letter in the mail with your court date. You have to be there or we will have to arrest you again," Officer Cauls said.

"We'll be there don't worry. Thank you for everything," Jack said shaking his hand.

After they all exchanged goodbyes they headed out the door, Bobby following last behind Alex.

"Only Jack would thank the police officer who arrested him," he mumbled. Alex let out a small chuckled.

They all finally pulled into Alex's driveway. They didn't have Bobby's car because it was still at the bar. He would get it in the morning. Jack turned to face Paul wanting to make sure everything was okay with them.

"Thank you again. I'm really sorry about how everything has happened since meeting you," Jack ran a hand awkwardly through his hair. Bobby and Alex looked at each other and mentally agreed to let Jack and Paul talk alone. Bobby nodded at Alex, who knew that was the closest thing to a thank you he was going to get. The both walked to their respective homes leaving the two men alone.

"Look, I'm not saying that I like you, but I respect you. You did what I wanted to do."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows not really understanding. Paul seemed to read his mind.

"You beat the crap out of the guy who hurt my little girl. If I had known who done I would be in jail for murder. Believe me, we may not like each other but we do have one thing in common," Paul started.

"We both love Christina," Jack finished with a small smile.

"Yeah," Paul stuck his hand out again. Jack grinned and shook his hand.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sure Christina will want to see you," Paul said.

The two said their goodbyes and Jack went to his house and up to his room feeling lighter than he had in days.

Christina shot up in her bed drenched with sweat. This was the third time since she went to sleep. Every time it was the same thing. It was the guy who had attempted to rape her only this time, Jack hadn't made it on time. It had felt so real and she was terrified. She looked out the window and saw it was still dark. She glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand. It was just after four in the morning. She was sweating but still shivered as if she were freezing. Making a decision she crawled out of the bed and slipped her slippers on. Jack didn't answer his phone when she called but he had to be home now.

As quietly as she could she left her bedroom. She saw Aiden's door open and peeked in. The baby was sleeping peacefully with a small teddy bear next to him. The door to Ava and Alex's room was just opened by a crack while her parents door was closed.

She tiptoed down the stairs so she wouldn't make much noise. She didn't even grab a jacket as she stepped out of her house. The wind was cold causing her to wrap her arms around herself. She ran over to Jack's house and up the steps to the front door. She didn't knock because she didn't want to wake Bobby up. So she tried to turn the knob and let out a breath of relief when it opened up. She found it odd because they always locked the door when they were asleep. You could never be too careful in this city.

She stepped in and was surprised to see the television on low. She glanced at the couch to see Bobby sprawled across the sofa asleep. He must have fallen asleep and forgot to lock the door. She walked back to the door and locked it.

Christina quietly walked past Bobby and up the stairs. She winced when they creaked and made it up as fast as she could. Downstairs Bobby opened his eyes and grinned.

Christina quickly found Jack's room with the door closed. She opened it and poked her head in. Jack was lying under the covers in his bed. He was shirtless with the blankets covering him from his waist down. One hand was on his stomach his other laid up over his head. He looked completely relaxed.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and caressed the side of his face. She frowned at the bruises that marred his face. He didn't have them when he left her house. What exactly had he been up to? Now that she thought about it Bobby had some faint purple coloring on his face, but with Bobby it could be anything so she paid no mind to it.

"Mmm," Jack turned his head to the side. Christina moved her hand from his cheek to his neck and rested it on his chest. She traced her finger over the tattoo he had gotten on his chest. She didn't know how long she had been doing it but when she glanced up at his face his eyes were open. He still looked tired but they were open.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," Jack grabbed her hand and squeezed. "How are you feeling?"

Christina shrugged, "been better. Couldn't sleep so I came over. I tried calling you earlier but you weren't home."

Jack looked down at their hands, "you don't want to know what happened tonight."

"Tell me, I think I deserve to know why you weren't home when I needed you," she said. She didn't mean for it to sound so mean but she didn't think he would tell her any other way.

Jack sighed and sat up against his headboard, "fine, I went after the asshole who hurt you."

Christina gasped, "Jack you didn't kill him did you?" Any other person who would have asked that would have been joking but she was dead serious.

"No, but believe me I wanted to. Bobby and Angel helped me. We found the guy and beat the shit out of him. We left him in an alley thinking he would take the warning for what it was but the little shit called the police and got us arrested."

Christina stood up, "you got arrested?"

"Baby It's not a big deal-"

"Not a big deal?" Christina exclaimed.

"No, your dad bailed us out and now-"

"Wait, my dad bailed you out?" She asked disbelievingly.

"The guy who attacked you called the police on us after we left him beat up in the alley. Me and Bobby went to the bar after. Alex and your dad were there. That's where we were arrested. You dad told me after that he respected that I went after the guy and defended you. I think we're going to be okay. He's going to be okay with us being together," Jack reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her on the bed with him.

Christina stayed quiet as she processed what he had just told her. Jack wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

"So why are you over here at," he looked at the clock, "four thirty in the morning?"

Christina looked down, "I couldn't sleep. I was having a nightmare. Several actually. I haven't really slept all night."

Jack tilted her chin up to look at him, "want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "nothing really to talk about. I just kept replaying what happened. Only this time you never came."

Jack kissed her chastely, "baby I promise, I will always come for you."

Christina smiled and kissed him again. Softly but he could feel the meaning behind it and he had never felt happier than he did at that moment. When she pulled away she stood up and took off the pyjama pants she had on leaving her in the T-shirt and panties. She crawled over Jack who had lifted the covers for her and she settled in against his side with her arm resting across his stomach, and her legs entwined with his. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and listened to her even breathing as she fell asleep.

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