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Chapter 53: Bobby Did It?

Craig kept his hold on Bobby tight. His mind seemed to be caught up in the memories of all the times Adam Macks had been wiped out of his life only to return more vicious and cruel than before. Adam removed obstacles in his path, it didn't matter if those obstacles were human beings; if they were in his way he got rid of them. He had little regard for human life. As far as Adam was concerned, the Mercers were an obstacle, and he had made an attempt to rid himself of them, it wouldn't end there, he would keep coming back until he accomplished what he wanted.

Bobby let him hang on, and held onto him. He felt safe, for the moment, but he found himself looking up from Bobby's shoulder, checking the people drifting around them, making sure none of them was the monster he feared so strongly. He would watch them for a while, and then his mind would rewind back into the memories of his day. He replayed them, over and over, first his statement with Porter, and then the encounter with the monster right there at the warehouse. The waiting outside of the police station, only to find out that Green had been shot, and the wild ride Bobby had taken them on after talking to the reporter.

Bits and pieces of what was going on around him made it through to his brain. He heard someone asking Bobby about checking him over to make sure he hadn't been hurt, and he was sure his brother was going to make him get into the back of an ambulance to be poked at and touched by total strangers, and he couldn't stand the thought of that happening. He tightened his hold until he heard Bobby saying they were fine. He gritted his teeth when Bobby decided they needed to get into the back of a police car. He didn't want to sit, but he didn't to wait there while so many people walked past him, looking at him as if he were some kind of a freak clinging to his big brother. He'd been sure then that Bobby would pry his vice-like hold away and peel him back enough to push him into the car.

Some how he had ended up sitting on Bobby's lap, his arms still hooked around his neck, inside the back of the cruiser, and Bobby let him stay that way, squeezing on him from time to time as if to let him know he was still there. Jack came over and talked about the phones, and Craig heard him, but his mind was well on it's way to pulling in on its self. Time passed slowly, or it seemed to. He couldn't seem to focus, or get his mind into the same time zone as the rest of the world around him. It spun back in time to different points in his life that he wanted to forget.

"You know, I remember the day Ma brought you home." Bobby spoke with no warning, his voice was quiet, but it seemed to drown out the hum of activity outside the car.

"You were so fucking little, and you looked scared, and jumpy." Bobby drew in a deep breath. "I didn't understand why Ma brought you home, I really didn't. Hell, you was little, the little ones are usually easy to place in permanent homes. You were on the border line, but you was small for you age, and she shouldn't have had a problem finding someone to take you and love on you and give you a good life."

Craig found his attention drawn to Bobby's words. He turned his head a little, towards the man's voice.

"I was so fucking scared of you though." Bobby laughed quietly. "Hell, I'm a fucking bad influence for little kids. I made it my life's goal to be a bad influence. Jerry, Angel and Jackie, hell, I didn't have to worry about screwin' them up, they came that way, just like me, but you…." Bobby looked down at him. "You were different, and I didn't want to fuck you up. I had no idea why Ma seemed to think you needed to be a Mercer. I really didn't, and I argued with her, and I know you heard a lot of the talk, but it wasn't that I didn't like you, or love you; I just didn't know what the fuck I was supposed to do with you."

Craig thought he seen something behind Bobby's frown, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. Regret? He didn't think that was it. Bobby rarely regretted anything he did, even when he probably should.

"I think Ma brought you home because she knew I needed you." Bobby finally gave his head a slight nod. "You know I'm no fucking saint. You know I've done shit." Bobby lifted his gaze to concentrate on the back side of the front seat. "When she brought you home, I had to do something to help out. You know? I couldn't let her take on another kid by herself. She already had four of us delinquents running amuck, and she was taking on you too? Not that you were any trouble, hell, you was the best behaved kid around. You never really asked for shit. You were happy with what you had, and that was fucking scary. You needed clothes and you needed to eat, and you needed shit for school, and shoes on your feet." He shook his head slowly. "All she ever told me was to be your big brother and play with you a little bit, and she'd take care of the rest. I tried, I really did, but what the hell do I say to a seven year old? I'd look at you and I'd start feeling all fucking responsible and couldn't stop thinking about all the shit you needed to grow up better than we did."

Craig was soaking in the words, not sure why Bobby was saying them, but allowing his brain to process them and mix them around with the memories of his first years in the Mercer home.

"I needed that." Bobby looked at him again. "You know, if you hadn't been around, I probably would be doin' a life sentence in prison right now. You made me grow up, well, as much as I can grow up. I don't plan on being all grown up until I'm fuckin' dead. I mean what's the fun in that?"

Craig felt his nerves starting to relax.

"But I had to earn some money, and that meant I had to do some honest work on the side, and that lead to me not being around for real heavy shit a few times. Shit that would have sent me away for a very long time." He stared at Craig for a long moment. "I think she knew that son of a bitch would come back too, and that we would have to stop him. I really think that. I get what she was doing now. She wanted you to have a fucking normal life, and she wanted us to keep you safe. That's what family does, and if tonight didn't prove that to you then nothing will." He nodded towards the window behind Craig. "We watch out for each other because we're brothers, and you're one of us, so you ain't gotta be scared of that fucker. We know about him, and we're gonna get rid of him once and for all. You hear me?"

Craig allowed his arms to fall away from Bobby, and he slid down onto the seat on his right side in order to look through the window in the direction Bobby was looking. Jack and Jerry were standing next to the back end of an ambulance, where a medic was bandaging Angel's head.

"You wanna go check on Angel?" Bobby asked.

Craig looked around at the firemen moving back and forth around them, and the fear of getting out of the safety of the police cruiser gripped at him. He didn't want them to look at him; the fear of strangers being able to look and see what had happened to him was still strong.

"Craig, no one is going to bother you, your brothers won't let them, okay?" Bobby spoke quietly. "We need to check on Angel. That's what brothers do, right?"

Craig nodded his head slowly. "Okay." He managed to force the one small word out.

"Good boy." Bobby gave him a quick hug. "You just stay close to me. I'll hang onto you." He reached for the door.

Craig grabbed Bobby's hand before he had a chance to pull on the handle that would free the door.

"What?" Bobby looked at him.

"You were scared of me?" Craig barely managed to break the question free of his mind.

Bobby nodded his head. "Scared shitless," He looked serious.

"I was scared of you." Craig muttered, almost ashamed to admit it.

"Yeah, that was my goal. Keep you too scared to get near me so you wouldn't turn out like me. It worked huh?" Bobby's eyebrows rose slightly.

"But I'm not scared of you now." Craig admitted.

"Hell, I ain't scared of you no more either, so that's a pretty damn big step ain't it?" Bobby grinned at him.

Craig wanted to grin back, but he couldn't do it, not at that moment.

Bobby opened the door and got out, reaching in to grab Craig's arm and help him out of the car. Craig's muscles stiffened as two firemen, faces coated in ash and black soot walked past them. They looked tired, and hot, even in the freezing air. Bobby slid his arm around him while he slammed the door of the police cruiser closed. "See, they kept walking." He glanced at the backs of the retreating men before guiding Craig over to the back end of the ambulance. The medic was called away from Angel to check one of the firefighters just as they approached what appeared to be the beginning of an argument between Jerry and the injured Mercer in back of the ambulance.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jerry spoke loud as he held four fingers up in front of Angel's face.

"Fifteen," Angel's tone was flat, as if he were growing tired of whatever they were discussing.

"You fool, no one has fifteen fingers. You ain't goin' home; you're goin' to the hospital and getting your head x-rayed." Jerry cried out.

"I'm fine. I ain't seein' double anymore, and I don't feel dizzy." Angel gave Jerry an angry glare. "You don't think I know you don't have fifteen fingers?" He scowled at the man and shook his head.

"I agree with Jerry, we need to get your head examined." Bobby called out as he pulled Craig closer to him. "They're gonna tell us the same shit they told us the last time through, still nothing in that thick skull of yours." He allowed himself to laugh at his own joke, but was met by a cold stare from Angel.

"I'm fine, I don't need no hospital. I'll go to the clinic in the morning." Angel let his words draw out. "Did anyone ever get a hold of Sofi?" He looked at Jack.

"I couldn't get a phone." Jack shook his head. "But there was one cop that was gonna radio in for someone to call her, and Camille. "He glanced at Jerry. "They should be on their way."

Angel's face distorted as if he were in pain. "Damn." He glanced over towards the remains of Sofi's car buried in the rubble from the last explosion.

"Don't worry, how can she blame you for that?" Bobby spoke up quickly. "You didn't know it was gonna happen."

Angel looked at Bobby. "Yes I did know." He countered. "I wanted to move the car, remember Bobby? Someone wouldn't let me move it, you recall that at all?" His voice came out tight.

"How the hell could we know that a piece of the fucking wall was gonna go flying through the air and flatten the thing?" Bobby cried out. "You could barely walk straight; you really think you needed to be behind the wheel of a car? Granted it was a fucking pussy car, but it was a car."

"Yeah, Angel, how were you supposed to know it would end up splattered like a fucking bug all over the pavement? Oh, yeah, it was a V.W., wasn't it? Was it a bug?" Jack grinned wide and looked from Bobby to Angel.

Both men looked at him with hard stares and the grin faded quickly. "It was a joke, come on; you guys got it, didn't you?" Jack looked from Jerry to Craig.

"Fuck you Jackie, it was not funny." Angel spoke quickly.

A loud crashing noise sounded out from across the street, causing Craig to flinch. Bobby pulled him a little closer without looking down.

All heads seemed to turn towards the building that had nearly been a death trap for Jack and Craig. A tow truck was pulling the wrecked Impala from the broken walls, tearing away fresh bricks.

"Fuck!" Bobby cried out with no warning, again causing Craig to flinch.

"What the hell is your problem now?" Jerry asked as he tore his eyes away from the scene playing out across the street and looked at Bobby.

"Why the hell didn't we think to go through that fucking car before anyone showed up to drag it off?" Bobby kept his voice quiet and moved closer to his brothers, pulling Craig along with him.

They all seemed to tighten the circle they had formed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jerry looked confused.

"I'm talking about that fucking car. We should have thought to go through it. We ain't got the slightest idea where to find the fucker, and his car is sitting right there across the street. There might be something inside that could help us track him down." Bobby sounded pissed, and again Craig thought he heard regret in his voice.

"You mean, like mail, or bills, or something like that?" Angel spoke casually.

"Yeah, something, a fucking gas receipt so we would know what area of the city he's been in at least." Jack nodded with comprehension.

"Yeah; something like that." Bobby spoke quietly.

"Damn, my head must not have been hit quite as hard as you all think." Angel spoke calmly and reached for his shirt pocket," Because I was the only one with enough sense about me to check the fucking car." He pulled out what appeared to be folded envelopes that had been concealed there. "Now, let me repeat myself, I ain't goin' to no fucking hospital, you all can't make me." He tucked the envelopes back into his pocket and flashed Bobby a cocky smile

"The hell you aren't going to the hospital!" The Spanish accent drifted around them at a high level, but the origin was unclear to anyone.

Angel's face dropped when Sofi came around the opened rear door on the left side of the ambulance, squeezing past Jack and making her way up into the squad, to sit next to him. "Oh, Baby, are you okay?" She asked quickly, but planted a kiss on his lips before Angel had a chance to answer.

Camille trailed Sofi, and went directly to Jerry's side. "Baby, what happened? Are you alright?" She asked softly.

Jerry welcomed his wife's embrace, while Angel smiled at Sofi as soon as their lips parted, but he looked tense and nervous.

"What happened?" Sofi repeated Camille's question as she looked at the bandage on Angel's forehead.

"Bobby, I thought you took Jack and Craig home. What are you doing here? Did they call you before they called us?" Camille looked at Bobby as she held onto Jeremiah's arm, rubbing her hand in circles on his back.

"Not exactly," Bobby muttered.

"Well, where's the car? We were told you needed a ride, but if Bobby is here with the car, then…"Camille looked from one Mercer to another, including Jerry, before she turned her attention to the parking lot, and her gaze fell on Sofi's car. "Oh shit." She muttered.

"Now baby, language," Jerry followed her gaze. "Uh, now don't…"

"Sofi, your car," Camille spoke quietly.

Sofi pulled her attention away from Angel, her eyes focusing on Camille for a short moment before looking in the same direction.

Sofi's eyes grew into large brown saucers, and Spanish rolled off of her lips too quickly for even Angel to keep up with it.

"I did try to move it baby." Angel spoke quickly. Sofi seemed to forget about him for the moment, climbing down out of the ambulance and stepping a few feet towards her car, the words still rolling off her lips. "Bobby did it." Angel cried out at the end of a very extensive string of cursing. At least Craig was pretty sure it was cursing, despite the fact that he couldn't speak Spanish.

"Bullshit!" Bobby cried out. "A piece of the fucking wall blew up and fell on the thing, it's not like I had any control over that!"

"Bobby, you are a walking disaster!" Sofi turned to him, her eyes shooting pure rage in his direction.

"I did not do this." Bobby shook his head and flashed a threatening glare at Angel.

Camille joined Sofi's side. "Okay, so where is Jeremiah's car? I don't see that anywhere around here." She looked concerned, but sounded relatively calm.

"Well, baby, that's a long story." Jerry spoke up.

"Was I talking to you?" Camille turned and looked at her husband. Apparently she was satisfied that he was in good health and was finished worrying about him.

Jerry grimaced at the tone of Camille's voice and looked at Bobby. "You want me to take Craig? We don't' want him to get stuck in the middle of this." He shook his head.

Bobby sighed. "Look, when we showed up here the place was blowing up; I had to get you guys out." He looked past the women and concentrated on Jerry and Angel.

"Where is the car?" Sofi spoke quickly, her hand resting on Camille's shoulder.

"Yeah, Bobby, where is the car?" Camille repeated the words.

Bobby looked at Sofi, "You know you are a bad influence on Camille. Before she got to know you so fucking well she was actually a nice person." He seemed to be trying to change the direction of the conversation.

"That's not gonna work Bobby." Camille crossed her arms in front of her.

Bobby started to speak, but the fire chief stepped up into their little circle and looked at the Mercer men, as if he wanted to say something to them.

Sofi and Camille both turned to him, and Sofi started asking him about her car, wanting to know how the building could have exploded with such a force that the wall could land on her car. Her words were a mixture with Spanish and English splitting the air with an irritating, shrill pitch.

The Chief listened for a long moment, but then shook his head slowly while the words were still flowing. He finally waved his hand in the air in front of her to stop her endless banter. "Ma-am, the initial explosion did not damage your car. We believe that the secondary explosion, the one caused by the gas tank of the vehicle inside the building, is the one that caused the outward explosion that destroyed that particular wall."

Craig's mind pieced together the meaning of the man's words. The Volvo blew up and that's what sent the chunk of wall soaring through the air and destroying Sofi's V.W.

His mind was still processing the information when Jack looked over, a wide smile on his face. "So," Jack looked directly at Bobby, "You did do it?" He obvoiusly didn't intend to focus Sofi or Camille's rage back to Bobby, but somehow, that's exactly what happened. Bobby pulled Craig to stand in front of him. as the women stepped closer….