I'm so happy to be updating this story! It's my favorite one so far that I've posted. Thanks to those of you who have favorited followed and reviewed! I really really appreciate it!!

Reminder: I'm very open to requests and suggestions for stories! Let me know if a scene you'd like to see or anything by leaving me a review. I love them.

Also, remember that you guys are all perfect in your own ways.

Enjoy!

Jack paced the small width of the hall. His right hand was up to his mouth and his left arm was held in front of the his stomach. He watched anxiously as his new friend sat on his knees in front of the closet door. He held two pins, one in each hand as he picked at the lock. On the ground next to him, his smartphone was open to an instructions page.

"What's behind this door that's so damn important Jack?" Davey asked as he worked at the knob.

"Please just unlock it, Davey. Please." Jack got out, rushed. "You said you was home alone right?" He asked, not wanting someone else to call anyone.

"Yeah Jack." David reassured. "My parents took my kid brother to our grandma's house. They won't be back till tomorrow night." He continued to jiggle the lock. "Would you please tell me what's going on now?"

Jack watched as the boy's hands dropped down and he set aside the pins. "You did it?" He only saw Davey start to nod before he pushed the boy aside, not too hard, but hard enough to make the boy cry out in surprise. Jack threw the door open.

"Jack!"

Jack scooped up his youngest brother off the ground and held him close, making sure he held most of his weight as the small boy had only one leg to balance on. He had one arm around the boy's lower back and his other hand held the back of the boy's neck. They stayed there for a moment before he moved Crutchie to the wall so he had something to lean on and he grabbed the other boy's hand.

Race had trouble standing and fell into his big brother's embrace. He realized how much he actually hurt and how much his near drowning experience had affected him. He heard Jack's shaky breaths in his ear and held onto him tight, his teeth chattering in Jack's ears. "'M sorry... I'm so sorry Race..."

Race buried his head in Jack's shoulder as he shivered. Jack helped Crutchie back to them and the three brothers just stood there. Jack whispered his apologies and his brothers sobbed against him. But the oldest forgot about the other boy in the room.

"Jack..." He breathed, astonished. Immediately, Race pulled back, surprised at the new voice in the room. He looked at the other boy on the ground, up and down.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice higher than normal and jumping at odd moments. Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, letting him know it was ok. The older boy let Crutchie lean on Race while he offered David a hand, pulling him to his feet.

"Calm down, Race." Jack clasped the taller boy on the shoulder. "This is Davey. He lives next door and he just wanted to help." He explained. "Davey, this is Racetrack and Crutchie." He gestured to each boy, respectively. David nodded and looked at the two boys and smiled, though the tears streaming down both of their faces were enough to break his heart. He watched as one of them, Racetrack Jack called him, wiped at his eyes, clearing the tears from his face before he shivered and Crutchie wrapped an arm around his back.

"Race?" Jack asked, concerned, moving back to his brother's side.

"He's freezing cold, Jack." Crutchie barely caught his older brother as he started falling to the ground, but he just ended up bringing them both to their knees. Jack was down on the ground in seconds. "They must've used ice cold water again."

"'M fine..." Race mumbled, but he sneezed and started shaking. Jack wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and ran his hands up and down his arms, trying to warm him up.

"You and I have different definitions of 'fine', Race." Crutchie teased. He looked around and saw his crutch on the other side of the hall, immediately crawling for it before the other boy, Davey, handed it to him. "Thanks Davey." The young boy nodded gratefully and pushed himself to his feet, gently pushing his crutch under his arm, hoping Jack didn't see him wincing.

"Crutch, where does it hurt?" Jack asked, watching his youngest brother carefully. The blond boy sighed and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, Jack. We need ta warm up Race." Crutchie stated, his natural confidence shining through, something he no doubt got from Jack. But, as he tried to walk away, his good leg shook and he would've fallen on the floor, face first, if it wasn't for Davey catching him around the waist.

"Crutchie!" Race called out from his place, tucked into Jack's chest. The youngest boy groaned as Davey helped him to the ground.

"Crutch, where does it hurt the most?" Jack asked again, watching as the kid avoided his gazes.

Crutchie shook his head and let out a breath before looking up at his big brother. "My leg. And my head." He answered finally. Jack nodded before asking Davey to take the fourteen year old to the couch.

Davey helped the gimp boy over to the couch and let him sit before walking back over to Jack. He watched as Race closed his eyes and how his teeth chattered and how he leaned himself into Jack's embrace for warmth. These kids were miserable. "How can you tell me not to call the police? You guys are clearly hurt!"

Jack shook his head but he was too late. Race sat up in a panic. "Cops?" He asked, terrified.

"No Race. We ain't callin' the cops." Jack soothed, letting his brother relax back into him. Then he looked up to Davey and shook his head, telling him without words to not bring that up again. Jack scooped up his kid brother in his arms, one arm under his knees and the other beneath his back. Race didn't even seem to notice.

They laid Race down on the couch, resting his head on Crutchie's lap. Jack grabbed the blanket from their bedroom and gently smoothed it over Race's body. Crutchie sat there running a hand through the freezing boy's hair, wincing every now and again. Jack grabbed some ice for Crutchie's head, which apparently had been hit hard. Davey went to his apartment and brought both boys back some hot chocolate to sip on. After a few minutes of just sitting together, Jack got up to grab Race a sweatshirt and Davey followed him into the back bedroom.

"Alright Jack," David shut the door and crossed his arms, leaning against it so Jack had to talk to him. "What's going on. Why no cops?"

Jack grabbed one of his sweatshirts and turned to see Davey blocking his exit. "I already told ya, ya wouldn't understand." He said, flatly, walking towards the door, but Davey didn't move.

"You're right." Davey shrugged. "I don't understand why you would put yourself and those kids in constant danger. Clearly you care about them so why do this ta them? If ya call the cops they'll put you in different homes, better homes!" Davey tried to reason but Jack started to get angry. Not necessarily at Davey, but at things that happened in the past.

"You said ya got a kid brother?" Jack asked, stepped closer to Davey, looking very intimidating all the sudden.

"So?" Davey asked, shrugging, not knowing how that was relevant at all.

"So," Jack mocked. "Imagine that somethin' happened ta your folks. They're gone, not there ta take care of ya anymore." Jack cut Davey off as he tried to interrupt. "It's just you and your brother now. Some people show up and say that it ain't a good idea ta keep you two together so now you've gotta say goodbye." Jack felt himself choking up as he tried to force out these words. It was still painful to think about. "And it don't matter how tight ya hold onta each other. It don't matter that each otha is all you've ever had, they rip you apart and you gotta watch your baby brother be dragged away, screamin' for ya ta help him. But ya can't. So you watch them drive away with him in the back, pounding on the glass window, cryin' for ya."

Davey realized how much Jack spoke with his hands. He realized that Jack spoke with his hands when he was worried or scared about something. When he thought Jack was done, he tried to calm him down. "Jack I had no id-"

Jack put his hand up, silencing Davey. "Then, about two later ya find him. He's on the streets. He can't walk he's hurt so bad. He starvin' and hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Or ya accidentally run into him while he's runnin' from folks who are tryin' ta beat him and leave him for dead. And you are together again, finally." Jack's voice started to even out as he told this part. "This time, ya fight harder and they let ya be together. But they put ya with a very specific, very powerful guardian and ya know that, one slip up, one wrong move!" Jack yelled, and Davey flinched. "And that's it. He's gone forever."

David cursed at himself, silently, he should've seen it before. "They're your brothers." He sighed, looking down before meeting Jack's eyes.

"Half brothers." Jack clarified. "We're all bastards. Our fathers might be alive but we've never met 'em. So we were raised by our mother." He sighed. "And damn it, I'd do anythin' for 'em." Jack blinked back the tears. "They're all I've got." The sappiness quickly faded and the anger returned. "You call the cops and this is all over. I lost 'em once and it ain't happenin' again." Jack vowed.

Davey stood in shock. He let Jack push past him and go out to the two boys on the couch.

Jack walked up to his brother to find Race falling asleep to Crutchie's soothing voice. He was reading out of his book, very slowly. He also saw that his youngest brother's eyes were struggling to stay open. His voice was becoming heavy and Jack slid the book from his hands and gently set it on the table.

Davey watched from his position, leaning against the doorframe, as Jack smiled at his brothers. Crutchie let out a tired mumble as Jack took his book from him. He saw how Jack carefully lifted up Race and slipped him into a sweatshirt then set him back down. He watched how Jack tucked the blanket around both boys and how he kissed the bruise on Crutchie's head, the boy responding with an exhausted smile.

When Jack was done settling his brothers, he walked back over to Davey. "Thank you." He whispered, smiling as he looked back over to his brothers.

"Of course, Jackie." Davey nodded, patting Jack's arm.

Jack cleared his throat, awkwardly and straightened up before speaking again. "Look, uh..." He took a breath. "Why don't you, uh... stay here tonight." The boy suggested, with a shrug.

Davey nodded. "It's better than bein' home alone." He shrugged.

Jack nodded. "Thanks." The boy sighed again. "I don't know what I would've done without your help." Jack looked back at the couch and sighed before walking to the kitchen and pulling something out from underneath the single chair cushion.

"What's that?" Davey asked, taking a seat on the creaky old chair next to the couch. He watched as Jack brought some sort of book with him, the thing he pulled out of the chair, and sat on the ground. He leaned up against the couch, below Race's feet and opened it up, taking the broken pencil out of his pocket. He placed the book comfortably on his legs that were pulled up, almost to his chest. He opened up deep into the pages and then spoke.

"This is a sketchbook." Jack explained with a smile, his pencil running over the paper bringing him genuine pleasure. "Before my thirteenth birthday, I told Crutchie that I liked ta draw." He laughed at the memory. "He told Race and they saved up some money so they could get me this." Davey smiled when he saw the happiness on Jack's face when he talked about it. "They were so excited about it." He laughed.

"I know what you mean." Davey smiled. He scooted forward on the chair. "My little brother, Les," He clarified. "Made me one of those little coupon books." He laughed. "Ya know the ones that say, free hug coupon or the one day without talking back coupon." David smiled. "It took him a week ta make it. He gave it ta me on my sixteenth birthday. He was only nine. He was so excited for me ta use them." Jack laughed and continued to sketch. Then Davey had another question. "What about that pencil? Was that a gift too?" He asked, curious as to why he was using a small broken pencil and not one that was in good shape.

Jack looked down at the pencil in his hand and sighed. "When I was, uh... fourteen, our foster dad saw me drawing something on a napkin. Nothin' much, just ya know... a bunch of trees." Jack shrugged, recalling the picture of a place he dreamed of each night. "So he snatched the pencil outta my hand and snapped it in half. He said that even if I worked forever, I would never be half as good as any real artist." Jack scoffed, that awful day forever engraved in his head. "So I ran out, takin' Race and Crutchie with me. We ran ta one of our mother's old, old friends. And she told me that if I ever put down the pencil, ta forget about ever achieving somethin' in life. It would be my first step ta endin' up a quitter."

David watched Jack look back at his two sleeping brothers' peaceful faces. "She said that if I held onto the pencil, one day I'd prove him wrong. One day I could take the pencil and say 'thanks for being the asshole who motivated me never ta quit' right in his stupid, arrogant face." Jack finished. "So I never lost the pencil." He smiled.

Davey smiled. Then he reached out his hand, "May I?" He asked politely. Jack looked down at the page he'd been using, hesitant, but eventually he shrugged and handed his treasured book over to the other boy.

Davey took it, gratefully and looked it over, gasping, in awe, at what he saw. It was a beautiful picture, all in black and white. There were two boys in it, naturally. They stood tall, smiling and laughing. Like it should be. The taller one with the short, curly hair, on the left from Davey's perspective, definitely Race, had his arms around the younger boy. His right hand was on the smaller boy's right shoulder and his left arm was wrapped around the kid's shoulders. His features were lit up and Davey found himself smiling at the boy's happiness. Race's gaze was soft and warm and loving and his head was turned to look at the younger kid who was leaning on a crutch.

Crutchie was leaning to his right, onto his crutch that stood in between him and his brother. More than that, he leaned into his brother. His natural smile warmed Davey's heart. His features were soft and he looked forward yet down at the ground. His hair was covered by a beanie that warmed the boy's head.

Both boys were dressed warm. Race wore a leather jacket over a sweatshirt that was zipped up to cover some sort of t-shirt. The hood of the sweatshirt stuck out, over the jacket. Crutchie was snug in a warm looking peak coat that cut off at his hips. His neck was covered by a scarf. Both of them were cut off at the knees at the bottom of the picture.

They looked so happy. It was refreshing. Davey knew he'd only literally just met them, but he could take a guess that the boys didn't get to behave like that very often. And he could guess that they didn't have warm clothes like that for the upcoming storms of Manhattan.

They looked to be walking down the middle of the street. They were surrounded by buildings and people. Everyone else in the picture had their backs turned to them, walking away or entering a shop or workplace, except for one. A woman. She looked oddly familiar. It took Davey a while to figure out why. But he looked back and forth between her and the two boys in the picture and then at Jack.

She was all clad up in a lovely dress and cloak. The dress stopped just above her knees, showing off her legs almost as well as the heels she was wearing. The cloak covered her arms and chest and most of her head, but her wavy hair still flowed, falling perfectly around her beautiful features. Her body was turned as if she was about to open up a door and go inside but her face was what Davey focused on the most.

Her smile was the same one that was worn so proudly on Crutchie's face, the one that brought warmth to everyone who saw it. Her loving eyes were the same ones that Race had as he smiled at his brother. And there was this spark about her. A passion as she gazed upon the two boys in the center of the picture. It reminded him so much of Jack.

"She's beautiful." Davey whispered, smiling up at Jack. The other boy scoffed.

"What are ya talkin' about?" He asked, quietly, trying to play off the fact that there was more to the picture than meets the eye.

"You know damn well, Jack." Davey smiled. "You guys all have a part of her with you." He almost missed the way Jack smiled at that. But he caught it. Then he looked over the drawing again, before handing it back to his friend. "They look so happy."

Jack chuckled a bit and ran a hand over the page. "Yeah..." He sighed, happily. "They ain't always like this, ya know." Jack pointed behind him to the couch. "Crutchie is the most optimistic person I've ever met and Race," Jack smiled, "Race can make a joke no matter the situation. Always loves ta make everyone laugh."

Davey smiled at his new friend. He looked up on the couch to see the two younger brothers. "Tell me about them." Davey suggested and Jack hesitated for only a second before launching himself into stories about his world. His brothers.

Eventually, the two boys passed out of exhaustion. But they slept, oblivious to the nightmare that was coming.

I'm not finished with chapter 6 yet but I will post it as soon as I finish it. In the mean time, feel free to check out my other stories! There is plenty of hurt!Race and hurt!Crutchie in those ones as well. Thank you so much!! Also I'm about to post the crossover fic that I've been talking about so if you want a little bit o Jatherine, just review that one and I'll continue it!

As always, make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya babes!