Oh my Lord... I am so sorry. I'm gonna come up with a new system. From now on, if I don't update within a month, somebody yell at me. I've been going through a bit of a rough patch lately but I think I'm coming out of it, so please let me know when I need to update.
Guys, I'm very excited. I finished a story, which means I get to start posting a different one. So be on the look out for that one once I get through my other stories again.
Anyways,
BroadwayIsMyPurposeInLife: I am just so sorry! Except... maybe I'm trying to make people cry? Lol, I just don't know. Thank you so much for your constant reviews! They mean so much!
Les Phansie: Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see how this goes either! Thank you so much for your review!
WhaleTale47: Thank you so so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
ariav1200: Omg, did you actually scream?! Haha! I'm so sorry! I hope this chapter got the same reaction. Thank you so much for your love for this story.
Ktlasair: I really try to do different things with my writing. I've been reading fanfics for years and I've always wanted to do different things and try different styles. I feel like my writing is a bit different with every story. I'm so glad you enjoy reading my style. That makes me so happy to hear. (I love responding to everyone individually. You all are amazing and I want to thank you all personally for your support ;). So thank you so very much!)
brighteyes421: OMG I'm so glad that you were so excited to read this that you read it while they thought you were reading something else, lol ;). Thanks for the props on the angst. I have no clue why I love writing it so much but it's addicting. Thank you so much for your constant reviews! They truly mean the world!
Shadow: Thank you so much for your review! I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best to let the boys somehow be okay. :)
selizabethharrisburg: Holly... I just don't know. What have I done? Someone please tell me. I'm gonna be honestly, this chapter I think won't beat the last chapter. I think last chapter was more intricate and detailed and this one is too, just in a different way, I suppose. But honestly... I am so sorry. I've put this off for so long and I really hope I can somehow make up for it. Thank you so much, for everything.
queenlmno: I am so sorry! The boys are going through so much! Also, thank you so much for your description of dyslexia. It's really interesting to hear. Thanks so much for your review!!
Guest: Thank you so much!!
lizjanie: You're request is on my list, I promise! I'm not gonna lie to you... I do have a story in the works where Race is a dancer... and it's worse than Spider's Revenge. Like so... so much worse. I might start posting that one, or I might give you a different story, I'm not sure yet. But I am very excited to work with that request. Thank you so much!
doubleenvelope: Aww Thank you so much! That means the world! I can't wait to get more into Spot's whole story with the boys.
thelonglostmarauder: Thank you so so much!
Guest: I am so so sorry for the wait! Thank you so much! I hope you find this update!
Guest: again, I'm so sorry for the wait. Thank you so much for reading!
OllieCollie: I'm so glad you found this story! It's one of my favorites. Thank you so much for your review! Don't worry, I don't think I could abandon this one if I tried.
Okay, so I need to stop torturing you guys...
Please enjoy!
Screams. That was all that could be heard throughout the halls of the building. Terrible, strangled cries practically echoed off the walls, rattling his brain as he sprinted as fast as he could. It wasn't as if May could run any faster. Not even when he swore he heard something snap as he rushed down the hallway.
It was like a nightmare, the ones where the road was never ending and the destination was neither getting any closer nor any further. Angry tears pricked at the back of the man's eyes. He forced them back, clenching his jaw tight and biting back the words that wished to spill from his lips as he heard the cries continue. Someone was begging. One of his kids sounded beyond petrified, pleading for a monster to just leave him alone. He wouldn't. The screams tore through the apartment building and no one was doing a damn thing about it. And it only got worse when May neared the door.
"Damn it!" he cried when he finally reached the door. It was locked. Of course it was locked. No one should have the gall to interrupt a well known detective while he exploited his powers and took his anger out on helpless, innocent children. "Snyder, open the door!" He could barely hear himself over the wails and the shrieks and the thuds.
He needed in. He needed to make it stop, it had to stop. It was Race. May knew it was Race screaming and begging for relief, he recognized the voice that was cracking and giving out as it cried for relief. The boy was in pain and May couldn't stop it. All he could do was try to throw his body against the door, hoping the thing would just give way to him and let him stop the screams. He just needed to stop the screams.
Bang.
Everything inside of May stopped. The world froze for a moment as scenarios rushed through his brain like a wildfire, burning up everything it could while panic set in. "No..." he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief when the clear sound of a gunshot made the cries stop completely. "No no no no no no!" he rambled, knowing whatever had just happened was done and there was no taking it back. So the former detective clenched his fists and took a step back, kicking the door in like and only watching for a second when the thing split in two, slamming back into the wall and revealing a scene May prayed was just a dream.
It all had to be a dream. It all had to be some kind of nightmare.
"Christopher..." the man whispered, out of breath and out of calm.
The boy looked so angry. May swore he'd never seen that boy so angry before. That boy was an optimist. That boy was always smiling. That boy was sunshine trapped in human form.
Apparently even sunshine had its limits.
"Buddy... it's me... it's just me, May... can you hear me?" Nothing. No response. Just a little boy seething and refusing to lower his weapon, instead set on keeping it pointed at his enemy's head as May took a tentative step closer. "Hey... I need you to say something, kiddo... I need to know you're listening, alright?"
Gasps were heard. Pained, awful gasps and whimpers and groans that wouldn't stop. The man risked a glance over at the scene he wished beyond anything he could unsee. The blood was everywhere. Snyder... a man he used to call his partner... was bleeding out, right there on the ground. The bullet hole in his back was causing the red to pool around him as he lay lifeless on the ground. But he wasn't the one fighting for air. Oh no. That was the boy, curled up in a ball at the man's head, mere inches from the monster that had just been beating him, nose bloodied, possibly broken, left arm at an odd angle, red marks- soon to be bruises- littered on every possible sighting of skin. There were cuts across the boy's arms and legs, slicing through his clothing like a knife... like the pocketknife that was dropped in the corner. Like the pocketknife that May recognized immediately.
It was safe to say the boy couldn't speak, much less try and move as he clutched at his ribs that May suspected were cracked at the very least. "Don't move, Anthony... I'll be right there... we'll get you an ambulance," he promised quickly, switching his focus back to the danger just beyond the front door.
Crutchie was shaking. Tremors wracked his entire body and every muscle seemed to be tensed as he refused to take his bright green eyes off of the body on the ground. His finger hovered over the trigger, ready to end it all. That was what scared May the most. This boy was about to throw his life away. He didn't deserve this. No one deserved this. "Christopher... Crutchie, give me the gun, kid..." he pleaded gently, knowing neighbors were starting to gather around behind him. The screams were something they could ignore, but apparently a gunshot topped a child's helpless cries. "I'm trying to help you, but you have to give me the gun..."
The boy was livid, still breathing hard and glaring at the man laying facedown on the ground. He looked to be having some kind of internal debate. "Please, Chris... don't do this..."
Out of the corner of his eye, May caught sight of Race squirming around, letting out pitiful whines and whimpers as he did so, trying to speak or help or do anything to just make it all stop. "Race... you have to stay still, okay?" the chief warned, not wanting to take his eyes off of Crutchie as he still held the pistol between his palms ready to let off another round. "Hey... Crutchie... I wanna help your brother, okay? But you have to put the gun down..." he coaxed, raising up his hands as his feet took him closer to the child in front of him. "Come here... we can both help Race if you put the gun down..."
Tears were streaming down Crutchie's cheeks. His entire face was soaked and he still held the weapon high, so angry and so shaken. "You're gonna help him too, ain't ya?" he asked in a breath. May's heart broke. "He is gonna go ta the hospital and get all better while me and my brothers get separated and beat all ova' again..." he seethed, squaring up his shoulders. There was a sort of determination in his eyes. It almost killed May to think that the boy looked so much like Jack in that moment, standing up tall and not backing down. He wished these were different circumstances.
"I'm trying to help you, bud... but you have to help me first..." A cry escaped the boy still trying to breathe on the floor across the room and May saw Crutchie's eyes widen at the noise, his gaze shifting to his brother rather than his attacker. "Chris... give me the gun and you can go to him while we wait for an ambulance, okay? But you have to give me the gun." They were all so goddamn stubborn. All three of them. But when it came to keeping each other safe, that took priority and May knew that.
"He was gonna kill him, May..." came a small sob as the boy was unsure whether to continue being angry or to just give into the fear that was so clearly coursing through his entire body. "He w's really gonna do it, this time..." The gun was lowered when the heavy sobs started flowing and the child hung his head low, letting the chief of police run up and gently remove the pistol from his grasp. May knew there were still people gathered around, confused and ignorant. He didn't understand how these people didn't know. These people who had heard the screams before and not done a damn thing about it.
"Get back to your homes, all of you!" he demanded, dismantling the weapon and slowly taking the shaken boy into his arms, pulling him closer and closer to Race who was still trying to squirm around, only causing himself more and more pain. "It's okay! It's okay, Race... calm down..."
May let Crutchie lean into him and the boy used him as a crutch until he could collapse at his brother's side, hands shakily hovering above the older kid's body before one of them felt safe landing in the beaten child's blond curls. "Stay down, Race... it's okay..."
"H'rts..." the older boy croaked. There was blood on his lips that May profusely hoped was just from the blood still gushing from the kid's nose or a simple bite of the tongue. "Crutch-" His voice cut off with a cough and May gently lay a hand down on the kid's chest, holding him down as he reached for his phone and dialed three numbers as quickly as he could.
"Yes! I need two ambulances!" His words were rushed. He stumbled over words as he blinked back tears watching the boy in front of him try to get a grip on reality. As much as he didn't want to, as much as he wanted to keep his eyes on Anthony and run hands through his hair and tell him everything would be alright, as much as he wanted to hold his boys right then, he knew he had to turn around. He knew the monster behind him would bleed out if he didn't do something soon. And, much like the young boy who he'd just talked down, he couldn't exactly figure out if he wanted to save that man at that moment. A man who had saved his life more than once in the field and a man who he'd trusted everything to. A man who had put on a show for the world. But when he looked up to the child sobbing over his brother, he realized that he wasn't about save that man for his sake; it was for the sake of the child who didn't deserve to spend time behind bars for the murder of the demon who'd trapped him for years.
"Keep him awake, Christopher. They're on their way!" he spoke, his heart torn in pieces when he turned away slipped out of his jacket to put pressure on Snyder's back. "Don't die on me, bastard," he hissed at the other man, clenching his teeth together and shaking his head. "If that boy has to go to prison for you..." he didn't know. He didn't have a threat. After all, if the man was dying there was nothing more he could actually do. He'd never forgive Snyder regardless for anything he'd done to the precious kids he'd taken in so long ago. But this was beyond cruel. And so help him, if Anthony died... he just wouldn't know what to do with himself. He'd never forgive himself. Not for any of this.
"May, he's falling asleep!" Crutchie shrieked behind him in a panic. The chief turned around without removing his hand from his head detective's back. Race was fading and everyone could tell. The kid was still struggling for air and was not responding to the rushed whispers that Crutchie was breathing into his ear.
"C'mon Tony... stay awake! Just a little longer..." he begged, leaning his forehead against his big brother's and letting his tears fall onto Race's cheeks. Neither of them seemed to care.
"Higgins, you have to breathe, okay? We're gonna get you to a hospital! You're gonna see Medda and Jack-" May started, but he was cut off by the boy.
"Kelly?" he asked quietly, his bright blue eyes barely opening up and glancing around, possibly expecting his big brother to be there to comfort him.
"Yeah, buddy... Kelly. You wanna see him, right?" May barely got a small hum in response. "He's gonna be there. You're gonna see him soon, but you have to stay awake, kid! Can you do that for him? He wants to see you!"
"B't... 't h'rts..."
"I know! I know... but you have to stay awake!" May pleaded, not wanting to take his eyes off of the bloodied child.
"C'mon, Race... I need ya... please stay with me..."
There had never been a more terrifying ten minutes of May's life. One of his kids was slipping. Another one of his kids was already in the hospital. The other, May knew, was now facing juvenile detention, possibly just plain prison, for shooting a detective who might've killed his brother if he hadn't.
"Hang on... just hang on, it'll all be alright..." he said, finally giving up and moving over towards the boys, letting himself run hands through Race's hair and whisper quiet nothings to him, begging him to focus on breathing.
It had to be alright.
"Freeze!" Oh this couldn't be good.
"Don't shoot!" May commanded, just about to explain what happened. Or a version of what happened. If he just told them it was him maybe they could avoid everything else. Maybe Crutchie wouldn't have to go through hell and struggle with this for the rest of his life. But before another word could leave his lips-
"I'm sorry! I had ta do it! I'm so sorry!"
May sighed, shaking his head as he took a moment to let his head rest in his hands. He wouldn't cry, not when a little boy was huddled in the chair in front of him, sitting in the middle of a police station full of people that didn't or couldn't understand why he'd done what he'd done. He knew they were glaring at him, ready to throw some choice words at him for trying to kill their head detective, a man they so blindly looked up to as if he was some kind of saint.
He didn't want to look up. If he looked up he'd see a fourteen year old boy, torn between sorrow, panic and anger. He'd have to listen to the child begging to see his big brothers, who he was anxious without. He'd have to come to terms with the fact that both of them were here instead of at the hospital, waiting for Jack and Race to be okay again.
"He was gonna kill my brotha'..." Crutchie let out shakily. The boy was long out of tears. "Don't that count for somethin'?"
"Yes, Christopher!" May assured quickly, his head shooting up. The boy flinched at the sudden loud response, but did not move from the tight ball he had placed himself in across from the chief's desk in his big office. "It does... you did this to protect someone else's life, but this isn't going to be simple for everyone else! You have to understand that!"
"I don't understand that!" Crutchie's hands gripped at his hair. He didn't. He didn't understand how this could possibly be so complicated for such brilliant people. A man had been hovering over a boy who could do nothing to defend himself, spitting out insults as the kid begged for him to stop. The monster had been about strike again and again until that boy could no longer breathe. And Crutchie had the opportunity to make it stop. It was either the man's life or his brothers. It. Was. Not. Complicated. Not in anyway. "He..." God, he'd never told anybody... he'd never been able to speak of the awful things that had happened in that godawful apartment that most certainly had to be hell.
"He whipped Jack, May... n' that wasn't the first time, neither... he makes us clean f'r him and cook f'r him n' sometimes he didn't let us eat!" It was coming, spilling from his lips like the vomit that he'd been holding back since he'd seen his brothers bleeding on the ground. "Me an' Jack n' Race share one bed... we gotta sneak out the windows some mornin's because when Snyder comes back, sometimes he's still drunk. He's angrier when he's drunk. Does stupid things like try ta hit Jack's head 'gainst the table and tries ta see how long Race can go unda' wata' without breathin'..." Crutchie buried his face in his arms that rest atop his knees as absolutely everything started coming out. "Race has ta go gamble sometimes f'r money because we ain't eaten in so long that I can't walk no more..."
The words were so hard to hear. Truly, May could hardly stomach that. The games that Snyder had played while intoxicated, the way he blatantly ignored the boys otherwise... how had he missed it? How had he been so blinded by a performance that he'd let these boys continue going home to that godforsaken place? "Buddy... why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't any of you speak up?"
With a bitter, dismantled kind of laugh, the boy barely lifted his head so May could see his eyes, broken and shattered as they were. "Mr. Wiesel, tol' Jack when we's moved in that this was our last shot... the system don' like how much me n' Race look up ta him... they think 's dang'rous..."
"And Mr. Wiesel didn't know what was going on with Mr. Snyder?" May asked curiously, processing the information. It made sense. He'd heard about things like that before. That didn't make it right. To look up to the only person that really protected them? Yeah, that was normal and there was nothing wrong with that.
Again, a bitter laugh escaped the boy who was too terrified to let go of the barrier he'd placed around himself. His arms were around his knees that were pulled up against his chest and his head was ducked down, ready to block any blows anyone tried to inflict on him. "Weasel ain't no saint, May... he helped the Spida'..."
It was like the rug had been pulled out from underneath him. He hadn't had a clue and there was no excuse for it. His boys were in pain, scared to death and May hadn't even noticed. What kind of a monster was he? "Chris... I-"
The shriek of the phone on his desk caused May to stop, rolling his eyes and quickly picking up the thing, bringing to his ear with a slightly annoyed and very much uninterested, "May," before a voice started frantically speaking on the other line. "He what?" Crutchie watched the man's eyes widen as he stood, looking down at his desk as he listened to whatever the person was saying with sudden panic. "No no! I'll be right there. He couldn't have gone far. Thank you!" Then the man hung up, grabbing his jacket. Crutchie sat up a little straighter, trying to wait for some kind of explanation before the man before him froze as his eyes landed on the door. The boy furrowed his eyebrows, following the man's gaze and letting his green eyes widen when he saw who was standing there.
Jack pulled the soft hood of the jacket he wore off of his head, revealing his messy brown hair and terrified, big, forest green eyes. He looked a bit out of breath and he was hunched over just slightly, likely still in pain. "Are you okay?" he breathed, locking in on his baby brother who completely broke at the words. All the little boy could do was shake his head and let Jack rush over to him and wrap him up, holding him close to his chest and running hands down his back and through his hair. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I wasn't there..."
"Jack... you's supposed to be at the hospital..." Crutchie sobbed, clutching onto the back of the leather jacket that Jack definitely should not have had. He didn't ask. He didn't think he could even form the words.
"Nah..." Jack assured lightly, pulling away so he could hold the boy's face in his hands and brush away the tears on his face, doing his best to ignore the blood on his shirt and the horror struck in his eyes. "I's supposed ta be right here, with you."
"Jack... you should be resting," May tried, rounding his giant desk to kneel down beside his boys. "How did you know he was here?" When Jack just looked up at him, his lips pressed together and his eyes stubbornly guarded, May knew not to press.
"Hey..." Jack whispered, desperately wanted to stop more tears from falling down his brother's cheeks. His brothers cried far too often. He just wanted to see them okay again. He just wanted to see them happy again. "Did he hurt you?"
"No-o..." Crutchie replied, lowering his head and leaning back on Jack's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the older boy's neck. "Just Race..."
"He'll be okay, pal... you'll be okay... we're gonna get through this, ya understand?" Jack couldn't resist. Despite the burning of his back and the pounding in his head, he scooped up his baby brother into his arms and let the younger boy's legs wrap around his waist so he could just hold onto him as tightly as he could. "I gotchu, kid... it's all okay..."
"Race could barely breathe, Jack..."
May could see Jack's eyes water even more when the child said that. They were both so scared it hurt. "He's strong, Crutchie... he's gonna be okay..." Because Race had to be okay. Race was going to be okay because if he wasn't there would be no telling what would happen. Jack would go insane and Crutchie would finally snap. After all these years, the boy who always found the good was finally beginning to be crushed by the weight of the bad and Jack couldn't handle that.
"I shot him... I coulda killed him..." Crutchie whispered against his brother's shoulder, burying his face further in the crook of Jack's neck. "I don't feel guilty, Jack..." and that was what terrified him the most. "I keep tryin' ta feel somethin'... I wanna feel bad about it... why can't I feel nothin'?!"
"Shshshshsh..." Jack soothed, holding on even tighter as his brother cling to him, wondering why he didn't feel bad about killing a man who'd been torturing him for years in absolutely any way he could. "Breathe, pal... just breathe..."
Breathe. It was so hard to breathe. Not even just for that boy, but for all of them. Because they all knew what was coming. Crutchie wasn't just any other person trying to defend himself or his family. He was a foster kid. Jack had fought a long time ago to keep his family together. But it couldn't last forever.
"May..." Jack whispered out, turning to face the man, the only person now who could help them. "What's gonna happen ta us?" He was so scared. He was petrified beyond belief. And all the man could do was shake his head.
"I don't know, buddy..." he admitted solemnly, shaking his head as he reclaimed his seat at his desk. "I don't know..."
Okay so I really wanted to write a chapter that focused in a little more on Crutchie. Mostly, I know, I zero in on Race, but Crutchie just shot someone so I felt like I should show that part of this story.
I really hoped you guys enjoyed this and I promise!!! I promise I'll be back sooner next time!
I recently posted a one shot! Please feel free to head on over and give me your thoughts! It would make my day!
As always, thanks for reading! 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, kids!