PeterParkour: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it!

MyHeadIsSpinning: Here it is! Thank you!

Cat238: I know, right?

bexlynne: I know. It's horrible! But Jack is adorable and I love him.

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!

Ready for something bad to happen?

Please enjoy!

Six months later...

"So... you're tellin' me that you ain't neva' been out? On an actual date?"

"You've met my brother, Albert. The man is a cop! He's the cop an' we're the criminals. He don't trust me," the blond boy laughed. "That's how it works."

Albert rolled his eyes. "Please, Racer," the boy scoffed. "You ain't just out messin' around n' Jack knows it. I barely eva' even hear you cuss," he teased.

The boys stepped onto the escalator of the mall they were wandering around. "Whateva'," Race responded, knowing his friend thought he was soft. He didn't truly care. This was his best friend. They still loved each other. No matter what.

"Seriously though," Albert insisted. "Just once I want ya ta come ova' ta my house n' get high or drunk, just like every otha' teenager you know! You only get ta be fifteen once."

This was how Albert thought. Race didn't agree. After all, his guardian, his big brother, was a cop. If he got busted, he had Jack to answer to. Little did his friend know he had a pack of cigarettes hiding beneath his pillow. He was a teenager. A troubled one, at that. But no one could know. That was not a good situation to be in. Especially since it has taken them so long to finalize the adoption. "I've gotten high with you before, Al. Now leave me alone n' let me be innocent!" he cried dramatically, hearing Albert laugh at him.

"Whateva', man. With that necklace on, you ain't neva' gettin' a date anyways, by the way." Race subconsciously reached up for the small thing. A gift. From his baby brother. He wore it everyday. It was important to him. Just a simple black string with a small guitar pick encased in rubber. It was so important.

They made it to the upper part of the giant mall. Albert wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulders as they walked just as Race shoved his hand in his pocket and sipped at the smoothie in his hand. Just as he was about to speak, a phone rang. And he groaned. "Oh gimme a break..." He glared over at the phone in the redhead's hand as the other boy grinned a bit too wide.

"Oh c'mon, just cause you's single don't mean you gotta be pissy about my girl callin' me." That was not why Race was pissy, as Albert had pointed out. Race was annoyed because of the small, cheap cell that his friend pulled out of his pocket.

"Al... you don't find it odd that you's datin' a twenty two year old who bought you your own phone specifically for her calls?" he asked, pulling out from beneath the other boy's arm.

Placing a hand over his heart, Albert fiend offense. "She bought me this because she wants us to have a special phone just for each other," he corrected, like Race should've known that.

But the blond was quick to respond. "She bought you that ta keep tabs on you, ya idiot." He was only mostly joking. He really should talk to Jack about this. It couldn't be legal. Right?

"Whatever, you're just jealous," Albert decided. And just like that, he was walking away, the phone beside his ear. "Hey, Ronnie, baby. How are ya?" He turned around to wink at Rave who could only shake his head and pull out his phone to Snapchat this. His best friend was pathetic. "No no, I'm just hangin' out with TJ," he smirked, sticking his tongue out at Race who only rolled his eyes in response. "Ya want me ta do want ta you?" he asked excitedly.

Sometimes, Race really hated his best friend. But somehow, all he could do was laugh.

"So first you're gonna notice patterns. Behavioral changes in very predictable ways." It was always interesting to David, leading around a group of new trainees. He enjoyed watching them, seeing their reactions, responding to their odd but necessary questions. He could pick out the few that would last. Most of them wouldn't. "Rising temperatures means rising tempers, so we get the violent calls. Rainy days and Christmas, it's gloomy outside, sometimes people are alone, that's when we get the suicides," he explained, with little to no emotion. He'd learned that was the best way to do it.

This was no easy job. It was best that they learned that now. "Now, Saturday mornings are generally very slow and calm times, and I think that's because people are at home probably recovering from Friday night." Woman with the glasses at the end of the line, she'd be gone by the end of the week. The man with the newsboy cap... David was hardly sure he'd make it till the end of the day. He was much to laid back. "Why? What happens Friday night?" he asked calmly, looking around for anybody that may know the answer. No one did. "All hell breaks loose."

Brunette in the front would last a little more than a month before she cracked. "Half your calls are gonna be non-emergencies." The relief that brought half the group was adorable to David. That didn't mean that those calls weren't still stressful. "Half of those, that's gonna be someone asking for directions to Starbucks or how to baste a turkey." This got a bit of a laugh out of the group. There were about eleven of them. If David was a betting man, which he was not, he'd say two of them would make it a full year and beyond. "Go ahead, laugh at that, that's good," he assured, leading them up the stairs and just above the place that was practically his second home where phones were ringing like crazy and his old coworkers were dong everything in their power to keep their caller calm. "That's gonna prepare you for real stuff. The jumpers, the home invasions, the triple homicides, the gang-banging..."

The boy in the pink hoodie went pale. That poor kid wanted to walk away right then. And David wouldn't have blamed him. "You've seen the Quiet Room," he stated, pointing back in the direction of a room he knew a little too well. "That's where we go to decompress after a bad call." Lord knows there had been bad calls. "But if you need anything more than a nap and some Muzak, then you have to call our BSS," he informed, not looking at the new little babies that were about to be settled in at a desk of their own. "That's behavioral science specialist. His name is Dr. Keating, he's on call twenty-four-seven. Any time any of you need to talk..."

"Talk about what?" It was a man in the very front. One that no doubt thought he'd make it far. David wasn't too sure.

Gesturing to the kid, David nodded. "What was your name again?"

"Tommy."

"Okay, listen, Tommy," David began slowly, looking around the place he loved so much and the bravest people he'd ever met in his life. "The most important thing to remember about this job is this," he warned sincerely, looking around at every single one of them as he stopped walking backwards, causing them all to pause behind him. "Stay emotionally detached. Don't get too involved in your PR's crisis," he advised. He couldn't stress that enough. He knew what that felt like. "What's PR?" he asked the group.

Almost immediately, Tommy responded. "Person reporting," he answered.

David nodded. "Right," he smiled. He knew most of them wouldn't last. But he was damn proud of these kids for trying. All they wanted to do was help. "And never ever make promises," he added. "Because you can't keep them..." It was true. They never could. But it was so damn hard to stick to these rules. "Okay? Now follow me to the call floor." He waved his hand at them as he began his trek down into the big room.

"If you're wondering why security's so

tight, we're the ears and eyes of the city," he explained, trusting they could all hear him. "We're the link between every human crisis and every first responder. That's the Fire and Police Department." They should know that but they didn't, he'd advise them to leave now. "If the Hive goes down, this whole city goes dark-" He cut himself off at the wave of a hand in the back of the group. A young woman with blue hair and yellow glasses. "Question here," he called, pointing to her and allowing her to speak.

"Why do they call it 'The Hive'?" she asked curiously.

At that, David smiled. "Listen," he whispered, shushing them all. "Hear all those

little worker bees?"

Truly, it did sound like a hive. Buzz after buzz. It was hard to get on without the noise. He'd gotten too used to it.

Continuing on, David kept on going down those stairs, shoving his hands in his pockets as he caught sight of his old desk.

Most of these kids would barely last a day.

"You can't tell me you haven't seen the way Oscar looks at'cha in gym. The guy wants to bang you," Albert informed, obviously.

All Race could do was roll his eyes and groan. "Don't even get me started. He's one of the creepiest guys I've ever met in my life, n' who says I gotta go on a double date with you an' Veronica?" He really did despise Oscar. Sure. He was built. But God, he was an asshole.

"Lemme set you up!" Albert whined, sticking out his bottom lip and blinking his puppy dog eyes up at Race. He had no idea how they'd entered this conversation. He really did love Albert, but the guy just wanted to have sex all the time. And Race could never talk him out of it.

"Why? So that I can have this?" he asked, pulling Albert's phone out of his pockets and holding it in front of him, almost daring the other boy to do something about it.

Albert just glared at him, like he was expecting some kind of challenge. "Fine. Take it. I don't need it. I'll be fine."

Race scoffed. His friend would cave in a matter of minutes. But he pocketed the device anyways, shoving it into his unoccupied back pocket.

"But you have to let me set you up!"

"No! I hate it when ya try ta set me up, n' you know that I can't go anyways!" he insisted, reminding himself of something. He gasped as he quickly checked his phone. "Aw crap! I'm supposed ta pick Charlie up from his friend's house on my way home," he rushed out, beginning to make his way back in the direction they'd come and tossing his empty smoothie cup in the garbage as he did so.

Albert groaned. "Fine, but just so ya know, I ain't done yet, so tomorrow, you can buy me that hat we saw," he forced out, turning to follow his friend.

It was twenty minutes later when Race had just left Albert at his father's car so he could take the shortcut through the parking garage to get to the bus stop. And his phone rang. "Ya know, you could just text me like every otha' human being on the planet?" he stated, knowing full well who was on the other end of that call.

A laugh met his ear. And Race couldn't help but smile as he continued walking. "Just wanted ta make sure ya didn't forget about your baby brotha'," Jack informed. He was probably on a break or something. He was patrolling today. With Katherine.

"I'm on my way ta get him right now. I ain't that irresponsible, geez," he teased. He knew Jack loved him. He knew Jack trusted him. It was other people Jack didn't trust. And he had good reason for it.

"Okay... I'll see you later okay? Do your homework, don't keep the neighbors up too long with the piano or the guitar an' make sure you n' Crutchie eat, yeah?"

Race nodded. "Yeah..." he sighed. He knew if he didn't, their neighbor would be over to make sure he ate something. It wouldn't be the first time it happened.

"Good boy. I love you."

"Love you too, Papa-bear," Race teased. And that was the end of the call.

Maybe it was his own fault. He hadn't been paying attention. But when he looked up from his phone, he was met with a very real, terrifying situation. He was about to get hit with a car. And there was no more time to move.

The scream of the car was enough to let Race know that he wasn't going to die as he stumbled backwards. At least, not at that particular moment. It had been moving fast and carelessly and the tires cried out as the thing came to an abrupt halt.

The boy's heart was racing as he tried to remember how to breathe. His hands began shaking as his anxiety caught up to him. His phone was on the ground now, as it had fallen from his hands the second he'd heard the screech of those tires. But he couldn't freak out. Not in public, at least. "Jesus, man!" he cried out, when the guy got out of the car, looking a bit shocked at himself. "Don't you watch where you're going?" His voice cracked ever so slightly. He inwardly growled at himself. He didn't have his meds and Jack was at work till late tonight. He had to calm down.

The stranger put a hand on his chest, looking a bit panicked himself. "I am so sorry! I didn't see you there!" he tried to apologize, getting closer to Race, though the boy immediately backed up. He wasn't too keen on strangers. Jack has made sure to keep it that way with all the stories he'd told him.

"Yeah, whatever..." Race muttered, mostly to himself. He'd probably never see this guy again in his life. It was best to just leave it alone and move on. So he reached down for his phone that was still lying on the ground at his feet. "Fantastic..." he muttered bitterly when he saw the cracked screen, shattered actually. Jack was going to kill him. "Dammit-"

He tried to stand back up. Just to walk away. It would be better that way. But before he could do anything, an arm wrapped tightly around his waist. His phone fell from his hands yet again as panic spiked in him. Just as he got it in his mind to scream, a kind of sweet smelling cloth was clamped down over his mouth. A mall parking garage full of cars and not a single person to take notice to what was happening.

The child's hands flew up to his mouth as he desperately tried to pull it away. He tried to remember everything Jack had ever told him, everything he'd ever been taught when a situation like this took place. He couldn't. Nothing was coming. Everything was starting to get blurry. His knees were beginning to buckle. But he had to stay awake. He had to. "Shhhhhh..." the stranger hushed, right beside his ear. The boy shivered. But there was nothing he could do.

He let the terror take him over as the entire world turned to black.

I told you bad things were going to happen.

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, lovelies!