Disclaimer: Since all of my evil machinations have yet to prove themselves fruitful I still own nothing…yet.

A/N: The beginning is really slow and kinda boring, but a story's got to begin somewhere right? So bear with me please while I get the background done.

Chapter 1: Lucky After All

Emily Dickinson once wrote "hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all." As I looked at the woman who had taken me in despite my age and record, I though maybe the woman knew what she'd been talking about. I had thought myself beyond believing in fairytales, but found instead that I still very much believed in them. I realized that much like Isolde I had never stopped hoping for something more than the streets and endless strings of foster homes in which I had grown up.

Living with Evelyn Mercer was by the far the best thing that had ever happened to me, but I couldn't help but be weary of this. Nothing in life was this easy. I kept wondering when it would all come to an end.

I met Jeremiah on my first night in the Mercer house and was somewhat surprised. I had expected to meet a street thug, a "gangsta," based on what I had seen of the neighborhood, but instead I got a family man with two wonderful girls and a charming wife. They were kind and I saw them many times after that over the course of the two years that I lived with Evelyn Mercer. But I never saw any of her other children, which seemed strange to me, Evelyn was so fond of all of them.

She would tell me stories about their childhood, the pranks that they had pulled, the hurts they had gotten over, and always how much she loved all of them. She showed me an abundant amount of pictures of each one from the first day they came to her to the day they left, some even after. They called every other week, but I still found it difficult to understand why none of them ever visited. I had started to wonder if maybe they didn't care all that much.

Curiosity got the better of me one night and I finally asked Evelyn about it.

"Oh, I they used to visit a lot, but they all have work that takes them too far from here now. Angel is in the marines and his regiment usually drops the anchor more in the north and only for a short time. My Jackie is a rock star and has to travel a lot. And Bobby is well Bobby, even as a young man he couldn't stay in one place for too long, he'd get restless. I don't blame them, they call and that's all I need. Besides a man can't make anything of himself if he never leaves the bed he slept in all his life"

I dropped the subject after that and laid my head on her shoulder while she knitted new scarves for Jerry's daughters, Amelia and Daniella.

Evelyn Mercer never adopted me, but that was not her doing, it was mine. I wanted to wait until I turned eighteen. It seemed so much more significant to me to wait. This way they would all know that I had chosen her as much as she had me. But the adoption never happened.

I came home from work one night to find Jerry waiting for me in the living room with Evelyn nowhere in sight. I came closer and realized that Jerry was crying. My heart sank and I knew what had happened, but I needed to be sure. "Why are you here Jerry?"

He looked at me where I knelt next to him tears flowing freely and confirmed my fears. "She's dead Brier, some gangsters robbed the corner market and killed her."

I don't know why but I couldn't cry then. I felt numb, I had known it, but having it confirmed made it so much worse. I sank on the floor feeling like a hole had opened beneath me. I think that he continued speaking to me giving me some details and telling me that he would take care of the funeral, but I wasn't listening.

I looked around the house that I had come to think of as my home, but it was no longer home. Evelyn was missing from it. Every thing had seemed so bright and cozy on the first day I came, but now everything seemed just a little darker; the furniture no longer looked as comfortable, the pictures no longer seemed as alive…

&&&&

I couldn't get myself to go to her funeral service, so I went to work instead. I didn't want my last memory of her to be that of her coffin being lowered into the ground. I was staying at Jeremiah's home for a while so that his brothers could have the house and I wouldn't have to be alone with strangers.

They would be at Jeremiah's house after the funeral, but I wasn't sure I was going to get the chance to meet them; my shift didn't end until ten o'clock tonight. Besides I wasn't sure I was ready to meet them. Evelyn had spoken about them so much that they were almost legends to me.

I tried to shake away all thoughts of family and concentrate on getting my work done, but the work required of a waitress was the kind of work that only kept the hands busy and left the mind wandering. The world didn't stop moving just because your life was turned upside down.

&&&&

The house was quiet when I got there. They'd probably left already, which relieved some of the anxiety I felt. I had a hard time imagining the awkwardness of the situation when we would finally meet. Had Evelyn still been alive it might not have been as bad, but now that she was gone there was nothing to link me to those men.

A few days went by pretty quietly and pretty quickly, for me at least. I was still going to school and to work, which took up a lot of my time. Whenever I was "home" though, I could see that something bothered Jeremiah, but couldn't get myself to ask him. If he wanted me to tell me whatever it was that was bothering him, he'd tell me.

I was at "home" on my day off when Jeremiah came in with tears in his eyes. I wondered if he'd been to visit his mother's tomb, but I got the feeling that it was whatever had been bothering him all week long. "Jerry are you okay?" I asked as he collapsed against the front door. "What happened?"

He looked at me, not realizing that he wasn't alone, "They shot my brother."

I look at him incredulously. "What? Who? Why?"

"Mom's death weren't no accident Brier. A guy called Sweet hired some guys to kill her. The same guy hired shooters that came by mom's house this afternoon and they got Jack."

I sat on the floor with him in total shock. How could so much have happened without me noticing anything was wrong. "Is he alive?"

Jeremiah said nothing for a few seconds trying to get his emotions under control. "Barely," he finally managed to choke out.

"Where is he now?"

"D.G.H."

"What do you need me to do?"

He looked up again at this. Although we'd known each other close to two years, we hadn't really bonded the way a brother and sister would. He'd probably expected me to want to leave soon since Evelyn was gone. But I had made up my mind the day Evelyn had offered to adopt me and I was not one to change course halfway. These people even if I didn't know them yet were going to be my family.

"Sweet will probably send more men for the rest of us. I'm going to tell Camille to take the kids out of town. If you wanna help, stay with Jack, make sure nothing happens to him."

"Okay," I said accepting without hesitation the task he had assigned to me. I wanted to ask him more, but I could see that he was reigning in his emotions and getting ready to tackle the task that lay ahead, whatever it was.

He must have seen the look on my face because he added, "It's better you didn't know, that way if they ask you anything you won't be lying when you say you don't know nothin. Go, I'll call you."

I couldn't help but worry, "What if something happens?"

He looked at me seriously, "I'm not planning on lettin' nothing happen, but if anything does go wrong then take Jackie and get outta here."

I nodded, getting up. I put on my coat, got into my car, and drove to Detroit General Hospital.

&&&&

I knew I'd have a hard time convincing the people there that I was related to Jack, I was half Japanese and it showed. So I told them that I was his fiancé, not much better since I didn't have a ring and it was hardly imaginative, but successful nonetheless. They told me he'd just come out of intensive care and lead me to a tiny white room on the third floor of the building. The nurse let me through and closed the door behind me as I started towards the only occupied bed in the room. I pulled back the curtain and was somewhat taken aback that I could recognize him. It wasn't that I was expecting any kind of deformity, but I hadn't expected the old pictures Evelyn had showed me to have captured him so well.

I sat on the side of the bed and took one of his hands in mine, well aware that the nurse was scrutinizing my every action from the door window. "Hey Jack. I know we've haven't met before and that's kind of my fault, but I'm Brier Daidouji. I was almost adopted by Evelyn, which would have made us brother and sister, but that didn't happen either, and that's my fault also…but Jerry asked me to look over you. And that's what I'm going to do, so you just rest now. I'm going to be next to you when you wake up, so please if you can hear me, act like you know who I am," I said softly as I combed back some hair from his face with my free hand. I didn't really expect him to have heard any of that, but it never hurt to try. Seeing that there was a chair next to the bed, I took off my coat and sat down to get some studying done.

&&&&

I must have dosed off at some point because I was woken up by the sound of my book falling from my lap. I stretched a little, trying to relieve the ache in my back from having fallen asleep in a chair, and looked out the window. It was dark out. Taking a look at my watch I realized that it was already five. I began to worry. It had been two days, shouldn't Jerry have called by now?

Worrying would do no good I thought as I turned to look at my charge, only to find him looking at me.

I blinked a couple of times trying to process the fact that he was already awake, which seemed to me impossible since he'd been in intensive care only less than two ago. "Hi," I finally managed to sound out. Wasn't he supposed to be heavily medicated?

He simply continued looking at me, probably wondering who I was and if I'd been sent to finish him off.

I quickly pulled the curtain to keep prying eyes away and tried again. "Hey there, how are you feeling?" I asked and realized as the words came out of my mouth how stupid the question was. He'd just been shot; he couldn't be feeling that great.

He gave me a pained sardonic smile that mirrored my thoughts. I didn't know what to do – I hadn't heard anything from Jeremiah and Jack was awake. I was about to explain to him who I was when the door opened startling both of us. I let out the breath I had been holding when Jerry walked through the door. "Don't do that, next time knock or something."

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he whispered as he came closer.

"You don't have to whisper he's awake," I said before adding, "What happened to your face?"

"Nothin. Don't worry about it," he waved off my worries, "Hey Jackie, how you holding up?"

"I got shot up, man. What do you think?"

It was the first time I heard his voice and I had to admit it was pretty nice. No wonder Evelyn was always so proud of his music. I looked at my watch again, five thirty; I could still make it to work. "Hey, since you're here I'm gonna go to work," I interrupted their conversation.

"Okay, thanks for staying," Jerry said giving me a hug, "You can stay at my house while mom's house is getting fixed up."

"I think I will. Bye," I said waving a little. "It was nice meeting you Jack."

A/N: So, not too bad right? Anyway, just letting you know I'm planning a Jack Mercer romance, which is why I didn't have her get adopted.

Press the Lavender button and REVIEW!