Oh man oh man. This might be slightly mary suish but 't care. I for one like a good mary sue once and a while. Disclaimer: I don't own a thing (insert witty comment about wanting to own Jack, rawr)

If you hate cliches and all that jazz then go away.

This is chapter is just setting the story up. On with the show!

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From the moment Jack laid eyes on her he knew his life would never be the same. They were only eleven at the time of their first meeting; barely months after Jack had first come to live with his new guardian, Evelyn. She had stood there with her doe eyes and messy hair, her chin jutting out in a look of defiance. She hadn't really wanted to meet him she later admitted to him with out a tinge of regret. She hadn't exactly been a people person, slow to trust and agitated easily. She held out her part of the bargain with her mother in the end and extended a hand in friendship to Jack, although her mother must have prodded her ribs about a dozen times before she got her desired results.

"My name is Sorcha, nice to meet you" she finally got out between gritted teeth.

"That's a funny name." Jack spat this out before he realized how terribly rude it must have sounded. He had never been one to think before he spoke which sometimes landed him in a mess of trouble. Before another word was spoken, Sorcha took a step forward and kicked Jack square in the shin. With a huff she spun on her heels and stalked off with her mother in furious pursuit, leaving Jack to thrash on the ground in pain. If it hadn't hurt so much he might have taken a moment to admire her audacity.

Both Evelyn and Ruth, Sorchas mother, had set up the meeting in hopes of ending the isolation of both their children. Jack was new to the family and being the youngest brother meant he was left out by the other boys on more then one occasion, despite Evelyn's pleas to the older boys to include him. Jack was quiet, shy and in need of a friend. Sorcha had been the obvious choice because of her age and proximity, living only two houses away. She was usually quiet but quick to speak her mind. She could never keep her temper.

Their second meeting went a little better than shin incident as it was later dubbed. It was a freezing November day when Jack decided to finally end his isolation and decided to head to the park, a mere two minute walk away. Bobby, Angel and Jerry were playing hockey with the older kids in the neighborhood and although Jerry quickly invited Jack to join them before they sped out the door, Jack declined figuring he would only get in their way.

She had been sitting on one of the few swings that hadn't been broken, swinging back and forth, her legs not yet long enough to fully be planted on the ground. Jack could tell you every detail of how she looked that day. Her unruly hair had been braided in to pigtails, tendrils of red springing free to frame her face. She had freckles splayed across the bridge of her nose and chapped lips which made him want to offer his chap stick to her in attempt to start a conversation. Instead he sat down beside her and waited for her to make the first move. It took fifteen minutes before she even said a word. Jack fully expected her to apologize for kicking him the previous day but once again she shocked him.

"Who said you could sit there?" She questioned in a condescending tone. Jack would have cuffed her had she not been a girl.

"I don't see your name on it" He sneered back. He was glad she hadn't apologized; he wouldn't respect her if she had. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Jack couldn't take it anymore and once again he spoke with out thinking.

"Why do you talk so funny?" She didn't really talk funny, just different. She wasn't from Detroit that was for sure.

"I'm from the south, stupid. Why do you look so funny?" She countered back.

From that moment on Jack knew they would get along just fine.

Sorcha couldn't help but feel like someone was following her. At fourteen she at least had the sense to know that many of the guys in Detroit did not like to take no for an answer, but not enough sense not to run to the corner store by herself after dark. She quickly picked up her pace ashersightcaught hold of a figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey Sorcha! Wait up!" Jack yelled from behind her. Sorcha visibly jumped at his words but turned around and launched herself into his arms.

"I'm so glad it was only you." She whispered into his hair. Her accent had faded but you could still hear a tinge of it when she was scared or upset.

"Of course it's only me, who else would I be?" Jack pulled out of the hug but kept one arm around her. "C'mon, I'll walk you home." They walked in silence for a few minutes until they came to the front of Sorchas house. Sorcha hugged him once more as a thank you and turned to walk inside but not before Jack caught sight of a bruise of her left cheekbone. He grabbed her hand and whirled her around. "What happened here?" He questioned, looking into her eyes.

"It's nothing. I, uh, accidentally caught the stove on fire this morning and my dad wasn't too happy about it. Now I have to pay for a new one." She huffed. "My Mum shouldn't have asked for eggs this morning, she knows I'm accident prone." 'Everyone knows you're accident prone' Jack thought but kept this information to himself.

"He shouldn't have done that to you" He said seriously, "You shouldn't let him do that to you."

"Oh, Jack. You don't know anything." Sorcha whispered, looking at the ground. "I can't not let him, that isn't how it works."

"We could go somewhere. We could leave, I'll take you with me. We can hop on a bus and go where ever it takes us," Jack pleaded, "C'mon Sorcha, it'll be an adventure."

"I can't, you know I can't." Sorcha wanted to so badly but she could never leave behind her mother.

"One day I will kill him." Jack said with a furious look in his eyes. Sorcha leaned in and hugged her best friend one last time before heading inside.

"I know you will."