A/N I do not own John McBain or any of the other OLTL characters. All others are my own creation. Please don't sue cause I am broke and have nothing to be sued for anyway.

Chapter 11

Coming in the room with groceries John heard it right away. Looking around the room he didn't even see Shelly but he knew she was here he could here her music all the way out here and she was using headphones! Going into the bathroom without knocking, he knew she wouldn't hear him anyway, he saw that she was standing in front of the mirror looking at her wound. Still red and raw looking it looked bad but it had been healing nicely. It would likely leave a hell of a scar though.

Reaching out he turned the music down on the player and Shelly spun around quickly. He saw the look of fear on her face and immediately felt bad. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Shelly was embarrassed that he had been able to sneak up on her. Here she was wanting to be an FBI agent and he had not only gotten into the room with out her noticing he had made it to the bathroom and right next to her! She sighed knowing that it was her fault; if she hadn't had the music up so loud it wouldn't have happened. It had been a week but she still hadn't gotten used to having John around, she still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he was her brother. She knew he was trying and that it would take time but a part of her still didn't trust him fully. After Herbie's betrayal she didn't know if she would ever trust anyone ever again. She had loved him and trusted him and he had lied to her. He hadn't been the person she had thought he was and that seriously undermined her confidence in her own judgment.

If she had been so wrong about Herbie what else had she been wrong about? Even her parents hadn't been who they said they were, no one was ever what they seemed at first. Brushing away a tear that had leaked out she smiled at John self-consciously and took off her earphones. "Its ok, I shouldn't have had them up so loud. I couldn't help it, I love that song." She told him grinning a bit.

John wondered what song had been so good she needed to listen to it at full volume. "Mind if I listen?" he asked.

Shelly shook her head and handed him her headphones. "Its song four." She told him knowing he was gonna hate the song.

John put the headphones on and turned the CD to song four. It was a fast song and he had trouble making out the words. The words to the second verse were very clear though and he began to blush. "You're beside me on the seat, got your hand between my knees and you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze." Was as far as he got before he whipped off the headphones and stammered, "You like that song? Do you know what its about? Its filthy!"

Holding back her laughter and looking at him seriously she asked, "What's wrong with the song? It's about a guy taking his girlfriend on a date. What's filthy about that?"

"It's...It's...It's about sex!" John stammered blushing furiously.

Shelly couldn't hold it back any longer and burst out laughing. "It just a song, John." She said still laughing. "It's called 'Animals' By Nickleback. Besides its not like I don't know about sex."

"You're not... you haven't umm what I mean is..." John asked cautiously. He didn't want to think his 16 year old sister was having sex but he knew that kids were becoming active younger and younger these days.

Shelly rolled her eyes at John and wondered how the hell they ended up on this subject. "My sex life is none of your business John. Am I asking you if you are sleeping with anyone? No cause it's not my business." Shelly said finally.

"Does that mean you have one?"

"No John I am not having sex, now or ever." Shelly said. Horribly embarrassed she headed into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. Looking at her fingernails she decided that they needed some polish. Taking out a bottle of polish, the only one she had with her, she started to paint them. Ignoring John she put her headphones back on and continued to paint her nails.

After about an hour of silence Shelly decided that she was over reacting and turned off the cd player and looked at John, who was reading a book. "I'm sorry. I over reacted. I am just so sick of this stupid room and my stomach hurts. But that's no reason to take it out on you."

John looked up from his book and smiled quickly at her. "It's ok, I know its hard being stuck in here but hopefully it won't be for much longer." He took a deep breath, knowing that this could be the time to get her to open up a little and said, "You know, if you told me what happened that night maybe we would be able to catch the guys that put the hit out on you much faster."

Shelly thought about it for a minute trying to decide if she should tell him. She still loved Herbie but he had murdered a man and he had to be punished for that. Deciding to tell John what happened she sighed and started her story, "After I found out I was adopted I went to the underpass near the river and tried to calm down..."

John listened quietly as she told her story and wrapped his arms around her protectively when she was finished. Hugging her felt good, he finally felt like he was really her brother and she his sister and he liked that. He was sorry she had to go through so much but he was glad she finally told him; glad she finally let it out. He knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you thought you could trust and he knew what that did to your belief in yourself. At least now he understood why she hadn't told him before.

Shelly pulled back from the hug after a while and looked down, not wanting him to see her tears. She felt like a baby for crying. "Thanks," she muttered and went to the kitchenette. In reality it was only a small refrigerator and tiny sink but it was all they had. Taking out some cold cuts she made herself a sandwich. "Want one?"

John nodded knowing she needed a minute to compose herself. After they had eaten the fell into a comfortable silence.

Later that night John got a call from his boss. He needed to go meet him somewhere to talk about some sensitive problems. At first he didn't want to leave but Shelly convinced him that she would be fine for a little while. Promising to be gone no more then a half an hour he left.

Shelly began to clean up a mess when someone knocked on the door. Thinking John had forgotten his key she hurried over to open the door. "Forget your key?" she asked playfully as she opened the door. She gasped in shock at who she saw when she looked up. "You!" She hissed and tried to slam the door in his face.

Herbie grabbed the door and forced his foot in the door. Forcing the door open, he displayed a gun and said, "Put your shoes on we're going for a walk."

Shelly bent over and slid her shoes on, wincing as the movement sent a shaft of pain through her stomach. Keeping her eyes firmly on the gun in Herbie's hand she took her coat and waited for further instructions. "My friend will be back any minute," she told him.

"You're lying," Herbie said, " I was listening through the door. We've got plenty of time before Mr. FBI gets back Now out the door." Herbie told her and stuck the gun in her back propelling her along a dirt path behind the motel.

"What are you going to do to me?" Shelly asked him when they came to a bench in the woods and he told her to stop.

"Nothing. I came here to talk to you, that's all." Herbie said, still aiming the gun at her.

"If all you wanted was to talk why the gun? And why are you still pointing it at me?" Shelly asked, not believing for a second that's why they were there. She believed that he was going to kill her any minute.

"If I put the gun away will you stay and listen to what I have to say?" Herbie asked suspiciously. He didn't think so. He thought she would either try to attack him or run away.

"Yes Herbie, if you put the gun away I'll listen to what you have to say." Shelly said, confused. If he wanted her dead why was he so concerned with talking to her? Why was he, even now, waiting to shoot her? It didn't make sense, if he wanted her dead why not just shoot her the minute they got away from the motel?

"First my name isn't really Herbie and second do you promise not to attack me or try to run away the minute I lower the gun?" He asked.