Disclaimer: The characters of Walker do not belong to me.

A/N: Possible trigger warning-this story deals with an abusive boyfriend. There aren't explicit details about what he does to Cordell and Liam's sister, but it is stated in the story, by his own confession, that he deliberately crashes a car when Sophie answers a phone call from Liam instead of paying attention to him.

This story was requested as a birthday present from a friend of mine. Enjoy!

Updated A/N: I'm so sorry to anyone who read this when I first posted it. What a mess. Originally, I was going to name the Walker sister Evelyn, but I already have another OC character named Evelyn in my Supernatural stories, so I changed her name to Sophie. I thought I had made all the changes, but I guess not. Anyway, it SHOULD be fixed now. I will triple check later, but again I'm so sorry.

All her life, people had underestimated Sophie Walker.

Born two and a half months early, she understood why people did it. She had been tiny and quite sickly when she was born and had never quite caught up to her peers. Her mother tried, unsuccessfully, to shelter Sophie. If Abeline had her way, Sophie often claimed when the two of them would argue, she'd never be able to leave the house. Sophie usually had to either sneak out or enlist the help of her father, brothers, or both if she wanted to do anything that she believed she should get to do because she was a kid. It had caused her mother to age years ahead of her time, but Abeline secretly admired Sophie for her strength.

Her father was similar to her mother but was much more easily swayed. Bonham had taught her to ride a horse with only the appearance of a few tears. He allowed her to play sports, mainly soccer, because he didn't want her to be completely sheltered from the world. What Sophie didn't realize, though, was that her father worried about her just as much as her mother. He went to all her soccer games with a first aid kit in his truck. He watched everything she did much more closely than he ever had the boys. While he would never admit it out loud, he'd never been able to punish Sophie for anything because he saw her as his precious little princess.

From before she was even born, Sophie's six years older than her brother Liam had taken charge of her. He cried for the first two weeks straight after Sophie's birth when told he couldn't go see his sissy. After a lengthy talk with his father about what he could and couldn't do when visiting his sister, Liam had stood next to what he called her 'weird cradle thingy' and talked to her. He talked so gently that even his parents were mesmerized by him. In the thirty minute visit, Liam promised his sissy that he'd 'always take care of you' and that he'd 'love you no matter what'. Not a dry eye was left in the room when Liam was taken home that day.

Cordell loved his sister, but bonding with her took some time. He was twelve when she was born, almost thirteen, and so was entering the throes of teenagerhood just as she was starting to walk and talk. The day that Cordell's bond with his sister was solidified was one he'd never forget. His father had been out of town on a business trip, and eight-year-old Liam had fallen and broken his leg. Sophie was taking a nap at the time, so despite protesting that he had plans that night, fourteen-year-old Cordell had been forced to babysit. Despite not wanting to do it, Sophie was a relatively easy baby, and by the time his mother and brother had come home, Cordell had decided that maybe she wasn't that bad.

Now, at twenty-three, Sophie wondered if everyone had been right to underestimate her.

She was the only one of her siblings who had decided to stay at the ranch and help run it. As such, when her father passed, she was assumed to be the one that would take everything over. She had an associate degree in business, but her main focus after high school had been learning everything she could about the operation of the family business.

Everything had been going well, until a year earlier when she'd met Bobby.

Bobby seemed like a great guy at first. He treated Sophie just as her father and brother Liam did. She was his princess, and Sophie fell for him hard and fast. But Bobby had a secret.

The first time it happened, Sophie had ignored it. He was angry and didn't mean it. Bobby had apologized, taken her out for a nice dinner and gotten her roses, and they'd put it behind them. Until a month later, when it happened again. And a month after that, when it happened once more. The fourth time it happened, Sophie had broken up with him and actually stayed away for a week. Knowing her brothers and her father would be angry and would likely do something to Bobby if they knew the truth, Sophie had lied about why she broke up with him. Her father and Cordell accepted the story, but Sophie could see that her mother and Liam thought something else was going on. They didn't push, though, and sitting on her bed at the ranch now, she wished that they had.

She and Bobby had gotten back together seven days later, and things had seemed to be okay for two whole weeks. Sophie had started to wonder if she actually had a chance with Bobby, and it was a feeling that made her wonder if she was as stupid as she felt now.

The car ride started off normally. They had gone out to dinner and Bobby was in a good mood. They got back in the car and Sophie got a call from Liam. He said that he was just worried about her and wanted to make sure that she was okay. Sophie assured him she was, talked to him for a few minutes, then hung up the phone. She turned back to Bobby and noticed something that made her stomach clench in fear.

Bobby was upset.

She apologized for answering the phone during a date. She knew it bothered him, but Bobby didn't say anything. He started the car and drove back towards the ranch. Sophie noticed that the further away they got from downtown Austin, the faster Bobby seemed to go. Bobby started to yell at her, accusing her of caring more for her family's feelings than for his, and Sophie begged him to just slow down.

He didn't, and that was how the two of them ended up on the side of the road.

Sophie's injuries were the worse of the two. She had fractured her leg and received a total of fifteen stitches, eight of which were in her cheek. Bobby had fallen unconscious, so Sophie had been the one to have to call 911, and it was in the hospital that a shaking Sophie finally broke down and admitted the truth to Liam.

Liam had said nothing at first, just held Sophie as she cried on her hospital bed. The doctors released her to go home, and Liam insisted on driving her back to the ranch himself. He was thankful that Sophie hadn't begged him not to tell the rest of the family what she'd said, because he was certain that he'd never be able to. He told his family that night, and the plan took shape.

They did nothing that day. All three of the Walker men knew that if they faced Bobby that day, one or all three of them would be facing charges that night. They kept watch by Sophie's bedside that day, making sure she knew that they loved and cared about her and that they'd never let anyone hurt her again.

The next day, they went through with their plan.

Liam called and invited Bobby to the ranch. He told Bobby that Sophie missed him and was asking for him. Bobby seemed surprised but accepted and said that he'd be there in half an hour. Liam, Cordell, and Bonham went over what they were going to do with Abeline, expecting her to protest. They were all three left amazed when she only told them to move out to the bunkhouse because Sophie was resting and needed her sleep.

"If you shoot him in here, I'll never get her to go back to bed."

Bobby arrived at precisely three o'clock on the dot. Abeline sent him to the bunkhouse and went in to Sophie's room. She found Sophie awake, reading through a book and looking somewhat better than she had been the previous day.

"Hey, sweetpea. How you feelin'?"

Sophie smiled up at her mother. "I'm okay."

"Yeah. How's your leg?"

"Getting better."

"Come on. Sit up. I want to look at your cheek."

Sophie, too tired to argue, sat up and tried not to flinch when her mother lightly touched her cheek. It wasn't her mother's touch that hurt, but the anticipation of what she thought was coming. Sophie tried to smile to hide her fear, but Abeline was sharp.

"Oh, sweetie. What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry, Mama. I can't help it."

Abeline frowned. Sophie's cheek seemed to be healing well, and there was a long moment of tense silence that passed between them. Sophie couldn't look at her mother and Abeline pretended not to be staring.

"I know you want to ask." Sophie said. "So just ask."

"Ask what?"

"Why I didn't tell you earlier."

"Well, since you brought it up, yes. I was wondering that." Abeline said. "Why would you go through this all alone? Didn't you think that we would help you?"

Sophie shook her head. "It's stupid."

"You are anything but stupid. And I don't want to hear you talking about yourself like that. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sophie said quietly.

"Please, baby girl." Abeline said gently, her hand reaching up to gently pull the stray hair out of Sophie's face. "Talk to me. Did we do something that made you not want to come to us?"

"No, Mama. It wasn't you."

"Then what?"

Sophie swallowed. "I didn't want you or Daddy, or Liam or Cordi, to look at me like you were as disappointed in me as I was in myself."

"Oh, honey. You know this wasn't your fault, right?"

"I wish I could believe that." Sophie said, her voice breaking. "I really do, Mama."

"Well, I will tell you over and over again as often as you need to hear it." Abeline promised. "Now I want you to get some rest, okay?"

"Mama? Am I too old to fall asleep in your lap?"

Ableline smiled. "Never."

As Sophie was drifting off to sleep, Bobby was walking towards the bunkhouse. Something felt off to him about the whole thing. Liam had always been polite to his face, but Bobby could see it. Sophie's snotty, stuck up older brother couldn't stand him. Bobby didn't feel disappointed in the least that Liam didn't like him. In fact, the feeling was mutual, and Bobby had made up his mind long ago that no matter how close Liam and Sophie were, he would break the two of them up. Cordell, who Bobby had only met twice, seemed alright, but Bobby had no doubt that finding out what he'd done to Cordell's little sister would bring out the worst in the towering, intimidating man. The only member of the Walker family that scared him, truly and completely scared him, was Bonham.

Bobby knocked on the door of the bunkhouse and waited rather impatiently for it to open. Sure enough, Liam answered and Bobby had to swallow the bile that surged in his throat.

"Hey there, bud. Come on in."

Bobby barely had time to think before Liam had grabbed his arm and was all but forcing him inside. He was led to the couch and basically forced to sit down. The door shut behind the two of them, and Bobby was terrifyingly aware that not only was Sophie not there, Liam and Bobby weren't alone.

Cordell stood at the door, standing just above the top of it with his arms crossed over his chest. The glare was unmistakable, and Bobby found himself swallowing back his fear. Liam took a seat on the couch next to him, a fake smile making Bobby want to punch him. At the table sat Bonham, a freshly cleaned pistol in front of him and a rifle sitting between his knees, in the process of being cleaned to a shine Bobby hadn't thought possible. Standing in the corner of the room was a guy that Bobby had never seen before. He had messy blonde hair and a smirk that for some not quite identifiable reason infuriated Bobby.

A lot of things infuriated Bobby.

"Hey. Where's Sophie?"

"She's in the house with her mother." Bonham answered with a forced casualness that made Bobby's nervousness tick up ever so slightly. "And that's where she's gonna stay while we have a little talk."

"Talk about what?" Bobby asked.

"You seem nervous, Bobby. Are you nervous?" Liam asked.

"No. I'm just wondering what this is about."

"It's about all of us talking about what happened in that car accident." Liam said, his casual tone reflective and nearly identical of the one his father had used just moments earlier. "See, it's been a couple days. And my dad, my brother and I…"

"What am I, chopped liver?" The mysterious blonde guy asked from the corner.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. This guy here is Hoyt. You see, Hoyt's been Cordell's best friend since before Sophie could walk. She's almost as much her brother as me and Cordell."

"Okay. I still don't see what's going on here."

"We're getting there. Patience, Bobby. Patience."

Bobby was ready to talk all that 'patience' and knock Liam to the floor with it. Wisely, he chose to simply keep his mouth shut.

"Anyway, like I said, we want to talk about that accident. I want to hear, from you, what happened."

"Hasn't Sophie told you?"

Bonham growled from the table. "That wasn't the damn question, boy."

"We want to hear it from you." Liam repeated. "Come on. Take your time."

"It's not that much of a story." Bobby said. "Sophie and me got in a fight, I got distracted and lost control of the car."

"I see."

Liam looked to his brother, his father, and Hoyt. All four of them seemed to have some kind of secret code that further infuriated Bobby. Liam nodded slightly, and he seemed to think very closely about what to say next.

"I've got a little bit of a problem with that, Bobby. All of us do. Because it doesn't quite match up with what Sophie told us happened." Liam said smoothly, as if he was helping a small child understand something.

Despite his frustration, Bobby knew he was in trouble. It was clear to him now. Sophie had told at least one of them, if not all of them, the truth about their relationship. Whether she'd told them everything, he couldn't tell, but she'd definitely told them enough. Bonham stopped cleaning the rifle and sat back in his chair, keeping both hands on the barrel as if waiting for Bobby to screw up. Hoyt quietly scoffed and shook his head. Cordell didn't move, just took a breath and seemed somehow to stand even taller against the door.

There was no way for Bobby to get out without going through Cordell.

"So why don't you try again?" Liam asked, his forced casualness slowly melting.

Bobby swallowed. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"Okay. That's okay. Take the hard line. But we all know what happened." Liam said. "And we're giving you two choices. Door number one? We have a friend on his way here from Austin PD. You turn yourself in to him and you face the legal consequences."

"What's the other choice?"

"That's the one I'm hoping you'll pick." Cordell spoke for the first time, smirking as his father shook his head slightly.

"The other choice is that we call our friend back and we take care of this." Liam said. "You see, Hoyt here has been arrested for assault before. And he doesn't mind going back to jail. So my dad, brother, and I will dish out, lick for lick, exactly what you gave to Sophie. And Hoyt is willing to take the fall for it. Make your choice, Bobby."

"Whatever that choice might be," Bonham said in his typical drawl, "after you leave this ranch today, you will stay the hell away from my daughter. Am I clear, boy?"

"You can't threaten me!"

"They ain't threatening you, dummy." Hoyt said from the corner. "It's a promise. And how stupid can you possibly be? Picking on a girl with two older brothers and a daddy with a bunch of guns. I ain't the brightest bulb in the box, but even I know better than that."

A knock at the door startled all five men in the bunkhouse, and Cordell opened it up to find the friend Bobby had been told about standing there. "Randall! Hey, dude. How's it going?"

"Hey, man. What's going on? Liam said you guys needed some help…"

"Yeah. Right here, Randall. This here is Bobby. I think you two met the night that Sophie got in the accident…? "

Randall stepped inside and over to the couch. "Yeah. We did."

"I think he might have something to tell you about that."

Randall caught on to what Liam was trying to tell him. "Oh. I see. Okay, there, Bobby. I'm listening."

"I don't have anything to say! It was an accident!"

"Okay then." Cordell said. "Sorry, Randall. Guess we called you out for nothing."

"That's all right, Cordell. I'd rather you call me and don't need me than need me and not call me." Randall said. "Just give me a minute or two to drive away before you do anything. Y'all catch my drift?"

Hoyt, Liam, Bonham, and Cordell all nodded their heads.

"And don't do anything that I might have to come back for." Randall said. He eyed Cordell and Bonham specifically and mouthed don't kill him.

Bobby suddenly panicked. Being left alone at the ranch with the three big, muscular, pissed off Walkers and the almost giddy looking Hoyt was something he wasn't sure he could made it out of. He jumped up and shouted as Randall turned his back.

"Wait! Please don't leave me here."

Randall smirked to Cordell and turned around, wiping the smile on his face and replacing it with a faux look of surprise. "You got something to tell me, Bobby?"

"I crashed the car on purpose."

"Really? Why would you do something like that?"

"I was mad." Bobby admitted. "I was trying to do something nice for Sophie and I felt like she didn't appreciate it."

"I see." Randall said. "You got anything else to tell me?"

"Like what? Isn't that enough?"

"Is that all there is to tell?" Randall asked.

Bobby sighed. "I've hurt her before."

Bonham's grip tightened on the gun, Liam and Cordell both made a jump for Bobby, and Hoyt was making a fist. Randall looked to them and shook his head. "Mr. Walker, boys, Hoyt, I know and don't blame you for what you're about to do. But I only want to take one person in today. You do what you're thinking, and I won't have a choice. Sophie needs you guys more than you hate him. Got it?"

Everyone reluctantly backed down, and Randall, satisfied they wouldn't do anything with him there, took Bobby's arm. "We'll talk about this more down at the station. Bobby Johnson, you're under arrest for reckless endangerment and assault. You have the right to an attorney…"

The Walker men and Hoyt walked outside and watched as Randall walked Bobby to the police car. Just as he finished reading Bobby his rights., Abeline came out and walked over. Randall kept a hand on the cuffed Bobby and smirked before saying,

"Make it count. Don't leave a bruise."

Abeline summoned all her strength and delivered a humiliating slap to Bobby's left cheek. Audible gasps could be heard from the men still standing by the fence just outside of the bunkhouse.

"You think my sons and my husband were scary? You put your hands on my daughter again. You'll find out just what happens when you piss off her Mama. Now get him out of my sight."

"Yes, ma'am." Randall said.

Bobby was shoved into the back of the police car, and a shaking Abeline was joined by her family. As the car was passing out of sight, Cordell patted his mother on the back.

"Good going, Mama."

"Where's Sophie?" Liam asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's asleep." Abeline said. "I'm about to start on dinner. Hoyt, you stayin'?"

"You bet. Can I help?"

"You absolutely can. In more ways than one." Abeline said. "Boys, I know you want to check on your sister. But let her sleep for now. Liam, you can wake her up for dinner in an hour."

"Yes, ma'am."

An hour later, Liam walked into his sister's room and waited a minute before waking her up. She was sleeping hard, holding onto something that Liam couldn't quite see. When he moved her arm to get a better look at it, he smiled. It was a small stuffed bunny, one he'd given her just after she came home from the NICU years earlier.

"Here you go, Sissy. They wouldn't let me give you this in the hospital. But it'll keep you safe when I can't be here. Here you go."

Liam kissed Sophie's cheek before waking her. "We'll keep you safe, Sissy." He whispered. "We'll keep you safe."