I do not own Once Upon a Time.

There was another question on Killian's mind. "What happened to the shooter?" Honestly he shouldn't even care about the bastard who killed his brother, but if Tara was there, he was curious on how she reacted.

Tara quickly pulled herself together and met his eyes. "I took care of him." She answered with no emotion in her voice, and her eyes were as hard as stone.

Killian had waited long enough, now he needed to express his own emotions. But not in front of her, he did not want his older sister to see him cry. She was the only thing holding him together.

Killian quietly excused himself from the room finally. He stood in the silent hallway; he didn't know what to feel first.

Sadness… anger… depression… all of the above?

But Killian wasn't able to think clearly, the rum began to affect him and he slammed his first into the wall.

The pain shot up his arm and he slid to the floor. Now tears freely ran down his face. No one was watching him, judging him for showing weakness.

Liam was his rock; he was everyone's rock actually. Brilliant, reliable, responsible. Sure, the three of them had their rebellious years. Oh, those were the years. Causing trouble, bringing shame to the family name. The board covered up everything, paying people off, whatever it took. Charges of assault, public drunkenness and general disturbing of the peace just disappeared.

Liam had been the first one to give up the reckless life. He saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He got his life in order and Heaven sent him Roxanne.

Killian had never seen Liam so happy. He smiled, really smiled and laughed. Liam and Roxanne's relationship seemed to go forever and Liam finally popped the question a few years later. And when Killian left, they were still only engaged.

Killian was supposed to be Liam's best man at the wedding. He had already begun to write his speech. Part of him wondered if Liam was waiting for him to come home. But Killian had that stubborn Jones pride that stopped him from crawling back begging for forgiveness.

Now Killian had finally run out of tears. He picked himself off the floor and reentered his dressing room.

Apparently Tara had cried herself to sleep. He wondered if she had slept during the past few days. He grabbed his long leather coat and draped it over her like a blanket. She looked so broken and small, so different than the image he had of her during their childhood.

Tara was a black belt but quite a girly girl at times. She was brilliant, and capable and sometimes scary. She always had a smart retort, sometimes harsher than needed, that's what mostly got her in trouble. Tara never sugar coated anything; she told everything as it was.

And she was fiercely loyal and protective. Their family had a system, Michael protected his children, Liam protected Tara, Tara protected Killian and Killian protected no one but himself, ever.

Tara had a passionate side too. Killian saw that when she met Neal. There was an instant connection between them. And things were even better when he blended perfectly with their family. Neal didn't have a family, so he was overjoyed that he was welcomed with open arms. Two years after their wedding, Tara and Neal welcomed a beautiful daughter named Sophia.

Killian had babysat enough to know that was what he wanted. That baby had him wrapped around her little finger before she could crawl. Much like her mother did when they were children.

When Tara had said she took care of the shooter, Killian knew she would not let that man leave the room unless it was in a body bag. No one messed with the family, no one.

There would be no more talking tonight. Tomorrow was another day. They still had things to discuss; he knew she had a million things to say. Would she ask him to return to the Jewel of the World, to run the company? Did he even want to do that?

Killian settled in his chair and wished sleep would come quickly.

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