AN: Second to last chapter, guys! Oh man, this is getting kind of sad. I really loved writing this story...oh well, on to the one-shots. I've already started writing my first one, called Fighting Fire With Fire, so be on the lookout for it! I might, and I repeat, might, have it posted by the end of this week. We'll see. Anyway, as usual, thanks for all your reviews. Wonderful, wonderful, loves and kisses to you all. I'm very amused to see that almost everyone was looking forward to John getting his ass kicked...I was equally looking forward to writing it! Alright, enough babble, here's chapter thirteen! Enjoy!

When Jack next opened his eyes, he was lying on Bobby's couch, a blanket wrapped around his legs and something cool and damp resting on his back. The only light came from the muted TV, where an infomercial for some classic rock compilation CD was being shown. It must be late, Jack thought, reaching up to touch the side of his head and the area below his eye. He pressed at his cheek gently, feeling a slight twinge of pain resulting from the pressure he inflicted, and sighed. That's gonna be a nice bruise in the morning.

Jack shifted slightly, turning to lie on his side instead of his stomach, and felt the cool, damp thing slide off of his back and into the couch cushions. "Shit," he whispered, dropping back over to his stomach and reaching down into the cushions to retrieve whatever had fallen. A soft chuckle from the other side of the room caught his attention, and he looked up, startled.

"That was there for a reason, ya know," Bobby said, the blueish light from the TV illuminating his face as he sat in the recliner. Jack didn't say anything, just continued to fish for the thing that was stuck behind him. "Don't worry about it. It's just a washcloth, I can get'cha another one."

"What's it for?" Jack croaked, surprised at how dry and hoarse his voice sounded. Bobby stood, walking over to the couch and flipping on the lamp that rested on the side table. Jack blinked, squinting, looking around blearily. "And what time is it?"

"It's a little past midnight," Bobby said, kneeling down next to the couch, "and the rag's for your back." He paused, looking up at Jack with concerned eyes. "You told me you weren't hurt."

"I didn't think I was," Jack responded, noticing for the first time since he'd woken up that he was shirtless. Shivering, he reached over and touched his back cautiously, wincing when his fingers came across a rather nasty feeling set of cuts. "I mean...I forgot I was. It didn't hurt for a while."

"Adrenaline, probably," Bobby reasoned, reaching over Jack and sticking his hand between the couch cushions, pulling out the washcloth. "It's barely even wet anymore. I'll go put some more water on it."

"No, it's fine," Jack insisted before Bobby could stand up. "Just...a little sore." He put his head back down on the pillow, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Last thing I knew I was in the car. How'd I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Bobby asked, and Jack reopened his eyes, shaking his head. "Me and Angel had to practically drag you out of the car while Jerry tried to explain the whole thing to Ma. She was half nuts when she saw you. You were really out of it, kid."

"I was?" Jack propped himself up, brow furrowed. I thought I was just tired. "Am I sick?"

"Nah," Bobby said nonchalantly, trying to make Jack feel more at ease. "You threw up, though. You remember that?"

"Yeah," Jack breathed. "But...how out of it was I?"

"You were just tired, Jackie," Bobby reassured. "You had quite the fuckin' day. It just wore you out, that's all." He watched Jack as he closed his eyes, sighing. "You okay, Cracker Jack?" When Jack nodded absently, his eyes wandered over Jack's form. "What happened to your back?"

Jack stiffened, eyes reopening, and he rolled over on his side again, putting his back out of Bobby's view. "John," he whispered. "He...he was angry when we got to the house. Angry at me 'cause...because I ran away." He paused, swallowing, staring at the floor. "He was pretty mad."

"I can fuckin' see that," Bobby said, remaining calm although his words were angry. He looked at Jack quizzically for a moment, dropping off of his knees to sit on the ground and leaning back on his hands. "He didn't...do anything to you, did he?"

"Huh?" Jack was momentarily confused. "I don't..." Then, suddenly, he realized what Bobby meant. He shook his head, face and neck reddening. "Oh. No. He...he tried, though."

"What'd you do?"

Jack smirked. "I kicked him in the balls."

Bobby couldn't contain his grin, reaching out and ruffling Jack's hair. "Atta boy," he said, smiling at Jack. When Jack didn't return his smile, though, he frowned as well. "Somethin' else happen?"

"Hmm?"

"He say somethin' to you?"

"What?" Jack asked, still not looking up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what did he say to you?" Bobby questioned, voice firm. When Jack didn't answer right away, he leaned forward, resting his arms against the couch. "Come on, Jackie..."

"He said a bunch of shit, alright?" Jack snapped, rolling over so that his back was facing Bobby. "A bunch of shit I've heard a million times. I'm worthless, I'm selfish, I'm screwed up, I'm stupid, and no one cares." He pulled his arms in, wrapping them around his stomach.

"You know not a goddamn word of that is true," Bobby maintained adamantly, shifting back onto his knees. "You know that, right?"

"I know..." Jack began, but stopped, rolling back over to face Bobby, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Jack, you should be lying down," Bobby instructed immediately, but Jack shook his head, ignoring his comments.

"What if it is true?" he asked honestly, eyes narrowing. "What if I am..."

"Are you kidding me?" Bobby interrupted, stunned. "Are you actually gonna listen to what that piece of shit said?"

"Well, I mean..." Jack raised a questioning hand in the air, before letting it drop heavily to his lap again. "He kept tellin' me that...that I was, and...and the Robinsons, they didn't want me either, so..." His head dropped, hands fiddling with the blanket. "I don't know."

"Jack," Bobby said, leaning forward so that he could look into Jack's eyes. "Lemme tell you somethin', okay? And you gotta believe that every word of this is true. Alright?" Jack nodded weakly, and Bobby rested a hand on his knee. "You're not screwed up. If you're screwed up, then I'm screwed up, down, sideways, and about a hundred other different ways that you don't even wanna know about."

"But I'm..."

"Let me finish," Bobby demanded. "If you were worthless, you think I would have risked my fuckin' life for you?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. I don't know a single stupid kid that goes to the library on his off time, and I don't know a single selfish person that would fuckin' volunteer to go back and get killed...for me." When Jack looked up, eyes wide, Bobby nodded. "Angel told me about that. What the hell were you thinking, Jack?"

"It was my fault," Jack mumbled, shaking his head. "This shouldn't have happened, if I hadn't..."

"No, if I hadn't," Bobby said, raising his hand to stop Jack. "I talked to you in the bar, I brought you to my house, I put you on the map with Sweet in the first place. If anyone should be handin' out a goddamn apology, it should be me."

"Don't," Jack insisted firmly. "You've been the only person that's...that's..."

"Cared about you?" Bobby asked, smiling. "I think that takes care of everything John said. Unless I'm missing somethin'?"

"No," Jack whispered. His eyes were beginning to water, and he knew he had to change the subject before he actually started crying. "What happened with Sweet, Bobby? Is he...is he dead?"

Bobby nodded, eyes suddenly hard. "Yeah, he's dead."

"How'd you do it?"

"Jerry," Bobby said. "Thank fuck for Jerry. He waited while Sweet fuckin'...wallowed in what he thought was his own goddamn victory. Tellin' me how I shoulda known better than to get involved, that it was too late to negotiate now." He paused, smirking. "He was too interested in himself to notice that Jerry was standing behind him with a gun pointed at the back of his head."

Jack's jaw fell open. "How the hell did you pull that one off?"

Bobby smiled, shrugging. "Good timing...and the fact that Jerry's a fuckin' genius...a lucky genius."

"How so?"

"Jerry's been to that house before," Bobby said, a hint of frustration in his tone, obviously not liking the fact that Jerry had been so involved with Sweet in the first place. "His old union buddy Evan works for Sweet now. He called Jerry there to warn him, tellin' him to let Sweet get involved with his business project before he shut the whole thing down...or worse."

"I don't get it," Jack said, confused. "How'd that help?"

"I called Jerry after I found out that Sweet was a part of this. I knew he'd been havin' some problems with his business lately, and he'd let Sweet's name drop once or twice, so I thought he might have some hints as to what I might be in for. When I told him the address, though, he formed a plan of his own. Told me that while he was at the house with Evan, he saw a couple of things he'd found interesting."

"Like what?"

"Like a ladder lying on the side of the house," Bobby said, and at Jack's puzzled look, elaborated. "A ladder someone could use to climb to the second floor, sneak in the bedroom window..."

"And down the stairs to the living room," Jack finished for him, shaking his head and grinning. "How the hell did Jerry notice a ladder, of all things?"

"Because he's Jerry," Bobby chuckled, shrugging. "Because he's always lookin' for the angles. Jerry used to be a damn good thief before he got his act cleaned up, became a family man and all that shit."

Jack nodded. "But how'd Sweet end up dead? John had a gun, too..."

"John came over to pat me down, to make sure I didn't have a weapon. Jerry, with his fuckin' incredible timing, came downstairs just as that was happening, and when John got close enough, I punched him in the stomach. By the time Sweet reached for his own gun, Jerry had one to the back of his head."

Jack leaned forward on his knees, intrigued. "And?"

Bobby laughed in spite of himself, shaking his head at Jack. "You're like a fuckin' five year old, Jackie. Jesus." Jack gave him a wilting look, and Bobby rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. To tell ya the truth, it's kind of a blur from there. Sweet went to shoot at me, Jerry shot him, I went to shoot at John, he ran, I beat the shit out of him. That's about it. Jerry called the cops, tellin' them about Sweet and the whole mess, sayin' that they attacked us and that there was another van of hit men coming. I'm sure they're all dead or behind bars by now."

"Wow," Jack said, shaking his head. He looked towards the wall for a minute thoughtfully, before turning back to Bobby. "So Victor sent you the message through Chad?"

"You knew about the message?"

"Like you said," Jack explained, "Sweet likes to gloat."

"Right," Bobby said, smirking. "It would've saved him a lot of trouble if he'd just given me the message when I showed up on his porch."

"You went to Chad's house?"

Bobby nodded, chuckling. "I did. And if he'd delivered it before I decided to punch him in the face..."

"Bobby!"

"Oh, he deserved it," Bobby reasoned, lifting himself off the ground with a groan and moving to sit on the couch next to Jack. "I'm not through with him yet either. I have a few more...words...I'd like to have with him."

"That makes two of us," Jack mumbled, looking back down at his hands.

"Yeah," Bobby replied, watching Jack carefully. "By the way, I got a question for you."

"Hmm?" Jack asked, facing Bobby. "What's that?"

"Before I got the message from Chad, me and Angel did a little investigating at the library." Jack glanced down again, watching his hands twitch anxiously. "I looked up your information, and I found something interesting about your address." He paused, looking at Jack, waiting from him to say something. When he realized that Jack wasn't going to speak, he continued. "You know what was interesting about your address?"

Jack shrugged. "It's your address, too?"

"Bingo," Bobby said, grinning slightly. At Jack's downcast expression, though, he sobered, nudging Jack's arm with his shoulder. "Wanna tell me what that's about?"

"You'll think it's stupid," Jack murmured, shaking his head.

"You tried that one already, Cracker Jack," Bobby retorted. "Try again."

"Well," Jack started, staring fixedly at the floor, "they needed an address...and I wouldn't put John's. And this..." He mumbled something else under his breath, so softly that Bobby couldn't hear.

"What's that?"

Jack took a deep breath. "This...feels more like home than...than anywhere else. Even though I only stayed here a couple days, this feels...right."

Bobby nodded, smiling. "Ma has a way of makin' this place feel like home."

"It's more than that," Jack said, finally looking up at Bobby. "You know, with...with the feelings."

"Ah, the feelings," Bobby remembered. "Still havin' those?"

"Kind of," Jack said, shrugging. "I had...a different one today."

"Different?"

"Remember the spark? When we shook hands?" Jack asked, and Bobby nodded in reply. "I got the same spark with someone else."

Bobby's eyes narrowed. "With who?"

"With Angel."

"Angel?" Bobby asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Angel." Jack confirmed. "He grabbed my arm to pull me away from the house and...I don't know, something just happened. There was some kind of spark and...you remember when I passed out in the bar?"

"When I threw water on you and you threw a goddamn temper tantrum about it?"

Jack smiled, remembering how unusually angry and confused he'd been that night. It seems so long ago... "Yeah. The reason I passed out was because I had some kind of...vision thing. Like a dream, only I was awake, and it felt real...really real. Too real."

"A vision?" The tone of Bobby's voice indicated that he wasn't buying any of what Jack was saying. "What are you, a fuckin' psychic?"

"No, I just..." Jack stopped, realizing that he was beginning to sound ridiculous again. He shrugged, shaking his head. The next part he murmured quietly, so that Bobby had to lean in to hear him. "It felt like I was gonna die."

"What?"

"I saw myself lying in the snow, and I was bleeding, and it hurt," Jack claimed. "I could feel it, even though it wasn't happening. My shoulder was burning and I was cold and...it fuckin' hurt. I'd gotten shot somehow and I was just lying there and...yelling for you. And you were yelling back...and then I was dying, and you and Angel and Jerry were there, and you were...were tellin' me not to die. But I knew that I was going to, and I couldn't help it, and I couldn't tell you that I was."

Bobby's forehead creased in confusion and concern. "And you saw all this when you shook my hand in the bar?"

"And when Angel touched my arm. And...and when that guy in the hockey mask was pointing that gun at me...I just knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That I was gonna die."

Bobby remained silent for a moment, letting Jack's revelation soak in, before shaking his head adamantly. "No, Jackie. You were never gonna die. We weren't gonna let that happen."

"But it felt..."

"It doesn't matter how it felt," Bobby insisted. "It's not real, Jack. You know it's not real because you're sitting on my couch and you seem pretty damn alive to me. These feelings, this...vision...this dream shit...Jack, it's not real. They're just feelings, just dreams. I know they felt real to you, they felt real to me, too...but the thing is, they're not. Nothing about those feelings can be explained, and nothing about those vision things you had came true. You're not dead, and you're not gonna die."

"Maybe," Jack mumbled. "Maybe it happened in..."

"Don't start with that crap, okay?" Bobby commanded, tone suddenly harsh. "I'm not gonna listen to any more of that parallel universe reality bullshit."

"But..."

"No!" Bobby yelled suddenly, springing to his feet. Jack blinked, surprised, backing further into the couch at Bobby's reaction. "Jack, stop it! I told you to forget about that shit, and I mean it! It's not real!"

"Fine!" Jack yelled back, standing as well. "I thought maybe it'd mean something to you, but obviously I was wrong!"

"If you're gonna keep goin' around making up stories, it's not gonna mean a damn thing to me!" Bobby shot back, then snapped his mouth shut, realizing the callousness of his statement by the look on Jack's face. "Jack, that's not..."

"So you think I made this up?" Jack asked, folding his arms across his chest, voice betraying the hurt that he felt. "You think that all these weird feelings...all this shit that you said you understood...what, was that all a lie?"

"Jack, no..."

"Then what was it?" Jack's voice was raised, tears welling up in his eyes. I just want this day to end... "You told me you knew what I was talking about! I thought I could trust you, Bobby."

"You can..."

"Then why won't you trust me? I thought I was gonna die!"

"So did I!"

Bobby spun to face the wall, away from Jack's shocked eyes, taking a deep, calming breath. "So did I, okay?" He turned back around, forcing himself to lower his voice when he saw the tears in Jack's eyes. "I got one of those goddamn feelings on the way to Sweet's, and I flipped out, because I thought you were already dead. Alright? Is that what you wanna hear?"

Jack shook his head, wiping at his eyes. "I don't...I just...I just wanna go to sleep."

"Me too," Bobby murmured. He watched Jack for a moment, feeling some form of guilt bubble up inside his chest. I shouldn't have yelled at him, he thought. He's had one hell of a day. "You okay?"

"I don't know," Jack whispered, pressing at his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "I just need sleep. I just..." He tried to swallow a sob, releasing it as it threatened to choke him. He turned his gaze towards the floor, feelings Bobby's eyes on him. "Please...just let me go to bed."

"Of course," Bobby said, placing a hand in the middle of Jack's back, leading him to the stairs. "Let's go. Let's just get you to bed, okay?"

"Okay," Jack agreed, letting Bobby push him gently in the direction of the stairs. He felt Bobby rubbing a hand slowly across his shoulders, like he'd done in the car, as another sob built up in his chest. Bobby followed him all the way into the room where Jack had been sleeping the past couple of nights, leaning against the doorframe and watching Jack crawl into bed.

"You sure you're okay?" Bobby asked again. "You know I didn't mean to yell at you."

"I know," Jack said, settling into bed, already feeling his eyelids beginning to droop as the softness of the mattress relaxed him. He rolled over onto his back, squinting at Bobby in the dim moonlight. "Thanks again."

"For what?"

"For savin' my life."

Bobby chuckled weakly, shrugging. "It was nothin', Jack. Night."

"Night," Jack replied, closing his eyes and letting himself drift off into unconsciousness. However, right before he fell asleep, something at the back of his mind pushed it's way to the front, tugging at his awareness and forcing him awake. "Bobby?"

Footsteps made their way back down the hallway, and Bobby appeared at his door again. "Yeah?"

"I know what it was," Jack said sleepily, rolling back over onto his side.

Bobby cocked his head slightly, confused. "Know what what was?"

"The decision." Jack was fighting to stay awake now, and he yawned loudly, blinking rapidly to try and clear his clouded eyes. "The decision that caused the...the..." another yawn, then, "the parallel universe thing."

"Jackie..."

"It was Evelyn," he said, propping himself up on one elbow, drowsy eyes closing. "Remember the kid she was supposed to adopt when you were fifteen?" When Bobby didn't say anything, Jack lowered himself slowly back to the pillow. "It was me."

Bobby still remained silent, coming into the room and sitting on the edge of Jack's bed. "Jack, listen. I thought about that, too, but how would you know? There's gotta be a million other kids that didn't get adopted...it could've been anyone."

"I was six, you were fifteen," Jack mumbled. "My social worker said that I was going to a home, and that it might be permanent, and...then I didn't go. And I never knew why." He forced his eyes open, starting at Bobby with a half-lidded, tired gaze. "You don't believe me."

"It's not that, Jack," Bobby said, watching Jack close his eyes again. "It could've been you, but you were young, you might not remember. It doesn't explain..."

"It happened again," Jack interrupted, not even bothering to open his eyes this time. "Right before I ran away...my social worked called me. Asked me if I was..." He paused, yawning again, his speech beginning to slur. "He asked me if I was doin' okay with John. Said that someone else was lookin' for an older kid. I said no. Didn't want 'em to think I was a fuck up. Was gonna run away, anyway. No more foster homes."

"How could you have known that was Ma?" Bobby asked, although he couldn't help but admit that he was definitely intrigued. "I know for a fact that Ma said she wasn't takin' any more in after Matt, her last foster kid."

"Said it was an older lady. Had two sons...one moved, one was goin' into the military. Goin' to Iraq. 'S lonely in a house, by yourself." He rolled over, facing the wall. "Shoulda been me."

It couldn't be... Bobby thought, but something inside him was saying that what Jack's words were true, that Jack was right, that they were supposed to be...

"Brothers," he whispered, placing a hand on Jack's arm. "But...how? How did we know? The weird feelings..."

"To warn us," Jack mumbled, startling Bobby. Goddamnit, I thought he was asleep. "To warn us 'bout Sweet. 'M not supposed to die, yet, I guess." He rolled back over, giving Bobby a small smile. "The feelings were...so that we'd meet. And you could save me." His eyes narrowed, a look of confusion etched in his face. "But then...if we'd been brothers...if Evelyn adopted me...I think...I would've died."

"Then it's better this way," Bobby said, not willing to admit that he was beginning to get a little choked up. He smirked at Jack, trying to hide his emotions. "I can't be your brother if you're dead."

"Yeah." Jack was fading fast, eyes closing as he drifted to sleep. "Then it's better this way."

"You sure you wanna do this?"

"For the last time, yes, I wanna do this," Bobby said, amused, watching Jack shuffle nervously next to him, looking up at the front door of the house with obvious apprehension. "What are you so worried about?"

Jack shrugged as Bobby rang the doorbell. "I don't know. He's the one who handed me over to John in the first place. Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Bobby asked. "Maybe Sweet's dead and John's either dead or locked up. There's nothin' to be nervous about. I'm here, I've got a gun, so if anyone tries anything, they're gonna get fucked up."

"I know," Jack said, looking over at Bobby with wary eyes. "What do you want to do here, anyway?"

"I just wanna talk," Bobby said offhandedly.

"Bobby..."

"You just go get your guitar, and I'll have a few words with him," Bobby instructed as the doorknob turned. Jack stiffened while Bobby stuffed his hands casually into his pockets, eyes locked on the opening door.

"Can I help..." Chad began when the door was fully opened, then jumped back at the sight of Bobby on the front porch, unable to hide his surprise and fear. "Jesus Christ! What the fuck do you want?" He turned sideways in the doorframe, looking back at a skinny redhead that was sitting on the couch, hair askew and makeup smudged. "Lexi, get the fuck downstairs!"

"Hey, man, no need to get spooked," Bobby assured him, pushing himself past Chad and into the house, looking around indifferently as the girl dashed down the stairs, closing the door behind her. Jack followed close behind, watching with amusement as Chad eyed them nervously. "I'm just bringin' Jackie by to pick up some of his shit."

"My guitar's in the basement?" Jack asked, and at Chad's shaky nod, headed towards the basement door. Opening it, he bounded down the stairs, seeing the girl sitting on the couch, biting at a fingernail and watching him with interest. He ignored her, squatting down to flip open his guitar case, inspecting what was inside. "Damn it," he mumbled, noticing that he was missing a few guitar picks. He lifted his guitar off of its stand, placing it gingerly into the case and closing it again. Getting on his hands and knees, he searched under the rest of the band's equipment, lifting the cases and looking for his missing picks. Just as he was about to crawl over to Chad's desk, a voice from the other side of the room broke the silence.

"What'cha lookin' for?" the girl on the couch asked, smacking her gum loudly, and Jack pushed himself up onto his knees, scratching his head.

"Guitar picks," he mumbled, eyes scouring the room for a place he might have put them.

"I think they're over here," she continued, reaching over into an ash tray and pulling out four picks, showing them to Jack in her outstretched palm. "These them?"

"Yeah," Jack breathed, walking over and grabbing the picks out of her hand. He ran them between his fingers before shoving them into his pocket, looking down at the girl with a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," the girl said, stretching her hand out to Jack. "Name's Lexi. Pleased to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you, too," Jack said, taking her hand and shaking it lightly. "I'm Jack."

She smiled at him. "Jack, huh? You a friend of Chad's?"

"Not really," Jack said, shaking his head and frowning. "I mean...I used to be." He picked up his guitar case, slinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the stairs. "I gotta go."

"So soon?" Lexi asked with a pout. "I'll see ya around, then?"

"Not likely. I don't think I'll be comin' around here too often anymore."

Lexi stood up, coming over to Jack with the same sultry pout, placing a hand on his arm. "Pity," she murmured seductively, with a tone of voice that Jack speculated could only come from practice. "I could really make it worth your while."

Jack looked down at the hand on his arm, noticing the chipped red nail polish on nails that had been bitten so short they barely rose above the skin. He glanced up at Lexi's face, wondering how she'd look without all the smudged lipstick and heavy eye makeup. He shook his head, realizing the absurdity of the situation. Here he was, less than twenty-four hours after getting kidnapped, threatened, and rescued, and suddenly he was standing in Chad's basement, getting hit on by a girl that he knew he'd never be interested in, and that would never really be interested in him. It's almost like everything's back to normal.

But as Jack looked at Lexi, seeing the pain in her eyes that she tried to hide, he realized that absolutely nothing was normal, even though the situation seemed like a perfectly ordinary occurrence. Here we are, two teenagers, living in the middle of Detroit...but I'm living on the streets after being beaten, molested, kidnapped...she's seducing me with too much false confidence, with too much makeup on her face, with clothes too tight, with a secret she's hiding...we should be going to school, living with a mother and a father and a sister or a brother or maybe both...instead, we're just trying to survive.

"That's okay," Jack said, pushing Lexi's hand off of his shoulder gently. "I've got bigger things to worry about."

Lexi smiled at him, nodding, her eyes understanding. "Me too, honey," she patted his arm gently, going to sit on the couch again. "Me too."

Jack turned back around, walking up the stairs into Chad's living room. Before he got there, however, he heard voices...first Chad's strained whisper, frightened and angry, then Bobby's distinct growl, threatening and commanding. He smirked, not really concerned for Chad's well-being but determined to get Bobby out of the house before he did something they'd all regret. At the top of the stairs, Jack saw Chad pushed up against the wall, Bobby holding him there with a hand on his neck.

"And if you ever come near Jack again, I swear to God I will kill you this time," Bobby snarled. "If you don't believe me, I dare you to fuckin' try somethin', I dare you..."

Jack coughed, gaining Bobby and Chad's attention, and Bobby released Chad, pointing at him warningly. "You remember what I said, asshole," he finished, backing towards the door. "If you don't..."

"Bobby, go wait in the car," Jack said, not really able to keep himself from smiling although he tried to keep his voice stern. "I gotta talk to Chad for a second."

Bobby nodded, reaching out and turning the doorknob. He paused, glaring at Chad from across the room. "I'm right outside the door," he said, more to Chad than to Jack. "If anything fuckin' happens, I'll..."

"Yeah, I know, I know, you'll kill me," Chad spat, regaining some of his confidence now that Jack was in the room and Bobby was leaving. "And I think I remember saying last time you were here that if you didn't get out of my fuckin' house, I'd call the cops on you."

"You better watch yourself. I'm not fuckin' kidding..."

"Bobby..." Jack gave Bobby firm look. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Fine," Bobby agreed, opening the door and stepping out onto the porch. "If any shit happens, though, I'm fuckin' warning you..." He didn't finish his sentence, but instead walked outside, closing the door behind him. Jack chuckled, shaking his head and turning back to Chad, who was staring at Jack angrily, arms folded across his chest.

"I don't see what the fuck is so funny about this," Chad scowled, rubbing his neck, and Jack became serious very quickly. "Why the hell would you bring him here, Jackie? He threatened me."

"He was just worried," Jack reasoned. "Bobby gets a little...protective. He didn't mean any harm...I don't think. He just wanted to know where I was."

"Yeah? Well...he's a fuckin' psycho, I'm tellin' ya," Chad said, staring at Jack disapprovingly. "I mean...he flipped out about you going home with John. I tried to tell him it was just a little fight, but he's a goddamn hothead. He wouldn't listen to a fuckin' word I said. I don't like being threatened, Jack."

"Neither do I," Jack practically whispered, but couldn't find the energy to be angry at Chad. It's not worth it, he suddenly realized. Being angry, being upset...caring about anything he says. It's just not worth the effort. "He's not a psycho. There was a reason he flipped out."

"Why? I'd really like to know, because I think he's more than a little crazy, and I don't think you..."

"Stop trying to protect me, Chad," Jack said exasperatedly. "You gave up that right when you called John."

"Okay, I wanna know right now," Chad demanded, "what the hell did John ever do to you?"

"He beat me...and raped me."

Chad just stared at him, eyes wide, any words he had caught in his throat and unable to be voiced aloud. Jack shrugged, shifting his guitar, which was slipping down his arm, further up onto his shoulder. "That's why Bobby was angry," Jack continued. "So...he's not really crazy. He's just protective. He didn't want that to happen again."

"Jackie," Chad breathed, his voice coming out in a heavy woosh of air. "I didn't...I didn't know."

"I know you didn't. I didn't tell you."

"But I should have know something was wrong...my God, I'm so sorry, I..."

Jack shook his head, raising a hand to stop Chad. "Please...don't apologize. I just wanna forget about it. I'm just...starting over."

"Right," Chad nodded, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "So you're not...you're really quitting the band?"

"Yeah."

"And you're staying with Bobby?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

Chad continued to nod, crossing his arms again. "You know...the other night...I didn't mean what I said. You could stay here..."

"Thanks, Chad, but I can't," Jack refused, heading towards the door slowly. "You can't help me with this. And I need to...kind of figure some shit out."

"I could help."

Jack shook his head, pausing at the door. "Me and Bobby got it under control."

"Fine." Chad was staring at the ground, looking more hurt and distressed than Jack had ever seen. When he looked up, Jack could sense the guilt he was feeling, even though he tried to hide his emotions by pretending he didn't really care. "Go ahead, then. Don't think I'm gonna give you a place to stay anymore, though. Even if you come back here begging."

"Don't worry," Jack said, pulling open the front door. "I won't." He stepped outside, catching one last glimpse of Chad's shocked face, before closing the door. He took a deep breath, composing himself fully, before turning around to see Bobby sitting in the car, watching him suspiciously. He jogged to the car, slipping into the passenger's seat and sliding his guitar into the back. Closing the door, he stared through the windshield at Chad's house with an unreadable expression on his face.

"How'd it go?" Bobby asked, and Jack just shrugged.

"Told him about John."

"What'd he say? He regret any of it, at all?"

"A little," Jack said. "But...I dunno, he's Chad. He's not sorry about anything for more than a second."

"Want me to go beat him up?" Bobby offered seriously, and Jack laughed, shaking his head.

"Nah, it's okay," he declined. "I'm done with Chad, anyway. I'm not gonna deal with his shit anymore."

"Good," Bobby said, starting the engine and backing out of the driveway. "I didn't like him."

"No way," Jack deadpanned sarcastically, earning a smack on the shoulder from Bobby.

"Enough of this shit," Bobby said as Jack smacked him back. "Ready to go home?"

Home, Jack thought happily, leaning back into his seat. That has a nice ring to it.

"Yeah. Let's go home."

Dicefreak: Thank you very much! Brotherly love and revelations definitely happened in this chapter, and will be coming in the final chapter as well! I'm really glad you liked it, and I hope you're feeling better soon!

NoLongerMalicious: It's always nice to hear from a new person, so thanks for taking the time to review! I'm glad you look forward to this story being updated, that's really flattering! And thank you so much for your compliments, I try to keep things as in character and as grammatically accurate as possible, and I'm glad to see these things paying off! When I first started writing this story, I thought about killing Jack off, but then realized that I could make a much better comparison between this universe and the canon universe if he survived. I was also devastated when he died in the movie...definitely didn't see it coming. Ouch. Anyways, thanks again for reviewing!

Ebz: Only one more chapter to go, now! It's kind of bittersweet...I feel accomplished now that it's almost finished, but at the same time, it's been so much fun writing this story! I hope the last two chapters will be up to you standards, and the parallel universe thing will sort itself out, don't worry. Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing!

Minka: Yay! I apologize for delaying your progress out the door...hopefully you weren't too late! Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter! It seems to be the general consensus that everyone was waiting for Bobby to beat up John...glad I could deliver! I also wanted to use the Jack intro line somewhere in the story, but couldn't find any place to put it. Oh well, it may come up in a one shot somewhere along the line. We'll see. You'll definitely see more of Angel and Jerry in the next chapter, and the weird feeling bit should all come to a close. Thanks again for the review, final update coming soon!

Skydance1110: Nope, Jack's still alive and kickin', thank God. It is definitely good to have everyone safe, now we can resolve some lingering issues, eh? The family is almost complete, we just need Jerry to make the connection now! Glad you liked this chapter, and thanks for the review!

rider: Yes, now only one more chapter. I know, it's kind of sad for me, too :( On a happier note, I get to write one shots now! Thank you so much, I'm glad you're liking the story, and thanks for reviewing!

anime-queen46: lol John needed to get an ass kicking, and who better to deliver it than everyone's favorite Michigan Mauler? Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

jill: Thank you very much! I'll post the next chapter very soon! Thanks for reviewing!

Miroku loves Mel 4 ever: Wow, thank you very much! I figured Jack would be upset about Bobby, because he's already questioned their friendship, so naturally he'd blame himself. Poor guy. Yes, Angel is finally turning around, which is making everyone very happy, it seems. I'm glad you liked the addition of the white boy line. Loved that line, loved it! I'm glad I didn't have to write a Jack death scene, that would have been very hard, and I think you saw in this chapter what happened to Victor. Hope it was to your liking. Thank you very much for your review, next chapter coming soon!

xXJackxXmy3rdXclassXrockXStarX: Well, thank you very much! I really appreciate that! I'm glad you liked this chapter, and I'm glad you could feel all the emotion and see everything happening in your head. That's what I'm aiming for! Wow...thank you so much, that's one of the best compliments I've ever received! I doubt that's it true, but I'm very happy that you appreciate my work and think it's good! And it brought tears to your eyes? Aww, I'm sorry...but that's also a compliment, I think, so thanks again! Thanks again for your wonderful review, and I'll update soon!

pwrhungryjr: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I'm glad someone caught the self defense reference, I thought it was going to go unnoticed! So yay for you! So thanks again for your review!

rekirika: I'm glad this chapter made you happy! Everyone seems to like the fact that John got the crap beat out of him...yay! I truly believe that both Angel and Bobby are really good guys, they just let their emotions get the best of them sometimes. You guys are so lucky with the snow days! It snowed here this weekend, but not enough to do anything. And even if it did snow a whole lot, I don't think they'd close a major university. Pity. I'm kind of sad that this story's ending soon, as well. It was so much fun to write, and so great to hear from all you guys every update. I hope you'll check out my one shots when I get them posted, and I'm glad you like the idea! Thanks against for your review, glad you liked the chapter!

Brittney Rose: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it, and I'm also glad it's starting to make sense to you! Hopefully it will make even more sense by the end! Thanks for your review!

ProTempore: Yes! A convert! I usually stay away from AU's as well, but I couldn't help but write this one. It wouldn't leave me alone! Anyways, I'm really glad that you decided to check my story out, and I'm really glad that you liked it, too! Yeah, Bobby's not the most trustworthy guy in the world, is he? Ah well, someone's gotta hire him! Thanks for your review!

Wolf10: Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it! I have loaded on the suspense, haven't I? Sorry about that, the suspense has drastically lessened, I think, now that the whole Victor/John thing is over. Yes, only two more chapters. It saddens me too. I really hope you check out my one shots, and they're as well received as this story was! Thanks for reviewing, and the last update will be coming soon!

Sparks Diamond: Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked this chapter so much! I'm really glad that I didn't have to write Jack's death, as well. It would have sucked, and I think this way the plotline is a lot more interesting. I'm glad you thought the flashbacks were well written. Emotion and brotherly love and violence are probably my three favorite things in a story, so naturally I had to add them all in the same chapter! Whee! Anyways, thanks for the review, last update soon!

nina: Thank you, I'm glad you like it! So much love...Angel is definitely starting to warm up, as you'll see in the next chapter, so that's wonderful, and Evelyn will definitely make her mark on Jack soon, as well. I think Bobby's going to be okay...after all, he is friends with Green, and it was self defense. Thanks very much again! And I love that line! "This story is my light in the dark!" You guys are just giving me the greatest lines in your reviews! Thank you!

Ophelia Hyde: No more apologizing! And of course I forgive you, babe! I'm glad you thought the dialogue from the movie worked in the context, I was hoping that the transitions weren't too abrupt. I'm also glad that you liked the feel of this chapter...I was kind of afraid to write an action scene, because I was worried that it wouldn't come across as exciting or feel natural enough, so I'm glad at least one person thought it did! Nice Angel is love. I really like him...I really like them all. I really like this movie (it's been a long day). Jack's freak out was something I'd wanted to write from the beginning, because he'd been so down on himself throughout the whole story, so naturally he'd blame himself. Poor Jackie, it's not his fault :( Like I said, long day. I'm also glad you thought Bobby was accurate. I don't know how many times I've mentioned that he's so much fun to write, but he is! Tough yet emotional (sigh). I think Jack's safe for the rest of the story, as is the rest of the family. The last two chapters are saved for resolving brotherly issues. Yay. Jeez, okay, I'm done rambling. Thanks again for your review! And yes, Badass!Jack is amazing. Almost right up there with Rockstar!Jack. Almost.