Disclaimer: It's not mine. Im not trying to infringe

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in a while...some MAJOR computer troubles...so here we go...

"Sarah, this is the third time this week that one of your younger siblings have gotten hurt at your hands. Two of those three times, it was Mike to get hurt! He has welts the size of golf balls all over his back and legs from those paintballs." That had been Kate, and she had been using The Voice again. The Voice was the one that she used when she was angry, but still had a handle on herself. This also meant that a single wrong word could set her off, and the Baker kids were a lot more careful around her when she was using The Voice.

"And the other time, Jessica ended up with red lines all over her from the cords you used to tie her to the ceiling fan! You can still see a few of them! Not to mention the minor concussion from her hitting the floor. Plus, now we need a new ceiling fan for the den!" That had been Tom, who had sounded quite exasperated with his darkly gifted daughter.

Sarah had snorted. "I wasn't trying to hurt her that time! I just wanted to see if it would hold her weight. Also, I did have pillows down, she just missed them! I didn't mean to hurt her, and she wasn't supposed to fall either. Maybe you should stop feeding her and the fan might be able to hold her up." She had started to get a mocking tone in her voice that Jake knew his parents hated.

"Don't use that tone with me young lady. This has to stop! Your siblings are getting hurt, and one day it's going to be permanent!" Kate's voice had risen just a little.

Sarah had bristled. "In all of the years I have been pranking my little brothers and sisters, not one of them has ever been seriously hurt! I know when to stop," she snarled. "Most of the time, they ask me to do something to them and then they decide they don't like it! You never let me explain my side of the story! Just because they are younger than me, they are automatically the poor little innocent ones. Did you ever stop to think that they might have asked for it? Or done something to me that completely invaded my privacy? Why do you think I taped Mike up to the house? He was digging through my stuff again. And he found my diary! Which he promptly read!" Sarah had started calmly, but had started to yell by the end, waking Kyle up.

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose when Kyle began to call for her from his bedroom. "Tom, could you handle this please? I need to go and talk to Kyle, and then I want to check on Mike." She had looked pleadingly at him, and he had nodded.

When Kate had walked out of the room, Jake flattened himself against the wall and she hadn't noticed him, nor had she noticed his shoes at the top of the steps. He had hoped that she wouldn't come back down, because she would definitely see him from the other way. He had then settled again to listen to his dad's conversation with his favorite sister.

"Sarah, please. This has got to stop." Tom's voice had been almost pleading. "This is ridiculous! People are getting hurt! Who's next? Nigel? Kyle? They're still 7 year olds! If they get hurt too badly, they could be permanently in pain, or paralyzed! I know that you would feel horrible if that happened."

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO YELL AT ME? DID YOU EVER CONSIDER THAT THEY MIGHT BE THE CAUSING OF THE PROBLEM ONCE IN A WHILE?" Sarah really had been yelling then.

"DO NOT YELL AT ME, SARAH BAKER! I AM YOUR FATHER!" And, as her father, he hadn't been afraid to yell right back.

"MAYBE I DON'T NEED A FATHER! DID YOU EVER TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT I MIGHT BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT SOMEONE LIKE YOU OR MOM BREATHING DOWN MY NECK ALL THE TIME?"

Jake had frozen with his eyes wide. He had never heard her say anything like that before. It didn't make sense, because it was originally a pretty small argument, but she must be angrier than ever.

Tom had been silent for a moment, and then, so quiet that Jake could barely hear him, he had said, "Then maybe we don't need you here. I certainly wouldn't want to be infringing on your space. And I'm sure that the other kids would appreciate not having to live in fear of their necks for a little while." His voice had been hard to read. It was under control, but at the same time, terribly angry. Jake had never heard him like that. Next, his father had uttered the words Jake had least expected.

"Get out of this house, Sarah. Go on. You're fifteen. I'm sure you'll be fine. If you don't need your mother and me, I'm sure that you will be just fine on your own."

In the next few seconds, Sarah had come storming-no, ripping-through the doorway and slamming up the steps. At the top, she had halted for a second to stare at Jake's shoes. She had half turned and beckoned to him before continuing to her room. Jake had scrambled up from his hiding place and up to Sarah's room, where she had promptly slammed the door behind him.

"I know you heard the whole thing." Sarah stated calmly.

"Yeah, I did. So what are you going to do now?" Jake asked nervously.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Leaving, of course. I can't stay here. He told me to leave."

Jake put up one of his hands. "Hold up a minute there, Butch. Where would you go? And he didn't mean it. He was just upset."

Sarah shook her head ruefully. "No, Jake. You didn't see his face. He wanted to hit me. I could tell. We have been butting heads for forever now, and I guess this was just the final straw. For me, too. I can't take him or mom anymore. I don't know where I'm going. But I have to go somewhere. I'll figure it out. Now you need to get out. Get to your room and in bed before one of the parents sees you. I'll see you… well… sooner or later. I won't be gone for forever…probably. Goodnight, Jake. I love you."

Jake sighed. "I love you, too, Sarah. Good luck." With that, Sarah's favorite sibling left her room.

Sarah immediately grabbed her now-empty backpack and stuffed a few things in to it. A couple of changes of comfy summer clothes, a swimsuit, and some other necessities. She knew where she was going. She had known sense Charlie had moved up to Lake Winnetka that she wanted to move in with him if she ever ran away. She just didn't want Jake to know, in case of parental interrogation.

Her hand opened her cell phone and she dialed his number deftly with one thumb while her other hand shoved things into her backpack. When the phone began to ring, she put it against her head and cradled it with her shoulder so that she could zip up her bag.