TITLE: The Easy Things
CHAPTER/TITLE: Chapter Two/ Again
RATING: T (language and mature content)
SUMMARY: Pre-Movie.
A/N: So, yeah…it's be AWHILE! Sorry. I pretty much have this whole story done, on my laptop, which is out of commission STILL. It won't matter. I was told that I need to reboot my entire hard drive and all that jazz. I will lose everything. There were some stories I stupidly didn't have saved to a USB or anything. I had this chapter still on paper so I thought I would throw you guys a bone. Give you something while I rewrite the rest of it. I know it's slow going, both the updating and the story, but it will pick up. Besides, think of this story as an "in between" for "The Little Things" and "The Hard Things." "The Hard Things" will be all about Jack's recovery, how Bobby leaving puts a serious rift in their relationship, people looking for revenge, old and new friends/enemies…oh, and a wedding. (No OC wedding. Don't worry!)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Four Brothers.
Chapter Two: Again
"Jack!" Bobby barked at the top of his failing lungs, his cry met only by the sickening and isolating silence.
He spun around, nearly slipping on the snow covered ice. His eyes feverishly scanned the white oblivion. The flakes were growing thicker and the wind thrashed against his chapped skin. This couldn't be happening. Jack had been right next to him one second, fishing pole in hand and laughing. Bobby had barely glanced away for a second to grab a beer from their cooler, that, in this weather, they certainly didn't need.
Ice fishing had been the kid's idea in the first place. Neither of the brothers were typically fond of the hobby, but it was an excuse to steal away to a secluded, frozen lake, to escape life. Here there was no Sofi squealing at Angel about their supposed future. On the ice, no one was there try to push their pity over their mother's death on them. No thugs threatened them out here.
Bobby had grinned at the thought of Victor Sweet's lifeless body floating somewhere underneath his feet as he and Jack had made their way onto the ice.
They made their hole, baited their poles, and sat on overturned milk crates in silence. Neither brother was much of a talker, both preferring either silence, or for Jack, music. They shared an unspoken understanding and had no need for small talk. Bobby cracked a joke here and there, throwing an insult at his baby brother. Jack would simply glare or spit back his own colorful slur.
Now the lake was even quieter than before. Far too quiet for Bobby's liking. He shouted his brother's name again and something in the distance caught his eye. The ice wasn't perfectly flat and snow thickly covered one particular spot. Something wasn't right and as Bobby squinted, he dropped his pole. Something was moving, flailing.
And that's when he heard it.
His name ripped through the stillness, Jack's desperate cry assaulting Bobby's frozen ears. Bobby flung himself forward, sprinting across the ice with strong speed. Still, it appeared as though his brother only became farther and farther away.
As he got closer Bobby saw something else.
Something that nearly sent him to his knees.
Jack wasn't drowning.
He was being drowned.
Large, frozen hands reached up from underneath the water, pulling his baby brother down underneath the ice.
Victor Sweet.
It wasn't a guess. Bobby knew. Victor Sweet had already tried to take his brother away from him once. Now he was doing it again.
He could see Jack struggling desperately for something, anything, to cling to as the monster of a man dragged him deeper.
Just as Bobby reached the spot where only a moment ago his brother's arms had been sticking out of, he felt his heart stop.
The hole was gone.
A sheet of ice now separated Bobby from his brother, who was still frantically writhing, fists pounding on the barrier as his legs kicked at his attacker. Bobby could see Sweet's face now. Tinted a sickly blue shade and smiling, Victor wrapped his arms around Jack's waist.
Bobby kicked and stomped at the ice to no avail. Seeing Jack being carried farther down below, Bobby dropped to his knees and began punching the frozen lake. He watched in horror as his baby brother's mouth opened in a scream, any air he had been holding in escaping him, quickly being replaced by water. The scream, Bobby knew, was his name. Jack was crying out for him, and again, Bobby could do nothing.
The eldest Mercer didn't stop pounding on the ice even as Jack's form went limp in Victor's arms. He didn't rest when the dark depths swallowed up his brother so that he could no longer see him. He didn't notice when he fingers started bleeding, and then breaking, inside his gloves.
What felt like hours later, Bobby's arms finally could take no more. They collapsed, like the rest of him. Lying against the bitter and unforgiving ice, Bobby wanted to die. He had failed his brother.
Again.
Jack was dead.
And again, it was his fault.
Bobby sat up in a panic, something of a scream scratching at the back of his throat. His arms flailed, his first connecting to his steering wheel and car horn. The noise send shockwaves of pain through Bobby's already pounding head. Blinking, Bobby took in his surroundings, wondering where the frozen lake had disappeared to.
Several foggy minutes later and Bobby had finally returned to reality. He had fallen asleep in his car after pulling over at a rest stop, he realized. Groaning, Bobby got out of his car and stretched his soar limbs. He had been driving without any direction for days. His mind, body and heart – although he would never admit the last one – ached. He needed something to kill the pain, and not to mention make him forget the nightmare.
Getting back in his vehicle, Bobby sped back onto the highway, taking the first exit for a town he found. He had no idea where he was and didn't care in the least. As long as he wasn't anywhere near home.
There was a bar not far down the road and Bobby whispered a prayer of thanks. Pulling into the small parking lot, Bobby dragged himself inside.