Thank you to all of my reviewers. I'm glad you like the story so far :)

Trigger Warning: Violence in this chapter!

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…

"John? Come on Starman, it's time to get up!" Jeff smiled as John nuzzled further into his duvet, his eyes squeezed shut as he shoved his face into a nearby pillow. "John, come on kiddo…"

John blearily opened one eye to stare at his Dad before coughing into a clenched fist, "I-I'm not feeling well Dad. Can't I stay here?"

Jeff frowned. John liked school, he wasn't like his brothers who would often pretend to be sick in order to skip school. In fact, the only other times John had ever pulled something like this was in his old school….when he was being bullied.

Jeff sat down on the edge on John's bed and paced a gentle hand on his son's shoulder, "John…you know if you're having trouble at school…you need to tell me. I can help…"

John glanced up at his Dad before shaking his head, "Nah, I'm okay…I think I got my maths homework wrong though…"

Jeff clearly didn't believe him, but chuckled anyway, "Well sorry Spaceman, but your brothers aren't allowed to pull this and neither are you…okay?"

John sighed and pushed himself off of the bed, "Okay Dad…"

…..

Scott and Virgil looked eagerly at their Dad, who was pacing the kitchen and listening to someone on the phone. Scott turned to Virgil, "School?"

Virgil nodded, "Definitely. They were so pleased when John was given permission to attend there. They can't help but call Dad every so often to let him know how they're influencing such a brilliant mind!"

Scott frowned, "Do you think Miss Clayton told the head teacher about John and…the incident?" It was around a week ago when Virgil and Scott found John in a semi-catatonic state, claiming that he had freaked out over some strangers escorting him to class. His brothers' hadn't believed him, probably due to the fact that his books were all over the floor and his arm had a rather prominent bruise on it.

Virgil sighed and shook his head, "Nah, she believed him…why would he lie after all?"

The boys continue to watch, nodding in greeting as John joined them at the kitchen table. Gordon and Alan were throwing fruit at each other at the other end of the table.

"Thank you for letting me know…" Jeff hung up the phone and sat by John at the table, "Gordon! Alan! Can we not have one peaceful breakfast?! I have some exciting news!" Gordon and Alan stopped immediately and turned to look at their Dad, who continued with what he was saying. "The school called to tell me that John has achieved near perfect scores in all of the sciences, languages and his maths class. They're thinking of moving him up a couple more grades…just to challenge him some more. What do you think about that John?"

Everyone turned to stare at the boy in question…and their faces fell. John had gone very pale, despite the smile on it.

Jeff placed a gentle hand on John's shoulder, "John…are you okay?"

There was a pause before John nodded slowly, "Y-yeah, I think breakfast is disagreeing with me. I'll be fine…hopefully."

….

"Tracy! Get back here!"

John ran.

"Get him!"

John yelped as he felt arms grab him from behind and pull him into a separate room, throwing him against the nearest wall. Mark pinned him against it by the arms, "You little freak! You know what my Dad said to me this morning? That he was disappointed in me, that he couldn't believe how Tracy's son achieved top marks in practically every class! What happened to not trying as hard Space Freak!?"

John struggled and tried to get free, wincing as Mark's grip tightened. Mark then flung John to the ground, chuckling as John cried out in pain. "My Dad is a member of the school board and when he heard the news, he went ballistic at me! And you know what? It's all your fault…remember what I said at our last meeting? Well here come the consequences…boys, let's begin!"

John couldn't help but cry out in pain as the four boys surrounding him punched and kicked him black and blue. He swore he could hear a rib crack from all of the pounding his chest was taking.

"STOP! Please STOP!" he sobbed, covering his head and curling up into a tight ball in order to minimise the damage. The boys only laughed before continuing with the assault.

It seemed to last forever.

Eventually the boys stopped, with Ian urging that they needed to get to their next class. Mark grinned, "How does that feel Johnny?"

He knelt by a wheezing John and smirked, "You know Johnny…I feel sorry for you. After all, I'm not the one who killed his own Mother." He laughed at John's vacant stare, "Yeah, Scotty told me. Told me about the avalanche, about how you wanted you and your Mom to have some alone time? So she took you out skiing and that's when it happened. You know…if you hadn't have dragged her out there, she would still be alive…your mother would still be here. Think about that why don't you!"

He and his friends then walked out leaving Johnny on the floor, bleeding from a wound on his forehead and clutching his ribs weakly.

"Help…" he whispered

"…Help"

…

"Where is he!" yelled Scott in the middle of the corridor. The final bell for school had rang almost half an hour ago an there was still no sign of John.

Virgil plucked his earphones from out of his ears and sighed, "He probably got caught up...he was in physics last and you know how long he can talk about stuff like that!"

Scott nodded, but before he could say anything the pair spotted John's physics teacher, Miss Clayton, heading down the corridor towards them.

She looked surprised to see them "What are you two still doing here?"

Scott and Virgil glanced at each other. Scott tilted his head to the side, "Ummmm, waiting for John…wasn't he in your class?"

Miss Clayton shook her head as she passed them, "I thought you knew…a few of the boys from the football team, who were in the same class, came to see me at the start to tell me that John wasn't feeling well and had called his Dad for him to come and pick him up."

She continued on as Scott frowned at Virgil. "Did Dad get Johnny a phone?"

Virgil shrugged, "Possibly. I wouldn't put it past him. You know how protective he is of Johnny! Might have given him a phone so that John can call him when things get overwhelming? And Johnny didn't look well this morning, you have to admit that!"

Scott shook his head, "No, Dad would have called me if he had taken John home or if he had given John a phone to call him directly…something's wrong, I just know it!"

Virgil grinned, "Ah, that famous big brother sense…and you wonder why we call you Smother Hen When am I going to develop that special sense?"

Scott just shook his head and headed down the corridor, a sense of urgency in his step. Virgil sighed and quickly ran after him, "Just call Dad and ask!" yelled Virgil.

Scott ignored him, peeking in through the window of every classroom. Suddenly he stopped and flung open the door, yelling for Virgil who shot off after him. "What? What is it?"

As he span around the corner, he spotted Scott crouched on the floor by….John!

Virgil gasped and ran over, "John, oh my god!" There was a small pool of blood on the floor by John's head and his breathing was laboured.

Scott glanced at Virgil, "Call an ambulance…NOW!"