A/N: Man, has this been a long time coming! I've had it written for ages, but I just never seemed to have the time to type it up. But it's here now so...yeah. I have a third part written, but beyond that, I'm all out of ideas. So if you have any ideas, or there's anything you wanna see in this story, flick me a review. Don't worry, you'll be credited. it's just that without any ideas this story dies. And I know you guys must have some ideas.
I own nothing, sadly, except Becky-Jayne, who is my own creation. I'd put her at about 15, seeing as I think I said that Abel was 17. If you don't like her, leave a review saying why and I'll see if there's some adjustments I could make.
Hopefully this is all still in-charachter and stuff. If it's not, flick me a review and hopefully I can rectify my blunders. Whatever the reason, please review, even if it's just to say that you read this. It's nice to know that someone has read what you put a lot of effort into writing.
By the way, I'm a Kiwi so I use British spelling. Hope this doesn't irk anyone too much. I can't help it if I speak (and type) the Queen's English! :P

In the Genes

Becky-Jayne Teller slumped back in the hard plastic chair, feeling defeated. She looked down at the lined paper on which should have been written a stunning literary essay. Instead, all she'd done was draw stars in the corner.

She sighed and picked up her pen, reading the question again. Describe Queen Gertrude's role in the play. To what extent is she involved in the events of the play? Becky-Jayne chewed the end of her pen, annoyed at her lack of inspiration. She had no idea what she was supposed to write. Gertrude was just there, how was she supposed to write 500 words on her? This essay was due tomorrow. She'd been pitting it off all week and now she was stuck in the library at lunchtime with no idea of what to write.

Becky-Jayne gave herself a mental shake and reached for her copy of Hamlet, hoping to find a scene to use as inspiration. When she saw that the book wasn't there, she felt like banging her head on the table in frustration. She looked around, hoping she hadn't lost it, and spotted its blue cover in the hands of Alex Oldfield.

"Give it back, Alex," she said, looking up at his smug face coldly.

"Hamlet, eh? Well aren't we clever!" he replied. He flicked through the pages roughly and Becky-Jayne inwardly cringed, hoping that he wouldn't rip any.

"Just give it back, will you?" she said testily.

"Why should I?"

"Because I need it and it's mine!" Becky-Jayne made a grab for the book but she was too slow. Alex whipped it away and held it behind his back. She snarled in frustration.

"Aw, what are you gonna do, go running go your daddy? I'm not scared of him. He's just a thug," Alex said. He grinned at the look on Becky-Jayne's face, knowing he was striking a nerve. She bit her lip, holding back the words she longed to hurl at him. She'd overheard some brilliant insults while at the garage, but the last thing she wanted was to get herself in trouble.

"That's right, you can't deny it. The whole town knows he's a lowlife criminal and-" Alex stopped talking mid-sentence, looking at something over Becky-Jayne's shoulder. She turned to see her brother Abel, in his last year at school, eyeing Alex coldly.

"You weren't talking about my dad by any chance, were you?" Abel said. Alex didn't respond. "That your book, RJ?" Abel asked Becky-Jayne.

She nodded and Abel looked back at Alex.

"Well, then, asshole, you should give it back to her, on account of it belonging to her and not you." Alex scowled and dropped the book on the table, then stalked out of the library without a word. Abel pulled out a chair and sat down next to his sister.

"That dickhead's been bothering you, right?" he asked.

Becky-Jayne shrugged a shoulder noncommittally.

"It's nothing, Abe," she said. 'Leave it."

"What gives him the right to push you around?"

"Nothing, but it's fine, he's just jealous that I'm in the extended programme," Becky-Jayne said. "Don't go doing anything stupid. You're still in the bad books for taking Dad's bike."

Abel waved his hand impatiently. "Nah, I'm good, I heard Dad and Tara talking about getting me my own Harley the other day. Imagine Keryn's face…" He shook his head and looked at Becky-Jayne, serious once more. "What's his name, RJ?" he asked.

"You can't do anything!" Becky-Jayne said insistently.

"Oh, man, you sound like Tara. I'm not going to do anything!" Abel said with a laugh.

Becky-Jayne sighed, knowing full well that trying to argue with her brother was useless. "Alex Oldfield."

"Oldfield? His old man's a cop, right?"

"Uh, I think so. I dunno."

"Yeah, Ben Oldfield, I've heard Dad talking about him." Abel got up, punching Becky-Jayne affectionately on the shoulder as he turned to leave. "Don't worry, squirt," he said, noticing his anxious face. "Nothing's gonna happen!"

Becky-Jayne watched him leave, then turned back to her essay. Ten minutes left of lunch, and she still had nothing more than a few stars in the corner.

Describe Queen Gertrude's role…

***

Becky-Jayne barely had time to get out her folder before her history teacher called to her from her desk.
"Oh, Rebecca-Jayne, Mr. Richards wants to see you in his office," she said, holding out a summons slip. Becky-Jayne grabbed her bag and took the slip, looking at it in confusion. What did the principal want with her? Unless Abel had –

Oh crap.

She entered the senior management corridor nervously, handing her slip to the teacher on duty. She was shown into the principal's office and she wasn't all that surprised to see Abel and Alex in there. However, she hadn't expected her parents to be there too. All eyes turned to look at her when she walked in. She noticed a bruise rising around Alex's eye. She'd seen enough to know that it would be a prize shiner by the next morning. Abel, however, was scratch-free; he'd obviously won the fight he'd picked.

Mr. Richards motioned for Becky-Jayne to sit down in the last available seat, next to her dad, who thankfully wasn't wearing his cut.

"Now, Rebecca-Jayne, according to Alex here this fight between him and your brother was caused by your personal issues with Alex," Mr. Richards said. "Abel, however, denies that you had anything to do with it, indeed he claims that you barely know Alex."

Becky-Jayne glanced over at Abel in surprise. Abel beating Alex up was all down to her, even though she had tried to stop Abel from acting. Abel was lying to keep her out of it. Obviously he'd taken to heart their grandma's talk of 'protecting the family' and 'doing time to protect your brothers' (or in this case, sister). No doubt Grandma, and probably Dad too, would be proud of that. Whether or not they'd approve of Abel kicking the crap out of a guy two years younger than him…well, that could go either way.

"Were you involved in this in any way, Rebecca-Jayne?" Mr. Richards asked, breaking Becky-Jayne from her thoughts. She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

"I told you so, Sir!" Abel said. "Alex is just trying to get her into trouble to get at me." He sneered at Alex, who glared back. Tara shushed Abel and Becky-Jayne marveled at her brother's lying ability.

"Very well," Mr. Richards said. "I didn't think you'd had anything to do with this incident, Rebecca-Jayne. You can go back to class now."

Becky-Jayne nodded and got up hurriedly, eager to leave the tense atmosphere in the principal's office.

"Bye, sweetie," her mum called as she left the room. She waved over her shoulder then hurried back to History, hoping that Abel wasn't going to get into too much trouble. Calling the parents in normally meant at least a suspension…

At least Alex wouldn't bother her anymore.

***

When Becky-Jayne got home that afternoon, Abel was already sitting on the couch, being told off by their parents. Becky-Jayne stood in the doorway, observing the scene. She gathered that Abel had indeed been suspended, for three days. Now Tara, sitting on the couch next to Abel, was admonishing her step-son for his violent behaviour, while Jax, pacing the lounge, seemed angrier that Abel had been caught.

"…You can't just beat someone up, even if you think that they did something to deserve it!" Tara was saying. "If Becky-Jayne had a problem with this kid then she should've gone to her dean and sorted it out properly. You can't go taking matters into your own hands."

"This guy's been hassling RJ since the beginning of the year! She wouldn't do anything about it so why shouldn't I have stepped in and helped her out?" Abel said.

"Yes, Abel, we get that this guy was an asshole, but punching him up at school during lunchtime? That's just dumb," Jax said.

"It's not dumb, it's wrong," Tara said, turning to Jax. "Abel shouldn't punch anyone up anywhere!"

"He had it coming!" Abel said.

"We're not denying that he deserved what he got, Abel –"

"Yes, Jax, we are! We can't teach Abel to dish out justice however he sees fit –"

"Come on, Tara, this Alex kid was gonna get his face smashed in by someone eventually, especially if he's anything like his old man, but for Abel to go doing something like that in front of all the teachers –"

"Jax! We are not supposed to be worrying that he got caught, we're supposed to be worrying that he did it in the first place!"

Becky-Jayne noticed Abel grinning. He'd probably realised that their dad would take this stance, and now he knew that in the midst of Jax and Tara's disagreement, he would end up being forgotten about.

"Abel's a Teller, Tara, of course he's gonna act like this." Jax had his arms crossed and was focusing on his wife. He didn't notice the look on his son's face. No-one had noticed Becky-Jayne lurking in the doorway yet.

"He's not in the club just yet, Jax, he's still at school! Meaning that he has to follow the rules!" Tara replied, staying firm.

"Come on, Tara. Heart defects aren't the only things passed through the Teller genes. I remember you calling it a 'rebel tendency', and saying that it was a turn-on." Jax raised an eyebrow. He was smiling now.

"Jax!" Tara exclaimed exasperatedly. She was starting to look defeated. "That doesn't mean he has to go around picking fights."

"He had a good reason. He was looking after his family. Don't you remember when that Ritchie kid started hassling you in sixth form? You weren't complaining about violence when I sorted him out." Suddenly the smile disappeared and Jax looked serious again. "Or what about Kohn?"

Becky-Jayne had no idea who Kohn was, but the name seemed to have a profound effect on both of her parents.

Tara took a deep breath before speaking again. "That was a little different," she said.

"Same principal," Jax replied.

Tara shook her head, knowing that she'd lost. Abel jumped up from the couch as he realised that he was off the hook.

"Just be careful, alright, Abel?" Jax said. "No more midday fights in the school grounds. You gotta learn some control and you gotta be smarter."

Abel nodded and left the room. Becky-Jayne reluctantly returned the high-five he offered as he passed her.

"Don't think you're spending the next three days lazing around, Abel! I'm gonna put you to good use!" Tara yelled after him. "Hopefully burn off some of that mad energy," she added, more to herself than to Abel.

"I didn't want him to go beating Alex up," Becky-Jayne said, entering the lounge properly.

"Oh, it's not your fault, Bec," her dad said. "He would've kicked the crap out of someone eventually. He can't help it, it's in his genes."

Becky-Jayne smiled as her mum slumped back on the couch in frustration at Jax's words.

"You'd better not have any of your father's stupid genes," she said wearily. "Someone in this family has to be respectable."