To Iris Knotwise, I give one White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookie that I have cunningly disguised as a new chapter.

There's a flashback sequence in this chapter that's in italics, just so you don't get there and go, "What the fuck is with the formatting?" I know that most of you would assume that's what it was, but I got a review on one of my stories asking why I did it once even though it was painfully obvious why. (Seriously, the line right before it said, "He forced himself to remember, flashing back to-") Anyway, I ramble. Ignore the me.

Disclaimer: This is not my story which can be proven by the fact that Paramount Pictures is steadily going through YouTube removing Four Brothers videos (even the fanmade music videos) and if I had the rights to this movie, I wouldn't let that happen. Bitches.

Enjoy the new chapter and thanks to everyone who reviewed!

"Holy shit," Bobby said, finally closing the folder and dropping it onto the coffee table, feeling sick. He'd lost count how many time he'd said that in the last hour that he'd spent reading Evy's history. It read like every Lifetime movie in history rolled into one.

To say that his niece had a colourful history was a serious understatement. Her mother, Grace Winston, had died when Evy was six. From there she'd been sent to live with Grace's mother, but had only been there two weeks when the woman had a heart attack and stroke that she swore was brought on by Evy being such an awful child. Evy lasted six months with the next family before they sent her packing, the day she turned seven. She lasted a year with the next family, but was taken out of the house because the mother was beating her. Evy then spent six months a piece with two families, both of whom turned her out, saying she had "severe issues." That was where it became seriously muddled. In the next two years, Evy had moved through twelve families. The last family was the one she was with the longest, almost a month and a half. Instead of her getting kicked out or running away, she'd ended up in juvy for attempted murder. Right after juvy, she'd been sent to live with the Browns of Fresno, California. After only a week in the Browns' house, she's started turning up in hospitals.

Bobby had no doubt that Mr. Kevin Brown was the one who had called and threatened them. Sitting back now, he wondered if he would dare send Evy away now. Even if it came down to everything and everyone he and his brothers had worked for against Evy leaving, he didn't think he could do it. They agony she must have felt looking back on such a horrible life was more than Bobby cared to think about, but he couldn't stop himself.

However, when he did think about Evy's pain, it wasn't Evy at all who came to his mind.

"This is Jack Lansid," Evelyn had told them, her hand on the shoulder of a scrawny, pale boy who looked ready to bolt at any second. "He's going to stay with us for a while." Jack had looked up then, his green eyes terrified as he looked at the three boys who stood on the stairs, all of them taller and stronger than him. Bobby had smirked, wondering if Jack was stronger than he looked. Instead of quelling under Bobby's gaze, Jack's eyes had flashed defiance.

Jack was lying on the floor, swearing and holding his face as Bobby looked down at him, blood from Jack's cheek dripping off his knuckles. A bag of marijuana was spread across the hallway mixed with the powdery remains of a baggie that had held fifty small white pills. "You fucking bastard!" Jack had screamed, his voice high with pain and panic. "I hate you, I fucking hate you!" Evelyn had run upstairs because of the noise. When she saw Jack, she'd slapped Bobby so hard that he'd stumbled back into the wall. Hours later, she'd come to his room. "No one hits him, Bobby," she'd said, holding his face in her hands. "Don't ever let anyone hit that boy in anger again."

Jack was sobbing in his room. It was dark and snow had filled up the window ledge, filling the room with grey light that only enhance the gloom. Bobby was holding his little brother, rocking him gently as Jack's body jerked and shuddered as his body reacted to the sudden loss of the drugs he'd been taking. "I'll be good," Jack had whispered. "I'll be good if you don't hurt me anymore. I'll do anything you want just please . . . please . . . leave me alone." He had been hallucinating, thinking he was being beaten instead of him trying to beat an addiction. Bobby hadn't let go for hours until Jack had finally passed out from the strain. Only then did he allow himself to hide in his own room and cry for the pain that he couldn't save Jackie from.

"Uncle Bobby?"

Evy's voice jerked him back to reality. Wiping his eyes quickly, Bobby jumped to his feet as Evy walked into the living room. "Hey kid," he said, forcing himself to smile. "Feeling any better?"

She nodded, looking around the room in a bemused sort of way. Bobby shuddered inside at how frail she looked. Her skinny body was enhanced by the fact that she was wearing one of his sweatshirts and a set of flannel pajama pants that looked like they might have been something Jack had brought to Detroit all those years ago. She looked like a Barbie trying to wear Ken's clothes. His fears lessened slightly when she turned and smiled up at him, her lips quirking into the same sweet smile that Jack's had.

"I'm starving," she said. "I can't remember the last time I ate a decent meal. I can stomach hospital food," she confided, a faintly apologetic look on her face.

Bobby came over and threw his arm around her shoulder, ignoring the minor shudder that went through her at the contact. He led her into the kitchen and pushed her into a chair, chattering to her about nothing as he got cereal and milk out and popped some bread into the toaster.

When Evy started to eat, Bobby cracked open a beer and sat in the chair across from her. How he wished this could be easy, that either of them had simple lives so that they could talk about normal things like other uncles and nieces did. Right now, he needed some information. He wanted to get it over with now so that Evy could rest later without an interrogation to get through.

Clearing his throat, Bobby cast the first stone by saying lightly, "I can imagine you've got burnt out on hospital food after all the times you've been in the places."

Evy froze for a moment and looked up, her eyes wary and searching his face. "Yes," she replied carefully, going back to her cereal. "I'm a klutz. I get in a lot of accidents."

"Accidents like the one that got you in juvy?"

Evy dropped her spoon and sat back in her chair. Fixing frank green eyes on her uncle, she said, "Go ahead and ask me whatever you want. I'm not going to lie to you, it wouldn't get me anywhere."

"Alright," Bobby answered. "How'd you end up in juvy?"

"I tried to kill someone," she answered calmly.

"Why?"

"Why does it matter, I didn't succeed."

"It matters to me, damnit. Tell me."

Evy looked away, her eyes glazing over as she watched snow falling outside the kitchen window. "He was my foster brother," she said finally, her voice quiet, somehow broken. "He and his father used to rape me. I got a knife from the kid when he came into my room one night. The next time he tried it, I tried to slit his throat."

Bobby swore quietly under his breath, shock and anger filling his mind. He beat it back as Evy continued to speak.

"The blade was dull, it wouldn't cut." She laughed suddenly, a bitter, insane little laugh that made the hairs on Bobby's neck stand up. "What kind of fucking idiot would carry a dull knife around? Anyway, he screamed and the whole house came running. All they saw was that I had a knife to his throat. When it went to court, they saw this scrawny little druggie foster kid with train-track cuts on her arms who tried to attack a clean-cut football player with top grades. It wasn't even a question of guilt. I went because they could believe that I would try to hurt someone." Her eyes snapped back to his face, challenging him angrily. "Is that enough to satisfy your curiosity on the subject?" she snapped.

Bobby nodded. "Are you doing drugs?" he asked after a few minutes. "If you are, you're gonna stop. We helped Jack through drug addictions and we'll help you, but you aren't smokin', poppin', or snortin' anything around this family, got it?"

She nodded curtly. "I'm not on drugs," she said. "The night I showed up here, I had been at a party. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I didn't take all the drugs willingly, I know I got spiked drinks." She looked up at him. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were silently pleading for him to believe her. Bobby smiled and reached across the table to take her cold hand in his.

"I believe you, Evy," he said quietly. She smiled with relief.

"Thank God," she said. "No one ever believes me. Oh," she said, a guilty look stealing over her face. "I do smoke regular cigarettes though."

Bobby laughed. "I figured as much. With all the cigarettes my brother smoked, I think you were born addicted. I thought we'd go out later, get you some new clothes. Remind me and we'll go by a smoke shop and get you a carton of whatever."

She looked startled, but she smiled again. "I take it you guys went through my bag," she said. Bobby opened his mouth, guilt making blood rush to his face, but Evy shook her head. "I can understand why you did, I don't mind." After a moment, she added, "I won't get my cousins into any trouble, I want you to know that. I'll tell Jerry and Angel the same thing when I see them."

"I get the feeling that you cause trouble on your own," Bobby replied.

She shrugged. "Easier not to get caught if there's only one of you," she said practically.

"That's true," Bobby chuckled. "Just one more question and I'll let you go take a shower or whatever you want to do before we go shopping." Evy nodded. "How did you find us?"

Evy grinned suddenly. "Jeremiah Mercer," she answered.

"What?" Bobby snapped. "Why the hell didn't he say anything?"

"I doubt he remembers," she answered with a shrug. "It was over two months ago." Bobby stared at her. "I look online when I was at school, looking for all your names," she explained. "I found both you and Angel, him with some Marine Corps stuff and you from hockey, but neither of you have listed numbers. When I found Uncle Jerry's number, I decided I'd use it to get to you." She laughed again. "Pure brilliance, my plan," she said. "I called saying that my mother had been one of the foster kids Evelyn helped. Told Jerry that my mother had died and there were some things of hers that I thought Evelyn would like. He gave me your guys' address to send the stuff to. He didn't tell me that Gramma was dead," she added softly. "I don't think he wanted to put anymore pressure on me since I'd already lost my mother."

Bobby frowned, sadness stealing over him as he thought about how easy it would be to believe a story like the one Evy'd made up. Evelyn had helped so many people, Jerry would never have thought twice about it. "That's the sort of thing Jerry would do," Bobby said finally. "He cares so much about other people."

"That's not a bad thing," Evy said with a small smile. She got up and stretched. "I'll go take a shower and we'll go, if that's okay with you?"

Bobby nodded and watched Evy walked away. He didn't move until he heard her footsteps go into the bathroom and the shower turn on. Tears started to fall and he buried his face in his hands, sobbing quietly. Poor Evy, the poor, broken little girl. So many horrible things, even ones that she hadn't told them about yet, ones they could only guess at. She was tainted in ways that Daniela, Amelia, and Jake would never be.

"Oh God, Jackie," he whispered to the quiet air around him. "I wish you were here to protect her. She needs you so much."

Thin arms wrapped around him, cuts and bruises that were starting to heal became blurry as tears flooded anew. Evy clung to him as he cried, her own tears running into Bobby's greying hair. "I wish he was here too," she whispered.

So yes, I have no idea what Jack's last name was before he was a Mercer. I've seen two stories where it was Bradshaw, but I have no idea if that was in the movie somewhere or what, so I just made one up.

I'm having issues with Bobby. Do you guys think it's weird that he's so emotional now? I think that it's understandable because he failed his Jackie and now he sees Evy as a chance to repay that debt so he feels like he can let go a little around her. Please give me your thoughts.

Please review. I don't have anything to promise this time, but I do have to scream in joy for the fact the Eragon comes out soon so that I can see more pretty Garrett Hedlund. So here goes:

:::scream of joy:::