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AN: To those who have been reviewing I thank you. Everytime I read a review it motivates me to write. I really hope I get more.

Making A Deal

Everything was silent as the man and Alex stared at each other. Alex was surprised and scared. When she saw him asleep he looked so peaceful and innocent, but now that he was awake she was having some doubts. The man slowly took the locket from her, his eyes never leaving hers. To Alex he seemed calm and collected, but that was far from the truth, in the inside he was far from calm. He had so many emotions running through him he was having a hard time registering them. Any normal person in his place would be a nervous wreck, but with years of experience of controlling his emotions he was able to calm himself.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, but to Alex it felt like years. He grabbed the crystal and slowly sat up while Alex stood up in front of him. Alex gulped. All those questions she had earlier went out the window at the moment. Her mind was blank; she couldn't think or say anything.

"Who are you?" The man said.

"Uh, hi" Alex said in a squeaky voice, waving her hand which she immediately put down. She thought she must have looked like an idiot. She couldn't help it, she was very nervous.

Come on Alex calm yourself! Is not like he is going to bite you or anything. She took some quick deep breaths.

"My name is Alex" She answered as he looked around. "You're in my house, well actually is more like a loft, bu-what are you doing?!" She said as he started to stand up. She quickly, yet gently, pushed him back down by his shoulders. Alex quickly picked up the vibe that he was one of those tough guys that wouldn't admit when they were really hurt. It also could be the reason why he was in that condition in the first place. "I don't care how tough you think you are, but we just came from the hospital and you need your rest." Alex said.

"I feel fine." He said annoyed. See what I mean.

"That's too bad, it's the middle of the night and everyone is asleep." Alex said, pushing him again so he would be lay down. "Now I'm going to go to bed", she said walking away, "and I better not find you walking around, got it. Goodnight!" Alex said forcefully without giving him a chance to say anything.

Alex was on her bed trying to sleep. She was having a hard time though. She didn't know what came over her back there. All she wanted was to get out of there as fast as possible. For all she knew he could of hurt her for talking like that. One minute she was nervous and scared the next she was bossing him around like she knew him or something. It was like deep down she knew he wouldn't harm her. She left in such a rush she forgot to ask him all the questions that have been bothering her or at least his name. A part of her wanted to go back and ask him while another was too afraid to go back by herself. Before she could think about it more she fell fast asleep.

The man sat with his mouth slightly hanging open. He couldn't believe what just happened. Alex was exactly how he remembered her when she was this age…bossy. She didn't even know him and she still was bossing him around! Some things will never change. He was a complete stranger to her and yet looked at what happened…something was wrong with that girl.

Back to the current situation, when he woke up, he was very disoriented. He didn't know were he was until he saw Alex then everything came rushing back. He had to be more careful. Alex almost saw inside his locket, who knows how she would have reacted.

His whole body felt sore. When he said he was fine it was a complete lie. His body wanted to rest, but his mind was racing with thoughts. He needed to figure out what he was going to do.

He put on his locket and crystal around his neck and laid down on the couch.

He needed to think very carefully about what he was going to do next. He needed to choose his words carefully. He couldn't say anything that would give him away. This was going to take a while.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. It was another busy day in the city of New York. People were still cleaning up the streets from the big shake.

The entire Russo family was woken up by the delicious smell that was coming from the kitchen. Jerry and Theresa came out of their room soon followed by Alex then Justin then Max. They all met in the hall and stared at each other.

"If you guys," Alex pointed at her parents, "are not making breakfast then who is?" Alex asked.

They walked to the living room and couldn't believe what they saw. The unconscious man Alex found last night was…cooking. They rubbed their eyes thinking they were seeing things. They looked at the table that was filled with food.

Alex was the first one to say something.

"What did I tell you about walking around?" Alex said walking towards him.

"You know, most people would appreciate what I'm doing." He said stubbornly, flipping over an egg on the frying pan.

"Alex what's going on?" Jerry asked coming closer to the kitchen.

"He woke up last night and I told him he needed to rest." Alex crossed her arms, staring accusingly at the man.

"Why are you doing this?" Theresa asked looking at the table.

"I…I wanted to…thank you for what you did for me." He said in a low voice not able to look at them. Theresa and Jerry looked at each other. "It…it was…no problem." Jerry said a bit uncomfortable.

Max wasn't paying attention. All he could look at was at the table filled with food. "Well let's not let his efforts go to waste. I'm starving!" Max said cheerfully running to the table.

When they all sat down a very awkward silence came. Well everyone except for Max, he was eating happily. "Dude, this is really good!" Max said. They all looked at Max and decided to try. He was right, it was delicious!

"This is so good! Where did you learn how to cook like this?" Theresa asked enjoying the food. They were all eating like they had never eaten before.

"I taught myself."

When they were half way done Theresa stopped eating and looked at the man. "Why aren't you eating?" She asked. "I'm not hungry." She stared at him for a few moments and then looked at Jerry, who was stuffing his face. She signaled Jerry to say something. He stopped eating and then looked at the man. "So…what's your name?" Jerry asked. He thought it was a good place to start.

The man had been thinking all night of answers he could give them without giving too much away. He decided to tell them what he told Gus when he first asked.

"J.R." He responded coming around the table, serving eggs.

"That's cool, what those it stand for?" Max asked digging in on the eggs he just got.

He paused for a few seconds. "It's just J.R." He said putting the frying pan in the sink.

"Let me guess, you're one those guys that have embarrassing names, right?" Alex said smiling. She felt more comfortable now that they had a conversation going on.

"No" He said crossing his arms and laying against the kitchen counter.

"Do you live around here?" Justin asked, after swallowing a huge amount of food. They really were enjoying his food.

"No"

"You live far away?"

"No"

"Do you…have a home?" Justin asked slowly. He like the rest gave J.R a strange look, waiting for his answer.

"No"

Everyone stopped eating. "Do you have a family or friends?" Alex asked.

"…No"

For the first time since they woke up, they all noticed something that they should have noticed the moment they saw him. J.R's face, it was…emotionless. He didn't smile, he didn't show sadness, and he didn't show any signs of pain, it was completely blank.

When he talked, there was no emotion, no warmth, no care, there was nothing. His voice was distant and cold.

"What happened to your family?" Max asked, not getting the magnitude of the situation.

"Max!" Theresa and Jerry said.

J.R couldn't meet their gaze; he had to look the other way. He should have stayed quiet, he should have said nothing, but he didn't. "They were taken from me." He said in low voice.

There was a long silence. No one knew what to say. They didn't think there was anything they could say.

The Russo family went into the lair while J.R volunteered to do the dishes. Justin and Max were sitting on the two seat couch while Alex sat in the arm rest next to Justin. Jerry and Theresa were on the other two one chair couches. They were discussing the situation about J.R.

"Dad, what are we going to do?" Alex asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He has nowhere to stay."

"What do you want me to do honey?" Jerry asked looking desperate. "We could let him stay with us!" Alex said. "How can we possible let a complete stranger live with us?" Jerry argued. "For all we know, all those things he said could have been a lie. I mean he has to have someone."

"Do you guys really think he was lying?" Alex asked in a sad voice. The thought of having no one and being along was one of the most horrifying things to her. Jerry didn't say anything. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like I can trust him." She said with confidence. "And I'm sure you guys feel the same."

They didn't want to admit it, but they did feel like they could trust him. They couldn't explain it; there was something about him that made them want to help him. Silence came over them once again.

After a while, someone finally said something. "Dad, I have an idea." Justin said with a smile. They all turned to him and gave him a puzzled look.

"J.R can you come down to the sub station!" Jerry called near the spiral stairs.

Jerry went over to the counter were everyone else was. J.R came down and walked towards them.

"J.R, we been thinking and even though we don't know that much about you or the reasons why you were in the conditions we found you in, we" Jerry couldn't believe what he was about to say "we would like you to stay with us for as long as you need." J.R couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were actually going to let him stay? "With one condition." Of course, there is always a catch. "You'll have to work here as our employee."

Alex and Justin were smiling while Max was very excited. To him it was like having a new person to hang out with.

"You…you guys don't have to do this." J.R said quietly, finding the floor very interesting.

"You think we're doing this just for you." Justin said with his smile getting bigger. J.R gave him a confused look.

Flashback

'Well, what's your big idea?' Alex said mocking him.

'I think if we let him stay here, we will be helping each other.'

'How is that?' Jerry asked.

'You guys ate his food. Think of how many customers he'll bring with his type of skill.' Jerry's eyes widened at the idea along with everyone else's. 'And in exchange, he can stay here.' Justin said proud of his idea.

'Yeah dad, it'll be fun! It will be like having a new roommate.' Max said getting excited.

'I don't know.' Jerry was still having some doubts. 'What do you think?' He asked Theresa. 'It's worth a shot.' She said shrugging her shoulders.

'Oh, alright. I'll give him a couple of days and see how everything goes.' Jerry said finally giving in.

'But you guys are going to have to be very careful.' Jerry said in a serious voice. 'You three will need to be very attentive when you use magic around the house.' He said looking at them. 'Even though I always say not to… Alex.' Justin and Max nodded while Alex just gave him a puppy dog pout.

Jerry sighed and shook his head. 'It'll be a miracle if he doesn't find out about magic.'

Flashback

"Do we have a deal?" Jerry raised his hand in front of him to shake.

J.R stared at each of them until he stopped at Jerry. After a few moments of thinking, he reached and shook his hand. "Deal."

"I have one question though." J.R said looking at them and then at the station.

"What is it?" Theresa asked.

"Why is this place in such a mess?"