The term "break" was starting to become more literal for Jacqui.

Break-separate or cause to separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain.

And that's how she felt. Jin had offered her some comfort, but she not enough. She needed to talk to someone, and while Jin was a friend, she didn't feel right placing the burden of his two friends' relationship (or lack thereof) on him.

She wanted to go home. Two of the only people she could talk to (without getting too specific, mind you) were her parents. Now that she thought about it, they were probably annoyed she hadn't called and said she was going to visit. It was part of the reason her dad didn't want her to stray too far from home- he was worried she wouldn't come back. Now, her college was about two hours from campus, driving (2 and a half from her apartment) but Jacqui didn't have a car. She wasn't going to ask Jin, and she sure as hell wasn't going to ask Cassie.

Hitchhiking seemed like a really good way to get murdered, so that was out. Which meant Jacqui was stuck with the dreaded option of taking a coach bus. She could have called her dad and told him to pick her up, but she wanted to surprise them.

She was online, looking for tickets when Cassie came back, looking suspiciously not sweaty for someone who'd gone for a run.

Jacqui didn't look up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cassie asked, sliding into the space in the couch beside her.

"Looking for bus tickets."

"For?"

"I want to visit my parents, Cage. Is there a problem?"

"No. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow, hopefully. If I can find a- there's one. Yep, definitely tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Six in the morning. Which means I better start packing."

"Briggs-" She heard Cassie call, but she was already halfway to her room, and pretended not to hear her.

Jacqui also had no idea how long she was going to stay. Tomorrow was Tuesday, and leaving any earlier than Friday sort of defeated the purpose of going in the first place. However, as much as she loved her parents, she had things to do.

"Briggs." Cassie was at her door. "We have to talk."

"About?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Jacqui. Can we just-'

"What happened to not being my safety blanket?" Jacqui snapped.

"I- you want to be like that? Forget it. Have a nice trip."

Jacqui didn't particularly enjoy sending biting remarks Cassie's way, but she also didn't enjoy having her feelings toyed with.

She could guarantee whatever Cassie had been going to say would have sent her on an emotional roller coaster that she did not want to be on. In fact, she didn't want to be within a hundred feet of said roller coaster. Jacqui finished packing, glanced at the clock, and decided that since she did have to get up early, going to bed now wouldn't hurt.

...

Jacqui immediately regretted her decision to take a bus the second she took her seat, because seated next to her was a man who regarded her in a way that made her defensive in a matter of seconds.

"You come here often, love?" he asked, with an Australian accent.

"Can we not do this?"

"Alright, alright. If you change your mind, I'll be here." He winked.

Thankfully, Jacqui was able to fall asleep somewhat easily, so when she woke up, the bus was pulling into her hometown.

She felt nostalgic, even though she was only in her second year of college. It felt like a lifetime since she'd last been home.

"Leaving already, sweetheart?" the man next to her asked, one eye open.

Jacqui ignored him, grabbing her bag and exiting the bus. There was one problem, however, and it laid in the fact that Jacqui's family lived on a farm, so the cab she got in could only take her so far. She walked the remaining distance, cursing her dad's desire to be so far from everything right up until she got to the front door.

She rang the doorbell to be greeted by her dad crushing her in a bear hug the second the door opened.

"Hi, dad." she said, hugging him back.

"You didn't tell us you were coming!" her mom, right behind her dad, said.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." she said, grinning-it hadn't occurred to her just how happy she was to see her parents.

"Well, it most certainly is. Come in."

If the nostalgia she'd had at the bus stop was a one, this was a twenty. The house they lived in wasn't large, but the barn and garage were. She had memories of hiding in both as a child when she didn't want to do her chores, and her parents pretending they couldn't see her, saying "Oh well, I guess we'll have to get a new daughter!" which always made her come out. Though times had changed, she still wanted to crawl into a space in the barn and pretend her current situation didn't exist.

"How's school?" her mom asked, as they sat around the table, with Jacqui eating breakfast leftovers (it was only around nine o' clock, but her parents got up early).

"You know. Long, tiring, nauseating-"

"Can't be all bad."

"It's not." Jacqui agreed. "I get to be away from you guys-" her dad playfully swatted her arm, and she laughed although her dad still didn't realize how strong he actually was and her arm ached.

"Are you still bunking with Cassie?" her dad's question was innocent, especially when taken into consideration that Cassie's mother was his best friend and previous co-worker.

"Not exactly." she said, taking a long drink from her glass in hopes of escaping further inquiry about Cassie.

"Well." her mom said, getting up. "I hope you're ready to do some work."

"I'm on a break, mom." Jacqui protested.

"Not when you're Jax Briggs' daughter." her dad grinned.

She'd never tell her parents (because they worked her fingers to the bone anyway), but she was glad to work. Falling into the same patterns she had years ago was sort of therapeutic and kept her mind busy. She was exhausted by dinner, nodding off at the table to the point where her dad offered to carry her to bed.

She laughed at him when he tucked her in. "Dad, I'm not seven anymore."

"Seven? You were still scared of the dark when you were twelve."

"Dad."

"I'm joking, I'm joking. Night, kiddo." he said, reaching down and ruffling her hair.

…

The next day wasn't as much work, which was good and bad. Good, because she had a lot to tell her parents, and bad, because her parents had a lot of questions. Especially the "You meet anyone special that I should know about?"

"Not exactly."

"Well-"

"Jax, leave her alone." her mom interrupted. "You wouldn't have wanted to talk about your personal life with your parents either."

"Fine. Whoever it is, they better not hurt you."

Jacqui took this as an opportunity to leave, mumbling some excuse about wanting to feed the horses. She did end up feeding them, but afterward, she sat in the barn, staring at the little rays of light filtering through the cracks in the wall.

What was she doing? What did she need to be doing? Apologizing? Should she just completely ignore her situation, pretend it didn't exist?

"Hey, universe, send me a sign, will you?" she said out loud.

Thunder rumbled, there was the crack of lightning and then- rain. Lots of it. Jacqui wanted to blame it on how humid and cloudy the day had been already.

"That's not a clear sign- oh forget it." she groaned, leaning back against the wall, feeling miserable.

"I don't think a barn is the best place to question your faith."

"Dad, why are you here?"

"I live here."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." her dad said, sitting on the floor beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Life."

"You're going to have to be more specific, Jacqui."

"Me and Cassie had a fight." she admitted, praying her dad didn't ask too many questions.

"That's the Cage in her. Was it bad?"

"It was terrible."

"And I assume you haven't spoken since then?"

Jacqui shook her head.

"I have a proposal that I don't think you're gonna like. I'm going to invite Cassie and Sonya over for dinner tomorrow."

"Dad-"

"You have to face your problems, sweetheart. You and Cass have been friends for about as long as I can remember, and I'm old. Whatever you're fighting about isn't worth your friendship. Sometimes friends are all you got."

He didn't need to say it for Jacqui to know what he was talking about- his time in the Army, one incident in particular when he was abandoned and left for dead, but a friend (Sonya) stepped up and saved him.

"Without friends, I wouldn't be here right now. Neither would you. Remember that."

She definitely would.