Thank you very much for the reviews. They are much appreciated. In answer to fanficforyou, I do intend to skip forward a few years once I've tied up some loose ends and I do have an idea as to how I can incorporate Kyle into my story at one point, but not just yet.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter Fifteen: Locked

Danny slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to an abrupt stop in the Braxton driveway. Danny stormed out of the car in a murderous rage and grabbed Brax's arm, yanking him out of the backseat. "You're comin' with me boy," Danny howled as he gripped a handful of Brax's hair and pulled him inside the house.

"Ow ow ow," Brax howled, desperately trying to keep his balance as his father dragged him into the house. Heath scuttled in behind them, terrified for his brother but powerless to help. Danny hauled Brax down the hallway and into the living room. He let go of his hair and gave him a shove. Brax stumbled before regaining his footing and turning to face his father. Danny was beginning to remove the thick black leather belt from his jeans. Brax's pulse began to quicken. "No….no… Dad, please no," Brax begged as he realised what was about to happen. Danny doubled the belt over and held the ends together. With the strap grasped tightly in his hand, he strode closer to his son, rage burning in his eyes.

"Explain to me why I was yanked from the bed of a beautiful sheila, with me old fella out, to cop a gobful about you?" Danny growled.

"I'm sorry Dad," Brax cried.

"You will be sorry alright," Danny hollered. "Turn around!"

"Please don't do this," Brax sobbed.

"NOW!" Danny grabbed his son by the shoulder and flung him face first into the wall. Danny lifted the belt and struck Brax with as much force as he could muster across his son's back. Brax let out a deafening howl as the leather strap tore at his skin and the searing pain ripped through his body.

Heath watched on in horror as Danny continued to thrash Brax over and over. Brax's cries for mercy echoed around the house and tears fell from Heath's eyes as he covered his ears with his hands trying to block out the horrific sound of his brother's sobs. Brax slid down the wall, twisting his body in a hopeless attempt to avoid the strap, but Danny continued to find his mark, the belt ripping at Brax's flesh.

"Dad stop, please stop," Heath called out, his voice shaking. He was terrified, but he could no longer stand by and watch Brax suffering. Danny turned around to face his middle son.

"What did ya say to me boy?" Danny scowled.

"Stop hurting him, please," Heath pleaded, glancing over at Brax who was now lying motionless on the floor.

"Maybe you'd like to take his place?" Danny lifted his belt and started marching towards Heath. Heath began to back away from his father when there was a knock at the door. Danny and Heath both froze. There was another knock. "Police! Open up."

"Great, just what I need," Danny grimaced. He rushed over to Brax and roughly lifted him to his feet. "Both of you, into the bedroom, now," he said as he pushed the boys into the room. "And if either of ya even think about makin' a noise, I'll make sure it's the last one ya ever make." Danny slammed the door shut and clicked the lock. Brax crumpled facedown onto his bed. Heath sat down on the floor next to his brother.

"Are you OK Brax?" he softly asked, trying to avoid looking at Brax's tattered t-shirt and the blotches of blood that had begun to soak through the material.

"Yeah," Brax replied in a hushed tone. He looked Heath directly in the eyes. "But don't ever do that again OK? I told you never speak to Dad when he is angry. That was really stupid!"

"But he was hurting you."

"I can take it," Brax hoarsely replied.

"Why are the police are here do you think?" Heath asked.

"See if you can hear anything," Brax instructed. Heath crept to the door and pressed his ear against it, desperate to find out why the police were paying the Braxton household a visit.

Danny composed himself and slowly ambled to the front entrance. He opened the door and was greeted by two male police officers. "Good afternoon officers, what can I do for ya?" Danny said politely.

"Good afternoon Mr Braxton." Constable Cooper responded. "We need to see Darryl down at the station immediately. Is he here?"

"Nup."

"I understand that one of my colleagues spoke to you earlier this afternoon and asked you to bring your son in for questioning."

"Yeah, that's right," Danny answered.

"It is an urgent matter Mr Braxton and we don't like to be kept waiting," Ashton Cooper was becoming impatient.

"I'm sorry officers, but I went to pick the boy up from school and I couldn't find him. He shot through before I got there."

"Well where is he now?" the officer asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine. He hasn't come home," Danny lied. "As soon as he shows his face, I'll bring him down to the cop shop. You have me word."

"Good, please do. I would hate for this to turn ugly." The officers turned around and started walking back towards their vehicle.

"Officers?" Danny called out. "What are you wantin' to speak to Darryl about anyway?"

"Just bring him down to the station and we will discuss the matter with you there." The two officers hopped into their car and drove off.

Heath slunk away from the door, worried about what he had just heard. He slowly sat down on the floor beside his brother's bed. "Brax…." Heath begun, before the door flung open and interrupted him. Danny marched towards Brax, raring for answers. He roughly grabbed his son by the shirt and lifted him off the bed.

"What do the pigs want with ya boy?" he shouted, shaking Brax. "What've ya done?"

"I…I was in a fight," Brax managed to choke.

"Who with?" Danny yelled, still clinging to a handful of Brax's shirt.

"A kid at school." Brax panted. Danny let go of the shirt and Brax fell back onto the floor.

"Anythin' else I need to know?" Danny walked over and stood over Brax, glaring down at him.

"I…I stole some fruit too."

Danny snarled. "Well ya have been busy today, haven't ya?" He kicked Brax with his foot. "I thought I raised ya to be smarter than that Darryl. If you're gunna get done by the coppers, at least make it for somethin' worthwhile." Danny began to walk out of the room. "Ya can both stay in here until I'm ready to let youse out." He slammed the door behind him and clicked the external lock.

Heath rushed over and desperately tried to turn the knob, but the door was indeed locked. "We're stuck in here Brax," Heath dejectedly walked over and sat next to his brother, who was still on the floor.

"Yep," Brax coughed.

"When will he let us out?"

"Dunno." Brax knew that Danny was capable of leaving them locked in this room for days but with the police obviously looking for him, that wouldn't be possible. "Did you hear what the police said?"

"They just said they wanted Dad to bring you to the station," Heath replied.

Brax nodded. "Will they send you to gaol Brax?"

"I don't think so." Brax's head was feeling foggy with pain. His back was violently throbbing, his chest was aching and he was feeling faint from a lack of oxygen. He drooped back, but let out a low groan as his back touched the ground and he quickly sat back up again.

Heath looked on worried. "Are you OK Brax?"

Brax nodded. He desperately needed his painkillers but they were in the kitchen and he knew Danny would not be letting them out anytime soon. The only relief available to him at this point was to remove his shirt, so it would stop rubbing against the tender skin on his back. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tried to lift it up, but the soreness was too much. Brax winced and hit the floor with his hand in frustration, ashamed that he could not manage even the most menial of tasks in his current state.

Heath continued to look on concerned. His brother looked far from well and was clearly struggling. "I can help," Heath carefully said. He knew Brax hated asking for help but it was obvious he needed some right now.

Brax dropped his head in shame and gave the faintest of nods. Heath stood up and walked behind Brax. He very gently lifted the shirt from Brax's back and was horrified by the sight in front of him. He dropped the tattered shirt onto the floor and gasped. Brax's back was covered in angry, red and purple welts. Brax immediately spun around and moved his back from Heath's view. "Thanks mate," Brax mumbled.

"Brax…" Heath began but was promptly cut off by Brax. He did not want to engage in any conversation about what his father had done to him this afternoon.

"Go to the cupboard and get out the Lego Heath," Brax instructed. "You can build me something."

"But..."

"Why don't you build me a Star Wars spaceship?"

Heath conceded and followed his brother's request, ambling over to the cupboard and finding the bucket of Lego. He sat down on his mattress, which was still on the floor in Brax's room from the night before. "Will you help me?" Heath asked.

"No mate, I need to lie down for a bit. But I'll watch you." Brax gingerly stood up and made his way over to his bed. He lay down lightly on his stomach and quickly pulled the sheet over himself, so that Heath wouldn't be able to see his back. He watched his brother start to connect the Lego pieces and tried not to think about the intense pain that was currently engulfing him.

An hour passed and Brax was slipping in and out of sleep. "Brax, I'm finished!" Heath proudly exclaimed as he walked over to his brother.

Brax jolted awake. He sat up on his bed and smiled as Heath handed him the Lego spaceship.

"That's really great mate," Brax patted Heath on the shoulder. Heath hopped up onto the bed and sat next to Brax.

"When will Dad let us out?" Heath queried. Brax shrugged. He suspected they would be locked in here until the following morning. "I need the bathroom," Heath stated. "And I'm hungry."

"I know mate," Brax replied, resting his hand on Heath's knee. "But there's nothing we can do about that now. Just try and forget about it."

Heath looked at his brother's pale face. "And you need your painkillers."

"Nah, I'll be right."

Heath stood up and walked over to the door. He started banging as loudly as he could and yelling at the top of his lungs. "LET US OUT…LET US OUT!"

"Heath, " Brax hissed. "What are you doing? Stop that." Brax rushed over and tried to stop Heath, but he was too weak to stop him in his current state.

Heath ignored his brother's pleas and kept banging. "DAD, DAD, LET US OUT."

"Please stop it Heath," Brax desperately cried. He knew Heath was playing with fire. Danny's fierce rage from this afternoon had probably started to cool slightly but Brax knew it would not take much to flair back up again.

The door flung open and Heath was knocked back from the impact. "What is all that racket about?" Danny seethed.

Heath stood up. "We need to get out." Danny marched over and backhanded Heath across the face and Heath again fell backwards. Brax gasped and dived in front of him.

"If I say you're stayin' in here, then you're stayin' in here. Got it?" Danny growled.

"Sorry Dad, he didn't mean it," Brax cried.

"I don't give a stuff Darryl, just SHUT THE KID UP!" Danny fumed. "I'm havin' a lady friend over tonight and I'm expectin' her any minute. If I hear so much as a peep out of either of youse, I'll make you sorry you were ever born. You got that?" Both boys nodded. Danny leant down and pointed his finger in Heath's face. "And don't think for a second that I'm finished with you boy. I'll deal with you later." Danny stormed out of the room, slammed the door and once again clicked the lock behind him.

Brax turned to Heath. "You can be really stupid sometimes Heath," Brax scolded. "I told you never to go near Dad when he is angry. Never! So you go and beat down the door to get his attention? What were you thinking?"

"He can't keep us locked in here, it's not fair," Heath sobbed.

"When has life ever been fair to us?" Brax sorrowfully responded. Heath flopped and rested his head against Brax's shoulder. The boys sat in silence for a few minutes. Brax was feeling responsible for the position they found themselves in. If he had just controlled his temper, none of this would be happening. Why had he let Jack Carey get under his skin? "Listen, I'm sorry Heath. I'll make this up to you ay."

Heath miserably nodded. "When will he let us out Brax?"

"The coppers are looking for me so he won't leave us locked in here for too long OK?" Brax reassured his brother. "He'll have to let us out tomorrow." Heath didn't respond. "And it's a good thing when you think about it."

"Why?" Heath sat up and looked at Brax.

"Because we can't get to your school bag, so I'm not going to make you do your homework. We'll just have to play games instead."

Heath cracked a smile, which in turn made Brax smile. "You're not even going to make me practise my dumb spelling words?"

"Nup, no homework." Brax stood up and Heath again got a glimpse of his inflamed back.

"Aren't you too sick to play games Brax?" Heath asked, the concern evident in his voice.

Brax quickly turned his back away from Heath's vision. "Go and get me a t-shirt from the cupboard will ya? And when you've done that you can decide what game you wanna play."

-x-

The boys built a racetrack using clothes and other miscellaneous items they found around the bedroom. The track snaked around the entire room and they raced their toy cars until night fell. Heath could hear a lot of noise coming from Danny's bedroom. There was a regular banging against the wall and lots of shrieking from Danny's female guest. "Is Dad hurting her Brax?" Heath innocently asked.

"No," Brax replied, trying to hide the disgust he felt for his father. "Anyway, I think it might be time for bed."

Heath looked at his brother's pale face and didn't argue. He walked over to his bare mattress. Feelings of shame flooded him as he remembered his bed-wetting incident from the previous night. "I really need to go to the toilet Brax," he murmured.

"Use the bin and we'll clean it up later. And you'll have to sleep in my bed tonight. You can't sleep on a bare bed and I don't have any spare sheets in here that we can use." Brax warily crawled into his bed. He lay on his side with his back to the wall so Heath couldn't bump it in the night. Heath soon followed and he fell asleep to the sound of Brax's laboured breathing.

-x-

Daylight flooded Brax's bedroom. Brax sat and watched Heath lethargically roll a tennis ball against the wall. The ball bounced back and he repeated the action over again. The rhythmic soft thud of the ball hitting the wall was a good distraction. Brax was trying not to think about how weak from hunger he felt on top of everything else. It was very hard to block that out when the smell of coffee and bacon filled the room. Brax's stomach growled. He could hear laughter coming from both Danny and his female guest. "Did Dad's friend have a sleepover?" Heath listlessly asked as he continued to roll the ball.

"Sounds like it."

"He never cooks bacon for us," Heath mused.

"No he doesn't." Brax slid back down and rested his head on his pillow. Danny was clearly in no hurry for his guest to leave and Brax started to worry that they may be stuck in his room longer than he anticipated.

-x-

Brax looked at the clock. It was after midday. Heath had started making swords out of old posters on Brax's walls. "I'll be He-Man and you can be Skeletor." Heath stated. Brax nodded, happy that Heath was keeping busy. The click of the lock got their attention immediately and both boys turned to the door to see Danny burst into the room.

"Having fun boys? I certainly have been," Danny snickered. Brax felt sick to his stomach seeing the smug look on his father's face. "I hope you've had some good thinkin' time Darryl?"

"Yes," Brax grumbled.

"Good! Shame that I'm not the only one you upset with your little outburst yesterday though," Danny laughed. "You've both got five minutes to get ready. Darryl's got a date down at the cop shop and we don't want to keep em' waitin' any longer."