A/N You can all thank Shoezies for the QUICK and not to mention LONG update. i promised that Nick would make an appearance here, and i keep my promises, even if i have to post two chapters at one. *grumbles* that's 1516 words for you. so there!

Billy woke up to the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand. Blindly his hand fumble around, trying to find it. "Hello?" he mumbled sleepily, and a tad bit annoyed, into the phone.

"Mr. Darley, it's Mark Hallen, your attorney –"

"I know who the fuck you are – why are you calling me at –" he glanced at the clock on his nightstand, " -7 AM?"

"Uh, yes, I bring terrible news. Your mother –"

Billy's ears perked and he listened attentively. "Get on with it!"

"She was shot during a liquor store robbery. She didn't survive. You have my deepest condolences –"

Billy hung up and dropped the phone on the mattress. His entire body was numb. How could this happen. He had only talked to her the day before. He bit the insides of his cheeks. Willing the tears to stay put. When he felt the wetness on his cheeks, he huffed angrily and tore the covers off of his and stalked into the bathroom. He flipped the switches in the shower and sighed in relief as the hot water came pounding down on his shoulders. Somehow the sting of the water calmed him down. It wasn't until the skin on his finger pads were wrinkled that he realised how much time had passed. One of the things he had made sure of when he fixed up the old hospital was that the hot-water tanks were more than adequate. He flipped off the switches and grabbed a towel off the shelf and dried off quickly.

He paused slightly as he entered his bedroom. The boy was awake and looking quite peaceful as he looked at him. "morning." Billy greeted gruffly, not really in the mood for chatter. He opened the wardrobe and frowned as he decided on what to wear.

Lindsey frowned, both in worry and because of his sore body,"Not a morning person are you?" he asked, hoping he wasn't the reason for Billy's horrible mood.

Billy paused, his hand holding on to the towel around his waist, his hand resting on a black tee, "Only when they have a shitty start." He muttered. He pulled the tee shirt over his head and sighed loudly, flicking his thumb on the tip of his nose. What was his problem? It really wasn't the kid's fault that some hoodlum put a bullet in his mother, "Not your fault," he said shortly, "It's just not every day my wake-up call consists of my lawyer calling, telling me my mother's been shot." He said and pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Oh," Lindsey felt a short moment of relief before it was replaced by sadness and worry, "Are you okay?"

Billy glanced at him, "I'm fine."

Lindsey nodded, "Takes time before it sinks in, doesn't it?"

"I suppose." Billy replied, "Why don't you get in the shower? I'll fix up some breakfast…give you a ride home or to school – both if you prefer."

"I'd like that. Thank you."

"No problem…" Billy said, "Bathroom's through there," he pointed at the door and went to wake up his son.

~*~

"Nick?" Hannah opened the door to Nick's study, where he had spent most of his afternoons in the past months. Ever since that night Billy had dropped by for a midnight chat, their relationship had been strained.

"Hm?"

"Can we talk?"

Nick glanced up at her, looking more and more like the rough bad-boy he had been twenty years ago; the hockey player who was famous for his rough tackling, "Sure."

"That boy….when we left Detroit…" she let the words hand in the air as she saw him stiffen.

"Hannah –"

"No! we need to talk about this!" She said firmly, "We have avoided this talk for nearly twenty years, but no more Nick. I need to know. That boy; was it Billy Darley?"

Nick sighed, "Yes."

Hannah nodded, "Were you a couple?"

"Yes."

"You must have been together for a long time…he knew about your…nightly habit."

"Yeah….I –" Nick rubbed his temple, "I met him in March….in '89. We didn't get together until late October."

"Two months after we…." Hannah whispered. Nick nodded and picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. He made a face; it was cold. "Did you love him?"

Nick bit his lip and nodded, his expression tight and his entire body tense.

"What happened? He said….he said you… that you -"

"It was an accident…I went to see him in the hospital but his parents were there…"

"You couldn't face it?"

"Yeah." Nick rubbed his face, "It wasn't like he would want to see me," he said, "so I stayed away. Did right by those I could."

"Me, you mean – me and Brendan?" Nick nodded, "I talked to him a while ago – not as much as I wanted to, but a bit. He was out shopping." She studied Nick for a reaction, "Don't you find that odd? He doesn't seem like the type for shopping."

Nick snorted, "Are you kidding? Billy used to plan his shopping trips like they were military operations. He could have been a pro shopper."

"Hm, well, I said I wanted to know how he knew you…and talk about what happened…he said he'd never told his own parents, his brothers or even his own son, so why should he tell me?" Hannah snorted, "Then I asked him how he could take my Brendan away, if he could imagine the loss, if he had a son of his own." Nick just turned away from her, "He said he knew what loss felt, even betrayal…he has two sons."

Nick's face snapped up to look at her, "What?"

"Did you know he was pregnant when we left Detroit?" she asked.

Nick shook his head, watching her warily, "N –no, he couldn't be – I –"

"Identical twins, I found out after I talked to Walsh. Jack and Murtagh, sixteen years old, born in August…"

"No!"

"I saw one of them today. He was the splitting image of Billy – only he had dark hair."

Nick shook his head –"he would have told me –"

"I think he tried –" Nick stood up so quickly the chair almost fell over, " - the day we left Detroit –"

Nick sag back down with his head in his hands, "I should have known – he never wore baggy clothes…except mine - I thought he just…"

Hannah just watched as her soon to be ex-husbands eyes watered, the salty drops slipping down his cheeks, barely touching his skin before they were whipped away. "You should go se them tomorrow –"

"For fucks sake Hannah – we've been living in the same city for ten years and he haven't told me! He doesn't want me in their lives!"

"How do you think he feels Nick?! Do you think he thinks you want him?" she asked, "After you left him. Got married behind his back instead of talking to him?" she sighed and ran a hand through her long hair, "look, I know this is hard with everything that happened to Brendan and Joe, but Nicky – it's been nearly twenty years…I think you both deserve to sort this out. If not to find each other, then at least to find some peace. Our marriage wasn't based on love Nick, you know that. For what it's worth, you have by blessing. I won't hold it against you when the divorce is final."

"You think he'll talk to me?"

"I think he will." She nodded, "He is a grown man."

"Billy always was extreme in everything he did. It may not seem like it, but he is run by his emotions…god, you should see him on stage…" Nick trailed off.

"Go up to talk to him tomorrow after work." Hannah said.

"Yeah, I think I will."

They sat in silence; unaware of that Lucas was sitting in the stairs, listening. He had brothers?

~*~

A/N; Next chapter; enter the MERCERS!!!!!