It was one hell of a grey and sad day, the morning of Evelyn Mercer's funeral. Bobby, Jerry and Jack had all said their final goodbyes. A few friends had said their words of kindness, and Bobby was more than ready to leave, but the priest had other plans.

"We tank you all for your kind words, but there is one more, Billy, if you would be so kind…?" he asked and stepped aside from the podium. Murmurs and whispers carried through the large crowd.

"Oh my! I never thought I'd see him again." An old woman; obviously stunned. The three brothers twisted to spot the tall man walking towards them with a red rose in his hand. He wore a dark brown leather jacket, he had dark honey blond and slightly curled hair that reached the base of his neck and had tattoo's peeking up from his shirt. Following close behind was a boy that looked like he was in the middle of his teens. He was the splitting image of the older man, only that his hair was nearly black and he was slightly shorter. The boy stopped by the grave, staring at the headstone with an unreadable expression on his face. When Billy came closer they could see scars on his face; on his jaw, by his left eye and on the side of his nose.

"À gràh, mi màthai…" he said in a soft voice as he dropped the lone rose on the coffin.

"Hey Dave. Good to see you again, old man." He said and gave the priest a one armed hug, which was heartedly returned. He sniffed and flicked the tip of his nose with his thumb before he started to speak.

"For all of you who's known Evelyn for a long time –" Bobby frowned as Billy's raspy voice rung out in the graveyard. He didn't speak loudly, but his strong voice carried far. " – you know she's never had an easy life. Growing up as the daughter of a New York gang lord, she saw first hand how badly kids needed someone to go to when things got rough. She dedicated her life to make sure that as many kids as possible could choose what kind of future they wanted. For the kids that didn't have that choice growing up, she gave them an opportunity. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, and even now that she's gone, hearing her voice in my head, telling me to get my elbows off the table is enough to make the day a little brighter." He said with a small smile.

Light chuckles carried through the crowd and Billy cracked a smile. "That's more like it. She'll come back and whop your asses if you all keep on crying." A few of the elders dried their tears and nodded. "Have a good day everyone, and think of the way she lived her life and all the kids she made life worth living for, and celebrate instead of mourning the way she died."

~*~

"Who the fuck is that guy?" Bobby asked Jerry.

"I don't know, man. Maybe he's one of the kids Ma took in before our time."

"Ma took in a whole shipload of kids before our time Jerry. Do you see them all here?"

"Maybe he shows up at the memorial. We can talk to him then." Jerry said and patted his shoulder. "Now get in the car – and don't get a ticket!"

~*~

"Who were those guys staring at us?" Murtagh asked his father as they walked from the cemetery to the car.

"That was Bobby Jack and Jerry; your uncles. Angel wasn't there though." Billy replied, "Ma adopted Bobby just after I left Detroit. Then came Angel and Jerry. Jack came along this spring."

"So you've never met them?"

"No – and they've probably never heard of me either. It's time to make an appearance though, don't you think."

"You're really into this 'gathering the family' stuff aren't you?" Murtagh asked with a smile.

Billy glanced over at him, "I never had a reason to before. I didn't see the point when I didn't have the ones who mattered the most to me there." He said and pulled Murtagh to him and kissed his forehead.

"And now you have me."

Billy smiled, "Now I have you," he said and ruffled the teens hair and got in the car.

~*~

"Who's that?" Fowler asked.

"That's Bobby Mercer. Heavy-weight fuck-up of the family – and it's a well-defended title. He plays for the league. Won't be long before they've had enough of him."

"That kid looks alright," and pointed at Jack.

"Oh, that's Jackie. He's the youngest. First class fuck-up, third class rock star."

"Then that one must be just as bad."

"Nah, Jerry is alright actually. Did some work for the unions back in the day. He's legit."

"Well, that's three accounted for, where's the fourth?"

"Angel Mercer. Pretty boy. Ex-hustler. Soldier. Guess he's a no show today." Green replied with a sigh. His eyes snapped up as he saw a too familiar car head down the street. "Holy fuck…"

"What? It's a nice car, but I don't think it's worth a 'holy fuck'" he chuckled.

Green shook his head. "That's Billy Darley. The fifth brother. Well, technically, he's the first. He's Evelyn's only biological child. He was a good kid back in the day. That's an understatement. He was a progeny. Fucking genius; bit of an outcast. I don't know what happened to him. One day he was fine, the next he was a shadow of himself. Whatever happened, it was bad."

"Drugs?"

"No…he never did drugs when I knew him. He lost himself to the music."

"Another third class rock star…" Fowler snorted

"More like first class rock star. The guy worked with Soundgarden, Motorhead…even Nirvana I think…. There was a court case that lasted about three or four months back when we were still in High School… No idea what it was about – closed court. Don't know the result of it either. He hightailed Detroit after that. That's when Evelyn took in Bobby. Billy settled down in Boston with his old man, some ten years ago. Got involved with gangs and shit. "

"What…so now he's a low life soldier? Talking about fall from grace!" Fuller barked in amusement.

"He's one of the most feared Gang Lords in the country, not to mention his grand father is the Boss in New York - but we ain't got shit on him. One word of advice Fowler; don't fuck with him. He's got boys like Sweet holding his toilet paper man. He don't do much drugs…he's into arms. The guy is loaded, but most of his money is legit –actually, don't talk to him unless he addresses you. I don't know if he even remembers me."

"You sound scared of this guy." Fuller said with a smirk.

"Fuck yeah. That man holds a grudge like a woman. He don't let things go, and he prefers revenge to be locked up in the freezer before he serves it."

"So who's the kid?"

Green narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at the dark haired teen. "Could be his son. They're like two drops of water."

"Nah – the kid looks to be like sixteen or seventeen. Darley is thirty…two?"

"Thirty-one, he'll be thirty-two at the end of the year…yeah, guess you're right. Could be a younger brother."

"Thought you said Evelyn only had one biological child."

"How many people does it take to make a kid Fuller? Did you miss BIO 101?" Green sighed, "Evelyn Mercer and Bones Darley went each their ways when Billy was still a kid. Plenty of time to knock up some chick."

~*~

A/N; so that Chapter was a longer than the usual ones. sorry for the slow update, but it's how it's gonna be for the next 2-3 weeks, i have exams to my neck right now, and i really need to be focused on them. thank you for your review.