Chapter 6

Jack pulled his truck into a dark alley. He looked down at the address the girl had given him over the phone before throwing the piece of paper onto the passenger seat. The dark clouds overhead rumbled, threatening to start pouring at any minute. The oncoming storm successfully hid the light that the moon and stars would normally provide, casting Calgary into an unnatural darkness.

Turning his headlights onto high beam Jack slowly drove the car down the deserted street. Looking in all directions, he suddenly spotted the object he was in pursue of and pulled up over to the left of the alley. Putting the car in park, he stepped out, leaving the lights on as he strode over to Ty's blue truck.

"Ty?" Jack called as he stepped towards it. No answer came so he walked closer. The bright beam of the headlights blinded him, casting the other truck into an almost black canvas. Finally stepping into the shadows he stopped to let his eyes adjust. When they did, he quickly ran the last few metres to the truck. Both doors were flung open wide with the passenger window completely smashed. The glass littered the ground, creating a loud noise as Jack stepped on it. The front window had a huge crack in it up in the top left hand corner. A couple of dents could be seen in the bonnet of the car. The culprit of these attacks, a long silver golf club, lay on the ground in front of it.

Checking inside Jack was relieved to see it empty. He breathed a sigh of relief that Ty managed to get away.

Now all I need to do is find him, thought Jack. He was just about to walk back to his car when he heard a low grunt from around the corner followed by some swearing. Grabbing the club on the ground, Jack ran to where the sounds were coming from, he was greeted with a disturbing scene.

The first thing he saw was Ty, being held by two thugs with a third one ramming his fist into his stomach. The swearing started again and as Jack looked towards it he noticed a girl, around Amy's age being held by another man. She was struggling in vain against her captor, kicking and clawing at his arms to try and break the hold. It was she who was yelling the string of swear words, her eyes and voice directed at the man beating Ty.

This observation only took a few seconds for Jack to register before he ran into the fray. He ran towards the thug hurting Ty and swung the golf club hard into his back. He stumbled forward before turning to face his attacker. Before he could respond, Jack landed his fist into the man's jaw, knocking him unconscious.

Looking up from the fallen man he saw Ty had broken free of the two other men and had picked up a tire iron that was lying on the ground. Injured as he was, Ty was slowly falling back as the men surrounded him. Jack stepped forward to help when Ty stopped him.

"No! Go get Becca!" he yelled as he swung his weapon at one of the thugs head. Nodding in acknowledgement, jack turned towards the captive girl who must have been Becca just in time to see her bite down on her captor's hand, breaking the hold, grabbing a loose piece of wood lying against the wall and quickly bringing it around and swinging it between the man's legs. A howl filled the air as the injured fell to his knees. A look of hate filled the man's eyes as he tried to stand up. Jack, thinking it was about time to step in, strode forward and landed a left hook into the man's cheek, effectively knocking him out.

"Thanks," the girl said breathlessly, dropping her makeshift weapon and leaning her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. It registered in Jack's mind that this was the person who called Heartland, asking for him. He was about to step towards her to make sure she wasn't hurt when he heard the sound of metal hitting the concrete. Turning around he saw that Ty had dropped the tire iron and was having a difficult time keeping the two remaining thugs off of him.

Realising he needed help, Jack ran towards the scuffle. Taking a leaf from the girl's book he came up behind one of them and swung the club up between his legs. The man sang soprano as he fell to the ground in pain. Nodding in satisfaction, Jack turned towards the remaining thug, stopping when he realised he wasn't needed. Unbeknownst to the remaining thug, Becca had crept up him and leapt onto his back, using her hands to cover his eyes. Ty, taking the opportunity, punched him successive times in the stomach.

The remaining thug, having been attacked from two directions and being blind, didn't know what to do. His body filled with adrenaline, he tried to reach out and grab Ty, but missed him as he stepped to the side, letting the blind man grasp at the spot he had just been.

"Jump off!" yelled Ty at the girl, who immediately leapt off the man and ran out of the way. The man, momentarily stunned by the lack of weight on his back and the return of his vision, didn't see Ty as he came around and punched him right in the nose. Blood covered his face as he clutched his now broken nose. Ty, seeing the man still wasn't out of action went in again for the knock out. This time bringing his fist from underneath; Ty caught him under the chin, throwing the man backwards onto the ground where he lay there, unconscious.

Jack, while watching the fight, felt the man behind him start to rise, so in quick motion he swung round and brought the golf club down on the man's head, making sure he only put enough force into it to knock him out. Grunting in satisfaction at the now unmoving figure he turned back around to see the girl running forward and giving Ty a large hug.

Suspicious of whom this girl was to Ty, he stepped towards them.

"Hey Jack," Ty said as he released Becca from the embrace, "Thanks for coming."

'Thanks for coming?" Jack replied, a bit miffed at the casual sate of the hello, "I came because of a phone call from some stranger, saying that you were in trouble, I get here and have to fight some guy's for you and all you can say is thanks for coming?!"

Guilt and pain crossed Ty's face as his words struck a chord. Some of Jack's anger died a bit as he saw just how hard it was for Ty to stay casual. He realised, from the scene he just intruded on, that, while back at Heartland they were experiencing hard times because of his departure; Ty was also facing harsh problems of his own.

It was then that he noticed the terrible state both kids were in. Ty was hunched from the blows he caught in the stomach and his face looked like it had been used as a punching bag. The girl, Becca, looked a bit better, but the small cuts on her arms and cheeks indicated that she had been sitting in Ty's passenger seat when the window was smashed.

"My trucks back this way," Jack said, motioning towards the way he came, "Let's get back to Heartland so I can get you fixed up."

Smiling slightly in appreciation, Ty followed the old cowboy as he started back towards the cars. The girl, he noticed, stayed behind Ty and kept casting him suspicious looks.

Turning a corner, Jack was relieved to see his truck still parked where he had left it, with the engine still running. Stopping when they had stepped inside the orange glow of the headlights, he turned back towards them. Wanting some information before he took them anywhere, Jack stood with his legs apart and arms crossed over his chest barring them access from his vehicle. Becca was still looking at him with distrust while Ty sighed, resigning himself to the interrogation that was about to come, stepped forward and waited.

"That was quite the situation you got yourself into." Jack stated, not expecting an answer. In the silence that followed he saw a metal door in the wall of the alley behind them with the number 4 on it, indicating the address that was given to him by the girl. Nodding towards it, he continued.

"You living in that place?" he asked before quickly adding something else, "With your dad?"

He waited as the two of them turned around and saw the door. Turning back Ty answered.

"Yeah." He said, not looking as if he was going to say anything else. Jack noted that Becca gave a small nod as well. He was surprised that the girl was living with Ty too. Amy is not going to like this, he thought before mentally shaking off his train of thought. He needed to get back to the topic at hand.

"I see that it worked out well," He grunted, eyeing the injuries on the kid's faces. A flash of defiance showed in the girl's eyes at the sarcastic comment but didn't say anything. She glanced towards Ty, waiting for him to answer.

"You're right." He said bluntly not looking Jack in the eye. The cowboy saw the tears he was trying to hold back as he accepted that trusting his dad was a bad move. The hurt that Ty was feeling from the betrayal extinguished any residual anger Jack had towards the boy. Forsaking any gruffness he had previously shown he placed a hand on Ty's shoulder.

"You remember what I said?" he asked as Ty looked up into his face. He saw a spark of recognition at his words.

"Your job, the loft, they're still there for you." He saw relief flood Ty's face as he realised he still had a home to go back to. It was then that the girl decided to make her presence known.

"Ah hem"

Dropping his hand from Ty's shoulder, they turned towards the girl. She had her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face but Jack detected something else in Becca's eyes as well; fear.

Realisation seemed to flood Ty as he turned back towards Jack.

"Jack," Ty began, gesturing the girl forwards, "I'd like you to meet Rebecca."

Jack offered his hand towards Rebecca but she just stood there with her arms across her chest, distrust etched into her face. Shrugging he dropped his hand. He didn't really know what to do. Obviously this girl was living with Ty but other than that, he didn't know anything about her.

"I know this is a big ask Jack but," Ty started nervously cracking his knuckles, "I need to stay with Becca. So the only way I can come back to Heartland is if she comes too. You see," he hesitated, looking down at Rebecca who just glared angrily up at him.

"You see," he said again, "she's my sister."

Shock, surprise and confusion consumed Jack all at once. He never knew Ty had any siblings and from the time Ty spent with them, he never indicated he had any. Telling himself to calm down, Jack looked closer at the girl standing in front of him. Now that he looked closer he did see a small resemblance. They both had the same dark brown hair and green eyes, with the rest of her facial features only hinting that they were related.

"Sister?" Jack repeated, echoing Ty.

"Half sister actually," Rebecca put in, "Same dad, different mums." Ty nodded in agreement, confirming her statement.

Still a bit shocked Jack said, "You never told us you had a sibling."

Ty shook his head.

"That's because I didn't know," he replied, explaining the situation to Jack, "I found out three months ago when I got here."

He saw Rebecca unconsciously step closer to her brother as he talked about their past. Ty, feeling the movement, put his arm around her. Although they only knew each other for three months, Jack could see how close they were.

"What about your mum?" asked Jack to Rebecca, "Why aren't you with her? I would assume that you only just started living with your dad recently since Ty didn't know anything about you."

When he saw a tear roll down the girl's cheek he knew he had asked the wrong question. Ty's arm tightened around her as he answered.

"Let's just say, dad was the last option before they put her in foster care." Ty said protectively. Jack just nodded, deciding not go near that topic again soon. He heard thunder rumble and felt the wind pick up.

"Well then," he said gesturing towards his truck, "We better get back before it starts pouring down."

"What about our stuff and your car?" Rebecca asked Ty. Jack shook his head.

"It's dark, those guys will be waking up any minute and it's about to rain. We will come back tomorrow to grab everything. Right now I just want to get you guy's back to Heartland and fix you up."

With that he escorted Ty and Rebecca to the truck. He walked around to the driver's side and hopped in. Rebecca was sitting in the middle with Ty against the passenger door. Silently he pulled out onto the main road and headed towards Heartland, wondering how his family will react to this surprise. He knew whatever the reaction was, it wasn't going to be good, but despite this fact Jack was feeling the happiest he has felt ever since Ty left. In the short time Ty had stayed with him, Jack had developed a fondness for the boy and was secretly happy to have him back, despite the added luggage. But even though he was at peace, Jack knew his youngest granddaughter wouldn't be.

Happy Birthday Amy, Jack thought as he drove towards home.

AN: Ok, I hope everyone enjoyed this extra long chapter I wrote to make up for the last one. Actually it isn't extra long but it's longer than chapter 5 so I'm just saying it's making up for the last one to make you all happy:)

Unfortunately I'm gonna be kinda busy for the next few days so I probably won't be able to write the next chapter until after the weekend. I know what you're thinking, "What could you possibly be doing that is more important than writing the next chapter?" I'M GOING TO THE ZOO! That's what! For those of you who don't know, (and I'm pretty sure that's everyone) I am a major animal lover and I've been planning this little outing for quite a while and am mega excited, got my camera charged and everything! Anyway the point of this is that I won't be updating until next week sometime. See you then Heartland lovers!