Hey everyone!

So I just wanted to go over the guidelines for this story.

This is not twincest. I know I write it, but this one is just a very close brother relationship. It's meant to show that when push comes to shove, Zack is very protective over his brother.

And yes, the spotlight is on the boys. I'm going to write it in a way where everyone else in the room is in awe of the way Zack is acting, so people will be looking at them and in amazement. I know I make it sound a little over-exaggerated, but come on, the show doesn't show but a few moments of true brotherly love.

Now please enjoy the story and be sure to review! (:

I own nothing of The Suite Life on Deck.


The room quieted down only as Ms. Tutweiller smacked her teaching-tool on the board, nervously smiling as everyone stared back up to the front of the classroom. She cleared her throat, "I know it's Friday, but can we all just please try to pay attention for half the class time?"

Zack chuckled, "You've got Cody, that's enough right?"

The class let out a few laughs, the younger twin turning around to glare at his brother. Zack held his hands up in defense, shrugging. He turned back around to smile at the teacher, nodding for her to go on. Meanwhile, Zack played with the zipper on his jacket.

"Okay now today we will be learning about extinct animals on the islands..."

Her voice trailed off in Cody's ears as he looked down at his desk. It was weird, he had this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He just had this superstition that something bad was going to happen. It was like one of those cheesy movies where the protagonist can tell when something terrible is going to happen only seconds before it occurs.

A voice cut him off of his thoughts, "Hey Cody, where's Bailey?"

He turned around to shush Woody, just shaking his head. He didn't know, and he really didn't care. A week ago she broke up with him, stating that she needed to focus on school. It confused him at first, because she was always doing great even when they were dating. But the next day when Zack came into the room and held him throughout the night, he was told that it was just an excuse. Zack gave him the brutal truth, all the while rocking him back and forth in a soothing demeanor. It was enough to not send him over edge.

If his brother hadn't come over that night, and stayed with him for those three more days he didn't know what would have happened. Until yesterday, he had escorted Cody everywhere. Why? Because he was afraid his little brother would do something drastic with a broken heart.

The teacher's voice filled his ears again, echoing slowly, "Can anyone name an extinct animal?"

When no one answered, Cody muttered an answer, "Dodo Bird."

The class fell quiet as Ms. Tutweiller's voice once again hit his eardrums, but he didn't want to listen to her. He really wanted to learn today, but the strange feeling swirling around in his gut was killing him. "Cody, are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"He's probably just trying to think of every extinct animal that's ever lived on this Earth," Zack teased.

He shushed when the lonely teacher shot a look towards him. Cody really wished that he was the type of person who could hide his emotions, but ever since he was little everyone, including Zack, could see right through him. Except for today apparently.

His brother was completely blind to Cody's worries.

Cody waved her off, "Yeah, I'm fine... just deep in thought, that's all. Keep on going."

With hesitation, she took one last look before turning back to the board.

This feeling... it was getting worse. He could feel his nerves freezing in fear. He was scared of the own worry in his stomach. His gut was warning him about everything and anything that wasn't going on right now. His eyes darted to one side, then the other. It was so calm and so quiet, everything was wrong. It was just too perfect. Or was he just freaking out over nothing? That had to be it...

But he was right. Everyone was focused on the board, listening to the teacher. His eyes were directed towards the shadow coming towards the door and his heart started to flutter. But he wasn't in love or having any affection, he was about to scream. He felt like he was about to choke.

Then the class was looking at him. He didn't know that it was because he let out a sudden gasp of fear.

"Cody, man snap out of it. Your jaw's, like, hitting the floor!"

He didn't listen to Zack. Because the shadow just stood there, against the wall. The footsteps coming from behind him echoed in his ears but he wasn't listening, he was so focused on the door that he didn't even hear the whispers around the room.

He let out a yelp of fear when a hand laid on his shoulder, slinging around to stare wide eyed at his older brother. Zack held both of his shoulder, his eyebrows creasing in concern. "Hey bro, calm down. What's wrong with you?" he asked in both aggravation and a slight tinge of worry.

Then he turned around and ignored his brother, Cody looked at the door. What he saw was horrifying.

A man of his early twenties pulled a pistol out, pointing in inside of the room. He turned towards Zack, grabbing his waist and pulling down. They both hit the ground hard, "Get down!" Cody screamed, feeling Zack grab onto him for leverage.

The class screamed as the shot rang out through the room, the ear splitting sound bouncing off of the walls. Girl's screams were high pitched, including Woody's of course. Cody's head was buried in Zack's chest as he breathed heavily into his shirt, everything going quiet. Zack's hands grasped at Cody tightly, speaking to him in panic, "Don't worry buddy, everything's going to be okay, I've got you."

A few heads turned towards them, the eldest brother's soothing words just loud enough for them to hear.

When Cody resurfaced from his brother's shirt, he looked across the room. His eyes re-widening to see a body laying on the floor, blood seeping from their chest in agony. They were gasping, trying to breathe. But from what it looked like, Addison was shot in the lung.

He let out a cry of fear, catching everyone's attention before Zack grabbed his head and pulled him close. "Don't look Cody!" he screamed, laying his forehead on his little brother's head. He couldn't catch his breath. He was too scared. He didn't want his brother in this, he was the older one, he was responsible for keeping him safe. But yet, the best he could do was hold him close and try to keep him calm.

"Now, everyone stay down," the mystery man said slowly, his gun sweeping across the room as he turned around in a circle. He was eyeing everyone, looking them up and down.

It gave Zack shiveres when those deadly eyes ran over the desk that him and his brother hid under. He just sat there praying, praying that he didn't say anything to him... or his brother.

"Ah, I see we have a couple of twins in here... how exotic..." the man whispered, taking slow and painful steps towards them.

Zack sent a glare at the man, a sudden flash of anger passing through him. His blood was starting to boil. If that man even tried to lay a hand on the two of them, he wasn't going to be happy.

His brother's sob caught his attention, he held Cody tighter, his fingers digging into the sensitive skin, "It's okay, I've got you... shhh."

Cody was scared, but he knew he couldn't hide away for forever. He had to man up, or his brother might do something terrible. That's right, he knew exactly what his brother was thinking; keeping Cody safe. And he wouldn't just let Zack throw himself out there to save his twin.

He rose his head, looking up at the man.

"I think I can tell who's the weakling," the man smirked.

"You sick bastard," Zack spat, venom dripping from his words.

"Well that's not very polite. Oh I'm sorry, I haven't been too polite either. I should introduce myself to you," the man muttered. He tapped on his mask, the only thing you could see of his face was his lips and his eyes, everything else was covered by a thick mask of blue.

"I'm Richard Lathan, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zack scoffed, "I can think of better circumstances."

His eyes swept out into the crowd of fearful students, spotting London sobbing in Marcus' shoulder. A few other students held each other, trying to stay calm as they watched the "show."

The masked man stopped, holding his gun up. A mischievous glint sparkled in the man's eye before the gun turned, facing the other way and shooting, screams erupting through the class room. Cody and Zack were horrified to just wait, watching for the unlucky person. Seconds later, a body hit the floor, gasps being heard. A boy named Scout dropped from his seated position, blood trailing on the wall.

Cody gulped, looking back up at the man. The gun was know facing them, a smile faint on Richard's face. He cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows towards the younger one, "You, get out here, on your knees."

Hearts in the room dropped when Zack's sobs were heard, shaking his head, "No, don't hurt him! Take me!"

Eyes were directed towards the floor, unable to look and wishing they could block out Zack's screams when Cody's hair was grabbed and he was forced on his knees in front of the attacker, staring at the floor.

Zack grabbed onto the table's leg, shaking his head, "No... please."

"Look at me," Richard said threateningly, the gun suddenly pressing against Cody's temple. He winced, whispering towards his brother, "Zack, I'll be okay, I promise," he shushed his brother, sniffling against his tears.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Richard grunted.

The older brother's crying was heard clearly through the quiet room, watching the two guys in front of him closely.

A hand swept over Cody's forehead, brushing his bangs out of his face. He flinched, "Are you just running around killing kids?"

Richard narrowed his eyes, laughing, "Of course! It's just revenge on that bitch!"

He turned towards the teacher, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath. "She fucking broke my heart, dated me for a week and then dumped me when I asked her to get rid of the damn cats..."

Normally, Zack would make a snappy remark, but this just wasn't the time. It made since now though. Emma must have found him on the ship, started dating him. He then saw all of her cats and got creeped out and she dumped him. Now he's getting revenge.

"You don't have to do this..." Ms. Tutweiller whispered, her eyes pleading him.

He turned towards her, the gun to Cody's temple moving towards her. His hand did grab a bundle of hair however, just making sure that the young boy didn't escape from his clutches. Cody shivered, watching Emma cower against the wall, blocking her face.

"But I do! You fucking bitch, it's all your fault these kids are dying! If you weren't such a disgraceful whore, you'd apologize but this is all your fault and a sorry won't fix anything!" the man screamed, his voice wavering in anger and losing control. His finger pressured against the trigger, his entire body trembling in fury. Emma shook her head, begging him to stop.

Then the shot rang through the room. While everyone else screamed, Zack took advantage of the situation. He brought a foot back, kicking Richard's knee with built up power. The man cried out, falling forward. The smack was heard as his forehead banged against the table. Zack quickly jumped forward, ignoring all of the fear and cries in the room. His adrenaline kicked in as he caught his brother, reaching for the gun that hit the floor.

He pointed it towards Richard, "You'll regret ever touching my baby brother!" he growled, glaring towards the man.

Richard's eyes were glazed from a concussion, struggling to speak. The gun was pointed straight between his eyes, ready to shoot at any moment. Zack took a second to look around the room, his eyes laying on the three fallen bodies. Then down to his brother in his arms, crying into his shoulder.

"Someone go get help, damn it!"

Marcus scrambled up from the wall, leaving London and running from the room, still shocked as his voice broke while screaming for help. Zack was amazed that no security had come to help... then again it was Kirby.

He looked over to see that Richard had been knocked out. He dropped the gun and looked down at Cody, bundling the smaller brother in his arms, breathing in. "It's okay, we're okay Codes," he whispered, melting into his brother's embrace.

Woody hovered over Addison's body, crying and trying to resuscitate her. It was to no avail, even if she was able to be saved, his movements were too sketchy and frantic to actually help her. He broke down, his head on her chest as he looked across the room to stare at his fallen teacher. Scout's girlfriend sobbed over his body, telling the boy he'd be okay. He was still alive, but slowly diminishing.

Moseby and Kirby busted into the room, Marcus trying to catch his breath. Kirby pulled out his walkie-talkie, informing the actual police of what was going on. Zack could almost instantly feel the ship slowing down, Moseby alerting the captain.

The dark skinned man looked over at Ms. Tutweiller, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath before rushing for the twin boys. He dropped to his knees while pulling them close, "Are you okay, boys?"

"Yes, Mr. Moseby," they answered in unison, their voices shaking uncontrollably.

He pulled away, looking over at Emma one last time before swallowing roughly, "It seems Bailey picked a good day to stay in her cabin..."

Zack chuckled, his short of breath stopping him. Cody slumped against his brother, allowing the arms around him to tighten. Moseby smiled at their embrace, patting Zack's shoulder.

"I'm very proud of you Zack, Marcus informed me. I'd like to see this side of you more often," he whispered, motioning to the situation the two boys were in. Cody shut his eyes, leaning his head back to take a breath.

The eldest brother shrugged and smiled, "Maybe, maybe not."


The students had piled out of the room onto the main deck, a few children relaxing in the pool. The boat had completely stopped, helicopters had already taken the injured away.

Zack and Cody stood by the railing, looking out into the sea, their hair whipping against their necks and foreheads.

"Thank you."

Zack turned towards his brother, his eyebrow raising in question.

"Thank you, so much for protecting me... for keeping me safe. You really showed the other students, me, another side of you..." Cody whispered, gulping as he looked down at their hands, the two just brushing against each other.

The older twin sighed, throwing his arm around Cody, giving a loving squeezed, "No problem buddy, I'd do it any day. I'm a generous guy, what can I say!" he joked.

Cody laughed, shaking his head, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

As everything fell quiet, Cody thought back to the feeling he had in his stomach, to the fear he felt even before the man came into the room. He thought of Zack first, pulling him down even before yelling for the other students. He guessed you could say it was selfish, but he saw it a different way. He thought back to the way Zack was crying and screaming, the way he suddenly lost all hope. He could have died right then and there, and wouldn't have been able to laugh with Zack again, see his brother's smile. He wouldn't be able to share another bed with him when the nightmares came.

He wouldn't have been able to tell his brother he loved him.

"Hey, Zack...?"

The ladies man turned towards him, "Hm?"

"I love you."

Zack smiled, looking back out into the sea, "I love you too, baby bro."


And scene! I hope you liked it. I wanted this to be a very loving brotherly story, so please don't think they're out of character. I'm sure that if this time ever came, they would act exactly like that. And I do believe that if Cody was on the verge of killing himself over Bailey, then Zack would be by his side the whole time.

Please review and tell me what you thought!