AN/ Hi guys, remember me...? It's been way too long since I've updated, I know...

As always thank you so much for all the reviews I've received. They really keep me going, even when it feels like I'm completely stuck...

Hope you'll like the chapter...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kickin' it.

Chapter 15

New Plans Forming and Old Ones Set into Motion

Jack was pulled to a stop by the older kid. Without saying a word, he tugged his backpack away with a shrug that caused Adam to lose his grip. Quickly, Jack made a new attempt to walk away from them. But he didn't get very far until he was abruptly jerked to another halt, Adam having grabbed his bag once more.

"I said, why in such a hurry?" Adam said, with a stupid smirk on his face. Jack was known to be a strong fighter and no one fully sane would mock him like that, unless they had a death wish or something. I figured that the only reason why this kid was acting so tough was because he had the entire baseball team behind him, backing him up. They were all inching closer now and the situation started to feel very threatening.

"Leave me alone," Jack muttered, avoiding eye contact. He tried to jerk out of the boy's grip again, but Adam was holding on much tighter to the bag now and Jack failed. Jack spun around so that he was facing him, clutching his bag hard. He didn't seem scared as I thought he would be, but annoyed and almost angry.

"Let go, Adam," he warned, giving him a glare that would surly have knocked him out cold if glares would've had that capability. I almost thought I saw a flash of fear in the eyes of the older boy. It quickly vanished though as Roy and the rest of the guys surrounded them, where they stood pulling on either end of the bag.

Roy had a wide grin on his face, obviously finding it all very amusing.

"I said; Let go!" Jack hissed and made another forceful tug on the bag.

"Why?" Adam asked, playing dumb and making the rest of the boys laugh.

"For the last time; LET GO!"

"Or what?" Roy added, folding his arms across his chest. Jack shot him a glance. "We all know you're not allowed to get caught in another fight on the school premises, or you'll get expelled…So…what are you gonna do?"

Jack watched him for a moment. Obviously Roy had made a point which had made him stall, as he tried to come up with a way to get out of this situation without having to use violence. The gang saw his hesitation and their grins got wider.

"Well, look at that," Adam said, as Roy inched closer to Jack. "The mighty Jack Brewer has nothing to say." Jack glared at him, clenching his teeth. The smirk on Adam's face disappeared as he leaned forward, looking the black belt straight in the eyes. As if he could read his thoughts he said; "That's right, Jack. You better think twice before you decide to give me another black eye..."

I frowned, remembering what Kelsey had told us at the party and I realized that Jack had beaten this kid up. Back then I had thought that Jack was a violent mean guy who took every opportunity to throw a punch. But now I believed that he was anything but that. He never searched for violence. He tried to avoid it, but it somehow ended up finding him anyway… So, if Jack had punched Adam there had been a reason…

That knowledge didn't make my worries go away though. In fact they got stronger. It didn't matter to them if Jack had attacked them or had just acted out of self-defence. The point was that Jack had ended up giving Adam a black eye and the seven guys surrounding him now had come for revenge…

Jack was almost in a trance like condition, having locked eyes with Adam and he didn't notice Roy rolling up his hand into a fist. With lighting speed Roy aimed a punch straight into Jack's ribs. Jack bended over from the impact, letting go of the bag to clutch his side while groaning.

Adam quickly turned, passing the bag over to another guy behind him, who started running.

My friend looked around slightly confused, the punch having caught him by surprise. But after spotting the boy running away with his possessions, his eyes widened and he quickly recovered. He tried to run after him, but was stopped almost immediately by the six guys that were left as they placed themselves like a wall in front of him.

Jack being so focus on getting to his bag again, barely even looked at them and attempted to run around them instead. Roy and his friends moved with him, blocking his way as Jack continued to try and pass them.

"Let me through!" Jack demanded only to get laughed at. Ramming his shoulder into one of the guys he almost succeeded to burst through their barrier, but was caught by the arm and pulled back. With incredibly high speed Jack spun around, grabbing the wrist to the hand that held him and wrenched himself free. It was clearly only self-defence and he showed no signs of attacking, still the boys seemed to feel threatened by his sudden movements and they all jumped him at once. Now, Jack was by far the best fighter of our school, but having six guys launching at him at once was too much even for him. Circling in the air above, I watched helplessly as he was quickly taken to the ground.

Jack landed flat on his stomach with a thud, before Roy and his team sat down on top of him, effectively pinning him against the ground.

"GET OFF ME!" Jack growled, writhing beneath them. The boys laughed again. But even though they tried to act all tough and cocky, I could see that they lacked confidence and I almost smiled. The angry teen, trying to escape from their hold, was intimidating them,

whereas Jack didn't seem very frightened by them at all.

I was still scared for him though. They had the advantage and they could practically do anything they wanted to him. Looking around, I search for someone that would come to his rescue.

"GET OFF!" Jack tried again. Roy, sitting on Jack's shoulder blades, smacked the back of his head playfully. Jack flinched and answered by snaking one of his arms around Roy's leg, locking it. The older boy panicked and started kicking.

The movement caused him to get off balance and Jack managed to somehow turn his body underneath the bunch of boys, pulling the leg along. Roy slid ungracefully off him.

Unfortunately Jack wasn't strong enough to get away from the rest of the guys and before he knew it Roy had recovered and placed himself on top of him again. I got a give Jack some credit for not giving up as he kept struggling to get away, even though anyone could see it would be impossible for him.

"I've got it!" A voice suddenly yelled. Turning our heads in the direction, we saw the boy who'd run off with Jack's bag, returning. He still had the bag and as soon as Jack laid eyes on it he put even more effort into his struggling.

"Okay, on the count of three…" Roy said. I glanced at him worriedly, wondering what he meant. "One…Two…" The boys shifted, getting ready. Dreading the worst, I could barely stand to watch them as Roy yelled; "THREE!" With that they all stood up, Roy giving Jack a push on the back of his head as they did, forcing his face down into the dirt. Jack had barely time to register what happened before they all sprinted down the school yard, disappearing around the corner of the school building. The guy holding Jack's backpack had soccer kicked the bag in the opposite direction and followed the rest of the team.

Their quick department only confirmed how scared they really were for the black belt. After watching the cowards disappear, my eyes found Jack who was getting up from the ground.

"Jerks," he muttered while brushing off his clothes.

Spotting his bag, he quickly made it over to it. I flew down to him as he opened it and started to go through the contents, making sure that there was nothing missing. Everything seemed to be in order and Jack let out a sigh of relief. I sat down on his shoulder, glad that things hadn't gone too bad after all.

Confused, Jack threw a glance at the corner where the Roy and his gang had disappeared, wondering what that had been all about. He shook his head and swung his bag up over his shoulder.

"C'mon Bucky. Let's go home…"

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

After having gotten something to eat and making a quick visit to Mrs Brewer to check that everything was okay, Jack and I returned to his room.

Jack dumped his school bag on the floor and sat down on the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. He seemed a bit blue and he'd been unusually quiet, the incident with Roy and his gang back at school having brought him down.

No wonder, really. There were so many things weighing on this boy's shoulders that it was a miracle that he would smile at all every once in a while.

A moment passed and Jack didn't say anything, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular as he was completely lost in his own world. I debated with myself whether or not I should tell him about me and my mission. He wasn't in the best mood but on the other hand there wasn't anything else that he was occupied with at the moment. Besides it was already Tuesday. Time was definitely beginning to run out…

"Tsip," I said and landed on one of his arms that hung lifeless over his knee, trying to catch his attention. The teen looked down at me, pulling away from his thoughts.

"What is it Bucky?" he wondered, a blank expression on his face. Seeing my chance I pointed at him before gesturing for him to come along. I needed him over by his desk where books, notes and some other stuff with some sort of text laid. Texts that contained words that I could use to communicate with him, like I'd done yesterday.

Jack didn't get what I meant though and he frowned in confusion, just looking at me without moving. Slightly frustrated, I flew up to his chest and grabbed his shirt. Pulling on it as hard as I could, my message seemed to get through.

"Alright, alright I get it," he said, standing up. I got up in front of him, taking the lead towards his desk. Jack followed, watching me with interest as I landed on a book. I pointed at him, then at the book beneath me.

"You want me to read that?" He looked at me sceptically. I shook my head and repeated the gestures.

"You want me to open it?" I nodded. Jack studied me for a few seconds as he seemed to realize something. "You're gonna talk to me through it like you did yesterday, aren't you?"

I nodded excitedly, grateful that he was smart enough to figure that out so quickly.

"Then you must have something to say…" he stated, before opening the book for me to a page that was covered with words and sentences. Sitting down on the chair, he eagerly looked at me, waiting for me to start.

As odd as it may sound; it felt strange to have him focusing on me like that and I became slightly nervous. The same kind of nervousness that would fill me each time I would have to say something in front of a crowd and I had to remind myself that Jack was just…Jack…

Taking a deep breath, I started, pointing at the first word that would help me explain everything. Because of only having one page up, the words that I could use were limited, still there were enough for me to be able to give him a picture of what was going on.

"There...is…" Jack read out loud, putting the words together "…something…you… need…to …do." The boy frowned slightly, but let me continue. "I am…no…ordinary…" I started to flap my wings, moving on to charades when I couldn't find the word I was looking for. "…bird." Jack finished. Glancing up at me, he smiled.

"I know Bucky." He said. "You're special." I nodded, not really paying attention to what he was saying while I was eagerly pointing at the next word.

"I am…on…a…" Not having found the word 'mission' I had to spell it out for him. "m…i…s…s…on, mission." I don't know why I chose to start like that, but it felt like it was the easiest way to get him to understand the situation.

I could hear Jack shift in his seat, as I continued, excited by the way I was finally able to get somewhere with all of this. Holding the tip of my wing at the word 'and' I waited for Jack to pronounce it, but all I heard was silence. Confused I looked up at him.

The smile on his face was gone. He was slumping back against the back of the chair, looking away. His face was blank, although traces of disappointment and something close to sadness could be seen in it if you looked close enough.

He seemed to be thinking and I gave him a moment. As he continued to just stare out at nothing I began to get worried. What was he thinking? Had I made a mistake to let him know?

The silence was interrupted by Jack moving as he brought his hand up to grab his elbow. Starting to recognize the pattern of his movements, I had a feeling that something was bothered him. My suspicions turned out to be correct when I noticed his eyes watering, looking as if he was about to start crying.

"Tsipsi?" I tweeted concerned, cocking my head to the side. Jack shot me a glance and forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"You never came here to be my friend," he stated quietly as if he was speaking to himself. I felt my heart drop, realizing what I'd let him believe. To him I must have appeared magical –which I was in a way- but not having given him any reason for being here, he must've thought that my only purpose had been to keep him company in a world where everyone else was rejecting him…

It hurt to know that his statement was true. No matter how much I wished that I could deny it, I never had any intentions to befriend him. On the contrary I had done everything that I could to stay away from him, hoping that it'd been a misunderstanding when I'd followed Claire's instructions to his house.

Things had changed now though and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

"It's okay…" Jack's voice brought me back from my thoughts and I looked up at him. Even though he said he was okay, I could clearly see that he wasn't. "I guess I've known all along," he continued, speaking softly. "After all who would want to hang around me without having to…" His gaze dropped to the floor as he squeezed his arm slightly.

My shoulders got heavy and I felt myself crumble beneath the stream of self-doubt and disappointment projecting from him. Once again I'd caused him pain…

Leaving my place on the desk, I flew to him, landing carefully on his chest. My claws grabbed the fabric of his shirt. Clinging to him, I searched his eyes, wishing that I could talk, so that I could tell him that I did think of him as a friend and that I really did enjoy to be with him.

I met his eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into another half hearted smile, battling the sting of disappointment, hurting him. Pressing myself closer to him, I snuggled up against his chest, attempting to give him a hug. With a sigh he reached up and cupped my small body with his hand.

My insides went all tingling again as he started to stroke my back, using his thumb. Leaning against him, I could hear his heart beat. A sound that I had started to associate with warmth, friendship and safety.

A couple of minutes passed without any of us uttering a sound. The way that he held me carefully against his ribcage, which was slowly rising and falling beneath me, while caressing my back was so comfortable, I almost fell asleep.

I think it became clear to him at that moment that I really did care about him and he wasn't alone anymore. And slowly he began to brighten up.

"So what was it that you wanted me to do?" he wondered, letting go of me.

I reluctantly left his warm hold and returned to the book. Throwing him a glance I made sure that I had his attention. He sat up straight, his expression a lot less troubled as he focused on me.

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

After almost twenty minutes of struggling with charades and word spelling, I finally seemed to have gotten my message through. I had told him that I needed his help to get into the headquarters of the brotherhood to find something. But I hadn't been able to explain to him what it was we were supposed to search for once we got there, simply because I didn't know. 'Find the curse,' Claire had said. Frankly I had no clue of what that meant, but I hoped that it would make sense once I found whatever it was.

Jack still didn't know who I was or anything about Evelyn and her possession of my body. It was too complicated to explain everything without being able to speak. Besides I wasn't sure that I wanted him to know yet. If he knew who I truly was, then chances were that he would refuse to help me. Despite the crush he'd obviously had on me, he still couldn't stand me. And after everything I'd done to him during the year I've been forced to be with him in the dojo, it was no wonder.

I didn't know how he would react if he found out, but what I did know was that he liked 'Bucky' and he might consider to help him…

"So you want me to visit the headquarters of the Fireguard?" Jack said, sceptical to the idea. I nodded, crossing my fingers that he would agree to come with me. "I don't know…It seems kind of risky." He mumbled and I began to dread that he would say 'no'. "What if dad finds out?"

He paused, obviously thinking it over. Before my eyes I could see Mr Brewer literally exploding, beating and screaming at Jack for having snooped around in stuff that he'd been trying to keep hidden from him.

I shook my head, getting rid of the awful images. I hated the fact that Jack would have to put himself in danger for me. But there was so much as stake that and I knew that if I would ever get back to my own body and stop Evelyn from fully rising again, then that was a risk that we would have to take…

When Jack didn't seem to be able to make up his mind, I pointed at the word 'please' and looked up at him with pleading eyes. I must have looked pretty desperate and the sight of me made him realize how much this meant to me.

"This is important to you, isn't it?" he said. I nodded, looking serious. "And you won't be able to do it without my help?" I shook my head. Jack sighed, looking troubled. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it," he said, making it sound like he'd decided to not come with me and I slumped my shoulders. If he wouldn't come then I would have to go to Mr Brewer…

Jack moved his face a little closer to me as if he wanted to tell me something that was only meant for me to hear. A spark flashed across his eyes and a slightly mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"…But I'll give it my best shot," he winked at me.

"Tsip!" I brightened up, straightening my back and feeling almost as we'd solved the whole witch problem already. Jack chuckled.

"You want me to break in through a window or something? I can definitely do that." he said that kind of cocky. I didn't doubt him. After having watched him this morning, breaking into the classroom on the second floor I was certain he could get into any building without much trouble and it seemed like a good idea to try and sneak into the headquarters like that…But Claire had told me that I would have to bring someone who could speak for me, meaning that she was expecting us to talk to someone.

Now, if we would break in like burglars it would be really hard to talk with someone without them growing suspicious…

I shook my head 'no' at his suggestion. Jack looked at me confused.

"Then how do you suppose we get in? We can't just walk straight through the front door." he flung his hands in the air for emphasis. His forehead wrinkled as he saw me nodding at his last sentence.

Actually, going in through the front door was exactly what we were gonna do…

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

Jack kicked mindlessly a pebble that was lying in his way, as the school building came into view. I was sitting on his shoulder, near his neck, hiding behind the collar of his button-up shirt and letting his locks cover me. It was early in the morning and Jack took his time, walking pretty slowly.

We'd spent almost all night yesterday to come up with a plan to get inside the headquarters of the secret society. Far from everyone would be allowed in. But Jack was a son to one of the members and a male, meaning that he could join. And that was our simple but genius plan…

I realized now that that's why Claire told me to 'bring a Brewer'. They had a connection to the victims of the witch and therefore a connection to the Brotherhood of the Fireguard.

After school finished this day we were gonna make our way to the headquarters.

I felt hopeful as we entered the school premises. Finally I seemed to have gotten somewhere with all of this and I was one step closer to returning to my body…

I was more than eager to get to the headquarters and I would've wanted to get there right away, but Jack had insisted on going to school first. He'd said that his father would freak if he'd skipped it.

Of course I knew he was right and I didn't want him to get into trouble more than necessary, therefore I had agreed. But that didn't mean that I didn't wish that we could go visit the brotherhood right away…

As we were almost at the entrance, Jack stopped. Reaching up, he moved his collar away from me as to signal that it was time for me to leave my place on his shoulder.

"See you at lunch, Bucky," he said. I whistled in response and lifted into the air. Jack followed me with his gaze. "You'll be okay?"

I nodded, making him smile before he turned on his heel, heading towards the front doors.

I sighed, watching him. This was going to be a long day…

Deciding that I might as well take a look around, I flew up to one of the big windows by the staircase in the middle of the hallway. From there I could see our lockers.

I was expecting to see Jack walking through the crowded hallway just like any other morning. But the second I peeked inside I sensed that something was wrong.

Grace, Kelsey and a very familiar blond girl were standing by Jack's locker. Again the sight of someone else moving around in my body and hanging with my friends, caught me by surprise and I had to shake my head to clear my mind.

They all looked pretty smug as they whispered to each other. A giant poster of a pink teddy bear was placed on the locker with the text 'JACK'S CUDDLE BUNNY' written with bold black letters all over it.

I realized much to my horror, what was about to happen and I looked at the entrance, hoping that my friend hadn't entered jet. But the teenager boy was not to be seen, having already passed through the doors…

Utterly worried and upset, I was left with no other option than to watch through the window as the girls would set their plan into motion. A plan that would most likely end up with Jack being humiliated in front of the entire school…

That was it. Chapter 15 is done... Next chapter will be really interesting and it has like the chapter called Jack's secret one of those scenes that I've been longing to write ever since I started this story.

The chapter is called 'Jack's past'. There'll be a tiny sneak peek for those of you who reviews on that;) and even if you don't have an account, you can still help to speed things up by leaving a small comment in that square below...

Thanks for reading

/MJ