A/N: I did it again? Didn't I? Crap. Well here's the next chapter, and some cookies and milk (peace offering?). Hahaha! Yeah…Anyways…Read and enjoy! Is Jules a little OC? I'm just checking cause it she feels a little OC to me. I just figured, just because we only see her outside mannerisms on the show, her thought process would be quick, fast, and shifty like her job requires, but I wanna be sure and not go all OC on Jules, 'cause she's awesome!

Brothers: They're Total Idiots, But Not Really…

Jules

A single word ran across Jules' mind as she stared at her brother a few feet away from her, and psycho father standing between them with a gun.

CRAP.

Howard Miller blinked a few times, as though trying to make sure Adam was really there, Jules was tempted to do the same and imagine her youngest brother somewhere else, anywhere but there. She took in a breath, turned her face away from her brother and faced Howard instead, as Mr. Miller addressed Adam again his face turning a bright reddish purple. He was getting angry again, this wasn't turning out as good as Jules had hoped. But surely she couldn't blame her brother; he hadn't known that in the minutes he was in the restroom a madman with gun had taken them all as hostage. Because surely Adam's job and lifestyle didn't call for psychopaths with bombs and semi-automatic guns, but Jules' job and lifestyle did, and she wanted to slap herself for being so stupid as to being stuck in this situation with her brothers, not just one, that could have made it easier, but ALL of them.

"Well, umm…I'm Adam", her brother mumbled, addressing the man pointing a gun at his face. Well, at least he hadn't frozen in so much fear he couldn't speak, better than most civilians.

"Adam, huh? Well, Adam, I need to know how you got in here. See, I can't have that happening again, right? Answer me!" Howard spit out at him, breathing heavily, shaking the gun slightly at him again.

"Yes! Of course!" Adam jumped slightly at Howard's tone, swallowed and then said, "I came out of the restroom, and it's behind there, behind the wall. There's no other door there, I swear".

"Well, can you check again? Hmm?" sweat poured down Howard's face despite the air conditioning in the restaurant; he was nervous, Jules noticed. "You there! Check for him! No funny business!"

Robert's eyes widened slightly at being talked at, especially by a crazy lunatic with a gun, but nodded and stood up from his chair, allowing his younger brother to take the chair. Following the path that Adam had just come from, he walked even more slowly; having a gun pointed at your back could do that.

"MOVE! Damnit! Check it out now!" Howard was sweating harder now, his hands shaking harder. If she couldn't stop him from shaking, it could make the gun go off inadvertently hitting anyone in the room.

"Mr. Miller, sir?" Good Jules, she thought, a sign of respect, push his attention away from him. But why am I still working with this guy? Shouldn't it should be easier than this? What is wrong with me, I usually do this quicker than this?

"What?" Howard said through gritted teeth at her. Okay, obviously being interrupted was not his cup of tea. Good to know.

"Shouldn't we get Hannah to a hospital? She's in pain, and that arm should really be out back into -", Jules was cut off by Howard pushing one of the few chairs separating them and taking some steps toward her, grinning. This was all a game to him, he thought it was funny; Hannah's pain was funny to him.

"Hahaha! Hospital? That bitch deserves that pain! I bet my Grace felt even more pain than she's feeling right now! What does SHE know about pain?" Howard was practically spitting in her face, trying to get her to understand his side, but was it the right one? She could side with Hannah and get Howard even more angry or side with and get caught lying to his face at which point he would probably just shoot them all anyways.

"Alright, but may I at least get some towels from the restroom? Keep her fever down?" Jules did not say please; begging to madmen was not in her bowl of fruit today, she was done begging, but this was a civilian and she, Jules, was indispensable, compared to an innocent who never should be suffering like this.

Howard looked like he was contemplating her question and finally nodded at Robert who had already returned and told Howard there was no door, motioning to watch Jules as she went to the restroom.

Jules moved towards the back slowly not wanting to agitate Howard more. Once they both reached the back, Robert turned to his sister and whispered, "What do have in mind, Jules? We can't do this forever, going back and forth!"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" she whispered back urgently, "If he let me go back here, to get supplies for Hannah….It must mean a part of him is still compassionate. I have to use that to my advantage, but I can't put anyone else at risk, Rob!" Her hands shook, not wanting to think about anyone else getting because she couldn't think straight and do her job correctly.

"You are amazing. You are doing a wonderful job!" Her brother grabbed her hands in his and squeezed. "You'll figure out what to do. You're a Callaghan, alright? We're awesome at this stuff!"

Jules chuckled lightly, despite the situation her brother Robert always could make her laugh at anything. Letting go of his hands, she went into the restroom and began to pile up on paper towels. She sighed heavily and took a look in the mirror for the first time in hours. Her mascara was smudged, and her face looked as tired as she felt, and she was hungry again, or rather the baby was hungry again. No! Think about the baby after this is over, Jules! But she couldn't help that the moment Howard Miller burst through the doors of Acadia she had suppressed the urge to hide under the table and curl up into a ball. She couldn't help it if all she wanted to do was run away screaming and protect her baby from anything and anyone, including Howard Miller. She could finally understand why this as taking longer than she expected. It was the baby. Despite her knowing how to calm subjects down, the baby was always at the back of her mind, hindering her. Is this what they called a mother's instinct? If it was, it couldn't have possibly turned up at worse moment.

SAM. Do it for Sam. She shuddered again, huffed, and turned towards the door, ready to face Howard Miller again, because Sam was out there waiting for her, and she was getting out of here if it was the last thing she did. She was a Callaghan, and if she played her cards right tonight, and lived through this, in the near future she'd be a Braddock.

Sam

Outside Acadia, Sam Braddock had taken charge. He was everywhere at once, going over maps, blueprints, weapons and records, that by the second hour he looked like he had been at it for at least six. Anything to help him understand Howard Miller better, not that wanted to, he'd much rather be safe with his pregnant girlfriend right now than worrying about her being blown up by some psycho who had decided to ambush the very restaurant she was in.

"Sam?" Ed Lane inquired behind him.

"Hey, how'd it go with Leah, did she find out anything with the niece?" Sam inquired, anxious for progress.

"You should listen to this. Leah just sent this in, said we should have a listen." Ed handed Sam a headphone set, clicking the audio file link Leah had sent through to his PDA.

The 911 tone rang once and the clear voice of a female operator answered calmly:

911, what is your emergency?

Hello. Yes, this is Judith Miller. Umm, uhh…I think my husband…My daughter…Oh god, my daughter…My Grace…My poor Grace…It's happening again…Oh god…

Ma'am? Are you alright? Would you like us to send an ambulance? Ma'am? What about your daughter?

NO! Just, nothing! It's nothing! Sorry!

A loud THUMP was heard on the other side of the line, as though something had set foot into a room. Judith, what are you doing?

Nothing, dear, just calling my sister. You know how she gets when she's pregnant; all she wants to do is talk.

Hey, I love you Judith. You know I didn't mean any of it earlier. I get a little cranky now and then, work is killing me, and the whole thing with Grace, oh god. I'm sorry.

Mmmhmm. Of course, honey I understand. Judith's breathing got slightly heightened as though she was trying to calm herself down. Sam could hear her swallow nervously over the recording, before Howard's voice filled the recording again.

Yeah? Well, get off the phone and make us some dinner. I'll forget your little tantrum, alright. Everything will be fine. We'll get Grace back, okay?

Yes, dear. Umm…Sorry, hon, I'm gonna have to go. Have to eat ya' know. Hahaha! I'll see you sometime later, alright? Maybe stop for coffee? Bye.

Sam could hear Judith's voice take a high pitch at the few last words. She was lying, he could tell. Howard was probably standing in front of her making her say these things. What was going on with this family? Was he abusive or not?

Hello? Ma'am? Are you there? Hello? Are you alright? Ma'am?

The operator was still trying to reach Judith, but after about five minutes of trying to redirect the call she gave up and the recording went dead.

"This recording is from about five years ago, around the time Grace Miller was still living with them, I believe she joined the army around that time as well. Judith Miller placed a call into 911 around April of that year, but never called back after that. However there were several calls from the Miller's house over the course of ten years before this call was made. No one ever spoke, but the operator tells me they could hear breathing on the other side" Ed huffed, running a hand over his face. These domestic violence cases always made him sick just thinking about them. He couldn't imagine ever doing anything like this to Sophie, the idea was unimaginable. If Wordy had still been with them, he would have been cursing Howard Miller from here to the pits of hell.

"Maybe it was Judith or Grace who made those calls? Grace was still living with her parents at that time. Thought it seems like a long time to be placing 911 calls and no one going to check things out. Does that seem strange to you, Ed?" Sam wondered out loud.

"Yeah, but Leah asked the niece if she knew anything, who pointed her to the 911 calls. Apparently Grace had been going to her house more and more often, to complain about her mother's lack of spine. She said that Grace told she had been telling her mother to call the police if her father ever tried anything. Maybe Judith took multiple chances but never had the courage to speak up even with the phone right there. She also said that Grace never really went home anymore after graduating high school, she only ever went back for her mother, and the niece said that all Grace ever did on those visits was tell her mother to leave him".

"What about Judith? Did she ever talk to the niece about this?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, she did actually", Leah had opened the truck door and stepped inside, holding a manila folder in her hands, "According to her, Judith went to her house to talk, but the talks always turned to fights about her standing up to or leaving Howard and eventually Judith stopped showing up" Leah shook her head sadly, and handing the folder to Ed who flipped through it, raising his eyebrows every once in a while.

"False 911 call fines? All for a Judith Miller? This is interesting." Ed shared with them.

"In each one, there was a male signature made for each these calls, claiming that his wife was just being clumsy and accidently pressed the buttons. But how all these calls could actually get by with being false calls, especially there being so many, is awful!" Leah shuddered.

"So Howard knows Judith has been placing those calls? Why didn't he do anything? Why wait until today? Did he just snap?" Sam wished the answers would just pop up in front of so they could finally make a move, but he knew they had to have all the pieces before anything else.

"What about hospital records? Anything there? Broken arms, finger, and stubbed toe? I wanna know, and fast. Call me if you get anything?" Ed said stepping out of the truck.

Leah turned to Sam with a sort of pity, a pity that Sam wished he did not deserve, and said, "Well, let's do this for Jules".

Leah said it hesitantly as though any mention of Jules might cause Sam to break down. Or lose focus.

He nodded; Leah mentioning Jules automatically had a calming effect on him, he could clearer now. Yeah, for Jules.

A/N: Hey guys! Hoped you enjoyed that little preview into crazily messed up Howard really is! Huh! He's not just crazy, he has reasons for the way he is that will go back to his earlier life, even before he got married and had Grace, but it ties into her storyline, I promise!