Sorry for the wait! I hope you're ready for some bad Bobby! Just kidding lol, or not. I don't own four brothers.

"Get that fucking thing away from me ya dweeb! Jerry what the hell is this?"

Yeah, Bobby had slowly gotten better, and the better he got, the worse his mood got. He was now awake most of the time and in true Bobby Mercer fashion demanded to be released if they didn't have enough to hold him on. Thinking back to Bobby's doctor explaining to Bobby that he shouldn't see the hospital as jail he rubbed a hand over his eyes. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

Despite Bobby's protets the male nurse managed to stick him with the needle. He then quickly left the room.

"Bobby"

Bobby glared at the doctor. "What?"

"You have to trust that we know what we're doing here" At this Bobby scoffed, which the doc ignored "and you will get better faster if you just take it easy. You have to understand that you've been shot, several times. Your body needs to heal"

"What I need is to go home" Bobby cut in. He looked over at Jerry "Where's Jack?"

Jack was not far away. He was actually sitting outside Bobby's room on the floor. Each day Bobby grew stronger, and Jack was grateful. Each day he waited for the questions to start. So far they had all managed to keep Bobby out of the loop as to what really happened that day with Sweet, but Jack knew it was only a matter of time before he wanted details. He suspected that Bobby thought that Angel had killed Sweet, he was the obvious choice. The only reason it had worked so far was because Bobby had been to doped up to string that many sentences together.

"Jack" Jack looked up at the sound of Jerry calling his name "Can you talk to him?"

Jack got up and was about to walk past him inside the room when Jerry's hand on his arm stopped him.

"We need to talk later" His voice was hushed. Jerry obviosly didn't want Bobby to hear.

Jack nodded and entered Bobby's room just in time to find him flinging a newspaper across the room.

"Jack! Maybe you can talk some sense into your brother!" Bobby's doctor exclaimed.

The doc obviously thought Jack was some kind of miracle worker. "I'll try". He kept his eyes on Bobby as he sat down in his usual chair. He didn't have to wait long until Bobby spoke.

"I want to be released"

"I saw you flinch when you threw that newspaper just now" Jack countered.

"So?"

Jack silently observed his brother. He took in the angry eyes, the pain underneath the anger and the way he flinched everytime he moved. It hurt so much to see him like this. It was like a knife straight to the heart. Or a bullet. "You're not well Bobby". His words were quiet, almost like a whisper, but Bobby heard them loud and clear.

"I can rest at home" His stubborness was still present, but he didn't sound as angry anymore.

"You wont. We both know that"

He could see Bobby was about to argue so he quickly continued, his voice low and full of pain he didn't have to fake. "Please Bobby. For me" He tried to push down the voice screaming at him that he didn't have the right to ask him for anything, he never had, and especially not now.

The fight left Bobby at the sound of Jack's softly spoken words. He suspected that Jack knew exactly what he was doing when he used that tone. Jack very rarely asked for something, and the few times he did Bobby had never been able to refuse him. "Fine".

He watched as his little brother exhaled in relief. But he didn't look happy. Well okay, that was not that unusual for Jack, but as he watched him Bobby was suddenly struck with the feeling that something was wrong. He didn't question the feeling, it had never led him wrong before, and when it came to Jack one had to rely on instincts, since he rarely told anyone what he was feeling. Since he woke up his mind had been slow, most likely because of the drugs they got him on, and he hadn't been able to focus, but now he forced his mind to concentrate. He thought about his conversations with Jack since he woke up, they had seemed normal, but he couldn't even remember all of them so it was hard to tell. Studying him now he saw the dark circles under his eyes, the haunted look in his eyes, and the way his hands lightly shook when he took a sip of the coffee from the cup on his bedside table. Bobby knew the coffee was cold, Jerry had left it there more than an hour ago, but Jack didn't react. He looked him over slowly. He wore long sleeves so it was impossible to see his bare arms. It could be nothing Bobby mused. Jack often wore long sleeves in public. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Feeling watched he dragged his eyes from Jack's arms and looked up to meet his eyes, a question in his own.

Jack watched as Bobby studied his arms intently. He knew. He didn't know how, but then Bobby had always seemed to know when something was wrong. He didn't know what yet, but he was suspicious, and that was almost as bad. Bobby met his eyes and Jack felt the panic start to overwhelm him.

"Jack" Jack jumped at the sound of Jerry's voice. When had he returned? "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Breaking his staredown with Bobby, Jack quickly got to his feet. "Sure"

"No need to leave, you can talk in here Jer" Bobby spoke up, and watched as Jack tensed. "I want to catch up with my brothers" He shifted his eyes to Jerry and met his calm gaze. That didn't mean anything, Jerry was good at masking his thoughts. Many people saw him as the 'good Mercer', and he was the one who had cleaned up his act the most, but once upon a time he had tricked people out of their money as easily as others shopped for groceries.

"The doc wants to talk to you again Bobby" He stated calmly.

Jack looked around in confusion, had the doctor left when Jerry did? Get a grip Jack, he told himself. "See you later Bobby" he walked towards the door without looking at his oldest brother.

"Jack"

He stopped when Bobby called out his name. "You'll be back later?"

Jack swallowed "Yeah"

Bobby nodded "Good"

The doc entered with a small smile on his face when they left, confident that Bobby was now a bit calmer.

Jack, Jerry and Angel were gathered around a table in the cafeteria. Jack was busy tearing a napkin to pieces while Angel was eating pie.

"We need to tell him" Jerry stated.

Jack's hands stilled. Angel stopped chewing.

"Bad idea" Angel looked at Jerry "He's going to flip"

"He's going to find out anyway" Jerry tried to reason "He knows somethings up, I know he does"

"Yeah, but what if he throws a fit and I don't know, rips his stitches or something"

"He's only going to get angrier if we hide it from him" Jerry pointed out, trying to be the voice of reason. "and here they can calm him down with drugs".

"Good point"

"Jack, what do you think?" Jerry turned to his youngest brother who was staring a hole through the table.

Jack had been quiet until now. The panic was still lingering and making him nervous. He hated how this made him feel, like he'd done something wrong. He hadn't. He had only protected his family, just like Bobby would have done. There was nothing wrong with that.

"I think you're making to big a deal about this" He lowered his voice "Sweet is dead. It's what we all wanted. It's over. End of story" In his mind dead empty eyes stared back at him.

Jerry and Angel exchanged a look and Jack's temper flared "Stop that. Stop looking at each other like that"

"Jack..." Jerry started, his tone grating on Jack's nerves.

"Stop. It's over, why can't you just be happy that it is?"

"You don't have to act like it dosen't affect you Jack" Angel countered

"I'm not pretending Angel, maybe I'm just not the innocent little brother you always pictured me as". Jack pushed back his chair and ignoring the calls from his brothers he left the cafeteria and the hospital. He walked quickly along the street, he didn't know where he was going, he just needed to get away.

"Where's Jack?"

"He had to step out for a bit" Jerry and Angel took a seat next to Bobby's bed.

"Really?" Bobby was not convinced.

"Yeah. What did the doctor say?" Angel tried to change the subject.

Bobby wasn't stupid. He knew what they were doing, but he played along for now. "He said that if I behave I should be able to go home in maybe a week"

Real smiles appaered on his brothers faces. "That's really good news Bobby" Jerry beamed. "What more did he say?"

"Some shit about training and taking it easy"

"Oh don't you worry, we'll have you up and running in no time" Angel laughed.

"Oh please, I could still run circles around you pretty boy" Bobby huffed.

"Right" Angel scoffed, but there was a smile on his face.

"Well I'm glad you're here" Bobby's tone turned serious "cause we need to talk"

He felt like he had walked for miles, and maybe he had. He was a bit surprised when he lifted his eyes to look at the cemetery. He hadn't been here since Evelyn's funeral. He probably wouldn't have come here even if he hadn't been busy chasing down killers and getting shot. He just didn't believe that she was here anyway. Her body was, but not her. He entered anyway, his steps leading him to her grave, knowing exactly where it was despite only having been there once.

There were fresh flowers next to her stone. It didn't surprise him. Evelyn was a woman loved by everyone who met her. Maybe they were from her boyfriend? Lover? Whatever her attorney had been to her Jack couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't told them about him. Jack let out a sad laugh at the thought of Evelyn introducing her boyfriend over dinner with all of them. Yeah, that would have been a sight. The laugh ended on a broken sob and he slowly fell to his knees in front of the stone that was the last reminder that she had been here, that she had existed. He slowly reached out and touched the letters that said it all, and at the same time nothing. He traced the letters slowly, the cold stone somehow feeling warm against his own cold body. "I'm sorry Ma".

Angel and Jerry slowly walked down the hallway away from Bobby's room.

"We're going to regret that" Jerry spoke somberly.

"It was the right thing to do" Angel said.

A presence behind him made Jack tense and he started to get up when a voice stopped him.

"She loved you all so much"

Jack relaxed, but he stood anyway and turned to look at his mothers boyfriend. "I know"

The older man smiled and stepped forward, leaning down to place the white roses he had in his hand next to the other flowers. He traced to letters on the stone much like Jack himself had done before turning back to Jack.

"I heard about what happened. I wanted to visit, but I wasn't sure if you wanted me to"

"It's fine. You don't know us, you don't owe us anything"

"I feel like I do. Your Evelyn's sons, and she loved you, and I loved her, so so much"

Jack felt awkward watching the tears form in the old mans eyes. "Yeah well, it's been crazy so it was probably best you stayed away"

"I heard Victor Sweet's body was found"

Jack tensed. "Yeah I heard" It was afterall the reason the cops had brought him and his brothers in.

The other man studied him slowly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to"

"You're a lawyer" Jack stated as explaination.

The older man nodded, accepting this. "Evelyn told me you're a rockstar?"

Jack laughed a little "I guess. If you can call it that"

"Anything I would like?"

"Probably not" Jack smiled ruefully.

He laughed "Yes, probably not" He turned to leave but stopped "Will you..." he hesitated "Will you let me know if you need anything?"

Jack watched him, a curious look in his eyes. He seemed honest enough, still, trusting people wasn't something he was good at. "Sure".

The older man gave him a sad smile, as if he knew exactly what Jack was thinking, before giving him a nod and leaving Jack alone once again.

Angel watched as Bobby slept. Jack hadn't returned yet and he was starting to worry. For the hundreth time since that afternoon he wondered if they had made the right choice.

"Well I'm glad you're here" Bobby's tone turned serious "cause we need to talk"

"About?" Jerry asked.

"About Victor Sweet" Bobby's voice was hard, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"What about him?" Angel tried to act calm even though his insides were jumping more than they should considering he was an ex-marine and this was just his brother. His brother who had a mean right hook and a deep desire to protect their youngest brother he corrected himself.

"Don't fuck with me Angel" Bobby's tone didn't leave room for argument "I want to know how he died, what happened, and why my youngest brother is acting like he does".

"How's Jack acting?" Jerry cut in.

Bobby's sneer told them it was pointless. He smelled blood and he wouldn't stop until he found the wound.

"I killed him" Angel's words made Bobby look at him. "I shot him. We made a deal with Evan and the rest of the guys, they got the money from Ma's insurance in exchange for turning on Sweet. Sweet killed Evan to get back at us. Then I shot him, and the guys dumped him in the river"

"I killed Fowler, he was in on it" Jerry spoke up.

They explained how Green had told them about Fowler, about how Green had been killed, how Fowler had surprised them in the house, leaving out Jack's scheming and torturing, they told the story about how Fowler's house went up in flames. A smile formed on Bobby's lips at that.

When they stopped talking they watched Bobby carefully.

"And Jack?"

"Jack's been taking this really hard Bobby... He.." Jerry cleared his throat that was dry as sandpaper "He had another breakdown"

Bobby's eyes clouded over at this and Jerry felt terrible. It felt so wrong to use Bobby's worry for Jack like this, but what other choice did they have. Bobby was still fragile, even if he didn't believe himself to be, they had to make sure he got better. He couldn't know what had happened that day, not now, maybe not ever. They knew their brother well enough to know that it would devastate him. This was not the time. If they told him the truth he would flip, and they were not willing to risk his health. They knew that if and when he found out about their lie he would be angry. More than angry, he would be furious. But he would be alive. And that was what mattered right now.

Well soon Bobby can go home and we can leave this awful hospital. As for the lie, do you think they made the right choice? Or will it come back to bite them in the ass?