Author's Note: Thanks to my beta BluCrayons! Love you and love your advice!

Chapter 26: Justifiable

7 years prior

Micky lay in his bed trying to go to sleep, but knowing it was extremely futile. He had never really had a good night's sleep in his entire life. He was 14 years old and always stressed and worried about what would happen the next day. His life was a living hell and he always wanted to do something about it, but his father kept him so drugged that he never had the drive to fight back. He was weakened by hunger as his father only gave him a sandwich at night and half the time he only ate half of it. When one of the girls was being punished, his father didn't allow them to eat, so he'd sneak away and try to give them a little bit of his own food.

Tonight he was tired from hunger, though he'd been able to eat his entire sandwich, and from the work he'd done that day helping his father dig a grave for someone. He wasn't sure who it was for, but he never dared to ask. They'd gone out into a nearby crop field and chose a patch that hadn't been planted yet. His father made him dig about 6 feet down before throwing a wrapped body down in it. The farm was only one of several places his father chose to bury bodies, including their own backyard.

Just as he started falling asleep, he heard noises through the wall. He knew on the other side of his room was Rose and Sarah's room. Rose was his adopted sister and was a year older and Sarah was his age, but had only been captive with them for about a year. He didn't know what was going on; the only people in the house was his father, Micky, Rose and Sarah and his father had gone to bed hours ago after locking all the doors and windows to keep them from escaping. His sister Heather and the few brothers that were still too young to be out of the house were away somewhere with Micky's mother; he wasn't sure where and he didn't really care. So he sat up and listened to the noises through the wall, hoping neither were being hurt.

"Please, don't!" Sarah exclaimed loudly. Micky leapt out of bed, but nearly fell over as his head spun. He was too hungry and sudden movements were making him dizzy. But he could still hear.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch, and stop squirming!" said a male voice through the wall. Micky immediately recognized it as his 19 year old brother Danny and wondered what he was doing here; he hadn't seen Danny in over a year since he'd turned 18 and left.

"Leave her alone," Rose said as Micky finally found the strength to run to the door. Her voice was quiet and stern. Micky knew Danny wouldn't listen to her, though.

"Shut up, bitch, you're next," Danny snapped. Micky stumbled into the hallway and made his way to the door to Sarah and Rose's room, hearing Sarah's pleas the whole way.

"Please, don't," Sarah begged.

"You can't touch her," Rose tried again. "You aren't allowed to touch us without Chucky's consent."

"I thought I told you to shut up," Danny said. Micky opened the door just in time to see Danny punch Sarah squarely in the face. "And I told you to stop squirming! It'll only make it harder for you!"

"Get off her," Micky said trying to sound bold. Micky's sudden presence stunned Danny for a moment who turned to look at him. Danny was sitting on Sarah pinning her to the bed and trying to rip her clothes. Her night shirt had already been torn open and she was definitely struggling. Tears were streaming down her face and blood started to drip from her nose where Danny had punched her. Rose was sitting in the corner with a bloody lip and she looked to be in a lot of pain. Her face said she wanted to help, but was in too much pain to move.

"Get lost, squirt," Danny laughed and turned back to Sarah, using one hand to hold her hands together above her head and the other to start tearing at her underwear.

"Danny, Dad's gonna be mad," Micky said feeling anger boiling inside him. He wasn't drugged up this time; so his anger was left completely unchecked.

"Yeah, are you gonna tell him?" Danny laughed as he finally ripped Sarah's underwear.

"Maybe," Micky admitted clenching his fist.

"Mind your own damn business, you little runt," Danny barked. "This is a woman's place. Under a man and making him happy." Micky watched as Danny positioned himself directly over her; his pants were already undone and he was about to rape her. Sarah continued to beg for him to stop and was sobbing. Micky couldn't help himself. His anger took over his entire body and he ran straight for his brother, shoving him with the little amount of strength he had. It was enough, to knock Danny off Sarah who immediately scrambled off the bed and ran over to Rose.

"No, it's not!" Micky yelled as his brother looked at him in shock. Danny started to get up and Micky knew Danny was going to hurt him and then just go back to raping Sarah before turning to Rose. Micky cast a quick glance at Sarah and Rose who were holding each other as tightly as they could, both bloody and bruised. Micky clenched his fist and as swung as hard as he could as his brother advanced on him. He didn't care what happened to him; but he couldn't stand there and let Rose and Sarah be hurt that way.

Danny was knocked back into the bed and Micky jumped on top of him, somehow throwing several punches with both hands; each blow landed on Danny's face. Micky wasn't really sure what he was doing or how he was even doing it. Everything just sort of blurred. He was dizzy and he couldn't focus, but he wouldn't stop punching. He wasn't even sure how it was that Danny wasn't fighting back. Maybe his brother was too stunned to fight or maybe Micky was just stronger than he thought, but Micky didn't stop.

It wasn't until he felt hands on him, pulling him away from his brother that he finally stopped. His vision was blurred and it took him a moment to realize that it was Rose and Sarah who'd pulled him off his brother. His ears were ringing a little bit and he suddenly felt weak; like his knees were gonna give out on him. Rose carefully led him over to her bed and sat him down, but Micky couldn't take his eyes off his brother. He was lying limp on Sarah's bed and his face was almost indistinguishable under all the blood.

"Micky," Rose said softly. "Are you ok?"

"I...I…" Micky started. He really didn't know what to say. He didn't even really understand what had happened. "We should get my dad."

"No," Sarah said quickly as Micky tried to get up.

"We have to help him," Micky argued. "I'll get in trouble."

"Micky," Rose said slowly pushing him down on the bed. "I don't think there's anything anyone can do to help."

"What do you mean?" Micky asked.

"I think he's dead," Rose said slowly.

"He can't be dead," Micky said softly refusing to believe it. Sarah walked over to his brother very slowly and carefully checked his pulse.

"He's not breathing," Sarah said. "And I can't find a pulse."

"I couldn't have killed him," Micky said. "I'm...he's bigger than me...how...why didn't he fight me?"

"Micky, he was probably startled," Rose answered.

"I didn't mean to…" Micky said still staring at the bloody corpse of his brother. "Oh God...what did I do?"

"Micky, we know you didn't mean to do this," Sarah started.

"But you did what you had to," Rose finished. "He was hurting us. If you hadn't done that, he'd have hurt both of us far worse than we are now."

"What did he do to you?" Micky asked suddenly snapping out of his haze remembering that Rose had been hurt, too.

"I tried what you did," Rose answered. "Got the shit kicked out of me for my efforts."

"I'm sorry," Micky said. "I didn't hear anything at first…"

"It's ok," Sarah said wrapping her arms around him. "You saved me. That's all that matters."

"We still need to get my dad," Micky said. "He'll kill me if he finds out about this."

"Exactly why we shouldn't get your dad," Rose said.

"We'll just come up with something," Micky said.

"Like what?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," Micky answered. "Maybe he'll go easier on me if I just tell him the truth."

"Maybe?" Rose scoffed. "He'll beat you to within an inch of your life and we both know it."

"So what then?" Micky asked.

"We do what your dad does," Rose answered. "We cover it up. He'll never know. Danny left a year ago and never came back until now. So it wouldn't raise any red flags if he were never seen again, right? Maybe he OD'd and got labeled a John Doe. Maybe he got lost in the woods and died. Maybe he got on a ship and fell overboard. Maybe he just took off."

"Rose…" Micky started unsure her plan would work.

"This will work," Rose said. "We just have to stick to this story. Clean all this up and never talk about this ever again. He was never here. He never attacked us. Nothing happened."

"What are we gonna do with his body?" Sarah asked.

"Bury it," Rose answered.

"And how are we gonna explain your injuries?" Micky asked.

"Your dad was pretty trashed tonight," Rose said. "I doubt he'll even ask anything. He'll probably think he did it."

"I don't…" Micky trailed off.

"Micky, stop," Rose said. "I know you're scared. You defended us, we're gonna defend you now. I just need you to help me bury his body. I can't dig the grave on my own. Sarah can clean up in here as best she can."

"Absolutely," Sarah said. Micky nodded and something in him made him get up to help Rose carry his brother's body outside. It was almost as if he wasn't even there; it was like a strange out of body experience. Even as they began to dig on a spot they both knew was empty, they just went about the motions. They dug as far as they could and carefully rolled Danny's body in the hole.

"You sure he's dead?" Micky asked before they started putting the dirt over him.

"He's not breathing," Rose said. "He has no pulse. I know it upsets you, Micky, but you did this for us. You defended us."

"I killed him," Micky said staring down the hole. It was beginning to hit him and he wasn't sure he could handle it.

"Micky, you had no choice," Rose said.

"I killed him, though," Micky said not really caring; the fact was he killed someone...his own brother even. "My father kills people. My father buries people."

"Micky, listen to me," Rose said firmly. "You are nothing like your father. Nothing. He kills for the fun of it; he kills for sport. You killed your brother because you had to. And you didn't even mean to. You were just trying to defend us and you did. Look at what he did to me. He was about 2 seconds from raping Sarah. Don't you dare think that what you did is anything like what your father does. You're my baby brother, Micky. I love you because you care. Because by some miracle you are nothing like any of the rest of your family. Got that?"

"Yes," Micky said. Her words honestly touched him. He wasn't sure he believed her, but he was at least feeling better about everything.

"I'll finish here," Rose said wrapping him into a tight embrace. "Go clean yourself up. Give me your clothes; they're covered in blood and we need to destroy them too. When you're done with that, go check on Sarah. I love you, Micky. Never forget that." Micky nodded and took his clothes off. He felt a little weird standing there in his underwear, but honestly she'd seen him in worse. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave Rose out here to finish by herself, but looking at his hands, they were covered in both mud and blood. He knew he had to clean himself up, too and he realized the sun was beginning to rise. His father would wake up soon and they would need to be cleaned up by then.

He walked back into the house slowly and quietly so as not to wake up his father and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Thoughts swam furiously through his head as the water washed the blood off him. He couldn't really take it anymore; he sunk to his knees and started sobbing. He really couldn't believe that he'd actually taken a life. No matter what the reason, he had still killed someone. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forgive himself for that. But he also knew that he would feel a lot worse if he'd done nothing and let his brother rape Sarah and Rose. He knew he'd done what was best, but he still hated it. After a few minutes, he was startled slightly when the shower curtain moved, but was relieved to see Sarah standing there. She didn't say anything to him; she just took off her own clothes and climbed in the shower with him, wrapping him in her arms and letting him cry.

They sat there like that for an hour until the water ran cold and all the tears were washed away. True to their word, no one uttered a word about what happened to anyone and they went about their lives as normal. Micky wished he could at some point find the courage to fight back again, but he never could. Not until the day a few years later when he decided to escape with Rose and Sarah.