Chapter 2

The News

It surprised not only Detective Blake, but also Detective Longer and the sketch artist just how much detail Alex remembered of her attackers. She had been trained from a very young age to keep her eyes open and to notice things most people never did. As she gave them the descriptions, she could see the detectives giving one another looks. She knew exactly what they were thinking. She just didn't care.

Since she was so descriptive, it didn't take long to get through the sketches. Once they were done, Detective Longer left with the artist while Detective Blake was going to stay behind with Alex until her family arrived.

Alex sighed, flopping down onto her stomach flat on the bed, avoiding her injured side. She just wanted to go home.

"Alex?" A soft voice asked in question from the doorway.

Alex glanced up, her green eyes landing on a figure Alex has only recently met. Esme Perin, a woman who lived in the same building as Kerry stood in the doorway looking at her with pinched eyebrows, dressing in a pair of baby blue scrubs. "Are you okay, sweetheart? What's happened?" she asked in worry as she came in. Clicking of nails drew the girls attention to the dog trotting by the older womans side, obviously an on duty service dog. A beautiful german shepherd with bright eyes and a service dog vest looked up at her, cocking his head to the side as if sensing her emotional distress.

Blake stood up, as if to block the way of the woman as he looked at Alex, making sure it was okay for the woman to enter. Alex nodded and then turned to Esme, not really sure how to answer that question. "Uh, I was...We were...Uh…"

Esme's eyebrows pinched even more, glancing at the detective to ensure it was okay for her to approach. When it was made apparent that she was she moved around him to sit on the bed next to her. She raised a hand hesitantly, eventually having it rest onto her head, brushing hair away. "It's okay," she soothed the girl. Her grey eyes seemed to scan the girl with a certain knowledge, she had seen this look, but on men and women much older than the girl in the bed. Men and woman coming back from war with memories plugging them, haunting them. "It's okay," she repeated in her gentle voice before looking to her service dog. She made a clicking noise with her tongue and patted the bed, causing the german shepherd to leap up and lay between the two females.

The dog instantly went to Alex, licking her face. The girl moved back, a small huff that slightly resembled a chuckle. She petted the dag, running her fingers through his fur. "Who is this friendly boy?"

"This is Jax, my service dog that works with me here at the hospital," Esme told the girl gently. "I got him just after my accident."

Alex glanced up at the young woman before looking back down to the dog. It wasn't her place to ask and she honestly didn't need to know. "He's beautiful," Alex told her.

"Oh now that will just go to his head." Esme rolled her eyes, smiling sweetly at the girl, stroking her dog behind the ear. "But what he's really good at, is making you feel better when you need it most." she said, taking the girls hand in hers. Even though she had no idea what was going on, she still tried to comfort the girl.

Alex's smile fell and she pulled her hand back from Esme. She didn't need anybody to comfort her. It wasn't her that was dead. She was the one that lived. She had been the one that should have done something more. She could have tried harder to keep her parents safe,

"Alex," Esme began. "Can you tell me what happened? So I can try and help you? Please." the woman begged her gently, not in a pushing manner.

"Alex? Alex!" a voice yelled from the hallway.

Alex glanced to the door. A moment later, Elliot ran in, his hair a mess, his face extremely pale, though around his eyes were very dark. his eyes were red and puffy, evidence that he had been crying. Alex wasn't happy at that. She never wanted her brother to be in such emotional pain. He froze for a moment when he saw her on the hospital bed before he rushed to her, taking her in his arms, pulling her close to his chest.

"Oh my God," he sighed shakily. "Thank God you're okay."

Esme moved off the bed, wanting to give him more room, clicking her tongue to get Jax to stay where he was for the moment, hoping he'd help stabilize Alex's emotional levels. Her intelligent grey eyes analyzing every movement coming from the two as she stood by Detective Blake's chair.

"Hey, I'm okay," Alex groaned, having been hit in the side by her brother when he hugged her. "Shh, it's okay," she hushed, trying to comfort him.

"Okay?" he gaped, pulling back just enough to look at the girl. "Okay? Fuck, Alex. You almost died!"

"No, I didn't," she told him, placing her hand on his cheek, wiping away tears. "I'm okay, Ellie." Jax seemed to let out a whine and lick her chin again.

He sighed, nodding his head slightly, easing back onto the bed next to the dog. He glanced at it, placing his hand on the dog to pet before noticing Esme. He nodded his head to her, but didn't pay much mind at the moment. He had family to worry about.

Esme nodded back to him, her face obviously pained for him as she started to piece together the story.

A moment later, Marcus, Zack and Nathan rushed in, huffing and puffing. They moved next to the bed to be close to their sister as well.

"Jeez, El," Marcus huffed, completely out of breath. "You couldn't wait for us?"

"No," Ellie told them simply.

"What's going on, anyways?" Nathan asked. "We just get a call saying Alex is in the hospital from some shooting and that's it!"

"You okay?" Zack asked the girl, squeezing next to her.

She nodded her head, taking his hand. He was almost as visibly shaken up about the news as Ellie. Zack was the most innocent of the boys in the family. The news was going to break him into pieces.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Zack asked.

Alex's face fell even more, if that was possible. She glanced over to Detective Blake for help.

"Why don't you all sit down?" Blake asked them.

"Why do we need to sit down?" Marcus asked. "What's going on?"

"Just listen to him, Marcus," Alex told him.

Esme stepped out for the room, coming back with a few more chairs from out in the halls waiting area so to accommodate the group, also telling her supervisor she needed to care for another patient.

"Thank you, Esme," Elliot told her.

Esme smiled slightly at him. "It's no problem, kind of why I'm here." she said motioning to her baby blue scrubs and her hospital ID.

"Still, it's appreciated," Ellie told her. He turned to Blake and asked, "So, who are you?"

"I've Detective Blake with the NYPD," he introduced. "I'm very sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, and it's painful to me for a tragedy such as this has struck such a wonderful seeming family. I'm afraid that Alex and your parents had been jumped by gang members and that your mother and father didn't survive the attack," he said bowing his head. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and I promise you, my partner and I, along with the rest of the NYPD are not going to rest until those responsible are caught and brought to justice," he was quick to assure. Esme's hands were at her mouth in an instant, horror on her face before she gained control once more, looking over the family.

"Th-they're what?" Zack asked.

"B-But why?" Nathan asked.

"Your parents fought bravely but I'm afraid the gang members had guns, Alex was lucky enough to escape with only a graze from a bullet." Blake told them looking at the boys sadly

"A what?" Elliot yelled, quickly looking to the gir.

"Ellie, I'm fine," she insisted. "I've had worse."

"Worse? Worse than a gunshot? The hell you're fine!"

Esme stepped forward, placing a hand on Elliot's shoulder, easing him back with no words, just a gentle but firm touch. She looked to the girl as Jax began to whine a bit louder, pressing closer to the girl. "Alex, how are you feeling?" she asked gently. "Any pain, or maybe any dizziness?"

"I'm fine," she insisted again. She liked how she managed to calm her brother down, but Alex didn't like how Esme was drawing the attention to her. No, Alex didn't need it. She had to make sure her brother's were okay with the news.

"Alright, good." Esme said in a final like tone, glancing at Elliot as if to say, see? She turned to the boys next. "Hi," she said gently shifting away. "I'm Esme, you can call me Essy though, if you like," she said, seeming to focus on Zack, who was more visibly distressed.

"Y-Y-You're Esme?" Zack muttered, glancing up at her, mind getting distracted.

"That's right," Esme said kneeling down and taking his hands gently into hers. "It's nice to meet you." she said thumbs rubbing circles into his hands. She had to keep the nerve endings from going haywire.

"Uh, this is Zack," Alex told her. "And that's Nathan and Marcus."

Esme looked around at the boys. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," she said looking incredibly sad and honest about that fact. "How are all of you feeling?" she asked them now.

"They're gone?" Nathan muttered, pacing as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm afraid so Nathan," Esme said. She seemed determined to keep them calm, not so not to deal with it, but so they don't have panic attacks and hurt themselves.

"Why is Alex okay then?" Zack muttered. "I mean, Mom and Dad were the strongest people I ever k`1 new, besides Elliot."

"They were very brave, they protect your sister. Putting her before themselves," Blake said coming to stand behind the woman.

"A warning," Alex blurted out, looking to Elliot without realizing she was doing it. "Said something about redheads keeping out of some bosses business."

Elliot shook his head to himself, not realizing Alex knew exactly what the people had been talking about. "No," he muttered, getting up off the bed. "I-I, uh, have to make a call." With that, Elliot was out of the room.

"Speaking of call," Marcus said. "You should probably call Kerry."

Esme looked up in worry, but she couldn't follow, knowing she had to care for the younger siblings. "If, you don't feel up to it, Alex, I can call her for you," she said looking at the girl, letting her make the decision. No need to baby the girl and make her feel worse.

"Actually, I think I'll do it," Marcus said. "I mean, out of all of us, besides Al and El, she's talked to me the most."

Esme nodded as she turned to focus on his two other brothers. "Need to borrow my phone...?"

"No, I got it," Marcus said, placing a grateful hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."

Esme smiled and took his hand, squeezing it. "No problem, sweetheart."

"Could I borrow your phone?" Alex asked, slowly getting off the bed. "I don't have mine and I need to make a call too."

"To whom?" Zack asked.
"Raph, stupid," Nathan muttered, rolling his eyes, but with a small smirk in place.

Uh, yeah. We'll go with that, she thought. "Please?"

"Of course," Esme said pulling the device from her pocket and handing it over. She clicked her tongue and Jax hopped from the bed to go see his master, who introduced him to Zack.

Elliot came back into the room, looking rather angry. Alex passed him, knowing very well he was angry with Mortu because of this. She walked into the bathroom and locked the door. She turned the faucet on, hoping to mask the sound of her talking. However, she was sure Esme would keep them talking.

Alex dialed the number and listened as it rang.

"Hello? Who is this? How did you get this number?"

"Mr. Mortu?" Alex asked. "This is Alex O'Neil. Elliot's sister?"

"Of course, child. I'm sorry about that," he told her.

"I want in," she told him. "I want to take you up on your offer."

"Wonderful. We'd be lucky to have you in the Guardians," he said, though he was slightly hesitant. And Alex knew why. "And I'm sorry to hear about your parents, child. Nobody should have to go through that."

"No, they shouldn't," Alex muttered to herself.

"I'll be in touch with you, child," he told her. "I already have your number. Which was why I was surprised to have this number pop up."

"I borrowed a phone," she told him.

"Of course," he said. "I'll be in touch."

"Thank you," she told him before hanging up.

Alex was sitting wide awake with her legs crossed under her as the television handing on the wall played with no sound. Zack was sleeping at the bottom of the bed she was in, wrapped in a ball with his feet hanging halfway off. Marcus was asleep with his head back in the chair next to her, and Nathan was asleep on the window ledge. Elliot had left, though not without some struggle, to go to work. Esme had spoken with him briefly about something before she had to go continue on her shift, promising to return with Jax later to check on them. Detective Blake gave Alex his personal number, telling her to call him if she ever needed anything before leaving with Detective Longer. April had stopped by as well, having been called by Elliot. She stayed for several hours until being shooed away by Alex, knowing April needed rest. April had agreed to call Robyn for them, as well.

So Alex was left with the room full of sleeping people, unable to fall asleep herself due to refusing to take any of the medications the nurses offered to help with that. That was until the door burst open, revealing a breathless Kerry, who was shoving off some very disgruntled nurses. She didn't have a lick of make-up on, was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and had none of her other 'punk' accessories. She just looked like a very young and very scared girl.

Alex put her finger to her lips, motioning for her to be quiet because of her brothers. They needed their rest. Kerry glared at the girl, before kicking the door shut. She marched over to the bed, looking over the siblings. There was a moment of silence as Kerry stood there, hands on her hips green eyes trembling as if holding something back.

Alex got up slowly, making sure not to hurt herself. She grabbed Kerry's wrist and pulled her out of the room and down the semi-lit hallway until they reached one of the small waiting rooms. Alex shut the door behind them to prevent any noise from getting out into the hallway and disturbing the other patients.

"What," She started but had to clear her throat. "What the hell happened?" she asked, voice still wavering.

"Jumped by Purple Dragons," Alex told her.

Kerry gritted her teeth, hand going into her short hair as she began to pace. "And your parents..." Kerry began.

Alex shook her head slowly, looking out the window. "Mom…" she started to say. "Mom went down first." Alex glanced down at her hands, still feeling the blood on them despite having been cleaned hours before. "Dad jumped in front of a bullet for me."

"It wasn't your fault," Kerry said automaticly. "Listen to me right now, before you even think it, it wasn't your fault." She said pointing to the girl. "None of that is on you, it's the fucking assholes that I'm going to castrate."

"I was trying to stop Mom's bleeding," Alex told her, wiping her hands on her pants.

Kerry breathed through her nose and moved over to her, taking her friends hands in hers and squeezing them. "Alex," Kerry said.

"I'm sorry, Kerry," Alex told her. "You were close to them too. You cared about them too. You've lost people too."

"Christ, Alex," Kerry said, tears finally falling. "They were your freaking parents, not mine and you're apologizing to me?"

"I read the letter you gave them," she told her. "Mom hung it up in their room with the painting. I know how you felt about them. I'm sorry."

"S-She, she what?" Kerry mumbled eyes wide. It was obvious the girl had never thought the letter would mean as much as it apparently did.

"She thought of you like a daughter, you know," Alex said with a soft smiled. She reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You're family."

"S-She...I...we...why?" Kerry finally settled on asking as tears only came faster, throat closing up. "Why them? W-Why now? Things were going so great for everyone and and...I'm going to fucking murder them." Kerry growled, green eyes going dark and growing a spark of insanity Alex had never seen before.

"No, Elliot is," Alex told her, clenching her fists. "And if he doesn't, I get next crack at it."

"We get next crack." Kerry corrected her.

"No," Alex said, thinking about the Guardians. "I do. They're mine."

"Fine then, I get to watch then. But if you think I'm going to sit here and let them get away without having some hand in catching them, you are so fucking wrong. I'm helping no matter what, so get over yourself," Kerry said.

Alex didn't know if that was possible, seeing as Alex was going to be in the Guardians and wouldn't be allowed to tell Kerry any of it.

"Have you told the guys?" Kerry mumbled. They're lives were so mixed together now, there was no way they could keep it separate.

Alex sighed, taking to one of the extremely uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. She shook her head, glancing down at her hands. "I don't know how to tell them," she told her. "I mean, I rehearsed what I said to you a hundred time in my head."

"Hey, I got no problem talking," Kerry mumbled. "I got it." she said placing a hand on her shoulder. "You head back and rest."

"You don't have to do that," Alex told her. "I mean, they're not you-"

"Yeah, yeah I do," Kerry corrected once more. "And they kind of were. I mean, you've met my real mom."

"How can she just leave you like that?" Alex asked, grateful for something other than her life for once to talk about.

"Mom never wanted kids, my dad and her worked together and started a fling, never expected I'd be the result. And she said my dad just disappeared." Kerry explained as she pulled her phone out. "She loves me, but...doesn't know what to do with me."

"What a fucking dick!" Alex screeched about her father.

"Chill, Alex," Kerry said surprisingly calm about it. "You can't really miss what you never had."

"Sure you can," Alex said. "You can long for what a father provides. I mean, you see if everywhere." Alex sighed. "I can't believe people like that. I mean, I can't wait for when I'm older and have kids."

"That kind of pain is nothing new to me, you become desensitized," Kerry kind of explained, not knowing how to put it exactly. "Eventually all your imaginings on what your life would be like with that kind of love pales in comparison to what it truly would be like."

"And now neither of us have our parents around," Alex muttered.

"But," Kerry mumbled quietly. "We do have each other...and Elliot. Elliot will know what to do...won't he?" Kerry mumbled quietly.

"Maybe," Alex muttered. Or maybe Mortu will be able to calm him down. Who knows with either of them.

"And the guys," Kerry said quickly now. "We have the guys. Speaking of which go lay down or something, you're pale as an anemic vampire."

"Just, uh," Alex muttered,standing up. "Make sure you tell them not to come over today." It was, after all, Sunday now. "Kind of have to do the funeral arrangements.

"Right," Kerry said. "We have work to do."