Protect Me, Love Me - Chapter 18 (Part 1)
Chapter 18
“Tragedy”
Disclaimer - I do not own Four Brohters
Pairing - Bobby/Jack
Rating - M
“Talking”
‘Thinking’
(blah) - Translation at beginning of chapter
x-x-x-x
Evelyn came home early that night and by the time she did it was 3pm and Jack was done with his homework. When she called up the stairs for him he yawned before dragging himself off the bed and going to her.
She was in the kitchen slowly preparing dinner when he got there and he smiled, kissed her cheek, and sat at the table. “So how was school?” she asked and Jack gave her a disgruntled look. “How do you always know when I’ve had a lousy day?” he asked and she smiled and patted his cheek without saying anything.
Rolling his eyes Jack leaned back, glanced in the dinning room to see Angel and Bobby talking, then looked back at her. “Its just one of my teachers is a real… jerk… but me and Xan came back here and cooled off so…” he shrugged but frowned suddenly as he felt his vision start to blur.
He had felt like this before too, a few minutes after Xan had left, but now it was like someone had gripped his chest and wasn’t letting go.
“Jack? You ok?” he hard and shook his head and looked up at her “Ya, sorry just a headache.” He muttered as he rubbed his head. His senses were like they were on fire, coming through even his drugged out state, and something inside him was suddenly terrified.
“So you finish your homework?” his ‘ma asked and he nodded, glancing up when Bobby and Angel came into the kitchen and sat with him.
“So, Jack, you wanna tell me anything?” Bobby asked and the question caught him off guard and he blinked at his brother. Jack frowned as he looked between Angel and Bobby before he shrugged and shook his head “No… why?” he asked completely caught off guard by the question.
“I think we need to talk.” Bobby said and something in his voice made Jack want to run and hide. Just when Bobby started to stand the phone rang and the pain in Jack’s stomach got worse. ”Hello? Oh, hello Alexander… yes he’s right here, hold on.” Evelyn said then handed him the phone.
Standing himself, Jack frowned as he put the phone to his ear. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked and heard the few really good soft, sad, songs playing in the background. “J… I need you to come over for a minute… theres something I gotta tell you.” Xander’s voice was devoid of any emotion and Jack frowned more.
“Xannie, what’s wrong?” he asked, turning his back on both his brothers. “Nothings wrong Jack I just need to tell you something, please…” Xander said softly and Jack shrugged “Ya… ok, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He said then hung up the phone.
“I gotta go over to Xan’s…” he said walking out of the kitchen, only Bobby followed him. “Jack, we gotta talk now!” Bobby’s voice was hard and something in it finally made Jack snap.
Turning around abruptly he glared at the oldest Mercer brother “Well too fucking bad! You know, whenever I need to talk you’re always to fucking busy; but when you wanna talk I gotta drop everything?!!” he barked.
Something in Bobby’s eyes changed and he seemed to soften a little but there was still a rough edge in his voice when he spoke. “Damnit, Jack, I’m not the enemy here!” Bobby’s words flowed over him and in that second he said what would change everything.
“Yes! Yes you are!!! You are the fucking enemy!!” he screamed and barely registered the shock on, not only Bobby’s face, but his ‘ma’s and Angel’s. He hit the front steps running, his feet barely touching the ground, as he ran as fast as he could to Xander’s.
~~~
Jack opened the front door of Xander’s house panting lightly, angry beyond words. “Hey!? I’m here, what’s up?” he called as he walked into the kitchen. “Ooo! Your dad made beef stew!” he said, some of his anger slipping away.
Mr. Barlow made the best beef stew in the world and whenever he did, no matter how angry Jack was, it always made him feel better. Jack filled two bowels and stuck them in the microwave for 20 seconds, just enough so the cameras would think he heated them up.
“You know, you tell me to come over then you ignore me!” Jack called as he grabbed the bowels and headed downstairs, where he heard the light music playing.
“Xander!” he called as he walked down the steps. When he got to the bottom he turned to the left and his entire body froze, time seemed to stop. His arms fell to his side, the bowels of stew shattering on the hardwood floor. Xander was up against the wall holding a black needle in his hands.
His mouth opened wordlessly as he took a hesitant step towards Xander “Wha-what are you doing?” he whispered and saw Xander look up at him, tears falling down his face.
“They’re here, Jack… they found us.” He said as the song ‘A Silent Murder’ came on. A sob tore up his throat and he took another step forward only to come into contact with a force-field and his eyes widened and he shook his head; realizing just what was happening.
“No, no, Xannie! Please, we can run… we’ll… please don’t do this to me, please!” Jack said as he laid his hands on the force-field.
Xander gave him a watery smile and shook his head “I just needed to tell you goodbye..” he whispered the last words. Jack watched frozen, horrified, as Xander let his wings out… the wings looked almost identical to his except Xander’s had a more liquid blue-green in them.
Jack banged on the force-field with everything he had, his drugged out state starting to slip away into panic. “NO! No, no, no, no, Alexander please don’t!!!” he screamed his voice jumping and vibrating off the walls. He watched, screaming and sobbing, as Xander pushed the needle into his arm.
“ALEXANDER!!” he screamed as his cousin’s eyes widened in shock before his head seemed to fall back against the wall, eyes slipping closed in peace.
The force-field shuddered and Jack fell to his knees before crawling over to his cousin, who was barely breathing. “Please, please, don’t leave me… you’re all I got, Xannie please…” he whispered.
He felt the bond that he shared with Xander shudder and slowly fade as Xander breathed out his last breath. Jack felt himself screaming for anyone, “Alexander!! Please somebody!!! Somebody help me!!! HELP!! Seth, Kerra!!” he screamed over the pounding in his ears.
Pain over came his entire body as he felt the bond snap; it felt like every bone in his body was being broken and his flesh was on fire.
Jack didn’t even register the front door upstairs slamming open or two pairs of feet storming through the house. He heard yelling then Seth was next to him, talking to him, then pulling him away from Xander’s cold, limp, body. Nothing registered as he slowly slipped back inside his mind, the pain being too much.
~~~~~~~~No one’s POV
After Seth and Kerra found Alex and Jack they called an ambulance and Kerra called her parents. When the Barlow’s came home the ambulance was taking Alex to the hospital, doing CPR.
Maria Barlow took one look at her son and fell to her knees, screaming and sobbing. Christopher went in search of his daughter and found her crying, Tommy holding her, on the floor in the kitchen the phone next to her. Seth was sitting in front of a non-responsive Jack on the couch.
Christopher grabbed everyone, Seth having to carry Jack, and sped to the hospital, calling the Mercers. When they arrived at the hospital Evelyn, Bobby, Angel, and Jerry were waiting for them.
Evelyn took in her own son’s blank eyes and immediately asked where Alex was. Kerra by that time was carved from stone and simply said he killed himself and made Jack watch.
As the doctors took Jack into a hospital room, when he showed signs of being catatonic, Bobby went over to Christopher, his brothers behind him, and looked him in the eye “You have cameras all over your house right? Well I wanna know what the fuck happened.” He said quietly. With that being said all four of them drove back to the Barlow residence
~~~~~~~Bobby’s POV
The drive was quiet and full of an unease that seemed to shake even Bobby Mercer. The look on his baby brothers face when he saw Jack terrified him.
When Kerra had said that Alex had killed himself he was caught off guard, since just a few hours before Alex and Jack were talking about moving on.
The car stopping startled Bobby out of his thoughts and he got out of the passenger side and walked up to the house. Christopher stood at the front door entrance, as the brothers went in, with tearful eyes.
Bobby looked back at him and sighed “We can watch it then just tell you what happened.” He suggested but the older man shook his head. Bobby had always respected Christopher and Maria Barlow because the two adults always treated them like people instead of trouble makers like everyone else.
Christopher led the way down to the basement, though he stumbled when his eyes were drawn to the stop where his son had… done ‘it’. He opened a locked room and walked inside; the room had five rows of five cameras and Angel snorted “Well that would be a good entertainment center.” And Jerry smacked him in the back of his head.
“O…ok… I’ll go back a few hours… do… do you know when he left Jack’s?” Chris’s soft voice tugged on Bobby’s heart and he gave him a sad look. “Ya, bout 2pm.” He said shortly. Chris nodded and turned to the camera and typed something into a computer.
The screen came up and they watched Alex run through the door, locked it, and stepped away from it. “Why does he look so scared?” Chris asked softly, but Bobby shrugged and watched.
Alex stood in the entrance hall for a good 4-5 minutes before he slowly walked down to the basement. They heard the whimper clear as day and Bobby saw tears fall down Christopher’s face.
Downstairs Alex went to the lab and mixed chemicals, tears falling down his face. Christopher fast forward it when it became apparent that it was going to take some time. Two hours passed and Alex walked back out of the lab and went to the wall and slid down, bringing his knees to his chest. They watched as the music turned on, then everything seemed to go silent.
“Hey? What happened?” Angel asked, confusion in his voice. Christopher shook his head “I don’t know, it’s like the sound was disconnected, I can’t put it back!” he snapped staring in awe and horror as his son used powers that would tell he was a Flyer. They watched the phone call then, a few minutes later, watched Jack come in the front door.
~~~~~~
“Hey!? I’m here, what’s up?” Jack called then he walked into the kitchen and saw the huge pot on the stove “Ooo! Your dad made beef stew!” he exclaimed then stuck some in the microwave for 20 seconds then grabbed them.
“You know, you tell me to come over then you ignore me!” Jack called as he walked down the stairs with the bowels. “Xander!!” he called again as he got to the bottom stairs.
That was the last thing they heard; but they saw the bowels shatter to the ground as Jack stared at Alex, who was sitting on the floor.
Jack walked toward Alex and Alex said something to him which made Jack sob, tears falling, and take another step forward. Jack looked confused then he started to shake his head as he touched the air, only for his hand to press against some kind of invisible force-field.
Jack put both of his hands on the field and seemed to lean against it, Alex looked up at the other teen and gave him a watery smile and said something. Amazing liquid blue-green wings came out from Alex’s back and seemed to sort of surround him.
Screaming could be heard from the sound system upstairs, which was still connected, and Jack banged on the field sobbing. Xander pushed the needle into his arm and his eyes widened slightly, eyes dilating though… he looked at peace. His head fell back and he stared up at the ceiling, face paling and eyelids slowly drooping.
The air in front of Jack looked like it was rippling and then, suddenly, Jack fell forward to his knees and crawled over to Alex.
He pulled Alex into his lap and rocked back and forth, screaming at first, so loud they could hear what he was screaming from the microphones from upstairs, then whispering to Alex. Upstairs the front door opened again and Seth and Kerra stormed through, running through the house and stumbling down the stairs.
Sound was once again on and Kerra stood there for a brief second, shock on her face, before she ran over to her brother. “ALEXANDER!!!” she screamed falling to her knees next to Jack. Seth stood there staring at them, noticing Jack’s rocking but other wise unresponsive form.
Seth went forward and pulled Jack up, letting Kerra cradle her baby brother, and pulled Jack to the loveseat a few feet away. “What happened? Jack!! Jackie answer me!” Seth said then snapped his fingers in front of Jack’s eyes.
Kerra came over, pushed Seth away, and shook Jack’s shoulders “What the fuck happened to my brother!?!” she roared, shaking him.
“Answer me, Jack! Jack!?!” She yelled. Seth grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from Jack “Stop! Kerra, stop!!” Seth said and Kerra, tears falling, struggled against him
“Xan was all I had!!!” she screamed breaking away from him, turning, “That kid meant everything in the world to me!” she sobbed pointing to her brothers still form.
Seth shook his head, his face a mix of pain, “I know… but you need to get a hold of yourself… Go call Tommy and your parents!” he ordered and watched as she sobbed before stumbling up the stairs, keeping a tight grip on the railing.
Seth turned to Jack, smoothed his hair back, before going over to Xander. He kneeled down and picked up Alex’s upper body and ran his fingers threw Xander’s cru-cut haircut. “Fuck, Xannie, what happened?” he asked before slowly lowering Alex’s head to the ground again.
~~~
Upstairs Kerra fell to the floor crying hysterically as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed her mothers number. “Mom….” She sobbed and she seemed to fold in half, laying her forehead on the cool tile.
The front door opened again as she sobbed into the cell phone while her mother yelled to her asking what was happening, what was wrong. Tommy came running in, sliding on the floor as he dropped to his knees in front of Kerra.
“Alex…” she sobbed before hanging up and curling into her mate’s arms. Tommy wrapped his long arms around her trembling body; rocking her back and forth gently. He looked up when Seth came up the stairs slowly, one hand around Jack’s waist as if practically carrying him.
“What happened? Where’s Xander?” Tommy asked and every window, and glass, in the kitchen shattered and Seth almost dropped Jack in shock.
Kerra lifted her head and stared at Jack “Stop it! We can’t deal with you exploding!” she said her voice trembling but her words soothing and firm.
Seth slowly walked Jack into the living room and put him on the couch before kneeling in front of him. “You need to tell me what happened! Jack please…” He whispered the last before putting his hands on either side of Jack’s face and tilting the younger teens head up so their eyes met.
Kerra walked into the living room, now face emotionless, with Tommy by her side. “I’m gonna call an ambulance.” Tommy said before going back into the kitchen.
“Where is he?” Kerra asked and Seth glanced at her before looking back into Jack’s blank face. “Too deep, I can’t get to him… he’s only ever done this once and only Alex could get to him…” Seth whispered the last as he walked over to Kerra.
“If he losses control we won’t be able to reach him you do realize that right?” Kerra said before going back to the kitchen and sliding down the wall. Seth went back over to Jack and rubbed Jack’s temples with his thumbs.
“You have to come back… Jack listen to me, it’s gonna be ok. Nothing is gonna hurt you I promise.” Seth said before he tried a different approach.
“I’m gonna call Evelyn… you really wan’ her to see you like this? Or Bobby, Jerry, and Angel? Jack? Please, Jackie, tell me what happened… I have to know Jack…” he whispered before leaning back with a sigh.
The front door opened again and the paramedics came in and Seth got up, his own tears now falling now, and led them down the stairs.
Before long they were carrying Alex, on a stretcher, back out the door just as the Barlow’s pulled up. Maria Barlow’s screams echoed through the house and then Christopher came through looking around, as Seth went back to sit in front of Jack.
~~~~~~~~~~
Christopher shut off the camera feed and sat there, trying to process what he’d seen; he hadn’t even noticed his son’s wings…
Bobby stood up so fast it startled everyone in the room. “Bobby?” Christopher asked and Bobby looked at him.
“Well its obvious that Seth and Kerra know something about what the fucks going on, and I think its time they shared with the class.” He said with a glint in his eyes.
Everything that had happened between what he’d learned from listening to Jack and Alex, the fight between him and Jack, and now this… its was just too much and he wanted answers.
This time it was Bobby driving, or speeding, to the hospital. When he parked they all rushed in and found Evelyn right away. “’Ma?” Angel called, running to her, and she turned to him. Her face was pink and blotchy from crying, her eyes red and puffy.
“Christopher, the doctors gave Maria a sedative and she’s asleep in a private room.” she said, voice hollow, and Christopher nodded slowly.
“’Ma… where’s Jack?” Bobby asked and Evelyn looked at him before turned around and leading them down a hall, tears slipping down her face. She led them to an open room, with a huge window in front so they could see inside. Jack was sitting on the bed seemingly staring into space; Seth and Kerra were on either side of him.
Bobby went to go into the room but both Angel and Jerry stopped him. “Bobby we have to be careful…” Jerry said slowly but Bobby shook off his hand. “Ang, you tell ‘ma what we learned.” Bobby ordered and stomped into the room.
Kerra looked up at him with a tear stained face but Bobby was looking at Jack. “What the fuck is going on!?” he snapped at them, finally glancing between them but then he refocused on Jack. “I don’t know…” Kerra started but Bobby’s glare stopped her.
“Did you forget the cameras? We know what happened and I want to know what’s going on? How are all of you together in this?! What’s going on with Jack?” he barked, voice getting louder as he went on.
“Keep your voice down, Bobby, you’re scaring him!” Seth said softly as he stared at Jack. During the whole time Bobby was in there he hadn’t even looked up at him.
Seth smoothed back Jack’s hair like a brother or a parent or something, then turned to him. “Come on..” he muttered “It’s time…” he finished and walked out of the room into the hall; Angel, Jerry, Sofi, Camille, Tommy, Cecilia, Christopher, and Evelyn looked at him as he walked out.
When he opened his mouth Kerra grabbed his arm “We agreed…” she started but Seth pulled away from her.
“And fucking look what’s happened! Xander’s dead and Jack’s catatonic! We were wrong… and now we’re paying the price.” He said and Kerra sobbed and turned away before looking back at him.
“They find out; the cops get involved and then it’ll be all over the news!” she snapped as tears fell. Seth shook his head and Tommy wrapped his arms around her, soothing her.
Seth took a breath and looked at them all “Jack’s my brother…” he paused and looked at Bobby, Jerry, and Angel, “My biological brother. When we were younger… no…” he shook his head and tried to start again.
“Our parents were part of this cult… they hated Flyers and everything to do with Flyers. Well guess what? when I turned 5yrs old I got my wings… Kerra and Xander a year later, then Jack a few months after that, on his 4th birthday.” He said slowly, watching their eyes widened in shock.
Evelyn shook her head and Bobby suddenly felt sick “He, he doesn’t have wings though.” His ‘ma said and Bobby looked to her then back at Seth, who rolled his eyes.
“He has them he just doesn’t let them out.” He said and Kerra cut in “They tortured us because of what we are.. when we escaped we separated, but me and Alex stayed together while Seth got recaptured and Jack got away by himself.” She said slowly glancing at Seth.
The sick feeling in his stomach intensified as Bobby watched their exchange; they were keeping a lot quiet he realized. Seth took a breath “The only time Jack has been like this, the only one to reach him was Alex.” He spoke softly.
“Why didn’t he tell us?!” Evelyn asked, tears falling. Kerra looked at her and shook her head “Jack hates what he is… with a passion… he’s been so obsessed with pretending that he isn’t a Flyer that he just…” she trailed off and shook her head. Seth swallowed and Bobby looked at him, saw he was battling if he should speak or not.
“What?” his voice hoarse and dry, and Seth looked to him. “Jack’s empathic… everything going around, everything that happened to us, he felt all of us… and them.” He said softly before he walked away.
Cecilia walked with him to the waiting room, followed by Bobby.
In the waiting room Seth had sat in an armchair and put his head in his hands. Cecilia went over to him and pulled his head to her stomach, her fingers running through his hair soothingly.
“What happens now?” Bobby asked and Seth looked up and shook his head “I don’t know… He’s so far deep in his head I just don’t know how to reach him.” He said and Bobby nodded before going back to the hallway.
End Part 1
Hey ok… don’ hate me!!! Please… go read the next part!
~shadow