Jack Comes Back [A Four Brothers Fanfic]

Part 7

Ever since Jack, Jessica and Bobby had had the fight, Jack had shut himself in his room, only eating because Sofie would bring him food. Bobby watched TV every night, a scowl on his face, and every night there would be a crime. Bobby had no idea who it could be, but one night a bank was broken into for the second time he decided to do something about it.

***

The next night, instead of watching TV, he rounded up his 2 remaining brothers and told them about what he was going to do. Jerry walked right away, but Angel tossed Bobby a gun and grabbed his own.

"Let's do it."

Bobby and Angel conversed for about a half an hour. They stopped when they heard a creak on the stairs. It was Jack.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, putting a hand to his shoulder and leaning against the railing. Bobby looked away from him, but Angel, smooth, as always, answered, "Go back to bed. Nothin that involves your ass."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but a wave of pain hit him, and he walked back up the stairs obediently, shivering. Bobby looked around, seeing no one; Angel was already out the door, with the car started.

"Let's get this over with." He muttered, scowling.

Gunshots rang out, and then the click of an empty cartridge.

"Damn!" Bobby said. "Bitch's hard to catch!"

Angel's gun clicked empty as well, and he threw it down. "Good thing he doesn't have a gun."

Angel pointed to the figure standing in the shadows. He was in a tight black outfit, with no secret pockets or compartments to hide a gun. Bobby cracked his knuckles.

"Then we don't need guns either."

He walked forward, and, to his surprise, the figure walked up to him as well. Angel's eyes widened in the darkness. He had expected him to bolt as soon as he had the chance. Angel wondered why. He looked around on the top of the buildings, just in case this was a surprise attack. He thought back, and realized it had been easy to find the robbers.

"As if he wanted to be found." Angel thought out loud. He heard a grunt, and snapped back to reality.

He realized Bobby was locked in combat with the robber, and saw for the first time that the figure's face was hidden under a ski mask. Bobby noticed it also.

"Stop it!" the figure shouted from under Bobby, his voice muffled.

"No!" Bobby answered.

He swiftly pinned the figure down, and let him struggle.

"Let's see who wants to fuck with Detroit." He said, and yanked the ski mask off. In the dim streetlight, Bobby was astonished once again, for the person pinned to the ground was none other than Jessica.

"What the fuck are you doing, girl?" Angel said, recognizing Jessica.

"I told you." She said, her voice full of resentment, but her eyes full of pain. "You betrayed me. I only got what was coming."

Her voice sank to a whisper. "Jack wanted to betray me. I've fought too long."

Bobby got off of her, but Angel was far from finished with her.

"Aw. How sad." He said angrily.

Angel grabbed Jessica by the hood of her thin coat. "This is all bullshit." He muttered, dragging her to the car and dumping her roughly into it. She glared.

"Where are we going?"

Angel put the car in a stall and turned to face her. "You and Jack are going to work this shit out. I'm fucking tired of it. Girl, Jack gives you to your daddy so you become a criminal?"

Angel shook his head. "Uh-uh. That ain't how it works when you got a problem."

***

They drove in silence until they finally pulled into the driveway. Angel turned to Jessica once more.

"You ain't gonna run, are you, girl?"

Jessica shook her head, her eyes fearful.

"Good." Angel unlocked the doors.

As the trio walked into the house Jack was just coming out of the bathroom. He looked pale and sick. Jessica, quietly, but with concern, asked, "What's wrong, Jack?"

He shakily wiped his mouth. "I was sick. The pain..." He grabbed his shoulder. "It seems to get worse every day."

Jessica looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "Do you want me to check it?"

Jack looked reluctantly at her, and then at everyone else. "Ok." She helped him to his bedroom.

Bobby sank down onto the couch with Angel. "Well, that went well..."Angel said, trailing off.

Meanwhile, Jack grimaced as Jessica pulled off the bandages. She inspected it.

"It's infected." She diagnosed. "There may be a piece of the bullet still in there. That's why it hurts so badly."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as she took operating tools out of her medical bag. "Can't you, like, put me to sleep or something?"

Jessica shook her head. "Painkillers and anesthetics are blood thinners. Sorry, I would if I could, but I can't."

Jack closed his eyes again as she prepared to operate. Jack groaned, clenching his teeth together. "You know why I betrayed you?"Jack said weakly. Jessica, still working, looked up.

"I've been waiting to hear why."

"I thought...I ...thought you wanted to make fun of me."

Jessica looked up again. "How could you think that?" Jack started to shrug, then blanched and kept his shoulders still.

"People were saying stuff. They all didn't like me. I thought...I thought they would make fun of me even more if I was going out with you. So I...I did something stupid."

He paled as Jessica continued to operate. Jessica looked up.

"That is a stupid reason." she whispered.

"I know, it was stupid, what I did was so screwed up..."

All was quiet for a moment, but as Jessica pulled a piece of metal from the wound and held it up she had to jump back as Jack groaned and threw up over the side if the bed.

"The fuck is going on up there?" Bobby yelled up the stairs. Jack was sitting on the side of the bed, eyes closed, taking deep breaths, so Jessica shouted back down, "Nothing!"

She began to bandage Jack's wound. He opened his eyes as she taped the cloth.

"That feels better." Jack said.

Jessica nodded. Then, sitting next to him on the bed, she took his good hand in hers.

"Fuck it. I forgive you."