Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own any of the characters, except for Brittany, nor do I take credit for any of them. I also do not take credit for a lot of the dialogue that will be used, since this is set during the movie.

Notes: This is my first shot at a Four Brothers fanfic, so be easy on me. I really love the movie and I hope it shows. Enjoy!

Scenes of snow covered ground and cloudy skies blurred past one of the windows of Greyhound Bus number sixteen. Brittany Coleman, who had fought very hard for the window seat on this particular trip, smiled appreciatively out at the view from her side of the glass. The early morning sun shone like a diamond in the grey heavens, reflecting off of the snow with a glistening beauty. It was as if the entire world was trying to cheer her up. God knew she needed it. She let out a heavy sigh, not the first time in the last twenty-four hours, which fogged up her window. Before the cloud of condensation faded away she drew a small, sloppy heart with her index finger. She gazed at it fondly, and then turned her head to look at the person sitting in the aisle seat next to her. The man occupying said seat had his head leaned back on the headrest in slumber, his nappy hair pushed into an even more untidy pile than normal. Music could be heard coming from the big headphones, looking a lot like strange earmuffs warming his ears, and its familiarity seemed to make everything brighter, pulling a smile out of Brittany. She recognized it as a copy of one of his own demo recordings, which just made her smile grow wider, and anyone who could see her right then, could also see there was nothing but love in that smile.

"Attention riders," the driver's voice suddenly said over the intercom that was link throughout the bus, his voice sounding much more robotic than it probably was, and Brittany turned her head upward to listen more clearly, "We have just crossed over the Michigan border." There was a fairly loud mixture of cheering and clapping at these words, and it amused Brittany to see that her seat partner remained sleeping through the noise.

"Our stops in this fine state," the driver continued after the applause had died down, "include Detroit, Lansing…" Brittany didn't wait to hear the rest. She had lowered her head and resumed gazing out of the window. Just hearing the name had stunned her almost into complete shock. It had been a long time since she had heard it.

"Detroit," she breathed, fogging up the window again, "I'm going home. God help me, I'm going home." She turned in her seat so that her upper body was now facing the man beside her. She gazed thoughtfully at him a moment, and then reached down and grabbed the compact disc player that his headphones was attached to. With a smirk she casually turned the volume dial all the way to maximum with a few quick flicks. The result was almost immediate as she heard the music now blared from the headphones. The man jumped almost completely out of his seat and into the aisle, while Brittany shook violently in her own seat with silent giggles.

"Shit!" he shouted, practically tearing the earphones from his head. A woman sitting across from them with her daughter looked at them scornfully, but neither of them noticed. Brittany's giggles soon subsided and she smiled sweetly at him.

"What was that for?" he asked her with hurt curiosity.

"We're almost there," she told him, her voice suddenly laden with a soft sadness, "Next stop." The man looked at her, though Brittany could tell he wasn't really seeing her, and then he let out a great, melancholy sigh, leaning his head back on the headrest and closing his eyes, as though going back to sleep.

"Jack, don't do that." She reached out a hand and placed it gently on his arm. "I've cried enough today. Save the tears for the funeral." She continued looking at him with a small smile now, and he opened one eye to look back at her. In a moment he smiled softly himself. She wrapped her arms as much around him as she could in their position, and he did the same so that they were in an awkward embrace.

"You think Bobby's going to be there?" Jack asked casually when they were both leaned back in their seats, though he was periodically looking out the window now, as though he couldn't believe he was really seeing these places again. Brittany smiled a bit and then shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," she said truthfully, "I'd like to say that I know he'll be there for mom's funeral, but we've been gone so long that I just don't know anymore." As an afterthought she added, "I hope so."

Their bus pulled into its station a little under an hour later. Jack got up first and grabbed both their bags from the overhead compartment. He stood back while Brittany stood up, wincing at the numbness in her fanny. Leading the way, she exited the bus, Jack close behind her with their luggage. They stood there in the cold of Detroit several minutes, watching the other passengers get their stuff and leave, as though neither of them were sure of how to proceed. They glanced at each other, and something clicked into place. Both of them smiled at one another and began walking in the same direction. It was like those few minutes were enough time for everything to come rushing back to them. They knew exactly where they were going now and they walked with a sorrowful confidence, also knowing why they were heading in this direction. On the way Jack took a cigarette out and lit it.

"Jack, must you do that," Brittany said as soon as she saw it. Jack stared guiltily down at it and then at her. His eyes showed and inner struggle that hurt her way deep down and she sighed, defeated. She couldn't tell him not to smoke. Not today, and she knew it. Probably not ever again. It never really worked anyway.

When Brittany and Jack reached the cemetery, it was like a repeat of what it was like at the bus station. They just stood there, each holding their own bag. People had already congregated around a large coffin, but a sudden, crippling grief had seemed to take hold of the two. Brittany didn't know if she would ever be able to move closer than where she was now. Jack looked to be in about the same predicament. His cigarette was hanging limp and forgotten in his other hand. This was just too much. Brittany could feel the tears already trying to force their way through, and she tried desperately to hold them back but it was no use. Two drops rolled down her cheeks. She just couldn't do it.

"Are you two just going to stand there all day staring at the place?" said a voice behind them. Brittany recognized it immediately and dropped her suitcase. She spun around and threw her arms around her big brother, letting the tears fall freely now.

"Oh, Bobby," she sobbed roughly into his shoulder as she felt his strong arms wrap around her, "Bobby who could have done this to Mom?"

"I don't know," he said, letting Brittany take a step back and dry her eyes, "I don't know, but we're going to find out." They locked eyes a moment and Brittany nodded firmly. Bobby broke into a grin and he looked up at Jack, who was still standing there watching the two of them.

"Jackie," Bobby said happily as he pulled Jack into a hug, "Hey, little brother, how's the music business been treating you? I see you still don't know how to use a hairbrush." He ruffled Jack's messy hair, and Jack gave him a playful shove. Bobby chuckled, and Brittany smiled as she watched them. It was like no time had passed between them, and that seemed to make everything alright.

"For your information," Jack was telling Bobby, "I've been doing very well for myself." At that Bobby outright laughed, and Brittany had to raised a mittened hand to stifle her own laughter. Jack shot her a glare, and she smiled apologetically. Bobby opened his mouth, probably to respond with a litany of negative comments, but Brittany managed to cut him off.

"So where's Jerry, and Angel?" she asked curiously, looking around as though thinking they would pop up from around a headstone. Bobby did the same, his smile gone now.

"I don't know, but as soon as they show up I'm smacking them into next week," he said harshly, "Being late for mom's funeral." Brittany shook her head. Same old Bobby.

"Like you still could, Bobby," retorted another familiar voice, "You maybe sneak-attacked me a few times as a kid, but I can still take you in a fair fight." All three of them turned and smiled as a lanky, dark-skinned man came ambling towards them, hands shoved into the pockets of his heavy winter coat.

"Jeremiah," said Brittany, as though she couldn't believe who she was seeing, "Oh, it's so good to see you." She embraced him as she had Bobby, though maybe not as fiercely.

"You too, little sister," Jeremiah replied, and then let her go to look at Bobby and Jack, "I never thought I'd see either of your sorry asses again." Brittany watched as her brothers exchanged hugs and insults, folding her arms for warmth as a cold breeze picked up through the cemetery. They all looked at each other after the re-introductions had been made, and without a word, proceeded towards the burial spot together.

The service was short and sweet, and while the minister read from the Bible, Brittany looked around in awe at all of the people that had showed up. As a child she remembered her mother knowing many people and it had astounded her back then too, but looking around at all the faces, she realized she didn't recognize half of them. Before they lowered the coffin into the ground, Brittany left Jack's side and walked forwards. She would always remember that walk, because it seemed like the casket was miles away. She would always remember how shiny the wood looked even though the winter sun was half hidden behind the clouds. She had no flowers, not trinket to bury with her mother, but for a moment or two she placed her hand upon the smoother surface of the sepulcher, and then she turned around and walked back to Jack. She had done what she had not been sure she would have been able to do. Now she just grabbed Jack's hand tight in her's and waited for it all to be over.

Before leaving the cemetery, Jeremiah had told all of them that he was having a few people over at his house, gave those directions, and got into his own car with his wife. Bobby had walked to his old, beat-up car, and he offered Brittany and Jack a ride, but they told him to go on without them, that they preferred to walk. Bobby arched an eyebrow as he stood with his car door open, staring at his two youngest siblings.

"Alright, but if you two aren't there in ten minutes I'm coming after both of you, and if I catch either of you with your pants down your deadmeat," he told them seriously.

"Bobby, its forty degrees outside," Brittany told him matter-of-factly, "I think we can wait till we're at Jerry's." That got Bobby laughing, and he finally got into his car and left, leaving the young pair behind, standing outside the cemetery gates.

Brittany looked up at Jack, noticing in that glance how he had seemed to regain the troubled look he had carried in his younger years. That look that told the world that something really bad had happened in his past, and that it would affect him all of his life. It frightened her slightly because when the two of them had left Detroit, all of that had seemed to slip off of him like a blanket being taken away, and she had grown comfortable with that version of Jack Mercer. Then he looked down at her, and the look in his eyes was so strong, so warm, that she almost didn't believe she had seen what she knew she saw in him in that moment. She couldn't help but smile, and he smiled back, slipping an around her shoulders. They had tossed their suitcases into Bobby's car, so they walked unencumbered and in silence down the snow-covered streets, together like they had been doing things for six years. There had been many walks in the winter snow in their youth, though many of those walks had been timed walks to the market on 104th Street and back. Oh no, that had been a bad thing to think about. Brittany suddenly felt the tears start viciously anew, and she was forced to halt, her body shuddering with the held in sobs. Jack immediately stopped with her and tightened his arm around her.

"Come on, just let it out now," he told her gently, hugging her to him, "Don't hold it in anymore." So she let it out.

By the time they reached Jeremiah's house, most of the guests had already arrived, and they could both see him standing at the front door in full winter wear greeting people. Bobby was just pulling up in his car as Brittany and Jack stopped on the sidewalk across the street. A flash of curiosity crossed over Brittany's mind, and she was surprised at how quickly her old instincts took over and told her to forget about it. Bobby's business was Bobby's business. End of story. She began to cross the street just the same, drawn to her older brother like iron to a magnet. She was halfway across when she looked back over her shoulder and saw jack still standing on the sidewalk she had just left, a cigarette already between his teeth. He was rummaging around in his pocket, probably for a lighter or matches, when he lifted his gaze and saw her staring at him expressionlessly. He stared back, like a kid caught sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar before dinner, and finally she gave in and continued across the street, not looking back again. She stepped onto the other sidewalk as Bobby finished locking up his car. He grinned when he saw her, and she grinned back.

"So what took you kids so long?" he asked her with a smirk. Brittany threw him a hard glare.

"What took you so long?" she retorted without thinking. Bobby's grin suddenly slid off his face like water and his expression became that of utmost seriousness. Brittany quickly removed her own smile and stared back with a similar expression, though hers was more akin to the simple look that a sister gives her brother when he looks like that.

"You know what took me so long, so don't ask stupid questions," he said simply, and for a few moments they held a silent conversation, of the type that only siblings can seem to hold successfully, talking only with their eyes. If asked outright, Brittany would tell anyone that she loved all of her adopted brother the same, with the exception of Jack, but inside Brittany would always know that with Bobby it was different. Her feelings for him, while still very much those felt between siblings, were, for lack of a better word, stronger, and there was really no explanation for it. She could have just as easily become as attached to Angel, or Jeremiah, but that had not been the case. She had not so much been drawn to Bobby in the beginning, but yanked towards him, and that had sealed their relationship forever.

"I can't believe you still let him do that," he said, suddenly breaking the trance-like state they had both been in, and nodding his head towards Jack. Brittany glanced in the same direction, but Jack had his back turned towards them. She looked back at Bobby and shrugged.

"I've been trying to get him to quit for six years," she said with a sigh, "I think it's time for me to give up." Bobby nodded silently, not really smiling, but his face didn't hold the same intensity now as it had before. He clapped his mittened hands together and rubbed them to create warming friction.

"OK, well, I'll go collect the little fairy, and you go on into the house where it's warm," he told her, with almost fatherly stern that made a soft smile appear on her lips.

"Yes, Dad," she said sweetly, and Brittany just barely caught a glimpse of his smile as she turned and walked up the path to the brick house that was apparently where her brother Jeremiah lived. He met her at the door and they gave each other another embrace, but there was not time for anything to be said as more people appeared and Brittany had to move inside to make room for them.

It was definitely warmer inside the house than outside in the bitter Detroit winter, but Brittany didn't remove her coat. She just took her time admiring the neatly decorated halls and rooms, almost ashamed to find that she was surprised to see that Jerry had such a nice house. She quickly turned away from the fancy, classical living room and walked through the hallway that led to the kitchen. There were pictures hanging everywhere, most of them featuring Jeremiah's wife and two daughters. However, here and there, were a few pictures taken before all the Mercers went their separate ways. It was one of these pictures that caused Brittany to stop and take a closer look. There she stood, a child of sixteen, surrounded by four boys, and a short, white-haired woman that was their mother. Brittany stood there, hands in her pockets, staring at the picture, when some little detail caught her eye, and she suddenly turned around and head quickly back out of the house. She walked out just as Bobby, Jack, and Jeremiah were heading in. Jeremiah was knocking Jack's cigarette out of his hand, and they had obviously been talking about something that had happened in the past, because they were all beaming brightly.

"Bobby, I need to get into my suitcase," she said, and at once all three heads turned towards her, "Is it still in your car?"

"Yeah," he said, brows furrowed, as he rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out his car keys, "Everything alright?" He tossed them to her.

"Yeah," she replied as she caught them, "I just need something." Bobby shrugged, 'Alright', and she headed down the front steps, as her brothers headed into the house.

"Hey, no joy riding," Bobby called after her.

"No promises," she called back without looking over her shoulder.

Brittany stepped across the front lawn, pulling her jacket closer around her, and walked briskly to Bobby's car. She slipped the key into the lock on the passenger side door and pulled it open with a groan. She reached around and unlocked the back door on her side. Re-closing the front door she opened the back door and bent down so that she could open her bag, which was still sitting on the backseat like she had left it. She opened it up and dug through the assorted belongings she had brought with her, looking for something that she had almost forgotten she had packed. While she was looking, two men walked by in deep conversation, and stopped a little ahead of the car. Not meaning to, but unable to prevent herself from picking up her old habit, she listened in on what they were saying while she searched.

"So just remember, Fowler, Bobby might be the ringleader, but the others aren't stupid either," one man said, and Brittany stopped her searching to listen better, unaware that she had curled her hand around the thing she had been looking for, "Especially that sister of theirs.

"Sister?" inquired Fowler puzzled, "You told me about the four brothers, but you said nothing about a sister."

"Yeah, Brittany."

"I don't remember a Brittany Mercer in the files you gave me." Before the other man could answer, the one who's Brittany knew she recognized, she stood up and closed the door with a bang, causing both men, cops in fact, jump. Realizing she had something in her hand she looked down, twitched a smile, and then shoved the worn out baseball cap over her head. A barely readable Detroit Tigers emblem was embroidered in now faded colors on the front.

"That would be because my name isn't Mercer," she said hotly, "My last name is Coleman." Both men looked at her, but only one of them smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Brittany," the first man said. She smiled back.

"It's good to see you too, Green," she replied.

"Wait," said Fowler, "If her last name isn't Mercer, then how are they her brothers?" He had not directed the question at her, like he didn't think that her word would mean much anyway, but being the person that she was, being Bobby Mercer's sister, she answered him anyway.

"Because Evelyn Mercer did not adopt me. However, she was just as much my mother as theirs, and the only reason she didn't adopt me was because I wouldn't let her."

"Why not?" asked Fowler, finally seeming to acknowledge her presence. Brittany stared at him blankly and then walked hurried back to the house and went inside. Fowler looked at his partner, Green, who was staring after her, a far away look on his face.

"Boss?" Fowler said, and Green slowly turned to look at him.

"She fell in love with a Mercer."