Ha-ha! I finally wrote a chapter that was not overpowered with Bobby. Since I thought that the world lacked Angel and Jack bonding, I made them the center of this. I'm so proud.

Anyways, this chapter would be set after Jack had been around for a while. I will have Jackie joining the family latter, maybe in around four or five more chapters. I hope you enjoy.

Jack really, really, wanted to do nothing more at that moment then to crawl in a hole and die.

Well maybe not die, since he was sure that if something so trivial lead to his demise, his brothers would dig him up and smack him around for being stupid. But still, he did not want to be here.

Jack slouched into his chair, hoping that he would disappear into the stiff cushions. It was odd, but Jack had never spent much time in a principal office over the years. Mostly he could have been found in the nurse's office, for whatever injury he had received from a bully or the marks he had hidden under baggy clothing. Though now he did not deal with much of either. Since coming to the Mercer household, he never had to worry about being abused. The worst he had to worry about was one of his brothers drawing on him with marker while he slept and the usual hockey mishaps. It was also his brothers who made sure that the local bullies never dared lay a finger on him.

"Mr. Mercer is there anyone at your house?" the secretary snapped. Jack sank deeper into his seat at her glare, nodding mutely. Bobby had just come home from finishing the hockey season the night before. Oh crap, Jack stiffened, Bobby was coming. His older brother, his incredibly overprotective oldest brother, was coming to pick him up.

God, someone really hates him.

"Jackie?" Jack turned to see Angel standing in the office door, craning his head in order to spot the kid.

The younger teen sighed; he had hoped Angel would not hear about this until Jack was safely home, where he could hide properly. No such luck it seemed, "Yeah Ang?"

Jack did not need to look at Angel to know that his big brother had spotted him. The quick intake of breath alerted him, "Damn man, what you do?"

Jack touched the rather large bruise on his cheek. Angel's proclamation forced Jack to remember his throbbing ribs, "I-"

The door to the inner office opened, letting the occupants enter the waiting area. The principal scowled at Jack, while he and the burly gym teacher pushed another teen out in front of them. The boy was a few years older than Jack and more than a few pounds heavier. This kid's appearance was worse than Jack, bruises decorated his face and arms and his gym clothes were ripped.

Angel flopped into the seat beside Jack, eyeing the disgruntled boy in approval. Noticing his brother stiffen, Angel threw an arm around the boy's shoulder. The group moved through a side door which would lead to the nurse in the adjacent room.

"So-what the hell Cracker Jack?" when Jack said nothing about the nickname, Angel worried, "Jack?"

Angel took a close look and cursed silently. He knew what the look Jack wore meant, that blank stare while his shoulders were taught like a bowstring. The kid had withdrawn into his head, like he did when he had first come to the family.

"Don't you have a class young man?" the secretary asked, watching the two.

"Study hall," Angel poured every ounce of charm he had into those two words. She was not impressed but turned back to her work. "So? Gonna talk or do I have ta drag it out of you?"

A very familiar look crossed Jack's face, the one which said he was going to be stupidly stubborn. It was better than the blank stare Jack normally fell back on, but still as annoying, "Bobby's gonna get it out of you anyway."

The boy fidgeted, staring at the floor. The kid did not look like a teenager, at the moment he reminded Angel of a little boy who was sure he had done the worst thing ever. If Angel had not been watching the boy, he would have missed the soft, "It's stupid."

"We're talking about you, course it's gonna be stupid," Angel smirked when Jack glared at him from under his shaggy bangs.

"That was John Tridder, the guy who transferred in a few weeks ago," Jack motioned to the nurse's door with a jerk of the chin. He waited a moment for some question that Angel did not ask. Despite his tendency to act more like Bobby, Angel did have a bit of tact. This was going to be hard enough on Jack without someone breaking his concentration.

Jack shifted, glancing at Angel before returning to studying the floor, "I only see him in gym, and I guess he thought I was a good prank target."

At this, Angel was unable to keep quiet, "And I never heard this?"

"I can take care of myself," Jack huffed, glaring at his brother. "I don't need my brothers to do my fighting."

Chuckling, Angel glanced at the nurse's office, "I saw that, and it was pretty sweet Jackie-boy."

For the first time since Angel had entered the office, Jack really looked at his brother. He smirked, "Yeah, glad you approve."

"So I know how this starts and how it ends, so what happened between?"

The grimace told Angel that the boy did not want to say anymore. But Jack was not with Jerry, who would have let it slide, "It wasn't anything that bad, just tripping or pushing me into the bleachers during basketball. It just got a little out of control."

It was very tempting to just go into that room and continue the work Jack had started on the Tridder kid. The kid had been through too much for some punk to target him. Angel did not know the details of Jack's life pre-Mercer, but he had seen the bruises that had decorated the boy. The skittishness, the silence, and the months of nightmares had caused a strong desire in each of the Mercer men to protect Jack.

"Mind explaining that 'out of control'?" Angel sighed, Jack was done talking and the look he was giving Angel promised something nasty in his sheets if he pushed. Angel had crossed that look before, in the end the covers had to be thrown out. No amount of cleaning was able to get the smell out of them. Angel had to wait till Bobby came to be back up.

"Let me see that eye," Angel ordered. While his brother looked at his battle scars, Jack replayed the event in his head.

Jack hustled into the locker room, making a beeline for the showers as the sound of the game followed him. The teacher had made an exception for Jack, allowing the teen to shower a few minutes before the rest of the class. The first and last time that Jack had been forced to shower with the rest of the group had not ended well. Jack had freaked out when someone had bumped him from behind. It had taken hours to him out of the showers.

Jack was dry and half dressed when the rest of the class bustled in.

"Hey fag, you think you're funny?" Tridder charged into the locker room. Most of the other boys moved out of the angry hulk's path. Jack glanced up as Tridder grabbed his bare shoulder, forcing the young Mercer against the wall.

Jack froze, the hand felt like a red hot iron against the skin of his shoulder. "You think you could make me look like an idiot! I'm gonna teach you a lesson about respect!"

Those words had never boded well for Jack, so many bad things had happened after those words. Something snapped inside of Jack, perhaps the memory caused by the words or the feeling of that hand, but suddenly Jack was on top of the bully. His fists flew wildly, striking at every inch they could reach. Tridder gave a quick gab to the ribs, but Jack did not feel the blow. The strikes continued to fall, filling the surprised locker room with strangled cries and the sound of each strike.

A scream ripped from Jack's throat as hands grabbed him, pulling him away. Nothing registered in Jack's mind except that the reason for his rage was no longer under him. He struggled to get back to the meat sack; to hit it again and again until his pain, rage and fear was poured out of him like hot blood against that soft surface.

A sharp slap across the face snapped Jack out of the violent haze. Another hit landed as his eyes focused on Mr. Crawford. A few of the boys still held onto the young Mercer in case he decided to jump the bully again. Astonished stares bore into Jack, everyone was shocked that the quiet boy had just attacked a person double his size.

"Mercer," Crawford shook him roughly, "Get dressed and to the principal."

Crawford waited until the boy gave a numb nod. He turned to grab the mess which was Tridder off the floor. Pulling the injured teen to his feet, he dragged the boy out of the locker room.

The other students let go and backed away. If Jack had been aware enough to notice the action, he would have laughed. Everyone looked at Jack as the docile Mercer, no saint but easier to deal with then the other three boys. But there he was, taking down a young man twice his size and three times in weight. Bobby would be proud.

"Dude," one of Jack's friends stared at him in awe, "That was freaking sweet!"

All Jack could do was nod. Grabbing his shirt from the bench, he pulled it on before following the coach's orders.

"Mercer, in," the principal ordered as soon as he had cleared the nurse's door. The frazzled man eyed the two brothers with a weary stare. It was apparent that this man had lived through three Mercer men passing through his office on a daily bases. "The younger Mercer."

Jack got up to follow the administrator into the office. Angel watched until the boy had almost reached the door, "I'm so proud. Baby boy finally joining the family traditions."

Jack threw a shaky smile over his shoulder before the door shut behind him, cutting off any escape.

"Sit," the principal motioned at the dingy old chairs in front of his desk. His file sat on top of a disarray of other papers. The name on the top of the file had been taped over, covering his old name with the hand written 'Mercer'.

"Young man, this is very serious," the words sounded as if he had said them countless times before, never to be taken seriously. This was probably true, especially with the Mercer boys. But he did watch Jack for his response. Bobby, in his days, would have lounged back into the seat, probably rest his feet on the table top, with a smirk and a wise crack. Jeremiah would have had the decency to appear to listen. Angel would act like he was sorry while he fished for whatever sympathy he could get for his case. Jack, on the other hand, would not look at him at all. The boy stared at the floor, hunched slightly so his growing figure became smaller.

"My boys are special," the man remembered Evelyn Mercer once saying during one of their many meetings. And despite the years that these boys had taken from his life expectancy, he did agree. It would be a long time before he forgot any of these kids.

"As you know, we have a strict policy about fighting on school property." When the boy did not move to respond, he sighed, "As it is, we will have to punish you for the offense. Usually, it would be a few weeks suspension, possibly even expulsion."

Again, the boy refused to even look up. The man shook his head; he had not expected this from a Mercer. It did gain the boy a bit of sympathy, "But, Mr. Tridder has also been involved in other altercations. Since this is the case, and it is your first time, I think that a three day suspension will do the trick." He glanced at the boy when he did not move after his decision, "Go."

Jack left as quickly as possible. He did not see the principal shaking his head before he returned to work. Outside of the office Bobby was standing rigidly while Angel continued to sit in his seat. The boy said nothing as he walked passed his brothers, eyes never leaving the ground.

Jack did not talk to either of the men when they got home. The instent he had entered the house, the teen rushed upstairs before his brothers could attempt to interrogate him. Jack crawled onto his bed, reaching for his headphones. Though Jack knew that his hasty escape would not hold them off for long, he hoped that they would give him enough time to think.

But that was more than Jack could hope for in this house. Angel was leaning against his door jam, "Ya know Bobby's gonna be up here pretty soon."

Jack made no move to answer him, instead reaching over his head to turn on the stereo, "Dude, you know this moody things gonna fail."

"Don't care," Jack glared at Angel. All he wanted was for the dark skinned teen to leave him alone. Sometimes he really hated these guys. Seeing Angel open his mouth, Jack struck out.

Angel was shocked when the pillow hit him right in the face, "It's just a bully, I can deal with it myself."

Smirking, Angel threw the pillow back onto the bed, "Sure ya can Cracker Jack. I was going to help ya fight off Bobby. But if you don't want my help. . ."

Angel shrugged. He moved away from the door as Jack sat up. Smirking he heard Jack stumble up, "Wait a minute! I didn't say that!"

Angel lounged on one of the benches outside of the school. If he had not had something to do today, Angel would have played hooky to hang out with his brothers. Jack had been confused when Angel had chosen to be the only Mercer in the school that day. Bobby had nodded, knowing what his younger brother had in mind.

It was among the last stragglers that the teen saw his prey. He raised quickly, his eyes never leaving the boy who was stepping away from the crowd. Following silently behind him, Angel glared at the hulking form's back. Every second that went by made him want to attack before he had planned. Luckily, the boy turned down a conveniently blind alley.

Angel stuck fast, grabbing Tridder and slamming him into the wall. He did not say a word as his fist smashed into soft flesh. Angel would never admit that his hits landed harder, driven by that blank look that Jack had. As long as Angel was around, anyone who hurt his little brother would feel the pain.

Ah, like I said, it did not take long to come out.

Next time, Bobby feels jealous of losing some of Evelyn's attention.