Thank you everyone for being so patient with this story. This chapter is from a request from the reader James, who wanted to see my take on the 'gas thing' from the movie. Hope you like!

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Chapter 18: 'Fire Thing' Origins

"Hey! Hey kid!" A male voice called as Sydney walked her way home from school. She decided to ignore it, and keep walking. After all, it wasn't rocket science to know that she wasn't in the best neighborhood. Especially after deciding to take a shortcut home through a vacant lot.

"Mercer!" The sound of her name made her turn around. "Come here." He told her as Sydney recognized the guy as someone who sometimes came over to the house looking for Bobby. The two would go up to Bobby's room, and a few minutes later, the guy would come out and leave.

Sydney knew that not everything that her brothers did was exactly legal; she just didn't know what they did. And it wasn't for lack of trying either. Anytime she tried to follow them upstairs, Bobby would tell her to 'go the fuck away' and then shut the door.

When she brought up the fact that Bobby was probably giving handies in his room to other guys, it earned her some hysterical laughs from Angel and a hard slap to the back of her head from Bobby.

"What?" Sydney asked skeptically as she walked over to the guy who was leaning against the chain link fence, cigarette in mouth. He was a few years older than her, remembering that he had been a senior at her school a year earlier; whether he graduated or not could be open for debate as he stood in baggie jeans and a dark sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head.

The guy took a long drag from his cigarette before tossing it away. Sydney watched it fall to the ground, keeping the smartass 'Smokey the Bear' speech to herself as it landed by a pile of trash.

He pushed himself from the fence, taking a few steps closer to her before answering, "Your brother owes me some money." He told her matter-of-factly as Sydney gave him an unamused look before turning back around to leave, "Take it up with him, I'm not his accountant."

She didn't make it very far as he grabbed her backpack and yanked her back, the fence stopping her fall. "Is your whole family full of fucking smartasses?" He asked with a scowl, but Sydney couldn't help but smirk; the guy had a point.

"It depends, how many of my brother's asses have you checked out?" She couldn't help it if she didn't exactly have a word filter between her brain and mouth. The guy pushed her against the fence, his hands gripping the front of her sweatshirt as he glared down at her. "Yeah, you're real cute," He snarled, bringing her forward a bit before slamming her back to the fence, "We'll see how cute you are after I-" Sydney cut him off mid-sentence by spitting in his face, the initial surprise making the guy loosen his grip enough for Sydney to duck down and out of his grasp.

She heard him cursing behind her as she took off running, hearing his footsteps quickly take off after her.

Him being taller with longer legs, it gave him the advantage, so it didn't take long before he caught up with her, grabbing a fistful of her hair. She let out a yelp before being spun around, a hard fist connecting with the side of her face. The force would have definitely sent her to the ground if he wasn't holding her hair. Even so, it made her stumble a few steps and made her vision a little fuzzy.

"Now, you're gunna be a good girl and tell your brother that he better pay me…got that?" He told her aggressively as Sydney felt her cheek already start to bruise. Fuckin' pussy didn't have the balls to confront Bobby himself. "Got that?" He demanded a little more forcefully, giving her a little shake.

Sydney didn't hesitate before bringing her knee up hard against his lower half. The action made him immediately lose his grip on her as he fell to his knees…Ok, so maybe he did have balls after all. Sydney smirked in satisfaction to herself as she took off once more.

She had finally made it back to her house without any more troubles, so she pulled on her hood to try and hide her face which was probably black and blue by now, and walked inside. Making a beeline for the stairs, she had wanted to make it to her room without anyone noticing. Knowing Bobby would make a big deal if he found out what happened, she decided to try and maybe see what make-up would do for the bruise so he wouldn't find out. After all, she took care of the situation, there was no need for Bobby to go to jail for trying to kill a guy.

Going up the stairs she moved, without a word, out of the way of Jack who was coming down. The lack of any acknowledgment or annoying comment from his sister made Jack stop and turn to question it, "What happened with you?" He asked skeptically as Sydney continued walking, not turning to look at him, "Nothing, I'm fine. Just got a lot of homework to finish…"

At the comment, Jack knew something was up. Sydney never was one to talk about 'having a lot of homework to finish.' It was usually Ma who had to interrogate Sydney about her schoolwork. So naturally, Jack followed her back up the stairs and as Sydney tried to close her bedroom door on him, he caught a glimpse of her face.

"Woah, what the hell happened there?" He asked, forcing himself into her room as Sydney rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Nothing, just got in a fight at school. No biggie." She shrugged as Jack narrowed his eyes skeptically, "The school didn't call about it." He countered as Sydney scowled, "You're starting to sound like Ma." She looked at herself in her mirror, cringing a little at the sight of the large bruise on her cheek. "It's not as bad as it looks…" She commented to Jack, "You should see the other guy." She grinned as she turned back to Jack. He, however, didn't return the smile.

"Wait, it was a guy who did that?"

Sydney groaned…here we go.

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After a lot of annoying persistence from Jack, Sydney had to finally tell him the story.

"I'm gunna tell Bobby." Jack concluded as Sydney shook her head, "No! It's fine. I took care of it."

Jack looked unconvinced, "He's going to find out about it…" He tried to reason as Sydney shook her head again, "Not if you don't tell him!" She countered as Jack raised an eyebrow, "So he's not going to notice the big shiner on your face? You're not going to be able to cover that up." Jack replied, seemingly already knowing her plan.

Sydney huffed in defeat, "Fine…you can tell him…" Jack nodded before leaving her room. Sydney went and sat on her bed, knowing that in a few minutes Bobby would burst in to see things for himself.

And…sure enough, Bobby came through the door, an angry gleam in his eye as his gaze landed on Sydney. "Who the hell did that!" He yelled, pointing to her face. She knew he wasn't exactly pissed at her, but that he simply wasn't one to be able to control his anger. Yelling was his common way to express his rage…punching a few holes in the wall was the next step.

"Didn't Jack tell you the story?" She asked in a bored tone, not particularly wanting to repeat the same story twice in a row. Angel had followed Bobby in, looking as equally pissed.

"He told me the fucking story! He didn't tell me who did it!" Bobby continued as Sydney rolled her eyes. He was clenching and unclenching his fists; she knew as soon as she said a name, he would be out the door and ready to raise some hell…she should be flattered.

Initially, Syd had not intended to tell Bobby who the guy was, but after a very threatening look and a few intimidating steps closer towards her from him, Sydney described the guy.

"That's probably that Carlos guy!" Angel interjected after hearing her description. Bobby nodded in agreement, his permanent scowl deepening. "You're just going to give yourself more forehead wrinkles thinking like that." Sydney commented, but only got an annoyed look from Bobby in response before him and Angel left the room.

"Wait, that's it?" Sydney called out in confusion before getting off the bed and following them. When she stepped into Bobby's room, he was bent down in front of the small safe that was in his closet. His wide frame blocking her view until he stood up and she saw him loading a handgun before stuffing it in the back waistband of his pants.

"Woah, where'd you get a gun?" She asked in surprise; ok, so she shouldn't have been so surprised, but it was one thing to think your brother carried a gun, and another thing to actually see it up close.

"This is Detroit." Angel said from behind her as he stepped into the room, tucking away his own gun as he gave Sydney an 'are-you-stupid' kind of look. "You too?" She asked shocked at the fact Angel had one as well.

"You got a plan?" Angel had ignored her, asking Bobby instead. Bobby nodded before shouting, "Jack! Get the gas can from the garage!"

When mumbles of protest from Jack were heard, Bobby added, "NOW!"

"What are you going to do with a gas can? Actually, what are you going to do with the guns? Look, it's not that big of a deal, I took care of things. And look—" She stopped momentarily, touching her bruised cheek, holding back a wince, "it doesn't even hurt anymore."

Bobby and Angel pushed past her, clearly nothing she could say would change their minds. They are gunna be soo busted…She pictured the FBI and SWAT rounding them up and taking them all away.

Sydney followed her two brothers downstairs, her questions falling onto deaf ears as the trio made it outside before Angel turned and stopped her, "Get back inside, you ain't going."

"Ha, that's funny. Of course I'm going." Sydney scoffed as Bobby added, "He's right, you're staying here."

Sydney's mouth dropped and her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, "That's bullshit!"

Jack came around the corner of the house, gas can in hand, before putting in his own two cents, "You might as well just let her come…"

Sydney smiled in victory and seeing that Angel and Bobby were about to protest, added, "I took a punch for you! You gotta let me come!"

Eventually, Angel and Bobby gave in and the four of them were on their way to the guy named Carlos' house.

It didn't take very long before they pulled into an apartment complex parking lot, Bobby shutting off the car before looking at Angel, "You ready?" Angel nodded, getting out of the car before Bobby turned to the backseat, "You…" He pointed to Sydney, "are staying in the fuckin' car, got me?...Jackie, grab the gas can." The look on Bobby's face told Sydney that it wasn't a time to argue with him, so she kept quiet while the boys got out of the car and started to head off towards one of the apartments.

She waited several minutes, bored from just sitting in the car and missing all the action. So finally, she took off her seatbelt and got out of the car, "Like I'm staying behind." She whispered to herself as she sprinted to follow in the direction they had gone.

It wasn't very hard to find the right apartment, being as only one had shouting coming from the inside, and a door slightly ajar after being kicked in.

Deciding it was best to first peek inside, Sydney looked in and saw that sure enough, her brothers had found the right place. Looking through the crack of the opening on the door, she saw the guy who had punched her, lying flat on the floor, a purple bruise now forming over his eye as Bobby stood over him, one of his feet pressing hard against the man's chest as he and Angel pointed guns at him.

Smelling gas, Sydney saw Jack standing by Angel, cigarette in his mouth with a satisfied smirk on his face as he held the gas can at his side, the guy lying on the floor looking like he had been dowsed in the liquid.

"Ok! Whatever man! I'm fuckin' sorry! Just don't fucking do this! Please!" The man tried to plead to her brothers as he eyed Jack's cigarette nervously.

"You jump my little sister and then expect no fuckin' consequences!" Bobby shouted down at him, grabbing Jack's cigarette out of his mouth and holding it threateningly over Carlos.

"I didn't jump her! I just wanted my money! C'mon man! Don't do this!" It was clear he was on the verge of tears. Sydney licked her lips nervously from the other side of the door. She had thought she knew her brothers well, but now she wasn't so sure. Were they capable of murder? They kept her in the dark for the most part of their 'illegal' activities, but she had never even thought it could involve killing a guy.

Bobby had smirked at the guy's pleas. "I don't know, Angel, what do you think?" Bobby asked sarcastically, clearly messing with the guy. Angel gave a smirk of his own, "I think this fucker needs to be taught a lesson." He said, his voice holding nothing but seriousness.

Giving a slight laugh, Bobby took a long drag of the cigarette before blowing it out on the guy's face, "Please, Bobby, seriously! Don't do this!" He pleaded once more as Bobby and Angel chuckled, Jack now standing a little off to the side, shifting his weight a little uncomfortably.

"Bobby, don't!" Sydney finally made her presence known, pushing her way into the apartment as her three brothers whirled around to face her, Angel and Bobby keeping their guns pointed at Carlos.

"God damn it! I told you to stay in the fucking car!" Bobby shouted angrily at her, making Sydney flinch. Swallowing, Sydney mumbled back, not making eye contact with him, "It's not worth it…" She nodded to Carlos on the ground, before looking to Angel and Jack for help.

"Jack, take her back to the car." Bobby ordered as Jack nodded, moving towards his sister. "And next time I say she's not coming with us, then she ain't fuckin' coming!" Bobby shouted towards Jack who put a gentle hand on Sydney's back, leading her out of the apartment.

Sydney remained silent as Jack led her back to the car. Once back inside, Sydney sat arms crossed, glaring at the seat in front of her. Jack sighed next to her, "He just doesn't want you to see stuff like that." He reasoned gently as Sydney bitterly rolled her eyes. No, apparently she didn't know her brothers very well at all.

"Are they gunna kill him?" She whispered finally after a few silent moments, worried that she was the reason why someone was getting killed. She didn't look, but knew Jack had shaken his head, "No, they just wanted to scare him a bit, that's all. They aren't going to kill him." He tried to reassure her, but Sydney wasn't fully convinced.

The pair had remained silent, Sydney still glaring at the back of the seat even as Bobby and Angel got back into the car. The whole car ride back remained the same, none of the siblings saying a word to one another; Sydney did find herself one time giving the back of Bobby's seat a good kick, but other than that, didn't acknowledge him any further.

Pulling into the driveway, Bobby shut off the car as Angel went to get out, "Jackie lets go." He told Jack who took the hint and got out, leaving Bobby and Sydney alone in the car. Bobby waited a few minutes before speaking, looking at Sydney in the rearview mirror, "Look, now you can see why I didn't want you to come; you don't need to be seeing that kind of-"

Sydney interrupted him, not meeting his gaze through the mirror, "Did you kill him?" She mumbled bitterly as Bobby sighed, running a hand through his hair before replying, "No we didn't kill him…He won't be walking right for a while, but we didn't kill him." Bobby explained in his version of comforting words.

Sydney felt somewhat relieved, but decided to continue the silent treatment. Finally, Bobby sighed in frustration and turned around towards her, "Look, you don't have to worry about nothing. No one is gunna bother you." He said trying to keep his tone soft, but comforting people was never his strong point. At least he figured he should get points for trying.

"You didn't need to go and do all of that to him…" Sydney mumbled again, Bobby almost not catching her words because they were so quiet.

"Look at me." He told her, his words demanding as Sydney finally looked at him, scowl still on her face. When Bobby spoke again, he found his tone to be much softer, "You're my family…hell, you're my little sister for fuck sakes. I gotta protect ya."

Sydney rolled her eyes before looking away from him again, "Whatever…" She whispered, almost regretting her tone.

Bobby ignored her action as he continued, "You know, he told me how you kicked him in the balls. Gotta give you props for that." Bobby said with a slight laugh in his voice as Sydney tried to hold back a smile.

The car grew silent for a moment and Bobby almost got out with a sigh, knowing how stubborn his sister could be. Before he could leave, Sydney replied, "I told you I took care it…" When he looked back at her, there was a slight smile on her face as he let out a chuckle.

"C'mon, let's get inside." He said gently, opening the door and stepping out. Sydney followed suit, taking off her seatbelt and getting out. She had attempted to walk towards the house, but an arm caught her, wrapping itself around her shoulders and pulling her back to Bobby's side,

"C'mere you little shit." He laughed, giving her an affectionate ruffle of the hair.

Sydney couldn't help but let out a small laugh of her own, giving him a playful shove as the pair made their way back to the house.

Yeah, things were definitely back to normal…

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Did ya like? A little softer side seen here in the last bit. Hope it was alright?

And jeez, when I was writing this, 'Good Vibrations' came up on my shuffle…oh Marky Mark, how appropriate. And no, I am not ashamed that that song is on my ipod…hahahaaa

Anywho, leave a review and let me know what ya thought! Thanks!