TITLE: Flashes

CHAPTER/TITLE: Seven/Proud

RATING: T (language and mature content)

SUMMARY: Pre-Movie. "I ain't Ma. I ain't gonna hold your little hand. I'm gonna kick you in the - until what I want to hear comes out your mouth. It's called tough love… Deal with it or see what happens…" Jack's hiding something, from everyone. Time for a little intervention, Bobby Mercer style.

A/N: Okay guys, conclusion of the Bobby/Jack showdown and the last chapter of this short story! This chapter is dedicated to vincents1lover as her all caps review that was a borderline threat scared me into posting. Just kidding. Thank you to all you lovely people who have been reading this and reviewing! You make my day! I hope the payoff is worth the wait!

DISCLAIMER: Legal blah. Jargon blah. Don't own blah.

Please read and REVIEW! I have no witty comment about what reviews do, except make me happy!

Chapter Seven: Proud

And then, Jack snapped.

"Fuck! Fuck you! Shut up! Shut up! Just. Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Bobby!"

Jack was lunging at his brother now, but being restrained quite easily. He managed to get a good right hook to Bobby's jaw but was grabbed around the waist and thrown to the floor before reaching the door.

"Will you stop acting like a fucking baby?" Bobby snapped hotly.

"Will you stop being a fucking ass?" Jack countered.

"Not a chance."

Jack jumped up and charged again for the exit, again being knocked back by Bobby. He didn't fall this time though and simply tried once more. The struggle lasted several minutes with the seemingly endless merry-go-round of Jack diving, kicking, or running for freedom, and Bobby swiftly and successfully blocking the attempts. Both were surprised Evelyn or Jerry hadn't come up to inspect the clamor. Of course, both brothers were attempting to stay somewhat discreet, their shouting and insults grinding through gritted teeth and hissing whispers. Bobby didn't need either of them interrupting the fight and ruining his plan and progress. Jack didn't desire anyone else joining the unwanted conversation. After Jack's skull-laden shirt was nicely ripped and Bobby's lip was heavily bleeding, the two finally pulled apart with a rough shove. Jack found himself on his floor once more and merely stayed there, only moving enough to prop up on his elbows. Bobby wiped his lip with his sleeve and cocked his head triumphantly.

"Are you done?" He demanded and Jack bowed his head in defeat. "I take that as a yes to the 'this is about sex', then?" He huffed.

Jack's eyes grew dim and he stared straight at the wall.

"I have flashes, Bobby," he repeated slowly from earlier through clenched teeth.

Bobby just stared down at his brother momentarily and then let his jaw go slightly slack as the sentence finally hit him, followed by understanding. He almost couldn't form words. He took a minute to contemplate and gather himself while Jack stayed stiff, eyes glued to that same spot.

"Have - have you two –" he trailed off and waited for the answer as he knew his brother knew the question.

Jack's hardened gaze fell to the floor as he shook his head slowly.

"Have you – ever?"

If Jack could have sunken into his carpeting and drown in it he would have.

"I – I've tried. Damn it, Bobby, I've tried. But – it took me almost a year to let Evelyn even hug me without seeing that son of a bitch and freaking out. I thought I was okay. Then – then I met this other girl about a year ago and – and we were kissing – fucking kissing – and I freaked. I was back at that place with that bastard. I tried to control it, ignore it. I got – almost – all the way with another girl but then I saw it. I just stopped trying, man. But Angela – she – she's different, Bobby. She's special and I really fucking like her and – I – it still –" he paused and sighed. "I thought it'd be different – that it'd be okay 'cause – 'cause of – I love her. It wasn't. I – I just left. I couldn't face her, Bobby. I can barely face my own damn self. What the fuck do you say? 'Hey, sorry. I was fucking raped by a fucking grown man repeatedly during my fucked up childhood and now I'm fucked up and when we're together I see him instead of you.' You were right, Bobby. You've always been right. I'm not a man. Not really. I'm just some weak, pathetic fuck up who can't even have sex with his girlfriend. And here I am coming at you with all this shit, cryin' like a damn woman."

Bobby hadn't even realized Jack had stood and then had been pacing while speaking until collapsing onto his bed during the outburst. He hadn't even noticed how his own fists were involuntarily curling inward. It took a moment for Bobby to find his voice as he attempted to take in the unusually high amount of words that had just erupted from Jack's mouth. No jokes ran through the eldest Mercer's mind. The only thing that Bobby could think or feel was rage. Rage towards the cowardly monster who had done this to his baby brother. He felt his face turning hot and focused on unclenching his fists and leveling his temper before speaking.

"Jack, look man, as much as I give you shit about being gay – I know you're not. You're my brother and I'd know. Believe me." Bobby waited for any sort of reaction, but received only the back of Jack's head as he turned away. "Jackie, come on, man, look at me right now. You need to listen to me, alright? Before you came here, all that shit that happened to you, that's over. You remember how Ma always talks about God? How she says He forgives us for our sins and all that? He wipes it clean, Jackie. You need to wipe this fucking clean. Everything that happened to you, everything that was done to you – it's gone. The minute you walked in that front door downstairs you became a Mercer. That broken little boy is gone. This is Jack Mercer. You. Right here in front of me. Jack, you are not weak or pathetic. You ain't a fuck up either. Period. If anyone is a weak, pathetic fuck up, it's the son of a bitch who did this to you. He's the problem, not you. Of course you're a man. Well, maybe not a man, but at least a boy."

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm just talkin' age here, Jackie. Now, if you look at all the shit you've gone through and beaten, then, yeah, fuck yeah, you are a man. You are a fucking man and you are in control of your life and getting fucking laid whenever the hell you want to. When those damn flashes or shit come at you, you remember that. You look at that girl and think only of her. And if that doesn't work, I'll have Ma put you're your ass back in therapy 'cause I ain't havin' no sexually dysfunctional brother."

"Shit, thanks, Bobby," Jack rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you know me. I got to look out for you – and your sex life. I always say I got to make a man outta' you. By the time I was your age I was banging chicks left and right. It wouldn't be right for me to let you live such a depressing life –"

"Too much information, man," Jack groaned and swatted at Bobby and turned back away.

"Okay, okay," Bobby resigned, "I'm serious now."

"You? Serious?"

"Come on, Jack. Really. You've been through more than most people go through in their whole damn lives. You are a man. You're one of the strongest men I know, Jack. I'm tellin' you the balls out truth here, little brother. What you're goin' through, man, I mean, it's normal."

"Yeah. Right. Normal." Jack hissed with bitter sarcasm.

"You know what I mean, smartass. So you got some issues from your past? Big damn deal. We all do. It ain't nothin' to be ashamed about and it sure as hell ain't worth scarin' your family over. If you're goin' through somethin', man, you bring it to me, you talk to me and you give all that shit to me. I don't care if I'm a hundred miles away, hung-over, in the middle of a damn game, or if it's the middle of the night or at the crack of fucking dawn. I'm your big brother. It's what I do. If you don't get the friendliest of hello's, well, I'm sorry. I really am, Jack. I should've been there for you with this. I should've made time on that damn phone call. That won't happen again. Now, you call me at four in the morning to ask what brand of mascara is the best, I'll beat your ass. But if it's somthin' serious, man, tell me. I'll drop whatever the hell I'm doin'. If you need me to be here, I'll be here. Hockey don't matter more than my family. Nothin' does. Now get your ass over here."

Without warning, Bobby pulled Jack up and into a firm embrace. They stayed together like that for some time until Bobby pulled away, playfully messing up Jack's hair in the process.

"We good, Cracker Jack?"

Jack simply nodded with one of his signature half smiles that seemed to always fade far too quickly.

"But, Bobby – what – what am I supposed to do?"

Bobby released a weighted sigh and let his weight collapse onto the end of the bed, where Jack joined him. They were silent for awhile as Jack ran his fingers through his hair to correct his brother's doing and Bobby searched for the right words.

"Well, how did you make it stop with Ma and the rest of us?" Bobby prompted.

Jack just shrugged and stared down as his socks, sliding his feet back and forth across the carpet. Bobby allowed the unresponsive moment as he saw Jack's eyes dancing with hesitant words behind them.

"I dunno," Jack finally admitted. "They just stopped. You guys all kept tellin' me I was safe and all that. Mom would take my hand or you would smack my shoulder and I would see – him – and lose it. I was waitin' for one you guys to finally hit me or something. After awhile, and seein' that when you guys touched me nothin' bad happened, I guess, I started to see him less. Then I stopped expecting the worst. But this is different. I can't just keep tryin' and not goin' through with it. How long is a chick gonna put up with that?"

"I think you need to talk to Angela."

"What?" Jack's eyes were saucers. "You –"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Me talkin' 'bout talkin' to women. Go figure. But, like you said, Jack, this is different. You said it yourself; you love this chick. That's some pretty strong ass language right there, kid. I'm not gonna say whether you do or don't or if you're just some hormonal teenager, but if you think you love her, then you got to talk to her. She obviously cares a hell a lot about you. You don't have to give her all the details right away. At least drop her a fucking clue. If she cares enough about you, which I know she does, then she ain't gonna run away. You talk, and then you work through it. You get past it, just like you did with us. Maybe you got to start simple, Jackie. I know it's embarrassing as hell, but you got to do it. Unless, you know, you want to go the rest of your male existence without being laid."

Jack let out a silent chuckle and Bobby smiled cockily. Sure, this wouldn't magically fix everything overnight, but it was a start. Jack admitting to the problem was probably the biggest step in all of it. It was like pulling teeth to get the youngest Mercer to actively converse about school or anything relatively normal, so this was a rare feat. Bobby could feel nothing but proud. He was proud of his family, of what they had accomplished over the years and how they were always there for each other. Evelyn, Jeremiah and Angel had all known something was wrong with Jack and none of them gave up. Studying the quiet amateur rock star, Bobby also was overwhelmed with pride for his baby brother, for how far he had come, how strong he remained through all of it, even if he did fall a time or two, and for what he had had the strength and courage to reveal that day. As Jack began properly putting away his guitar and muttered for them to go downstairs before Evelyn sent up the cavalry with a short laugh, Bobby couldn't help but grin. He knew what he had always known, since the first day the small, broken kid walked through their front door and through every storm they had weathered with him. Jack was going to be okay.

"Clean slate, alright?" Bobby patted his brother's shoulder.

Jack just nodded. It would take time, a lot of patience, and one very understanding girlfriend, but Jack would overcome this.

"Just don't tell Ma I used God to talk you into having sex, 'cause – yeah – that won't fly with her."

Jack cracked a grin finally and again nodded. With a sigh, the youngest Mercer went to leave the room, this time without a fight.

"Where you goin'?"

Jack stopped in the doorway and turned to face his brother with a knowing smile and a hopeful look in his eyes replacing the dark orbs he had possessed earlier.

"There's someone I need to call," Jack replied simply and exited the room.

A/N: There you have it, folks. Another short little story for you all to enjoy. Oh, and by the way, I actually am a Christian. So, yeah…Bobby's views, are Bobby's views. Not mine. Lol. Also, I am not gay-bashing or anything with this story. I promise. Just because Bobby says Jack isn't gay, doesn't mean I am bashing. There. I think I got all of my possible-offending-people-stuff out of the way. Sorry if I did. Let me know if I did. I'll cry and then apologize and then beg for forgiveness. Okay, shutting up now.