Jack's Descent

CH 2: The Promise

Pouring milk into his cereal, Jack looked up from his bowl as Penny sleepily plodded into the kitchen. "Morning" he greeted, hoping to find her unaffected by the night before.

"Morning" she chirped in response, her tiny fists rubbing her eyes before she plopped down onto the chair beside him. "Whatcha eating?"

Sticking his tongue out so Penny could see the chewed up Cheerios, Jack laughed as she complained, "Eww, that's so gross, Jack -- Mama says not to play with your food!"

"Well I'm not" he innocently assured her. "I'm eating my food, so I'd hardly consider myself at fault for abiding by the rules." As he grinned around his mouthful of cereal, he felt the vice binding his heart loosen in accordance with Penny's sunny smile. It seemed that no matter how bad things were at home, he could always count on her cheery disposition to give him the strength to soldier on.

Affectionately tweaking her nose, he asked, "You want something to eat, Squirt?"

"No, I'm only out here 'cause I couldn't sleep" Penny softly admitted. "Can I talk to you about something, Jack?"

"Oh boy, you're not pregnant, are you?"

Penny's mouth fell agape in an astonished "O", her brother laughing as she chided, "Jaaaack, I'm only six years old! I'm too young to have the stork visit me!"

He grinned. "This is very true, but you're wise beyond your years and growing like a weed."

Penny made a face. "Weeds are ugly..."

"Ok fine, you're growing like a flower."

"Like a rose?" Penny asked, her eyes shining with an infectious amount of hope. "I like roses, 'cause they're pretty and they smell good!"

Jack made a show of thinking to himself, then he nodded before agreeing, "Well I don't see why not...you're both very pretty, after all, but I'm not so sure about the whole 'smelling good' thing."

"Jaaaack!"

Chuckling, he ruffled Penny's hair and grinned when she irritably smoothed it back down. "Didn't you have a question for me?" he reminded her, knowing fully well how her mind tended to wander.

Eyes widening with remembrance, Penny bounced in her seat before chirping, "Oh! Right! I wanted to tell you about my arith...my ar-arith...arithma..."

"Arithmatic class?" Jack offered, a bright grin adorning his lips when Penny nodded excitedly.

"Yes, yes! Arithmatrick! Boy, Jack, it is so hard! Whoever invented arithmatrick is a big meanie who needs to be taught a lesson!"

Laughing, Jack asked, "Well why do you feel that way, Pennifer?"

"Because it's hard!" Penny returned as if it were obvious. Now scowling, she irritably added, "My name is not Pennifer, Jack -- that's ugly!"

"Ok, well how about Penford? I'm trying to figure out a new nickname for you."

"No, that's even uglier!"

"Penny-loafer?"

"No!"

"Penn State?"

"NO!"

Holding his hands up in surrender, Jack grinned before agreeing, "Ok, ok, fine, that last one was a bit ridiculous, but you've gotta admit that you've got one heck of a cool brother."

"More like a prissy one" Penny argued, a grin splitting her face when he gave her a surprised look.

"Hey! I'll have you know that only girls are prissy, and I am not a girl, Penny."

"Yes, you are!" Giggling, she went to hop off the chair so Jack couldn't grab her, but he easily caught her by the wrist and dragged her onto his lap.

Placing his fingers threateningly over her midsection, he asked, "Are you going to take that back, or do I have to give you a tickling you'll never forget?"

Penny looked as if she were seriously contemplating his proposition, only to suddenly shake her head and squeal "Never!" at the top of her tiny lungs.

"Alright, you asked for it!" Holding Penny in a headlock, Jack grinned as he used his free hand to tickle her tummy and underarms.

Squealing, Penny tried to wriggle free of his grasp, but to no avail, her small body squirming about as Jack happened to catch sight of his watch.

"Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late!" he exclaimed, his lips falling upon Penny's forehead before he set her back onto the floor. Wagging a finger at her admonishingly, he promised, "This isn't over", Penny giggling as she watched her brother grab his coat and trip out the door.

--

"Heeey, how was the big night?"

Looking up from her lunch tray with a start, Rachel immediately relaxed when she saw Craig and April grinning back at her in expectance. Shrugging her shoulders as she nibbled on a french fry, Rachel forced a tight smile to her lips as she replied, "It was very...nice."

"Nice?" Craig ridiculed, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Aw, c'mon, where're all the gory details? How many times did you two do it?"

"It's not about sex with us!"

"Well yeah, obviously" Craig muttered. "I mean, would it kill ya to go out on a limb for the guy? You've been dating for four years!"

"Four and a half" Rachel corrected, her eyes averting down to her tray as she began poking at her gelatinous mashed potatoes. It wasn't that she was angry with Jack, but ever since she'd found out why he'd been so adamant about her staying away from his house, she instantly regretted being so pushy. Now that she knew, she couldn't help but be overwrought by guilt. After all, should she betray Jack's trust and tell the authorities, or should she stay quiet and trust him to handle everything on his own?

In accordance with her worried thoughts, Craig suddenly cupped his hands and hollered, "Hey, Wayne the Lame! Get your skinny little Richie Rich ass over here!"

Peering over her shoulder in surprise, Rachel looked Bruce over questioningly since she hadn't expected him to come back from Brazil so soon. He was immaculately tan (no true surprise there), and as soon as he saw them, he flashed a smile so blinding that Crest would surely be lining up at his door with advertising propositions.

As Bruce breezily came up to the table, Craig slapped him on the shoulder before teasing, "Wow, brown baggin' it today, are we? I wish your hot mom would make lunch for me, too."

"His name is Alfred" Bruce grumbled, clearly not appreciating the joke.

"Whoa dude, I know, I know, I was just roughin' ya up a bit" Craig insisted, holding his hands up in surrender as Bruce continued to glare at him. "Visit any nude beaches while you were in Brazil?"

"Not any that you'd be invited to" Bruce returned, now turning so that he could send Rachel a meaningful look.

Blushing furiously, Rachel bowed her head and began to dig into her mashed potatoes with more force. She could not believe he'd just said that!

Seeming to sense her friend's discomfort, April quickly urged, "Why don't we all have a seat? My lunch is getting cold."

"Yeah" Craig agreed, admiring April's short skirt, "cold." Purposely dropping a quarter onto the floor, he dove under the table and turned around so he could try and sneak a peek under April's mico mini.

Raising an eyebrow, April irritably demanded, "Hey, what are you doing down there?"

Craig snickered. "Well if you gotta ask, I must not be doin' it right."

"Oh! Get out from under there, you freaking pervert!" April snapped, Rachel drawing a hand over her mouth to prevent her laughter.

As everyone finally grabbed a seat, nobody took note of the breathless young man racing toward them until he flopped down beside a startled Rachel.

"Sorry I'm late" Jack apologized, "but I had some morning wood to take care of."

"Oh, you did not!" Rachel argued, yet she laughed in spite of her uneasy disposition. "Was it Penny, again? Every time you're late it's because of her."

"Why, ya jealous?"

"She can have you" Rachel shot back, a grin of her own forming along her lips when Jack pouted. "Well what's the matter?" she pressed. "Upset that I'm willing to share?"

Jack immediately perked up. "Well if you're willing to share, why don't we invite April along the next time we..."

"Jack!"

Laughing, he whispered something in Rachel's ear before pulling her in for a kiss, April's eyes widening once she spotted the ring on her friend's finger.

"Rachel" she breathlessly began, "is there something you've been meaning to tell us?"

Reluctantly withdrawing from Jack's embrace, Rachel gave April a questioning look before demanding, "Well what do you mean?"

"I think she wants to know if we use tongue" Jack whispered, thus earning himself an elbow to the gut.

"No, seriously" April interrupted, "are you two engaged? 'Cause Rachel's got a pretty decent-sized rock on her left finger..."

Cursing due to her carelessness, Rachel moved to speak, but Jack cheerily slung an arm across her shoulders and nodded. "Yep" he acknowledged, grinning, "she agreed to take the plunge yesterday evening."

"Oh, hallelujah -- sex stories at last!" Craig giddily exclaimed. "I am so tired of being the only one with dirt to share, so now that you two'll be getting married, you'll have to do it!"

"Craig!" April snapped, giving him an elbow to the ribs. Now directing her sparkling eyes to her friends, she clasped her hands before asking, "So do you guys need any help planning the wedding? 'Cause I'm pretty good at organizing things."

Jack scratched the back of his head. "Uhhh, well we honestly haven't thought about it yet..."

As Bruce listened to all of this ridiculous hubbub, he finally decided that he couldn't take it anymore. Abruptly shooting up from his seat, he eyed everyone at the table before sourly grumbling, "I'd better go", his hard gaze meeting with Rachel's before he took his tray and stormed off.

"Whoooa, Brucey must've gotten a parasite lodged up his ass. I just knew that Brazil wasn't gonna be good for the guy" Craig remarked, his eyes rolling skyward as he began shoveling french fries into his mouth.

Sending Bruce a concerned look over her shoulder, April's eyes lit up when she suddenly formulated an idea. "Heeey, why don't you guys come over to my place after class?" she eagerly suggested. "That way we can not only relax, but help you two plan things out."

Jack looked to Rachel with a smile, then shrugged his shoulders. "Well alright, but only if Rachel will give me a piece of her cake."

"Boy, you sure drive a hard bargain" Rachel declared, a true smile gracing her lips as she handed him the dessert. "I'm only giving you this because it'll go straight to my ass."

"Well so will my hands" Jack returned, wiggling his eyebrows as he smacked her bottom.

When Rachel squealed, nobody noticed Bruce glaring daggers at the happy couple from across the room.

--

Whistling a tune as he entered the apartment, Jack flicked on the kitchen light before hanging his coat up on the hanger. As usual, April's little get-together had been interesting, to say the least, but he'd left her place a little wiser about what not to drink. Craig had been the guinea pig for her latest concoction, and his poetry had been in rare form that evening.

As Jack opened the fridge to reach inside for a Jack Daniels, he froze when a sudden noise began to pervade his senses. Straining to hear, the blonde frowned when he realized that the sounds of soft sobbing were coming from Penny's bedroom.

Abandoning his drink, Jack slammed the fridge door shut and went racing down the hallway as fast as his long, skinny legs could carry him. Entering Penny's room in a rush, he flinched when he saw his sister curled up in a tiny ball on her bed, her small shoulders shaking as she continued to sob in soft, short little shudders.

"Penny?" Jack ventured, his eyes softening in concern. "Hey, Squirt, what's the matter?"

When Penny slowly turned to face him, he immediately recoiled, his gaze hardening when he took note of the large, swollen bruise beneath her left eye. "What the hell has he done to you?!" he viciously growled out, his fury radiating within his bones as Penny sniffled.

"M-my teacher called and told him my arithmatrick grades were bad" she whimpered, her head bowing as she rubbed her eyes. "He said I needed to bring up my grades so I wouldn't be an embarrassment to him and Mama."

"Christ, you're only six!" Jack exclaimed, his arms curling around her as she sobbed against his chest. Stroking her soft, corn silk hair, he rested his chin against the top of her head before gently assuring her, "Don't you worry, he won't touch you again as long as I'm around...you're my favorite sister."

"I'm your only sister" Penny reminded him, thus causing Jack to smile.

"Well yeah" he agreed, "but you're still my favorite." Now turning serious again, he asked, "Why didn't you go to Maggie's like I instructed?"

"She was sick" Penny mumbled, only to cringe when Jack gave a small curse.

"What did I tell you?" he demanded, concerned frustration peeking through his voice. "Even if Maggie's sick or unavailable, you stay away from this house. Do you understand?"

Penny nodded tearfully.

Brushing the tears from her cheeks, Jack sighed before apologizing, "Look, I'm really sorry for snapping like that, but you mean a whole lot to me, and I don't know what I'd do if he...if you..." Jack paused, his head bowing as a sudden lump formed in his throat. He didn't want to think about such things, especially since it seemed like his life was finally turning around.

Interrupting his string of turbulent thoughts, Penny tugged at his sleeve before asking hopefully, "Jack, can you stay here with me tonight? I know I'm a big girl, but I'm still afraid..."

Jack's eyes softened. "Yeah, no problem, Squirt -- I may have to watch out for your cooties, but that's what life's all about, right?"

Penny grinned before sticking her tongue out at him. Snuggling into her brother's offered arms, she smiled against his shirt before asking, "Did you mean it, Jack? Will you really keep Papa away from me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, of course I will."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Satisfied with this answer, Penny relaxed within his strong embrace and closed her eyes. As Jack gazed down upon the top of her head, he found that the moon left a silver halo glowing about her flaxen locks. She looked so angelic, and it was then that he decided on the perfect nickname for her: Angel.

Lying his head down so that Penny was tucked beneath his chin, he felt her squirm slightly before mumbling, "Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

He swallowed sharply, his adam's apple bobbing as he felt the same lump from earlier form in his throat. Squeezing his eyes tightly closed to ward off his fears, he nodded once before whispering, "Yeah, me too, kid."

A/N - Gah, sorry for the delay, but I had (HAVE) papers to write, and lots of other crap, so yee-haw. lol And word to the wise, don't be expecting happiness and gooey love for much longer, 'cause it'll get angsty starting next chapter. YAY! lol I love writing angst, 'cause I'm a jerk like that. xD

Anywhos, thank you SO SO SO SO much for the lovely support! It really HAS helped to inspire me to update, so I really do appreciate it! Keep it up if you'd like more faster! Just like Jack, I push a hard bargain. ;0P