The Job

Johnny came home and saw the headband on the table, he grabbed it and muttered "Where did you go, kid.." He came home as fast as he could when he got Miguel's call but he must've just missed Brooks.

What followed was a search through the city.

Brooks was standing in Claire's room. He looked at Claire and said "Tory's in the hospital." his tone and face were emotionless. Claire said "You said you would protect her." Brooks said "She pushed me out of the way and got kicked off the second floor of the school, smashed onto a railing and hit the ground. It was my fault."

Claire looked at Brooks, who added "I will pay for her hospital fees, send you to get treatment for whatever you have and stay with her. After she recovers, I'll leave and you'll never see me again." he pulled out his phone and dialed a number before saying "I'm with the patient, send an Ambulance and take care of her until I get the money. Can you do that?" Doctor Klein sighed and said "Fine. Give me the address."

Brooks gave her the address and hung up, Claire looked at him and said "Why?" Brooks said "Why what." Claire sighed and said "Don't play stupid with me, boy." Brooks said "Because I love her. Unfortunately she'll never know because I haven't told her and by the time she's healed, I'll be gone." as he walked to the door, he opened it and Claire said "How are you going to get the money?"

Brooks stopped and said "That's none of your concern." Claire looked at him and said "I would think very carefully about your next move if I were you. One wrong choice and you won't live long enough to regret it." Brooks looked at her and said "Even if I have to die tomorrow to get her healed, I will do it." before closing the door and leaving the room.

Brooks sat on the couch and looked at the little boy playing with his toys. He sighed and said "What's your name?" The boy looked over and said "Peter. What's your name?" Brooks smiled and said "Brooks. Nice to meet you." Peter smiled and went back to playing with his toys.

A while later

The Ambulance showed up and Brooks helped Claire into it before sending her away. He brought Peter with him and said "I'll bring you to a nice place. Your mom and sister went on a trip, they'll be back soon okay?" Peter held Brooks' hand and nodded.

Brooks brought him to his car and drove away.

Brooks stopped at Johnny's apartment complex. He covered his head with a hood and brought Peter to Miguel's house before knocking on the door. Rosa opened the door to see Brooks, she said "Brooks!" Brooks nodded and said in spanish "Can you take care of this boy? His name is Peter and he's Tory's brother."

Rosa looked at Peter and said "What happened?" Brooks replied "I have to go work to pay for Tory and her mom's hospital bills. I can't take care of him, not where I'm going. Please, I'm begging you. I have nowhere else to go."

Rosa finally nodded and Brooks said to Peter "You're going to stay here for now until your mom and sister comes back okay?" Peter nodded and Rosa took him before looking at Brooks and said "You know, Johnny has been looking for you."

Brooks shook his head and said "This is my fault. I don't deserve anybody looking for me. If I wasn't around everything would be much better. This is goodbye, Rosa. Thank you for everything." before walking away, Rosa watched him go and sighed before closing the door.

Brooks got in his car and stared at the apartment complex, still remembering his first time here. He sighed and lit a cigarette before driving away, disappearing into the night.

When Johnny came home that night he looked tired, Carmen was sitting in front of her door and said "Johnny!" Johnny looked over and said "What." Carmen bit her lips and said "Come with me." Johnny followed her into the house and saw Peter.

Carmen said "Brooks came over before and dropped Peter off." Johnny said "He was here?! Where did he go?!" Carmen shook her head and Rosa said in Spanish "He said he wasn't coming back, he went to get money for the girl and her mother's treatment."

Carmen translated and Johnny said "So he's.." as he looked at Peter and Rosa said in English "Brother." Johnny was silent before sighing and muttering "Kid, where are you?"

Brooks was currently sitting at the bar in Golf and Stuff, drinking. He was waiting for the woman to show up, sure enough. The woman walked over and said with a smile "Reaper, you're back so soon!" Brooks glanced at her and said "Take me to the boss. Now." his tone cold as ice.

The woman shivered and said "Right away." Brooks followed her and they left.

A while later

Brooks got out of his car at an old tobacco selling shop. The woman said "Follow me." Brooks followed her inside and they walked through a door at the back. Brooks followed the woman to a room in the back and saw a few old men playing cards.

The woman stopped and the table and whispered into the ear of an older man at the table. The man looked over at Brooks and smiled as he said "Brooks! Glad to see you again." Brooks said without emotion "I need jobs." the man clicked his tongue and said "You think you can come and go as you please?"

Brooks directly knelt and said "You can have my life. I need the money." The other men at the table looked at him and the man, who talked to him at the beginning slowly smoked from his cigar as he looked at Brooks before saying "Why?"

Brooks said "With all due respect, I don't want to involve anyone else." The man laughed and said "Last time it was because of your mother, this time it's about someone else again. How many time are you going to help someone?"

Brooks said "This is different. She- I just need the money, do you have a job or not." the man was silent before saying "I have many jobs.." Brooks said "Sniping. Man, women, children, I don't care anymore."

The man rubbed his chin and said "I'm really curious as to what pushed you over the edge..." Brooks stayed silent and the man waved saying "Forget it. I have a job you can take right now. 120k for two men dead. Sarah, fill him in and get him his gun." Sarah nodded and Brooks stood up before following her, the man said "You're not leaving this time. You either leave your life behind or you work for me until you die."

Brooks stopped and said "That's not an issue." before disappearing with Sarah.

A while later

Brooks was walked down the street with a guitar case on his back and his hood up. He was completely blacked out. He entered an alley and climbed up a ladder that was on the side of the building.

He settled on the roof and set up his sniper on a stand before laying down flat on the ground. He looked through his scope into an office building. He saw a meeting room with two men inside, exactly his targets.

Brooks took a deep breath and aimed at the man sitting in front of a desk before pulling the trigger, immediately after he turned the sniper slightly and fired again. After he fired he packed up and left.

There were two bullet holes in the window and two bodies with half heads in the room.

Brooks walked back to the tobacco store and said "Finished. Where's my money?" the man looked at Brooks and said "I need proof." Brooks took out his phone and showed him a picture of the two corpses before saying "Don't insult me again." the man put his hands up and said "Alright, I was just checking to see if you still had your edge."

The man grinned and snapped his fingers. A man in a black suit walked in with a briefcase. He opened it in front of Brooks, who counted before emptying the briefcase into his bag and saying "Get me another job." the man grinned and handed him a paper, Brooks read it and left.

The next day

Brooks went to the boss' bank and registered an account before dumping all his money into it and leaving. He went to the hospital and found Claire's room before walking inside and seeing she was awake. He looked at her monitors and said "Everything okay?"

Claire didn't even look at him.

Brooks said "How much is the treatment?" Claire ignored him again and watched the Tv in front of her. Brooks wasn't bothered and sat in her room silently for an hour before leaving. He walked out of the room and said to a nurse "Excuse me, do you know where Doctor Klein is?" the nurse pointed the way and Brooks nodded before leaving.

Brooks walked all the way to the ICU and saw Doctor Klein talking to a nurse in front of Tory's room. Brooks walked over and said "What's the problem?" Doctor Klein shoo'd away the nurse and said "Her condition is worse than we expected. She's in a coma right now. If she wakes up, we might still need to do surgery for her legs and even then, there's a very slim chance she'll walk again."

Brooks clenched his fists tightly and said "Is there a higher percentage option?" Doctor Klein said "We're already flying in the best doctors... The only other thing we can do is hope for a miracle."

Brooks looked at Tory through the glass and said "How much total? Daughter and mother. Include the surgery and treatment." Doctor Klein frowned and said "At least 300 thousand." Brooks nodded and said "At most?" Doctor Klein shrugged and said "I'd say 600 thousand?" Brooks nodded again and said "Can I go in?"

Doctor Klein nodded and let Brooks in before closing the door behind him.

Brooks stood next to her bed and looked at her face as tears slowly pooled in his eyes. He held her hand softly and said "I'm so sorry... I.. I wish it was me in that bed instead of you. You're so stupid..." he caressed her cheek softly as he continued "Porky.. Was it worth it? Sacrificing yourself or me? It hurts.. It hurts so bad.."

Brooks choked out through tears "I'll get the money, just wake up. Please, just wake up..." he closed his eyes and sat down in a chair as he held her hand to his forehead and said "I still haven't told you I love you yet. You have to wake up!"

Brooks cried as he held Tory's hand in her room for hours. Eventually they came in to tell him it was time to leave. Brooks left the room and glanced at Tory one more time before leaving the hospital, his emotionless look returning.