"You double crossing bastards!" Riley yelled as he drew back his arm and landed blow upon blow on Scott's face and head.
"No!" Jessica yelled and tried to run to Riley and stop him but Josh had sensed she'd try to get involved and hung back, blocking her way.
"Stay out of it Jessica!" Josh said, "I want to go help Jim and Scott but you have to promise me you'll stay out of it."
Jessica shook her head as she saw Scott covering his head with his arms and working to buck Riley off of him. Jim almost fell from the second punch Angus landed but pulled himself together at the last second and dodged Angus' next punch.
"I knew you guys were shitheads but I never thought you were backstabbing shitheads!" Angus growled, dodging Jimmy's swing and landing another of his own.
Josh pushed Jessica out of the way, and threw himself against Riley, knocking him off of Scott.
When Scott sprang to his feet, Josh retreated again to block Jessica as she tried to move toward the men.
"Stop! Stop!" Jessica yelled but they didn't pay her any attention.
Tears came to her eyes as she saw blood pouring from Jim's nose, and gashes on Scott's face. Jim and Scott began to land some good punches and despite the initial upper hand that Riley and Angus had gained from the surprise attack, the fights seemed evenly matched.
"I'm going to pound your pompous fucking face in you double crossing sack of shit." Angus yelled at Jim, the dull sound of flesh hitting flesh accenting his point as Angus' fist made contact with Jim's face.
"Good luck." Jim said through split lips. "I have a few bones to pick with you too."
"Oh my God, stop!" Jessica yelled again. Josh had diverted his attention from her and committed himself to the fight with Riley. Riley was working hard to fend both Josh and Scott off.
Jessica tried to grab Josh's arm but he shook her off.
Suddenly Jim charged Angus and the two of them crashed against the sofa, knocking it back. They landed on the floor, struggling.
Finding himself at a standstill with Josh and Scott, Riley kicked out his leg and landed it in the middle of Scott's chest, sending Scott flying. Then turning without warning he tackled Josh sending the both of them smashing into the wall behind them. Jessica could hear the swoosh of the air being knocked out of Josh.
Scuffling, grunting, muffled thuds as punches and kicks landed filled Jessica with horror. Her pleas for the men to stop fell on deaf ears and she felt a growing sense of fear that they were going to kill one another. Frustrated, Jessica clutched her hair and screamed at the top of her lungs, but the men were completely oblivious.
Jessica was desperate but not nearly as desperate as when Angus won the upper hand against Jimmy and stood over him volleying kick after kick into his stomach and ribs. Jessica's eyes strayed to the gun rack. She ran to the rack, grabbed a rifle and fired into the ceiling.
Through the shower of dry wall particles that fell around her, Jessica saw the men freeze and look over at her. A sudden rage overtook her. Jim was clutching his chest, his expression conveying the magnitude of his pain. Angus had frozen mid kick. Blood poured down Josh's face from the gash on his forehead and he looked crooked as he froze against the wall. Riley still pinning him there with one hand and his other hand frozen in the punch that he'd been about to land to Josh's face.
Scott had been in the process of getting up and froze in a kneeling position, looking up at her in obvious surprise.
Jessica lowered the barrel of the gun and swung it between Riley and Angus and with a pronounced pout she said, "You promised you were only going to talk!"
Turning slowly, hands raised, Riley took one look at Jessica and despite how pissed off he was he couldn't help but be disarmed by her. There was an earnestness about her that took the steam out of his anger. The other men seemed to be calming down also. Angus stepped forward, raising his hands slightly, Jim staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, Josh pushed off from the wall, hands slightly raised, Scott slowly got to his feet.
"That was before I found out that these assholes nearly left with you and were willing to kill Angus and me in the process." Riley said, his eyes slipping from Jessica's face to the gun she held, and back again. "And it really fucking pisses me off that the only people here that don't find you with a loaded gun unnerving are Angus and me."
"Grow the fuck up Riley." Jim wheezed, clutching his chest, "Like it or not, you're playing catch-up. You can be as pissed off about it as you want but it doesn't change that fact. Blowing up about it all the time, isn't going to get you any closer to Jessica."
"Grow up?" Angus demanded, "That's fucking rich ... Fuck, we're the ones who covered our obligations with the clan. We're the ones who always had to work ... giving you all the time in the world to make Jessica fall in love with you. And for that, yeah, fuck, you better believe I'm going to blow up."
"Do you honestly think being home more often would have changed anything about how you dealt with Jessica? Changed your attitude toward her?" Jim panted, running out of breath from the effort of speaking, "Be honest with yourselves ..." Jim added when Riley looked like he was going to argue, "We asked you to go easier on Jess many times. Being home more often would've just given you more time to beat the shit out of her."
Seconds ticked by before Riley exhaled and said, "Shit." His shoulders sagged. He suddenly felt very tired.
"Put the gun away." Angus said to Jessica, "We're done fighting." As Jessica returned the rifle to the rack Angus looked Jim over with an increasing sense of horror. "This is so fucked. Fuck Jim, I'm sorry."
Jim nodded, "'K."
Returning, Jessica stopped and looked around at all the battered faces. Her face, already reflecting her distress with the situation, grew more and more glum as she moved her eyes from Scott to Riley to Josh to Angus , but when they settled on Jim there was no denying her sadness, incredulity and disappointment. Jessica went to Jim, slipping under his arm and melting against him ... cupping his bruised and bloodied face gently with her hand.
"You should sit down Jim," she pleaded.
Tilting his head slightly he pressed his lips into the palm of Jessica's hand and kissed it. Pulling her tighter against him he shook his head, "I'd rather stand for now."
"Jess ..." Riley said, shame overwhelmed him. He'd never felt anything like it before not even when he knew he was using his friends to do his dirty work with Jessica. "... I'm sorry."
"You should never, ever, fight like this Riley." Jessica replied. She looked around at the men, before swinging her eyes back to Riley, "You're the only family you have left ... no matter how much you disagree you can never turn on each other like this again. Please ... promise me."
"I don't know if I can Jess." Riley said, "I don't know how not to be pissed about all the secrets, the inequality in our relationships with you. I don't want to make a promise I might break."
Jessica nodded and let her head fall against Jim's shoulder and she looked even more disappointed.
"So now what?" Angus asked. He wanted Jessica in his arms, he wanted her to stop looking like he and Riley had betrayed her.
