My Song Has Not Been Sung

There was another hour wait to see Lynn again after Zack got there. He had brought a duffel bag with some clothes as promised, her phone, and a teddy bear Lynn kept on her bed. Jack explained the whole story to his friend as they sat outside the hospital room.

“You can come in now.” A nurse stepped out of the room to inform Jack and Zack. They both bolted to their feet but walked in calmly, not wanting to scare Lynn.

She was sitting on the observation table in a blue hospital gown. All of her clothes were in bags along with Q-tips that were covered in a small plastic case. Lynn was holding a hand mirror and scrubbing the makeup off her face with a wet cloth.

“Hey guys.” She mumbled.

“Feel any better, kiddo?” Jack took a seat next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

“I’d feel better if I got out of here.” She replied.

“Good thing Jack had me swing by your place and grab some clothes,” Zack handed Lynn the bag, “I also got your phone for you, Jenna texted you a million times.”

“I should just text her back, or I could go see her and explain everything. Oh god, Jack what if she gets upset or breaks up with me?” Lynn pleaded.

“Jenna is a kick ass girlfriend who will completely understand, she could never be mad at you over this.” Jack reassured then gave his friend a kiss on the forehead.

“How about you crash at our place until this Bryar kid gets arrested, just to make sure he can’t bother you.” Zack suggested.

“Alright. Can you guys leave for just a sec so I can get dressed?” Lynn asked.

“No prob.” Zack gave Lynn the bag and left the room with Jack.

The two of them only waited for a few minutes until their friend joined them in the hallway. Lynn cleaned up nicely, wearing a pair of dark jeans, a gray v-neck, combat boots, and her leather jacket. She walked out of the hospital with her head held high as if nothing had ever happened to her. Although her eyes were still slightly red and her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, she still looked perfectly unscathed.

They all climbed into the car Jack had left in the emergency bay for the past few hours and drove back to the garage quickly. Rian had been waiting there for them. He immediately hugged Lynn and gave his roommates a pat on the back.

“I’m just going to go straight to sleep if that’s cool with you guys.” Lynn dropped the empty bag Zack had brought next to the couch and started to pull it out into its bed form. Jack checked his phone and realized how late it was.

“Yeah dude it’s fine, if you want my bed it’s all yours.” Jack replied.

“The couch is fine, besides I have to wake up earlier than the rest of you for my shift so my alarm won’t bother you if I’m all the way in here.” Lynn answered.

“Okay, I’m going to walk you to work tomorrow just in case Bryar tries any shit, alright?” Jack started to unfold the futon.

“You know I’m going to have to function by myself even with my rapist living and working a block away.” Lynn mumbled.

“Hey, this asshole is going to get arrested then he’ll stand trial and get thrown in prison where he belongs. I am going to help protect you until that point.” Jack laid a blanket across the makeshift bed and hurried to grab some pillows, “Sleep tight kiddo.”


An annoying beeping woke Jack up the next morning. Why does she have to leave her alarm on default? At least pick a song. He rolled out of his bed with the regular kink in his neck and a killer headache. He wandered to his dresser and dug around, hoping to find a clean pair of underwear. Luck turned in his favor and granted him some boxer briefs.

He scoured his room for some jeans that weren’t completely disgusting and an odorless shirt. He got changed into the outfit quickly and hurried into the bathroom to do his hair. After tussling it for a few minutes, he decided it was a lost cause and stuffed it in a beanie.

He entered the kitchen where Lynn was already waiting for him.

“You are the slowest person alive.” She joked.

“This level of sheer sexiness cannot be achieved without some effort.” Jack snorted.

The two of them laughed as they made their way downstairs to the garage and out of the small building. They had an entirely uneventful walk to the Arby’s that Lynn worked part time at. She had another internship at a music studio only a few blocks away from her apartment.

“Okay I’ll come back here to pick you up at noon when you get off. I don’t have a shift at Pizza Hut today so I’ll be able to leave Rian in charge on the garage for a little while. See you later.” Jack wrapped Lynn in a hug before letting her go inside the building.

He made his way back to his home very slowly. Jack had hoped he could run into Bryar and give him a beating beyond imagine. No such luck. He got back to the garage without being able to even bother a fly. At this point, Zack and Rian had gotten up, both of them waiting by the front desk in case any customers came in.

“Finally, you’re back” Rian commented through a mouthful of instant ramen, “we have to go to work now and Zack can help you here when he gets off, I have two papers to write before spring break is over.”

“Alright, you guys go so you’re not late. We can’t afford either of you getting fired.” Jack took both of their breakfasts, the ramen and a piece of toast with an orange, and started pushing them out of the room. Jack scarfed down the food before he set an alarm for when he needed to go pick up Lynn then he crawled underneath a busted up truck.

It’s engine was in three pieces that it’s owner had tried to stick together with duct tape. Surprisingly, that didn’t work very well. Jack only spent ten minutes trying to fix it before realizing it was a lost cause. He chucked it and rummaged around in the back of the shop to find a new one.

After installing the new part, Jack quickly changed the oil, added new brake pads, cleaned underneath the hood, pulled the truck into the small backyard behind the shop, and started washing it down with a hose. There were three other cars in the backlot, all of which were completely fixed as well.

Jack pulled his phone out of his pocket and made his way to the register by the desk. He pulled his customer book out from one of the shelves on the desk and flipped to the most recent page. After calling everyone who’s car he had fixed, he started pulling them out into his miniscule driveway and onto the road.

Luckily, the cars didn’t wait very long before their owners retrieved them and left Jack with the money they owed him for the repairs. Once those four cars were all cleared out of Jack’s business, he decided to move onto one of the other projects awaiting his attention. There were only two cars left in the garage, neither of them needing a great deal of time.

I’ll check in with Lynn before I start those. Jack thought. He pulled out his phone to dial her but before he could, it started vibrating annoyingly against his hand. He didn’t recognize the number but he figured it was a potential client.

“Barakat Repair, how can I help you?” He immediately answered into the phone.

“Jack, it’s detective Wyatt.” The familiar voice on the other end responded.
“Detective! Is there any news about Lynn’s case?”

“The DNA of her attacker just went into the system and based on the suspect’s prior history with her and her identification, we can get a warrant for his arrest then get his DNA to run it against the sample we got from Lynn. If they match, and I do believe they will, we can go to trial. My partner is on the phone with her so she’s getting all the same information. ”

“That’s good news right?”

“Yes. The only catch is that you will have to speak with the district attorney seeing as he’s agreed to take your case. He’s excellent at his job and will win this case if the DNA matches up. He’s a bit hesitant to take it to trial-”

“What! When do we talk to him?”

“He doesn’t have any other meetings scheduled for today or tomorrow, I could call and set up a time for you to meet him.”

“I have to go pick up Lynn from work then we’re on our way.”

“No Jack that’s not what I-”

Jack didn’t listen another word. The lawyer on the case doesn’t want to take it trial!? Bryar deserves the longest prison sentence he can get and he’s not gonna get that unless this thing goes all the way through the system!

The mechanic was practically fuming as he texted Lynn that he was on his way to pick her up. He only spent a minute changing out of his blue, work jumpsuit into a t-shirt and jeans before bolting out of the garage. He threw an old jacket over his shoulders while he power walked down the street.

The trip to Arby’s was only a few minutes thanks to Jack’s anger fueled speed. When he got there, he saw his friend waiting outside for him.

“You’re lucky that my boss hates Bryar too” Lynn mumbled, “we really should just schedule some time to talk to this guy. He might turn down the case if we just storm in there.”

“This asshole is saying he doesn’t want to go to trial when that could mean letting a fucking rapist walk the streets! I’m giving him a piece of my mind.” Jack huffed.

“Jack you absolutely nothing about the legal system, you’ve spent most of your life ducking around it and avoiding it at all costs.” Lynn reminded.

Jack knew that she was right. He had never even so much as stepped inside a police station in his life, he avoided hospital trips no matter how badly he was sick or injured, and he dropped out of school the moment his parents died. Because of their incomplete citizenship status, his parents could leave a proper will or appoint legal godparents for Jack. However, it also meant that information of their deaths never made it to Child Protective Services so Jack was never forced into foster care, something he was grateful for everyday.

Being forced to avoid every legal document possible was a horrible burden, but it did have its perks. While Jack didn’t have any kind of insurance and was completely screwed if he broke a bone or totaled a car or let his home catch on fire, he also could entirely avoid paying any kind of income tax. Although, that wasn’t a very fun perk seeing as he did know that if he ever got caught, he would only definitely go to prison.

The two soon found themselves on the courthouse steps. Jack grabbed Lynn’s hand in his own and sprinted to the massive doors. He pushed them open and marched past the small crowd of people in the front lobby of the building.

Someone from behind the front desk asked Jack for his name and appointment but he completely ignored it and kept walking. When the women started calling after him as he walked past he could only think of one response worth saying, “We’re here for the DA.”

With that, he kept bulldozing down anyone that stood in the hallway he was walking down. A very flustered Lynn trailed behind him, not that she had much of a choice seeing as her hand was trapped in Jack’s.

“Slow down Jack, someone’s going to call security on us then we’re never going to get to talk to the lawyer.” Lynn pleaded.

“We don’t have to worry about security if we get to his office before they catch up to us.” Jack replied.

“How do you know his office is even down the hallway?”

“It looked office-y and there are a bunch of other offices down here.”

“No guarantee that his is here.” Lynn insisted.

“Look!” Jack exclaimed, finally letting go of his friend’s hand, “that’s his right there, has his name on it and everything.”

The two of them approached the door faster. It read Peter Gaskarth, District Attorney.

“Wait” Lynn stopped Jack in his tracks, “Peter Gaskarth, that name sounds familiar. Wasn’t he on the news or something?”

“Does it matter?” Jack shot back.

He ran to the door and flung it open with one forceful pull. Inside, a man sat behind an ornate desk with many open books surrounding his work space. Someone else was in the room, however he looked much younger like a teenager.

The boy turned around to look at Jack with a glare, “Thanks for coming.”

I recognize that voice.

Notes

Ayyyyy, I'm alive. Shocking I know. So this is really short and very overdue and I could give y'all an excuse cause I have plenty of those (I had a forensics meet yesterday and I've spent the last three weeks practicing like crazy cause I have to change my voice a lot to sound "more american" cause I "live in america" - my coach). Also I know I promised that Alex and Jack would meet in this chapter but I really wanted to write that from Alex's p.o.v. and they kinda met so I'm not a complete liar.

Title Creds: Allie - Patrick Stump

Your boy, PJ