Brothers

by TweakerWolf

When 6 year old Isaac is taken into custody, Sheriff Stilinski hopes that Melissa McCall can help bring the boy out of his shell. Things are hard for Isaac but he quickly warms up to Melissa as they try and settle into a routine.

A/N: Just a note, some times the boys all act older than their age, but they've all been through a lot, so remember, they are only 6 and will act like it too. I didn't go into too much detail with the abuse, nor with the slightly violent scene, and the story is mostly happy and fluffy =) I kinda rushed along the Social Worker stuff, since I honestly don't know too much about the system and wanted to keep it happy and light, so please don't get too upset that there aren't a lot of details. I just had a vision of a young Scott and Stiles doing their best to take care of abused and lonely Isaac and then this fic happened, so I hope you enjoy it!

---

Melissa was home alone, glad for the next few hours of silence before Scott would be home from school. She loved him to bits, but being a work-from-home mother, time to herself was important. There were some days where she did miss working at the hospital, but remembering all those long hours and late night shifts, she knew she'd have to give it up. But now she was working for a nurses hotline, which let her choose her own hours and patients; it was a miracle that she had found them. The pay might not be as much, but they did have good benefits (which had surprised her) since they were a private company. Turns out that word of her bedside manner had carried and they were looking for hard workers just like her that would dedicate time to each patient. There were even times she had to make house calls which helped her feel closer to those in need. Just as Melissa was sitting down to work on her charts, the door bell rang; it was pretty unusual for someone to come visit in the middle of the morning.

"Might as well grab another cup of coffee while I'm up," she mumbled to herself as she walked past the kitchen. After checking the peephole and seeing John standing there, in full uniform, she became worried, hoping her son was alright. She opened the door, ready to pepper the sheriff with questions when he raised his hand.

"Scott's fine, Stiles is fine, this is about something else. If it were Scott you would have gotten a call," he said, easing her worries.

There had been a rough period a few weeks ago when Scott had been having really severe asthma attacks and the doctors couldn't figure out why. So she'd gotten a few emergency calls that had her rushing out the door to meet her son at the hospital.

"I hate to spring this on you, but I really don't have anyone else to go to, there was an incident today, at the Lahey house. Neighbors heard another fight but didn't call us until they heard shots fired; by the time we got there it was a mess. As far as we can tell, Mr. Lahey took things a little too far, and Mrs. Lahey and Camden didn't make it. But we did take Isaac into custody, but no one knows what to do with him. He's been seriously abused and we've finally got proof, although Mr. Lahey has gone on the run."

Melissa had covered her mouth with her hand and tears appeared in her eyes as she listened to the sheriff. "How could someone do something so awful? Did Isaac…?" She looked over to the cruiser parked in her driveway, seeing a small little boy curled up in the backseat, blankly staring out the window. Her heart broke as she saw the state he was in; even from here she could see the bruising on his face.

John shook his head, "As far as we can tell, he didn't witness it, but there is no doubt he heard the whole thing. He's lucky that he was hiding, or else we're sure Mr. Lahey would have come after him too. But the sirens must have scared him off, although we had one hell of a time getting him to come out to us. Tara was the only one he'd go to, which leads me to believe you'd have the most success with him. Would you be okay with taking him in? I have no idea how long it would be for, or how tough the transition would be for him, but the psychologist said a home with a female figure would be best."

"What about Scott? Will he be okay with other kids?" Melissa asked, not wanting to surprise the boy with another body in the house.

"We actually think that will be good for him, since they are about the same age, and Scott is a really sweet boy. Will you, at least for a few days?"

Melissa sighed, there was no way she'd say no, but she did have a lot of uncertainty, "But I really don't feel like I'm qualified for this, isn't there someone better suited who can help him?"

"Well, honestly, there aren't many qualified social workers here, and the ones that are, are either really busy with other cases, or they're men, whom Isaac wants nothing to do with right now," John explained.

"If you think it's best then I'll happily take him in, but what about Scott?"

"Well I don't want to overload him on his first day, so do you think it would be alright if he stayed with me and Stiles? I know it's a school night but, they'll just be so excited for it."

Melissa nodded her head, "That works, he can come by and pick up some stuff and I can explain what's going on, then hopefully by tomorrow Isaac will be settled in at least a little bit."

John sagged with relief, happy that she had agreed to this, although he had little doubt she'd turn him away, "Thank you so much, ready to meet him?"

"Yea," she said, following him out to the cruiser. She wanted to cry when she saw the fear in the boy's eyes as John approached the car; then he scrambled across the backseat, clutching the door handle on the far side.

John hesitated, not knowing how to proceed; he needed to get Isaac into the house, but he knew the boy wouldn't listen to him. He took another step forward, hoping that Isaac wouldn't try to climb out the other side of the car.

Melissa put her hand on his shoulder, noticing his pause, and she walked around him, slowly approaching the squad car. When she opened the back door, Isaac buried his face in his arms, afraid of what was going to happen to him.

"Hey, Isaac, I'm Melissa. The nice sheriff here told me that you need some place to stay, would you like to stay with me?" she asked, using a very soft tone.

They waited patiently, barely daring to breathe as Isaac slowly turned his face to look at her. But he still didn't say anything to her, just looked at her from under his messy blonde curls.

"May I sit here with you?" she asked instead.

He gave her the smallest of nods, eyes wide as he watched her slowly climb into the seat he'd vacated. She sat in silence, waiting for him to get comfortable, slowly uncurling from the door handle.

"Is he staying here too?" Isaac whispered, looking out the window at the sheriff.

"No Sweetie, he's a friend of mine but he doesn't live here. It's just me and my son Scott, and he's the same age as you."

"No Dad?"

Melissa shook her head, "No Dad, he left not long ago, and isn't coming back." She could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought about the idea of staying with her.

He figured that as long as she wasn't lying to him, this home seemed nice enough. Isaac looked up at her, seeing the smile in her eyes; he realized that Mom hadn't had that look in a long time. Slowly he crawled back across the seat, towards her, keeping a wary eye on the sheriff the whole time.

"Would you like to see the house?" Melissa asked, holding out her hand for him to take.

He shyly nodded his head, grabbing onto her arm as they slid out of the cruiser, John backing away just slightly to give Isaac space. She walked slowly, Isaac's arms now wrapped around her leg; his eyes were darting everywhere to take in his surroundings.

"You know, the sheriff is a good guy right? He's the one that takes all the bad people away when he finds them," Melissa explained.

Isaac looked up at her, confused, "Is Daddy a bad guy? He hurt Mommy and Camden."

She bent down to hug him gently as he starting sniffling, knowing that something bad had happened. "Yes, he is a bad person, for hurting you and your brother, Mommy too. But you're going to be with me now, okay?"

"You aren't bad?"

"No, if I was bad, the sheriff would arrest me. He brought you here because he trusts me to take good care of you. Let's go inside and you can see the house," Melissa said, standing up once more and leading the boy into the house.

John followed, needing to talk with Isaac, just for a moment, before he could head back to the station. He watched as the boy looked around the house but not daring to leave Melissa's side.

"Hey Isaac, can I ask you a question?" John asked, crouching down so he didn't appear as intimidating.

He hid further behind Melissa's leg, but nodded his head, letting John continue.

"Do you have any idea where your dad is? He's in big trouble for hurting your mom and brother."

"No, Daddy doesn't tell me where he goes, I'm not a big boy so I can't go," Isaac whispered, afraid that his answer would upset the sheriff.

"Okay, that's fine. If you remember anything, you tell Melissa okay? The sooner we find him, the sooner I can take him to jail. I'll be coming to check on you all the time okay? I have to make sure you're safe, but if you like it here with Melissa I won't make you leave."

Isaac nodded his head, still not sure how to feel about the man, but trusting Melissa's word that he was nice.

"Well, I'm going to let you get settled here, I just have to discuss something with Melissa and then I have to get back to work, I'll see you tomorrow though," John told him, slowly standing up once more. He waited as she led him over to the couch in the living room, letting him sit there and watch T.V. while she went into the kitchen. She poured herself a mug of coffee and offered some to John, which he happily accepted. "Like I mentioned earlier, he'd been through a lot of abuse, the teachers at school were worried about him, but all of them were too scared to call Social Services. So we'll have to be really gentle with him, he probably has a lot of old wounds and bruises, not to mention the mental trauma. I want you to call me if anything comes up alright? I know you're a nurse, so you'll be able to take care of him, or take him to the hospital if you think he needs it. We were in such a hurry to get him out of there, we didn't give him as much of a look as we should have. Although he wouldn't let the paramedics get too close to him either.

"I'll message you when I'm picking up Scott, and am on the way here for him to pick up some clothes. I'll explain that you have something going on at home, but I think it would be best for you to explain what's going on with Isaac when he gets here. Are you sure you're okay with this?" John asked.

"It will all be fine, I'm not going to let this kid be left alone after what he's been through. Scott is a good kid, he'll be fine with it, he knows that I help people all the time that need it. Are you fine with him staying at your place tonight? Our two boys together can be a handful."

John shrugged, "I think I can manage one night, and it's a school night so I can just send them to bed early."

"Alright, I'll call the school so they can tell him that you're picking him up today, I'm sure I can find a way to explain it all to him so he'll understand it. Thanks for picking up Scott, and you better find Mr. Lahey soon."

He nodded his head, wanting to pick him up as fast as possible, "Thank you, for taking in Isaac, I know this isn't the easiest time for you, but I knew I could count on you. I'll see you in a few hours with Scott." He finished his coffee and placed his mug in the sink, saying a quick goodbye to Isaac on his way out the door.

Melissa watched as he drove away, wondering just how much Isaac would warm up to her in just one night. As she went back into the living room, she saw Isaac yawning as he watched Nick-toons. "Hey, did you want to take a nap? You look really tired," she suggested.

Isaac fumbled on the couch, not knowing how to reply to her question, he was tired, but napping usually meant bad things happening to him. He also felt really dirty, but knew better than to ask for a bath when it wasn't bath time.

Melissa saw his hesitation, "Is there something else you wanted to do? Maybe we could get to know each other, or are you hungry? I can make you something to eat if you want."

Isaac was clearly suspicious of her intentions, but when he saw her bright eyes, he decided to try the truth. "C-can I take a b-bath?" he asked, knotting his fingers in the hem of his shirt.

"Of course you can, come on, I'll take you to the bathroom."

He hopped off the couch, scampering around to the other side, not wanting to get yelled at for being slow. She led him down the hallway and turned on the light in the downstairs guest bathroom.

"How warm do you want the water, a lot warm, just a little warm, or a bit cold?"

"Nice and warm." Isaac watched as she turned on the water, after a few minutes he noticed that it was starting to steam really fast; he backed away from her, not wanting to get dunked in the hot water. When she turned back to him to ask him a question, she noticed the wide-eyed look of fear on his face.

"What's wrong Isaac?"

"Hot water…"

Melissa turned to look at the tub, realizing that he saw the rising steam, "Oh, I fill the water up about a third of the way with really warm water, and then fill it the rest of the way with cooler water. My Mom always used to do that, saying it kept the water warmer longer, so now it's just habit. I promise it won't be this hot when you get in okay? I'll show you."

Isaac didn't say anything, he just stood there and continued to watch, relaxing just slightly when he saw Melissa turn down the knob, and the steam slowly dissipated. Once the tub was mostly full, she turned off the water and waved him over, so she could show him the temperature.

"Okay, I'm going to test the water, and then you can feel my hand. If my hand is too hot, then we'll let it cool down a bit, does that sound alright?"

Isaac barely nodded his head, body stiff, still ready to run away if he needed too. As she reached in, he watched her face, looking to see if she was hiding anything as she stirred the water. After a moment, she pulled out her hand and held it out, for him to touch. His small hand reached out and wrapped around her fingers, which were nice and warm.

"Too hot?" she asked him. Isaac shook his head, surprised at how much cooler it had gotten. "Did you want to reach in and touch it?"

Isaac took a deep breath, slowly stepping closer to the tub so he could lean over just a bit; he grabbed onto the edge of the tub with one hand, then carefully brought his other hand closer to the water. He bit his lip as he connected with the surface, but relaxed as he realized it was at a very nice temperature. Wiggling his fingers a bit, he looked up at Melissa, smiling; so far she hadn't lied to him, which was new.

"Okay, did you want me to leave you here to wash up?"

"No!" he cried out, latching onto her arm. "I don't want to be alone."

"That's fine, I can stay here with you, but are you okay being nakie with me here?" Melissa asked, knowing that being naked around strangers wasn't easy and she didn't want him to feel vulnerable. Once she brought up the topic, she could tell that he was feeling conflicted, and she hoped it was because he was shy and not because of any abuse. Wanting him to feel comfortable, she came up with a quick suggestion. "Do you want to wear swim trunks? I'm sure Scott would be okay with you borrowing a pair. Would that be better?"

"Yea."

"Alright then, let's head to Scott's room and I'll dig out a pair for you to wear and then we can pick out some pajamas for you to wear when you get out."

Together they went upstairs and into her son's room, opening up the closet so Isaac could look through Scott's pajama drawer while she fished out an old pair of trunks. Once Isaac had picked something out (Scott's aquarium shirt and doggy print bottoms) they went back to the bathroom. Melissa handed him the trunks, promising to be right outside the door while he undressed, and when he was ready she would come in.

Isaac quickly undressed, not wanting to take too long and lose his bath time, opening the door as soon as he had pulled the swim trunks up. Melissa came in and closed the door, helping the small boy climb into the tub. When he had first opened the door up, it took all of her strength not to gasp; the amount of bruises covering his torso was intense. There were also some scabbed over lacerations crisscrossing over his back, making Melissa wonder what he had been hit with. But now wasn't the time to ask, she didn't want him reliving all those awful memories right now.

"The water is still the right temperature?" she asked instead, wanting to break the silence.

"Mmhmm, it's nice," he responded, splashing around. When a few large drops landed on Melissa's face, Isaac paled, waiting for her to get mad at him. But instead of dunking him under the water as punishment, she laughed as she wiped off her face.

"I don't think you want to start a splash war, I've got the shower on my side," she joked before reaching over to grab the bar of soap.

Isaac started to relax again as she helped him lather the bar up between his hands; he carefully started washing his feet and legs while she started on his back. There were a few times when he felt her fingers skating across his bad marks, but she didn't say anything, or push down hard so he was okay with that. When it was time to wash his hair, he started getting nervous again, remembering all the times Dad pushed him under the water. "I don't want to wash my hair," he said, looking up at her.

"Are you sure, you'll feel better if you do," she responded, looking at him slightly confused.

"I don't want to get dunked," he whispered, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Melissa bit her lip, this poor child wasn't even safe while he had been bathing? As she realized this, she was suddenly very surprised that he willingly climbed into the tub; although it did explain his fear of the hot water. "I won't dunk you, we can wash your hair without getting your face wet, Scott doesn't like it either," she confided, sliding across the floor to reach into the sink cabinet. She pulled out a large cup, showing it to Isaac, "This is what I use, I can fill it up with water and then pour it over your hair, and as long as you look up real high, it won't go on your face. Will you try it?"

Isaac thought about it, terrified of all the bad things that could happen to him, but he wanted to trust this nice lady. So he nodded his head, arms still clasped around his legs as she dunked the cup in the water. Then she had him look up towards the ceiling and try counting stars (which she had strategically painted back when Scott was really small) and poured the water over his curls. Isaac giggled as it passed through his hair, it felt a lot different than what he was used to, but it was nice.

"See, no water on your face. Now we can wash your hair and then rinse it out with the cup."

"Okay."

Now that Isaac knew she wasn't going to shove him under the water, he relaxed a bit, looking up at the stars and counting them out loud while her fingers massaged the dirt from his scalp. Once she felt that he was as clean as he was going to get, she pulled the plug out and helped him out of the tub, wrapping him in a towel. After a gentle pat down, Melissa left the bathroom so he could get dressed, once again standing right outside, talking to him the whole time. When he opened the door, Melissa couldn't help but smile at the precious boy, wearing some of her son's clothes. She grabbed a fresh towel and draped it over his shoulders, using the edges to rub out most of the moisture out of his hair, then she led him back to the living room.

"Now what do you want to do Isaac?"

The boy looked up at her with surprise, he was never given much of a choice before; he wasn't really sure what he wanted to do. So he continued to look up at her, knowing that she'd make a suggestion soon.

Melissa could tell he was lost again, he didn't answer her question, and instead he just looked up at her with an innocent face. It was like he trusted her to pick for him, because he simply had no idea what was okay. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Melissa thought of something that Scott used to always ask for.

"Tell you what, why don't I read you a story and brush out your hair, and maybe you can take a nap if you want. You look really tired. You can even pick out any book you want, how about that?"

Isaac offered her a small smile, hoping that she had nice books to choose from, like the ones at school. So he nodded his head and grabbed her hand, waiting for her to lead the way. She returned his smile and took him down the hall, into Scott's play room, where there was a bookshelf with all of Scott's favorite books. With a very gentle nudge, Isaac went over to the bookshelf, carefully reading over all of the spines, looking for one of his favorites. While he looked, Melissa quietly left, heading to the bathroom to pull out an old baby brush; the soft bristles should help Isaac to relax as they read. By the time she came back, Isaac was holding up a book, a smile on his face.

"This one, I like this one."

Melissa took the book from him, reading the cover, "Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! This is a good choice." She grabbed his hand and together they went back out to the couch, Melissa muting the television so they could read without distractions. "Okay, now with Scott, I used to have him sit in my lap and hold the book for me, is that okay? Or did you just want to sit next to me?" Melissa asked as she sat down. She had almost pulled him into her lap automatically but caught herself just in time.

"Um, in your lap?" Isaac asked, needing to know it was really okay.

"Sure, but that means you have to hold the book, I can't hold it and brush at the same time," she reminded him with a smile, picking him up and setting him down gently in her lap.

Isaac giggled as he got comfortable, they were sitting long-ways on the couch, their legs stretched out in front of them and the book resting in his lap. Melissa started running the soft brush through his hair, remembering how this would always calm Scott down when he was upset. As she brushed, she started to read, smiling as she heard Isaac whispering along.

"I live here in Dinkerville, my friends all live here too. We go to Diffendoofer School- we're happy that we do!" As she read through the book, she could tell Isaac was getting sleepy, his head kept dropping, but it would pop back up; he wanted to finish the story first. So she continued, still running the brush through his hair, giving his curls a nice shine as they dried. When she finished the book, Isaac didn't offer up any resistance as she scooted him off her lap and covered him with a blanket.

"Night," he mumbled, easily turning to his side and curling up, asleep in seconds.

Melissa stood there for a good minute or two, just looking at him as he slept, his bruised cheek against the pillow. He looked so innocent, how could anyone hurt a child? She knew she should get some work done, giving her boss a quick call to explain the sudden change in her life. Then she grabbed her laptop, deciding to go over all of the charts while sitting in one of the armchairs; she didn't want him to wake up alone in a strange room. As it was, she'd be surprised if he didn't have a nightmare, so being close was a given, that way she could comfort him. Melissa quickly became absorbed in her work, easily losing track of the time; when she finally got up to stretch her muscles she saw that Scott would be getting out of school soon. And Melissa remembered that she was supposed to call the school, so she set the laptop down and went into the kitchen, dialing the school and telling them about the arrangement. After thanking the lady in the office, she figured she should probably start making lunch, she was feeling hungry and that meant Isaac was sure to be hungry as well.

"I hope he likes grilled cheese," she said aloud as she looked through her fridge. It was one of her and Scott's favorite foods, but she had no idea if Isaac had allergies, or was lactose intolerant, maybe she should wait until he woke up to ask him. But, she was still going to make one for herself, so she got out the bread, cheese, and butter and set it on the counter. As she pulled out the pan, she heard the first signs of a distressed child, instantly picking up on Isaac's whimpers. Putting the pan down on the stove, she started heading for the living room, unsure if she should call out to the child or not. But then he woke up with a yelp and jumped off the couch, tearing down the hall and shutting himself into the bathroom.

"Isaac, what's wrong?" she called, racing down the hall to knock on the door. "Are you alright?"

She heard sounds of sniffling carry through the door, but after a moment she heard his soft response.

"I almost had an accident."

Melissa collapsed against the wall in relief, she was certain that he was fully awake; for a moment she was worried he might have been sleep walking (or running in this case) and was uncertain what to do. She remembered that Stiles had a lot of issues sleeping when Claudia had passed away, often waking up in a full blown panic attack. So far she couldn't be certain if Isaac was in the same boat or not. "Were you having a nightmare? Are you okay?"

"Yea," came the simple reply.

She couldn't be sure if that was to one or both of the questions, but she heard the toilet flush and then the sound of him washing his hands. When he opened the door, it was just a crack, enough for him to see Melissa standing there.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked, figuring it was safest behind the door while he waited for her answer.

Once again, Melissa felt tears spring up in her eyes, but she took a deep breath and knelt down, "I'm not mad, I was worried. You got up so suddenly, I wanted to make sure you were alright. Why would I be mad Sweetie?"

The door opened just a bit more, "I almost had an accident. I'm not allowed to have accidents, only stupid babies have accidents. If that happens, I have to clean up, and the bottle makes my head feel funny."

"That's not true, it happens all the time, even to kids older than you sometimes; that's why it's called an accident, you can't help it. Especially if you're scared; and if you do have one, I'm not going to make you clean it up. Come on, you don't have to hide in there. I was about to make lunch, did you want some?"

Isaac opened the door the rest of the way, slowly coming out into the hall, nodding his head.

"Good, I was going to have a grilled cheese, do you like those?"

"Yea! With soup!"

"Me too! Chicken noodle soup or tomato?" Melissa asked, standing up again and leading Isaac into the kitchen.

"I like chicken noodle, I can't have tomatoes," he mumbled, hoping that didn't make her mad at all.

"You can't have it, does that mean you're allergic?"

Isaac shrugged, "I don't know, Mommy just always said I can't have those, and to tell someone if they asked. They make me all itchy on my tummy."

"Yup, that's an allergy. Do any other foods make your tummy itchy? If so, I need to know so I don't give you any, that would be very bad."

Isaac shook his head, glad that she wasn't upset he couldn't have the tomato soup, "Do you have allergies too?" he asked, hoping it didn't make him weird.

"I do, I can't eat kiwis, they make my throat tickle and it's very hard to breathe, so there are no kiwis in this house," Melissa explained, picking up Isaac and letting him sit at the bar.

After a quick search, she found a packet of soup and got the water boiling, letting Isaac just sit quietly and watch her cook. As she was getting ready to start the grilled cheese, her phone went off. It was John saying that he was waiting on the kids, was it okay if they stopped by now or should they wait. Melissa looked over at Isaac, and he was looking pretty relaxed, if a little hungry, and decided that John coming over with two kids might be a little much for him right now, so she told him to wait a little bit. They sat in a comfortable silence, Isaac watching her cook, giggling a little every time she flipped the sandwiches. When she flipped them onto a plate and then ladled out some soup, she put it in front of him, telling him to eat up. "But be careful, the soup is hot," she warned.

She watched as he put his face close to the bowl and carefully blew on the liquid; if she were to judge based on his reaction to the bathwater, he might be here awhile. So Melissa opened up the freezer and grabbed two small ice cubes, setting them in his bowl.

"There, use the spoon to stir it around so it cools evenly, and it should be okay after that. If not, we'll add another one."

Isaac smiled as he chased the cubes around in the bowl, occasionally trying to hold them under with the spoon. Melissa served herself some of the soup and sat down next to Isaac at the bar, happy that he was eating. When the ice had finally melted, Isaac turned to his sandwich and took a big bite.

"No crust?" he asked after he'd swallowed.

"Oh, I cut them off, Scott hates the crust, so I guess it's habit now."

"Good, I don't like them too."

Melissa reached over and ran her fingers through his hair, choosing not to correct his wording at the time. The finished their meal in silence, Isaac happily inhaling the food; he even asked for a second bowl of soup. Once they finished, they put their dirty dishes in the sink and Melissa took him back to the living room; she decided now would be the best time to talk to him. "Hey kiddo, can I ask you some questions?"

Isaac tensed up, fingers curling into his shirt, a sure sign he was nervous; but Melissa was quick to calm him down, "I just want to get to know you a little better, and find out what you're comfy with."

She reached forward and grabbed him hands, leading him over to the couch so they could both sit. He was still wary, so Melissa was going to take it slow, she didn't want to ask any questions that would upset him. "Okay, first, I want to know what your favorite food is."

"Hot dogs, and fries," he said quickly, smiling.

"Good choice, I like those too. What's something you like to do, do you like to read, draw, play a sport?"

Isaac sat for a few minutes, thinking, "I haven't played a sport before, but I like reading. I really like when we read together, you do funny voices."

Melissa nodded her head, "I like that too, it's a lot of fun. Now, I want to know if there is something you are uncomfortable with. Are you okay when I touch you? Like earlier when I ruffled your hair."

Isaac nodded his head, when she did that it made him happy.

Melissa smiled, glad that she hadn't upset him. It had been an unconscious reaction earlier, she was so used to giving Scott affection, but she had to make sure Isaac was fine with it. "So does that mean I can give you hugs too?"

"Yea," he called out, crawling across the couch to sit in her lap, snuggling up against her.

"Good, because I love hugs," Melissa commented, wrapping her arms around him. After a pause, she started petting his hair, needing to ask one last question, "Isaac, I'm not going to ask what happened, if you don't want to talk about it but, I saw all the marks on your back when you were in the bath." Isaac tensed up, wondering what she wanted to know. "Do they hurt you at all?"

"Only if I push on them, or if I turn too much, the bad marks hurt," he whispered, afraid to talk about it.

"Is it okay if I touch you like this?" she asked, slowly rubbing her hand across his back.

"Yea, that doesn't hurt, only if you push down, then it hurts."

"Okay, and it doesn't hurt to sit on the couch, or lay down?"

Isaac shook his head.

"You promise? Because if it hurts, we can do something about it," Melissa prodded.

"I promise, just sometimes my scabs are itchy, but I can't scratch or it hurts."

"I have something for that if you want," she offered.

There was a pause as he thought about it, wondering what she could do to make it not itchy, so he nodded his head. They climbed off the couch again, this time going upstairs into her bedroom, and then heading into the bathroom. She let him sit on the toilet lid while she searched the medicine cabinet. Isaac's eyes grew wide as she pulled out three different tubes, setting them on the counter.

She held up the first one, "This is Neosporin, pain relief," she said, pointing to the little plus sign. "But your scabs don't hurt all the time right?"

Isaac shook his head, "No, mostly itchy."

So she put that one back on the counter and pulled up another one, "This one, is for burns, like when you touch something hot, it helps cool it and make it better. Do you have any burn spots?"

Again he shook his head, surprised that she had so many different kinds of medicine.

"Okay, so that just leaves this one, the anti-itch. It's mostly used for when you have an itchy bug bite, but it helps with scabs too. And it's also for keeping your skin clean, so no icky bacteria try to make you sick. So now I need you to take off your shirt so I can put this on."

The boy nodded his head and took off the shirt, setting it in his lap, with his hands twisted around inside of it. She had said it was medicine, and that always hurt when you put it on, so his face was scrunched up already.

Of course, Melissa noticed, "This medicine doesn't hurt, I promise. Are you used to the stuff in the brown bottle?" He nodded. "Yea, that stuff stings, Scott doesn't like it either, but this stuff doesn't."

He carefully looked over his shoulder, watching as she put a huge dab of the medicine on a Q-tip, sucking in a breath as she brought it close to his skin. He could feel the goop on his skin but it wasn't burning, like she promised, so he relaxed.

It took a few minutes for her to cover all of his marks, and she was glad that there were no signs of infection, so that was a good thing. "Now we let it set just a little bit, and then we can put the shirt back on. Normally we'd cover it with a band-aid, but I don't have one that big. So it might make the shirt stick a little bit, but this a lot better than no medicine."

He hopped off the toilet, shirt still in his hands and they went back down the hall. When they got back to the T.V. she helped him put the shirt on and then kneeled down to ask him for a favor. "Isaac, remember my son Scott, and the sheriff? They need to stop by the house for a little bit, is that okay?"

"The sheriff doesn't live here though, right?"

"No, he doesn't but he's my friend, and Scott, my son, is best friends with the sheriff's son. His name is Stiles, and you'll get to meet him too. Scott is going to spend the night with Stiles, so that way you don't feel nervous. But he has to pick up clothes first, so John is bringing him over."

"'K, I'll be fine."

"You're such a brave boy," she admired, pulling him in for a hug. "I can't wait for you to meet Scott, I'm sure you'll like him." She un-muted the television and pulled out her phone, letting John know he could stop by, Isaac was okay with it. They sat down and watched cartoons together while they waited for John to show up with the boys, and Melissa could tell Isaac was getting nervous. He was curled up by her side watching the cartoons, but his muscles were tense, even as she ran her fingers through his hair. When they heard a car door slam shut, Isaac jumped, looking at up her for reassurance.

"Come, on, let's go say hi," Melissa said, getting up off the couch.

Isaac stayed right by her side, clutching her leg as she went to open the door; she could already hear Scott and Stiles talking about all the fun stuff they were going to do when they got back to John's house. When she opened the door, John was standing behind them, hands on their shoulders to restrain them from tearing into the house like small tornados. When they caught sight of Isaac, both boys broke out into smiles, waving to him.

"Hi, I'm Scott, and Mr. Sheriff said that you're going to be staying with me and Mommy for awhile. Mommy is super nice, I promise!" Scott rambled, bouncing into the house.

"I'm Stiles! Nice to meet you, Mrs. McCall is awesome, she makes the best sandwiches," Stiles added, then leaning forward to whisper (rather loudly),"She always cuts off the crusts, but Dad doesn't. So her sandwiches are better!"

"Come on in you guys, let's not crowd around the front door," Melissa chuckled, waving all of them in.

John corralled Stiles into the living room, not wanting him to distract Scott while he was packing, otherwise they'd be here all night. Melissa asked Isaac to stay with Stiles and John while she took Scott upstairs; he looked rather nervous, but had agreed to it, not wanting to upset her. He watched as she left the room, her son talking a mile a minute as they went up the stairs; then he turned back to the sheriff and jumped, Stiles was right in front of him.

"What happened?" Stiles asked, looking at the bruises covering Isaac's face, "That must hurt, are you okay?"

"Stiles! Don't be rude," John chided from the armchair, uncertain how Isaac would feel about answering.

"My Dad," Isaac whispered, looking down at the floor.

Stiles's eyes grew wide, and he turned around, stomping over to his father, "Dad! What happened to him? Why would his Daddy do that? It wasn't an accident was it?"

"Calm down Stiles, don't yell, you're scaring Isaac," John soothed, looking over that the blonde child.

Stiles turned around, realizing that his dad was right, Isaac was standing there, shoulders slumped forward and chin tucked to his chest, eyes squeezed shut. He went back over to the boy and pulled him into the softest hug, like the slightest bit of pressure would shatter him. "I'm sorry, I won't yell anymore," Stiles whispered, rubbing his head against Isaac's.

John's heart warmed as he watched his son, a smile pulling at his lips when he saw Isaac finally relax and then return the hug. He wrapped his arms around Stiles and clung to him, thinking of his brother Camden and wishing he was still here.

"Did you want to go play?" Stiles asked, still whispering.

Isaac nodded his head against Stiles's shoulder, so Stiles gently pulled away and grabbed Isaac's hand. He pulled the other boy down the hall and into Scott's playroom, heading over to the tub with the cars and dumping them out onto the floor. John followed them, wanting to make sure they didn't make too much of a mess, and just leaned against the door, watching as the two boys pushed the cars around.

Meanwhile, Melissa was sitting on Scott's bed as she watched him pack some pajamas and school clothes for the next day. So far he hadn't said much about Isaac, but she could tell he was dying to ask about him; but it could wait until he was done packing. She waited as he ran to the bathroom to grab his toothbrush and spare inhaler, setting them in the small pocket so they wouldn't get lost, then he zipped everything up and climbed on the bed with her.

"Mr. Sheriff said that Isaac is staying with us for awhile, and that he needs help, what happened?" Scott asked.

"Well, his father is a bad person, I'm sure you noticed the bruises on his face?" Scott nodded, so she continued, "His dad gave him those, because he was mad all the time. And John found out and took him away, so he doesn't live with the bad man anymore."

"What about his Mama?"

Melissa sighed, not wanting to tell him what had really happened, "Well, his mama is in the same place as Stiles's mom, in heaven now. So he can't go stay with her, and his brother too. So he has no more family right now."

Scott looked up at her, frowning, "I'm glad Sheriff John saved him, but I'm sad about his mom. Are we going to be his family now? Everyone deserves to have family. I'll be his brother, if he wants. I won't ever hit him, I promise Mommy."

Melissa hugged Scott tight, proud tears coming to her eyes, she had known Scott would be accepting of Isaac, but he still surprised her with his words. "I don't know how long Isaac will be here, but I'm sure he'll need a lot of help from you. Just do me a favor and don't ask about the bad stuff okay? It might upset him still, and we don't want that."

"I won't," Scott promised, sniffling a little as he realized how lonely Isaac must feel.

"Let's go back downstairs, I'm sure Stiles is talking Isaac's ear off," Melissa suggested, wiping her eyes. She grabbed the packed bag as Scott ran down the stairs, wanting to check on the new boy and make sure he was okay. Melissa heard the laughter as she slowly went down the stairs; she followed the sound and stood next to John, looking at the boys as they played.

"As soon as Scott came in here, he told Isaac he could play with any of his toys, he has lots so he doesn't mind sharing," John revealed. "You've raised a great son Melissa."

"So have you, I see that Stiles has latched onto Isaac as well, wanting to erase the pain. I think between the two of them, Isaac will be alright."

They let the boys play for awhile longer, before John cleared his throat and said they should get going, it was almost time for dinner. All the boys groaned, but obediently started to clean up all the toys, not wanting to get in trouble for leaving a mess. John took Scott's bag from Melissa, herding the two youngsters back to the front door. He watched as she knelt down, holding her arms open to both boys; pulling them into a group hug.

"Kissy Monster!" Melissa cried, turning her head so she could plant kisses all over Scott's head and neck, rubbing her nose across his cheek. Then she turned and did the same to Stiles, both boys giggling as she tickled them with her nose while making kissy noises.

"Bye Mom, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Isaac," Scott waved, eyes still full of laughter.

"Bye Mrs. McCall, you're the bestest! See you tomorrow Isaac," Stiles called out, giving them both an energetic wave.

Melissa watched as they climbed into the cruiser and drove away, happy that the meeting had gone over smoothly; that was one less thing to worry about now. She closed the door and saw Isaac standing there, still holding onto one of the trucks from the playroom.

"Did you want to keep playing?" she asked, pointing to the truck.

"Scott said this one was his favorite truck, but he'd let me play with it, so I want to keep it safe," Isaac explained, hugging it to his chest.

"Well, we can take it in the living room and you can play with it while I start dinner, how does that sound?"

"You'll be in the kitchen?" he asked.

"Yea, I'll be right across the hallway," she answered, pointed to the kitchen.

Isaac fidgeted, he liked sitting on the couch, and there were cartoons on the T.V. but he liked sitting with Melissa better, "I'll go to the kitchen with you."

"That's fine, did you want to color while I cook? Scott has a lot of coloring books."

Isaac brightened, which Melissa took as a yes, so they went back into the playroom, and she let Isaac look through all the books while she dug out a pack of crayons.

"Lion King!" Isaac decided, holding up the book.

He ran into the kitchen, carefully climbing up into the same stool as before, opening the book to look at the pictures. Melissa set the crayons down and started peeling some potatoes for mashing. She kept an eye on him as she cooked; he was so intense when he colored, wanting to get everything just right. She could see his tongue peeking out from between his lips and his brows were furrowed in concentration, but as a result, he was the neatest colorer that she'd seen. By the time dinner was ready, he had colored 3 full pages, even signing his name in the corner of each page.

"Ready to eat kiddo, I made some roast and mashed potatoes, and gravy of course."

Isaac looked at the food, it all looked very yummy; he went to wash his hands as Melissa started serving up some food. By the time he came back, a plate was set on the table for him, and she asked what he wanted to drink. She was slightly surprised that he settled for water, but that was always a good choice, so she filled up a cup and set it down by his plate. Melissa laughed as she watched him kick his feet under the table, clearly excited to try some more of her food, but waiting for her to sit down with him.

"Go ahead and dig in, let me know what you think. And there is plenty more if you want seconds, so don't be afraid to ask."

Isaac picked up his spoon and mixed up his potatoes and gravy, then politely asked if she could cut up his meat. Which of course Melissa was happy to do, so she pulled his plate over and quickly cut it up, sliding the food back to him. As she watched, he mixed in all the cut up roast with the potatoes, then held her breath as he took the first bite. His face just melted, the potatoes were very creamy, just how he liked them, and the meat was tender. After a few bites, Melissa had to tell him to slow down, eating too fast might upset his stomach, but it was so good that he wanted to eat it all. "Can I 'ave more?" he asked, mouth full of potatoes.

"Yes, of course," she laughed, reaching over to wipe the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

She took his plate and put a little more of everything on it, remembering to cut the meat up this time before handing it to him. Then she slowly ate her dinner while she watched him wolf down the food, barely stopping to catch his breath. By the time Isaac had finished his second helping, he sat back and rubbed his tummy, a content smile on his face. Once Melissa finished, Isaac helped her to load the dishwasher with all the dirty dishes, and he went back to coloring as she hand washed all the pots and pans.

"Those are really nice Isaac, you are really good at coloring," Melissa noted as she walked over to him.

"Thanks," he mumbled, reaching up to rub his eyes.

Clearly he was feeling tired again, so she picked up the book and crayons and piled them on the bar; then she scooped Isaac up and took him upstairs to Scott's room.

He looked around, nervous to be in a strange room all alone, so he held onto her neck, not wanting to get put down. "Can I stay with you? I don't want to be alone," Isaac pleaded.

Melissa nodded her head, feeling like she should have expected this, and took the boy into her bedroom. As he crawled under the covers, Melissa told him she was going to go grab another book to read and also grab her laptop so she could continue working. Knowing that he liked Dr. Seuss books, she grabbed a couple, deciding to let him pick; then she grabbed her computer and charger, along with all her paperwork and headed back upstairs, finding Isaac all snuggled into the sheets. "I wasn't sure which book, so I brought a few for you to choose from," she explained as she plugged in the laptop, handing Isaac the books. By the time she was cuddled in next to him, Isaac had picked Ten Apples, Up On Top! and had opened it up to the first page. He climbed into her lap again, holding the book just like last time so she could play with his hair. They flipped through the pages slowly, Isaac wanting to draw out the book for as long as he could, and by the time she read the last page, he was very content.

Since he was looking so sleepy, she asked if he was ready for bed, when he nodded his head, she went to go dig out a new toothbrush. "What color do you like, I've got a blue one and a green one?" Melissa asked, holding them up.

"Green," he chose, taking it from Melissa's hands and followed her into the bathroom.

"We'll use Scott's bathroom, he has the stool so you can reach the sink," Melissa commented, grabbing her brush before heading down the hall.

She helped him put the toothpaste on his brush and set the timer so they'd know how long to brush. He was looking up at her, copying her movements, first brushing the left side, then the right side, pausing to spit and then brushing the front. When she noticed his gaze, she started making funny faces as she brushed, making him laugh. After three minutes, the timer went off and they rinsed, Isaac leaving his new brush in the same cup with Scott's. Then he pattered back down to the bedroom, jumping onto the bed and climbing back under the covers. By the time Melissa had caught up, Isaac was holding up another book, this time it was There's a Wocket in my Pocket, a tentative smile on his face. Melissa nodded her head, watching as his grin grew bigger, and climbed back into her side of the bed.

"Can… can I have… Kissy Monster too?" Isaac suddenly asked, voice barely audible.

"You want Kissy Monster?" Melissa asked. When he nodded, she leaned in close, wrapping her arms around him as she started planting kisses all over his head; her heart warmed as she heard him shrieking with laughter at the attention. She ran her fingers over his sides lightly, tickling his ribs which made him wiggle on the bed, trying to escape her fingers as he laughed. After a few moments she stopped, wanting to let him catch his breath; the smile on his face was priceless and she was glad that he shared it with her. When he calmed down, he grabbed the book again, finally ready to read.

This time she held the book, so Isaac could lay on his side and get comfortable; he made it maybe halfway through the book before he was fast asleep, snuggled up to a spare pillow. Melissa slowly pulled the covers up around him before she slid out of the bed, putting the books and Scott's truck (which he had still been holding onto) on top of the dresser. Then she grabbed the computer and files, setting it on her lap as she sat up in bed. As she worked, Melissa kept an ear out for Isaac, waiting for any signs of trouble as he slept, and he managed to get a whole hour of sleep before the whimpering started. So she leaned over and started stroking his head, gently calling out his name to see if he'd wake up. But instead he quieted down, subconscious snuggling in closer to her leg for warmth. After a few more hours of work, and Isaac not stirring, she shut the laptop down and changed into pajamas, hugging Isaac to her chest when she climbed back in the bed.

Isaac woke up early the next morning, panicking just slightly when he had tried to roll over and felt pressure around his middle. But as he struggled, the pressure let up and he felt movement beside him; then he remembered that he was with Melissa. He was safe here. So he calmed down, rolling over to greet her, but he saw that she was still sleeping. So he decided he'd be nice and quiet, maybe play with the truck while he waited for her to wake up. He looked around, not sure where it might have gone while he slept; he carefully searched under the covers, then under the pillows, but he couldn't find it. He started to whine, if he lost that… Scott would probably hate him forever. In his desperate search, he ended up throwing the pillows onto the floor, hoping he had just missed it the first time. But it still wasn't there, he was in trouble; tears started rolling down his cheeks, and he was making loud choking sounds as he tried not to cry.

Melissa heard the noise, eyes flying open to search for the source; it was a moment before she registered Isaac sitting in a nest of what used to be sheets. "Hey, baby, what's wrong?" Melissa asked, pulling him into her arms.

"I l-lost it! Sc-scott is going to h-h-hate me!" Isaac wailed, finally succumbing to the tears.

Melissa pulled him back, so she could look him in the eyes, fingers combing his hair, "What did you lose?"

"The t-tr-truck!"

Melissa's heart sank, he had worked himself into such a tizzy because she had moved it last night and he didn't know. "No, Isaac, sweetie, you didn't lose it. It's right here," she soothed, pointing to the dresser. And there it was, perched on top of the computer where she had moved it. "After you fell asleep, I moved it because I didn't want you to roll over and hurt yourself. I'm so sorry, I didn't think about it."

Isaac collapsed against her chest, drawing in deep breaths to try and calm down, "You moved it? I didn't lose it?"

"Yes, I moved it, it isn't lost at all. Everything is fine. And even if you did lose it, we would have found it eventually, Scott wouldn't hate you."

"But it's h-his favorite," Isaac whimpered, hiccupping.

"I know, but he would understand that you didn't lose it on purpose, and we could buy a new one. But it doesn't matter because it's right here, it's okay," Melissa soothed, rubbing her hand in small circles on his back, rocking back and forth. Slowly Isaac's hiccupping calmed down to occasional sniffles, Melissa continuing to rock him. After a long while, once the sniffles stopped, she brushed the curls out of his eyes, "Are you ready for some breakfast?" Isaac nodded but Melissa noticed he had a vacant look in his eyes still; she frowned as she picked up him to carry him down the hall. "What do you want to eat? I can make pancakes, there is cereal, Pop-Tarts, oatmeal?"

Isaac shrugged and when Melissa set him down on a stool, she saw that his thumb was hovering close to his mouth, like he wanted to suck on it. She gently grabbed both of his hands as she crouched down, wanting his attention. "Isaac, sweetie, are you okay? You're being awfully quiet, are you still upset?"

He slowly shook his head back and forth, still staring blankly ahead and it was starting to worry her. He had been opening up really well and now she was worried that she'd messed it all up. She stood up and retrieved the coloring stuff from yesterday, setting it down in front of him.

"I'm going to make pancakes, does that sound good?" she asked, hoping the eventual smell of food would pull him out of this.

Once again he barely moved his head, nodding it up and down and Melissa smiled at him. She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and then bustled around the kitchen to get started on breakfast. As she began cooking, she quietly hummed, an old habit of hers; she almost dropped the bowl of batter when she heard another small voice join hers. Melissa turned to look at Isaac as he hummed; he was looking a little better and he was rocking as he hummed along. Not wanting to break the moment, she just smiled at him and continued, pouring some of the batter onto the hot pan. By the time the first serving was done, Isaac was coloring, eyes bright once more; Melissa heaved a heavy sigh of relief as she put the plate down in front of him. "Do you want me to cut them up?"

"Yes please," Isaac said, looking up from his coloring to smile at her.

She reached out and quickly cut up the pancakes into small pieces then drizzled syrup on top before sliding the plate back across the counter. As she was making some for herself, she heard her phone chime from the bedroom; she glanced at Isaac and saw that he was happily munching on the food while still coloring.

"Isaac, I'm going upstairs real fast okay, you stay here and keep eating, I'll be right back," Melissa told him, not wanting him to worry or try and come with her. She waited until he nodded his head in acknowledgement before quietly rushing up the stairs to check her phone. As soon as she had it in her hand, she went back to the kitchen, opening the message as she went down the stairs. It was from John, letting her know that last night went fine with the boys, they got off to school just fine. And also, there were be a lady stopping by the house around 11 to talk with Isaac. Melissa sighed, wondering how that was going to go, but there was no use worrying about it when she had pancakes to make. The rest of the morning went by quickly, Melissa ended up coloring with Isaac until about ten o'clock; then she decided it was best to warn him about the upcoming visit.

"Hey, Isaac, someone is going to be visiting in a little bit," Melissa started.

"Scott?" Isaac asked, hopeful grin on his face.

"No, not Scott, he's still in school, and so is Stiles. Her name is Mrs. Varne, and she's a social worker."

Isaac started to close off again, shoulders hunching to subconsciously protect himself, "Is she taking me away?"

"No, no, she's coming to ask you some questions, but unless you want to leave, she won't take you away," Melissa tried to assure him. She sent out a small prayer, hoping that she hadn't just lied; surely John would have warned her if that was the case. "She just needs to ask you questions, they might bring back all the bad memories but just remember that you're safe here okay," Melissa said, hugging the boy.

"Why is she asking questions?"

"Well, she needs to know how your Daddy hurt you, so that way he can be punished, and we need to know so that way we can make sure we know how to take care of you. If he hurt you in a way we can't see, it's important we find out; does that make sense?"

Isaac nodded, twisting one of the crayons around in his hand, "Will you be able to sit with me?"

"I don't know, we'll have to ask her when she gets here."

"Okay," he mumbled.

He slowly continued to color, although Melissa could tell his mind was on the upcoming meeting; after awhile he excused himself to go to the bathroom. The doorbell rang just a second after that, and Melissa had to wonder if he was psychic as she opened the front door.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Varne, I'm here to talk with Isaac Lahey," the stout woman said.

"Come on in, he was went to the restroom, I'm sure he'll be out in a moment," Melissa mentioned, waving the other woman into her house. "Would you like to sit on the couch?"

"Yes, that would be fine, thank you."

"May I ask, what is supposed to happen this visit?" Melissa finally asked.

The woman picked up her clipboard, "Well, I'm here to evaluate Isaac's lifestyle, how long his father had been abusive, what all happened to him, and see how much mental and emotional damage has been caused."

"Will it be okay if I sit with him? He seemed rather nervous when I told him you'd be asking questions, and I think it will help him stay calm."

"I'd have to get his permission, verbally, just to ensure that he wants that, but that would be just fine."

Melissa let out her breath, happy that Isaac wouldn't have to be alone in here; after another moment, Melissa excused herself to go check on him. She knocked on the door, asking if he was feeling okay.

"I don't want to talk to that lady, she's going to send me away, I don't want to leave," Isaac told her through the door.

"She isn't going to take you away Isaac, she said that she just needs some answers, and that I can stay if you want me too," Melissa explained.

The door popped open and his face appeared, "You can stay?"

Melissa nodded, "You have to tell her you want me to stay, and I can, if you want."

Isaac sighed, then opened the door all the way; he raised his arms for her to pick him up, and he buried his face into her neck as she carried him to the living room. He barely lifted his head when she introduced him to Mrs. Varne, wide eyes looking her over.

"Hello Isaac, I just need to ask you a few questions, did you want Mrs. McCall to stay here with you?" Mrs. Varne asked.

"Yes, please, I don't want to be alone," Isaac answered, holding on tight.

"Okay, first, I need to know, did your dad ever get mad and hit you?"

"Y-yes, a lot."

"Can you show me where he hit you?"

Isaac sighed, and looked up at Melissa, "Do I have to show her?"

"Yes, so that way she can take a picture, to show the police that he's bad."

He turned his face to her, so she can see his cheek, which she snapped a photo of, then Melissa helped him take off his shirt to show his back. Melissa and Mrs. Varne shared a look before she took the picture quickly, letting him put his shirt back on.

"Now, what did your dad hit you with?"

Isaac gulped, feeling uneasy at the memories, "His hands, and sometimes… a chair leg. He threw it at the wall one day and it broke, Mommy got mad. And he picked up one of the pieces and used it to hit us."

Melissa felt Isaac shuddering in her lap, so she held him close and started rubbing his back some more.

"Now, this is an important question, and you know that I need you to tell the truth right? Even if you think it's embarrassing, or if he told you to never tell anyone, you have to let me know." When Isaac nodded his head, she continued, "Did anyone ever touch you in your private area?"

"Daddy spanked me sometimes, when I was bad…"

"But nothing else?"

Isaac shook his head, not really understanding why she was asking those questions.

"And did you dad ever make you touch him in his private area?"

He tilted his head, confused, but shook his head once more, Daddy never did that; Melissa sagged into the couch, so relieved at his answer. Mrs. Varne took a moment to study Isaac, but gathered that he was telling the truth, so she marked it on her papers. The afternoon passed as Mrs. Varne continued to slowly ask questions, wanting to know how long ago the hitting started (1 year), if he was ever punished other than hitting (he got locked in the old freezer a lot), and if he ever told anyone at school (no).

By the time she was done with all the questions, Isaac was looking worn out, but at least it was out of the way now. Melissa asked if he would like some chocolate ice cream for being such a brave boy, he brightened slightly so she led him to the kitchen. After he was settled into a stool with a bowl in front of him, Melissa turned back to Mrs. Varne.

"So how bad do you really think it is?"

Mrs. Varne looked back at all her papers, "All in all, I think he's doing quite well. Luckily the abuse hasn't lasted too long, although any abuse is too much. But since he's young, and never elevated into sexual abuse, I'm sure he'll bounce back from all of this once he finds a permanent home. He needs a lot of love and reassurance, and I'm sure he'll be absolutely terrified of dark, enclosed spaces for a long time. But he's warmed up to you quite nicely, so that is a wonderful sign."

Melissa smiled, glad to hear a professional opinion, "And nightmares are probably to be expected?"

"Yes, although they might not occur as often as you'll think. He could be absolutely fine for a few days and then something might set him off. I suggest maybe taking him to a therapist once he's not quite so shy around everyone, just so he can let everything out and they can make sure he really is healing properly."

"Thank you for taking it slow today, I know all those questions are important, but they are hard to answer. I'm glad you didn't pressure him at all," Melissa said, walking her guest to the front door. "Oh, one other thing, Last night, my son Scott let him borrow his favorite truck, and he went to sleep with it. I moved it, so he wouldn't hurt himself by rolling onto it, and this morning he freaked out, thinking he had lost it and that Scott was going to hate him. After I showed him where it was, he seemed to calm down, but he was so shut down for most of the morning, do you have any idea why?"

Mrs. Varne thought for a moment, "I'd have to say it was a severe emotional scare for him, he's already attached himself to you, which means Scott too. Before when he's messed up, he got hit, or locked up but he trusts you to be nice to him. So I think that he just got so scared that you and Scott wouldn't want him anymore if he lost something so precious. Regardless of your reassurances, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it took him some time to snap out of it."

"Okay, thank you, I wasn't sure what might have happened that upset him so much and I was worried I had messed up. He started smiling again after breakfast, but I felt it was best to ask."

"I'll be back in a few days, just to do a progress report on him. I'm sure he's in good hands here Mrs. McCall, just give him a lot of love," Mrs. Varne said as she turned away.

Melissa waited until she was safely in her car before shutting the door and returning to Isaac; he had just finished his ice cream and was looking at her with a chocolate covered mouth. Melissa giggled at him and snapped a quick photo with her phone to show him his face. "Was that good?" she asked as she wiped his face off.

"Yea!"

She hugged him close and rubbed her cheek against his, loving it as he giggled; he grabbed up his bowl and set it in the sink, beaming at her to show that he was responsible. Melissa looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already going on 1 o'clock and the boys would be getting out of school soon. "Hey Isaac, do you think you'd want to go see Scott, Stiles, and John for lunch?"

"Okay," he said, jumping up and down.

"And you're okay with John?" Melissa made sure.

"Yea, he's a good guy you said. And Stiles is fun too!"

"I'll give him a call and let him know, we'll make hamburgers and hotdogs, along with French fries for lunch."

"Yay!" Isaac cried out, raising his arms into the air.

She laughed as he raced down to the playroom and back in his excitement; she pulled out her phone and called John, catching him just as he went out the door. "Hey, can Isaac and I come over for lunch, we can have hamburgers, hotdogs, and fries for lunch," Melissa suggested.

"That sounds delicious, I'll pick up some stuff on the way home from getting the boys. Meet you here around 2? That should give me plenty of time to wrangle the kids through the store."

"Thanks, Isaac needs some cheering up, and the boys should be able to help, see you in about an hour." She hung up and went to find Isaac, who was dancing around in the playroom; when she told him they'd be leaving in an hour, Isaac ran up to her and hugged her knees.

"Thank you," he said, squeezing her legs.

"For what sweetie?"

"For not getting mad at me when I ran to the bathroom, I was hiding from the lady because I didn't want to get taken away from you," Isaac confessed.

"You must have really good hearing, I didn't even hear her pull up," was all Melissa commented, ruffling his hair. "Let's go pick out some day clothes for you to wear for lunch okay?"

Isaac held his arms up, wanting her to carry him, which she was happy to do; Scott was getting to the age where being held was embarrassing, so it was nice to have a child in her arms still. They searched through Scott's closet, eventually deciding on a pair of jeans and then one of his TMNT shirts. Then Isaac asked if they should bring any toys, but Melissa assured him that Stiles had a lot of toys for them to play with. Isaac nodded his head, clearly figuring this was best so he didn't lose any of the toys.

"Will Scott be coming home with us tonight?" Isaac asked as they went downstairs to watch T.V.

"Yes, is that okay?"

Isaac nodded, "Will I be sleeping with him, or with you?"

"Well, it's up to you, I'm sure Scott would be happy to share with you, but if aren't comfy with that, with me is still fine."

Isaac shrugged, not really sure what he wanted to do, he was still really shy around Scott, but he was friendly and made him smile. He didn't want Scott to think he was a baby if he didn't want to sleep alone, so maybe he'd sleep with Scott. Melissa let him think about it while they watched the Disney channel; by the time the show was over, Isaac was laughing pretty hard, so Melissa figured it must be one of his favorites.

"Ready to go Isaac?"

"Hotdogs, hotdogs!" he chanted, clearly ready for lunch.

Melissa laughed with him as she turned off the television and grabbed her purse; Isaac ran to the car while Melissa locked up the house. She was happy that he was so excited to go, he was already a vastly different boy from the one that John brought to her yesterday. She helped Isaac to buckle in and then they were off, taking the short drive to the Stilinski household. When she pulled up, Isaac patiently waited for her to unbuckle him and held her hand as they went up the walkway, showing just the slightest signs of nervousness. "I'll be right here Isaac, and Stiles and Scott will be here to play too, it's alright," Melissa soothed.

Isaac nodded but still leaned in closer to her leg as she rang the doorbell.

"It's open," John called from somewhere inside the house.

Melissa frowned just slightly, it wasn't like John to leave the door unlocked, but he had been expected them. He must have seen them pull up through the window; she rubbed Isaac's hair and opened the door.

"We're in the living room," John called, and this time Melissa stiffened at his tone.

She pulled Isaac behind her and slowly crept forward, stopping suddenly when she saw John tied up to a chair, a knife to his throat. On the floor next to the fireplace were Scott and Stiles, eyes wide and tears streaming down their faces. The man holding the knife had curly hair like Isaac, as well as the same eyes, behind glasses; there was no mistaking it, this had to be Isaac's father.

"Don't even think about running lady, or I cut him open, kids too," he threatened.

From behind her legs, Isaac started to shake, face pressed into her jeans as his father spoke; that voice brought back a lot of awful memories.

"I'm here for my son, it was rather rude of the sheriff here to step in and take him away from me. I'm his father, it's my job to take care of him, no one else's! Give him to me and then we'll be on our way."

Melissa shook her head, hand resting on Isaac's curls, "No, I won't give him back to you, you're a monster!"

His eyes narrowed and he stepped away from John, pointing the blade at her, "What did you say?"

Melissa slowly began maneuvering into the room, keeping the couch between her and Mr. Lahey, needing him to come closer to her. "You're a monster, you deserve to rot for what you did!"

Lahey snarled and took a few steps forward, making her jump, but she held her ground, pushing Isaac to the couch. She carefully untangled her leg from his arms, not wanting to trip over him when the time came. Isaac seemed to understand, and curled himself up next to the couch, wanting to be as small as possible.

"You don't know what it means to be a father, a boy needs discipline, and I'm going to be the one to give it to him. He's soft! He needs to learn how to be a man."

"What do you know about being a man? Men don't hit their children or their wives, you're not a man, you're a bully. And a coward!" Melissa threw back at him, stepping back around the couch to confront the murderer.

John watched the whole thing from his chair, he knew that Melissa would put her life on the line for these boys, but he'd prefer if she didn't have to. As far as he could tell, Lahey only had the knife on him, which was good, at least that meant there was no gun. But a knife was still dangerous, even to someone that had taken defense classes. Carefully, he waved his foot, doing his best to get Isaac's attention. It took a few moments since Isaac was trembling from the loud voices, but finally the boy did turn his way, eyes full of fear; it broke his heart that Isaac had to go through all of this. He dipped his head, indicating for Isaac to come over to him, maybe he'd be able to untie him and then he could take control of the situation.

Isaac understood what the sheriff wanted, he got down on his hands and knees and crawled over to the chair that he was tied to. By crawling he was able to keep himself mostly hidden from his father, even though he was too busy yelling at Melissa to pay attention.

"Isaac, can you untie me?" John whispered as Melissa spoke up again.

Isaac nodded, doing his best to stifle his cries as he crawled behind the chair and started to pull on the knot. John did his best to stay calm while he waited; he kept looking over at Stiles and Scott, doing his best to reassure them without being too loud. He heard a cry from Scott and looked back, just as Lahey lunged towards Melissa. Isaac sobbed harder, desperately working the knot with his tiny fingers, Melissa was going to get hurt and it was all his fault, just like with Mommy.

Melissa had been prepared for the lunge, knocking his hand to the side at the last minute, using his momentum to pull him past her. She waited as he spun around, knowing he'd try to immobilize her by grabbing her hair. Melissa pretended to weakly struggle as he wrapped his arm around her throat and held the knife up against her cheek. After waiting a breath, she shifted her body, slamming her heel into his instep as she also reached up to secure the hand holding the knife. As he doubled over, she drove one of her elbows into his stomach and dislodged his arm. Once she was free, she spun in a three-sixty, gaining a little bit of momentum to slam her left elbow into his cheek bone, snapping his head to the side.

"You bitch!" he called out, one hand held up to his eye.

"What, it's not as much fun when a woman fights back?" Melissa snarled, wanting to cause him more pain after everything he'd done.

He extended his arm, knife first and she caught his wrist in her hand, then she used her free arm and slammed it down into the crook of his elbow, bending it. Using all of her strength, she pushed his arm up to his shoulder, the knife sinking into his skin. He cried out in pain as he shoved her away; her back slammed into the wall and the wind got knocked out of her.

Just then Isaac managed to untie John and he quickly climbed out of the chair and undid the ropes tying Stiles and Scott. The boys still had tears streaming down their faces, but John stood up and faced Lahey, calling over his shoulder, "Stiles, safe room, go!"

Stiles nodded his head and wiped his eyes, hands reaching out to grasp Scott and Isaac's wrists; he pulled them from the room and down the hall. As soon as the boys were safe, John vaulted over the couch and slammed his shoulder into Lahey, knocking him to the floor. He quickly climbed on top of him, punching him in the face and harshly ripping the knife out from Lahey's shoulder, throwing it towards the door.

"Cuffs," he called off to Melissa, throwing another punch.

Melissa ran to the hall closet, knowing that was where John kept his duty belt and slid the pair of handcuffs out of their holder. John had managed to flip Lahey onto his back as she handed him the cuffs; John quickly slapped them on and pulled him to his feet.

"Get the boys, Stiles knows to check all the cameras before he opens the door, I'll call a squad to meet you at your house while I take him in. Don't go into the house until the Deputies clear it, just in case," John ordered before shoving the wanted man out the front door.

Melissa barely registered him calling out the Miranda Rights as she ran into John's office. She saw the bookshelf that had been slid aside on the near invisible track and approached the metal door. She pressed down on the intercom button, calling out to the boys.

"Stiles, is the house clear?"

There was a moment before he responded, "Yea, I'mma open the door."

There was a moment as he unlocked it, and the door slowly slid open; Melissa gasped in relief when she saw all three of them. Poor Isaac was huddled in the middle of the room, Scott and Stiles on either side of him, pressed in close, faces all smashed together as they tried to calm him down.

"You all are so brave," Melissa praised them, falling to her knees and holding them all close.

Isaac's arms flew around her neck, almost like he couldn't believe she was still alive, Scott and Stiles quickly flowing suit, relieved that everyone was safe. Melissa held them for a few more moments before she wiped her eyes and pulled back.

"Come on, we're going to go back to my house, let's go," she said, slowly standing up and the boys crowded around her. She bent down to pick up Isaac, since he seemed to be the most traumatized by everything and let the other two boys hug her legs. They slowly went out to the front door, skirting the small puddle of blood and knife; she closed the door behind her, but didn't bother to lock it since she knew the deputies would be by to check it all out. She opened up the backseat of the car, telling Scott to get into the middle seat and buckle in. Then she put Stiles right next to the door and set Isaac in right between them, using the single seatbelt to buckle both of them into the seat. They were small enough that they'd all fit together and she could tell that Isaac needed the contact. "You boys all stay close okay? Isaac needs a lot of hugs right now, and I'm sure you both do too," she said, reaching in to give them each a kiss.

Stiles looked up at her with solemn eyes, "I'll take care of them," he promised her before wrapping his skinny arms around both boys. He even nuzzled Isaac's hair, like he secretly loved Dad to do.

Satisfied, Melissa got into the driver's seat and started up the car, barely following the speed limit as she drove to her house. By the time she pulled up, there was a squad car waiting for them; she pulled up into the driveway and hopped out, leaving the door open just a crack as she met up with Tara.

"Now that you're here, we'll go ahead and scout the house, just to ensure that Mr. Lahey didn't send any goons to meet you here. We don't believe he knew you had Isaac, but we can't be too safe. We should be out in just a minute."

Melissa nodded her head when she handed over the house keys, and then opened up the backseat, unbuckling the boys and letting them huddle around her as they waited for the two officers to come back out. Scott and Isaac cuddled into her while Stiles pressed into their backs, offering them more comfort. Melissa was thankful for Stiles, after Claudia had died, he was a mess, but he had also grown up rather fast. She noticed that he was always the one to take charge when Scott wasn't sure what to do. He was also the one that always took blame, not wanting Scott to get into any trouble.

When the officers came out, Tara approached Melissa and the boys while her partner radioed dispatch. Tara slowed down and bent over, wanting to reassure the boys.

"Hi Isaac, do you remember me? I'm Tara, from yesterday."

Isaac nodded his head as he peered at her, and Stiles spoke up, "Tara is my favorite, she helps me with my homework."

The boys all managed a small giggle as Tara told them all that the house was clear, and she'd be sticking around until the sheriff came. Melissa nodded and thanked her, herding all of the boys inside. After giving them all one more hug, she told them to head upstairs so she could talk with Tara. They watched as all three hurried upstairs, closely huddled together.

Isaac made a beeline for the bed, just wanting to sit and not think about anything that just happened; his whole world could have come crashing down again. Scott and Stiles are instantly there, huddled on the bed with him, although it's more for his benefit than theirs now. He crawled up to the pillow and laid down on his side, thumb rubbing against his lip; Stiles tried to calm him down by making it all look like an adventure.

"It's a good thing your Mom showed up when she did, Isaac too!" Stiles said, making Isaac perk up at the mention of his name. "If you weren't there, Dad would have been stuck trying to untie himself, and that's hard! I've tried to do it lots of times, but I always end up giving up and Dad has to undo the knots."

Isaac stiffened, "Your dad ties you up?"

Scott pushed Stiles, realizing that Isaac took it the wrong way, "Not in a mean way, Stiles thinks it's fun to try and escape and the sheriff thinks it's something he should know how to do. I practice too some times, but we don't tell Mom about it."

"And maybe if I'd practiced more, I'd have been able to do it," Stiles commented, looking a little ashamed.

"But it's really hard to do, even your dad couldn't untie himself right away, and we were under a lot of pressure. But it all worked out okay," Scott stated.

"Did you see your Mom kicking his butt?!" Stiles said, changing the subject.

"Yea, I didn't know she could do that!"

Isaac actually smiled then, although his eyes looked sad, "She's much tougher than my Mommy was. At first I was so scared he was going to hurt her like he hurt Mommy, but she's strong and brave, I thought maybe… maybe she'd give me up because I'm not her son and you are… that she'd want to save you first… but, she protected me! She's only known me a day and she saved me from Dad… even though you were in danger too."

Scott beamed, "That's 'cause Mommy is awesome, she'd never hand you over to that bad man, even if he is your Dad. She protects me all the time, but you needed it more today, she loves you Isaac, like she loves me and Stiles. You needed help, Mommy isn't going to stop helping you until you're all old and gray now, she tells me that every day! 'Scott, I'm your Mom, that means I love you forever an' ever, I'll always be here for you,' that's what she told me."

Isaac started to sniffle, touched by Scott's words, and Melissa's actions, the sheriff's too. "Do you really think so? She loves me like she loves you two?"

"'Course she does! She's already been my Mommy since my real Mom died, she can be yours too. Mrs. McCall will love you to bits all the same, I promise!" Stiles told him, throwing his arm around Isaac.

Isaac giggled through his tears, realizing that both boys truly believed it, and saw him as someone important. He wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling them close; he missed his Mommy a lot, but if Melissa, Scott, and Stiles were here to take care of him, he might not be as lonely anymore. As Isaac calmed down, Stiles told him about what had happened before they got there (probably exaggerating a lot of things, but he's only 6 so he can't help it). Scott jumped in from time to time, assisting Stiles in the story, making them both seem brave and strong; then they jumped to the part where awesome Isaac jumped in through the window and cut them all loose while Mama McCall kicked Bad Dad butt! By the time the adrenaline started to wear off, all three boys were convinced that was the way it really happened, and they couldn't wait to tell all the kids at school what had happened. They all curled up on the bed together, arms and legs intertwined because the contact comforted them, quickly falling asleep.

Hours later, when John finally managed to get away from the Station, he raced over to Melissa's to check on her and the kids. He had already heard they were fine from Tara over the radio, but he still had to see for himself, the thought of losing any of them were just too much right now. When he entered the house, Tara gave him a polite wave and pointed towards the living room, letting him know where Melissa was. Nodding his thanks, John found her sitting on the couch, looking through old baby photos of Scott. "Hey," he called out quietly, not wanting to startle her.

Melissa turned to look up at him, "Today was scary John, when I came in there and saw all of you tied up, some stranger with a knife held up to you. How can some people really be that… that… cold hearted?"

John just shrugged as she stood up to hug him, needing to be reassured. "From all accounts, Mr. Lahey had been alright until about a year and a half ago, then he lost his job because Matt Daehler, a young boy almost drowned under his watch. That's when everyone says he started drinking, and then he started getting violent. Stress, it can do awful things to people, not that I'm excusing his behavior in any way, just that… he handled it all wrong. Instead of turning to his family in his time of trouble, he took it out on them. But Isaac is safe at least, although…"

"Hey, you did all you could, even if Mrs. Lahey and Camden didn't make it, you can't save everyone, even though it hurts to admit it."

"I know, but I don't know why she didn't turn him in when the abuse started… she had kids to look after..I just…"

Melissa rubbed his back, "Some people are afraid… And maybe she still loved him, and wanted to fix him, bring him back to the man he was. Who knows, but it's in the past; you're right, Isaac is safe now and that's what matters."

"Speaking of safe, how is Stiles? And Scott? Are they okay?"

Melissa pulled back and smiled at him, "I think you should see for yourself." She led him upstairs, bringing a finger to her mouth to let him know to stay quiet, and slowly opened Scott's door. John peered in and smiled, heart warmed at the sight of all three boys snuggled together on the bed, small smiles on their faces. Melissa closed the door and led them back downstairs to continue talking.

"I know it's too much to hope they'll never have nightmares from this, but I'm glad to see that even now, they can fall asleep with smiles. And that they aren't afraid to be there for each other," John commented.

Melissa nodded her head in acknowledgement before speaking in a somber tone, "I'm not giving him up John; not after all of this. He'd be devastated, he'll think I don't want him, that he's not safe to be around Scott or Stiles. He deserves to have a happy home, and to have other kids around to try and make up for the family he's already lost. I won't let him lose this one too!"

"Hell, if anyone tried to take Isaac away, I'll arrest them myself, because any smart person will see that this is the best place for him," John responded.

The next few months were a bit of a trial for the boys and their families: Stiles was still suffering from his panic attacks, Scott was doing his best to deal with his asthma, and Isaac of course still had nightmares from time to time. Melissa adopted Isaac, officially welcoming him into their home and set up all of his stuff in Scott's room. Every weekend Stiles was over, and the three of them would sleep together in a pile on the floor, happy to be together. It seemed that whenever one of them would have an attack, the other two would know just what to do to bring them out of it; it wasn't long before Isaac's nightmares stopped all together, as did Stiles's panic attacks. Soon after the adoption was finalized, Melissa also officially filed for divorce from her estranged husband, and it didn't take long for John to ask her out on a date.

*Ten Years Later*

Melissa marched up the stairs, calling out for the boys one last time, if they didn't wake up now, they'd end up being late for school. She knocked on Scott's door, opening it up when she didn't get a response, immediately finding out why the boys were still asleep. All three of them were huddled together in the middle of the floor, arms wrapped together, just like when they were kids, Isaac always in the middle. She tutted and cleared her throat loudly, finally getting Stiles's attention.

"Huh, s'goin' on?" Stiles asked, attempting to sit up but Isaac's head was on his chest.

"Time for breakfast, why do you boys insist on sleeping on the floor? You all have perfectly good beds to sleep on you know. In your own bedrooms no less."

Isaac and Scott were both awake now, stretching to wake up their sleepy muscles when Stiles smiled up at his mom, "We're close, and we sleep better when we're together. I just can't sleep when I'm by myself."

The boys all shrugged, not seeing the issue with it, and Melissa laughed and told them to get dressed, leaving them to their own devices. John raised a brow, knowing that she had found them all together once again. But he stayed silent, flipping the pancakes and gathering all of the plates. Minutes later the three of them came stomping down the stairs, thanking Dad for cooking as they sat at the table.

"So, still having trouble sleeping in your own beds?" John asked, only slightly judgmental. "What happens when one of you get a girlfriend or something?"

Scott and Isaac both looked to Stiles, knowing that he was the best of them to explain it, which he happily did. "So are you saying that when I start dating, they can come over and spend the night?"

"Stiles…"

He laughed and rolled his eyes, "I know, I know, not 'til we're married. But… I mean, even if I do start dating, they'll know that Scott and Isaac come first. I can't date someone that doesn't even realize how close we are. We're brothers," Stiles said, looking over at the other two. "Sure, we act a lot closer than other brothers, and we're technically not blood related, but that doesn't matter to us. We have a strong emotional connection and no one will come between us. It doesn't matter if we sometimes all sleep together on the floor."

Melissa chuckled then, "Sometimes? How about more often than not these days; it just might be hard to explain that someone in the future, keep that in mind. But as long as you love each other, that's all that matters, we're family now."

The boys all beamed, glad that both their parents got it, at least partially, they quickly ate their food as Melissa came over and gave them each a kiss on the head, stopping to give John a kiss on the lips. As she sat down, she smiled to herself, already thinking of looking online to get them a king size feather mattress, so at least now, the nights on the floor will be comfortable.