Title: The Unforgotten Child

Chapter One

Author: spookycc

Summary: A young boy was kidnapped by the Masucci family, months ago. Now Major Case has an informant who knows where the boy is.

Spoilers: No specific ep spoilers, timeline is during Deakins' tenure as captain. Probably back in US Season 2-3 when Goren could run a little easier. ;-))

Disclaimer: Ah, I remember THESE things from X-Files fanfic. ;-P I don't own anyone in here except for Samuel Jacobson, who is my own creation. The other characters belong to D. Wolf and NBC/Universal. I'm just taking them for a spin, and I'll return them relatively unharmed. (Note the term "relatively" - if you've read my X-Files Doggettfic, you'll know what I mean wg ).

Reviews gladly accepted - I haven't hit my stride channeling Goren yet.

Author's Notes:

This is an unadulterated plagiarism of a loooong-ago work of my own. I hadn't read it in ages, and it looked like I could adapt it to LOCI.

I'm a very new (but verrrry obsessed J ) LOCI fan, so please be kind if my characterizations aren't spot-on yet. My stories assume intense BA friendship, but nothing romantic. In the X-Files world, we called it "UST".

I'm not a doctor or an EMT, so any please overlook all the medical blunders. ;P Also, I've only been to NYC three times, so my knowledge of the area is limited, although I did use reference works to determine locations.

The Unforgotten Child - Chapter 1

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Major Case Squad room

11th Floor - One Police Plaza

NYC

"Samuel Jacobson…" Detective Robert Goren repeated the name as he played it over in his mind. He remembered the boy, of course. He was calling to frontal memory the details of the child's abduction at the hand of one of New York City's most notorious mob families. They had nabbed him as leverage against someone intent on betraying them. It had happened several months ago, and there'd been no word on the boy's location or well-being for the entire time. Now, though, they had a lead - or so it seemed.

"This guy emailed us yesterday," Deakins explained. "After we checked his credentials, we checked out his story. It rings true," he added. "We think he's legit."

According to the computer screen in front of them, Samuel Jacobson was alive, and their informant knew his current whereabouts.

Eames jotted the pertinent information down, and nodded once to Goren. They took the elevator down to 1PP garage, and their waiting SUV.

With Eames driving toward the location that the informant had provided, Goren acted as her navigator, letting her know where to turn, what landmarks they were looking for.

Glancing over, Eames saw a dark look cross her partner's face.

"Bobby? What is it?"

Goren shook his head. "It's just… why would the Masucci family let this information leak out? They're usually very… they wouldn't let a nobody like our informant have access to where they're holding the child."

Eames heard her partner out, and trusted his hunches. They'd served them both well in the past. But still… "Everyone screws up, Bobby, even the Masucci's. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but…"

"Gift horse…" Goren pondered.

"What?"

"I was just thinking of the horse in the Godfather movie…"

Eames swallowed, and kept her attention on the road. It was unusual for information to be forthcoming from the mob, and her suspicions were raised a level by her partner's concern.

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Carthage Moving and Storage

Southern Boulevard

Bronx NY

Eames and Goren arrived at the block where the informant had said the Masucci were holding Samuel Jacobson. They were looking for a parking spot when a sleek black limo pulled up to the curb a block ahead of them. Three men left the vehicle. Eames slowed and pulled into a spot well behind the limo.

They watched and waited, few words exchanged, until one of the men came back out. With him was a young boy. There was no mistaking who this must be - the Masucci family wasn't in the habit of randomly abducting children.

Realizing they were too far away to intercept them here, Eames slipped the black Expedition into gear and prepared to follow them. After the man had bundled Samuel into the back seat, the limo pulled out into the relatively sparse late-night traffic, and Eames pulled out a couple car lengths behind.

Stopped at a red light, with Eames and Goren still a few cars behind, the back door to the limo flew open. Samuel leaped out and took off down the street. The limo driver squealed away from the curb, ignoring the traffic signal, following the flight of the boy.

Samuel dashed into an alley as Goren and Eames flew out of their SUV, not too far behind... The limo driver took a side street and its alleyway in an effort to head the boy off.

For the thousandth time, Eames cursed the career choice that led to her living half her life in the dark, both literally and figuratively. She couldn't see a foot away from her face.

Not that the journey she'd joined had been unrewarding, but sometimes a more traditional NYPD position looked damned appealing. Of course, with her family's history of civil service, the police force was always where she had wanted to be.

How many times had she asked herself why she stayed with Goren, with his quirks and obsessions? In truth, she could not see herself anywhere but by his side now. By her choice or by his, it didn't matter. She had once tried to break the ties that now held them together, before she really knew Goren. They had been drawn together then and now, by fate, or by whatever force bound them as surely as chains.

Eames stumbled over some boxes in the wet alleyway, and cursed again. Where the hell had the boy gone? And where the hell was Goren? They'd split up a few blocks back, and now Eames wasn't sure she could even find their vehicle again. She paused in the middle of the rain-dappled alley, trying to get her bearings, then headed off on her original course again.

Dim lamplight puddled in front of her, as the alley dumped into the street beyond. Eames skirted the building to her right, and decided to stay on the street, where she might have some slim chance of seeing something. A movement caught her eye, and she squinted in its direction. The boy?

"Samuel! Stop!" If the child heard her, he gave no indication of it. Eames ran in his direction, nowhere near catching him, surprised at his speed. He was a good block away and widening the gap between himself and Eames.

The boy disappeared around a corner, and Eames panted as she tried to reach the intersection before he made another turn. Winter coat whipping around her legs, she sprinted around the corner - Samuel was almost at the end of the block already, and Eames felt her calf muscles protest at the abuse.

Movement tickled her peripheral vision, and she felt a rush of air sweep by as the black limo whipped out of the alleyway she had just passed, and on toward the running child, who was unaware of it.

"Samuel!" Eames yelled again. Again the boy ignored her call, kept running, quite literally, she was sure, for his life.

Eames pushed herself to reach Samuel, knowing there was no way in hell she'd beat the car there. For his part, the boy ran aimlessly on, neither toward - nor away from - the car. Still a half block away, Eames yelled hoarsely, knowing it was futile, but knowing she would be too late to do anything more.

As the boy - and the car - neared the intersection, a blur of color drew Eames' attention. Time slowed, and the events that followed played out in slow-motion, as they would for countless nights thereafter.

That blur was Goren, running faster than Eames had never seen him run before. Still sprinting herself, she heard him call Samuel's name, with no more response than she had received.

In order, the three objects - one of them dear to Eames - reached the same exact point in space. First, Samuel - directly in the path of the speeding car - then Goren, midair, throwing his bulk at the boy - then the black limo.

Barely a squeal of tires - certainly no brakes had been applied - a muffled groan - and the car was gone, as suddenly as it had appeared. Silence fell over the street, as Eames rushed toward them.

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END CHAPTER ONE - Please review? Thanks!