I was thinking the other day what if Danny and Don had met when they were kids?

So guess what. I did it

So there.

Don't own 'em.

Ten year old Don sat on his bed, casually swinging his feet. He was excited. Today was the day he would get his new little brother. It had been a case his dad had been working on; a woman murdered found by neighbors, and a little boy hiding in the closet. With no one to go to the detective in carge of the case had decided to bring the boy home to his family. Don smiled, his dad had told him last night that he would be a big brother now and that as a big brother he had to be responsible. This was going to be great!

He heard the front door open and jumped off of the bed. Running down the hall to the stairs he stopped, catching his first glimpse of his new brother. The kid was small, looking out of place with his rundown, secondhand clothes and scraped up backpack. He calmly stood there waiting for Dons father to finish taking off his jacket. Unable to contain himself any longer, Don skipped down the staris to the kid.

"Hi! I'm Don!" he said happily, reaching out to the kid. But the kid just stared at Dons outstretched hand then looked up at his eyes. Don noticed the fresh bruises on the kids face and the wounded look in his crystal eyes. "What's your name?"

"Danny."

"Do you like cartoons?" Danny shook his head.

"Well, what about sports?" Again no.

"What do you like?" No answer. Don frowned; this was not going as he had planned.

"Don, stop bothering the boy. Go tell your mother to fix a plate for him," Don Sr. said as he walked up to the boys.

"Yes, sir," Don mumbeled.

Five minutes later Danny was sitting at a large table looking down at the plate of food in front of him. Don sat across from nursing a glass of milk. They both could hear the adults voices from the kitchen.

"He's not eating. I haven't seen him eat since the case started."

"Well, I don't know what else we can do but make him feel comfortable here."

"Yeah. I just felt sorry for the kid, ya know? Hiding in that closet, seein' his mom stabbed like that. I hope he's gonna be okay."

Don looked over at Danny in time to see the boy look up at him. Their eyes met and Don could still see the wounded look in his eyes.

"She wasn't my mom," Danny said softly. "She just took me."

"If you want, I can be your big brother," Don told him. "I'll protect you."

Don smiled encouragingly at him and was surprised when Danny returned it. Taking a sip from the glass, he watched Danny pick up the fork and eat what was before him.

I broke my ankle.

Go reveiw.