It was the week of Thanksgiving and the boys had been together for a month. Chris had been skeptical that four boys in a little room wouldn't work out, but it did. Things even turned in his favor when one of the other residents in the building left and Chris was able to acquire that room as well.
Nathan was also a great addition. The boy would find small jobs to help provide for food and their bottled water. Now Chris didn't have to stay out all night working odd jobs.
Vin wanted to help too, but he wasn't good at keeping up with any of the jobs he took and went back to pickpocketing people. Ezra said that Vin was probably ADHD and needed something that could help him pay attention. Chris couldn't think of anything for the younger boy to do that would be a good distraction except jobs. Jobs that trickled in ever so often.
They did a small job a few days ago that didn't turn out as profitable as they had hoped and they almost got caught. Chris blamed his planning skills and decided to take a break.
The holiday was a great distraction. Buck's mom had invited them all over for dinner which they eagerly accepted.
Chris walked in front of the small group heading over to Buck's house with JD holding his hand. Vin was behind him, deliberately jumping over cracks in the sidewalk. Nathan fell in the back, carrying a backpack with their group's donation to the dinner which was the sparkling cider.
When they reached Buck's house, JD let go of Chris's hand and ran across the street to the front door. Chris could imagine the high pitch ringing of the doorbell as JD rang it several times before the door opened.
Ms Wilmington smiled down at JD and gave the restless child a quick hug before he slipped inside. The others by then had finally reached the door and greeted her. Chris gave a nod of thanks to her as he walked across the threshold.
Buck, for the young boy's entertainment, had dressed up as a turkey. JD couldn't stop laughing and Vin grinned silently. Buck made Thanksgiving jokes and did little riddles for the group as Chris went into the kitchen with Buck's mom with the cider he took from Nathan.
"Thanks for invited us tonight." he said as he pulled the cider out of the bag.
"It's no problem Chris, I already told you that you could stay with us, or come over whenever." she smiled.
Chris fiddled with his backpack and stared off, "I know you did, but that was before all this happened. Having us all here for Thanksgiving is enough."
Ms Wilmington stopped gathering the plates and looked at the young Larabee. He looked tired and worn out- too mature for someone his age.
"Chris, it isn't your job to take care of those boys. You're just a boy yourself. There's no need for you to grow up so fast."
He nodded, "I know, but they're here now and I can't just abandon them."
Chris gave her a smile and she smiled back.
Everyone was seated around the small dining table and were eagerly waiting to dig in when there came a knock on the door. Buck, who was always nervous when the was someone knocking on the door, stood up and grabbed a fireplace poker.
The younger boys who didn't understand what he was doing sat with bewildered looks. Chris stood too to be of any help to his friend.
Buck always feared the day when any of the men who came looking for his mom would come on a holiday. He gripped the poker tightly, and took determined strides to the door. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled the door open and readied his weapon.
"Whoa there!" came a frantic voice from the other side of the threshold. Buck was so surprised he had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing him correctly.
"Ezra? What are you doing here?" he asked as Chris came up beside him.
Ezra looked at both boys with a sad smile on his lip, "My mother is out of town and I was home alone. I'm not one of those people who are sappy and need to be around others or else I'll get depressed, but I was hoping the invitation extended to me too."
Buck smiled and nodded, "Of course, come on in."
The boys moved aside to allow the smaller boy in.
JD waved from the table, "Hey Ez! You came."
Ezra nodded and thanked the hostess before taking an offered chair from Buck.
Chris and Buck both sat back down and they began eating.
"Now this is a family dinner." grinned JD as he ate his food. He was using his fingers instead of the utensils which was a habit he picked up with the lack of utensils back at their place.
Vin was eating his drumstick, his face all greasy as he nodded in agreement. The two snickered at each other and stuffed their faces, making a hefty mess of themselves as they worked.
Chris silently ate, looking at the happy boys that he had taken in. His expression thoughtful and somber. Only when he was brought into discussion did he smile.
Ms Wilmington watched the boy with interest. She knew he was stubborn and didn't like taking any help. A boy after his father, but she could at least offer some place for them to stay when the winters got bad.
Her house wasn't big enough to allow them all to have a place to stay without a few sleeping on the floor. School would be hard since none of them had parents and couldn't properly register. Buck would eagerly offer his homework to Chris to help him, but the younger ones were getting left behind. Vin could barely read and JD only read if he had to. Nathan was the only one who would venture into the library and spend a couple hours reading. Chris was too busy to pay too much to his education because he would go around looking for jobs.
She looked at the children's clothes which were worn. The younger boys had taken most of Buck's old clothes and shoes, leaving Chris wearing his black leather jacket that had belonged to his father.
Chris looked up and caught Ms Wilmington looking at him. He gave her smile and told Vin and JD to clean themselves up. The boys sprang from their chairs and went to the bathroom.
Ezra watched them go, shaking his head, "They behave like animals more when there's a lot of food in front of them. Wasting a great amount of it."
"They're manners aren't great, but there hasn't been much food in the fridge." Chris said softly as he stared at his plate.
Ezra frowned, "I thought you guys did a job recently?"
He had been with his mother doing a con and hadn't been there to help.
"There was a problem and something I didn't expect. There was a security camera and alarm. I was barely able to get the others out of there before the police arrived and I'm not even sure if they saw our faces on the camera."
Ezra shook his head, "This is what happens when you try to do things without me."
"It wasn't Chris's fault. I tricked the alarm accidently." said Vin from behind. He was glaring at the other boy.
"Then it was his fault for letting a kid like you do a job. You're too antsy if you can't do a job properly." Ezra huffed.
"Next time will be different." Vin said hotly.
"There won't be a next time." said Chris softly.
Ezra laughed and Vin's shoulders slumped.
"I said I was sorry. I'll make it up next time." Vin said hurriedly.
"No it's not that. I can't risk any of us getting caught. We'll lay low for now. No jobs."
The others around the table slumped in their seats.
"But I only did the one." whined JD.
"Same." agreed Nathan, "Not that I like the idea of stealing that drug money and almost getting shot at, but still. We stopped those guys from doing business again even if it was an accident when we triggered the police early."
Chris looked at Ms Wilmington who had excused herself while they were talking and was cleaning up. He then looked back at his group of boys.
"If we can find a job that won't put us in harms way then we can do that." he sighed.
The boys would propose jobs to Chris after he came back from working. Vin offered the most which were shot down because they had to deal with drug dealers.
Chris wasn't ready to deal with any of them again.
JD didn't have much to offer, but he gave ideas of things they could look for. Buck would bring the hit list book everyday with new jobs to do, but none appealed to Chris.
Ezra even offered a job that was to get them a lot of money, but it would also take money which they didn't have.
Finally one day when Chris had gotten home around midnight from raking and bagging leaves did Nathan approach him.
"I know this isn't like the jobs you guys usually do- well not intentionally- but I was wondering if you could help my friend."
Chris sat down on his bed and rubbed his eyes, "What kind of help?"
"My friend is a pastor's kid and gets abused by his father a lot."
"And what would we be doing?" yawned Chris.
"His father is unstable. He shouldn't have have kids live with him." said Nathan, now determined.
"So, like we're rescuing the kids?"
"Yes and no. I want to get his parental rights taken away so they could stay with their mom's family. So like a video that catches him abusing them."
Chris shrugged, "Sounds easy enough to do. We can do that then. It's for a friend right?"
"Yes, thank you so much." grinned Nathan.
Chris nodded and then fell back on his bed and closed his eyes. Letting sleep finally take him.
The next day was a weekend and Buck came over early after hearing there was a job. He entered Chris's place and saw the others seated around him with Chris standing in front of them. His hands crossed over his chest. The others were eagerly waiting for Chris to tell them what they were going to do.
"We're here." said Buck, sitting next to JD.
"Still waiting for Ezra." said Chris.
They waiting another ten minutes, all eyes staring at the door expectantly.
"Do we know if he's coming?"asked JD.
"Do any of you have his number?" asked Vin, looking between Chris and Buck.
"He said that he doesn't like being summoned for jobs when I asked him for it." Buck huffed."
"We can tell him later Chris." shrugged Nathan.
Chris nodded, "Okay, why don't you tell him what we're going to do then?"
Chris stepped aside as Nathan took his place.
"So I have a friend named Josiah who lives in an abusive house. I was hoping we could work to get his father's parental rights taken from him so Josiah and his little sister can stay with relatives."
"Why doesn't he just tell a grownup?" asked JD.
"He's a pastor's kid. No one is going to easily believe a pastor is beating his kid." said Buck.
"I would, those guys aren't any different from any other man." said Vin bitterly.
"So," interrupted Chris, "this should be a simple job. Not everyone needs to participate, but just in case I'll have something for everyone to do. Which will be difficult because we need Ezra." he muttered the last part.
"Why?" asked Vin.
"Because he's good with a camera and this is going to be camera based basically. We'll set up cameras inside the house. Nathan's connection with Josiah can get us in. Buck, Vin and I will go with him and set them up. Ezra will make sure they're working and recording when anything happens. If he get's too dangerous then Buck, Nathan and I will be ready to step in."
"Wait, what about me?" asked JD, worried that he'd been left out again.
"Once Ezra has the videos ready, you will go into the police station and turn it in. We'll find the prefect officer who will take this seriously so a real investigation can start up."
"Sounds exciting!" grinned Vin.
"Are you okay doing a job like this, Chris?" asked Buck a little worried.
He knew his friend had a sore spot when it came to abusive fathers and didn't want his friend doing anything that could hurt him.
"I'm fine, Buck."
"So when are we going to start?" asked JD, ignoring the older boys' exchange.
"We have to officially wait for Ezra to start, but we can meet Josiah and explain the plan to him."
The others nodded and began talking about what they might need for the mission.
Chris walked up to Nathan, "Do you think you can get some of us in to meet Josiah?"
"The easiest place to meet him is during church."
Chris looked away and seemed to be thinking about something before turning back to Nathan and nodded.
Buck, Vin and JD went to church with Nathan the next day to meet Josiah and his little sister. It was several blocks away and they walked together in a small group.
None of them owned church clothes except Buck, who chose not to. Vin who was dragging in the back sighed and looked around at the houses they were passing.
"Why doesn't Chris come with us?" he finally asked.
"Chris just doesn't?" said Buck.
"I know but why?"
"A lot of lost faith and the belief that God doesn't care about him."
"I know I don't particularly care about church, but I'd like to believe there's something good out there that brought me to Chris a month ago."
Buck smiled back at the younger boy and they continued to talk about different things until they finally reached the church.
Nathan pointed Josiah and his sister out to them and they sat behind them in the next row.
JD fell asleep after twenty minutes and Vin was restless. Buck smiled at them wanting to come along even if it wasn't necessary.
When the service was over Buck and Nathan got the others up and they walked over to Josiah.
Vin had successfully ruined a Bible by folding the first six books. He stuffed it back into the holder in front of him before following the others.
Nathan spoke to Josiah first while the others stood off to the side. Josiah, they had learned was older than Chris. He was a lot more than their leader as well, but stood awkward as if trying not to intimidate others.
"Hey Josiah." Nathan greeted with a hug to his friend.
"Brother Nathan, it's good to see you as always." smiled the bigger boy. "I haven't seen you as often."
"I know this isn't the right time to be doing this but we need to talk to you." Nathan gestured to Buck and the two younger boys.
Josiah looked at his sister who was sitting still with her Bible in her lap open. He nodded and followed the group to an empty row away from others.
"So what can I help you all with?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"It's not what you can do for us but what we can do for you." said Buck.
"What?" frowned the bigger boy.
"We want to help you get away from your dad. So you can live with your relatives." explained Nathan.
"I told you, brother, it's all good. It's my fault he gets upset."
"Joe, there's no excuse for abuse. Not even from a pastor." said Vin.
Josiah looked at the long haired boy in surprise.
Nathan exchanged names between the group.
"Well I thank you for thinking about us but I think it best if you just leave it alone."
"But, we're good." JD piped up, "We promise we can help you."
Josiah smiled at the little boy, "Thank you, but it's not necessary."
He nodded to the group before going back to his sister.
The boys looked on in confusion.
"So now what?" asked Vin, "We can't force him to accept our help."
"Maybe he'll change his mind." shrugged Buck.
As they walked out the church, Nathan pointed out the dad. The older man was definitely where Josiah got his height.
"How is this man a pastor. He looks more like a drill sergeant." remarked Buck.
"He used to be in the military." explained Nathan.
"A guy like that could definitely do something to his kids, but why doesn't Josiah want us to do anything about it?" ased Vin
"That is the million dollar question." sighed Nathan
Chris was busying himself with writing in a journal when he heard the boys coming in. He looked up and stored the book under his bed and moved away from it.
Buck was the first one to walk inside. He cocked his head questioningly at his friend.
"Enjoy yourself while we were gone?" he smiled.
"Not really. Didn't get much done."
Buck looked at the edge of the bed where the blankets had been disturbed.
He didn't say anything about it though as the others came into the room.
"How did it go?" Chris asked, turning his gaze from Buck.
"Probably would've went better if our leader was there. The guys stubborn." grumbled Vin.
"Or just scared." suggested JD.
"Basically he doesn't want us to help." said Nathan.
Chris folded his hands and searched for ideas of what to do next.
"Well we can't force him." he said eventually.
"What?" Vin's eyebrows shot up, "Chris, if you just talk to him."
"Well I ain't." interrupted the older boy, silencing the conversation.
"So what do we do then?" asked JD.
"We find another job. I'm sorry Nathan." Chris apologized.
Nathan shook his head, "It's not your fault. I was just trying to help a friend. If he doesn't want it then we can't do anything for him."
"That's just stupid." Vin muttered and threw himself on Chris's bed.
"Buck, can you find us a job." asked Chris.
His friend nodded and went to find his book.
The others settled down in the room and tried to keep themselves occupied.
A few days passed after the kids went to see Josiah without hearing any word from him. Buck had found them a job to do to keep themselves busy. They were preparing their equipment to leave when there came a knock on the door.
"It's about time. I thought Ezra wasn't coming back." muttered Chris as he opened the door.
Ezra wasn't one to just walk in because he thought it was rude. Chris or someone else would always have to open the door for him.
When he swung the door open, his eyes went up to meet the gaze of a taller boy. Chris was at first surprised to see him until he put two and two together and stepped aside for him to enter.
"Josiah? Is everything ok?" asked Nathan when he saw his friend at the door.
Josiah walked pass Chris and smiled at the other boys, "My father has always said that it was a sin to complain, but I've kept silent long enough I think. I've prayed more times then I can remember, thinking there was something the matter with me. Either God doesn't care," Chris scoffed at that and Josiah rose an eyebrow, "or it's nothing I'm doing wrong."
"So what do you wanna do?" asked Chris, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his head.
Josiah looked at him with curiosity.
"This is our leader, Chris. He's the man with the plan." explained Nathan.
The boys nodded their acknowledgement of each other and Josiah was given a seat in the room's only chair.
He wrung his hands and sighed, "I want you to do. Not help us run away or anything, but get us out of his custody."
"Are you sure you won't regret it?" asked Chris.
Josiah looked at Chris, determination in his eyes, "Yes."
"Ok then." Chris looked to the others who were all smiling, "It looks like there's a change in plans."
"Yeah but we still don't know where Ez is." Vin pointed out.
Chris turned to the older boy, "We're missing a member who would be useful in this operation, but if you don't want to wait we can do it without him."
"I'd be fine with it, but I'm more concerned about my sister Hannah."
"Ok, we'll do it without him then. I'll tell you what we have in mind and we'll work from there."
Chris, Buck, Vin and Nathan were getting ready to meet up with Josiah at his house when there was a knock on the door.
They all stopped what they were doing and looked at the door.
"You don't think he changed his mind do you?" asked Vin.
Chris didn't say anything but walked to the door and opened it.
On the other side was a bright smiling Ezra, dressed neatly in a dress shirt and vest.
"Lose your jacket in a bet?" snorted Chris as he moved to the side to allow the smaller boy in.
"No, I decided to dress a little informal."
"Then you're showing too much." laughed Vin, "Try a little hard if that's your version of informal."
Ezra eyed the other boys clothes which wear dirty and worn.
"I'll do that, shall I."
The others went back to getting ready and he frowned, "Is there a mission?"
"Yeah, we're helping a friend of Nathan's. A little bit of a reconnaissance mission." said Vin brightly.
Ezra looked surprised.
"What's with that face? Do you think we only do missions that are stealing?" frowned Vin.
"No, it's just you said reconnaissance and used it correctly."
"'So?"
"It's just, well isn't that a big word for you?"
"I'm not an idiot you know." growled Vin.
"Where did you even learn the word?"
Vin got up and crossed the room, ready to fight when a hand blocked him.
"I told him we were going on a reconnaissance, ok." said Chris.
Vin backed off with a low mutter.
"Where have you been?" asked Chris to Ezra.
Ezra turned his attention to him, "I've been working to pay back the money you guys took from my mother and her friends. Thanks again for that."
"Why pay them?" frowned Vin, still bitter about earlier.
"Because if I didn't then I'd have to go through with my mother's plans and we'd move."
The room fell silent, all looking at him. Ezra laughed off the uncomfortableness, "I didn't want to deprive you all of my amazing skills without telling you."
"I'm glad you want to stay, Ezra." said Chris.
"I-" Ezra stopped himself and just smiled, "My mother says hanging out with you guys will be the ruin of me and I think she was right. I actually like you people, at least a little."
"Yeah and I know you love us, Ez." grinned Vin.
"Not when you call me that." Ezra frowned.
"He doesn't deny it! He loves us!" called Buck.
Ezra looked away, hiding his face which was probably not one of his fake smiles.
"Well I'm glad you came when you did. We're about to head out and we need you for this one." said Chris, bringing them back to topic.
Ezra nodded and they all left Chris's place. They dropped JD off at Buck's house before Nathan lead the way to Josiah's.
"So Larabee, what is my part in this operation anyway? It's always flattering to hear you say you are in need of my assistance. If I didn't know better-"
"If you actually knew better then you wouldn't try to complete that sentence." said Chris cooley. We're going to need you to find places tonight where we can hide the cameras. You will then record the videos of any abuse seen and save it on a flash drive."
"So I'm only as useful as my resources?" grinned Ezra.
"Standish!" growled Chris.
Ezra rose his hands in surrender, "Just pulling your strings a bit." becoming more serious he continued, "This I hope, won't end up like the last time we had to rescue children from grown-ups."
"If all goes well then it shouldn't have to."
They reached Josiah's house and he welcomed them inside and closed it behind them and shut it quickly.
"Scared of the cold, big man?" asked Ezra.
"My father doesn't like us having the heat on. It increases the bill." frowned Josiah in confusion.
"Wow, you really are a character." mumbled Ezra.
The older boy showed them to the living room where his sister was drawing a picture on the coffee table.
She glanced up to look at them before returning to her work.
"Maybe we should've brought JD." Buck smiled.
"Hanna doesn't talk much." Josiah said sadly.
The boys looked at the little girl who seemed to be in her own little world.
Ezra bent down to her level but she didn't pay him any attention.
"That's an awfully accurate picture of your family, miss." he smiled.
She didn't say anything.
"She often draws pictures of mom." Josiah explained.
"We need to get to work, Ezra." said Chris.
Ezra stood up and clapped his hands together, getting an idea of the room.
"Yes, we'll set up in here. Does he usually have his fits in this room?" asked Ezra.
"Mostly I guess." shrugged Josiah.
"Ok then."
Standish went around the room, looking at the bookshelf and television. He inspected several areas before turning to the others.
"You have a lovely house."
Chris rolled his eyes as he stood in his place near the window.
"My father does like angels and has quite a few statues." Josiah said as he nodded his head to the objects in question on the shelf Ezra was standing by.
Ezra smiled and then turned to Chris, "I'm finished with my work here."
Chris nodded and walked over to Josiah. He stood in front of the bigger boy, carrying himself with authority. It was a great contrast to the slumped-shouldered boy in front of him.
"When is a good time for Vin and Buck to come back and set up the cameras?"
"My father is going to the church to organize an event. We'll all be there though."
"That'll work then. It should only take a couple minutes to set the cameras up and make sure they're working. Don't worry, they won't disturb anything else while you're out."
Josiah reluctantly nodded and Ezra showed Buck and Vin where they were to place the cameras.
Hannah watched them curiously before going back to her drawing. She drew the five boys on a new piece of paper.
Nathan, standing next to Josiah talking. Buck and VIn goofing off with each other while Ezra looked at the angels. Chris, the boy in a black leather jacket, staring out the window.
Vin swung his legs back and forth, pumping himself to gain speed on the swing. Buck was sitting on the top of the slide with his legs over the sides.
They had placed the cameras in the house that morning and were waiting for the others to arrive.
Nathan had suggested they use the playground across the street from the Sanchez house, to set up camp.
They would come after dark and turn on the cameras.
"Aren't you a little big to be playing on a playground." mused Ezra as he arrived with the others.
"Living my childhood to the fullest." Buck grinned.
"Is he home yet? asked Chris, climbing up the too small ladder and sitting on the main level of the playground fort.
"Yeah, he got home around ten minutes ago."
Ezra and Nathan climbed up onto the fort and Ezra silently set up his computer.
While he was logging on, Nathan and watched the house.
"You think this is going to work?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't it? It's a simple enough job. Nothing could possibly go wrong." Ezra said as he finished up turning on his cameras.
"Well that could be a problem." Vin pointed to a cop car driving slowly down the street with the flashlight pointed in their direction.
"Crap!" hissed Chris.
The boys all dived for cover, but not all of them had protection and soon the light went out and a cop stepped out of the car.
"Shoot, we need to get out of here." said Buck.
Ezra grabbed his things and the boys jumped down from their perch and ran across the playground and disappeared into the darkness.
When they felt they were safe did they actually stop running.
"Gosh...I...think that that...will create a problem." gasped Vin.
"You think." Buck said sarcastically.
"You know, we could try and call the cops instead of going through this much trouble and risk getting caught." suggested Ezra.
"We can do that when we actually have evidence to back it up. Just saying it doesn't always move mountains." said Chris.
"We can try again tomorrow." said Nathan.
They agreed and walked back to Chris's place.
It had been three days of watching the Sanchez house did anything really bad happen.
Ezra had caught several videos of the father drinking and watching games on the TV. One video caught him threatening Josiah and almost raising a hand to him.
"You think we should do something? He's getting too feral for my liking." said Ezra.
"Not yet." said Chris in an almost whisper. He was watching the house from the tallest part of the playground fort.
"What's happening now?" asked Vin from his spot on the monkey bars.
"He's in his bottle again." answered Ezra, staring at the screen.
"Man, if anything, we can probably get him for being a drunk." grunted Buck from his monkey bars. He was doing pull ups.
"Hannah came into the room with her coloring things." Ezra informed.
"Why the hell would she voluntarily go in there with him?" Buck spat in disgust.
It was too dark to see anyone's face but Ezra's and Nathan's because of the screen light.
"You don't think she's going to tell him about the cameras, Nathan?" asked Ezra.
"Why would she?" asked Vin.
"She's staring at camera four."
The boys who were not by the computer all scrambled from their positions and stood over the computer.
She was indeed fixated on the camera and seemed to be holding a picture.
"Standish, can you zoom in for me on the paper?" asked Chris.
Ezra clicked on the camera feed and zoomed in on the paper. He couldn't turn the camera so he could invert the image so it was right side up for them so they all turned their heads.
"Did she draw us?" asked Buck.
They didn't get a chance to respond to Buck's question before another camera feed alerted movement.
Ezra shrank camera four's screen back down and looked at what the other camera's were picking up.
They watched as the drunk man took the picture from the girl and started asking questions about it.
She didn't answer him, but smiled at camera four, a tear falling down her cheek.
"You don't think," breathed Buck, "she did that on purpose?"
They watched as the man started pulling the girl around like a ragdoll.
Chris was gripping the metal bars of the fort in frustration. Like a racehorse ready to explode from their cage.
"Josiah is in the room now." reported Ezra.
Josiah pushed his father away from his sister and she retreated. Mr Sanchez grabbed Josiah by the front of his shirt and began hitting him.
"Why isn't he fighting back more?" asked Buck in frustration.
"He was told, children should obey their parents." said Nathan in a whisper.
"Bull." growled Chris before taking off and running towards the house.
"Ezra, catch everything on camera just before Chris enters. We don't want him in the video." said Buck.
"Just tell me when he's about to enter and I'll turn it off."
Ezra looked up in time to see Buck going after Chris.
"Vin! I need you to tell me when they're about to enter the house."
"Got it." said the younger boy.
Chris charged at the house with no plan. All he knew was that he needed to get the kids out of the house and away from this man.
He unlocked the door with shaky hands that were too eager to do their job properly. Taking much longer than it should have. He saw the surprise look on the man's face that quickly turned furious.
Chris saw Josiah, propped up against the wall, his nose bloody and one eye swollen.
"What the hell do you think you're doing in my house?" growled the preacher.
Chris's grin turned deadly as he slowly walked into the room.
"It looks like your judgement day came early." he gave a horrifying laugh before charging at the man.
He tried to punch him in the stomach but the preacher easily dodged his slow attack and caught Chris by the neck.
Chris struggled in his grasp and cursed when he forgot the man was ex-military.
"I don't like trespassers." the man hissed before slamming Chris down on the coffee table.
Chris's body absorbed the shock to his body, but they were sending too many signals to his brain that he was hurting for him to focus.
He felt himself pulled up by the back of his jacket but his head just slumped to his chest.
The man was growling at him, but Chris couldn't hear him.
His own mind was trying to understand what was happening. What made him think he could win this fight? Was he actually trying to? He thought he was. Memories of his father flooded his mind. 'You worthless $%# ! If I knew you were going to be such a pussy then-' 'No, don't hurt him!' Mom! His stomach lurched as he watched his mom repeatedly hit.
Chris's face was blank, a tear escaping one eye before another blow was landing to his stomach.
He coughed and held his stomach.
"You seem like you lost your mind charging in here. I can have you arrested!"
Buck slammed a chair in the back of the man and Chris was let go.
Chris fell from Mr Sanchez's grasp and hit his head on the table. Chris sat there, immobile as Buck fought off the man to get to him.
Chris could barely make out his friend's words.
"Sorry man, we had to call the cops. Let's get out of here before they arrive."
Chris was pulled to his feet by Buck and dragged from the house.
The father was still recovering from the damage Buck did to his back with the chair.
When they were outside the others helped carry Chris to the park where they were hidden in the darkness. The sound of police sirens were heard as they made it.
"Chris, are you alright." asked Vin.
"Are you injured anywhere, Larabee?" asked Ezra.
Chris steadied himself against the others, "Yeah, I'm fine." He grimaced and held his head.
"You hit your head pretty hard back there." Buck commented.
"I'll be fine."
"What happened? I was sure you're going to beat the mess out of the man."
They watched Chris from behind. His head was downcast and he didn't say anything.
"Well it's not important. We should get back home before the police start looking over here too." said Buck.
Chris turned to his friend and saw him favoring his arm.
"You ok?"
"What this? It's nothing. Just hurt myself when I swung that chair a couple of times." Buck grinned, "You would think that baseball practice would've helped with that."
Chris was resting on his bed while Buck let Nathan look after his arm. Ezra was busying himself with putting the videos together to put on the flash drive.
Nathan and Vin had gotten JD from Buck's house before all returning.
They all spent the night there. Too tired for those who didn't live there to go home.
In the morning Chris was the first one to get up and go to the bathroom. His back was still sore. He had bruises forming and it was impossible to lay on it for too long.
Looking in the mirror, he saw the bruise around his neck. He tried not to think about how the man reminded him of his own father.
Chris grimaced, his friends called him their leader yet he couldn't fend off one man. Even Buck had more sense then to charge at him head on.
Stepping out of the bathroom, he saw more of the boys starting to wake up.
Chris nudged Ezra, "You got the flash drive ready?"
"Indeed. Would you like to look it over before JD takes it to the station?"
"I'm fine." said Chris. He knew he should, but he couldn't bring himself to look at the man again.
Ezra nodded and took the flash drive out of his computer and handed it to JD.
"Are you ready?" asked Standish.
"I've been itching for my turn." grinned the little boy.
"Nathan has found a reasonable and responsible law man for you to take this to. Make sure he gets it, but don't linger in anyway. Tell them it's for him then leave."
"Roger!"
Vin and JD walked down the street towards the police station. JD was grinning so hard that Vin couldn't understand how that wasn't hurting him.
When they reached the building, Vin was instructed to wait outside for the younger boy.
"You ready?" Vin asked once more.
"Yeah, don't worry I got this."
JD didn't wait for the other boy to respond but ran up the steps of the precinct and go inside.
JD looked around for the main desk. He was a little too short to see much and wasn't quite tall enough to be nothing more than eye level to the front desk.
"May I help you?" asked one of the cops.
JD wasn't sure what to do. He knew he wasn't supposed to linger so he figured that this guy was as good as going to the front desk.
"Please give this to him." he handed the envelope marked with the name of the recipient.
Before the cop could say anything, JD was gone.
The cop looked at the name and walked to the back where individual offices were located.
"Travis, a letter came in for you."
Detective Travis looked up in surprise. He thanked the officer and took the letter.
When he was alone he opened it up to find a flash drive and a short note that said that they hoped he would do the right thing.
Travis frowned and plugged the flash drive into his computer and clicked on the contents of the flash drive. Several videos popped up, numbered 1-5. He clicked on the first one and sat back in his chair.
"Do you think he's going to do the right thing and help Josiah?" asked Vin, skeptical.
"If not the. I have more than one copy of the flash drive." Ezra reassured.
Two days later there was a lot of noises coming from downstairs. Chris had gone out a couple hours ago for work and the others were lounging around. Buck and Ezra were with them. Ezra streaming a video for them on his computer. The noises seemed to be getting closer and then the door opened. Police officers poured into their little room and the boys jumped up in surprise. They tried running, but they were quickly overtaken and dragged outside.
Each boy was put in a cop car. Travis looking over each boy, looking for the tall blonde among them.
Chris was in his own word, carrying his backpack over one shoulder. He had finished his job early and was returning with a bottle of pop to surprise the others.
The noise made him alert and he saw his friends being pushed into police cars.
He saw Buck just before he was shoved in a car. His friend saw him.
"Run Chris!" he shouted.
Travis looked and saw a blonde with a backpack stop where he was as if trying to decide what to do. Then the blonde turned on his heels and ran in the opposite direction.
Travis went after him. He saw the boy turn the corner into an alley.
When he got closer, he slowed down and cautiously walked around. It was empty.
Chris had climbed the fire escape of his building and crawled into a room. It wasn't his, but the owner didn't seem to be at home.
He ran to his room, careful of any cops and found his knife and Buck's dart gun he kept in the closet.
He stormed down the stairs, praying that they were still there.
The light outside was blinding when he made it.
Four cops were waiting for him with Travis.
Chris knew better than to draw a goat several cops. They were so trigger happy. He instead wielded his knife.
"Let my friends go."
Travis stepped up front with his hands up.
"We aren't here to fight. So why not put your knife away, son."
"I ain't your son!" growled Chris.
"Ok, how about this? You can come with me and we can talk."
"No."
"Well I guess that means I'll be taking your friends with me."
Chris growled and charged with his knife. The other police officers readied to shoot but Travis stopped them.
Chris slashed at the man's chest and he gaped.
The man didn't even try to stop him.
Chris dropped his knife and stepped back. The other man's blood on his hands.
Travis inspected his chest. The wound wasn't deep which was good.
He saw the boy was just standing there shocked.
"Why...why didn't you defend yourself!" his eyes burned with angry tears.
"Because I don't want to fight you. I'm not your enemy."
Chris's head slumped to his chest.
"I understand, you're the one who sent me the flash drive. I'd like to talk to you about it."
-–-
Chris sat in the conference with his friends sitting around him. Travis sat across from him.
"So I think I have you boys to thank for several acts of bravery. According to your friends, Chris, you've been instrumental in saving foster kids like Nathan and providing evidence in a case against Josiah's abusive father. Also I heard that your gang is the reason we were able to find those drug dealers a while back."
Chris only glared at the man in front of him. The others eyed the stare down with interest.
"But even though you did these things, you also did it by breaking and entering and stealing private files. Trespassing on private property and loitering in public places after hours."
"You're missing some information. You forgot to say I'm an underage kid who ran away from social service. I carry around a knife like a crazy person and attacked you with it." Chris said with a smirk.
"You're an interesting case to be sure. You're father was also abusive and was the reason your mom died. He's in prison which can do a number on a little boy of six. You've been in several foster homes until you finally ran-"
Chris slammed his fist on the table. His glare deadly.
"Despite all of this I know you're a good kid. You're friends say you're like an older brother and take care of the young ones by working odd jobs. You're pretty smart for a boy who doesn't go to school."
Vin, who didn't like his friend getting attacked while he was defenseless, finally spoke up.
"Leave him alone, jerk!"
"Yeah, we brought you that information to help a friend!" JD piped up.
"How did you even know it was us" asked Buck, "and where to find us?"
"Your friend Chris was in the video, showing him breaking in and then trying to help Josiah only to get beat himself."
The boys all turned to Ezra.
"You were supposed to turn off the recording when Chris went in!" growled Buck.
"I'm sorry if it feels like I betrayed you all, but I did give Larabee the chance to look over the video."
"All you boys are foster kids and should be put into the foster system again, but I think you would all be lost without each other. You all have talents and could bring fresh ideas to the table."
"What like 21 Jump Street?" asked Buck.
"What's that?" frowned JD.
"It's something like that. A program training young children to become agents."
"Like spies?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say spies. You would live in a dorm with other kids apart of the program. So what do you think?"
"If we don't then will have to go back to the foster system."
Travis smiled.
Chris looked at his friends who seemed to be waiting for his decision.
He then looked to Travis, "What will happen to Buck and Ezra?"
"They can join the program if they want to. We still are looking for Ezra's mother so we'll keep him here if he doesn't want to go to foster care. Buck, decision is completely his."
Chris and Buck looked at each other.
"Seems like we're already being thrown into another adventure."
Chris smiled and turned to the man in front of him, "We're in."
~~listen to 'Stronger' by Kanye West to create epic ending~~
Chris pulled at his uniform that he had under his black leather jacket.
"I hope I don't live to regret this." he muttered.
Buck threw his arm around his friend, "Relax a little, dude. Remember, we chose this. Imagine how much of a difference we can make now."
Chris looked at his friend who was wearing the same uniform as him.
His friend threw him a cheeky grin before the two walked into the room where the others were.
JD and Vin who were sitting on the table looked up, both in uniform. Nathan and Josiah were standing together nearby. Josiah had made sure his sister would be safe with his mother's family before joining the others in the program.
Ezra got up from his chair and closed his book, throwing it in the chair. The younger boy had added a cravat to his uniform.
"Seems our team is all here." he smiled.
Another door opened and Travis stepped in.
He surveyed the boys, "So boys of team seven. Have you decided on a name for yourselves?"
Chris smiled, excitement in his eyes, "Yeah. We are the Magnificent Seven!"
Travis smiled. These boys were something special. Each boy held determination and excitement in theirs eyes like their leader.
"Well, Magnificent Seven, welcome to 4C organization."
He brought them into a room where other kids were standing around in groups. There was a group of girls and a boy clustered together. The boys would soon learn their names were Inez, Mary, Casey and Stephen.
"Let's do this!" said Vin.
End credits:
These stories were made from dreams and I enjoyed making them. My original plan was to make a just the three, but to leave it open for people to either create their own stories, or to have a coolish sense of completion. This '4C organization' where the kids are young agents with said girls and Stephen at the end can be taken however you want. You can make your own adventures of my version of the boys if you want.
This can be treated like a prequel. Thanks for all my supporters and readers. Love you all!