Disclaimer: I wish I owned Jack and Danny, I really do. But we all don't get what we wish for, so Without a Trace and any affiliates are not my property, and the property of Warner Brothers Television. I'm poor, so please don't sue
Heathland Prep, Gymnasium
The sounds of a whistle could barely be heard over muffled yelling and the bouncing of a ball. About ten teenaged boys were running up and down the court, chasing a basketball, shouting and pushing one another. They were dressed in a standard grey t-shirt with a yellow "H" imprinted on the front and on the burgundy shorts. A gym teacher was attempting to keep up with the play, blowing his whistle for a foul when the boys shoved a little too violently. Over on the bench sat three players, obviously not able to keep up with the competition due to their size. Blake Hutchings sat with his chin resting on his hands, watching the play move up and down the court. His blue eyes were glazed with boredom. He was short for fourteen, and peered out behind his light brown shaggy hair.
The gym teacher blew his whistle loudly, signifying the end of the game. He called everyone into the middle of the gym.
"Nice hustle gentlemen, get changed and have a good lunch." His eyes lingered on Blake momentarily as everyone started moving to the change rooms while he hesitated. Inside the change rooms the boys yelled across to each other as they showered and changed into their staple white dress shirts, burgundy pants and ties.
Blake was the last to exit the showers, drying his shaggy hair with a towel. He was much shorter than the majority of the boys, barely passing for twelve. He sat down on the bench as almost everyone was finished. He turned to his locker and cubby-hole to grab his pants and shirt and froze in shock. Two of the larger boys walked by him, sharing in bouts of laughter before exiting the change room. Written in black, heavy letters was the word "QUEER" on his locker door. He quickly pulled on his pants, shirt, and tie, grabbed his backpack and ran out of the door.
In the hallway, almost everyone had hurried off to lunch. There was only Blake's math teacher, Mr. Davids, patrolling the hallway to make certain no one disturbed the classes still in session.
"Blake, you better tighten that tie buddy, you don't want trouble from the uniform patrol." He smiled at Blake, who was rushing past him to the exit doors. His smile faltered when he saw Blake's tears on his face.
"What's wrong?" He called after him, but Blake merely shook his head and threw open the doors, not giving a damn if they weren't allowed off grounds for lunch. Mr. Davids watched as Blake Hutchings ran across the back field, his lone figure disappearing through the fence.
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Heathland Prep, Principal's Office
"We are worried what kind of image this will give our school, Detective Malone."
Jack and Danny were sitting in the principal's office of Heathland Prep after being called in during first period.
"Ah, I see. So you're trying to tell me you don't really give a damn about your missing students, am I correct?" Jack eyed the principal seriously.
"No, no. That's not what I'm saying. I'm merely suggesting that parents might begin to wonder what kind of control we have over our students if they can just stroll off campus during lunch. It's merely a safety concern" Principal Mason peered at Jack through her red glasses, her sharp comments reminding him of just how big of an asshole authorities could be.
Danny piped in now, "I wouldn't call it 'strolling off' Mrs. Mason. It appears that one of your students was being tormented under your very nose."
"I can't have you questioning and assaulting my students, Detective Taylor. This is Heathland Preparatory School, parents pay a lot of money to allow their children to learn here. His mother was informed and is on her way, I'm sure you will get all the information you need from her." She was almost sneering at the two detectives now.
"Well, I'll tell you what. We're with the FBI, and we will question your students, regardless of the tuition fees of this school. Our main priority is to find a missing child who was under your care, which isn't apparently one of your priorities." Danny nodded to the Principal as she opened her mouth in shock, and followed Jack out of the office.
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"I just don't understand. He never told me he was having problems at school. He always said he loved it here, and that he didn't mind me working so much to pay for his tuition." Blake's mother, Lisa, sat in an empty class, relaying her story to Jack. Danny was sent to question some schoolmates, hoping his young and vibrant personality would make things easier.
"We see this all the time, Mrs. Hutchings. Teenagers don't typically tend to tell their parents what's really going on." He pulled out his notepad, "Could you tell me a timeline from yesterday morning please?"
"I left before Blake woke up, I went into his room to kiss him goodbye. He was still sleeping; his father usually gets him up before leaving for his job. I work at the library on South St, Sean works as a locksmith. Needless to say, we need to work long hours to afford his tuition here." Lisa put her head in her hands, "He never came home after school, I called around and his friends never even saw him at lunch. I just assumed he was being irresponsible and spending the night somewhere. I left for work thinking he would go to school on his own, and I would kill him when he got home."
Jack smiled faintly before continuing, "And both of you were at work yesterday?"
Lisa nodded strongly, becoming defensive like all parents. "So you had no idea about the teasing and bullying that was going on?"
She shook her head and burst into tears, "I just thought he'd come to us, you know? We're his family."
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Danny met Jack in the hallway on the third floor.
"I got nothing from his friends, they played videogames, drank, slept over at each other's houses every weekend. Nothing out of the ordinary for a fourteen year old in a snobby prep school." Danny motioned toward room 314, "His gym teacher. I got wind about an incident that no one seems to know much about."
They both knocked and entered quickly. Coach Baber was sitting at his desk in his empty classroom, marking tests. He shook his head at the paper he was marking, scratching the majority out with red pen.
"That's probably my test," Danny joked, taking a seat on a desk in front of Coach Baber with Jack.
"You seem like the kind of guy that would know a little more about human anatomy than my 16 year olds," he smiled back, "What can I do for you?"
"We're here to discuss an incident that occurred a few days ago involving Blake Hutchings in your phys ed class third period." Jack remained serious, eyeing him for weakness.
"Yes, I'm sorry to hear about Hutchings. We're all a little shaken," Jack watched him nervously play with his pen now, "I happened to break up a fight in the change room between Blake and another boy, Taylor Mann. Mann's about twice his size, so I was surprised when I ran in there after hearing shouts to see Blake taking him on."
Jack nodded as he wrote in his notebook, "I assumed you disciplined both boys?"
Baber shifted a little nervously, "No, no I didn't actually. The school's policy on fighting is a little strict, so I decided to send both boys to the counsellor instead, not before sending Hutchings to the nurse. He deserved the black eye, trying to take on my wide receiver, but he managed to do a little damage himself."
"I'm a little confused. There was no report of Blake seeing the counsellor in school, Mr. Baber." Danny eyed the coach, seeing another winner-hungry coach.
"Well…it's getting close to semi-finals right now, so I decided to hold off on the counsellor until a few weeks."
Jack stood up, "So you're telling me Taylor Mann wasn't punished for taking on a teenager half the size of him."
Coach Baber became defensive, "Blake instigated the fight, he's lucky Mann didn't inflict serious harm on him. I could've suspended both of them."
Danny shook his head and walked to the door, "And I'm sure you had no idea about the bullying and tormenting going on during your class. Am I correct?"
Coach Baber sat there, stone faced as the two detectives left his classroom.
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Taylor Mann was walking down the stairwell, a math textbook in tow. Danny marvelled at a kid who was fourteen, yet twice his size. He stopped short of the two detectives who were standing at the bottom. Taylor could easily take on Danny and Jack with one arm as he approached them with caution.
"Taylor? Could we have a word?" Jack gruffly stated his demands, quietly wondering what would happen if he decided to become violent.
"I'm late for my math class, I can't have another detention or I'll be benched for practise." Taylor eyed the two detectives suspiciously as Danny looked at his split lip, quietly praising Blake for the spine to stand up to this bully.
"I'm sure it will be fine, we'll talk to your math teacher. I'm Detective Malone, this is Agent Taylor." Taylor tightened up at the announcement of their professions.
"I'll keep this short, we would like to know why you fought Blake Hutchings on Monday, and your whereabouts yesterday night."
Taylor rubbed his chin and moved towards the door, "I was at tutoring all last night with Sarah Smith, she's a university student who keeps my grades up."
"Ok, and the reason as to why you fought a child half your size?"
"We were just playing around," he shrugged, "We were just roughin' him up, and he said a few things that were a little too large for him."
"So basically he defended himself, and you fought him." Danny shook his head, "And I'm sure you know nothing about the kind phrase written on his locker, either."
Taylor glanced over his shoulder and shook his head before walking out the door.
Jack's phone suddenly rang, "Malone? Mhm…yep…Davids…so that's prior to 1994?...Ok, thanks Sam."
Jack hung up his phone, "Sam did a background check on all the teachers and known pedophiles in this area. We've got one teaching right here."
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They found Mr. Davids in his classroom, writing a long list of homework questions to be completed for his next period class. The two detectives walked in and the math teacher nodded hello.
"This is Agent Taylor, and I'm Detective Malone. I'm to understand that Blake Hutchings confided in you?"
Mr. Davids paused from writing on the chalkboard and wiped his hands on the front of his dress pants. "I wouldn't really call it confiding, Detective Malone. I just befriended him because I saw he was struggling to fit in. It's not easy for a freshman at a high-priced prep school."
"Mr. Davids, are you familiar with Dani Winters?" Jack watched as the math teacher froze and his face fell.
"Yes, I'm aware of my past thank-you very much. If you'd bothered to look, you'd notice that the claim was false and all charges dropped."
Danny paused before starting, "Yep, and I'm sure you didn't frighten her into keeping her mouth shut. How'd you get this job?"
Mr. Davids eyed the two angrily, "I'm not a pedophile, damnitt. She claimed I touched her inappropriately after class, which I was never in the same room as her alone. I got this job because the charges were dropped and Mrs. Mason truthfully believed me of my innocence."
"I'm sure that's very comforting for Dani Winters to hear." Jack approached him slowly.
"I was the only one who reached out to this kid, everyone else let him slip through the cracks," Mr.Davids continued, "I knew he was being tormented, and I told him he could come to me whenever he needed to."
"I'm sure you had other motives than to support a struggling student, but I won't deal with you now. If it comes down to it and I find that you were touching this kid or anyone else, I will put you away for a long time," Jack motioned to his badge, "The FBI can ruin your life."