Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: John Michael Montgomery inspired this, in part.
A few weeks ago, we caught this case. Man killed his wife, then himself. When we got there, a uniform was trying to coax a little girl out from behind the couch. Fin and I exchanged glances, wondering which of us would go over and take our chances coaxing the little girl out.
I won.
So I went over and knelt down, smiling a bit, trying to appear friendly, like someone she would want to go over to. "Hi, honey, what's your name?"
She just stared at me.
"My name's John Munch. I'm a police officer. I'm here to help you."
She just stared at me.
"Do you go to school?" Next best thing, try to befriend her.
She shook her head, an almost imperceptible movement, but it was there.
"No? Well, then, how old are you?" I saw her arm twitch as if she were going to tell me something or move. "Let me guess... six?"
Another slight movement of her head. No.
"Five, that must be it."
One corner of her mouth moved up slightly, and then it was gone.
I moved so that I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. I had a feeling this was going to take a while. If only Liv were here. "Do you have any friends?"
I was met with another blank stare.
I looked up to where Fin was talking to a CSU tech. He looked down and our eyes met for a moment and I saw the sadness there. I turned back to the little girl, noticing for the first time a piece of cloth clenched in her tiny fists. "What's that you've got there?" I point to it.
I see her lips move but no sounds come.
"Why don't you come here and show it to me?"
She stared at me then edged backwards another couple inches.
"No, no, sweetie, it's okay. I promise, no one here is going to hurt you. I promise." Those little brown eyes just stared at me. Fin came over and crouched down next to me.
"Warner says they've been dead since about ten last night."
I glanced at my watch. "Shit. She's been sitting here for seven hours."
"Still not movin'?"
"I got her to move a few inches back, that count? Listen, she won't tell me her name, would you find it someplace?"
"Sure." He glanced at her before standing up and walking out of view.
"That was my friend, Fin. He wants to help you, too." More staring. I sighed. "You've been here an awfully long time. Are you hungry?"
A slight nod.
"Well, why don't I go find something to eat, then?" I made a move to stand up and she was suddenly holding onto my arm with a death grip. She looked up at me, her eyes full of fear. I brought my other arm around her instinctively. "It's okay. I'm not going to leave you. It's okay." I slowly got up, using the couch to assist me. She immediately latched onto my leg. I bent down and picked her up. "It's okay. I promise, I won't leave you." She buried her head in the crook of my neck, her arms wrapped around my neck as well. I stroked her hair. "It's okay, now. It's okay."
That was weeks ago, and I can't shake that image from my head. That little girl wrapping herself around me, holding on tight, afraid she would lose me.
Weeks.