Joseph was getting adopted.

It was always a strange time in the orphanage when a child was adopted. On the one hand, it was worth celebrating that they would get a "real" family. But on the other hand, it meant leaving the family they already had. Some children cried as if their friend being adopted would never be seen again. Some children cried out of jealousy. Some were only excited, and constantly asked if they could come over to see their friend's new house, and maybe play with their new toys (if they had new toys), and maybe their dad would be cool and play baseball with them, and maybe their mom would be super nice and bake cookies all the time and that sort of thing.

There was no confetti this time, as there had been for Nicholas. After the events of his death, they all knew that the confetti was his and his alone. It was known without being said that that particular ritual wouldn't be used again. But Aunt Melanie ensured Joseph's favorite dinner was made the night before and there was even dessert. And when Joseph's new parents came to get him, the whole of the orphanage gathered to bid him farewell, and his closest companions hugged him goodbye.

That included Livio. As the moment had drawn nearer and nearer, he had experienced the growing feeling that the children of the orphanage had grown to be like younger brothers and sisters to him, and that one of them was going into a new life that Livio wouldn't be a part of. He wouldn't be able to watch over him, help him, protect him. There was even a mild twinge of guilt, as if Livio wouldn't be doing his job properly, wouldn't be doing what was right if he wasn't able to watch over every child of the orphanage. He had to remind himself that this was okay. This was good. Joseph would have a mother and father who would watch over him now. It was probably better than way anyway.

But as he hugged Joseph goodbye, he couldn't resist dropping to one knee, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, and saying, "If you ever need anything, you just call me, okay? You give Big Brother Livio a call and I'll be there."

The boy had already grown emotional at the various goodbyes and, with his head bowed, he sniffed and nodded.

And then he climbed into the car of his new parents, and they drove away.

A couple of weeks passed. Life at the orphanage continued without Joseph, although things were a little tricky. Aunt Melanie and Livio both had moments in which they asked one of the children, "Where's Joseph?" before remembering. And it felt strange having an empty seat at the dinner table and an empty bed in the dormitory. Livio never said anything, but he secretly worried about him.

Then the phone rang.

Livio was out gathering laundry when one of the little girls found him. "Livio? Joey's on the phone! He says it's really important, so come quick!"

His heart was instantly in his throat and he bolted inside to the phone.

"Joseph? Joseph what's up? What's wrong?"

"Um... Livio?" his voice was quiet and fearful. It made Livio's stomach churn to hear him sounding like that.

"Yeah?"

"Um... Can you come get me? And take me back to the orphanage?"

Livio frowned at the request. "Why?"

"Because, um... I don't like my new mom and dad. I want to live with you guys again."

There were a hundred reasons why he might have said it. Perhaps he was having trouble adjusting to different household rules. Perhaps personalities were clashing. Perhaps he was badly homesick for the orphanage. But the timid, fearful sound of his voice told Livio it was something worse than that.

"What's wrong? Why don't you like your new mom and dad?"

"Um... well... It's because... They're really mean to me. They make me do all the chores, and if I mess up, or if I'm too slow, then they yell at me and beat me up for it."

Livio felt as though his heart stopped beating. For a split second, his mind was full of the memory of his own father's voice shouting at him. Joseph was still talking, but Livio was only vaguely aware. The boy was saying something about not wanting to go to school because of a bruise on his face. Livio stood stock still, very pale, and with glazed eyes, his mind full of the sound of his own voice, pleading with his father to stop.

And then the anger came. It erupted within him like a volcano. Someone was treating one of his little brothers that way!

"I'm coming!" Livio shouted, cutting Joseph off. "I'm coming to get you right now!"

"Thank you!"

Livio hung up. "AUNT MELANIE!"

The poor woman, who had never heard Livio shout like that, came running, looking terrified. "What's wrong!"

"I need the address of Joseph's new parents! I'm going to get him! He's coming back here!"

The orphanage had a car, although it was rarely used. With the recent addition of Livio to the orphanage, it was used more often, with Livio doing work in the city, and Melanie sending him on errands while she stayed behind to watch the children. Livio drove into December like a fiend, grateful that Joseph had been adopted by people who lived close by. On the drive, there was a voice in his mind that gave a near constant stream of profanity. He honestly didn't know if it was himself or Razlo. At the moment, they were united, nearly one person as they had been while fighting Elendira. Only this time they were brought together by mutual outrage. Livio decided that at least part of it was solely Razlo, as the mental voice occasionally suggested gruesome deaths for the couple to suffer, the creativity of which required a little more imagination than Livio typically had.

He found the house in a perfectly ordinary looking middle-class neighborhood. Livio got out of the car, stomped to the front door, and pounded on the door so hard it rattled in it's frame. He paused to wait for a response and was impatient when it wasn't immediate. The voice in his head, which may have been Razlo or may have been himself, said, Just kick it down. You could do it easy. Just kick the door down.

And then a man answered.

"I'm here to get Joseph! He's coming back with me!"

The man went wide eyed. Livio saw his wife hovering behind him and mirroring the look.

Then the man recovered himself enough to ask, "And who are you!?"

"I'm Joseph's big brother! He called me and told me how you had been treating him! Now hand him over!"

Somewhere in the house beyond, there was the sound of running footsteps and a voice cried, "Livio!"

The wife ran for him and intercepted Joseph just as he came into viewed. She caught hold of him and took him up into a bear hug to keep him from reaching Livio. Livio caught sight of the bruise on Joseph's left cheek bone.

"Look, I don't know what that boy told you," the man cried, "but it was all lies! Besides, you can't just come barging in here and take the boy! That's kidnapping! I'll call the authorities! He's mine now! He belongs to me!"

Ordinarily, people took note of the fact that Livio was about a head taller than the average person and larger in build as well. It wasn't usual for anyone to argue with him on anything. But as a fighter, he was also aware that there was a type of person who went on the attack with extra gusto when they felt intimidated.

"If it was a lie, then where did the bruise come from!" Livio demanded.

"I- he- he tripped! And hit his face on the coffee table!"

Oh, that one. Livio had heard that one before. He had used it himself, along with every other excuse under the sun. He tripped and hit the coffee table. He tripped and hit a door. He tripped on some stairs. If there were cuts, he was helping in the kitchen and the knife slipped. Children were never abused, no. They were just exceptionally clumsy.

Livio resisted the urge to throw a punch, but only just. Some small part of his brain told him that if he was angry at the man for being violent, it wasn't quite right to be violent himself. But oh, was it tempting! Instead, he took the man by the front of the shirt and pulled him very close. In a low, threatening voice, Livio said slowly, "I don't take kindly to people who hurt children. Joseph is coming back with me. You can't stop me. And by the way, I'll be keeping an eye on you, so if you ever lay a finger on any child ever again... I will find you... Do you understand?"

The man swallowed hard. "Y-yes."

Livio shoved him away and he staggered backward. When Livio looked to the woman, she let go of Joseph as if he were red hot. The boy ran to Livio and threw his arms around him, burying his face in Livio's stomach. Livio briefly returned the hug. Then he ushered the boy out the door and closed the door behind them, slamming it shut so hard it likely knocked pictures off the wall.

The drive home was quiet.

Finally, Joseph broke the silence by saying, "Thank you for coming to get me."

"Your welcome." Now that it was all over, the volcano of Livio's anger had quieted down significantly, although it still rumbled restlessly. A mental voice, probably Razlo's, kept saying, You should have at least punched him out. Just for good measure.

"Hey, Livio?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad that I have you," Joseph said, a bit quietly.

That caught his attention. In Livio's view of the world, people were good to him because they accepted him. If he was really lucky, they actually liked him a little. To have someone say they were grateful that he was a part their life was something truly special. "Really?"

"Yeah," Joseph said. "Because... see..." he lowered his voice as he admitted, "I was scared of them." Then he said, "I was afraid to tell anybody, because I was afraid they'd find out that I told and they'd beat me up for it. And that they'd lie and say that I was lying, and everybody would believe them instead of me. But then I thought... Livio would believe me. And, also, he could beat up anybody! So if I knew you would come get me, then I wasn't so scared."

The volcano fizzled out. What replaced it was a lump in his throat and something warm and sweet inside him. Gratitude filled him, gratitude for the fact that life had landed him in a position to be the right person at the right place at the right time. He looked back on his life and, ordinarily, he would have seen a painful, chaotic mess. But in that moment, he felt completely at peace with everything he had been through. Because it meant that, right here, right now, he was the one to save a boy from being hurt. He was the one to help a frightened boy to be brave.

Livio reached over and patted Joseph's leg. "I always there for you, Joey."

The boy smiled. "I know. Thanks."