Prologue
Disclaimer: I don't own either the Buffy or the CSI: Miami series.
Timeline: End of season 2 of Buffy and Season 3 of CSI: Miami.
Vincent looked at Andrew as he eat his dinner quietly, he loved Andrew even if the boy wasn't his own but the problem was that Tucker hated Andrew and though to protect Andrew he had to pretend he hated Andrew, he never struck him but, god help him, Melody would kill him if she found out how he was treating Andrew, he made the choice for Andrew's own safety; he would have to be sent to his birth father.
Andrew ran upstairs into his room to prepare himself for bed, after all dad hated seeing him up after dinner and Tucker didn't want him around, he still didn't know why.
As Vincent watched Andrew run upstairs he sighed angrily, he saw the pleased look on Tucker's face and he was concerned about the eager look on Tucker's face, how had he failed two of his children? Andrew was being neglected and Tucker, well his own mother told him when Tucker was born he should've been put in the home.
Vincent walked up to his room, he looked at Tucker and said in what he hoped was his nastiest sounding voice, "Leave the little brat alone."
Tucker nodded, he looked at where his brother was and growled a bit; his father should've just tossed the bastard out on a street when Andrew's mom had died.
Vincent walked up to his study and heard Andrew sob a bit and he sighed; Andrew wasn't even his son, he wasn't a blood relation to any member of the Wells family but he still cared for him like his own. He picked out Melody's papers and he looked for anything about who Andrew's birth father was.
"Alright," he said to himself as he began to remember what she had told him: Andrew's father didn't know she was pregnant and she left before he found out. He was tracing her route as she headed westwards, as he was doing the math in his head, she would've to been given birth to Andrew before she came to Sunnydale, as he was looking at her path she had gone through several major cities and groaned as a headache hit him.
"This," he said to no one in particular, "Could take a while."
A couple of days later his private investigations were bearing fruit: Andrew was born in Nevada but Melody had only been there to visit her brother and from there she came to Sunnydale.
Meanwhile, as Vincent was doing his work, Andrew was being shoved into a garbage bag by the local bullies, he screamed as he was being moved around in the bag; there was nothing but rotten fruit and, oh god, rotten meat. He suddenly vomited, covering himself in his own vomit and he sighed, "Why me?"
Andrew listened to the voices outside talking about what to do with him: one guy wanted to toss him into a dumpster, another wanted to throw the bag into the courtyard but there was another voice, that sounded familiar, telling them to throw him into the pond.
Suddenly the bag was dropped, Andrew moaned in pain and he heard someone opening the bag and he looked at the concerned face of Principal Snyder.
"Mr Wells," Snyder sighed out, "Are you alright?"
Andrew nodded embarrassed and Snyder frowned, "I suppose you didn't see who did it this time either?"
"Nope," Andrew lied, "Not me, didn't see a thing," and looked at his feet; if he told then the bullying would get much worse."
Snyder grumbled as he escorted Andrew to the bathroom and helped him clean himself off and said, "Mr Wells, it's getting worse, this is the fifth time this week that I've had to pull you out of a locker or garbage bag."
Andrew turned red and dashed away, Snyder sighed; if it continued like this then he was sure that Mr Wells would be found dead soon and he muttered to himself, "And people wonder why I hate children."
As Andrew ran he crashed into the blonde girl who Tucker kept telling him that he was certain she was a slut by the way some of the guys at school told him.
"Oh, umm, sorry," Andrew muttered and got up, brushing himself off.
She smiled, "It's totally alright, I should've been watching where I was going," she suddenly sniffed the air and muttered, "Eww, are you alright?"
Andrew turned red and walked off when she pulled him back and said, "It's alright; let me help clean you up."
The girl pulled Andrew into a washroom, Andrew made a sound about being in the girl's bathroom but she tapped her foot and said, "Let me look."
As the girl got rid of the garbage he couldn't have reached and Snyder wouldn't have found either she crinkled her nose and said, "Jeez, do you take baths in garbage or something?"
"It's, umm, a joke people play on me," Andrew muttered, "It's in good fun."
She put her hands to her hips and said, "Joke huh? These kinds of jokes you can do without I think."
Andrew nodded slightly as she finished up on him, she muttered, "You still stink, you need to get a change of clothes," and waved bye to him, "Also, be careful."
As she left Andrew vaguely wondered who she was and walked home as his dad wanted him home right after school, as he ran home he saw Tucker going into a car and Andrew saw Grandpa Wells driving him away.
He sighed, Grandpa he liked but he wondered why he wasn't invited to visit but he walked into the house and it was quiet, dad wasn't home yet so he would have to wait and sighed, how long was dad going to be?
Andrew didn't wait too long for his dad to come in, he looked down at his feet and his father looked at him and sat down next to him.
"Hey Andrew," Vincent said as he patted Andrew's back.
"What's up dad?" Andrew whispered.
"Alright Andrew," Vincent said, "First of all I want you to listen to me: you aren't my son, you never were," Andrew's face fell and Vincent saw the tears forming, he rushed over and hugged Andrew, stroking his hair.
"Don't cry Andrew; please don't cry," Vincent said quietly, "It's going to be alright."
"But," Andrew wailed, "I have to be your son, I mean we look…"
"Nothing like each other," Vincent said, "And, before you ask, Tucker's not your brother either, he's my son from a previous marriage."
"Now Andrew you were only two years old when you and your mother came to Sunnydale but you might be too young to remember that of course," Vincent smiled at the memories of Andrew when he was so young.
"But dad," Andrew said still upset, "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I'm sending you to live with your father," Vincent said, "This town isn't good for you and also I might mention that Tucker hates you or is obsessed with you, can't really tell with him anymore and as such you aren't safe in the house anymore and I can't protect you forever."
Andrew made a face and Vincent whispered, "Andrew, I love you like my own and I wouldn't send you to a stranger I know nothing about, I've talked to him; he was naturally very suspicious about my news and he's willing to take you in but you are going to have to go through some blood tests."
"He doesn't believe you Dad," Andrew murmured, "Why wouldn't he believe you?"
Vincent chuckled, "Andrew, do you really have to ask about that?" Andrew looked puzzled and Vincent laughed gently, "Andrew, he had no knowledge of you and fifteen years later someone out of the blue comes and tells him he has a child."
"Oh," Andrew muttered, feeling stupid for thinking that.
"Now you are going to go tomorrow morning as I'm going to drive you to LA, "Vincent said, "And then you get to go onto a plane, now get upstairs and start to pack, alright?"
Andrew ran upstairs to start packing, he didn't want his dad to see him cry and Vincent put his head into his hands and sighed, "Melody, god forgive me, I have no idea why you wanted to keep Andrew from this guy but this is the only thing I can do."
He heard Andrew throwing things into his bags and sighed; Andrew was sad and a bit angry about having to move away.
Vincent got up and walked into his den, he looked at some of the photo albums of Andrew as a baby and as a little boy and decided that he would have Andrew take these to his father; it was going to be a very early morning for both of them.
As he headed upstairs he saw Andrew still packing and he walked in and patted Andrew on the back, Andrew looked at him and suddenly looked away, still upset. He pulled Andrew into a hug, "I'm sorry Andrew, I have to do this to keep you safe."
Andrew sighed as he felt his father's arms go around him soothing him; it reminded him of the better times when his mom was still alive.
"It's going to be alright," Vincent promised as he let go, "Your father is going to love you, I promise you. Now, time for bed."
Vincent went to bed soon after he made sure Andrew was asleep and he slept peacefully knowing that he was doing the right thing for his son and wished desperately that Andrew would be better off.
The next morning Andrew woke up yawning, he saw his bags packed and frowned, he had thought that was goddamned nightmare but it wasn't; his father or at least the man he thought was his father was sending him away.
"Come on Andrew," Vincent yelled, "We gotta get going," as he got in he saw Andrew dressing and started to take some of his bags.
As Andrew tossed things into the car he saw the girl who helped him clean out the garbage and the smell, he waved at her and yelled, "Hi."
She looked distracted but when she heard the hello she looked behind and saw the kid from yesterday waving at her, she walked over carrying her backpack full of clothes.
Andrew smiled and said, "I didn't thank you for helping me yesterday."
"Oh, totally alright," she said, "At least you smell better now."
"Yeah, just had to clean myself off," Andrew said with a large smile when he noticed something wrong with her, "Are you alright?"
She shook her head and said, "No, I'm not."
Before Andrew could say anything Vincent walked out and said, "Andrew, get in the car, we have to get to LA before rush hour hits," he looked at the girl and frowned at the look she had on her face; she was running away from something.
"You guys are heading LA? Cool," she whispered, "I'll see you around."
Vincent looked at her and said, "Do you want a ride?"
"Yes, I guess I could use a ride," she said as she got in the back.
They drove out of Sunnydale and Vincent tried to get her to speak about what was bothering her and she wasn't talking too much about where she was going.
"By the way I'm Andrew and again, thank you for helping me clean up."
Vincent frowned, 'Clean up?' but knew there was probably a reason why Andrew came in smelling like rotting garbage so his moving was going to help anyways. He looked at the girl and said, "So lil miss, do you have a name?"
"Oh yeah it's Buffy, sorry for being silent girl, I had a real bad night."
"Well I can drop you off anywhere in LA you want to go to, after I drop Andrew off, if you want?"
"Thanks Mr Wells," Buffy said, "That's really nice of you."
Vincent sighed as she went quiet, he had no idea what she was running from but he had an idea that something bad happened to her.
As they got into LA Vincent looked at his watch and said, "We got two hours before Andrew's plane leaves."
"Oh, umm, where's he going?" Buffy asked, just a bit curious.
"To Miami, that's where his birth father lives," Vincent said, "He's going to be living there."
Andrew frowned a bit, 'Miami? That's where my birth father lives?' he sighed, he didn't even know the guy and he was supposed to live with him?
Buffy looked at Andrew and smiled, "Miami sounds cool Andrew, I mean really; beaches and everything."
"But I'm going alone," Andrew said, "I don't even know my birth father and dad's never met him before either, how do we know he's sane or even a nice guy?"
'Yeah, that's gotta be tough,' Buffy thought, 'Poor kid, being sent alone to a place he probably never even visited and to a father who could be a total jerk.'
"Now Andrew, he seemed perfectly nice to me," Vincent said shaking his head and looked at Andrew, "Please be good for him, he did seem to want to meet you."
Andrew nodded and looked at his feet, Buffy looked at him and said, "Andrew, Miami's beautiful and maybe your birth father won't be a bastard."
Vincent chuckled softly and smiled at the girl, as they pulled into the parking lot he looked at Buffy and said, "You want to join me and Andrew for breakfast?"
She smiled and nodded and helped Andrew with his luggage, Vincent stared a bit and thought, 'Strong girl, really strong girl,' and they walked into the airport. Vincent got Andrew his ticket and they made sure his luggage was checked in and he took them up to the restaurant.
"You kids order what you want," Vincent said, "I'm going to make a call to a friend here in LA."
Buffy ordered waffles and strawberries while Andrew ordered pancakes and blueberries, as they were waiting for their food Andrew was trying to get Buffy to talk about why she was running away but she didn't want to talk to him about it, she was telling him about Miami and what was good about the city.
Vincent walked back in and saw them talking and sat down, he looked at Buffy and said, "Okay lil miss, after Andrew gets on the plane I can take you anywhere you need to go, I got some friends and if you want they can help you with a job and maybe a place to stay?"
She smiled and asked, "Mr Wells, why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because you remind me of my little sister," Vincent muttered, "She ran away and she was around your age and we never found her, so if you need someone to take you home you call me, alright?"
They chatted for a bit more and when Andrew's plane was called Vincent looked at Andrew and said, "Remember: be good for your father, alright? Here's his name and he gave me a picture so you would recognize him."
Buffy looked at Andrew again and almost wished she could be going across the country with him, just anything to get further away from Sunnydale.
Andrew waved good bye and walked onto the airplane, he was terrified, 'What if this Horatio Caine didn't like me?' he thought, 'Or what if he was some sort of murderer?'
He barely listened to the flight attendant's speech about safety as he was already buckled up safely, he listened to the airplane's engines turning on and he felt it move, he picked a book and began to read. He was trying to ignore the fact that he was going to live with a man who he had not been in contact with.
As the plane flew through the air he wondered vaguely if he was going to have to change his last name to Caine or what was the deal with that? He supposed he would find out when the plane got there, he just hoped the guy was at least pleasant.
Several hours later Andrew was shaken awake by the pilot telling the passengers that that they were going to be landing in fifteen minutes. He rubbed his eyes and looked out the window; he saw the afternoon sun shining over Miami's building and he thought it was beautiful, he got his things ready and sighed.
The plane landed and Andrew groaned, he was going to be so miserable here; no friends and probably a new school. As he left the plane he gulped nervously. He looked at the picture the man sent, 'Okay, so a suit, sunglasses and reddish hair,' he looked around and sighed, there wasn't anyone here that looked like that.
He sat down and began to think about what was he going to do, he wondered if Mr Caine had a phone number or something like that?
Andrew wasn't aware of the man staring at him intently, Horatio looked over his supposed son; there was a slight resemblance so he decided to go introduce himself.
"Excuse me," Horatio said, "Andrew Wells, right?"
At almost breakneck speed Andrew snapped his head back and nodded, he said, "Oh, you're Mr Caine?"
"Yes, I am Horatio Caine."
Both of them regarded each other a bit, Horatio gestured towards him and said, "Come on son, let's get your things and then we can talk."
TBC
A/N: I mentioned that Andrew's mom has a brother in Las Vegas, Who do you think he should be? If he is important. How will Horatio react to having a son? Any slash pairings with Andrew will be welcomed.
Buffy will be back later on in the story.
Please rate and review.
