A/N: im not all that great at these but im trying anyway let me know what you think oh yeah and I don't own em I just play with em and put em back after :0)

Summary: When he takes custody of the young boy he never imagined he would be key to helping solve the family history of 'Charlotte'.

-break-

When he woke up that morning he was unaware that his life was going to change forever. Sure he could predict his life changing (but that would have been treasure related), just not in that way, because lets be honest he was only 25 but then he had never heard of a case quite like his.

To tell this story properly would require starting at the beginning, six months earlier, when a trip to the grocery store ended up being so much more.

Ben entered the grocery store and did a mental list of what he was going to need. He noticed the child that appeared in all the aisles he went down but though nothing of it. He could honestly say that if the events that unfolded hadn't unfolded then he wouldn't even be able to tell you what color the kids hoodie was. He was nearing the end of his mental shopping list when he heard the shouting, he slowly put his basket down and crept down the aisle toward the noise when a hand grabbed his trouser leg. He jumped and turned to look at the owner of the hand and found that it belonged to the child he'd seen several times that night. He grabbed the hand and raised a finger to his lips in a silent order to keep quiet and peered round the corner carefully.

There were three of them at least, that he could see and they held guns. The people at the checkout were cowering behind there stations and he could see one lay out with a pool of blood surrounding his head. He looked to the window and frowned the shutters were down. He inched back and looked at the child, he looked about seven maybe eight. He reached down and quietly picked the boy up and started a slow and quiet walk down to the other end of the aisle away from the guns. Reaching the end of the aisle he lowered the boy and sat down himself.

"What's your name?" he whispered to the boy

"Riley" the boy said quietly "I'm scared"

"Riley that's a cool name, I know your scared I'll protect you don't worry, how old are you Riley?"

Riley held up seven fingers "nearly eight I am"

Ben smiled at the boy "are you here with someone?" He heard a shout and the boy shuffled closer to him, Ben put his arm round the boys shoulders and hoped he would be able to protect the boy.

"Nope the home dunt much care were we be, theres lots of us" the boy shrugged

"don't care where we are" Ben corrected automatically "you live in a foster home Riley?"

"yeah since me mom and dad left, they said they was commin back but I was five when they said that" Riley said softly while staring at the floor.

Ben looked at Riley and felt for him, it sounded like he had a tough childhood so far, sure Bens parents had fought a lot when was little even when they split but at least they had loved him and hadn't just up and left him. "Do you like history Riley?" he asked changing the subject.

It had been at least twenty minutes since they had first heard the shouts and they had been joined by four other people. They were sat in a huddle with Ben keeping a close eye on Riley which was unnecessary since the boy was sat in his lap and wasn't moving any time soon. Ben knew the police where there because one of his new 'friends' had confirmed they had been called when he had asked. It was half eight by now and surprisingly quiet in the store.. although that might be a good thing. He could also hear them outside trying to talk to the robbers who were shouting and swearing. Apparently this hadn't gone how they had hoped, they knew that Ben and the others were in the building but had told them that as long as they kept quiet and stayed at that end of the aisle they would be unharmed. Ben shook his head at that, tell the guy who was lieing in a pool of his own blood right now, speaking of Ben looked up when he heard movement and saw the other three cashiers heading up the aisle quickly. They spoke quietly and quickly when they reached the group, "they are gonna try and escape out the side door…this should be over soon I hope" the youngest of the group said.

Ben let out a sigh of relief "hows the guy they hit is he…" he cut off looking down at Riley sat reading a box cereal he was trying to sound out the long words

The woman who's name tag declared her as SallyAnn followed his gaze and smiled sadly "with that much blood I dunno we haven't been able to check but he aint made a noise …" she trailed off with a jump and looked down the aisle when the side door slammed shut.

Riley looked up at Ben and said "have they gone can we go now, I'm hungry I wanna get some food"

Ben smiled at the boy and said "I think so...is that your favourite cereal?" he asked looking at the box in the child's lap, when he nodded Ben continued "well I'm sure as long as I pay for them later that SallyAnn and her friends won't mind if you eat some"

Riley looked at the woman and she smiled and nodded. He opened the box and dug in just as the police officer walked into the store and announced that they were out of harm's way and could leave once they had given their statements.

-Break-

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