Fragile Trust
Author: Cassy27
Word count: 2747
Characters: Don, Charlie, Colby, David, Megan, Alan, and OC's
Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to the Numb3rs cast and crew.
Beta: Thank you, Chymom, for all the help that you have given me!
AN: Thank you for all the story alerts that I have gotten and thanks for the reviews that have been left behind for chapter 1. I hope this chapter will be liked as well so let me know what you think about it.
Chapter 2 - Trust
A short time later, Don , David and Colby stood a few feet away from the ambulance. All three of them intently watched the little boy as he was still tightly clasping on to Charlie's hand. He looked more terrified now that the two medics were taking care of his wounds, but he didn't scream or cry. Instead, Andrew shifted his gaze between the medics and Charlie. It was as if he needed to be sure Charlie wasn't going to disappear.
"You guys should head out to the bureau," Don said after a long silence, "Start interrogating those men and find out what you can about this boy."
David and Colby just nodded and left. Don kept a watchful eye on Andrew who once again had tears spilling from his eyes. Don didn't know if that was because he was scared or because he was in pain. However, he watched in amazement as Charlie immediately comforted the child.
He had always known Charlie was a caring person and that he wanted to help everybody, but this was something different. Don looked at Charlie again and saw so much compassion in his brother's eyes. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn that this child Andrew was Charlie's. They even looked alike with there dark brown curls and eyes. Don chuckled softly as he thought about that.
"It's a beautiful image, isn't it?" Don was a little startled by the sudden voice next to him. He hadn't noticed Megan standing next to him.
"Yes," Don said then, "it really is."
"I spoke to child protective services and they are going to find a foster home for the boy. Until then, we need to find him a place where he will feel safe." Megan said, looking at Andrew and Charlie. She then shifted her gaze to Don and smiled faintly.
"Well," Don said, knowing what Megan was thinking, "it appears that right now the kid only feels safe with one person."
"Let's go and ask Charlie." Megan said and she immediately started walking over to the ambulance where the two medics were wrapping up. The youngest one finished off the disinfecting of the boy's cheek and then turned to Charlie.
"Physically he is okay," the medic said, "he isn't too dehydrated, but he needs to get some fluids in his system. And someone will have to keep an eye on him. It appears that the marks on his checks are self inflected."
"Andrew did that?" Charlie asked confused. The medic only nodded. Megan and Don, who now stood besides Charlie, were waiting for the medics to give them the word that Andrew could go home with someone.
"A person from the group that found him said that he looked to be terrified by the masked people around him." Megan explained to the medics.
Everybody just nodded as they didn't know what to answer to that. Any adult that had been hurt or beaten would be scared to all of sudden see a team of masked men and women come into the room. It must have been worse to a child.
"Well," the older medic said after a moment of silence, "he doesn't have to go to the hospital as long as someone takes care of him."
"Thank you." Charlie said to both medics, not taking his eyes from Andrew. Andrew hadn't spoken since the medics had started cleaning his wounds and checking his vitals. Charlie kneeled down and smiled at the boy.
"It's all over," he then spoke in a soft voice, "those men won't bother you again, but they did a fantastic job taking care of you, didn't they?" Charlie asked the boy while pointing at his shiny patched arm with figures of Spiderman. The boy nodded short and then stretched out his arms, asking Charlie to pick him up. Charlie didn't hesitate picking up Andrew in his arms. The boy quickly placed his arms around Charlie's neck and his head on the man's shoulder.
"Charlie," Megan asked as Don went to make sure they had been told all the facts, "He needs a home for the next few days until child services find him a new one, would you be willing to...take him home?" Megan's pleading eyes focused on the child held tightly in his arms.
Charlie wanted to say yes, but was he ready to care of a child? And this wasn't just any child, this was Andrew, an abused child who didn't trust the world anymore.
"I don't…" Charlie started saying, but then he felt Andrew's clasp around his neck loosen. The boy breathed slower and he became heavier and Charlie quickly realized that Andrew had fallen asleep. He swallowed heavily and then sighed.
"Okay." Charlie smiled, "Now dad will have some one around to spoil. And if I know my brother right, Don will be around to help as well." Megan had a smile on her face knowing that Charlie was right about Don being there.
"He trusts you, Charlie," she said with a smile, "I know you won't do anything to make that trust vanish. You'll do a fantastic job."
Don came standing next to Charlie and smiled when he saw the little boy asleep. He hesitated for a moment, but then cautiously reached out the Andrew's face that seemed relaxed now and he pushed away a curl that was covering his small face.
"Buddy, did Megan inform you of the situation?" Don asked Charlie.
"Yeah," Charlie said, "For right now he's coming home with us." Charlie said slowly walking towards Don's SUV.
The ride home lasted more than thirty minutes, but not a word was spoken. Don was behind the wheel while Charlie sat in the back seat with the boy laying in his arms. His arms were growing tired, but Charlie refused to change position. He didn't want to take the chance of waking the boy up. Megan had given them a few tips on how to react when he should have a nightmare, but she had also said that they should trust their instincts.
It was a little before midnight when they arrived at the Craftsman house. All the lights were still on and Don and Charlie exchanged a look. The thought hit them both at the same time. "We didn't call Dad." They both whispered to each other.
Don parked the car in front of the house and stepped out before quickly walking to the other side to help Charlie get out without making too many sudden jerky movements. Andrew placed his hands a little higher in Charlie's neck, but didn't wake up. Don grabbed the blanket from the backseat and gently placed it once again around the boy's body. It had been nice and warm in the car, but out here, it was a little cold for a small boy, even though it was the middle of august.
The front door of the house flew open and even though it was dark, Alan quickly made his way over to his sons.
"What were you boys thinking?" Alan said with a raised voice. For the first time, Don placed his hand over his fathers mouth. Alan was taking aback by Don's action and stumbled a few steps back. It wasn't until Charlie stepped towards them that Alan saw the reason for Don's reaction.
"O." was all Alan could say.
"Dad, we're trying not wake him up now that he seems to be sleeping soundly." Don whispered. All four of them entered the house and Alan disappeared into the kitchen to return with three hot cups of tea. Don cast his father a grateful gaze and then carefully sipped from the cup he was handed.
"I'm going to put him in my bed. It's big so if I lay him in the middle, he won't fall out." Charlie said, "I'll sleep in the old sofa in my room, that way I'm close to him should he wake up." Charlie ascended the stairs to do what he had said. Alan drank from his tea and then sat down on the couch. Don followed his example as he was relieved to have a moment of peace.
"Who is that boy and how long will he be staying." Alan hesitantly asked. Don took a moment to think before he answered his father.
"His name is Andrew. We went to arrest a criminal and six of his partners. The kid was locked up in their attic. We don't know anything more about him, other then he was beaten and abused. We don't even know who his father is or his mother. So I guess he will be here for a few days." Don told him.
"That sounds as if the kid might need help, professional help. Is it safe for him to be here?" Alan asked. He knew that his sons were both smart, but this was out of their league. Was someone still looking for this child?
"Because he doesn't trust anybody except Charlie we felt that he would feel safer here." Don answered. He still didn't know why Andrew chose Charlie of all the people.
"Kids have always liked Charlie." Alan's laugh was heard throughout the living room.
"Yes," Don smiled, "That's probably because he still looks like and sometimes acts like a child himself."
"That's the way you see him." Alan commented before taking another sip of his now cooling tea.
"Well," Don sighed, "he's my little brother, the same one who in high school was always smarter than his teachers." Now they both laughed, but soon the room once again fell silent. A few minutes later they heard Charlie descend the stairs and they looked at him, waiting for him to say something.
"He must really be out, he didn't even wake up when I laid him down." Charlie smiled, pleased that Andrew was getting some rest, "So far he doesn't appear to have any nightmares." Charlie took the cup of tea that Alan had put on the table for him. As he started to sip his luke warm tea, Don's cell phone rang and all three of them turned to the buzzing in Don's pocket. They knew it would be one of Don's colleagues and they had no idea what new they should be expecting.
"Eppes." Don greeted the caller.
"Don, it's Colby," a frustrated voice answered. "We've finished interrogating those bastards for today. I thought you might want to know what we found out." Don stood up and started pacing up and down the room. He felt restless, but did his best to control himself.
"Yeah, of course." he said, listing to what Colby was telling him.
"To start," Colby started, "they did what we thought they would. They confessed to all the crimes except the murders, however we might have caught a break. One of them is still a newbie, he cracked after only two hours. He told us about the boy. His boss, Marc, Don," Colby waited a minute getting himself mentally ready for what he had to say next. "Don, he rented the kid."
The anger that the team had towards these men and woman went up a notch as Colby was telling Don about the boy. The thought of Marc having laid his hands on that small boy upstairs made Don feel sick.
"We don't know from whom he was rented, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with child prostitution. The newbie said that the kid is simply ...not loved by his family."
"Okay," Don anxiously said, trying to keep his voice even to not alert Charlie to the information he had just heard. He didn't know how much more he could hear without letting some of his anger show.
"Thanks, Colby. Andrew will be staying here with dad and Charlie. I'll be at the office tomorrow as soon as possible. I'll speak to those..." Don paused trying to find the word he was looking for, "animals in the morning." Don's voice sounded as if he was trying to let steam out before he boiled over. He shut down his phone and tossed it in the couch. While sighing, he let himself drop down on the other end of the couch. Alan and Charlie looked at him, expecting him to tell them something, but Don wasn't sure how much he should tell them.
Don knew that if he told Charlie what Colby had found out about the boy without more information, it would only want to make Charlie look harder into keeping these animals off the street. Right now, the best place Charlie could be with would be with Andrew. Don made up his mind as his mouth slowly told them some of the information he had.
"That was Colby," Don spoke then after a minute of silence, "nobody wants to speak about Andrew yet. I will be talking to them in the morning." Charlie nodded, accepting what Don told him. Don quickly dropped eye contact with Charlie and hoped that nobody would ask anything else.
"Well," Charlie said, standing up and downing the last bit of his tea. "I'm going to get some sleep while I can. I'll see you all tomorrow." Charlie said as he made his way out the room.
"If you need anything, just call out." Alan told his youngest son who was already heading towards the stairs, "Charlie, I mean anything at all, with the boy, you know…"
"Thanks, dad." Charlie said, smiling at his father. He nodded goodnight to Don and then disappeared upstairs.
"Okay, son," Alan said, turning to Don now and keeping his voice low, "tell me what Colby really told you."
Don looked at his father and saw determination in his eyes. Alan had always known what was on his sons' minds just by looking into their eyes. Don didn't mind, on the contrary, it felt reassuring that their father knew them so well.
"Marc Chester," Don began, feeling his hands ball into fists as he spoke that name, "The leader, he rented Andrew. He rented a three-year-old boy. For what purpose would he do that?" Don's mind could come up with many reasons as to why. In his heart, he hoped they were all wrong, but his mind told him at least a few of them were right. All these events that have happened to Andrew, none of them had a purpose. It was just one sick guy who may have ruined that kid for his own personal pleasure.
"That's horrible." Alan exhaled. A frown became visible on his face and his eyes flashed with anger. Alan couldn't understand what kind of father could sell his own son to a monster. Even though Alan knew his two sons were adults, in his eyes, they would always be his little boys. Just the thoughts of what this monster might have done to the sleeping child up stairs had Alan seeing red.
''That's all we know right now." Don sighed, "We know his name is Andrew and that he was rented to a pervert. We're hoping that once these animals have time to think they might tell us something if for no other reason then get less jail time themselves."
Alan stood up and walked up to Don. He placed his hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
"The only thing that matters right now, is that he is safe and that the people who did this to him will be punished. You should try to rest, son, you look exhausted."
Don nodded, taking in a deep breath.
'You probably won't see me in the morning, I'll be going in early at the office." Then Don stood up and patted his father on the back as he then headed upstairs. Alan smiled at his son before he went to make sure the door was locked. A moment later, he heard his oldest son from the middle step.
"Good night, dad." Don said almost whispering.
"Good night, son." Alan said, turning off the lights and following his sons and the small abused child upstairs.
