A big thanks to BrokeDaisy. Although I can get annoying and neurotic about my writing, she puts up with me. Thanks :)

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The social worker gave Luke a few more minutes before she got down to business. "Okay," she started when he looked up at her, "in order for you to take Jess home I need to get a few things in order. First, a background check must be done."

"Check whatever you need," Luke said without hesitation. He didn't have a criminal record, barely did enough to get into trouble when he was younger. Actually, except for irritating Taylor at the town meetings, he hadn't actually done anything. "What else?"

"I'll need you to fill out some paperwork, and I'd need to inspect your home. Also getting a character reference written, on your behalf, wouldn't hurt." He'd get Maisy or Buddy to write him a letter, either one would be happy to. "But that's just so he can go home with you. Once that happens, you are more than welcome to start trying to file for permanent custody.

"From there, it will be a longer process. A lot more paperwork, some court time. I'd advise you to hire a lawyer especially if the courts manage to track down the birth father."

"Believe me, if Jimmy wanted anything to do with Jess he wouldn't have taken off," Luke muttered remembering how Liz insisted Jimmy was coming back. 'He'll be back, big brother. Don't worry about it.' Except he never came back and now Jess was parentless; Luke unconsciously tightened his hold on his nephew.

"It's just a precaution, Mr. Danes," the social worker replied. "We can start the paperwork as soon as you're ready, but it probably won't be until Friday when you can actually take Jess home."

"That's three days."

"It's the fastest way, Mr. Danes. We could easily draw this out."

"Are you sure you can't move the inspection to tonight or tomorrow?" he was reaching sure, but he couldn't let his nephew stay in a boys' home for three days. He'd take whatever test he had to, let her do whatever she had to, just so he could have Jess sooner. He'd prove to this woman he wasn't a stark, raving lunatic.

"Mr. Danes," she started in a tired voice, "background checks take time."

"I'll save you the trouble of getting one done. If you talk to the sheriff in my town, he'll tell you the worst thing I've done is Double Park once. I swear you won't find anything on me."

She sighed, "If I move the inspection up to tomorrow and have my offices start the background check now Jess might be able to go home with you by Thursday. Will that be okay?"

It would have to do, so Luke nodded and gave her his address just as the nurse called him over. The social worker stood up, looking at Jess expectantly. Luke stood, keeping an awkward hold of Jess. He didn't want to hand his nephew over, but standing on a chair and saying 'no, mine' sounded a tad childish. So, he allowed the social worker to take Jess.

"No," a small voice said and tiny hands reached out to Luke. "No." Jess shook his head, still reaching for his uncle.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Danes," the social worker spoke over Jess' protests.

"Okay," Luke responded fighting the urge to snatch the little boy from the woman's arms. The social worker grabbed her purse, handing Luke a business card with some difficulty, and carried Jess away. Luke could hear the little boy's protests echoing down the hallway.

"Mr. Danes," the nurse called again and he looked over at her. She nodded at a tall, dark doctor walking toward him.

"Thanks," he said to the nurse as he pocketed the business card and walked toward the doctor.

"Mr. Danes," the doctor said holding out his hand. "I'm Doctor Derrick Benson." They shook hands and Benson lead Luke towards the elevators. "Your sister was brought in with a gunshot wound to her chest."

"So she didn't…" Luke trailed off. All this time he had thought Liz OD'd, but it seemed her 'winner' shot her before shooting himself. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, his brain still trying to wrap around the fact that she was dead.

"She flat lined in the ambulance, but we were unable to bring her around when she arrived," Benson continued pressing the call button. The elevator doors slid open a moment later and they both stepped onto the car.

"I had a nurse check her purse, and she matched the photo on her id. Though, I don't think she was twenty-four." She wasn't. Liz had just celebrated her twentieth birthday about a month ago. She had called Luke that night. There was no doubt she was drunk, and she complained about how Dennis took the car. Luke figured she wanted a ride, but before he could offer (not that he wanted to drop everything, once again, for his little sister) Dennis came back and Liz hung up.

That had been the last time Luke talked to his sister. He couldn't believe her last words to him would always be: 'Dennis is back I've gotta… I might puke.' The sad part about it all, Luke still wasn't surprised one bit. And just like before, he hated himself for feeling that way, but it was only a matter of time.

The elevator dinged and Benson led Luke down a dimly lit hallway, towards a door marked 'morgue.' Luke couldn't help comparing his situation to every clichéd movie scene. The dark hallway, the dark morgue, the worker standing next to a gurney, the gurney holding a body: it was as close to a horror movie as Luke wanted to be at that point.

Benson opened the morgue's doorway, and Luke was nearly blinded by the bright light. It seemed the hallway just needed new light bulbs.

The coroner was sitting at his desk, filling out a report when they walked in. He looked up at their arrival, pushing himself to his feet. "So which are you: the accident victim, gunshot victims, or the heart attack?"

Luke didn't answer right away, too busy going over the coroner's approach. The guy was professional enough, and he wasn't being rude or anything, but the way he was speaking made Luke realize he probably had done this job way too long.

"Gunshot, Nate," Benson replied and the coroner nodded, walking toward one of the doors. "Female," the doctor said before Nate could open one of the drawers. He nodded, moving onto the drawer next to it. He pulled the door open, towing the body from the drawer.

"That's her," Luke said when Nate pulled the sheet away from Liz's face. She could have been sleeping, had there not been blood on her face and in her blond hair. The doctor started talking about moving the body and funeral arrangements, but Luke barely took any of it in. His sister was lying there, dead. She was really dead.

Oh God, Liz.

GG

Luke didn't go home right away that night. Instead, he drove straight to Maisy and Buddy's place and explained to them what was going on. The elder couple was shocked by the news, but both agreed to write a character reference for Luke. He only needed one, but he figured two may increase his chances.

He hung around their house a while after, just waiting for them to finish. He knew asking for a reference with no notice was a little selfish of him, but if was for Jess. He wasn't losing Jess if he could help it.

Once they were finished, sometime around midnight, he left. Maisy offered to come with him, but he didn't want anyone to be around him. He had too much on his mind; he didn't think he could entertain. Of course, he told her he was just tired and that he'd probably go to bed once he got home. After all, it had been a long day.

But he didn't go to bed when he got home. Instead, he started cleaning up his place. He wasn't generally a dirty person, but he did have the daily clutter lying around. He was glad his father had done all those restorations to his office. Otherwise the place would have definitely not been big enough for him and Jess.

He figured he could always buy a cheap kid's bed and put it in the big, empty space that had once been part of the plate store next to his. His father had helped the owner out a lot when he was first opening his business, so the guy allowed William to expand his office. It was supposed to be for a desk for the partner he was going to get, but he had never found anyone he liked before he died.

Once the place looked semi-presentable, Luke called Caesar to tell him Luke's would be closed for the rest of the week. He had to get Jess settled, buy the kid some kid stuff, and plan a funeral for Liz. Not to mention he had to get to the court house sometime next week to petition for permanent custody of Jess.

He wished he could afford another employee, but figured he could always ask Maisy or Buddy to come down and help with the diner during the next couple weeks. They would help him, no problem.

He didn't want to bother all these people, but he knew he needed to. He wasn't good with the whole 'getting help from others' thing. His father was the same way. In fact, he was fairly certain it ran in the Danes family.

It was well after three when Luke finally went to sleep. The social worker-her name was Angela according to her card-was going to be there by eight the next morning. Meaning Luke was probably only going to be getting three hours of sleep. It was times like these he actually considered drinking coffee.

GG

Luke stood in the corner, watching as Social Worker Angela and her friend 'other social worker' (he said his name, but Luke was too tired to listen properly) wandered around his apartment. They made notes on their clipboards a few times, had asked a few questions here and there, and had pretty much dissected Luke's apartment apart without really touching anything.

"Where will Jess be sleeping?" Angela asked as her friend scanned the bathroom.

"I was thinking of buying a bed, putting it over here," Luke replied leading her over to the open space. "My dad had been looking for a partner, when he started getting bad, but he wasn't an easy guy to work with and never found anyone.

"I can also getting a dresser and maybe building a bookshelf. I've never actually tried to build a bookshelf, I've only really worked on my dad's boat and some woodworking projects in high school."

"Angela," the other social worker called, cutting off whatever Angela's response was going to be. She wandered over to her friend, leaving Luke standing alone. He watched as they spoke in quick whispers, each one looking at their notes, and finally Angela nodded.

"Okay, Mr. Danes everything seems to be in order. Your background check checked out, we have your character references, and we've inspected your home. We will call you later today when we've reached a decision."

"Okay," Luke replied and walked the two social workers out. Once they were gone, instead of worrying about whether or not he passed he started making phone calls to local funeral homes. He talked to three, and all three said the same: cremation was cheaper.

He would have loved to have a ceremony for Liz, but if he looked at the bigger picture. He would have to go cheaper and a ceremony would be a little pointless. The only people who'd show up would be a couple of her weird high school friends, possibly a junkie or two, him, Jess, and Buddy and Maisy. He'd rather keep Jess away from any of Liz's friends, and Buddy and Maisy wouldn't appreciate being around any junkies. Besides, he figured he could always bury her with his mother and father later.

Once the phone calls were made, he started getting phone calls from neighbors. How they found out was beyond Luke, but they were a never ending string of condolences, 'if you need anything's,' and all that crap that came with the death of a loved one.

Babette talked his ear off for almost twenty-five minutes about her Great Aunt Lissy's death. When he managed to end the connection it was almost four-thirty. He had really hoped Social Worker Angela hadn't called when he was talking to the town crazies. That wouldn't make a good impression if the social worker tried calling several times.

Around five, while Luke was cooking himself something to eat (he realized he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning), his phone rang. He didn't rush towards it, figuring it was another town's folk. He wondered if changing his number would be a good idea, and was debating whether or not to do that, when he answered, "Yeah?"

"Mr. Danes?"

Oh, that had to be a good impression, barking into the phone. "Yeah, this is he… I am him…" he trailed off, shaking his head.

"Well, Mr. Danes, he's yours," the voice said and Luke finally realized he recognized it. Social Worker Angela had called him back.

"What?"

"Everything looks good. Just plug those electric sockets up, get him a bed, and you can bring him home." It took all of Luke's self-control not to whoop in the air. "Now," the social worker continued, "you can come get him tomorrow at nine. While you're here I'll have you fill out the paperwork. And then we can discuss you petitioning for permanent custody."

"Okay," Luke responded nodding. This was probably the best thing that had happened since the hospital called him yesterday. They hung up a couple minutes later and Luke looked around his apartment, figuring he should probably go get some furniture for Jess.

He grabbed his keys, wondering if he could find some stuff at a discount store or get some of his old furniture out of storage. If it got him out of a lot of shopping, he'd do just about anything. And, even thought he sold most of his old stuff, he was fairly certain he kept a few things.

He started making mental notes as he walked out of his apartment, wondering if he could maybe make a stop at Liz's place to get some of Jess' stuff. Angela had given him the address when she stopped by to inspect his home.

He stopped, realizing the place was most likely still a crime scene. Of course, they weren't exactly looking for the murderer; Liz had been killed by her boyfriend before the guy put the gun to his own head. Luke figured he'd check with the building manager tomorrow, before he picked Jess up. With a plan in mind, Luke headed out to the storage place where he kept all his parents' old stuff.

GG

Once he cleared it of his childhood toys (a box full of Curious George and Dr. Seuss books and some old Tinker toys), he headed toward a thrift store in Hartford. He found a good priced bed and a dresser set along with a small, squashy chair. All three pieces were in decent enough condition, and the store owner was kind enough to help Luke load the stuff in the back of his truck.

After a trip to a department store for those electric socket things, sheets, a pillow case, blankets, and a pillow, he drove back home. He figured he could get Jess' clothes tomorrow, if he could get into Liz's apartment. If not, he'd just drive back to the department store once he got Jess.

When he made it home, he realized there might be a problem getting all this stuff back upstairs. He decided he'd have to take the bed apart if he wanted to get it into the door. He went inside, grabbed his tools from upstairs, and was halfway through removing the legs when Andrew and Kirk approached him.

"Hey Luke," Andrew greeted him. Andrew's father owned the bookstore, and he was about a year younger than Luke. Kirk seemed to follow him wherever he went. Luke sometimes suspected Kirk's mother paid Andrew to keep an eye on Kirk, and that was the only reason he hadn't told the thirteen-year-old to get lost.

"Are you moving Luke?" Kirk questioned looking up at the older man. "My uncle tried moving once, but it got so stressful that he divorced his wife and left her all his stuff. The last time we heard from him, he said he had joined the circus. My mother thinks he's crazy, but I wouldn't mind joining the circus. Except I'm afraid of clowns and lions and peanuts…"

"Want any help moving that stuff?" Andrew questioned easily ignoring Kirk. Luke almost said 'no' but talked himself into accepting the help. It would be a lot easier if he didn't have to do it himself. And he could always give Andrew and Kirk a couple burgers as payment.

After the bed was apart, Luke trusting Kirk with the bags and his box of books and nothing more, he and Andrew moved it upstairs. As they returned, Bootsy was standing outside and offered to help, too.

As he and Andrew moved the dresser, Kirk trying to be helpful but only getting in the way, Luke carried the small chair upstairs. Once everything was unloaded into Luke's apartment, he offered Bootsy and Andrew beer and Kirk a soda as he fired up the grill.

"Who's moving in, Luke?" Bootsy asked curiously. The last Luke checked all three were sitting at the counter.

"My nephew," Luke replied from the kitchen.

"How old is he?"

"Three."

"Are you ready for a three-year-old? I mean, my sister has two and they are nightmares."

Luke chose not to comment, and continued to cook them their food. Once it was done he laid three plates down and leaned against the counter.

"Look man, it's your decision," Bootsy continued around a mouthful of burger, "but it's not going to be a cake walk for you."

"At least he'll be getting a good home," Andrew commented absentmindedly. "I doubt Luke would let anything happen to him."

"Just eat your burgers," Luke replied shaking his head. They fell silent, each one enjoying their food, until Kirk exclaimed, "Hey, did you guys read the new Spider Man?" Before either could reply he launched into the plot.

After they all left, Luke gathered their plates. As he started cleaning them he let his mind wander. Tomorrow was going to be just as busy as today, if not more so, and he did know that Bootsy had a point, raising Jess wasn't going to be a cake walk, but he knew parenting was never meant to be one. It was meant to be challenging, and Luke couldn't wait.

GG

Hey guys.

I promise next chapter has Luke and Jess together. It's finished. I just have to look it over, send it off to the Beta, and then I'll update it. I'll try for next Friday or Saturday. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks ever so much for the reviews and alerts last chapter, they were awesome. I really hope you liked this, drop me a comment if you want, and I do not own these characters.

Oh, and I know this has been a very Luke heavy story so far. It won't be that way the entire story, but for a while it'll just be Luke.

Now, I'm going.

PEACE OUT...

P.S. I will probably make some changes for this story. Like the thing with Luke's apartment being extended. I apologize ahead of time.