Morgan was sitting on the couch across from the hospital bed where the young boy was sleeping. Spencer, true to his word had not let go of the boys hand. He had placed him in the bed successfully without waking him up so that the boy could sleep better shortly after he fell asleep. Morgan smirked when Spencer's leg started bouncing and he could tell that Spencer needed to use the bathroom. Plus while the boy had slept through the night and into the day due to how long he had gone without sleep, well Spencer wasn't as lucky. Every time Spencer had tried to let go of his hand the boy would start to wake up, or having some type of nightmare. But Morgan knew that Spencer was happy to hold the boys hand and bring him any kind of comfort. Morgan stood up and walked over to Spencer. "I'll take his hand. You go use the bathroom and get some rest." The man said patting Spencer's shoulder. The genius nodded, to tired to really put up any type of fight and let go of the boys hand. Even in his sleep the boys face twisted into a look of fear, until Morgan took the seat that Spencer had been sitting in and took the small hand into his own. "It's almost lunch time, we should probably wake him up soon. So that he can eat and not mess up his sleeping schedule." Spencer said thoughtfully before excusing himself to the bathroom. 'Yea, and we need to ask the boy more questions. If there are more kids in the same circumstances that he was in we needed to find the person responsible as fast as possible.' My phone started ringing and I picked it up quickly before the sudden sound could wake the boy up.
"Hey, how is Number 4 doing?" Prentiss asked as I answered the phone.
"Still sleeping, but Spencer wants to wake him up soon so he wont mess up his sleep schedule and to get him to eat." I whispered.
"At least he is sleeping. Rossi and I weren't able to find anything from the scene where Number 4 was found. And Garcia is even coming up empty on foster kids. The boy and the other kids may have been taken from some foster homes or bought from some kind of black market or sex trafficking situation." Prentiss said, the sadness in her voice couldn't be missed.
"We plan on questioning the boy more as we establish a better relationship. But whatever happened to him messed him up pretty bad. JJ is coming right?" I said, holding the boys hand tightly.
"Yea, Hotch hopes the boy may be more open with a woman. Not that you all aren't doing great, but it's worth a shot to get him talking more. We will find who did this to him. And we will help those other kids too." Prentiss said.
"I sure hope so. Spencer or I will call with any updates." I said before hanging up the phone.
Spencer came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, leaning on my back and resting his chin on top of my head. "How are you doing?" He asked me. I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure. This is a tough one." I said holding the boys hand. "Which will make it all the better when we catch the guy who did this and get the other kids out." Spencer said, before covering his mouth with his hand. I heard him yawn and I smirked. "We wont be able to do that if our resident genius's brain is only working at 1/2 capacity." I said gesturing to the couch. "Just a short nap, I'll wake you up when we wake the boy up." Spencer nodded and gave me a quick kiss before walking over to the couch. He lay down and I watched him as his breathing slowed, and once I was sure he was sleeping I looked back to the boy. Even in his sleep he looked so ...haunted.
-Klaus Pov-
I felt something shaking me, pulling me away from sleep and I groaned. Something felt different. I sat up and opened my eyes slowly. "There you are boy wonder. Sorry to wake you, but you need to eat something." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw the FBI person sitting beside me in the bed. I looked down in confusion as the covers were laying over me. The people must not be mad at me for sleeping on the bed if they hadn't done anything to me yet. I had never slept in a bed before, no wonder dad and mom had these. I kicked the covers off of me and got on my hands and knees, pushing down on the mattress. It was bouncier than I had expected a bed to be. Ben and Diego would love this! I looked up and saw Morgan watching me, and he had a frown on his face. Like he was really sad. I tilted my head in confusion and sat criss-cross on the bed. Not sure of what I was supposed to do next, and I didn't want to get punished for doing something I wasn't supposed too. I looked around the room and saw Spencer sleeping on the couch. "He wanted me to wake him up when you woke up, but he needs to catch up on some sleep. So we're gonna let him rest a bit longer." Morgan said. I nodded and watched as the door to the hospital room opened. I sat up on my knees, getting into a fight position the best that I could on the bouncy bed. 'Always be ready to fight! Do not be caught off guard!' Dad's words rang through my brain. "Hey, it's okay. This is another FBI agent. Her name is JJ. She is here to protect you too. Just like Spencer and I are." Morgan said resting his hand on my back. I felt my muscles relax as he rubbed my back and I slowly sat back down. I looked at the woman who was carrying some boxes and she looked a lot like mom. Her blonde hair, and her eyes were the same too. "Hey buddy, why are you crying?" Morgan asked. I touched my face, and yea. I was crying. I quickly wiped the tears away. Before anyone got mad. I felt the bed dip and I scooted away from the lady who had come in. "Hey, it's okay to cry. We don't mind." She said sitting one of the boxes on the bed. "This is for you. Doctor approved and everything so you can eat it all." She said opening the box. I slowly leaned over so I could look inside, and saw food. I didn't take the food. Knowing the rules. They were trying to trick me, this lady wanted to punish me so she was trying to get me to break the rules. "You can have it buddy. See here." JJ said pushing the box closer to me. I didn't touch it, but I watched as Morgan wordlessly took another box full of food and started eating. JJ did the same, and they both looked at me as they ate. It was only when they had each taken a few bites that I took the food and started eating as well. "Are there rules about how you eat?" Morgan asked. I nodded as I took another bite, and missed the glances that JJ and Morgan shared. "Are there a lot of rules at the place you were before?" JJ asked. I nodded. It was quite as we ate. 'I wonder what the others are doing today? I wonder if they miss me?' I suddenly wasn't hungry, and I pushed the rest of the food away. "Are you full?" JJ asked as she looked over how much food I ate. Would she be mad if I said no? Or would she be mad if I said yes? Mom never got mad at us, but she enforced dads rules. Would JJ do that too? "Hey breath okay. You don't have to worry. It's okay." Morgan said rubbing my back again. I realized that I wasn't breathing and I took a deep breath. My heart felt like it was beating in my ears. I closed my eyes so I could focus on breathing, and when I opened my eyes JJ was gone. But Spencer was awake and sitting where she had been. "JJ went to talk on the phone. Does she remind you of someone?" Morgan asked. I looked between the two FBI agents. I nodded and they didn't seem mad at my answer. "Who does she remind you of?" Spencer asked. I looked down at my hands. I didn't know if this was a test, was I allowed to talk? Or if I did would they punish me? "Look at me okay 4?" I looked up to Morgan and he still had his hand on my back, it felt like a protection blanket covering me. "You don't have to have permission to talk here okay? You wont get in trouble for saying anything. We just want to help you. You can talk, and we wont be mad." my palms felt sweaty as Spencer and Morgan waited in the silence. I bit on one of my nails nervously. "JJ, looks like mom." I said, my voice barley above a whisper. "Mom would always fix us when we got hurt during training. And she would always get me after special training was over...she almost never punished. Unless dad told her to." I said, my arms were shaking. I had never told anyone this. There was never anyone to tell.
-Spencer Pov-
Okay, so that statement was a lot to unpack. I gave Morgan a glance and he nodded, telling me to take control of this conversation. He seemed really angry, and he didn't want the boy to think that Morgan was mad at him. But where to start? From that it was easy to gather that we were looking for a team of at least two people running this whole operation, there were in fact multiple kids like we thought, there was this 'special training' that the kids were forced to do. But what was it actually? From the boys reaction it could be some type of torture, or the people who had kidnapped them actually were training them for something. But what and why? "Okay. What is special training?" I asked the boy. He visibly shivered at the word. "It's different for each of us. Some of us get it worse off than others...but if we don't do good during our special training we get punished." I nodded, putting a steady hand on Morgan's leg. I could tell how angry he was getting, and he needed to control himself if we wanted more answers. I felt Morgan relax under my hand and I continued. "What are these punishments? Did your 'dad' hurt you during these punishments?" The boy nodded, tears gathering in his eyes. "There were different types of punishments...but the worst was the shocker. He used that one when he was really mad. -gasp- he is going to use it on me. He is going to be so angry with me!" The boy started panicking and had trouble breathing so we stopped questioning him. The boy said something under his breath as Morgan pulled him into his lap to calm him down. "Please dad, not the shocker please!"
-Vanya Pov-
"Please dad! Not the shocker!" I cried out. But dad was angry, and me talking without permission only made it worse. He held the metal rod in his hand and shoved it into my side. He clicked the button and a pulse of electricity shocked me. I cried out, dropping the violin. My whole body was covered in pain as I fell to my side. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPEAKING WITHOUT PERMISSION?!" Dad shouted, before he shoved the rod against my shoulder blade. I cried out in pain as electricity sparked again. "First your disappointment of a brother runs off, then Number 5 rebels against me, now you can't even play this song in tune?! You are failing me Number 7!" Another click and another spark of electricity blinded my vision and it was getting harder to breath through the pain. "I don't know why I even waste special training time on you. You are the most worthless of the bunch Number 7!" Another shock and I started coughing, running out of air. My heartbeat was so loud in my ear and the room was getting darker. "If you pass out now Number 6 will have to take your place for special training." I shook my head. No not Ben, not yet. I pushed myself up on shaky arms and slowly got myself into a standing position. "Finally some progress. "Now pick up the violin and start from the beginning. One wrong note and you get shocked again. Understand?" I nodded as I bent down to get the violin. My arms wouldn't stop shaking, but I had to at least try to play. Ben couldn't take another round of special training right now. So I pulled the violin up and started the song from the beginning. Again. 'Klaus. This one is for you. Please be okay.' I thought to myself as I played the song. Trying my best to make every note perfect for dad.
-Morgans Pov-
"Okay. Maybe we should start from the beginning...what do we know so far?" Hotch said as he walked around the table. There were files and papers everywhere, and Spencer had sent me to the police station with a copy of the geographical profile to hang on the wall. After the boy, 4, was calm again he ate the rest of his food with us. He was opening up to us more which was great. But he needed a break from the questioning. He was still tired and the doctors needed to run some check-ups as well. So Spencer opted to stay with the boy while I went back to the police station to help the rest of the team. "Morgan?" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to the team. "Sorry - what did you say?" I asked walking over to join everyone at the table. "That boy is really gotten into your head hasn't he?" Rossi asked with a knowing smirk. I let out a heavy sigh and ran my hands over my head. Trying to dull the headache starting to grow. "He is, he is clearly traumatized. But he is a strong person. Spencer really is attached to him as well." I explained. "Of course. He opened up to you two more than anyone else. People will tell you to not get emotionally involved. But it's pretty much impossible when the kids get emotionally attached to you." JJ said putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "He is a good kid, but something is holding him back. And I think it's the fear of the guy who has held him for so long coming back for him. I don't think he fully understands that he is actually free from his torture...he calls that monster his dad." I said biting the inside of my cheek. The anger boiling. "That's something." Hotch said with a thoughtful glance. "What if the people who are kidnapping these kids are using some kind of emotionally torture to insure that the kids follow their instructions? Such as a family setting where the 'parents' would do something to the other kids if they ever disobeyed him?" Rossi looked confused. "We already established that Hotch." He said sitting up in his chair. "In a way - but what if 4 sees the other kids that are still in danger as his siblings? It's a family dynamic. And somehow the 'parents' have engraved in the boys mind that if he says anything. He will hurt the other kids?" I nodded. "That does make sense with the way that he is acting. This kid wont do anything unless we say that it's okay or not against the rules. He sees us the same way that he sees his captures, and he thinks that if he disobeys he will end up indirectly hurting his siblings." Prentiss paced the room as she entered the conversation. "If that is the case we may not be able to get the boy to talk. From what we can tell he has been with that family his whole life. If he really was bought off of the black market or picked up off of the streets. Considering he doesn't have any records neither will the other kids. This is looking more and more impossible." She said. "We have covered all of our other bases. 4 is our only lead right now. Garcia is still checking foster records and everything else. But it seems like we have no way of finding out who these other kids are through records." Hotch said. "So we need to somehow break through the emotional torture and show 4 that we are trying to save his siblings, and that he wont kill them by talking to us? Easy right?" I said with sarcasm. "If anyone can do it, it's you and Spencer." JJ said with a smile. "Yea, maybe Prentiss can join me on the way back to the hospital? 4 reacted negatively to JJ because he said she looks like his 'mom' But maybe Prentiss will be able to talk to him some?" I asked, looking to Prentiss. She agreed to come with me while the rest of the team would start looking into what they could find with what they had. "Knowing that there is a woman with him that looks like JJ will be helpful. But not enough to find them. So let's get to work everyone." Hotch said as Prentiss and I left the police station.
-Ben's Pov-
"Lessons are over for the day kids. Now go to your rooms and wait for instructions from your father." Mom said as we stood up from our chairs. We got into our line, in order of our numbers, and walked in line to the hallway where our rooms were. Once we were in the hallway mom said goodbye to us before shutting the door. Once we heard the click of the lock we all relaxed. "You guys are back." Vanya said stepping out of her room. I could see the burn marks from the shocker on her arms and neck and I frowned. "He used the shocker? He must still be angry about Klaus escaping." Allison said walking over to her sister. "I'll get the first aid kit." Luther said walking over to his room. "We should switch out 5's bandages while were at it." Allison said as Diego and I helped Vanya take off her top. She moved her tank top around so that Allison could see all of the burn spots. "Let's take care of Vanya first." 5 said walking over to us. "5, come on. I can help you while Allison helps Vanya." Luther said, seeing right through 5's attempt to escape replacing his bandages. 5 rolled his eyes, and I took his hand pulling him over to Luther while Allison and Diego stayed with Vanya. Ben hissed in pain as Luther carefully removed the bandages covering his worst cuts. I took his hand and 5 squeezed it as Luther cleaned his cuts. "Sorry, it's almost over." Luther said as he continued his work. "It's never over. Once these heal dad will make new ones." 5 said with a frown. "At least we have each other...that's what Klaus always said." I said. 5 held my hand tightly. "Do you think he will be able to t-tell anyone ab-about us?" Diego asked as he helped Allison put burn cream on Vanya's arms. "He knows what dad would do if he told anyone...he would never tell anyone, because then dad would know and he would hurt us." Allison said. "He already hurts us! I hope he tells someone. Dad couldn't kill us all before the police came or something." 5 said. "But Klaus wouldn't want any of us to die." I said. "Think about it 5, would you risk killing one of us so the rest of us could get out?" Luther asked. Everyone was silent as Luther started putting new bandages on 5. His grip on my hand and lessened. "Myself maybe." He whispered. "Don't even say that!" I said with anger. "We're a family. We can't go on without each other...what would we do without you 5?" I asked, making 5 look me in the eye. "Promise us you wont try anything stupid! Even if one of us were able to get away Dad would find us. Maybe he even found Klaus and kil-I wouldn't put it past dad to kill him after running off." I said, tears in my eyes. 5 frowned and pulled me into a hug. "I promise. It would be stupid to try and escape. Dad would kill us all." He said. It was quite again as we hugged, and Luther left us to check over Vanya once Allison and Diego were done helping her. Taking on the role as our leader, making sure everyone was okay. "5. I know you mean well, but please don't let dad or mom hear you talking like that. Who knows what he would do if he heard you say that." Luther said. 5 nodded in understanding. Luther was giving him an order. Even though 5 and Diego were the two most likely to not follow Luther's orders I was glad to see him say yes to Luther for once. Vanya stood up and walked into her room, coming back out with Pogo. She pulled the other siblings over to us and we all sat in a circle, putting Pogo, the stuffed toy monkey in the middle. "Let's tell Pogo about our day before dad comes to get us for training." Vanya said, trying to lift the mood. I looked down at the stuffed monkey, the only toy that we had ever had. I could still remember our 6th birthday.
Mom came into our rooms after dad went to sleep and she gave us the toy. "Happy birthday kids. Don't let your dad see him okay?" She had said before leaving us. Klaus was the one to name him. "Wh-what kind of name is Pogo?" Diego asked. "A good one, I like it Klaus." Allison said to a smiling Klaus.
I smiled at the memory as everyone took a turn telling Pogo about what had happened so far today. Even 5, who insisted he was too mature to talk to a stuffed toy took a turn today. Holding onto my hand as he talked to Pogo.
-Klaus Pov-
"You did a good job with the nurses Four." Spencer said as I sat on the floor with him. The nurses were really nice, and the doctor had given me some toys including some lego's and markers. Spencer had some paper and we were drawing on the floor of the hospital room. It was a bit hard with the IV needle in my arm, but after Spencer said it would help me feel better I let one nurse put it in my arm. It had pinched at first, but now I barley felt it as I drew on the floor. A knock filled the room from the door. I took a black marker and started writing on my hand, while Spencer stood up and went to open the door. I looked up to see Morgan walk in, with a lady. But she wasn't JJ. "This is Prentiss, Four. She is another FBI agent like us." I nodded. 'Geez, how many FBI agents are there?'I asked myself as I waved to the lady. She smiled as she looked at my hand. "Hello to you too." She said with a chuckle. Morgan looked at my hands and saw that I had written 'hello' and 'goodbye' on my hands. "Getting creative with the markers I see." He said with a grin sitting on the ground with me. "I'm glad to see you let them put an IV in you. You will start feeling a lot better with that." He said. I nodded, and went back to drawing. "Four. How do you know how to spell? Did someone teach you?" Spencer asked. I nodded and spelled "Mom" on the paper I was drawing on. "So your mom taught you? Did she teach you anything else?" I nodded again. 'She teaches us in our lessons everyday. She says we're in the 3rd grade now. Except 5, he is taking 5th grade lessons.' Spencer sat back down on front of me, and I scooted my body closer to Derek when Prentiss sat down with him. She seemed alright, but I didn't trust her like Derek and Spencer, not yet. "Can I ask you some questions Four?" the lady asked. I looked up to Derek, and he gave me an encouraging smile and put his arm over my shoulders. I nodded yes to the lady and she smiled. "Thank you! It's just a few questions okay?" I nodded in understanding. "Can I ask you about the day that you escaped from where you were before?" I bit my lip, I couldn't talk about that. "Look buddy. We want to help the other kids who are still at that place. Are they your siblings?" I nodded, they were. "Can you tell us about them then? How many other kids are there?" Prentiss asked. I held up 7 fingers. "There are seven more?" She asked. I shook my head, holding up 4 fingers. And pointing to myself with the other hand. "Ohh, so there are seven including yourself?" I nodded. "Do you miss them?" Spencer asked. I nodded. I really did miss them. I hope they are okay. "Do you want to see them again?" Morgan asked. I nodded. 'I want to be with them again so bad. I should have tried to get them before I ran off. Dad is probably so mad that I left. What if he is hurting them because of me?' I felt Morgan rubbing my back and I remembered to breath. I took a deep breath and felt my arms start to shake. "Four. Are you scared that if you help us your dad is going to hurt your siblings?" Prentiss asked slowly. I felt tears gather in my eyes as I nodded again. My heart started beating fast again, Spencer and Morgan didn't hurt me when I cried. But would this new lady be mad? "Don't worry buddy, remember what we said. We won't get mad when you cry okay?" Spencer said reaching across the drawings and patting my shaking arms. I struggled to take another breath and it turned into a sob. Morgan pulled me into his lap and I cried. I missed my brothers and sisters. I was such a failure. I didn't want dad to hurt them because of me. I couldn't stop myself from crying. I felt Morgans arms wrap around me and I hold onto his shirt sleeves with my hands as I continued to cry. I pulled my legs up around his waste, hoping no one would pull me away from him. Dad would always hurt me when I cried like this, but as I continued no one tried to hurt me.
-Spencer Pov-
I quickly moved around Derek and the boy and moved the IV pipe around so that it wouldn't get pulled out of his arm, and the boy didn't even notice as he sobbed into Morgans chest. He was holding my husband like a lifeline, and maybe he was his lifeline right now. Minutes passed, and eventually the boy calmed down. His breathing steadied out and I grabbed a tissue, wiping the tears off of his cheeks and the little bit of mucus from under his nose. Usually I would be repulsed by touching someone else's mucus, but it made my heart flutter with something unfamiliar to me as I cleaned the boys face. "Are you okay?" Morgan whispered to the boy. He closed his eyes. "My head hurts." He said. Morgan nodded. "I bet it does after that, why don't we put you on the bed so you can rest?" Morgan stood up, but the boy shook his head and held onto Morgan tighter than he already was. "Please -sob- don't let me go - hiccup-." I felt my own heart break, and I'm sure Morgan's did too as he moved to sit on the couch instead. I helped with the IV. Prentiss stood next to me and nodded to the hallway. Morgan smiled to us, telling us we could go while he held the boy. We walked outside and shut the door. "God that was torture. The poor boy." Prentiss said looking through the window. "We can confirm our theory though, with that reaction." I said, lost in my thoughts. "You know, you and Morgan looked like a good pair of parents just then." Prentiss said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What?" I asked. What did that have to do with the case. "After all of this is over, that boy is probably going to go into the foster system. And with everything he has already been through. It wont work out well for him...haven't you and Morgan been trying to find kids to adopt?" She asked me. Well yes we have been. But this would be a lot. This one boy alone would be a lot to handle with the emotional trauma, and we didn't expect to adopt multiple kids at once. "There are seven of them..." I said looking through the window. Looking at Morgan now rocking back and forth. Helping the boy fall asleep. "It's just a thought. But nothing can be for certain until the case is over." Prentiss said with a smirk. "But he sees them as his siblings...if they do go into the foster system what are the chances of them finding a family willing to take all seven of them? And with the circumstances already staggering...it doesn't look hopeful for them." I said. "Like I said it was just a thought, why don't we go back to the police station and update the team?" Prentiss suggested. I agreed and sent Morgan a text telling him what we were doing. I watched through the window as he looked at the text and spoke to the boy in his arms. I couldn't hide my smile as the boy lifted his head and waved to me with the hand that he had written 'goodbye' on. And as I left with Prentiss I knew one thing was certain. Morgan and I already loved that boy like a son. And even though I hadn't even met the other kids yet, part of me already loved them too.
-5's Pov-
I was laying on top of my sheets in my small room. Thinking about the conversation earlier with my siblings. For a few seconds I had let myself think that there was any hope for us. Because Klaus was able to get away. But where was he now? Was he actually safe? Or did dad find him and kill him for running away? I hoped it was the first option. That Klaus was able to find someone to help him. But I knew that my other siblings and I didn't have that kind of hope. No one was willing to help us. No one knew we even existed. 'No one loves you all. You exists because I let you exist.' Dads words ran through my mind. All we have is each other. And I couldn't risk losing any of them, even if it meant I was trapped here with them. It was better than being alone.