Note: I have quite the conglomerate of headcanons at this point, both mine and other peoples', and I want to use several of them. The problem is, I've forgotten which ones I've adopted, and from whom. So if you see one that you're pretty sure you came up with and I'm using it, please drop me a line so I can credit you. Also, feedback on formatting please? Let me know if this works for you.

…...

"Mom!" Kay screamed, pelting into the living room as fast as her feet could carry her. "Mom there's a boy at the door!"

Mom glanced up from the songbook she held, fingers tucked under the next page. "A boy?"

"It's awfully late for visitors," Dad mused, closing his leatherbound journal.

"He's hurt!" Kay ran to Mom, tugging her sweater-sleeve.

SNAP.

The songbook flipped shut and sailed through the air to land haphazardly by the fireplace, and Mom was already halfway across the room by the time Dad rose from his chair, his hand reaching for the cellphone in his pocket.

The kitchen door stood flung wide, as Kay had left it when she saw the battered boy crumpled on the stoop. Mom dove for his form, turning him face-up carefully. His head lolled, revealing gaunt cheeks and heavy bruising. When Mom brushed back his shaggy, matted brown hair, her hand came away red.

"9-1-1?" Dad had the phone to his ear. "We have a kid on our porch, looks to be about-"

The boy's eyes flew open, one hand reaching up to grab Mom's shoulder. "Don't!" he rasped. "They'll find me! Please… I'm okay. Just some food, please. I'll go, promise!"

Kay clutched at the doorframe, her yellow nightdress flapping as a chill breeze gusted in. She shivered at the cold, and the boy's body doubled up against the night wind. His clothes were torn and bloodstained. Through the ripped cloth she could see scars and other, darker marks on his skin.

Dad glanced down at Mom, who shook her head. He clicked his phone off, still holding it at the ready as Mom gathered the boy into her arms and pulled him inside. Kay couldn't see his face once Mom stood, but heard him cry out at the sudden movement.

"Kay, grab some food from the fridge. Anything. And some water too." Mom laid the boy on the couch as Dad vanished into the back hallway, returning with a damp cloth, gauze, and disinfectant.

Kay darted to the fridge, standing on her tiptoes to reach the drink shelf. She grabbed a small bottle of water, tucking it under her arm and crouching down to rifle through the crisper. She palmed an apple and scampered back to the living room, leaving the fridge door hanging open. Unscrewing the cap, she slipped the bottle to Mom.

Mom lifted the boy's head up carefully, slowly dripping water into his mouth. He swallowed, his lips parting again for more. Mom poured a steady trickle until the bottle was empty. Dad pulled back the matted hair, and Kay gasped at the gash along his hairline. Dad dabbed the area carefully, wiping away the blood to better see the wound.

The boy finally opened his eyes, sucking in a breath. "Didyoucall?" he blurted.

"Easy, kid. Hold still." Dad applied disinfectant as the boy winced. "What's your name?"

"L-Lewis." He gulped, eyes darting between the adults. His nails were bitten ragged, Kay noted, as she pressed the apple into his hand. He recoiled from her, grabbing a couch cushion and holding it in front of his chest like a shield. The apple dropped to the floor, rolling under the couch.

Bewildered, Kay stepped back. "Mom, why's he here? What happened to him?"

"You call anyone?" Lewis stared at Mom. "Anyone know I'm here?"

"Who would know?" Mom matched his stare. "Who did this to you?"

"Can't, they'll find me." He tried to push himself up, but couldn't raise himself. "Door… locked?"

Dad stood, heading toward the front door.

"It will be in a minute." Mom set her hands on Lewis' shoulders, pushing him down. "Hold still, we're not done with that head wound."

"N-no, can't stay. J-just some food, I'll go, please."

"You're not going anywhere young man, not until we clean you up." Nobody argued with Mom when she used that tone, and Lewis stopped fighting to sit up. Mom reached under the couch for the apple, wiping it off on her sleeve. "Kay, it's past your bedtime. Go check on your sister, and go to bed."

"I can't sleep NOW!" Kay protested. "What if we get robberied?"

"Cayenne, I said go to bed, not go to sleep. If you can't sleep, then lay in bed, but right now I want you marching down the hall. If I don't hear the door click in fifteen seconds, there's going to be trouble."

Kay turned on her heel, fleeing down the hall. She bit back angry words as she entered the room she and her sister shared, being very, very careful to just close the door. No slamming.

She hoped when she woke up the strange Lewis-boy was gone. Maybe it was all a dream and he was never really here anyway. She liked that. She slid into bed, curling up next to her sister and pulling the toddler's sweat-soaked curls back. Aji mumbled in her sleep.

"S'okay Aji. Tomorrow he won't be here, and everything's gonna be normal again."

…..

Kay's stomach rolled as her parents' van screeched into the hospital parking lot. She threw the sliding door open before the full stop, stumbling as her feet hit the blacktop. "Please come identify the body," was the message they'd found on their phone that morning, but they had to be mistaken. She'd just seen Lewis yesterday. He'd finally finished that violin piece he'd been writing for her birthday. He'd promised to let her read the sheet music for it when he got back.

She could hear matching footsteps slamming hard behind her. Aji was hot on her heels, and Dulcie's panicky sobs were fading behind them as the sisters burst into the hospital lobby. Kay darted up to the front desk, grabbing the edge of the granite counter. "Lewis Pepper!" she gasped. "Lewis Pepper, where's his room?"

The receptionist set her fingers to the keyboard in front of her. "How do you spell that?"

"You don't know how to spell Lewis?" Aji snapped.

"Aji, cool it! It's L-E-W-I-S P-E-P-P-E-R." Kay watched the receptionist's fingers tap out her brother's name, then go still. Lead collected in her gut as the receptionist's perfectly manicured hand wrapped around the nearby phone, red nails clicking against the numbered buttons. "Doctor Noble? The Pepper family is here. Yes. I will." She set the phone back down, and Kay couldn't tear her eyes away from those blood red nails. "The Doctor will be down shortly."

"Why aren't you telling us his room number?" Aji's voice spiked higher. "Just tell us how to get there, we'll take it from there! Mom, Dad, they're not giving us his room number!"

Kay could hear Dulcie's hiccuping sobs again. Mom was murmuring something under her breath.

"I'm sure they'll tell us in a minute, Aji." Dad's voice was as calm as ever, smoothing over her anxiety. He was right, of course. It was a mistake, they didn't mean 'body' they were going to bring them over to Lewis and he'd crack a joke about the mixup, and everyone would laugh.

"Mr. Pepper? Mrs. Pepper? I'm Doctor Noble." Kay turned slowly, taking in the white labcoat and scrubs. She couldn't raise her eyes to the Doctor's face. Lewis was fine. He'd be embarrassed they made such a fuss, really.

"Doctor Noble, how is Lewis?" Dad was measuring his words carefully, she could tell by the way he held each one before letting it loose.

"I'm sorry Mr. Pepper, but if it is your son, he was dead on arrival."

Everything tilted ever so slightly to the left. Aji grabbed her arm, fingers digging into her skin.

"From what we can gather from where he was found, and where his friends were, they went exploring a cave and Lewis fell from a ledge. I just came out of the operating room, do you know Arthur Kingsman or Vivi Kimura?"

"Yes." Dad's voice was cracked now, and everything tilted more, and the fingers were digging in harder.

"Mr. Kingsman's uncle is with him for now. We will need statements from him and Ms. Kimura later. But for now, please. I know this is a difficult time, but we need you to identify the body."

Mom was still murmuring over and over. It would be fine, Mom wouldn't have to worry. It wasn't Lewis, it was someone else. Someone else's family would be crying tonight, but not their family.

"Aji, will you stay here with Dulcie?" Dad's voice was farther away, almost echoey. The pressure on her arm vanished, replaced by a firm, warm grip that steered her down a sterile hallway, Mom's voice ricocheting off the walls until she could hear the words being repeated.

"The early death of eldest son. The early death of eldest son. The early death…"

They passed through two or three sets of doors, the temperature dropping as they continued. She began to see gurneys with tagged toes at the end of them. Rows and rows of tagged toes, waiting to be claimed like baggage. Finally Dad tugged her arm, pulling her to a stop in front of an unmistakable pair of feet bearing a blank tag.

"You're ridiculous, you know that, right? Every other part of your body gets a growth spurt, but you've still got baby feet! What's up with that?"

The room was sideways now, and Doctor' Noble was calling for help, and Mom was sobbing and Dad was holding her and she wanted to say it was still a mistake, that it couldn't be Lewis, but even from this angle she could see the tuft of purple sticking out from the other end of the gurney.

Please. I want to wake up now. I want to wake up, and Lewis will be there, and everything will be normal again.