Summary: After the Oliver incident. Child services finds out about Ryan's trouble at school and takes him away. Sandy and Kirsten do everything they can to get him back with an unlikely source to help them.

AN: Here's the latest chapter for you guys. I meant to post it this past weekend, but I got busy with school, work, and watching my cousins. Any way, please R&R!

Disclaimer: I own no one. They all belong to Josh Schwartz and Fox.

Chapter 4: Coming Home

Sandy was on the phone early Sunday morning trying to get through to the facility where Ryan was. He hadn't been able to get anyone to answer on the other end yet, though. He finally gave up and decided to call his office and talk to Rachel.

Kirsten came down as they both watched Seth, Summer, and Luke bring all of Ryan's belongings from the pool house and take it all upstairs.

"Rachel, I can't get through to the facility where Ryan is." Sandy spoke into the phone. "What do you mean? No. I didn't know that. Ok. Thank you."

"What was that about?" Kirsten asked him as he hung up the phone.

"She's surprised that we didn't know that the facility was shut down early yesterday morning by a business tycoon and his associates." He looked at her.

"You mean-my dad?"

"Call him. Find out where Ryan is." Kirsten got out her cell phone and dialed her dad's number.

"Dad, where are you? You are? Ok. We'll see you in a few minutes." She hung up the phone.

"He's coming here?" Sandy asked

"Said he has a surprise for all of us."

"You don't think-he has Ryan?"

"I really don't know. He's been acting strange since Ryan was taken. For him to rescue Ryan, that's very unlike him."

Ryan sat silently in the passenger seat of Caleb's car as he drove towards the gated community. Caleb glanced at him hoping to see some kind of reaction from him. He had been quieter than normal since they left the hospital. They had to bandage up his left wrist after finding that it was sprained, and he had numerous bandages on his face, neck, and stitches in the back of his head from his head hitting the hard concrete floor as the doctor concluded. Caleb noticed that Ryan flinched away from him every time he moved his hand to the shifter in between the driver and passenger seats. So he knew something more than the fight had happened in the facility.

"Do you think they know?" Ryan asked suddenly, after Caleb had talked to Kirsten on the phone. "About you getting me out, I mean."

"I don't know." Caleb answered as he pulled up Sandy and Kirsten's driveway and turned the car off. "Wait in here five minutes while I talk to them."

"Sure." He said softly as Caleb climbed out of the car and walked into the house.

"Hello?" Caleb called as he walked into the kitchen and found Sandy and Kirsten standing at the counter.

"Dad, what's going on?" Kirsten asked him.

"Where's Seth?"

"Upstairs finishing Ryan's bedroom."

"Go get him. This involves all of you."

"Seth!" Sandy called up the stairs. "Get down here!"

"What's going on?" Seth came downstairs. "We only have a couple things to finish. Grandpa?"

"I have some important news for all of you." Caleb told them.

"Does this have anything to do with you shutting down the facility where they took Ryan yesterday morning?" Sandy asked.

"Grandpa, you actually did that?" Seth looked at him.

"Yes. When I found out which facility it was that they took him to, I made some calls. There've been a few incidents involving the occupants the last few months, but nothing could be proved. So I made arrangements for the occupants to finish out their time in other facilities."

"And Ryan?" Seth looked at his grandfather. "Did you do the same for Ryan? We all know how you feel about him-"

"Can I come in yet?" a familiar voice called out as they heard the door open and shut. "I've been sitting in your car waiting for your signal."

"Oh my god." Kirsten ran to Ryan as he came into them.

"Careful." Ryan flinched as she hugged him tightly. "Still sore."

"Sorry." She pulled back and took inventory of all the cuts, scrapes, bruises and bandages all over his face."But you're back now, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled at them as Sandy and Seth came over to them and they gave him a group hug. "Although Caleb made me promise to some conditions before he would agree to bring me here."

"What conditions?" Seth asked, curious.

"Why don't you fill Seth in while I talk to Sandy and Kirsten outside?" Caleb told Ryan as he led the two of them out of the house.

"Ok. What did you find when you got there?" Sandy asked Caleb once they were standing in the driveway. "It had to have been bad for you to just pull him out of there like that."

"He was on the floor unconscious as one of the other kids beat him up. The guards were just standing by and letting it happen." He revealed and Kirsten gasped. "I got him out of there as fast as I could and took him to the hospital. We would've been here last night, but the doctor wanted to make sure he didn't have a concussion."

"Thank you, dad." Kirsten hugged him. "I know you haven't been his biggest fan since he came here."

"He hasn't exactly been my biggest fan either."

"So what are these conditions you made him promise to?" Sandy asked.

"Yes. I told him he had to join a couple sports to get rid some of that aggression he has built up inside him. He also needs to go to counseling."

"Counseling?"

"I told him it was because of his anger, but there is another reason." Caleb explained. "I notice that he clams up every time I mention the facility. He flinched every time I moved as we were driving over here, so I think something happened that he doesn't feel comfortable talking about."

"Therapy is probably a good idea for him, then."

"Oh. And I told him he should stay away from Marissa for now. At least until she's able to get herself straightened out."

"That's a good idea," Kirsten agreed. "Now I think you should agree to some conditions as well."

"What kind of conditions?"

"You want Ryan to do sports, you have to go to the games; at least all the home games."

"Agreed."

"And weekly meals that should include you getting to know Ryan a little better. You might find that you have more in common than you know."

"That's reasonable, I guess."

"You'd better stick to these if you want Ryan to stick to his." Kirsten warned him before they started to go back into the house.

Luke and Summer came downstairs when they heard all the commotion. They walked into the kitchen and saw Seth talking to someone at the counter. They didn't see who it was because they had their back to them.

"Cohen, we need to finish." Summer told him. "It has to be done before Ryan comes back."

"Chino!" Luke smiled at him when he turned around to face him. "How'd you get out already?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later."

"In that case, let's go upstairs." Summer told him. "We have a surprise for you. Let's go."

"Ok." Ryan followed them all up the stairs and they stopped outside the door to the guest room by Seth's room. "What's going on, you guys?"

"When mom and dad announced that they were going to officially adopt you, Summer decided that you shouldn't be in the pool house."

"You should be close to your family." Summer told him as she turned the door knob. "So welcome to your new room."

Summer pushed the door open and Ryan followed them in. He looked around in awe as the others watched his reaction. The bed was near the middle of the room with new bedding. There was new furniture against the one wall; the dresser was full of all his clothes with the stereo from the pool house on top of it, the bookcase was filled with some of the books that he had read for school so far and Seth had added some comic books, and the desk had his laptop sitting on top of it. Ryan was in awe of the paintings on the walls. Behind the head board of his bed was a mural of a beach scene at sunset. The wall near the window had a painting of a soccer ball that took up the entire wall with his number on it.

"You guys, this is amazing." He said softly.

"Summer did the paintings." Seth told him. "Luke and the guys from the soccer team put the furniture together."

"I know it's not as spacious as the pool house, but at least you're close to your family now." Summer told him.

"Thank you." Ryan said softly.

"So, come on. Tell us what were grandpa's conditions for him bringing you home." Seth said as they all walked back downstairs.

Sandy and Kirsten came back inside as they saw Ryan coming downstairs with Seth, Summer, and Luke. They had obviously already shown Ryan his new bedroom. They were talking excitedly with him as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"So sports, counseling, and no Marissa?" Seth was saying. "I think those are reasonable conditions."

"I'm just glad to be out of that place." Ryan told them.

"Hey. Where's grandpa?" Seth spotted his parents by the door.

"He left to give us some family time." Kirsten smiled.

"Right. We'll go, too." Luke told them and Summer followed him out.

"Come on, Ryan." Sandy smiled at him. "You know where the menus are. It's your choice tonight."

Seth followed him to the kitchen and watched him open the take-out menu drawer. Sandy and Kirsten watched Ryan intently all throughout dinner without letting him know that they were watching him. He flinched involuntarily every time he tried to move his left hand to try to take one of the take out containers. But he seemed to be holding something back as he told them what had gone on in the facility. They realized that Caleb was right; something else had happened that he didn't want them to know about. He definitely needed therapy to work through everything.

"That last roommate of yours sounds like he has a screw loose." Seth told him. "So what do you say we play some video games now?"

"We'll let it go tonight," Sandy told them. "Since it's your first night back. But your punishment from the school problem is still in effect for tomorrow."

"Let's go enjoy your freedom while you still have it." Seth told him and they went into the living room.

"So what do you think?" Kirsten looked at Sandy.

"I think something happened to him in there." He told her. "And if we don't take immediate action, he'll shut down on us."

"I'll call and ask the doctor if he can recommend any good psychiatrists."

Sandy and Kirsten watched Seth and Ryan play their favorite ninja game as they sat beside each other on the couch. They noticed a look on Ryan's face that they didn't recognize, and it scared them. They knew they had to take action as soon as they could.

A few hours later, Ryan and Seth retreated to their rooms. For a moment, Ryan was going to go out to the pool house until he remembered that he had a new bedroom upstairs. He slowly walked in and turned on the light as he took a better look at everything. He walked to the bookcase and saw his team photo from when he played soccer. There was also a soccer ball with signatures from all his teammates scrawled all over it. He eventually made it to the bed where he collapsed on top of the covers and fell asleep within minutes.

Sandy peered into Ryan's room when he went up to check on him and Seth before heading off to bed with Kirsten. He saw Ryan fast asleep still fully clothed on top of the bed covers. He silently walked in and proceeded to remove his shoes and put them on the floor just below the bed. He got a light blanket and covered him as Ryan stirred a little bit, but remained asleep.

"Good night, kid." He said softly. "You're home now, Ryan."

As he was walking out of the room, he could've sworn he heard a soft voice say.

"Good night, dad." Sandy turned out the light and closed the door behind him as he sighed deeply.

Maybe they were finally making some progress with Ryan. Maybe now he knew that they wouldn't give up on him; no matter what.

"Sandy?" Kirsten came up the stairs and saw him just staring at Ryan's closed bedroom door. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes." He followed her to their bedroom. "I think everything is going to be fine now."

Or so he thought…

TO BE CONTINUED...

AN: So what'd you all think? Please R&R!