"Who's up there?" B.A. called up.

Slowly, they heard somebody step onto the top step, and slowly move down to the next one. They all stood at the door and watched and after a few seconds were able to make out the outline of the person coming down the stairs. A few more steps down and they saw that it was a teenaged girl dressed in a jean jacket, black pants, teal sneakers, and a ball cap, completely covering her hair.

"Who's this?" Hannibal asked.

"This is Chloe," Lorraine answered, "Her family used to live upstairs until the cops came. She's been hiding out in Jolene's apartment since she and her daughter came down to stay with us. Once the police saw the apartment was empty, they left and gave up on that one, so it seemed safe enough for Chloe to stay in until further notice." Under her breath she told Hannibal, "She was out when their apartment was raided, her mother and her twin brother were taken away…she hasn't spoken a word since it happened."

"How old is she?" Hannibal asked, his eyeballs never moving from the direct view of the girl.

"About 14," Lorraine told him, and again she murmured to Hannibal, "That's her brother's jacket and cap, she also hasn't taken them off since the cops took them away."

Hannibal looked at the girl and felt her eyes boring holes into him in return. Her gaze would be enough to put anybody in the ground if looks could kill, he could just imagine the horrors that she'd been through.

"Chloe," Jolene reached over and put her hand on the girl's wrist, "It's alright, these men are here to help."

She looked like she wasn't sure whether to believe that or not. Hannibal made all the introductions for the Team again for her benefit, but it didn't break any ice with Chloe. So then Hannibal suggested they get back into the Collins' apartment where they could talk better in private.

"I'm still not sure that I get what's going on here since if what you're doing isn't illegal, then why is everybody getting arrested for it?" he asked as they closed the door behind them.

"Well that's why officially they just arrest them for abuse," Jolene said, "That way they don't have to explain that part until it gets handed over to the courts, and apparently the judges overseeing the cases are firm believers in outlawing it."

"Well I'm still not convinced that that's what's going on, whatever is going on here has to be a front for something else," Hannibal said, "That's the only thing that makes sense."

"Nothing that's gone on here makes any sense," Lorraine told him, "My husband goes away on business a month ago, and everything is fine here…and right after he leaves, then all hell breaks loose."

"What do you mean?" Hannibal asked.

"Several of the women in this building who have kids are divorced," Lorraine explained, "And the others…somebody has to work and that's usually the husbands while the mothers stay at home with the kids. Every time that woman from children's services or the cops came around, was always when the husbands were at work and couldn't do anything about the arrest, they're not as inclined to bust into an apartment where the men are home, not yet anyway."

"Ah, and that makes you two a perfect target," Hannibal realized.

"Our number came up," Jolene said, "That woman came to my apartment a few days ago and then she came here to Lorraine's door a couple days ago."

"And once again this woman makes a big deal about she must get into my apartment and see my children alone and speak to them privately," Lorraine said, "And finally I asked her what probable cause she had for speaking with them…and what do you suppose she said? 'Huh?', that was it. This woman works for the people who decide which children stay with their parents and which ones get taken out of their homes and put in the foster care system, and she doesn't even know what probable cause is, if that's not scary, then I don't know what is."

"I see, and that's when your girls got the idea to find us and hire us," Hannibal said.

"Yeah," Lorraine said, "At the same time I was out trying to find a lawyer that I can afford to defend us when those pigs come busting in." She shook her head, "Can't find anybody who'll work less than $150 an hour, we can't afford that."

The bedroom door opened and Nancy said as the girls came out, "The only people who can afford lawyers are the people who don't deserve them." The adults turned to her and she said flat out, "Big as our society is on everybody having the right to counsel, the way I see it is if you're guilty you shouldn't deserve a lawyer to say you're innocent or it's not your fault, kind of defeats the purpose of justice, doesn't it? Especially if a lawyer's not going to bother finding out if his client actually did it or not, but law school doesn't teach you anything about honesty, does it? Only to win the case, at any and all costs."

"Smart kid," Hannibal noted to Lorraine.

"Oh we try," Nancy replied cynically, "So now that you know our dirty little secret, are you going to take the case?"

Even if Hannibal had needed to consider it, one look to his Sergeant and Captain would've answered for him. "Yes, we will. We'll stick around and make sure if anybody comes poking around here again, they don't get you or your kids."

"Well what do you know? I'm relieved," Viola commented flatly.

"How long were you listening?" Face asked.

"Since you started yapping," Daisy answered, "We tried to tell you…"

Nancy explained for her sister, "See we're very progressed, we don't believe in sending kids out of the room to discuss certain things, we prefer getting it all right out in the open so everybody can hear it out and put in their opinions on the matter."

Hannibal chuckled at her comment and said, "Very smart kids…and cute too."

Nancy scowled at him.

"If we're going to take this job, we're going to be here for a while," Hannibal told Lorraine, "Are you well stocked up on food?"

"Uh…" Lorraine shrugged, as flustered as she was at this moment about the whole thing, she couldn't tell him anything with certainty.

"Face, go check the fridge," Hannibal said.

"Right."

"You," Hannibal told Chloe, and pointed to the couch, "Sit down."

With a scowl on her face and without a single sound, she slowly complied. She walked over to the couch, but once there she planted her feet, crossed her arms to her chest and glared at him. Hannibal gave her a small shove and she fell back against the couch cushions without a sound. Hannibal turned to Murdock and told him, "Find a bell to put around her neck or something, she's too quiet."

"Well, Hannibal," Face came back from the kitchen, "For three people there's enough food for a few days but for…" he started doing a head count, "Four, seven…nine…ten people…we're going to need some supplies."

"Alright," Hannibal turned to Murdock and said, "Captain, you're in charge of getting groceries, and since these young women are footing the bill on the job, take them with you and let them decide what to get."

Murdock nodded, "Sure thing, Colonel."

Chloe jumped up from the couch and the four girls jumped to a stiff and straight 'at attention' stance. Murdock took the lead and barked, "About face, forward-march!" and led them out the door.

Hannibal closed the door behind them and said to Lorraine, "I had him take them out of here because I want to talk to you about what's going on, and I can tell that whatever you're going to say is something they don't need to relive anymore than they already have. They're nice kids and don't deserve to go through anymore hell than can be helped, no matter how progressive this family considers itself to be. Now you said earlier that if the police were going to come after anybody first, it would be you for the ruckus you raised with the school, would you care to give us the details on that now?"

Lorraine looked like she'd rather do anything but. But she stood her ground and she told Hannibal, "It's a long, sordid history…Nancy's not my first daughter, I have another…she's grown up and gone now…she went to public school, I went to public school, and nobody liked me, and Mr. Smith when I say nobody, I'm not merely talking about the other students. The teachers didn't like me. My first grade teacher was a mean old woman who hated kids and she knocked me down a set of concrete stairs because I didn't act like all the other kids in her class. She wanted everybody to be alike, act alike, all do their projects alike, if you were any different, you paid dearly for it, and I was the only child she had who wasn't interested in being just like everybody else. And it didn't get better as I got older. In high school my teachers always told me to give my answers to the star quarterback so he could pass his tests so he could stay on the team, because they knew that I was smart and I would pass so I must have the right answers. Cheating is prohibited when it's anybody else but when it's an athlete then that is not only acceptable, it is required. Now, I thought it was just me…I thought my children would have it better than I did, different teachers, a different generation…" she shook her head.

"It got worse?" Face asked.

"Oh yes," Lorraine nodded, "My oldest girl, Charlotte…" she groaned as she recalled, "About the time she was 12 I got a call from her teacher, her male teacher, informing me that it was not my place to decide when she needed to wear a bra, that that was going to be his decision to make."

Hannibal let out a low whistle and said, "Now that's asking for it."

"Believe me if I could've ripped his teeth out of his mouth and handed them to him, I would've," Lorraine told him, "And don't think I didn't take it up with his superiors…" she rolled her eyes, "Everybody had the same story, he's a teacher and therefore he's a good person and therefore he would never do anything wrong, therefore I was making too much out of something and they advised me not to make anymore trouble for that 'nice man'."

"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Face said with a grimace and a groan.

Lorraine was as deadpan as they came as she told him, "If I were kidding you'd know it. It's just like anywhere else in the world, like hospitals that know their nurses are killing babies but instead of doing anything to stop them, just send them on to another hospital to do it again. Just like churches and religious schools where they know the priests and the nuns are abusing the children, they send them to other churches to work with more kids thinking they'll stop doing it, just like any other crooked position of authority in this world, all they do is cover each other's butts more times than a diaper company."

Hannibal managed a small chuckle and said, "I'm just guessing you got through your younger years with that charming personality of yours."

"And sore knuckles," Lorraine answered as she held up her fist, "I got in touch with some of the other mothers and asked them if they'd had similar conversations with the teacher. You know how it is when you can't help feeling bad for the others in the same trap but you've just got to get your own self out first? Well, I couldn't get anything done with that pervert so I yanked Charlotte out and transferred her to another school…she wound up transferring 8 different times before she graduated."

Hannibal couldn't resist asking her, "Was an all girls' school out of the question, or do those have men on the staff as well?"

"No, it wasn't that," Lorraine said, "One teacher complained she was too fast compared to the other students, another complained that she wasn't sociable enough, they also complained that she asked too many questions."

"Say what?!" B.A. asked, "What do they think they're doing there then? That's what school's for."

Lorraine ignored his question other than to roll her eyes and shake her head. She told Hannibal, "It got so bad she wanted to drop out, I wouldn't let her, until she graduated every day of that last semester was practically a death match to get her to go, and I can't say I blame her but she needed to get her diploma."

"No argument there," Hannibal replied, "How long ago was this?"

"I had her young," Lorraine said, "Nancy was a baby by the time she graduated and moved out. I know I made a lot of mistakes with Charlotte and I regret that every day, but what's done is done and all I could do was vow to do better by my next child, and I've sure as hell tried."

"You mentioned that you started her out in public school as well?" Hannibal asked curiously.

"Oh yeah," Lorraine answered in a tone that was almost humorous despite the seriousness of the conversation, "This wasn't my first idea, though looking back now I wish it was, could've saved all of us a lot of trouble."

"Why, what happened there?" Face asked.

"Oh a lot of it was the same…see I taught Nancy how to read when she was…I guess about preschool age…so when I get her ready for kindergarten I find out not only is she already so far ahead most of the other kids, but because her birthday comes after August, she'd have to wait until the next year when she was 6 going on 7 to just start kindergarten."

"That's always been one of the more idiotic rules in the American school system," Face commented.

"Anyway," Lorraine continued, "I said to hell with that, and just pushed ahead to get her enrolled in first grade. Of course everybody had a big fit about that too, what did I think I was doing enrolling a 5-year-old in first grade? She already knew a lot of the material, she was able to keep up. But then the teachers started complaining again, she read too fast for the others to keep up, she got her work finished first while everybody else was still doing theirs."

"I thought that's what teachers wanted in students," Hannibal said.

Lorraine snorted and replied, "Shows what you get for thinking, don't it? And then…I got divorced, and Nancy had to pay the price for that one too. It was one thing when the kids were harassing her for it, that's the way of the world, children are cruel, that's a given because either they have to be trained to know better or they were trained to be that way. But then the teachers started harassing her for having divorced parents as well."

"What!?" B.A. asked in disbelief.

"The school she was enrolled in at the time wasn't exactly what you'd consider a religious or even a very moral school, but all the teachers made us a big joke, like how stupid was I that I couldn't keep a husband? If half of those people would get out of Egypt and stop being a bunch of Queens of Denial, they'd all wake up and get divorced as well, they're already miserable and running around on each other and everybody knows it, but because they wear a public veneer so well and are in all the public high society clubs and organizations and are members of every single thing in the upper class parts of this city and have money, nobody's going to acknowledge it so they look so much more mightier than I or anybody else who divorces their piece of dirt spouse," Lorraine explained, "And what could I do? You better believe I gave Nancy full permission to beat the daylights out of every single kid who gave her trouble for it. But then when the teachers also got in on the action, I had to yank her out."

"And when you remarried?" Hannibal asked.

Lorraine let out an exasperated huff, "Daisy was always getting into trouble because she asked too many questions or she wouldn't sit still during class, she also had trouble in math and grammar classes, but the teachers said it wasn't their job to show her what to do and besides they already had their hands full with too many children already, and barely enough desks, hardly enough supplies and nowhere near enough time to deal with them all. They were perfectly willing to let her slip through the cracks just because they had their hands full with other kids that they also ignored when they needed help. Exactly what the hell was I supposed to do? Everywhere you look the schools are getting overcrowded."

"What about private schools?" Face asked.

She glared at him and asked, "You know anybody who can afford those? I don't. We can barely afford this."

Face gave her a very perplexed look and asked, "How much does it cost to homeschool your kids?"

"Roughly $900 per kid per grade year," Lorraine answered, "So that in itself would come to $1800 for these two for one year, except in 1 year's time they can probably get through close to 2 years' work so that immediately comes to $3,600 in one year."

"And that's why your husband's off working in Baltimore right now," Hannibal deducted.

"Yes, we need the money if we're going to be able to afford the next semester for these girls," Lorraine told him, "They'll get the summer off, I can go out and get a job as well by then, so in the fall we ought to be pretty well off for it…assuming we make it that long without the cops busting in here."

"They won't," Hannibal told her.

"How can you be sure of that?" she asked.

"It's our specialty," he answered.

"What about you, Jolene?" Face asked, "How'd you decide to do this?"

"I know…knew…I knew Chloe's mother, she was the first we knew to start homeschooling, she told us about it."

"Alright, why did she start?" Face wanted to know.

Jolene looked at him with an exhausted expression but told him, "Chloe and her brother, Derrick…"

"Eh?" Face asked.

Jolene mockingly returned his confused stare and remarked, "Don't you think twins ever want to be as much individual as they can instead of being clones of one another? Dressing them alike is bad enough, but naming them to be almost identical is about the worst thing a parent can do. Anyway…when they started kindergarten they kept to themselves for the first week and didn't make much effort to make friends with the other kids. And after that first week the teacher decided to separate them and put them into different groups to force them to interact with the other kids. It didn't work, they just kept to themselves. So then it was decided, based on how they acted the first week in a strange, new environment surrounded by strange people they had never seen before, that they were both mentally retarded and therefore must be assigned to the retarded groups of kids, where they would be stuck for their entire elementary school years. This being despite the fact that they were not retarded and were in fact very intelligent for their ages."

"Hmmm," Hannibal turned to Lorraine, "Nazi Germany indeed it seems."

"Unfortunately they went through the same thing with Viola…these teachers think that all children must come into kindergarten happy to be away from their families and their homes and everything they've known their whole lives, to spend all day in a strange place surrounded by strangers, who they've been trained their whole lives not to talk to and not to go with, and that they must make friends with all the other kids, and if they don't, then they're weird and there's something the matter with them and they need to be bunched in with the slow kids or the ones who are damaged because their mothers exposed them to harmful substances before they were born. And you tell me how that's supposed to be fair to the children in question? Especially the ones who are not slow or damaged, but are perfectly normal and intelligent, and that their only fault is that they are shy and take their time adapting to their new surroundings?" Jolene asked.

Hannibal turned to Face and asked him, "Well Lieutenant, is the picture starting to get a little clearer for you?"

"Yeah I guess you could say that," Face replied, his face feeling a bit warm as it presumably turned red.

"And what about now?" Hannibal asked the women, "Since you made this switch, how are your kids fairing now?"

"Well until this trouble started, they loved it," Jolene answered, "No more stupid teachers, no groups to decide where everybody belongs based on how fast or slow or smart or stupid they are. They do the same kind of work that the public school kids cover from 8 to 3, there's no homework, so when their friends get home they can play with them just like the 'normal' kids do…they're not penalized for not being just like everybody else or for being too curious, it's not perfect, that's for damn sure, but it's a hell of an improvement over how things were before."

"And now," Hannibal said, "Somebody wants to take that away from all the families in this building who are doing it, the question is why? And is it just here? Or are there other people throughout the city who have gone through the same thing?"

"I don't know," Lorraine told him hopelessly, "I just don't know."

"Well…" Hannibal said in his 'don't worry' tone, "We'll find out."

Murdock whistled to himself as he reached up to the top shelf he was passing and grabbed down a box of cereal and put it in the cart. So far this had been one enlightening trip to the grocery store. He'd managed to get the other three girls to open up and be more verbal about a few things, but he still hadn't been able to crack so much as a smile out of Chloe, let alone any words. They'd been at the supermarket for 20 minutes, and had already accumulated enough food to feed the 5th Marine division, so hopefully there was also enough for the 10 of them to get by on for the next few days. The pilot knew perfectly well the groceries in themselves were going to exceed the total fee they were paid by the girls, but that was irrelevant, they didn't need to know that. He turned and started to say, "How is it that…" and stopped when he realized only Chloe was following him. He stopped the cart and asked her, "Where're the others?"

To which Chloe merely pointed back the way they'd come.

Murdock huffed and turned on his heel, but then stopped, and asked Chloe, "If I bring you with me to look for them, are you going to take off the minute my back's turned?"

Chloe just shrugged in response.

"Stay here," Murdock told her, figuring it was an idea just crazy enough to work. And he went back the way he'd come to track down the other girls.

The grocery store wasn't particularly crowded but he had to trace his way back through two more aisles before he found Nancy and Viola in the potato chip aisle. He didn't say anything as he closed the gap between them, so as he got closer he could hear what they were saying to each other, as they seemed to be discussing a bag of cheese puffs.

"There's no cheese in this," Viola said.

"Mm-mm," Nancy replied negatively while mimicking drinking something.

Viola felt the contents through the bag and replied, "Corn meal, salt, and yellow and red food dye."

"That's what we call cheese back home on Earth," Nancy responded like a smart aleck.

Murdock smiled in spite of himself. Insofar as he could tell there wasn't anything wrong with these kids, and certainly nothing to suggest abuse or neglect. Why anybody would want to take them away from their parents was beyond him.

Viola looked past Nancy and saw Murdock coming at them and she commented to Nancy, "Look what the wind blew in."

Nancy turned and looked to him. One thing about it, this was the first time since they'd met the girls that any of them really seemed to be having any fun. If what they said was true, and Murdock had no reason to believe it wasn't, he could only imagine what life had been like for them in the past few weeks.

"Where's your sister?" he asked Nancy.

"Checking out the magazines, she'll be here in a minute," she answered.

Now that he'd found them, he decided to try again and ask what he'd started to earlier. "Are there any boys living in the building with you guys?" he asked.

Nancy's overall facial expression curled under into a sour one as she answered, "There were."

"Oh," Murdock responded as the realization hit him, "They all got taken away too?"

"The ones whose parents didn't move out in the middle of the night did," Nancy explained, "It's practically just us left now."

"I see," he said.

For some reason, Murdock flashed on in Peter Pan when it was explained girls were too smart to roll out of their cribs when the nurse wasn't looking, which explained why only boys populated Neverland. Huh, he grimly thought to himself, lost boys indeed, he wondered what happened to them all? And, he wondered if they would be able to undo the damage and get everyone back to their homes?

"Come on," he said, "Let's go find the others."

Viola was right behind him but Nancy stayed back for a moment. When she wasn't looking, Murdock grabbed her by the arm and said, "Come on, Cowboy," as he pulled her along to catch up with the others.