A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! Here's the next chapter for you :)

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Chapter 10: Trouble with the Law

Tuesday morning, the day Christian was meant to go down to the police station with Carrick and Elliot, dawned bright and early. Christian woke up at about five-thirty that morning, and, unable to go back to sleep, decided to go for a quick jog with Taylor. Afterwards, he took a quick shower to wash the sweat off before throwing on a t-shirt and jeans and going into his study to get some work done. There wasn't much he actually needed to do today for GEH, but it was still early, and Ana and Lucia hadn't woken yet. He needed something to distract him a bit before heading out to the police station later that morning with his brother and dad.

Christian couldn't help but feel a bit anxious thinking about their trip to the station later today - he'd have to bring a lot of extra security, even when they were in the police station surrounded by cops. It still felt like they were taking a huge risk by going into that bad part of Seattle, but Christian had promised Elliot he would do it, so he was going to.

He is my brother, after all.

Christian thought about his relationship with his family before he had met Ana - his relationship with Elliot in particular was rather different since he had gotten married. He would've never gone out of his way to give moral support to his brother like this; while he honestly loved all his family members, he had never really felt comfortable doing stuff like this for them. Being a husband and a lover in addition to his usual CEO persona had truly changed him as a person. He had always been sort of resistant to that sort of change, considering his troubled past, but ever since he fell in love, Christian couldn't really bring himself to hate the new him. Life had gotten exponentially better since Ana came into it.

And he couldn't help but feel there were other, newer aspects to his life now that was beginning to change him for the better too…

"Knock, knock," Ana peeked into Christian's study, slowly edging open the door. Christian glanced up, and smiled when he noticed it was both Ana and Lucia, the latter holding tightly onto Ana's hand as they both stepped inside the room. They were both still wearing their pajamas, and Christian thought they looked absolutely adorable together.

Man I am going soft for those two…

"Can you say 'good morning', sweetheart?" Ana asked Lucia sweetly, walking her toward Christian's desk. Lucia grinned happily.

"Goo' moh-ning!" she said to Christian, and he and Ana beamed at her.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Christian smiled, and Lucia ran around his desk to climb up eagerly onto his lap. Christian allowed her to, feeling a strong sense of affection deep in his chest as he took her into his arms.

"…And good morning to you, Mrs. Grey," Christian smiled up at his wife, who was watching Lucia cuddling on his lap. She smiled widely up at her husband.

"Good morning yourself, Mr. Grey," Ana grinned, walking around his desk and settling herself on the side of Christian's lap that wasn't being occupied by Lucia. She leaned forward and kissed Christian sweetly on the lips, and Christian kissed her happily back. They were so wrapped up in each other that it wasn't until Lucia let out a squeal and a giggle that finally brought them back to reality. They couldn't help but look down and chuckle at how cute she was being.

"Are you going to be heading out to meet with your dad and Elliot soon?" Ana asked Christian, placing her hand on the nape of his neck and playing with the hair there. He let out a small sigh, wrapping an arm around Ana's waist as if wanting to hold her there.

"I can gather up all the security we'll need and meet up with them in about an hour. I'd like to get dressed and have some breakfast first, though," Christian said. He knew he had all those things to do, but he still pulled Lucia closer to him and kissed the top of her head, not wanting her to leave. Lucia seemed to understand, and she hunkered down and snuggled up against his t-shirt clad chest.

"We'll let you get to it then," Ana said gently, getting up from Christian's lap. He felt disappointed when she reached down and picked Lucia up off of Christian's lap, causing her to whine in protest. Christian shared her sentiment.

"Gail's making omelettes for breakfast right now," Ana said, hoisting Lucia up onto her hip. "You can get dressed first and meet us down there afterwards. Okay?"

"Okay," Christian nodded reluctantly. Ana smiled and pecked him on the lips before turning to walk out of his study. Lucia gazed at him from over Ana's shoulder with her large brown eyes - she reached out a tiny little hand toward him, and Christian couldn't help but smile and wave goodbye in response. She beamed happily back before she and Ana disappeared out the door, and Christian couldn't help but let the smile linger on his face.

Yep, definitely going soft for those two.

A couple hours later, Christian was dressed in a crisp gray power suit and was sitting in the backseat of his Audi R8, Taylor in the driver's seat and Sawyer riding shotgun. Ryan and Reynolds were following in another black Audi behind them, but that didn't exactly make Christian feel much better as they wound their way through this unfamiliar part of Seattle, the scenery around them significantly different than from where he normally commuted. The buildings around here looked derelict and dirty, their graffitied walls faded with age. Once or twice they saw a homeless person wandering around the sidewalk or sitting huddled in an alleyway.

They eventually turned onto a narrow, cracked street where the storefront sign for Lucky's bar was clearly visible. Christian stared at the building as they passed - it was strange to think that that was where Elliot had gotten stabbed, which had then led to all the events that occurred afterwards. Christian noticed the alleyway off to the side of the bar, too, and remembered that that was where Lucia had been found by the authorities soon after. She had been alone and huddled next to a dumpster, with barely enough clothing to keep her little body covered.

Christian felt his fists clench on his lap - his brother getting hurt in addition to Lucia being abused and neglected like that made the anger and indignation surge up in his chest like lava bubbling under the surface. At least Elliot was about to get justice for his own pain, and Christian could take a small amount of comfort in that. But he wanted to strangle the people responsible for hurting a sweet, innocent little girl like Lucia. It made him sick to his stomach to think that people would still do that to a child.

Fucking lowlife cowards…

"We're here, sir," Taylor finally announced a couple minutes later after parking on the street, and Christian pulled himself out of his thoughts to glance out the window. The police station looked a bit cleaner than the surrounding buildings, but not by much. Christian noticed a couple police officers in uniform standing around outside and talking to each other.

"Your father and brother are both inside, sir," Taylor added, and Christian nodded.

"Thanks Taylor. Let's go," he said, and the three of them finally stepped out of the car and began to move toward the police station.

The place was surprisingly dead, but then again it was only ten-thirty in the morning. A couple police officers sat behind the counter typing away at their computers, and a few people sat silently in the waiting room, one man dozing off in his seat with his beanie pulled over his eyes.

"Christian."

Christian turned and saw Elliot and Carrick walk toward him from the hallway on the other side of the lobby, accompanied by another police officer. Elliot had a clipboard in his hand, and his complexion looked green and sickly. Christian knew his brother was uncomfortable coming here under these circumstances, and immediately put a hand on his shoulder as soon as he was close enough.

"How're you doing?" he asked seriously, and Elliot pressed his lips together.

"I'm alright, all things considered," he said, attempting to sound upbeat. His expression didn't match his tone, but Christian could tell he was honestly trying to keep his chin up.

"Officer Schmidt and I are going to bring Darryl Credd out of his cell and into one of the interrogation rooms," the officer beside them said, and he pointed toward the bare-looking hallway they had just come from. "Mr. Elliot Grey and his lawyer are the only other people allowed into that room - anyone else has to wait outside."

Elliot frowned, looking like he wanted to protest, but Christian had already anticipated that as a possibility. He turned to his brother. "I'll just be over here in the waiting room - don't worry," he said. "I'm here to support you, no matter what."

Elliot looked at him before grimacing reluctantly."Thanks, man," he said sincerely. Clearly wanting to change the subject, he took a deep breath and exhaled it out. "…So how's Lucia?"

Christian couldn't help but grin and chuckle. "She's great. I'm teaching her how to play piano now, actually."

"Really?" Elliot asked, and he laughed. "Taking after her Daddy Grey after all then, eh?"

Christian gave him a commiserating look. "She's not my daughter, El."

"Not yet," he said knowingly, and Christian couldn't help but smirk and roll his eyes at him.

"So how's Kate doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

"She's doing alright," Elliot said, shrugging. "She wanted to be here with me today with you and Dad, but I wouldn't let her. It's way too dangerous in this part of the city, y'know?"

"Yeah, it is," Christian agreed. He knew he himself would have never brought Ana here - he loved her far too much to put her in this kind of danger.

"Sir, we're ready for you," the officer approached them again with a second officer in tow. Down the hallway, Christian could see a third officer leading the man he recognized as Darryl Credd down the hallway in handcuffs.

With one more glance and a nod from Christian, Elliot turned and followed Carrick and the officers down the hallway toward the interrogation room, ready to face his attacker.

Christian immediately turned to Ryan and Reynolds. "You two," he gestured at them. "Go stand outside the door of the interrogation room - get as close as you can, and interfere only if you have to. Sawyer, Taylor and I will wait out here."

"Yes sir," Reynolds said, and the two of them turned and followed the others down the hallway. Christian watched them walk away until they disappeared around the corner, and he finally turned away to walk toward the waiting room. Sawyer and Taylor immediately moved to stand guard from a short distance away.

Christian settled himself in the rather uncomfortable plastic chair a few seats away from a man in an ugly brown coat. Christian didn't pay him any mind as he crossed his ankle over his knee and pulled his BlackBerry out of his pocket, hoping to pass some time by checking through his messages.

It was mostly work-related emails he didn't have to deal with today - messages directed to Ros which he was CC'd on. There was a text with a picture attachment from Ana, and Christian opened it with a small smile on his face: it was a selfie of Ana lying on the couch in the great room, Lucia cuddled up against her shoulder. Both of them were beaming widely at the camera above them, and Christian couldn't help but smile like a loon as he looked at it. He quickly saved it and set it as his background wallpaper, happy at the prospect of looking at an adorable picture of his beautiful wife and Lucia every single day.

Christian finally looked up from his phone after several minutes, and noticed the man in the brown coat was staring at him.

Christian frowned at him for a second before turning back to his phone, trying to ignore him. After about a minute or so, he glanced back up again, and noticed the man was still looking at him.

"Can I help you?" Christian finally asked, unable to mask his annoyance. To his surprise, the man didn't look away - instead, he smiled widely at him.

"Sorry for staring," he said brightly. "You look kind of familiar to me, that's all."

Christian didn't know who the man was, so he chose to remain silent. The guy seemed to understand, however: "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything - I just have a good memory for faces, that's all." He tapped the side of his head, still grinning. "You look like someone who's often been seen in public, am I right?"

He technically wasn't wrong about that, but Christian didn't really want to engage this guy in conversation more than he had to. "I suppose so."

The man was still smiling at him. "In that case, how come the brother of a supposedly-famous guy like yourself is here today?" he asked innocently.

Christian's eyes immediately snapped up and he glared at at the man - out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taylor and Sawyer step forward, ready to help if this was going to turn confrontational. The man glanced around and noticed the two security guys, and quickly held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Whoa, hey - I'm sorry! I just heard you and that guy over there talking, and I just guessed he was your brother. It's not a big deal, I'm not going to use the info against you or anything…"

He sounded sincere, and Taylor and Sawyer slowly stepped back to their original positions. Christian continued to stare at the man suspiciously - he didn't look particularly special. He was dressed simply enough in a faded brown leather coat, black shirt, dark jeans and boots. He looked to be about Carrick's age, with his slicked back hair and and scruffy beard looking gray around the edges. His smile was friendly enough, but there was just a certain look in his dark eyes that didn't sit well with Christian. Perhaps it was just the fact they were sitting in a seedy police station which was making him feel so suspicious.

"You're pretty observant," Christian noted, giving the man a disinterested look. "I'm sure you couldn't also tell me why my brother is here?"

"Can't say I can," the man chuckled, smiling. "Although since I heard one of the officers mention Darryl Credd, I assume it's to do with that attack outside Lucky's last month. Am I right?"

Christian only stared at the man, not answering, but the man seemed to take his silence as confirmation.

"That's why I'm here too, actually," he continued, and he leaned in closer to Christian. "Credd's a tenant in my building - or he was at least - and since he's probably going to prison, I was hoping I could put all his stuff up for public auction. The money I'd get would cover some of the rent he hasn't paid, at least."

Christian only blinked, not entirely sure why this man was telling him this information.

"…Y'know, I didn't want to believe it was true," he continued, shaking his head morosely. "Credd… I mean, guy's a bit of a crackhead, sure, but I never thought he'd attack a person for no reason."

"So you think it was my brother's fault he was stabbed?" Christian asked, frowning angrily.

"Of course not - I'm just shocked, is all," the guy said without missing a beat. "From what I heard, the attack was unprovoked and pretty brutal. Not to mention the cops here apparently found a little girl in an alleyway near the bar where it happened…" He shook his head sadly. "It's a shame."

Christian felt his heart start to pound loudly inside his ribcage. Jesus, his guy knew about Lucia too? What didn't he know about this whole ordeal?

"You seem to know a lot about all this," Christian said, a vague note of accusation in his voice. The man understood what Christian was insinuating, but instead of being offended, he laughed.

"Oh, you know how it goes - keep your ear to the ground, and it's amazing some of the things you learn," he said with a cryptic wink. "And there's a lot of folks who'd pay out of pocket for some good information. Man's gotta eat, y'know?"

Christian wasn't sure what to say to that, and before he could think of something, one of the police officers approached the man, saying that an Officer Keely was ready for him.

"Alright, I gotta go," he said to Christian, getting to his feet. "Nice talking to you, Mr. Grey."

He walked away, and Christian could only stare after him, momentarily speechless.

What the hell had just happened?

"…Who was that man?" Taylor finally approached Christian, gazing after the guy.

"Not sure," Christian said, frowning. "He seemed to know my name, though. And he knew about Elliot and Lucia too."

Christian had honestly never seen or heard of this man before, and even though he spoke with a friendly air, Christian couldn't help but feel unnerved by how much information he seemed to have about him and his family.

"I'll look into him, sir," Taylor said, just as suspicious as Christian, and he nodded.

"Good."

A/N: Sorry this chapter was a little short, but I hoped you liked it anyway! If you did, leave a review :)

I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter of this story out - I'm working on a little Christmas surprise for you guys that'll be out later next week, and afterwards I'm going to be busy with a lot of holiday/family stuff. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up for you guys by the new year!

If you'd like to follow my pinterest board for this story, the link is www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/inalienable-circumstances/