I was excited to see all the views for this story and thank you to those you reviewed. It means a lot to know what your thinking.
This story is a continuation of It's All Relative and Times They Are A Changing but if you haven't read them it's okay as this story is a stand-alone story.
A big THANK YOU to AuggieDeeksNico for her amazing editing skills and don't forget to read her story MMA
Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with NCIS Los Angeles. I only own my original characters.
Chapter 11
Will came awake slowly. His broken left arm throbbing. He tried to move but he was sitting at a weird angle. It was too dark to see around him but he could tell that his legs and arms were tied. Something or someone was leaning on his other arm and he had a massive headache. He couldn't seem to shake whatever was keeping him down. Before he could figure out more he drifted back asleep.
He woke again, not sure of the time but the pain in his broken arm and headache was still there. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized he was sitting on a cold cement floor. The smell was an overwhelming mixture of gasoline, grass clippings and pee.
The last thing he remembered was going to the washroom at the school dance. He was having a great time hanging out with Scott and his friends. He and Patty had even danced a group dance together! That had gotten him a thumb up from Marty. He delivered a drink to Patty then excused himself. He felt like he was on cloud 9.
Wherever he was, he was not alone. The boys were temporarily blinded as a door opened. He could hear footsteps towards him and then a flashlight was shown in their eyes. There were six boys altogether. All six were sitting with their backs against the far wall of the building; hands and feet tied. Will's stomach rumbled, the last time he ate was at the dance and he wasn't sure how long ago that was.
It was then he realized it was Tommy that was leaning against him. He pushed on Tommy and he straightened himself up the best that he could. Two men were at the other end of the line, shining a flashlight in each boy's eyes and talking quietly to each other.
"Hey" Tommy yelled at the two men. "I have to pee."
"Well that's too bad." One of them yelled back.
"I'm not going to pee my pants, if that's what you think." Even though he was tied up, Tommy the terrible was making an appearance.
"Are you threatening me?" The bigger of the two stopped what he was doing and came over towards Tommy.
"If you think I'm..." Tommy began.
The bigger man hit Tommy on the side of the head with the end of his flashlight and Tommy slumped towards Will. One of the smallest boys began to cry and no one said a word, shocked at what just happened
The man turned away but quickly turned back moving to stand in front of Will. Will turned his head away but the man slowly lifted him to his feet, steadying him as he swayed a little.
"Georgie, look who I found." Will looked up into the face of his cousins.
Georgie stepped closer lifting Will's face with his hand. "Will? How did you get here?"
The two men forgot about the others and pulled Will out of the building and into the night.
"Phil, how are we going to explain this to Dad and Uncle Alex?" Georgie asked his brother.
"Are you kidding me? We're going to be heroes. Dad has been looking for Will for months and we found him!" Phil slapped Georgie on the back and put his arm around Will. "Come on kid; Whew! You smell."
Hours later, Will listened closely for any noise coming from the living room. After his cousins found him in the garage, they brought him into the main house.
His father wasn't there but Phil and Georgie promised that he would be back soon. Not something Will was looking forward too. Prior to tonight, Georgie had never paid much attention to him. Phil, on the other hand, was always at the house. Phil brought presents for all of them, played basketball with him and played games with Jon and Maggie. However, when Will's father was around Phil disappeared but when he was gone on his business trips, Phil came back. Looking back, Phil was one of the few friends his Mom had.
He tentatively opened his bedroom door. All he could hear was the white noise coming from the TV. Sometime in the middle of the night, his father came charging into his bedroom. The door slamming against the bedroom wall, waking him from his sleep. Turning on the light, the older man came over to the bed and pulled Will into a rough embrace. He smelled of alcohol and from the way he was moving, it was obvious he was also on some kind of drug. Will learned at the homeless shelter the "look" of someone on drugs. Before he thought that was just the way his Dad looked normally.
"It's so good to see you son." A little too loud and a bit slurred, Will was pulled off the bed.
Phil had wrapped his cast in plastic so he could have a shower earlier and helped him into a pair of his pj's.
"Your clothes are too small." Turning suddenly towards his brother who was standing in the doorway he asked. "Why are his clothes too small on him? Get him some that fit." He demanded and let go of Will. Will fell against the end of the bed and watched as Alex and Will's father left his room, seemingly forgetting about him again.
Not sure what to do, he slowly closed the door and climbed back into his bed. He lay there for a while. He could hear the TV blasting in the living room replaying a basketball game someone must have DVR'd. The voices of his Dad and friends getting louder the more they drank. At some point he drifted off again but the worry that his Dad would come back was there. He also thought about Tommy and the other boys in the garage. He couldn't do anything for them right now but he would try and talk to Phil in the morning.
He carefully walked slowly down the hallway and peeked his head around the corner. He wasn't sure who was with his Dad and didn't want to run into any of them. But as he turned the corner, the smell of beer and farts greeted him. His Dad, his Uncle Alex and two other men were passed out on the sofas in front of the big screen TV. From the sounds of their snoring, they were sleeping deeply and Phil and George were not around.
He returned to his room and grabbed his backpack off the floor. Still in the same place he left it all those months ago. He went to Maggie's room and grabbed a few of the stuffed animals that she like and stuffed them into the bag. In Jon's room, he found a couple of his favorite books, and into the bag they went. Passing by his room again, he realized that there wasn't anything from this life he wanted and continued to his Mom's room. He picked up a bottle of her perfume, light and flowery. She no longer smelled like that and it made him sad. For better or worse, they had everything they wanted and needed here. It made him angry now that he knew how his Dad had treated her, a prisoner in this beautiful estate. He went into the ensuite he wrapped the perfume in a face cloth so it wouldn't break. He also grabbed most of the jewelry from the dresser. Looking around the room, he wanted to take more to her but he didn't know if she really wanted any of this, reminders of this life.
Leaving his Mom's room, he returned to the living room. No one had moved and he felt the coast was clear. He left the room, picking up his pace as he came to the back hallway. He opened the door to the outside and the early morning air made him shiver. Three cars and a golf cart were in the driveway. Looking around he found a screwdriver on the ground. Setting down the backpack, he walked towards the cars. He stabbed the tire of the first car, a dark blue late model SUV. Nothing happened. He was using his wrong hand and it wasn't as strong as his good arm but it was in the cast and no use to him. He tried again with a little more strength. This time the screwdriver pierced the rubber but got stuck. He pulled with all his strength and when it finally came out it, he started to fall backwards. Catching himself, he continued to the other cars, a older grey F150 and a silver Range Rover, slashing at least two of the tires on each. Luckily, the golf cart had the keys in it. Pocketing the keys, he throws the backpack on the floor in the front. He stopped for a moment to see if anyone in the house heard him but all he could hear where the early morning birds chirping.
The door to the garage was unlocked when he tired it. His Dad must be pretty confident to leave the door unlocked or stupid, he wasn't sure which one. He flipped the overhead light on and saw the boys cringe and tried to huddle together.
"It's okay, it's me." Will say softly, as he approached, the boys recognized him. "I have our way out of here but we have to move quickly."
He untied one of them and asked him to untie the others. He noticed that Tommy hadn't moved since he came in.
"What happened to him?" He asked to no one in particular.
"He hasn't moved much since he was hit in the head with the flashlight." One of the older boys answered. Will move closer to Tommy, first untying his feet then his hands. The smell of urine was strong and he had to turn his head.
"Tommy, Tommy." He shook the boy a couple times. He was finally rewarded when Tommy turned his head towards him.
"Montgomery, get away from me." Tommy pushed Will away and tried to stand up. He fell back to his knees, holding his head with both hands. Will reached to help him up but Tommy slapped his hand away again.
"We don't have time for this." Will was getting tired of Tommy's attitude. He pulled Tommy up and towards the garage door. He looked back and the rest of the boys were following him.
Will stopped at the doorway of the garage and looked around. He stepped aside and the boys exited.
"Everyone into the golf cart." Will quietly instructed the boys and started toward the golf cart. He turned to find Tommy still standing outside the doorway. He ran back grabbing Tommy's arm. It was then that he noticed the dry blood on the right side of his head and how pale he was. He helped the other boys into the cart and then turned his attention to Tommy.
"I'll drive." Tommy announced to Will swaying a little as he walked.
"Yeah right, you can barely walk."
"I said, I was driving." Tommy started to the driver side of the cart.
Will had enough of Tommy trying to bully him.
"Get in now or I'm leaving you here." His voice low but tinted with a mixture of anger and frustration. "You have no idea where we are. You're not going to bully me Tommy. I'm in charge now."
Tommy looked in shock that anyone, especially Will would challenge him but he climbed into the passenger side of the cart. Will sat for a moment; he wasn't sure what the best way to leave the estate was. He could drive across the lawn and try to get out the back gate or he could just drive down the driveway and out the main gate.
He started up the golf cart, checked the gas level and looked back at the boys in the back seat and Tommy beside him. It frightened him that these people were depending on him to get them out of there. He put the cart in gear and making up his mind, he started down the driveway.
Marty pulled into the empty clinic parking lot, easing Sophie's F150 into a spot. Sophie had worked the night shift last night. He volunteered to pick her up so Callen didn't have to get Noah and Olivia out of bed at this early hour. He had laughed at Sophie when she told him the truck had heated seats. Still LA was a desert and it could get cold at night and he appreciated the heated seats now. He had a few minutes before Sophie was finished with her shift so he turned the radio down and leaned his head back into the head rest letting the heat from the seats relax him.
He hadn't slept much lately. He ran every moment of the dance in his mind over and over again, trying to figure out what they missed and what they could have done differently. On top of that Will's mother, Sarah and Tommy's mother Marci, both turned to him for comfort and answers. While he could offer some comfort, he didn't have any answers. And then there was Kensi. For whatever reason, he felt she was pulling away from him. He sighed deeply...
A knock on the truck window jerked him out of his sleep. He looked around wildly and was relieved to see his old friend Stan, a former L.A.P.D. detective on the other side of the window. He and Stan had gone through the Academy together and rose through the ranks roughly at the same time. While never working undercover together, Marty had great respect for the man. After Stan had recuperated from a career ending shot to the knee, Marty was instrumental in getting him the job of head of security at the complex. Rolling down the window, Stan greeted him with a smile.
"You know Marty; you have a perfectly good couch in your office to sleep on."
"I know." He replied with a laugh. "Shit, how long have I been sleeping?"
"I've been watching you for about 45 minutes."
"Watching me sleep? Stan, my man that's kind of creepy."
"I'm creepy? What about the time you..."
"Hey, now!" Marty laughed.
Stan stepped back as Marty opened and closed the truck door. He slapped Stan on the back as they started across the parking lot.
"Listen buddy, we've know each other for a long time. Even longer then you've been married." Marty put his arm around his shoulder. "So, I gotta to ask you to help cover me with Sophie."
Stan moved to the left so Marty's arm slide off his shoulder, "Look man, I'd like to help you, but I have to work around her every day. I don't want to get on her bad side, if you know what I mean."
Marty turned around and started walking backwards with his arms spread wide. "Dude, I had your back so many times at the Academy." He stopped as he reached the sidewalk, looking around. "What is that noise?"
"Other than your excessive blabbering?" Stan passed Marty, his limp not very pronounced this morning.
"Serious Stan, what is that noise?"
"Okay, there was an accident on the PCH this morning and the minor cases where sent here, Sophie has been busy. You're safe this time." He paused. "I hear it now."
Looking around they tried to determine what direction the noise was coming from.
"It sounds like a golf cart coming from the basketball court area."
The two men turned to see the golf cart emerge from the morning mist. The cart came to a jerky stop. Will partially fell out in his haste to get to Marty.
"Marty, Marty!" He cried as he ran towards him. Tripping over his feet, he began to fall but Marty was able to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Will, what happened? Where did you come from?"
Unfortunately, Marty didn't get any answers right away as Will passed out in his arms.
