Chapter 5

Child Protective Services

The Professor fell asleep in the waiting room with his children in his arms. They were already feeling exhausted with the stress of everything, and as far as the girls were concerned, it was way past their bedtime anyway. Blossom and Buttercup rested their heads on their father's chest, and they soon fell asleep to the sound of their guardian's heartbeat. It was a soothing sound for the two of them and before they knew it, they were dead to the world.

That is until the entire Utonium family got a pretty rude awakening by some people belonging to an agency that the Professor himself thought he would never ever have to face again.

He received a gentle little shake from a hand on his shoulder. The Professor blearily opened his eyes. His children, woken up by the arousal, shortly did the same. The Professor let a yawn.

"Yes?" He asked sleepily, rubbing a fist to his eye before seeing who was in front of him clearly. There was a man standing in front of him who was wearing a uniform—a police uniform. And a lady right beside him carrying a clipboard and dressed business casual as far as her attire.

"Hello, are you Mr. Professor Utonium?"

"Why yes!" The Professor replied, slightly startled at their presence. He found himself more alert now. "Who may I ask could you be?"

"Well Professor," The woman stuck out her hand for shaking. "My name is Hannah-Barbera, a social worker, and this is my partner, Officer Jones. We're with Child Protective Services and we got a referral from the hospital concerning an injury sustained to your daughter?"

The Professor briefly found himself in shock. He couldn't speak, blink, or breathe for the next several moments. The lady who'd introduced herself as Hannah gave him what she was sure was probably a professional, reassuring smile, but her kind expression did nothing to settle the Professor's unease.

To him, he was simply reliving a nightmare. No, he thought to himself. This couldn't be happening again! Not when I tried so hard to do everything right! I'm supposed to be a good parent! How could this be happening to me?

Memories played through his head...

The sound of a doorbell ringing at his mother's front door. His mother going to answer it, and being greeted by a worker of the CPS agency. A male social worker and a female cop.

"May I help you?" Little Utonium's mother asked somewhat incredulously. It was clear to him that this was the kind of visitor she had not really expected, nor wanted to be there at her doorstep.

"Hello, Mrs. Utonium? We're with Child Protective Services and we got a referral from a teacher about a child that came to school with bruises over his back?"

Little Utonium had never seen his mother's face grow so pale as it did in that moment when she opened the door to let in this kind of stranger.

"John?" The ten-year-old was standing right beside her in the doorway and he carried a bewildered and slightly petrified look on his face at the strange man's presence, especially since he was accompanied by a police officer...

Shaking his head to get himself out of his past, the man forced himself to return the woman's gesture for a handshake almost with his body on autopilot. Blossom and Buttercup were more wary, and looked absolutely bewildered at these strange government people being here.

"Good evening to you, Professor." Officer Jones greeted him now, tipping his blue hat to him. The Professor gave him a nod, but he felt like he had a golf ball in his throat right about now.

"Hello, kids." Mrs. Barbera said warmly to both his daughters, Blossom and Buttercup, who were looking at her and her partner with uncertainty and worry

The Professor almost unconsciously tightened his hold on the girls, just the same as his mother did to him all those years ago...

He felt his mother wrap an arm around him, almost protectively, and draw him into her side.

"Yes, I'm aware that John had the bruises. He already told me and his teacher what happened. He was playing in the bathtub and he got the bruises while he was fooling around-"

He shook himself out of it again. "I... I understand why you're here." The Professor answered with at least an attempt at sensibility. His voice still came out an octave too high though and he couldn't hide the distress he was feeling even if he tried to.

Yes, he knew why they were here... and after his brain put the pieces together, he knew how too.

"Now if you guys will excuse me for a moment, I need to make a quick phone call and I'll be right back!"

The nurse. The phone call. After she had taken a look at Bubbles's genitals with her special camera and commented on the significance of her injuries down there. These were the people she had been calling all along. The Professor nearly felt betrayed... until he realized this was her job. That nurse was a mandated reporter and if she saw something fishy, she had to say something about it. By law. He couldn't say he'd do any different if he were in her same position.

But dear god this was scary... what in the world was he going to do now?

He decided not to panic. Panicking would only make things worse. The Professor made a swallow, even though his mouth felt so dry. "You have your concerns... and I'm grateful to the hospital workers for raising them. But I can assure you right now, even before you say anything, that I would NEVER do ANYTHING to hurt my beloved daughter."

There were tears standing in his eyes but he fought not to let them show.

"We know, Professor." Hannah-Barbera said gently. "We're only here to investigate. We're not here to accuse you or to make you feel like you're a bad man."

The Professor nodded his head. They at least sounded reasonable.

Blossom and Buttercup however weren't on the same page of understanding.

"Child protective services?!" Blossom repeated with incredulity. "Protection from what?!"

Buttercup couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, what's the deal with the 'protecting'? We're the Powerpuff Girls! We don't NEED any protection!"

"Settle down, girls." The Professor warned them, even though inwardly he agreed. This shouldn't at all be happening... but since it was, they couldn't stop it. All they could do now was try to keep a level head as it happened.

"They're not here for anything bad."

"Then why are they here?!" Buttercup demanded, her voice rising with her outrage.

"They're not here to do anything bad. They're here to make sure you're safe." Professor Utonium explained to them.

"Safe?"

"Yes, Buttercup." Ms. Barbera said gently. "Every child deserves to be safe."

"But we're already safe!" Blossom insisted. "We don't need any protection!"

"They don't know that, honey." The Professor softly admitted. "They need to take the precautions because a child's well-being could be at stake if they don't."

Ms. Barbera nodded at this. She was glad to have their father there to explain things so well.

"That's right, Girls. That's all we're here to do. I know this situation isn't fun and I know it's very difficult for everyone involved, but if we can all work together to get this whole thing sorted out, you'll find that things will work out exactly as they need to be."

Thank goodness for her. She really seemed to have a knack for talking to children. Then again, that was her whole occupation. She did this kind of thing for a living, so of course she would have to be adept at it.

Ms. Barbera took a seat now, to the left of the Professor. Officer Jones took a seat to his right, mainly near the children. She prepared herself to explain some things to him. Things that would be happening.

"Now Professor, I know you provided a history about the mechanism of injury to your child that matched with the patient, but due to the significance of said injury, the doctors here would like our child abuse pediatrician and forensic investigate team to take a second look."

The Professor breathed out his nose, closing his eyes in anguish.

"What we're going to do now is have our CARE team have a look at Bubbles to rule out the possibility of abuse, and the same might be true of your other children, just to make sure that they don't have any signs of injury, maltreatment, or neglect themselves."

From what she could see though, they already seemed well taken care of. This was only to be sure though. This was something that needed to be followed for protocol.

"There are going to be some more officers coming in here to question you a little more on what happened to your daughter and you're going to be given some forms to fill out with questions concerning previous injuries to her genital area, possible abuse or neglect and any behavioral issues, okay?"

"Okay." He didn't like it, but he had to go through this.

Barbera closed her eyes for this next part. She opened them again, lacing her fingers between each other on her lap. "Now as far as what needs to happen now as far as these lovely children are concerned..." She gestured at a wide-eyed Blossom and Buttercup who still hadn't gotten over their previous trepidation and fear. "My partner Bigby is going to separate them from you for a while so he can take them to a child advocacy center where we'll have trained professionals there who will both give them a separate interview."

An interview...

"I understand that, but we'll need to come into your home to take a look at the child and we'll need to have an interview with him separately to get all the facts."

Little Utonium was bewildered, hiding himself behind his mother's leg. "Interview? What the heck's he talkin' about, mom?" Weren't interviews reserved for grown people when they were trying to get a job, or celebrity people when they were on talk shows and TV?

"Is this really necessary?" The woman asked in rising distress. "I thought we had already gotten this sorted out back at the school! John even said that he told his teacher he was just fooling around! He never disclosed any form of abuse!"

Abuse? What did she mean by that? Little Utonium had never heard that word before. He had no idea what it meant. But if his mother's reaction was anything to go by, it couldn't have meant anything good.

"What do you mean 'separate us'?" Blossom asked with in a panic, clinging tightly to her father in protest with Buttercup doing much of the same. "Where are we going?"

"You're not going far." Chuck reassured the two, holding out his hands in a calming gesture. "We just need to question you away from your dad for a while so we can get the whole story of what happened to you and your sister back at home to cause her injuries."

"Can I at least be with my child while you're asking him all these questions?"

"No, Ms. Utonium, I'm afraid not. It's so we don't feel that the child is being threatened, or coerced, or influenced into giving answers that may not be necessarily true."

"No way!" Buttercup refused. "We're not going with strangers!"

The Professor closed his eyes, taking a breath before he spoke up. "Girls, go with the officer." The man finally decided. It was hard for him to do so, crushing almost, but he knew it had to be done.

"But Professor!"

"It's okay, Girls." The Professor blinked back his approaching tears before his children had a chance to see them. "Not every stranger you encounter is bad. These people have talked to plenty of kids just like you and their job was always to help, never to hurt. I need you to trust me right now and I need you to trust them too."

"Why do we even have to tell them what happened?" Buttercup complained. "Didn't you already tell the nurses that Bubbles fell on a beanbag?!"

"Yes I did Buttercup but it's not enough to hear it from me. They have to hear about it from you because you were the ones who were actually there. Your word is just as good as mine. Perhaps even better."

"But what did we even do?!" Blossom whimpered, unable to associate any form of questioning from a police officer with anything she could see as good. Only criminals got interrogated by police officers. The Powerpuff Girls weren't criminals, were they? They were the good guys!

"You haven't done anything wrong." Officer Jones reassured them. "This isn't happening because you're in any kind of trouble."

"That's right, honey."

"Is the Professor in any kind of trouble?" Buttercup questioned anxiously.

"No sweetie, he's not. At least not right now." Hannah answered honestly.

The female officer who was there to accompany the man from CPS held out her hands in a calming manner and tried to talk to Utonium's mother soothingly.

"Ma'am, I understand why this would cause you a good deal of stress. Trust me, none of us want to have to be here right now, but we need to do this so we can ensure the safety and the well-being of the child. That's all we want to do."

Mrs. Utonium started to cry and she held her son with both arms while she did this. Little John was left feeling very uncomfortable while she did this.

"You're not gonna take my son, are you?"

Take?! Take him where? Where was he going? Why would they need to take him?

"Absolutely not." The female officer shook her head. "We never take a child out of the home unless we have a specific court order signed by the judge itself to do so, and not unless we have reasonable suspicion beyond a single doubt that the child would be in imminent harm if he remained with the parent in the home."

"Alright then." His mother took a breath that John could feel throughout his entire body as she pressed him against it. "Please, come inside. We'll cooperate with the investigation."

"Girls, look at me." The Professor turned his children around to face him on different sides of his lap. "I understand that this is a lot to take in right now, but I need you to hear me when I say this. There is nothing more important for you to do right now than to tell these people the truth. They want to make sure your sister is safe and the only way they can do that is if they have all the facts. Do you understand? No lies."

"Yes Professor," The two children eventually chorused obediently. They were miserable but they were also willing to listen.

"Okay, now give me a hug."

They leaped up in his arms to do so, hugging their tiny limbs around his neck with gusto, and he held on them tightly as they did so like he never wanted to let go. He was afraid what would happen to them if he did. That he'd never get to see them again...

But that was just him being paranoid and he knew that things would work out fine... hopefully.

"We love you, Professor."

"I love you too, Girls. So much, alright?" Hold it together, J. Hold it together. Don't let them see you fall apart.

He gave them one final kiss on their foreheads before he sent them away, then he left them for the child protection team to sort out. He trusted them to take care of them.

The Girls hesitantly took both of the officer's hands and then looked back at their father every second they were led away, the Professor keeping up an expression of strength and support for the Girls while they could see him down that hall...

... and then breaking down in private when they were finally gone.