DECEPTIONS

By Spense

AUTHOR'S NOTE: First, thank you all so much for the marvelous reviews. It's really very gratifying. I had some real doubts about this story, thinking it was too heavy handed. Boomercat convinced me otherwise (which is why it's being posted in the first place – you can thank her for that), and now the rest of you are doing the same.

Secondly, all of you who reviewed the last chapter pointed out something that I had completely missed. You are indeed correct that Dr. Jorgenson should have had a witness in the room while he examined Alan. This was strictly an oversight on my part (not a part of the plot) and had I realized it at the time, I would have written a wittness in. So, to those of you who gleefully seized on that circumstance as an out for the Tracy family, I'm sorry. It was not meant to be that way, and will be corrected if this story is ever posted elsewhere. Please don't blame Schaeffer for not seizing the opportunity - it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place - it's my fault, not his. I really thought I had caught all of those. And now, onward to the next chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Late afternoon the next day, a still subdued Alan sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, reading a book. He was trying desperately to ignore the urgings of the Jorgenson family to involve him in trimming the Christmas tree. The doorbell rang, and Dr. Jorgenson headed to answer it. He did his best to ignore everything altogether and concentrate on his book. He'd been cold all day, and his stomach was still refusing to completely settle, so he was being careful.

"Alan," Dr. Jorgenson's voice broke in to his musings. "There's someone here to see you."

Alan groaned to himself. Nobody probably that he wanted to see, more than likely. He carefully marked his page, then looked up with an obedience he didn't feel. There was the social worker, what was his name? Alan didn't really care. What did they want now? Mr. Bradley was there, Dad's friend, probably here as his attorney. Well, that was definitely an improvement. At least one friendly, familiar face. Then a third person stepped into the view as he handed his coat to Dr. Jorgenson. Alan froze, then launched himself off the couch and bolted across the room.

"JOHN!"

John grinned at the fast moving streak of his little brother, then hugged him hard. "Hi ya squirt! It's good to see you too."

Tina, watching from across the room, caught her breath at the change in Alan's face. Suddenly the quiet, obedient, impassive teenager was full of life. His expression was vibrant and open, and he was clearly ecstatic at seeing his brother. 'My word . . .' She looked over and met her husband's gaze, his look reflecting the same thoughts she had.

John grinned and ruffled his brother's hair, laughing as Alan pulled away, annoyed. "How are you?"

"Fine," Alan answered absently. "Is Dad here? Do I get to go home now?" He asked eagerly.

"Sorry Al. Dad's not here – just me. And no, you can't come home yet." John's heart broke for all of them as Alan's face fell. Trying to distract him, he nodded at the book on the couch Alan had vacated. "What are you reading?"

The distraction worked, only because Alan let it. John was under no illusions. His brother was very bright – not always focused, but defiantly bright. Leading John over to the couch, the two sat down, with Alan making sure he was up close to John. John slid an arm over his shoulders, and asked quietly, "How are you really, Al?"

Alan ignored the question as he watched Tina deftly shepherd her daughters out of the room and return to join her husband, the social worker, and Mr. Bradley at the table, giving the brothers at least an illusion of privacy.

"Let me guess, supervised visit?" Alan asked, jaded.

"Got it in one," John sighed.

"Is Dad okay?" Alan asked.

"What do you think? No. He's not. He's worried sick about you. You're living with strangers that he knows nothing about, and he can't do anything about it the moment. He gave me a whole laundry list of things to look at and to ask you."

Alan nodded thoughtfully. That sounded about right. "Yeah, tell him I'm fine. I'm trying to do what Scott told me. To play it cool, and not make any trouble."

"You?" John snorted, and Alan elbowed him in the ribs in response.

The light moment passed quickly. "Seriously, Alan, good job. That's the best thing you can be doing right now. We're all working hard to get through this. Schaeffer's been on it the whole time. You know how tenacious he is. It's personal to him too, you know that."

Alan nodded. He did know. The Bradleys were good friends of the family.

"Now how about these people?" John asked. "Are they being good to you?"

Alan shrugged. "I guess. They're nice enough. But I just want to go home, and I really want to see Dad."

John hugged him closer. "Trust me, he really wants to see you badly as well. Schaeffer's working on it. You know he's the best."

Alan nodded.

John sobered again. He had another item that his father wanted to know about, and he wasn't sure how to frame the question. "Dad got a report that you'd been through a couple of physical exams. How was that?"

John could feel the shudder run through his brother as Alan looked away. "Al?" he whispered, bringing Alan's gaze back to him.

"It was awful," Alan answered, almost inaudibly. "They . . ." he broke off as embarrassment and humiliation at the recollection of the procedures took precedence, and looked away again, but not before John had seen the blue eyes fill with tears. Alan's fragile self-respect would not let them fall.

John allowed him that small comfort, and didn't push the issue, and just settled for hugging him closer. "It's okay," he whispered, feeling terribly inadequate. Right now Alan needed their father to help him deal with this – not his brother.

"Why did they . . ." Alan began, then broke off again. He didn't even want to talk about it to John.

Well, that answered the other question, John thought. Alan didn't realized what they had been looking for. Thank heavens for small favors. Alan didn't need to know what his family had been suspected of right now. They'd save that explanation for later.

Alan looked back at him, emotions quickly under control again. John wasn't sure he liked how fast Alan was able to bottle it up. That was an aftereffect that did not bode well for the physical or mental health of his normally temperamental and expressive brother. He steered away from that thought, and concentrated instead on the words that Alan was speaking.

"But I didn't lose it, John," Alan said with brittle pride in his self-control. It was obviously the one thing he felt he could be proud of right now. "I kept it together."

Might have been better if you hadn't, John thought sadly. What a thing for a kid to have to go through without any family around for support, and absolutely nobody close enough for him to feel comfortable with to talk to about it. Once again he was grateful to see that the Tracy toughness ran true in Alan. They could put him back together once they got him home. John refused to entertain the thought that that might not happen.

"Tell Scott for me that I'm doing what he said," Alan continued.

John forced himself to smile. "I will, Al, I will." And Scott may well be kicking himself from here to kingdom come after I tell him.

"Alan, I don't have a whole lot of time here, and several of the others wanted me to give you some messages from them." At Alan's devastated look, he continued quickly, imparting the messages from not only his brothers, but Lady Penelope and Parker, as well as the other inhabitants of the island.

John made sure he kept his voice well down when he imparted Gordon's message. They didn't need any more misunderstandings right now. Gordon had wanted Alan to know that he'd blacken his brother's other eye if he didn't get back soon to pull his weight around the island. That got the expected and welcome laugh from Alan, as well as a response to be sure that John called Gordon an unprintable name for him.

The mood was significantly lightened as the brother traded small talk. John stored away small details about Alan, his reactions and his surroundings for the grilling from his family that was sure to follow his arrival back home. It was bound to make the CPS interviewers look like an amateurs.

When John was told that they needed to leave, he handed Alan a stack of books from his personal library that he'd brought with him. He knew that even one small piece of home would be helpful to his brother and might bring a small measure of comfort.

Like Scott, John thought that walking away from that house, leaving Alan standing on the porch with strangers, was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He watched from the car as Tina reached out to put a hand on Alan's shoulder, and his brother shift away from the touch. Once again, John wasn't sure he liked the expressionless mask that settled over Alan's face. He knew his father wouldn't.

Tina and Trevor Jorgenson had their own concerns regarding the child in their care. Alan stood on the front porch watching the car until it had completely vanished from sight in the dark.

"Come on Alan, it's time to go inside," Trevor urged.

"Yes sir," came the polite, emotionless reply as Alan turned towards the door.

Tina didn't try to touch him again. She just exchanged a concerned glance with her husband as the three of them joined their daughters back in the family room.

Tina noticed that Alan had headed back for the couch, but ignored the book he'd been reading in favor of one of the volumes his brother had left, and put on his headphones.

She listened absently to her daughters chattering about the good looking Tracy son who had just visited, but was more focused on rearranging her thoughts about the situation in front of her. She had a feeling that things might not be as Sylvia and Melinda believed. She watched as Alan ran his fingers slowly over his brother's name on the bookplate in the front cover of the expensive, leather bound edition of a science fiction classic – 'Stranger in a Strange Land' by Robert Heinlein.

Everything she had seen spoke of love and caring between the two brothers, not of the abuse she'd been led to believe. She'd heard about the interview with John in a call from Sylvia and Melinda, and had heard their thoughts that John was actually the cause of Alan's broken collar bone at the time, not a car accident. After what she'd see today, Tina was not so sure. Alan's normally closed emotions took on a different light after having witnessed his open enthusiasm with his older brother. This had her very worried indeed. It was too early to tell, and she definitely needed a whole lot more information, but this could well be a child traumatized by the very system that was supposed to protect him – not by his family.

Lifting her eyes, she met her husband's gaze once again, and saw her revelation and concern mirrored in his own. Good lord, what was actually happening here?