Part 2

Vin woke abruptly in his bed. The bunk beds had long been dismantled. He lay in his twin bed. JD had already left for school. The teen was surprised he had slept through the noise, especially after glancing over to JD's bed. It was piled with clothes; one sneaker was on the bed, the other on the floor. A few books and CDs were intermixed in the mess.

Tanner hadn't been to school in three days. It had been that long since the incident, since Vin had pushed Bobby Crew and he had hit his head. Tanner looked at his hands. If only he would have just walked away, but Bobby had gone after JD. Vin was his protector, and it all sped out of control with a forceful push. Bobby tripped, and his head hit the curb with a resounding smack. Within 10 minutes the police and ambulance were at the scene and Vin found himself calling his father in a trembling voice. There had been a hushed conversation in the principal's office, and all the teen wanted was for Bobby to wake up.

Chris had been making him keep up with his schoolwork at home, which was difficult without the structure of the classroom. But, his father promised he would return to high school soon, and Vin wanted to be ready. He pushed off the covers and made his way downstairs. He was surprised to see Chris sitting on the couch. He'd expected his father to be at work, and a note on the kitchen table filled with chores. Vin took the last few steps slowly in apprehension.

"Vin, come here." Chris patted the seat next to him on the couch. With trepidation Tanner made his way through the family room. Larabee put his arm around his son's shoulder. "He died this morning." The blond man whispered.

Vin buried his head into his father's chest with a rush of emotions. Thoughts of school and another stigma being attached to his name scared the young teen. It had taken so long for him to fit in, and now it would all change. "Dad, what's going to happen to me?"

Chris pulled Vin's face up to look into his eyes. "Nothing, Vin, I'll make sure of it." Larabee hugged his son tightly.

The effect of reassurance from that hug had long since evaporated. Vin never thought he would end up in front of a judge at court. First, there had been the hearing in front of the family court judge and Chris said not to worry. Larabee had told him that everything would be fine. But, it wasn't fine and now there was a trial.

Tanner looked over his shoulder, as he had done every five minutes, to gain some comfort from his father. Chris nodded at him and gave an encouraging smile. The teen picked at his finger nails. He had already caused one to bleed, but at least it gave him something to do while everything was buzzing around him.

Buck also gave the teen a nod, and waited for him to turn away before he whispered to his friend. "Chris, that's not right. "

Larabee replied quietly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the judge. "I know, Buck. I've been in court too. He should be objecting."

Chris had heard the damaging testimony, making his son seem to be a violent child with the propensity to hurt someone. Vin's lawyer should be objecting so that the judge would not take the information as part of his decision. Thankfully, the judge was calling a recess for the day.

Once the bailiff opened the gate, Vin ran through to his family. "Dad, is the judge going to believe what that guy said about me?" Vin gestured to where the judge had been seated.

Wilmington ruffled the teen's hair. "Of course not! You're a great kid, everyone knows that."

Vin shrugged his shoulders, trying to swallow back the nausea that was building.

"I'll meet you two at the truck. I want to talk to Martin for a minute." Chris said, as he pulled out two dollars from his wallet. "Go pick out something at the vending machine for the ride home."

Tanner fingered the money, not wanting food, instead wanting to know that when this was over, everything would be fine. Bobby would be alive, and Vin would be at school. He crumpled the money and put it in his pocket, letting Buck guide him out the doors.

Jacob Martin, the only attorney Larabee could find to take the case, was packing some paperwork into his briefcase. "What's going on?" Chris growled at the man.

Martin removed his glasses, then slipped them back on in a nervous gesture. "I think the case is going well."

"Really?" Larabee stepped in closer so he was eye to eye with the thin, balding man. "Because the prosecution is making my son look like a violent kid and that couldn't be further from the truth."

Jacob looked away, quickly shutting his briefcase, attempting to go around the ATF agent. "Agent Larabee, you hired me because I am a lawyer." Again Martin touched his glasses. "As a lawyer my emotions, unlike yours, are not clouded. They are presenting their case and we will present ours and I am sure everything will turn out okay."

And so the next day Chris reassured Vin that in the end the judge would make the right decision and they would put this all behind them. Larabee noticed the bleeding skin around the teen's fingernails. The ATF supervising agent tried to give his son hope and faith. The team wanted to be there to support the teen, but Ezra was undercover and Nathan and Josiah were needed to support him and gather the intelligence.

All Vin needed was his father, who he did have hope and faith in, until the verdict came the next day.

"Guilty of involuntary manslaughter."

The screaming that was only in Vin's head streamed from the teen's mouth in a desperate howl. "Dad? Dad!" He clung to his father until the bailiff carefully peeled away the grip that the son had on the father.

Chris reached out to grab his son, Buck held him back with tears in his eyes. "Let him go! He's my son!"