AN: I am aware that I changed Ethan's name. The original plan was Evan but then I realized that McClure has Ethan and Nancy as a couple in her stories so I changed it to Ethan but it simply didn't work with my Evan person. And sorry for the long wait!
"Evan Collins." The thirty-six-year-old man introduced himself as he walked into the squad room after the guard who had let him in.
"Dwayne Pride, you probably know me as King though, and this is my partner Christopher LaSalle."
"Sean can't stop talking about you."
"He is a great kid."
"So is Dylan. Me and my wife are grateful each day for our boys." The protectiveness in Evan's voice wasn't hard to hear. "Speaking of, where is Dyl?"
"He went to the toilet."
"King assured me he wouldn't run now that you were on your way."
"Did he try to run?"
"Not yet."
"I take it you knew Dylan before me and my wife came into the picture."
"You could say that."
"It's probably best letting Dylan share his side of the story first, that is after all why we are here."
"Sounds good to me. I do want to thank you though for taking care of Sean. Meeting Donnie again meant a lot to him."
"We were happy to."
"Dad!" Dylan blushed as he realized he had spoken the words out loud. He had only called Evan that a handful of times before and wasn't sure how he or Evan for that matter really felt about it.
"Lion. Are you okay?"
"Yes sir."
"King says you have a story to tell us."
"Yeah." Dylan sighed. "You know me and Sean were separated before coming to you, right?"
"I do."
"…"
"Dyl?"
"I know you won't approve but back then it seemed like the only way."
"Go on."
"I did some stupid stuff. King and Chris were the ones who caught me."
"I know you have a record, I've seen it, but I've never pressured you to share the entire story. It might be time to do so now though."
"It's not easy to explain."
"I bet it isn't." Evan answered kindly, squeezing the teenager's shoulder gently. "But I think it might release some of the weight you carry on your shoulders. It's still up to you though as it is your story to share."
"Okay…" Dylan finally agreed and took a deep breath before starting to explain: "As I said me and Donnie were separated as soon as we were put into the system. Donnie was put into a foster family while I was placed into a group home. I tried everything I could to get us back together but nobody would listen. They had too much on their plates already. That's how I met Miles. Ryker, the only friend I had found in the group home introduced me to him after hearing about me and Donnie. Miles promised to get us back together if I did him a few favours."
"Breaking and entering as well as vandalism." Chris stated, once again showing how much he disapproved of Dylan's decisions.
"As I've said a hundred times; I had my reasons LaSalle. You might not like them, or agree with them, but they are my reasons."
"You are right: I don't agree with them, not the least." Chris and Dylan stared at each other, neither one wanting to break eye contact first.
"I'm going to need a bit more than that Dyl." Evan interjected.
"I was 14, young and stupid, but everything I did, I did for Donnie."
"Just tell us the story, son."
-Flashback-
"Dylan, through here!" Ryker called out in a whisper from around the corner. Carefully making his way over to his friend Dylan spotted the same entrance that Ryker had: an unlocked cellar window. Ryker took the lead and slipped through with a little difficulty. Dylan followed, having a far easier time getting through the window. He didn't eat more than he needed to survive and it was clear to anybody who took a closer look that his time in foster care hadn't done him any good. He and Ryker were the smallest in the gang and therefor the ones who usually took turns opening the door for the rest once any alarms had been taken care of. Trent and Miles were big guys: built to lift the heavy stuff. Zach and Seth stood guard a few hundred feet away, each covering a potential exit if something went south. Dylan followed Seth to the front door and grinned at his friend before opening the front door only to be held at gunpoint.
"What the…?!"
"Hands up and freeze." Dylan started doing just that, but seeing the man lowering his weapon slightly, he kicked out and hit the weapon hard enough for the man to lose his grip and fumble.
"Run!" Dylan was vaguely aware of the man swearing before starting to chase him through the house. Dylan climbed out the same way he had entered with practiced ease. Hearing the footsteps closing in he ducked behind what looked like a garden shed. Too bad for him it resulted in him coming face to face with a gun once more.
"Hands up, son. The game is over." Dylan casting a glance behind him saw the angry young man he had kicked pointing a gun at him as well.
"Don't even think about it." He warned tersely. "My patience is running thin. Move one muscle and I won't hesitate to shoot." Dylan slowly put his hands up. The younger man wasted no time roughly grabbing his wrists and handcuffing them tightly.
"NCIS. You are under arrest."
"Are you okay Chris?"
"I will be as soon as we get this one to talk."
Flashback ending-
"Not a great start." Evan observed.
"Not really no." King agreed. "To top it off Dylan decided to not say a word."
-Flashback-
"I'm done with him!" Chris slammed the folder down onto his desk before turning towards King." Black Eye won't talk and the only clue I even have to his identity is that the rest of them are foster kids. Everyone except the ringleader. "
"Black Eye?!"
"He has one. And besides it's not like he'll introduce himself anytime soon."
"Okay then. Black Eye won't talk but the others have said plenty. None of which I believe, but this was never our case Chris. They broke into our suspects house but they have no connection to our murderer."
"What are you saying?"
"The court will let them off with a slap on the wrist so it might be best to let this case be. Send the kids back to their case worker and hope we never cross paths with them again."
"Not every troubled kid is like me King. At least Black Eye will do it again."
"I'm not so sure."
"I am."
Barely three weeks later it would turn out that Chris was right.
"Looks like the Kid's tip paid off"
"Don't look too happy Chris. You don't know that Black Eye is with them."
"He is." Chris stated with certainty before kicking in the door and taking four kids by surprise. "You are under arrest. Again." Even though Chris was speaking to them all his eyes were trained on the redhead that this time instead of a black eye had an angry looking cut on his chin and a matching one on his left forearm.
-Flashback ending-
"Thinking back, you were hurt in one way or another every time we caught you. Did the break-ins really go bad that often?!"
"The first time I spoke up against Miles' plan. His two main underdogs didn't appreciate it. The second time Miles had gotten a hunch that somebody was feeding the Police intel. The most logical solutions in his brain was to cut us up until we confessed. He realized halfway through that he still needed us." Evan squeezed Dylan's shoulders tightly once more. He had hoped against hope that Dylan's wouldn't have encountered any abuse during his time in foster care.
"Why didn't you speak up, son? All they did was to hurt you."
"I don't know."
"I think you do."
"How many times did King and Chris catch you?" Evan asked once realizing that his teen was done talking.
"Three in total. Four if you count the time we slashed Chris's tires."
"I bet there are plenty more that we don't know about." Dylan squirmed uncomfortable. He knew he would have to tell Evan later. The older man had perfected the art of reading him like an open book the past three years.
"I for one would like to know why you slashed Chris's tires." Evan said, giving Dylan a look. Yep, he was doomed to have to explain himself later.
"It was after he caught us the second time. Miles was pissed and a pissed off Miles wasn't good for any of us so Zach came up with the idea to slash the tires on Chris's car."
"Why Chris'?"
"Because he is an ***"
"Language." Evan reprimanded with a hint of sternness.
"We all knew it was because of Chris we got caught, no offense Agent Pride, so we wanted some kind of revenge. One late night we snuck in here and I got elected to do it. So I got down onto my knees and slashed the first tire easily with my pocket knife. When I slashed the second one though it became painfully clear that we weren't unnoticed anymore. I was the only one caught though for some odd reason and it was me who had to pay the price."
"It could have been worse."
"I don't see how."
"How come Dyl was the only one caught?" Evan asked, having picked up on what Dylan was hinting.
"He was pushed down by Trent. Made to take the fall."
"What happened once he got arrested?"
"Dylan had to pay for Chris' tires by washing his car for a month."
"Before you ask; the Judge agreed."
"That doesn't sound too bad."
"We knew he was set up so we wanted to go easy on him."
"We also thought that if we spent some one on one time with him, he might open up."
"Too bad the opposite happened."
"You know why." Dylan accused.
"I don't." Chris stated firmly, looking confused.
"I think we need to hear the story boys."
-Flashback-
Dylan glared at Chris while washing the car he had slashed the tires of two days ago. The tires had already been replaced, but the scowl on Chris's face told him they hadn't been forgotten yet. Or forgiven for that matter.
"13, huh? Was that really so hard for you to tell us?!"
"It's not like you asked nicely." Dylan answered tensely. He knew what Miles would do if he found out he had talked to Christopher Lasalle and he wasn't about to pay that prize. They couldn't hurt Sean, that was the only good thing about it all. Miles could however make sure he and Sean stayed separated instead of getting the brothers reunited.
"You keep trying my patience boy and I'll show you mean." Dylan ducked his head and quietly continued washing the car. "Are you done soon? I don't have the whole day to sit here and watch you wash my car."
"Funny, here I thought you got paid and all for making other's lives miserable."
"You've made your own life miserable Black Eye, I had nothing to do with that." Chris turned his back towards Dylan at that point so he never saw the comment hit home. Dylan squeezed the sponge in his closed fist until it was all out of water, when it didn't help the least though he after checking with a glance that Chris still had his back turned, quickly wiped his tears and continued washing the car. Dylan eventually finished it without a word.
"Are you finished?" King had snuck up on him and Dylan didn't like it one bit.
"Yes sir."
"We'll take you back then. Hopefully you have learned something today."
"Trust me, I have."
A/N: Hope you guys liked it! A big thankyou to everyone who reviewed last time: your comments mean the world to me!