Alex slowly walked up to the cage careful not to wake the sleeping child. She yanked on the lock but it wouldn't budge.
"Maggie I need you to go and get Kara to break the lock." As Maggie went up the stairs, they creaked just enough for the child to wake up. Alex immediately jumped into action, "sweetie my name is Alex I work with the FBI, I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now." But the child shriveled into a ball and repeatedly said, "please don't hurt me." Kara came down seconds later and broke the lock with ease.
As the door opened, the child swiftly moved into the corner, shrinking further into himself, "please doesn't hurt me!" the child cried. Kara and Maggie stood frozen while Alex slowly walked into the cell and sat on the floor in front of the bed.
"You're safe now we are not going to hurt you," Alex said but the child didn't move. She took out her ID and slid it onto the bed, "I promise I won't hurt you, I'm here to protect you." The child slowly turned their head to see the badge and quickly swiped. The child turned to face Alex still gripping the bear tightly. They looked up to see Kara and Maggie in the back ground and quickly shifted back. Alex sighed and turned to Kara and Maggie, "could you guys wait upstairs?"
Kara nodded but Maggie didn't budge, "please Mags there is no one else around, I'm safe here. We won't be too far behind."
"Alright but if you're not up in twenty minutes I'm coming back down. Love you," and they left leaving Alex with the child.
"Sweetie it is just you and me know, nobody else. I promise you are safe with me and will never be hurt again." With that the child slowly turned around again to stare at Alex.
"Hi," Alex said with a smile on her face.
They looked at her for a few seconds before whispering, "hi," in a raspy voice.
"Does your teddy bear have a name?" Alex got a better look at the child to determine that they were a boy who was about two years old.
"Teddy."
"That's a nice name. What's your name?"
The boy didn't respond but moved closure, wincing as he moved.
"Are you hurt? I'm a doctor."
The boy tilted his head, "doctor?"
Alex nodded, "I can help you and keep you safe."
"safe?" the boy responded with wide watery eyes.
Alex smiled and opened her arms, "yeah sweetie safe. Can I hold you?"
The boy tried to move but whimpered and Alex jumped into action carefully lifting him so into her chest and began to rub his back.
"You're safe with me. No more hurting," and the boy broke sobbing into Alex's chest. She cradle and rocked him while whispering in his ear. Eventually the sobs turned into whimpers until his breathing evened out and fell asleep. Alex was so focused on the boy she didn't feel the tears that were running down her cheeks. The boy was so light and was trembling. Once he fell asleep she carefully stood up and made her way up the stairs.
Thanks for reading. LMK what you think!