Figuring It Out

"Ok, my babies. Have you both got your lunch?" AJ asked, walking Raimy and Vivian into school.

"Yes, did you cut off my crusts?" Vivian questioned.

"I sure did." AJ smiled, "Can we make sure that you eat both parts of the sandwich? And stay hydrated. There's two bottles of water in your bags."

"Two?" Raimy questioned, "I can't drink two."

"Well the second one is emergency water." AJ shrugged.

"What's emergency water?" Vivian shook her head.

"In case the zombies come for us." Raimy turned to her sister as Vivian's eyes widened.

"Water won't protect us from zombies." Vivian exclaimed.

"If we run out of water we'll die, though." Raimy said.

"I was more thinking if… you guys lose the first bottle or… I don't know, you're really thirsty." AJ nodded as they both nodded slowly, "But yeah sure, zombies might come." She said.

"Well then you have to pick us up right away if they do." Vivian nodded.

"Oh, I will." AJ nodded, "Me or your dad will pick you guys up."

"What is James doing today?" Vivian questioned. She always curious about her brother's whereabouts when they went to school. It was a sweet sisterly thing.

"James is gonna come to work with me." AJ nodded, "You'll see him later." She smiled, cupping Vivian's cheeks, "Go make it a great day, ok?" She said, "I love you both." She said, leaning over and kissing them both on the forehead.

To have two children in school felt so surreal. She really felt like her babies were growing up so much. It was terrifying yet beautiful to see them become their own people.

"Bye, mommy!" Vivian exclaimed, running off ahead as Raimy waited for a little while.

"Hey, what is it?" AJ shook her head, "You gotta go or you'll be late." AJ smiled, "And tell your friends all about that goal you scored in your game." She said as Raimy just nodded.

"Bye, mom." Raimy said, walking away as AJ watched them find their sets of friends, smiling to herself. How she would have loved to have been a child and had the experience of going to school and meeting different people. Seeing her children have that freedom was the best part about being a mom.

Raimy found a few of her friends by the class door.

"Your mom is so cool, Raimy." One of them said as they all looked over at AJ who was walking back to the car and putting her sunglasses on, "She's wearing sweat pants. My mom doesn't wear sweat pants." Her friend said as Raimy shrugged.

"She's like a spy." Another one said as Raimy turned around and watched her mom get into her car, "I wish my mom was as cool as yours."

"My mom isn't cool." Raimy scoffed. No nine year old was ever going to agree to a statement like that.

"She is." Her friend smiled, "She lets you pick your clothes out too." The girl smiled as Raimy looked down at the clothes she was wearing.

"I thought everyone's mom did that?" Raimy questioned.

"Mines doesn't." Her friend sighed.

"Mine either."

"Mine are always laid out for me." Another piped up as Raimy looked at them all, "And my mom would never let me wear what you wear." She said, referring to Raimy's ripped jeans and a band t-shirt which was tucked in.

"It's just jeans and a t-shirt." Raimy shrugged, not realising how much her parents really did cooperate with her, even at just nine years old. It made her feel cool and that was rare for a kid to feel.

"It's cool jeans and cool t-shirts." One exclaimed as Raimy just smiled.

"Hey, are we getting anywhere?" AJ asked, walking into the office and taking her coat off where Punk had joined them for the day after realising his supposed mother was photographed outside one of the hot spots they had found. A bad hot spots.

"I can't get anything on this woman." Lily shook her head, "You're sure that is definitely her name?"

"It's the name on my birth certificate. Hilary Brooks." Punk nodded.

"Why would your mom be going into a house like that?" Lily questioned.

"Lily, I don't know my mom. I've never met the woman so… I don't have those answers for you." He said as Lily just nodded slowly.

"I say we just go to the house and take a look at the activity coming in and out." AJ shrugged, "And if we see her we can just… I don't know, grab her and question her."

"And what if I don't want to see her?" Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him.

"I can… I can go with Lily or myself." AJ nodded to him softly, "Hey, if you want nothing to do with this then that's fine but… this was a part of our job anyway. We need to get into that house and figure out what the hell is going on."

"What do you think is going on in it?" Punk asked them as Lily looked up.

"Uh…" Lily began, "So… you get your different types of camps, they're more common in foreign countries where they can get away with it easier." Lily nodded, "What we've been finding recently is houses. Houses with twenty to thirty girls there and they're put out for prostitution every night and brought back." Lily nodded, "It's the same treatment just in a different way." She nodded.

"Sometimes they get put on the streets or they get set up in motels." AJ nodded, "There will be a gang or one man in charge of them, in charge of the house. He'll take the money from the guys… customers, whatever scum you want to call them." AJ said, "And that's how it works. But we've been in touch with safe houses. They find these girls in the streets and they take them to safety." AJ nodded.

"And why the hell would my mom be going into one of these houses?" Punk shook his head. He was trying to get used to just how his mother looked, and seeing her in a picture so recent, but he was also confused as to what the hell she was doing.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head, even though she had a few ideas, she just didn't want to say. She knew he would be thinking the same thing no doubt.

"This might not even be your mom." Lily shook her head, "I mean just because it was left for you with… Phil's mom written on the back, that's not real proof that it is. Someone could be messing with you." Lily suggested, "Isn't she too young to be your mom?" She figured.

"Well first, Lily, I'm not that old." He scoffed, "And second, she had me when she was young, like… sixteen or seventeen." He nodded.

"Oh." Lily realised, "She kinda looks like a junkie, doesn't she?"

"Yeah ok Lily." AJ scoffed, "Just… keep looking for activity on that house." AJ rolled her eyes, "Come with me." AJ tugged on Punk's arm and walked into her private office where she took personal phone calls, meetings and done her own work.

"Maybe it isn't her." Punk nodded, trying to convince her, "Maybe Lily is right, it might just be someone playing a game." He shrugged.

"Who would want to do that, though?" AJ questioned, "I think we should… I think we should try and figure this out. For your own conscience more than anything else." She nodded.

"I don't want anything to do with her." Punk said, almost in slight fear. He'd lived a life without parents and the thought of having them, even just one, terrified him for some reason. He didn't want to know the woman.

"Ok, then I'll… I'll figure it out. I just don't want to be hiding it from you. And it's been a while since we got to work together." She sighed, taking his hands in hers as he nodded, "When it comes to it, if we do find her, I'll… I'll take charge of you, you don't have to deal with her personally." She nodded, "I mean, this is still my job, this house… I need to help those girls who are in there… and actually maybe getting to your mom might help us."

"I don't know, it's just crazy. To see her." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Don't listen to Lily. She doesn't look like a junkie." AJ scoffed, "She's actually really pretty." She nodded, "We all have our past, me and you above anyone else can… can relate to having terrible pasts and making terrible mistakes-"

"We never gave our kid away." Punk said, "She did."

"She was sixteen." AJ said, "What would you do at that age with a baby and no support?" She asked him, "You don't know unless you've experienced it." She said, "And hey, I'm not saying you can't be mad, you can." AJ nodded, "But I don't think we can just ignore it." She said as he nodded.

"You're right." Punk nodded.

"We can do it together." AJ said, "I know this place is crawling with women but you can come by here and we can work on this thing together."

"Hey, I'm here." James piped up, sitting over on the small office couch in the corner, playing with his trading cards and action figures as AJ and Punk turned around, "And I'm a man." He told them as Punk smiled and turned to AJ.

"He's a man." Punk nodded to AJ.

"Of course he is." AJ nodded with a smile, "Baby, why don't you go into mommy's bag and get your lunch out. I packed you some sandwiches." AJ told him as James nodded, jumping off the couch and heading over to the bag.

He normally joined AJ at work because they didn't have anyone available to babysit him. He was so well behaved that it didn't even make a difference. He was happy sitting in the corner playing with his toys.

"Oh, mommy." James rolled his eyes dramatically as he pulled out his lunch from the bag as AJ and Punk looked over, "Mommy, why'd you do that?" He asked.

"What did I do?" AJ shook her head.

"You've gave me Vivian's lunch." James said, "And you've… the crusts are all cut." He groaned.

"Oh, Vivian will kill me." AJ sighed, collapsing her head against Punk's shoulder as he smiled.

"It's not the end of the world, James." Punk smiled over to his son.

"It might be." James sighed.

"It will be when Vivian gets a hold of me." AJ said, "I think I'm getting worse at this mom thing." AJ laughed to herself.

"Hey, you are not." Punk said, "You're the most amazing mom ever. I wish I had you as a mom." He nodded.

"You know some people have weird fetishes like that?" AJ questioned him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well I didn't mean it like that." Punk rolled his eyes, "A mom, like you. Not you in the flesh." Punk said.

"Just shut up." AJ recommended, putting her hand over his mouth as he nodded.

"Mommy." James huffed again as AJ was about to kiss Punk, pulling back and looking over, "This doesn't taste nice." He gave her feedback, "We need better bread." He advised as AJ just smiled and nodded.

"Noted." AJ nodded, turning back to Punk who just smiled, "You don't have to do this. I can.. I can take care of it."

"You know how nervous I get when you tell me you'll take care of things?" Punk teased as AJ smiled, "No, I… I can help. You're right, if it comes to it, I don't need to talk to her or see her, but I can help. It'd be ridiculous of me to… to ask you to keep it all to yourself." He said as AJ nodded.

"It's gonna be fine. Hey, she might not even have anything to do with the house." AJ shrugged.

"She was walking into it." Punk groaned, "It's not a good sign is it?"

"Hey sister!" Coleen burst through the office door as AJ and Punk turned around, looking on at her with her sun hat on and sunglasses, wheeling her suitcase behind her.

"Aunt Cole." James smiled, running over to his aunt and hugging her tightly.

"Oh, hi my favourite best friend." Coleen smiled, crouching down and hugging James, kissing his cheek.

"Someone's got the honeymoon glow." AJ smiled, walking over and giving her sister a hug, "Did you come straight from the airport?" She laughed.

"Patrick dropped me off. I figured you'd be here." Coleen nodded, giving her a tight hug as she took her hat and sunglasses off, "Phil." Coleen nodded, moving on and giving her brother-in-law a hug.

"You have a nice time?" Punk asked her.

"Amazing." Coleen nodded, pulling back from the hug, "Peace and quiet, sun, cocktails, sex-"

"Yeah, ok." Punk rolled his eyes, "We get the idea."

"What about you guys? What's been going on here?" Coleen asked.

"Not much peace and quiet here." AJ said, "We've got a bit of a situation." She admitted.

"What kind of situation?" Coleen asked.

"You know that activity we were looking at before the wedding? The group that was louring girls in through those chat sites?" She asked as Coleen nodded, "Well now we found a location for them, a house." She said, "Only curveball is that… someone left a picture of Phil's mom going into the house. They left it in our hotel room, the night of your wedding actually." AJ said, "So we're trying to… I don't know, come up with ways to handle this-"

"I left it." Coleen said, "I left the picture."