Hi everyone! I'm back! It's been a tough year for me because I didn't find somewhere that was willing to fit my expectations for work and I'm still kind of struggling to figure out what I want to do in life. Then of course, I had to help a student with his school applications so most of my time went to that. But now I have some time to myself and I feel like I'm in a better mindset to continue with this story.

-lovesjak

Disclaimer: I still don't own "The Finder". Also this chapter deals with what's going on with Walter, Leo, Timo, and Isabel so apologies in advance if you were hoping for more Willa action! Also, Timo swears quite a bit in this chapter, just sayin.

TRIGGER WARNING: There are references to Shad beating up Timo after Timo tells him that Willa is gone and insinuations that Shad would not rule out violence against Willa if she were found. If you prefer to not read about it, please skip over the section with (TRIGGER WARNING) at the beginning.

Chapter 5: Meanwhile in Florida

Leo woke up to someone banging on his trailer door. "Just a minute," he yelled as he rushed to put on more suitable attire for company. He opened his door. "Timo?"

Except the young man in front of him was not the cocky teenager that had often visited his young charge. He had lost a lot of weight and his left eye had faint remnants of bruising. He was also wearing long sleeves although the weather was somewhere in the nineties, which Leo guessed was the teen's way of hiding other bruises.

"Come on," Leo said as he gestured toward the bar. "You look like you could use some food."

Timo wordlessly followed the older man to the bar.

"Do you want anything?" Leo asked.

Timo shook his head once.

Leo busied himself by preparing some eggs sunny side up and some bacon. He popped in some toast and waited till everything looked ready and prepared the dish the way Willa had always had, making a face, but with the ends of the bacon pointing up instead of curling down, the way she made it. He put one plate in front of Timo and the other in front of himself. He then counted in his head '3, 2, 1.'

After 1, Timo flipped. "What the hell?" he shouted at Leo.

Leo decided to just let the younger man get it all out and started on his breakfast.

"WHAT THE FUCK? You're just gonna sit around and act like she's not missing?" he yelled. "You never really cared for her at all, did you?"

At this statement, Leo decided that he had had enough and looked up at Timo. He calmly retorted, "I didn't know she meant that much to you."

At this point, Timo was standing up. "Of course! Willa is, she's" he exclaimed, before faltering at the end.

Leo continued to train his gaze on Timo. "Yes?" he enquired. "What is she to you Timo? A means to staying in your uncle's good graces? Someone whose feelings don't matter? A tool to be used and thrown away once it no longer has any importance?"

Timo slumped on the counter. "No," he whispered brokenly. "She's so much more. She's the little girl who I taught to tie her own shoelaces. She's the girl who grew up too quickly to save herself. She's the person I'm in love with."

Leo quirked an eyebrow. "And Magdalena?" he asked.

Timo ran his hands through his unkempt hair and exhaled loudly. "I figured it out after she left." He finally answered. "I spent so long doing what Uncle Shad had instructed me to do, being the kind of person he wanted me to be, that his order to marry Willa felt like the last straw. I felt like I was being forced to marry Willa when I had absolutely no feelings for her at all. I took out my frustration at feeling trapped on Willa and seeing Magdalena, was my way of getting back at Shad."

Leo nodded. "And now?"

Timo tugged at the ends of his hair as if it would help him fix the mess he was in. "I realized that Magdalena doesn't mean anything to me. She never did." He folded his hand in front of him and stared down at the counter. "She was actually only using me for my status as one of Uncle Shad's trusted men. As soon as that was gone, she told me it was over." He sighed, wishing he could go back in time and warn himself as to what kind of foolishness he was getting into when he decided that Magdalena was worth a second glance.

Leo also felt a sigh itching to make its way out of his chest. "So what do you want to do?" he asked the young Romani.

Timo brought his hands in front of him, fingers interlocked, to his forehead. For a while, he simply stared at the bar. Leo let him take his time.

It seemed like ages before Timo responded. "I want her back," he murmured, still looking at the bar. He raised his eyes to Leo's. "I want to find her," he said more forcefully.

Leo smiled. "Well, at least we have someone who can find her," he responded.

Timo looked at Leo. "I hate to break it to you," he told the older man, "But last time I checked, your crazy friend is still in jail." He leaned back in his chair. "I know you think I'm acquainted with the "wrong sort", but I couldn't really help you spring him, even if I really want to."

Leo shot a look at the young Romani. "The great inventor and Founding Father Thomas Edison once said, 'Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.'"

Timo raised a brow. "Well was this Edison dude trying to break out a guy from jail who was charged with murder and found guilty?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "The fact of the matter is, we can't just give up on Walter. And we have resources that we can make use of."

"I don't know about you," Timo responded, "But if I had a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card, I've probably used it."

Leo snorted. "You keep thinking that we have to make use of illegal methods, but you forget, 'Dura lex, sed lex'."

Timo looked at Leo as if he had suddenly sprouted antlers. "Huh?"

Leo sighed. "The Law is hard, but it is the Law. I believe that we can get Walter out with an appeal."

Timo shrugged. "So how long till we bust the crazy guy out?"

Leo answered, "I filed an appeal as soon as the verdict was released."

Timo stared.

Leo looked at his breakfast, at the bacon with its edges curled up, and used his fork to reposition the edges so that the face was now a sad one. "I pulled some strings so the court reporter would get the transcript together as soon as possible. I was notified a week ago that the transcript was sent and received. So now we have 42 days to prepare a list of possible legal errors. That will go to the prosecutor who has 35 days to respond, and then it will be sent to the Attorney General…"

Timo rolled his eyes. "So basically we're going to be like 40 by the time this is over."

Leo grunted.

Timo shook his head. "Isn't there anything you can do? There's that cop lady who had that thing with Walter. Can't we ask her to do something?"

Leo sighed. "Isabel was hurt pretty badly by the fallout with Walter. She lost her badge and shield for helping Walter find his mother, and even though she cared for Walter, for a woman like Isabel who is ambitious and values her career, that probably hurt a lot."

Timo jumped up from his seat and slammed his fist on the bar. "The hell? You just told me that we shouldn't give up and now you're acting all defeated and shit. If you're gonna act like this, I might as well just buy a map and start pointing at random places to look for Willa at because at least I would be doing something."

Leo stared at the countertop. "I want to believe that everything will work out, but I don't know what I'll do if things don't work out." He paused and then spoke again. "It's also my fault that Walter got stuck in this position."

Timo looked at the older man incredulously. "So you're gonna tell me that you convinced Walter to kill two people?"

Leo continued to look at anything but Timo. "If I hadn't pushed Walter to find his mother, he would never have gone after her, and he would have never encountered the Lunar Temple Cult and shot them."

"Yeah, and I'm the tooth fairy. Anything else you want to get off your chest while you're at it?" Timo sarcastically responded.

"I should have known that Willa was going to leave," Leo said. "I should have known and I should have stopped her."

"My God. Do you really think you could've have stopped her?" Timo started. "Wait. Don't answer that. Of course you do. You're forgetting that Willa was gypsy. Lying and running away are in her blood."

"But still—" Leo interjected.

"Maybe you think that I'm an arrogant idiot who doesn't know anything, but I'm pretty sure that I was the one playing Debbie Downer 10 minutes ago and you were the one who told me not to give up. I'm also sure that as long as Shad had his little fucked up plot to get me and Willa hitched, Willa would have done everything she could to get the hell out of here and that if Willa, you know, the girl who is all out on her own in the middle of God knows where, were here, she would tell you to snap out of it. So get it together and tell me what the rest of your plan is because every minute you're moping is another minute Willa could be moving further away from this godforsaken place," Timo snarled.

(TRIGGER WARNING: references to violence and potential abuse in this section)

Isabel sat down at her coffee table and sighed. She had just met with her Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal. It hadn't been pretty—even with her stellar track record and her repeated protests that she had in no way helped Walter find his mother, Kathryn Gibson(1) had been out for blood. She was lucky that she would still get her badge back…eventually. The Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal said that Isabel would be suspended without pay for the next 10 months. If she managed to avoid getting in any trouble during that time, she would be required to retake classes regarding Deputy U.S. Marshall protocol and only upon completion of these classes. would she get her badge back. Isabel knew that there would still be a lot of work to do after that. Even if she did get her badge back, she would probably be assigned the cases with the lowest security clearance, and her access to sensitive information would be highly restricted(2).

Had her relationship with Walter really been worth this, she asked herself. Her career, and all of the blood, sweat, and tears that she had shed to obtain it, was basically down the drain. She had dreamt of rising up the ranks—supervisory, chief deputy, marshal, director, and maybe even attorney general—but at this rate, she would be lucky enough to even get her old position back. Her mother had always told her that men were nothing but trouble, but she had laughed and thought that whatever it was that she and Walter had was something that she could call off whenever she wanted and that this lack of definition would protect her.

"Isabel," she heard someone call her name in a deep voice.

She brought herself back to the present and saw Leo and Timo standing in front of her.

She jumped up. "How did you get in here?" she asked, pretty sure that she had locked the door upon returning from her meeting with her Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal, wanting to wallow in her misery.

Timo raised an eyebrow. "Gypsy, remember?"

"Please don't tell me you robbed people as one of your schemes," she said, already feeling the beginning of a headache.

"No," he replied. "Why go through that trouble when you can scam them instead?"

She shook her head. "What do you want?"

Leo answered this time. "We need your help Isabel."

"Right," she shot back, "Because the last time you asked for my help ended so well for everyone."

"Isabel—," Leo started.

"No" she said. "No, you don't get to come in here right after I've just been told that I probably will never get my old job back and ask me to put my neck on the line again!"

"Isabel—," Leo began again.

But it was Timo who spoke up. "Yes, because your career is the most important thing right now." He was glaring at her. "Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl is God knows where by herself with virtually nothing."

Isabel opened her mouth to respond, but Timo wasn't finished.

"You think you have a right to complain about losing your job? Well, guess what? I lost one of the few people who had my back, got treated like Shad's personal punching bag, and have basically been cast out of the only group that I could call "family". And you know what? Shad isn't just pissed at me. He's furious with Willa. He wants her back badly, and he has the resources to track her down. When, and yes, there is no doubt that he will manage to do it, when he tracks her down, who knows what he'll do."

Isabel closed her mouth and stared down at the coffee table. She remembered talking to Willa about her impending marriage and offering the girl all of her savings to try and buy a way out of the marriage. Willa had never suggested that Shad was violent, but Timo still had ugly splotches of color on his face, and she would bet those savings that underneath the young man's long sleeves and pants, she would find more bruises. Although Willa had definitely made the choice to run away, Isabel would probably have done the exact same.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked. "I can't really do much."

Leo gave a small grin, his first ever since Walter had been arrested. "You know any judges?"

Aaaaaaaaand that's a wrap! A few notes at the end.

Kathryn Gibson is the name of the lady who catches Walter with the two guys he meets at the AA meeting when he is looking for his mother in the final episode.

I have no clue what the consequences for Isabel's presumed involvement in the Walter fiasco would be. Technically she didn't do that much to help him, but she also didn't stop him either. Furthermore, I don't really know how the U.S. Marshal service is exactly organized so I took some liberties with the organization structure and would be happy to edit and update if for some reason, the information I have is wrong.

Perhaps some of you will think that the thoughts and reactions of the characters in this chapter come off as a little dark or unrealistic. I guess I would say that I always perceived Leo as someone who tried to be the strong and responsible one and that's why I have him initially being strong for Timo but later breaking down and blaming himself (because of his strong sense of responsibility!). Isabel always struck me as someone who was very career-oriented and although she has her caring moments (like the moment I mention where she offers Willa her savings), I don't think anyone could take a setback like that easily.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and I will try my best to update again soon! -lovesjak