For disclaimer, see initial chapter.
This oneshot is AU.
Jason walked into the penthouse, stretching out the kinks in his back as he placed his gun carefully in the locked box. Storing it on the top shelf in the closet, where he was certain it could not be easily retrieved by curious fingers, he looked around the living room and frowned.
It had been a long, grueling day and he had spent the past two hours thinking of nothing but getting back to his boys, making sure they were both safe and sound. He quashed down a fresh wave of panic when a quick perusal of the living room and kitchen came up empty. Closing his eyes against the brutal images which were accosting him, courtesy of the latest case he and his new partner, Dante Falconari, had been called out on, he took a deep, fortifying breath.
His hand shook slightly as he lifted it. Try as he might, he couldn't shake the pictures that continued to plague him. In the end, he and Dante had taken the perps down, but what they'd done, the sheer savagery of it, would stick with him for a long time to come, if not indefinitely. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd have nightmares for the foreseeable future.
"Spinelli!" he called up the stairs, holding his breath as he listened.
His heart stood still as he waited. Image after image, each worse than its predecessor in its viciousness, flooded his mind and he let out a choked sob, biting down hard on his lip, barely tasting the copper of blood as it filled his mouth. The pain, dull as it was, served to steady him.
The images had taken on a life of their own now, and, instead of the boys that he and Dante had been too late to save, he pictured the faces of his sons on the broken, battered bodies that had been recovered. The fact that they'd managed to take down those responsible for the reprehensible crime had mattered very little to Jason who blamed himself for the death of the boys.
If only he had acted sooner. If only he hadn't taken the time to verify the information from Dante's source. If only he had trusted his partner. If only he'd listened to his instincts, those boys would be alive.
Silence reigned in the penthouse and Jason felt his knees buckle. Bracing himself, he walked swiftly toward the stairs, pushing the terrible images of the twisted, torn bodies from his mind.
"Spinelli!" His voice hitched as he called.
The frantic beating of his heart pounded in his ears, drowning out his heavy footfalls on the stairs as he raced up them, taking two and three at a time to get to his boys and assure himself that they were still alive, that his worst nightmare had not come true. It was a fear that every police officer who'd ever taken a criminal down shared – that retribution would be taken out on his, or her, family.
"Spinelli!" He ran down the hallway, toward the room where he hoped to find his boys – a makeshift playroom that had taken shape in the former bachelor's home.
He came to an abrupt halt in the opened doorway, panting, his mouth slightly agape as he viewed the scene before him. Tears pricked his eyes as he struggled to control his breathing. Staggering, gripping the wooden frame of the door, he carefully stepped into the room.
"Daddy!" A little boy launched himself at him, wrapping thin, yet strong arms around his legs.
Jason looked down at Jake and smiled shakily. Ruffling his youngest son's hair, he looked beyond the boy and let out the breath he'd been holding as his eyes rested on a dark swatch of hair buried beneath a pile of blankets.
Spinelli, sensing some of Jason's anguish, quickly divested himself of the blankets Jake had covered him with, and stood quickly, an apology adorning his lips as he looked sheepishly at the floor. Face red with shame and fear, he stuttered as he spoke quietly, "S...sorry. J…Jake and I…we, we were playing and…"
Jason grasped the boy's chin firmly and gently forced Spinelli to look at him. Spinelli, as he'd insisted on being called, stared up into the piercing blue eyes of the man who'd taken him into his home when he'd had nowhere else to go.
He swallowed hard as he tried to process what he saw in the older man's eyes. He recognized the blatant relief, but was unable to decipher the other emotions swirling in the blue orbs.
"You're safe," Jason murmured, pulling Spinelli close, wrapping his arms around the uncertain boy, wondering what it would take for him to realize that he was loved and wanted.
"D…Dad?" Though the word was whispered, Jason heard it and he hugged his adopted son.
"Son." The word came easily, and he felt Spinelli's arms tighten around his middle.
Jake tugged at his pants leg, and Jason reached down to pull the little boy up, holding both sons close as he assured himself that both of his boys were alright, and that what he'd witnessed today had not tainted either of them.
"You okay?" Spinelli asked, pulling back slightly and looking into Jason's eyes to gauge the sincerity of the man's answer. He still found it hard to trust Jason, even after half a year of living with him.
"I will be," Jason answered honestly, not wanting to let go of either boy. Clearing his throat, he reluctantly loosened his grip on his sons. "So, what were you two up to today?"
"Playing cops and robbers," Jake readily supplied. Spinelli shrugged and let Jake explain the daunting rescue he'd been about to execute before their Dad had entered the room.
If only…Jason thought, listening to his sons as they told him about their day – Jake exuberantly, and with confidence, Spinelli shyly and tentatively. His sons' voices kept the horrific images at bay.
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