Vivian read a handcuffed Marlene Elmhurst her rights while exiting her house. They were shortly followed by Danny and a frightened Daniel, holding his hand. As they made their way down the driveway, a rather large group of agents entered the Elmhurst home to begin the search for Edward.

"Sam, upstairs. Martin, check the basement. Meet back here," Jack ordered.

With that, the team went their separate ways to search for the missing boy. When Martin got to the basement door he was met by two other agents. Together they went down into the dark space. To Martin's surprise, the basement was empty. Not one thing was down there. The room was also clean, almost sterile.

Martin headed back upstairs to find Jack in the garage. He was pulling boxes away from the walls when an agent came in from a side door.

"Agent Malone? There's nothing in the backyard, Sir."

"Alright, keep searching," Jack answered.

"Yes, Sir." The young agent said before returning to the backyard.

"Anything in the basement?" Jack asked, turning his attention toward Martin.

"Nothing. It's been completely wiped clean."

"Damn. I'm beginning to think we've been lied to," Jack gave.

Martin took an interest in the vehicle behind Jack.

"Anyone take a look at the car, yet?" he asked, moving past Jack and in front of the trunk.

"Not yet, but Bentley said the kid was in the house."

"The car is in the house. Could you pop the trunk?" Martin requested.

"Sure." Jack replied, leaning into the driver's side door to pull the trunk lever.

The trunk lid popped up, and Martin waited for Jack to fully come around to his side before he lifted it open. Nothing could have prepared Martin for what was in that trunk. All the forgotten memories of his own childhood came flooding back. All the horrible

things that one person can do to an innocent, defenseless child.

Edward was unconscious, bound, and gagged. He had obviously been beaten, and from the smell, Martin assumed he had been there for days. He wanted to run away and empty his stomach. But before he could move himself, he was pulled aside by Jack to give the approaching medics access to the young boy. They carefully but quickly removed

Edward from his mother's car and placed him on a stretcher, giving him oxygen and other much needed medical attention. As they pulled away from the garage, Jack ordered Martin to go with them to the hospital and stay with Edward.

As Martin and the ambulance disappeared out of Jack's view, Sam turned up at his side.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He's alive," Jack answered angrily. "We'll find out more later, when Martin gets back to the office."

Martin stepped into the empty elevator, glad for a moment of solitude. He slumped back against the wall, closing his eyes. "Breathe, just breathe," he quietly coached himself.

He was trying so hard to get the image of Edward's battered body out of his head. And to think only hours ago, he was telling Danny that this case was affecting him! Little did he know at the time that it was equally under his skin, as well. Now Danny was pissed at him, and probably had no chance of talking their way through this one until they both had time to cool off.

He was startled by the familiar ding of the elevator. He quickly straightened himself out and exited the small space. No more than a minute later he was standing behind his desk, all eyes on him. He took a deep breath to calm himself before turning to his colleagues.

"How is he?" Viv asked from the conference table.

"A few cracked ribs and a mild concussion. His doctor said he hadn't had food or water for at least three days, either. A couple more hours and he might not have made it," he answered.

He took a moment to glance over at Danny's desk. He was reading something. His report, Martin assumed. He was totally ignoring the current review. He turned his attention back to Jack.

"Alright, case is closed. I want all of you to go home and rest. Your reports can wait until tomorrow," Jack ordered, standing from his seat next to Viv.

As Sam and Viv made there way to the elevator and Jack to his office, Martin glanced back at Danny's desk to find it empty. He quickly grabbed his backpack, and hurried off to find his partner. He felt like he needed to apologize for earlier. He just hoped that Danny had cooled off a little.

Martin arrived at the elevators just in time to see Danny angrily punching at the down button. Martin knew he was still mad, but he had to talk to Danny before the short ride home. He knew that if he didn't, Danny would be mad to the second he fell asleep tonight.

"Danny, can we talk?"

"Look, really I don't wanna' talk right now, okay Martin?" Danny replied harshly, jabbing the button again.

"Danny, I'm sorry. I never should have-"

"I said I don't want to talk now!" Danny cut him off.

"I just-"

"You just what? You just wanna' tell me that you know how I feel? You don't know, Martin! I didn't have parents that cared about me! I didn't have a father I could talk to and share secrets with. I had nobody!"

"Danny…"

"No! You know what. You can find your own way home tonight," Danny finished, stepping into the elevator.

Martin was speechless. This was the second time today Danny had walked away from him. It was also the second argument today, both of which he lost. Today couldn't possibly get any worse. Wrong.

As Martin turned around heading for the stairwell, he found Jack standing only a few feet away.

"Everything alright?" Jack asked.

"You ask like you didn't just here an argument," Martin replied sarcastically.

"This case has gotten to all of us. I can't even begin to imagine how it's affected you and Danny."

"Yeah well, I'm not entirely sure how it's affecting him. This case got him thinking about his dad."

"Um-hm, and it also got you thinking about Parker," Jack finished as Martin gave him a slightly terrified look. "Hey, how about I give you a lift home, huh? I'm headed that way."

"Uh, yeah thanks," Martin replied, following Jack into the elevator.

Martin was standing in front of their apartments front door. He was afraid to go in. How could he get Danny to talk to him? Maybe he should tell him about Parker, like Jack suggested on the way home. He couldn't do that. Danny is mad enough as it is, and the last thing his needs is him to think he was making up some sad story. Or maybe he's already gone to bed.

Martin lazily placed his key into the lock and opened the door. He found Danny sitting on the couch already changed into shorts and a t-shirt, watching a game on TV. He slowly closed the door behind him, locked it and crossed the living room to stand next to him. Danny didn't even look up.

"So, how are you doing?" Martin asked half-heartedly.

He got no answer. No acknowledgment whatsoever that he was even in the room. Martin took a deep breath and made his way to the bedroom. He grabbed a change of close, then headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he was finished, he wandered back into the living room.

"Hey. You coming to bed?" He asked, but got no reply.

Martin's heart was breaking. How could he fix this? Maybe he should just give Danny some space. Maybe he would talk to him in the morning.

With a deep sigh and a slow nod, Martin returned to the dark bedroom and climbed underneath the blankets.

He was only in bed for ten minutes before Jack's words came flooding back into his head.

"You really should tell Danny about Parker. The two of you can help each other through times like this. In the end, it will only make your relationship stronger."

No, he couldn't tell Danny. He had to forget, just like he did years ago.

"I have to forget," Martin whispered to himself between the quiet sobs.

Danny was so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost didn't notice his phone had been ringing. When he finally reached for it, he noticed that the game was over. He wondered how long he'd been watching George Lopez.

"Taylor," he said, answering his phone.

"Danny, it's Jack."

"Hey, what up? We got a case?"

"Uh, no, no. I was calling to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine, Jack." Danny answered unconvincingly.

"Yeah well, I'm giving you and Martin tomorrow off. I know it's not a lot of time, but it's all I can spare."

"Jack, I don't need a day off."

"Don't argue with me, Danny. You and Martin both need to get over this case. Don't think I can't see how it got to you two. Just be happy for the day," Jack gave grumpily.

"Alright, thanks Jack."

"You're welcome. Now, go to bed! And take care of Martin. This case has brought back a lot of hurt."

"What?" Danny asked, confused.

"Good night!"

"Night, Jack."

After hanging up, Danny thought about what Jack said: "Take care of Martin." It was then that he realized that he had shut him out. He was only trying to help, but he was so lost in his own past that he didn't care. He had totally dismissed how this case may be affecting Martin. He did find the kid, after all. That couldn't have been easy. Especially after interviewing him.

Danny quickly and tiredly got to his feet and headed for the bedroom. When he got to the bedroom door and flipped on the light, he was shocked to find the bed empty. Didn't Martin come home? He headed back down the hallway, and noticed light coming from underneath the bathroom door.

"Martin?" He asked, lightly knocking on the door.

"Martin?" He asked again, a little louder when he got no answer.

He turned the door knob and found the door unlocked. He slowly opened

the door to find Martin laying on the floor, curled up on his side.

"Martin!"

Danny kneeled at his side and gently shook him. He could instantly tell that Martin had been crying, but his breathing was slow and steady. He wondered how long he had been here.

Martin stirred in his arms and looked up at him. Danny could see that pain behind his gentle glance. Then, Martin fell asleep being exhausted from crying. Danny scooped him up off the floor and carefully carried his partner back to bed. After turning out the light and snuggling up to Martin, Danny was quickly falling asleep next to him.

"Okay, Martin. You've got my attention."