When Danny returned home everything was the same as it was before he left. His make up breakfast still on the table, along with his note to Martin. He also noted the silence in the apartment. Looking around Danny could see a few books strewn about the bookcase, and all of their little keepsakes that were moved out of place during his search for Martins nonexistent pills. Danny's eyes finally landed on the hole in the wall, caused by his own hand. A part of him hoping that Martin had yet to see this mess, for it symbolized his mistrust for his partner.
Danny started cleaning his mess by clearing the table, washing and drying the dishes. He then placed all the books and keepsakes back to where the belong, before patching up the hole he put in the wall. Once Danny was satisfied that everything was in its place, he quietly walked down the hall to check on Martin. He knocked gently on the door before trying the knob, only to find it locked.
Danny tiredly returned to the living room, where he laid down on the couch and turned on the TV. He wasn't watching anything in particular, he just needed some noise. The apartment was too quiet. A few minuets later, Danny was fast asleep.
Martin was working on some homework in his room when his father came in with Richard Parker, his male nanny.
"Mr. Parker is here Martin. Your mother and I will be leaving shortly. Now, I don't want to hear about you misbehaving when we return. I especially don't want to hear another one of your stories when I get back either, do you understand? So don't waist you time dreaming one up in the next three weeks. And make sure you don't fall behind on your school work like last time either. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Martin answered, not taking his eye off his nanny of one year.
"Good. I'll be leaving now Mr. Parker. I'll see you in three weeks." Mr. Fitzgerald gave as a good-bye.
Martin sat as his desk looking down at his half finished homework, as Mr. Parker walked to the window to watch his charges parents leave for another out of country vacation. As soon as the car was out of sight, Mr. Parker turned back to Martin, grabbed him by collar of his shirt and dragged him to his bed. The young Fitzgerald started to cry and beg for his guardian to stop, but was only rewarded with a hard slap to the face. Before Martin realized it, he was on his belly, his pants being removed, and-
Martin sat up in bed gasping for air, looking around the room for his nanny. When he realized he was safe in his apartment, he plopped back down onto his pillow. Looking up at the alarm clock on the nightstand that read 1:52PM, he figured he should get up.
Martin went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. He knew Danny was home, from the sound of the TV. Finding his partner sprawled out on the couch, Martin walked quietly to the coffee table, grabbing the remote and turning off the annoying infomercial. Placing the remote back onto the table, Martin noticed an aged newspaper clipping on the floor.
His curiosity peeked, Martin bent down to pick it up. Looking at the sketch drawing, he noticed that it was a clipping from his desk. Danny went to the office? He went through my desk!
"Martin?"
Martin looked down at Danny, who was staring back up at him. Danny sat up to make room for Martin who stayed standing.
"Wanna sit down Martin, so we can talk?"
"You went through my desk?!" Martin asked, ignoring Danny's question and continuing to stand.
"Martin-"
"You distrust me so much, that you had to go all the way to the office to look for drugs, I told you I wasn't taking?!" Martin interrupted.
"You haven't told me anything, Martin!" Danny yelled, standing up. "I was worried! You won't talk to me! I had to make sure that is wasn't drugs, so I went to the office! Jack told me about this Parker guy. He's worried, I'm worried. Just talk to me, Martin. Please don't hold it all in."
They stood there in silence for a few minutes.
"You talked to Jack?" Martin asked quietly, looking down at the clipping in his hand.
"Not really…he just asked if you had told me about Richard Parker. That's when I read the articles. The first two, I didn't think were connected, but when I read the third one, and your name, and what that bustard did to you. Martin, you can't keep it all in anymore. Let me help you carry it."
Just as Danny finished, there was a knock at the door. Danny went to answer it, as Martin sat down on the couch.
When Danny opened the door, he was surprised to see Jack.
"Jack? What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how you and Martin were doing? Has he opened up to you yet?"
"Not yet. Do you want to come it?" Danny asked. Maybe Jack could get Martin to relax a little bit.
Jack took the offer and made his way to the living room were he found Martin. Sitting down on the coffee table in front of Martin, Jack took the news paper clipping from his hand and placed it on the table. He then took both of Martins hands in his own.
"It's time Martin. You can't hold it in anymore. Danny and I are both here for you. Just let it go." Jack said quietly, when Martin started to cry.
Danny came around to sit next to Martin, pulling him into his side to give his support and comfort, while Jack still held onto his hands.
"I was seven the first time it happened." Martin started, quietly. "My parents were going on another vacation to…I don't remember where. They wanted to get away from everything, me included. They got me a male nanny to watch me for the three weeks they would be gone."
"Martin I would like you to meet, Mr. Parker. He'll be watching over you for the next three weeks." Victor informed, his son.
Martin practically jumped from his place on the floor, eager to meet his nanny and hopefully best friend. Martin didn't have any friends, not that they could come over to his house if he did.
"Hey there, Martin. You can call me Mr. P, if you like?" Richard Parker offered, as the young Martin ran up to him, and gave him a hyperactive hand shake.
"He was so nice to me…until my parents left." Martin continued.
"Your parents have left, Martin." Mr. Parker informed, finding Martin in his room playing.
"They left? They didn't even say good-bye." Martin replied, looking sad.
"It'll be okay, kiddo. Hey, do you want to play a game?"
Martin was still getting to know Mr. P, but he liked him a lot already. Nobody ever played with him while he was at home.
"Yes! What are we going to play?" Martin yelled, jumping up from the floor to stand before his nanny.
"Well, it's a new game. First you have to take off all of your clothes." Mr. Parker instructed.
"My clothes?" Martin asked, confusedly. "Why do I have to take off my clothes?"
"You'll see why. Don't worry, I'll take off my clothes too."
"That was the first time he did it. He…raped me. And I didn't have a clue, until it was too late. He was too strong. All I could do was cry and scream, and pray that somebody heard me." Martin said. "He did it at least twice a day, everyday. I started locking myself in my bathroom, so he couldn't get to me. He'd beat on the door for a while, then I guess he'd gotten bored of me. I stayed in that bathroom for a week. At least I had water, but I was so hungry. The first time he watched over me, I was stupid enough to open the door when he brought me food. He tied me to my bed and kept me there for the next three days, until my parents came home."
Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He pulled Martin into a tight hug, and pulled him back to rest on the couch.
"When my parents came home, I tried to tell my dad what Parker had done to me. I figured he was the police, right?" Martin continued, then paused for a long moment. Lost in memory, Danny suspected.
"What happened when you told him, Martin?" Danny asked, quietly trying to keep Martin talking.
"He grounded me for a month. He couldn't believe that I would make up such a story about a decent man willing to watch an ungrateful little brat like me. He said, I was just trying to make them feel bad for not taking me along on their vacation." Martin answered, tears finally falling down his pale cheeks. "They left me with him five more times after that. I was so afraid of anybody my father brought home with him. When my mother told me that my fathers partner was coming over for diner, I panicked."
Martin could hear his father come through the front door, along with another man. He didn't want to meet this man, even if he was a cop. Martin ran to his room, straight into his bathroom, and climbed right into his bathtub. He knew he was safe here, nobody could get in.
Martin was so lost in fear, that he failed to realize that he hadn't locked or even closed the bathroom door.
When Victor introduced his wife and son to his partner, he failed to realize that his son was not present at the time. Not really caring if his partner knew his son or not, Victor excused himself and went to his office to put his papers and case files away. His partner took it upon himself to seek out this 'son' that Victor had mentioned. They had been partner for six months, and he was just now hearing about a son?
Making his way up the stairs and into the first room he saw with an open door, Victors partner found Martin in his bathtub.
"Hey there, kiddo. What are you doing in there?" He asked, while kneeling beside the tub, making Martin jump.
"Don't call me kiddo, my name is Martin." Martin replied quietly, looking down at his lap.
"Okay Martin. My name is Jack. Jack Malone, and I work with your father."
"It's nice to meet you, Sir." Martin said, still looking down.
"You must be very uncomfortable in there. What do you say we go down and see what's for diner?" Jack tried coax the young Fitzgerald out of the tub.
"NO! I'm not leaving!" Martin yelled, now starting to rock back and forth.
"Okay, okay. We can stay here." Jack said, to calm Martin. "Is there a reason your in the tub with your clothes on?"
"I'm not taking them off. I won't."
"That was the first time I met Jack, when I was seven. He stayed with me until it was time for diner, and he stayed with me until I fell asleep that night. I hadn't known Jack for two hours, but I felt safe with him." Martin explained. "I think he knew something was wrong, because he started to come over more often. He even came brought me presents on my birthdays. Then one week, my parents told me they were leaving for a month. I was nine by then, but I was just as afraid as I was when I first met Parker."
Danny gave Martin another reassuring squeeze to let him know that he was safe, while Jack moved to sit on the other side of Martin to encourage him to go on.
"I bet he never thought he would get caught." Martin continued. "He had starved me for a week, and he told me that if I…if I let him have sex with me, then I could eat. He had taken his clothes off, was starting on mine when all of a sudden…he was gone. When I finally realized what happened, I sat up and found Jack on top of him. He already handcuffed, but Jack kept hitting him. Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital and Jack never left my side, not once. He never left me alone with anyone."
Danny looked up at Jack, and made a mental note to huge the hell out of the man later.
"Where are we going?" Martin asked, from the passenger seat of Jacks car.
"We're going to my house. You're going to be staying with me and my wife until your parents get back. Is that okay?" Jack answered.
"I guess so." Martin said.
"Look, I know it's hard to believe right now, but things will get better. I won't hurt you Martin, I promise. But I can't chance somebody else hurting you, so I'm taking temporary custody of you until your mother and father come home."
Martin just nodded his head in understanding, and looked out his window.
"You know Martin, we're gonna have to tell your parents what happened." Jack stated.
"They already know. I told them three years ago, and my father grounded me for making up stories." Martin replied.
"Your father didn't believe you? Trust me Martin, he'll believe us this time. When we went to the hospital, the doctors recorded all of your injuries and collected evidence. We have proof." Jack said, trying to reassure the young Fitzgerald that it would all work out.
When Martin didn't continue, both Jack and Danny looked down to find Martin had fallen asleep. Danny carefully pulled himself from under Martin, and covered him with a nearby blanket. Danny then directed Jack to the kitchen.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Danny asked quietly.
"No thanks, I should be going back to the office." Jack declined.
"Okay." Danny said, opening the door for Jack. "Hey Jack, what happened after Victor came back? Did he believe you?"
"We'll never that for sure, Danny. I went to see Victor, and I told him what Parker was doing. He seemed to brush it off, until two more reports were made against Parker for the same thing. Shortly after that Parker disappeared. Victor claimed the FBI took custody, but I could never find any information on him anywhere in our database. It's like he fell off the face of the Earth the day Victor got back." Jack answered.
"Hmm. Well, thank you for being here. I'll call you later and let you know how he's doing." Danny said.
"Alright." Jack said, exiting the apartment.
Danny closed and locked the door before heading back to the living room. Once he got there he found Martin looking back at him.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Danny asked, sitting down next to Martin.
"I'm okay. I mean, I'm really okay Danny. I've been keeping this inside for so long…I'm just glad you were here." Martin answered.
"I'm always going to be here Martin. I love you so much." Danny said, laying down and cuddling with Martin.
"I love you, too." Martin replied, yawning. "It's like the world was just lifted off my shoulders. I should tell you all my secrets."
Danny chuckles, "I will you would. But for now, get some sleep Martin. I'll be here when you wake up. We've got the rest of the week to talk about it."
Danny and Martin fell asleep, on the couch leaving their apartment in silence, both knowing that everything would be okay from now on, as long they shared with each other, their secrets, their fears, and their love.