I am so sososososososo sorry for the delay you guys! I had a CRAZY weekend. And to top it off, I've been feeling like crap. Oh well, better late than never I suppose.

Anyway, THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR ALL THE AWESOME REVIEWS, FAVORITES, AND SUBSCRIPTIONS! I just don't know what to say you guys. You guys just rock so much and I love each and everyone of you!

Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter 9: Suspicion

"Bro..."

Dave quietly mumbles in his sleep. Like his mind, Dave's sleep was conflicted with countless emotions and questions regarding the previous day's events. Resulting in a very less than peaceful sleep. His eyes restlessly moved under their lids at the nightmares that plagued him so.

"Bro, where are you?", Dave calls out in the fog that surrounds him. It takes a moment for his eyes adjust; but when they do, they begin to make out a figured silhouetted amongst the white haze. "Bro?", Dave slowly begins to make his way towards the figure. When he gets closer, he can definitely make out tell-tale distinctions of the figure before him. The figure was tall, wore a white shirt and dark pants; there was a hat that covered the figures hair, and pointy sunglasses on it's face.

'Bro...'

"Bro!", Dave takes off running until there is only just a short few steps between the two. The smile that was on Dave's face disappears when he get's a look at the expression plastered on his brother's face. It was vacant, even more than usual, and almost despising.

"Bro, what's the matter?", Dave goes to put a hand on his brother's shoulder; and is shocked when he jerks away from his younger brother's touch. Dirk swiftly turns and faces the other direction. Refusing to acknowledge Dave's presence. Dirk's actions deeply confused, and terrified, his young sibling.

"Bro, Bro what's the matter? Why won't you talk to me?", Dave tried to face his brother. But every time he goes to do so, Dirk turns away.

After a minute or so, Dave has enough and grabs his brother's hand and demands for him to speak to him.

Dirk's response to Dave's action, was a hard slap across the face. To which sends Dave to the ground a few feet away.

Dave was now terrified of his brother. Dirk had never laid a hand on him out of anger before. "B-B-Bro?!", Dave said looking up at his brother, his red eyes now widened and had fresh tears streaming down them.

"Don't you get it?!", Dirk mumbled with hate breaming in his voice. Dave didn't understand. What would cause his brother to act this way?

"I don't want you anymore! I have wasted my life on you! I could have been anything you know?! But instead I got stuck with you! Now do you understand?!", Dirk screams his lungs out at Dave.

You might as well have took a knife and plunged it into Dave's heart, because that's pretty much what it felt like. His brother, who raised him since his untimely birth, had just basically told him that he hated him and never wanted to see him again.

"What?!", Dave cries.

"You heard me!", Dirk replies and turned away from his brother and disappeared back onto the fog.

"No! Wait, Bro!", Dave reaches out into the consuming darkness.

Dave opens up his now redder, teary eyes into a darkened room. Making him half believe his nightmare was reality. He placed a hand on his cheek. He could almost feel the sting where his bro slapped him.

"It was just a dream, but why does it feel so real?", Dave quietly said as tear freely rolled down his face.

A shifting grunt to his left brakes him from his thoughts and makes his mind more aware of his surroundings. He's in a hotel room, and more specifically in a bed. And next to him in the bed, was his father. Derrick turns his head and open his eyes to face his youngest son.

"Well good morning sleepy head.", Derrick smiled as he softly spoke. "G-good morning.", Dave replied. "Did you sleep well?", Derrick asked sitting up. "I can't get that lucky.", Dave said, bring his knees to his chest. "Bad dream?", Derrick looked sympathetic. "The very definition.", Dave wallowed in his own self pity.

'Does Bro really...hate...me? Why? Everything was going good until, until Dad showed up...'

"David? Are you okay?", Derrick broke Dave from his thoughts. "I don't know, Dad. I just don't know.", Dave wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his head into his knees. "Oh David,", Derrick wraps his arms around his youngest son, "You must believe me when I tell you this. Your brother didn't abandon you. He done everything he could for you. But things, were just too much for him to handle. He loved you with all his heart. But he done what he done because he was sure that it was the right thing for you."

"But I don't just understand. Why didn't he tell me, anything?!" "He didn't want to upset you." "Oh yeah, like I'm not upset now?!", Dave retorted. "He thought it would be the easiest way for the both of you.", Derrick tried to comfort him. "Yeah, well it wasn't.", Dave huffed. Dave turned around and hugged his father. A smirk found it's way onto Derrick's face as he returned the hug.

"Hey Dad, um, where are we?", Dave couldn't avoid the elephant in the room any longer. "We're outside of Wichita, Kansas. We had to stop for the night." "I thought you said that you were going to wake me when we stopped?" "I tried to, but you were too asleep. So I carried you in." Dave smiled alittle, "Sorry, I tend to be a heavy sleeper. I guess I get that from Bro." Derrick's smile fades when Dave mention Dirk.

"Say, why don't you get ready. We have a long day ahead of us.", Derrick tried to take Dave's mind off his brother and handed him the clothes he had picked out for him. "Okay.", Dave said, taking the garments. "Hey Dad? Where are we going anyway?" Dave said, making his way into the bathroom. "Canada."

Dave spit toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror at his father's response. "What?! Canada?! Why? I thought you lived in New York.", Dave blurts out as he walks out of the bathroom to confront his father. "We'll talk about that later David. Right now we're burning day light. We need to get a move on. You need to hurry and to get your shower.", Derrick rushed him back in the bathroom. "But Dad..." "No buts David.", Derrick said basically shoving Dave into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Derrick's response and action made Dave raise an eye brow in suspicion. 'Wonder what he's in such a hurry for.', Dave wonders as he finishes brushing his teeth. 'If he lives in New York, then why are we going to Canada?'

The light shining through the curtains in Dave's room were blinding to the hung over Dirk Strider. "Oh God,", Dirk said putting a hand over his throbbing head. He runs the same hand over his face and realizes he still has his sunglasses on. He continues to move his hand further south until he feels a foreign fabric on top of his shirt. He looks down and hold up the article of clothing where he can see it. "Dave...", start appearing in the eldest Strider siblings eyes again. "Oh God...How could I have let this happen?", Dirk sobbed as he held his brother's shirt close to his chest. "Dave...please, forgive me."

Dirk would have laid there for hours, in his own self pity, but an all consuming hatred came over him. "I. Swear. To. God. If I ever see that man face to face again, I will rip his head clean off his..." Dirk's rage was interrupted by a series of frantic knocks pounding away at his door. Dirk immediately hops up, and almost trips over the empty Vodka bottle, and clumsily makes his way toward the door. He had a splitting head ache, he did not need this so early in the morning.

"Alright chill, I'm working on it.", Dirk fiddled with the lock until he got it open. The moment he opened the door, he was immediately greeted with a warm strong hug.

"Oh Dirk! I'm so sorry! I came as soon as I heard!", Jane Crocker slung her arms around Dirk's neck. "Jane? What are you doing here?", Dirk said returning the hug, alittle at shock. "I'm going to help you track Derrick down."

Dirk sat at the kitchen table rubbing his temples. "Here, this will help.", Jane said handing him a cup of coffee. "Thanks Janey.", Dirk said taking a sip. "So Dirk, tell me. When did you start noticing Derrick's odd behavior?", Jane asked. Jane worked as a special agent for the FBI, regarding child abuse and abduction cases. When she first heard of the two names 'Dave' and 'Strider' together, she immediately jumped on it. She figured the best way to get Dave back, was to see how this whole mess started. To see where it began.

"Well, I started noticing things were off the first day he came. He kept doting on Dave constantly. Telling him how pretty he was, and stuff like that. It started getting creepy you know.", Dirk tried to explain it the best way he could. He knew it was perfectly alright for a father to dote over his son, but Derrick was excessive. "And then, when he took Dave shopping, I noticed he was a little demanding. He was demanding Dave to try on this and that. Almost like he was trying to groom him or something. At first I didn't think nothing of it. I thought that after being in business so long, you kinda can't help but be demanding at times. And then, he got aggravated at the cashier when she thought I was Dave's father."

"Uh huh, go on.", Jane writing down everything in her notebook.

"Then, all this week, he's been possessive over Dave."

"Possessive?", Jane questioned, looking up from her notes.

"Yeah, like he hated for Dave to be around anyone else but himself. One day, Dave went to the skatepark while Derrick was out. When he came back, he through an absolute hit and told me that if I had any once of common sense that I would know the dangers of letting a young boy out on the street by himself."

"And what happened after that?", Jane questioned.

"He took off and drug Dave home. And then one day, Dave had his friends over. He stood outside Dave's bedroom door, the whole time."

Jane could only shake her head at the information Dirk was providing her with. This Derrick had some real issues. And Jane feared that if they didn't get Dave away from Derrick soon, that Dave could be in some serious danger.

"How was Derrick's behavior the day before the kidnapping?"

"Oh man, that was the day I told him to get lost after he shown me the custody papers."

"Wait, custody papers? You mean he actually filed for custody of Dave?"

"Yeah, he showed me the papers and wanted me to sign them. Saying that Dave needed more structure in his life and that I wasn't able to provide that for him. Or some other crap like that."

Dirk's news deeply conflicted Dave. If Derrick had actually filed for custody of Dave, he could have just taken Dirk to court. He didn't need to kidnap him. It was like he was taunting Dirk. Like taking your most beloved possession and waving it in your face.

Also, what if Derrick didn't want to go to court, because he had, or done, something that he didn't want the courts to find...

"Dirk, Derrick may have kidnapped Dave just to spite you. He could have just taken you to court to get custody of Dave. Unless, he had something to hide..."

Dirk couldn't say anything, he was just like he was in a daze. He just seemed to stare off into space, and Jane's words starting to sink in.

But, before Dirk had time to let everything sink in, another series of knocks were at the door. "Please let that be news!", Jane said, getting up answering the door.

"Roxy, Rose! How good it is too see both of you!", Jane said surprised when she opened the door. "Hey Janey! Why didn't you tell me you were in town?", Roxy said, surprisingly sober. "I just got in. I needed to talk to Dirk about everything so we can find Dave." "That's actually why we're here. Rosey found something she deeply disturbing about Dave's father." "Oh please, please come in.", Jane said un blocking the way.

"Dirk, Rose said she found something out about Derrick.", Jane told Dirk. "What is it Rose? Please tell me! Anything!", Dirk begged the 13 years old. Rose had never seen Dave's bro in such distress before, and was a little taken aback. "Bro, I think you guy's dad has Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. And I'm afraid Dave might be in danger if we don't find them soon."