A/N: I meant to get this out yesterday, but some very unexpected news threw me for a total loop. Now that my feet are back on the ground...hopefully, I'll be able to post two a week now. Crossing fingers!

Don't Judge a Book
Chapter Three

As Rick muttered a string of curses and hopped away from the door, AJ hesitated. If these were regular, dangerous criminals he'd have darted right out after them, but they weren't. They were kids. Kids. He couldn't get over it, but he was going to have to get his brain in gear, and soon. The thought of those little boys wandering around in this neighborhood, in the middle of the night no less, gave him the heebie-jeebies. Even if the oldest seemed pretty capable, the street wasn't safe. In the suburbs or any other district, there'd be police sirens filling the night as they approached. No one around here had cared enough to call in the sound of a shotgun blast.

By the time he made it to the parking lot, there was no sign of Dean or his baby brother. It was like they'd vanished off the face of the earth. That wasn't possible, and AJ was determined to find those kids before something bad – worse – happened to them. There had to be a way to convince them he and Rick weren't the bad guys here. They might be suffering from a pretty severe case of Stockholm Syndrome, or at least Dean could be. The baby might be okay enough to lead a normal life, but the boy seemed like he might already be loyal to this pervert. As if he didn't feel out of his element enough already, adding serious psychological issues was the proverbial icing on the cake. Kids were more Rick's thing anyway, and they weren't even Rick's thing.

Then again, he could be reading a lot more into the situation than he should at the moment. They didn't know anything. Even what they thought they knew, they didn't.

"Gah. That boy's a menace."

AJ noticed the limp from the most recent attack. Rick wasn't wrong, but it was funny. AJ snorted.

"That boy is you thirty-some-odd years ago," AJ said, giving Rick a beatific smile.

"Then I've changed my mind," Rick said with a snarl and then a quick smile of his own. "He's delightful. Gotta a lot of potential, that one."

If delightful meant almost being pumped full of lead by a child, then Rick's definition could stand. AJ didn't have the first clue what was going on, his mind reeling at finding two children armed with heavy artillery where he'd expected lewd photos of Rosalie Sanchez and her teen daughter. At this point, he didn't think there was any way to gain the boy's trust – not matter what the situation, he and Rick were two random strangers who'd barged in on two frightened kids.

"Well, go look for the delightful boy that way." AJ pointed left. "I'll go over here. And Rick?" He waited for his brother to look at him. "Try not to be so scary."

Rick growled, which wasn't exactly what AJ'd had in mind as not scary. It probably didn't matter, he reminded himself. They were skulking around like lowlifes, and breaking into motel rooms while wearing dark clothes. They must be terrifying to those boys. He started his search at the far end of the parking lot, where it was the darkest. He didn't know much, but an idiot could tell Dean was pretty smart. At least the boy was disarmed. He shouldn't have to worry about being shot at again; AJ had a feeling the kid wouldn't miss a second time. AJ found himself hoping with some fervor that Rick would be the one to find the kids.

Of course his luck never ran good on command, so it didn't happen that way.

AJ heard a small thump as he neared a big ice bin, followed by the clatter of cubes against each other and the metal siding. It could just be the ice settling. For some reason, he doubted it. There didn't seem to be any other place a kid could have disappeared to. He waved to Rick, who was on the far side of the parking lot. AJ bobbed his head to the ice bin and stepped closer. He stood there for a second, debating how to approach this situation. If he threw the lid open, he'd freak the kids out and probably end up with ice lodged somewhere unpleasant.

He stood to the side and gingerly eased the lid open, peering into the bin. Dean crouched there as if ready to spring, but his face reflected that he knew how bad an idea it had been to seek protection in a box full of ice. His brother clung to him, shivering but silent with no sign of his earlier tears.

"Come on out of there."

Dean didn't budge. He looked at a spot beyond AJ's shoulder, his face tight with anger and fear. Oh, boy.

"Listen, Dean," AJ tried again. He kept his voice low and hopefully soothing, though he didn't have any illusions it would endear him to Dean. Kids had body language like adults did, and this one was radiating distrust. "That is your name, isn't it? That's what your brother called you."

"I d-don't have to talk to you," Dean said, trembling himself from the cold.

"No, no, you don't," AJ said. He heard Rick join him, finally. He didn't want to take his eyes off the kids. "But you can't stay in there."

"I can scream. I'll scream."

"Yeah, you could do that," Rick said, crouching down. He reached into the bin and pulled out a cube of ice, applying it to his swelling lip. "But I think you won't. You could've done that already. Hel...ck. Heck, you could've gone to the office for help, but you didn't."

That was true. AJ had been too busy playing mental catch-up that he didn't even think about the whys of Dean's behavior beyond him and Rick breaking and entering. That alone had to be frightening, he thought with a pang of guilt, but he thought a normal kid would have tried to find someone to help the second he got away. This was far from normal. God, this poor boy. The look on his face now was heartbreaking. He looked like a caged animal and a sad, old man at the same time. AJ decided he wanted to live the rest of his life without ever seeing a look like it again. He wasn't strong enough to handle it.

"I think deep down you know we don't want to hurt you."

"I think you don't know anything about anything," Dean said. "You can't."

AJ believed those words. Whatever had happened to this boy, it was outside their realm of expertise. He wished he could understand, but at the same time was glad he couldn't. His imagination would do a fine job filling in the blanks. It already was. The best thing to do was to get these kids to the help they needed and wash their hands of the case entirely. He wasn't sure he wouldn't break their Peeping Tom's face himself if they ever caught up with him, and between him and Rick he was the levelheaded one. He spared a glance at his brother – he was right. Rick's expression was one of barely restrained fury.

"Maybe not," Rick said, none of that anger reaching his voice. "But one thing I do know is that you're not doing your little brother any good by keeping him in this ice box."

"That's right," AJ said, piggybacking on that idea. They were already Bad Cop/Bad Cop, so it couldn't do any more harm. "Sammy's feet are turning blue. He's got to be getting awfully cold."

Given the way the boy seemed territorially protective of the toddler, those should have been the magic words. Instead, Dean moved one of his own shaky hands and stuffed his brother's feet in the hem of his T-shirt. AJ had seen plenty of tough nuts crack under pressure. This kid could teach them all a thing or two.

"All right. Enough fooling around," Rick said. "Out you come."

Rick seemed more confident now that his assailant was half frozen as he scooped both boys out of the ice bin with an annoyed huff. Dean did not go gently, but his moves were sluggish. The fight hadn't gone out of him, yet he still didn't call out for help. He was scared of them, but AJ thought Dean was more scared of the police; not that Dean had any deep-seated belief that he and Rick were trying to help. It didn't make sense. But then, nothing had since they'd lifted the bed and found a boy, a baby and a gun instead of incriminating evidence.

"Take the baby," Rick said.

Oh, not again. AJ pursed his lips and shot his brother a glare.

On cue, the little one lifted his head up and silently assessed first AJ and Rick, before he turned his attention to Dean. His lower lip trembled. He didn't start crying.

If AJ didn't know any better, he would say tiny wheels were spinning in that tiny head. He and Rick were being weighed and measured by a two-year-old. After a moment, the baby gave Dean a pat on the shoulder, and then he twisted and reached for AJ. He didn't know who was the most surprised by it. Judging from the look of betrayal on Dean's face, it was him.

"You're not going to grab my nose again, are you?" AJ asked. The toddler had sharp fingernails. When he tried to take Sammy, Dean still wouldn't let go.

"Sammy," Dean said as AJ finally extricated the baby.

"Take it easy." Rick had a firm lock on the boy. "The last thing he wants to do is hurt your brother."

It was like they were stuck in a loop, and believed repeating their good intentions would eventually sink in and make a difference. He was already sure that wasn't going to happen at all, let alone not while standing in a shady motel's parking lot. AJ felt Sammy press his cold cheek against his collarbone, and he blinked back more surprise. Well, he had to amend his thoughts. They had one of the boys' trust. He didn't think it counted much – weren't kids Sammy's age notorious for loving everyone? He'd have to ask Mom. Or maybe not. The last thing he needed was Mom thinking he was interested in having kids.

"Hey," AJ said quietly, placing a hand awkwardly in the middle of Sammy's back. He glanced helplessly at Rick, who shrugged and looked as uncertain as he felt. "You'll be all right now. Just sleep."

Sammy was, in fact, already sleeping. His easy reactions to everything were as baffling as anything to AJ, and he wondered again what kind of life they'd been exposed to when this much insanity was mundane enough to sleep through almost entirely.

"Your brother seems to like us," Rick said.

"My brother's just a little kid. He doesn't know any better yet," Dean said, fire returning as his body regained its temperature. "And he's tired."

They'd be standing around all night debating at this rate. If their Peeping Tom was more than a run-of-the-mill pervert, AJ didn't want to be around when he returned to his motel room. Before now, he'd have said he didn't have a paternal bone in his body, yet his primary, overriding concern was keeping these boys away from more trauma. He couldn't be responsible for reining Rick back while he was holding a baby, so it could get very ugly, very fast. The problem was, though, that he wasn't sure dragging Dean and Sammy to a police station in the middle of the night wouldn't also constitute trauma.

"Rick, we need to get them out of here."

"Right. We'll head to the p-o-l-i-c…"

"No, no police," Dean shouted, starting to squirm and kick for all he was worth again.

AJ blinked, startled by the outburst.

Dean stared at AJ. "I can spell, mister, and I'm not dumb. I know how to spell social services too."

AJ looked above Dean to Rick, who shrugged at him. Again. His brother hadn't been much help all night, though he supposed he could blame some of that on wrestling with a wiry, punch-happy child. He had to admit that all things considered he'd drawn the lesser of two evils. Sammy's breath came in warm puffs against his neck and the child was, for all intents and purposes, a cuddler.

"I'll tell them you did bad things to us." Dean yanked an arm out of Rick's hold. The fight hadn't gone out of his eyes, but it seemed he wasn't a flight risk anymore. He wouldn't leave as long as AJ had little Sammy. He kept a wary eye on his sleeping brother. "I know we hafta go with you because you've got my brother, but no cops."

There was honest-to-goodness belief that he could bargain his way out of child protective services written all over Dean's face. AJ wasn't sure what to make of it, which meant he was still at point A when he should be to at least point M by now.

"Please," Dean said then, his assuredness replaced by vulnerability that seemed genuine. "Please."

Dean's was a face AJ didn't know how to say no to. He didn't understand the protective streak coursing through him, but he couldn't deny it. He rubbed Sammy's back, and the baby snuggled against him. He got a picture in his head of two little boys in a crowded police squad room filled with drunks and prostitutes and he didn't like it.

"We'll just take them right to Town," Rick said.

AJ frowned and shook his head. Town was a good friend and would help them if he could. He always did a lot for them, but it wasn't like the guy was on duty twenty-four hours a day. Even if they got lucky and found the lieutenant in his office, Town might not have any recourse but to lock these boys up for the night. More than any of that, he didn't want to contribute to the mountain of lies that had probably been told these boys. Eventually their fate would be out of his hands, but for one night maybe, just maybe, he and Rick could make some type of difference to them. He made eye contact with his brother, who looked as uneasy as ever but there was also something else to his expression. AJ could think of only one place he'd want to go if he were little and lost in the middle of the night.

"Mom's?" he and Rick said simultaneously.