"Captain?" Athos sounded surprised to see him in their office. "We've already got an assignment."
"I know but now you have a new one." Treville replied, hoping that he wasn't about to make a serious mistake on this one. "I need you to find this one's family." Captain Treville said, ushering a 4 year old girl into the office. Athos, Porthos and D'artagnan looked at the Captain like he was insane while Aramis just glared at him.
"And why are you assigning us to this case?" Aramis asked, sweetly enough but there was a threat in her voice that made Treville a little uneasy.
"You obviously 'Mis." Porthos said and Aramis threw a pen at the mans' head. The little girl backed out of the room and Treville cursed himself for forgetting she was there. Maybe leaving this kid with them wasn't such a good idea.
Aramis noticed the look of fear cross the child's face and got up from her chair. She knelt down so she was at eye level with the girl. "Just ignore these idiots." The little girl laughed a little at that, moving closer. "I'm Aramis, what's your name?"
"Isabel." Aramis smiled, walking the little girl into the office.
"This is Captain Treville, Athos, Porthos and D'artagnan." Aramis pointed to each man in turn as she lifted the little girl to sit on her chair. Treville was sighing in relief, seeing that he had been right to bring her here. Hopefully they'd find the child's parents quickly and then maybe Aramis wouldn't kill him for presuming that she was good with kids just because she was a woman. Then again, Aramis was most likely going to kill the other three first if their grins were anything to go by. At the very least, she'd never here the end of this.
"So, where do we start?" Porthos asked as Treville exited the room.
"Isabel where did you last see your family?" Athos asked, turning to the little girl but she shied away from him, sliding off the chair to hide behind Aramis' legs. Porthos supressed a snort at the sight.
"How about we go and get ice cream, you like ice cream right?" Aramis ignored the other men, bending down to talk to Isabel instead.
"Mummy said I ice cream's bad for me." Isabel replied.
"Well, this will be our little secret." Aramis promised, grabbing her bag as she ushered the little girl out of the room. D'artagnan went to shout something but Athos and Porthos quickly shut him up.
As soon as Aramis was gone, D'artagnan rounded on them and asked, "What the hell was that?" Porthos and Athos shrugged in answer. "I didn't know Aramis was good with kids."
"Neither did we." Athos replied. "Though Treville must have guessed otherwise he wouldn't have let the kid anywhere near us."
Porthos laughed at that. "She is not going to be happy with him when this is done with."
"Where do we start then?" D'artagnan asked. "I mean we don't have any idea who she is and she won't even talk to us."
"Maybe Aramis can find something out." Athos replied. He was just thankful he didn't' have to deal with the kid and Aramis did seem to be a natural with her.
…
"Do you like ducks?" Aramis asked, watching as the little girl ate the ice cream. She shrugged and Aramis sighed internally. Obviously she would be the one who would have to get answers from the little girl. "What about your parents?"
"Mummy does." Isabel took a bite from the ice cream, getting it on her nose and Aramis laughed as she wiped it off the child.
"And you're Daddy?" Isabel shrugged.
"Do you miss them?" She nodded, sniffling a little and Aramis really hoped she didn't start crying. "We're going to find them for you, do you want that?" Isabel nodded again, looking up at Aramis with big pleading eyes.
"You promise?"
"I promise. But we're going to need your help; you think you can do that?" Isabel considered it a moment before nodding and Aramis smiled.
"How can I help?" Aramis smiled, glad she was finally getting through to the little girl.
"I need you to answer some questions." When Isabel didn't interrupt, Aramis continued. "Where did you last see you parents, think really hard for me okay?"
"We were at a party. That was yesterday."
"And you haven't seen them since." Aramis prompted.
"No, they put me to bed and when I got up they weren't' there. But I heard noise in the night. Daddy was shouting and glass smashing."
"Where was this?" Aramis asked, gently placing a hand on Isabel's shoulder.
"Home. I can take you there."
"I need to call my friends first." Isabel shook her head quickly. "You don't want them there?" Aramis asked, curious when the little girl shook her head again. "Okay, but they need to know where I am, is that alright." Isabel nodded this time.
When she was done, Aramis allowed the child to grab her hand, following as Isabel led them through the park. Finally, the little girl stopped outside a small house. The neighbourhood was pretty quiet with barley anyone in sight. Aramis didn't want Isabel going in, not sure what they might find, but she also knew the child couldn't exactly stay outside either. "You have to stay with me." Aramis said, making the little girl promise not to run off. When she did, Aramis led the way inside.
The door was unlocked and led into a living room, with glass shattered on the flooring. Looking further around, Aramis saw that some of the pictures were smashed on the floor. Picking one up, she turned to Isabel only to find the little girl had disappeared. Swearing in Spanish, Aramis called her name, getting a muffled response in return.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Aramis ran into the room Isabel had called from. Her bedroom. The room was bright pin with a bed and numerous toys scattered on the floor. Isabel was sat on the bed, holding a brown teddy bear. "This is Bongo." She said, holding out the teddy for Aramis to inspect and Aramis couldn't help the laugh of relief at seeing the girl unharmed.
"Hello Bongo, how about we go back downstairs?" Isabel nodded, running down the stairs ahead of Aramis. When they reached the ground floor, Aramis picked up the picture again and asked, "Are these your parents?" Isabel nodded. "Okay, I think we better get back now."
Isabel didn't say anything, instead allowing Aramis to hail a taxi. She was lagging a bit and Aramis didn't want the child to collapse before they got back to the office. Maybe she could take her home and let her sleep there. Paying for the fare, Aramis had to lift Isabel up and carry her inside and up the stairs to the office. Only to have her start awake in her arms when they entered to find Porthos and D'artagnan engaging in a very loud game of throwing paper balls at each other. On hearing the noise, Isabel started crying, silencing everyone in the room.
"Out. Now." Aramis ordered the three men in the room, who quickly jumped to obey hearing the anger in her voice. Isabel was still crying, clutching the teddy to her chest. Her tears were staining Aramis' shirt as she gently rocked Isabel. Thinking on her feet, she started singing an old Spanish lullaby her Mother used to sing her. This seemed to calm Isabel down so she continued until the 4 year olds tears had stopped. "What's wrong?"
"They're scary." Isabel said and Aramis could hear Porthos' humph of annoyance from where she stood.
"Do you want to know a secret?" The little girl nodded. "They're not scary. In fact they're the least scary people you'll ever meet."
"Promise?" Aramis nodded and Isabel smiled.
"You can come back in now." Aramis shouted and Isabel went over to D'artagnan and hooked her arms around the young mans' legs. "These are her parents." Aramis stated, handing over the picture she'd taken from the house.
"I'll put it through facial recognition." Athos said, taking the image from Aramis.
"Can we go and get pizza?" Isabel interrupted, looking at Aramis. She nodded but when Isabel didn't loosen her grip on D'artagnan's leg he grinned. "Can D'artagnan come?" Aramis smiled, clapping a hand on D'artagnan's shoulder as she passed.
….
By the time the three came back, Porthos and Athos had managed to track Isabel's' parents down. Apparently there'd been a break in in their home and Isabel's parents had had to run to the hospital as her Mother had been injured. Isabel's Father had called come people to check on Isabel but they must not have, leaving the young girl alone in the house.
"Mummy, Daddy." Isabel shouted, running towards her parents. Her Mother pulled her up into her arms as Isabel's Father came over to thank them.
"It was a pleasure, Monsieur." Athos replied, shaking the offered hand.
When the small family went to leave the office, Isabel squirmed out of her Mother's arms and ran over to Aramis. The woman lifted the little girl into her arms, giving a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Can we go for ice cream again, Aramis?" Isabel begged and Aramis glanced over to her Mother.
"Only if your Mummy lets' you?"
"Please Mummy." Isabel begged and Aramis felt a little awkward at the confused look crossing her Mother's face. She was obviously wondering why her daughter was hugging a stranger.
"I suppose that's fine, if it's no trouble."
"None at all, she's a lovely little girl." Aramis said, putting the child back on the floor. "Behave for your parents." Aramis told the girl, ruffling her hair a little. Isabel grinned, grabbing her parents' hand.
"Thank you again." Her Father said as the three walked out of the office.
"You're going to miss her aren't you?" D'artagnan asked, placing a hand on Aramis' shoulder who only shrugged him off.
"Speaking of." Porthos grinned turning towards Aramis. "I didn't know you were good with kids."
"Let's agree now never to speak of this again." Athos interrupted, seeing that this could quickly turn into an argument between the two friends.
"Agreed." Aramis replied. "Now if you don't mind, I will be leaving you three to do the paperwork."
"Why's that, we did more work than you." Porthos interrupted.
"But you three didn't have to spend all day with a distraught 4 year old." Knowing they couldn't argue with that, Aramis turned straight out of the building.
Hope this is alright I was having a bit of a problem writing this down on paper so please review and tell me.
As always, if there are any one shots you want me to write please say :)