I'm back!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF MURDER AND RAPE AND ABUSE, MEMORIES OF RAPE (ITALICIZED)
Leo's call to Annabeth was half an hour long and fifteen minutes of it was spent listening to her rant about why the police had wanted to speak to him and what he had done and so on.
Leo loved Annabeth. She was like a big sister to him, but she sure knew how to jump to conclusions.
"Annabeth, I didn't do anything."
That's why I'm here, Leo thought before shoving the thought aside.
"Look, a few years ago, one of my foster brothers disappeared. I witnessed something that may be able to lead them to where he is."
"What?"
"I witnessed his murder," Leo blurted.
Annabeth was silent for far too long, in Leo's opinion.
"Leo... why didn't you ever tell us?"
"Because if I had to remember one night, I'd have to remember everything. Annabeth, I ran from the memories for years because as soon as the remembering started, everything fell apart. Every single time. I didn't want this to fall apart."
"Leo, it won't. We're your family. We're always gonna be here for you."
That's what everyone else said.
Leo violently tossed the thought from his mind. No, he would not think like that. Not now. Not when he had Calypso and the seven and Harley and-
"They'll forget about you."
Leo whirled around in his chair to face the corner of the interrogation room.
Standing there was Chance Walter.
Chance wasn't real, of course. He was dead. But the hallucination felt so real, it automatically caused beads of sweat to pop up on Leo's forehead.
"Chance," he murmured.
Chance's eyes darted up to look at the mirror.
"They're watching you," Chance said, flatly. "Don't talk to me."
Leo turned back to the phone.
"Annabeth... I have to go. They're looking for the other foster kid, Chad. With our statements, they'll be able to arrest the guy who did it."
Annabeth sighed. "Okay, Leo, but I want a full explanation when you return. No vague stories."
Leo nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him.
"Okay. I'll see you guys... maybe today, few days from now. Soon."
"All right. Stay safe. Call us if you need anything."
"I will."
Leo hung up.
The fire user watched as Chance sat across from him.
"What are you doing here?" He whispered to the table, too low for anyone on the other side of the window to hear.
"I always show up when the memories return," Chance stated as though it were obvious.
"But I don't want you here," Leo hissed.
"And I don't care. You can't make me go away. You can run all you want, but I'll always come back."
Leo gulped. "Just leave, Chance."
"There's only one way to get rid of me."
"How?" Leo demanded.
"You know how."
With one last nod, Chance vanished.
The door suddenly opened, and an Asian man stepped inside.
"Hello, Leo. I'm Dr. Huang."
"You're a therapist," Leo realized.
Huang smiled. "How could you tell?"
"I've been to my share of therapists. Trust me, none of them ended well."
"Maybe I'll be different."
Leo nodded, although he wasn't convinced.
"So, Leo, what did Dr. Speck do to you?"
Leo opened his mouth to allow the lie to slip off his tongue when someone cleared their throat.
Leo looked over Huang's shoulder and met Chance's eyes.
Huang frowned and turned, seeing no one. He spent back around to see Leo still staring at the same empty spot on the wall.
"Leo?"
Leo snapped out of it and looked Huang in the eyes.
"Sorry. Uh, he hit us, mostly. He would sometimes beat us-"
"Weak," Chance cut Leo off. "Tell him the truth."
I can't, Leo thought.
"You can, too."
"He used to come after me with a belt, and-"
"Chad always said you were the brave one," Chance growled.
"He would kick Chance in the legs, and that would cause the pain in his legs to be so bad that he couldn't walk at all, not even limp. He'd have to crawl around for days."
"Chad admired you. I admire you," Chance whispered.
"He drank a lot, and..."
Tears filled Chance's eyes, something Leo had never seen in the hallucination.
"Get justice for us. You are the brave one, after all."
"He would insult us all the time."
"Be brave."
"He... he snuck into my room at night," Leo choked out. "He did it to all of us, but... he seemed to be the most obsessed with me for some reason."
"Do what?" Huang asked.
Huang knew. Leo knew. But Huang needed an official statement.
"He raped us," Leo murmured.
Hands running over his legs...
Lips sucking on his neck...
A hand slipping into his pants...
Unbearable pain as He thrust inside of him...
A horrid voice gasping in his ear: "Such a good boy, Leo. Be my good boy."
Leo shot to his feet and barely made it to the trashcan before his lunch rose in his throat and gushed past his lips.
After Leo had finished vomiting, gentle hands helped him resume standing upright.
Chance was in the corner, smiling.
"Brave," Chance murmured.
Leo nodded, and Huang looked over his shoulder again, only to find no one there.
"What do you think?" Cragen asked Huang as he exited the interrogation room.
"Well, Leo definitely suffers from PTSD, but I also believe he suffers from hallucinations."
Olivia frowned. "Where'd you get that?"
"Leo kept focusing on empty spots in the room. He also nodded at something over my shoulder, but no one was there. I can't know for sure until he has an evaluation, but it's a plausible theory," Huang answered.
"That poor kid," Elliott muttered. "Any luck finding Chad?"
"We called his mother (he's been adopted) in New Jersey. She said Chad's staying with his adoptive father this week... in Downtown Manhatten," Cragen said. "I just sent Fin and Munch there."
THE HOME OF JOHN CUMMINGS
DOWN TOWN MANHATTEN
Fin knocked on the door, and moments later, a tall, brown haired man answered it.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Cummings?"
He nodded. "Speaking."
Fin and Munch flashed their badges.
"Could we speak with your adopted son? Chad?" Munch asked.
"Why?"
"We believe he may be of help in an investigation to find a missing kid, one of his previous foster brothers," Fin told him.
"Okay," Mr. Cummings said, frowning. "He's actually out right now."
"Did he say where he was going?" Fin questioned.
"Well, to be honest, Chad was acting kind of weird. I mean, he's always... odd, but never like this. All he said was that it was time for him to meet Chance," Mr. Cummings explained.
Munch and Fin exchanged glances.
"Thank you. That'll be all."
"What do you think that means?" Fin asked Munch.
"It sounds like suicide," Munch admitted, picking up the pace.
"I'm gonna call Elliott," Fin said from the passenger seat as they sat in the car.
"What's going on?" Olivia asked as Elliott hung up the phone.
"That was Fin. They just left Mr. Cummings's house. Mr. Cummings told them that Chad was going to meet Chance; they believe he's going to commit suicide," Elliott said, quickly, as he stood.
"Where would he go?" Olivia questioned.
"They've called the phone company. They're trying to get a tracker on his phone," Elliott said. "They said we should probably get down there."
Olivia nodded as they walked out of the precinct.
In the back hallway, Leo lurked in the shadows, having left the Interrogation room.
Chad was missing.
And Leo knew where he was.
Leo found the door ajar.
His hands were shaking like mad. His legs were trembling so much, Leo feared they'd fail and give out. His breathing wasn't coming easy at all.
Music blared from inside. He'd always played music, but not this kind. This was rock and roll. He'd never played this.
He couldn't believe he was back here...
Memories were coming fast, like a movie on fast forward.
Fingernails digging into his thigh...
Begging for it to stop...
Pain all over, but especially where He was thrusting inside...
Teeth biting his neck...
Lips bruising his...
Hands everywhere: under his shirt, in his hair, in his pants...
Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop...
Hands around his neck...
"Stop, please! Please..." Leo had sobbed over and over again...
"My sweet boy" was the only response he got from Him...
Leo slowly pushed the door to the house of Jordan Speck open.
And just over the music, he heard the sound.
BANG!
REVIEW!