The Whole Truth

AJ refused to leave the station until she got some answers, as did Dean. They were still trying to wrap their heads around this complete miracle that mere seconds before Punk was about to be put to death, life-saving evidence came into light and it had been called off until further notice. It was another glimmer of hope again for all of them.

"So what's the deal with this guy… Dennis, him being one of your foster fathers when you were kids?" AJ asked, standing waiting in the station reception area with Dean.

"I don't know what's going on there." Dean said, "We were with him… just for a few months. He wasn't good to us. I stole a lot from him. Was barely there and when he was… he wouldn't buy in food or give us any money." Dean said, "Punk took the blame for me after he found out I'd been stealing from him, him and Punk had this fight and Punk went to juvie and they moved me onto a different family." Dean said, "But it wasn't that deep or personal."

"Hopefully Paige is in there telling Michael everything." AJ sighed, looking down the corridor where Paige was no doubt sat talking to Michael, "I knew she was holding back something. It was like she was scared."

"If word gets out that Phil isn't the killer, Del Rio won't ever come back to the states and this… Dennis guy, he'll split just as quick." Dean said.

"As long as they know Phil isn't guilty." AJ said, "That's all I want." She nodded. She couldn't believe that he was still alive. After going back to the hotel, feeling like her soul had been ripped from her, not knowing what to do with herself, she truly thought that they had lost him forever. And it had scared her a little because… she was reminded again of how much he meant to her. How much he still meant to her. She was still thinking about their kiss, and she felt bad about it because she was a married woman, but not bad enough to keep thinking about it over and over again.

"He's gonna be a mess." Dean shook his head, "Michael said they had him set up for it, it was literally seconds away from happening." He said, "Can you imagine what that feels like? Sitting there and waiting to be killed." He sighed.

"Hopefully we can see him later." AJ nodded.

"I doubt it. They'll probably wanna keep him in the dark for as long as possible." Dean reckoned as AJ sighed.

"What if Paige says enough to get him off? For him to be let go or at least even have his penalty taken away." AJ said.

"Let's not rush ahead." Dean said as AJ sighed to herself, "Did you tell Ben you kissed him?" AJ asked her as AJ looked at him, "What?"

"I thought he was going to die." AJ said, "It just happened." She said, a little flustered.

"April, you don't have to hide it from me. It's me." He nodded, "You know me. And I know you." He reminded her, "You can still love him. It's not a crime."

"I love my husband." AJ said, "I care about Phil, of course I do, and I was emotional and so was he… we have history. Ben knows that and when I do tell him… he'll understand."

"You're sure about that? If I hear him getting mad at you… you know my fists have no off button. I will punch him in the face." Dean nodded.

"No you won't do anything." AJ said, "That's a conversation me and my husband will have in private." She said, "I love Ben. We've been together for a long time now."

"You were with Phil for longer." Dean said.

"Yeah, well he isn't Phil." AJ reminded him angrily as Dean just nodded.

"How often do you see each other?" Dean wondered, "I mean… you're both attorneys. Must be busy… hard to see one another."

"I know what you're doing." AJ nodded, "I'm not stupid, and I'm offended that you think I am."

"I know you're not stupid." Dean said, "What am I doing?"

"You don't like the idea of me and Ben together and you're trying to… to pick out cracks in my relationship." AJ nodded, "Don't. It's not your business anymore. It's not like we live together anymore." She said, "I'm married to someone I love. And quite frankly, this has nothing to do with him. He helped us, don't forget that." She said as Dean just nodded, backing away and putting his hands up.

"Alright." Dean nodded, suddenly watching as Michael came back down the corridor, approaching them over at the front desk.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Michael asked them both.

"Bad."

"Good."

AJ said bad whilst Dean said good.

"Ok, well the bad is…" Michael began, "We can't release Phil right now… in fact, we can't release him until we're one hundred percent sure of who killed those girls, right now it's looking blurry but we've got an idea of what's been going on. The press are really gonna love this." He sighed, looking out to the front of the station where the press were crowded around.

"Ok, and the good?" Dean asked eagerly.

"The good is…" Michael looked at them both, "The good is… I and many other colleagues of mine have looked things over, especially with what Paige has come forward with… it's looking more like Phil is innocent than ever." He nodded as Dean sighed with relief.

"So… he can't be sitting on death row anymore?" AJ asked, "If you have to look back into the case and there has to be a whole other trial… he can't be sitting on death row."

"Technically, he is still sitting on death row but… there won't be another date for an execution." Michael said as AJ nodded.

"So what did Paige tell you?" Dean asked.

"Well she practically knew about the whole set up." Michael nodded, "As you know, she's Alberto's wife… not the greatest husband. He's rather violent towards her. That's why she didn't wanna say anything. She's shaken up. I decided to give her a coffee break. She's just a young girl." He sighed.

"So she knows everything?" AJ asked, "What did she tell you?"

"Ok, well basically…" Michael began, "Del Rio… he's got a warehouse in Chicago but it's just a cover-up for his drug business. Now he has a link to Dennis…. Dennis Smith that is, one of your foster fathers growing up." He nodded to Dean, "They were in business together, actually… probably around the time you and your brother were living with him." Michael said.

"Yeah, he was never there, and when he was he… he was really strange." Dean said as Michael nodded.

"What Paige also told us was that one of the girl's fathers… Ava, he was involved with the business at a point too. Back in Chicago." Michael said, "But apparently he sold them out, got protection from the cops, got a new identity and moved here with his family." He nodded, "As you can imagine, Del Rio and Dennis… they want their revenge."

"So they murder his daughter and her friend?" AJ asked, "What's this got to do with Phil?" She said.

"Well no one really gets away with that sort of murder unless there is someone else to blame, so… Lorenzo, I think he's maybe Del Rio's cousin, distributes work for building sites, Del Rio voiced the plan to Dennis about getting some boys out to do some work in Florida and they could be put to blame for it." Michael said, "But Paige said that Dennis came to Del Rio with a specific name."

"Phil's." Dean nodded, following along now.

"Yes." Michael said, "So then Del Rio paid those two boys to make sure Phil was in on the job. He paid the technician here to tamper with the footage, and Dennis took the flight out here… killed the girls, put the bloody pants in Phil's room and… now we don't know where he is." Michael nodded.

"Oh my God." AJ shook her head, not believing it, "But… what the hell does Dennis have against Phil? They were just kids when he knew them. Why would he want to kill Phil in the process of all of this?" AJ asked.

"Why was he even listed on the social system to be a foster carer?" Dean asked.

"Well this is where we've done our own digging." Michael said, "Might be a little hard to hear actually…" He nodded specifically to Dean, "Since the last five or six years, there's been a lot of charges against him, from people around your age who were also in the foster system. Some girls, some boys." Michael said as AJ had already figured out.

"Oh my God." AJ gulped.

"What?" Dean said.

"Amongst many other things, the man has been charged for sexual abuse on children. Teens." Michael said, "A few of the charges were dropped, some still stand but… nothing has been done about it. As soon as the social system found out his name was off the list right away." Michael said as Dean swallowed the little bit of sick that had come up, "I'm not gonna ask you right here and now if he ever… touched you or your brother."

"Oh, hell no." Dean answered right away, "No. He didn't. And if he even tried to we would have killed him."

"Maybe that's why he was so mad with you two… maybe Phil in particular because he wasn't able to manipulate you like other kids. You guys stuck up yourself… in fact, we have it here that Phil was put in a juvenile detention centre for a week because he broke his nose." Michael looked at his folder as Dean nodded.

"Any idea where he could be now?" AJ asked.

"We're trying to track him down, him and Del Rio." Michael nodded, "They're the guys we want and… well the story checks out." He said as AJ sighed to herself whilst Dean was still trying to process it all, "I'd like to apologise for not… for not giving you guys much of my time… this has all proved me wrong. And you guys managed to find the seeds of it all and bring it to life so… than you." Michael nodded.

"We just didn't want an innocent life to be killed." AJ said, "You'll keep us updated, won't you?"

"Yeah, of course." Michael said, "I'm gonna go speak to Paige again, see if she could tell us anything else."

"She'll be alright, right?" Dean asked, "I mean… you won't charge her for withholding information, especially if that sick fuck was abusing her."

"No. Not unless it appears she took part in any of the activities." Michael said, "There's a good chance she'll lead us to Del Rio, who could lead us to Dennis." He nodded.

"Do you think we could see Phil?" Dean asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Michael said, "What he's gone through in the last twenty-four hours, only a handful of people will experience that in the world. There's a good chance he's probably traumatised. It's probably best that he's given some time." He said as AJ just sighed and nodded, "For now, just let us do our jobs, stay out of it." Michael said as AJ and Dean nodded. All they ever wanted was for someone to believe that Phil was innocent, now the evidence was really truly there, it was only a matter of time before the truth would prevail, they were just glad it happened in time.

A/N: Let me know what you think!