Happy New Year! Hope you all had a lovely time over the holidays. Sorry this is a little late - with Christmas, the family, the farm and the floods, time has been a little short. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review/message - your support is much appreciated.

This chapter sees the effects of Kelly's situation on his friend, Andy, and also sees that situation taking another dire turn, showing just how vulnerable a young Kelly is at the moment - poor guy is not having an easy time of it!

Vince knew not to take the unassuming building at face value – his long career on the force had taught him that things were rarely as they seemed. The group home looked like every other house on the block – detached with what could have been a decent yard had anyone taken the time to tend to it. The whole neighbourhood looked tired and neglected and the homicide detective could already feel his spirits sinking.

However, he'd promised Andy and his friends that he'd check in on their friend before telling them where to find Kelly, wanting to properly assess the situation and avoid any unpleasant fallout – he didn't really have any right to be getting involved in the case, after all, and he certainly didn't want to send three upset kids into an unknown part of the city and upsetting the applecart.

He liked the Darden's and sympathised with Andy and his friends, all of whom were upset with Kelly's situation, but, never able to withstand a woman in tears it had been Mrs Darden's chocked up plea of 'please…please check up on my boy' that finally had Vince agreeing to go beyond the confines of his usual remit and chase down the missing teen to the run-down neighbourhood in Logan Square.

A short, sharp knock on the door brought one of the carers to the threshold – the man looked to be in his late twenties and the suspicious, assessing gaze worked its way over Vince before checking to see that the man was on his own.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" he asked shortly.

"I'm Detective Torretti," Vince replied, automatically pulling himself up to his full and somewhat imposing height as every sense he possessed screamed out to him about the man in front of him. "I'm here to speak to Kelly Severide."

The man's eyes widened briefly at the revelation, but he quickly stamped down his emotions and offered the cop an insincere grin and a hand. "Robert Jenkins," he introduced himself while quickly trying to come up with a plausible story. "I'm afraid Kelly isn't in at the moment – he went out with some friends from back home and we thought it might do him some good, so we gave him permission to stay out a little later than his usual curfew."

"I see," Vince said, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him – Jenkins had picked the wrong man to spew that particular pack of lies to. Any cop who didn't know the kid might have taken the lie at face-value – while he didn't know Kelly anywhere nearly as well as he did Andy, he still knew the kid. Vince knew that Kelly was popular enough at school, but he only had a small, select group of friends that he fully trusted – the only people Kelly Severide would want to see right now were the ones the cop had left behind in the oppressively quiet Darden household kitchen.

"Yeah, sorry you had a wasted trip, man," Jenkins offered another insincere grin and a token shrug of his shoulders.

"No problem," Vince shook his head. "I'll be back tomorrow," he promised. "If I were you I'd make sure he's in."

"Well I won't be on then, but I'll make sure that the next carers on shift know to keep him around," Jenkins promised as he silently thought about the best way to explain the fresh bruises on his latest charge, bruises he had put there not even two hours ago.

Vince left, the sinking feeling he'd felt on entering the neighbourhood turning leaden. Jenkins had set his teeth on edge from the get-go – from his insincere manner to his likely deceit and purposefully vague information, Jenkins had presented the experienced cop with a façade that screamed 'warning'.

Unfortunately, despite the churning in his gut, Jenkins had given him no cause to enter the house, and given that he shouldn't even be getting involved in the case in the first place Vince knew he had to tread carefully. However, he had no intention of ignoring his gut and leaving Kelly in a potentially dangerous situation, so he flipped open his mobile and started making a few calls as he walked back to his car, first and foremost checking up on one Robert Jenkins.

"So you just left?" Andy demanded incredulously. Night had fallen and April and Scott had long since left, acquiescing only on the promise that he would call them with news as soon as Vince returned. However, he still subconsciously looked for them and their support at the news but found only his mother frowning at him for his outburst.

"Andy," his mother quietly warned him, not liking the disrespectful tone to her son's voice at all.

"I didn't have a lot of options," the detective explained. "The carer said he was out with friends…"

"He doesn't have any friends in Logan Square!" Andy interrupted loudly. "And the only kids in school who even know what the hell happened to Sev are me, Scott and April."

"Yeah, I'd already thought that it was pretty unlikely," Vince said patiently. He understood the kid's concern but there was nothing to be done for now.

"But you believed it enough not to question it? You know what, if you're not going to help him then we'll go!"

"If you think I'm going to let you walk into an unknown situation, a possibly dangerous situation, then you've got another thing coming!" Vince said sharply, hoping to get his point across – one kid in trouble was bad enough, he didn't need four of them.

"But Sev…"

"You came to me and asked for my help – believe it or not, I am helping," the cop promised Andy. "But you need to trust me, trust that I know what I'm talking about, trust that I know what I'm doing and trust that what I am doing is the best thing for your friend!"

"We do believe that," Andy's mother interjected. She knew her son was upset at being unable to help his friend, and she understood that not knowing if Kelly was even ok would eat at him until he had some answers, but Vince had been a good neighbour and friend to the family and she didn't want to upset him. "Thank you, Vince, we appreciate everything you're doing to help Kelly."

"I've made some more calls," the cop informed them. "I have people looking into the carers at the home, trying to see if there is anything suspicious to explain why this Jenkins may have lied to me. But you also need to be prepared for the possibility that it was Kelly who lied to him in an effort to get out of a situation he clearly wanted nothing to do with in the first place by all accounts."

"He wouldn't do that," Andy said firmly. Kelly could lie when he needed to, but most of the time his friend had no qualms about being entirely too honest, sometimes to his own detriment – blunt to the point of rudeness at times, Kelly Severide knew how to get his view across and it was rarely through deception. In fact, the only time Kelly tended to lie was by omission in relation to questions about his own wellbeing in an effort to keep people at arm's length, never one to let others help him out and share the load – 'a problem shared is a problem halved' was very definitely not a saying that Sev put any stock in. No, if Kelly had wanted out of the group home, even for a couple of hours, he would have said so and walked out anyway, damn the consequences.

"I'll be back out there tomorrow morning, kid," Vince promised. "And I swear, if there is even the slightest hint that something isn't right then I will do everything in my power to get Kelly moved elsewhere, but beyond that…my options are limited."

"His own damn father could have helped out there!" Andy spat viciously, never having hated the man more than in that moment. There were many times that he had disliked Benny Severide, even after spending a large part of his early childhood idolising the man and his profession – it was hard to think well of the man when he saw the very visible effects of the man's indifference to his own son. But this was beyond unforgivable and he would never again look at the man with any degree of respect in his eyes, screw what the city officials thought about the man's stellar record!

"I'll let you know how I get on," Vince promised them both, before making a hasty retreat, desperate to get away from the oppressive atmosphere of the house and the accusing looks from Andy as the possibilities of Kelly's current reality whirled around everyone's minds.

"Couldn't he come and live here?" Andy asked quietly once Vince had gone and he'd got his temper back under control.

"Oh sweetheart," his mother said as she sadly shook her head. "You know I would take him in in a heartbeat if I could – I've come to care about Kelly as a second son, but we simply can't afford it."

"He already practically spends more time here than he does at home anyway," Andy argued.

"He comes over a lot, that's true," Elizabeth Darden agreed. "But he doesn't live here, Andy. I'm working two jobs already and we're still struggling with the bills and the mortgage repayments, never mind the weekly grocery shop. I've already got two children to house, clothe, feed and educate, and as much as I've come to care for Kelly, you are my first priority – I want you and your sister to at least have the option of college and that's already a dubious enough prospect with money as it is."

"It would be two years, mom," Andy implored. "And Sev already has loads of jobs so he can pay his own way."

"It's not that simple, Andy," she informed him. She truly had come to care for her son's best friend a great deal, and it was silently breaking her heart that she could not do anything for him, but the depth of her emotions didn't change reality.

The first time she saw him had been on the day Andy started kindergarten – the room had been full of kids, some screaming with excitement, others with feelings of abandonment as their parents left them for the first time. Kelly Severide, with his intense blue-eyed stare and short, dark head of hair was in a corner by himself, watching everything going on around him warily, a scowl firmly in place. Elizabeth remembered seeing him and thinking 'trouble-maker' and had left hoping her son would find other friends. When she returned, Andy and Kelly were sat side-by-side on the swing-set talking quietly, ignoring everything and everyone else, and Elizabeth had felt her heart sink a little at the sight.

It had taken a few years, several fruitless endeavours in encouraging Andy to find a new best friend and a greater understanding of what made Kelly Kelly, but eventually she had come to be more than grateful for the fact that the two boys had been drawn towards each other despite her earlier reservations, especially as it was clearly evident just how much good that friendship had done her son.

Andy had started kindergarten a shy little boy, who was more prone to hiding behind her knees and engaging in bouts of silence and tacit acceptance of demands made upon him rather than making friends with excited squeals of childish glee and declaring his own wants and needs, but there was something about Kelly that had given her son the confidence to stand up and be counted.

With Kelly by his side, Andy had slowly but surely become more vocal about his likes and dislikes, a humorous side replaced his earlier reticence to be noticed and while the mischief that the two got up to together could frequently be exhausting, bewildering and, at times, beyond infuriating, Elizabeth had been secretly glad to see Andy acting more like a happy if mischievous little boy, and less like a serious little man.

Over the years, the two of them had survived several trips to the principal's office, and despite the gravity of any given situation, the friends had always stood firmly side-by-side, neither one blinking at the repercussions of the other's actions so long as they faced them together. Their loyalty towards each other could often be as aggravating as it was endearing when that loyalty kept her out of the loop as to what had really happened to cause the latest detention or the most recent split lip.

However, over the years she had come to know Kelly's character and realised that while he had a temper on him and could be somewhat prickly at times, his heart was one made of gold – after all, Kelly usually managed to find trouble while striving to protect the vulnerable and support the underdog. She couldn't really hold Kelly responsible for the trouble he found as her son shared the same sense of justice and was frequently the one that initiated things – Andy's morals merely added fuel to the fire when they were together and ensured that when they did find trouble, they usually felt vindicated by the reasoning behind their actions and united by their cause.

When two became three with the addition of Scott Rice in junior high, she knew that she would likely never get the finer details of their more interesting escapades as the three closed ranks in a further effort to protect themselves from all and sundry. With the effects of his difficult home life easily visible to anyone looking, it should have been obvious that both Andy and Kelly would feel drawn to Scott, eager to help and protect him from any further pain.

Scott had in turn repaid their kindness and loyalty with his own fierce brand of friendship. While naturally more ebullient and easy-going than his other two friends, Scott was just as likely to throw a punch in their defence as either Andy or Kelly, and when the three were united by a common cause then there was no stopping them.

At times, Elizabeth wished they could find a better way to solve their problems than with violence or the threat of it, but she knew that school could be a brutal field of learning with frequent scuffles in the corridors, and so far not one of her boys had ever overstepped the mark and taken things beyond a black eye and a split lip. She also couldn't deny that she felt a perverse sense of satisfaction at knowing just how far Andy's friends would go to protect him – in fact, she imagined that if the circumstances should ever arise, they'd be the type to help him hide the body.

When her husband had been diagnosed with cancer and the doctor's optimism about his chances of survival had been less than stellar, the family had been united in their grief, trying to prepare themselves for the future where the possibility of losing a loved one was almost certain. Steve had tried to wear a brave face for his family, and while it had somewhat worked with their little girl who was too young to truly understand the circumstances, it had been less successful with Andy.

It was during that trying period when Elizabeth Darden had become truly grateful for Kelly Severide's presence in her son's life. When Steve was hunched over a toilet after his latest round of chemo and the house was filled with the oppressive sounds of retching and groans of pain, Kelly would suddenly appear and take Andy out for a few hours, sometimes taking his little sister along for the ride. The siblings would always be delivered back in time for a family meal where Steve would smile through the nausea and the pain and the despair, genuinely smile because seeing the answering smiles on his children's faces did more for him than modern medicine could ever hope to achieve.

When Steve had finally passed away from the disease, Andy had been devastated. He'd tried to be brave, put on a strong front to help support her in the only way he thought possible, but she'd been anything but comforted, hating to see that distant look in her son's eyes and the disingenuous smile as he tried to convince her that he was ok – then Kelly turned up and Andy's dam had finally broken. She'd heard his sobs from downstairs and had instantly wanted to be by his side, offering and drawing what comfort they could from each other, but she knew that he would put that front right back up if she tried.

With Kelly, Andy had never felt the need to put up any kind of façade, and the tears had been as cathartic for him as the trip to the lake had later been in releasing his grief and putting that tentative first foot forward towards acceptance. No matter what little incident might have reignited Andy's melancholy in the following weeks and months, Kelly was there by his side, judgement free and either silently supportive or vocally expressive depending on the situation – words of comfort could be heard one day, encouragement the next and then Kelly would purposefully goad Andy into reacting, never settling for anything less than his real feelings on the matter at hand.

Elizabeth had always been told that rearing boys was a nightmare, that the terrible twos was doubly so with boys and that the teenaged years were angst-ridden and full of rebellion, and she had been prepared for it as best as anyone can be for such an eventuality, but thankfully, she had been misinformed. That was not to say that Andy was a model child, far from it – his misadventures were too many to count and his stubborn streak was rivalled only by that possessed by his best friend, but all things considered, she had been lucky.

Of course that didn't stop her from dreaming up an easier route through Andy's teenaged years, one with fewer letters home and trips to the principal's office, and she had hoped that with the recent inclusion of the more sensible and cool-headed April Sexton into their little group that the other three would calm down somewhat, but it seemed unlikely, especially given her change of status from Kelly's friend to all of their friend only came about because they united to defend her honour from a spiteful high school jock, as well as the rest of the school and its pernicious gossip.

However, at the end of the day, despite their many escapades, Elizabeth could be nothing but grateful for all of them and their friendship with Andy, but Kelly Severide's presence was invaluable, and it hurt her more than words could express that she was unable to help the young man in his hour of need. She had known that his home life was far from happy, and while perhaps not fraught with the same dangers that Scott had once briefly faced, Kelly, unlike his friend, had had no one else to speak up on his behalf.

She'd often toyed with the idea of calling social services herself, although she knew that he would never have forgiven her and would certainly never have trusted her again after such a move. At the end of the day she had convinced herself that he was not in danger and that it was just a rather sad and somewhat uncomfortable place to call home. Knowing how things had ended up with Mrs Severide, Elizabeth could not help but play the 'what if' game, wondering if things might perhaps have been better had she stepped in earlier and acted as the adult she was supposed to be, or if it would simply have meant that Kelly would have spent even longer in the potentially dangerous environment that Vince had hinted at.

"I really wish it could be different, baby," she said as she cupped her son's face and willed him to see the sincerity of her words. "But it simply isn't feasible."

The tears in her eyes and the regret in her voice were the only things that stopped him from further lashing out and attacking her. Things had been tough financially since his father had died – his dad had been the sole breadwinner before his illness, and when he could no longer work, Andy's mother had stepped up to the plate, but with only a high school diploma and little work experience to her name she had been somewhat limited. Andy knew that his mother worked hard, frequently exhausted by the week's end, and that every now and then they still needed a little help from Aunt Sarah and her husband to pay the bills and fill the cupboards.

Wanting to help out, Andy had taken his cues from Kelly, who had long since been contributing to his mother's measly income – work in the neighbourhood was always his first stop and it was varied, from mundane yard work to more challenging work on car repairs or house maintenance. Sometimes, he went further afield with Kelly, up to the lakeshores north of Chicago where Sev often helped out a family friend in one of the small marinas, mainly doing basic maintenance work on local boats.

Due to their age and the nature of the work, most of the jobs were cash in hand, which suited them both perfectly, but it also meant that they frequently did not receive even minimum wages from some of the more unscrupulous employers. Thomas, up at the lake, could not really afford to pay either of them a full wage, but he did what he could and was flexible with the hours they worked, so more often than not it was a blessing, especially since Sev found working there more cathartic than anything else. However, there were people in the neighbourhood who would pay a pittance for a solid day's work and it was hard not to feel resentful.

Unfortunately for Kelly, the situation required that he swallow his pride and take what money he could if he hoped to have food in the cupboards. Some months were more difficult than others and the sad choices needed to be made between hot water or electricity, a working stove or a functional shower – the apartment was old and full of faults, and even Kelly's burgeoning knowledge of home maintenance was not always enough to keep it in working order.

It was hard to think of Kelly sitting in a group home somewhere idling away his time, always used to fighting for more of his friend's attention in the harder months, as he strove to earn as much money as he could and put at least a few problems to rest until the next disaster struck.

"I'm sorry, mom," Andy sighed as he leaned back into the couch. "I just…I hate thinking of him being out there, dealing with all this crap alone."

"I know, baby," Elizabeth tried to sooth her son, gently running an idle hand through his hair. "But Vince will be back out there tomorrow, and you know he'll do everything he can to make sure Kelly is safe."

"Yeah," Andy said morosely. "I just hope he's ok."

"Get some sleep, Andy," his mother kissed him gently on the forehead. "Everything will look better tomorrow, trust me."

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Kelly grunted as Jenkins further pushed his arm up behind his back. The carer had come storming into the laundry room and thrown him down against the dryer, knocking his already bruised ribs as he was roughly slammed down on the hard surface, and started shouting about some cop and his surprise visit. "The cop dealing with my case was a woman and I've not seen her since the hospital."

"Bullshit!" Jenkins screamed, spittle spraying the side of his face. "You called someone!"

"How? I don't even have a phone!" Kelly tried to shout back as he fought against the pain that was working its way down his arm.

"There's a phone here," Jenkins said with another vicious pull, eliciting a wounded scream from the boy caught beneath his weight.

"In a locked office," Kelly countered, his vision swimming. He heard fast-approaching steps but he knew that no salvation was to be found in them – the only two carers on shift were the very two who had hurt him in the first place. As for the other occupants, Darnell was currently MIA and Troy, the only one likely to intercede on his behalf anyway, was at work. Krzysztof was holed up in his room, likely with his head in a book and ignoring everything else and Manuel…poor little Manuel was probably hiding under his covers, terrified that his former protector was the one at the mercy of such cruel bastards.

"When this cop comes back, you say anything about what happened here and I swear to God, I will end you," Jenkins promised. "Your mom's in the nut house, which means you're stuck here, and I can and will make your life hell if you cause me any trouble…you and that little Spic bastard!"

"He's just a little kid, stay the hell away from him!" Kelly shouted back, finding his voice as he thought of the two bullies going after the tiny boy. "What the hell has he ever done to you?"

Anderson stepped in at that point and punched him across the mouth in an effort to shut him up, but his actions caused outrage in his co-conspirator.

"What the hell, man?" Jenkins hissed angrily. "What the hell do you think the cop is going to say when he sees a bruise on his face?"

"Kid's already covered in bruises," Anderson shrugged unrepentantly.

"Not on his face!" Jenkins replied. There were bruises on the kid's face, but they were fading bruises, and any half decent detective would be able to tell the difference.

"Hey, it's bad enough we got to deal with two niggers, a Spic and that damned Polack, but no way in hell am I going to take any lip from some Mick bastard about anything! Besides, you read his file – fighting is second nature to him, so I'm sure it won't take much to convince this Dago cop the kid's been causing trouble."

"Racist asshole," Kelly muttered, his jaw aching as he spoke.

"Shut the fuck up, kid, unless you want another shiner to add to that collection you're working on," Anderson warned.

Kelly kept quiet, fully aware that Anderson kept his promises – he was the worst!

Jenkins was in his late twenties and a man highly unsuited to social work. He was well-built and loved to lord his height and strength over his victims, his cruel streak further fuelled by his casual racism and bouts of violence. Jenkins seemed more reactive in the heat of the moment, but while his violence was somewhat uncontrolled it was almost always short-lived, and died a quick death once he'd congratulated himself once again on his dominance.

Anderson was older than Jenkins, late forties at least, and he was also completely unpredictable. Like his friend he was powerfully built with an imposing frame, but his racist rhetoric was altogether more sinister, his violence cool and calm and carefully executed. Like Jenkins, he sought to create the circumstances when he was spoiling for a fight, but unlike Jenkins, he also struck out with no prior warning whatsoever – Kelly had seen the guy punch Darnell in the stomach simply for walking by at the wrong time.

With Jenkins, it was all about the power he held over his victims and he tended to get bored quickly once he felt his point was made, but for Anderson it was all about violence for violence's sake and it seemed to excite him in a way that sickened Kelly.

They heard the front door and Jenkins hissed out a curse, shoving Kelly from him as he moved towards the door.

"That'll be Troy," the carer said as he looked at Kelly who was huddled on the floor, carefully cradling his throbbing arm. "You say jack shit to him, to anyone, same promise applies." With that, he left, but Anderson remained.

"Not having a good time of it, are you kid?" Anderson smiled, not looking upset at the observation at all.

Kelly stayed quiet, not wanting to further aggravate the man and invite more pain his way. He still ached from the frantic attack he had endured from his mother when she lost her already somewhat tenuous grip on reality – the fresh attack by his supposed 'carers' had added another layer of bruises and another wave of pain washed over him at every move, every breath.

"Cat got your tongue?" Anderson demanded as he took a step towards Kelly, growing furious as the kid still refused to acknowledge him. "Answer me, goddamn it!" he said as he grabbed Kelly by the shoulders and threw him up against the wall, eliciting another cry of pain from the injured boy.

Kelly didn't know what to say or do as Anderson leaned in towards him, breathing heavily across his face, a satisfied grin and eyes only scant inches away from his own, body pressed firmly against his own. It was only then, with Anderson's body pushed up against his own, that Kelly realised with dread just how much violence turned the vicious carer on, and panicking more about the consequences of that reaction rather than further punches, he lashed out, kneeing the man hard in the groin, desperately ignoring the erection he felt as he did so.

Anderson was caught off guard and let Kelly go immediately as he moved to gently cup himself in an effort to alleviate the pain. Kelly didn't hesitate. He ran out of the room with only one destination in mind – the front door.

"They're just going to send you right back here!" Anderson's pained voice followed him as Kelly made his way towards the stairs out of the basement, pausing only to pull loose storage boxes down behind him in an effort to slow down his pursuer. "Who do you think they're going to believe, huh? Some kid, with a history of fighting and multiple suspensions to his name, with crazy already running through his blood? Or a former cop with a list of commendations to his name?"

Kelly barely listened to the words as he made his way up the stairs, his fight or flight instinct engaged firmly in flight mode, desperate to get away from Anderson, his perversions and the very real fear of what might happen if he stuck around. On reaching the top of the stairs he saw Jenkins, who had come to investigate the shouting – no longer caring about the consequences of fighting back and causing trouble, Kelly lashed out, catching the man heavily on the side of his face with a clenched fist even as he dodged to the side of Jenkins's clawing hands.

The front door was in sight, and he fumbled with the deadbolt as he heard movement behind him. He frantically wrenched the door open and raced through only to feel a hand grab at the collar of his jacket, dragging him back across the threshold. Kelly was momentarily knocked off balance, but he ducked his head forwards and pulled hard, ignoring the pain that flashed up his injured arm as it was yanked back, caught in the sleeve of his jacket, wrestling until he felt himself free of it, leaving an empty coat in Jenkins's hands and almost face-planting into the doorstep at the sudden lack of restraint.

"They'll bring you back!" Anderson shouted ominously from behind his co-conspirator, but Kelly wasn't listening. He was running as fast as he could in the opposite direction, his socked feet barely feeling the unforgiving tarmac beneath as adrenaline surged him forward into the darkness of night.

Please let me know what you think - this is also un-betaed, so please tell me if you spot any mistakes. Thanks!

Next chapter already started, but things are still hectic so no guarantees it will be up this coming week (although I willl try, promise!).