Author's Note: I finally managed to get another chapter together and hope you will like it.
I would also like to take the time to wish you a merry Christmas (or happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas) :D

I also decided to change the POV for this chapter and I hope you won't mind :)

CHAPTER 5

Special agent Peter Burke groaned as the blaring alarm clock awoke him from his slumber, he reached out and turned it off. Despite wanting nothing else than to close his eyes again and sleep for a few more hours, he forced himself out of the bed.
He walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower before walking the dog who was eagerly waiting by the front door.
It was the same repeteitve routine every single day; he woke up, he took a shower, he walked the dog, he had breakfast with his beautiful wife, they both went to work, they got home, ate dinner, watched tv, walked Satchmo and then they went back to bed.
Peter loved his life, he really did but he also longed for something to break the everyday routine, something in the form of a child.
They had tried and tried, only to find out that Elizabeth couldn't get pregnant.
It had been a tragic day for a Peter but Elizabeth had managed to stay positive, and instead she started to talk about fostering or adopting.
They had gone as far as becoming foster parents and remaking the guest room before it all really sank in for Elizabeth.
She had been standing in the middle of the room with a teddy bear in her hands, and then she had fallen to the ground. El had a complete breakdown and after that she had stopped talking about children all together.
His wife had suddenly been convinced that it was a sign from the universe saying that she wasn't meant to be a mother, and no matter what he told her she wouldn't change her mind.
Despite his longing for a child, Peter had to patiently wait until Elizabeth felt ready and until then it would just be him, his wife and their dog.

At work he spent most of his time trying to catch a person, or perhaps several persons, that had committed several thefts over the past months.
Every single one of the crimes had been done with careful planning and without even a single slip up, which meant that they weren't any solid leads in the case.
The camera had always been tampered with and not a single person had ever seen anything suspicious, on top of it all the stolen items had always been replaced with a perfect forgery and it could take days, even months before the theft was even discovered.
In the end they didn't know who was committing the crimes, when they were doing it or how.
It was a particularly frustrating case, especially since they had no way of predicting when or where the thief, or thieves, would strike again.
Peter was sitting alone in the conference room, staring at the whiteboard as if a hidden clue would appear out of nowhere if he just stared at it long enough, when his phone started to ring.
He hoped that it was Elizabeth who had somehow senses that he needed some cheering up, but that hope died as he saw the unfamiliar number on the display.

"Burke."
"FBI man."

A rough, slurred voice responded and Peter had to hold back a sigh, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with a man that seemed completely wasted.

"I wanna tell you something, FBI man."
"Yeah? And what would that be?"

Peter decided to humor the man, even if he felt that in the end it would only be a waste of time.
The man continued the conversation by saying that Peter needed to visit an apartment, and Peter sarcastically answered that of course he would check it out.
The drunken man started ramble, and it was at that point that the phone call went from annoying to important in the matter of seconds.
At first he had not even been paying attention and had even considered hanging up, before he head the man mention the name of a museum that had been robbed a while back.
Peter started to really listen to the man and he realized that the drunk was describing one of the thefts in great detail, mentioning things that not even the FBI knew.
Sadly he didn't give Peter anything that could help him get closer to solve the case but he did give Peter the realization that the man was somehow important to the crimes and this was not just a random drunken call.
When the man finished he repeated that Peter needed to go to the address and this time Peter took it seriously, grabbing the nearest notebook and writing the address down.

"What's in the apartment?"
"Something important."
The man answered cryptically before the call ended and Peter was left wondering what on earth could be in that apartment.

Normally Peter would've taken a step back and assessed the situation, after all there was a chance that this was a trap and the important thing waiting for them in the apartment was something dangerous, but he was really desperate for any kind of progress in the case.
So, he gathered a couple of agent and soon they were on the way to the location.
Peter just hoped that it wasn't something dangerous and that this would be worth their time.
Hopefully they would find something in that apartment that would aid their investigation and help them apprehend the criminal, or criminals.
The apartment was located in a pretty good neighbourhood, and not the stereotypical bad neighbourhood where you'd imagine all the crimes would take place.
Peter knocked on the door but as expected no one opened, and there were no sounds from the inside so they forced the door open before entering the small apartment.
Apart from a chessboard placed on a kitchen table and four chairs the main room was empty, despite of this Peter ordered the agents to search the room while he walked towards what he guessed was the door to a bedroom.
Just like the rest of the apartment the bedroom was empty, apart from a bed and some clothes thrown on the floor.
He looked around and spotted something sticking out from under the covers and walked over to the bed, frowning when he realized that it was a teddy bear.
Peter picked up the teddy but froze as he suddenly heard a sound from under the bed, it sounded like a whimpering puppy.
He abandoned the teddy and instead he got down on his knees and looked under the bed.
Instead of seeing a criminal hiding or a scared puppy he came face to face with to blue eyed children.
Suddenly the teddy bear made perfect sense and alarm bells rang in his head when he realized that the two kids, who looked pretty young, was here all alone.
Maybe they were the reason they were here, the man had said that they would find something important and if two young children left unattended wasn't important he didn't know what was.
Peter smiled at the kids, that looked absolutely terrified, and showed them his badge.

"It's okay, I'm from the FBI."

He told them with a calm, comforting voice but the kids didn't look any less terrified and Peter wondered if they even knew what the FBI was.

"I'm almost like a cop. I won't hurt you, I can help you."

They still didn't move and Peter frowned, he thought that they would calm down once they realized that they weren't in any danger.

"I'm not going to leave until you come out."
He tried with a little more authority in his voice, while wondering if they even spoke English.
After a couple of seconds however, the kids reluctantly crawled out from under the bed.

They stood up and Peter could get a proper look at the two boys.
There was an older boy, probably around 7 years old or maybe 8, with brown hair and a pair of glasses that looked like they had been broken and then taped back together several times.
Then there was a younger boy next to him that couldn't have been older than 3 or 4, he too had brown hair and his face was very similar to the other boy's, which made Peter draw the conclusions that they were probably brothers.
Both boys looked way too skinny and their clothes were old and worn, it didn't take a genius to understand that they had been neglected.
Peter heard footsteps behind him but before he had the chance to call out for the agent, Jones walked into the room with his gun drawn which caused an immediate reaction from the boys.
The younger boy whimpered and the older boy responded by pulling his brother behind him and protectively shielding him with his body before looking at Jones.

"Please put the gun down."

The older boy said, his voice strong and confident despite the fear in his eyes.
Jones immediately obeyed the kid and looked at Peter with a questioning look but he just responded with a shrug before looking at the boys again.
The older boy was hugging the younger tightly and he could hear him whispering comforting words to the kid.
His gut feeling was telling him that their reaction and the fear in their eyes was more than a normal fear kids could have for weapons, something made him believe that these children had been through some bad things.
Jones quietly reported that they had found nothing in the apartment, and since he couldn't see anything else of importance in bedroom, he confirmed his previous suspicion that the boys were the important thing they were sent here for.
The man hadn't wanted to help the FBI in the case, he just wanted them to find the boys and save them, but from what?
Or maybe save them from who?