Spencer opened his eyes slowly and realized that he was in a comfortable bed. He looked around and noticed that the room was decorated for guests. While it was very nicely appointed it was pretty plain with a few generic photos on the wall that were a pale cream.

Where was he? Spencer wondered and remembered the man who he called Dave. Was it Dave that had put him to bed, as he seemed to remember falling asleep on the way to Dave's home. Probably, though he supposed it could be the wife he had mentioned.

Spencer suddenly realized that he had to pee and frantically threw back the covers looking around more slowly until he spotted a door in the far wall behind the bed. He hoped it was a bathroom and not just a walk-in closet, because he really had to go. It turned out he was right, as he opened the door and saw a spacious and well appointed bathroom with a floor of a silver blue and white tile and a bathroom counter of the same color silver blue, except in porcelain. There was also a large mirror above the sink and a step stool in front of the counter. Now that was really thoughtful right there that his host had realized that he would be too short to reach the sink on his own and so had left him a step stool, Spencer thought. He had either lucked out and found a genuinely nice couple to help him or this was a very elaborate trap. He would have to be very careful from here on out until he was sure. It could be something as simple as the Rossis turning him over to the authorities now that he'd had a chance to get some sleep and if that happened he would be taken back to his father as soon as they learned his last name as the male knew where he hailed from. Spencer knew that that option wouldn't be anymore dangerous then living on the street, as both options would likely to get him killed. At least on the street he had had a slightly better chance, as odd as that sounded.

He had no doubt that his father had figured out a permanent way to get rid of him, one that hopefully, didn't cost him money, as he knew how tightfisted William Reid was. He had always been complaining about how expensive it was to raise him and it wasn't like he didn't make plenty as a lawyer. Spencer had decided that it was better if he just left on his own. Spencer had packed his messenger bag that went everywhere with him. Spencer looked around for his bag once he had peed and saw it sitting in a corner out of the way and he breathed a sigh of relief. He checked the contents and found everything exactly where he had put it which meant the Rossis hadn't searched it. There was a couple of books his mother had given him, that were quite old and had been hers as a child. She had said that she knew he would take care of them as they were quite valuable. Also in one of the pockets was some money he had taken from his father though he knew with today's prices it wasn't much and wouldn't last long, but at least it was something. He didn't feel guilty at all from stealing from his father's wallet, so he had a few hundred dollars. Normally, he wouldn't steal at all, but his father was such an ass and had been planning a way to get rid of him, not to mention had murdered his mother, that the normal guilt he would have felt didn't materialize. His conscience probably figured that his father deserved to be stolen from.

He was sure that his father was glad that he was gone and would just tell the authorities that he had runaway. Spencer had no doubt they would search for him but wouldn't find him considering he was in Glasgow now and not Las Vegas. Spencer wasn't entirely sure how he had gotten to Scotland, as the idea of being drugged seemed a little fantastical in the morning light that was streaming in the windows. His eidetic memory supplied that no one had approached him to talk to him, certainly not close enough to drug him. His memory was clear and wasn't faded or blank as it would be if he had been drugged.

He wouldn't remember so clearly of being desperate to find shelter, as it was beginning to get dark, remembered wanting to get away from his father before he figured out a way to kill him, just as he had his mother.

His father wanted him to dumb down his abilities and act like a normal child of normal intelligence, which was what both his parents had frequently argued about. His mom had defended him on numerous occasions he knew. She had told him on more than one occasion that he was special and that he shouldn't have to dumb himself down to make others like him.

It was a hard road she had acknowledged and if he wanted to act normal and not super intelligent then she would support him, but his own father shouldn't force his own son to act like what he considered normal. Spencer who had only been about five at the time had seen no reason to dumb down his ability just to make others happy, but his mother had been right that it was a hard road. He had absolutely no friends, but he figured, if he couldn't find friends that would accept him for himself then they weren't really friends at all.

Spencer got dressed in the only pair of clean clothes he had that were in his messenger bag along with several other valuable items. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to put food in his stomach and clothes on his back when he outgrew his current outfits. He wasn't sure he was going to stay with the Rossis, but he would see. He had just finished dressing when there was a knock on the door. The door opened a little and when Dave saw that Spencer was awake and dressed he entered the room.

"Well, I was just coming in to see if you were up and tell you that breakfast is ready," Dave told him.

Spencer stomach growled on cue causing the boy to look embarrassed, but Dave just laughed. "Well, it sounds like someone is hungry, but since you fell asleep before you could have dinner last night that's not surprising at all. Come on, lad, I cooked breakfast and you don't want it to get cold."

"Was it you that put me in bed?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, it was. I carried you upstairs while Liana, my wife, turned down the bed after making sure it had fresh sheets," Dave said.

"Thank you," Spencer said a little awkwardly, but Dave seemed to appreciate his effort because he smiled again.

"You're quite welcome, lad," Dave said. "Now let's get you some breakfast to satisfy that beast in your belly."

Spencer nodded, but wasn't entirely sure if he should really eat breakfast, as it might be drugged. However, he knew he couldn't go without eating until he could make sense the situation. While Dave seemed like a good guy he knew that people could wear false faces.

Dave said nothing, but he could guess where Spencer's thoughts had gone, even though his expression was totally blank. The boy was apparently good at the poker face look. Dave could guess very well why he had developed the skill, if what little he knew or guessed about Spencer was right.

Dave led the way to the stairs and saw Spencer looking around out of the corner of his eye. The boy seemed to approve of the décor and seemed to recognize at least some of the paintings on the walls or at least the artists. He especially seemed to approve of the family photos on one wall and the painting above the fireplace, which included the entire family, Dave and Liana and their four children, but also Brigid, Aaron and their two. It had only been done a couple of years ago so while the children were still quite young they weren't toddlers anymore.

Dave entered the kitchen with Spencer trailing behind him to find that Liana had already put the food on the table and there were plates set to the side. This was going to be a serve yourself breakfast, mostly because Spencer was so suspicious that they didn't want him to think that they were trying to drug him.

"Help yourself," Liana said smiling at the boy. "I'm Liana, just so you know. This big lug here convinced me to marry him." This was said in a teasing tone and Dave simply laughed. "I have to admit I wouldn't have been as happy without him, so I suppose I got a bargain."

Spencer smiled at the banter knowing that Liana was teasing her husband, who accepted it with good grace, which spoke well of their relationship. He only wished that his own parents had gotten along so well, and though he knew he wasn't really the cause he still felt guilty for the fact that he had such a high IQ, as it had been the main bone of contention between his mom and dad.

Spencer filled his plate, as he was starving, but only took a small bite waited a minute before he took another.

Liana watched this and looked at Dave who shook his head, which meant that she wasn't to worry about it and he would explain later.

Liana accepted this and filled her own plate before sitting down to eat.

Dave filled his own plate with twice as much as his wife and started to eat with apparent gusto.

This was something that Spencer couldn't blame him for, because the food was very good and if Dave cooked this well, it was no wonder he enjoyed eating his own cooking.

Spencer finished his plate very fast once he was sure that it wasn't drugged and looked at the platters in the center of the table longingly, but he didn't want to seem like a pig.

Liana noticed this and told him, "Feel free to eat as much or as little as you want, though you could do with gaining a little weight."

"It's my metabolism," Spencer answered.

"He means that his metabolism is so fast that he never gains weight unless he eats a great deal more than is normal. He'll never be fat, even if he loses that ability once he's grown," Dave said. "He could probably even eat thirds and fourths without worrying about weight gain."

"Now that's an ability I envy," Liana said. "Ever since I was pregnant with our third child I lost the ability to eat whatever I want without gaining weight."

"So where are the children?" Spencer asked a little tentatively.

"They're staying with my other daughter who I adopted long before I met Liana for a few days," Dave answered. "She and her husband Aaron will look after them, as they have two of their own that are a few years younger. We wanted to give you a chance to settle in and get used us before you were thrown into the lions pit so to speak."

"They are good kids and everything, but they're very enthusiastic and energetic," Liana explained. "We thought you might be overwhelmed if you met them right away."

Liana didn't mention that they all had a habit of changing into their dragon forms at the drop of a hat. Spencer didn't need to be introduced to the world of the supernatural like that, if as Dave had suggested he was unaware that such powers existed. Even if Dave had told Spencer that magic was very real, in his store last night, it didn't mean the boy had absorbed what he had been told or believed it. They needed to introduce him to this world as gently as possible.

"You don't look old enough to have a daughter of the age to marry," Spencer told Dave.

"There's a reason for that, that I will reveal to you in due time, but first, you need time to settle in," Dave said.

"Perhaps we can go shopping!" Liana said enthusiastically. "You need a new wardrobe anyway."

"Those clothes aren't the ones you were wearing yesterday, so you must have had an extra set in your bag."

"I did," Spencer blushed. As much as he wanted to protest he knew that Liana was right about the shopping, as he only had two set's of clothes and one of those was for winter. The messenger bag wasn't that big and the books, clothes and a few other important items, like his toothbrush and paste took up all of the available space.

It was also fairly heavy, though not to heavy for him to carry.

"Good! I see you aren't going to protest about shopping for a new wardrobe," Liana said pleased.

"I do need clothes and there was only so much room in my bag," said Spencer simply. "However, I will pay you back, just as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about that," Dave said immediately. "My family have been jewelers for many centuries and believe me we've made quite a fortune. It is more then enough to support my family and any guests in style. We both want you to stay with us at least for the time being."

"Yes, we do," Liana said. "If you have a family that you want to go back, then you are of course, welcome to do so, but from what Dave has told me of how he found you somehow I don't think you want that at all."

"It wasn't hard to guess that you had runaway for whatever reason, even if neither Liana or I really know what that reason is. We can make educated guesses, because both of us are experienced with human nature in general, we might even be partially right, but only you know why you ran away from home. You seem like a logical and practical lad and I can't see you running away just because you're angry at your father. A lot of kids might do so, because they're very emotional and get angry easily, but you don't seem like that type at all. I figure that your father did something that was unforgivable and you figured you'd be safer on the streets. Tell me, I'm wrong," Dave suggested.

The boy blushed at having his intentions read so easily, but then, these two people seemed to be intelligent with a lot of experience in the world. They had likely seen something similar several times. Really, they didn't look any older than his mom had been, but he could guess that they had been through experiences that had matured them beyond their actual years, much like himself.

Neither Dave nor Liana said anything out of politeness, but they knew they had been mostly right, as they couldn't see Spencer blushing if they had been totally wrong.

"Dad, he killed mom," Spencer stuttered finally looking up from where he had been looking at his lap anywhere really other than that to people who were sitting across from him. "They thought I was asleep, but I had woken up needing to use the bathroom and was just coming back. They were arguing at the top of the stairs. One of the worst arguments I have ever heard between them.

"They were so distracted I don't think either one of them heard me flush. Dad wanted me to dumb myself down, so I was more normal and my mother was arguing telling him I was special and that I shouldn't have to act like I was of normal intelligence when I really wasn't. Mom turned to head back downstairs and she had only walked down one step when dad reached out and pushed her. Not hard or anything, but it was enough to cause her to overbalance.

"She went tumbling down the stairs so fast that she didn't even have a chance to scream before landing at the bottom. I know that if dad learned that I had seen what he had done he'd get rid of me not caring if he did so. I'm sure that he would have found a way to make it look like he hadn't murdered his own son, because after all falling down the stairs can be an accident and that would be the way it would probably look to the authorities.

"Even if that wasn't the case, I'm pretty sure that dad had at least a few cops in his pocket. I'm sure they would cover everything up for him if he paid them enough. It was after that night that I started my plans to run as far away as I could. I had always known that dad didn't care for me, but I knew that he would find a way to get rid of me permanently without my mother's buffering presence."

"That is so tragic," Liana said finally once she was sure Spencer was finished with his rather morbid tale.

"It's all too common though," Dave said. "Your dad is not the first nor will he be the last to murder his wife for whatever reason. It's clear from your tale that he truly didn't care for either one of you, though your mom's murder might be an accident. He might've been trying to stop her from leaving the conversation for instance. I'm not saying that's what happened just that it's a possibility. However, I wasn't there and I'm not disbelieving what you saw, as your not one that's prone to hyperbole."

"I will remember the moment my mother flew down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom, for the rest of my life," Spencer said not exaggerating in the least. "My memory is eidetic you see, so I will never be able to forget what my father did to my mother and I have no doubt would've done to me if I hadn't left on my own. I didn't dare go to any adult, because they just would've taken me back home assuming that like any kid I missaw what happened or that I was exaggerating to get attention.

"They likely wouldn't consider the fact that I wasn't like most children who've done exactly that, as some children are different from what is average. The odds of me getting someone who actually listened to me were so low that I didn't bother going to the police or to my teachers. I know the streets are supposed to be rough, but I figured I had a better chance of survival if I didn't stick around home. I would rather die free on my own terms, then be murdered by a man that is supposed to love me. Even if he didn't murder me I can see him placing me in an institution, claiming I had some kind of problem to where I needed to be institutionalized, which he can do legally, though I would be free at 18."

"That you even know about such things at your age is pretty amazing," Dave said, as he studied the boy across the table. "This tells me that you value learning, as it's easy enough to look up such things in the library or on the Internet."

"I am. My mother worked as a literature professor at Las Vegas University. She was always encouraging me to learn whatever I could and saying that history was important. She felt scholarship was one of the reasons that the human race had made so many advances. We've learned to do a lot of things since humans came into being depending on what theory of evolution you subscribe to.

"We've worked ourselves up from learning how to rub sticks together to create fire to creating wondrous things that save peoples lives, entertain them and help them or expand their brains to learn how to improve the human race further. My mother told me that just a few weeks before she was pushed down the stairs. She valued scholarship above anything else, though she knew that humans also needed to relax and have fun or they would burn out or at least get cranky because humans weren't designed to work all the time.

"Sure, before, humans worked a lot because they didn't have electricity or even things like oil lamps. They were up at dawn and in bed by dusk, because burning candles or oil lamps was expensive," Spencer lectured. "If you really study history you'll notice that humans also died a lot younger back before we had all these modern conveniences."

"Well, I see we're going to have some interesting discussions," Dave's said trying to keep his lips from twitching. It was clear that Spencer had adored his mother and took her words as gospel, not that he disagreed or anything, because scholarship and learning were very important. "It's rather unusual to have a child who is so interested in learning about the past, but still, I won't say it's entirely unprecedented. Yes, people went to bed much earlier several centuries ago, because they didn't have electricity and lamps were expensive to use because of the oil required. Many families used candles even once lamps were around, because they couldn't afford the oil for them. Lamps were mostly for the rich. Now we have electricity that is for more economical and cheaper then oil lamps were."

"You can continue this discussion later, as Spencer and I have quite a bit of shopping to do to get him kitted out," Liana said.

"Perhaps you can shop for paint and stuff as well if you want to paint your room another color. You know fix it up how you like it. Whatever you want different bed, different colored walls or maybe wallpaper."

"You don't even know if I'm going to stay with you," Spencer protested automatically.

"Where would you go?" Dave asked him simply. "You don't know anybody else here and they're more likely to turn you in then we are, as we have secrets of our own. At the least they'd probably take advantage of you, though I won't say that's a sure thing, but there're plenty of people that would take advantage of a child like you in a heartbeat.

"No matter how intelligent you happen to be you have very little experience in the world, even if you've already seen a somewhat darker side of it, which is something no child is as young as you should experience, but unfortunately, it happens. My wife and I will not allow you to live by yourself, as it's dangerous for someone your age. You don't seem like the type to runaway for no reason, as I told you earlier and the story you told us about your mother being murdered and your father likely wanting to get rid of you too was a good reason to get out of there.

"Liana and I understand why you didn't want to go to adults, because you're right about their probable reactions. Very few would have believed your story, although they might have investigated. Still, it's hard to pin down murder when somebody breaks their neck from falling down the stairs. It's possible and everything, but rather difficult. If, as you say, your father has several cops in his pocket, at least the ones that are in your area then they would likely rule it as an accident or maybe suicide.

"Really, where would you go if you did runaway? You don't know the area and where would you live, as you're only seven? This might not be Las Vegas, but the adults are the same here, as they would be anywhere. Someone could take advantage of you, some would turn you into the authorities and you have no paperwork, no birth certificate, no social security number."

"I do have a social security number," Spencer protested.

"Yes, and those in authority would send you straight back to your dad," Dave said, "once they discovered who you were, something I know you don't want."

"No, I don't," Spencer said deflating knowing that the Rossis were very right.

Dave knew that even if Spencer's family existed in this dimension, they would likely already have a son named Spencer, though it was very possible that his family didn't exist here. Spencer didn't know it, but he was in a totally different dimension and even if there were many similarities things would not be exactly the same, people who had existed in Spencer's dimension might not exist here. For one thing, Dave was sure that people with powers were no more then characters in books and movies and weren't reality in the dimension Spencer had come from. From what little Spencer had said his world seemed to be geared towards science and technology with no supernatural element.

"If you've finished breakfast we need to get going," Liana suggested.

Spencer nodded not protesting, as he finished the last bite on his second plate of food. He was more stuffed than he could remember being in a long time. It had just been so good though and he had been so hungry that he couldn't resist getting more.

"You should probably break up buying him a new wardrobe into several trips," Dave told his wife. "No young boy wants to shop all day."

"That's a good idea," Liana said looking at Spencer who looked rather relieved at that suggestion.

"There's no need to rush to get him a whole new wardrobe in one day," Dave said. "He's going to be staying with us until he's grown, because where else does he have to go?"

Spencer had to acknowledge that silently. His hosts were right where did he really have to go? He had no doubt that if he ran away Dave would track him down and bring him back. If truth be known he was happy to stay with the Rossis, as they seemed like decent people. The husband had brought him home without a qualm and refused to leave him to fend for himself. He couldn't see any kidnaper putting in that much effort, the effort of being friendly and engaging before they made him a prisoner. They had after all fed him royally and hadn't drugged it like he half suspected.

"We have a library where you can read some of the books when you get back from shopping," Dave suggested and Spencer simply lit up at that. "I'll even let you read some books that aren't age appropriate, since you're so intelligent and will likely be able to handle the information they contain. If that causes problems or gives you nightmares that we'll stop," Dave warned and Spencer nodded.

"Understood," Spencer said and Dave rose from the table and begin putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

"You go ahead and shop, but be back by lunch," Dave told Liana who nodded. "I think four hours of shopping is plenty for one day for a young boy. Once you get back he can spend the day in our library or doing whatever he wants."

"We'll just get the essentials then," Liana decided, "and anything else can wait."

"Good, socks, underwear, pants and shirts should be enough and if you have time, shoe shopping. Well, that's not exactly essential since his shoes seem pretty sturdy, so you can save it for later if you run out of time."

"A good jacket with a hood since it rains a lot in Glasgow," Liana added. "We don't want him getting sick because he doesn't have one."

"I actually have a pretty hearty constitution," Spencer mentioned, as he listened to the adults discuss what to get him today.

"Still, you do need a jacket, several jackets actually, for different weathers, but we'll start out with one that's rain repellent," Liana said.

"You might as well just give in, lad," Dave said forcing himself not to chuckle. "Once my wife gets an idea in her head there's no point of arguing."

"I can see that," Spencer said finally, smiling.

"I'll just go finish getting ready and I should be done in a few minutes, so we can get going," said Liana that she headed for the master bedroom.

~~~Dave and Liana~~~