"Mom, dad, I get that thinking about my twin brother, who you believed was dead so soon after he was born hurt to think about, but why are you denying him now? I know for a fact that you were told there's blood work to prove his identity"

His mom sighs before speaking up

"James...it's not as easy as you think it is, not only because we thought you were dead but...because of something that happened when you were only a year old. Your father and I grieved heavily in regards to the loss of your twin brother when everything had seemed fine initially, but we still had you to take care of and so we focused on that and little by little, day by day, the grief of losing a child lessened, but we never forgot our other child. Then shortly after your first birthday we were given false hope that our lost child was actually alive and so we agreed to have paternal testing done on the orphan to see if it was truly your brother or not"
His father is the one that takes over after both of them sigh

"Unfortunately our hopes were dashed and yet again we had to deal with our loss, only it was worse this time around because of the fact that we already had been dealing with it and that wound was ripped raw once again"

"It's not that you don't want to believe in the possibility that this time it's really him, it's that you can't believe it, because if it turns out not to be the case you'll truly be broken then"

"Yes"

"If...if the test is done right in front of you, would you believe it to be true?"

"It's probable in any case, we'll at least try that theory James, but don't expect it to truly work"

"I know"

"When will we do this though?"

"Give us about a week mom, it takes time to arrange such things after all"

"Maybe...maybe it's time we visited you in London since there's a possibility that you'll be able to work as a police officer again, and if that's the case then you'll want to be in London when you're cleared for police work"

"Actually because his case is in this town the testing will be done at the hospital, they have the necessary tools to do so, besides while I probably should head back to London it isn't quite time yet, the Yard's been having some difficulty finding a place for me for some reason"

"I see, then once the arrangements are made at the hospital let us know and we'll be ready"

"Right"

A week later and the hospital was ready to do the test that confirmed that Bradstreet and Donavan were in fact twin brothers in front of Bradstreet's parents. And so the four people went to the hospital and Bradstreet and Donavan had their blood drawn and were then told that it would be in hour before the results were in and so the family (even if the parents were denying their one son) went to the cafeteria for food.

"James, if you can't return to your job as a police officer, what are your plans for the future?"

"There's always civilian jobs within the force, I can see what's available if my plans on returning to the force don't pan out"

"Though hopefully you do return, I know we won't be able to work often since we're related but being in the same department will do"

"So you decided to go with a permanent transfer then?"

"Yeah, I already told my old department that the temporary transfer was no longer temporary"

"I see"

The family spent the rest of the time waiting just talking and getting to know each other again but finally they were told that the results were in and once in front of a doctor they found out that the results proved that Bradstreet and Donavan were twins.

"Then it's official, even though we've known it for a while, my parents have denied it, but they can't anymore Donavan is related to me by blood and is indeed my twin brother, the one who was believed to have died as an infant"

"Yes"

"How could they have taken you from us and have us not question it for so long? I...I'm sorry Donavan that we denied you when we first met, that must have been hard, being rejected by your biological parents after not knowing about them for so long"

"I knew it was a possibility from the start since my adoptive parents didn't give me a whole lot of information about my birth parents or the adoption agency they used. I'm just glad the truth is out and we're working towards justice for the entire family even if it's as late as it is"

"Still, you can't deny emotional pain from rejection Donavan"

"I won't deny it hurt slightly, but I had prepared myself for rejection, as much as possible anyways and thus the pain wasn't as severe as it might have been if I had had my hopes up too high"

"I see, in any case, what's the plan now?"

"Now we finish the case that started all of this, my case, we figure out everyone who was involved in my abduction and arrest them. They can't all be punished after so long, but most likely some of them continued doing the illegal acts for long enough that we can charge them, if not for my abduction then someone else's. The doctor who signed the paperwork will resign at the end of all of this, giving up his medical license even though he wasn't directly involved and simply trusted the nurse. I don't know if it's because he feels betrayed by the medical field now or if he truly feels he shouldn't practice anymore because of his actions but in either case I won't try and stop him"

"But first he's going to do what he can to find everyone in the hospital who was behind this and if there are others that continued what his nurse probably started, or even if his nurse was continuing something though most likely the nurse was acting solo"

"How long do you think that's going to take James?"

"Not sure to be honest dad, what I do know is that my brother and the others are staying here until they get answers while I myself return to London long enough to find out if I can return to the force or not"

"And once you have your answers you'll return here?"

"Yes, I may not be able to officially be part of the investigation, but if I can't work on the police force I already have another job offer, despite my new issues"

"I thought that you were going to get a civilian job with the force if you can't be a police officer again"

"I was, but I got offered something that will work just as well, and will still allow me to work with the police"

"Holmes, he's going to make you an apprentice and thus also make you a consultant as a registered Private Detective"

"Exactly"

"But only if you can't rejoin the police right?"

"Right, he knows that I would prefer to be a police officer if at all possible, but having another way of helping the police has set my mind at ease on what I'm going to do if I can't be a police officer anymore due to my injuries"

"When do you head back to London by the way?"

"Tomorrow morning, my superior's felt that we should have this time together as a family first, especially since I was explaining that we were getting confirmation for you that Donavan is my brother via blood work confirming that we're twins"

"Then let's simply enjoy the time we have together while we can, but James no matter what happens in the future I hope you know that we'll support you the entire time"

"I know dad"

And so the family simply enjoyed the day together and then the next day Bradstreet headed back to London to finish his healing and find out his future in Scotland Yard. Meanwhile the rest of the group remained behind to continue the investigation regarding how Donavan's death was faked and how his adoption had happened as legally as was possible under the circumstances.

"Donavan can you ask your adoptive parents about the adoption agency that they used?, it might help us figure out just how your adoption was made legal and the connections the agency has to illegal activities"

"Yes, I've told them about my real family being found and they said that if there are any further questions I have just call them and they'll send over all the paperwork, I think...I think they truly are innocent of any wrongdoing"

"We'll see Donavan, it all depends on what we discover after all, I know you don't like to think of your adoptive parents as suspects but until we know for sure that they're ignorant of everything then we unfortunately have to suspect them"

"I understand, and they will too, I just...don't like to think of them knowingly adopting me from an organization that was shady is all"

"We'll figure it out Donavan, I promise"

"I trust you, I just don't know if they'll like the investigation that they'll be under while you're investigating the agency they went through, neither will people that they recommended the agency to now that I think about it"

"They may not like it, but it is unfortunately necessary, hopefully in time they'll understand that and not keep you out of their lives for doing your job"

"They won't, they respect me doing my job too much to do otherwise"

"I hope so, in the meantime though don't tell them that we're investigating them, instead I want you to work at the hospital and help the doctor"

"Understood"

Ultimately it would turn out though that Donavan's parents welcomed the investigation because they too were now beginning to wonder just how legal their adoption of Donavan had been and were worried they had given their friends bad advice regarding the adoption agency.

"Maybe we should have questioned his adoption but...we'd been waiting so long already and then to be told we had a chance...I guess we just thought everything we'd been told was true"

"And there's a chance that what you did was legal as far as the adoption agency knew and thus you and the agency won't be in trouble, if the agency knew they will be in trouble but you guys won't due to ignorance, which isn't much of an excuse but a valid one in this case"

"When will we know?"

"Unfortunately I can't tell you that since all investigations take the time that they do and we never know how long one will take until we finish them"

"Understood, I hope it doesn't take too long all things considered, but we also understand that you have to be thorough to rule us and the agency out"

"Precisely"

Ultimately it would take three months but eventually it was discovered that both Donavan's adoptive parents and the agency were innocent in what had happened in regards to Donavan essentially being illegally adopted. The agency had thought that Donavan's parents had died in an accident and thus adopted Donavan out to his parents under that false assumption and the paperwork that Donavan's adoptive parents filled out were all correctly filed and done the legal way as far as they were aware.

"You're in the clear you guys, as is the agency and anyone who used it per your recommendation"

"That's good to hear, can we tell Donavan the good news ourselves?"

"Yes you can"

"By the way, what news is there about Bradstreet anyways? I'm sure Donavan's wondering about his twin as well all things considered"

"Bradstreet is back on the force, in limited capacity but he's in the field again on most days and training future officers on other days as part of his requirement to rejoin the force"

"I see, that's good to hear anyways, but still I wonder if he'll be allowed back into town to finish what was started all those years ago"

"Most likely, it's just...complicated at the moment as to why he didn't come back as soon as he was given medical clearance to rejoin the force"

"Understood, I think the two of you working together will be good for you Donavan"

"Yeah, it definitely will be good for both of us, gives us some bonding time after all"

"Still, how can the investigation regarding the hospital be taking the one doctor so long?"

"Various reasons mom, in part because he has to be discreet, but the other part is that while most records are electronic now for some reason the death records that the nurse was involved in were all paper. That means that there's a lot of paperwork to go through as a precaution"

"I see"

"There's also the fact that he still has a job to do while doing his investigation so he can really only spend a few hours a day trying to figure out who all besides the nurse was involved in this scheme and for how long they were involved"

"I see, and honestly I think Bradstreet deserves this chance to return and finish the investigation in person, just like you do Donavan"

"Yeah, however since he's not able to come right now and the investigation can't wait for him to join I need to start asking the doctor now if he needs help or not"

"Understood Donavan"

Ultimately the doctor was stuck and did need help

"So where are you stuck anyways?"

"My fellow doctors are still questioning why I'm even investigating this since the nurse has been caught and punished and no one should be stupid enough to do what she did in the first place"

"They don't realize that they could have bee duped by her or the fact that you think that she had an accomplice"

"Exactly and then there's the fact that even if ultimately no one was her accomplice now, they might have known her old accomplice without even realizing it, which is why I've been checking the morticians that currently work here and were here when you were born since they would have also been involved in the death certificate process"

"No wonder it's taking you so long"

"Yeah"

A week later and Bradstreet would finally come back to help in the investigation and would catch something that the doctor had accidentally missed

"Doctor I know you're still checking all of the hospital staff but...did you think about asking the police to do checks on their personnel from around that time period as well? I'm asking because it looks like the hospital was involved in a different case at the time Bradstreet and Donavan were born and the nurse was doing what she was doing"

"I haven't thought about it actually since I thought the two were completely unrelated"

"Unfortunately you're not quite right, they were working on two cases related to the hospital at the time and one of them is related to the nurse, though there was ultimately a different culprit since the nurse was faking deaths while the fired employee was actively abducting them without trying to cover for it"

"I see, then I guess you take the police while I continue the hospital checks and then we'll compare notes at some point"

"Agreed"

"How often do you want to meet up to discuss what was discovered?"

"At least once a week if not more"

"Got it"

And with that Bradstreet would head to the local police station to start investigating the officers that were involved in the two cases when he and his twin brother were born to try and figure out if any of them were somehow involved. And as it turned out he would get answers within the first week since he was given the files of everyone during that time period that was investigating the two cases at the hospital and figured out that there was a police officer that had been working with the nurse. However that officer couldn't be punished due to dying in the line of duty only a year after Donavan's death had been faked and there was the fact that the officer in question had coded their reports in a way that both did and didn't tell anyone more information about the case. And so with that information a week later he would meet up with the doctor to tell him what he'd discovered

"So...there was an officer involved in the cover up, but you don't know if they had their own accomplices or even if there were more hospital staff involved"

"Correct, and the officer died a year after Donavan and I were born so we can't question them or punish them for their actions"

"Then it's up to me on my end to hopefully figure everything out and finally truly have an answer to what happened back then"

"Give me some of the files doctor, you're going to need the help, my fellow officers are also doing what they can to help but you're not letting them, but since it's personal, maybe you can make an exception for me"

"But..."

"Doctor you're drowning in paperwork, not only the day to day stuff but also this paperwork that's needed to try and figure out everything regarding the past, you need the help but don't want it for whatever reason"

It took several long moments involving a staring competition but finally the doctor yielded to Bradstreet with a sigh and giving out of shoulders

"You're right, I just...thought I should handle it on my own since this all started with me trusting the wrong person"

"Doctor while I admire your dedication to see through what happened you really should be trusting the police to do their jobs"

"I know Bradstreet, I know it's just...I should have seen this before we got to this point in the first place and then there's the fact that if I do bring in police help my fellow coworkers could close up even further than they already have in regards to my investigation. I have to be careful which is part of why it's taking so long in the first place, I'm simply going through files and not actually talking to anyone yet since I don't have a valid reason to confront them about the past, either because they joined after the incident or didn't work with the nurse regularly enough to be suspicious"

"Perhaps you should have seen this, but I want you to also think about just how high up you actually were on the food chain at the time, could you really have done anything besides report your suspicions to your superiors?"

"No, not really, but from what I can tell they were never involved in the nurses' scheme and thus would have done something if I had spoken up back then"

"That's true, but what happened back then happened, as for the other half of your statement regarding bringing police in and them closing up, if they have nothing to hide they will be very willing to talk to police I'm sure, and they might also remember from back then and give new perspectives to the situation overall, at least for those around during that time, even if they didn't really work with her very often"

"Very well then, we'll try it your way and hope we can finally have closure that's much needed"

"I'm sure we will doctor, now then hand me some of those files and I'll see if anything stands out to me for further attention later"

"Here you go then"

And so over the next few hours Bradstreet started to look over the files and also started to get a picture of what was really going on with the hospital in regards to how the nurse had gotten away with what they had for so long

"Well I have good news and bad news, the good news is that it's likely no one else was involved in the nurses scheme"

"What's the bad news and just how bad is it?"

"The nurse might have duped a lot more people then you"

The doctor sighs before speaking up

"I see"

"Listen, if that's the case then the nurse was doing it in ways that no one could catch what was going on to keep from being reported before now, thus it isn't the fault of the hospital at all if that ultimately turns out to be the case"

"I still have to ask questions to those that worked with the nurse though to make sure of your suspicions and to figure out if the nurse did anything else that wasn't caught when it should have been"

"Then if you want us police officers can back you up and be part of the questioning so as to hopefully get more complete answers, especially if I mention I was a victim of the nurse's scheme"

"That might be a good idea actually, I approve of the help"

"Also...let's actually do it at the police station"

"What for? I mean, this is just an internal, informal investigation right?"

"I'm afraid that might not be the case, yes there's a good chance the nurse was acting solo, but their actions might have legal implications that the police should know about immediately, plus doing it at the station will let them know just how serious the situation actually is and that they should cooperate fully with you"

"I'm not exactly comfortable doing that Donavan, it might actually have the opposite affect that you're going for"

Donavan sighs

"I know doctor, history has shown us after all that such things can happen but to be honest there's another reason why it needs to be done at the station besides what I just said, you see while there's a good chance that no one else was involved, if it's discovered that we're wrong then being at the station will facilitate an arrest a lot easier and safer for everyone, including the person needing arrested"

"I don't like it but I understand, very well the questioning will be done at the station, but not in a formal interrogation room, not unless there's indications that it's needed"

"Don't worry we have rooms that meet that requirement by necessity since all post initial interviews are required to be done at the station except under very, very specific circumstances"

"Good that's...that's good and will be where the questioning is done, though we might have to make an excuse as to why I need to talk to them in a police station when my office should be good enough"

"I'm the only excuse you need doctor, the fact that I was a victim of a crime and a police officer now gives me the authority to request that routine questions be asked at the station so that my fellow officers can follow up on any potential leads, even if it's years out of date it might give us a fresh lead that's desperately needed"

"Then if you're certain this won't backfire we start tomorrow with everyone whoever worked with the nurse"

"Okay I'll let the other officers know to prepare the rooms that are used whenever we don't need the formal interrogation rooms and instead need to do some informal questioning to clarify things"

"Very well, I'll leave you to it then"

The next day would start two months of conversations with those that had worked with the nurse during the time period that Donavan was abducted and illegally adopted out even if the adoption agency and his adoptive parents had thought it all legal. Then on the last day of informal interviews Donavan finally got the fresh lead he was looking for to help break open the two different cases that had happened in the hospital when he was born, though the others had also helped with other crimes that had been happening over a long period of time and giving officers new leads on a new case regarding the hospital due to how familiar it was to an older case that had been solved.

"Thank you for your time, if we have any further questions, or if you remember anything else we'll arrange a time to talk again"

"Wait...now that you mention it there is something that I just remembered regarding the last time I worked with that nurse"

"Oh?"

"Yes, I didn't think it strange at the time since I not only didn't work with the nurse regularly but I was transferring to another location within the same hospital system and thus knew it would be the last time I worked with them. But now in this context I wonder if I should have said something to someone even if it didn't have any special meaning to me"

"So what did they say then?"

"Now then this was a phone conversation which is also why I might have dismissed it but they said 'stop sounding so worried cousin everything is going to plan, when we pull off the ultimate surprise no one will suspect us...okay I'll handle that part of the surprise then...talk to you soon, bye' and then the nurse finished a few things and also said that her brother and sister-in-law had better appreciate the surprise and left"

"And now you're wondering if they were speaking in code"

"Yeah, except I also know that the brother and sister-in-law had the same birthday except a year apart and their birthdays were coming up soon"

"We'll see about family connections regarding the nurse and go from there then, you may have cracked this case wide open by the way because if it turns out the nurse wasn't actually talking to a family member that day then that conversation was a code and this might have been more organized then we originally thought"

"Then I'm glad I mentioned it now, even if it should have been done a long time ago"

"The conversation truly was innocous enough that it seems like a harmless conversation, but if it is code then we have a lead that we've been needing for a long, long time"

"Am I good to go?"

"Yes, just understand that we might have further questions for you in the future and thus you should make yourself available as soon as possible should that happen"

"I will"

And so the person was escorted out and then the officers all came together to discuss what had just been discovered

"This potential cousin might be our big break, after all if the conversation was indeed code then that means the nurse was talking about an illegal adoption somehow going through, and an even bigger abduction case that they managed to pull off"

"Who knows how long it will be before we can actually find this out though"

"We already have the name of the nurse, we can figure out family connections from there and if any are still alive ask them basic questions without seeming too suspicious"

"Then let's do it"

Ultimately it would take another month but eventually the police confirmed that the nurse had no living relatives, having been an only child to parents that were only children.

"So, now that we've confirmed that they had no living family we need to figure out who they talked to that day, which will be hard considering just how long it's been since that overheard conversation"

"That we even have a better hint then before is something to be happy about"

"True enough, true enough"

"Also, what's this we've been hearing recently about you guys heading back to London and thus Scotland Yard without telling the rest of us you've been recalled back to your original station?"

"Easy, we just received those orders ourselves, and it's mainly because those at the Yard now are having issues solving a case that we could solve slightly easier apparently. And yes they do have Holmes working the case however for whatever reason even Holmes is struggling to find new clues and figure things out with the information he already has"

"I see, then we'll continue working the case and telling you our progress until you can join us again"

"Thanks"

And with that the group that worked in Scotland Yard headed back to London to deal with the case there. When they got there their superior's came out and personally apologized for taking them away from their current investigation

"We know that you should be back there finishing what you started in regards to Bradstreet's and Donavan's past but unfortunately we've all hit a roadblock including Holmes and you know that if Holmes has hit a roadblock it's a major case"

"We know, now then what exactly is the case about anyways? I mean how is it only we can solve it?"

"Simple, do you guys remember the first case you all worked together on after everyone graduated from the academy? I'm talking about the one before you were reunited with even one Holmes brother"

"Wait...you mean that case? I thought it was resolved when we closed it"

"We believed so too, but the similarities we're coming across between this current case and the old one..."

"Show us what you have and we'll go from there"

"Right"

And so the group is shown the evidence and thus proof that there were indeed similarities between the two cases

"So either we have a successor..."

"Or a partner that we never knew and only caught the one"

"Exactly"

"This is going to complicate things and we're going to have to hope that what we've done so far will help us solve the current case because there are differences"

"Yeah, so let's go over the case notes again, and over the new evidence and see what differences there are and if those differences should be looked at closer"

And so the group starts to look over it and then suddenly Hopkins speaks up

"Hey guys...I think I made a connection that I don't like very much"

"Oh?"

"I think...I think this case is connected to your abduction case Donavan"

"What makes you say that Hopkins?"

"Take a look at everyone who's gone missing or has been killed and you'll see for yourselves what I mean you two"

And so the group looks closer at the evidence and finds what Hopkins did