AN: Thanks again for bearing with me on that long wait between chapters. I tried to get this one out as quickly as possible to show my gratitude. Enjoy!

Rosa had never been more grateful to not be a detective. Diego and the other detectives were piling over every single bit of evidence they had in order to find their suspect, and yet even with the help of the FBI, no one had any idea where he was. It was hell to be an investigator on the Snatcher case, but luckily for Rosa, she didn't have to deal with that. All she had to do was keep eyes on the boys, at least as long as the higher ups let her.

She and McClain had been assigned to the security detail in place of their normal shifts, and even apart from Rosa's deep desire to protect those kids, it was a nice change of pace from normal police work, although she was sure it would get boring before long.

The deputies had just relieved the night shift team at 6AM, and had just parked slightly down the street from the Parker-Nichols house when Audrey stepped outside in a pink robe, walking towards them with two travel mugs of coffee in hand. Rosa rolled down her window as Audrey approached.

"Good morning," Rosa greeted with a smile. Audrey smiled back at her, but it seemed quite forced. There were bags under her eyes, and it looked like she really needed a hug and a few more hours of sleep.

"Good morning," Audrey replied. "I made you both some coffee. Black for McClain, double double for you, right?"

"Yes, thank you so much." Rosa accepted the coffees and handed the black one to McClain, who, after nodding in thanks, started guzzling it a lot faster than anyone should have been guzzling hot black coffee. Rosa gave him a look, then shook her head and turned back to Audrey. "Rough night?" she asked.

Audrey nodded.

"Drake had a nightmare," she admitted. "It was, um, it was hard to listen to, to watch. But the boys are up now and they still say they want to try to go to school this morning, like I told the other deputies last night."

"There's gonna be even more than just us there," Rosa assured her. "The normal school resource officer will be there, as well as three other officers, and me and McClain. We'll all be patrolling the whole school, including the middle school and the school grounds and perimeter. If he's out there, he's not gonna get anywhere near your boys."

Audrey nodded again, then shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I don't know, I just don't think they're ready," she shrugged, shaking her head again. "Josh is only going because Drake is going, and Drake is only going because he thinks it'll be easier to just get it over with. I think they're both pushing themselves too much. Drake is trying to act like everything is fine, and Josh is just so focused on being there for Drake that I'm afraid he's gonna run himself into the ground. I don't know why I'm telling you this, this isn't part of your job, I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize," Rosa insisted. There were so many worse things she could be doing as part of her job than listening to a woman vent her valid concerns about her sons for a minute. "I don't mind. I can't even imagine how stressful this all must be for you as their mother. But we're gonna do everything we can to protect them, I promise."

"Thank you," Audrey replied with a slightly more genuine smile.

"When they leave for school, we'll follow a little ways behind, then we'll be around the school all day and follow them home before we get relieved by the night shift. We're gonna be right there."

"I know. Thank you," Audrey politely repeated before turning and walking back to the house.

"It does seem a little early, but I can't say the kid's wrong," McClain added, once Audrey was out of earshot. "I mean, going back to school after what happened is gonna suck no matter what, so maybe it would be better for them to just go and get it over with."

"I don't know," Rosa answered with a shrug. "I have no idea what the right call is. All I know is that this guy," she paused, pointing to the wanted poster on the dashboard, "is not going to get anywhere near these kids if we have anything to say about it."

McClain grabbed the poster off the dashboard and held it up, reading it again between sips of coffee. 'James Andersen', it read. Underneath his name, it listed the charges: murder, kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Rosa was sure that more charges would be added, but there was only so much room on a single wanted poster. It also included two photos of the bastard, some physical description of him, a brief synopsis of the particular crimes he was wanted in connection to, his vehicle, and a caution about him being armed and dangerous. The positive identification had been easy once the boys had been found, and with the ample evidence found both on Drake and in James' house of horrors, the prosecution clearly had enough to put him away for life - once they finally tracked the bastard down.

"Did they spell his name wrong?" McClain asked, tilting his head.

"No, why?"

"Shouldn't Andersen be s-o-n instead of s-e-n?"

"Not if he's Swedish."

"I thought he was American."

Rosa sighed heavily. She loved McClain dearly, but he did a lot to encourage the stereotype of cops not being that smart intellectually.

"He is American," she insisted. "His ancestors are just probably from Sweden, just like yours are probably from Ireland and mine are definitely from Mexico. But all three of us are American born and raised."

"Oh, yeah, I guess, yeah that makes sense. It's too early for this," McClain complained, tossing the poster back onto the dash.

Rosa just laughed at him.

Getting out of bed had been much harder than Josh had anticipated it would be. Just laying there awake in Drake's bed, with Drake's head on his shoulder and hand on his chest, fast asleep, had given Josh a feeling of safety and security that he hadn't felt in years. Not only had he truly felt that he was safe, but that Drake was safe too, protected, in Josh's arms, where he belonged. Waking up had been a place of safety and serenity unlike any he could remember, and he knew it had been sorely needed for his brother after that night terror.

The rest of the night had gone well. If Drake had had another bad dream, it hadn't woken Josh up, and Drake hadn't mentioned it. Josh, too, had slept well the rest of the night, despite it being a little cramped with both of them in Drake's twin size bed.

But they had woken up to go to school, and Drake was still insisting on going. Josh was nervous, but he was trying not to let Drake see that.

"Are you ready?" he asked his brother, slinging his backpack over his good shoulder, while his left arm was back in its sling, his hand in a brace sticking out of it. At least he would only have to wear the brace for a few more days, and then just a splint for at least another week. Josh was impressed that all of Drake's fingers had healed so well without splints while his father was around, but he supposed his brother had just forced himself to be more careful during that time, and historically, Drake was more lucky anyway. Drake didn't seem to be so lucky anymore though.

"As I can be, I guess," Drake answered with a shrug. He too had his backpack over his shoulders, and his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Josh wasn't going to say anything, but Drake's jeans weren't exactly his normal ones. They were jeans that Drake hadn't worn in probably close to two years, but had worn frequently when Josh had first moved in. They weren't too big on him, but the cut was much different - much looser - than the jeans he normally wore. He was also still wearing Josh's sweatshirt, which was in fact too big on him. People were definitely going to notice the difference in Drake's appearance, but Josh figured that was the least of their problems.

"Let's get going then." Josh motioned out the door of the bedroom. Drake took a breath, nodded, and walked through. Josh turned off the light behind him and followed his brother down the hallway and down the stairs, where their mom and Megan were waiting. She would drive them to school, then head back to work herself. Both she and Walter were attempting to start their normal routines again too.

"Are you boys sure you're ready?" she asked them. She took another look at Drake, likely taking in the looser pants and oversized sweatshirt. "Because you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I know, but it's okay," Drake insisted. "I want to. And if it doesn't go well, we have the weekend to rest longer."

"Okay, as long as you're sure," Audrey confirmed with a nod. Both Drake and Josh nodded back, then followed her out to her SUV. Instead of their usual mad dash to see who would get shotgun when being driven somewhere, both boys sat in the back, letting Megan take shotgun without a word.

"Do you need help?" Drake asked Josh as he watched him struggle a bit to get his seatbelt latched with an arm in a sling.

"I got it." Josh clicked it in only a moment later and took a deep breath, resting his head against the back of the seat.

As the SUV pulled out of the driveway, Josh could see the deputies moving to follow them at a distance. It did make him feel a little bit better knowing that there was an added police presence specifically to keep them safe from James, but Josh also would've been lying if he said he wasn't also a little bit embarrassed by it. Luckily, from what he understood, there would be no deputies following them from class to class, just more deputies at the school in general, and around the premises. Josh could live with that, especially since it wasn't just about him. He looked over at his brother. Drake was staring silently out the window, his fingers fidgeting with each other the way they often did when he was nervous. At least he wasn't biting his fingernails. That was a worse habit, and Josh was proud of Drake for trying to kick it.

They were pulled up against the curb of Belleview Middle School only a few minutes later. Megan turned in her seat to face them.

"Good luck, you guys," she said with a genuine smile. "Let me know if you need anything, okay? I'll keep my phone on me instead of in my locker." Audrey gave her a brief look at the promise of rule breaking, but didn't say anything.

"Thanks, Megs," Josh replied, smiling back, while Drake offered her a small smile and a nod.

"Have a good day, sweetie," Audrey said as Megan climbed out of the car.

"You too, Mom."

As Megan walked down the sidewalk, Audrey drove away, towards the opposite end of the school, where the main entrance to the high school was. They were against that curb only a minute later. Audrey turned slightly in the driver's seat to face them.

"If you boys need anything, absolutely anything at all, please, please do not hesitate to call me," she pled with them. "I will leave work immediately to pick you up, to do whatever you need me to do, okay?"

"We know," Josh answered. Drake nodded as well.

"I love you both so much, okay?"

"We love you too," Drake added.

"We should get going," Josh said, nodding towards the school. They weren't going to be late or anything, but he was sure that they were going to have to deal with something out of the ordinary as soon as people saw them, so it was best for them to get a move on.

"You're right," Drake quietly replied with a nod and deep breath. His eyes were wide as he looked out at the school, like he was internally panicking again.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Josh confirmed. He wouldn't blame Drake for saying no.

"Yeah. Yeah, I wanna do this." Without another word, Drake opened the door and stepped out onto the pavement. Josh began hurrying out next to him.

"Look out for him," Audrey asked him as he got out of the car.

"I will." He gave his stepmom a half smile, then turned away.

He and Drake stood together, looking at their high school. No one had seemed to notice them yet, but Mindy knew they would be there and had agreed to meet at Josh's locker. No one else knew they were coming back that day. Josh had received plenty of texts from Craig and Eric and his other friends, but he hadn't responded. He wasn't ready, and he didn't know what to say, even though the texts had all been wishing him well and showing gratitude that he was home. Drake didn't have a new phone yet, but as far as he knew, he hadn't gotten any phone calls, and no one but Craig and Eric had asked how he was doing in their texts.

"Come on," Josh quietly encouraged. "Mindy's waiting for us."

Drake took another deep breath and nodded for what seemed like the hundredth time, then began walking forward. Josh remained at his side, his eyes darting everywhere in an attempt to see everyone before they saw him and his brother.

No one said anything as they walked into the building. Almost everyone stopped mid conversation and stared when they saw the brothers, but no one came up to them or asked how they were doing. Josh hardened his gaze when he saw girls looking at Drake differently, and let the anger in his eyes shine when some of the jocks chuckled in his direction. Drake appeared to be looking straight forward, not looking at anyone, and that was probably for the best.

As they approached Josh's locker, people moved out of the way, staring at them. Mindy stood next to them.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," Mindy snapped at the other students. The students muttered and rolled their eyes, and walked away. Josh finally felt like he could breathe. "I'm so sorry, guys," Mindy said.

"They all know, don't they?" Drake asked. "They know what happened to me?"

"I'm sorry, Drake," Mindy said with a nod.

"They were gonna find out eventually, I guess," he muttered.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Josh added, putting in the combination and opening his locker. "Hopefully they'll just stare a bit for a day or two, then they'll get over it and things will go back to normal." He shoved his backpack in there and pulled out his chemistry book. "Mind holding this?" he asked. Mindy took the book, then his notebook, from him while he closed his locker, then helped him to secure them in his right arm. It was going to take some time to figure out how to manage with only one arm for a while.

The three of them walked around the corner to Drake's locker, where a gaggle of popular girls stood off to the side, staring at Drake with something that Josh couldn't quite distinguish, but he certainly didn't like it. Drake just kept his head down and ignored them as he messed with the lock, but Josh moved to stand between them and his brother, and sent them a glare. After a moment of sudden nervous fidgeting, they left.

At Drake's sudden intake of breath, Josh quickly turned back towards his brother. Mindy was fuming.

"What the fuck?" Mindy cursed, drawing the attention of other students again as papers fell out of Drake's locker and onto the floor, despite his desperate attempts to grab them. Mindy quickly picked up the ones he missed, and Josh finally saw what they all were: a drawn cartoon of two dogs having sex, with James' face on the male's head, and Drake's on the female's. The exaggerated collar on the female dog read 'whore'. The message was clear. "Who the fuck thinks this is funny?" Mindy shouted, turning and gesturing towards the other students as plenty of them laughed at the picture. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"It's- it's fine, let's just get rid of them, please," Drake stammered, his voice breaking slightly.

Josh dropped his books and immediately started taking the papers out of Drake's locker, while his brother just closed his eyes and took deep breaths through his nose, clearly trying not to cry.

"I'm gonna kill whoever did this," Josh muttered as he and Mindy grabbed all of the papers. "This is sick."

"I just want things to be normal," Drake said. He pressed his palms to his eyes and took another breath. Mindy grabbed all of the papers from Josh.

"I'll get rid of these, you…" she trailed off, but looked towards Drake. Josh nodded. Of course he would take care of him. "I'll see you later." Josh nodded at her again before turning his attention entirely back to his brother.

Drake let his hands fall back to his sides. His eyes were shining, but he appeared to have been able to keep any tears at bay. He grabbed his books and slammed his locker shut with more force than he needed to.

"Drake…" Josh started, but trailed off. What was he even supposed to say? "We can go home if you need to," he finally said, but Drake immediately shook his head.

"No. If I go home, I'm not just a bitch and a whore, but a coward too. I can do this. I can do this." He wiped at his eyes, and started walking towards their chemistry classroom across the hall. Josh was never more than a foot away from him.

"That's not what you are," Josh tried to remind him, but Drake just shook his head. It didn't matter. Josh would remind Drake of who he really was until he was blue in the face if he had to. He wouldn't rest until his brother believed in his own worth again.

The moment Drake and Josh walked into the room, a hush fell over the students. Josh tried not to let it bother him, and simply ushered Drake towards the back of the room, to their usual table. They didn't technically have to sit together unless it was a lab day, since they were lab partners, but Josh was pretty confident that being next to each other was what they both wanted this time, regardless of it not being a lab day.

"Drake, Josh," Mr. Roland greeted. "Good to have you both back."

Josh smiled at the teacher and nodded, but didn't verbally reply. It was not good to be back, not after what someone had already done to torment Drake.

Kat turned around in her seat and looked at Drake. Josh's stomach dropped, just knowing that she was about to say something awful.

"Is it true?" she asked. She looked Drake up and down, clearly taking in his looser jeans and oversized sweatshirt. "It is true, isn't it?" Drake wouldn't look at her, instead focused on the floor.

"Leave him alone," Josh seethed.

"It's funny, even with your arm in a sling, you're suddenly the more manly one," Kat continued with a chuckle.

Josh pushed himself up from his chair with force, the chair squeaking on the floor beneath him. As he opened his mouth to say something, Craig and Eric came barreling through the door and straight towards them, pushing past Kat so quickly that she fell to the floor, and wrapping Josh in a sandwich hug.

"Josh!" they shouted as they embraced him. Josh reluctantly patted them back. He glanced over at Drake, who was now grinning. That was good enough. Josh made himself relax.

"Hey, guys," he said. "Good to see you too."

The nerds finally let go, then immediately took both seats at the table in front of the brothers, despite the fact that Kat had already placed her stuff there. Kat groaned loudly, but grabbed her things and moved tables. Only this time, she was forced to sit next to Clayton, causing her to groan even more.

"We're so glad you guys are okay, both of you," Eric said, and he seemed to mean that genuinely. There was a real happiness in his eyes when he looked at both Drake and Josh that no one else at school had looked at either of them with yet.

"We weren't expecting you to be back so soon after everything that happened, but we're glad that you are," Craig added, the same joy in his face as Eric's.

"Thanks, guys," Drake finally said. He straightened up in his chair a bit, and began fidgeting with his pencil. That was a good sign. Drake fidgeting was much better than Drake being completely still. In this case, one meant he was working nerves out, while the other meant he was doing everything he could just to keep it together.

"So you haven't actually missed all that much…"

Eric went on to tell them all about how Mr. Roland had actually been on a long weekend retreat with his wife, so they'd had a substitute two days that week, and thus hadn't done anything productive either of those days, and the next two days were just basic new unit introduction days, so clearly Josh would have no problem catching up.

"And we'll help you catch up too," Craig added towards Drake. "If you actually feel like applying yourself in this class. Don't pretend you couldn't be good at this if you tried. Josh told us all about how you really did learn some chemistry last year with his help."

"That was a special circumstance," Drake said, his smile coming back. "I don't think that's gonna happen again."

"It could if you try, dude," Josh added. "You know I would always help you study if you just asked me."

"We'll see," Drake said with a shrug, but he wasn't even fidgeting anymore. He was doodling in his notebook.

Drake was smiling, and joking around, and doodling. The nerds were being nerds, but normal. They were acting like nothing had changed, and it was a breath of fresh air to the already infuriating events of the morning. Maybe coming back to school wasn't such a bad idea after all.