Chapter Text
“Sebastian, I have some work I need to do today, I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Jim announces, walking into the living area where Sebastian is sitting on the couch, Ciaran on his lap, holding a book that Sebastian is reading to him.
“For a man in semi-retirement you work a lot,” Sebastian says, looking up at him, ignoring the boy in his arms whining for him to read more. “What are you doing and why am I just hearing about it?”
“Something came up. It shouldn’t take long and I’ll have my phone if anything happens. If I’m not back in, say… four hours then come looking,” Jim replies, leaning down to give him a kiss, then leaving one on Ciaran’s cheek, “Be good for your daddy while I’m gone,” He orders, “And Bastian, be good for our son,” He adds, teasingly.
Sebastian watches him walking towards the door, “Just watch your back, love. Let me know if you need anything. Take a weapon, gun, knife, something.”
“Of course Tiger,” He replies, patting his pocket as he’s walking out the door with a wave behind him. As soon as the door closes he takes a breath, knowing his plan might be stupid but he couldn’t help it. Or, rather, he could but he doesn’t want to leave Ciaran with a sitter just yet and doesn’t trust any of his other men to go with him on this job so it’s up to him.
While looking through some of the files for the web he had stumbled upon one requesting a murder, nothing out of the usual until he saw that the couple had a small child who was stuck in the middle of their business, which was some sort of drug ring. People in and out of the house, parents passed out, leaving the daughter to fend for themselves. The case couldn’t be turned into the police since the person reporting it was deep in selling drugs as well but hadn’t brought a child into the mess, at least.
It wasn’t the sort of thing Jim would normally bat an eye at, but after getting Ciaran, he decided that he couldn’t just leave the child there, and sending Sebastian or someone else to take care of the parents would mean leaving them there alone until found. Of course, he could have had someone else come in and do the murders and leave him to get the child but that would be admitting to saving the child and he’s sure people would think he’s getting soft. Really, it’s just a mix of being a father and having had the experience of being the neglected child while his parents were passed out somewhere. He hates the idea of that happening to someone who is innocent.
And so, his mind was made up, as he gets in the car waiting for him and is driven to the block of flats where he knows the small family to live.
“You’re free to go,” Jim announces, getting out of the car, closing the door behind him. He’s not even going to risk his driver seeing him with the child. He’s ordered a cab before leaving home to pick him up in a couple of hours, going by how long he thinks it’ll take if nothing goes wrong.
With that, he walks into the building, hoping the jeans and grey t-shirt will help him fit in more than one of his suits that costs six months rent in a place like this would. He gets into the lift before pulling out his phone, checking over the room number one more time before hitting the button for the fifth floor button with a cringe. Then he sends a quick message to Sebastian informing him he’s made it to the job site and part one of five is done.
As soon as the lift dings, he steps out and starts down the hall, stopping in front of the right door and knocking. There’s a minute’s pause where he waits and when the door doesn’t open he tries again, eventually hearing the sound of walking getting closer and the door opening.
Standing in front of him is a small girl, three or four years old. He smiles down at her, “Hello there, are your parents home?” He asks softly.
“They’re asleep, won’t wake up,” She mumbles softly.
Jim nods, “Would it be alright if I come in and see if I can wake them up?” He asks and watches as the little girl hesitates, “I’m just here to help you, okay? I’ve heard what they do and, once I talk to them, I can take you with me if you’d like. What do you think? We have toys and you’d have people to take care of you and a little brother.”
The girl looks up at him, then back into the house, as though she doesn’t know what to do. “Is it the truth?” She asks softly.
Nodding, he replies, “I’m Jim, and I like to help people in situations like yours, people who are being hurt and not living the life they should be.”
This time, the girl nods and steps back, though slowly.
Jim gives her a smile, “Okay, can you take me to where they are, and then come back in here and wait by the door for me? It’ll only be a minute,” He assures her.
The girl nods and the two of them walk through the small flat towards what Jim assumes is the parent's bedroom, and then he sends the girl back and pulls on a pair of gloves before opening the door and going in.
The entire flat is exactly what he would have expected from the file he had. Everything is a mess, clothes and old food laying around, looking like nothings has been cleaned or even straightened up in months or longer. There are weird smells that make him want to start gagging but he holds back, schooling his features and continuing on.
Walking into the room, he looks around, finding the parents both passed out across the bed. The room was in a worse state than the rest of the house. Most likely from the amount of time they’ve spent passing out like they are. Jim looks around, worriedly at the number of needles laying on the floor, hesitantly walking over them, cautious of just what they could carry on them if he accidentally steps on one.
Once he reaches the couple, he considers the gun in his pocket for only a moment before deciding that it would scare the little girl waiting and, even with a silencer, probably alert the people in the nearby flats. If they aren’t in similar states to these two, that is.
Instead, he goes back to his original plan, pulling out a small vial and two needles, carefully sliding one into the mother's arm, making sure the angle is right for her to have done it herself, then pushing the liquid into her body. Once that has been done, he moves over to the man.
He would have rather done something much more fun for him and less for them but he knows this is time sensitive and doesn’t particularly want to run into any drug addicts here looking for their next hit. Nor does he want to drag the two unconscious bodies downstairs and get them home for torturing with the little girl to think about.
Once the drug is into their bloodstreams, he watches until he sees their breathing slow and, moments later, checks their pulse, waiting until nothing is there to feel.
With that done, he pauses again, pulling off the gloves carefully so he doesn’t have to touch the outside of them, and slides them into a small bag he brought with him which finds its way back into his pocket. Then he pulls out his phone, checking the time to see it’s been forty-five minutes since he last messaged Sebastian and looking over the text with thumbs up and smiling emojis he got in return, then a photo of Ciaran smiling and doing a thumbs up. He can’t help but smile at the two of them before doing what he had planned to start with.
Part 3 of 5 is done, on the clean-up now. Things are going better than I had expected and I should be back a little early if this continues. _M
He sends the text to Sebastian before walking out of the room and going back to find the little girl sitting on the couch.
“Hey, it’s been decided that you’re going to come with me, alright?” He asks her, leaning over, closer to her, “I couldn’t wake them up and you shouldn’t be here taking care of yourself, it’s not safe. So, do you have anything here you want to take with you? Clothes, toys, anything like that?”
The girl pauses, then nods, going back through the house, Jim waits a couple of minutes before going after her. He finds her walking through the hall with a backpack on.
“I have some clothes and a toy in here. It stays ready in case I have to hide,” She whispers to him.
Jim nods, noticing the white parts of the backpack look like they’ve had dirt rubbed over them and various stains that he doesn’t want to think about the cause of.
“We can get you some new clothes and more toys when we get where we’re going as well. Just to make sure you have enough. Anything you want, you can even choose. What do you think?”
She looks up at him with wide brown eyes and then nods excitedly, “More toys!” She exclaims happily, “Can I get clean too?”
Jim smiles at her and nods, “We can get you a bath as well, of course. Maybe clean your bag, clothes, and the toy that’s in there too,” He adds, looking at it.
She smiles and nods, hands going up to the straps on her backpack, holding onto them.
“Come on then, I have someone coming to pick us up soon and take us to my house. And my husband is there too, and our son. You’ll get to meet them and I know you’ll all get along,” He encourages, walking towards the door, looking back to make sure she’s following him.
She nods again, right behind him as they make their way out of the flat. They go to the lift and down, walking outside just as the cab Jim had called for earlier and asked to be there arrives. Opening the door, he lets the little girl in first and then climbs in after her, checking over the address with the driver before making sure the two of them are settled in and buckled up.
For a split second, Jim considers asking the little girl her name but then decides that a question like that would be enough to raise red flags for the driver and would quickly put an end to his rescue mission.
Luckily for him, the little girl, now starting to warm up to him, is excitedly telling him about everything from what her favorite animal is to what she was seeing outside the window on the way home. From the way she’s acting, Jim finds himself wondering if she’s ever been away from the block of flats before in her life, and quickly, he decides to add that to the list of questions to ask her later.
Jim lets her talk and fill the time of the rest of the trip with her endless babbling. Part of him wants her to stop talking, even just for a second, but most of him is pleased she’s warming up to him, for now anyway.
Eventually, the cab comes to a stop at their house and Jim gets out before helping the little girl climb out behind him. He pays the driver and closes the door behind the two of them.
He takes her hand, walking the two of them up the driveway. Opening the door he calls out softly, “Sebby, I’m back and brought someone back with me.”
Sebastian walks through the house until he can see Jim at the front door, pausing at the sight of the man and the little girl. “What’s this about, Jimmy?”
“That job I had today? Well, it was rescuing her and a meeting with her parents,” He explains, sharing a look with Sebastian that lets the other man know just what kind of a meeting he’s talking about.
Nodding, Sebastian walks closer, crouching down in front of the little girl, “Hello, my name is Sebastian and, as he tends to forget introductions, this is Jim,” He says to her, voice soft, one he’s recently developed with kids. “What’s your name?”
The little girl looks at the man in front of her, stepping a little closer to Jim as though shy.
Jim smiles down at her, “Sebby looks scary, I know. But he’s really a big soft kitty. That’s why I like to call him tiger,” He informs her, “He’s not going to hurt you. In fact, he’s great at keeping people safe. He’s my husband.”
The little girl nods, looking from Jim to Sebastian before whispering, “Emma,” Softly.
Sebastian smiles at her, “Okay, Emma, it’s nice to meet you. Do you want to go on in and look around? I’ll talk to Jimmy for a minute and then he can help you get settled in.”
Without much of a pause, Emma slips around Sebastian and runs through the hall to look around.
“You could have told me you were going to be bringing another one home,” Sebastian whispers to him, sounding cross even as his arms slide around Jim, pulling him against him.
“The way you told me about Ciaran before you brought him home?” Jim asks back, looking up at Sebastian before leaning in for a kiss.
Sebastian returns the kiss, then glares down at Jim when it breaks, “I didn’t know I was going to be bringing him home until I found him. You left with the plans of bringing her home,” he counters.
“I didn’t know she would want to, that it would be a successful mission. Sebastian, I didn’t even know if you’d let me go out alone if you knew what I was planning. And I didn’t want Ciaran to be left here with a sitter.”
Sebastian sighs, leaning his head against the other man’s. “You know I’m not mad you brought her, right? I just wish you had told me so we could have some more stuff here for her by now.”
Jim nods, “Yeah, she’s brought some clothes with her though. If you go wash them I’ll go help her with a shower or bath. She said she wanted to get clean. We can help her look online for some clothes or take her out shopping later. We’re about due for a family outing after all.”
Looking down at Jim, Sebastian nods, “Alright, but you brought her back, you get to tell Sev and Rich what you’ve done.” He says before taking off through the house to get the bag from the girl, laughing when he hears Jim calling out his name as loudly as he dares with the fear of waking their son.
Things with the family are far from where they all started, but none of them would change a thing about their ever growing, ever changing lives and the people that have been brought into them.