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Keith really wasn't expecting to have to do... any of this today.
When his motel door opened abruptly to show that boy with a bad case of baby face and pale blonde hair covered by a fluffy hood, he should have known he was in for a whole lot more while staying in the town where David was a resident. And, from what he could gather from their last endeavor at the mansion and some late nights taking shots of vodka at the local bar, David has been in more than just one mishap in the past. He remembered some of the drunken rambles David had spilled out before about going on some long adventure of self discovery some time ago before marrying his wife Shirley, so knowing that a boy with similar features to David could only mean so much about what he was in for.
Sure, he could making some blind accusation, but at the very least that distant thought hadn't been wrong.
This kid thought his rat could talk. He also got himself in a lot of trouble, and got so nervous while alone Keith could hear him screaming every few minutes even when William was no where near him. It was making it hard to study the materials the dilapidated place had to offer when he had to rush out of the room every so often to go pull Will out of something he'd managed to get himself into.
Of course, he couldn't resist covering the young boy with his coat whenever he found him passed out on the floor. He was sure to confirm Will wasn't showing signs of being sick or hurt before doing so. Hell, Keith thought he was doing the kid a favor - it was cold inside of the building, and he knew it would only get worse if he slept into the night. Keith could deal with the cold, but even the heavy winter coat the kid was wearing wouldn't be enough to block out the bite of the oncoming frosty weather. The snow was so heavy it wouldn't promise either of them an opportunity to leave if the kid kept insisting he stay to look for that rat of his, but something inside Keith prevented him from grabbing the kid by the ear and tossing him out.
Let him look, it told him. Just let him look until he's satisfied.
Seriously... this kid sure was something else, but Keith was interested, and he needed something to stay entertained while trapped inside of the dark and grotesque building. It had a lot of darker secrets, Keith could confirm, while flipping through yellowed documents and torn reports stored away in backrooms and unopened files left behind when it was turned into a homeless shelter.
Well, he could confirm with just the little he was able to look at, because he found himself darting toward the area of a pool within the first thirty minutes of reading the material he found, jumping in without a second thought when he heard Will screaming for help. Dragging him out was easy since the water had been shallow, taking a moment to pat him roughly on the back to help him cough out all of the dirty water he'd inhaled and swallowed while crying out for Keith.
"It's not a good swimming pool," Keith tried joking to bring levity into the situation, and Will had only shot him an askance glance out of shock that someone as cold and stern as Keith could understand the concept of making a joke. If anything, he wasn't pleased about the fact it was over him almost drowning, but Keith kind of felt underappreciated for at least making an effort.
But now, Keith really had no idea what to do.
He knew something wasn't right whenever he first heard a loud thump, Will yelp and cry out for someone to let him go, and Robert's voice follow afterward.
That little delinquent hadn't left like Keith told him to.
He set out to go breakup whatever was going on, preparing the scolding of Robert's life in his head, but stopped dead in his tracks when a loud, frustrated, angry scream ripped from Will's throat from somewhere in the distance in an area with a closed door. It was loud enough to echo and indicate what room they were in, and it was enough to tell Keith things were escalating - very quickly. He broke into a run, not knowing Will enough to know what he might do but certainly having enough read into Robert to know that Robert wouldn't hesitate fighting back if things got worse.
"I'm gonna beat the shit out of you! Get over here, you bastard! Bastard murderer!"
Keith threw open the door, and sure enough Will had Robert's shirt bunched up in his fists, shaking him roughly once while all looks of frustration melted from Robert's expression, quickly being replaced with one of worry and slight fear of Will from his outburst. And Will looked like the definition of being pissed off - red face, tears building in the corners of his eyes, teeth gritted, knuckles gripping his shirt so tightly they turned white.
Keith moved forward, roughly putting enough force into his arms to shove Robert aside into the wall and to grab Will tightly. He squirmed and struggled, still trying to reach Robert with all of his might, but luckily Keith had been stronger, holding him back with everything he had. He was a fighter, that was for sure. If Keith wasn't careful, Will would get to Robert without hesitation.
"D-Detective, did that r-rat belong to W-Will - ?"
"Get out. Don't say anything. This kid is riled up."
All the while this entire time, Will was shouting profane things, curses, threats against Robert, but with luck Robert managed to run out of the room without any of it happening.
"No! Get back here! I'll punch the shit out of you - !"
Keith gripped him harder when he fought that much more to go after Robert. Yelling at him would only riled him up that much more, so Keith took a more calm, but serious tone.
"Will. Calm down. Breathe slow."
"NO! He's a murderer!"
Keith still wouldn't let him go. He was sure Robert had put some distance between them at this point, but Will would still run after him. He couldn't let him go and possibly do something to hurt the both of them.
He's not even in the community protection program. Why did he have to do this?
Right, because that little voice in the back of his head told him to.
Help him calm down, it said. He's a good kid, just let him breathe.
And for a moment when he managed to steal a glance at Will's face - only for a second - he saw his own son.
He's never let that part of him go.
"I-I..." Will stuttered.
Keith felt him relax. His shoulders picked up and dropped as he took heavy, deep breaths. It wasn't good for him, but it was a start, and Keith held his grip until he felt all of the tension in Will melt away until he was weak.
Keith thought that was the end of that, but when Will collapsed forward and started sobbing into his coat, he was the one who tensed. It wouldn't be the first time he comforted a crying child, but this child wasn't his, and he wasn't quite sure what to say.
But that voice was still there, still talking to him.
He's just a kid, it said. Don't leave him.
"H-He... He stomped on Pop! He killed Pop!" Will cried, barely able to make words through his sobbing. "It's all my f-fault! He killed him! He killed Pop!"
Oh. The rat. That's what he was so worked up about?
Wait, did he just say Robert killed the rat?
Keith craned his head to the side and caught sight of the dead rat on the ground. Blood was splattered around it, leaking out of its poor broken body, some of its guts poking out, but Keith couldn't help but remember the description that Will had given him earlier when they were talking about the rat himself.
"I'm sorry," Will sobbed. "I'm sorry Pop! It's all my fault! I didn't listen to you, and y-you were killed because of it! I'm so sorry!"
Keith wanted to stand there, wanted to wait until Will stopped crying and was calm enough to listen, but Keith was talking before he could stop himself.
"Was... that really your rat?"
Will looked up at him in surprise, and Keith let go of him slowly as he walked over to the dead rat with curiosity.
His suspicion was confirmed.
"You said that your rat had a crooked leg and some fur missing. This one doesn't, and it's got a pattern on its back."
Will looked so bewildered at this point that he was genuinely speechless, and his wide, teary eyes worked as fast as they could trying to get a glance at the rat. He covered it with a handkerchief as quick as he could, preventing the rather easily frightened boy from being that much more disturbed by the sight. It wasn't pretty, Keith would admit, but he's dealt with much worse. And this kid...
He was only a kid. He didn't need to look at it.
"...R-Really?"
"You probably don't want to look but take my word for it. Unless you wanted to see its guts?"
A look of disgust and fear flashed through Will's eyes and he shook his head quickly. A brief smile quirked on Keith's lips before forcing it away, knowing he wouldn't want to see him laughing at his uneasiness.
"Th...Then it was really just some random rat, I guess. B-But why did it attack Robert like that, out of nowhere?"
Keith shrugged. He was mentally making a note to get a new handkerchief.
"Maybe he had food on him. Either way, it's a good thing it wasn't your rat, right?"
"Y...Yeah."
Will looked down at his hands nervously as he stood, brushing the dirt that managed to get on his clothes. He stole a glance at the bloodied handkerchief, swallowed harshly before looking away. Keith was heading toward the door at that point.
"You can keep searching if you want. I won't say anything to the police station, or to David."
Will was suspicious of the kind gesture, but nevertheless he gave an appreciative nod.
Just before Keith walked out of the door, Will called out to him.
"H-Hey, Keith?"
Keith turned and looked at him. Will still looked somewhat nervous - probably shaken up over the fact he almost beat on Robert when it wasn't even his rat - but he had confidence shining in his eyes whenever they met.
"Th...Thank you. For... doing that."
Keith was regarded heavily with a look of thankfulness, and with the way his eyes shined, Keith couldn't help but blink and see the son he lost all that time ago, and something twisted in his chest -
"No problem." He said, trying not to be curt, but he quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him to leave a confused Will standing there.
No matter how much time passed, Keith would always be a father figure, it seemed. Even if he had a reason not to be one anymore.