Chapter Text
"The food's smelling wonderful, babe," Benson complimented as he was setting the table for dinner.
Troy kissed his husband on the cheek, causing the black man to blush a deep red. He was acting like a teenager in love for the first time, but that was just another reason why Troy loved him.
Snow was falling from the sky, covering the ground in a white layer. The sun had gone down long ago, it was nearing christmas.
"Babe, will you light the candle in the window? It's so dark in here," Troy asked and Benson nodded, quickly grabbing the lighter before he moved towards the window beside the dinner table.
As he was about to might the candle, he noticed something under the doorstep to their house. Or rather, someone.
"There's someone under our doorstep. It looks like a child," Benson informed his husband who quickly moved to his side to see for himself.
It was true, there was a child hiding under their doorstep. They were barely visible through the snow, but their choice of colorful clothing made them visible enough for both men to notice.
"I'll go and check on the kid, they may be hurt. Keep going with the food," Benson decided, quickly pulling on a jacket before he opened the front door and walked outside.
He hurried down the steps, not wanting to stay outside for too long as a storm was clearly coming up and it was getting older every few minutes. He bent down enough to get a look at the child. They immediately flinched at the sight of Benson.
He gasped at the sight that welcome him under the doorstep. It was a little girl who seemed to be in kindergarten age. She wore a three color striped top. The tiny straps didn't do anything to cover her arms or her neck, and the little girl was shivering from the cold. Other than that, she wore a white skirt that didn't go further than above her knees. It was dirty and ripped on the ends. Her black, curly hair was dirty and messy. It hadn't been cleaned or brushed in several days. Her dark chocolate skin was bruised and dirty from being outside for however long this girl had been out there. Her feet weren't covered by shoes.
Benson's heart broke for the little girl. She was clearly hurt and alone and needed emergent help.
"Hey there, little one. What are you doing out here?" Benson asked gently.
Whenever he tried to get closer to the girl, she moved away from him. She was terrified.
"You don't need to be scared, I won't hurt you. I promise," Benson promised, holding out his pinkie as proof.
The little girl was young enough to still believe in pinky swears, and Benson was determined to keep his promise. Hesitantly, the child reached a tiny hand out to wrap her tiny pinky around his.
"Do you wanna go inside with me? It's way warmer in there than out here," Benson offered, and after a bit of prompting, the girl carefully nodded, taking his offered hand as she got up from the dirty ground.
Snow flakes landed in her hair and Benson quickly took the child inside the house. She was freezing cold, goosebumps covering her tiny body. Troy was shocked to see the little girl. He had expected someone older, not a kindergarten kid. She looked to be around five years old.
"Now, who do we have here?" Troy cooed at the child, deciding to mask his negative emotions until the girl as out of sight.
He didn't want to make her nervous.
Still, the girl didn't reply. She observed her surroundings anxiously, as if she was waiting for something bad to happen the second she trusted anyone.
"Let's get you warmed up and into a new pair of clothes. We were just about to eat so you can have some, I bet you're hungry," Benson informed the girl, clearly taking control over the situation.
The girl only blinked at him, letting him take her to the bathroom to get herself changed. Benson didn't know anyone with a little kid, and he was unprepared for taking in a child, so all he was able to give her was one of his old shirts from when he was a teenager. It swallowed the child up whole. The t-shirt looked like a long dress on her, falling off of her shoulders. He'd have to shop for clothes for her later on.
Benson had the girl wash her hands thoroughly before he let her back into the kitchen to eat. He figured that she could shower in the morning. Some dirty had never hurt anybody. Besides, she seemed exhausted already and neither Benson bor Troy wanted to put a lot if pressure on her when they had only met a few minutes ago.
The girl almost drank her food, barely chewing. She acted as if her food would be taken away from her any second.
"Hey, calm down, little one. If you eat too quickly, you'll get tummy cramps. We don't want that, now do we?" Troy stated softly.
The girl slowed down just a little bit, although she still ate quicker than she was supposed to. Benson and Troy let her be, deciding to enjoy their own food. When they all finished, the child was almost falling asleep in her food, her head nodding off every few seconds.
Benson gestured to his husband that he was going to get the girl to bed. As he attempted to lift her up, she kicked her legs out and squirmed, the sudden arms around her indicating that she was going to get hurt again. She let out a whine as she flailed her arms about, trying to protect herself from her attacker.
"Hey, shhh, you're okay, you're safe. I'm just getting you to bed, little one," Benson hushed gently, managing to pick the child up when she stopped fighting, realizing that he wasn't a threat.
Falling back asleep, she let herself be carried by Benson to the guestroom where she was laid down and tucked in under a thick blanket. Benson watched her for a minute or two, listening to her slow breaths, indicating that she was deeply asleep. Deciding that she would be okay for the night, Benson returned to his husband who was still waiting in the kitchen. Benson sat back down on his chair with a sigh, the situation finally settling in now when everything had calmed down.
"What do you think happened to her?" Benson mumbled into his hands, his anxiety calming down slightly when Troy placed a comforting hand on his husband's shoulder.
"I don't know, but she's clearly frightened. She must have been through something horrible, nobody would just leave their child out there like that," Troy figured.
His words didn't calm Benson at all. Here they were, with a traumatized little girl sleeping two rooms away from them. Bensin had no idea what to do with her, but he knew who he could call to help him.
"We should just go to bed and figure out what to do tomorrow when our heads will be more clear," Troy decided, standing up from his seat, waiting for his husband to do the same, but Benson didn't move.
"Go ahead and go before me, I'm going to make a quick call," Benson said and Troy just nodded before leaving, trusting Benson's decision.
Bebson grabbed his phone from his pocket before he called a number that he was very familiar with. The person on the other line answered almost immediately.
"Hey, Kipo. We've got a situation."