Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One-Alone

He sat alone, in the cold wet rain in front of his house, drenched to the bone, knees pulled tightly to his chest as he sobbed, his father was dead. He didn’t know why it should bother him so much, but it wasn’t the death of his father that was causing such heartache to him, it was that he was alone. His mother; Gina had died two years ago, breast cancer ripping her from their lives.

Ronnie McKay had been a violent man before that, full of anger and hatred, but after the death of the only good thing in his life, Ronnie had turned far more violent than he had ever been before. Taking every last chance to beat on his only son, tell him how useless he was, blame the death of his wife on the child.

Jeanie had been smart, the moment she hit eighteen she had left the house, leaving a nine year old boy alone to defend himself. He had somehow survived a year, a year with his angry bastard father. Now the man was dead, Rodney held plenty of hate and anger towards his father, but like all children he desperately wished his father hadn’t died, wished that he wasn’t suddenly alone.

“Rodney, son, it’s time to go,” came the soft and all too kind voice. Rodney looked up with his bloodshot ocean blue eyes, tears welling at the brims. He was only a little boy, ten years old, he tried so hard to be like his father said and show the world he wasn’t a cry baby, but he was so scared.

Miss Jennings was a kind woman, and had spoken with him on a couple occasions after severe injuries from his father that had landed him in the hospital. She cared for him, but he had always been too frightened, now she had no choice. It was time to take Rodney to the orphanage, and hopefully to a foster home that would be willing to care for a ten year old boy for awhile.

The boy nodded and slowly stood, she reached out and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, sighing she pulled him close for a moment, allowing him to feel the warmth of another body. She was afraid he might be in shock, but seemed to be almost all too aware of what was really going on.

“Rodney, I already spoke to a family that said they would be willing to take you, I’m going to drop you off the day after tomorrow, is that all right?”

The big blue eyes looked up at her, and she felt her heart melt, no ten year old child should feel that much pain, be that alone in the world that he feels like he has to build up walls around himself to keep the rest of the world out. It didn’t seem fair, nothing in this boy’s life had been fair. Rodney was just one of those kids caught in the system who couldn’t get any breaks, and he was only ten years old. She prayed that the family he was being sent to would help him get the breaks, that they would realize what a genius he was, and help him to find his place in the world.

“Jeanie...won’t take me?” he whimpered. He wanted his sister, he had spent nine years worshiping her and the ground she seemingly walked on, but after last year she had pretty much disappeared.

Elaine knelt down in front of the boy, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders and sighed, “sweetheart, your sister is already busy, she had a baby four months ago; she’s barely making it herself, she said it would be best for you to stay in someone else’ care.

“She was pregnant when she left?” Rodney spoke stunned.

Elaine didn’t know what to say, this boy hadn’t been stupid, he must have known his sister had left for a reason. Ronnie McKay wouldn’t have tolerated his only daughter getting pregnant. If he hadn’t killed her, he would have thrown her out anyway. At least she had gotten out in time to save the baby and herself.

Unfortunately that left poor Rodney in a bit of a spot, but no one knew the old die of a heart attack. No one could have known, but Rodney was the one who would have to suffer now. Perhaps less than he was already suffering, but he was the child left.

“Yeah honey, she was, now come on, let’s get you to the children’s home and get you cleaned up, then we’ll feed you and talk about your new family, okay?”

“Do they know I’m allergic to citrus?” Rodney asked suddenly, worried for his own safety.

Elaine grinned and nodded, “you bet they do honey, they know everything there is to know about you, including that you had your tonsil’s removed when you were six and that your mom stayed in the hospital with you.”

“Okay,” he whispered.

Rodney allowed Elaine to lead him away from the empty shell of a house that he had occupied for six out of his ten years. After his father had been fired from his latest plant job he had fled to California to start over, which is where he resided...or where he had resided for these past six years. Rodney took one look back, the picture as the two EMTs rolled the stretcher with his father’s dead body wrapped in a bag would forever be engrained in his mind.

Suddenly Rodney stopped, “wait, please!” Rodney let go of Elaine’s hand and fled back into the house. He returned moments later with a picture frame in his hand. Elaine didn’t need to ask, she had seen the picture many times. It was a picture of Jeanie, Gina and Rodney. Rodney had been five when it had been taken, it was before things had really gotten bad. Rodney cherished the picture as though it were a piece of gold. She wasn’t surprised by the fact that he would go back now for it.

Elaine sat Rodney in the passenger seat of the sedan she had driven over here, she spoke to the police a final moment or two before climbing into the driver’s side of the car. With one last gaze at the lonely boy; she started the car and pulled away from the house.

“They’re names are Lauren and Luke Sheppard,” Elaine said, trying to help him feel better.

He looked up at her, his dark sandy colored blonde hair plastered to his forehead, his skin pale in contrast to the beautiful blue eyes she could read so easily, “the foster people?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, they’re really good people, they’ve been fostering children for the past six years. Usually it’s been little children, no older than six or seven. But Lauren said she would be thrilled to help you. They have one son, a eleven year old boy named John.”

“He won’t like me,” whispered Rodney.

“Now how do you know?”

“Because they never do, can’t I just stay with you?” it was the simplest of questions, one that nearly ripped her heart out. She sighed and reached out, squeezing his hand.

“Rodney, I’ve known you and your family for nearly a year, and if I could keep you as a foster child you know I would in a heartbeat, but I can’t. I’ve got my own family to worry about, I’ve told you about Harry and Peter, they’re only four and eighteen months old. I couldn’t care for you and them. And yes I know you’d be good. You’d be a prince, but I just can’t sweetheart.”

“Is it stupid of me to miss my dad?” Rodney whispered.

“No Rodney, you were hurt by him but you still loved him,” she looked over and could see the walls that had been built up over two years slowly start going into place.

Rodney had long since learned how to protect himself, although with Elaine she had managed to break down that brick wall of anger and frustration, now she just wished she could get him to open up to other people as well.

“John, their son, goes to Franklin Elementary school, you’ll have to transfer there, but I doubt you’ll have a big issue with that.”

“I’m supposed to be in the fifth grade this year,” he commented.

It was true, Rodney had taken the tests for fourth grade and passed them as well as some of the fifth grade, his father had agreed to let him skip ahead a year and be placed in an upper level fifth grade class. Elaine felt Rodney should really be in the sixth grade by now, but she wouldn’t press the issue.

“They know, and you’ll be in John’s class.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Sweetheart, I’m home!” came the call from the foyer. Luke Sheppard walked through the foyer into the living room, where his eleven year old son lay sprawled out on their couch reading a book. His feet propped up on the arm rest of the couch, “hey, Romeo, remove the feet please,” he called to his only son.

John’s head swiveled in a way only young pre-teen’s could as he gazed at his father with his big hazel green eyes. A contagious grin split the boy’s face and he quickly did as his father told, bounding off the couch to greet his father with his routine hug.

Luke grinned and swooped his boy up into his arms, “I missed you too buddy, did you have a good day?”

John was on summer vacation, and had spent part of it so far working at the Police station where Luke worked, however, lately the boy had been suffering a nasty cold and his mother had restricted him to the bedroom and the couch. John was finally getting over it.

“It was great dad! I got almost clean through my book,” grinned the boy.

“And which book is that?”

“The Star Wars Trilogy dad! You know the ones that were made into the movies?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of them, you like this stuff?” Luke was surprised neither he nor his wife enjoyed Sci-fi, it seemed to be a habit John had developed all on his own.

“It’s totally great dad! Really, it’s awesome. I wanna be in space one day!”

“Well, that’s an admirable dream son, but I thought you wanted to be in the Air Force like your old man?” Luke said a little hurt as he shifted his son to his left hip.

“I do dad, but I wanna do outer space after I work in the Air Force, you know like you work on the Police Force now,” explained the boy.

Luke grinned, he had retired from the Air Force three years ago after getting shot down in his helicopter, he had been lucky to walk away, but decided it was time to hang up his wings. He had joined the Police Force six months later after deciding he still needed to help people.

He was a little disappointed but thrilled that his son wanted to be in the Air Force like him. John had wanted to be in the Air Force since the first time his father had ever taken him up in a jet. John had been four at the time, and ever since he knew he wanted to fly.

“Let’s get you through high school first okay kiddo, now where’s your mother?”

“In the kitchen,” Luke nodded and set his son back down on his feet.

“Okay, go wash up for dinner,” he watched his son scamper off upstairs to get cleaned up. Luke grinned and turned to head into the kitchen and dinning room. His wife was setting the kitchen table, the food on the counter top prepared to be served.

“How was your day darling?” he asked as he pressed a kiss to her neck.

She giggled softly and turned in his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist she squeezed then pulled away and smiled, “Very good, your son is dying to go to work with you again. I imagine I’ll have to let him go pretty soon. Oh, I got a call from Elaine at Child Services.”

“Really? Another kid?”

“Yeah...”

“How old?”

“Ten.”

“Ten...don’t we usually take toddlers? What’s the kid’s name?”

“His name is Rodney, and Elaine told me about his back story, oh Luke, I just couldn’t say no.”

“You always were a sucker for strays. Rodney...what’s the last name?”

“McKay...”

“His father died earlier this morning of a heart attack, a couple of our guys were called over there. When they came back they said the boy was taken off with child services and that he wouldn’t let anyone touch him but Elaine.”

“Well, he’s ours to care for now. He arrives the day after tomorrow,” Lauren said simply looking at her husband.

“Does Johnny know?” Luke questioned as he finished setting the dinner table.

“Does Johnny know what?” their son inquired as he bounded into the kitchen, he headed to the fridge and pulled out the lemonade and poured his parents and himself a glass.

“No, not yet,” grinned Lauren as she eyed her only son, “we are getting another foster child,” she explained.

Luke pulled out the chair for his wife, scooting her in then sat at the head of the table. John took a seat as well and began to cut his food before asking his next questioned, “cool, how old?” John enjoyed the little kids, although the crying was annoy, he enjoyed having them around.

“Ten, he’ll be staying in the guest room,” Lauren answered.

“Sounds cool, when does he get here?”

“Six Wednesday evening.”

“I can still go to work with dad...right?”

“Yep, I don’t see why not, but please make sure your summer reading is done. We’re not starting the year out badly.”

John grinned, taking a bite of his grilled chicken he nodded, “it is, I asked Sergeant Blake to help me with it.”

Lauren looked at her husband who simply grinned and shook his head. Lauren smiled, realizing how much the two were alike; John was his father’s son, with the same dark raven hair and hazel green eyes, a thin toned form and a strong mind to match. However he had her cheeks, ears and nose. The freckles dotting his cheeks lightly were exactly like her’s.

The conversation’s trailed to the usual day actions, including one of the bad guys Luke had caught, and trailing to the possibility of taking John out to the airport this weekend for another ride in his Uncle Bill’s jet. John had fallen in love with flying since the first day his father had taken him up in a jet. The sunlight began to fade through the house, a light that would soon become a beacon for the lost boy about to enter their family and their house.