Story [Top Gun] Fragmentary [Seeing a Trailer Backstory] [UDC 10]

A/N: I was all set to go right back to social services, but that's not these prompts. (And where was I, that I'm a little behind? Fixing flight reservations that shouldn't have needed to BE fixed in the first place.)


Week 12 - UDC 1


56. good


Back inside the house, Pete froze at the sight of the near-empty table. "Where did-"

"Pete," Nick interrupted, motioning to Noah behind him. "You're not going to be focusing on school work right now and we have to set the table anyway. Right, Mr. Finney?"

"Right," Noah agreed and Pete looked back at him with a frown. "Unless you want me to help you with it? We could do that."

"Hadn't thought of it that way," Pete admitted.

"Hmmm... Nick, was the tour good or bad?"

Nick shrugged. "Depends on if Pete having a tame but active flashback is good or bad." Noah frowned at him. "The F-14's caused him to get stuck for a minute there."

"Oh."

"And then I got to help with Pre-flight!" Pete enthused.

"You did, huh?" Chelsea asked as she set Maggie down. Maggie immediately hugged her calf. "That's good."

Helen, behind Chelsea, frowned at him. "And when were you going to tell me about the flashback?"

"Later. It was a good one."

"And I'm fine," Pete added, smiling. "Hate when that happens, though."


57. evil


Chelsea looked at Pete, and then pointed to the couch, and he frowned at her. "We didn't get a chance to talk, really, because we overwhelmed you. Couch."

"But we're gonna set the table-"

Helen had set Nicky down, and this time it was the toddler who interrupted him. "Couch, Pete. Go on."

Noah leaned closer to her as Pete pried Nicky off his leg and then led Chelsea, Maggie, and Nicky to the couch. "That was slightly evil."

"Worked, didn't it?"

She had him there. He glanced out the still-open door in time to see Walt pull up in the driveway. "Do we tell Walt now that he had a good flashback, or let Nick?"

Helen frowned and beckoned Nick to her. "When you say good..."

Nick sighed. "I didn't notice that he'd gotten distracted when Tech Sergeant Whittington was in the middle of explaining flight operations on the tarmac, Ma. When I got back to him after Whittington noticed we were short a person, he was staring at the planes, and then he asked what they were. And then he kept repeating 'test flying' until I got him to tell us where he was in his head."

Helen nodded. "And?"

Nick peered into the living room, shook his head. "He said he was in Beth Page, on the tarmac with his mother, watching his father do test flights. Taking off and landing."

"So when you say good, that isn't an exaggeration," Noah said after a moment.

"Nope. Not at all." Nick shrugged. "We know a little more?"

"We do?" Walt asked, coming in the house.

"Yes, Dad. We do. Pete's going to want to tell us all about it, but I think Miss Lowell is doing her own assessment of him right now, with added toddler cuteness."

Walt studied his son for a moment, then looked at Helen. "I got home in the middle of a thing, didn't I?"


58. dream


Chelsea watched as Pete led Nicky and Maggie through the alphabet song, smiling at how well he was doing with them. It was moments like this where she wished it had been different, that they'd been able to keep him without Harry ultimately making the decision when they had been a tired mess. Pete glanced at her knowingly and shook his head before returning his attention to the twins, and she froze. What was that supposed to mean? "Flying dreams."

Pete broke off from singing, and both Nicky and Maggie looked at her in confusion. "What about flying dreams?"

"You didn't have those as often as the ones where you'd get disoriented, but it's nice to know the reason you did."

"Oh."

"I just wish we'd been able to figure out-"

"No," Pete said suddenly, startling her. "I don't blame you or Noah for that. I never did. I might not have understood why Harry did it, but..." He shook his head and bit his lip for a moment or two. "I had you two. Those months." He reached over and tousled Nicky's hair. "And then... can I call you family?"

"Yes." After all of this, she would not be the one to tell him no. There was family by blood, and family one chooses. This was the latter, not the former.

"And then my family got bigger, Chelsea, even if I didn't get to see you for three years." He glanced downward, frowning, and then blinked. "Wait a minute. Does Noah know?"

She followed his gaze to her ankles, suddenly realizing that of course Pete would figure it out, even if she wasn't showing yet. "Not yet. I didn't know until today. It's early." Chelsea chanced a glance toward the entryway and sure enough, three sets of eyes were watching them. Had Noah heard that?

"Momma?" Maggie wondered. "Talking about?"

"Big person things, sweetie," Chelsea told her as Noah frowned. Sighing, she motioned all of them into the living room. "I was going to wait a week or so, but... Noah, honey? How do you feel about another?"

"Pete noticed your ankles, didn't he?" Noah asked with a touch of humor. "I thought I was imagining it, didn't want to say anything." He turned to look at Nick, Helen, and Walt. "This wasn't supposed to be about us tonight, but..."

Walt smiled at him. "It's about family tonight, Noah. Even better that there's a little one, or maybe two," at that, Chelsea glared at him, "...on the way. Pete, why don't you come into the kitchen with me and I'll show you what I was wanting to do with the cube steak. I think these two need a minute. Nick? Table."


59. nightmare


In the kitchen, Pete watched studiously as Walt prepared meat in a way he'd not seen before, with the crackers and the eggs. "So this is what you wanted to do with the cube steak?"

Walt chuckled. "Yes. I wasn't sure if you'd had it before, and it's always good to try something different. We call this Country Fried Steak. You'll love it."

"The Quiche was good," Pete told him after a minute, watching as Walt fried the meat. "And... you keep telling me to tell you, but... it'll sound bad."

Walt nodded. "You always seem to be cold, Pete." He blinked up at him, startled. "That first night here? I'm not sure Nick noticed or not, because he didn't say anything, but..."

"I was cold. Always am."

"Which ties in with being hungry all the time," Walt explained. "I keep saying to tell us when you're hungry because your body is telling you things, you just have to be able to interpret what it's telling you."

"Oh."

"It might seem like it's too much, to tell us when you're hungry, but it's not too much. Understood?"

"I think so?" Pete glanced over at Nick, who was watching them with a smile while setting the table. "You noticed, didn't you?"

"I just thought you had naturally cold hands."


60. truth


Later, listening to Pete explain the F-14 testing he remembered and the way the Aviators had allowed him to join in on a pre-flight inspection, Walt was glad they had allowed him to go on the tour, and doubly glad Nick had been there to re-orient him when he'd gotten lost in his own head. They'd have to tell Alan, of course, because flashbacks of any kind, even positive ones, were still an incident, but this... this was an answer to Noah's trying to ask the Navy for more details and them being touchy about his asking.

 

A/N: Eventually, one has to embrace the truly awkward problem of Viper showing up at Social Services, right? Right.


Week 12 - UDC 2


56. Trial


As he walked back to where Dorinda was talking with Miss Lowell and Mr. Finney, Frank couldn't help but notice how clingy Nicky suddenly was. "What's wrong, huh?"

"Man strange," Nicky told him honestly, and Frank nodded. "Want Daddy." Frank rounded the corner and suddenly the two year old was squirming in his arms at the mere sight of his father.

"Oh," Noah breathed and quickly took him. "What's got into you, Bud?"

"Wanted you," Frank told him. "And he thinks the Officer that turned up is strange. Alan's onto you, by the way."

"Oh, I know. Did the same thing to him." Noah got Nicky to look at him. "Do you want to stay out here with Dorinda and Sheila and Maggie? Your mother and I have to go back there and talk to the strange man."

"Clothes weird," Nicky said. "Brown? Things."

Noah nodded. "That's not the answer I'm looking for, but I'll take it. Things, Frank?"

"Name tag, ribbons board, officer pins, Naval Aviator wings. Wrinkled service khakis."

"Ah."

Frank looked beyond him to Chelsea, who was watching them and talking to Dorinda, but also appeared a bit green. "Is she okay?"

Noah turned and frowned, then sighed. "Chelsea, when did you eat last?"

"Too nauseated," she shot at him defiantly and then a banana was suddenly in her hands. "Dorinda, I'm fine."

"That may be, but if you're hungry on an empty stomach, that just makes morning sickness worse, and you can't go in there and lash out again. He's already calling you 'the touchy redhead.' Am I surprised that you sent a Naval Lieutenant to Arlington, even if he was redirected at the Police station? No. Not at all."

Frank nodded, understanding the subtext of a pregnancy mood swing when she wasn't showing yet. He looked away from them and noticed another person come into the lobby, frowning at the sight of Sheryl Tomkins. "Oh. Are we expecting anyone other than Mrs. Tomkins?"

Noah smiled. "Nope. Aaron Whittington had a hop scheduled with Rotor and Blaze, and they wouldn't have been any help anyway, unless teaching Pete how to do Pre-Flight on an F-14 during a JROTC tour is something we need to tell whoever it is about."


57. Test


Frank waved Sheryl over and was pleasantly surprised when Nicky reached out to her enthusiastically. It was a stark difference between how he'd reacted to Officer Metcalf and her. "I wonder if it's because Officer Metcalf is fresh from deployment, that Nicky didn't react like that with him."

Chelsea looked up from peeling the banana. "How fresh?"

"So fresh his wife put him straight onto a plane," Frank answered. "How are you, Sheryl?"

Sheryl greeted both toddlers, then smiled. "I was barely able to leave the office. Busy day. So... we've got an officer fresh from deployment asking about Pete?"

"We do," Dorinda told her. "Alan apparently already knew him on sight, if not by name. Something about a picture?"

Noah frowned suddenly. "Oh really? Frank, which way is the conference room?" Frank pointed and Noah quickly handed his son over to Dorinda, leaving in that direction. Chelsea sighed and followed him while she munched on the banana, and Sheryl shrugged and followed after them both.

Frank watched and turned to look at Dorinda. "That'll be an interesting meeting."


58. Preparation


Alan had been prepared to let everyone get to know one another before moving on to the tough questions, and then Noah, followed by Chelsea and Sheryl Tomkins, entered the room and each took their seats quietly. Sheryl smiled at her husband and he nodded. "You made it after all."

"I did. Barely," Sheryl said with a nonchalant shrug. "Busy day in the office."

Mike had finished the fruit by now and set the baggie on the table. "Office?"

"Legal office. I'm a paralegal secretary." She studied him, watching Noah out of the corner of her eye as he reached for the picture. "I'm interested to know what you're doing here, Officer, especially since you're here instead of home, where ever that is, with your family when you're so fresh from deployment."

"...and I'd like to know what your call sign is," Noah mused as he looked at the picture while Chelsea also looked over his shoulder. "And also how you fit, here, given that it's been three years since Nora died, and you're showing up, no matter the circumstances, to ask about a kid you haven't seen in at least five years."

"Chelsea?" Helen asked, showing her another baggie of fruit, to which Chelsea shook her head and held up the banana she was just finishing. "That's good, then."

Chelsea swiped the baggie that Mike had discarded and put the banana peel in it, then looked at Mike. "I'm not going to apologize, Officer. My first concern goes to the safety, physical and emotional, of the kid you're here to ask about, even if he's not my foster son anymore, but theirs," She motioned to Walt and Helen. "And the Navy has had a very bad track record with all of us when it comes to this. Of course I would send you out of your way to talk to Harry Burrows, because that was the beginning of the story. The only reason you got redirected is because Officer Santos liked you. He called me afterwards."

"Oh." Mike looked at Noah. "My call sign is Viper, and Richard Mitchell was my wingman in my squadron, VF-51 stationed in Miramar. His son is my Godson."


59. Fail


Alan had been looking at Walt when Mike said that and noticed the man stiffen. "Walt?"

"In the hall," Walt said, voice tone so sharp it made him wince. "Now."

"Right. We'll be right back."

Out in the hallway, where they were joined by Noah, Alan noticed that Walt was agitated. "What about that upsets you?"

Walt sighed. "It's not that it upsets me, Alan. It's that, when we were attempting to go through the pictures with Pete a couple weeks ago, he told us that he had an 'Uncle Viper.' He doesn't remember much, just that this guy isn't actually his uncle. I have no idea if he knows that this is his Godfather, and without a will, that part doesn't matter. I don't think, anyway."

"No," Alan said as he nodded, processing the information. "And Pete already has you and Helen acting as Foster Parents. And thank you for the discretion."

"Without knowing his intentions, I wasn't going to say any of that in front of Officer Metcalf."

Noah nodded in agreement. "Plus, he hasn't seen him in ages."

"That, too."

Just then, Helen came out of the conference room with a slip of paper in her hand. "Can I use your phone, Alan?" He frowned at her. "I'm going to call his wife, Linda, and discuss things with her and see where we stand."

"Oh. Yes, dial nine to get out."


60. Pass


Re-entering the conference room, Mike frowned at the three of them. "Do you normally have this many people just for one kid?"

Alan chuckled as he re-took his seat. "No, this is a special case. Is there an active will for Mr. Mitchell? I assume there isn't, because he's not legally deceased, and you mentioned a State Department cover up but can not say why or what for."

"No," Mike admitted, wondering why that would make the two men that had left with the social worker react visibly. "Gentlemen? Now would be the time to discuss whatever is on your minds."

Walt took a steadying breath and looked at the third man who was studying him curiously. "Viper means something here."

"It does, huh?" Dean asked carefully.

"Yes. And now we've got the State Department, for whatever reason, muddying the waters... Können wir zu Pete zurückkehren, der sich Sorgen um einen Schließfachwechsel macht?" At Dean's amused expression, Walt blinked in realization. "Eh."

"It'd be nice if we could, really," Dean said humorously. "My German is a bit rusty, though, Walt."

"Mine isn't. I've been helping him study for mid-terms out loud." Walt glanced at Mike. "You didn't take German in high school?"

"French," Mike said after a moment. "And it's been very useful overseas. Why does my call sign mean something to you?"

"Now that," Alan spoke up, drawing his attention again. "Involves pictures that Nora had, which they were trying to go through with Pete." He motioned at the picture that Chelsea was holding. "Which did not include that one, because I wanted to ask questions. The thing here is, Lieutenant Commander: this child might be your godson, and maybe originally he was supposed to go live with you in such an event as this one, but none of that happened and instead, after Miss Lowell and Mr. Finney lost him due to certain factors because Harry made a decision, Pete spent the next three years bouncing around the Foster Care system, including a couple of tried and failed placements with Naval families which should have been good and turned out not to be."

"We're still dealing with the repercussions of that," Walt muttered, which caused Mike to frown again. "And it's one thing to hear him say he remembers something but not well, entirely another to have you sitting here with us while my wife calls yours to explain the situation to her."

~*~*~*~*~​

Translation from German: "Can we go back to Pete worrying about a locker switch?"

 

Yay, I'm finally caught up on your story! I love how you've shown the complexities of foster care and caring for a child with trauma.

 

@UltramassiveUbersue ... Thank you, and yeah. I didn't realize HOW complex until I started making myself cry repeatedly for this, you know? (Worth it. So, so worth it.)

A/N: Back from my nephew's wedding which I had to take multiple planes to get to... and it's funny, because I don't recall planes being that LOUD in transit before. (Wedding was good, reception was heartwarming and emotional and fun.) If I ever go to Georgia again, I want more than a weekend!


Week Twelve: The X Factors! - UDC 6 - Geometry Problem Bonus Homework


56. Prime


"I said I'd do it, and you wanted me to, so here," Karen's voice said as she plunked a packet down in the middle of the table. "Have fun."

Pete stared at it as he took another bite of his sandwich, and then glanced up at her. "So I don't have to go ask him, huh?"

"Nope." Karen looked at him for a long moment and then shifted her attention to Nick, who was watching them passively. "This kid... in November, when he broke his arm? He talked his social worker into letting him come to school basically the next day."

"No, that was Friday night that it happened," Pete interrupted and Karen glared down at him. "Not Sunday."

"And Nick wasn't here for it."

"True."


57. Composite


She shook her head, then looked at Nick again. "So Nev," and here Karen motioned to another girl at a different table. "...Nevaeh noticed that it was not Mrs. Tomkins dropping him off, and then I start really looking, because my mother is a nurse and she taught me what to look for, and he's standing there very stiffly, looking kind of gray, because he was refusing medication. And that was when I met Mr. Jenkins."

"And Nevaeh escorted me to first period where she handed me off to Jenn," Pete added. "All while not letting me carry my own book bag. And Karen here took Mr. Jenkins to talk to Mrs. Juusten."

Nick nodded. "Is that how you ended up with a different locker?"

"Yes." Pete glared momentarily up at Karen. "I wanted a normal day, you know. Instead..."

"I can see where this is going," Nick said slowly. "Instead you got something else entirely."

"Also yes. Eventually, Mrs. Juusten even convinced me to actually take the Ibuprofen, too."

"And you felt much better afterwards," Karen reminded him.


58. Deficient


Pete sighed, and suddenly Nick realized that maybe it hadn't been about the medication. Maybe... "Not the point right now."

"Karen?" She glanced at him and he motioned for her to stop. Karen frowned at him for a long moment before nodding.

"Enjoy the complex problem," Karen said instead, and Pete nodded. He'd not picked the packet up yet and had gone back to finishing his lunch.

Nick watched her go, then leaned closer. "So... do you want to talk about why you had to be convinced into taking an over the counter pain medication, or should we wait until later?"

Pete stared at the packet on the table between them, then shook his head. "Later. It's..."

"A lot?"

Pete nodded. "I wanted something normal, Nick. I got it.."

"...and extras you didn't quite know how to do deal with?" He watched as Pete picked the packet up and paged through it with interest. Nick was starting to get the feeling that it might have been a bit more than being escorted, a locker switch, and being in more pain than he needed to be, but now was not the time.


59. Perfect


The last thing Karen expected as she was unloading her locker following last bell was to be hugged suddenly by someone short. Blinking in surprise, she looked down at Pete, who was smiling. "I take you love the extra homework?"

Pete grinned. "It's perfect. Where's Jenn? She wanted to see it."

"I showed her already," Karen told him with a returned smile. "Also, it's a good thing you're twelve, or Fionn would be jealous."

"Nah," Fionn said from across the hall. "I'd be jealous of Bradshaw if he did that, but Pete? Never."

"Uh..." Pete slowly let go, glanced at Fionn and Jaime. "Sorry?"

Jaime laughed. "What are you sorry for? Being excited over math is a good and healthy thing, and Karen probably needed the hug."


60. Abundant


Walt couldn't help but notice the tenseness as the boys did their homework that night, as if both had things on their minds but neither wanted to discuss whatever it was. Were they fighting, or was this something else entirely? When Nick got up from the table, he reached out and stopped him with a touch. "What's going on?"

Nick blinked, startled. "Nothing. Why?"

"Tense, the both of you."

"We are?" Nick paused, then nodded to Pete, who was watching them both with a neutral expression. "Now or later, Pete?"

"Wanna finish this," Pete said with a shrug. "And it's not bad, Walt. Karen just... said a lot when she was giving me the math packet at lunch."

Walt nodded. "All right."

"And I wasn't going to mention it to the three of you, what happened the week of Thanksgiving, because it doesn't matter now."

That made him stare at Pete for a minute and then he looked at Nick, who was also staring at Pete with an expression that he wasn't quite able to read. "Nick?"

"Water, please." Nick nodded and went to do as asked. Walt reached over and nudged Pete's arm and the boy looked at him in question. "If it still upsets you, of course it matters. We'll talk later, hmmm?"

Pete nodded slowly, then held up his German textbook. "Can we talk about this first?"

Walt smiled. "Sure we can. Which part is giving you fits?"

 

Another wonderful update.

I like how you're showing that it's the simple things that make a child's life easier, like the structure of school life and having guardians around for discussing homework. Learning is such a positive and effective way to distract from stress and make life feel normal.

I think this story is a heartwarming kind of angst, because we get to see realistic and hard-earned healing. I'm looking forward to your next update.

 

@UltramassiveUbersue ... Exactly. The simple things like support and structure and routine. Thank you.


Week XII - UDC 8


56. Break


It was starting to be routine, gathering on the couch to talk about the day, even if it was something small. Helen smiled at how Pete was curled into Nick's side comfortably. It should have been odd, but here in the space of their home, it had ceased to be anything but normal. "So where do we start?"

"Tenseness," Walt told her, narrowing his eyes at the boys, and Pete wasn't looking back at him. "Well?"

"I didn't want medication," Pete said quietly, almost inaudibly. "I had to be talked into it, even though my arm ached."

Helen nodded slowly and looked at her son over Pete's head. Nick shook his head minutely in the negative, that he didn't understand this either. "Why, then?"

The answer was long in coming and Nick tapped him on the shoulder. "This is later, Pete. Why didn't you want it?"


57. Quiet


Walt saw the unshed tears before they started to fall and shifted closer, drawing Helen closer as he did so. This was not a child that showed things like that easily, and until he'd grown comfortable to a certain degree, Pete also had not dropped the formality of their last names. "It can wait if you need to, Pete."

"No," Pete told them with a shuddering breath. "I didn't want it because every time the nurses came around with pain medication, Grandpa would fall asleep. Often. And then... they almost didn't let me in to see Mom, when she was so sick, after."

That made sense, Walt thought as they watched Nick hug him tightly. "She got better, though."

Pete nodded, but there was more hesitancy in that movement than Walt was comfortable with, given what he'd heard from Noah. "Mrs. Juusten had to explain that what they'd given in the hospital and what I was prescribed for my arm weren't the same thing. It sounds stupid, that I would need that explained, but-"

"No," Helen interrupted and Pete looked at her sharply. "Not stupid at all, and I'm glad she explained the difference between the two."


58. Lives


"And Karen probably gets her sledgehammer tendencies from her mother," Nick mused suddenly and Helen looked at him sharply. "You met Karen's mother, Ma. This came up when Karen was giving the math packet to Pete."

Helen nodded. "I was wondering how it would."

"I don't get to say I'm fine when I'm not," Pete explained. "If I try, Karen threatens me with complicated Math."

Walt held up a hand, getting his attention. "Why is that?"

"I was at school while in pain, trying to have normality, Walt. I kept saying I was fine until the word lost it's meaning to everyone, including myself."

"No wonder she acts like an older sister to you," Nick said and Pete craned his neck to look at him with a slight smile. "That's not a bad thing, you know."

"I'm an only child," Pete reminded him. "This..."

This would have been hard to get his mind around, Walt realized. Never mind coming from a background of neglect...


59. Dies


In the refuge of their bedroom, Helen lay curled up to him under the covers, drawing patterns with her hand on the sheet. It was one thing to know something had happened in the abstract, entirely another to hear it from the source and understand the pain. "Ever feel like it's not enough?"

"All the time," Walt admitted. "And maybe it isn't."

"Maybe it is," she murmured back at him. "Even if it never feels like it is."

He had to give her that point, there. Too much and not enough at the same time.


60. Story


She stood in the doorway to what had been the guest room and simply watched as he put newly washed clothes in the dresser drawers. Her attention drifted around the room and that was when she noticed the pictures on the bedside tables, a personal touch that made the bedroom seem more like his than a blank canvass.

Pete noticed her looking with a smile and shrugged. "It's good to have them close?"

Helen nodded. "It is, Pete. Very good." She'd not missed, either, that he'd set pictures on the dresser, to either side of the still-unused album. Small steps to think about bigger ones, indeed. "Where are your uniforms?"

"Closet," Pete admitted after a long silence, like he'd not expected her to ask. "They were getting wrinkled in the bags."

She smiled at that. "Good place for them, then."

 

Week 13 - UDC 10 - ...and back again to Fort Worth Social Services...


61. Several


It was a sunny day in Fighter Town when the phone rang, and Linda picked up the receiver with one hand while putting their ten-month old in the playpen. The groceries could wait a minute. "Metcalf residence."

"Is this Linda?"

Linda paused, for the uncertain feminine voice on the other end was unfamiliar. "Yes. May I ask who is calling?"

The story that followed, of her husband turning up at Social Services in Fort Worth looking for their friend's child, was a relief to hear. She answered a few questions while rubbing a spot on her belly where the baby had kicked from within, and it was another question that caused her to stare down at her daughter. Why would it matter if they had children who might have colic?


62. Neither


Alan noticed Helen's expression first when she re-entered the conference room, frowning at how unsettled she appeared as she sat down at the table. "Helen?"

"Babies," Helen said simply, gaze locked on Mike. "Was it your intent to take Pete home with you?"

Mike shook his head. "No, it was my original intent to check on them. What about babies?"

"You're about to have one," the woman told him gravely, and then her gaze shifted to Chelsea. "And this is a kid who was removed from a home once due to Colic."

"Oh," Walt said and Mike looked at him oddly. "That does complicate things, doesn't it?"

"Also," Helen continued, her gaze shifting back to him. "The police action is ongoing. You could be deployed again, could you not?"

"Yes," Viper said after a minute.


63. Another


They hadn't even gone near that subject yet, was Alan's thought process as he nodded to Helen in understanding. She'd been right to make that phone call, and right to bring up the subject of deployment, even if there was no way that he'd have been releasing Pete into anyone else's care but the Bradshaws, especially not out of state. The only reason he'd been so inviting in the first place with Metcalf was because of the pictorial evidence. "Thank you, Helen."

"Someone had to think of it," she simply said. "Officer Metcalf, when we're done here, Linda would like a call."

Alan glanced at Chelsea to find her expression flickering between emotional states, which didn't surprise him. The subject of removal for her due to circumstances was still an emotional one. "Comes back to the same thing, doesn't it?"

Chelsea nodded. "It does. He'd be leaving his wife alone with a child that she doesn't know, who doesn't know her, in the kind of situation that caused Harry to pull him in the first place."

"I would?" Three women and four men stared at him collectively until Mike got it, that that would be exactly what he'd be doing. "Oh."


64. Anything


Walt studied the wrinkled service khakis for another minute before sighing. "Did you bring any plain clothes, Mike?"

"Probably. Why?"

"Because..." Walt shifted his gaze to Alan. "What do you think? He should at least see him. Dinner?"

Alan nodded. "I think dinner is a wonderful idea. Mike, did you check into a hotel yet?"

"Wasn't the first thing on my mind."

"Then you're coming home with me and we'll see about a meeting under controlled circumstances." Noah laughed suddenly and Alan rolled his eyes with a chuckle of his own. "Once was enough with meetings in the field, Noah."

"Oh, the grocery store had it's moments," Noah told him with another laugh. "I'd honestly never seen a twelve-year-old that excited over soup before."

Mike frowned at him. Soup? Why would anyone be excited over soup? And why was there a reunion in a grocery store? For that matter, why did it feel like they were speaking in code?


65. Everything


"Momma?"

Sonia looked up to find her youngest, Ellie, looking out the front door with a confused expression. She joined her to find that Alan was leading a man in service khakis up the front walk, and frowned at him from the entryway. "He's a bit old, don't you think?"

Alan chuckled. "Yes. Mike, this is my wife, Sonia, and my youngest, Ellie. Officer Metcalf is in town to check on a family."

"Not ours?"

"No. One of the kids."

A foster, then. Sonia nodded and studied Mike's face intently as he sighed. "One of the kids, huh? Which one?"

"Pete."

"Oh really?" Sonia smiled and put a hand on Mike's arm, leading him inside. "Let's get you a good meal, then, sir." And maybe a solid nap, she thought to herself. "They bringing him by?"

"No," her husband said after a moment of thought. "It's a school night and we are not breaking routine tonight. Tomorrow is another matter."

 

Bonus - Week 13 - UDC 10


Someone


At home that night, after dinner and homework, Walt stood in the doorway as Helen read a book with both Nick and Pete. They'd both wanted to tell him about the meeting earlier in the day, but Pete had come home closed off and not letting anyone in, not even Nick, really. It wasn't odd, and when this happened, it was best to wait him out and not push too hard. If they pushed, the closed-offness lasted longer, and that had been a hard week for them all.

He let his attention drift around the room and noticed the changes, subtle but there. Walt smiled at that, at the pictures on the two bedside tables and the slight messiness of the hamper in the corner by the closet.

"Walt?" Helen's voice brought his attention back to them and he wasn't surprised to see her holding the book out to him. "Your turn."

"My turn, huh?"

Nick smiled. "Yep!" He nudged Pete. "This one loves the voices you do."

Walt took the book from his wife and sat down on the bed. "Well, then. Let's read, shall we?"


Ourselves


Later, Nick sat on his own bed staring at his hands while both parents sat on either side. "I think he remembered something unpleasant."

"Oh?"

Nick nodded, still not looking up. "He was fine yesterday, and then this morning... I don't know. It was like talking to a curtain all day and just going through the motions, if that makes any sense." He sighed. "Which is weird, you know?"

Helen looked at Walt over Nick's head, for they both did indeed know how weird that was. Carefully, she pulled him into a hug. "We shouldn't be making you do this all by yourself."

"You're not, Ma," Nick mumbled into her shoulder. "You're not."

"Seems like we are, sometimes," Walt said carefully. "And-"

"Where is everybody?" Pete's voice said from the hallway, and then he walked in, sleepy as all get-out, and blinked at the three of them. "Oh."

"Nick needs a minute," Walt explained and beckoned Pete closer, snagging him when he got close enough. "And so do you, you sleepy rascal."

"Not tired," Pete told him through a yawn. "Don't want to sleep."

Nick chuckled. "Dad? Was I this bad at three or four?"

"Worse," Walt told him as he pulled Pete up onto the bed beside him and simply hugged the boy. "And you might not be tired, Pete, but the yawning proves otherwise." Pete yawned again and fell back to sleep into his side. "Oh."


Whichever


"Clingy and tired," Nick mused with a tired smile. "Ma?"

"I think you're right," Helen said after a minute, watching her husband stare down at Pete with an unreadable expression. "And while I would normally say no, probably the only way he's going to actually sleep tonight is if he's in here with you."

Walt agreed on that, seeing as he'd sought them out just now, tired as he was. "I think we're going to have to tell Alan that Friday would be better."

Helen nodded. "That would seem prudent, yes."

"Better for that?" Nick wondered.

"Dinner plans," Walt told him. "Nothing big, just a get-together and company. Sheryl and Dean are going to host, and Alan had a friend fly in from San Diego..." As much as he wanted to just tell Nick right now, the subject of the get-together was sleeping and leaning against him, and had had who-knows-what kind of a flashback if Nick was right. It wasn't as simple as just telling both their sons who had flown in from San Diego to check on a friend's family, put on a plane by his wife straight from deployment without even a chance to change. He wanted it to be that simple, but it really wasn't.

 

A/N: Stepping out of the spring of 1973 for a set, to bring you Christmas Break week of 1978. Why? Because Carole mentioned having to call Jenkins for Pete in shock in a chapter of Seeing a Trailer and now I know why.


Week 13 - UDC 4 - Another time that Pete was repeating a number sequence...


61. Hold Back the Darkness


It was early on a Saturday and she was still up before the boys, Carole reflected as she made her way to the kitchen to start the coffee she knew Nick was going to want. Passing through the living room, she noticed Pete on the couch and realized he'd not actually made it all the way to bed the night before... or he had, and hadn't been able to sleep and had gotten up to read a book as the book on the floor beside him seemed to attest to. She smiled and continued on.

Nick's parents had left them to their own devices for the weekend, a long-anticipated getaway for them both, trusting both herself and Nick with Pete as an awkward chaperone.

Arms enveloped her from behind as she started the bacon, and she leaned back slightly. "Mmm... four years is a long time, you know."

"It is," Nick admitted into her hair. "That smells good."

"It's bacon, of course it does." They stood like that for long minutes, just enjoying one another's company until she sighed. "Go wake Pete, would you? This'll be ready in a jiff."

She could feel his frown without seeing it. "That's odd, that he's not up by now."


62. Take a Stand


In the living room, Nick found Pete still asleep on the couch and had to chuckle. Had he really been pushing himself that hard, or was it simply that he'd been unable to sleep after they'd gotten back from the movies? His hand was barely touching Pete's shoulder when he realized that the seventeen-year-old's eyes were open, but he was staring, and that was when he heard that Pete was saying numbers.

Nick stared at him, startled at that, and reached for the notepad and pen his mother always kept on the end table. He started writing down the numbers, noticing that they repeated every seven, always starting with the same one. "Carole?"

"Done and plated!" She called happily.

"I need you in here."

Shortly, she was at his side, staring at Pete's odd behavior, and then they both froze when he added a name to the mix. Jenkins. "What is this?"

"Won't know until he comes out of it," Nick told her, pushing the piece of paper he'd ripped off the note pad at her. "Call Alan."

"Right."


63. When You're Lost


"Nick?" Carole asked from the kitchen after a couple minutes. "He wants to talk to you. Something about a stress response?" She watched him stand up and move to take the phone from her, and pushed her gently into the living room. "What?"

"We're not leaving him alone like that," Nick said, then turned his attention to the phone and left her to it.

Cautiously, she moved to sit next to the couch and held Pete's hand. Where was he, that he was lost this way? "Come back to us, hon."

Pete's only response was to continue to repeat numbers.


64. No Solid Ground


["Carole said he was laying on the couch when she went into the kitchen to start breakfast?"] Alan questioned.

Nick nodded, eyes going to where Carole was keeping Pete, though he wasn't aware of it at the moment, company. "And he hadn't moved when I joined her in the kitchen. I don't know much more here, Mr. Jenkins."

Alan chuckled suddenly, which caused Nick to blink, startled at the levity. ["You're over eighteen, Nick. You don't have to be so formal anymore. Where are Helen and Walt?"]

"Having a weekend, away from us." Nick frowned suddenly, the night before catching up to him. "Alan? We went to the movies. Pete seemed fine after, but..."

["That could be it. What was the movie?"]

Which was a good question, now that he was thinking about it, because it had been a movie about Prisoners of War. "The Deer Hunter. You know, that new one?"


65. There's Only Us


Carole looked up when Nick joined her beside the couch. "What'd he say?"

"To wait him out," Nick replied, eyes searching Pete's face for any sign of awareness. "He's done this before, according to Alan. Then, he came out of it, only to fall asleep on Mr. Finney."

Carole frowned at him. "When was that?"

"Spring of '70." Sudden silence and Nick looked at Pete again, to find him looking back with an expression that began to crumble. "Hey there. Back with us?"

"Dad," Pete gasped and Nick dragged him off the couch to join them on the floor in a huddle. "Nick, I..."

"Had a nightmare?"

"How'd you know?" His eyes shifted to Carole, and then she was hugging him, too. "Carole, I'm fin-"

"Pete," Nick interrupted. "Remember how you don't get to say you're fine when you're not? We're not fine, right along with you right now."

Pete sighed and then allowed himself to sniffle. "I dreamed that Dad was in one of those awful camps with the VC!"

They stayed on the floor like that for a long while.

 

Fantastic update! The image of Pete on the couch reciting numbers while experiencing nightmares is so unsettling, especially knowing this these are real reactions to trauma. It goes to show how strong these kids are for enduring this for any amount of time.

 

@UltramassiveUbersue It does, and it goes a long way in explaining Carole going Mother Bear later on, because she witnessed this trauma response and also kind of got the story out of Nick (via Alan Jenkins) of the night Nora died. Thank you.


A/N: Back to the Spring of '73 now, folks... (April, specifically.)


Week 13 - UDC 7


Past


Waking up the next morning was odd, for he wasn't in his own room and Nick was snoring softly in his ear. Pete frowned at that, wondering... and then it came back to him. He'd not wanted to be alone.

The snoring cut off and suddenly Nick was chuckling. "Oh, so I didn't imagine Ma and Dad letting you sleep in here with me. You okay?"

"Maybe?" Was he? That he had to question it himself was a bad thing, usually.

"I'll take a maybe," Nick told him, and Pete saw one of them pass by the open bedroom door in the hallway. "Up, or wait a minute?"

He knew Nick was trying to keep it light, to let him adjust, and really he just wanted everything to be normal. "You're not going to ask."

"No, I'm not. If you want to tell me, eventually you will."

Pete turned his head to look at him. "I hate it, you know? That things I didn't remember suddenly bug me and then I can't talk about it, because that makes it real. If that makes sense."


Present


Nick saw his father in the doorway, but didn't take his attention off of Pete. "It does make sense, Pete, and now I'm going to ask. What was it?"

Pete stared at him, then seemed to burrow deeper into the covers against him. "Right before Mom got sick, just after Grandpa died. I didn't hear all of what the officer said, but..."

"Oh." Really, now... what else could he say here? "Guess that would make you not want to talk to anyone."

"Yeah."

Walt cleared his throat, causing Pete to startle. "Sorry, kiddo. Breakfast will be ready shortly. Up and at 'em, both of you."

"Can't we just pretend it's a Saturday, Walt?"

"Nope," Walt said with a chuckle. Nick was watching him, though, and noticed a slight tick to his jaw, as if his father was concerned about something. Was it the content of Pete's flashback? Probably.


Future


As the boys ate breakfast in companionable silence, Helen watched them intently. The tenseness of the night before was gone, for the most part. She glanced at Walt, hiding behind the morning paper from them and knew that was unusual. "Any good stories in there?"

"Not really. Editorial is interesting... to a point."

Nick reached over and snatched the paper out of his hands to look at it, then handed the paper back to his father. "Sorry."

"You can ask," Walt told him and Nick grinned. "Besides, reading about current events is good for everyone, no matter how bad the news is."

"It's always bad," Pete muttered.

Walt opened the paper back up and turned a few pages to a certain section. "Oh, I don't know... Charlotte Hunter-Scott and Jaime Huntington got engaged last week. That seems like something good."

Nick paused, frowning at Pete. "That's weird. Did he mention it to you?"

Pete shook his head. "Walt, is there a picture?"

"Sure is." Walt turned it so they could see the announcement, and sure enough, it was Jaime smiling back at them.


Memories


Walt made a special trip to Social Services first thing after dropping the boys off at school and managed to catch Alan as he was parking his car. Alan blinked at him in surprise. "Hi. Where's your shadow?"

Alan smiled. "He decided to go to the base this morning, to check in, just in case he had to, so he's not MIA or AWOL, because his wife really did put him on a plane that fast. What's up?"

Walt sighed. "Can it be tomorrow that we try for an introduction? I was going to try to tell Pete that Metcalf is here, and then we had a bad night and I couldn't even begin to bring it up. Turns out, Nick was right about a memory."

Alan digested that for a minute, nodding. "Right. I'll call Sheryl and arrange for tomorrow."

"Another thing I've been wondering," Walt said as he pulled the paper out and showed the engagement announcement to Alan. "Who is this kid? The boys seem to know him."

Alan took the paper from him and studied the picture. "Oh. He's unofficially in the JROTC with them, actually, because his mother is anti-war. I think Huntington is also an honor student in Pete's math class."

"Think he'd mind coming to dinner with his fiancé?"

Alan smiled. "Well, we could ask him. Probably not."


Expectations


Jaime wasn't expecting Nick to show up at his locker after third period with a piece of paper in his hand and a really confused expression on his face. "What's up?"

Nick held the paper up. "An aide passed this to me after second period, and... it's weird. Dad was quiet for him this morning, and now we are going to dinner tomorrow night at the Tomkins house, and... you and Charlotte are invited, for some reason. Mr. Jenkins told me NOT to tell Pete yet, because he had a bad few days and... like I said, it's weird. Congratulations, by the way."

Jaime processed all of that while he put two books into his locker and pulled three out, along with his lunch. "Right. We'd love to come to dinner. And thank you. Wasn't planning on telling anyone for a while, because the wedding won't happen until I graduate." He paused. "Bad few days?"

"Was like talking to a curtain yesterday."

Jaime studied him as he closed his locker carefully. "And now?"

"Now, at least I know what it was. Is. And..." Nick took a deep breath, let it out. "Sometimes? It hurts to hear. This was one of those, and I don't even know the full content."

"But you know at least some of it," Jaime observed. "Which is better than none."

 

Week 14 - UDC 10 - In which Viper is introduced to life with Pete, but not actually Pete himself... yet.


66. Axis


In the hours that he'd taken to go out to Fort Worth Naval Air Station, the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach had only gotten worse. He'd gotten the names of the officers with whom Pete had stayed after getting pulled from Mr. Finney and Miss Lowell's care and while two of them were deployed at present, the third, which had been the final military family Pete had been placed with according to Alan, was not.

Lieutenant Carpenter had genuinely liked him, but Pete hadn't gotten on with his kids as much... and Mike got the feeling as he'd talked to the man that it had been more his kids than Pete. Frequent tussles and disagreements, was the way that Carpenter had put it, with his wife in the middle. It hadn't been prudent to keep him, not with so many apparent ongoing issues.

Would it be worse right now, if he were to take Pete to Miramar, where Duke's name was a more-known entity? It was starting to seem that way.

"Lieutenant Commander?" Carpenter asked as Viper started to walk away, and he looked back at him. "My oldest son is in his JROTC unit at the high school now, and... something about a new kid, recently. It was so sudden that he took note of Pete hanging out fairly often, consistently, with someone other than the honors students. I don't know if that helps you here."

Viper smiled slightly. "I think I've met that kid's parents yesterday, actually. And it does help. Thank you, Lieutenant." It lent a lot more depth to the three different sets of parents of the day before, too. He'd thought it was overkill, but... not in a case like this one.


67. Contour


The man who arrived at his desk that afternoon seemed a bit more settled down than the one who had set out for the base that morning, Alan observed as Mike sat down with a sigh. Then Mike was staring at something over his head and Alan followed his line of sight to... "Oh." He took the picture off the wall and handed it to him.

Mike stared at it, at the image of Pete wearing the aviator jacket that was far too big and very clearly had belonged to his wingman, and wasn't sure what to think. "When was this?"

"A month ago," Alan said calmly. "Pete hadn't seen Miss Lowell and Mr. Finney in three years, so we arranged a reunion in the open at a grocery store."

Mike glanced up at him. "Grocery store?"

Alan shrugged. "It was an idea... only, and he told me this last Friday when he was here for his weekly check-in, Nora apparently took him shopping. A lot. So I was right to arrange a reunion, and not-so-right to do it that way. I didn't stop to think it through, because Pete rarely asks for things, and I wanted to give him something normal. It both did and did not work." He tapped the image of one of the boys, the shorter one not holding a toddler. "You met Bart's parents yesterday, and you'll be meeting Nick tomorrow. Also Nicky and Maggie."

Mike paused. "Nicky and Maggie?"

Alan pointed to one of the toddlers. "You saw Nicky yesterday, when Noah got Frank to bring him into the conference room. Remember Helen's concern about Colic? Nicky had it."

Mike returned his attention to the picture and suddenly realized he'd walked into a situation with multiple facets.


68. Meridian


"Weekly check-in? Isn't that excessive?"

"What would you do in the instance where a kid is emotionally closed off for his own emotional safety, in a situation that can change on a dime, and he's with a foster family that isn't perfect, Mike? The Bradshaws are good for him, but I haven't stepped him down to once a month yet because Pete expects weekly. He needs the routine right now." Alan paused. "Plus, we never know if it's going to be a Uniform Day Nap Attack or not. Haven't had one of those since he's been with the Bradshaws."

Nap attacks? "I'm going to need you to explain that one. Why would he be-"

Alan sighed. "You know how cadets in both the ROTC and the JROTC can get downgraded based on uniform inspections? Pete was being hyper vigilant about his surroundings in order NOT to get downgraded after the third fight he'd been unable to avoid on Uniform Day. I found out by asking Advisor Norling about it, because Pete wouldn't tell me."

"And the hyper vigilance led to nap attacks?"

"Exactly. Also, he's twelve."

All of this went a long way in explaining the three couples from yesterday and certain reactions to his presence.


69. Nadir


"What foster family was he with that had you checking on him like clockwork?"

"Keep asking questions like that and I might make you an honorary Social Worker," Alan said as he stood and moved to open his file cabinet. He rooted through the top drawer for a minute, and then closed the drawer and handed a file to him. "The Tathams. Nice older couple with no kids in the house, because theirs are grown. A bit distant, and a lack of concern regarding first aide, but overall they were good for him. To a point."

Mike tried to hand the file back to him and Alan shook his head. "You didn't need to show me their file-"

"You asked," Alan explained, interrupting him. "...and you care."

Mike was starting to wonder if Alan had spoken to Officer Santos or not. "A police officer said the same thing yesterday at the police station."

"And you also just found out that a friend died, Mike. None of this is easy."

No, none of it was. Certainly not that detail.


70. Zenith


Twenty minutes into Mike arriving back at Social Services, one of Alan's co-workers passed him a note that caused Alan to chuckle. "I wouldn't have been surprised if Nick had managed to come here instead of calling, Frank. Even in the middle of a school day."

Frank shrugged. "I talked him out of it and told him to ask his father later." He looked at Mike with a smile. "You'll find out when you meet him, but that kid? Protective, curious, tolerant, and probably adopted your godson within five minutes of meeting him."

"That so?" Mike set the folder down on Alan's desk and motioned for the note, which Alan handed over with a barely concealed smile. He read it, then chuckled himself. "I'm going to assume you didn't write what he actually said."

"No, I did not." Frank shrugged. "Especially considering that he slipped even deeper into the Tennessean Twang and I barely understood until I managed to calm him down."

The note: What are you all doing that has me tip-toeing around Pete like he's made of glass and inviting Jaime and his girlfriend/fiancé to dinner at Bart's house? If I don't get an explanation, I'm actually telling Pete, regardless of what kind of week we're having!

Mike glanced at Alan. "What kind of week are they having?"

"From talking to Walt this morning? I think Pete had a flashback involving Nora, but I won't know about what, exactly, until I talk to him tomorrow." Alan looked up at Frank, who was frowning. "Or maybe today?"

"Probably would be better if you did," Frank mused.

 

Another two excellent sets!

You portray very effectively how hard it is for Pete to keep getting bounced between households while he's trying to process trauma. Uniform Day is totally inappropriate for him; he doesn't need authority figures nitpicking minor details while he's struggling for a sense of stability. He wants to be connected with his father, but the rigour of cadets isn't the best thing for him right now.

I've never thought about how much of a privilege it was for me growing up to know exactly who would take care of me if my parents had died. Even in a culture of looking after one's teammates, Norah didn't have enough support, and neither does Pete.

I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

@UltramassiveUbersue Thank you!!!! And yep: you do not know how priviledged you are until you've got a kid that had NONE of that stability until a month ago and he STILL sort of feels like a guest.
My thought last set: This is very odd way to explain behavior that Viper's going to have twelve years from now... AND Alan isn't telling him everything, because he doesn't trust him completely. (And then I laughed at the thought of Viper meeting Lydia Tatham. Oh the awkwardness. No, I'm not doing that to him, tho I was sorely tempted...)
Re: Uniform Day... Norling was not going to do Uniform Inspection for Pete, and he's STILL not doing it completely (because of his age and the known trauma, and the uniforms in question are actually too big), but Pete wanted him to, because otherwise he felt singled out in a situation that isn't normal. So he is getting an inspection, but it's more "here's what's wrong and how to fix it" and less what it actually seems like.


Bonus - Week 14 - UDC 10 - Wherein Alan makes Pete at least write about it, weather he wants to or not...


Vertex


When Alan pulled up to the Bradshaw residence, Walt was standing by his car in the driveway, talking to Nick with a serious expression on his face. He couldn't see Nick's face, but he could guess from the body language as well as the phone call that Frank had fielded earlier. "Wait here." Mike simply nodded, and Alan got out, taking a tablet and a pen with him.

He noticed Helen watching from the front door and motioned to her where the other one was, and she motioned inside, pantomiming homework. Alan nodded and waited for Walt to look up. It took a few minutes, and Walt dragging Nick into a hug, and then he was frowning over Nick's shoulder at him. "Alan's here, Nick."

Nick seemed to freeze, and then he spun in Walt's grasp. "Oh. Hi. Dad was just explaining... and I'm sorry for calling like that, just..."

"You don't have to explain," Alan told him, then motioned to the car. "Look after Mike while I go in there and get Pete to write down whatever this flashback was, hmmm? He's had a weird day or so getting his head around all of this, and Nora was a friend."

Nick frowned, then looked beyond him at the car and it's passenger. "So..."

"That would be Viper," Walt explained. "You here to evaluate Pete before we actually do dinner tomorrow?"

"That I am." Alan nudged Nick on the shoulder as he passed him. "Good job, by the way."

"For what?"

"Getting my attention in the middle of all this." Alan nodded back at the car. "That guy? Pretty sure Walt told you, but it's a lot to take in."

Nick nodded slowly. "Grand gestures, remember? If I don't get to do it, neither do you without a really good explanation."

Alan nodded. "Thank you. How's he doing today?"

Nick glanced back toward the house. "Today? Closer to normal for him, less curtain-like. He mentioned an officer talking to his mother, Mr. Jenkins, even if he doesn't admit to remembering all of what was said."

"I can work with less curtain-like, and I wouldn't expect him to."


Parallax


Someone joined him at the table and Pete looked up to find Alan sitting there instead of Nick. He stared at him for a long moment, frowning. "This is Thursday."

Alan nodded. "That, it is. Helen, would you join us?" She did, pulling one of the other chairs closer and sitting down. "Now... I know this is odd and breaks routine, Pete, but there won't be time tomorrow, so we're going to do your standing appointment right now instead. All right?"

Pete continued to frown. "Sure. I'm fin-"

"Are you?" Alan interrupted, eyes glinting in a such a way that caused Pete to blink as he laid the notepad down and took the textbooks away, setting them aside. "You know how this works."

Pete stared at the note pad, then shoved it back at him. "No. I don't want to write about it, and I don't want to talk about it."

"Alan?" Helen asked. "Does he..." She paused when he raised a hand to silence her without breaking eye contact.

"Talking about things like this makes it real," Alan explained, his tone softened slightly. "And yes, he does need to, because there is a path to wellness and getting things into the light and out in the open is the way here, even if it hurts in the telling. So... what happened back there, Pete?" He slid the notepad back. "Tell the notepad."


Syzygy


Helen hadn't expected Pete to comply after refusing once, but once he started writing, he didn't stop for fifteen minutes of total silence. She wanted to reach out, to hand him a Kleenex for the tears he was shedding, but Alan's stony expression stopped her, so she checked on Walt and Nick out at the curb, talking to a... was that Mike? The confusion she felt must have shown, for Alan got her attention quietly and motioned to Pete. She blinked, suddenly realizing that he was trying for a certain outcome, prepared for anything.

"Here," Pete suddenly said, sliding the notepad back over. "Mom took it hard, and two or three days later, she was in the hospital. I think. I could be remembering that wrong."

Alan slid the notepad over to her and the question of what she'd taken hard was answered. Pete had overheard the officer telling his mother the official story, that his father had abandoned them with a stolen F-4. "Pete?"

"I don't believe it," Pete said immediately. "Didn't know what the words meant then, but... do we have to talk about it?"

"No," Alan told him after a minute of reading. "This was enough. You feel up to an eval?"

"No."

"Going to do one anyway."

As she listened to Alan ask a bunch of standard questions, she marveled at how the routine of it seemed to settle the boy down after letting so much emotion out on paper. Maybe that was the point of it, to gauge how he was on the day and do exactly that...

 

A/N: So the thing I'm doing here? I have to cling to canon where Pete had no idea that Viper knows THINGS, and for that matter didn't even realize the man was his father's wingman. Also, Alan Jenkins probably did not need another reason not to trust the Navy where Pete is concerned...


Week 14 - UDC 8


66. Talk


His questions finished, Alan sat back and simply looked at Pete for a silent minute, taking in the emotional tiredness that he'd caused to make him start processing. He hated doing it, in an effort to help Pete process through things he should never have had to, that he was so young for things like this, that he hadn't even started putting the pieces together yet to see the whole picture. "I have one more question, because it came up when Walt told me about going through the pictures and talking about them."

"Okay..." Pete was looking at him funny, trying to figure him out, and Alan didn't blame him right now. Not at all.

"Would you know people from your father's squadron on sight, if you saw them?"

Pete glanced at Helen, bewildered, then shrugged. "I've been trying, but... no. I know the officer wasn't one, though. He wasn't wearing aviator wings. All I've been able to remember is call signs, not faces."

Alan nodded in acceptance, but didn't dare look at Helen to see what her reaction was. "All right, then. Nick reminded me earlier about grand gestures, so I'm telling you now, rather than springing it on you tomorrow all of the sudden and surprising you, Pete. Dinner party tomorrow night at the Tomkins house. Is that okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"You're the one who broke his arm last time you were there, you tell me." At that, Helen sniffed suddenly and he did look at her to find she was fighting back a laugh and failing.

Pete reached out to her, for her hand, and she quickly took it, then rolled his eyes tiredly. "I did not hate it there, Mr. Jenkins. I hated Bart's temper."

"But not Bart himself."

"No."

Alan nodded again. "So you'd be fine with a dinner party that will also involve toddlers."

"Yes." Pete frowned, that sentence catching up to him. "Toddlers?"

"Nicky and Maggie," Alan elaborated and Pete answered with a grin, albeit a tired one. "Ah. Are you sure you want to be a fighter pilot? I could easily see you operating a day care."


67. Silence


In the silence of the kitchen, her own laughter that she couldn't hold back at Alan's very sober humor that shouldn't have been funny was loud in her own ears and both of them smiled. "Oh, Alan! Really? A day care?"

"Sure. What do you think, Pete? Kids around ALL the time? Something to think about, isn't it?"

"I guess." Pete squeezed her hand and Helen sobered. "Sorry?"

"For what?"

"Being avoidant. Clingy. You know... when I should have talked about it."

Helen tapped the notepad that was still on the table. "This? Hard, Pete. That you were both of those things? I'd expect that. I expect nightmares and you needing to brood and process through it all. And we're talking about it now, even if Alan had to make you write it out when it's the last thing you wanted." His stomach rumbled and he blushed. "I expect that, too. Hungry?"

"Starved."

"Because working through things, good or bad, is hard work. It will never not be hard." She looked at the note pad, considering... "And from now on, we'll be keeping a notepad handy just for you to write things down that are bothering you. By the couch and in your room. Understood?"

"I think so?"

She nodded and handed Alan's pad to him, along with the pen. "Good idea?"

Alan nodded. "Very good. Composition books are also good for that."

"Are you and Mike staying for dinner?" She watched as Pete turned and looked out the window, as if he'd just realized Nick and Walt hadn't come inside.

"No," Alan said slowly as Pete turned back around with an odd expression on his face, for he knew that Alan usually came alone. "Sonia expects us, and you'll meet him tomorrow, Pete."


68. Smile


"Why'd he come with you?"

"Because he's from out of town and is staying with us for the week," Alan explained calmly. If Pete hadn't recognized that man out there, then he wasn't going to hash into it right then. Like he'd said: call signs, not faces. "This wasn't planned, to do your standing appointment today instead of tomorrow."

"Oh." Pete's stomach protested again and Helen chuckled. "Eh..."

"Guess I should finish making dinner, hmmm? Set the table, Pete." She waited, then marched Alan to the door. "Why aren't you telling him right now?"

Alan glanced back at Pete, getting plates out of the cupboard. "Because one hard thing at a time here, and he didn't recognize him from a distance. Granted, it's getting dark out there, but still."

Helen stared at him, then nodded. "And it'd be better if he got to know him as a person first, wouldn't it?"

"It would." Pete looked up right then and Alan smiled. "You be good."

"Always try to, Mr. Jenkins."


69. Laugh


When Alan came back outside, he smiled tightly at Nick. "Go help Pete set the table, kid." Nick nodded and started to go. "And Nick? Eyes open."

"Okay," Nick replied and Alan watched him go with a sigh before looking at Walt.

Walt frowned. "Was it that bad?"

"That depends on your definition," Alan said as he handed the notepad to Mike. "Is it standard operating procedure for the Navy to tell dependents that their husband and father went AWOL with a plane, when that was not, in fact, the case? Pete said he didn't recognize the officer and the man was not wearing aviator wings."

Mike squinted in the twilight to read the handwriting, half in cursive and half not, and then he was shaking his head. "No, it isn't. Not even in a case like this one."

"Thought so." Alan looked at Walt again. "This is why I'm being so cautious, Walt. I've been trying to get Pete to process, and with your family it's possible and he is, finally, a bit at a time."


70. Cry


"Bricks in a wall," Walt said after a moment, startling himself. "And emotional safety."

"Exactly that." Alan's gaze shifted to Mike, who was still staring at the notepad, lips curled in evident disgust. "And Mike? We're going to start with your name first, not your call sign, tomorrow. Person to person first, no matter what the history is."

"I want to walk in there and tell him what actually happened," Mike grumbled, the venom in his voice causing Walt to blink, startled ever so slightly.

Alan shook his head and nudged Walt. "Go on."

"You're sure?"

"As sure as I am that Pete might one day make a wonderful babysitter, if he so chose. After all, Nick is a terrific role model." Walt paused, wondering where that had come from, and followed his son inside. Then Alan looked at Mike again. "And there's no need, right now. He doesn't believe the official report."

"But still-"

They had a very long talk on the drive to Alan's home.

 

A/N: My bad, folks. That was actually UDC 8 last set and not UDC 7. (Ack, and I'll be complaining about having to stick to that canon plot element that I do not like for ages. If it were up to me, we'd be telling him right the heck now. It's not, and here we are.) And now back to our regular programming where we are hosting the spirit of Indiana Jones, if not actually his character...


Week 14 - UDC 9


66. Fedora


He entered the house to find Pete searching a drawer for matching napkins while fighting off a yawn, and Nick couldn't say he was surprised by that. "Good or bad?"

"Huh?" Pete blinked up at him, then shrugged and continued looking at the napkins. "That's like asking if there's a good time to embrace a cactus. Red or blue?"

Nick smiled and moved to also look in the drawer. "We've got napkins with ducks on them. Use those."

"Ducks?" Pete considered them as he pulled out the aforementioned white and yellow napkins. "Ducks it is. Why do you even have duck napkins?"

"Because they're fun," Helen said from the stove. "And it's 'we', Pete. We."

"Your house, Mrs. Bradshaw."

"Which you also live in," she reminded him, causing Nick to look at her oddly. "You're not a guest. You live here." She glanced over and smiled. "Understood?"

Pete nodded, even though he still did not look entirely convinced.


67. Whip


After dinner and clearing the table again, Pete was paging his way through the math puzzle packet tiredly when Walt looked over his shoulder. Then he pointed out two things and Pete smiled up at him. "Wasn't math a while ago for you?"

"Some things you never forget. What'd he do, give you an advanced problem on purpose?"

"By request," Nick explained. "...and I don't think Karen was actually going to, and then Pete sassed her into actually asking their teacher for it."

"She shouldn't have said it if she wasn't going to," Pete said through a yawn. "I love complicated problems and she knows it."

"Right." Walt sat down and gestured for the packet, taking in that Pete was yawning an awful lot. "That's enough. Bed with you."

"Don't wanna."

"Your other homework done?"

"Yes."

Walt held up the packet. "Then this can wait. Bed, Pete."


68. Satchel


Pete tried to take the packet back, only to stop when Walt glared at him. "All right. Book?"

"Get changed and we'll meet you there." Walt watched him go, then smirked at Nick. "Don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"Dad," Nick drawled jokingly. "Really?"

Walt shrugged. "We're giving him normality."

"Do I get to pick the book?"

"Go get changed and find one. Don't forget to brush your teeth, either."

From her seat in the living room where she was knitting, Helen smiled at him. "Did you ever think we'd take in a stray that loves being read to?"

Come to think of it, he hadn't.


69. Leather


Walt passed by Nick's room as he was getting dressed and looked in. "Pack a change of clothes."

Nick paused in buttoning his shirt. "Why?"

"Toddlers later, Nick."

Nick nodded and continued getting dressed. "Will do, Dad."

"Pete?"

"Already doing it!" Pete called cheerfully.

Nick froze momentarily at that, head cocked to one side. "Is he actually cheerful or did I just imagine it?"

"Oh, I think he actually is. Who knew that we could tell him dinner with toddlers and he'd be happy as a clam?"


70. Tweed


Over breakfast, Nick couldn't help but study the ribbons that Pete had on his uniform shirt with distracted interest. He didn't have many, but the ones he did have... academic award, community service, rifle team, drill team, color guard, basic leadership training, orienteering, aptitude... "You don't have a conduct ribbon."

Pete shrugged. "I kept getting into fights and Norling heard about it. He told me to work on physical fitness, then we'd see about conduct."

So it was a good thing, after all, that he'd gotten Pete into weight lifting...

"Why?"

"No reason. Was just studying your ribbons." That, and the cereal box had been read three times already.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

A/N: That Rifle Team ribbon... Maverick eventually has not one, but TWO medals for marksmanship: Navy Expert Rifleman Medal and Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal (It had to start somewhere, right?)

 

Wonderful update! I think it's so cute how Pete has to be told to stop doing math and go to bed!

 

as with all your drabbles, great insight in Pete's history

 

@UltramassiveUbersue ...sticking to SOMETHING normal in the middle of so many not-normal things, you know? Thank you.

@earlybird-obi-wan ...there's hilarity here, because he never does get a conduct medal. Meritorious Service, yes, but not one for good conduct. Thank you.


Week 15 - UDC 10


71. Hush-hush


He's sitting on the front porch steps after his tutor has left, puzzling his way through a chapter in a text book when a car pulls up. Puzzled, Bart looks up to find a family of redheads getting out of a car, a man, a woman, and... is that two toddlers? Then he realizes that he knows them, from the grocery store a month ago. The door opens behind him and he hears his mother chuckle at the sight. "Mom?"

"I told you, remember? We're hosting dinner tonight."

Bart blinked at that, suddenly realizing what Nick had meant by the 'see you later' earlier in the day. "Oh."

"Bart?"

"Yeah?"

"Textbook." He handed it up to her and then she smiled when Noah reached them and let one of the twins down.

"You remember Bart, right Nicky?" Noah smiled as his son greeted Bart enthusiastically and Bart stared up at him with wide eyes before turning his attention to the two-year-old. "He's the easy one. It's Maggie you have to work on getting to know."


72. Topsy-turvy


Next to arrive was actually not someone he'd have expected and Jaime lifted Nicky smoothly out of Bart's lap with practiced ease. "How-"

"Younger siblings," Jaime told him and said hello to Nicky with a smile. "Where are his parents?"

"Inside. What is going on here?" Bart looked from Jaime to the girl he'd shown up with, watching them with small smile.

Jaime shrugged. "Don't know enough to tell you. Char, you've not met Bart before, right?"

"Wasn't time a month ago," she told him, nodding to Bart. "You know my sisters, Karen and Jennifer."

Bart nodded, and then realized she was holding a paper shopping bag in one hand. "What's in that?"

"Food," Char explained. "Mind if I go inside and give it to your mother?" At a shake of his head, she did so, stepping around him and going inside.

Jaime chuckled at Bart's puzzled expression. "I told her mother it was a sudden dinner party, and her parents made a casserole and a desert for us to bring."


73. Fuddy-duddy


In the kitchen, Sheryl and Chelsea were chatting when Sheryl noticed the girl with the bag enter, and she frowned. "And you are...?"

The girl smiled. "Here with food, ma'am. Where do you want it?"

"On the counter is fine, miss." Sheryl watched her, frowning. "Who are you in this situation?"

"Pete was in my summer Trig class," she explained as she took a covered casserole dish out, along with a cake container. "At TCC, and Jaime goes to school with him."

Chelsea smiled at that. "You're the recently engaged couple that Alan told me about yesterday. Charlotte?"

"Yes." Charlotte shook her head in annoyance. "His mother was so excited, you know? She loves weddings and just had to announce it to the world, even if we're waiting until after Jaime graduates to start planning."

"Sounds like a mother who loves her son and you," Noah said, entering the kitchen from the living room, with Dean behind him.

"They okay out there?" Chelsea asked and Noah nodded.

"So far."


74. Wishy-washy


He'd joined Bart in sitting on the front steps when another car pulled up, and that was when Jaime frowned over the top of Nicky's head while he played with Bart's fingers. What was their alternate JROTC advisor doing here, with an unfamiliar man that had military bearing in tow? "Okay, this is just getting weirder."

"Both my parents have been acting odd since Wednesday," Bart said quietly. "Figures that Jenkins would be involved somehow."

Jaime's attention shifted to the unfamiliar man, in civvies, sporting a mustache and appearing more weary of things than he'd ever recalled seeing from anyone else. "Right."

"Clothes different," Nicky said suddenly. "Not brown."

Ah, so this was possibly someone from the military. "Not brown, huh? Interesting."

When they reached the front porch, Alan gestured for Nicky wordlessly and Jaime handed him up. "You remember Mike, don't you? From the other day?" Nicky nodded, but didn't reach out. Alan smiled. "He's had an interesting day or so, kiddo. Might need a hug."

"Hug?" Nicky asked, tone interested.

"Yes, Nicky. A hug." At that, Nicky finally did reach out, almost lunging from Alan's arms and Mike caught him with a surprised expression on his face while the toddler did exactly that. "There you go." He glanced down at them and mouthed 'khakis.' Jaime wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it.


75. Pitter-patter


Alone on the front steps again, Bart glanced at Jaime. "I'm going to guess that that guy..."

"No guesses about it," Jaime told him as they watched another car pull up and the Bradshaws and Pete got out. He frowned, for Pete was staring at the house with an unreadable expression for a minute before shaking his head closing the car door. "Bart?"

"What?"

"Has he been back here since November?"

Bart shook his head and stood up, Jaime joining him shortly after. "No."

When they got close enough, Walt nodded to Jaime. "Glad you could come. Congratulations?"

Jaime nodded back. "Thank you. It's a while off, though, sir." Beside him, Bart suddenly squeaked in surprise and he glanced over...

"Pete, why are you hugging me?"

The answer took a minute or so. "I got you grounded. For months."

Bart looked up at Helen and Walt, nodded inside. "Can we have a minute?"

Helen smiled. "Certainly. Inside, Walt. The boys need to work through this one."

Bart waited, made eye contact with Nick, then pried Pete away enough to make eye contact with him. "I was grounded for my own behavior. Never think I wasn't."

"Because of me."

"No, because of how I acted with you. There's a difference, understood?" Bart reached and tapped the MIA bracelet. "This was one reason. Breaking your arm, no matter how it happened, was another. They were right to ground me." Pete didn't seem convinced. "Guys? Hug."

"You sure?" Nick asked.

"Yep."

From the door, Sheryl and Helen watched as Nick and Jaime joined them in a hug, with Pete in the middle of it.

 

Bonus - Week 15 - UDC 10


Dilly-dally


"What's going on out there?"

Helen glanced back at Alan with a very maternal smile. "Good things. Go sit down with the menfolk and the toddlers and Charlotte in the living room."

"Helen..."

"Go, Alan." She watched him go and then glanced at Sheryl. "Higher strung than usual."

"Well, it's been an interesting few days since Wednesday," Sheryl replied, then stepped outside. "Boys?"

"We're fine, Mom," Bart told her as the hug broke up. He nudged Pete in the shoulder. "You good?"

Pete nodded. "Getting there."

"Glad to hear it. No more blaming my getting grounded since November on yourself."

"Okay."

Sheryl stared at Pete, incredulous. "How long were you blaming yourself for Bart's behavioral adjustment grounding?"

"A month."


Creepy-crawly


Nick stayed back momentarily while Sheryl ushered both Pete and Bart into the house, Jaime watching him silently as he looked around the porch and then tested the steps leading up to it. "Looking for something?"

"At," Nick told him as he climbed up to the porch and then looked around the yard and the neighborhood. "Pete said he forgot there were steps when Bart got mad."

Jaime stared up at him. "Oh."

"Point of reference for what he meant, you know?" Nick glanced at him. "Come on."

With a last, suspicious look at the steps in question, Jaime followed him inside. He could imagine it, as he'd lived through the aftermath of it the following week. It was understandable, also, that Pete might have blamed himself in the middle of it all.


Hoity-toity


She'd been chatting with Mr. Finney and Miss Lowell with their daughter in her lap when two men entered the living room with another toddler and Mr. Finney laughed suddenly. "So I was right after all. It was the khakis that threw him off!"

Charlotte frowned at him as she watched the little boy smile back at them and then shifted her attention to the man holding him. Khakis? As in service khakis? "Right. Navy or Air Force?" At his responding frown, she shrugged. "My step-father is Air Force."

"Navy," the man answered, then looked at Mr. Finney. "You want your son back?"

Mr. Finney smiled good-naturedly. "Nicky, do you want to stay with Mike?"

"Yes!"

"All right, then." Mr. Finney glanced at her. "Looks like he needs a toddler in his arms right now, doesn't he?"

Charlotte allowed herself to chuckle. "It would seem so. Oh, and before I forget, because I was going to give something to Jaime or one of my sisters to give to Pete..." She pulled an envelope out of an inside pocket in her blazer and handed it to Miss Lowell. "My mother had these and I got her to make copies when I realized we knew the kid they were for."

Miss Lowell took it and opened the envelope to look through what was in it and then she stood and gestured for Nicky. "Come on, Nickster. Mike needs to look at something. These are from early July of '68, right Charlotte?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Charlotte smiled at Mr. Jenkins, who was looking at her funny. "The nurses on MedSurg arranged a small party because Mrs. Mitchell wanted to see her son on his birthday."

Mr. Jenkins nodded, watching with a slight smile while Miss Lowell traded envelope for toddler. "Thank you for getting your mother to make copies, then."

 

Lovely updates! Pete is such a sweet kid, and it's wonderful to see him and Bart forgive each other and have a good talk about what happened. It's nice to see how communication enables Pete to forgive himself.

 

@UltramassiveUbersue They so needed to talk informally. Not that they hadn't been talking, because they go to the same school, just... there's a difference between seeing someone all the time, and actually getting to talk for real. At the grocery store, I think Bart wanted to have this conversation, but Pete was too worked up and emotionally tired to start it. If that makes sense. Thank you.


A/N: It occurred to me that this takes place in '73, which is WAY before HIPAA...


Week 15 - UDC 1


71. indifferent


The scene in the living room wasn't something he was expecting as he stepped inside to find the girl from the engagement announcement holding Maggie on her lap while watching Mike and Alan look through... were those pictures? Walt frowned at the sheer emotion on Mike's face. "What are those of?"

"A birthday party," Chelsea told him without looking up. "I'd forgotten just how sick Nora was until I saw those."

Walt stepped over to the two looking through pictures and tapped Mike on the shoulder. The man looked up at him and Walt nodded toward the door. "Composure. You're going to need it."

Mike nodded and quickly put the pictures back in their envelope. Then he stared at it. "Is your mother on shift tomorrow?"

"On shift tonight, actually. Since my older brother got drafted into the Marines, she's been doing a lot more overnight shifts." Charlotte stared at him as he blinked, startled at that piece of information. "Why?"

"I have questions."

She smiled and moved to sit on his other side, still holding Maggie, who was watching them and not sure what to think. "When she made a scene a month ago, I asked her about how she knew Pete and... she told me some of it. Not everything, because by the time I got around to asking, she'd gotten some good, solid sleep, but enough to understand what she'd meant by 'so, so sick.'" Mike frowned at that. "Also, who are you in this situation? As far as I know from everything I've heard, the Navy didn't care about Pete or his mother."

Mike winced. "His father was my wingman. Pete is my Godson. I didn't know until this week that she'd passed."

"And Pete doesn't know who Mike is to him right now," Mr. Jenkins spoke up, drawing Charlotte's attention. "He remembers call signs, not faces, and it's been a long time. And before you ask why we're not telling him unless he remembers first: it's been a bad week for him."

Charlotte nodded. "Karen told me that he did seem very withdrawn for a couple days." She paused and glanced at Walt, then looked at Noah, and then finally Chelsea. "Oh, wait... Mike, did they tell you about the base tour?"

"We didn't," Noah informed her quietly, grinning. "Pete can do that. In fact, get him talking about F-14's, he probably won't stop. How do you know about it?"

"My step-father led the tour and my fiancé was there." She let that sink in and turned her attention back to Mike with a smile. "Ask away, sir. If I can answer it, I'll do my best to do so."


72. exhausted


Walt watched Alan get up and go to the door where Helen and Sheryl were supervising and wondered how the man wasn't exhausted from all of this. Or maybe he was, and he was just used to it, because he worked with children all the time. A tap on his arm, and he looked at Mike to find that he was handing the envelope to him. Walt took it, frowning at him.

"For Pete," Mike explained, and then turned his attention to Charlotte and started in on asking her pointed questions which she answered in kind to the best of her knowledge.

Walt frowned at the envelope in his hand and looked at Chelsea again. "What do you think?"

"Good reminder of a bad time," Chelsea said carefully, eyes narrowing at just how much Charlotte actually did know. She leaned closer to Noah. "I just realized that... oh."

"What?"

"It's April." She bent and looked at Nicky, who laughed at her. "I know someone who is going to need a hug, Nicky."

"Another?"

"Yes, another. A big hug, especially from you. Think you can do that?" He nodded and she smiled, set him down on the floor. "Go wait by the door. Pete needs a hug, Nicky."

Walt wondered what it being April had to do with Pete needing a hug as he watched Nicky do just that, go to the door and wait behind Sheryl.


73. hopeful


Sheryl ushered both boys inside, only to stop at seeing Nicky waiting. She frowned at how hopeful he seemed, even for a two-year-old. "Um..."

Pete was less confused and immediately picked Nicky up, smiling at him. "Hey there."

"Momma said you need hug."

Pete blinked at that, then hugged him back. "Yeah? Did she say why?"

"It April."

"What does it-" Bart started to say, only to stop when a hand landed on his shoulder.

Pete looked from Nicky to Chelsea, who was watching them with shiny eyes, and knew immediately. He'd forgotten, in the scheme of things, and maybe it wasn't exactly the day... "What are the chances that the baby would be kicking, too?"

Chelsea laughed at that, though it sounded watery. "In a couple weeks? Pretty good. Just little flutters right now."

Beyond her, the man from yesterday was talking quietly to Charlotte, who had Maggie on her lap, and Pete grinned when Maggie started squirming enough that the older girl put her down. Maggie moved to get Chelsea's attention, then pointed at him. "Hug too?"

Chelsea nodded. "Yes, Mags. Hug, too. Go on."

Pete ended up on the receiving end of a double hug.


74. relaxed


This was still confusing as Bart watched Pete being hugged by the two red-headed toddlers, and he looked up at his mother. She was smiling, so obviously she understood, but... "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"No one has explained who the toddlers are in all of this, not since Dad and I were at the store a month ago."

"Family," Pete told him simply, smiling in such a way that caused Bart to pause and really look at him. Had he smiled like that at all, since being introduced by Mr. Jenkins, back in October? "And until a month ago, I hadn't seen them since July of '70."

"And that was a bad day," Noah said suddenly. "Harry had really bad timing." Bart looked away from Pete and the twins, to find that the man was anything but relaxed, and decided not to ask who Harry was. "That, however, was then. This is now, and it's better now."

"It is," Nick agreed from behind them. A rumbling sounded and Nick laughed. "Pete, we really have to work on that."

"This is a dinner party with food, right?" Pete laughed when Nicky looked at him with wide eyes. "Yes, that was me."

"Loud," Nicky told him sincerely, then hugged him again.


75. restless


Mike glanced at Walt, who was shaking his head in amusement. "What's so funny?"

"That kid over there? Still not telling us when he's famished."

"Still?"

Walt nodded. "Still, Mike."

The bags of fruit, Mike realized, suddenly remembering what Helen had said two days ago. Not the tall one, going through growth spurts. How many facets did this situation have, if there was a kid in the middle of it who had a habit of not telling people he was hungry? "Oh."

 

A/N: Flashback time. Flashback to where? Late June of '68.


Week 15 - UDC 4 - Late June of '68... with the Hunter-Whittington Clan...


71. Restrained


He'd wanted to surprise her, to bring dinner to her because she was on overnights again, and wasn't disappointed when she didn't even look up from the chart she was writing in at the nurse's station. "Jane?"

"Just a sec," she told him, still not looking up. "Almost done."

"We're here to bring you dinner," his step-son told her with that bored tone that always got her attention and sure enough, she looked up at them, startled. "Long couple hours?"

"Hi." Jane studied Ryan and then shifted her attention to him with an amused frown. "Did you leave Charlotte to babysit?"

Aaron shrugged. "She's twelve now, Jane. One would think she'd be fine for an hour or so." A voice not speaking English sounded from... was that coming from the desk? "Are you listening to a language tape, recorded by a child?"

She shook her head as she set the pen down and pushed out a little, looking down speculatively. Then she beckoned him to join her and he rounded the desk to find a little boy, maybe seven years old, possibly younger, sleeping at her feet. "When his grandfather was here for treatment and then hospice care, he was learning German from him."

Aaron stared, then nudged her shoulder. "And why is a kid sleeping at your feet on the floor?"

Jane winced. "As far as I know, his father is deployed. As for his mother..." She motioned down the hall. "She's admitted. He's with us because it's here or we let Social Services take him and he's got no other family in the area. He knows us, so..."


72. Controlled


Aaron glanced down the hall with a frown. Admitted AND no other family? "Jane?"

"Hmmm?" Before he could say anything else, a pained whine escaped the kid, startling them both, and Jane reached down. She shook him awake and then pulled him into her arms. "Come on, Pete. Wake up for me."

"Momma?"

The panic and the emotion as Jane held him struck a chord and Aaron nodded to himself. "We'll take him home for the night. Ry? Break room fridge." He watched the boy go and do as he was told, then really looked at the little one, who was staring back at him in confusion. "Hi there. Pete, is it?"

"Uh-huh," Pete answered, tears free-flowing down his cheeks. "Wanna see Momma, Jane."

"Can't do that," Jane told him carefully. "Not until the doctors say we can. This is my husband Aaron."

"Hi."

Aaron gently lifted him out of Jane's arms carefully, tried to smile. "Jane, why don't you go tell his mother that I'm taking him home, okay? If she's awake, that is. I know you can't break protocol, but..." Jane stood up and disappeared quickly down the hall, and he turned his attention back to Pete. "Do you have anyone, other than your mother?"

Pete shook his head. "Dad's... MIA? I think that's what they said? And neighbors."


73. Defined


That wasn't something he'd expected to hear tonight and Aaron couldn't help but stare at him for a moment too long. "MIA? Oh, kid..."

"Dad?" Ryan asked, and Aaron jumped. "Sorry."

"No, Ry. Don't be sorry."

Pete looked at him funny, then peered at Ryan suspiciously. "Where'd you come from?"

"The break room," Ryan told him humorously. "You were just waking up when Dad told me to put Mom's dinner in the fridge."

"Oh."

A faint shout from the opposite direction to where Jane had gone sounded and the three of them froze before Aaron chuckled. "Guess you were right, Ry. Busy couple of hours. That sounded like it was from L&D."

"Explains where the other three nurses are, too," Ryan observed. "Aside from doing rounds."


74. Resolved


They saw her coming back and Aaron smiled. "Well?"

Jane paused as she rounded the desk, then shrugged and handed him a piece of paper that had a phone number written on it. "That's the phone number for the neighbors, and Mrs. Mitchell didn't realize he was still here. Take him home, then call them in the morning." She eyed Pete, then nodded. "We should have clothes that fit him for tonight."

Aaron nodded. "There, kiddo. You see. Your mother knows where you'll be."

"Still want to see her."

"And I," Jane told him sincerely, "...would love nothing more than to let you into her room, Pete. I can't, but if I could, you'd be in there with her. As tired and sick as she is, she also wants to see you."

"Ryan?"

"Yeah?" He blinked when he suddenly had an armful of seven-year-old. "Um... hi?"

"Take him to the cafeteria and wait for me."

Ryan frowned at him, then looked at his mother, and she nodded. "Right."

Aaron watched them go, then looked at Jane seriously. "Did you know his father was MIA?"

Jane shook her head. "No. That must have happened recently."

"And his mother? How is she really?" For that matter, why was she here instead of the regular MedSurg floor?

"Honestly? We'll know when the antibiotics really start working, Aaron. Until then, it's touch and go and because of the infection protocol, I can't let her son in."

That didn't answer all of his questions, but it would have to do.


75. Unlimited


In the morning, after an interesting night where his oldest daughter had taken it upon herself to look after their visitor with the help of the next youngest and Ryan, Aaron called the number Jane had given to him from Mrs. Mitchell. Within twenty minutes, there was a red-headed woman at their door, asking after Pete. Aaron stared at her. "And you would be Miss Lowell?"

She smiled genuinely as she stepped inside. "I would. Now where is the troublemaker?"

Oh, he liked her already. "In the living room, being entertained."

Miss Lowell followed him and he shouldn't have been surprised when Pete ran to her immediately. "Have a good time?"

"Want Mom," he told her. "Can we go see her?"

"We'll see what they say today, all right?"

Aaron had the suspicion that it'd be a while, but didn't want to voice that and upset the kid more than he already was.

 

Awwww, Pete gets a toddler double hug! It's nice to see him relaxed and happy. I love to see how the dedication and hard work of the adults in his life is helping him heal and grow.

Week 15 UDC 4:
It's truly saddening how Pete has a godfather and family friends, and it's only by luck that someone who knows him happens to be on shift that he isn't taken by social services to be cared for by strangers. He is lucky that Jane can get away with letting him sleep behind her desk; I can't see many hospitals allowing that today.

And of course Norah is too sick to realize that the authorities aren't doing the legwork to ensure the least disruption possible. Jane really is the first one to even ask her if there are trusted neighbours or friends too look after him, and she can only do that because her husband happens to bring her dinner.

In the background of this story is the dark notion that this happens all the time, but without the luck of having dedicated and kind adults picking up these kids where the system drops them. Wonderful story, even if it breaks my heart.

 

@UltramassiveUbersue ...yes to all the toddler hugs. Re: how sick Nora was... it's an indicator that the Antibiotics were in fact working because one of her symptoms was a severe mental deficit with confusion, or Jane wouldn't have been able to get any personal information out of her. Pete could have told her their address and phone number, but it was his own, and that wouldn't have helped. And as for a hospital allowing this... actually, not even then. I'm chalking it up to this being a special case and it was day one of Nora's hospitalization, and Pete called 911 and then they took him along. Certainly not now. And yes to the dark notion, for it does happen far too often.


A/N: I thought I was going back to the dinner party, but it was fighting me and I went south two days in a row over the weekend. (Yay rain, but driving in it... oy.) So, with that in mind, and because I figured out both the who and how of a thing, I give you August (Monday afternoon, specifically) 1986 at the NIS/NCIS Field Office in Dallas...are we doing a flash-forward? Yes. Yes we are. (Also, I'm sorry in advance.)


Week 16 - UDC 10 - Ways to find things out don't usually include this way...


76. Incendiary


He was still swearing under his breath when he entered the building and stomped right past the reception desk and the Agent on duty. The agent moved to block his way with a firm frown and he studied him momentarily, only just realizing what he'd done. "Oh. I'd be frowning at me, too."

"Can I help you..." And then the Agent on duty stared at the identification card he was handed. "We don't have any cases involving children, Mr. Jenkins. Not that I know of, that is."

Alan sighed. "No, I'm here to talk to Agents Huntington and Molloy. They didn't know I was coming, or they'd have likely informed you beforehand."

"One moment," the agent told him as he picked up his desk phone and dialed an internal number. He waited, then... "Molloy, do either of you know an Alan Jenkins? ... Oh, you do? He is? Oh." He put the phone receiver back on it's cradle, then reached for something and handed it to Alan. "Visitor's pass, sir. Turn it back in when you leave." He motioned to the double doors on his left. "Through there, take a right and then a left."


77. Scruple


In the field office's bullpen, he found both Jaime and Fionn at different desks, reviewing their own case files. Jaime took one look at him and froze, then stood and pulled him over to sit down. "It's the middle of the day and you know where I live, Alan. And I know you're not mad at either one of us, so what has you coming all the way to Dallas to see us?"

Alan stared up at him, suddenly realizing why Frank and Dorinda had told him to take the afternoon or else. Was he really that tense? "I... I..."

"Take your time," Fionn told him. "Deep breaths, Mr. Jenkins."

"I..."

Jaime pulled a chair over and sat down, studying him as he did the stupid breathing exercises that Fionn was demonstrating. "It can wait until you're ready, whatever it is."

Two weeks of pent-up worry and frustration piled up and all he could do was sit there while Jaime now led him quietly through a breathing exercise.


78. Careen


They'd been sitting quietly for long minutes when Jaime turned and picked a notepad off of his desk, along with a pen. He turned back and looked at the man, who was staring at his hands as if he were trying to map them. "Where do you want to start, Alan?"

"I don't," Alan said after a moment, blinking. "And suddenly I sound like one of my kids. Is that weird? It feels weird, and I drove all the way here, mad as I've ever been after that phone call that caused Frank and Dorinda to team up and get me out of the office for the rest of the day."

Jaime turned and looked at Fionn, who appeared just as confused as he felt. "Going to need more than vague detail. A phone call from whom?"

"Carole Bradshaw," Alan told him, and Jaime winced at the brittleness in his voice tone. "The Fighter Weapons School graduation was this morning in Miramar, and Pete got sent out to the Enterprise, along with two other Pilot/RIO teams."


79. Piquant


Jaime nodded slowly. "And?" He had a feeling there was more to this, for Alan to be so raw he'd nearly had a panic attack when he finally had to actually talk and explain whatever this was. In fact, he didn't remember ever seeing him so raw before. "Shouldn't he be out on the Enterprise? You know, because he was on deployment out there with Nick?"

Alan's reaction to that caused alarm bells to sound, and Jaime reached out to steady him with a hand on his arm. "Oh. You didn't... of course not. I didn't call you and you aren't an emergency contact, and of course you don't know. I shouldn't have known and wouldn't, if Wolfe hadn't called me, wondering what the phone number was."

The alarm bells got a bit louder as Jaime processed through the verbal word salad. "Details, Alan. What's going on here, that you'd drive to Dallas just to see us, because Frank and Dorinda made you take the afternoon off? And what does it have to do with Pete being on deployment?" And why did he get the sinking feeling that Alan had told him without actually saying it? Someone needed to figure out what the phone number was? That didn't make any sense, in the context he'd gotten so far.


80. Emphasis


The answer, when it came, was no less confusing than the details surrounding it. "There was a training accident two weeks ago," Alan finally explained. "After it, Pete was repeating my phone number in shock and a Coast Guard Diver gave it to one of his classmates, a RIO with the callsign of Wolfman. I beat a commanding officer to calling Carole... and I was right, in the moment. I still wish I hadn't been."

Jaime processed through that, suddenly realizing Alan hadn't mentioned Nick. Not at all. As if... "Oh." Two weeks ago? No wonder the man had arrived with so much pent-up emotion. "Fionn, get him a cup of water, will you?"

"Yeah." Fionn paused, then moved to put a hand on Alan's shoulder. "If you're not saying what I think you're not saying... why is Pete going back out to the Enterprise when he should be on a psychiatric medical leave?"

"Fi?" Jaime prompted, and he went. "That is a good question, however."

Alan shrugged. "If anything about it made sense, I'd be able to give you a workable answer." He studied him, then shook his head. "No, that's a terrible idea."

"What is?"

Alan was silent for a moment, then looked at him speculatively. "Where is your supervisor? If I'm going to be having wild ideas, I might as well just say it once. What are the odds that the Enterprise would need another NIS agent, even temporarily?"

Jaime stared at him again. Of course he was that worried about a kid he'd had in his care since he was eleven. Then he shrugged and got up. "I'll go find him. Never hurts to discuss things, right?"