Fic Post: Unraveling [Shelter/Without a Trace crossover]
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Title: Unraveling, Chapter 6
Author: dragontatt
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Neither Shelter nor Without a Trace belong to me. No profit is being made from this work of fiction, and no disrespect is intended.
Word Count: 2012
Martin waited in the kitchen, pulling the carafe out to fill a cup before the coffee was even finished brewing. He added a couple sugar cubes and gave it a cursory stir before taking a careful sip. Not bad, Shaun’s taste in coffee brands had obviously improved over the years. He poured another cup and carried it out to the front room, offering it to Danny before sitting back down on the couch.
He set the cup on the coffee table and picked up his notebook, flipping it open to the notes he’d made the night before….well, middle of the night before anyway. He opened his mouth to ask Danny a question, but a sleepy voice interrupted him, “Are you here to help find my Uncle Zach?”
He jerked his head toward the hallway and there stood a little blonde boy wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of plaid boxers. He was holding a pillow tightly under one arm and as Martin watched, he yawned and rubbed the back of one hand across his eyes.
Martin smiled before saying gently, “Yes, we are. You must be Cody, huh?”
The boy nodded and shuffled over to the couch, huddling up in the corner, hugging his pillow tight.
“My name’s Martin and this is my friend Danny. We’re FBI agents. You know what that means?”
Danny rolled his eyes at Martin from across the room, but the little boy just nodded solemnly. “Shaun says they’re like the police only better. Is that true?”
Martin smiled. “That’s a pretty good description, yeah.”
“Shaun said you guys used to be friends.” Cody yawned widely, belatedly remembering to cover his mouth with his hand.
“Yes, we went to college together. But that was a long time ago,” Martin said.
“Dude, don’t make it sound like we’re ancient, okay? I get enough of that around here without you making it worse,” Shaun said from the hallway.
“Shaun!” Cody bounced off the couch in a flash and threw himself at Shaun, innocently trusting the other to catch him. He wrapped his arms around Shaun’s neck and hugged him tight enough to lean in to almost-whisper in his ear. “Do I have go to school today?”
“No, buddy. Don’t you remember? I said my mom is driving up, and she’s going to play with you so I can talk with my friends some more.” Shaun caught Martin’s gaze over Cody’s tousled hair as the boy slid back down to the floor.
“And Larry too?”
Shaun’s lips tightened a fraction of a second before he nodded. “Yep, Larry too. So go get dressed, okay? Mom won’t cook pancakes for any little boys that aren’t dressed, it’s kind of a rule she has.”
Cody grabbed his pillow off the couch and tore off down the hall, feet thumping across the bare floor.
Shaun waited till Cody’s door slammed shut before turning to Martin. “He’d probably like to go to school, but there’s no way I’m letting him,” and he stared at Martin like he was waiting for him to disagree with his decision.
“I don’t blame you,” Martin said softly.
There were three, evenly spaced knocks at the door and Shaun gave a tiny grimace before striding over to open it. “Mom.”
A tall, slender brunette threw her arms around Shaun’s neck, holding him tight and keeping him standing there in the doorway while a shorter, bit rounder, balding man stood impatiently behind them.
Shaun closed his eyes and buried his head against his mother’s neck, breathing in the familiar scent of the vanilla soap she’d been using as long as he could remember. Finally he pulled away, drawing her into the apartment with a not entirely curt nod at Larry.
“Mom, you remember Martin, don’t you?” Shaun asked, holding out one arm. “And this is Agent Taylor. This is my mom, Victoria Segal, and her husband Larry.”
“Well, Martin, you’ve certainly grown up since the last time I saw you,” Victoria said with a broad smile.
“Mrs. Segal, I wish we didn’t have to meet again under these circumstances,” Martin replied.
The smile melted from her face, and she closed her eyes as if in pain, only to re-open them at the sound of footsteps running down the hall. “Oh my, what is that noise? I’m sure it can’t be Cody, running like that indoors.”
The footsteps came to abrupt halt right outside the front room, and a second later Cody walked sedately in - well, as sedately as any 6 year boy can walk - and headed right over to Shaun’s mom.
“Grandma Vicky, you’re here!” A guilty look flashed across his face, but finally joy won out, at least momentarily, and he threw his arms around her neck when she bent down to give him a hug.
“Have you had any breakfast?” When Cody shook his head emphatically, she took his hand and without another word led him into the kitchen.
Larry hovered by the door, looking at Shaun. “Are you alright, son?”
His voice was sincere, and there was concern evident in his eyes, but Shaun’s hand clenched into a brief fist by his leg. “I will be, as soon as Zach is home.”
Larry nodded, and with a quick glance at Martin, said, “I’ll leave you gentlemen alone to get started on that then.”
As he walked by Shaun towards the kitchen, Shaun reached out and placed a tentative hand on Larry’s shoulder to halt him. “I’m not sure if I said this yesterday, but thank you for helping me get in touch with Martin. I was so -” he paused and shook his head, “freaked out after reading that note, I just had no clue. You were the only person I could think of that would know what to do.”
Larry’s eyebrows shot up a fraction of a millimeter, but he quickly blinked his surprise away. He smiled and said with a touch of sadness in his voice, “I was glad to help, Shaun. All you ever have to do is ask.”
Shaun nodded, and Larry headed into the kitchen where the faint sound of clanking pans could be heard. Shaun let out huff of breath and shook his head before looking at Martin. “So what are you guys going to do first? Anything I can do to help?”
“Well, we’re going to head over CalArts to talk with security. Hopefully they’ve got cameras that can help us. We can find out what students should have been arriving at that time, ask them if they saw anything in the parking lot.” Martin trailed off, looking over at Danny with raised eyebrows.
Danny flipped his notebook open and turned to Shaun. “I don’t remember you mentioning this last night, but did you try calling anybody after you called Larry?”
Shaun shook his head. “No, I just sat there, waiting for Martin to get in touch with me. I…I wasn’t very with it at the time.”
Danny nodded and went on, “I can understand that. So your folks - uh, your mom and step-dad didn’t have a problem when you got together with Zach?”
“No, I mean I’ve been out to Mom for a long time, and Larry’s never said anything about it. I think he knows better. Besides, they adore Cody and he’s crazy about them, you saw it for yourself.” He waved one arm vaguely in the direction of the kitchen.
“So they won’t mind watching him this morning while you come with us to CalArts?” Danny glanced at Martin, looking for surprise on his face, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Oh, I’m sure they won’t mind. Let me go talk to them.”
Martin waited till Shaun disappeared into the kitchen before turning to Danny. “So, you asking him to come along so you can keep an eye on him, or because you believe him?”
“I’m leaning toward the latter, but I reserve judgment for now.” Danny smirked a little when Martin glared at him from across the room.
“Okay, we’re all set. They’re glad to watch him.” Shaun crossed to his desk and grabbed his phone off the charger. Funny, he didn’t even remember plugging it in last night, must have been force of habit.
Five minutes later he was in the backseat of the government-issue SUV, dialing Gabe’s number from memory. He glanced at his watch - not quite 9:00 a.m. Would Gabe even be there or did he have a class?
A sleepy sounding voice answered on the third ring, slurring out, “This better be fucking good.”
“Is that anyway to talk to your brother, jerk?” Shaun’s glance flickered to the rearview mirror - he could feel Danny’s eyes on him while they waited at a long red light.
“Shaun? What the fuck, it’s too early for this shit.” Gabe sounded like he’d tied one on last night and was way hung over.
“Gabe, listen to me, this is serious. Okay?” He paused, waiting to make sure Gabe was listening.
“What is it, dude?”
He could hear some suspicious rustling on the phone. “Damn it Gabe, I mean it. You have to listen to me.”
“Jesus Christ, alright. Hang on a minute then.”
There was a thump and Shaun could hear voices, low at first, then louder and finally he heard, quite clearly, “Just go, okay? I promise I’ll call you tomorrow.”
A couple minutes later, Gabe came back on, chuckling. “Jeez, you’d think she’d never done the walk of shame before.”
“Are you quite through, Gabe?" He made fist on his knee, thumping it on his thigh as he fought to remain patient.
“Damn, dude. Yes, what is it?”
“When was the last time you spoke to Zach?” Shaun bit at his lower lip while he waited for an answer.
“God damnit bro, don’t tell me you fucked it up already. Did he split, is that it?”
“Just answer the question, Gabe.”
There was an aggravated sigh and then, “Must have been a couple weeks ago now. I called him like on a Thursday night, he was working a shift at that diner. What’s the problem?”
Shaun stayed silent a moment, nodding. He remembered Zach telling him Gabe had called while he was a work a while back.
“Shaun, you there?”
“Listen Gabe, you’re not in any kind of trouble with whoever the hell you buy your pot from, are you?”
“What the fuck, dude? No.”
“I’m serious, Gabe.”
“So am I, I’m not in any trouble with Gator. What’s this about, man?”
“Gator?” Shaun let a little laugh, he couldn’t help it.
“So the man has some dental issues, he’s cool. He’s in my Economics class. Now what’s up?”
Shaun could tell by Gabe’s voice he wouldn’t be denied any longer and with a little sigh, he started to explain. “Well…” his voice trailed off and he glanced at Martin in the front passenger seat - he’d been watching Shaun in the vanity mirror. Martin nodded, and Shaun went on, “Zach’s been kidnapped.”
“What?” Gabe’s voice was so loud Shaun was certain the two men in the front seat could hear it easily. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“He didn’t pick up Cody from school yesterday, so they called me to come get him. And we went to look for him at CalArts. There was note on the windshield saying give us back our money and our dope and we’ll give you back Uncle Zach.” Shaun’s eyes slipped closed as he recited the note from memory.
“Jesus! You’re not kidding, right?”
“No, Gabe - not kidding. And you know Zach doesn’t smoke.”
“Naw, man. Not since that time in junior high when he puked his guts out from all that greasy pizza he scarfed down.” Gabe let out a laugh that he quickly choked off. “Shaun, listen, I swear there’s nothing.”
“I believe you, but I had to ask.”
“So what are you doing to find him? You call the cops?”
Shaun opened his eyes again, glancing at the vanity mirror and meeting Martin’s somber gaze in it. “Better than that, Gabe. I called the FBI.”