Fic: Broken Open 3/?
Broken Open
Summary: After years of violence and abuse Adam finally escapes.
Disclaimer: I know none of these people, nor do I own them, they own themselves. This story is completely fictional.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Domestic violence and abuse.
Notes: Title taken from the song Broken Open by Adam Lambert. The inspiration for this came from the Savage Garden song Two Beds and a Coffee Machine.
Other Parts
Part 3
“Adam, you need to see this,” Kris said staring at the television in shock and anger.
Adam walked in just as the news anchor was recapping her story, he was disgusted to hear that the police were looking for him in regard to the kidnapping of his own children. He had no idea how people could think he would take his own children, he was devoted to them.
He couldn’t let anyone take his babies, Adam turned to Kris knowing the man probably still had the number of the divorce lawyer he had used during his divorce to Katy. Adam would need a kickass lawyer to stop Nathan from destroying him and taking his children. Nathan’s parents were both great lawyers that would undoubtedly side with Nathan, regardless of the abuse he had subjected Adam to.
“Kris, do still have the name of the lawyer that used in your divorce with Katy?” Adam asked still staring at the screen.
“Yeah. I'll just get it from my Filofax,” Kris said amazed that he had got to the point of needing one.
While Kris had plenty of friends before he became famous, he had their numbers off by heart but there was no chance of him remembering the hundreds of numbers he was now given. He had numbers of the people he had never imagined meeting such as Lady Gaga and Keith Urban.
Adam was pleased his children were playing upstairs so they wouldn’t be subjected to the horrific broadcast. He was still amazed at how strong his children were, able to cope with the way their lives had been uprooted. He had been able to tell by their smiles earlier that morning that they were happy to be living away from Nathan.
“There you go, I'm sure Thomas will take your case he is a nice guy” Kris said reassuringly as he handed over a piece of paper.
“Thanks,” Adam said, picking up his phone, frowning on seeing the battery was dead.
“You can use my phone,” Kris said softly before walking out of the way for Adam to make the call in private.
Kris didn’t want to make Adam feel as though he was eavesdropping, knowing Adam would tell him about it later if he wanted. Adam needed to be independent, to take charge of his own life. He didn’t want to take control of Adam’s life, the other man had been under the control of the tyrannical Nathan for years.
Adam was touched that Kris had moved to the other side of the room to read a book, remaining nearby if needed whilst giving Adam his space. Picking up the phone, Adam quickly dialled the lawyer in the fervent hope that the man would agree to help him.
“Good morning, Mr Santos. My name is Adam Lambert, I was given your number by my friend Kris Allen. I would like you to be my divorce lawyer.”
“Good morning, Mr Lambert. I take it you are the singer Adam Lambert?”
“Yes.” Adam answered hoping his fame wouldn’t stop the man from representing him.
“I'll represent you, Mr Lambert. You will have to completely honest with me about your life.” Thomas said seriously.
Adam stopped to think it over, fearing that as soon as someone saw him they would report him to the police and he would be arrested before he could make everyone see that he was innocent.
“Thank you, Mr Santos. I'm not going to keep any secrets. I should warn you this is going to be messy. My husband is already playing dirty and accusing me of kidnapping my children. I’ve got a little girl called Tiffany and a little boy called Patrick. I can’t let my abusive husband to take custody of them.”
“Please call me Thomas and I did see the news. We’re going to do everything we can to keep your children away from your husband. Are you available to see me today?”
Adam said seriously, “You can call me Adam. I don’t want to leave Kris’s house at the moment. Could you come here?”
“Of course. I'll be at Mr Allen’s home in the next hour. Don’t worry, we’ll clear everything up with the police and keep your children safe.”
Adam smiled,”I'll see you then Thomas.”
Adam ended the call and felt a huge weight from his shoulders, he had taken the first step towards independence and securing a safe future for his family. Adam was under no illusions as to how messy the case might end up and he would do his best to protect his children from everything. Ultimately, the case would end up as his word against Nathan’s since other than the photographs from that morning, he didn’t have medical reports to show the abuse he had been subjected to. There weren’t even any witnesses since he had been careful not to let his bruises or pain show, not to mention Nathan was careful to keep the bruises to where they could be hidden.
“He’s taking the case. I...asked him to meet me here. I don’t want to risk going out in case people find out where I am and try to take my children away.”
Placing a gentle hand on Adam’s arm Kris said honestly, “Hey, you can ask anyone you want to come here. This is your home for as long as you need it.”
Adam looked into Kris’s expressive eyes, amazed to see his friend was telling the truth. How he wanted to have a home that felt safe again but he knew better than to wish for such things. He knew Nathan would come for him again and that he would go with the man if it meant the safety of his children. He just hoped that Kris would agree to take his children into his heart and his life because Adam had no one else he trusted to love and protect them. His family were amazing but he didn’t want his children to live with them because they didn’t have the resources to protect his children.
Adam needed someone who could move mountains if need be, someone who had the means to take his children and disappear if need be until it was safe. Kris had the money to do so and due to his fame had some contacts who would do slightly illegal things without question and would keep quiet.
*******
“Lambert’s husband has said he’s kidnapped the children,” Foster said frowning, to him it stunk of a vindictive, abusive man trying to get Lambert back under his thumb.
Taking the fax containing details of the amber alert Kerry said “Great. We’ll have to speak to the detectives on the case. It didn’t look like the children were under duress. The girl seemed to be really scared that we would hurt Lambert, making me think that the she saw him hurt a lot.”
“Yeah. This looks like the husband’s freaking out because Lambert took the children and escaped his abuse. I'll call child services to get someone to tag along while we go back to see Lambert.”
Kerry nodded in agreement whilst typing up his notes on the investigation. He would have to contact the LA detective in charge of the kidnapping case, this whole thing needed to get sorted quickly. He didn’t want to risk the children going to live with Nathan Alexander. He just hoped the courts would leave them with Lambert until a formal custody arrangement was made or Alexander was in prison.
*******
Nathan threw Adam’s address book across the room in disgust, he had called every man in the book and no one sounded like the man who had spoken to him the previous night who had helped Adam betray him. Nathan would find the interloper and make him suffer.
Nathan couldn’t let Adam get away with such reprehensible behaviour, his slave belonged on his knees, fulfilling his every need and wish. Destroying Adam’s supposed rescuer would teach Adam that betrayal would result in the death of those he was close to. He was lucky that police were so easy to manipulate, they would help him bring Adam back cowering at his feet. Once Adam had been found, he would drop the charges and explain that it was just a big misunderstanding after he and Adam had an argument.
*******
“So what did you think of him?” Jessica Evans, the child services agent asked as the car drove towards the Allen home.
She knew Adam Lambert would not be happy to see her and she was used to that reaction, the difference being that this time she was going to be raked across the coals in public if she made a mistake. The children involved were only young, the oldest was seven years old Tiffany and her brother Patrick was only three.
Detective Kerry answered confidently, “Lambert seems devoted to those kids and he is afraid of his husband.”
“Do you think he kidnapped them?” Jessica Evans said bluntly.
“No.”
The woman nodded at Kerry’s quick answer to her question, apparently he was going with his gut instinct. She could work with that, given their chosen vocation a lot of cops went on gut instincts that later proved to be correct and Kerry had great instincts.
“What about the children?”
Foster considered the social worker’s question before saying, “The girl, Tiffany, seems to be wary of us hurting Lambert. Patrick is only three so I don’t know how much he’ll know about what happened.”
The car pulled to a stop and Evans mentally calmed herself for what could end up being a messy encounter.. She knocked on the door and waited for it to be answered, ready to do everything she could to protect the children.
*******
Opening the door Kris smiled at the detectives, hoping their appearance meant they had some good news such as Nathan had been arrested.
“Hi detectives.”
“Hello. Is Mr Lambert here?”
“Yeah he’s in the lounge with the children. Oh...I don’t know if I introduced myself before. I'm Kris Allen.”
At the nods of greeting, Kris led the three strangers through the house, noticing the way the woman was studying it. He had no idea who the woman was but she didn’t strike him as a normal detective. When they reached the lounge, Kris couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Adam playing blocks with the children, somehow the three had built a mini Stonehenge complete with a colour coordinated pathway.
“Hello, Mr Lambert.”
Adam looked up and froze at the sight of the woman studying him and his children as though they were the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
“Hello detectives. Pleased to meet you Ms...?”
“My name’s Jessica Evans, I am a social worker with the child protection services. I need to speak with yourself and your children as soon as possible.”
“I don’t want my children going anywhere with some stranger. Sorry if that upsets you but it’s not going to happen.”
Before Adam could get anymore riled up there was a loud knock at the door, with an apologetic look, Kris ran to the door and smiled in relief on seeing Thomas Santos. The lawyer would help make sure that the children weren’t taken out of the house by the social worker, he couldn’t see a reason why the Ms Evans couldn’t speak to the children in another room.
“Hi Thomas. You have great timing, some social worker’s just turned up.” Kris said greeting the lawyer with a smile.
“Don’t worry, I can take care of that.” Thomas said confidently.
Walking back into the lounge, Kris noticed the children were still playing apparently oblivious to the tension in the room. Kris was relieved to see Adam was holding up okay, his friend was amazing. He had no idea how Adam could remain in control after everything that had happened.
“Hello, my name is Thomas Santos. I'm Mr Lambert’s lawyer.”
Seeing everything was going to get messy Jessica Evans said seriously, “My name is Jessica Evans. I'm with child services, I need to speak to Mr. Lambert and the children separately.”
The lawyer said coolly, “I must insist that you speak to the children in this house, after all, we don’t want to upset them. I am going to be there as well.”
Seeing she wasn’t going to win and that the lawyer at least wouldn’t interfere, the social worker nodded, “That’s fine. Do you have a room we can use, Mr Allen?”
“You can use any you want apart from the bedrooms,” Kris said calmly.
“Thank you, Mr Allen. Now could I speak to Tiffany for a bit?”
Adam nodded and walked over to his children who were still playing with the coloured bricks and in the process of making a fort.
He smiled gently saying, “Tiff, this lady needs to speak to you for a little bit. Now, I’ve got to stay here while she talks to you but if you want me, just tell the lady and I'll be right there.”
Tiffany stopped and studied the lady with the pretty blond hair, she had a nice smile and daddy seemed to like her. She nodded in agreement and walked over to the woman, giving her daddy a small smile as they walked out. With Thomas following just behind to make sure the social worker didn’t influence the child’s answers.
*******
Kneeling so that she was at the girl’s level Jessica said with a friendly smile, “Hi Tiffany. My name is Jessica. I saw you playing with the bricks. What were you building?”
“Nice to meet you Ms Jessica. We did about it in school, it’s called St..Stonehenge. Ms Williams said it is really far away.
“It’s beautiful.”
“That’s what Daddy said.” Tiffany said with a toothy smile.
“Was that Daddy Adam?”
Tiffany stared at the woman in confusion saying, “Yep. I have a Daddy and I have a Father.”
Jessica Evans noticed the way the girl’s voice became colder when she mentioned her father. To her trained ear and eyes, it seemed that Tiffany didn't like her father for some reason.
“What’s it like in your home?” Jessica asked gently.
“Good. I have the bestest Daddy in the world. Daddy cries a lot though. I don’t like it when Daddy cries.”
Jessica asked, “Why does Daddy cry?”
Tiffany bit her lip saying, “I don’t know. Daddy always tells me and Rick to go to our bedroom, close the door and stay there until he comes back. Then I hear Father yelling mean stuff at Daddy and saying naughty swear words. There are loads of bangs and Daddy cries. The next day, Daddy wears the ouchie make up. I don’t like that make up. Daddy has other makeup but he only wears the ouchie makeup when Father yelled at him and there were lots of bangs.”
“Well, I’m going to try and make sure Daddy doesn’t wear the ouchie makeup again. Do you like living here?”
“Yeah. Daddy said we’re staying with Mr Kris for a little bit. Mr Kris is Daddy’s friend, he doesn’t yell or make Daddy cry and he smiles a lot. He made pancakes for breakfast with chocolate.”
“That’s great. Do you want to go back to your daddy?”
At Tiffany’s quick nod, the social worker smiled gently and walked the girl back into the lounge. She debated how useful it would be to speak to Patrick since he was only young and wouldn’t be able to say much. She would have to speak to Lambert and find out more about the children’s lives should they stay with Lambert.
“Hey baby, are you okay?” Adam asked gently when his daughter walked into the lounge and ran over to him.
Giving his daughter a hug, Adam whispered reassurances in his ear, worried about what the social worker had said to upset her. As he hugged her, Adam could feel Tiffany relaxing, breaking the hold he smiled widely.
“Do you want to play with the blocks? You can show Kris how to make a fort. He’s never made one before. I'm just going to talk to Jessica.”
Tiffany stared at Mr Kris in amazement, she thought everyone knew how to make a fort. She smiled at him and grabbed his hand, leading him to the blocks, pointing at a spot for him to sit down.
“I'll help you Mr Kris. We will make a huge pink fort!”
Adam couldn’t help but smile at Kris’s nod of agreement as his daughter gently ordered him around. He softly followed the social worker out of the room with Thomas just a step behind.
“So are you going to move in here, Mr Lambert?” The social worker asked seriously.
Adam said honestly, “For a while. I can’t live here forever, it wouldn’t be fair to Kris. We’re going to find somewhere else to live eventually. I'm going to find somewhere with a big garden, lots of bedrooms, a loads of space for their toys and a great security system.”
“Okay. Now I'll be back in a bit to speak to you again.” The social worker said briefly.
“Okay, that’s everything we need. We may be back to talk to you again,” Detective Kerry said, pleased that the men hadn’t been upset by the social worker as he had anticipated.
Kris escorted the police and social worker out of his house, pleased that the ordeal was over. He knew whatever the woman had said to Tiffany had unsettled the girl and it made his heart seize. He didn’t even know much about Adam’s children but he couldn’t help but feel an urge to protect them from the world.
End Part 3