An FBI Archive

Chapter Four

Nia jumped onto the bed, waking Nora, she grunted at her older sister.
"You're displaying sociopathic tendencies" Nora teased, her voice laced with sleep and something else.
"You're hungover. Only one of us is lying"
"You seriously drove over here before work to pick on me?"
"I'm not picking on you, I'm checking up on you. I was kind of hoping that Jade was here too"
"I tried calling her, she probably sold her phone again to score"
"What about rehab?"
"We've already tried that, she won't go again, she knows our ploys to get her there" Nia turned her head away from the ceiling to look at her sister.
"I meant for both of you" Nora opened her eyes.
"I'm not an alcoholic"
"Then don't drink for one night. You can't. Drinking is your way of forgetting what happened. Jade's is drugs and Leah's is sex. And we all know why Lacie killed herself. We all do what we do to forget"
"Then why do you look for kids? You don't avoid it"
"Because I'm stronger than you" She teased, earning a smile in response "I do what I do because if anyone needs bailing out I'm there for you all"
"That's not the whole truth"
"Don't go all therapist on me" Nia rolled her eyes "I've get to get to work, will you pick up Leah from wherever she ended up? She's got work tonight and if she doesn't go she'll get fired"
"I'm on it boss" Nora teased, earning a pillow to the face from Nia.
"Love you" Nia called as she climbed out of the bed.
"Love you too" Nora called back as she sunk back into her covers and Nia left the apartment.

"Here's the all star" Wesley smiled as Nia entered the squad room.
"Jealous?" She teased as she took a seat at her desk.
"Ignore him, he's just used to being Sadiq's favourite" Elliot assured her from his desk.
"Can we talk?" Harper asked as she appeared beside her desk "In private?" Nia nodded and followed her into a smaller room which appeared to be her office.
"What did you want to talk about?" Harper refused to meet her eyes but she pulled up articles on her computers screen and Nia understood why she wanted to talk.
"I know who you are. My mother didn't let me out of her sight when they found you, no more than two feet. You always think that things like that can never happen to you but they did, to you" She said quickly, finally meeting Nia's eyes "I didn't put it together because of the name change but when you mentioned your sisters I remembered them. I have a good memory"
"Don't tell the others"
"Why?" She may have been a grown woman and only two years younger than her but Harper looked no older than a child with a crease between her brows.
"Because people get weird when they know, it's easier to keep it a secret and pretend like it never happened"
"This was why you were so good with Rachel yesterday" Nia nodded.
"I remember when they found us. I rounded up the girls and made them hold on tightly, to me, to each other. I wouldn't let anyone else touch them. When they told me that it was over that's when I finally let go of them. When we all went home we would ditch school and meet in the same place, our parents thought that seeing each other would be bad for us but we kept each other alive for so long we couldn't imagine life without each other. They're my sisters but I need you not to tell anyone why" Harper nodded, taking down the articles "Thank you" The door to Harper's office opened and Elliot appeared.
"Hey, we've got a hostage situation"
"Where?" Nia asked.
"A veterans centre across town"
"Let's go"

"What have we got?" Nadia asked the cop in charge of the scene.
"He's a kid, seventeen. He's got a glock pointed at the recruiter, he's already shot him in the leg"
"What's his name?" Nia asked.
"Caleb Samuels"
"You were good yesterday Sutton, you take over talking to him" She nodded.
"Do we know anything about him yet? Anything that I can use?"
"He was a straight A student but his grades started to slip after his dad died, he was serving in Afghanistan" Nia nodded, moving further into the blockade to talk to Caleb from the phone they had set up.
"Hi Caleb. I'm Nia" She waved at him from across the parking lot.
"What do you want?" He bit.
"I want to talk to you. I want to know how you ended up here today, pointing a gun at a good person" He scoffed.
"You think he's a good person? He started banging my mom four months after my dad died" Nia saw him waving the gun around.
"That's pretty shitty" Nia agreed, making him laugh.
"You haven't done this before have you? I've seen it in movies, they never curse"
"Well I curse. That okay with you?"
"Yeah, sure"
"So tell me Caleb, why are you risking your life by shooting an army recruiter?"
"I hate everything. I hate that he's gone and I hate that everyone's forgetting him"
"But you're not forgetting him. Tell me something good about him"
"Like what?"
"Anything"
"He always made me pancakes for breakfast when he was home, no matter how many times mom told him not to. He always made time to throw a ball around with me, no matter how busy he was, and his laugh, whenever he laughed it felt like the whole world was laughing too"
"You loved your dad didn't you, Caleb?"
"I did. I do"
"I loved my dad too" Nia didn't notice the rest of her team moving behind her to see how she was getting on in talking Caleb down "He thinks I hate him. It's hard to love him now"
"Why is it?" Nia took in a sharp breath.
"I was molested, raped actually. Afterwards I couldn't bare for my dad to touch me or even be near me. He tried, very hard but our relationship was never the same, and then I left home. I knew he was trying to be my dad but whenever I looked at him, I could see the man that hurt me. If he had never touched me I might still talk to my dad"
"At least your dad's alive"
"Maybe, but he's the same age as the man that hurt me. Same grey hair and beard, same nauseating smell. My dad understands that I left because that was what I needed to heal. What would your dad want for you?"
"He wanted me to join the army but I hate him for leaving me here alone without him"
"But you're not alone Caleb. You have your mom and I'm guessing that she wouldn't have brought that man into your life unless she though that it was good for the both of you. After what happened to me I clung to my sisters and they make me stronger for it" Nia told him.
"I've ruined everything haven't I?"
"No, every kid deserves a second chance Caleb. You're under server emotional distress after losing your father, no one here wants to charge you, especially not me"
"So what do I do?"
"Put down the gun and walk out here with your hands held up"
"They won't shoot?"
"Not if I tell them not to. Come on out Caleb" He nodded and lay down the gun, leaving the recruitment centre with his hands held up in the air SWAT officers rushed in grabbing him and forcing him to the floor before they handcuffed him. Nia finally turned to see her squad standing behind her, concern and sorrowful looks across the faces of the men as Harper and Nadia looked more confused than anything else "He doesn't deserve to go to prison, what he needs is a trauma councillor" She muttered before she headed off towards the police car where Caleb was crying softly, wishing that this was happening to some other kid somewhere else.