Title: Unshed Tears Author: SunReyes Rating: R Category: FRR/DRF Spoilers: 8th and 9th season Summary: what if brad wasn't dirty? Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, if I did, I certainly would have made FOX a fortune with the lavished on SMUT and tease ;) Oh yeah and don't sue me...thanks Authors Notes: June 2002 Challenge # 1-What if...for XFMU. Some things happen for reasons unknown. Forces in the universe, relying on fate, while others on chance. I've been an FBI for the past few years, but nothing has struck my core. Nothing like the case of Luke Doggett that is. It was a warm summer day in August when I received a call that I was to lead the task for on a missing NYPD cop's son. The child, a mere 8 years old, abducted while riding his little red bicycle around the block. What is the world coming to? I ask myself, afraid of the answer. I flipped through the file, questioned the parents and came up with very little leads, each of which led to a dead end. Or so I thought. At the end of the first day, we didn't have much to go on. We went door to door, questioning the neighbors asking if anyone saw anything at all. We came up empty, short of a miracle we knew we were in trouble. That night I went home and took a long bubble bath. It didn't help. Nothing would. The pain, in the pit of your stomach, from feeling helpless and vulnerable. What have I done to deserve this? I asked myself, feeling the pain of both parents seeping in my blood. I failed to hear Brad enter our apartment and didn't even notice when he came into the candle lit bathroom. I was a wreck. My body felt tension, like none other. I cried for the lost boy, I cried for the emptiness that his family was feeling, and for myself, feeling like I had failed that boy's family. "Hard day" Brad asked concerned and I tried to hide the pain but it was too late. He knelt down by the side of the tub and wiped my tears away. Not that it mattered much, they still kept falling from my eyes, from my broken heart and from so much buried pain. "Yeah, it seems as though there's little hope for the missing boy" I say between tears and Brad presses a kiss to my cheek to take the pain away. "There's always hope." Brad tells me and presses a fiery kiss to my lips, his hands wiping the remaining tears from my eyes. "So how was your week? God I've missed you." I breathe out heavily. He presses a kiss to my neck and whispers, "We finally caught Regalli. In fact, we have him on tape offering the FBI a bribe." "Who at the FBI?" I ask. "Me actually. I agreed to it, only long enough to tape the conversation and have him arrested. That's why I've been gone all week." "You should have told me," I tell him and he nods. "I wanted to, but I was worried you'd be upset." "I'd have understood. I was more upset you ditched me all week." I pull him into me wanting to feel him. "You're gonna get me wet!" Brad responds and I can't help but grin. "That was the point." It's a fact that the first hours of a kidnapping are the most precious. That's what got to me. There was no ransom, no demands. Only a missing 8-year-old child. A blonde haired, blue-eyed angel, abducted at such an early age. I refused to give up hope though. I met with the father of the boy John Doggett for coffee and asked for him not to bring his wife. I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. I could see in her eyes she blamed him, and in some small way maybe that was how she coped with it, but it wasn't fair to this man. As every second slid by the hour crept closer towards the inevitable. We spoke of what we found, which was pretty much nothing. I could see the pain in his eyes, and my heart ached for this man. What I couldn't give him was his son back, but I knew I had to do everything imaginable. We went over everything again, trying to tie together who would have done such a terrible thing. We came up empty and I paid for our coffees and I escorted him back to his place. "I can't sit around at home." He told me with pleading eyes and I nod. "You don't have to." I respond and his eyes close for a brief second to hold back any unshed tears. "What am I suppose to do?" His voice grows deeper, stronger, and more forceful. "Tell me how to find him!" He demands and I suck in a breath, trying to understand what this man feels for his son and his family. "You've done everything you can." I tell him and place a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "We'll find him, it's just a matter of time." I tell him reassuringly. We head back to the Bureau's Headquarters in New York to see if there were any leads. I lead him into my office to see Brad Follmer's eyes watching mine. "I'll be right back." I tell John. "Why don't you take a seat, while I find out if there's any new information." "Thank you." He tells me and I leave him in the office as I make my way over to Brad. "You shouldn't have brought him here." Brad tells me and escorts me to his office and shuts the door. "I had no choice. If we had a child, you would feel the same way, wouldn't you?" I ask him. "Monica, you can't let your emotions guide you. It'll ruin your career." "Is that all you think about, your career?" He comes up to me and places his arms around me in a hug. "You know I care about you, I don't want to see you getting hurt. I also don't want to see you on the wrong side of this case either." "What are you talking about?" I ask him confused and take a step back from his hold. "John Doggett's under investigation for the disappearance of his son." "You don't honestly believe he has anything to do with that, do you?" I ask wide-eyed. "What I believe hardly matters. The point being this investigation is going nowhere." "Is that why you called me in here? To tell me that he's under investigation and what there's no missing boy?" "Hardly Agent Reyes. What I am saying is that this boy, Luke, perhaps his father knows more than he's letting on to. After all he does work for the NYPD." "I don't buy that for one minute!" I retort and head out towards the bathroom. This can't be what's going on, I mutter to myself and wipe the tears surfacing on my eyes. I can't cry for him, I have to be strong. I suck in a breath, calming my nerves, and head back towards my office. "Mr. Doggett" I reply as I enter the office and he stands up with cherry red eyes, pain evident from his misfortune. "Is there anything?" His voice quivers and he sucks in a breath to control himself. His gaze darts out the window and then back to me, his eyes a little less red and watery. "Soon." I reassure him and my phone starts ringing on my desk. "Excuse me." I state while I answer the phone. "Monica Reyes" I pause hearing Brad's words and continue. "Alright I'll tell him. Thank you." "They've found your son." "Is he..." His words trailing off fear evident in his voice. "No Mr. Doggett, he's alright." "Thank God!" He said. "Where is he?" "They're bringing him here now." I hand Mr. Doggett the phone to allow him to call Barbara, his wife, at home. We sent a team of FBI agents to the house that Luke pointed our agents to. Luke was found on the side of a road, but had enough sense to call the NYPD and remember the license plate of the vehicle. They arrested the perpetrator and the boy was reacquainted with his parents. When John was reacquainted with his son, tears fell from his eyes. He saw his son's pain and vowed to end the life of the man who did this. The other officers and agents understood his pain but knew violence wasn't the answer. After Bob Harvey, the man who kidnapped Luke Doggett, was prosecuted and sentenced, he was found beaten to death, no suspects have been named. Two months after Bob Harvey died, John Doggett called me at the field office in New York and wanted to thank me for everything I've done. He told me there was no way he could have handled it alone, and he owed his life to me. I merely told him it was our job at the FBI, and with that discussion he considered joining and applying for admission into Quantico. I think back on that experience, being the toughest case I've ever encountered. Knowing what was at stake, a child's life, the future of a generation, and fearing everything in the process. I can honestly say that if Mr. Doggett becomes an agent of the FBI, I would love to consider working with him. Over the coffee we had, our conversation explored his wife and their relationship. It seems as though he needed someone to turn to in his time of need, and I'm glad I was able to be there for him. He also told me their relationship was at a breaking point, long before Luke was even born. I was sad to hear that, but appreciative that he felt comfortable enough to confide in me. I also hope one day, perhaps when the time is right we'll be able to explore something further.