Hank sighed as he looked at the case that had landed on his desk; Will and Jay Halstead, twin brothers who had gone missing a year ago when they were 7 years old, it had been a missing person unit case up until 2 weeks ago when new evidence was found to show that it had been a case of child trafficking.
The picture in the file had been taken by a neighbour when they babysat the boys; they looked about 4 or 5 years old. Will, the eldest had a cheeky smile on his face, his front two teeth missing and his red hair an untidy mess on his head. Sat next to him was the younger twin, Jay who was looking up at his brother, a large smile on his face; his cheeks rosy and his brown hair cut to a buzz cut.
Not much had been known about the two boys; their parents hadn't enrolled them into a school, there were doctors records on the boys; Will had a couple of broken bones here and there whereas Jay seemed to be in and out of A&E throughout his young life. Broken bones, burns, cuts, malnutrition and then child services had gotten involved which is when the case got handed over to Intelligence.
Jay was deaf, and had been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was 3; it affected his left side, but no physio was ever given to him. Having spoken to the neighbours, everyone had good things to say about the boys, polite and friendly; they had mentioned that Will did most of the talking, Jay stayed quiet just smiling. He had walking sticks to help him walk, and often both boys had bruises.
"Hank, Justin has found a location the boys might be at" Adam spoke, leaning up against the door of his father-in-laws office
"Let's roll then, God knows these boys deserve to be safe" Hank mumbled, smiling at the man infront of him
Adam walked over to Justin, smiling down at the man as he grabbed his jacket and followed his husband down to the car. The rest of the team soon joined them and they started the 10 minute drive to the house that Justin had found tbat pointed to being where the boys were being held.
"Justin and Adam will lead the care of the boys if we find them; Hailey and Kim I want you to help forensics with the evidence, Antonio, Kevin and I will talk to neighbours" Hank ordered, handing Adam the battering ram to get into the house
"You ready?" Adam asked the team, shouting loudly as he slammed the ram into the door, it splintering as they ran through the house
Justin and Adam took the upstairs area while the women took the downstairs; Adam could hear then clearing each room as empty. As the men cleared each room, Justin could feel his hope of finding the boys slipping away until they got to the last room. The door was locked by a thick padlock which looked like it had recently been changed; Justin turned to Adam who nodded and shouted to the door to stand back.
"Don't hurt us, please" a small voice cried from behind the door
"It's ok, we're police officers, my name is Justin, can I ask you to stay away from the door" Justin asked softly, resting a hand on the wooden door
"I'm away from the door" the voice spoke, and Adam slammed the ram into the door, and Justin rushed into the room to see Will huddled in the corner holding his smaller twin close
"Hey bud, you're safe now" Justin said, crouching down infront of the twins
"You found us, Jay needs a doctor, they kept hitting him, making him walk without his crutches" Will whispered, and Justin looked down to see the smaller twin fast asleep, his thumb in bis mouth suckling gently
"We will get you both to the hospital, warm blankets, some hot food and a hot chocolate, do you have his hearing aids?" Justin asked
"No, they took them, he doesn't like the silence, he sleeps so it passes time quicker" Will mumbled, shushing Jay gently when the boy whimpered in his sleep
"Can you wake him up for me, I need to make sure he's ok?" Justin asked, moving to sit crossed legged in front of Will who nodded slowly
Justin turned to his husband, who had plavex the battering ram down, and was just watxhing the scene unfold infront of him. Adam slowly mlved forward, sitting beside Justin as they both watched Will gently shake his smaller twin awake. The smaller Halstead cuddled closer to Will, and Justin smiled as ocean blue eyes met his.
"How do you communicate with him bud?" Adam asked gently, looking at Will who sighed shakily
"Been teaching him sign as mama took his hearing aids when they took us, he's not very good at it though coz his left hand doesn't work properly" Will whispered
"hi Jay, my name is Justin, you're safe now" Justin sighed, watching as the smaller Halstead sat up shakily, leaning back into Will
"Is this them?" Adam asked, revealing a box which held a pair of small bright green hearing aids
"Yea, how'd you find them mister?" Will gasped
"We arrested your parents about six months ago, and your attackers dropped them to the district as a hint you were both alive" Justin explained
It was clear that Will was smarter than most kids his age, and that he had been looking after his brother from the very beginning. Adam handed his husband the two hearing aids, and with Wills permission gently placed them on the smaller twins ears, waitinf for the go ahead to turn them on, making sure to keep the sound level low so not to overwhelm the child.
"Is that better?" Justin asked softly, smiling when Jay nodded shyly
"What happens now mister" Will asked
"Well, we need to take you both to the hospital, and then child services will need to find you a family to stay with" Justin explained
"No, they'll split us up" Will exclaimed loudly, tightening his hold on the smaller twin who rubbed his eyes
"I won't let them, you need each other" Justin soothed
"Can't we just stay with you" Will asked quietly
"I don't know bud, why don't we go to the hospital and we can talk there, it's cold and I can see Jay is struggling" Adam said softly, and Will nodded
"You'll need to carry him, I'm not strong enough" Will whisperez, and Justin nodded, shufting slightly and taking the smaller twin into his arms, wrapping him into his coat to keep him warm, while Adam scooped Wills body up
"Sleep Will, you're safe now" Adam soothed, walking behind his husband out of the house where an ambulance was waiting for the small boys
"Don't leave us" Will whisperes, tightening his grip on Adam when the man tried to set him on the bed
"I've got you, not going anywhere" Adam whispered, watching as Justin had the same quiet moment with Jay who was crying softly
