“Call me when you get to Chicago,” Justin said, smiling at Brian.

For a moment, Brian thought about cancelling his trip but then thought better of it. There was an emergency with Brown Athletic, which meant he needed to take care of it himself. It took this long to get the account, he wouldn’t risk losing it because he was feeling sentimental.

“I will. I’m only going to be gone two days at most. I really wish you and Gus would fly home instead of driving.”

Gus was with him for a few weeks, something he had to fight to get. They had flown to New York to visit Justin. It was decided then that they all would go back to Pittsburgh for the next two weeks. It had been almost a year since Justin moved to New York and Gus moved to Canada with his mothers. For the next two weeks it would feel like he had his family back. He wished work wasn’t trying to get in the way.

“I want to drive. I love my car,” Justin said, loading his car with Gus’ bags.

“What kind of twat buys a car after he moves to New York City?”

“Hey, I’m a mature adult now.”

Brian smiled at him, gone was innocent little twink that wormed his way into Brian’s life. Now stood a handsome, independent young man. Brian liked to think that he had something to do with it but it was all Justin.

“Sure, adult. That’s why I saw you and Gus watching cartoons this morning,” he said, smirking.

“It was a good show,” Justin defended himself.

“Please, just fly. I would feel better if you flew.”

He didn’t know why but he was had a bad gut feeling about Justin and Gus driving to Pittsburgh.

“We’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m going to pick up hitchhikers.”

Brian knew he wouldn’t win this argument; Justin had his mind set on the drive.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you in two days,” he told Justin.

“We’ll be waiting. Won’t we, Gus?”

“Come back soon,” Gus told him.

“I will.”

Brian remembered the conversation with Justin before he got a taxi to the airport. That was the last time anyone seen or talked to Justin or Gus. When he landed and tried to call Justin, he got no answer. He gave it a few more hours. No luck. That started the worst time of his life, and it hadn’t stopped yet.

The police hadn’t listened to Brian or Melanie. The cops insisted that Justin had kidnapped Gus, and somehow convinced Lindsay of that. No one was listening to the people who knew Justin the best. It wasn’t until his abandoned car was found a month later that they admitted Justin might be a victim too.

The front of his car was dinged up pretty bad, as was the back bumper. They didn’t know what happened but there was blood on Justin’s airbag that was determined to be Justin’s. That wasn’t that odd, airbags could cause some damage but there was no other sign of Justin or Gus. Their things were still in the trunk. Justin’s cell was never found. It hadn’t been used since Gus called Lindsay before Brian had even left them at the airport.

Six months. It had been six months since Justin and Gus disappeared. Brian had even got so desperate he had gone to see Mysterious Marilyn. The old queen just sadly shook her head and said she didn’t know where they were. Lindsay and Melanie moved back to be closer to where Gus went missing. They even were able to get their old house back, which they had been renting out, in case Gus came home.

Brian had thrown himself in work, when he wasn’t working he was searching for Justin and Gus. Every weekend he would drive the whole way to New York City, looking for his family. Sometimes he would go to the woods that Justin’s car was found in to just look around.

His intercom buzzed, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“What?” he snapped.

“Brian, Detective Mac is here,” Cynthia said, not fazed by his attitude.

Detective Mac was the lead in Justin and Gus’ disappearance. The FBI was involve but only distantly. They would be there if there was something they could do but there just was nothing.

“Send him in,” Brian said. He stood up from his desk and circled around in front of it.

Detective Mac was a formidable man with scar under his right eye. Brian had wondered what had happened to the man but it wasn’t really any of his business. He just hoped the man would find Justin and Gus. Mac had been very untrusting of Justin from the very beginning, Brian suspected even though now his fellow cops believed Justin was a victim too, he still thought he was guilty as hell.

“Detective,” Brian said, shaking his hand a little roughly.

“Mr. Kinney, I wanted to talk to you before the news outlets could get to you. We found two skeletal bodies. The forensic corner said that it was of a man in his early twenties and a child. Both male.”

The room spun and went bright white on him. He could hear the man’s deep voice, but it sounded underwater almost.

        Sixteen Years Later

“You have to tell him for me,” Jenny whined.

Brian looked up at his best friends’ daughter. She had grown up into a beautiful woman. She was the spitting image of Mel, which wasn’t as bad as he had thought once upon a time.

“I’m not telling Michael anything. If you want to do this, you have to tell him yourself.”

“I thought you would be behind me. It’s for Gus and Justin.”

Even after almost seventeen years it still hurt like hell to hear their names. Missing for all this time. A few times over the years they thought they had found their bodies, but it had never been them.

“Jenny, I know you think this will help but I don’t see how it will.”

“It’s the first step in me becoming an FBI agent.”

She switched her major to criminal law and hoped to get into the Quantico once she finished. He didn’t want her in danger, but she was a big girl and could chose for herself. Michael on the other hand would need convincing. Jenny was the only one in the family that still believed they were still alive. None of them could break her heart and tell her there was no way they were still alive.

“Let’s just let Christmas get over with, alright?”

“Of course, sorry Uncle Brian,” she said before giving him a hug.

It would be seventeen years on December 23rd. He hadn’t really celebrated Christmas since that day. He had gifts for Gus from that first Christmas, along with birthdays and Christmas past in his closet. He knew his son was dead, but it didn’t stop him from getting him gifts every year. 

“It’s alright, kiddo. Go home, have dinner with your dads. I’m just going to go home.”

She knew better than to argue, he needed time to himself. By himself is the way he liked it. About ten years ago he thought maybe he might be ready to move on to another relationship. It ended in a disaster, he compared him to Justin then the freak became a stalker. Not the innocent, annoying way that Justin did. No, this was bunny boiler kind. He decided he never needed another after that. It never moved beyond sex and even then, it all felt forced. Like he was making himself do these things because that’s was normal men did.

He drove back to the loft. It’s where he was sure Justin would go if he ever came back. It was stupid, but it’s the only place Gus would remember; it’s the place Justin and he fell in love. He had to remind himself, they wouldn’t be coming back.

His head was killing him, he felt wet grass under him.

“Jussy, my head hurts,” he heard Gus say.

“Mine too, buddy.”

He gently sat up and willed his body not to retch. The first thing he really noticed was that it was dark out. That meant he hadn’t been passed out very long. The last thing he remembered before everything when black was lights in the sky. Everything after that was blank.

“Are you ok, Gus?” he asked.

“My head hurts.”

“Yeah, I know.”

After a minute, he was able to stand up and went to where he had heard Gus’ voice come from. He was lying down beside a large rock. It took a moment longer for Justin’s eyes to adjust to the dark. Gus was a little dirty but looked fine except for him clutching his head. Justin knew that feeling, he was having it too. It felt like his head was going to explode but he noticed when he closed his eyes a bit it lightened. He told Gus to try it and he seemed to calm. Looking around he noticed he was in some woods.

He didn’t know how he ended up there, but he needed to get them out. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he cursed when he saw it was dead. Perfect, it was going to be a long night. He just hoped they weren’t far from the road.

“Come on, buddy, I’ll carry you,” he told Gus. Brian was going to kill him, he told him he had a bad feeling about them driving. With any hope he would get back to Pittsburgh before Brian realizes anything is wrong.

They walked for miles; Justin’s feet ached. His muscles felt weak, but he was never really the athlete Brian was…or anyone. Gus had fallen asleep a little while back, his drool soaking Justin’s coat. It felt warmer than it did when they had gotten gas earlier, they were in middle of a cold snap. But the weather now felt like a usually warm night for December in Pennsylvania. Not that it was all that cold, January would be worse, it always was.

His ears perked up when he heard something, stopping he listened closely. Cars. It was cars on a road. They were almost saved. He thought about calling Brian or one of the gang but then he’d have to wait until they got there. When he got someone to stop, he would hope they had a cell phone and call a cab. He needed to get Gus seen at the doctor, same with himself but since he’s head was hurting, he’d rather see his neurologist. It would make it easier to make the police report of his stolen car then. A flash of something sparked in his mind. He hit something with the car, something big. That must have been it, the crash must have been the carjackers plan and they stole the car while Justin and Gus were passed out. Assholes, they could have killed them.

They were in luck a nice old woman stopped and let them use her phone, she also had a number for the cab company already listed. She laughed and said sometimes here eyes were too bad to drive. She dropped them off at a gas station and the cab driver was waiting for them. Luckily the carjacker hadn’t checked his wallet he still had his cards and cash.

The cab driver was glad for the hefty tip Justin gave him along with the cab fare. Hopefully the man would be able to have a good Christmas. Gus was still sleeping when they got to Pittsburgh. Justin noticed a lot had changed in the year he was gone. The loft’s building looked the same, Brian wasn’t one for a lot of change.

Justin picked Gus up and settled the young boy again in his arms. He was almost to the door when he realized he didn’t have his keys. How was he going to get in?

“The spare,” he said to himself.

Brian left a spare loft key with Ms. Krantz on the bottom floor. He pressed Ms. Krantz call button, but she wasn’t the one to answer.

“What do you want?”

“Ms. Krantz?”

“Do I fucking sound like a fucking Ms. Krantz?” a gruff voice snarled. Gus whimpered in his sleep.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to get the second floor.”

“Why would anyone what to visit that asshole.”

“Listen could you just buzz me in?”

“Fine, maybe you’ll end up killing him.” The door buzzed and he was granted access. Getting into the loft would be hard but sometimes Brian left a key hidden in the hallway for Debbie or Michael. He hoped he had done that because he was out of town.

Brian was tapping away on his computer when the noise of the elevator sounded. It wouldn’t be for him; everyone knew not to bother him this time of year. Just as he was about to email Ted about a new client, he heard a muffled shout from outside his door. Who the hell was there now?