Brian was at Debbie's for Sunday night dinner. The whole gang was there. Debbie mentioned that her new boyfriend and his younger children would be coming. They hadn't arrived yet, which was a good thing because Mikey was having a hissy fit.

Mel and Lindsay were on the couch chatting about something lesbionic. It looked like they were on the way back together. Most noticeably because Mel's girlfriend had been history as soon as Lindsay picked up the phone. Mel seemed quite confident that she should be able to get Linz out of the marriage without any lasting problems. Brian would rather Gus be raised by Mel than the Frenchman. Like they say "better the devil you know."

Ted and Emmett were in the corner whispering back and forth, probably gossiping. It was the first time in weeks that Emmett seemed like himself after George's death. His proverbial light was still on dim but it was there.

Debbie and Vic were still getting the dinner ready. Brian could tell that Vic was upping his game to help his sister woo the detective. Deb was crazy about the man and his kids, at least the two younger ones that she met. She talked about them non-stop. Brian couldn't even remember the kids names, he usually tuned out before it got to that point.

Ben was trying to get Michael to stop whining, he wasn't succeeding.

Brian had Gus on the floor playing blocks with him. It was times like this he liked the most. Gus was still little enough he had yet to be disappointed with him. Brian seemed to always piss people off, and he only meant it half the time.

The knock on the door startling Gus, who almost fell backwards.

"They're here," Debbie said loudly, hurrying to the front door.

She opened the door to let in the older detective and a young strawberry blonde teenage girl. Debbie gave the man a peck on the lips and gave the girl a big hug.

"Where's Sunshine?" Debbie asked.

"He couldn't make it. He sends his apologies though," the man said.

"Oh, that's too bad. Okay, come meet everyone." She grabbed the man's hand and led him into the living room. "Everyone this is Carl Horvath and his daughter Molly. And this group of animals is my family." She let go of Carl's hand and started walking around the room, grabbing onto people to introduce. "This is my brother Vic." Walk. "My son Michael and his boyfriend Ben." Walk. "Emmett and Ted." Walk. "Melanie and Lindsay." Then she stood in front of Brian, who was still on the floor. "And this asshole is Brian." Gus took the moment to babble something. "Oh and last but not least, Gus, Lindsay and Mel's son."

"Hey, I helped," Brian pointed out, picking up his son and placing him in his lap. It irritated him that he had seen Gus more than Mel in the past year but Mel still got top billing over him.

The girl squealed when she saw Gus and got down on the floor.

"He's so cute. I have a niece and nephew but I never get to see them. They are older than him though." She looked up at Lindsay. "If you ever need a babysitter I can watch him."

"Don't tempt me," Lindsay said good-naturedly.

"I love babies, I can't wait 'til I have my own," Molly gushed.

"Oh yes you can," Carl said angrily.

"Dad, you are such an ogre sometimes. I didn't mean that I would be having one now. I have plans, big plans. Stanford, then a multi-country communications program. The one I found, I'll see the workings in communications in eight cities. It would be hard to do all that with a baby on my hip."

Brian had to like a girl with her mind made up and goals. His goals started out simple, first get the hell away from his parents. Then go to college, both he accomplished. His goals got more complicated the older he got. Now he wanted to start his own ad agency. He wanted to be the big boss not just junior partner.

"Can I hold him?" Molly pleaded with Brian. For some strange reason her face reminded him of someone else. He picked Gus up off of his lap and handed him over to the girl, then he stood up to social with the adults.

"Can you believe how she gushes over them?" Mikey bitched.

"Come on Mikey, let your mother have a life. Really what were the chances of finding a man over fifty that didn't have a kid or two?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I have the right to be pissed off. Did you know that Vic says she spends most nights at Carl's house?"

"I try and not to think about what unspeakable things happen in straight people's homes." He gave a mostly mock shutter.

Ben called Mikey away and soon he found himself cornered by the girl.

"Hi," she said cheerily.

"Hello," he said stiffly.

"You look smart, are you?"

Brian raised an eyebrow. Was this girl really questioning his intelligence?

"I tend to think so."

"Do you know if there's a statute of limitations on child sexual assault?"

Her question was so calmly asked that he almost thought he misunderstood. He turned and looked at the girl, really for the first time. She was tall for her age, he was guessing she was around sixteen. Red flags appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't made for this type of conversation. But he couldn't turn an abused girl away.

"I'm not really sure, but I'd assume that it's either none or a long time."

"Wait. Aren't you the lawyer? My dad said one of Debbie's friends was a lawyer. I just thought it would be you."

Red flags still properly in place. "No, I'm an ad exec. Mel's the lawyer," he said pointing to where now Mel was standing with Gus in her arms.

"Shit," the girl cursed. "Forget I said anything okay."

"I can't, not if you were hurt or are being hurt." Child abuse was a hot button for him, he couldn't walk away and let it happen.

"It's not me, I promise. It happened eight years ago. The person just told me the other day. My dad was telling me about some of Debbie's friends. I just got mixed up who the lawyer was. Please don't say anything. I couldn't look online because my dad monitors my computer access."

"Why don't you want your dad to know? Wouldn't he know what the law was?" He had uneasy feeling about Deb's new man now.

"He can't find out; he'll want to know who it is. I promised I wouldn't tell, Deb promised too."

Deb knew? They didn't want the detective to find out who it was. It had to be someone both Deb and the girl knew. They could know many people but only one person came to mind.

"It's your brother isn't it?" The boy's absence made sense now if his secrets were found out.

Her face paled. "You can't tell. I was just trying to find out some information. There's no way my brother would file a report."

"What happened to him should be investigated. Don't you think he deserves justice?" He didn't know why he was browbeating the girl to get her to tell her dad. Maybe it was the father in him that would want to know if it was Gus, so he could kill the person.

"It wasn't even in Pennsylvania, I'm pretty sure that if something happens on an Air Force base, it's not for regular police."

Another piece of the puzzle snapped into place. Deb had talked about Carl's oldest son who lives in Germany and in the Air Force.

"Did your oldest brother hurt your other brother?" he asked. The thought of that kind of betrayal was even shocking to him. Claire was a bitch but that was really were it started and ended.

"No, but he knew when it happened. He stopped it but blamed my other brother for making his friend do those things to him. My brother was only twelve, he never asked for any of that. I never want to see my oldest brother, C.J., again." The girl was shaking she was so livid, he didn't blame her.

"Molly-

"You can't tell anyone," she said before running back to where everyone else was.

Brian bit his tongue all through dinner and even tried for polite conversation. He didn't know Molly's brother but the whole thing made him feel sick.

"I have great news," Carl said near the end of the meal.

"What is it Carl?" Debbie asked as she added more to his plate.

"After over twenty years in the Air Force my son Carl Jr. is eligible for retirement. He and his wife have decided that they want the kids to be raised in the states, here in Pittsburgh to be specific. Now if only Vicky and Lewis would move here I would have my whole family together." The man was practically beaming. His daughter on the other hand looked sick. Debbie looked like she was ready to breathe fire. He didn't think it was going to be a happy reunion for everyone.

Justin left the apartment earlier in the day when Ethan started practicing. Ethan had promised to only practice certain times of the day. It still grated on Justin's nerves, especially because Ethan would complain about the mess if he tried to paint.

He was supposed to be eating dinner with his father, Molly, Debbie and her family. After she had heard his confession to Molly he couldn't face her. He told her that he was fine and that she couldn't tell anyone. She had begrudgingly agreed, he was unsure if she was telling the truth. He didn't want to risk it happening at the dinner table.

He thrust his fists into his jeans as he made his way down the street. It was already dark and past the time the dinner should be over. He just couldn't go back home yet. When Ethan wasn't practicing he was saying things to Justin that made him feel uncomfortable. While he was used to men lusting after him, Ethan's interest seemed a little bit controlling.

Every time Justin did anything Ethan would have an opinion on it. When he told Ethan he worked at Babylon the man said it was no better than selling himself on the streets. Being called a rentboy really didn't bother Justin as much as Ethan thought it would. He didn't realized that Justin had been called worse by people he loved and trusted. In a different life maybe he would have to be a rentboy, he didn't look down on them.

Justin jumped when he heard a car honk. He looked up to see a dark jeep. He thought about just walking by but he was intrigued by Brian Kinney. The man seemed to want nothing to do with him one minute, but still looked at Justin like he was something special at others.

He walked over to the jeep and got in. Brian looked over at him and gave him the devilish smirk. Justin found himself smiling at the attention that man was giving him.

"What are you doing out here this late?" Brian asked him.

"My roommate was practicing his violin. I decided to go for a walk and have been wandering around since. I drew some sketches at the park but it got too dark. What are you up to?" He had his sketch pad in his jacket pocket.

"Just had a family dinner then went to Woody's."

"Anyone interesting at Woody's?" he asked, not really wanting to know who Brian fucked.

"Much of the same. I can take you back to your apartment if you want," Brian offered. Brian's usual cockiness was dulled. It was like something was bothering him, Justin just didn't know what it was.

"I'd rather go to your place," Justin suggested. He didn't know why he couldn't get the guy out of his system but he was starting to not want to try.