The Past Returns

Disclaimer: I don't own High Mountain Rangers, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warnings: Angst, Disturbing themes, Child Abuse described.

Rating: FRT


The Past Returns
Chapter 7


Matt wanted to get back to his dad's cabin but it seemed as though the fates were conspiring against him. For the next two days the rangers were kept hopping, preventing him from getting away. Finally though they had gotten a break, the calls were slowing down and Matt dared to hope he could go see his dad and Cody. As he sat in his office, trying to determine if he could in fact leave for a few hours he heard his team calling out greetings. Standing up, he walked into the main room, surprised to see his dad and Cody standing there. "Dad, Cody, I was just thinking about coming to see you," he smiled.


"Really?" Cody couldn't keep the hopeful note from his voice.

The rangers glanced at each other, quickly picking up on the strained atmosphere between the Hawkes men. Robin tilted her head, quietly leaving the room, grabbing Jim's sleeve and pulling him along with the rest of them as she did.

"Really," Matt confirmed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought you were taking Mom's side," Cody mumbled.

"I did go to talk to her, she admitted that she knows who hurt you. I'm sorry I doubted you Cody," he quietly apologized.

"So you know who it was?"

Matt shook his head, disgusted with his mother, "She wouldn't tell me."

"Have you got some time to spare son?" Jesse interrupted.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Cody's remembered everything..."

"You know who hurt you?"

"Yeah," Cody whispered

"Who was it?" Matt demanded, itching to hurt the man who had hurt his little brother.

"He hasn't said yet," Jesse answered. "That's why we're here," he continued, "your brother wants to confront your mom and he wants you to be there."

"Please Matt, I'll tell you everything when we're at Mom's," Cody plead. "I just don't think I can tell it more than once," he added.

"Of course I'll be there," Matt quickly agreed. "Are we doing this now?"

"If you have the time, yes," Jesse replied.

"I'll just let the guys know I'm leaving," Matt said, grabbing his coat. "It's finally slowed down, I think they can handle it. I'll meet you out front, okay?"

Jesse nodded, wrapping his arm around Cody's shoulders and leading him back outside.

Matt sighed, he hoped Cody was ready for this, but he had his doubts. He hadn't missed how nervous and pale his little brother was looking, or the way he wouldn't meet his eyes. Cody was a Hawkes though and one thing that could be counted on with a Hawkes was their mile wide stubborn streak. Something that could get them into trouble sometimes, but just as often would help them through the tough times. Praying that this would be one of the times when that streak was beneficial, he went out back to find the other rangers. Quickly he told them he had a family situation to take care of, put Hart in charge and went out front to meet his dad and brother. "Ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Jesse answered, keeping a supportive arm around his youngest. Leading him to Matt's Blazer, he opened the door and waited for Cody to climb in.

Matt nodded, sliding behind the wheel, he backed out of his parking space and headed for Jackie's. "You don't have to do this today if you're not ready," he assured Cody.

"I need to," Cody argued.

"You shouldn't do it before you're ready."

"Matt I'm not sure I'll ever be ready," Cody pointed out. "I'm afraid if I wait I'll never manage to do it and I want some answers. I deserve some answers," he fiercely added.

Jesse squeezed his shoulder, "You'll get your answers son. We won't leave until she gives them to you," he promised.

In just a few minutes they were pulling up in front of Jackie's place. Matt and Jesse quickly climbed out of the truck, neither of them surprised when Cody didn't follow. Jesse leaned back into the truck, "It's up to you Cody."

"Yes sir," Cody mumbled.

"Do you want to go back home?"

"Yes," Cody quickly answered. "But," he continued after taking a steadying breath, "I need to do this." Determined to confront his mom, he climbed from the truck. On shaky legs, he followed his brother to the door, grateful for his dad's supportive arm across his back.

Jackie sucked in a startled breath when she saw who was standing outside her door. "Matt, Cody, Jesse, what a nice surprise," she greeted, pasting a smile on her face.

"Can we come in?" Matt asked.

"Of course," Jackie replied, stepping aside so they could pass. Shutting the door, she leaned her head against the cool wood and took a deep breath. Bracing herself, she followed them up the stairs. "What brings you all here?"

"We need to talk Jackie," Jesse answered, from his seat next to Cody.

"Talk? About what Jess?" Having given it some thought after Matt's departure the other day, she had decided her best defense was to play the innocent.

"I think you know about what," Jesse growled.

Jackie blinked, taken aback by his accusing tone. "I don't know what the boys have told you Jesse but I'm sure it was designed to make me look bad."

"What?" Matt demanded. "Are you saying we're making stuff up?"

"No, I'm saying that Cody doesn't want to stay with me and he'll say anything to make sure he doesn't have to. Unfortunately you seem to have bought into it."

Cody gasped, "Do you really hate me that much?"

"Cody honey, I don't hate you. You're my son, I love you but you can't expect me to stand here and be accused of doing something wrong," she innocently replied.

"I'm not making this up," he snapped.

"We know you're not son," Jesse assured him. "Jackie, Matt tells me you know who hurt our son. Who was it?" he demanded, glaring at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jesse."

"Can it sweetheart, I'm not buying what you're selling."

"I just want to know why you let him hurt me?" Cody asked, interrupting them.

"Cody, I didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why you're saying I did," she whined.

"He used to tell me I was worthless," Cody quietly began, ignoring her protests. "He said that it was my fault you and Dad broke up. That I was so bad you couldn't stand to be around me."

Jesse wanted to pull Cody into his arms, but something told him that he would never get through this if he did. So, in spite of his desires, he settled for placing a supportive hand on his son's back as he continued with his painful testimony.

"He hardly ever punished me right after I did something, so I didn't usually know what I'd done to set him off."

"I didn't know Cody," Jackie tried again.

"I remember going to you Mom," Cody cut her off. "I hurt, he never broke anything, but the bruises always had me hurting afterwards. I think I only went to you once," he swallowed, blinking hard to keep the tears from falling. "I remember your response though, you said I should be ashamed of making up such horrible stories. Then you," he took a deep breath, "you spanked me for lying. You had to have seen the bruises, but you didn't do anything about it. Why didn't you stop him?"

"Cody, honey I'm sorry, but I honestly don't remember any of this."

"Don't remember? How can you forget your four year old son's back covered in bruises?"

"Why do you hate me so Cody?" she whimpered. "Why are you making up these horrible lies?"

"They're not lies!" he yelled, jumping to his feet. "You're the one whose lying, you let him hurt me, I'm not making it up!"

Jackie flinched, moving backward in her seat as though she thought he would hit her.

"Calm down son," Jesse soothed, pulling him down to the couch. "You're not helping yourself by being upset."

"Dad's right Cody," Matt agreed, rubbing his brother's back.

Cody nodded, hanging his head as he tried to regain control of his emotions.

"Do you want to take a break Cody?" Matt quietly asked. He wasn't surprised when Cody nodded, he was a little surprised though, when he leaned against him. Silently he thanked God that Cody was trusting him again and in that instant he knew he'd made the right choice in standing behind his brother and not his mom. "I'm gonna take Cody outside, we'll be back in a few minutes," he informed his parents as he pulled Cody to his feet.

"Jesse you don't believe this do you?" Jackie asked as soon as the boys had left.

"Of course I do," Jesse snapped. "I can't believe you'd even ask me that," he growled. Pushing himself to his feet, he began to pace the room. He'd always known Jackie had problems with Cody, but he'd never thought she'd go this far. Even with Cody saying she knew about the abuse he'd received, he had hoped that the boy was mistaken. He had prayed that he was confusing dreams with reality, after all he'd been so young when it happened. Then Matt had told them what she said when he confronted her, confirming Cody's memories. As Jackie spoke, she only added further confirmation.

Jackie stepped closer, laying one hand on his arm. "He's confused Jesse, I would never let him be hurt," she tried again, her voice soft.

Jesse shot her a disbelieving look, "As Shakespeare said, me thinks the lady doth protest too much. He's not confused, I had hoped he was, but he's not. Is he?" he demanded, roughly grabbing her arm.

"Jesse let go, you're hurting me," she whined, tugging against his hold.

"Wouldn't want that, would we?" letting go of her. Disgusted by her, he quickly stalked away, moving to stare out the window at the boys.

"Coming here was a mistake," Matt said as soon as they were outside.

"No it wasn't, I can handle it," Cody insisted.

"Cody, look at what it's doing to you." Pulling him close, he moved his brother to the truck, needing some distance from his mother. "I don't want you to be hurt anymore by this. Please Code, let's just go to Dad's, you can tell us who hurt you and we'll make sure he pays, I promise."

"It's too late for that Matt, they won't do anything to him, it's been too long."

"You don't know that Cody, maybe it hasn't been."

"I need to do this Matt, but I don't know if I'm strong enough," he whispered.

"She's not going to admit anything," Matt tried to argue. It was hurting him so much to watch what this confrontation was doing to Cody, he just wanted to spare him. "I'm sorry I didn't know about it then, if I had..."

"No, it's not your fault Matt, I know that now. You were just a kid yourself, there wasn't anyway for you to know." An overwhelming need for comfort had him twisting into his brother's side, leaning heavily against him as Matt's strong arms wrapped around him. "Help me Matt, I'm not strong enough," he whimpered.

"I'll help you all I can," Matt whispered, holding him tightly. "You can have as much of my strength as you need, and if mine isn't enough I know Dad will give you his strength as well."

"Thank you, thank you," Cody whispered, clinging to his brother for all he was worth. "Ready to go back inside?"

"Whenever you are," Matt replied. "We're doing this at your pace little brother."

"Thanks." For several more minutes the two brothers stayed as they were, the younger soaking up the strength the older one freely offered. Finally pulling away, Cody looked up at Matt and squared his shoulders, "I'm ready."


Jackie looked up as her sons came back up the stairs, quickly looking away when she caught the look in Matt's eyes.

Jesse stepped over to his son's side, "You okay boy?"

"No, but I'm better. Can we sit down?"

"Of course," Jesse quickly replied, leading both boys to the couch. He didn't miss the fact that Matt's arm never left Cody's shoulder as they took their places, Cody ensconced between them.

"I've had enough of this, I want you to leave, all of you," Jackie ordered.

"We're not done and you owe me answers," Cody quietly said.

"How long did this go on Cody?" Jesse asked.

"It started, as far as I can remember, the first summer I came to visit her and Matt after she left."

"So you were three?"

"Yeah, it stopped when I was six."

"That was the last summer you stayed with your mom," Jesse quietly spoke.

"It was," Cody confirmed. "It was the worst too. I guess Matt being here is what stopped him from doing what he did that summer, or maybe I just wasn't old enough before that. Which was it Mom?"

Matt and Jesse glanced at each other, their eyes reflecting the same horrible suspicion. "Cody, what are you talking about?" Matt finally asked when it became apparrent that his mother wouldn't answer.

"He had been hitting me all along, but that summer," Cody shuddered. "That summer it changed and she let him get away with it. I know he's your brother Mom, but how could you let Uncle Roy do that to me?"

Jackie glared at him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do," Cody countered. "I saw you Mom. He came to my room, just like he'd been doing since Matt left. He took my clothes off and he hhhurt me," Cody whimpered.

"Oh God," Matt groaned, holding Cody close.

"He molested you?" Jesse had to ask, though he knew the answer.

"She watched, I saw her in the doorway and I thought it would finally stop. I thought she would make him stop, but she didn't, she just turned around and walked away." He shook, the memories overwhelming him. "Don't leave mommy, please I'll be good, make him stop, please make him stop," he whimpered, trapped in the memories of that horrible night.

"Shhhh, it's okay Cody, you're safe now, he can't hurt you again," Matt soothed.

"You bitch," Jesse growled. Jumping to his feet, he stalked to her. Grabbing her arms, he jerked her to her feet. "How could you let that man hurt our son? Why didn't you protect him?"

Jackie stared at him in shock, glancing between him and their boys she realized that the time for denial was past. "He's my brother, I couldn't turn him in."

"Cody is your son, he should've come first."

"I did what I could to protect him," she defended herself. "I sent him back to you the next day and I never had him come back unless Matt was here and never when Roy was here."

"How many time did Roy beat him before that? How many times did he molest him?" Jesse growled, barely controlling the urge to strangle her.

"He's exagerating Jesse," she whined. "Roy only put bruises on him once, and it was an accident. The other, Cody doesn't remember everything from that night."

"What doesn't he remember?"

"I came home early and I saw what Roy was doing to him," she finally admitted. "I suppose it would've looked to Cody like I left, but I didn't. I went back to the front door and shut it hard, I thought that would be better than getting into a fight with Roy in front of Cody. Within seconds Roy was out of the bedroom and I confronted him about what he'd done."

"But you didn't make him leave, or call the police," Jesse accused. "Instead you sent a defenseless child away and let the man who hurt him get away with it. What the hell do you think that boy must've thought when you did that?"

"I wasn't thinking about that, all I could think of was protecting Cody and Roy."

"Roy didn't deserve your protection," Jesse growled. "Look at your son Jackie," he snarled, moving aside so her view wasn't blocked. He winced at the sight of Cody wrapped in Matt's arms, sobbing, still swearing he would be good and begging his mother to stop his uncle. "You see what you've done to him, how could you do that?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him Jesse, I love him."

"Do you?" Jesse demanded. Leaning closer, he put his mouth next to her ear, "You never wanted him, is that why you let Roy get away with it?"

Jackie paled, her face quickly regaining color and reddening with anger. "How dare you?"

"How dare I?" Jesse repeated. "You say you love him, prove it."

"How?" she nervously asked.

"Tell me where to find your brother and testify against him."

"No, I can't. You can't ask me to choose between them."

"I shouldn't have to ask," he growled. Disgusted with her, he shoved her into the chair he'd pulled her from. Returning to his sons, he sat down next to Cody. "Cody, son, let's get out of here, okay?" he quietly asked.

"I'll be good, please don't send me away."

"Shhh, nobody is sending you away," Jesse soothed, Matt echoing his words. "Matt, can you open the door?"

"Yeah," Matt replied, not sure what his dad had in mind.

"Good," Jesse said. Scooping Cody into his arms, he carried him down the stairs, as if he were again six years old. Glaring at Jackie, he silently promised her swift and terrible retribution if she did anything to hurt Cody again. The alpha wolf in him howled victory when she cowered away from him, dropping her eyes in shame as they passed by her.

"Where are we going Dad?" Matt asked as he opened the door for him.

Jesse glanced at Cody, still mumbling promises to be good and pleas for help. "The hospital," he reluctantly answered.

"Yes sir," Matt sadly acknowledged as he helped Jesse get Cody settled in the truck. Climbing behind the wheel, he barely waited for Jesse to fasten his seatbelt before speeding away from the scene of his brother's greatest nightmare. As he drove, he prayed that the doctors at the hospital would be able to help Cody find his way back to them.


TBC.

Sorry it took so long for the reveal, hope y'all liked the chapter. Please feed the muse with reviews.