Justice

Disclaimer: I don't own High Mountain Rangers, or Jesse Hawkes, not making any money, just cheap thrills.
Warnings: Angst, Mention of Torture
Rating: FRT
Justice
Chapter 7
Surprisingly, getting Cody into the truck had been the easiest part of the day so far. If Dr. Zimmerman had thought keeping Cody in the bed was difficult, it was nothing compared to keeping clothes on him. When they had first arrived in Cody's room he had been naked, they hadn't said anything, thinking it was for his comfort. It wasn't until the nurse arrived that they realized that the moment he was alone he had removed the gown they'd put him in. The doctor theorized, and Jesse agreed, that Rassy probably didn't let Cody wear anything. After a few times of the boy stripping off his gown, everybody involved decided it would be best for him to just remain nude for now.
This morning, however, he had to be dressed in order to leave the hospital; it had proven to be a nearly impossible task. It wasn't until Jesse ordered him, in his best Marine officer's voice, that Cody stopped fighting them and left the clothes on. Based on the fight over the clothes, Jesse had been sure there would be equal difficulty getting him into the truck. Braced for the fight he was expecting, he had been stunned by Cody's easy acceptance as he climbed into the truck without a word. Glancing at Matt, he was met with a shrug. Returning the gesture he had climbed into the driver's seat and headed for the mountains.
The drive to the cabin had been quiet, though not the kind of comfortable silence he was use to with Cody. This had been a silence tight with tension, the kind of silence that makes your gut roil with anxiety as you wait for the coming storm. He was thankful that Matt had returned to Frisco to gather their belongings, with plans to meet them at the cabin later. As hard as it was for him to sit in the truck cab with Cody, he was sure his oldest would have been even more uncomfortable with the atmosphere. No, it was best for them all that Matt wasn't here.
Cody was sure now that this wasn't a dream, no dream could last this long or be this detailed. That left only two options; master had found somebody to impersonate his father and brother, testing him to see if he would mess up; or it really was his father driving the truck and he had to find a way to go back to master before he came after his family. Master had only started to go after them once, stopping when Cody quit refusing the order he had been given. If anybody had been observing him that day, they would have known it was the day he had fully broken to master's will. Cody didn't tnink of it like that, however, he only saw it as the day he had known that he would do whatever master wanted if it would save his family.
Although he had meant it when he originally offered himself as a slave to keep master from killing his father and brother, a part of him had continued to fight the imprisonment. That day had been the last one he'd given master any resistance. He didn't know how he had ended up here, but he knew he had to find a way back to master. If the man ever found out he had returned to his family, even if it hadn't been his fault, he would kill them, Cody knew that without a doubt. What if, though, what if it wasn't his father driving the truck? What if it was an imposter, somebody master had hired to test him? After thinking about it for a while, he decided it didn't matter, either way his duty was clear; he had to find a way to return to master.
As he drove, Jesse watched Cody from the corner of his eye. He wondered what was going through the boy's mind as the highway took them closer to home. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was time for Cody's next dose of antibiotics, which needed to be taken with food. Damn, how am I going to do this, Jesse asked himself. He couldn't see any way to take him into a restaurant without causing a scene, but he wasn't sure if he could leave him in the truck by himself. If there had been a fast food place in the area it wouldn't have been an issue, he would have just hit the drive-thru. "If wishes were horses," he mumbled under his breath. Spotting a sign for a small diner, he pulled off the highway and into the parking lot.
Cody sat in the passenger seat, his whole body tensing, ready to run at the first chance. That chance came sooner than expected as the truck came to a stop in the parking lot of a small diner. The vehicle had barely stopped moving when Cody threw open the door, jumped out and took off. Instinctively he headed away from the diner, towards the nearby woods. He had always been at home in the woods, but, for the moment he was only thinking that master's cabin was in the woods and he had to find master before it was too late. He was so focused on reaching the woods and finding a way back to where he belonged that he didn't realize he was being followed, nor how close his pursuer was until he felt arms encircling his waist, bringing him to a sudden halt.
Jesse was sure his heart stopped when Cody suddenly bolted from the truck. Running after him, it never occurred to him how his pursuit of the boy might look to those who witnessed it; his only thought was to bring his son back to the diner before he managed to get himself hurt. He had never expected to be grateful for the poor condition Cody was currently in, but he knew that if he'd been in top physical shape he would never have caught up to him. As it was, it was a near thing. The moment he pulled his son to a halt, the boy began to struggle to get free. "Cody stop it!" he ordered after several minutes of fighting to maintain his hold on the boy. Just as with the clothing issue, the moment he stopped trying to soothe or persuade and simply barked an order, Cody obeyed. It hurt to know that he had to treat his son as if he were the lowest raw recruit, he refused to think of him as what Rassy had made him, but he would do what he had to.
"Why did you run off son?" Jesse asked. He didn't really expect an answer, and he was proven right. Jesse sighed, this wasn't going to be easy. He had known that before, but it hadn't really hit him until now just how hard it would be. "Don't run again," he finally ordered. "We're going back to the diner and you're going to come in with me to get some food. We'll get it to go and you won't move from my side while we're in there, understood?"
Cody nodded, the tone of the man's voice telling him that he would regret any disobedience. If he had looked in Jesse's eyes, he would have seen the pain his father was feeling, but he wasn't allowed to look people in the eyes and so all he could go by was the tone of the older man's voice. Resigned to remaining here for now, he reluctantly walked back towards the diner with...Cody paused in his thoughts, who was he, father or imposter? Mentally shrugging he opted for thinking of him as his father, until proven wrong, the uncertainty of who the man was had quickly become confusing, so he decided to go with what was easiest.
"Hold it right there mister," an unfamiliar voice snapped, bringing Cody to a sudden halt. Glancing around, he was shocked to see two policemen standing there, guns drawn and pointed at his father. "Come on over here son, we won't let him hurt you," the man, sheriff he guessed, quietly told him. Cody took a step closer to his father; he wasn't sure what to do.
Taking in the crowd that had formed behind the sheriff and his deputy, Jesse quickly realized what was happening. Hell, what if must have looked like to these people when Cody took off. A kid running, an older man chasing him...of course they had called the police. He needed to explain what was happening to the sheriff, but he knew they wouldn't give him the chance to say anything until they had Cody safely away from him. "Cody, go stand with the deputy over there," he gruffly ordered. He ignored the pain it brought when his son quickly obeyed the order, his entire demeanor that of a whipped dog. "If you'll give me a minute I can explain everything sheriff," he said, turning his attention back to the man in charge.
"Explain?" Sheriff Chris Tanner was incredulous. What kind of explanation did this man think could justify the obvious abuse this boy had suffered? "Mister you're damned lucky I don't shoot you on the spot."
Jesse sighed, "I know it doesn't look good sheriff. Hell, I can imagine what it does look like but I promise you it's not whatever you're thinking."
"I don't think there's anything you can say, but you'll get your chance to explain, at the station," Chris firmly decided, his green eyes flashing with promises of fire and brimstone if he didn't like the answers he got.
"What happens to my son while you're asking your questions?" Jesse demanded.
Chris gaped at him. He couldn't believe the nerve of the man in front of him. "Mister you're not in any position to be asking questions? You damned sure aren't in position to make demands," he added, letting the other man know that he recognized the demand in his question.
"Sheriff I promise I'll tell you what you want to know, but Cody won't react well to being seperated from me," Jesse tried again, this time keeping his voice calm.
"You can't expect me to let him stay with you while we question you," Chris shook his head. "He'll be going to the hospital where he'll be checked for signs of abuse and if as I suspect, those signs are found you'll be going to jail while he goes to foster care."
"You'll find signs, but I'm not the one who hurt him," Jesse informed him. He bit back the smile that tried to form at the obvious look of surprise on the sheriff's face. "Look sheriff..."
"Tanner," Chris filled in.
Jesse nodded, "Sheriff Tanner, this is going to be hard to believe but there are people who can verify what I'm about to tell you. If you aren't able to confirm my story I'll gladly let you take me to the jail," he promised. Holding his breath, he waited to see if the sheriff would listen to him. He didn't want to consider what it might do to Cody to be taken away from only to be poked and prodded by more strangers.
Chris knew it was going against regs, but there was something about this man that told him he should listen. "Fine, talk," he ordered. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but the story he got sure wasn't it. As the man, who had given his name as Jesse Hawkes, told him the story of how he had come to be chasing his son through the field behind Mom's diner, he felt his own lunch threatening to make a reappearance. If his story was true...he shook his head, he didn't understand how anybody could hurt a child in such horrific ways. This went beyond anything he'd ever heard of, and in his years in law enforcement he'd heard and seen plenty of sick things.
"He hasn't spoken since we found him, not since Rassy ordered him not to say another word," Jesse continued. "He wasn't even able to give a statement, though I'm not sure he would even if he was willing to talk," Jesse sadly admitted.
"I'm going to make some calls, don't try anything while I'm gone or Deputy Sanchez will shoot you, am I clear?" Chris asked.
"Crystal."
Chris nodded and turned away. In a few long strides he had reached his car and picked up the mic. It didn't take too long to verify the story Hawkes had told him. Dropping the mic, he returned to where his deputy stood guard over Mr. Hawkes and his son. "I'm sorry Mr. Hawkes, but you have to understand what this looked like..."
"No need to apologize sheriff," Jesse quickly assured him. "You were just doing your job. I would like to get some food now, Cody's past due for his next antibiotic," he explained.
"Sheriff?" Sanchez asked. Surely the sheriff wasn't going to buy this guy's story. Anybody could see that the poor kid was being abused and this man was most likely the person inflicting the abuse.
"His story checks out Buck, I'll explain it to you later." Glancing around at the crowd, Chris didn't think they'd be as easy to convince. "Look Mr. Hawkes I'm not sure you going in the diner is a good idea right now so how about a compromise?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"You and your son wait in your truck, I'll get your food...better yet, Buck will get your food," he quickly decided after a rumble of displeasure from the gathering crowd. "I'll make sure you don't have any trouble."
Jesse took in the crowd, quickly picking up on the same mood the sheriff was. "Maybe I should just go on to the next place," he doubtfully questioned the sheriff's idea.
"You said the boy needs his medicine and it's already been delayed. Don't worry, they won't give you any trouble," Chris assured him. Getting a nod from the other man, he and Buck escorted the Hawkes' back to their truck, Chris standing guard while Buck went after their food.
Jesse wasn't sure how he did it, but somehow Sheriff Tanner managed to keep the crowd under control with nothing more than his presence and an occasional well-aimed glare. It reminded him some of Mike McBride, though Mike would have needed to raise his voice to fully control a crowd like this. Tanner's ability was definitely impressive and Jesse was glad one of the people in the crowd had called him. He hated to think about what would have happened if he'd had to face the hostile crowd on his own.
Luckily the diner was nearly as fast as McDonalds and in only a few minutes Buck was returning to the truck with their food and drinks. Setting the bag on the seat and handing the drinks to Cody, Jesse put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking lot, anxious to put the diner behind him. He smiled when he heard Cody's stomach growl. "We'll stop at the next rest area and eat, then you can take your medicine. Think you can wait that long?" Jesse sighed when Cody failed to answer with anything other than a nod. Pretending he didn't hear, he asked again, this time ordering his son to answer him.
Cody whimpered, the training he'd received from master had him itching to obey the order, but master had ordered him to remain silent. Chewing on his lip, he began to tremble lightly as he tried to figure out how to handle the internal conflict. He wasn't even aware of the whimper sounding from his throat until a gentle hand suddenly rubbed up and down his arm, making him jump.
"It's okay Cody, you don't have to talk right now," Jesse assured, quickly rescinding his order. He wanted his son back, more than he could say, but he knew that if he pushed him too hard he ran the risk of losing him forever. He'd just have to find some way to reach him, to convince him that he was free of Larry Rassy and didn't need to be afraid anymore.
TBC
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