Stronger Together chapter 165

Gabby, fortunately, was not an orphan. Chastel had snatched her off  the playground rather than from home so her parents were most likely  fine. However, a random guy returning your kid was bound to stir up  questions, so I called Harry and asked him to pass a message to our  favorite lieutenant, asking her to come and meet us. In the meantime I  brought Gabby out to the parking lot and we sat down to wait for her.  She seemed shaken, which made sense after all that, and I put an arm  around her "You ok kid? I'm here and you're safe. This is all over."

She  nodded against my side "That was really scary. But you came to help  just like you said you would. Is that guy really gone?" Her voice  sounded raw and vulnerable, and I made a mental note to ask Murphy about  counselors because I had the very unfortunate feeling that Gabby was  going to be having nightmares about what happened to her today for a  very long time. Maybe I could arrange for her to spend some time over at  Charity's with Bea. The little girl was recovering from losing her  mother and being kidnapped by vampires so she might be able to relate.

I  smiled down at her gently before I responded "Yeah, he's gone. You'll  never have to worry about him again. My friend is coming to help take  you home, shes a police officer." I wasn't sure if she was blocking out  that gun shot at the end or if she just really hadn't registered that he  might actually have died. It made sense if he seemed a bit invincible  to the kid. I regretted letting her get taken again even if I managed to  get her back, I wasn't sure she was going to really feel safe for quite  some time. We lapsed into silence as we sat there staring off into the  dark waiting.

I  was really hoping Murphy wasn't going to ask about Chastel. If it was  just for me no way she would let it go but as Harry's student I got some  leeway because of their close friendship. I didn't know Murphy very  well honestly, I'd never really been a law and order type of person.  Laws always seemed pretty arbitrary to me and I mostly just did what I  thought was right. Kara was probably the only one of us that had really  taken to Murphy unsurprisingly, and she visited the other woman  sometimes to talk.

Murphy  pulled up into the parking lot about twenty minutes later in a normal  looking car. When Gabby saw her she hid behind me and Murphy's face had a  sad look on it when she noticed, like she could pretty much guess how  much the girl was hurting from that one small movement. She approached  slowly but casually, hands in her pockets. "Evening Cameron. Harry  called and said you might need someone to take this little one home. Her  mom and dad must really be missing her." She crouched down, putting  herself on the level with Gabby but not patronizing the girl "I'm  Karrin, it's nice to meet you."

Gabby  peeked out from behind me shyly "Are you a police officer? Cameron said  you were, but you aren't wearing a uniform and your car is just a  normal car?" Her curiosity seemed to make her a bit less wary of Murphy,  though the small woman also had plenty of practice coming off as non  threatening. That impression was completely false of course, but she'd  gotten good at seeming harmless, especially for situations like this.  The girls question also seemed to amuse the lieutenant, and I saw a bit  of pride in her eyes as the girl stared her down.

Murphy  was clearly also amused, based on her tone "I'm a lieutenant, we're  usually plainclothes, so we don't have to wear uniforms. My car is  actually specially reinforced so I can hold bad guys in the back, but  otherwise it's mostly a normal car. If you want you can sit in the front  with me when we take you home." She probably assumed, much like I did,  that the little girl would be a bit sensitive to being restrained or  kept in a place designed to hold people after her kidnapping and  imprisonment. I wasn't sure how much Harry had told her, but Murphy had  good instincts.

To  our surprise she shook her head quickly "No! I want to sit in the back  with Cameron." She clung to my side, clearly feeling safer with me. I  was touched by her obvious faith in me, but at the same time that was a  bit worrying. I wasn't going to be around all the time and if she  couldn't function without me it would really hurt her in the long run. I  was definitely going to have to introduce her to Bea, the little girl  had also dealt with a bit of an attachment issue after I saved her, and  she could definitely help.

Murphy  picked most of that up from context and nodded kindly "Of course, I'm  sure Cameron will be happy to come with us. You can sit with him if you  want." I actually wasn't super comfortable getting into the reinforced  back seat of Murphys car. Once we dropped off the girl she could just  leave me there until I told her about Chastel. Granted she probably  wouldn't, but I still had trouble trusting her. I didn't like putting my  faith in anyone who valued ideals over other people. You could never  tell what people like that would do.

Murphy  had shown a willingness to look past her convictions for Harry after  years of friendship, but I wasn't Harry. I believed the lieutenant liked  me well enough, but I definitely didn't think she would compromise her  values for me. Murphy was, in a lot of ways, a fanatic when it came to  the law, and you can't trust zealots. Still she was nice enough and I  didn't have to trust her to like her so I swallowed my worry and climbed  into the back seat with Gabby, making sure to help the little girl in  first.

The  drive to the house was surprisingly relaxed. Murphy let Gabby pick the  music, and the little girl insisted on making us sing with her. Murphy  actually had a really nice voice, and we shared in the misery of being  forced to belt out bad pop music while Gabby cheerfully shouted along.  Still, it was nice see the little girl already starting to get back to  what I assumed was normal. Granted it wouldn't be that easy for her to  get past things completely, but for right now she was happy and smiling  and that was worth belting out "This Love" by Maroon five with a ten  year old.

The  next song was "Yeah" by Usher and Ludacris, but Murphy didn't think it  was child appropriate so she made us change it. Gabby and I both sulked  about that, Gabby because she felt patronized and me because I loved  that song when I was a kid and hadn't heard it in years. Finally  however, we pulled upside a small two story house in the suburbs and  Gabby fell silent. She stared up at the house with a bit of trepidation.  It was hard to know what she was thinking, was she angry at them for  letting her get taken? Guilty for getting grabbed? Scared because they  couldn't protect her?

Not  everyone's reactions to trauma were the same. I had no clue how to help.  All I could do was take her hand and offer her an encouraging smile.  Murphy had turned off the radio and was just sitting up front, giving  the girl the time she needed. Gabby sat and collected herself for a  while and then turned to me "Bye Cameron. Thanks for helping me. Promise  you'll come visit me?" Her eyes looked wide and scared in the dim  illumination of the street lights. I took out some paper from the center  console of Murphy's car and wrote down my number before handing her the  slip.

I gave  her a comforting smile "I can do even better. You can call me any time  you need to talk, day or night. I'm always here to listen even if you  just want to talk about your day. As for visiting if Karrin can talk to  your parents you can came over to my neighbors house. She's taking care  of a girl who went through something a lot like you did and I think you  guys could be good friends. Introduce you to all my friends, I just know  they would love to meet you." Raven would be the most qualified to help  her, and Murphy knew about my girlfriend and her powers.

The  woman understood my intentions and nodded encouragingly. Gabby looked  shy but happy and smiled up at me "Ok, that sounds fun." She dove  forward and gave me the tightest hug she could. "I'll call tomorrow ok? I  can tell you all about school." She smiled at Murphy and then hopped  out of the car, running up to her front door to knock. Her parents came  out and burst into tears of joy, scooping the girl up and holding her  tight. Murphy got out and followed her up, taking out her badge and  giving the parents some story about what happened that they could  accept.

I  slipped out my phone and dialed "Hey Rae, it's me. We're dropping Gabby  off at home. She's the little girl I saved from Chastel. He's not going  to be a problem for us anymore. One down three to go I suppose. How is  Andi doing? I never asked where you guys actually found her but I hope  she's ok, knowing Chastel her captivity could have gone either way. He  was the type to torment someone with waiting for death, but I get the  impression he also just liked normal torment." I relaxed back into the  seat, letting the tension melt out of my body.

Raven  gave a sigh of relief "I'm glad she's alright. I was terrified for her  just hearing about it, I can't imagine what you must be feeling. Andi  is...not well. I'm working with her but she's in a bad place. It wasn't  what happened during captivity that did it, it was knowing that she had  the person responsible for Kirby's death right in front of her and  couldn't do anything to him. Not to mention actually being captured by  him, she felt like she was disrespecting Kirby's memory with her  weakness. You and I know that's nonsense of course, but feelings aren't  always rational."

Her  tone was soft and sad "I'm not sure how much I can really do here Cam.  This is going to be on her to get past or not, I can help her talk  through her emotions but this isn't vampire soul nonsense. I'm an empath  not a therapist, I can tell what she's feeling but not how to get her  past it. She should really talk to a professional, but she refuses. Barb  is with her now, hopefully she can convince her to reconsider." She  filled me in on their adventures tracking down Andi and where she'd been  held and we said I love you and goodnight.

After  I hung up Murphy came back out and climbed in, starting the car. She  stared ahead for a minute, not driving or even taking it out of park,  before speaking. "I don't know what happened to the guy who took her,  and I don't want to know. Harry didn't do into detail but I gather he  was a bad guy and responsible for what happened to your friend, plus he  was a loup-garou like Macfinn. I won't ask any questions, I'll just  trust that you meant it when you told her he couldn't hurt her again."  With that, she put the car in drive and pulled out, headed for my place.