Carolina Wren

A Report #1

Up in Kota's room, the boys watch through the window as a car passes by them and pulls into Wren's garage. It's been thirty minutes or so since they've said their goodbyes and up until now there hasn't been much activity in the house. They all still watch with bated breath, waiting to see if they'll catch a glimpse of what's haunting the Nelson children.

None of the boys can put a finger on it but they all see the shadow in Wren's blue eyes that they've seen reflected in all of their brothers' eyes at one point or another. To add insult to injury, they can see that same shadow in Dylan. Those shadows have activated all of their protective instincts, calling to memories that they all wish didn't exist.

"It seemed like Dylan and Wren had fun," Luke said, breaking the silence.

Nathan snorted. "Yeah, until North showed up."

North stepped away from the window growling, "I didn't do anything."

"We know you didn't," Kota said, giving Nathan a look. "And Dylan relaxed once he decided you and Silas wouldn't let North bother him. Wren was going to have to step out, anyway, once the babies woke up."

Silas was still holding the basketball in his hands, spinning it between his fingers as he watched the window. "When Wren went inside with Victor, Dylan told me he was having a good time. He asked if we'd be able to come over again sometime. I told him that a few of us may be able to come by tomorrow if he wanted and he got stiff. Said it wasn't a good idea. When I asked why, he told me that their mom gets mad when she thinks Wren's hanging around boys."

"She did tell Kota that we had to be gone before her mom got home," Victor pointed out. "It's not unusual for moms to be weird about their teenage daughters hanging out with teenage boys."

Silas shook his head with a scowl. "You didn't see his face. He was terrified of the idea of us showing up when his mother was home. Kota, you have a little sister. Would Jessica care if Erica chewed you out for a girl knocking on the door, asking to hang out outside?"

Kota shook his head. "I mean, I wouldn't get in trouble but if my mom did have an issue with it, Jessica wouldn't care. She'd probably even tell her if I didn't beg her not to, first." But he knew she wouldn't have told their dad. The thought brought his attention back to the window and to something Victor had said when they first got back to his room.

"And you said she was adamant about keeping the babies from Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne?" Kota asked as he watched the house, hoping for some signal from Wren that everything was fine. Ready to spring into action at the first sign of distress.

Victor nodded as he lowered himself into Kota's desk chair, his fingers pressing out a piano tune from memory onto his thighs. "Said she didn't want rumors, but it felt more desperate than that. She doesn't seem like the type to worry about her social standing."

Mr. Blackbourne and Doc were both on their way over now for a family meeting and a sleepover, so the younger boys were going to have to get their story straight now.

"We can't keep this from them," Nathan argued, again. It had been the first thing out of his mouth when Victor first brought it up.

"But is it really the most important part right now?" North asked, a frown on his face as he stood next to Kota, glaring at her house. He was still hurt about the two older Nelson's reactions to him. He had seen the blatant fear in their eyes, the resolve to protect her brother in Wren's. "There aren't any visible bruises on her or any of the others. Everybody is clean and dressed in appropriate clothes. Victor said it's basic but there was food in the fridge."

Silas groaned, throwing himself backwards onto Kota's bed with his hands over his eyes. "Maybe North is right. We can hold off on mentioning the littlest two until we get to know her better and stop working off assumptions. If Doc starts demanding to do a checkup on the babies, she's never going to trust us again. She's skittish. Her trust in us is on a hair trigger as it is."

Luke pipes up, "Mr. Blackbourne isn't going to like it if we spent three hours at her house and the only information we have for him is that Wren doesn't wear shoes outside and has the best basketball goal on the street."

"We have more than that," Kota reminded him. "There's Dylan. She didn't say he's off limits, and I see him outside from time to time. We can tell them about Dylan without breaking her trust."

"We're going to be in so much trouble when they find out about the babies," Nathan groans. Of all of them, it's normally him and Gabe that have the hardest time holding things back from their team leader. Most of them can only keep information for a short period of time as it is.

Gabe finally speaks up, a dark expression on his face. "We do have more." There's a jumble of demands for him to explain himself before he snaps, "Shut the fuck up so I can! Jesus Christ... She gave me some details on why North makes her and Dylan nervous. It's not just his sunny disposition. She said he reminded them of someone they both knew. When I asked her if he was still a problem, she evaded me."

Kota straightened up. "Victor, start running a check on any known exes of her mother's." Victor was already scooting back towards Kota's computer, his fingers ready to fly across the keyboard just as expertly as they flew across piano keys. "We can focus on her encounter with McCoy and the lead Gabe got about the man from their past." Kota could still see the way Mr. McCoy deliberately stepped in front of Wren back in the cafeteria. He was targeting her for a reason. "For now, the matter of Keegan and Juni is one she shared with us in confidence. If you're asked directly, tell them the truth but you can direct either of them back to me. I'll take the fall if they're upset about us keeping it to ourselves."

The boys nod but with great reluctance. Even hesitant Nathan has no intention of letting Kota shoulder all of the ire when, not if, Mr. Blackbourne catches wind of them withholding information.