Sometimes They Come Back
By LD Steen
Warning: Very strong warning for discussion of child
abuse.
Trina Walker grinned at the bespectacled, soon-to-be six
year old bouncing at her sister's side.
"...and I wanna make everyone little pyramids with their
names in hieroglyphics..."
It had been a hard year for Daniel. Already he had lost
both parents, been rejected by his grandfather
and spent numerous months bouncing from one foster home
to another. Trina shuddered as she remembered
a few of the homes the poor child had been sent to.
Thankfully, young Daniel had found a kindred spirit
in his "Mama Kat".
She listened in amusement as the boy chattered on
excitedly about his upcoming birthday party. After Kat
had discovered that Daniel had never attended a birthday
party before, much less had one of his own, she
had gone all out. At Daniel's request a sphinx-shaped
cake (chocolate of course) had been ordered, and
the decorations had Egyptian themes to honor Daniel's
birthplace. Now Trina found herself at the mall,
already loaded down with packages. She was so caught up
in Daniel's excitement that she missed the tall,
well-dressed man glowering at them from a nearby men's
shop. Suddenly the man's heated glare drew Trina's
attention and she stopped suddenly, rooted to the spot.
"Aunt Trina?" Daniel's soft spoken query brought her
back to attention. She looked up to find Daniel and
Kat both eying her curiously.
"Kat, get Daniel and get the hell out of here!" she
hissed, her eyes searching frantically around, but
the man had vanished. Kat was confused as Trina gave
her a firm shove in the direction of the nearest exit.
"What?!"
"Get him out of here. NOW!"
Kat heard the fear in her sisters voice. She reached for
Daniel, but suddenly he was torn from her grasp.
"Well, well, if it isn't little Danny boy."
"Nooo..." Daniel wailed as he fought to free himself
from his captor.
"Get your hands off my son!" Kat growled menacingly. She
made a move to grab for Danny, but the man had
the boy's arm in a painful grip.
"He ain't your kid lady. He's just a ..."
"Let him go Fisher." Trina shouted as she quickly
assessed the crowd forming around them. "Please" she
implored, "Someone call the police."
Suddenly Daniel was thrown hard against a nearby display
window. His yelp of pain ended abruptly as
the glass rained down around him. The man turned back to
Trina and back-handed her. "Shut up bitch."
Trina staggered back with the force of the blow and
landed in a crumpled heap on the floor. Kat suddenly
launched herself at the man and they both went down in a
tumble of arms and legs. As quickly as it had
started, the brawl ended as strong arms lifted the angry
man off Kat. She hurried to Daniels side as a
young airman pushed her attacker roughly against a wall.
Their attacker was screaming obscenities as Kat
knelt beside Daniel, carefully brushing shattered glass
from the unconscious child. A moment later a
gentle touch to her shoulder caused her to look up into
Trina's dazed green eyes. A thin trail of blood
fell steadily from Trina's temple, but she ignored it as
she gently examined her young charge.
"I've called and ambulance, Miss." a security guard
reassured her. He opened a first aid kit he had
grabbed and started treating Daniel. They were horrified
at the numerous cuts, but mostly by a huge
shard of glass that had buried itself in Daniel's right
thigh. The boy moaned softly as Kat packed
gauze around the glass to steady it then carefully taped
it in place.
"Keep him still, Sis." she ordered, but Daniel still
hadn't awakened.
A paramedic had arrived, and several police officers.
Their attacker was quickly handcuffed and led away.
The airman laid a comforting hand on Kat's shoulder as
he lead her away so the paramedics could work
on Daniel.
"Miss, you've got to give them room to work."
Kat turned furiously to Trina.
"Who the hell is that bastard?"
"He...he's Jeremy Fisher. He was one of Danny's foster
fathers. I...I thought he was still in jail.
Kat, I swear, I never thought Daniel would ever see him
again.
"Jail? Jail for what? Is he the one who hurt Danny?"
"Kat, you know Danny was hurt before you got him . I...I
just didn't tell you..." she was saved
from further explanation as the paramedics called Kat
over.
"We're ready to roll. Do you want to ride in with us?"
Kat nodded and trailed after the stretcher carrying
Daniel. As they walked by she glared at Trina.
"You better hurry along little sister. You've got a hell
of a lot of explaining to do."
Kat paced impatiently in the waiting area. Danny had
been rushed to surgery as soon as they had arrived
at the hospital. Trina joined her a short time later,
but Kat just glowered angrily at her. Trina cringed
under the stony glare.
"I'm so sorry Kat. I honestly never thought we'd hear
from him again." she offered weakly.
"Tell that to Danny." Kat answered coldly."Tell him how
you never bothered to let me know that someone
was around who just might have a personal grudge against
him."
"Kat, I wasn't told Fisher was out of prison." Trina
answered angrily."last I heard her was serving a
ten year minimum."
"What was the charge?"
"child abuse and..."
Kat cringed. There was more, and she wasn't at all sure
she wanted to know what it was.
"And?"
Trina slumped dejectedly in the hard plastic chair. "and
sexual abuse of a minor."
"Shit!!" Kat exploded. "Oh God Trina, what else haven't
you told me?"
"Linda Gentry, she was Danny's foster mother, she wasn't
married when she joined the program. She was
a wonderful person. I checked her out myself." She
hesitated for a moment then sighed deeply then
continued, "About two weeks after Daniel was placed with her,
Jeremy came to live with her. I never heard of the man
until then. They married a few weeks later."
"How long was Danny there?"
"About two months. It was Daniel's longest placement. I
truly didn't have a clue what was going on."
Kat seemed to soften somewhat as she realized how hard
the tale was to tell.
"Then?" she urged gently
"I...I just had a feeling one day. I made a surprise
check." she trembled with the horror of the memory."God,Kat,
I could hear Daniel screaming as soon as I drove
up. I tried the door,but it was locked. Finally, I just
broke a window." her hands balled into fists. "Fisher
had beaten him...had him tied to the bed. He...he was
getting ready to...to rape him." the hands clawed into
her legs as she continued. "I hit the bastard, hell
I don't even know with what. He was out cold when I
untied Daniel. Hell, he was still out when the police
came to arrest him. I thought I'd killed him."
"No more than he would have deserved." Kat growled as
she pulled her sister into an embrace.
"Danny was hurt...badly. I got him to the hospital, but
he wasn't moving. He wouldn't respond to anyone
either. He just... he just screamed. They kept him
sedated for days. When he finally awoke he was terrified
whenever anyone came near him. It took almost a week
before he would let me even touch him." Kat rocked her
gently. "I can't believe he trusts me now Kat. After all
that he still trusts me."
"You didn't know Trina. I'm sure he knew that somehow."
"Two weeks later the hospital released him. He had a
compound fracture of the arm and still had bruises
everywhere. I had to find him a safe place. Somewhere I
knew he wouldn't be hurt again."
"So you brought him to me?"
"Yes. I knew you were still hurting after losing Jimmy,
but I trusted you more than anyone."
Kat gently wiped the tears from her sister's face.
"thank you. I...I love Daniel more than I ever thought
possible. I don't know what I'd do without him."
They both looked up as a white-haired doctor entered the
room.
"Miss Walker? You're here for Daniel Jackson?"
"Yes," Kat nodded, "I'm his legal guardian."
"Well, Daniel was a very lucky little boy."
"He's OK?"
"Well, he will be. The glass just missed an artery.
There is some muscle damage, but it will heal.
He had a pretty deep cut on his left arm too that we
stitched up and numerous smaller cuts to his face
and torso, but nothing life threatening."
"Is he awake?"
"Yes, and waiting for you. He's in room 327. He's still
a little groggy, but he's been calling for you."
"I can stay with him?"
"Absolutely."
"Doctor?" Trina questioned hesitantly, "When will Daniel
be released? He has a party planned next week."
The doctor smiled softly. "He should be out in a couple
of days barring any complications."
"Thank God."
"As I said, Daniel is a very lucky little boy."
"Hey baby, feeling any better?"
"Mama!!"
Kat gathered him into a tight embrace. He was trembling
as Kat held him, and she felt his tears
wetting the front of her shirt, but she just held him
tighter.
"He was supposed to be gone Mama. Aunt Trina promised."
"I know baby. " Kat murmured as the boy clung to her
desperately. "She thought he was locked up.
We still don't know how he got out."
"He's gonna come back." Daniels voice had a hysterical
edge, but Kat just shook her head as she rocked him.
"No baby, he'll never touch you again as long as I'm
around." He snuggled impossibly closer.
It was almost an hour later that Kat felt the little boy
relax into an exhausted slumber, but she
continued to murmur soft reassurances to him. Finally
she allowed her own tears to fall as she held
her little boy.
"He'll never, never get near you again. I'll kill him
first."
Kat sat propped against the headboard of the small
hospital bed, Danny held protectively in her lap. They
had found a show about Native Americans and were
watching it together. Daniel still rarely allowed anyone
but Kat any kind of physical contact, but he was getting
better about it.
A knock at the door startled them both. Daniel whimpered
as a sandy-haired man in a uniform entered the
room. It took only a moment for Kat to recognize the
airman who had helped them at the mall. He was
carrying several wrapped gifts and a huge stuffed lion.
"I'm sorry Miss, " he muttered as he shifted the
packages to a bedside table. "I didn't mean to frighten
the boy."
Daniel's eyes were huge as he cowered against Kat. She
rubbed his back reassuringly.
"It's OK Danny, this is the gentleman who...who stopped
the man who hurt you."
The man grinned broadly.
"Hi Daniel, I'm George. I just wanted to come by and
check on you. I thought I'd bring you another friend
too." he held the lion out to Daniel who smiled shyly as
he hesitantly accepted the toy. "I heard your birthday
was coming around and I brought you a few things. I know
it can be rough being stuck in a hospital room."
"Thanks you"
Kat smiled as Daniel cuddled the lion which was almost
as big as he was, "Yes, thank you, and not just
for the gifts. I had hoped to get a chance to tell you
how much we appreciate you helping like you did."
"You're very welcome. I only wish I had arrived before
Daniel here got hurt."
"But it could have been so much worse. Thanks you."
George sat in a chair next to the bed. "Well, young man,
are you going to open your presents?"
"No, not til my birthday. I have a big party and I want
to open them there."
"A party? Well it sounds like fun. I just wanted to see
how you liked what I got you."
Daniel wet his lips nervously and looked pleadingly at
Kat "You...you could come to my party if you wanna."
he offered softly, "I'd like to have you there if you
wanna come."
"Well, Daniel, I'm not sure that would be OK with your
Mom."
Two pairs of imploring blue eyes turned to Kat who
laughed lightly.
"Of course you're welcome to come, but can you make it?"
"I'm on leave for the next two weeks. I'd love to come
if you're sure it's no bother."
"We'll look forward to seeing you then. Friday at 4?"
She scribbled her address and phone number on a
scrap of paper.
"I'll see you Friday then. Thank you ma'am."
"Kat"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, please call me Kat. Ma'am makes me feel like
my grandmother."
"Kat it is then" he grinned at Daniel, "I don't suppose
you'd like to go to a movie after the party
would you?"
"Mama?"
"It's up top you Daniel, Its your day."
"Can my Mama come too?" he asked George softly. "I
really think she'd like to."
"Of course, It wouldn't be the same without her." George
whispered back as he smiled at Kat "then
maybe you could talk her into going out to dinner with
me Saturday too?"
"Yep, I bet I can."
Kat was amazed at the trust Danny was exhibiting. Until
now no one other than herself had been allowed
near Daniel in days.
"Thank you, and I'd love to join you for dinner." she
smiled shyly.
"Thank God that's over!" Kat muttered as she picked up
the last of the plastic cups littering her front yard.
Trina walked beside her holding a garbage bag that was
almost full. George walked on the other side of Kat.
"I just want to know where you picked up that cake. It
was incredible."
Trina laughed. "Kat knows a wonderful cake decorator. It
cost a fortune but it turned out beautifully."
"And well worth it to see the look in Daniel's eyes" Kat
added.
"Definitely a birthday to remember." Trina handed George
the trash bag. "I'm going to make sure Daniel
finishes putting all his things away. You two can finish
up out here OK?"
She walked away, but turned a few feet from the pair and
watched as they chatted softly.
"Aunt Trina?"
"Hey Danny, I was just coming in to help you out."
"Aunt Trina, is George going out with Mama?"
"Well, George is taking you and Kat out to the movies
tonight, remember?"
"I mean...are they going to start dating?"
Trina kneeled beside Daniel. " does that worry you
kiddo?"
"Well, what if... what if he doesn't like me? What if
he's like Jeremy?"
Trina looked at Daniel thoughtfully. "honey, to be
honest, I can't even begin to imagine that man
to be anything like Jeremy Fisher. I think he really
thinks Kat is someone he'd like to get to know
better but I don't believe he'd ever hurt either one of
you."
"Mama looks happy with him doesn't she."
"Yes baby, she does, but she's even happier every time
she's with you."
She picked up her small nephew and slung him over one
shoulder, tickling him gently. Daniel
giggled, but Trina missed the look he shot at the couple.
"He'd better not hurt my Mama. I'll hurt him if he does."
"Trust me kiddo, if Lieutenant George Hammond hurts my
sister, he won't know what hit him."
"Promise?"
"Promise!!"
"Cool!!"
The End
