Chapter Text
Pipe Dream
PattRose
Summary:
Someone just wiped out an entire family and left one survivor and it's up to John and Dorian to find out why. Dorian is reminded that he'll never have a real family. John realizes he won't either.
Work Text:
Pipe Dream
By PattRose
Summary: Someone just wiped out an entire family and left one survivor and it's up to John and Dorian to find out why. Dorian is reminded that he'll never have a real family. John realizes he won't either.
Word Count: 4150
Warnings: Violence, angst, bad language
Rating: Mature for Violence
Genre: Slash Implied
John and Dorian were in the car driving to a crime scene when John went to reach for something at the same time as Dorian and they're hands met. John smiled at Dorian when he realized he was crazy about Dorian. And he was fairly certain that Dorian was wild about him, too. They were both good for each other.
John decided to get back to the crime scene talk. "What do you think happened there, Dorian?"
"John, I'm not a Psychic, I have no idea. I'll have to look at the actual crime scene and see what it tells me."
John snickered and sobered up as he asked, "I meant what do you think about a man shooting his entire family and then himself. Do you see that happening more than I think it does?"
"I don't know the answer you want for this, John. I know that they told us that the man shot his three children, then shot his wife and then himself. Do you have reason to believe its not so?"
"I just don't want to believe that any man could kill his entire family in one day. Oh hell, I find it hard to believe if they only killed one family member. What was wrong with him?" John wondered.
"Maybe something happened at his job, at the paint factory and he snapped. We've seen it happen many times, John. Don't act like it's so surprising."
"Wait a minute; didn't you say he had four kids?" John asked.
"Yes, but the report says three were killed. Where is the fourth child?" Dorian inquired.
"Contact Valerie and ask her how many children were killed and what were their ages. Then ask how old the one that lived is," John suggested.
Dorian contacted her on her radio and asked these very questions.
"Dorian, there are four children, but he missed on the fourth child. She's a baby girl and she's still alive. Is that all you needed?" she asked.
"No, what do you think of the crime scene, Valerie?"
"I think it fucking sucks. I can't believe a man would kill his entire family," Valerie said with downright anger in her voice.
"We'll be there in five minutes, thank you for the update," Dorian said.
"Okay, why did he miss the baby? That makes no sense at all. Why kill each person with one shot to their head and miss the baby completely? This makes no sense to me, Dorian."
"It doesn't to me either, John. I think it's horrible and I'm not looking forward to seeing the crime scene at all. I really like kids and this is going to be really hard."
John drove up in front of the house with all of the police cars around it and parked. "Come on partner, we have to do it."
Dorian followed him in, dreading the entire scene. There was a woman from the state holding a screaming baby, bouncing her on her hip and the baby wasn't enjoying it at all. Dorian walked over to her and said, "Let me take her outside for a moment and she'll calm down. It's too crazy, wild and noisy in here for her to be acting normal."
The woman handed the screaming child to Dorian and the baby immediately stopped crying. Dorian walked around the room and the baby didn't cry at all.
"Dorian, why is that baby not crying now?" John asked, in awe of his partner having such good luck with a screamer.
"It might be my heartbeat. It might be calming her down somewhat," Dorian said softly.
"Dorian, you don't have a heartbeat," John said, almost laughing.
"I have a fake one for things like this. She can hear and feel my heartbeat. It's calming her down. My creator must have liked children, too."
John just shook his head and walked into the bloody room while Dorian concentrated on the baby.
"Why did the baby stop crying?" Detective Paul asked.
"Because my partner has the touch with kids and we can relax a little while we try and do our job."
Valerie walked over and said, "Wow, all of these kids were in their beds. I just don't understand anyone doing this."
"Neither do I, Valerie, but I do know one thing, I need Dorian in here," John growled.
Dorian and the baby were next to John in moments and Dorian said, "The child is sleeping, so let me take a look at what we've got here."
Detective Paul said, "Get that baby out of the room, what are you, nuts?"
"Do you want her screaming again? Because I could arrange that if that's what you really want, Paul," Dorian said.
Paul just walked away from them.
Dorian said, "The man looks to have died before the woman. Has the woman been sexually assaulted?"
Valerie looked at Dorian and asked, "Why would you wonder that?"
"Because she has skin underneath her fingernails and there are no scratches on the husband at all. I think someone attacked her after they killed the husband and then went and killed the children." Dorian walked over and started to look at things while everyone tried to figure out if Dorian was correct.
The Coroner said, "Dorian is right. She has been raped. There is skin under her nails, which I just took and put in evidence. Whoever did this to her, is full of scratches and probably bruises. The husband died first, then the intruder took his time with the wife. There was something over her mouth so she couldn't scream. She has a mark on her face from duct tape or something and the children all being under five years old probably didn't notice when the gun went off. I'll have more for you when I do the autopsy."
"Thanks, Ken," John answered, quickly.
John looked over and saw Dorian readjusting the baby so she would be comfortable and then went back to work. "Does anyone wonder why this child was left alive?"
"I think we should take DNA samples from all of the children, they might have been adopted or something," John said.
"Now that's a thought," Valerie replied.
Dorian stuck his finger into the baby's mouth and his face lit up and he said, "I now have her DNA in my system. Let me go and take care of the other children."
John said, "Dorian, don't take the baby in there with those little ones. What if babies can actually remember things? Do you want her to remember that?"
"No, I don't. Will you hold her while I go into the room and get those DNA samples?"
"Oh sure, give me the screamer. You know how well kids love me," John said sarcastically.
Dorian handed the baby over to him and said, "Hold her ear over your heart where she can hear and feel the heartbeat. She'll do fine. I'll be back."
Dorian was right, she didn't wake up once. John was never so grateful for anything in his life.
Dorian came walking out of the room and John thought he actually looked pale.
"Are you all right, Dorian?"
"No, John, I'm not. There are three dead children in there that shouldn't be and we're just standing around."
"Does their DNA match?" John asked
"The three children in the bedrooms all match each other, but the baby has a different set of DNA. I would guess she's adopted."
Valerie said, "I think I've found the Grandmother of the children. Maybe we could take the baby over there."
"Someone has to notify her of the deaths first. We can't just take a baby over there and say, ‘sorry, but here is the baby'," John said.
"There is no need to get snippy with me, John," Valerie answered.
"Is someone going to notify the family?" Dorian asked.
"Detective Paul and Detective Stahl will have to do it," Captain Maldonado said as she walked into the room.
"Why can't Dorian and John do the notifications?" Paul asked.
"Because I just told you to do it, that's why. Now please get it done as quickly as possible so we don't have to put this baby in foster care," Maldonado said.
"She can stay with John and myself until the grandmother asks for her. I'll go and get her bag of things," Dorian said.
"Honestly John, I'm shocked that you're holding that baby," the Captain said.
"I didn't have much choice, but she seems to be a good baby, so we'll handle this part of it. I'm sure the grandmother will want her over there as soon as possible," John answered.
The Captain smiled at both men and said, "I'm sure you're right. Why don't the two of you go back to the station and see if you can find anything out there?"
Dorian had gotten the car seat for the child, the bag, bottles and formula.
"Did you remember diapers?" John asked.
"Of course, I remembered diapers, I know more about babies then you think I do," Dorian answered.
"Well, let's get her back to the station so she's not here any more," John said.
Dorian took all of the things to the car and got everything set up. He took the baby carefully away from John and put her in the car seat. Once they were set, they got into the car and started off. John was afraid to talk because she might wake up and start screaming.
Dorian finally said, "It's a relief that it wasn't the father that killed them, I believe."
"Yeah, you're right," John said whisper soft.
"John, she's a baby in a moving car. They love moving cars. The motion is great. You can talk normally," Dorian said.
"I don't want to take any chances," John said softly.
"I ran the DNA of the child and it matches something in our data base. The mother was raped 13 months ago and she got pregnant I would guess. They must have decided to raise the child as their own. The rape kit results match the DNA of the baby. So, it's her rapist that killed her entire family and her."
"This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" John asked.
"Thankfully, I'm aware of your sarcasm now. Yes, you're right, it does seem to get worse," Dorian said.
"I wish we knew the baby's name," John said.
"Her name is Annie. It was on the wall in her nursery. We don't have to keep calling her the baby, I would guess."
"That's a nice name. Dorian, why would that monster kill someone that was planning to raise his child like their own?" John asked.
"You think I know? I don't understand this monster at all, John. He should be found and killed. What type of man kills three babies?" Dorian asked, sounding more upset by the second.
"Don't get upset, Dorian, Annie will pick up on that and then we'll have the screamer back again."
When they arrived at the station, John parked and got everything out of the trunk. Dorian carried Annie. An MX came up to him and said, "Detective Kennex, would you like help with these things?"
"Yes, thank you," John answered as he took half of what John was carrying.
"I couldn't help but notice you have a small child. Is this child yours?" the MX asked.
"No, it's not mine. I don't have a family," John answered and saw the look of hurt on Dorian's face.
"Dorian, you know what I meant."
"Yes, John, I do know what you meant."
When they arrived in the bullpen, John set up the portable baby crib and Dorian laid her down for the rest of her nap. John set everything else down and covered the baby up before he sat down to start looking for things on the computer.
"The rapist was never found, John. So, we're not likely to find him at all. Let me pull up the records and see if there is a sketch rendering from that date," Dorian said.
Dorian typed in something on his computer and the printer started printing like crazy.
"What are you printing, Dorian?"
"100 copies of the sketch. We need to find this man before he hurts more people. This is our man, John."
"Don't you think he sort of looks like our snitches brother?" John asked.
"You think it could be that simple?" Dorian wondered.
"No, not really, but it would have been nice. Bring up that brother's picture and we'll see what you think."
Dorian got busy and found their snitches brother. His name was Brad Cook and had a prior for sexual misconduct. It had been thrown out of court, but this got John and Dorian's attention.
"Let's call Jake and ask him to meet us with his brother," John suggested.
"John, he's going to be covered in scratches, so I wouldn't suggest this. Instead, we'll pop in on them unannounced. How does that sound?"
"That sounds perfect." John whispered, "I'm sorry about what I said back there, Dorian."
"We'll never have a family, John. It was the truth," Dorian pointed out.
"You're my family, Dorian."
Dorian smiled and said, "Thank you."
Detective Paul and Detective Stahl walked in and she said, "You're never going to believe this. The Grandmother doesn't want the child. She said that baby was demon seed and deserved to die."
Dorian looked down at the sleeping baby and wondered how anyone could feel like that at all.
Dorian looked at the two of them and said, "So, what happens to the baby now?"
"We have to find the baby's mother's mother because the grandmother we went and saw was the father's mom. She was a doozy," Detective Paul said.
Dorian said, "I have found the mother's mother. Here is the address. Would you like to go and contact her and ask about the baby?"
"Yes, we'll do that now. Thank you, Dorian," Valerie said, sweetly.
"Why are you thanking him, he's doing his job," Paul said as he stormed out of the bullpen.
"Detective Paul is really warming up to me," Dorian teased.
At that moment, Annie decided she was wet and hungry and let everyone know exactly how she felt. Dorian began to change her diaper and John said, "Maybe we should do it in the bathroom."
"She's a baby, John. It's not like anyone is looking anyway," Dorian answered. Dorian continued what he was doing, changed her clothing because it was all wet and then began to get a bottle ready.
"You're really good with babies, Dorian."
"I watched a program on them once and found it most fascinating. I'm glad now that I did watch it."
John almost laughed to know that Dorian had watched a program about babies so that he could learn more about humans.
"Maybe I should watch that program, Dorian."
"John, I'll show it to you tonight. It's very interesting. Annie is quite hungry and I believe I need to burp her now. I need a small blanket from her bag for that, please?"
"I'll burp her," John said and took Annie and started burping her on his shoulder. Dorian smiled as he watched John try to do his thing. Before long Annie burped loud and strong and then threw up all over John.
"Gross, I just got this shirt," John said, handing Annie back to Dorian as he wiped it off as best as he could.
Captain Maldonado watched them from her office, laughing quietly. She walked out of her office and over to their desks and said, "You guys are doing a really good job with taking care of this baby."
"Her name is Annie, Captain," Dorian said.
"What a nice name. Keep up the good work, men," she said as she walked back into her office.
The elevator door opened and out walked Valerie and Paul with an older woman looking very upset. She stopped in front of Dorian and said, "Take good care of Annie. Maybe they'll find someone for her that can look past her father."
Dorian was shocked. Even this grandmother didn't want the child. She filled out paperwork, signed everything saying that the baby was her grandchild and she didn't want her. As she left she looked sad.
Dorian whispered, "I can't believe they don't want her."
"Do we have anything like leads yet?" Detective Paul asked John.
"Here are sketches of the man that raped her 13 months ago. And here is a picture of someone who resembles him and we need to check him out. Could you watch the baby?"
"Do I look like a day care? I don't think so," Paul said as he walked to his desk.
"Guys, she's a screamer and no one wants to watch her. Give me the info and I'll take an MX and go and pick him up," Valerie said.
"I'll ask the Captain to do it," John said as he walked past Valerie.
He knocked on the door and she said, "No, I'm not going to watch her while you go to work. I've called for a case worker to take her. I'm sure there are a lot of families that would love to have her. Just sit tight for about an hour and you'll be free of her."
"Thanks, Captain," John said sadly as he walked back to his desk.
"A case worker from the state is coming to pick her up and find her a home," John explained.
"Why don't we take her home?" Dorian asked.
"Dorian, we can't have a baby. You're an android and I'm a cop with one leg. Somehow, I don't think we're going to pass with flying colors."
"We took very good care of her today, didn't we?" Dorian asked.
"Yes, but it's different on a daily basis. Dorian, I'm sorry, but they wouldn't consider us at all."
~~~~~
When the woman came from the state she said, "This baby is going to be hard to place. We have to tell them the background on her life and that includes the rape and the murder. Chances are she'll grow up in a group home instead of a family home."
"You'd rather send her to a group home then let my partner and I take her to our home and raise her. Is this what I understand?"
"We don't let android's adopt children. I'm sorry," she said as she grabbed the child and Annie started wailing the second the woman started walking away. She screamed all the way down the elevator and Dorian was very upset about it.
"I'm sorry, Dorian. Some day maybe, but not this year," John said.
"Let's go do our job," Dorian said as he grabbed the folder he had made on Brad Cook.
When they got downstairs the woman from the state was struggling with the baby. Annie was throwing a really big fit and suddenly she flung herself right out of the woman's arms. Dorian caught her before she hit the pavement and calmed her down. She stopped crying instantly and Dorian was happy once again. The woman said, "Maybe you could keep her until we found a suitable home."
"So, in other words, we could keep her for six to ten months and then have someone come and take her away from us? I don't think so. It won't work," John said. "And don't think we're not going to write you up for dropping her. If Dorian wouldn't have caught her, she'd be half dead."
"Give me the child and I'll talk to my supervisors and get back to you," the woman said.
As soon as she got the baby back, Annie started to scream like mad. John and Dorian walked out of the building, knowing they had to take care of a case.
Once in the car, Dorian said, "What do you think our odds are, John?"
"One in a million, Dorian. She'll find someone that can handle Annie and that will be that. Don't get your hopes up at all."
~~~~~
Once they arrived at Jake, the snitch's house, they knocked on the door and Jake let them in quickly before anyone saw them on his porch.
"Hey, we need to ask your brother something, do you know where he is?" John asked.
"He's in the shower, John. What's this about? He's been keeping his nose clean."
"Jake, where was he last night, very late?" John asked.
"He got home around 4:00 this morning and I asked him where he had been but he didn't answer. What did he do?" Jake asked.
"Tell me, Jake, does he have scratches all over his face and neck?" Dorian asked.
"Yeah, he said his date's cat hated him. It wasn't a cat, was it?"
"No, it wasn't. Now, we need to get him out of the bathroom. Is there a way out of that room?" John asked.
Dorian's face lit up and he said, "He took off out the window. Let's go."
John and Dorian raced to the back of the house and saw a naked man running down the street. Dorian caught him in moments and brought him back to the house. "I suggest we get some clothes on him so we don't have to stare at his junk."
John almost laughed and said, "You're sounding more like me every day. Now, let me read this pervert his rights and then we'll get him dressed."
After his rights had been read off to him, they took him in the house to get dressed. He tried to get away three times, but Dorian was ready for him and wanted to kill him in the worst way.
John called for the car to drive him to the station; John didn't want Brad's filth in his own car.
Dorian said, "Why did you have to kill everyone but Annie?"
"I told her not to report it, or I would seek revenge. I got it. But I couldn't kill my own child, so I killed all of hers," Brad said.
"As far as Annie will know, her father died today by a killer named Brad Cook. She'll grow with this knowledge and hate you forever. So, it backfired, you idiot," John shouted.
"I'll always be able to find her and she'll be mine some day," Brad said, hatefully.
Dorian said, "John, he'll get out and take her. We have to do something."
"Dorian, he's going to be on death row. I wouldn't worry about him being out, ever."
"And what if he paid someone to do his dirty work for him?" Dorian asked.
"Dorian, we have to trust in something, right?"
Dorian pushed Brad down the stairs and from the strength that Dorian used, he broke his neck as he hit the last stair. "Oh, man. My bad."
John didn't say anything when the cop car drove up. The MX asked what happened and John said, "His shoelace was loose and he tripped and fell down the stairs. There was nothing we could do to help."
"I will call for the coroner's office to come out. You will need to file a report once you are back at the station."
"Will do," John said and he grabbed Dorian and pulled him over to the car. "Get in, Dorian.
Dorian did as he was told but John knew he was having second thoughts about things.
John started the car and drove off before Dorian said something loud enough to be heard by the MX.
"Are you all right, Dorian?"
"I killed him. You have to write me up."
"What are you talking about? His shoe lace was loose and he tripped, fell and broke his neck. Simple as that."
"John, I can't expect you to lie for me," Dorian said, shamefully.
"I'm not lying. Didn't you see his laces? I undid them when I got him dressed. So we're both at fault. Now, we're not talking about this again."
"Thank you, John."
"Annie will be grateful for the rest of her life, Dorian. Just keep that in mind."
"You're right, I wouldn't make a good parent," Dorian said.
"I didn't say that. You'd make a great parent, but it's never going to happen. So, let's stop talking about it. It just depresses the shit out of me."
"We have a lot of paperwork to do when we get to the station," Dorian said, offhandedly.
"We sure do, but it'll make the night go fast and we can go home and relax," John answered.
"I sure wish we'd actually hear from the woman from the state," Dorian said.
"It's a pipe dream, Dorian."
"I know, but it's my dream."
The end