two days after Lightnings 27th birthday, Doc had Lightning loaded up in the car, one place in mind. Marysville, Ohio. Monty's home town. he wasn't going to tell Lightning that though. they were getting on a plane and he knew from experience Lightning didn't understand anything at the air port and would stand close to Doc, plus he was scared as hell to fly. he hated planes, so Doc always had to knock him out for flights, generally with a Xanax. its a 4 hour flight, so Doc isn't worried. he already set up with the local police to talk to Lightning. he had to make that birthday disaster right.

just as Doc planned Lightning had slept through the whole flight and most of the ride to the police station. he blinked awake about three minutes from the station. he froze when he came too and realized where they were.

"Doc... what are we doing here?" Lightning mumbled.

"its time to clear your guilty conscious kid." Doc murmurs softly.

"I don't wanna be here." Lightning said quietly.

"its time to put your mother to rest kid." Doc murmurs looking at him. "does she deserve to go another year, another 22 years, without anyone knowing what happened to her?" Doc ask. Lightning fiddled with the ring on his hand.

"and if my dad finds out?" Lightning ask.

"he'll never know you're here kid." Doc assures. Lightning shook his head.

"no." Lightning mumbles.

"kid, come on." Doc murmurs parking the car. Lightning shook his head staring at the police station. "okay fine. no one's ever gonna know what happened to your mother. your dads just gonna get away with it. in another 50 years, if you make it that far, when you're old and forgetting what happened, maybe you'll change your mind. maybe you won't. who cares." Doc shrugs starting the car. Lightning looked away tearfully, before reaching over and grabbing his wrist.

"thats not fair." Lightning mumbled quietly.

"none of this is fair. now are you going to put your mom to rest or let you bastard father get away with this?" Doc ask.

"they're not gonna believe me Doc." Lightning said quietly. Doc shuts the car back off.

"yes they will. come on." Doc murmurs getting out. Lightning was hesitant, but he got out. Doc took his hand gently. "come on." Doc says softly.

"they're gonna recognize me." Lightning said.

"shhh Monty." Doc murmurs, leading him inside, holding Lightnings hand tightly. Doc held him and looked around. he'd called a head to let them know he and Lightning were on the way with information about a cold case.

"Doc Hudson?" a man ask walking over.

"you John?" Doc ask. he nodded and reached to shake Docs hand.

"howdy, heard you've got some information on an old cold case." John said. he looked Lightning over, there was a flicker of recognition in his eyes and Lightning hoped he only remembered him from tv.

"not me." Doc said, motioning to Lightning. "ever heard of Michelle McQueen?" Doc ask. Lightning swallowed hard watching John.

"yeah 22 year old murder case, found dead in her apartment, her five year old son was also shot, but he lived. you..." John said looking at Lightning. he paled a little watching the man. "whats your connection to her?" John ask. Lightning swallowed hard and Doc squeezed his hand gently.

"I'm Monty." Lightning muttered with a sigh. he looked up at John, then at Doc. Doc nodded at him encouragingly. "she was my mom... I was the 5 year old who lived." Lightning muttered quietly. Johns eye brows shot up.

"I don't believe it. Montgomery Fallen, 14 year old run away." John said shaking his head. "I remember getting the call from your Aunt when you never arrived at her house." John said.

"McQueen." Lightning corrected quietly. "you'd run away too if you watched your dad put a bullet in your moms head." Lightning said. John frowned and nodded his head towards a room.

"come on, we'll talk in there." John said leading the way. they followed him and sat down at the table. John pushed a notepad towards him. Doc let go of the youngers hand gently.

"they took my statement when I was 5." Lightning said.

"just gotta get one from you again." John said. Doc grabbed the note pad.

"I'll write kid." Doc assured gently.

"where do I start?" Lightning mumbled, looking at the officer.

"the beginning is best." John said, watching him. Lightning frowned slightly.

"we'd been in hiding for a year. I still don't know how he found us." Lightning mumbled quietly. he's staring holes into the table, he's not ready for this, but Doc was right. it wasn't fair to his mother. Doc patted his leg gently. "it was my 5th birthday, we didn't do anything special because we couldn't risk him hunting us down, but mom still got a cake. told her she didn't need to, I still think thats how he found us. it was probably about 9PM when she decided to put me to bed. you know, after I ate half a cake by myself. so I was being pretty stubborn." Lightning added.

"so you were in bed when this happened?" John ask.

"when it started. I'd finally fallen asleep and I woke up to shouting. she was screaming for help, telling him to leave, to go away and leave us alone. I was sleeping in the next room and decided to see what was going on... I got up and headed for the living room. she was begging for her life and mine at this point, he always used to laugh about how he finally got her on her knees for him. I heard the loudest noise I'd ever heard in my life, but I knew what it was. dad used to use me for BB gun practice, but this was louder. I knew what guns sounded like and this wasn't a BB gun. it was stupid but I poked my head around the corner. she was already laying on the floor. I uh, guess I made a sound. he turned and shot me in the chest." Lightning said.

"and saw your dad do this?" John ask. Lightning nodded.

"yeah looked me dead in the eyes when he pulled the trigger, he was laughing. I'll never forget that. he walked over to me and stood over me. course, I was choking on blood, so I couldn't say anything. he laughed and said he got two birds with one stone. his whore wife and faggot son." Lightning muttered.

"then what?" John ask.

"couldn't say anything to anyone. once I finally got out of the hospital. I was at his mercy. to make sure I kept quiet, he put the gun he shot us both with in my mouth and threatened to pull the trigger." Lightning said. he shook his head, the hair on his arms standing up. "can still remember the gun powder taste." he mumbled. Doc squeezed his hand gently.

"why didn't you come forward when you ran away?" John ask.

"you kidding? half of those cops were his friends. not to mention the whole town found out I was gay and ran me out." Lightning snapped.

"okay, I see whats happening here." John said getting up. Doc growled lowly.

"don't believe me?" Lightning ask, not sounding shocked.

"this is revenge against your dad kid." John said.

"I can give you the gun he used to shoot us." Lightning said. John paused and turned to look at him.

"you have the gun?" he ask.

"I know where it's buried." Lightning mumbled shrugging.

"and how do you know its still there after all these years?" John ask. Lightning looked up at him with a small smile.

"because my dads not dumb enough to dig up a body just to move it." Lightning said. John paused and looked at him.

"where's the gun kid?" John ask.

"Marysville Cemetery." Lightning said. "I can take you to it, but you're gonna need a warrant to dig it up. it's under some old lady." Lightning said. John blinked in shock before nodding.

"okay kid. take me to the gun." John said.

it was a 45 minute drive to the cemetery, Doc and Lightning had to be driven by cops. Lightning looked around, before walking over to one of the graves, Doc followed and both were trailed by cops.

"thats mom." Lightning said, motioning to her grave stone and looking towards Doc.

"yeah we know where she is. where's the gun?" John ask.

"I wasn't showing you." Lightning said, looking at John.

"it's okay kid, we'll come back to see her before we go home." Doc assures. Lightning nods a little, glaring at John.

"gun kid. produce it." John frowned. Lightning walked forwards to a grave about 5 away from his mother.

"here. she was buried the day after my mom." Lightning said.

"how do you remember its this one?" John ask.

"cause after he threw them into the hole. he shoved me in after them. I hit my head on the dog." Lightning said, motioning to the dog statue on the headstone.

"he pushed you into the grave?" John ask. Lightning nodded.

"told me to cover everything with dirt. when I looked up he was gone. I did what he said and waited. when he didn't come back to bury me in there, I managed to get out. I was bleeding everywhere." Lightning mumbled.

"what next?" John ask. Lightning turned to look at him.

"don't you wanna dig that stuff up first?" Lightning ask.

"once I get proof its down there." John said. Lightning frowned a little and started walking. they followed him.

"well, I was 5, I had a head injury, and I'd just buried the gun that killed my mom. I headed home. I didn't have anywhere else I could go. no one was gonna believe me. I was five and I'd gotten out of the hospital after seeing my mother murdered in front of me and just recovering from being shot myself." Lightning shrugged, heading for the woods. they followed him watching curiously. Doc had been oddly silent the whole time.

"where are you going kid?" John ask.

"home." Lightning said. "it was the middle of the night, but I knew how to get home. except, I was bleeding really bad and I knew if I walked into the house bleeding everywhere, he'd have snapped my neck. so I hid the shirt I was wearing after using it to stop the bleeding. I kept it in an old NASCAR lunch box that I kept in an old tree. anything that was important to me ended up in there." Lightning added.

"and this is important?" John ask.

"you wanted proof." Lightning said, leading them around the woods. he almost seemed lost, but was too sure of himself to actually be lost. about 20 minutes into the walk he stopped at a tree and pointed into the hole in it. "its in there." Lightning said. John motioned to one of the other detectives to reach in. he pulled out an old, rusted, NASCAR lunch box, it rattled a little. he popped it open and there on top of some old toys, was a folded up, bloody, Junior 'Midnight' Moon shirt. Doc almost wanted to smile, but couldn't find it in himself to do so. "from here I walked home, climbed over the fence, and crawled into the dog door." Lightning shrugged slightly, turning to look at John. "I can show you that too." Lightning added.

"you can get to your house from here?" John ask. Lightning nodded.

"10 minute walk that way." Lightning said pointing. he started walking and both John and Doc followed him. they followed him to a neighborhood. "I was still kinda bleeding when I got here." Lightning mumbles. he kneels down and flips over an old brick. "no blood on it anymore I guess, but I flipped it over so he wouldn't see. anyone live here?" Lightning ask.

"not for at least 10 years." John said. Lightning nodded and climbed over the fence.

"so I climbed over and enter the house through the doggie door." Lightning murmured, walking back out of the gate. he looked at John. "that enough proof?" Lightning ask. John opened his mouth.

"hey John! we got it!" someone shouted.

"can you get us back?" John ask. Lightning nodded and lead the way back to the cemetery. they were digging in the dirt, a casket set aside.

"sorry Mrs.Hampton." Lightning mumbled, looking at the grave stone.

"we've got it." the cop said. John looked over. "gun wrapped in bloody clothing." he added. John walked over to look at the gun and Lightning cuddled to Doc quietly. he stared at the gun silently.

"hey kid. come on, lets go. can we get a ride back to our car?" Doc ask looking at John ask.

"yeah hey! one of you two drive these guys back to the station." John shouted. "sit at the station and don't go anywhere." John said.

"actually... can I just...?" Lightning ask motioning to his mothers grave. "haven't been out here since the gun was buried." Lightning mumbled.

"its best if you go sit at the station." John said. Lightning looked at Doc, who had his eyes narrowed at John.

"can I ask why?" Doc ask.

"we're going to need to print him and take some blood from him, just to rule out his DNA and finger prints." John said. Doc nodded slightly and lead Lightning to the police cruiser.

"am I gonna need my lawyer?" Lightning ask looking at Doc.

"no. you were five kid. they can't charge you with anything." Doc assures. Lightning nods slightly and cuddled to him quietly.

"but I knew all these years." Lightning mumbled.

"you were a kid. an actual kid. you were abused and scared. they can't blame you for hiding." Doc assures gently.

they took the two back to the police station, putting them in a room off to the side, and Lightning sat silently, cuddled up to Doc, head on the olders chest. Doc held him tightly, watching the news on the tv in front of them.

"thanks to anonymous tip off to police, the 22 year old cold case of 26 year old Michelle McQueen, shot dead in her apartment by an unknown person, may just be solved. our source says that a gun and bloody clothing has been recovered from the local grave yard. the tipster has decided to remain anonymous for their own safety. join us as we go to our live reporters on scene."

Lightning stared in horror.

"I'm dead." he mumbles.

"no you're not." Doc assures.

"I'm the only person on the planet who knew!" Lightning said, paling.

"relax Monty its okay." Doc soothes.

"no its not!" Lightning hissed. Doc pulls him close and sighs softly. Lightning shoves away hard. "its not okay! do you know how much hiding I had to do!? I changed my name, my hair, my fucking everything! I've been hiding for 22 years!" Lightning shouted, chest heaving. he's pacing now, trembling, wheezing.

"hey. hey. its okay." Doc murmurs, grabbing him gently. Lightning flinches away and shoves his hand off.

"don't touch me! just don't fucking touch me!" Lightning snapped.

"shhh." Doc soothes gently. "you're having an anxiety attack Monty." Doc said softly.

"OF COURSE I AM!" Lightning hissed. Doc stepped back a little, watching him carefully. "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Lightning screamed.

"no he's not." Doc assured.

"did you suddenly just become stupid!?" Lightning snapped. "I am the only person on the planet who was there! he'll know!" Lightning shouted.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Doc said softly. "you know that." Doc murmurs. "come here." Doc said softly reaching for him gently. Lightning shook his head, backing himself into a corner of the room and sinking into the floor. he hugged his knees and buried his face into them. Docs knees were gonna ache and his back was gonna seize later, but he crouched into the floor with him.

"don't touch me." Lightning mumbled, hugging his knees tighter.

"I'm not gonna touch you." Doc assures. "it's gonna be okay." Doc soothes gently.

"no it's not." Lightning said tearfully.

"come here baby." Doc murmurs softly, gently opening his arms. "come here please." Doc says softly.

"he's going to kill me." Lightning mumbled.

"no he's not. I'll kill him first. you know that. now can you please get out of the floor?" Doc ask. "before my back kills me?" Doc added. Lightning gave some sort of strangled noise from his throat, but shakily stood from the floor. Doc stood with him. "you know I won't let anything happen to you." Doc said.

"no one's safe from him Doc." Lightning mumbles softly, cuddling to him. Doc wraps his arms tightly around the younger.

"you are." Doc assures, kissing his head. "I promise you that. everythings gonna be okay kid." Doc murmurs softly. the younger cuddles to him, though he doesn't believe a word of it, he knows Doc will try and Mack would kill anyone who tried to hurt him. he curled up and cuddled him quietly, hoping everything would be fine.