He should have known something was up when his co-workers kept stealing glances at him that morning, but he had brushed it off as just 'being the new guy'.

The office had been hopelessly short-staffed and he had recently received his degree. They had hired him on the spot and he had been handed all sorts of cases before he had even set foot in the building. When he had arrived at his desk and saw the large stack of files, he had initially wanted to turn back around and run. Still, after taking a deep breath, he had seated himself and taken the first file. If he wanted to succeed at this, he had to read through his cases so he'd know what he was in for.

And he did learn what he was in for.

Halfway though, he received a phone call from the police station with the request to pick up a girl they had in custody. Underaged with no guardian, and apparently well-known in the system.

He sighed and put on his coat. He hadn't expected a trip to the police station on his first day, but the case of this girl had been transferred to him. He would pick her up, bring her here and then try to find a suitable emergency placement until he could arrange something more permanent.

When he arrived at the police station, one of the front officers pointed him towards a bench where another police officer was guarding a young girl. She was impatiently kicking her legs back and forth, while seemingly looking for a an escape.

The officer noticed him and held out his hand. "Are you from CPS?"

He nodded. "Trevor Welsh." He shook the man's hand. "Can you fill me in?"

The officer sighed and looked at the girl annoyed. "Alyssa Scott, notorious runaway, arrested several times. Shoplifting, vandalism, carrying illegal substances. According to our records, she ran away from seventeen foster homes, including a group home. Usually she runs off to her brother, but he is currently under arrest, so we called you."

Trevor blinked in order to process it all. From what he had just heard from this police man, he had expected to face a seventeen year old with an attitude. But this girl could barely be over twelve.

She stared at him with a bored expression. "Can I go now?" she asked.

Trevor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What am I dealing with?" he asked, "is she under arrest?"

"Not today," the police officer answered, "we picked up her brother. There were drugs in his car. She was also in the car, so we had to bring her in. We can't charge her with anything and she's a minor, so she's your problem now." He pointed towards the counter. "Just sign off there."

The girl crossed her arms. "What am I? A package?"

The officer turned to her and looked at her sternly. "You'd be wise to drop the attitude, missy. Let this be the last time we see you here."

Alyssa rolled her eyes and stood up. She looked at Trevor indifferently. "Where's Lynda? She's always the one to drag me around."

Trevor sighed again. Now he knew why his co-workers had looked at him so amused when he left to pick up this kid. They had handed him the case no one wanted.

"Your case was transferred to me," he told the girl.

She smirked. "You're new, ain't ya? Figures."

Trevor raised his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. "Let's just go. I'll find you a place for the night."

"I have a place." The girl had a stubborn expression on her face as she stomped after him. "I keep tellin' 'em, but they ain't lis'ning."

"You do?" Trevor asked skeptically, "where's that?"

Alyssa blinked. "With Ray of course."

"Is that your brother?" Trevor asked, "you can't stay with him. You heard that officer. He is in custody. You are underaged. You can't stay on your own. We will place you in foster care."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "You payin' attention? I ran a way seventeen times. I'll just do it again."

"Well, thank you for the heads up," Trevor said calmly, "I'll make sure to inform your next foster parents about your intentions." He opened the passenger door of his car and directed her inside. He was surprised she complied so easily, but then he figured this wasn't the first time CPS picked her up from the police station. She knew the drill.

Trevor shook his head and closed the door before getting in on the driver's side. He took a moment to study her more closely. For a notorious runaway she looked surprisingly well taken care of. He wished he'd had time to study her file beforehand.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

He shook his head again and started the car. This day couldn't be over soon enough.

...

He tried to ignore her as she swiveled the desk chair next to his. Her head was tilted back and she stared at the ceiling with a bored expression.

Trevor sighed. "You're going to make yourself sick if you keep that up."

Alyssa shrugged and continued swirling. "So?"

Trevor shook his head again and turned back to the computer. He had quickly read up on the girl. The police man hadn't been exaggerating. Young as she was, she had been involved in many offenses. They might appear innocent, but experience had taught him these kids ended up behind bars for serious crimes before they'd turn eighteen. Parents addicted and in jail, brother with a track record a mile long, and friends in similar situations.

"Alright," Trevor sighed. "the Moore family has still room. Terrence and Jacqueline. They have experience with emergency placements."

Still spinning the chair, Alyssa scrunched her nose. "I think I stayed there already. I didn't like them. They didn't want to give me money for the bus."

Trevor stared at her. "How could you possibly..." He scrolled down the Moore's information and sighed. She had been there. Age ten. And the money they hadn't wanted to give her, she had apparently just taken.

He sighed again and returned to the list with foster homes. "The Weatherly's then. They are Gina and Thomas and they have two daughters roughly your age. Their names are Hayley and Jessica."

Alyssa sighed. "Why can't I just go home?"

"Because," Trevor emphasized, "your brother is under arrest, he isn't in the position to take care of you and he is not your legal guardian."

"He'll be home again soon," Alyssa said convinced, "so, it's just a waste of time to send me somewhere else. I'll be living with Ray again when he gets home."

Trevor took a deep breath and turned to face Alyssa. "Your brother can't take care of you, Alyssa. He has a criminal record, he is involved with drugs and other illegal activities. That's not a good environment for a child to grow up in. No judge will ever give him custody of you."

Alyssa sat up and looked at Trevor. "He ain't a bad person. He has a job. He makes me dinner and buys me clothes. When I get sick, he takes care of me. Same as a foster family suppose to do."

"What about education then?" Trevor pointed out, "you haven't been going to school unless you were in foster care."

Alyssa shrugged and leaned back to stare at the ceiling again. School's stupid."

"This isn't a discussion, Alyssa," Trevor said firmly. He had a hard time trying to stay calm. Why was he arguing with a twelve year old? "You are going to stay with the Weatherly's. I'll give them a heads-up and then I'll drive you there."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

...

Three weeks late, Trevor found himself face to face with Alyssa Scott again. He had informed the Weatherly couple beforehand of Alyssa's tendency of running away and they had taken precaution. Curfew, supervision, and instructing school teachers not to lose sight of her. At night, they locked all the doors and hid the keys.

It should have been enough, but he should have taken the girl more seriously. She had been caught picking the lock of the front door, her backpack ready to go. And not just once.

They had made sure someone was accompanying her everywhere she went, but she had screamed murder.

They had grounded her, but she had tried to climb out of the first story window. She might have succeeded if the ledge hadn't given way, making her fall to the ground and spraining her wrist.

Finally Gina and Thomas had called CPS to announce they were giving up on the child.

Trevor sighed as he closed the passenger door on the girl. He had tried to convince the family to give the girl another chance, some more time, but they had been adamant, fearing the influence Alyssa would have on their own daughters. They didn't want to take the risk.

"What am I to do with you?" he asked the girl, "they were nice people, Alyssa. Why couldn't you just give them a chance?"

"I don' wanna live there," the girl answered simply, "I wanna go back to Ray. He home yet?"

Trevor ran a hand across his face. Not again. "Your brother was sentenced to four months in prison, Alyssa."

Alyssa stared at him. "Why? He ain't done nothin' wrong!"

"Alyssa..."

"I wanna see him! I wanna talk to him! He has to come home!"

"It's better if you..."

"I! Wanna! See! Ray!" Alyssa screamed. She fumbled with the seatbelt and unbuckled herself. Before Trevor could stop her, she had climbed out of the car and run halfway down the street.

Trevor cursed and ran after her. He caught her in his arms and hissed when she started kicking and screaming. "Calm down, Alyssa. Don't make me call the police."

Alyssa halted her struggling a moment. "Call 'em. They'll put me in jail with Ray. Problem solved. You don' need to find me no foster place."

Trevor sighed. "It doesn't work that way, Alyssa. They won't lock you up. And even if they did, it wouldn't be with your brother. You're underaged. They'd send you to juvey."

"So?" Alyssa shrugged, "you'd still won' have to find me a place to dump me. Not like you care anyways."

Trevor let go of her. "What do you mean?"

The girl huffed and crossed her arms. "You just want to be rid of me so you can tell your boss you do a good job. Why can't you just leave me alone? My brother takes good care of me. Why do you care about his job or where we live? Jus' leave us alone!"

Trevor shook his head regretfully. "It's the law, Alyssa. That law exists to protect children from danger. Danger like living in a house with drugs and violence and abuse. It's not a healthy environment. We want children to grow up in a stable home. A safe home. Where they're loved and well taken care of."

"My brother takes care of me," Alyssa said stubbornly. "He loves me and protects me. He didn't do anything wrong!"

Trevor sighed sadly. How could he explain to a child that there was a difference between caring and providing? "If he loves you, he'll want what's best for you," he said.

"It's best for me to live with him," Alyssa insisted, "and everyone minds their own business."

Trevor sighed again. This was going to be an endless discussion. It was best to just ignore it and not let it continue. "Get in the car. I'm taking you to the Sanders couple. Philip and Rachel have agreed to take you in. Try to behave this time, will you?"

"I wanna see my brother," Alyssa said, "I'll just run away again."

Trevor pinched the bridge of his nose. None of the other kids he placed gave him this much trouble. "I'll see what I can do," he reluctantly gave in, "in the meantime will you go to this foster family and be good?"

Alyssa looked at him surprised. "You'll take me to my brother?" How many times had she demanded that with her former caseworker without result? This one just gave in?

"I said," Trevor answered, "I'll see what I can do. But only if you give me something in return. Do we have a deal?"

Alyssa studied him cautiously. She had learned not to trust any kind of deal so easily. There was always a catch. But the prospect of her being allowed to talk to her brother was tempting.

She gritted her teeth. If she had to endure four months of foster care to be able to talk to her brother, she would suck it up. "Deal."

...

So she was able to behave like a model child after all, Trevor mused when he stood in the living room of Philip and Rachel Sanders two weeks later. Though there was still a cautious and defensive look in her eyes, the couple informed him she had, thought reluctantly, gone to school every day and had not attempted to run away.

On the other hand, she hadn't tried to form a bond with her new foster parents. She answered when they asked her questions, but did not offer any conversation herself. She was polite, but not friendly. And she didn't seem to care much of her classmates.

Trevor sighed. At least it was something. He hadn't really expected her to try at all. Now he was waiting for Alyssa to come home from school so he could take her to see her brother in prison.

He had to admit, he was actually quite curious about this brother. His record didn't exactly label him model citizen, but Alyssa viewed him as her hero. He wasn't sure what to expect.

The front door opened and slammed shut again. A moment later the girl dragged her feet into the room. Planning to head for the stairs, and presumably her bedroom, she didn't even greet anyone. Her bag was slung over her shoulder and an annoyed expression was on her face.

"Alyssa, honey," Rachel called her, "could you come in for a moment?'

"Why?" Alyssa demanded. She looked at Rachel impatiently, but blinked when she noticed Trevor sitting across from the woman.

Trevor placed his cup of coffee down on the able and nodded at her. "Alyssa."

"Can we go see Ray now?" Alyssa asked hopeful. Her whole demeanor had changed in a matter of seconds.

"Won't you greet Trevor properly first?" Rachel pressed.

Alyssa slightly narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. "Hello Trevor," she gritted out.

"Hello Alyssa," Trevor nodded, "how are you doing? Have you settled in yet? Are you feeling at home?"

"This ain't my home," Alyssa said stiffly.

Rachel sighed. Sadly. "Is it truly that horrible to live with us, Alyssa?" she asked quietly.

Alyssa sighed. "I can live anywhere. It still ain't my home. My home is with Ray."

"You could make this your home, Alyssa," Rachel tried again, "your brother is your family, but can't we be your family too?"

Alyssa looked at Trevor pleadingly. "Can we go see Ray now? I don' wanna talk about this."

Trevor sighed. "We will talk about this later. And yes, I did come to pick you up to see your brother. You can talk to him, but afterwards I'm bringing you back here."

A large smile appeared on the girl's face and she bounced back towards the hall to get her coat and shoes.

Trevor looked at Rachel with an apologetic smile. "She's not an easy child, I know, but thank you for giving her a chance. I'm hoping she'll come around. Her brother can't take care of her. He isn't a good role model."

Rachel nodded. "We've dealt with troubled children before," she said, "we were prepared. I'm just worried about her. She idolizes her brother. Do you know anything about him?"

Trevor shook his head in denial. "Sorry, no. I haven't met him. All I know is that he's involved in criminal activities. Nothing violent, but still, it's not a healthy environment for her." He smiled at Rachel assuring. "Don't worry. You're doing a good job. I'll see what I can find out."

"Thank you, Trevor," Rachel said, "I truly hope you are right and she'll give us a chance. She's not doing too well in school. She doesn't seem to want to make friends. I just want her to be happy, to make her feel safe."

Trevor placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're doing what you can. That is enough. It's going to be just fine."

He wouldn't learn until much later how wrong he had been.

A/N I feel sort of sorry for Trevor ^^"  Alyssa really is a handful.