Sawyer had to stop himself from grinning every time he turned in his penthouse and saw Gabriel there. The boy was certainly an attractive addition to his stylish space. All soft skin, demureness, and pretty gray eyes.

Sure, he was annoyingly emotional, and he'd spent most of the day either holding tears back or actually weeping, but that would pass. And soon, if Sawyer had a say in it.

For the time being, though, he could play the necessary role. He did want Gabriel to be alright. And over Henry, of course. The man had never deserved him anyway. Sawyer could put in the minimal effort needed to ensure that happened sooner rather than later.

The first step arose after they'd eaten a delicious stir fry for lunch. Gabriel really was a very good cook.

"Sawyer?"

"Yes, darling?"

"I think I need to organize some things. About Henry. I'm not sure how though."

"Of course, darling. Well, I think we'll need to obtain a certificate."

"A certificate?"

"Yes, a death certificate."

Sawyer left Gabriel to his renewed tears and went to make a cup of tea instead. They always said that solved every problem, and he was somewhat done with the soft words and touches for a moment.

When he returned and had positioned Gabriel, safely wrapped in a soft blanket with a hot, sweet tea in his hands, Sawyer took the card the medics had left and called the number. Of course, they wouldn't tell him much – even as a lawyer he had no jurisdiction over the issue – but he did manage to turn on the charm and discover they would be doing an autopsy.

The giggly receptionist revealed that the coroner thought it was a heart attack, so Sawyer breathed a quiet sigh of relief at that. But she clarified that autopsies were generally carried out whenever there had been a sudden death. Sawyer did know that, but he'd had a vague hope that Henry had been under his doctor's supervision for a heart condition – at his age – but the bimbotic receptionist announced that he'd been as healthy as a horse, putting paid to the optimistic thought. Well, healthy other than the death thing, obviously. Sawyer winced at the woman's high pitched assurances, but kept the charm high and finished the call after receiving the assurance that Gabriel would be contacted as soon as  the autopsy was completed.

He left the penthouse when Gabriel had managed to drop into a nap, after getting details of where they had kept their paperwork in that squalid apartment.

There was depressingly little, and Sawyer scoffed at the lack of success Henry had achieved to have ended his life with nothing to his name. But then he remembered the man had had Gabriel, and the vague amusement turned to disgust.

When he returned, Gabriel had woken, and insisted on helping him go through everything. They found a statement for a bank account in Gabriel's name, although it had only a few thousand dollars in it.

"Why do you have so little money of your own? And no transactions?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I never needed it. Gramma left me that. But Henry dealt with money stuff. Bought me things when I needed them."

It was ideal, really. Gabriel was a lamb waiting to be taken by wolves. No experience of looking after himself at all.

Sawyer checked Henry's bank statements and went online to start completing the necessary forms to get his funds transferred to Gabriel, though they'd need the death certificate before they could be submitted. There was very little else – Henry had clearly never had enough success for investments – though he was interested to find something that looked like a life insurance policy with Gabriel noted as the beneficiary. Perhaps Henry had cared for him, just a little.

They had just sat down for dinner when Gabriel's phone rang. Sawyer scowled at the interruption and Gabriel bowed his head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I'll turn it-,"

"No need, I'll take it." Sawyer swiped the phone up, accepting the call ready to berate the caller for such ignorant timing but the voice came through before he could speak.

"Mr. Jansen? This is Detective Brown from the 26th-,"

"Hello Detective Brown, I'm afraid Gabriel is indisposed at the moment."

Gabriel stared at him, wide eyed, fear crawling from his skin. It gave Sawyer sparks of joy to see.

"Oh? May I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"Of course. I'm Sawyer Montgomery. I'm a friend of Gabriel's. And his lawyer."

The detective was very obvious in his surprise and Sawyer embraced the frisson shocking him had given – but they arranged for him to come to the penthouse so he could talk with Gabriel about what had happened.

When Sawyer finished the call, Gabriel was worrying the linen of his napkin between his elegant fingers.

"Why does he want to speak to me?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, darling."

Gabriel didn't ask again, though Sawyer could see the need in his eyes to be comforted.

After dinner, which Gabriel barely touched, Sawyer drew him to the couch, encouraging him to sit close so he could put an arm around him. Gabriel was adorably soothed by simple touch, leaning into it almost like a kitten. Sawyer didn't need touch – didn't even like it very much – but this was new, and somewhat exciting, territory for him. He hadn't felt a connection to a sub like this for a long time. Hadn't felt the desire to secure someone as his. It wouldn't be difficult, provided he kept his attentions subtle and pitched at the right level to appeal to someone as simple as Gabriel. All he had to do was take the necessary actions to ensure Gabriel would come to see him as someone he needed.

He only left Gabriel's side when the buzzer went, returning to the armchair when he came back in the room, followed by Detective Brown, who was a tall, solid man with burnished copper skin and piercing green eyes. Sawyer couldn't help but feel that his dreadlocks, twisted up into some kind of hipster-ish topknot, weren't police standard, and he wondered how the man got away with such flagrant disregard of the rules. It wasn't worth risking getting caught out by thinking about it too much though – he had a front to present – and he sat in the armchair, feeling it appropriate not to be too close to Gabriel.

Detective Brown greeted Gabriel with a soft smile, his lilting Caribbean accent softening the otherwise intimidating presence he displayed. Sawyer let out an unintentional grunt of disapproval when he sat on the couch right by Gabriel, still using that soft approach, calming him like he was a frightened animal, although fortunately neither of them seemed to notice. The man was too close, though, to what was his, and Sawyer didn't like it.

"Hi Gabriel. There's nothing to worry about here. This is standard procedure when something like this happens."

"Okay." Gabriel's voice was so soft and demure Sawyer wondered if it was an affectation. But the idea that it was genuine threatened to make him hard, which was enough of a surprise to distract him from the next few things Detective Brown said.

"So, we can arrange everything for you, but we just need to check what happened."

Sawyer tuned back in, keeping his face as relaxed as possible as he waited for Gabriel's response.

"I don't know," and there he went, crying again, but he snuffled a few times, accepting a white handkerchief from Detective Brown, and forced himself to continue. "Henry was asleep when I went to bed, and then when I woke in the morning, he was- he was gone."

"Did you hear anything at all in the night?"

"Nothing."

"Are you always such a heavy sleeper?"

Sawyer shifted. He wanted to know what Detective Brown's thought process was, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he made his body still, poised.

"Not normally. I took sleeping pills."

"Oh? Is that something you do often?"

"I haven't before. But I haven't been sleeping well."

"Did you get them from a doctor?"

"Uh." Gabriel glanced at Sawyer, trying, and failing to be subtle, and Detective Brown turned, expectantly.

"I gave them to Gabriel, because he'd been suffering with stress caused by a lack of sleep."

"That's a little out of the ordinary, Mr. Montgomery. I might even suggest unethical."

"No, please. Sawyer shouldn't get into trouble. He- he was helping me."

"Did Henry take a sleeping pill too." Detective Brown was speaking to Gabriel but looking with narrowed eyes at Sawyer.

"No, I promise, I wouldn't- he didn't take anything. It wasn't anything like that that- made it happen. He didn't take anything." Gabriel had tears falling freely and he covered his eyes with the now drenched handkerchief.

Detective Brown put his hand on Gabriel's knee and smiled warmly, making Sawyer grit his teeth.

"Don't worry, Gabriel, we just need to know as much as possible so we can close the case when the autopsy comes through."

Sawyer had no doubt the soft words were only for Gabriel's benefit; if Detective Brown found anything suspect he'd be investigating it fully, Sawyer could tell.

The detective only had a few more questions, and finished by checking that Gabriel wouldn't be on his own.

"He won't, I assure you detective. I plan to take great care of him."

It was probably too much; too on the nose – Detective Brown certainly furrowed his brow at the words – but he didn't care. He had great plans for Gabriel, and they could start just as soon as they got rid of the rest of the Henry problem.

A/N: Sawyer being Sawyer. He is a creepy SOB and very fun to write 

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