Silence followed River's words. Cassandra had made a noise of anguish and then pushed Randall back, one of the few times she exerted herself against her husband and made her stand clear when he wasn't listening.<br/><br/>“Someone hurt my little boy, Randall. Someone took him away from us and he's<i>scared</i>. You're scaring him now when you're the last person he should have a need to fear. We were meant to protect him, Randall. I don't care what he's doing now. You're going to go back downstairs until you can compose yourself. Emotions are high, I get it, but he's fragile and you're not helping.”<br/><br/>Randall had been forced away from the door and was standing with a knuckle pressed to his lips.<br/><br/>“I'm going to call Zach and see if he wants to spend the night at a friend's place tonight. I don't want to tell him.. that the brother he never knew is home, at least not until we get the situation under control. He'll remember us, Cass, and he'll know we're not going to hurt him. I'm his father, for Christ sake.” They were at least in agreement on that in regards to their other child. Too soon to put this all on him when they were trying to figure everything out themselves. She turned to the door.<br/><br/>“We won't hurt you. Your father just doesn't know what to do with the things he's feeling. He's so angry at whoever took you from us, but he's not angry at you. Either of you. I'm going to go downstairs and make dinner. I want you both to come down on your own time. Ezekiel, you can introduce River to your father. I'll try to get him to understand.”<br/><br/>They were left to quiet again, save for their own anxious breathing. Tension melted away from them once the yelling and pounded had stopped. River had asked them to leave and they'd done that but only for a short while. Cassandra wanted them to come back downstairs, and this time to reunite with Randall. It felt as if he'd be meeting the man for the first time. There was that same disconnect he'd felt in regards to his mother but he feared what would happen if they didn't go downstairs for dinner. Father Lamont would have never tolerated either boys absence if he'd requested them at the dinner table.<br/><br/>“We might need to run, River,” Zeke whispered, depending on how this went. He was on the defensive now, even less sure than he had been before. At least outside they wouldn't feel like the walls were closing in on them. There would be no one to answer to, no matter how scary it was on the outside.<br/><br/>“I don't know these people anymore,” he said, wiping the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes against River's skin. He was frustrated and he was scared. It was all overwhelming and Ezekiel didn't know how to get the world to just stop. He didn't want anything else. Just River and him to be left in peace. That was all. Not wealth, fame, or material possessions. He took a deep breath and composed himself.<br/><br/>“We'll get in trouble if we miss dinner. You know how<i>he </i>got,” he whispered, pulling River up so they could find their discarded clothing together. Cassandra was downstairs, cooking in a fog, mostly just keeping things warm at that point until the boys came back down. Randall was on the phone, demanding answers from the officer no one knew yet. The boys hadn't been forthcoming with the investigation which had Randall exasperated. Cassandra had tried to make Randall understand why she'd brought both home.<br/><br/>“They're attached. He's what Ezekiel knows. He was taken from us once. I didn't want to take him from someone else,” she said, stirring a sauce so that it didn't scorch at the bottom.<br/><br/>Ezekiel had come down the stairs ahead of River, leading the other by a hand extended behind him. When eyes fell on him he froze, gauging reaction and also wondering how fast they could make it to the front door if Randall lunged for them. He was only standing there, tall and only vaguely familiar, with a frown on his aged face.<br/><br/>“I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I'm glad you're home. We prayed for this for a long time,” Randall admitted. He wanted to say more, to ask where they'd been. Who had taken then but Cassandra had warned him not to push either of them too much at first. They were clearly weary after his episode earlier.<br/><br/>“Are you boys hungry?” she asked, starting to make plates now that they'd come down the stairs. “Randall, will you finish setting the table please? We're going to need to get an extra chair when Zach comes home. For now<i>River</i>can sit in his place.” She'd told him the other boy's name but she hadn't been sure he'd truly processed it yet.