River shielded him in an effort to protect him against this new threat and Ezekiel clung to the front of his shirt, hiding his face into his neck, though he didn't make a sound after hitting the ground. He'd stopped crying, seeming incapable of facing any of it, and so he let River speak for him for a time. The women didn't seem to be calming down, and Watson wasn't sure what to do. Keller came in to try and help get a handle of the chaos that was his office, explaining how detrimental it was to try and separate the boys.<br/><br/>“And quite frankly, you can't<i>make </i>them do anything. They're legal adults,” Watson pointed out, and Cassandra looked at him with a fury that was scalding enough to boil water. Zeke had turned to look at Watson though, from his place flat on the floor with River on top of him. He was listening.<br/><br/>“He's my son! I want him home,” she lamented, then listened to the other boy who wanted to leave. Panic enveloped her, and she lowered herself to her knees, holding her hands up in surrender. She'd set the phone down.<br/><br/>“Please,” she started, looking to Watson for the other boy's name. He told her.<br/><br/>“Please, River, I'll have you both. We have the room. I'll take you both with me right now, just convince him. Ezekiel,<i>please</i>.” She was pleaded to the both of them now, and Watson was moved by the sight of the woman begging on her knees for her child. This was not usually how missing cold cases went. Ezekiel had sat up to look more closely at her, pulling River up with him. His gaze was still impassive, and he was mostly considering his and River's needs than he was the desire to be back with his family.<br/><br/>“You won't separate us?” Ezekiel asked.<br/><br/>“I promise,” she told him, staring her son in the face.<br/><br/>“No one will hurt him,” he added, his voice steely. He didn't ask. This was a statement. It was the voice of a young man that had clearly had enough. They were not Father Lamont. Ezekiel wasn't scared of them like he was that man who had raised them.<br/><br/>“Of course not! No one will hurt either of you.” She seemed aghast at the notion.<br/><br/>“River?” Ezekiel spoke in askance, looking back to his companion. His expression changed to a solemn one when looking to the other boy's face, still unsure. It was a big risk, but they would have to go somewhere, and Watson said that she couldn't make them do anything. He stood up, and helped River up with him. He was still dodgy when she moved too quickly, less frightened of her, but clearly uncomfortable with the idea of her initiating contact. Watson handed them a card of his, and wrote down his personal cell number when it appeared that Ezekiel was considering it.<br/><br/>“If you two need, or think of anything you can reach me there,” he told them, though he knew he was a distance away from them, especially if they went with Cassandra. “I'll help you two with anything that I can.” He made sure that River took the number of his mother with him, and Watson saw them out of the station. Ezekiel was stiff, holding River's hand tightly, and it looked as if he might bolt. Cassandra had learned of her mistake earlier, and gave him space.<br/><br/>“My car is right over here,” Cassandra told them, motioning to a spacious sedan. “You two can sit in the back if you'd like.” She opened one of the doors for them, though Ezekiel still looked to River for some form of reassurance.<br/><br/>“I'll get us out if they try to hurt us,” Zeke whispered, “They're.. our best chance.” That was his mother, after all. If he couldn't trust her, they couldn't trust anyone. He guided River in front of him, to let him go first before climbing into the backseat practically over the top of him. He didn't put a seat belt on, just sprawled exhausted, wedged against River and the soft fabric seats.<br/><br/>“It's a long drive,” Cassandra spoke in apology. “I'm going to call your dad, to tell him. Do you want to ta-.” Ezekiel cut her off with a sharp 'no'. He didn't particularly want to talk to her either right them, and his body language said as much. He wanted no one but River. Randall answered again and she didn't put him on speaker phone.<br/><br/>“I have the boys,” she told him. There was a pause, and then she confirmed that yes, she had<i>both</i>boys. No, she was not dropping him off. Yes, he would be staying with them too. With Ezekiel. She didn't relay to him the way the two clung to each out of desperation, or how they tried to soothe one another with kisses and soft, whispering words of devotion. She didn't care. She had her son back.