"Jon?"

"Yes, Detective?" He held the phone hard against his ear, straining to be sure that he heard everything Rachel Torres had to say very clearly.

"We got the results back from the lab. The boy who was killed wasn't Quake."

He sagged in relief.

"We'll try to track him down," she continued. "If he's alone, I'm going to put CPS on alert. We'll see if we can get some sort of further support set up for him, maybe get him into a foster situation. From what his contacts have told me, he's very stubborn, and perhaps shell-shocked as well, they've tried to get help for him in the past, but he keeps running away, which is why they keep working with him, trying to keep him in the system, at least keep contact with him."

"That would be great," Jon replied, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He thought for a moment. "Listen, Rachel....Detective....if he needs someone to look after him, I've been trying to help him for months, and my supergroup, Starfire, would be willing to help look after him as well. Maybe one of the families could take him in."

"We'll see, Jon." The hard edge left her voice. "I want to thank you, Jon, for speaking up. We have so many bad cases, it's nice to have one on my desk that turns out well. I appreciate you trying to help that boy."

"I just....I worry about him, that's all." Jon would have shrugged had he been in the same room with the Latin woman.

"Look....in the future, you do what you need to do, and if I can help you out, I'll do so. Just try not to get yourself killed, all right?"

He smiled, took a deep breath. "Thanks, Rachel. Thanks for everything. I really appreciate it."

Copyright terraforming.com, November 26, 2012