"Lo Si, would you do me the honor and accompany me to see the children?" the calm voice of Kwai Chang Caine whispered in his ear.

Lo Si bowed slightly and shook his head.

"I am sorry my friend but I cannot."

Caine knew better than to ask his friend and master what he was up to. He saw the twinkle in the wise eyes of the older man and bowed respectfully in front of him.

"I will go alone," Caine stated matter of fact.

"So it shall be," Lo Si said with a hint of amusement and slipped out of the door of the youth center.

"It's hot in here," Kermit Griffin said as he wiped the invisible sweat off his brow.

Skalany grinned openly at him.

"You're just looking for an excuse to get off the hook," she teased.

Kermit adjusted his glasses, spread out his hands and exhaled deeply.

"Well, this is not exactly my line of work."

In secret he still didn't understand how Skalany had managed to drag him into this task. It seemed they'd been wrapping hours and the mountain of gifts didn't seem to lessen.

He didn't mind working here, in fact he loved to do something for those less fortunate kids, but working with small ribbons and packing paper was absolutely not his favorite thing to do.

*It's for the children,* he reminded himself before he lost his patience with a stubborn piece of ribbon.

Skalany couldn't help herself and snickered. "Geez, you can't tell me these capable fingers of yours aren't able to wrap up all these small packets."

"No, but they could use a break before they are stiff and bleeding. Besides, I wouldn't want to be the one to explain to the Captain why I can't work," Kermit replied in a slightly suffering tone.

Skalany sighed in mock frustration. "Then take your break."

Kermit gifted her with one of his famous shark smiles, and was out of the door before Skalany could blink an eye.

"Hey, but don't forget to come back," she shouted after him.

Out in the cold, Kermit breathed in the fresh winter air. It had stopped snowing half an hour before, and now the ground was covered with a thin layer of white. He could see one footprint leading away from the youth center, the rest of the snow was untouched. Despite it being December, and shortly before Christmas, the evening was surprisingly warm.

The snow looked like white powdered sugar under his feet. When he started to walk along the small path, following the footprints, he made barely a sound. The sparkling Christmas lights they had hanging on the front wall of the youth center, got weaker the more he walked away and soon the only illumination was the soft, pale glow of the moon.

The faint reverberation of water could be heard, and there was another noise which sounded like soft whimpering. Spontaneously Kermit changed his direction and headed towards the sound. He barely rounded the corner when he discovered the reason for this sound.

Kermit saw the small form of a young boy huddled under a tree near the shore and he appeared to be crying. He could not have been older than 8 or 9 years. He had on a worn out pair of Jeans, sneakers and a blue sweater, absolutely not the proper clothing for a winter evening.

If Kermit had not seen this sad child, it would have been a peaceful sight. The glow of the moon was reflected on the surface of the water, the stars were shining bright, and the night was crystal clear, he even could see the mountains in the distance and the trees around the shore seemed to wave hello to him.

The shining stars were something Kermit wondered about. Normally, on such a clear night, it should be much colder. Somehow it felt like there was "magic" in the air. Kermit could not think of another word to describe the atmosphere of this night.

Kermit jerked out of his musings and made sure he made some sounds as he approached the small boy. The last thing he wanted was to scare him.

"Hey kid, what are you doing here all alone?" he asked the child.

The boy sniffled and looked up at him. With an angry gesture he wiped the tears off his face. It was obvious he didn't want anybody to see that he was crying.

"Nothing you want to know," he crabbily replied.

Kermit let out a silent sigh. This wasn't going to be easy.

"May I?" he asked and sat down beside the boy before he even had a chance to reply. All he got was a shrug and a mistrustful look.

"I'm Kermit, who are you?" he asked casually.

"Kermit? Like Kermit the frog? Did you bring Miss Piggy with you?" the boy huffed.

A wave of anger washed over Kermit, he nearly gave in to this feeling of frustration, when he felt the shiver of the small form beside him. This reminded him of another small boy, his younger, and unfortunately dead, brother David. He also had tended to attack people verbally when he wanted to be alone.

"Doesn't work with me, pal," he informed the youngster curtly.

Silence.

The boy shivered again. Kermit stood up, shrugged out of his coat, sat down again and draped the mantle around the small, hunched shoulders of the kid. Kermit could nearly see the inner turmoil of the boy. He seemed tempted to throw the coat right back at him, but then he decided otherwise and enfolded himself deeper in the warmth.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"You're welcome," Kermit responded in kind.

Slowly but surely the silence grated on Kermit nerves. It had been nearly 10 minutes since the kid last spoke, and he still showed no sign that he was going to say anything more.
Kermit thought over how he could talk him into telling him what was bothered him. All he knew was that something wasn't right with the youngster. His experience with children of this age was limited at best. The only other boy he knew at this age had been his brother David and that had been exactly the time when he had started to be less and less at home.
There were some dirty little wars in dirty little towns which needed his attention in his former line of work.

Sure, he had tried to be at home as often as he could manage, but he knew it had not been often enough. The missions and all the ugly things he had seen there, and the awful things he had been forced to do, had changed him. David had felt that, and Kermit had never managed to be home long enough to restore the former bond they had shared. No wonder he couldn't think of a way to get the boy talk.

*Maybe I should call Caine or one of the social workers,* he thought discouraged.

Out of the blue the boy said, "I'm David."

Kermit startled at the sound and nearly gasped when the name sunk in. Could that be a coincidence? A moment later his face was as blank as ever. He adjusted his dark glasses before he started to speak.

"Nice to meet you David. You want to tell me why you are sitting here alone in the dark without warm clothes?"

Surprisingly the boy answered him.

"I ran away from home to search for my father."

"You did what?" Kermit nearly shouted.

David flinched.

"What happened?" Kermit asked in a much lower, controlled tone.

"This morning my father went to buy cigarettes, and he never came back. We went to the police but they told us we have to wait 24 hours before we can fill out a missing persons form. Then we went home again and since then all my mother does is cry. She is in so much pain and now that I am the man of the house, I had to do something. So I decided to sneak out of the house and search for him on my own. It is Christmas, they can't expect me or my Mom to celebrate Christmas without him, that's not fair."

Kermit was horrified, when he heard David's story. His voice held not a hint of emotion, it was as if a robot had spoken and not an eight year old child. Kermit could tell that David had made a feeble attempt to shut out all his emotions. *No child should go through something like that* he thought.

"We'll find him, kid," the detective said in a determined tone.

"Really?"

Pleading, innocent eyes stared up at him. The gaze went right through his dark glasses directly to his soul.

*He has the same piercing stare like David had, even the color of his eyes is the same,* he thought.

He knew why he was thinking about his dead brother so much. It was Christmas time. It was time to visit him, and time to relive the memories. It was time to pray for something that would never happen.

On Christmas Eve he would go to David's grave. Like all the years before, he would kneel in front of the cold stone and grieve over the loss of his younger brother. He would beg him for forgiveness because he had not been there to prevent his death. All the while knowing that he would not receive an answer to ease the pain of his tormented soul.

It was clear that he couldn't turn back time and make up for all his faults, David was dead and he would never be alive again. But here he had a chance to restore the life of this smaller version of David, and he was determined to move heaven and hell to help him find his father.
Kermit swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"I promise. We'll find him," he said with as much confidence as he could manage.

Suddenly the boy jumped up and flung himself at Kermit, his thin arms wrapped tightly around his neck. His first reaction -- as usual -- was to flinch back from this touch, but instead he enfolded the boy in a warm, protective embrace. Kermit felt tears rise up in his eyes. To feel the trust and confidence this child set in him was nearly more than he could endure at this very moment.

Finally David let go of his emotions and started crying in his arms.

"I am so frightened," he stuttered.

Kermit tightened his grip around the small body and rocked him back and forth. He was not sure he could trust his voice so he said nothing and simply let the kid cry out his very soul in the shelter of his arms.

The sensation to protect this young soul and to keep all the bad things away from him was overwhelming. He needed a few minutes before he found his voice again and started crooning comforting words in the boy's ears, not sure who he comforted with these words, David or himself.

It took a long time until the heartbreaking sobs changed to soft sniffles and hiccups and eventually subsided. Kermit noticed the kid fell asleep in his arms. He didn't have the heart to wake the clearly exhausted child despite his urgent wish to start looking for his father.

*A few minutes rest can't hurt,* he thought and settled in a more comfortable position against the tree, simultaneously closing the coat more firmly around them both. In a very gentle manner he stroked David's head and rubbed his back. This child was so small, so fragile, so sad, he could not understand how a father could do this to his own child.

The thought that he had done exactly that more than one time to his siblings, left him feel like a very unworthy person. He was no better than the father of this boy.

*I promise David, I will find your Dad and I will make sure he never will leave you again without your knowledge,* he vowed.

The youngster stirred in his arms. Automatically Kermit tightened his grip around the fragile body and watched him closely. The kid looked like as if he was having a bad dream. Kermit started to hum softly a long forgotten nursery rhyme. He wondered how naturally it came back to him.

Oddly enough, his humming seemed to calm the child, he could see how the lines of worry smoothed in the young face, so he continued, determined to give him at least a bit of piece in his sleep. It was all he could do at the moment.

He didn't notice that he hummed himself to sleep as well.

In an instant Kermit recognized his surroundings. The old oak tree with the initials 'KMD' carved in the tree trunk and the big beige one family house with the still ugly looking, weathered green shutters, he knew so well.

A small, bright red painted bicycle rested abandoned beside the few steps leading to the front door. David's bike.
The mercenary involuntarily smiled at this sight. He knew Marylin would chide David about how carelessly he treated his bike.

A content smile crossed Kermit's lips. He was at home, probably back from a mission. Time to announce his presence. With a little bounce he climbed up the stairs leading to the door. When his hand reached in his pocket to search for the key he halted in mid-stride.

*Wait a minute...What happened here?... David's dead, and Marylin live at the Gables...this house burned down ten tears ago!*

Kermit's thoughts whirled in his head. A wave of dizziness washed over him. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs forming inside.
This could not be real, it must be an illusion … or a dream. But if this was a dream, how was it possible he could think? Wouldn't he just dream? He never had a dream where he consciously could think and act.

*Well, Griffin, there is only one way to find out,* he steadied himself and took a deep breath.

Much more reluctant than before, he took the house keys out of his pocket wondering why they were still there after all these years. Before he unlocked the door, he pulled out the Desert Eagle and checked the ammunition before he put it back with a reassuring pat to the cold steel. It simply felt wrong to enter his birth house with a weapon drawn. Nevertheless, it gave him a secure feeling to know his Eagle was there where it belonged, and he could retrieve it in an instant if necessary.

Silently he entered the house and stood perfectly still. His senses told him there was no danger lurking in the shadows. He let out a sigh of relief. However, he was far from letting down his guard.

The inside looked exactly the same way he remembered it. Nothing was out of place. There was the overstuffed chair in front of the fireplace. His father had loved to sit there, watching the flames and reading the newspaper before he died. The Chippendale table with the scratch in the left corner, he and David were responsible for, still remained on his ancestral place, and even the pictures of him, Marylin and David hung on the wall.

The sound of light, running footsteps jerked him out of his contemplation. They came from the floor above him. Without conscious thought, Kermit headed toward the sound climbing up the stairs. Each step he made brought back memories - good and bad.

He halted in front of David's open door and peered inside. Immediately he recognized their clothes. David's oversized red shirt with the green frog on the front, it had been a present from him, and Marylin's flower dress she loved so much. They had worn it when he - once again - had had to go on a mission, two days after David's 8th birthday. It had not been a happy good bye - it never was - but this time it had been a lot harder to leave them. When he had told David he had to leave again, David had gotten very angry and they had had a serious fight. The last words he had heard when he left the house was David's angry shout: "I hate you!"

Words which still haunted him in his nightmares.

He tried to enter the room, but suddenly he realized he couldn't move a muscle. His whole body was frozen in place. Horrified, he realized they couldn't see him although he stood in the entrance. He wanted to shout: "I'm here," but he couldn't. This strange force, or whatever was happening here, didn't give him a chance to announce his presence.

All he could do was watch the scene playing out before him.

David sat on his bed, a pillow clutched tightly to his chest. Tears streamed down his cheeks, a sullen expression was embedded on his face. Marylin stood in the left corner. She crossed the room and sat down beside him. She stretched out her hand to touch his shoulder but he flinched away from her.

"Come on, David you didn't mean what you said," she started.

"Yes, yes, I meant it, every word!" David emphasized each word with gestures of his right hand.

"No, you didn't," Marylin replied softly.

"Why? Why does he leave us all the time? Why can't he be here with us!" David shouted angrily.

"There are people who need his help, and we must accept that little one."

"No, I can't accept it. I don't care about them, he has to be here - with us. We need him!"

Marylin hesitated a moment before she replied, "These people need him more than we do."

"I don't give a shit what they need. I want my brother!"

"David! I should wash out your mouth with soap," Marylin chided horrified about his language.

"I don't give a damn."

"David! One more curse and I will swat your backside! Even if Kermit is gone, that is no reason for you to use such bad language."

David laughed bitterly. It sounded strange because he simultaneously sniffled.

"Then do it. What do I care? Kermit doesn't love me anymore, why should you care for me?"

"Oh God, David. What did you say? Darling, Kermit loves you, he loves us, and I love you."

"Maybe you do, but he doesn't," David whispered. His hands were balled into fists while he tried to hold back the tears of betrayal.

"Yes, he does. David, Kermit loves you with every fiber of his heart. Maybe he can't tell you with words, but it's evident in every touch and each time he looks at you. He adores you, you are his younger brother and Kermit will never stop loving you."

"But if he loves us, why does he leave us all the time? He knows we're not happy here since Mom and dad died, and he never made an attempt to take us in."

"That's not true David, and you know it. It's not his fault that he didn't get guardianship of us."

"I'm just a little boy. What do I know? All I know is Kermit behaves very strange since his last visit. Now he constantly wears these dark glasses and I can't even touch him when I want. I ask you, is that love? He has changed so much, that sometimes I think he is a stranger."
David's whole body trembled with that statement.

Marylin gasped in horror. Her own eyes showed how deeply affected she was. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then she laid a hand under David's chin to force him to look at her. Their gaze locked.

"We tried to explain what happened to you. There were some very bad men. What they did to him changed him. Outwardly he may be a bit strange but inside he's still your loving brother. You can doubt many things but never doubt Kermit's love for you. Please, David, believe me. You must believe me, it's the truth."

David's face crumbled in defeat. The first sobs shook his shoulders. Despite his feeble attempts he could no longer hold back.

"I.. I miss him, that's because I love him so much. I .. I wish he could stay with us. I would do anything for that," he managed to choke out before his heartbreaking sobs took his breath away.

Marylin's face distorted into a mask of pain and torment. Bravely she tried to hide her own feelings in front of her young brother. She reached for him, and this time he allowed her to pull him into her chest. He did not see that she was crying as well.

"I wish he could stay, too," she whispered almost inaudibly.

At that moment Kermit realized the paralyzation had vanished. He gasped and sank to his knees. His own cheeks were wet but he didn't realize it. He always knew how hurt his siblings were each time he had to leave them, but to see it with his own eyes was unbearable. Clearly, he could feel the pain of Marylin and David, it added to his own ache and he had the feeling that his heart would be ripped out. Not even the torture he had received from the hands of his tormentors, had hurt so much as what he just had witnessed. His soul was on fire. The air rushed out of his lungs, his whole body jerked like in a cramp.

*So sorry, I'm so sorry. Wish I could change it.*

Part1   Part 2

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