A Different Place

By Dark Star

Contact: Darkstar7177@gmail.com


Disclaimer, please read.

All work contained herein is my own and copyrighted as such. All characters, events, places and anything else in this story are completely fictitious and are not meant to bear any resemblance to anyone living or dead. Places and other entities mentioned in this story that actually exist are not to be taken as in any way resembling whatever may be portrayed in this story. I make no claim to their beliefs, actions, inactions or anything else relating to them for that matter.  This story may not be reproduced for other than personal use unless you have my written permission.

This story may very likely contain scenes of a sexual nature. Not only that but the scenes may be between children as well as between children and adults and may be homosexual in nature. I am not sure where the story will go at this point so cannot say for sure all that may occur. This is NOT a sex story and if you are looking for one then go elsewhere. This story also may deal with abuse of a child by reference or by description. Except for any abuse described the scenes of a sexual nature will be consensual. If this isn't your cup of tea then stop now.


Author's Note

I want to take a moment to say that the scenes of abuse described herein are for the purpose of showing what the child had to deal with and why things which occur in the story do. They are not meant to excite or titillate in any way. I do NOT support the harming of a child EVER under any circumstance and those scenes depicted herein are not meant to get someone off but make them sick as they did me when I wrote them. Needless to say beware of any laws where you live which may pertain to a story like this and abide by them. You may infer what you like from my stories regarding my beliefs about things but for the record I do not advocate sexual contact with children and encourage you to keep it to reading about it rather than doing it.

This is my first story and you should know that while it is likely to have sex in it at some point, a lot of the story won't. It isn't about sex. I have tried to make it about writing a good story. I hope you enjoy it and like I said keep in mind it's my first. I hope it's not too bad. Thanks go to Jeff, AC, MS and DK amongst others who couldn't write chapters fast enough and caused me to give it a try after reading Comicality and his comments about how he got started. Also thanks to all the kids in the CSU, awesome every one. Feel free to e-mail me at Darkstar7177@gmail.com or Darkstar7177@aim.com


Author's note 2:

*asterisk indicates telepathic communication.

< --- > indicates emotion being sent during telepathic communication.

Dani is pronounced Dahnay, Tanara is pronounced Tahnahrah


Sorry to leave you with a cliff hanger in chapter 2 but that's where it ended. It won't be so bad this time.


Chapter 3


*LINNNNDAAAAAAAAAAA*

Unfortunately I was also sinking to the floor as well. I managed to grab my mike and call into it while gasping for breath,

"45King1...999...45......Forty...Five...

And that is the last thing I remembered as things turned to black...

When I awoke it was to pain and confusion. Everything was blurry and fuzzy and I didn't know where I was nor did I remember what had happened. Luckily for me I quickly slid back into unconsciousness.

The next time I awoke it was to pain and confusion as well as to memories, that, like the first time, there had been other times as well where I had awoken for brief moments and then sunk back into peaceful oblivion. This time though I knew was different as I got over the confusion rather quickly as memories started to flood my mind. When I got to the part about how I had got into this condition I started to panic, what about Danny? But before I could a thought intruded into my mind

*Linda you're awake, <worry, fear, love, worry> please stay with me this time, don't go, please <pleading, worry, fear and love>*

I started to move my head but was met with pain as I sent back

*Danny is that you? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Who was he? What happened?*

I heard a giggle and then a small boy with dark hair came up to the bed and took my hand

*its ok, Linda, I'm fine, he didn't hurt me.*

he said into my mind as he shyly looked at me with tears running down his cheeks.

*oh don't cry little one, its ok.*

I gently told him.

*I'm just so happy that you're ok, I woke up and you weren't there and then HE came in and then you came running in and the guns and I was so scared and then when HE hurt you and you fell down and you wouldn't talk to me anymore, and...*

"shhhhhhh" I said

as I brought him to me hugging his small body to me.

*its alright now, little one*

I pathed softly to him. Then I got another shock as I heard

*I see someone finally decided to wake up* in my mind.

"What?"

I said out loud. A man walked into my field of vision, smiling and pathed to me

*I'm Deandra also known here as Dr. David Wilson, and I have been taking care of you and your friend there. How are you feeling today?* he asked silently.

*it hurts a bit but I am able to block the pain, what happened?* I asked.

He spoke out loud,

"well first of all you have been tranced for about a week."

I gasped at that, but he continued before I could say anything else,

"every telepath in the immediate area heard Danny's cry when the man got there to kill him. You showed up and shot him just as he was about to shoot Danny, he then turned and shot you as you fired killing him. You went down and every telepath in 30 miles at the least heard Danny's scream. It even affected some non-telepaths especially children"

he said as he looked over at Danny.

"You were shot in the upper right chest and the bullet tore your lung amongst other things. There wasn't a lot we could do until we got you in the operating theatre with some of our people there. We were able to heal the most severe damage but of course we couldn't do so completely or it would have blown your cover. You have been in a coma since you came out of surgery to them, although we know it was simply a healing trance. We have been having to keep your body from healing itself which is probably why you were in it for so long. You are going to be recuperating from this for several weeks I'm afraid there is just no other way, I'm sorry."

He told me. I thought for a moment and told him that I understood and thanked him for his assistance. He went on

"Danny here has stayed by your side ever since it happened almost. They tried to remove him but he wouldn't go and they finally gave up."

I had the distinct feeling that there was more to that story than he was telling me but I let it drop as I glanced over to my blushing little angel.

"hey there, you really stayed with me, thank you"

I told him as his head nodded up and then back down. I pulled him to me once again and gave him a hug as I looked back to Deandra. He continued

"he has been by your side virtually since you got out of surgery, he wouldn't leave you"

he said smiling down at me,

"you are going to be here for a couple of more days and then we can release you to go home but you are going to be off work for several weeks I'm afraid."

He told me.

"Okay well thank you for everything, there wasn't any discovery was there?"

He looked at Danny and then back to me before replying cautiously

"not really, and what there was is in this room or was easily handled."

I started when he said that but he quickly started filling me in on a narrow beam. I shook my head in wonder at it all and he left me to think about all he had told me. Danny had crawled up on the bed with me and soon fell asleep as I thought over what Deandra had told me. Danny had powers that no Earth human should have and they couldn't explain it. They had brought scanners in and conducted bioscans on him but the results had caused more puzzlement than enlightenment. Danny scanned Earth Human with the limited scans possible to be done in this environment yet his powers were certainly not normal for a human. He had healed remarkably fast and that was thought to be more of the same. What had shocked Deandra was when they had arrived in the room after the shooting, as weak as he was, as terrified as he was and as much pain as he was in Danny was unconsciously attempting to send healing to me. Deandra had had to block it as it was causing him harm. Being injured himself he just wasn't up to safely trying to heal me. Not only that but being untrained could have caused him severe harm. Not only had any telepaths in the general area for some distance heard Danny's screams, especially the latter one, but many non-telepaths had heard his silent cry as well. Not surprisingly most of those were children as they tend to be more susceptible to telepathic phenomena than adults. It caused some difficulty in explaining it to people until, with some reinforcement the idea was planted that Danny had screamed aloud rather than mentally and that was soon the accepted explanation, at least on the pediatrics ward, if not the general public. Fortunately parents had a tendency, sadly, to not believe their children when told things, and this was no exception.

 Problem solved. Sort of. The other problem was Danny, Danny and I. Somehow he had linked with me. I knew it had to have happened after I was injured somehow but I had no idea how. I knew I was in trouble from the moment he had opened his eyes on the cot at school but this went deeper. In his desperation, or his caring or maybe both along with other things he had bonded with me as a child does with a parent amongst my people. He had entered my heart when I saw him on that cot but by the time I got to his room that night he had completely taken my heart.

I have no regrets but there might be problems with Earth authorities over this. I would have to see. Deandra had also hinted, but not said, that other authorities were not exactly pleased either. One doesn't do these things in my position and yet it was done. As the humans were fond of saying "fait accompli" as it were. Danny, if he hadn't before, now had a piece of my soul as well as heart and mind. I suppose it might have happened when he tried to heal me, for someone untrained, he could easily have entered deeper into my consciousness than would normally occur when trying to heal someone. I just didn't know.

The other thing was that social services had been here trying to take him and he wouldn't go with them. Shockingly Deandra had been called down when they showed up and came into the room to find Danny mentally clubbing the woman who was attempting to remove him. She suffered from neural shock and Deandra had to take quick steps to save her mind from permanent harm. Fortunately for all involved he was able to erase the incident from her mind and also to plant some memories which would keep her from wondering too much. He also took the liberty of making her think that Danny needed to stay put for the time being in the hospital. The down side to this was that sooner or later they would be back, the social worker had already started calling to check on him.

 The powers that Danny was exhibiting were troubling to Deandra and others as well, he shouldn't have them and they were curious just how he had gotten them. They couldn't explain it and were worried, especially after the incident with the social worker, if he had been more focused in his attack the social worker would be brain dead right now or worse. I looked down at the sleeping form and smiled as a feeling of love and protectiveness washed over me. I knew that this child would be my own from now on. The connection he had established that first day was now a bond as strong as any could be. I didn't understand it yet but I knew it was there.

My shoulder was hurting me even more so I went in and blocked the nerve receptors to that area bringing me blessed relief from the pain. That was one thing about primitive planets, you couldn't just heal yourself as you could in more advanced societies. I let myself drift off to sleep and didn't wake up until the next morning.

When I woke the next time it was to quiet arguing and a feeling of fear and trepidation originating from Danny. That brought me instantly awake. I looked over to see him standing in the corner nearest my bed and farthest from the other two occupants of the room. Those were Deandra and a woman who appeared to be about 50 years old with a mean pinched face standing near the door. They were arguing, that much was clear, although I couldn't make out what they were saying from here. I extended my senses outward while sending reassurance to Danny. ...

"nothing wrong with him, look at him. I am taking him right now and you can't stop me."

I heard from what was obviously the social worker.

"No you are not taking him. I am not releasing him at this time. He is not well enough to go home and that's final."

Deandra forcefully told her. The woman started to respond when I, in my best police sergeant voice asked

"just WHAT is going on HERE."

which brought instant silence and a spiteful stare from the social worker. I sat up in bed and swung my legs over the side as she started.

"My name is Betsy Meadows with the social services department and I am here to take this child into county custody."

She stated primly to me. I looked at her appraisingly before responding ever so sweetly

"oh well I will save you the trouble, I am Sergeant Thompson of the Sheriff's department and the child is already in county custody pending his release by the doctors of this hospital so you needn't bother further at this time."

She glared at me and started in a loud voice

"I don't think you underst..."

before I cut her off

"NO I don't think YOU understand. THE CHILD IS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT! PERIOD! WHEN he is released by proper medical authority we can discuss if the sheriff's dept. is going to release custody over to social services or keep him in protective custody but for now and the immediate future he WILL remain in our custody. Do YOU understand now?"

A deputy I hadn't known was stationed here came in the door during this and while the social worker was shooting daggers at me and about to respond he asked

"is there a problem here?"

Ms. Meadows jumped and turned to glare at the officer as I stated

"Ms. Meadows was just leaving deputy, would you please escort her out, oh and if she tries to resist or return please arrest her for trespassing, interfering with a criminal investigation, interfering with a police officer, and lets see, hmmm, attempted kidnapping. That should be a start."

Her face had gone bright red and she started screaming

"you can't do this, I'll have your badge, get your hands off me."

as the deputy took her by the arm. He told her

"lets go mam"

at  which point she started fighting him which led to him taking her down to the ground placing her in handcuffs thereby under arrest. He then told her that she was under arrest for trespassing and assault on a peace officer while reading her Miranda rights to her. As loud as she was screaming I doubt she heard any of them, but he escorted her from the room as he keyed his mike to request a unit for transport. I knew this wasn't over yet but at least it was a temporary solution. Deandra was looking at me and commented

"well that went well"

and I turned to Danny and held out my arms and soon had an armful of small boy hugging me for all he was worth. When I got him calmed sufficiently I asked for a phone to be brought to me and then started making some calls.

I had made a lot of friends over the years here and since I was in law enforcement, specifically crimes against women and children, I knew a fair amount of the people in the judicial and social services network, and those people would stand me in good stead now. My first call was to an old friend who now was area manager for this part of the county at DPSS. I spent some time explaining what was going on with Danny and what had been happening with his worker. When I got to the part about her being arrested he wasn't thrilled but then again he said he had heard some things about her and didn't think anyone would be crying overly much. He told me he would immediately contact those who needed to be and advise them that Danny was no longer their concern for the time being and would show he was in the custody of the Sheriff's dept. and more specifically me until further notice. I thanked him for his help and hung up. That solved that problem for now although Ted had made it a point that it was going to only cover things for so long before alternative arrangements would have to be made. I then called my watch commander and informed him of the mornings' events along with the current resolution to them. He was fine with things and just wanted to make sure I was alright to which I assured him I was. Danny had overheard me and was eagerly sitting up looking at me as I ended the call. I hadn't even got the phone in the cradle before he pathed

*did you mean it? Do I really get to stay with you?*

and it was with such a pleading look mixed with hope and fear at the same time that it broke my heart.

"yes you get to stay with me"

which earned me a

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAA"

and him throwing himself onto me in a huge hug. Deandra looked at me askance and I knew he was questioning my decision as we were not supposed to get involved to this extent when on cultural observation missions. I knew I would have a lot to answer for to TPTB but was willing to take them on for this boy. I looked back at him and told him

"I need to get out of here"

to which he replied

"no way, you need to stay for at least another day or two."

I asked him point blank

"why?"

That stopped him for a moment as he knew as well as I did that there wasn't really any reason why I should stay here. Finally he said

"propriety if nothing else, someone else wouldn't be ready so soon."

I didn't say anything and he finally said

"fine, your clothes are in the closet."

I asked him about my gun and other things and he told me they were with the dept. I thanked him for everything and told him to drop by sometime and then asked him to send the deputy in on his way out. I looked over at Danny who was watching all this with wide eyes and asked

"ready to go home little one?"

I could feel the sudden fear spike through him as he started to back away from me so I quickly grabbed onto him sending to him

*to your new home little one, with me<love, reassurance, safety, comfort>*

He looked deeply into my eyes for a moment and then I felt him relax as he nodded his head. At about that time the deputy came in and I asked him where my stuff and car were. He looked at me shocked so I said

"they are letting me out of here."

He shook it off and told me that my car and stuff were taken to the station so I told him to give me a couple of minutes and he could drive me down there. He left the room and I locked the door after him before taking the gown off and changing into some clothes that someone had thoughtfully brought for me to wear. Before I put on the shirt, I decided that I had to do something with this wound. I concentrated and let my healing power flow through me to the wound healing it completely except for the superficial appearance of it. Wouldn't do to have that disappear now would it. I was going to have to put up with a scar until I left the planet for appearances sake. I closed off the nerves to the area of the wound so I wouldn't feel it and made some slight modifications to it so that I wouldn't have to worry about tearing it overly much. I also left a flag so I would be aware of any detrimental change that may occur which was a necessity considering I had blocked any pain from the area impinging on my consciousness. Just as I got the sweatshirt pulled over my head there was a knock on the door and I sensed Deandra was back. I nudged the lock open and told him to come in. Danny had been watching me throughout this and I had sensed that it wasn't only with his eyes but he hadn't said anything. As Deandra entered the room he said

"I've got you signed out and here are your aftercare instructions."

I thanked him and asked him when was the earliest I could return to work. He told me light duty in a week but at least 2 for full and it would be better if it was three. I thanked him again and we headed out grabbing the deputy along the way.

When I got to the station Danny clung to me even though I reassured him that everything was ok and headed in to the watch commander's office.

"Linda what are you doing here, are you ok?

He asked as I walked into the office.

"I'm fine Lee, just didn't want to stay cooped up in that hospital and they said all my stuff was here."

He looked me over real good before replying

"well we're all glad you're ok, you gave us all a scare there for a while. Wanted you to know that IAD ruled it a good shoot so you're in the clear there. They still want to interview you by the way but at this point its just a formality."

I was certainly pleased to hear that as I had no particular love for that branch of our dept.

"well thank God for small miracles then. Sorry about the scare, didn't mean to get shot you know."

He chuckled and said

"do we ever?"

I thought for a moment and replied seriously

"no I suppose we don't."

He just looked at me and then seemed to notice Danny as he said

"well hi there young man, who might you be?"

Danny looked at me as I nodded my head and he replied in a quiet voice

"I'm Danny."

Lee looked at me quickly before turning his attention back to the boy

"well my name is Lee, its nice to meet you, I'm glad you're feeling better."

Danny smiled up at him and said thank you before retreating behind me once again. Lee turned his attention back to me saying

"well I guess I better let you get home and some rest, when are you cleared to come back?"

I told him what the doctor said and he replied

"well get better and I'll see you next week, you have 45Sam until you're cleared for full duty. We are going to continue to provide some protection for you until we get everything sorted out with this mess. Grab a couple of 470s before you leave and chargers for them. Keep it on a simplex channel with your assigned deputy at all times. Call in if there is anything suspicious, understand?"

I told him I did. He then went on to get my weapon from a wall safe and hand it to me before telling me to take care and that he was glad I was back. I headed out to the locker room with Danny staying glued to my side the whole time. I sent a silent message to him *hey little one, don't be afraid, these people are all ok.*

He just looked up at me and gave me a brief smile but didn't let go. I went inside the locker room and over to my locker where I found my off duty clothes. I got changed into them and secured my weapon in my off duty holster on my waist. I grabbed my Star from where someone had put it on the shelf and placed it on my belt in plain sight for now, grabbed my Sam Brown and then headed over to the supply desk to get my 470 radios. Once that was taken care of I called Lee back to find out who was babysitting me and was told it was 44D so I then paged him to meet us out back. When we got out to the parking area a deputy was standing there and as he heard us he turned around and I smiled as I greeted him.

"Hi there Ricky, you got stuck with us eh?"

Ricky was a big man but had a gentle soul to him and he loved kids, I think his wife was up to number 6 now. He came up to us and wrapped me in a big hug as he said in his booming voice

"Linda, how you doing kid?"

Ricky was like that. I appeared to be approximately 28 Earth standard years old and he about 10 above that but he still called me kid. I laughed as I told him

"fine, fine Ricky, how have you been?"

He let me go and stepped back saying

"fine kiddo, and so is the family before you ask."

I chuckled as I told him

"so you giving Sheila a break old man?"

He looked stricken as he replied

"me old? I'm hurt and Sheila is just fine"

as a big grin broke out on his face

"about 3 months left on number 7."

I looked at him shocked

"no, not another one, didn't she just have the sixth?"

he was still grinning as he said

"nah that was 9 months ago."

I couldn't believe it.

"Ricky, you have to give that poor woman a break for God's sake. She's had 6 kids now and the oldest is 7 isn't he?"

He nodded his head as he replied

"yep, just turned seven last week. Come on Linda, you know we both always wanted a big family."

I just shook my head and told him

"I know but this is getting ridiculous, seven now. Give her a break for a few years then go back at it."

His face turned serious for a moment before he looked hard at me and then told me

"I know Linda, I've wanted her to take it easier but she has been the one pushing for more. I think I finally convinced her to do just that after this one comes though. We've been talking about it and she has agreed to at least 3 or 4 years before she gets one again. The youngest would be 4 and Steven would be 11 then."

I thought for a moment and then said

"well that will be good for her to have a break. You could both use it. Most of them should be in school by then so it will be even better."

He smiled and then squatted down looking directly at Danny as he asked

"so who do we have here growing out of your leg?"

Danny giggled as he said

"I'm not growing out of her leg, see?"

and stepped away from me a little bit. I said

"his names Danny"

as Ricky stuck out his hand and said

"well Danny I'm Ricky, nice to meet you."

Danny had a smile on his face as he said

"hi."

It seems that Danny took to Ricky right off. Did I mention that Ricky is wonderful with kids, well he is. I spoke to Ricky as he stood back up

"looks like you will be my protective detail for the day, here is a 470 for you."

He looked at me and told me to keep it he had his and a convertacom in the unit. He also told me to go to simplex 5 for the duration. I turned on the radio and set it to the proper channel and also turned the second radio to the correct channel as well. I asked him what the schedule was going to be and he told me that it would be 6 units for the time being with two deputies on each shift. He was working with 49A tonight and then at 2200 hrs 45G 1 and 2 were relieving them. At 6 tomorrow morning that would change to 46T1 and 44K2 and he would be back in the afternoon. I thought that was being a bit of overkill but didn't say anything. I think he could tell my feelings but didn't comment. I wondered just why we were getting all that protection but didn't ask, now was not the time with Danny right there. I headed over to my unit and got Danny settled in as I watched Ricky pull up in an unmarked just behind me. I keyed the 470 and asked him if he was ready and got an affirmative for a reply so I headed out. I had a nice place up in the hills and it was rather secluded from everyone. The nice thing was that Ricky didn't live that far away so I got to see him now and again and even baby sat once in a while. His changing shifts a while ago had separated us a bit so it was nice to see him again. We went out and got on the 605 north to the 10 east and then off onto the 210 before exiting and driving into the hills where my house was. I had a nice place set back away from the public eye which made it quite secluded with plenty of acreage as well. What wasn't advertised was that it was a bit enhanced technologically which made it all the better for this situation. No one would be able to get near the property without me knowing. Danny stared wide eyed as we pulled onto the property and asked

"is this your house" to which I nodded affirmatively.

"cool" he said.

We pulled up into the drive in front of the house and Ricky stated he was taking up position on down the drive. I told him to come up if he felt like it but knew he wouldn't. We got out and went inside where the first thing I did was instruct the computer to set condition 2 for the property and scan Danny's as well as Ricky's life signs into the system as authorized. I did all this in my native language so I was quite shocked when a small voice said...

End Note

Well that's chapter 3. Hope you liked it. Nifty has made the request that each chapter be sent in every 2 or 3 days so Chapter 4 will be up then. Until next time. DS