Carl arrived at the station and called everyone together for a briefing.  Once they were seated he tacked a photo onto the bulletin board to state,, "This is Gus Peterson-Marcus.  He's five-and-a-half years old, and he's run away from home. We're working in conjunction with the West Virginia police to track him down. I want everyone on full alert to bring him home to his parents.  Understood?"

Everyone nodded grimly; they hated dealing with cases involving children.  No child should be scared or involved with anything that may cause them harm, not to mention the child predators that lurked everywhere now.

Gus didn't know how long he had travelled; all he knew was that he had seen what seemed like miles and miles of trees, fields and houses pass by. Thoughts raced through his head as he forced himself not to cry again.

The bus came to a stop as the bus driver announced that this was, indeed, the last stop. To avoid attention, Gus did exactly like he had done before when he boarded the bus:  he blended in with a mother and her children as if he were a part of their family until he was inside the building.

Looking around, all Gus could see were people boarding other buses, going about their business.

Stepping outside once more, he saw a man rooting through a garbage receptacle and pulling out a half-eaten sandwich.  Running up to him before the man could eat it, Gus pleaded, "Please don't eat that, Sir!  It's all dirty."

The man blushed, feeling ashamed as he looked down at the worried-looking little boy.  Clutching the food in his hand, he explained, "I don't have a choice, young man. I'm hungry and I don't have any money."

Gus's face fell upon hearing that, so he reached out to take one of the man's hands in his as he told him, "I have money. I can buy you something to eat.  please don't eat that!"

Crouching down to the same level as the earnest-looking boy, the man teared up. It had been a long time since anyone had cared about him.  "That's very kind of you," he told him in a choked voice, "but you don't have to."

Wiping a tear that fell from his eye, Gus bit his lip.  "Please, Sir, let me.  I want to."

Looking around, the homeless man noticed that there was no adult with him, so he asked, "Is someone here with you?"

Gus knew that he had to lie.  He couldn't tell him that he had run away. Thinking quickly for an explanation, he replied, "They're waiting for a bus to get here, but they can see me, so it's okay.  My name is Gus.  What's your name?"

Shaking his hand with a smile, the man introduced himself. "I'm Alesky Kowalski."

Gus beamed, his troubles temporarily forgotten.  "That means ‘Defender Of The Land' and ‘Blacksmith,' right?"

Alesky was astounded. "Yes, yes, it does.  That's amazing!  How did you know?"

Feeling proud of himself, Gus told him, "One of my teachers is Polish, and he loves to teach us the meaning of names.  It's so much fun!"

A few minutes later, Gus and Alesky were sitting in a small cafe, both of them enjoying their dinner, since Gus had ordered something for himself as well, finding that he, too, was hungry.

Despite Gus's previous assurance that his parents were nearby and keeping an eye on him, Alesky had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong; he would steal glances around, and never once saw anyone who seemed to be keeping an eye on this compassionate, intelligent, little boy. He silently swore that he would find out what was going on, and make sure that the little boy would be safe and back with his parents, wherever they were, before they parted ways.

Temporarily forgetting his own troubles, Gus swung his little legs back and forth as he asked, "Alesky, what do you do?"

Alesky swallowed before he replied, "I used to own my own bakery called ‘Moments In Time.' I loved to create things for people."

Gus frowned. "What happened to it?"

Alesky gave his companion a sorrowful smile.  "Someone who I thought was a friend stole everything from me, so I couldn't pay my bills and wound up losing both my bakery and my house."

Making a sad face, Gus replied, "That wasn't very nice of him."

Shaking his head, Alesky responded, "No, you're right.  It wasn't."

Lorrie, the owner of the café, overheard them and made plans to talk to Alesky.  She was familiar with the man's bakery, and recalled how good the food had been.  He was obviously down on his luck, so she silently wondered if he might be willing to teach her staff how to create the wonderful pastries that his shop used to sell.

Brian and Justin arrived back home at the same time that Carl and a member of his team arrived to assist them.

Helping Justin out of the car, Brian anxiously asked the older man, "Any news on our sonny boy?"

Sighing, Carl told them, "We did find his bike at the local bus station, so we sent pictures out with an amber alert and asked all the local media to broadcast his photo, along with the information we have as of now.  I think it's likely he's hopped on a bus heading out of town. I've got every available man out looking for him.  I am very confident we will have him home tonight."

Holding Justin, Brian rubbed his face with his free hand, his heart heavy with worry. "I hope so, Carl, I really do."

Lindsay stood by, not saying a word and wondering what to do next.

Brian looked at her darkly. "You can leave now, and don't come back until I call you."

"But, Brian," Lindsay protested, "I'm his mother! I should be here when he gets back!"

Throwing her an angry glare, Brian reminded her, "He wouldn't have run if you had just listened in the first place! Go to Debbie's.  Mel is there right now."  Before Lindsay could open her mouth, Brian relented just a bit.  "I promise I will call you as soon as we know anything else."

Wiping a tear away, Lindsay nodded her head, knowing this was one battle she wouldn't win.  "Okay...Thank you," she murmured as Brian gave her a curt nod in return.  Hesitating for just a moment, she finally walked over to her car to open the door and drove away.

Kissing Justin on the side of the head, Brian whispered tenderly, "Let's get you settled on the couch."

Debbie paced, muttering; Mel could not understand a word she was saying. It was around four o'clock when Lindsay showed up, crying.  Not a word was said as she made her way inside and sat on the couch. The tension was too thick for words.

The bus driver still could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with the little boy who had been a passenger on his bus earlier. Flipping on his Ipad, he checked social media, and up popped a picture of the little boy.  His instincts had been right; the child had been reported as missing.  Looking out from his bus's front windshield, he was relieved to discover the child sitting in the café eating.  "Thank God," he murmured, as he pulled on the lever to open the bus door and stepped out onto the pavement.  

Bernardyn made sure to tell Lorrie what he was doing before approaching the table in an effort not to spook the child. He did notice that Alesky was with him, so he knew that he was in good hands; he and the other man had gone to school together many years ago. Just as he was about to walk over to them, he heard someone say, "Gus, is that you?"

Gus looked over to see Dave nearing his table.  "Dave, you're here!"

Taking a seat next to Gus, he nodded. "Yes, I am.  Who are you here with, and what you are doing here, Gus?"

Gus bit his now wobbling lip as he admitted, "I ran away again."

Hugging Gus, Dave spoke, "Oh, Gus!  Why?  Son, let me take you home again," he urged him, peering over at the other man at the table looking at them. "Who is your friend, Gus?"

Now smiling, he told Dave, "This is Alesky.  He's a baker."

Dave shook his hand.  "It's very nice to meet you, Alesky."

Alesky smiled as he accepted the handshake.  "Nice to meet you, too."

Bernardyn then approached their table and tapped Dave on the shoulder, showing him the post on his Ipad about Gus. "I just thought that you should know about this; I was just about to call about it when you arrived."

Shaking his hand as well,  Dave nodded at him. "Thank you.  My name's Dave; I'm a friend of the family."

Sitting next to them, "It's very nice to meet you, Dave, I'm Bernardyn; I was Gus's bus driver earlier."  He peered at the little boy as he asked, "Gus, you DO know this man, right?"  Nowadays, he figured you couldn't be too careful.  

Beaming, Gus nodded.  "Yes, of course I know Dave!" he verified as if it should be obvious. He smiled at Bernardyn.  "You know that you are the best bus driver ever?  Your name means ‘blessed.'  Did you know that?" he asked.

Shaking his head, Bernardyn replied with a smile of his own, "No, I didn't know that; that is really cool."

Giving Gus one more hug, Dave said, "Can you stay here for a moment?  I'm going to go call your dads, okay?  They've been really worried about you."  
Alesky reassured him, "Don't worry; we will stay here with him."

Smiling his thanks, he went to make his call.

Brian rubbed his hands through his hair; the ticking of the clock grew louder and slower as the time passed with his Sonnyboy missing. The sudden sound of the phone ringing made them all jump.

Snatching the phone up as fast as he could, Brian spoke with a shaky voice, "Hello!  Did you find my son?  Please, tell me you found my boy!"

To Brian's immense relief, he recognized the voice as Dave replied, "Hi, Brian!  Good news!  Yeah, it's Dave, and he's right here. He's fine," he assured him.

Collapsing back onto the couch, tears fell from his eyes as he let out a tense breath.  "Where did you find him, Dave?"

Justin sat up straighter, relieved as well, as Carl approached Brian, extremely curious to find out more details.

Dave told him, "Would you believe at the bus station in Altoona?  He's fine.  He had someone watching over him, and the bus driver actually figured out he was a runaway, and was about to call when I spotted him. He was very lucky to have met some really kind and caring people here at the bus station."

Clearing his throat, Brian asked, "Can you please put my Sonnyboy on the phone?"

Handing the phone to Gus, Dave said, "Your dad wants to talk to you."

Taking the phone from Dave, Gus spoke into it with a shaky voice as he told his father, "I'm sorry, Daddy! I got scared when I heard mommy's voice!  Please don't be mad at me!"

Brian smiled, tears still streaming down his face.  "I'm not mad at you, Sonnyboy! Dave told me you met some nice people?"

Gus's face lit up then. "Oh, Daddy! I did. Alesky was going to eat out of the trashcan, but I didn't let him. I bought him dinner, oh, and guess what?  He's a baker! And then the bus driver, Bernardyn, he's really nice, and he was going to call you before Dave did."

Laughing at Gus's excited babbling, Brian told his son, "I'm proud of you for buying him dinner.  I can't wait to see you, Sonnyboy."

Gus beamed an even bigger smile. "I can't wait to see you, Daddy, and Daddy Justin!"

They talked for a few more minutes before Dave spoke with Brian, telling him he would bring Gus home and not to worry.

The goodbyes to Alesky and Bernardyn were filled with tears and hugs, and Gus told Alesky he hoped that he would bake again.

As soon as Brian hung up the phone, he fell into Justin's arms, crying his heart out in relief that his little boy was safe and coming home.

Carl blew out a long breath of thanks to the heavens before getting on the phone to let the department know that the child had been found, explaining that a family friend had located him and was bringing him home, so the photos could be taken down.

The next call Carl made was to Debbie to let her know and the mothers knowing that they were both there that Gus was safe and sound and on his way his home.

Michael and Ben sat nearby, holding JR with tears in their eyes and thankful that all was ok.

Today was a day he prayed none of them would ever repeat.