"Do you two see something you like?" Adalet asks her dogs as they stand in front of a pet shop in the bazaar.

Dean seemed to be interested in some peanut butter biscuits while Hunter was more focused on a basket of pumpkin balls. Adalet just decided to buy some of each along with a bag of apple cinnamon dog treats and some regular dog food. She placed all of the items in her rolling basket and closed the lid.

Adalet and her dogs continued walking through the alleys looking for anything else they needed. They stopped by a butcher's and picked up some meat for supper. As she was finished paying for her meat Adalet heard a sound from the next alleyway. Shoving the package into her basket, they hurried off to see what it was.

As they entered the front of the alleyway, they saw a small form huddled against a stack of crates. The form belonged to Ahmet, the orphan boy who Adalet had recently met. He was curled up as tightly as he could be and a look of fear was present in his eyes. Adalet looked up at the other end of the alleyway and just caught sight of a familiar immigrant officer looking around before taking off in another direction.

"Ahmet?" Adalet calls softly as she slowly approaches the boy, being mindful not to scare him anymore.

Ahmet flinched, "C-Captain. Adalet! I didn't expect to see you again . . ."

"This is a bazaar," she stated, "it reminds me of Turkey, my father would take me to the bazaar every Saturday."

"Good for you," he grumbled, "was someone else murdered?"

"No," she knelt in front of him, "but I think you might be in a bit of trouble . . ."

"Who, me?" he laughed, "naw! I'm never in trouble!"

"Really?" she smirked, "then why was Aicha Ben Malek looking for you?"

He gulped, "OK, maybe I'm in a little trouble . . . But it's nothing I can't handle!"

"When you're up against immigration, I think you'll need all the help you can get!" she replied, "so what does she want?"

Ahmet rested his chin on his folded arms. Adalet slid down the wall across from him and sat on the ground. Dean and Hunter laid down on their stomachs in between the two of them. The cop reached into the basket and tossed each dog a treat too much on.

"I wasn't born in America, you know," Ahmet said suddenly.

"Neither was I kid," Adalet responded.

"Turkey?" he asked.

She nods her head, "Istanbul to be precise, but I did spend half of my life between there and Canada."

"Well my asshole of a dad is from here while my mom and I came over from Turkey," he explains, "but we came over illegally. When mum married dad she gained citizenship, but I didn't."

"So Anicha is trying to deport you?" she guessed.

He nodded, "dad wouldn't marry mom if she didn't get rid of me, you can guess which one of us she loved more . . ."

"We have something in common, Ahmet," she smiled sadly, "my mother was very vain and self-centred, to her I was nothing more than a trophy."

Ahmet stayed silent. Adalet just sighed, there was no way she could let this boy be deported back to Turkey, she could tell he didn't know much Turkish and there was no way he'd survive in a new country. An idea began to form in her brain, it was crazy, it was risky, but it just might work. She pulled out her phone and searched for a number she didn't think she would ever be calling.

As she was doing this she spoke to Ahmet, "Ahmet, what would you say if I told you I could give you a home?"

"What?" Ahmet's head snapped up, "who would want me in their house?"

"Well . . . I would," Adalet replied as she found the number she was looking for, "think about it, you would have a roof over your head, food to eat whenever you wanted, and a warm bed to sleep in every night. Plus, immigrants would get off your back."

"Really?!" he didn't sound fully convinced, "what's the catch?"

"I haven't thought of one yet," she admitted, "but I would have to lay out some rules if you'd want to call that the catch for now."

"Would I have to call you mom?" he asked.

"Not if you don't want to, but I'd like it if you could just call me Adalet, no Captain needed," she replied as the phone began to ring, "so, what do you say? Will you give it a try?"

He seemed to way his options in his head for a solid five minutes before giving his answer, "well . . . OK, but no school!"

"Alright!" she held up her free hand to shake on it, "no school, yet. Hello? Judge Dante?. . Yes it Capt. Adalet, I have a big favour to ask you . . ."

"Alright," Adalet said as she and Ahmet sat inside the cab of her truck five hours later, "now, Dante said that the adoption paperwork could take months to finalize, but he managed to speed up the process a little to the point where you can legally live with me since I'm a registered foster parent, immigrations isn't allowed to touch you so long as this adoption goes through."

"Ok . . ." Ahmet says as he looked out the window, he was playing with the hem of his new shirt, "so . . . what now?"

"Now, we go shopping!" She says, starting the engine, "I know you might be opposed to it, but I have nothing for kids, I haven't even gotten bedding for the spare bed, your bed."

"But, you already got me these clothes," he frowns as she pulls onto the road, "what more do I need?"

She chuckled, "that list is kinda long, but for now we'll just get the basics . . . And if you see something you want, tell me and I'll see if you can get it."

The rest of the drive to the store was kept in silence save for the sounds of the outside world. Adalet managed to get a parking spot quite close to the entrance and signalled for Ahmet to get out. The pair entered the large store and grabbed a cart from the corral.

"Let's go check out the bedding first," Adalet says heading in that direction, Ahmet and the dogs following close behind.

They found the aisle full of bedding and walked down the rows looking for the twin-sized. They had beds in bags, sheet sets, and decorative pillows displayed on the shelves in a multitude of colours and designs.

"So which one do you like?" Adalet asks, leaning on the handle of the cart.

Ahmet looked at all his choices, "ah . . . which one is the cheapest?"

She smiles softly, "well, that would be the ones with just the sheets. But since you're going to be living on the edge of White Peaks, we'll need ones like these."

Adalet showed him the heavier comforters and the sheets that would fit the bed. Ahmet decided on a red and grey striped comforter with a pair of fitted sheets, one in solid red and the other solid grey. The comforter came with matching pillowcases so that was also taken care of. Once everything was in the cart, they headed over to the hygiene aisle.

Ahmet needed a little help to find what he needed for the bathroom, but Adalet was happy to help him. They found some mint-flavoured toothpaste plus a toothbrush and floss to go with it, and a bottle of shampoo plus conditioner along with a hairbrush. Explaining the need for the boy to use deodorant was even harder, but Adalet promised to pick up some bathing salts at the bazaar if he tried it.

As they were headed to the clothing section Adalet noticed that Ahmet had stopped a few feet behind her. She stopped walking and turned to see what had caught his attention. A quick look had told her what it was, the toy aisle.

Ahmet had walked about halfway into the aisle and his attention had been caught by the stuffed animals. There were teddy bears, birds, dogs, cats, fish if you could think of it odds are it was there. But the one that had caught his attention the most was a stuffed grey wolf. He had pulled the fluffy animal off the shelf and held it in his hands.

"Would you like one?" Adalet inquired.

Ahmet jumped and shoved the animal back on the shelf, "n-no!"

"Are you sure? It's no big deal if you do," she replied as he rejoined her at the cart.

"No! It's alright really," he says, taking the cart and starting to walk off, "you said something about clothes?"

She could tell when to drop a subject, "yeah, they're this way . . ."

While they were picking out new clothes from the racks, Adalet spotted a familiar man with a little girl over in the girls' clothing. She excused herself and left the dogs with Ahmet to look for clothes before ducking across the floor to sneak up on the pair. Yann hadn't noticed her, but Lily did. Adalet pressed a finger to her lip and the little girl's eyes lit up in understanding.

With her mission uncompromised, Adalet stalked up behind her teammate. When she was close enough, she leaped forward and clamped her hands around Yann's arms. She felt the scientist jump as his daughter began laughing at the face Adalet could imagine the father was making. Yann turned around so fast that Adalet had barely enough time to take her hands away.

"Adalet!" he exclaims, letting out a breath he must have been holding, "don't do that!"

"Sorry!" she apologizes, "but it was funny! Right, Lily?"

"Uh-hu!" Lily nodded.

"So what are you doing here?" Yann asked.

"Picking up some stuff for Ahmet," Adalet responded, nodding over to where the boy was.

"OK . . . why?" he questions.

"I'm adopting him," she answered, "I don't want to see his life go down the drain, he has a lot of potential."

He blinked, "oh! Well, if you need any help just let me know!"

"Thanks!" she beamed, "actually . . . Ahmet saw a stuffed grey wolf back in the toy aisle. I know he won't let me buy it while he's around, could you go pick it up for him? I'll pay you back!"

He shook his head, "no need, it'll be a present to him, like a welcome to the team sort of thing."

"Aw, thank you Yann!" she smiled, "I'll swing by your house later and pick it up! Now I gotta go, I hear Ahmet calling!"

Adalet quietly pushed open the door to Ahmet's new bedroom. The boy had left the blinds of his window open and the moonlight cast a soft glow around the room. He was tucked under the sheets of his bed and soft snores could be heard from his form. The captain slowly approached the bed with the stuffed wolf in her hand.

She lifted the top covers of the bed and carefully placed the stuffie beside Ahmet's arm. She placed the sheets back over him and the wolf's head poked out, its glassy blue eyes staring into the night. Adalet hurried back out of the room and closed the door behind her.

As she made her way back to bed, she wondered what it was that made her decide to take Ahmet into her home. Sure she wanted kids and being sterile meant that she would have to have adopted to have some, but she never really thought about it. If she had, it would have been picturing raising a kid from when they were just a baby, not twelve years old. But whatever it was that drew her to the street kid, she was just happy to know that he now had a home to call his own . . . even if he still didn't want to go to school yet.

Adalet would find a way to change his mind, after all, this kid now had a second chance at a future, he would need all the help he could get. And she would be there every step of the way to help.

Lifetime Adoption