Leah was stunned. "Daddy? It was my dad?" The question had never once occurred to her where Wren had met her father, but hearing this warmed her heart. "I remember him coming home with a busted lip and eyebrow! I was worried, but he told me he was saved by a real-life ninja."

Wren blinked at her in surprise before the silence around them boomed with Wren's laughter. " A ninja?!" He grinned, shaking his head. "He obviously forgot to mention they were just teenagers, and I didn't do much before they tucked tail."

"Wren, the Ninja warrior!" Leah giggled, but her eyes took on a faraway look. "That is so crazy. Who would have thought you would end up here with us from that one encounter?!"

A certain thoughtfulness graced her butler. "I have thought the same thing, so many times. I would never have met Tony if something hadn't planted that thought in my heart that night. 'Maybe its time to protect someone besides yourself'. Looking back, I think God was protecting me, guiding me through the mire, even though I wasn't His."

Leah's smile fell as his words stirred something deep inside. Her mind whirled to the car wreck, realizing Wren's God had done the very same with her. He had heard her prayer, waking Wren. Also, when I was being attacked, She thought, recalling the calmness that had overcome her. It wasn't normal. Was it possible, all this time, God was protecting her too? Her heart clenched afresh.

"Leah?" Wren's soft voice jarred her from her pondering and she turned with a stiff smile. She wanted to ask him. Tell him! But, the words died on her lips. She couldn't reveal the truth about the attacker. The fear of losing her butler was too much. Instead, she distracted his prodding gaze with a question.

"Did you ever find out what was in the boxes?"

A spark of fear tainted his previous gentle expression, causing concern to strike her. Without thinking, she lifted a hand, stroking her thumb down his cheek to his chiseled jaw where it paused and lingered. She saw his surprise, then longing, but he simply reached up to capture her hand and brought it down to rest on his knee.

"Do you want me to continue?" He said; his hesitance had returned, but she squeezed his warm hand and nodded.

"Please, I will die of curiosity if you stop now."

"I understand," He sighed, "Where was I?"

"You saved my father."

"Right. Okay. I had just met Mr. Kingsley. Well basically, not much happened several weeks after that. My mom and Aunt Helen went to a hospital in Texas while I stayed behind. There were several fights coming up and The Boss couldn't do without me...or so he said. Then, everything happened at once. It was just three weeks into the treatments and Mom got an infection. She died from it. "

Leah's heart clenched as grief washed anew over her butler and as he continued, regret laced his voice.

"I didn't think that would happen. It was my mom, you know? She was tough. Resilient! " Wren shook his head before running a hand over his face in agitation."But, she was so weakened already. The infection was the last straw. I felt to blame. I thought in my younger mind if I had been there, she would have been able to fight harder and pull through."

"Wren..." Leah blinked against her own tears. "It wasn't your fault."

Managing a half smile, Wren nodded in agreement. "It wasn't. I know that, but in my grief-stricken mind - it was. I determined to give her only the best funeral, so approached The Boss for an extra way to earn cash. He gave me the assignment of driving more trucks with the same rules. Don't stop and don't look. "

"I wonder what was in them?"

"I was about to find out."

*********************************************************************

Glancing in his side mirror, Wren skillfully maneuvered the delivery truck onto the highway, merging with other vehicles. He hated rush hour and wished The Boss hadn't scheduled him to fight this evening on top of driving. It had forced him to request the delivery to be moved up several hours putting him in the tense reality of Chicago's busiest traffic.

Finally, he found a spot that he could safely settle into the mundane of driving as the next hour would require. It was during these times, however, with the long endless stretch of road, that were the hardest for him. Memories of his mother would surface, and his grief would become almost unbearable. Even now, the distinct feeling of being alone washed over the young fighter. There was no one left in this world for him, except Aunt Helen but their relationship was far from close. The letter his mother had penned for him during her last days, burned in his pocket, unopened. The thought she might express her grief of not seeing him one last time or her disappointment he hadn't been there, that he hadn't been a better son, wasn't something he thought he could bear. So thus, the letter remained.

Angrily, Wren slammed a hand on the steering wheel as tears blocked his vision of the road and he swiped at them. "Man up, dude!" He growled, his words filling the empty cab. Yet, more tears came, forcing him to turn off at the nearest exit. How he hated crying and the weak, drained feeling that accompanied it. But, against his demands, he found himself pulled behind an abandoned factory, tears streaming unchecked before an occasional scream of anger and bitterness would shatter the silence. He sprang from the cab of the truck when the closed in space pressed in around him and breathed deeply the cold Autumn air, before finally leaning against the cargo area of the delivery truck, emotions spent.

"You're crazy," He muttered to himself. He glanced at his watch, a string of curses spewing from his lips. He slammed a fist into the side of the long cargo area, the punch echoing from the metal of the vehicle. "There is no way I am going to make it in time!"

He was seconds from pushing off the delivery bed, when a thump, similar to the one he just made, caused him to pause.

"What the ..?" Frowning, he straightened as he turned to study the truck wall, before thumping his fist once more against the metal. He waited a moment, but when nothing happened, laughed bitterly.

"I am going crazy!" He thought. Then, it sounded.

A thud, louder than the first, made the hair on the back of Wren's neck stand on end. It hit from somewhere inside the delivery truck, though not with as much force as he had caused. His breath coming out in small rasps, Wren pounded his fist twice. He waited, and time seemed to stand still for the young man.

Thump!

Wren's eyes widened.

Thump!

The second was more aggressive than even the first and letting another string of curses fill the crisp air, he stumbled back several steps. Again, another sound pounded from inside. Then another and another.

Wren rushed to the back of the truck, eyeing the latch holding two swinging doors closed. He could only assume there was no lock in place to avoid the attention of the unwanted, and his hand hesitated before pushing it up and pulling the doors wide. They creaked on their hinges, sounding loud and he frowned at the large cardboard boxes lining each side of the vehicle, leaving a man-sized walkway down the middle. He climbed up into the space, noting under the boxes were pallets, which he guessed were for easier transportation. Then, he heard it. The thump came from a box halfway down, and dread clawed at his stomach as he moved closer. The top of the box came to his chest, but his long arms made it easy to slide his pocket knife over the duck tape that sealed it shut. It was the two punctured holes in the top that made him close his eyes and take one steadying breath. Breathing holes.

"Please...Please...not this..." He whispered. He wasn't sure who he spoke to, but as he lifted the flaps and peered inside, his heart jerked and a groan tore it's way from his lips, sounding more like the agonizing cry of a man being tortured.

Horrified, pleading brown eyes stared up at him, and Wren struggled with a torrent of emotion as he took in the young teenage girl, bound hand and foot and a dirty sock shoved as a gag in her mouth. She raised her cinched together hands toward him as if pleading and a small whimper touched a nerve deep inside the young fighter. Anger swelled inside him, drowning the grief and fear. Slowly, he reached in, gently taking her shaking hands into his own, and despite the rage burning like a torch inside him, a tear fell from him to the girl's pale, cold cheek.

"I am so sorry. Forgive me. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know!" Yet, even as the words echoed in metal hold around them, they sounded empty, even to Wren's ears. Then, resolve settled over him; A vengeance and determination like he had never known consumed him. Reaching out, he yanked the sock from her mouth and her pleading voice filled his ears.

"Please, help me! Please! Please!" Her voice changed from desperate to uncontrollable sobs.

Wren squeezed her hands. " I promise. I will. I will fix this! I swear." He noted he sounded just as broken as she.

:)