Author's Note: Please REVIEW! I'm not averse to begging.

Warnings: Contains spanking of a six year old by his older brother, mentions child abuse/neglect in passing, and has a small amount of bad language. But if you could handle the books, you'll be fine reading this.

Cal was six. And bored. And alone.

Well he wasn't precisely alone. Sophia was there too, passed out in a pile of blankets on the battered, cigarette-burned mattress where she spent her nights entertaining guests. But Cal was pretty sure that she had drank most of a bottle of alcohol that lay at her side and so basically she was out for the count. And Niko had always told Cal that if Cal was alone with Sophia he was supposed to stay quiet and out of her way and be a good boy until Niko came back.

Cal was OK at being quiet, because he didn't want Sophia's attention. Not ever, and especially not when she'd been drinking that nasty stuff in the clear brown bottle because then she got even crankier than usual and sometimes she'd throw stuff. Being hit by one of those bottles really hurt and once Nik had been forced to use a weird bandage to stop the bleeding, and Nik couldn't do that if he wasn't here. So Cal did stay quiet. He was good at that.

But he wasn't very good at entertaining himself. If Niko was here they could play some kind of pretending game or go walk around the carnival and see if any of the other workers would pity them enough to feed them cold corn dogs or burnt elephant ears, which were Cal's favorite. Or they could go play with the puppies in the "Miracle of Life" exhibit. Cal liked puppies, and they liked him back although the mama dogs didn't like him much. But Niko would grab one of them and let Cal play with it for a while and he'd stand guard to keep the growly mama dogs away. "Damnedest thing I ever seen," Jacko, the man who took care of the animals in the exhibit, would always say. "Never seen a bitch so protective of her pups 'round a kid before."

But Cal knew that he had to be gentle with the puppies and he would pet them nicely and play-wrestle or tug of war with a piece of rag that Jacko kept around for them to play with, and the puppies would climb on him and cover him with kisses. Yes, Cal liked playing with the puppies, but Nik had warned him not to go without him. "Their mama bites, Cal," he'd said in that serious way of his, looking down his nose at him. "Don't go over there unless I'm with you." And Cal had promised he wouldn't, so that was pretty much out.

Cal's tummy rumbled, reminding him that Niko had been gone for a while now. Cal didn't like the fall very much because it meant that Niko had to go to school, and Cal couldn't go with him. Next year, he'd be in first grade and go to school most days, just like Nik, but right now, he was in kindergarten which meant that he only went every other day. Cal liked school, even if some of the other kids teased him for being one of the "carnie kids." They fed him lunch there for free, for one thing, and Cal never turned down good food. Or even bad food, really.

Niko had set aside a sandwich for him for lunch. It wasn't a very good sandwich, but he had eaten it anyway because bologna and butter was better than nothing. Nik'd promised to smuggle home an apple for him after school, and Cal found himself hoping that school was almost over.

Cal had been hungry before though, much hungrier than he was right now, so he could wait. He wandered quietly into the tiny galley kitchen to get a drink of water. Nik had taught him that if he was really hungry and there wasn't any food that water would help keep his tummy from hurting.

He had to climb up on the counter to get to the glasses, because he wasn't tall enough to reach them yet. Niko could, of course. Niko could do almost anything though. Cal stood on the counter top to reach the glass he liked best. It had a picture of Garfield on the side of it. And words too, but Cal couldn't read those yet.

He grabbed the glass, and was about to carefully crawl back down when a red paper box caught his eye. Matches.

Cal paused. He liked matches. Niko didn't like that he liked matches, and he always kept them hidden. He'd been swatted over them many, many times. But he couldn't help it. The fire was so awesome. He liked how it was blue in the middle and orange on the outside. And watching it burn stuff up was cool too, how it ate up everything it touched so fast that it was just gone, with only little black ashes left behind. But Niko yelled at him every time he caught him, and usually smacked his backside for good measure. Cal really couldn't help it though; he just really liked playing with fire.

Before he even realized that he'd decided, he closed his hand around the box. Then he sat down on the countertop, his feet in the sink and the glass forgotten at his side. This was a big box, too. He liked that kind best, because it was a lot easier to strike the matches on the side of the big box than it was to get them to light up in the little paper packets that Sophia sometimes brought home when she went out on a date late at night and came back smelling like the nasty stuff in the clear brown glass bottles.

He opened the box, spilling matches across his lap accidentally. Whoops. But he hadn't spilled all of them, so that was ok. He picked up one of the matches on his lap and carefully pulled it along the side of the box that was scratchy like sandpaper. With a whoosh the match lit. The smell of the burning matches (suffer, Niko called it, or something like that) filled his nose. He watched as the flame consumed the little wooden stick before burning out into nothing just before it reached his fingertips.

That was fun for awhile, just watching the matches burn as he held them in his hands. But then, it started to get less fun. It was just the same thing over and over again.

One of the matches didn't stop burning on its own, and he dropped it into the sink, where it hit the toe of his shoe and melted it a little bit before going out. That was cool. Not that he was going to set his shoes on fire—these ones still fit, and weren't even that dirty yet. Nik had gotten them for him somewhere. Cal couldn't remember exactly where. They'd just shown up one day, and when he'd asked Niko about them, his brother had said they were a present. But maybe he could light something else on fire. Like paper. It was fun to watch paper burn.

They had a lot of paper around. Well, a lot of flyers at least, because they did live in a carnival, and there were always flyers. One behind him was already kind of crumpled, probably because he might have stepped on it climbing on the counter. He grabbed it and carefully lit another match.

The paper burned kind of slowly, curling in on itself until he had to drop it in the sink. He watched it turn into a little black sheet of ashes with a little smile on his face. Yep. Fire was fun.

Cal grinned. He could turn this into a game, he'd bet. He grabbed another flyer, and crumpled it up into a little ball, then tossed it into the sink. It settled nicely in the little hole in the middle of the sink where the water went through. Then, he lit a match and tossed it at the paper ball.

He missed, watching it burn itself out. He lit another one. Missed on the other side. The third toss was more careful, and it caught the edge of the paper ball. Cal giggled as it burned up. This was way more fun than any of the carnival games out there! Well, except maybe the squirt gun game. Sometimes Ms. M, the chubby, tattooed, black-haired woman who ran the gun game and was missing half of her left hand, would let him and Niko play for free in the mornings before the people came. Ms. M was nice, even if her hand did look weird. She had told the boys she'd lost it fighting a bear. Cal had thought that sounded pretty awesome too. She was tough, for a girl.

Cal had to dig in the drawer below him to find a third flyer amongst some rubber bands and envelopes. This one didn't have any pictures on it except for a little one in the corner. The picture wasn't very interesting. Again, he smashed it into a ball and tossed it into the sink.

He dragged another match along the scratchy side of the matchbox and tossed it at the ball. It went way wide and landed on the windowsill. Cal lit another match and tossed it again, this time successfully hitting the ball of paper.

His eyes went back to the windowsill, because something was flickering there. He felt his own eyes go wide. Uh oh.

Something was on fire, and it wasn't just the match. It must have kept burning instead of going out. He watched, nearly frozen, as the bottoms of the ugly flowered curtains began to turn brown, small flames licking up the sides. A tiny voice in the back of his head that sounded an awful lot like Niko was yelling at him to move, to get out of the kitchen, but he was so engrossed watching those curtains turn into a blazing little fire that he couldn't move.

Suddenly a pair of arms seized him around the waist and pulled, nearly dumping him on the floor. He let out a belated yell as Niko grabbed a dirty pot off the top of the stove and filled it with water. "Go outside!" Niko yelled, throwing the water up at the flames. They made a hissing sound, like a bunch of angry snakes and bellowed smoke. He filled the pot again and threw the water at the curtains. There was another, smaller hiss, and then more smoke. Cal coughed from his place on the floor, on hands and knees like a puppy as Niko filled the pot a third time before climbing up on the counter and pouring it over the top of the now-ragged and soaked curtains. He examined the leftover fabric, covered in scorch marks and water, through the stinky gray haze. With a sigh, Nik opened the window, allowing the trapped smoke to blow outside.

Then he turned and stared down at Cal from his high place on top of the counter. There was a fire in his eyes that wasn't from matches, and all Cal could think was, Uh oh.

Niko jumped down from the top of the counter with a thump and grabbed Cal's arm, pulling him to his feet with a sharp yank. "Ow!" Cal protested, grabbing at Nik's hand. Niko shook him hard, shutting him up. He grabbed his other arm too and pulled Cal up to his face.

"What the hell were you doing?"

Cal felt his mouth drop open. Niko had cursed! Nik never, ever cursed.

Niko shook him again, hard. "Answer me Cal!" His voice was quiet but really strong, hard in a way that he rarely heard.

"I…I…" Cal had no idea what to say.

"Where is Sophia?" he asked in that same low, hard voice.

"She's…sleeping?" Cal said, not completely sure that was the right word. Passed out, really, because Niko had yelled at him, and Sophia usually would have screamed at them to get the fuck out of her house by that point if she was awake. She didn't like reminders that she had two little boys living with her. Well, a little boy and a medium boy really, since Nik was almost twelve.

"And why, when I have told you at least one hundred times not to touch the matches, were you playing with them?" Niko practically growled it into his face.

Cal winced. That was a good question…it had seemed like a fun idea at the time? It had been fun, until the curtains were on fire. "I dunno," he mumbled softly.

Niko's fingers were digging into the skin on his arms so hard that Cal was sure there would be marks later. "You could have died, Cal! Dead, burned to a crisp!" He shook Cal again, making his teeth rattle inside his mouth.

Cal felt the backs of his eyes start to burn with tears. "I'm sorry, Nik!" he said. Niko was really mad at him, he could tell. And Nik didn't get mad often…but when he did, he got really mad.

Nik's glare could have started a fire all on its own. "Oh, you aren't sorry yet, but you will be," he said grimly. He let go of one of Cal's arms and turned to the drawer next to the stove. Cal watched, unsure of what his brother meant by that. Niko pulled a wooden cooking spoon out of the drawer.

Cal frowned. How was a spoon going to make him sorrier? Niko was gripping it in his fist like it was some kind of weapon. His other hand, still latched around his upper arm, squeezed. "Come on," Nik said harshly, and he started marching out of the kitchen. Cal didn't have any choice but to follow.

Niko led him to the bedroom the boys shared, where a kind of sad looking twin mattress on the floor was their bed. Nik sat on the edge of the mattress, his grip still strong on Cal's little arm. "Come here," Niko demanded, pulling him to his side. Cal let his brother pull him up against his thigh, but let out a little squawk when Nik yanked him facedown onto his lap.

"Nik?" he cried, uncertain and maybe just a little scared. Okay, he was scared. Nik had never done this before and Cal couldn't help but be afraid. What was he doing?

His brother's hand curled around his waist, holding him still. Even though Cal was afraid, that arm around him reassured him. "Nik?" he asked again, softer this time.

"I've told you, time after time, that you aren't allowed to play with those matches." He heard Niko swallow, almost a gulping sound. "You don't listen to me, and you almost got hurt. You could have killed yourself!"

His brother's hand on his side tightened, and then there was a loud, crisp smacking noise and a hard whack against his bottom. Cal gasped in a breath of air, then let out a yell of pain and surprise. "Ow!" he cried. Nik had spanked him with that spoon! And it really hurt! He felt the tears well up immediately.

Smack! Niko brought the spoon down again, and Cal kicked his feet, trying to get away from the awful stinging. "Owwwie!" he yelled, twisting and trying to get up. But Nik was bigger than him, being almost twelve and all, and even though he struggled Niko held him down.

Smack! Cal let out another wail and gasped in a big breath. He was crying really hard now, so hard he couldn't even see. "N-Nik, 'm sorry!" he begged.

"Never, ever again Cal!" Niko said, the spoon landing hard against his rear. Cal sobbed, kicking and wiggling for all he was worth. Nik popped him again with it, and he threw his hand back trying to protect his very, very sore bottom. In response, Niko smacked his hand hard, but thankfully not with the spoon. Even so, it stung a lot and he let out another cry, yanking his hand back to his chest.

"Do you understand me, little boy?" Niko demanded. He smacked his bottom again with that horrible spoon. Cal let out another sob and pressed his face into the mattress.

The spoon popped down again and Cal cried, but didn't struggle anymore. Niko was bigger than him, and he'd just proved that Cal couldn't do anything to stop him. Plus, even Cal could admit that he'd been pretty stupid. He really could have gotten burned. It seemed like Nik was trying to show him what that would feel like…and it felt terrible! His backside felt like it was burning off right now! He sobbed helplessly into his hands.

"I asked you a question, Cal." Cal could feel the spoon poised above him, ready to spank him again.

"I u-u-und-ders-stand!" Cal managed to choke out. "I'm s-s-sor-ry!"

The spoon fell one more time, making Cal wail again. And then Niko was pulling him up and standing. Nik dropped that stupid spoon on the mattress and grabbed him in both arms, practically plastering Cal against his chest, the bigger boy's arms tight around his back.

"I love you, little brother," Niko said fiercely into his ear. "Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again!"

That stopped Cal short. Scared? Niko? Niko wasn't scared of anything! He managed to look through tear-swollen eyes up at his brother. Maybe it was the little droplets of water that were stuck to his eyelashes, but it almost looked like Niko was trying not to cry too. Cal brought up his still-stinging hand to wipe the tears off his face, but that made it worse. He could see that his brother's eyes were bright and shiny looking. "N-Nik?" he whispered. "I'm s-s-sorry."

"You'd better be," Niko said severely, hugging him even tighter. Cal pressed his face into his brother's chest so he didn't have to look at Nik and see him almost-but-not crying. Slowly, his own tears stopped and he snuck his not-sore hand back to rub at his very sore bottom. That had been a lot worse than any other time Niko had given him a spank or two for bad behavior.

"Nik?" he mumbled again after a long moment, his face pressed into Nik's chest. "You're sq-squishing me."

He felt Nik's chest jump a little, and realized after a moment that his brother was trying to stifle a laugh, but the arms around him loosened enough that he could breathe. He looked up at his brother, whose gray eyes met his own.

"Are you okay?" Niko asked him gently.

Cal considered it. His bottom was still stinging pretty bad, but his hand didn't hurt. "I guess?" he said hesitantly, not sure how to answer.

"What's wrong?" Nik looked concerned now, pushing him away to look him up and down. "Did you get burned in that mess?" He grabbed Cal's hands and examined them both carefully.

Cal pulled his hands away. "No. You spanked me!" he said. "And my butt hurts!"

Niko's eyes stopped roaming up and down his body looking for burns. "Well, yeah," Nik said, his hands going back to Cal's shoulders. "It was supposed to hurt so that next time you find a box of matches that I've clearly hidden from you, you'll think of how much that spanking hurt and leave them alone!"

Cal frowned. "It was an accident, Nik," he said. "I didn't mean to light up the curtains."

"Oh no. I've told you so many times to leave the matches alone. You might not have set the curtains on fire on purpose, but you grabbed the matches on purpose, and you deserved that spanking." Nik's voice was firm.

Cal sighed, knowing that Niko was right. He usually was, after all. "Okay," he admitted. "No more matches."

"Okay," Niko said. He bent and picked up the spoon and pointed at Cal with it. "Because if I catch you with them even one more time, we'll come right back here and do it all over again, do you hear me?"

Cal glared at the spoon. "Yeah, I hear you," he said. Stupid hateful spoon.

"Good." Niko dropped his hand and the spoon back down to his side. "Now let's get out of here. I'm pretty surprised that Sophia could sleep through all that yelling, but I really don't think we should be here when she sees what happened to her curtains."

"Do you think she's dead?" Cal asked interestedly, following Nik out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where the spoon was deposited back in the drawer. Cal felt a momentary urge to burn it, which he quickly squashed. If he burned the spoon, who knew what Niko would spank him with? He decided he really didn't want to find out.

Niko sighed. "I doubt it," he said. "I'll check, and then we can see if anybody has leftovers they'll give us for dinner, okay? Maybe we can get elephant ears too, if Mabel's in a good mood?"

Even though his backside was still sting-y, that made Cal smile. Niko didn't really approve of sugar all that much, so the offer of elephant ears (a powdered-sugar-covered-crispy-fried dessert, NOT real ears from a real elephant) meant that Niko had forgiven him and wanted to make him feel better now.

Nik ducked his head inside Sophia's room quick, then back out. He wrapped an arm around Cal's shoulder as he herded him out the door. "She's snoring, she's fine," he said.

"Okay," Cal said. He leaned against his brother lightly, even though he usually was the type to run ahead when there were elephant ears involved. "Even though you spanked me, I'm still glad you got home in time to save me, Nik."

"I'm your big brother, Cal," he said, squeezing his shoulder. "That's part of the job description."

"Yeah?" Cal asked. "For how long?"

"What?" Nik asked.

"Well, when I'm big like you, will you still save me?"

"I better not have to save you from matches once you're my age," Nik muttered.

"No, not matches. Remember, I promised this time. But, like…I don't know. Bears or something?"

"I don't think you're going to run into any bears, Cal," he said.

"Fine. Wolves then. Whatever. Will you save me?"

Nik sighed. "I don't think you're going to get eaten by wolves either."

"Niko!" Cal said. "That's not the point!"

Nik sighed. "Yes, little brother. Haven't I always kept you safe?"

"Okay then," Cal said, question answered. Niko always did what he said he was going to do, so if he said it, then he meant it.

"Okay," Nik said. "Now that that's settled…let's go get some dinner." He gave Cal's shoulder another squeeze.

Really, Cal thought as they headed off towards the food trucks, even though he'd gotten spanked, he was pretty lucky to have Niko as his brother.

Not everyone's brother would save them from wolves. Or fire. Or from themselves.

The End