A/N This was something I wrote about a year ago, that I just found buried in the recesses of my flash drive.

Vocab for anyone curious what Duo's saying (he's got quite the potty mouth for a seven year old.)

Un accro: an addict

va chier: fuck off

Va te faire fuck: go fuck yourself (in franglais—French and English)

Abruti: idiot, retard

Hé! That looks bien! Voulez-vous a trade?: Oh! That looks good. Want to trade?

Aïe!: ouch!

Hein?: eh?

"Quit it!" The little boy cried out defensively, while slowly backing away from the menacing, scraggly figure in front of him. "I don't have nothing. It's mine!" He squashed the object he was holding to his chest tightly, and took in a ragged breath, defiantly meeting his stalker's level gaze. "I even earneded it!"

The scruffy dog standing at his feet stared back at him, tongue out, one ear pricked forward expectantly, the other drooping sadly over his right eye. When the boy made no promising movements, the dog gave a few hesitant, hopeful flops of his tail for encouragement. The solemn eyes didn't budge from object the boy was clutching snugly in his arms, but he made no further attempt to approach the child. He licked his lips instinctively.

The boy, convinced that he was safe for the present moment, slumped down under the window of the grocery store, and resumed jabbering away to the dog. "You know what I had to go through to get this? Lemme tell ya, it ain't easy. My job that is," he clarified gravely to the dog.

The tail twitched weakly, but seeing no signs of sharing in the prize the boy held in his hands, the dog decided it was time to sit down too. His nose 'accidently' nudged the boy's leg as he did.

"I was just all minding my own business like an' then this guy tried accusing me of stealing his stupid wallet." The boy paused, as if the thought of the entire incident still deeply offended him. "I didn't steal nothing. Honest!"

The dog looked skeptical at this, and after a moment of serious contemplation, flopped down onto the sidewalk and put his head on his paws with a dejected sigh.

"S'not my fault if I just happened to find his stinkin' wallet on the ground. An' I knew it was his 'cause it was right beside him and so I thought I'd just put it back in his pocket. I didn't need to bother the guy. 'Sides, he was little scary….he was un accro," he said the last word in a hushed tone. The boy's arms fell away from his chest causing the package to land in his lap. The dog cocked one ear hopefully, but elected to not make any sudden movements.

"Anyway so this guy, he ain't that bad, an' said he wouldn't call no coppers if I did a little job for him. He said he might even give me something for it! Well, I don't get involved with no coppers, they just wanna lock people like me up." He frowned as he said this, combing one grimy hand through his long hair and unconsciously rubbing the back of his head as if from a previous experience. "I had to stand on some street corner an' wait for some other guy to show up. He took forever, and it was so boring! But at least it rained and then I had something to drink. Then the other weird man came, the one I was s'posed to wait for, and I was still there," the boy puffed out his chest proudly. "I did it, and I picked up his fancy package an' took it to the first man. An' then he gave me money!"

The dog raised his head expectantly at the sudden surge of enthusiasm in the boy's voice.

That was, until he realized the boy was still talking.

"So that's how I got this, and I earneded it, and I didn't even need him," the boy scowled ferociously, scuffing a foot in the dirt. "I done just fine without him."

The dog whined morosely, and blinked his big, sober eyes.

"Do you got a name?" He asked the dog curiously, slowly reaching out a hand to scratch at the mutt's graying, matted ruff.

"I don't. Not anymore." He didn't look sad at this statement, rather, mildly amused. "My old name, what he called me, was Boy. But then the Pretty Lady heard him call me that and there was an argument and she said that callin' me Boy was 'ffensive because I was a hue-man be-an, and hue-man be-ans have proper names. I never knew that Boy was no proper name. What even makes a name proper? An' I don't know what 'ffensive is either, but didn't sound good. Besides, I didn't like him, so I ain't surprised he didn't give me a name that was proper. He was…what was that word?" He cocked his head to one side thoughtfully.

The dog, whose head lay heavily on his paws, shifted his eyes to keep his gaze trained on the boy's face but otherwise made no movement.

"Oh yeah, ah-bue-sive'." He pronounced each syllable carefully, with a wide smile on his face. "I think that's a funny word, but 'pparently it's not nice either. Don't ya think it's funny?"

The dog put his paw in the boy's open hand, a warning rumble echoing in the back of his throat.

"An' that Pretty Lady that he got in that fight with 'bout me, she told me that my name is who I am," the boy mused, suddenly becoming more serious. "But now I'm not with him, and I don't have a name. So if that means I don't have a name no more, does that mean I'm no one?" He considered this new thought briefly and then shook his head with an amused laugh.

"Well, I know that ain't true! I'm someone, and I know you're someone too, so I think we need proper names don't you?" His hands fumbled absently at the package, fumbling with the string until he had the knots released and unwrapped the paper.

"I could call you Dog," he considered slowly out loud, ripping off a large chunk the dried, salted meat with his teeth and chewing it slowly. "But maybe that'd be 'ffensive too, 'cause I'm a boy, and calling me Boy is 'ffensive, an' you is a dog."

The dog had shot up as he saw the prize unwrapped, and his eyes were pleading eagerly.

"But I'm a hu-man be-an," he pronounced each syllable again carefully, in between each mouthful. "An' that didn't sound so bad. So, maybe I can be Bean, and you can be Hue-man," the boy smiled. "Yeah, I like Bean!" His wide grin inverted quickly, turning into a frown as the dog put one large paw over his muzzle. "What's the matter with that? You don't like Hue-man?" He took another bite of the meat, and second strip strayed its way to the dog's mouth.

The dog snapped it up quickly before Bean could change his mind, carefully to not touch the boy with his teeth. They sat side-by-side gnawing on their respective mouthfuls thoughtfully for several minutes.

"What about Uno?" He swallowed forcefully, glancing at the dog to see what he thought of the name before stuffing another piece of meat in his mouth. "That kinda sounds like hue-man….maybe. An' I think it means 'one' and you're…you're…one dog!" Bean looked rather proud of this new revelation and tossed Uno larger strip of the tough, dried meat. Uno didn't look as impressed, and turned his pleading eyes back to Bean, looking pointedly at the remaining meat.

"No, I told you we'd share," said Bean, forgetting completely that he hadn't actually voiced his decision to share with the dog.

Uno whined, still trying to maintain the hopefully look in his eyes.

"You've had enough," Bean tried to convince him again, looking down at the meat in his hands. "Don't you know you shouldn't gobble it all up in one go? If you do, you might get sick an' then you've just wasted all the food an' then your worse off then when you started." The boy looked more like he was trying to convince himself more then Uno as he quickly wrapped up the leftovers and stuffed it into his jacket. "You should never waste food, 'cause then you don't know when you're going to get to eat again."

"Oi you, boy, va chier!"

Bean's eyes shot up at the angry voice. Angry voices were a common occurance and usually were directed at him. He was on his feet with his fists out defensively before he'd even realized. Uno's hackles raised warningly, and his lip lifted, showing one, long white canine. A large man, obviously the owner of the store Bean was loitering outside of, was headed towards him menacingly, with an arm raised to grab the cuff of Bean's collar.

"Va te faire fuck!" Bean retorted loudly in the mangled combination of French and English—Franglais, that was the most common form of communication on L2. He dove swiftly under the outstretched arm and bolted down the street, with Uno following so close his nose persistently poked Bean in the back of the leg.

"Don't worry Uno," Bean puffed as he stopped running several blocks later. "He was un fat abruti. He won't chase us. They don't ever, just so long as they don't have to look at us no more."

Uno growled, brushing up against Bean's leg protectively.

Bean looked down in surprise. "You don't have to be afraid Uno, I'll protect you. You don't have to be scared of no fat, stinking abrutis. We're like…family now! And families take care of each other…we are a family right? You'll stay with me?"

Uno whined, aware of the sadness filling the boy's tone and pressed himself comfortingly against the boy's leg.

Bean looked left and right cautiously before putting a grimy hand on Uno's neck and leading him over to a stairwell. "I really wish you could answer me," he sighed, perching himself on the top step. Uno licked his cheek, leaving a flash of peach skin in the dirt. "See, Uno, I've never had no proper family before. But that's okay, 'cause I don't like people tellin' me what to do. He was no fun. He was ah-bue-sive," the sadness was broken as Bean giggled again at the word, and he threw his arms around Uno's neck. Uno took the opportunity to have a sneaky sniff at Bean's chest, and seemed satisfied when he confirmed the meat was still present, stuffed down the front of Bean's sweater. A bit of the packaging poked out the top and tickled Bean's chin.

"See the thing is Uno, it does get awfully frustrating to have no name. I mean, if I keep moving around like this, I'm not the same person am I…and if I'm not the same person, how can I keep the same name? It just don't make any sense." As Bean reached to scratch his chin, his hand strayed absently down the front of his shirt and pulled the package out.

Uno nosed at his hand eagerly, and Bean gave him the first piece. Uno inhaled it, not bothering to chew, and put his large paws in Bean's lap. Bean pushed him away with a laugh, not minding the new muddy paw prints that decorated his sweater. Neither of them heard the soft footsteps of someone approaching behind them.

"Hé! That looks bien! Voulez-vous un trade?" A loud, accented voice piped up from behind him. Bean sprung up, and fell back down with a thud.

"Aïe !" He cried out, tears springing to his eyes. The strange boy had a handful of Bean's long hair in his grasp and had yanked it hard when Bean had startled. "Leggo leggo, LET GO of me!"

Uno growled warningly, but saw that the boy was no real harm. Yet. The pair were just mere pups to him, having a scrap. Still, if it went on for too long, he wouldn't hesitate to put both of them in their proper places. His growling stopped suddenly, and his tail began wagging eagerly as a second figure approached. The mean boy had heard him coming and whipped around to look. Bean stood up again carefully, preparing to flee the moment he was given the opportunity. The boy still had his fingers woven tightly in Bean's waist length hair, and Bean knew he was captive until the boy let go.

"Chaz!" The newcomer warned.

'Chaz' stiffened at the cautioning tone and answered in rapid-fire, pure French, so fast that the only thing Bean caught was the new boy's name was Solo.

"Chaz, he speaks English. You talk English here, you don't be rude." Solo reprimanded, also with a thick accent. "And let go of his hair."

Chaz paused for an instant before giving one last sharp tug at Bean's hair, sticking out his tongue cheekily at Solo, and taking off down the stairs past Bean, shouting a string of profanities in French before he disappeared.

Profanities, whether the be in French or English was something Bean was fluent in but he paid them no attention. Tears welled up in his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to sooth the stinging in his scalp.

Solo sighed softly, and looked down at Bean. "Hey hey, haven't you ever been told?" Solo had noticed the tears and dropped down on one knee behind Bean, slinging his arms over Bean's shoulders. "Boys don't cry."

"They don't?" Bean looked backward into Solo's honest eyes, and liked him immediately. He willed himself to stop crying; only letting a few sniffs slip out. Solo was obviously a couple years older then him, he didn't want to look like a baby in front of him.

"No, see, if boys cried all the time, then things don't get fixed. It's more important to fix things, then there's no reason to be sad," Solo explained softly, wiping away the tears from Bean's cheeks with his hand. The action left an interesting swirl in the grime on each of Bean's cheeks. Solo grinned at the picture, and tweaked Bean's nose.

"But how's I s'posed to fix it when he pulled my hair," Bean cried out angrily, balling his fists up tightly at his side. "An' nothing got broke, it just hurt."

"You just gotta be tough, don't let no one push you around, s'all," Solo explained, not removing his arms from Bean's shoulders. "Anyway, this time you ain't gotta do nothing. That's what I'm for." Solo stood up and eyed Bean up. "Chaz is just being a bully and pickin' on people that are younger then him."

"He ain't older then me," Bean said in astonishment. "He don't look older then six."

Solo looked at him in amusement. "So, how old are you then?"

"Uh…seven. I think," Bean screwed up his face, looking up at the sky as he thought about it.

Solo regarded him in bemusement. "You's a scrawny thing, hein?"

Bean scowled at him ferociously. "I ain't scrawny, I just ain't done growing yet!"

Solo laughed, ruffling Bean's hair. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't mean nothin' by it, just an observation. Look, I'm Solo," Solo finally introduced himself properly, patting Uno on the head, and sitting down beside them. "An' I'm nine. I've never seen you before. Where you from?"

"'Round here," Bean replied cautiously.

"No, you ain't. I know everyone in southside. All kids 'round here are in my gang an' I take care of 'em," Solo replied in amusement, only bragging slightly.

"I'm…from northside," Bean admitted slowly. "But I ain't going back there. He'll kill me if I go back anywhere near there. He's ah-bue-sive." He giggled again, looking sideways at Solo from underneath his bangs which hung in his eyes.

"Who's he?"

Just some guy the coppers put me with to look after me. As if I need lookin' after…I do just fine on my own. I got caught, s'all," Bean whispered, admitting the last part apologetically.

Solo smiled and slung his arm around Bean's shoulders. "Well I ain't going to let you get caught again. S'long as you stick 'round here, I'll look after you. Come on, why don't you come with me. I can even scrounge you up some real food, you're way too skinny!"

Bean, looking skeptical, fiddled with a stray lock of hair. "You can get food…just like that?"

"Pft," Solo scoffed, waving a hand casually. "Food's the easy part, s'long as you know where to look.

"Can Uno come too? I ain't leaving him alone, he's my new family," Bean had risen to his feet, but balked when he remembered the scraggly mutt. Uno, who throughout the entire conversation had not given up his vigil over the contents of the package, looked up at the pair of young boys and blinked one eye.

"Well we ain't going to just leave him here," Solo grabbed Bean's hand and began to tow him down the same stairs that Chaz had whipped down several minutes ago, whistling for Uno.

"So what's your name anyway?" Solo's voice echoed in the stairwell as they disappeared into the subway.

"Bean," Bean replied confidently.

"Bean?" Solo's warm laugh filled the stairs. "What kind of a name is Bean?"

"It's a long story." Bean flushed, feeling embarrased over his silly name. He'd thought it clever at the time.

Six months later, Uno passed away in his sleep. Solo had been warning Bean for awhile that Uno was old. Unfortunately, Solo wasn't old, and not a month later, the infamous L2 plague stormed in, robbed him of his abilities, his youth…and not long after, his life.

Bean knew on that day, his best life so far had just come to an end. He was no longer the Bean that everyone knew; the Bean that Solo teased everyday about his long hair.

Because Solo was gone.

For months he remained nameless, for it was too hard, too painful to think of a new name. His old name represented the day his life started. Even though that part had ended, he was determined to come up with a name that represented that best life, for it composed a huge part of who he was.

One day, he went back to those steps where he'd first met his beloved friend Solo.

And as he sat there, for the first time in months, the familiar, wry grin crept back slowly onto his face. The answer of what his name should be was so simple, he was surprised he hadn't thought of it sooner. Uno, like he had told the adored dog all those years ago, meant 'one'. Solo's name also meant 'one'.

He had to begin his new life, his final life, and he'd do it right this time. He'd live with the memory of the two best friends who'd help make him who he was. And most of all, he'd remember, but not regret living even though they'd died. Like Solo said, boys didn't cry. There's no time to cry when you have a problem to fix. He couldn't fix his problem, but he would make sure no one else had to go through what he had.

And so Bean ceased to exist, and Duo stood up and walked away from the step.

He didn't look back.

He didn't need to.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please review.