Jack Shepard dropped into the old abandoned house, having climbed from from the ground to the roof. In his arms he carried two loaves of bread, a box of matches and four packets of sausages. His friends looked around. All of them runaways. Finding life difficult and needing to live free. Of course their parents were still looking for them, but being streetwise, there was no chance of catching them.

"Hey man. Nice load," Chloe grinned and took the food from him, taking it into the kitchen, which fortuantly had running water. Jack dropped onto the motheaten sofa, stretching after his run from angry shop owners and security guards. Jack was rugged and handsome, on the streets most of his life and able to run faster than any Olympic runner. His skills were what kept some of the new kids alive, helping them learn the tricks of the trade. His parents had died and his life had been bad.

"So what's goin on guys ?" he asked.

"As usual, nothing," Charlie said from his position on top of and old wardrobe. Sawyer and Shannon looked at him.

"Did anyone follow you ?" Sawyer asked and Jack shook his head.

"Nah, no-one," Jack replied lazily, splaying his fingers over his stomach. "You guys wanna go out tonight ?" he asked and they went silent for a moment.

"Sure why not ?" Seann said, laying on the matress on the floor.

"Here's your grub guys," Chloe said tossing sausage sandwiches around, which were devoured hungrily.

"I'm gonna take a shower guys," Shannon yawned and stood up from the floor, walking to the bathroom.

"We hitten some houses tomorrow ?" Sawyer asked and Jack nodded.

"Could use some stuff," he said looking around. He ran a hand over his short hair and sighed.

"You okay boss ?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah Charlie I'm fine," Jack grinned at him.

"Good to know," Charlie replied, lifting himself of the wardrobe and trying to flatten down his unruly hair.

"Yeah we need our leader to be sharp and on the ball," Chloe said.

"Especially tonight if we run into the cops," Sawyer smirked, flashing his dimples. They fell into silence again and Jack got his thoughts back on track. He thought about his parents, about his friends and about his general life. He looked around at the people he called family. 'I've got it pretty good' he thought and a smile washed over his face. 'I'd still want someone to love me though' he thought sadly. A rough life on the streets hadn't really gave him time for releationships. He'd been in a few but that had just been sex, not love. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Seann.

"Lets go boss," he smirked and Jack jumped to his feet, grabbing his worn out army jacket. He followed his friends out into the night and left the safe haven behind.

Two hours later in the pitch black the gang walked down mainstreet, spray paint cans in their hands and tossing beer bottles on the ground. None of them were drunk. They couldn't afford to be at this time of night and outside.

"Guys you go on ahead, I gotta pee," Jack said, pulling his hood down. They nodded and headed for the park, leaving Jack at the entrance of the ally. Jack stood at the wall and unzipped his fly. However he stopped suddenly, when he heard a scream. He zipped his fly and looked around. A girl around his age ran past the ally entrance and was a few seconds later followed by two boys. Jack's eyes darkened and he took of after them. After a few minutes the boys had cornered the girl outside an old building. Jack stood in the shadows, his knife at the ready. As soon as they started to tug at their trousers, Jack stepped out.

"Well, well what have we here ?" he growled. The girl looked incredably relieved and Jack couldn't help think how beautiful she was. Long brown hair cascaded over her shoulders and from the light of the lamp, Jack could make out freckles.

"Fuck off man. This is our turf," came a gruff voice. Jack gave a dark chuckle.

"I don't think so," he said roughly and pulled down his hood.

"Mr Shepard sir. We're so sorry," they bowed and Jack glared at them.

"I see you doing this again and I'll cut it off," he growled and they nodded swiftly running off into the night. Jack slid the knife back into the waistband of his jeans and walked slowly to the girl who was cowering against the wall. "Hey are you okay ?" he asked softly and she nodded. Jack reached out his hand to help her up and she took it gratfully.

"Thank you so much," she murmered and gave him a small smile.

"No problem, it's my duty on my ground," Jack smiled at her. "Do you want me to walk you home ?" he asked.

"If you don't mind," Kate gave another small smile. "I'm Kate," she said.

"Jack," he held out his hand and Kate took it.

"So Kate why are you out this late ?" Jack asked.

"I was at a party," Kate said simply and Jack smirked. "I could ask the same about you," she said.

"I live on the streets," Jack replied and Kate looked at him.

"How long ?" she asked softly.

"Since I was ten and my parents died," Jack replied, as though he was talking about something as simple as breakfast.

"I'm sorry," Kate said.

"Don't be. I've got a pretty good life," Jack replied and they fell into silence while they walked.

After walking for a while, they came to a street Jack wouldn't even dream of setting foot in. Kings Avenue was the richest and best place anyone could live. Jack gulped. "You live here ?" he asked in amazement and Kate nodded, blushing.

"Yeah. I don't notice it really," she smiled. They walked along until they came to the last house and Kate stopped. "This is me," she said, smiling softly at Jack.

"Well I'll just leave you to it," Jack said awkwardly, backing away.

"Wait !" Kate said suddenly. "Why don't you come in and get something to eat ?" she asked.

"It's okay, I wouldn't want to get anything messed up," Jack said and Kate nodded. She suddenly leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you again," she smiled and before Jack could say another word she was gone.

A/N: These are streets of gold ! Well how do ya like my new story, reveiw and make me smile.