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THUD! Javier Esposito ducked as the large fist sailed toward his face. The fist made contact with the brick wall behind him, causing the older boy to whom said fist was attached to cry out in pain. He jumped to his feet and got into a defensive position, waiting for the older boy to finish rubbing his bleeding knuckles.

The older boy threw another punch, which Javi avoided easily before swinging a kick at his legs. The older boy went down and held up his hands in defeat. Javi stepped back as the boy stood up and brushed himself off, savoring the last scrap of dignity he had left as he stalked away, head up.

Javi looked around the dusty alley, making sure the boy hadn't brought friends. How had the fight even started? Oh, right. He had been walking down the street when the older boy had crashed into him for no reason. He straightened out his t-shirt and began to leave.

"Is he gone?" a voice whispered through the alley. Javi jumped a foot in the air; he hadn't seen anyone come into the alley other than the older boy. He turned in the direction of the voice. Nobody was in sight.

"Who's there?" he asked cautiously.

"Over here!" the voice came again. He turned to the source, under an old wooden staircase in the back of the alley. He approached it slowly, not sure what he would find. Suddenly, a pair of curious eyes peered out from the shadows. Javi yelped and jumped back, tripping over a stray brick and falling flat on his back.

"No! Don't be scared. It's just me," the voice said. Javi stood up and dusted himself off.

"Who are you?" he asked. Whoever was behind the stairs hesitated, then stepped out. To Javi's surprise, it was a boy not much younger than he. His golden brown hair stuck up on his head in places, as if he had tried to slick it down but failed. He wore a dark green shirt, faded jeans, and beat up running shoes. But what really caught Javier's attention were the eyes. Eyes so blue they made his blood run cold.

The boy stared at him suspiciously, sizing him up. Javi stared back, each boy daring the other to speak. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him.

"What's your name?" he asked. The younger boy blinked, surprised, but the brief change in expression was quickly replaced by the usual look of distrust.

"Kevin," he said, barely audible. "Kevin Ryan. What's yours?"

"Javi," he replied. "Javier Esposito."

"Espo— what?" Kevin asked.

"Es-po-si-to," Javi sounded out for him.

"Es-po-si-to," Kevin repeated, his eyes calm and unwavering.

Javi nodded. "How old are you?"

"Seven," Kevin replied. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine," Javi replied. "I'll be ten next week."

Kevin nodded, still not taking his eyes off of Javi's face.

"What are you doing here?" Javi asked.

Kevin suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "I was—uh—just hanging out."

Javi gave him a look that said he wasn't buying it. Kevin sighed. "Ok… I was hiding from him."

"He was after you?" Javi asked angrily. "That moron crashed into me and made me fight because of you?" Kevin looked scared. "Why was he after you? What did you do to him?"

"N-nothing!" Kevin exclaimed. "I was just minding my own business looking at comic books when that big kid came up to me and told me to give him all my money. I said no and he threatened to punch me, so I said to leave me alone and then he did punch me, so I ran and then he started chasing me!"

Javi closed his eyes. "Typical bullies, picking on kids for no reason." He reached toward Kevin, hoping to reassure him, only to have him flinch when he got near.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, reaching again. Yet again, Kevin pulled away, as if afraid that Javi was going to hit him. Javi dropped his hand. Clearly this boy had some trust issues.

Kevin stood awkwardly, not sure how to thank Javi for fighting his battle for him. Could you really thank someone for something like that? Suddenly, he felt something wet drip down his forehead. He reached his hand up and touched the wet spot. It was warm and slippery. Looking at his fingers, his eyes grew wide at the sight of red.

"Oh no!" he groaned. "Dad's gonna kill me if he finds out I got in a fight!" His mind began running through all the things his dad would do to him if he found out, which included stringing him up by his ears. Javi quickly tore off a scrap of his t-shirt and pressed it against Kevin's head, hoping it would stop the bleeding. Kevin placed his hand against the cloth with a grateful smile.

"Thanks," he said. Javi smiled back.

"No problem." Javi replied.

"You should be a doctor," Kevin said.

"Nah. I want to be a superhero."

"Doctors are superheroes," Kevin argued.

"Touché."

They both stood there silently, not sure what to say.

"So… I guess I'll see you around." Javi said.

"Yeah," Kevin nodded.

Javi turned and walked away, feeling the icy blue eyes staring at him as he left.

Twenty Years Later...

Esposito sat at his desk, staring at his new partner. There was something familiar about him, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"So… your name is Kevin Ryan?" he asked. The other detective nodded.

"And you came from Narcotics?" he asked. Another nod.

"Why did you transfer?" All he got now was a cold stare. The stony blue eyes were painfully familiar, he just couldn't figure out why.

"I'd rather not discuss reasons," Ryan stated flatly. Esposito nodded.

"Welcome to the team, Detective Ryan," he said, standing up to shake hands with his new partner. Suddenly, he had a flash of a young boy, hiding in an alley. The same cold, unnerving eyes.

"What?" Ryan asked. Esposito realized he was staring. He took a deep breath.

"Nothing," he said as he pushed the memory back. "Let's get to work."