Disclaimer: I own nothing, but reviews make me write more

Long way home

The phone woke her. She slipped out from under the covers and stepped over her sleeping brothers to answer it, before it woke them up.

"Hello?"
"Hey 'Ana." Trey, her oldest brother's voice came down the line. He was trying to sound calm, but a note of panic had invaded his voice.

"Listen, is Ryan there? I need to speak to him."
"Yeah, give me a min."

She made her way across the floor and gently shook her brother. He rolled over, muttering. She shook him harder.

"Get up you piece of"

Ryan rolled over and was on his feet in instant.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." He said, shaking his blonde hair from his eyes. He yanked himself up, his strong build contrasting with his sixteen years.

It was hard to believe look at them that she and Ryan were twins. Ryan was blonde, with their mother's blue eyes, whereas Rhiannon more resembled their absent father. Or so people said. Her father had last being around when Carlos was born, when she and Ryan were 3. She didn't remember him.

She shrugged.

"Trey's on the phone."

Ryan was on his feet and by the phone in a second. Trey had been out of contact for nearly 3 days, long even for him.

"Trey? What's wrong? Where are you?" he was forced to keep his voice down, to avoid waking them, while Rhiannon shook Carlos awake. If A.J. heard Trey's voice, there would be violence.

"Hey little bro. everything's fine." It was a lie, and they both knew it. Could hear it in his voice. "Look. You done what I told you?"

"Yeah." Ryan glanced across at the 3 backpacks that lay near the door. Each contained their most prized processions.

"Go to the desk."

Their dad's desk was located in the living room, same as where they slept.

"Third drawer."

Rhiannon opened the drawer. A long envelope lay there. She opened it.

"There's instructions in there. Get out!"

"Will you be coming with us?" Carlos demanded, ignoring the attempts of his siblings to shh him.

There was a pause.

"I don't know. You be good. Do what Ana and Ryan tell you, O.K.?"
"Kay." Carlos said, uncertainly passing the phone back to Ryan.

"Listen Ryan, there's some bad shit going down O.K.? I need you guys out of there. Everything's going to be O.K., O.k.? I just need you to take Rhiannon and Carlos safe."
Ryan nodded. He knew some of the stuff Trey had done was linked to bad people, drugs and the like.

"Look just..."he felt his throat tighten, "be careful."
Trey's laugh at the other end sounded almost normal.

"Always am Bro'. And look," he added. "I'm sorry. For everything." He hung up.

Ryan glanced at his sister. She broke open the envelope. It contained 3 bus tickets and an address on an internet print out. There was also an envelope with a name written on it. A name they had only ever seen on official documents, and even then only when absolutely necessary. Their father's name. Sandy Cohen.

Ococcocoococococo

Carlos dozed on the seat, as the bus left the station.

"Born in an earthquake and could sleep though one." Their mother always said. Rhiannon had no worries about him. She glanced across at Ryan, who was resting his head against the window. He wasn't asleep, but he didn't want to talk to her.

They'd already had an argument before the bus left about the wisdom of Trey's plan. Rhiannon didn't' think this was a good idea. Their father had, she argued, made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with them. Why should he suddenly decide he did, purely on grounds of a letter that they hadn't read?
Ryan's argument was simple. They had no other options. They both knew, or could guess the trouble Trey was in. If they stayed, they might be caught up in it.

Knowing the truth didn't make it any easier.

Which was why Ryan's hand unconsciously plucked at the leather band around his wrist, a gift from Trey, years ago. She gently slid her hand out and grasped his.

"We'll be O.K." she said firmly, withdrawing a pair of envelopes from her jacket.

"References and Contacts from Samson and Rosa. Push comes to shrove; we spend the night in a shelter and get work tomorrow." She glanced nervously at her brother. Both were 16, but Ryan's build and her development meant that they could both easily pass for older.

He nodded, turning to face her. They were alright. They now had a plan. Not much of a plan, but still.

They'd done more with a lot less.

Ococococococoocococococco

"No Way!" Rhiannon said, as she yanked the sleeping Carlos along with her. "Trey must have made a mistake. He can't live here."

She gazed around. This was a world away from their home. Chevy and Fords were replaced by Mercedes, Ranger drovers and BMWs. The Grey which had been a part of their lives since they could remember was now golden. The houses...it took all of their courage not to run. The nicest house either of them had ever seen had been Ryan's on again, off again girlfriend, Theresa's with its screen door and metal sliding doors and some actual grass in their front yard, rather than just dirt. But these houses screamed money.

In answer Ryan pointed to the mail box. Cohen's it said.
Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.

"I stand corrected."

Ryan desperately leaned up and pushed the buzzer built into the wall.

"Yes?!" a polite voice asked, and he almost lost his nerve. Then he saw Carlos half asleep against the wall, and Rhiannon with two rucksacks slung over her thin shoulders.

"Hi! I'd like to speak to Sandy Cohen."
"Can't it wait?" the voice made Ryan aware for the first time that it was well after midnight.

"No it can't." He said, with more confidence than he felt. "Tell him it's his son, Ryan Cohen.