Warnings: Some language

Prologue - Falling

Year 479, Gaian Calendar – Year 732, Twilight Calendar

The streets of Sector 5 were dark, quiet. The sun had set above the Plate, and all was dark below. No stars or moon shone to illuminate the streets; only a few weakly-flickering street lamps provided any visibility to see by.

A small figure staggered slowly down the street, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and faded jeans, one of the knees worn out. An old battered knapsack hung from his shoulders and in his arms was a wrapped bundle, large enough compared to his own small stature that his steps were slow and uneven, and he had to pause frequently to catch his breath. Breathing hard and only about halfway to his destination, he veered into an alley beside an old restaurant, closed for the night, and collapsed on top of an empty vegetable crate. The bundle in his arms squirmed at the jarring sensation, letting out a single plaintive cry before the boy who carried him looked down and smiled. A pair of bright green eyes peeked out from the folds of the blanket and the infant inside let out a sharp squeal, reaching a tiny hand up toward the boy's face. Grinning, and blowing raspberries at the infant to make him laugh, the boy didn't realize that anyone else was there until a dark shadow fell across the crate, and someone began to speak.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?"

Melryn Tavernon was bored. Night had fallen over the city of Midgar, and even in the gang-infested streets of Sector 4 it was quiet. The gang fights were done for the day, the darkness of that particular Sector making it virtually impossible to see, and the only area of the Slums that was still bustling was Wall Market. Since Don Corneo's thugs had a monopoly on that area, it was off-limits to the thieves and pick-pockets, so when darkness fell over Midgar, the gangs disappeared, their members scattering and vanishing into the gloom. Unfortunately for night-owls like Mel, that meant that there was nothing to do except wander or waste money in Wall Market.

Sighing and raking a hand through his shaggy mop of hair, Mel wandered from Sector 4 over into 5, prepared to spend another evening wandering the streets. A flash of red caught his eye.

'What the…' Walking down the street across from him was a young boy, staggering under the weight of a bundle in his arms. It was his hair that had caught Mel's attention; even in the dark gloom of the barely-working street lamps it flared a vivid red, spiked out in a wild halo around the boy's head. Intrigued, and wondering why the hell a kid that young was walking the streets at night alone, Mel watched until the boy turned into an alley, following a discreet distance behind. Right as he rounded the corner, a high-pitched squeal sounded from the bundle in the kid's arms, and the hand of an infant reached out of the wrapped blankets. Grinning down at the baby in his arms, the boy didn't even notice Mel until he was right on top of him.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?"

The boy glared up at him, immediately holding the baby closer to his chest in a protective gesture. "None of your business!"

Mel cocked an eyebrow. "Seriously? You've got a hell of an attitude for a little kid walking the streets at night hauling a baby around with you." The boy scowled, and Mel shook his head. "I'm Mel." He stuck out his hand, but the boy scowled and ignored it, busying himself keeping the baby occupied instead of acknowledging the attempt at a handshake. "You're not even going to tell me your name?"

"Jimmy." He looked back at Mel, the still-present scowl on his face making it clear that Mel could go jump off a bridge for all he cared. Mel sighed.

"Seriously though, what are you doing? That baby can't be yours, you're just a little kid. Running away?"

The glare deepened. "Stop calling me a little kid! You're just a kid too, you know." He muttered something under his breath that was too low to be intelligible, but Mel was pretty sure it was an insult. "And anyway, I'm not running away." He frowned, looking away, and his next words were mumbled. "They'd come looking for me anyway."

Mel leaned against the wall, unfazed. Plenty of kids in the Slums had abusive parents; his own were long dead, and one more unloved street rat wasn't anything to get bothered by around here. "So… you decided to take your little brother on a walk through the slums then? Brilliant." He rolled his eyes. "Listen, kid, they'll probably just be pissed off that you took him out of the house. You may as well head home, you can hardly carry him anyway."

Jimmy's gaze turned heated, and he hauled himself to his feet, bracing his legs apart to keep his balance when the added weight of his brother made him sway. "I can carry him just fine! Besides, I said they'd come looking for me. They don't care about Axel, I'm the one who feeds him and takes care of him anyway; they won't come looking for him."

Now Mel was concerned; street rats were nothing, but dumping your baby brother in a trash heap somewhere was an entirely different story. "So… what did you say you were doing with him again?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "I didn't say anything. And I'm taking him to an orphanage." Mel stared at him for a minute, then burst out laughing.

"You're going to carry him all the way across the city to the orphanage? By yourself?" Another scowl was all he got in reply. "Do you want some help?"

Jimmy snorted. "I don't need any help from you. Now stop talking to me, you're wasting my time."

Mel shook his head admiringly. "You're fuckin' crazy kid. You ever wanna come join my gang, you're more than welcome. We could use crazy little bastards like you."

Jimmy glanced at him for a moment, then turned, stuck his nose in the air with a huff, and walked away. Mel watched him as he disappeared into the night. "Fucking incredible."

A/N:

And here you have it, the story of how Reno met Mel. Reno's a snotty little bastard sometimes… Mel is only 12 at this point in his life… but like I mentioned in Reaper, street rats grow up fast around here :p

I lied about the epilogue of Reaper being the prologue of Fallen...

Anywho, the first part of this will probably cover Axel's childhood. I'm also going to start writing Rude's story, since I want that to be finished before I return to Reno in this story (it will make this story, and parts of Reaper, make a lot more sense).

Reviews from The Reaper epilogue:

Jennie300303 – -pats back- hopefully this makes up for it ;)

D0rkgoddess – Glad you enjoyed it :) There will be a while before I get around to explaining the cliffhanger (we have approximately 18 years of Axel's life to get through before we get there :p) but there's a good story behind it, I promise ;)

Etrixan – hehe, I almost forgot to add her in. Thank God I needed a friendly counterbalance to Mama's hostility –whew- It's about time Reno gets to be part of a nice family :) I've tortured him enough for him to deserve it…

Cat() – lol, thanks :)

Skreech – will be explained at some point during this story… eventually :p Suffice to say that he never actually hit the ground…