Chapter Two

"It's worse than you thought," Duo said softly, violet eyes solemn. His seriousness told more of the situation than his words, and Une's frown deepened. "He's…well, socially retarded, is the way I'd put it. He's been treated as an animal for so long that he acts like one. He growls, hisses, bites…it's like he doesn't realize he's human."

"Injuries?" Une asked, sitting back in her chair.

"Definitely," Duo answered. "But we can't get close enough to tell exactly what." Running his fingers through his hair, he gave a small sigh. "It was a trial to get him here and he's currently locked in my office." He shrugged. "It's a good thing he's staying with Trowa. He's good with animals."

"Harry is not an animal, Maxwell," Une reprimanded.

"I know that," Duo snapped, not really caring that he was getting snippy with his boss. "But I've also seen this before. On the streets you sometimes come across feral children and in order to get them used to people you have to take baby steps."

"So you're essentially going to treat him like a violent pet until he can be treated like a child?" Une asked, blinking in surprise.

Duo rolled his eyes. "Not quite, but somewhere along those ideals."

Une gave him a long look, and then sighed. "Trowa's in the med-bay. He just got back from that mission, but managed to sprain his wrist."

Duo gave a nod and left. As he was running past the office he shared with Wufei, he ran into the Chinese pilot, who was leaning against the wall, one eyebrow raised. "Why am I locked out of our office?" he asked, obviously not amused.

"I'll be right back," Duo called, running past. "Just don't open that door yet." The sooner they got Harry into a stable environment, the better.

"Trowa," Duo said, entering the bay to see Trowa getting a brace on his sprained wrist.

"Duo?" Trowa blinked. The braided pilot hardly ever used their full names, more likely to use some nickname or the other, unless the situation was serious. "What's wrong?"

"We located your cousin, but his condition isn't good," Duo sighed. "He's feral and most definitely injured but will need to be sedated in order for Sally to look him over."

"Feral?" Trowa asked, eyeing Sally as she suddenly started working on something across the room.

"Like a cat," Duo replied. "Sharp teeth too." He shook his head, braid swinging. "He's tiny, though. Obviously malnourished. And dirty. He'll need a bath."

"Where is he?" Trowa asked, straightening.

"Locked in my office."

Trowa nodded and made to leave, but Sally stopped him, handing him a piece of bread. "This has an added sedative that should knock him out without any side effects. I'll be waiting in here."

The two pilots left, heading back to the office, where Wufei was still waiting, looking even less amused than before. "What's going on?"

"My cousin is in there, apparently," Trowa answered.

Wufei blinked and turned to Duo. "You locked a four-year-old in your office?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "It was either that or get attacked again. Trust me when I say this was the best option." By this point, Trowa had entered the room and located his cousin, who had found a hiding place under the couch.

Trowa warily watched the narrowed green eyes peering at him from the darkness, frowning as a soft growl was heard throughout the office. Duo hadn't been kidding when he said the kid was feral. A tiny hand shot out and snatched the bread before Harry quickly retreated further beneath the couch. And those emerald eyes never left Trowa's.

It didn't take long for the drug to take effect, and those eyes slipped shut as the boy fell limp. Trowa waited for half a moment before reaching and gently pulling the little being from under the couch. Duo had been correct; Harry was tiny, and would be considered small if he was two. He heard Wufei's stifled gasp and looked up to meet the gazes of his friends. Wufei was completely shocked by the tiny, battered, dirty child. Duo merely looked resigned and angry.

Trowa sighed and gathered the boy into his arms, being extremely careful despite the cumbersome brace on his forearm. "Let's get him to Sally," he murmured.

Sally was waiting for them, as she had said she'd be, a warm bowl of water and a washcloth at her side. "He'll have to have a real bath to clean his hair," she said, letting the doctor in her come out to overrule the maternal instincts that were telling her to kill the Dursleys for putting a child in this condition. "But this will do for now." She gently removed the oversized, grubby clothing, pursing her lips at the emaciated and bruised form. "He's what age, Duo?" she asked, running the washcloth gently along protruding ribs.

"Turned four a month ago," Duo muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

She gave a hum, letting one of her machines scan the boy, and then frowned darkly, muttering to herself. Within seconds, Harry had a brace on one wrist, and another around his ankle. His cuts were cleaned and covered with an antiseptic, but left open to heal, and he was injected with a light pain-killer. She dressed him in soft, footie pajamas that she had managed to scrounge up from somewhere, and then hurried to her computer to check the blood tests.

"Huh," she grunted after a few minutes. "That's odd."

"What's wrong?" Trowa asked, glancing at her before going back to studying his cousin. Harry was so bruised that he didn't really look much different from when he had been dirty.

"A glitch with his DNA. I'll take care of it later. Anyway," Sally turned, grabbing her printouts. "He's severely malnourished and on the brink of becoming anemic. As such, he'll need to be put on a strict diet." She handed a bunch of sheets to Trowa, who found them to be a list of foods. Sally continued, frowning lightly. "His vocal cords are shot, due to past illness and injury, so while he'll be able to make some sounds, he probably won't ever be able to speak. You'll have to teach him sign-language. His wrist is sprained, and his ankle fractured. All of his physical injuries, minus his throat, should heal fine, although I doubt he'll ever get very tall. He's missed a lot of potential growth. I don't know how to help him mentally though," she admitted.

"I do," Duo said, putting his phone back in his pocket after ending his soft call. "Quatre's got your trailer set up the way I told him too. Harry's going to need a lot of work, but we'll manage."

Trowa sighed again, gathering up his little cousin. "Let's get him home before he wakes. Thank you, Sally."

End Chapter

Note: The DNA glitch will be explained in chapter five.