A/N - I hope you enjoyed the first instalment. Reviews (good and bad) would be appreciated.

This is a story I fully commit to finishing, although I don't have a definitive end point in mind or update schedule.

I want to thank my Beta Infernas81 for his suggestions and bouncing ideas off him.

Chapter 2

***FIVE YEARS LATER***

Reen and Vin were walking around in the ash-covered field when they heard their mother shriek

"Quickly, hide her!"

They both knew what this meant; their mother's 'special guest' – Vin's father – had returned. Reen had only been about 6 when Lord Tevidian, the Lord Ruler's highest-ranking Obligator had started visiting their hovel. He sometimes stayed for a few hours or maybe overnight, then he'd disappear again for months. He didn't know about Vin's existence and their mother made sure it stayed that way; if he found out about her he'd kill her under the Lord Rulers rules. It was fortunate that Tevidian had a soft spot for his mother, noblemen were expected to kill their Skaa whores once they'd finished to make sure no half-breeds – like Vin - were born. The Lord Ruler didn't want unknown Mistings running around; Allomancy was for the noble families only, not for the slaves.

Reen and Vin dutifully went to the tool shed and bolted the door shut behind them. Now that Vin was getting older she was starting to ask questions, questions that would get them into trouble. Reen had to keep her quiet, so every time she started asking her questions he smacked her.

"But who is he, why do we keep hiding from him?" she asked yet again.

Reen had had enough and smacked her so hard across her face it gave her a bloody nose. Tears welled in Vin's eyes and Reen thought she'd cry loudly giving them away, so he went back over to her. As he did Vin cowered down from him, so Reen got down on his knees and put his hands out to lift her up.

"Vin" he sighed "I've told you, you mustn't ask, it's dangerous. Just know that mother doesn't like talking about it and when you try to ask her it makes her worse…"

Reen trailed off at that thought. He wondered how much longer it would be before Tevidian had her killed. Her ramblings were getting far too frequent and he worried that his mother would mention Vin. He'd run if he had to, he was 13 now and old enough to join a thieving crew or boat team. He didn't want to leave but he worried that the Ministry would visit and that would mean the brutal deaths of all of them. Still, he tried to put the thoughts out of his mind as he put his hand briefly on her shoulder and wiped the blood from her nose.

He felt bad that he had beat her, but he was toughening her up for life in the real world. The real world was a terrible place for a Skaa, let alone a half-breed. He needed to make sure that she could take care of herself, and all her questions were doing was drawing attention to herself.

Over the next couple of months Reen did his best to keep his mother and sister safe, but he worried about their mother. She was becoming more unstable. She would beat Reen and Vin for and shout and rant about things that weren't there. Poor Vin seemed to get it more than him, and over time she seemed to have developed an art of hiding herself away.

He was making headway in teaching Vin tricks he'd learned from several of his mother's clients – before she started turning them away as she was keeping herself for Tevidian. These men worked on boat teams or thieved so Reen got them to show him things whilst they hung around in the field waiting. Today he was trying to teach Vin to pick a pocket.

"You mustn't let me see or feel you as you take the pouch" Reen told her sharply "once you've got the pouch leave quickly and carefully, weaving through the crowd, if they see or feel you, run as fast as you can! You're small so you shouldn't be too noticeable and would be able to get around in a crowd without problems. Now, try to take this pouch from me"

Reen then started walking down the path not paying any attention to Vin, the pouch dangling at his belt. Vin didn't start to follow straight away, she thought that he'd be expecting that so she hung around and after a couple of minutes ran flat out and grabbed for the pouch. Reen was waiting for her, grabbed her wrist and gave her a solid slap across the face as she struggled to get the pouch loose.

"If this had been real you'd have been caught!" he shouted "A crewleader would cast you out if you can't do basic things like this, and if a noble caught you you'd be beaten to death!".

Vin sat on the ground clutching at her face; there would be a welt there later.

"I'm sorry Reen" she meekly responded, "I couldn't undo the strap".

Whilst she was struggling with the actual filching, she was getting better at creating a distraction, but Reen knew that that wouldn't be enough, so he sat down and again showed her how to undo the knots.

Reen had suspicions that his mother was with child and this proved to be right. He noticed her abdomen was visibly swollen like it was with Vin and he confronted her about it.

"Mother, you're with child again aren't you" he didn't ask, he stated it to her.

His mother hung her head for a moment, then looked up at him straight into his eyes. There was lucidity there, he saw his mother of old looking back at him, with a worried and manic look in her face.

"Reen, we're in great danger! I've tried to hid Vin but she could be found at any time and now there is another baby. We'll be caught and killed!" she shrieked.

The look in her eyes told him that she was more afraid than he'd ever thought. She put her hands on his shoulders, as she continued.

"Tevidian is an Obligator, a noble. I don't know how they haven't found us yet, but it will be only a matter of time. If the Steel Inquisitors catch us we'll all be put the death!"

A shiver escaped Reen. He'd heard of the Steel Inquisitors before and he never wanted to see one in person. Several people had told him stories about how these 'things' – for that is the only way you could refer to one – that they had spikes where their eyes should be, with the points sticking out the back of their skulls. The whispers that he'd heard said that no-one ever survived going up against one.

Unbidden thoughts came into his mind; how could he hope to escape them? Should he run now and save himself, leaving his mother and younger siblings to their fates? Did he dare to go and take Vin with him? Should he attempt to make them all leave their hovel together?

As he was thinking all these things his mother was still looking at him, her nails now digging into his shoulders. Her eyes, which moments ago had seemed clear, now seemed to be losing their clarity again. Reen knew that soon she would descend back into her madness. Is this what had caused her paranoia? The worry at having to protect them? To protect Vin? He truly wasn't sure what to do about their situation, but he did know that it was more important than ever that Vin master the skills he's been trying to teach her.

That night Reen lay in bed awake with Vin asleep next to him. He had far too much to think about. What was he going to do…?