A Year Later

The hiss of tires against wet pavement echoed around the brick corner. Instinctively, Matt slowly peeked his head out of the darkness and into the glow of the streetlight. His tangled brown hair fell in waves around his face, the tip of his nose smudged with dirt. It was just a garbage truck.

Someone wearing white stepped out of it with a large plastic garbage bag and hauled it into the dumpster. Matt hid quickly, making sure not to be seen. He waited for a few minutes, until he heard the sound of those tires rumbling away, crunching soaked gravel. He walked out cautiously and then turned back around, looking pointedly towards his sister who was sitting cross-legged in the very back of the alley on top of Matt's jacket. She crawled to her feet, balancing on foot for a moment, before stalking over; her lime-green dress was stained with mud and lightly ripped at the seams. She clutched her dirty lion in her hands tight. ("He makes me happy.")

"Wait here, okay?" Matt gently touched her shoulder, and she nodded mutely. Matt skidded around the corner and after a bit of struggling (as he was malnourished) pushed himself into the metal dumpster.

Katie spied around the corner, watching her older brother. She did not really understand what he was doing, but she was too scared to ask him anything.

"Katie? You want some waffle today?" Matt asked. His voice was muffled before he emerged to the top, face split into a grin as a piece of cardboard toppled over the side.

Katie shook her head, keeping her head down low.

Matt looked at his sister and then sighed. She hardly ever talked anymore, often resorting to tugging on his shirt or shooting him lifeless expressions.

Her brother turned to rummage a little more, and then leaped out, trying not collapse to the ground when he hit it. "Look, Katie, I got-" movement to the left made him jump and he ran on impulse, making sure to grab Katie as he sprinted back to their little box in the alleyway. Sneaking around in the shadows.

"Alright," Matt murmured, sitting her down and then opening the brown bag. "Got you some fruit, and some crispy bacon. Wow, that's crispy," he smiled lightheartedly.

Katie whispered a "Thank you" as she took the bacon and the fruit. She chewed slowly.

Matt's smile was forced now, and he took some food for himself and then started to eat it - he ate fast, much too fast, and reprimanded himself to save some for Katie. But after a few bites he noticed she was finished. She had hardly ate, and boy, she was really skinny.

The sudden squealing flash of red-and-blue lights startled the both of him; they streamed down the alley blindingly. Matt leaped from his place on the ground and his sister scurried back to the box, shaking in fear. She shut the shabby makeshift door to it and peered through the hole; this is what they'd agreed on if those lights ever flashed.

The policemen entered the alley slowly.

"These must be the kids? The poor things," the guy with a vivacious orange mustache said.

"There's only one of them," someone else said.

"The girl ran into the box," mustache guy stated flippantly.

Matt narrowed his eyes, opening his arms to ball his hands into fists by his side. "Don't come any closer."

"Hey, little buddy, relax. We're going to help you," the other guy said. "We're the good guys." He offered a gloved hand to Matt, who glared at it openly.

While Matt was distracted by him, the mustached one came behind and grabbed him gently. "No, HEY, put me down! Green, run, I need you to run!" he shouted.

The other man sighed, tilting his head to the side, and stalked over to the box and peeked into the hole, seeing the shaking girl holding her lion. He got onto his knees and opened the door softly. "It's okay, don't be scared," he was saying. "I'm safe."

"Matt?"

Matt struggled as the men placed him the back of the car on leather seats. "It's okay, son, you and your sister are going to be just fine."

The police delicately grabbed Katie, and she did not struggle. She might have if Matt wasn't in the backseat already. Mustache man opened the door and helped Katie inside, and Matt pulled her close to him, hugging her tightly.

And then the tires rumbled away, crunching soaked gravel.

…

A young college student yawned sleepily, shoveling Walmart-brand coffee beans into the machine. He had a day off from school, but not a day off from work. He would be called into the station to cover breaks. Out of nowhere the phone rang, its ringtone making him groan (he really needed a new password, Lance kept hacking into) and he accepted the call blearily.

"Shiro here," Shiro said into the phone, letting out another yawn. "Unless you're my mom-"

"Hey Shiro, are you good with kids? We got some streets kids at the station, and we figure you'd be good with children. You know, cause you're young, and in good health," Officer Coran declared in his usual, unnaturally upbeat tone.

"I guess? But how old are they?" Shiro blinked. The coffee machine emitted a shrill beep. He pressed his phone into his shoulder with his ear as he took out the pot and poured it into his ready NYC mug. The steam billowed across his face.

"We got a brother with a younger sister, and the brother is extremely protective over the sister. The sister is small, doesn't talk or put up a fight. She is very skinny," Coran said. "We think they've been on the streets for quite a while. The boy yells at us if we go near them, and he won't let us touch the sister. Quite a pickle, I say."

Shiro blinked and then exhaled, taking a sip of the hot black liquid. He really wasn't that good with children, but his friends always said different - they all thought he was a kid too because he couldn't legally drink yet. A a crash and yelling in the background interrupted his thoughts.

"Officer Z just tried to give them food, but the boy got ahold of the chair and threw it," Coran explained rushedly.

"Just set the food down near them and leave it. Keep an eye on them, but don't always surround them. Let them calm down, they're probably scared," Shiro spoke. He could hear Coran shouting orders to the men in the background. "Better hurry, Shiro, the girl doesn't look well. She may need medical attention."

"Be right there," Shiro said, pouring the back coffee into a jar and and then grabbing his coat and wallet. He jangled his keys off the hook and made his way towards the door.

"Sh-iro?"

The drowsy voice turned Shiro around. Keith, his roommate (and practical little brother,) stood in the center of the kitchen, inky mane a mess and red pajamas sagging around his slim shoulders. "Got work already?" he offered a weak smile.

"Yeah. Sorry," Shiro breathed. "I'll be back soon though. Just some kids at the station."

"Your favorite thing," Keith noted.

Shiro laughed and then cleared his throat. "Uh, there's some leftover coffee in the pot, if you want any. I gotta go, so, I guess I'll see you in a few hours. You're good with that, right?"

Keith nodded mutely.

Shiro turned, but stopped mid-way. "Okay, don't you dare start the new episode ahead of me. I will find out and I will find you." His friend lazily rolled his obsidian eyes. "K. Bye."

Shiro saluted and walked out.

…

"Shiro is on his way, how are they now?" Coran asked Officer Z lowly.

"They are still scared, but they seem doing fine… it's working." The burly man seemed a little astonished. Coran glanced through the window to the room, watching how the scrawny girl ("Green") was picking the tomatoes out from under a half-eaten sandwich. She still wasn't speaking, not even to her brother, which the officers found odd, but seemed pacified.

Her brother, on the other hand, kept looking everywhere still close to her side. "Green" took a few more bites and then offered it to her brother to eat.

"She only took a few bites before," Officer Z disclosed steadily. Then watched as the boy refused the sandwich, pointing at his own. The small girl slowly laid down, her head on his lap and closed her eyes.

The doors swung open and Shiro sauntered in, keys jangling in the pocket of his jeans. Before he could say anything, Coran enveloped him in a hug. Shiro exchanged a slightly terrified look with Officer Z. Coran pulled back and pointed at the kids in the room. "They seem to be doing well thanks to your advice. We are going to try to send the nurse in soon. The girl's really in bad shape, and we shouldn't all just be hovering around."

"Did they give you names?" Shiro asked.

Officer Z shook his head and crossed his arms. "The boy called the girl "Green." We're not sure if that's her real name or just some kind of nickname, but we're probably going to have to issue missings for them using their pictures. Maybe they've got records somewhere."

"If they've been missing for a year, why were we not informed?" Shiro said, rubbing the back of the neck. "Maybe they were abandoned?"

"It could be anything. It's a shame, they seem like sweet kids," Coran said somberly. They paused for a few hefty ticks of the clock.

"Well," Officer Z leaned forwards and sighed, popping his back intentionally. "We have to go do other things. Can we leave you to it?"

"Uh, sure," Shiro's mouth was suddenly dry.

"Knew we could trust you, scout," Coran winked. "The nurse'll be here in a jiffy."

Shiro turned back to the kids as his colleagues' heavy footsteps faded. He wasn't sure if he should enter or not, but then the boy made eye contact with him and his heart stopped. Shiro did not know that the nurse had entered behind him, and when he realized her presence it made his heart stop all over again. He thought it was a marvel he hadn't just died.

"Hello, Officer Shiro, I was told there a really sick little girl?" she said chipperly.

The way she looked and smiled at him made him turn a little pink. He could not take his eyes off of her. He'd heard from the guys that Coran's cousin was pretty, but he didn't really care until now.

"Y...Yeah," he muttered, shifting to the side. His mouth seemed to dry up even more.

"So we are going to do this?" the girl asked.

"Go ahead, Miss Altea," he said, quickly reading the name tag.

They opened the door.

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