A/N: I didn't have any sort of inspiration for this. But, just to let you all know, this is NOT a DuoxOC fic. No. It is a 1x2. I've decided to continue it since I know that I'm WAY overdue for any kind of writing.
I'm terribly sorry for the time elapsed between updates. I've promised over and over that I'd also continue Treading Through Trouble Waters, but I've been getting serious blocks on that thing. I'm not sure where I went idealistically wrong, but I'll have to root that out before the light at the end of that tunnel flickers and dies out.
CHAPTER THREE
Duo sighed, looking at the worn duffel that sat on his bed. The poor thing had gotten its long deserved rest but it was time to come out and play again.
"I know how you feel, buddy," Duo murmured, patting the old black leather. He turned and left the duffel on his bed. He'd get it later on the way to the shuttle port after work. The braided man proceeded to tie off the end of his trademark possession as he made his way to the front door, taking one last cursory glance over everything and leaving for the day.
L2 in the mornings made door nails look like the lives of the party. Whores left seedy looking areas, the kiddies emerged in 'stealth mode' in order to forage for the day's meal, and pimps dragged their 'employees' out to earn their keep. Duo flipped his collar and began the familiar walk routine - at least one of them. It wasn't safe at all to stick to one monotonous routine in any place, especially on L2. It was stupid to do so since it made one an easy target. Who knows? Maybe if he took that rule a little more seriously he might have avoided the others. Then again…
The former Deathscythe pilot sighed. If anything he never had initiated much contact with the others because he wasn't exactly needed. He annoyed Heero because let's face it - the guy's reactions were the best. Well, at least, next to Wufei. It was a challenge to get a reaction out of Heero, and when he did, he was not disappointed. Boredom was what really got him to get attached in any way with the pilots, to be honest. Quatre was the closest thing to a friend he'd ever had during the wars, but in the end, the blond Arab, despite his awesome qualities, was just another shelter in the time of storm. Duo would have to leave the guy and go somewhere else just like the little hidey holes he found around L2 as a runt.
Don't get him wrong, Duo felt that all five of them could have been a close knit group. Okay, well, as close as the five of them could be. But he was sure Quatre had that emotional glue that would keep the other four together. Quatre was the one who dragged answers out of the other three near effortlessly and he was the one they all confided in.
Duo was just the random moment that came up every once in a while. He wasn't needed anymore because they all had their jobs to spring randomness onto them. So where did that leave him?
Right there thinking about the reunion he was supposed to find the cash to go to.
Why the hell did he even accept the invitation? Or more importantly, who told Hilde to blab his number?
Duo sighed and rolled his eyes. Well, he'd get the cash somehow but he didn't want to be there by himself! He'd ask Hilde but he knew she wouldn't be able to go. That woman was always on the move. He needed a scapegoat or a wingman so he could leave any scene he wanted to. Question was, who could he take that he had little to no ties with and leave with no hard feelings?
Sweet mother, he sounded like he was looking for a one night stand.
"Not so far off, though," he muttered to himself, rounding a corner.
Or was going to when he was flattened by a black and white blur. He blinked, a little dazed, before sitting up. Beside him, he heard a whispered string of obscenities that he was sure only he could come up with on such short notice.
Looking over to his left, he saw a pretty big kid, probably a teen, puffy hair wild and curly, wearing a white shirt and basketball shorts. The kid turned to glare at Duo, gray eyes flashing intensely. But they softened minutely. The child rose and offered Duo a hand.
He took it, perplexed. Was this a new kid or something? By the time a rat was done cussing the fact that someone run into them (and not the other way around) he would have been crucified with seven different insults and the kid would have disappeared.
"I'm sorry." Street rats with manners? Not a first, but damn sure a rarity.
"Get that little bastard!" A shout came from down the street. Both of their heads swiveled to see about five larger boys barreling toward them.
The frazzled teenager apologized again, so quickly that the kid left his voice behind him in his haste to get away.
The larger boys ran past as well, ignoring Duo.
…Odd. But he guessed that this was his random moment of the day.
But the kid's face looked familiar. Either he'd seen him working the streets or failed at picking his pocket before. Whatever the case, it didn't matter. He had a long and tedious hunting trip ahead of him.
COME TOGETHER COME TOGETHER COME TOGETHER COME TOGETHER COME TOGETHER
Okay, today was going to hell. And he was sending it there personally. It was nearly five in the afternoon and no cash was forthcoming. He'd seriously contemplating robbing a few people along the way but his better judgment stopped him.
Damn his conscience.
Duo hunched into his jacket and swore, not for the first time that day. He promised Quatre that he'd make it, and damned if he'd make himself a liar. Duo rounded yet another corner and paused at the familiar sound of a gun's safety disengaging. The first thing he did was get behind the nearest car, just when all hell broke loose.
Great. Another setback. He got caught in the middle of a gang war and he'd never make the shuttle; he was broke as hell, yeah, but that wasn't the point right then.
He whirled at the sound of something close to him. He crouched, still not fond of becoming swiss cheese, but ready to defend himself if need be. From beneath the car crawled a familiar shock of black hair. Gray eyes met with his.
The kid from this morning!
"You again," he managed to read the kid's lips. The boy looked around Duo and in the other direction before looking at him again. The child drew his lips into a thin line before taking Duo by the wrist.
"Let's get out of here," he mouthed to Duo.
Well, he did need to get away from the fiasco so why not? Even if it meant placing his life in the hands of an unconventional street rat. Not like he hadn't done so before. It's just…been a long while since then.
The kid led Duo straight into the alley the car was parked next to. It was fairly dim, not enough lighting to show much, but just enough to reveal movement.
They were all the way at the end where a high wall barred their way. The kid looked at the trash cans near it then turned to Duo.
"You c'jump 'em, right?"
Duo didn't bother answering, instead, used the cans as stepping stones and vaulted over the wall. Shortly after the soft sound of sneakers hit the ground behind him. Of course, they weren't safe as yet; there was a ruckus over the cans.
"Shit," the kid swore and grabbed Duo's wrist again. Both ran in some random direction and kept going for about three minutes. Duo had to hand it to the rat. The kid was fast and he had a lot of energy. He idly wondered if those boys ever caught him.
Suddenly, Duo was tugged into another alley. As soon as both other them were far enough inside, the boy stopped at a steel door.
"Lemme in," he hissed, not even knocking.
The door opened not too long afterward and he dragged Duo in behind him. Immediately after, Duo found himself on the ground with his arms pinned.
Double damn.
"Ease up on 'im," the boy's voice cut through the dim light. "He good."
The weight on Duo's back eased almost as fast as it had it appeared and a dainty but dirty hand appeared into his line of vision. Not wanting to be rude, he took it and rose to his feet, stretching and working his abused back.
He froze, however, noticing who had helped him up. It was the girl who sang at the bar.
"You," he breathed.
She had the same sweat suit on, but her hair was just as wild and in disarray as the boy who brought him there. Wherever "there" was, in any case.
"I apologize," she murmured, stepping back.
"You know him?" the boy asked her. She nodded.
"Seen 'im at th' bar I do gigs at," she said, voice still soft. It was nothing like the stage voice she usually used at Smithy's. Was it a stage persona?
"Ma?" came a tentative, but very male, voice from the shadows.
"Hn," she answered.
Duo raised an eyebrow and fought down a laugh. If Heero were a girl this would be him. But what kind of mother answers their kid like that? She was a mother?
Wait.
Duo took a breath and collected himself. He needed to get on board the nine o'clock shuttle and here he was focusing on some woman's motherly habits.
From the shadows, emerged three other boys. All of them looked to be in their mid teenaged years. Scruffy, but none the worse for wear. Just regular street rats in their hideout.
One was blond with wide blue eyes. The second had brown hair and darker eyes, slanted. The third was dark haired like the boy that brought Duo there, but with hazel eyes. This lady had nearly grown kids!
But he needed to get out of here.
"Um," he said, reverting to his now frequently used street dialect. "I needs to go. Got stuff to do."
The girl walked up to Duo and patted his pockets. "You don' carry a wallet 'round."
"'Course I do," he defended, reaching down into my shoe. It's where he always carried it when out and about. But…it wasn't there.
"How much you lose?" she asked me. Duo thought about it. He could force a lie and see if he could get enough for the shuttle ticket…
"Here," his thoughts were interrupted when a wad of cash was thrust into his hands. He looked at the girl quizzically. He couldn't take money from a rat!
"We ain't here for long, so have it," the wild haired boy said, probably knowing what he was thinking. "Think 's 'nough for a shuttle if you lucky."
By that, Duo knew it meant that this kind of money could last someone on L2 a month with leisure spending.
"Who'd y'rob?" Duo asked, curious.
The girl chimed in, however, blocking his question. She looked at the dark haired boy. "Wh'happened?"
"Gang war," he stated simply. The girl nodded, and looked back at Duo.
"We leavin', so you leave, too."
Duo nodded and turned around. Definitely a Heero clone.
But whatever.
Duo and the kids walked to the mouth of the alley and paused. "Thanks," he said.
"Take care," the frazzled boy said around a band he held between his teeth, hastily tying his hair back into an unruly puff.
"We late," one of the three other boys said. It was the brown haired one. "Need t'get there in a minute."
The others wasted no time, setting off at a sprint. The dark haired boy had brought up the rear of the rat stampede but he twisted around and waved at Duo.
Strange bunch, Duo thought, brows furrowed.
He looked at his watch.
Crap!
He set out at a sprint himself in the opposite direction. Damn his decision to leave his duffel behind.
A/N: Yeah…I'm sorry. Just didn't have the drive to write. I know this chapter seems so odd and unbalanced and Duo threw you off, but it's going to "Come Together" soon enough. Bad pun, yes, but I don't care right now. It took some doing for me to get the pattern of L2's street slang. So I decided to use my own native dialect to make up for the chopped speech. It seems to work…even if some expressions can't be Romanized.
Comments? Questions?
