Immortal- hello everyone!! it's me again. im really sorry that these chapters are so short. ill try to make them longer, but the story will be really long, I think. so that should make up for the shortness of the chapters. thank you all!!! RuRu- once more, everybody together now!! "Immortal DOES NOT own Gundam Wing, OR Sailor Moon." now, take a bow. good job. brownie points for you. Immortal- thank you RuRu chan. that was a lovely disclaimer. now, for those of you still with me, thank you for reading, here is chapter three of Losing Grip.

Chapter Three: The Circus. Enjoy....

Hotaru sighed, stretching her arms over her head as she walked. It would be dark soon. "Two weeks, and this place still bites." She said. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a few dollars. It wasn't much, but it'd get her food. Looking at the bills, Hotaru felt a twinge of guilt for the man she had lifted her new wallet from. "Okay, where to today? Hmm.... how about.... McDonalds! then I can sneak on a shuttle to L3. I heard that Winner kid lived there. Maybe I can lift some cash from him." She muttered to herself, then looked down at her clothes. She needed new ones. Badly. No, scratch that. Very badly. "Hey there, little girl. Need a place to stay? If you come with me, ill feed you." A man's voice said gruffly, and a hand was placed on her shoulder. "I don't need help. I'm going home." Hotaru lied, starting to walk away. "Just come with me!" The man growled, grabbing her arm. Hotaru kicked him hard in the head, knocking him to the ground. "I said, I don't need help, and I don't want to go with you." She said calmly, dusting off her hands and walking away. "So stay away from me, dammit." Hotaru knew that all these fights she was getting into lately were bad ideas, but she couldn't help it, besides, the bruises weren't all that bad. As long as no one could see them. Letting her arms fall limply to her sides, Hotaru walked into a McDonalds and ordered a number one with a McFlurry, paid, ate, and curled up in a tree for the night. Next Morning

Hotaru sighed and slumped against a wall in the park. Over two weeks here, and still no food, no clothes, no shelter. Hell, no damn fresh water! She sighed mentally. Why, Puu? Why drop me here? Why did the last thing you ever did for me have to be dropping me in a dismal place like this? She asked the Time Guardian bitterly. "Shitshitshitshitshit!" Hotaru cursed, standing up straight. "Moping around won't help any. Maybe I should see if anyone needs any help around here?" She walked slowly towards a back alley that would take her to the other side of the big city in a matter of minutes. "We could use some help, doll." A voice sneered as three pairs of hands grabbed her from behind. "Let me go." Hotaru said in a deadly voice, void of all emotion. The men didn't listen, and the one who had spoken tried to shut her up by hitting her in the stomach, but she kicked his fist away. The man glared and tried again, this time, Hotaru got him in the chin, making him spit out blood. The man growled and pulled out a gun, hoping it would scare the feisty child. No such luck. "Heh. You gonna shoot me?" The girl asked, amused, still struggling against her captors. "Well? Pull the damn trigger, pussy!" She demanded, lunging towards the gun. "Shoot Me!" She yelled. The man squeezed the trigger, a shot rang out in the alley, and Hotaru watched as the man fell. She looked up and found herself drowning in angry violet eyes. There were three thumps behind her, and the hands fell from her body. Turning, she saw two more boys. One was Chinese, and muttering about injustice, the other had long bangs covering one eye. Behind her, violet eyes stared at her curiously. Hotaru again turned around, and saw the first boy staring at her. Her own eyes widened when she realized what he was staring at, and she hastily pulled her collar up. She laughed uneasily when she realized that the other two were staring at her as well. "Loo-Look, thanks for the help, but I gotta get home, or Haruka'll be angry." She said, hoping they believed her. "Is that who gave you those bruises?" The one eyed boy asked quietly, taking a small step forward. "What bruises? You must be seeing things." Hotaru laughed. "Then pull your collar down." The Chinese boy ordered gently. "Why do you care, huh? Why is it so damn important to you NOW, after it's too late? When did you start to give a damn about me?" Hotaru said the last part so emotionlessly the boys flinched, then she turned to walk away before they saw the tears she was trying desperately to hold back. She made it to the street and ran... right into somebody. Two somebodies to be exact. The last thing she heard before her head slammed into the concrete rendering her unconscious, was someone shouting 'Heero!'. Odd name. She thought, then she slipped into the deep black abyss that was unconsciousness.

"Great performance, Tro!" Duo said enthusiastically, getting a murmur of agreement from the other three. "So, how are you guys liking being 'normal' teenagers for once?" He asked. "It's alright." Quatre said cheerfully. "Hn." Heero answered. "Fine." Wufei grunted. Trowa shrugged. "Hey! I've seen that girl around here! She's almost always at the park." Duo exclaimed, watching as the girl turned into an alley that cut across the city. He gasped when three guys grabbed her from behind. A fourth man said something to her and tried to hit her. "Now that's just wrong! Four guys for one little girl!" "Disgusting!" Quatre cried, looking away. "Deplorable." Wufei agreed. him, Duo and Trowa ran to the alley as the man pulled a gun. All the men thought that would calm the girl down, or at least make her be quiet. No luck. The girl flashed a feral grin and lunged against their hands. "Pull the trigger, pussy!" She demanded, shocking everyone. "Well? Shoot me!" She yelled. Duo ran behind the man and shot him in the back. The girl looked up at him and stared for a minute. Duo watched as Trowa and Wufei made quick work of the guys holding her. The girl turned around, and Duo stared at the huge bruises on the back of her neck. The girl turned again and widened her eyes as she pulled her collar up, laughing uneasily when she noticed Trowa and Wufei staring too. "Loo-Look, thanks for the help, but I gotta get home, or Haruka'll be angry." She said. "Is that who gave you those bruises?" Trowa asked quietly, taking a small step forward. "What bruises? You must be seeing things." The girl laughed. "Then pull your collar down." Wufei ordered gently. "Why do you care, huh? Why is it so damn important to you NOW, after it's too late? When did you start to give a damn about me?" The girl said the last part so emotionlessly the boys flinched, then she turned to walk away before they saw the tears they knew she was trying desperately to hold back. She made it to the street and ran... right into Heero and Quatre. "Heero!" Duo called, flinching when the girl's head slammed into the sidewalk, leaving her unconscious. Heero stared at the girl at his feet with curiosity. Why was she running so fast? And why had she run from the alley alone? "Heero, come on, we gotta go get those guys. Quatre can stay over here with the girl." Duo panted, running up to the stoic teen. Trowa and Wufei walked up behind Duo just as Heero caught sight of something dark on the girl's neck. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he knelt down next to her, pulling her over shirt off. He growled at what he found: numerous hand sized bruises covered her shoulders, arms, and wrists, and she was covered in cuts that he was sure she hadn't gotten falling down. "I didn't think it was that bad." Trowa said quietly, his eye sad. "She didn't seem hurt, just scared." "How could you know?" Quatre asked, placing a hand on his friend's arm. "You couldn't, there was just no way." Quatre's words were a comfort, but Trowa still felt bad. "We can take her to my trailer at the circus, it's closest." He offered. "Okay." Heero agreed, picking the girl up.

The Next Day

Hotaru gasped awake and sat up, immediately regretting it. "Ow." She whimpered, looking at the mirror on the wall. "Where the hell am I? The last thing I remember is someone shouting 'Heero' I wonder if that's who I ran into?" She wondered aloud. "Actually, yes. That was Heero." A soft, blond, angel-like boy said gently from his seat next to her bed. "Does your head hurt still?" He asked. "Just a bit." Hotaru confessed. "I'm glad you're okay, I was starting to worry." He said softly. He must have sat up with a lot of people who just kept on sleeping forever, if the look in his eyes was anything to judge by. His eyes, that was where the softness stopped. It wasn't that they were cold, or even hard, just...sad. They were the eyes of someone who had seen too much useless death, and killed too many people in hopes of saving billions more. Her angel was a soldier, damn.

End Chapter Three- The Circus...

Immortal- Heyaz!!! Thank you for reading chapter three!! like I said last chapter, i'm trying to make these chapters longer, but I want to make this story a bit longer than the origional. review for me, okay? I might not update for a while, because I have exams all this week. forgive me, if I dont update in forever. I really will try my hardest. thank you for being so patient. RuRu- Yeah! thank you for reading and being so patient with my mistress!!! isnt she just so great. final exams, and she's still writing for you all!!! lets give her a big round of applause. Please Read and Review, so I can have fuel to be a good muse. Immortal- yeah! read and review! RuRu- smiles and waves BaiBai to everyone. BaiBai everyone!!! thank you for reading, and we'll see you next chapter!!! Immortal- byebye!!