Disclaimer: the idea for The Rogue was inspired by the Tamora Pierce books.

The Rogue

The first thing Harry and Max heard when they walked through the door was a collective sigh of relief. Mirroring the night Con had set Harry up, the others once again sat in the living room waiting for the last members of their group to return. However, this time Harry knew it had been real. It was only a quick flash of emotion across Con's face, so fast and out of character that Harry almost thought he had imagined it, but he hadn't. Con had been worried.

"Hey," Link sighed, as he stood and clapped Harry on the back, and Max quietly sat between Con and Leaf. Con briefly put a hand on his sister's shoulder, taking in her wrinkled dirt covered clothes with a questioning look. She gave him a small nod, letting him know she was okay before they moved on to business as usual.

"Did you get it?" Max asked as she looked around at the others. Con reached over the side of the couch, picked up the long cylinder shaped container, and placed it on the coffee table. Harry looked down at it considering. So this is what we went through all of that for? Harry thought about all the things that had happened in the last few hours. It wasn't worth it, he decided.

"What does it look like?" Max asked, curious to see what The Rogue had wanted so badly.

"We don't know." Con told them, pointing to the end of the canister where a lock kept the latches firmly in place. "We don't have the combination."

"Then how is The Rogue going to open it?" Harry asked, hoping they hadn't gone through all of that for nothing.

"That's not our problem," Con answered with an indifferent shrug, "he'll have to figure it out."

"So what happened?" Link asked, unable to contain his curiosity. "I was smashing up the security room when Dozer came in and said that we had to go. We were already slipping out the back when the cops pulled up." He explained.

"They responded to the alarm much quicker than we expected." Leaf said

"I thought The Rouge said we would have at least ten minutes." Link pointed out

"Maybe one of the neighbors saw us, and called it in." Dozer suggested.

"There was something wrong with the radios too." Harry pointed out. "I tried to call you guys, but it was like they were all dead."

"Or something was jamming them." Link said conspiratorially, but the others just rolled their eyes.

"When Lightning came in and told us that the cops were coming Dozer went to get Link, and Lightning and I ran upstairs to get Con and Max." Leaf glanced at Con who was sitting rigidly with his back barely touching the couch, and put her hand over her aching stomach. "There was a small misunderstanding," she said referring to their fight, "But we made it out the back door just as the cops were kicking the front door in. We split up as soon as we got outside."

"One of them followed us, but we were able to shake him off. Some kid was throwing a party a few blocks down. We went in, and as soon as the cop showed up everyone scattered." Con told them, wearing a satisfied grin, "Someone even offered us a ride out of there." he laughed.

Link looked at Max and then settled his gaze on Harry, "So what happened to you two?"

Harry looked down at his feet, suddenly feeling self-conscious when the others all turned to look at him. "We ran into an old friend." Max answered wearily, causing all eyes to turn to her. Even Harry looked up inquiringly. "Officer Peterson."

Before the name had fully left her lips, the others were clamoring to speak "What?" "I thought he was…" "How did he know…" "Who is officer-"

Con took control of the situation, letting out a sharp whistle to silence everyone. "I wish you wouldn't do that," Max told her brother, while the ringing in her ears subsided.

"What happened?" He asked her seriously.

"Peterson caught me when we were running back to the alley." she paused for a moment, "If it wasn't for Lightning I would probably be sitting in the back of a squad car right now." She glanced over at Harry, shooting him a look that clearly said that the others didn't need to know the details of it. "He came back and distracted Peterson enough for me to get loose." She grinned over at Link, "I got to kick him in the head."

Link let out a loud laugh and Con glanced over at Harry as if he were seeing him for the first time. Harry didn't notice though. Max may have been down playing it, but Harry remembered the look in Peterson's eyes. He had been out for blood. "Who is Officer Peterson?" He asked Max again. There was obviously much more to this story than he knew.

"You've met him before." Max told Harry, who was looking more confused by the second. "The night we met, you remember I was running from two cops?" she asked. Harry nodded, thinking back to that night. "Peterson was the one with the flashlight."

"It's like he has a vendetta against us," Link added, "He's been chasing after us for months."

"He doesn't really want us, he wants The Rogue." Dozer reminded them, "Peterson has made it his mission to bring down The Rogue, and now is his best chance." He looked saw Harry's confused look and explained, "There hasn't been a new rogue in nearly twenty years. Right now the Rogue is about as weak as he'll ever be."

"But why is he after you?" Harry asked while thinking to himself that what he had seen earlier definitely seemed personal, and if it wasn't personal before Max kicked him in the head, it probably is now.

"Peterson knows we're close to Sebastian," Max answered, "He thinks that if he can get to us, he can use us to get to the rogue."

"Like that'll ever happen." Link said with a yawn.

Leaf stood, "I think it's time for bed. It's been a long day."

"I couldn't agree more." Dozer said as he stretched.

"I need to take a shower," Max said, eager to get out of her dirty clothes.

"Hey," Con said, once again grabbing their attention. "You guys did a great job." He said sincerely, looking them all in the eye, "Go get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow." They all nodded and the group broke up, most of them heading upstairs.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Harry asked Link as they both walked up the stairs.

"You're finally going to meet the man behind the curtain."

"What?"

"The Rogue," Link said, too tired to explain the analogy. "Tomorrow we're going to see The Rogue."

"Oh," was all Harry managed to say before Link closed the door to his room.

As he continued down the hall toward his bedroom, he let his hand slip into his pocket and felt his fingers brush up against something that seemed to be both cold and warm at the same. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled out the necklace that he had seen in the safe. Harry paused in the hallway, how did this get in there? He wondered as he stared down at it in surprise. Back at the collectors mansion Max had pulled him out of the room before he had the chance to grab it. He hastily looked around to see if anybody else was in hallway, before quickly going to his room and closing the door tight, the whole time he was unable to keep his eyes off it. It was the chain of the necklace that had felt so cold in his pocket. If he didn't know any better he would think that it had been made from ice. However, the thing that held his attention was the ancient looking silver watch held at the end of the chain. On its cover was an intricate design that seemed to be continually changing before his eyes. One second he could swear that the elegant pattern created a picture of the earth, but in the next, it appeared to show a large star, until he looked at it from a different angle and it took the shape of some strange type of animal. The longer he looked at it the harder it was for him to look away, until he finally forced himself to tear his eyes away from the cover, and open it up.

On the inside, it had the basic design of an old-fashioned watch; it had two hands, and there were numbers along the edges, but that's where the comparisons stopped. Behind the numbers, there were small pictures painted on the surface, but the two hands never stopped. One hand spun around counterclockwise, as if it were counting down to something, while the wider one spun randomly. There were no gears on it to control the hands, or anything else for that matter.

Harry sat down on the bed and turned the watch over in his hands, trying to find some clue to tell him what it was supposed to do, or what it was made for. There had to be some trick to figuring it out, but after what felt like hours of staring at it Harry shoved it back in his pocket and lay back in bed. Useless, he thought with a frustrated sigh, as he tried to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Harry tossed and turned for hours, waiting for exhaustion to overwhelm him, but sleep wouldn't come. He looked at the clock on his dresser and saw that it was already five thirty AM, and resigned himself to another sleepless night. He threw off his covers and left his room to wander the halls that had become very familiar to him over the past few weeks. He had even discover three rooms that he hadn't known existed, including an attic at the top of the house that had become one of his favorite places to sit and think. It was covered in dust, it had a strange smell, and he had seen more than one spider up there, but it was also the only room in the house that didn't have its windows covered or boarded up.

It probably came from being forced to sleep in such a claustrophobically small space for most of his life, but Harry loved being able to look up at the sky, especially at night. He knew that he was taking the risk of being seen if anyone down on the street or in one of the other houses happened to be looking this way, but he couldn't resist. That was part of the reason why he only came up to the attic at night, and never turned on any lights or lit candles. Of course, the other part was because he wasn't sure Con would approve of him being up here, and he didn't want to draw the attention of the others now that he had finally found a place where he felt truly comfortable in his new life.

Harry sat down in front of the nearly floor length window, and after a moment's hesitation pulled out the silver watch. He wasn't sure that 'watch' was the correct thing to call it, but for now it would have to do. He stared down at it as the moonlight shone in, illuminating the watch in a way that almost seemed magical. As he sat there on the floor, Harry kept expecting something to happen, some clue or idea to fall into place that would allow him to unravel its secrets. It never happened, and Harry simply sat there waiting, until he saw the sky start to grow lighter on the horizon. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but he still felt somehow disappointed. He made his way back downstairs, but instead of going to his room, Harry went to sit on the stairs.

A few minutes after he sat down a noise from the kitchen alerted him to the fact that he wasn't the only person walking around in the early hours of the morning. He had just decided to go down and investigate, when the kitchen door opened and Leaf came out with a cup in one hand and a plate in the other. He quickly stuffed the watch into his pocket before Leaf saw it.

"Lightning?" she said looking up, as she mounted the stairs, "What are you doing up so late?" she hadn't expect anyone to be up this early.

"I couldn't sleep." He nearly cringed as the words poured out of his mouth a little too quickly. If she hadn't thought something was up before, she definitely would now. Harry just wasn't sure if he wanted the others to know about the silver watch. He had developed a certain level of trust, and he was pretty sure that none of them would try to steal it from him, but one of the things that Con was trying hard to instill in him was that he should never trust anyone fully.

"Bad dream?" she asked curiously, as she sat down beside him. She couldn't help but notice the dark circles that had been developing under his eyes for weeks. He obviously hadn't been able to sleep in a while, and it was starting to show.

"Something like that." He admitted reluctantly. It wasn't lie. He hadn't had a good dream since the night he decided to join them. Although he was starting not to feel it so much while he was awake, his subconscious mind was constantly plagued with guilt about what he was doing.

Leaf nodded, remembering her first few months on the streets, and how hard it had been for her to adapt to this lifestyle. She had been the last person to come to the group before Lightning, which is probably why she sympathized with him the most. All of the others had practically been born and raised on the streets, or close to them. It seemed that the older you are when you got into it, the harder it is to adjust. She didn't feel the guilt anymore though; she had been here too long for that. However, having an outsider around seemed to stir up some of the emotions she thought she had buried. "It might help if you wrote it down."

"You mean, like, a diary?" he asked incredulously. She can't be serious, he thought.

"Not a 'diary'" she had almost forgotten that she was talking to a nine year old boy. "A journal. Somewhere for you to sort out your thoughts," he still didn't look convinced, "Sometimes it helps if you can get them out of your head." She stood up, "It helped me when I first got here…Just try it." She told him and walked down the hallway shaking her head.

Harry waited until he heard her bedroom door close before going back to his room and sitting down on his bed with a small notepad. What could it hurt? He thought as he started writing. It was hard to get the words to come out at first, but eventually his thoughts began to flow out onto the paper. Sometimes they didn't make sense or have any recognizable pattern but once he was done, he lay back in bed and actually managed to fall asleep.

It was nearly three o'clock when Harry was shaken awake from the first real sleep he'd had in weeks. He looked up groggily to see Con standing by the side of his bed with his arms crossed over his chest. Harry sat up, rubbing his eyes. For a moment Harry wondered why it felt so odd to have Con standing in his room, and then it struck him that after living together for nearly a month and a half Con had never set foot in his room before. He usually sent one of the others if he wanted to see Harry.

"Were you planning to sleep all day?" Harry couldn't help feeling uncomfortable as Con's critical gaze traveled around the room before slowly returning to him. "Be downstairs in twenty minutes."

As the door closed Harry got out of bed, ran a hand through his unruly hair, and made a mental note to clean his room as soon as possible. He felt the silver watch in his pocket and put it under his mattress. He knew it wasn't the safest place for it, but it was the best he could do. He took a quick shower and got dressed, before heading downstairs, and finding the others all sitting around the couches in the living room.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Link said as he came down the stairs "How nice of you to finally join us." Harry sat down at the end of the couch and avoided looking at Leaf. He didn't want to admit that he had taken her advice last night. He wasn't even sure if it had really helped, or if he had just passed out from exhaustion.

"We would have let you sleep, but we thought you might want to be with us when we go see The Rogue." Harry felt the muscles in his stomach form a knot when Con reminded him that he would be meeting The Rogue today. He had completely forgotten about it after he found the silver watch.

"We're going now?" Harry asked nervously as the others stood up

"No time like the present." Con said, as he grabbed the canister with the painting in it and led them down to the tunnels.

After nearly two hours of walking, they finally reached their destination halfway across town. Harry was so tired by then it took him a moment to realize that the building they were walking towards was a pub.

He hesitated as the others crossed the street. This is where we're meeting The Rogue? He wondered.

"Come on lightning." Link called when he noticed Harry was no longer behind him. Harry ran to catch up, feeling the knot of anxiety that had been building in his stomach tighten. He had had never been in a pub before. "This should be interesting," Harry said quietly to himself as he reached the others and Con pulled the door open.

The first thing that Harry noticed was the noise. The moment Con opened the door it felt like he was hit by a wall of sounds. There were dozens of people there drinking, eating, talking, shooting darts, gambling and just trying to blow off steam. Harry stood by the door waiting for someone to say something, ask him what he was doing there. A few people looked up when the door opened but when they saw whom he was with, they went back to what they were doing. No one seemed to mind that a group of minors had just walked in. Although they were definitely the youngest ones there, they weren't the only underage people. Harry heard many of the bars patrons call out greetings to Con, Max, Dozer, Leaf and Link. It only took a few minutes for them to drift apart once they spotted people they knew. Before he knew it, Harry was standing alone near the door. He cautious walked into the pub, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, and failing miserably at it. He was only a few steps away from the door when he bumped into a waitress carrying a tray full of drinks.

"You lost honey?" she asked kindly once she steadied the tray. He shook his head and looked around as the waitress moved on. He walked around a bit more, feeling completely out of place as people kept tripping over him and asking if he was lost or looking for someone. It didn't take him long to decide that he was better off with one of the others, and started looking for Link

Harry quickly spotted him sitting at one of the more crowded tables near the corner of the bar. There was a small crowd around the table, and as Harry got closer, he realized that the five men seated at the table were playing a card game. Link was by far the youngest player in the game, but judging by the small pile of money that he had already built up, his age wasn't a disadvantage. Harry reached the table just as the players were showing their cards.

"Full house." A man in dark blue said as he laid his cards down on the table. Two of the players cursed as they threw down their cards, unable to beat a 'full house'.

Now it was just Link, the man in green and a man who looked like he would fit in well with a biker gang. His arms were completely covered with tattoos and when he smiled, Harry saw that his mouth was full of crooked yellow teeth. He laid down his cards and said "Four of a kind," causing the crowd around the table let out a few cheers and more than a few groans. Apparently, the man with tattoos wasn't very popular. Harry saw that the tattoos also covered his hands as reached out to grab the money from the middle of the table.

"Wait." Link called out over the crowd. The man with tattoos stopped with his hands inches away from the money, and the crowd went quite again. Enjoying the suspense and looks of surprise on everyone's faces, Link slowly revealed his hand "Straight flush." He said with a cocky grin, and the crowd let out a loud cheer.

The man across the table looked didn't look happy as Link stood up and grabbed the money from the center of the table. Harry counted more than nine hundred dollars before Link slipped the money into his pocket along with the rest of his winnings. "I think that'll be it for me tonight gentlemen." He pushed back his chair and stood. The Man with tattoos jumped to his feet with his hands balled into fists, looking like he was ready for a fight. Before anything could happen, one of the other men that had been sitting at the table stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on kid." He looked over at Link with a slight edge in his voice "You gotta let me try to win my money back!" there was a friendly smile on his face, and he was obviously trying to stop this situation from getting out of hand.

Link considered for a moment and then sat back down, "Fine, but I'm tired of this game." He spotted Harry in the crowd and then looked back at the men around the table. "How about a game of Black Jack." He said congenially as he started shuffling the cards.

Harry didn't stick around to see what would happen next. He had spotted Max and Leaf on the other side of the pub, sitting in a large group of people that looked around their age. Max had her back turned towards him, while Leaf was turned to the side talking to some guy. He looked to be about 18 or 19, with slicked back brown hair. Even from across the room Harry could tell that Leaf was way less interested in the conversation than he was. Looking around he still didn't see Con or Dozer, so he went over to sit with them.

When Harry was a few tables away, the guy Leaf was talking to saw him walking towards them and gave a slight nod to a group of guys that were sitting a few tables away. Two of them stood up and started walking towards Harry. One of them was tall, with spike hair and piercings all over his face, while the other looked like he was on his way to becoming a pro wrestler. They were definitely the type of guys you would cross the street to avoid if you saw them walk towards you. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for Harry as the one with spike hair intercepted him a few feet away from the table where he and his friends were drinking, affectively blocking Harry's path, while the other one walked out of Harry's line of sight.

Spike hair looked him up and down, with a grin that looked so much like the ones that Dudley used to give him that Harry had to fight the impulse to run away. He glanced over at the table where Max and Leaf were sitting, but Max still had her back turned to him and the guy Leaf was talking to was keeping her distracted. Harry knew it would be pointless to try to call to them over all the noise.

"Where do you think you're goin?" spike asked, breathe reeking of alcohol. Some of his friends at the table had turned around to see what would happen and started laughing as they watched him take a step forward and Harry take a step back. It wasn't until then that Harry felt someone standing right behind him. He looked over his shoulder, already knowing what he would see. While spike had intercepted him, his buddy had slipped behind Harry, cutting off his escape route. He turned back to Spike knowing that it didn't matter what he said.

"Where's your mommy kid?" Spike asked in a mocking baby voice, but Harry just stared at him stoically, preparing himself for the fight that was undoubtedly coming. "You're not gonna answer me?" spike was starting to get annoyed by Harry's lack of response, causing all of his friends to laugh even harder. He was about to take another step forward when he was suddenly shoved from behind, and lost his balance. Standing behind him was Leaf, looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her. Harry felt the guy behind him take a step back as Leaf walked over to them.

Spike stood up cursing, and swearing that someone was going to pay for that, until he realized whom it was that pushed him. His mouth snapped shut.

Leaf looked up at spike, "He's with us," she said, looking just as ready to fight as spike had been a few seconds ago.

Spike opened and closed his mouth twice, looking shocked that a girl half his size was talking to him like this. He looked over at the guy that Leaf had been talking to, but he didn't offer any help. "Is there a problem?" the guy asked spike without getting up from his seat, looking mildly annoyed by this interruption. Everyone at the tables around them was watching.

"No. We were just havin' a laugh." Spike said grudgingly, with a smile that was anything but friendly. He went and sat back down with his friends, and grabbed a beer.

Leaf put her hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him towards the table where she and Max had been sitting, as the people around them went back to what they were doing. She pulled up a chair next to hers for Harry to sit in. Looking around the table and then pointedly looked at the guy beside her, "This is Lightning, the newest member of the group." A few people nodded to him politely or introduced themselves. Harry learned that the guy sitting next to Leaf was Logan, and that he clearly wanted to stay on Leaf's good side. He apologized for his friends, saying that he didn't know what had come over them, and that they had just had too much to drink.

From the moment Harry sat down the conversation began to revolve around him, with people asking how he had gotten involved with Con and the gang and girls commenting on how adorable he was. At first Harry wasn't sure what to say, but Max and Leaf took care of that for him. They both took turns answering questions while he just sat there awkwardly. He hated it when people focused their attention on him, and the only person who seemed to hate it more, was Logan. He kept shooting Harry angry looks, and trying to steer the conversation back to him. Not only was Leaf no longer paying attention to him, all the other girls at the table were talking about Harry too.

Harry quickly discovered that there were only three things that Logan was interested: Logan, money and Leaf. Even though there were half a dozen other girls at the table that seemed to be hanging on his every word, he focused most of his attention on Leaf. He took every chance he got trying to impress her with story after story about all the jobs he and his 'team' had pulled. They usually consisted of him having to save the day with a cop right on his heels, or a gun to his head, or one hand tied behind his back. No matter how ridiculous the stories got, they all ended with him getting away with the money, and Harry wondering how one person could possibly be so self absorbed.

During one of Logan's stories Harry noticed Max leave the table, and wondered if anyone would notice if he got up as well. Logan seemed to have everyone's undivided attention as he reached the cliMax of his latest tale, and Harry knew that this would be the best time to slip away unnoticed. As soon as he began to rise from his seat Leaf's hand shot out and forced him back down. "Logan," she interrupted him mid sentence "Why don't you tell Lightning about the time you had to fight off three security guards, with a twenty pound bag of money on your back. In the middle of the night. In the rain." Leaf said dryly, giving Harry a look that told him he was going to be stuck here as long as she was.

A look of confusion crossed Logan's face while Leaf was looking over at Harry, but as soon as she turned around it turned into a confident smile. "You liked that one?" he asked, trying to buy some time. Leaf simply smiled and waited for him to tell the story.

"Liked what one?" A voice behind them asked. They all turned around to see Con standing there, looking just as confident as Logan was pretending to be.

"Connor." Logan said shortly, not even pretending to be happy to see him. Con completely ignored him, looking down at the tables other occupants instead. A few of the girls at the table waved and smiled at him, but Con was looking at Harry and Leaf.

"Logan was about to tell us one of his stories." Leaf said with a smirk, and shared a look with Con.

"The one where he had to out run a pack of wild dogs, with the cops on his trail in the middle of the night?" Con asked seriously, with only the slightest bit of sarcasm.

"No, the one where-"

"Actually," Logan loudly interrupted, "As much as I would love to stay and chat, I've got to get going. I've got an early morning tomorrow," he smiled at all the girls at the table, and then let his gaze linger on Leaf. "I'll tell you about it later." He said with a wink, before taking Leaf's hand and bringing it to his lips, "Wish me luck." He said kissing it lightly. Harry glanced over at Con to see what his reaction to this would be. His face remained indifferent but Harry saw a flash of anger in his eyes, which might have actually been jealousy. Harry filed that away for later.

"It was nice to meet you Lightning." he said shaking Harry's hand a little too roughly. "Conner." He said without looking at Con as he walked past him. Logan stopped briefly to talk to the guy with spiked hair before walking out. Con took Logan's abandoned seat on the other side of Leaf.

"Thank you." She said to Con under her breath

"You don't think he left because of me do you?" Con asked sardonically, getting a few laughs from some of the guys at the table. No one seemed to mind Con taking Logan's place. The conversation built up around them again and Harry noticed Con and Leaf talking quietly together

He leaned over so no one else would hear him, and quietly asked the question that had been bothering him since they first arrived. "When are we going to see The Rogue?" They had been there for over an hour now, and so far the only thing they had been doing was hanging out with their friends.

Con and Leaf glanced at each other. Harry was starting to hate it when they did that, it always meant that they knew something that he didn't.

"You'll meet him later," Con said vaguely, leaving Harry to wonder what they weren't saying.

"Don't worry about it." Leaf added, sensing his apprehension.

"Right. I'm gonna go get something to drink." Harry said, abruptly pushing his chair back. "Do they serve anything without alcohol here?" Con nodded and he started to walk away. He managed to squeeze through the crowds without knocking into anyone, and found a stool at the bar without too much trouble. Harry looked up at the list of food and drinks behind the bar and decided to get a soda. He looked around, but both of the bartenders were dealing with other customers. He began ripping up a napkin nervously as he waited. When the bartender finally came over to him, he looked Harry up and down. "Wow, they just keep making 'em younger and younger." He said with a rough voice.

"Um, yeah…" Harry wasn't in the mood to hear someone else talk about how young he was. "Can I have an orange soda please." He asked hurriedly, staring down at the scarps he was making.

"Do you have any money?" the bartender asked skeptically. Harry stopped ripping up the paper and realized that he had completely forgotten to bring cash with him.

"Put it on my tab." A man behind him said to the bartender as he walked up and sat on the stool beside Harry. The bartender looked over at him with a slightly startled expression, "And I'll have the usual." The man said, without noticing the bartenders look. The bartender quickly left to go and get their orders, leaving Harry alone with this stranger who was apparently a regular here.

As he looked the man over, Harry could immediately tell that this guy had been in his fare share of fights, and had probably had his nose broken more than once. It didn't detract from his good looks though; it only seemed to add a rugged quality to his already handsome features. He was average in size, but Harry felt a strange sense of danger from this man, as though he could probably take on anyone in this bar if he wanted to. Harry made a mental note not to underestimate him. He looked to be in his mid thirties, with short cut brown hair and intense dark blue eyes, which were currently focused on Harry. This man was thoroughly scrutinizing him, from his clothes to his face to his unruly hair, and Harry got the feeling that his sharp eyes didn't miss anything.

"Thanks…" Harry said carefully. He wasn't sure if he should accept this stranger's generosity.

"No problem." The man answered, breaking into a friendly smile that took Harry off guard. "Aren't you a bit young to be coming to bars?" He asked lightly.

Harry looked down, embarrassed. "Usually I don't. I didn't expect to come here." Harry didn't know why he suddenly felt the need to explain himself. "My friends brought me here." It was the first time he had ever said those words. Friends… is that what they are? He chose not to pursue that line of thought. He could analyze his relationship with the gang later.

"Where did you expect to go?" the man asked curiously.

"I don't know." Harry said slowly. That was a lie. When they had left home, he didn't know where they were going, but he had expected The Rogue to live in a 'lair' or something. Not a cheerful little pub, where anyone could just walk in off the streets. He had expected it to be dark and scary, and full of criminals. Although, looking around, Harry saw that most the people in the pub looked like they had some type of criminal past.

"Of course you do." The man said with an all-knowing smile, as if he could read Harry's mind. He studied Harry a bit more. He still had the same friendly smile on his face, but his eyes were piercing. "You don't belong here." There was no doubt in his voice.

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that. He finally settled on saying, "Probably not." There was no point in denying it. It was obvious.

"So why are you here?" the man sounded truly interested.

"I heard they have great service here." Harry answered sarcastically as the bartender returned with their drinks. He didn't like all these questions. What does it matter to him anyway? Harry thought.

The man actually laughed at that. "Thanks Mike."

"No problem, sir." The bartender said, before going to take care of some of the other customers. Harry took a sip of his drink and glanced around the bar to see where the others were. It was then that he noticed people all over the room kept looking over at him, or more accurately, looking at the man sitting next to him. Whenever they saw him glance their way they would look away, or turn back to what they were doing, but Harry knew something was going on. He looked back over at the man sitting next to him, to find him staring right back.

"You work for The Rogue don't you?" Harry asked, figuring that must be it. "You're one of his generals."

The man didn't look surprised by the assumption; in fact, he looked rather pleased that Harry had figured it out. "Something like that." He answered with another smile. The way he said it led Harry to believe he was missing something. "Come on." He said draining his drink and standing up. Harry looked up at him uncertainly, but didn't move from his seat.

"Where?" he asked, glancing over at the table where Con and Leaf were sitting, for some type of sign of what he should do. He saw that Max had rejoined them, and that they were all looking at him with blank looks that gave nothing away. He looked back up at the man, but it didn't seem like he was going to tell Harry anything else. Am I just supposed to trust this stranger?

He looked back over at Con, Leaf and Max, and thought he saw Con give the smallest of nods, but it could've just been his imagination. He figured that one of them would warn him if he were making some sort of mistake. Maybe this was the way he was going to meet The Rogue. Maybe he had sent one of his generals to come get Harry.

Finally making his decision, Harry stood up and nodded. People seemed to clear a path as they walked across the room. Even the man with tattoos that Link had been playing cards with jumped out of the way when he saw them coming, and Harry realized how dangerous the general must be. The general brought him over to a flight of stairs that Harry hadn't seen before. The noises from downstairs began to fade as they walked up the stairs. When they reached the second floor Harry saw two men standing guard in front of an office door, which in his mind confirmed the idea that they were going to go see The Rogue.

The guards didn't give them a second look as the general walked through the office door without knocking. The Rogue must be expecting them. The moment Harry stepped through the door he noticed a change in atmosphere. After being surrounded by all the noise and people downstairs, the office he was in now seemed quite and cold, despite the crackling fire in the fireplace.

Looking around, he couldn't help but to feel impressed - and more than a little intimidated. The room itself was about half the size of the pub, but it held a distinct air of importance. Harry got the feeling that that was exactly what it was designed to do. The first thing he saw when he walked in was the mahogany desk that sat directly facing the door, and the long sword that hung on the wall behind it. On the left and right of the desk stood three large bookshelves that reached high above Harry's head and held more books than he had ever seen outside of a library. Harry briefly wondered what a man like The Rogue would read. That's when it occurred to him. "Where is The Rogue?" he turned around to look at the man he had walked in with.

The general was leaning against the door, with that same all knowing grin on his face. Harry realized the truth a second before he said it. "I am the rogue." He said simply.

They stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. After a few seconds the Rogue walked around to his desk, and sat down in the black leather chair. He looked like he belonged there. Harry slowly walked towards the desk.

"Please, Sit." The Rogue said indicating the vacant chair in front of his desk. Harry did as he was told without taking his eyes off the man in front of him.

"It's good to finally meet you, Lightning." He sounded genuinely pleased. Harry just stared at him, still trying to process this turn of events. "I heard that you were nervous about meeting me," He said as if he could read Harry's mind. "I thought that if we got to talk before you knew who I was it might help a bit." Harry still didn't say anything. "Apparently not." The Rogue said in an almost apologetic tone

"There's really no reason to be nervous. I've heard so much about you." He said kindly

"You have?" Harry asked with his voice going slightly higher than normal.

"Yes, I have." He said with a slight laugh, "From what I understand, I should be thanking you for this." He pulled the canister that they had stolen out from under his desk and placed it on the desk between them.

Harry shook his head, "I didn't do anything. Con and the others got the painting. I was just the look out." He didn't want to take credit for anyone else's work.

"According to the others, you saved the mission." He pointed out, watching Harry closely as he said it. Shock was clearly written on his face. The rogue continued, "I talked to them all separately, and each one of them told me that without you they never would've made it out of there."

Why would they do that? Harry wondered. His instinct told him to brush it aside, but he honestly didn't know what to say. He considered saying that they would have done the same for him, but he and The Rogue both knew that was a lie. It occurred to him how odd it was to be in a group where loyalty was considered such a rare quality. "Well, I couldn't just leave them there." Harry explained. As far as he was concerned, it was completely logical for him to go back for the others.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why couldn't you just leave them?" The Rogue was still using the same kind tone as before, but Harry sensed a sharp edge beneath it. He got the feeling that The Rogue was trying to figure out what he was made of, and if The Rogue were anything like the others, he probably wouldn't appreciate Harry's reasons for going back. In this world, doing something because you think it's the right thing to do didn't seem to be a good enough reason.

Harry quickly thought about what the others would say and managed to come up with a pretty good answer. "They still have a lot to teach me. If they were to get caught, it would be bad for everybody." He said it while looking straight into The Rogue's eyes, and knew that it was the right answer to give. It wasn't a lie. He had just put a more 'realistic' spin on the truth.

"Don't underestimate yourself Lightning," The Rogue said as he stood and walked around his desk. "You must have more skill than anyone would have thought if you can keep up with Con and his team. From what I've heard, you're a natural." The Rogue said encouragingly, but the intended complement left Harry feeling sick. Is this really something I want to be good at? He wondered.

"It's good to hear that you're learning though." He sits in the chair next to Harry. "To be honest, I wasn't sure how well you would fit in with the others." Although it was a pretty clear-cut statement it left Harry feeling as though he was once again missing something.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked slowly.

"Con hates being told what to do when it comes to his team. He wasn't very pleased when I told him to invite you to join them." The Rogue said shaking his head. Harry tried to hide his surprise, but the Rogue's eyes seem to catch everything. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Harry opened his mouth and then shut it again. He couldn't help feeling like this was something he should have guessed already, and knew that it shouldn't come as such a surprise to him, but it did. "You told Con to invite me to join the group?" He asked, thinking back to that night he remembered asking Con why he would offer to help him. Con had said it was because he had helped his sister, because he owed him.

"Yes." The Rogue said slowly, as if it were an odd question.

Harry leaned forward in his seat, "So, when I first met Max and she was running from the police…you set that up." He felt a fist in his stomach tighten as he said it.

"No." The Rogue answered quickly, hearing the mistrust in Harry's voice. "I didn't know you existed until you met Max." he explained, "The reason she was running from the cops that night was because she had just pulled a job for me. Afterwards she told me how you helped her, and explained your situation. I checked you out, and then told Con to invite you to join the group."

The rogue was silent as Harry gathered his thoughts. He was relieved that his first meeting with Max hadn't been another set up, but his head was still spinning with questions. "What do you mean you checked me out?" he asked the question that kept popping into his head.

"Come on. Do you really think I would tell one of my Lieutenants to invite some kid off the streets to join his crew without doing a background check first?" He asked dubiously. Harry just stared at him, wondering how much The Rogue really knew about him, but he was already moving on.

"Lightning," he said, drawing Harry from his thoughts, "The main reason I called you up here was to congratulate you on a job well done. That's the second time you've saved one of my missions." He smiled down at Harry, and reached out a hand to shake. Looking up at him at that moment, He was struck by how normal The Rogue looked. Harry knew that under any other circumstances he could've easily mistaken this man for one of the people his uncle worked with. When something seems too good to be true, it probably is, the words from so long ago echoed back to him, and Harry's hand hesitated a few inches away from The Rogue's, before he pushed the memory back. This is my life now, he thought as he forced his hand met The Rogue's, but despite all the smiles and kindness, Harry couldn't help feeling like he was shaking hands with the devil.

There was a knock on the door behind them and The Rogue looked over at the clock on his desk. Harry used the sudden distraction to quickly slip his hand out of The Rogue's and look away. "Lightning, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short." He said looking back to Harry and getting up from his seat. Harry quickly followed him over to the door. "It was good meeting you." He said as he opened the door.

"You too," Harry said, giving him a rather forced smile before walking out of his office and past the man that was waiting by the door. There was silence behind him for a long moment, but he didn't dare turn around. He could feel The Rogue's eyes on him as he walked down the hallway, but by the time he reached the end and worked up the courage to glance back the door to his office was already closed, and only the guards stood in the hallway behind him.

As soon as Harry stepped back into the bar he felt people's eyes on him. None of them came over and spoke to him, but Harry knew that they were all very curious about him. He was glad when Link quickly approached him a few seconds later.

"Come on Lightning." He said, and Harry was relieved to see that Link was leading him towards the exit. They hadn't been there for more than an hour or two but Harry had already had enough of this place.

He paused for a second before they reached the door, "Wait. Where are the others?"

Link gently pushed Harry forward as he answered, "They're already outside. They just sent me back in to get you." They finally reached the door and walked outside, to find the others waiting for them. The sun had already set and the flickering streetlights were on overhead. Harry took in a deep breath of air; he hadn't realized how just how loud and smoky it had been in there until now. They all stood together for a moment and Harry couldn't stop thinking about where he might be if The Rogue hadn't stepped in.

"Let's go." Con said, and started walking away from the pub.

When they were a few blocks away Link asked, "So Lightning, what did you think of The Rogue?"

Harry thought about the man he had just met. He had been kind and charming, and seemed honestly interested in what Harry had to say, which very few adults had ever been. Although most of the answers had left his thoughts spinning, The Rogue had answered all of Harry's questions. He had even congratulated him on a job well done, and told him that he was a natural. Harry remembered his own hesitation before they shook hands and the feeling that came with it, but he pushed that from his mind. After all, he probably wouldn't even be here if it weren't for The Rogue. "He was nice." He said with a nod.

"I'm sure." Con said from in front of them. Harry could practically hear the skeptically smirk in his voice.

"He really has taken a liking to you hasn't he." Leaf said quietly, almost to herself. He was pretty sure that The Rogue liked him, but the way Leaf said it made it sound like a bad thing. Harry decided not to let it bother him. Even if he did ask questions, he probably wouldn't get any real answers. He'd made his choice, and he was going to stick to it, for better or worse. There was still part of him, the part that he had pushed back earlier, that wondered if leaving was still an option.