It didn't feel like summer anymore. Maybe it was from being damp from the rain, or the fact that no one had had a decent meal in days, or even that they were all slightly terrified of the situation they were in. Maybe they were just imagining it. Whatever it was, the thieves couldn't help but feel wickedly cold as they ran up and down in the dark. It was a sickening icy feeling that hit each thief so strongly that they could feel it in the pit of their empty stomachs.

"Okay, we'll crouch here until Bo and Talia arrive." Prosper whispered as he gestured to a large log that lay in the park. Prosper, Hornet and Riccio hunkered down together, letting their shoulders in hopes that each other's body heat would warm them.

After a moment's pause, Hornet whispered, "Does anyone want some pasta?" she lifted up the large plastic bag, "And I'm sorry to say that I forgot to bring forks."

No one minded though. They didn't really feel like eating. The pasta had been made for all of them; it was supposed to be a dinner of celebration the five of them could share together. But they weren't all together. The two that had been unusually paired together had yet to show up.

"Don't worry, Bo and Talia will be here in no time," Prosper reminded the others, although part of it had said it to reassure himself.

Hornet and Riccio nodded, because they knew it was the only acceptable response. All at once, the three thieves dropped their heads, deep in though. They moved a little closer to each other, still shivering, still desperate for heat. As they did, Riccio suddenly realized that in the mad rush of things, he had left his toy cat behind. His beloved stuffed cat was probably lying on the dusty floor, deserted, its glassy eyes staring into the dark. And it was here that Riccio began to whimper.

Gasping for breath, Talia and Bo ducked into an alleyway. The rain had slowed down to a drizzle, and although it was still dark out, everything had become easier to see. Still holding onto Bo's hand, Talia glanced down at the small boy. Water and dirt was dripping off of his angular face.

"Did you see them?" she asked him, her voice shaking.

Bo nodded. "Yeah."

"Did they see us?" Talia gulped as she waited for Bo's response. "Bo, did the cops see us running?" The look on frightened and lost look Bo's face was enough of an answer to tell Talia they had. Closing her eyes, Talia took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "How far until we reach the park?"

There was a pause before Bo started sniveling. "I'm so tired," his voice cracked, "I can't run anymore Talia, I'm so…" His grasp on Talia's hand loosened and for a terrifying moment, Talia thought the boy would pass out. Instead, his body went slightly limp as he leaned all of his underweight structure onto Talia.

Quickly crouching down, Talia shook Bo slightly. "It'll be okay Bo, I promise," she told him, "I mean we're doing okay. I just need you to tell me how to get to get to the park. Then we'll be able to meet up with Prosper and Riccio and Hornet… you'll be able to see all of them again! I just need to know where we're going Bo."

Dim eyes fluttering, Bo nodded. "It's not far," he spoke slowly; "we just have to go along the water's edge. Just for about three blocks. Then we turn right and we're there."

Nodding encouragingly, Talia grasped Bo by his shoulders. "Good, good, we can do that Bo. We're so close. But we need to get moving."

"I know, I know," Bo said as he straightened up. He grabbed onto her hand again, but exhaustion had taken over and he wasn't able to hold on as tightly. Worried his hand would slip out, Talia strengthened her grip. Bo winced slightly at her hold on his hand, but Talia was determined not to let him go. She couldn't lose him.

With that, they bolted out of the alleyway and down the street. The cops were nowhere to be seen. Their light footsteps made almost no sound as their feet padded against the cobblestone. One block. Talia began to pick up speed. She couldn't help it. Just like exhaustion had taken over Bo, fear had taken over Talia and she wouldn't dare slow down. They were so close. Two blocks.Talia could practically smell the scent of damp bark from the trees. Maybe she was imagining it, but she was pretty sure she could see their branches hanging over the street. And, wait… what was that up ahead. What was that in the water?

Before Talia could figure out what it was, Bo let out a tiny cry as he stumbled on the street. Without slowing down her pace, Talia glanced back to make sure she was okay. Looking back up ahead, she took in a sharp breath and skidded to a halt. There was a man in front of her.

"No," she whispered, but before she could say or do anything else, a pair of hands came from behind and ripped Bo away from her. "No!" she said again, only louder. As she made a lunge for Bo, the police man who stood in front of her grabbed her by the neck of her sweater and yanked her back. She fell to the ground but he still kept hold of her by her sweater. The cop was practically choking her.

"Officer Moore," the cop holding Bo said, "is this the boy we're after."

Shining a flashlight onto Bo's face, Officer Moore stared at him intensely. Bo tried to squirm away, but the cop just grabbed onto his face to keep him still. Officer More nodded at last. "We got him," he said flatly before shoving Talia to the ground, "take him away."

Bo started screaming and Talia scrambled up to her feet. Once she was standing, she realized the thing she had spotted in the water was approaching them. It was a boat. A police boat, filled with two other cops. A sickening wave washed over Talia as she realized how outnumbered she and Bo were.

"Let go of him!" yelled Talia as she went to grab Bo. Bo stretched out his one free hand in order to grab Talia's, but Officer Moore yanked Talia back again. "Don't do this," Talia yelled, "please don't do this… at least take me with you. I'm a thief! I'm a thief too! Take me with you."

Officer Moore glanced at the cops in the police boat. It was a small boat, already practically full with just the two large cops. Officer Moore chuckled sinisterly. "Don't worry," he hissed to Talia, "I'll be getting you at some point. Just not now. You thieves are too big for both of you to fit in the boat."

The cops all started laughing. Neither Talia nor Bo understood why. "Then take me instead," Talia tried again, "if you can only take one of us take me, just don't take him, please!"

"Sorry little lady," Officer Moore said again, "but to get the cash, I need this exact boy right here. Now stop making this difficult and get out of our way." He shoved Talia to the ground once again (she was so easy to push around, tall, too skinny and awkward), then moved towards the boat. "Alright boys, let's take this thief to the orphanage."

All at once, Bo's screams erupted as they lowered him into the boat. "No!" he weeped, tears streaming down his face, "No, don't take me. Not the orphanage. Talia, TALIA! Please don't let them take me. Don't let them take me!"

"Let go of him!" Talia screamed as she made one final attempt of attacking Officer Moore. She was like a twig to him though, useless and easy to break. All he had to do was swing his arm out, smack her in the head and she flew backwards. He knew that was all she needed.

"Let's get out of here," he told the other cops as he jumped in the boat.

Talia groaned as her head exploded with pain. It had hurt on one side where Officer Moore had hit her, but it also hurt on the other side where she had skidded across the ground. Was that blood she felt, dripping from her head? Groaning, Talia stand, but could only get as far as sitting up. Even that was too much for her frail body and she felt like she was going to be sick. The world was spinning and she tried to find where she was.

"TALIA, don't let them do this! Please, anything but the orphanage. TALIA!!"

"Bo…" Talia tried to say, but it hardly left her mouth before there was a roar of a boat engine. Police lights started spinning, making her feel even dizzier. Why couldn't she get up? She had to get up. "Bo…" she tried again, but her body couldn't focus.

Then, the boat started moving. It started moving fast and away from Talia, its flashing lights overwhelming and Bo's desperate cries louder than the engine itself. The lights then faded as the boat turned and vanished around a corner, but Bo's screams lasted longer. She could hear them, echoing off the ancient walls of crumbling buildings. She could hear them because they were there to let her know she had failed. Talia had failed all of the thieves.

Bo was gone.

Talia didn't care how loud she was, she had to find them.

"Prosper!" she yelled, stomach churning as she stumbled into the center of the park, "Prosper! Hornet, Riccio, where are you!"

There was the sound of shuffling, followed by Riccio's meek voice. "Over here." Slowly, the three thieves stood up from their couching position, limps stiff from not moving in the cold. They looked so relieved to see Talia standing there that Talia felt she may start to cry with the news she had to tell them. But she couldn't hold it in anymore, so she swallowed hard before yelling:

"They took Bo!"

No one moved. A nauseating feeling hit everyone so hard that they practically forgot to breathe. Prosper, Hornet and Riccio's expressions all went emotionless. Everything was so still and the guilt was so heavy that Talia gasped.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I tried, I really did, and we were so close…" she took a step forwards to see if anyone would approach her. Stillness.

"Where did they take him?" Prosper snapped. The harshness in his voice scared Talia and she found she couldn't answer. "Where did they take him?" Prosper yelled this time and Talia flinched.

"Prosper," Hornet said softly as she gently touched his arm to calm him down. When she looked up though, Talia saw no sympathy in her brown eyes.

"They took him," Talia tried again, shaking, "they said they were going to take him to the orphanage."

Riccio's eyes were suddenly huge and his mouth dropped. "Mosca…" he squeaked, "Prosper we can't let Bo… I mean Mosca…" His fingers were closing around the air, as if reaching out for something reassuring to grab onto.

Pulling away from Hornet, Prosper walked in a small circle, head dropped as he tried to think. "I know Riccio," he said angrily. He paused and clutched his head, unable to come up with an idea of any sort.

Talia remembered the story of Mosca, how he had been taken to an orphanage. But Prosper had said he'd escaped, and although she didn't know where he had gone after that, he had escaped.

"But Mosca…" Riccio said again, crying slightly.

"Riccio, please." Hornet said firmly before turning to Prosper, "Look Prosper, we may not have a plan right now but we need to get to that orphanage. There's only one around here that Bo is bound to be at so we might as well head over there. Whether we figure out what we're going to do or not, the most important part is that Bo knows we're there for him."

Prosper nodded, breathing hard. "Okay," he said, "okay… Hornet, Riccio, let's go." He started to walk away.

"But what about me?" Talia asked loudly, hearing the fear in her voice. Prosper didn't stop. Her eyes were stinging now, "Prosper, what about me. You can't just leave me here. I want to help get Bo. Please let me –"

"It's okay Talia," Hornet said, staring at her hard, "you've already done enough." Then with that, she grabbed onto sniveling Riccio's hand and pulled him after her. Following Prosper's lead, neither of them turned around.

"Guys," begged Talia, "guys please. Please I'm sorry I lost Bo… just give me a second chance." Silence followed her pleads until eventually the three thieves were swallowed by the night. Talia tried calling after them again, but only the night answered and she couldn't get her legs to run after them.

So there Talia stood, alone, taking in short and sharp breaths. Then suddenly, she was overtaken with emotions. Her head started throbbing once again. Her stomach growled as she realized how starving she truly was. Her legs were exhausted from running everywhere. Her body couldn't take it anymore and collapsed to the ground, clutching her head. She could feel the strange sensation of tears rolling down her cheeks. Closing her eyes, visions of Bo's petrified face filled Talia's mind as well as his screams. Prosper, Hornet and Riccio came next, with his disappointed and hateful expressions. They were in trouble. The gang was in serious trouble and it was Talia's fault.

And then she screamed.