Family

Vogel was never alone, they made sure of that. Even when Blackwing split them up, one of the older Rowdies was always with him. They had all known what it was like to be alone in Blackwing at some point or another, separated from their brothers, and not one of them was going to let their new brother suffer through that if they could stop it.

There had been fewer tests of the usual sort. Blackwing seemed more interested in observing them with their newest member so far. The bond, like with the others, had been nearly instantaneous, but they were still getting to know him and vice versa.

The kid brought a light with him that Martin had all but forgotten could exist. There was always a buzz of energy around them, and Vogel not only matched it, but he added to it. It glowed and sparkled and exploded in every colour imaginable, like the firecrackers that he'd set off once as a kid no older than Vogel was right then. His laughter helped push back the constant loom of crazy that Martin knew tugged at each of their minds, and left him with the feeling of puzzle pieces sliding perfectly into place and making a whole. Somehow, it made everything that they'd been through to be there so they could meet him bearable.

They slept less these days, Vogel's seemingly boundless energy sparking across their link, and that left them with hours to fill in the confines of their room. That meant that they had time to get creative.

Cross decided he wanted to teach their youngest brother how to play baseball. The fact that they didn't have any of the equipment and that none of them really knew or remembered the rules to the game didn't deter him. He balled up a full roll of toilet paper as tightly as he could, packing and wrapping until it was dense enough that it wouldn't fall flat, and then he turned his eyes on the unused bunk bed. "Yeah?" he asked, bouncing a little as he did, and the rest of the Rowdy Three grinned as they went to town on the metal structure. It wasn't long before they broke a long enough piece off to use. It looked more like a crowbar than a bat, but it'd serve the purpose well enough.

The balled toilet paper was shredded and useless pretty quickly, and they moved to slamming the makeshift bat into smaller pieces of the bed frame, hitting broken metal into the door, into walls, and into the guard that came in to see what the racket was. The gas came shortly after that.

They were wired in the days following, and the moment that Gripps found out that Vogel had never seen a movie before - they weren't sure who'd been raising the kid up until that point, but Gripps was sure they had been doing it wrong…. not that the fact that Blackwing had gotten ahold of him shouldn't have been the first signal - he made a move to rectify that. There was no way that Blackwing was going to give them a TV - or radio, Martin thought bitterly - so the first thought was sock puppets. They worked for some of the scenes, but what really entertained their new brother was with the shadow puppets. Gripps had him cackling with the voices and Vogel rocked back, clutching his sides and kicking his long, scrawny legs in the air as he tried to breathe around the laughter.

It filled their cage, contagious and wonderful, encouraging the older Rowdies in their shenanigans.

That first week was filled with what looked like boundless energy, but even the Rowdy Three had their limits. Martin could feel the drag from Cross and Gripps even as Vogel cartwheeled from one side of the room to the other, using the mattresses in middle as a landing point so that they couldn't sleep without getting landed on.

Martin settled against the far wall, digging his pack of cigarettes out of their hiding place and frowning at the two left. Well, no point in not smoking them. He knocked one out and put it to his lips, the lighter taking some effort before it sparked. He felt the nicotine flood his system with the first drag, easing the constant tension just a little. He made sure to push the calm over their shared link and watched as Gripps curled up on mattresses with Cross behind him. Vogel was still on his feet, bouncing just a little, and he looked back at Martin like he was waiting for something.

The older Rowdy pulled in a lungful of smoke and slid down the wall so he was sitting, knees bent and back pressed against the unmoving structure, his gaze focused on the dark haired boy even as he gave the barest of nods for him to come over. Vogel swayed for just a moment before bounding from his spot to sit next to him.

Martin reached carefully across their link and he felt a small smile tugging his lips. Vogel was fighting the crash.

"Martin?"

"Yeah?"

He sat silent for a moment and the blond stretched his legs out, getting more comfortable where he sat and smoked. "What are we?"

That hadn't been the question he was expecting. It was weightier than even Vogel knew, and Martin pushed smoke out through his nose, considering his answer very carefully. He reached out, pulling the kid half into his lap so he could hold onto him. "We're family," he said at last, and Vogel leaned into the embrace, finally giving to the need for rest.

"Family," he repeated sleepily. "'Kay."

Martin felt the younger Rowdy relax against him, his breathing evening out in sleep, and the blond ground out the stub on his cigarette on the hard floor and flicked it off to the corner before wrapping both arms around the kid, holding him close and safe as the Rowdies slept.

Notes: Hat tip to Osric for the shadow puppets idea, because he mentioned in an interview once when he was asked what Vogel's favourite movie was that it would have been something that the Rowdy 3 put on for him as a kid with shadow puppets and it stuck.

Kiddo Vogel may be the death of me, just want to throw that out there.