Picture by Zebraanimator on DeviantART if you want to know what they look like :) Thank you for doing that!

Joseph - 14

Nina - 4

Emily - 11

Mason - 6

Riley - 8

Sam - 9

Natty - 7

Halie - 12

Marie - 6

Dan - 10

Ricky - 11

Lisa - 5

Carlo - 9

Mikey - 7


"A poker night?" Sherlock groaned from his place on the couch, "Dull"

"Lestrade invited us and I said we'd go" John huffed, "Come on!"

"I don't play poker" Sherlock grumbled, "Besides, Carlo and Riley are here tonight"

"Can we come with you?" Carlo asked grinning, "Please! We love poker!"

"We'll be quiet promise" Riley implored.

"It's a waste of time and energy" Sherlock grumbled but put his coat on none the less.

"We'll drive Anderson up the wall" Carlo teased, Sherlock smiled at that.

As predicted Anderson, Donovan, Dimmok and Molly were already at Lestrade's apartment when they arrived, just getting ready to divide up the chips and cards. Dimmok groaned when he saw the two boys standing by John and Sherlock.

"You bought kids to a poker match?" He drawled, "They'll be bugging us all night!"

"We can be quiet," Carlo pouted.

"Well they are here so get over it" Lestrade sighed and started dealing; the two boys sat behind Sherlock and looked on with interest. After a few seconds everybody studied their cards, to most everybody's surprise Sherlock barely glanced at his own, opting to show them to the boys. Riley looked to Carlo and nodded to Sherlock to get another card.

This went on for a few rounds before anybody said anything.

"Are you getting help from a bunch of little kids?" Anderson teased.

"We're nine and ten" Carlo growled, "We're not little"

"And we're going to win" Riley added

"Prove it" Sally dared laying down her cards, everybody followed suit. Even John caught the small grin that passed over Sherlock lips as he laid down a royal flush. Carlo gathered the chips from the tables centre and stuck his tongue out.

"I've never played" Sherlock said simply, "I doubted you would be give me an accurate description of the rules so I let them play for me"

"So, we just got beaten by two boys?" John chuckled, Sherlock nodded.

"Well let them play separately then" Lestrade invited, "Lets see how they do without you"

"You're totally lying" Sally added, "You know how to play your just trying to make us look bad"

Sherlock vacated his seat and Carlo took it, snapping up his new cards and looking at them intently. After a few rounds people laid out their cards. John felt confident because he had four of a kind. Carlo just laughed and laid out a flush. Riley took his place for the next game and once again, beat the entire group, Sherlock looked on proudly. The boys continued to win games until Dimmok threw his cards into the air in frustration as the last of the chips went into the substantial pile by the kids.

"Where did you two learn to play poker like that?" Anderson growled, they just winked.

"You know…" Carlo grinned, "I do believe we were paying for real money"

"Yeah" Riley added, "I think you owe us around a hundred bucks each now"

John laughed as the Scotland Yard team groaned.

The room at the foster house was cold, the two boys were curled up under white sheets, looking up at the moon through their dusty window. The eldest was only six, his little brother looked over at him.

"Carlo?"

"Yeah Riley?"

"How long do we need to stay here?"

"I told you, until they find us a home"

"Why can't we just go back to our house?"

"Cause mum and dad aren't there"

"Why not?"

"I told you Riles, the doctor said they went to sleep"

"Are they gonna wake up soon?"

"They're never gonna wake up, I told you"

"Why not?"

"That's what happens when somebody dies."

"Are we gonna die too?"

"Well yeah, one day"

"Soon?"

"No, not soon"

Soon they found families willing to take them in, but not together. Nobody wanted them both, they could only take one. Riley clung to his brother and refused to be taken away. After that families stopped being interested at all. The head of the home came down on them hard, separating them, demanding they went with the next family who made an offer. Even if it meant they wouldn't be together.

So they ran. Out onto the streets, even living in the gutter was better than being alone. So that's what they did.

Their new 'home' was a small alley way behind the casino, being so small they managed to sneak into the brightly coloured poker rooms to steal food occasionally. They also learnt how to play poker this way. Meeting up with street kids, playing with old cards to win money and clothes. Sometimes the other kids got angry with them and called them cheaters; they often had a few black eyes after that.

They had been living this way for about a month when it happened. Riley had been scavenging in a dumpster when he heard something, climbing down he was met with the huge, furry face of a gigantic dog. The dog was almost as tall as him, with huge white fangs dripping down drool. He screamed. The dog barked and stepped forwards knocking the boy to the ground.

However when Riley closed his eyes, instead of fanging ripping into his neck, a leathering tongue scraped across his face. The dog was licking him.

"Riley!"

Carlo was at his side in a second dragging him out from under the great dog. The two watched the beast for a moment before it turned and walked away, stopping after a few metres and turning to look back at them. It was waiting.

"I think it wants us to follow it" Riley suggested, Carlo nodded. The two followed along behind the huge dog, through the streets of London. Whenever they fell behind it would wait for them, then continue on it's way, occasionally barking at them to hurry up.

Eventually the dog lead them to a house and began pawing on the door until a tall dark haired man opened it. Riley jumped behind his brother. The man studied them with his grey eyes for a few moments before they softened slightly.

"Well Gladstone, what have we got here?"