Hello! Everything in here that you recognize from the original The Underland Chronicles is of course NOT owned by me, but by Suzanne Collins. I only own the characters/places you dont recognize from the original books. This is my First fanfic, so dont expect it to be good. I would appreciate if you review this, so i know if this is good or bad written.

-Josh

Gregor stuffed the slice of bread in his mouth. His family was eating breakfast. In their old apartment. They hadn't moved to Virginia.

Gregor remembered the day he found out they couldn't move. He was so happy. That day, the phone rang. His mom took it. "Hello, it's Grace." She said. The person at the other end of the phone answered.

His mom spoke some words before turning her head to the living room.

"Clark!" She yelled.

Gregor's dad came stumbling into the room with a blanket wrapped around him.

"What?" He asked.

"It's Joseph," his mom retorted.

"Kids, go visit Mrs. Cormaci. I'm sure you can help her with something," She told Gregor and his sisters.

So Gregor put on his shoes and waited for his sisters to put on theirs. Together they walked to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment. Right before they closed the door, Gregor could have sworn he saw a little crawler, no cockroach, sitting on the top doorframe, watching him.

When they arrived at Mrs. Cormaci's apartment after a few minutes, Boots put a hand on her stomach. "I'm hungry, Gregor."

The phone call had been just before breakfast, so none of them had gotten any food.

"Hopefully Mrs. Cormaci have some food." Gregor thought.

"Do you want to ring the doorbell, Boots?" Lizzie asked, interrupting Gregor's thoughts.

"You don't even need to ask her, Liz." Gregor grinned, as Boots exited, stretched herself to her full length to reach the doorbell. As she reached it with her fingertips, Boots pushed the Button to the doorbell.

They could hear Mrs. Cormaci hurrying to the door. She opened the door, smiling as she saw Gregor and his sisters. "Hello, Gregor, Lizzie, Boots." She said, before rushing to the kitchen while gesturing for them to follow.

They took off their shoes before entering the kitchen. A pot of oatmeal was boiling on the stove.

"Sit," Mrs. Cormaci said, gesturing at the table. Gregor took a chair and sat down. Mrs. Cormaci took the pot off the stove and sat in on a trivet on the table. She sat a bowl in front of each of them and gave them a large portion each and handed them some spoons from a cupboard.

"Can we have waisins?" Boots asked.

"Yes, Boots," Mrs. Cormaci answered as she walked to the other side of the kitchen in search of some raisins. She came back with a big jar and put it on the table. "There you have them," She said. Gregor opened the jar and poured some raisins in his oatmeal before handing it over to Boots. She flipped the whole jar upside down and poured a third of it onto her oatmeal before Mrs. Cormaci stopped her. "There need to be some left next time, Boots. What if we ran out of raisins?" She said. "No more raisins?" Boots asked. "Yes, no more raisins," Mrs. Cormaci answered kindly. Boots put the jar back on the table.

Gregor stuffed himself with oatmeal.

After they were done eating, Mrs. Cormaci cleared the table and set Gregor and Lizzie to chop vegetables for a pie because "while they were here they could help her with the pie, since she couldn't do it alone", Though Gregor was almost sure that wasn't the reason. Mrs. Cormaci probably just didn't want them to leave.

Armed with a kitchen Knife, he started chopping the vegetables. There were broccoli, green Bell pepper, and onions that made his eyes water, so He needed to take a break. While he and Lizzie chopped the vegetables, Boots helped Mrs. Cormaci Make the pie dough and constantly squealed, "Me!". Mrs. Cormaci sighed, but let her do what she wanted.

"Boots is making a lot of trouble with the dough, huh?" Gregor grinned at Lizzie, as Boots were standing on her tiptoes on top of the kitchen counter, trying to get the flour from the cupboard. Lizzie smiled, but her smile turned into an anxious expression as Boots got overbalance and tripped. As in slow-motion her little body fell, and Gregor felt his rager senses kicking in. Lightning-fast he jumped forward and Dived through the air, wrapped his arms around Boots, and crashed into the ground, shielding Boots from the worst. There He just laid out of breath, clutching Boots little body tightly.

What would have happened if He hadn't caught her? Images of Boots lying unconscious on the ground with her head in a small pool of blood suddenly flooded his mind. Then the memories of When He'd thought he had lost Boots in the Tankard, and the Earthquake in the Swag. "Oh, Boots..." He whispered trembling. He felt a hand on his back. "Gregor? Are you all right?" Lizzie asked carefully. He nodded with even though He wasn't. Boots squeezed out of his tight grip and sat on the ground, pushing him lightly for a reaction every once in a while. After what seemed like hours, Gregor finally sat up and looked at the worried faces looking at him. "I'm so sorry," Mrs. Cormaci said shamefully, "I shouldn't have let her stand on the counter.".

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault; she could easily have tripped anywhere. She's only four." said Lizzie, panting. She didn't have panic attacks so often anymore, but Gregor could hear that she was just on the edge of one right now. "Hey, Liz, what's thirteen cubed?" He asked her to get her to Calm Down. "2197!" She answered, her face brightening.

"24?"

"13824!" Lizzie seemed calmed down now. Gregor felt pretty calmed himself, too. "Soooo, that pie? Shouldn't we get it finished?" He asked them all. At his question, they all suddenly started laughing. They returned to the pie, but this time, they did everything together, and Gregor made sure to keep an extra Eye on Boots. As a four-year-old, she had turned very daring. You needed to keep an eye on her.

"Flour! Flour!" Boots squealed as Mrs. Cormaci picked her up so she could take the flour down from the cupboard. She opened the cupboard and grabbed hold of the flour, singing, "I have the flour, I have the flour!", and poured over half of the bag in the dough. "Whoa Boots, I think that's enough," Gregor said, stopping Boots' arm. "Put it back in the cupboard,".

Boots raised her arm to put the now half-empty bag of flour back in the cupboard, but it slid out of her grip and fell to the ground, covering Them all in flour. Gregor laughed. "Silly Boots." He laughed. He grabbed a kitchen cloth and cleared up the mess Boots had made.

But, despite Boots' accident with the flour, they got the pie finished.

Mrs. Cormaci put the pie in the oven.

. They sat down on the Couch in the Living room to wait. Mrs. Cormaci found an old wooden toy car that had been her son's. "James used to love this," she said, gesturing at the toy car. "Boots, you can have this toy car," She said, handing Boots the wooden toy. Boots swiftly took the toy car out of Mrs. Cormaci's hand and put it on the ground. Her hand dived into her pocket and took out a small stone.

Gregor smiled. Boots stored plenty of stuff in her pockets. "Me," said Boots, pointing at her stone. "Temp." She pointed at the toy car. "Boots ride Temp." She played the stone on the car. Then she looked at Gregor. "Can we go see Temp?" She asked. "No, Boots," he replied. Her eyes became full of longing. Right as he was to open his mouth, the doorbell rang. "I'll open," He said, before anyone else offered to do so. He rushed to the door and opened it.

"Hello, Gregor.".

The voice of his mom got him to jump in surprise.

"Uh, hi mom," He said. He heard footsteps behind him.

"Hi, Grace. Hi Clark." Mrs. Cormaci greeted his parents, "We've made a pie, I assume you will stay to eat?"

"Oh, yes please, we haven't even eaten breakfast yet," Gregor's dad responded, "I'm Starving,".

"Then come eat with us!" Mrs. Cormaci said and walked to the kitchen. Gregor and his parents followed.

In the kitchen, Boots and Lizzie were setting the table with neat cutlery ans magnificent plates; Mrs. Cormaci must've asked them to do so while she greeted their parents. Mrs. Cormaci put on these gloves - What were they called? - that you used when you took something hot out of the oven. She opened the oven and took the freshly baked pie out. She sat it on a trivet on the table and took a special Knife from a kitchen drawer. "My special pie knife," she said, holding out the knife. She cut a piece for everyone, but Boots wanted to do it herself. "I'm a big girl. Big like Beeg bug." She said with a serious expression. Gregor couldn't help but laugh as Boots attempted to cut a piece of pie. She ended up Only eating the dough, Because all the vegetables fell out When she cut her piece.

Gregor stuffed himself with the tasty pie, till He couldn't get a single bite more down.

"This pie tastes good," His mom said. "Does it have a special name?"

"Acksident pie!" Boots squealed.

"Accident pie?" Their mom asked with a suspicious expression.

"Boo..." Gregor began, ready to tell the truth, even though their mom would freak out when Lizzie kicked his leg. "Boots dropped the flour," He corrected himself. Well, that was true. "And we got covered in flour," Lizzie continued. "Yeah, That's right," Mrs. Cormaci finished their sentence. It looked like their mom believed them.

"Kids," Gregor's mom said after they had finished eating, "We're not moving to Virginia,".

"What?!" Gregor screamed in his head. "Did she legit say that?"

His thoughts got interrupted as Lizzie kicked his leg again.

"Listen," she hissed, irritated gesturing at their mom.

"Uhh, Why are we not moving to Virginia?" Gregor asked.

"Because..." Their mom said expectantly, "Aunt Martha has just given birth!"

Whoa! Gregor had completely forgotten that Aunt Martha was pregnant. With twins.

"Uhh, what are they named?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"Well, they named the First twin Garrick after Martha's deceased brother... and the other..." His dad paused, "We get to name him! Do you have some ideas, youngsters?"

"Temp! Le's Call him Temp!" Boots squealed.

"Uhh, Boots, I don't think that is an... appropriate name for a... human child," Lizzie said uneasy. "Gregor, do you have an idea?"

"Let me think," He said.

Hmm. "What would be a good name?" He asked himself. It required to be a name with some significance for his uncle and aunt. The other twin had the name Garrick after his aunt's brother who passed a few years ago. His other cousins, Rodney and Matthias, had been named after two of his uncle's friends, who was in a car accident. Only Rodney survived but became paralyzed permanently in the entire right side of his body. Somewhat like what happened to Vikus.

So his Uncle and Aunt named their First and second child after Rodney and Matthias.

Therefore, the name of the second twin must also be significant for his uncle and aunt.

"Howard." He spoke. "We'll name him Howard,".

His mom frowned, but before she could say anything, his dad spoke up.

"Grace, Howard treated you when you had the plague. And the name goes perfect with Garrick." He said, brushing his white hair away from his forehead.

"I guess that's right." His mom said with a tense voice. "I will tell Joe...in the morning," She yawned.

"No, I'll do it," His dad offered, "Joe is, after all, my brother,"

"Ok," His mom yawned again. "Let's go home, kids."

She got up from her chair. The rest of the family followed.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Cormaci," Gregor called as He closed the door.

He heard a distant goodbye from the apartment.

"GREGOR! ARE. YOU. GOING. TO. EAT. THAT. SLICE. OF. BREAD?"

Lizzie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Uhh-uh Yeaaah." He said disoriented. He hustled wolfed the slice down. He'd been so preoccupied with his thoughts he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll open," Gregor said. He rushed to the door and opened it. Outside standing was Larry. "Hi Gregor, Wanna come over hanging out with me and Angelina?" He asked. "Yeah!" Gregor replied and put on his boots.

"Mom, I'm going with Larry!" He shouted as He closed the door. They walked through the snow. Larry took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the apartment door when they arrived there. "Angelina is coming in ten minutes." He said as he hung his coat on the coat rack. Gregor pulled his boots off and sat them on the shoe rack.

In the Living room, Larry was sitting with a stack of paper and a few pencils in front of him. "I want to show you something." He said. He showed Gregor a sketch of a black bat. Ares. He could sense tears welling up in his eyes and Rolling Down his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry!" Larry burst out. "I just wanted to show you my sketch."

"It's okay..." Gregor said Shaky, "I should've explained it be-better."

When He had returned from the Underland, Larry and Angelina had asked why He hadn't been to school. He'd decided to tell them the true story instead of some Lame made up one. First, they hadn't believed him. First When He showed Them his scars, they'd chosen to believe him.

"Hi!"

Gregor turned. Angelina was standing behind him. He hadn't heard the doorbell.

"Are you okay, Gregor?" She asked concerned.

Gregor tried to tell her He was fine but wasn't able to make a sound. It seemed as if He was sucked into some sort of portal that led to a universe full of all the awful things that happened to him. A universe full of bad memories. And especially, that memory. He saw it all again. Ares spinning. The Bane digging his claws into Ares' wings, pulling Them closer. Gregor's sword piercing the rat's heart as it sank its teeth into Ares's neck. The moment Were they just hung there, connected by teeth and sword and claws. The Bane lifting its Paw and ramming it into Gregor's chest. Flying through the air and getting slammed onto the stone floor. The Bane laying on the ground. Gregor crawling to Ares and pressing his face into the bat's blood-soaked chest. Ares? Ares? Don't go, Ares, okay? Don't. Grasping Ares' Claw. The blood seeping out of his chest and mingling with Ares' and The Bane's.

Gregor collapsed onto the ground.

"Gregor? Gregor, are you okay?"

Black spots were dancing for his eyes. He could see Larry and Angelina worried faces staring from above him.

"I...think I should go home now," Gregor said, struggling to sound offhand. He got up and put on his boots and coat.

"Wait, Gregor," Larry said as he was about to leave. "What happened?"

"I...can't explain... I just...Saw the entire thing again..." Gregor whispered shaky. He was feeling uneasy.

"What did you see?" Angelina asked concerned.

"The Battle...where Ares died," Gregor whispered.

"Your...Bond?"

"Yes him. And do you mind if I LEAVE NOW?!" Gregor shouted angrily.

He slammed the door shut and stumbled down the stairs. He could hear Larry shout, but shut it out and every other noise.

As soon as he reached the street, he began running at a rapid speed. He sprinted around corners. Down alleyways didn't mind looking where He ran. Down the street into the courtyard. He approached the Grey apartment building with a very great speed. He wasn't able to stop in time and slammed his face into the Wall. Smack!

The pain immediately washed over him. His body sank to the ground. His hand went to his forehead, examining the wet flesh. He slowly got to his legs, pulled out the key from his pocket, and unlocked the glass door. With slow steps, he started to climb the stairs. His head wound was thumping and leaving a trail of blood on the stairs. It wasn't anything fatal. He'd had worse wounds. Much worse wounds. But he wasn't used to getting wounded anymore. He pressed his hand on the wound to stop the blood from flowing down and clouding his vision.

As soon as he reached his apartment, he stuck the key in the lock and unlocked it. He opened the door, prepared for his mom's reaction. "I'm hourggdmm," The blood started seeping between his fingers and running down his face. He coughed and stepped into the apartment. His mom came dashing from the Livingroom.

"Gregor! What happened?" She exclaimed alarmed at the sight of the blood seeping out of his wound.

"I raun intouu a waurl." He said with blood in his mouth, "Cwan wee Gou to te houuspitailm.,"

"Yes," his mom answered anxious. "We'll be back in some hours," She yelled at her husband.

She put on her boots and a warm coat, and they left for the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, his mom talked with a woman in the reception who glanced at Gregor's wound and gestured for them to follow. She led Them to a door labeled 'Dr. Ling'. She knickers on the door. A Chinese looking woman opened. "Come in," She said. Gregor and his mom walked into the room.

"I am Dr. Ling but you Can Call me Tai. Lay on the bed," She said. Gregor obeyed and laid down on the bed.

Tai took a needle and some thread from the table. "I will stitch up your wound.".

The next minutes were rather painful. It felt like hours when Tai finally said the Magic words. "We're done. Come back in a week.". Gregor noticed that his sleeve had been slid a bit up, just enough to reveal a scar. He hustled to slide it down again, but as He said 'thanks' and closed the door behind him, He could've sworn Tai had mouthed 'overlander'.

When they arrived home again, Lizzie and Boots came running to the door. "Gregor, what happened?" Lizzie exclaimed, seeing his stitched-up wound. "I ran into a wall..." Gregor said. "How?" asked his father, who came stumbling from the living room. "Larry showed me a drawing of...Ares. And i...had a flashback... I saw the fight with the Bane again. I watched it all again. I relived it all again. And then I just...collapsed onto the floor..." Tears started rolling down his face. "Then I woke up...and I Got mad...So I ran away...and slammed my face into the wall." He finished.

"Oh, Gregor," His mom said.

Gregor spent the rest of the day watching Lizzie flipping through her old puzzle book. She gradually had made most of the puzzles. Boots were playing with the toy car Mrs. Cormaci had given her, and her plastic poison arrow frogs. Even Boots hadn't forgotten the Underland. Not yet, and Gregor didn't Think she ever would. He'd thought that at first, but with all the roaches in the city, it didn't seem possible since Boots could speak crawler. She was Maybe the only one who could keep in contact with Their friends Down Their. She'd said something about 'Temp says there is something bad'.

Gregor hoped it was just something she'd said and not something Temp had told her. Speaking of Temp, a roach suddenly appeared on Boots's hand. Boots became focused on the little creature and started clicking. She turned to Gregor. "Temp says you come now," She said with a serious expression. "Temp says go to entrance 'Morrow.".

"Oh, no," He thought.

His mom Came into the room. "Can we go sledding in Cental Park 'morrow?" Boots exclaimed, "I Wanna sled!

"Okay..." Their mom surprisingly agreed. "But you need to stay with me and your dad. Also you," She pointed at Lizzie and Gregor. They nodded. Their mom walked out again.

"Whoa, Thanks Boots." Gregor said. But He was worried about tomorrow.

What was happening down there?

And that's it for the First chapter. I know it was very long. 3471 words to be exact. I know it was pretty boring, but i just wanted a bit of backstory.

We'll probably see Gregor in the Underland in the second or third chapter.