So this chapter is really just getting to know the gang, so to speak, but you do have to read it to understand the story. Please enjoy!

Chapter Three

Sin woke to a quiet giggle. He blinked his eyes open, and his vision was assaulted by two large brown orbs. He let out a sharp yell and scooted back several feet. He cast his hand around for his glasses. Once they were on his nose, he realized what the orbs were. Beside his sleeping mat sat a young boy, perhaps five or six, with shining chocolate eyes.

The boy cocked his head. "Hey, Sin! I'm Light!" The boy thrust his hand forward, and his eyes held such warmth that Sin couldn't help but shake it, albeit with an internal chuckle. Sin cast his gaze to his left, where Shade sat observing them, her grin amused. She watched Light fondly, and Sin could understand what she'd meant when she'd called this little gang 'family'.

Shade noticed Sin's stare and stood up, approaching them. She smiled at Light, who had begun to gnaw on a apple that Sin hadn't noticed before.

"Hey, Light - you'd better go wake Stickler. Remember what happened last time we let him sleep through breakfast?" She asked the little boy. His eyes grew wide, and scrambled to his feet before racing away across the warehouse. Shade's gaze turned to Sin, the fondness in her eyes gone, but she still had a soft look.

"I'm going to show you who everyone is, and then Toxic and I will take you to a back alley someplace and teach you a few things." Sin nodded, silently wondering what "a few things" would entail.

Shade sat down next to Sin and leant her back against the wall. She gestured to the other side of the warehouse, where Sparky was fiddling with her black box. "You've met Sparky. She's a genius. She set up the whole electrical system in here - the lights, the 'borrowed' fridge? Both thanks to Sparky." Sin's eyes widened.

"How'd she end up here?" Sin asked curiously. Shade's face hardened.

"About four years ago, her parents dropped her off at a robotics camp and never went back for her. She wandered around for a couple days and nearly starved to death before Spider found her and brought her here." Sin felt anger coil in the pit of his stomach, anger at the people who had abandoned Sparky. He didn't say anything.

Shade must have seen the look on his face, because she gripped his shoulder loosely.

"Everyone in this family is here because of some messed up adults. It doesn't help anyone to dwell on what already happened - instead, we can help by staying alive and screwing with those who have done us wrong, okay?" She told him firmly. Sin nodded, recognizing the wisdom in Shade's words. Her expression softened, and her gaze turned back to the vast space in the warehouse.

"Roach and Toxic are from the same orphanage. They ran away 'cause the orphanage was being shut down, and they were going to be sent to separate foster homes. Toxic kept them alive on the streets together for months. She's got a good survival instinct, that one. She managed to keep them fed by pillaging food from the rubbish bins of the rich, and they slept in their garden sheds. Sparky and I were going through the wealthy's rubbish bins for spare electrical parts when we happened upon those two trouble-makers. When the houses get better security, or we just can't take what we need, it's Toxic who always manages to find a way to keep us fed," Shade finished, a fond light in her eyes. She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear and let out a short sigh.

"I found Light when I was out scouting for new houses to crack. Someone had left him swaddled up in a blanket on the doorstep of a man who regularly got drunk - I couldn't leave him there," she said, her voice steady. "He's been with us for four years."

Something about what she'd said tugged at the back of Sin's memory, like deja vu, but he couldn't place what it was. He shook off the feeling and waited for Shade to continue. She opened her mouth when a dark-skinned boy who looked only a couple years older than Sin jogged over and interrupted.

"Oi, Shade! I can sell the -" he stopped short when he noticed Sin's curious look. The boy fidgeted quietly, his eyes shooting a silent question to Shade. She nodded, the movement so small Sin almost thought he imagined it. The boy continued. "I can sell the stuff you got last night. The cash alone you got us will buy a couple meals, but with those silver candlesticks - Shade, the money from them'll feed us for at least a month!" He said, puffing his chest up. Shade raised an eyebrow.

"Good. That means Spider and I can take a back seat on the raids for a while, get Sin trained up." The boy nodded as Shade added, "Tell Toxic and Hero to come here, will you?" The boy nodded and spun around, walking quickly in the other direction.

"That was Stickler. He's got connections that he won't even tell me about - afraid of them fleeing and all. He can sell anything, Sin. He knows a fence who could sell a stolen diamond to the president." She laughed quietly. "But he's a bit of a stickler for rules and formality - hence the name." Sin nodded in understanding as two young girls raced over. One of them looked just under Shade's age, and she was wearing a deep green hijab. It complemented her eyes perfectly. Her skin was a beautiful coffee color.

The other one looked a couple years younger. Her shoulder-length ginger locks were choppy, as if they'd been cut by a child. Her chocolate brown eyes were narrowed, and there were clear bags under them. Her fingers were stained black, and she had a long burn down her left forearm.

"Yeah boss?" The older one asked, her accent foreign. She held out her hand, and Shade grasped it tightly, pulling herself to her feet.

"Hero, you and Toxic are going to cover raid duty for a while. Maybe take Roach with you on an easier one, give him some real-life experience on a raid, yeah?" She said, talking to the older one. Hero nodded, and she and Toxic left, talking quietly.

"Hero is like our... diplomat." Shade smirked slightly at the word. "If someone gets in trouble with the coppers, or another set of street rats, she'll talk their way out. She's got a real silver tongue."

Shade pulled Sin to his feet. "Come on, I'll take you to Wheels. He and Sparky are working on something - God knows what. Wheels sometimes helps Sparky with her projects, and, well… it doesn't always go well to say the least."

All of a sudden, Sin was being pulled to the other side of the warehouse, nearer the front door where he first entered. In the middle of the floor, amidst a pile of various miscellaneous metal parts and wires, sat Sparky and a boy about her age. His stringy blond hair was held back by a dirty red bandana, and he had spectacles that were slowly slipping off of his nose. However, Sin's eyes were drawn to his left arm, which ended rather abruptly at the elbow.

"What happened?" Sin asked impulsively, before immediately regretting his decision. "I - I'm sorry, I didn't -"

The boy looked up and laughed. "It's fine, I get it. I don't know what happened - I was born without the end of my arm. Perhaps my twin fought back when I absorbed it in the womb."

Sin blinked quickly, not quite sure how respond to such a statement, so he merely said, "Uh - okay." The other boy snorted.

"Hey, Shade? I get that you're showing the new kid the ropes and all, but we need to concentrate," Sparky said. Shade nodded, and dragged Sin toward the door.

He racked his brain, trying to remember if that was everyone.

"Hey, Shade?"

"Mm?"

"What about Spider? What's he do? How'd you meet him?" Sin asked. From what he'd heard, Spider seemed to be kind of like a second-in-command. Shade's face grew cold.

"Spider was… an interesting case. I think it's best if you hear it from -" before she could finish, the door slammed open, and Hero sprinted inside, closely followed by Toxic. Panic was written all over their faces.

"What happened?" Shade asked sharply.

"Spider - he was arrested," Hero said quietly. Shade swore violently, and punched the wall in anger.