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IN SAFE HANDS

By: Anime Angel~^0^

"Dammit..." Gene growled for about the tenth time that night. Before him, lying in sopping wet sheets, lay his distressed partner, still engulfed in the nightmare. The sheets were now almost transparent from the amount of moisture they had taken in -- both from Jim's sweat, and the water that Gene had dumped on him, trying to get the blond to wake up. The outlaw had tried everything but fire off a gun in the apartment; he had tried pouring cold water on the kid, he had shaken him until the boy's teeth rattled, he had tried yelling, speaking softly, and just about anything else he could think of. But still, Jim remained stuck in his nightmare. In fact, Gene wasn't even sure that his partner was even asleep...especially since the last time Jim's nightmares had hit, the kid had been awake.

"Mmm...."

Gene's head snapped up in attention at the small sound emitted from his partner.

"Jim?" he whispered, thinking for a moment that the nightmare was over. However, the blond only rolled over and began to whimper. "Damn."

The seven year old Jim screeched as something hit him from behind. He flew forward from the force of the blow, causing him to skid across the ground and drop the precious treasure he was carrying. Not caring any longer about the food, the boy picked himself up quickly and scurried into a nearby alleyway, trying to ignore the fact that his lungs were heaving up and down without mercy.

"Hold still!" One of the much closer men chucked another rock at the small boy's legs, causing him to trip once again and fall farther into the dead end. Jim, exhausted almost to the point he couldn't breath, began to crawl back along the stretch of dirty pavement.

"Come back here you little brat!" another yelled, the others laughing cruelly behind him. Jim shuddered in the cold as their footsteps grew nearer...he was at a dead end.

"No...no please don't!" he whimpered, backing as far as he could into the back corner of the alley. The men were almost on top of him now, all of them grinning demonically. Why were they doing this? Judging by their size, they didn't need that food! Were they after the boy for just pure enjoyment?

But Jim didn't have much more time to think about this as he realized that the men were now standing directly in front of him, glaring menacingly. They were huge, especially to Jim, who was only about four feet tall, and very thin. The men in front of him were like giants, exactly like the monsters the boy had always imagined were hiding in the dark.

"Now boy," the biggest one hissed, grabbing the much smaller Jim by what was left of his shirt. "You're going to pay...I had to pay for that food and planned on enjoying it. You filthy bastard! You just had to go and knock it all over the ground, didn't ya?"

"Please....I'm sorry!" Jim wailed, inching away from the rough, calloused hand that was slowly closing itself around his throat.

"Really....well it's a little late now, isn't it?" the man sneered, his face now inches from Jim's. "'Sorry isn't going to help bring back my money...or my food! IS IT?!"

"No...STOP PLEASE! I--" The boy's frantic wails were cut off the man began to throttle him harshly, shaking the boy back and forth violently and all the while forcing his thumbs down harder and harder into Jim's small neck...

Gene let out a tired yawn, and focused back on the still boy. Maybe he's finally asleep, the outlaw thought. Or maybe he's just at a quiet point in the nightmare...

But, as if on cue, Jim let out a strangled cry of pain, one that echoed through the house. Shifting his position on the end of the bed and dreading the worst, Gene rolled his partner over.

"Stop..." the sleeping child moaned softly, his eyelids fluttering for a moment. However they did not open fully, and instead they stayed at half mast, pupils dashing wildly around underneath them.

"Com'n Jim..." Gene groaned, a bit tired of sitting up and waiting for his partner. Granted, he didn't want anything to happen to the boy in his sleep, but his eyelids were also starting to close involuntarily. More than anything the outlaw hoped that Jim would suddenly open his eyes, tell Gene that everything was great, and then go to sleep...a peaceful sleep. But the more the outlaw thought about it, the more he knew that Jim wasn't waking up until whatever it was he was dreaming was over. "Well, might as well make myself comfortable..."

"No...p.....please...d...don't..." Jim's small whimpers were of little avail as the men continued to strangle and toss about the poor boy. He struggled once or twice against the grasps of his captors, but he was just too small to do anything but cry futilely...

"You think that saying 'sorry' is gonna make up for your actions? HM?!" The man who had his hands around Jim's neck began once again ram him into the wall, cutting off the child's breathing.

The blond let out one final scream before his breath was cut short, and his vision began to blur...and that was when he heard a strong voice echo through the alley...

"Leave him alone."

"Who the hell are you?!"

Vaguely -- just vaguely -- Jim could feel the pressure of the man's rough hands let up on his neck, and the boy took the advantage to suck in a deep breath of precious air.

"I told you to leave him alone you bastards!"

Blinking to clear his eyes, Jim soon realized that the voice belonged to a new-comer, someone who was obviously not with the brutes surrounding him. As his vision cleared, the boy saw before him a tall silhouette, one that stood strong and confident. And yet, even though Jim felt this stranger was here to help him, he said nothing. The men were still there, they still had their hands around his throat, and therefore they were still a threat.

"And what are ya gonna do if we DON'T let 'im go? Hm?" one of the brutes growled.

"Look, I don't wanna fight you. Just put the boy down and get--"

"He's our's pretty boy. Buzz off."

And that's when the stranger lost it. In a blink of an eye a gunshot was heard, and the man holding Jim collapsed in a heap. The boy fell to the ground, eyes wide at the ragged bullet hole adorning the man's back. He gasped, quickly backing himself into a corner.

"Now leave." And with that the men scurried out of the alley, not even glancing back at their fallen comrade.

Jim, unsure of whether the quickly approaching person was friendly or not, began to tremble, squeezing his eyes shut and backing further into the wall.

"P...p...please...I...I...sorry!" Jim was shaking uncontrollably now; this man in front of him seemed much more cold and menacing than the other men had been, even when they were trying to throttle him! But as the man came nearer, stepping into the light, the boy realized that the supposed monster was...was a kid? He wasn't like the other men...they were older. But this one...

"Hey...how ya doin kid?" The voice was no longer harsh, but instead kind and warm. The shakin blond looked up nervously at the stranger.

"H...hungry..." he whispered, his eyes wide. The man laughed, and for the first time since he had arrived, Jim could see him clearly. He was tall, and yet young and muscular. His eyes were steely blue, his hair a flaming red...

"My name's Gene," he said. "What's your's?"

And that's when Jim snapped awake, his eyes flying open and his hair flinging beads of sweat. He panted...hard.

"A..Aniki?"

"Hey kid!" It was the same as the voice. Jim quickly turned over, only to come face to face with the grinning, goofy figure of his partner. "You're awake!" He slowly reached over, ruffling the boy's hair. "You okay?"

"Gene?"

"So was it the same?"

"Well...sort of." Jim lowered his head a bit, thinking.

"What do ya mean?"

Jim hesitated for a moment, before looking up into his aniki's eyes. The same steely blue eyes as in the dream...

"Aniki...how'd we meet?" he whispered, wiping a bit of sweat -soaked hair out of his eyes.

"What?"

"I mean...how did you..." He paused. "Acquire me." He smiled, trying to convince his partner that he was okay. "I'm fine Aniki! Just tell me!" Jim exclaimed as the outlaw frowned.

"Well...I found ya in an alley--"

"With a buncha burly lookin guys?"

"Yeah! And you said you were hungry, so I took ya home...and after that you just sort of grew on me I guess...like athletes foot."

Jim smiled again, his eyes sparkling. He remembered...everything. The men, the pain, the hunger...and then his aniki. The guy who had saved him...the one who made him into what he was...

"You sure you're okay?" Gene looked at the boy in front of him, a bit confused. "You don't loo-"

"I'm fine Gene! And...and..."

"Yeah?"

Jim hopped off of his bed, and onto his partner's. He looked up at his red-haired friend, and grinned when he saw the concern in the outlaw's eyes.

"I don't think I'm gonna have nightmares anymore Aniki."

END

*wipes sweat off brow* It's...it's...DONE! OMG! IT IS ACTUALLY FINISHED! Now, I know that some of you are wondering WHY the hell this thing wasn't out a few monthes ago, and here's the answer: I WAS BUSY. Yep! For once I didn't have time to write hours on end...But here it is folks! Enjoy! I know I know...the ending kinda sux...but I'm not really sure when I am going to get a chance to get on the computer again, so here it is. Yay... I am writing on some other fics, and if all goes well, they should go up sometime...this...year....I hope. *gulp* Well, I hope you like it more than I do! And if you wanna flame me...I invite you to. Heh...