Ghost Whisper: Thanks to all who have reviewed so far! It encourages me to continue down the long road that this fic is setting out for me. I understand that I am updating slowly – and how irritating it must be, however I have every intention of continuing this story, and of it being a long, multiparter/story arc, spanning most of the GW timeline.

On a side note: Who here has read the GW episode zero's? If you can, take a look at Duo's right now. Now, at the beginning of the chapter where they show members of his group, look carefully. Isn't there one who looks an awful lot like Quatre? O.O !! That's one of the things that sparked the idea for this story.

If you want you can go to this page: http:www. stormpages.com /zero/translate/ pages08-09.jpg (remove spaces) to see the picture I'm talking about. It's at the top left.

Why is it that the memories that stay with us the most vividly are often bad ones? Is it an instinct born into us, that we seek to torture ourselves in such a way?

Chapter 3

"This place is... really crowded." Cat said wonderingly, as he stared out into the midst of the scores of people surrounding Duo and himself. He didn't even have to turn his head to see five new people take the places of a different group from one moment to the next. Muscles tensed, he shifted his weight just a little closer to Duo. Walking from the quiet alleyway into this riot of sound, color, and movement had made him feel very small and very weak all of the sudden.

Everyone, it seemed, was talking to one another, whether it was haggling over the price of some beat up looking potatoes, calling out to children that had strayed to far from their parents, or shouting at rude strangers who pushed and shoved themselves at place in the crowd. The noise level was high enough that he was surprised he could even hear Duo's voice, as the boy rattled out streams of information that he suspected he was supposed to memorize before the day was out.

"...course no one here is really loaded – this isn't the A-sector market after all. Even B-sector's a little to rich for us to go. We stick out too much, right? Anyways, G or F sectors too rough. The people there's no better off then us, and they'd just as soon trash us as let us get something – prolly sooner."

Cat barely heard the words, content to gaze out at the crowds and contemplate the people around him. Everything was so new. One woman dressed in a dirty brown dress held at child barely a year old, muttering to it in a comforting manner while it squalled, an irritated frown crossing her face. And – over there, just barely visible among the press of people was a tall man with hair almost the same shade as his. The boy briefly entertained the thought that the man might know him – might even be family! – before the object of his stare vanished.

"Hey! Ya listenin at all?" Cat started at the feel of the other boy giving him a hard poke in the shoulder, and turned to see violet eyes fixed on him in a frustrated glare.

"I – yes – kind of?" He stammered uncomfortably. He really had been trying. It wasn't like he had any other place to go, so for now he was living off of Duo's kindness, and any skills that he could pick up. It was just that he found it so hard to concentrate on learning the 'rules', when the world was laid out for him like this.

Duo sighed. "Look kid, later, when ya got the important stuff down, there'll be time for sight seeing. But this place ain't a playground; so ya might want ta learn things while you have the chance."

Shifting uncomfortably at Duo's tone of voice, Cat let his head droop. Even though it was hard to contain his curiosity, he knew that Duo was right. What had happened when he met Bit yesterday had driven off any misconceptions he might get about what life was like here. It would be all too easy for him to get into trouble. He had to try harder. "Y – yeah."

"Right then. Never go after the really well off lookin ones. They'll either get ya thrown in jail, cause they got connections, or they're gang types – and they got connections too." Duo shuddered, and fingered a thin scar that dragged across his forearm. "Ya don't want to see what they do with the ones that cross them. They don't go easy on kids."

"What-"

"Trust me. You don't need to know." A blank look crossed Duo's face for a minute making Cat feel horrible. Had he reminded Duo of something that he'd wanted to forget? He shouldn't have asked. Hesitantly, Cat lifted a hand up to the other boy's shoulder pausing just before they touched. The two weren't particularly close. Would Duo get mad at him for being too friendly?

Before he could complete the thought, or the gesture, Duo shook his head and snapped out of whatever memory had held him. "Anyway-" Whatever he had been about to say was cut off at that moment as a group of several overly thin women walked past them, shoving them apart without a pause in their gossiping. "Watch it ya old bags!" Duo's irritated shout followed after the women, who continued on their way, oblivious. He turned back to Cat and shrugged, "feh. Now where was I...?"

"You were saying who to stay away from."

"Right! Now the first thing ya need to know is whether they're worthwhile..."

Gasping, Cat lifted a hand to his forehead, brushing away the beads of sweat that had gathered in a thin film. Thick grey smoke filled his lungs from the breath, and he choked, feeling as though someone had suddenly reached into his chest and twisted the air from his lungs, as one would wring the water from a cloth.

"Get everyone out now!" a deep voice called loudly, though it was muffled by the constant crackling of red-gold flames, and the frightened shouts that accompanied each shudder of the building's frame.

He peeked his head out from his position under the heavy oak desk where he had taken shelter at the first explosion of sound that had rocked the building, and terror that had filled him from all angles. Where was his father? He immediately regretted moving when a fresh wave of smoke billowed into his face, causing his eyes to sting so horribly, and a burning pain to hit his chest, though he'd barely managed to inhale before he remembered to hold his breath.

Stupid! Hadn't he been told so many times before that it was best to stay low to the ground if there was a fire? Now, here he was on his knees retching for air while his slender arms clutched his middle.

"Fa-ther!" His childish treble called tremulously into the chaos. "Fa-" he coughed again, and with weak, trembling arms, began to crawl out from underneath his refuge of wood. How far away was the door? How many rooms did he have to cross through before he was outside?

His eyes stung, and he rubbed the back of a hand across them furiously, feeling tears streak across the skin. Under the haze of the smoke, the distance to the door seemed to expand, the color of the wood panelling on the walls and the blue-grey linoleum running together in a blurry mess, like a child playing with finger paints.

Feeling very small, he crawled tentatively forward, flinching at the feel of the already very warm floor under his hands. Far away, something cracked and fell to the ground so violently, that he felt the building shudder underneath him. Whimpering, he fell down and covered his head with his arms, trying to ward off any further breakage near him.

'Father I don't like this. Father, why did you leave me here alone? I could have stayed with you, and the woman ran away to fast, and I don't want to be here anymore, so please come save me cause I'm scared and it's hot where are you Father?'

He lifted his head up from underneath the protective cover of his arms, and shakily rose to his hands and knees again. He held his face upwards, in spite of the smoke hitting his eyes, and took shallow breaths. He couldn't look down now. It was just a few more feet now – just a little further, and he would be in the next room, where Father would be waiting for him...

When his fingers bumped something hard and smooth, he lowered his gaze again, to see a black high-heeled shoe. Someone was still wearing it. He followed the long leg with ripped brown stockings, to see a grey wool skirt. And a dirty white shirt that held traces of once being starched to a perfect crispness.

Funny... Hadn't the woman who was taking care of him been wearing that?

Finally, his eyes made their way to the lady's face, and he gasped, folding in on himself and clutching at his chest as he huddled against the wall. Blood was streaming in sticky lines across her face and to the floor from a spot somewhere above her ear.

Somewhere above his head, an awful groaning noise alerted him to impending danger. Cat looked up in horror to see a thick wooden beam, exposed by gyprock that had been burned away and weakened by the flames, about to come crashing down on him. Stifling the instinctive cry of horror that pushed up his throat, he flung him self to the side, fast enough to stop from being crushed, but not fast enough to avoid it completely.

The beam clipped him hard on the side of his head, sending him into an ungraceful sprawl on the floor. Numbness spread through his limbs, and his vision began to blur. 'Pretty...' he thought dazedly, watching the flames smudged together like his finger-paints, before fading completely into darkness...and a pleasant floating...with a roaring in his ears... and...

"No!" He shouted, horrified. Before he realized that he'd been sleeping, Cat bolted straight up in bed, his back stiff and a sheen of sweat covering his limbs. Frantically, he pushed away blankets that were sticking damply to him, and wrapped trembling arms about himself.

"Go to sleep!" Growled a voice that he vaguely recognized as Laina, one of the oldest kids living at the 'Hole'. From out of the darkness, a hand, bony from lack of nutrition, gripped tightly around his wrist. Cat jumped at the sudden contact, jerking his hand away as his breath caught in his throat. A muttered oath stopped him from scrambling away in fear.

"Oi! Are ya trying ta rip my arm out or something?" was the harsh whisper from a barely visible silhouette. Almost immediately, Cat recognized the voice as Bit's, and sagged back down to his makeshift bed in relief.

"I- I'm sorry. I just-" He shivered, recalling the horrible dream. It wasn't so much the fire, or even the fear of being trapped that haunted him after waking. It was the terrifying feeling of dying – of losing himself, and feeling parts of him slip away. The blonde whimpered, pulling his arms tightly about his midsection as if to hold himself together. Arms wrapped around him from behind, and Cat felt some of the tension reluctantly drain away.

"S'okay kid. We all get nightmares – comes with the territory I think. Even if ya don't have 'em comin' in, ya get 'em soon enough. Just don't let them phase ya, or you'll fall apart – and ya won't do anyone good then."

Cat nodded, accepting Bit's words as truth. "I think – I remembered something," he said in a small voice, fiddling with the threadbare blanket that was still twined about his legs. "There was fire, and I remember trying to find my father – and it was so hot – everything was falling apart. A big piece of wood fell..." he reached a hand up to his head, where the painful lump was finally starting to heal. "I – I felt like I was dying..." He huddled closer into Bit's arms, willing the vivid images to go away. "Can you – stay with me?" he asked. "Please? I don't to be alone."

Bit nodded his head; chin digging into the smaller blonde's back. "Yeah. I can stay with ya." The two children shifted until they were laying side by side, and Bit pulled the blanket over them. Small as it was, they were both exposed to the chill air in places, but if they huddled close enough together it wasn't a problem. "Now, ya better sleep, afore Laina decides that knockin' ya out would be a faster way ta get ya quiet."

Ghost Whisper: So there's the third chapter. Next time we'll have a little bit more interaction between Duo and Quatre, as well as some... trouble... dun dun dun! Cue creepy suspense music.