Kooshball Note: Second person perspective! Where the writer TELLS you what you think, and you are a character! I don't think I've seen anyone do second person before in a fic, except maybe in one of TakenHawkeye's drabbles. Anyway, I thought it's be good to dig into Izzy's past a little.

'Aw, crap,' you say, looking down at your skirt. 'My fave skirt, and I've just ruined it.'

'Come on,' Paula replies, pointing to a nearby Target. 'They have a sale on right now, thirty percent off all clothing.'

'Excluding underwear, socks and hosiery items,' you say in a low voice, imitating the ads. Both of you laugh, likes it's the biggest joke since seventies fashion. You follow Paula in after you've finished laughing, and start pawing through the racks. After a few skirts and a pair of jeans had been picked out, you go to the changing rooms to try them on. Most are too big, or too short, and don't come in another size. The jeans are way too short, and tight around the waist. You notice a skirt hanging on the hook on the back of the door which someone must have left there earlier. What the hey, you think, shrugging. Wouldn't hurt to try it on. It's a pastel pink colour, and maybe a touch to long, but you can always tack the hem up a bit when you get home. Other than that, it fits like a dream.

'Hey, I never saw those skirts,' Paula says as you emerge from the changing rooms to show her.

'Someone left it in there,' you explain.

'How much is it?' Paula asks, twirling you around to check the price tag. 'Hey, eight dollars. That's pretty good.'

'It's nice, too,' you mention, looking down at it. It also looks fabulous with your long sleeved off white top. You go up to the checkout woman. 'Can I buy this and wear it out of the shop? The skirt I was wearing ripped, you see,' you tell her. The woman sort of sneers at you, but the manager, who happens to be an acquaintance of your mother's steps in.

'Sure, Izzy, just rip off the tag, and we'll scan it for you,' she says. Thanking her, you leave the store with Paula, and catch a bus home. You and Paula have been friends since preschool. Since you and your mother moved to a more expensive part of the city, though, you haven't been able to see her as often as you like. As Paula gets off the bus, you wave to her.

'See you later, Izzy,' Paula calls out. You stay on the bus for another half hour, and get off at your street, wishing you and Paula were still neighbours. You wander up your driveway and start to fit your key into the lock of the front door. The door handle is ripped out of your hands, and your mother pulls you in hurriedly. Your mother is a fiery woman, with light brown hair and brown eyes. She's tried to teach you to be well behaved for as long as you can remember, which has caused you to rebel a few times. Even though she is shorter than you by at least a foot, you cower a little as she glares at you, then starts yelling.

'How could you bring drugs into this house! After I've looked after you, put a roof over your head, and tried to teach you how to be a young lady!' she screeches.

'What are you talking about?' you ask, knowing exactly what she was talking about. She must have found Darren's stash in your sock draw. He needed it to be kept somewhere safe until the cops had stopped watching him. It would be just like your mother to go through your things.

'You're lucky I didn't call the police!' she yells, ignoring your feeble attempt to shrug off the responsibility. Suddenly, you begin yelling as well. You're sick of how she tells you how to live, how to act, and how she tries to be the perfect rich person.

'If you had called the cops, you'd have been arrested, because the drugs had been found on your property!' you shout. 'And even if you thought you could get off having a fine because they were in my room, and you didn't know about them, you still wouldn't, because that would start the neighbours talking. "Did you hear about Sheila's girl? She was found with half a kilo of marijuana in her room. What a bad mother.".'

You both stand there, quiet for a moment. You regret yelling at your mother, she has a tendency to send you to live with your aunt when she's mad.

'Get out,' your mother growls.

'I'll get my stuff to go to Aunt-'

'No, get out, now. Don't come back, ever!' she says, cutting you off and getting louder. You turn and run, your key still in the door, and only ten dollars in your wallet. You never see your mother again.

'I need a place to stay the night,' you say as Paula opens the door. She lets you in, and you both go to her room. Crying, you tell her the whole thing. When you finish, you feel embarrassed about your tears, and swear you'll never cry again.

'She can't kick you out, can she? You're only fifteen,' Paula says.

'That's the legal age you can leave home. I don't think there is much I can do,' you say.

You stay at Paula's house for five days before the police come. You hide in the back shed when Paula answers the door. Her mother and father are at work, so you don't have to worry about them telling the cops where you are. They leave after about ten minutes, and Paula come to get you.

'Izzy,' she says, 'this isn't easy for me to tell you, but... your mum died yesterday.'

'What?' you ask, a weird feeling in my stomach.

'One of the neighbours found her, and the cops have been looking for you since. Because you haven't been at school, and you didn't appear to be at home, they're trying all your friends,' Paula says.

'How'd she die?' you ask. Paula tells you. Your mother died from a drug overdose, and it seems it was the stuff you were minding for Darren. Paula's mother came home at that moment, and kicks you out, telling you that you and Paula are never to see each other again, due to you and your mother's actions. You leave, wondering who you can turn to.

'Sorry, Iz,' Darren tells you through a chained door. 'I've decided that we should see other people. Besides, you own me half a kilo of dope.'

'Hey, it's not like I used the stuff, and I never wanted to watch it in the first place,' you say.

Shrugging, Darren says 'Tough luck.' You turn away, and disappear into the back alleys of Sydney.

During your three years of being homeless, you have joined FFD (a group of older street kids who have been on the streets since they were eight), stolen out of every shop in the central part of the city at least once, and spent so many hours being questioned by the police that you've lost count. Speaking of being questioned by the police, that's where you are now, concerning a stolen DVD player you had been caught with. You can tell that the shop owner Carl stole the DVD player from is behind the double mirror, you can hear the murmuring of the owner talking to the cops. Carl is one of the members of the FFD. You make a good team with him, you both being the best of the best in the shoplifting business.

A female officer finally comes in. 'You're free to go,' she tells you. It's the best birthday present you could ask for this year, not to be busted. Nodding, you leave the station quickly, before they realise you aren't Natalie Holland like you told them. Luckily you look innocent due to your large eyes, blond hair, pink skirt and white top. You always wear your skirt and long sleeved top when you know you're going to be stealing or receiving stolen goods because it makes you look like you're honest. According to the police files, Izzy Parker died a year ago, so that's why you give false names when taken into the police station. Your favourite so far has been Anna Pierce. Two blocks from the station, Carl appears. You wait for him to wish you a happy birthday, but it doesn't happen.

'Too bad about being busted,' he says. 'We'll have to get something else to replace the DVD player.'

'That small shop at Palmer street?' you ask. Carl nods. 'Met you in the next street over,' you say, heading North.

'Don't get nabbed,' Carl yells.

'Hey, I haven't been caught stealing since early last year,' you yell back. 'Just then doesn't count because I didn't steal the player.' You start jogging, knowing that the sooner you get something, the sooner you'll get to eat.

Half an hour later, you're in the shop you and Carl agreed on. You've declined help from the shop keeper, but have decided on the small digital camera in front of you. Expensive, and easier to hide. You grab it and there is a yell from the back of the shop. Quickly, you run, realizing the shop keeper has seen you grabbing the camera. Luckily, you're fit, and the shop owner appears to be a bit on the bulky side. It's alright for him, you think bitterly as you wind around people in the street. He doesn't have to wonder when his next meal will be. You run out onto the road, and suddenly, the street turns into a dry, country landscape. The red Ford heading right for you turns into a jeep, and you can see the dark haired man sitting in the drivers seat. As the front of the jeep connects into your side, it blows up.

You struggle to sit up in the spare cot of the Swamp, realizing that the explosion was really just thunder from the storm outside. You look around to make sure this isn't the dream, and you calm down when you see BJ breathing steadily in the bunk across from you. The door of the Swamp opens, and the dark haired man you saw in the jeep of your dream enters.

'You ok, Izzy?' Hawkeye asks you, taking his soaking jacket off. 'I heard you yelp.' You nod and mumble something about nightmares. He sits on the cot and looks at you. You stare back into his blue eyes, and sniffle, half from your cold, half from the sadness trying o escape you.

'You know when we thought you'd blown up in that jeep, Hawkeye?' you ask. Hawkeye nods. 'Well, I cried my eyes out when I heard. Back in Sydney, after I'd been kicked out of home, I promised myself I'd never cry again.'

'Hey, it's ok to cry,' Hawkeye tells you. You nod, and move so you're sitting next to him, and you lean heavily against his side, letting a tear fall. You don't know what you would have done if Hawkeye had been blown up in that jeep. He's the only one who has made you feel really safe since you left home.

Kooshball Note: Chapter three may be a while, it's a fair bit longer than chapter 1 and 2. Tell me if you like chapter two, and what sort of thing you'd like to see next!