Disclaimer-I forgot in the last chapter to mention some of the material was from Episode Zero… kinda twisted around though. Lol. Big thanks to Heeros n Legends (HnL) for mentioning that, and to Saiya-jin Patricia for mentioning that I needed a disclaimer! (So, by the way, I don't own GW) :-)
I gave you my love… but that wasn't enough. I gave you my heart…but you never understood. So today, I give you my life… in hopes that you might learn to love and live.
Kid woke blearily, his mind reeling with memories. Everything seemed so jumbled together, and it was hard to focus on one thought as his mind skipped instantly to another. He refused to acknowledge the darker thoughts that tugged harshly at his brain, although he didn't fully understand WHAT they were. He couldn't remember anything beyond finding Odin…did they escape?
Throwing the thoughts away for the moment, Kid tried to analyze the situation. The boy noted that he was lying on his back in one of the rooms he had placed the backup bombs in, and men in uniform surrounded him in the small room. This wasn't right… Odin would have told him if something like this was going to happen…maybe the people Odin was warning him about had caught him? That didn't make sense though! If they WERE trying to capture him, then why were they still in the same building with an EXTREMELY mad assassin?
That brought up another question…what happened to Odin? A flash of memory circled his mind… something important that the child hadn't fully grasped yet… but he would have more time think later on that… Working on an escape plan would be the best course. Kid took a better look at the soldiers, identifying the weakest. A quick glance at their hands told him which were married. He would have to take a try… slowly he got up and approached one of the men.
"S…sir?" The man looked kindly down at him.
"Yes, boy?" Kid purposefully winced at the man's voice, and hung his head.
"I…I need to use…the bathroom…please?" The guard next to the one he was talking to cut him off.
"Well hold it in!"
"Jake…lay off…he's just a kid. I'll take him." Kid smiled briefly at him, and followed along at his side.
"Please, sir…where am I? Why am I here?" A flash of pain crossed the man's features.
"Sorry, son. Can't tell you…but…" He lowered his voice. "Please, if you can, take every chance to escape. This is no life for a boy like you."
"Please, then! Help me escape! I just want to go home…" If the man didn't help, he would find his own way out, starting with the bathrooms, but this way would be easier. The soldier looked around.
"There's a vent in the bathrooms…small, but I think you can fit in there…keep following it to the third opening…it should lead outside…you have quite a jump to make, but once you hit the ground, RUN. Go to the road and hitch a ride to another city. Any place is better then here…" He sighed. "Good luck. Try not to get caught, for your sake and for mine…" Kid nodded his thanks, and closed the door, locking it for the few extra seconds it would provide him. Taking the cover off the vent and slipping quietly into the narrow tube was just as easy as all the other times he had done it. He doubted that the guard could even hear him. Outside the door he heard the approach of the same soldier he had met earlier.
"He's taking too long! Get him out!"
Kid smirked.
"He just got in there, Jake. Calm down. Hey, it's my break…I was wondering if you would cover for me here?" Without listening for a response, the guard that had helped Kid walked away with a tired, "Gee, thanks!" The boy could no longer make out the sounds coming from the room, as he turned into the third intersection of the vent. Only briefly did he hear a crashing coming from behind…they must have broken through the door when no one answered their calls. Kid sped up, crawling until a warm morning breeze whipped his hair around, and he turned the corner to see the grate. Using his fingernails to remove the screws holding it in place, the boy managed to quietly lift the metal bars, wondering what to do next. Deciding that actually moving was the best course, Kid flung the grate far away from himself…and jumped.
Taking advantage of the others' surprise, the boy took off running for the bushes. When the sounds of pursuit followed hotly, he backtracked and leapt under a small thicket of plants, waiting until the footsteps died away. Choosing a path leading to a less traveled back road, Kid hailed the first car that passed. The man rolled down the window.
"Can I help you, son?" Kid was beginning to hate these annoying pet names.
"Please, sir! I don't know where I am…some man grabbed me…and…please! I'm lost, and I just wanna get back to my daddy!" Kid hoped that Odin wouldn't mind him making up that title for him. The man looked worried for a second, then turned back and popped the backseat's door open.
"Hop in, kid." The boy winced at the name. For some reason it had never bothered him when Odin called him that, but to hear it from another person's mouth just sounded…wrong…
"Where we going? Do you remember where your home is?" Kid pondered for a moment, and gave the man the address for the street next to the hotel.
The whole trip to the hotel was spent in discomfort for Kid. Through all the lies he had to tell the man, and his anxiousness to see Odin again, the boy became thoroughly confused, and pleaded exhaustion to stave off the questions and offers to call the authorities. Finally alone, standing in the street, Kid wondered what had brought him here. For some reason he had the feeling that Odin was not still in the building he had escaped from, that the man had escaped, just like Kid. Something had brought the young boy back to the small room that he had shared with the assassin. Kid carefully opened the door, having begged the cleanup staff for a spare card, and stepped inside. The room was empty. The boy stood there for a few seconds, for the first time trying to remember what has happened before he was drugged. Then it came to him in a blurred mess. The mission…finding Odin…the men with guns…then the shot… was there anything after that? He couldn't remember.Kid…These last few years we've spent together…weren't so bad after all…
Kid shook his head, not believing.
"No…no!" But in his heart, he knew it was true. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks…the last tears to fall from his eyes for many years.
BEEP! BEEP!
Kid looked at Odin's small pack, and picked something out from one of the many side pockets. It was the blond assassin's video communicator… the one that he was constantly giving reports on. The boy pressed the button labeled receive, and a small picture of an elderly man clicked on. The man gave a sickeningly putrid smile.
"Ahh, Lowe's young prodigy, I see…" He laughed, making Kid's hatred burn to loathing for the man. The face on the communicator's screen looked familiar somehow…
"Who are you?" It was meant to sound brave and controlled, but the look the boy received from the man made him feel small and weak.
"It doesn't matter who I am, boy. You will learn soon enough. Now that we have located you, there is no use running. I suggest packing your things since we will be coming for you in five hours. I hope Lowe trained you well!" His laughter filled the room once more before the screen buzzed off. Kid chucked it on the floor as hard as he could, sending bits of wire and memory chips flying through the room. He wanted to scream. He should KNOW that face…it was not hard to forget…but his mind would not supply a name.
Furious and hurt, the blue eyed boy did the only thing he could thing of, and began packing. When the time came, he would go with the man…he would learn who that ugly scarred face belonged to, and then he would kill him. He would love to see blood running down the man's wrinkled forehead…and he would be the one to make it flow. Distractedly shredding the mission papers and other belongings of Odin's, Kid almost ripped through one of the files with his picture on it. The boy stopped, finding himself digging deeper into the file he was about to dispose of. His pictures were scattered through various parts of the documents…pictures that Miss Adalia had insisted on having taken. Then it hit him. These were no ordinary files on him…these were ADOPTION papers. Kid's heart beat frantically as he looked closer at the text. The main paper under a large picture had the data he was looking for.
Renamed: Odin Lowe JuniorNew location: Earth
Adopter: Odin Lowe
So, the assassin had risked everything he worked for, just to use his own name in adoption papers. He could have done it illegally, but Kid knew that it somehow made it more REAL…He BELONGED to somebody now… he had a FAMILY now… He-
Kid looked again at the papers. Oh…no…
A single line…a single EMPTY line…
Odin hadn't signed it. They were invalid. Not real. They hadn't been sent in yet. Kid let more tears spill down his face, dropping onto the smudged ink of the paper that he was ripping up. He was stupid! How could he EVER think that he would EVER belong to anybody? He was an assassin, and not even Odin would love him. It was all Odin's fault!
In his wild rage, the boy sent everything Odin had brought flying into the wall farthest from him. He didn't think of how he would regret it later…he didn't think at all. Nothing mattered anymore.
It took half an hour for the boy to calm down enough to fill the rest of his pack with his only belongings…his clothing and his laptop. He glanced dully around, and although he knew he had nothing else, it never hurt to check again. Something flashed. Kid looked back at the chipped wall where he had thrown Odin's things. He had no wish to go back, but something drew him to the corner where the man's silver pistol lay. The boy held it close to his heart, and turned back toward the door. But before he left, he had one last mission to accomplish.
It was only a matter of seconds before Kid's hacking brought him to what he was looking for. It was a simple data file on a man…named Odin Lowe. The young assassin scrolled down until he reached the last section…the characteristic files.
Strengths-weaponry/stealth
Weaknesses-young trainee-only to be used in emergency/ left side attacks
Behavior-easily angered/protectiveThe lists went on in each category, but the section of interest was a description of the man. It was easy to change the information, and when he was done, Kid nodded in approval. This would be his last farewell to his trainer. As the boy closed his laptop once more, the new words flashed one more time.
Odin Lowe- Loving and dedicated father.
Kid picked up his things and headed out…this time for good.
The streets of L2 stank of hopelessness and fear. They were the worst that Kid had seen, and it was not unusual to see homeless children walking barefoot on the littered street, and the prostitutes, male and female, selling their bodies on every corner. In fact, a building not 3 blocks away was in high flames, and Kid saw not one person stop for survivors, or to quench the burning wood. Kid was lucky though. The hotel that he had once shared with Odin was not bad, if not very expensive for being on "the good side" of town, and it would not be that hard to hack the system for a couple more free nights. Having nothing better to do, Kid walked toward the burning building that might once have been a church. He had no intentions to help anyone, but for some reason, the flames seemed to draw him closer. Onlookers stood gathered on the sidelines, careful to stay far away from the sparks that flew out. Curious as to what had happened to this place, kid listened to the conversations around him to gather from the snippets. The lady on his left was whispering urgently to her friend.
"…Maxwell Church. Poor old man…He helped so many children! Just last night he gave my Ella some bread because I couldn't afford dinner! Oh, he reminds me just so much of Jerry…" So he was right. This had once been a church, and he presumed the man they discussed was the priest. He still wanted more information. Drifting over to a group of talking women, who he had targeted for the sole reason that women talked so much, he began listening. No one heard or saw him, but that was to be expected, for he had been well taught to blend in or fade out of crowds.
"The poor children! There must have been, what? 25 of them in there!" The woman was close to tears. The boy could slightly understand her feelings, but as he had learned so many times…death happens. But Kid said nothing and waited for the response.
"Yes, but think of what Father Maxwell did to save them, bless his soul. They would have died soon anyway, or would have been abused or hungry all their lives! At least they were fed and sheltered!" So that was it. The man…Father Maxwell…took in homeless and abused kids from the streets. Something stirred inside of Kid. No one had ever given him that kind of love. No one he didn't have to kill, anyway.
He turned, not wanting to see any more of the flames, wanting it to all disappear…then something caught his eye. A boy, no older then himself, was huddled alone, too close to the fire for comfort. He must have been one of Father Maxwell's orphaned children. The child looked so lost, staring at the fire, and so…hopeless. Kid knew that feeling…from somewhere…from a time that all he could remember was of hazy smoke and broken buildings. From a time that all he knew was that mommy and daddy were gone. Kid knew that no one should feel this way. He wanted to help like Odin had helped. But Odin died…some use that was! Kid wandered over to the boy, shaking his head to clear the horrible thoughts clouding it, and rested a hand on a tattered shoulder. The boy jerked under him, and his head flew around to stare at Kid. He had the most haunting shade of violet eyes that Kid had ever seen.
"They're gone…" It was only a whisper, sounding so lost and lonely to the young assassin. The blue eyed boy nodded. He knew that feeling all too well.
"Won't you come with me? I don't think there is anything we can do here. Come on…I'll get you a place to stay tonight." Violet eyes met blue eyes in question, and slowly the orphan stood. Kid noticed that the boy was gripping a long braid of chestnut hair in an almost comforting manner as he allowed himself to be led back to the small hotel room.
"You can only stay here the two extra nights that we paid for…I won't be needing it…but then you're on your own." All he got was a silent nod. Not wanting to bother the boy any further, Kid left the room and shut the door, making his way once more out into the city.
A/n- And so we meet Duo…briefly, but still! So, I hadn't really meant to write this chapter, but halfway through writing the other chapter, I realized I forgot to do a couple things…One being introducing Duo, and a couple random things… Next chapter you can expect more of J and a new character…I wonder who?
REVIEW RESPONSE-
Shinigami Akumu- haha! That WOULD be a funny meeting for Heero and Wu! But if Heero broke his meditation…I would have a character death too soon, and then it wouldn't be as good! It might be fine for me, since I don't like Wu very much, but I'm sure many fangirls would be mad…:-/ Hey, I'm gunna be leaving…again…I think while my family goes some place or another… so I won't be on for a while! KEEP WRITING THOUGH!
Saiya-jin Patricia- Oh great! I hope you don't mind if I use some of your quotes later on when I find a good place to put them in! I'll dedicate those chapters to you…:-) and yup! I love reviews and I read and re read them ALL THE TIME…lol…call me a freak, but I LOVE them! I'm sooo glad that you decided to review…it means a lot! haha…you just wait! What Kid's been through will be like a sleigh ride compared to what's gunna happen! Know that it was J who turned Kid into what he is now (or was)…not Odin. Maybe Duo can break the barriers later on? We shall see. :-)
heeros n legends- Yes! Thanks so much for reminding me…that part WAS from the book…just not Blind Target…it was from Episode Zero, I think…:-) I forgot to right that in my last thingy! I know…it doesn't seem like Odin to call Kid cute…but I do have reasons! .:nod nod:. Well, first Odin was REALLY happy… last mission and all…and what with him gunna Adopt Kid… And I wanted to show his playful side…him trying to be father like…to show he's not so much of a cold assassin who doesn't care…I was hoping it would raise the emotional level a little when I killed him…:-( You will have to read on for the answers to your questions…muahahaaa! Thanks again!
Wing Zero-oh no! I don't think I read your review in time to spare Odin that death… oopsy! Hope I didn't lose you with that one! Tell yah what? No more meaningless deaths…for a while…haha…but I don't think Odin's was meaningless…he HAD to die…
ZaKai-Well, I think everyone here is well and better…no more sickness! Yay! Sorry I didn't post sooner…I was on an emotional trip…lol. I'm gunna be gone soon though, my house is getting new flooring, so my parents are going on a trip…hopefully I'll be able to stick around to care for Lady though… Great…now I'll be reduced to writing on paper…:-/ Just dandy…
MissionWingZero-FOOD! Yummm! .:opens bag that MWZ brought for Luna:. Just what I needed! A bag of…of…pocky? AH! Well…least I won't starve… And hey! Get in line! It's MY turn to beat J…then Alex's turn…oh and Nat too! I'll save the gun for you though, k? Kinda puts you in last place though…for obvious reason…but we'll try to keep him alive for the finale!Krage-I'm glad you liked the chapter! Hope you liked this one too!