It was early in the morning when the messenger came to Leorio's door. A few rapid knocks, then a letter under the door brought him news that Sireno had another job for him. Slightly different once again, but the pay rate would climb accordingly, details in person.
It wasn't like he wasn't happy with the extra cash, but the memory of the children in cages had kept his mind restless for the last few days. He couldn't settle between knowing business was business, but that trading in human lives was one of the worst things he could imagine. How many of those children had families searching form them, mourning the loss, presuming them dead?
People in power always say that sacrifices are needed for progress, but was it really necessary? Was it needed? There were more than a million ways to make money in the world, and so many didn't involve stepping on another person to get it. He wanted to be a doctor so people wouldn't have to struggle for money like he did, so they didn't have to trample other people just for treatment.
That was it. He'd have to make his choice. He had to quit.
No more money built on others suffering.
When he reached the warehouse, two massive trucks and a car were already idling. The office was the first place he check, but not without sparing a look to the back where the cages had been.
They were all gone.
A whistle rung out, drawing his attention to Sireno leaning out of the office. They waved him over, and Leorio braced himself to break the news. As he strode in, his attention was caught by the flash of oddly familiar red and blue.
The blond he'd helped was standing by the desk, back straight and arms crossed, eyeing him with a calm assessment. Sireno had retreated back to their chair, shuffling through a stack of papers.
"Yo, took your time buddy. We'll have to keep things short, so this is the new blood." They waved to the blonde without looking up, but let out a small laugh, "He don't look like much, but he made a convincing argument to join on as a bodyguard. Be sure to get along."
Seeing the confusion and shock on Leorio's face, the blonde put a finger to his lips in an obvious 'keep quiet' gesture. He then extended a hand.
"Kurapika."
"...r- right." He accepted the shake, the offer of a name clicking, "Leorio."
Sireno stood suddenly, "Good, now we're all friends, we'll head out."
They made a beeline for the car, signalling to a few others mulling around, who promptly got into the trucks. Kurapika kept on their heels, and Leorio stumbled behind, feeling lost.
"Hey. Hey! You haven' even told me what this job is! You don't even know if I was going to accept it!"
She slapped the roof of the car, sliding into the back seat. Kurapika took the seat to their right, and Leorio fumbled to sit to their left, mentally cursing that he was still following along, and not leaving like he said he would. Sireno patted the shoulder of the bulky man in the drivers seat, who began to drive away. She leaned back, grinning up at Leorio.
"We got a buyer, a real good deal, but he wants the goods asap, so we're moving it all out." She jutted a thumb towards the trucks now following in convoy.
"And you wanted me here because?" He gave he an honest look of disbelief.
"Because there's gonna be a chance for trouble, so I want my favourite medic on hand so I can go all out should the situation arise." Her grin was wicked, and she quickly pulled out one of her hidden knives to play with.
That sickening dread once again filled Leorio's stomach, thoughts of bullet wounds and knife slashes filing his minds eye. He spared a glance to Kurapika, who was calmly staring forward. The car was already moving too fast for him to make a break for it, and the idea of upsetting Sireno and being against those countless blades in a small space was a death wish.
He was stuck, for now.
He leaned back in his seat and sighed. Maybe he could do something for the captives, should the situation arise. He didn't have any information on this 'buyer', but considering all the cages were on the move, they weren't likely to have good intentions.
They'd been on the road for hours, making a steady pace. Dark clouds rolled by, breaking up the harsh sun with the threat of rain. Leorio almost thought the downpour was starting when he heard a 'plink' against the car, except that the second 'plink' was much louder, and caused him to turn to see the spiderweb crack in the window behind his head.
There was a bullet wedged in the centre.
Sireno let out a humorless laugh when they followed his line of sight.
"Well, now I'm happy to have spent the extra on bullet proof glass."
They sat forward and spoke to the driver, while Kurapika turned to scan the road outside. They were still on a mostly dirt road, flanked by a growing forest on the left and dry farmland on the right, the amount of dust being kicked up making it hard to make out any distant attackers. Leorio looked back past the crack as a few more bullets struck the car, and the driver began to make evasive action, spying a change in the dust.
"One of the tucks is stopping!"
"Bastards." Sireno practically spat the word.
Of all things, no one in the car had expected Sireno to climb over Kurapika's lap to open the door, flipping off the now motionless truck with a string of curses.
"Sellouts! Fuckwits! Morons! I'll gut you all for this!"
Another bullet wizzed past, and Kurapika did their best to drag Sireno back inside.
"That isn't going to help. It's happened, now we need to consider our options."
Sireno let off a few more curses, before righting themselves, "Right."
"We could stop and fight, which could either get us the tuck back, or we lose both of them and our lives. Otherwise, we cut our losses and just keep going with the one, hoping they give up on pursuit."
There was a grumble, displeasure clear at those choices.
"Fuck, okay, so we-"
Before they could finish, the car swerved suddenly, and everyone was stuck with a feeling of weightlessness as they became airborne.
"-ck. Fuck!"
The next thing Leorio saw was Sireno, frantically kicking at the buckled car door. The glass was close to the ground and at an angle, already dislodged from the frame as it became clear the car was now on it's roof. He turned his head and found that the other door already missing, so why were they trying to get out-?
The dust cleared partly, and the sight of one of the trucks barreling toward them became clear. It was on it's side, somehow torn open with it's content spilling away. It struck the car with only enough force to shake them once again, both skidding further along the road. When he dared to open his eyes again, it was when he heard a triumphant noise from Sirneo, who quickly wormed their way out of the wreckage.
It took him a few moments longer to right himself and pull through the small gap. The dust swirled around him, and his head felt like a blur. His ears rang and his vision swam, but the rising noise of distress and more gunfire helped him shake it off. Littering the road was now a number of broken boxes and cages, scattering their content all around. His self preservation urged him to run, the cover of the tree line only meters away, but his heart screamed to check the cages.
The ones he could see through the dust were mostly wide open, and either empty, or twisted in a way that only the sheen of blood could be made out. His brain fought hard against his heart, which begged and pleaded with him to check for even the slimmest chance of survival. In some compromise, he dragged his feet to the closest tree, trying to get some cover from the bullets scattering the ground. His eyes scanned frantically.
Empty, bloodied, twisted, blood-
He recognised that cage, and there was clear movement within. He dashed out and surveyed its sides, finally putting his eyes on the lock, and the pale hands around it.
"Get back!"
The hands retreated, and Leorio pulled his knife, bringing it down into the lock with one swift motion. It clattered and cracked, and with a quick kick it fell loose, letting the door fall open. He bent to look in, meeting the same glaring blue eyes, though this time there was a level of panic in them. He was trying to lift his injured friend, being careful of the arm and leg still bound in bandages. A stray bullet struck the cage and made it clear there wasn't time.
"Take my hand!" Leorio reached in, aiming his call at the darker haired boy, who looked at him for the briefest moment before extending his un-injured arm. He grasped his wrist and pulled, tucking the boy under his arm and turning to run in one swift motion. He didn't need to look to know the other boy was hot on their heels, eyes boring into the back of his skull. Leorio sprinted into the trees and just kept running, until the sound of guns was long gone, and then continued to run some more. When he almost fell over a fallen log, he finally came to a stop, heaving for breath.
"I- I think we're good for no-"
The three of them went on alert. Leorio could feel something approaching, that weird twist in his stressed senses again, but the boy under his arm seemed to zero in on the source as he craned his neck to look into the woods. They were getting closer and closer at a rapid pace, and there was only moments for them to choose to start running again-
"Thank fuck you're alive buddy!"
Sireno came into view from the shadows, clear relief still tainted by stress, Kurapika following behind. Leorio gave them an innocuous look, before his anger boiled up.
"Because leaving me alone in that car really helped my survival chances!"
"Erh, bygones be bygones." They waved dismissively, "What matters is we get away as fast as possible."
He huffed as the dismissal, peering back into the woods, "We're pretty far now…"
She shook her head, expression dropping into fear, "Those weren't ordinary bandits. I stopped to see who it was, and instead found a terrifying aura."
Kurapika nodded, apparently understanding, "I concur. We should put as much distance as we can between us and them, should they come hunting for straggling survivors."
Leorio looked over the children with him. The white haired boy was on the defensive, but wasn't looking to move without his friend, and the dark haired boy was watching with those wide eyes, flicking between the people and the trees.
He crouched, slowly lowering the boy to adjust his carry, tucking his other arm under his knees and pulling him close to his chest. The boy didn't protest, shifting only to rest his broken arm on his chest. Now at eye level, Leorio met the blue eyed glare once more.
"It'll be safer to stick together for now. Are you okay to follow along?"
The boy hesitated, and life in the slums told Leorio that he was still assessing if he could take down the group and escape with his friend. But then the boy in his arm shifted and smiled, and the look dissipated, followed by a resigned nod.
"Good."
Leorio stood, catching a glimpse of a small smile on Kurapika's face. Sireno let out an impatient noise and began heading deeper into the woods, the group taking up a small jog as they hopped to disappear into the shadows.
"Do you have names?"
They'd travelled for quite some time, and darkness had settled within the forest, leading to Kurapika's suggestion of making camp. Adrenaline had long worn off and the wiriness was beginning to show in stumbles and loss of direction. They collapsed into a small clearing, and set up a small campfire.
It turned out Kurapika had scooped up some of their luggage, including Leorio's briefcase, letting him check over everyone for injuries, and tend to the older ones on the boys. He was re-wrapping the splint when he realised he'd never asked such a simple question. Sitting content in his lap, the dark haired boy grinned at him.
"I'm Gon!" He pointed to the other boy, who stared from over his crossed arms resting on his drawn up knees, "He's Killua."
The white haired boy, Killua, clicked his tongue and looked away.
"Nice to meet you, though unfortunately not under the best circumstance. I'm Leorio." He also pointed out his companions, "The crazy one is Sireno, the calm one is Kurapika."
"Don't assign me labels!" Sireno seethed, briefly turning from their conversation with the 'calm one', who simply gave a look and small wave at the introduction.
Gon waved back, and Leorio chuckled, still a little dazed at the situation they'd fallen into. This morning he'd planned to quit gang work and find a proper job, and now he was apparently running for some unknown force with two kids, a practical stranger and a business associate.
"Do either of you have family?"
It was too late now to change anything, so why not go back to his thoughts of helping the children out? It seemed the least he could do, given the situation.
Gon scratched his cheek, looking a little sheepish.
"Yeah. I kinda left home to look for my Dad. Killua was helping me look since… uh…"
Killua was glaring at them, clearly not looking to have his past explained to a stranger, but Leorio could get the gist of it.
"So basically, you're both runaways, who ended up snatched while you were out exploring."
The way both boys froze confirmed that he'd hit the nail on the head. Killua began to grumble something about 'stupid strong weirdos' and directed his glare towards Sireno, which made a small connection in Leorio's head. Most of the scratches had healed up, but the sheer amount of them, and the depth of only a few, made it clear who Killua had tried to fight.
"Listen," He kept his tone hushed, "Until those breaks are healed, I think it's going to be safer for you both to stick around with us. You might not like it for now, but I give you my word that once were in the clear, I'll help you get to somewhere safer."
Killua looked back to him with eyes much to cold and calculating for a young boy.
"You better keep your promise old man, or else I'll kill you."
Leorio paled.
"I don't doubt you would… and I'm not old!"
As Gon laughed at the exchange, Leorio lent further back towards the tree, wondering if he could catch a little shut eye before things got any worse in his life.
AN: Aw, everyone is introduced to each other. Now how will things fall apart? Who exactly is following them, and why? Hehehe, what trouble for Leorio...