I'M BACK! Finally! Hoping to get as much of this story and "In the Shadow" out to you all before my summer break ends and it's back to teaching. I am planning to take the ChristyVerse all the way through Endgame and beyond but it's going to be a long road playing catchup. But this is a nice, fuzzy detour for me, in more ways than one. I'm thinking this story will be about 10-11 chapters long. I don't want to drag it out too much, especially now with Endgame fixits on the brain.

Chapter Two: Too Late

Bruce was usually an early riser. So was Natasha, but ever since staying with him, she had learned to treasure sleeping in.

Plus, it was a well-known fact that Bruce was the better cook of the two of them. She liked letting him make breakfast.

He swung out of bed around six o'clock that next morning and padded into the kitchen. A warm wave of hot air hit him as he left their air-conditioned main room.

Central air-con would be nice… he thought idly, before noticing that he was not alone.

"Gah!" he gasped out, before recognizing the figure. "S-Shanta…what are you doing up?" He only remembered to speak Hindi at the last second.

The girl looked up at him with scared eyes, the same melty brown as dark chocolate. "S-sorry, Mr. Uncle Bruce! I wanted to make breakfast!"

"Well, that's good…" Bruce said, kneeling down. "I was just about to do that. Wanna help me?"

Shanta shook her head. "No…make for you. And Auntie Tasha."

Bruce frowned. "And when would you eat?"

"Later."

Bruce took a deep breath. "No, sweetie. In my house, kids eat first."

Shanta looked very confused. "But you…you should eat first. Boys do."

"Not in my house." Bruce repeated softly. "Do you want me to show you how to make eggs?"

After a moment of hesitation, Shanta nodded. "Yes, please."

Bruce opened their tiny fridge and pulled out eggs and butter.

"See, you put the butter in the pan, so that it makes the metal all smooth. That way, the eggs don't stick to the pan."

He expertly cracked an egg into a bowl and tossed the eggshell in the tiny trashcan. "Do you want to do this?"

Shanta nodded eagerly, following his movements with careful eyes. "Yes, please, Uncle! How many?"

"Mm…eight."

"…that is a lot."

Bruce chuckled. "I'm a big guy. That's two eggs each."

Shanta nodded finally. "Anish eats…a lot. But not when I'm hungry."

Bruce could piece together what that meant.

The old 'oh I'm not hungry, you take it' trick…

"Does he do that a lot?" Bruce asked casually.

Shanta scrunched up her face. "…more here. But sometimes at home."

"And…where is home?"

"Baligari." Shanta kept cracking eggs. "It's far away. We had to hide on a train to get here because we didn't have any money. Anish hid us."

Bruce was sure his eyes were bulging. He considered himself decent at maps and geography, but India was a land of ten thousand villages and tens of thousands of people. He'd certainly never heard of this place. It might as well be the ends of the earth.

"…why did you have to hide on the train?" he tried, pressing his luck further.

Shanta stopped cracking eggs. "…my stepmother didn't like us. Baba went to get work in the city, but he stopped writing. People said he died. She was going to get rid of Anish. He yelled at her too much."

Bruce nodded slowly. These kids weren't the only ones he'd heard with stories like these. They were just lucky their story hadn't ended like some of the worst ones.

"So you came to Kolkata."

Shanta nodded. "Anish tried to get a job. But they said he was too little. So we begged. And then that man said he would pay for me to do some work, but Anish didn't like him…"

Bruce's blood ran cold. "T-the man last night?"

"Yes…"

"Sweetie…please never go with strange men that offer you a job. Please…"

Shanta shook her head. "I never go anywhere Anish doesn't say is safe. And I never go most places without him. He's my best friend!"

"I'm glad you have him, then. You finish the eggs?"

"Yes! Now what do I do?"

Bruce showed her how to scramble the eggs with a fork and then poured them into the hissing skillet.

"Do you and Anish like fried potatoes?" he asked.

Shanta let out a little squeak and nodded. "Y-yes!"

"And…" he checked out the window and grinned. "Mango?"

The squeak became a full squeal as Shanta was practically dancing around the kitchen.

"Y-y-yes, sir!"

Bruce couldn't help but laugh as he pressed some coins into the girl's hand. "Go buy three mangoes from the lady on the corner. She should give you a good price."

Shanta dashed out the door at breakneck speed. Natasha came into the kitchen.

"Mango and potatoes?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like quite the party, Uncle Bruce."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "They deserve it. Is Anish still asleep?"

"He snores like Pietro. And I'm not about to wake him up. He probably needs the rest."

"Probably. Shanta was saying some things."

"Oh?"

Bruce quickly filled Natasha in on the little he now knew of their new guests' backstory.

Natasha sat down at the table with a quiet, sad look on her face.

"What a waste…" she whispered. "So many kids and so many faces, and so many with no one to be grateful for them every day." she touched her stomach unconsciously. "God, what a waste."

Bruce put a hand on her shoulder. "We can't…we probably shouldn't…I can talk to people at work. See if there's any place open.

Natasha nodded. "That's the smart thing to do."

Bruce caught what wasn't said.

"C'mon…you think we can make like Steve? This isn't the States, and adoption is hard enough there! It's a good thing Christy's case was so open and shut. Here, who knows what we'll have to deal with!"

Natasha shrugged. "They probably wouldn't let us adopt, anyway. I've got a criminal record so long, you could use it for a blanket."

Bruce sighed, feeling a thousand different emotions all at once.

It was then that Shanta chose to burst in with three delicious, yellow mangoes, happily triumphant over her prize. All thoughts of serious talk immediately flew out the window.

Anish eventually woke up and padded quietly into the kitchen. His eyes immediately went to Bruce, standing at the stove.

Natasha smirked. "I told you he likes to cook." she said.

Anish nodded and sat down like he was in a daze. "I…I am sorry I slept so long."

"Don't be. Your body must have needed it." Natasha pushed a cup of chai across the table to him. "Was the mattress nice?"

"Yes! More than nice! It…it was…everything was nice." He hung his head shyly. "I don't know how we can pay you back."

"Help me do dishes later and we'll call it even." Natasha said, drinking her own tea.

Anish gave her a suspicious look. "…why are you helping us? We're nothing. Street trash…"

Natasha returned his look with a cool one of her own.

"I used to think the same thing about myself."

"Y-you?! But you're so…you're a lady."

Natasha laughed, long and ironically. "I've done a lot of things that aren't so ladylike. Bad things. Things that make it hard to sleep at night. I used to think nobody wanted me, either. 'Till some people proved me wrong and showed me I was worth more than what I could do."

"So…you don't want anything from us?"

Natasha breathed out, deeply.

I mean, I can think of something I'd like. But it's not going to happen.

She shook her head.

"Just for you to eat your breakfast, kid."

"So, they can't come here…"

"No, I'm afraid not."

Bruce was sitting in the Director's office at Hope Center, hoping for some luck at finding a placement for Shanta and Anish.

Chandra, the director, was looking at other orphanages and schools they had contacts with.

"And…most of these places are one gender only. Or they separate the kids during the day."

"Yes, it seems so. And many of them are very full right now. It would take some time to find an open spot. Even then, it would not guarantee they could go together."

"I don't think they'd do well being separated. Is it legal for them to stay with us? Will we get in trouble?"

Chandra frowned. "Let me look into that. You might be able to foster them, if you put in the correct paperwork. But…you said they ran away from one of the villages, far outside Kolkata."

"Yeah, I looked up their village. It's east of here. Real tiny."

"So far, no one seems to have come after them?"

"I…don't think there was anyone who really was all that concerned with coming after them."

Chandra gave a slow nod. "There are many children in that state, unfortunately. They were comfortable with you and your partner?"

"Yeah, the last I checked, Shanta was taking a nap on Natasha."

Chandra looked as though she were trying very hard to hide a smile. "You might have some work, not getting attached."

"…I think we've failed at that. But we probably shouldn't get our hopes up."

"I can make inquiries. There might be a lot of paperwork."

Bruce shrugged. "I've faced a lot of things in life. Paperwork somehow doesn't scare me."

"Very well, then. I'll look into things. I'm sure you'll do your own research. In the meantime, no one is probably going to question things too much. If anyone does give you any trouble for having them stay with you, you can bring them here. The boy is very young?"

"Yeah, only about ten. The last thing on his mind is hurting any of the girls here. He's only focused on keeping his sister safe."

"Then that will be the worst-case plan." Chandra smiled at him. "I'll let you know about any paperwork."

"Thank you…you really don't have to do this."

"Bruce, trust me when I say, you would make a wonderful father. And Natasha would make a wonderful mother. I think you both could use children to dote on and spoil utterly. You do so enough with the girls here. They didn't really need an entire pack of sweets each last week."

Bruce smirked. "But the stall had such a good deal on that coconut candy…"

Chandra rolled her eyes. "Americans…"

Shanta was currently asleep on the couch. Natasha was sharpening a knife. Anish was watching very closely.

"…why do you have so many weapons?"

"I've had a lot of weird jobs."

She hoped that would satisfy him. He was quiet for a moment, until he asked another question.

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

Natasha hesitated. But something told her this kid would see right through it if she told a lie.

"…yes."

"…did you cry after?"

Natasha looked down at the knife. "Sometimes. It depended on who it was."

Anish nodded, as though he could understand. Maybe he could.

"I'm not a very good person." he whispered. "That's why she didn't want me."

Natasha frowned. "'She…?'"

"My stepmother. She just wanted Shanta because Shanta is good at doing as she's told. I'm not. I always argue and fight. So we left."

"You sound like someone I know. He has a sister he wanted to protect, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah…you'd like him." Natasha smiled, just a bit. "He's always saying things and making jokes. He didn't know why we…why me and some friends of mine…wanted to help him. But we helped him anyway."

Anish studied her carefully. "Why did you help him?"

Natasha reached out and smoothed his hair. "Because he was a smart-ass punk and needed us. That was it, he needed us. And that was enough."

Anish leaned into the touch slowly. Natasha hid her smile.

Stalking the wild boy…no sudden movements.

"Yeah, he reminds me a lot of you, actually. His name's Pietro. He likes to run, all the time. I barely ever see him still. Last I heard, he was trying to become an actor."

"Like a movie actor?"

"Nah, not quite that famous…although he could be. In plays. He's dramatic. That's one thing that different, you're much quieter."

"…noise gets you in trouble."

"Not around here. We don't mind noise at all."

Anish shifted ever-so-slightly closer. "…how come you haven't made us do chores?"

"Is the apartment that much of a wreck, that you keep offering to clean it?"

"N-No!" Anish looked nervous. "No, I didn't mean… but most people only want us for work."

"We don't want you for work."

"Then why do you want us?"

He was even closer now, almost to where Natasha could reach out and hug him. But she sat still.

"We want you…" she said slowly, biting her lip, "…to rest. To be safe until you can…go somewhere else, to go to school."

Anish's eyes darted to the couch. "Please…please, miss, don't make me leave Shanta. She…I can't."

"You won't leave your sister." Natasha soothed. "I know promises are worthless right now…but I promise."

Anish stared at her with baleful brown eyes. "P-please…"

Natasha never knew exactly what made her do it, but she reached out and tugged the boy against her in a hug.

"Hey." she whispered. "It's okay…you're safe here. You're not here for work, or to be used and shoved in the trash. I promise…I promise…"

She could feel him trembling as he lay on her chest for what seemed like hours.

And she knew, deep in her heart, that there was no going back from this.

Well, so much for 'don't get attached'…

After a long while, Anish sat up and sniffed a bit. He glanced at the knife.

"C-can you teach me how to use that, Auntie?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. But her tone was soft when she realized he was still leaning against her. "Now why exactly do you need to know how to use a knife?"

"…to keep Shanta safe?"

"And not at all because it would look cool, huh?"

There was the tiniest flash of guilt in Anish's face. Natasha held in a laugh.

"Alright, but we have to be quiet, so we don't wake Shanta. Stand up and face me."

Anish practically jumped up.

"Now, the most important rule in fighting is to make the other person not want to fight you…"

Annnnnnd, Natasha is training yet again. :)

Review are Asian mangoes. The best mangoes in the world.