Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT THIS FANFIC! All rights go to Kazuki Takahashi and their rightful owners.

Crow skidded to a halt in another dead end. He spun around and ran back the way he had came, blindly turning another corner and hoping he was going the right direction.

But after four more turns, five more twists, and two more puddles to fall into, Crow had to stop, double over, gasp for air, and face the fact.

He was lost.

Completely, hopelessly, one-hundred-ten-percent lost.

.x.

In his panicked stupor, Jack hadn't been paying attention to where he was running. Now he skidded to a horrified halt as he realized he had made a huge loop. The glow of lights shone through the rain. He heard Kiryu's raised voice, and the bang of a gun.

Jack stumbled backwards and fell. He landed hard on his backside in a puddle. Holding his breath, he staggered upright, turned, and ran back the way he came. He knew this alley. All he had to do was breathe and think about how to get to their hideout.

So he leaned against a dumpster, cleared his head as much as he could, and thought for a good ten seconds. The path illuminated in his head.

Focusing on that, he ran again.

.x.

Yusei pressed himself against the back corner as he heard the echo of dripping water, the squish of sodden footfalls, and the ragged panting of someone out of breath.

"Yusei?" a heavily accented voice whispered into the darkness. "Crow?"

"Who discovered this place and when?" Yusei whispered back.

The footsteps stopped. "Crow and Jack found this place on their nightly patrol seven weeks and three days ago."

Yusei pulled himself from the shadows. A soaking, dripping, shivering Jack stood in the doorway, waiting for his eyes to adjust. A basement that had survived the collapse of the building on top of it was what they called their storm shelter. A working minifridge with rations for a week and a half for four people sat in the back. A table, under which sat a pile of pillows, blankets, towels, spare clothes, and two Duel Disks, rested beside the white box. A few candles and two boxes of matches lay on the table.

"Is Crow here?" Jack asked as he advanced, still trailing puddles, into the basement. Yusei picked up two towels and threw them at him. Jack began peeling off his wet clothes. Neither dared to light a candle.

"No. He should have been here by now. He took the shortest way." Yusei heard another rumble of thunder.

"You don't think they…" He trailed off. He didn't want to finish his thought.

Neither did Yusei.

So in the end, he simply said, "I don't know."

.x.

Kiryu leapt onto a dumpster, did a front flip over a fence, and landed on his toes like a cat on the other side. The pistol was abandoned two alleys back. He could see the collapsed apartment and put on a burst of speed.

He was almost there when a figure shot out from a neighboring alleyway and slammed into him. Falling, Kiryu twisted, recognizing the little boy in a flash of lightning, and grabbed onto him. He landed on his back. Crow fell on top of him, tangled in his arms.

Not recognizing Kiryu, he screamed at the top of his lungs and began thrashing.

.x.

Yusei sat up as a distant scream pierced his ears. Jack paused in the drying of his torso, red from cold.

"That sounds like Crow," Jack whispered, his words hardly audible.

Yusei began to stand.

"No! You heard Kiryu! We have to stay put! What if there's still Sector running around?"

Slowly, Yusei sat back down. Jack had a point.

.x.

Screaming, Crow knew it was Sector Security. He lashed out and caught the assailant square in…something. He knew he hit him, and by the groan he got, it was sensitive.

"No—stop it—you stupid—delinquent!"

Squirming free, Crow staggered upright and ran, tears falling from his eyes and mixing with the rain. He could now see the apartment.

Without bothering to make his presence known, check for danger, do anything sensible, he ran into the basement, fell down the stairs, and landed with a cry at the bottom.

He heard two shocked gasps, and rolled onto his back, flailing for something to grab onto. He struggled to his knees, crawled toward the nearest surface, collapsed, and began to cry.

R&R please!