A/N: Sorry this took a little longer, I'd meant to update yesterday but I've been lacking sleep lately. :)

Without giving his marks another glance, without running or drawing attention to himself at all, Rusty veered off into an alley.

Saul followed, hurrying across the street, but by the time he got there the alley was empty apart from an abandoned wallet. Checking no one was around, he picked it up and flicked through it. Only the cash was missing.

He smiled for a second before telling himself sharply that the pride was absolutely inappropriate. The lift itself had been straightforward enough, it had been the way Rusty sized up his mark, the way he'd let so many people go by before he'd found the people who wouldn't notice, the way he'd immediately moved to lose the evidence.

Obviously he'd done this before. The smile faded.

He looked down the alley in time to see Rusty walking into a diner on the next street. Okay. Rusty was safe and that was the main thing, but now he needed to somehow persuade Rusty to come back. He didn't know what he could say that could be convincing. He had nothing.

When he walked inside the diner Rusty was being sneered at by the man behind the counter. "Look, kid, it's no good you looking like that. I told you. You want something, you're going to have to ask for it."

Rusty was pointing at the menu behind the guy's head. There was a pile of cash on the counter and Rusty looked upset and frustrated. His hands were shaking, and his head was ducked, like he was unwilling or unable to look the guy in the eye.

Saul walked up behind him and stood a reasonable distance away but at the same time he was between Rusty and the door and he knew he'd be able to stop the child if he ran.

Don't run, he begged silently, as Rusty tensed up, obviously aware someone was there.

He glanced at the menu where Rusty was pointing. "He'd like the pancake breakfast," he told the guy and Rusty looked up at him sharply, shock written all over his face. Saul affected not to notice. "That's right, isn't it?" he asked gently.

A long moment of silence and he could see the calculation being played, could see Rusty weighing up his options.

I'm no threat to you, he pleaded. I just want to help. He could only pray Rusty understood.

At last, Rusty nodded shortly, swallowing hard, his hand gripping the edge of the counter and Saul was alarmed to see him sway.

He looked at the goosebumps on Rusty's arms. It was so cold out. "A hot chocolate too," he said. "Please."

"Sure thing," the guy said disinterestedly. "You paying or should I take this?" he gestured to the money on the counter and Saul was already automatically reaching for his wallet.

But somehow, Rusty had frozen, a flicker of absolute fear running across him, and Saul realised that for whatever reason, that would be a very, very bad idea. All his efforts were balanced on a knife edge, and if he made a wrong move, said the wrong thing, he'd lose Rusty forever.

"Take that," he said smoothly, and the guy picked up Rusty's money and turned away. "And get me an omelette and a coffee. Separate check."

"Sure thing," the guy said again and he took Saul's money too.

"Let's go get a seat," Saul suggested quietly, nodding towards the back of the diner. "We got things we need to discuss."

He found them a booth and Rusty stood awkwardly, staring at the table. Saul wasn't sure if he was considering running or if he just wasn't willing to sit down without permission. Both, maybe.

"Sit," he said, as gently as he could. "Please."

Without looking at him, Rusty slid down onto the seat, his legs curled under him.

"Sorry," Saul said with a sigh. "If I'd thought, I would have brought the cushion."

Rusty's eyes darted across the room, lingering on the few people uncomfortably.

Saul took a deep breath. He had to do this and he had to do this right. This wasn't just about cold reading, he had to understand. He nodded sympathetically. "I suppose it would be embarrassing," he agreed softly. "But it was more comfortable for you, wasn't it?"

He almost smiled as Rusty looked up at him sharply, wonderingly. He'd guessed right. He waited expectantly and Rusty nodded slowly.

"The doctor said you should use it for at least a week," he told Rusty. "Until the stitches come out."

He was watching every expression carefully, and that was the only reason he caught the momentary frown.

Right. They hadn't thought Rusty understood what was going on. They hadn't told Rusty what was going on. His lips were set in a thin line of disapproval, and Rusty hunched over fearfully, as though he was waiting for retribution.

"I'm not angry with you," he said quickly, afraid that Rusty might bolt. "I - "

The food arrived, the guy practically dropping it onto the table, not even looking at either of them, and still Saul saw the way Rusty moved away, like he thought the guy might reach out and grab him any second.

"Hey," he said softly, as the guy walked off without a backward glance. "It's okay, Rusty. You're safe." He hesitated. "Do you believe me?"

A long moment and then Rusty nodded eagerly, not looking up.

Saul sighed. Obviously Rusty was offering exactly what he thought Saul wanted to hear. And that told him exactly how safe Rusty felt. "I would never let him hurt you," he said. He took a deep breath. "I wasn't angry with you. I was just...annoyed...that the doctors didn't tell you everything. You have a right to know what's happening with your body."

Rusty looked up at him, staring like he was speaking a foreign language, and then as if he suddenly realised what he was doing, quickly looked away.

If it didn't hurt so much, Saul might have laughed.

"Eat your breakfast," he instructed. "Then we'll talk."

He stayed silent while Rusty ate, not wanting to interrupt when it was obvious the child needed all the nourishment he could get. He was so thin that it was frightening, and he hunched over his plate, guarding it like he expected Saul to take it away any moment. Table manners were a discussion for some far future time. Right now, he just wanted Rusty to eat, and he was unhappy when Rusty stopped when he'd barely eaten half of the pancakes.

Saul ate more leisurely, but he put down his knife and fork when Rusty did. "Better?" he asked, smiling slightly, leaning back and trying to project a non threatening air.

Rusty nodded fractionally.

"Drink your hot chocolate too," Saul urged. "You still look cold."

Rusty didn't drink immediately, but his hands were wrapped around the mug, apparently warming himself.

Saul nodded. "So I guess we should talk about why you left."

Flinching imperceptibly, Rusty glanced quickly towards the door.

"Don't run," Saul said quickly. "Please don't run. Right now, I just want to talk, okay?" He paused for a long second, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say. He was only going to get one chance at this. "I'm sorry," he began softly. "That I made you feel like you had to run."

Rusty wasn't looking at him but he could see the flicker of confusion and curiosity.

"You thought I was going to hurt you last night," he stated, and Rusty shook his head slowly, and he was giving Saul what he wanted to hear again. "Yes you did," he said quickly. "I know you did and I understand. I don't want to hurt you, Rusty. I will never want to hurt you, but I know that you've been hurt before." He took a deep breath. "I'm offering you somewhere safe, that's all. I told you – hot food, a warm bed...anything you want. Anything you need. And no one is going to hurt you or...or force you, or touch you in any way that makes you uncomfortable."

Really, this was nothing he hadn't said before. He sighed. "Rusty...what do you think is going to happen if you keep running? Even if you can get money, If you're living on the streets, it's cold, it's hard and there are people who will hurt you. Do you really think you can live like that?"

The head shake was minute, but it was weary and defeated and it made Saul's heart ache. He didn't want to win like this.

"And the police will be looking for you," he went on. "If you leave, I'll have to tell them and they'd need to find you to take you back some place safe."

Oddly, he much preferred the little motion of defiance, the stubborn set of Rusty's jaw. These little hints that the child wasn't completely broken were really all he had to go on.

"Listen to me," he said intently. "It is not a question of whether you can survive on your own, it's a question of what you deserve." He saw the shudder and winced, pressing on quickly. "And you deserve to be happy, safe and looked after by someone who cares for you, just like all children."

Rusty's head was turned to one side, listening thoughtfully, and encouraged, Saul smiled at him. "Come back with me," he pleaded. "Please, Rusty."

Very, very slowly, Rusty nodded, and Saul felt his heart sing.

Saul was right. He couldn't hope to make it on his own. He'd got lucky lifting the money, and even that hadn't been enough to get him food. If Saul hadn't found him, he'd still be trying to persuade the man in the diner to take his order. And it was so cold outside, and even in the brief time he'd tried sleeping, he'd been found and kicked and if he hadn't managed to get away...

Saul was right. Dr Mayhew was right. He couldn't take care of himself, and that left him nothing but a burden, a filthy parasite feeding off normal, decent people.

And Saul was giving him a second chance. He should be grateful, but all he could think was how to get away with repaying as little as possible. He had to go back with Saul, that was a given, but maybe, just maybe, if he refused the more obvious privileges, maybe Saul wouldn't use him too much.

After all, Saul had repeatedly said that he didn't want to hurt him unless it was necessary, and he'd said that he wouldn't let anyone else force him, or touch him, so maybe he wasn't planning on sharing him round again. He just had to be good and avoid taking anything he didn't deserve, that was all. Oh, if Saul wanted him, he'd be obedient, but other than that...he wasn't gonna give him the excuse.

Apart from anything else, they'd said at the hospital that this was only for a few days. And Rusty strongly suspected that whatever was going on with Dr Mayhew would be sorted out by then and he'd be sent back and when that happened, he didn't want Saul to be able to tell Dr Mayhew he'd been bad or ungrateful.

Although he supposed Saul had beaten up Dr Mayhew. Might be that Dr Mayhew would prefer it if Saul found him defiant and unruly. Loyalty, or whatever. He shivered.

This was too complicated. He bit his lip hard. Alright. When he was sent back to Dr Mayhew, punishment was inevitable. For causing all this fuss, if nothing else. Same if he was sent on to another new institute. He wasn't going to be able to get out of it no matter what, so in the meantime he should just try and avoid...he should just try and avoid everything.

He followed Saul out of the diner, slipping a piece of pancake into his pocket while Saul's back was turned, managing to quickly wipe away the stickiness from his hands with a wad of napkins. The jeans wouldn't be so easy to clean, but having food saved for later made that a worthwhile risk.

Saul flagged down a taxi as they stepped outside, and for a moment, remembering how much the taxi had cost last night, he really did think about running again. Oh, this wasn't fair. He couldn't even try to refuse...except it was his own fault for running. This was just something else he owed Saul for tracking him down, and he already knew he couldn't get away from that.

Running still seemed so tempting though.

He climbed on the back seat awkwardly, and the driver was staring at him disapprovingly in the mirror, his eyes seeming to linger on the bruises on his face. Rusty looked away quickly, forcing himself to be fascinated by the pattern of mud splattered up his shoelaces.

"Just drive," Saul said, sounding almost curt as he gave the driver the address.

Took longer than he'd expected – he must have wandered further than he'd thought. Not like he knew this part of town too well.

"We'll talk more when we get in," Saul told him quietly, and he wondered if that would be when Saul would punish him. He wondered how Saul would punish him...wasn't like the apartment had a basement. Maybe Saul would just beat him...punishment probably counted as necessary hurting after all. Though there were lots of things that Saul could do that wouldn't actually involve hurting him and would still be so much worse. He shivered.

"But first we'll need to get you warmed up," Saul said, and he could feel the look on the side of his face.

He didn't look round. Wasn't the cold that was making him him shiver. Wasn't just the cold, anyway, he really was chilled to the bone, but that was beside the point.

Just go through with this, he told himself. There's nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. And he knew where open defiance would lead. This was his best and only option.

Least he thought so until he followed Saul up the stairs and saw Danny sitting on the doorstep, staring blankly into space.

For a second, Rusty froze. Danny looked...lost. Like the world had stopped making sense. Like someone had died.

Danny had come looking for him and he hadn't been here. Wasn't only Saul he'd run away from, and he hadn't even stopped to think for a second...

The words of apology and promise were frozen in his throat and he cursed himself.

Helpless to do anything else, he slipped past Saul and painfully crouched down in front of Danny.

"Rus'?" Danny whispered hoarsely, dashing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

He couldn't touch. He couldn't talk. He could barely bear to meet Danny's eyes, but he was sorry and he needed Danny to know that.

Danny nodded unsteadily a couple of times, swallowing hard, obviously fighting for control. "I...you said first thing!" he said, staring past Rusty towards Saul, anger and accusation making his voice crack. "I've been...I waited."

Waited. And Danny had said that he'd been looking for Rusty all the time he'd been gone.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Saul said regretfully, and Rusty frowned because the apology sounded genuine. "I should have realised you'd be worried." And that sounded like Saul meant it, like Saul hadn't wanted to upset Danny, and didn't that make some kind of difference?

And it wasn't even Saul's fault... He gently touched the ground beside Danny's hand, drawing Danny's attention in an instant, and with his eyes, he tried to tell Danny that it was all his fault.

Danny frowned. "You ran?" he whispered.

He nodded quickly.

Danny bit his lip. "Did he - "

He shook his head after barely a fraction of a second. After all, Saul hadn't.

But Danny didn't look convinced and when he looked at Saul his gaze was sharp and mistrustful, and how could Rusty possibly hope to convince Danny that it was okay for Saul to use him? There was no way. Danny's worldview wouldn't allow it, and there were days when Rusty thought that the world might just change to make him happy. But not today.

Nevertheless, he shrugged and tried to promise that it was all fine, and that just made Danny stare at Saul a little bit harder.

Saul didn't seem to notice, thankfully. Because the last thing Rusty wanted was for Saul to get mad at Danny.

"Let's get inside," Saul suggested, key in hand, and he must have been waiting for them to finish.

They stood up quickly and moved aside, and Danny carefully kept himself between Rusty and Saul as they walked in.

"I'm going to run a bath for you," Saul told him, looking at him unhappily. "You still look half frozen. In the meantime, take a seat and try and get warmed up. Both of you, help yourself to anything in the fridge or the cupboards."

"You sure he didn't hurt you?" Danny asked, once Saul had vanished into the bathroom and they could hear the water running. "He didn't..." Danny hesitated, and Rusty realised that Danny wasn't altogether sure of the words.

He shook his head anyway.

"But you think he might," Danny stated.

Wasn't exactly a question of 'might'. He shrugged.

Danny bit his lip. "What do you want to do?"

Really, there wasn't anything he could do. He shrugged again.

Danny sighed. "Well - "

The bathroom door opened and Saul emerged. "The bath's all ready for you, Rusty. Get warm and get clean, okay? I'll have a hot drink waiting for you when you're done."

He glanced anxiously at Danny, but Danny was watching Saul, a tiny, thoughtful frown apparent. "Go on, Rus'" he said quietly, throwing him a brief, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine."

Danny sounded certain, and he didn't exactly think that Saul was likely to do anything to Danny. But he still kept watching until the bathroom door was closed.

The bath was full of bubbles and hot water. He closed his eyes. So this was how it started. Things he didn't deserve and couldn't refuse. Saul had told him to get clean, and that wasn't just for his benefit, so refusing would be worse than being ungrateful. And even if he poured the water out and used cold, Saul would have no way of knowing that.

The warmth didn't come close to reaching the ice inside.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review.