Daniel opened his eyes and slowly pulled himself out of his little ball.
He was on a bed, albeit a shabby one, but a bed nonetheless. He looked around and found Keith staring at him. Daniel hopped off the bed and sat in the chair directly in front of Keith.
"Where am I?" Daniel asked hoarsely.
"Safe from that gang." Keith just said.
"I guess I should say thank you for getting me out of that alley." Daniel mumbled.
"Daniel, you got caught up in the wrong people. Why?" Keith asked calmly.
"I didn't want to. At first, I was just stealing apples for food. And then there was this man that was after me all the time. He kept trying to grab me or something, so I kept running from place to place. Then, the gang found me here. They were nice to me. Gave me food and a place to stay. Then, they dropped the act and chained me up for ten days. But, I noticed that I hadn't seen the man at all since they had taken me in. Ever since, I stole for them." Daniel explained quietly, his voice breaking a lot.
"We're going to try to get you away from them, but you have to trust us." Keith said.
Daniel looked at him seriously before hesitantly nodding.
"Good, now get some sleep. You're exhausted and injured." Keith ordered.
Daniel whined and protested that he was not tired, but he was already rubbing his eyes sleepily. Keith grinned at the little boy's antics, and he gently picked him up. Keith laid him down on the bed and carefully tucked him in so not to injure him further. Daniel snuggled into the bed and slept a little uneasily. His hand was curled up as if he were about to suck his thumb, but it didn't move. Keith sighed and took the hand, and he gently guided it Daniel's mouth. Daniel instantly took to sucking it and went into a peaceful sleep, once again curling up his little body into a looser than before fetal position.
The other pilots finally came back, and saw the boy.
"I take it he did wake up?" Lance guessed.
"Yeah, just for a few minutes though. He's really tired and hurt. We talked, and I ensured that he's not gonna run off." Keith reported quietly.
Allura walked over to the boy and studied him.
"Now he very much does remind me of Daniel. Besides the thumb sucking that is." Allura said, brushing back a lock of downy, brown hair from his face.
"You know, this kid is most likely Daniel." Pidge said.
"I hope we can save his tail from the danger he's in with that gang looking for him." Lance muttered.
"What do you mean they're looking for him?" Keith demanded.
"They're searching every nook and cranny for this kid, Keith. They may have beat the crap out of him, but he's valuable to them. Probably one of the best pickpockets they have if I were to guess." Lance explained.
"Kid, what have you gotten yourself into?" Keith sighed.
"Did he even give you a reason why he was fooling around with those guys?" Hunk asked.
"Daniel was already in deep trouble before the gang picked him up. He had a stalker, most likely a child molester at that, chasing after him. No matter where he went, this guy was there trying to grab him. Then the gang found Daniel, and the man was gone. They gave him protection from this bastard chasing him, and Daniel stole for them." Keith explained.
"Now I don't blame him. If I were him, I would've done the same." Lance said.
"Why not go to the authorities?" Allura asked.
"He's an orphan. The police would ask him where his parents were, and he wouldn't respond at all. So they'd either hold him there until a parent shows up, or they'll hand him over to CPS. But with the parent one, this guy could come in claiming to be his son, and they'd probably let him take him. Then that's a dead kid." Pidge explained.
"Though he's young, the kid's not an idiot. He knows what'll happen." Lance added.
"We need to get him out of here. Now. Without a doubt that gang will come here. And the people up front will most likely tell them what room we are and what we look like if asked." Keith announced.
The sudden squeal of tires caught their attention. Daniel jolted awake, fully alert and scared out of his wit.
"We need to go. Now." Daniel advised.
"That's the gang?" Lance asked.
"No, that's a rival gang. Do you know what they do to people in my gang?" Daniel said fearfully.
"Do they know you?" Keith asked.
"What do you think? I'm known by the whole town as The Mutts' pickpocketing shadow!" Daniel cried.
"Keith, they're inside the building. We can't leave through the door." Allura said.
"You know this city like the back of your hand. You probably know a way out that others don't. Am I right?" Keith asked, turning to Daniel.
"Yeah, there's a route of tunnels that lead out." Daniel replied.
He put an ear to the wall and lightly tapped it. He grinned at them, and gently eased his hand behind a panel. They heard a click, and the panel opened. A long dark tunnel opened to them.
"That's interesting." Lance remarked.
Daniel gave a mock bow and entered the tunnel. The pilots ran into it and the panel sealed. Right on time too if you asked them. A crash echoed off the walls, and they heard people yelling and cursing. Keith took Daniel's shoulder and urged him to lead on. So they began their long winding journey away from the city.
But little did they know that there was someone watching them…