Chapter 14

Children of the Night

Ally eyed the pile of entries with a despondent air. None of these fit her vision! Some were out of date, another too avant-garde (how did one even sit in that chair?), it all just looked wrong! This was supposed to be the new family center for the city's homeless population – a complete facility with beds, showers, even a fully equipped kitchen. Some of the architects didn't even know how these places operated. Their layouts didn't consider the wide turnover of peoples or the logistics of dealing with large amounts of donated food.

They just didn't understand! Not like she knew either. She had only been a runaway for three days, but she had experienced a lifetime in her short moments on the streets. They had been only children – Doc, Lightning, Fish… China. It was terrible conditions they had been in. The quartet resorted to living in a junkyard. She'd eaten cat food, even wanted to sell her body, she remembered with a shudder.

She'd read China's poetry. The words depicted her naiveté on the streets, so similar to Ally's when she had first run away. It was a blessing the brunette had run into the kindly group rather than being robbed or killed on her first day for her meager possessions. China's journal and those harrowing days stayed with her for the next 15 years.

Ally could have been another dark haired girl prostituting herself on a street corner. Her fate now was truly heaven sent.

She had reunited with her family. After yelling at her until their voices were raw, her parents tearfully welcomed her back home. She forgave her father. It was an impulsive mistake he had made with the other woman, just like her decision to run away was. Both those blunders had nearly cost them their families.

The grown woman now wanted to prevent future boys or girls from making the same mistake. A majority of the youths on the street could be saved with a warm, clean place to stay and sober up, medical facilities to take care of their ills, and a listening ear to heal their troubled hearts.

She started from the bottom volunteering as a counselor, drawing on her street experience to connect to the runaways. For some, it was as easy as a phone call to their worried families. For others, it was like talking to a brick wall. Many had clear medical and psychological problems that would take years to fix. She hoped she wouldn't see the same children lying dead in an alleyway, but at least there would be a place for them to stay.

If only she could decide on a design!

Maybe she should call it a day. It was obvious there was nothing to see here.

A soft coo of a dove called her attention to the window. How odd, she'd never seen one so far into the city before. She shook her head wryly. Stop daydreaming! She turned back to lock up her desk.

A plain green folder caught her eye on the top of the pile. Had that been there before? The entry was from a smaller independent design, but whoever drew the layout had talent. The building plan was simple, but knowledgeable of how a shelter should work. Even the color scheme on the walls was of a calming but easy to clean material.

It was perfect.

"Set up a meeting with them tomorrow," she told her administrative assistant, triumphantly waving the green folder in the air.

A man a few years older than her greeted Ally with a warm handshake the next afternoon. They settled down across the wooden conference table, the man neatly attired with a simple suit.

"Thank you for your submission." Ally commended. "Your design stood out among the others, as if you really understood what we needed, not just what we wanted."

A wry grin ghosted across the blonde man's face. "I'm actually quite familiar with homeless shelters."

Her eyebrows raised in curiosity as she leaned across the table closer to him. "You don't say." Something seemed so familiar with this person.

"I was in and out of them for a few years. I was very young, not even eighteen. I had a dad who liked to use me as a punching bag so I left. For a while, it was alright out on the streets, but one day I collapsed from undiagnosed tuberculosis. Thankfully cured now," he quickly added apologetically holding his hands up. He never noticed the woman's quiet gasp.

"Luckily an angel helped me to find a free clinic. Getting medical help was my second chance on life. I went back to school, got my degree in architecture, and found a good place to work. When your proposal came across my desk, I jumped at the opportunity." He gave the shelter coordinator a fond smile, "Especially since I found out you were in charge of the project, Alley Kat."

Her breath caught. Only two people living knew that name. She eyed his neatly tied back blonde hair and the slightly crooked nose.

"Doc?" she breathed. The boy who had saved her from a drugged out teen was sitting before her, whole and happy.

Her old friend laughed at her shocked reaction. "Monica visited me at the hospital to make sure I was ok. She told me your full name. I finally confirmed it when I was researching your company. Your profile had that same name and said you were from Lincoln, Nebraska."

She let out a remorseful groan, "I never could shut up about that." Ally listened with joy as the man updated her on everyone's progress.

"Lightning got clean. He's in Delaware, married with a son. Jazz is off the streets too. I visit the place where China and Fish died from time to time."

"Doc, you were always taking care of us." Ally murmured. With tears brimming in her eyes, she slid a hand into his, now warm and healthy. "It's you, it's really you. I didn't even know where to find you, to thank you."

He grinned across the table. The young girl had grown up to be a lovely, caring woman.

She continued on. "You'll love seeing what the city's doing to help with the homeless and runaways. It's so much better than someone handing out free sandwiches from a van, even if she was an angel." The last part she murmured quietly only to him. "You've won the contract, of course," she added as an afterthought. Her tendency to babble never did go away from her youth. "There's so much I want to ask you!"

Doc smiled, squeezing her hand with easy affection, "Dinner then? And I believe I promised you a house."

This episode was really heartbreaking with China's prostitution and death. Fish's death and Doc's sickness was terrifying. Doc and Ally were really sweet together and it's neat seeing Christopher Masterson and Madeline Zima in their early work. I haven't watched past Season 6 yet, but I have about 48 one-shots written up, some multiple to an episode.

Thanks,
Grignard