Maggie Mitchell finally felt like she had something that she never had before. Family. Or, at least… A shot at one. She was always the first one awake, and today was no exception. Up with the sun, that was always what her parents expected of her. Even here, in an underground bunker where the sun was just about as much of a thought as unicorns, she still was up early, cleaning up what little mess was made by the group of friends from District Eight the night before.

Well, from District Eight was kind of a strong word considering most all of them came from somewhere else. Two, Four, Capitol, she struggled to keep it all straight.

But that was the beautiful thing about it. What mattered wasn't where they were from, who they were before. It was just who they are now. It was a lesson that Maggie was still trying to learn for herself. From a well-to-do young lady to a renegade that had killed the President, she just wasn't sure where she fit. But maybe… Indy was right. Maybe she would fit here. Sure, a lot of the stories they told were downright unfathomable to her. She didn't always understand the jokes and more than a few times they laughed at her for not understanding something or asking a question that showed her sheltered upbringing. But it was a feeling of acceptance she hadn't ever had before with anyone else. We are glad fate brought you to us. We have your back.

So simple… Yet so meaningful.

Ow.

She looked down as she was picking up an armful, her face getting hot when she noticed the stick and poke she got last night. Ugh, a smile from a pretty girl and now she had a tattoo. A prison ink tattoo as well, since they didn't have the real goods! And she couldn't even blame it on being drunk either…

But it was so well-done. Her skin was a little red under the makeshift bandage that was covering the crescent moon shape on the top of her arm, where she would always see it.

"You sat so pretty, I'll do your knuckles next to match mine." Across eight of the ten fingers were letters that spelled out DUMB FUCK.

"O-Oh. N-No. No thanks."

"How's it healing?"

Maggie looked up at the voice and blushed a little bit when she saw Janine awake and watching her. "Oh. Hi," she said softly. "Well I definitely know it's there this morning. How should it be?"

Janine just chuckled. "The healing hurts worse than the doing on them," she said. She was still a little awed – getting to meet the person that assassinated the president – definitely not the reason people usually recognized her. But that man was evil. All of them are evil. She wished it didn't take her so many years to fully realize that, and put herself first. Maybe if she had… Em wouldn't be like this. "Welcome to being a bad bitch. Ey, that's ten letters, eh? Wait." She held out a finger to start counting them under her breath.

"Eight, actually," Maggie said. "And no, I don't need my knuckles to say bad bitch. But, thank you."

"Indy would fight me for the chance to tat that. I'm lucky he let me do the moon. But he knows I love the moon. And miss it down here. At least up there my life was a spin of the wheel but I could still live. Here feels like constant purgatory."

"I've been here longer than anyone," Maggie said, rubbing the bandage that was taped on her arm – for professional reasons, Indy said to Kat when she gave him a stink-eye for asking for one. "I know. But I want to actually be able to live once things get better. And things will get better. I just know it."

Janine pursed her lips. "I guess," she said after a second of thinking. "But is it worth livin' in a better world if we don't create it now?"

"I think so," said Maggie, but by the way she asked the question, she wasn't sure. "You have done plenty already. Providing a safe house for those who need it. Saving kids like Roux…"

"Yeah but that weren't serious stuff," Janine said with a shrug. "Not like what they're all doin' now. While we're here, hiding away. Something about it feels weird. Either that, or my sugar's off the charts. We'll see." She took out a needle to prick her finger and sat back.

"Oh, I can get you something to eat if you need it," Maggie said, and Janine clicked her tongue.

"Thanks Sweetie. You're so nice. Some people really just are nice like that. It's fucking rare. But the world needs folks like that. So I guess you right, fam."

"Oh, I'm fam now, wow," Maggie said excitedly before she stopped herself, flushing when the other girl just smiled at her. Em always happily claimed his title as part of the UV Band Fam. But Maggie never had a fam before.

Janine just chuckled a little bit before her eyes got a little sad. "This one will never letcha down." She looked at the group of them – Indy sprawled out with Monty curled up in a little ball beside him. Vos being little spoon to Chica despite being taller, to be away from Indy. Roux who had a mattress on the floor, hugging a wad of clothes in the absence of a stuffed animal. While Roxy went to enjoy her own bed for the night. Maggie was just happy to have people to spend the night with. People that, despite having a much rougher time than her, listened empathetically and tried to understand her.

So nice. So… Foreign to her. She still couldn't fathom it.

"I'm glad I ran into Indy. And was able to reunite you all. It was completely accidental at first. But very lucky."

"Fate works in weird ways," Janine said with a shrug. "What, too tacky?"

"Just a little," Maggie laughed to herself. "Too… Last year."

"Wild that they saved those kids, though. Really all of this is wild. I just wish that the fam was back together how things were before." She looked at the four bodies that had stubbornly found a way to take up the few twin beds pushed together, even with Indy sprawled out like that being spoiled. "Things were different, before he disappeared. Believe it or not the primos were inseparable once."

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I want to help," she added with a small sigh. "Indy found me again down deeper in the catacombs. I ran after I saw my brother… Or, the husk of my brother. Whatever's left in there isn't even him anymore," she said softly, sighing to herself. "So much so that I'm scared to be with him now. Just like every other strange man now," she added quietly, looking at the ground.

"Well you don't gotta worry about that here," Janine said, rubbing her shoulder. "I've been where you are. Abused in unspeakable ways by men. Just know that the men here will protect you, not hurt you. I would trust Indy and Monty with my life - and I have, before. I'm sure I will again."

Maggie smiled just a little bit. "I got the vibe," she said as she looked at the two of them. "But thanks for the reassurance. I'm glad someone understands." And Janine smiled back.

"Do I not count as a man too?" Vos rubbed their eyes a little bit and sat up carefully, but nothing was going to disturb Chica, who just rolled over and kept rolling over until she was against Indy.

"No, Zorro, no you don't," Janine said with a chuckle as she went to make them some tea with the limited rations they had. "You would be boy… Girl. Neutral. Girl. Neutral. Boy."

"Fai'a," Vos said, yawning and rubbing their eyes. "I mean you right tho. 'Specially now." They glared over at Indy and crossed their arms.

"Bro, it's too early in the morning for your petty bullshit against your Primo," Janine told them. "Your Primo."

Vos crossed their arms and just let out a low grumble about it. But Maggie wasn't sure she would be able to talk to them again, and… Well, she wanted to help. Especially after this group helped her so much.

"Vos… I don't really know you that much. But I heard about you from Indy."

"Oh boy, now the ginger's gonna preach."

Maggie put her hands on her hips at the attitude. "Girl you just woke up, how can you already be a hellspawn?"

Janine started laughing at that right away and put a hand over her mouth to not be too loud. "You have no idea. Hell hath no fury like the Primos."

"Well… It's time to cut that out now." Maggie turned to Vos with her hands on her hips. "Indy loves you so much. And losing the essence, the soul of my brother… It made me realize how lucky I was before. How much I miss now. I guess I wish that I had been braver back then, and really made it count." Her eyes filled with tears just thinking about what she had to witness – and would continue to have to witness. "Don't make my mistake. You've been given a second chance with Indy. He's ready to take it when you are."

"He left me. I thought I was special to him."

"You are," Janine and Maggie said in the same tone of voice at the same time.

"Ey," said Janine as she handed Vos some tea. "Jinx."

"What? Oh, yeah. Jinx." Maggie smiled but when she made eye contact with Janine, she blushed and looked away.

"You are," Vos said mockingly. "If I was he wouldn't have left when I needed 'im."

"He left because he wanted to keep helping people like you," Janine said, but she just shook her head. "We've had this argument a thousand times. But you are Indy's special one so of course you will be as stubborn as him."

Maggie narrowed her eyes for a moment. She of course could obviously see that Vos was not normal. But something about all of this just wasn't adding up. "Indy made a mistake with his last outing and he lost everything. He already paid the price for it by being alone, away from home. He drew all over the walls to not forget things. He talked to his fingers. Now, finally, his suffering could be over. But he's still suffering right now because he misses you so much. And, it's-" she cut off with a small squeak, having to hold back to keep from crying in front of the others.

"Oh shit dude, it's aight," Janine said as she went over with a tissue for her and frowned in concern. "This is just Vos."

"No," Maggie said, taking a deep breath as she dabbed at her eyes, looking over at Vos, sitting on the edge of the bed and sipping their tea. She waited until she could hold back the sobs, though her voice still wavered. "It's so much worse of torture to have you there and not be able to reach you than to not have you at all," she said. It was exactly how she was feeling with Em right now, and she was in hell. She wished they had never brought him here. Vos was quiet at that, and Janine was just peering at her in concern over her wire glasses.

"I thought he loved me."

"He does," Janine said, and Maggie let her say it as she tried to just compose herself.

"Uh huh." But something wasn't connecting.

"Please," Maggie said, even though she couldn't really stop crying. "Just… Don't lose out on what you have with Indy. It is special. It is something I am jealous of because unlike me and my brother, you get your second chance with him. So just… Even if it hurts at first, even if it's weird. Even if you're jealous of what he has with someone else."

She could see the slight eye movement from Vos to Indy on the side of the bed – no, to Monty laying on the edge of it under half of Indy's body.

What was going on?

"For my sake, and the sake of your friends…

Please don't lose your second chance."

~.~.

-Domino Choptank, District 1-

Protection was his purpose.

Some folks were destined for greatness in this world. The rest were corrupt fucks.

He wasn't brash enough to think that he was one of the good ones. He still hadn't seen the light and he knew it. Probably, he never would. It was a dark, dark world out there. Now more than ever – even though the fight was for things to get better, that didn't change the here and now. The blood spattered on the streets. The people mourning their loved ones. Nothing would bring those people back.

And it was always the fucking good ones, too.

He just didn't understand it. And probably never would. It was just how the world was. Fate was cruel in nature. The ones losing their lives were the ones that were willing – the rest of them all, cowards.

Maybe Mino would never be a good person. Maybe he would never see the light. After everything he'd seen, and suffered through, he knew he was a lost cause. But even if he never was good… At least he could help the ones that were to create a better life for themselves, their families. Lucky them, with their families. Raised right by parents that loved them, had friends that cared about them. Destined for more than… Than this. Whatever this even was.

"Is this… How other people really live?" The little band girl asked quietly as she was walking the streets – stepping over cracks in the sidewalks, every other breath inhaling smoke of some sort, even through masks. The masks were commonplace here – nobody even gave them a second glance. They kept their eyes down and moved quickly about. Good.

"Hard to believe," Ryder said beside her, looking around just a little bit before Mino pulled them both along. They couldn't look or act at all suspicious now.

"You'd be shocked," Mino said. Six was even worse than this hell pit – and it sure was a hell pit. At least here there weren't as many druggies littering the streets, selling their lives away for another fix. He saw it there, he saw it in District One with his own people. He was trying to protect Whisper and Tower from that kind of fate. He was trying to protect everyone.

"I am," Mari said softly as she kept walking, but every once in a while moved her eyes to look around the place. It was practically unfathomable to her. Meanwhile it was unfathomable to Mino that there were people that could possibly live not knowing this sort of suffering exists.

"Alright kids." Bella, Trap's Mom, looked at the piece of paper that she'd been given with an address, a description of the house, and a hand-drawn map. They couldn't risk using a holo here, the population was so dense, people at every turn. "I'm going to go first. You stay here. Just in case."

"You can't do that," Mino said right away. But it was always the good ones. And he wasn't going to try to fight her because someone had to stay back with the other two.

Ryder and Mari didn't say a word to protest this as Bella went toward the house – it was just as worn-down and shabby-looking as the rest of them, nothing at all special. A very short exchange of words and Bella had turned around, waving her hand to gesture the rest of them in. Ryder had a hand on Mari's back as they went and Mino kept up the back, still feeling on-edge. But if there was a way to help, he was going to do it.

It was a completely normal house from the looks of it.

"Oh, welcome, we're so glad to have you for dinner!" said a twinky brown-haired man wearing glasses loudly as he closed the door behind them.

"It's a good thing you went into pharmaceuticals and not acting." A less-than-impressed-looking woman with dark skin was looking over her glasses at him and at their new visitors.

"What? You can never let me have anything," pouted the man, but he quickly stopped pouting when the woman went over and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I just serve as your voice of reason."

Mino quickly looked for someone to exchange a look with because he was not expecting hot Doctor Mama to be tapping that! It was Mari that caught his eye and just gave a nod of understanding and equal disbelief.

"I could have made it big, everyone loves a youthful blonde."

"And you are neither of those things." The woman just shook her head but she couldn't hide that little smile on her face of affection. "I'm Nox. This is my husband Baldur."

"Husband?!" Mari finally asked out loud, before she quickly crossed her arms when Bella gave her a look. "Sorry Mami."

"I know, I know, it's hard to believe I am taken," Baldur said, flashing his wedding ring as he ran a hand through his hair – definitely not blonde, it was dirty blonde at best. "Okay okay, that was a joke! L-O-L!"

"Oh no," said Ryder quietly, also not very good at keeping things to themself- worse since they started spending all their time with Mari.

"I only regret it sometimes," Nox told them with a small chuckle. "Well, I wish I knew how we could help you, but honestly, we're struggling with what we do have. There are many people that need medical care and can't afford it, and we only have one attic and right now, one doctor."

"But, we are growing!" Baldur said, putting up a finger. "We have a surgeon that is doing a great job and she brought us a very talented nurse! Along with our loyal runners."

"Well," sighed Nox, shaking her head right away and rubbing her face. "That's a whole 'nother can of worms right now. The point being… We're not much more than just a starting point."

"Well let's see what you do have," Mino said, looking around the place. It was so unassuming.

"Of course. They're working on a surgery right now so it's been a bit of a long morning. But you're welcome to sit and wait – I'm going to go up and check on things now."

"I'm a nurse too," Bella mentioned. "It was my job back in District One. Is there anything I can do to help?"

That made Nox raise an eyebrow as she was going to pull the ladder down and then went to wash her hands thoroughly. "Perhaps," she said, putting on gloves and then putting a bigger one on top for the climb up. "Wash up and follow me."

"If you hear screaming, it means either we ran out of anesthetic, or another argument is going on between our nurse and surgeon."

"Argument?" Mino asked, sitting down right away as Mari and Ryder were listening from the couch.

"We're a seven-person team, but even we have what the kids call… The tea."

"That's not how we say things," Mari said, shaking her head a little bit.

"Not even a little," Ryder added beside her.

"What's going on?" Mino asked. Sure, he was trying to glean information but also he just loved some good tea!

"Oh, a nasty break-up," Bal said with a small sigh. "So nasty we almost lost our nurse. They're coexisting right now because we really don't have another choice, we need both of them."

"Sounds like rebel relationships can get messy," Mino said, before glancing at Ryder and Mari who were obviously doing something despite being all weird and awkward.

"Oh it's messy alright," Baldur said, shaking his head a little bit. "Ugh. Poor kid. Just be careful with that kind of thing."

"Hehe, right," Ryder said as they blushed and reached up quickly to awkwardly scratch the back of their neck.

"Riiiiiight," Mari said, just as awkwardly as she crossed her legs.

"Uh huh," said Mino blankly, before looking back at Baldur. "Shouldn't you say that to yourself?"

"Ah, we were married long before all this went down, she's stuck with me," he laughed.

The sound of the jostling back door made the three who were there quickly jump but when Baldur didn't look alarmed, they stood down. And inside came… Teens. Oh wow, they were babies! Mino thought about his people back home, who he wanted to protect so badly, when he saw that look in their eyes.

"Woo hoo!" said a girl that came in first with a satchel, hurrying it over to the fridge and starting to move things around to put small vials in behind bigger pieces of food. "That was wild!"

"Was it lit?" asked Baldur and all three of the teens groaned loudly.

"Looks like Porky is being embarrassing even when we told him not to!" she said as she closed the fridge and turned to look at the others. "Ooo, visitors! Wow!"

"Hm," said a blonde with an undercut. His uneven heavy steps were… Noticeable. But Mino was just happy to see them. Then there was a taller teen with a big porn 'stache, his hair up in a small ponytail and obviously pretty sweaty and out-of-breath. "No sign of Dumptruck?"

"Upstairs," said Baldur, still pouting at being called Porky by them. "Thank you." He went to start searching in the fridge to see what exactly they all brought. "I'll be sending you back out with letters for our patients after lunch. They'll be happy to know we've restocked. Aha. Hm. Yes."

Baldur was well-distracted by the medications, while Mino was watching the teens, who were all quite awkward and mostly staring at Mari and Ryder.

"Well hi there," he said finally, wanting to break the ice. "I'm Domino Choptank."

"Damn, that's a cool name," the girl of the group looked up at him – she was young and he was tall. "Domino Choptank."

"What? It's not cool, it's dumb." The blonde teen narrowed their eyes at Mino untrustingly, trying to hide the prosthetic foot behind his other by crossing his legs.

"Oh shut up Iron-Crash," said the girl, still looking at Mino with wide eyes before looking at the other two. "Hi, I'm Mizuki. But my code name is Dollface. And these are my friends, Presley and-"

"Paolo," said the one with the 'stache.

"Your name is not Paolo," said Presley, the blonde one that was still glaring at Mino.

"That's-" said Mizuki, as he was trying to talk over her so she had to yell – "PEPPINO!"

"Why can't you just call me Paolo?!"

"Because you're just Pep!" said Presley, obviously in a better mood now that they got to pick on their friend. "And he's the SHITTER!"

"I have Chron's!"

"And?" Mizuki asked as she giggled. "We're the runners."

"Wow," said Ryder. "I feel unaccomplished." They were definitely all younger than him – well, besides Pep, with that facial hair he could have passed for twenty.

"We are very accomplished," said Pep, crossing his arms as he looked at them all. "We help people by stealing medicine."

"I have the face, and he has the sob story," Mizuki said, pointing to Presley before widening her eyes at Mino. "Please, can't you help me and my friend?!"

"Aw," said Mino with a grin. Wow, this was great!

"And I got the sticky fingers," Pep said, wiggling his hands at them.

"Well damn," said Mari. "Y'all are metal."

"Literally!" said Mizuki with a grin, pointing at Presley's leg. "Oh come on, show em!"

"Yeah yeah, my ankle got shot off, whoopee," said Pres, putting out his leg.

"I'm sorry, what?!" Mari asked, and Ryder just winced.

"You heard me," Pres said. "All because I had to start doing this just to get any attention from my own brother." He crossed his arms and shook his head.

"But you got us now!" said Pep, putting an arm around Pres and pulling him in, but he was looking at Mari intently. "What more could he need?!"

"Looks like you're a pretty good team," Mino said, and Mizuki stood up taller at his praise while Pres sunk down lower.

"I don't like you," he announced.

"Oh come on Pres, you don't even know him! You're just mad 'cause he looks really cool."

"Here we go," said Ryder, and Mino couldn't help but puff up his chest with pride.

"Cool, eh?" Mino asked, and Mari just groaned.

"Now look what you've done."

"Oh, I'm sorry, pretty lady," Peppino said, moving a little toward Mari.

"Ah ah ah!" said Ryder defensively. "Mari is a strong independent woman."

"Huh? Oh," said Mari, narrowing her eyes at Pep. "Sorry, yeah. Real… Independent right now." But she was leaning heavily against Ryder.

"Go back to your nude calendar there, bud," said Mizuki, slapping Pep on the back as his cheeks got red and Mari crossed her arms.

"It was for charity!" he protested before he just sighed, and Mizuki elbowed Pres to get him to laugh about embarrassing their friend.

"That's rough buddy," said Pres, actually laughing a little bit at this before he heard the creaking of the ladder of footsteps. "Oh boy. Who is it? Professor Booty? Red Ninja?" He leaned over to see and then suddenly ducked back a little bit behind the others.

Mino would have noticed that if his mouth hadn't fallen open at the sight in front of him. Wait… What?!

"Dumptruck!" said Mizuki happily. "Look, we have visitors! Love seeing new faces around here."

"I don't look so dumb now, do I?" asked Pep when he saw how Mino was gaping a little bit in shock.

"Yeah, you don't," said Mari, even though Ryder was still glaring. But even she could admit that the man standing there was beautiful, despite looking a little sad and a lot tired.

"Oh, hi," said the blonde as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I'm Lazar. I'm the resident nurse around here. I see you already met my brother Pres."

Mari and Ryder raised their eyebrows and exchanged a look at that information, and how Pres was immediately back to being grumpy, arms crossed, turned away.

Laz just sighed a little bit as he put his hand out toward Mino. "Hi, what's your name again?"

Mino blinked a few times. Oh now he understood why he was called Dumptruck. "Huh? Uh…"

"He's Domino Choptank," said Mizuki, putting her hands on her hips. "And he thinks you're hot!" she added, causing Mino to quickly close his mouth and Laz to blush.

"Domino," he quickly said, clearing his throat a little bit. "Sorry. I'm just not used to seeing a male nurse," he lied.

"Oh so you're sexist," said Pep.

"What? No!" he said, his cheeks flushing. This was a good man. Mino would never be one of the good ones. "Just… Ah. Gah." He was ready to Pass Away now, and he could hear Mari and Mizuki giggling together. "Shut up."

"Yeah, please shut up," Pres said, glaring bullets at Mino. And his disgust only grew when a redhead came over, forcefully bumping Laz out of the way with a glare to go to the kitchen to get herself food without even looking at a single one of them. "I'm going home." He turned around, arms crossed, and heavy footsteps stomped out the door.

Laz looked sad watching his brother go and just sighed, looking sadly at the girl, then at the rest of them. "Well… It's good to see you. I hope we can help you. Or you can help us. I'm sorry. I'm really tired right now."

"You think you're tired, you didn't do the surgery," said the redhead, looking at Mino for a second and then holding her hand out to him. "Daphne. I'm the surgeon. He's just a nurse."

"Domino." Mino shook her hand, blinking slowly, as all the teens laughed together about all this. Oh he was in trouble, and they all knew it. "We're here to help."

"At least some people care about the cause," Daphne said to Laz, sipping her water. "Some people really care a lot."

"I do care…" Laz said, but he had a sad look on his face as she went to go back to checking on the patient and with the doctors upstairs. "I'm sorry. There's a lot going on right now."

Mino finally cleared his throat and finally took Laz's hand to shake it, seeing the sad look on his face after his brother and this (very beautiful) girl. "I'm here to help," he said to him quietly. This man was one of the good ones. Way too good for him.

But that was why Mino even existed, to help the good ones.

And this tea was definitely, as the kids said… Piping.

~.~.

He was sure they were looking for him.

Despite being released, he was sure that he wasn't safe.

He was sure it didn't take them long at all to realize that it was a false lead. The Three Oaks orphanage had no ties to the rebels, not even a little bit.

But he didn't have a choice. He had to give them something. He said the first place he could think of. The place he grew up. Another place where he got fucking tortured. The same place he was trying to save those kids from.

Cupid didn't ever want to be a Dad. He wasn't ready to take care of three children. But was anyone ever ready for fatherhood? He heard that one more times than he could count.

But it didn't even matter now. Now the Three Oaks was dust. Completely obliterated. Not a single chance given to those innocent children that were inside those walls, suffering.

He had no idea it would come to that. They didn't even put in the effort to search the building, they didn't interrogate a single person. Because they didn't care about those kids. And Q felt fucking stupid for thinking they would. Now they had killed more children. Their own children. And soon they would be looking to kill him too.

He wasn't safe. Nobody was safe. He still hadn't gone home. That would make it way too easy for them. Instead here he was, his grown-out hair put up in a bun with a rubber band from a trash can. Using a square of fabric to cover his face. Hiding behind buildings, getting food from people that saw his face on billboards, and couldn't even recognize it now. He had aged, lost weight, his cosmetics were gone. He was a different person now than he was then.

And yet he only had one thing he really wanted. His kids.

But he couldn't go back for them now. Not when he was in danger, and his presence could put them in danger.

He wasn't a father by nature. But over the years, he had learned. No kids became three, so suddenly. Three became two. And now they were his whole heart. He was still missing a piece in Numi's wake. Was being there for them what was truly best for their safety? Was Cupid ever what was best for them? Probably not. But once he decided to be their true father, he did his best for them. And where it get him? Here. Shivering in a back alley, trying to stay out of the crime, and wondering when was the right time to go back. Right now his kids were with their family friends and they were safe. Thank God. But showing his face again would immediately put every single one of them back in danger.

Such was the reality of war. War that he didn't want, but was now responsible for. Innocent blood that was on his hands. He didn't know that would happen to them because of them. He thought he would earn just enough time before they investigated and found the claim to be false to get himself set back up. But no. When they patrolled at night, he feared for his life. All it took was one to recognize them. What could he do? Run? Fight? Not in this state. He wouldn't even have time, if he was switched from take alive to kill-on-sight.

He spent the daytimes begging – when he felt comfortable – and the nights hiding in dumpsters, in the smallest nooks, anywhere he was sure nobody would want to waste time searching. He'd gotten this far… He needed to keep pushing so that his kids wouldn't lose three of their parental figures in their young lifetimes. In addition to their oldest brother. A pain that he didn't even know about. Did Jingle tell them? He never meant to put his friends in this position. And their kids. He almost hoped they didn't know yet. He wanted them to never know, even though he knew that was impossible.

"Excuse me mister?"

Cupid looked up when he heard a small voice – and it belonged to a kid that had to be younger that Numitor, probably close to Aristotle's age.

"How can I help you?" This kid was dirty, somewhat thin, and tired-looking. "Oh…"

"Do you have anything you can spare? I know. You look like you got it rough too."

"I'm sorry?" Cupid looked at this kid for a moment and his heart just broke. It always broke for the people he met on the street – despite being somewhat cold to them to try to keep from being recognized. Like that was a worry now… He just couldn't be too careful. "You?"

"Please?" she looked so… Desperate. Cupid just sighed, but he couldn't help but think of his own kids. She looked like she had a light about her – nothing to get her into trouble.

"I can spare a few coins," he said, playing with it in his hand for a moment and thinking about a meal, before he just held it out to her.

"Now!" She was much louder and upon the shout, another kid came whipping around the corner with a fucking baseball bat.

"Give us what you have! All of it!" she said, holding up the bat as the other girl held up her fists. "Don't think we're playin'!"

"You want a whack on the legs!?" asked the girl, hitting the bat on her feet a few times and that shit sounded solid. "Let's go, cough it up. Hand it over!"

Cupid blinked at the two of them in shock. They looked way too young to be in this position. "I'll give you what I have," he said. "It really isn't a lot." He threw a couple coins at them, holding back a flashback from the days and days of torture.

"Get 'em." The darker-skinned girl got down on the ground to collect the coins.

"Geez, it really isn't a lot." She looked at Cupid for a moment and frowned a little bit. "This isn't worth it."

"But it's something, bitch we need whatever we can get. We're fuckin' homeless now, remember?"

"I…" she frowned a little bit. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Cupid said. "You two are way too young to be homeless," he told them honestly.

"Well we are," the girl with the bat said. "Let's go, Carmen. We got what we need."

"Syd, this isn't right," said Carmen, frowning a little bit. "I mean this man is pathetic."

"Thanks, that makes me feel great," said Cupid with an eye roll.

"Well so are we right now. It's every man for himself out here, you'll understand." She put the bat on the ground and leaned on it. "C'mon honey, you'll learn."

"It's dangerous out here, you know. Isn't there a shelter you can go to?" Cupid asked them.

"They don't care about us," Syd said and at the same time Carmen said, "My Mom can't find me."

"I'm sure you could find a place that would keep you safe from abusive homes."

Syd gave Carmen a look, who chuckled and shrugged a little bit. "I abused her worse than she did me," she said, and looked at the ground.

"Aight, you made a thirteen-year-old relive her trauma and you didn't even give us a damn dollar, congratulations," Syd said, rolling her eyes. "Can we go now? We're close to sharing a damn burger."

"I want anything," Carmen said, frowning and putting a hand on her belly. "I just want to go home. I want to go back to how it was before Kin…"

"Oh, here we go," said Syd, but when Carmen started truly crying, she put a hand on her shoulder and frowned. "I'm really sorry about your friend. But we're gonna make it. Fuck your Mom for talking all that shit about him, alright, she deserved the bat to the knees." She had obviously gone over all of this before with the other girl.

"He was more than just my friend," Carmen hissed a little bit, sniffing and wiping her nose. "He was my world."

"I know," Syd said, giving Cupid a bit of a look for bringing all of this up.

"Geez, sorry," he said, as he was frowning and pursed his lips. "Alright, alright. Look. I have kids your age so I get it."

"Then where the hell are they? I know shit fathers when I see 'em, I'm a fucking expert." Syd crossed her arms at him.

"They're with some family friends because I just got out of prison because they thought I was a rebel," Cupid told them, sighing a little bit. "Alright, can we just agree we all know too much about each other now? Because I think I can help you."

"No," said Syd, while Carmen said, "Yes please."

"Bitch, the fuck!?"

"Bitch I haven't washed my hair in days!" Carmen complained, looking at her dirty nails. "I just want to eat and have a bed and go home." Another tear fell out of her eyes.

"Great," said Syd with a sigh, but she obviously didn't want to leave her side so she just narrowed her eyes at Cupid. "I hate you."

"That's fine by me," said Cupid. "I'm pretty used to being hated. I just want to help you, you two are too young to be out here like this."

"Thank you," said Carmen, but Syd was still looking at him with a look of disapproval on her face.

"I'm going to take you to get a shower and a meal and a roof," Cupid said. Guess he didn't have the choice now, he had to go back to Jingle and Charlemagne and just… Beg them to take on two more kids, even if not himself. "That's all I can promise though."

"Oh, I would love that," said Carmen while Syd just kept holding her baseball up untrustingly. But she was confident enough that the two of them could take this guy in a fight if they had to so she just begrudgingly followed him when he started walking.

"Fine," she said, looking at Carmen and scowling a little bit.

"But we're still keepin' your cash."

~.~.

A/N: Keeping up with monthly updates (at LEAST) so I don't take this story into 2025. Hopefully it'll get done faster though. Hope all is well! Happy Feb!

Next Chapter: Luke faces D10 once again, Bonnie gets his first real Mom Figure, and a train ride to 7 of Incessant Bickering.