Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A new life ❯ Chapter two: Caught ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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SworneSwan: Don't worry, the prologue is always short. This is the average length for the chapters. More action will come in this chapter and in chapter 3 Duo will meet the first of the gang. Thanks for your review!

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A new life

Chapter two: Caught

It was a long walk back to the hideout. The youth covered him self as much as possible. It wasn't a very cold night compared to some, but he was still cold. He always was. No matter what he tried, he never seemed able to warm his body.

The boy buried his hands deeper in his pockets, his left hand safely securing the small envelope. He couldn't afford to loose that. If he did then all his trouble would have been for nothing. He fastened his pace. He wanted to be back before the others would be. If Solo found out he'd left he'd go crazy over it. He hadn't told him to stay home for nothing.

When he reached the old building he paused a moment. He saw some light coming from the inside.

`Damn. They're back already.'

He didn't want to face them right now; he'd rather just turn around and walk away. But he knew he would have to face them eventually. This was his home, the only place he had to go. And they were his only family. Sooner or later he'd have to face them. Better make it sooner because later is always worse.

He opened the old door carefully, making sure it wouldn't fall out. The door cracked a little. He stepped inside and as he did so the smell of food reached his nose. He closed the door behind him and walked trough the small hall until he reached the next door. He opened it.

The room in front of him was small. The walls were bare white with here and there simple children's drawing pinned on it. The only furniture was an old sofa covered with some torn, red material. Crates were used as chairs and tables. In the middle of the room a little fire burned.

Three children sat around the fire. Food was sprawled out next to them and they were all eating greedily. Two kids, a boy and a girl, sat on the sofa, warming each other with their bodies. They looked no older than eight years. When the door opened, the two kids on the sofa were the only ones who looked up. They stared at the boy who leaned against the wooden frame of the door, but neither said a word. They just stared at him as he gave a small smile back. They stared like that for a few minutes before a voice spoke up.

"Mikal, Caria, bed time."

The one who'd said that looked at the twins on the sofa. When he saw they were staring at something he turned his head in the direction of their stares.

"Duo, how nice of you to join us." The teenager's voice sounded cold when he spoke those words and a silence followed as the other two children now all turned their heads and looked at the boy in the doorway. Duo stared back at the teenager, but didn't speak. Not even when he got up.

"Alright, Mikal, Caria, go on."

The twins got up and without a word they walked to a door in the back of the room and disappeared trough it. The teenager narrowed his eyes at the youth who scowled back.

"Where have you been?" The smaller one asked suspiciously.

"Out."

"Doing what?"

The braided youth took the envelope he'd stolen out of his pocket and threw it towards the other boy. He didn't even glance at it.

"I told you to stay here, you're sick, remember?"

"I already told you I'm better."

"Perhaps, but you're still in no condition to go out like that."

Duo now pushed himself from the doorframe and walked inside, closing the door behind him. "We need the money, don't we?"

"We have food for now, we can worry about that later." The braided boy wanted to speak, but the teenager held his hand up. "Your life is more important than that. All of our lives are. What do you think would've happened if you were caught?"

"I didn't, now did I?"

"What if you were? That condition you're in is still not one you can run with for a longer distance. We can do days with the food we got. This was totally unnecessary and very dangerous."

The youth threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, whatever you say." He started for the door in the back of the room, but he couldn't help grumbling something about his actions not being needed. The teenager just stared after him as he shut the door with a loud bang.

# *~* # *~* #

Duo let his body fall down on his bed, or what he considered his bed. It was a crappy old mattress he'd found somewhere on a junkyard. But it was the best he had. He was after all nothing but a street rat that had to fight for his life every time the sun rose. He had been that ever since he'd run away from the orphanage 4 years ago.

He was lucky to be found by Solo, a boy only a year older than himself. He and his little brother had been living on the streets for nearly two years already so they knew how to organise things to survive. They took Duo in and taught him everything they knew about life on the streets. He was very grateful for that, he was sure that without them he would never have survived for this long.

When Solo's younger brother got shot and died three months after Duo joined them, Duo was the one that stayed by Solo's side. He helped the boy to get over the loss and he encouraged him to get on with his life. They'd been best friends ever since and there seemed to be nothing that could part them now.

Together they'd found some other orphans and runaways and now they were the leaders of a group of seven street children. The system was simple; the elder kids, Mainly duo and Solo, looked after the younger kids and the little ones kept the big ones off the drugs and alcohol. Solo and Duo knew they had the responsibility to look after the others. They couldn't afford to become alcoholics or drug addicts.

Duo buried his head in the pack of clothes he used as a pillow. Only now he realized how exhausted he really was. Solo had been right, he wasn't completely fit yet. And he sure as hell was lucky to have gotten out of there without being seen.

He groaned. It was only a matter of time now before Solo would come in to talk things out. He always solved his differences as soon as possible. `Just in case tomorrow never comes' he'd say. The other children didn't know that Solo used to have a little brother, he never talked about it. But Duo did and he also knew that Solo held regrets of the hard time he'd given the young boy sometimes. And now it was too late to tell him that. Solo just wanted to make sure he'd never make that same mistake again.

Duo was right. Only a few minutes later the door to Solo and Duo's room opened. Duo didn't look up. He already knew who was there.

"Duo, I want to talk to you." Duo kept still, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"Fine, then don't talk. I know you're awake and you were expecting me so I'll just say what I want to say." He sat down on his own mattress. "You shouldn't have gone out of here, not in that condition. You're my best friend and this group needs you."

Duo looked up from his pillow. "The group needs food. What if your mission had been a complete disaster? I wanted to get some money just in case. I'm perfectly capable of deciding what I can do in my condition."

Solo sighed. "I know you can take care of yourself, but Duo, the others look up to you. If you give them an example like this they'll just do the same next time. It will get them into trouble for sure."

Duo looked down. He knew his friend was right about the others looking up to them. Solo was the real leader, but whenever he wasn't around it was Duo who took care of the others. He really didn't mean to endanger the group.

"They need you, Duo. Life's dangerous out there and I alone am not enough. Besides, if something happens to me you're the one who has to take my place. I don't want anything to happen to them or to you. And. . ." he paused a moment before he continued silently. "I'm sorry I got angry with you."

Duo looked up. "No, I'm the one who should say sorry. I'm really sorry I endangered the group, Solo. I. . . " But his sentence got interrupted by a loud bang.

Both boys looked up as they heard loud voices and footsteps. Something was going on in the living room. They got up as fast as they could.

"You get the little ones out, I'll check the living room!" Duo yelled. They ran out of the door and while Solo hurried to the room where the other children slept, Duo went to the living room. When he had almost reached the door, it flung open and a man in a blue uniform was revealed. Duo recognised it immediately as a cop.

`Shit! They found us!'

He kicked his way passed the cop who tried to obstruct his way to the door. He ran into the living room, only to see that there were more cops. The front door was broken and the food was scattered all over the place, but Duo didn't care. At least all the kids were gone.

He paused a moment to think of something but soon realized that had been a mistake. Two men grabbed his arms and roughly pulled him back. He tried desperately to break free, but the grip was just too tight.

"Let go of me, you bastards!" At that remark they roughly kicked him in the back of his legs, forcing him onto his knees. They pinned his hands behind his back and pressed some weight on his shoulders so he would have to stay down.

"Shit!" He tried to move, but the grip was too tight. At that moment the door to the living room flew open and Solo dashed in. He quickly spotted the other boy.

"Duo!" He tried to move forward to his struggling friend, but another cop grabbed him too. He started pulling his way out and eventually his elbow connected with the man's stomach, causing him to double over. Solo looked at Duo who was yelling at him now, still struggling against the tight hold.

"Solo, get out of here! Get the children out!"

Solo jumped out of another man's way. He cast one more glance in Duo's direction, his eyes showing that he understood, before he made his way out, chased by two other men. Once he was out of sight, Duo finally stopped struggling against the tight hold. He couldn't break free, he was in for it big time. Exhausted, he let his head fall down in defeat as he panted for breath.

The two officers holding him down handcuffed him now. He simply let them, knowing it was over. They pulled him to his feet and one of them started reading him his rights. But he didn't really pay attention to it as the door flung open again and the two cops who had followed Solo returned empty handed. One held his arm in a tight grip as he tried to suppress every sign of pain on his face.

A man, wearing a mask that covered his eyes and above that, walked towards the two, demanding an explanation.

"We're extremely sorry, sir. They got away." One apologized.

"All of them?"

"Yes sir."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Sanders, but you let mere children get the better of you?"

The two men looked ashamed, but silently replied a `yes sir'. The masked man sent the two away. Then he walked over to Duo, who was mentally grinning, though his face didn't show a sign of it. That was Solo, all right. If anyone could escape those men, it would be him. They'd done it so many times before. Despite the fact that he was caught now, he was relieved the others got away safely. He just hoped they'd be okay.

"Looks like your friends got away this time. But you're in a whole lot of trouble boy." He glanced at the officer holding him. "Take him away."

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Next time: "What if I grab his gun, shoot you both and get out of here?"

"Then you'd go to jail for the rest of your life and you wouldn't get the opportunity to hear the offer I have for you."

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