Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A new life ❯ Chapter three: The orphanage ( Chapter 3 )

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

A/N: okay, first of all, this chapter should have been up a week ago but I'd like to update on ff.net and mm.org at the same time and since ff.net was having some troubles two weeks ago I ended up deleting chap 2 there so I had to update it a week later (what can I say, I'm addicted to reviews). Anyway, my computer tells me that sentence is too long but I'm sure you can all read it (^_^) so I'll leave it that way.

About the story: I have this story finished already so I can update every week. And I promise I will as long as Internet or ff.net or mm.org doesn't flip. That's all, here are the comments:

_Shinchansgirl_: ??? What do you mean the `I'M NOT FINISHED YET' area?

PATTY40: Don't worry, the story has 10 chapters and since it's already done I will update every week. Think that's fast enough? Thanks for you review, glad you like it.

Schachzug: The threaten is just so I won't be wasting time on something no-one reads anyway. Here's the new update, hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing.

Battousai: Just read on, in this chapter he's going to meet Wufei, the rest will soon follow. Let me know what you think of the first meeting kay? Thanks for the review.

Cryearthstearsfalltou: Yeah, he is. But don't worry, he's lucky today! He'll live. . . for now ^_~ Thanks for your review.

Juunanagou-lover: Ik kom ook uit Nederland dus ik zeg dit ook maar ff in het Nederlands :D Ik weet zeker dat ik ook veel fouten maak dus dat maakt niet uit. Ik ben blij dat ik ook fans van wat dichterbij heb ^_^ Bedankt voor je review!

Galyn: Yup, that's how it works. I'm sorry but the chapters wont get much longer. Only the last chapter is long. And the thank you, well, without you reviewers my life would be sooo empty ^_~ I'm just glad to know other people like my story too. So thanks for your review and here's the next chapter.

Sarahdbz: Don't worry about the short review, any review is okay. I hope you like your new home. Thanks for reading it!

A new life

Chapter three: The orphanage

Duo sat in a little room, facing a woman he didn't know. He'd been in jail for two nights now and he had still no idea of what was going to happen to him. They'd tried to get some information out of him, but he wouldn't betray his friends. Besides that, he really didn't know where they'd moved. Solo was smart enough to find a place Duo didn't know about so at least the others would be safe. The less Duo knew, the less he could tell the cops.

This woman he was facing now he'd never seen before. Her hair was platinum black, though the lights made it look almost like purple. It covered one eye most of the time. She had said she was there when they'd arrested him, but he hadn't seen her. She didn't look like a cop to him at all. What did she say her name was again? Noin.

She said something about social services and then she started asking him questions about his friends saying that they would betray him too if they'd get better from it. There was nothing he could do but help the social services find them so that they could get a new home. She even promised she'd do everything within her power to keep them from being harmed. But Duo didn't buy it. He'd been in one of those `homes' before and he didn't run away for no reason at all.

"You mentioned a name back there. Solo, right?"

Duo scowled at her. He placed his cuffed hands on the table. "Look, lady. I've said this a hundred times already. I. Don't. Know. Where. They. Are."

She kept her eyes at his. "But if you knew you wouldn't tell us, right?"

Duo let out a frustrated sigh as he turned his head away. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?

The woman spoke again, only now to the young cop in the room. "Can't you just get his handcuffs off?"

The man blinked. "I-I don't know, I. . ."

"It's okay, he won't try anything. I take full responsibility."

The man nodded and walked up to Duo, who was now looking at the woman again. He couldn't help but smile a little in a false way.

"What if I grab his gun, shoot you both and get out of here?" The cop stopped removing the handcuffs immediately as Duo said this. Not that he would actually do that, killing someone wasn't worth anything. Not the grief, hatred or the punishment. He might be a street rat, a burglar, a thieve and so many other things, but a murderer sure as hell wasn't going to be one of them.

The woman replied immediately. "That would be a very stupid thing to do because 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." Offer? Duo looked at the woman. She'd never mentioned any offers. When he said nothing the woman nodded once and the cop continued removing the handcuffs.

Noin concentrated on the boy again. She spoke with a calm tone. "I've spoken to your judge and he has agreed to place you in an orphanage under my supervision. You will be going to school so you can get an education and you and I will meet one hour a week."

Duo narrowed his eyes. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You have to agree to all terms if you want this. Think about it. If you refuse you might spend the next years in jail. So, what do you say?"

Duo remained silent. He didn't feel much for having to talk to her like he was mad or something and he didn't want to go to another orphanage, but going to jail wasn't a very hopeful future either.

Suddenly he remembered something, a painting that hung in their `home'. One of the members of their group, Saria, had made it. It was a green mountain with a blue sky and birds flying around, free. She'd called the painting `hope' because she needed that to survive every day.

Duo couldn't help but wondering how the others were doing now. Were they safe? Would Solo be able to take care of them all by himself? He had always relied on Duo pretty much so now that he was stuck here, he just hoped they'd be safe and have something to eat.

If they hadn't, Duo knew it would all be his fault

He was probably the one who'd led the cops to their hideout. They must've followed him when he got back there after breaking in to get some money two nights ago. How else could they've known? The group had always been careful enough.

The woman from social services shoved her chair back and got up. "Think about it. I'll be back in a few days to hear your answer."

# *~* # *~* #

Three days later Duo sat in the same room, facing the same woman who'd `visited' him three days ago.

"So, have you thought of it?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

Like he had anything better to do anyway. He wasn't completely sure yet, though. Why had they made him this offer? Sending him to jail would be a lot easier for all of them. That's how they worked, right? Catching criminals and then taking the easy way out. It's not like they deserved any better.

So he asked the one question that has been burning ever since she'd made the offer.

"Why me?"

"Well," Noin started, "we've done some blood tests on you and we've found no traces of drugs or alcohol in your blood. Besides that, the food that was in your `house' was stolen from the Tween family. We've looked at the security tapes, but you weren't on it. So we have no evidence you were involved with that one."

Her expression suddenly got more serious as she continued in a calm but very clear tone. "Let me be honest with you. We do have other charges against you, offending an officer in uniform, resisting against your arrest, using violence and some other minor crimes, but I've spoken to some people who are involved with your case and they agreed to drop those charges if you decide to take my offer."

"What makes you so sure I won't run away again like I did last time?"

"Your actions apparently set an example." The woman leaned back again. "After you ran away, there were five more attempts, three succeeded. We've checked the other two kids and they showed signs of serious abuse. The orphanage was closed down a year after you left and the children are placed in a new home now, including the three who left after you."

"How can you be so sure I am that one?"

Noin smiled at him. "I've been looking for you back then. We were hoping you'd help us by testifying against the home so we could close it down. In you I can clearly see the young boy I saw on those pictures. I'm sure I have the right one. The one with no name?"

She was right, he was the kid with no name. He'd never known his parents and he'd been in an orphanage for as long as he could remember. In the first one they'd all called `brat' or `boy' and after that no-one had ever bothered giving him a name.

The name `Duo' came from the streets. He had taken that name some weeks after Solo's little brother died. He'd promised him they'd stay together forever so he decided to call himself `Duo'. And now he'd broken that promise.

`Only weaklings break their promises.'

"So, will you do it or not." Duo looked at the lady, but didn't speak. He wasn't sure what to think. He always thought it was normal to be treated the way they did at the orphanage, didn't all orphanages do the same? But now it turned out that they didn't. He had no idea what he would be facing now. Did he want to take that chance?

The woman nodded and got up. Apparently she must've thought his silence meant `no' because she got ready to leave. But Duo spoke before she was gone.

"Is talking to you the only obligation?"

She turned around. "If you decide to stay and follow their rules, yes."

"And if I decide to leave?"

"Then you'll be in a whole lot of trouble."

She walked up to the boy and bend down to his eyelevel. "I have to hear your answer, Duo. Yes, or no."

# *~* # *~* #

Duo and Miss Noin sat in a small office in the orphanage, waiting for the headmaster of this home to arrive. Duo looked around. The office looked like what he remembered from the principle office on the school he went to 5 years ago. It had a wooden desk with a computer, some photos and some stuff to write. The room had some chairs and posters hung on the wall along with some more photos. A room like this often had a lot of things to steal.

This place was an orphanage for children between twelve and eighteen. It was a normal mixed orphanage and the school was inside the building. Miss Noin had told that it had fifty-three children, Duo included. More than half were boys.

The children in the orphanage weren't the only ones that attended school there. Children from outside came here too and since the school had a good name most classes were pretty full. The money they didn't need for the school went to the orphanage and that was the reason the building was in such a good shape.

Without the orphanage the school would probably be closed down and that was not what the parents wanted. The school was to good for that so they laid in some extra money to keep it open.

The door opened and a woman in green clothes stepped inside. Her brown hair was tied in two tails that hung over her shoulder. "Sorry I'm late." She quickly apologized as she hurried to sit behind the desk. She glanced at Miss Noin. "Ah, Noin, it's you. So I guess this the new child?"

Miss Noin nodded. "This is Duo."

Duo's face remained blank as the woman got up and offered him her hand. "I'm Sally Po and I'm the headmaster of the Maxwell Orphanage." Duo took her hand. "You can call me Sally, everybody does."

Miss Noin and Sally talked a while as Sally looked trough a file on her desk. Then she began explaining the rules to Duo. He would be treated just like all the others, despite his background. He was allowed to go out once a week if he let one the leaders know where he'd be going. What time he had to be back depended on the age of the child. The rest of the rules were normal, be nice, no fighting, no skipping classes, blah blah blah.

At the end of the speech Sally asked if he had any questions.

"Do I get my own room?"

"Oh right, I completely forgot! How stupid of me." Sally said. "I'm sorry, but we don't have enough rooms for that. Speaking of rooms, your roommate will arrive soon to show you around. If you have any questions you can just ask him. His name is Wufei and like you he is fifteen."

At that moment there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a Chinese boy walked in. He wore white pants and a dark blue, almost black top with a blood red dragon on it. His black hair was tied back into a little ponytail.

"Ah, Wufei, you're here. This is Duo." Sally moved her hand towards Duo. "Duo, Wufei. You'll be roommates from now on." She dropped her hand and moved from behind her desk.

Duo looked at Wufei who was eyeing him from head to toe as if he were an animal in the zoo. Duo scowled. He didn't like being looked at like that.

"Wufei, will you show Duo around? I've told him that if he needs anything he could ask you, alright?"

"Sure." The Chinese boy answered bored as he turned around. "This way." And he walked out of the office, not really bothering to check if the braided boy would follow.

Duo followed the Chinese boy, wondering if he'd made the right choice. He already disliked being here. How was he ever supposed to live here for three years? Maybe going to jail wasn't such a bad idea after all. But it was too late now, there was no way back.

This kid, Wufei, explained where which facilities were, but as he did so he made clear by his voice that he'd rather be left alone right now.

`That's exactly how I feel.'

When they passed a group of boys their age. One of them called for Wufei.

"Hey, who's that behind you?"

"He's the new kid. I swear that woman does everything she can to annoy me."

The boys snickered. "Yeah, we know that Wufei. All women in the world have joined forces to do their best and annoy the hell out of you."

"Hey, it's true! This isn't justice! I never asked for him." The Chinese boy defended himself, not even trying to hide the disgust at his last word.

"Whatever, Wufei."

Wufei glared at the group, but didn't reply. He just walked on muttering something about damned kids and unjustified women. Finally he stopped at a door and opened it. The room wasn't very big and it had two beds in it. One side of the room had some personal stuff in it, the other side just empty furniture.

"This is our room and that's your side." Wufei pointed to the empty furniture. "Keep it clean."

Next time: "Duo? Gah!" Strange. That voice. It sounded familiar. Duo looked at the figure on the ground to see him staring back at him. As did Heero.

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