AN: Don't own PJO!

It's dark, that's really all Travis knows right now. It's cold too, and he's hungry, and the stars above him are shining so brightly that he wants to go tell his mom about them and it's making him homesick and all he wants to do is go home but he knows that he can't.

"How could you two do this to me? Stealing? What are you, street rats? Don't think Mommy could take care of you?"

"Mommy, we're sorry—"

"I didn't deserve this, any of this. How did I get stuck with two brats?"

"We'll take them back we—"

"Get out of here, you good for nothing tricksters! Just like your father, both of you. Just like your rotten, old father."

"But Mom—"

"Out."

Travis shakes his head. He didn't want to remember—no, he couldn't remember. He needs to get his mom—no, not his mom, just her—out of his head as soon as possible. Fast. Because if she didn't want them in her lives, why should she still be in his thoughts? Why should he care about her anymore? He didn't want to tell Connor, the little bundle tucked into his side, any of this however since he still thought that they were "going on an adventure".

He didn't have the heart to break it to his kid brother that "this adventure" was going to last for a lifetime. He just couldn't.

xxx

"Tr-Travis? Does mommy hate us?" Travis looks at his younger brother on his left, cold and shivering even with his coat on.

"Connor..." Travis said softly. He wasn't sure what to say. "No, of course not."

Connor looks at him with broken baby blue eyes—the same as his no doubt—and whispers, "Then can we go home?" Travis didn't know what to say once again. Instead, he wraps the jacket around that they stole earlier tighter around themselves, tucks Connor's head under his chin, and hugs him tight.

"This is our home," Travis says quietly and the wind carries his words away. Connor presses himself against Travis's chest and curls in on himself, making himself incredibly tiny. "I'm sorry, Con-man." His identical nods slightly, and they stay like that. Holding each other, trying to keep the tears away.

Travis doesn't say anything when he feels the front of his T-shirt getting wet, doesn't say anything when Connor begins to tremble in his arms. Their home's the corner of an abandoned alleyway, and he has to accept that. And he has to be strong for Connor. That's the only way either of them are going to survive.

The wind strengthens, buffeting the two children, and in the midst of this, Connor manages to say, "Do you hate me Travis?"

Travis almost didn't hear him, but he did. He freezes and stares down at his little brother shuddering in his lap. "No, of course not," he repeats and leans down to press a kiss against his matted, blonde hair. "I'm your brother, Connor. I could never hate you. It's me and you against the world, bud." He feels Connor smile against his shirt and nod again, more energetic this time, and Travis realizes that, yeah, maybe they will survive in the end.

The wind whistles through his dirty locks, and Travis doesn't feel as alone as he did before. He rests his cheek against the top of Connor's head and begins to doze off. They'll survive, he's sure of it now.

If he has Connor, and Connor has him, then they'll be just okay.

(Travis takes a quick look up at the stars, still shining so brightly down at him. He looks for the biggest, brightest one and swears that he'll do anything to keep his brother safe, swears never to speak of his mother again, swears that he's never going to leave Connor's side.)

AN: I've always wanted to write something about Travis and Connor as kids.

Tricksters 'til the End.

~Taffeh