NOTE* Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this story!

Chapter One:

Place of Hope

"Shhh…" shushed the younger boy as he leaned over the older. He kept them pressed into the shadows of alley. The boy beneath him gasped silently in pain, his hands clawing at the wound in his belly.

"I know its hard Matt, but you have to try to stay silent", Al whispered to him, his face expression showing both his desperation and concern.

"I-I know", Matt ground out as he closed his eyes.

Shadows passed by of several different people, a few recognizable to their young eyes. Friends of their parents and people who would only drag them back into that hell hole if they found the two brothers.

"It really hurts Al", Matt whispered.

Al nodded as he knelt beside his brother who had slid down the wall. He could tell Matthew was losing blood as a rapid rate, but he also knew there was only a limited amount of things he could do to help his older brother right now. One of those being, keep them away from the men hunting them.

"We need to get somewhere safe", Al whispered as he sighed, closing his eyes and leaning it against his brothers shoulder.

Matthew felt bad. He knew how tired Alfred was, but he knew they didn't have much of a choice right now. His younger brother had saved him from a further serious injury, however the cost had been the two of them running off into the night to escape their father's drunken state. A state that had caused him to stab his own son with a broken piece of beer bottle.

"She will probably be looking for us as well", he whispered out.

Alfred nodded. Their father hadn't always been an abusive, alcoholic, but after their mother died when they were younger, he changed. It only became worse when he met their step mother, the so called "beautiful" Melina Ashdod. If anyone ever dared to ask for the boys opinion on what she truly was, they wouldn't hesitate to call her a Witch, if not something worse. In their opinion, there was nothing beautiful about her, aside from maybe her face. They knew however that body meant nothing when the personality became truly known. It was because of her reputation in society however that kept her personality hidden except in her private moments, such as in their new home, when all she really cared about was drugs, drinking, and sex.

When the sidewalks finally seemed clear, Alfred hoisted his brother's arm over his shoulder and began helping him out of the shadows into the light of the street lamps. Rain splattered them from all directions but he ignored it, choosing instead to take off his coat and wrap it further around his brother who was weakening rather quickly.

"Hang in there Mattie", he whispered, as he started down the road towards the only place he knew his brother could possibly retrieve help.

Hope Hospital.

Alfred had to wonder though how many people went to the hospital with hope only to leave with none or worse yet…never leave its doors again while alive. He swore to himself, this would not be the case with his brother as he trudged on through the many puddles covering the ground.

H~H

Doctor Arthur Kirkland sighed for the hundredth time that night as he walked down the dimly lit halls of the hospital. It was around one in the morning and he was ready to head home. He had arrived to work at noon and because of an emergency forty car pile-up, he had worked overtime for the past couple nights dealing with patients and ER patients who came in, in desperate need of assistance before the ER doctors would even have time to really help them.

"Francis you so owe me", he muttered to himself as he thought of his apartment roommate who was currently on sick leave.

Both he and Francis Bonnefoy, his former medical classmate, had earned a job working for Hope Hospital. The difference being Francis worked the ER as its main physician and Arthur worked as Assistant Chief Surgeon. However with his skills, he often loaned his time to the ER when he wasn't busy with a case of his own. Which lately, hadn't been often. Every time he turned around it was like he had a new case. Still, working the really early morning was slightly better than the regular day shifts, as most patients were sound asleep and only the really desperate cases usually came in at this time for the ER.

Arthur had just taken a seat in the chair behind his desk when his phone rang, alerting him of a case in the ER that needed his attention. Sighing and scrubbing his face with his palms, he headed downstairs to the front desk. He was surprised when he noticed what the cause of the emergency was.

Two young boys stood there, both dripping wet and shivering from head to toe. The taller of the two was being kept up by the shorter who seemed to be nearly falling beneath the wait of the unconscious boy. Fearful blue eyes met Arthur's green ones as they locked gazes.

"Please", the boy stated stumbling forward another couple steps, "You are a doctor right? Please…help my brother."

The boy stumbled again, but this time he began to collapse. Arthur rushed forward when he noticed the eyes droop and the body sag, barely catching him in time before his head hit the floor. The other boy laid across him. Behind Arthur, the desk attendant rushed forward to help. She gently pulled the taller one off the shorter as Arthur laid them both down on the tile floor. A gurney and several nurses began rushing towards them as he took note of their conditions.

"Both are mildly hypothermic, no doubt from being in the rain for several hours. Both seem to be sporting a fever and…" he paused when he noticed the stomach wound on the taller boy. "Stab wound, looks like perhaps by something jagged like broken glass or medal."

"Get this one prepped for surgery", he said as he hefted the taller one onto the gurney.

He watched as they rushed him towards the operating prep room while he turned to look at the other. Another gurney arrived seconds later as he knelt and scooped the tiny boy into his arms. His blonde shaggy hair fell across his face, but a tiny cowlick stubbornly refused to lie down with the rest of the hair, even when wet. Surprised by how light the child was, he laid him down on the gurney and began feeling his ribs. Lifting his shirt, he prodded the area. Not at all happy when he felt a couple ribs move beneath his hands. Ribs that were far too pronounced for his liking.

"Get him admitted and put on an IV and antibiotics. I want his temperature down. Also get a thermal blanket, we need to get rid of his hypothermia. Let me know when he wakes and also contact the Department of Child Services. We may have a case of abuse and neglect on our hands."

The nurses nodded as they rushed the child off.

Sighing, Arthur shook his head as he started towards the operating room. No matter how many times he saw it, he would never understand how a parent could abuse their child. The very thought sickened him.

Prepping himself for surgery, he grabbed his surgeon scrubs, his gloves, and his mask before heading into the room. He noticed the child had been undressed and covered from the waist down with a blanket. The wound had been cleaned the best it could be and now awaited his skills as a surgeon to mend up the cut that should have never been there, marring the boy's skin in the first place.

Holding up his gloved hands, he looked over everything before sighing as he reached out to the nurse for the first thing he would need to start the surgery.

"Nurse, Scalpel", he replied and as she put it in his hands, he zeroed in on the wound and began working to remove the bits of glass embedded within.

H~H

When Alfred awoke, he thought he was in his bed at home. However when he took in the white walls, the large hand-railed bed he was lying in, as well as the beeping of machines and his own hospital gown, everything about yesterday's events rushed back to him. Panic gripped his chest as he thought of his brother. Was he alright?! Was he alive?! Where was he?!

The boy hadn't even realized the machine he was hooked to have begun to sound an alarm before a young blonde man in a white coat rushed in. He placed large, but gentle hands on him as he pushed his shoulders down to the bed.

"Calm down lad, I am here. It's alright, you're okay. Can you hear me? Breathe for me. Deep breath, in and out. Easy Lad."

Alfred took a deep breath in and out as the doctor instructed before he finally calmed, the machines beeping slowing to a normal rate once again.

"You nearly hyperventilated there", the doctor said with a hint of concern and amusement, "You alright now?"

The child nodded as he looked up at the man standing beside him. The doctor was young, probably around his mid to late twenties. He had dyed blonde hair with dark bushy eyebrows and a pair of the most intense, dazzling green eyes Alfred had ever seen. They reminded him of emeralds.

The doctor was also having thoughts along those lines. The boy was adorable, probably, he guessed to himself, around seven or eight, maybe slightly older. He had dirty blonde hair and striking sapphire blue eyes that seemed to shine when the light hit them. The face of the tiny boy was set in a frown, but he wondered if the child smiled, if those eyes would shine even brighter.

"My name is Dr. Arthur Kirkland. You can may call me Arthur or Dr. Kirkland."

The boy stayed silent as he watched the doctor.

"I just got done working on your brother", the doctor replied and was about to go into detail, when the boy sat upright, his face still flushed from the fever, but his eyes overwhelming concerned not about himself, but about his brother.

"Please! Is he okay! Where is Matthew?! He is alive, right?!"

"Calm down lad or you will start breathing funny again", Arthur said as he gently pushed him back against the bed; only relieved enough to let go when the child calmed once again.

"Your brother is fine. I admitted him to the room next to yours on the right. He is sleeping soundly right now after surgery. I took out the glass embedded in the stab wound and stitched him up."

"Can I see him?" Al asked, quickly interrupting the doctor.

"Yes, but before that, I have a few questions for you."

The boy nodded.

"First and tell me truthfully, how are you feeling?"

The boy blinked. He hadn't expected the question to be about his own health.

"Err…fine I guess. I'm a little cold, but I'm okay."

The doctor stared at him, an intense frown on his face.

"You have a couple cracked ribs. Do they hurt?"

The boy winced when he flinched back from the question. He had forgotten about his ribs in all the mayhem of yesterday's events.

"A little sore", he admitted.

Arthur nodded.

"Alright, I will give you something for the pain a bit later. First though, I admitted you into our database, however we must rightfully have a parent's consent…"

Arthur paused for a moment when he saw the fearful expression cross the child's face before being hidden behind a mask of neutrality. The child was impressive for his age, Arthur would give him that. He could hide his emotions better than most adults he knew.

"Would you mind telling us a way to contact them?" he asked.

Alfred hesitated.

"Are you going to call them tonight?"

Arthur thought for a moment. "I should have you admitted under their permission, however I might be able to wait until later today, maybe around noon. Sound alright?"

Alfred nodded, somewhat relieved that the doctor wouldn't be calling his parents tonight. He could just see how that event would play out for them in the end.

"Is there a reason you don't want me calling them tonight?" Arthur asked the child.

The boy stiffened upon reflex.

"No, no reason", he lied.

Arthur could see through the lie, but for now he accepted the answer. The child was, after all, still sporting a fever and cracked ribs. He also looked ready to fall asleep any moment.

"Can I see my brother now?"

Arthur sighed. He agreed, under the strict condition that Alfred stay in the wheelchair and only visit for five minutes. After which time, he was expected to be ready to go back to his own room. Alfred readily agreed, surprised the doctor had even consented to him visiting his brother in the first place. The last doctor who had treated them had downright refused. Then again, he thought to himself, he had been only four at the time and sporting a pretty bad head injury.

Arthur helped the boy into the wheelchair as he began rolling him towards the other room.

"I forgot to ask you", Arthur said, suddenly realizing his mistake, "What are your names?"

"I'm Alfred F. Jones, but you can call me Al", the boy replied proudly as he pointed a thumb at himself, "Hero Extraordinaire!"

Arthur smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"My brother is Matthew A. Williams."

"Different names?" questioned Arthur.

"Err…yeah. Our dad and mom had an affair before they actually married while in college. So when Matthew was born, he took moms maiden name. A couple years later, they married and another year later they had me", he said grinning.

"Oh and how old are you?"

"I'm eight. Mattie is eleven."

"I see. Well Alfred, why don't you say goodnight to your brother. I am sure tomorrow you and he will have plenty of time to talk. Perhaps if you do well tonight, I will move you into a room together for recovery."

Alfred beamed at the idea as he nodded and moved to grab Matt's hand. His brother's hands were cold, but he rubbed them the best he could, trying to warm them up.

"I will see you in the morning Matt", Alfred replied as he frowned, noticing the paleness of his sunken cheeks, "I will protect you. Always."

Arthur who stood in the back heard the words, but they confused him. Usually the older protected the younger didn't they? He wondered why it was that it seemed like Alfred was more the big brother in the relationship. Then again, perhaps he was merely overthinking things. It was probably because of the brother's condition that the younger felt protective.

Even as he thought these things though, Arthur felt something about all of this nagging at him. Something was wrong here, but he wasn't sure what.

He took one more glance back at the now sleeping Alfred F. Jones who was tucked under the covers of his own hospital room before flipping out the light. There was more to this story than what he knew to be the case and he was determined to find out.

He sighed. Tomorrow. He would figure things out tomorrow. For now…he needed desperately sleep.

He barely made it back to his office couch before dropping into it and snoring away; asleep, before his eyes had even closed.