Thankfully, the doctor that the young man saw didn't ask questions. He was the kind of doctor who worked underground on the side, patching up fighters such as the young man so that his "real" job had no idea of his extra-curricular activities.

"I don't know Wade." The doctor sighed, looking through the doorway to his office, where the young girl sat, slumped. "I don't give her more than a few hours, if that. She's clearly been abused, and that last fight probably finished her, not to mention the flight here from Budapest."

Wade shrugged. No skin off his nose. He could win fights fine by himself, he'd just wondered if he could use the girl and her eyes to make his life easier.

"All you can do is take her home, make her last few hours as comfortable as possible." The doctor continued.

Like hell I'm wasting my time. Wade rolled his eyes. The doctor frowned at him.

"I mean it Wade, take her home and make her comfortable. Do something nice for someone else for once." He scolded the young man. "And by "make her comfortable" I don't mean throwing her in a dumpster on the way out."

"Well there goes that plan." Wade scowled, having no intention of taking the girl home.

"Your word, Barrett." The doctor pushed, knowing that once Wade Barrett gave his word, he kept it.

"FINE." Wade snapped. "I'll take her home and give her a bath and make a princess of her, shall I?"

"Thank you Wade. It's nice to see you do have a heart somewhere in there." The doctor didn't really like Wade (no one did), the young man was as evil as they came. The only thing that Wade was interested in was cold, hard cash and being as cruel as possible. He loved kicking snow at freezing homeless children, dumping poor people in dumpsters, stealing cars and even the odd murder – for a price, of course.

"Oh bollocks Doctor Yankem." Wade stalked back into the office, where the girl was slumped against the end of the couch. "C'mon kid, you're coming home with me." He lifted the tiny body up, ignoring her recoiling from him and shaking like a leaf. "Stop being such a coward, I'm not going to hurt you!"

The doctor, Dr. Issac Yankem, shook his head as Wade shoved the child roughly into the front seat of his car. Wade Barrett was evil – but he did pay handsomely.

What the bloody hell am I supposed to do now?! Wade was completely and utterly baffled. Bathing the girl had been a nightmare in itself – she was terrified of being touched, but couldn't stand on her own two feet, and that was before the water was turned on and she completely freaked out. Water boarded more than likely. Wade frowned. Now the girl was huddled in the corner of the bed that he had set up in his bedroom next to his own bed.

"I'm not going to bloody hurt you, now lie down properly and go to sleep!" Wade wanted to tear his hair out. For a kid who was hours from death, she still had a lot of fight left in her. He begrudgingly respected that.

The kid began coughing, a hollow, hacking cough that sounded awful. Wade groaned.

"Look, if you lie down properly you'll be able to get rid of that cough better." He tried to reason with the child. She eyed him warily. "Look, I'll go and get you something to eat, try to relax, will you?" Hopefully you'll be dead by the time I get back. He thought bitterly.

The girl watched as the strange man walked out of the room. It had been an interesting twenty-four hours for her, as she'd gone from being treated like a disposable sex toy to being free to being stuck with this…man. He couldn't be much older than her, five to six years at the most. She didn't trust him one bit, even if he had put himself between her and certain death (his shirt still had blood on it from the stab wound).

She was scared, weak, lonely, and she knew she didn't have much time left.

Maybe it's best. It's not like I'm worth anything.

Wade returned to the room with a bowl of warm porridge. "Eat up." He put the bowl in front of her. Nothing. "Go on, it's good, I promise."

She slowly reached towards the spoon, and ate a few mouthfuls. The whole time she watched Wade, waiting for him to finish her off. The porridge was bland, but it was warm and filling.

"There, that's better isn't it?" Wade smiled as she ate the last of her meal. It was probably the last meal she'd ever have.

She finally got under the covers of the bed, resting her head on the pillow. The coughing started again.

"Sucks to be you, huh?" Wade sighed. He left the room again, and returned with a jar. The jar had an amber-coloured substance in it that the girl had never seen before.

"Have some honey, that will help with your throat." Wade opened the jar, and spooned some of the substance into the girls mouth.

It was like flicking on a light switch. The honey was so sweet and delicious, like nothing the girl had ever had in her life. She eagerly sucked the spoon clean, making Wade laugh.

"You like that, huh?" He gave her another spoonful. Again, she eagerly cleaned it. Wade couldn't help laughing, the whole scene was ridiculous. He gave her another spoonful.

Suddenly, two small hands wrapped around his big one, holding the spoon steady in her mouth as she savoured the taste of this wonderful substance. Wade's expression softened, along with the lump of coal he called a heart. He pulled the spoon away and scooped up some more honey, and again the two little hands held his.

This continued until the entire jar was depleted. The girl looked up at him, before resting her head on the pillow and closing her eyes.

'G'night." Wade said softly. Her breathing was soft and weak, and he was certain she would be dead by morning.

He was disappointed. It looked like the kid was from the Australian Misneach Clan, one of the Great Five Clans. Wade was from the Barrett Clan, the only one of the Great Five Clans to not have a bloodline power, and he had been hoping that the kid had had some decent eye powers. Something like Truth Eyes or Healing Eyes. That would have made making money so much easier. Then he could train her up to fight for him, never having to lift a finger again.

Oh well.

He watched her uneven breathing, shallow breaths that couldn't be getting in the air she needed. It was funny, Wade had seen many teenagers her age in the same position. Usually he ignored them, or if he felt mean he'd give them a good kick and finish them off. Now he had one in his room, slowly dying.

A shame really. She fought so hard. She was so determined to escape, to be free.

You're free now kid. No matter what, you're going to die free. You earned it.

One thing Wade had was respect. He respected people who fought, and detested cowards who wouldn't fight for what they wanted.

And this girl was clearly a fighter, no matter how scared she was.

You're not like those kids I kick snow at. You're different from them. You weren't going to give up like them.

And now you're going to die, and it sucks. Those other kids don't fight, and they survive, but you die because you fought. That's complete bullshit. It's not right! Fighters should survive! We're stronger than them! We're better than them! YOU'RE better than them! You shouldn't have to die!

Wade grimaced. It wasn't right. She'd clearly spent most of her life being abused and mistreated, and now finally, FINALLY, just when she had just gotten her freedom, freedom that she had EARNED, she was going to die. Alone and scared, with no idea where she was. It wasn't fair! It wasn't right!

You soft bastard! Wade scolded himself. Are you actually CRYING?!

He was. Hot tears streamed down his face, repressed sobs shaking his body. She was going to die, this young fighter who had taken her chance when she saw it, she was going to die and he couldn't save her. She was a fighter, just like him, who could have been his rival, but instead she was wasted, and she was going to die.

He sat with her the whole night. Just when he thought he had his emotions under control, he'd break out in a fresh set of tears. The girls breathing was getting weaker as she lost the fight to live.

"C'mon kid, I know you have it in you. You got this far, you just gotta live." Wade whispered. In the girls face, he saw himself. Taking his chances when he could, surviving against the odds, winning when everyone thought he was defeated. She just had to live, she just had to!

"I'll look after you if you live." He said. "I won't let anyone hurt you again. You and I, we'll make millions, and you'll be comfortable. Just please live!"

It was towards dawn when it looked like the girl had finally drawn her last breath. Wade silently sobbed next to her, certain that she was finally gone.

"Please." He whispered, burying his face in the blankets next to her. "Humiliate me. Beat me to a pulp. Destroy my spirit or break my heart. Take my soul if you must, but for the love of the air I breathe, I am telling you: Don't. Touch. HER!"

His eyes flashed a dangerous shade of silver. A second passed. The silver flashed again, and then steadied into a solid colour, the formerly brown/grey eyes now the same colour as his silver chain, shining brightly. Another second passed. An eternity in one strike of the clock.

Then she coughed. She stirred.

"Where…am…I?" She barely opened her eyes.

"You're home. You're safe." Wade whispered to her.

"Oh." She closed her eyes, her breathing regular and even.

Wade nearly choked. She was going to make it! She was going to survive! The silver in his eyes mellowed out into their regular colour as he calmed down. She was going to survive.

Instantly, his mind began plotting. She'd need a name, there was no way he was calling her "Broken Star", Kowareta Hoshi. He couldn't help but feel that the name Star suited her though.

"I'm thirsty." The girl mumbled. Wade bolted to the kitchen to get her some warm milk. He'd have to train her. He needed to know what those eyes were capable of, then she would help make him rich!

He'd have to take care of her though. That stopped him in his tracks as the milk slowly heated over the stove. He shrugged. As long as he didn't hit her, she'd be fine.

He filled up a glass with the warm milk and returned to the girl. He helped her sit up and drink the milk, again feeling her small hands against his own.

"You're not broken." Wade told her. "So you can forget your old name, we're going to give you a better one."

The girl looked at him.

"Yup." Wade said as she finished off her drink. "You're going to live with me, and we're going to be best friends, and I'm going to name you Lucky Star."

The girl continued to stare at him.

"You ARE pretty lucky. You're also pretty sharp, getting away from your tormentors like that." Wade took the empty glass away.

The girl blinked "W-w-who a-are you?" She asked nervously.

"I'm Wade. Wade Barrett." Wade smiled at her. "And I'm your new best friend."

"Wade." For the first time, the girl smiled at him. "Okay."

"Go back to sleep. You need to get better, then I can start training you." Wade told her.

The girl rested her head back on the pillow, and looked up at Wade tiredly.

Wade smirked. Usually, that smirk made hearts sink, but the girl was more curious now than anything.

"We're gonna rule the world." Wade told her. Still weak and tired, the girl fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, that she would wake from feeling a lot better.

She liked this strange man after all.

Welcome to the prequel to "We Are One"! This will be more of a collection of one-shots detailing the adventures of Wade Barrett and Lucky Star before they got to the WWE! I hope you enjoy!