Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. We're all happy. Yay.

A/N: So...here's my other fic idea. Spawned about four years ago from a short story of the same title (if you know this story you'll have a general idea of my plot) and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. This fic is (mostly) finished; I'm down to editing what I've got written, so speed of updates is dependent entirely on my editing speed and nothing else. No need to fear that it'll suddenly get dropped. Sorry about the somewhat short chapters, but I broke them where they split nicely. Such is life.

Last note, please review if you get the chance, even if it's only an "I was here". I'm posting this now before I've got the entire story edited because I kind of need some happy in the next few days. Reviews help with happy. Please leave me one.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1

I looked up as the lock on the door clicked. As it swung open I ducked my head so my hair hid the fact that I was watching the door. Three big, bulky guards, two holding bodies and one glaring around our little concrete block menacingly while holding a gun…damn. There went any idea of trying to sneak out as someone else came in. The hulking guards tossed two limp bodies onto the concrete floor, and I mentally winced; that was going to leave bruises, even though both of them had landed on their sides and not their faces. No one moved as the door clanged shut again. Silence. "Oh, for the love of…" I grumbled, shoving myself up the wall in order to walk in a mostly straight line over to our two new arrivals. Joy. More people added to our already-too-small room.

I automatically scanned the two on my way over, one of those reflexes that generally help keep you alive on the streets. The closer boy was on the short side, brown haired, and looked vaguely Asian; the further boy was also on the small side, black haired with an odd little ponytail, and definitely of Chinese ancestry. The obligatory scruffy clothing was present, which made it hard to tell if either of them had concealed weapons or anything fun like that. I could frisk them while they were unconscious, but it probably wouldn't be worth the time and effort; my knives had been taken when I got grabbed, so I really doubted these guys still had theirs. Plus it wouldn't be fair. While I was all in favor of stealing from people who had too much already and could afford it, stealing from fellow street rats is unethical; we've usually only got what we absolutely need to survive. Weapons aside, at least both of these guys were small enough that neither of them would be taking up too much of our quickly vanishing elbow room…I reached down, intending to shift the closer body into a more comfortable position, then froze as a piercing blue eye snapped open and glared at me.

Thankfully for my peace of mind, the glare shifted off me and onto the other prone figure. "Wufei, status!" the boy who should have been unconscious snapped as he quickly shoved himself in the direction of upright.

"Fine," his companion snapped back as he levered himself up.

I just sat back on my heels to stare for a second. Okay…two new guys. Who were conscious upon being thrown in here. And who were also, I noticed from my now-closer vantage point, too well filled out to be street rats like the rest of us. Sure, they had the clothes and the dirt, but anyone who's been on the streets for any length of time gets a hollow look to their features that these two didn't have. And that was interesting. It probably also meant…"So, since the two of you seem to be conscious and functioning, got any clue where the hell we are and why the hell we're in it?" I grinned upwards at them since they'd managed to stand completely while I was thinking. Without wobbling, I noted, something I was still in the process of managing myself and I'd been in here and awake for several hours. It made me slightly jealous. I got two flat stares for my trouble. "Oh, come on, all the rest of us got thrown in here completely out of it. Spill."

A speaking glance was exchanged. Sure I couldn't read it, but that doesn't mean I didn't know it was there! "We both recognized the smell of the chloroform and decided it was safer to feign unconsciousness. We have no more idea where we are than the rest of you."

Uh huh. You pretend that's true and I'll pretend to believe you. For now. "Welp, I'm Duo. These are Sue, Billy, George, Anna, Sam, Maria, and Tom." I pointed at each unmoving body as I listed off names. Everyone else was huddled against the wall still pretending none of this was actually happening. I would've liked to've joined them, but I was more interested in actually trying to get out of the problem than in ignoring it. At least I got them to give me their names before they all went comatose on me. Man, I'm bored… I looked expectantly up at my reluctant conversation partners. God, I love talking to people who don't want to answer but feel they have to. It's so much fun to watch them squirm.

"Heero and Wufei," the one who'd been doing the talking answered, nodding at his scowling friend in turn.

Yep, they knew each other. If the three word conversation upon arrival had not confirmed that, the fact that Heero answered for Wufei would have made it obvious. If they couldn't or wouldn't tell me what's going on…time to do something stupid. What the hell, I was bored anyway. "Great. Well, if you two've got no clue about what's happenin', I think I'll try to find out." I shoved myself off the floor and crossed the room−with only a slight wobble I'll have you know−and banged on the door. "Hey out there!" I hollered. "I've been sittin' here for hours and I'M BORED! Can we get on with whatever the point of this is?" Silence was my answer. Does no one know how to answer a simple question without either prodding or a ridiculously long wait? "Tough crowd, apparently," I muttered before going back to yelling. By now damn near everyone was looking at me like I was nuts. "At least tell us what the point of this is! Don't make me sing The Song That Gets on Everybody's Nerves!"

"PIPE DOWN IN THERE!" floated down the hall. I grinned.

"Just one hint? Are we being sold into slavery or something, because if so, that's totally illegal in this country! When the cops find you, you're fucked! They'll come here and shut you down and send you to jail permanently and whatever money you're makin' won't be worth it!" Our two not-street-kids both had an odd look on their faces after that little tirade, which pretty much just confirmed an idea I'd had since they first showed up. Cops impersonating street kids only fool people who aren't looking closely and aren't street kids.

"Argh, SHUT UP!" This time footsteps echoed down the hall following the shout. "This ain't no slavery ring and the cops'll never catch on to disappearing street trash like you, so keep your trap shut! You're all going to end up dead anyway, so if you don't know what's good for you and pipe down, I'll go in there and kill you myself!" The last sentence was punctuated by a rattle and bang on the door. "Any more yelling and you're history!" The footsteps clomped off again at a sharp pace.

"Well, shit," I muttered. I was pretty sure he wasn't kidding, which meant we were in a lot more trouble than I'd originally thought. I'd figured, street kids getting grabbed, had to be slavery, right? Which I could get out of no problem. Wait until they put me in a cage with a reachable lock or until someone bought me and put me somewhere with a reachable lock, pick the lock and run like hell. But if it wasn't slavery…I had no idea what it was. And the guard had said we were all going to die soon, which was not encouraging.

I took a look around the room. The unhelpful wall lumps were still unhelpful and now looking even a bit more lump-like. The two don't-fit-ins were looking as blank-faced as before, but now I thought I might see a tad of worry there too. Which was not encouraging either. Because if my guess was right, they were definitely undercover cops. And if they were worried, they might be just as stuck as the rest of us, and therefore of no help at all. Damn.

The only way in or out of the 15x15 room we were in was the door, so I sat down next to the nearest wall, joining the wall-lump brigade, and studied it. No lock on the inside, so that was out. The hinges were on the inside, but were thick and new, so that was out without a wire cutter and mine was…currently in my Burnside bolt hole. I hadn't needed it for the job I'd had planned for…tonight? Last night? Impossible to tell without a window. Either way, still stuck in a concrete cell with zero windows, including on the door. Couldn't even annoy the guards by staring at them. Damn. Prob'ly would've been useless, but it would have been entertaining…

Chances of anyone else being helpful? I glanced around. Ten of us sitting against the walls now: seven true street kids all between the ages of 12 and 17 if I was any judge, myself, and our two probable law enforcement types. From reputation and gossip I knew all the others off the streets were either beggars, whores, or pickpockets, so no tools from them, and a plain knife, provided anyone still had one, which was unlikely, wouldn't be much help. And if I was right about our undercover cops, they wouldn't have sneak thief tools with them to begin with. Especially a metal cutter; there were very few legal uses for one of those, and most of them involved scrapyard work.

In a nutshell, all of us were SOL. Throw a couple Fs in there for emphasis. With a lack of anything better to do, I slid into a completely prone position and closed my eyes. Some more sleep would hopefully clear the rest of the drugs from my system, and maybe life would improve by the time I opened my eyes and there'd be a way out of here.

And maybe I'd suddenly have a Swiss bank account. I can dream.