Pay attention to everything I write before this chapter begins because I'm only going to write it once.

Summary: Duo lives on the street. One day he gets caught and sent to an orphanage. Can he survive there while keeping his past a secret? Will he ever make friends or is he too afraid to loose them again? Follow him on his struggle to adapt to his new life.

OOC's: Duo is a bit OOC in the beginning, but the further the story goes, the more he develop into how we all know him. That's what this story is about. Trowa is a rich bastard, don't flame me for it. I really like Trowa's character, but I needed a rich bastard and he was the only one I saw fit for it. In the sequel he'll change.

Pairings: None in this story, just friendships.

Warnings: PG 13 is just to be safe. There's no lemon or anything here and there won't bee much swearing. I assume you've all heard the words 'fuck' and 'bastard' besides that there's not much swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing; if I did this wouldn't be a fan fiction since I'd be the owner then, not a fan.

A new life

Chapter one: Prologue

'Got it! This should be enough for now.'

The youth put the envelope into his pocket and quickly glanced around. Everything around him was as it was when he entered this building except for the drawer that was wide open. He quickly but silently closed the drawer and held his breath as it still gave a soft thud. For a few moments he didn't move, he just listened. But everything stayed silent. That was good.

'And now to clear out of here.'

The youth headed for the window he'd left open on purpose just in case he'd have to make a quick escape. He glanced at the floor just in time he was about to step on a ball. He stopped dead in his track for a moment before he positioned his foot somewhere else.

'Phew, that was a close one.'

He decided he had to be more careful. He'd done this so often it was easy to think of it as a routine but he knew he couldn't afford that. One mistake could cause him to loose everything. He looked at the window once again. Just a few more steps and he'd be out of here. He took a step forward, and another, and another. But this time he reached the underground too soon. He heard how something from under his shoe moved and he saw how a toy car came out from under his foot. The little car raced forward and with a loud bang it reached the heating pipe.

'Fuck!'

The youth bit his lip to keep himself from swearing out loud. For the third time in less than two minutes he held his breath. But as they say 'third time's the charm'. He heard the soft cracking of a bed closely followed by a door opening. Someone had obviously woken up. What to do now? Staying here was definitely not an option. Making a run for it wasn't either, in his condition, whoever it was would spot him way before he'd reach the bushes. No, he had to hide. And fast! He glanced around to see where he could hide without being seen, but his mind wasn't cooperating very well. Then he glanced at the window

'Outside.'

Within a heartbeat the boy was outside, pressing his body against the wall, trying to hide under the small windowsill. He heard footsteps and the stairs cracked, indicating that someone was coming down. Suddenly he felt something moving near his legs. He looked down to see a little rat sniffling his black pants. The boy frowned before he reached down and grabbed the rat. He placed it on the windowsill.

'Help me out here, little one.'

He gave the rat a little push causing it to fall down on the floor inside the house. Then he quickly sank back and hid again under the windowsill. He was right in time. A door opened and the light inside the house switched on. The footsteps paused. The youth did everything he could to keep his body from making any sounds. The footsteps sounded again, coming in his direction. But they stopped before they reached the window.

"Well, what have we got here?" A male voice whispered. "How did you get in here, little fellow?"

A small pause followed the voice and the youth could feel his heart beating in his troth.

"Ah, I see I left the window open. Stupid thing for me to do, wasn't it?"

The footsteps came closer again but this time they didn't stop until they reached the window.

"Beautiful night, t'night, isn't it?"

The voice was now almost above him. The youth pressed his body even harder against the wall now, squeezing his eyes shut, silently wishing he'd become one with the bricks. Time passed by in slow motion and seconds seemed like hours. The youth felt the energy being drained out of him and with every heartbeat in his chest the adrenaline seemed to flow even quicker trough his body.

Finally he heard the sound of a window being closed and locked. The footsteps withdrew and the sound of cracking stairs soon faded away in the black darkness of the night.

The youth waited a little while longer until he was sure that whoever lived here had gone back to sleep again before he dared to let out a small sigh. The warm breath that had escaped his mouth quickly condensed into little white clouds, indicating the almost freezing temperature outside. The youth shivered. He was cold. He was always cold. He pulled up the collar of his thin, black jacket and prepared to leave this cursed house, promising himself he'd never return again. Not that he ever broke in the same place twice.

Never, not in the four years he'd been doing this, had the braided one ever come this close to getting caught.

,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸-( ¯|¯I3© )-,.-´¨¯¨·-.¸

Well, this was the prologue. I named it chapter one just because I that's how the counting on ff.net goes. Well, if you think this idea is interesting and you want to read more, please tell me. If I don't get enough reviews, I won't continue.

If you have any suggestions or what so ever, always feel free to tell me.

Next time: Both boys looked up as they heard loud voices and footsteps. Something was going on in the living room.

No review, no continue!