Title: Little Remnants part 1
Author: Enide Dear
Rating: NC -17 for violence. Complete AU

Pairing: Nothing explicit, KadajxYazooxLoz

Summary: Growing up is hell

***

The room which Yazoo was pushed into by none to gentle hands was very similar to his own. It had a bed, neatly made, a toilet in a semi-secluded corner, no windows, one heavy door and some toys spread out on the floor, mostly soft, cuddly things and absolutely nothing out of metal.

The only thing that differed was the boy sitting on the floor, his legs sticking out and a stack of building blocks in front of him. The blocks were neatly piled into an inverted pyramid, each level bigger than the one beneath.

Yazoo stood still, studying the boy who stared back without blinking. He'd seen himself in mirrors a couple of times, and in other reflective surfaces. This boy was heavier than he was, and taller, and probably one or two years older. But he had the same pale skin, the same white hair falling into his eyes, the same green eyes with the vertical pupil that none of Yazoo's caretakers had. It wasn't as much looking into a mirror as looking into what *might* have been.

It made Yazoo wonder. About a lot of things.

The other boy looked away first, and gestured at his pyramid.

"I'm Loz." He said. His voice was familiar too, although Yazoo had never seen him nor any other child before in the research facility where he'd grown up. "Wanna play?"

"Mm." Yazoo stepped up to the pyramid. On some instinctive level he recognized the challenge in the boy's voice, and that was also comforting. It made sense, the way his keepers seldom did.

The boy who'd called himself Loz blew annoyed at the hair falling into his eyes and then poked the pyramid, which fell over. He shoved the pieces over to Yazoo, who quickly rearranged them. Under his clever fingers and Loz's watchful eyes he built up a statue of a roaring dragon, each wooden block perched with perfect balance. When he was done he sat back.

"I'm Yazoo." He smiled. He smiled often, but this was a special smile, one he hadn't used before, the one he *meant* and Loz recognized it as Yazoo knew he would. He smiled back, and then, shyly, put out a finger and touched Yazoo's hand. Yazoo almost withdrew; he didn't like being touched which was why he always wore clothes that covered as much of his body as possible when he was allowed. But this touch felt…right. The finger was cool and smooth and clean, much like his own but stronger.

"We're the same." Loz said, still letting his fingertip slide over Yazoo's knuckle. "That's good. I'm tired of being alone. It hurts."

"Yes."

The boy wiped at his hair, which fell around his head like an unruly mop, trying to get the fine strands to stay behind his ears without success.

"I can help you," Yazoo offered, nodding at the hair.

Loz looked up, surprised.

"How?"

"Stole a scissor. I'll cut it short for you."

"Yes! But they'll be watching, so you must hurry."

"They're always watching."

Yazoo got up and took the paper scissor he'd stolen from a pocket and stepped behind the boy's back, which was much broader than his own. He could hear the keepers muffled voices of sudden fright even from outside the room, but they calmed down when he started to carefully cut the hair. He wondered if they'd though he'd stab Loz like he had stabbed a keeper with a broken test tube once. The thought was ridiculous; he would never hurt this boy who was him, but different.
He cut neatly, trimmed back the long hair and made it short, teased the strands up in the neck, away from the face. When he was done, Loz took his arm and pulled him down, into an embrace. Yazoo let it happen, delighted at the touch and warmth and strength, although he could hear the keepers getting frantic again outside. Apparently Loz had hurt them before as well (which wasn't hard to believe, with the strength in the boy's body he could have easily caused pain) and they feared he'd hurt Yazoo now, which was also stupid. But the keepers were stupid.

"Yazoo?" Loz held him so tight it almost hurt, but that was just good. He'd never let anyone hold him like this before, but from Loz he wanted it, and more, much more.

"Mmm?" Yazoo wrapped his own arms around the boy to let him know he liked it and to share the comfort.

"I don't want them to take you away. I want you to stay here, with me." He whined.

Yazoo sighed.

"We can't stop them. They're too many and too strong, and they have weapons. They'll hurt us."

"They hurt us anyway." Loz let him go, just a little bit, so he could pull up his orange jumpsuit and show dark bruises on his ribs and belly. It looked like he'd been kicked with heavy boots. "Why do they do that? I hadn't even done anything."

"They want to see what happens when you get really angry." Yazoo slowly rolled up the sleeves to his own jumpsuit, showing bruises and cuts. "They want to see what you'll do."

Loz frowned.

"I'm not old enough for that, yet. I'm not ready."

"I know. I told them I wasn't, but they didn't listen."

"They never listen." Loz sighed and pulled him back into the sweet embrace. Yazoo felt like he could just lay there, forever. He'd never felt more…whole…in all his short years, even though he was still far from complete. Something was still missing, but this was better, so much better, than being alone.

"When they come to take you away…I can hurt them." Loz caressed his hair, whispering in his ear. "I'm stronger than I look. I'm almost as strong as they, and they're much bigger than me."

"Will you do that for me?"

"Would you want me to?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll do it."

"I'll help you. I got the scissors and I'll cut them if they try to take me away from you."

"Good."

The door opened and they both tensed, getting ready, but instead of guards with guns like they'd expected, a keeper came in with another child, an even smaller one. The keeper hurried out, not daring to be alone and unprotected with the pale children.

Yazoo and Loz looked up, green, cold, judging gazes falling on the new child who looked back at them. He was much smaller, only just out of diapers probably, and lean to the point of thin in the orange jumpsuit they all wore. But there was something there, in the unwavering stare, in the way he stood, that radiated….something. Yazoo didn't quite have the words for it, but he realized that this must be what Loz saw when the older boy first looked at him. It was a sense of…being better, of being closer to something *right*, some ideal. Yazoo looked away, dropping the subconscious challenge and instead looked up on Loz. Together they rose and went slowly over to the little boy who smiled at them.

"I'm Kadaj," he said. "Where is Mother?"

Yazoo's breath caught. Loz burst out crying.

***
Yazoo and Loz listened in awe to the young boy's tale.

"Mother will know. She knows everything. We have to find her and make her proud, so she will love us. Then she'll make all of this-" he waved a hand at their prison, their world "-go away."

"But where is she?" Yazoo asked. It didn't occur to him not to believe Kadaj; it felt as if the boy was telling him things he'd always know, deep inside, but had somehow forgotten. He knew they were true.

"I don't know. They stole her away. We have to find her." Kadaj smiled. "We are her sons. We are brothers."

"Brothers," Loz said breathlessly. They sat cross-legged in a small circle on the floor, so close their knees were touching.

"We have to get out of here, and find her." Yazoo said, but looked for the confirming nod from Kadaj.

"We will. We won't let them stop us. We won't let anything or anyone stop us getting to Mother. With her there will be a Reunion and everything will be good. Without her, we're just…Remnants of what we could be."

The door suddenly opened and the Remnants came to their feet; Loz stepped in front of his brothers, crouched on the balls of his feet, hands fisted. Yazoo pushed back Kadaj behind him and tore the scissors into two dull blades, one for each hand.

"Come now, you can play more later." One keeper said, sounding calm but smelling nervous. "There's ice cream for good boys who come nicely."

None of the Remnants answered or moved, tense as coils. The keepers tried with their stupid, silly pleadings for a while longer, but then gave up. Armed guards with truncheons and helmets came in, and Loz hissed with anger.

"You are not taking my brothers away!" He screamed at them.

"Leave us alone!" Yazoo flickered the scissor blades threatingly.

But the guards were bigger than they were, and stronger and lots more; Loz broke a knee on one and head-butted another to the floor, but was grabbed and thrown across the room where he hit the wall with an impact that drove the air from him and jarred his teeth. He had time to come unsteadily to his feet as Yazoo's blades were pulled from him (one of the guards were bleeding heavily) and see his long-haired brother kicked down and pulled away from Kadaj, who hissed and bit vainly after the guards. When the door to Loz's cell was slammed shut and he was abandoned once more, he crawled into bed, sobbing and crying with anger and loss. But even as he cried he still felt a faint hope.
He was not alone anymore.

TBC