Chapter One-No Matter What, You Must Survive

It was all Sebastian could do to survive. He'd been on the run for over a month from his control freak of a mother, who had all her dead husband's money to track down her 'darling' boy.

He curled up in the alley, pulling his cheap rain poncho over himself. Even though Sebastian was dry, it was freezing.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

James pushed his sister under the table as his drunken father staggered towards them. "Stay hidden." He whispered to Ella. She nodded and disappeared, her small body almost swallowed by the night.

"Where is she?" His father asked Jim, sounding perfectly sane. "Where's your mother?"

"She isn't here right now, dad, she's gone out to be with her friends." It was an utter lie, of course. Alicia Moriarty had died five years ago of cancer. However, if tonight was a good night, his father would simply go to bed...

"LIAR!" The fist made contact with Jim's stomach, and the air whooshed out of him. Eight year old Ella stayed hidden.

Even she could tell tonight was not a good night.

Sebastian watched as a small girl, followed by a boy about his age, slipped into the alleyway.

The girl was crying, and the boy was trying to soothe her. "He's never hit me before." The girl whispered.

"It's going to be alright Ella. We'll hide out here tonight, and go back for our school things in the morning."

"Okay Jim."

They kept walking towards Sebastian. He gripped his knife, and stepped out of the shadows. "Who are you?" he spoke threateningly.

The boy, Jim, gripped the small girl's shoulders, ready to run. The girl however, was much friendlier. "I'm Ella. And this is my brother Jim. We..."

"That's enough, Ella. It's obvious we're not welcome here." Jim was ready to sprint away, carrying Ella if he needed to.

Sebastian shook his head. "Stay here. It's obvious you've not been sent by my mother."

Jim watched Sebastian closely, but when he didn't make a move, came closer. Sebastian could see that the strange boy was nervous.

"I'm Ella Moriarty." Ella said again. "And you are?"

"Sebastian."

"Last name?" Jim's voice was full of danger. Sebastian might have been almost a foot taller than this boy, but Sebastian could guess that Jim was just as deadly as he could be.

"I'm not giving it to you. Too likely I'll be found."

"You're Sebastian Moran, aren't you? The one everyone's been looking for."

"How did you know?"

"Saw your photo on the telly." Jim sat down, spreading out a waterproof sleeping bag. Ella crawled into it, and curled up. Sebastian watched, trying to decide if he should run.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to report you." Jim sighed. "Probably won't even see you again after tonight. Ella and I hope we won't be back here tomorrow."

A small snore came from the sleeping bag. Ella was already asleep. Jim examined her black eye.

"I'll have to give her teacher a pretty good excuse tomorrow. She already called child services once. I can't have her doing it again." Jim thought.

"Family troubles?"

"Drunk father. Trying to cope with the fact my mother died, leaving him almost no money and two kids."

Sebastian nodded. "I won't interfere with your life as long as you don't interfere with mine."

Jim watched him for a second, and then offered his hand. "Jim Moriarty."

"Sebastian Moran."

When Sebastian woke in the morning, the two were gone.

Jim waited for his father to come home. He was dreading what might happen when he admitted what he'd done.

Every drop of alcohol had gone down the drain.

Jim and Ella both took after their mother, with small bodies, dark eyes, and hair the colour of raven's wings. Jim father was practically a mammoth that walked on two legs. It was hard to believe they shared any genetic material.

Jim was positive they didn't.

The door opened, and his father came in beaming. "I bought a present for my Jim Boy! Happy birthday!"

Jim didn't mention that his birthday had been two months ago. He opened the package and found a handgun.

Lucky me. I'll be able to get shot after he finds out. Guess it's quicker than him bludgeoning me to death with his fists.

"I bought a drink to celebrate your seventeenth."

Eighteenth.

Well, he wasn't going to die tonight. He waited until his father had passed out to go fetch Ella from her friend's house.

Once she was asleep, he headed towards the alleyway. He prayed Sebastian Moran was still there.

Sebastian had just returned from an excursion, hoping to find food somewhere. He had stolen from small farms when no one was around on his walk here, but in the city, finding a quiet spot to steal from was practically impossible.

He turned the corner and saw a figure going through his pack. "OI!"

The figure stood. "Good, you're here. I wanted to give you something."

Sebastian looked at the handgun. "Are you sure?"

"If I have it, he can get it. He's going to be angry when he finds out what I've done, so I might as well keep it away from the house."

Sebastian stared at it. He'd never been allowed to even look at his father's gun collection before. Jim had explained how it worked, and Sebastian just hoped a nineteen year old buying bullets would go unnoticed.

Practically impossible now that his mother had his face on a new screen every time he turned around and that he was almost out of money.

Jim smiled, and Sebastian could see danger under that. "Good luck, Sebby."

Sebastian barely registered the nickname as he stared at the weapon. A random boy, who could have used it to shoot his father, had given it to him.

A story behind his weapon.

He prayed to whatever greater being there was that he would never have to use it.

James dropped Ella off with a note about her new set of bruises. He knew that they would have to leave soon. He'd hoped that he could keep his father's attention for a few more years, but Ella was growing up too fast.

Without their father, they'd be on the streets, unless James found a way to pay for their college education and a place to live. But what kind of qualifications did an eighteen year old that stayed in high school even though he could have graduated three years ago, have?

None.

He stopped to watch the football team warming up. Powers, who seemed to be on every sports team known to man, and captained them all, shouted at the team.

Jim smiled. He liked it when he could see Carl and all his cronies. It meant that he wasn't about to be set on top of a locker or beat up or whatever fresh hell Powers had thought up.

The ball went under the bleachers, and Powers sent the unlucky man to go fetch it.

There was a surprised shout, and then Jim heard the boy yell at the team. "It's Moran! We'll be rich..."

Jim heard the loud bang, and watched Sebastian streak away. The boy sent after the ball wasn't hurt at all, just surprised.

Powers started chasing after Moran, hoping to claim the cash reward for finding him.

Jim followed, but if there was one thing Jim prided himself on, it was knowing routes no one else used, and running faster than Carl fucking Powers.

The night before, Seb had managed to escape from two men and ended up curled up under a set of bleachers.

His rain poncho was ripped, but still offered some protection against the rain and wind, so he had used it as a blanket.

Now everything but his gun was gone. He was stuck with nothing. Even his money he'd kept in his bag.

"Didn't fancy I'd see you again, Sebastian."

Sebastian looked up and glared. "Are you following me?"

"I don't think so. You showed up at my school after all."

"Ahh. I guess that explains why you're here." Seb shrugged, and then rubbed his shoulder, which was throbbing. He lifted his hand away, and stared at the crimson streak. "Great. I clipped myself the first time I fired my weapon."

Jim came over, examining the wound. "I've got a first aid kit at my house. My dad's at work, so I can patch you up there if you'd like."

Seb doubted he'd survive unless he accepted this boy's help. He hadn't been properly clean in weeks, and infection would be more deadly than the wound it's self.

"That would be appreciated."

Seb hissed at the stitches. "God damn it, the bloody hurts!"

"Want to sew it up yourself? I assure you, it's not fun."

Sebastian resorted to much quieter, somewhat fouler profanity after that.

He didn't remember when he'd fallen asleep, but Sebastian woke up in a darkly painted room. He was on a thick pad on the floor, covered in blankets.

He saw Ella, and remembered where he was. He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her finger against his lips and pointed at the door.

There was a loud crash, and shouting.

"WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN IT?!"

"I threw it out."

A small scream of pain.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! WHERE IS SHE?"

"Nowhere."

A sickening crack.

Finally, there were footsteps, and Jim stumbled into the room, holding his ribcage with a bleeding hand.

Ella pulled out the first aid kit, and handed it to Seb. "I...I can't really do much, and he'll need help sewing himself up. Can you?"

Seb nodded. "Get me a wet rag."

He guided Jim, who was trying to refuse help, to the bed. Ella returned with the rag and a bowl of clean water. Seb realized how much of a routine this must be when he pushed up Jim's sleeves and saw tiny stitch marks up his arms.

Jim finally accepted help for the stitches, and Seb, under Jim's watchful eye, did his best. When he was done, he reached a hand out to feel Jim's ribs.

"What are you doing?"

"Hoping your ribs are just bruised, and not cracked." He gingerly felt along, and suddenly Jim hissed in pain.

Seb very carefully put a little more pressure of the spot. Jim clenched his teeth and a moan escaped his lips.

"Crap. I'd bet money it's broken." Sebastian shook his head.

Ella yawned. "I'm going to bed, Jim. You'll be here when I wake up?" Her eyes showed that she knew more than she should, but at the same time had no idea what was going on.

"Yeah, I'll be here Ella. Don't worry." Jim kissed the top of her head, and she went off to bed.

"I can't really do much. I'll not a doctor." Seb sighed, but Jim smiled.

"Thanks for what you did." Jim leaned back against his pillow, and then sighed. "I guess that you've repaided me for the earlier favour."

"Yeah, well, I guess we'll both be crashing here tonight." Seb fell onto the pad, and was asleep almost instantly.

Jim watched Sebastian's breathing until he fell asleep.

Sebastian woke up to find Ella watching him. He jumped, and then stopped; his left arm and shoulder feeling like a hot iron had been left on them.

"Can you walk me to school? Jim's still asleep, and I don't like to wake him when he's this hurt."

Seb stood up, stretching. "Do you have anything I could cover my face with? A hat or something?"

"I doubt this is adequate." Seb sighed. In the borrowed jacket and the London baseball cap, he looked like a cheapskate tourist.

"Hmm?" Ella looked at him.

"Never mind. Can you cross the last crosswalk by yourself?"

"Yeah. Thanks Seb." Ella smiled, skipping away to join the throng of children.

Seb turned around and almost ran back to Jim's house.

Jim was up when he got back. "Ella made it to school okay?"

"Yes."

"Can you bring me a phone? I need to acknowledge my owed absence so they don't call my dad."

Seb grabbed Jim's phone, which was right across from him, but he didn't say anything. If Jim was going to hide him, he'd hand him all sorts of stuff even when Jim could get it himself.