Together Arc

He stared up at the giant wooden doors, bright red eyes glaring. Stupid state; his mom was fine. She didn't mean to hurt him with the kitchen knife, she was just upset! She needed him! He was the man of the house, hi dad said so before he died. He's looked him in the eyes, his soft brown eyes clear of the pain that had haunted him for a year, and said firmly, 'Vincent, you're the man of the house now. Take care of your mother; she'll need you.' And then he'd shut his eyes and died, leaving his mom and him all alone. His mom was always sad now, and Vincent had to be there to make her happy!
"...Yes, his mother attacked him with their butcher knife in a fit of rage; those stitches will need to be looked at in a few days..." the social worker was explaining to the old nun, and Vincent fingered the slice on his cheek, shifting his glare from the doors to her. She thought she knew everything, standing there in a purple suit that would have cost his mom a month's paycheck and her hair sternly pulled back into a clip. She thought she knew about him and his mom when she wasn't even from the same world. Fuck her.
"Hey...fresh meat." The cocky voice came from above him and he looked up, staring. Bright green eyes stared back from under a bandana, uninterested. The teen blew smoke into his face, causing Vincent to cough. The nun looked over and pinned the teen with a smoldering look. "Fuck," he muttered, then tossed his spent cigarette over his shoulder. "Hey Penguin. What's shaking?"
"Danial! You're late! And what have I told you about smoking!?" she demanded, stalking over and pulling sharply on Danial's ear. He howled in pain, scrabbling to free himself.
"Ow! Christ, Penguin, leggo 'a me!!" He wretched away and stumbled back, almost hitting Vincent. He rubbed his ear and pouted at the nun. She suddenly smiled, too cheerful and happy. Vincent took a step back and Danial gulped.
"Danial, this is Vincent Ronallini. I want you to take him out back to meet the other kids." Danial smirked, starting to move away when she continued, "and stay there with them, please." Danial stopped short and spun around, his messy black ponytail smacking him in the face with his momentum.
"What?! But I had plans with Barry" he whined, and the nun smiled.
"That's just too bad. Go run along!" Grumbling, Danial started to lead Vincent around the church. When he saw that he was still carrying a rucksack, he gestured back to the two women.
"Listen, you can just leave that with them if you want; Penguin’ll guard it with her life," he said calmly. Vincent blinked and looked down, thinking quietly. With a small sigh, he walked back and placed the bad at the nun's feet, trotting back to where Danial was waiting. His small hand clutched at the gilded locket around his neck; inside was a small picture of his mom and dad and him, smiling on a fishing trip. It was his most treasured possession. Danial nodded and continued until he reached a wooded gate. Stepping inside, he gestured for Vincent to stop.
"You see those kids over there? The ones playing soccer and house and laughing? If you want ordinary kids, go run off and join them. They'd welcome you in a heartbeat," he said, pulling a cigarette from his hoodie's pocket, lighting it up with a matchbox match. Vincent watched him cup the fragile flame, shielding it from the world, waiting until Danial was taking in his first drag.
"What about those three?" he asked quietly, pointing over to three silent boys sitting on the back steps. Danial sighed, smoke curling in the air.
"Those three... their father beat and raped them nearly every day of their lives until he tried to off them about a month ago. The girl--the one in the middle, with the really short blonde hair--took the knife he was attacking her twin with and stabbed him again and again. She saved their lives, but it broke something inside of her. Her older brother, the one with the choppy brown hair, feels responsible for the entire thing and is rapidly sinking into a depression. The twin brother, the boy leaning against the girl, blocked everything outta his mind. I'm not just talking about the attack; everything from before the orphanage is gone. He's a vacant, blank slate. Onto of all that, the twins have no names and the older one refuses to answer to his unless the girl is calling for him. They're about your age, come to think of it." Danial shook his head and moved out of the shade, squinting at the overcast sky. He called over his shoulder, "Trust me, kid, go make friends with the kiddies; you don't need the hassle." Vincent watched him sit down, ruffling the girl's hair with what was surely a snarky comment cause she hit him.
He watched the three of them chat for a few moments, then turned to watch the other kids. Happy grins, hopeful smiles...he hated them. Without a second glance, he strode over to Danial and the three siblings, stopping in front of them with a cold look, his hand clenching his locket tightly.
"My name is Vincent Ronallini. I'm here because the state is stupid and thinks that I need a new guardian because my mom accidentally cut me. Nice to meet you." He stared, red eyes flashing, as they stared at him. The girl thrust a pale and scrawny hand out.
"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry you're here," she said simply, and Vincent grasped her hand, shaking it firmly. He stared at her light blue eyes, reading nothing. No pain, no anger, just simple aloofness. He sat down next to her brother, who introduced himself as Connor (the girl pronounced it as Con'nore), and just talked.

He woke up that night to thick, panicked screaming from two beds away and he jolted upright. Glancing around quickly, he saw the girl sitting up, eyes wide open, hands digging into her arms, screaming in terror. Connor rolled out of bed and started to hug and soothe her, trying to make her stop. Unsure of what to do, Vincent moved to get the nun when he realized she was standing right beside him.
"Why aren't you helping?" he demanded, pointing to the sobbing girl. The nun shook her head, the candle light glinting off the silver in her greying brown hair. Vincent was suddenly aware that she wasn't dressed like a nun, clad in worn jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. It was surreal.
"She won't let me help," the nun said simply, just watching the girl. "Only her brother can talk her down; anyone else who gets close she rends. Her twin's being adopted tomorrow." Vincent's head snapped back to the nun, giving her a look of abject horror.
"You're splitting them up?!" he cried, and she nodded slowly.
"It's the best thing for him. He doesn't remember either of them; being here will only hinder his healing process."
"What about her?! She needs him!" The nun gave him a level look.
"Who told you that? With or without her brother, she'll have these fits as long as she keeps everything inside. He's being adopted by a very nice family; she and Connor might as well one day." Vincent stared at her, the started moving for her bed. "What are you doing? Get back here!"
"She needs a friend." Done with the conversation, he strided over to the bed, dodged flying limbs, and hugged the girl. "It'll be alright," he whispered, hugging her tighter when she clung to him. "It'll be alright..."

The next day, the boy left with a smiling and very rich couple who were glad that he was such a well-behaved little boy. The girl fled from them and skinned her hands raw attacking the brick walls of the building. Vincent found her and treated her hands in silence. "This hurts worse than being raped," she told him, staring at the sky. "And I thought nothing could hurt more than that."
Two days later her and Connor had fled, leaving no sign of where they went. When Vincent woke up that morning, he found a small picture of a bunch of kids. Connor, an older girl, the twins, and a little boy, as smiling despite bruises and cuts and even broken bones. The word Together was scrawled on the back in horrible chicken scratch. Vincent put it in his locket.
A week later, the day after Danial left for the police academy to become a cop, Vincent's mother showed up with a social worker. She cried and apologized, begging forgiveness, saying she'd never hurt her baby again, hugging him and covering him with kisses. He stared at her with blank red eyes, not moving to embrace her. He knew now, and the innocence he once had with her was gone. He thought back to the girl and the picture and slowly moved his arms around his mother's body, just holding her. They had nothing else; they could at least be together.


~~~~~
AN: This made me feel sad. I got the inspiration for this in my psych class when we were talking about sensory deprivation and how orphanages used to, through sensory deprivation, cause social deprivation. All of a sudden, I get the mental image of little eight-year-old Vincent staring up at a foreboding church. This all sort of fell into place after that. I like it, and I hope you do to.
Sets, out.
::end transmission::

I own all the characters in this except two. Anyone who reads as much manga and shonen-ai as I do will know which two. ^^ Cheers!