Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bullet and Kallie walked along the sidewalk, contemplating where they’d be staying that night. “I’m just sayin’, maybe Beacon’ll be open.” Bullet shrugged. Kallie rolled her eyes.

“No way Bullet, too many kids. Besides-”

“Hey, shut up a sec will ya?” Bullet interrupted her. Kallie feigned offence.

“Okaay your highness-”

“Dude I mean it, shut up.” Bullet put a finger to her lips and stood still for a second, two seconds, three seconds, then bolted down the closest alley. Kallie jumped but ran after her best friend.

“Bullet!!” She called, about to scold her friend for taking off, when she saw what Bullet had obviously been listening for. In front of her, was her best friend taking on some older looking assholes she recognized as Tank’s thugs, and a kid who couldn’t have been more than six, sitting, curled up in a ball to the side. Before she knew it, the men were running down the alley, screaming profanities back at Bullet, who wasn't having it.

“YEAH YOU BETTER RUN! DON’ LEMME CATCH YOU ROUND HERE AGAIN!!” She yelled at the retreating figures. She turned back to face Kallie, then ever so slowly, crouched down to the child’s level, ignoring the pain of the black eye forming round her eye and the pounding in her temples.”Hey, hey kid, you okay? They hurtcha?” She asked in the gentlest voice Kallie had ever heard from her.

The redhead turned her face to the kid, and crouched down as well. She felt herself frown as the kid shakily nodded. Bullet pursed her lips and looked around, then back at the kid.”Okay, think you can tell me where?” She asked again. The kid, who Kallie now saw was a boy, hesitated before nodding once more. “Okay, we ain’t gonna do nothin to yes, kay? C’mon, let’s go somewhere safer.” Bullet replied.”I'm gonna pick you up now, is that okay?” She asked, her arms gently outstretched towards the boy. He nodded, and she gingerly pulled him into her arms and stood up, Kallie joining her quickly.

“Okay B, where’re we going?” Kallie asked quietly as they started walking. Bullet thought about it for a minute. “One of the clinics maybe?”

“Nah, too risky...ohh fuck me.” She groaned, then began walking in a new direction, trying not to jostle the kid, who was sniffling, wincing occasionally when they hit a bump in the road, his head resting on her shoulder.

“What? Where’re we...ohhh.” Kallie sighed as she realized what they were doing. They had to visit Lyric.

Lyric was smart with money, and injuries. She’d managed to score an empty hotel room, albeit a condemned one; she had become a sort of safe house for their friends or allies. And Bullet had the biggest crush on her that Kallie had ever seen.

“Yep.” Bullet nodded. “C’mon, before I start to regret this.” She stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky. It was dark and cloudy, clearly an impending storm. She didn’t look long before walking once more, Kallie jogging to keep up.

Before long, they had reached the room, and Kallie knocked on the doorframe. Lyric glanced up from what looked like a comic book and walked over.

“B, what’s going on? What’re you doing here? I thought you and Kal were gonna stay under the bridge tonight.” She pulled her jacket on in a futile attempt to block out the February cold.

“Yeah well, stuff happened. You got any stuff left from last time?” Bullet asked, referring to the last time she’d gotten into it with Tank’s boys.

Lyric raised an eyebrow, about to scold Bullet about whatever fight she'd gotten into this time, then registered the small boy in Bullet’s arms as she heard him whimper.“Oh my God Bullet, why didn’t you say anything?” Lyric quickly grabbed what little medical supplies they had left.”Here, set him down.” She got away from the bed, and Bullet did as she was told.

The boy clung onto Bullet, and she sat down beside him, holding his hand.“Hey, hey, s’okay, I gotcha, Lyric’s just gonna help it stop hurting, kay?” She tried to comfort him. “Okay, you’re gonna have ta show me where they hurt you,” She told him. He bit his lip but nodded.

He gingerly lifted his shirt, showing a number of bruises and cuts. He was also incredibly skinny, but then again, all of them were. His right arm had a long cut on it; the blood had already started drying, and had thankfully stopped flowing, which meant it wasn’t too deep. He had a black eye forming and what was once a bleeding nose. Bullet was sure some of it was on her jacket.

Lyric opened up the bag of first aid stuff and poked through it, trying to find a bandage. She was thankfully successful.”I know it ain't the best, but it’s all I got.”

“Don’t worry about it, this is more than enough.” Kallie replied, as Bullet was a little focused on the boy.

Lyric wrapped the bandage tightly around the boy’s arm, frowning at his whine of pain when she did so.

Bullet gently rubbed his hand with her thumb. “S’okay, almost done.” She assured him, then looked up at Lyric.”Got any ice packs in there?” She asked.

Lyric raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? Even if we did, they’d’ve melted by now. That’s as good as it’ll get.” She replied softly.

“S’okay, thanks anyway.” Bullet replied. She turned back to the boy.“Hey, I don’t think I got yer name. I’m Bullet, this is Kallie, and Lyric.” She nodded at each of them as she said their names.

Kallie and Lyric waved. The boy fidgeted with his hands, then looked up at Bullet.“I-I’m E-Eli.” He stammered out.

Bullet smiled a little.“Cool name, kid. You okay to walk now?” She asked. Eli nodded and gingerly hopped off the bed, his hand still in Bullet’s. Kallie joined the pair and they started walking out.

“Be safe you three!” Lyric called to them before returning to her comic book.

Chapter Text

Bullet pulled Kallie back from the edge of the bridge, Eli’s little seven year old hands tugging on the girl’s jacket.”What the hell is wrong with you you stupid crazy bitch??”

“I was just looking I wasn’t gonna jump, God Bullet!” Kallie replied. She leaned over the rail once again, and Eli poked his head through the bars, looking down at the water. Bullet sighed, she was outnumbered, and so she joined her friends in looking at the river. “It’s so pretty, isn’t it? Before all the boats and garbage ruin it. It’s so beautiful.Like glass. It’s perfect” Kallie smiled. Bullet rolled her eyes.

“You crazy bitch.” She sighed, resisting the urge to push her hair back under her hat and hood. Eli stuck his head out between the pillars.

“Wanna spit race?” He looked up at the girls. Bullet grinned as Kallie made a face of disgust.

“No thanks, I just said how it was clean, and you wanna spit in it?” She pulled her jacket closer around her. Eli and Bullet nodded. Kallie sighed.”Fine, whatever.” She stood back. Bullet looked at the seven year old.

“Kay, so loser does what?” She asked, pulling her face over the bar. Eli thought a moment.

“Loser has to~…...walk in the middle when we start going again?” He shrugged. Bullet raised an eyebrow.

“Nah, not good enough. Hmm, how about..if I win, you gotta wear the hat.” She looked at the boy mischievously. Her hat fit just perfectly over his eyes.”And if you win, I have to give you a piggyback,” She proposed.

“Deal!” He put his face back over the water, and Bullet did the same.

“You guys are disgusting,” Kallie remarked, turning away from the water and leaning on the railing.

“Shut up we’re getting ready.” Bullet waved off her best friend’s remarks. Okay, three, two, one, phbt!” They spat down into the river, ignoring kallie’s shiver of disgust.

“Go! Go! Go!” They chanted. Eli’s landed first.”Woo! And Eli is the reignin champion! The crowd goes wild! Ahh!” He pretended to be the crowd. Bullet rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up ya little gremlin.” She muttered and lifted him onto her back, glad that her backpack sagged enough to allow her to do so.

Kallie looked at her, the amusement and disgust gone, knowing she’d have to bring up sleeping situations some time.”...Cops ran us out from under the bridge.” She looked back over the railing.

“Yeah, douchebags kicked us outta the park this morning,” Bullet sighed, joining her, being careful not to jostle Eli, who nodded at the statement. ““Some sorta…”

“...City-wide sweep?” He looked down at his friend, who nodded spitefully.

“Yeah that. Whatever, eat me. Yo, maybe we could get beds at beacon?” She asked Kallie.

“Whatever, I’m not sure I’m ready to accept Jesus as my lord. ‘Sides they never got open beds anyways.” The ginger smiled and twirled some of her hair round her finger

“Yeah well, least they got eggs, and bacon on the menu this mornin.” Bullet replied. Kallie made a face of disgust.

“I hate bacon.”

“Oh dude quit trippin c’mon I’m starvin.” Bullet reacted. Eli nodded.

“Starvin marvin.” He added for emphasis. Kallie sighed.

“Look, we’ll find a place to squat, it’s still early, right squirt?” She looked up at Eli, who stuck his tongue out at her.

“I ain’t a squirt!!” He protested, kicking his little legs. Bullet rolled her eyes and gently hit his leg. “Ow!” He looked at her, then sighed.”Right, we’ll find a place.” He finally agreed. Kallie chuckled and hopped back down onto the sidewalk.

“Alright, let’s go then. Off to Beacon.” She started walking, and Bullet jogged to catch up with her, ignoring Eli’s weird sounds he made as he bounced on her back.

“Hell yeah.” She grinned.

-

About halfway there, she had to put Eli down, much to his chagrin. “But it’s fun up there.” He moaned as he dragged his feet, grabbing Kallie’s hand rather than Bullet’s.

“Whatever squirt, but keep whinin an’ you don’t get this.” She pulled out a necklace made out of a green stone and some thin rope. Eli’s eyes widened. Green was his favorite colour and it was rare he had something to fidget with that wasn’t his or Bullet’s hair. “I snatched it from one’a those bargain jewelry racks, but don’t go tellin nobody, kay?” She dangled it just above him as they walked. Kallie giggled as the seven year old let go of her hand.

“No, I ain’t gonna tell nobody!” He exclaimed, trying to grasp the necklace. Bullet smirked and handed it to him, watching as he quickly draped it over his head, resting the stone on top of his hoodie before starting to play with it.”Thank you Bull.” He smiled.

“No prob,” She replied, and stuck her hand in her pocket, pulling out a ring with a blue stone. Kallie’s eyes widened.

“Whoa, you jack that ring too?”

“Yeah, Lyric was telling me about this blue ring her grandmother used to wear; she’d always try and steal it. But I figure, it’s blue.” The punk girl shrugged, a small smile on her face.

“So you gonna give it to her?” Eli asked, looking up from his own necklace for a minute. Bullet shrugged.

“I dunno.” She was blushing. Kallie and Eli looked to each other, then back at their friend.

“You should. You loove her, lookit you!” Kallie laughed, gently pushing her friend, causing Eli to start laughing.

“You love her! You love her, you really really love her!” He jumped around, singing out the same words again and again, taunting the older girl.

“Shut up, shut up, no!” Bullet defended herself, though she was still smiling. Kallie lost the teasing demeanor for a minute and got serious.

“Twitch’ll kill you if he thinks you’re moving in on his woman.” She stopped walking and leaned against the window of a bridal shop. Bullet scoffed.

“She ain’t his woman.”

“I heard they hooked up. They’re squatin’ together at some hotel.” Kallie shrugged. Eli made a face of disgust.

“Blegh, Lyrie could do way better than Twitch. He has a stupid face.” He proclaimed, stopping with the girls. Bullet had a look of anger on her face.

“You think them playing house means jack?” She huffed and resisted the urge to punch something.”No! That low rent punk is using her! I’m gonna kick his skinny white ass!!” She settled for kicking a garbage can angrily. Eli nodded in agreement.

“Yeah!” Even Kallie had to agree with her slightly less rational friends.

“Yeah, he ain’t all that.”

“That boy ain’t packin nothin down them sean johns!” Bullet said, starting to smirk again. Eli howled with laughter at that.

“He’s just got some caterpillar!” He remarked. Bullet nodded in agreement.

“So tell ‘er, dumbass.” Kallie looked at her friend.

“Tell her what?” Bullet played dumb. Kallie rolled her eyes.

“That you like her.” She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.”Don’t just sit with it, walkin around like you do.” Eli nodded in agreement. “See, even he knows it’s obvious. C’mere, lemme see.” She held her hand out for the ring. Bullet narrowed her eyes.

“Why?” She asked suspiciously. Kallie chuckled.

“Bullet c’mon.” She asked, grinning as Bullet handed it over.”Ready?” She asked, smiling as Bullet pulled out her camera phone. As the shutter clicked, she flashed some poses(A few interrupted by Eli’s photobombs.) She even pretended to be Lyric for a minute.”Ooh Bullet I love you.” Bullet rolled her eyes, then smirked.

“Come on, lemme get this.” She did some more. “Aw come on dude sit still.” She finally finished, then looked through them.”Those are pretty good, if I do say so myself.” Eli nodded, hopping up and down

“Course they are, you took em.” He stopped walking as he saw Lyric and some other kids they knew sitting by a little convenience store. He quickly grabbed his friends’ hands and started pulling them across the street.”C’moooon! It’s Lyrieeee” He let the the three of them slow to a stop.

Chapter Text

Eli stood with Kallie as Bullet got a pack of cigarettes from the stand. He looked at some of the kids hanging around, recognizing an older kid that Bullet knew.”Hey Ricky.” He waved.

“Hey squirt, how’s it hangin?” The boy asked. Eli pouted.

“I ain’t a squirt! Who says I am?” He asked, as if he wanted to fight someone. He’d been in, well, lost, lots of fights before, so nobody really took him seriously when it came to fights.

“I do.” Ricky shrugged. Kallie didn’t bother interacting with the boy. If Eli started getting too friendly, or the opposite, she’d step in. Eli huffed.

“Well, you’re wrong!” He sighed and sat down across from the boy.”So, what’s been goin on? You heard anything new? New kids? New spots?” He asked, when he felt Bullet ruffle his hair.

“C’mon kid what’d I tell ya bout sitting in the middle of the sidewalk?” She pulled him up. “Sup Ricky. What’re you talkin about?” She asked, somewhat protectively. Ricky was one of many dealers she knew of, and this wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to get Eli hooked on something. She knew she was a poor example, but she didn’t even let the kid touch her cigarettes.

“Nothin, I was just ‘bout to tell the squirt about this girl, cops were saying she had her head cut off.” The boy on the ground grinned wickedly, and Bullet felt Kallie tense behind her.

“Aw man quit trippin you’re so full of it.” She gently steered Eli back towards Kallie. She saw the boy gulping, and he looked a little pale at the thought of some poor girl being decapitated.”Just ignore ‘im guys, you know Ricky’s just hoein for attention.” She assured them. Eli nodded, though he still clung to Bullet’s jacket. Kallie was less blatant.

“Nah, I ain’t worried bout that. I gotta find a place to crash, I’m done sleeping outside.” Bullet raised an eyebrow at her friend’s statement.

“You got money?”

“I got twenty.” Kallie sighed. “I could pull a date, but it wouldn’t be enough. I gotta get more pall malls too.” She rubbed her arms, thankful it hadn’t yet started fully raining. Bullet shrugged.

“Damn girl, I’ll jack you cigs, don’t worry bout that.” She offered.

“I got thirty!” Eli pitched in. Bullet shook her head.

“Nah kid, you ain’t buying no cigs, you ain’t old ‘nuff, sides-”

“Don’t look.” Kallie turned Bullet around, and Eli obediently did the same. Bullet looked back and shrugged.

“It’s just Joe and his rank ass cab, what of it?” She asked.

“I don’t want Joe stopping.” She replied, facing the window.”God.” She hissed. That made Bullet suspicious.

“Why, he do something to you?” She asked. Eli got angry at that.

“What’d he do, I’ll fight him!” He proclaimed, and turned around, seeing it was safe.”It’s okay Kal-Kal, I’ll protect you!” He held onto her hand and smiled. Kallie smiled and squeezed his hand.

Bullet looked around, seeing a man who was clearly a policeman, judging by the suit, step out of his car. She took a drag of her cigarette as he asked for a pack of his own.

Eli looked up at him, trying to shove back memories of the last cop he’d talked to. When his mother died. His thoughts were interrupted as the man walked over to him and Kallie.

“What’s up?” He asked the pair. Neither of them answered. Upon his lack of findings, the man turned to Bullet. ”What’s up little man? Hey, you heard about a missing girl around here?” He asked. At that, the seven year old went to tell him about what Ricky had said, but Kallie held his hand tightly, shaking her head.

Bullet was giving the cop a major stink eye. She pretended to look around, as though questioning if he was talking to her.”If you ain’t arresting me I don’t gotta talk to you.” She looked back up at the man.

“Something I should be arresting you for?” He asked, stepping closer to Bullet.

“Not a thing,” She fired back with ease.”But unless I’m in cuffs or in the back’a your ride, I don’t gotta talk to you.” She said with sass that only came out when talking to an authority.

“Yeah you already said that,” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah just in case you forgot.”

“You’re pretty unforgettable there little man.” He gestured at Bullet. Eli let go of Kallie and started walking over towards Bullet

“And you’re pretty slow there five-o, I ain’t a boy.” She finally stated.

“I am!” Eli raised his hand, and ignored the sound of Kallie slapping her forehead as he rushed up next to Bullet. The policeman looked the pair of them up and down.

“Ahh, I can see that.” He pretended to be in a light hearted mood, trying to get on ‘their side.’ He suddenly started walking back towards Kallie, who was slightly red in the face from embarrassment at Eli’s little distraction. “And what about you baby? Heard about a little girl missing from around here?” He asked casually. Eli’s jaw dropped, oh no he did not just say that, he did not just call Kallie ‘baby.’

He turned to Bullet, about to tell her to do something, when he noticed her staring at Lyric. Even if she was the reason they were over here in the first place, he couldn’t help but slap his forehead at how easily Bullet got distracted by her. He pulled her attention back to Kallie, who was shaking her head.

“We dunno nothin!” He looked up at the bigger man, who clucked his tongue and took a drag from his cigarette.

“Alright alright.” He raised his hands in surrender. But Bullet wasn’t done yet.

“Yo Po, you’re not gettin any doughnuts?” She snickered, and Eli giggled. He only shrugged and leaned against a bike rack.

“I don’t eat doughnuts, matter a fact, I don’t eat anything that’s processed.” He crossed his arms, as if the pretentious statement had gotten him out of the hole that was bantering with Bullet, when it had only gotten him so much deeper.

“Why? ‘Cause you wanna retain your youthful, glowing skin?” Bullet asked mockingly.

“Cause even the Taj Mahal needs upkeep.” He fired back. Eli’s eyes widened. Man, this guy was good. But he was still no match for Bullet

“Whatever. You just get old and nasty cause you get old and nasty, I mean lookitchu, furrilla.” She’d won. Eli grinned and stuck his tongue out at the cop, who was getting exasperated with the banter.

“Look you hear about a missing girl or what?” He asked, standing up. Eli shook his head as Bullet kept talking. Kallie was starting to get paranoid, and was fidgeting with the ring.

“Man get offa my block.” Bullet said cockily.”You heard me, get.” She prompted him.

“Yeah!” Eli nodded, though he cowered under the glare the policeman gave him, before returning to Bullet.

“Eli, Bullet come on, shut up.” Kallie hissed. The cop chuckled.

“Alright, peace out, Bullet, Eli.” The way he said their names made Bullet’s blood boil. Eli just felt ashamed of his own name. He clung onto Kallie’s hand in shame. Bullet was not so passive.

“Yeah you get Mister Po-lice! You come back, you’re gonna get a bullet in your greasy ass hea-” She was cut short as the man grabbed the scruff of her shirt, close to pinning her against the wall. Eli and Kallie ran forward.

“You wanna act like a man, I will treat you like a man make no mistake about it, I will wipe the floor with your little, baby, butch, bitch ass right here in front of your little skank hoe girlfriend and your little brat. You feel me?” He growled. At that, Eli started to kick his leg hard.

“Don’t! Call! Them! That!” He said the words with each kick, as Kallie tried to pull him back.

“Eli stop it, let it go.” She hissed, aware that everyone was watching. Eli ignored her as he stomped on the man’s foot, allowing him to let Bullet go out of pain.

She righted herself quickly, adjusting her jacket. Eli gave another kick to the man’s leg. He was setting up to do another when the policeman looked at him.

“You wanna put that thing back where it came from, right now little man.” He glared at the boy. Eli squeaked and ran over to Bullet, watching the man go.

“Peace out Po Po.” She said bitterly. They watched the man get into his car. Bullet finally broke her eye away from the scene to crouch down at eye level with Eli.”The hell were you thinkin?” She kept herself from yelling. Eli bit his lip and looked at the ground angrily.

“He kept sayin that stuff bout you an’ Kal-Kal.” He fidgeted with the necklace she’d given him not an hour ago. At that, Bullet sighed.

“Kid, people say stuff like that all the time, it ain’t like they’re hittin us.” She assured him, despite the fact that she’d gotten into many fights before. ”I know it sucks ass but a lotta stuff sucks ass, doesn’t mean you gotta do somethin stupid like kickin some cop.” She told him. “Kay?” She tilted her head so she was making eye contact with him. He sighed.

“Okay. But he still shouldn’a said that. And I ain’t a rat, if anythin I’m a stegosaurus.” He exclaimed, his energy already returning. Bullet smiled a little, deciding not to tell him that he’d gotten the word wrong. He could go on about dinosaurs the way she went on about other animals.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” She asked, standing up. Kallie breathed a sigh of relief. Once those two got started on something they were interested in, there would be no fighting for a while.

“Cause I’m big! An’ tough! An’ i like veggies more than meat.” He replied.

“An’ you got them tiny brains.” Bullet teased him. Kallie chuckled at that. They walked for a little while before they reached a fork in the road, one way heading to Kallie’s mom’s place, the other to Beacon. Kallie took off the ring and handed it ot Bullet.

“Kay guys, I gotta go, gonna see if my mom’ll let me crash at her place tonight. Good luck at beacon.” She said before she began walking off.

“Byye! See ya later!” Eli waved before turning back to Bullet.”I think you’d be a T-Rex cause…” He trailed off as he saw Bullet watch Lyric get into a red car. She was scoring a date.” He frowned. Bullet had explained what dates were, and he hated the sound of it.
“Huh? Oh, sorry squirt, whatcha sayin?” She asked, grabbing his hand as they started walking towards beacon.

“You’d be a T-Rex cause you’re all big an strong, or maybe a brachiosaurus, they’re big too, but you like meat so maybe not.” He continued on his tangent the whole way there.

Chapter Text

Bullet looked up as Kallie walked in. Eli was swinging his legs from the chair he sat on, barely reaching the table. They had been waiting for Kallie. The deal was that if they ate at beacon then they’d eat together, and now they could. The seven year old ran to hug his friend. Bullet was great, but she wasn’t much of a hugger. Then again, neither was Kallie, but she would easily give one to Eli.”Come on, let’s get them dogs.” Bullet walked towards the lineup. Hot dogs were on the menu today. Eli held his friends’ hands as they stood in line.

“So, didja tell er?” Kallie asked, referring to Lyric, who was ahead of them by a couple people in the line. Bullet huffed and looked away. Kallie looked at Eli, who shook his head, pointing his thumb down before grabbing her hand once more.”C’mon Bullet, ya gotta tell her eventually. Otherwise you’ll….” Kallie trailed off, trying to think of a consequence.”

“You’ll explode!” Eli supplied. Bullet rolled her eyes at that. Usually she was a little more humoring of Eli, but she had heard from multiple people already that night about Twitch and Lyric, and she was salty.

“Yeah, you’ll explode. Kallie nodded as they got up to the front, finally, grabbing a hot dog for each of them from Pastor Mike. Eli looked up at the older dude.

“Thanks Pastor Mike.” He smiled a little.

“You’re welcome bud. Not too much ketchup this time eh?” The man chuckled. Last time there had been ketchup, Eli’d had so much he threw up.

“Yeah okay.” the boy nodded, starting to feel less enthusiastic since Bullet was somewhat ignoring him. The pastor picked up on it and looked at Bullet once Kallie and Eli had headed back to their table. She looked at him, half glaring.

“What?” She asked, shoving her hand in her pocket.

“I didn’t say anything Bullet.” He replied, raising an eyebrow. She huffed and headed back to the table, where Kallie was pulling out three numbers from the lottery basket.

“Alright, twenty four, sixteen, and lucky thirteen.” She handed bullet the last one, and the sixteen to Eli.

“I thought it was unlucky.” Eli looked at kallie.

“It is, we just joke that it’s lucky.” The redhead explained.

“Ohh okay.” He nodded and looked up. He smiled as he saw Lyric heading towards their table.”Lyrie! Over here!” He waved. The girl smiled as she saw the kid and gladly sat down.
“Hey kiddo, how you been?” Lyric asked nicely. “Haven’t been in any fights lately?” She asked. Eli rubbed the back of his neck, thinking back to the cop earlier. “Oh boy, what are we gonna do with you?” She asked sarcastically.

“Hey Lyric, you and Twitch flopping at the hotel tonight?” Kallie asked.

“Nah, we got run out, cause animal control came, got rid of all these cats, said the place was a health hazard.” She poked at her hotdog. Bullet perked up at the mention of the cats.

“Bet the cats got worms, you gotta give em a bunch’a pills to get rid of em..the worms.” Bullet clarified when Eli looked confused. Kallie saw this as a chance to play up her best friend a little.

“Bullet’s gonna be a veterinarian.” She said, sitting up a little straighter, resisting the urge to wink at Eli. Thankfully he got the message.

“Yeah! She told me all this cool stuff about scorpions!! They can hold their breath for..” He counted on his fingers,”Almost 6 days!” He exclaimed.

“Oh yeah?” Lyric smiled.”I’ll bet B knows lotsa cool stuff.” She looked to the punk. Bullet gladly took the moment to start infodumping.

“Yeah, like, Giraffes got four stomachs,” She grinned.

“That’s nasty.” Lyric chuckled but paid attention nonetheless.

“Yeah, that’s why they’re always chewing cause they gotta digest their food a buncha times; they’re even toed ungulates.” She looked fairly pleased with herself for a minute, then embarrassed, and she looked down. Eli wondered what an ungulate was, but decided to save the question for later.

“Okay..” Lyric chuckled. “It’s kinda cute when you go off like that B.” She smiled warmly. Bullet blushed and looked down at her lap, pulling the ring out of her pocket, ready to give it to Lyric, when Pastor Mike got everyone’s attention.

“Can I have your attention? Has anyone seen Ashley? Otherwise I’m giving up her bunk….anyone?” He looked around, seeing no response other than Twitch walking in. Bullet huffed. The greasy haired boy cocked his head, silently calling Lyric. They had a place to stay. Bullet grumbled as the girl kissed him.

“She’s just stupid. Forget her.” Kallie remarked. Eli nodded. He liked Lyric, but she could be an idiot sometimes, especially to go out with a douche like Twitch. Bullet halfheartedly dropped the ring on the table, sitting back in her chair. “It’s gonna get stolen here, I’ll hang onto it until you want it back or whatever.” She sighed. Bullet was a little annoying to deal with when she was pining/pouting. Once more, Pastor mike got everyone’s attention.

“Alright, we got four empty beds tonight. Okay then, tonight’s lucky winners are..number five, number twenty two, sixteen, aand lucky number thirteen.” Bullet held up her card and Eli did the same.

“That’s me Pastor Mike.” She said in a monotone voice.

“Me too!” Eli said in a much happier voice, glad that they’d be in actual beds tonight.

“Alright Bullet, Eli, looks like you two are in for the night. In the meantime..” He continued with the same spiel he said every night about prayers and stopping in in the morning and some crap about jesus.

“Here, take my ticket.” Bullet offered hers to Kallie.

“Bullet no, don’t be stupid. I can stay at my mom’s. She said I could if I couldn’t get a bed here.” Kallie replied, though both parties were sure it was a lie.”Sides, you gotta look out for this one.” She nudged Eli with a smile. Eli smiled and nudged back, though he was worried about her too. Bullet had already told him all about Kallie’s mother. He hadn’t even met the woman and he hated her. He sighed and hugged Kallie. She hugged back and offered a fist to Bullet.”Catch you later?” She asked. Bullet sighed and smiled, bumping the fist with her own.

“Bye Kal-Kal!” Eli waved as she went out the door. He said bye to about five other people before going back to Bullet, grabbing her hand as she stood up.”H-hey..can we-”

“Don’t worry kid you can squat with me. Just give your number to someone else first.” Bullet told him. Eli nodded, and looked at a passing teenager, offering his ticket. They smiled and ruffled his hair before taking it. Just as Bullet was known for being a tough girl or a hardass, Eli was known as Bullet’s kid. Not like he was her son obviously, more like her brother.

“Thanks Bull.” He smiled and leaned into her as they walked into the room with the beds, taking one on the bottom and shoving their bags under the bed as they settled in for a good long sleep.

Chapter Text

Bullet spat over the bridge as Eli sat against it, the pair of them waiting for Kallie to show. She pulled out her phone and went straight to Kallie’s contact. Yet again she heard the familiar voicemail. She decided it was time to get moving. She motioned for Eli to get up as the voicemail finished.

“Hey Kal. It’s me again, where the hell you at?..Call me.” She sighed as they started walking. She hung up and grabbed Eli’s hand.

“You think Kal-Kal got home okay?” He asked the older girl, worried about his friend. Bullet pursed her lips, not wanting to answer that.

“I dunno, but we’re sure as hell gonna to talk to that bitch of a mom she got.” She nearly growled, walking with more purpose, trying not to pull on Eli too much. He jogged to keep up with her. They whizzed through the Seattle streets, only stopping to cross the street. By the time they reached the trailer park, he was nearly out of breath.

“Buh.. Bullet, can, can we, stop a sec?” He asked, bent over and clutching his knees. Bullet then realized how fast she’d been going, and sat down on a nearby bench. He quickly sat down beside her, catching his breath and rubbing the green stone out of worry. “Thank you.” He looked at her once he had caught his breath. She only nodded before taking his hand once more and leading him to Danette’s trailer. She knocked on it hard.

“Yo Kallie! Wake up!” She knocked again. “Come on! Answer the door!” She hoped that Kallie would in fact be the one answering the door, cause that would mean the search was over and Kallie was fine. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. Danette answered instead. At the sight of the punk girl, Danette went to immediately close the door, but Eli stuck his foot in between the door and the frame, letting Bullet do the talking.”Kallie around?”

“No.” Danette answered immediately.

“She said she was staying here last night.” Eli looked up at her defiantly, ignoring the ache in his foot.

“Exactly, so where she at?” Bullet asked again. Danette rolled her eyes, exasperated.

“I-I dunno, Look, I, I don’t got time for this all right?” She glared at Bullet, the shifted her gaze down to Eli, the glare remaining.”Ya mind?” She nodded at his foot, which he reluctantly moved as she slammed the door in their faces.

“Bitch.” Bullet hissed through the door, knowing Danette could hear her. She turned away and grabbed Eli’s hand before she began walking again. The boy limped a tiny bit, his foot still sore.

“So, she didn’t go there…” He looked at Bullet. She shook her head and grumbled to herself. There was only one place left to go.

“No...C’mon kid hop up.” She crouched down and let him clamber up onto her back. Once he was secure on top of her backpack, she started walking again.

“So where’re we going next?” He asked, resting his head on hers, not minding how greasy her hair was.

“You ain’t gonna like it.” She told him as they turned onto the main roads once more, heading back towards the jungle.

“That means you ain’t gonna like it more though.” He looked at her. He considered the places Bullet hated. Anywhere Twitch was, anywhere Tank was, anywhere Goldie was, her folks’ place, and the police station. He groaned as he came to his conclusion.”Noo, let’s just ask Lyrie first, maybe she’s seen Kallie.” He suggested.

“Nope, she’s hangin with Twitch, so that means,” She sighed at what she was about to say, “cops first.” She made the turn towards the police station.

Once they arrived, Bullet set Eli, who had fallen asleep on the way there, down on a bench, putting his own backpack underneath his head before going to talk to the man at the desk. “Hey, um, I’m here to..report a missin’ girl. I heard about the dead girl I was hopin she ain’t the same.” She confessed, glad that Eli wasn’t awake to hear the possibility.

“Missing? Or is she just hiding for attention?” The cop asked annoyed.

“If she was just hiding she woulda told me where.” Bullet resisted the urge to growl. “Her name’s Kallie Leeds.”

“Oh yeah great name, sure it ain’t fake?” The man asked, and soon Bullet grew irksome.

“C’mon man I’ve told you the name already, so then what’s your problem man? Kallie Leeds, L-E-E-D-S. Just look it up, Jesus.” She moaned and started to get antsy. She watched for what felt like the hundredth time as he typed the name into the computer. Suddenly a familiar voice rang out cockily from behind her.

“Damn, instant karma’s a bitch, ain’t it little man?” She huffed. Just when she’d thought this day couldn't get any worse. She turned around and saw the policeman from yesterday. She also noticed that Eli was up and rubbing his eyes.

“I.. I ain’ liddle.” He slurred with leftover sleepiness. The policeman, who she heard some other man call Holder, looked over at the boy. Once he was more awake, Eli saw who he was speaking to. He glared at Holder before going to stand next to Bullet, dragging his backpack with him. Bullet sighed before holding her phone out to Holder.

“Look, have you seen this girl in the tombs?” She asked exasperatedly. Holder looked at the picture before smirking.

“That your little lady?” Bullet didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Holder knew he had the girl, and decided to irk her some more. She couldn’t do anything to him, not here. “Nice ring, you give that to her? Where’d you find it, a gumball machine?” He chuckled. Eli subconsciously held onto his necklace, rubbing it one more. The originally rough stone was starting to get smoother.

“Kallie ain’t Bullet’s girl, she ain’t Lyrie.” He muttered. Holder looked at him, allowing Bullet to take her phone back. She went back over to the desk, unaware of the one-sided stare down Eli was having with Holder.

“Your friend’s not in the system. Didn’t pick up anyone named Kallie Leeds last night.” The guard told Bullet.

“Well there you go!” Holder feigned enthusiasm. “She ain’t here, case closed, you are welcome.” He said cockily. He looked to Eli, who had his foot raised.”Don’t even try it kid.” He said, remembering his kick from the day before. Eli huffed and put his foot down. He stuck his tongue out at the man before going over to Bullet, who was walking out anyway.

“Well that was a complete waste of time.” Bullet grumbled, taking his hand as he offered it.

“So what now? Do we ask Lyrie?” He asked. Bullet looked at the sky and shook her head.

“Nah not yet, we gotta find us a place to crash tonight. You okay with sleeping outside tonight?” She asked, her ‘tough mode’ still on. Eli nodded. “Good, cause I ain’t got nowhere else to take ya.” She walked towards the park but he tugged on her hand.

“Can’t go there, they found us there already, member?” He reminded her of the two nights before. She huffed.” Whaddabout the skate park bridge?” He suggested. There was a place where Lyric and Twitch hung out a lot under a bridge. The place had turned into a small skate park and popular crash site for street kids who needed a place to sleep. And since Lyric was staying with Twitch in some new condemned room, they wouldn’t have to worry about a fight, at least he hoped so.

“Alright, sounds good to me, but if Tank’s there we’re leaving.” She negotiated with him, and he nodded.

“Okay. Hey maybe someone saw Kal-Kal!” He said, trying to remain hopeful that they’d find their friend. Bullet smiled a little.

“Yeah maybe.” She started walking towards the convenient store.”C’mon, let’s get some food.” She let go of his hand and put her arm around him. “You got thirty you said, right?” She asked. He nodded and stuffed his hand in his pocket, pulling out a twenty and a ten.”Okay, then limit is five bucks, kay?” She decided. When she and Kallie had decided that Eli would become part of their little group, they’d realized spending had to be a bit different since Eli was just a kid. So they set a limit for how much they’d spend each time they had to buy something.

Eli nodded and hugged her before running into the store. Bullet sighed and looked around at the folks sat outside the store. “Yo, what’s up guys.” She pulled a couple handshakes with some of the guys sitting down. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, she got right to business. “Any’a you guys seen Kallie?” She asked quickly.

“Hey shorty, I seen Kallie.” She perked up, but groaned almost immediately. Goldie was the one speaking. But, Info was info.

“Where?” She asked, trying to be civil. However with Goldie, her temper was shorter than usual. “Where?!” She asked again, anger tinting her voice.

“7-11, candy aisle, chicken head slut got her throat cut, now she a pez-dispenser.” Goldie mocked her. Bullet growled and immediately pressed up against him, shoving him back.

“You want me to kick your ass?!! Huh?! Is that what you want?” She pushed against his chest.

“You better get outta my face bitch!” Goldie fired back. Bullet scoffed.

“Or what, you’re gonna shoot me?” She asked mockingly. “Is that what you’re gonna do?” She raised her hands. “Alright, Goldie, shoot me, pull the trigger.” She held her hands out expectantly, waiting for something that would never happen. Goldie was some coward pimp who wouldn’t actually shoot someone. Just as she suspected, nothing. “That’s what I thought, you’re nothin but a punkass pussy bitch, I got more balls than you.” She glared at him.

“Alright, y’all know we’re just jokin, right?” Goldie tried to defuse the situation. Bullet pushed past him.”You better watch your bitch ass-”

“Yeah you better watch yours.” Bullet shot back before walking over to Eli, who was watching with a bag in his hand and a look on his face that Bullet had only seen a few times before. It usually meant Eli was about to cry.

“I-Is what he said bout Kallie-”

“Nah, it ain’t true, Goldie’s just bein the same old asshole.” She tried to as they walked. She could tell he had another question on his mind, but he was avoiding eye contact.”C’mon kid whaddaya wanna say?” she asked softly. Eli bit his lip before looking up at her.

“Y-You wouldn’ actually let ‘im shoot you..right?” He asked, his lip quivering. She sighed and picked him up, carrying him on her hip rather than her back.

“Nah. He’s just some nasty ass pimp with a big mouth an a tiny dick. He ain't never shot nobody.” She told him, looking right at him.”Now c’mon, no more cryin, ” She wiped away what tears he had let escape. He sniffled and nodded. “Ayy, that’s my guy.” She smiled a bit and resumed walking.

“Can we go talk to Lyrie now? I know she ain’t gonna shoot you.” Eli asked. Bullet looked at him.

“Twitch’ll be there.” She tried to sway him from the option. The pair of them, while there was civility between them and Twitch, weren't exactly fond of the guy.

“Twitch just has a stupid face. You’re just worried about Lyyrriee.” He started teasing her.”And you know whyyy?” He prompted her.

“Don’t even star-”

“Cause you love her! You love her! You really really love her!” He teased his friend with a broad grin. Bullet sighed and endured the taunting until she gave in.

“Alright! Alright, we’ll go talk to em. But you’re walking now.” She put him down. He only smiled and gladly stood.

“That means I can race you there!” He exclaimed before shoving the bag full of food into his backpack.

“You really wanna go?” She asked cockily. “You may be the spit race champion but you got them little legs.” She gently punched his shoulder.

“Today’s the day I’m gonna beat you, and then I can tell Kal-Kal alll about it!” He decided, pulling on his backpack and tightening the straps. Bullet sighed and matched up with him.

“Okay bud, you’re on. Ready, seett, GO!” They started booking it towards Lyric’s and Twitch’s.

Chapter Text

Bullet and Eli had given up on their race halfway there after Eli nearly ran into the street, and just focused on getting to the hotel. They walked quickly down the hallway and ran into their room, not caring that they were obviously in the middle of something.”Yo Lyric!” Bullet called out. Eli ran in behind her and looked at Lyric

“You seen Kallie up in here?” He asked as Bullet caught her breath.

“Ever heard’a knocking Bullet?” Twitch asked irritably.

“Oh shut up.” She moaned at him.

“No, didn’t see her, why?” Lyric asked casually. She clearly hadn’t heard yet.

“ ‘Cause no one has. She ain’t pickin up her phone, she ain’t at Beacon or the bridge.” Bullet continued on. “She’s gone.” the girl stated, getting antsy. Lyric put a hand on her arm.

“She’ll show up, don’t worry about it.” She told the pair of them. Twitch nodded, and for once, Eli appreciated the older boy’s limited input. However that opinion was quickly diminished.

“Oh Goldie’s been turning out a new girl at his pad.” Three heads snapped to look at the boy. “Yeah, you didn’t know?” He said with a know-it-all air about him.

“What are you talking about?” Bullet growled. She was unsure of whether or not he was yanking her chain or telling the truth, it was hard to tell with Twitch.

“I- that’s what I heard. You know he’s always wanted to stick it to Kallie, so, one plus one.” He rubbed something through his hair. Bullet nearly bolted out the door. She turned quickly to Eli and crouched down faster than he’d ever seen her do.

“You stay here okay, I’ll come in the mornin’ an pick you up. If I don’t, meet me at the fence.” She practically ordered him to do as she said. He was a little scared of her like this but he knew what she was going to do.

“But-” He started to protest.

“Stay. Here.” She told him strictly.”Be good.” She told him quickly before bolting out the door. He looked on helplessly as she left him behind. He heard Twitch scoff.

“That is one crazy bitch.” He remarked. Eli glared at him.

“Says the one smearing goop in his hair without a shower.” He retaliated, sitting on the bed. He looked to Lyric, expecting her to say something, to defend his friend, but she said nothing. “Lyrie?” He made eye contact with her. She briefly matched him but looked down. It was a look he knew well. It was the same one his mother had made when his father was on one of his rampages.

He frowned and went to the corner of the room, farthest away from the couple. He put his backpack down on the ground and pulled out the bag of food from earlier. He quickly gobbled down a bag of cheetos, then put the bag aside before settling in on his backpack, silently refusing to sleep in the same bed as an asshole. He was starting to see why Bullet hated him so much. He heard Lyric go out before he fell asleep. ‘A date.’ He thought to himself before losing himself to sleep.

~The next day~

Eli sat impatiently at the doorway to Lyric’s place. She sat with him, knowing he’d run off if she didn’t.

“C’mon kid she ain’t coming, beat it.” Twitch called from the bed. Lyric turned around and glared at him.

“Nuh uh, f-five more minutes, sh-she’ll be here.” Eli stammered. He was starting to rock back and forth. Lyric gulped. If Bullet didn’t get here soon, Eli would start freaking out, which meant Twitch would throw him out.

“Don’t worry kiddo, she’ll be here.” the redhead assured him. Eli looked at her. She was so much like Kallie. He bit his lip and kept rocking, when Bullet burst into the room, her eyes red rimmed and puffy. “B, are you-” Lyric didn’t get to finish as Bullet pulled Eli up from the floor and out the door with her. Lyric was confused, but was thankful her friend was okay.

Chapter Text

Eli was extremely confused, grateful, worried, relieved, and hungry at the same time. Confused became the center emotion as Bullet pulled him into one of the public bathrooms. She ran into the women’s room, sitting him down outside without a word. He stayed on the bench for a while, waiting for her to come out. He was worried for her now. She never just took him somewhere without explanation like that. He hesitantly went over to the door she’d entered and knocked on it.

“Stay the hell out!” She called back, apparently shoving something against it. His eyes widened and he got worried. Her voice sounded broken, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her change before, which was what he assumed she was doing. At least he hoped she was. He gulped and went back out to the bench, fiddling and rubbing the pendant rock she’d given him.

Eventually she came out of the room and he went over to her. He immediately tried to grab her hand, but she jerked it back and shoved it in her pocket.

“B-Bullet?” He looked up at her. She looked ahead and sniffled. She only kept walking and he kept up with her. Clearly something was wrong with her. Something bad had happened at Goldie’s. “D-Did you find Ka-Kallie?” he asked worriedly. She looked down and shook her head.

“No..Couldn’...couldn’ get in.” She told him. He wasn’t sure he believed her but he let it go. They walked in silence for a while. He gave her the bag of pretzels he’d bought the day before and she gratefully took them.”...Thanks bud.” She muttered. He smiled a little. At least she was speaking again. He started to reach for her hand, but decided against it, judging by the last time he’d tried.

“C-Can we g-go to the fe-fence?” He asked. She nodded, and pulled a collapsible skateboard out of her bag. She stepped up, looking at him.

“You good to run?” She asked. He nodded, tightening his bag straps.”Okay then,” She sniffled again.”Let’s go.” She kicked off and he ran beside her, all the way to the fence. It wasn’t really a fence but it was surrounded by so much chain link it may as well have been.

Once there, he sat down against one spot while Bullet skated around, moving with her when she found a new spot to skate on. When they got to their fourth new spot, they heard someone calling them.

“Hey, Bullet, Eli. Don’t make me chase you two down, I just wanna talk!” It was Holder. Eli turned around and walked up to him, resisting the urge to start pummeling him with his tiny fists.

“Go away.” He said plainly, glaring at the cop. Holder paid him no mind as Bullet slowed to a stop, walking back up to Eli.“We don’t gotta talk to you.” He hesitantly grasped Bullet’s hand and the pair started to walk away.

“I’m lookin for your friend, Kallie!” He called out. That made them stop. Eli let go of Bullet and ran back to Holder.

“Why? What’s happenin, is she okay, why are-”

“E.” Bullet looked at him. The boy stopped talking and sighed.

“You find her yet?” Holder asked, and he genuinely seemed interested in the answer. Eli shook his head, but Bullet didn’t even respond, let alone even make eye contact.

“I don’t talk to cops.” She repeated the words from the day before.

“Look, nobody’s gotta find out that you’re talkin to me.” He said softly. Eli looked at him, then at Bullet. The girl sniffled before looking up.

“Goldie’s got a room at his place, in his bedroom-”

“Goldie? Who’s Goldie?” Holder asked.

“Some nobody nothin’ Pimp!” Bullet spat out, before recoiling. Eli was confused at that. Bullet never recoiled. Nevertheless, she kept talking.”I think he’s got ‘er there.” Holder raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious.

“How’d you know?” He asked. Eli looked at his friend.

“Y-Yeah, I thought you-”

“‘Cause I was there.” Bullet interrupted him. Eli felt hurt at that. She’d lied to him. She’d never lied to him. And she wasn’t stupid enough to lie to a cop, so she obviously wasn’t lying to Holder. “I heard someone crying behind the door. It was locked, I couldn’t get in…..sounded like her.” She looked down. “He’s got a knife, a big one I saw it.” She revealed that too. How had she seen a knife? What had happened that had made her so jittery? Eli wanted to know the answers but he was sure he wasn’t going to get them any time soon.

“Where’s his place at?” Holder asked. Bullet refused to answer. Eli frowned. She didn’t wanna be a rat. He watched as Holder pulled a 20 out of his pocket. Bullet looked at it in disgust.

“I don’t want your money.” She spat.

“Alright.” Holder said softly.

“I do.” Before either of them could say anything Eli took the bill, shoving it in his pocket and looking at her. She was half glaring at him and while it was scary, he knew she wouldn’t say anything. Holder was chuckling so he knew he was fine on both ends. Bullet sighed and looked at the cop.

“You got a car?” She asked. Holder nodded.

“Yeah, come on. Bring the kid.” He told her. She nodded and Eli followed after them.

Chapter Text

Bullet sat with Eli’s head on her shoulder. Sure she didn’t wanna be touched right now, but when he was sleepy, the seven year old was an exception. Besides, she could use the comfort right about now. Holder and his partner had arrested Goldie a couple hours ago, and for the moment she felt a little safer. The detective had given her his number, in case she found anything on Kallie, or the other dead girls. She’d bought a bottle of liquor for later. Her injuries stung at the moment but she tried to ignore them.

Eli had been mad at her about lying of course, but she’d managed to evade his questions. She hated lying to him but she hated the idea of him learning the truth more. She never wanted him to see her as anything less than what she was. She never wanted him to see her weak.

“Sup Bullet.” She sat up rigidly as the voice that had been in her head for the past half a day spoke out loud. Goldie. She looked up above her to see none other than the bastard himself smiling cockily down at her. She didn’t even have time to swear at him before he ducked his head back into his room. She was furious. She looked around at the cars that lined the sidewalk. Sure enough, Holder sat in one with his partner. She noticed that Eli had woken up.

“Wait here.” she told him before stomping over to the car. She banged on the window. “Get outta the car! Get out of the car!” She yelled. “Get out!” She stepped back as Holder opened the door. He lead her back over to where Eli was now standing, his backpack on his back as he watched the older girl yell at Holder.”Get off me.” She hissed.

“Calm down Bullet.” He told her, occasionally looking up at Goldie’s apartment.

“Don’t tell me what to do! Where is she, where is she huh, where’s kallie?” She asked, jerking away from Holder. Eli stood next to her, looking at the detective with hesitant hope.”Tell me!” She spat.

“We didn’t find her okay.” Holder sighed, trying to silently shush Bullet. Eli looked down at that, not really wanting to listen to him after that. Bullet was still pissed.

“Oh some big hero cop you are.” She scoffed.

“I’m taking care of it alright?” He told her quietly.

“Really? I’m a rat now and everybody’s gonna know it!” She spat at him.”You said, you promised me that you’d lock him up, oh you lying, cop.” She grumbled.

“Just calm down okay?” Holder held his hand out, putting space between them.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Bullet snapped. Holder looked at her, registering her behavior. Eli was confused too. He knew Bullet hated Goldie but right now she seemed less angry, more anxious.

“...Did he do something to you?” Holder asked. Eli looked to his friend, who wasn’t answering.

“B-bullet?” He looked at her.

“Hey look-” Holder reached out to her but she flinched and looked back at him.

“Touch me again, and I will break your arm.” She threatened, though there wasn’t as much of her usual bite to it. Eli looked between them, hoping they wouldn’t start going at each other again.

“Just tell me what happened.” Holder replied less gently than before, but not harshly. Eli was finding the detective to be more trustworthy than he thought. It was obvious Bullet didn't agree with the sentiment.

“You wanna help me?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Holder nodded.

“Then do your job.” She fired at him. Eli gulped. “Find her.” She said, almost pleading. She pulled on the strings of her hoodie before grabbing Eli’s hand, walking away from the scene. Once they were far enough away from the scene and Holder was back in his car, Eli jerked his hand away from Bullet and stood in front of her, stopping her from going further.”Kid what’re you-”

“No, I get to talk now.” He told her, doing his best to not stutter.”You..you lied to me. You promised me you’d never lie to me. And now we’re talking to cops and running from Goldie. You left me to sleep in the same room as Twitch. What’s going on….what happened last night?” He asked. Bullet sighed.

“Look, let’s just go back to the fence, and then, I pro-” Eli cut her off with a look. She sighed.”I’ll tell you what I can, deal?” She asked, holding her hand out to him. He considered it, and gently took her hand, not missing the way she flinched.

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

Eli had listened to Bullet. She told him about how Goldie had attacked her, but she hadn’t said how. He just assumed with the knife. Bullet wasn’t a fan of knives. The rest he knew from earlier. Now, she was downing a bottle of booze she’d bought earlier.

He looked up as he spotted a familiar pink jacket.”Lyire!” He exclaimed, glad to see her despite the events of last night. Maybe she could snap bullet out of her mood, though she’d started acting more like herself thanks to the booze.

“Hey, kiddo.” She smiled before turning to Bullet. ”Heard you got picked up.” She sat down on the other side of Bullet.

“Nah, wasn’t nothing.” she shrugged. Lyric was clearly hesitating, debating what she was about to say.

“Cops found a buncha dead girls in some pond.” She took a drag from the cigarette in her hand. Bullet nodded at the statement, as did Eli. They’d heard talk about it at the station.

“Yeah.” The girl muttered.”Maybe you should cool it with the dates for now, you know?” She suggested, clearly worried about her crush.”I can spot you, my dad sent me some cash.” Lyric chuckled with a little spite.

“Oh, lookit you rich bitch.” She said lightly, coming down to sit on Bullet’s other side. Eli frowned at that.

“Fine, forget it.” Bullet took a drag of her own cigarette.

“Don’t call her that.” He mumbled. Bullet looked at him and smiled a little.

“It’s fine Eli. She’s just kidding.” She said, though she wasn’t sure if she believed herself. Lyric softened and looked at her friend.

“Hey.” She smiled a little, then frowned.”What happened to your face?” She asked Bullet.

“What?” Bullet asked, a little panicky.

“Right there.” Lyric pointed to her forehead. Bullet looked down in shame. It was bad enough that Eli knew what had happened to her, there was no way she was telling Lyric.”Did someone hit you?”

“No.” Lyric tore off Bullet’s hat and pushed her black hair out of the way. Eli took the hat from Lyric and held it on his lap, rubbing his pendant with his free hand.

“You should get some ice for that, B. I’m serious.” Lyric gently rubbed Bullet’s forehead. Unknowingly, Bullet started to lean in, and Eli sat up a little straighter, hoping that finally, finally Bullet would confess, even if it was with a kiss.

“Wassup bitches?” He deflated as Rayna’s voice rang out. Bullet sat back and Eli gave her hat back to her. He glared at Twitch who was walking down the way with the girl.

“Hey the cops picked up Jesse today, the cops are making mad rounds cause a those murders.” He remarked, leaning against the fence next to Eli, who quickly shifted to sit in between Bullet and Lyric. He didn’t miss the glare Twitch gave him, and he hoped Bullet missed the one he gave back.

“Hey I heard the killer cut off their heads, hung em up in the trees like Christmas bells.” Rayna said, leaning against the other side of the fence.

“Hey I’m goin tonight. Wanna come?” He asked the girls. Bullet scoffed.

“And spend the night in jail with your dumb ass? Pass.”

“I’ll go.” Lyric shrugged and stood.“What? It’ll be fun.” She walked over towards Twitch.

“No, you’ll get arrested and then the cops’ll think Twitch killed those girls.” Bullet stood too. Eli sighed in relief. Thank god Bullet still had some sense left in her.

“Ye-yeah, B’s Right!” He stood up, pulling on his backpack. The pressure was bringing out his stutter

“What’re you scared?” Twitch mocked them.

“Of b-bein’ killed by a m-maniac, y-yeah!” Eli raised his hands in the air in exasperation, though they barely reach anyone’s chest. “T-Tell ‘em Bullet.” He looked to his friend, imploring her to make them see reason. She shrugged her bag up onto her shoulder.

“Let’s go bitch.” She started walking. Eli hung his head in resignation. He grabbed Bullet’s hand, glad she at least wasn’t flinching.

Chapter Text

Eli yawned as he woke up, laying on Bullet, who was sitting against the fence. They’d decided to sleep there that night after returning from the lake. Suddenly, Bullet’s phone rang.”Wh-What is it?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes. Bullet sighed and checked her phone lazily, picking up and putting it to her ear.

“What?” She yawned into the receiver.

“Bullet, it’s Holder, you gotta c’mere, asap.” She sat up straight, all traces of fatigue gone.

“Why, what’s goin on?” She asked, picking up her bag. Eli did the same and stood up, helping her up after him. She was still a little hungover from the night before.

“Just get here soon.” He said before hanging up. Bullet put her phone in her pocket with a frown.

“C’mon kid let’s get goin.” She said shortly, walking quickly.

“Wha’s goin on?” Eli asked, still feeling a little sleepy.

“I dunno, but it don’ sound good.” Bullet replied, stepping onto the roads and making shortcuts to get to the precinct, Eli following close behind.

Before long, they had arrived. Holder was waiting for them outside.”What’s happenin, why’d you call?” Bullet asked. Holder didn’t answer and simply pulled them in, past the guards and holding cells, and into a room with more computers than Eli had ever seen in his life. A woman was also inside, and held what looked like a dvd in her hand.

“Here, you’re gonna wanna sit down.” She offered politely, pulling out an empty chair. Bullet sat down in front of a monitor and pulled Eli onto her lap. Both set their bags down on the floor. The woman slid the dvd into the drive and Holder pushed a button. The monitor displayed Kallie, crying.

~A few minutes later~

Holder paused the video, hesitantly glancing at the kids. Bullet had a mixture of sadness, anger, and numbness on her face. Eli looked like he was going to be sick. Sure enough, he promptly scrambled off Bullet’s lap and ran to the nearest trash can. The detectives paid him no mind. “You recognize the voice?” Holder asked Bullet. She simply kept her eyes glued to the screen.

“Where’d you get this?” She asked, grateful her voice hadn’t betrayed her emotions.

“Goldie’s apartment.” He replied solemnly. ”Sound like him to you?”

“...I dunno.” Bullet replied after what felt like hours of silence. Eli was stumbling back to the table, wiping his mouth.

“S-Sorry.” He looked at the new detective. She seemed a little less likely to get angry than Holder.

“It’s okay.” She assured him before turning back to Bullet.”Did Kallie ever tell you about making tapes like this?” She asked cautiously. Bullet pursed her lips and shook her head.

“I know some kids who would do stuff like this, but not Kallie.” She finally broke away from the screen to look at the woman for a second.”She wouldn’t do nothin like this. Ever.” Eli confirmed her words with a nod. He waited for them to challenge her. But they didn’t.

“Do you know where this place is?” The red haired woman asked.

“ ‘S That hotel.” Eli supplied. He’d stayed there on nights Bullet couldn’t stay with him and wouldn’t deal with Twitch.

“Yeah. Queens whatever dump run by that crazy old bitch.” Bullet nodded. Eli frowned at the thought of the old woman. She smelled like cigarettes and talked like his father. She scared him.

“Mama dips?” Holder looked to them, and they looked back.

“Yeah.” Bullet smiled a little, it wasn’t often she’d agree with a cop but lately their lives had been full of surprises. She lost the smile and looked back at the screen, hearing the lady say something about voice recognition and Goldie. She then looked at Kallie’s hand.

“What’s up?” Holder asked. Eli looked too, and his eyes widened.

“Th-That-”

“That’s my ring.” Bullet finished the thought. ”I gave it to her.” She said sadly. Eli looked down at his own pendant and began rubbing it again.

“When?” The woman asked.

“...Three days ago. Last time we saw er.” Eli answered for Bullet, his eyes still on his necklace. At that, the pair of detectives got their stuff together quickly as possible, saying things about search warrants and judges. Bullet got up, picking up her bag.

“You think she’s at mama dips?” She asked frantically, running towards them, Eli trailing behind, pulling on his own backpack.

“Go home guys.” Holder muttered.

“Wait for me!” Eli called after him. “I got little legs!” But it didn’t matter, Bullet had stopped.

“I’ll be back okay, just wait here.” Holder told them and walked out. Bullet looked at her friend, and Eli looked back at her.

“C’mon, let’s go find a bench.” She murmured, picking him up and taking him out to one of the halls. They soon found a bench and she put him down, quickly following suit and plopping her butt down on the wood. Eli fiddled with his necklace before pulling out the last thing he’d gotten at the convenience store, a pack of twizzlers.

“Want one?” He offered the pack to her. She gladly took one and started nibbling on it.

“I can see why Lyric likes this shit.” She muttered with her mouth full. Eli giggled and pulled one out for himself. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, munching on their twizzlers and making faces at passing guards when they weren’t looking. Eventually it was the afternoon, and Eli had started to lay on Bullet.

“D-Do you think….do you th-think they found K-Kal-Kal?” He asked sleepily, yawning as he spoke. Bullet bit her lip as she ran her hand through his hair.

“...Get some sleep squirt. No more late nights for a while.” She said guiltily. She hated it when she got drunk around him. His father drank. She never wanted him to remember that monster. But she knew at the same time that it would’ve been the only thing letting her forget. After that night. After Goldie.

She turned her head and saw that Eli had already zonked out on her shoulder. She smiled to herself and did the same, letting her head hang forward as she let exhaustion overcome her.

Chapter Text

She awoke to someone tapping her hat. She reacted immediately.”Get off me.” She muttered, her hands instinctively pushing the hand away. Eli was still snoring on her shoulder. She looked at him, noticing he’d drooled on her jacket. She sighed and ran a hand down her face. She looked up at who had woken her, seeing it was Holder, who was moving to sit down beside her. She looked over at him.”You find Kallie?” She asked, trying not to sound hopeful. The man looked down as he shook his head, crunching on carrots. Bullet looked at the bag, then at the man. He looked at her and held the bag out.

“Go on.” She raised an eyebrow. He smirked.”Go on, live a little.” She looked at him with disgust. She hated carrots.

“That’s nasty. Ain’t you got any normal food around here, like, chips or something?” She asked, being careful not to wake Eli. Holder scoffed.

“May as well be mainlining an 8-ball with that stuff.” He replied, sipping something out of a blue and gold can. Bullet looked at him as though he were an idiot.

“I don’t do none’a that. My body’s a temple.” She protested.

“Nno it ain’t, ’s..’s a body.” She looked over at the voice, seeing that Eli had woken up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Eh, suit yourself, Bullet.” Holder replied, loudly crunching on the carrots. Bullet and Eli looked the man up and down.

“Man you look like a rabbit.” Bullet grinned, knowing full well that Holder knew she wasn’t talking to Eli.”Like some big hairless, Albino, Bugs bunny.” She remarked. Eli nodded, giggling.

“Alright, I’m cool with that.” Holder shrugged.”I like Rabbits, Bugs Bunny’s the bomb.” He chuckled and turned to them. “You know they got three eyelids, and their teeth never stop growing?” He looked at Bullet. Eli nodded, he’d heard all about rabbits from Bullet.

“Yeah, but they can’t puke, don’t got enough stomach muscles.” She countered him.

“Damn, how you know that? You put on discovery channel for the little man here?” He asked, nodding at Eli.

“No, I learned it in zoology class at my boarding school.” Bullet said without an ounce of sarcasm. Eli nearly believed her, before all three of them burst out giggling. “Anyway, we gotta jet.” Bullet stood up, grabbing her bag.”Later.” She waited for Eli to get his stuff together, then held out her hand for him, which he took.

“You two stay safe out there, you hear?” Holder called kindly. Eli smiled at him.

“You too Mr.Holder!” He replied, waving. Bullet smiled and walked the boy out of the precinct.

They were starting to make their way back to the bridge, to see if by some miracle, Kallie had shown, when Eli began to sneeze. Again and again. Bullet frowned and stopped walking. She gently pulled him over to the edge of the sidewalk, crouching down and feeling his forehead. She could’ve used it as a heater.”B-Bullet, wh-what’s wrong?” He asked shivering.

“Nothing kid. You feelin okay?” She asked.

“A-Actually, I-” He interrupted himself by running, for the second time that day, to the nearest trash can. Bullet winced in disgust as he retched into the garbage.

“Well fuck me in the ass.” She sighed and looked around. They were nowhere near the drugstore and Beacon would take far too long to get to from here, so unless she wanted to risk him getting sicker by sleeping outside again, they’d have to go back to Twitch and Lyric’s.”C’mon squirt, c’mon, there we go.” She went over to him and picked him up.

“S-Sorry Bullie.” Eli apologized pathetically, playing with his necklace in shame.

“S’okay. C’mon, let’s go find Lyric. Maybe we can get some’a that ginger ale stuff, kay?” She told him as she started walking again. “You sure you didn’t have any’a my booze last night?” She joked. Eli shook his head.

“Nuh uh. That stuff’s icky.” He mumbled. Bullet resisted the urge to chuckle at his immature statement.

“What’re you talkin about that stuff’s great.” She joked. He shook his head and laid it on her shoulder.

“Bullie..why do you like Lyrie?” he asked tiredly.

“I dunno, cause she’s...perfect? She’s nice, an’ she’s.. hot, I guess?” Bullet supplied. Most of her other reasons were more, mature, and she wanted to keep Eli innocent for a while.

“Oh. Okay.” He replied and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep as she walked. Unfortunately, the pounding in his head kept him awake.”Nnnn i’hurts.” He mumbled.

“Yeah, I know.” Bullet said softly.”Don’ worry bout it, we’ll get ta Lyric’s soon.” She told him gently. Sure enough, they had reached the hotel. They made their way up to the room they’d been in not two days ago, and saw Twitch on the bed, alone, with syringes and white powder all around him.

Bullet cautiously put Eli down and pushed herself in front of him.”I thought you were off the shiz.” Bullet spoke aloud, trying not to get angry.”Lyric know you’re using her money for that?” She tentatively took a few steps forward. “You should be out sellin your own ass if you’re gonna use her scratch to get loaded. Ain’t your P.O making you test?” She asked, really starting to get annoyed now.

“T-Test for wha-” Eli started to ask, but got interrupted by the older boy.

“I ain’t goin back there! Ever, ever.” He spat, shaky and frantic. Eli peeked out from behind Bullet and went over to Twitch. Bullet didn’t have time to stop him, and she stood closer, waiting for something to happen. The seven year old tugged on the teenager’s shirt.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” he asked, only to be brushed aside by Twitch, who pushed past Bullet.

“Just leave me alone.” He said quickly, grabbing his jacket on the way out of the room. Bullet looked at the boy.

“Yo Twitch, Twitch where you going?” She grabbed Eli’s hand and tore after Twitch, following him down halls until they reached a street. They followed him for more streets, trying fruitlessly to catch up. By the time they did, it was dark.

“Tw-Twitch, s-slow down!” Eli called, shivering in the night air. Bullet swore she was gonna kill Twitch if Eli got sicker.

“I just need one more bag.” Twitch said to no one in particular.

“No, you don’t.” Bullet scoffed.

“Smurf says Nico’s selling at Freeway park.” Twitch said, as though he were talking to Bullet.

“Freeway park?” Her eyes widened.”You’re not going to Freeway park.” She muttered as a couple cars rushed by, one almost running into them. The driver honked and Twitch got angry, stomping on the hood.

“Hey yo watch it dick!” He growled. Bullet went over and tore him away from the car with her free hand, the one not holding onto Eli, who had started coughing into his sleeve.

“That’s Tank’s park.” She reminded him. He only scoffed, still on his high.

“He don’t own the park.”

“He’ll straight murder you fool!” Bullet exclaimed, swatting at the boy with her hat. Twitch paid her no mind and went up to some passing businessmen.

“Twi-Twitch!” Eli called after the boy. Even he knew that Twitch was like dynamite ready to blow when he was like this.

“Dammit, Lyric is probably waiting for you back at the hotel and I gotta talk to her anyway. Let’s just go back there okay?” She tried to persuade him, but it was no use, he was talking to the passer-bys.

“Hey yo spare some change?” He asked.

“No, get lost.” The guy said rudely.

“Douchebag!” Twitch started to go after him but Bullet let go of Eli and held him back.

“Hey! Hey.”

“Hey yo piss off man!” Twitch yelled. Eli flinched and clung onto Bullet’s jacket. The punk girl pulled him back to them, and walked after him.

“Just let it go.” She spoke calmly and grasped Eli’s hand once more. For a second it looked like Twitch might turn around and come back to the hotel with them, then he turned back and started walking.”Twitch!” She followed him again, continuing her pursuit, Eli occasionally saying that Lyric was alone and waiting for Twitch, but no matter what they did, whatever was in his system overpowered them, and soon they were at Freeway park.”Twitch, hey twitch come on Twitch!” Bullet gritted through her teeth as the sound of wheels on stone grated on her ears.

“Hey bitches! Stay out of our park!” A brash voice called from one tower. Tank.

“D-Don’t call her th-that!” Eli yelled at the boy. Bullet looked at him like he was insane. Usually Eli knew that talking back to Tank was her-only. Tank had no qualms about beating up on kids.

“Ain’t your park A-hole.” Twitch shot back in his quivering voice. Bullet facepalmed. These two would be the death of her.

“Punk ass queers!” Tank yelled. Eli growled, or at least as much as he could with how tired he was getting.

“Sh-Shut up!” He called.

‘Yo who you callin queer, bitch?!” Twitch yelled back.

“Yo you and your dog-faced midgets! Oh what’re you two babysitters now?” Tank taunted them. Bullet got angry at that.

“YO BITE ME!” She shouted at the boy, raising the middle finger. “Screw you. C’mon guys turn and bail.” She told the boys, who were both glaring across the dip at Tank and his gang. “C’mon man this is crazy, Tank’s gonna kill you.”

Then they started barking like dogs, making fun of them.

“Pussy.” Twitch spat.

“You know what, fine get yourself killed, C’mon Eli.” Bullet exclaimed in exasperation. Eli looked ready to join her and let Twitch deal with his own shit, when suddenly,

“That’s right, run you little faggot!” Tank yelled. That set Twitch and Eli both off, and they rushed down into the dip, meeting in the middle with Tank and his gang.

“This here, is my park!” Twitch yelled.

“D-Don’t ever! Call B-Bullet Th-That again!” Eli yelled up at the boys, though he delved into a coughing fit as Tank and his boys ran at the pair of them and started swinging. It was a losing battle and it took Bullet too long to get in there. When she did, she saw Twitch, even in this state, trying his best to protect Eli, who was weakly going for nuts and kneecaps. The punk girl held off some of Tank’s boys, long enough to scoop Eli into her arms and onto her back, letting him weakly swing at the other boys while she pulled Twitch away by his wrist.

Soon they were out of the park and on the way back to the hotel. Eli didn’t look too bad, a bleeding nose and a bruise, but Bullet was still furious. Twitch was obviously worse for wear, but she turned on him.

“You listen here you little crack-head, you ever and I mean ever, let somethin like this happen again, an you’ll wish that Twitch murdered you.” She threatened. Twitch didn’t even respond with words, he just started crying. Bullet sighed and ran a hand over her face.”C’mon Twitch.” She draped his hand over her shoulder and grabbed Eli’s hand, slowly taking the pair of them back to the hotel.

The walked into the room to see Lyric holding a flashlight.

“Oh my god. Twitch.” She stood up and went over to them, taking Twitch from Bullet and helping him to the bed. The red-head turned to Bullet.”What happened?”

“Dickhead went lookin ta score in freeway park.” Bullet replied, picking up Eli and resting him on her hip.”This idiot thought it was a good idea to try’n defend ‘im, even though e’s sick.” She gave Eli a stern look but he didn’t respond.”They got their asses kicked, both of em.” She finished up her explanation. ”Yo squirt, you can sleep now or whatever.” She whispered to Eli.

“N-Not a squirt.” He whispered back before falling asleep on her shoulder. Twitch was still crying.

“Lookit me.” He sobbed.”I can’t go to L.A like this.” He said pitifully.”Such a joke.” Lyric sighed and tried to calm down her boyfriend.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. You know what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna, go to the drug store, get some stuff to put on that, cut.” She used a rag to try and clean him off.”And then I’ll get some ice, from the liquor store, and some bandaids and, popsicles.”

“Popsicles?” Twitch asked pathetically.

“For your lip. They’ll make you feel better baby.” She explained softly.

“..I don’t like orange.”

“Okay, then, strawberry, they always got strawberry.” Lyric assured him. She looked to Bullet.” They’ll be okay.” She said, nodding at the two boys. Twitch hesitantly held her face in his hands and the pair started kissing. Bullet was thankful Eli was asleep. She didn’t think she could bear more embarrassment tonight. “It’s gonna be okay baby.” Lyric spoke in between kisses. Bullet couldn’t stand to watch more of this. She grabbed a nearly empty box of bandaids and pulled Eli up onto her back, ready for a long trek to find a spot to stay.

Chapter Text

Bullet couldn’t believe this. She was actually sitting outside a giant cardboard box, trying to protect Eli from the rain as she watched the apartment across the street. Her Jacket was on Eli, the closest they had to a blanket, since no clothes were in the dumpster next to them, only cardboard and styrofoam plates. Apparently someone had had a party. Bullet had only thought to use them as a roof on the box. She looked back at Eli. The boy deserved better than the hand he had been dealt. He deserved better than her. She sighed and crawled back into the box. Thank god for refrigerator boxes. She slowly wrapped her arms around the shivering child, trying her best to keep him warm. Hopefully things would be better in the morning. Kallie could turn up, and Lyric would have broken up with Twitch, and Eli wasn’t sick and she had never talked to Goldie, or Tank. But she knew they were all just fantasies.

“Do me a favor kid, be better in the morning.” She murmured, then closed her eyes, letting sleep consume her.

-

The next morning came, and Bullet awoke first. Not surprising, she usually did. She felt Eli’s forehead, frowning at the heat it emitted. She gently shook him awake.”Hey squirt, c’mon let’s get outta here.” She shimmied out of the box, picking up her stuff from the edge and pulling her bag onto her shoulder. Eli sat up and let her jacket fall to the floor.

“Wh-Where’re we goin?” He asked, his voice meek and slurred from fatigue. She frowned and grabbed her jacket as he crawled out of the box.

“Beacon sounds like a good place to start. Get some real food, take a shower or somethin.” She shrugged, trying to maintain her devil-may-care facade. Normally she dropped it around Eli, but with all that had happened in the past few days, she felt the need to keep it up.

“O-Okay.” He nodded and pulled his bag up onto his shoulders. He loosely held onto her hand as they made their way towards beacon. Thankfully it wasn’t raining and they weren’t too far away. They were almost there when Bullet stopped abruptly, staring into an alley and seeing multiple cop cars. “Bullie, wha’s goin on?” Ei asked, tugging on her hand before following her gaze.”...maybe they found Kal-Kal!” He exclaimed, trying to pull her towards the scene, but she quickly held him back.

“Hell no, even if they did find Kallie, you sure as hell ain’t goin near a buncha cops.” She looked around and saw Holder and the redhead from earlier walk inside Beacon. “Okay here’s the plan, you head inside, get some food, and I’ll wait for those two to get out, I’ll ask em what’s goin on.” She told him as they made their way over to Beacon. Eli nodded and let go of her hand. As she saw him disappear through the doors, she sat down on a cinder block and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it quickly and leaning back on her arms. She tried to listen to the chatter from the alley, and managed to pick up something about an injured girl that had been spotted the night before. She took another drag and tried not to get too hopeful.

Eli had quickly grabbed a little bit of fruit and toast, sitting down and eating slowly, hoping he wouldn’t throw up again later. His nose still stung from the night before, as did his bruises. Maybe Pastor Mike had some ice packs. He was about to go ask when he noticed everyone in the room looking down the hallway.

He followed their gaze and saw Holder and the lady. He heard Holder call her Linden. It was nice to finally have a name for the woman. He watched them leave and shoved the uneaten fruit into a ziploc bag he had in his backpack before following them out.

“Mr.Holder! Ms.Linden!” He called after them, trying to catch up with the pair of them. Holder turned around.

“Well, if it ain’t the little man. How you doin?” He asked with a small smirk. Eli shrugged, then grabbed his hand and started pulling him out towards the exit.”Whoa where’re we goin?” He asked, allowing himself to be pulled by the seven year old. Linden had no choice but to follow, chuckling in amusement at the 6’2 man being lead around by this tiny child. When they got out, Eli pulled Holder out towards Bullet.

“Bullie!” He called, though immediately regretting it as he started coughing. Bullet dropped her cigarette and stomped on it. She jogged towards them and bent down.

“You good?” She asked Eli. He nodded and cleared his throat. She looked up at Linden and Holder. “Yo there are like, 15 cops in that alley, it’s like CSI Seattle back there, what’s going on?” She asked as the detectives began walking towards their car. They pair of kids followed them immediately.

“Nothing either’a you need to worry about.” Holder replied. But Bullet wasn’t giving up, not when she had a clue on Kallie.

“I heard some girl got away or something, it’s gotta be Kallie.” She protested, trying to face Holder.

“We don’t know who it is.” Linden replied instead. Bullet looked at Holder incredulously.

“Well then what the hell are you doing about it?” She exclaimed. Holder finally turned to the kids.

“We’re checking the twenty four hour clinics.” He said, as if it were obvious. Eli scoffed.

“She w-wouldn’t go to one of th-those.” He told them.

“Yeah she may as well turn herself into CPS.” Bullet replied.

“Yeah well we got it.” Holder tried to convince them. But Bullet wouldn’t be swayed. She opened the back door and ushered Eli in, who gladly clambered into the car. “Hey, wha-”

“What? I know where she would go, I’ll take you there.” She shrugged and got in. Linden looked back at Eli, who was rubbing his necklace. There was no way the detectives would win this one.

“Then why don’t you just tell us?” Holder asked, exasperated.

“Cause you need supervision.” Bullet smirked. There was no way these two would ever get somewhere without some help from them.

“Duh.” Eli nodded.”You l-look like c-cops, most pe-people like us don’t-”

“Yeah I know. You don’t talk to cops.” Holder rolled his eyes.

“Aww you rembewed.” Bullet mocked him. Eli giggled at that. “Come on, let’s go.” she shrugged. Linden looked back at her.

“Where’re we going?” She asked, a little amused.

“Take a left at the first light.” Bullet pointed at said light. Linden looked at her.

“You’re gonna give me directions one light at a time?”

“Yup.” Bullet popped the P, feeling immensely pleased with herself. Eli nodded in agreement. The pair smiled as the car started moving, and Eli thoroughly enjoyed the smirk of amusement on Holder’s face.

~

Eli perked up as he began to recognize their surroundings.”Kallie sleeps down here when she has to.” Bullet explained as the car slowed to a stop.”We’ll go down, you stay here, that suit ain’t doing you any favors in this neighborhood.” She took off the seatbelt and poked her head forward, taking a look down at the bay. Her demeanour faltered as she saw Tank and his gang. Eli looked too and pushed back into his seat.”Oh, Tank’s down there. If those guys are down there Kallie wouldn’t be here. They hate girls.” She huffed. Holder smirked.

“I got this.” He said cockily and opened the door, popping the trunk.

“Wh-Where’s he goin?” Eli asked. Bullet didn’t answer and hopped over into the front seat.

“I could kick any one’a them punk’s asses, but not when they’re all together all high like this.” She grumbled.

“An I could help!” Eli replied. Bullet frowned.

“Yeah sure kid, like you helped last night.” She looked up as the trunk door closed. ”What is he doing?” She murmured. Eli snorted with laughter as Holder passed them in a gray hoodie, flashing them a peace sign. “He looks like an idiot.” Bullet remarked as Eli howled with coughing filled laughter. “Alright calm down squirt it ain’t that funny.” Bullet looked back at Eli, though she couldn’t deny the smirk creeping up on her face.

Eli eventually let his laughter die down and simply coughed. Bullet’s smirk fell at that. “Get some rest, kay, we got a long day comin.” She told him. He nodded and laid down in the back seat, trying to get comfortable. Linden reached down under her seat and pulled out a blanket.

“Here.” She offered Eli the blanket, who gladly took it and wrapped it around himself like a burrito.

“Th-thanks M-Ms.Linden.” He yawned and closed his eyes. He was asleep in minutes. Bullet relaxed at that and looked out the front at Holder.

“Bugs is pretty lame, but he grows on you. Gotta respect that.” She remarked. Linden raised an eyebrow.

“Bugs?”

“Yeah, he looks like a stretched out white rabbit don’e?” She shrugged. She then noticed the pack of cigarettes in the detective’s pocket.”Hey you got a smoke for me?” Linden sighed.

“Yeah.” Bullet grinned and gladly took one. She then noticed Linden staring at her tattoo.”You like it? I draw em myself, you want one?” She asked.

“Maybe some other time.” Linden replied, lighting their cigarettes. Bullet gladly took a drag and exhaled, watching the smoke bounce against the glass.

”I’m gonna draw that one somethin when e’s older.” She looked back at the sleeping boy. She glanced at her own.”You know why I got faith on here?” She asked.”Cause nobody’s got it in me but me. Helps me remember.” She sat back. Linden raised an eyebrow.

“I dunno bout that.” She sat back against her seat, looking at the small boy in the back seat. Bullet looked confused, causing Linden to chuckle. “I mean, it sure seems like he does.” Linden nodded back at Eli, who was starting to snore.

“I guess…. “ Bullet trailed off. She’d never really thought about that before. When it came to thinking about the kid, her thoughts were usually about her helping him, making sure he was okay. She’d never considered he had helped her in a way. She looked back at the detective, who seemed like she knew what Bullet was thinking. The punk girl considered what she might draw for the detective. “You’d be the north star. I’d draw that on you.” She nodded, satisfied with her decision.

“Oh yeah, why’s that?”

“Cause that’s what you look at on the ocean. When you get lost it helps you find your way home.” She shrugged. Linden smiled a little at that. The kid had her down pat.

“I guess so.” The detective looked out at her partner.”What about him?” She asked.”What’d you draw for him? A carrot?” She chuckled. Bullet rolled her eyes.

“Nah, I dunno. He’s your boss, not mine. Whaddaya think?” She cocked her head to the side. Linden raised an eyebrow

“My boss?” She asked. Bullet nodded.”He ain’t.. He isn’t my boss.” She said annoyed.

“Riigght whatever you say Linden.” Bullet replied. Linden gave her a look.”Alright fine, so if he ain’t your boss, what is he?” She wiggled her eyebrows.”Your man?” Linden rolled her eyes, desperate to change the subject.

“You’re not supposed to be smoking in here.”

“You’re smoking.” Bullet retaliated.

“Yeah well it’s my car.” Linden pointed out. “Finally,” She muttered, quiet enough that Bullet didn’t hear. For a little while, the only sound in the car was that of Eli snoring. Linden had started to grow a soft spot for the boy. He reminded her of Adrien. They had the same eyes. The ones that had seen far too much for someone so young. She was about to ask Bullet where she found him, then Holder opened the door.

“Get in the back. Sit, always in the back.” He shooed Bullet out of the front seat. Bullet raised her hands in surrender and did as he said. She was thankful Eli didn’t take up much space. She moved his head onto her lap and their bags onto the floor. “I got something, let’s go.” He pulled on his seatbelt and Linden started driving. Bullet looked out the window as they drove back around.

Chapter Text

By the time they’d reached their destination, it had gotten much darker.”Wait here.” Holder said softly. She watched as they walked towards a large set of tube-like structures. Bullet was familiar with this place. She’d slept here before, with Kallie. She checked to make sure Eli was still asleep, and gently laid his head down on the seat. She opened the door and closed it silently, making her way to the other side of the tube Linden and Holder were looking into. She felt herself go numb as she looked down the tube. It was covered in watered down blood. She ran back to the car and clambered inside, sitting with Eli, trying to keep the thoughts of Kallie bleeding out, out of her mind.

She sat there as Holder called in the other cops, she sat there as they arrived. She sat there while they put their yellow police tape around it, and she only got up when Eli did.

“Bullet, wh-wha’s appenin?” He asked, pulling the blanket around him.

“...Dead end. No sign of her.” She replied. No, they wouldn't give up now. Kallie would go other places, they just had to keep looking.”C’mon, grab your stuff, we gotta get outta here before someone sees you.” She hissed. Eli nodded and stuffed the blanket into his bag. He’d just return it later he figured. Bullet stepped out of the car, waiting for Holder.

Eli followed her out, not liking the rain coming down on his head. They watched as Holder talked with Linden. Bullet was starting to get antsy, and Eli was shivering again. Thankfully, Holder wandered over soon.”So what’s the next move? She’s not here now but I know tons of other places she would go. Let’s bounce.” She saw Holder holding a lighter, and she held out her cigarette. He lit it for her and she took a drag. There was a painfully long silence.

“It’s lookin like, for tonight at least, this might be the end of the road.” Holder sighed.

“It is not over, you don’t know Kallie!” Bullet threw down the cigarette in fury. Holder was still solemn.

“We’re gonna do everything we can...You know now might be the time for you to start realizing-” He didn’t finish as Bullet socked him in the stomach.

“You’re a quittin ass punk!” She barked at him, grabbing Eli’s hand and running off.

~

Bullet now sat in Beacon with Eli, contemplating how she would tell him that he’d be staying with Lyric tonight.”Listen, tonight’s gotta be a little different, kay?” She told him.

“Wh-What? Why?” He asked.

“I’m gonna try to get some more info on that missin girl, an it’s late, real late. I don’t need you goin missin too. Jus, stay I needja to crash with Lyric tonight an I’ll come pick you up in the mornin, kay?” She told him. His lip quivered.

“B-But-”

“No, no buts, no if ands or buts.” She told him.”You need the rest, an I need the info. Tomorrow we’ll go lookin again, but for now, ya gotta stay here.” She looked around and leaned in closer.”Holder’s startin’a think that…”

“That Kal-Kal m-might be….” Eli nodded. Bullet frowned.

“Yeah, but we gotta prove she ain’t, we gotta find her. An tonight I’m gonna try.” She told him, feeling determined. Maybe it was spite, maybe it was the fact that she missed Kallie, but the drive to find something was there, and it was stronger than it ever had been. “But..It’s startin’a get dangerous. I..I already lost Kallie, I don’ wanna lose you too.” She admitted quietly. Eli hopped down off his chair, clambered up hers and hugged her. She flinched a little, but eventually hugged back, glaring at anyone who looked like they would utter a snicker.

“B-Be careful.” Eli let go of her and climbed back up on his chair. Bullet nodded and stood up, pulling her backpack onto her shoulders.

“Don’ worry, I will be.” She assured him, glancing up as the door opened. Twitch stood in the doorway. She frowned and went up to him. “Where’s Lyric? I called her earlier, she said-”

“Calm down wackjob, she’s keepin an eye on the hotel. Told me to come pick up the kid.” Twitch replied, his eyes glancing to Eli, who was still sitting at the table, fiddling with his necklace. Bullet frowned, biting her lip. She had never trusted Twitch with anything or anyone, much less the boy she’d basically adopted as her brother. “Hey, I ain’t gonna lead him back ta freeway park or nothin. I already got Tank on my ass, don’ need you too.” He assured her, in his weird way.

“..Alright, but if anythin happens to im-”

“Spare me the threats Bullet, I get it. Now, don’t you got someplace ta be or..?” He prompted her. She huffed and turned back to Eli, walking back to him.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow, kay?” She ruffled his hair and took her hat off, placing it on his head. He nodded and stood up, walking over to Twitch. The older boy lead Eli out of beacon and the pair of them started walking towards the hotel. Bullet waited until they were out of sight, than began her quest. A girl had been spotted. One that couldn’t be anyone but Kallie. And if there was buzz about it, that meant someone had seen her. And she was gonna find out who.

Chapter Text

Hours and hours later, she sat in Holder’s car(Or was it Linden’s?), parked outside a veterinary hospital. She found it ironic that her best friend was probably being held in a place she wanted to work in one day. “-That’s what Naydeen told me. And it took me forever to find Lobo’s ass, even though he’s always at E.M.P and Lobo said he saw some guy carrying some girl into the alley behind that vet, said she was bleeding all over the place.”

“Lobo? Who the hell’s Lobo?” Holder raised an eyebrow at her.

“You got your sources, I got mine.” She retaliated. Most of her friends were liable for some sort of charge in the law, she may be a C.I, but she wasn’t a rat. She suddenly perked up at the sign of a small figure running out in the rain, a flash of green alerting her. Without thinking, she bolted out of the car, ignoring Holder’s half hearted protests. She came up to the figure and stood in front of them. She looked down, and sure enough. Eli. “What the hell are you doin here?!” She exclaimed, shielding herself from the rain.

“Tw-Twitch said th-that Naydeen said that Lo-Lobo-” He stammered, his eyes red and puffy. He only had her hat on his head and his own jacket and bag to shield him from the rain.

“Those fuckin snitches. Lemme guess, Twitch got in your head, sayin somethin bout me not comin back?” She put her hands on her hips. Meanwhile, Linden and Holder watched from the car, trying not to laugh as they figured out who Bullet was talking to.

Eli nodded and grabbed her hand. She sighed.”Alright listen, Bugs and Linden are in the car, you an I are gonna stay inside while they go in there.” She pointed into the building they’d been staking out. She huffed as she pulled Eli back to the car with her. She opened the door and ushered him in.

He pulled the blanket he’d taken from the car out and wrapped it around Bullet and himself, trying not to get to close to her and get her wet. Holder watched as Linden got out first.

“Alright, wait here.” He told them before getting out.

“I’ll wait where I wait.” Bullet told him with unnecessary sass. In all honesty, Holder and Linden had grown on Bullet. For whatever reason, they hadn't taken Eli away from her like other cops would have. She'd pulled the ‘big sister taking her brother home’ gag before, or said he was a teenager with stunted growth. Cops tended to care less about teens than kids. Kids went to CPS. Teens went to holding. Bullet knew one was far worse than the other and holding wasn’t it.

Eli had only spent a few weeks in the system after his mother was killed and his father had been arrested. He’d lasted three days at one house before running away to the alley where she and Kallie found him. Bullet had promised him she’d never let him go back in. So far, she’d kept that promise.

She waited for Holder to get out of the car before turning to Eli and pulling him close to her.”C’mere. Take your jacket off, you’ll just be colder.” She muttered as she unbuttoned his jacket.“You coulda called me y’know, didn’t have ta go trampin around lookin for the car, at night, alone, in the rain.” She felt her voice tighten with each word. Eli looked at her.

“I-I’m sorry. I was w-worried bout y-you.” He frowned, sniffling, sneezing, and coughing after saying so. Bullet frowned at that and quickly tore her own jacket off, wrapping it around him and stuffing his wet one onto the floor of the car. She pulled him back close to her again, trying to raise his body temperature. She felt his forehead to find it was still boiling. The punk girl frowned as he began coughing roughly.

“S’okay bud, s’okay. Let it out.” she comforted the boy, thankful the detectives weren't there to witness the scene. Eli was the only one she'd willingly let down her tough persona with, for anyone else to see her acting like this, well she'd never be able to walk down an alley in peace again. Once Eli finished his coughing fit, she felt herself relax.

They waited in the car until the rain stopped. She passed him his jacket, which had dried out a little by that time. “Here, get warm. I”m gonna see what’s goin on, stay here. For real this time.” She told him before slipping out of the car. ”I’ll be back okay, just wait here.” She told him, then closed the door. She wasn’t out long when she heard screaming. She rushed towards where Holder and Linden had entered, and followed their path of ‘I’m breaking and entering but it’s okay cause I’m a cop.’ She soon came across the source of the screaming, finding Holder calling 911, and Linden trying to calm the screaming girl on a table. She tried to move forward but Holder held her back. “Stop it I need to, she! Bugs! Lemme-”

“It’s not her, Bullet. It ain’t her.” Holder yelled over the screams.”Right now, you gotta get outta the way, an lemme know when an ambulance gets here!” He instructed her. She resisted the urge to grumble, or cry, but did as he said and waited outside the door, waiting for the familiar flashing red lights. It wasn’t long before they arrived. She alerted Holder, and soon he and Linden came out with the girl. The girl who wasn’t Kallie. The living girl who wasn’t Kallie. Bullet tried not to be bitter, but couldn’t help it as she went to sulk on the curb.

She should’ve known. She may have helped some other girl but it wasn’t Kallie. Maybe Holder was right. Maybe she should start accepting that Kallie might really be gone. She didn’t want to and the only part of her telling her to do so was her logical side. And with how numb she felt, logic and the action of blocking out everything else, were controlling her right now. Eli was still in the car they came in, parked out of sight, so she didn’t need to worry about someone taking either of them to CPS. She stared down at the drying pavement, doing her best to ignore the image of Kallie bleeding out popping up into her head every five seconds. She barely flinched when she felt someone sit down beside her.

“....That girl gonna be alright?” She asked, sniffling a little. Holder nodded.

“Yeah, she is.” He looked at the ground as well. Bullet swallowed as she felt her eyes heat up, unshed tears clouding her vision.

“I’m startin ta think that…..all the memories I got’a Kallie are gonna be the only ones I’ll ever have.” She admitted, her voice cracking at the end. “An..I dunno how I’m gonna tell him that.” She looked at the car, where Eli was leaning against the glass, hopefully asleep. Holder followed her gaze. “...She’s probably dead, isn’t she?” She looked back at the ground. Holder sighed, then nodded.

“Yeah.” With the confirmation of the detective, she sniffled again, swallowing back tears. She didn’t resist as Holder slipped an arm around her. She wasn’t even surprised at herself when she leaned into his shoulder, staring at the ground while he rubbed her shoulder supportively.”C’mon, you two can stay at the station tonight.” He told her after a long while of sitting. The ambulance and the cops had gone. Linden had gone in one of the cop cars so it was just him and the kids now. Much to his surprise, she didn’t argue, she only stood up with him, wiping at her eyes and nose.

“You guys got medicine there?” She asked, sniffling. Holder nodded.

“Yeah, why?” He started walking her back to the car. She looked at Eli in response, who had zonked out against the window. He nodded.”Ah, little man got sick from walkin in the rain?” He asked, opening the driver door and hopping in. She opened the back door on her side and did the same.

“Somethin like that.”

Chapter Text

Bullet had run from the police station, Eli on her back, as soon as she woke up. She never wanted to be that vulnerable in front of someone ever again. Eli had gotten some medicine thanks to Holder, and he already looked better. Bullet just hoped they had enough cash between them to score some more. Maybe they’d head down to one of those hippie coffee shops. It was afternoon now, and Holder wasn’t out looking for them so she assumed they were fine for the moment.

She and Eli walked casually though one of the long alleys, enjoying the rare sunshine on their faces. The contentment didn’t last long as Bullet looked ahead, seeing Twitch and a group of kids she didn’t recognize. Twitch had his arm around one of them, and Lyric stood across from them. She was being tormented. Bullet clenched her fists but hung back, not about to involve Eli in the second fight in two days.

Eli heard a car driving behind them and turned around, seeing Kallie’s mom, who had apparently been calling for the pair of them for a while. He tugged on Bullet’s sleeve and pointed at Danette’s car. Bullet turned around at the tugging and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Hey uh, Trigger, you seen Kallie around?” Danette asked, a cigarette in hand.

“..It’s Bullet.” She corrected the woman.” And no, I haven’t.” She shrugged her backpack onto her shoulder. Eli looked up at the woman. She didn’t seem so much an angry bitch as more a sad lady. Though he supposed having your kid go missing would do that to people.

“..Oh, well, if..if ya do, can ya tell er I’ve been lookin for er. And that, that she should come home?” She asked meekly. Bullet was surprised at the woman’s demeanour, and nodded.

“Yeah….C’mon E.”

“You’re her friends, right?” Danette called. They turned around at that.”Cause, I been lookin for er an, I dunno, where she might go...I was thinkin you two might?” She said as more of a statement than a question. Bullet sighed and walked over to the woman, Eli following close behind.

~

Bullet looked out at the river.”You and Kallie used to come here?” Danette asked. The punk girl nodded.

“Yeah, and up on that bridge. She used to stare down at the water. Said she liked the way it looked or something.” She remembered the last day she’d spent with Kallie. The girl looked farther over, where Eli was haphazardly throwing stones into the river.

“I used to take her here when she was a kid.” Danette mentioned. Bullet smiled a little.

“Yeah, I know.” She looked at the woman. “She said you tried to teach her how to play hide and seek but she could never figure it out.” Danette chuckled at that.

“No, she never could. I’d close my eyes and count to five but when I opened em she’d be standing right in front me.” Danette looked down and fidgeted with her hair. Bullet sighed and looked at the seven year old, who was trying now to skip the stones,rather than just throwing them.

Kallie had taught him the game about a month after he’d been hanging around with them. The same thing had happened the first time around and she had mentioned that she was becoming her mom.

Bullet frowned at the memory. It was a happy one, and with her recent lack of findings, she felt like she was beginning to give up on her friend. But she knew that it was important that Danette thought there was still a chance.

“She’ll be alright.” She assured the woman.

“......Yeah.” Danette mumbled. She thanked her and got in her car.

“I could take you somewhere, if you want.” She offered. Bullet shook her head.

“Nah, go on. Keep lookin.” She replied. The woman smiled and drove off. Bullet sighed and went over to Eli. “C’mon kid. Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Bullet wandered into Lyric’s room, feeling regretful, sad. Angry, and a whole other mishmash of emotions. But all of those were quelled as the sight of Lyric, alone and crying on her bed, met her eyes.”..You alright?” She asked, hovering in the doorway. A half smoked cigarette hung from her middle and index finger. Eli rested on her back, asleep

“...He does this…...I don’t know why…..I don’t know why I always let him hurt me.” Lyric cried into her sleeve, sniffling. Bullet pursed her lips, not knowing what to say. She only wandered closer to the bed, putting Eli down before crouching next to it. Lyric rolled over, her eyes red and puffy. “Wanna keep me warm?..I’m freezing.” She murmured, her voice soft and meek.

Bullet didn’t waste time and crawled into the broken bed, burrowing under the blanket. The girl faced the door, hoping that Lyric wouldn’t say much. She felt her cheeks warm up as the redhead snaked her arms around her.”What’s wrong?” She asked. Bullet still refused to look at her. She wouldn’t give the world the satisfaction of letting the girl of her dreams see her as anything less than the capable, guard dog like person she pretended to be. The one she wanted to be.

“...Nothing.” She mumbled.

“..Don’t lie.” Lyric said softly.”..I know you, B.” She smiled a little bit. Bullet sighed and turned from her side to her back, letting her legs spread out along the mattress. She hated this, being vulnerable. Even with Lyric, scratch that, especially with Lyric. But the guilt of what she’d done, and all that had happened in one day, it was eating away at her.

“...I saw Kallie’s mom.”

Lyric frowned and rolled onto her back, so her shoulder was touching. She fiddled with her bracelets. “.....You think Kallie’s coming back?” Bullet swallowed thickly at that question, trying to push down the lump forming in her throat. She couldn’t answer that, even if she wanted to. “Hey, look at me.” Lyric’s words interrupted her thoughts.

Bullet did as she was told and her eyes flitted to the fifteen year old. For once, her steel blue eyes weren’t guarded and narrowed. They were just, sad, and scared. Lyric looked at her, the same sadness in her own hazel orbs.”You don’t have to be tough all the time, you know?” She assured the punk girl. Bullet felt her eyes get hot, and she sat up, not wanting Lyric to see her cry. She barely noticed when her crush sat up as well.

A million thoughts ran through her head in seconds. Eli’s crying face, the image of Kallie bleeding out somewhere, Twitch mocking the girl sat next to her, Goldie’s lustful face from that night. She couldn’t stand being alone with her thoughts, and she spared a glance up at Lyric, and noticed the girl staring at her.

“What?” She asked softly, her voice barely above a mumble. Lyric smiled sadly.

“You think I don’t see you... but I do.” She said softly. They sat like that for four agonizing seconds. Somehow, they both knew what was coming. They slowly moved in, closer to each other, until their lips met, and Bullet knew how cheesy it sounded, but it felt like fireworks were going off. Kallie would’ve made fun of her for it.

At the thoughts of her friend, Bullet pulled away, and Lyric did too. Bullet smiled a small bit, mostly still reveling in the fact that she and Lyric had kissed each other, but she knew it wouldn’t be happening again that night.”Wanna go to bed?’ Lyric asked, pushing Bullet’s bangs out of her eyes. Bullet smiled gratefully and nodded, laying back down and letting the younger girl wriggle into her arms. For once in a very long time, Bullet fell asleep with a smile on her face.

~

When Bullet woke up, she felt peaceful, content. It was still night time, or early morning maybe. She looked down at Lyric, who was still sleeping, and smiled. She ever so slightly pulled the girl closer to her, content to stare at the ceiling and forget her troubles for a while. However it didn’t last long as the door opened. Twitch, still busted up and bruised. He pushed the door closed and stared at the girls. Lyric sat up quickly as the door clicked. “Twitch..Baby.” Bullet hid a wince at the pet name. “Where you been?”

“Out.” He said shortly, bending down to pick up his things.

“We were just-”

“Whatever, I mean, I don't wanna know.” He spat at her as she scrambled out of the bed, nearly tripping over Eli, waking the boy up. She barely noticed as she tried to reason with her ex.

“Twitch c’mon, please-”

“Don’t make such a big deal out of it.” He snapped, almost sounding condescending. “You need a piece? Fine. What you think I don't got ass all over the city?” He smirked at her, thinly veiling his anger. Bullet clenched her fists; Eli stared at the couple, his eyes wide with apprehension, ready to make a run for it if need be. Twitch reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and flashing it at them. “I just got done scammin some rich bitch. I’m talkin’ old, like forty.” He bragged, ignoring Eli’s look of disgust. “Givin it to her all day in ‘er fancy condo, getting fed steak’n wine. She said she take me shopping get me whatever I want-”

“Yeah, you’ve just been on your knees like everyone else.” Bullet got out of the bed and pulled her thicker jacket on, growing more and more angry at the idea of leaving Lyric with this bastard.

“Nah you’re the queer.” Twitch said maliciously.

“Eat me.” Bullet hissed back.

“Hell no, I got standards.” Twitch smirked, grabbing some other knick knack.

Bullet only glared at his back, pulling Eli up from the ground as he, too, pulled his jacket on. The seven year old resisted the urge to reach out for Lyric’s hand, knowing it’d probably do more harm than good in the situation.

“Why are you always such a jerk?! I hate you!!” Lyric pushed at her ex, her eyes welling up with tears. With that, a screaming match began, Bullet pulling Lyric back gently and putting herself in between the pair as Eli latched onto Lyric’s hand, squeezing close to her even as her yells grew in volume. “I hate you I hate you I hate you! And I don’t want to live with you!!” She practically growled at the boy. Bullet took this as the cue to leave.

“C’mon Lyric let’s go.” She opened the door quickly with one hand and grabbed Lyric’s with the other, pulling her and Eli out through the door.

“Ugly ass bitches, yo get out of here!!” Twitch yelled, kicking Eli through the door after them. The boy yelped at the kick and started running with the girls, not stopping until they were out of the building.

Bullet took a few seconds to catch her breath, resisting the urge to reach for her injuries. The past few days had not been good on them, let alone her mental state. Twitch’s comment about an older client hadn’t been the best thing to hear. Eli had delved into a coughing fit as he sat down. Lyric caught her breath as she watched the occasional car speed past in the midnight mist.

“...What now?” She asked Bullet as she helped Eli up. Bullet pursed her lips and looked around. It was dark, and late, even for a street kid. The prowlers would be out soon, but that meant clients would, and with the clients come the servicers. The streets would be packed soon.

“I know a few hangouts Twitch don’ know about, we can head there an’ hangout till morning. Full’a night owls so we won’t be alone.” She suggested, and Lyric nodded at the option.

“Cool, anywhere’s better than here.” She pulled her pink coat on, watching mist dance in the light of the streetlamps.

“Th-That sounds g-g-g ACHOO!...good.” Eli sneezed and sniffled. Lyric frowned at that.

“You sick, bud?” She asked, about to feel his forehead, only to have her hand weakly swatted at.

“ ‘M fine.” Eli looked up at her, but he wasn’t angry, just tired.

“This idiot came lookin for me in the rain yesterday; didn’ end well.” Bullet replied without a twinge of exasperation as she picked Eli up and letting him climb up to his place on her back.

“I’m not an idiot, I was just-”

“Worried, I know. Don’ let people get in your head, ‘specially Twitch.” She interrupted him and started moving, holding her breath a bit as his legs dug into her ribs. Lyric blinked at how quickly they could start moving, and jogged to catch up. He sighed and rested his head on hers, fiddling with his necklace. Lyric chuckled at how small he looked on her friend’s shoulder.

“You’re adorable, you know that?” She ruffled Eli’s hair, glad that he allowed her to.

“Th-Thanks Lyrie.” He mumbled, yawning.

“Hey what about me?” Bullet asked jokingly. Lyric giggled.

“You too B.”

“Hell yeah.” Bullet smirked with her tongue out. That was a smile reserved for Lyric only. Even Eli couldn’t get her to smile like that. The seven year old liked seeing it. Bullet hadn’t been this happy for far too long.

Chapter Text

Bullet grinned as she sat on a concrete block, leaned against a fence. Lyric sat just below her, sitting on the ground and leaning on the block, loosely grasping Bullet’s hands.

Eli was asking around to see if anyone had seen Kallie. No such luck, nobody had seen her. He was starting to get doubtful if they'd ever find her. The boy looked back at Bullet and Lyric, feeling an unexpected twinge of anger at the redhead.

If there was one thing Lyric did well, it was distracting Bullet. Distracting her from a conversation, distracting her while crossing the street, and apparently, distracting her from Kallie. Eli bit his lip and went up to yet another garbage can, warming his hands for a second before asking about his friend once more.

Bullet smiled to herself as she loosely ran her thumb over Lyric’s hand, enjoying the fact that Lyric was with her, and that she wanted to be with her, they’d kissed.

The kiss. It had felt as though a thousand stars had been created in Bullets lips alone. It would be filed in with the very small drawer in her mind that held her favorite memories. Among The Kiss was when she’d met Kallie, when the pair of them had snuck into a Dairy Queen and the owners gave them free food, when Eli had pulled her around the park in a game of hide and seek, and of course, meeting Lyric. It sounded cheesier than anything Bullet had ever heard but she swore it was love at first sight, at least on her end. She smiled at the memories, but was interrupted by a voice she did not expect to hear at this time of night.

“Damn, those pearly whites I just seen? Didn’t even know you had teeth. I thought fangs, maybe.” Holder grinned, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he stopped in front of the girls.

“Ha ha ha, you’re funny Bugs, where’s your KMart suit?” Bullet asked, smirking at the detective.

“Bein pressed by versace, since he fabricated it.” Holder grinned back, and looked to see Eli wandering back over to them.

“Hey short stuff, how’s it hangin?” He asked the boy. Eli looked at him.

“H-Hey Mr.Holder. Uh..good. …..A-any ACHOO! news on Kal-K,.. I-I mean on Kallie?” He asked. Holder shook his head.

“Nope, sorry bud. Hey get some meds or somethin for that cold a yours.”

“Th-That’s okay...I-I can manage.” He replied, sitting down next to Lyric. The boy next to them, Donny, took an exaggerated whiff.

“Oh, somethin just stunk up the air. Do you smell it, smells like pork.” Eli rolled his eyes, as did Bullet, at the stupid Joke.

“That ain’t a smell, wee one, that’s salary and purpose.” Holder replied calmly, taking a drag of his cigarette, the smoke curling out his mouth and into the air. Donny chuckled sarcastically and made a ‘shooting himself’ motion with his fingers. “Watch yourself.” Holder warned them, letting the smoke hit the boy’s face. Donny only chuckled and beckoned his friends.

“Come on let’s get outta here. Oh these pigs.” He moaned, walking away with his friend. Holder didn’t bat an eye and stuck his hand out to Lyric.

“How do you do?” He asked politely, smiling.

“...Fine.” Lyric answered cautiously, gently shaking his hand with her fingers before standing up, not noticing Eli falling to the ground. Bullet frowned and helped him up before looking at the red head. “C’mon. Let’s go...he’s..he’s a cop.” She hissed. Bullet relaxed at that.

“Just Bugs, got him under my thumb.” She assured her girlfriend. Lyric relaxed at that too, but not by much.

“Y-Yeah, he’s just M-Mr.Holder, not sc-sc ACHOO!..scary or n-nothin.” Eli nodded, sniffling. Lyric looked at the detective with wary, but took their words for it.

“Hurry up.” She smiled and pecked Bullet’s cheek before walking over to another flaming garbage can.

“Ooh, hurry up, Bullet’s got herself a little love bunny.” Holder snickered, teasing the punk girl. “What’s her name? Delilah? Jezebel?” He asked jokingly.

“Oh shut up asswipe, it’s Lyric.” Bullet replied, smiling down into the flames.

“Yeah, Lyrie d-doesn’t have a f-fancy name like that.” Eli giggled at the detective.

“Lyric~.” Holder dragged the name out, smiling. Bullet rolled her eyes, gently pulling Eli with her as they went over to a flaming can.

”What’re you doin trolling my crib this time’a night for anyway?” She asked, warming her hands.

“The guy who runs the uh, Beacon home, Pastor Mike, what’s up with him?” Holder asked, going into detective mode.

“Man don’t even, it’s not him.” Bullet rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look at the detective. Eli nodded.

“Not him what?” Holder teased her a little.

“H-he’s not the...th-the ACHOO! bad guy.” Eli sneezed, pulling his jacket around him.

“Yeah, he’s like the only guy in seattle who’s not a pedophile.” Bullet nodded, quickly pulling Eli up to rest on her hip so he could warm his hands. She looked over at Lyric, who was staring at her, a smile on her face.

“Man, you pulled off some wizardry, your little mama’s full-on magnetized to your skinny ass.” He nodded over at. “You know, I had me a whole stable when I was a young one.” He bragged. “So you need any tips or tricks..I’m your man.” Bullet scoffed at the suggestion

“You sayin you can leave your lady fulfilled at the end’a the night?” She asked, teasing him in return. Eli made a face of disgust.

“Believe that.” Holder nodded, throwing his cigarette butt to the ground, stepping on it.

“Blegh. Th-that stuff’s gr-gross.” He said certainly. Bullet chuckled, deciding to have some fun with the detective.

“Whaddaya think squirt, who’s got the girl right now?” She asked the seven year old.

“You.”

“And who don’t?”

“Mr.Holder. O-Otherwise Ms.Linden w-would be M-Mrs.Holder.” He said as-a-matter-of-factly. Bullet grinned. Holder chuckled, figuring now was not the time to argue with a child and a smug teenager about his love life.

“Exactly, so you sure I shouldn’t be teachin you how ta holla at the shorties, punk?” She teased him.

“B-But you’re not good either, t-took you t-two years t-ta ask out Lyrie.” Eli pointed out, causing Bullet to blush and Holder to laugh.

“Whatever.” He chuckled. “ I mean you can be as smooth as velveeta, but at the end’a the day you gotta take care’a your girl.” He got serious at that, and Bullet’s blush was replaced by a face that Eli didn’t see often. The ‘I’m actually listening to you and your advice’ face. “Protect her, you know, keep ’er safe..This ain’t no kinda crib.” He looked around at the wet pavement and flaming garbage fires.

Bullet bit her lip and did the same before looking back at the older man.”You two be safe.” He said softly before heading off. Bullet took that as her cue to walk back over to Lyric, setting Eli down before doing so.

“You wanna settle down till light?” She asked, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend. Lyric nodded, gently grasping Eli’s hand, ignoring how cold it was.

“Yeah. Under the overpass?” She looked over at the bridge in question. Bullet nodded.

“Fine by me.” She walked with her little family to the dry spot on the pavement, Holder’s words echoing in her mind. Protect her girl. Protect her kid. That was her life. Her own little family.

Chapter Text

They sat on the roof of an old apartment building. The rain had cleared up for once in what seemed like weeks, and instead had fluffy looking clouds and a blue sky. Lyric admired it, revelling in the beauty of the view.

Bullet sat against a pillar, revelling in the beauty of her. Sure she’d always known that Lyric was beautiful, but seeing her in such a peaceful mood, nothing but content decorating her face, she was breathtaking.

Eli sat near the edge, his legs dangling over the edge. He thought back to the last day they’d had with Kallie, staring down at the river. He missed her.

Lyric spun around, enjoying the freedom of her new friends. “I’m gonna have this view from my house one day, with glass ceilings so you can see the skies.” She turned around to face Bullet. “Pastor Mike told me about these apartments the government run, you give em a hundred bucks, and they help you with the rent. You just gotta fill out the paperwork and get a job and stuff.” She grinned, going to sit next to her girlfriend. She realized that Bullet hadn’t said anything.”Hey. Whatcha thinkin?” She asked. Bullet only smiled.

“That you’re beautiful.” She looked down, slightly embarrassed at the verbal confession that was finally coming out. “That I’m totally in love with you.” She played with her bracelets.

“Really?” Lyric asked. She blushed bright red. She’d heard those words many times before. From Twitch, from her clients, even from her mom way back when. But they’d always felt empty, until now, coming from Bullet’s chapped yet rosy lips. She thought about how amazing it would be to share a place with Bullet. It was nice dream, but with where they were now, with Lyric’s lack of clients, and Bullet and Eli’s ongoing search for Kallie(no matter how fruitless it seemed to be to her), they wouldn’t be settling down any time soon.

She looked up at the sky, seeing grey, thick clouds start to roll in. “It’s gonna come down tonight. The rain.” She shivered as she thought of twitch. “We can’t walk the night out again.”

Bullet frowned as her smile dropped. She thought back to what Holder said. He was right, she had to take care of her girl.”Come on.” She assured her, pulling her close.”I’ll find us a place.”

“Yeah, I know.” Lyric nodded, gently grazing her thumb over Bullet’s tattoo.”I have faith.” She smiled. Bullet did the same and kissed her temple.

Eli wandered over to the girls, sitting on Bullet’s other side. “Wh-What about ACHOO!.. Wha’ bout Beacon?” He suggested. Bullet grinned.

“Sounds good, squirt.” She ruffled his hair.

“Not a squirt.” He protested tiredly as he lifted his head, struggling a little to get up. Lyric giggled and got up, helping him do the same. Bullet shrugged her bag onto her shoulder and they made their way down the fire escape, ready to begin their trek into the jungle.

~

Bullet had realized halfway there that they probably wouldn’t be able to get beds at the home. Once they were inside, she found that Pastor Mike was in the bunks. She’d figure something out. She had to take care of her girl. And her kid.

“Uh hey, Pastor Mike!” She waved to the man as he vacuumed. He looked up at the sound of his name.

“Afternoon Bullet!” He shouted over the vacuum before shutting it off. “What brings you here.” He then noticed she didn’t have her usual shadow.”Where’s Eli?” He asked.

“Oh he’s fine, just in the kitchen with Lyric.” She waved it off.”Um, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She set her coat down.”Can...can we stay the night here? I know my ticket’s done and Lyric does-”

“Bullet, I’m sorry, no.” The pastor shut her down quickly, picking up his vacuum and heading to the corner to clean it out.

“Come on, just for one night, we’ll, we’ll sleep on the floor. It’s for them, not me.” She bargained with him.

“Okay you know how the lottery works. We’re full up for the next two nights.” He fiddled with the tube of the vacuum. She sighed.

“Okay so then what about those, government apartments you told me about? You think we could get one’a those?” She asked. Pastor mike looked at her.

“..Uh..Maybe.” He shrugged, chuckling a little at how devoted the teenager was.”But it takes time, and a deposit. Besides, it’s Sunday, and the offices are closed” He stood, knowing he wouldn’t be getting out of this conversation quickly standing by a vacuum. He tried to head for the door but Bullet cut him off. She was down to her last resort.

“Look look look. It’s her psycho step-dad kay? He figured out where she is and he’s full on crazy. Screamin he’s got a gun. An Eli thought he heard somethin ‘bout ‘is dad so you know he can’t be out there,” She lied.

Eli’s dad was safely tucked away in jail for the murder of his wife as well as physical and psychological abuse against his son. He wouldn’t be getting anywhere near Eli. As for Lyric’s step-father, well, Bullet had no clue if she even had one.

The pastor sighed and considered what she’d said. He knew she was lying but if she was lying to him then she must be desperate.

“Let me think of something.” He resigned. Bullet instantly brightened and hopped up.

“Gimme some skin PM.” She held out her hand for him to high five.”You da man. Oh, an I told them cops ta lay off.” She chuckled as she pictured Holder thinking that Pastor Mike could even possibly be the killer.”I mean they’re totally on the wrong track.”

“What do you mean?” The pastor raised an eyebrow. Bullet turned around as she grabbed her jacket, shrugging.

“I mean, they think that girl came here, and she didn’t, right?” She slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Yeah that’s right.” He nodded.

“Cool. Thank you!” She walked back out.

Chapter Text

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lyric asked Eli as they poroused the fridge. He fiddled with his green necklace.

“...Nothin.” He lied.

“C’mon E what’s goin on? You sulking isn’t gonna help anything.” She crossed her arms.”C’mon just tell me-”

“Y-You’re distractin Bullet from f-finding Kal-Kal!” He blurted out. Lyric was shocked, and honestly he was too. Eli hated voicing negative thoughts about his friends. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Lyric. Again, she was one of his friends, but Kallie was in higher priority rankings than Lyric, no matter how happy she made Bullet. And if Lyric kept Bullet distracted from finding her, well Eli didn’t think they would be able to.

“Wh..What? Eli..Kallie’s probably, she’s probably …..gone.” Lyric crouched down, closing the fridge, hating the fact that she had to be the one to tell him. Though she was surprised that Bullet hadn’t given him a reality check yet. Before he had time to reply, Bullet came walking out, a small smirk on her face.

“Alright guys. Pastor Mike said he’d figure something out.” She looped an arm around Lyric as the girl stood. Eli was still silent at Lyric’s words and was fidgeting with his necklace like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Bullet noticed but didn't say anything. She'd noticed him getting more and more distant since the day before. Maybe it was the cold. She hoped that was the case.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in Beacon; Bullet and Lyric mostly cuddling on the couch while Eli talk with the others, not wanting to be near Lyric. He also did his best to collect info, both on the killer, possible sightings, and of course, Kallie.

Bullet looked around at the home. It had been almost a week since Kallie went missing now. So much had happened in that time. She looked at Lyric, who was sleeping, and Eli as he ran around the room. She knew he was still asking about Kallie. It was a little amusing seeing the seven year old run up to teenagers twice his size and ask about a serial killer. It also meant she could rest for a bit. So she did.

~

“Bullet Bullet Bullet Bullet Bullet!!” She awoke to someone shaking her. She quickly was setting up to grab the person by their neck when she saw it was Eli and relaxed. Lyric was also up and pulling her jacket on.

“What, what’s appenin?” She asked groggily.

“Pastor Mike is letting us stay at his house.” Lyric explained as she zipped up her pink coat.

“Oh, sweet!” Bullet grinned and stood. “I just gotta meet with my P.O. I gotta talk to her about one’a those apartment things.”

“..Really? You mean it?” Lyric smiled and hugged Bullet tightly.”Thank you.” She kissed her cheek before grabbing her hand.

“Yeah, anything for you guys.” Bullet smiled and ruffled Eli’s hair. He smiled a little and grasped her other hand. “Alright, I'll meet you guys there.” She briefly let go of Lyric’s hand and knelt down in front of Eli.”You take care a her, okay bud? Be safe.” She couldn't help but notice a sense of foreboding, begging her to stay with them. But she ignored it and hugged him.

Eli sniffled and hugged back. “Bye Bully.” He let go of her. She stood and turned to Lyric.

“You take care a him too. I'll see you soon.” She kissed the girl’s forehead.

“See you soon. Be careful.” Lyric smiled and went with Eli as they walked out of the home.

~

By the time Eli and Lyric reached the Pastor’s house, the sun had dipped further into the sky. “Alright then, he said to come in the back, something about expecting visitors.” She had let go of the seven year old’s hand, and he staggered closely behind her. They’d barely spoken since they left the home.

“Kay.” He kicked at the dirt before following her up the steps, fiddling with his stone. It had gotten thinner and smoother from how much he’d fiddled with it since Bullet gave it to him. The pair of them entered the house, marveling at how clean the place was for a brief moment, then going to find the Pastor.