Chapter Text
It was dark, a couple hours after midnight. Too late for this.
The moon was full, but the two boys huddling together in the corner of their small upstairs room, as close to the sliding mirror closet as possible without entering, were anything but enjoying the brisk cold night.
In fact, they could hardly hear the crickets over the screaming match downstairs, occasionally drowned out by the slamming of some door or the smashing of some object.
They were glad, if anything, that their doors had locks and their foster parents were downstairs. Because even from up where they were, far in the back of their dark moonlit room, the conversation was clear as day.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT YOU IDIOT! IF IT WEREN'T FOR ALL YOU'RE "SPREES" WE'D BE FINE!" A loud deep voice slurred and shouted.
"OH IT'S MY FAULT NOW!?" An equally loud, much more shrill and clear voice screeched into the night, "LAST TIME I CHECKED, HALF OF THIS DARNED MONEY WENT TO YOUR DRUGS AND BOOZE YOU DITZY OLD MAN!"
"OH REALLY??? LAST TIME I CHECKED YOU BENEFITED FROM THAT TOO WOMAN!"
"WELL AT LEAST I DON'T GO GAMBLE AWAY THE MONEY WE DO HAVE!"
"OHHHHH RIGHT CAUSE YOU'VE NEVER COME IN HERE DRUNK AS A CAT ON NIP AND GIVING OTHER MEN MY WELL EARNED MONEY!"
"WHY YOU-!"
CRASH.
Both boys cringed backwards into the wall, covering their ears.
Tears had been streaming down Gon's face for a while now, but looking over and seeing Killua's own tears start to spill spelled out how bad this particular time was.
They both already had a plethora of injuries, everything between lacerations, to burns, bruises, and any "minor" injuries in between.
But Killua usually just shut down. He had been shut down for a few hours now, and "came back" so to say about two hours ago, panicked to find the screaming only louder than before.
Gon didn't really like it when Killua shut down, but that was mostly jealousy. Killua had been through more than Gon could even imagine, (Though Killua would point out the burn scars covering much of Gon’s right face, shoulder, and arm and beg to differ) but he would love the ability to simply hit the off button and get away from this Hell of a home.
And because, when Killua shut down, Gon was alone. Mentally, at least, but he still was glad to have Killua to at least grasp physically to ground him.
Another loud bang had them wincing even closer to each other, Killua even reaching for the closet.
The closet was for emergencies. They couldn't risk it being found out. Not the closet itself, but what was inside.
They'd discovered it the third month, (it'd been about two years). There was a small door that led to an extra storage space. They quickly took advantage of this, put some blankets in it, and hid it behind empty bins.
They hid in there when they feared for their lives.
Gon was surprised they'd lasted this long.
Killua looked incredulously at Gon, a sort of begging look in his dull blue eyes.
"Gon please?"
Gon wanted to say yes. They both had to agree before going to their storage bunker. They'd made that rule when they first found it.
But something in him said it was fine, they were downstairs. It was okay.
"A little longer Killua," he whispered shakily, "t-they aren't up here. Maybe they'll stay downstairs?"
Gon's reasoning was false hope, and both knew it. Gon's red rimmed, too-bright amber eyes were testimony to that. But Killua couldn't help and believe right alongside Gon. It'd been like that since they were both sent here. Gon being the first person to treat Killua like a human deserving of anything had made them friends on the spot.
That and each other were all they had left.
"Okay." Killua whispered back, casting a shifty glance at their locked, wooden door.
Even a steel one probably wouldn't be enough.
After all, their foster parents had a key. The only thing the lock gave was a meager few seconds to scramble into the closet.
An ineligible screech sounded from below, followed by steady pounding getting louder.
Both paled and looked in horror at the door, frozen for a split second in fear.
They were coming upstairs.
Less than a moment later both of them were up and ripping open the closet door.
Killua started moving the bins out of the way as fast as possible.
Gon glances back nervously at the door, the knob jostling violently.
Killua finally pulled away the bins and began opening the small door.
A split second of silence from behind them, then all at once-
BAM! BAM! BOOM!
Gon stared in horror as the messily wooden door fell off its hinges to reveal their foster father, tall and angry and smelling of weed and alcohol.
Gon did the only thing he could think of.
He shoved Killua into their hideaway, closed the door hastily and cloaked it with the bins once more, effectively blocking Killua’s exit as well.
"What the- GON NO!" The muffled panicked voice from inside rang out, fist banging on the door from the inside.
Gon and the man who was his foster father were locked eyes.
One set hard, grey, and dark.
The others eyes wide, terrified, glowing in the moonlight, and a small bloom of gratefulness that it was him and not Killua.
The space was closed in two long strides, and before he even knew it Gon was being held up, off his feet, dangling in the air by the collar of his green jacket.
"Where's the other one, brat." Came the steely thick voice. Menacing and dripping with bad intentions.
Gon didn't answer. Only stared into the eyes of the man, hearing the low sound of Killua in the background. He was glad the man was drunk beyond belief, or he might have been attentive enough to put Gon exiting the closet and Killua's absence together.
He’d given up yelling, and Gon supposed he was simply trying to get out now.
"Where's the other one."
Gon was drawn back to reality.
Well, if he was going to die here, at least get a little revenge?
Gon opened his mouth, but instead of answering, he blew hard on the man's face.
He sputtered and blinked relentlessly. Then he turned red.
"WHY YOU LITTLE!"
Gon felt the fist smash into his side before he saw it, and was slumped up on the floor before sailing through the air and smashing into the concrete wall even settled into his mind.
It wasn't the first time, but it still hurt like the devil.
And of course it wasn't anywhere near done.
The man was swift to walk over and perform a sharp kick to Gon's ribs, knocking what little air he had out with a loud crack.
Well, Gon thought in the strange calm his fear had given to, that at least fractured two.
It was quick to add up however as a particularly hard boot to his ribcage sent him flying once more and his arm was crushed under him at an awkward angle after hitting the wall.
Gon let out a weak strangled scream, trying to cradle his now broken arm. Somewhere deep in the back of his now hazy thoughts said that this was worse than normal, but he didn't really have time to think about it.
He didn't even get a chance to look up before the man was on top of him again, fists back in place.
He punched Gon around a minute more, Gon getting scrapes from various random objects, and his left arm pulsing with pain in rhythm with his aching head, which he'd hit at least thrice.
The man then picked Gon's small shaking frame up by his throat and closed his grip, Gon's eyes widening and only useful arms twisting out in a vain attempt to free himself from the ironclad grasp.
It was then that Killua made his escape.
"LET HIM GO!" The albino screamed, kicking the 6ft man hard enough to surprise him into dropping the already unconscious Gon to the bloodied ground.
The man whirled on him, the ring on his finger scraping his cheek deeply as the punch hit the left of Killua's face.
His head snapped to the side, and he spat out blood from biting his tongue, frozen.
He was so useless.
Another pair of footsteps.
Killua and the man turned to see their foster mother, short but strong.
"POUF I WASN'T DONE TALKING TO YOU!"
She had a trickle of blood running from her temple as she slapped the man hard on the face.
Killua took this opportunity to slip past him and to Gon's side.
"SHUT UP PEITOU!"
He slapped her back. The yelling match was back on.
Killua was quickly checking Gon over.
This is bad. He's bleeding way too much.
Killua looked around for anything, anything to help Gon when he spotted a silver phone on the ground.
It must have slipped from the old man's pocket.
He reached out for it but was thrown to the ground as something hit him hard.
Whatever it was shattered around him, and he suddenly had a stabbing pain in his left side.
His ears were ringing from pain, and he attempted to roll over, only to find the pain increase as it started flecking all over his body, his vision red and blurry.
He rolled onto his stomach.
Mistake mistake mistake.
Another stabbing pain erupted from his middle, and the one in his side only worsened.
Killua was barely conscious, but he could still see the phone. If he could only reach the thing.
He reached his hand out, ignoring as best he could how the tears in his eyes stung his cheeks as salt entered wounds, or how his side protested and pulled with every slight movement.
But in the end, he got it.
With what little vision he had he navigated to the number pad and punched in "911".
It picked up immediately.
"911 what is- oh my!"
The woman on the other end let out a yelp of surprise as the noise entered from Killua's end to hers, their "parents" now in a physical fight of their own.
"Are you okay???? What's happening?"
Killua was losing vision fast, he had to make this quick.
"1019 Chimera boulevard…York New...Foster…. Need help….. He's bleeding out…. Please…"
Killua couldn't move his tongue any
more. It was like a rock in his mouth.
"Hello? Sir? SIR!?"
His vision spotted, and blurred into black, his ears barely picking up the women's panicked tone:
"Hang on! Help is coming!"
Then, nothing.