Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   Plip, plip plip…   The sound of the leaky faucet could be heard echoing between the soft snores of the apartment’s occupants. Ever so slowly, she began to inch her way of bed, trying to keep the springs from squeaking.

  With quiet, careful movements, she dressed herself and then packed some spare clothes into the little backpack her foster “mother,” Mrs. Thorburn, had given her. On top of the clothes, she added the little bits of food she had been sneaking from the kitchen all week. It wasn’t much, but it only needed to last until she found the twins, then they could all go back to the circus.

   Creeeaaak! She froze, 'prost, prost, prost! (1) How could she forget the loose floorboard?’

  Across the room, her foster “sister” snuffled softly and rolled over. When the other girl didn’t wake up, Danny let the breath she was holding go. She opened the window as much as she dared, shivering slightly at the chill of the night despite the warmth of her favorite jacket.

  She slid the window closed once more, and suddenly felt less tense as she stood there on the fire escape. She took a deep breath and frowned at the dark sky. She couldn’t see the stars. Mamă had loved the stars, the two of them would stare at the night sky for hours. Sometimes Tată and the twins would join them and Mamă would tell stories about the twinkling lights above. Tată taught them how to use the night sky as a map, so they could never get lost.

   “One day, Mamă,” she had said, “I am going to fly so high, I can reach out and touch the stars and I will take one back for you!” Mamă had smiled and said to her, “Anything is possible, my little dove.”

  Danny shook off the memories, darting down the fire escape into the alley below as it started to rain. She raced out onto the streets, determination sparking in her blue eyes. She would find her brother and sister, nothing could stop her!

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   ‘Finding the twins can wait until morning,’ Danny shivered. She sniffled and clutched the straps of her bag a little tighter. She was soaked to the bone and very lost. There was no way she would be able to find the twins tonight. She was going to find a dry place to sleep and hopefully it would stop raining by morning.

  A flash of lightning lit up the area, and she noticed a billboard that had fallen to cover the alley between two buildings. There was no one around and the only car on the street was a dark van parked a short distance from the alley. She darted out of her current hiding spot and across the street.

  Danny turned the corner into the alley and the voices she hadn’t noticed until then fell silent. There was a group of men in the alley, startled by her sudden appearance. They were all armed, and one man ―a bit better dressed than the other four― was carrying a briefcase. She and the men stared at each other for a moment. 

  “What’s a little lady like you doin’ out this late?” the man with the briefcase smiled at her. It wasn’t a nice smile, not like the warm ones her Mamă and Tată would give her. No, his smile made her shiver in a way that had nothing to do with how cold she was. She turned and ran, hearing him shout at the others to catch her.

  After a couple blocks, she took a sudden turn into another alley, using a dumpster to launch herself up onto the fire escape. She was almost to the roof by the time the men got to the alley. Danny froze, hoping if she was quiet they would think she went out the other end of the alley.

  No such luck, one of the men looked up at the last moment, quickly pointing her out to the others. She scrambled onto the roof as they, too, began to climb the old metal staircase. Running to the opposite side of the building, she did a handspring onto the next building over. She got several buildings over before the men reached the roof. She didn’t bother being quiet as she climbed down the next fire escape she saw.

  Darting out of the alley, she spotted a pick-up truck with a tarp strapped over the back. Making sure no one was watching, she crawled under the tarp and curled up as small as possible. She hardly dared to breathe when she heard the men nearby.

“Which way did she go?”

“Did you see her?”

“Split up! She can’ ’ave gone far!”

  Danny didn’t move until long after their footsteps had faded. Her pounding heartbeat slowed, and her exhaustion finally caught up to her.

   ‘Finding the twins can wait until morning…’

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  Marinette sat quietly listening to the muffled sobs of the other girls. She had told the woman running the orphanage! There were men watching them when they were outside. Why didn’t she listen?!

  The van had come to a stop a few minutes ago and their kidnappers had all gotten out, leaving them tied up in the back. Marinette wanted to go home. She wanted Mamă and Tată and Danny and Dickie.

  Her eyes started to sting and her vision turned blurry, ‘NO! No more tears!’

  Everything would be okay. Danny promised they would find each other! She promised!

  “After her!” The shout from outside the van startled her. One of the other girls ―even younger than herself― whimpered and tried her best to curl up into a ball.

  The driver’s door opened and a man climbed into the van. He wasn’t one of the men who kidnapped them. The tiny ray of hope in her chest was squashed when he yelled at one of the other girls for crying too loud.

  Silent tears dripped down her face, rubbing the red ribbons she had tied around her wrist. As she slowly drifted off, could almost feel Mamă's hands running through her hair like she did every morning before using the ribbons to tie up her pigtails.