Sam and the Crooked cops.

Ever since he got out of Juvi it was like one big party. Everyone on 13th street wanted to hang out with Sam, shake his hand, talk about his bro, give him beer. For a sixteen year old ganger it was paradise with a pack of Marlboros. Some time's he hated it. He still slept in the same room before his brother got killed. That second worn matress now was pushed up against the wall unused. The only tombstone Jessy Slight ever got.

But yeah, things were getting out of hand. Everyone wanted to talk to Sam. Everyone. Including these two knuckle heads from the star. Darry, well he was an ork probably around his mid 30s with a deep scar on his left temple that only enhanced his image as a no bull shit tough guy. Nickles was an elf who had a habit of never shaving. Personal grooming just wasn't his strong point. Everyone on 13th Street knew these guys. They were a couple of Dirty cops that had been extorting businesses and small time hustlers for years. They never threw in with the heavy hitters but these two knew the game. Sam, just happened to be the latest pawn.

Darry walked right up to the 13th street boys. A pretty bold move for a cop in the middle of the night. "Slight, I got some questions for you."

"Am I under arrest?"

"You could be." Sam shrugged at his gang and took another drag before following Darry and Nickles around the corner. Darry slapped the cigarette out of Sam's mouth.

"Your too young to be smoking kid. You should take up chewing gum." Darry chuckled at Nickle's bad joke. "So how's it been Sam?"

"Its been better," Keep the answers short. Don't give them anything. Don't mouth off. Thats how the game was played. These two wanted something.

Nickle's frowned, "Thats too bad Sam. But we got to know something. I hear there is a shipment of BTLs hitting the streets soon. I hear that you got the low down on it. Come on chummer. What do you know."

Sam couldn't help but laugh at the elf, "Do I look like I can afford a BTL rig? Come on man, get serious, don't waste my time." Sam turned to walk away and was quickly grabbed by Darry who slammed him into a brick wall.

"I don't care what you can afford you little dreck head. I want to know who's moving it and where it's going. I mean at this point we already have your juvi ass for assault and batter on an officer of the law. That will get your probation ass another 10 years. Ain't that right Nick? Fragging spill your guts about it or we can make this a long painful arrest. Then maybe I could send a few of the Bad Luckers gang to visit your mum while your locked up." Blood showered from the older orc's nose when Sam slammed his fore head into his face. The shock factor was good, but nickles was crack head fast with his stun baton.

The pavement rose to meet Sam as he convulsed uncontrollably and two cops beat and kicked him mercilessly. Then a stick seemed to grow out of the back of Nickles. Then out of Darry's leg. Both of them scrambled, and Nickles rushed into a dark corner of the ally dragging a small girl out still clinging to a bow. Sam recognized her... from where?

"What the frag? Nick you ok?"

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure it just got caught in my armor. Your leg is bleeding bro."

"Fragging kid," Darry limped over and picked the ten year old girl up by the neck, pinning her against the wall in his trademark fashion. "Do you think for a minute that the barrens would miss one little gutter rat? What the fuck are you doing?"

Everyone had heard the rumors about these two. How they had managed to stay on top for so long. Sam fought against his convulsing body and darted at Darry twisting then ripping the arrow out of his leg. The orc screamed as he began to fall Sam pushed the 140 Kilos of prim beef into his partner, taking them both down in a bloody tangle of arms and legs. Sam grabbed the kid and ran.

He must of been five blocks away before he slowed down. "What the Frag are you thinking? That pig would of killed you!"

She looked up at him defiantly, "They where gonna Kill you!" Sam mad a frustrated sound and grabbed the bow out of her hand and snapped it over his knee like a yardstick. That's when the real screaming started.

She'd been following him, trying to find a way to get close to him again, but he was never alone. Smart that, never being alone, running around these streets by yourself wasn't exactly the smartest plan. Never mind that was exactly what she was doing and didn't have nearly his ability to defend herself, but she was fast and she was getting better with her bow. The callouses on her fingers spoke to the long hours of practice she had been putting in every day.

Since she couldn't get close, she simply watched, a pale shadow filtering through the dirty streets, keeping to the corners of the dumpsters and the buildings where she could fade into the dark and not be noticed by a group of rowdy ork boys. When the cops showed up, she knew it was going to be trouble. You didn't grow up the daughter of a gang and not understand that they weren't there to be your friend.

They pulled Sam aside and started hassling him. She glared at them from the dark corner she was crouched in. Sam got the first hit in, but the cops didn't fight clean and soon he was on the ground being bludgeoned by the two of them. Sierra nocked an arrow and aimed for the first cop. It landed in his back and she nocked a second and aimed for the second cop. It hit the second in the leg. Before she had time for a third, the first cop found her and dragged her out into the alleyway, hissing and snarling like a pissed off alley cat.

She glared at them defiant, but happy that for the moment they had stopped beating Sam. Before she could see if he was okay, the second cop picked her up by the throat and slammed her against the wall. She struggled against him, but his grip was too tight and it was quickly becoming difficult for her to breathe. Something slammed into him and he released her. She began to fall toward the ground and Sam grabbed her as she did and they ran.

He was angry, yelling at her, which was ridiculous considering how very close to dead he could have been. He grabbed her bow and snapped it over his knee. The sound she made then wasn't something you would expect to come out of a human child, but then, Sierra wasn't actually as human as she looked. "That was mine! You had no right to take what was mine!" She rushed at him, but it did nothing at all, seeing as he had nearly two feet of height on her and likely weighed close to triple what she did. He pushed her off easily.

She ripped the pieces of bow out of his hands and looked down at them. The bow was splintered too badly to be repaired. It had taken her weeks to find the right piece of wood to make this one and longer to shape it right. Who knew how long it would take to find another piece to make the next one? She needed that bow. He had no right to take it from her. Without her bow, how could she ever fight them?

Tears of frustration spilled down her cheeks and she wiped at her face with the over sized sleeves of her leather jacket. Her young voice was filled with rage when she started screaming at him again. "They were gonna kill you! I helped you! Not your boys, me!" Her glare was no less defiant for the tears that she had scrubbed off her cheeks as she stared him down in the alley, the pieces of broken bow gripped in her small hands.