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The fog was thick, he could barely see anything 3 meters away from where he was standing. His street was pretty much dead at that time of day, especially since November rolled around two weeks ago. The clock barely struck 4 PM and the sky pretty much turned into black coal, or some darkish grey during foggy days like that one. Mainly because of that tracking time got much harder after that 4 PM mark.
The evening was one of the warmer ones, also free of rain that has been haunting the city for the last few days. The agent quickened his steps, he wanted to get back to his apartment as soon as possible, he needed to feed his cats and today he and Lastok planned to chat for a bit via Skype since the army Lieutenant had a free evening-
"Shit, I'm so sorry!"
Something, or rather someONE, ran into him, presumably by accident considering the panicked apology, almost knocking him right off his feet.
"Don't worry, it's okay-"
The agent turned his gaze towards the human battering ram after the initial shock of the hit wore off and his brain sharply stepped on the brakes once it registered who was standing in front of him. It was a kid, no older than seventeen, and he knew that kid. The teen lived a few blocks away from him in a semi-detached house, Heert often saw him walking to the local school every morning. They had known each other from afar since the agent moved in three years ago, the kid hung out with his friends around those lone-standing brick walls that used to be a part of some building complex decades ago, he saw the group through his balcony often, no matter the season, mortified each time he saw them running around in hoodies or t-shirts during winter when snow falls heavily from the sky.
"I'm so sorry, sir. Are you okay? I really didn't mean to-"
"Am I okay?? Are YOU okay?!"
The teen's skin showed the early signs of bruises forming, almost taking over the entire left side of his face, which was also splattered in blood that presumably came from his nose or the split lip. He wasn't even going to mention the cut that stretched from the corner of his right eye, overlapping his eyebrow only to end a few centimeters above it. Overall, he looked like hell, stumbling around the neighborhood in the late evening.
Heert observed the boy as he shuffled his feet and adjusted the straps of his backpack.
"Me? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm good."
The agent slightly wrinkled his nose when the teen used his sleeve to try and wipe away the blood from under his nose, which didn't work, he only smeared it around and looked even more like he lost a fight with a professional boxer, "I somehow doubt that."
That got a weak chuckle out of the kid as he crossed his slightly trembling arms over his chest. He looked like he wanted to make himself smaller, it wasn't a hard challenge, he had the typical gangly build of a teenager who was in the midst of a growth spurt or right before it. The boy was also probably cold, Heert just noticed that he was only wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt that had blood stains on the collar and looked a bit rumpled in certain parts, as if someone grabbed the material and dragged him by it. The agent frowned.
"Are you really okay? Do you need some help-"
The teen's eyes widened, "No!" he took a small step to the side, "No, it's-. Everything is fine, so I'm just gonna," he pointed behind Heert with his thumb, "Go and get out of your way. Again, I'm sorry for running into you sir-"
Heert turned with the teen as he started to walk away, "Wait!"
The kid flinched slightly but looked back at him.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
He waited for the teen to answer patiently, observing the confusion that passed through the other's face.
"Um, I'm Matt."
The agent smiled, "Hi Matt, I'm Lionel and I would like to help you, if you will let me."
Matt tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the agent, "Why?" he sniffled.
"Well, you are a minor who is wandering around at-" he checked his phone, "10 PM, covered in blood without a jacked or hoodie in the middle of November."
The teen looked at him in suspicion.
Heert sighed, "Okay, I admit, it may be a bit creepy but honestly, I don't think I could live with myself if I let you walk away and go God knows where."
"I'm going home-"
The agent gave him an unimpressed look, "I'm not stupid Matt, you have a hand-shaped bruise on your face and a backpack on your back, it's pretty easy to connect the dots."
Matt's hands tightened where they were holding the backpack straps and the teen looked at the ground, glaring at it like the pavement personally offended him, "I have it figured out."
Heert looked at him, "Do you?"
The boy huffed, "Yes! I know plenty of abandoned places around here that are pretty damn safe, I will survive."
The agent met the heated gaze, "You will freeze out there, the winter is unforgiving here." the teen's eyes were full of fire, determined to prove the world wrong and survive despite everything. Heert could admit that it was admirable, but he knew how the reality worked and despite not knowing Matt, he didn't want that little fire to be snuffed out too early.
"I'm not weak."
Heert nodded, "Of course you aren't. You are far from it and even though I don't really know you, I'm sure you will survive. And I want to help you do that, I want you to survive and thrive, despite the situation you were forced into, Despite everyone and everything."
Matt slowly turned towards him, he dropped his arms from where he crossed them protectively over his chest and frowned at the agent, "Why do you care so much."
The older man smiled, "Let's just say I get it," his smile diminished a bit, "And I'm sorry."
The teen looked over his shoulder for a moment, looking at the foggy sidewalk and the unknown that stretched beyond it. His fingers dug into his palms and his brow furrowed, reopening the cut over his eye. Heert waited patiently, quietly hoping that the teen would let him help.
Matt looked back at the agent, "Okay." the boy's first steps towards him were a bit uncertain before he picked up his pace and confidently crossed the gap between them.
Heert smiled at the boy, "Great, come on. My block isn't far away."
Matt snorted, "I know where you live, you are
the Britney Spears guy with that angry cat."
Oh his Skype call with Lastok was about to be more interesting.