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The year is 1994 in downtown Brooklyn, where the people hustled and bustled about their day.

Traffic was, as always, hectic, as a young women honked her horn loudly at the black SUV that was parked directly infront of a traffic light.

"Let's go!" She yells loudly, and presses the horn of her car once more. Her vehicle wasent the most eye catching, with the paint scraped off in some areas and the sides dented, it didn't earn her the type of respect associated with the crap car blocking her way home.

The man driving the SUV barely acknowledges her as he looks out his review mirror, before looking down and continuing to munch on his club sandwich he bought from the deli down the road.

(Y/N) Alpin scoffs before averting her attention down as the small radio sitting in her console crackled loudly.

"Blaze? You there? Over." The small but faint voice of a young boy speaks through, and the women sighs as she reaches for it. She presses the her thumb against the small nob on the side and brings it to her lips.

"..hey Tails." She speaks softly. "How you feeling buddy?" Reaching for her can of Sunkist Orange Soda, (Y/N) takes a long swig as she waits for a response from the young man.

She cringes at the sour taste, before averting her eyes down when a dry cough crackles through the speaker. "Kris?" She says, sitting more straight in her seat.

No response. And (Y/N) finally shakes her head as the transmission cuts off. "Damn." She quickly flings her seatbelt off and grabs her soda before shoving the door open, not caring when it rams into the bright pink door of a Cadillac.

She opens her back door and grabs her old brown backpack, littered with stickers of the Sonic characters, with a bit of Marvel and DC flare across the side.

"You can't park here!" A girl screeches from the Cadillac like a banshee, and gasps in offense as all she receives is an upturned finger. "Then tow it." (Y/N) replies, and makes her way up to the man in the SUV.

She knocks on the window, and the guy all but sighs loudly as he rolls it down. (Y/N) fights the urge to gag when she sees his greasy face, smothered in barbecue sauce and mustered with an old white t-shirt, barely covering his fat stomach.

"You look thirsty." (Y/N) says blatantly, bringing her hand up and harshly throwing her soda at him. The can hits him square in the face, and the man yells in pain from the object before clutching his nose.

He screams loudly when the women kicks his door, once, twice, and a third time for good measure. A small dent is in place, with a bit of the paint chipped off.

(Y/N) walks away, and raises her brow when she sees the SUV, a few minutes later, pass her clumsily, swerving from left to right as the man is seen still clutching his nose.

She shakes her head with a scoff, before picking up speed and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

...

A small complex building, with graffiti scattered across the side was home to many and all, with most its occupants being single mothers or teenagers trying to make a living as best they could.

In a small apartment, C.R.E.A.M by Wu-Tang Clan can be heard from a small room in the corner of the home. A young man, Noah Diaz, sits hunched over a console with a static TV to his right.

He bobs his head to the music, and focuses his attention towards the device he was fixing, the smoke pulls around his face and causes him to crinkle his eyes at the burn, but continues without complaint.

Two dog tags hang from a light not to far away, carefully cared for but not recognized, the initials 'N.D' carved onto one while the other had '(FIRST INITAL). A'.

Noah had many pictures pinned to his walls, some of himself in Army Uniform, others of his family, and another one that rested right next to his desk where he was working.

It was of him and his neighbor/closest friend, (Y/N) Alpin, both dressed from head to toe in their Army uniform, with him wrapping his arms tightly around her waist from behind with his chin on her shoulder, large smiles on their faces.

Despite being 26, three years older than him, the two had always been close, ever since he and (Y/N) enlisted into the Army.

She wanted to be a soldier, always out for a fight, while Noah wanted to be an engineer.

They stayed together for a short amount of time before Noah had to quit and return home due to his younger brother's illness. (Y/N) tried to quit to, but her friend insisted that she don't give up her dreams to help him or his family.

Despite their constant arguments and fights (sometimes leading to physical brawls) (Y/N) quit the second she could and returned home with him.

Noah only sighed, but thanked her none the less and helped her move into the small apartment across from him and his family.

Carefully placing the metal tin atop the device, Noah bites his lip and looks towards a switch, before flicking it. "Show me the money, show me the money.." he mumbles, before grinning as his TV sparks to life. "There we go!"

He claps his hands and does a little jig, before looking down at the walkie talkie that rested against his amplifier. "Yo Sonic, breakfast ready yet?" Noah smiles and picks the device up before speaking into it.

"I ain't your butler, Kris." He snarks, and sets it down before fiddling with the switch box. "No real names over the airways." He hears his brother scold him. "It's Tails."

Noah chuckles, his voice raspy before he spins in his chair and walks out of the room, walkie talkie in hand. "My bad!" He laughs, before sauntering down the hallway and speaking loudly into the device. "Christopher Diaz! From 974 Wilson Avenue, Apartment 2C, Brooklyn-!"

He cuts himself off quickly when he notices smoke rising from the breakfast he had been cooking. Noah keeps the walkie close however, as his brother continues to scold him with using their code names. "No real names! Their listening."

Noah scoffs, and moves the breakfast around with a fork while he talks into the device. "Ain't no secret government agencies worried about us, Tails." He smirks, and pauses when he hears the door to his home open. "Now get your behind out here while it's hot, (Y/N)'s here."

Turning around, Noah smiles when he sees both his mom and best friend making their way into the kitchen, grocery bags in hand. "There she is!" He smiles, and brings the women into a big hug. (Y/N) laughs and pats him on the back before setting the bag on the kitchen counter and begins to take out the contents.

Noah feels his smile drop. "Hey." He says, and gestures to the bags. "I told you, you ain't gotta do this stuff, we're alright." His mother, however, clicks her tongue at him before gesturing to the girl with wide eyes.

Her son sighs, before rubbing his friends shoulder with a small smile. "..thank you, though."

(Y/N) nods her head before pulling out two Hershey's and holding them out to her friend. "Still think I should keep my money to myself?" She smirks when Noah snatches the packet from her and looks down at it with a smile. "Nah."

They both chuckle before moving aside as his mother gestures to the walkie talkie. "We still got that going for him." She walks around the two, and holds up a neat white shirt. "Here, I ironed this for you."

"I already ironed it." Noah says with a pout, pan in hand and spatula in the other. (Y/N) scoffs as she sets the plates. "Yeah, like you cooked those eggs?" She bumps her shoulder with his while she walks by, and takes out four sandwiches wrapped in foil.

Noah grins at his friend. "What you mean? Their just..seasoned." He laughs, before setting the pan on the stove and turning it off, deciding to deal with it later and enjoy his friends free food.

Brenna Diaz gasps at the food. "Ay, (Y/N), you didn't need to buy this." She says, but takes the sandwhich gratefully. (Y/N) waves her hand at the women, "Please, it's the least I could do." She says, and smiles when she hears the small patter of little feet.

"Hey Blaze." Kris greets the women, a blanket draped across his small form. He takes his seat at the table and raises a brow at the sandwhich. He looks up at his brother, before glancing at the stove, and nodding his head.

"You burnt the eggs again, didn't you?"

Noah scoffs at his little brother and ruffles his hair. "It's seasoned, and stop with the nicknames, we not on the walkie's." He feels a tap on his shoulder, and watches as (Y/N) gives him a look. The boy sighs and nods, before bringing the pan towards the sink.

(Y/N) watches him, before turning when she hears Kris groan in annoyance. "I can't get past bowser." He complains, and his mother turns around, "Well, good morning to you too."

She places a glass of water infront of him, "Drink this and take your meds, all of it." She says, and her son only sighs. "Okay."

(Y/N) comes around before ruffling the boys hair and placing the Hersey's bar next to the water. Kris gasps, and looks up at her with wide eyes, but before he could grab it, she snatches it away.

"Take your medicine, then you can have this, deal?" She smirks, which only causes Kris to smile back and nod.

"Are you sure you can take him?" Brenna's voice causes her to turn around and watch as her friend fans the burnt pan in the sink, looking between his mother every so often.

"Uh, yeah, hospitals in the way, I got time."

His mother walks up to him before leaning forward against a chair. "If that lady, that minestrator, is there, and she mentions the bill just.." she pauses, and looks down, "Tell her we're handling it."

Noah purses his lips before glancing to his friend, "I will, and after today I'll be able to help out more."

(Y/N) smiles at the two, and watches as Brenna pats her son on the shoulder. "Good luck on the interview." She says with a smile, before putting her jacket on. "Don't forget to laugh at all their jokes, white people love that shit."

"Mom." Chris speaks up. "Language."

(Y/N) snorts from her place at the table, and gets up to throw away her empty foil. "Don't worry, I'll be with him the whole time." Noah only raises a brow before looking her up and down. "Since when I ask you to come to my interview?"

"Since I know you'd be missing not having me five feet away from you." She smirks, and sits back down. Noah scoffs with a smirk, but nods anyway.

Brenna smiles at the two, and makes her way to kiss the top of her youngest son's head, "I'm going to have class tonight so I'll be home late! Lo Quiero!" She bids them all farewell, and revives a round of 'Love you too's before finally leaving and heading down.

Noah sighs when he places his plate on the table, and scrapes some of the burnt eggs onto his brothers plate. Kris goes to complain, but his brother points at him with the spatula. "Protein is protein, now eat up we gotta get into the city."

He sits across from (Y/N), and the two watch as Kris struggles slightly to pick up his fork. They exchange a look, and watch as he grabs the utensils with his left hand and and goes to eat.

"Hey.." (Y/N) says softly, and places her hand atop Kris'. Noah grabs his brothers hand and looks down at it. "Your hands hurting again?"

Chris fumbled a bit with his response. "No, i-it's nothing." He tugs his arm away and places it underneath the blanket and smiles.

"Nah let me see." Noah says softly, and sets his fork down against his plate before holding his hand out. (Y/N) frowns as she sees the boy hesitate, and reaches her hand out. "Kris.." she mumbles, and nods encouragingly.

The boy takes a moment before placing his left hand in his friends, and placing his right in his brothers.

"It's swollen, sickle cells must be blocking the blood flow.." Noah says, and gently presses his thumbs into his brothers hand. Kris pulls away, and (Y/N) steps in.

"How long has this been going on?" She asks, and sighs when she notes the boys pained expression. "Couple days." Kris reluctantly says, and glances to his brother.

Noah breaths in deep, before straightening his back. "Hey look, I told you, you gotta tell me.." he gestures to (Y/N). "Us about this stuff, you fighting this alone or we fighting this together?"

Kris nods his head strongly, his voice firm. "Together." (Y/N) smiles at the two and holds out her hand, her two fingers raised. "Home team?" She asks, and her two boys nod.

"Home team." They push their fingers up, before moving them down, and fist pumping.

...

The three had since then eaten their breakfast (plus burned eggs, curtesy of Noah) and gotten dressed up before making their way out of their apartment.

(Y/N) decided she'd try to make a good impression as well, having changed out of her previous cloths and into cuffed jeans that reaches just by her ankles. A green sleeveless vest was tucked into the pants, with a black leather belt keeping it all together.

She threw on a dark red and brown checkered shirt that matched well with her lace up Doc Martins, with white socks that sported both Sonic and Tails (curtesy of Kris.)

...

The three round a corner and spot an old friend of theirs, Reek. He was a 'businessman' as he'd like to be known by, but really he was just a very clever con artist with a good way to pay the bills.

He notices the three walk up to him, and looks Noah up and down before bumping fists with Chris and nodding to (Y/N). "What I tell you two about letting your man's coming out the crib looking like a whole square."

"There's not much we could do." Kris replies with a smirk, and Reel nods before looking back at (Y/N). "Ms Alpin, always a pleasure." He smiles, and laughs as (Y/N) throws a small punch to his shoulder.

"Good to see you to Reek." (Y/N) smiles back, and turns to watch Noah pull the system out his brothers bag. "Whatever bro, look." He hands it to him, and Reel makes a noise of interest, and takes it off his friends hands before handing him some money.

"When you gonna let me put you two's skills to work and get you some real money?" He directs the question ti the both of them, and (Y/N) shrugs, "Says the dude who can't even afford cable."

Reel hisses before clutching his chest. "Hitting me where it hurts, baby, that's just cruel." He smirks at Noah's annoyed expression, and calls out to them as they begin to walk away. "I choose not to purchase cable! It's my own personal way to protest the vampiric nature of modern day capitalism!"

They either don't hear him, or choose to ignore him as they all cross the street quickly, and Reek gives his final word of peace as they leave.

"Hey good luck with that interview in that busty suit!"

——