"Mith! Get off me!" Jerome whined in his broken baby English as infantile Mitch fell over his furry body.

"Jawome!" Mitch exclaimed happily, as he didn't realize his adoptive brother, Jerome, was standing behind him.

"Mommy... Get Mith off of me!" He drawled.

Catherine Gladio, their mother, smiled sweetly as she picked up both of the tiny children in her arms. Mitch grabbed his mother's nose playfully, trying to tug it off.

"Mitch, I'd like to keep my nose!" She chuckled and placed a kiss on his nose, then Jerome's.

Someone knocked on the door, and Catherine's eyes filled with fear. She threw opened the lid of a large wooden chest and lay the babies within the wooden walls. She gently piled down the lid again, "Don't make a sound," she whispered with frantic urgency. Jerome nodded and placed a hand on Mitch's mouth, placing a finger to his lips.

Catherine opened the door, plastering on a kind smile.

"Where are the children?" A cold voice asked.

"Somewhere far away from here, where you will never find them!" She spat back, before slamming the door back into the visitor's face. They held the door open with a toe.

"If you do not tell us now we will have to take measures to locate them. Are they in this house?" They asked. She shook her head, fighting to keep the secret hidden.

"You are lying. Move aside." The voice commanded.

"NO! I'm not letting you take what little hope I have left! She shrieked and slammed into his chest, knocking him backward. Mitch and Jerome were still in the darkness, beginning to become scared. There was a thud, then another, and then loud feet on the wooden floor stalked throughout the house.

"Mamo?" Mitch's quiet mumble slipped between Jerome's fingers and Jerome then clasped his other hand over the baby's mouth.

"Shh... Quiet... I think I heard something!" A voice exclaimed and footsteps grew louder, and to their horror, light poured into their hiding spot as the cover opened.

"Over here!" said the woman who stood above them. Other gray figures came and grabbed Jerome and the kicking, screaming Mitch. Mitch yelled even louder as a needle entered his thigh, quickly sending Mitch to Dreamland. Jerome curled back as the needle approached him, but he too fell into a deep sleep within minutes.