Case number 7231-JV-9112-PM is the only address Declan remembers from his childhood. A product of the cocaine era run rampant Declan was seized by the Texas Child Protective System at just 4 hours old. At 4 hours old he had already known what the powers of withdraw and opiods held. Even as he reads through his file his mother's name is never mentioned. White 20-something female agrees to surrender infant boy last named Fletcher to the Texas Department of Child and Family Services. He had long since burnt the polorids of him in an incubator with pick lines, feeding tube, oxygen masks, and blindfolds on him. Evidence his case manager used to tell him. The first foster home he could remember was a sweet old lady named Fran. Fran was an early widow at the age of 55. He can remember her cooking the most next to her teaching him how to play piano. Her voice when she sang was high and hurt his ears, but he never compained. Fran, sweet Fran. She passed away in the middle of the night right after Declan's 8th birthday. That was the first dead body he had witnessed, but not the last. His CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) had told him the following day that she was the one that had given him his first name, but refused to try to have his last name changed because that would always be his identity. Infant with the last name Fletcher.

The group home was loud, smelly and brutal. Survive and thrive was the motto of the group home leaders. Declan met several boys over the next few months that would change how he looked at the world. Evan a.k.a Tubs, a heavy boy who would beat up kids smaller than him for their snacks. It wasn't hard to be smaller than Tubs, he was 9 and weighed almost 150 pounds. He taught Declan how to hustle. Use his talents at the age of 8 to get what he wanted. Tubs knew that he wouldn't leave the Group Home and if he did it wouldn't be long before he was back, families weren't paid enough to feed him is what he used to say with a shrug. Timmy a.k.a Rat, was Tubs best friend. Rat got his nickname from being the least trustworthy of all the Group Home Boys. Rat was an opportunist. Tubs was the only boy he hadn't crossed and that was only because the one time he tried Tubs gave him a black eye from hell. Lasted almost two months is what Rat had told Declan. Declan's closest group home friend was Joey a.k.a Smoothy. Joey was a charmer. He was also a skilled manipulator but at 8 they didn't understand manipulation very well. Smoothy and Declan would often hang out alone away from the rest of the boys in dorm 302. Declan didn't stay at the group home long about 7 months and a family was finally matchedd for foster again.

Declan can rememeber being just as sad to leave Smoothy as when Fran passed away. The Meadowwoods were a nice young couple struck with infertility. Sarah was a closet alcoholic which her husband Ron refused to acknowledge. Sarah was the reason they couldn't have children. She had slept around in highschool and contracted a STD that went unnoticed until after her marraige to Ron. Ron was a quiet lawyer type who just couldn't catch a break out of the civial servant world. He had taken a job as a public defender with the hopes of landing a much better private job after a few years. The only bad thing about him was he wasn't evil enough. Prosecutors loved to go against him because he was weak to them. Declan didn't last more than a year with them. Sarah had gotten a DUI with Declan in the car and the state took away their foster license. Ron ended up leaving Sarah and moving to the east coast hoping to finally catch his break in the private sector.

Declan's next and final foster home came two years later. Suzie had nice intentions to be a foster parent, but her drug habit eventually took control. When Suzie first applied to be a foster parent she was bank teller at a local branch. A 35 year old who couldn't find a husband, but wanted to be a parent. After Declan was settled into her home she found a man that would change her. Declan was 14, lucky to find a foster home, but his baby face made him a favorite during interviews until they found out his true age. People wanted baby's, young children, not teenagers. Suzie didn't care. When Paul came in to Suzie and Declan's lives they had a routine, schedules, school functions. Declan was happy but empty. Everything good always ended.

Paul was a speed freak. He loved uppers. The higher he went the harder he came down. Suzie eventually joined him. It wasn't until they both were switching between Meth and Cocaine that the abuse started to happen toward Declan. This went on for two years until Declan laid Paul out. The big biker had finally fallen and it was to this kid. Suzie agreed to not report him, but he had to leave. She had become a stripper after losing her job as a bank teller and had told Declan to go to the back of the club. He would have to hang out there until things blew over. They never did. Declan was able to stay between friends houses and the back of the strip club for a few months. The strip club crashing stopped when excise had made a raid.

Declan had adapted to his world. He was a roamer. A free spirt, but alone. Alone in a world with no family. He spent his 17th birthday camping out on an abandoned railroad bridge watching the stars wondering, thikning, hoping. Hoping or something that would never come and nothing at the same time. By the skin of his teeth he graduated highschool. Usually kids in the foster/group home have a shell shock when they turn 18, not Declan. He had been homeless since he was 16, the only time he had a "normal" life was every six months when Suzie was able to schdule TDFPS or CASA interviews while Paul was on a run with his club. He didn't hate Suzie, to hate her he would have first had to care about her. She was just hustling like Tubs had taught him. Surive and Thrive.

Smoothy had gone off to college and Declan while happy for him knew that college was about as far away from his life as the sun. He was 19, well two weeks away from being 19, he had found odds and ends work for quite sometime picking up different skill sets through out each job. His favorite and most random one being a firework engineer. He had met a man who made commercial grade fireworks while surfing at Surfside Beach. Over a few months time Declan did not only learn how to make a pretty awesome firework rig, but also how to convert said firework rig into an explosive, something the guy didn't mean to teach him at the time. Texas wasnt too fond of non-licesed persons handling commercial grade fireworks and the guy had to end his professional relationship with Declan.

Declan first came into contact with the Joker's while on a job for another guy he had met at the beach. The guy was a motorcycle enthusiast as a hobby. He would have Declan take his bikes in for matience and clean them when needed. He started to pick up on things at the shop while waiting for his boss' bike. Things the average person would overlook. Keep your head down Declan. was the only thought that ever crossed his mind while in their presense. He prefered to go unnoticed, so when the owner, Blaine started to notice him, he felt uneasy at best. What he didn't realize that it wasn't a bad thing to get noticed this time. While waiting around the shop he would check the bikes out. Going from one to another, examining them at first, then picking them apart intently in his mind. It wasn't until another mechanic had asked him over to his bay that Blaine was able to see his mind in action. The mechanic played dumb, asking Declan what he thought needed to be done. Declan was honest at first with his answers stating coldly that he was not a mechanic. He quickly realized that wasn't the right answer and proceeded to walk through what he would do to fix the bike. The next question was about a car that sat in the back. His first test.

You want a job? was the last question he thought he would here, so the obvious face that followed with his responce was again met with the notorious Boken sarcasm. This was the start of the Joker's romance with Declan. He eventually impressed them, them being Blaine, when he was able to get the car in the back running. It wasn't easy like he at first figured it would be. The car was missing an engine and about every functioning part under the hood and body save a few. Not once did he ask for help or money to get the car fixed. Blaine's answer to Declan's small but apparent proud accomplishment was to be back there by Monday morning. He had been around the shop for a year. The club wasn't obvious with Declan about their doings, but they also weren't secretive. Declan just kept his head down and mouth shut. It wasn't until he had overheard them talking about needed explosives that Declan couldn't keep his mouth shut. Just a few ingredients was all he needed to be able to make them an explosive and luckily he knew just the person to get said ingredients from willingly or not.