On Thursday, November 2nd, Alice packed a trunk, ordered a coach, and left Boston, Maryland for Brooklyn, New York. Because it was late afternoon and she would not be riding through the night, she'd opted to buy a ticket that would seat her in one of the non-sleeping compartments. Once, her aunt had paid for her to have a private compartment, but since her death years previously, leaving her only son with debts he'd before been unaware of, Alice traveled in more standard accommodations. Henry and Alice had grown up more as siblings than as cousins, as Alice's mother died when she was a child and she'd moved in with her mother's sister, Elsbeth. Alice and Henry had lived a simple but comfortable life, only learning after Elsbeth's death when they were teenagers that they'd been living on credit for nearly a decade. Henry had been devastated. He'd been an apprentice in a large printing shop with money set aside to open his own shop, but instead all his savings had gone to a funeral and settling his mother's debts. Even his savings had only put a dent in the total amount owed. Alice had worked as a secretary for a local business man since she was 13, but at 17 she used her former employer's recommendation to move to Boston where she became secretary for a successful lawyer. The increase in pay was enough to allow her to send money to Henry periodically.

He'd first tried to continue living in the spacious apartment they'd grown up in, but ultimately he was forced to move to a different part of town, to a tenement where he lived with three other young men in similar situations. He continued working at the printing shop, but had seemingly given up on his dream of ever opening one of his own. Alice had not given up on this dream for him and still felt sure they could make it happen. He'd promised her work in his shop someday, and though she had a comfortable life in Boston, she missed being near her family and felt sure working with Henry would be more fulfilling.

Her employer, Mr. James Sedaris, was a public defender who worked cases all along the East Coast. He worked tirelessly, often round-the-clock, and only took off work around the holidays. He took off the entire month of November, which enabled Alice to be off as well, Christmas day, and New Year's Day. Otherwise, they worked. He could be gruff and demanded almost all of her time, but he was generally fair and compensated her well. Furthermore, he had never done anything to make her feel uncomfortable, even working late alone together, which was almost unheard of anywhere else. Typically, as she was now, she spent her month off with Henry, staying with him in Brooklyn to fit in a years' worth of time together. Being only five months apart, they had always been close, even before Alice moved in with him and Elsbeth.

Alice spent her train ride reading and making light conversation with those sharing her compartment. About five, they went together to the dining car and had a light supper before returning to their compartment for the remainder of the journey. When she got off in Brooklyn, there was a boy with her trunk on a cart waiting for her and he wheeled it before her to a waiting area next to the ticket office and unloaded it there, accepting her tip before leaving. She leaned wearily against the trunk, which was standing up on one end, and scanned the busy street in front of her for a cart that might have Henry in it. Usually he could get away with borrowing the one owned by the shop and could avoid hiring one. A few feet away, a newsie was hawking headlines—something about westward expansion—and Alice waved him over, not wanting to leave her chest, and reached into her waistband for a penny.

"Evenin, Doll," the newsie said, dipping his head in a nod. "Nice night."

"It is nice," Alice agreed, smiling up at him. He seemed older than most newsies typically were, closer to her age than 14, 15, 16 as was common. The corner of his mouth twitched up like he was enjoying the way she was looking at him, and Alice looked down quickly at his hand, holding out her paper, which she took.

"Ya new in town?" he asked, shifting the remaining stack of papers under his arm and tilting his head to look her over.

"Just visiting," she said.

"Ya need a tour guide?"

Alice looked back up into his face and he was looking hard in her eyes and smirking.

"I'd love ta show ya around," he added, donning a more innocent expression.

"I already have someone to do that for me, thank you," Alice answered, but she smiled and shook her head. Someone passing by on his way into the street bumped Alice's shoulder and the newsie put a hand out to steady her, settling it around her waist.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," the offending stranger said, tipping his hat to her, and then she straightened and brushed the newsie's hand away.

"Thank you," she said. "For the paper and for your kind offer of companionship."

"Anytime, Darlin," he grinned and took his hat all the way off his head, pressing it to his chest. "If ya change yer mind, you know where ta find me."

He turned and walked past her, further into the train depot, once again hoisting his newspapers to his shoulder, one thrust in the air as he called out the headline. Alice shook open the one she had purchased and scanned through the tidbits of news while she waited for Henry. She wasn't very far along when she heard her name being called and he rolled up in the print shop's cart.

"Hey, Cuz," he greeted her, grinning, and he jumped down from the cart and pulled her into a hug.

"You look thin," Alice teased, harkening back to something their mothers always told them as a way of showing affection.

"Growing thinner every day," Henry answered. "You don't seem to be any worse for wear." He held her back at arms' length and looked her over. "I'd guess you've put on a few pounds."

"Oh, stop," Alice laughed, swatting at him with her refolded paper.

"Is this everything?" he asked, lifting her trunk up onto his shoulder.

"If you mean almost everything I own, yes."

"It feels that way."

Henry heaved the trunk into the back of the cart, which creaked on its axels, causing the horse to shuffle a bit, then he climbed up onto the bench and reached over to help Alice in.

"Are you hungry?" he asked as he flicked the horse on.

"I ate on the train and the answer is still 'yes.'"

"Good, I waited for you," he said.

A/N: If you've read my Newsies fics before, you know I like to write Spot in a lot of different ways-see my profile for more on that. So don't expect him to read like he does in my other ongoing fic! As fair warning, Alice, Angel will have considerably more language and explicit sexual content than anything else I've done to date, so if that's going to bother you you'd be better off sticking with my other fics :) I'm very excited about this story and I'd love love love feedback as I go along! Feel free to message me with requests and review, pretty please!