Disclaimer: None of the Newsies characters belong to me, they (of course) belong to Disney. However, any of these characters (Hannah, Ace/Noah, 3, 4, 5) belong to me. If you would like them to make an appearance in your story, I'm quite certain they'd be more than willing to do so. Just ask.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Hannah tried to reason with him as the older boy stood before her, telling her that she had to follow him.
"Miss, I understand that this is an inconvenience for you, but I really must insist." She no longer saw the point in arguing with the him.
"Fine. But I do not see the point of this. I am quite certain that my father does NOT need me to be home at this moment because..." her words died on her lips as a second young man pulled her into a nearby alley, covering her mouth with his hand. Hannah was too surprised to fight him.
"Ya sure got us a pretty goil this time Oscar." Morris complimented, pausing a minute to look at the girl he had pulled into the alley.
"Wh...what on earth do you want? I don't have any money, but if you let me go get my father then he can..." a sharp slap to the face from Oscar caused Hannah to cry out in pain before she could finish her sentence.
"Come on Oscar, don't hit her...she's awfully pretty..." Hannah had been released from Morris' grasp, so she slowly backed away from Oscar and Morris. Escape wasn't an option: Oscar was blocking the only entrance to the alley. There wasn't even a ladder leading to a rooftop, although Hannah wasn't sure if she'd be able to climb one...even in this time of dire need. Her skirts often prevented her from doing such things. She tried to look around for something to use as a weapon, but there was very little available.
"Morris, it's yer turn ta stand guard while I go foist..." Morris stopped Oscar from getting any closer to Grace.
"Yer wrong Oscar, it's my turn ta go foist. You'se got ta go foist last time." The argument continued, with Oscar and Morris trying to decide who would be stuck guarding the entrance of the alley. The little argument quickly turned into an all-out brawl, with Oscar and Morris throwing themselves into the trash cans in the back of the alley, only a mere two feet away from Hannah. She seized the opportunity that lady luck had so kindly bestowed upon her, and ran as quickly as she could of the alley, not seeing the newsie until it was too late to stop. They crashed into each other.
"Watch where you'se going!" The newsie was quick to yell at her. He naturally assumed that it was only another newsie or orphan running too quickly out of the alley.
"I'm sorry." Hannah replied before running off and disappearing in the crowd. Jack dusted himself off. Not a minute later, Oscar and Morris came running out of the alley.
"Outta our way Kelly. We ain't got time ta deal with you'se right now." Oscar growled.
"Yeah, cause we'se lookin' fer a goil that jist ran away and..." a swift elbow to Morris' stomach (from Oscar) quickly silenced him. Jack (being the bright boy he is) realized that the goil that ran into him was running from Oscar and Morris. He had ta try and find her.
Hannah hurried through the streets, unsure of where she was headed. All she knew was that she was very far from her home. Somehow she wound up at the Brooklyn Bridge...now she was lost for certain. But she'd heard stories about the Brooklyn newsies. They were tough, uncivilized newsies...not the best group to take a chance on. But she had little choice. Hannah knew she didn't want to run into Oscar or Morris. Perhaps these tough Brooklyn newsies would help protect her from them. She began her long trek across the bridge.
Spot saw the girl approaching before she was even close to any of his boys. Upper class for certain, and clearly lost. He climbed down from his 'tower' and walked up to her confidently. Hannah was trying to figure out how to convince strangers to help her, and wondering if she could even trust the Brooklyn newsies, when a newsie with startling blue eyes and a cool demeanor approached her. She was exhausted, scared, and her feet were killing her. Hannah wasn't even sure if she was imagining this newsie. He smirked when he saw her surprised expression. Spot looked at the girl, deciding what her background was before even asking her. Upper class of course...maybe a runaway, but doubtful. Couldn't be in trouble with tha bulls. Nah...prolly just some snob that got lost. Hannah was moments away from asking the newsie for help when she collapsed into Spot's arms. He shook his head, disappointed that he wouldn't get answers to his questions for the girl. One of his newsies, Ace, had been walking by.
"Ace, pick up this goil and carry her inside. Put her in my bunk." Spot noticed Jack in the distance, heading towards Brooklyn. "Ace, make shoa you'se tell me when she wakes up. Stay by tha bed til she does." Ace picked up the girl carefully. He lifted her thin frame easily.
"Shoa thing Spot." he replied. Spot grabbed some shooters and began aiming at empty bottles until Jack reached him.
"Spot, I wanted ta ask ya ta keep an eye out fer..." Jack began.
"Let me guess Kelly. Yer lookin fer a goil that ya saw. Pretty thing. Brown hair, blue eyes. Upper class goil. Running away from somethin?" Jack stood their dumbstruck and Spot smirked at him. "The boides....they tells me everything Kelly. She jist got here a few minutes ago. Had one of me boys bring her inside. She's not in the best shape."
Jack snorted. "Oscar and Morris were chasin after her. That's all I know." Spot and Jack continued talking. "The papes had lousy headlines today." Sure, it might have been cruel of them to speak so casually while Hannah was unconscious, but they didn't know who she was, nor where she came from. They dealt with runaways and orphans daily. They couldn't waste all their time worrying over New York's underprivileged. No more than an hour later, Ace walked out of the lodging house towards Jack and Spot.
"Ace, I'se told ya ta stay with the goil til she woke up. What are ya doin out hea?" Ace grimaced slightly under Spot's angry words.
"She's awake Spot. Askin fer tha leada of Brooklyn." Spot apologized quickly to Ace, something he rarely did, and hurried towards the lodging house with Jack and Ace following quickly behind him. They entered the room to see Hannah on Spot's bed, sitting propped up with a pillow behind her. She was holding a damp towel and Ace had removed her shoes for her. Hannah recognized Jack as the newsie she ran into earlier that day.
"I'se hoid you'se is lookin fer tha leada of Brooklyn. That's me. I'se Spot Conlon. You'se got a name?" Hannah was captivated by Spot's icy blue stare. She blinked and gazed at the newsie that had sat by her side. Although he was supposed to get Spot the moment she woke up, Hannah had begged him to stay with her a few minutes. Ace had agreed, hoping Spot wouldn't be furious with him.
"My name's Hannah." She said, looking down at the bed in front of her.
"That's Jack Kelly, leada of tha Manhattan newsies...and that's Ace, my second in command around hea." Spot nodded to the two newsies as he mentioned their names.
"How's come Oscar and Morris was afta ya?" Jack asked without hesitation. Hannah bit her lip and tried not to cry.
"I don't know, one of them just came up to me and he tried to get me to follow him and the next thing I knew the other had grabbed me and..." Hannah's sentence trailed off as she sobbed into her hands. Ace's heart went out to her and he sat by her on the bed, holding her as she cried. He somehow even managed to ignore the glares that Spot was sending his way.
Spot and Jack stepped outside the lodging house to talk in private. "I don't want her hea Jacky boy. She's gonna turn Ace inta a pile of mush...she's trouble. I ain't got time fer charity cases. We'll find out where she lives and bring her home. That'll be tha end of it." Jack agreed that bringing Hannah home would be the best thing for everyone. When they walked back into the room, Ace had calmed Hannah down enough to hear the whole story about what had happened with Oscar and Morris. He told Jack and Spot, while Hannah sniffled in his arms.
"Can I go home? I want to go home..." Hannah hoped that she hadn't brought herself into more trouble by coming to Brooklyn.
"Well, where do ya live? We'll bring ya home tanight." Spot stated firmly.
"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow Spot." Ace suggested. He instantly regretted his statement once Spot's gaze fell on him. Spot couldn't stand being corrected in front of others. "She's exhausted Spot. And it'll be dark soon. We can get up early tomorrow....bring her back home." Spot glared at Ace a few moments longer...just long enough to make Ace considerably uncomfortable.
"Fine. Move her to an empty bunk though. I'se needs my sleep too. Need a bunk Jacky boy?" Jack settled in one of the extra bunks. Ace brought Hannah to the corner furthest away from Spot, where his bunk was.
"You'se can sleep hea in my bunk." Ace told her, putting her shoes next to the bed. Other newsies were drifting in to get some sleep.
"I can't force you out of your bed Ace." Hannah protested.
"Well it'd be pretty tight in that little bed with tha both of us. I'se can sleep on the floor, it's okay." Hannah felt horrible for making Ace sleep on the floor, but there was no way that she could share a bed with him...that would be improper and very unladylike. She was brought up better than that.
Morning came quicker than they all expected. The newsies cleared out quickly, and Spot allowed Hannah a few minutes in the bathroom by herself to get cleaned up. While she was in there, Jack and Spot were talking with Ace.
"We jist figured it would be easiest if you just brought her home Ace. She likes ya more than Spot or me." Jack said, trying to stay on Ace's good side. Ace rolled his eyes.
"Don't you'se guys eva help goils out? It doesn't matta, I'd rather bring her by myself anyways. Go on, go sell yer papes Cowboy." Hannah came out of the bathroom with her hair fixed neatly.
"Are we ready to go?" She asked timidly. Ace stepped forward.
"Spot and Jack have some stuff ta take care of. Is it okay with you'se if I take ya home?" Ace expected Hannah to protest or seem uncomfortable, but she quickly said that it would be fine with her. With that, Ace and Hannah were out the door. They began crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Ace couldn't stand the silence. "So...where do ya live? I'se gotta know where ta bring ya." Hannah smiled to herself.
"I live on West 42nd Street." she replied. (A.N. I actually looked up a street that was near Manhattan on mapquest...so proud of my research) Ace let out a low whistle.
"So you'se really is uppa-class ain't ya? You'se a far way from home." The silence descended on them once again.
"Why do they call you Ace?" Hannah asked. She didn't want to pry, but she had so many questions about the newsies, and she feared this would be her only chance to get answers.
"That's been my newsie name a long time...since tha foist day I came ta Brooklyn in fact. One of tha other guys was in charge then. I was a hotshot kid...thought I'se was anyway. Tried to cheat in a game of poka. I hid an Ace up my sleeve...but tha leada caught me. He was pretty mad at foist, but then he saw how scared I was and he jist laughed and laughed. Called me Ace and tha name stuck. Been that way fer years." Hannah listened carefully to Ace's story.
"What's your real name?" She asked softly. Ace looked at her, thinking whether or not to 'improve the truth' like Jack liked to do so often.
"My real name's Noah." Ace said. They continued walking towards West 42nd street.