Hey everybody! okay, I don't own Newsies, Spot, Race, or Mush tear, Disney does. But I do own Nadya. Oh yeah and by the way, the dialog isn't as accurate as it could be with the accents so you all will just have to hear the accent in you head like I know you can. So have fun reading and I hope you all review but go easy one would ya? I ain't that great at this, it's just a hobby! Read on!

Chapter 1

"I still can't believe I won!" Racetrack Higgins' voice echoed through the deserted streets of Manhattan.

"Alright Race, give it a rest. We were there and you've said it about ten times since it happened!" Spot Conlon told his friend in his Brooklyn accent.

"Yeah, cool it Race. Everyone in Manhattan probably knows by now." Mush Myers agreed.

"Okay, okay. I'll lay off." Racetrack said, still smiling. The three boys suddenly heard a clang from a dark, nearby alley and stopped. Then came a scream and without thinking, all three of them ran towards the alley. When they got there their anger flared. The Delancey Brothers were tormenting a young girl on the ground.

"Aww come on tootsie, we're not that bad. You just have to get to know us." The older one, Morris Delancey said.

"Well, hate to break it to ya boys, but we know you and you ain't all that great." Spot cut in. Both Delancey boys looked back at them with angry expressions.

"This ain't none of your business Newsies." The younger one, Oscar, told them.

"Well you see, it is our business boys. And that is because we don't want anybody the least bit decent, let alone this little lady here, to have to endure the horrible event of you two speaking to dem, or even be in their presence." Racetrack retorted in his usual sarcastic manner. The Delancey brothers suddenly charged at the three Newsies but got punched in their faces by Spot and Racetrack. They fell to the ground but got up and hurried out of the alley, obviously not wanting a fight with all three of them. The three Newsies laughed and turned back to the scared girl on the ground. Spot walked over to her and held out his hands. She hesitated with a slightly scared look in her eyes.

"Aww, we ain't gonna hurt ya. We ain't dose stinkin' Delancey brudders. We're here to help ya. I promise we won't hurt ya." Spot said with a charming smile. She smiled back at him slightly and took his hands. He helped her to her feet. Just then she started to fall but Spot caught her fast around the waist.

"I think I twisted my ankle running from those two boys." She told him. Racetrack perked up when he heard her voice. It sounded very familiar but shook off the feeling. He probably just heard her in park before or something.

"We can help you wherever you need to go. Where do you live?" Spot asked her and she looked down in, almost in shame.

"I-I don't have a home. My Aunt kicked me out a few days ago. I don't have anyone else and all the things I have are in that bog, which isn't very much." She told him motioning over to a white bog near the wall. "So if you could just drop me off at a park or something, that would be great." She added holding her head up bravely, but still not looking at any of the boys.

"No way! You might make you ankle worse of the Delanceys or someone worse could come after you. Uh-uh, we're gonna take you to the Newsie Lodging House. You'll be safe there and Kloppman and the rest won't mind." Racetrack said and Spot and Mush nodded. "Mush, get her stuff would ya?" He asked and Mush nodded. He grabbed the bag and her and Racetrack lead the way out. Spot put the girl's arm around his neck and she hobbled along, leaning on Spot for support. They were almost out of the alley when she tripped.

"Oh darn it. You don't have to take me any farther! I can see that I'm just causing you all trouble." She said making Racetrack and Mush stop just outside the alley.

"Don't be silly. We said we'd help ya, and that's exactly what we're gonna do." Spot told her leaning down and picking her up sort of bridal style.

"Thank you." She told him putting her arms around his neck and giving him a real smile. He smiled back and walked quickly to catch up with Racetrack and Mush. Once they were in the light outside the alley, Spot saw what the girl looked like. He thought she was very pretty. She had long wavy, light brown hair with an auburn tint to it, a petite figure, and beautiful bright ocean-blue eyes. He looked up and saw Racetrack surprise with eyes wide.

"Nadya?" He exclaimed. She looked at him and grew excited too.

"Tony?!" She exclaimed back. Spot and Mush sniggered at Racetrack and earned a glare from him.

"Oh my gosh! What are you doing here in New York?" Racetrack asked.

"Father died two months ago and I was sent to live with Aunt Deloris. She's the one who kicked me out." Nadya answered.

"Aw, I've always hated that woman." Racetrack said angrily. Then his face turned concerned. "Did she hurt ya at all?" He asked.

"Um, actually, all the time, again." Nadya said lifting her skirt a little to reveal a purple and black bruise the size of a baseball. Racetrack suddenly looked angry; angrier than either Mush or Spot had seen him before.

"I'm gonna get her someday." He said pounding his fist into his hand.

"Hey are we missing something here, Race?" Spot asked.

"Oh sorry guys. This is me cousin Nadya Grey." Racetrack introduced.

"I thought you said you ain't got no family, Race." Mush said.

"I don't." Racetrack replied.

"And what am I, Tony? Chopped Liver?" Nadya asked, her anger flaring a bit.

"I meant no family but you, Dia." Racetrack corrected using her nickname for her to calm her down a bit and it worked.

"So what about Aunt Deloris, Tony?" Spot teased.

"Call me that again, and I'll soak ya!" Racetrack threatened.

"Okay, okay. I was just teasing. Chill." Spot told him. "So what about her?"

"She's blood but she ain't family. Especially now, after how she's treated Dia." Racetrack told them.

"She hates us both. Well she just doesn't like Tony, but she hates me with a burning passion. She's my late mother's sister. She didn't think that my dad was good enough for my mom, so she didn't like my dad's whole family. Tony's mother was my dad's sister, so naturally she doesn't like him. When my mother died, Aunt Deloris completely blamed me and my father so now she hates me. I look a lot like my dad, so she me a bunch because I reminded her of the whole thing." Nadya explained.

"She's evil, I'm telling ya! The only good thing she ever did was make me and Dia closer that ever each time we had to go over there! And by the way, you go Aunt Cynthia's eyes." Racetrack said and Nadya blushed a little at his comment. Racetrack laughed. "I love making her blush. She's so cute when her cheeks are all red." He added pinching her cheek playfully. She rolled her eyes and gave him a glare.

"Well, not that I ain't enjoyin' hearin' about ya life story an all but I think we should continue this show and tell at the Lodging House." Mush suggested.

"Yeah, I think Mush is right. We should get to Lodging House." Spot agreed.

"Am I getting too much for you? I know I'm pretty heavy." Nadya said with her head down.

"No you're not! You're really light. It's just getting cold." Spot said. She looked at him with a 'yeah right' look. "I promise. You're really light." He told her looking strait in her bright ocean blue eyes. She smiled and Spot turned to Racetrack and nodded him over. "Almost too light." He whispered to his friend.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Racetrack agreed looking over at his cousin talking animatedly with Mush. And with a heavy sigh, he led the way to the Lodging House.

"Heya guys! What took yall so long?" A boy with a cowboy hat and a fed bandana around his neck asked the three boys as they entered the Newsboys Lodging House.

"We were doing our good deed of the day." Mush said as Spot came into view with Nadya.

"Whose your friend?" A tall boy with short curly brown hair and blue eyes asked.

"This is me Cousin Nadya Grey. Long story short, she was runnin' from the Delancey brudders and she twisted her ankle so she's gonna be stayin' with us for a while." Racetrack told the boys before leading Spot and Mush upstairs to the bunkroom. At one end of the bunkroom, there was a small room usually saved for guests. Racetrack opened the door to the extra room and let Spot and Mush go in first Mush pulled back the covers and Spot gently set her on the bed.

"Thank you, um," Nadya began but realized she didn't know his name.

"Spot. Spot Conlon." He told her. She held out her hand to shake his.

"Pleasure to meet you Spot." She said as he took her hand and kissed the top of it making her smile.

"The pleasure is mine." He replied.

"Alright, Dia, you ready to meet the gang?" Racetrack asked breaking thinking Spot let go of Nadya's hand and stepped back towards the door where some more boys were congregated. "This is Jack 'Cowboy' Kelly," Racetrack began pointing to the boy with the hat and bandana, "David Jacobs" pointing to the boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes, "Blink, Les, Boots, Specs, Dutchey, and Mush, but you know him already. And you now know the infamous leader of the Brooklyn Newsies, Spot Conlon." Racetrack introduced.

"Hello." Nadya said brightly and Racetrack turned back to her.

"This is where you're gonna be stayin so I can keep an eye out for ya." Racetrack told her.

"I know. I'm not seven anymore. I'm fifteen years old and I know that I'm staying here." Nadya shot back at him.

"Aww I know. I guess I still think of ya as the little kid who always needed my shoulders to reach Aunt Deloris' cookie jar and who always needed me to get her out of trouble." Racetrack said reminiscing.

"Well it's looks like I still have my knack of getting into trouble." Nadya told him.

"And I still have my knack for getting you out." Racetrack told her putting his forehead on hers. They heard a sniffle from the door and saw fake crying.

"I love family reunions." He said and Racetrack jumped up.

"Come here ya bum! I'll soak ya." Racetrack told him but Nadya grabbed his arm.

"Don't." She said to her cousin. "Hey Jack, come here?" She asked sweetly.

"Sure." He said walking over and leaning at the side of her bed.

"You know, just because you don't get to have any family reunions, doesn't mean you should shoot everyone down for having one." Nadya told him sarcastically patting him on the cheek making all the Newsies crack up laughing.

"Well you're defiantly related to Race." Jack told her. Racetrack held out his hand for a high-five and she slapped it. "This one's got spirit, Race." He added to Racetrack.

"Yeah I know. She's always had spirit. Ever since we were kids." Racetrack replied.

"Well I think I'm gonna head for bed. G'night." Jack said with a yawn. Most of the other Newsies followed after him bidding Nadya, and Racetrack. David told Les that it was time that they got home. Nadya had a confused look on her face and Racetrack told her that they had a family and a home. David smiled and waved goodbye while Les ran up to Nadya and gave her a hug before hurrying after his brother. She smiled as he disappeared around the corner. The only ones left were Racetrack, Nadya, Spot and Mush.

"Hey Race, why don't you sleep in here and I'll take your bed? That way you can catch up with Nadya." Spot suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks Spot." Racetrack said.

"No problem. Night." Spot said making eye contact with Nadya and smiling. She smiled back as he walked out of the room. Mush walked to the door.

"Night Race. Night Nadya." Mush told them and followed Spot. Racetrack turned to his cousin.

"Nadya, I wanna talk to you about something." Racetrack said seriously. He walked to the door.

"Ok. What is it, Tony or would you rather me call you Racetrack?" She asked.

"Tony's fine when it's just you and me and maybe one other but we're getting off subject. I need to talk to you about why you're so light." He said to her and she looked away.

"I'm not light. Spot was just saying that to be nice and to make me feel better." Nadya said not looking at her cousin.

"No he didn't. I can tell. When was the last time you ate somethin'?" Racetrack asked.

"A few days ago. I just haven't been hungry. It's no big deal Tony." Nadya told him.

"Nadya, if we don't do something, it could be a big deal. Do you know why you haven't been hungry?" Racetrack asked her starting to get worried.

"I guess it was because I got used to Aunt Deloris either giving me really small meals or none at all." Nadya answered. "Tony, you're starting to scare me." She added.

"I'm sorry, Dia, that I'm being so paranoid. It's just that you're like my sister and I just don't want anything bad to happen to ya." Racetrack told her putting his hand on hers. She smiled at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Tony. Nothing bad is going to happed to me." She told him taking his hand and giving it a squeeze with a smile. He smiled back. "So, I want to hear all about you. I haven't been able to write since father died." She said.

"Well did you hear about the strike?" Racetrack asked. Nadya shook her head and he told her the whole story.

"Wow. Well I always knew you were somewhat of a rebel." She told him messing up his hair a bit. "So any girlfriends?" She asked.

"A few dates every once in a while but I haven't found one I'm serious about. How about you? Any boys I need to be aware of?" He asked back.

"No. There were a few boys back home that I had my eye on but when I came to live here, Aunt Deloris never let me out of the house unless I was with her to do something unpleasant to me which meant that there were no boys in a 5 mile radius." Nadya replied. "What's it like being a Newsie?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well it's hard sometimes, it takes practice, but it's kinda fun. To go wherever you want and whatever you please just as long as you don't get caught by the bulls. Why? You weren't thinking of becoming one were ya?" He asked.

"Well I was thinking about it, actually. I can't do much else without messing it up and I hate to be cooped up all day." Nadya told him.

"I dunno, Dia. It's a rough job." Racetrack said.

"And you don't think I can do it because I'm a girl! Is that it?" Nadya asked her anger flaring.

"That's not what I said or meant and you know it! It's just that I don't know if you'd like it." Racetrack shot back.

"I know that's not what you meant. I just know I can do it and if I don't like it then I won't continue. I've always wanted to hang with you and you're friends ever since we were little kids!" Nadya protested.

"Well you weren't ever one to go play tea party with your dolls. I'll think about it." Racetrack told her. She grabbed him around the neck and pulled him into a big hug.

"Thank you!!" Nadya said.

"Now I haven't said yes, I just said I would think about it. Now get some sleep Dia." Racetrack told her.

"Alright. Night Tony." She said snuggling underneath her covers.

"Night Dia. He replied kissing her on the forehead. He stood up and walked over to the door where he turned the lights off. He quietly felt his way to the bunk and climbed on top. He lay down and smiled to himself. He was glad that Nadya was there with him.