Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. I asked for them for my birthday, but no one listened to me. I don't make any money from this, who would pay me anyway, hehehe. The only characters I own are those I make up. So far, that is only Terror.

A/N Since I couldn't italicize the thoughts, they have tildes (I think that is the correct name for them...) on either side of them. ~like this~ Meh. I may have missed some, but I will survive.

Terror sat curled up on her new bunk. Everyone else was asleep, but she was unwilling to give in to her weariness. The nightmares were getting worse. No one knew. She had lived in the lodging house for a week now, and she was still so afraid of everyone. She was so afraid that she wouldn't talk to them. The other lodgers were at their wits end, they couldn't figure out if she could talk or not. Trying to scrub the gritty feeling out from behind her eyes, Terror sniffed. Refusing to cry, she buried her face in her arms that rested on her knees. She sat there, shaking from the effort of trying not to cry. Despite her best efforts, a sob caught in her throat, and before she could stop it, she was crying her eyes out.

She could still visualize it. The sheer terror of being lost, hungry, tired, and being chased by unknown men. She knew they had known her father. Once again, she was punished for her father's mistakes. He had a good job, and made enough money to get by, with his small cobbler's shop. The problem was the people that lent him the money to open his business. They thought that they should get more than 10% of profits until the debt was paid off. Big George was sick of waiting for his money, so he sent his goons to "take care" of her father, and her too. ~They killed my daddy~ she thought to herself for the thousandth time since he died. ~We were almost as happy as before momma died. Then they took him away from me.~

A week before, she was running for her life. Literally. If she had stopped, they would have beat her to death like they did to her daddy. There were 3 men behind her, just waiting for her to fall down with weariness. The tears in her eyes were blocking her vision, and she ran right into someone.

God was taking care of her when he guided her tear blinded path to run right into a very large group of newsboys that had just come out of the distribution center. They easily fought off the 3 goons and sent them running. She stood there, and watched the last man disappear before she collapsed. She felt someone, maybe it was the nice looking boy in the eye patch next to her, catch her before she hit the ground. She heard muffled yelling, and felt strong arms lift her up, and then she completely blacked out.

She awoke laying in a somewhat comfortable bed, covered with blankets.

There was a little boy sitting on the bunk next to her, and when she groaned and sat up, he announced, "She's awake, she's awake!"

"Calm down Tumbler!" said an older boy with dark hair and dark eyes, that was wearing a faded blue shirt, and carrying a hat that looked like it used to be almost white, but was now covered in street dust.

She closed her eyes and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Ya alright?" the dark haired boy asked her.

She nodded her head yes, then shook her head no, before shrugging, and burying her head in her knees that she had pulled to her chest.

He just stood there fidgeting, unsure of what to do. ~Water!~ he said to himself. ~I can get her some water!~

Running towards the washroom, he grabbed one of the clean cups they had sitting on a counter, and filled it with cool water. While it was filling, he thought about the girl sitting on the bed behind him. She looked like she was well enough off, well, at least she was before she ran from those 3 men. Her dark blonde hair was tangled from tossing and turning in her sleep, and her dress rumpled, but who isn't wrinkled and messy around here?

Turning back around, he spied Tumbler sitting on the edge of her bed, talking up a storm. The little boy wasn't paying any attention to her though, or he would have noticed that she was terrified of him.

"Tumbler!" he called out, interrupting the boy. "Run and get Jack for me, will ya?"

"Sure thing Bumlets. I'll hurry too!" he promised.

~Bumlets~ she thought to herself, ~so that's his name~

"I, uh.... got you some water... " Bumlets gently said to her as he held it out.

Her thirst overpowered her fear as she looked at the clear glass with the water inside it. Without hesitating, she grabbed the glass out of his hand and guzzled it down. With a sigh of contentment, she handed the glass back to him, and wiped the water from her chin.

"Ya want some more?" Bumlets asked her.

She just shook her head no.

Settling himself on the bunk next to hers, he asked "What's yer name?"

she just looked at him, not answering.

"Uhhhhh... alright, it's ok, you don't need to tell us yet. I'm Bumlets." he informed her.

The door to the bunkroom opened up and 3 guys that she didn't recognize walked in, along with the guy she remembered, the one with the eye patch.

Whether she recognized them or not, she was terrified. She scooted herself back as far as she could. until she hit the wall, and buried her face in her arms.

Bumlets turned to Jack and whispered to him, "She's even scared of 'lil Tumbler. And she won't talk neither!."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. You guys, I meet you at Tibby's later." Jack informed everyone else in the room.

"Hey Jack, should I go down to Tibby's and get her some food?" Bumlets asked.

"Dat's a good idea." Jack nodded.

He waited until everyone else was out of the room before going over to sit right where Bumlets did, on the bunk next to hers. He just sat there for a few minutes, watching her shake. She looked like she was about 15 or 16, and was very thin, like she was used to not eating all of the time.

"You cold or something?" he asked her, concerned. He pulled the blanket from the bed he was sitting on, and carefully laid it across her shaking shoulders, before settling back down where he was sitting.

She looked over at the boy sitting there. He was slouched back, comfortably leaning on one of the bunk's posts. He had a red bandanna tied around his neck, and his cowboy hat was resting on his knee.

Clearing his throat, he asked her, "How's it rollin'?"

His question was met with silence, as she just looked at him, and shook her head.

"That bad, huh? I'm Cowboy, or Jack, Jack Kelley. What's yer name?"

She just looked at him, biting her lip.

"What are you so terrified of?" He gently asked her.

He wasn't surprised that she didn't respond.

"Alright..... we gotta call you somethin' though. How' bout Terror?" He asked her, "Since you're even terrified of Tumbler, and Tumbler isn't even strong enough to squish a bug."

She shrugged, showing indifference.

"Alright, Terror, my good friend Bumlets is gonna come back up here with some food for you, you need to eat, you don't looks so good."

She responded with a shake of her head.

"No?" Jack asked, "You not hungry?" he guessed.

She let the blanket fall, and reached in her pockets, and pulled the fabric lining out, showing that they were empty.

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it. The first night's food is always free around here!" Jack exclaimed.

She just gave him a look that said she didn't believe him.

"Yer right, not really, but we'se always helpin' others that need it. You certainly look like you need some help...."

The door creaked as Bumlets opened it, balancing a plate of steaming food on one hand.

Terror jumped when she heard the door creak, but relaxed when she saw that it was Bumlets.

Her eyes widened and her mouth watered at the sight of such a plate full of food.

She gratefully accepted the plate and nodded her thanks before she dug in. Bumlets sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jack and they just sat, smiling in silence, watching her wolf down her food.

She was about halfway finished when she looked up and noticed them staring at her. She swallowed her bite of food, and licked the mashed potatoes and gravy from her bottom lip, and forced herself to slow down.

When the last bite was swallowed, she realized that the last time she had eaten food this good was before momma died. Her daddy was a horrible cook. She got used to scraping the burnt pieces from everything. He always said that was the part that made you stronger. She always laughed and offered him the burnt scraps that she pulled off of her food in trade for his un-burnt parts.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the painful memories flooding back. It was her fault. He wouldn't have gotten that loan in the first place if he didn't have to support her too. He wouldn't have had to pay so little off of his loan every month if she wasn't there too. She shouldn't have suggested that he try and get the interest rate lowered. He would still be alive if she hadn't given him that idea... One solitary tear threatened to spill, but she held it back, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked her.

She scrunched her forehead in thought, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Still don't know?" asked Bumlets

She just shook her head.

"The rest of the guys should be up here soon, just so you know." Bumlets told her.

Her eyes got really big, and she resumed her shaking.

"It's alright, I promise you, every one of our guys would protect you, they're all good hearted." Jack assured her.

She looked into the eyes of the Manhattan newsies. She had heard that he was a smooth talker that could sell a his last pape to a newsie that already had a stack of a hundred. Nevertheless, there was something in those hazel eyes that spoke from his heart. ~Trust me.~ They radiated concern for a lost and scared girl, a street rat, just like him. He had seen this desperation, and terror in others. There was a bit of it in every orphan of the streets.

~But he doesn't know what I did..... she thought to herself. I let them kill my daddy. It was my fault. Once he knows, he won't be bothered with me anymore. What I did was unforgivable.~ she thought to herself.

She survived the evening. Jack thought she was going to split her forehead with her eyes widened that wide for so long. He figured she wasn't used to a lot of people around.

Her father was a quiet person. So was her mother. Their fights, which rarely happened, were not even close to as loud as this room was. There were boys everywhere. Some were sitting and watching, but most of them were involved in a huge pillow fight. Tumbler's pillow came in contact with the back of Swifty's head, and there was the sound of something ripping, and Swifty's head was surrounded by a halo of feathers. Sputtering and spitting feathers out of his mouth, Swifty attacked Tumbler, smacking him with a pillow, and disarming him. Swifty tossed the ripped pillow off to the side, and it landed right in Terror's lap. She fingered the ripped fabric of the pillow, and continued to watch their battle. Swifty had Tumbler pinned to the floor, and was mercilessly tickling the smaller boy, who was laughing so hard that tears were falling down his happy face.

~I haven't laughed like that in....... I don't think I ever have.~ she thought to herself.

After everyone was finished with their fight, Terror motioned to Bumlets, who was sitting there, watching her. He walked over to her, and she motioned to him that she wanted a needle and thread, so she would sew Tumbler's pillow. Bumlets Walked across the room to get the necessary things for her to sew the pillow, and he told Tumbler to pick up as many feathers as he could, to put back into his pillow. He jumped up from the floor where he was sitting, and scooped up handfuls of white feathery fluff, and sheepishly set it next to Terror, who started tucking them back into the pillow. By the time he had finished picking up all the feathers, she had the needle threaded and was ready to start stitching. Tumbler sat on the foot of her bed and watched her work until she knotted and cut the extra thread.

"Thank you!" he grinned at her before scurrying off to get ready for lights out.

She settled into a life all together different than her past. For the first time in her life, she was wearing a boy's shirt, that she embroidered with flowers to make it more feminine, and 2 pairs of pants that were taken apart and pieced back together to form a skirt. Her clothing wasn't the only thing that changed. Being the only child of calm, quiet people, just watching these boys interact with each other was a culture shock . She never grew tired of watching them. She learned a lot about them in a short time, just by sitting and observing. She learned that Pie Eater has nightmares, Snitch talks in his sleep, Jack is always too cold, Kid Blink was always too warm, and sometimes Crutchy's bad leg aches before a change in weather. She also noticed that Skittery was interested in stargazing, and Bumlets likes to fence. Snoddy has allergies, Boots likes to whistle, Dutchy loves to read, and Snipeshooter gets bloody noses easily.

She always just sat and watched them. After a while, they got used to her not talking. It didn't stop them from talking to her anyway.

"Terror?" Snitch called out. When she looked over at him, he continued. "You any good at untying knots?"

She shrugged, then nodded, motioning for him to show her.

He hobbled over to where she was sitting, limping unevenly because he was wearing only one boot. He sat on the floor by her feet and lifted his boot covered foot up to her. She grabbed his foot and rested it on her knee, and examined the huge knot in the lace.

She shot him a puzzled look, and he explained, "Snipe tied it while I wasn't looking. I didn't even notice until I started getting ready for bed."

It took her a few minutes, but she finally got the lace untied.

That was what started it all. Every time any of the boys, old or young had a problem, they started coming to Terror. She started bandaging cuts, mending clothes, and listening to complaints. She was great to talk to. She gave her opinion with her facial expressions, and only once did she feel the need to smack someone upside the head for their stupidity. But she didn't. She was still a bit afraid of them. She was even more afraid of the rest of the world though, so she earned her keep by cleaning the lodging house.

"Terror, can I talk to you?" was the phrase she heard most often, this time spoken by Snoddy.

She nodded and put down the broom she was using to sweep the floor, and sat down on a bunk, and motioned for him to sit across from her.

"There's this girl.... She works at a shop a few blocks down. She smiles at me everyday when she walks by. Her smile is like the smile of an angel. I think I'm falling for her, and I don't even know her name. I don't want to scare her by walking up to her and sayin', 'Hey, what's your name? Ya wanna go out?' What can I do? "

She smiled at him and thought about it for a few seconds. Hey eyes lit up, and she pointed to the simple little flower design she had embroidered onto her shirt on the sleeves.

"Flowers?" he asked "Are you sure?"

Terror nodded earnestly, then held up one finger.

"One flower?" he asked puzzled. When she nodded, he asked, "Why only one?"

She shrugged her shoulders and put up another finger, to symbolize 2 flowers, then she smiled at them, before pretending to hold a huge amount of flowers, and got an expression that said she was almost frightened of the huge amount of imaginary flowers.

"Hmmmm, I think I get it. A lot of flowers is just too much, it might scare her away?" Snoddy asked.

Again, she nodded earnestly.

"What kind of flowers should I get?" he wondered.

She held out her sleeve to him again, and showed him one of the various flowers in the embroidered design.

"Daisies?" Asked Snoddy.

With a smile, Terror nodded at him.

"Hey, thanks!" Snoddy grinned at her before getting up and going back out into the street to finish selling.

The smile on her face remained there until after she was finished sweeping the whole bunkroom.

Snipeshooter burst into the bunkroom like a madman, carrying a bent tin cup, and dropping his small stack of papes onto the floor next to the door..

When Terror gave him a look of confusion, he explained "Jake was makin' fun of me, so I'm putting mud in his bed!" he said, holding up the tin cup he was holding with a angry look over at Jake's bed.

Alarmed, she shook her head, eyes wide.

"Why not?" he demanded.

She pointed to herself, then made a scrubbing motion with her hands.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You would clean it up, an' that's not fair to you." Snipeshooter said, disappointed. Then he walked over to the window and tossed the whole cup, mud and all, back out to where he found it, in an alley.

"Now what can I do?" he asked her, disappointed.

She got an idea, and grinned. Walking over to towards the door, she grabbed one of his fallen papers and walked back over to Jakes bed. Snipeshooter watched with curiosity as she pulled back his blanket and sheet, and started ripping the paper into bug pieces, and crumpled them up a bit. Then she piled the ripped, crumpled newspaper at the foot of his bed, and pulled his sheet and blanket back on, over the paper. Snipeshooter giggled when he realized her plan.

"When Jake gets into bed tonight, he will have a surprise! A surprise that's easy to clean up!" Snipe grinned. "Thanks Terror!" he called over his shoulder as he bent to pick up the rest of his fallen papes and strutted back out of the bunkroom, proud of his attempt at payback.

Later that night, when Jake crawled into his bed, he screamed, before scrambling to his feet, hitting his head on the ceiling.

"There's something in my bed!" he shouted.

Kid Blink, who happened to be walking by at the time, pulled back his sheets, revealing the crumpled paper. The room erupted in laughter.

"Snoddy, ya shouldn't be a newsie if yer scared of papes!" Racetrack snickered at him.

Mush brought him a garbage can from the corner of the room, and Jake kicked the crumpled paper into the garbage with a vengeance.

"Terror, who did this?" he demanded.

She looked at him, mouth hanging, before hitting herself under her chin to close her mouth, and put an invisible lock on her lips, locked it, and threw the key over her shoulder.

Jake almost fell off of his bed laughing at her. She could be feisty if she wanted, it just didn't show very much.

Terror realized something, just then, as she snuggled into her blankets. She wasn't afraid of them anymore.... at least she didn't think so. She was part of their mismatched family. She grinned before settling down into her covers. A thought struck her. If they find out that it's all my fault that my daddy got killed, they won't want me here. The thought of having to leave them gave her a stomach ache.