Hey! I'm starting a new Baccano! story as well. There aren't too many of these stories, so I'm deciding to write one as well. I will probably also do one shots for this anime as well. If I do, it'll be between ClairexChane and FiroxEnnis because those are my two favorite pairings. But, I haven't decided on whether or not to do one shots yet. Right now, I just want to get this story off the ground. I will probably finish this, since not finishing is a pet peeve of mine.

Another thing, I know nothing of fashion from the 30s, so there may be some historical inaccuracy concerning fashion, at least concerning my OC. That may be because I don't really care about fashion. Anyway, it's just a heads up for those of you that may be history buffs.

Well, you know the drill. Please review, as reviews are to me as killing is to Ladd.

Disclaimer: I do not own Baccano! in any way, shape, or form. I do, however, own my OC, Alice.

Chapter 1

1931

Firo, Ennis, and Maiza were at the train station with the Gandor brothers, waiting for their friends to arrive on the train from Chicago, The Flying Pussyfoot.

Firo stood on the platform next to Ennis, wondering what getups Isaac and Miria will be wearing coming off the train. They always chose the most eccentric outfits.

If he remembered correctly, they were also waiting for a friend of Maiza's, who was also on the same train. He wondered who he was…

A loud yell interrupted his thoughts.

"Firo, Ennis, Maiza!"

Firo looked over to see Isaac and Miria waving frantically at them. As he thought, Isaac and Miria were the only two dressed as though they were from the Wild West or something. They came over and hugged Maiza and Ennis.

"What happened to you two? You look like hell." Firo was only telling the truth. They did look like hell.

"That's a story for another day. By the way, Firo…."

Firo looked over at Isaac to see that he seemed to be excited about something. It was true for Miria as well. What were those two so happy about?

"We have a surprise for you." Miria practically sang. Surprise? What kind of surprise?

"You'll never guess who we found on the train!" The two then pointed behind them. Firo looked to see….

…

1924

Firo was walking over to the Gandors' place to hang out with Luck and Claire. He had decided to take a shortcut through a couple of alleyways. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since he got cornered by a couple of thugs and there was no one to help him. He was screwed.

There were three guys, all in their late teens. And they were all big enough jerks to rob a twelve-year-old at knife point.

"You made a big mistake wandering around here all by yourself. I suggest you give us all of your money, and maybe we'll let you go unharmed."

Firo wasn't really about to buy that, but he didn't have a whole lot of options. He was trapped.

Just then, a light brown blur suddenly slid underneath the guy right in front of him, taking him down by his ankles.

After the guy hit the ground, a girl about Firo's age quickly got up and ran to the end of the alleyway. The guy she took out got up, pissed about the interruption.

"Hey girl, watch where ya goin'."

"How about you pick on someone your own size?"

Firo looked to see the girl staring straight at the guy, a defiant look on her face.

The guy laughed.

"Listen, this is no place for a little girl like you. Why don't you go home and knit something or whatnot?"

She smirked at this.

"Does this mean you don't want your wallet back?"

"What are you…?"

Everyone turned to look in her direction to see her waving a wallet around in her hand.

The guy's hands shot down to his pockets, only to find that his wallet was not in them.

"Why you little-ack!"

No sooner had he said this that she threw a small bag at his face. It exploded on impact, powder scattering everywhere.

The girl disappeared around the corner, and the thugs chased after her. Firo didn't know why she had helped him, but now those thugs were going to kill her for it.

He ran down the alleyway and went around the same corner the girl did. Just as he came out of the alleyway, he nearly ran into a red-headed kid.

Firo stopped in his tracks to see Luck and Claire standing in front of him, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Luck, Claire, did you see a girl being chased by thugs come through here?"

They both nodded.

"Yeah, they looked like they were about to kill her for something. Why do you ask?"

"Those guys were holding me up just now, but then she came, knocked one of them down, and stole his wallet. She helped me out back there, but now she's in trouble."

Claire looked down the alleyway where he saw the girl go.

"Only if they can catch her, she was actually pretty fast on her feet."

Firo looked to Claire. He didn't seem overly worried. But still, Firo wanted to make sure she wouldn't end up as a corpse for helping him out.

"I'm going to go check things out."

Firo ran past them. Luck and Claire followed behind him. As they ran down the alley, they heard a loud voice. They stopped at the corner of another alleyway, and listened in on the very vocal, very angry thug.

"That little bitch! She took all of my money! I'm going to kill her if I see her again."

"Where the hell did she go? There's no way that she managed to make it all the way down this alley and around the corner in the time it took us to get here."

"Well, at least she left your wallet behind."

"She mocked us! She made fools out of us. That brat is going to pay!"

From the sound of things, the girl was gone. Now they needed to get out of there before those thugs took their anger out on them.

They made their way back to the Gandor's place. The whole way there, Firo couldn't help but wonder who that girl was.

….

1931

Everyone at the Chicago train station was getting ready to board the fancy new train, The Flying Pussyfoot. There was a group of people in black suits loading instrument cases into the freight hold and a group of people in white suits farther down on the platform.

People were talking about how the train was supposed to be modeled after the old English trains. Besides all of that, it was a typical day at the train station.

"What are you talking about? You aren't leaving us, are you, Tony?"

"I'm retiring. It's your turn to take over from here."

Claire was a bit sad to hear that the old guy was retiring.

"By the way, Claire, I have something I need for you to do."

Tony walked off to the side and waved to someone. Claire couldn't see who he was motioning to. The other old man conductor had already walked off into the conductors' compartment, so it was only Claire and Tony when a young woman, who looked about 18, walked toward the two of them. She had wavy light brown hair that reached down to her shoulder blades and tied back in a low ponytail and blue-gray eyes. She wore a pair of plain, brown pants and a long-sleeved, button-downed white blouse that she kept tucked in. She also wore a little red scarf around her neck. She wore black shoes with a slight heel on them and tight, black leather gloves.

Claire's widened as he saw her approach them. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be in New York with the others. Was she sent here for a job? He couldn't ask any of these questions in front of Tony. He would have to wait 'til after they leave.

"This young lady needs help getting to New York. She isn't able to buy a ticket, but she told me that she got into a bit of trouble in town and that she needs to get home before she gets killed. I don't normally do this, but after hearing her story, I couldn't just turn her down."

That sounded like something that would happen to her. She was always getting into trouble. Plus, she was a very good actress. She tended to get things her way because of that. Maybe she was here for a job. But then, why wouldn't she have money for a train ticket back?

"I understand. I'll make sure she gets to New York safe and sound."

Tony smiled.

"Then I'll leave this to you. I'll see you around."

He walked off down the platform waving his hand. As Claire watched him walk off, he noticed a very cute girl in black clothing leaning against the train.

"Whoa. You don't see too many of those lately."

The young woman followed his line of sight and saw the same girl. She smirked.

"If you like her, why don't you go talk to her?"

Claire shrugged it off.

"Eh, I have to drive the train soon. You'll be with me in the conductors' compartment. Come on, Alice."

She blinked, taken aback. He knew her? From where?

She followed behind him into the conductors' compartment. The other old man was doing something. She didn't care enough to see what.

She sat down on one of the chairs and waited for the train to depart. It looked like she was going to make it home. But, she knew, sometimes things happen. She wasn't going to believe it until she stepped foot off the train and saw some familiar faces.

She had to wait a while, but eventually, the train left the station and they were on their way.

She waited until the old man left and it was just her and the younger conductor in the room.

"So, you seem to know me. Do I know you?"

The question took Claire by surprise. She didn't recognize him? He knew that she had a bad memory, especially with names, but she was normally able to remember faces.

He smirked. He might as well let her struggle with it. It was normally entertaining to watch her struggle with her bad memory.

"What makes you think that I know you?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. Just what was his game?

"Well, you know my name and Mr. Tony didn't mention it. That means that you know me from somewhere."

Of course she caught that. She's a very observant person. Considering that, he thought that she would at least recognize his face. Oh well. It was a lot more fun to mess with her like this.

"Well, I guess you caught me. Yes, I do know you. Whether or not you know me depends on whether or not you can recognize me. Do I look familiar to you?"

Ok, now he was just messing with her. But, now that she thought about it, he did look somewhat familiar. It was mainly his eyes that caught her attention. Something about them seemed very familiar. For some reason, they made her think of puppy-dog eyes. However, something felt very wrong with that.

"Kind of. Your face does seem somewhat familiar, but it's mainly your eyes. I know I've seen them somewhere before."

So she mainly recognized his eyes. Oh well. It was good enough.

His smirk grew a bit.

"Well, if that's the case, then I won't tell you my name. You have to remember it on your own."

"Ehhhhh?"

Her face was priceless. He knew that would get to her. She'll probably throw a fit later about it, especially if she remembers, but this was just too much fun.

Alice sat there pouting.

He's messing with me. I know it. He knows I have a bad memory. That's why he's doing this. I saw the amusement in his eyes! I'm going to get him for this…As soon as I remember who he is. I know I should know him. DAMN MY BAD MEMORY!

The old man came back and it was basically quiet for a while. Alice looked out the windows and watched the scenery pass her by. She didn't know how long she sat like that, but, eventually, her stomach started growling.

Claire heard it and turned to her. She had her arms over her stomach and it was apparent that she was trying not to let the hunger get to her.

If she didn't have money for a train ticket, she probably didn't have money for food either.

"If you're hungry, you should go to the dining car to eat something."

Alice looked over at him. He was smiling at her. She won't deny that she was hungry, but….

"Don't worry about how to pay for it now. Just go eat something."

She somehow knew that he wasn't going to let this drop, and since he was insisting….

"Ok." She nodded.

She got up and left for the dining car. Claire sighed. As with everyone else, he wasn't sure if she was real or just an illusion in his world, but he may as well make sure that she got something to eat while on the train. Plus, it would make his job that much easier if she remained in the dining car.

Alice entered the dining car. The smell of the food made her mouth water slightly. It had been a while since her last meal. She didn't have enough money for a train ticket all the way back in the first place and had used what little money she had on some food once she made it to Chicago. After that, she resorted to her 'specialty' for the remainder of her stay in Chicago. Of course, she ended up pissing off some big mafia family or whatever and had to lie low for a while until she got out of town.

She sat down at the counter and asked for a menu. She was looking over her options when she thought she heard some familiar voices, but she shook it off. She was really hungry.

She heard a couple of kids run by and some guy choking, but other than that, she didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her surroundings. She didn't really care too much about what the other passengers were doing.

At least until…..

…

1924

Firo, Luck, and Claire were all hanging out near some stand on the sidewalk. It had been over a week since the mystery girl helped Firo out. There were a lot of people in New York, so it wasn't overly surprising that she hadn't been seen since. But still, Firo was still kind of wondering who she was.

"Hey Firo, did you hear about all of the stores that have been robbed lately?"

Firo thought back.

"You mean the ones with the store owners that never saw the thief?"

Luck nodded.

"Yeah, those are the ones. Apparently they didn't even notice that they were robbed until after the fact. They have no idea when they were robbed, just that they were robbed. They're starting to call this thief a ghost."

This caught Claire's attention.

"How much money did the thief steal?"

Luck looked over to his adopted brother.

"That's the thing, no money has been stolen. Just things off the shelves."

This confused Firo.

"If it wasn't money that's being stolen, then why are they making a big deal over it?"

"Well, the thing is, some of the stores got hit more than once, and it's starting to add up how much they owe for the stuff. Also, most of the stores being hit are those under the protection of the Gandor and Martillo family."

Firo saw some sense in that.

"So I guess your dad wants the thief caught, then?"

Luck nodded.

"He's a bit frustrated that no one's ever seen this thief. Plus, who knows how long it will be before he decides to steal from the register."

"Hmmm…..I guess I can see why that's a problem."

Claire found this whole thing interesting. A thief that was able to rob people blind, like some sort of ghost? That sounded like a fun challenge.

Just then, someone ran around the corner from the alleyway that was behind him.

Claire turned around just in time to see the same girl he saw briefly over a week ago.

She stepped up on a crate that was next to the stand that was there on the sidewalk, jumped up to grab the awning over the stand. She then climbed onto the awning then jumped over to a flagpole that was sticking out from the building and swung over until she was lying on top of it.

Before any of the boys could react to that, a group of thugs, not the same ones that caused Firo trouble but different ones, went around the same corner she came from and raced down the sidewalk.

"She went this way! Come on!" one of them said.

She clung to the flagpole for a few minutes until it looked like that the jerks that were chasing her were gone.

She looked down at the ground. Then she regretted it. She was afraid of heights. She didn't know if she really was that far up or she was just imagining it.

She looked over at the awning and reached for it. It was out of her reach. Damn it!

Suddenly, she heard a snap and the next thing she knew, she was dangling on a broken flagpole that was threatening to fall at anytime. Ok, maybe she should panic a bit.

Then she calmed down. Maybe if she tucked and rolled, she would be fine. That was just what she did. Just before the flagpole broke again, she landed on her feet and tucked and rolled so her leg wouldn't break. It still hurt a bit, but it wasn't broken.

She then proceeded to cross the street.

"Hey, wait up!"

At first, she assumed that was directed at someone else. But when she turned her head around, she saw a boy in green running towards her. He ran out into the street after her just in time to run in front of an oncoming car.