AN: You guys are great! Please keep reading and taking the time to review! Let me know if there's anything- plot points or characters or anything at all- you'd like to see!

Once Jack had gotten the boys' attention on the roof, he announced that he would not be naming the girl Snoddy had found. The response to this was very, very dramatic. The boys began murmuring amongst themselves. Jack named everybody, even if they didn't want him to.

"Is she going to use her old name," Mush asked, clearly confused.

"Who's naming her? I wanna name her," Racetrack bellowed over the other boys.

"I'll name her," Boots volunteered. "I'll name her...Penny! Cause her hair is the same color as copper."

Jack ignored them all. "Snoddy found her. Snoddy is going to take care of her. And Snoddy is going to name her." He turned to Snoddy, whose mouth felt dry and stiff. There was so much pressure riding on this! He couldn't believe Jack Kelly was letting him name the newest Manhattan newsie.

"Alley," he finally murmured. "Her name is Side Alley."

She looked up at Snoddy as he hesitated and then smiled brightly when he finally announced her new name. Side Alley. She could live with that. It wasn't her old name but it was new and it was Snoddy's and she liked it.

The boys murmured their understanding and came up to greet her by her new name. She shook their hands and kissed the younger boys on the cheeks sweetly. What a day! She had a new name and new friends and new roof to sleep under. She would worry about selling and retrieving her dresses from her storage unit in the morning. Tonight, she would play marbles and poker and get used to her new name.

Snoddy woke her up early the next morning, before Kloppman even wake the other boys up. She was staying in the sickroom. Kloppman had insisted on this because 'she was still too weak to protect herself if any of the boys tried anything.' Snoddy kept his mouth shut and kept it to himself that he would kill anyone who tried anything with her. The meeting last night between Jack and boys went well. Snoddy knew the real story about what happened to Alley, as he had heard it through the window, but he stayed quiet as Jack told the boys that Alley had sold the Delancey's 10 papes in exchange for the dime and had become one of their victims when they expected more bang for their buck. It was the true, after all.

Snoddy had woken up before the sun had risen as he was impatient to check on her cuts and bruises, make sure she was okay. It took everything in him to let her sleep a few extra hours. "Alley. Alley," her murmured, shaking her slightly.

She woke up with a slight lurch forward, her fists curling unconsciously. After realizing that it was Snoddy, she relaxed and laid back on the pillow, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Good morning," she murmured sweetly.

"I wanted to check on you," he said.

"Will you bandage my cuts now," she asked, sleep still laced through her voice.

"Yes, I brought the stuff in to do so." He held up the salve and bandages.

"I don't have to go into the washroom?"

"No, I can fix you up here." He wasted no more time and quickly began to bandage the large, raw cuts on her forehead and arms and back and legs. He worked quietly for a few minutes and she watched him gently fix her up.

"Snoddy, I need a favor," she said finally. He didn't answer and she continued, "I have some shoes and dresses and coats in my storage unit. I really need them. It's going to start getting cold. Could you...could you get them for me?"

"What number unit," he asked.

"24," she answered.

"Race and I will go tonight," he said simply, finally finishing all of the bandages.

"Thank you," she said, jumping off of the bed. "For everything."

He nodded, ignoring the thank you for the most part. "Let me help you into your dress." She let him hold the dress out and stepped into it. He carefully lifted it over her shoulders and laced up the back.

"Why are you being so nice to me," she whispered as he buttoned the top.

"I've walked past plenty of hurting people in that alley and never thought twice about it but you...something told me you were worth saving. Something told me you needed me," he answered softly.

"I can trust you? You won't leave when my cuts and bruises are gone?"

"No, you're family now."

Snoddy and Alley sold together that day. He was amazed how good it was for business to have a pretty young girl by his side. Around 8 in the morning, he knelt down to tie one of her shoes and pull up her socks for her and sold nearly half a dozen papes immediately after. Alley was good at selling papes too. She could hold her own. She didn't pull any of the 'hug and a pape' bit she had told Jack she used and sold plenty without it.

Around 11, Snoddy caught her sitting down on the curb with her face in her hands. He sat down next to her and, after a long moment, she murmured, "My body hurts." He didn't say a word, just picked her up like a bride again and began carrying her towards Tibby's. She buried her face in his shoulder and snaked her arms around his neck. The walk lasted about 15 minutes and he gently placed her down on the curb outside of the restaurant.

"What hurts the most," he asked, his eyes searching her face for the answer.

"My ribs," she whined. He nodded and led her into the restaurant. She sat down next to Racetrack silently and he leaned over and kissed the top of her head quietly.

Snoddy made sure Alley was settled and then disappeared. He poked his head into the kitchen window and hissed, "Hey, Rob. Rob!" His friend came to the window and he said, "Could I have some ice please? In a rag? One of us got into a fight and..." Snoddy didn't mention that he was referring to a new newsie, a girl newsie, or that the fight was yesterday. A minute later, Rob shoved a rag full of drippy ice into Snoddy's hand. "Thanks, man!" Snoddy could always count on Rob.

Snoddy quickly crossed the restaurant and passed the ice over to Alley. "Thank you, thank you," she murmured gratefully, pressing the cold ice to her sore ribs. "Thank you." He nodded and ordered them both a hot dog from the closest waiter.

Snoddy and Alley didn't sell the afternoon edition that day. Alley was moving too slowly when they left Tibby's after lunch and he didn't want to hinder her healing process or anything. He took her back to the lodge house and, at her request, carried her up to the stairs to the roof so she could enjoy the sun.

At dusk, after hours of reading side by side and talking about nothing, Snoddy stood up and started stretching his muscles. "Where are you going," she asked quickly, surprised he didn't want to spend the rest of the evening with her.

"To get your things," he told her. "Blink is going to come with me. We're leaving ten minutes after the sun sets." She nodded, surprised he was already fulfilling her request from just this morning. "What exactly do you need again," he asked.

"Everything...I mean, as much as it as you can grab. But Snoddy...none of it is mine, ya know," she admitted sadly.

"I know," he said chuckling. "Don't worry. Blink and I will take care of it. We'll brink Skittery and Race too, try to get everything you need.

Alley woke up the next morning to a room full of shoes and socks and coats and dresses and hair ribbons and hats, even a small mirror and, most importantly, a heart full of gratitude for her new family.