You are all going to hate me…

"A Day to Remember"

Dove hurried off the stage and into the dressing room. Wiggling out of her dress she throws her simple blue dress on Dove glances at herself in the mirror she begins to wipe away the stage make-up. Soon the other girls began to fill the dressing room, Dove groaned that she had not been fast enough. Her stomach hurt already and she was not in the mood to be teased. It was that week of the month and was a pretty bad one.

"Oh, look at little Miss Dove is going on a date." Marie calls out teasingly to the other girls.

Growling softly, Dove continues her task. She and Spot had been dating for three months now and Dove was use to the teasing of the other girls. At first it was rather hard for they teased mercilessly but after Spot found out, suddenly the teasing stopped, except for the occasional light teasing that was being carried out tonight. Finally ready, she skips out the door and stops short in front of her Da.

"Where are you off too?" Thomas looked down at his daughter a faux frown forms on his face.

"I'm going out for the night, don't worry I shall be very safe." Lifting herself on her toes she kisses her father's cheek and sashays to the backdoor.

Spot was waiting for her, like always, but tonight he was wearing his blue shirt that she had made for him. Taking her hand Spot leads her towards Brooklyn. Dove glances over at him as they cross the bridge.

"How late will we be out tonight?" She raises an eye brow

"If you get tired you can always stay at the lodging house you know." Spot looks down at the young woman under his arm. She raises her eye brow, grinning slightly and shakes her head slowly. He told her that every time they had a date in Brooklyn, but he knew she would never stay the night, she was too good.

Spot walked them into a small diner. Dove enjoyed every minute of dinner, she could never remember being so happy. Being with Spot was something that felt so right, so peaceful. It didn't matter is she had a small attitude, Spot's made up for it and no one every even thought of hurting her, Spot's reputation was too well known. With Spot, she had never felt safer. After dinner they took a walk on the empty street. Spot took her hand and they walked in silence. But Dove knew this silence, Spot had something he wanted to say.

"What is it?"

Spot looked down at her. It never stopped amazing him that she always knew. She could read him like a book, no one ever knew what Spot Conlon was thinking, except Dove.

Taking a breath he stops and pulls her around to look at him.

"I wants you to stop working at Medda's." He saw the shock. "I knows you but others don't. Theatre girls don't have good reputations." He eyes turned an odd shade of green, they grew deep forest green. She was getting mad, something that had never happened before. "I knows that you like working there, but you'se Brooklyn's goil now and you's need to keep up her good name."

Dove had never been this angry in her life. First she had a surprise attack from her body, then she was teased now Spot wanted her to quit her job? She tried to keep her voice down.

"Spot, I love working at Medda's I don't want to stop."

Spot was a little uncertain. He had never see Dove upset, let alone mad.

"Now I know that you only want what's best for me, but I hardly thing stopping something I love very much is going to do much harm, and what will I do if I stop? Sit at home all day and so what? Bake cookies?" Her voice had begun to rise, she was good and angry. Spot's temper had begun to flare as well, no one raised their voice to the King of Brooklyn.

"Dove, yous are the goil of a leader, it's not just your reputation, it's Brooklyn's as well, it's – "

"Brooklyn! It's Brooklyn's reputation I'm spoiling, working at Medda's? Well let me tell you, Brooklyn has a reputation that no one could taint because Brooklyn's reputation is already the worst it could be!"

Dove's eye had gone a very deep green and spots had become ice. He was livid. How dare she say that about HIS city?

"Fine." Spot stops off, leaving her insight of the bridge. She knew how to get home. Spot stormed off toward the Lodging House.

Fuming, Dove turns toward the bridge. She got to the foot of the bridge. Closing her eyes she realized what she had just yelled at him. She had attacked him where she knew it would hurt. There were two way to get to Spot Conlon, Dove and Brooklyn. He had only been trying to protect her reputation and Brooklyn, it was his duty. Sighing she turned back to find him, he would have gone back to the lodging house for a smoke. Turning on to the seemingly deserted street Dove didn't see the one person hiding in the shadows.

Spot took on last drag on his cigarette. Something must be wrong, she never got angry. Crushing the small light he climbed down the fire escape and headed toward Manhattan, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Jogging across the bridge he turned and went into the lodging house where he knew she would have gone to get the comfort her 'big brother'. He was actually surprised that Jack hadn't already come to see him. Walking in the front door, he looks around for Dove.

"Hey Spot, what cha doin' in 'Hattan? I'se thought yous and Dove had a date tonight?" Mush looked up at the pale leader.

"She ain't here?" Spot looses blood in his face as Mush confusingly shakes his head. Bolting out the door Spot sprinted across the bridge. The sense of dread was building, he knew full well the reputation of Brooklyn, of what happened in the shadows to pretty young girls that had no escorts. Spot cursed himself .

Dove slips her eyes open just enough to see her attacker swagger out of the alley. She curls into a ball, holding herself, trying to get the energy to pull herself off the cold cobblestone street, the will to stand and go somewhere, anywhere but here. Bruised and broken, Vienne slips her coat back on and realizes that the Newsies wouldn't save her every time, that unless she want the city to take her, she would have to fight back and next time….. No, there will never be a next time.

Spot hears a two toned whistle from a rooftop. He stops, waiting for a direction. Two tones meant someone was hurt, the first signal a Brooklyn Newsies was taught. A second whistle, East. Spot takes off at a hurried pace. A staggering figure with lose brown hair being blown by the cool night breeze turns onto the street in front of him. Spot begins to run. It was Dove. She was cradling her arm and favoring her side.

As Spot got closer he sees her clothes were dirty and had been torn, her hair was undone giving no sign of the carefully pinned bun she always wore. Her eyes were full of pain, fear and unshed tears.

Spot reaches for her but she shrinks away from him, gripping herself tighter, grimacing as she does so. He stops and takes a step back, keeping his arms open. Dove looks up at him focusing on him for the first time. Taking a few shaky steps, she collapses in Spots waiting embrace.

Looking down at her, he see a few tears that escape as she passes out. Pushing down his emotion, Spot gathers her in his arms, thankful she does not feel any pain as her shoulder makes a sickening snap.

Kicking the door to the boarding house open, Spot jerks his head to a newsie who rushes out the door toward Manhattan. Glancing over at his second in command, Blade, as he comes down the stairs, Spot's deadly, emotionless nod tells him to get a doctor. Setting Dove gently down on his bunk, he tries to slip her sullied coat off without causing any more pain. The coat falls open, revealing things that cause Spots stomach to clench. A long string of profanity fills the otherwise quiet room as he gentle moves the torn blouse exposing the coming bruises. He unbuttons her top to uncover her stomach showing one large bruise covering her entire midsection. Under a tear in the waist band of her skirt, close to her hips, were bruised so far as to break the skin causing open wounds. Her arms also showed abuse through tattered sleeves.

Creative cursing greeted the Doctor as he entered the leader of Brooklyn's room. Blade, after hearing Spots monologue, decides not to enter. Without even looking at Spot, the Doctor asks him to leave the room.

Spot glares at him "If you think I'm going to leave her alone after this, you have another thing coming." He faces the doctor, jaw set. The doctor sighs in defeat.

An icy blue stare follows the doctor's every movement as he feels for broken bones. Satisfied that there were no broken ribs, he begins to examine her shoulders and arms.

"When I picked her up her shoulder make a sound it shouldn't have." Spot shifts his gaze from the doctor to the girl in his bed. The doc feels both shoulders, rolling them gently.

"It seems the right shoulder had been dislocated. When you picked her up it merely pop it back into place." The doc signs and gathers up his things. "I can't do much. There were no broken bones and you reset her shoulder. She was lucky."

Spot scoffs. "Lucky?"

The doc accepts the few coins Spot could give him. "Yes, she isn't dead."

Crouching next to the bed, Spot lets the doctor find his own way out. Jack would be there soon with Whistler and Ruby. He brushes a stray hair out of her face, seeing her like this, knowing he had left her alone, his emotions begin to break the wall he had put up. A few heavy curses slip out as he stands, fuming with rage. For the first time he lets himself think about what someone had done to her, what some man had done to his girl. Kneeling beside her he slips he hand under her neck, rests his forehead against hers and whisper to her as she lay closed off, hiding, unhearing to the world.

"I'll kill whoever did this to you, Dove. I swear I'll kill them."

It wasn't long before Cowboy, Whistler and Ruby burst into Spot's room. Ruby rushes to Dove's side and looks her over, while Cowboy grabs Spot by his shirt and pins him to the wall. Whistler joins Cowboy, unable to look at his sister.

"What have you done?" Whistler asks threateningly low. Spot doesn't fight Jack but doesn't look at Whistler either. All he does is watch Dove breath.

Jack shakes him, "What happened?"

Spot pushes Jack away and looks at him with flashing eyes.

"I left her alone!" Spot shouts at the angry brother, his face full of loathing. "I left her alone." His voice now down to a whisper, "That's what happened."

Ruby walked up to Spot at stood as tall as she could. "Tell me exactly how she got hurt, Spot Conlon, or I swear you will be in need of a doctor."

Spot looked down at the shaking red head.

"We had a fight and I walk home. When I went back o 'Hattan to make sure she wasn't to mad at me, I realized she never made it home. She was found in an alley. Some man had-" Spot wasn't sure he could say it. "Had attacked her."

Jack had Spot against the wall in the blink of an eye. "Yous left her alone in Brooklyn? You of all people should-"

"Don't you think I know that?" Spot was out of Jack's grasp in a second, shouting angry at himself for letting this happen. "Don't you think I know that I hadn't lost my temper she wouldn't be here? That she wouldn't be hurt? I know!"Storming around the room he stops beside the bed. "Don't you think I know that if I hadn't left her she wouldn't have gotten raped?"

I told you, you were going to hate me. It will get better I promise