Hey guys! Took me long enough to get this out huh? Review!
-Ash

splashey: I'm not a violent person either lol It just comes out in my writing...Donovan confused me too...maybe that's not such a good thing but oh well!

Scamley Elliot: Yeah he's got her for now...I don't even know for how long jeez lol Thank you! superb...I don't know but thanks! Lol

Outsider Wolf: You're so sweet thanks! Poifect haha I guess...lol I hate Don to but I know what you mean, he makes the story. Hope you like this one! )

Starstruck Lily: I'm attracted to dark stories I love them lol I try to write fluff but wars and death just come out better--but this one seems kinda happy to me...I don't know I guess everybody HAS to have a good day once in a while...'Reality' was great, it was honest!


"HEY!!!!!" Charlie watched as the rivaling leader strode towards her and the three other boys with a look of determination and a madness in his eyes that demanded reverence. "I t'ought I told you bums ta find out where dat shot came from!"

"Spot we'se jist--"

"No."

"We found dis--"

"NO!!! Did I ask for excuses?!? Jist GO!!!"

The once intimidating men--boys, hung their heads and retreated, in single file, out of the alley.

It was just him and her, she counted the precious seconds that she still had her life. He gave her one last look before turning and intending on leaving her there. A large boy stood in his way.

"Let's go Twitchy, c'mon."

"W-Who's da goil Spot?"

"I dunno an' it dudn't mattah."

"Spot we can't jist leave 'er..."

"We kin an' we will!"

"Spot..."

"FINE! GO HELP 'ER!!!"

Charlie stared at the boy as he bent down in front of her and began working off her shoe and releasing her foot, which had already swollen to three times it's size. He was overweight and had greasy brown hair plastered down to his temples.

"Ya know dis is all your fault..." he drawled. "Sure, Spot's boys ain't got no mannahs--cornerin' you like dat--but walkin' aroun' in da dark, dat was your doing--"

Charlie sucked in a sharp breath of air as he touched a particularly sore spot.

"Dat hurt?"

She couldn't move. She knew he was waiting for an answer, but how could she talk to him? Was that allowed?

"Me name's Twitch...ya t'ink you kin ya walk?"

Charlie shifted her weight to her left foot and tried to step on her right, but toppled to the ground in a contortion of limbs.

"I'd take dat as a no..." Spot said from further down the street. Twitch moved to put his arm under hers to support her weight, but she pushed him away.

"I'se not gona hoit ya!" he yelled while gaining his balance.

"I'm fine jist go away!" she tried to convince herself and Twitch.

He wasn't having it. "No you ain't, sumpthin's prolly broken. Where do ya live? We'll see ya home--"

"NO! I kin git dere meself!!"

"Alright...go 'head" Spot called, challenging her to stand by herself.

Charlie glared at him and grabbed a trash can to her right, determined to get up. She wobbled before achieving her goal, but it all ending with a loud 'CLANG' as the trash can gave way, sending Charlie toppling to the floor.

"Ya humbled enough ta ask for help yet?"

She didn't let up her glare, even when she was being pulled up and all her weight was being put on Twitch, she was still trying to kill Spot with her eyes.

"So, where we going?" Twitch asked as the two of them hobbled out onto the main road, along with Spot.

"umm...well..." Charlie was at a loss. What could she say? 'Jist run me ovah ta Queens...Flushing, 31st Ave...yea da Lodgin' House! Pop in an' say 'Hi' to me bruthah Roy, I insist!' Right...

"You don't gotta place, do ya?" he didn't wait for her to answer. "Allow me to extend an exclusive invitation ta you'se to da Brooklyn Newsie Palace!"

"That's very...generous...of you--"

"Generous an' STUPID whatta ya doin' Twitch, she ain't comin' back wit' us!"

"Spot she aint got nowhere ta go!"

"Dat's her problem!!!"

"Cmon Spot, it's da only right t'ing ta do! She was attacked by our boys, dey crippled her! Now ya jist gona leave her in da streets??"

It was a long pause before Spot whipped around and said, "Okay! Jist...keep her outta my way!!!" He stormed into a building across the street.

"Don't worry about him, Spot's jist moody." Twitch said dismissively. "So, what's ya name?"

A name...a name...any name!

"Charlotte..." she answered instinctively. "Charlotte--Maloy." She took Rusty's surname in an attempt to cover her mistake--Rusty...where was he?

"Well Miss Maloy...welcome home!"

Charlie looked up at the old, worn building Twitch was gesturing to with the hand not gripping tightly to her underarm. The place looked as though it would simply crumble to the ground in a heap at any given minute and she barely trusted the steps to the front door to carry two people, even one last time.

The boards creaked under her feet and she still winced as every step sent white-hot pain to shoot through her foot.

When she stepped in, Charlie was ushered to a lounge much like the one back in Queens, she was on her back, on a comfy couch, staring at a moldy ceiling, with people talking all around her.

"Who's dis Twitchy??"

"She's dirty..."

"Shit! Her foot's HUGE!!!"

"I t'ink she's pretty!"

"Shaddup Tiny!"

Charlie brought herself up and looked at the room full of people, particularly 'Tiny', a pudgy-nosed boy with a pile of curly ginger hair on his head, literally inches from her own face.

"Ev'ryone!" Twitch yelled, but nobody could hear him. They were too interested in the new arrival.

"HEY LISTEN UP!!!" Spot bellowed and heads whipped in his direction, the audience was hushed.

Twitch spoke up, "Ummm, right...dis is Miss Charlotte Maloy--somebody git Doc ta check 'er out--she was cornered by some a' our own--which reminds me, somebody find Mikey, Ty, an' Ice an' beat da shit outta 'em!" Several left the room, whether to do what he asked she wasn't sure. "She'll be stayin' wit' us." There were a few murmurs. "Anybody got a problem wit' dat?" If anyone did, they didn't say so. "Good!"

"Now clear out an' go ta bed!" Spot yelled over all the rest.

Groans and shouts of protest were heard from everyone four feet and under, but they were pushed out of the room.

A few characters still hung around, including Spot, Twitch, and another tall boy wearing a backwards black newsie cap over long blond hair that just grazed the top of his ear, who had just walked in, bolted to her side, and was now hovering over her foot in fascination.

"Sprained, just sprained...rest it, stay off it for a few days. Wait, there's a bit of glass--"

"OWW!!!" Charlie screamed and brought her knee to her chest and cradled her ankle with a new gap, gushing blood.

"Now, don't do that, let me see it!" the boy said frustrated and began wrapping the wound with pure white strips of clothing that were tainted red with blood in mere seconds.

"She'll be okay Doc?" Twitch asked.

"She'll be fine. Let her rest, she needs rest." 'Doc' said and walked out muttering to himself.

Spot squatted next to the couch, close to Charlie's face. "I don't see da use in movin' 'er upstairs, Doc says she needs rest, she kin stay heah an' I'll stay too."

"Ok Spot, I'm goin' ta bed den." Twitch said as he brought a blanket to Charlie from the other side of the room.

"Erm...thanks...for everything." she said as she pulled the blanket up closer and turned to the back of the couch so Spot couldn't watch her face to check if she was asleep. How could she sleep with him there?

"No problem." he said to her back, and Spot slumped into a chair opposite her.

Charlie must have spent hours, or what seemed like hours, lying down and staring at the threaded craftwork of the sofa, and contemplating her current situation.

She was in Brooklyn. She was feet away from Spot Conlon, Brooklyn leader. And she wasn't dead...yet. Quite the contrary, he was taking care of her. Spot Conlon was a heartless, ruthless, back-stabbing, sold-his-Grandmother-for-a-buck killer!! Or that's what she'd been told...

Did Twitch trust her? Did they all trust her? Spot didn't. He was smart. They had all let her in, accepted her.

Fools


"Where's Charlie?" asked a boy leaning against the building, lighting a cigarette.

"Shutup Porter." Donovan said as he hobbled into the Queens Lodging House with Rusty in his wake.

They stepped into the full lounge and tried to avoid everyone, and just make it to Roy's room in peace.

Wyatt skipped up to them and blocked their way to the stairs.

"Hey guys! Where's Charlie??"

Don knocked him aside and took small steps upwards.

"Rusty?" the blond asked with sad eyes.

"Don't worry 'bout it kid..." he said and ruffled his hair before continuing on his way.

"Hiya boys..." Courtney called down the hall from where she sat, braiding Paige's hair. They ignored her and kept walking.

Donovan gave a short few raps on the door leading to the last bedroom on the left at the top floor of their humble abode.

A muffled, "Come In." was heard from the other side.

Rusty and Don exchanged a quick glance before heading in.

Roy was hunched over a small table, a few papers sprawled out in front of him. He looked up and a large grin spread across his face.

"How'd it go?"

They looked to each other. Don answered, "Fine! It went fine..."

"Good! No Problems?"

"No...no problems..."

"Great, I knew you'd be a good team, I knew I could count on you...t'ree...where's Charlie?"

Rusty took in a deep breath a spoke up, "Roy...she--"

"Gawd...she's not...she's not dead, is she??" Roy asked, cutting him off.

"No! No she's..."

"She ran." Don said finally.

Roy looked at them queerly. "'She ran'? Whadda ya mean 'she ran'?"

"She took off. Down da street, all aroun' Brooklyn. We tried ta find 'er but--"

"Are you tryin' ta tell me...datchu lost my SISTER?!?"

"We didn't lose her, we jist--"

"YOU LOST MY SISTER!!!" Roy was standing now, shouting in Don's face.

"I didn't--"

Don was silenced by a backhand to his face, sending him to the ground. Courtney was standing at the door, watching how she would be treated later that night, if Roy stayed in this mood.

Roy was seething, "You git her back, you heah me?? YOU GIT HER BACK!!! I want ev'rybody on dis, undahstand?"

Don got back to his feet with tears in his eyes, but refused to rub his cheek. "I understand." He answered through clenched teeth.

"Now go."

Once clear of Roy's room Rusty asked Don, "What do we do?"

"How should I know...we'll have da scouts head out tomorrow--"

"Tahmorrow?? Charlie could be killed!!!"

"You don't t'ink I know dat?!" Don yelled back. "She dies an' it's my ass!" he studied Rusty's face, he still wasn't satisfied. "I'll put da word out now an' make a few people leave now ok??"

Don left Rusty standing there and slammed the door to his room.

Rusty was about to make his way to his bunk with the rest of the boys on the second floor, but as he passed the open door to Charlie's room, he stepped in, crawled into her bed, and fell asleep.


Reviw Please! You review and I'll give you...Spot's cane, key, red suspenders, and newsie cap!

Spot: I don't t'ink so!

Oh ok...maybe I'll just be more encouraged to write faster...

Spot: Dat's bettah!

Hush and go back to my room until I decide to write about you again!!

By the way! I have a new story out! Its a Harry Potter, but it's a crossover with the Newsies...I think maybe it sounds better in my head then on the computer screen...oh well check it out maybe!

REVIEW!!!

-Ash