A/N: I don't own the movie.

--------------------------------------

The next morning, Bumlets woke up, having had a good full restoring sleep, and with a sore side. That puzzled him for a minute, until he shifted, and he felt his arm push against a girl's front, and her back hit his stomach. His eyes flew open in surprise, and he pushed himself up on a reflex. A blanket nearly held him down when he tried, and a cool morning breeze brushed against his skin. He had a sense of being very high up, and the surface under his hand felt like metal and was slightly ridged. He felt so confused, until he looked at the girl.

Healer. She was still asleep, and she looked beautiful to me. Seeing her and taking in my surroundings helped me to remember. We were up on a fire escape last night, and we had watched a red-haired woman and her partner dance Salsa. Healer had fallen asleep in my arms, and I had fallen asleep soon after her. But how did the blanket get there? I moved my arm, and felt my hand knock into a cushion, and my brow furrowed in thought. How did that get there? It wasn't there when I fell asleep.

Healer moaned in her sleep, grabbing hold of my hand and trying to roll onto her stomach. As a matter of gravity, I was pulled along with her, and when she rolled onto her stomach, my arm was pulled under, and I was pulled flush against her back. I blushed, and started pulling away carefully, when I realized we were late for selling. True, the sun had only just risen, but it had risen. Quickly, I pulled my arm away from her, and taking her shoulder, I shook her.

"Healah, Healah we're late! We need ta sell!" I said to her, and her eyes flew open. In a matter of seconds she had let go of my hand, rolled out from under the blanket, folded up the blanket and put it and the cushions under the window. I blinked, stunned. That was fast. Healer turned to look at me, and she grabbed a hold of my hand with a look of placid calm, of a stern concentration, and she pulled me down the stairs.

"Come." She said quietly, calmly. I'll get us there. I blinked. I heard her say that, but her mouth didn't move, and in just frank surprise, I followed her.

As we ran, she pulled me along- I noticed that she started…she seemed to dance. As she ran, she swayed from side to side, like a train sleepily bumping from side to side as it travels, and she closed her eyes briefly every now and then, and the buildings around us seemed to blur to me as we headed for the bottom of the fire escape. I couldn't feel the stairs under my feet anymore, and I noticed that it didn't take much effort to run anymore. It felt as if I was gliding, or soaring. We were reaching the bottom of the staircase, and I felt Healer's grip on my hand tighten. A feeling of peace, of calm trust washed over me, and I relaxed. We were just about to jump off the fire escape, and I trusted her.

Close your eyes. I closed my eyes, completely trusting her. Jump. I jumped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I landed with a stumble on a rough, cobbled surface. Cobbled? I thought curiously. The ground under the fire escape was dirt, softer than this. The air was different here. Slightly hotter, thicker, and I felt sort of- choked. It felt familiar. It felt like the air in front of the distribution office. It puzzled me for a minute, but I accepted that I wouldn't know everything. I was fine with that.

Healer's hand left mine, and I furrowed my eyebrows in a slight worry, standing still with my eyes closed. I had no desire to open them just yet. I felt calm, centered and at peace, trusting her. I felt a slightly smaller body embrace me, and I hugged Healer in return, gently, and tenderly. She put her mouth next to my ear, gently smoothing my back.

"Open your eyes." She breathed, and I felt…restored, calm, accepting what I would see. I opened my eyes slowly, and in front of me I saw the square in front of the distribution office. On either side of me were dark walls. We were in an alley. I smiled. She got us to where we needed to be. I felt Healer worry, and her head left my chest as she took her arms from around me, and she put her palms on either side of my head, on my temples. I looked down at her with eyes full of peace, love and everything good. She frowned slightly, mostly with her eyes, and she brought her mouth to mine in a feather-light kiss. I froze, my eyes wide. She's kissing me! Oh my god! Oh my-

Be normal. Be yourself. I heard her voice inside my head once again as she pulled away, and I wondered. Hearing her in my head wasn't a normal thing. No one else could do that. She turned and walked away, and I only noticed a few minutes after she was gone. I started, and I jumped up from where I was leaning back on one foot, and I ran out after her, looking around for her. She was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Why did I kiss him? Healer thought with remorse as she walked away from Bumlets and away from the distribution office. I didn't need to. She couldn't face anyone just yet. She couldn't sell just yet today, she regretted what she did too much, so she headed towards the park, her favorite place to go, wrapped up in her thoughts. As she went, she didn't notice she was being watched. A couple of newsies not from her part of town had stony faces, hid in the shadows, covered in soot, and their eyes followed her as she passed.

One beckoned to the other, and they followed her. This was the girl the Manhattan newsies loved so much, and this was the girl Spot Colon wanted them to catch. They followed her silently to the park, where the hung back, their dirtiness a sore spot in their surroundings.

Healer walked over to her favorite tree, the one she had leapt out from behind to help Bumlets and Boots that one day- and she put her back against it, thinking. She put her knees up, resting her elbows on them, and she rested her head in her hands. She shook her head in regret. How could I do that? He doesn't love me. She berated herself mentally, squeezing her eyes shut, and she shook her head a little. How could I?

She didn't hear the quiet footsteps that came up behind her. She didn't feel or hear the two newsies who snuck up behind her, one with a wet cloth held at the ready, one walking with a rope in his hands, hanging just behind the one who walked like a cat. About a foot away from her, they paused, and waiting for the opportune moment, he lunged.

Healer's head shot up and her eyes grew wide when she felt a hand with a wet cloth close around her mouth and nose, and she felt herself pulled roughly against a body, holding her down. She struggled, and she felt the boy's arm tense, trying to keep her in place. Soon, she felt the effects of the wet cloth taking a hold on her, and she became sluggish. Shit. Chloroform. She realized, and she couldn't move any more. The boy's arm relaxed as her eyes rolled up into her head and she went limp.

The newsie took the cloth away from her face and threw it aside, and lifting the girl up, he stood up, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The boy with the rope looked at the first, and the boy shook his head and walked towards the Brooklyn Bridge. They didn't need the rope.

-------------------------------------------------------

A/N: ... REVIEW!