Ace of Hearts
By: Racetrack's Goil
Author's Note: Okiday, next chapter! This is also one of those in-betweens, but has some action and encounters in it, so I hope you enjoy! Oh yes, as I was talking about the girl to fit Ace, here are two of the girls I picked.
http/(slash)www.geocities.jp/kosmeokanai/aceofhearts.htm -Which one do you think is better?
Disclaimer: Ace, Fire, Smoke, Trek, are mine. AAAAALLL mine! Everyone else belongs to Disney. Yeah.
Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!
"Uh…hi." I looked up at him with mixed thoughts. Was he gonna beat me into a pulp? Threaten me? Pretend nothing happened?
He glared at me and I wondered whether he was trying to intimidate me or was really angry about something. I admit that I was a little surprised at his sudden appearance, but I didn't really feel any fear. Anyway, he wouldn't try anything now, considering how close to the lodging house we were.
At least, so I figured.
With this in mind, I went straight to the point. Maybe being blunt would throw him off.
"Did you shoot a stone at me yesterday?" I asked casually, as if talking about what he ate for lunch or how the sky was so blue today. He looked so astonished that I nearly laughed, but I swallowed the humor down and kept my face straight. Then he instantly masked his expression and became defensive.
"No," he muttered shortly. Then he quickly asked, "Why?"
"So you did!" I exclaimed, enjoying his confusion. He stared and then I decided to get serious. I wanted to make peace, not make Fire seem like a fool. (Well, he didn't need me for that…)
"Why did you?" I asked. Fire muttered something under his breath, but I didn't catch it. Frowning, I continued, "Why hold a grudge that was your own fault in the beginning?" I bit my lip. I hadn't wanted to say that. Fire's expression immediately became sullen and angry.
He scowled darkly, his dark eyes glaring again. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him and took a deep breath.
"Honestly, don't you think that's a bit childish?"
He scoffed and I got the feeling that the conversation was starting to go downhill.
"You try so hard t'sound so high and mighty, but it's not working," he retorted.
I groaned and smacked a hand against my forehead. "That's not what I'm-,"
"Sure," he snapped. "Runnin' to Spot all da time, tryin' t'get me into trouble, makin' me-"
"Shut up, will you? And listen," I tried not to fling the words at him. "What I want to know is why you threw that stupid stone and why you still hold a grudge over me, not what you don't like about me. And all of what you just spouted isn't true," I added quickly.
Fire growled, shook his head, and moved to push past me, but I stayed where I was, blocking his way.
"Fire, wait," I said earnestly, inwardly feeling like I wanted to knock some sense into him. "Can't you get over it? I hate all this animosity, it's making Spot think I can't deal with my own problems. I mean…it's not much of a big deal. Hey, I'll even apologize for whatever I did, if that'll make you happy," I finished and instantly felt like I was groveling. I lifted my chin and stared at him, waiting for a nasty response. It certainly came.
Fire sneered in my face. "Just leave Brooklyn and I'll be happy."
I closed my mouth and swallowed whatever I was about to say. Right then and there, I decided that I probably couldn't do anything about the whole wretched thing. He was such a brainless idiot. I glared at him and clenched my right fist, seriously considering punching his face in like I did the first time I met him, though I'll probably end up hitting him the wrong way and end up with an aching fist. He wouldn't dare swing back, with newsies so nearby, as I knew. Newsies who beat up girls were looked down on with total and complete disgust and contempt. (A/N: Yeah, Priscilla (pmochizuki), I took that rule from your fic, hope you don't mind.)
HAH in his face, I thought snobbishly.
We stood there for one tense moment and glared at each other.
Finally, Fire snorted, shook his head, and managed this time to shove me away. Stumbling, I caught myself just in time and didn't stop him as he stormed away without a second glance.
I was seething. After all I said, he practically threw it back in my face. He wasn't going to let up? Fine, I thought grimly. I had made the first step towards making peace, if he wasn't going to do the same…well, I'm just going to leave it as that. His loss. I felt positively nasty as I stalked back to Manhattan. Fire had serious issues, I decided.
I walked on towards the lodging house, feeling a weird mixture of anger, depression, and indignation. If Fire stirred up more trouble, what was Spot going to say? What was he going to do? Instead of grimacing though, I felt strangely satisfied. Fire deserved what would come from Spot if he tried another attempt like yesterday.
I thought over why I had been so reluctant about Spot dealing with Fire before. Pride? Embarrassment of getting into trouble so much? A weird sense of independence? Pity for Fire? I'm sure it wasn't that.
Or maybe it was all of that.
My thoughts were so deep that I didn't notice a tall girl walking towards me until she called. I looked up in surprise, stared, recognized the girl as a Brooklynite, and then greeted her. I knew the face, but couldn't remember the name.
The girl looked amused. "Ace, right?"
"Yeah," I said slowly, thinking hard to try to remember who she was. Something about a snake or…
"I'm Pithon, in case you obviously don't remember," she said. She was being sarcastic, but there was no trace of unfriendliness on her face. I pushed away all my murderous thoughts of Fire and tried to concentrate on what was happening now.
"Anyways," she said casually, "We girls go back to Brooklyn today. Spot's orders."
"Really?"
Pithon didn't bother to answer that. "Y'can go back yourself or with us," she said. "Your choice." With that, she left me without a word, like the way Fire had, except without the storming.
"Thanks," I called and turned right around. I wanted to get back to Brooklyn (which, I realized, I thought as home now) quickly, even if I was probably going to be pretty much alone there. I needed to think things over. I wanted to rest as well, as tomorrow was going to be one long day…
It was around half past three now, but the days were growing shorter so I knew it would soon grow dark. The street became steadily crowded as I walked on towards Brooklyn Bridge and into the market place. Lots of venders and stores were open, selling food and materials. Women bustled to and fro, baskets hanging from their arms as they talked cheerfully and bought things for their homes or for themselves.
Watching them, I suddenly felt a sudden pang of a strange emotion I wasn't familiar with. I was seventeen and my birthday was coming up only in a few weeks. Eighteen. Was I going to be a newsie all my life? Being on and off the streets and scraping just enough money for food? Selling newspapers for a living? Well, I know that most of the girls at Brooklyn either figured they'd marry someone with money enough to support them or somehow work their way up. Some of them dreamed about leaving New York and some of them didn't think about the future at all. I admit I had been one of the ignorant, live-for-the-moment ones, but I was suddenly worried.
What was I gonna do with my life?
Feeling officially disturbed, I hastened my pace. Things like that, I told myself, work out by themselves and are meant to be left alone. You've got enough troubles right now, I berated myself, pulling my tattered cloak around me as a cold breeze swept through the street.
I came out of the market, but it wasn't any quieter. The road was full of rattling carriages, wagons, and horses.
Even with the cold sudden breezes, the sun was hot on my back. I passed a slightly dirty grocery store and that was when I picked out yelling above the noise.
"Leave me alone, you jerks!"
"Not so tough now that Jack's no longer lookin' out fer ya?"
I looked up at the name of the Manhattan leader and stopped, listening.
"Let's see what the refuge does to thievin' newsies, eh?"
Mean laughter followed the comment and I turned towards the voices. What I saw made me bristle. Two dirty young men, maybe around Jack's age or older, had each grabbed an arm of a scrawny young boy of around 10 with messy, sandy-colored brown hair. I frowned and looked around. Nobody was paying them any attention at all.
I looked back at the three and narrowed my eyes. I was reluctant about getting into something that might not be any of my business and into trouble yet again. Who were they anyway? They sure didn't look like newsies, but they didn't look like officers either. If they were officers anyway, I thought sarcastically, they wouldn't be dragging the boy into an alley. Just bullies? Why'd they know Jack?
The boy kicked at one of the men's shins and wrenched one arm free. The taller one angrily threw a punch at the boy, who ducked. The blow caught him in the shoulder and he fell backwards into the alley. The shorter man kicked at him bad-temperedly.
Enough is enough.
I pushed past some people, hurriedly trying to reach them as the boy struggled to get to his feet again. I picked my way across the street, taking care not to get in the way of any carriage or wagon. Finally breaking free of the crowd, I ran towards them at full tilt.
"HEY!" I yelled, furious. They turned around. "What in the world do you think you're doing?" I snapped, shoving the shorter one away from the boy on the ground. The taller one snapped out of his surprise and sneered at me.
"Don't interfere and nothin' happens to you, 'kay? Just turn around and leave," he said and I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way I was going to leave the boy here. Besides, at least I had my back to the street so it wasn't as if I was trapped along with the boy.
"Sure, I will," I replied angrily. The boy got up quickly and the men grabbed him before he could even move. I could tell that their grasps were painful, because the boy winced. He still struggled, trying to get free.
"Let him go. Pick some one your own size," I said, trying to think up a plan to get the boy free. "Who are you anyway? Evil police in disguise?"
"De're da Delanceys brudders," muttered the boy, his breathing heavy as he picked himself up. "Just leave, Ace and get Jack."
My eyebrows furrowed. How did he know my name anyway? The Delanceys or whoever they were smirked down at the boy and then the shorter one looked up at me.
"Ace?" he frowned as if in deep thought. Then he grinned nastily. "You're a newsie?"
I snorted. "What do you think?"
He let go of the boy, leaving him with his brother, and started stalking towards me.
"You're gettin' on my nerves," he growled, pointing a bony, dirty finger at me. I gave him a bored look while backing up out into the street. At that moment, the boy wrenched free of the other guy's grasp, who had weakened, and ducked out of the alley. He was gone in a flash. Leaving me with the two guys looking like they had lost their favorite toy and were now gonna take it out on me.
"Hey! You…Morris, you let him go!" snarled the man at his partner, who looked dumbfounded. "This is your fault!" he said, turning to me. The look on his face reminded me of Fire and I shrugged, continuing to back up down into the street.
They would outrun me though, I realized. This wasn't like the fat officer of yesterday and I wasn't much of a runner anyway. Reckless ideas flashed through my mind (tackling them, smashing fruit from the vender next to me into their faces, doing a dance and then run away while they stood there in shock), but I discarded them quickly.
"What do you have against newsies, anyway?" I asked, trying to think. I shifted from one foot to the other as they continued to force me to back down. I felt like I was being watched by two pairs of hawks. Stupid hawks, maybe, but scary ones.
I half expected them to turn to each other and discuss the question, but apparently, all they wanted was to get me. Get me and do what?
"We just take care of them," snickered the shorter one and to my horror, I realized that I was practically being forced into the middle of the street. I threw a panicked look over my shoulder and watched a carriage race by, the horses galloping at top speed. I rammed forwards, trying to get past them, but they forced me back again. I tried not to panic.
"Oh?" I asked, breathing hard. Keep them talking…stall…think, think, think…
"The refuge'll like to hear how you attacked civilians," he snickered like it was one hilarious joke. I wasn't laughing. A wagon rumbled by, missing me by an inch. That did it. I couldn't watch the Delanceys and the street at the same time. And the street seemed a more likely option.
Spinning on my heel, I dashed right across the street. Horses reared in fright and I ducked under them, not listening to the indignant shouts of the driver. Running around carriages, I kept going. I knew I couldn't stop. Mud flew from the ground from the horses' hooves onto my clothes, arms, and face, but I didn't have any time to groan about it.
I finally reached the other end of the street, relieved that I hadn't been squashed flat. Then my smile disappeared as I saw the Delancey's carefully, but quickly making their way towards me.
Groaning, I turned again and ran as fast as I could. Why was I feeling a strong sense of déjà vu? This always just has to happen to me. It's always someone chasing me and me running.
Another glance over my shoulder showed my pursuers were hot on my trail. I inwardly cursed the little boy for his great way of saying thanks. I ought to have just left him there. And of course, I thought icily to myself, you wouldn't have the heart to.
My breath was coming out in small gasps when I finally realized that I was actually running towards Brooklyn Bridge. Not that I was anywhere close, I seemed to have been taking a longer way there. Were they still chasing me?
They were. And they were getting close. Joy.
I ducked my head and ran on as the street flashed past my fast steps. Keep running…I distantly noticed that the streets were slowly darkening. I glanced up to see the evening falling. That meant all the newsies must be going inside to their lodging houses. Spot was probably in the Manhattan one.
Now why did I think that? Was I expecting him to come to my rescue as usual? Scoffing at myself, I forced my feet to move faster.
That certainly hardened my resolve. Ignoring the taunting shouts of the Delanceys, I dashed around the darkening streets and neared the Bridge. I had taken about ten steps when I noticed that the insults and yelling threats from the Delancey's had quieted.
I threw another glance over my shoulder and nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw the Delanceys pausing at the other end of the Bridge. I turned around, still running, and they stared at me with a strange look on their faces. It was something like a mixture of fear and surprise. Puzzled, I stopped. There was only a short space between us. Why weren't they crossing the Bridge to get me?
They argued with each other in low voices and I couldn't hear what they said, until Oscar looked up and glared at me. I was tense, ready to run at any moment. Morris didn't look like he understood. I didn't understand either. As I watched, I saw Morris' face change into one of comprehension.
"She Brooklyn?" I heard him ask Oscar, who swore loudly at his brother. My mouth formed an 'oh' of surprise and comprehension. I winced as Oscar spat at the foot of the Bridge and I took a few steps backwards, just in case they decided to charge at me again. Oscar turned to me again with a vehement glare, turned around, and walked off. Morris frowned and followed his brother.
Those two words had explained everything.
On my way back to the Brooklyn Lodging House, I figured it all out. Being Brooklyn had its advantages, I saw now. Probably Spot had once caught the two bullying a Brooklynite. He then had beaten them up and threatened them never to touch his turf or his newsies. A wry smile pulled at my lips. Yeah, that sounded like Spot. I ran a hand through my already messed up hair and sighed.
Heh. He had saved my neck yet again.
Shaking away my disgruntled thoughts, I entered the familiar Lodging House, trudged up the stairs, and climbed into my even more familiar bunk. I lay there in the dim light, staring up at the bottom of Artemis' bunk. I was more tired than I thought.
My thoughts wandered over to the recent events. Okay, forget that little Delanceys' encounter. So Fire was out to get me. I didn't really care, I just had to make sure I didn't get hurt like the last time. Instinctively, my hand went up to the gash on my forehead and I winced. Bad idea to touch it.
Fire hated me, that much was clear. Why? It didn't really seem to make sense. Did I do something that I was ignorant of but he thought I knew? Of course, there was the strong possibility that Fire was just a stupid teen with serious issues. I thought that was it. After all, he was the one who had planted that apple on me, he was the one who got me into trouble, and he was the one who had punched me in the face.
What was that thing he said to me just before the strike? The whole "I can let you in, y'know" set up. Was that supposed to mean anything? Or did he just want me to let my guard down? Well, it didn't work. He was obviously trying to do the same thing that day when Spot had pushed me into the water (I felt another flash of anger at the memory, but I shoved it away. It had been my fault. It still made me mad though…) and he had tried to be friendly while I was selling. I thought that was stupid.
And who were the Delancey brothers who had chased me around only a few minutes ago? Why did they know Jack? I closed my eyes. Too many questions…too much stuff happening. Being a newsie certainly is hectic.
I was just starting to feel rather sleepy when I sat up to a sharp bang of the door downstairs. I only had to wait a few minutes to hear footsteps accompanied with loud shouts of laughter. I looked over to see Pithon, Artemis, and Milkshake saunter in, Pithon laughing at something Milkshake had said. Artemis seemed to be in one of her moods; she was silent and had this un-expressionless look on her face. Probably Jackal had set her temper off or something.
A split second later they noticed me, glanced at each other, grinned, and then they were talking.
"Heard about Fire. Dat's a nasty gash he gave you!"
"Yeah, overheard Spot talking about it to Sparrow," added Milkshake with a grin. I stared at them both and fell back on my bed with a groan. Milkshake's mischievous face loomed over me and I snickered suddenly. It was just funny to see someone loom over you with the look Milkshake had on her face now. Or maybe being tired just made me hysterical. (A/N: Honestly, for me and my friends, I get hysterical when I'm tired…)
"Spot told Sparrow to kinda watch Fire. Make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble or something," she said.
I mused over this. Well, I was actually glad about that. Sparrow was a really smart kid and had this gift of not looking like he was looking at you. Yeah, confusing, but it's true. Very observant guy and knows what to say and what not to say. Speaking of which…
I narrowed my eyes at Milkshake. "Who else did you tell?"
Her green eyes widened into an expression of innocence. "No one. Figured you wouldn't want a big deal made outta it."
I breathed out in relief. "Good. Thanks," I added gratefully and Milkshake's face lit up with another of her infectious grins. Pithon, being the random and rather short attention spanned person she was, had already left the room.
Artemis was muttering something under her breath while she roughly jerked past Milkshake to climb up to the bunk above me. I raised an eyebrow at Milkshake, who simply rolled her eyes and mouthed the word Jackal. Ah. So I was right.
"So why didn't you let Spot just deal with Fire?" Milkshake asked, going back to the subject. I shrugged.
"Just…well, I guess I think I'm being a burden to Spot. I mean, he keeps having to get me out of trouble," I mumbled, wondering whether Milkshake would understand. She cocked her head and her eyes twinkled.
"You mean you're just too proud," she snickered and I shrugged again, feeling my face grow red. Proud…well, maybe. But that's not the word I'd use. More like…I don't know. But not proud.
"Spot's da leader, Ace," she continued, still looking amused. "It's his job to make sure there's no trouble."
"Yeah, I guess," I answered vaguely. She might think that, but I didn't. Thankfully, I didn't have to answer Milkshake's inquisitive look as Cat walked in with her usual smooth, soundless steps. She completely ignored the surprised look on our faces (though I'm sure she noticed it) and headed for her bunk.
Suddenly, the whole floor shook as Artemis jumped back down from the bunk and face me. Her face was tight with anger, but I had a feeling it wasn't toward me. Milkshake shifted out of the way.
"Okay, what would you say if a person stole somethin' from you?"
I blinked. "Heh…I'd probably say something he wouldn't like."
"Right? That's about all you'd say, wouldn't it?"
I was getting confused, but I answered, "Maybe, but it depends on what he stole."
Artemis whirled around and stalked out the door. Milkshake watched her and then turned back to me.
"What was that all about?" I asked. Milkshake shrugged and went for her own bunk.
"She stole something from Jackal," she said, lying down. "Jackal kinda lost it and they ended up in a fight. Artemis probably feels guilty about it and doesn't want to show it."
I grinned at that. How very true and characteristic of Artemis. I glanced at Cat, her face calm and impassive as usual as she sat at her usual spot at the window sill. Not for the first time, I wondered what she was thinking all the time.
Well, I didn't do much after that, just talk a bit of the upcoming rally with Milkshake. We ate dinner, but even that was a quiet affair. Everyone seemed just a bit tired, the excitement of the strike wearing off into weariness. But I knew they were all looking forward to tomorrow night.
As for me…well, I was excited about it, yes. But at the same time, I didn't like the thought of all the newsies who were going to be there. I never liked being in a crowd and just the thought of all those newsies crowded into Medda's place, large as it is, made me wince. But, if it was going to be a blast like everyone said, it would be worth it.
"Ace. Girl, get up."
The voice was like a persistent buzz at the back of my head, but I ignored it and started to fall back into my pleasant dreams.
"Ace…"
Fire was pleading on his knees, begging for me to forgive him. I was suddenly10 inches taller and he 10 inches shorter. I towered over him, grinning mercilessly at the pitiful look on his face.
"ACE, YA LAZY BUM, GET YERSELF OFF DA BED AND GET UP!"
The yell in my ear jerked me out of my sleep and I shot up again to bang my head on the bunk above me. Someone laughed and I carefully laid back, clearly and precisely cursing whoever had thought of two story bunks.
"Well, you should have seen Artemis do it," snickered Pithon, for it was her laughing her head off next to me. "She'd scream and swear so much that we finally gave her the upper bunk. As you can see."
I threw myself off the bunk and glared at it. "Sure, but she didn't have a huge gash on her head."
Pithon shrugged. "At least it got you awake. C'mon, you've slept 'till lunch already."
Groaning, I grabbed my usual cloak and my hat. Pithon watched me with an interesting-but-not-trying-to-look-interested look on her face.
"Where'd you get that old thing anyway?" she asked, indicating to my cloak. I glanced down at it and shrugged.
"I've always had it," I replied smoothly. "Just one of those things."
Pithon didn't press the question. "'Kay, get some food. The girls are outside, just hanging out and talking. Oh yeah."
I jammed my hat onto my hair. "Yeah?"
Pithon grinned. "Cat and I decided to have a friendly fight. Might be…interesting for you to see."
My eyebrows shot up. "Cat and you?"
"Yeah."
"Friendly, fights, and you. Those three words don't make sense in one sentence," I muttered and Pithon grinned again.
"Also, da boys'll be comin' back soon," she said, still grinning. I nodded absentmindedly and then looked back at her. I frowned.
"What?"
Pithon's grin disappeared and she gave me an innocent look. "What what?"
"What's that grin on your face supposed to mean?"
"What grin?"
I gave her a suspicious look and she simply saluted playfully at me before leaving. Sighing, I walked over to the washroom. I splashed cold water on my face and then ran down the stairs. Skipping, as usual, over the one that creaked, I jogged outside and went towards the docks.
The day was unbelievably dismal. It was one of those days when the sky is a dull, cold grey and you feel like it's going to rain at any moment, but it doesn't. Well, I know the weather wouldn't do anything to dampen the excitement about tonight's rally.
I reached the docks within minutes and greeted the girls. At least, the ones who would reply back. Pithon was talking, well, trying to talk to Cat. Ob and Sodapop were Indian wrestling and the rest of the girls were just lounging near the water. I joined Milkshake, who was stretching herself. She gave me a sidelong look and I knew that she was gonna say something abrupt and totally random.
"Can you fight?"
I was caught off guard. "Well…why?"
"I never saw you fight."
"I've never seen you fight," I replied and Milkshake grinned.
"Well, true. Just thought I'd warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
"Well, rally tonight. Dose kinds of big huge gatherings always has some kind of little trouble. Always. Someone gets soaked by somebody."
I shrugged. "I'll stay out of it."
Milkshake laughed. "Well, y'just seem to always get into a mess."
"I guess."
The conversation, so suddenly started, fell back into comfortable silence again. It was amusing, because I didn't answer Milkshake's question at all. Talk between newsies usually turned out this way. Or maybe it was just me.
It was only a few minutes after that when Cat and Pithon started their 'friendly fight.'
Milkshake told me it was like practice for the both of them. I sized them up. Pithon was the taller of the two and well-muscled from hard work. I had no doubts about her being a good street fighter. Cat, I had no idea. She was all round smaller than Pithon and finer-boned, but I knew that didn't really mean anything.
First off, Cat and Pithon spitshaked.
Milkshake explained the crude rules to me. If one of them fell, the exercise finished with the one standing as the leader. Any contact to the face should not be with full force. No deliberate injuries that are meant to really, really hurt you. And they both have to acknowledge that this was just an exercise and nothing else.
I still thought it was dangerous…but no one's going to listen to me anyway.
I watched as the two girls separated and got to their places.
"So, you know, if I hurt you," Pithon quipped, "No hard feelings. Just a little practice for tonight. Limbers me up, you know."
Cat gave her a thin sort of smile, but didn't say anything.
Pithon grinned back, but I could tell she was a bit unnerved. Not most people can pull off the cool, thin, emotionless smile the way Cat could.
Nevertheless, Pithon shifted her feet and got into her fighting position. Cat's shoulders sort of hunched over a little, looking very…feline. The girls around me still weren't really gathering around to watch, but they continued doing whatever they were doing (card games, talking, etc). They were obviously used to this.
The Japanese-American girl was the one who struck first, with sudden high kicks aimed for Pithon's shoulder. They were meant to tip her off balance, but Pithon simply dodged and came up nearer to Cat. I watched in interest as Pithon instantly threw an uppercut, but Cat blocked it. Pithon sprang back as Cat suddenly whirled, flinging an arm up.
The taller girl cursed as Cat's arm slammed against her jaw, but she managed to block the next blow. She sent a roundhouse punch at Cat, following it with her other arm. Cat received the first punch rather hard, but ducked the next one.
With one smooth motion, Cat grabbed Pithon's arm, twisted, and flung her over her shoulder and onto the ground. My mouth dropped in complete surprise. Pithon gave a short 'oof' as her breath was knocked out of her at the hard landing.
Cat quickly stepped back. Pithon coughed and glared up at her. "That was low."
Milkshake was laughing next to me. "Neat one, Cat!" she said, looking evilly gleeful at Pithon's disgruntled look. The tall, blonde girl looked miffed, but she picked herself up without any more complaints.
Cat had absolutely no expression of triumph on her face. Just a calm, measuring look.
"Do you want another round?" she asked quietly. Pithon winced and shook her head.
"Nah, I think I hurt something when you flung me down," she said jokingly. Cat nodded and walked away without another word. Pithon watched her go and then looked at us.
"She needs to liven up."
"Yeah," Milkshake replied. "But she's real quick."
Pithon made a face. "Yeah. I figured."
She sighed and cracked her neck. "I really think I pulled something."
"Hey look!" Milkshake said, pointing. Pithon and I turned and saw Spot, Pike, and Jackal sauntering over. I felt myself smile automatically in greeting along with the two girls and inwardly groaned. Spot…I wasn't in the mood to talk with him right now. I mean, he may be a great leader and all and I know I was thankful about the whole Fire thing, but I just…didn't feel like talking to him.
"Hey girls," Pike called, waving. Milkshake went red all the way up to her hairline. Well, I suppose love does that to you. Make you blush, that is.
Jackal grinned at us and then went to Artemis, who was looking over the water and hadn't seen them. I watched as Artemis turned as he greeted her, said something quietly to him, and then stormed off. Jackal looked lost.
"What happened?" Spot was asking, indicating to the bruise on Pithon's face. She shrugged.
"Practiced with Cat."
Spot's eyes skimmed over her, moved to Milkshake, then to me (I stared back), and settled back on Pithon.
"You lost," he said, the smirk I knew so much growing on his face as Pithon glared at him. "But," he continued, "Not everyone has a fighting style like Cat."
Pithon nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
Spot's eyes rested on me again. I felt myself tense. "So, Ace, ready for tonight?"
I focused on the tiny bug crossing over my foot. "Yeah."
"There's gonna be trouble."
I looked up at him. "You think so?"
Spot shrugged and leaned against the crates next to him. "I get the feeling dere is." His mouth tightened for a second. "Somehow, I can't believe Pulitzer's just gonna let dis go. News of dis must have come to him."
"Well," I muttered. "What's gonna happen's gonna happen."
Spot looked amused. "Sure, but you ready for it?"
I felt irritation rise in my throat. "Well, what do you want me to do? Carry a gun in my pocket? Learn how to fight? 'Cos I can't, and you know it."
Spot still looked amused. "Well, who says you can't?"
I shook my head and felt the other two girls watching me. "You know I can't."
Spot played with his cane and said in nonchalantly, "You can learn. Right now."
I stared. "What?" I gasped out, my throat suddenly feeling dry.
"C'mon," he said, straightening and putting his cap on the crate. "Let's start."
My mind switched off and went completely, utterly, and absolutely blank.
A/N: I meant to have the rally, but I figured it'll take a little too long, so next chapter. Yeah, I think it won't take as long to update. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I actually didn't really like the way the whole Delancey encounter turned out, but I guess it's okay. Thanks for reading, all of you, you have NO idea how much your reviews mean to me!
By the way, http/(slash)www.geocities.jp/kosmeokanai/aceofhearts.htm, those Ace pics? I'm not really sure about it, so go ahead make more suggestions about other likely girls, okay? So it's not just them. But tell me which one you think is better though. :D