HA! Bet you weren't expecting me to update that fast! Well, I have! Xxstarlightxxdreamerxx I didn't know there was a Queenie and Bear in another story, but Bear belongs to Smiley94, and I have Queenie from a newsies site =) hopefully the author (saw the story you talked about *facepalm* I'm a bit slow, now that it's getting closer to summer) understands I didn't know about those two in her story. Cybale, I'm flattered! Hopefully it stays that way!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own
Doll looked out what window there was here… wherever she was. The window looked over Bottle Alley, which she knew for fact was in Harlem. But where in Harlem was she? She had ditched the jacket a while ago, but kept the hat on. Someone opened the door and she looked over, seeing a pretty well groomed newsie; hair cut to look nice and suave, wearing a nice vest, with an off white shirt under it, rolled up to his elbows. Not the kind of guy she'd expect to meet here. "Ah, Doll Johnson. What a…. pleasant, surprise. Got tired of Brooklyn?"
"Who are you?" she asked, staying near the window, tensed up, "Some rich boy tryin' ta be a newsie?" he glared, but responded,
"Allow me to introduce myself, Miss Johnson. My name, is Bones. Bones O'Malley." Bones. Wait a second, she knew that name… Ares second in command!
"I met you'se before! I remembah!" she said, "Why aren't use in Bronx wit' Ares?"
Bones laughed a dry laugh, "Ares? That fool? When he picked that Queenie girl to be leader, I left. He chose a girl over me to be leader. A girl who hears voices in her head and only knows strategy from Chess. I could do so much better than her!" his eyes burned with immense hatred for this girl, Queenie, "Too bad, I've got my own group of kids to lead now."
"So lemmie get dis straight," she said slowly, "Your runnin' Harlem, all 'cause Ares didn't pick you'se ta be leadah? That's pretty stupid Bones, even for a Bronxie like yourself." Bones walked over and slapped her, growling,
"Did you not learn your lesson earlier?! I sent Red to get rid of you, so I could get a one up on Brooklyn! But of course, nothing gets past Spot. He just has to win, doesn't he? Well now, he ain't the only one with birds!" She held her cheek, glaring. Bones was just as crazy as Ares! "Rat did a good job getting you out of the lodge, I'll give him that, but now I've got Conlon to deal with. So, we're gonna play a little game. It's called, Freeze." Yep. Bones was crazy, Doll thought to herself. When he took a step closer, she took a step back, bumping into something, yelping when someone grabbed her. She looked at the hands and saw it was Rat, and he chuckled. She squirmed, but he tightened his grip, "Come on Rat, we've got a game to play."
"Come on, Miss Doll," he drawled on the miss, pushing her forward as Bones walked out, "You've got a game to attend to." She recoiled a little from Rat, but he still held firm to her, and the two followed Bones, and the more she looked at her the surroundings, the more she got a feel for where she was. It was a warehouse. There were a few newsies in the hallway, and they quickly recoiled from Bones as he walked past, fear in their eyes. 'What does Bones do to these kids?' she thought, horrified. Next thing she knew, she was being shoved into another room. It was cold in here. She looked over at a bunch of buckets in the corner, and wondered what was in them. Rat let go of her, and grabbed a rope, tying her arm to a pipe. She tugged, Rat was good with knots, she noticed.
"So, as mentioned earlier, this little game is called Freeze. It's simple. You tell me what I want to know, and you won't lose, if you lose… well, you'll see what happens," Bones said, and Rat snickered, grabbing one of the buckets. Doll tugged at her wrist. "First question, why did Trash pick Spot, instead of someone with less… anger issues?"
"Go to hell," she spat, and Rat threw the contents of the bucket on her. It was water. Freezing cold water. Doll gasped, the shock surprising her.
"Now, now, Doll. You don't want to lose the game do you?" Bones tsked, "I was only asking a question. How 'bout we start with a new one? How come you are the second in command?" Doll stayed silent, glaring at him. Her clothes were soaking wet, and it was getting colder for her. Her teeth chattered, but she stayed silent. Another splash of cold water. She coughed. Now it was colder. "Hm… cat got your tongue? Let's try another. How come your so loyal to Spot?"
"Spot's a bettah," she said, through chattering teeth, "Spot's a bettah leadah then you." More water, she coughed, shaking now.
"Oh, a better leader?" he cooed, "How does this affect your allegiance with Spot? You only stay in Brooklyn cause he's a better leader?"
"He protects us," she said, shaking uncontrollably. It was cold. Too cold. She could barely feel her toes.
"Protects us? Who is these us you speak of? You're the only one important enough to hold hostage. Why, you're his little birdy. His toy. Did it ever occur to you that he only keeps you around, just because you get him what he wants? Who knows what he'll ask for next…" Bones let that thought linger in the air.
"You're sick." That was all she could manage to get out, and felt the cold water again. Ok, now she couldn't feel her toes. Bones laughed.
"You certainly are a stubborn one. Well, Rat, how about we get the little Dolly nice and warm, eh? Spot's expecting her alive, well, during negotiations that is. He's not getting her back so easily…" he trailed off, thinking of a way to swindle Spot, keep his source of information out of reach. Doll was shaking, not only of cold but of fear. There wasn't much that truly scared her, but this… was petrifying. She remembered being this cold before, but it wasn't as cold as this. She had been with Soldier, and her father. Father had been a cargo ship worker, and at one point they had to go through a bunch of icebergs, and it had been so freezing one of the sailors toes fell off. Maybe one of her toes would fall off. When Rat cut the rope, his hands grabbed her arms and he led her back to the room from before. They were warm. She almost wanted to hug Rat to get warm. Opening the door, he pushed her in, saying,
"I'll get one of those other kids to get you warm, Miss Doll," it seemed that Rat had a thing with drawling the word miss, but that didn't bother her. About a minute later, a small, frail looking boy came in with a blanket, putting it at least five feet away from her. He scurried out of there quickly, as if Doll was a monster. Not bothering to see if he closed the door, she grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself in it, shivering. It was warm. Looking up, she did notice the boy had been smart and closed the door. She walked around, trying to get the feeling in her toes back. Walking back to the window, she looked out. The window had bars on it. Bones had set his lodge up pretty smart. No one got in, no one escaped. Did Bones rule with an iron fist? Or was he just messed up? She was starting to think along the lines of messed up.
Looking down at her clothes, she could still feel how cold they were, but were getting warmer. But then she realized she was wearing Spot's shirt. Ok, if Harlem didn't kill her, Spot might, because this had been his favorite shirt. Well… damn she couldn't think up an excuse for that. Looking back out the window, she said quietly to herself, "I'm not gonna die, I'm gonna live. Be Soldier. Survive. Be Soldier and live."
