Chapter 11: Please

The walk into Manhattan had seemed to fly by. This would be quite possibly the fasted Spot ever made it across the bridge. Or maybe it only seemed swift because his mind was so preoccupied. Constantly he found his mind being drifted off to the night before. On some level, he knew he was irrational. On some level, he knew he was a jerk. Mostly, he knew he was just being jealous. But he also knew that Spike was up to something, Myst may not remember him, but he certainly remembered her. The thought of them together made his blood ignite.

That she had left without giving him a chance to apologize was killing him. The only reason he had been pushing her away so much over the past week was because of Jack. Because of a stupid promise he made. Yes, Brooklyn and Manhattan were on bad terms, but Jack was still one of his closest friends. Not to mention, newsie wars never lasted forever. Jack had asked him to stay away, so that is what he was trying to do, whether he wanted to or not. But above all of that, he was beating himself up over the fact that she had left and he couldn't protect her. He couldn't keep her safe.

As he stepped off the bridge, he was still debating on the best way to beg her to come back, when suddenly he caught sight of Kid Blink walking over towards him. There was just something about Blink that Spot didn't like. He could never put his finger on it, but for whatever reason, Blink irritated Spot every time he looked at him.

"You're not supposed to be here, Spot," Blink sneered over at him.

"Yeah, well I need to see Jack," Spot stated, never once halting his brisk pace.

"Does it have anything to do with why Myst is here?"

Suddenly Spot stopped and turned to face Blink, "You've seen her?"

"Maybe I have. Doesn't mean I'm telling you where she is." Spot was done with small talk. He marched over to Blink and punched him in his good eye. As the boy doubled over, Spot swung around and continued on his way. He knew he had crossed the thin line, but that didn't matter to him, all that mattered was her.

"Well?" Jack repeated, his impatience with Myst growing every second.

"It's- It's nothing, Jack." Myst began to walk over to her room, hoping that the subject would be dropped. She heard two sets of footsteps following her, knowing that her meager answer would not resolve the issue.

"Emm?" Someone had called her name from downstairs. She knew that voice well. Before Jack or Race could even think to stop her, she ran the rest of the length to her bedroom. Once she was inside, she quickly shut the door and locked it, before crumpling at the foot of the door. She came to Manhattan to get away from stress, yet all she was finding here was more drama.

"Emm?" Spot called out again as he reached to bunkroom. He locked eyes with a very confused Jack and Race.

"Spot? What are you doing over here?" Race asked as Spot drew closer to the two guys.

"Is Myst here?" Jack and Race glanced over at the shut door to her bedroom. Spot shoved passed them and began banging on the door. "Em-Myst, we need to talk."

"Can't it wait?" she cried back through the door. Honestly she had no clue what she was doing. She didn't know why she had locked herself in her old room. But she did know one thing; Jack was going to be furious with her.

"Myst, you need to come back with me... please." Spot nearly whispered the last part, he felt embarrassed to be saying please in front of Jack and Race. He was the tough, fearless leader of Brooklyn. He never said 'please'.

"Spot, please, can we just talk about this later," she begged out. Her heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest. It was like she was living two lives and it was all beginning to catch up with her at once.

Spot bit the inside of his mouth, forcing himself not to bark at her. He came to apologize, not to fight with her more. "No," he forced out. "We need to talk about what happened last night."

"What happened last night?" Jack sent a fatal look in Spot's direction.

"It's not what you're thinking, Jack," Myst answered. "Calm down. We just had a fight."

"Oh yeah? About what?" Jack crossed his arms, his glare never leaving Spot.

"Spot was just being a jerk. He attacked me for hanging out with some guy."

Considering that Myst didn't choose her words well, Jack slammed Spot into the door. "You attacked my sister?!"

"Calm down, Cowboy!" Spot grunted out. "We just had a little argument."

"Myst? That true?" Jack asked, decisively choosing not to believe a word of what Spot had said and therefore kept a tight hold on Spot's neck.

"Yes," Myst answered, feeling slightly guilty that she had left her reply so open to interpretation.

Jack finally released Spot, but continued to glare at him.

"Is that why you came here?" This time it was Race who spoke. Spot glanced over at the unusually silent boy. Race locked eyes with him before a look of understanding filled on his face. But before Spot could decipher just what it was Race knew, the door behind him swung open.

"Race?!" Myst had finally stepped out of her safe haven to walk over to her friend. When she got close enough to make contact, she reached out and took Race's hands in her own. "You guys are my family. I came because I missed you." She leaned forward and embraced him.

"Myst?" Jack called out from behind her. Myst paused, she wanted to pretend she couldn't hear him. Reluctantly, she let go of Race and slowly turned to face Jack. "Where did dad bring you?" his voice was firm and steady.

Myst gulped and looked down at her feet. She took a few deep breaths before raising her gaze back to her brother. Then Spot suddenly injected, "What, they don't know?

Spot glanced around at each person, but one look at the paling face of Myst answered him. He started to feel guilty that he had opened his mouth, yet an odd sense of pride swelled in him that she had trusted him enough to tell him.

"You told him but you won't tell me?!" Jack screamed out.

"Jack I-" Myst began, but Spot jumped in.

"Obviously he means the place where he left her beaten on the street. Where did you guys find her?" Myst looked over at Spot, sending him a silent thank you with her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to tell Jack the truth. Every time she thought about telling him, his words "scum beating on scum" filled her mind. She feared that if he ever found out the truth, he would never speak to her again. Myst wasn't ready to lose her brother yet.

Jack looked back over at Myst, studying her face. Slowly he turned back to Spot. "So what, you think he wants her to go back there? There is no way in hell I'm letting that happen."

"Finally, something we agree on." Spot retorted.

Myst was at a loss. She didn't know where to go from here, but she found herself drowning in the stress created by all of the lies around her. She began to feel numb, until she felt someone slip and hand into hers. She looked over and registered Race, sending her a gentle smile and directing her back into her room. Once inside, he shut the door, leaving Spot and Jack in the bunkroom.

Spot watched Race drag her into the other room. Every part of him wanted to reach out and stop him. But as he turned back to Jack, he remembered his promise.

"What the hell is really going on here, Spot? What isn't she telling me? " Jack asked, frustration evident.

"Look, I don't know anything more than you," he lied.

"I need some air," Jack reply angrily.

As Jack stormed off down the stairs, Spot looked back over at the door hiding Race and Myst. He walked over, intending to pound repeatedly on the cracked wood. But, curiosity got the better of him. Slowly he turned the knob.

Myst sat on the edge of her bed and looked over at Race. "Race, I-"

"Look, I know there is something you aren't telling us, Jack knows it too." Myst hung her head, ashamed of everything.

Race gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Listen, I know whatever it is, it has to be pretty bad. But you know that I will always be here for you. You don't have to tell me, but I'll still be here."

Myst collapsed into Race, fighting back tears. She felt like she didn't deserve such a good friend.

"I just hope," he continued, "that you didn't forget what I told you about Spot. You need to be careful with him, Myst. He uses women."

Myst finally smiled and looked back over at him. "Trust me, he and I are more likely to kill one another." As the pair began to laugh, they didn't even notice the door open.

Race stood up and reached a hand down to Myst, pulling her up off the bed. As they began to walk out of the room, they both noticed Spot, standing in the doorway.

As they exited the room, Spot stepped to the side, but never took his eyes off of them.

She glanced over at Spot, and caught him casting Race an envious glare. She was about to say something, but then Race interrupted.

"Come on, let's go find Jack," Race said as he began walking to the stairwell.

Myst stayed in her place, staring at Spot. Spot, however, was not returning her look. Instead, his eyes remained fixed on Race, resentment pouring from his glare.

"Go on ahead, Race. I need to speak with Myst." Spot didn't even wait for a reply before grabbing Myst's hand and dragging her back into her bedroom. As they entered the room, Spot quickly shut and locked the door, before pinned her back to a nearby wall, placing his hands above each of her shoulders. "We need to talk," he whispered down to her.

Trying to ignore the sparks running through her body, she murmured back, "Spot, what are you doing?"

Keeping his voice as low as a whisper, he looked her seriously in the eye, yet Myst could detect a hidden emotion that she couldn't understand. "Is there something going on between you and Race?"

Myst, while suppressing a laugh from escaping, replied, "Race?! Are you serious?"

"Is there?" This time, Myst understood what was hiding in his eyes. It was the same emotion escaping in the undertone of his voice, desperation.

"No, Spot. He's like a second brother to me, that's all."

Spot leaned his head forward so his forehead became pressed to hers while releasing a sigh of relief. But, minor relief aside, that didn't stop him from clenching his jaws and asking, "Why did you leave?"

"I don't know, I just needed to get away from the drama. Guess that didn't pan out as I planned it though," she said.

"Emm, come back with me, please. I promised no more fights."

This time, she did let a small laugh trickle. "No more fights? But that's half the fun between you and me."

He returned her laugh with a quiet one of his own, "Yeah, fighting with you is too much fun to stop." Suddenly his voice turned more serious, "You sure nothing's going on between you and Race?"

Myst raised her hand and placed it gently on the side of his face, "Spot, my heart only belongs to one guy. Now it's just up to him if he decides to choose me, or my brother." With that she ducked under his arms and strode out of her room leaving Spot leaning up against the wall.

When she walked into the bunkroom, she noticed Race standing at the top of the stairs with one eyebrow cocked up. As she walked over to him she linked arms with him and they headed down the stairs together.

In a voice barely above a whisper, Race replied in a sing-song manner, "Looks, like someone owes me two bits..."

Myst barked out a laugh before whispering back, "You haven't won the bet yet Race."

Before Race could reply, they had reached the front door. It was wide open and Myst saw Jack sitting down on the front steps alone.

"Race, can you give me a moment?" Race nodded back at Myst, understanding that this was something she needed to do alone. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before closing the door behind her and heading back up the stairs.

It took nearly a full two minutes after Myst had joined Jack on the steps for her to find her voice.

"Jack, I'm sorry for causing you problems."

Jack swiftly turned to face her, shock prevalent in his eyes. "Myst, I'm not upset with you. I'm upset with myself!"

Of all the emotions running through her, confusion was not the one she was excepting to feel. "What? Jack, what are you talking about?"

"If I had taken you with me, if I hadn't left you behind with him, maybe he wouldn't be threatening you now," he stated as though this fact should have been obvious to her. "I just wish we knew why he is blaming you."

As Myst went to reply, the doors behind them opened again as Spot stepped out. He glanced between the two of them before turning back to Myst. She noticed the note present in his hand.

"Myst, you need to come back with me. You can't stay here." The note was shaking in his hand as his grip on it began to tighten.

"Spot, I only came for the day."

Suddenly his face began to comprehend what she was saying. "But I thought... Your note made it sound like you were coming back here for good..."

Myst finally understood why he had rushed over to Manhattan, why he had been pleading with her to return. She couldn't stop the small smile from spreading on to her face.

"Don't worry, Spot. I'll walk her back." Jack supplied.

Spot hesitated at the offer for a moment before nodding his acceptance. "Have her back by tonight; your dad isn't the only one out there you need to worry about." With that Spot walked off, but not before glancing back towards Myst, sending her a small smirk.

Thankfully, Jack didn't notice. "What's he talking about?"

"Nothing, Brooklyn can just be a dangerous place at night." Myst kept her eyes on the disappearing form of Spot for as long as she could.