A/N: Hey folks! I'm back again, and here's another chapter for ya, hope ya
enjoy it. I really want to improve a lot of what I've written, I'm not
exactly proud of it, but I'll try to keep the updates coming. As it is,
here's the next chapter! Go, read and REVIEW!!!
As scared as I was, I still somehow managed to fall asleep. The adrenaline rush gave out, I guess, and I was exhausted. I kept my mouth shut and closed my eyes, thinking of home for the first time in ages, and fell asleep. When I woke up, the room was bright with mid-morning sunlight, streaming in through the few too-small-to-escape-through windows that made me guess I was in the basement of some building- who the hell knows where. I sat up, rubbing my eyes- the headache was mostly gone, but the spot on my head where I'd been hit was sore.
Standing over me, as if he'd known I was going to wake up at that moment, was a well-built 18-year-old with fire engine red hair. I'd finally come face to face with the person who'd been terrorizing the newsies and who'd ordered (and no doubt arranged) my kidnapping- the leader of the Shadows himself- Red. I just looked up at him (sarcastically, as always), not knowing what to make of him. He was strong- he could hurt me, if he wanted to- and smart, but streetsmart, not intelligent, it was obvious. He was also cocky- he had what looked like a permanent smirk, similar to Spot's- but Spot's was deserved, his was not. He got to his position by forming alliances and pulling other people down, not winning it honestly. There was a trace of deceit, as plain as day, in every moment he made, and it settled in his eyes.
Yeah, I was scared. But he wasn't unbeatable, and that gave me optimism. If I could just keep my mouth shut until someone showed up, I might make it through alive.
~*~*~*~
Spot showed up at Tibby's just as the last of the newsies were leaving. Jack was still inside, one of the last to leave, but Spot grabbed him as he came out.
He didn't waste time. "Jackie-boy we'se got problems."
Jack's face darkened. "Spill."
"It ain't newsies," Spot informed him. Jack looked confused. "It's some goddamned gang, called da Shadows. Outta Queens. Dey wants territory, dey ain't got much, dey already gots some a Queens, an' dey figure Manhattan's easiah ta get den da rest of it."
"So how do dey plan on takin' it? Da only claim we'se got on da territory is sellin' spots, we don't own it."
"Ya live heah. Dat's all dey need. Jack, it's more complicated den just dat," Spot said, almost warning.
Jack looked at him, sensing there was something Spot wasn't telling him. He finally realized what it had to be and asked, "Treble?"
Spot nodded. "Shit," Jack said. "How?"
"Ya remembah me boy Aces, showed up a couple a months ago?"
Jack nodded. "Da quiet one, dat can beat almost anybody at pokah?"
"Yeah. He got 'er las' night, 'im an' a few of da gang. I'se got half a clue wheah she is, but I ain't shoah." He frowned. "Da leadah's got a rep. He's good, but he ain't dat good. An' he'll take what he wants from her an' he ain't gonna waste no time on it."
"Almost sounds like ya got a plan," Jack commented, evenly.
Spot smirked. "I do."
~*~*~*~
"No need ta ask yer name," I said. "Not wid' dat head a hair."
He smirked. "What, ya got a problem with it?"
"Nah, ain't got nuttin' poisonal against redheads. Don't fall head ovah heels for 'em either, though. Now, me friend Ashley, ya so much as point one out to 'er an' she's gone." I was babbling, and I knew it, but I needed some way to get rid of the tension that was building up.
"Dey told me an awful lot about you but dey nevah mentioned dat ya didn't shut up."
"I only shut up when I'se got a reason to. An' who's 'they'?" I challenged.
"Funny. I t'ought ya were smart enough ta have figured dat out. An' if ya *don't* shut up I'll *give* ya a reason to, awlright?" he threatened.
"Ya got a deal," I said, evenly, looking him in the eye. I wasn't about to show him I was intimidated.
"Good," he replied. "Now, we'se got business to attend to," he said, sitting in a chair next to the bed. I moved away involuntarily. He smirked.
~*~*~*~
It was later that same day. Spot, Jack, and a few choice boys from both Manhattan and Brooklyn, all of them in their later teens, sat in the "parlor" of the Manhattan Lodging House.
"We'se gotta put a stop ta dis," Jack was saying. "It's getting' old an' it's getting' deadly." The newsies all nodded their agreement. "Spot, you got a plan?" he asked.
Spot nodded. "Yeah. An' it's gonna take awl of us. Now, here's what we do."
A/N: Corny? Sure. Dramatic? Overly. Predictable? Hells yes. My apologies. But I really just had to get it out of my system.and now it's gone. So.next chapter. Coming soon. When my brain decides to work again. And haha it is going to kick ass. So don't stop reading just because of this chapter- the best is yet to come, I promise. Hope you enjoyed it, now be nice and go review!
As scared as I was, I still somehow managed to fall asleep. The adrenaline rush gave out, I guess, and I was exhausted. I kept my mouth shut and closed my eyes, thinking of home for the first time in ages, and fell asleep. When I woke up, the room was bright with mid-morning sunlight, streaming in through the few too-small-to-escape-through windows that made me guess I was in the basement of some building- who the hell knows where. I sat up, rubbing my eyes- the headache was mostly gone, but the spot on my head where I'd been hit was sore.
Standing over me, as if he'd known I was going to wake up at that moment, was a well-built 18-year-old with fire engine red hair. I'd finally come face to face with the person who'd been terrorizing the newsies and who'd ordered (and no doubt arranged) my kidnapping- the leader of the Shadows himself- Red. I just looked up at him (sarcastically, as always), not knowing what to make of him. He was strong- he could hurt me, if he wanted to- and smart, but streetsmart, not intelligent, it was obvious. He was also cocky- he had what looked like a permanent smirk, similar to Spot's- but Spot's was deserved, his was not. He got to his position by forming alliances and pulling other people down, not winning it honestly. There was a trace of deceit, as plain as day, in every moment he made, and it settled in his eyes.
Yeah, I was scared. But he wasn't unbeatable, and that gave me optimism. If I could just keep my mouth shut until someone showed up, I might make it through alive.
~*~*~*~
Spot showed up at Tibby's just as the last of the newsies were leaving. Jack was still inside, one of the last to leave, but Spot grabbed him as he came out.
He didn't waste time. "Jackie-boy we'se got problems."
Jack's face darkened. "Spill."
"It ain't newsies," Spot informed him. Jack looked confused. "It's some goddamned gang, called da Shadows. Outta Queens. Dey wants territory, dey ain't got much, dey already gots some a Queens, an' dey figure Manhattan's easiah ta get den da rest of it."
"So how do dey plan on takin' it? Da only claim we'se got on da territory is sellin' spots, we don't own it."
"Ya live heah. Dat's all dey need. Jack, it's more complicated den just dat," Spot said, almost warning.
Jack looked at him, sensing there was something Spot wasn't telling him. He finally realized what it had to be and asked, "Treble?"
Spot nodded. "Shit," Jack said. "How?"
"Ya remembah me boy Aces, showed up a couple a months ago?"
Jack nodded. "Da quiet one, dat can beat almost anybody at pokah?"
"Yeah. He got 'er las' night, 'im an' a few of da gang. I'se got half a clue wheah she is, but I ain't shoah." He frowned. "Da leadah's got a rep. He's good, but he ain't dat good. An' he'll take what he wants from her an' he ain't gonna waste no time on it."
"Almost sounds like ya got a plan," Jack commented, evenly.
Spot smirked. "I do."
~*~*~*~
"No need ta ask yer name," I said. "Not wid' dat head a hair."
He smirked. "What, ya got a problem with it?"
"Nah, ain't got nuttin' poisonal against redheads. Don't fall head ovah heels for 'em either, though. Now, me friend Ashley, ya so much as point one out to 'er an' she's gone." I was babbling, and I knew it, but I needed some way to get rid of the tension that was building up.
"Dey told me an awful lot about you but dey nevah mentioned dat ya didn't shut up."
"I only shut up when I'se got a reason to. An' who's 'they'?" I challenged.
"Funny. I t'ought ya were smart enough ta have figured dat out. An' if ya *don't* shut up I'll *give* ya a reason to, awlright?" he threatened.
"Ya got a deal," I said, evenly, looking him in the eye. I wasn't about to show him I was intimidated.
"Good," he replied. "Now, we'se got business to attend to," he said, sitting in a chair next to the bed. I moved away involuntarily. He smirked.
~*~*~*~
It was later that same day. Spot, Jack, and a few choice boys from both Manhattan and Brooklyn, all of them in their later teens, sat in the "parlor" of the Manhattan Lodging House.
"We'se gotta put a stop ta dis," Jack was saying. "It's getting' old an' it's getting' deadly." The newsies all nodded their agreement. "Spot, you got a plan?" he asked.
Spot nodded. "Yeah. An' it's gonna take awl of us. Now, here's what we do."
A/N: Corny? Sure. Dramatic? Overly. Predictable? Hells yes. My apologies. But I really just had to get it out of my system.and now it's gone. So.next chapter. Coming soon. When my brain decides to work again. And haha it is going to kick ass. So don't stop reading just because of this chapter- the best is yet to come, I promise. Hope you enjoyed it, now be nice and go review!