A/N: Millions of 'thank you' s to all my loverly reviewers! You guys are amazing! I have to say, though, I'm a little disappointed. I only got a couple reviews from my regulars. Where are the rest of you guys? Have you left me? (sniffle) I hope not! To the rest of you, however, (both faithfuls and newbies)... I am forever in your debt! You keep me going! Thanks a ton! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I was reading over my past couple chapters, and I'm coming to realize how horribly cruel I am to my dear Spot. (looks guilty) I feel kinda bad... poor guy only really deserves about half of what I give him... (sighs) Oh... OH! I almost forgot... I own every character in this chapter. (smiles proudly) Okay... off with you, then! The world of Brooklyn awaits!

Hawk entered the bunkroom cautiously. Glancing around, she found that no one occupied it. Not that she had been expecting anyone. Not this early in the afternoon. It wasn't late enough for lunch, and it was too early for a newsie to be finished selling. But Hawk had bought under her usual number of papers, and they had sold fast. She smiled. If she hadn't been so determined to finish, she would have bought more. It was a nice headline.

Now, however, she had to hurry before someone found out where she was going… before she ruined her carefully constructed plans. She grabbed her brush from under her pillow, and then lifted her mattress from her bunk. She sighed in relief. It was still there. She grabbed the clothing hidden beneath the mattress and hurried to the washroom. Standing in front of one of the only mirrors that wasn't cracked, she ran the brush through here thick, wavy hair, pulling half of it back into a ponytail. Then she discarded her newsie garb for the only thing that still reminded her of her past life… a dress she kept hidden under her mattress. It was a little small, but she hadn't grown that much since the time she'd been brought to the lodging house. She double checked her appearance in the small mirror. "'Bout as good as it's gonna get," she breathed to her reflection.

"I'd say you look pretty nice, Hawk. Goin' somewhere?"

She gasped, spinning to find Muck leaning against the doorframe of the washroom, one eyebrow raised in speculation. "Uh… well, I just… wanted to see if it still fit, ya know?" She looked down at the skirt of the dress. It'd been a while since she'd worn anything so girly. "It's nice for a girl to get to wear something feminine every once in a while."

"Uh-huh."

She looked back at him to find him smiling slightly, his eyes betraying his amusement at her explanation. "Oh, okay," she consented, "I'm goin' somewhere."

He straightened. "Ah… I see."

She bit her lip. He was one of her best friends, especially after Kale left. She hated lying to him. "I… I was asked to go to lunch." She peeked up at him. All amusement had left his face at her words.

"Oh." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well… have a good time."

"A gentleman I sold a paper to asked me," she supplied despite the fact that he hadn't asked for an explanation. It was a lie, but it also wasn't unheard of. Boy newsies found rich girlfriends, and girl newsies would every once in a while get asked to lunch by some rich fellow. "He, uh," she thought hard for some kind of compliment this imaginary suitor could have given her. She winced as words spoken to her by another boy replayed in her mind… 'Such spectacular eyes, Mel. I've always loved your eyes…' "He said he liked my eyes."

Muck nodded, his emotions now hidden as most Brooklyn dwellers had long since learned to do. "They're certainly unique."

She blinked. "Really?" She hadn't been expecting him to say that.

He met her eyes. "Never seen anythin' like 'em." He shrugged. "I ain't gonna lie, Hawk. You're gorgeous." He nodded once, as if the compliment was merely a fact. "He bettah treat ya good, got it?" She wasn't sure what to say to that, so she merely nodded. He gave her a strained smile. "Good."

"Wait… Muck," she called as he began to leave. He paused, looking back over his shoulder. "Thanks."

His eyes sparkled for a moment. "More than welcome."

ooooooooo

After quite a bit of walking, Hawk found herself exactly where she wanted to be… Queens. She had to constantly remind herself that she wasn't wearing the clothes of a newsie any longer, so she shouldn't have to worry about the Queens boys getting territorial. Besides, her reason for coming had nothing to do with them or Brooklyn. She wasn't spying for Spot. She had come to visit a friend. The problem was… she had no idea where that friend lived. She replayed the conversation from a few weeks ago in her head…

She's livin' in Queens… stayin at the lady's house and it ain't a bad place ta be. Looks like she's pretty well off, ya know? Kale was talkin' all proper, wearin' a dress an' everythin'…

"Dorris," Hawk said to herself. "He said her name was Dorris…" She thought for a moment. Her choices were few. She could ask around, but the probability of there being more than one Dorris in Queens was high.

"Heya, sweetface," a voice broke into her musings. "What's a pretty girl like you just standin' around for? And all alone too…"

She stiffened. There was another thing about being in Queens that she didn't like… besides the fact that they didn't like Brooklyn one bit. It was what had kept her from going the day after she heard Kale was residing there. He lived there, and she would have recognized his voice anywhere…

Panicking, she began to run. She had no idea where she was going, she just knew she had to get out of there. She hadn't even looked at the boy. It was possible that she'd been wrong. It could have been any boy in Queens, but she wasn't taking chances. As far as she knew… he still thought she was dead.

Frightened tears began to stream down her face as she heard the heavy footsteps follow her into alleyway after alleyway. Nobody knew where she was. Muck thought she was having lunch with some rich stranger. There'd be no one to find her this time. No one to save her…

She screamed as a strong hand clamped on her arm, spinning her around to face her worst nightmare. She stopped breathing, her eyes wide with terror as they met his. They were the eyes that she'd never been able to forget… on a face that still haunted her dreams. "Please…" she whimpered pitifully, unable to even finish her plea.

His eyes were wide as well. He dropped her arm as if it had burned him, and took three steps backwards. After blinking a few times at her cowering form, he licked his lips. "Melanie?" He shook his head in disbelief. "No… you're… you're dead. I-" he stopped, a smile appearing on his face. It was the same smile she remembered. The one that he always used to get before he…

And then he was kissing her, and she found herself melting into his embrace. It had been so long… too long. "Mel… how did?... You're… so… beautiful… I'm… sorry…" he muttered between kisses. His arms pulled her closer to him as he tightened his embrace. She was powerless, as she always was when he kissed her. Ever since that first night…

And it scared her to death.