The dismal gray sky perfectly suited Spot's mood as he shoved his hands further into his pockets and hunched his shoulders forward in an attempt to keep warm. A cold rain started to fall as he stared out over the water. Other than Spot the dock was empty and the stores and sidewalks were nearly deserted. He knew he was the only one foolish enough to be out in that kind of weather. Spot turned away from the white-topped waves and headed back toward civilization. He was somewhat annoyed to find Jack Kelly headed in his direction and made a mental note to speak to a few of his boys about what it meant to not allow visitors. Spot rolled his eyes at the way Jack sauntered along, although he was oblivious to the wind and rain.

"Spot," Jack said as he offered the usual handshake in greeting.

"Jack," Spot answered cooly. He waited somewhat impatiently for Jack to spit out his reason for showing up in Brooklyn uninvited. The weather was growing worse by the minute but he wasn't about to be the first one to give in and seek shelter.

"Mind if we talk inside?" Jack asked with a glance up at the darkening sky.

"Suit yourself," Spot shrugged. He led Jack into the vacant warehouse and took a seat at one of the tables normally used for the poker games his boys held every so often. Jack righted a chair and pulled it up to the table across from Spot. After the strike the majority of the boroughs seemed to have forgiven Jack for his betrayal but Brooklyn was not one of them. It wasn't that Spot wanted to see Jack come to any harm, but whatever small sense of trust had existed in their relationship previously was long gone. It was clear that Jack felt uneasy and he seemed to recognize that his usual charisma would not work to his favor with Spot.

"There's gonna be a meeting tomorrow night at Irving Hall," Jack began.

"I heard," Spot replied. He had little to no interest in some trivial meeting but he did have a somewhat idle inclination to find out Jack's true purpose in walking all the way from Manhattan in the midst of a storm.

"I know you got a lid on things around here," Jack said carefully. "Probably wouldn't be anything of interest but I thought maybe you'd wanna show up at the meeting seein' how it might be my last one."

"Never figured you for the sentimental type, Jacky-boy." Spot hadn't been a bit surprised when Jack had returned in Roosevelt's carriage. No matter how many times Spot had heard Jack go on about Santa Fe he knew that the fact was Jack was too much of a coward to put his money where his mouth was and actually leave. Besides, despite all his blustering, Spot also knew that Jack liked being leader of Manhattan. David might have been the brains but it took Jack to bring that group of ragtag boys together.

"Well, with winter coming we figured it might be a good idea to sort some things out, you know? Might want to just check-in, see how things are going for—you know, the others," Jack commented.

"What makes you think I need to traipse over to Manhattan just for that? Told you before, Brooklyn takes care of our own, always has, always will."

There was a surreptitious glance around the otherwise empty space before Jack's eyes came to rest on the door to Spot's room. For a minute Spot thought Jack might actually give in and bring up what he was really there to talk about but he just drummed his fingers on the table nervously while Spot lit a cigarette. "Kinda quiet around here."

Spot had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Jack's rather obvious observation. Of course it was quiet. Half his boys had already taken up residence in the lodging house for the season, others had returned home, and every single one of the Brooklyn newsies had been sure to give Spot a wide berth since the day he'd thrown Tay to the curb. One poor bastard had made the mistake of asking Spot why he'd tossed her out and ended up missing a few teeth by the end of the night.

Jack cleared his throat. "It ain't really my business but—"

"If it ain't your business, then maybe you oughta keep your mouth shut," Spot interrupted coldly.

"—Tay ain't doing well," Jack continued hesitantly. Spot felt a brief moment of satisfaction as he imagined launching across the table and beating that concerned look right off of Jack Kelly's face but he held himself back. Seeing the look of disdain on Spot's face caused Jack to hold his hands up in the air in mock surrender. "It ain't my place, I know. The only reason I even showed up here is 'cause Race says you been giving him the cold shoulder—"

"Didn't realize you was Higgins' errand boy, Jack," Spot scorned. Of course Race was behind Jack's pathetic attempt to give advice or warn him or whatever the hell it was that Jack was trying to do. Just hearing Tay's name come out of Jack's mouth was enough to cause Spot's blood to boil. He certainly didn't want or need to hear Jack Kelly tell him anything about Tay. "She's your problem now so I don't know what the fuck you expect me to do about it."

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Jack replied dryly as he drew out a cigarette and lit it. He gazed at Spot for a moment before deciding to dive further into the abyss. "Are you going to kill her?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that?" Jack gave a small shrug as Spot just glared at him. "If I was gonna fucking kill her, she'd be dead already."

"I don't suppose you want to talk about why you threw her out," Jack commented. Spot simply stared back at him, unwavering in his disdain. "Didn't think so. Gotta say, I told Race there was no point in all this. Funny thing is, she told him the same thing."

Spot's hands drew reflexively into fists beneath the table as he forced himself to appear calm and unconcerned by the bits and pieces of information that Jack dangled in front of him. Instead of pummeling Jack into a bloody pulp, Spot reached into his pocket and laid a thin, brown paper wrapped package on the table before sliding it across to Jack.

"It's for her," Spot explained as he rose to his feet.

"What is it?" Jack asked before picking up the item and weighing it in his hand while ignoring Spot's threat.

"Just get it to her," Spot emphasized as he began to walk away. He headed toward the small room he'd once shared with Tay, hesitating in the doorway for a brief moment.

"You know, she misses you," Jack called out just before Spot slammed the door shut behind him. Spot listened for a moment as Jack's footsteps faded away.

"I miss her too," Spot admitted in a low voice to the otherwise empty room.


"I told you so," Tay muttered under her breath and scowled as she dug her thumbnail into the grooves along the table. Race didn't bother looking up from the article he was reading about some debutante found dead in a seedy hotel room in the Bowery. The police seemed to have no clue and there were arguments over whether the woman had been murdered or had died of natural causes. The article only interested Race because it gave him an excuse not to answer Tay. She had been irritable all day and by that evening he had decided ignoring her repeated attempts to get under his skin was the only way to go.

"It's not like I wanted to see him anyway," Tay claimed as she shoved a plate of otherwise untouched food across the table. There were a few newsies left scattered about the interior of the restaurant as the meeting of the boroughs drew to a close. The onset of winter meant most of the leaders felt it was necessary to come together to figure out which houses had empty beds and how to best divide their limited resources. Race had to hand it to Tay, she'd been right about the fact that Spot hadn't shown up. In fact, not one kid from Brooklyn had made an appearance that night. It was fairly evident that Spot was sending a message, Brooklyn could take care of itself.

"Yes, you did," Race said mildly, still not looking up from the article. For a minute he considered that she might be ill given how little he'd seen her eat in the last few weeks and it would certainly explain her mood swings but he was more inclined to blame it all on the fact that it'd been a little over two months since she'd been home or had any contact with anyone from Brooklyn. "Mush told me all about what you've been doing lately."

"Oh, yeah? Well whatever he told you is a lie 'cause I ain't even tried going back there."

"Didn't say you had," Race pointed out. "But you have been spending every day down at the harbor, moping around the waterfront and Mush told me you ain't said more than two words to him even though you demanded I let you sell with him. I also happen to know you've been stealing again."

"Good for you," Tay muttered as she stared out the window to her right. She turned toward him for a brief moment with a look of disdain. "I'm guessing that Corona in your vest pocket just happened to end up there by accident, right?"

Race closed the newspaper and folded it in half before dropping it onto the table. "Look, kid, I ain't telling you what to do-"

"Sure sounds like it," Tay scoffed.

"What did you mean when you said Spot ain't always like this?" Race asked, deciding to change his approach. Their conversation that night on the roof had been bugging him for awhile but Tay was always so guarded and fell back into stormy silence so easily that he hadn't really had the energy to even attempt to talk to her about it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tay answered as she pulled the newspaper closer. Race had left the page open to the article he was reading but Tay flipped to the front page and scanned the date line with a somber expression. Race let out an exasperated sigh but remained determined to get to the bottom of it.

"You was telling me about how he reads to you," Race said with a small smile. "Gotta say, that's hard to imagine."

Tay turned her eyes back to the view outside the window, watching the passers-by as Race sat back and crossed his arms, unwilling to let it go. Tay's shoulders dropped just a bit as she finally murmured, "He don't sleep. The books help. At least that's what he told me one time. So when things get real bad, he reads or just stays there. With me."

Each word seemed to be a struggle and Race understood it was necessary to let Tay take her time. She'd always been defiant and stubborn so he knew that getting any kind of glimpse into what had driven Spot to send her away would take patience. Tay's relationship with Spot had always been a bit of a mystery and so Tay's willingness to reveal any detail, no matter how small, was a step forward in Race's opinion.

"I ain't as stupid as you think I am." Tay continued to keep her gaze on the people outside as though Race wasn't even there. She didn't notice the way Race opened his mouth to protest and closed it again quickly. "Kieran used to tell me to stay away from him, too. He was always telling me that Spot Conlon wasn't good for me or for anyone but he was wrong…" Tay's voice trailed off and Race remained absolutely still, not wanting to interrupt. Tay sighed heavily and bit at her bottom lip before continuing. "Spot was the one who took care of me when Kier spent our food money on a dice game or at the track. Then, Kier died and…it was just…Spot is the only reason I'm still here, Race. I owe him everything."

"That gives him the right to knock you around?" Race asked, irritated by her continued defense of Spot and his behavior toward her.

Tay finally turned her eyes toward Race and he could tell the question had disturbed her. Tay started to say something but stopped herself and settled for just glaring at Race before her attention was drawn across the room to where Jack, David, and Sarah shared a table. "Thought you said Mouth went back to school."

"Guess he ain't the only one who can't leave the past behind," Race commented dryly. He noticed Sarah staring at Tay with a curious expression and it wasn't long before Sarah rose and crossed the table toward them.

"Be nice," Race warned Tay just before Sarah stopped at the end of the booth Race was sharing with Tay. The problem was Tay enjoyed getting a rise out of Race and he noticed Tay smirking devilishly as she looked up at Sarah.

"Are you Tay?" Sarah asked with trepidation.

"That's the rumor," Tay answered, ignoring the way Race was shooting daggers at her. Sarah placed a thin package on the table and pushed it toward Tay.

"I'm meant to give that to you," Sarah explained. Race slid over and made room so Sarah could take a seat which she accepted.

"From who?" Tay asked. She eyed the brown paper wrapping as though Sarah had laid a snake on the table.

"A boy brought it by while David and I were on our way here," Sarah explained. "He said to give it to a girl named Tay and that you'd be here with Racetrack."

"You're a horrible liar," Tay remarked as she looked Sarah up and down. Sarah's face grew flushed but she otherwise kept her composure.

"Tay!" Race snapped but he was ignored.

"What'd he look like?" Tay asked.

"He didn't really stick out as someone I've seen before," Sarah answered. "To be honest, he was gone before I could even ask any questions or get a good look at him."

Race caught on fairly quickly to what was going on. "You think it was Spot?"

"Don't be stupid," Tay scorned. "She knows what Spot looks like. She sat right next to him at the rally."

There was a slight edge in the tone of Tay's voice that led Race to suspect that jealousy was one of the motives driving Tay to act so rudely to Sarah. He vaguely remembered Sarah sitting at the same table as Spot the night of the rally, but he hadn't known that Tay was also there that night and witnessed the two together.

"Where'd you really get this?" Tay asked as she reached over and grabbed the small item. She undid the twine and grew deathly pale as she opened the wrapping. Race could only make out a glimpse of a deep blue ribbon before Tay folded the paper shut again quickly. He could tell from her reaction that his gut instinct had been right, the gift was from Spot.

"Spot gave it to Jack to give to you," Sarah admitted quietly. She studied Tay with a look of genuine concern. "I think, maybe, that he…"

"Don't. It's bad enough coming from him," Tay interrupted as she gestured toward Race. She unfolded the wrapping and lifted the ribbon out. She wound and unwound the blue satin around her fingers repeatedly before she glanced over at Sarah. "How'd you do it?"

"How did I do what?" Sarah frowned in confusion.

"How did you get him to smile that night at the rally?" Tay explained.

"I-I don't really know," Sarah replied honestly. "I didn't really notice him."

"Sure," Tay said absent-mindedly. The material slid out of her hands and onto the surface of the table before Tay crumpled it up and stuck it in the bag by her side.

"I know we just met but if there's anything I can do to help" Sarah began but Tay shook her head dismissively.

"She's trying to be nice," Race pointed out.

"That's what you all are here, ain't it? You're all so nice," Tay scorned. "Well forget it, Race. I don't need you or your goody two-shoes friend helping me. You can both f-"

"Watch your mouth," Race interjected. Without another word Tay slid out of the booth and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Race and Sarah sitting in wonderment. There was a long moment of silence as both reflected back on the conversation. Race hadn't gotten any closer to any answers and he tried to quell his feelings of anger and frustration when he heard Sarah ask a question that stunned him.

"Do you think Spot knows about the baby?"

Race's throat almost closed up in shock but he managed to stammer out a reply. "Baby?"

"I shouldn't have said anything," Sarah blushed deeply. She met Race's questioning look with a shrug. "Call it woman's intuition."


An icy draft of air as he got to the top of the stairs alerted Spot to the fact that someone else was in the lodge house attic with him. A quick glance around the room led him to the bed where Tay had fallen asleep, her hands still clutching the faded quilt tightly around her shoulders as though it could offer her protection from the evils of the world. Spot still remembered that winter night he'd discovered her on the snow covered stoop outside her family's home, the look of a frightened animal in her eyes. It had been her first and only attempt at returning home and Spot soon found out it hadn't gone well. Tay had stood stone-faced as she explained that her mother had turned her out, blaming Tay for Kieran's death and telling her to never darken their doorstep again. Tay had stolen the quilt and since that day it had been a staple in her life as Tay dragged it from one hovel to the next when she and Spot moved throughout the city. Some odd sense of nostalgia had caused him to bring it with him from the waterfront when he'd taken up winter residence in the lodging house. A bit of wax dripped onto the small wooden table next to the bed as he set down his slingshot, cane, and hat. Spot slipped his boots off silently and set them on the floor before stretching out alongside Tay. He leaned his elbow onto the pillow and sat with his head propped on his hand, brushing the hair off of Tay's face with his other hand. He couldn't contain a smirk when he felt the tip of a knife at his chest and found Tay staring straight back into his eyes.

"Should have just let me sleep."

"You wasn't sleeping, doll." His eyes flicked down to the point where she held the knife against his chest. He looked back up and met her cold look with one of amusement. "What are you planning on doing with that, exactly? Gonna kill me?"

"Yes," Tay answered in a low, determined voice.

"Better get to it, then," Spot told her, watching Tay's face carefully. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes smoldered with anger but he could barely keep from smiling as he looked her. To see her so unreserved, so reckless was a fairly unusual sight and he took a moment to admire it. "Bit of advice, though?" Her hand clutched more tightly around the hilt as he reached down and drew her wrist up, placing the blade just under his jaw. "It'll be easier this way. More blood but easier than stabbing me in the chest." He pressed the tip of the knife down until it made a slight impression in his skin. While Tay struggled with her decision Spot released her wrist and toyed with the cobalt blue ribbon she had wound around the braided end of her hair. "I see you got my present. It looks good on you."

"Don't change the subject," Tay answered. Her entire body trembled as he worked his way closer but he was careful to keep his touches light and avoided his usual possessive way of holding her. She did still have a knife to his throat and although he knew she wasn't going to do anything, he wanted her to believe she had the upper hand. He shifted his weight and intertwined one of his legs between hers, pinning her to the bed and sliding one hand up under the quilt and down her body. Tay grew as still as death when Spot ran his hand over the slight swelling of her abdomen, the only outward sign of her pregnancy. Little had she known how much time he had spent watching her and so it hadn't taken long before he discovered what she was clearly trying so hard to keep hidden from everyone else.

"Still trying to keep secrets from me, doll?" Spot murmured. Tay's breathing quickened and Spot reached up with his free hand to pry the knife away from her. There was a clatter as he dropped it to the floor alongside the bed and out of her reach.

"Give it back," Tay said weakly.

"My house, my rules," Spot told her. He slipped his other hand around her back and curled his fingers against her spine, pulling her closer. The warmth of her body radiated through her thin dress and he was overwhelmed with feelings as she pressed against him. "So, since we both know you ain't really here to kill me, what are you doing here, doll?"

He needed to hear her say it, to tell him what he already knew so he could fill that deafening silence that had existed since the moment he'd thrown her out of his life. He had missed her than he could ever admit and he was still hesitant even though she was right there in front of him. After all, it was his revealing one small feeling that had caused the whole mess in the first place.

"I don't know," Tay sighed as her eyes searched his face. After a long moment of silence she reached up and pulled him in close, kissing him deeply. When they finally broke apart Tay's face was flushed and Spot's eyes gleamed in triumph. "This don't mean I forgive you, so you don't look at me like that."

"You're the one crawling into my bed in the middle of the night and kissing me so I'll look at you any way I want," Spot told her. He placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her face up until she was forced to look straight at him. "I want an answer. What are you doing here?"

"I got my own question," Tay countered. She lifted her braided hair up by the ribbon. "What the hell is this? Why did you send it to me?"

"You know why," Spot answered. Tay let her hair fall back onto the pillow and tried to push back away from Spot but he wasn't about to let her go so easily.

"So you throw me out of Brooklyn but still felt like remembering my birthday?" Tay asked scornfully.

"Our birthday," Spot corrected. Before Tay had entered his life Spot had never even thought about birthdays as the idea of celebrating one's life seemed reserved for people who weren't living on the streets and struggling to survive on scraps of food. Sharing a birthday had been her idea but since neither could remember their actual birthdate Tay came up with one for them both.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone," Tay said quietly. She dropped her eyes down to where the worn metal key hung between them. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know," Spot admitted.

"Then why?" It was Spot's turn to be at a loss for words and Tay seemed to instinctively realize that no honest answer would be forthcoming as she slid away from Spot and stared up at the ceiling. When she finally spoke, her voice was bitter. "Just say it. You had to protect yourself. You're still the king of Brooklyn and that's all that really matters. You said you can't lose me but that isn't it, is it? You can lose me just as long as you get to keep Brooklyn."

"That ain't true," Spot managed to mumble but he wasn't sure Tay even heard him.

"Why don't you just get it over with?" Tay asked as she turned back toward Spot. "You're always threatening to do it so just go ahead and kill me. I've seen what you've done to people who have threatened you so go on, do it. Why haven't you done it before?"

"'Cause I love you. Now shut up and go to sleep."