Disclaimer: Been a while since I put one of these up.are they necessary in every chapter? *shrug* Oh well, here goes.don't own 'em, never will. Flare is mine, always will be, and no one else can have her. *wipes forehead* That was fun.

1 Chapter 6

James pulled the door open for Flare as they walked into the lodging house.

"How polite," Flare joked. "Thanks."

"So how long ya been heah?" James asked her.

"Umm, I think 2 years, but-" she frowned, "-I don't rally keep track." They walked up to the front desk & Flare looked around.

"Hey Kloppman!" she yelled. An old man wearing a pair of glasses & holding a cane came rushing into the room. Flare grinned.

"Got a new one," she explained. The old man nodded.

"Name?"

James turned to Flare, unsure over whether or not to give his real name. Would just the nickname be okay? Flare caught on quickly.

"Kid Blink," she answered for him, giving him a wicked grin.

"Blink," he corrected, reddening a little. Kloppman smiled knowingly & pushed a book towards him.

"Maybe you should sign it yourself," he instructed. James nodded & picked up the pen when a sudden thought struck Flare. She nudged him a little.

"Ya know how ta write, don't ya?" she whispered. James looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah," he answered, sounding a little offended. Flare winced inwardly; she hadn't meant it that way. James quickly signed his name in & pushed the book back towards Kloppman. The old man looked at the signature & back up at James.

"Decided on Kid Blink, eh?" he said.

"What?" James cried, grabbing the book back. Sure enough, there was Kid Blink, written on the little line. He groaned, & Kloppman & Flare laughed.

"Cost for stayin' is 5 cents a night," Kloppman explained. "Ya hafta get your own breakfast an' lunch, but you can eat dinner here. Flare, take him up to the bunkroom." Flare nodded & tapped James's arm, motioning to him to follow her up the stairs. They walked in silence. 'Great,' James thought. 'Now she thinks I'm some idiot who can't even spell my own name.'

"Dis way," Flare said, interrupting his thoughts. She pushed open a door that led to a room filled with bunks. To the side was a washroom that contained several sinks, a couple showers, several stalls, & a water pump with a tin tub sitting next to it.

"Let's see," Flare muttered to herself. She was standing near the door, scanning her eyes over the bunks, arms folded across her chest. She stood like this a few seconds before walking over to one of the bunks.

"Dis one is empty," she said, motioning to the top bunk. "Ya can sleep heah." Nodding, James walked over & painfully pulled himself op onto the bunk.

"Need some help?" Flare inquired, noticing when he winced. He shook his head firmly & pulled himself into a cross-legged position. Flare crossed her arms on the mattress & leaned her chin down. Finally, she spoke up.

"Why're ya mad?"

"I ain't," James replied, caught a little off-guard.

"Yeah, ya are," Flare stated matter-of-factly. "It's written all over yer face." They stared at each other for a few seconds before James answered her question.

"Why'd ya ask me if I could write?"

"Just makin' sure," Flare responded with a shrug.

"Did ya think I was dat dumb?"

"I got asked the same thing. Everyone does, 'cause there are some kids who nevah loined. It ain't just you." She started to walk away.

"Where ya goin'?" James asked her. She looked at him over her shoulder.

"My bunk," she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She crossed the room & climbed onto one of the top bunks, leaning back. She tossed her cap aside & folded her arms behind her head, closing her eyes & yawning. James chuckled & Flare opened one eye again to look at him.

"Ain't had much time ta just relax," she explained. "Dis place is usually crowded as hell, an' twice as noisy. Kinda nice now dat's it's quiet." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Don't got a cap, do ya?"

"Nope," James answered. "Why?" Flare shook her head & closed her eyes, yawning again.

"Just curious," she replied. She sighed to herself, enjoying the rare afternoon of peace. After a day of selling, she usually went to Tibby's for lunch with the rest of the group. After that, the day was hers. Some days she'd go down to the racetracks, sometimes she'd spend the afternoon just sitting on the front steps or the roof with a bunch of the guys, and sometimes she'd walk around with Mush. Occasionally, when it was hot, she'd go down to Brooklyn to go swimming, but she & Spot didn't get along at all, & such instances were rare. She never went down by herself; last time she tried that Spot had some of his friends run her out. Usually she wouldn't suffer the humiliation of running away, but it would have been hard to fight off 5 or 6 guys who outweighed her by about 100 pounds each. In any case, she rarely had an afternoon to herself.

'Well,' she reminded herself, 'I ain't really alone.' She lifted her head a little to look at James. He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't see his face from her position, but it seemed apparent he was thinking about something. She frowned & closed her eyes again. 'What was he hiding?' she wondered. The door banging open interrupted her thoughts.

James jumped at the sound of the door, his nerves immediately set on edge. He relaxed a little when a short, Italian-looking kid sauntered in, hand at his temple. Flare looked over lazily & rolled her eyes.

"What the hell are ya doin' back?" she said accusingly. The other guy snorted & threw his cap at Flare. She grinned & threw it back.

"Thanks fer the warm welcome," he replied, "an' I heah 'cause I ain't feelin' so good." He walked over & lay down on the bunk underneath James, not noticing the boy above him. Flare rolled onto her stomach & turned to face him.

"What're ya doin' back so soon?" the other kid asked Flare.

"Had ta help sign the new kid in."

"What new kid?"

Flare pointed upward & James grinned. The other kid frowned but got off his bunk slowly. He jumped back a little when he saw James sitting there.

"Da name's Race," he introduced after getting over the initial surprise.

"Blink," James replied, reaching out to shake hands.

"Kid Blink!" Flare called out. Racetrack put a hand to his temple.

"Jeez, Flare," he groaned, "I got a headache!" He lay back down on his bunk w/his cap over his eyes. Flare just grinned again.

"So how'd you two meet?" Race asked from underneath his cap. James shrugged.

"Had a little trouble, Flare helped me out."

"He had a run-in with the Delancey bastards," Flare offered.

"So what'd ya do Flare?" Race peeked out from underneath his cap.

"Rearranged their faces a little bit," Flare replied. Race laughed.

"'Atta goil!" he said, cracking a smile. "Guess I taught ya pretty good."

"It's natural," Flare claimed, flexing a muscle jokingly. "I coulda taken dem out blindfolded wi-"

"With an arm an' a leg tied behind yer back," Race finished. "I know. I hoid it a thousand times."

"Yeah, well, it ain't my yer little sister kicks ass bettah than ya."

"Wait a second," James interrupted. "Sister?" Race & Flare looked at each other & shrugged.

"Yeah, sister," Flare confirmed. "Race is older-but he's shorter."

"Put a sock in it," Race muttered before retreating back under his cap. Flare just grinned & continued talking.

"Race had been heah a couple years before me; he ran away when we were kids. One day I just decided ta try an' find him, an' we ran inta each othah in the street. He brought me heah, an' the rest is history."

"My head hurts," Race complained.

"I can fix dat," Flare said.

"How?" Race moved his cap off his face. Flare jumped off of her bunk, strode over to Race, & punched him in the shoulder.

"Now yer arm hurts," she replied. "Concentrate on dat." She snickered & dodged the fist Race threw in her direction.

"You should be a doctah," James joked. "People'd be runnin' to ya fer help."

"Sure dey would," Flare said w/a laugh. "An' I'm the mayah's daughtah."

"Trust me, ya ain't," Race commented. Flare glared at him & kicked the bunk. Race turned onto his stomach & buried his head under his pillow.

"Damn you," he muttered. Flare just laughed & walked back to her bunk, climbing up onto it.

"What're ya doin'?" James asked her.

"Getting' some sleep while I still can," she replied. "You should probably do the same."

"Why?"

"Early mornin's." She gestured to Race, who had dozed off. "See, he's got the right idea." She yawned. "Well, if yer not gonna sleep, don't wander too far, 'cause I ain't gonna come lookin' fer ya." James looked a little stricken & she laughed. "Just kiddin'." She yawned again. "Well, g'night."

"Good afternoon," James corrected.

"Whatevah."

Within a few minutes, Flare was out. Faced with the sudden quiet, James leaned back, casting a look at his surroundings. The bunkroom was simple- rows of metal bunks with striped sheets & a blanket on each bed. James ran over the day's events in his head as he looked around. He figured that everything had gone alright. Well, with the exception of the alley, but he thought even that wasn't that bad. He had caught Flare's attention, after all, & that had given him a job & a place to live, all at once. He quietly got off his bunk, as not to wake Race, & walked over to the window. He gazed out over the city streets, finally feeling free. Free from his old life & the old man who had filled it with torment. He looked down at his shoes, swallowing hard. There was a nagging feeling, tugging at the back of his mind. He felt like, even though a new chapter in his life had begun, the last one wasn't quite finished yet. The biggest question was, how would that effect the story?