Free Companies Inc. Presents:

Brooklyn: One Rainy Day

A Newsies fic by Keza: Queen of Procrastination

(Chapter Four)

AN: Welcome to chapter four… And an extremely big THANK YOOOOOU! To reviewers. Yehaw! I apologize for the lengthiness/partially confusing chapter three. Definitely not one of my best. But this one should be interesting…

Reminder: My characters talk in a New Yawk accent. I just forget to write it in. So keep that in mind.

+

Wood grudgingly parted with a dime and shouldered twenty papers, muttering to himself. Spot chuckled and slapped him on the back as they wound through the masses back out to the gates.

"Relax. It's only for a day or two. You'll be an expert," Spot tried to stay serious, but a smirk crept onto his face all the same.

"You know how much I hate sellin' papes… You must be doing this purposefully," Wood growled. Spot's smirk grew.

"It builds character. Now get to work, I have to talk with Mouse," he said, motioning to a small, scrawny boy that was hanging at the outskirts of the conversation. Mouse snapped to attention and scurried over. Wood shuddered. Something about the boy positively repulsed him. He did know how Spot put up with the cowardly fool. Apparently he was a good spy, but…

Wood tipped his hat mockingly and walked off, still uneasy about leaving Spot. As his longest and most loyal friend, he was usually always around Brooklyn's leader… He still was a bit confused as to why he should be selling papers now.

A large form brushed roughly past Wood, nearly knocking the papers from his hands. He regained his balance quickly and turned to see a tall boy with scruffy black hair disappearing into an alley. His gray eyes narrowed as he recognized the figure.

'Oni…'

Seeing Wood about to take the bait and follow the larger boy into the alley, Ore quickly left his conversation and slid over.

"Wood, me boy! And how are ya this fine mornin'?" Wood merely grunted, his eyes still fixed on the alley, but Ore managed to steer him the opposite way just in case. Once the alley was gone from Wood's line of sight, he seemed to relax a little. "Hey Wood, I got a favor to ask," Ore said quietly, all humor gone from his voice. That was a rare occurrence. Wood seemed to recognize the seriousness of the issue and decided to get Oni back later.

"Anything," he answered, frowning slightly. What could be wrong? Like most everyone else who had ever met Ore, he had a soft spot for the fourteen year old boy. Horrible fighter as he may be, he was never short of a witty comeback or a joke, something that usually brightened Wood's grim days up considerably.

"Well… You know me kid brother Samus, right?" Ore's face twisted into a sour smile when he said the name. Wood nodded silently. "He's still at that orphanage… I haven't seen 'em for awhile, so I was thinking of slipping in tonight, ya know?"

"Well sure," Wood said, the frown still present. "But why would you need me? You've seen him plenty of times alone."

"I think they're getting suspicious, the owners," Ore said. "I nearly got caught myself last time. It would just be useful to have another pair of hands there, right?" Wood shrugged, willing to go but still unclear why he was being asked.

"What about Sling?" Ore grinned broadly now and said the next in a deliberately loud voice.

"Sling? Aw, he's on a date with his lover tonight. I wouldn't dream of disturbing that!" Sling glared over and spat in his direction, muttering something that would raise the rating of this story considerably as he did so. Ore chuckled, then turned serious again. "So… Will you?" Wood smiled.

"Sure… But only if you sell these papes for me," he added slyly. Ore shrugged and added the papers to his already looming stack. Known as one of the best newsies in the city, he always had more than a hundred papers - no matter what the headline. And he was never left with more than one or two at the end of the day.

"Why not? Say, I'll meet you near Ruby's around five?"

"Sounds good," there was a long - some might say awkward - pause.

"Hey… Thanks."

"Anytime," Wood nodded a goodbye and stood in the center of the now almost-empty square, now indecisive about what to do next. He remembered the rumors about a threat growing from the Bronx' leader, Lion, and figured he may as well head over to talk to some of Brooklyn's known allies about it… Harlem… Or Manhattan? Manhattan. He hadn't seen Racetrack for awhile, and the lousy bastard owed him some dues. 'Fool,' he chuckled to himself as he started walking to the bridge. 'Actually believed Ruin and Spin would stay apart…'

+

"Alright, Wood?" a small black boy swung down from the Horace Green statue.

"Hey Boots. Alright," Boots grinned.

"You must want Race."

"Haha. Find him, will ya? Oh, and Jack too."

"Jack's out selling with David."

"Huh. Then bring Davey over as well."

"Sure," Boots dropped off the statue and hurried off. Wood hung his hands in his pockets and wandered around the square, nodded hellos to a few of the familiar Manhattan newsies. For reasons still unknown, Spot had agreed to help them in a strike about six months back. They still remained allies. Peaceful as the boys were, Wood was glad for their help. Davey – now there was a smart boy. Davey was also the only boy that didn't get along with Ore. Wood grinned to remember their last encounter – insults and comebacks were flying left to right, but the fight never got physical. It boggled the mind.

A few minutes later Jack Kelly swaggered over, followed closely by David and Race at a distance – the boy was trying to light a cigar, but wasn't having much luck due to the slight drizzle developing. He spotted Wood and groaned.

"Don't tell me… They're married now, aren't they? I know it. They're married," he said, giving up on his cigar and walking forward to join him. Wood grinned again.

"Close. Pay up." Race grumbled something unintelligible and dug in his pockets, finally pulling out twenty five cents. "Don't spend it all in one place," he called over his shoulder as he made his exit before Wood could entice him into another bet. Jack eyed him from under his cowboy hat.

"'Ey Wood. What's the word from Brooklyn?"

"We're doin' fine, Jacky. Seems we may have a little problem growing in the Bronx, however." Jack frowned.

"They helped us in the strike," he said.

"Yeah, well, that was awhile ago. Lion took over a few months back. He and Spot aren't on the best of terms to begin with, and when Jeremiah was found dead-"

"He died?" Davey now. Wood sighed.

"No, he just handed his reign over to Lion. Of course he died! But now Lion's got everyone convinced that WE killed Jeremiah…"

"Did you?"

"NO!"

"Jeez. Sorry," Wood turned his attention back to Jack, who, while not as smart as David, sure wasn't as ignorant.

"So you hearing anything about this?" Jack shook his head.

"Nothing except about Lion taking over. I didn't know Jeremiah was dead," he paused. "Crutchy hasn't been walking too good, and he usually runs over to the Bronx for us." Wood liked Crutchy.

"Listen… If he does get back on his feet, I wouldn't suggest he go over there anytime soon. I know Jeremiah liked him well enough, but Lion… He's a totally different story." Jack nodded.

"I'll remember that," Jack stopped again, studying Wood's face intently. "We're behind you," he said finally. Wood smiled and ran a hand through his floppy blonde hair, a trait he had picked up from Ruin. He said nothing, but spit into his hand and held it out. Jack did the same and they shook, then Wood turned to David. He shrugged and spit-shook as well.

Wood wiped rain off of his pocket watch and squinted at the blurry face.

"Well boys, as much as I'd enjoy staying behind, I have to get back. Take care." He tipped his hat to the boys, waved cheerily to Race and left, shoulders hunched over in the rain. If he walked fast, he may just make back to Brooklyn in time.

+

Wood shook his head as he entered Ruby's, sending water flinging everywhere. Ore immediately spotted him and stood, abandoning his last newspaper at the table.

"Hey Wood. Where ya been?"

"Manhattan," Ore heard this and his smile twisted evilly.

"Oh yeah? How's me pal Davey?" Wood smiled.

"He's missin' ya sorely."

"Good. Ready?"

"Of course. And if you're waiting for the rain to stop, I've got bad news for ya…"

"Hell with the rain."

+

I love Ore. –pats Ore on the head– Ore wants you all to review this story. Remember: reviews are like peanut butter. My puppies love them and they taste good with fluff.

…

See, that would be a really good pun if I was writing a fluff story… Get it? Peanut butter and fluff… Reviews are like peanut butter… Fluff fanfictions… Hmph. Well, I think it's funny.