Ice's POV
Turning to look at Dodger was like seeing her 3 years ago. She never was one to age quickly. People had always thought she was younger then what she was. At that point she would get into a fight and every now and then I'd have to pull her out. Her hair was plastered against her heard and the nightgown she was in hung slightly off her left shoulder. One thing you could count on with Dodge though was the fierceness when someone didn't give her an answer.
"I asked, where am I?"
Jack and I got up from chairs and walked to either side of the bed. Dodger had moved herself up against the bed board and with crossed arms, glared at both of us until Jack answered.
"You're in your room in the Bronx."
"How?"
I pulled up a chair to her bed and sat down.
"After the confrontation, you ran down the stairs, tripped over a Newsie and hit your head pretty badly."
A worked over hand went to her forehead to feel the stitches.
"Why are you here? You didn't care about me before, why now?"
Damn, why was she hurting me so much? I could feel the stinging sensation come to my eyes and quickly wiped the water away. Dodger had always hated to see me cry. I guess Jack was getting a bit fed up with her attitude because he answered those questions.
"She's here because she cares. She has left your side only twice and that was because Spot and I made her get something to eat. From what she told me she's always considered herself your friend, even after what happened 3 years ago. Ice had no idea that Tails would hurt you after she was thought to be dead. She thought that with Sonic saying you were dead, that jackass would leave you alone. She sincerely though she was doing it for your protection."
Dodger sat there in silence with a shocked look on her face. No guy had ever dared to quarrel or argue with her in fear that she'd hurt him. I was the only person who could get away with yelling at her. I sat in my chair expecting the Dodger I knew to jump up and clobber Jack, but she surprised me; she put her hands to her face and started crying. I have never ever seen her cry before. Never when she was hurt the rare times or when her mom was finally taken away and now here she was crying her soul out.
I stared at Jack, not knowing what to do or say but it seemed he did know. Jack sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. I don't think she really cared that she had been mad at this person or had only seen him a couple of times. Dodger leaned against his chest and just let every tear she had in her pour out. I stood up from my chair and sat on the bed beside her and I too put my arm around to comfort her.
"I've turned into her Ren. I've turned into my own mother. The hatred, I never thought I would feel the hatred she had for me the day we turned her in."
I calmly whispered to her that everything was okay now. That I was back and this time, no one would make me go away. Once I finished talking, I realized that Dodger's sobs had stopped. I looked down to see that she had cried herself to sleep against Jack. I looked at him and saw that he was looking at her with admiration, the admiration I hadn't seen on Jack's face before. I removed my arm and Jack just leaned back against the backboard and soon he too was asleep.
"I wish I could draw. This would look so adorable. Hold on, Sketches!"
I quickly made my way out of the room to find that Sketches had come back from the morning's selling.
"Sketches get your pad of paper. I wan you to get a picture fast before they find out."
He pulled the pad of paper from beneath his mattress and followed me to Dodger's room. At first, he was leery about going in. He had seen Dodger in action before and knew what would happen if she found out he was going into her room. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. She's out like a light."
Believing what I said was true; he followed in and quickly put a hand to his mouth in surprise. He was seeing the fierce Dodger asleep in Jack Kelly's arms. He too had fallen asleep.
"Be quick. You can fix things later on from memory. Just as long as you have a rose in the picture."
He gave me a weird look but went to the task as fast as he could, getting as much detail in as he could. Once he finished, the two of us exited the room. I know Dodger's been sleeping for the past week, but I think she may have a restful one for now and there was no sense in waking up Jack, that would just wake Dodger up.
I decided that I would tidy up the boy's room. The last time I had been in there it looked really bad with bottles on the floor and dirt everywhere. I grabbed a can and started throwing the bottles in and any other things I thought were trash. I didn't notice, but 3 hours flew by quickly when I had finally finished. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs and soon Gambles and Ox led a couple other Newsies in.
"Ice, you're actually out of the room. What happened?"
Worried expressions came across both their faces. I had never seen these two worry about a person other that one another. Dodger must have made a real good impression on them.
"Don't worry. She's awake or well now she's sleeping, but she's awaken from her coma thing. Jack's in the room now and both are sleeping so I wouldn't go in. She'll more likely be up around suppertime. Her stomach always knew when to eat."
Both boys nodded. They thanked me for cleaning up the room and went off to their own section to deal with matters leaders normally took care of.
~*~*Later that night~*~*
I decided to make the Newsies dinner rather then have them spend their money that they would need for the next day. I was glad to get back to cooking like I did back in Brooklyn. Staring out the window of the kitchen, I started to think of Spot. I hadn't seen him in almost a week and I was missing him terribly.
"Ren put down the knife and step away from the counter."
I turned around to see Dodger standing against the doorframe. She had a smirk that I had realized missed so much. She inched towards me and quickly took the knife from my hand. I would have stopped her, but the speed of taking the knife surprised me.
"What the?"
"Besides hitting the bottle, I worked on my knife skills. Sonic ended up coming back after they roughed me up. Now, why are you in the kitchen? I don't want to or want the boys to experience any food poisoning."
We both laughed at that comment. Where we used to live, I was forbidden and yes FORBIDDEN to enter the kitchen. All the Newsies were scared of my cooking. Dodger cooked really good food though so rather than spending their food at a restaurant; they would give her a penny for a meal. Once a week she would go shopping for the food and the pennies would help.
"For your information, since I've been out here, I learned how to cook. Spot made me learn if I was to help him run the Lodging House. Anyways, I picked up some skills from watching you."
Dodger gave me a weary smile as she sat down at the table.
"About time you learned how. I tried to get you to before."
"Yeah, but Spot also threatened to through me into the harbor and at the time we hadn't started dating yet so I took his threats seriously. Not anymore though. Do you want to give me a hand over here?"
Dodger's laugh filled the kitchen and I felt as if it was old times.
"I would, but I haven't cooked a single thing in 3 years. I don't know how my culinary skills would be. I think I'll just let you do the cooking, though I am taking a risk."
I took one of the buns that were in a nearby basket and threw it at her. We used to do this back home but in different positions. Gambles walked in as Dodger was pelting me with the bun and gave her a very weird look.
"Gambles, you may not want to have agreed to bring us together."
He shook his head.
"I'm starting to doubt my decision already."
I tossed Dodger a bun and at the same time threw them at him. He got the idea that he was to leave the kitchen or be beaten to death by dinner rolls. Once he was gone, Dodger sat back down.
"Like old times huh Dodge?"
"May be like, but you know they won't come back Ren."
I grimaced at her calling me by my old nickname.
"Couldn't you call me Ice? That's how I go now. Not by Renegade. In case Tails somehow tracks me down and does to me what he did to you."
I faced Dodger fully to see she had picked up a nearby knife and was doing little tricks with it.
"Can't Ren. Ice is your new world and calling you Ren is the only way I can keep a handle on the past before everything blew up in my face. You don't have to worry though, Tails will never be able to find you from the place he is."
A steely glaze came over her eyes like she was a mannequin in one of those shop windows. I saw Jack enter the room and walk over to the icebox to get a drink. He was making enough noise to wake the dead, but Dodger didn't take any notice of him.
"What did you do? Did he get to prison?"
"Worse then that. Death finally caught up with him."
I dropped the plate I had been planning on putting on the table and Jack dropped his glass of water. Dodger snapped to and I guess from instinct, threw the knife at Jack. It missed him though, he was fast enough to duck, but I stood there shocked. Had Dodger killed him?
~*~*~Present Time in the 1960s~*~*~
John's POV
I can't believe my Grandmother threw a knife at Grandpa. Sure I had seen them have their tiffs but she had never thrown a thing at him or swung a punch. She would just head to her study to write.
"She threw the knife at you? I thought you said she only pulled it on you?"
I asked looking to my Grandfather. A glint came to his face.
"That's what you get from me. Your Grandmother used to say things then same something that I would think she had said before but slightly different like before. We said that she pulled it on all of us, but we didn't say only."
Mrs. Ice nodded in agreement.
"That's one reason why Dodger became a writer. She was so good in manipulating words and phrases that made people re-read her stories to understand them better. I guess we just picked up the same habit over the years."
Kyle spoke up.
"Well what happened? Did she actually kill someone?"
~*~*Back~*~*
Jack's POV
I'm so glad I ducked or that knife would have hit me straight in the face. She was calm before, what happened? I looked at her and though before I thought she was fine, I saw that it looked like she came out of a trance. Dodger looked to where the knife was now lodged in the wall.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. Habit?"
"Like a habit in killing people?"
She stared at me with an odd look then realized what she had said.
"You think I killed Tails?"
Dodger looked back from me and Ice and both of us nodded. She shook her head though.
"No I didn't kill him. I was close though. This is a bit long so you may want to sit down."
Ice and I took a seat at the table. We knew we wouldn't have any interruptions since it would have to be Ice to call everyone in.
"Well it started.."
~*~*Day before Dodger Arrived In Brooklyn~*~*
Dodger's POV
"Dodger!"
I looked down the street from my perch to see the messenger Flash running down the street. I had finished selling hours ago and only wanted to be alone. I did a lot of that over the past 3 years since that fateful night. Sonic and I run the place but unlike before, people are only coming to me for the power behind my fist, so I knew something must be up.
"What is it Flash?"
"I was over at the d.o. and there was a guy there boasting how he had killed these girls a few years ago. Well you know how I am with the killings and such, (I nodded) well I asked him their names. He told me Renegade and Dodger. I gave him the oddest look and said that you weren't dead. The guy smirked at me and told me to tell you to meet him on 5th and Elm St."
I could feel the hatred for the man Flash talk of well up. Tails was back and this time he wasn't going to have the advantage. Sonic was with me through and through.
"Flash, get Sonic and tell him Tails is back. Put your name to good use and go."
Flash never questioned one of my orders and new that if I needed Sonic, then it must be important. I got up from my perch and took hold of my hat. Tails would be expecting me the way I used to be, clean and quiet. Well he had another thing coming.
"Take my family and brag about it? I don't think so."
I walked to 5th and Elm to see Tails leaning against a lamppost smoking a cigarette. I'm not surprised that he chose this spot for us to 'talk'. It was a dangerous neighborhood and no one dared to go out on the street. Looking up and down the street, I saw that there wasn't one person there that actually lived there. I took quick notice that there was a goon of his across the street and several yards behind him. There was probably more and I was ready for any of them.
'I wonder if he'll recognize me?' I always saved one paper to read so I would try selling it to him. I pulled my hat down and hunched over, hiding my overall appearance. Finally standing by him, he still hadn't noticed me.
"Sir, would you like to by my last pape?"
Though I couldn't see his eyes, I could feel the look he was giving me, the look of disgust that the extremely rich people would give any Newsie for just being around him.
"Beat it kid. I'm waiting for someone and they may not come if they see you here."
He tried to shove me away but this time I was not going to be beaten up on. As soon as his wrist touched my shoulder I took hold, twisted it and forced him down to one knee. I could hear him wincing in pain. Since he hurt me, I was one never to let up on giving out pain.
"I see you've improved Dodger dear, though I'm surprised you even showed. I would of thought that you'd be scared after our incident 3 years ago."
"Well I expected that as much and decided to give you a surprise. You may have taken my old life from me, but you won't make me be a scared little kid. I'm stronger, leaner and a hell of a lot colder since last we fought."
With that I twisted his arm a bit more before pushing him away and catching the goon that was coming behind me with my right hook. The guy swung back but I was able to duck it and get him in the stomach and I swiped his feet from beneath him. I looked around and saw that Tails' other goon from across the street was coming forward with a chain wrapped around his wrist.
"Ah I see you want to play it up a level. Fine with me."
From my pocket I pulled my knife and when the guy was in front of it, I made two swift moves for both his arms. I had been able to get his stomach and his 'chain' hand. He stumbled back surprised that I had gotten him as fast as I had. Unlike the others I had seen before, he fled. 'Must have been a new kid.' I focused on Tails who just stood in front of me.
"I see you've gotten better since last we fought. But can you really beat me?"
At that, he lunged at me. This was the moment I had been waiting for, to get Tails back for all he had done to me. I made a quick move to the left and with my knife cut his side. Taunting, I said,
"Tails, you're getting slow. It must be that old age of yours. It's actually thanks to you that I'm like this now."
Tails lunged at me again and I put my name to use again. This time to the right and stuck my foot out for him to trip over. I didn't notice, but he didn't trip and grabbed my arm instead we fought and soon on the ground. I pinned him to the ground, my knife in hand ready to strike.
"Dodger STOP!"
I was picked up from behind to see that Sonic had finally showed up.
"Let me go Sonic. I want to finish something I've wanted to do for a long time."
"He's not worth it Dodge. Just let him go."
By now Tails had gotten up from where he had been pinned to the ground and was smirking at us.
"Isn't this a pretty sight? I didn't know you had gone all soft Sonic."
I hated it when my friends, those that I knew were extremely good fighters were called soft so once again I tried going after him. Tails was ready for me and hit my stomach causing me to go down. Normally if I was hit, I'd go off to hide since I was humiliated to the fact I had let my name down, but anger took too much of my consciousness for me to think.
Kneeling on the ground holding my stomach, I knew I was in a vulnerable position that if Tails were to strike me, I could either become unconscious or die. I tried to get up by myself but couldn't and fell back on my knees. Sonic rushed to my side and helped he into a standing position.
"I can't believe this. You've fallen for her haven't you Sonic? You've fallen in love with that bitch."
I looked at Sonic and all he did was nod. I had always cared for him, but held it in secret since no one would want to know and would be able to use it against me. I heard Tails laughing and before I could run at him again, Sonic grabbed my knife from the ground and lunged at him. This caught Tails off guard and was once again on the ground. My knife had caught him in the stomach.
"You asshole. I hadn't planned on using this on you but I guess I must."
BANG! The gunshot rang out through the air and I saw Sonic crumble to the ground. Seeing my only close friend for the past 3 years, the only one who had been able to stand me when I got drunk or in an extremely bad mood fall to the ground, I didn't care if the whole world knew that I liked him. I rushed to him and before he hit the ground, I caught him.
"Is he dead?"
I looked over at Tails and saw a lifeless figure lying on the sidewalk with a pool of blood spilling out beneath him.
"He's dead. You got him right through the stomach."
"Good. (*cough*) At least he won't be coming after my Sky anymore. (*cough*)"
For the first time in 3 years, I could feel tears coming down my cheeks. I had already lost one of my close friends to Tails and here I was about to lose another. This was not going to happen. I quickly brushed aside the tears.
"I'm not letting you slip away like I let Ren go. I'm getting you to the doctor."
Sonic tried to protest but when he saw the determined glare on my face he quickly shut his trap. I helped him up and with one of his arms across my shoulder and the other clutching his wound, we walked to a well-known doctor to the Newsies. I pounded on the door until Dr. Fortieth opened the door.
"Dodger what is it?"
He then caught sight of Sonic bleeding.
"C'mon bring him in."
I helped Sonic into the room and laid him down on the examining table. As soon as he hit it, he passed out, but I thought that he died. I couldn't stand being there anymore. I have to leave. Taking a last look at my friend, I saw that he still had my knife in his hand. I slipped it from him quickly and wrote a small note to Dr. Fortieth.
~*~*Doc,
I'm sorry for not staying, but I can't stand seeing Sonic dead. I've got to go. Thank you for everything you've done for me in the past, especially 3 years ago.
~*~*Dodger.
Laying the note on Sonic so I knew the Doc would find it, I left the house and started running. I knew where I would go, New York. I had heard once that it was the state of opportunities and maybe I could start up a new life. With that, I ran for the harbor for a boat to New York.
~*~*~*End of Flashback~*~*~
Jack's POV
"So you didn't kill anyone."
"No. Sonic did the deed for me out of love. Since the 'death' of Ren, I closed up so much that I would sleep for days and not want to talk to anyone. Sonic finally sobered me up and threw me in the harbor when I had finally heeled. Since that day we had never been separated. When I saw that Sonic had been killed I couldn't stand it anymore. My life was complete in that city and I needed somewhere new. I never thought I'd see Ren again."
The 3 of us sat silently around the table until Gambles came into the room with Spot behind him.
"Hey Ice, I think there's someone here to see you."
Ice looked up and then leapt up and ran to Spot's awaiting arms.
"I've missed you so much."
I watched as Ice and Spot kissed one another and knew that they were made for one another. I also knew that Spot was going to propose to her. Before I had come her the other day, Spot and I talked. He told me of how much he loved Ice and needed her. Grumbling noises came from beside me and I looked over to Dodger who blushed a little.
"My stomach runs on a clock. If I don't eat, I don't feel well."
"Well let's get some food into you. Ice, food please."
Ice called everyone into the room and we sat down. Gambles and Ox at each end, Dodger sitting on Gambles' left side and Spot, Ice and I sat beside her or across from her.
A/N: Whoa, that was a long chapter. 3 days to write it. Glad it's done though. Disclaimer time though, don't own Newsies from the movie and I don't own Ice. I own Dodger, Gambles, Ox, Flash, Dr Fortieth, Sonic and Tails.
Line from the next chapter: I do.
Turning to look at Dodger was like seeing her 3 years ago. She never was one to age quickly. People had always thought she was younger then what she was. At that point she would get into a fight and every now and then I'd have to pull her out. Her hair was plastered against her heard and the nightgown she was in hung slightly off her left shoulder. One thing you could count on with Dodge though was the fierceness when someone didn't give her an answer.
"I asked, where am I?"
Jack and I got up from chairs and walked to either side of the bed. Dodger had moved herself up against the bed board and with crossed arms, glared at both of us until Jack answered.
"You're in your room in the Bronx."
"How?"
I pulled up a chair to her bed and sat down.
"After the confrontation, you ran down the stairs, tripped over a Newsie and hit your head pretty badly."
A worked over hand went to her forehead to feel the stitches.
"Why are you here? You didn't care about me before, why now?"
Damn, why was she hurting me so much? I could feel the stinging sensation come to my eyes and quickly wiped the water away. Dodger had always hated to see me cry. I guess Jack was getting a bit fed up with her attitude because he answered those questions.
"She's here because she cares. She has left your side only twice and that was because Spot and I made her get something to eat. From what she told me she's always considered herself your friend, even after what happened 3 years ago. Ice had no idea that Tails would hurt you after she was thought to be dead. She thought that with Sonic saying you were dead, that jackass would leave you alone. She sincerely though she was doing it for your protection."
Dodger sat there in silence with a shocked look on her face. No guy had ever dared to quarrel or argue with her in fear that she'd hurt him. I was the only person who could get away with yelling at her. I sat in my chair expecting the Dodger I knew to jump up and clobber Jack, but she surprised me; she put her hands to her face and started crying. I have never ever seen her cry before. Never when she was hurt the rare times or when her mom was finally taken away and now here she was crying her soul out.
I stared at Jack, not knowing what to do or say but it seemed he did know. Jack sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. I don't think she really cared that she had been mad at this person or had only seen him a couple of times. Dodger leaned against his chest and just let every tear she had in her pour out. I stood up from my chair and sat on the bed beside her and I too put my arm around to comfort her.
"I've turned into her Ren. I've turned into my own mother. The hatred, I never thought I would feel the hatred she had for me the day we turned her in."
I calmly whispered to her that everything was okay now. That I was back and this time, no one would make me go away. Once I finished talking, I realized that Dodger's sobs had stopped. I looked down to see that she had cried herself to sleep against Jack. I looked at him and saw that he was looking at her with admiration, the admiration I hadn't seen on Jack's face before. I removed my arm and Jack just leaned back against the backboard and soon he too was asleep.
"I wish I could draw. This would look so adorable. Hold on, Sketches!"
I quickly made my way out of the room to find that Sketches had come back from the morning's selling.
"Sketches get your pad of paper. I wan you to get a picture fast before they find out."
He pulled the pad of paper from beneath his mattress and followed me to Dodger's room. At first, he was leery about going in. He had seen Dodger in action before and knew what would happen if she found out he was going into her room. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. She's out like a light."
Believing what I said was true; he followed in and quickly put a hand to his mouth in surprise. He was seeing the fierce Dodger asleep in Jack Kelly's arms. He too had fallen asleep.
"Be quick. You can fix things later on from memory. Just as long as you have a rose in the picture."
He gave me a weird look but went to the task as fast as he could, getting as much detail in as he could. Once he finished, the two of us exited the room. I know Dodger's been sleeping for the past week, but I think she may have a restful one for now and there was no sense in waking up Jack, that would just wake Dodger up.
I decided that I would tidy up the boy's room. The last time I had been in there it looked really bad with bottles on the floor and dirt everywhere. I grabbed a can and started throwing the bottles in and any other things I thought were trash. I didn't notice, but 3 hours flew by quickly when I had finally finished. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs and soon Gambles and Ox led a couple other Newsies in.
"Ice, you're actually out of the room. What happened?"
Worried expressions came across both their faces. I had never seen these two worry about a person other that one another. Dodger must have made a real good impression on them.
"Don't worry. She's awake or well now she's sleeping, but she's awaken from her coma thing. Jack's in the room now and both are sleeping so I wouldn't go in. She'll more likely be up around suppertime. Her stomach always knew when to eat."
Both boys nodded. They thanked me for cleaning up the room and went off to their own section to deal with matters leaders normally took care of.
~*~*Later that night~*~*
I decided to make the Newsies dinner rather then have them spend their money that they would need for the next day. I was glad to get back to cooking like I did back in Brooklyn. Staring out the window of the kitchen, I started to think of Spot. I hadn't seen him in almost a week and I was missing him terribly.
"Ren put down the knife and step away from the counter."
I turned around to see Dodger standing against the doorframe. She had a smirk that I had realized missed so much. She inched towards me and quickly took the knife from my hand. I would have stopped her, but the speed of taking the knife surprised me.
"What the?"
"Besides hitting the bottle, I worked on my knife skills. Sonic ended up coming back after they roughed me up. Now, why are you in the kitchen? I don't want to or want the boys to experience any food poisoning."
We both laughed at that comment. Where we used to live, I was forbidden and yes FORBIDDEN to enter the kitchen. All the Newsies were scared of my cooking. Dodger cooked really good food though so rather than spending their food at a restaurant; they would give her a penny for a meal. Once a week she would go shopping for the food and the pennies would help.
"For your information, since I've been out here, I learned how to cook. Spot made me learn if I was to help him run the Lodging House. Anyways, I picked up some skills from watching you."
Dodger gave me a weary smile as she sat down at the table.
"About time you learned how. I tried to get you to before."
"Yeah, but Spot also threatened to through me into the harbor and at the time we hadn't started dating yet so I took his threats seriously. Not anymore though. Do you want to give me a hand over here?"
Dodger's laugh filled the kitchen and I felt as if it was old times.
"I would, but I haven't cooked a single thing in 3 years. I don't know how my culinary skills would be. I think I'll just let you do the cooking, though I am taking a risk."
I took one of the buns that were in a nearby basket and threw it at her. We used to do this back home but in different positions. Gambles walked in as Dodger was pelting me with the bun and gave her a very weird look.
"Gambles, you may not want to have agreed to bring us together."
He shook his head.
"I'm starting to doubt my decision already."
I tossed Dodger a bun and at the same time threw them at him. He got the idea that he was to leave the kitchen or be beaten to death by dinner rolls. Once he was gone, Dodger sat back down.
"Like old times huh Dodge?"
"May be like, but you know they won't come back Ren."
I grimaced at her calling me by my old nickname.
"Couldn't you call me Ice? That's how I go now. Not by Renegade. In case Tails somehow tracks me down and does to me what he did to you."
I faced Dodger fully to see she had picked up a nearby knife and was doing little tricks with it.
"Can't Ren. Ice is your new world and calling you Ren is the only way I can keep a handle on the past before everything blew up in my face. You don't have to worry though, Tails will never be able to find you from the place he is."
A steely glaze came over her eyes like she was a mannequin in one of those shop windows. I saw Jack enter the room and walk over to the icebox to get a drink. He was making enough noise to wake the dead, but Dodger didn't take any notice of him.
"What did you do? Did he get to prison?"
"Worse then that. Death finally caught up with him."
I dropped the plate I had been planning on putting on the table and Jack dropped his glass of water. Dodger snapped to and I guess from instinct, threw the knife at Jack. It missed him though, he was fast enough to duck, but I stood there shocked. Had Dodger killed him?
~*~*~Present Time in the 1960s~*~*~
John's POV
I can't believe my Grandmother threw a knife at Grandpa. Sure I had seen them have their tiffs but she had never thrown a thing at him or swung a punch. She would just head to her study to write.
"She threw the knife at you? I thought you said she only pulled it on you?"
I asked looking to my Grandfather. A glint came to his face.
"That's what you get from me. Your Grandmother used to say things then same something that I would think she had said before but slightly different like before. We said that she pulled it on all of us, but we didn't say only."
Mrs. Ice nodded in agreement.
"That's one reason why Dodger became a writer. She was so good in manipulating words and phrases that made people re-read her stories to understand them better. I guess we just picked up the same habit over the years."
Kyle spoke up.
"Well what happened? Did she actually kill someone?"
~*~*Back~*~*
Jack's POV
I'm so glad I ducked or that knife would have hit me straight in the face. She was calm before, what happened? I looked at her and though before I thought she was fine, I saw that it looked like she came out of a trance. Dodger looked to where the knife was now lodged in the wall.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry. Habit?"
"Like a habit in killing people?"
She stared at me with an odd look then realized what she had said.
"You think I killed Tails?"
Dodger looked back from me and Ice and both of us nodded. She shook her head though.
"No I didn't kill him. I was close though. This is a bit long so you may want to sit down."
Ice and I took a seat at the table. We knew we wouldn't have any interruptions since it would have to be Ice to call everyone in.
"Well it started.."
~*~*Day before Dodger Arrived In Brooklyn~*~*
Dodger's POV
"Dodger!"
I looked down the street from my perch to see the messenger Flash running down the street. I had finished selling hours ago and only wanted to be alone. I did a lot of that over the past 3 years since that fateful night. Sonic and I run the place but unlike before, people are only coming to me for the power behind my fist, so I knew something must be up.
"What is it Flash?"
"I was over at the d.o. and there was a guy there boasting how he had killed these girls a few years ago. Well you know how I am with the killings and such, (I nodded) well I asked him their names. He told me Renegade and Dodger. I gave him the oddest look and said that you weren't dead. The guy smirked at me and told me to tell you to meet him on 5th and Elm St."
I could feel the hatred for the man Flash talk of well up. Tails was back and this time he wasn't going to have the advantage. Sonic was with me through and through.
"Flash, get Sonic and tell him Tails is back. Put your name to good use and go."
Flash never questioned one of my orders and new that if I needed Sonic, then it must be important. I got up from my perch and took hold of my hat. Tails would be expecting me the way I used to be, clean and quiet. Well he had another thing coming.
"Take my family and brag about it? I don't think so."
I walked to 5th and Elm to see Tails leaning against a lamppost smoking a cigarette. I'm not surprised that he chose this spot for us to 'talk'. It was a dangerous neighborhood and no one dared to go out on the street. Looking up and down the street, I saw that there wasn't one person there that actually lived there. I took quick notice that there was a goon of his across the street and several yards behind him. There was probably more and I was ready for any of them.
'I wonder if he'll recognize me?' I always saved one paper to read so I would try selling it to him. I pulled my hat down and hunched over, hiding my overall appearance. Finally standing by him, he still hadn't noticed me.
"Sir, would you like to by my last pape?"
Though I couldn't see his eyes, I could feel the look he was giving me, the look of disgust that the extremely rich people would give any Newsie for just being around him.
"Beat it kid. I'm waiting for someone and they may not come if they see you here."
He tried to shove me away but this time I was not going to be beaten up on. As soon as his wrist touched my shoulder I took hold, twisted it and forced him down to one knee. I could hear him wincing in pain. Since he hurt me, I was one never to let up on giving out pain.
"I see you've improved Dodger dear, though I'm surprised you even showed. I would of thought that you'd be scared after our incident 3 years ago."
"Well I expected that as much and decided to give you a surprise. You may have taken my old life from me, but you won't make me be a scared little kid. I'm stronger, leaner and a hell of a lot colder since last we fought."
With that I twisted his arm a bit more before pushing him away and catching the goon that was coming behind me with my right hook. The guy swung back but I was able to duck it and get him in the stomach and I swiped his feet from beneath him. I looked around and saw that Tails' other goon from across the street was coming forward with a chain wrapped around his wrist.
"Ah I see you want to play it up a level. Fine with me."
From my pocket I pulled my knife and when the guy was in front of it, I made two swift moves for both his arms. I had been able to get his stomach and his 'chain' hand. He stumbled back surprised that I had gotten him as fast as I had. Unlike the others I had seen before, he fled. 'Must have been a new kid.' I focused on Tails who just stood in front of me.
"I see you've gotten better since last we fought. But can you really beat me?"
At that, he lunged at me. This was the moment I had been waiting for, to get Tails back for all he had done to me. I made a quick move to the left and with my knife cut his side. Taunting, I said,
"Tails, you're getting slow. It must be that old age of yours. It's actually thanks to you that I'm like this now."
Tails lunged at me again and I put my name to use again. This time to the right and stuck my foot out for him to trip over. I didn't notice, but he didn't trip and grabbed my arm instead we fought and soon on the ground. I pinned him to the ground, my knife in hand ready to strike.
"Dodger STOP!"
I was picked up from behind to see that Sonic had finally showed up.
"Let me go Sonic. I want to finish something I've wanted to do for a long time."
"He's not worth it Dodge. Just let him go."
By now Tails had gotten up from where he had been pinned to the ground and was smirking at us.
"Isn't this a pretty sight? I didn't know you had gone all soft Sonic."
I hated it when my friends, those that I knew were extremely good fighters were called soft so once again I tried going after him. Tails was ready for me and hit my stomach causing me to go down. Normally if I was hit, I'd go off to hide since I was humiliated to the fact I had let my name down, but anger took too much of my consciousness for me to think.
Kneeling on the ground holding my stomach, I knew I was in a vulnerable position that if Tails were to strike me, I could either become unconscious or die. I tried to get up by myself but couldn't and fell back on my knees. Sonic rushed to my side and helped he into a standing position.
"I can't believe this. You've fallen for her haven't you Sonic? You've fallen in love with that bitch."
I looked at Sonic and all he did was nod. I had always cared for him, but held it in secret since no one would want to know and would be able to use it against me. I heard Tails laughing and before I could run at him again, Sonic grabbed my knife from the ground and lunged at him. This caught Tails off guard and was once again on the ground. My knife had caught him in the stomach.
"You asshole. I hadn't planned on using this on you but I guess I must."
BANG! The gunshot rang out through the air and I saw Sonic crumble to the ground. Seeing my only close friend for the past 3 years, the only one who had been able to stand me when I got drunk or in an extremely bad mood fall to the ground, I didn't care if the whole world knew that I liked him. I rushed to him and before he hit the ground, I caught him.
"Is he dead?"
I looked over at Tails and saw a lifeless figure lying on the sidewalk with a pool of blood spilling out beneath him.
"He's dead. You got him right through the stomach."
"Good. (*cough*) At least he won't be coming after my Sky anymore. (*cough*)"
For the first time in 3 years, I could feel tears coming down my cheeks. I had already lost one of my close friends to Tails and here I was about to lose another. This was not going to happen. I quickly brushed aside the tears.
"I'm not letting you slip away like I let Ren go. I'm getting you to the doctor."
Sonic tried to protest but when he saw the determined glare on my face he quickly shut his trap. I helped him up and with one of his arms across my shoulder and the other clutching his wound, we walked to a well-known doctor to the Newsies. I pounded on the door until Dr. Fortieth opened the door.
"Dodger what is it?"
He then caught sight of Sonic bleeding.
"C'mon bring him in."
I helped Sonic into the room and laid him down on the examining table. As soon as he hit it, he passed out, but I thought that he died. I couldn't stand being there anymore. I have to leave. Taking a last look at my friend, I saw that he still had my knife in his hand. I slipped it from him quickly and wrote a small note to Dr. Fortieth.
~*~*Doc,
I'm sorry for not staying, but I can't stand seeing Sonic dead. I've got to go. Thank you for everything you've done for me in the past, especially 3 years ago.
~*~*Dodger.
Laying the note on Sonic so I knew the Doc would find it, I left the house and started running. I knew where I would go, New York. I had heard once that it was the state of opportunities and maybe I could start up a new life. With that, I ran for the harbor for a boat to New York.
~*~*~*End of Flashback~*~*~
Jack's POV
"So you didn't kill anyone."
"No. Sonic did the deed for me out of love. Since the 'death' of Ren, I closed up so much that I would sleep for days and not want to talk to anyone. Sonic finally sobered me up and threw me in the harbor when I had finally heeled. Since that day we had never been separated. When I saw that Sonic had been killed I couldn't stand it anymore. My life was complete in that city and I needed somewhere new. I never thought I'd see Ren again."
The 3 of us sat silently around the table until Gambles came into the room with Spot behind him.
"Hey Ice, I think there's someone here to see you."
Ice looked up and then leapt up and ran to Spot's awaiting arms.
"I've missed you so much."
I watched as Ice and Spot kissed one another and knew that they were made for one another. I also knew that Spot was going to propose to her. Before I had come her the other day, Spot and I talked. He told me of how much he loved Ice and needed her. Grumbling noises came from beside me and I looked over to Dodger who blushed a little.
"My stomach runs on a clock. If I don't eat, I don't feel well."
"Well let's get some food into you. Ice, food please."
Ice called everyone into the room and we sat down. Gambles and Ox at each end, Dodger sitting on Gambles' left side and Spot, Ice and I sat beside her or across from her.
A/N: Whoa, that was a long chapter. 3 days to write it. Glad it's done though. Disclaimer time though, don't own Newsies from the movie and I don't own Ice. I own Dodger, Gambles, Ox, Flash, Dr Fortieth, Sonic and Tails.
Line from the next chapter: I do.
