DISCLAIMER: These characters do NOT belong to me unfortunately. I tried to kidnap them from Disney and was unsuccessful. Go figure. However, Runner and Mallory are MINE, and so is Josephine, Aunt Patricia, and Daisy! Muahahaha! So take that, Mickey!! OoOogles! I almost forgot Becca and Snap. They's mine too!! BleH! : ) Ah, the list just goes on, there's Mr. Carter too of course. And Vixen...Charles Hutton's mine too. Same applies to Flame and Falcon, Father Romanik, Father Aesop, and Mother Smith.

A.N. Thank you to everyone who keeps reviewing! I LOVE receiving feedback from you guys; it motivates me to keep on writing. ^_^ I've been waiting to write this chapter for a looong time! W00t w00t! Here's chapter 18 coming right at ya! Hope ya'll enjoy it! And don't forget to REVIEW! Hee hee.

~Angel: Heya girly. Ya know what? I thought I had sent you the edits to your latest chapters already and just this weekend I realized that I hadn't! I'm sooo sorry! I will try to get them to you as soon as possible! Thanks for reviewing, though! Muaha, I think Becca's past is FINALLY revealed in either the next chapter or the one after that. Hope ya like this one!

~FatBottomGirl: Yea, I know you're skittles. : ) Glad ya like the story so far. Enjoy this new update!

~unnamed: Thanks for reviewing! ^_^ Yea, at first I was just going to let Snap be one of those villains ya love to hate. But man, you guys really hated her! LoL! So then I thought, what could I do to change that? And bam! Chapter 17 was created! Hee hee. Hope ya like this chappie!

~asp: Ha, Snap is human! Good stuff. W00t w00t! Here's another chapter coming right at ya!

~Sureshot Higgins: How could I end the scene when Becca was just about to reveal all? I love cliffhangers, girly! Muaha! But don't worry, it'll continue in either the next chapter or the one after that. As for Mallory, here's a nice chapter about what's kicking with her and my boy Runner. Hope ya enjoy!

~StupidChocolateGurl: Thanks for the review, chica! Hope ya like the rest of the story!

~Rhapsody: Well it's a relief you all are feeling bad for Snap now. I just needed to add that in because I planned on keeping her around, lol. Guess what, Rhap. Your number one man is all up in this chapter. Go Runner! YaaaY! Aren't you all excited that he won that vote thingy? ^_^

~Apollonia: Thanks for reviewing, girly! OoOgles, Spot will be taking matters into his own hands this time around. Tsk tsk tsk, don't ya just love that seductive sexy leader? *huggles Spot* And I will review your story soon! I just got back from out of town and I have to write an essay and take notes on this chapter in my history book first! But don't worry, you'll be hearing from me soon!

~Drama-Queen: Yea, Runner won! W00t w00t! He's me buddy boy! *huggles Runner* Glad you're liking this story so far, doll face. Here's another update!
*Just A Little Bet*

~*~*~*~*~ Runner licked the roof of his mouth and gave into the nostalgic tides that rose and fell in his mind. He never thought quitting his smoking habits would be so hard. He missed the taste of the nicotine, the hot smoke that stirred between his gums until he exhaled it. But he figured it was all for the better, for both him and Mallory.

Speaking of the girl, she happened to return from the restroom at that moment, a soft pink reapplied to her lips and her cheeks newly brightened with blush. She smiled at Runner and took a seat beside him at the table they occupied.

"So, ya having fun?"

Mallory nodded; how could she not be having fun? The Valentine's social was held in some Queens dancing hall decorated as if it were a homecoming party fit for a duke and his noble party. The food served was beyond delicious, fabulous little appetizers that could tickle one's taste buds, and the formality of the entire occasion was breath taking. It was a costume party; Mallory had gone as a princess. When Runner had told her she looked more like a temptress, her red gown's vibrant shade was nothing compared to the blush that crept up her cheeks.

Earlier in the night she had caught sight of Becca dressed as an angel and the two girls had conversed for a bit before going their separate ways. Mallory sighed as she watched the dancing couples before her. Everyone seemed so elated, so in love. She glanced at Runner leaned back in his chair fixing his striped prisoner costume and could not help but admire his self-assurance. The boy was unbelievably suave, calm and collected even in the midst of the most trying times.

"Lucas, it means a lot to me that you took me here." She didn't know what possessed her to blurt out the words as she had done, but she wanted him to know how she felt about him, that she cared about him more than she could express.

"I'm glad," he replied, a grin spreading on his face as if he'd just been told the greatest news ever. "But it's getting kinda late and I don't what you getting in trouble with your father or the school board, so how 'bout we leave a bit early?" He knew she wouldn't have problems with either but he wanted to traverse the safe road. Plus, it wasn't particularly clever for a former Brooklyn newsie to be lingering around Queens, especially for one in close relations with Spot Conlon.

Mallory frowned. "But we haven't danced at all, and we'll miss the last dance if we leave now!"

"I'll make it up to you, hun, but we should really be going." He rose to his feet, laced his fingers with hers, and then led her out of the building after bidding farewell to a few friends he had passed on the way out. Surprisingly, the streets of Queens were rather quiet as they walked along their way. Runner was taken aback by this; usually there were clusters of newsies, drunks, and beggars strolling the walks, yet tonight all was empty.

Mallory's thoughts were elsewhere. She knew she would deem this one of the best days of her life when she got home. Runner had been such a gentleman all night long, introducing her to his comrades and making sure she was enjoying herself at all times. On top of that, she couldn't remember him looking ever as handsome as he did tonight. Even fitted in a jailbird's garments he looked like royalty. Everything about him, she simply loved it all.

"Your hand's cold," he said suddenly, turning to face her when they stopped just beside a lamp post.

"Well, it's a bit chilly, but I'll be fine." They stood there in silence, for no words had to be exchanged. He stepped closer to her and her heart was already zooming into palpitations. Only then did she recall something. Never had Runner kissed her. Of all the opportunities he had been presented with, of all the times she had come vulnerable to him, never once had he even tried. Had he been waiting for the right moment? She wondered. Had he wanted their first kiss to be special?

He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him so that their bodies moved as one. "I made a promise. We got nice lighting here, no audience, just us. May I have this dance?"

"Of course," she whispered back, as she clasped her hands behind his neck and rested her head upon his chest. Then they started swaying from side to side, choreographing the moves to their own song, one that played from heart to heart. Mallory thought it all beautiful. The way Runner went about doing things, it was just so heart-warming. She knew other guys who would have made a show of having her as their date, who would boast about it and publicly profess their connections with the girl at the top of their lungs. But Runner cared for her privacy and found more enjoyment in simply sharing a relationship with her in secret. It made things more...mysterious.

Unfortunately, the weather was not working in the couple's favor for only moments into the innocent dance, the storm clouds overhead opened their massive selves and poured down an ammunition of rain onto the city. Runner pulled away sighing. It figured something ominous had to occur just as things were going right in his life. Soaked completely within seconds, he turned his gaze back to Mallory to find the girl laughing. "What's so funny?"

"This is great! I've never danced in the rain, at least not with someone I find myself liking more and more every day."

"Oh really?" he asked slyly. Now that he thought about it, he'd never done such a thing either. And what better way to try new things with one's sweetheart than on Valentine's Day. There was a first for everything, he'd heard people say. Like...first kisses. He studied her through the droplets of rain; she was so stunningly radiant it beckoned his heart to do something already. How much longer would he wait until he even kissed the girl?

Something kept whispering in his mind that he should have shown her how he felt by now, that he should've made his first moves long ago. So why did he keep pushing it off? What was he waiting for, an invitation? Hadn't she just given him one? He came closer to her, the rain drizzling down his smooth features like a rejuvenating shower, and grabbed her face in his hands with a gentleness that sent chills down her spine.

Mallory stifled a shiver from making her body tremble and tried to focus on the matter presently at hand. He was finally going to kiss her; she couldn't wait! He looked so beautiful as he stood before her, his eyelashes long and his hair a darker shade now that it was drenched. His eyes set her in a trance, one that's spell she didn't mind being under. He drew nearer, their breaths brushing onto one another's skin like a breeze of passion.

"Well, well, well, what do we'se have heah?"

Runner disregarded cursing under his breath out of shock and instead spun around to see the worse fate he had ever known staring at him with malicious grins and eyes that hungered for evil. Flame and Falcon, the two that despised the Conlon duo with a malevolent passion. "What the hell do you idiots want; don't ya see I'se kinda busy right now?" Terrified as he was, Runner still managed to not seem daunted in any way.

Flame approached the boy in a wolfish demeanor. "Busy knockin' up some damn broad?" He shoved Runner to the ground and pulled Mallory up to him. "Tell me, doll face. How much did the kid pay youse tah screw 'im? I'll double it if ya gimme a lil' preview." He would have violated the girl further but his advances were stopped when a fist slammed into his temple, momentarily blacking him out.

Runner readied himself to attack Falcon but not before looking back at Mallory to make sure she hadn't been hurt. "Run to Brooklyn, Mallory. Go get Spot, tell him what happened, alright?"

"No, I'm going to st-"

"GO!" The look on his face was a pleading one more than anything else. He knew he wouldn't win this battle single-handedly. Queens was infamous for having ambushes all over its streets, so that there was no such thing as a man-to-man fight. More like man-to-mob. In no time, at least half of Flame's newsie crew would be at the scene, all taking blows at Runner in efforts to either torture the boy or kill him; whichever pleased them more. "Go tell Spot to come with a few of the boys! And hurry!!"

He didn't offer her another glance for he assumed she would do as she had been told. As he turned back to his adversary, he ducked down just in time to miss the whack of a bat Falcon had swung at his face. He had a feeling things weren't going to have a likeable outcome this time around...

~*~*~*~*~

"So which one of you lucky goils is gunna get tah sleep wid me tonight?" Blink stood in the middle of the girls' bunkroom back at Manhattan that night hoping to recruit broads that would take interest in his offer, but the only thing he received were either pillows thrown at his face, eye rolls, or downright laughter. "Ah, youse don't know what ya missin'!" He stormed out of the room, feigning anger, but the smile on his lips told everyone he was just as amused by his blatant inquiry.

Jack and Vixen both laughed at the joke from the windowsill upon which they sat. The day had been filled with countless pranks pulled by Blink and his pal Snitch that the Manhattan newsies were under the impression that April Fool's Day had taken the place of Valentine's. It worked for the both of them either way.

Jack wasn't particularly into relationships in the days following his break-up with Snap. It wasn't that his heart had been broken so badly he disbelieved it would ever be mended; it was merely his desire to be certain about someone before letting them into his life. He had nothing against love. It was the greatest emotion one could ever know. But he knew it was also painful, and he would try to avoid that pain at all costs.

Vixen was somewhat the same way, and yet she was different, for while she was guilty of letting men into her life before establishing a proper relationship first, she also failed in giving her all into anything. She was always unwilling to wager too much in the game of love for fear that she might lose it all, especially her heart. Now thinking upon it, she couldn't recall a single relationship in which she was head over heels for a guy. In the past, hooking up with someone was solely for status issues, to flaunt what she was capable of obtaining. And now realizing what she had become, she was suddenly disgusted.

"Man, I'se can't wait 'til this damn day is ovah." Jack took a long drag on the cigarette he held and then threw it out into the rain where it quickly was extinguished.

"Ya don't like Valentine's too much I'se assumin'?"

"What's the point anyways? Is youse s'pose tah be especially nice tah those ya love on this day? Why not just be nice alls the time? Why can't ya just show 'em youse love 'em every day?"

Vixen smiled at the suggestion. There was good sense in what he asked. "I'se dunno, Jacky-boy. Maybe people aint got enough money tah buy their lovahs a diamond ring every day." They both laughed, even though the question was left unanswered. They both supposed it was one of those high truths that would always be considered but never solved.

"So what's a hot thing like youse doin' wid no Valentine anyways? Ya know how many guys in this house would do anything tah, uh, be wid youse fer a night?"

"Or did you mean do me for a night?" She laughed when he nodded bashfully. She thought it cute in a sense that the big reverent leader of Manhattan was too coy to say the first words that came to mind. She assumed he was merely being respectful. "Ah, me and Cupid really aint on speakin' terms these days."

He leaned his head against the wall and let his eyes travel down her body as she spoke. Hell, he was one of the guys who'd like to take her to bed any night. She was a feisty temper bottled up in a nice, compact body that seemed to be a gift to mankind. "That's too bad, cause me and the Cupid-man is on speakin' terms and he was just suggestin' that I'se not let ya be alone."

"Did Cupid suggest that or did, uh, junior?" She motioned towards his pants with a nod of her head and grinned devilishly.

Jack was surprised by the saucy words, but he liked it nonetheless. It felt challenging to be with a girl who spoke her mind and he liked being put to the test as long as she would be administering it. "Why don't youse find out fer yaself?"

Vixen arched an eyebrow playfully. There was no harm in indulging in friendly pleasures, but she wanted this to be an ongoing chase. Jack Kelly was special and she knew that, but she wouldn't just give herself away to him like that. No, he would have to show he wanted her as bad as she wanted him. "Maybe when youse gimme enough incentive tah wanna." She winked at him then, slid off the windowsill, and sauntered off to her bunk bed.

~*~*~*~*~

Spot lowered the girl onto her bed, letting his tongue invade her mouth one last time before he pulled away and smirked down at her as if he had just achieved another tally mark for his reputation. Tonight's victim, some redhead that had joined the Brooklyn newsies just yesterday. Overtaken by Spot's good looks and charisma, she was an instant fan of the Brooklyn leader and kissed the ground he walked on so fervently that it was more pathetic than anything else.

"Goodnight, Spot. I really enjoyed tonight. I love you." She pulled him down for another kiss and tried to keep from giggling.

Spot rolled his eyes, but she couldn't see in the dark. He could care less whether she did, though. More than anything, he wished she'd shut that damn mouth of hers before she woke up the other girls already fast asleep in the bunk room. The only reason he'd come here was because the redhead had literally begged him to tuck her into bed, as ridiculous as he had found it. He succumbed to her requests only because she was annoying his ears.

"Wouldn't it be funny if someone caught you telling me a bedtime story?"

"Hilarious," he replied in a blank tone. She giggled again and this only infuriated him all the more. "Alright, youse need tah get ya sleep." He kissed her a final time, hard and long so that she wouldn't complain, and then turned around to exit out of the room.

"Goodnight, Spot," she called out in a soft whisper just as he was turning the doorknob.

"Goodnight..." the reply trailed off, for he couldn't quite remember the girl's name.

In the main room of the Brooklyn lodging house, some boys were still up playing poker in obvious efforts to break night. Scapegoat saw Spot approach their table and nodded at his leader with a grin. "So you nailed the girl, huh? I swear, Conlon, youse don't even wait a day before you move in."

"Damn straight." He thought to join the card game, but wasn't in the mood to lose any money, and so headed off on his way back upstairs to retire to his quarters and finally find rest.

"SPOT! SPOT! LUCAS NEEDS YOU!" Mallory barged into the main room right then screaming like an uncontrollable madwoman prophesying about horrific revelations only she could understand. "SPOT!" She stumbled to the floor and created a puddle about her as rain was drained from her clothes onto the wood. Crying in hysteria, she went on with her message once she made eye contact with the Brooklyn leader who came rushing to her side. "Spot, Spot, we were in Queens, and these guys, there were two of them, they started messing with us. They're going to hurt him, Spot! You have to help him! I can show you where! Come on!"

Scapegoat and the other card players exchanged baffled looks. Neither of them had ever met Mallory before, so at first glace, the least they could say was that she was an asylum escapee. And who the hell was Lucas?

Spot pulled the girl to her feet and held her steady, reminding her to keep breathing before she had a nervous breakdown. She was already panting from the run she had just endured, and the inhalations sounded in the air like screeching wheezes that made the others wince. "Mallory, calm down, alright? Youse is gunna give yaself a heart attack!"

"I can't calm down, he needs our help! Spot, they're going to kill him! Aren't you going to do something! You have to go over there and help him!"

"Maybe if youse chill out, I'se can understand what the hell is goin' on." He wrapped his arms around her when the freezing water that covered her body began to take affect and spoke more softly. "Mallory, I'll send some of me boys tah Queens now so that youse aint gotta worry 'bout nothin', okay? But youse stay heah and tell me the whole story."

She pushed away from him, already shaking her head. "No! How will they know where to go? I have to show them the way, I can't stay here!"

"Don't worry sweetness, we'll find ya lil' boyfriend for youse...but if he's in Queens and got jumped, we can't guarantee the shrimp will be alright by the time we get there." Scapegoat smiled at her, being the joker he was known as.

Spot glared at him. "She's talking 'bout Runnah."

"Oh..." the others shifted uncomfortably under their leader's scorn.

Mallory continued on. "We had gone to a dance there; I think it was called the Sadie Hawkins Dance. We left early because he wanted to get me home but we stopped for a moment at a street light and that's when two local boys started giving us trouble. They started a brawl, Spot! You have to go there before they start ganging up on him!"

"Well, youse heard the goil," Spot said to his boys. "There six of youse right heah. Put down those cards and go find me cousin. And don't even think of comin' home 'til youse help 'im fight off those scabs. Ya understand? I'll stay heah wid the goil cause she don't need tah be runnin' around Queens wid those goons wantin' tah screw the foist goil they's see." Mallory glared at him, but he didn't notice. He saw his appointed six out the door and reminded them they would not be welcomed back into the lodging house unless Runner was in their company. Then they left.

Mallory wasn't too pleased by the arrangements. What aid was she to Runner if she was cooped up in some confounded building with Spot? "You could've let me gone! I'm not a little girl, you know."

"Yea, but youse is gunna get sick if ya stay out in that rain any longah. Let's go tah me room, I think I'se gots some extra clothes youse can wear fer now." He led her to his room and gently shut the door behind them once they were inside. The single lamp in the room fended off some darkness, but the girl found herself rather uncomfortable being in such a small, dimly-lit space with someone like Spot.

"Nice dress, by the way."

"Thanks," she said as she sat on the edge of his bed hesitantly. She didn't like the smirk on his face and wished more than ever that she had brought along with her a shawl by which to cover herself. She wanted to change the topic of conversation. "It was awful, Spot. Why couldn't they let us alone? We weren't bothering them in any way! They were so cruel!"

Spot sat down at her side and let his hand fall upon her back, where he rubbed her shoulders in a way that made her inwardly shudder. He noticed her uneasiness and knew then that he was closer than he had thought at winning her over. Apparently, the feelings she once had for him who knew how many weeks ago were still present. Perhaps small in size, but present even so. If he could figure out a way to enliven them somehow...

"So, where are the clothes you said you'd let me borrow?"

"You'd have tah get outta those foist before I'se can give 'em tah youse."

"Or how about you give me the spare clothes now, I take them with me into the restroom and change, and then I'll come back out and I can tell you what the guys who bothered your cousin and me looked like."

Spot admired the resistance she had fortified since last they met and wondered what situations had given her the opportunity to practice it. He knew Runner would never give her any trouble; maybe the girl had finally been introduced to reality by someone else. "I'se gots a bettah suggestion. Lemme give ya a hand takin' off them clothes and maybe latah I'll give youse a Valentine's Day tah remembah."

"I see you haven't changed any!" She jumped to her feet with intentions to storm out of the room, but Spot grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Goil, I'se was only playin' wid youse. Ya aint gotta get all offensive. Ya know I wouldn't do anything ya wouldn't want me to."

She relaxed, but only by the slightest degree. "Spot, I only came here because your cousin told me to. I don't want to sacrifice what I have with him; I care about him a lot."

"Youse is wid Lucas?!" He burst out laughing, holding his stomach to quench the pain the chuckles brought.

"I don't see any humor in that."

Spot's mind was fast at creating lies, and that gift was working at its fullest right now. "Mal, Runnah was heah yesterday tellin' me 'bout youse, how he thinks ya cute and funny and all. But, uh, his exact woids were that he didn't want a relationship wid youse 'cause ya aint the type of goil he's lookin' fer. But get this, the kid tells me he don't want no goil cause his father would be aggravating his ass about it alls the time, and then I see 'im latah that night wid some doll face, screwin' her ovah like there aint no tomorrow."

Mallory gasped; she stepped away unwilling to believe what the leader was saying. That didn't sound like the Runner she knew at all! Lucas was kind, loyal, and had a unique mannerism that was hard to find in one who had once been a newsie. "I don't believe you."

"Listen, I know it's hard fer youse tah think he'd say shit like that, but I wouldn't lie tah youse. I mean, Runnah aint the only one that cares about youse. I wanna make shoah that youse aint chasin' after him fer nothin'. What good is it tah do that if he don't even want a relationship wid youse?"

"No..." She sat back down on the bed ready to cry. Why would Runner do something like that? She was convinced that he had feelings for her, strong ones that would in time evolve. Had it all been only an act? Had he only been playing with her heart?

Spot knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. "I'm sorry youse had tah heah about it like this. He shoulda told youse himself instead of just leadin' ya on."

"I still don't understand it, though. This doesn't seem like him at all! The things he said to me, the way he treated me. It couldn't have been a charade; it felt so real!"

"I know, but that's what kids like 'im are masters at doin'. I'll admit, sometimes I'se been guilty of doin' the same thing." He pulled himself onto the bed and draped an arm around her. "And Mallory, if I'se evah hoited youse by doin' that, I can't tell ya how sorry I am. When I foist met ya, youse were nothin' but another broad fer me tah conquer, but once I'se got tah knowin' ya bettah, I felt bad fer what I had done."

She looked into his eyes, searching for truth behind his words, but they were unreadable, leaving her to only wonder. Was this another one of the Brooklyn leader's tricks? Was he filling her heart with lies? She thought on it. Runner had never spoken wrongly of his cousin, so she couldn't conclude that the two were in competition. And there was no trace of them hating each other. What was this uncertainty she felt then?

"If it makes ya feel bettah, ya aint gotta stay heah in Brooklyn wid me. I'll walk youse home and then stop by Queens tah see about Runnah. It'll give youse some time tah think things through. I know it must be really hard tah have heard all that." He looked down at the floor and sighed. "I'm such a joik, maybe I shouldn't have told youse at all. For God's sake, it's Valentine's Day and I totally ruined it fer youse!"

"No, it's not your fault." She couldn't find the words she wanted to use. She needed comfort and condolence, but could she trust Spot to not go too far? She wanted to pour out her sorrow, but could she confide in Spot to keep his mouth shut about it? To hell with it, she even wanted to stay over in Brooklyn! She didn't want to go back to her dormitory and confront questioning glances, and she certainly didn't want to run home to her father and make him think she was incapable of handling the new circumstances she had been dealt as of late.

"Come on, I'll take youse home." Spot started to rise but Mallory tugged on his arm, gesturing for him to remain seated.

"Do you mind...I just, I don't want to be all alone, and I don't want to explain to anyone if I start to cry. I don't want to cry, though! There's nothing to cry about...I just, I'd rather be with someone who understands right now."

Spot nodded and wiped the lone tear that fell from the girl's eye then with his thumb. "Ya know, when we'se foist talked, youse were cryin' and ya told me that it was okay cause everybody cries now and again. So if youse need tah now, I'm heah tah hold ya and tell ya it's alright."

"That's sweet of you." She turned towards him for a hug, an embrace that she put her whole self into because it was something she needed. She needed to know the warmth, concern, and love that she thought Runner had possessed for her. Slowly, Spot pulled her back so that his lips brushed against hers. He looked into her eyes for permission and upon seeing no protest, he slowly leaned her back onto the bed as he fell atop her, all the while keeping her in a lip lock that delivered her into his heartless seduction.

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