I love Race. I wish he and Jack were mine. I'd even love to call Boots my own. sadly. they are not.

Ran just leaned against the wall, with her arms crossed of course and nodded knowingly.

Mina felt left out, and these loud comical newsies made her seem like an inadament object. Then she noticed someone else that looked left out. She searched her head for the name of this guy, who was rather attractive. Then Mina realized that that must be Race. And he wasn't left out, he looked almost heart broken, just standing there starring. Mina followed his gaze and saw that he was starring at Cookie, who was laughing and being silly. Mina didn't see what Ran saw though. Ran was also watching Cookie, and she noticed that every so often Cook would steal a look at Race. Ran could tell they were both miserable, so why the hell didn't one of them say something! Something else worried her too. Cook had gotten good at hiding how she felt, possibly too good. Mina soon found herself thinking about how attractive Race really was. Race on the other hand felt like he was dying. It shouldn't be this hard, he thought to himself. In fact he had been just fine, kind of, until he saw her, and it was worse when h e saw Tails hanging all over her. And why the hell did she look so...Cookie-like! It wasn't fair!

Cookie, as Ran had predicted, was far from okay. After all her and Race had been through a lot together and suddenly that ass wanted a "break." If she was so sad, she'd be really pissed.

Then Mina did something she didn't know she had enough guts to do. She walked right up to Race. "Hello, I'm Mina," she said quietly.

"Uh...I'se Race," Race still couldn't tear his eyes away from Cook.

Then Cook saw Race talking to that Mina girl, and she just couldn't stay there.

"Uh...I gotta go..." she said in the middle of some witty conversation with the bays and she rushed off in some random direction.

"Damn it... I gotta go find da kid," Ran said and slowly followed her. She knew where Cook would go.

"Wha' was dat all about?" Jack asked and he hoped someone would know.

Pockets just nodded his head in Race's direction.

"Poor kid," Books, Jack, and Tails all said at the same time. After about ten minutes of walking Ran arrived at an old warehouse. The place her and Cook had once called home, when they weren't in the refuge of course. Compared with Greenwich this place was pretty much a dump but back then they could make it seem like a palace when they felt like it.

Ran went straight for the office where she found Cook sitting in a corner.

"Man, dis place brings back memories," Ran grinned at Cook as she walked in.

"I need a smoke. Didn't ya hide some damn cigarettes in here?" Cook was on the verge of tears.

"Ya quit. Remember kiddo?"

Ran said quietly and sat beside her.

"I can't take dis Ran," Cook started crying.

"Yeah ya can kid. Yer tough. We've been through tons worse. Remembah da refuge?" Ran hugged her and tried to get her to stop crying.

Cook just kept crying though. "Hey kid, you've almost died tons o' times. 'e's jist some lousy boy." Ran kept describing all the bad stuff about guys in general.

"Me 'n Spot ain't togetha anymore n I'm still livin. Look at Cowboy. Sara ran off ta become a freakin nun n 'e's poifectly fine," Ran handed Cook a handkerchief.

"Yea, but dat's different," Cook sobbed.

"How so?"

"I ain't as strong as da two o' ya," she said sadly.

"Why do ya say tha?"

"I can't stand it, Ran. I thought me n Race was in love, den... 'e just ended it," Cook became a bit angry.

"Like I said, guys is stupid," Ran stated simply