three hours later i'm finally done. i hope you like it it's now 3:00 a.m. and i plan on going to bed.

i only own the newsies you don't recognize the rest should but don't belong to me.

rachel

Today instead of waiting for Spot outside she came back after getting ready and sat on her bunk. Spot usually didn't take this long getting ready in the morning, but it didn't bother her too much. I gave her time to think.

Seeing Jack yesterday, for the first time in ten years hadn't been an easy thing to do. Neither her nor Jack had found it an easy; the difference was that Dani had Spot with her the whole time. Spot was the best friend Dani could ask for. He wasn't just a best friend he was The Best Friend to Dani. If you believe that everyone has one friend that was created just for them Dani's was Spot Colon. Spot came out of the bathroom, walked over to Dani's bunk, and whispered in her ear,

"Follow me down stairs." Dani got up and followed him down the stairs as he had asked.

"Where are we going?" Dani asked. Once they were down there.

"I wasn't planen on goin' anywhere, but since were both up there's no use stayin' here. You want ta go ta da dock?"

"Where is that?"

"It's where me thrown is." Spot said smiling. Dani was wearing her knee length skirt, and there was still a morning breeze, which made the streets chillier than Dani had thought they would be.

"Burrrr," Dani said aloud.

"Ya cold?" Spot asked

"Just a wee bit."

"Well then com'ere." At that moment Spot picked her up and carried her in his arms. Dani would have screamed, but it was too early and she might wake someone. Some she resorted to plan two talk calmly.

"Spot what do you think you are doing?" Dani asked

"Isn't it obvious? I'm carryin' ya. I heard some one say that da closer ya get ta someone the warmer you'll be. So I figured the closest I could get to ya was carryin' ya. I would give ya me jacket, but I don't have one." Dani just looked at him for a minute. His logic made complete sense.

"Oh." Was all Dani could say. No one had ever carried her before, and if they had they had a better reason than her being cold. When they finally got to the docks Dani was riding on his back. Half way there Spots arms had gotten tired and he told her to jump on his back, to which she did a little unwillingly.

The dock wasn't exactly what Dani had pictured. It was kinda dirty, as was everything else in newsie life. Spot climbed on some boxes and sat.

"What do ya think of me thrown?" Spot asked gesturing to the pile of boxes underneath him. The boxes were piled so it roughly resembles a chair. It was high though. You could probably see the whole dock from up there.

"It's nice," Dani said looking up at him.

"Come take a look, be my Duchess for a minute." Dani smiled at the thought of being a duchess. Her life was so far from royalty. Climbing up the boxes wasn't easy. Some of them moved and it felt more like a burden to get up there than it's worth, till she got up there. She had been right. You could see the whole dock from up there. Spot just laughed at her interest in the view and when she tried to turn she almost fell, but Spot put his arms around her waist and pulled her in. She ended up sitting in his lap. Dani could fell her cheeks going red but Spot just smirked. Dani eventually got off of Spot's lap, and they talked for a while.

"Listen me newsies are coming." Spot said

Spot started climbing down and Dani followed him.

"Hey ya Spot, Dani ready ta go get papes?" Cheat asked. Spot nodded, and we walked to the distribution office. Spot headed for the front of the line while Dani stayed in the back with the other girls.

"Dani how ya feelin'?" Trixie asked her red hair blowing in the breeze.

"Better than I was. Thanks for letting me sleep yesterday, I really needed it."

"Don't thank me. Thank Spot he wouldn't let nobody even get near ya. We even had to play cards and stuff in the hall so'se not ta wake ya."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. If I would have know I...." Dani was cut off by Kitty

"I thought ya was dead at first. 'Cause ya didn't move at all last night."

"Yeah, ya were out like a rock. What happened ta make ya that tired?" Butter asked. All of the girls were looking at Dani until Spot called for her at the front of the line. Perfect timing Dani thought. She was going to tell her friends, just not now.

Dani walked up to the front of the line, and followed Spot through a crowd and handed her a third of his papes. Today Dani was on her own selling today. When she was done she went looking for Spot. When she found him and saw that he still had papes in his hand, she was overjoyed. Spot found it hilarious that Dani was excited that she sold a third of his papes before he sold two thirds of the papes.

"Were meeting all the guys at Willies (Brooklyn's equivalent to Tibby's) for lunch, and were going to be late if you don't hurry up." Spot said impatiently.

"Spot I have a rock stuck in my shoe and it won't come out." Dani said, as she felt inside of her shoe, and then hit it gently on the sidewalk.

"Let me see that shoe." Spot said getting more and more impatient by the minute. He took the shoe and slapped it as hard as he possible could against a near by tree few times. Soon a small pebble fell out. "That's tiny rock was what this whole thing was about?" Spot said throwing Dani's her shoe.

"It felt a lot bigger." She said laughing, as they walked to Willies. When they got there only half of the newsies were already there, but as soon as Spot opened the door Cheat said,

"What took ya so long? Ya get lost?" Cheat bravely asked.

"Ya wanna talk outside Cheat?" Spot threatened. Cheat sat down and Spot began his excuse. "Dani over here had a tiny rock in her shoe and threw a huge fit, until I came and got it out,"

"You almost killed my shoe" Dani responded

"Too bad you're shoe ain't a live." Spot said. Dani went and sat next to Trixie and Butter at the next table. Blue was at a table alone and Kitty wasn't back yet.

"Did anyone else hear who's gracein' are dinner table tonight?" Trixie asked getting both the girls complete attention.

"Who, tell us, com'on Trixie." Butter begged.

"Jack Kelly and Mush." Trixie said as Butter began to ask questions a-mile-a-minute. "So Dani are ya excited ya're going to meet two of da best lookin' newsies in New Yowk." Trixie said, trying to sound convincing.

"Sure. I mean why not?" Dani said, not really caring how she sounded.

"It doesn't sound like you're excited." Butter said. "But once you see the two's of them let me tell ya, ya will be."

"I'm sure," was all she could manage. It wasn't really the fact of seeing him. It was the fact of seeing him in front of all these people. She needed ta see him now alone, without Spot. "I've got to go the restroom." Was the excuse she fed Butter and Trixie. Dani hated to lie to them, but she had to. Spot was the bigger problem. She knew he wasn't going to let her out of his sight if he didn't have to. So Dani thought of something that used to work with Jack when he was still Francis.

"Spot I'm not feeling well. I'm going to head to The Lodging House."

"Do ya want me ta sent someone ta go wit' ya?" Spot asked, not even looking back.

"No I'll be fine I just wanted to let you know." Dani almost didn't make it on that one. She didn't know why she found it so hard to lie to these people.

She walked out the door and remembered something. She had no idea how to get to Manhattan. It was somewhere over The Brooklyn Bridge, so she started there. As soon as she got to the other side of the bridge she stopped in the bagel shop her and Spot went to and asked for directions. She finally reached Manhattan, a few direction stops, and two 'getting rock out of shoe' stops later and she was there. Now her second task awaited her. How to find Jack. Last time he was waiting for her at The Lodging House, but if this place was anything like Brooklyn you only slept and bathed at The Lodging House the rest of the time you were anywhere else.

When suddenly two extremely ugly men came running by followed by Jack and another girl. She didn't really want to distract him, so she walked behind, fast enough to keep up and not get lost. Suddenly they turned in an alley where they broke out into a street fight. The guy fighting the girl threw her against a wall as soon as her saw Dani and came running after her. Jack turned his head to see where the guy was running and yelled,

"Dani do somethin' he's gettin' away!"

Naturally living on the streets Dani knew how to fight. It wasn't to hard for her because the person she was fighting wasn't too sharp when he came running at her she ducked, and he tripped over her body and fell into a brick wall. And he was out for awhile, Jack was getting the other guy under control so Dani went and checked on the other girl. There was no blood, but she was knocked unconscious. So Jack would have to carry her back to the pace she lived. Dani just sat there watching the fight for a minute until she got up walked up to the boy Jack was fighting just in time to hear him say

"Com'on Sweetheart hit me wit' you're best shot."

So she did, he was so taken aback that he just stood there for a minute giving Jack enough time to him down. After the fight was over Jack shifted his attention to the girl.

"How's Coral?" He asked.

"You mean the girl? She's fine, just not conscience. She'll need you to carry her to where ever she lives. She may have a headache when she wakes up, but no permanent damage that I can see."

"Ok I'll carry her back to The Lodgin' House" Jack said looking at her. The trip to The Lodging House was completely silent. Jack didn't even both to respond to the people who called to him from the streets, whom Dani assumed were Jacks newsies. When they reached The Lodging House Dani waited out side while Jack put the girl down and assigned a newsie to watch her.

Dani became impatient and began to pace back and forth in front of the door. Soon after the pacing began Jack came out and motioned for Dani to follow him.

"What do ya want Dan? I ain't got time for this game. I got to be in Brooklyn in two hours"

"Well, I should be in Brooklyn now so don't play games with me. You got a dinner tonight in Brooklyn; well it can't be weird between us. We have to be the happy siblings or the happy strangers, and I can play them both so it's you're pick Jack. What do you wanna be?"

"Is this you're sad way of forgivin' me? Or askin' for my forgiveness?" He asked, smiling

"Don't push it Jack, I'm tired of lying to my friends. You need to make you're decision fast."

"So you would admit, in a room full of people that you're my sister?" Jack asked having a little too much fun with these questions.

"Yes," Dani said in a rather quietly.

"Then I pick the family one." Jack answered, not to Dani's surprise. They just stood there looking at each other contemplating what to say next. Dani spoke first,

"I have to go Spot is probably tearing through The Lodging House right now looking for me."

"Wait nobody knows you're here?" Jack asked, Dani nodded. Jack started cracking up and told her good luck, and she headed back to Brooklyn. With the wrath of Spot waiting for her.