Disclaimer: I do not own West Side Story or any of the characters contained therein. Raquel, however, is mine, so please don't steal her!

Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed! It makes me happy! lol.

Eaglesgirl- I hope to do more updating now that I'm out of school and my room's clean. lol. Glad WSS at your school went well. Good times. lol. And I 3 Baby John. He's so sweet!

WSS Fanatic- Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for the constructive criticism... I figured that, since she is planning to murder the whole gang of Jets, that alone puts her outside the Mary Sue category... That and the fact that she tortures Baby John for fun... But anyways... Thanks... I'll try to make sure I keep her from being perfect...

Tonyboy- Wow! I was so excited when I saw that you had written a long review! I'm glad you still like it! I've never read the actual script of the play, but I have read the novelization of the play, and I agree... The way they have Action taking over, and acting like Ice does in the movie is VERY out of character for him. And the language does get strong from time to time. And I like the way they kind of switched up the placement of Cool and Gee, Officer Krupke in the movie... It makes more sense, because to me, it seems that Gee, Officer Krupke is way too upbeat and playful to be placed after the rumble. Ice is one of my favorite characters in the film. I agree about Tony... I can't see him just poppin' off a D-word for no reason. And I like "birth to earth" better myself... Hope you enjoy this chapter! BTW, I really hope you get Tony's part! OKLAHOMA! is almost as good as WSS? Now this I gotta see. You know, my nephew calls the actual state of Oklahoma "Lokahoma." lol. BTW, I just found out that Russ Tamblyn is not only in WSS, but in another of my fave muscials, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers.

Chapter 4: The Jets

When they arrived at the Jet's hideout, which was in the cellar of an old abandoned house, Raquel was surprised at how many of them there were. She looked around and saw a gangly girl with her hair chopped off short. She was the first to speak when they walked into the room. "What's she doin' here, Ice?" the girl spouted off, indicating Raquel.

Ice waved her off. "Quiet, Anybodys!" he snapped.

There were two other girls in the room, these actually looking like girls. One of them, a thin blonde, walked over to Ice and kissed him. He accepted the kiss with little feeling, and said, "What are you two still doin' here, Velma?"

The blonde replied, "I and Graziella were worried about you fellas, daddy-O. We didn't wanna leave till we knew you was safe."

"Well, we are. So you two need to get on home. We'll be OK."

Velma protested, but Ice insisted. "I want you to go home. I'll pick you up tomorrow, and we'll go out to eat or somethin'."

That seemed to satisfy Velma, so she agreed. "Come on, Graziella," she said, soon being followed by a girl with reddish hair.

Once the girls were gone, Ice and the others sat down in a circle on the floor. "What's goin' on?" a guy with dark hair asked.

"We got us a problem, Snowboy," Ice said. "But first, let's everybody remember our manners and lemme introduce everybody to the lady, all right?"

The guys and Anybodys nodded.

"Well, first of all, this is Raquel," Ice said, pointing to her.

Then he began pointing out members of the gang. "That's Action," he said, pointing at the short guy who'd "warned" Raquel about the JD's on the streets. "And that's A-Rab." This one was a short blonde who looked like he was always at ready to pop off a joke. "And that's Baby John." Raquel smiled. This was the young one who'd been looking at her. "That's Gee-Tar, Mouthpiece, Anybodys, Big Deal, Snowboy, Joyboy, and Tiger."

Raquel nodded to them all, "Hello," she said, not quite politely, but still civilly.

"What are you doin' here?" Anybodys said again.

"If you don't shut up, Anybodys..." Ice said, menacingly, but still keeping his cool.

"Then what?" she replied.

"You'll wish you had," he said, simply.

This pronouncement threw A-Rab and Snowboy into fits of laughter, which stopped abruptly when Ice gave them the "look."

"Now, everybody, listen to me," Ice said. "Raquel's got somethin' to say, and if any of you can't shut up and listen, you might as well just let the door hit your butt as you head out."

Raquel looked at Ice, who nodded to her. She looked at each individual face in the circle, and restated her lie. "Indio y... and Pepe are on the lookout for all of you. They say that if any of you show up on our turf, they will kill you."

"Who are Indio and Pepe?" asked Mouthpiece, who, like most of the Jets, was a little behind on Shark current events.

"They lead the Sharks now that 'Nardo is gone."

Mouthpiece and the others nodded, all saddened by the memories that Bernardo's name raised up.

"I do not wish to see anyone else killed," she said.

Baby John nodded. That was one statement he could agree with.

"Now," Ice said, interrupting their sad thoughts. "I want all of you to make nice with each other, all right? I don't want no problems."

"Sure, Ice," Baby John replied, most of the others agreeing. Only Action and Anybodys did not give their assent. Both of them were far too suspicious of the girl.

But both of them knew what Ice would do if they did anything other than "make nice" with Raquel while she was under his protection. And it wouldn't be funny, either.

As they tried to get to sleep for the rest of the night, Raquel was worried. Her brother would be sentanced the next morning, and she wouldn't be there.

.-.-.-.-.-.

The next morning, in a courtroom, Chino Martín was awaiting his sentance. He was seated beside his lawyer, still waiting for the judge to come out. Anita, Maria, Indio, Pepe, and Del Campo were sitting on the front row of seats. But one face Chino had expected to see was not among them. He turned to Del Campo to ask him quietly, "¿Dondé está Raquel?"

Del Campo shook his head sadly. "I don't know, Chino. She wasn't there this morning when we got up."

Chino's heart was broken. He couldn't believe that his sister would leave at a time like this. Especially when they were all each other had. In America at least.

Maria, Anita, and the other girls crossed themselves and began to pray silently for Chino as the judge read the sentance.

A/N: Aren't cliffhangers mean?