I don't own Home Alone

A/N: I'm running out of creative last names, so another John Hughes inspired character in this chapter.

Enjoy!

Becky took a step back and observed her work. She didn't know how sturdy those chairs were going to be in supporting her weight, but she was willing to give it a try. Her eyes surveyed the 'contraption' one last time. That small tower of chairs that was on the washing machine was tall enough for her to climb on and have her slip out the window. There was no time to waste. She climbed onto the washing machine and made her way up the chairs.

"Geeze," she whispered as she held onto the chair when it began to wobble. If only she had found something that was sturdy enough to support her weight then she would have not even considered using the chairs. She knew that her imagination was not as wild as Kevin's was when it came to these sort of things, but she had to get out for her sake. The chair gave one last wobble as it's foot lightly landed on the washing machine.

Thank you Becky thought to herself and slowly climbed onto the other chair. At least this one was better than the other one. Just one more step and she was able to hold onto the window sill. The face of the chair supported her feet as she raised up and felt the slightly cold air upon her cheeks. She gave the window a push and the lifted her weight out of the window. She rolled onto the pavement and quickly scrambled to her feet.

The only problem that stood in her way was the night, making it almost impossible for her to see so she quickly ran towards a street where its streetlights shone brightly. Looking through the buildings, she noticed a laundromat, a magazine store, and a restaurant with the name Sonny's on it. She was about to make a run towards the restaurant when she realized that this was probably the name of the place that Marv and Harry were going to. No way was she going to go in there, even if it was for a phone call. She took a turn to the left and ran as quickly as she could from the street, not bothering to look over her shoulder. When she felt that she was a good distance away, as well as not having the strength to run anymore, she was thrilled that she had finally come upon a telephone booth. Without any hesitation, she grabbed onto the receiver and dialed Lucas's number, who had been kind enough to give it to both her and Linnie when he had left for the beginning of summer break.

"Hello?" a grown man's voice came into the phone.

"Mr. Clark," Becky said to the phone, "it's Becky McCallister. Is Lucas there?"

"Hey Becky," Mr. Clark greeted her, "hold on. Lucas! There's someone on the phone for you."

Becky let out a sigh of relief as her back made contact with the brick wall. When Lucas came on the line, Becky brightened. "Lucas! I'm so glad I finally got a hold of you. Listen, I'm in New York-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lucas interrupted her, "what do you mean you're in New York? Aren't you supposed to be in Florida?" he asked her.

Becky shut her eyes. "It's a long story," she said to him, "listen is there a way that you guys can come and pick me up. I don't know how far you are from where I am but...you're the first person that came to mind."

It took a moment for Lucas to find his words after what Becky had told him. Becky knew that there were probably so many questions running through his mind about why she happened to be in New York and why she was out in the streets at a time like this. "Where are you?" Lucas asked her, "can you make out any of the buildings?"

Becky stood frozen as she noticed a person coming her way.

"Hello? Becky?" Lucas's voice came from the receiver.

In a panic, Becky let go of the receiver and quickly hid behind two buildings. They provided just enough space for her to hide and remain there until the person was gone. She heard the person's footsteps stop right by the telephone booth as the person picked up the phone and placed it back on the cradle. Her breath quickened and she immediately placed a hand over her mouth so the other wouldn't hear her hiding there.

There was a moment of silence before it was broken by a coin being entered into the slot of the telephone and the person dialing a number. The person cleared their throat and waited for the call to come through. "Cedric," the voice belonged to a male, though he had a bit of a good humored tone in his voice, "having a late night tonight? I was hoping I could meet you over at the Plaza's bar. You wouldn't believe who saw at Sonny's."

The Plaza Becky thought. Oh God, he's probably the police! She did not dare move from her spot.

"Don't start being fresh with me kiddo. I'm not in the mood for any jokes. Hey, did you get a chance to speak with Elliot?" There was a pause in the conversation. "What do you mean he doesn't want to talk?!" the man shouted. "Well you know what? He'd better get his head on straight because something is about to go down tonight at that precious business of his. No, I ain't bluffing! It's what I heard from Harry's lackey. Guy, doesn't know how to keep his voice down." Another pause. "I was this close to pulling the trigger on them but I ain't doing that...especially at Sonny's. What do you mean what I want you to do? Call Elliot and let him know that his precious toy store is about to be robbed!...I don't care if you say it's from the police, an inside source, or Madonna herself just tell him about it!"

Clang!

Becky jumped in her spot as the man let out a frustrated sigh.

"Gotta do everything yourself these days," the man said and began walking away from the telephone booth.

Becky peeked from between the buildings and once the man had disappeared, she ran towards the booth dialing Lucas's number again.

"Hello?" This time it was Lucas.

"Lucas!" Becky yelled into the phone.

"Becky are you okay?" he asked her.

"Duncan's Toy Chest," she said to him. "I'll be there."

"How are you going to be there when you don't know where you are?" Lucas asked her.

"I'm taking a taxi," she said to him, "I'll be there!" Without letting Lucas finish his words, Becky slammed the phone on the cradle and headed down the street, hoping that she could find a taxi to take her to they toy store.

Kevin was welcomed with a small, yet cozy, atmosphere when Amy opened the door of her apartment. The first person to step foot inside was Amy and she motioned for Kevin to follow after her. "Come on, sweetie, don't stay out there." Kevin obliged and walked inside as he set his backpack on the floor and Amy was kind enough to take his coat and hang it up on a hanger. "I don't normally have guests coming in, so it's a bit messy," she nervously chuckled as she picked up a garment that was on the floor and threw it inside a hamper. "It took me a while to get adjusted with what I had."

Kevin eyes looked around the apartment before landing on the woman. "You just moved here?" he asked her.

"Only two and half months," Amy answered as she cleaned the countertop from the used dishes of last night's dinner, "but I'm a true New Yorker." A small smile was upon her lips as she looked at Kevin, "have a seat, you must be very tired."

Kevin took the liberty and sat down on one of the chairs by the table. He had always been used to a home with a lot of space but a place like this was more than enough for one person. There were so many questions running through his mind. A part of him said to remain silent and not got involved in this woman's life but the curiosity of a child always get the better of him. "Where did you live before?" Kevin asked her.

Amy walked over to a medium sized fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and poured it in a mug before warming it up in the microwave. "Aren't you the curious little one," she said and set a plate of Christmas cookies in front of him and sat down on the chair across. "I used to live in Chicago."

Kevin's eyes opened in surprise. "Really?" he asked her, "I'm from Chicago too."

"Is that so?" Amy asked him, "so you're here for the holidays...and you're lost?" she asked as she got up from the chair and headed over to the microwave and took out the mug of milk. She took out some coco powder and dissolved it inside the mug. Then she added a mound of whipped cream on the hot chocolate and served it over to Kevin. "Something to keep you warm."

Kevin gratefully took the mug in his hands and took a sip of the hot sweet drink. "Thanks," he said to her before continuing with his story. "I guess you can say that I am...lost here. I was supposed to go with my family in Florida but me and my sister got lost in the airport." He shrugged his shoulders at the thought of that. "We took the wrong terminal and wound up in New York."

Amy listened attentively when he told her this story. "Did you alert security about this?" she asked him.

Kevin shook his head to her. "No," he answered, "before leaving for Florida, I got into a fight with my family and wished that I would go alone on vacation without any of them. If my sister hadn't found found me, then I would have been here all alone."

This was quite the story that he was telling her. Amy never imagined that a child that was...he seemed to be nine years old at the most, could jump in an airplane unaccompanied by an adult and travel to one of the biggest cities in the world. Not to mention that someone of his age was able to get through the night considering how dangerous places could be during those hours. "And where is your sister?" she asked him.

"I...I don't know," Kevin answered, "I was with her a couple of hours ago until we spilt up. We were being chased by these two guys."

Amy's eyebrows furrowed when he told her that detail. Why in the world would anyone want to chase after this little boy and his sister? "Oh my God," Amy said with a look of concern upon her eyes, "did you call the police at least?"

Now Kevin couldn't tell her that he had the police after him all because of using the credit card back at the Plaza Hotel. "We didn't have the chance," Kevin said to the woman with a shake of his head, "I hid inside a suitcase and my sister...last I saw she was running behind me and that was the last of it. I even passed by my aunt and uncle's house a couple of blocks away from here but no one was home."

This poor child was probably scared to death of being all alone in a place that he wasn't familiar with. Being lost from his family was one thing but being pursued after and losing his sister in the process, she couldn't image what he was feeling about all of this. "Can I help?" Amy asked him.

It was a question that no other adult had asked Kevin ever since he had gotten to New York. He wished that there was some way that she could help, but he didn't know how. "I don't know where to start," Kevin said to her. "I need to find my sister first. Who knows where could she be, or if those two guys caught her."

"When you mentioned these 'guys' what could they possibly want with you?" Amy asked her. The way he made it sound like, it was as if they had previous encounters with one another before.

The only word that Kevin could think of was 'revenge.' After the torturous funhouse that he had put them through, they were bound to get their revenge somehow. "They were going to rob our house back in Chicago," Kevin said to her, "and I wasn't going to let them do that."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows when Kevin said that. This story sounded vaguely familiar, yet it could have been anyone who would rob houses during the Christmas season. "And they happened to be here...in New York?" she asked him.

"I was shocked too," Kevin said to her, "what are the chances of meeting the same people again and in such a big city." He grabbed a hold of his mug and took the last sip of hot chocolate. "Thank you so much for helping me again," he pulled back his chair and placed his feet on the floor. "But I have to find my sister and get back home."

He was quite the determined little boy and Amy was not going to keep him here if he had set his mind on finishing what he needed to do. "Hold on," she said as she took out a scrap of paper and wrote down her phone number. She handed it over to Kevin and smiled, "in case you get into any trouble, give me a call." She got up from her chair and took his coat from the hanger. Before she could react, the Talkboy fell out of coat's pocket and into the floor. "Oh I'm so sorry," she said as she knelt to the floor to get it.

"We were wrong little buddy...And now that we busted out, we're doing fine. We're not robbing houses anymore but we're robbing toy stores. At midnight tonight, we'll hit Duncan's toy chest. Five floors of cash. Then after that, we'll grab some phony passports and go to Rio-Marv! You wanna shut up?"

Amy's hand remained hovered over the Talkboy as she heard those two familiar voices coming into the room. Two guys chasing after this boy and his sister? It couldn't possible be, could it? After she had made the decision to leave Harry, she had prayed that she would never run into him again...or hear his voice for that matter. Yet, something deeply inside her still loved him but she couldn't bring herself to face the truth. She slowly turned her head and looked at Kevin who was standing behind her, waiting to leave. "Are these the two men chasing after you?" she asked him.

There was no way for Kevin to hide the evidence that he had gathered. "They are," he nodded his head to her.

Amy got up on her feet and shook her head. "I can't believe this," she mumbled and walked over to the kitchen sink. Taking a deep breath, she then turned around and looked at Kevin. The edges of her eyes were slowly turning pink and from wha Kevin could see, she was ready to cry.

Kevin felt his stomach drop when she said that. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

She noticed that her reaction was making him worried and that was the last thing that she wanted to do after what this child had been through. "I don't think I should let you go out there, not when these two are out."

Kevin tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. By the way that she spoke, it sounded as if she had an encounter with them before. "Did they rob your house too back in Chicago?" he asked her.

She had been robbed of many things last year and she had gotten herself in deeper trouble. It had taken her lots of courage to dig herself out and she had prevailed but the loss that she had gained from it, she was still trying to get her life back in order again. "I know them," Amy said to Kevin, "one of them is my hus...ex-husband."