Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Disney and are only used for fan related purposes.

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The Sparrow

When Sarah disappears, it's up to David to go looking for her.
With only a simple clue to where she could have gone, and the understanding that he's in over his head,
it won't take him too long to discover that his sister wasn't the only one with a secret.

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I thought I heard her wrong. That, or I really didn't understand what she was saying. Slowly, a look of confusion written on my face, I met Teller's gaze. For the first time since I'd met her yesterday, sitting next to Jack at Tibby's, she looked less than confident. In fact, she looked positively defeated.

It didn't make any sense to me. I opened my mouth once and, when no words came, I left it hanging open.

Spot took the chance to cut in instead. "See, Mouth? That girlie was never helpin' you try to get Sarah back from the Sparrow. She works for him!" Whirling around on her, he pulled his cane out from under the strap of his suspenders. He held it out in front of him as if it were a sword. "Why don't you tell him, Teller?" he sneered. "Tell Mouth you ain't nothin' but a two-bit lousy spy who reports back to the Sparrow!"

In that moment, as Spot jabbed his cane threateningly in Teller's direction, a crazed look on his face, I understood why exactly he was considered one of the most feared newsies in all of New York. Teller was a girl so he wasn't actually trying to hit her but it was easy to see that, if she'd been a boy, he would've already cracked her skull with his cane.

I didn't blame him. When you were poor and didn't have a lot, loyalty was worth something. And Teller, it seemed, was loyal to the Sparrow. I felt like a complete and utter fool. Here I'd thought—

—no. It didn't matter what I thought. This wasn't going to change anything except that, when I found Sarah, I wouldn't owe Teller anything. Not even a darn nickel.

Still, I couldn't help but look at her just then. Surely there was something she had to say.

She hadn't moved from her place on the docks and I was suddenly aware of how close we were, how close she was standing next to me; stubborn to a fault, though, I wasn't going to be the first one to move. Her dark eyes narrowed on the cane that Spot was brandishing. I had to give her credit—she didn't look intimidated at all, just tired.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know the Sparrow and, yeah, I talk to him sometimes, tell him stuff." She shrugged then but it was easy to see that her heart wasn't into it. "I'm Teller, it 's what I do," she said before turning to glance at me imploringly, "but it don't mean I like it. Ya gotta understand."

It was not lost on any of us who she was speaking to. I turned my head away from her. I don't think I wanted to hear it.

When she spoke next, there was heat in her voice. She sounded much more like the Teller I thought I was getting to know.

"There! You happy now, Conlon?"

"I'll be happy when your ass is out of my city and your scabber boss gets his damn claws off of Sarah!"

I couldn't help it. Maybe I was trying to get my mind off of Teller's questionable betrayal, but Spot's attitude really seemed to bug me. Forgetting he was the one with the cane, the slingshot, the back-up muscle and the reputation, I turned on him. My arms were stretched out in front of me, my forehead furrowed. I snapped. "What does it matter to you, anyway?"

I heard a harsh laugh—it was Teller's hardly amused laugh—as I watched Spot sputter and stumble in response to my question. Finally, he pursed his lips together before shaking his head. "It matters to me 'cause it matters to Jacky here."

I automatically turned to look at Jack, wanting confirmation, I guess. Surprisingly, Jack had lost his haunted look, swapping it in favor of his trademark half-smile. "What was it you said to me before, Spot? Jigs up? Why don't you come clean? It's her brother, you know. It'll all come out eventually."

My attention bounced from Jack to Spot and back. When I caught Jack's eye a second time, he nodded.

I felt sick. Just how much was Sarah keeping from us all?

"You… and Sarah?" I said, nearly stuttering in my surprise. "You and my sister?"

Spot stuck his chest out and lifted his chin. "Yeah, so? What of it?"

I have to admit, Spot's indignant response deflated my anger quite a bit. Once I got over the initial shock of it all, it kind of made sense. I mean, Sarah liked Jack for awhile, didn't she? Why not Spot Conlon?

All right. There were a million and one reasons why not but, with that cane in his hand and that daring expression on his face, I couldn't think of any at the moment.

"Nothing, Spot."

"That's what I thought."

He seemed satisfied but that satisfaction didn't last. So what if Spot and Sarah were together? It didn't mean nothing when the Sparrow had her. That idea seemed to hit Spot at the same time that it struck me. He scowled and snorted condescendingly on Teller's direction. Muttering something about "Mouth and the spy," he looked away and spat on the docks.

Now that the attention had been taken off of her for a bit, Teller wasn't as resigned as she was before. Without Spot waving his cane around, yelling at her, she got most of her strong personality back. Her dirty, dusty face twisted in that familiar haughty expression and her hands on her hips, she looked down upon Spot. "Stop lookin' at me like that, Conlon. It ain't what it looks like and it sure ain't what it seems."

Before I knew it, I was frowning. "Nothing is what it seems, huh?" I paused. And then, "I thought you were trying to help me."

Teller's eyes widened. She looked taken aback. "I am!"

"Yeah, sure. Tell him another one."

She whipped her head around, her braid almost slapping her in the face. "Keep out of it, Conlon."

"Or what?"

"Ha! Wouldn't you like to know," she muttered darkly.

I tried my best to ignore both of them. I didn't know what to believe just then, and their bickering was making it difficult to think.

Finally, I said, "I don't get it. I understand why I've got to find Sarah, and even why Spot and Jack are trying to look for her—" stopped for a second before, "—you are looking for her, right?"

Spot almost growled his answer; at the very least, I could swear I saw him bare his teeth. "Of course we are! As soon as Cowboy got the sign that she was gone he came straight here!"

That reminded me of something else I wanted to know but, at the moment, it wasn't as important as what I was already saying. It would have to wait until later. For now, I continued, "Okay. So we're trying to get her back. But, what I don't understand is, why does the Sparrow have her in the first place?"

Spot nodded at Teller. "Why don't you ask his spy?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Umm… spy?"

Drawing herself up to her full height—which, funnily enough, was a few inches taller than Spot—Teller glowered at him. "Get this through your thick skull, Conlon! I. Am. Not. His. Spy! I told you, yes, I've done jobs for him in the past. Just because he's got your little girlfriend all locked up somewhere and you can't figure it out on your own, that doesn't mean I'm working against you. If you haven't realized it yet, I want to help Dave, not hurt him!"

I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped open then. Teller didn't seem to notice as she added, "I was sittin' with Jack and some of the others yesterday. Rachel Harpen invited me and she was the one who asked me to help. I've been helpin' and now I want to help. You believe me, David, right?"

Her story now was exactly the same as what she told me when we first met. For all I knew, this could be some sort of rehearsed scene. I mean, she never told me she worked for the Sparrow before—how can I trust her now?

Then again, I never asked her if she worked for him. I'd asked her if she knew him and she told me she didn't like him. Just because she hadn't offered any more information than that does that make her a liar? Shoot, if I knew someone who made off with Teller's brother, I wouldn't come forward with that knowledge either.

I decided, for the moment at least, to reserve judgment. Besides, there was someone else I was waiting to hear from.

Jack Kelly, in all the time I'd known him, had never been one to keep his mouth shut. Whether he was sticking up for the little guy or just plain sticking his nose in where it didn't belong, Jack always was ready for a comment or a smart remark or two.

However, almost as soon as Spot and Teller started their argument, he wasn't saying a word. A cowboy hat suddenly on his head, his arms crossed over his chest, he was watching the two of them with an interested eye. He was a spectator, nothing more.

Well, that was about to change. Ever since I gave him the note that Sarah had left for him, he's been lying to me. Maybe I was being a little naïve, but he had to come up with the truth sooner or later.

"Jack," I said and, almost begrudgingly, he looked my way, "do you know why the Sparrow went after Sarah?"

He stared at me unblinkingly for a few seconds. Then, with the simple flick of his forefinger, he hit his hat, knocking it down his back. The circles under his eyes were even darker up close.

"It's… it's hard to explain, Davey."

That ruffled my feathers. I scowled. "I don't understand why everyone keeps saying that. I'm actually quite smart, you know."

There was that half-smile again. "But not smart enough to stay out of this, huh?"

"I'm quite stubborn too, Jack."

He laughed at that. "You and Sarah, you've both got that goin' for ya."

At the mention of my sister's name, I stared at him pointedly. He got the message.

"You want to know why he was gunnin' for her?" I nodded. "All right, I'll tell ya. The Sparrow, he wants Sarah 'cause… 'cause I wanted Sarah and 'cause Spot wants Sarah. Ya get it?"

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure I did. I heard Teller's gasp behind me—she was a little quicker on the uptake than me, I guess. She understood what Jack was saying.

"Don't ya see, Dave?" he asked, anxious hands fiddling with the frayed ends of his rope belt. "The Sparrow just wants what he can't have. If Miss Sarah Jacobs is good enough for the likes of me in Manhattan and Spot in Brooklyn… well, then he wants her as his own. His queen, you could say." He snorted under his breath. "King of New York, hah!"

Put like that, I understood exactly what he was trying to say. I just wished I didn't. "He took Sarah away from her family, away from everyone, because he was jealous? That's… that's crazy!"

Jack shrugged. "That's the Sparrow."

My head was reeling at the revelation. I'd known for two days now that Sarah had gotten mixed up with the Sparrow but I never really made any guesses why. Now, though, now that I knew the truth, it seemed ridiculous. It seemed… childish.

Glancing at Teller, it seemed the news came over as quite the shock her to her, too. In fact, she almost looked green.

I know how she felt.

Okay. Fine. Now I knew what was going on—even if I didn't like it. I could see why Jack and Spot, even, were so intent on finding Sarah on their own. If what Jack said was true, then it only followed that they felt partly to blame for Sarah's trouble. But I didn't want them to think they had to do this by themselves.

I got myself into this mess because I was devoted to my sister and I wanted to see her back at home. I wasn't stopping now.

"All right, then. What do we do now?"

I tried to emphasize the word 'we'. The two of them were stuck with me whether they liked it or not.

Spot looked angry, and Teller was interested. I had a funny feeling that, whether Spot liked it or not, we were stuck with Teller. Again, I had to work hard at fighting a blossoming smile.

Jack, however, looked simply determined. "What do we do now? We go after the Sparrow, of course."

Of course.

Part One.

Fin.

Author's Note: Well, that's that. I said I wanted to have The Sparrow completed by my birthday and now, today, on my 25th birthday (yeesh, I feel old!), I've done just that. Of course, it's only the end of Part One of David's adventure. Part Two, The Lark, will be released shortly -- and just wait 'til you see what that first chapter entails! If you think the end answers a couple of questions, you'll be amazed to see what's revealed in the second beginning!

Thank you so much to everyone who went along for the ride with this one. I've grown rather attached to some of these characters and I can't wait to continue in their journey. I hope you stick around for the next part ;)

-- stress, 10.03.08