Disclaimer: I don't own "Newsies" or any of it's characters, Disney© does, sadly….

Author's Note: It's too damn cold outside. Living in New England does that ta ya….heehee I can understand how our dear Newsies felt. Well, first off THANKIES!!! I love you guys. You reviewers are the bestest. You really motivate me to write more, seriously….

Outsider Wolf- I love writing suspense…but maybe she didn't do anything??? Thanks for the review!!

alex24- Oohh, Spot lecturing?? Maybe, maybe not! Thanks for the review! Update your story soon!

Time is a waste of life- I can't wait for you to update your story! I'm updating. As fast as I can! I promise! Thanks for the review!

XBeLLaViTaX- You wouldn't happento be Italian now, wouldyou? Because your name means Beautiful life…Thanks for the review, and hopefully (if you guys think so) it gets better as the story progresses.

Here ya go! It's longer this time, I promise I'll write longer chapters this time!

Chapter Four:

The First Fight

Rachel's POV:

As Spot walked towards me, I got this dreaded feeling inside of me. I didn't want to know why all the Newsies were looking down, and how all of a sudden time seemed to be standing still. I got up slowly, as Spot stopped in front of me. A moment of silence passed before I spoke up.

"Um…good morning?" I said tentatively.

Spot looked sharply at me. "Whaddya mean? Good morning? Why are you here? You should be in your room."

"Well, I woke up and came down here. Ricky took me to this here table and we was just talkin'. No need to get worried bout it."

Spot gave a short laugh. "Yeah, but ya in my protection, and I need ta know where ya are, at all times, ya understand? Ya can't go anywhere wit'out me knowin'."

I could feel the anger inside of me bubbling up. "What do ya mean, I's can't go anywhere without tellin' ya?"

Spot looked shocked that I would ever talk back to him. "Ya can't go's anywhere's wit'out anyone from Brooklyn wit ya." He responded firmly.

I, myself, gave out a short laugh. "Hah. Who's ta say ya rule me? I can go anywheres wit'out your permission or ya Newsies. I've been on da streets before ya know."

Spot took another step forward, and now he was only a half foot in front of me. "Listen ta me. Jacky boy put ya in my protection, so ya gotta listen ta me. Or else ya can go back ta Jack." He said, smirking and most likely thinking that I'd never leave the "Brooklyn protection" and go out onto the streets.

"Hah, then Jack will nevah be there for ya in da future. 'Sides no one can tell me wut ta do. I've been told what ta do my whole life and I ain't gonna be told by you." I said, and I could hear Ricky let out a slightly muffled gasp behind me.

Spot's eyes widened. "Listen, ya here, ya listen ta me. Or else ya can get out."

I shrugged. "Fine, byes." I said, and pushed past Spot and went out the door, passing by a few shocked Newsies. Outside, I breathed in the cool air as I walked. I expected Spot to come running out the door any second to drag me back inside, but it didn't happen. So, I figured I'd find my way back to Manhattan first and then decide whether or not I should wait for Spot to find me. Most likely he'll go crawling to Jack, telling him that I ran away. Jack would be plenty mad, I knew that much. He also knew my tendency to get into trouble and would probably soak Spot. Not that I cared. How dare he? How dare he tell me what to do!? I couldn't stand him at the moment. As I walked down the streets, past the docks, I started thinking. I should probably head to Manhattan, and if possible avoid all people on the streets. That would be hard though, seeing as I didn't know my way to Manhattan from Brooklyn all that well, not to mention I definitely didn't know my way back through alleys. Besides, I didn't want to deal with possible drunks right now. I figured I'd just tour Brooklyn, give Spot a scare, and then go back to the docks and kind of spy to see what they would be doing. I was feeling a little disappointed though. I had expected Spot and his crew to be out after me by now, but I guess that they didn't care. Part of me was worried, because I have no clue how to get around Brooklyn. The other part of me was relieved, because I didn't quite feel like dealing with Spot. As I turned the corner I came across a street where there were vendors and such, just like Manhattan. I breathed a sigh of relief and kept walking. As I walked, I pretended to know what I was doing, smiling at the vendors along the way. Suddenly looking up ahead of me, I stopped. In front of me, not one yard away, were two of the Oscar's thugs. I stood frozen in place until they saw me, then I turned and took off running with them in close pursuit.

Spot's POV:

Rachel walked out of the lodging house without one backward glance.

I couldn't believe it, she just walked out of here. I turned to see if she was joking or not, but she never re-entered the lodging house. I was so mad at here I didn't even care. I'd rather have her on the streets of Brooklyn than here arguing with me. I knew she had nerve to talk back to me, especially when she said she didn't need me to tell her what to do. No one has ever talked to me like that. I shook my head and looked at my Newsies, who were all staring at me in shock. Ricky had half-risen from his seat staring at me with wide eyes. "What? Go back ta ya eatin," I said to all of them and walked over to the door and leaned against it. I crossed my arms in front of me, still wondering where she got the courage to stand up to me. She had said that she had been told what to do by others and that she had been out on the street before. Although I was apt to not believe it, simply because she was a girl, I still kind of believed her. She was tough, I'd give her that, and she certainly didn't take anyone's crap. But I knew that her defiance would get her in trouble sooner or later, if it hadn't already. I sighed heavily and once again shook my head. How Jack stood her, I didn't know. Maybe he did it because she was his family, and the only one from what I could tell. But what about Race? He obviously liked her, but how did he stand her defiant attitude?

"Hey, Spot." Ricky said, coming up to me, with a worried look on his face. "Man, ya might want ta do somet'in' bout Rachel. Like, go afta her."

I shook my head. "Naw, she left on her own. I ain't goin' afta her."

Ricky shook his own head in disbelief. "What? Are you an idiot Spot?"

"Whatcha mean?" I asked, slightly offended.

"Man, if ya let her go then she might get hurt. And ya don't want Kelly ta find out do ya?"

"Damnit." I said, frustrated with the whole situation. "Great, now I's gotta go afta her."

"Spot, Oscar or his thugs could already be here. She doesn't know her way round."

"Alright, I'll go." I said, pushing myself off the door and opening it.

"I'll go wit ya," Ricky said, but I held up my hand.

"No, stay here. In case she comes back, and ya my second in command, so stay." I said, and walked out.

I looked around, wondering where she could have gone. Figuring she'd just go straight, I followed the street up to the four-street intersection. Now, this was the hard part. There were three ways she could have gone and since I didn't think her way, I didn't really know which way to go.

All of a sudden, I heard a scream from the right. I turned in time to see an older crude looking guy run into an alley. I took off, knowing full well that is was most likely Rachel he was chasing. Picking up my speed I ran into the alley, stopping at the sight in front of me.

One of the thugs had Rachel held up against the wall, with his arm across her throat. The one that I had seen running into the alley spotted me and came towards me, with brass knuckles on. I took out my cane and readied myelf for a fight. As soon as the thug swung, I ducked out of his way and pushed him against the wall. The thug hit the wall hard and I hit him on the back with the cane. As he crumple to the ground, I turned my attention towards Rachel. The thug had her tight against the wall, trying to stop her from getting any breath. I lunged forward, giving the thug a hard blow on his back, like I did with the first one. He screamed in pain and abruptly let go of Rachel. She crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath as I faced the thug. He lunged at me with his fists and I hit him hard in the stomach. He went down and I stood over him, holding my cane. He looked up at me with a scowl.

"They'll be here soon," he said, getting slowly up and walking backwards. His companion had gotten up and he was bent, from my blow to his back. "We'll be back with Oscar, and you won't be able to hide her." He said, and with that he and his companion limped out into the street.

I turned back towards Rachel, who was sitting against the wall with her eyes half closed, still gasping for breath. I bent down to her. "Hey, Rachel." I said loudly and she opened her eyes to look at me. "Damnit," I said, as I saw bruises starting to form on her neck. "What were ya thinkin'?" I said angrily. "They coulda killed ya."

Rachel shook her head furiously. "They wouldn't. That's not their style." She said weakly.

"Not their style!? It doesn't matter what their 'style' is! Ya ran out and almost got killed! Whata ya? Insane?" I yelled at her, not realizing she was crying.

"STOP IT! JUST STOP!!" She screamed at me, and then a whole new flood of tears came. Her shoulders were shaking and immediately I felt horrible. I never wanted to make her cry. I knew I shouldn't have been mad at her, since she was just attacked.

"Hey, listen…ssshh…don't cry." I said, trying to comfort her.

She picked her head up and looked at me with tear stained eyes. Suddenly I knew why Race couldn't stand her crying. It seemed that when she cried I just wanted to cry to, because she was so miserable. "Spot…I'm scared. I'm so scared." She said quietly. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I won't let anyt'in happen ta ya." I promised. "Okay?"

She nodded and even more tears came as I sat closer to her and let her put her head on my shoulder and cry all the tears that were left.

Author's Note: Okay, so that chapter is done. Shows a bit of Spot's soft side, along with some soaking. R&R please! More ta come, maybe with a surprise visit!