Lock opened her eyes and saw the bunkroom at the lodging house. She had a vague idea of how she got there, but decided to ask later.

"Guys, I tink she's awake."

Suddenly, Lock was surrounded by the lot of boys in the room. Some looked at her worriedly while some had a curiosity in their eyes, and she offered both groups a small smile. She attempted to sit up but Dutchy laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Ise fine."

Dutchy pulled his hand away at her reassurance, allowing her to fully sit up. She hugged one knee and let the other fall off the bottom bunk. She felt cold inside; cold and black.

"Lock?"

"Ise fine," came the short reply. As the boys started to protest she quieted them with a quick look, "But you don' believe dat, do ya?"

Almost all looked down at the floor, but Jack, Race, and Spot kept their gazes on the blonde girl. They knew she wasn't fine but she wasn't helpless or weak either.

Ninini

Lock closed the door behind her as quietly as she could and walked down the dark street. She watched shopkeepers as they closed up after staying late hours and street cleaners sweeping up the last of the trash. The tall streetlamps lit the way as if guiding her to her destiny or doom. Moths and other insects hovered around the shining lamps and Lock longed to be like them, so close to the light. She felt herself sitting somewhere away from the light, but still far enough from the darkness to not be consumed by it. She remembered when she danced in the light, when all of her family was alive and well. Oh, how she missed those times.

She had the distinct feeling that she was being followed, so she would look over her shoulder every so often. She never saw anybody.

"Where youse goin'?"

Lock jumped at the voice that was suddenly right behind her. She knew that the owner of it was safe but that did nothing to settle the growing feeling of unease that was resting in her stomach.

"Way to scare a body, Higgins! Give a goil a warnin' next time!"

Racetrack stepped into the light of a streetlamp, cap and jacket on. He offered her a hand, silently asking her to take it.

"Come on, it's dark out 'ere. Youse can wait 'till tomorro'."

Lock stubbornly shook her head, "No, Ise lookin' for 'er tonight. Youse can't stop me."

"Den at least let me join youse."

Lock tipped her head slightly at his request then nodded and took off down the street.

Lalala

"Ise already looked on da west side an' da central area. Also looked in da lower Manhattan area too."

"So we look in da upper and east sides now?"

"Yup."

"Youse wanna split up?"

"Don' care; Ise can do jus' fine wit' or wit'out youse."

Race just smiled, "Les stay together. Jus' in case."

She nodded curtly, "Les go."

The pair of newsies walked down the street, looking remarkably like the couple that had walked down another street the night before. Lock felt confused and she didn't know why. It may have something to do with the newsie walking alongside her, but she wasn't sure. Something just felt different. They checked any building that they could get in and that they knew didn't belong to anybody rich, but had found nothing. Lock pointed out an older building, a two story with a basement, and they ventured on inside.

The inside was dusty, as was expected of a building of this one's age, but it looked like someone had been here recently. Footprints could be seen on the floor and the door handles were wiped clean of dust. Some of the beds looked like they had been slept in while some looked old and worn out, but it was obvious that someone had been here recently. Racetrack froze and grabbed Lock's arm to stop her. She turned to look back at him and saw his eyes were wide and wary. Lock almost asked what was wrong, but before she could voice her thoughts, she heard what Racetrack had heard. Snoring. She heard gentle snoring coming from down the hallway and louder snores coming from a few doors down.

Lock shoved all panic and worry down as far as she could push it, pulled herself together, and eased open the door. On the bed was a young man, black hair covered his eyes and ears and a small black beard hid his chin. On the floor, at the end of the bed, lay another male. This one seemed slightly older and had golden brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He had lighter skin than the first male, but was still quite tan.

Lock stepped back in the hall and continued on down, oblivious to her friend hurrying beside her. At the end of the hallway, she came to a stop at the last door on the left and hesitantly pushed it open. The gentle snores had come from this room and were still being emitted by the sleeping figure on the bed. Despite Race's hushed protests, Lock walked forward to take a look at the person on the bed. She pulled back the covers that covered the person's head and took in the girl's features.

The girl looked a little younger than Lock, but at the same time, looked slightly older. She had black curls that draped across her face and along her body. Her skin was tan and her eyes were barely smaller than average.

Lock's hand flew to her mouth and her other soon joined it. Race noticed the sudden movements and came up to examine the girl in the bed.

"She's pregnant!" He exclaimed in a whisper, "Do you know her?"

Lock's shocked face had dissolved into her usual face, but still had a slight look of urgency on it. She ushered him toward the girl, motioning for him to pick her up. Race gave her a questioning look, but complied anyway. Just as he slipped his arms under her, she stirred.

Racetrack's breath caught in his throat as the girl blearily gazed at his face. She scrunched her nose in confusion, but didn't seem wary of the strange people in her room. Her gaze drifted across the room to the girl standing behind him and froze directly on her. The black haired girl muttered something under her breath before her face lit up in recognition. Her hand reached out to Lock and the blonde immediately grasped it. Both girls had tears streaming down their faces and Racetrack suddenly knew how the other girl knew Lock.

"Youse Virginia, ain't you?"

A thump sounded from one of the rooms down the hallway and all three people in the room jumped.

"We gotta go!"

Race grabbed the black haired girl and followed Lock out the building and into the street.

Hehehe

"How long youse been pregnant?"

"Bout three months."

"Who did it?"

The venom in Lock's voice was impossible to ignore and Virginia hung her head slightly.

"I don' remember exactly, but they took me in da middle of da night and had their way wit me."

Virginia's eyes filled up with tears that refused to fall and Lock felt the extreme urge to pull her little sister into a huge hug and never let her go.

"I know it ain't me fault, but I wonder if I could'a done anyting ta stop 'em."

Her voice shuddered and Lock then grabbed her sister in a hug and held her tight. Both girls embraced with tears running down both of their faces and Lock's thoughts were centered around 'Why her?' Race wasn't even there anymore; it was just the two Brook sisters; them and them only.

After they ended the hug, the two girls kept their hands clasped as they headed back to the lodging house, with Racetrack trailing behind them.