I hope you all enjoy. This is a pretty long chapter and was considering dividing it up into two parts but decided that everything in it was too crucial to split up. Please do keep in mind that Lynn's actions might seem to be a bit back and forth in the past chapter and for a couple more. I'm trying to convey the feelings that a victim of abuse could go through because it is pretty important with how they cope, and do whatever they decide to do. I write from personal experiences and understand that there are other ways but this is how I decided to write Lynn.

Chapter 9: Lost Sibling

"Hey Shade." Spot said as his second in command walked to the end of the pier as the sun still let off enough heat before the cooling night set it in. "Come here." He sat in front of his leader. Spot looked closely at him. Since meeting Lynn he couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was a close resemblance between her and his second.

"Ya Spot." Shade said becoming a little uneasy under Spot's glare. He hadn't broken any rules, it was quite the opposite, he was punishing those who broke them.

"Well a couple days ago I met a girl." Spot said playing with the tip of his cane.

"Ya, you're always meeting girls Spot." Shade said trying to defuse the tension that was building. Spot laughed a little.

"That I do. But there was something different about this girl. And as I sat there I couldn't help feel as if I knew her from somewhere but I would have remembered a face like that. So I've been thinking and here you are I couldn't help but notice a few similarities between her and you."

"Me?" he asked knowing there was only one other person that could look like him.

"Ya. You Shade." Spot said looking him straight in the eyes. "And I started thinking to myself, maybe you're related to her. You got the same blue eyes, same shade of blonde hair and your faces could almost be identical."

"Well what's her name?" Shade asked. He wasn't quite sure if he was happy or not that he might have found his sister. Considering he was the one that ran away and left her with that mother of theirs. When their father had died of fever their mom started drinking almost everyday. She gave up working and relied on the money Shade and his sister brought home. Which was barely enough for rent and food on the table everyday.

"Lynn." Spot said after a moment of silence. He saw his second's eye widen a bit giving away that he knew who this girl was.

"Ya, I know her." Shade said scratching his neck. "That's my sister, we're twins." He looked at his leader. "Where did you see her?"

"Over at Charlie's. She was there with Race." Spot said. He noticed the questioning look on Shade's face. "I didn't know why either but I had Sly follow them, it looks like she's living with Manhattan."

"What!" Shade practically yelled.

"Calm down." Spot said noticing a few of the newsies close by looking over. He glared their way and they immediately went back to their business. "Race also seemed protective of her. He didn't let me sit next her and she barely talked to me. And if I was ever close to her she would tremble." Shade put his head in his hands not believing what he was hearing. He had hope that his mom would realize what an idiot she was being when he ran away and would clean up her act. He had hope that Lynn would have found a guy who loved her took of her like she deserved. He had too many questions now.

"I got to go see her Spot." Shade said standing up and Spot followed.

"Hold on. There's something else you got to know."

"What is it?"

"After she left I had mentioned to Race that I was going to ask her out. You know, to see how he reacted." Spot said putting his cane in his belt loop. "He said that she wouldn't be comfortable around me. I just want you to be prepared, something happened to your sister." Spot looked at his second, the guy who had been his best friend since he came three years ago and just like a brother. "Come on, let's get over there before it's too dark." And with that both the newsies left in the direction of Manhattan's Lodge.

"What is this place again?" Lynn asked as Angel led the group through the crowd.

"It's the Little Shepard. They don't care who you are they'll serve you a drink, which is what we newsies need." Angel said as her 5'8" athletic frame stopped at a table.

"We got lucky girls." Baby said as all five sat down. "It's not that crowded in here." Lynn looked at Sarah with a look that said she was thankful for that.

A couple hours later and quite a few drinks later the girls were a few blocks away from the lodging house.

"Ok. Now… Lynn are you helping here Baby feels like she weighs a ton." Angel said.

"Yes. But it doesn't help that she literally is giving us all her weight." Lynn said struggling to help Angel keep Baby upright. "At least she can move one foot in front of the other."

"We're going to have to make sure we don't make too much noise. Jack doesn't like it if we make too much in case some of the younger ones are sleeping. Like we know they are sleeping while all older ones are still awake." Heav said the last part sarcastically giving an eye roll to Jack's rule.

"O please. Jack just has a stick up his ass." The mostly sober girls heard. Sarah continued walking as if what she just said was nothing out of the ordinary. Lynn made a mental note that she needed to talk to her friend first thing Monday. The girls walked the last couple of minutes as they got the front door of their home.

"Hold on Lynn I'm going to go get Dutchy." Angel said as she moved Baby to sit on the steps. "Have the boyfriend deal with his girl." She laughed as she disappeared inside and watched as Sarah went inside to get Davey. Baby sat there barely able to hold up her head when she reached for both Lynn and Heav's hand and weakly pulled on them to sit down. Lynn and Heav obeyed her measly command and sat on either side.

"Lynn. I hope you had fun. No really I hope you did. We have been worried about you always sewing and barely talking. Sure you have made friends but still we worry about you." Baby slurred and Lynn could smell the alcohol on her breath. She didn't get a chance to respond because the door opened and out came Dutchy. "Dutchy!"

"Thanks I got her." He said as he scooped up his girl. Sarah walked down the steps without so much of a bye to her friend and she looked at the door to see Davey holding the door open for the newsie carrying his girl.

"Night Lynn. Heav." He said as walked down the steps and after his sister.

"This has been one strange night." Lynn as she watched the two disappear down the street.

"It sure has. But at least you had fun, right?" Heav said

It wasn't too long after they sat down that three boys had come up to them buying them all a round. The black hair boy was paying Angel extra special attention, the taller one was definitely into Heav and their brunette friend seemed to want to feel out the other three girls. Lynn didn't care one bit and she knew Baby was too sweet on Dutchy to do anything but Sarah, Sarah became an open invitation to the boy. After another round was bought and Angel had the boy right where she wanted him she started ignoring him. Of course the boy didn't know what was happening but the girls knew. This is how they could drink without paying a dime. After a few more attempts of getting Angel's attention he cursed lowly and grabbed his friends by their shoulders and dragged them away. Angel was able to find another willing guy to buy another round and when they just about finished their drinks Baby was practically falling where she was standing. So they left the Little Shepherd and ended up here.

Lynn had been hesitate at first, the bar reminding her of one Joshua would take her to and one that always gave her an uneasy feeling but soon the place proved it full of patrons looking to have harmless fun for a few hours.

The two walked inside and up the stairs when they realized no one was downstairs. When they reached the top there stood Jack, Race and Spot. Jack was talking while leaning against the doorframe, Race stood on the other side glaring at Spot, while Spot opposite of the two leaned against the wall at comfortable ease. Lynn had felt uncomfortable around Spot at their first meeting but seeing him like that made her think he was just like one of the other boys.

"Hi" Heav said coming up to the group with Lynn following. Lynn's three drinks had made her feel at ease earlier but now she was definitely feeling the tiredness coming.

"Hey, You and the girls had fun I see." Jack said to Heav as she took her place next to him. "Dutchy sure is going to have fun time tomorrow morning getting Baby up."

"More like Baby is going to have fun getting up." Heav said with a light laugh.

"Lynn you remember Spot?" Race said without a friendly tone in his voice.

"Yes." She gave him a small smile and he stood up right with his hands resting on his cane. He didn't have his hat on which allowed her to see his hair was dirty blond and long enough that his bangs fell in front of his eyes.

"He has something needs to ask you." Race said. She looked at Race but couldn't describe the emotion on his face. It seemed as if jealousy ran across it but there was something else that was there. Protectiveness she thought. The looked through the open door that led to the Boy's room but none of them paid attention to their group. They were all busy either playing poker or joking around with each other. Whatever it was it seemed more fun than standing where she was. "Do you want us to leave?" Race asked as he slipped his hand around her waist. She briefly looked down at his hand before she answered.

"You can stay." She said looking to Race and Jack as she turned to Spot. She had no idea what Spot Conlon would want with her but whatever it she wanted to have some friends there in case. "Shoot." She said, a phrase she learned from the newsies as she stepped slightly closer to Spot forcing Race's hand to drop. O ya, She was definitely feeling at ease she thought.

"You know after we met the other day I couldn't help but feel as if I recognized you from somewhere. I thought about it more and then it came to me." Spot said his eyes not leaving her face. "Shade." He yelled calling one his second in command. "Do you have a brother?"

"Yes." She said quietly. Out of all the things he could have asked he had to ask about this. "I had a twin. But he ran away. I haven't heard or talked to him since."

"What was his name?" Spot asked calmly.

"Eric." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but she had no clue why. She had talked about her brother before.

"Lynn." She heard from behind her but she knew the male voice didn't belong to either Race or Jack. She looked at Spot maybe to get some answers from his face but he betrayed nothing. Her breaths got heavier and time seemed slow down. No one moved. "Lynn?" She heard again. This time she slowly turned around and saw a face she hadn't seen in three years.

"Eric?" she asked as her knees gave away and her body followed. She barely touched the floor as a pair of hands grabbed onto her and helped her up. She turned her head and Spot with a look of concern in his face. The last thing she remembered was thinking maybe Baby wasn't the only one with too much to drink.

Spot moved his right arm under her knees to pick her up and as Race moved forward to grab her as well.

"I'll grab her." Race said.

"No Race. I got her." Spot said as he straightened himself up with Lynn in his arms. "Where should I put her Jack?"

"Girl's Room. Heav will show you which bed." Jack said with Heav leading Spot into the girl's room and to the second bed on the right. Spot put her down carefully and Shade sat down on the bed next to her. The Manhattan leader looked at both Lynn and Shade and there was no denying that those were related. Same blonde hair and blue eyes, the only difference was he was 5'10 and she barely over 5'. He turned around and saw Race standing behind him. "Come on Race. Let her brother take care of her." He said and he patted his friend on the shoulder as he left with Heav. Race took one last glance at her as he left with a feeling deep in the pit of his stomach he couldn't describe it. It was as though he was disappointed he couldn't take care of her.

Lynn had been out for the past hour with Shade by her side. Spot sat in a chair as he watched his second in command wait for his sister to wake up. A couple minutes before, Dutchy had taken Baby to the washroom because she wasn't feeling to good. Spot had a good laugh at it as he remembered when newcomers to the Brooklyn would drink for their first time. Many ended in up in washroom.

"I don't even know what to say to her when she wakes up." Shade said quietly. "When I ran away I purposefully left Manhattan so she couldn't find me. So our mom couldn't find me. And now here she is, with Manhattan and not at home."

"I can't tell you what to say Shade." Spot said. A minute later Lynn began to slightly move in bed. She moved a bit more and started to wake up with a groan. She moved her hand to eyes to shield them from the light and a few seconds later removed it as she slowly opened her eyes.

"This must be a dream because I have not seen you in three years." She said.

"No, you aren't." Shade said looking at his sister as he searched through his mind on what to say next. She sat up and noticed Spot out of the corner of her eye.

"I assume you only found me because of Spot." She said looking at the Brooklyn leader. Any trace of concern she thought she saw before was gone.

"He told me he saw someone who looked a lot like me with Race. And that her name was Lynn."

"So you're a Brooklyn newsie." She found her hands to be very interesting and so did Shade. She would call it a family habit, though where they got it from they didn't know.

"Ya I am."

"And you've been there since you ran away." All he did was nod. He didn't even need to respond she knew the truth.

"So, why come to me now?" She said with a slight harshness to her tone.

"Lynn its difficult…" Shade started but couldn't finish since his sister interpreted him.

"No Eric, its not. You left without a note. Without telling me. Without me." She had to control her voice from yelling.

"I couldn't bring you but I came once Spot told me you were living here. I wanted to know why you were here rather than home." His voice equally as loud as her's.

"You want to know why I'm here? I'll tell you, its because one night my brother left me." She said getting onto her knees and sitting on her heels. "And because he left there was only one to bring money to the table, since our incompetent mother decided it was still better for her not to work. You know she was still grieving, just because she drank didn't mean she didn't grieve. If you thought she was monster then well I don't know what to call her once you left. One income she decided wasn't good enough. So one day she decided to dress me up the best she could and try to parade me around where the middle class folk gathered. You know, so that I could marry a guy of good standing one day and he would be forced to take care of his wife's mother. Ooooo and let me tell you, it eventually worked. Meet a guy named Joshua and he was nice. We got to know one another, really liked each other you know. Then he started acting strange and got to the point where he took advantage of me when he wanted. And you know why because it was my duty as a woman and as his girlfriend. But I had to stay because of mother." The tears spilled from eyes as her voice held nothing but anger. She looked at Spot. "Can you believe that, it was my duty." And looked back he brother when saw Spot keep the same face he had as earlier. "But I knew it was wrong, Oooo I knew it and when I had the courage I finally broke it off. Then mom found out, how I don't know but she didn't like that and kicked me out. Kicked me out. And now here I am because Jack and Race found me one night on the Brooklyn Bridge, offered me place to stay and the feeling of being able to trust someone again." Shade couldn't look at her. He wanted to know and now he knew. It was quiet, no move and no one spoke. The only noise was the wind outside the heaving breaths Lynn took as the tears rolled down her face. She gave a small chuckle.

"Its funny you know. If you never left or if you had taken me, I mostly would never have met Joshua. I don't care about mom, but I do care my sense of security, the ability to trust and the hope to love someone and be loved back was taken from me. Taken from me by a guy who I would have never met if you had been my big brother." And with that she had nothing more to say. She angrily wiped the tears from her face not looking at her brother.

"I'm sorry Lynn. I really am. If I had known any of this was going to happen trust me I would have done anything to prevent it. But I had to leave. I thought if mom saw I ran away she might clean up her act and start being the mom she used to be. But I can see I was wrong." Shade spoke softly. "And as for this fellow he's dead. When I find out where he is, he won't be moving a step from that place." His voice got louder as he stood up. "How dare he do that to you. How dare he."

"Shade clam down." Were the first words Spot spoke since she woke up.

"I will not Spot. Some guy abused my sister, I have the right to be mad." Shade said.

"The right to be mad!" Lynn said. "If anyone has the right to be mad its me. You weren't even around during the time I was there. So if anyone has the right to be mad its me."

"Listen just because I wasn't there doesn't mean I can't be mad." Shade said as he grabbed onto his sister's arm. "I have the right to be mad for what this guy did." No one spoke. As he stared into his sister's tear stained eyes he saw a fear showing through. He felt the muscles in her arms stiffen and as he looked down he saw slight tremble in her hand.

"Let go of me." She said barely above a whisper. He her starting to chew on her bottom lip as he let go of her and slowly backed away.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said as he all but ran to the door and out. Lynn hung her head in sadness. She wished now that almost everything said could be taken back. She had hoped to find her brother one day but never thought about what she would say or do if she ever found.

"The alcohol certainly didn't help." She said to herself.

"Talking to yourself there." Spot said trying to break the tension. She light laugh as she tried to picture in her head what the two arguing looked like. Lynn looked at Spot as he sat there slouched in the chair. One foot resting on the other leg's knee and his arms closed.

"You know, it wasn't-" Spot started saying.

"I know, it wasn't his fault what happened to me." She cut him off. He looked at her because for the first time in history a girl had cut him off and finished his exact sentence. "I was mad and lately I have been having all these questions that include why and what ifs. I'll let him cool down a bit and talk to him in a bit." She looked around noticing there was no one else.

"Baby and Dutchy are in the washroom and Angel and Heav are sleeping in the boy's room." Spot said noticing her questioning look around the room.

"I wouldn't blame them. Its gotta be late."

"Almost 1." Spot said. "Look I'm going to bed. Most likely your brother is up on the roof. And just so you know, the moment he found out you were living here he came. He practically ran the whole way here." He got and left. Lynn sat there for a few moments trying to re-gather her thoughts. She knew she couldn't blame her brother for anything that happened to her.

"I guess the sooner the better." She said to herself as she got up and made her way to the roof.

I want to thank you all who reviewed! Hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter out soon. I have been very good to make sure I had at least one more chapter written before updating but this one took a lot of time since it was her first time seeing her brother since he left.

Mayarin- Thank you for your review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

TheFlyingSeal- I was rereading it and I was so into I was like why don't they kiss! I forgot I'm the author haha. And those interuptions do make for some funny things to be said and happen!

mo and rocky- We'll have to see what happens with Race and Lynn. :) Unfortunately all good things must come to end sometimes.

Ealasaid Una- Both Lynn and Race are very confused right now. They both have had events happened to them that makes them both hide their feelings and makes them think.