Chapter 3

By the time Spot and his band of newsies reached their border between the Bronx and Brooklyn it was too late. Four battered and bruised bodies lay in a bloody heap on the ground-all that remained of the noble Brooklyn birds that had stayed behind to delay Harlem's advances. Not seeing any of the attacking party, Spot knelt down and touched the neck of each one of the boys. Then he stood up and spat on the ground venomously. "They're dead," he announced, hatred laced in his voice.

"Shark!" a strangled cry rang out from the group behind them, getting Spot's attention. The King turned to see Ink flying towards him, only to be held back by several others. Ink tried to fight the newsboys holding him back, all the time screaming for his younger brother, but to no avail. Finally Brooklyn's second stopped struggling and let tears fall. Spot motioned for them to let Ink go and the boy rushed forward towards Shark's body. Kneeling down like Spot had done, he took the little boy's head in his lap and ran his fingers through his hair, sobbing quietly to himself. Then he looked up at Spot with rage-filled eyes. "They're gonna pay Spot," he growled dangerous. "They just have to." Spot patted his friend on and back and nodded quietly. "An' dey will Ink. I promise."

All the Brooklyn boys stood there silently, mourning their fallen comrades. The three birds that had escaped the brawl sat there speechless, still trying to comprehend how close to death they come. Ink was still on the ground cradling his little brother's body, something that surprised Spot, considering that Ink had never been an emotional kind of person. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone started coughing and wheezing. The Brooklyn newsies all turned to one another glaring, angry at the boy who had dared disturb them. But the noise hadn't come from the living newsboys- it had come from the dead.

Spot whirled around to face Ink, who was closest to the bodies. The second blinked the turned his head back towards his brother; and screamed. There was Shark, alive and breathing, coughing up blood and trying to stand. Ink cried out for joy and embraced him, then looked back, glaring, at the other newsies who were standing there snickering, daring them to laugh openly. Shark buried his face in his older brother's shirt, whimpering. "Ink, it's a trap!" he stuttered, pulling away and pointing into the darkness encompassing the group. "Dere already here!"

As if right on cue, a gang of 10 to 15 Harlem newsies emerged from the impending shadows, smirking and cracking their knuckles threateningly. "Well, well, well, if it ain't da famous Spot Conlon, down off his throne 'o' crates!" a menacing voice greeted them. It belonged to the leader of the Harlem group, a ragged sort of fellow with yellow teeth bared.

"Hey River, how's Harlem suiting ya?" Spot replied sarcastically, sneering at the former Queens leader. "Bein' second good an' all?" River glared at him and took and stepped forward, anger practically aerating off of him. "Ain't da same as bein' King, Conlon," he responded. "Which is why Giant's makin' me King in ya place when we kill ya!"

While the Brooklynites all brought out their slingshots and aimed them all at River, Spot just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Isa sure da leader 'o' Harlem's very good at keeping his promises." River narrowed his eyes and motioned for his newsies to move forward and attack. "Just as long as Isa uphold m end 'o' da bargain. Which will be a piece 'o' cake considering ya only brought 8 other people with youse, not counting ya softie 'o' a second ova dere." He chuckled at Ink, who was busy helping his 9 year old brother to his feet. "Youse like me present Ink? Seems ya do gotta heart aft' all!"

The second left Shark with two other birds and turned to River, clenching his fists. "Isa won't have one when it comes ta killin' youse!" Then he lunged at River, who just casually stepped aside and let him ram into a row of boxes. "How very touching. Gentlemen, go get em'!"

And with that said the Harlem boys moved in on Brooklyn, each dead intent on ripping their throats out.

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The fight was quick, to be honest. Although greater in size and numbers, Harlem had little to no fighting technique, which made defeating this party all too easy for Spot and his men. But by the time all 15 of the newsies from Harlem were knocked out or run away and Spot could get to River he was gone, disappeared while his men did all the dirty work for him. Dat's da way Harlem leaders work, Spot reasoned bitterly. Dey all cowards at heart. Shark and the birds had also disappeared, but everyone knew where they'd gone. During the battle the boys had taken it upon themselves to clear away and bury their friend's bodies as well as take Shark back to the lodging house to clean him up. Spot made a mental note to thank them later.

The King then walked over to where Ink lay, still unconscious from running into the boxes. He shook his second awake and looked down upon him impassively. Ink got up silently and stared down at the ground guiltily. "Sorry Spot," he mumbled almost too quietly to hear. "Isa wasn't thinking." Spot nodded and walked away. "Don't let it happen again."

Just then a smaller newsie, one of the ones left behind at the house, ran up to them, out of breath and clearly troubled. "Spot, Spot!" he called out to the King, wide eyed and bouncing up and down. "Dere here, dey came! Dere at da house right now! Ya gotta get ova dere pronto!" Spot grasped the kid's shoulders and weighed him down. "Calm down Dusty! Now, slowly, who's back at da LH?"

But Dusty didn't answer, just pulled out of Spot's grip, grabbed his hand and pulled him along with Ink and everyone else in tow. "C'mon, let's go!"

By the time Spot had finally gotten back to the house he was out of breath, as were the rest of the newsies minus Dusty. How dat kid has enough energy ta get here an' back without stopping is beyond me! Spot thought exasperatedly. Dusty tugged him up the stairs, pushed open the door and shoved Spot into the living room. "Here dey are!" he exclaimed proudly, beaming up at the Brooklyn leader.

Spot's ice blue eyes fell upon the scene. There they were, exactly 20 Queens newsies, all sitting in the living room looking back at Spot expectantly. Fury herself was standing in front of them, arms crossed and fire lighting up her eyes mischievously. "Alright Conlon," she announced, standing feet shoulder width apart, making her look intimidating. "You've convinced me. What do you got?"

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Spot's jaw dropped. It had been what, only three hours since Fury had denied them and here she was sitting his living room waiting for instructions? How crazy can today get? Spot asked himself. He nodded towards Fury and headed out of the room, motioning for her to follow him. When they reached the hallway and turned around and glared at her fiercely. "Watt da youse think ya doin'?" he demanded impatiently. "Comin' in here when we just lost 3 biords an' sayin' youse gonna help us when ya just said youse needed ta know we had watt it took!"

Fury glared back at Spot equally as hard and set her jaw stubbornly. "You did Conlon. You beat Harlem the first time around, but you definitely won't do twice in a row. That's why I'm here, in case you haven't noticed!" Spot groaned and ran his head through his hair, looking away before looking back again with a calmer but disgruntled expression. "Youse nova told me dat River was da second 'o' Harlem," he told her. That set Fury off big time; all collectivity and relaxation forgotten, she got right up in Spot's face, eyes blazing. "Look, none of us knew River was in Harlem until tonight, so don't go blaming this on me, ok? You should be happy I'm even here, because I normally don't go into Brooklyn for just anyone!"

"An' we're happy ya here," Spot reasoned with her, trying to take it down a notch. He knew Fury could easily change her mind about siding with Brooklyn and let Harlem tear them to shreds, and right now they weren't off to a great start. "Isa sorry Isa got all mad, disses just been rough on all 'o' us already. Ink almost lost his little brother tonight with da four biords dat were attacked, so if youse an' ya boys could cut us a little slack dat would be great."

Fury nodded solemnly at this and looked back towards the living room, where Brooklyn and Queens newsies alike were busy getting to know each other already. "They know we're gonna be staying with them awhile, to might as well make friends instead of enemies," she observed. Spot silently agreed, then realized something. "Where's da rest 'o' ya borough?" he asked, puzzled. "Ain't dey comin' too?"

The Queen of Queens shook her head and leaned up against the wall. "I have 36 newsies exact. I brought 20 with me, 10 of them are too young to fight and the other 6 are my birds, two of which are in Manhattan at the moment. These are all I can get at the moment; the rest are holding down the fort while I'm gone." Spot instantly recognized how military-style run Queens actually was. Fury ran them like a general! He bobbed his head in understanding and looked towards Queens's second Spike, who unlike the rest wasn't taking part in the festivities. "Watt's his problem?"

Fury shrugged, cleaning underneath her fingernails with her dagger's point. "Spike's aright. He was my first friend when I came to the Queens LH with my brother, actually. Was the person to nominate me as second, stood behind me when I took control of the town. I'll admit, he has gotten a bit moody lately, but that comes with the leader's second job I guess."

Spot chuckled humorously, trying to imagine a burly kind of guy straining under the pressure of being a leader. "Was dere eve' a time when youse wasn't in control 'o' something?" he laughed jokingly. Spot continued to laugh, but then fell silent when he saw the look on Fury's face. She wore a saddened expression, but then it grew hard and unreadable. She looked away, as if staring at some unseen, far-off place. "Once," was her reply. "But that was a long time ago." Finally she turned to the Brooklyn leader, her expression emotionless. "It only happened once more, but never again."

The King cocked his head, completely confused. "Watt happened ta youse?" he questioned, staring deep into Fury's unique eyes. The raven haired girl held his gaze for a moment, defiant, but then broke away and proceeded to head back into the room. But Spot grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. "No, youse gonna answer dis one!" he stated, a bit frustrated. "If we're gonna be allies we're gonna have ta trust each other, no excuses." Fury wrestled her arm out of Spot's grip and scowled at him, but she stayed all the same. "Fine," she muttered. "What do you wanna know?"

"Watt happened da first time youse wasn't in control 'o' da situation."

Fury sighed and sat down in the lodging house stairwell, looking tired and forlorn. For the first time Spot didn't see her as the tough, battle-hardened, intelligent and beautiful creature she was. Instead he saw a weakened, vulnerable, and unsure human being trying her hardest to keep what remained of her sanity. It was only for a brief moment, but it gave the King a crystal clear image of the pain Fury had endured over the years.

"It was two years ago," Fury began, staring down at the floor quietly. "My older brother Royce and I had been in Queens about a year, but our family for the most part still lived in Brooklyn, including our parents. I was second at the time and was always sneaking over there to visit them with Royce when that war broke out between the two of us. That was the war that made you King, remember?" Spot nodded, fully recalling the war with Queens that had placed him on Brooklyn's throne after the former leader had been killed. It had never occurred to him that they had been second in commands at the same time. "Isa remember."

"You should. About 5 weeks into it one of your newsies pulled a gun on a couple Queens newsies about a block off of the Queens border, in the Italian quarter. My parents got caught in the cross-fire." By then tears were threatening to spill over the girl's eyes, but still she held them back. She looked up at Spot with a sort of saddened expression, ready to cry. "It was the first time I couldn't do anything to help them, and then my whole life came crashing down on top of me. My brother started going off the deep end, Queens just barely survived, and my family was practically gone. It was only recently things have gotten better-"

Fury let her voice trail off, so Spot finished for her. "An' dat was aft' River stepped down an' disappeared."

"Exactly." Fury then straightened back up, tears vanquished and back to her old brisk and business-like manner without the slightest indication that they had ever been there to. "Do you see why I was so reluctant to trust you now?" Spot nodded, feeling suddenly guilty. "Because Brooklyn didn't just destroy ya borough; dey destroyed ya family." Fury nodded in return, absentmindedly fingering her knife hilt. "When we finally drove River out of Queens and I took his place I made sure it never happened again. We didn't pick any more fights with other boroughs, became more like a family than ever before. I would never wish that on anyone Conlon. Not even my worst enemy."

Spot felt a hint of sympathy for Fury, but he didn't have time to discuss it further with her. The Queen suddenly got up, brushed herself off, and shot him a rare smile. "So, are we done here then? I need to talk to Spike." Spot regretted it instantly, but waved her off all the same. "Go ahead, ya fine," he dismissed her. Fury thanked him and left. As Spot watched her leave he stopped to admire how courageous and strong this girl was. One could never tell how much pain she had endured. The King was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Ink come up behind him until he was practically loomed over his shoulder.

"She is something, ain't she?" the Brooklyn second teased his superior, chuckling. Spot turned red and shoved Ink away, slightly disgruntled. "She's just an ally, dat's it!' he protested, but Ink was on a role. "Isa mean, she a looker, no one's gonna blame youse if ya take a liking to err' or nothing. Queens ain't our enemy anymore, aft' all-"

"Fury won't appreciate ya talkin' about err like dat," Spot pointed out, trying to move away from the personal topic. But he's right. She ain't dat bad once ya get ta know err…

Fortunately Ink interrupted his thoughts before they could go anywhere else. "Speaking 'o' Fury, has youse actually talked ta err' second?" Ink asked his boss. "Isa mean really talked? Da guy don't feel right man, something's fishy about im'."

"Fury trusts im'," Spot replied plainly and without feeling. "Isa ain't sayin' she don't!" Ink replied, defensive. "Isa just sayin' he's kind 'o' creepy! Isa can back it up too! Ya know Isa was talkin' ta a couple 'o' da Queens newsies, an' dey say dat Spike runs off at least twice a week without reason. Believe me, he's a little shady Spot, ya might wanna keep an eye one im'." Spot didn't want to go behind Fury's back, especially when it concerned her own friend, but Ink was right; there was something strange about Queens's second. Finally he said "Go find two biords an' tell em' ta stick ta Spike like pitch. Don't let im' go nowhere without us knowing about it."

Ink nodded and took off, leaving Spot to ponder these turn of events. He knew as well as anyone that all leaders had their secrets, some more than others, and Fury would be no different, but there was more to Queens than met the eye. And Spot was going to find out just what.

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How was this one? I hope it answered all (or most) of your questions that I could in only one chapter (a writer has to save somemystery for later, am I right?)

I would like to thank the following for their reviews:

Ealasaid Una- I would like to point out that I wasn't going to have Fury tell Spot about her parents until later, but your review changed my mind! Keep it up; you've got some good ideas.

J.E Magic- Thanks for the long and lovely review, I LOVE long reviews! To answer your questions, I don't think a love affair is in order (but before I write it off completely I need to know what it is!) and she most definitely won't leave Queens for Spot, but Spot's obviously falling for her, so that amounts to something, yes?

Asian-Inkwell- I think that your question was answered in the chapter, but I thought I should thank you for reviewing! It was VERY MUCH appreciated!

Now that I'm done ranting….. Review!

Rellimmes