A/N: Just a POV switch with a bit of foreshadowing plot near the end :)

Thanks to the Bicycle Cards website for providing me with the rules for Blackjack, and to my dad for proofreading the Blackjack scene to make sure I wrote it right. :)

~ July 18, 1899 ~

Even though they had walked away from the bridge, Spot and Mac didn't go too far. They stayed in the area, making sure that Ollie was on her way across the bridge. Spot only continued on his way back to the dock when Ollie was out of sight, and Mac reminded him that they needed to go back to the docks. The boys made casual conversation as they walked, talking about headlines and Mac's new girl.

"She's perfect." He was saying. "She don't even care that I'm a newsie."

Spot chuckled, only half listening to Mac. He was thinking about Ollie and how she was doing over in Manhattan. He knew she could handle herself, but there was still a part of him that felt like something would go wrong. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Mac waving his hand in front of his face. "Hey, Spot." He asked. "You there?"

Spot nodded. "Yeah, jus' thinkin'."

Mac nodded. "'bout what?"

Spot shoved Mac's shoulder. "None of ya business." He said. "C'mon, let's get to the docks. Skinner owes me a dolla'."

At the docks, it hadn't changed much from when he had left it an hour earlier. Sliver and Skinner were shooting marbles from their slingshots at some glass bottles that were sitting on the wooden railing above them. Cards was teaching Dice how to play a card game, while Tweet, Eyes, and Ice were busy swimming in the harbor.

After the meeting with Manhattan, many of the newsies had continued to sell their papers, while some of the others, mainly those in Spot's inner circle, chose to stay at the docks and wait to hear Spot's final decision.

When Spot stepped onto the docks, most of the boys looked up and nodded at him as he passed by them. "Ey, Skinner!" He called to the lanky newsie across the dock from him. "Ya owe me a dolla'!"

Skinner crossed his arms. "What for?" He shouted back.

"Ya know what." Spot argued. "Now get over 'ere an' hand it over!"

"How 'bout I play ya for it?" Came Skinner's response.

Spot smirked. He wasn't one to say no to a game of cards. "Only if ya ready to lose it!"

Skinner laughed and walked over to Spot and nodded towards the table.

"Cards!" Spot looked towards the boy. Cards just looked over at him, while little Dice jumped slightly on the crate he was sitting on. "We need ya deck." Spot nodded towards the worn cards that Cards was currently shuffling.

"Why can't ya use yer own?" He retorted. "I'm teaching' Dice a game!"

Spot sighed audibly. There were few people who actually talked back to him, usually those in his inner circle. Ollie, Mac, Sliver, Skinner, and Cards. While it was a little annoying, it was a little refreshing to have some friends to joke around with after a long day of having to be in charge of everyone.

"Then stop teachin' 'im and hand over the cards!" He argued back, enjoying the banter. Dice watched them with wide eyes.

Cards glared half-heartedly over at Spot before gathering up the cards and walking over to give them to him.

"Alright," Spot said, sitting down at the crates where they usually played cards. He took the cards from Cards and started to shuffle them. "Basic blackjack. Loser gives the other the dollar."

Skinner crossed his arms and looked at Spot. "What if I don't have a dolla'?"

Spot continued shuffling the cards. "Then you better find one real quick." The cards slapped against the wooden crate as they were mixed around. Skinner sat down on the crate across from him and watched him shuffled the cards, as a small crowd began to form around them, some people placing bets.

"Cards!" Spot called. "You're dealer!" Cards nodded and pulled over another crate to sit, Dice hovering behind him excitedly. Spot handed the cards over to him.

Cards shuffled the cards twice before placing a face-up card in front of each of the two boys. Spot had a 7 of hearts, Skinner had a 9 of clubs. He dealt another card to himself. A 4 of spades. He passed out the cards again, a 3 of diamonds to Spot, a 5 of hearts to Skinner, and he placed the last card face down in front of himself.

Spot looked at his cards, a 10 in total wasn't too bad compared to Skinner's 14.

Cards looked expectantly at Spot, waiting to see if he would hit or stand. Spot nodded and tapped two fingers on the crate and Cards flipped over another card. A 6 of clubs. His total was now 16. He considered his options.

He could hit another card and get closer to 21, or even exactly 21, or he could hope that Skinner went over and that he won by default. Spot could hear Ollie's voice in his head.

"You said it yourself, Spot. You don't back down. Not ever."

He couldn't place when he said that to her, but her voice echoed around his head. In the end, he decided to take her advice, even though it was just a game of blackjack, and not back down. He tapped his fingers on the crate again. Cards flipped over another card. Spot smirked when he saw it, and Dice gasped from behind the dealer. It was a 4 of clubs.

Spot looked over at Skinner. "Your move," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, and feeling confident that Skinner couldn't beat his hand.

Skinner nodded to Cards and the dealer placed a card in front of him. A 5 of diamonds. That made his total a 19. If Skinner chose to stand now, then Spot would win unless Cards was able to get his hand equal to 21.

Skinner looked back and forth between the cards in front of him and the cards in front of Spot, apparently debating the same thing. In the end, Skinner decided to risk it and he asked Cards to hit him with another card. Unfortunately for him it was a 6 of spades which sent his total over 21. He sighed and gritted his teeth.

"You better find that dolla'." Spot said, a smile on his face.

"Cards ain't taken 'is turn yet," Skinner argued back, holding onto the hope that he wouldn't lose his hard-earned dollar.

Spot turned to Cards and watched him take his turn.

Cards flipped over the face down card and revealed a 10 of hearts. Since it was less than 17, he flipped over a 5 of spades to make the total 19. It was still less than Spot's hand, so he flipped another card, a 3 of hearts. 22.

Spot turned back to Skinner and smirked. "I'll take that dolla' now." He said as Cards gathered up the cards on the table. Skinner sighed again as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the coin and tossed it onto the table. Spot gladly snatched it up and pocketed it.

Spot nodded his thanks to Skinner, while his opponent glowered at him.

The remaining hours of sunlight Spot spent swimming in the harbor with Mac and Cards. They goofed around, pushing each other under the water and splashing one another until they started to get a bit chilly, and the sun was beginning to set.

They climbed out of the water, and walked back to the lodging house, leaving a trail of water drops behind them, laughing at whatever they happened to find funny. Inside the lodging house, Spot went up to his room to change out of his wet clothes and into some that were dry and somewhat clean.

Spot headed out into the main room again, deciding that he wasn't tired enough to go to bed. He saw that everyone was either still horsing around or playing cards, but the thing that caught his eye was that Sliver and Skinner were standing in the corner of the room, doing neither of those things. They seemed to be whispering to each other about something, but Spot was too far away, and the room was too loud for him to hear what they were saying.

He thought it strange though, Sliver and Skinner were not the types to have a hushed conversation. Spot slowly inched closer to them, trying to hear what they had to say.

"…think he would?" Skinner was saying.

"Most likely," Sliver responded. "He ain't one to back down. And if she says that they're stickin' to it, he'll join."

"That makes sense." Skinner conceded and nodded slowly. "What about us though? We barely got enough as it is. How are we gonna survive if we stop gettin' money?"

Sliver sighed. "We don't always gotta listen to him, y'know." Sliver looked around, his eyes meeting Spots for a sliver of a second before he turned back to his brother. "C'mon." He said as the brothers turned towards the sinks to wash up for bed, leaving Spot alone with his thoughts.

It was obvious that they were talking about the strike, but were they talking about not listening? What were they planning?

Spot decided not to worry about it too much though. Manhattan had just started the strike, and Spot needed to see if they stood their ground or not before making a decision on where he stood with it.

Eventually, everyone was washed up, and most were winding down for the night.

Once everyone was in their beds, Spot went to his room. He looked around and his gaze landed on the window, still open from when he had crawled through it after talking with Ollie that morning.

Was it really that morning? Their conversation had seemed like so much more than a day ago.

Spot decided to crawl through the window and head up to the roof. His footsteps echoed on the metal stairs and he made his way to the top of the lodging house.

When he stepped onto the roof, he let out a quiet gasp when he saw the view. Now he understood why Ollie spent so much time up there.

He sat down against the wall of the roof and watched the sun fully set, before falling asleep.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's still reading this, it means a lot to me :)

As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I'd love to know what you're thinking so far!

~ Cori