A/N: Time to meet, (and re-meet) some more characters in this chapter!

Checkers and Suds are my own original characters :)

~ July 18, 1899 ~

Ollie followed the boys back to their lodging house as the sun continued to set. Cigar and Curly-Hair had introduced themselves as Race and Mush while they had walked.

Race and Mush were a loud and chaotic duo. One would say something, the other would disagree, and a full-on argument would break out, until one of them would say something totally off-topic and the cycle would repeat itself, leaving very little room for Ollie to speak. She didn't mind though, she liked listening to the loud boys. It kind of reminded her of the boys back in Brooklyn. Just not as violent.

When they finally reached the Manhattan lodging house, the sun had set, and Ollie could see figures moving around on the second floor of the building. Race pulled open the door, and he and Mush ran inside, leaving Ollie to hurry after them.

"Evenin', Kloppman!" Mush called to the old man behind the counter as he dropped a coin into the jar. Race did the same, and Ollie dug through her own pockets trying to find a coin.

"Who's this?" Kloppman asked, used to seeing new faces in the lodging house.

"This is Bird," Race said, slinging an arm over Ollie's shoulder, causing her to drop the coin she had just found. "He's got nowhere to be so I said he should come 'ere. Safer than the streets after all!"

"Lovely," Kloppman muttered as Ollie dropped her coin into the jar before following the boys up the stairs.

Upstairs was loud and full of moving bodies. Everywhere Ollie looked, there was someone there. It was a bit of a shock too, there weren't this many people in the Brooklyn lodging house. Spot was very specific about who he let stay there. If Spot felt like someone didn't belong in their lodging house, he would send them to one of the smaller ones down the street.

From the looks of it, the Manhattan boys just let whoever stay here, no matter who they were.

When they entered the room, many heads turned to see who it was. Seeing that it was just Race and Mush, they turned back to whatever they were doing, but those who saw Ollie kept looking to see if they could get a better look at the newcomer. Ollie looked down to avoid their gaze, but she could still feel their eyes on her.

"C'mon," Mush said, "You gotta meet Jack. He's the one who's in charge around 'ere."

Ollie's eyes widened. Jack? Why did that surprise her? This was his turf, after all, he had a right to be here. So why was she suddenly nervous? He wouldn't be able to recognize her, she had kept her distance whenever he had come to Brooklyn.

She worried about this as she followed Race and Mush through the maze of bunks to where Jack was. People called out to find out more about the stranger, but Race just answered them all the same. "This is Bird, they's gonna stay for a while."

He was sitting at a small table with a few other newsies playing a game of cards. Jack looked up when he saw them approach. "Race, Mush, want me to deal ya in?" He noticed Ollie. "Wait, who's this?"

Race opened his mouth to introduce her, but Ollie cut him off, tired of having people speak for her. "The name's Bird." She said.

Jack quirked an eyebrow, and he leaned forward. "Bird, eh? Why youse called that?"

Ollie thought on the spot. "Cause I don't stay in one place for too long." The boys at the table nodded, and Jack leaned back in his chair. It was a good cover at least, for when Ollie went back to Brooklyn, they wouldn't question her disappearance too much.

"Anyways," Race said, "He had a run-in with the Delanceys so I convinced him to stay here."

A kid with an eyepatch folded his cards and leaned forward. "Race, ya gotta stop bringing' kids back 'ere. We're runnin' outta room." He put extra emphasis on the last word and looked pointedly at Race. Ollie looked between them, trying to decipher the look, but couldn't figure out why they were at odds at this.

"C'mon Blink," Mush said. "The kids hurt. He's gotta go somewhere."

Blink sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Not my choice to make." He turned to Jack. "What do you think, Cowboy?"

Jack was busy looking at his cards, but he looked up at the mention of his nickname. "The kid's hurt," he agreed, looking at Blink. "He can stay here at least 'till he's better. Then he can leave if he wants." His eyes lit up with realization. "Hey, he might even be able to help with the strike!"

Everyone around nodded before they looked back at their cards.

Behind them, a few more newsies entered the room. Everyone turned to look at them.

There were three of them. One had a ripped shirt and backward cap, the other wore his cap the same way and had an old black and white checkered button-up. The final wore his cap forward and he was holding a slingshot. Ollie was surprised at this. A slingshot was a weapon that only Brooklyn newsies used. Ollie shook the thought away though, she wanted to listen to what they were saying.

"There you are!" Jack said standing up. "What took ya so long? What did Staten say?"

The one in the checkered shirt sighed. "They wanna know what Brooklyn's doing first." He explained. Jack sighed.

"'Course they do." He muttered.

"Hey Jack," the one with the slingshot stepped forward. "What did Brooklyn say? Are they gonna help?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, Spot wanted proof we weren't gonna fold at the first sign of trouble."

The one with the ripped shirt sighed, and Checkered Shirt put his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"Are we?" Asked Slingshot, staring at Jack.

"No," Jack replied, a little harshly. "We ain't backing' down." Then he stood and shouted to the lodging house. "Alright, everyone! Even though Brooklyn ain't with us, doesn't mean we're backing down! We got a big day tomorra' and you all should get some sleep!" This was met with a series of groans, cheers and many people stomping their feet.

Jack went to walk past the three newcomers when Checkered Shirt put out his hand to stop him. "Wait, Jack," he said, nodding to Ollie. "Who's this?"

"Right." Jack turned back around. "Fellas, this is Bird. Bird, this is Suds, Checkers, and Snipeshooter." Ollie nodded to them, her gaze lingering on Snipeshooter a bit longer than the others. He too was staring at her.

Race tapped her shoulder. "C'mon," he said, "there's a free bunk over here by the window. You'll have to sleep under Suds though, be warned, he talks in his sleep."

"I do not!" The boy in question shouted over to them. He couldn't have been older than 10 if he was even that old. He reminded Ollie of Dice, the small and bouncy newsie that followed Cards around back in Brooklyn.

Ollie nodded to Race. "Thanks." She said, heading over to the bunk. Being by the window was a good spot too, and not just for the constant smell of sweat in the air. Being near the window meant that it would be easier to sneak out to meet Spot at the bridge without being seen.

Ollie sat down on the bunk and looked around the room, only to catch Snipeshooters eye. He was sitting beside Mush, the latter talking his ear off, but Snipeshooter didn't seem to be listening. He was busy staring at Ollie, and when he realized she was staring back at him, he nodded to her and turned back to Mush, looking a little embarrassed that he had been caught staring.

Ollie shrugged it off and kept looking around the room, only to be interrupted again by a tap on her shoulder. She spun around and saw that it was a newsie with brown hair and kind eyes. She also noticed that he had a crutch under his right arm.

"Hi!" The newsie said. "I just wanted to introduce myself. The name's Crutchy." He extended his left hand for her to shake. Ollie accepted.

"I'm Bird." She said, a small smile on her face.

Crutchy motioned to the bunk. "Can I sit?" Ollie nodded, and she shuffled over to make room for the boy. He sat beside her and put his crutch on the floor. They were silent for a moment before Crutchy spoke again. "Race said you fought the Delanceys. Did they hurt ya too bad?"

"Na," Ollie said. "Just a couple of scratches and bruises." She held her arm up for him to see. The blood had tried now, and her shoulder was starting to turn purple.

Crutchy's smile faded a little bit, and he looked away. Ollie looked around, trying to change the subject. She saw a door across the room open and a small face peek out through it, but when they locked eyes, the person at the door quickly pulled their head back into the room and shut it.

Ollie tapped Crutchy on the shoulder. "Hey, who's in that room?"

Crutchy looked up at Ollie, then at where she was motioning to. "Oh that's-"

"No one." Blink interrupted, walking over to them. "There ain't anyone in that room." He pointedly looked at Crutchy, and the boy's eyes lit up in realization.

"Right." He said. "No one there."

Ollie knew they were hiding something, but she didn't push it. "Well," she said, stretching her arms and looking outside, "I'se better get to sleep. I'm pretty tired."

Crutchy reached down for his crutch. "Good idea," he said. "I'll need my strength for tommora' too." He picked up his crutch and stood, looking back at Ollie. "G'night Bird."

"Night, Crutchy." She said as he walked over to his own bunk. Blink nodded to Ollie and followed Crutchy away from her.

While everyone got ready for bed, Ollie washed her face and arms, getting the little bits of dried blood off of her elbow and forearm, before turning off the water and getting onto her own bunk.

"Lights out!" Called Jack from across the room. The candles were blown out, which left just the light from the moon which streamed in from the windows.

Ollie lay on her back as everyone shuffled around in their beds, trying to fall asleep. Her hair was starting to itch against the back of her neck, but she couldn't remove her hat, not yet anyway. She had to wait until everyone was asleep so they wouldn't see her long brown hair.

Eventually everyone was in their beds and slowly the sound of snoring filled the room. She could hear the quiet mumbles of Suds' sleep talking above her, and when she was sure that everyone was asleep, she slowly sat up and took off her hat. Ollie untied her hair from the tight braid it had been in and let it fall down to her shoulders. She let out a quiet breath, as the scratching her hair caused on the back of her neck stopped. She tied it up into a loose low bun, laid back down, and as soon as her head hit the thin pillow, she drifted off to sleep.

A/N: So many new characters! I'm really having fun writing this story, and I hope you're having as much fun reading it!

As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated, even if you are critiquing my spelling, grammar, or formatting. I'd love to know what you're thinking so far!

~ Cori