The Conlon Twins

Chapter 2: Back Home

A/N: Hey guys! This is really more of a filler chapter, but I swear, it'll all get better from here!

I also would like you to know this, personally, I HATE author's notes, so if I leave one, it will most definitely be quite important!!!! please read my author's notes! I will try to make them short, sweet, and to the point.

Oh, and votes, comments, questions, suggestions, ideas, etc. are all greatly appreciated! I will try to get back to you if you leave a message in the comments! Thx!

ENJOY!

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Same day

Jess took a deep breath as she stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light of the evening. It was now 7:30 pm and she was walking across the street to the Brooklyn Newsies's lodging house.

She calmly strolled over, making sure she showed no signs of pain. Her right hand was wrapped up by her left hand so that nobody could see her fingers sticking out at a weird angle.

"Hey Queen, where ya been?" one boy asked her with concern.

Queen was her nickname. Since just about every Newsie went by a pseudonym, she was given the name Queen for her place in the Brooklyn hierarchy.

"None of ya bid'ness! Scram!" she said, purposely making the boy scared.

She didn't like making people scared of her and Spot, but people had to fear Brooklyn, even the Brooklyn Newsies.

The boy scrambled out of the way as the boy whimpered "Yes ma'am!"

The Brooklyn Newsies were the toughest Newsies in New York City, but they were terrified of they're leaders.

"Why ya all bruised and bloody, Queen?" another Newsie asked.

"Why ya think? I got in a fight."

Jess looked down at her clothes to see how bloody they were. Most of the blood was Oscar's and Morris's, but a lot of it was hers. There was blood around the collar of her shirt, with a trail connecting her collar to the middle of her rib-cage, that must have been where the blood from her split lip dripped.

There was dried blood caked in her hair, and bruises on her knee, face, arms, and who knows where else.

Jess looked back up, deciding that she didn't want to know how awful she looked, she walked into the lodging house.

The moment she walked in, the room fell silent. She felt everybody's eyes watching her as she turned to close the door, including the icy blue ones identical to hers.

After closing the doors, she turned and walked to the back of the room, where her and her brother had a stare-down. She stood just inches from Spot, not letting him intimidate her.

"Clear out" Spot said coldly.

All the Newsies reluctantly shuffled out of the room, leaving the siblings alone.

"Where ya been?" Spot said, breaking the silence.

"Doin' you a favor." she replied, in an equally cold tone.

"Really?! A favor?! How is nearly gettin' yaself killed doin' me a favor?!" he all but shouted.

"I didn't get myself killed, Spot! I ain't a little kid no more Spot, I can take care of myself! I was spyin' on 'Hattan for ya. I had nothin' better ta do, so I figured I'd do somethin' constructive! If you wanna say that I look awful, then go back to 'Hattan and find the DeLancy bruddahs, they look about ten times worse!" Jess yelled back, tears forming in her eyes.

"Why did ya beat up Oscar and Morris if you'se we're spyin'?" Spot asked, raising an eyebrow.

She walked over to the other side of the room and dug through her stuff until she found shreds of fabric, before sitting in a bed and thinking about where to begin.

She started wrapping her broken fingers in a makeshift splint.

"Well, after I was off da bridge, I started wandering around in the shadows, lookin' for somethin' worth reporting back to you. Nothin' seemed to be happenin', so I went to Newsie Square, 'cause there always seems ta be somethin' goin' on there. I hid in a bush 'cause I was frustrated with myself. I was still sittin' there when I heard a boy screamin'. The DeLancys were beatin' up Crutchie, so I ran over and helped 'im." Jess shrugged.

"They was beatin' up Crutchie?" Spot asked, his expression softening. Jess nodded. She cried out in pain as she pulled the makeshift splint tight over her fingers, pushing the bones back into place.

Spot rushed over and sat next to her on the bed, looking her over as if to inspect the damage.

"Ya know you probably saved his life, right?" he asked in a whisper. Jess nodded again, tears finally escaping from her eyes.

Spot pulled Jess in to comfort her. Tears were pouring out of her eyes now, and she was silently sobbing. She was afraid the other boys would hear her crying and rush in to see what was wrong, so she had learned how to sob silently long ago.

Spot wrapped his strong arms around her, drawing small circles on her back. Jess just sobbed into his chest, probably staining his shirt, but that's not what they were thinking about at the moment.

She slowly calmed down and sat up. Spot hugged her again before pulling her up and leading her to the bathrooms to wash the blood and dirt off in the shower.

Once she understood what he was telling her to do, Spot walked away to tell the others that they could come back in now.

The Newsies all looked up as Spot came down the stairs to the lobby. His usual cold, mean eyes seemed even colder now.

They knew better than to ask what had just happened, so they silently followed him back up to the bunk room.

They chatted amongst themselves until Spot told them to get ready for bed.

It was past time for lights-out, but they were waiting for Jess to finish in the bathroom and come out.

When she finally did come out, everyone watched as she walked across the room in silence to the bunk that she and her brother shared.

Jess had no patience for the boys who were mercilessly staring at her, so she called for lights out while she was looking for her hairbrush.

Somebody did turn the lights off, so she stood there brushing her hair while people called out goodnights.

When her hair was brushed, she climbed up the ladder to her's and her brother's top bunk bed.

She found Spot waiting for her and watching her every move. She crawled onto the bed and layed down. She was exhausted from today's events.

"I'm really glad you're safe." Spot whispered, laying down next to her and putting his arms around her protectively, like someone was going to take her away.

"Me too" Jess replied.

Neither wanted to sleep just yet, so they spent their time conversing in whispers, that is, until Jess fell asleep in the middle of Spot telling her about his day.