The Paths

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter nearly reached out to touch his shoulder reassuringly but she stopped herself before she even raised her arm. Instead she just gave him an odd smirk, "Don't we all." Fighter tucked a curl back and glanced around. "Come on, I'm starving." With that Fight turned and started walking again.

She looked beside her, "I'll be fine, Davey." With that she hoped he would drop the subject. Honestly it was the last thing she wanted to talk about right now. "So you ever make your way over to the boxing ring?"

[David Jacobs]

He searched her face for another moment and then let the matter drop because it seemed to be what she wanted and he was hardly in the mood to push her on the issue. Instead he fell back into step beside her again and smiled back at her. "Every once in awhile, Jack likes to take Les around over there because he's got a good face for selling papes." His smile grew a little wider as he remembered one of his first trips to the boxing ring and how he and Jack had to duck away from Snyder and ended up in Irving Hall. It was a good memory, a fond one and David found that he treasured those more and more these days.

"You over there often?" He didn't remember seeing her there before, but that didn't mean a whole lot since he generally had something else going on, like managing one of Jack's wild ideas or corralling Les and trying to keep him out of trouble. "What about the racetrack over at Sheepshead Bay?"

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter grinned, "It's always nice when you have a young mug. Makes selling so much easier." Fighter thought of the times she'd taken Gwennie around with her and their papes seemed to sell in no time. It was definitely one of the ways to work your customers. They also tended to tip more when they thought you were raising a young one on your own; especially on a newsies salary.

Fight nodded slightly, "I'm over there a lot. It's always been like a second home to me. My uncle was a prize fighter there." Fight was so proud of that fact that she tended to tell almost anyone she met when they talked for more than a few moments. It was one of the things in her life that she could actually brag about. She shrugged when he asked her about Sheepshead. "I'm not there too often, I much prefer the ring to some boring horse race. Not enough brass for me." She shot him a grin and tucked her hair back once more. It always seemed to fall in her face at the most inopportune moments.

[David Jacobs]

"Les has the acting chops for it too," David said, a note of pride slipping into his voice in spite of himself and shook his head. Sometimes, when Les didn't realize he was watching, David would sit back and watch his enthusiastic, charming brother in action and it blew his mind.

He could sense the pride in her voice when she talked of her uncle and smiled over at her. "Did you watch him when you were growing up?" He asked and wondered if that's how she gotten the name Fighter which led him to wonder if she had another name and what that might be, but knew there was little point in asking. He looked over just as she tucked some hair behind her ear and it gave him a good look at her profile, and he stared for a moment, noting that she seemed to have relaxed a little, as much as someone like Fighter did.

"Brass suits you," He said, shooting her a wry smile and sliding a hand back into his pocket.

[Fighter Mallory]

"I bet he does.. kid seem to be natural at it." Fighter glanced over and shot him a grin. She was glad he seemed to be so proud of his brother, it said a lot about his character. Most guys brushed the younger kids off but he wasn't like that at all and she appreciated it. As much as she loved her friends she couldn't help but be pissed off at the fact that they didn't give a damn about Gwennie but then she would just tell herself that they didn't know the girl as well as she did.

Nodding a bit Fighter stopped walking for a moment and turned to him. "I watched him every moment I got and he trained me to fight. He was a great fighter. One of the best I've ever seen. But some people didn't appreciate how good he was and wanted him to throw a fight." She shrugged but didn't continue. It was hard for her to talk about her uncle, especially his death. Fight shifted her body so she could study Davey. "Doesn't it?' Her lips quirked up into a smirk without her even realizing. She was so comfortable in his presence. It wasn't something she'd felt before.

[David Jacobs]

"Les is a natural at a lot of things," David replied, returning her grin. "His specialty seems to be sticking his nose into his older brother's business, but I suppose that's what younger siblings are for, right?" He noted, affection tripping easily into his words. There were times Les effortless and endless energy wore on David's nerves but he couldn't have been prouder or loved his little brother more.

He watched her talking about her uncle, saw emotions passing through her navy blue eyes and the longing that lingered there as she seemed to be recalling some painful memories. He allowed her a moment alone with her thoughts, smiling a little when she turned to look at him, grinning wider when she smirked at him. "Yes, brass suits you just fine," David replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You hardly seem the flowers and rainbows type." But he honestly preferred her that way. And with the little pieces of her that he was getting to see when she had an unguarded moment he was learning that she was a mess of fascinating contradictions that intrigued him.

"What do you figure me for?" He asked her, sending her a lopsided smile as they started to walk again.

[Fighter Mallory]

Grinning, "Oh I can imagine, I've noticed him when I've sold in 'hattan." And she had noticed him; she'd noticed him quite a bit. Playing sick seemed to come easily from him, but then she figured that had something to do with the fact that a newsie had trained him on how to act. And not just any newsie, but one of the best Jack Kelly.

Fight laughed when he said simply that brass suited her and flowers and rainbows just didn't seem to suit her. "You're right I'd love to get a knife for Christmas over candy or flowers." Fight shrugged, it's was just the way she was. But then again it was the way most poor girls in Brooklyn were. You needed to protect yourself first and foremost and guys seemed to forget that.

Fighter studied him as they started walking again. "What do I figure you for? Hmmmmm....." She tapped a finger to her chin as she spoke. "I think that you are a picnics sort of guy. You may not be the type to spend a bunch of money but you'll show you're girl that you truly care for her by taking her out and paying special attention to her."

[David Jacobs]

David thought of the dolls and books that Sarah had always pined after every Christmas morning and then looked over at Fighter and knew that she would have never been the sort of girl who longed for those things. She was a practical sort and David admired that, aware of her surroundings and knew what she had to do to survive, it was something David himself needed more of. He'd learned a lot since he first joined up with the Newsies but he knew he'd never have the instincts of someone like Jack, Spot or Fighter...he just wasn't built that way.

"Picnics are good," He replied with a grin, enjoying the easy lightness to the conversation and amused at how he more or less seemed to have him pegged. "I like to keep it simple, at the end of the day, that's where the joy is: in the simple things. You know a picnic, a walk in the park, it's mostly about spending time together and being happy, right? Doesn't really matter what you do."

[Fighter Mallory]

Nodding a bit, Fight picked up the pace, she honestly was starving. “That’s true it doesn’t, not as long as you can be happy doing it.” For a moment she got lost in thought, thinking about when she was younger and more care free. Those were the days she missed most, when things were simple. Her uncle would take her for walks through the park and play with her on his days off. When he started to teach her to fight it was more as a goof than anything else but she really had a passion for it. The only time he’d ever gotten upset with her was when she would ask about her dad and that was because he couldn’t answer her questions.

Glancing over at David Fighter smirked, “So what’s your family like?” She couldn’t imagine having a family like his. Her mom had died in childbirth and her dad had run off when she was young so it was hard to picture having both your parents. Fight hadn’t ever really thought of it but now that she was she felt a pang in her chest. She brushed the feeling off and looked forward again taking one last drag from her cigarette. Those feelings were better off being pushed as far from the surface as possible.

[David Jacobs]

"Well you know about Les," David began, thinking back to his family and the apartment and the warmth that lingered at home for him, he knew he was one of the lucky ones. "My sister Sarah is a sweet girl, smart and thoughtful she'll be a real prize for the right man some day," David mused, he and Sarah didn't have much in common anymore, but he loved her all the same and her happiness was vastly important to David.

"Dad got his job back at the factory. He's a good man, always trying to set the right example for me and Les," David said, rubbing at the back of his neck, realizing that he felt a strange disconnect when talking about his family now. "Mom's great, makes a mean stew and always makes sure we have what we need if she can manage it." He sighed and ran a few fingers through his hair. "My family's great."

His family was great and he knew that they loved him and there was never a doubt that he loved them back. But now, after everything that had happened, David felt himself pulling back from them, the stains on his concious and his mother's grim silence and his father's silent acceptance unnerved him. Sometimes it made him feel like he was coming apart at the seams, which is one of the many reasons he had been walking in park today when he bumped into Fighter instead at home sitting beside Les for a family dinner.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fight smiled when he talked about his family. It was surprisingly nice to hear about a normal family that loved each other the way his did. She'd always been so alone and she longed for that sort of life. Since her mother died in childbirth she never had the opportunity to know her and her father had abandoned her with her uncle when she was so young that she didn't have any real emotion towards him except resentment especially since he never showed once his brother was killed. Fight's uncle had been her only real family and it'd been five years since he'd been stabbed but it still hurt when she thought of it.

"It sounds great..." Fight said, slightly wistfully. She almost wished she had a family just like his but then again she loved her life and her friends. She supposed her lack of family explained her deep seated need to develop amazing friendships with people who tended to be a lot like her. It also was most likely the reason she had taken to Gwennie. The girl reminded her of herself at that age. Alone and vulnerable and childlike.

Fighter tucked her curls back again, they always seemed to fall in her face. "And you'd rather spend time with me." She laughed because she knew she wasn't exactly a ball of sunshine. She knew most people were intimidated by her and if they weren't intimidated then they found her presence to be uncomfortable. Fight always thought it was because newsies from other boroughs didn't face the same thing Brooklyn kids did. It was rough on all of them but in Brooklyn you had to be able to take care of yourself. If you couldn't you wouldn't make it long.

[David Jacobs]

It was great and David knew he had a lot to be thankful for in his life, so much that his friends didn't have. He looked over at Fighter and was struck once again by how different they were, from vastly different worlds, even in the realm of Newsies and yet somehow they had this common bond. This thing that was holding them together and in her he was finding a friend, a real and true friend and he wanted to tell her how much that meant but he couldn't find the words.

The truth was they'd seen the ugly sides of one another out there but it didn't matter and now they were here, walking through the park and talking about picnics and family and Christmas presents and it was all so normal and comfortable. David genuinely liked being around Fighter, and with as little as they seemingly had in common and how different they were, he knew that they were an unlikely friendship by even the most outlandish standards.

He looked over at her, pushing curls out of her face and in that moment, face unguarded, smile flitting across her features and the afternoon sun sitting just right, David saw her beauty. "You ain't so bad," He said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders and wondering again how he had come to be so comfortable with someone that until a few days ago he had hardly known.

[Fighter Mallory]

A smirk crossed her face at his words, “Don’t I know it.” Laughing slightly Fighter turned towards the left and cut through a few more bushes and trees before coming out into a clearing the road not far in front of them. She was astounded by how comfortable she felt around David. Usually this level of friendship was one that she wouldn’t be at with someone she barely knew. In fact she wasn’t really this close with too many people. Hell she could count the number of people on one hand who knew her real name and here she was contemplating handing that information over to David.

“What was it like growing up with them?” She often wondered how different her life would be if she’d had her parents or even a sibling or two. There were times in her life when she craved those kinds of relationships but she never voiced that to anyone. It wasn’t worth talking about because there was nothing that could be done to change what was. All she could was make the best of what she had and even though she had no blood ties to Gwennie she considered the girl family. She would do anything for her and she’d done something terrible to get the girl to safety. Although she didn’t regret her actions she still felt the guilt that came along with them.

[David Jacobs]

"Crowded," David said with a grin, shooting her a sideways glance. "Noisy most of the time but...it was nice." He thought back over his years as a little boy, tiny cramped apartments and fights with Sarah and Les as they had all grown together. "I wouldn't have it any other way really, they are my family and while they might not understand me all the time, they always love me. They're always there."

He followed her through the trees and out into the clearing, allowing her to lead the way to Romano's, still thinking back over his childhood. "I'm one of the lucky ones, Fighter, I know that. I've got my parents and Sarah and Les, I know not everyone has that but I think that you guys have something just as special. Jack is like a brother to me and I see how he is with the rest of kids in Manhattan, he takes good care of them, they take care of each other and they are family." He grappled for the right words, his eyes softened slightly as he looked over at her. "Like you with Gwennie. You guys have family too and it's no less important or insignicant than mine. Blood only takes you so far."

David had considered himself having two families since he met the Newsies. His parents and siblings were his rock, what anchored his placement in the world; but he couldn't discount what Jack and the rest of the Newsies had come to mean to him. It was just like he had told Benji the day before the march, the Newsies were his family and he'd fight just as hard for them as he would for anything or anyone in his life.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter laughed when he said crowded, she knew what that was like. She’d briefly been tossed in an orphanage when her uncle first died and she’d never felt so cramped. As he spoke of his family always loving him she smiled thinking of how nice it must be to know without a doubt that you are wanted by someone. To know that they will always be there for you regardless of the situations. When he continued talking, Fighter looked over at him studying his eyes as he spoke of the differences and similarities between his family and a newsie family.

At first fighter didn’t say anything but gave him a shrug of her shoulder. It was hard for her to put into words her opinion on this subject because in some aspects he was right but in others he was dead wrong. At least in her opinion he was. “Sure they’re family. I’d do anything for Gwennie, you of all people know that. But when you have family that loves you there’s really nothing that can equal that.” She looked him in the eye as she continued, “It’s hard to lose someone who you’ve grown close to but it’s shattering to lose family.”

Glancing away, Fighter sighed and pulled out another cigarette lighting it. She seemed to be smoking nearly double her usual amount these days. “Even worse is to know you have family somewhere that just forgot about you.” Fighter looked over at him again. She didn’t talk about her past with anyone. Especially not the days before she lived with her uncle. Part of her wanted to forget there was even a period of her life before moving in with her uncle.