The Brooklyn Bridge

[Birdie Schaffer]

Birdie had a brow raised and then turned her head to look at Banshee as the girl kept talking, rolling her eyes to the sky as she kept at it. The name Lucky caught her attention and Bridie turned her head and gave her a look, though she was small in stature the little Dane, bounced down from the retaining wall and walked up to Jewel, eyes darkening.

"... are you an idiot? This is the Brooklyn Bridge, it connects Manhattan to Brooklyn. You come through Queens your going the wrong way to get back to the Bronx, you moron."

[Hawkeye Dekker]

Hawk walked across the Bridge as nonchalantly as one would across a beach, tipping his hat to all the pretty girls that passed, making them giggle and whisper to each other before buying a pape from him. Their reactions made him grin in a way that was most ungentlemanly, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Perhaps it was merely coincidence he happened upon the trio, perhaps he had known they would be there all along; Hawk would never tell. He had only a few papes left under his arm by the time they came into view and a smirk played along his features at the prospect of good times ahead. He kept his head down as he got closer, listing to what they were saying and chuckling to himself. At Birdie’s last line he quickened his pace a little, but not detectably, he didn’t wanting her to go apeshit on one of Dodger’s kids unless it was called for.

“Now, now, Kiddies, play nice…” He called his greeting of sorts to the group and placed a light restraining hand on Birdie’s arm when he got closer. He nodded to Banshee and winked conspiratorially, he’d seen the kid around Brook or occasionally in McGinty’s and approved of the way he handled himself. The kind of kid Brooklyn needed. He turned back to Jewel, his eyes hard and calculating, “Squabblin’ on our bridge like that, people will think it belongs to ‘Hattan…” He glanced down at Birdie then at Jewel, “And we can’t have Bronx kids runnin around givin’ Brooks a bad name.”

[jewelkent]

Jewel sighed in relief as another handsome man made his appearance out of nowhere. She looked into the man's eyes, and went wide-eyed.

*Where the hell did he come from?* she thought to herself.

She then smirked at the man, looking him up and down.

First she turned to Birdie "I know which way the Bronx is, you little minx. I'm not lookin' ta go there. I ain't ready ta head back yet." She snapped at the girl, trying to stay calm in the process.

Then she turned to the man who had come to break-up the argument. Wow, he was gorgeous.

She then walked up to him closely, and smiled a bit at him. A big smile crossing her face.

"First of all, sweetie. I ain't here ta start no trouble and give Brooklyn a bad name, okay? I was born in Brooklyn, and the last thing I wanna do is ruin it's reputation. I just happened to run into these two. I just wanted to say a friendly Hello to Banshee here. I haven't seen him since that night by the Lodging House when we had our little..um..conversation." She said, turning towards Banshee to flash him a wink.

She then turned back to the man "So, I really didn't come here to start trouble. Lucky and I just had a bit of a misunderstanding, and that's all. There is no need to damage me even more. I already told Lucky I'd stay out of Brooklyn, so that's what I'm gonna do." She said, giving the man a flirtatious wink.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee continued to lean against the wall as Jewel spoke. He glanced up at Birdie in time to catch her upraised brow and shook his head slightly. He had no idea why Jewel would be wanting to talk to him, as he thought he had made it clear on more than one occasion that he wanted nothing to do with her. When Birdie jumped down from the wall and stalked towards Jewel, he glanced around at the crowd warily. Though he had no problem watching Birdie soak the younger girl from one end of the bridge to the other, the amount of traffic around them meant plenty of witnesses, and he didn’t figure any of them needed the kind of attention and potential trouble this might cause. Straightening just a little, he took a drag from his cigarette, keeping it tucked firmly between his lips and freeing both hands in case he needed to step in between the two girls. He didn’t relish the thought of it coming to that as, though he knew Jewel wouldn’t be an issue, he didn’t know Birdie well enough to know how she would react to any interference on his part.

When Hawk sauntered up with a casual greeting and placed his hand lightly on Birdie’s arm, he had to admit to himself that he was relieved. He returned the older boy’s nod and smirked slightly in answer to the wink that was shot in his direction. Relaxing slightly, he leaned against the wall once more, content to let Hawk try his luck at defusing the situation. His relief was short-lived, however, as Jewel snapped a less than pleasant retort towards Birdie before easing her way closer to Hawk. The audacity of the little chit knew no bounds and Banshee would have found the whole situation hilarious if it wasn’t so painfully severe. He shook his head slowly as Jewel began pleading her case to Hawk. Christ, what was wrong with her? Anyone with half a brain would be hauling ass away from this situation, and yet, here she was talking herself deeper and deeper.

At the mention of his name and the flirtatious wink she sent his way, his eyes narrowed and he pushed himself from the wall, though for the moment, he remained quiet, as his temper was dangerously close to snapping and his resolve not to raise his hand to the little tart was significantly weakened. Averting his gaze, he glanced out over the water and took a long drag from his cigarette, holding the smoke for a moment before releasing it in a slow, steady stream. Getting firmer control of his temper, he turned once more to watch the scene before him.

[Birdie Schaffer]

Birdie looked back at Hawk when he came up and folded her arms, like she often did when she was bordering on annoyed. Which in effect was often rare as she was a passive observer so often, rarely got involved always reported unless of course it had something to do with Brooklyn. Her attention shifted back to the girl and her eyes narrowed at her comments, her retorts and her obvious flirting with Hawk, which had her rolling her eyes. She knew that he was going to have a hard time standing upright, or getting a word out from laughter so she spoke instead, tilting her head as she spoke flatly.

"Would you like a geography lesson?" she asked looking at the girl. "Should I get out the hand puppets? You seem a bit slow let me see if I can make this perfectly clear to you." Shrugging her shoulder so that Hawk couldn't use her to hold himself up if he wanted too. She snorted bitterly, Minx? Oh she was highly insulted so she was going to make it humiliating. She was not someone to be placated, and this girl had just screwed up in a big way.

"In order to get to the Brooklyn bridge from Queens, you have to pass right through Brooklyn. You are on the BROOKLYN, side of the bridge and from what I see Lucky didn't make no mistake. She banned some silly chit from Brooklyn that would only damage our good name. I don't give passes like she does, and neither does Hawk if he could recover from laughing at you long enough.."

Tilting her head, bitterness on her face she shifted her shoulders and moved over to her. Raising her hand up and smacking Jewel across the face, no punch a smack was worse in this case when you act like a chit, you get treated like a chit. "Stop lookin' at him like he's going to save you, they won't. Banshee looks like he'd rather you get tossed into the Hudson and I've half a mind to make that happen on principle of the thing. You are not Brooklyn, I don't care if you were born in the middle of Brooklyn City Hall--" Because after all Brooklyn had been it's how city until recently. "You aren't Brooklyn, your a disgrace to us all. You've got five seconds.." If the girl hit her, threw a punch or tried to run. There was nothing that would save her. Nothing and no one because this WAS Brooklyn, and she was Spot's Birdie.

Jewel had made some powerful enemies, and no one in the city would save her.

[Hawkeye Dekker]

Hawk snorted amusedly at the eye fucking he was receiving from Jewel, but chose to ignore it instead of reacting. He was honestly used to women giving him “the look,” it wasn’t that part that annoyed him, but the extremely blatant way she was doing it made him want to throw someone off the bridge, laugh his ass off, and perhaps hurl. Maybe if he pretended not to notice, she would cut it out? He doubted it.

Jewel was getting up in Birdie’s face now and Hawkeye sensed danger ahead. Birdie’s warning signs were going off and, while he knew he should try to stop her, he honestly didn’t want to. She so rarely lost her temper, that he was tempted to just sit back and watch the show. Before he could decide what to do, Jewel came on to him hard and he couldn’t help being distracted. She was so close to him now, she could have touched him just by taking deeper breaths. He raised an eyebrow at her as she began to speak, disliking that she had the gall to call him sweetie. Did she honestly think this technique would work on him?

Hawk decided then that if Birdie didn’t take care of her, he definitely would.

He glanced back at Banshee, to see how he was handling Jewel’s little speech, and was impressed to find him holding it together pretty well. If he had been in the boy’s position, he would have taken care of this little chit long ago, but to each his own way…so long as it wasn’t un-Brooklyn like. Jewel’s reference to her run-in with Lucky as a “little misunderstanding,” made him snort again, but he managed not to completely lose it. He was all set to begin a reply with a ‘first of all, kid, don’t fuckin call me sweetie,’ when Birdie’s self control petered out and she began laying into the girl. It was amusing, really, watching her go at it, and Hawk was seriously hard-pressed to keep up his usual stern face in place.

When Birdie slapped Jewel, Hawk’s face twisted into a barely suppressed grin, reveling in the insult of it all. Her words were caustic and full of threats, but Hawkeye couldn’t help the little flair of Brooklyn pride that came on in reaction to her words. When she stopped speaking, he knew it was time for him to step in. It was only a matter of time before she really did end up throwing the girl in the Hudson, a deathly two-hundred and seventy-six feet below them.

His hand had fallen from Birdie’s arm when she’d moved to slap Jewel, so he now reached out to place a warning hand near her waist and pulled her toward him just ever so slightly. He wasn’t trying to restrain her in any way, he had no desire to stop Birdie from thoroughly kicking this girl’s ass if she felt the need to, but he wanted her to give Jewel space to react. Brooklyn kids weren’t exactly known for fighting fair and if this was going to go down at all how he thought it might, he wanted to be able to say without a doubt that the girl had the chance to run.

“Ya better think real hard before you do anythin’ kid…” he emphasized the word harshly, wanting to point out that he didn’t see her as someone who could call him sweetie. “She ain’t fuckin’ kiddin around.” He was quiet by nature and only ever really loosened up when he was alone with Fighter or Birdie, so he felt this small phrase was enough for now.

[jewelkent]

Jewel was horrified when she felt Birdie's hand connect with her face with a deafening smack. She kept her head turned away for a few seconds, running her tongue over her bottom lip, she then felt blood on her lip, something that made her eyes widened then narrow in anger.

She had had enough of all this bullshit, and she was gonna tell Birdie that.

She threw off her jacket, ignoring the wind and the cold. She smoothed out her skirt that Lexi had given her and walked up to the girl.

"Okay, Brooklyn Bitch. You wanna soak me?! You wanna ban me from the place where I was born? Go right ahead! I don't give a shit one way or the other, sweetheart. My life was crap before I ever got to New York. So if you wanna kill me now! GO AHEAD! I've fucking had it with you people, and jumping on my back. That's why I was glad that I left here. Best move I ever made." she snapped to Birdie, giving her a good hard shove.

She then turned to Banshee and Hawkeye and tried to calm down. "Look, I never meant no harm to anyone, and if I caused anyone harm? Then I'm truly sorry. How would you feel if you just had one remaining family member hiding out in New York, and you didn't know the first where to look for her or him?" She said.

She then shifted her eyes to all 3 of them. "Look, I may have spent a short time in your Lodging House, but I had a very eventful time there for a whole month. But now...now I have people who are nice to me. You guys just didn't like me...because you never got to know me very well. Someone I met a week ago lectured me about making snap judgments about people you just meet. I've learned my lesson... But the question is... Have you guys learned that?" she asked them.

Jewel then looked at 3 of them "Listen, when I cam back to New York... all I wanted when I joined the newsies was to make friends. I swear, everything the newsies teach you is a lie! They ain't no fucking family. Not if they're cowardly enough to turn against their own." she sneered.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee’s eyes continued to shift between the scene before him and the shifting crowd around them as Birdie gave Jewel a well deserved tongue lashing. His attention was firmly held by Birdie, however, when she moved closer to Jewel and slapped her across the face with a resounding crack. He barely held back a snort of laughter, almost choking on the smoke he’d just inhaled. He’d heard Lucky had laid her out, and the picture in his mind was priceless, but seeing Birdie put her in her place first hand was so much better. He was almost sorry to see Hawk pull Birdie slightly towards him and give Jewel a brief yet effective warning, but much as he would enjoy seeing Jewel get the beating she was all but begging for, he allowed that it was fair to at least give her the chance to find her wits and walk away.

He raised a brow in disbelief as Jewel ignored the more than generous chance to, at least temporarily, save herself, and chose instead to move into Birdie’s space. The volume of the girl’s voice as she insulted the older girl was starting to attract attention, and Banshee glanced around again, noticing that the cop that patrolled the bridge was making his way in their direction as he walked his beat. Pushing off from the wall, he tossed his cigarette aside as he caught Hawk’s eye and gave a subtle jerk of his head in the officer’s direction just as Jewel shoved Birdie. Hoping the observant boy had read his hasty warning correctly, he then stepped slightly in front of Birdie, keeping himself between the two girls.

Oblivious to the approaching cop, Jewel continued to rant, first at him and Hawk, then at all three of them. Banshee barely registered what she was saying as he continued to watch the cop out of the corner of his eye, hoping like hell that Jewel didn’t start in with her yelling again and that Hawk would continue to keep Birdie calm behind him. When the cop glanced in their direction as he passed by, Banshee pasted an easy grin on his face and gave him a casual nod as he tugged lightly on the brim of his hat. Apparently seeing nothing amiss, the cop gave him a slight nod in return and continued on his way, whistling a bit and swinging his nightstick as he disappeared into the crowd.

Banshee’s eyes followed the cop until he was out of sight as the grin on his face hardened. “I’m thinkin’ that might have been your one chance t’ walk,” he observed to Jewel almost casually as he stepped aside and cleared the way for Birdie to have her way if she chose.

[Birdie Schaffer]

Birdie Schaffer could not recall the last time she'd been spoken to in that tone. Especially from someone who claimed to have been in Brooklyn at all. There were a lot of things that this girl obviously didn't understand about Brooklyn kids and all her crowing did nothing but make her more aggravated. When Hawk reached for her wrist and tugged her closer to him she was almost to shocked when the girl shoved her into him the next moment calling her a stream of things. A Brooklyn Bitch? Well she couldn't deny that but as she continued to speak all Birdie could think was she had died and gone to hell.

Since when had Brooklyn ever been friendly, if you didn't fit in they kicked you out. To them it was all about respect for each other, but if you tried to put others under your thumb they rebelled and put you in your place. Because that was just what they did, and who they were. Her speech did nothing but have her about ready to launch but Hawk's warms went around her waist, dropping his last to papers in the process.

"Listen, when I came back to New York... all I wanted when I joined the newsies was to make friends. I swear, everything the newsies teach you is a lie! They ain't no fucking family. Not if they're cowardly enough to turn against their own."

"You were NEVER one of us you little, twit!" Birdie shouted just as Banshee moved between them and the smaller bird was hidden by his back. She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes at Jewel. She was wrong, in a big way. The newsies were a family, they were knights and Jewel was not a part of them. At least not the Brooklyn kids. They had a unified loyalty to each other that not many others did. To be completely honest the Brooklyn kids were more like an order of knights than any other borough really. They were under Conlon, they served under him and they always had each others backs.

If you weren't in, you didn't matter. And that was what Birdie was thinking the moment that Banshee stepped between them, her gaze going back to Hawk. It took her a moment before she ground her teeth and whispered in a hushed tone. "She's not one of us, she'll never be one of us-- she don't belong in Brooklyn." She was livid, more angry than she'd ever been but she sat a hand on Banshee's shoulder, watching Jewel through golden eyes as she narrowed them even more. "Three against one, little girl. I suggest you run... or scream for the bull..."

[Hawkeye Dekker]

When Jewel threw off her jacket, much to Hawk’s amusement, and shoved Birdie into him, he reacted instantly. He dropped his remaining three papes and grabbed onto Birdie. One strong arm went around her waist, holding her against him, while he placed his other hand firmly on her shoulder. To the casual observer, it merely looked like the protective hold of a lover and not like he was keeping her from mutilating somebody. Something that was important to keep in mind, considering where they were. He knew Birdie wanted to kill Jewel and he honestly couldn’t blame her, but a place this public was most definitely not the place for it.

Hawkeye saw the bull coming down the bridge only a few seconds before Banshee caught his eye and he found himself extremely glad he wasn’t the only one being observant today. His hands were full with the thoroughly pissed off Brooklyn birdie, so he wouldn’t have been able to stop Jewel from doing anything without drawing a whole lot more attention to themselves. He nodded to Banshee in a silent acknowledgement of the situation and continued to watch the man out of the corner of his eye.

Just then Jewel decided it was time to start yelling at Banshee and him and she said something that particularly pissed him off. He ground his teeth to keep from snapping at her and clutched Birdie just a little bit tighter. He wanted to interrupt her speech and lay into her right then and there, maybe even knock some sense into her, but the bull still remained in his field of vision, narrowed as it was, so he was forced to swallow his anger. There were more than enough angry people in this group; he didn’t need to go losing his head as well.

Finally, jewel’s speech ended. Hawk smirked at Banshee’s comment, agreeing with him thoroughly. If this girl had any sense of self-preservation she would have taken that window and run for Manhattan like the Devil himself was at her heels. A comparison that was almost too close to be funny. Birdie let lose then and it was almost all Hawk could do to keep from grinning. She so rarely got this emotional, that he was rather amused at seeing this side of her for the first time. Hawk held onto her though her shouting and glanced down at her when she looked to him.

“I know Soph,” he whispered, actually using Birdie’s real name in an effort to calm her down. He wasn’t normally one to suggest an alternative to physical violence, but this open place was forcing his hand. At her suggestion for Jewel to call for the bull, Hawk’s eyes widened a little, surprised that she would even suggest such a thing to this girl. Bulls made no distinction between street kids and if Jewel called for the Bulls now, all of four them would get locked away. “Nah no need for that, kid… just run,” he smirked at her darkly. “We’re lettin’ you off easy this time, so I suggest you take it.” He was speaking for the other two as well without their consent, but he knew Banshee wouldn’t protest and that Birdie wasn’t thinking clearly, so he didn’t feel too badly about it.

“But let us catch you alone some time…” he let her imagination finish the threat, knowing the dark look on his face was enough to clue her in.

[jewelkent]

Jewel was petrified, and she was gonna have to go through her choices quickly. She then backed off slightly, and picked up her jacket slowly, while all the while, keeping her eyes on the 3 newsies. She followed Banshee's gaze towards the cop. She could've called it on the 3 newsies trying to threaten, but she decided against it.

"For Christ's sakes, have mercy on me. If you really wanna know the truth about me...then I will tell you, because believe me when I told you that I haven't been completely honest with all of you. But I think I will tell you some other time. Right now, I've got other places to be." She told all 3 of them.

She then turned to Hawkeye upon catching his dark glare, and smiled slyly at him "Just wht will you do to me if you catch me again, dear. Are you gonna pummel the hell out of an innocent girl like me, just to make yourself seem all tough?" she asked him.

She then turned to Birdie "And you...Why are all the girls from Brooklyn so damn insane?" she asked her.

She then looked at Banshee, and winked at him. She then walked up to him "You know, I'll never forget that night by the Lodging House when we kissed. You made my body temperature rise, baby. It's just too bad you hate me now." she said, putting a hand on the left side of his face.

She then turned to saunter away slowly "Adios, Brooklyn. I no longer need this borough. I got a new home, and new people who give a damn about me. See ya later." she said.

Just then as she was about to cross the line between Brooklyn and Manhattan, she felt someone grab her arm.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee watched as the terrified girl picked up her jacket and backed off. He was glad to see that some part of her brain had finally come out of hiding and that she was choosing self preservation. Standing with Birdie and Hawk, he listened impassively as she mouthed her parting shots, pathetic as they were.

When she approached him and laid her hand on his cheek, he fought the urge to shove her away as Birdie’s hand tightened on his shoulder. Instead, he focused on a spot just over her head and remained still until the offending hand was removed. Desperation, then, if the one sided kiss did all that for her. For his part, it had been forgotten almost before she began it, and he stifled the urge to roll his eyes at her dramatic speech. As for hating her, hell, he didn’t hate her, as that would require him to put effort into thinking about her at all and she certainly wasn’t worth it.

Birdie’s grip loosened before dropping away altogether as Banshee turned towards Brooklyn with the others. There was no reason for any of them to stay and watch Jewel make her retreat, as the defeat and humiliation on her face made it clear that she was done, nor was she a threat worthy of not turning their backs on. By the time she spoke her goodbyes, Banshee and his fellow Brooklynites had already been swallowed by the crowd, leaving the girl to voice her false bravado to the breeze that blew in off the river.

[Birdie Schaffer]

The ramblings of the insane girl were nearly lost on Birdie once her body caught up and clued her mind in to where she was. Hawk's arm around her, pulling her flush against him derailed her train of thought rather quickly. She was incredibly aware of every sinu and line, his arms and the hard muscles there too. Even though she was listening, because Birdie never didn't listen. She was always paying attention, to everything around her which was why his nearness was a distraction she wasn't expecting.

Her name a whisper had her attention drawn back to him yet again, the moment she'd started to draw back to Jewel, Hawk got her attention right back to him and she closed her eyes for a single moment before they opened again and she regained the calm she was known for. Her eyes settled on Jewel, her words, just words-- and Birdie simply realized that it was easier to dismiss the rambling idiot than to pay her any attention at all. The bull was moving away, she had the time to run and Birdie watched the girl do something smart before something stupid and she didn't resist the urge to roll her eyes when she touched Banshee.

Once Banshee turned Birdie hesitated a moment, her mind drawn back to the arms and her own reaction to them before she stepped to move out of them and walk with Banshee, letting the crowd take them. There was a dismissal in all this, none of them cared what happened to Jewel, they didn't even care if she died. It would be better for all of them if she did, and Birdie had no qualms about watching the girl go down hard.

She mumbled something in Danish, but looked back at Hawk before slowing to fall into step beside the boys instead of walking a bit ahead. She often did that with Hawk, but Banshee was now one of them. "Welcome to the fold kid.."

[Hawkeye Dekker]

Hawk chuckled at her rambling but refused to dignify them with a response. If this chit was looking for mercy, then she was in the wrong borough. No, he didn’t pummel innocent girls, but he would most definitely pummel Jewel if he caught her alone in Brooklyn again; she was far from innocent. He rolled his eyes at her and looked down at Birdie. She’d gone very still and quiet in his arms, which made him curious. Granted, it was nice to see her calm again and not rising to Jewel’s bait, but she calmed so suddenly that he couldn’t help wondering if he had been part of the cause. He couldn’t help the scoff that escaped his lips at her words to Banshee and then at her dramatic goodbye, it all just so desperate.

He felt Birdie leave his arms, following Banshee back to Brooklyn, but waited just a moment longer to leave, checking to make sure things really ended. The bull was nowhere to be seen, a definite plus, but he didn’t doubt that there were others lurking about. Hawk saw Jewel cross over into Manhattan and smirked in good riddance, hoping. for his own sake, that she would be smart enough to stay out.

Finally deciding things were done here, Hawkeye turned and bent down to retrieve the three papes he’d dropped earlier, and moved off in the direction of the others. He folded them under his arm and dug the cigarette his body was craving out of his jacket pocket as he walked. His pace wasn’t too hurried, but his large strides and long legs allowed him to catch up with Banshee rather quickly. Birdie, of course, was walking a few paces ahead of them, but she dropped back to keep pace with them. Hawk gave Banshee a look of approval, nodding in agreement with Bird, and smirked, “Ya having fun yet?”

Once they neared the end of the bridge, the wind had died down enough for him to light the cig he had pulled out earlier and he did so quickly. Taking a long, needed drag, he let the nicotine work its magic on him and blew the smoke into Birdie’s face.

[Chimera Hudson]

(New Day-Open)

Chimera slowly made his way across the bridge, heading back to the lodging house after a day spent wandering the city. He skipped out on selling papers today because he had made enough the day before. Wandering around the city gave him a chance to listen in to whatever anyone was talking about; to hear any new rumors going around or whether there was any new characters in the city that they needed to keep an extra eye on. He was suspicious of anyone he didn't know by nature, and after what happened at the Warehouse he liked to keep his ear to the ground so nothing like that could happen again.

Chimera hadn't picked up on too much to worry about; there was some new Irish residing in the city but they hadn't given anyone anything to worry about. Yet. The first sign of anything amiss in the city and he was going to check on the situation and find out whether they had any connection to it. For now though, he wasn't going to worry too much about them. They weren't worth the trouble.

Chimera stopped in the middle on the bridge and leaned up against the side. He pulled out a cigarette from his chest pocket and lit it with the lighter he kept in his right pants pocket. He took a drag from the cig and watched the people crossing the bridge, making their way to someplace or another. He exhaled--the smoke wafting around his head--and crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting the cigarette dangle from between his lips.