Something was stifling my breath. I squirmed, still partly asleep. Why couldn't I breathe? I moved slightly. Whatever was blocking my breath had pressed harder. Wake up. WAKE UP!

My eyes flew open and I shot upwards, nearly hitting my head on the bunk above me. All around me boys were waking up. I jumped out of bed and punched the boy who had had his hands over my mouth, trying to cut off my air. He fell to the floor.

"Get up!" I shouted. "Everybody. Wake up!" Boys from Queens were sitting up and running around, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

Judging from what I could hear, there were boys downstairs going after Manhattan as well. The guy I had punched had fallen to the floor. Quickly, I stomped on his face, probably breaking his nose, and suddenly glad I was too tired to take off even my shoes last night.

I quickly checked my hat to make sure my hair wasn't coming out. I stepped over the groaning body of the boy I had just punched and rushed over to Blue, who was being grabbed by a boy twice his size. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked it back, pulling him off of Blue. Blue kicked him in the stomach and I spun him around and punched him in the face.

"Pick on someone your own size." I hissed. I stomped on his foot, hard.

"How'd they get in?" Blue asked. "I thought you locked all the doors and windows."

I nodded. "I did. Which means...." It couldn't be Lion. Not Lion. Anyone but Lion. I quickly climbed on top of the bunk bed and scanned the room. There he was in the corner, beating up Clothespin. I jumped off of the bed, and slipped through the crowd, tripping people.

I made it over to Lion and blocked the punch he threw my way. I grabbed his collar. "You're a traitor."

"Bronx kept me safe in the refuge. What did Queens do?" He threw a punch at my jaw.

I ducked and swung an uppercut towards his mouth, he grabbed my wrist and pulled my arm, tripping me. "I sat in that refuge, starving, freezing. What did you do? You left me there."

"You're not the only one who counts. There were thirty boys in Queens who were starving as well. I chose the well being of the group before the well being of one. It was the dead of Winter. I couldn't risk anyone's lives." I wrenched my arm out of his grasp, ignoring the bolt of pain up my shoulder.

Lion punched me, nailing me in the eye. That was going to leave quite a shiner. I fell down, and used my legs, tripping him and causing him to fall. I jumped up and went to punch him again, but froze when a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the room.

I wasn't the only one who had stopped. In fact, the whole room had frozen. I turned slowly on my heel, not sure what I was going to see.

Ladders laid on the floor, blood coming out of a wound next to his heart. He coughed and blood sprayed out of his mouth. He squirmed on the floor. The boy, the one I had punched back in Manhattan, was standing over him, a sick gleam in his eye. In his hand, dripping with blood, was a knife.

I stepped slowly towards Ladders. It was silent all around me, so silent you could hear a pin drop. I leaned over Ladders, crouching down and pressing my fingers to his neck, then to his wrist.

"He's dead." I whispered. "You killed him." I glanced up at the you. "You killed him."

He smirked. "He's better off dead."

I stood up and punched him. He stumbled backwards. I punched him again. "Maybe it's your turn to die." I shouted, feeling rage course through me. I kicked him back.

"Crown. Stop." Clothespin shouted in the background. I didn't stop. I was seeing red. I punched him again, grabbing his knife and throwing it to the ground. He had just killed Ladders, my best friend, since day one. Since the day I walked into the lodging house for the first time.

"Crown! CROWN!" Clothespin shouted. He grabbed my arm and yanked me back, holding me back from trying to kill him. "Stop."

I struggled against Clothespin. "Let me at him. I'm going to kill him."

"No you're not. Crown. You are the most level headed person I know. Come back to it. Don't stoop to his level. Think of Race. Spot. Jack. Keep calm. These boys need you. We all need you. You can't kill him."

I slowly calmed down. "It's okay Clothespin. You can let me go." He cautiously let go. I turned to the Bronx newsies, who were standing still watching me.

"What would it take to get you to leave us alone?" I asked, turning in a slow circle. "What would it take to get you to leave?"

A boy, probably a couple of inches taller than me, stepped out from the group. "I want you to come with us." His eyes were wide.

I nodded, leaning and whispering to Clothespin. "You're in charge. Don't let them get Brooklyn."

I walked to the boy. "Let's go." The boy, quite evidently the leader, gestured to the boys. He grabbed a strip of fabric from one of the ripped blankets and tied my hands behind my back. I made eye-contact with Clothespin. He nodded.

He grabbed my arms and pulled me out, shoving me down the stairs. I stumbled slightly but made my way down. Race stepped forwards as I came down the steps, escorted by the Bronx boys. I shook my head at him and he froze.

*

*

*

I was shoved into a room in the Bronx lodging house. I could feel my hat still on. It was dark out. The leader boy, whose name must be Sage, flicked on a light switch. I blinked in the harsh light.

There were four boys in the room. The black boy I had tried to kill, and two others, both large. But that wasn't what caught my eye. It was Sage. He wasn't remarkably tall, only about 5'8", a couple of inches taller than me. Probably a year or two older too, no older then seventeen. Dark brown curls and brown eyes matched the appearance of someone I had seen before. I couldn't figure it out. Who did I know that looked like that?

There was also something off about him. High cheek bones and a thin figure. There was something about him that made him petite. It was almost like....

"That was an admirable thing you did. Standing up to Thorn there and leaving the boys to keep them safe." Sage smirked, leaning against one of the beds.

I shrugged as well as I could. "Glad you think so." I said sarcastically. I was still thinking. What was it? Why was his voice so high pitched for a seventeen year old boy?

I scanned, looking at his hair. His hat was tight on his head. A shock jolted through me. I laughed.

"Do tell. What's so funny about this situation?" Sage asked, stepping towards me.

"Yous a girl." I laughed. "I can't believe it! You're a girl."

"All of you out now." Sage hissed. "OUT!"

The two shuffled out obediently. The other gave me a sick glare. "Now Thorn."

He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"How the hell did you know I was a girl?" She asked, stepping forwards and glaring at me.

"Go. To. Hell." I spat. She punched me. Hard, right on my jaw line.

I hit the floor and my hat fell off, allowing my long hair to tumble out in messy blonde curls.

Sage stood staring at me with wide eyes. "You're a girl. Oh my god. You're a girl." She started laughing.

Sage tugged her hat off, long brown hair falling out of her hat. She sat on the ground across from me, staring at me with a childlike wonder in her brown eyes. "How?" The word fell out of her mouth as a gasp.

I struggled to sit up with my hands tied behind me, and leaned against one of the bed posts. "By birth."

"Not that way, why, how are you leader of Queens? How old are you?"

I stretched my legs out. "Untie my hands and I'll answer your questions. One at a time."

"What's your name?"

"Crown. Duh. You were in Queens."

Sage rolled her eyes and leaned with her head on her hands. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen. Now please get these off." I asked.

Sage leaned around me and untied my hands. I pulled my hands around and rubbed the chaffing on my wrists. "Thanks."

"How on earth are you leader of Queens?"

I turned to look at her. "Lion, as you know him, was previously leader. He went to the refuge and I was second in command, simple as that. What about you, and how come none of us knew you were a girl?"

"I fought my way up. Thorn is next in line, and power hungry. Pulitzer asked us to take over so he could force you to accept the price raise. I kept my gender hidden so those boys would respect me, and it was easier to try and find my brother." She said, leaning into a crouch and standing up.

I grabbed her hand, and stood up. "Weird. All the boys in pretty much all of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan know I'm a girl, and I'm still in power."

Sage shrugged. "It's a mans world. Now, let's get you out of here."

I stopped and stared at her. "You're just going to let me go, just like that?"

Sage nodded. "I was never on board with the whole stealing thing. Thorn has been shoving at me, making me do Pulitzer's commands. I don't like it, and that poor boy, who we killed, should never have died, and I'm sorry."

I smiled softly, thinking of the cheerful Ladders. "His name was Ladders."

Sage grinned at me. She bent over and picked my hat up and tossed it to me, before grabbing her own and shoving her hair in.

I froze in my spot, thinking. "Sage. What's your name? Your real name?"

She turned and looked at me, confused. "Um Ethel Talopeno. Why?"

I grinned. "What's your little brother's name?"

"Gabriel."

I started laughing. Of all the people I could have met.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

I looked up at her. "I'm dating your little brother."