The Leaders vs KC

[Street]

Street bounced in her chair, nervous yet excited. Her first crisis as a leader! But this was serious, Eli's killer was making a move, and from how it looked, he wasn't the only one, nor the leader. She hoped the rumors about Tybalt were false, but things had gone far enough. At the wedding, several criminals had been seen in the back.

That could only mean one thing; the King's Cartel was real and they were moving. Swiftly too. Whoever was their leader obviously had money, for no robberies had been reported. At least, that's what her sources told her. Well, source. In fact, he was in the corner, waiting too.

He'd offered to let the leaders know a few things, so long as they paid. He said a grand for each piece of information. Lucky for her, Ophelia had not been disowned yet. So, she suppiled ten grand. They'd have to chose their questions wisely. She'd called the meeting using messengers, but lately, she was not sure the others would answer.

((Note: Ten thousand dollars back then would be roughly 100,000. 1,000 would be 10,000. Roughly))

[Jack Cowboy Kelly]

Being back for only a few days now and there was already a meeting. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and walked through the door,"Who's the kid?" was the first question that slipped out of Jack's mouth as his eyes went from Street to the boy in the corner. Jack wasn't one to trust easily, especially these days, he was lucky though,he was slowly regaining his respect back from Ace and even Poet, he could honestly care less about some of the others whether they respected him or not was their business, but they weren't going to see him leave without a fight and nobody was willing to step up and kick him off of his leader position anyway. He had made one mistake, they all understood and they all accepted it to be so, that was it it was done and over with.

He pulled up his usual chair and sat in it to where the chair was backwards and he leaned his arms over the back of the chair as he eyed Street,"Ya seem flustered doll...ya doin' alright?"he questioned her as he looked her up and down. He knew of Street, he didn't know her very much personally other than seeing her once or twice before he had taken off and come back. He ran his hand through his hair once more and looked down fidgetting slightly, this room reminded him of the refuge abit, the light that hung from the ceiling and rocked back and fourth dimly lighting the room, it was an eery place to be. He tilted his head looking back up at the blond girl wondering how she saw him, wondering what her opinion of him was now after his mistake.

[Justin]

Justin looked up from the corner at the guy that just walked in. He'd heard of him. Jack Kelly of Manhattan. He stood up and held out his hand. "Justin. Justin Larson." He smiled at him and sat back down. He glanced over at Street who looked excited and nervous at once. "I was wondering that myself. Why are we here?" He'd heard of what had gone downat the wedding. He couldn't believe so many-well- bad people were there under all of the leader's noses. The thought made him shake his head.

[Street]

Street nodded to Jack. She had never been quite a fan of him (she always found herself gravitating to Spot), but she knew him a capable leader, and the longest running one next to Spot. Street stood quickly, it did not make much difference. "I called this meeting 'cause I met this boy here," She pointed to the slight blonde boy who waved cheekily at them. "And he told me he had information for us. For a price. I-I agreed. I'm payin', well, Ophelia's payin', but still. So, think of a few, good, questions ta ask him. It's a grand a question." Street turned to him. "C'mon."

Peep moved toward the light. He grinned around at the leaders that were there so far. Well, if the leaders were so disorganized, King would wipe them out in a heartbeat. Plus, they were all in their teens. He thought of Killer, and his grin grew larger. "So. What's your first question?"

"Jack," Street said, gesturing to the eldest leader. "Go ahead and have first shot." She pulled out of a sack at her feet a stack of bills. It clearly read 'One Thousand' across the band tying it together. "This here's yer payment for the first question. Ya'll get half before and half after ya answer, k?" Peep nodded, counting out five hundred.

[Hawkeye]

Hawkeye strode in, letting the door slam behind him. Nodding to the leaders already present, he eyed Peep warily, dislike for the informant apparent on his face. “I see the weasel’s already here,” the Harlem leader said steadily as he sat beside Street. The money on the table made him sick and he hoped this information would be worth it. That money could feed all the newsies in New York for a year or more. As Jack thought of his first question Hawk glared daggers at the boy, imagining all the bloody ways he would have gotten the information out of him if he thought the other leaders would allow it. Fucking rats…

[Jack Cowboy Kelly]

Jack eyed Peep Sickeningly as well and when Hawk walked in, he saw the same look on Hawk's face which verified that he wasn't the only one who found this to be a bad idea. Jack stood and shoved his chair to the side and walked over to Peep and snatched the money from the boy's hand before tossing it back to Street. He then looked over his shoulder at Street and sighed,"Sweetheart, I know yer new, but this is not the way ta get yer answers,"he told her. He looked back at Peep and sized the boy up, they could easily get rid of him there and now if they wanted to. He recalled the information the boy had spouted out without reason at the wedding, and he figured by the looks on the faces of Ryder and Mischief when he had said it, that they hadn't expected the boy to say such things, he was a double crosser and Jack knew it. "The only reason yer here boyo is because of the money right? Or so you ell us, but the second ya get yer money you'll run off to their leader and get paid more by him fer telling him everything ya know about us am I wrong?"he spat as he walked toward the boy, backing Peep up into a corner. "I do not put my newsies' heads on the line for scum like you to mess with, I ain't a fool, and if yer smart you'll answer our questions without the payment because frankly, we could get rid of you right here and now,"he said clenching his hands into fists at his sides,"And jus' so ya know, all my newsies and these leadehs right here already know everything there is ta know about meh so no matter what ya say, nothin's gonna turn them around against meh,"he added.

[Street]

Street caught the money clumsily, not expecting it. She blew some hair out of her face and watched Jack talk to Peep with wide-eyes. Sort of like deer eyes. She looked at Peep, but he seemed unruffled. In fact, he seemed almost amused. Peep grinned in response to Jack's words. "You're actually right. King does pay more. Fifteen hundred if it's good." Peep yawned, like everything was boring him. "You're going to have to kill me if you want something erased. I forget nothing." He drew the word out.

"Jack-" Street started, but Peep held his hand up.

"'S alright Miss Rosie. If this guy here doesn't want you to know how they're going to kill you, that's his problem. I also know the members and their top targets and that girl over there's top of the list. They got a sniper you know and from what I've heard, she can pick off a target from across a street. Maybe across a town, I don't know exactly. Do you really want to risk her, and by further extent, all of your lives?" Peep asked seriously.

"Don't say nothin' about our plans ta him! He'll tell everythin' ta King!" Street said, tugging on Jack's sleeve. She looked into his face, her grey eyes troubled. "I could care less 'bout myself, but... I wanted ta know about Feely and Mercury. They both got families and all..." She trailed off weakly, scared by Jack and Hawk.

[Justin]

Justin pushed off the wall where he'd been standing. "Street, we're gonna do anythin' we can to protect you and your family." He stressed the and. "We're gonna try to protect everyone we can." He looked at Jack seriously. He nodded to him and to Hawk. They were right. This wasn't a way to get answers. "And as for you." He said looking at Peep. "Your worse than my grandmother with your gossip." He smirked.

[Street]

Street snorted. "Grandmother's gossip?" She asked, laughing. Street shook her head. She pulled Justin to the side. "Don't go declarin' anythin'. I ain't worth anythin', but I want people like Irish and Poet, Ophelia, Mercury, and all the others ta not fear anythin'. We're here ta try and determine KC's plans, not go declarin' who we're goin' to protect or what not." Street tapped his head, standing on her tip-toes. "If ya can't see the forest for the tree, ya can't be a good leader. Think about what's best for yer borough overall, not individually. If ya lose a few ta save a hundred, count yerself lucky. We need to discover KC's plans." She finished, turning to Peep.

"Now ya are gonna tell us." Street said, grabbing the front of his shirt.

Peep grinned at her. "'Beware the Ides of March.'" He said mysteriously.

"Don't go quotin' the Shakes-speare." Street said quietly.

"All right, how about this one. 'Beware of Tybalt.' Is that good enough for you? Oh, and... There are people they are going to capture and people they are going to kill. That should help you." Peep said.

"Tybalt..." Street muttered, letting go off the boy. Her face was drained of color. "Not... Tybalt Constant Lexeme? Me brother?"

[Jack Cowboy Kelly]

Jack listened and stepped Back when Street had grabbed Peep by the shirt. He heard the boy say Tybalt's name and his eyes narrowed,he pulled Street aside and pointed to Justin,"Watch him, if he moves, knock him inta next week,"Jack told Justin as he glared at Peep before pulling Street over to a corner. He looked at her, she looked abit shaken up at this point, he held her elbow absently as he looked into her eyes. "Tybalt? Is that the one Ace has been tellin' meh about? The one she said she accused at the masquerade and ya got on her fer it?"he questioned. He had heard everything from Ace about what had taken place during his absence. He was not pleased with the fact that Street had snapped at one of his newsies in his absence, but he would nothold it against her, the boy was family to Street, he understood even though it seemed now that Ace hadn't been lying.

Jack realized he had Street by the arm still and he let her go and leaned against the wall still looking at her,"Are ya sure you can handle this situation Street? if it ever gets too hard fer you ya can tell any one of us and we'll step in....we don't want ya to worry yerself too much if it's going to effect yer judgement or well being,"he told her soothingly, he was concerned that this may be a shock that she may need to step back and think about on whether she could handle it or not.

[Street]

Street looked at him. "Well of course I got on her about it, he's me brother, ain't he? But... I never imagined he'd be involved with this kind of stuff." She said, her brow furrowing. This concerned her. What was he after? She had nothing to give him...

"I know I'm young, Jack, but I can handle it. And I know I won't handle it alone, right? Ya'll stand by me and we'll all discover a solution ta this now." Street said, hitting her fist off the table. "We have ta do somethin'... We don't want another Eli." Street said quietly.

[Jing Mai]

Walking briskly, Jing Mai only paid attention to what was ahead of her. She was suppose to be at this 'meeting' since the old leader wasn't here anymore. She was the only one in Midtown who would take charge. This was pathetic, that she had to take charge when none of the others would. But, she probably was the only one in Midtown willing to take on the leadership. Her beige skirt swished behind her as she walked, walking faster and more briskly. Once she got there she opened the door.

"Sorry I'm late," Jing said, walking up to the table, pulling up a chair and sitting down, "What I miss?" she crossed her arms, laying them on the table and leaning forward. It'd be better if she could hear everyone, besides, she was late. But, besides that it didn't matter. Obviously something was going on, and if it was bad, she could take it. Born and raised as a fighter, 'no' wasn't really in her vocabulary. Along with the words, 'cant', 'wont', and 'will not.' That was just her, tough.

[Street]

Street looked at the girl stupidly. "Um... Where's Malleus? Oh never mind, it's not important. I think I've of ya. Yer Jing Mai, right? The new leader?" Street asked, holding out her hand for the girl to shake it. "Alright, I don't know if ya know or not, but we're in the middle of a crisis. There's the King's Cartel and we're tryin' ta figure out how ta bring 'em down. They already killed Eli Freeman at the Mask ball and then at the weddin', Goldie Freeman interrupted a murder attempt on Chase Neumann." Street looked at Peep. "Is that it?"

"I think so, except for the fact that all the leaders are on the hit list." Peep said. "And that includes you, little lady, because I'm not the only bird King's got on his shoulder." Peep said, grinning wryly. "Peep at your service, Informant." He nodded, bowing slightly from the waist, it was slightly mocking.

[Justin]

Justin watched as the newest leader walked in. He eyed her up and down, he figured she was alright. He stood up and offered her his chair. "Name's Justin. Wanna sit down, miss?" He asked politely. He looked back and forth between Street and Peep. Chase Neumann. He knew that name. "You don't mean that blonde kid. The one that was with Mischief before she went crazy with the whole act of getting hurt?" He remembered Mischief and could see the whole thing. She going into the back room with some guy, the scream and then the black girl with the gun. He just couldn't place Chase anywhere except at the bar.

[Jing Mai]

She nodded at the two leaders, sitting herself down at the table. Jing couldnt help but raise an eyebrow at what 'Peep' said. She crossed her arms. "Oh really, Peep, is it? If your one of King's informants how do we not know your gonna report all of this to them? And if Kings Cartel has more birds then us we have to get more birds. Who do we know that can spy for us? Besides, I'm not scared of the Cartel, if that's what you mean. I could take them down easily in a fight." It took a lot for her to believe what this informant said.

"We get more spies then we might have a chance at beating these guys." Malleus, from what she knew, was a quiet fellow, but not her. Jing Mai was loud, tough and proud. And she planned on not getting killed for a very long time. Besides, if this King's Cartel was so tough, then she'd like to see them try and get her. "And to mention your question about Malleus, he seems to have dissappeared. I'm his replacement, and I plan on giving Midtown more of a voice then he could have given it."