It was seven on a Friday night in Los Angeles, 1938 as a girl, at the age of sixteen, was sitting on the dark-green couch, reading The Hobbit as her friend and guardian was getting ready to go the bar to see some of his friends. "All right, kid," Jack Harrison, a thirty-year-old man with black hair slicked back wearing a black suit with a fedora. "I'll see you later." He gathered his keys on the kitten counter.

The young girl raised her head, looking at him with green eyes. "Bye, Jack. Tell the guys I said 'hi'."

The man smiled at her. "I will and try to not to do anything stupid." Humor was in his dark eyes.

She laughed. "I won't. Bye."

"See ya." With that, he walked out of the house and close the door behind and locked it.

Roxanne Connell was her name. Used to be an orphan until her father's best friend found her two years after the accident and took her under his wing. In the beginning it was rough since she wasn't used to him and he wasn't used to her, but as the weeks slowly went by, the two of them became inseparable and best friends. She didn't call him a brother– let alone a father, just a guardian as he just called her his "responsibility". The guy had a way with words.

Turning back to her book, Roxanne waiting patiently for nine, his usual time to be home from the bar with his friends. But when nine came around, so did ten, and Jack hadn't showed. Roxanne was now getting worried. He was never this late. She turned on the radio, trying to find any road accidents, but nothing had occurred. When eleven came around, the teenager was now going to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed a tan fedora and placed it over her auburn hair, threw on some slacks with her brown coat. Something was wrong and she was going to find out what is was.

Two days had past since the teenager was on her own. Jack was nowhere to be found and people had no idea where he was. Keeping her head high and senses sharp, the young girl walked into a swinging joint at nine at Sunday night as a band of three was playing and people playing cards. Roxanne scanned the area for her dark-haired guardian, but he was not here. He never came to this place anyway. She just mentally shrugged to herself, knowing that it was going to be a easy place to win money if Poker was involved. Jack taught her a thing or two about the game while playing with some of his pals and she was a quick learner when it came to gambling. She walked inside and took a seat at the bar as the band took a break.

The bartender walked up to her and arched an eye at her. "How old are you?"

"I just want water," Roxanne admitted, smirking innocently at him and pulled out some money from her black wallet.

The older man just gave her suspicious glare as he got her water.

"Thanks," she said, still smirking. This place was not like the other bars she went to. She knew people there and so did Jack, but here, she knew no one and that was the hard part since she was underaged and knew nobody. Where could've Jack got to? It was as if he disappeared off the face of the Earth. She was worried, but kept herself calm. A little too calm.

The bartender just gave her a nod, and carried on his business.

"What the hell are you doing, Roxxy?" she sighed softly to herself.

Until a rough-looking man sat next her, making her feel small.

She knew that she should've called the cops when Jack first went missing, but that wasn't like her. She was used to taking care of things herself. That's how Jack taught her. She may not have grown up on the streets, but she certainly grew up with Jack since she was ten and that was practically the same thing.

"George," the man growled beside her. "Whisky."

"On it!" the bartender called.

The man then looked at her, making her feel nervous. Never before had she seen this man, but she did not like him.

"I recognize that red hair anywhere," he growled. "You're Jack's kid."

Her heart skipped a beat as those words, then smirked, calming herself as she asked, "What about him?" He must've seen her before with her guardian, but she certainly didn't recognize him.

He grabbed her shoulder, making her freeze in terror. "That bastard owes me money."

"How much?" she asked quietly, knowing that he was going to tell her either way.

"Five grand."

"I only have twenty bucks," she muttered, smiling nervously as his fingers dug into her coat. She knew she couldn't kick him. That would only make things worse. Well, she could always run and she was with other people, but that was something that she hated to do. It was too… dependent.

"Well, then," the man growled, making her feel his twisted grin. "I always hated to hurt a girl, but Jack's gotta learn."

Roxanne's heart began to pound in her chest, making her quickly stand up, and kick him in the shin as hard as she could, then bolted to the door, but he grabbed her by the wrist. "Let of me!" she growled, struggling to break free, not wanting to cause attention. Where was her pal when she needed him?

He then got eye level to her. His blond hair was slicked back with striking blue eyes and a rough face. He looked deep into her eyes, giving a deep growl, "Where is that son of a–"

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" A man called as three shorter men approached them, making the man turn his attention to the three strangers.

"None of your concern," he snapped and squeezed Roxanne's wrist harder, making her claw at his hand, trying to break his grip as he was breaking her circulation.

"So you'd threaten a girl?" The one in the middle with a bowl hair cut and dressed in a dark-brown suit crossed his arms as he glared up at the aggressive man with narrowed blue eyes as the other two crossed their arms and looked as backup. They weren't strong enough to take down the brute individually, but the three of them together could.

"And let her go before you break her hand," the one with curly, red hair snapped, gesturing angrily to her aching wrist.

The man roughly released her, straightened out his black coat, gave each of them a final glare, then to her and pointed a finger at her with burning eyes. "Tell Jack he owes me."

Roxanne just turned her head angrily away as he stormed out.

Now that guy was a lowlife and she met a lot of those kind.

"Gee," the third man with a shaven head began with a smile, "he musta had a rough day. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk."

The one with the bowl hair cut glared at him. "Shuddup." He turned to the teen with concern. "Hey, you okay, kid?"

The lonely teenager fixed her coat. "Yeah." She looked at them with a small smile. "Thanks."

The redhead looked at her with anger and confusion. "What is a young girl like yourself doin' in a place like this? What would yer parents think?"

Roxanne looked away in heartache and uttered, "I don't have any parents." Jack was the only one she had, but he was loose. He watched over her and protected her, but he wasn't a real parent. He just took her under his wing four years ago– saving her from the orphanage after hearing that his best friend– her father– had passed along with his wife. Almost immediately, she felt their stares lighten up, then the three of them walked a few feet away and huddled, talking amongst each other. The young girl raised her head, trying to listen in on what the three had to say, then they each gave a curt nod, making them knock each other's head and step back in pain.

The leader scuffled angrily at them, making them flench, then they walked up to her. He crossed his arms, making her look at him. "What's yer name?"

"Roxanne," she answered truthfully.

"I'm Moe. This is Larry," he pointed to the redhead on his left with his thumb, who smiled kindly at her. "And Curly," he gave a motion with his head to the one on his right.

Curly grinned at her and gave her a little wave. "Hiya."

"We're outcasts, too. Well, merely musicians," Moe continued, "so we know what it's like being on yer own and Los Angeles is a big place."

Roxanne just sadly nodded as she looked down, understanding his words. It's not easy being on your own in the big city, especially when you're just a kid.

"You three ready?" a voice hollered from the back of the bar.

"Be there in a minute," Moe called back. He looked back to the teen. "You wanna stay here until the last half hour?"

Roxanne smirked at the three of them. They each had some form of kindness in their eyes and they did help her out. "Sure. I have nothing better to do, but," she turned back to the door, then back to them and crossed her arms, "if that guy comes back, I'm outta here."

"Friend of yours?" Larry joked with a smile.

She chuckled. "Hardly."

The three of them walked back to the stage just before Larry spoke to the bartender, and the two glanced over at her.

George the bartender nodded his head and walked up to her as the musician carried on his way. "The Stooges told me to keep and eye on you if Cody returns, which I highly doubt he will."

Roxanne smirked.

The Stooges, huh? Sounds like the start of a bad joke.

Taking her glass in her hand, she took a seat. "Hope not." Then she frowned, taking a sip of her water, lost in thought. Jack, what did you do?

It was half an hour like they said when the band was wrapping things up and met Roxanne. She still could not get over how Jack owed that guy money to the point she didn't even hear them preform, but could tell they certainly had a talent for it through her thoughts. Jack was never a gambler or anything of the sort, but was there something that he was hiding? If there was, good riddance because she hated lairs, especially when it came to friends and family. Was that the reason why he left? She only hoped that Jack was okay… at least. They were friends after all. She tried to ask the bartender if she seen the missing man, but he just shook his head.

When the three musicians approached her, the four of them began walking out of the bar in silence.

"What's your story, kid?" Moe asked, breaking the ice as they took a right.

"Just a strange one," she smiled, then proceeded to tell some of the main parts of her life like how she her parents died when she ten and wound up at an orphanage for two years.

At that point, she met Jack Harrison, a man who claimed to be best friends with her father. Not believing him, she didn't want to go with him, but he only answered questions that no else, but she would know. He knew everything about the car wreck to looking in orphanages, and when he found her a year later, unknown issues showed up and wasn't able to adopt her after a year. When she was able to go with him, it took a couple of months to trust him, but when he showed her lost pictures of her parents like how she remembered them like when she was a young child in her mother's arms. There were even photos of him with her father at a couple of hang-outs and Roxanne trusted him like no other.

"So this Jack guy," Larry, who was walking beside Moe, began as they were walking down the street with his violin case in his hand, "is like a father to you?" He leaned forward to look at her with wonder in his blue eyes.

Roxanne laughed at that term. "Yeah. I guess he is… but he disappeared." She sadly frowned. "And I don't know where he is."

"He left? Why would he do that?" Curly asked innocently as he was on her left.

She couldn't help, but chuckle at that. "That's what I'm trying to find out." She released a sigh. "I lonely hope that he is alright." She smiled as she placed her hands behind her head. "Besides, I don't mind being on my own." Then frowned as her hands fell to her sides, looking around at the dark city as cars drove by. "I'm just worrying about him…"

The three of them nodded in agreement.

The teen looked at them with a smile, trying to lighten up. "Okay, enough about me. How about you three?"

Larry chuckled with a smile. "Where do we begin?"

"I'll take care of this one, porcupine," Moe nudged in with a proud smile and looked at her. "You see, kid, we were friends since childhood. Maybe even as infants. We grew up as orphans. Kinda like you, but instead we never got adopted and was kicked out when we became of age. Then we lived our lives and we're still stuck together." The way his eyes shifted, Roxanne wasn't sure that he was happy about the fact or not, but she figured that deep down, he didn't mind.

"Till the very end!" Larry commented with a smile.

"And then maybe even after the end," Curly grinned.

Moe looked at the two with annoyance. "Don't make it sound longer than it is," he warned.

"Hey," Curly said with a smile, ignoring his comment. "She is just like us!" He beamed at teen with sparkle in his blue eye. "An outcast with similar stories." He turned to his bossy friend with wonder. "Hey, Moe. Do ya think she can come with us? She's a real nice kid and we could probably help her find this Jack." Before Moe could answer, he looked at Roxanne. "Do you have any place to go?"

Roxanne blinked. "I stay at a flat with Jack."

She left a note on the counter for Jack if he came back while she wasn't there– looking for him– but after two days of searching, she realized that he wasn't going to come back and would continue to wonder around the city for hours on end, searching for her missing guardian. It wasn't easy looking for someone when you couldn't stray too far and try to be home before dark– especially when you ran out of places to look. Tonight, she gave up on being home before dark and just wanted to find Jack.

The bigger man smiled back at his friend with pleading, blue eyes. "Please, can we keep her? I promise that I'll look after her."

They all stopped walking as Moe narrowed his eyes at him. "What do ya think she is? A pet?" He smacked him on the forehead. "Ya moron."

Larry walked over to them in a circle and looked at Moe with reason. "No, but she needs a place to stay and she needs to find her friend slash gaurdian."

"Yeah!" Curly cried and looked at Moe in a challenging way. "She is just a kid. What are ya goin' to do? Leave her on the streets?"

"Now that is cold!" Larry said, turning away while crossing his arms, pretending to be hurt.

"She just said that she has a place to stay!" Moe cried.

"She's all alone," Larry sadly pressed. "Sixteen. Sitting in an empty, lonely apartment."

"Looking for her missing guardian," Curly sorrowfully added.

"All alone," Larry continued.

Roxanne tried not to laugh as the two were trying to give their out-numbered friend a guilt trip.

Moe rolled his eyes and looking up at the sky. "Give one reason on why we need to take her in?" He turned to the teen who just looked at him. "I mean, look at her. She doesn't want us three loomin' over her!"

"Aw, Moe," Curly pleaded as she began to look around the area as a couple of cars went by. "She alone and needs help lookin' for her friend. I mean, look at her! Only at the age of–" He glanced at her, looking for help as he already forgot her age.

"Sixteen," she casually finished.

"Sixteen," Curly repeated, looking back at his friend.

Roxanne didn't notice the three of them looking at her as she was now gazing around the night sky, fading out of their conversation as she trying to figure out where the Giant Dipper was. Due to the city lights, it didn't help. She should just call the cops.

The cops…

Oh, God.

Was he dead?

No. No, he couldn't be. Why hadn't she thought about it before? No. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be!

"She's so alone," Larry said dramatically, gesturing to her, snapping her back to reality, "that she forgot she's with us!"

Moe looked at him. "'She's so alone that she forgot she's with us'?" He slapped him, making the young girl watch them with wide eyes. "What's gotten in to you?" He was about to strangle him, but turned to her, as if surrendering to his friends' pestering. "Hey, kid. Do you wanna come with us? It's better than staying at an empty house by yourself."

Roxanne shook her head, trying to shake the previous thought from her mind. "I don't want to be burden."

"Easy. Can you make money?"

"I can pickpocket," she admitted. It was true. After she met Jack, she became a little pickpocket at times. Something she wasn't quite proud of looking back…

"No, no. Not stealing. Like can ya get a job?"

The other two watched her eagerly.

She shook her head in shame. "I have no schooling under my belt, but I taught myself." She never been to a real school for years since Jack didn't believe in school, but did let her go to the library to get knowledgeable books.

"Can ya sing?" Larry asked with a smile, leaning forward.

She shook her head, then grinned excitedly. "But I can play the piano!"

"Perfect!" Moe cried with a grin and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they continued to walk. "We'll find a way to fit ya in the band. Stick with us, kid, and you'll be okay."

As the four of them walked on, Roxanne's guard was never put down, but by the way these three were, there was never a dull moment and even though that the three were with each other, she could tell that their friendship was thick as thieves and if you messed with one, you messed with them all. They were friends, but deep down, they were like brothers and no one was going to break that.