I'm back with a Christmas story! You'll have to be the judge, but I'm pretty sure it's both funny and happy for once . . . ? So hopefully it helps get everyone in the holiday spirit! :)

Standard disclaimers apply. I own a pretty wicked King of New York shirt and an overpriced stuffed Oswald from Disneyland. That's about it. ;)

Katherine steps through the door of the lodging house late one December night and shivers. The thin walls are blocking out the chilling wind and thick snow swirling outside — barely — but beyond that, there's not much relief from the harsh New York winter. The heat must be broken again — that, or no one could afford to replenish the dwindling coal pile. Still, she's glad to be off the street.

Even if the inhabitants are shrieking and running in circles like madmen.

They stop when they notice her for a moment, frozen in place for a heartbeat, then evidently decide she's not worth their attention and go back to chasing each other back and forth across the floor.

"Is Jack here somewhere?" she yells over the noise, leaping back as Romeo trips over Mush's foot and goes sprawling in front of the stairs. Les runs straight into his legs and ends up landing on top of him, and Race screeches to a halt just behind the pileup, barely managing to stay on his feet.

"Upstairs," Davey and Crutchie call in unison from a table in the corner. Crutchie is watching the fray with a bemused smile on his face, and Davey has his nose buried in a book and hasn't even bothered to look up.

"Smart bastard," Specs growls from the couch, his fingers ever so subtly stuffed in his ears. Albert aims a kick at his knee, and he swears loudly and kicks him back without removing his hands.

Katherine steps daintily over Romeo, holding her skirt up so it doesn't drag across him, and starts to make her way up the stairs. "Thanks, boys," she says, even though she's not sure what for. "I'll be down in a bit."

"Why don't you stay down and play with us now?" Les asks, propped up on one elbow, his face arranged in the saddest, most pleading expression in his arsenal.

"Yeah," Romeo says, still laying flat on his back. "We're your friends too, not just Jack. You should hang out with us."

Katherine sits down a few steps up from the bottom and extends her hand to Romeo, helping him into a sitting position. "Of course you're my friends too. Don't ever doubt that. Jack's just–"

"More than a friend," Smalls says in a sing-song voice. She makes a face at Katherine and then darts away, followed closely by Sniper. Katherine doesn't know which would shut them up faster — to agree with or refute this statement. She figures it will be better to let them get bored with the topic on their own, and starts to climb again.

"More than friends?" Romeo says skeptically, raising his eyebrow. She stops halfway up the stairs, sighing. "I thought friends was the best you could get. Like us–" he gestures to the other newsboys, most of whom are either tugging at each others hair or engaged in halfhearted fistfights. "We're already closer than family. What the hell is more than friends?"

"It means sleepin' together," Race smirks, and Katherine goes violently red.

"Race! It most certainly does not–" she says indignantly, even as Crutchie yells from the corner, "Don't act like friendship ain't important, Race!" Race raises his hands defensively, though who he's surrendering to, she's not entirely sure. She might hit him anyway.

"Alright! Who took it?" Albert bellows suddenly. Reappearing from behind the couch, Smalls thrusts her hand above her head. There is single coin clutched between her fingers, and the boys take off after her immediately. In the chaos that follows, Specs loses his glasses, Davey's book is snatched out from under his nose by Bunsen, Elmer knocks over a candle and spends the next thirty seconds frantically trying to extinguish the flames lapping at his sleeve, and Katherine slips upstairs.

"What the hell is going on down there?" she demands in a high voice, leaning against the door to the boys' room that she slammed behind her. The room's only other current occupant is slumped in a chair in the corner, a rough pencil sketch resting on the windowsill in front of him. She meets his eyes briefly before he looks away and immediately feels sorry for him. He looks exhausted.

Jack's muffled voice emits from beneath his hands, where his face is now buried. "I literally got no clue. They've been like this all week. This is worse than the time they went around stealin' the pigs to try to improve the headlines."

"Excuse me?"

He shakes his head, clearly not willing to elaborate on that one. "They've gone nuts. Maybe it's somethin' in the water."

"And I thought it was crazy at work today," Katherine says. "I came here to get away."

Jack snorts, shaking his head. "You clearly came to the wrong place. I'm coming home with you."

She laughs weakly. "I don't think so; not tonight. I'm pretty sure Race is just waiting for that so he can start making even worse jokes."

"Damn." Jack scowls. "Did he say something– I'll kill him. And then come hide at your place."

"They sure are in in rare form today," she admits, ruffling his hair soothingly. "Making lewd comments, tripping each other, punching, stealing . . ."

"And," Jack says, shoving his half-finished drawing even further to the side and standing up like this is the last straw, "somebody stole my new colored pencils."

"Uh-oh," Katherine smirks, moving out of his way as he strides purposefully toward the door. "Now they're in for it."

"Alright. Alright." Jack's voice isn't that loud, but somehow it carries above the chaos. In only a few seconds, the boys quiet, eyeing him uncertainly. "What do you idiots think you're doin' here, exactly?"

Bunsen puffs himself up importantly, raising an eyebrow. "Well, what does it look like we're doin', Jack?"

"Tryin' to scare Ace away? Tryin' to scare me away? Let me tell you, it's working damn well."

"Don't be an idiot," Romeo scoffs. "It ain't exactly hard to figure out. We're misbehaving."

Jack rolls his eyes at Katherine. "Huh?"

"Mis-be-ha-ving. That's a Davey word. Means bein' bad."

Davey shakes his head, coughing an annoyed snort from his spot well removed from the drama. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear."

Just when Jack looks like he's about to start tearing his hair out in frustration, Les steps forward. "You look confused, Jack."

"I'm very confused. Are you tryin' to get us kicked out of the lodging house? Elmer, the rug's on fire."

Elmer hurriedly stomps out the flames, but Les just rolls his eyes. "Come on, Jack! We're tryin' to save all of you!"

"And how would that be, exactly?" Katherine asks.

He eyes her patronizingly, hands on his hips, and she sees Davey knock his head against the table in the background. "Haven't you ever heard of Santa Claus?"

This is probably going to be two or three chapters, so more to follow. Remember, reviews are confidence boosters! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think! And if you see any mistakes, please let me know and I will fix them immediately!

PS Sorry if the middle bit seems a tad rushed - I was struggling a little transition-wise.

Much love,
KnightNight