(Author's Note: So I had a couple of people request a story about Jack coming back from war and seeing the Newsies for the first time, so to all of you who asked for it, here you go! If you want to take this in context, it fits right after chapter 19 of Wherever You Go.

Standard disclaimers apply. I own nothing but my own imagination.)

Jack peered in the lodging house window. It was early, so no one was awake quite yet, but they would be soon. He chuckled to himself as he closed the door quietly behind him and sprawled out on the couch that was even more broken down than he remembered.

In fact, there was a lot about the little foyer that had changed since Jack had left. They now had several mismatched rugs and carpet scraps covering most of what used to be a very cold, hard floor, and someone-one of the younger boys probably-had taken the time to tack up a few drawings that had been carefully etched onto scraps of paper. This made Jack smile, and he hoped to find out who the aspiring artist was.

He sat, just thinking and taking in his old home for some time, but it wasn't long before he heard the rumblings and shouts of awakening Newsies.

"Hey, everybody up!" A voice echoed through the house; Jack could only assume that was Race. As the oldest of the Newsies, he'd stepped up to be the ringleader of the boys in Jack's absence. The first one down the stairs though, was Les. (Jack was surprised, because he knew for a fact that Mrs. Jacobs only let Les stay at the lodging house for special occasions.) The boy gawked at him for a solid minute, before yelling to the rest of the building,

"He's back!"

Almost instantly, a tsunami of boys in varying states of dress and awareness rushed down into the foyer, as if they had all simultaneously dropped whatever they were doing and bolted for the stairs at Les's shout. There were several younger boys that Jack didn't recognize, but Race, Specs, Jojo, and Mush led the pack, along with the rest of the usual crew, save for Davey, who was still off at school. They all rushed at him at once-even the ones he didn't know-all talking at the same time and pushing to get closer to the front of the group.

"Hey, hey!" Jack called out, quieting the newsboys, "One at a time, okay? It ain't like the governor's here to see ya or anything," he scoffed at their over enthusiastic greeting.

"But you's home Jack, we missed you," Romeo mewed, and Jack noticed that even though he most definitely older, the youngest of his original gang of Newsies still looked like a little boy in Jack's eyes when he said that.

"I missed you too kid," Jack chuckled, affectionately knocking Romeo's cap over his eyes. He could hardly believe that he was back with his boys. In fact, he was so wrapped up in catching up with them, that it took him nearly 15 minutes to realize which boy was absent from the group.

Crutchie was nowhere to be found. Jack looked around, puzzled at the apparent lack of his brother.

"Hold on," he said, pushing his way through the group of boys, "Where's Crutchie?" He was several years younger than Jack, so he wouldn't have moved out of the lodging house yet. The Newsies glanced around the room, and Jack started to get restless, pacing to the front to the room again. "He is here, ain't he?"

"I dunno, he was here when I woke him up this morning," Race offered. Without hesitation, Jack headed up the stairs to look for his best friend; he knew exactly where he'd find Crutchie. He opened the door to the room the two of them used to stay in, knowing his brother wouldn't have the heart to leave it, even after Jack had moved out, and he was right. Crutchie locked eyes with him the minute he came into the room, looking as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Weren't you gonna at least come say hi?" Jack asked, leaning in the doorway uneasily. He wasn't upset exactly, just a little hurt that his best friend hadn't come to see him after ten long months of being away.

"I was gonna, really I was, but I got... scared I guess. I jus thought-well-I didn't want ya to be hurt or nothing."

"Ya don't have to worry about me, kid," Jack chuckled, and Crutchie limped towards him as quickly as he was able to and hugged him. The pressure on his broken ribs was excruciating, but he would never tell Crutchie that.

When he finally let go, Crutchie gasped suddenly and cried,

"Oh! Jack, I gots something to show you!" He spent a few minutes digging around under his bed until he found what he wanted, and shoved it into Jack's hands. It was the sketchbook he'd given Crutchie the day he left.

"Crutchie, what is-"

"Just open it Jackie." So he did. He flipped through the sketchbook quickly, until he reached the very last page. Crutchie had stuck in several loose pages that were covered top to bottom in words and very rough sketches.

"I wanted you to be able to see all the stuff you missed when you was gone, so I tried to draw it like you do. They wasn't very good, so I had to write about 'em too, but-"

This time is was Jack that pulled Crutchie into a tight hug.

"I love it," he whispered. "Thank you"

(Thanks so much for reading, and please review! I hope it lived up to your expectations.

Much love,
PrettyLittleMonster Xxx)