Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the repost of the prequel for this story. This is the new and hopefully better version of As Time Goes By. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies characters.
Spot Conlon carefully maneuvered his girlfriend's VW Bug into a parking Spot at the library. He'd borrowed the car to come and get some reading, but he was frankly surprised she'd let him anywhere near it. He'd just gotten his license and was incredibly amazed when she handed him the keys and told him to drop her off at work at the local Starbucks on his way.
As he browsed the library Spot came across a book about 1900 New York and a smile came to his face. The book had him thinking about everything that had occurred in the year since he and his friends had landed in Aria Autumn's backyard. When they arrived they had no idea what to expect from the world around them, but they slowly began to understand. Somehow along the way Spot had fallen in love. Issy was a tiny, fragile looking girl with big grey eyes, long black hair, and an enduring spirit that made him prouder than anyone knew.
Spot's other friends had also found someone in this time. Jack had Harmony, Aria and Mush had found each other, and Cassia and Racetrack were practically inseperable. The only one who was left alone was Cordelia. She and Davie had been getting close when he had decided to take his brother and go home while the others stayed behind. Cordy seemed to be over it, but the healing process had left her harder than before.
In the year since their miraculous appearance in 2006 the newsies' lives had changed dramatically. Besides their love lives, their reading and writing had improved in leaps and bounds, they had all gotten steady jobs and were sharing an apartment, and their accents had almost completely disappeared. Most recently Spot and the others had gotten their drivers' licenses. Spot spent a lot of time at the library learning about everything that had happened in the years between when he was born and where he was now.
Shaking himself out of his memories Spot picked up the book and added it to his small pile, heading towards the checkout desk. He stopped to browse at something on the new release display and cold hands covered his eyes.
"Guess who," a breathy voice asked.
"Whadya want Candy?" he asked rudely, his accent pushing forth along with the aggravation.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, her voice pouty now.
Spot turned and glared at her. "One, the three inch canary yellow fake nails; two, the cloud of perfume strong enough to keep an entire Broadway cast smelling for weeks; three, the fact that you're the only one who insists on constantly annoying me."
She frowned. "You're not being very nice."
"I don't have to be nice Candy, it doesn't seem to work with you. I told you over a year ago I wasn't interested. Get over it, move on."
"Can't blame a girl for trying," she said in what was certainly supposed to be a seductive tone as she ran a finger down his arm.
He pushed her off. "I can blame a girl for trying. I'll tell you one more time Candy, I don't want ya. Go away." The girl opened her mouth as if to say something then quickly closed it and stomped off in a cloud of embarrassment and cheap perfume.
Spot watched her walked away and shook his head. He picked up his books and heard a familiar laugh from behind him.
"That was quite a display on her part wasn't it?" Issy commented. Spot turned and flashed her one of his rare grins. "It's good to see you smile, you've been so serious lately."
She walked up to him and he kissed her soundly. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work all day."
She laughed. "It's a long story involving an exploding machine and a serious mess. They sent us all home and I had someone give me a ride over here. I'm glad they did, I wouldn't have wanted to miss her make an idiot out of herself."
"Yeah, nothing penetrates all that hairspray and bleach. She's impossible."
"Well I honestly can't blame her. If I weren't with you I'd be after you, you are pretty sexy," she said, looking at him from under long eyelashes.
Spot marveled at the change in her over the past year as he bent to kiss her again. "Stop, you'll make me blush," he joked. "Come on."
They checked out the pile of books and as soon as Spot turned on his cell outside the doors it rang.
"Where have y'all been?" came Aria's voice on the other side of the connection.
"I've been at the library and Issy was at work for a while, what's goin on?" Issy gave him a curious look and he shrugged.
"I can't really explain over the phone, just get here ok? It's important." Her voice sounded desperate.
"Ok, calm down we'll be there as soon as we can." He hung up and turned to Issy. "We've got to go to Aria's, she won't tell me what's up, just says we've got to get there."
"Okay let's go then." Spot tossed her the keys and they hurried to the car.
When they got to Aria's they found the driveway full of cars. It seemed everyone but Cordy was there. They got out of the car and Spot hit the door first. He opened it and started inside, then stopped in his tracks, Issy slammed into his back.
"What?" she questioned.
Spot shook his head and turned to see her rubbing her collarbone where she'd collided with him. "Ya ok?"
Issy could hear his accent filtering back in and knew something big was going on. "Yeah I'm fine." Spot nodded and stepped into the house.
There on the couch were Davie and Les, filthy and unconscious. The others were ranged around the room, watching the couch in concern, waiting for them to wake up.
"What happened?" Spot asked.
Aria shook her head. "We don't know, they've been out for an hour."
"We were having lunch on break from work and Ari needed to grab some papers from the house. I was getting a drink and they were just there, right where we landed last year," Mush told him.
Spot sat down in a chair and pulled Issy down into his lap. "What could have happened to them?" she asked.
"I don't know, but they don't look good do they?" Cassia asked.
Everyone nodded their agreement and for a long while they went silent. Finally Spot spoke. "Did anyone call Cordy?"
Harmony nodded. "She was having a hard time getting out of work. I didn't want to tell her why we wanted her to come so she didn't have a whole lot of incentive. She'll be here as soon as she can."
A tense silence fell back over the room until the door opened fifteen minutes later to reveal a fuming Cordelia.
"You had better have a damn good reason for this. I practically had to sell my soul to get off of work, I'll be working overtime for weeks. Now, pray tell, what exactly was so important that you had to…" She trailed off as her gaze fell on the couch. "I'm seeing things," she managed weakly.
"Fraid not," Jack told her.
"Well damn," she whispered moments before she fainted dead away. Thankfully Mush was close enough to catch her before she hit the hardwood. He laid her down on the floor gently and stepped back.
"Now we've got three people to wait on waking up," he said. "Anyone game to work on Cordy?"
Issy knelt down and shook her gently but it had no effect. "Harmony, do you have any of that smelly oil crap with you?" she asked.
Harmony's eyes narrowed at the reference. "I resent the phrasing, but yes."
Jack kissed her temple as she dug for the bottle. "I like your smelly oils," he told her.
She smiled at him as she handed to bottle to Issy. "Thank you."
Issy rolled her eyes and uncapped the bottle, waving it under Cordy's nose. The strong oil did the trick and it didn't take long before she was sitting up with a little help. Issy returned to Spot to give her some space.
Cordy turned to stare at Davie and Les and shook her head. "I must be dreaming," she voiced.
"Nah, you're not dreaming," Racetrack told her. "It's all real, we just don't know what happened."
Issy decided to try the oil on Davie and Les and everyone watched as the two boys slowly woke up. As soon as they were both upright Davie looked around the room and sighed. "Hi everyone."
A cacophony of questions and requests broke out. At last Jack whistled loudly to stop everyone.
"Okay, let's do this calmly. It'll make things easier. Davie what happened?"
Everyone looked at Davie and Les expectantly, waiting to hear what had happened. Davie took a deep shuddering breath and began. "Pop got hurt again about five months after we got back so Les and I have been selling papes again. We were coming home for the day when we saw that our building was on fire. The whole thing was engulfed in flames. By the time it was out it was too late. Mom, Pop, Sarah, they were all trapped inside. They're gone. We tried to get in but there wasn't anything left. This is the only place we could think to come. It was the only choice."
The last phrase echoed in everyone's minds, the same thing they'd said about going home. Everyone stood in stunned silence, the guys had all known Davie's family and the loss was devastating.
Jack walked from Harmony's side and fell into a chair, his amber eyes clouding. She couldn't help but feel a flash of jealousy at the pain in his eyes; she knew Sarah had been his first love and that they'd been together at one point. She quickly pushed the feeling away, immediately feeling horrible for being so disrespectful of the dead.
Davie couldn't cry anymore, he had moved beyond to numbness. He tried to catch Cordy's eyes but they were downcast and didn't move from the floor. As abruptly as it had come the sad quiet was broken as Les began to cry. Cassia rushed over to comfort him and for a long while the only sound in the room was his sobs. Feeling bad for moving on but trying to keep her head on straight Aria pulled Mush away from the group.
"I'm so sorry, I don't mean to be insensitive but we've got to figure this out," she said quietly.
"No you're right," he agreed.
"They can't stay here this time. My parents are home and they wouldn't understand. I know your apartment is already crowded but…"
Mush took her into his arms and held her as if she would float away at any moment. "They'll stay with us, we can make room." He kissed her fiercly and cradled her face between his hands. "I don't tell you often enough, I love you."
She smiled up at him. "I love you too."
They moved back to the group. "Davie and Les are staying with us," Mush announced, leaving no room for discussion. All anyone could do was nod.
Davie gathered Les in his arms and bundled him into Issy's car. She and Spot left the group to take Davie and Les to the apartment to clean up and everyone pretended not to notice when Jack chose to go with them rather than stay with Harmony. She gazed out the window as the Bug drove off and unwanted tears flooded to her eyes.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Race told her. "Jack was the closest of all of us to Davie's family. It's just a shock for him."
Harmony's gaze didn't waver. "We both know it's more than that Race. He loved her first, and that's something that never goes away."
"Just give him time Harm, I'm sure it'll be fine." Race told her but he wasn't sure he believed it himself.
"Maybe you're right. But I can't help but fear that I'm going to be pushed away by the memory of a dead woman.