Author's Note: Here's Chapter 4 as promised! There are two parts to this, which I will most likely post tomorrow if I have the time. This two-parter is mainly fluff with a bit of angst, so I hope you enjoy it! Trust me, you'll be in for a bumpy ride.

-Hayley

"What is this?" came the oh-so-familiar voice of Joseph Pulitzer as Katherine ended up back at The World. "A modern-day David is poised to take on the rich and powerful Goliath. With the swagger of one twice his age, armed with nothing more than a few nuggets of truth, Jack Kelly stands ready to face the behemoth Pulitzer." Pulitzer's quote in reference to her report created a small, proud look on her face as she continued to have her head faced down.

"It doesn't matter," she said softly, a sudden wave of courage pounding in her chest as she looked up at him slightly. "You had me blacklisted from every news desk in town," she murmured bitterly before stopping herself from going any further, as she wasn't sure how her own father was going to react.

"You know, I was rather proud of you," he responded as he paced the room, keeping a firm eye on Katherine who once again had her eyes locked to the ground. "You could've had a life of wealth and leisure without working a day in your life, Sweetheart." The way he had spoke brought goosebumps down her arms. "But yet, here you are. Writing a report-" he paused, slamming the report on the table, "-against me."

Feeling every emotion inside of her, she wanted so desperately to let it out. To tell her own father that it wasn't just about the strike, but that it was about the discrimination against every person, dead or alive. But God, she didn't want to know what was going to happen to her if she tried to speak up against her father, so here she was. Keeping every feeling inside her body tense as her heart raced and her mind thought. Thought about the possibilities she was capable of, and she was sure as hell going to prove to her father that one day, she was going to make a difference.

"Father" she whispered calmly, nervously messing with her engagement ring as a natural habit of hers. "You have to call Snyder off. Jack's done nothing wrong," she said quite seriously as Pulitzer gave her an icy stare, making her cringe up slightly.

"That bastard isn't going anywhere. Snyder told me he's a thief. An escaped convict."

"Snyder hurt him so badly, he couldn't even go to the door!" she exclaimed, obviously pissed off.

As Pulitzer narrowed his eyes, he walked towards her, almost as if he was still a soldier fighting in a war. His steps were even and precise. Each step taken made Katherine feel slightly tenser. "If I ever find you try to help him, I'll make sure you end up in the same place as your mother. Got it?"

She nodded hesitantly as she genuinely had no clue what to do. She left the key. Whatever Jack had done with it, she knew it wasn't going to stop worrying her.

Hearing footsteps, Pulitzer immediately made her sit as he turned her chair around. There were no words to describe the emotions flooding through her veins as she obeyed, knowing she couldn't be the one to anger Pulitzer.

"The Delancey brothers," Pulitzer had started saying, a natural tendency to announce who it was just to infuriate Katherine even more, or so she thought. "And look who else: Jack Kelly." At those exact words, her face went pale as she got out of the chair, and faced them, a stern hand on the chair as she felt like falling.

The Delancey brothers had a death grip on Jack's arms. No matter how hard he struggled, the pain was too much. Noticing Katherine, his eyes went wide as he struggled harder, the already tight grip on his arms making him wince in pain as they became tighter.

"Found 'im near Crutchie," appeared the voice of Oscar Delancey, making the air around them all seem compacted as Katherine gave Jack a concerned look. "Woulda went ta Snyda but Kelly 'ere said he needed ta make a deal wit' ya." As this was said, they shoved Jack hard towards the ground as Katherine ran to him, her hands automatically on his cheeks as she looked for any sign of suffering in his eyes.

Shaking off any pain he previously had, he pressed his hands against the back of her neck as he gently leaned his forehead against hers. The sudden touch made Katherine loosen as she tried to help Jack breathe normally, telling him to focus on his breathing and nothing more.

"Nothing's going to get in the way of us," she had started, keeping her complete attention on Jack. "Not my father, not Morris, not anyone. And hey, no matter what happens, i'll be here backing you up, got it?"

With just a nod and no spoken answer from Jack, a grip on her shoulder made Katherine flinch as she slowly closed her eyes. She pressed a soft kiss to Jack's forehead before standing up and turning towards the familiar grip. And with that, she was kissed, not lovingly but harshly. Her blood boiled, knowing Morris wasn't doing this because he wanted to, but rather because he needed the attention from Jack. Her breathing was steady as she kissed him back more passionately than ever before, before shoving Morris back with as much strength as she could bear and punching him roughly around the face.

Out of complete shock, he stumbled back and held his now-broken nose. "Wow, Miss Pulitza," he chuckled, wiping the blood off with the back of his hand. "Ya made me bleed. And ya know 'ow much i's love ta bleed."

Pulitzer...the only thought in Jack's mind as he stood up and gave Katherine a glare. One that made her feel unbelievably heartbroken. As Katherine was about to stay something, Jack turned away from her and held out a hand, one that visibly brought her to feel complete distress.

As Morris smirked, knowing he'd still done his job well, Pulitzer dismissed them as he stood in front of Katherine, his eyes gleaming towards Jack. "Yes...my daughter. You might wonder, why the nom de plume? Why doesn't my daughter work for me?" The rhetorical questions caused both Katherine and Jack to stay silent.

"Jack, I didn't mean-" were the first words out of Katherine's mouth as she was soon cut off by Pulitzer.

"You had to have seen this coming," he spoke, each letter articulated in a meaningful statement.

"W-why didn't ya tell me?" he mouthed to Katherine as Pulitzer had gone back to his desk to read over the report. The closer Katherine walked to Jack, the further he walked away.

It was silent for a moment. The more she learned about Jack, the more she felt connected. Something was, and always had been, different around Jack. And now...now she felt it was over. Like the spark was just a one-time thing.

"And you wonder why you're engaged to someone I chose for you..." Pulitzer spoke, looking up slightly from the report. "Because I know what it feels like to have your heart broken."

As time felt like it stopped, words flooded her mind, yet she felt as if she couldn't speak. "Jack," she started, her voice growing softer as she struggled to find the words. This light. This feeling inside her. She finally knew what it was. She had since the very first kiss. "I love you."

The final words she had said hit jack like a knife right through the heart as had fallen harshly on his knees, groaning in pain Katherine was too late in catching him. Not knowing what to say or do, she had leaned him against the wall. As he let out a small cough, Katherine went as fast as her legs could possibly take her to go get water for Jack, coming back in a little under a minute. After doing so, she had made sure to keep two fingers pressed against his neck, keeping a careful track of his pulse. Making sure the water got down his sore throat, she had attempted to help him stand as she noticed him stumble, that making her grip tighter around him.

"Whoa, easy," she whispered, her voice surprisingly soft. No matter how scared she was, she couldn't let it get in the way of making sure he was all right. She had wrapped Jack's arm around her own neck to keep him steady as Jack had also made sure not to lean his entire body against Katherine, not caring how much it hurt.

Knowing they couldn't afford a hospital, Katherine had put a light pressure on his back. "Follow me," she mouthed. Pulitzer, being too distracted by work, didn't seem to notice them leave as Katherine took Jack to her apartment. Sitting Jack down, she went to the kitchen and grabbed Jack some water and food. Not knowing how much more she could take, Jack ignored the food and water for himself as he laid Katherine on the bed slowly, assuming that she needed him more than anything.