A/N: Hello, all! I know I said I wasn't going to update this story for a bit, but I got two wonderful reviews that motivated me to post it…plus I have no motivation to write "Merlin and Lady Alliana" right now. I will work on it…I just can't bring myself to do it right now. ;) I finally get to get Kathrine involved in this story….when I pretty much had decided she wasn't going to be in it earlier, which is exciting….and I get to try my hand at writing Pulitzer and Snyder in these next few chapters…and maybe Spot. Feel free to let me know if I make them too OOC!

Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to biankies and FansieFace, who are my two most frequent reviewers on this story…thanks so much, you guys! Your feedback makes me excited to write the next chapter, and I always look forward to reading what you have to say! I hope you like this chapter!

Responding to reviews:

Biankies: No problem-and thanks for all of your kind words! I was really nervous about what I was going to do with the "sue the Newsies" bit since I just kind of added it at the end…but I'm glad you liked it! I hope Jack's plan works too-otherwise the Comstocks are going to have some very nasty bruises.

FansieFace: Yay-it's not a cliffhanger! I'll have to go back and reread the ending of those two to remember the difference between them…but yay! I hope this update is fast enough for you! Haha…Hulu is watching us! ;)

Enjoy The Newsie Girl-Chapter 7!

Katherine sat on the edge of her bed, thinking. She hadn't seen Jack much lately, but it was for a good reason-there had been an outbreak of colds and general sickness at the Lodging House, and Jack didn't want her coming around for fear of her getting sick as well. He was splitting his time between selling papers and looking after the sick newsies. She sighed. She knew he had a job to do, and she loved him for it, but she really wanted to see him again. A girl could only go so long without seeing her boyfriend, after all.

Almost as if he had read her mind, a knock sounded on her window, and she turned to see Jack sitting on her windowsill waving at her. She waved back and rushed to open the window. He quickly clambered in, shutting the window behind him. Once he did so, Katherine embraced him tightly. "It's good to see you again, Jack. Are the newsies feeling better?" Before he responded, Jack bent down and kissed her for a few seconds. Then, he grinned. "Yeah, most'a 'em are feelin' better-but Henry's still sick. An' you know how terrible of a patient he can git when he's sick." Kathrine chuckled, knowing exactly what Jack meant. She had been there the last time Henry had gotten sick…which had been…interesting, to say the least. She looked back up at her boyfriend as he sighed. His face had gotten longer and sadder very quickly, and Katherine was confused. What had happened while she was gone?

"What is it, Jack? What's happened? Is it…is my father giving you trouble again?" Jack sighed again, rubbing his hand across his face. "He might be, iffn' he agrees to help out the Comstocks."

"The Comstocks? Who are they?"

"These rich prigs who came around in the last six months or so. Their daughter is one of us, an'…let's just say her parents don't like it. They's threatenin' ta sue 'less we give Juliet back to them…which ain't gonna happen. They's also threatenin' to get Warden Snyder an' your father involved in the suing, an' apparently theys open to helping." Katherine sighed, sitting back down on her bed. She had really thought that the relationship between her father and the newsies was getting a bit better…but apparently not, if he was willing to help someone sue them. "How old is she? The daughter?" she asked.

"She's only twelve-an' she spent 6 years a that livin' unda a bridge over on 6th. Her little brother's fine, but her parents…if I didn't have ta set a good example for everyone I'da slugged 'em right then and there. They's horrible, Katherine, and there ain't no way in hell we's giving her up ta them. Ain't no way." Jack declared. Katherine nodded, took a deep breath, and looked up sharply. "You know me, Jack-I'll do anything to help you all. What do you need from me?" Jack inwardly grinned. This was why he loved Katherine-she was always there for her friends, and even for people she didn't know yet but her friends trusted. "I need you ta talk ta your father iffn' he eva brings the suing up…try and git him to change his mind. If Juliet goes back ta her parents…I don't wanna think about the result. If ya could just talk to him, try to make 'em see sense…that would be mighty helpful." Katherine nodded, and grinned at him, trying to encourage him. "I can certainly do that. I'll make sure he doesn't get involved with this suit." Then, she looked shyly at him. "Do you think I could meet Juliet at some point? I've never really met a girl newsie-I know Smalls, but besides her, I've never heard of or met any. Or is Henry too sick for me to visit?"

Jack chuckled. "Naw, Henry's just about back to normal, he's just snifflin' now. Ya can come on over-I'm sure the guys would love ta see ya again, and not just my ugly mug." Katherine grinned. "All right-I'll come over in the next couple days. You should probably get back to them, though…if I know my father, he'll be coming up soon to check on me, and I don't think he'd be wanting to see you and I together…in my bedroom…alone…at night…." Jack smiled back at her. "All right, I git it-Race's probably burned something down since I left." He laughed warmly, before kissing her again, and for longer. When they finally broke apart, Jack walked over to the window, wished her a good night, and exited. Katherine grinned, happy to have seen her boyfriend again-but then froze.

"My window's on the second story…and this house is made of brick…do I really want to know how he got up here…no-as long as Jack's all right, I don't need to think about it…but all the same…"

She stayed awake for a few hours after that, trying to figure out how Jack had made it up to her window without falling...

The next morning, the newsies were out selling again. Most of them were at their normal corners, but Jack had asked Sniper (who was back out selling, now that he wasn't sick) to switch corners with Juliet. The corner in question was nearer to the Refuge, but it also made it much easier for Jack, as well as Race, Davey, and Crutchie, to keep an eye on her-and an eye out for her parents. So far, no one had seen the Comstocks, which everyone was happy about. The papers were also selling well, which contributed to the newsies' good moods. "We might be able ta git sum new gear after today!" Specs called over to Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was on a nearby corner, and he smirked back at the bespectacled boy. "Like what-sum new glasses? Cause boy do ya need um!" They good-naturedly bantered for a bit longer, before Juliet heard something interesting. "Hush now, ya hear? I'ma tryin' ta hear somethin'!" They shut up, as she asked, and now all of them could hear it. Instead of calling out the headlines, as the other newsies were doing, Race was speaking them-but spitting them out so fast that it was a wonder anyone could understand him.

"Hey, we's the newsies, now come by an' buy a pape

Cause if you don' buy one now, it's gonna be too late.

Stocks are a'rising, crime is declined,

Guvenor Roosevelt's losing his mind.

A new baby elephant's born at the zoo,

An' the Giants is losin' a game or two.

Ya wanna know the scores, the people, the facts,

Come an' buy a pape, cause the newsies' where it's at."

"Wow…how did he come up with all dat?" Juliet asked the other boys, grinning.

"An' how'd he git it all outa his mouth?" Romeo queried. Specs chuckled quietly.

"I think I heard of dis…it's dis thing called 'rap'. Seems Race does it real well." he explained. The three newsies laughed, and then turned away and quietly giggled when Race turned to glare at them. After a while, they all took a break for lunch. Romeo and Specs were needling Race about his 'rap', to which the older boy would slap them upside the head. While they were teasing each other, Crutchie turned to Jack. "Hey…did ya talk to Katherine? Is she gonna help us?" Everyone turned to look at Jack. Jack grinned brightly at all of them before nodding.

"Of course she is, Crutchie. Ya know she cares 'bout all of us." At Juliet's confused look, he elaborated. "My girlfriend is the daughter of Pulitzer, the guy who owns the papes we sell. Your parents wanna git him ta help them sue us, so she's gonna try to talk him outa it." Juliet nodded in understanding.

For a while, the newsies sat there in peace, simply enjoying the day and their companions. Soon, however, the moment was shattered. A man walked down a nearby street whom the older newsies knew all too well.

"Warden Snyder, the scumbag…what's he doin' here?" Specs asked. No one had an answer for him, since no one knew. Snyder looked over at them and smiled nastily at them, before opening the door to the Refuge and walking inside. "Wat the hell is he doin'-the Refuge is closed, an' he's supposed ta be in jail!" Race said. Jack said nothing, simply resting a hand on Crutchie's shoulder. The younger boy had started to shake again. "You ain't never goin' back there again, Crutchie. I promise." he murmured. Crutchie relaxed a bit, and nodded. As they watched, Snyder came out of the Refuge, followed by-surprise-the Clancy brothers. "Of course those nitwits gotta be messed up in sumthin'." Juliet cursed. The Clancy brothers noticed Juliet and the other newsies, and headed straight for them. "Well, well, well-lookit who we got here! The orphans with no family, and a stupid girl who can't throw a punch ta save her life!" They both chuckled. Juliet growled at them. "Git outta here before I punch ya so hard you'll be seeing stars for a week. We don't want your company, so just bug off!"

"I wouldn't say such things, if I were you." Warden Snyder had followed the Clancy brothers, and was now standing behind them. "And why not?" Jack asked, slowly standing up and moving in front of Juliet. Warden Snyder sneered at him. "Because, kid, her parents and I have just agreed to sue you all. The courts are deciding right now who gets possession of her while the trial's going on-you, or her parents. If it's you, these fine gentlemen here are going to follow her everywhere she goes and make sure there's no mistreatment on your part. If it's her parents, which is far more likely, these two will be making sure she stays in a…safe place, and that she has no contact with all of you. Either way, if you mistreat these two-you'll most likely lose.

And with that, he walked off, the Clancy brothers following him with dark grins on their faces. Jack and the others looked at each other nervously. Then, Jack knelt down to face Juliet, who was visibly shaking and wringing her hands. "Hey, don't worry about dem. We's gonna fight dis, and you ain't never gonna have dem to worry about…we're gonna beat your parents, and yous gonna stay here with us. We will win." Juliet nodded, and gave him a hug, before slowly getting to her feet.

"I might not be da first ta say it, but…I hate my parents."

A/N 2: I don't think this is a cliffhanger…I'm pretty sure it's not, but…I don't know. Some people might take it as one, but I tried not to write one… ;) Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter! I apologize if the second part (with the newsies) is a bit weird…I really had no idea where I was going to go with it, but I needed to get Snyder and the Refuge involved, so…hopefully that whole section made sense.

Also, the whole "Race does rap" thing is a tribute to Ryan Breslin, who originated the role of Race with the original Broadway cast…I wanted to put it in there at some point, since I love all the original newsies (the new ones as well, but definitely the originals), and I wanted to honor them in some way…and Race's made the most sense! I could totally see him walking down the streets of New York rapping the headlines…haha...

I also did some research (Me? Research?) for his rap…in 1899, there was a baseball team called the "New York Giants"…and the Bronx Zoo was just opening in December…I'm not sure of the timeline of this story, but I'm going to say that the baby elephant was born before the zoo opened, and the reporters just wrote about it.

Well, that's all for now…I should be posting some new chapters soon, so keep an eye out…and hopefully I'll figure out what to do going on from here!

God bless,

1monster2