As soon as the sun had cast its final shadows and the rain had settled into a light drizzle, Katherine, David and Race set out to make their trek to the Refuge. Katherine kept her arms wrapped firmly around herself as she focused on keeping in step with the two boys. Her earlier nerves hadn't dissipated in the slightest; if anything, they had elevated to a near unmanageable level. The slight chill from the rain was to blame in part, but the rest relied solely on the task at hand.

She knew that she had to do this for Jack, but she knew she wasn't ready to see what awaited them. All her father had ever told her in regards to the jail was that it was where the petty thieves and street urchins were sent to be a taught a lesson before their crimes would inevitably send them to prison one day. Instilling the idea within her that such hardened young criminals were locked up beyond those unkind doors always incentivized her to rush past the gate as quickly as she could whenever she passed by.

She may not have seen the inside of the refuge yet, but with the knowledge that someone as brave and kind as Jack and someone as innocent and sweet as Crutchie were among the delinquents her father had made the inmates at the refuge out to be made Katherine feel sick to her stomach. If any of the other boys trapped within its walls were in any way similar, the refuge was the most despicable and unjust building in the entire city.

It wasn't long before the trio found themselves standing in front of the large rusted gates of the jail. For the first time in her entire life, Katherine was now gazing upon the dull grey building no longer filled with fear, but with sorrow. She couldn't contain an involuntary shiver as her eyes scanned over the securely barred windows that in every way resembled an actual prison. After what she had witnessed happening to Jack that morning, she shuddered to think of the additional horrors that took place behind those dimly lit windows.

"How are we supposed to get past the gates? They're locked up tight," David inquired as he prodded at the chains for added measure.

"You thought it was going to be that easy? That we was just gonna waltz in through the main gate like we're the governor of New York? Please, Davy, let the professionals show ya how it's done," Race chuckled as he gestured for them to follow.

Katherine and David followed the newsie's lead as he lead them past the gate and around the side of the building where there was now only a large brick wall that was denying them entrance. It was difficult to see that the wall that surrounded the jail was even made from brick as vines had covered the surface and had become increasingly overgrown and unmaintained.

"How are we supposed to get over the wall? I don't think any one of us will be able to climb up and I for one certainly wouldn't trust these vines," Katherine remarked as she tested the stability of the plant. The vine snapped easily in her hand as she glanced at Race as if to ask, 'what do you propose?'

"Plan was never to go over the wall," Race responded simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "Stand aside."

Katherine obliged as Race placed his cigar between his teeth and knelt down on to his hands and knees. David and Katherine stood behind him watching with confusion as they observed him counting the bricks down from the top and then from the side.

"Yeah, it's gotta be this one I think...yep, that's the one."

With a slight bit of a pressure, Race had pushed on one of the large bricks, creating a large enough space that they would all be able to squeeze through with little to no trouble.

"How on earth did you know about this?" Katherine questioned in awe as she studied the hole that had been created.

"If you can believe it, Snyder used to allow a couple of the kids to come out and work in the garden. As you can see, that job don't exist no more," Race explained as he gestured at the dried out vines. "Few years back, one of the boys on garden detail over a period of time managed to loosen up this here brick. Took some doin' and definitely wasn't an easy task to not get caught under the guards watchful eyes, but he managed to do it eventually as you can see."

"It's a wonder how he wasn't caught. This couldn't have been simple and would have taken a fair amount of time," David remarked as he examined the wall and how the brick had been chiseled away from the concrete. "If he wasn't caught, then why was the garden work taken away?"

"Because the boy in question managed to eventually use this as a way to escape," Race supplied with a smirk.

It was as if a light bulb went off above David's head as it all began to click.

"Jack."

Race nodded his head in response.

"Yep, Jack spent months planning this escape and when he finally managed to do it, Snyder put two and two together and realized that from all the time Jack spent outside, that he had come up with a way to escape, he just never figured out how he did it. From then on he decided to take no chances and now the prisoners never get to leave the building."

David and Katherine took a minute to digest the information for a moment as Race began to shuffle onto his stomach.

"Shall we?" He called over his shoulder as he pushed through the mud and slid through the hole, disappearing from view.

"After you?" David offered to Katherine as he gestured towards the wall with his hand.

Katherine eyed the mud wearily and sighed with a slight smile.

"Ever the gentleman," She laughed lightly as she mirrored Race's position and pushed herself into the mud and through the clearing.

As soon as she made it under, Race was already on his feet and offering a hand to help her up, which she gratefully took. As soon as she was steady on her feet, she glanced down at her dress and laughed.

"How am I ever supposed to explain this when I get home?" Katherine asked as Race had regarded her laughter with a curious glance.

"Pretty sure makin' mud pies wouldn't be on the approved excuse list?" Race joked.

Katherine scrunched up her nose and shook her head with a laugh.

"Pretty sure tripping over a rock and falling into the mud would be a much more accepted excuse," David called from underneath the wall as he made his way through.

Both Katherine and Race offered a hand to help the assistant strike leader up and onto his feet.

"How does this terrible place manage to look even worse up close?" Katherine inquired rhetorically as she gazed up at the tall building that stood ominously before them.

Just being in close proximity of the jail was causing a chill to run through her. The energy that the structure emitted was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The only words she could use to describe the sensation were: cold, hollow and hopeless.

"Over here," Race called out, pulling Katherine from her thoughts as he lead them over to the side of the building where a ladder laid waiting.

"Good to know they have a fire escape," Katherine scoffed. "Not like they could escape a fire if there was one. Not with all the bars on the windows."

"You can blame Jack for those, too," Race laughed as he began to climb.

Katherine was stunned by the response. She couldn't help but to inquire why Snyder went to such great lengths all due to the actions of one boy: taking away the garden work, spending the city money to have bars placed on the windows, not to mention his obsession with making sure that Jack would remain locked up. These were questions that she was certain had answers, but she would have to get to the bottom of it later.

She sighed and piled her dress up in one hand as she placed a hand on each side of the ladder and ascended behind the two boys who had already made their way up to the landing.

As soon as she made it up to the final rung, David extended his hand down to her like the gentleman he was and helped pull her the remainder of the way up.

"Be thankful you both don't have to climb in a dress," Katherine pouted lightly, straightening out the bottom of her dress. Appearances didn't matter very much at this point, but old habits died hard.

"Well, if we were caught, that would make for a thrilling discovery if we did," Race joked in response as he began to check inside the windows of the various rooms.

"Out of curiosity, Race, how is it you know about all of this?" David asked as they followed behind Race as he investigated. "You haven't been to the refuge before have you?"

Race turned away from the windows at the question and shook his head.

"Nah, I ain't never been. Almost-but, nah. Even though he don't like to talk about it much, Jack was the one who showed me all of this and told me how he did it. I think the only reason he told me was just so's I could sneak up here to see him whenever Snyder did manage to catch him. That makes this the only bit of the refuge I've ever seen and that's just one of the many things I can never repay Jack for."

"What do you mean?" David asked softly as he observed the sadness that had become clear in Race's eyes as well as the heaviness of his last statement.

"It ain't no mystery that Jack is the only reason most of us is still alive," Race began, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "A few years back when Crutchie and I got real sick, Jack had stolen food and clothes to help keep us warm and fed through the winter so's we could get better and thanks to him we did, but it also lead to Snyder catchin' him. He was gone for so long that time and it was probably because chiselin' away at that wall took him so damn long."

Race fidgeted with the cigar in his hands as he took a pause before continuing the story.

"You'd think I had enough guilt over the fact that it was my fault that Jack was caught once, but lucky me, I get the honor of bein' the person who got Jack locked up not only once, but twice."

"Jack, I told ya I had it under control!"

Jack wore an uncharacteristically stern expression as he pulled a non-compliant Racetrack out of the club where he had spent the afternoon drinking beer and playing poker with men that were twice his age, size, and skill level.

"Ya sure did, that guy that was about to bust your head must have just been doin' so in my imagination, is that right?"

Jack had successfully managed to get Race down the street and around the corner before he wrenched his arm from Jack's firm grip and glared up at his leader with a defiant and determined gaze.

"He had no proof that I was cheatin'! He just kept yammerin' on at how I was but I'm tellin' ya there ain't no way he could have known!"

Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm down. After a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes and dropped both of his hands onto Race's shoulders, sighing heavily.

"Well, he clearly knew you were cheatin', Racer. Whether or not he had proof is besides the point. What did you plan to do if Specs hadn't told me where you were and I didn't manage to get there in time to stop that guy from tearin' you apart, huh?"

Race felt his anger build at Jack's insinuations that he couldn't handle himself without his 'big brother' there to bail him out.

"I don't always need you to come fight my battles, Kelly. I can take care of myself!"

"If this is what takin' care of yourself looks like, I ain't convinced. You shouldn't have been in that club in the first place. You're fourteen and not anywhere near the legal age to be drinkin'. What if someone had decided to call the cops on ya?"

"Oh c'mon, Kelly. It was only a little bit and they wouldn't have called-"

"They could and would have," Jack cut him off, before Race could get a word in edge wise. "I can't have you go to the refuge, Race. You know that."

"Why not just let me go if I'm so much trouble to you, huh? Wouldn't it be so much better to not have to look out for me all the time? It's obvious that's all you think I am to you. A kid brother who needs a baby sitter, so why not just let 'em lock me up? That way you don't have to look after me no more."

Jack's whole demeanor changed at that. Race felt a little guilty for even talking about the refuge at all as he knew it was a sore spot with Jack, but he was just so angry and he couldn't seem to stop his mouth before the words came tumbling out.

"You don't know what you're talkin' about, Racer," Jack growled as he poked Race in the chest for emphasis. "Do you think this is some kind of joke? You think you're some kind of big shot that can handle the refuge? You know what? You wanna go spend some time in jail, be my guest. I'm sure Snyder would love the opportunity to beat that idea right outta you and don't think he won't. The spider don't take kindly to fourteen year old kids who think they got somethin' to prove."

Race found himself at a loss for words as Jack bit his lip to keep his anger at bay. The fire he saw in Jack's eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen before. He may have only had a couple of drinks, but he found himself stumbling slightly to keep his footing and his gaze on Jack.

"Look at you, you're even havin' trouble keepin' balance," Jack remarked with a disappointed shake of his head. "I think it's time we got you home."

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. Best that you get home, though," Race responded coldly. "It ain't me that's got a target on my back the size of New Mexico."

Jack scoffed and crossed his arms. "I'll let that one slide because I know that alcohol ain't doin' you no favors in this argument. We'll talk about this later once you've had some time to sober up, Race."

Once the statement had been made, Jack turned away from Race and began to head back in the direction of the lodging house leaving the young newsie on the street corner alone.

Race couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as he watched Jack walk away. Somewhere in his muddled brain he knew Jack was right, but he wouldn't dare admit it. It was no mystery that he looked up to the sixteen year old Manhattan leader, so seeing that disappointed look in his eyes had crushed him. Jack had made him feel like some kind of petulant child who couldn't even tie their shoes without parental supervision and it irked him to no end. All he wanted to do was prove to Jack that he was equally as capable.

He began to walk off in the opposite direction from Jack with no destination in mind. He figured he needed to walk off some of the alcohol before he went back to the lodging house to face yet another demeaning lecture. The more he thought about it; however, the more he began to reflect on what Jack had been saying. He felt a sourness in his stomach when he began to realize that he was going to owe Jack a huge apology for his poor choice of words, but he wouldn't apologize for anything else he decided and that was that.

"There he is, officers. That's the kid that came into the club and tried to hustle our money."

Race pulled his gaze up from the ground and realized he knew that voice. He turned around and saw the guy he had been hustling earlier pointing directly at him with two police officers standing at his side. He heard Jack's earlier words about the cops being called unhelpfully echoing back at him as he watched the two cops begin to stride towards him and the man from the club walking back to his game with a satisfied, yet vicious grin on his face.

It took no time for the officers to reach him and that's when he realized that he had been frozen to the spot. He had wasted his chance of escape and that could only mean one thing; they were going to take him off to the refuge.

"Please, I didn't do nothin'," Race stammered uselessly as the cops regarded him with looks of amusement and disgust.

"Nice try, kid, but the evidence on you is pretty cut and dry. You've been identified by a witness, not to mention, we can smell the alcohol on you," One of the officers declared as he wrinkled his nose at Race.

"I-I didn't do nothin, I swear," Race repeated still knowing there was no way out of this. He instantly regretted partaking in the alcohol that the man had kept offering him during the game. His usual swagger and smart talking were no where to be found at a time where he needed them most.

Both of the men sneered at Race's declaration even though every sign pointed towards guilty. He might have talked a big game with Jack but he knew he wouldn't do well in the refuge. If Jack was scared of the place, there was no denying that he would be downright petrified. He found his eyes beginning to water with tears as his fate was clearly sealed.

"The law is clear. You were caught hustling money and drinking alcohol underage, so there's no way around it, kid. We're taking you to the refuge where Warden Snyder will come up with the appropriate sentence for you," The second officer stated as he started to reach for the handcuffs that had been hanging from his belt.

Race backed away a few steps before he felt himself bump into something. He turned around to identify exactly what he had just backed into to find out it wasn't a something, it was a someone.

"Good afternoon, boys."

Race stared up wide eyed as Jack greeted the officers with a calm and cool nonchalance as if they were all about to go enjoy a nice Sunday brunch together.

The officers narrowed their eyes as they began to pinpoint who the boy was that had just arrived on the scene. It didn't take long for the look of recognition to settle on the first officer's face as he regarded Jack.

"As I live and breathe, Jack Kelly. Snyder's runaway if I'm not mistaken," The officer breathed out in a chuckle as if he couldn't believe his luck. "We've been looking for you for sometime, boy and alas, here you are."

"No offense fellas, but I can't really give ya the credit for findin' me seein' as how I showed up here of my own doin' and found you first," Jack laughed as the officer's face darkened at his snarkiness. "See, I stopped by to see what all the trouble seems to be over here as it appears that you're harassin' some poor kid for no good reason."

The officer let out a scoff at the statement as he glared at Jack.

"Oh we have good reason. This boy here was caught red handed hustling money and drinking underage. He's got a ticket straight to the refuge and I'm sure you'll find it to be no surprise that you'll be joining him as well."

Jack put his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"Nope. No surprise at all to me, officer. You've just got somethin' wrong, though."

"That so?" The officer entertained with a smirk. "And what pray tell might that be?"

"He ain't joinin' me. You'll be takin' me and that's it."

"Jack, what are you doing?" Race asked in alarm. "You can't-"

Jack's glance caused him to trail off immediately. The look in his eyes was clearly telling him to stay out of it but even as frightened as he was, he couldn't allow Jack to go in his place.

"Jack, I'm the one who-"

"The one who was hustlin' money for me, yeah, I know. It also wasn't very smart takin' a sip of my alcohol, now was it? Do you realize how much trouble that could've gotten ya into? It was stupid of me to ask ya to hustle, shoulda just done it myself...but even though I threatened ya to do it, ya still held up your end. Ya got guts kid, but be that as it may, I wouldn't sleep right knowin' I let ya pay for my mistake."

Race stared at the older newsie in shock. He couldn't believe how Jack had twisted the story around with such ease that Race nearly forgot that none of it was true.

"But Jack, I-"

"I thank you for what ya done, kid but you best be headin' on home."

"We can't just let the kid go, can we?" The second officer inquired, turning to his partner for assistance. "I mean, the kid was breaking the law."

The first officer shrugged. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Jack since he had shown up, most likely fearing that if he did, Jack would take off and he would lose his payday for bringing him back to Snyder.

"Leave him. We've got something better. I get that you're new on the job, but the reward for returning Kelly to Snyder is worth double our days salary. Plus, you heard the boy, he forced this kid to do his dirty work for him, so I say we take what we came for and get going."

The second officer nodded in agreement and fumbled around again for the cuffs on his belt before the first officer stopped him.

"I got this, rookie. It would give me no greater pleasure than to cuff this little convict myself," He stated as he reached for his own cuffs and approached Jack. "Can't wait to see what Snyder has in store for you, boy. Plenty sure he's had a fair amount of time to come up with a proper punishment for you."

The officer grabbed one of Jack's wrists and wrenched it behind his back as he spoke, clicking the cuff tightly into place before doing the same to the other. Jack couldn't help but flinch as the cuffs were fastened tightly around his wrists, but that didn't appear to bother him as much as the fact that he couldn't hide the small tremor of fear that shot through him at the mention of Snyder.

Race saw that tiny glimmer of fear before Jack managed to hide it behind his famous smirk.

"Oh, I'm sure he's cooked up somethin' real nice for me, I'll bet. Can hardly wait," Jack replied sarcastically as the officer grabbed him by the arm.

The second officer mirrored him by grabbing Jack's other arm and together they took Jack away leaving Racetrack alone. Tears filled his eyes as he watched Jack be dragged away for something that was entirely his fault. There was no way that he was ever going to be able to repay Jack for this and that was a realization that sobered him up instantly.

"Ain't touched a drop of alcohol since that day," Race explained as he glanced between both David and Katherine's expressions of shock. "I don't know what I would've done if Jack hadn't tricked me into thinkin' he was going back to the lodging house without me. He hung back just to make sure I'd stay out of trouble and as it turns out, I found myself in the most trouble I'd ever been in my whole life. Jack always tells me that there's nothin' to forgive and that he'd do it again to keep me away from the likes of Snyder, but that don't mean I forgive myself. I was young and stupid thinkin' I was invincible and because of my mistake, Jack had to pay for it. So I made it my mission that day to repay Jack in whatever way I could, even if it's somethin' as small as comin' to visit him when he's here."

Race took a pause to chew at his cigar nervously before he continued.

"It ain't no secret that Jack is terrified of the refuge and Snyder more specifically...but I think what scares him most is the idea of anyone he cares about bein' taken in his place. He'll sooner give himself up than allow someone to go for him and I think that's why he took Crutchie bein' arrested so hard. I think the fear got to him and for the first time he found some sense and got away. The guilt got to him so bad that at the first chance of makin' things right, he took it as you can tell from experience," Race explained as he gestured at Katherine who nodded sadly in response. "After Jack bein' taken last time, I can't stand the idea of him bein' in here again, so this time I gotta find a way to get him and Crutchie out. I can't just sit around and hope he finds another way to escape, there's no tellin' if or when he'll find a way."

"And we'll help," Katherine affirmed, taking one of Race's hands gently in her own. "Won't we, Davey?"

David who had been silently digesting everything he was just told nodded in confirmation.

Race smiled back at them in appreciation, before sticking his cigar back into the corner of his mouth with his free hand.

"Let's go see our friends, shall we?"

Katherine smiled lightly and nodded as she released her grip on Race's other hand. Her emotions were running even higher after Race's story and she could hardly fathom that she found Jack even more brave and selfless than ever before. The boy was continuing to astound her so much that she couldn't believe that at one time she was willing to dismiss him as some kind of cheeky boy who spent all his time chasing skirts out on the street.

"I think this is the one," Race announced as he peered into the second to last window on the landing. "This is generally the one I would go to when I came to see Jack, so I figure it's worth a shot, right?"

Race tapped lightly on the window and the trio wasn't left waiting for long before the tapping had gained the attention of a boy on the other side. The window slid up revealing a red haired boy, his face decorated with freckles that stood out even more prominently due to the black and blue shiner that surrounded his right eye.

"Whatever you're sellin' we ain't buyin'," The boy greeted with a smirk. "Who ya here for?"

"We're lookin' for Jack Kelly, leader of Manhattan. He was brought in earlier today with a younger kid, Crutchie," Race explained.

The boy turned to look around the room before returning his gaze on the visitors.

"I think I see the second one you're referrin' to. Kid wouldn't happen to be carryin' a crutch I reckon?"

Race smiled in response. "The name's a dead giveaway I guess."

The boy stuck a finger up telling them to hold on while he went to go retrieve the young boy in question.

Katherine took the opportunity as they waited to get a good look at the state of the room now that their view was clear and to say she was horrified would be a severe understatement. The room wasn't large by any means, which was practically criminal given the amount of boys that were confined to the space. Every inch of the walls were splattered with stains from something that she was certain she never wanted to find the source of, not to mention the thick layer of dirt that covered the floor. In various corners of the room she could have sworn she saw-

"Are those rats?" Katherine gasped out, covering her mouth in shock.

Race didn't even respond with a nod, he just glanced over at her in affirmation.

She continued to gaze around at the deplorable conditions as her eyes settled on the rows of bunk beds that contained not only one boy but three if not four to each.

"There's not even enough room for them to have their own bed," Katherine continued as she felt her eyes begin to tear. How could conditions like this be legal?

"Whenever someone important comes to visit, like the governor for instance, Snyder makes sure they scrub every inch of this place to hide what the standard conditions of livin' is like," Race explained. "Clearly no one important's come around recently."

A moment later, the red headed boy returned with none other than Crutchie at his side. Katherine breathed a small sigh of relief to see that he looked no worse for wear than he had that morning, but she could hear the two boys share an intake of breath on each side of her as they took in the state of their friend. She had nearly forgotten that the two of them hadn't seen Crutchie since the riot at newsies square.

Crutchie hobbled up alongside the boy and let out a gasp as soon as he caught sight of the occupants at the window.

"We was in the neighborhood and figured we'd pop in for a visit, sorry we didn't call first," Race joked as he smiled in relief to see that even busted up as he was, he seemed to still be relatively in one piece.

"I'll forgive you this once, but don't go makin' a habit of it," Crutchie joked back as he propped himself up against the window frame so that he could converse with them as comfortably as he could without relying too heavily on his crutch for assistance.

He glanced over at Katherine and couldn't help but grin slightly as he caught her eye.

"Look like someone ain't holdin' up their end of the bargain," He teased, knowing that somewhere deep down he didn't believe that she would give up on them.

"Never," She assured as she smiled back fondly at the crippled boy.

"Crutchie you look like hell," David stated sadly, as he assessed the different injuries that covered the young newsies body. "Are you OK? Dumb question, I know, but-"

"Nothin' to worry about, I'll be fine," Crutchie assured him bravely with a smile to match. He cast his eyes towards Katherine and could see her attention had been refocused to searching around behind him, a light expression of desperation on her face as she scanned the room.

"He ain't in here, Kath," Crutchie revealed softly, providing an answer to the question in her eyes.

Her gaze was immediately fixated on Crutchie.

"If he's not in here with you, then where is he?"

Crutchie gazed down at the floor sadly for a moment and took a deep breath before he reestablished eye contact. It was clear that Crutchie didn't want to have to tell what he knew.

"He's here, he just didn't come in here with me," Crutchie began. "Snyder has a small closet in his office that he uses for punishment and from what I've been told, no one is a more frequent visitor than Jack. The closet is small and has only enough room for someone to stand and once they're inside, they have their wrists shackled so they can't move at all and are left alone locked in the dark for however long the spider sees fit to leave them there."

"That's where Jack is," Katherine whispered from behind the hand that was pressed against her mouth. A tear was rolling down her cheek from the horror of Crutchie's words.

Crutchie bit his lip and nodded. "He's been in there for a long time...pretty much since we got here. Not sure how long it's been but I know it's been a while."

"You were taken a little after ten thirty this morning," Katherine supplied. "It's around seven now."

"If your time is right, Jack's been locked in that closet for nearly eight hours," Crutchie breathed feeling sick to his stomach at the thought. He glanced over at Race, appearing even more sorrowful than he had been before at whatever he was about to say next. "I know he wouldn't want me to tell you this, but he was cryin', Race. I ain't never seen Jack that scared before."

Katherine felt her heart drop at Crutchie's words. She couldn't imagine anything bringing the charismatic strike leader to tears, but apparently it could and had been done. She couldn't imagine being chained up and locked in a closet for five minutes, much less eight hours. Her heart broke for Jack and she found that she desired nothing more than to hold him in her arms and not let anything or anyone touch him again, but her wishes unfortunately couldn't be further from her reach.

"Ain't no one can do that to Jack but Snyder," Race stated darkly, feeling positively sickened that Snyder could instill such a reaction in Jack that nothing else ever could. "I don't know how yet, but we're gonna get both of you out of here, if it's the last thing I ever do, I promise."

"Ain't gonna be easy," Crutchie admitted truthfully, even if his eyes still contained a glimmer of hope at Race's promise. "Snyder gave me two months...but Jack is a whole other story."

"How long did Snyder give him?" David asked, fearing the answer to his own question.

"Snyder got an order from the judge that gives him the right to keep Jack here until he turns twenty one."

"Four years? You've gotta be damn well kiddin' me!" Race exclaimed in absolute shock. He knew the spider was cruel, but this was even more despicable than he could have ever imagined.

"There's more, Race," Crutchie continued hesitantly. "There's somethin' else that makes everything even more complicated."

"As if things aren't complicated enough," Race breathed in exasperation. "What could make things more difficult then they already are?"

Crutchie chewed at his lip apprehensively and had just gotten the nerve to open his mouth to continue when a voice called out from across the room.

"Hey! The spider's comin'! I can hear him! He's comin' this way!"

"Hide!" Crutchie hissed out in warning.

The trio ducked down and around the bottom corners of the window, successfully hiding from plain sight and as long as they were careful, the group could still see the goings on of the room without being seen. Without a second to spare, the sound of keys jingling in a lock rang out and the door subsequently banged open revealing Warden Snyder looking as tall and menacing as ever, his hand wrapped firmly around the boy's arm that he was dragging along beside him.

"Jack," Katherine whispered sadly.

As relieved as she was to see him, nothing could have prepared her for the sight that she was baring witness to. Jack was still chained up from his ankles to his wrists, clearly not having been given a single reprieve from being restrained by shackles of some sort. His eyes were cast down towards the ground and from what little Katherine could see, his gaze appeared haunted. Crutchie's words from earlier rang through her mind as she realized how devastating the past eight hours of his confinement in the closet must have been for him.

"Good evening," Snyder's chilling voice rang out, a cruel sneer fixed on his face as he addressed his captives. "I'm sure the gossip has had time to make it's way around by now and I am here now to announce that everything you've heard is true. The famous Jack Kelly has finally been caught and returned home where he belongs."

Katherine felt a knot in her stomach as she caught sight of the tight grip Snyder had on Jack, which seemed to tighten ever further at his declaration of victory. Jack's wince in response to the tightened hold confirmed her suspicions.

"As you boys all know, it's been nearly six months since we've all had Jack home with us and I thought there'd be no better way to celebrate his return than for you all to learn a lesson from your hero here," Snyder continued.

"Mr. Kelly and I have some unfinished business that we were going to see to, but I had a better idea in mind. Rather than carry out the remainder of his punishment privately, I figured what better lesson to instill than to show each and every one of you what happens to disobedient children who think it wise to defy me? Some of you have been here long enough to learn this lesson on your own, but as the old saying goes, a little reminder never hurt anyone, isn't that right, boy?"

Jack's gaze remained firmly set on the ground as Snyder prompted him for a response. Katherine could see the anger building behind Snyder's eyes as Jack remained silent. It was as if he hadn't heard a word that had been said to or about him the entire time he had been standing there. She silently begged Jack to look up and answer the question, but her plea went unanswered as a loud slap rang throughout the room.

Even though she was disgusted by his methods, Snyder slapping Jack seemed to have snapped him back to reality, bringing life back to his eyes as if he had just been pulled from a distant dream. He blinked his eyes and gazed around the room as if he had just realized that he was no longer trapped in the closet. His gaze settled on Crutchie and he seemed to sigh in relief as soon as he saw that Crutchie's condition hadn't worsened since he had last seen him.

"I asked you a question, boy," Snyder repeated impatiently at Jack, bringing his focus back to the matter at hand.

Jack looked confused at the demand and bit his lip in response. "I uh-I dunno...sir."

Snyder saw it fit to slap Jack again for added measure before he turned to the red haired boy who remained standing near Crutchie.

"Mr. Nichols, would you kindly explain and repeat the question that I asked of Mr. Kelly? Let's hope that we don't have to repeat it a fourth time," Snyder growled in warning at Jack, as he dug his fingers further into his captive's arm.

"Mister Snyder says that he's gonna punish you here instead of his office so's we can all learn from it. He asked you if a reminder ever hurt anyone," The boy responded robotically, clearly uncomfortable at being singled out to deliver this news to Jack.

"Now that we're all on the same page, Mr. Kelly, I'm still awaiting an answer to my question," Snyder prompted again, the dangerous glint in his eyes begging Jack to refuse to answer the question.

"I uh-no, sir," Jack responded equally as uncomfortable as the boy had been before him. It was clear that not only had Jack responded with the answer that Snyder had wanted to hear, but was also not willing to accept the punishment in front of everyone without objection.

Snyder, seemingly satisfied with Jack's response so far said nothing further until he turned Jack roughly to face him and set to work uncuffing his hands.

"Do I need to undress you or do you think you can manage to do it yourself this time?" Snyder taunted with a smirk.

"Why can't we just do this in your office?" Jack dared to question.

It was as if Snyder had been ready and waiting for Jack to ask the question as he chuckled darkly.

"The answer to your question, boy is the exact reason that you will be punished right here for everyone to see. It comes as no surprise to me that these boys seem to think you're invincible. It dares to question that if Jack Kelly can dare to defy the rules, what's to stop all the others from doing the same? It's time an example was made, and since you fancy yourself such a leader, who better to make an example of? Defiance has consequences, boy and you're about to show everyone that lesson here and now. Now for once in your no good life, do as you're damn well told and unbutton your shirt."

Jack simply sighed and shook his head in response as he began to unbutton his shirt, unaware of the additional audience members he had watching him from just beyond the window. Katherine felt tears spring to her eyes as she realized that Snyder intended to beat him again. What she had witnessed that morning alone had been enough for a life time, so she could hardly believe that Jack was being subjected to suffer through it all over again.

"It seems you can follow an order after all," Snyder praised mockingly as Jack unfastened the final button. "Now, leave the shirt on the floor and place your hands against the wall."

Jack obeyed the order with a reluctant sigh and with a deep breath, turned away from each and every captive gaze that was fixed on him and hesitantly placed his hands against the wall.

Race and David gasped as the damage from earlier along with the years of prior abuse was now on display for them to see. Katherine and Crutchie had both been witnesses to the earlier abuse, but it still remained shocking to see the state he was in. Jack's back still contained welts from the whipping he'd been given just that morning along with a bit of dried blood that his shirt hadn't managed to wipe away.

"My god," David whispered in shock as he took in what he was seeing.

Katherine responded by grabbing a tight hold on his hand, her grip becoming even tighter as Snyder began to undo his belt.

Snyder, now holding the instrument of torture tightly in one hand, used his other to trace lightly over a couple of the welts on Jack's back. A small hiss of pain sounded from him as his hands balled into fists against the wall.

"You've always been very good at taking a beating, Jack," Snyder admitted, as he continued tracing his earlier work with a sickening fondness. "Therefore, I find it hard to believe that my little warmup from this morning did much in regards to your correction, but no matter. Your correction will once again become my top concern, boy and together we will show these boys that defiance truly does have its consequences."

Katherine closed her eyes and held onto David's hand even tighter. If it were any other day, she would apologize for the near bone breaking grip, but as it was the only thing that seemed to keep her from passing out then and there, she found that she would have to apologize later. As soon as the first snap of the belt was heard followed shortly by the hiss of pain from Jack, a tear fell from her eye as she kept repeating the same phrase over and over again in her mind wishing that he could somehow hear her.

I'm so sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry.


Ya know, I'm not too sure if it was Katherine saying she was sorry at the end or if it was me, really lol. I'm really not very nice...but then again, we all knew that. Haha.

Well, this chapter went on much longer than initially anticipated, pretty much ended up becoming nearly the length of two chapters...so I thank you for baring with me and putting up with the wait. Hopefully this nice, ridiculously long chapter made up for it in some kind of way. Lol.

I believe that next time we meet, we'll be switching back over to the other side of the window and spend a little time with our good pals Crutchie and Jack and all the goings on in the refuge.

I thank you again for all of your kind words. Your reviews have made me one very happy writer, so please keep giving me your thoughts and I will be getting to work on bringing you chapter 8 sooner than later!

- Jamie