Author's Note

.｡｡*ﾟi hope you're staying safe and being kind to yourself! .｡｡*ﾟ

Love youuu 💗

𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 ️

Chapter Text

BELLEVUE, 1897

"But I don't understand. Why wasn't I consulted about this immediately?" Dr. Fuller was racing to catch up to Dr. Sayers in the corridor. "They need proper beds, medicine, hot meals. I…" He trailed off, brushing a hand through his messy dark hair. "They need someone to take care of them. They need a home."

"Well, this is hardly a home," Dr. Sayers retorted, his white coat billowing behind him as he marched along. "And I don't want a legal scandal ruining the good name of Bellevue. Besides, I hear the repairs were manageable, thanks to the institution's funding. Those boys will be delivered back to the House of Refuge this evening as soon as they've been discharged. Arrangements for transportation have been made by the warden. And I am under strict instruction by the board to follow those orders to the detail."

Dr. Fuller grabbed his arm, stopping him just before his office door. "But I need more time. And what about the poor devil with tuberculosis? I can't send him back. I refuse—"

"You will deliver them to the Refuge or your letter of resignation on my desk, Dr. Fuller," Sayers said sharply, opening the door to his office and stepping in. "Would you like to tell them, or should I?"

Dr. Fuller's shoulders slumped. "I'll tell them."

"Good," Sayers said, returning to his desk. The silence that followed prompted him to meet Fuller's disheartened eyes with a resigned sigh. "It's an awful shame, Fuller. But it's out of our hands. Just get it done quickly."

He handed Fuller a large box. "Take these."

"What is it?"

"Refuge uniforms," Dr. Sayers replied, giving his colleague a knowing look. "Snyder doesn't want the boys to cross the premises without them on."

Fuller hung back, going over how he would tell the boys they were being sent back the very place they thought they'd escaped forever.

It was just before 5 o'clock in the evening when Fuller made his way into the large recovery room, gripping the box in his arms.

"Boys, if I could have your attention please," Fuller began. He looked terrible. His hair was messy, his eyes red and dilated, as though he'd done a bit of cocaine himself.

The boys all focused their attention on him, whispering to each other, looking around. Fuller's expression was unreadable and told them nothing.

Fuller looked around for a beat, slowly heading to the middle of the room. He took a deep breath, looking at the boys tenderly.

Jack could see how truly pained and conflicted he looked, and it scared him.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, as I only found out myself a couple of hours ago," Fuller continued. "But there is something important I need to discuss with you all. I imagine by now at least a few of you wondered if your being here meant freedom. To put it bluntly, you are still considered wards of the state in the eyes of the law, having committed prior offenses."

He looked around at the boys' utterly confused reactions.

"If it were up to me, I'd keep you here until you were well enough to be re-tried in court, at which I would speak on your behalf. Every single one of you. And I would hope that…that…"

The boys looked around, not quite sure where any of this was going. Fuller just shook his head.

"Well, what I really mean to say is…" Fuller cleared his throat, setting down the box of uniforms. "There's nothing more I can do short of breaking the law."

"What are you saying?" Tide asked.

"I have to release you into the custody of Warden Snyder," he said in the lightest way he could, as if speaking to small children. "Legally, he is responsible for you, not me. I have to bring you back to the Refuge."

"Why?" Jack asked. He stood up. "Did we do something wrong?"

"This is not a punishment," Fuller clarified slowly. "It's just protocol. You cannot stay here, legally." He ran a hand through his hair.

At this, many of the boys looked around at each other in a mutual air of shock.

"You can't be serious," Lion said.

Fuller's been bought out, Jack thought. Snyder bribed him, and he's sold them out.

"You can't send us back," Crazy said.

The whole thing sounded like a misunderstanding, a prank, a nightmare.

"Nothing I say or do," Fuller said. "Please understand. The best thing we can do is cooperate peacefully." His voice rose. "Bellevue cannot afford a lawsuit from the warden. If you don't comply, the police will escort you there themselves…" He looked out the window. "The wagon is waiting for you now. We have no less than fifteen minutes." He sounded gloomier than ever.

"So, you ain't gonna help us?" Rails asked, voicing everyone's thoughts aloud.

Jack could see out into the corridor. There were two Randall's Island guards standing there, batons in hand. He couldn't believe it. Then again, of course it was all too good to be true.

"Don't worry about making the beds," Fuller said, opening the box in front of him. "If you would, take a uniform from this bin and put it on please. Let's make this as painless as possible."

Jack heard several curses in devastation through the room, before the boys suddenly fell silent. There was nothing more to say. Jack felt a single tear roll down his cheek, and he noticed a few of the others were trying to fight back tears of their own.

Fuller just looked at them with regret, fatherly compassion behind his spectacles. "I'm so sorry, boys. I didn't mean to let you down."

Ten minutes later, and with five to spare, the boys clustered on the front steps of the hospital in the Refuge uniforms, shackled in a line of chains. They didn't know what kinds of comfort to offer one another. Even Grim was at a loss.

Jack met Grim's eyes in apprehension. Grim looked guilty, like he'd somehow failed to keep them safe.

"It ain't fair," Jack said, his words only met with defeated looks.

"Don't matter what's fair," Grim replied, speaking to Jack, speaking to all his boys. "We're going to have to fight now. Harder than ever."

The others mumbled, bracing themselves as a guard slid open the wagon door, ushering them inside.

"You can bet on that," Cards said, filing in after the others, one by one.

"Yeah, Grim, we ain't scared no more," Jack said.

Grim nodded, the last to climb into the wagon as the guard swung the door shut with a loud bang. "I'm counting on that," he whispered.