Author's Note

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

Love youuu 💗

𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚

MANHATTAN – JULY 1899

Jack could hardly believe his eyes. He wasn't astounded by the crowd of young workers who had joined them in the strike. Sure, winning against Pulitzer was a surge of adrenaline. Overnight, he'd gone from convict to strike leader.

What had stopped Jack's heart was seeing Warden Snyder paraded past him in handcuffs and put in the back of his own Refuge wagon.

He kept replaying that image over and over in his mind as he sat in the bunkroom of the lodging house three days later, not entirely sure what he'd seen was real. The other newsies continued to celebrate their victory, and Jack was right along there with them, but part of him was in shock.

Not from the win itself, but from the knowledge that the man who'd tortured him and so many of his friends was now behind bars. For the time being, at least.

A massive investigation into the Refuge's abuses had been launched a week ago, unbeknownst to Jack.

Word spread fast.

And after a meeting with the former Refuge boys to finalize the details of the escape, Jack sat beside Henry in his bunk as he tried to get the little boy to fall sleep. Henry had been asking Jack non-stop questions, some about life as a newsie, some about animals he liked, and a few things about Grim.

"Does my real daddy like kitty-cats?" Henry asked sleepily as Jack tucked him into an empty lower bunk. "If I had one, I would keep it forever and ever and ever."

"That right? Have you ever had a pet cat before?" Jack asked quietly, sitting next to him.

"Um, no, but one time there was a baby duck in Mr. Haywood's watering pale," Henry giggled as he leaned his head against Jack's arm. "And it was swimming in the water. And I spilled it…I spilled the water out and the duck…um…the duck ran away."

Jack nodded. "Oh—"

"And you know what?" Henry continued, gaining confidence in Jack's feigned interest.

"What?"

"I—I saw the mommy duck and she was looking for him because he got lost," Henry said.

Jack raised his eyebrows, nodding with a slow sigh.

"When is my real daddy coming home?" The little boy asked out of nowhere after mimicking Jack's sigh.

"Tomorrow," Jack said, giving the boy a little smile. "Are you excited?"

Henry shrugged his shoulders glumly.

"'S'matter?" Jack asked.

"Will he hit me really, really hard?" Henry asked nervously. "You said he was mad because I rode on the train."

Jack shook his head frantically, calming the boy down. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no," Jack said hurriedly. "He's not mad at you. Not at all. He loves you."

"But…" Henry sniffled, not entirely trusting that to be true. "But why did he want me to go away? Mr. Haywood said my real daddy didn't want me. No one did."

Jack ran a nervous hand through his hair. "He loves you," was all he could produce.

"What if he…um…what if he doesn't want me?" Henry whispered as he watched Racetrack and Blink make their way into the bunk room.

"Hm?"

"Well, what if he says he doesn't like me anymore?" Henry asked, his voice trembling.

Jack shifted and brushed a hand over Henry's face, feeling the dampness of his tears. Henry looked so small and vulnerable. He'd experienced too much of life already, too much disappointment and misery.

He whimpered and wiped the back of his hand across his runny nose. "I don't want to be by myself."

"Oh, Henry," Jack crooned and hugged him closer. "You ain't alone."

"If my real daddy doesn't want me, will you let me live with you please?" Henry asked, widening his big, blue eyes. "You're the nicest person I've ever met in my whole life."

"All five years, huh?" Jack smirked.

"Are you going to send me back to the orphalenage?" He asked, stumbling over the word.

"Don't worry, kid," Jack reassured, attempting to hide his sadness, and instead smiling. "You ain't going back to the orphanage. I can promise you that."

A tear escaped and rolled down Henry's cheek. He brushed it away quickly. "I'm sorry. I'm not crying."

"It's okay."

"I'll be good. I'm not a baby," Henry said with drooping eyelids, tilting his head up to gauge Jack's expression.

"I know, Henry." Jack smoothed back the boy's hair.

Henry settled against his pillow, sniffling again. "Next time…when I grow up…I want to sell new papers like you. I can read some words like the big kids. I already knowed the elephabet."

Jack exhaled a soft laugh, scratching the kid's back absently as he drifted off.

Tomorrow would be a day where everything had to go right. According to plan.

Jack knew how easily one wrong move could throw the whole thing into chaos. He only hoped the others involved could be relied on to do their jobs. Especially the two he was most worried about.