Author's Note

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

Love youuu 💗

𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚

MANHATTAN - JULY 1899

Sophie brushed Alexei's hair with a comb as he sat in a chair. Meanwhile, Sarah was in the middle of covering a bruise under Muggs' right eye with a bit of powder.

"I look stupid," Alexei said with conviction, flinching as Sophie styled his hair.

"Oh hush. And stay still," Sophie insisted. She borrowed Sarah's makeup brush and bent down, dabbing over some cuts and the bags beneath his eyes.

Jack watched her nervously as he paced. "Your hands, Muggs," Jack hissed. "What about the tattoos, huh? How do we explain that?"

Sarah sighed, inspecting the tattoos. "I can't cover those up."

"Maybe he was a sailor for a while," Fleet tossed out. "That's believable."

"No one will notice, probably," Sarah said, moving to straighten Muggs' shoelace neatly.

"Can someone remind me why we gotta be the ones to do this?" Alexei asked the room.

"Because you're least likely to be known by law enforcement," Rails said, shooting marbles with Henry on the floor. "You've both managed to lay low throughout your criminal careers."

"That, and half of them coppers slum it at Shang Draper's," Muggs mumbled. "That's where most of our…merchandise is sold."

"Oh, Jesus," Shakespeare grimaced. "Tell me you're just talking about the drugs."

Alexei shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

"You guys should seriously consider a different career," Crazy said, shaking his head. "I mean, even I kind of want to turn you both in."

"I fuckin' dare you, Cohen," Muggs growled.

"What about Colleen?" Sophie asked.

Muggs exhaled a laugh through his nose. "I'm dead to her already."

Kloppman emerged from his office. "So, how exactly is this to play out?" He asked, sifting through a few papers in his hands.

Sophie and Sarah stepped aside, revealing Muggs and Alexei, now almost completely transformed.

Kloppman froze, eyeing them up and down in astonishment, like he didn't recognize them.

"We plan on using disguises," Jack explained, in the middle of untangling something at the table.

Kloppman gestured to the two, shaking his head in alarm. He put his glasses on to be sure what he was seeing was real. "What the… Who are they?"

Sophie cleared her throat anxiously as the boys in question stood up. "Kloppman, I'd like you to meet Father Rakovsky from Moscow," she said gesturing to Alexei, and then to Muggs, "and Father Flannagan, his translator."

"Good Lord," Kloppman uttered in disbelief.

His eyes widened as he looked at the two young men, previously looking like two demons from hell. Now, they were cleaned up and dressed in Catholic clerical attire. The bundle Atlas had brought over was carefully packed with the disguises.

Double-breasted black cassocks with mandarin white collars and band cinctures. Sophie expertly fastened the rosaries Jack had been untangling to the wide bands. They rattled as the two walked.

"Well, this is the closest they'll ever get to salvation," Lion whispered.

Jack looked them up and down, pausing to think if he'd forgotten anything. "How do they look?" He asked Kloppman.

The old man searched for words, entirely baffled at the sudden change. "Holy."

Alexei rolled his eyes and Muggs sat back down, grumbling as he searched for something in his discarded trousers' pocket. He resurrected a small tin of white powder, pouring a little onto the table.

He leaned down and sniffed the cocaine just as Kloppman shouted, "Not in my lodging house—!"

But it was too late.

Muggs wiped his nose with the back of his hand, placing a little bit more white powder on his left wrist. He offered it up to Alexei, who inhaled sharply.

Kloppman threw his hands up in defeat. "That's it. You do that outside from now on. I mean it."

Alexei and Muggs exchanged a look.

"Okay," Jack said, changing the subject. "Let's go over this one more time. Sarah, you'll stay here with Kloppman and watch Henry. Cards, Rails, and Crazy – you three will get the keys from the warden while Sophie distracts him. You still okay with that?" He asked, giving his sister a worried look.

Sophie straightened. "Jack, I can handle myself."

Jack turned to the three. "Watch her."

"If he tries anything, I'll crack his skull," Crazy said, nodding along. "I know."

"Shakespeare, River, Atlas, and Lion – you guys are lookouts. You gotta get everyone in and out…in once piece," Jack continued. "Everyone."

"Got it," Lion said, joining in the game of marbles with Rails and Henry.

"Marquette and I are driving the newspaper wagon," Jack said to the Frenchman who gave a half-smile in response.

"Z and Fleet – you gotta make a scene." Jack pointed to them. "A divirgin. You know what that is, right?"

They crinkled their eyebrows.

"Sure," Z said. "It's someone who ain't never fucked anything."

Fleet burst out laughing. "The only divirgin I know is the divirgin Mary."

Atlas sucked in a breath. "We're all going to hell."

Shakespeare rolled his eyes, having initially had it with their ignorance. "It's diversion, you crackpots. Means you cause a distraction."

Z frowned. "Oh. What kind of distraction?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. Something they wouldn't expect."

Z raised his eyebrows, whispering something to Fleet who cringed. "No," Fleet replied flatly and then considered it for a second before frowning again. "No."

"Doc," Jack turned to the stoic boy. "You'll make yourself available here in case anyone comes back injured. But I want you to hang back and keep your ass out of trouble. If you get locked up, a lot of people are screwed."

Doc nodded reluctantly, feeling bad for his friends who were putting themselves in danger without him.

"And finally, Muggs and Alexei…" Jack said, turning to the priestly duo. "You two are there to give counsel to Grim and Tide. All prisoners facing execution are entitled to it. Thank you, Kloppman, for looking that up."

Kloppman winked.

"Remember, Alexei, you cannot speak English," Jack reminded him. "You let Muggs talk for you. And most importantly, no unnecessary destruction or violence of any kind. We are there for one reason, and that is to get Tide and Grim out. Don't soak the first guard that asks a question. Got it?"

Everyone nodded, mumbling their agreements.

Kloppman looked at the clock, nodding to the late afternoon sun shining in the window. "You boys better get a move on, now," he said, clapping a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'll be here when you get back."

He paused, glancing at each one of them. "No matter what happens this evening, I will be waiting. And I expect to see each one of you walk through that door tonight."

Jack gave a strained smile at Kloppman, trying to ease his worries along with the old man's. "We'll be okay."

"Just get it done, Jack," Kloppman said, putting all his trust in the seventeen-year-old he'd basically fathered. "Safely."

The boys got up, saying goodbye to Sarah, Kloppman, Henry, and Doc as they made their way out the door. Kloppman gave Sophie a quick hug before shooting Jack one last warning stare.

As the others filed out, Jack waved to little Henry. The child anxiously waved back, jumping up and down slightly.

Alexei had tangled his rosary up again, prompting Lion to turn around and fix it on the steps.

Jack held the door open for Muggs, gesturing outward. "After you, Father," Jack said, unable to hide his smirk.

Muggs shook his head, striking a match on the way out. "Get fucked, my child," he said, cigarette hanging from his lips.