MANHATTAN – OCTOBER 1899

Before the Refuge, Alexei was adept at persuading anyone of anything with sheer charisma and charm. Those characteristics had been key in his survival. Muggs was no different, despite the wariness from others that came along with it. But charm and charisma did little to help the two on Randall's Island. Somehow, it had worked for Grim and Tide. But not in a way that was beneficial.

Jack couldn't wrap his mind around that. Alexei and Muggs had a forceful push on the other boys in the ward. But Grim and Tide had a forceful pull. Maybe it was too much of a pull. It was like a game of tug-of-war if one side put in all the effort while the other side dropped the rope at just the right time. The backlash meant the stronger side fell on its ass, and the idle side stayed standing.

That's how it was. Somehow, the worst of them came out unscathed, while the best faced blow after blow. How had they fallen into this trap? Jack was slowly working it out in his mind.

His 'in' was Crazy. The Queens native was one of the only boys from the ward who had been somewhat close with Muggs and Alexei before their incarceration. He stayed relatively friendly with them after, too. It wasn't a mystery why. Crazy was an adrenaline junkie who paid Muggs for cocaine every now and again – that is, when he wasn't out drinking with his Midtown friends. And Jack suspected Crazy had their respect from his bloody past of street brawling.

Alexei told Crazy about Grim's breakdown in front of Tide, Muggs, and himself. And when Crazy confirmed the story with Muggs, the Brooklynite had a lot to say on the matter in very few words.

Jack didn't know why Crazy came to see him at his flat, nor why he'd gone behind his friends' backs to talk about them to a former Manhattan newsie of all people. But Jack supposed he had to tell someone.

With Sarah out of the house to visit her family, Crazy relayed his conversation with Muggs to Jack over a cup of hot coffee.

Not only did he talk about Grim's breakdown, but he talked about Muggs' breakdown two months earlier – which Muggs had also confessed to. When Jack filled in his side of events, from what he'd witnessed, Crazy listened carefully and sat back. After Jack finished, Crazy set aside his coffee and stared off.

"He was really adamant about it," Crazy was saying, keeping his voice low. "I mean, he almost looked shocked at how easy it is to con people. Easy to manipulate 'em. Easy it is to get them to do whatever you want." Crazy shrugged. "I think it fascinates him."

"We've conned people. Manipulated someone at least once in our lives." Jack stared down at his half-empty cup. "What makes him any different? The longer I've known him, the more I realize how similar we all are to him."

"Yeah, but he is different."

"Well, it doesn't seem to matter. No one trusts him anyway."

"A lot of people do, actually." Crazy shrugged again. "He made a career out of it for years."

Jack retreated into his memories. All the occasions when Muggs had gotten what he wanted. Mostly, that 'want' was cocaine, sometimes it was money, rarely was it sex, never was it affection. Jack could reason that away, had it not been for the manipulation. He'd seen Muggs in action before – the smooth-talking, the sell, the 'I'll be your best friend if you just…if you would only….' Everything was conditional.

People like Alexei were a mystery, Jack found. He couldn't quite picture Alexei engaging in malevolent deeds to get what he wanted. But he could, however, imagine Alexei getting caught up in such a web by mere lack of willpower.

Tide had certainly given up long ago. Longer before Alexei had. But he had his feet a little firmer on the ground. Maybe Grim kept them so.

They had a system of checks and balances between them, a pact to go on for one another, a fraternity. Their empathy for their fellow inmates hurt them in the end. They became scapegoats, martyred saints.

For Muggs and Alexei's part, that balance went unchecked, and to Jack's contempt, it worked in their favor.

"Grim and Tide didn't learn shit from all that time in police precincts…" Muggs once told Crazy. "You wanna get your way? There's gotta be a good guy and a bad guy. Two good guys don't get you nothin'. One of ya's gotta be smilin' and behavin', and the other better be one mean son of a bitch."

When Crazy asked what would happen if a 'two bad guy' dynamic was utilized, Muggs had simply laughed like Crazy had asked the dumbest question he'd ever heard.

"Because then they'll run away. How the fuck you think I got Colleen to hang around for all those years? It wasn't me who was tucking her in." He'd taken a moment to collect himself.

"So, you did make her work?" Crazy had asked, trying hard not to choke on the words.

Muggs shook his head, keeping a straight face. "Nah. Alexei coddled her. Made her soft, after I'd spent years trying to make her tough. Swear it was like he adopted her or somethin'." And then: "Played his part a little too well."

Jack watched Crazy take another sip of coffee, letting the words sink in. Alexei had raised Colleen, not Muggs. That would explain his concern for her, Jack thought. And Muggs' lack thereof.

Maybe, like Tide, Alexei needed something to hold onto. Someone to keep going for. That someone wasn't his best friend Muggs, like Grim was for Tide. That someone was his surrogate little sister Colleen. Grim had the boys in the ward to live for. What did Muggs have, if not Colleen?

Why had he survived at all?

It didn't make no damn sense, Jack thought. Muggs killed the men who attacked Colleen. He killed guards on Randall's Island. He got Grim and Tide out of Sing Sing. He assisted Doc getting No Name to safety after he'd been hit by a ricochet during the yard riot. He sang a hymn along with the others, along with Jack in solitary. He took the first step in saving everyone from the burning dormitory, injuring himself in the process. He helped Jack escape the Refuge.

What the fuck was the point of all that.

"Jack?" Crazy interrupted Jack's thoughts. "Are you okay?"