The guys were exhausted as they climbed into Boots' taxi. No one, except for Boots, had any energy left to talk. Jack, like Spot and Mush, were sleepy on cloud nine.

"They sure know how to party," Boots said to the car, shaking his head. "Nice girls, you might be right about 'em, Mush...but I'm still not sure about that Jazzi chick. I can't put my finger on it…"

"Ya lucky she didn't put a finger on you for sneaking around their house all night," Racetrack said irritably as he turned on to his side to get comfortable in the back seat.

Mush pushed Racetrack's ass away. "Dude!"

"Jack, 'ey Jackie boy what happened with her?" Spot asked with a yawn, his hat crammed between his head and the window. "Ya looked real good dancin' tagetha, Cowboy-"

Jack turned and reached back so fast that Racetrack, Mush, David and Spot all jumped, even Boots at the wheel- all eyes wide as Jack went for Spot.

But with Spot's experience with over a hundred Newsies, he was rarely ever taken.

Spot's reflex took over and he blocked Jack's hands and wrestled him with the seat between them. Smiles appeared on the guys' faces as they saw Jack was just being a dick.

"If I didn't-know ya-asshole-" Spot said between clenched teeth, trying to get Jack's sides, his most ticklish area on his body. Spot knew all the guys' spots. "I would 'ave-tha good sense-ta kill ya!"

Jack laughed with the others, breathing hard and falling back into his seat hard. He opened his window and flooded the cab with the cold air. The guys protested loudly as he laughed at them.

"JACK!"

"You're tryin' ta distract us," Mush said as he leaned against Jack and Boots' seats. "But you're not gettin' off tha hook-"

"But I am gettin' in tha showa," Jack said to Mush as Boots pulled up to their apartment.

Jack left the car quickly, having already undone his seatbelt, and the guys shouted at him as they stumbled out.

"JACK!"

"DON'T USE ALL THA HOT WATAH, I SWEARS TA GOD COWBOY-"

Jack was up the stairs and barging into the apartment just as the others were opening the lobby door. The Newsies on the couch jumped and shouted in alarm: they'd been watching a scary movie, and Jack smiled at his timing and their terrified faces.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Specs shouted as he scrambled off the couch, falling onto the floor.

"WHO THA FUCK-" Pie Eater looked up, "JACK!"

Jack jumped over the couch, Pie Eater and Snoddy leaning away and looking after him in surprise as he bolted for the bathroom.

"JACK! What tha hell man-" Bumlets looked back to the door, seeing the other guys charging up the stairs.

But Jack didn't stop-he made it to the bathroom in his and David's room and striped fast: the first to the hot water was the winner.

He heard feet coming up the stairs, entering the apartment, and then thuds in the bathroom on the other side of the wall-

"SPOT YOU JACKASS!" Race shouted as the door slammed. "GO TO YA OWN APARTMENT, ASS WIPE!"

Spot laughed his ass off as he turned on Race and Mush's shower, the guys' laughter filling the apartment. Mush must have gone to Spot's apartment. After everyone settled back down and closed the front door, Jack could hear them talking, their voices muffled through the wall.

"Yo, I miss the shower room we used ta 'ave."

"Who knew tha hot water would be betta there than here?"

"So how'd it go, man?"

"Yeah what are these broads like?"

"It was great," David said with a surprised laugh. "They're-amazing...one of them gave me and Mush a Tarot reading-"

"A what?"

"But what about her-"

"What happened?"

"You gotta hear that from Jack-"

"JACK! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!"

Jack laughed and closed his eyes, the alcohol and pot beginning to wear off...

He scrubbed himself and reveled in the hot water, trying to remember how her fingers had felt on his face. The feeling of her lips, the smooth planes of her high cheekbones, the mischievous gleam in her stunning eyes. The way she looked at him-

He opened his eyes to stare at the tile in front of him.

The thought he'd been avoiding all night took front and center in his mind, and he didn't know how to feel about it.

He dried off, thankful for clean skin, put on a pair of sweats, opening the door to see them all gathered in the living room. It had to be four in the morning. They were all watching him intently.

"Don' you bums got somethin' betta ta do? Like sleep?"

"No way," Skittery said with a laugh.

Mush came back to their apartment, a towel around his waist as he dried his hair with another. Spot came out from Racetrack's room at the same time, whipping Racetrack's ass with a towel as they passed each other.

"I'm gonna get ya one day, ya cheeky bastard" Race said darkly. Spot smacked him upside the head and mooned him, everyone roaring with laughter.

"I'll show ya cheeky!"

"Smartass...Don't talk about anythin' good 'til I'm back, ya hear me Cowboy?"

Jack rolled his eyes, shuffling his feet to the kitchen.

"So...how was it?" Bumlets posed carefully.

The guys' eyes followed Jack as he took one of the stash cans down from a cabinet and a glass pipe from the cookie jar on the counter.

"'s alright." He smiled a little to himself when they groaned. He was dragging it out and they hated to be kept on edge.

"They sure got it made in that house," Spot said, shaking his head, remembering. "We were invited back for Halloween, a pajama party." He looked like a grinning cat, his eyebrows raised, thinking of Jade.

"No way," Pie Eater said incredulously as he ate chips out of the bag in his lap.

"'s not fair," Specs shook his head.

"What else?" Bumlets pressed.

"I TOLD YA GOONS" Race shouted from the bathroom. "DON'T SAY ANYTHING GOOD-"

"Fuck 'im, he was there," Snoddy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Did she take to ya, Cowboy?"

"She hardly left his side," David said with an easy smile as he went into his and Jack's room to shower. Jack shot David a look, but couldn't help smirking at the Newsies' excitement.

"But did anything happen?" Snoddy asked impatiently.

"Nah, not really."

"Bullshit."

Jack looked up at Boots on the couch. The room was quiet, save for Racetrack singing in the shower. The Newsies' eyes darted between them expectantly.

"I saw your face when I found you two outside," Boots said almost gently. "Somethin' happened, and you've been thinking about it ever since."

The others waited. Jack was hesitant.

Damn it, Boots.

He didn't know if he wanted to tell them. He didn't want to betray her trust, or get his friends' hopes up...but he was just as curious and confused…

He sighed, resigned. He knew he could trust them with anything and everything.

Jack crossed the living room with the pipe, smoke billowing out behind him as he went to one of the windows, to the left of the TV. He could almost see the city from the right angle, if he leaned against the wall just right...He caught sight of the end of the skyline, the sky above just now beginning to slowly lighten... He was thoughtful for a moment, and gave a huff.

"Well...afta we danced-"

"You danced?!"

"Shhh!"

Skittery ducked his head under his friends' intense focus.

"An' he's good," Mush added with a sly grin, nodding to Jack who wanted to melt to the floor.

"Were there scabba's there?" Specs asked.

"Nah, jus' school friends and her roommates," Spot answered, taking the joint Boots passed him. "Thank God."

"They're not like that anyway," Mush said dreamily. "They're cool."

"I'm so sure," Pie Eater crooned, tickling Mush's ear and making him jump. They laughed.

"Nothin' slips by 'em though, that's for damn sure," Boots said appreciatively. "They're very aware that we're strangers...but they're especially aware of this one." He pointed to Jack.

"Whaddya mean?" Snoddy asked, looking from their leader to Boots.

"I mean, they watch every move he makes...they're watching out, for Tiffany."

They considered this, and Jack took a deep breath.

"Keep goin', Cowboy," Bumlets said, watching Jack.

Jack searched for the right words. "She got-ovaheated, an' passed out."

"Oh, man," Snoddy said with a sneaky grin, the others chuckling around him.

"'s gettin' good," Specs said excitedly, taking the chips from Pie Eater.

Racetrack came bounding in and jumped on the couch, water droplets on his bare chest, his eyes bright with excitement. "Don't mind me." He crossed his legs and waited for Jack to speak.

Spot rolled his eyes as he made room for his best friend.

David emerged too, drying his curly hair with a towel, and he leaned against the bedroom doorway, a few feet from Jack.

Jack dragged his hand through his damp hair, trying to hide his embarrassment in the shadows of the corner he leaned against. But the guys were tickled to see him like this again...

"She scared tha shit outta me-dropped like a sack of potatoes."

"Oh damn," Spot said in surprise.

"When she came to, she looked at me like she knew me." He licked his lips, his hands feeling clammy. He could feel their eyes glued to him, but it was the memory of the look on her face that stayed him. He felt the same surprise he had felt in the moment, unable to comprehend…

"Like...knew you knew you?" Mush asked, his warm brown eyes serious.

After a moment, Jack finally looked up to see his friends' faces. "She said she sees me - in her dreams."

He turned back to the window, feeling a tightness in his chest. He took another long drag. He shrugged. "She fell asleep, an' when she woke up she didn't remember a thing."

He expected them to shout and jump, to be excited. But they were as surprised as he was.

After a long moment, Bumlets broke the silence. "This is heavy…"

"But, what does it mean?" Snoddy pressed.

"You tell me," Jack said flatly. "She dreams about me an' still doesn't know who I am."

"But you're there, in her subconscious," David added gently. "That has to make you feel good, Jack."

"It makes me feel fuckin' fantastic but-"

"It means Ira is in there somewhere, too, it's gotta mean that," Spot said, watching Jack. But he saw something there, hanging over his friend like a dark shadow… Spot's brows came together, "Jack."

Jack didn't look away from the window, "She's nothin' like her."

They stared at him, his words hanging quietly over them.

"She's there, I can see her...in her face." Jack smirked to himself a little, remembering when her eyes had flashed in such a way… "There were plenty a deja vu moments. Like seein' a ghost. But she's...so much happier in this life. I dunno…"

Jack looked at them with sadness behind his eyes. "With the knowledge of the past- her past - the worst kinda pain, the worst kinda nightmare...Ira had that life. Tiffany doesn't."

He stepped away from the window, passing the pipe to Specs on the couch. "Who's ta say she'll remember any of it at all, ever? But I dunno if I want her rememberin' everything...tha pain, tha nightmares, tha distrust...I don't wanna see that happiness taken away."

He saw the sadness he felt mirrored back to him through their eyes. They understood now.

"No one needs ta remember that," Spot said quietly, his voice fitting the dim light of the room. "...least of all her."

"But we can't force it or stop it," David said, crossing his arms, contemplative. "If she remembers, you have to be ready for it."

Jack was surprised at himself...the thought broke his heart.

"HOLY SHIT."

Everyone looked at Boots. He was staring at his phone. But he didn't say another word: Boots threw himself over the back of the couch, opened David's computer on the desk, and began typing away like mad.

The guys surrounded him, seeing the photo on his phone, the one he had shown Jack earlier...

"Who's she?"

"One of the roommates?"

"Jazzi," David answered, leaning over Boots' shoulder. "Tiff's best friend…"

Jack came up behind him, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I just realized why I recognized her face," Boots clicked around on the computer, "I shoulda known, Cowboy-"

"Tell me," Jack said evenly.

Boots stood straight, the guys leaning forward around him to stare at the bright laptop screen.

"I'll be damned," Spot breathed.

"Fuck!"

There on the screen was a Google image, an old wedding photo.

Garrison Rockefeller's wedding photo. The same they'd seen in the paper in the Winter of 1900. Jack's entire body bristled with tension and hate.

Standing beside Rockefeller in the photo was his bride, Jazzi's face beaming next to his.