Summary; Written for the RBLH (RAINBOW BRIDGE LODGING HOUSE; WWW . GEOCITIES . COM / INSTITUEOFGRACE). After a disastrous fire sends Jack & Stress up to Rainbow Bridge, a cocky Canadian tries to put himself between the pair. Will it take whatever's at the end of the rainbow to keep them together? It just might.
Disclaimer; I do not own, nor stake any claim, to any of the original newsboy characters -- they are the property of Disney. The main characters Stress and Riley belong to me. Any other character, when noted, is property of their respective owner. The Rainbow Bridge Lodging House belongs to Dice & Iris.
Originally Posted: 08.01.02 – 08.05.02
Rewritten: 05.08.06
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V. DEFEAT
Jack stormed through the entrance of the lodging house, interrupting Rae, Lucky and Puck's mid-morning chat in the lobby.
"Watch where you're going, Kelly," hollered Rae as he made his way pass the three girls.
"Rae, I ain't in the mood for your lip right now," he snapped, pausing only long enough to spit out his answer before continuing to the boys' bunkroom on the third floor.
The trio stared after him as he exited the lobby, stomping up the stairs. "I just don't know what Stress sees in him," Rae announced with a scowl on her face. Lucky and Puck took one look at the annoyed expression on Rae's face and nodded before returning to their discussion.
Meanwhile, Jack raced into the room, ignoring the puzzled looks that TB and Chump were shooting him.
"Uh, Cowboy? Why do you have your bag out?" asked TB, pointing to the cloth bag sitting on Jack's bunk.
"And why are you putting all of your stuff into that bag?" added Chump.
Jack finished packing his things and sent the two boys an impatient look each. They really were quite slow sometimes. "Listen, since you two are the only ones in the bunkroom right now who I'll get to say goodbye to, I need you to do me a favor," he said as he shouldered his bag. He would have preferred it if Skittery or Dutchy had remained behind – they, at least, could be trusted with a message – but he had to work with what he had.
"What do you mean 'goodbye'? Where are you going, Cowboy?" Chump scratched his head in confusion. TB looked ever more confused. His mouth was hung open and he staring at the stuffed bag.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Perfect. "Just, when Stress comes back here later, I need you to tell her that I hope her and Riley are happy and I'd like it if she would look me up next time she's in Manhattan. Ya got that, fellas?" Jack waited until both Teddy Bear and Chump nodded before pulling his dusty cowboy hat onto his head. "Good. I gotta train to hitch a ride on now, so I can't waste me time on long goodbyes. I guess I'll just say see you later."
As Teddy Bear and Chump just stared at Jack, their mouths still hanging ridiculously open, Jack walked out of the boys' bunkroom of the Rainbow Bridge Lodging House for the last time. Without a second look, he continued to run back down the two flights of stairs before barging back through the lobby (ignoring the heated looks the three girls were sending him) and walking out of the door. "Next stop, good old Manhattan," he said to himself, pushing away the pangs of guilt he felt at not telling any of his old friends that he was returning home. "They wouldn't understand," he told himself as he began to head towards the train yards, "They wouldn't understand why I had to leave…"
- - -
Puck looked up as she heard another figure run into the lodging house. But instead of it being Jack, like it was about a half-hour earlier, it was now Stress. Puck poked Rae in the arm and pointing at the frantic way that Stress had entered the lodging house. "Hey, Rae. I wonder what's up with her?"
Rae moved her long blonde braid out of her face and looked up at her. "Stress, are you alright?"
Stress paused for a second and looked at the girls. "Rae, Puck, Lucky… Have any of you guys seen Jack today since we all left to sell papes?"
"Yeah, he ran in here before just like you're doing now, visited the boys' bunks to get his bag and then left. That was about a half an hour ago or so," Lucky answered.
Stress didn't even stop to thank Lucky for her information; instead she ran straight upstairs to the boys' bunkroom to see if anyone up there knew where Jack was heading.
"Hey there, Stress. How are ya?" asked Chump when he saw Stress enter the bunkroom.
"Fellas, was Jack here earlier?" she asked, leaning against the door and panting from the short sprint she had just ran.
The pair of boys looked at each other for a moment before TB answered her. "Um, yeah. He actually had a message for you. He wanted us to tell you that he hopes you and Riley are happy and that the next time you go down to Manhattan, visit him. He also said that he didn't have time for a long goodbye because he had a train that he wanted to hitch a ride on," TB recited, hoping he got the message right.
Stress paled and gripped the door frame tighter, this time in support. "But that must mean that he's leaving."
Chump nodded slowly. "Didn't you know, Stress? I thought he would have told you, at least. But, then again, if you dumped him for Riley, I understand why he might keep it a secret."
But Stress didn't respond to Chump's – for once – accurate observation. By the time Chump had finished his sentence Stress had already run from the bunkroom.
- - -
"Stress!"
She stopped running for a second and felt her cheeks flush with anger when she saw Riley running towards her. "What do you want, Riley?" she asked impatiently. She had no time for his games; she needed to stop Jack from leaving.
He approached Stress and smiled once he got close enough to her. "How's my favorite New Yorker today?"
Stress found she had to fight back a small chuckle when she spied the black eye that Jack had given him earlier. "I'm fine Riley, but you've looked better. What the hell happened?"
Riley grinned to himself. And now to play on her sympathies, he thought before adopting a forlorn face. "I didn't wanna be the one to tell you this, but felt it should at least be me. You see, I talked to Cowboy this morning."
"Yes?" prompted Stress. She was betting that nothing Riley would say next would be in any way close to what she had overheard while in the park.
She was right.
"Well, ya see, I found out that Jack has been seeing Rae on the side so I tried to save you from the hurt by confronting him for you. And, as you can see, this is the way he took it out on me." Riley accented his statement by pointing to his black eye.
Stress couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he really think that she was that stupid? Even when Jack was living in Manhattan and would visit Spot in Brooklyn, he and Rae Kelly never got along. And their relationship sure hadn't changed one bit since Stress and Jack had arrived at the Rainbow Bridge Lodging House.
After debating real quickly whether or not she should call Riley on his lies, Stress decided to go for it. "Riley, is that so? Because, you know, I thought you got that there shiner after you told Jack that me and you slept together."
It was almost worth everything to see his reaction. His grin slid off his face immediately. "Well, what I meant by that was—"
"Stuff it, Riley. I need to find Jack and explain all those damn lies you told him today." With that Stress spun on her heel and continued to make her way to the train yards.
"If you don't catch Cowboy in time, I'm still here, Stress," he yelled after her, sighing in relief that she hadn't punched him, too. From what he had heard, Stress had a right hook to rival Cowboy's.
