Warnings: Some violence, a bit of swearing
Feedback: Feed my poor, starving muses. You wouldn't want them to starve, would you?
Notes: Shortish chapter. My friend wanted angst and violence, though, so this is what got updated. Blame her. The good stuff should be coming next chapter.
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The sullen roaring in his ears drowned out whatever Skittery was trying to say to him. He was locked, frozen in place, the world stalled. Only "frozen" wasn't the right word because he was raging, burning…
Blood and the cruel, steel glint of metal on bare knuckles. Mocking laughter mixed with Sarah's cries.
"Stop it! Don't hurt him!"
With an almost audible crack, awareness rushed back in on Jack. And somehow Morris was pressed hard against the bars of the circulation desk and it was his fist bunched in Morris' shirt, pulling tight and twisting fiercely. Dimly, he was aware of Oscar staggering back in shock and urgent hands on his shoulders, but he shrugged them off, totally focused on the sneering face in front of him.
"Talk," he said coolly, letting the icy tone in the word chill some of the fire burning in his mind. He felt dangerous, close to exploding.
Apparently, Morris sensed this. He swallowed convulsively, once, before snatching back his sneer. "What's to tell, Kelly?"
Jack laughed, more of a growl.
"That's what you're gonna tell me. Let's start with why your brother there has that nice shiner."
Morris smirked. "Would you believe it, he ran into a door this morning."
"No. I wouldn't believe it." He punctuated the statement by tightening his grip on the grimy shirt in his fist. "Now tell me what you did to David."
"What makes you--" Nervous laughter. "What makes you think we did anything? We were just expressing a bit of honest concern for a friend." From the tense set to his shoulders, he was realizing that 'Uncle Wiesel' wasn't coming to his rescue any time soon.
"Bullshit," Jack spat out. Some distant part of him kept hearing the sound of Sarah's screams and, over that, the solidly painful thud of punches connecting.
Morris' face twisted. His hand came up to clutch angrily at Jack's wrist. "And what if me an' Oscar did happen to run across your pal this morning? What're you gonna do? Go running off to rescue him like some cowboy, huh?" Jack felt fury clawing at his chest, threatening to explode out of him, but Morris was ignoring the way Jack's hand was trembling under his fingers.
"We had some unfinished business with him."
"Stop! Let him go!"
"Kid's mouth is too big, so we fixed that some"
Papes thrown in the mud, dash across the street to see a figure struggling with arms pulled back. Wild surge of anger and sense of satisfaction as his forehead connected with the attacker's face.
"Don't know why you care so much anyway. He deserved what he got."
That was too much for Jack. Teeth clenched, he pushed his face close, ignoring the bars pressing white, bloodless strips against Morris' face. "I'll make sure you get what you deserve later," he ground out, voice low and harsh even to his ears.
He stepped back. With a final jerk, he slammed Morris forward against the bars then dropped his hand. Morris fell into his brother with a groan, clutching a bloody nose and glaring.
Ignoring the way angry tremors still ran through his body, Jack turned his back on the Delancey brothers and looked at his friends. They were watching him with mixtures of surprise and impressed approval.
"I'm goin'--" he said, gesturing with chin to indicate the way to David's place. He didn't trust himself to say much right now.
"Yeah, Jack," Race reassured him. "You want us to--" he pointed to the Delancey's.
"No," Jack said sharply. Let me, Race. Race seemed to understand and nodded. Jack threw Race a quick, tight smile of thanks and whirled away to find David.
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SparksdaNewsie-- *wide-eyed* But…but if you maim me, how will I update? Please don't maim me. That sounds painful.
doukeshi-nanashi-- A little bit of blood for you. No guts, though. lol
(David) *glares* Hey, what are you doing, asking for blood and guts? What'd I ever do to you?
Fyre Eye-- Here be the new chapter. I don't know why bad things always happen to David, but it sure pisses Jack off(at least in my stories). It's fun to watch Jack bash the Delancey brothers.
A Spotty Goil-- *waves Jack/Davey banner*
Krazy Kat-- I'm really glad you enjoy this story. The emotional angst as Jack realizes his feelings will be coming soon. And, thanks. It's nice to be considered very, very good.
Skywise-- ACK! This is the second threat of physical violence I've had over this story. Don't hurt me! *cowers* I wrote more, so don't break anything.
Yay! You consider this to be one of the better Newsies fics. I'm so honored. *sniffles*