AN: No, you are not dreaming. No, the world hasn't come to a standstill.

Yes. This IS an official update of 'Soldiers at Heart'. I guess you could say I busted down the wall of writer's block, crumbled it up into dust, and blew it all the way to Russia.

So…here it is! Enjoy, cause I know you've been waiting a loooooooooong time!

                                                                                                                                               

Blink

            After Dutchy and Skittery had left I tested myself again, taking a short walk across the room as David looked on with his completely disapproving look. Jessica was too busy with Itey to worry about me, and Mush didn't say a single word.

            "I'm going, guys." I said after a few minutes on my feet, and David's eyes got as big as saucers.

            "You can't leave! You're hurt!" He insisted, but I ignored him, grabbing my hat and putting it on my head. Mush slowly stood, and I shook my head before he even said anything.

            "Mush, you're not coming. No way."

            "But Blink…"

            "I said no."

            "Since when did you become me muddah?"

            I sighed deeply as he gave me that 'look', but I didn't get a chance to say anything before Jessica spoke up. Her hands and clothes were soaked in blood, as was the table Itey was lying on and the floor around it.

            "None of you can leave. He's not going to make it…someone needs to be here with him, and the more, the better."

            Mush swallowed hard, trying to stand and leaning against a chair to stay on his feet. "Don't say that. He's gotta make it."

            "I wouldn't bet on it. He's just…" Jessica stopped, biting her lip and shaking her head. I walked over to the table and grabbed Itey's hand, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

            "I guess…I guess I wouldn't be much help out there anyway." I said, scared by how pale Itey had become. His breath was coming in short, shallow gasps, his chest heaving with each gasp. Little moans and whimpers escaped his mouth every so often, and he had long ago dropped unconscious.

            "Jessica…please tell us there's a chance." David pleaded, his voice cracking in mid-sentence. Jessica hesitated, and then gave us a small, forced smile.

            "Do you kids believe in God?"

            I looked from Mush, to David, and then back to her. "We ain't got nothin' else ta believe in."

            "Then start praying…there's always a chance for a miracle."

Skittery

            Those bastards had told all my friends that I was dead. Well…at least for once in my life, someone would actually be glad to see me. And at least I knew that everyone other than Blink, Mush, and Itey seemed to be okay.

            "So…how are we gonna find out where da arms storage is?" I asked Dutchy, and he looked around helplessly.

            "I don't know. If I ask, they'll know I'm not a German soldier."

            "But we can't just wander around New York City till we find it."

            "I know!"

            I shut up after Dutchy snapped at me- he rarely spoke that harshly, and when he did, you knew to shut your mouth before he got really mad. His blue-green eyes flashed with desperation as he pulled his horse to a stop, turning it around and finally putting his head in his hands.

            "I don't know what to do. I just don't know." He stuttered, and I pulled my horse up next to his and grabbed his shoulder.

            "It's okay. Dey know what they're doing. And dey gots an inside contact."

            "Yeah, but…I've gotta find him. Them."

            I snickered at the sudden correction, but decided to go easy on him and ignore it. "Dutchy…you's a whole lot smarter den me. And if you can't figure it out, I sure can't."

            Dutchy looked up at me, and at first his eyes were a hopeless mix of desperation and anguish. I decided to try a different approach…maybe an approach that was a bit more sensitive, but I had to get through to him.

            "You've gotta be there for him. He needs you more than anything right now…and I think you need him just as much."

            That's when it happened: his eyes snapped like switchblades into determination and aggression. He sat up, grabbed onto the horse's reins, and gave the horse a swift kick. I had to hurry to catch up, and by the time we turned a corner, Dutchy yanked the horse into a stop right next to a group of German officers.

            They began speaking in rapid-fire German, and it quickly escalated into a full-scale argument with many gestures made toward me. I felt my heart leap into my throat as one of the officers pulled a gun, but Dutchy seems unphased.

            Dutchy pulled his horse back a few steps and looked at me as the officers advanced.

            "Thornton Avenue, the third warehouse on the left." He said. "Go, Skittery."

            "What?! I can't-"

            "Go! Now!"

            For a moment, I was torn. We'd been found out, and if I didn't leave now, we'd both be killed. But if I went, they'd kill him for sure.

            Dutchy saw my indecision, and quite suddenly he reached over and slapped my horse on the rear, and he took off, almost flinging me to the pavement. I recovered my wits quickly, shaking my head in frustration as I bolted away. A few gunshots sounded, and bullets flew past me, but I turned the corner and was in safety within seconds.

            Unlike Dutchy.

            Something had gone seriously wrong back there. Very, very wrong.

Snitch

            Gunter explained the plan on the way there. Jack, Bumlets and Race would stay outside to provide a distraction, while me, Gunter, and Specs would go inside and light the longest fuse we could find to blow that place to high heavens. And believe me…I was ready to blow up every single last one of those damn Germans.

            "I wonder where Dutchy is." Specs muttered with a sigh, holding onto Race's waist with a death grip as the horse calmly walked forward. Nobody answered him- we were pretty sure that with Dutchy's obvious talent in speaking German, he would be able to take care of himself.

            And we were all too consumed by anger and grief to take guesses about the fate of another newsie.

            I couldn't concentrate on what Gunter was saying. The rhythm of the horse below me was practically the only thing that I felt as my mind drifted. I was trying to remember all the times I'd spent with Skittery, and I was quite suddenly realizing that I really hadn't spent much time with him. He'd always been off on his own, doing his own thing, hawking the headlines alone.

            Did he even know how important he was to us?

            Because as much as I hated myself for it, I couldn't change the fact that I'd never told him.

            I could still see that lopsided smile he had, see him laughing that laugh that was barely a laugh at all, more like a bigger smile…I could see the way he crossed his arms when he was upset, tucking his chin down and ignoring the world…hell, I could even still hear his voice.

            "Snitch! SNITCH!"

            Yep. I could hear his voice. It almost sounded like he was actually there, yelling at me.

            "Snitch…Snitch, turn around!" Race said after glancing back. At first I wondered why Race would play such a cruel joke, but then I heard the sound of hooves on pavement behind me, and I decided to just take one look back. Just one.

            "Ya bum…were you gonna leave me outta da fun?"

            He may as well have been on a pure white horse with the light of heaven shining down upon him. But I wouldn't have cared if he was caked in mud from head to toe.

            I leaped off my horse so fast that I almost fell on my face. I rushed over to him as he calmly dismounted, and I tackled him in a hug, trying to speak even as I cried out of pure joy.

            "Skitts…you was dead! Dey told me you was DEAD!" I sobbed, burying my face in his shirt, taking in everything about him that I could. His distinct smell, his heartbeat, his steady, deep breathing…I had already learned the hard way that my chances to notice simple things like that could end in a flash, and I wouldn't give it up now. I wouldn't take it for granted again.

            "Jesus, Snitch…are you alright?"

            I looked up at him, noting the genuine surprise in his eyes, but I didn't get in a response before the other guys were crowded around in a group hug that we ended up in the middle of.

            "Skitts, do you know where Dutchy is?" Specs asked after a moment, and Skittery slowly crossed his arms and dropped his eyes to the ground.

            "I don't know. We got separated near the distribution center. I mean…they found out he's not German."

Specs

            Against my wishes, everyone decided that we had to keep with the original plan and hope Dutchy made it on his own. They tried to convince me that Dutchy would be fine, that if anyone could make it out of a situation like this, it would be Dutchy. But it was pretty hard to believe, even for me.

            We got to the warehouse, where Gunter managed to get us to a prisoner tent, where we quickly got ready for 'Operation Dutchy'. Yep. I thought it was cheesy, but encouraging on some level.

            And once we felt prepared, we untied all the other prisoners, and we made a jail break bigger than any refuge escape.

            And when Gunter, Skittery, Snitch and I ran for the main warehouse, I couldn't help but check every passing officer in the chaos to see if there were any with intense blue-green eyes, silky blonde hair, and a smile that could brighten any day of war…

                                                                                                                                               

AN: Ha! This is the second to last chapter. I don't particularly think this is one of my better fics…but I felt like I needed to finish it anyway. So the last chapter should be up tomorrow.

See that purple (or is it blue?) button down there? Yeah, down, down…a little to the left…okay, there it i. If you press it and type somethin' nice, you get virtual cookies from me!!!!!!!!