Author's Note: Oh man, oh man, oh MAN. It's done. I can't believe it. This makes me so happy, to finally finish something. I hope it makes you happy, too. Everybody wins! A big, big thank you to everyone who read this and an even bigger thanks to anyone who took a few minutes out of their day to drop me a review… especially Falco, Midnight Flare, ershey, Misprint, Frog, Flare-the-Llama, Trolley, and Gothic Author, who were kind enough to review most/all of these insane chapters… Much love! (And love to my wife, who may not have reviewed much but did share that all-important evil!Swifty love. Muah.) But enough of my mood-ruining rambling. Please, finish the story. And tell me what you thought. Thanks.
-Keza

Keeping it Safe
Chapter Twelve: Finale

The thunder came before the rain, warning me of what was the come. I ignored it as best I could and didn't let it slow my steps as I roamed through the section of town I thought Swifty to be in. I had been walking for what felt like hours, and it was possible that I had been out for hours. The sky only continued to get darker, and most people who were much smarter than I had long since retired indoors to wait out the coming storm.

Still, I walked doggedly down street after street looking for any sign that was Swifty was around. I was determined to carry this out no matter who it hurt and no matter how much rain fell. I thought that if I could do this I would be free, free from the stress and worries that had been plaguing me for so long. With Swifty gone, it would be over, I told myself. The thought was incredibly comforting.

Then one thought stopped me short. What if Swifty had already left town? He had gotten rid of Jack, supposedly the one thing that was keeping him here. What if he had split immediately after that and hopped a train to some far off place, laughing at me all the way?

I began walking again. No… he was still in the city. He had to be. No one else could make me this uneasy by simply being within a five mile radius.

Another crack of thunder and I glanced up at the sky; enormous, dark gray clouds covered it and far off I could see occasional flashes of brightness -- lightning. This was going to be a storm to remember.

As I looked back in front of me once more something caught my eye, a flash of some sort, and now that I was paying attention I heard grunts and the tell tale smack of flesh on flesh. Though it was a scene I normally wouldn't bother to disturb, this time I stopped and eyed the alleyway the commotion was coming from. There was a chance - a very slight one, but still a chance - that Jack and Swifty occupied that space.

I walked casually towards the opening and stuck my head around one of the walls hoping that the evening's fast gathering shadows would hide me well. I had been out searching for a long, long time, and the jagged piece of wood I had taken was nearly frozen in my grip.

What I saw surprised me so much that I almost gave myself away. Swifty was there, yes, somehow I had found him. But Jack was nowhere to be seen. Taking his place were three large, apelike figures, and they were talking to Swifty… and by talking, I mean that one of them held Swifty's slumped form up, his hands trapped behind his back, while the other two remained content at taking whatever life he had left in him.

He was cut and bruised, banged up and bleeding like I had never seen any kid before, and not even imagined him to ever be.

He's not invincible, the thought swept through my mind a second time and left me feeling uncomfortable, more so than I already was.

The thugs in the alley were saying something to Swifty which I couldn't make out, but one of them couldn't stop laughing. I heard no reply from Swifty, just silence followed by a muffled crash - a body hitting the ground - and then I heard footsteps. I crossed the street and pretended to be very interested in the writing on a shop's window. Out of the corner of my eye I saw them head in the direction that I'd originally come from.

I waited a few minutes to be safe and then crossed back over and stepped into the dingy alley. I'd been emotionless this whole time, but now that I was facing Swifty I didn't know what I would feel…

He was conscious and he saw me, but there was no doubt in either of out minds that he was dying. I made no move to help him sit up and he made no move to try. He was thoroughly beat, exhausted. Yet still he was the first to speak.

"Sorry you didn't get to do the honors yourself," he croaked, noticing my table leg, and coughed weakly. I saw blood appear around his mouth that wasn't from a split lip or broken tooth.

And suddenly the pieces connected.

"Debtors," I said, then snorted. "Yeah, you were fine with the money." My coolness surprised myself, and I think it surprised him a little, too. Or that's what I'd like to think.

He didn't answer for awhile and I was beginning to think that he couldn't -- or that he had died on me.

He started to chuckle, then. It was a horrible sound, really, all wheezy and raspy, but you could easily tell what he was trying to do. He was laughing at me. His eyes were glazed over, his fingers and hands shaking, and he was swallowing rapidly in an attempt to catch his breath, but… there he was. Dying in an alleyway in an incredibly painful way, and he was the one laughing. It made me angry as he knew it would. He almost seemed to looked pleased when the anger contorted my features.

"A life for a life," I said through gritted teeth. "How'd you take his, Swifty? How'd Jack die?"

"I never touched your beloved Jacky," he said with another cough. "I tried, I tore the goddamn place down looking for him. But the coward split before I could get to him. He left, Snoddy boy. He ran away." He started laughing again. He was a mess.

I stared, shocked. So that was it. All the anger that had been gathering (much like the storm overhead) in me for who knows how long… was it truly only the past few days, or had it been ever since this whole struggle for power had begun… the anger began to drain, leaving my mind and my face and my heart empty. I felt nothing… nothing but disgust, now, as I looked down at the pitiful creature twisted at my feet. Had I really ever been afraid of this boy?

But Swifty had been watching me as carefully as he could as I battled with myself, and his smirk revealed a gruesome sight of broken teeth and bloody gums. I caught sight of the smirk and it reminded me all over again why and how I had been afraid. He was evil. Truly evil.

"I didn't think you could die," I told him and his smile grew wider. He had cut his tongue on the jagged edges of his teeth and every once in awhile he would cough up more blood, an effort which clearly pained him but kept him from choking.

"Everyone dies, Snoddy," he rasped. "And that's the real world. Not your… your fairytale life. People die, Snoddy." He closed his eyes briefly and coughed, sending his body into a spasm. His head cracked back against the pavement and when his eyes fluttered open once more it was noticeably harder for him to focus them on me. "You'll die," he said at last, simply, weakly.

"Not today," I told him quietly. I didn't know if he had heard me or not. He sighed and mouthed something, maybe he was trying to speak. His gaze left me and turned to the sky, where the clouds just kept getting more foreboding, darker and heavier.

"It's coming," he whispered. He turned back to me and grinned again, enjoying the look of ill-concealed horror on my face. His eyes couldn't stay on me anymore, they were roaming everywhere and I doubt he had control over them. "It's coming," he repeated, and started to laugh. My shivers had nothing to do with the cold.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring at his bleeding, shuddering form, but it just kept getting darker and darker out. I felt listless, as dead inside as Swifty was outside, but I couldn't get myself to move. What remained to do now? Swifty would be dead, there was nothing I could really do now to stop of shorten the process.

When his laughter turned hysterical I finally managed to leave, dropping my makeshift "club" behind me. My fingers ached at the release and my ears rang from the atrocious sound that followed me out.

I heard Swifty's laughter all the way home. It contrasted perfectly with the silent tears running down my face, tears that confused me as much as they wore me out. And they in turn were hidden by the sudden downpour of rain opened the sky up as soon as I left the alleyway. It was a long walk back.

-

The door to the Lodging House was unlocked, presumably for me, as it was too late and the rain too heavy for anyone else to be out. I locked it behind me and shook out my hair.

I glanced at the logbook, and for the first time everyone had signed in. I smiled despite myself. Must be Race's doing.

My steps up the creaky, rotten stairs to the bunkroom were loud and quieted the room before I even arrived at the top. They were waiting for me?

I opened the door and a sea of eyes focused on my face. It was too much, and I would've gone back down is Race hadn't slid behind me and pushed me fully into the room.

"What is this?" I muttered, exhaustion catching up to me. Someone offered me their chair and I collapsed into it gratefully.

"Think about it," Race said and took a seat across from me. Remarkably, the rest of the Lodging House was perfectly silent, all straining forward to hear our words. I offered up a weak, bitter smile.

"You're saying that I can think, now?"

Race studied my face carefully. "We'll talk about what happened tonight later," he said, and he sounded concerned. Concerned for my sanity? I certainly was. "There are more pressing things to deal with right now…" He motioned around the small room. "Like this."

"Yeah?" I said. God, I was tired. And I couldn't stop thinking about Swifty. Was he dead yet? I shivered.

"Do you have any dry clothes?" Race's abrupt change of subject took me by surprise.

"Uhm… no," I said and shook my head.

His thoughts took another turn and he returned to his original topic. He was anxious.

"Pie's gone, Snoddy."

I frowned, confused, and opened my mouth to comment but he kept going.

"So is Bumlets. Snitch disappeared, so did Mush, and Jack. And… Swifty's gone." He looked for confirmations. I nodded slowly.

"Seniority, Snoddy," he said softly. "You're the oldest one left, and no one wants to fight anymore." There was no one left to fight, but he didn't say this. I could see it in his eyes. They were hurt. "The Lodging House is yours."

My audience of small newsboys murmured excitedly amongst themselves and I could feel their eyes looking me up and down. Most of them didn't know me, I had never made the effort. Too much had been on my mind recently. How was I supposed to run a Lodging House full of nameless boys? I felt no emotion or reaction at Race's announcement. I just felt tired.

"What about Skittery?" I asked, almost as a last hope. But I hadn't seen him yet that night.

Answering my thoughts, Skittery's head popped up from his top bunk across the room.

"Too late, Snoddy kid!" He crowed. "I got meself a JOB!" He fell back to his bunk, giggling.

"Some guy offered him work in advertising as he heard Skitts "improve" the day's headline," Race explained with a sigh. He rolled his eyes, though he was still studying me. "He came home roaring drunk. Says he'll be gone in the morning." His expression clearly told me that Skitts would only be gone the next morning if he could get out of bed. The boy was infamous for his incredible hangovers. For the second time that night I smiled, again the contrary of my thoughts. I couldn't help it. I tried to steer myself back on track.

"The Lodging House is mine," I said, looking hard at Race.

"Yes, that's what I said."

I thought about this for a few minutes as the room's former silence began to dissolve and the boys started talking. I looked carefully at Race when he was talking to someone else and my smile returned. Suddenly I felt much, much better. And not just about my situation, either. About everything. It was like the world had finally regained its balance for me. For the first time in months, I knew what I could do. And I knew just how to do it.

"My first order of business as head of the Lodging House," I said, my voice heard clearly throughout the room, "is to call a house meeting." There was silence. Everyone was already in the room. I cleared my throat. "Uhm, everyone just come closer."

-

It certainly did make me feel powerful. I sat in my chair in front of dozens of newsboys, all sprawled on the floor. Every bunk had been emptied save Skittery's. He had fallen into a deep sleep and there was nothing we could do to wake him up. No one bothered.

I made Race sit next to me and we were both quiet for a few moments, looking at the young faces that watched us eagerly. The faces of the future, I thought, and tried not to snicker. Race looked over at me expectantly.

"Well?" He said. "Get it over with." He grinned, but there was something behind the grin, something hurt. I hoped I could fix that.

"The truth is," I began loudly, and I addressed Race, not the boys sitting in front of me. "I never wanted this. I never, ever did. And you know what? I still don't."

He was confused.

"I couldn't do this," I continued. "I don't care enough about. In fact, I don't care about it at all." My voice dropped. "You do though, don't you?"

Race just stared at me, mouth slightly open. He nodded, dumbfounded. But was it really that much of a surprise?

"Sorry, boys," now I was talking to the small faces below me. "Sorry I can't stick around, but there are things I have to do." I grinned. "I don't know what they are yet, but I'm sure that will all work out." I heard a clack beside me and guessed that Race had finally closed his mouth. "See this punk up here? You'll have to count on him, now. I know I do."

And after all that, all Race could say was, "You're leaving."

"Yeah," I said. The smile hadn't left my face. "Yeah, I am." I looked out the window.

"Not tonight…"

"Tonight."

"It's raining."

"Nah… look. It stopped." Race followed my gaze. The night was clear as could be. I stood up, set in my decision. "Wish Skittery luck for me," I said. Race rolled his eyes again. He walked me to the door.

I had opened my mouth to say a goodbye when he turned.

"Bed!" He cried with a grin, and the boys scrambled up from the floor and rushed giggling to their bunks. "Let's go! It's late!"

He turned back to me, eyes bright, and I gave him a hug on an impulse. I think he was as surprised as I at the gesture.

"Take care," he said, and that was all he needed to say. I just nodded, and started down the steps.

-

I began walking with nothing more than the wet clothes stuck to my back. I was leaving it all behind… and it felt so damn good.

Fin