Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Newsies. In fact, the only characters I do own are Fantasy, Dimples, Bridie/Buttons, and Jimmy/Sky. The girl newsies, leprechauns, faeries, and elves all own themselves.

Author's Note: So much for promising to never take that long to update again... I believe this time I took longer. I won't promise anything this time, but I will apologize to all of you. Now read, because you've waited way long enough already.


"Elves?" Snapshot eclaimed, laughing. Here they were, all the newsies of Manhattan. Specs stood in front of the room, having just finished saying he, along with a few of the new lodgers, were elves. "Are ya feelin' all right?"

Specs turned to Racetrack, gesturing at him to stand up and help him, which he did. "It's true. He's an elf."

"And let me guess, you'rea fairy," Half Pint said sarcastically.

"Well, no, he's not. I am." Itey walked up next to his friends.

"I'm a leprechaun," Racetrack said in a tone of light insult. "Not a faerie. Really, me, a faerie!" He grinned and Itey elbowed him.

"This is not the time to be foolin' around," he mumbled.

"Prove it." Nani had stood up from her seat on the couch that she had claimed. The rest of the newsies shouted in agreement.

"Prove what?" Specs asked, frowning at her.

"Prove dat you are what ya say you are," Air shouted out.

"How are we to do that?" Itey asked. "It's not like we really have powers."

"Then how can we believe you?" Kane asked, her blue eyes staring intently at Itey.

Racetrack, seeing that she wasn't judging them too quickly but instead was giving them a chance to ecplain themselves, lept towards Skittery. "Give me your hat."

"What?" Skittery frowned at him.

"I won't ruin it, just let me see it for a second, will ya?"

"Use your own," Skittery said, crossing her arms.

Mush stood up. "Here, use mine."

"I don't know if you want to trust the leprechaun with it," Blink smirked. It was an old habit- when he was faced with something he didn't understand, he mocked it.

Racetrack ignored the commentand took the hat offered to him. "Thanks, Mush." He walked back and joined Specs, cap in hand.

But, all of a sudden, it wasn't a hat, but a pair of pants hanging from Race's hand.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph..." Fantasy said, staring at it.

"What did you do?" Striker asked, staring at the pants.

"Damn it, Race, that's not right," Dutchy said.

Skittery took his own hat off his head and looked at it, wondering if it was going to turn intoa pair of pants, too.

"Do you believe me now?" Racetrack asked. He glanced at the pants, instantly changing them back into a hat. "Here, Mush."

Mush came and stood beside Racetrack, placing his hat on his head. "They're all what they say they are."

"So, you're an elf?" Snitch asked Specs.

"Yes. Now, please, listen to us," Specs looked around the room at his friends. "We need your help. We've had a bit of a trouble with our enemies..." He trailed off, frowning. How would he ever explain everything?

"Basically, we need you to help us fight," Mush said. "Are any of ya willing to?"

"Us?" Bumlets asked from his place against the doorframe. "You're an elf or something, too?"

"No, but... it's complicated." Mush stared at Racetrack, not sure how to explain it.

"Fight what?" Half Pint asked curiously.

This was good. Race smiled a little. "Have any of you ever heard of Irish folklore?"

"I know a bit about it," Snoddy offered.

"Have you heard ofmerrows or banshees?" Itey asked.

"I've heard of banshees- they wail a lot, right?" Snoddy asked.

Specs nodded. "Yeah... and that's who we have to fight. They're trying to take over Ireland."

There was silence for a moment as the words sunk in. Skittery caught Kid's eye, and they both burst out laughing, most of the newsies copying them.

"What?" Racetrack asked them angrily.

"They're trying to take over Ireland?" Skittery got out between laughs. "You're crazy!"

"I'll admit it, you had me fooled." Kid grinned at his friends. "But will ya stop jokin' now?"

"We're not joking!" Specs cried out. That they would think, even for a second, that he would joke about this, something so close to him... "Don't you understand? If we don't win against them, we'll lose our freedom. All of us will become their slaves, farming the soil we've farmed since the world began. But we wouldn't be able to rest, to walk about the hills at night. They'll be no more Ireland, and who knows what will happen to the rest of the world. We've come together, the elves, faeries, and leprechauns, and found the only half-blood still alive, and we're still not strong enough!The saintssave us that we had to turn to humans to help us fight!"

Skittery and Kid stared at him, all trace of laughter gone from their faces. A quick glance around the room showed that everyone was stunned.

Racetrack laid a hand on Specs' arm before he could say more. They needed to be calm about this and not let temper get in the way. It was a rare thing for Specs to say anything against humans, and Race was a little worried his friend had lost it. Specs looked over at Racetrack, noticed the worry on his face, and took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm sorry I said that. I was just brought up to believe..." He sighed, trailed off, and looked down.

"We're not asking that all of you believe us," Mush said. "We're just askin' that ya try to. If ya can, we could use your help to fight."

It was dead silent. Everyone was staring at each other, trying to understand, to grasp what was happening.

Specs closed his eyes, his arms limp at his sides. No one would help. Racetrack's hand slipped away and he slowly looked his way, nodding. They should go and tell Bridie what had happened. No need to just stand there, making them more foolish they than needed to be. Just as he turned to head for the door, a movement to his right diverted his attention.

Jack Kelly stood and surveyed his fellow newsies before smiling at Specs, Itey, Race, and Mush. "I can't say we all believe ya. But you're out friends, and you know you can count on us ta help."

While this was happening, the other people from Ireland were sitting comfortably on the chairs and any other piece of furniture which sat in the Girl's Lodging House. They had, with good reason, decided on letting the four boys who had lived so long among the newsies convince them into joining the fight.

"Are we to train them all here?" Tag asked.

"For a couple of weeks, yes," Bridie answered. "Then we'll see who is still willing to help us."

"Let's hope they all are," Trolley said, pushing her red hair from her eyes. "We need their help."

"Unfortunately." Dewey stood up from her chair and walked to the window.

"Dewey,humans aren't so bad," Sparrow said.

"She's right, ye know." Marbles nodded and joined her. "And besides... there's hardly a chance of us winning without them on our side."

"But why?" Stress asked, frowning a little.

"Why what?" Bridie asked the young leprechaun.

"Why do we need humans to help us win?"

"I don't understand that, either," Tag said.

"Humans have a special power," Bridie explained.

"Humans have power?" Tree asked, scoffing.

"Aye, they do."

When Bridie didn't continue, Smirk leaned forward, prompting her on. "I never knew of their power. What is it, Bridie?"

Bridie sighed. "That I don't know, lad. All I do know is that there's somethin' within all humans that we're not capable of havin'. Without it, we're at a disadvantage."

"And how do ye know there's a power if ye can't even tell us what it is?" Jazz asked. She was frustrated with everything, and her sparkly pink wings were quivering because of it.

"From me Da, before he got killed in battle." Bridie stared at the table in front of her. Rarely did she talk about personal matters such as these, and everyone, without meaning to, was leaning towards her, dead silent. "I was but a wee elf, about the age of ye, Sky. Me Da told me of a friend of his, a human, who had died beside him in a battle. He told me to always have a human on my side, as there was somethin' about them, a wonderful power that he hoped I would have the chance of finding out what it is for myself."

"He didn't tell you what it was?" Blue Boxer was all but whispering, being so caught up in the story.

"No, he didn't. But me Da was never wrong, and so we'll use the help of humans, and hopefully we'll find out what their power is." Bridie shifted, ending her story.

"Does Mush have that power, too?" Sky asked, a question in his eyes as he looked towards Bridie.

"Yes. He's human as much as he is a faerieor elf. So yes, he would have all the powers of a human."

"We're lucky he's on our side, then." Leanna sat back, let out a deep breath. "If he's human, along with all of the Irish blood in him, then he'd be a powerful opponent."

"Yes, we're very lucky," Bridie said. "Without Mush, we wouldn't stand a chance. I didn't want to tell you how important it was for him to be on our side until we knew for sure where he had chosen to be."

"We can't let anything happen to him," Dewey agreed.

"We'll keep as close a watch on him as we're able to," Bridie said. "But for now, let's worry over the question of whether or not the humans are helping us."

"We won't have to wait for long." Dewey turned from the window. "They're coming down the street now."

Sky ran to the window and looked out. "They look happy."

"Let's hope they are." Marbles stood up from her chair, watching for the door to open. The rest, anxious, stood up, staring as the door began to open.

"Well?" Smirk pressed when Specs was framed in the doorway, Race, Itey, and Mush standing behind him.

"We've got a lot of training to do," Specs annouced, smiling. "They're willing enough to help us."

Sky let out a whoop. "Then we'll beat them!"

"Let's hope most of them stay with us after training. They-"

Racetrack cut Bridie off. "Don't ruin the moment, Bridie. Just be happy for once."

"I am happy! I'm just thinking of the future-"

Sparrow laughed. "Oh, Bridie, there's plenty of time to think of the future later. We should celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Bridie looked around increduously.

"We'll take the humans out somewhere!" Jazz decided, her wings buzzing happily now.

"Tibby's?" Itey asked.

"Or Irving Hall," Racetrack suggested.

"You just like Medda." Mush grinned and ducked as Racetrack sent his hat at him.

"Do ye have any good pubs around these parts?" Smirk asked.

"We'll not go out and drink," Bridie protested.

"There's one I go to when I can," Racetrack said, ignoring her. "But it's a bit expensive."

"How do you get in, then?" Trolley asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"You'd never guess how mucha leaf can look like a dollar bill." Race laughed.

"That's stealing, that is," Stress said, but she smiled. "But it's their own fault for not knowin' the difference between a leaf and a dollar."

"Irving Hall would be nice," Specs said, thinking on it.

"Irving Hall it is, then!" Racetrack shouted and began to leave.

"No!" Bridie shouted, her voice hard and cold. "We're not going out tonight, we've too much training to do tomorrow morning."

"We've got to have some fun, Bridie," Sky said, frowning.

"And I agree, but tonight's not the night."

"Why not?" Blue Boxer asked cautiously.

"We'll need every ounce of energy tomorrow morning."

Racetrack sighed. He knew she was right- training the newsies to fight would be harder than it was to train Mush to fight. And as there were a lotmore of them, they had a lot of work to do. However, he couldn't help being disappointed that they weren't allowed to celebrate. Wasn't it better, after all, to get to know the newsies before they began to train them? He was about to say so, but stopped himself. "You've a way to ruin all of our fun, Bridie."

"I promise, I'll let ye havea night to celebrate when I know the training is goin' well, and I've no way of knowin' that now."

"Are we to go to bed now, then?" Sky asked, frowning.

"Yes."

"You heard the boss, we better get to bed," Racetrack said sarcastically. He again turned to leave, but without any enthusiasm, and lead the boys out.

The girls headed up to their own beds in the Lodging House as the boys emptied out of the room.

"Ye know, Bridie. They're right, ye've got to loosen up a bit," Dewey said simply before following her friends.

When the room was empty, Bridie sat down again, sighing. She, too, wanted to go out and celebrate, but something was holding her back. She had this... feeling, a feeling that something wasn't right. She had thought it would go away when she heard the newsies were on their side, but it was still there, churning inside her. She placed her head on her hands, holding it up. What could it be about? She heard something move in front of her,like the flap of a coat,and looked up quickly to find nothing but the dark wood of the Lodging House. Her imagination was playing tricks on her again. She glanced out the window when she heard voices and saw the girl newsies heading towards the door. She stood up, ready to thank them for helping them, when she heard the flap again. She looked towards the noise and heard, unmistakably, the croaky, screechy laugh of a merrow, the shimmer of one standing by the sign-in sheet on the counter, before the door banged open and the room filled with the girls' voices.


I wasn't planning on ending it that way. But I like it.

And I'm hoping that this will be updated by March 17th, for the sake of Saint Patrick. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?