A/N- Whoa…Until I wrote down the title to this chapter, I had no idea about the Jack and Sally thing. Y'know, like Nightmare Before Christmas? Whoa…In case I don't update before I leave for a vacation, I just want to say, have a mildly exciting December month! (I don't want to offend anyone) And yes; the song is an original I titled 'Making My Way To Santa Fe.' You will see some more originals in this story later. Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Jack And Sally

Don't waste you time on me

You're already the voice inside my head…

-blink-182

Jack slipped through the door and made his way towards the back door, still clutching the flowers as if it were Valentine's Day. The streets were as barren and empty as they were earlier that day, except for three figures standing by the streetlamp, conversing with one another. One was taller and bigger than the other two who were skinny and short, but they were all men. When Jack came into view, they stopped talking and stared at him like vultures. Jack noticed this and quickly strode into the back door, not risking a fight before seeing Sally…

"Jack, why do you always get in fights?"

"I don't; I just speak my mind."

"With your fists?"

"Yes."

Jack smiled at this memory and saw Medda approaching him for an embrace. He grinned and let her hug him, her fuzzy purple fan poking him in the back.

"How have you been, kid?" She asked as she pulled away and saw the flowers. "Oh, thank you for bringing those back. We got tired of having to waste so many when boys wouldn't bring them back." She reached for them. "I'll take those back to her…"

"No, Medda," he assured her and looked down at them. "I'll take them back. Y'see, Sally and I go way back…to the Refuge."

Medda raised her eyebrows in surprise and shook her head while insulting the Refuge like a concerned mother. She led Jack to one of the dressing room doors and knocked, just as she finished talking.

"Yes?" A small, strained voice replied. "Medda, is it you?" A sigh. "I'm trying to get my damn garters off…. they're not coming off…" Another frustrated sigh.

"It's Medda, dear," she interrupted as Jack blushed, faintly. The door was unlocked and Medda opened the door to reveal Sally with a hiked up skirt on, fiddling with one of the garters on her thigh. Jack was taken aback by the wound right next to it, made by one of the refuge worker's bullets and noticed it had not haled very well. It was black and red and it looked like some deformed bruise that lingered like a virus.

Medda sighed as she walked in, instructing the girl on how to remove the "blasted thing" while Jack lingered in the doorway, not being seen by Sally just yet. He tilted his head to the side to try and get a better look at her, but her face was engulfed by the red hair that fell with a dainty bounce. She finally looked up as she lowered her skirt, placing the two garters on her vanity table and sitting down on the edge of her bed. The room was her bedroom; Jack had overheard Medda complaining to a stagehand about how none of the acts would clean up their rooms and how the mice were going to get in the place.

"Who is that?" She asked Medda nervously while gazing at the shadow outside the room. Medda laughed put a hand on Sally's shoulder while beckoning Jack inside. He entered slowly, letting the light creep up his body and finally to his face. Sally let out an excited cry and leapt up from the bed, running to her friend and throwing her arms around him happily. He returned the embrace and pulled her close as Medda crept out of the room, smiling.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" She whispered in his ear as he closed his eyes, remembering how he would comfort her at the refuge after one of Snyder's beatings. His awareness of where his was snapped back into functioning when she pulled away and sat down on the edge of the bed, patting the spot beside her where she wanted him to sit. He heard the audience outside applaud one of the acts as he slumped down beside her, smiling like a loon before noticing how stupid he looked in the vanity mirror.

"Same here," Jack replied as he handed her the flowers like a bashful child. He tried to straighten himself up in case the other boys were looking through some hole in the wall, but ended up looking paranoid. This is ridiculous, he thought to himself as she took the flowers, graciously. I'm Jack Kelly, strike leader and rebel and here I am acting like some stupid school girl…God, her eyes are pretty…Stop it!

"So, did you ever make it to Santa Fe?" She asked, breaking him out of his mental fight. He stared at her for a moment, and then laughed almost sadly.

"Almost," he breathed, causing her to give him a confused look. "But, then I fell in love with the…" He indicated quotes "'Girl of my dreams.' But, she fell in love with someone else through…"

"Love letters," Sally finished for him. "It's happened to me, too, so don't worry about it."

"You've had men?" He asked before filtering what he would say. She laughed and stood up, walking to the vanity table. He decided to laugh with her as he ran a hand through his hair, inwardly asking himself what was wrong with him. "Yes, but none worked out that well because they all only wanted to… Are you laughing at me, Mr. Jack Kelly?"

The last question was playful and reminded Jack of the young girl he knew at the Refuge; the awkward, funny, lovely girl he met so long ago. She smiled her old half smile and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before looking away with a soft blush filling her cheeks.

"So," Jack exclaimed, later. "How did you get out of the jail?"

She groaned and made a sarcastic pained expression before turning around in her chair to face him. She sighed and looked down at the bouquet that she had forgotten to set down.

"Well," she began as he stared at her with a curious expression on his face. "After you left, Snyder was like a tyrant; he sent out people to look for you and locked me up for months by myself. I would stare out the window, hoping to see you on the horse you always described. You know, the brown one you'd find in Santa Fe with the…"

"White hair shaped like an arrow on his forehead," he said with her like they were reciting an old bedtime story. "Freedom, I remember was his name. Go on."

"Yes," she continued. "Well, a few years went by and I turned sixteen. That day, Snyder let me out of that room and he said something I never forgot. He said, 'Sally, what a woman you have become.' He told me he'd let me out early if I…if I…"

Bastard, Jack thought angrily to himself as he found himself clenching his fists.

"But I didn't. I spat in his face and told him I'd rather die. He hit me and threw me back inside the cell where I waited patiently for my release. The day finally came and I danced out of that place, cursing it and laughing happily, telling the world I was going to Santa Fe. Snyder watched me and told me he'd get me and you back in the refuge somehow."

"How did you get here, though?" Jack asked after a tense minute.

"I was going to find you, but I didn't have the money to get to Santa Fe and you were busy with the strike. I would watch you and the others protesting and wonder how I could catch you eye. I saw the police outside the theatre at the rally drag you out and I was at the children's labor strike cheering when you'd won. Down on my cash, I searched for a job and eventually Medda offered me one here; at first as a stagehand, then an act when she heard me sing. Now, it's all worked…"

"Jack?" A voice called from outside the door. It opened to reveal David, Race, and Blink in the doorway with relieved expressions on their faces when they found him. Jack straightened up and introduced them to Sally, one by one."

"Enchanted, mademoiselle," Race said in a terrible French accent as he took her hand in his and kissed it.

"You mind it I cut in, Jacky-boy?" Blink asked as he imitated the same gesture as Race. She blushed as Jack gave Blink a look that oozed poison.

"Pleased to meet you," David said, and shook her hand. The other boys laughed at him and ran out the door, calling for Jack to come with them to see Mush set fire to a bunch of papes in the square. Jack rushed a hand through his hair again, laughing at the guys as he turned to Sally for their goodbyes.

"Don't mind them. They're idiots." He assured her with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. She laughed as he took her hand in his. "Can I see you tomorrow? You know, just to catch up."

"Of course," she replied. "After my act, just come through the back door. Hopefully next time, I won't be having a wrestling match with my garters."

"Goodbye," he breathed and disappeared through the door into the shadows.

"Don't forget!" She called. "We have a lot of catching up to do!"

"I won't!" Came the reply.

Sally breathed heavily and waited till she heard the back door shut before grasping the bouquet and dancing through her room like a loon. She collapsed on her bed and sucked in the aroma of the flowers as she drifted into a sleep that was drunk on dreams.

"Jack Kelly," she sighed. "Exactly as I remember…"

Jack ran out the back door into the night, dancing ahead of his friends in a dreamy daze. His friends exchanged awkward looks and chuckled to themselves as he threw one arm up at the night sky.

"I guess something was in those flowers," Mush whispered as the boys headed to the square. Jack took no part in this; he went straight to the lodging house and fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of Sally dancing before him on the stage.

"Sally, Sally, Sally," he whispered to himself before falling into unconsciousness. "You have grown…"