A/N: "Captain Jack" is borrowed from the Billy Joel song, and the lyrics belong only to Billy Joel. Newsies characters belong solely to Disney, and I claim no ownership over either of those elements in this fic. -Layne

Saturday night and you're still hangin' around

Tired of living in your one-horse town

You'd like to find a little hole in the ground,

For awhile

David was home alone, as was normal nowadays. He was left to his own thoughts, his own dreams, which was never a good thing. He felt things that weren't natural, things he tried to tell his family, but instead of understanding, they only alienated him more. So lately, he pretended he'd never said them at all, and tried to be normal. But you can't be normal when you're all alone. Realizing this, he grabbed his car keys, and headed out the door.

So you go to the Village in your tie-dyed jeans

And you stare at the junkies and the closet queens

It's like some pornographic magazine

And you smile

He smiled to himself, laughing a little at the irony. Here he was, staring and gawking, as if he were on the other side of the glass, looking in. But in all reality, the glass was a mirror. He was these people, and these people were him.

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack will get you by tonight

Just a little push, and you'll be smilin'

David didn't know his real name. He just knew him by some made-up moniker that made him sound important. There he was, on the corner, and as David approached him, he nodded. "You lookin' for me?" When David just smiled shyly, he dug into his pocket. "I know what you need." David took the tiny package and handed him the money, then went home. Alone again, but the feeling was sweet. Nothing was wrong now, no one could bring him down, not when he was here with his only real friend.

Your sister's gone out, she's on a date

You just sit at home and masturbate

Your phone is gonna ring soon, but you just can't wait

For that call

Sarah had been dating David's friend Jack for a couple of months now. Jack was a good guy, and treated Sarah well, but David knew they weren't meant to be together. Jack was made for David, and while Jack didn't know this, David did, and that's what was important. Any minute now, though, Jack would call and say that he was wrong when he told David that he wasn't that way. He was just confused. He loved him, too.

So you stand on the corner in your New English clothes

And you look so polished from your hair down to your toes

But still your finger's gonna pick your nose

After all

He was back again, waiting by that corner. He'd used up his last purchase, as he called them, far more quickly than usual. People were looking at him, and he supposed he did look strange, standing in this part of town, dressed as nicely as he was. He'd gotten dressed up with the intention of waiting for Sarah to get home, with hopes of wooing Jack by making him see the suave, intelligent, stand-up kind of man he really was. But then he'd realized he needed another visit with his oldest, truest friend.

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack will get you by tonight

Just a little push, and you'll be smilin'

And smiling he was, laying back on his bed, by himself but not alone. He heard the front door open, heard Sarah's "seductive" laugh ring out in the living room. Their slightly drunken whispers carried through the house, and he could hear them fumbling through the hallway. Jack fell back against his bedroom door and it swung open, revealing David on the bed, the needle barely concealed beside him. "Sorry, man," Jack slurred, but David felt too good to be bothered.

So you decide to take a holiday

You got your tape deck and your brand-new Chevrolet

Ah, but there ain't no place to go anyway

What for?

He sat in the driver's seat of his car, felt the wind in his hair and the wheels turning under his feet, though the car sat still in the driveway. He left the windows rolled up and the volume as high as it could go, and took a road trip in his own head. A road trip to escape everything: love, addiction, pain. It all went away while he was on his little excursion. But he found himself staring at a stoplight, and it all came flooding back.

So you got everything, ah, but nothing's cool

They just found your father in the swimming pool

And you guess you won't be going back to school

Anymore

It was summertime, and they'd had a barbecue. Everyone was feeling pretty good, and David and his dad had more than a few beers in them. David decided to sit down and have a talk with him, man to man, father to son. He told him about the feelings that churned inside of him. That he thought he might be gay. His father yelled and yelled, then went outside into the heat to work in the yard, as he always did when he was frustrated. He was cleaning the pool when he passed out from heat stroke, and no one got to him until it was too late.

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack will get you by tonight

Just a little push, and you'll be smilin'

That's when it had started. David had gone out after dark, looking around the Village for an escape. And he'd found it, in those words he'd heard so many times since. "I know what you need." It was what he'd needed. He was so thankful.

So you play your albums, and you smoke your pot

And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot

Oh, but you're still aching for the things you haven't got

What went wrong?

After his father's outrage, and his death, David decided to hide the feelings he'd told him about. He decided to prove to him that he was still his son. He found himself a girlfriend, Rosie, who he'd take to dinner and push himself to be intimate with. Now, as he lay naked, sweaty, and out of breath in his backseat, with Rosie sleeping on top of him, he thought, This should be Jack. What had gone wrong, indeed?

And if you can't understand why your world is so dead,

Why you've got to keep in style and feed your head

Well, you're twenty-one and still your mother makes your bed

And that's too long

Everyone thought they knew how things needed to be. He needed to get out, get a job, get a life. They also said he needed to get help, but they didn't know what they were talking about. He was doing just fine. He had all the help he needed, waiting right there in his hand.

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack will get you by tonight

Just a little push, and you'll be smilin'

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack could make you die tonight

Just a little push, and you'll be smilin'

His little brother, Les, walked into David's room with the intention of asking to borrow a CD. David lay on the bed, presumably asleep, and Les tried to wake him. Then he noticed his eyes, and the strange, sickly smile on his face. Les screamed for help, but David was already cold.