Author's Note: Here we go, the second part, just as I promised. I also want to say that I am A) super psyched about the reviews – yay. I am one of those review whores you anxiously check my e-mail to see if any reviews come in. I just really like to hear what people think about my work. Especially when I work on intricate pieces like this one and Diabo¸ I work on it during the entire week in between updates, setting up what each chapter means to the overall outcome. For example, in this work, I knew where Luke ends up. I'm trying to show you all how exactly he got there. Maria's death, while sad, played a vital role – but it was not, by any means, the worst of what will happen. Poor Luke. B) Thank you all for your character profiles. I really did not think people would be interested in it but you guys proved me wrong. I will work you all in somewhere, beginning with the next chapter. So, keep your eyes out ;)

Disclaimer: These are always mandatory when dabbling in fan fiction. If there is anything at all that is reminiscent of the 1992 musical Newsies, then it probably belongs to Disney. The characters of Luke/Rip & his family, Caitlin/Spindle, and Jessa, specifically, are mine, as well as others that may work their way into this story. Any others belong to their respective authors and will be noted in individual disclaimers.

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A Virgin's Touch

05.24.06

They say that what men desire is a virgin who is a whore.
Maybe that's what I was looking for. It's what I made her, after all.

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PART II

"Fuck you," he spat out, pushing Gabriel hard in the chest. "Fratello," he added, lacing the last word with as much spite as he could muster. Gabriel, two years his senior and at least four inches taller, stumbled only slightly. For all the indifference the younger Divenize had shown throughout the mourning process, Gabriel had never assumed Luke to grow so violent now that the focus of the discussion turned to their sister's murderer.

Carolina Divenize held her hands to her heart and slumped into the safe arms of her distraught husband. Tears sprung to her brown eyes and she began to sob. "L'oh, la mia famiglia povera. Quando lo scopo di dolore e la mia famiglia saranno ancora interi?" she wailed and clung to Giovanni. Neither parent had grieved near long enough for Maria; with every outburst between Luke and Gabriel, Carolina seemed to feel the pain anew.

Giovanni tried to calm her but his whispers did nothing to slow her sobs before helping her into her seat at the kitchen table. He eased her out of his arms and, staggering a bit, took the seat next to her. Ever since such fights as these between their eldest children became commonplace, shortly after Maria had been buried, neither parent had the strength to stop them. Their emotions were still in disarray following the slaughter of their only daughter. Instead of being authoritative parents, they became unwilling spectators.

Gabriel fought the urge to strike out at his brother. It was he who had taken control of the family and he knew he had to set an example for Tonio and Paolo, even though the two younger boys had already been sent to bed for the night. If he shoved Luke back, even if only to put his younger brother back into his place, he would be telling the others that it was alright to hit. And, after the brutal way Maria had been stabbed to death, Gabriel wanted no other reminder of violence – especially from inside the family. "Luke," he said, trying to maintain a sense of calmness, "can't you see that this is hurting Mama? You need to calm down. No one said that we weren't gonna keep looking for the person who did that to Maria. I just said that we need to heal our family first and try to get past this before we seek revenge. The police are doing all they can."

Luke's icy blue eyes fell on his mother's sobbing form and, for a moment, they seemed to flicker with the life that had been there until Maria's death. But the flicker lasted only for that one moment; in the next his emotionless expression was back. When he spoke he sounded much calmer than Gabriel had. His anger was gone, replaced by the coldness that had become normal for the young teenager. "I understand, Gabriel. I'm sorry for my actions. I just want to make sure that whoever hurt Maria gets what is due to them."

Gabriel nodded, relieved that, this time, Luke had given in so readily. His tired face split into a grin. He was still working five days a week at Vincenzo's, one of the many Italian restaurants in the area. Then, when his eight-hour shifts as a dishwasher were complete, he came home and cooked supper for his family, as well as checking up on his younger brothers. His father, while he continued in his job at the factory, had been spending more time drinking alcohol lately; his mother did nothing but sob and pray. It had only been two months since Maria was buried and his family was falling apart. Tonio and Paolo had each acted out considerably: Paolo would not leave the apartment unless he was dragged by Gabriel while Tonio had already got into four fistfights.

But Luke, he was the most affected by his sister's murder. The pair had been extremely close and it was easy for Gabriel to see that Luke blamed himself for her death and wished that it had been he who had been killed in her stead. While Luke never said as much, Gabriel knew just by the way his brother gazed at her photograph. If he didn't know any better, he could almost swear that Luke loved Maria in a much different manner than the rest of the family – but that was silly. He was her brother and he loved her as they all loved her.

At first, Luke had illustrated his personal grief by refusing to attend the Church service and burial. He ended up breaking down, going to the service and taking his place between Gabriel and Tonio in the first pew when his mother sobbed and prayed that Dio was taking two children away from her. Later, rather than ignoring her death, Luke had taken to haunting her gravesite during the times when he was not out intimidating the neighborhood kids for information about the murder. Even though it had been two months, and the young girl had been murdered in broad daylight, the police had no leads on who perpetrated the brutal crime.

Gabriel took a step forward and tried to pat his brother's shoulder. Luke, however, flinched upon the contact and backed up. Gabriel sighed and took his hand back. "Listen, Luke, we'll talk about this later," he said under his breath. He looked at Luke and then turned his head slightly so that his blue eyes rested on their mother. Luke understood and shrugged his agreement. Though his emotions had been detached since Maria's death, the sight of his mother so upset always seemed to awaken some sense of decency in him, even if it was for just a few seconds.

Giovanni recognized the end of another of his sons' arguments. Before they could start up again, he gently squeezed his wife's arms. "Venuto, il mio amore," he said, his speech slightly slurred. It was still somewhat early in the evening and the liquor had not taken a strong hold of his senses yet. He helped her get to her feet and guided her away from the table. Carolina reluctantly let him maneuver her out of the kitchen, towards their bedroom. Right before they left Luke and Gabriel alone in the kitchen, she stopped and pulled on Giovanni's arm. He stopped and used the wall as support to keep himself standing. "Sonno bene, i miei figli," she said, her voice thick from crying, as she wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her blouse. "Ricordisi di, ti amo entrambi molto." She let her words hang in the air before taking hold of Giovanni's arm. The man took it as a sign that she was ready for bed and began to lead her away again.

Gabriel smiled sadly. "Ti amo, anche, mama," he called after her, trying to keep his voice from sounding the depression he felt. Where Luke's emotions had become rather detached, and his father drowned his sorrows in drink, his mother had become overly emotional. Whenever she said goodbye to any of her children, she made sure to tell them she loved them. The first time Paolo questioned her – because, as a young boy, love was "icky" – the entire family had to listen to Carolina wail for three hours how her last words to Maria were "Riportate quel pidocchio di un fratello di il vostro."

He heard a hiccupped sob escape his mother and nudged his brother in the side with his elbow. Like he had before, Luke flinched but Gabriel ignored him. "Say goodnight to Mama," he hissed.

He listened to his brother but maybe it would have been better if he hadn't it. When he spoke his voice came out dry and unfeeling. "Buona notte, Mama."

Her sob was even louder this time before Giovanni had the sense to shut the door behind him and his wife.

Luke and Gabriel stood together in the kitchen, in silence, for a few minutes before the older boy quietly left the room. Luke remained where he was standing. There was a slight nagging feeling that maybe he should have said something nice to his mother. He couldn't help it though. The cold words were out before he had even thought them. He remained staring at the white wall, stained yellow from years of the smoking that took place in the kitchen. It was calming and, if there was anything he needed, it was calm sensation that could overtake the emptiness he felt.

He saw Gabriel return to the kitchen, a glass bottle in his hand. When his brother retrieved a glass from the cupboard, and sat down at the table, Luke paid attention to the bottle he had. The label, peeling away from the green glass, said: Vino. His brother had stolen one of their father's bottles of wine. Deep inside this struck him as wrong. The slight feeling nearly succumbed to the overpowering emptiness but not before Luke sat at the table and pointed at the considerable amount of dark red liquid Gabriel had just poured into his glass. "What are you doing, Gabriel?"

Gabriel glanced up at Luke and did not even try to bring his grin back to his face. Luke, with all the trouble he had been causing the family, did not deserve it. It occurred to Luke, at that moment, how tired his older brother looked – and how similar he was in appearance to his father. Though, he reasoned, that probably had something to do with the glass of wine in his strong hand. Gabriel just shrugged. "Like Papa said, 'I drink to drown my sorrows,'" he said before lifting the glass to his lips.

Luke took the seat next to his brother and narrowed his eyes. "Well, let me tell you, I think that your sorrows know how to swim and your drink there really means nothing," he said, condescendingly, as he reached out and pulled the wine bottle away from his brother.

Gabriel laughed and placed the glass down. "That is the smartest thing I've heard from you in weeks, Luke. Where did you get that from?"

That sad yet intense expression that he assumed whenever he looked at Maria's photograph crossed his face momentarily. "A very smart girl said that once," he said, and Gabriel knew exactly who he was referring to. He raised his glass again and took another sip. Whether it drowned his sorrows or not, he needed the dullness it provided. He understood now exactly why his father fell into a heavy drinking pattern when life became too much for him.

Luke watched as Gabriel took various drinks of his glass. He shook his head and his dark hair, longish now that he neglected his monthly trim, fell forward to cover his eyes. Here he was, giving out logic that Maria had given. She always had a tendency to try to help people, and she really was as sweet and innocent as she appeared to be. It's not fair. Why did she have to die? From beneath the emptiness flared up an intense hatred but it was quickly pushed aside. He couldn't afford to get angry. When he was angry he did bad things. Things Maria, up in Heaven, would never approve of.

Without bothering to get his own glass, Luke grabbed the bottle he had moved out of Gabriel's reach and brought it up. Gabriel watched with an interested expression as his younger brother began to gulp down the bottle's contents with a straight face. "Mama is not going to like that," he said when Luke finally placed the bottle down.

He didn't like the taste but he would die before he gave Gabriel the satisfaction of seeing him disgusted. He assumed a haughty expression. It took no effort and he realized it was an expression he had grown accustomed to in the short time since Maria's death. "I don't think Mama or Papa is going to like that you've taken to drink either," Luke countered. It had not gotten passed him that Gabriel, rather than look like the wine tasted bitter, seemed to enjoy the taste. This must not have been the first time that he sat up drinking, he realized.

Gabriel laughed again and raised his glass. There was only enough liquid inside for a mouthful. His blue eyes were taking on a bit of a glaze and his hand wobbled slightly. "Al Mama," he toasted.

Luke lifted the wine bottle back up. "No," he said, his voice clear. The amount of liquor he ingested had not affected him at all. "Al Maria."

The brothers clanked their drinks, bottle on glass, and took their sips. Gabriel finished his glass and Luke swallowed another mouthful. "Al Maria," he repeated, much quieter the second time. Gabriel, too intent on taking the wine bottle back from Luke in order to refill his glass, didn't even hear him.

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Translations:

Fratello – Brother
L'oh, la mia famiglia povera. Quando lo scopo di dolore e la mia famiglia saranno ancora interi - Oh, my poor family. When will the pain end and my family be whole again?
Dio - God
Venuto, il mio amore – Come, my love
Sonno bene, i miei figli – Sleep well, my sons
Ricordisi di, ti amo entrambi molto – Remember, I love you both very much
Ti amo, anche, mama - I love you, too, Mama
Riportate quel pidocchio di un fratello di il vostro - You bring back that louse of a brother of yours
Buona notte, Mama - Goodnight, Mama
Al Mama ­­– To Mama
Al Maria ­– To Maria