A/N: Most Ocs are there for the sake of this is a retelling of the past and I needed more newsies. This was also born of the headcanon that all of the boroughs help move kids that need better homes around in order to keep them safe with a sprinkle of the Brooklyn Elmer and Albert headcanon.
TW: Mild references to homophobia and child abuse, so if that's not something your comfortable with please don't read. Stay safe guys!
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't know Newsies. Wish I did though.
It was one of those nights where uncertainty hung throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. One of those nights were two of the biggest names in both boroughs sat in the common room of their lodging houses with the little ones surrounding them, begging a story. They each had a kid on their lap, pulled close. A kid that would be leaving the next day in order to keep them safe. Both kids were barely nine and about to leave the only home they knew. Manhattan was rocking them slightly while Brooklyn sat quietly.
And, not knowing the other would be doing the same, they started a story.
"Has anyone told you about the Switch Project?" Sway asked the little girl in their lap softly. Specs nicknamed her Daisy and she looked up at Sway with wide eyes and shook her head. The other littles were already crowded around, pulled into the laps of older kids. Albert and Elmer were curled up on the other end of the couch together. They both knew all too well how this night would go.
"Well, the Switch Project is the reason we can send you to Brooklyn so you'll be safer," Sway said, sparing a quick glance to Albert. "It was started four years ago when I was only fourteen. Back when I lived in Brooklyn."
"You lived in Brooklyn?" One of the youngest kids asked from where he was perched in Race's lap. Sway nodded.
"Four years ago the leader of Brooklyn saved a little kid, a little kid who lives in Manhattan now with us, and it changed everything."
"Was you the leader Spot?" Spot smiled at the kid in his lap. Jumper, they nicknamed him. He spent the last two months with them and would be off to Manhattan in the morning. It was for the best, really. He would be safer there and the kid they were getting from Manhattan would be safer with them. It didn't make it hurt any less.
"No. I wasn't even fifteen yet," Spot explained. Myron and Fox were in the armchair in the corner and if Spot didn't know any better he would say that Fox already heard this story. He used to live with Sway, so it was possible. "The leader back then was a guy named Switchblade, but we called him Switch. Four years ago a Brooklyn newsie came to the Lodging House. One who didn't live here with us, and he was beat to hell."
"All of Brooklyn already knew this kid. He was nice, a little rambunctious, but friendly," Sway said. Elmer had a dorky smile on his face as he looked at Albert. The ginger was blushing, his ears bright red. "His father was a politician, so he came from money, but he loved to work with us and we loved to work with him. There was never a day he wasn't smiling, except that night."
All of the littles were invested in the story, hanging off Sway's every word. Every time they told the story they had the attention of everyone in the room. It didn't matter that a handful of them lived the story or that almost everyone already knew it by heart. Specs had told the story himself more than a few times when Sway was unable for one reason or another. Jack used to tell it. He told it until they lost Fox. Sway told the story for the first time the night they said goodbye to him and Jack refused to tell it since.
"That night," Sway continued, "the kid's father found out that he likes boys as much as girls. Now, not a single Manhattan or Brooklyn newsie will ever think less of someone because of who they love. Hell, almost every newsie in the city is like that, but most adults don't feel the same. His father was like that."
"His father found out that night." Spot had to fight to keep his voice even, as much as he hated to admit it. Every time he told the story that night would burn bright in his mind. The anger resurfaced just a hot as it was when he found out. "That's why he came to the Lodging House. He was terrified. Terrified his father would find 'im and kill 'im."
Spot needed to change the topic, fast. The littles looked terrified, especially the ones who once had the fear of a parent coming after them. Fox had that far-away look in his eyes that meant he was back at that night. Myron didn't look far behind. They didn't need to go back there; to the night that was eerily similar to the one he told. The two of them suffered through enough crap to last them a lifetime.
"Switch wasn't about to let that happen," he continued. "He picked the kid up and took 'im up to Blue and Rain. Blue was still trainin' Rain back then. They patched him up and put him in a bunk and that was it for the rest of the night."
"Come mornin' Switch needed to find somethin' to do with the kid," Sway explained. Al wasn't looking at anyone in the room anymore, face buried against Elmer's chest. The brunette was running his hand through his fiery red hair. If Sway didn't know any better, they would say he was asleep. Sway was painfully aware, though, of the fact that it would be a miracle if Albert slept at all tonight. "Switch was a smart guy. He knew the kid couldn't stay in Brooklyn, not with his dad afta him. Not that he would ever feel safe in Brooklyn anyway.
"Well, it was about noon when Switch had the idea. I remember cause I was back at the Lodging House. It was a cold day and my knee was givin' me trouble," Sway shook their head. Back on topic. "Switch marched right outta the Lodging House and across that bridge. It didn't make much sense, goin' so early, but Switch was nothin' if not impulsive. He managed to find Dice right in the middle of selling."
Spot smiled at the awed faces around him. All of the littles knew how tight Brooklyn kept their borders. They knew, while their relationship with Manhattan was better than it had been in years, you didn't cross the borders. Not unless your life depended on it. Spot would never paint a tale of Hattan or Jack being bad but he didn't exactly want his kids wandering across the bridge.
"Switch and Dice were friendlier than any other of the leaders. Dice wasn't happy to see Switch in 'Hattan, but he wasn't surprised," Spot told them. "Dice owed Switch a favor; they were always in debt to one another. Switch knew Dice moved kids around a lot, so he called in one of those favors. Switch explained what happened and what he needed, but he didn't expect Dice's reaction."
The silence was heavy as every newsie in the room waited for Spot to continue, whether they knew how the story ended or not. "Dice told Switch he couldn't call in a favor. He said to save that favor for something else because a kid's safety meant more than the borders. They agreed to move the kid into Manhattan as soon as they could, and that was the end of that. The kid got moved and everything fell back into place."
"Then it happened again. Switch was startin' to worry that there would be a problem," Sway said. "Not even two weeks later another kid came to the Lodging House, thankfully unharmed. He was lookin' for the other kid. He knew what happened but wouldn't tell why and he wouldn't leave until he saw him.
"Well Switch had a grand ole time tellin' this little kid, and he wasn't any older than eleven, that the kid he was lookin' for moved on to 'Hattan. This kid decided that he wanted to go to 'Hattan too, then, which left Switch with a problem. He couldn't really move this kid without reason, and Dice could always see through a lie. What was he to do?"
The littles started shouting out solutions, giving all of the elder newsies a good laugh. Elmer was red by now, trying to hide his blush. It was cute, really, watching him react to the story. It was even better to see that blush grow as Albert kissed his cheek.
"Switch decided to go to Dice anyway."
"They talked. And talked. And Switch didn't come back that night. Sway and I were in charge the whole time and we's were startin' to worry that Switch wouldn't come back." Okay, so Spot was making the story a little more dramatic than it really was. It kept it from becoming too depressing because that's all the story was. A depressing tale of a bunch of teenagers having to find a way to deal with crappy parents. "Switch did come back with Dice, that mornin', and then Dice left with the new kid. Once again, that was the end, but Switch got to thinkin'."
"That was always dangerous," Hotshot cut in, earning a few snickers from those who were around to remember Switch. He wasn't exactly wrong. Switch's ideas were either dangerously brilliant or dangerously stupid. More often then not, they were stupid and it usually ended up with him needing a few stitches. Never one of the other kids, always him.
"Switch went back to 'Hattan to talk to Dice. They both knew that all of the borough leaders passed kids across the borders to keep them safe, some more than others. It wasn't a huge secret, it was just something they did to keep the littles safe."
"Switch and Dice came to an agreement," Sway said, eyes sweeping across the room. Despite how late it was, every single newsie had their eyes front. "If a kid needed to be moved, they would take them in, no questioned asked. Less than a week later every single borough leader met on the Brooklyn Bridge and they left with something that would eventually be known as the Switch Project. Ever since that day, every New York newsie would put aside any bad feelings or issues for the sake of the kids in this city. And that's how the story really ends."
"What happened to Switch?" Daisy asked, oh so innocently. Sway smiled at her.
"Switch died four years ago, not long after they made the agreement," they explained. "Two days after a turf battle with Queens, Brooklyn said goodbye to him and Spot became the leader of the Brooklyn newsies. He rained hell on Queens right after which is why they're so scared of him to this day. That was the day we officially renamed it the Switch Project."
"What happened to Dice?" Jumper asked, falling asleep on Spot's shoulder. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. He didn't even try to fight it.
"Dice died that same year, not long after Switch," Spot told him. "Scarlet fever, if I remember correctly. Guess Jack and me were supposed to be the next Switch and Dice."
"Sway left Brooklyn not long after, right?" Fox asked. It never occurred to him that Fox wasn't selling when Sway left for Manhattan.
"It was an accident, mostly." Spot smirked at the memory. "They snuck into 'Hattan for one reason or another, got caught past dark in the 'Hattan Lodging House. Turns out their baby brother was there and they stayed. Never really said goodbye." Spot couldn't pretend it didn't hurt a little, but he was happy for Sway, really. They got something back that most newsies never did, a blood family. They deserved it, really, and Sway came to Brooklyn almost more than Race, so he never truly missed his favorite little.
"Who's the kid?" Daisy asked as Sway carried her up to the bunk room. They finished the story nearly twenty minutes ago. Sway was surprised that she still remembered that part.
"Four years ago, I really found one of my best friends," Sway said, shifting the girl so that she could see everyone in the bunk room. "He's loud and crazy and has one of the badest mouths around. He's grouchy like an old man and loves the littles." Daisy laughed at Sway's description and they both watched the room. Watched as Albert laughed and scooped up littles, putting them into their bunks. "He loves his boy more than anything in this world. His boy that he's known longer than anyone else in this room. He's loyal to a fault to the people that saved him and the family that took him in."
Daisy was silent, Sway could hear the gears turning in her head. She gasped a little as she figured it out. "Albert and Elmer."
Sway smiled and tucked the little girl into her bunk, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Tomorrow you go off to Brooklyn. Tomorrow, you become a Brooklyn newsie and Spot will protect you with his life."
Spot could never live in Manhattan, he had too much to lose.
Something in Spot's chest was tight as he finally came to terms with the idea of losing one of his kids. Jumper was leaving in the morning. Tomorrow, he would no longer be his. Tomorrow, he would no longer be able to protect him the same way. Tomorrow, he would belong to Manhattan. He didn't hate the borough, he never could, but he couldn't deny that it took a lot from his over the years. His sibling. His kids. Maybe even his love, one day.
Now wasn't the time for that, though. Not with Jumper staring up at him. "Tomorrow you go off to Manhattan. Tomorrow, you become a Manhattan newsie and Sway will love you to the end of the earth."
Sway never belonged in Brooklyn, they had too much love to give.
It was one of those nights where uncertainty hung throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. One of those nights were two of the biggest names in both boroughs sat in the bunk room of their lodging houses, considering the day to come. They each had a kid at their side, pulled close. A kid that would be leaving the next day in order to keep them safe. Both kids were barely nine and about to leave the only home they knew. Manhattan was humming quietly while Brooklyn held back tears.
And, knowing the other would be doing the same, they took a breath and let sleep claim them.
A/N: This is written is a really weird way, but I like the way it came out.
Thanks for reading!