Alright, here we go with the next part! I'm throwing in some last-minute edits, so forgive me for any typos.
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Trekkiehood: Thanks! I'm so glad you are enjoying it!
Alright, party people, this is short but I'm trying to get you to the story fast. Enjoy!
Following Jack's orders, David ran with Les right behind him until they were far away enough from the fight. David ducked into an alley and hid Les behind some old boxes, making sure he was out of sight. Once his back was pressed up against the brick of the building providing some form of grounding, David let out a breath. He didn't want to leave Jack alone, but David wouldn't have been able to fight Snyder. David continuously peeked out around the corner looking for any signs of either Snyder or Jack, but he couldn't see anything. The longer he waited, the more guilt picked away at David before he gave in.
"Ok, Les, I need you to wait here, alright? I'm going to go find Jack," David said, crouching down so he was eye level with his brother as he talked. Les looked up fearfully, breathing heavily as he pulled his knees up to his chest.
"Is he going to be alright?" David let out a sad smile, reaching out and wiping away a stray tear that ran down his little brother's cheek.
"He'll be fine buddy, I promise." David hated lying to Les, but he had no control over the situation. He could only hope for the best. Taking a deep breath, David stepped out from the alley. Dim street lights barely lit the cobblestone roads and David kept close to the sides to avoid being spotted. He didn't know the streets as well as the other newsies, but he had a good memory. He followed the path he had run down, keeping his eyes peeled for others. After a few minutes of walking, David had nearly given up hope that Jack was coming back until he saw a dark figure walking towards him.
David pressed himself up against a wall to hide in the shadows, holding his breath. The figure staggered forward, hidden in the shadows until a small stream of light hit his face. David's own face lit up in recognition and he let out a relieving sigh. Jack. David ran out from his hiding place and met Jack out on the street. David didn't miss the reactive flinch and the wild look in his eyes from Jack when David surprised him, but Jack gave a small smile when he recognized the friendly face nonetheless.
Unfortunately, getting a brief glimpse of Jack's condition in the light, David's own smile faded. David knew that Jack wouldn't walk away unscathed, but he was shocked by what he saw. Jack was limping - hard - and one bloody-knuckled hand was wrapped around his ribs. Not only that, but the hit that knocked Jack out earlier left behind a bloody cut that ran down from his right temple to his cheek, staining half of his face and the collar of his shirt a deep red. David swore softly and Jack couldn't help but chuckle.
"Quite 'a mouth on you, boy." David ignored the jab and grabbed Jack by one arm to move him more in the light for a better look at the injuries. Jack rolled his eyes and waved off David's concerned motions. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."
The sound of running footsteps put both the boys on edge and they turned towards the direction of the sound. With David's hand on Jack's shoulder, David felt the Manhattan leader tense at the new figure, but David knew who it was.
"Dave, Dave! Did you find Jack?" Les called out, continuing to run towards the two figures. Jack's eyes widened and he stepped back, out of David's reach and back into the shadows. He didn't want the kid to see him all covered in blood. There were some things that a young kid like that didn't need to see right away. Les barreled up to David and he tried to calm the excited boy.
"I did, he's right here. What happened to you staying put?" David scolded, momentary anxiety over the safety of his brother quelled.
"I couldn't wait, you were taking too long," Les complained, turning to the shadowed outline of Jack. "You alright, Jack?" Jack spared a look at David and reached his relatively clean hand to ruffle the kid's hair.
"I'm good, kid." It calmed the kid for now, but Jack knew the longer they waited around, the quicker Snyder would be able to catch up with him. "We gotta get out of here, Snyder'll be back soon." As soon as Jack said it, the three boys heard the whistle of the bulls and shouting of Snyder not far behind them.
David watched in awe as Jack grabbed Les and swung him up on his back, then grabbing David by the arm and taking off running again. When Jack had limped over to him before, David was sure he was going to fall over, but now he was moving like he was pain-free. David had heard of amazing acts of adrenaline, but this was incredible. Even injured David was having a hard time keeping up with Jack, who dodged down alleys and streets to escape the police.
While they started off strong, David couldn't help but notice how Jack kept getting paler as they ran. David was finally able to catch up with him, even pull ahead a few times. Jack's face was drenched in sweat and he was breathing way too heavy. A few too many times David had seen Jack close his eyes while they were running, only opening them a good ten seconds later. He was fading, fast.
"Jack," David called his name quietly, tugging on his elbow and bringing them into a dark alley. Jack didn't put up a fight, just followed obediently, too tired to argue. As soon as they were done running, Jack bent down slightly to let Les slide down his back. Once the kid was on the ground, Jack went to straighten back up, only he never got that far. Before he could stand back up again, a wave of vertigo hit him and his vision went gray, knees buckling. Luckily, David had been watching all of this unfold. Jack went limp and fell, but David grabbed him before he could hit the unforgiving concrete. Jack sagged as David gently lowered him to the ground, leaning him against the brick wall in a sitting position.
"Jack?" Les asked quietly, confused at what was going on in front of him. Instead of a response, Jack's head fell forward and his chin hit his chest.
"Les, it's alright, he's just… Jack just needs a minute," David tried to explain without going into detail. But he didn't know anymore than his kid brother did. Jack looked bad, sure, but it shouldn't have been enough for him to pass out. David's best guess? There was more damage to Jack's head than he originally thought. David gently pushed Jack's head up so it was leaned against the brick wall.
The gash wasn't bleeding anymore, but from what David knew about medicine in his books, Jack most likely had a concussion, a bad one. David didn't know what type of medicine they had where Jack lived but if they needed he could get his mom to find some medicine. Concussions that go untreated could be really dangerous, and David didn't want to think about that. It was still dark so David couldn't tell if there was anything else wrong until they got indoors somewhere.
"Jack, come on, wake up please," David said quietly so Les wouldn't hear it. Luckily, Jack did seem to hear him and opened his eyes a minute later, blinking slowly.
"...Dave?" David let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah. You scared us," David said, and Jack suddenly remembered where he was. He glanced over slowly to the tear-streamed face of Les, staring back at him with wide eyes.
"Sorry." Jack sighed and closed his eyes again, not sleeping but trying to hold back the pain. When he opened them David was directly in front of his face, concern written all over him.a
"Davey, gimme some space, wouldja?"
"Sorry, it's just… you passed out on us. What happened?" To be honest, Jack couldn't quite remember. He knew they were running from Snyder, he remembered fighting the man. Jack had gotten some good punches himself, but he had been working at a disadvantage from Snyder's first hit. Everything was blurred and double, so Jack had aimed at the fatter Snyder. He remembered one big hit where Snyder had punched him in the stomach, and from then on it was all a blur. Now his brain was a mess of cobwebs and cotton balls and he couldn't get it sorted out.
"I… don't really remember. I fought 'em, now I'm here. He gone?"
"Yeah, we lost him. How'smyour head?" David asked, trying to get a good gauge of how much pain they were dealing with. Jack shrugged, wincing slightly when David started to prod around.
"Eh, it's alright. Nothing I haven't dealt with before." David raised his eyebrow and Jack matched the look. He wasn't going to budge from that answer. David rolled his eyes. He'd only known the man for a day and he already knew that it was going to be a bear trying to get information out of the stubborn newsie.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jack rolled his eyes, ignoring the pain.
"Davey…"
"It's David. Can't you say a name how it's supposed to go?" David snapped harshly, regretting the words as soon as he said them. Jack barely reacted, just raised an eyebrow.
"David, I'm fine. I don't need to count no fingers, don't need any of that help," Jack said sharply, waving David back and using the wall to get himself into a standing position. The first time didn't work out, and the second wasn't any better. Before Jack could get to a fully upright stance his legs buckled and he pitched forward, only still standing because David caught him.
"Thanks, Davey," Jack mumbled, not missing the glare he received. "David's justa mouthful…" Jack said with half a smile. Davey rolled his eyes but didn't correct him, just shifted his positioning so Jack's arm was slung over his shoulders and was able to stand without falling over. Jack's breath hitched when something in his side stung painfully and Davey noticed, going into concerned mode all over again.
"Jack, are you sure you're okay? I mean that was a pretty hard hit you got, and I know Snyder wasn't holding back anything. I bet you can hold your own and I know some of your boys can, but I mean still that was some big stuff," As Davey continued to ramble on, something struck Jack and his heart skipped a beat.
"Davey…"
"I'm no doctor, but that cut on your head doesn't look too good. Too much blood and head wounds are really serious. They bleed very fast, and there is always the concern of internal damage. I don't even know…"
"Davey…"
"And God knows what else you have, I mean should you even be standing right now? What if…"
"DAVID!" Jack's shout finally shut up the ranting boy. "Stop. Talking. We need to go. Now."
"What? Why? Is Snyder back?" Davey asked quietly, frantically staring at the rooftops and streets for any signs for the man. Jack rolled his eyes but he was still moving in painful urgency. Davey just didn't understand.
"No, I gotta get back to the lodging house. The rest of the newsies are there, I gotta get back to them." Jack tried to slide his arm from Davey's shoulders, but all of his limbs suddenly weighed an extra ten pounds. As soon as he took a step forward, he grew lightheaded and he closed his eyes to try to get balanced again. Davey followed behind carefully, giving Jack more support when he started to tip again. All of this just gave more evidence for why they shouldn't be going anywhere but a doctor.
"Are you sure? I'm sure they'll be alright, they can take care of themselves. I think we should get you to a doctor. My folks…"
Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't need no help from ya folks, and I don't need no doctor. Just get me back to the lodge." Jack was getting fed up and this conversation was making his pounding headache even worse. He really wasn't in the mood to fight with Davey, he just needed to get back to his boys. Davey started to argue more but Jack shut him up with a sharp look and the voice he only when he was getting the boys in trouble.
"Jacobs. The only time that I's not at the lodging house is when I's locked up in the Refuge. So excuse me if I seem a little pushy. You're welcome to come with, but either way, I am getting back to the lodging house. With or without your help." This time, Jack had his balance and he stepped away from the Jacobs brothers and limped out of the alley and back out of the street. Davey was left with his mouth hanging open and an equally shocked Les at his side. Before Davey could try to think about what just happened and the ridiculousness of the whole situation, Les was running to catch up with Jack.
"Well, you comin'?" Les shouted back to Davey as he reached the opening of the alley. Davey ran a hand over his face as Les disappeared out into the street. Reluctantly, Davey adjusted his newsboy bag and ran to catch up with the two other boys, who were chatting quietly as they walked.
Jack led the way back to the lodging house, Les eagerly talking about anything and everything. Jack could barely get a word in, even if he wanted to. But from Davey's point of view, it seemed to be getting harder. Davey had hung back behind Jack and Les, because he didn't know if he was on Jack's good side right then, and he wanted to keep an eye on the Manhattan leader. He hadn't been looking too good before, and keeping up with Les' conversation wasn't covering up any of the pain. Davey figured that the lodging house wasn't far from picking up the newspapers, but running from Snyder had sent the boys to a part of town that Davey wasn't familiar with, so the long walk was taking a toll on all of them.
Davey was sore and his arm hurt. His head hurt almost more than he cared to admit, but he knew it was nothing in comparison to the beatdown that Jack received. Davey knew not to complain, but he wasn't used to fighting. His arm was less numb now, but no numb meant more pain. It started at his fingertips and traveled up his arm. It blossomed in his shoulder and stayed, growing consistently the more he moved his arm. Les was just a kid, his little brother, and it was way too late for him to be running from the law outside. It was already way later than he told his parents they would get back. He would have a fun time trying to explain this to them.
But Jack kept getting worse as they walked. Just like Davey had noticed earlier, Jack started to limp harder. He stumbled a few times, but sleep-deprived Les didn't notice anything and just continued to mumble along. Davey would've barely been awake too, but he was too hyped up on adrenaline and concern to really think about himself. When Jack stumbled for the third time and Davey was sure he was going to hit the ground, Davey ran up beside the older newsie and grabbed him by the arm. Slinging Jack's arm over his shoulder, Davey grabbed Les's free hand and helped him along too. Davey was taking on both of their weight and his body protested it but he shouldered it anyway. A small price to pay for the sacrifices Jack made for them.
"You still never answered my question," Davey asked after a few minutes of watching Jack's head droop, trying to keep him awake. Jack was still vaguely giving him directions back to the lodging house, but other than that he wasn't doing much. Les was practically sleepwalking, but Davey had to let go of his hand to take on more of Jack's weight. A few pushes in the right direction was all Les needed, but Jack was relying more and more on Davey.
"What question?"
"How many fingers I was holding up. You never answered, Kelly." Davey felt Jack flinch ever so slightly, but he couldn't tell from what. Davey vaguely heard Jack mumble something, but he could make out the words. Davey decided if Jack was allowed to give him a nickname, Davey would give Jack one. He never really heard any of the other boys call the Manhattan leader other than Jack, but maybe it was time for a little change.
"'Cause it was too easy. Four." Davey missed a step, causing Jack to stumble with him.
"What?"
Davey shook his head in disbelief and part in amazement and continued walking. "I only held up two." Davey paused and glanced at Jack for any sort of reaction, but there wasn't anything outstanding. "That was a big hit," Davey mumbled, partly to himself.
"Well, I coulda told ya that," Jack chuckled quietly, pointing in the direction of the final turn. Once they made the corner, the lodging house stood in front of them, a few lights trickling through the windows. Through the dim light, they could make out a couple of shadows moving around inside. Jack gave a small smile. Home.