Enjoy!
Jack took a deep breath as she glanced around the cellar, the memories of the last time she had been there creeping back up. Her injuries began to bother her once more but she tried to push those feelings back, focusing her attention back on the group in front of her.
When Katherine had said that she needed to get help for the printing, Jack hadn't thought that she would have brought along two young men – two very well dressed young men. Jack recognized one of them from the first time she had encountered Katherine, the one who had been walking with her that faithful morning.
Katherine was beaming as she stared at the printing press in the middle of the cellar while the young men hovered around said press, examining it.
"Here she is, boys," stated Katherine with a large smile before she realized what she said, turning slightly towards Jack, "and girl."
Jack rolled her eyes. "'s fine. I's used to it," she said, which made Davey turn slightly to hide his smile.
Katherine nodded before continuing. "Now just think, while my father snores blissfully in his bed, we'll be using his very own printing press to bring him down."
"Yeah, remind me to stay on your good side," remarked Jack, giving Davey a look.
"Hey, is this what they print the papes on?" wondered Race, walking around the press, studying it carefully.
While the other newsies had gone to gather the rest and even ones from other cities, Race had followed this group, having switched responsibilities with Specs. Race had been the one to accompany Katherine through Manhattan to find the two young men namely because he knew Jack would join them at The World building and he had wanted to talk to her as soon as possible.
The timing at worked out well: just as Katherine went to go find the janitor to get the keys, Jack and Davey showed up. The moment she had spotted her newsie, one of her oldest friends, Jack had slowed down ever so slightly. Yes, Davey and Katherine had forgiven her but she didn't know how the others would react. Especially one of the most vocal and stubborn of them, the one eyeing her all too carefully.
"I need to talk to Jack," had stated Race, giving Davey a look.
Davey had been hesitant to leave the two of them alone but, with a nod from Jack, he had headed towards the building.
The two newsies had stared at each other for a moment before Jack had whispered, "I's sorry."
Race had paused before shaking his head and walking up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Youse really are something, Jack," he had said before pulling her closer and into a hug. "'Course I's forgive you. I wanted to gives you a black eye back at the theater but I gets it. You always puts us 'fore yourself."
"Don't mean I ain't sorry, Racer. I'll make it up to all of youse," she had replied with a smile, hugging him back.
"I's holdin' you to that!" had laughed Race, pulling away before motioning towards the building. "Let's go."
Once inside, Dave had sent her a questioning look to which he had visibly relaxed. She didn't blame him if she had been honest with herself.
"I can see why they threw this old girl down to the cellar," said one of the young men Katherine had asked to join them as he fiddled with a part of the machine. "But I think she'll do the job."
"Jack, Davey, this is Darcy," introduced Katherine, motioning towards the young man who had just spoken. "He knows just about everything there is to know about printing."
Jack nodded, walking up to him and spitting into her hand. She was about to hold it out when she noticed the shocked and hesitant look on Darcy's face and remembered Davey's words the first day they met. This was not the time for newsie etiquette.
"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile, wiping her hand on her pants before extending it again towards the young man. Thankfully, Darcy shook it. "You work for one of the papes?" she asked, wanting to move along from the awkward first encounter.
"My father owns The Trib."
Jack was slack jawed at that revelation. Owns TheTrib? And he was helping them? "Woah," was all Jack managed to say as Davey also shook Darcy's hand, his eyes almost as wide as Jack's.
"And this is Bill," continued Katherine, introducing the other young man. "He'll be typesetting the article for us."
"Bill?" repeated Jack, still flabbergasted by the previous introduction. As a joke, she said, "And I suppose you're the son of William Randolph Hearst, right?"
The man didn't beat an eyelash, going for a hand shake. "Yeah. And proud to be a part of your revolution."
Jack nearly choked. That was supposed to be a joke… Bill's handshake was vigorous but Jack just let her arm follow along, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had three children of newspaper giants in that cellar, ready to defy their parents for the sake of the rest of the children in the city.
"Ain't that something," she muttered as Bill finally let go of her hand and she turned towards Davey, noticing how he was also impressed by the help Katherine had brought in.
Race watched the two newsies from the corner of his eye, a smirk forming. He wouldn't admit it to them but he had also been as impressed when Katherine had explained who they needed to find. He figured he just less of reaction.
He hoped.
"In the words of the little one, 'can we table the palaver and get back to business'?" cut in Katherine, eyeing Jack in particular, a knowing smile on her face.
Jack nodded, sending the reporter an impressed smile even as the young men discussed what needed to be done to get the press up and running again.
"Alright," began Davey, glancing around at the rest of them, "and here's how it'll work. As we print the papes, Race, you'll let the fellas in and they'll spread 'em to every workin' kid in New York. After that..."
"Well, after that, it's up to them," finished Jack, turning towards Race.
She held out the ring of keys to him which he took, patting her on the shoulder as he headed towards the stairs. She returned the pat on his back, smiling softly knowing she had least two of her newsies by her side.
She knew she had screwed up but, if Race's actions were any indication of how the others would react, Jack had hope once more.
Davey made his way over to her, giving her a reassuring smile. "See, told ya they'd forgive you."
She nodded, remembering what he had said on the roof. "I guess youse were right."
"Here they come!" called down Race and the ones in the cellar heard running footsteps heading in their direction.
Jack took a deep breath, the relaxed smile she had fading almost instantly as her nerves returned in full force. Even though she was portraying a strong front, inside, she was shaking.
She had lied to her newsies. She had betrayed them. Even though Davey and Race had easily forgiven her and Davey had assured her that the others would too, she wasn't fully ready to believe that. Race had known her for years, he was her second in command. Davey, she could reason with. The others...
The others were all entering that cellar at that moment…
Davey suddenly grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry."
"I ain't –"
He gave her a look that had her biting her tongue. "Fine," she mumbled. "Thanks." She then squeezed his hand back before releasing it just as Specs ran down the stairs, followed by Elmer and Albert.
The three of them slowed to a stop, causing a bottle neck at the base of the stairs as they spotted Jack and stared at her.
She took a deep breath, eyeing each of her newsies. "Look, I's sorry. I –"
Elmer ran into her, engulfing her in a tight hug, cutting her off in her apology and sending a sharp pain through her ribs. Moments later, other younger newsies followed suit until Jack was surrounded. Jack bit back a groan as the boys held her tight. It warmed her heart that they still cared enough to forgive her but…
Whatever injuries the Delanceys caused were getting squished.
And it hurt…
"I's sorry," she repeated softly, trying to push away the pain. "I's sorry for everythin'." She raised her gaze, eyeing all the older newsies. "I's hopes youse can forgive me."
"Katherine told us what Pulitzer did," explained Specs.
"And that what happened at the rally was to protect us," continued Albert.
"But why'd you lie about being a boy?" wondered Elmer, looking up at her. He still hadn't let go of her and it didn't look like he was going to any time soon.
Jack sighed. She hadn't exactly explained the reasoning to Davey previously and realized she was going to have to do so with all of her newsies present. She didn't particularly like the excuse she had... "'Cause I's been scared…" she began slowly, hating to admit it out loud. "It ain't exactly safe for a girl on the streets."
"Youse know we'd protect you!" called out one of the young ones, making Jack smile sadly.
"It's my job to protect youse," she said, rubbing his head.
"We protect each other. All of us," cut in Davey.
Jack scrunched her nose, sending a quick smile towards him. Davey returned it, also recognizing her embarrassed tick before motioning to the young newsies to head towards Bill and Darcy.
"They need your help with the printing press," he explained as the kids slowly let go of Jack. "We need to get it working again."
They finally all let go and headed off. Jack released a deep, slow breath as she tried to keep her face passive even as her injuries throbbed. She didn't need the others to know about them.
Specs, Albert, and Finch approached at that point, the first one spitting into his hand and holding it out to her.
"No more lies?" asked Specs.
Jack spit into her hand and shook his. "Deal."
She did the same with Albert and Finch before the boys headed off to help where they could.
Davey stayed close for a while longer and, when no one was really paying attention to them, he reached for her hand, gripping it tightly.
"Youse getting comfortable real quick," she chuckled softly, squeezing back.
"What? Want me to stop already?" joked Davey.
It made her laugh even more since he rarely seemed to joke and, the fact that he did with her, it caused warmth to blossom inside her.
She shook her head in response to his joke. She'd hold on for as long as he'd let her.
"Kelly."
Apparently someone else wasn't going to let her...
Jack regretfully let go of Davey's hand as she searched the cellar for the source of that unmistakable Brooklyn accent. Once she found Spot Colon, she gave one last look towards Davey before taking a deep breath and walking over.
She stopped in front of the Brooklyn leader and they stared at each other for a moment.
"Youse is something, Kelly, I gives you that," remarked Spot, crossing his arms. "That stunt youse pulled at the Bowery would have warranted anyone else at least a black eye, maybe even a broken bone but…" He paused, observing her from head to toe. "I thinks you got enough of a beating already and youse did it to protect your newsies. That I respects. Just watch out." He raised a fist, pointing a finger at her. "Don't betray our trust again, Kelly. We ain't gonna be so nice the second time."
"Well, it definitely ain't happening again," she replied. "Youse can count on that."
They both spat into their hand and shook on it.
Several hours later, after having hauled dozens upon dozens of packs of papers up and down the cellar stairs, Jack couldn't hide her pain anymore.
She slipped away after handing over a pile of papers to Romeo, finding a secluded corner and leaning against the wall. She breathed deeply as she slowly slid to the ground, avoiding leaning on her injuries.
Just a couple of minutes, she thought, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.
"Jack? Hey, what's wrong?"
She cracked an eye open, spotting Davey kneeling in front of her, a worried look on his face. She shook her head but he didn't seem to believe her.
"I thought you were done with the lying," he stated.
She rolled her eyes. "This ain't lyin', Davey. Nothin' is wrong technically. I –"
"Jack."
"I just don't wants youse to worry," she finished softly. "I don't likes people worryin' about me."
Davey's frown lessened as he moved to sit next to her. He reached for her hand, holding it tightly and staring intently at the joined hands.
"You know, if you share what's actually wrong, I don't have to imagine several different reasons, each one worse than the one before."
"Davey, I…" Jack stopped talking as she looked into his eyes. He didn't say anything as he waited until she sighed and said, "Gots some bruises that are giving me some problems…"
Davey studied her face, frowning slightly. "Yeah, those ones –"
"No, not those," she cut in, lowering her gaze. She could have let him think it was the bruises from the fighting in Newsies Square but…
She didn't want to keep hiding things from him.
"I don't see any… more…" Davey's sentence died out as he stared at her with wide eyes.
"That was the point," she muttered, remembering clearly how the Delanceys took turns being generous with their punches as the other held her still.
"That was…?" Davey's grip on her hand tightened incredibly as he shook in anger. "Who…? Did they…?" He wasn't capable of finishing any of his train of thoughts, every single one worse than the next.
His grip had gotten so tight by then, Jack felt the need to say, "My hand don't need a bruise too."
Davey was startled by that statement and quickly slackened his hold. He took several deep breaths as he attempted to calm his anger.
After a moment, he asked slowly, "Jack, what happened in this building?"
Jack sighed, leaning slightly against him. "After the 'talk' with Pulitzer, they's brought me down here, to the cellar. Oscar had been polishin' his brass knuckles so I guess he needed an excuse to use them."
Davey took another deep breath as he tried to digest the explanation. He already felt guilty about her having gone to talk to Pulitzer alone but, now, knowing that the Delanceys beat her to get her to cooperate...
He stopped that train of thought quickly. She had told both him and Katherine on the rooftop that she would have betrayed them with or without the money. If she didn't need the money for that, she damn well didn't need to be encouraged with a beating from the brothers.
They beat her for the fun of it, because they could.
Davey didn't usually get angry. Irritated, frustrated, yes, it happened on occasion. Angry, namely against someone in particular, it didn't happen. However, for the Delancey brothers, he didn't have another word than anger to describe what he felt for what they did to Jack. He knew they enjoyed harassing the newsies but ganging up on Jack had him shaking.
He just couldn't rationalize why they would!
He couldn't understand how they found beating her, beating a girl was amusing! They should never –
Jack suddenly leaned her head against his shoulder, her eyes closed, taking a deep breath, snapping Davey out of his thoughts. He paused for a moment, also breathing deeply and he briefly saw a small smile spread on her face.
Not only had Jack moved to get more comfortable and closer to Davey, she could feel him shaking next to her. She figured he was still angry with the situation so she decided to distract him: she didn't want him to build that frustration and possibly take it out on someone who didn't deserve it. Not that she thought he would but she wasn't taking any chances.
"If you need to rest," he whispered, catching her attention, "do so, please. We can handle it out there a man down."
Jack shook her head but her eyes remained closed. "Nah, I'll just be a moment. Promise, I'm alright."
Davey stared at her attentively but finally nodded. He knew better than to argue with her: she was still the most stubborn of the two of them. "I may actually take a swing at those brothers," he mumbled which made Jack smile.
"Hey, do I needs to go save youse like last time if you do?"
"I had –" Jack nudged him with her arm which got him to stop in his excuse. "I still could throw a punch," he mumbled.
Jack smiled, finally opening her eyes as she stretched and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I knows you could and I'll be there to watch your back and throw a few punches in myself."
"Deal."
"Youse two done, yet?"
Jack and Davey jumped in surprise, looking up to see Spot leaning against the wall, a smug look on his face. Race, meanwhile, stood nearby, his expression giddy, as if he just got wind of the biggest headline he had ever heard.
"How long had youse two been standing there?" asked Jack as she attempted to stand too quickly, biting back a groan as she did.
Davey was on his feet faster than Jack and grabbed hold of her to help her up.
Race's expression changed quickly as he took a step forward. "Hey, Jack, what happened?" Even Spot had a frown as he studied his friend.
"The Delanceys," replied Davey before Jack could. "Apparently, they thought beating her was a fun passtime..."
Both Race's and Spot's frowns deepened at that news.
"And they knew youse a girl?" asked Spot, keeping his voice even.
Jack nodded slowly. "But this don't need to be shared with the others. I don't wants them to worry."
Spot and Race shared a look before they nodded to each other and then to Jack.
"But they ain't getting away with that," muttered Race, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, don't be surprised if a couple of Brooklyn newsies have a little word with those brothers," added Spot. "They needs to learn to not beat up on girls."
Jack smiled slightly at the boys' protectiveness. "As long as Davey gets the first swing," she stated.
Spot shrugged. "I don't have a problem with your man swingin' first," he replied, making Jack and Davey blush as the giddy look returned to Race's face.
"Hey."
Jack bit back a groan as she pried her eyes open only to see Davey standing awkwardly by the side of her bed. The group had returned to the Lodging House and Jack had insisted that the brothers follow, not willing to have them wander the streets alone that late at night.
While Jack had pointed towards the wash basins, leaving Davey and Les to get ready for bed, she had trudged to her bed and flopped onto it, leaning against the wall. She couldn't afford to lie down just yet, needing to make sure the brothers had a place to sleep. She figured, though, she could at least close her eyes for a bit.
Davey showing up seemed to feel much sooner than she had expected.
She blinked as she sat up straighter, taking in him standing there, unsure, alone, and her imagination ran. "Hey," she answered back. "Where's Les?"
Davey glanced behind him with a small shrug. "He's bunkin' with Elmer it seems."
Jack nodded, her expectations for the conversation to follow skyrocketing. If she was right, she was going to try and be patient, try to let Davey do some work.
She really wanted to hear him ask anyway.
He took her silence as an indication to continue even though he had hoped that she would have been the one to do so: she was the flirt between the two of them...
Davey cleared his throat, his gaze flittering around as he tried to find the right words. "Well, you see," he began hesitantly, making Jack bite back her smile. "The others told me there aren't any free beds..."
Oh no, youse not getting' out of it that easily, thought Jack as she nodded. She knew there was at least one bed free but, considering it was Crutchie's, no one was willing to use it. She wouldn't even offer it to Davey.
"So, you wants my bed?" she aske with a tilt of her head.
Davey's eyes widened as he quickly shook his head. "No! I wouldn't… Well, I don't… I…"
Jack bit her lip to supress a smile. She was having too much fun watching him try to explain himself. She figured he would be able to dance around the subject all night and, considering how tired she was and how she just wanted to sleep, she would need to help him along.
"I don't minds you usin' my bed," she explained. "I can share with someone, I'm used to it, or I's can head upstairs." She honestly didn't want to head up to her penthouse, not with all the climbing that needed to be done to get there.
Davey didn't need to know that though.
His eyes widened at those suggestions as he pictured his plan begin to crumble. "Please don't head somewhere else," he whispered.
Jakc was nearly certain what Davey had in mind but she was stubbornly going to continue this conversation until he got the courage to say it out loud. "So, no penthouse. But youse alright we me sharing with one of the other boys?" she teased, hoping her hinting would help.
Davey rubbed the back of his neck, biting back a groan as he stared at the ground. "Well, I know you consider the others as family so I'm not that worried but…"
"But…?"
"But, I…"
"You what?" she asked again, cocking her head to the side. "Speak quickly, Davey, or I'll go find Specs and –"
"Can we share your bed? Together?" he asked hurriedly, his face burning as he finally looked up at her. He was taken aback upon seeing her bright and triumphant smile as she patted the spot next to her on the bed.
"That wasn't that hard," she teased. "Just took some hints is all."
Davey sighed, burying his face in his hands and massaging it for a moment before saying. "If you knew what I was going to ask, why not just say something?"
She shrugged, still smiling. "'Cause I wanted to hear you ask is all. You were doin' so well with your confidence anyways."
He sighed once more but climbed onto the bed and sat next to her, embarrassed. "Really?"
"Oh, definitely. And girls like a confident guy?"
"Do they?"
"I do." She scooted closer, bridging the gap between them and leaning against him. "But I also find it nice that you aren't overly confident either."
"I leaved that to you."
She laughed, glancing towards him, also seeing a smile on his face. "Thanks again, Davey," she whispered.
He reached for her hand, grasping it tightly. "Thank you, Jack." He even lifted her hand and gave her fingers a light kiss.
They stared at each other for a moment, almost giddy smiles on their face as they slowly moved closer until…
Les plopped onto the bed on Davey's other side, yawning as he did before pressing himself against his brother and closing his eyes.
Davey stared at his brother in confusion. "I thought you were going to share with –?"
His question was cut short when Elmer flopped onto the bed on Jack's side, leaning against her and maneuvering her arm around him. Jack didn't have time to say anything as Mush and Henry also climbed onto the bed, without a word, making themselves comfortable too.
Jack and Davey shared a look of surprise at the turn of events. As the younger newsies got comfortable, the teenagers cracked a smile before following suit, shifting slightly against the wall as they kept a grip on each other's hands.
Just as Jack was about to close her eyes, Albert flopped onto the bed, near the head of it, adjusting his pillow behind his head as he leaned against the corner. Before she could say anything, Finch and Specs took the end of the bed, Specs gently moving Les' legs and placing them over his own.
"This bed better hold," muttered Albert as he lowered his cap over his eyes.
"No one said you needed to join," mumbled Elmer as he snuggled closer to Jack.
"Move over," whispered Romeo as he too found a spot.
"Guys, guys," finally managed to put in Jack, "not that I don't loves youse but why –?"
"Makin' sure you don't disappear again," cut in Les.
Jack bit her lip, holding in a sigh, knowing she deserved that after doing exactly that twice in just as many days. "I won't," she replied softly, eyeing them all before realizing they were missing a newsie that was almost always with this group. "Do we need to make room for Race too?"
Romeo shook his head. "He didn't come back here."
Jack's eyes widened in fear. "Where –?"
"Brooklyn," replied Romeo, wagging his eyebrows. "Seems you two ain't the only newsies with a thing going on."
Davey choked at Romeo's words while Jack smirked, glad it was dark enough to hide her blush. However, she was happy that her instincts were right about there possibly being something between Race and Spot.
She was even happier that her newsies supported it.
However… "Did Race tell you that?" she asked the others.
"About youse two?" clarified Specs. "Kinda obvious."
"Too much," added Finch with a shake of his head. "You even held hands while we's were workin'!"
Jack and Davey shared a look, realizing they weren't as careful as they thought they had been.
"Can we table the palaver for later? I wanna sleep," mumbled Les through a yawn.
"Here, here," added Finch.
Jack eyed her newsies once more before turning towards Davey, smiling at him. He returned the smile and, glancing over the boys around them one last time, he leaned closer and kissed her lightly.
"Goodnight," he breathed out.
"'Night," she replied just as softly.
"No more kissing with us here," yawned Albert, making the teenagers chuckle before closing their eyes.
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