I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. To the best of my knowledge they are owned by Disney.

I do not own the character Saiorse "Irish" Callan. She is owned by her creator Lady of Tir Na Nog, who has graciously offered the use of "Irish" as a character in this story.

I am making no money from this story. I seriously doubt the sanity of anyone who would pay money to read anything I have written.

Rated M for Slash, Sexual Situations, and Language.

CHAPTER 9 - TOGETHER AGAIN

Mush had fallen away from the group during their senior year at Pulitzer. He blamed Spot more than the others although he felt that there was plenty of blame to go around.

Spot had made repeated attempts to make things right between them but Mush wanted no part of it.

After graduation, Itey and Spot joined the Marine Corps and were stationed together during the Gulf War.

This was a particularly lonely time for Spot. He wrote to Mush but all of the letters came back unopened. Return to sender was always written on the envelopes. It was written in Mush's handwriting.

Itey, on the other hand received more mail than he could handle. Having two parents, eleven siblings, his friends and of course Reggie Higgins writing to him, he couldn't possibly keep up. No matter how busy he was, Itey never missed answering one of Reggie's letters.

Spot received mail as well, though not the same volume as Itey. (Even Colin Powell didn't receive that much mail.) Mrs. Kelly wrote often and kept Spot informed of the goings on around town. Jack, David and Chris wrote when they could, but school kept them quite busy.

He'd received two letters from Mrs. Higgins. Her memories of Sunday dinners at the Higgins house made him homesick. He missed the days when he, Tony, Mush and the others would sit around the Higgins table eating, laughing and listening to Mr. Higgins tell slightly exaggerated, and extremely funny stories. (Spot always thought that Tony got his sense of humor from his Dad.) These memories made Spot miss Mush's friendship even more.

It was the letters from Tony that kept Spot going. Tony had written faithfully. Spot received at least two if his letters each week. They shared their thoughts, their secrets, and even their fears. Nobody but Tony ever realized that Spot had fears. They all thought of him as callous and afraid of nothing.

Nobody could read Spot like Tony.

Spot hoped that the years would have softened Mush's animosity.

They had not.

"Will you look at this?" Reggie said as she entered the gym. "I feel like I've just been transported back in time. The only thing missing is the smell of Clearasil, and the Metallica music."

"How's my favorite penguin these days?" Spot asked as he gave Reggie a hug.

"That's Sister Regina to you" she laughed. "So watch your step, young man. I'm in charge of detention around here now."

"Yes Ma'am!" Spot said as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, Reg" Dutchy said as he and Specs came down from the bleachers.

Reggie had to crane her neck to look up at them. The top of her head came to about the middle of their chests.

Dutchy reached down and picked Reggie off the floor to give her a kiss. Specs did the same, but then made no attempt to put her down.

After a few moments with her feet dangling Reggie said, "You can put me down now."

"Your light as a feather" Specs laughed. "I can hold you up like this all day."

Reggie reached up and twisted his ear.

Specs let out a slight screech as he lowered Reggie to the floor. "Damn! She really is a nun!" he exclaimed. "Attila used to do that to me all the time."

"Whom do you think taught me that move?" she said proudly. Then Reggie noticed Mush standing off to the side.

"Michael, it's good to see you again. I don't think that I've seen you since Parents Night."

"Parents Night?" Tony asked.

"Yes. Michael has a daughter enrolled in our day care center. His mother runs the program for us. You remember Mrs. Meyers, don't you Tony?"

"Well, I surely do!" exclaimed Chris. "She made the best cherry pie that I ever tasted!"

"Whoever said that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach must have been talking about you!" Tony exclaimed.

"Come on, Tony. You know full well that the way to my heart is definitely not through my stomach," Chris said as wiggled his eyebrows.

A collective "Ewwwww" was expressed from around the room.

"Now do you see what I mean, Dutchy? There they're at it again," Jack chuckled.

"I'm beginning to think that you're right, Cowboy. Those two are definitely not normal!"

Spot watched as his friends all laughed and teased each other. All except for Mush. Mush's body was tense. His shoulders were pulled up in a defensive position. It was obvious that he wanted to be any place but there. Spot decided to make another attempt at speaking with him.

"So you have a kid now, Mush? How old is she?"

"She's 31/2."

"Then I take it you're married?"

"Divorced."

"So then you and the ex-Mrs. Mush share custody of . . . ?"

"My daughter's name is Kate, and her mother is not in the picture."

"Her name is Kate? So then you named her aft'a your Ma?"

"Yeah."

"Are ya livin' in town now, Mushie?"

"What the hell! . . .Is this, an interrogation?" Mush spat. "Well, let me make it easier for you Officer Conlon. I was married for six years. My ex-wife was a psycho junkie whore, who couldn't stand the sight of me, and who hated our daughter. I was granted full custody, but I wasn't able to work and properly care for my child. I am fortunate enough to have a mother who gives a damn so we moved in with her. I work in the Athletics Department at Boyer High while my mother takes care of my daughter. Is there any other information you require, Officer Conlon?"

Spot was floored. Mush let him have it with both barrels. Time hadn't softened Mush. It only made him more hostile.

"Whoa . . . Way to be defensive, Mush" Dutchy called out.

"And how's your coke habit these days, Doctor?" Mush spat.

Specs saw red. He wasn't about to let anyone, even an old friend, talk to Dutchy that way. Sure Dutchy was an addict. He almost died when he was on drugs. Dutchy fought hard to get clean, and he had stayed clean.

Specs took a few steps toward Mush but Dutchy stopped him.

Dutchy could see that Mush was deliberately trying to start a fight, and it didn't matter with whom. Something was troubling Mush. Something more than Spot's questions or Dutchy's teasing. Mush was hurting, and fighting would only make things worse.

"I'm doing okay, Mush" Dutchy said calmly. "I was pretty bad for a while, but with Specs help, I've been clean for more than twelve years. With his help, I plan to stay that way."

Dutchy's honesty had completely disarmed Mush.

"I'm happy for you, Dutchy. I really am" Mush said remorsefully. "It's good that you had somebody to help you get through all that."

"Thanks, Mush" Dutchy replied as he rubbed Specs tense neck muscles. Then he led Specs back over to the bleachers.

"Okay," said Tony. "Now that we've settled that, can we get back to the business of why we are all here? . . . Were you able to find out anything, Reggie?"

"Wait a minute," Chris said as he put his fingers back into his ears. "La, la, la, la, la."

"What the hell is that nut-job doin'?" Spot cackled.

"Don't ask!" David replied. "I'll explain later. Go ahead, Reg."

"It seems that the sum of $10,000.00 was added to Mr. Weissel's retirement account about 16 months ago. Then another $5,000.00 was added last June. Here's a copy of the transactions."

Tony and David examined the statement.

"Well, whadda you think, Dave?" Tony asked.

"I think that we've just found a large chunk of the puzzle," David said with a grin. "What do you think Chris?"

"La, la, la, la,"

"Chris!" David shouted as he gave him a push.

"What?"

"Jack. You tell him. Do that undisclosed sources thingy that you do."

"Oh, David," Jack murmured. "I just love it when you use technical words like thingy. It makes me all warm inside."

"Jesse, Cowboy" Dutchy groaned. "You're beginning to sound like Racetrack now!"

"Come on, Jack" Chris said impatiently. "Spill it!"

"I have been informed by an undisclosed source that over the past 16 months the sum of $15,000.00 has been added to the retirement account of a certain janitor that we all know and loath. As it is highly unlikely that said janitor had such a large amount of money lying around his trailer, I think that we can safely assume he was given the money."

"But why would anyone want to give Weasel money?" Specs asked. "What does he have that's worth $15,000.00?"

"I want to make some phone calls about this," Chris said as he looked at his watch. "It's too late tonight, so it will have to wait until the morning."

"Good!" Reggie exclaimed. "If there is nothing more that we can do tonight, then I want you all to go out into the hall and start bringing in those boxes!"

"What boxes, Sis?" Tony asked.

"The boxes that are out in the hall, Brother Dear."

They all followed Reggie out of the gym and found a stack of at least a dozen cartons.

"What the hell is all this stuff?" Tony asked.

" I dunno what's in the boxes," Spot laughed. "But I found a cooler full 'a beer over here."

"Beer, Sis?"

"Will you please just help me out and bring these things into the gym?"

"Anything for you, Reg" Dutchy said as he grabbed a box with each arm.

After everything had been moved into the gym, Tony began to examine the cartons.

"Sleeping bags, food, and beer? What's all this for, Sis?"

"Well, I was talking to Brother Joseph about how close you guys were back in school. It reminded me of the time when you were all supposed to go on that camping trip, but you got rained out and had to spend the night here in the gym."

"Get to the point, Sis!"

"Well, I thought that it would be nice to recreate that night for you. Won't that be fun?"

"Oh No!" Tony protested. "Chris and I have reservations at the best hotel in town."

"It's the only hotel in town" Spot interjected.

"Be that as it may," Tony hissed "The point is that we have a reservation and there is a hot bath with my name on it awaiting our arrival!"

"Well, you don't have a reservation anymore," Reggie said sternly. "I cancelled it. And you don't need a bath. You can take a shower in the locker room. And before you say anything, Jack Kelly, I cancelled your reservation as well."

"Sorry, Reggie, but I have to get home to Katie," Mush insisted.

"No, you don't, Michael. That's all been taken care of. I spoke with your mother the other day, and she thought that this was a wonderful idea. She said to tell you that if you try to come home before tomorrow morning, she's going to throw all of your belongings out of the window onto the lawn. I don't think that she was kidding either."

"She wasn't," Mush grumbled. "My mother doesn't make idle threats."

"An over-nighter sounds like it could be interesting," Specs laughed. "We'll give it a try!"

"There's plenty'a beer ta go around, so you can count me in" Spot said.

"Come on, Tony" Chris said as gave Tony that smile that always went straight to Tony's heart. "Think about it. You and me, all curled up in a sleeping bag? It sounds like fun!"

"Well it doesn't look like we have much of a choice," Tony grumbled.

"Try not to sound too excited," Reggie said sarcastically.

"Ya know something, Sis? You're sounding more like Mama every day!"

"Come on, Race. Take off that Armani undertaker's suit and relax!" Spot urged as he threw Tony a beer.

Tony took another look at the boxes then looked at Reggie. "Where did you get this stuff, Sis? These sleeping bags and the camping gear are all new."

"Did I forget to thank you and Chris for the generous donation to the Pulitzer Camping Club?" Reggie smiled.

Chris burst out laughing. "Looks like she got you again, Tony!"

"She always does!" Tony grumbled.

After a while the fellas all kicked off their shoes and settled in. Tony even took off his suit and slipped into his old and comfortable sweats.

"Okay guys" David said. "Let's get back to the story about the night Jack and Chris came out."

Jack shook his head and smiled. "That's a night none of us will ever forget."

END - CHAPTER 9

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