Wow, it's been a while since I updated this! I actually had a hard time with this last part, as I hit a bit of a writer's road block. But I think this turned out pretty well in the end. I hope you enjoy it!

-Marcelle

"Santa Fe..." Crutchie tried the name out for himself, testing it on his tongue, seeing if it was something he could get used to. Sure enough, the words felt right, as though he had been waiting to say them all of his life but had never realized it until now.

"You can bet on it, pal," Jack encouraged him, his passion seeming to practically lift him off the ground. He was truly alive, balancing on the balls of his feet as if he were going to shoot off into the sky and out of sight at any given moment.

Crutchie wished Jack could be like that all the time-unrestrained, free of his inhibitions and true to his own nature. But he knew some things just weren't likely, and a free Jack Kelly seemed to be one of those things. But in that moment, he was alight with the flame of a dream, and Crutchie supposed that was all he could ask for. "We won't let them old men beat us!"

"We won't beg no one ta treat us fair and square!" Crutchie joined in, feeling himself almost completely won over by the mere idea of Santa Fe. Jack made it sound as though it was the complete opposite of New York City, a place where everything that was wrong with their lives would disappear, replaced instead with the great outdoors and choices they had never dreamed of.

No one in Santa Fe would try to pull the wool over their eyes. That's what Jack was promising, and Crutchie believed him.

"There's a life that's worth the livin' over there, Crutch, I can just see it!" the elder newsie claimed excitedly, his movements wild and exaggerated. He couldn't seem to keep still as he elaborated on this dream of his, as he wove his future in front of him as though it were actually something he could achieve. "And me, I'm gonna do my share! Ya know, work the land, chase the sun-"

"Swim the whole Rio Grande just for fun!" Crutchie suggested, he and Jack laughing at the prospect. Sure, it was crazy, but it somehow seemed a little less ridiculous in that moment. As they stood on the roof of the lodging house, anything was possible for them.

They could go to Santa Fe, they could leave the hard live of the newsies behind them, they could do whatever they set their minds to. Heck, Crutchie wouldn't have to let his failure of a leg stop him anymore, not in Santa Fe. He wouldn't have to be the one everyone pitied, the one they all knew was worth less than the others even if they never said so. That could all be a thing of the past, if he followed Jack in his dream of a better life. He just knew it.

"Yeah, yeah, and watch me stand!" Suddenly Crutchie was voicing his thoughts out loud, in a mad rush of enthusiasm, and they immediately sounded crazy. The hope he had foolishly let himself build up collapsed at once, crushed by the weight of reality and dropping like the smile from his face. He wasn't going anywhere.

He couldn't, and he knew once the words were out in the open that it would never be possible for him to be anything more than the cripple. Wounds didn't magically heal overnight, and they didn't just disappear if you went somewhere else. His gimp leg was horrifyingly permanent, and he had to accept that.

Crutchie had let Jack talk him into believing in dreams that were never meant to come true-at least, not for him. Jack could get out someday, he had the kind of determination and self-driving confidence to make it happen. But Crutchie knew now in his heart of hearts that he wasn't meant for anywhere else but New York. And if he was completely honest, it wasn't really location that bothered him.

It was a fine enough city, and he loved the people in it. The real problem was that he had let himself think that Santa Fe would change his life, but he realized that it wasn't true. No matter where on the earth he traveled, Crutchie would still be the same orphan with a gimp that he had always been.

"Watch me run." He choked on the words, his voice wavering slightly as he pushed back tears. He had to keep up appearances for Jack. His older friend was finally happy as he told Crutchie about Santa Fe, and he couldn't ruin that now with his own stupid problems. He couldn't be the one to spoil Jack's rare moment of joy.

But the Manhattan newsie leader saw right through him, of course, and seem to almost deflate as Crutchie moved towards the railing at the other side of the rooftop. The younger boy winced internally at the harm he had caused and turned away from Jack. How could he have been so stupid?

"Hey..." Jack's tone was sympathetic, comforting, as though the very idea of an upset Crutchie pained him. He made his way across his penthouse and slung an arm around Crutchie's shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. "Hey! C'mon, kid. Don'tcha know that we'se a family?"

"Yeah, I know…" Crutchie admitted softly, feeling a kind of shame fill him at the words. He had gone and ruined everything. He had brought Jack down just as he brought down everyone else. He knew the newsies could be so much more successful without him, but yet they still insisted that they needed him.

Still they watched out for him, helped him on the rare occasion that he needed it, proved to him that this was what a family does. He was a limping liability, but they accepted him anyway. Crutchie owed them everything, and he knew this all too well.

"Right! So do ya really think I would letcha down?" Jack pressed, and Crutchie could practically hear the smile that shone through his words. Jack was trying to reassure him, to encourage him, an act that was a true testament to his character. Jack Kelly was willing to drop everything, even his own dreams, at the merest sign of one of his boy's unhappiness. He was selfless to the core, and sometimes Crutchie worried that this would eventually be his own ruining.

What if Jack never let himself find a life of his own? What if his loyalty to the newsies kept him in the lodging house, never let him explore the world he so desperately wanted to see? Would Jack really settle for this, this mundane life that was so much less than he really deserved?

Even now, Jack was putting aside his excitement for Santa Fe and instead focusing on Crutchie, a transition that seemed much too easy for the crippled boy's liking. But still, their leader was looking for an answer to his question.

"No, ya wouldn't…" Crutchie murmured, knowing that he spoke the truth. Jack would sooner face both of the Delancies head on with his hands tied then even consider the thought of failing the newsies, and Crutchie knew this to be true more than anything.

"No way!" Jack affirmed, seeming to work every ounce of truth that he had into the two words, as if convincing Crutchie of his faithfulness was the most important thing he could ever do. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Me neither. I...I'm sorry, Jack," Crutchie rushed an apology, his head hanging as the shame grew stronger. "I neva shoulda said anythin' about my leg. It's just...it's hard ta keep…" He let himself trail off, somehow knowing that Jack would understand what he meant.

Jack employed The Moneymaker Excuse just as often as the rest of the boys did, but he knew as well as anyone that sometimes it was hard to keep a brave face. Sometimes it was too difficult to always put on a smile, or to charm your way through life. Appearances were one thing, but reality could sometimes be quite different. Crutchie knew that Jack would identify with this more than anyone.

"I know, Crutch. I know it is," his brother sighed, his voice soft as he gazed at the skyline over Crutchie's shoulder. "But ya gotta hold on. Just hold on, kid. And when that train makes Santa Fe, you and me, we're gonna be on it."

"Ya really think so, Jack?" Crutchie found himself latching on to that promise, believing in it with everything he had. Somehow, he knew it wasn't about just Santa Fe anymore. Jack was telling him to hold out for a new life, for a better life that he could somehow see on the horizon and wanted Crutchie to see as well. And if he looked closely, Crutchie could begin to make out a faint vision of the future that laid before them.

It was bright, and promising, and everything that they wanted it to be. Santa Fe wasn't a town, not to Crutchie. It was a way of life, an ideal that both he and Jack were holding onto with each breath they took.

"Yeah, Crutchie," Jack replied with a firm nod. "I know so. Santa Fe's out there, and it's waitin' for us."

The morning bell began to ring out across the city, and Crutchie smiled to himself as Jack called out to the other newsies in an attempt to get the day moving. The city out of clay would always be there, just as it had been for Jack, but Crutchie knew that it was only a dream to him. New York was where he belonged. And for now, there were papes to sell.

I know that they don't say "We won't let them old men beat us", they say something else, but I'm not really a fan of that word so I censored it...sorry, just a personal choice. I hope the rest of this wasn't too terrible...please review and feel free to leave prompts or suggestions!