A/N: Pre Strike
The Newsies sat on their beds, trying to figure out what do to.
Their leader had been missing for nearly a month now, and even though they all knew where he was, no one would admit it.
It was an unsaid decision that they were going to break him out. Tonight.
"What's the first plan of attack?" Race asked, looking up from his hands that he'd been studying for the past twenty minutes.
The group looked at him. "Are wese actually doin' this?" Crutchie asked, his voice quivering.
"We gotta. Jack's escaped the Refuge three times now. Snydeh won't be as friendly now," Mush said, standing.
"Who's comin' with us?" Specs asked, standing as well.
One by one, each of the Newsies stood, ready to break their brother out of the prison.
They ran around the Lodge, trying to gather supplies (rope) when suddenly the door burst open.
All their heads shot up and towards the door.
When they saw who it was, they gasped and cried out, "JACK!"
Their brother was all beat and bloodied up.
He would've collapsed if Race and Specs hadn't raced over to catch him.
"Mush, Buttons, and Sniper get his shirt off so the blood doesn't dry to it. Finch and Jojo, get a bucket a' wateh and a cloth. Specs and Elmer, go get Miss Medda. She'll know what to do way betteh than us. The rest of you, find whatever's left of that first aid kit the nuns dropped off a while back," Race ordered.
The band of brothers nodded then ran off to their various orders.
Crutchie watched his best friend worriedly then helped find the first aid kid.
Specs and Elmer burst into Miss Medda's theater, shouting for Medda at the top of their lungs.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down boys, what's going on?" the woman asked, walking up from the stage.
"I-It's Jack. He escaped the Refuge but he hurt. Bad. And we need youse help," Elmer explained.
It took Medda a second to comprehend what the boys said, but once she did, she grabbed a full first aid kit and out they went.
They reached the Lodge in a matter of minutes.
Medda spent the rest of the night cleaning Jack's wounds and trying to keep the boy alive. He was so thin and broken looking, Medda just didn't know anymore.
And poor Crutchie wouldn't leave his best friend's side. In fact, none of the boys did.
They watched Medda work, getting her whatever she needed or didn't already have with her.
It was early next morning when she was finally done.
"Try not to move him, ok? I'll go get you boys some food," Medda said.
The boys only nodded a bit in response.
Medda sighed before leaving.
"D'ya think he can 'ear us?" Romeo asked quietly.
"Probably," Race said.
"Jack? Can ya 'ear us?" Crutchie asked. It was the first time he'd spoken since Jack had shown up.
He grunted and hope flooded the boys.
Then he slipped back into unconsciousness and the boys sighed.
As the day went on, the boys fell into a routine.
They would watch Jack until they fell asleep, wake up the next day, sell their papes, come back, and start the routine over. Medda would always come visit the boys and bring them a bit of food.
That continued until the third week when Jack finally began stirring.
"Fellas! Fellas, I think he's wakin' up!" Crutchie shouted and the boys crowded their injured brother's bed.
Jack coughed a bit before opening his eyes.
A cheer erupted.
"What 'appened?" Jack croaked.
He tried to sit up then cried out.
"Whoa, don't even try to go anywhere, Cowboy. We thought you was a goneh," Sniper said as Jojo gently pushed Jack back down.
"All I remembe' is escapin' Snydeh and somehow showin' up 'ere," Jack mumbled.
"We don' really know what 'appened," Specs confessed.
"We was about to go rescue ya from da Refuge and suddenly you were in da doorway," Romeo said.
Jack nodded, then slowly fell back asleep.
At night he began suffering from nightmares, which made him mute for a bit.
But after a while with help from his brothers, Jack slowly returned to his normal self.
He still suffered from nightmares, but c'mon. I mean, who wouldn't if Snyder the Spider had almost succeeded in killing you.
The boys always helped Jack with his nightmares though, whether he would admit that he had them or not.
Anyway, after a few months, Jack was pulled out of mute state and even had his first nightmare free night when he suddenly heard something.
"'Ey, what're you doin'? The bell ain't rung yet. Go back to sleep," he sleepily said to Crutchie.
"I wanna beat the other fellas to da street. I don' want anyone to see dat I, uh, that I ain't walking so good," Crutchie replied.
Jack stood and said, "Aw quit gripin'. You know 'ow many guys fake a limp for sympathy? That bum leg a' yours is a gold mine."
Crutchie sat and pulled his bum leg over the ladder as Jack slipped his vest and hat on. He wasn't getting back to sleep anyway.
"If someone gets the idea I can't make it on my own, they'se gonna lock me up in the refuge! So be a pal Jack and let me down," Crutchie said and Jack winced at the word 'Refuge'.
Crutchie realized this and said, "Sorry."
"It's fine," Jack said, waving it off.
"'Ey, you had your first night without a nightmare!" Crutchie said happily and Jack grinned.
"It's because a you guys," he said with a smile.
"Nah, it's because we'se a family."
Well, that turned out more angsty than I was planning. Shoutout to Thepopcornpup for the idea! This one-shot is based off of what Jack told Buttons in 'The Refuge' when he was talking about the fourth time he made it back from the Refuge.
Anywho, hope you like the little part of from the play! I tried to make it lead up to the strike in one way or another.
Once again, if you have a character, prompt, or anything you would like to see in the next chapter, let me know!
TTFN! Ta ta for now!