Hey there... Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I was just so stuck on what to do. This was a pretty big chapter, and I rewrote it like three times... But just as a heads up, after Crutchie makes it out of the Refuge, it switches to a 3rd POV. I don't know if I'll put it back to someone else's POV. I'll let you know when I get there.

I must give credit where credit is due, and Big Glasses Girl Fanfic, because she gave me that extra shove to post tonight's chapter. And please, if you've got stories where you've left your characters and readers in a cliff hanger, PLEASE update it! You don't understand how much it warm's someone's heart when they find you've updated something of yours. It's like getting a sundae after running a 5k. It's so perfect.

Anyways, I hope you like it! This is unedited, by the way, but I'd like it if you'd give me a suggestion for where else to go on from here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies... *cries forever*

Excited screams rang through the halls as I woke up the next morning, my aches barely noticeable. Three tiny boys were waving their arms out the window wildly, shouting and whooping as loud as possible while others were smiling and laughing while jumping around me.

"Crutchie! Wake up! Youse is goin' home!" Med shouted, shaking my shoulders with a smile that was bigger than I thought possible covering his face.

"W-What?" I mumbled out, running a hand over my sleepy face.

"The strike! Youse won! They's shuttin' down the refuge tonight! We get to leave!" Med shouted, tears in his eyes. "S-Snyder, he's goin' to jail, and so are them Delancey brothers youse was tellin' us about!"

A smile spread itself across my face as wide as Med's, while more little boys danced around, jumping from bed to bed and screaming with delight while Med hoisted me off the bed with a single pull. "Now, get yourself ready! Youse is gettin' outta here sooner than you can say 'get outta here'!"

Med laughed a full laugh as I stood in his grasp, giggling like an idiot as the little boys whooped and hollered around us, throwing their nightshirts that they had been given on their first day here out the window and into the dusty road beneath us. I tossed mine to them, grinning like an idiot that was given a million dollars.

I felt like that, at least.

"C-Crutchie!" Nicky screeched, rushing into the room with her hair in a curly mess behind her. "I heard the news!"

With every ounce of energy I had, I charged at Nicky, throwing my arms around her shoulders and shaking her around like she was Jack at the end of a perfect day for selling papers. She smiled and laughed with me, throwing her arms around my back and keeping me upright as Med tossed me my crutch.

When we finally pulled away, her eyes glistened with overjoyed tears that spilled out of the corners of her eyes and down her thin face. "You get to get outta here!" My dirty hand reached up her cheek, wiping a few away as I spoke.

She laughed and nodded, leaning her head into my hand as I leaned against my crutch. The boys started to run out of the room, leaving Med, Nicky and I alone with the shouting a few rooms away to fill our ears.

"So." Med finally said while Nicky kept her arm around me to hold me up. "What are you plannin' on doin' once we leave?"

"Back to bein' a Newsie, I guess." I smiled. "Oh, Jack and Davey, they's is gonna be happy to see me back there... What about you, Med?"

He sat and thought for a second, before letting his smile grow even bigger. "I think I'll take some of the boys to Brooklyn. Uncle's got a store up there, and I bet he could use some extra help, right?"

I nodded with Nicky. "That's good for them boys. I hope to see youse around, you know? Mebbe bein' a doctor?"

Med laughed louder than before, smiling with eyes brighter than the sun. "Who knows, kid."

His eyes floated up to Nicky's and a tiny tear snuck out the edge. "We got what we wished for, Nicky."

"We sure did, Med." She nodded back, tugging him forward into a tight hug around the neck with me. "Thanks for bein' there for me."

He nodded, shoving his face between our shoulders and sniffling quietly while we stood in silence. If words were exchanged right now, tears would have been too.

"Well," Med finally said with glistening eyes as he pulled away from our hug and straightened his shirt. "I'll go round up the boys. See you soon, kids."

"And you too, Med." I nodded while Nicky snuck her hand around my torso once more, even though I could stand well enough.

When he finally made his way out of the room, Nicky looked at me, tilting her head at me like a lost puppy on the streets. "Goin' back to the Newsies, now?"

I took a deep breath, nodding with my eyes stuck on hers. "Yeah. But there's somethin' else too."

"Oh?" She asked, cocking her head up to look at me. "What's that?"

"There's always an extra mattress on the roof, you know." I replied timidly, dropping my gaze to the floor while the blood rushed through my cheeks. "I'm sure Jack won't mind, another person sleepin' up theres. You could be a Newsie, I bet. Got the face for it, and all."

Nicky giggled sweetly, pulling my gaze up from the floor and letting it rest on her eyes. "Crutchie, I'd love to stay with you."

"Really? You mean you wanna sleep on a rooftop with us? I mean, it's got a cover for the rain, but there's no Snyder or Delanceys there-"

"I will be where ever you are, Crutchie. No matter what."

"No matter what?" I repeated, trying to wrap my head around the idea.

"No matter what."

-3rd POV-

The Refuge was finally shut down for good on the evening after the strike, the doors shut forever while kids of all ages ran out with wet eyes and happy hearts. Nicky held her arm around Crutchie's waist, careful of the boy's scarred back while we walked along a brick sidewalk in New York.

She was wearing a beautiful blue dress that fell to her ankles, where leathered boots hugged her thin ankles. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail at the top of her head, and fell down her back in a mess of curls and brunette wisps.

Within a few silent moments, the two were a block away from Jacobi's Deli, where the whole band of Newsies would probably be at the moment to share a victorious dinner. Nicky smiled as big as she could while they approached the building, her hands jittery with excitement.

"This is it, Nicky." Crutchie proclaimed as he stepped up to the doorway, pushing the door open for her. "They're gonna love you, I know it."

She nodded, a breath stuck in her throat. "First time in seeing kids that aren't beaten, bruised, or in a stupid home in ten years. I'm ready."

They both took the first step into the loudest and jolliest he'd ever seen the deli before. The room the Newsies frequented in was filled with people sitting at tables, tap dancing in the corners, or singing their hearts out. Jack sat at a table, his eyes tired, yet smiling while Katherine sat with him, watching the boys celebrate. Banter filled the room while no one noticed their best friend finally coming back to them.

With a giant breath, the crippled boy shouted into the room, a smile on his face as he turned every head.

"Guess who's home!"

The room erupted into cheers while Jack perked his head up, and broke into a run, barrelling into his arms. The tall boy shook his friend's tiny body, the only word on his lips the name of his best friend.

Jack's eyes were moist as he shook his head, finally pulling himself away from the boy he deemed his brother. "I'm never leavin' you again, kid. Never."

"Good." Crutchie replied, adjusting his crutch under his armpit while people whooped and hollered in the room. "Now, there's a girl I want'cha to meet."

"Oooh, Crutchie picked up a skirt in the Refuge!" One of the boys laughed through the room, followed by the others. "Let's see her!"

His legs moved faster than he could speak, hobbling out into the hall, where Nicky stood, speaking to the man who ran the joint with a glass of water in her hand. She smiled and laughed, shaking hands with him before returning her attention to Crutchie.

"Ready to meet the Newsies, Nicky?" The boy smiled, tossing his hand over her shoulder and leading her into the packed room. She laughed, nodding and letting a few tears of happiness in the corner of her eyes leak out.

The room broke into cheers and happiness at the sight of the two, while one member stayed silent.

One quite important member….

The water glass slipped out of Nicky's hand as she took notice of the Newsie who was silent amongst them all. She instantly covered her mouth as a gasp stole her breath.

"J-Jasper?" She whispered as the room grew quiet. Crutchie's arm fell off of her back as she stepped forward towards Jack, entranced.

"Sorry sweetie, that's Jack Kelly. The leader of dis 'ole operashun." Race called out from the other side, quickly silenced by a few elbows jabbed in his direction.

"N-Nicole?" He whispered, teary eyed.

"No, no, this isn't real." She shook her head, turning away from Jack. "He died, I saw it!"

"No, Nicole, I-"

"It's Nicky, Jack." She spat, a sneer replacing her smile. "Apparently we're all changing names now."

"Fine," Jack replied, rolling his eyes. "Nicky, whatever the hell you call yourself now, it's me, Jasper!"

"Who the hell is Jaspa'!" Specs called out over the crowd, quickly silenced by a chorus of shushes.

"I got out, in the back of that carriage!" He called out, a smile as big as possible on his face. "Roosevelt's carriage, and I rode it to New York!"

"And didn't think to come get me out?" She shouted at him, far more enraged than anyone had ever seen.

"No, I did!" He shouted back, confusion etching itself into his skin. "Th-They told me youse was gone! You died too!"

"Why the hell would I have died too, Jasper?" She said, rolling her eyes. "Could you've thought a little with that teeny brain of yours?"

Jack scratched his head, void of an answer.

"I spent ten years in that hell hole." She spat, walking straight up to Jack and pointing a finger at his nose. "Ten, long years, watching people go in and out, kids getting beat up, living on whatever food we might find at the time, Jack. And every day, I thought'a you, and how much it hurt to die."

"I'm sorry, Nicole, but I-"

"I spent my whole life, locked up in there!" She shouted even louder, her hands turning into fists while they stood, eye to eye. At this close, they were almost identical, of course with their fair shares of differences. "While you were trapezin' around the city like a high roller!"

"Trapezin' about the city?" Jack said, his voice a mix of incredulousness and anger. "I was barely scrapin' by! I had to start from the ground up, work with every penny I got! While youse had a bed to sleep in, two meals a day, a roof over your head? You were perfectly fine, and you know it."

As quick as a hiccup, Nicky raised her hand to Jack's face and slapped it as hard as she could, her eyes blinded with anger.

"You call bein' beaten every week, starved until you could see the bones stickin' out of you 'fine'?" She spat, turning on her heel and rushing out the door, silent rage in her wake. Turning at the last moment, she shouted one last thing at her brother before disappearing out the door.

"I hate you, Jasper. I hate you so much."

So what did you guys think? I hope you liked it, and please leave a review, telling me what you guys think! And I know that Francis is Jack's real name, but I liked Jasper more. Have a good day where ever you go, and don't forget to update those stories you've left untouched. Readers will thank you, I guarantee that.