A/N: Here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for! The final chapter! Dun dun dun! This is actually a super long chapter that was meant to be split into two or so smaller chapters but I just didn't have time to split it up so now you have this mess of action to read through. Bwahaha!

Also, I'm really excited because I *might* be going to see Motown in San Diego this Sunday! I just have to wait and see if my dad picked up a ticket for me at the box office and if not, I'll probably just order it online. Here's hoping it all works out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies but if I did, David and Jack would have kissed at the end of the movie, not Sarah and Jack.

Cowboy slowly woke up to the sound of Jack waking the boys the next morning. He groaned and rolled over, falling out of the spare bed with a heavy thud. Several of the boys stopped and looked over at where Cowboy lie on the floor of the lodging house. A few of them snickered as the tired boy stood up, rubbing his head and glaring at them as he did so. Jack shooed the boys off to get ready before walking over to Cowboy.

"Rough mornin'?" Jack said, trying - and failing - to hide an amused grin. Cowboy rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed again. He looked around at the madness of the lodging house, the boys running to and fro as they rushed to get ready, and watched as several of them hurried up to Jack, asking for help tying shoes, finding hats or glasses, or just to ask random questions about something they had heard somewhere.

"So is youse da mudda hen here o' sometin'?" Cowboy asked with an amused expression as yet another boy ran off after Jack tied his shoes for him.

"I guess youse could say that," Jack said with a slight nod of his head. "Ya knows how it is. Most of the boys ain't got no folks or nothin' ta look after 'em so's I makes sure that theyse knows theyse got someone ta look after 'em."

Cowboy nodded. It was different back in his own universe. Sure, he was the leader and all, but he was more of a brother to his boys whereas it seemed that Jack was almost more of a father figure to most of his boys.

"Hey," Jack said, snapping Cowboy out of his thoughts. "Do youse want ta stay here or come with ta sell papes? I mean, ya don't gotta if ya don't wanna."

"Nah, Ise'll go wit ya guys," Cowboy said, standing up and heading over to where the other boys were getting ready.

"'Kay," Jack replied, grinning and going over to where everyone was getting ready as well.

Pretty soon all the newsies were shaved, dressed, had their shoes tied (most of them by Jack), and were ready to go. They filed out of the lodging house to head to the circulation desk, Davey and Les meeting up with them along the way. They chatted amongst themselves, talking about different selling spots and the best way to sell papers, as they did every morning, until they reached the circulation desk. Cowboy walked up to the desk and paid for his one-hundred papers. He noticed the Delanceys share a look then smirk at him but thought nothing of it as he walked over to one of the wagons with his papers and began flipping through one of them. Jack and the others soon joined him and after everyone was ready, Jack sent everyone off with a shout of "Newsies, hit da streets!", the newsies scattering in the wake of his call.

Cowboy decided to tag along with Jack once more as he had enjoyed their "headline war" the day before and wanted to get to know the alternate him a little better. They walked to Jack's selling spot, Cowboy taking up the spot on the corner across the street once more. They had been standing there for a few hours, hawking their headlines to the unsuspecting customers, when Jack turned his back to Cowboy to sell a paper to an elderly woman who had stopped by him. Cowboy shook his head and went back to selling his papers but stopped short when he saw two figures making their way towards him. He squinted at the figures as they casually made their approach and a smirk made itself present on his face when he realized who the figures were.

"'Ey, boys!" Cowboy called cheekily as the Delanceys walked across the street to the corner Cowboy was standing on. "Ya didn't get enough o' a fight yesterday?"

Morris and Oscar exchanged a look before Morris stepped closer to Cowboy.

"Actually, Cowboy," Morris spat, balling up his hand into a fist. "I don't think we did. What do ya think, Oscar?"

"I don't think so either, Morris," Oscar said, stepping up beside his brother. "So, how's about we have ourselves another one?"

With that, Morris brought his fist up quickly to collide with Cowboy's jaw, knocking him backwards onto the sidewalk and sending his papers flying all over the place. Oscar kicked him hard in the side for good measure and then each of the brothers grabbed one of Cowboy's arms and began to drag him to an alley.

"Getcha hands offa me ya dumbasses!" Cowboy growled out, attempting to free his arms and get a hit in which just landed him with another blow to the head from one of the brothers. After another blow to his temple, Cowboy became limp in the Delanceys' arms and they were able to quickly drag him into the shadows of the alley where they mercilessly began pounding on him. Morris quickly grew bored and slipped on his brass knuckles to make things a little more...interesting. He chuckled evilly as he brought the brass knuckles into Cowboy's blurred view then pulled his arm back and let his fist fly into Cowboy's cheek several times, the skin splitting where he hit and a large purple bruise forming around the wound. Cowboy let out a strangled yell as Morris hit him on the cheek again and Oscar kicked him in the gut before stars swam into his vision and he felt himself drifting away…

Jack had just sold a paper to an elderly woman when he felt something nagging at him to turn around. However, when he did, he knew something was wrong. Oh, something was definitely wrong. The papers that Cowboy had been hawking just minutes before were now strewn across the ground, forgotten, and the once-occupied corner was now lacking a certain newsboy. Jack frantically ran over to Cowboy's corner and looked around for any signs of him. He couldn't possibly have gotten into trouble so quickly, could he? Maybe he just went for a walk. Yeah, he just went for a walk, that's all! Suddenly a strangled yell rang out through the streets and Jack turned and started running towards where the sound had come from, a darkened alley across the street. When he reached the alley, he could make out a few figures hidden by the shadows. Please don't be Cowboy. Please don't be Cowboy. However, as he got closer, Jack could make out the nearly-unconscious form of Cowboy being wailed on by none other than the Delancey brothers. Oh, god. Definitely not out for a walk. Jack threw down his bag full of papers and stalked towards the scene, his fear long forgotten as it was replaced by rage. He reached out and grabbed Morris, who was about to land another blow on Cowboy, dragging him back by the collar.

"I thought I told youse to leave him alone," Jack said, deadly calm before raising a fist and punching Morris square in the nose then kneeing him in the gut before tossing him aside into a pile of garbage. He then stormed over to Oscar, who by now had caught sight of Jack and tried making a hasty exit, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcefully shoving him up against the wall of the alley.

"Don't youse go pickin' a fight with any o' my friends without expectin' a fight from me. Got it?"

When Oscar nodded quickly, Jack gave him a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Good," and with that, Jack slammed his fist into the side of Oscar's head and shoved him aside onto his brother. The Delanceys slowly pulled themselves up and sent Jack a nasty look before slinking out of the alley, clutching their heads. Jack quickly turned and ran over to Cowboy.

"Hey! Cowboy! Can ya hear me?" Jack nearly shouted as he knelt over the other boy, trying to get a response.

"'Ey, did wese win?" Cowboy slurred as he groggily looked up at his alternate self.

"Yeah, yeah wese won," Jack chuckled. "Hey, do youse think you can stand up and walk ta Jacobi's? Maybe find someone ta clean ya up a bit?"

"Walk? Ise'll just sleep here," Cowboy said.

"Oh no ya won't," Jack said, slipping an arm around the other boy and hoisting him to his feet. "Youse is gonna go ta Jacobi's and get cleaned up, okay?"

"...okay," Cowboy sighed as he let Jack pull him along as they slowly made their way to Jacobi's.

After what seemed like forever but was probably only about a half hour or so, Jack finally half-dragged, half-carried Cowboy into Jacobi's.

"Mistah Jacobi!" Jack called as he carted Cowboy over to an empty table near the back of the diner. "I needs your help!"

Mr. Jacobi walked over to where Jack and Cowboy were but stopped cold when he saw Cowboy's battered body.

"Good lord! What happened?"

"The Delanceys happened," Jack said as Mr. Jacobi helped him up onto the table. Mr. Jacobi shook his head and sighed.

"Those boys are nothin' but trouble," he said before turning towards the kitchen. "I'll go get you something to clean up those cuts with."

He walked out and soon returned with a bowl full of water and a rag which he handed to Jack.

"Thanks Mistah Jacobi," Jack said, taking the rag and bowl of water gratefully as he began cleaning out the cuts on Cowboy's face. Mr. Jacobi nodded and was about to walk away when Jack called him.

"Have the boys been here yet?" he asked.

"No, not yet," Mr. Jacobi replied. "But they should be here soon. It's almost lunchtime."

Jack nodded and went back to cleaning out Cowboy's cuts. By now Cowboy was on the brink of unconsciousness so he didn't put up a fight. After a few minutes, Jack had finished cleaning out Cowboy's cuts. He set down the rag and bowl and waited quietly for the other boys to arrive. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the distant shouts and yells of a pack of newsies grew closer and soon they were all clamouring inside the restaurant and heading towards their normal tables. The boys didn't notice him at first so Jack called to them.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" he said loud enough for them to hear. The boys turned their heads towards Jack and when they noticed Cowboy on the table beside him, they rushed over to him.

"Jack, what happened?" Buttons asked.

"Yeah! What happened, Jack?" several of the boys echoed.

"The Delancey's decided ta try and get back at Cowboy here for yesterday," Jack said, motioning towards the boy who was lying still on the table. "By the time I got there, theyse had already beat him up real good."

The boys began murmuring to one another, beginning to form a plan to take down the Delanceys for what they did to Cowboy.

"Hey, boys! Wese ain't gonna go startin' no fights right now. Wese gotta help Cowboy back ta the lodgin' house," Jack said, instantly quieting the boys. "I needs one of youse ta help me get Cowboy back."

The boys all looked around at each other for a moment before Davey walked out of the crowd of newsies.

"I'll help you," he said, walking over to Jack and Cowboy.

"I thought youse would," Jack said with a smile at his best friend. Davey rolled his eyes and carefully grabbed one of Cowboy's arms while Jack grabbed the other and they slowly pulled Cowboy into a standing position.

"Oh...'eya, Mouth! When did ya get here?" Cowboy slurred as Jack and Davey started walking him towards the exit of the restaurant.

"What did you call m-oh, nevermind," Davey said with a shake of his head. Jack chuckled and looked back towards the boys.

"We'll see ya back at the lodgin' house, boys!" he called. The boys all nodded and shouted their goodbyes and Davey and Jack made their way out of the restaurant and towards the lodging house with Cowboy in tow.

Jack and Davey were talking quietly with each other when Cowboy finally came to and realized that he was back in his bunk in the lodging house. He groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head which was still throbbing. Jack and Davey heard this and turned around, looking over at Cowboy who was now trying to stand up. They rushed over to him and caught him as he wobbled and almost fell over.

"Hey, easy there! Youse took quite the beatin' back there!" Jack said as he and Davey helped Cowboy to sit back down on the bunk.

"Yeah, you should probably rest a bit longer," Davey said to Cowboy.

"'Ey, it ain't no big deal," Cowboy chuckled. "Jus' a few bruises, notin' I can't handle."

Jack shook his head and was about to say something else when the sound of feet running up the stairs of the lodging house caught his attention as well as Davey's and Cowboy's. The boys flooded into the room, chatting and laughing with each other. Crutchie came in behind everyone else with Les and looked towards Jack, Davey, and Cowboy.

"Hey, look who's awake!" he said with a grin as he made his way over to the bunk the three boys were sitting on.

"'Ey, Crutchie!" Cowboy said with a friendly smile.

"Heya, Cowboy! Did ya just wake up?" Crutchie asked as he took a seat by Jack.

"Pretty much," Cowboy said.

"Wow! Ya've been out for a while, then!"

"Really?" Cowboy asked. He looked towards a window of the lodging house and noticed the sun was setting. "Oh...Ise guess Ise has been," Cowboy said with a nod, then grimacing and bringing a hand up to a bruise on the side of his jaw. Suddenly, he looked up with a nervous look in his eyes.

"'Ey, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh...ain't wese supposed ta be meetin' Shea right now?"

"Well, yeah but do youse want ta wait until tomorrow or somethin'? I mean, youse is really beat up."

"No, Ise is okay," Cowboy insisted. He stood up, wobbling slightly but staying upright.

"Okay, well then I guess wese should be goin'," Jack said as he stood up, Davey and Crutchie standing up as well. "Hey, boys! Cowboy is goin' back home. If youse wants ta see him off, ya can come with us."

Not surprisingly, all of the boys immediately jumped up and ran down the stairs, waiting by the entrance to the lodging house.

"Well, I guess they's is all comin' with," Jack chuckled and he, Cowboy, Davey, and Crutchie slowly made their way down the stairs to join the pack.

By the time the boys had reached the alley that Shea had been in the day before, it was already nightfall. The group peered into the alley and it didn't take long for them to spot Shea, sitting beside her machine and clicking something on the screen.

"Oh, hey guys!" Shea said, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Where have you been? I was starting to get worried that something had happened!"

Jack and Cowboy shared a look before Jack turned to Shea.

"Well, actually, somethin' kinda did happen," he said. Shea turned to look at the boys and immediately took notice of the bruises and cuts across Cowboy's face. She jumped to her feet quickly and took a step closer to him.

"What happened to you?" she questioned. "You look like hell!"

"Jus' a little run-in wit' da Delanceys," Cowboy said with a shrug.

"Ah, of course," Shea said with a roll of her eyes as she turned back to her machine. "Well, are you ready to go? I have everything all set up and ready to go."

"Jus' a sec," Cowboy said. Shea nodded and began to double-check the machine. Cowboy turned to all the boys standing at the opening of the alley.

"Well, uh… it was nice ta meet ya guys," Cowboy said. "Youse all are pretty different here, hell wese ain't even got some o' youse, where Ise is from, but youse are pretty great."

The boys all smiled and a few even cheered. Cowboy chuckled and shook his head, turning to Jack.

"Thanks for everytin', y'know, for lettin' me stay wit youse and sell papes in your borough an' all," Cowboy said. "Ise really appreciate it."

"Wese'll miss ya, Cowboy," Jack said with a nod and a smile. "Sorry for all the bruises ya got."

"'Ey, more to add to the collection!" Cowboy said with a laugh. He finished saying his goodbyes to Davey, Les, Crutchie, and the rest of the boys, then walked over to Shea.

"Ise is ready," he said. Shea nodded and motioned for him to stand by the machine.

"Just stay right there. This should only take minute," Shea said. "Oh, and I'm gonna be transporting you to a couple seconds after you left so you don't have to worry about too much time passing after you left."

Cowboy simply nodded and waited quietly, looking back at Jack's newsies one final time.

"Alrighty! Well, bye Jack! Thanks for helping me out with my science project and everything! And thank you too, Cowboy! Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

Jack and Cowboy both smiled at her and told her it was no problem. Shea turned once more to Cowboy.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready."

Cowboy offered a final wave and smile to Jack and his newsies, all of them smiling and waving back, before a blinding white light filled his vision and whisked him away…

"Hey, where the hell did Jack go?" Racetrack yelled. The other boys looks around in confusion at one another for a few seconds before the blinding white light flashed again. The boys all whipped around to see Cowboy standing on the sidewalk behind them, battered, bruised, and positively beaming at them.

"What happened to you?!" David exclaimed as he rushed over to his best friend's side, several other newsies following suit. Cowboy chuckled and looked at the boys, his cut cheeks burning and stinging as he smiled at them.

"It's a long story."

A/N: So, there it is! The end of the story! I'm a little sad but also a bit relieved as I finished this with 40 minutes to spare (before the deadline for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition, which, by the way, is looking for new people to join, if you're interested...). I'm actually thinking of a possible sequel to this story but for now, I'm just gonna relax and work on getting that Motown ticket. I hope you enjoyed this story as I had a blast writing it! Sorry that the ending's a bit rushed!

Seize the day!

DC