A/N: Hello, all! Sorry this chapter is so late…again…I got up at 10am, watched some Power Rangers, did a "Just Dance" workout for 27 minutes, played Mario Kart for a while, and then started cooking lunch….and it's now 2:23pm. At least, on the West Coast of the United States. ;) Haha…and now it's an hour later, after doing chores/eating lunch. Great… ;) Anyways, so…last chapter….haha… ;) I apologize for all of the whumping…I just had to give the newsies an even larger reason to soak the rich boys! Luckily, there isn't really any more physical whumpage this chapter…there might be some emotional, but I'm not sure yet. Hopefully you guys can stand to wait a couple more chapters before another newsie ends up joining the boys! (And I'll give you a hint…look at who's getting beaten up in all of my stories….come on, we all saw this coming. ;) ) Hopefully this makes up for all the whumping of Romeo and Specs last chapter!
DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL I'M JUST A SADISTIC BASTARD WHO CAN'T STOP WHUMPING THEM AND DROPPING MY READERS OFF OF CLIFFS!
Responses to reviews:
Biankies: Yeah…he and Specs are banged up pretty bad. The Judge will certainly attempt to, but they have to get proof first….which may or may not involve another newsie getting soaked, which no one would want… Hopefully you'll have some nails left after this chapter! Yeah-my sister's definitely a morning person, and I'm just walking around the house going "Don't talk to me until 11am if I haven't had coffee…"…I agree, night owls are much quieter and nicer by far. Yep…it seems to be a special talent of mine, pounding them into the pavement…all in the name of fanfiction… ;) It should be resolved in 6 chapters…and look in the author's note for a hint! I will most certainly keep the chapters coming!
FansieFace: Haha…nice things are always good to start with! That's soooooo awesome-I wish I could have gone with you! I love Andy Richardson…and I may or not replay "King of New York" over and over so that I can hear his solo on the OBC album… ;) I agree-without Newsies, I wouldn't have attempted to keep on acting/singing/dancing, and it encourages me to keep going to this day! Haha…I'm so sorry for whumping them…I do tend to be a sadistic bastard, though! Sorry, Hulu…haha….hopefully it doesn't start shooting fireballs or anything…cause that would be a problem…luckily there's no physical whumpage this chapter, so Hulu should be able to breathe a little bit….and stop having a Biblical-type freakout. ;)
S. Castro: Yeah, The League does not like the newsies at all…and I am like 95% sure I said "payback", not "paycheck"…I'll go back and check, though. Yeah, they do need to go to "school" with the Comstocks/Snyder/Clancys…hopefully they will be! Yep, there's twelve members of The League…which means that only two haven't jumped a newsie yet (which I think is Anton and Nixon…as the leader/deputy leader, they probably let the others be the ones to get their hands dirty). Yeah, Pulitzer will be making sure…and there will probably be a couple of officers posted there as well to make sure that the Delancys do what they're told. Yep, Judge Bolger is back…he won't be back for a few chapters, but he will reappear around Chapter 9! Yeah, I hope so too-all of the newsies will be on the lookout for some way to get the rich boys arrested now. Thanks-I'm glad you enjoyed it (even though that chapter had the most physical whumpage to date. ;) )
K. Kelly: Yeah, she's going to enjoy stabbing them in the heart with her pen…but it won't happen for a few chapters, so keep an eye out for that! (should be around Chapter 10…) Thanks!
CLIFFHANGER ALERT…AND POSSIBLE EMOTIONAL WHUMPAGE WARNING! ALSO, REFERENCE ALERT! (but not to Newsies…to a popular book/movie villain)
Enjoy "A Rich Man's Newsie" Chapter 6!
"They'll get their proof, Your Honor. I promise."
"So we hafta git da officers proof a da fact dat dey's beatin' up da boys an' harrasin' dem?" Race queried. The four members of the "Inner Circle" (Jack, Race, Crutchie, and Davey) were gathered inside the smaller room off to the side of the Living Room, known as the "Soaking Room", since the three newsies inside had all gotten beaten up, and Jack wanted them all in the same room in order to keep an eye on them. The doctor had come by and looked over all of them, and had told the three older boys (quietly, and out of earshot of the three injured newsies) that Romeo and Spec's injuries were much worse than Crutchie's. Whereas Crutchie's might take a couple of months to heal, Romeo and Specs could take as long as four months. He had also (again) told them how to take care of the downed newsies' injuries, and given them a painkiller for each, which had the added bonus of putting the person to sleep.
"Yes-unfortunately the officers have to see something happening to one of us before they can make the arrest-and as we all want the assault charges to stick, they have to be caught in the act of attacking one of us. Judge Bolger promised that he'll have officers around keeping a close eye on them, though." The three other newsies sighed nervously. Why did everyone seem to want to beat them into the pavement? Seriously, was everyone in New York a sadistic bastard with the desire to see them all beat up for some macabre entertainment? Jack wouldn't be surprised if some young writer had started writing stories with that very plotline and published it to the masses, with all of the attacks the newsies had suffered in the last six months or so. (And seriously-didn't people have anything better to do than to read those kinds of stories anyways?) "Juliet ain't gonna like dat one bit-an' ya know she's gonna try an' run off again iffn' she can git away fast enough." Jack muttered. Race and Davey nodded, but Crutchie looked stunned (since he hadn't been in the room when Juliet had run off the night before). "She tried ta run off?" he queried. "An' end dose rich boys…permantlly." Jack said, running a hand through his hair. Once he and Race had arrived back at the Lodging House with Juliet, the doctor's apprentice had been there, checking on Crutchie, since the doctor was still helping the young woman giving birth. The young apprentice had given the two older boys something that would quickly put a person to sleep, and Jack had slipped it into Juliet's water as she went to bed. Neither he or Race wanted her to lie awake that night thinking of everything that had happened, and the pill had done its work-she had fallen asleep quickly after lying down on her bed, and was still sleeping now. Romeo and Specs were still out as well, thanks to the painkiller. "We cain't tell her that someone else has ta git almost soaked…she'd try ta end 'em again, an' git arrested for murder or sumthin'." Race murmured.
"Den wat is we gonna do?" Crutchie questioned. "We cain't let da rich boys git away with soakin' Romeo or Specs…or me…but we also cain't do anathin' 'til dey do somthin' first…how is we supposed ta do anathin'?" The others looked at each other, not sure either what they were supposed to do. "At least taday's Sunday, an' dere ain't any papes ta sell taday." Jack responded. Pulitzer had decided not to publish a Sunday paper for the next couple weeks, allowing his reporters an extra day to prepare their stories for Monday, and especially to give the newsies a chance to breathe and be together as a family, without any League members taunting or heckling them. "It will be nice not to have to see The League members today at all…especially after you three getting soaked. If you going down, Crutchie, made everybody mad, seeing Romeo and Specs getting attacked will enrage them, and we might have a massacre on our hands." Davey remarked quietly. The others nodded. A League-free day would do them a world of good. A faint noise from the back of the room startled them, and they all turned to see Specs slowly opening his eyes. Jack looked at Davey, getting the message across that he needed the other newsie to stay with Crutchie-he and Race would take care of Specs. Davey quickly nodded, and stayed talking with Crutchie while Jack and Race made their way over to the slowly awakening newsie. "'Ey, Specs…how ya doin'?" Jack murmured. Specs lightly groaned in pain, trying to roll over. Jack placed a hand on his chest and Race on his shoulder, stopping the younger boy from moving. "Don' even think 'bout movin'-ya an' Romeo is banged up pretty bad, an' ya ain't movin' 'til we gives de okay." Race muttered. Specs quickly agreed, being too weak and sore to do much more than glare at his older brothers, who both chuckled. "Romeo…he alright?" he breathed out. Jack nodded, looking over to his right to guide Spec's gaze over to the bed with the younger newsie. "He's a little more banged up den ya, but he's gonna be alright-jus' like ya." Jack murmured. Looking back, he noticed a nervous look on Spec's face. "Wat is it, Specs?" he queried. Specs initially refused to answer, but Jack and Race simply stared at him until he finally said, "I let Romeo down. I's da oldar brother-I's supposed ta git soaked da worst-not him. If I had done my job right, he wouldn' be hurt at all…an' he got hurt worse den me. I let him-an' all a ya-down." He looked away from his two older brothers, as if thinking that they would agree with his declaration. It surprised him, then, to feel a hand ruffling his hair, while another warmly gripped the back of his neck. "It's alright, Specs-ya did wat ya could. Romeo coulda bin hurt alot worse iffn' ya hadn' a bin dere." Race replied, trying to calm his brother. Specs, however, shook his head. "Romeo wouldn' have bin dere at all iffn' it weren' for me. I was da one wat drug him along ta da eyedoctors-I shoulda jus' had 'em git back ta da Lodging House. Den he wouldn' have gotten soaked." Jack and Race looked at each other and sighed. "Specs…ya don' get it. It was a good idea ta take Romeo with ya, since dere's all sorts a…bad people…walkin' round Manhattan at night…one who wouldn' hesitate ta hurt da ya iffn' ya was on your own. Havin' Romeo with ya meant dat dose people wouldn' try ta mess with ya, since dere was two a ya. Den, I know ya did da best ya could ta protect Romeo…an' ya certainly did dat. Yes, he's banged up a bit more, but if ya hadn' a done dat, he would be alot worse off den he is right now."
"An'…don'tcha think dat's wat I was tryin' ta do too?" A quiet voice stunned all three boys, and turning around (or in Spec's case, just rolling his head to his left) to see Romeo looking over at them. When he saw that he had their undivided attention, he went on. "I mean, Juliet an' Les an' Snitch an' I….we knows dat if we eva git inta bad trouble, you guys is always gonna be dere for us…but ya is also gonna try ta take da brunt of it ta protect us, an' not look afta yourselfs. Once we realized dat, Juliet an' I decided dat if our older brothers ain't gonna look afta demselves, we was gonna do it for 'em."
"Wat da ya mean?" Race asked.
"Wat I mean is dat when ya try ta take most a a beatin' for us, we is gonna watch your back, an' make sure no one gits ya while ya's watchin' out for us." He sighed, burrowing down a little more into the blankets surrounding him. "Dat's why I don' mind bein' hurt more den ya-I was tryin' ta keep dem from hurtin' ya too bad…an' it worked…evan if it meant dat I got hurt worse den ya." All of the older boys (including Davey and Crutchie, who could hear everything the other boys were saying), exhaled sharply. They had always unconsciously tried to take the worst pain upon themselves if they and a younger sibling were ever attacked…but they hadn't realized that their younger siblings had noticed, and decided to do the same for them.
"How long since ya realized dat?" Jack queried. Romeo attempted to shrug, but aborted the motion as his abused shoulders protested the movement. "Maybe…maybe three months or so? Pretty much afta evaryting wat happened in December with Juliet." Jack let out a sigh, and lightly rested a hand on both Specs and Romeo's shoulders, squeezing gently, so as not to cause them any pain. "In any case…I's jus' glad both a ya are alright…an' dat ya is home." he murmured.
The rest of that morning-and, actually, into the early afternoon-was a well-deserved, well-needed, and well-used respite for the newsies. The boys sat around playing cards or just talking with their brothers, including Crutchie, Specs, and Romeo, as Jack didn't want them to be in a room off by themselves while their brothers were merrily cavorting in the room right next door. Juliet was also there, but she sat off to herself, shooting nervous glances at Jack every now and then, as if she thought that her older brother was still mad at her for the events of last night. She wasn't always the best at reading people's body language and expressions, so she couldn't tell what Jack was thinking, and just assumed that he was still mad. Eventually, Race and Davey pointed it out to Jack, and the older boy somehow managed to sneak up next to her without her noticing. He sat there for a few minutes, his arm loosely draped against her shoulders, before she noticed and nearly jumped out of her skin. "Jack-how did ya…wat did ya…" She tried to jump to her feet and move away, but Jack's arm firmly grasped her before she could. "Easy, little sister…jus' calm down." Juliet stopped trying to get away, but he could still feel her nervously trembling beneath him. "Juliet…I's not mad at ya 'bout last night."
"Of course ya is...I's surprised evaryone else ain't mad."
"Cause da othars don' know." Juliet looked at her brother in shock, thinking that everyone must have heard by now the story of how she tried to run off and kill all of the members of The League before Jack, Race, and Davey caught up to her, as an example of something not to do. Apparently, she hadn't figured that Jack would keep that a secret. Her older brother's fingers rubbed her shoulder as he explained, "I didn' think dat da boys needed ta know 'bout dat. Dey might start thinkin' something was wrong with ya iffn' dey heard 'bout wat happened."
"Dere is something wrong with me." Juliet quietly muttered in self-disgust, looking away. "I's da only one here dat decided ta go on a murderous spree an' end all a da League a Bastards, an' coulda got all a us in trouble… an' didn' care 'bout the consequences." She took a breath, and continued. "I jus' couldn'…I couldn'…I cain't see a world worth carin' 'bout iffn' all a ya ain't in it…an' especially not Romeo an' Specs…I jus'..." She kept looking away, ashamed of herself, and then started when Jack slowly reached up and cupped her cheek, turning her face to meet his. (Jack made a mental note at this point to thank Race and Davey for keeping the other newsies occupied so that they didn't interrupt the quiet moment between the two newsies…and to thank Crutchie, Romeo, and Specs, who clearly were paying attention to their conversation but acting like they weren't, so they wouldn't weird Juliet out.) As she-slowly and cautiously-made eye contact with her older brother, she didn't see any anger or frustration or disappointment, which is what she assumed she would see. Instead, Jack's eyes held love, gentleness, kindness, and empathy, and Juliet couldn't help but let out a small gasp. Jack smiled, rubbing his thumb over her cheek a little. "Ya have had a time of it, ain't ya, kid?" he murmured, smiling down at his sister as she teared up a little. She closed her eyes as if to hide the fear and sadness showing in her eyes-but Jack had already seen it-and so she was surprised when he pulled her closer to his side and gently kissed her temple. He normally saved that show of affection for Crutchie alone, but he could tell that in this instance, Juliet needed it more (and by the way he had to turn his head away to hide his large grin, Crutchie wholeheartedly agreed). "I ain't mad at ya, kid-none a us is. Yeah, wat ya did wasn' a good idea, but ya didn' see a way out, did ya? I know ya wanna git dose rich boys an' git 'em good, but ya gotta trust me ta know when da right time is, alright?" At his sister's nod, he squeezed her shoulder gently. "Don' worry-we will get dese idiots-I promise ya."
CRASH!
At the loud noise, everyone jumped, and then turned as one to see a group of people barging into the Lodging House. Upon recognizing who they were, every single newsie let out a groan, and Crutchie, Romeo, and Specs let out growls. Multiple newsies had to hold each other back from charging their "guests", and Jack tightened his arm around Juliet, to keep her from getting up.
"Let me be the first to say, it's an honor to finally visit your charming home…although home isn't an applicable term…more of a shack, really…"
"Wat do ya want, ya rich boy scum?" Elmer asked harshly. Anton rolled his eyes and raised his arms skyward, as if questioning how the newsies could be this dense. "Would we be here for anything else? Your time is over, newsies-we're in command now."
"Um, in case ya may have noticed…we's still doin' fine. Ya cain't git rid a us dat quickly." Buttons called from near the back of the room. The League of Gentlemen members all started laughing. "Well, maybe we can't take you down all at once…but apparently we're able to take down single newsies whenever we please! Three out of twenty down…only seventeen left, and with our track record that shouldn't take longer than a week at most!" Nixon bragged.
"Could be down to fourteen tomorrow…see how long the baby idiots and their diminutive sister last!" Rito Revoltan leered. Davey jumped up from where he was sitting, requiring the efforts of Sniper, Finch, Elmer, and Jojo to hold him back. "You are not going to touch my brother, you cretins! None of you are, or so help me, I will-" He then uttered a term that he could only have heard from Race (since he was the one who said it the most), and all of his siblings stared at him in shock. Apparently, the one way to get Davey to utter a swear word was to threaten Les in front of him.
Duly noted.
"An' ya ain't gonna touch me or my brother either-not now, an' not never!" Juliet cried from where she sat with Jack. One of the other League members-Delon Underbridge (who still carried all of the bruises and scars from his run-in with Jack, who nearly mauled him)-cackled, stepping closer to Juliet. "Well, guess what? I can touch you, right now!" He went to poke her in the leg, but Jack slapped his hand away before he could. "Ya don' touch her-not unless ya don' wanna be breathin' anamore. We ain't goin' anawhere, an' ya ain't gonna make us. We's gonna stop ya, an' dere ain't nothin' ya can do it 'bout it." The League members and newsie family stared each other for a while, before a gentle knock sounded at the door. "Jack?" Katherine walked into the room, and suddenly noticed the presence of the 12 League members. She actively glared at them, and grinned coldly. "Actually, it's good that you all are here-I have a message from my father for you."
"Oh, really? What does Mr. Pulitzer want to tell us-that he desires that the newsies are finally exterminated like we've been waiting for?"
Katherine glared darkly at them. "Quite the contrary, in fact-my father wishes me to tell you that he does not want to see any of you at the distribution center or selling paper ever again, and he does not want you to take the newsies' jobs anymore. In short-stay as far away from the newsies as you can, or my father will not hesitate to contact the police and have them arrest you for harassment and assault."
"Oh really, sweet cheeks? Are you sure that's what your father truly said, or were you hoping to persuade us…another way?" Anton leered at her. Jack growled lowly at them, and Race moved quickly to-gently-pull Katherine forwards and into the crowd of newsies, who were more than happy to keep The League of Idiots away from her. "Git outta here-now. An' don' come back-eva. Iffn' we evar sees ya here again, we's ain't gonna be responsible for wat we do. An' ya ain't gonna like it one bit. Now, before we all gits rid'a ya ourselves…git outta here." The League members glared at the newsies for a while, who glared back, before finally acquiescing and stalking out of the door, slamming it behind them. Side conversations immediately broke out between the newsies, and Katherine turned to Jack. "You all had best be careful," she murmured, "They're probably planning to come after another newsie soon."
"We've got to get another newsie-and soon!" Lucius protested. The twelve League members had retreated back to their base of operations in the library, in order to figure out their next plan. "Jack and the others will be on the lookout for that now. We can't just go and keep beating up newsies…we have to find a new approach." Nixon counseled. Everyone thought for a few minutes…how would they stop the newsies without taking them out one at a time? It took a while, but finally Lukas gasped. "I've got an idea!" he cried, everyone turning to him. "We want to hit the newsies where it hurts, right? Who did we see them protecting the most today, besides the ones we….educated?"
"…Pulitzer's daughter, Katherine." William murmured, catching on. Lukas nodded vigorously. "Exactly. She and Margaret Comstock are the key to all of this. If we can take possession of them, the newsies will do whatever we want in order to get them back-even giving up this pointless crusade and terminating themselves, if that's what we want them to do."
"And then Pulitzer could figure out a much more efficient way to sell his papers, with our help…I mean, we're doing so well already…" Oscar agreed. The rest of The League looked at each other and nodded.
"We are agreed, then." Anton muttered. "We shall take possession of the two women the newsies hold most dear, in order to use them as ransom." The rest of The League grinned nastily.
"The newsie filth won't know what hit them."
A/N 2: So…sorry this chapter took so long to come out! Hopefully the bit of Jack/Juliet bonding in this chapter makes up for it! I also have a legit reason…I started writing at 4pm…and then had to stop for dinner around 6pm…and then went to the grocery/pharmacy/library/Best Buy with my dad…and he got distracted by shiny, so we didn't get back until 8:30-ishpm…and then I've been working on this story ever since…with some breaks. The whole first section of the chapter, though-the whole conversation with Jack/Race/Davey/Crutchie/Specs/Romeo…I didn't have that in my original plan…it just kinda became a thing. I'm glad it became a thing, though…it's a good part of the chapter, and it's a good way to let Jack/Race/the others know what the Judge said about how to get rid of the rich boys. The Jack/Juliet bonding also just kind of came out of my brain…I guess both of those bits are like…brain vomit, or something? ;) Anyways, I hope this chapter helped make up for some of the whumping that's been going on…there isn't going to be much whumping next chapter, but then I'll probably leave you guys on an epic cliffhanger on Wednesday…because unless I write the chapter ahead of time, you'll all be left on the Chapter 8 cliffhanger until Monday…and that will be a scary time. Just trust me…the cliffhanger's pretty bad. ;)
Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter! Hopefully you all enjoy it, and I'll see you next chapter!
God bless,
1monster2