A/N: Hello, all! I figured I would start writing this early, since I don't know how much time I have tomorrow to write…it's my final day of packing for college, after all…and I wanted to make sure you guys got this chapter before I left. It's probably the worst cliffhanger…at least of the last few chapters. There might be a worse one later on, but for right now this one is the worst…anyways, I should probably stop leading up to it and just write it, right? Haha…I can get kinda long-winded sometimes. (I also reread my own fanfiction….multiple times….seriously, I've reread TNG like 15 times by now…) ;)

DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL I JUST LIKE WRITING STORIES ABOUT THEM FOR MY OWN ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ENTERTAINMENT OF MY READERS!

Responses to reviews:

Biankies: Yep-they definitely get their proof soon…and The League just keeps digging itself into a larger and larger hole….Yikes-why do you have to be up at 6:15? That just sounds like torture…and I'm the same way about coffee/11am! ;) Yeah, Urinetown is a very interesting musical…and it's also a lot of fun. Thanks! Sorry if I'm posting about it too much…I'm just really excited….that's sad that you don't start until February! Yeah…I've gotten a bit too addicted to pushing my readers off of cliffs…but it keeps you all interested in the story, so… ;)

FansieFace: Yep-and thank you! I remember when I was starting high school…it was so much fun…and even though people are kind of dismissive of freshmen, I still enjoyed it! Especially since I got involved in theatre my freshman year…it made it much easier to make friends with people in different classes. Haha…I do too, but I haven't tried singing Race yet…I could probably hit his part, though, cause he sounds like a tenor…what part do you sing? (or what's your range?) I'm an alto…but have had to sing a lot lot lot of tenor, so I'm used to it. And can kinda sound like a man. ;) LOL…I was hoping you would get it! I agree, it is one of the best series-es ever! That's good about Hulu…I have a feeling it's going to change with this chapter, though…Yep, that's him…I think it's his only solo, so I've listened to it over…and over…and over…and over…haha-I love Andy too! He's so flipping cute! I do like all of the Newsies casts, but my favorite is always going to be the OBC cast-they've just got a special place in my heart. Haha…I can guarantee Katherine's safety…Juliet's…not so much… ;) You'll see in the next few chapters! And hey, you tried-that's what matters!

CLIFFHANGER ALERT! (and sort of Reference Alert to TNG! (or at least the mindset of the Comstocks…) )

Enjoy "A Rich Man's Newsie" Chapter 8!

"If you want us to stop harassing and assaulting the newsies and to leave them alone, come to the west side of Central Park at seven o' clock at night tomorrow to talk, and we'll consider stopping."

The next day, Juliet carried the paper in her pocket the entire day, taking it out sometimes to reread it. She had laid awake for a while thinking about the note, trying to decide what she was going to do. She knew for a fact, though, that she couldn't tell her brothers about it. Sure, that's what they would want her to do, but she got the feeling that The League wanted her to come alone. Not that she really wanted to do that either, but if it would stop people from harassing her brothers, she would probably do it. Also-how did they get into her room in the first place? Maybe the balcony…but that was a two story climb…and the door was usually shut, unless she was outside on the balcony…. Finally, she ended up falling asleep at around three in the morning…when the newsies had to get up for work around six. "Perfect. Jus' perfect." she thought as the newsies headed out to sell. "Jack's gonna kill me iffn' he finds out I only got three hours a sleep." She didn't feel too bad, just a little tired and a tiny bit cranky, but other than that she felt fine. She had been a little snappish with a couple of the newsies (Scabs and Ike) earlier, but one sharp glare from Jack had her nodding and calming down-even if it meant she was biting her tongue and trying to stay away from the other newsies.

Okay, so she was a good bit cranky. But then, who wouldn't be on three hours of sleep?

Once they started selling, it was easier to release the negative emotions she had been feeling earlier. She didn't know what it was about selling, just that it always strangely made her feel better. Maybe it was because it was outside in the beautiful city of New York, or maybe it was because she got to spend the entirety of the day with her brothers, but selling the daily paper always made her feel better. There weren't as many people buying papers, but that was all right-she could joke around with her brothers easier that way. Every so often, though, she would pull the piece of paper from her pocket, and look over it. After thinking it over for a while, she had finally decided to go. She knew that her brothers hadn't yet figured out what to do yet about The League, and she figured that if she went and talked with Anton, it might help a bit, since she knew him. Or, at least, she had known him. He had been…decent…as a younger kid, but had grown into a man that she didn't recognize at all. She still wanted to try to get through to him, though. If she managed to convince him, she would let her brothers know. She knew she was kind of going behind Jack's back with this, and that he had told her to trust him, but….she couldn't really contain her restlessness anymore. She had to do something to protect her brothers, if it was the last thing she ever did.

After lunch, she took the paper once again to look it over. She knew there wasn't anything new to get from it, but she strangely just kept looking at it. She heard a noise to her left and hurriedly shoved the paper back in her pocket.

"'Ey, Juliet…wat'cha lookin' at?" Finch asked her from off to her left, where he was eating an apple. Juliet grinned nervously. "Geez, Finch-ya nearly gave me a heart attack! An'…it's nuthin'. Jus' a piece a paper I found earlier."

"Wat's it say?"

"Nuthin' important, jus'…"

"Jus' wat?" Elmer asked, entering the conversation from where he was sitting against a wall to Finch's left. Juliet sighed. "Why did Finch an' Elmer have ta see da paper?" she mentally questioned. "It's nuthin' ya two. It's jus' somethin' I found. Nuthin' important." She looked away from them, but her two brothers could see her body obviously tensing up and hear her start breathing a little faster. They looked at each other and sighed. "Why don' she realize she can trust all a us?" Elmer murmured.

Finch shook his head. "I think she knows dat…she's jus' scared a us findin' out 'bout somethin'. You's right, though-she usually ain't one ta hide things dat well." Both boys looked back at their younger sister. Obviously, something was wrong with their little sister, and it was tied to that paper…but they wouldn't know how to help her if she wouldn't let them see what it said. From across the road, Race glanced quizzically at them, and Finch shook his head. Race had noticed her nervousness as well, but hadn't been close enough to ask her about it, trusting Finch and Elmer (who were closer) to do it. Unfortunately for the three newsies, it hadn't worked.

The end of the day couldn't come fast enough for Juliet. Once they were done, it was about four o' clock, and they all hurried back to the Lodging House. As per usual, they all went into the Soaking Room to hang out with Crutchie, Specs, and Romeo, as well as whichever newsies had been looking after them that day, which happened to have been Buttons and Jojo. Everyone was soon laughing at Mush's tale of how he got chased down by an extremely large woman in a bright pink dress, and teasing each other about their most embarrassing stories-in which Spec's face having a chat with the streetlight pole was definitely mentioned, to his annoyance. During this time, Finch and Elmer periodically glanced over at Juliet. Crutchie started to as well, when he took a good look at her. Their little sister was sitting in a chair a little ways back from the other newsies, and it was like she couldn't sit still. Every few seconds some part of her would start twitching, and would do so for around a minute, until she seemed to catch herself and would stop. Then, it'd start up again a few seconds later.

She almost looked like she was waiting for something. Or someone.

At about six fifty, Juliet quietly got up and headed for the door. Right before she left, Jack (who was sitting near the back of the room) gripped her left wrist. "Were ya goin', kid?"

"I jus' gotta use da facilities. I's comin' right back…but, ya know…nature calls?" Jack smiled. "Alright." He let go of her wrist, and she nodded, before heading out of the room. Once she knew that her brothers were paying attention to Crutchie, Specs, and Romeo, and not her, she quietly opened a window and snuck out. It was a bit dark, but she was still able to navigate towards the west side of Central Park. She also knew that she would probably get into trouble with Jack for going off alone, but it couldn't really be helped now.

By the time she arrived at the west side of Central Park, it was about seven o' clock at night. The streetlights were turning on, and she attempted to stay in their light at all times, so that she could see things around her. Eventually, after about five minutes of searching, she arrived at a small rock formation. Anton was standing in front of it.

"Welcome, Margaret…I figured you would come. After all, you would do anything for your brothers, wouldn't you?"

"Ya wanted ta talk, didn' ya, ya bastard?"

"Is foul language the only thing those creatures have taught you?"

"First of all, dey taught me dat dere's a point ta life, and dat it's not jus' a big waste a time. Second, 'bastard''s not evan da worst word I know. Just da worst one I say. Ya should listen to Race sometime-he knows all da bad ones." Juliet sighed darkly. "But dis ain't 'bout me-it's 'bout ya an' your 'League a Idiots' gitting away from da newsies, an' never goin' ta come near dem again."

"What is it with you, Margaret? You abandon everything that made you someone in this world, and joined a group of horny teenage idiots-"

"Okay, I is TIRED A EVERYONE TALKIN' 'BOUT MY BROTHERS LIKE DAT!" Juliet blew up. "First it's my mom an' dad, an' now it's you. For da last time, da newsies ain't like dat at all, an' I will fight anyone who says different! An', again-we's supposed ta be talkin' 'bout da newsies-not me!" She suddenly felt a strong grip around her wrists, pulling them backwards behind her. She looked over her right shoulder, and saw Nixon smirking at her. She tried to pull her arms away, but he simply held them there with one hand. She looked back up, still struggling, to see Anton moving closer to her. "Oh, don't worry, little friend. We will be talking about the newsies…and in great depth, too. But, not here. Somewhere where there will be…no interruptions." As he said those last two words, Nixon took his right hand and placed a rag over her nose and mouth. She tried to get away from him, but as time went by, she felt herself quickly weakening, and ended up sagging against Nixon. She tried one final time to get away, before she fell unconscious. Nixon then removed the rag. "Lucky we had the extra chloroform." he muttered. Anton nodded. "It doesn't look like our other guest will be coming. Let's get our little friend here back to the library…we'll continue our chat there." Nixon nodded, and he and Anton carried the younger girl-rather roughly-back the way they had come to the park. Before they left, however, Anton left a small box on the ground where they had been. "Solve this, newsies." he muttered quietly.

"Have ya seen Juliet?" Jack asked Race. Race had been sitting on the other side of the room as Jack, and he had been watching over all of the others. He had also noticed, like Jack had, when Juliet had left the room. Jack's back was to the door, though, so he didn't know if his sister had come in and he just hadn't noticed. Race, however, shook his head. "No-I saw her leave, but she hasn' come back in yet. If she's goin' ta da bathroom, dat's one long visit." Jack nodded. It was odd that their sister would take so long in the bathroom, since she normally wouldn't leave the three injured boys unless something major was happening. Jack had had to kick her out two nights in a row because she was in there instead of going to bed, like she was supposed to. For some reason, it unsettled the newsie leader-and his lieutenant, if Race's expression was anything to go by-but he didn't know why. He got his reason, though, when Race pointed behind him. "Wat is Katherine an' 'er father doin' here?" Jack turned around to see that, in fact, Katherine and Pulitzer were standing in the front room, looking nervous. Jack instantly headed out to talk to them, Race nudging Davey and getting his attention and nodding at Crutchie. The older boys would inform him of what was going on-Race would make sure of it.

"Wat can we do for ya?" Jack quietly queried, trying not to alert the other newsies to Pulitzer's presence. He knew they would be fine with Katherine there…he just didn't know about Pulitzer. "Katherine received a note the other day. She showed it to me, and we figured that you all should see it, since it mentions you."

"It does?"

"Yes-it's almost certainly from The League of Gentlemen." Pulitzer passed the note to Davey. Jack and Race looked over his shoulder as he read. "If you want us to stop harassing and assaulting the newsies and to leave them alone, come to the west side of Central Park at seven o' clock at night tomorrow to talk, and we'll consider stopping."

"She found that in her room last night and showed it to me this morning. I, of course, told her not to follow its instructions, and to show it to the authorities."

"'Ey…dat looks like dat paper Juliet had." Elmer murmured. He and Finch had noticed the other newsies talking with Pulitzer and Katherine, and had started listening in, in case they heard something interesting.

Now, they were glad that they had.

"Wait-Juliet had a paper like dis one?" Jack asked. Finch and Elmer looked at each other, making sure they remembered clearly what the paper had looked like, before looking at their older brothers and nodding. "Yeah-she kept pullin' it outta her pocket taday while we was sellin'. She wouldn' tell anyone wat it said…jus' dat it was 'nuthin' important'."

"I saw dat paper too-she kept pullin' it out evary so often…an' it looked like it made her nervous 'bout sumthing." Race muttered. Jack closed his eyes briefly, hoping that the papers his girlfriend and little sister had had weren't similar. "Katherine, ya know where da girls bathroom is in here…can ya check if Juliet is in dere? She said dat's where she was goin', but…we cain't really check, ya know?" Katherine nodded, running to the room. She soon came back, however, shaking her head. "She's not in there, or in her dormitory. And if she's not in those places or in the Soaking Room with you all…"

Jack cursed under his breath. "She's probably goin' ta talk with dem. Why she didn' tell us, I has no idea…."

"Jack…it's seven-thirty." Davey muttered. "If they were going to do anything to her…it's probably already happened by now." Jack sighed, thinking fast. Suddenly, he nodded, finally having a plan. "Right-here's wat we's gonna do. We need ta git ta Central Park an' see if our wayward sister is dere…but we also need ta git da rich boys in trouble without breakin' da law." He turned to Davey. "If dey's not dere…would dat count as kidnapping?" Davey's eyes lit up. "Yes, in a court of law, with the evidence from the papers and no one being present at the location…plus Juliet not being here currently…it would count as a kidnapping. We just have to make sure that the officers know that she's not actually here."

"There are a couple of officers outside-we could show them in and show them that your sister is not here." Pulitzer spoke up.

Jack nodded. "Jus' let me warn da boys real fast." Pulitzer nodded, and headed out to bring the officers inside. Jack went into the Soaking Room. "'Ey-everybody listen ta me real quick." The room went dead silent as everyone turned to look at him. "Alright-now, we's got ourselves a little situation. Apparently, da League a Idiots tried ta git Katherine and Juliet ta come out an' talk ta dem 'bout stopping harassin' us…an' dey got Juliet." Shouts broke out from the entire room, but Jack raised his hand and they quieted again. "Now-dis could actually help us, cause it can git dose bastards arrested for kidnapping-long as we shows da officers dat Juliet isn' actually here. Katherine an' Pulitzer brought a couple a officers with dem, an' dey's jus' gonna take a quick look 'round, an' make sure dat Juliet ain't here, so's it can count as a kidnappinn'. Alright?" The other newsies clearly weren't thrilled about the news, but they finally agreed. Pulitzer had obviously warned the officers that the newsies wouldn't be very excited about their presence, as the two quickly worked through the house, almost speeding through it, before coming back to the Soaking Room and confirming that, yes-Juliet was not in the Lodging House. "If she's not in the place where the note specifies," one of the officers said, "it will be proof to arrest The League of Gentlemen for kidnapping…and now that we've seen the three of you injured newsies, Judge Bolger could also use our eyewitness accounts to get them on aggravated assault as well." The newsies worriedly smiled. They were glad the rich boys would get what was coming to them…but they were extremely worried about Juliet.

"Who's gonna come an' help ya find Juliet?" Albert queried. Jack thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Race, Davey, Finch, Elmer, Henry, an' ya, Albert. Da rest a ya is gonna stay here an' keep an eye on dese three idiots 'till we gits back."

"Jack…what about Snitch and I?" Les queried. "Can we come too?" Jack shook his head sadly. "Sorry, kiddos…I don' wanna risk da chance a you two gettin' caught too…'specially when da League specifically threatened da two a ya. Stay here an' keep watch, but we'll see 'bout tomorrow, alright? I might have a special job for ya." Les and Snitch nodded, sad that they wouldn't get to help look for their lost sister, but also intrigued by what job Jack might have for them. The chosen newsies then headed out the door, along with Pulitzer, Katherine, and the two police officers. It didn't take them very long to arrive at the west end of Central Park, and they all spread out, working to cover more ground.

It was Sniper who finally found the small box addressed to Jack. He whistled to signal the others, and they all caught up with him in the clearing. He handed the box to Jack, who looked at the name on the "from" side of the box-Anton Merson. He growled low in his throat before opening the box. "Wat da hell…" he murmured, pulling a white rag out of the box. The rag was the only thing inside. "Why would Anton leave a rag for us, and nothing else?" Davey queried. Jack handed the rag to one of the police officers, who looked at it carefully before taking a small sniff. As he did, he rocked back a bit, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"That's definitely chloroform." he said. "It proves without a doubt that your sister was kidnapped…The League couldn't have used it on anyone else, since she was the only one here." Katherine and Pulitzer now looked extremely worried. For the newsies, though, it was worse-this was the second time in five months that Juliet had been captured, and she was still recovering from the abuse to her arms and ribs.

Plus the…other stuff…that had occurred.

Crap.

Crap Crap.

Crap Crap Crap.

"We's gotta git our sister back…no matter wat it takes." Jack murmured.

A/N 2: So…Juliet's been kidnapped once again…I'm sure this is going to end well…and that you'll all want to kill the 12 League members and not me… Apparently I love shameless Juliet whump. Hopefully the next chapter should get out tomorrow…if not…welp…have fun with this cliffhanger until Sunday! (Oh boy...now I have to go into my "hide from readers" room where Crutchie the puppy (my Newsies muse that I just remembered existed…whoops…) has already gathered up food and water and weapons to fend off angry readers…it's also a bomb shelter, so… ;))

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all soon!

God bless,

1monster2