"Ise so bored!" Elmer whined, sliding further down in his seat.

"Stop complain'!" Finch groaned.

"But there's nothin' to do!" Elmer's head dropped to the table with a loud smack. He let out a yell, his hand flying to his forehead which now bore a bright pink mark.

"How's your head feel?" Romeo laughed.

"It hurts."

"Really?" Specs asked, rolling his eyes at Elmer. "I never would've guessed."

Henry was still laughing, gripping his stomach as his eyes watered.

"Okay Henry, it ain't that funny!" Jojo said, patting his friend's back.

"Why are youse still laughin'?" Buttons asked.

"'Cause sometimes Elmer's real stupid!"

"Can't argue with that," Jojo grinned.

"Are youse done yet?" Elmer asked, his face buried in his hands.

"I guess," Henry said as he calmed down.

Albert raked a hand through his hair and glanced around his friends. "Wese should all go out."

"Where are you suggestin' we go?" Buttons asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Somewhere that wese can have fun!" Albert grinned.

"Medda's is always open," Romeo offered.

"Youse only wanna go 'cause you likes flirtin' with the Beauties!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Romeo grinned, throwing an arm around Finch's shoulder. "Race does the same thing, and youse ain't so innocent either. It doesn't hurt nothin'."

"I guess not," Finch agreed.

"So wese goin' to Medda's?" Henry asked.

The boys all nodded their approval and got up, making their way to the door.

"Wait for me!" Sniper called as he laced his boot.

"Snipe, youse ain't comin'," Finch said carefully.

"What? Why not?" He whined.

"'Cause youse a kid, that's why," Albert said.

Tommy Boy laughed as he headed towards the door, but he was stopped by Albert's hand pressing against his forehead.

"Where do you think youse goin'?"

"...To Medda's?"

"You ain't comin' neither," Romeo said.

"Sorry," Specs said, patting Tommy Boy's shoulder as he passed him.

"This ain't fair!" Tommy Boy complained as the older newsies filed out the door.

"Life ain't fair kid," Elmer grinned.

Tommy Boy slid into a chair across from Sniper and tapped his fingers against the rough wood.

"We ain't kids," Tommy Boy muttered.

"No, wese can do everything they can," Sniper agreed.

"Exactly! We can do anything they can, and wese can do it better!"

"Yeah, we just gotta show 'em."

***

"Crutchie, Ise been lookin' for ya!" Jack exclaimed as he reached the rooftop. "How'd youse get up here by yaself?"

Crutchie shook his head and kept his gaze on the city.

"Sorry, Ise shouldn't have said that," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It don't matter Jack. I knows why you do it," Crutchie said quietly.

"It still ain't right. I do it 'cause I want ya to be okay, but it makes ya feel bad and then wese argue," Jack stared at Crutchie, who still didn't face him. "I'm real sorry Crutch. It's just that youse got hurt durin' the strike and I ain't gonna let that happen again!"

Crutchie finally turned to face Jack, giving him a small smile. "It's okay Jack. I forgave ya a long time ago."

Jack's shoulders sagged in relief. "Thanks Crutch. I'm sorry I didn't come say somethin' sooner."

Crutchie, not being one to hold a grudge, especially against Jack, shrugged it off. "It's fine Jack, you fixed it now. That's all that matters."

"I'm gonna try not to let your leg change what I tells ya. You was right, that ain't fair. I'm gonna work on it."

"Thanks Jack," Crutchie's smile grew. His fingers tightened around his crutch as he stepped closer to Jack.

"I don't like fightin' with you, Jack."

"I'm glad that youse don't enjoy it, 'cause I don't either," Jack grinned.

"Since neither of us like it, maybe we shouldn't do it!" Crutchie suggested.

"That sounds like a plan."

"Good," Crutchie said happily. "So where's Kath? I ain't seen her in a while."

Jack froze, his smile dropping. "I uh, I ain't been with her lately."

Crutchie glanced at Jack in confusion. "What do ya mean, ya ain't seen her? Ain't you twose in love?"

"I thought so," Jack said uncomfortably. "I guess she meant more to me than Ise did to her."

"Jack, I'm sure that ain't true! Katherine loves ya and-"

"I don't wanna talk about it Crutch. It wasn't ever gonna work anyway. I knew that. I just kept hopin'," Jack trailed off.

Crutchie reached over and squeezed Jack's shoulder, receiving a weak smile in return.

"Ise gonna go outside for a bit. I ain't had much time to myself lately. That okay with youse?"

Crutchie nodded. "Of course it is."

***

"Psst! Kelly! Kelly! Over here!" Jack looked around, searching for the source of the soft hiss he'd heard.

"Look UP!" The voice came again, more annoyed this time.

Jack did as he was told, spotting a boy a few years younger than him leaned against the tail of an old fire escape.

Realizing that he'd been noticed, the boy continued speaking in a hushed whisper. "You're needed in the Bronx, Kelly. The boss has got somethin' important to tell you."

Jack groaned. "What is it with people always needin' to talk to me so bad?"

"Stop bein' dramatic!" The boy rolled his eyes as he quickly slid down the ladder.

"What's he got to say that none of youse could tell me?"

"I don't know," the boy scoffed. "I didn't ask 'im! I was there when theyse killed Timmy and that looked pretty painful. I don't want that happenin' to me. And I can tell ya that neither do youse, so when ya talks to Hook, try to keep your mouth shut."

"You was there when they killed a kid?" Jack asked, eyes widening.

"Ise try to warn ya, help ya out, I try to make things easier for ya, and that's all ya cares about! That's all you got from that speech?"

"Youse watched them kill that kid in the alley," Jack said firmly.

"You want me to tell the truth?" The boy asked skeptically.

"No, I wants ya to look at me and lie to me! Are youse stupid? Of course I wants ya to tell me the truth!" Jack exclaimed.

"Alright, fine. I don't know what youse talkin' about-"

"Youse lyin'," Jack interrupted, but the boy continued calmly.

"Ise seen 'em kill lots of kids in lots of different allies. If you wants an answer, then youse gonna have to be more specific."

"Why?"

"I just told you!" The boy hissed. "There's so many that I can't tell 'em apart!"

"No! I meant, why're youse doin' this? How old are youse kid?"

"Nearly fifteen. Not that it matters."

"Not that it matters?" Jack laughed. "Youse still a kid! You shouldn't be mixed up in somethin' like this!"

"I know."

"Then why are you? Do ya think it's fun? Youse enjoy hurtin' people?"

"No, I just don't got much choice."

"There's always a choice," Jack scoffed.

"Yeah, like how you chose to sell out durin' the rally?"

"That's different! I was bein' stupid, but I was tryin' to protect people!" Jack defended, but the other boy shook his head.

"And I ain't?"

Jack paused, turning to face the boy. "What?"

"If I don't do this, what's gonna happen to Mary?"

"Mary?"

"My sister. What'll Hook do to her if Ise disagree or try to leave?"

"I-I don't know."

"Neither do I. That's why I'm helpin', Kelly. Youse 'Hattan Newsies thinks that you're so great and better than everyone else. Youse all perfect! And if youse from Bronx, that makes ya bad. That needs to stop! Sure, some of the newsies in Bronx are awful and soak people for fun, but lots of 'em got family that theyse tryin' to protect, so don't you dare try to tell me how it is when you ain't got any idea!"

"That true?" Jack asked. "Hook's goin' after regular people?"

"Don't know why that surprises you. He's involved with the Five Points Gang."

"You sure about that?" Jack asked incredulously. "That's a pretty big thing to be accusin' someone of."

"I'm sure. Ise seen some of 'em hangin' around him before. I heard from some of the older boys that his brother used to be part of the Whyos and then kept with it, got him involved too."

"If that's true, this is even bigger than any of us thought," Jack murmured to himself.

"C'mon Kelly, wese better get to Bronx. In the Whyos, theyse got people who'll chew your ear off! If wese late, Hook might employ one of 'em."

Jack shuddered at the thought and motioned in front of himself. "Lead the way."

"With pleasure."

***

Katherine groaned and dropped her head onto her desk. She couldn't focus on her article and the calls from newsies down in the streets wasn't helping at all.

Ever since her fight with Jack, Katherine had found it increasingly difficult to get anything done. She hasn't seen him in a couple weeks, and her mind often wandered to him during quiet days spent writing.

Was he thinking about her? Did he mean what he'd said, that he'd been wasting his time on her?

After he'd stormed out, she'd expected him to come back in later that evening or even the next day, but he never had. It seemed that this time he was serious about letting her go.

Katherine shook away the thought. She'd have to visit him, but she really needed to finish her article. Her fingers returned to the typewriter, where they rested against the keys, unmoving.

"C'mon Katherine!" She muttered. "Think!"

She waited a minute, still nothing coming to her mind. She pulled the paper out of the typewriter, crumpling it up and dropping it onto her desk. She grabbed a fresh sheet and took a deep breath, inserting it into the machine.

She stared at the blank page and sighed. "Maybe I'll go see Jack now, there's no time like the present."

Katherine slowly stood up, brushing off her blouse and straightening her skirt as she headed for the door.

***

"Hey Mush," Katherine said carefully when she arrived at the lodge. She was unsure what Jack had told them, but she could only assume that it hadn't been good.

"Hi," Mush mumbled quietly, sending her a quick glance.

"How've you been?" Katherine watched confused as the normally cocky boy gave her a small shrug as he glanced away. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, he's fine!" Katherine looked towards the staircase where a familiar sarcastic blond stood, smirking. "He's just poutin'."

"Race, what happened to you?" Katherine asked, ignoring his jab at Mush and focusing on the bruises around his eye and chin.

"Nothin' much, just a fight. Nothin' to worry about!" Race shrugged.

"Are you sure? Mush looks pretty banged up too."

"We're fine Katherine," Mush said.

"So what are you doin' around here? It's been a while since wese seen youse," Race said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know, I've just been very busy with my articles. I came to see Jack, I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks."

"Well I'm sorry to say that youse ain't gonna see 'im now either."

Katherine bit her lip. Was Jack really that mad at her? "I'd really like to speak to him." Kathrine spoke strongly and with false confidence. She'd come all the way down here and she wasn't leaving until she saw Jack.

"Ya just missed him. He left about ten minutes ago, he ain't gonna be back 'til late. If youse wanna sit around all night, be my guest, but I'm tellin' you that it'll be awhile."

Katherine thought for a second. She really needed to get home and finish the article, but this could be her only chance to fix things between Jack and herself. She considered for a minute more before sitting down in a chair to wait. She loved her job, but she loved Jack even more.

Jack was far more important than any article.

***

"Would ya look at that? You made it!" Hook said with a smirk.

"I'm not one to disappoint," Jack smirked back.

"Cocky. I like that with most people-"

"I've been told I'm a pretty likable person."

"But I don't like it on you," Hook glared.

"Your breakin' my heart," Jack scoffed.

"Kelly, youse been gettin' beaten into the pavement. If I were youse, I'd shut my mouth and listen respectfully."

Jack rolled his eyes and sunk into a hard chair across from Hook. "Ise listenin'."

"You'd better be."

Jack waited quietly for Hook to continue. Hook was leaning onto the desk and held a knife in one hand, which he carefully ran the tips of his fingers over.

"Ise been hearin' that youse joined Brooklyn in their pathetic little 'war' against us."

"Yeah, we did. What of it?"

"I don't advise you stickin' by 'em. It might not turn out so well for youse."

"It's us and Brooklyn against youse," Jack grinned. "I think it's youse who would have some trouble."

Hook chuckled. "Don't be so sure about that! In case you hasn't heard, Queens has recently come to their senses and joined us."

Jack smile slipped. "Youse jokin'!"

"I do many things Kelly, but Ise can assure you that jokin' is not one of 'em. I met with their leader, quite the same as I did with you. He was a bit more difficult to send away, but in the end we made a deal. I got Queens, and he escaped with some of his fingers still attached to his body."

Jack felt nauseous but he resisted the urge to cover his mouth.

"Alright there Kelly? Youse lookin' a little green. Don't worry, it wasn't that bad, it was fun! I made it a game!"

"A game?"

"Yeah, you wanna play?"

"Nah, I'm alright-"

"Great," Hook reached forward and grabbed Jack's hand, pulling it towards the middle of the table. He pressed Jack's hand, palm down, flat against the table. "Now keep your hand right there and don't move it."

Jack immediately jerked his hand back. "I ain't playin' this! It's sick!"

Hook let out a sigh, shaking his head. "I don't want to play this way, it's less fun, but I guess wese gonna have to. Boys!" Hook motioned over two of his boys. One boy held Jack's shoulders in place so he couldn't move and the other grabbed his right arm, pushing his hand back onto the table.

"Wait! Kelly, Ise assumin' that youse right handed, am I correct?" Jack gave a sharp nod as he struggled to rip his arm out of the boy's grasp. "Rake, use the other hand! We don't want to incapacitate his good one."

'Rake' moved to Jack's other side, pinning his left hand. Jack swung at the boy behind him, but it was a weak punch and the burly newsie caught his hand, holding it still.

"This game works like baseball does, except instead of a ball, Ise aimin' for your fingers. Ise got three strikes. Three misses. You wants me to miss. Got it?"

Jack didn't answer, he only tensed as he stared at his hand. Hook twirled his knife and Jack immediately turned away.

"It ain't as fun if ya don't look," Hook said, but Jack refused to turn back around. "You're loss."

As soon as he finished speaking he slammed the knife towards the table, embedding it into the wood no more than an inch from Jack's pinky. Jack flinched at the sound of the knife hitting the table and Hook laughed.

"That was bad aim on my part."

Hook pulled the knife out of the table, quickly slamming it back down towards Jack's hand. This time it ended up in between his thumb and index finger.

"You might just get lucky today Kelly!" Hook said, failing to mask his annoyance.

Hook held the knife in the air, focusing intently on Jack's hand. Jack was still turned away, eyes squinted shut as he held his breath.

Jack gasped as he felt a slice, his finger stinging. Hook growled as he stared at the knife which had only grazed Jack's middle finger.

"That's three, let him go boys." Hook watched grumpily as the two boys headed back to their spot against the wall. His frown grew as his eyes darted back to Jack's hand, which still had all five fingers fully attached. Jack gazed at his hand, he himself impressed that he hadn't lost anything. "Ise gotta say, youse the luckiest chump that Ise ever played that with."

"I ain't sure if Ise should be relieved or disgusted." Jack's voice was shaky as he spoke to the madman who'd tried to cut  his fingers off.

"Both," Hook smiled. "Kelly, Ise been thinkin' of givin' youse an option in this other than the ones previously mentioned."

"Where'd this come from? Not that Ise complainin'!"

"Most guys who plays the game cry like little babies. You was braver than most of 'em. I admire brave people, don't like takin' 'em out."

"So what's your deal?"

"You stop supportin' Brooklyn."

"I ain't helpin' you."

"You don't gotta join us, be like Richmond. Wese made a deal with them. They're keepin' their noses out of it and wese leavin' them alone."

"I thought you wanted Manhattan?"

"Oh, did Ise forget to mention that? There's a little more to the deal. We leaves you alone, but you gotta pay dues weekly and do whatever I tells ya long as it don't concern the war. After the war, I'll have one of my own head over to be a regional leader, but everyone will report back to me."

"No way," Jack said. "I already told you that I wasn't givin' youse any control over Manhattan. Youse crazy and I ain't helpin' you cause more people to suffer."

"Is that you're final answer? Think carefully."

"Yeah, that's my final answer," Jack insisted firmly.

"Okay, stick by Brooklyn, but you ain't gonna like what happens next."

"It'll be a whole lot better than the other options you gave me," Jack said as he stood up.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Kelly."

***

Another normal length chapter! A whole bunch of different stuff happened and it was all kind of mashed together, but oh well.

Thanks to all of you who keep reading and voting for this story! It means the World. Get it? Never mind, that was bad.

Please excuse my awkwardness and thanks for reading!

-Anna