Warning: This chapter is kinda dark. Don't worry, it's under control. I just thought I should warn you just in case.

***

"Ise gonna head back soon," Buttons said, standing up from his seat.

"Me too," Specs agreed. He and several other boys moved to leave and Albert rolled his eyes.

"The people have spoken," he mocked. "Looks like wese leavin'."

"I ain't quite ready to leave yet," Jojo said. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

"Jack don't want us out alone, especially right before dark," Finch argued.

"I'll be fine guys, I promise," Jojo insisted.

"And if youse ain't?" Specs folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow at his friend.

"Then it's my fault."

"I'll stay with him," Romeo offered.

"You really don't have to Rome. Ise only gonna stay for another act or two."

"But Jojo-"

"If he's gonna be stubborn, let him," Albert said, interrupting Henry. "If he gets himself soaked, that's his own fault."

"Yeah, what Albert said!" Jojo agreed.

"Okay," Buttons shrugged. "If youse sure."

Slowly all the boys left, Jojo remaining in his seat, eyes fixed on the show.

***

"Maybe one of us should hang back," Ike suggested after a few minutes of walking.

"Wese already been through this!" Albert sighed in exasperation. "Jo's gonna be fine!"

"I'm not so sure," Ike argued uneasily. "Ise got a really bad feelin' about this."

"Me too," Mike quickly agreed.

"Youse only agreein' with him 'cause he's your brother," Elmer said.

"No I ain't! I feel funny."

"You look funny, but that's it. There's nothin' to worry about. Medda's ain't far from the lodge, but if it make ya feel better, someone can wait for him right here," Finch suggested.

"I'll do it," Ike volunteered. "I brought it up, and I'll wait for him."

"Okay, stay right here and watch for him."

"Got it."

"He said he'd leave after the next act, so he should be here within twenty minutes. We'll see youse a little bit later," Mike said as the other boys continued their journey back to the lodge.

"Alright, see ya later."

Mike smiled and hurried to catch up with the other boys, then stopped, suddenly turning back towards Ike who leaned against a wall to wait.

"No more than an hour?"

"'Course not," Ike grinned.

Mike nodded and turned around again, following the rest of the boys back to the lodge leaving  Ike settled against the wall, waiting for Jojo.

***

"I don't know what to tell ya Plumber, I can't make Jack get back here faster than he wants to," Race sighed.

"At least tell me where he is so I can find him myself," Katherine replied.

Race stared at her a second, and seeing that she was serious, he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Katherine asked hotly.

"Youse ain't goin' after him! You wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Why is that? Because I'm a girl?"

"Yeah, and 'cause youse rich. You don't know how to defend yourself, you wouldn't last five minutes where he is!"

"Just tell me where he is Race!"

"Alright!" The boy said, raising his hands. "He's in Bronx."

"What is he doing there?"

"I don't know, it's private business. It's nothin' that youse need to worry yaself about."

Katherine glared at Race as he went back to shuffling a deck of cards, whistling some tune he'd heard at Medda's.

Mush watched uncomfortably, quickly glancing back at the table when Katherine caught him looking.

"Mush, are you sure you're alright? You seem very quiet."

Race looked up from his cards at Katherine's words, glancing between she and Mush before clearing his throat. "He's fine, just got spooked a couple weeks back. Ain't felt like much of a talker since."

Katherine nodded doubtfully but left it alone as she watched Mush pale to a chalky white at Race's statement.

The three drifted back into an uneasy silence which was broken by the sound of boys entering the lodge. Their excited laughs and hollers brought a soft smile to Katherine's face. Back home it was always silent, reminding her of the fact that she was alone.

When she was noticed, several boys rushed over to her, Romeo at the front wearing his signature grin. They excitedly chatted with her and she found herself relaxing in the comfort of her family.

***

Jojo rushed up the steps to the lodge and into the entryway. He'd stayed longer than he'd planned to and didn't want to worry the boys.

"I'm back!" He shouted after catching his breath.

"Good for you."

Jojo smiled as he heard Albert's reply, he could see the boy rolling his eyes as he pretended not to care.

He stepped into the sitting room where all the boys were gathered around the few tables.

"Hey Jo! How was the show?" Henry asked.

"Great, ain't it always?"

"Did the Beauties perform again?" Romeo asked with a smirk. Katherine shook her head and gave his shoulder a light smack.

"Nah, don't worry, youse didn't miss nothin'."

"Where's Ike?" Mike asked. Mike tried to glance around Jojo, as if his brother might be hiding behind him.

"What?"

"Where's Ike? He waited for you."

"No he didn't," Jojo said, his brow scrunched in confusion. "Youse all left together."

"Mike's right," Elmer said. "He felt bad and waited for youse just down the street."

"I didn't see him, I came back alone."

Mike stood up out of his chair. "Wese gotta find 'im now! Somethin' could happen to him!"

All of the boys hesitated, looking to Race for direction.

"Everybody grab a partner and start lookin'. Stay in Lower Manhattan. He probably ain't far."

Immediately the boys all grabbed a friend and hurried out the door.

"Wait!" Katherine called out to Race, finally breaking out of her silent shock. "I'm coming too!"

"No, youse stay here. What if Jack comes back?" He asked as he pulled on his cap.

"This is more important than talking to Jack!"

"Katherine, someone's got to tell Jack where we is. Otherwise he'll get all worried."

Katherine paused, biting her lip, but gave the boy a reluctant nod.

"Thanks," he grinned.

Katherine paced the room after all the boys had left. Her eyes flitted to the clock. Half past nine and Jack still wasn't back. That couldn't possibly be good.

***

"Jack! Wese been lookin' for ya!" Crutchie said, limping over to the taller boy.

"Sorry Crutch. I had to talk to Nail again."

"Ain't his name Hook?"

"Probably, but I don't care. He's insane Crutch! He tried to cut my fingers off!"

Crutchie grabbed Jack's hands, inspecting both of them closely. Jack pulled them away with a small laugh.

"I said he tried. I didn't lose any of 'em."

"Good," Crutchie stated angrily. "Otherwise I would've had to have a talk with him."

"I'm sure you would've," Jack grinned, throwing an arm around the boy. "So, what are youse doin' out here at this time anyway? I hope you wasn't lookin' for me. Race was supposed to tell ya that Ise wouldn't be back 'til late."

"He did. Wese out here lookin' for Ike. The other boys went out tonight and Ike waited back for Jojo. No one's seen him since."

"Is everyone out lookin'?" Jack asked worriedly. His meeting had finished almost two hours ago, and Hook could do a lot of damage with that kind of a time frame.

"Yeah, but don't worry, we didn't split up too much. Wese in groups, I was with Finch and Mush."

"How will we know if he's been found?"

Crutchie rolled his eyes as if personally offended that Jack had asked him that. "We did plan ahead Jack, wese meetin' in big squares near the sections we search every hour. This'll be our first check-in."

Jack nodded, proud that his boys had remained levelheaded enough to come up with a plan before blindly searching the streets. "When is the check-in?"

"Soon," Crutchie said, starting to walk back down the street. "I was actually on my way there 'fore I ran into youse!"

"We'd better hurry up and get there."

Crutchie nodded his agreement and both boys hurried to the meeting place.

***

Crutchie and Jack arrived in the square within minutes of their meeting. All of the boys were already gathered, except Mush.

"Finch, where's Mush?"

The boy in question shrugged nervously as he glanced around the group. "I ain't sure."

"And why exactly ain't you sure? You was his partner, wasn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then why ain't he standin' next to youse?" Race asked angrily.

"Crutchie needed a break and told us to leave 'im behind, so we did. Then me and Mush thought it would be quicker if we tooks two different streets, cover more ground, y'know?"

"So youse left 'im alone as we was lookin' for someone who went missin' when he was alone?" Buttons asked harshly.

"The last thing we need is one more person to be lookin' for," Specs groaned.

Elmer glared at Finch and gave him a firm hit to his head. "Youse so stupid Finch."

"Hey!" Jack said, drawing the attention to himself. "It might've been stupid-"

"Real stupid," Henry muttered.

"We get it Henry! Leave 'im alone," Albert muttered.

Jack shot them a look that immediately silenced both of them, then continued. "What Finch did may have been stupid, thoughtless, and irresponsible-"

Finch flinched with each word, face flushing with shame and guilt as he fiddled with his slingshot. Jack reached over and patted his shoulder.

"But it's a mistake that every single one of youse has made in the past, it just never really mattered before tonight. Youse all gonna leave Finch alone 'cause Ike and Mush ain't gonna get found by us arguin' with each other!"

"Uh, Jack?" Sniper said quietly.

"Not right now Sniper. And another thing! Mush agreed to split too so it wasn't-"

"Jack!" Tommy Boy interrupted this time, glancing over Jack's shoulder.

"In a minute! It wasn't all Finch's fault! They both-"

"Jack!" Sniper said loudly. Jack paused, finally facing them.

"You two keeps interruptin' so it must be important. What do ya need so badly that it can't wait a minute?"

"Uh, Mush. He's uh, behind you."

Jack spun around and sure enough, Mush stood there. Jack let a relieved smile slide across his face. Now only one boy was missing. "Mush, where were you? Youse gave us quite the scare!" Jack laughed, but he stopped when Mush didn't respond. Jack took a step closer to the boy, examining him. His smile dropped as he came to a realization.

This boy wasn't Mush. Well, he was, if you meant physically, but in no other way was this the Mush that Jack had lived with for the past four years.

He wasn't even the Mush that all of the boys had grown accustomed to the past few weeks since the incident. This was someone else completely.

His shoulders trembled so badly that his whole body shook, but he didn't seem to notice. His knees shook as he took an uneasy step toward Jack.

Jack immediately raced forward to steady him, placing his hands under Mush's elbows.

"What happened Mush? What's wrong?"

Mush seemed to stare right through Jack. His lips quivered as he leaned toward Jack, drawing close to his face to speak. "M-me. Me."

"You? Youse wrong? Did they do somethin' to ya? Theyse hurt you? Tell me who," Jack spat.

Mush continued to speak softly in a voice Jack had only heard him use once before. "Me, i-it's me. Always. A-always m-me."

"What?" Jack was more confused than ever, and so were the boys. They all leaned closer, trying to catch a piece of the conversation, but Crutchie shooed them off, giving Jack and Mush some space.

Mush's eyes went wild and his fingers latched on to Jack's shoulders, tightly gripping his vest. "It's always me Jack! Always! Why is it always me?"

Mush collapsed against Jack's chest, sobbing even though everyone could see him. Jack slowly wrapped an arm under Mush, rubbing his back as he processed his words.

Jack's stomach dropped as he realized that through his seemingly disoriented sentences, Mush had been telling them something important.

"Mush, youse had a long day, and Ise sure you don't want to talk no more, but I need you to answer a question for me, alright?" Mush nodded and Jack sighed. "Good. Youse ready?"

After another nod, Jack carefully pulled away from the boy and looked down at him. "Where?"

"Just down Vestry, right off of Greenwich. Behind some little factory."

"Thank you," Jack breathed before steeling himself for one more question. "Mush, should we hurry?"

The boy hesitated before giving a shrug. "Don't know for sure, Ise didn't get that close. From the looks, it don't matter if youse hurry or not."

Jack's heart clenched painfully, the meaning of Mush's words clear. "Boys! Ise headin' out! Head back to the lodge, I'll meet ya there."

"Where are you goin'? We ain't found Ike yet!" Mike complained.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright, just go back to the lodge."

"We ain't goin' back 'til we find Ike," Jojo argued.

"You ain't comin' with me, trust me, youse ain't gonna want to see it. I ain't even sure if I wanna go."

"Then it's even more important that we go with ya."

"Well then someone's gotta stay back with Mush. Mike, you can."

"What? No! My brother's missin', I ain't waitin' back."

"I'll do it," Finch volunteered.

Jack groaned. "Fine. Youse take Mush home and we'll be back later."

"Just don't leave 'im alone again," Henry muttered, earning a harsh elbow to the ribs from Race.

With one last look at Mush and Finch, Jack started leading the boys on their journey to the factory. Tommy Boy and Sniper grinned at each other, starting to follow the boys, when Jack noticed them.

"You twose are stayin' back for sure."

They both started to complain, but Finch pulled them back to stand next to he and Mush. "I'll keep an eye on 'em Jack."

Jack mumbled his thanks and led the boys down the street. He already knew what he would find at the end of his path, but his heart wouldn't believe it until he saw it for himself.

***

"We almost there?" Romeo asked in a hushed whisper.

"Should be," Jack responded. With each step it grew harder to breathe. Jack didn't want to be walking to this place, he didn't want to see anything, but he knew that he needed to.

"Somethin' wrong Jack?" Crutchie asked, eyeing his friend.

"No, it's fine." Jack would never admit that he was scared of what they'd find.

A factory came into view and Jack took a deep breath. "This is it boys."

"What is it?" Elmer asked.

"What are we doin' here? We gonna break in and ruin somethin'?" Albert joked, though his eyes sparked at the thought.

Jack ignored them and held his breath as he moved towards the back of the building. He turned the final corner, and was met with exactly what he'd been expecting, yet dreading, to see.

Specs ran into Jack, who had stopped without warning. "What's wrong Jack? What'd youse stop for?"

"Jack, who is that?" Henry asked, peeking around Specs and Buttons.

"It's Ike," Buttons muttered, his eyes watering as he stepped closer to the crumpled form.

"Ike?" At this, several boys pushed forward, only to be greeted by the gruesome sight of their friend.

"Ike's here?"

A few heads turned to face Mike, who'd been pushed to the back of the group.

"Let me see 'im!"

Elmer, Jojo, and Race tried to block Mike from reaching the front where he'd have a better view of his brother.

"C'mon guys! Move! I don't care if he's hurt, I wanna see 'im!"

Mike burst through the wall of boys and Jack made a last effort to grab his arm, but Mike broke free and stepped away.

"Ike?" He asked, when he saw the boy laying on the ground.

"I'm sorry Mike. Ise really am," Jack said sadly. He watched Mike stare at his brother in bewilderment. Mike shook his head, stepping closer.

"Ike? Are youse okay? Do ya need help gettin' up?"

The newsies watched sadly as Mike continued talking to his brother. He was only making it harder for all of them by acting as though everything was alright.

"Mike, Ike ain't here no more," Albert said softly. "He ain't gonna answer youse no more."

"Yes he is," Mike snapped. "He's fine! Ain't ya Ike? Tell Albert that youse okay!"

Henry covered his eyes. The sight of Mike standing above his brother, pleading for him to answer, was too much for him.

Still receiving no response, Mike dropped to his knees and leaned over Ike. "Ike, youse better wake up and answer me right now! Ya understand?"

"Is anyone gonna stop him?" Buttons winced.

"Just let 'im be for a minute."

"Youse ain't dead Ike! Youse alright!" Mike insisted, trying to convince himself. He leaned forward and grabbed his brother's face, falling back when his fingers made contact with Ike's cold skin.

"No. No! It ain't true! Ike!" Mike cried out, falling on top of Ike.

"Get 'im," Jack muttered as Mike fell apart.

Immediately Romeo and Albert stepped forward, grabbing Mike's arms and trying to pull him away from his brother's body.

"No! Let go of me!" Ike screamed, latching onto Ike's body. "Wake up! Show 'em it ain't true! Show 'em!"

Romeo and Albert pulled harder and Mike lost his grip on Ike, falling backwards. Mike struggled fiercely, kicking and crying as they dragged him away.

"No! Ike! Come back! Let me see 'im! Let me go! I wanna see 'im!" Ike screeched through his sobs as he was pulled back towards the front of the factory.

Crutchie had covered his ears, trying to block out Mike's screams. The boys stood together for several minutes, quiet except for the sobs they could hear coming from the street.

"What do we do with him?" Jojo whispered, eyes watering.

"Leave 'im," Jack replied, not bothering to sound strong. He couldn't. Ike was dead and it was his fault.

"Leave him? Are you serious Jack? This is our brother! Wese ain't gonna just leave him here!" Elmer hissed.

"Elmer, there's nothin' we can do. You boys understand, right?"

The other boys shrugged or glanced away, already upset and not wanting to get involved in an argument.

"Jack's right Elmer," Crutchie said softly. "We don't got money to buy him a plot."

"We could bury him," Elmer suggested, voice thick with tears that he was unsuccessfully holding back.

"Oh, that's right! Why didn't we think of that? Here, a couple of you pick 'im up and Specs'll run back and get a shovel. How's the middle of Central Park sound for a burial ground? If we leave now, wese can have him six feet under 'fore the bulls get up!" Race said sarcastically, before giving Elmer an angry shove.

"Elmer, I know that you wants what's best for Ike, but there ain't nothin' we can do now. We can't bury him and we sure as hell can't take him back to the lodge with us. We'll leave 'im out here and someone'll find 'im. He'll get picked up and buried somewhere," Jack comforted rubbing Elmer's shoulder. A few tears slipped down Elmer's cheeks as he stared at Ike's body.

"Jack, we should probably go before the bulls come," Buttons said. His eyes darted around the square nervously. If a cop came by right now and saw the boys next to a dead body, things wouldn't be good.

Jack nodded and glanced at Ike one last time. "C'mon boys, we need to go."

***

Katherine was completely confused, and while that wasn't new, it wasn't something she experienced often. Awhile ago, Finch and Mush had entered the lodge with Sniper and Tommy Boy. The elder two had completely ignored her and gone immediately upstairs, Mush leaning heavily on Finch. The younger boys followed them angrily, not saying a word.

More recently, Romeo and Albert had arrived dragging Mike. Mike was mostly silent, letting out few whimpers, and struggling halfheartedly. She had tried to ask them what was wrong, but they too had passed her by. Albert had even given her a small shove when she'd tried to stop them.

Now all of the boys came in and they all looked terrible, even worse than when she'd seen them in the deli after the first day of the strike. Her eyes stopped on Jack who was at the back of the group.

"Jack! Where have you been?"

Jack's head shot toward Katherine, eyes wide as he saw her sitting at their table. "Katherine! What are youse doin' here?"

"I came to talk to you. Is everything okay? What's wrong with Mike?" Katherine asked, crossing the room to where Jack stood.

Jack wanted nothing more than to take Katherine up to the roof and explain everything to her, to fix everything, but he couldn't. Ike was dead and taking care of his boys was more important than fixing his relationship.

"You need to go."

"W-what?" Katherine mentally hit herself as she stuttered, but the response was so unexpected. She knew that Jack had been mad, but she didn't realize just how upset he would be.

"I said that youse need to leave. Now."

"Jack, I came here to fix things! Please, give me a chance!" Katherine pleaded. She knew the other boys were watching uncomfortably, but she ignored them. She would never be truly happy if she didn't have Jack, she would do whatever it took to get him back.

"Not now Katherine!"

"Why won't you just talk to me?" Katherine pushed.

"You wanna know why?" Jack asked angrily. "You really wanna know?" Jack grabbed Katherine's arm tightly, pulling her close to him.

"Jack?"

"Ike is dead! He's dead, gone forever! He ain't ever comin' back!"

Katherine stared in shock, the words not processing. "He's what?"

"Please Kath, just go," Jack said in a broken whisper.

Katherine stared at Jack, her eyes meeting his, and she slowly nodded. Katherine left right after, heading quickly back to her home.

Jack glanced at the boys who stood wide-eyed on the stairs, having witnessed the whole conversation. "What are youse lookin' at? Get to bed. Youse actin' like a bunch of kids."

The boys all scurried up to their bunks and Jack took a seat, resting his head in his hands. Crutchie limped over and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, startling him.

"I thought I told youse to get to bed."

"You did, but I didn't listen. Ya looked like you needed someone to talk to."

"I'm gonna kill him Crutch."

Crutchie blinked, carefully observing Jack. "You don't mean that. Youse just tired and angry and sad."

"Maybe, but I still want to. I should've stopped it."

"There was nothin' you could've done, Jack. You didn't even know."

"Yes I did Crutch. He was makin' threats. I should've figured out what he meant."

"And what good would bein' a mind reader have done ya?"

"I would've known his plan. Then I'd have agreed to back off and none of this ever would have happened."

"It would've happened even if you joined him Jack," Crutchie soothed. "He kills his own boys for fun. What's to stop him from killin' ours?"

Jack considered Crutchie's words for a minute. "Youse right Crutch. Ise gonna talk to 'im. I ain't lettin' him get away with this anymore!" Jack stood up and stepped around Crutchie as he spoke.

"Wait!" Crutchie said, effectively stopping Jack in his tracks. "Youse can't go right now. It's dark, it'll be more dangerous. Hook and his boys'll be excited and celebratin', they'll be more likely to do somethin' stupid. Plus youse tired and angry, your judgement won't be good."

"Crutch, I need to do this, for Ike."

"I know Jack, but you don't need to do it right now. Ike wouldn't want you puttin' yaself in danger for his sake, you know he wouldn't! Youse can go tomorrow."

"But Crutch-"

"No 'buts' Jack. You ain't goin'."

"Who's gonna stop me?"

"I will," Crutchie said, cocking his eyebrow. "I ain't afraid to use this thing."

Jack gave a small smile as he looked at the crutch. "You got me, I'll stay."

"That's right," Crutchie agreed. "Now get to bed."

Jack went upstairs without complaint, Crutchie following closely behind him. Their small moment was ruined when they reached their room, only to be greeted by sniffling and quiet whimpers, hushed sobs.

This was going to be a long night.

***

This is my longest chapter yet! 4,101 words! I'm so proud of myself! I've NEVER written a chapter that long!

Sorry if this isn't the best, I've been sick ever since I got home and I feel kinda awful, so the editing is probably poor.
But, what'd ya think? Okay? Bad? Good?

I'm sorry about Ike, I love him, but it needed to happen. And if anyone's really upset, originally it was gonna be Buttons, so you're welcome. Unless you're a SUPER big Ike and Mike fan. Then I'm soooo sorry and please forgive me!

And thank you guys so much for the 1,000 reads! I can't even believe it!

Thanks for reading!!!
-As always, Anna