Warnings: Cutting, blood, Weasel, insults
Third Person POV

"Monthly inspection, boys!" The Newsies heard Weasel shout.

The boys groan in unison.

They had been hanging in one of the bunk rooms.

Lucky and Race were asleep on Race's top bunk.

Eliza shoots Jack a confused look.

Inspection?

Jack rolls his eyes, getting up.

"We're upstairs, Weasel!" He shouts in the doorway.

"Weasel?" Eliza whispers to herself, her eyebrows furrow. "Like the guy you get papers from?" She asks.

The boys nod.

Every month, they had a monthly inspection done by Weasel.

They were pretty sure it was just a reason for Weasel to keep an eye on them and try to find a reason to get them in trouble, to which he never could.

He had made the rule when Kloppman died, telling them that if he did inspections, he wouldn't tell Pulitzer and get another Lodge Owner.

The boys, mainly Jack, agreed for fear of having a bad Lodge Owner like they had had before Kloppman.

Let's just say, when Race was running from an abusive home, he never wanted to be in another one and this was almost worse than his.

Almost.

Only a few of the boys who were at the Lodge now were there when that Lodge Owner was there.

Sparks and Sparrow got him fired and arrested.

Jack sits down next to Eliza on the floor.

Weasel appears in the doorway, the Delancey brothers right behind him.

The boys all groan, again.

"These inspections are already horrible and annoying and you decide to bring the Delanceys?" Finch questions. "Stink up the house, why don't you?" He glares at Weasel.

The Delancey brothers make fists and threatening faces at Finch.

Finch just rolls his eyes, not at all bothered by this.

Weasel looks Eliza up and down, before smirking. "Who's this? And why is such a lovely lady hanging with people like you?" Weasel questions with a touch of disgust in his voice.

Eliza stands up, brushing her dress off.

"I'm a married woman, first of all, and why I am here is none of your business." She states. "And if you are just going to bother us, you need to leave." She tells him.

Weasel rolls his eyes.

Jack noticed that the Delanceys had found their way over to Race's bunk, where Race and Lucky were peacefully sleeping.

Morris smirks at the two sleeping boys.

Lucky was clinging to Race, both on them laying on their side, facing each other.

"Aww, how cute." Morris fake awes. "Too bad they can't stay asleep." He whispers with a small snicker.

Oscar smirks.

Morris pulls out a knife.

He makes a bunch of little cuts on Race's skin, and one on Lucky's.

He was in the middle of making one on Race's skin, when he was ripped away from him.

"This is low," Albert growls, holding Morris with a grip tighter than Snyder's handcuffs. "Even for you." He whispers, his voice really angry.

Jack pulls Oscar away, pinning him to the ground.

Race and Lucky were awake now.

Lucky was frightened, his eyes wide and filled with tears.

He was sat up in the bunk, still clinging to Race, who also looked a bit frightened and confused.

"Why is it that you insist on picking on the youngest?" Jack questions, pinning Oscar's hands behind his back and his head against the floor.

"Cause they're the weakest." Morris grunts out.

"Building a bigger hole for yourself there, bud." Blink states, a cigar in his mouth, leaning against a bunk frame as he watched them.

Morris scowls at him.

"You know that's not true." Albert almost growls in Morris' ear. "Race has shown you multiple times that he can take care of himself." He states.

"And how many times has he lost?" Oscar questions with a smirk, staring straight into Albert's eyes.

Elmer looks at Ike.

Ike nods, arms crossed.

Elmer kicks Oscar, earning a grunt from the older boy.

Some of the Newsies have to stifle laughs.

Elmer walks over to Ike, who stood next to his twin.

They pull Elmer into a hug, whispering 'good job's and congratulating him.

Eliza turns to face Weasel, angrier than the boys ever thought she could be. "Leave." She instructs him, her voice oddly calm.

Specs slips out of the room, slipping quietly and quickly behind Weasel.

Weasel stares at her, eyes wide. "What?" He questions.

"I said leave." Eliza's voice raises a bit. "Get out of here." She tells him.

Weasel motions for Oscar and Morris to follow him.

Jack and Albert let go of Oscar and Morris, Albert taking Morris' knife.

With a few kicks from certain Newsies, Oscar and Morris run out of the building.

"I'll be back next month." Weasel informs the boys quietly.

Eliza shoots him a disapproving look.

"Never mind." Weasel mutters. "See you boys in the morning." He leaves quickly.

Eliza shakes her head, turning back to face the boys.

Lucky was crying softly, his head tucked in Race's neck, Race just holding him.

Race looked a bit startled and confused, still, and he had a right to be.

The boy woke up to the older Delancey brother using a knife to make cuts on his arms.

Specs comes back in the room with bandages.

Later

"Race is on the roof." Mush informs them softly. "He seems- uh- out of it." He explains, choosing his words slowly.

The people on the living room frown.

"How do I get to the roof?" Eliza asks Jack.

Jack looks at her. "Are you sure you want to do that?" He asks.

Eliza shoots him a 'do not test me right now' look.

"The window in our bunk room is the easiest way, though he's probably on the fire escape, which is left of that." Jack explains quickly.

She's scary when she wants to be.

Eliza nods, getting up. "I'll be back in a bit, probably with Race." She tells the boys with her.

They all nod.

Eliza squeezes Albert's shoulder when she walks past him, having seen the worry on his face.

He cared deeply about his boyfriends and even wanted to get Spot when it first happened.

Race had been recently cornered, cut, and almost badly soaked by the Delanceys, when Spot had saved him.

This fact was probably not helping his emotions at the moment.

Eliza made it onto the fire escape after a few minutes.

She found Race, his legs over the edge, staring at Morris' knife that was in his hands.

His eyes were glossed over and confused.

Eliza sits down next to Race.

She flips him a dime. "Dime for your thoughts?" She asks.

Race stares at the dime in his lap, next to the knife. "That's too much for my thoughts." He tells her quietly.

"Talk to me, Racer." Eliza whispers, looking over the stars.

(A/N, this next part probably isn't historically accurate, but I don't care.)

"Did you know that solar flares are caused by magnetic fields of the Sun colliding?" Race asks, his voice in a whisper.

Eliza stays silent, knowing he had a point with this one.

"The last one I was told happened was on my birthday, the day I was born." Race explains quietly. "My mom thought it was a sign that I was special." He stops for a second. "Another happened today."

"They happen every seven or so years, right?" Eliza asks Race quietly.

Race nods. "It's unpredictable, really." He tells her softly.

They stay silent for a few minutes.

Eliza knew to let Race talk about something (usually astronomy, since he loved it) before talking about his feelings.

"They've never done that before." Race starts quietly, his eyes on his arm that was now bandaged. "They've never been so daring as to hurt me, or anyone, in a room surrounded by the other boys." He whispers. "I guess they just hate me that much."

Eliza sighs. "I don't know what their problem is." She starts kindly. "But you're wonderful."

Race smiles softly.

His frown returned a bit though. "They almost soaked me badly recently, as you know." He tells her quietly. "I guess that's why I'm so frightened. That, and the fact that I woke up to Morris cutting my arm."

Eliza nods. "I'm sorry, Racer." She whispers, taking his hand gently.

Race shrugs. "It's fine." He whispers. "I'll get over it."

Eliza wanted to respond, but decided against it.

"The amount of energy released by solar flares is about the same as an explosion of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs." Race informs Eliza, staring at the night sky. "That's ten times greater than a volcanic explosion, but it's only tenth of the total energy the sun releases every second." He explains.

Eliza smiles softly. "The sun is pretty cool, isn't it?" She asks.

Race smiles a bit. "Yeah." He whispers.

Eliza's smile widens as she turns to look back at the stars.

She could've sworn she heard a whispered 'thank you', but wasn't sure.

It didn't stop her smile from widening.

Race noticed that.

1530 Words
This chapter is a mess and the Epilogue is next chapter (don't worry, we have bonus chapters lol.)