I have reached fifty parts. That was a cliffhanger!! Still celebrating!! This mayy get a little complicated with Ray and Race... Anyway. Enjoy! :)

Suddenly, nothing matters.

Nothing except for the man standing not even twenty feet away from Race.

Ray.

It's been seven years.

Race stands up.

As Race and Ray take in the sight of each other, their faces go through so many expressions. Love, nostalgia, happiness, sadness at lost time--everything.

"Oh, Antonio," Ray breathes.

"Ray," Race chokes out.

Then suddenly the world speeds up.

Ray comes toward Race and Race comes closer to Ray and they meet in the middle, and start a tight embrace that encompasses all these emotions that they're feeling. 

It's like a parent and child reuniting after years of separation. 

Nothing and no one can break this bond.

"Antonio, Antonio, Antonio," Ray murmurs in Race's ear, still breathless. He puts a hand behind Race's head and holds him close, just like all those years ago. "You've grown so much. I never thought I would see you again."

"I thought you were dead," Race mumbles into Ray's shirt. He can't stop the tears from beginning to come. "We all did."

"You all thought I was dead?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, Antonio." Ray pulls him closer, if that's even possible. "I am so, so sorry for causing you all that pain all those years ago. How is everyone? How are you?"

Before Race can answer, Spot stands up. "This is sweet and everything, but you're gonna have to start explaining things really soon. Supposedly you died in a fire seven years ago. But surely that didn't actually happen."

"Yeah," Ray sighs. He and Race pull away so they're standing apart, but arms are still on each other. "It's a long story."

"We got time," Spot answers smoothly.

Race looks up at Ray. "Please, Ray. Tell us."

"Alright," Ray gives in. "Let me sit down first. It's kinda a long story. And I was not expecting to see a grown up version of Antonio today."

After everyone gets situated--Ray and Race on the sofa, Jameson and the Gambler sitting on chairs at the table, Spot sitting in a chair next to Race; Ray begins his tale.

"The fire just happened unexpectedly. No one was near enough to have been the one to have started it. It just ... happened. I remember everyone shouting, everyone shouting to get out of there. And so we all got out of the building as quickly as we could. There was a head count. One person was missing--this one young kid named Michael, who was new to the factory, just like I was. I knew I had to go back for him. I knew that someone was going to miss him. Even though everyone was telling me not to, I went back in. I found him, curled up on the ground, scared. I told him that he had to get up, and that he had to run. He didn't need to be told twice. He sprang right up and ran. And I followed him, running right alongside him. Until I wasn't. I'm glad that he made it out, though."

"We were all told that you never made it out of the building," Race says, holding on to Ray's hand. 

"Well, that's because I didn't," Ray tells him. "Well, not consciously, at least." He turns to face the Gambler (Fortunato Alam Ishmael Celesto Nephus) with a fond smile. "Would you be so kind to tell them what happens next?"

Race looks between the Gambler and Ray, and sees the fondness, the smiles. It hits him: the Gambler has become a father figure for Ray. Ray looks up to the Gambler. Ray has someone to look up to. For Race, that's extraordinary. He never imagined Ray having anyone higher than him that he had to look up to.

"I had suspected that the fire was caused by someone on purpose," the Gambler adds on to the story. "That one of Them started it. I just needed to find a motive."

"Did you find out?" Spot asks, his interest growing.

"Does it matter?" Race asks him. He turns back to Fortunato Alam Ishmael Celesto Nephus. "Continue. What happened next?"

Yes, Spot is a little frustrated that Race had brushed over what could have been an important detail so easily, but he lets it go. Of course Race would want to find out more about how and why Ray is still here. If it had been Stargazer they just found out was still alive, Spot would want to know all the details too.

"I found this young man here lying on the ground. There was a fallen ceiling board nearby. I assumed that the plank had fallen on the poor guy's head, and that, as well as the smoke, is what caused him to go unconscious. So I did what any decent person would have done: I got him out of there."

"I'm so very glad you did," Race assures him. He looks back at Ray, smiling. Ray smiles back at him.

There's still something that isn't sitting right with Race, though.

"Why didn't you come back?" Race asks. "We mourned for you. For a really long time. We had no idea that you survived."

Ray opens his mouth to answer, then closes it, guilty.

"I'll answer," the Gambler picks up. "It was my idea, anyhow. Don't blame your friend here. He wanted to go back. At least once every waking hour, every day, for at least two months, he asked to go back. He insisted that he needed to check up on the newsies he left behind. I wouldn't let him leave, though. I knew that They could possibly be looking for him. And if they were, then it would probably be best to let the newsies believe that he was dead. And once he told me that he knew Stargazer, I knew that he had to stay with me. They probably had figured out his connection to Stargazer, and wanted to come after him next."

Knew Stargazer?

More like was deeply in love with him.

"And so, since then, he's helped me around the house and out and about," he continues. "Small errands. Nothing related to Them, of course. I wanted to keep him away from all that stuff. And here he's been ever since."

"Fortunato took really good care of me," Ray says. "After the fire, I was sick for a few days."

"And you would not stop coughing," the Gambler smiles.

"I inhaled a lot of smoke that day."

"I know, I know."

Ray is on first name basis with the Gambler, Race thinks. I guess seven years does a lot.

That's when Spot gets it. Smoky Lung. That's what the Gambler said when he wanted Jameson to get Ray. It's starting to make more sense now.

He looks at Race. Race, who is so happy for his old leader to be alive and well. He smiles. True, it was very unexpected. But seeing Race this over the moon makes Spot happy.

If only I could have a reunion like that with Stargazer.

He pushes that thought down. He's not going to have a thought like that when Race is so happy right now.

Race hugs Ray. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Ray squeezes Race. "I'm so happy to see you too, Antonio."

"I have a newsie name now!" Race announces proudly.

"You have a newsie name now?" Ray leans back, eyebrows raised high.

Race grins. "They call me Racetrack now. Race for short."

"Racetrack?" Ray repeats. His smile grows as big as Race's. "That's amazing. How'd you get a name like that?"

"Because this guy loves his horse racing at Sheepshead," Spot adds to the conversation, also smiling. "When I met him, I would just think of him as the Manhattan gambler."

"Trying to become like me, eh?" Fortunato Alam Ishmael Celesto Nephus jokes.

Race scrunches up his shoulders a little. "I mean I guess."

"So you're Theo's cousin, aren't you?" Ray asks Spot.

Spot nods. "Yep. Sean Patrick Conlon. I go by Spot."

"So you guys became friends after all," Ray murmurs.

Spot smiles. "Yes. Yes we did."

"You became such good friends that you got him a box at Sheepshead Races," Jameson adds to the conversation.

Spot smiles at the ground and blushes as everyone starts talking around him.

"A box at Sheepshead Races?" Ray repeats, incredulous. Then he turns to Race. "What are you doing in Brooklyn?"

Race looks away, still grinning. "I may or may not have left Manhattan..."

Ray chuckles. "Good. You needed to see the world. You're going to be sixteen in two days, aren't ya?"

Race nods. Then it hits him how much time has actually passed.

"A box at Sheepshead?" the Gambler repeats as well. "Before you're sixteen? You're shaping up to be a better gambler than me!"

Race chuckles at that. He can feel himself glow at that.

"Last time I saw you, you were half that age," Ray remarks. "How you've grown since then."

Yes, I have.

I was a part of a strike. It was huge. And I led a rally.

And now I'm in this mess.

Of course, they'll need to save the story of the strike for another day.

For now, though, they have something else to take care of.

"We should probably talk about why we're here now," Race mentions. "We've come to find all those who have been taken."

Ray, as well as everyone else, sobers up. "What are you planning on doing?"

"We're trying to find all of those that went missing because They took them," Race answers. "We came here because we were hoping that there'd be someone with information on where the taken were being held."

Spot turns to look at the Gambler. "Do you have any idea where they are?"

The Gambler shakes his head. "As I said earlier, I would have been there ages ago if I knew."

"And we had hoped that Stargazer would have left clues," Race says. He gets up and goes over to the box left on the table. "But he doesn't say anything about where they might be."

"Unfortunately, I think we may have hit a dead end," the Gambler states.

That gets Race down. He was sure that Fortunato Alam Ishmael Celesto Nephus would have some idea.

But even Gamblers aren't all-mighty, all-knowing.

Suddenly, Ray realizes something. "You know, there might be something." Then he gets a little sheepish. "Fortunato, please promise not to be mad."

The Gambler raises an eyebrow. "It depends. Still. Go on."

"I was coming back from one of my errands not that long ago," Ray tells them. "When I saw two people talking. I overhead them saying "They" a lot. They used the word as if talking about their superiors. And that's how I knew that they were working for Them. So I followed them."

"Ray!"

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have done that. But let me finish this. I followed them. I couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but from what I could tell, they had just done something, and their superiors would be pleased with them. Then, they went through a door that one has to look long and hard for. Luckily, I remember exactly where it all is."

"Do you really think that the people who were taken are there?" Race asks.

"It would make sense," the Gambler comments. "They would want to keep them close. And we don't exactly know what They do to the poor people. I think it's worth a shot. It'll be risky, though. And we don't even know if the taken are there." He shoots a sly grin at Race. "It's a gamble for sure. This is one that I'd say is worth betting on."

Race grins back. Me and the Gambler are gamblers together.

Maybe some day I might be a Gambler instead of just a gambler.

And this is where his mind goes when he should be focusing on the fact that they are so close to figuring out this whole thing.

"Just, please, be careful," Jameson pleads.

"We will," Spot assures him.

With nothing more to discuss, Race, Ray, and Spot open the front door, leaving the Gambler and Jameson behind, as they embark on their quest to rescue those who have unwillingly disappeared from the world.

They start walking a little ways in the pitch dark of night, being led by Ray.

Race stops in his tracks. "Wait."

Spot and Ray get on high alert. "What?"

Race does the math. Ray was 24 back when the fire happened. So seven years later...

"You're thirty one?!" he exclaims.

Ray and Spot burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I'm getting old, aren't I?" he chuckles. "You're gonna have to tell me about how everyone is doing while we walk to our destination, okay?" He offers his hand to Race. "You ready?"

Race's tongue flicks out-in, then he nods. He's ready. He holds Ray's hand. With his other hand, he grabs Spot's.

They can do this. They can do anything.

And together in the dead of night, the three of them continue walking.

I just had to have that last little bit in there. I hope you enjoyed Race freaking out over Ray's age haha. I still can't get over Ray's age haha.

Okay. So.

Ray.

What do you think?

Are you happy I brought him back?

Are you annoyed I brought him back?

Was his reunion with Race sweet?

I wanted this to be as wholesome as possible.

I wasn't expecting that dynamic between the Gambler and Ray to pop up but hey I like it. I'm keeping it.

I just had to write this chapter. Even at this hour. In a few hours, I'm probably going to rue my decision. But when inspiration strikes and carries on until 3:30 am, surely you have to see it through.

We're wrapping up! The rising action is almost over! We are so close!

Wanna know what happens next?

Me too.

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who LOVED this chapter)