- Chapter 138 - The Origin of Spralbert -
Warnings: mentions of blood and crying and fear and playful fighting
Modern AU
Third Person POV

A/N, this was requested by TripleThreatAve123 forever ago. I'm sorry it took so long to finish, but I hope you like it.

"Jack! We lost Race!"

Jack rolled his eyes as he walked down the stairs. "Race is hanging upside-down from the fire escape." He paused at the bottom on the stairs, looking at all of the Newsies staring at him. He rolled his eyes again. "Don't ask me why. I'm too exhausted to find out right now."

"Is he okay?" Albert asked, playing with Spot's hair.

The brown-haired King laid across the couch, his head laying in Albert's lap. His eyes were closed and he was resting because he was so exhausted and stressed.

Jack shrugged a bit. "I think so, but then again, he could either be having a mental breakdown or he could be "examining the world from another view", as he calls it," he responded. "Either way, he doesn't seem to be sad yet, so I think he's set."

Albert went to respond, but someone got to it first.

"Ever think Race is from another... dimension, or whatever it's called?" Spot muttered, his eyes still closed.

"I certainly thought that when I first met him." Albert chuckled softly, remembering the day. "He could be... I'm just glad he's here, no matter where he's from; Queens or Mars," he stated.

Spot smiled.

Albert remembered the day he met Race vividly. Race had been 9-years-old and Albert was 10.

"Sparrow!" Sparks kicked the door open, sounding panicked.

Sparrow ran into the living room of the lodge. His eyes widened at the sight.

Jack and Sparks stood there, both panting and covered in blood.

A boy laid in Sparks's arms, looking half dead. He was clearly the source of the blood that covered the three boys, along with having bruises and burns all over him.

A nasty word came out of Sparrow's mouth—one he had taught the littles they should never repeat later on—and he called for Miracle.

Albert stood by the staircase as Sparrow rushed Sparks and the boy upstairs, Miracle running behind them.

Jack tried to go after them, but Fox stopped him, telling him that he could see them when they had helped the boy a bit. Jack, of course, hadn't wanted leave their sides, but eventually gave in to staying downstairs with Fox after a few minutes.

Many hours later, this blond-haired, blue-eyed mess of a boy came hobbling down the stairs, avoiding any time that Sparks or Sparrow tried to stop him.

Seeing this, both Albert and Jack stood at the bottom of the stairs to block him.

The boy seemed terrified of them and stopped in his tracks. He almost screamed when Sparrow went to touch him, causing the boy to stop and step away from him.

Albert immediately felt bad for this kid. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he tried to tell him.

The boy turned to him, shaking violently. "I- I-" he hesitated for a moment, as if he was trying to stop himself from saying something, "where am I?"

Albert smiled. "You're at the Manhattan Newsboy Lodge!" he exclaimed. He saw the boy wince in pain and frowned. "Sorry."

The boy shook his head. He went to take a step, but crumbled, crashing into Albert.

Albert tumbled back a bit, into Fox, who caught them both.

Sparks quickly went down the stairs to them.

The boy cried out in pain, clinging to Albert's shirt. He struggled to stand back up on his own. "Mi dispiace!" he blurted out.

Sparks stopped. He struggled to remember any Italian for a moment, before remembering something. "Va tutto bene. Non devi scusarti."

The boy froze when Sparks spoke Italian. He looked up at him. "Tu- tu parli italiano?" he stammered.

Sparks nodded.

Tears brimmed the corners of the boy's eyes and he turned around, still clinging to Albert, and buried his head into his chest.

And Albert just held him as he cried...

...until they had to go treat his injuries.

But from that day forward, the two were best friends. And for a few years, Albert teased Race endlessly about him crying into his chest before they had been introduced themselves. Race always rolled his eyes at him, but they both knew it was in good fun.

Out of Race, Spot, and Albert, Albert and Race met first, then Race and Spot met second.

Albert remembered Race's dramatic storytelling of the day's events and the shock of the Newsies when they found out who he was talking about.

"And then he challenged me to a bet." Antonio grinned smugly, sticking the cigar back in his mouth. "We both take twenty papes and whoever sells theirs first wins; that was the bet. If I win, I get to sell there, and if he did, I had to sell on the border," he explained.

The Newsies at the table watched him, eager to know what happened.

"And I won." Antonio beamed, his chest puffed out in pride.

"Wow!" The Newsies at the table cheered, while the older Newsies just chuckled.

"Who was it against?" Sparrow asked Antonio, curious.

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. Some kid named Spot or somethin'," he answered.

Everyone in the room paused.

"Spot Conlon?" Mush stammered a bit, his eyes wide.

Antonio shrugged again. "Dunno. Probably."

Albert shook his head in disbelief. "Kid meets the Prince of Brooklyn and doesn't know it?" he muttered to Blink.

Blink shook his head, his eyes wide.

Antonio looked at them. "Hey, I don't catch the names of people I bet with," he told them. "All I know is he was hot and he was cocky, and I wanted to crush his... uh... oh! His ego. I wanted to crush his ego." He laughed a bit.

Sparks chuckled, turning away from the table to face Fox. "He's been here for three months and he's already becoming one of us," he mumbled to the seventeen-year old.

Fox chuckled. "It's the boys he hangs around, I swear." He grinned.

Sparks laughed lightly. "Probably."

Albert smiled at the memory.

It wasn't long before Race had annoyed Spot into becoming his friend, and not long after, Albert was dragged into meeting him.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! Come onnnn!" Race whined, trying to pull Albert along to make him go faster.

Albert chuckled. "Someone's impatient."

The eleven-year-old glared at him. "He finally agreed to meet you, Albie! I've been waiting per sempre!" He shook his arm crazily.

Albert rolled his eyes fondly, pulling his arm out of his grip and causing Race to stumble a bit. "Someone's dramatic," he muttered, stealing Race's cigar when the boy was struggling to gain his balance again.

Race glared at him. "Don't you steal my cigar and call me short, you big, loaf!" he grumbled as he jumped to try to get the cigar.

"Loaf?" Albert laughed as he held the cigar above his head.

Race stopped and glared at him. "Burnt loaf." He jumped to try and grab it again. "The bad kind, not the good kind of loaves, and definitely not the ones from Catania Bakery," he grumbled, mainly to himself.

A deep chuckle came from behind them. "Not growing much, huh, Racetrack?" someone asked.

"Look who's talking." Race scoffed, finally snatching the cigar back.

Albert laughed.

Spot rolled his eyes and shoved his cane into his pocket. "At least I'm still taller than you," he retorted.

"Most people are still taller than Race," Albert reminded him.

Race jabbed him in the side with his elbow.

Albert grunted in pain.

Race rolled his eyes. "Why do I already regret having you two meet?" he muttered to himself. "You think it's a great idea to have your two favorite people meet, and it's really not."

Albert grinned smugly, and Spot smirked, causing Race to instantly regret saying that out loud.

"Aww! You do love me!"

"Stai zitto, idiota."

"Don't be mean to him, Racer."

Race glared at him and jabbed him in the side.

Spot grunted in pain, gritting his teeth. "You... you have five seconds... to run," he grumbled, pulling out his pimp-cane.

Race grinned, cracking his knuckles, not seeming one bit terrified of the threat. "Great. I always love a challenge I know I'll win." He shot Spot a smirk and sprinted off.

Spot rolled his eyes and stood up straight. He looked at Albert. "Spot Conlon." He held out his hand.

Albert spit in his hand and shook Spot's. "Albert DaSilva."

Spot nodded. "Good to see the redhead he talks a lot about," he stated. "Nice to finally have a face to a name."

Albert's cheeks flushed at the mention of Race talking about him, but he tried to play it off. "Same here."

Spot smirked a bit, almost as if he knew what Albert was thinking.

Albert looked back in the direction Race had run off in. "Are you just going to let him run?" he asked curiously.

Spot shrugged. "He'll tire himself out eventually and then I'll pin him down and tickle him until he regrets it," he told Albert. "It seems to work most of the time."

Albert laughed. "That's genius."

Spot chuckled a bit. "I know."

That was just over four years ago.

Spot was King of Brooklyn now — he had become King shortly after him and Albert met — and now, all three of them were dating.

"Spot," Albert mumbled after a few minutes.

The seventeen-year-old hummed.

"Should we go check on Race and make sure he doesn't fall and get hurt?" Albert asked him quietly.

Spot pursed his lips. "Yeah," he mumbled, "probably. God knows all that blood rushing to his head isn't good for him." He sat up.

Albert chuckled. He stood up and helped Spot up, leading him upstairs. He opened the window by his bunk and poked his head out. "Racer?"

"Albie!" They heard a crash and Race came stumbling over.

Albert chuckled. "Hi, Race...er..." he stopped.

Spot poked his head out of the window. His eyes widened. "Racetrack Higgins! Why are you bleeding?!" he exclaimed.

Race reached up to touch his nose. "Oh, this?" He laughed. "It's nothing. I hit my nose trying to swing up."

Spot opened the window fully and climbed onto the fire escape. "You idiot," he muttered. He pinned Race to the wall and pulled off his flannel.

Race's cheeks turned bright red. "Woah, Spot. If you wanted to pin me to a wall, all you had to do was ask." He tried to joke, but it was clear he was flustered.

Spot rolled his eyes at the blond-boy, but smirked a bit. He handed him his flannel that was bunched up in a ball. "Hold this."

Race complied, took the flannel, and pressed it to his nose. He winced. "That stings a bit."

"That's because you're doing it wrong, stupid," Spot grumbled, adjusting it.

Race pursed his lips and let out a laugh. He looked at Albert. "You know, if he didn't constantly kiss me and want cuddles, I'd think he hates me," he joked.

Albert chuckled. "And if you didn't get flustered easily, I bet people would think you're the flirt in this relationship," he responded.

Race blushed.

Spot rolled his eyes at Race's statement. "And if you didn't almost get yourself killed constantly, maybe I'd call you an idiot less," he muttered.

Race shrugged. "I can't help it."

Spot shot him a glare. "No, you just don't care."

Race bit his lip, before he broke into a grin and laughed. "You can't blame me-"

"Actually, I can." Spot turned away to pull his shirt off.

"-climbing stuff and flipping is fun," Race finished.

Spot raised his eyebrows at him. "You know what's fun?" he asked. "Not dying."

Race slid to the ground. "I guess."

Spot looked at Albert with an exasperated look.

Albert chuckled.

"You know, you're like a worse version of Jack," Race muttered after a few minutes.

Spot raised an amused eyebrow at him. "Are you saying that Jack flirts with you and kisses you daily?" he asked, smirking.

Albert burst into laughter.

Race's eyes widened. "No! No!" He quickly tried to explain.

"Albert, I think we've just discovered that our boyfriend has been cheating on us," Spot told Albert, pretending to act shocked. "I think we need to talk to Davey about this," he said, holding back a grin.

Albert nodded, struggling to hold in his laughs. "Oh yes, of course." He nodded in agreement.

"Oh mio Dio." Race covered his face with his hands, his cheeks almost as red as Albert's hair. It didn't help when both boys burst into laughter as the color of his cheeks just darkened.

But, no matter how embarrassing it was, he'd be lying if he said didn't light up at the sound of his boyfriends' laughs.

2248 Words
I have so many different backstories for how Race was found by the Newsies, but this one fit my idea the best. His past stays the same in all of my ideas, but I have different ways they found him and he became a Newsie.

Anyway, I hope you all liked it! I'm just glad I could write anything because I haven't had time to write recently, so it was nice taking some time for myself (: