- Chapter 68 - "We're here for you." -
Warnings: Mentions of abuse, death
Canon Era
Third Person POV

A/N, a part 2 was requested by the lovely Bubbles070506 so here it is.

Sparks sat on the floor, his hands in his lap, as he sat criss-cross.

Sparrow sat on the bed, on the other side, away from Antonio.

Antonio, who had just woken up, laid curled in a ball, his wrist again cradled against his chest as to protect it.

"Hey, Antonio..." the Manhattan leader whispers, gently placing his hand on Antonio's back.

A sob could be heard from the smaller boy, shaking his body slightly.

Sparks frowns. "Nonna's in a better place now, Toni. She's going to be with your mamma." He tells him softly.

Antonio lifts his head to look at Sparks, his face wet with tears and his eyes red and tired.

As more tears sting his eyes, he puts his arms out for Sparks like he wanted to hug him.

Sparks gently lifts him off of the bed, pulling him into his arms.

Antonio clings to Sparks, snuggling his head in the crook of Sparks' neck.

Sparrow pulls his legs up so that he was sitting criss-cross like his boyfriend was, except he was on the bed.

He leans his head back against the wall, closing his eyes as he sighs softly.

The most exhausting thing about being a Newsie Second, he starts in his mind. Has to be helping through the heartbreak and how sad it is to watch.

There was a gentle knock on the door, it barely even sounding like a knock.

Sparrow and Sparks share a confused look.

"Come in." Sparrow starts softly.

Asher, a Manhattan Newsie, slowly opens the door and pokes his head into the room.

He frowns when he sees Antonio.

The boy had been his selling partner when he didn't sell in Brooklyn.

"Yes, Ash?" Sparks asks softly, gently moving Antonio's bad arm so he didn't hurt it.

"Two Brooklyn Newsies and two Queens Newsies are here." Ash informs them quietly.

Sparks looks to Sparrow.

Sparrow nods, getting up and following Ash out of the room.

Ash quietly closes the door. "JoJo looks like he's going to cry if he doesn't see Antonio." He whispers.

Sparrow frowns. "Is he clinging to Miracle?" He asks.

Ash nods.

Miracle was one of the Manhattan Medic Newsies. He was easily JoJo's favorite older boy as he spoke Spanish like JoJo and was very brotherly towards him.

Sparrow doesn't look at the boys who fell silent when they walked into the living room.

He knew if he did, he'd cry at how helpless the younger boys, the ones who were around Antonio's ages, looked.

He opens the door, finding the same number of Newsies as Ash said.

He and Ash step outside of the Lodge, closing the door behind them.

"Hey," the Queens boy he knew was named Sketch, the Second of Queens, greets with a soft smile.

"Hi." Sparrow's voice was almost silent. "Do you need something?" He asks.

"King and Wolf need to meet with Sparks tomorrow." Sketch informs him.

Sparrow sighs deeply, rubbing the temples of his forehead. "Something traumatic just happened to one of our already traumatized kids and we need to be there for him and the others." He mutters. "Don't we have any other times we could do it?" He asks.

"Tonight." Bruises, a Brooklyn Messenger, answers hesitantly. "You'd probably have to come within an hour."

"What part of 'we need to be here' do you not understand?" Sparrow snaps, looking at them.

The Newsies stay silent.

Ash gently places his hand on Sparrow's back. "You could go tomorrow." He suggests. "We can watch Antonio," he tells Sparrow. "You know we can."

Sparrow sighs, looking back up at the Newsies. "I'm sorry for snapping, but you've caught us at a horrible time." He explains. "I'll try to see if we can get there for tomorrow, but I can't promise it."

"Sparrow," Sketch starts slowly. "It's kinda a bit deal and we can't have you miss it."

Sparrow sighs again. "We'll be there." He mutters.

Sketch nods.

The foreign borough Newsies leave.

Sparrow and Ash walk back inside.

Sparrow was stressed, worried, and really tired.

He was stopped when he tried to walk back upstairs.

He looks down at JoJo.

Ash was right, the just nine year old looked like he was going to cry if he didn't see Antonio.

"How is- he?" He whispers, his big brown eyes melting Sparrow's heart.

Sparrow made a silent decision.

Sparrow frowns. "He needs a hug, Jo." He responds softly. "Are you up to giving him that hug?" He asks.

JoJo looks up at him, his mouth parted open slightly. "Yeah, yes. I can- I definitely can." He tells Sparrow.

Sparrow smiles softly, picking JoJo up and resting him on his hip. "He'll be grateful to see you." He tells him softly.

Tears filled JoJo's eyes again.

Sparrow looks to Jack and Albert, who had been watching with the other boys.

"Come on." He tells them, gently nodding his head towards the stairs.

Jack and Albert nod, walking with them upstairs.

Sparrow gently knocks on the door, JoJo still in his arms.

"Come in." Sparks tells him from in the room.

"Hey," Sparrow pokes his head into the room. "I brought a few visitors." He informs them.

Sparks looks to Antonio, who was looking at Sparrow, his blue eyes confused and glossed over still.

Jack, Albert, and JoJo enter with Sparrow.

Sparks let's go of Antonio, sitting in a chair.

Antonio stands there, tears stinging his eyes again.

Tears stream down his and JoJo's faces as JoJo gets down and runs over to him, knocking the two of them over in a hug.

The two boys cling to each other, both of them sobbing.

Sparrow looks to Sparks.

Sparks just watches them.

"I'm sorry, Toni." JoJo whispers, his eyes squeezed closed. "I'm so sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. I love you." He continues over and over again. "I'm here for you."

"I love you, Jo." Antonio whispers, pulling JoJo closer to him.

JoJo's grip on Antonio tightened slightly, but it wasn't enough to hurt him.

"Te quiero." JoJo whispers, switching to his native language.

He, like Antonio, had said his first word in Spanish (though, with Antonio it had been Italian).

"Ti voglio bene." Antonio whispers in response.

(Both translations: 'I love you.')

JoJo pulls away slightly, using one of his hands to gently reach out to Antonio.

Antonio flinches, turning his head away slightly.

"No te lastimaré." JoJo whispers, his frown deepening.

Antonio looks to Sparks.

"Non ti farò del male." Sparks repeats, this time in Italian.

(Both translations: 'I won't hurt you.')

Antonio looks back at JoJo, nodding as a way to tell him that he understood.

JoJo gently reaches up and wipes the tears off of Antonio's face.

More tears filled Antonio's eyes.

Jack and Albert share a look, not knowing if they should go over to the two boys, even if they wanted to.

Sparrow notices, gently patting their shoulders.

The two younger boys look up at him.

Sparrow nods.

Albert and Jack walk over to Antonio and JoJo, hugging them close, the two younger boys in the middle.

Antonio and JoJo smile softly, hugging them back.

Sparrow walks over to Sparks, who was still watching them.

Sparrow squeezes his boyfriend's hand, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head after brushing his black hair out of the way.

Sparks smile softly, looking from Sparrow to the younger boys who stood in the middle of the room, still in each other's tight embrace.

"We're here for you." Jack whispers to Antonio, his voice almost silent.

Albert and JoJo nod.

Antonio smiles, wrapping his arms around Jack.

Jack hugs him back.

1320 Words
The stuff you can notice in the background of Newsies is wonderful :)