- Chapter 78 - the Impostsies and the Realsies -
Warnings: Mentions of panic, stress, protectiveness
No Era/AU
Third Person POV

(First up; Jack)

The boys stare at the two boys ahead of them.

One was the real Jack, one was the imposter.

Race suddenly gasps. "I have an idea!" He exclaims.

"Go on then." Davey tells him, gesturing for him to step forward.

"Jacks," Race starts. "What is the capital of New Mexico?" He asks.

(A/N, ya girl really forgot to put 'New' for a few hours and only had 'Mexico'. 😑)

The boys shoot him confused looks.

Race ignores them.

"Santa Fe." The imposter answers, confused.

"Santa Feeeeeeeeeeee!" Jack sings, his eyes closed as if he was really feeling it.

Spot ties the imposter's hands behind his back.

"Only Jack would sing it." Race comments with a cheeky smile.

The boys laugh.

~~ (Davey)

"Davey," Jack starts. "Can Les hang out with Specs, Romeo, and Lucky?" He asks.

The first Davey smiles warmly. "Of course." He answers.

The second Davey looks stern. "I don't want him touching weapons. They better keep him safe and-" he starts.

Race ties the first Davey's hands behind his back. "Found him." He grins.

Davey deadpans at him. "That's how you know I'm me?" He asks.

Finch pats his back. "Always a protective one there, Dave." He comments with a chuckle.

Davey rolls his eyes.

~~ (Race)

"What does Spot hate most about Race?" Albert asks with a smirk.

Spot stares at him, confused.

The second Race also looks confused.

The first Race grins.

"Uh-" the second Race starts. "My Italian?" He answers uncertainly.

Race turns to face him, looking offended. "Spot doesn't hate anything about me!" He responds defensively.

Spot smiles.

"Though," the real Race starts. "My Italian does annoy him." He adds.

The boys chuckle.

Spot walks over to him, putting his arm around the younger boy and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Race blushes, smirking and winking at the imposter when he saw him glaring at Race.

~~ (Crutchie)

Race hugs Jack so he didn't start crying.

The older boy just wanted a hug from his brother.

Albert paces in front of the Crutchies, a serious look on his face.

"Al," Finch starts with a soft chuckle. "Are you pretending to be a drill Sergeant or something?" He asks.

Albert ignores him. "What is the reason Crutchie sells a lot of papes?" He asks them.

"Easy." The first Crutchie smiles. "My limp." He gestures to his leg.

The second Crutchie grins at Albert, this one looking more real than the first one. "I got personality!" He exclaims.

Albert chuckles.

Henry ties the imposters hands.

Jack runs over to Crutchie, hugging him close.

"Aww, Jacky." Crutchie whispers, smiling softly as he pat his back.

~~ (Sarah)

"Sarah," Race starts, looking distressed. "I don't know what to wear and I have a date with Spot." He tells them.

The first Sarah looks confused. "Why are you asking-" she starts.

Davey ties her hands behind her back.

The second Sarah grins. "So- you have a really cute sleeveless flannel, the blue and green one!" She reminds him. "Wear that with jeans, lighter blue jeans, oh!- and-"

The group chuckles.

Katherine wraps her arms around Sarah, hugging her close.

Sarah raises an eyebrow at Race. "You're not going on a date with Spot, are you?" She asks slowly.

Race chuckles, entwining his and Spot's hands. "No, but I know where to go for fashion advice when I ever do." He responds.

~~ (Romeo)

Specs places a lamp in front of the two Romeo's.

The second one looks at it, confused. "What?" He mutters.

It had a sketch of a face (drawn by Jack) and a full face of makeup on it (done by Sarah).

"What do I do with this-" the second one looks at the first one.

The first one smirks, walking over to the lamp. "Well, hello, hello, hello, beautiful." He greets.

The group starts laughing, Henry included as he ties the imposter's hands behind his back.

~~ (Mush)

Blink steps towards the imposters.

They look at him.

"What happened, exactly, the first time we kissed/when we confessed?" Blink questions, crossing his arms.

The first Mush looks annoyed, but quickly masks it. "I started blushing a lot, because we finally kissed after you told me that you'd liked me for a few months?" He answers slowly and uncertainly.

The second Mush smiles. "You dragged me into an alleyway, ranting about how oblivious I was and I turned bright red and stuttered my confusion, and you continued on how oblivious and adorable I was, and I kissed you." Mush giggles to himself. "And your knees gave out, sending you to the ground."

The group laughs.

Blink smiles, cupping his boyfriend's face and pulling him into a soft kiss.

JoJo and Romeo tie the imposter's hands behind his back.

~~ (Buttons)

Henry stands in front of the two imposters, staying silent.

All of the Newsies were silent.

The first Buttons stayed silent with them, looking calm and collected.

The second Buttons looked more panicked.

What are they doing?

They haven't said anything...

What if they think I'm the imposter and take me away?

What if they kill me?

Buttons felt warm tears stream down his face, his block finally breaking.

He collapses to the ground, sobbing quietly.

He hated stress, he hated pressure, and he hated feeling like he was in trouble.

The point; he hated this.

Henry runs over to him, pulling him into his arms. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He whispers. "I got you, B."

The Buttons imposter stares at them in disgust and annoyance as his hands are tied behind his back by Mike and Ike.

"It's okay." Henry continues to whisper comforts to the sobbing boy, just holding him. "I love you. I got you."

~~ (Tommy boy)

The two Tommy boys are handed a piece of paper and a pencil.

They look at it, confused.

Finch steps forward. "What is fifteen plus four?" He asks them, a small smile on his face.

"Write it on the pape." JoJo tells them, gesturing to the papes in their hands while he sat on Mike's lap.

The two boys nod.

They write their answers down.

Both boys had nineteen written on their papers, but Albert tied the first Tommy boy's hands behind his back.

Finch chuckles, pointing to the second one's nine. "You always write it backwards, Dove." He says softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "That's a 'p', not a nine."

Tommy boy looks at the paper, his eyebrows furrowed. "Oh..." he mutters. "Stupid Dyslexic fancy letters."

(A/N, 'fancy letters' is what my mom/family calls it when I write my letters/numbers wrong (cuz Dyslexia).)

Finch chuckles.

~~ (Mike)

Ike steps up to face the two Mikes. "Why don't we leave Mike alone with JoJo at times?" He asks with a small smirk.

The first Mike looks confused. "We don't?" He asks, tilting his head to the side slightly.

The second Mike laughs. "Because I always give in to his puppy eyes." He answers.

The group laughs.

Race ties the imposter's hands behind his back.

JoJo runs over to Mike, grabbing him into a hug and almost knocking both of them down.

Mike hugs him tightly, smiling.

JoJo pulls away slightly, still holding Mike's hands. "Can I have candy?" He asks softly, using his puppy eyes.

Mike's eyes widen in panic.

Ike places his hands on his twin's shoulders, while Albert places his arm around JoJo.

"And we're separating you again." Ike mutters, guiding Mike away from JoJo.

The group laughs, Mike and JoJo included.

~~ (Ike)

Hotshot and Mike step forward.

"Pick a number between 1 and 100." Hotshot tells them.

"67." The first Ike chooses.

"33." The second Ike answers.

Mike and Hotshot share a look.

"Okay," Mike starts slowly, turning back to face them. "Pick a number between 1 and 1,000."

"459." The second Ike chooses randomly, having no clue why they were asking this.

"667!" The first Ike exclaims.

Mike looks at Finch, nodding his head towards the second Ike.

Finch ties the imposter's hands behind his back.

The imposter stares at Mike and the first Ike, his eyes wide. "How'd you know?!" He exclaims. "That was so random!"

Mike chuckles. "Ike always chooses 67." He answers.

"And he always adds a 6 to make it 667." Hotshot finishes, his arms crossed as he smirks.

Ike smiles sarcastically at the imposter, waving at him as he's taken away.

"Thank God you never change that." Mike mutters, sighing in relief.

Ike laughs. "And I never will," he responds, pulling his twin into a hug.

~~ (Boots)

Ike stands in front of the two Boots.

He looks at them, trying to figure something out, when an idea popped into his mind. "Do you want a hug?" He asks.

The first Boots smirks. "Sure." He answers, the tone of his voice telling them that he thought he got it right.

The second Boots hesitates. "Who's it from?" He asks quietly.

Jack ties the first Boots' hands behind his back.

The imposter scowls, annoyed that it didn't work.

"It'd be from me." Red answers with a small smile. "You don't have to if you don't want to." He adds quickly.

Boots stay silent for a moment. "Maybe just a quick one." He mutters, walking over to his boyfriend.

Red smiles slightly, hugging him quickly.

Boots pulls away after a quick second. "Thanks," he whispers.

Red nods.

"Head pats?" Ike asks Boots.

Boots gives him a half nod, half shrug in response.

Ike gently pats his head, being careful not to let his hand rest on his head for too long or touch him too roughly.

Boots smiles. They know me so well.

~~ (Lucky)

Race stands in front of the two Luckys. "What is your favorite color and the color of your superhero costume in the Super Lucky and such stories?" He asks.

The first Lucky grins. "Pink!" He answers.

The second Lucky looks at him, his face scrunched a bit in disgust. "Pink is a girl color." He responds. "It's blue."

Finch makes the imposter leave.

Race, Specs, and Sarah bend down in front of Lucky, who looked confused and a bit sad.

"Don't listen to him." Race tells Lucky. "He's wrong."

"Yeah." Sarah smiles at the little. "Pink is an anybody color." She tells him.

Lucky smiles. "Can I wear a dress again?" He asks softly.

Specs looks to Sarah.

Sarah nods. "Of course. I can see if I have any old ones." She responds with a smile.

Lucky grins, clapping his hands.

~~ (Smokes)

Ace stands in front of the two Smokes.

He was wracking his brain for a good question.

Spot steps forward, smirking. "What was your first Borough?" He asks.

Ace chuckles softly.

The first Smokes looks confused. "Uh... Brooklyn?" He answers hesitantly.

Hotshot ties his hands behind his back.

The second Smokes groans. "Manhattan." He huffs annoyedly, crossing his arms.

The group chuckles.

Ace walks over to him, ruffling his hair and pulling him into a hug.

"I hate that you all hold that against me." Smokes grumbles against his boyfriend's shoulder.

Ace chuckles. "It's not changing," he responds softly.

Smokes rolls his eyes, enjoying the hug.

1878 Words

Full GIF cause it's adorable.