The Experiment || Newsies AU

Chapter 83

Everyone turned to start leaving the office but Davey and the Governor stayed for a few moments.

Hannah started motioning for everyone else to leave the office.

Davey's turned to Jack with a look Jack couldn't quite place. "Don't worry, I've got it," he whispered to him. Davey nodded and left with Spot.

When Hannah walked past Jack she subtly clapped to him.

Jack smiled, even if Pulitzer didn't know it Hannah had helped them and given them any information they may need to help their cause.

Roosevelt walked over to him and patted Jack on the shoulder.

"'Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.' You can do this."

Jack nodded his head and shook Roosevelt's hand, seriously dreading what was going to happen next.

"I cannot stop the experiment. I'm sorry. I can't. The are other considerations," Pulitzer explained, standing behind his desk leaning on it.

"I get it, I get it. Joe, you've got to save face in front of these others folks. I'm young, I'm not stupid," Jack walked across the room to the opposite side of Pulitzer's desk to face him.

"Thank you for understanding-"

"But I've got constituents with a ligament gripe," Jack shouted at Pulitzer.

He had intended to keep his calm but Pulitzer was talking to him like he was stupid.

"What if I release all the findings to the press and all of the ones to come. It's a compromise we can all live with," Pulitzer said.

Jack thought for a moment before having an idea. "But you come to us and we can have a say in the experiments without any repercussions." Jack smiled at his use of such a big word, he only knew it though because Davey said it all the time when they were planning.

"That was never on the table. What's to stop you from incriminating the findings and changing the outcomes of them since you know what tests we are doing specifically," Pulitzer questioned.

"None of us could be that bothered but if we were to know what was happening, we might perform better and your image and your publicity would grow," Jack explained, using lots of hand movements that made no sense to anyone except him. "It's a compromise we can all live with."

He added the last part as a way to get one final dig in at Pulitzer. He even made sure to do the worst imitation of Pulitzer's voice possible.

"That's not a bad head you've got on your shoulders," Pulitzer commented from his spot, now beside Jack.

Jack turned to face Pulitzer and spat on his hand before offering it to the man. "Deal?"

"That's disgusting," Pulitzer commented with a keen look of dislike on his face.

"Well that's just the price of doing business."

He looked at the hand offered to him distrusted one last time before spitting in his own hand and shaking hand with Jack.

The pair headed to the entrance to the school where the Newsies were all standing waiting for Jack to tell what had happened.

When they saw Pulitzer trailing closely behind he their minds immediately went to the worse possible situations.

When they saw the massive grin on Jack's face as he walked to the top of the staircase their minds quickly changed.

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556 words