The Strike (A Newsies fanfiction)

Murder, Babysitting, and Some Good News

I arrived back at the Manhattan Lodging House just past midnight. I slipped through the front doors and crept up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. I made it to my bunk without waking anyone. I quickly untied my boots and set them next to my bed, then put my hat and cigar on my bedside table. I laid down, my mind running at a hundred miles an hour. I had a feeling I wouldn't be getting a lot of sleep that night.

(✨Cue flashy lights to show a time change✨)

Jojo narrowly avoided my foot that was flying in the direction of his and Albert's faces. He shrieked as he slipped off the bed and landed on the floor with a thump. Finch glanced over at us as he heard the solid whomp of my foot connecting with Albert's head. Albert toppled off the bed, crashing on top of Jojo, who was still on the floor.

"Ouch!" Jojo exclaimed from beneath Albert. "C'mon, Al, get off of me!" Finch walked over to them, nudging Albert with his foot. Albert didn't move. His eyes were closed.

"Race, I think you'se killed him!" Jojo said worriedly. I didn't look up from where I lay on my bed.

"Good. That'll teach 'im not to steal my cigar," Finch gave me an annoyed look.

"Seriously though, he isn't moving," even Finch sounded nervous. I sat up. Jojo had managed to wiggle out from under Albert, and he and Finch we're huddled around his still body.

"What's going on?" Mush asked as he and Kid Blink approached us.

"Race killed Albert," Jojo said. I rolled my eyes.

"He's not dead." Mush gave me a disappointed look. "He's still breathing." I pointed out. Blink nodded.

"Yeah, looks like he's just knocked out, or maybe-" he was cut off by Albert, who sat up, a grin on his face.

"I live, bitches!" he said dramatically. I stuck my cigar back in my mouth and flopped back down on my bunk. Finch was scolding Albert for scaring us. Mush and Blink were sitting together, talking quietly. Jojo sat down on the edge of my bed, looking at me.

"You okay?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Yeah. Jus'... got a lot on my mind," I did my best to avoid making eye contact with him. I knew for a fact that Jojo could see right through my lie.

"Last night... you went to Brooklyn, didn't you?" I nodded. He sighed. "What happened?" Jojo was one of the only people who knew about Spot and I's relationship. The other newsies knew that we were on good terms with one another, but that was all.

"I went to talk to him. He had already made up his mind about the strike, but I at least wanted to say goodbye, y'know?" Jojo nodded. I went on. "I thought he'd tell me to be careful, or at least tell me goodbye. But instead he just stood there an' said nothin'," I could feel the tears starting to burn and quickly wiped them away before anyone noticed. Jojo patted my knee comfortingly. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he was interrupted by the door slamming open as Les strode into the room.

"Hi!" he grinned at us. Davey followed closely behind him, looking tired.

"Has anyone seen Jack?" Davey asked. I shook my head.

"No. Why?" Specs called from his seat on the floor next to Romeo.

"I had an idea about the strike. I wanted to run it by him," Specs nodded.

"Ask Kloppman. I bet he knows where Jack is," Romeo suggested. "He's downstairs in the kitchen," Davey nodded, then started to leave. Les trailed after him. Davey stopped, pointing at Les.

"Can you guys watch him for a minute?" Davey asked. We nodded and muttered affirmations. Davey pushed Les in our direction, then strode out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Les began to bounce around the room, talking to the other newsies. I stood up, stretching my arms.

"Hey kid, wanna do somethin' fun that Davey probably wouldn't approve of?" I asked. Les nodded excitedly and ran over to me. I gestured for him to follow me then went out to the stairwell.

"You ever slid down a stair rail before?" I tapped the metal bar. Les shook his head. I grinned. "Well then, I oughta teach ya," A couple of the other newsies had followed us. I demonstrated to Les how to slide down the rail, then began giving the other newsies instruction.

"Romeo, Specs, you stand down below in case he falls. Blink, Mush, wait for 'im at the bottom. I'll stand next to him," I glanced around. Sniper stood near the wall, looking bored.

"Ey, Snipes, why don't you be our look out? If you see Dave comin', tell us. We don't wanna get caught. Davey'll have our hides," the others newsies laughed as Sniper scurried off to check for Davey. I hoisted Les up and set him on top of the railing. He wobbled a bit, but quickly balanced himself out.

"Ready?" I asked him. He grinned at me.

"Yup," I pushed him gently and watched as he went flying down the stair rail, squealing and laughing. Blink and Mush caught him at the bottom. He looked back up at me with an expression of pure joy.

"I wanna do it again," he ran up the stairs to me. I helped him up, then pushed him down the railing. We did this several times before Sniper came running into the room.

"He's coming!" Sniper yelled.

"Act natural!" I hissed to the other boys. Specs and Romeo sat down quickly and began having a discussion about noodles. Blink and Mush leaned against the wall, whistling casually. Jojo grabbed Les and began showing him a page in the book he was reading. Sniper leaned over Jojo and Les and pretended to be very invested in the book. Albert grabbed my cigar (that little thief!) and held it above my head teasingly. I reached up to grab it just as Davey walked into the room, looking at us suspiciously. I smiled at him.

"Hey, Dave. Back so soon?" Without breaking eye contact with Davey, I reached up and snatched my cigar from Albert, sticking it back in my mouth. Davey eyed me suspiciously.

"Yeah. Kloppman told me where to find Jack," he gave me one more wary look, then gestured for Les to come with him. "C'mon, Les. Let's go meet Katherine. Then we'll get Jack," Les nodded and followed his brother out of the stairwell, giving us one last big grin as he walked through the door. As soon as they were gone, we let out a collective sigh of relief. We began to file back into the main room, sitting down on our bunks and starting up little conversations. I noticed Buttons slip in and waved him over to where Jojo and I sat on the couch.

"Hey, Racer. You need somethin'?" Buttons sat down in the chair across from us.

"You were down in the kitchen, right?" I asked. Buttons nodded. "Did you hear Dave mention anything about his 'big idea' or whatever?" Buttons gasped.

"Do ya really think I was eavesdropping on their conversation?" he acted offended. I rolled my eyes. Buttons grinned.

"Yeah, okay, maybe I was listenin'. He told Kloppman that he wants to have a rally, over at Medda's theater. Y'know, get all the newsies together to talk about the strike 'n stuff," I had to admit, that was a pretty good idea. Elmer came bounding over to us, squeezing into the chair next to Buttons.

"Hey guys!" he said with a big smile. I laughed. The two of them barely fit in the chair. Elmer was practically sitting in Buttons lap. How cute.

We joked and messed around for the next few hours, none of us really knowing what to do with our freetime. Late that afternoon, an excited looking Davey, closely followed by an equally excited Les ran into the room.

"The rally is on!" He exclaimed. We whooped and cheered. Word had spread quickly about Davey's big idea and by lunch time everyone was anticipating news on whether or not the rally would happen.

"Well, what're we waitin' for?" I called. "Let's go!"

Hinted at some Sprace. Added some pretty obvious Belmerttons there at the end. Ship, ship, ship. Imma have some Smallsper next chapter. Maybe a bit of Blush.

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I'm almost done with it soooo. 

ALSO I have 83 reads and I want to say thank you thank you thank you to my amazing readers!

Lots of love to all of you beautiful people!

- Peaches