AN: WELL as you can probably tell by my incredibly infrequent updates, school is now eating me alive. But, I'm probably going to wrap this story up in the next few chapters as soon as I can figure out how to do so.

The next few hours passed in somewhat of a haze for Jack. He greeted all the boys outside, who were a little rougher than he'd prefer, but it was nothing compared to what he'd just been through. Katherine helped him back to the Lodging House, the boys told him all about the ending of the strike as they cleaned him up the best they could (though he was fairly certain he'd heard Katherine say something about calling a doctor in the morning). They'd talked for a while about things that Jack didn't really remember, and eventually he'd fallen asleep on the old couch they had downstairs.

He didn't know how long he'd been out for, but he knew that more than an hour of uninterrupted sleep was miraculous for him, so it didn't really matter. When he opened his eyes, someone - probably Katherine - had covered him in a blanket, and the room was considerably emptier than it had been when he'd fallen asleep.

The only people left were Katherine and Race, who were talking in soft tones on the other side of the room. They seemed to be speaking about something serious, but as soon as Jack shifted, both of them quickly took notice and made their way over to him.

He gratefully accepted Race's help in sitting up as he looked at Katherine, who still looked as beautiful as ever in his eyes.

"You didn't have to stay." He told her. A quick glance out the window told him that night had fallen, and the lack of noise from upstairs let him know that the other boys were already asleep.

"I know." That was all she said, with a hint of a smile, which he returned.

"How you feeling, Jack?" Race asked, coming around to stand next to Katherine.

"Like I got run over by a carriage more than once." He responded, though still smiling.

"I'm bringing a doctor over here tomorrow to look at you and Crutchie tomorrow." Katherine put in, and it was clear by his expression that Race was still worried about this new development.

"Don't know where we'll get the money for it, though."

"Race, I already told you I'll pay for everything."

Jack protested this from the couch. "Can't let you do that, Ace."

Katherine glared at both boys. "For heavens sake, is there not one boy in this Lodging House who is not as stubborn as a mule?"

Race smirked. "'Fraid not, that's our trademark."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm paying." She leaned down to kiss Jack gently. "I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded, and she gave both of them one last smile before exiting. Jack looked at Race.

"So, you wanna help me find a bed or what?"

"Does it matter which one, or can I just dump you on top of Albert?"

Jack grinned. "I'd prefer an empty one."

"You's no fun." Race scowled exaggeratedly, carefully helping Jack to his feet.

They walked into a room full of sleeping (or pretending to be sleeping, anyway) newsboys, and they started looking around for a spare bed, when Jack stopped in his tracks, causing Race to stumble slightly.

"Hey, Race, where's Crutchie? He was here earlier."

Race's grimace told him that he'd been hoping this subject wouldn't come up. "He's up on the roof."

"He's what?"

"He's been making it up there okay!"

"I was in there with him Race, he ain't fit to be climbing up there."

"You know him, we couldn't have stopped him, he's stubborn."

Jack set his jaw. "Yeah, well so am I. I'm gonna spend the night up there with him."

Race's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Jack! You's in worse shape than him."

"I've been climbing up there for years, I can handle it."

The blonde boy stared at him before sighing. "Kath's gonna kill me for this." He muttered under his breath. "Fine. But I'm staying there 'til you get up, in case you fall or something."

If Jack thought he could've stopped Race anyway, he would've protested. But he knew better so he nodded.

About five minutes later, it was clear that Jack had clearly underestimated what shape his body was in. He managed to get up the letter, but not without several slip ups, and by the time he hauled himself onto the roof, his hands were shaking and every part of his body was screaming at him.

"Jack?"

He looked up, trying to catch his breath, and saw Crutchie looking at him with extreme concern.

"What're you doing up here."

Jack smiled tiredly. "I was gonna ask you that."

Crutchie watched his brother closely as he got to his feet and lowered himself onto the bedroll next to his. "I'm fine. You don't gotta worry about me."

"You sound like me, kid."

He grinned, but it seemed empty. "Ain't that a good thing?"

"Usually, yeah, but not in this case. C'mon Crutch, no one makes it out of the Refuge feeling fine."

"Why ain't you worried about Davey, then?"

Jack sighed. "Believe me, I am. But Davey's got his folks, and you've got me. So talk."

Crutchie stared at his lap. "Jack... I dunno, everything hurts. Not just with my body, but everything."

Some people might have been confused by that statement, but Jack felt that Crutchie put his feelings into words perfectly. "Yeah. Snyder gets in your head, makes you doubt everything you know."

"I feel like I'm making a big deal out of it. That was your third time in there, and you seem fine."

That actually made Jack laugh. "I ain't fine. I'm probably gonna be screaming in my sleep tonight, if I can find a position to lay down in that doesn't hurt. You ain't gotta be fine, Crutchie. I'd be more worried if you were."

Crutchie sighed, leaning into his brother slightly. "I wish I could just take it all outta my head. Forget it happened."

"Yeah, ain't that the dream." Jack agreed. "That wouldn't work though. You'd just remember again any time you saw a scar. I'm sorry you got scars now."

"At least now we match."

He grinned and nudged Crutchie gently with his shoulder. "Hey, don't go using my morbid sense of humor. You can't turn into me completely, there's only one Jack Kelly."

"Good thing, too. Don't think people could stand to look at two of you."

"Oh, and you're all that with your smile that spreads like butter."

"Between the limp and these new injuries, I'll have ladies falling all over me."

Jack rolled his eyes before growing serious. "You know you can talk to me about this kind of stuff, right?"

Crutchie nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah. I'll be okay."

"Yeah? Me too. I think we're both gonna be okay."