AN: I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter of this book so far, and it's not completely angst-filled, so enjoy

After two weeks, Katherine had finally been able to get a shell shock interview with a Civil War veteran a few years older than her father, so of course, once she'd solved that problem, of course, another one arose. And it was a rather big problem. As it happened, her editor was refusing to publish it.

"Please, Mr. Simmons!" Katherine was not above pleading as she pushed the interview back towards him on his desk, but he simply ignored it. "Just read it, read what he had to say, people need to hear that!"

"I have read it, Plumber, and it's good writing, I'll admit it. But that doesn't change anything. No one wants to read about some delusional old man. Nothing he says is credible, and the fact is, even if it was, no one would care."

"Not credible? These are his experiences, experiences that could help people understand why this is happening to some of the soldiers! People should care about that."

"They should, but they don't. You of all people should know that. Most people don't care enough about what they should, and care too much about things that don't matter. That's just the way it is."

"Fine, then! If you won't publish it I'll take it over to The World, Mr. Pulitzer will surely publish it."

Mr. Simmons made a vague gesture that said 'be my guest', so she huffed and walked out of The Sun, ready to give her father the same proposal, almost positive he wouldn't decline.

oOo

"No."

That was the first thing Joseph Pulitzer said after he finished reading it, and Katherine narrowed her eyes.

"What? Father - "

"No, Katherine. Your editor was right. As much as I want to help you and Mr. Kelly, I can't publish this. Nobody would be interested, so it would do you no good, and I would get less readers than if I had a different article in it's place."

Katherine stood up and leaned over her father's desk, an intimidation tactic she'd seen him use successfully on several occasions.

"I did not go through over two weeks of sexist comments, talk to a war veteran for over an hour, and then spend all day writing this article just so nothing would happen. Publish it."

To her infuriation, Pulitzer smiled. "You've learned well. Very well, I'll run it in tomorrow's morning edition."

Katherine grinned, straightening up. She went around to the other side of the desk and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you." 

She gave him one last grateful look before hurrying out. She was now on her way to meet Davey at the asylum. Another visiting day had finally arrived, and she was eager to see her husband again.

oOo

Bullets were flying and Jack was running. There was a German soldier hot on his tail, and trying to avoid both him and the bullets at the same time was becoming exceedingly more difficult. Based on the fact that the German wasn't shooting at him, Jack knew what he wanted. They'd been hearing more and more about Prisoner of War camps, and that was exactly where this guy expected Jack to end up. The realization was just coming into his head when he got hit. The pain from the bullet spread throughout his shoulder. He didn't stop, but apparently he slowed just enough for the German to catch up to him, and he was tackled to the ground.

Jack felt a hand on his shoulder and and he jerked away from it, quickly sitting upright. His breathing was ragged and he was shaking. It was the day after his second session and the second time visitors were coming, and Louis had suggested that he at least rest before he went to meet whoever had come to see him. By some miracle, he'd apparently fallen asleep.

He stared at the wall in front of him for a minute to catch his breath, pressing his hands tightly against his legs to stop himself from trembling. He glanced over at Louis, who looked slightly scared, and felt a wave of guilt overcome him. This was the first time Louis had woken him up, and, as it turned out, that wasn't a good idea.

Jack rolled his shoulders in attempt to release some tension, and gave the younger boy an apologetic look. He didn't have it in him to even attempt a fake smile.

"What do you need?"

Louis relaxed visibly once he realized that Jack had calmed down. "They came and said visiting hours had started. Thought you'd wanna know."

Jack nodded. "Thanks. Guess... guess I should go, then."

He stood, pausing slightly, waiting for the room to come back into focus. He placed a comforting hand on Louis's shoulder and squeezed it slightly before exiting the room and finding a nurse, who led him back to the same room with the nice couch.

Shortly after he got there, the door opened again, this time revealing Davey. At this point, Jack did force a fake grin onto his face.

"Hey, Davey."

He hugged his friend, and, while Davey reciprocated it, he could see right through him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nice to see you, too." Jack was mentally trying to figure out what he was doing to make Davey think someone was wrong - because there wasn't anything wrong, of course.

"Jack, seriously, what's going on?" Davey was very unsettled by his friends' behavior. It was the same in one respect but... something was missing, and Davey didn't know what.

"Nothing's wrong." Jack said, suddenly defensive.

"Jack - "

"Just drop it, alright Davey? I'm fine."

But Davey didn't drop it. He gave Jack a pointed look, and eventually Jack couldn't keep it up anymore, and his facade crumbled. He dropped down onto the couch and put his face in his hands, trying to keep his tears from falling. Davey sat down next to him.

"Jack?"

He sighed, lowering his hands and turning to look at his friends. "I ain't fine." He scoffed. "Worst part is, I don't even know why I ain't fine."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yeah, there's the obvious stuff, the food's pretty bad, there's nothing to do, and the baths are cold. And they hit us sometimes - "

"What?" Davey clearly wanted to hear more about that last one, but Jack waved him off.

"I can deal with all that. But... they're doing something else... my treatment..."

"What about it? Is it helping?"

Jack shook his head. "Think it might be making things worse."

Davey was very concerned about this. "What do they do?"

"Don't know." Jack shrugged. "Knock me out with something, won't tell me what they're doing."

"Is that legal?"

"Probably, don't guess they'd still be running if it weren't." He shook his head. "All I know is they put wires or something on my head, and I'm pretty out of it for a while after."

Davey didn't say anything for a while, just sat there staring at nothing with a worried expression on his face. After a few minutes, he shook his head.

"Sorry... really, Jack, I'm so sorry. I'm sure things'll get better."

That was all Davey said, and that was very unlike him. Jack could tell that he was planning something, and for once, he didn't ask what it was. He just hoped that whatever it was happened soon.

The two spent the rest of Davey's visit talking about anything and everything that was unrelated to Jack's current situation, and on Davey's way out, he stopped Katherine before she went in.

"Meet me outside when you're done."

Katherine looked at him curiously but nodded, before heading in. As expected, her visit began with a tight hug, and when they pulled away, Katherine watched Jack carefully. He seemed fine, but Davey's comment gave her an odd feeling, so she felt she should ask.

"Are you okay?"

Jack sighed, more annoyed than anything. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" It dawned on it him then that it was probably because he wasn't really okay, so he sighed. "Ask Davey about it, okay? Don't wanna go through it all again."

She nodded, accepting that answer, mostly because she'd already planned on questioning Davey thoroughly about whatever was going on once she was done, and sat down next to him. He instantly took her hand, and she gave it a light squeeze.

"Are things any better here?"

He actually laughed at that, remembering how easy he'd had it the last time Katherine was here. "Nah, they're worse."

"Worse - ?!"

Jack just shook his head. "Ask Davey."

Katherine nodded. "Okay."

The two of them spent the majority of the next half hour sitting next to each other, not talking much. Katherine could tell that Jack needed the comfort of her presence, so she stayed with him as long he needed her to, sometimes hugging him, and sometimes allowing him to hold her.

She didn't know what was going on, but whatever it is, she didn't like it.

oOo

When Katherine left the asylum, she did indeed find Davey standing right outside. He was staring at the ground and she could practically see the wheels in his head turning.

"Davey?" He jumped, looking up and relaxing when he saw her. "What's going on?"

"I think they're using electric shock therapy on Jack. And I don't think they're doing it correctly. And I need you to help me stop it."

Katherine stared at him. "What?"

Davey explained what Jack had said to him, and what it sounded like. He told her what shock therapy was and what it could do if done incorrectly. And quite frankly, Katherine was horrified. She couldn't believe this was happening to her husband and she didn't even know about it.

"So, what do you need me to do about it?"

"Write an article. Use your investigative reporting skills, go in there, ask questions, and expose them."

Katherine's eyes lit up at that. She could already see the headline in her mind. Blackwell's Insane Asylum Shut Down Due to Medical Malpractice. She grinned and gave Davey a tight hug, and Davey, though startled, smiled and hugged her back.

"You're a genius, David Jacobs. I'll start working on that right away."

The two of them shared a determined look. They were going to get Jack out of there, no matter what they had to do.