As soon as she regains her balance, she walks to the dark part of the street. Suddenly, she runs into something and topples over. Or rather someone. It's one of Jack's Newsies and she sighs with relief.

"Ey, Plumber. You'se alright? Why'd you jump from da fire escape?" asks a worried voice of a boy who Katherine can't quite remember the name of.

"Shhhh," She interrupts and the boy quiets immediately, "Keep your voice down. I can't be caught by them."

"Why not?" The newsie whispers softly. His brow furrows with concern. Katherine sighs and looks into his big brown eyes.

"I'll tell you everything as long as I get two things from you first. One, I cannot, for the life of me, remember your name," Katherine begins.

"I'se Mush. And it's okay dat you'se don't remember. Dere's a lot of us to remember," Mush interrupts, "Jack ain't real good at introductions and I'se gets shy around goils. How I got me name." Katherine giggled slightly despite her situation.

"Two, please keep whatever I tell you between the two of us. Jack already knows some of it, but I just need to talk to someone. We need to get going and preferably not past the window. I'll explain everything on the way. Promise. And also, please don't be mad at me for what I'm about to tell you. I'm doing the best I can for Jack and the rest of you," Katherine finishes. Mush nods and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Promise. To all of it. Let's go dis way," Mush says, guiding her back down the way he had come. As they walk, Katherine begins to tell Mush everything that has been happening. She cringes when she gets to the part that she is scared to tell him. Mush becomes suspicious when she suddenly stops talking.

"What's wrong, Kath?" He asks.

"I'm Pulitzer's daughter." She answers. Mush's big brown eyes get wide and he adjusts his Newsies hat over his brown curls.

"Oh. Does he know you'se been writing de articles about us?" Mush asks.

"Yes. Mush, he got me fired from the Sun. So, no more articles. He's been pushing me for fuel that he can use to get rid of Jack. I tried not to give, Mush, but he threatened to throw Jack in the Refuge if I didn't comply. This afternoon, Jack showed up to talk to my father about the rally. My father kept insulting Jack and he made me stay in there for the whole encounter. He had people hiding in there who wanted to get their hands on Jack. Then he told Jack who I was and made it seem like I told him everything when I only told him that Jack was an amazing artist. He didn't like that and told me to leave. I tried to hide as much as I could, but that stupid threat was hanging over my head. That was tonight. Then he trapped Jack and when I tried to leave to come tell you boys what was going on, he locked me in his office. So, I was sneaking out and that's when you came. If he finds out that I left and Jack is still around, Jack will be going to the Refuge. I just hope Father forgets about me and only deals with Jack," Katherine says and tears come pouring out of her eyes, "Are you mad, Mush? Jack probably hates me now." Mush, feeling a little shocked at this, pulls Katherine into a hug.

"It's gonna be okay, Plumbs. Promise. We'll get you through this and I'se will help as much as I'se can. First of all, Jacky's gonna be angry for a while, but he'll get ovah it once he hears your story. Second, I'se not mad. Ya did what ya could and I'se still tinks dats honorable. You'se really was tinking of Jack and not just ya self. Thoird, you'se our King of New York. How could we be mad at ya? Ya saved our skins at least once and maybe twice. As for da rally, hide out in da balcony. Do ya know if Jack's comin?" Mush asks kindly. Katherine nods.

"He'll be there. I can guarantee you that much," She says. Mush gives her a funny look. "It's a long story, Mush. You'll see what I mean," She explains. Mush nods and leads her down another street. Suddenly, they reach the theatre. Mush gently pulls her to a side door and nods to the stairs.

"Da balcony's up dere. Just make sure no one can see yous. I'll come talk to ya once da rally's over," Mush says, "We'll figure out what da best ting for ya to do next." Katherine smiles and starts to climb the stairs.

"Thanks, Mush." She says kindly, "For everything and for not being mad." Mush nods and runs off after one of his friends. Katherine climbs the stairs the rest of the way and stands in the balcony above. To her surprise, she sees Jack off to the side, guarded by one of her father's advisors. Katherine worries for Jack. She hopes he knows what he's doing because if he's going to do what her father wants him to do, he won't only crush these boys' dreams, but he will break her heart. Katherine can't stand thinking of her life without this cheeky newsboy in it. She feels as though he has always been there even though it has only been a few days. Nevertheless, Katherine decides that she is willing to stand by him and help him even if the whole world turns against them. She will be sad if he carries out her father's plans, but she still wants to hear the explanation as to why he is doing it. Based on what she sees with her father's assistant being there, Jack is here to stop the rally. Where is the boy with the impeccable ability to lead an army of Newsies against Pulitzer? Why isn't he back with a vengeance? Why does this seem like so much more than an act? Katherine knows that this is not an act. Jack wants to be done more than anything. He wants to go to Santa Fe more than anything else. Katherine watches as Medda parades onstage and the whole room erupts with eager cheers. The theatre is packed and yet somehow Katherine managed to be the only person in the balcony overlooking the stage. David and Spot come onstage and start talking about the strike and the rally. A couple boys ask about Jack and a few seconds later the whole room is chanting his name. David looks to Medda and she shakes her head disappointedly. David yells for quiet and starts talking about the progress of the strike. Katherine wants to cry again. Why is Jack doing this to the very boys that he loves and cares about? A few seconds later, Jack walks out. Katherine's face lights up. "Go Jack! Show my father who the real Kings of New York are. Don't let him control you. Please prove me wrong about you. I feel so much for you, please do the unexpected," Katherine thinks in her mind as she watches Jack yell for silence. He angrily says something about how Davey should grow up and stop running his mouth. David introduces Jack and the room starts chanting again. Jack starts out by mentioning her father.

"He raised up da price of papes and dat was a lousy ting to do," Jack continues, "so we strike. Pulitzer pushes da price back down only to raise it a few days latah. Fellas, we gotta be realistic here. We can't keep doing dis."(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) Katherine almost starts to cry again. She doesn't understand why he would do this to her and the boys. He can't just walk out on them when they need him the most. The boys start to shout angrily at him. "If we don't work, we don't get paid and all a you'se know what dat means. But I'se been speaking wid Mr. Pulitzer himself," Jack starts and the room starts to turn into a small uproar, "and he agrees to not put us in da Refuge as long as we come back. He won't bother us anymore at all. All we gotta do is stop strikin."(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) The room is in a full uproar and Katherine can feel her heart nearly break in two. She feels so betrayed and she isn't even the true victim of Jack's betrayal. There has to be something she could to do and yet she can't think of anything more. She needs to talk to him. Alone without any of the boys. Katherine needs to tell him everything just like she did with Mush. Except maybe a little bit more in depth because with Jack, she had so much more to tell him. Tears gently flood her eyes as she watches her father's assistant turn and slap money into Jack's chest.

"Ya traitor! Ya sold us out!" Spot yells angrily charging toward Jack. Jack looks at Davey only to see the other boy run off. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"Davey. DAVEY!' Jack calls after one of his closest friends.(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) Jack's heart nearly breaks at the angry words being spoken to him. He can't take it anymore and runs off. Katherine, who is running out with some of the boys, sees Mush. He grabs her hand and pulls out of the crowd and into the street.

"Where will Jack go?" She asks him. Mush sighs.

"Probably da rooftop of da lodging house. Dat's where he sleeps," Mush says, "Fair warning, odah boys might be up dere getting some fresh air aftah dat liddle stunt Jack pulled. And I see what ya meant by what ya said earlier. I'se sorry ya knew dat might happen going into dis whole ting." Mush walks her to the lodging house and leads her inside. Several calls of "Plumbs and Ey Katherine or Ey Plumber" echo throughout the lobby of the lodging house.

"Fellas, she needs some space. She's had a bit of a night," Mush says, putting an arm out to keep the boys at bay. He pulls up the stairs and to the rooftop of the lodging house. Race follows them towards the stairs.

"Plumbs, what's going on? You's really upset," Race states very matter of factly. Mush and Katherine exchange a look. His eyes asking her what to do. Katherine looks Racetrack in the eye.

"Alright, Race, you've got to promise me one thing? You cannot not tell another soul what Mush is going to tell you. I do not want any other Newsies or other people finding about this. And, if you're going to be mad at me, then Mush shouldn't tell you. So if you promise not to tell anyone and not to be mad at me, Mush can tell you," Katherine says and the Italian Newsie nods his consent.

"Promise. Plumbs, you's ain't in trouble, are you's?" Race asks. Katherine thinks about the question before answering with,

"Depends on how you look at the situation, Race. Now, I'm going to wait for Jack to come back, on the roof. Please don't tell him I'm up there and don't let anyone else come up." Racetrack and Mush both nod their consent. Katherine climbs out the window onto the fire escape and onto the roof. As soon as she gets there, she sees that she is not alone. Specs, a tall Newsie with glasses and sandy blond hair is standing there.

"Oh, uh, hi, Katherine. Surprise seeing you here," Specs stutters, shocked at Katherine's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Jack," Katherine answers politely.

"Oh," Specs answers and after a second he says "Smart since he sleeps up here and all." "All dat," he says gesturing to a small cylindrical canister and a small collection of things beside it, "is his."

"Thank you," Katherine says, "I hope he comes back soon, because I need to..." She stops abruptly realizing something. She could helped with something. She just needed to write about it. Getting on paper might help her with putting it all together. She had a feeling that getting her father to listen might require the voices of more people than the Newsies. It may take all of the child laborers in New York to get the bigwigs to pay any mind to them. Katherine creates a title in her mind... The Children's Crusade. "Specs, I have an idea. We can keep going with the strike," She says.

"What about Jack?" Specs asks nervously, "We can't go on without him."

"Yes, we can. And I have a plan to get him back. Do you have a piece of paper?" She asks of the now slightly terrified Newsboy. Specs nods and runs off grabbing one. He comes back a few seconds later.

"Here's da paper and a pencil," He says, nervously glancing around for his leader's return.

"Don't worry about Jack. I'll take care of him. Go do something fun with the other boys and get your mind off of what's about to happen," Katherine commands kindly. Specs jumps through the window and is soon caught up in the mischief of the boys in the lodging house. Katherine runs to her office which thankfully isn't too far away and starts to write a short invitation to the children of New York on her typewriter. Thankfully she has not been into work since this afternoon, so she could feign surprise about the fact that she was fired if she were caught. Her boss had not the chance to tell her yet, so she was still an employee at the New York Sun. Unlocking the various doors to and inside the building, she makes her way to her small desk space. The moment her fingers touch the keys of her typewriter, they fly. A few minutes later, she has a wonderful invitation for the next rally sitting in front of her. A smile graces her face as she gently grabs the paper off of her type writer and hurries back to the roof of the Lodging House. The boys once again greet her as she rushes in. Their faces full of shock and Mush's face holds lots and lots of worry.

"What happened? Why are yous smiling like dat? Where's Jack?" Mush throws out question after question at Katherine.

"Mush, relax. I haven't gotten to talk to him yet," Katherine answers, "I had to do something else."

"What'd ya do?" Mush and Race ask at the same time. Katherine shakes her head. Jack is the only one who needs to hear her idea right now and no one else really should just yet. She hopes Jack cares enough to listen to her. Most of all, she hopes he will let her explain herself before he decides whether or not he can trust her. Maybe, she can try to persuade him to stay and finish the strike. He really shouldn't run now. The boys need him. Katherine needs him more than anything. She needs to know that he is okay and that the cheeky newsboy is still there underneath all of this stress. She simply answers the boy with

"You'll see. Prepare to be amazed." Race and Mush exchange confused glances as Katherine runs back up to the roof, paper in hand. Once she gets there, she goes straight for the canister full of papers. She wants to see more of this amazing boy's artwork. Unrolling one of the pages, Katherine gasps at what she sees. It's a drawing of a terrible place. There are rats everywhere and three boys piled on one bed. She recognizes some of them as the Newsies that are now here. Unrolling the rest of the pictures, she sees similar images sketched across each page. One is of a small pile of food and a bunch of boys standing around it. Katherine's eyes tear up at the sights that she is seeing. This can only be one place, the Refuge. Katherine can't believe that Jack and some of the other boys had been to such a terrible place. As she gathers the drawings into her arms and prepares to take them to someone who will listen to her, she hears footsteps coming up. Suddenly, the face of the boy who she has been wanting to talk to for what feels like forever is standing right in front of her. She was so happy and yet at the same time, she was terrified. Katherine drops the drawing as soon as she sees Jack's glare.

"That was some speech you gave back there," She remarks, trying to distract him from the fact that she is holding his precious drawings.

"What are ya doing wid dose? Where'd ya find em?" Jack asks angrily.

"Specs showed me where your stuff was," She says innocently. Jack shakes his head and looks at her.

"Oh yea, and did say he you could go through my stuff?"(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) Jacks challenges her. Katherine looks sadly at him. Her heart breaks for this young man who has a harder life than some people ever will. She sighs and looks at him.

"I just saw them sticking out of there and wondered what they were," Katherine answers and she looks at him with worried and sad eyes, "Those are of what it's like in the Refuge, aren't they? Is that really what's it like in there? Multiple boys to a bed, hardly any food, and rats everywhere." The sad and upset look in Jack's eye confirms her suspicions that she is right. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"A little different from where you grew up?" Jack asks even though he already knows the answer.(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) Katherine looks at him and sighs.

"Snyder told my father that you were arrested for stealing food for these boys. This is why, isn't it? You did it to feed those boys," Katherine asks and Jack sighs, "I don't understand. You were willing to go to jail for those boys. How could you turn your back on them now?"(Dialogue by Harvery Fierstein in Newsies) She asks with a voice full of concern. How could he do this and almost pretend like it was nothing? Jack is breaking more than just his boys; he's breaking Katherine too.

"Oh and you are one to talk bout goin behind peoples backs. Ya sold us out to ya faddah. Ya faddah!" Jack yells angrily. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"I never turned my back on you or sold you out. My father has eyes on every street corner of New York. He doesn't need me to be out there to spy and carry out his stupid little schemes. He owns this city. However, I didn't tell you everything," Katherine explains, "but I never lied to you."(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"If you woirn't a goil, you'd be trying to talk wid a fist in your mouth," He growls at her. How could she do this to him? She had to ruin everything for him by being a Pulitzer. Jack wants to see her reply and see how she's going to stand up for herself. Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait long. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"You asked me what my name was and I told you that my byline was Plumber. I told you I worked for the New York Sun and I do. You never asked me for my real name." Katherine reasons with Jack. However, that only makes him even angrier than he already is. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"I wouldn't of thought had to. Didn't know I was dealin wid a backstabbar," Jack yells angrily. This riles Katherine up all the more. How could he say this to her? She never really did anything wrong. Inwardly sighing, she knows that it was nearly impossible to keep someone from getting hurt by tonight's events. She loves Jack and hates that out of everyone that could've gotten hurt tonight, he was the one who got hurt the most. But part of this, he has done to himself. There is nothing Katherine can do now but continue fighting with him. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies)

"Oh! If I were a boy, you would be looking at me through one swollen eye," Katherine yells back just as angry. Jack inwardly smirks. How is she going to hurt him? Oh well, he'd like to give her a chance. Maybe Pulitzer's daughter really can fight. (Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) So he eggs her on,

"Don't let dat stop ya, huh? Give me ya best shot," Jack snarls and he moves closer to her to intimidate her.(Dialogue by Harvey Fierstein in Newsies) He hears her worried gasps. He has her scared. Good. That's what he wants. Jack just wants to go to Santa Fe and wants no one to worry about once he's gone. Katherine punching him will prove that she doesn't care and wants him gone. Little does he know, but she is terrified. Jack getting closer to her terrifies her. She doesn't really want to punch him, she wants to show him that it takes two to fight. Tears are beginning to slip out of her eyes and she is gasping because of her fear. Suddenly, she kisses him.

AN:/ Things are starting to heat up!!!! Did you like the add in scenes? I had fun writing them! I figured Mush is a decent Newsie for Katherine to confide in for the time being. Crutchy isn't there and Davey is stressing out about the strike. I love Jack and Katherine. Her feelings toward him are so interesting to write because they are totally focused one way and then they do a 180. Katherine is so good at sneaking out, but I feel bad that she had to see Jack "abandon" the boys at the rally. Katherine is such a cool person to write about. I also adore the Jack and Katherine ship too. It seems like not a lot of people write Katherine's point of view when it comes to the strike, so I wanted to introduce that to everybody. I love it when they are fighting and then she just kisses him. Kissing can be awkward, but for some reason, it's not that awkward when they do it. I don't know, maybe that's just me. I love including the other Newsies in this! I hope you enjoyed it! Like I said before, I had a blast writing it! Enjoy the story! See you next Friday or Saturday, friends!