Somewhere in Manhattan...

"Are you sure this plan will work boss?" Morris asked.

"Of course it will! When have I ever made a faulty scheme?" Snyder gloated.

"Well, there was that time when you thought you could catch one of those Newsies in a trap with bacon as the bait..." Oscar began.

Snyder glared at him. He stopped and looked away, scared. Snyder went on boasting.

"This plan is fool proof! No one, not even Kelly will see this coming! By weeks end, I'll have them running away faster than rabbits from hunters."

He continued his scheme, making sure every detail was perfect.

At the Burlesk House...

"Medda, are you sure this looks right?" Katherine asked a she walked into view.

Medda's jaw dropped.

Katherine looked amazing in the sleeveless midnight blue dress and tan sandals. Her hair was pulled back and pinned to show off her face. Light pink lipstick was spread across her lips. She looked like a new person.

"Oh honey, you look gorgeous." Medda beamed.

Katherine felt a slight blush creep across her face.

"For the first time, I actually feel beautiful. Being a princess, you're expected to have extravagant dresses on and look your best every day, but I've never really felt like a princess...until now." She smiled.

Medda walked over to the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Sweet girl, always know that true beauty comes from within here." Medda pointed to Katherine's heart.

She wrapped the young girl in a hug before talking again.

"Now, let's go see what Jack's up to."

.....

Jack was wondering around the stage for about 10 minutes before he stopped to look at a backdrop he painted a while back.

It was of rolling green hills and a pink sky. 'A Change of Scene' was what he called it. Because that's what it was. A change from the stinking streets of New York.

Living here had never been easy, so to think about a far off place where dreams come true was a normal occurrence.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he found his paint supplies right where he usually left it, along with an empty canvas, and he got to work. That was one of his favorite ways to pass the time, painting.

The brush flew across the canvas and before long, it was a sky full of stars and just below it, was a grassy hill. He had began working on the outline of someone when he heard Medda call for him.

He quickly put everything away and left the painting out before he rushed over to meet Medda.

Once he got there, his jaw dropped. Katherine was stunning in her new look. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Whoa.... You look....Whoa." Was all he could say.

Katherine smiled and thanked him. Right after their exchange, voices were heard coming towards them.

The group of boys filled in and were astonished by Katherine's appearance and swarmed her with complements. Spot looked confused.

"Kath, what's with the get up? Don't get me wrong, you look great, but isn't that a little much?" He inquired.

Katherine opened her mouth but Medda cut her off.

"Well dear, Jack is going to give Katherine here a tour of New York City. And once does not simply walk about New York for the first time in ripped jeans." She explained.

Spot turned a little red. "Nope. That's not happening unless I go too. I AM NOT letting her go anywhere without me."

"Calm down honey. Katherine is safer with Jack than she would be in a guarded castle."

Katherine and Spot's faces paled slightly thinking the other boys would catch on, but all except Jack, Davey, and Crutchie thought it was just an analogy, not a fact.

"Medda's right, Jack's the strongest of us all." Race chimmed in. The others followed and soon Spot had no choice but to let them go.

As the two walked out the door, Jack told the Newsies to head home before it got dark and to be safe. Then they disappeared into the busy streets.

Jack had never had this much fun walking around the city. They'd stop and Katherine would gawk at the skyscrapers and other buildings.

When they made it to Times Square, she almost got dizzy with how many times she spun around. Jack enjoyed watching her go ecstatic with every new place they saw.

It was getting late in the afternoon and they were getting hungry.

"C'mon, I know a great place." Jack said as they walked quickly down the street, weaving around people. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

"Jacobi's Deli has some of the best food in the city." Jack declared. Katherine simply smiled and followed his lead. They were quickly seated and ordered not long after.

While they waited for their food, Katherine had started playing with her necklace she was wearing as she stared off into space. Jack was staring too, but at her. He was memorizing every detail, every feature of hers. She was mesmerizing.

Katherine became conscious of his eyes on her.

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you staring at?" She repeated.

"Oh nothing." He replied innocently.

"I find that hard to believe." Katherine muttered.

Jack laughed at that. "You're not at all what I expected." He suddenly said.

"What does that mean?" Katherine asked, slightly offended.

"No, no I meant- You're not what I thought a princess would be like. You're kind, caring, funny, beautiful, smart, independent, and just an amazing person." He grinned.

Katherine was now blushing like crazy. Their food arriving save her from having to reply at the moment. They ate and were soon off again.

The sun was getting low in the sky. Jack thought it might be a good time to take her to Central Park.

Katherine had no idea how big the park actually was. But it was beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

They strolled around for a while and admired the nature around them. At one moment, Jack grabbed her arm and twirled around. They danced for a few minutes and Katherine couldn't stop giggling.

It was past sunset when Jack said it was time to head back. He held out his hand for her and she took it gladly.

He began leading the way back to the Lodge House. They had only gotten about a block or two when something stopped them.

Jack was staring down an alley. He thought he saw- But it couldn't have been.

"Jack? What's wrong? Is there something there?" Katherine asked in slight worry.

"Nah. It was probably just a cat." He reassured her.

"A cat for about a minute, but not anymore." An eerie voice said from the dark alley, sending shivers up Katherine's spine.

They turned to see Oscar standing there. He was just barely visible to Katherine, but with Jack's heightened senses he could make out every detail.

"I shoulda known you was there. You smell worse than the trash." Jack jeered at him.

Oscar fisted his hands, but made no move.

"Jack how did he sneak up on us?" Katherine whispered, still clutching his hand.

"Oscar and Morris have powers too. They got 'em from Snyder. But they're nowhere near as powerful as us." He informed her.

"But Jack, it's just us two here. And I don't have powers."

"Good point." He said before looking back at Oscar.

"Sorry Oscar, but looks like I'll take a raincheck on this fight. Maybe next time." Jack said. He and Katherine had started to slowly walk away.

"Not so fast Kelly." A different voice said.

"Why did I not see that comin'?" Jack asked out loud.

Morris stood off to the side, smirk on his face. "Looks like we caught ourselves a pair of Love Birds, Oscar."

"I think you're right Morris. But will they sing for us?"

"Let's find out."

The two of them started after Jack and Katherine as they ran down the streets of New York. The street they were on wasn't busy, which made it easier to run. What they didn't realize was the fact that they were heading back towards Central Park.

Jack was about to lead Katherine down an alley when a blast of something blocked the entryway. It looked like glass, but the mist coming off it meant that it was ice.

"Ice? That's a new one." Jack mumbled. They whirled around to see that they were cornered.

"Give it up Kelly, you got no where to run." Morris said as he and his brother stepped closer to the two.

"I can see that." Jack said nonchalantly. His voice got low enough for only Katherine to hear.

"When I give the word, run."

"What?"

Before she could even process his command, he lunged at the brothers, grabbing one of each of their arms.

"Run!" He shouted.

Katherine waisted no time and sprinted off. She saw the familiar trees and bushes of the park and thought it best to hide out there.

She was only a few yards in when she heard huge footsteps following her. The deeper she went, the darker it got. And the louder the footsteps became.

She zigzagged around trees and avoided low hanging branches. What she failed to dodge was a stone in her path. Her right foot crashed into it and she cried in pain as she fell to the ground.

She tried to pick herself up but it was excruciating to put and weight on her foot. Katherine winced and forced herself to stand. She staggered forward, clinging from tree to tree for support.

A rustling behind her caused her pace to quicken slightly. She did her best to get farther and farther but the noise just got closer and closer.

It wasn't till she felt someone slam into her body was her hope of escape completely gone.

She landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her. As she gasped for air she felt watchful eyes examining her injured form.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing?" A cold and cruel voice spoke. Katherine's eyes focused on the face before her.

It was an older man. He had white hair and a scar that crossed over his left eye and nose. She grimaced at the sight of his face.

Just his icy eyes made chills run up her spine. Though aged and wrinkly, his surprisingly strong hands had a firm grip on her arms as she weakly struggled to get free of his grasp.

"It's a shame that I'll have to put you through such hardships. Seeing you in rough shape should hurt that Kelly and his misfits, but if he saw you in worse shape.... Oh I might finally break that little twerp." He laughed.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a syringe. Before she could react, he jabbed the needle into her arm. She let out a shout.

When he removed the needle, everything started to swirl.

"Wh-Why are you d-doing this?" Katherine managed to spit out, her words slurring a bit.

"Because it's fun." he jeered. Then Katherine blacked out.

(A.N. I'm so cruel, aren't I?

I've been trying to write this chapter for months, and now it finally happened. I just had to. I'm sorry!

I made a reference about a certain Newsies actor, whoever tells me who it was about first, gets a shout out.

I wanted to thank all of y'all for sticking with me. I really love this story. And I wanted to thank LegendaryWolfofMusic and 12YearsInAzkaban.
LegendaryWolfofMusic, thank you for being such and amazing friend and fellow fangirl....please don't kill me for this chapter....
12YearsInAzkaban, thank you for that appreciation post. I love your story and I'm glad you like my comments!!!

This is my longest chapter to date. I hope y'all liked it! Please vote and comment! Love Panda!)