"Katherine! Rebecca! Elizabeth! Slow down!" A young man called as he ran down the street early in the morning, before many people were up for work. He wouldn't have been up either, if he hadn't promised these girls he would take them out for an early morning walk, as one of them had requested. "I thought you wanted to walk!"

Laughs could be heard from the girls in front of him, and one of them turned her head to glance back at him as they ran. Her green eyes sparkled with amusement, matching the shade of her own gown. "Oh, cheer up Darcy! You knew we wanted to just run around in the mornings and do what we pleased. You knew we weren't planning on just walking."

"Becky, what if your father were to see you running around down these streets with your skirts hiked up like that?" Darcy pointed out, and the three girls immediately froze in their places. "See? I figured you'd think that. Don't worry, I'm alright with what you want to do, but either do it earlier, or not around your homes or fathers' workplaces."

One of the other girls, who looked almost exactly like Rebecca, save for her blue eyes and matching blue frock, spoke up with a sigh. "But we were having fun..."

"I know, Eliza. I'm sorry. How about you at least let me walk you around for a little bit, so we aren't outright lying to your fathers when I take you back home?" Darcy suggested.

The three girls shared a look, silently debating this idea before nodding, almost at the same time. "Alright," the third girl decided, who by process of elimination must have been Katherine.

Darcy, grateful to hear that, nodded and offered his arms to the girls. Katherine took his right one, but Elizabeth and Rebecca shook their heads. Always the considerate one, Elizabeth replied, "We'll walk together, take up less space on the sidewalk that way." With that, the twins took each other's arm, identical expressions of enjoyment on their faces.

"Alright then. Let's go. I promised your fathers that you'd be home by eight to take care of your errands," Darcy replied, and they started their leisurely stroll down the road. The twins were in front, turning their heads back towards the others to keep up a conversation as much as possible.

"What kinds of errands? Did they say?" Rebecca inquired curiously.

"You're going dress shopping," Darcy started, to the groan of young Rebecca, "then maybe a stop at the market. Kath's probably supposed to get to work or something." When he saw Katherine nod and Rebecca's face pale as if she wanted to throw up, he quickly asked, "What? Do you not like dress shopping?"

"I've got plenty of dresses already. I don't need any more," Rebecca declared.

"Well, that's apparently what your life has in store for today. I can't change it, and I don't think you'd be able to convince anyone to change it either, sadly," Darcy told her, laying out the facts of the time.

Rebecca sighed and crossed the street with everyone, shaking her head. Being a woman in 1899 was hard, and she hated the lack of freedom. She wanted to control her own destiny, like how Katherine had been able to get a career of her own. She wanted to be able to make a difference. But it was hard to do that due to the culture around her.

They were in Newsie Square by now, not that the group had really realized it. Their conversation had distracted them from most of their surroundings, until a young boy, maybe a year or two younger at most, popped out of a door in front of the twins. Rebecca and Elizabeth stepped back beside Darcy, creating a little arc of people around this newcomer.

"Well, hello, hello, hello, beautiful," he greeted, a "hello" directed at each of the three ladies. The ladies, however, had to use some strength to keep themselves from rolling their eyes at this kid.

Before any of them could respond, or Darcy could try and lead them away, a different guy came out, wearing a faded blue shirt. He stopped the boy and gently nudged him out of the way. "Whoa, step down, Romeo, nothin' concerns ya here," he told him, then turned his attention to the three girls, and to a much lesser extent Darcy. "Good mornin', ladies. May I interest you in the latest news?" he asked with a small smirk. His tone was fairly flirtatious, but full of sheer confidence.

Rebecca tilted her head in curiosity, hearing this offer. She knew this wasn't right, for one main reason. "But the paper isn't out yet," she pointed out.

The boy smiled at them, again in a flirtatious manner. "I would be delighted to deliver it to you personally," he told them, though his gaze landed on Katherine a bit longer than it had stayed on either of the twins.

That was when Katherine herself stepped forward, letting go of Darcy's arm. "I've got a headline for you," she told him, and the boy looked intrigued. He didn't know what to expect. A smirk of her own formed on Katherine's lips as a precursor to her words. "Cheeky boy gets nothing for his troubles."

Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from laughing hysterically, and Rebecca just grinned over at her friend. Darcy himself was smirking a bit, and he offered his arm to Katherine again before the group of four strolled off down the street again. From behind them, they could hear the gang of newsies making fun of the boy in blue, and Katherine couldn't have been prouder of the words she had spoken.

"Nicely done, Katherine. You put that boy in his place," Rebecca commented, glancing back at the girl, who was clearly proud of her comment.

"He's a skirt-chaser. I'm not going to deal with any boys like that," Katherine declared, though to anybody who had been at that event, that much was obvious.

"Well, you have to admit, he was a bit handsome," Elizabeth mused. "Not my type, I don't think, but still, a little handsome. And he's got a lot of charisma."

"Yes, yes, that's true. But still. How about we just head back home for now? I need to take care of a few things in time for my review tonight," Katherine explained, clearly tired of discussing that cocky boy.

"Review?" This time it was Darcy's turn to question. Had she told him about this earlier?

"Yes, I'm writing a review of a vaudeville show at Irving Hall tonight. I need to make sure that I have my notebook ready, with enough ink for my pen..." Katherine explained, shrugging as she looked off into the sky.

"You just don't want to be on the streets when that boy is selling papers again, don't you?" Elizabeth suddenly hypothesized, surprising everybody at first. But, though Katherine wouldn't admit it, Elizabeth was right. Elizabeth had a way of telling what people were thinking or feeling just by looking at them. She was quite good at reading people.

Katherine didn't respond directly to Eliza's comment. Instead, she just kept walking. "Let's just go. You have some dress shopping to do, don't you?"

"Don't remind me," Rebecca lamented. "I don't want to think about that any more than I have to. When do you think they'll allow women to wear pants without anybody getting upset?"

*****

After the twins went on their excursion to the dressmaker's (which included quite a few whispered comments from Rebecca to Elizabeth about burning each of the new dresses later on), the girls ended up at Katherine's home, where she was preparing for her night at the vaudeville.

"I wish I got to go to the vaudeville. Father doesn't like when we spend our money on trivial things like shows," Elizabeth commented, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she watched Katherine rush around.

"Yet he insists on the dresses. So. Many. Dresses," Rebecca complained, in turn collapsing onto the couch beside her sister in the most dramatic way possible, ending up with her back right up against the back of the couch in a relaxed, but impolite pose that would have gotten her yelled at if they had been in public.

"We get it, Rebecca. You don't like dresses," Elizabeth commented with an unladylike eye roll.

"Amelia Bloomer decided not to continue wearing her revolutionary pants in 1859, but who says that that can't come back now? Maybe I could even wear a pair of pants more similar to a man's cut. Like our fathers wear." Rebecca's green eyes were dreamy as she imagined her social activism-filled future. She hadn't enjoyed studying when she was in school, but now that she had her free time back, she had gone and studied everything she could find about women who had pushed the envelope. "Maybe that's what we can do tonight, while you're at the vaudeville. Elizabeth and I can go find some material and make some men's trousers for me to debut tomorrow morning. Just imagine that."

"Add a hat, and you'd look like a newsie," Katherine commented as she scooped up her notebook from her desk, holding in a small laugh. But, then she saw Rebecca's eyes light up and she shook her head. "Oh, no. Don't you even think about it."

"Why not? You think about it, Katherine. Wouldn't that be a great way to show it off? A girl like me, out in the open in trousers for a whole day. Everybody would have to notice me. They couldn't avoid it. Plus, I could make a little money for some leisure activities while doing it. It's a brilliant idea, you have to admit." Rebecca was on her feet, moving around the room with purpose as she declared her ideas to the world, or at least her small group of friends. Her dark hair was falling out of the bun it had been swept into that morning thanks to her broad, strong actions.

"Good luck explaining all that to Bill. He's taking us all out for our 'walk' tomorrow morning," Elizabeth pointed out, folding her hands in her lap.

"Who cares? Bill will be fine. We could leave even earlier if we wanted to, leave him behind like we almost did to Darcy this morning," Rebecca pointed out, a smirk playing on her lips.

"There's just no stopping you, is there?" Katherine asked with a laugh, crossing her arms slightly as she looked at her friend.

"Not at all. How about we walk with you to the show, and then once you're there, we'll continue on to the store to get the fabric?" Rebecca suggested.

"Fine by me. Let's go. I don't want to be late," Katherine told them, giving her friends a smile before leading them out of the room. They were soon out the door and onto the street, arms linked together with Katherine in the center.

It wasn't too late in the day, to be fair. Most people were just leaving work, strolling down the street on the way back to their families or to their nighttime activities. Some of them were picking up a snack for the walk, while some were taking advantage of their last chance to get the day's paper.

One of the boys selling said papers was on the corner of the street they were walking down, his voice ringing out clearly over the noise of the city. The newsie in question was a young guy, probably around the age of the three girls. His hair was a dirty blonde, and his clothes were old and tattered, like many of the other newsies in the city. The thing that made this one stand out, however, was the crutch under his right arm. He leaned against it, using it for support as he called out some headlines, and a few people were buying some papers from him. He was acting very kind and polite to everybody who came near, charming everybody with his words. He didn't need the crutch to sell papers out of pity, that was clear. His smile was what was attracting people.

However, those headlines that he was calling weren't familiar. Rebecca and Katherine in particular were fairly sure that the headlines that boy was calling weren't correct. Of course, they didn't say anything, not wanting to ruin this poor guy's chances of making a living, or at least attempting to make a living.

When some people had finished purchasing their papers and the boy with the crutch was alone, Elizabeth let go of Katherine's arm and walked over to him. She always had the biggest heart, wanting to help out the less fortunate. Her plan was to become a nurse when she was older, if her father would allow it. "Eliza," Rebecca called to her sister, but Elizabeth was already on the path.

Elizabeth flashed a smile at the young man and fished in her bag for some money. "I'll take one, please," she told him as she managed to find a penny for payment.

"Thanks, miss," the boy responded, pulling a paper out from his little sling bag. The title on the top of it read The New York World. "Looks like yous gettin' the last one I got. Here ya go." He held out the paper with his free hand, holding on tightly to the crutch with the other.

"Thank you very much." She smiled and took the paper, placing his payment into his hand. "Are you right here every day?" she inquired.

"Usually. T'sa good spot to sell at, so," the boy responded, shrugging as he put the coins in his pocket.

"Well, then, I think I'll make sure to take my daily stroll on this road, hmm? You'll be sure to save me a paper?"

"For sure, miss. I'll save ya a pape tomorrah," the boy responded, that bright smile on his face immediately when she spoke.

"Wonderful. I'll see you tomorrow, then, um..." Elizabeth began, then stopped, prompting him for his name.

"Crutchie, miss."

"Ah. Then, I'll see you tomorrow, Crutchie. Thanks for the paper," Elizabeth told him, then turned and returned to her spot with her friends, tucking the paper under her arm alongside the notebook she carried. She walked down the street beside Katherine and Rebecca, ignoring their looks of curiosity as they crossed the street.

"So, would you like to tell us why you went and bought a paper?" Rebecca teased her sister while Katherine elbowed her slightly.

"Crutchie seemed to be a nice young man and I wanted to be nice and buy a paper. Is there something wrong with that? Besides, Katherine, I supported your father, didn't I?" Elizabeth showed the paper to her friend, flashing the name of the paper to her.

"Shh...not in public, Eliza!" Katherine hissed at her friend, whose countenance instantly turned sheepish. "Oh, now you're making me feel bad. Sorry. But still. Let's just get to the theater, alright?"

And with that, the three girls were back on their way, not stopping until they reached the theater.

*****

A/N

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new Newsies story! I felt inspired to write it after the live movie came out, and I decided to wait until I had quite a few chapters ready before posting, since I normally don't do that. I wanted to make sure I could actually update this on a timely basis, something that was pretty abnormal for me until recently.

The story is going to take place during and after the strike, with both scenes that are familiar and scenes that I wish had happened, and the twins will be woven into the storyline that way. Then, once the strike's over, I assure you that there will be much more going on after that.

I wrote this mainly to be based on the stage musical, not the movie, although I did take some inspiration from the 1992 movie for some upcoming scenes. There are a few portions where I did take some direct dialogue from the show / movie to make it more realistic. Those lines belong to their respective writers, and the characters of course belong to their creators, whether based in the original movie or the Broadway show.

Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this. I really enjoyed writing it. It got to the point where some of my friends likely got annoyed with me due to how much I talked about this story. Oops. If you're one of them reading this, sorry. At least you now know I created something out of that!

Anyway, please vote, comment, and follow. I love feedback, and I'd love to get to know some fellow Newsies fans! Keep carrying the banner!