Rebecca had convinced Darcy to return the chalk to the distribution center after they finished writing, allowing Rebecca to quickly run off and ditch her friend. Part of her regretted doing that to him. Darcy was a nice guy, someone she trusted, but she didn't need to be around anybody. Not right now.

Her wish to be alone just wasn't going to be granted, though, not without getting on a ship or a train to get away. She had been spotted as she turned the corner, and before she could try and run in the other direction, a young voice called out to her.

"Beck! It's you! What are you doing?" Les Jacobs was waving to her outside of Jacobi's Deli, with Katherine at his side.

An unladylike word escaped Rebecca's lips very quietly so nobody could hear. She knew she couldn't run away that easily now. She flashed a smile and waved at them. "Oh, I was just getting some fresh air, that's all," she replied as the two made their way over to her. Katherine walked, while Les ran.

Katherine looked at her friend with a look of doubt in her eyes. "Rebecca," she started, "are you sure about that?"

Rebecca bit her tongue to keep herself from snapping at her friend as she replied, "I'm fine, Katherine. Don't worry about me."

Les was completely oblivious to any problems that Rebecca was dealing with. After all, he was only nine. So, he just smiled up at Rebecca and commented, "That's good. That means you can come with us to find Jack."

Rebecca's green eyes lit up as her eyes met Katherine's, immediately about to make a comment about the search for Jack Kelly, but she was quickly shut down by a glare from the other girl. So, she spoke with a different idea in mind. "Looking for Jack, huh? Well, then, let's get started on looking for him. Do you have any ideas?"

Les beamed, standing up tall and proud. "As a matter of fact, I do," he replied confidently. "Just follow me, and we'll find Jack. I just know it."

Before either of the girls could respond, Les was running down the street. The girls knew they had to follow, and with a shared glance and a sigh, they were dashing behind him through the streets of New York.

*****

They found themselves in front of Irving Hall, the place where Medda Larkin performed her vaudeville shows. Rebecca had never been inside before, due to it being forbidden by her father, but she had an idea of why this place might be where Jack was. After all, this was where Katherine did her review, and she met Jack there that night, so it was a place that they knew the boy frequented. It was definitely worth a shot, right?

They entered the theater together, Les moving quickly as if he had a place to go after this. As soon as they entered, they ran straight into Medda herself, who recognized Katherine and Les pretty easily. "Miss Plumber? Les? What can I do for you?" she asked them. Then, her eyes landed on Rebecca. "And who are you?"

Rebecca flashed a smile. "My name's Rebecca. I'm a friend of Les and Katherine's. We're looking for Jack Kelly. Is he here?" she asked politely, covering all the necessary bases.

"Nice to meet you, Rebecca. Call me Medda. Jack's working on a backdrop for me backstage. You can find him there with...your older brother, right?" Medda gestured to Les, asking him for confirmation. When she received it, she continued, "You'll find him back there."

"Thank you," the three young people chorused, and without another word, they made their way backstage, where they found Davey trying to talk Jack back into joining the cause.

Les was clearly proud that he had been right, and he gestured to Jack with a grin as he looked back at the girls. "There he is, just like I said!" he cheered.

A look of annoyance immediately surfaced on Jack's face when he spotted the three newcomers. He ran a hand through his dark hair before he commented, "For cryin' out loud, what does a fella gotta do to get away from you people?"

Davey, on the other hand, looked relieved due to their arrival. He patted Jack on his back as he added, "Ah, there's no escaping us, pal. We're inevitable."

Rebecca's eyes landed on the backdrop that Jack had been working on, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Didn't know you were an artist, Kelly," she mused.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Hughes," he replied coldly, not really looking over at the newcomers. It looked like he had talked to the newsies that Elizabeth had introduced herself to, though, since he knew their faux last name.

While the two of them had been interacting, Les had gone over to his brother and asked him about the theater. Apparently, Les had found himself a girl, and he wanted to bring her to the theater for the date. Davey had been surprised, for obvious reasons. His little brother had a girl? He was nine! But, Les was adamant, dropping the name of the girl and talking about how fame had brought them together.

If this was him at nine, imagine how lucky in love he'd be when he was older.

Jack heard this and shook his head in surprise, then looked over at Katherine. "Word is you wrote a great story," he stated, changing the subject from the nine-year-old's love life.

Katherine nodded, but what came out of her mouth had nothing to do with that comment. Instead, she commented, "You look like hell."

Rebecca walked over to the painting, which was pretty incredible. "Hey, Jack," she called, taking the attention away from Katherine's comment. "Where's that supposed to be?"

A dreamy, far-off look immediately surfaced on Jack's tired face. Anybody who knew him pretty well would understand exactly what it was supposed to be before the statement left his lips. "It's Santa Fe."

Clearly, this response was a little annoying for Katherine. She was more than a little tired of hearing about his dreams of going west. She opened her mouth to speak, to add her two cents to the mix, but when Rebecca gave her a look, she changed her tune. "Well," she started, "it looks lovely."

Jack's eyes met hers and he let a small smile form on his lips. "Thanks," was all he said.

However, Les Jacobs didn't seem to want to have a discussion on the merits of the art. He shook his head and looked around at the other people in the small crowd. "Can we table the palaver and get us back to business?" he inquired.

Rebecca smiled at the boy and commented, "Big word from a small guy. Nicely done."

Les beamed at the praise, a grin spreading from ear to ear on his young face. "Thank you. But still. Will Medda let us have the theater?"

Rebecca's eyes met Katherine's, full of confusion. She had no idea why the theater was needed, but at least Davey knew what was going on. He supplied the answer to the unspoken question. "It's what I've been trying to tell ya," he started, looking over at Jack. "We want to hold a rally! A city-wide meeting, where every newsie gets a say and a vote. And, we do it after workin' hours, so no one loses a day's pay. Smart?"

Jack was unamused. "Yeah, smart enough to get you committed to a padded room."

"You paint places you've never seen. They're pretty, but they're still places you've never seen. So, you're calling this idea crazy?" Rebecca pointed out. She was hearing this plan for the first time, like Jack, but to her, this sounded like a brilliant idea. Why not give it a try? "Come on, Jack. Do you have a better idea?"

Jack looked her in the eyes, crossing his arms. "They won, Rebecca. We stand up again, kids are gonna get hurt, or arrested, or worse. Ain't no way I am puttin' them kids back in danger."

Davey was amazed by the way that Jack had just given up. The Jack he had known before the strike, or at the beginning, wouldn't have given up like this. Granted, he only knew Jack for a day before the strike, but still. "We're doing something that's never been done before!" he exclaimed, his confusion evident in his eyes. "How can that not be dangerous?"

Jack had a response that was hard for him to explain. He sighed before he began, "Specs brought me a note from Crutchie at the Refuge." Then, his eyes landed on Rebecca. "I have one from your sister too," he told her and pressed a piece of paper into her hand. "Specs thought I'd see you first, so here."

Rebecca quietly thanked him and opened the paper up, starting to read the words. Her sister, even when in potential trauma, had impeccable penmanship, unsurprisingly. Her green eyes scanned the words from her sister, with tears forming in her eyes.

Dear Rebecca,

How are you? I'm okay. There's so much I wish I could say. It all happened in such a rush. I really wish I could see you today. This place, it's not great. I can't remember the last time I ate. But, at least I've been here to help get the boys back to a better state.

I miss the freedom. Running down streets in the morning, with you and Katherine by my side, only our whims and feelings acting as our guide...

Anyway, did you hear? Crutchie and I, we're gonna disappear. We'll tie sheets to a bed, toss one end out a window, climb down and then be out of here. Although, not tonight. We're both tired, and his leg's still not right. But, don't worry, we're coming soon, and afterwards, I want to be part of the fight, like everyone else. Getting what's fair for the others, working for the rights that may be even only one more day away...

I'll be fine, just you see. But could you make a promise to me? We know what our father would say about what we've helped to do. Don't let him make you give up on this new world too. Love you.

Your friend,

Your better half,

Your sister,

Elizabeth

The first two closing pieces were crossed out, leaving just "Your sister" as the final draft. But, as she finished the words, the paper started to get dotted with tears. Rebecca quickly folded the note up and wiped her eyes, not wanting to get it any more wet. But, at least she had learned something. To her, it seemed like Elizabeth was okay there, and had potentially chosen to go after all. That was a new piece of information. Katherine noticed how she was, and she rested a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, but it didn't help all that much in the end.

Jack continued to speak for his original point. "I tried to see Crutchie after I got the note. Went around back and climbed the fire escape. They busted him up so bad, he couldn't even come to the window. Now what if we don't make it? Are you willin' to shoulder that for half a penny a pape?"

"It's not about the pennies," Davey started, clearly getting a little more annoyed with each exchange he had with Jack about this. "You said it yourself. My family wouldn't be in the mess we're in if my father had had a union. This is a fight we have to win!"

Jack looked between the two of them. "If I wanted a sermon, I would have shown up for church."

Davey looked his friend straight in the eyes, and then stated, "Tell me how quitting does Crutchie and Elizabeth any good." When Jack didn't have a decent response, Davey grinned. "Exactly."

With that, Rebecca grinned and tapped on Katherine's shoulder. "You keep talking to Jack with these guys. I'm gonna go talk to Miss Medda about the rally," she informed her, and then snuck out of the room and into the lobby while Davey continued to work on convincing Jack to rejoin the cause.

She found Medda standing in the lobby, having a conversation with a member of the theater staff. Rebecca didn't have to wait long to be able to have her conversation with Medda, because as soon as Medda saw her, she stopped talking to the man and beckoned her over to speak. "Rebecca, right? What can I do for you?"

Rebecca walked over and smoothed out her dress before explaining, "Well, Miss Medda, you've probably heard about the strike by now from the papers and Jack. The group of us want to hold a rally for all the newsies in New York, but we need a place to hold it. Would you be willing to let us hold the rally here?" For some reason, she felt nervous about it, but she didn't know why. This woman seemed to be nice, and though Rebecca didn't know it, Medda would do anything for Jack. How could she say no?

Medda didn't even hesitate. "Of course you can! Why not?" she asked in response, offering a smile.

A smile formed on Rebecca's face as well. "Thank you so much. That'll be fantastic. How about tomorrow night? Does that work for you?"

Medda nodded. "That should work. We'll have the place cleared out for you then."

Relieved, Rebecca gratefully thanked the woman, secretly glad that she didn't have to use the tactic she had planned on. "Thanks. Do you mind letting them all know what we talked about? I need to run and do something," she explained.

As soon as Medda nodded in agreement, Rebecca thanked her again and sprinted out the door as fast as she possibly could. She moved rapidly down the street, back towards the Refuge. If Jack had gotten to see Crutchie using the back fire escape, then damn it, she was going to see her sister, whether it was daylight or not. She sprinted, rounding every corner and barely managing not to knock over a lot of different people in the street. She almost felt bad, but Elizabeth was more important to her than that.

As soon as she was in front of the building, she skirted around to the alley and snuck down there, passing by her chalk message on the brick wall beside her. She found the fire escape waiting there on the wall, with the ladder dangling from the second story as if it had just been used. "Thank you, Jack Kelly," Rebecca mumbled, then reached for the bar. With a little bit of a struggle, she pulled herself up onto the fire escape with a racket. She immediately stood still and waited for the metal bars to stop ringing before she walked to the window. After glancing through it to make sure the coast was clear, she tapped on the glass to get the attention of someone, anyone inside.

A young boy noticed her first, and apparently he was a pretty smart young man. He disappeared, then returned with none other than her twin, and Rebecca sighed in relief at the sight of her. At least she didn't look injured.

Elizabeth was waving through the window at her sister as she walked over, and when she finally reached her, she rested an arm on the windowsill and said four simple words, solidifying Rebecca's feeling of relief. "I liked your note."

*****

A/N

Hey everyone! Hope you liked the chapter. That letter from Elizabeth was probably one of the first things I wrote for this story when I was planning it out. I think I wrote it in the back of my chemistry class when we had some free time. It's gone through some revisions, and it'll probably go through more once I go back and edit this story a bit more when it's finished.

But that's really not what I want to talk about. So, I was looking through some stuff as I was cleaning my house this weekend, and I found an old program from a show at one of my city's local professional theaters. It was the Little House on the Prairie tour, and, well...

That's Kara. Freaking. Lindsay. Oh my Chuck. I have no words right now to describe the fact that I know I saw Kara once. Whoa.

And there's Steve Blanchard, aka Pulitzer in the Newsies Movie, so apparently he's plates her father twice. And that's Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the original TV show.

And apparently I saw Kara's now-husband play her husband in this too, so now I'm slightly crying because I remember the chemistry being so real on stage.

Oh, and enjoy this, Heathers: The Musical fans (such as myself), it's the original J.D.

But I'm now crying harder because I found this in the back of the book:

I MET HER WHEN I WAS EIGHT AND HAD NO IDEA I WAS MEETING THE ACTRESS I WOULD IDOLIZE ONE DAY.

Anyway, that's the end of my fangirl moment for this week. Who knows what will happen next week, to be honest. Please vote, comment, and follow. Let me know what you think! See you next week, when I'll hopefully have recovered from this!