AN: I LOVE CRUTCHIE. I LOVE CRUTCHIE BEING STRONG AND INDEPENDENT. CRUTCHIE IS WONDERFUL.

It took Crutchie a long time to get to the Lodging House, longer than it normally would have. As he walked, he registered just how much pain he was in - his legs felt as though they were fighting against him with every step, trying to give in and collapse underneath him. And his back... Crutchie didn't even want to know what his back looked like, based on the intense burning sensation he felt. He was sore everywhere, and worst of all, he was alone. Jack wasn't with him, because Jack was back in the Refuge by himself.

By the time he'd reached the Lodging House, he was exhausted, but he had to ignore that - he had to figure out what was going on with the strike, and explain where Jack was, which was going to be even more painful, but it had to be done. And he was the one who had to do it.

He reached up to knock on the door, but he'd barely tapped it when the door swung open,  revealing a shocked Finch on the other side. The other boy's face broke into a smile when he saw Crutchie.

"Pulitzer works fast, don't he?"

That didn't make much sense. Puzzled, Crutchie opened his mouth to respond, when Race appeared next to Finch, also grinning.

"Crutchie!" He pulled the boy into a hug, and Crutchie couldn't stop himself from flinching, at which point Race immediately pulled away. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'm fine, Race." Crutchie smiled convincingly. "Are you gonna let me in, or do I just gotta spent the rest of the day standing out here?"

Race still seemed hesitant, but he gestured for him to come in, and when he did, he found himself walking into a room full of newsboys, as well as Katherine, who stood when he came in.

"Thank God, he let you out!" Again, that didn't make much sense to Crutchie. "Where's Jack?"

It was like the entire atmosphere shifted with that question. The boys were quickly realizing that their leader wasn't there, and that was the last question Crutchie wanted to answer, yet it was the one he knew he had to answer. He stared at the floor for a moment, feeling awkward.

"They uh... they didn't let him out."

This brought an uproar upon the Lodging House, all the boys shouting out protests of anger and confusion, until Race had to spread his arms out in order to get their attention.

"Hey! Let him talk, huh?" Crutchie noticed that while Race was trying to play Jack's part of the leader, he too was distressed by this news.

He shrugged. "Don't have that much more to say, really. They let me, Davey, and Les out, but the Spider said that Jack was an escaped convict, so he has to finish out his sentence."

"We're gonna break him out though, right?" Henry was looking at him questioningly, and Race answered that question.

"We's gonna try."

"Just be careful, boys." That was Katherine. "We don't need any more of you getting caught."

Crutchie nodded, looking at Katherine. He wasn't quite sure when she'd gotten so involved with this whole thing, but she was obviously an important asset. The sight of her brought another important matter to his mind.

"So, fellas, how's the strike going?"

This brought another uproar, but this time all the exclamations being shouted at him were good.

"Katherine got us on the front page of The Sun!"

"Spot Conlon came to our rally. Spot Conlon!"

"Katherine's Pulitzer's kid, but she's on our side, don't worry."

"She and Jack kissed on the roof."

"Race was brilliant - "

"Shut up, it was nothing."

"Pulitzer's gonna eat any papes we don't sell, ain't that something?"

Crutchie couldn't help but grin as he put the bits and pieces together in his head. They had won. At least something good had come out of this. It wasn't all for nothing.

They stayed congregated downstairs, telling Crutchie stories, and thankfully not asking Crutchie for any stories about the Refuge.

After a while, once Katherine had left and everything was quieting down, Crutchie's pain was brought back to the forefront of his mind, and he reluctantly pulled Race and Specs aside.

"Listen, I don't wanna make a big deal outta this in front of the boys, but I got busted up pretty bad while we were in there, and I was wondering if you'd mind taking a look at my back.

"Sure, Crutch." Specs nodded, and Race agreed.

"Just let me get the rest of the boys upstairs for bed."

It took a few tries to get them all rounded up and herded upstairs, but finally it was quiet, and the three boys went into the shared bathroom, Crutchie sitting down on the edge of the tub.

"You said it's your back?" Specs asked, and Crutchie nodded, instantly letting out an involuntary cry of pain as Specs lifted his shirt up, the fabric peeling off of his skin. Apparently there was more blood than he'd thought.

Race inhaled sharply. "Shit, Crutchie."

"Well gee, don't sugarcoat it, huh Race?"

The blonde boy ignored him. "How bad did they beat you in there?"

"Pretty bad."

Specs, who had been silent throughout this exchange, frowned. "I'm gonna have to clean it, and it's gonna hurt. We don't have any rubbing alcohol, but regular soap should be fine."

This was a silent order for Race the get him a wash cloth and some soap, and surprisingly, the other boy complied.

"How do you know how to do this anyway?" Crutchie asked Specs, trying to keep his mind off the pain.

"I saw my ma do it for my pa at least a dozen times." That was all the bespectacled boy said. That diversion tactic hadn't work nearly as well as he'd hoped.

Race noticed Crutchie's pain, and so he started talking as Specs began to rub Crutchie's back with the soapy rag.

"Any ideas for getting Jack out?"

Crutchie winced as the water seeped into his wounds. "I know we've gotta get him out. Don't even know where he is right now, though. A few days before we got let out, Snyder took Davey and Jack away someplace else, some other room. Davey's coming over tomorrow, and we'll figure out where he is then."

"You stayed in one room the whole time?"

Crutchie nodded. "Except for when we was getting beaten."

"They... they ever feed you in there?"

"About once a week. Race, I really don't feel like talking about it."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence - though it was more painful for Crutchie, who's wounds were still being cleaned by Specs. After about five more minutes, Specs set aside the rag with a sigh.

"That's the best I can do. We might should call a doctor - "

"With what money?"

Specs glared at Race. "We'd find something."

"I'm fine, really." Crutchie insisted. "Don't need a doctor."

Specs decided to just leave it at that. "Anything else you want looked at?"

Crutchie thought about the throbbing in his ribs, and the constant pain in his bad leg. And he shook his head.

"That's it, thanks. I think I'm gonna head up to the roof, I'm pretty tired."

"Can you get up there okay?"

"Yeah." He could. He would.

Both Race and Specs seemed hesitant to leave him alone, but after much insisting, Crutchie finally convinced them and headed out to the ladder, and after a good twenty minutes of struggling, he made it up to the roof. And it felt wrong.

There were he and Jack's bedrolls, looking unchanged. Jacks drawings were still there, with spare pieces of paper sticking out from underneath the mattress. It felt wrong to be up here when Jack wasn't there. But it felt even worse to go back down and sleep inside. So Crutchie lied down and stared up at the starless sky, feeling completely and utterly terrified.