Chapter 9

Davey had a nice day the day before. But now, now he needed Jack. He had a plan, an idea more like it, and he needed Jack's charisma to pull it off. Also a hug would be nice but that was beside the point. The point was, Manhattan was huge and he didn't even know where to start. Or know his way around. Standing in front of his apartment building, he thought about everywhere the boys had ever mentioned, from Jacobi's to Grand Central Station. So many places. And only one Davey.

"Well, are you gonna just stand there Dave or are you gonna look?"

Davey turned to see Sarah standing only a few feet away. Davey didn't know when Sarah had got there, but he really would've loved to know.

"Yeah, I'm going to look."

He just needed to figure out where. Maybe the penthouse, as Jack had called it...? But he wouldn't expect him to be there. Not with Crutchie gone. Oh, hell, he didn't know. Maybe he could ask around?

Yeah... because that's so easy...

"Really? Because it looks like a love struck idiot is just standing around."

Davey rolled his eyes. If she was going to be like this, she may as well just come along. Maybe he could get Katherine to help him too!

"Sarah, if you're just going to insult me," He said, hinting at sarcasm.

"Shut up David. Do you want my help though?"

Help would admittedly be wonderful. It would be so much easier to search the large state when he had help.

"Yeah, it'd be nice." He didn't want to sound as cold as he did but... Davey was so worried about Jack. Would Jack really take off and leave the rest of the boys behind?

Leave...him behind...?

He didn't know. He didn't know if he wanted to find out even. Sarah nodded and pulled his arm.

"Let's go."

And off they went, the first stop was the boarding house for the other kids. He wanted to see if Jack had come, well, maybe not home but back last night. When he arrived he found Race and Tommy-Boy outside, playing Race's favorite game, 'how many times can I trick this kid into giving me money for a card trick?'

Davey knew it would probably be a hopeless try but hey, it was something, right...? One of them might've known something and if they didn't, well...

"Hey, Race, Tommy. Do you guys know if Jack came back here last night?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as he possibly could when he was internally so worried about Jack.

Race snickered. "No, Jackie didn't show up here last night. We figured he went to your place after the cops stopped lookin'."

Tommy looked confused, but Davey was blushing so hard he may as well have been a tomato. Had, had Race heard? And why was he so casual about it? Sarah snickered.

"No, we wouldn't be here if he hadn't would we?" Davey defended, or rather, spat. He wasn't really mad, more embarrassed.

"Davey, be nice!" Sarah scolded. "Sorry, he's usually nicer."

"We know, we works with 'em," Race said, a little weirded out by Davey's sudden change in manner.

Davey took a deep breath in order to calm himself down before anything else happened here. He just... He didn't understand. Did Race know? If so, how? Had he seen? It was possible...

Ugh-!

Snap out of it, Jacobs. Focus. You came here for a reason.

Davey put his hands into his pockets and gave a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm just... worried is all. Between the strike and Crutchie and Jack disappearing, I just... yeah. We're just tryina' find him before we do anything else against Pulitzer."

Race nodded. "Ay, maybe he went to see if Spot was ready to join?"

Davey thought it over. No, he didn't want to return to Brooklyn, maybe ever. But if Jack was there, and he hurried, he could catch him.

"Thanks Race. If Jack comes by, tell him I'm looking for him." With that, he and Sarah left for Brooklyn. He was walking a little faster than normal, to keep up with his sister. They didn't talk, and the silence allowed Davey to think. As they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, Davey remembered the slip of paper Sarah had dropped a few nights ago.

Davey furrowed his eyebrows and stuck his hands into his pockets. He didn't know whether or not he should ask Sarah about it, but he decided to keep quiet. At least, for the moment.

There were so many things to worry about right now between the strike and Jack, and the other boys and his brother, and the slip of paper... not to mention that they were going to need a miracle to make this strike work. He was fully aware of that...

No, he might just have to ask...

"Hey, Sarah...? You dropped a slip of paper the other night..." What was he even supposed to ask...?

Sarah stoped dead in her tracks.

"What?" He voice sounded far away, distant. "What did it say?"

Davey stopped too, regretting bringing it up. "Uh, it was just a newspaper clipping about Katherine Plumber."

Sarah blushed and looked at her feet. "Don't worry bout it Davey, it's nothing." And still, it didn't feel like nothing, because even as they continued to walk, Sarah wouldn't look him in the eye. She was fidgety and distracted, and Davey had had enough. He wanted to know why a piece of paper was reducing his sister to a blushing mess.

Davey has a feeling that though it wasn't nothing, he knew what it was. He didn't want to assume though, and he certainly didn't want his sister to feel like she couldn't tell him! So Davey stopped in his tracks and reached out to take a gentle hold on Sarah's arm.

"Sarah... you can talk to me," he replied. Especially if his suspicions were right. Who better to talk to about something like this than someone in the situation? Not the same situation of course but similar.

Unless he was horribly wrong, which was also an option and also usually the case.

Sarah yanked her arm away. "It. Is. Nothing. Leave it alone."

No, it was definitely something. She was being too defensive and too secretive. He grabbed her arm again, this time, pulling himself to her and hugging her tightly. Something was bugging her. So he wouldn't press the matter. But he would support her even if he didn't know. She hugged back and smiled.

"I'm ok Davey. Don't you worry about me," Sarah said, a little less on edge. Davey smiled back and they marched on. At the end of the bridge, they found a short, red shirt wearing kid leaning up against the metal.

"Ah, Spot." Davey held out his hand in a greeting.

The concern over his sister faded to the back of his mind when Davey reached Spot. Spot Conlon was short, but he was still so much more intimidating than Davey himself. But Davey wasn't the slightest bit scared.

Not when they were banded together over this whole strike ideal, and not when he was incredibly worried about Jack.

"Davey," Spot greeted and stood taller because Davey was taller. Not that it was a big deal when this was his turf, but it was okay

Davey nodded in respect. "So, you seen Jack today?"

Spot shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen 'im," He paused to think, "But have you checked Jacobi's yet? I remember that being your hang."

Sarah slapped her forehead and Davey started laughing. How had he not thought of that? Of course.

"Thank you. Are you all in?" Davey asked, maybe a little hopeful, maybe a little desperate. Spot nodded. He had heard of the rally in the square and he knew Jack was all in now. Well, knew whoever this kid was was all in.

Davey smiled at that. If they had Brooklyn, they had it in the bag. And clearly, they had Brooklyn. Oh, this was big. Maybe they had a chance after all. If all of the Newsies ever just came together... and it was happening.

"Glad to have you with us," Davey said with a smile. "And once again, thank you." He looked over to Sarah and gestured for them to go.

Jacobi's deli. Oh, he really hoped that Jack would be there, even if part of him doubted it.

Bursting through the doors, Davey only could nod when he saw Mr. Jacobi setting up for lunch guests. "Morning Mister," was all Davey could muster. That was, until he saw a familiar brunette in the corner, working. Katherine! He looked over to his sister and snickered. Sarah had seen her, and was now slowly backing away. Davey grabbed her arm.

"Hey Katherine! What's the King of New York doing here?" Davey smiled innocently at Sarah, who stomped on his foot.

"Oh hey Davey, I was just doing-" Katherine stopped as she turned around. "SARAH FRICKIN JACOBS!"

Davey cackled. Sure, Kat hadn't meant it like that. But still, seeing his sister look even redder than he had earlier was funny.

"Hey... Kat... Hi," Sarah squeaked. "It's been a long-"

"A long freaking time with out my best freaking friend!" And Davey heard his sister's heart hit the floor.

Davey really felt for his sister as he realized exactly what was happening. Sarah liked Katherine, his suspicions were right. But it seemed Katherine only thought of her as a friend...

Or did she...just not know about Sarah...?

Davey didn't know. And though he wanted to just hug his sister and open about the situation, he couldn't. He came here for Jack.

"Hey, Katherine, sorry to bother you but has Jack been in here?" He asked.

Katherine shook her head. Ok, now Davey was worried he actually did skip town. Sure, Jack had talked about it. Endlessly. Everyday. And every other sentence Jack said was about Santa Fe. But Davey didn't think he actually would go! Suddenly, the dusty, dirty floor of the restaurant seemed a nice place to be, because the floor wouldn't go and leave Davey all alone to lead a group of boys he met maybe five days ago. The floor wouldn't kiss Davey then ignore him for two days and make him worry. The floor wouldn't make his heart ache like this. The floor wouldn't make him cry.

"Davey? Davey hey!" Sarah's voice broke his self pity. "Hey it's ok. Even if he did leave, you learned something about yourself, something valuable. But you can't sit here on the floor and cry all day, you have a job to do. So you have to forget about him. If we can't find him by the end of the day, it's your strike."

Katherine stood up and walked over to Sarah, cautiously putting a hand on her shoulder. "Your sister's right Davey. I just got fired for writing that article, but I know I can't give up. Neither can you."

Davey's head felt like it was being ripped apart, because holy hell it hurt. And none of this was helping. None of this...

If they didn't find Jack, it was his strike... yeah because that made everything so much better!

...he couldn't do it... not alone. When he had Jack to help lead, it was no problem. Because Jack fed him with the energy and motivation he needed. But... Jack was gone now. Right...? He was really gone. He had ditched and left Davey to run this whole thing on his own...

Yeah...

"I..." Could he really keep this going...?

After a moment, Davey came to a realization. He wiped his eyes and looked up at the two. The words came out before he could even stop them. "You know what...? Yeah. I can do this. Because... because if jack doesn't need me, then I don't need him!"

Davey didn't know if he truly believed what he said, but he knew he had to do this. Had to fight and had to win. Even if Jack wasn't there, even if he was. A small squeak came from the corner of the room as Davey stood up.

"Uh, hello?" Davey questioned, because he was pretty sure he hadn't made that noise.

"This is not Les. Go away."

At that, Sarah marched over and grabbed her brother's arm. "Les Jacobs, what the actual hell?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I wanted to find Jack... then this girl came up to me and asked me if I was busy later and if I wanted to see her. What does that mean?"

Davey, Katherine and Sarah lost their minds. Les had been asked out. They weren't sure what to make of it. Davey was more than likely going to regret this later but he didn't exactly have time to sit around with Les and explain to him that hey, a girl asked to hang out and it doesn't make it a date or mean she's interested more than a kid should be.

"It means you've got a date."

Yeah, he'd definitely regret it. But right now, he didn't care because it just crossed his mind that there was one place they didn't check yet.

One place where he knew Jack was welcome, where they had ran from Snyder the first night of their meeting.

The theatre.

Davey turned abruptly and sprinted out the door.

"Woah!"

"Hey Davey wait!"

"DAVEY I CAN'T RUN THAT FAST."

But he was gone. Behind him heard the clacking of Katherine and Sarah's boots and the thunking of Les's shoes. They were moving nearly as fast as him, but he didn't slow down. Medda's Theater! If Jack wasn't there, he didn't know where else. How had he not gone there first?

Davey wouldn't slow down for anyone, because if Jack was there and he missed him, he might just be so angry at himself that... that... well, he didn't know yet.

The boy ran up to the theatre doors, using the ones Jack had taken him through during their escape, and threw them open.

Please, please...

Sarah, Les and Katherine followed, though they had no idea what exactly was going to happen.

Hello All, it's Emma! Yes that's right, I'm actually alive! My lovely co-author and I are finally back at it! Feedback and comments in general are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading Angels!