AN: So I actually really love this chapter and there's not too much angst, so that's fun.

The next morning, Jack woke up to Crutchie shaking him awake, and he had no idea what time it was, but he knew it was too early, even for him. He forced his eyes open.

"Someone have a nightmare?" This was the first thing he said, and was the only reason in his mind for why he was awake this early. But Crutchie shook his head.

"No, everyone's fine."

"Leave me alone then."

"Jack, you gotta get up."

His only response was an unintelligible mumble as he tried to close his eyes again. Fortunately, if anyone knew how hard it was to get Jack up in the morning, it was Crutchie. He shook him again, harder, and Jack opened his eyes to glare at his brother.

"If you don't give me a good reason for me being awake right now, I'll shove you off the roof."

Crutchie rolled his eyes. He knew Jack didn't mean a word of that. "Mr. Pulitzer's here."

That got his attention. He quickly sat up. "What's he doing here?"

"Says you got a train to catch."

"That ain't til six."

"Said he wants to get there early."

Jack stared at the other boy for a moment. "What time is it, Crutchie?"

He shrugged. "The morning bell ain't supposed to ring for another hour or so, seems like."

The morning bell rung at 5:00 every morning.

Jack groaned and Crutchie just grinned at his frustration. "If Pulitzer already doesn't like me when I'm well rested, he ain't gonna be too happy to be around me now."

Jack hastily dressed, not wanting to anger Pulitzer by making him wait any longer, and just as he was about to head downstairs, Crutchie reminded him, "Remember, don't come back without Katherine."

Jack nodded. "Got it."

And with a newfound motivation at the reminder of why he was doing this, he decided that if it would be things easier, not only would he be tolerable around Pulitzer, he was going to be downright pleasant.

oOo

Katherine's entire body ached. She honestly hadn't expected Mary to be as violent as The Man was, but in a way she was worse, in that Mary didn't leave her alone for the better part of four hours, and the violence was not only physical, but mental. 

She supposed that's what she got for underestimating what a woman could do.

It seemed like she was trying to break Katherine, so that by the end of it, she could obtain not only the money, but the satisfaction of knowing that she'd ruined the daughter of Joseph Pulitzer.

And Katherine was trying her best to fight back.

But it felt like she was failing.

oOo

About ten minutes into the train ride, Jack was beginning to realize how uncomfortable a three and a half hour to Albany with Joseph Pulitzer was going to be. He'd never even been on a train before in his life, much less a private train compartment, and for all he knew there were rules you were supposed to follow while you were riding the train, and he obviously didn't know any of them.

So, not knowing what he was supposed to do, he stared out the window and tapped his fingers on his knee, until Pulitzer finally got annoyed enough to say something.

"Would you stop that?"

"What?"

"You know what, that incessant tapping."

Jack didn't know what the word 'incessant' meant, but he knew it wasn't a compliment, and while he knew he was supposed to be trying to be nice, he didn't appreciate that.

"Well, what else am I s'posed to do?"

Pulitzer sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back." And he walked away. Jack watched him for a minute before shrugging, assuming he just got tired of him.

So he was surprised when, a few minutes later, he returned, holding out a pencil and sketchpad. Jack gave him an odd look.

"What - "

"Something else to do."

"...Thanks."

Jack hesitantly took the pad and pencil. It wasn't like Pulitzer to do something like this, but drawing would certainly be better than sitting in uncomfortable silence for the remainder of the trip.

Pulitzer sat back down as Jack began to draw, the only thing he could draw at a time like this - Katherine.

He became so immersed in her, even if it was only a drawing created by himself, that he almost forgot where he was, and what he was doing.

Which was why he practically jumped out of his skin when Pulitzer started talking to him.

"Is that Katherine?"

"What - oh. Yeah, that's her."

"It's good. Looks very much like her."

"Yeah, uh, I mean, thanks." 

This conversation throwing Jack off guard. He didn't know what Pulitzer's objective was, and he half expected the man to start yelling at him about something. He watched him cautiously.

"You care about her."

He didn't know if that was a statement or a question, but he nodded anyway. "I'd say I more than just care about her."

Mr. Pulitzer looked at him in silence, and Jack shifted uncomfortably, resisting the urge to look away.

"Mr. Kelly, do you love my daughter?"

Jack froze. This was a trick question. It must be. If he said yes, Pulitzer would get angry and start telling him that he wasn't good enough for Katherine, and if he said no, he'd get angry for not fully appreciating her. He paused, weighing his options, and as he did, Pulitzer rolled his eyes.

"Well? Calm down, I'm not going to get mad at you if you respond one way or another."

He wasn't sure he believed that, but he answered anyway. "I love her. More than anything."

"Good." Pulitzer nodded. "So do I."

Jack, not knowing how to respond to that, simply nodded, though secretly he was pleasantly surprised by that. He didn't think he'd ever heard the man say something like that about Katherine before. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Jack was about to return to his drawing when Pulitzer said something that surprised the both of them.

"You're good for her, Jack."

The boy stared at him in shock. He'd never called him by his first name before. 

"What does that - "

"It means, you're good for her."

They both understood what wasn't being spoken.

Joseph Pulitzer approved of Jack Kelly.