1For those of you reading the Modern AU I have a lot of work to do on that story but I have lots of other stories already written so I'll just post those.
James Gibson lived in a fancy house, with two loving parents. He went to school, played with his friends, and did his homework. When he would walk to school, he would pass the gates to the World. Outside, there were always Newsies. They all seemed really happy, he would walk past their square and listen to the fading of their voices as he got farther away. One day James was walking home from school when he stopped to see two boys walking. One was in a blue shirt and had really dark hair. A short boy with blond hair and a crutch walked next to him. They walked into the square talking, just talking. Enjoying each other's company, James kept walking toward his house. Soon he was at home and stopped in front of his house. His books dropped to the ground. The shadow of his house stood in front of him, it's ashy shadow loomed in the New York sun. He looked at the smoldering remains that seemed to blanket the world in quiet. James walked toward the house, and stepped into the ashy remains,
"Mom… Dad?" James yelled into the silence. No one responded, he sank to his knees.
"No, no, no…" he whispered. He put his hands down in the ash breathing heavily, tears started to drip from his face. He tried to wipe them off leaving streaks of tears and ash across his face. James stood up and looked around, he walked out of the front of the house. He walked away, tears still falling from his face. He walked to the only other place that was familiar. He walked to Newsies Square, he looked around the empty square. He sat down against the wall and pulled his knees in toward his chest. He looked up toward the sky, he connected the stars in constellations. Which only hurt more, his father used to teach him about the stars. James stared down at the cobblestones, he looked for shapes like he looked for shapes in the clouds. He saw a turtle and a star. He traced out his name in the dirt, then he laid down on the hard ground and went to sleep. He woke up in the morning to someone tapping him, he looked up to see the boy with the blue shirt was standing over him.
"Hey kid, you ok?"
"I guess."
"What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" the dark-haired boy offered a hand to him,
"Come on kid follow me." James stood up and follow after the boy. The boy led him to a fire escape, and told him to climb up, James obliged and climbed up. The boy followed after him, James poked his head through the opening to see the blond haired boy working on something. James climbed in and the boy followed after,
"Come here, kid." James followed the boy over to a bed made out of newspaper. He dug through the bed and pulled out an old ripped shirt. He grabbed a cup and dumped the water on top of the shirt, and then started to rub James's face.
"Who is this, Jack?" James turned around to see the blond haired boy looking over to the boy named Jack.
"I actually don't know. Crutchie," Jack looked over to James,
"What's your name kid?"
"James Gibson."
"How old are you?"
"Five."
"Where did you come from?"
"My house. It burned down." Jack looked over to Crutchie, he looked back to James.
"I'm sorry kid." Jack looked down at the ground thinking,
"I've got an idea. Do you want to be a newsie?" James nodded. Jack smiled,
"You ready, Crutchie?" Jack looked around to see Crutchie already climbing down the ladder,
"I'll take that as a yes," muttered Jack. James began climbing down the ladder and met up with Crutchie. The three of them walked to the square, and before walking into the noise Jack looked down at James,
"Are you ready?" James grabbed Jack's hand,
"Ready." He whispered Jack led him into the square and the noise. There were Newsies everywhere, boys running around and there was a girl zipping around in a wheelchair. James gripped Jack's hand tighter,
"You're gonna be ok." James looked up and nodded. Jack led him through the crowd, to a wagon with papers on them. A big man came out and yelled over the commotion of the Newsies. All of the boys clamored into line, Jack led him to the front of the line.
"Ok, so every day you'll come here and buy your papes. You'll put your money down and tell them how many papes you want." Jack put down some money and asked for 150 papers. Jack then handed James a bag and led him to the front of the square. Jack handed fifty papers to James.
"Now we go sell." Crutchie met up with them before they walked down the street. Jack stopped in front of a building,
"Ok, there's a lot of foot traffic here. Now what you're gonna do, when someone walks by, go stand in front of them. When you do that say buy a pape from a poor orphan boy? Then you'll cough like you're sick. Go ahead and try kid." James put on a sad face and said
"Buy a pape from a poor orphan boy?" He coughed into his arm and then looked up at Jack.
"You're good kid." Jack looked up at Crutchie,
"We're gonna make millions! Ok here comes somebody. Work your magic kid." James walked over holding up a paper,
"Buy a pape from a poor orphan boy?" He coughed into his sleeve and wiped his nose leaving a trail of ash.
"Of course I'll take a newspaper! Here's a dime." The lady handed James a dime and then he handed her the paper. Once the lady walked away, Jack came over and crouched down in front of James, and started to wipe the ash off his face.
"Wow, kid! That was amazing!" Jack continued to rub the ash of off James' face,
"Next time don't rub your nose, you still have a lot of ash on you." James smiled, the three of them sold their papers and then walked back to the square. It was loud again, really loud. James grabbed Jack's hand before they walked into the square. Jack led him over to the paper wagon,
"Ok, now we need to instate you into the Manhattan newsies. You're gonna climb up on this and then I'll say your name. You don't have to do anything." James nodded his head, he climbed up onto the paper wagon. He could everyone around the square. Jack motioned for a blond-haired boy who had a cigar in his mouth. The two of them said some stuff that James couldn't hear, then Jack's voice rang out above the commotion,
"We have a new newsie among us! This James Gibson, he is going to be joining us!" the blond-haired boy spoke up,
"Let's hear it for Gibbs!" the entire square erupted in cheers. James sat up at the top of the papers looking out on the cheering crowd. Soon everyone was chanting his new name, Jack helped him climb down from the wagon,
"Hey kid, do you want to go get something to eat?'' James nodded and followed after Jack.
"You don't talk much do ya kid?'' James looked up at Jack,
"I guess not."
"How did ya ever get to Newsies Square last night?"
"Only place other place I knew other than school. I used to pass it on my way to school, you know until." Jack nodded his head, they walked in silence until they reached a food stand. He handed the man behind the counter a coin and then grabbed a loaf of bread. He broke off half of it and handed it to James.
"Do you have any other family?"
"No." he whispered. James stared down at the ground and bit his cheek hard to try and keep from crying. The tears came anyway and now the taste of blood filled his mouth. The fat tears rolled down his cheeks and hit the cobblestones leaving a trail of drops. James tried to wipe the tears from his face only leaving streaks of tears and ash across his face.
"Come on, kid." Jack led him down to the street to the same place from the morning. James climbed up the ladder, and Jack came up after. James sat down in front of the bed, Jack fished out the same old shirt from the morning.
"We need to get you a new shirt," he muttered, wiping James face off again. Jack continued to rub at James's tired face. The whole rest of the night was kinda blurry, he was really tired. He remembered Jack muttering about new shirts and then Crutchie coming back. Then sleeping on the scratchy newspapers, and then he woke up. There were people talking around him but, it was still night. He held really still and just listened.
"I just dunno what to do, Crutchie. This kid just lost everything and he just keeps acting like everything's just fine. There's gotta be something we can do for this kid."
"I dunno Jack, we're newsies and he is one now too. We've kinda done everything we can. We don't make that much money, he's just gonna have to get used to it I guess."
"He just lost both his parents, his house, his ability to go to school, to have food on a daily basis. He just lost everything, and now he has to get used to it. He's obviously not used to being in a loud environment. I mean every time we walk into the square he grabs my hand." the world went quiet for a minute, James didn't move feeling a tear rolling down the bridge of his nose. Everything Jack just said made everything hurt more.
"I'll go to Medda's tomorrow and see if she has any extra clothes."
"Just get some sleep Jack, you're overthinking this."
"Fine," whispered Jack. James quickly wiped the tears off his face and pretended to be asleep. He felt Jack lay down next to him and James just stared at the iron bars. Jack heaved a sigh before the world went quiet. James woke up in the morning to Jack calling him,
"Kid, it's time to wake up." James opened his eyes and rolled over. He sat up to the sun wasn't even up yet. Jack handed him a new shirt,
"Here, so I don't have to keep cleaning ash off ya. Speaking of, how did you get more on your face?" Jack wiped off the ash of his face and then he pulled on his new shirt.
"Come, one kid, don't forget your money." James pulled out the money from yesterday from his pocket and wrapped it in his old shirt. He grabbed a coin and placed it in his pocket before following after Jack. They walked to the square, Jack stopped in front expecting James to grab his hand. Instead, James marched in by himself, but the noise was deafening. Everyone around him was so loud, they were all yelling and playing. It was all so overwhelming, James ran out of the square down the street where he couldn't hear the noise. His head hurt, it was all too much. He sat down against a brick wall in an alleyway and pulled his knees to his chest. The quiet blanketed him like a comfort. This quiet reminded him of when his mother would read him a book before bed. Her soft voice would fill his ears and he would listen to the soft lull of her voice. The story of knights, dragons, princesses, and bravery would unfold. Until he would fall asleep, warm in his bed. Free of scratchy newspapers and pain. He was safe, but he wasn't anymore, the real world was crushing James underneath its cruel foot. James shoved his face down into his knees, leaving the world on the outside. He heard someone calling his name,
"Kid! James! Gibbs! Where did ya go!" James didn't move from his spot hoping Jack wouldn't find him. He would rather just not move from this safe spot.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Go away," whispered James. He didn't move, he felt Jack put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not going anywhere." James looked up,
"I'm not either, it's safe here. Away from your newsies, they are too loud." James tucked his head in his knees again.
"Alright kid. I'll stay here with ya."
"Do you have anyone who is quiet with the newsies?" James mumbled, Jack paused to think,
"Actually I think I might know someone you might like." James peeked his head up,
"Come on kid." James stood up and followed Jack. He handed him a bag full of newspapers,
"You still have work to do." James nodded and took the bag from Jack's hands. They walked down the street in the warm, morning sun. They came to three boys on the side of the street. It was the cigar boy from yesterday, and a red-haired boy. There was also a boy in a cornflower blue shirt with them. They were all selling papers.
"Jack!" yelled the red-haired boy. It surprised James and he grabbed Jack's hand. Jack shot the red-haired boy a look,
"Guys this is Gibbs." The boy in blue waved at him and smiled, James gave a small wave back.
"This is Race," Jack pointed to the cigar boy, "Albert," pointing to the red-haired boy, "and Jojo. He's the quiet one." Jack whispered down to James.
"Jojo, you are going to help me take care of Gibbs."
"I'll do what I can, Jack." Jack knelt down next James,
"I'll come to see you later. Just sell the papes as I taught you. Jojo will take care of you and he's quiet." James nodded and walked over next to Jojo. Jack waved and walked away. The four of them sold their papers, James liked Jojo. Race and Albert were a bit much, but Jojo was nice and quiet. It made the loud world seem a little more bearable. Jack came later to check on him,
"So kid, you ready to go back to the penthouse?"
"Can I stay with them instead?" Jack looked up at Race, Albert, and Jojo as if to ask if that was ok. The three boys nodded, and Jack looked back at James.
"Alright that's fine, I'll come to check on you before bed, to make sure you're doing alright." James nodded excitedly,
"Ok, bye, kid." James waved goodbye, and Jack walked off.
"Alright, should we head back to the square?"
"Why are we going to the square?" James asked Race,
"Because we always hang out there before my sister makes us go to bed."
"Oh." James followed after the three of them back to the square. He began to get nervous as they neared the square, except it was quiet. All but the noise of something clicking on the ground, something whirring, picking up speed. The four of them walked into the square. James saw a girl in a wheelchair zipping around the square, she seemed like a blur. She screeched to a halt in front of them, causing James jumped behind Jojo in surprise.
"Oh, sorry, Gibbs. I didn't mean to scare you." James peeked his head out from behind Jojo to see the girl. She had freckles on her face that looked like the stars in the night sky. She had messy dirty blond hair underneath her hat. He stepped out from behind Jojo further,
"This is Blu." Jojo motioned to the girl, she waved. James thought she seemed pretty nice, a little noisy but nice.
"So you ready?" the girl was looking at Race. He was stretching,
"Born." Jojo picked up James in his arms and he and Albert walked over to the edge of the square,
"What are they doing?" James watched them stand next to each other in a spot in the square.
"They are going to race."
"Why is she in a wheelchair?"
"She has polio."
"What's polio?"
"It's a disease that makes your muscles not work. You sure ask a lot of questions Gibbs." James smiled and watched the pair race around the square. They played for a while before, Blu forced the four of them to go to bed. They walked to the lodging house, Jack was there waiting for them in front of the lodging house.
"Hey, buddy! How was your day?"
"It was really good."
"We're gonna find you a place to sleep." James nodded and followed him inside the old abandoned building. There were rows of makeshift beds and there were hammocks hanging from the ceiling.
"Here come here," Jack lifted James up into one of the hammocks next to a ladder.
"How is it?" James laid down,
"Good. Who sleeps here?" he pointed to the hammock next to him.
"Mike and Ike, they are twins. They are a little noisy, but they are quiet at night."
"Ok."
"Do you want to sleep here? Jojo is right down here." Jack pointed to a bed near his.
"Yeah, I think I want to. Does it get loud in here?"
"Not really, most of them are too tired to be loud. I'll come to see you in the morning ok?" James nodded and waved goodbye as Jack walked out. He laid down in the hammock in the quiet, everything seemed a little more peaceful. The quiet blanketed the surrounding area in peace. He fell fast asleep. Days passed, then weeks, then months. Three months have passed since Gibbs had joined the newsies. He got more acclimated to the lifestyle a little every day. He still never felt like he exactly fit in. One night he snuck out of his hammock and went outside. He climbed up the fire escape onto the roof. He sat down and stared up at the stars, thinking of his new life. He liked it, but he missed his old life, his parents, his friends, going to school. Everything he had known was gone, and he was stuck in the unfamiliar. He thought about his parents a lot, what he could have had, what he had lost. Tonight everything seemed to come down like a crushing weight. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head between his knees. He could feel the tears starting to form, feeling like an outsider. He looked out on the city now blurred from all the tears, the city streaked into different colors of brown, gray, and yellow. He wiped off his face, then heard someone walking over. He turned around to see Jojo, he buried his face in his knees. He heard Jojo sitting down next to him,
"I saw you get up. I waited for a minute then assumed you were coming up here. Are you ok?" James shook his head,
"Do you want to talk about it?" James peeked his head up,
"I miss my parents."
"I miss mine sometimes too."
"I don't fit in here, I fit out."
"I feel like I fit out sometimes too."
"No you don't, you have Race and Albert, they like you. There is no one my age here. All my friends are at my school."
"You have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this." James looked over to Jojo, who was looking out on the city,
"I won't."
"Ok, well when I came to the Newsies I was about your age. I was really quiet and shy. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't fit in, I got out. All the Newsies were so loud, and it was a scary new reality. Not anywhere near what I had with my parents. I was just a scared little boy too. I would hold Jack's hand every time we were in the square. Everyone else already had friends and I was lonely. Until someone made me feel like I fit in. Eventually, I didn't fit out so much anymore. When I saw you, I knew you were just like me. A scared little boy who fit out. So I wanted to make you feel like you fit in. And everyone here loves you, a whole group of brothers who want to make you feel like you fit in. I know this is all hard, and I just want you to know that I'm right here." James scooted closer to Jojo, he wrapped his tiny arms around Jojo's waist. He smothered James in a hug,
"Thanks, big brother."
"I'm always right here, Gibbs." James would always feel like he fit out, but things would start to get easier. James figures out that he didn't fit out, he just fit in in his own way.