Ain't It a Fine Life (Gotta Be Either Dead or Dreaming), Chapter 3
Title: Ain't It a Fine Life (Gotta Be Either Dead or Dreaming)
Author: Ellie (lyricsandhearts)
Disclaimer: Don't own Newsies or Big Time Rush. How very disappointing.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Javid!Kogan, brief one-sided Sarah/Jack!Mercedes/Kendall
Warnings: A bit of language and violence, and as always, possible anachronisms
Summary: In 1899, the newsies go on strike. In 1899, Kendall Knight meets Logan Mitchell. In 1899, everything changes.
Chapter: Three
Author's Notes: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. A couple of events in this chapter were inspired by the novelization of Newsies (which is kind of epic and at some points unintentionally hilarious), so if you've read that, maybe you can catch them. *g* ♥
"So," Kendall asks Logan loudly as they walk, Kate, Race, and the boys following close behind, "You were only gonna take twenty. Why's that?"
Logan looks at Kendall, still judging and calculating and confused.
"Bad headline."
Kendall laughs and says, "There's your first lesson in sellin'. Headlines? Don't sell papes. We newsies, we sell papes."
There's a general wave of agreement from the guys, and Kendall stops walking, instead turning to Logan and smirking.
"Here's what you gotta learn," he says, and Logan gives him a look that clearly means something along the lines of, "Excuse me, but I don't need to learn anything from the likes of you."
Kendall continues on anyway.
"What you gotta learn is that we are the glue of society. The glue, right boys?"
More blind, vehement agreement from behind, and Kendall raises an eyebrow. He gives Logan a once-over, still smirking.
"If we ain't here to tell everybody what's goin' on, they don't know what's goin' on!" he cries, almost like he's spreading some sort of gospel. "We hold this entire town together. We're important, Logan. People depend on us. We got The World at our fingertips."
Logan stares at him for a brief moment, nonplussed, then mumbles something about, "worst pun I've ever heard," before quickening his pace and holding his papes tight to his chest as if he's afraid the wind will carry them away. Kate rolls her eyes and says, "Sorry guys, he's no fun," as she runs off to catch up to him.
Oh boy, Kendall thinks, shaking his head. This is gonna be fun.
*
"Read all about it, read all about it!"
Logan has never been to one of these fights before. His mother has always kept him away from them, telling him that they were dangerous and scary and smelled bad.
She's right.
The yells and curses from every direction are hurting his ears, and fights other than the main attraction are breaking out all over, and the odor of beer and sweat is overwhelming, choking him, and he's been here for twenty minutes and hasn't sold a single paper--
But he made a deal with Kendall, so he keeps on trying. Logan Mitchell doesn't break deals.
"Read all about it," he calls again, pushing his way through the crowd. "Extra, extra, trolley strike drags on!" A large man suddenly bumps right into him from the left. He stumbles, struggling not to fall, and the man snarls, "Hey, watch where you're goin', would ya? Damn kids... Oh, newsie too, eh? Lyin' scum."
"Yeah, uh, sorry," Logan mumbles, staring down at the ground. He continues to walk.
I hate this I hate this I hate this, he thinks.
From behind, he hears Kendall yelling, "Ellis Island in flames! Big conflagration, thousands flee!" Several people immediately run up, nearly shoving money at Kendall's face. "Thousands flee in panic," he repeats, announcements intermittent with exclamations of, "Thank you very much, ma'am!" and "Here you go, sir, have a nice day."
"Wait, what?" Logan pushes his way through to Kendall and grabs one of his papes. "Trash fire next to immigration building," he reads aloud. "Seagulls, terrified, fly out-- what is this?"
Kendall shrugs. "It's the news."
Logan shoves the paper back at Kendall, disgusted.
"You can't just go around--" he starts angrily, but Kendall is already five feet away, waving papers and screaming fallacies.
"Thousands of lives at stake, hundreds possibly already lost!" More sales, more money. Logan can't believe it.
Katie, who Logan hadn't realized was so far behind, suddenly comes running up, almost out of breath.
"Kate, where have you been?" Logan demands, but she isn't paying attention, because Kendall is asking, "Hey, you been practicin'?"
Katie nods and coughs quite pitifully, staring up at Kendall with puppy-dog eyes.
"Mister, would you please buy me last pape?" she asks softly, just loud enough to be heard in the mess of people, but quiet enough to inspire absolute heartbreak. Logan has to hand it to her; she's really good. "I really do need the money, sir..."
Grinning, Kendall pats her on the back. "'Atta girl," he says. "Go get 'em."
She smiles and runs off, calling back, "Thanks, Kendall!"
"My father taught us not to lie," Logan says, incredulous. How could someone teach someone else's baby sister to be a liar?
With an eyebrow raised and his head tilted, Kendall replies, "Well, my father taught me not to starve. So I guess we both got an education, huh?"
"You're just making things up!" Logan cries. "You can't do that, it's not fair! That's not how you make a living. All these headlines?"
Kendall laughs humorlessly.
"Is too how you make a livin', pal. See, what you gotta understand is it's a dog eat dog world out there. Out here." He gestures widely around. "And a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to survive. Anyways, I ain't doin' nothin' the guys who write them papes ain't doin'. And 'sides," he adds, smirking, "it ain't lyin'. It's just improvin' the truth a little."
Logan is just about to retaliate when a bell breaks him out of his thoughts. The fight is starting again, Round 42 by the looks of it.
He watches as punches are swung and hit and missed, as kicks make their way into stomachs and faces, causing blood to flow and red marks to form and teeth to fly, and he's in serious pain just looking at it happen. He can't imagine why anyone would come to one of these things for entertainment.
"Logan, Logan!" Katie screams, running up again. "Look, Logan, five dollars!"
Eyes nearly bugging out of his head, Logan snatches up the dolllar bill. Sure enough, it's a five, looking as real as can be.
"Where did you-- how did you--" he stammers, and Kendall beams.
"Been using my techniques, have you?" he says, ruffling her hair. She giggles.
"Well, not exactly. I, um... See, I saw these guys playing poker, and I asked if I could play, and they said of course I could! So... I won it!"
Now Kendall's eye's widen.
"You can't play a game of poker in what, five minutes, can you?" he asks carefully, and she shrugs.
"After a few minutes, they both folded. I dunno why, it was a really good game."
Kendall covers his mouths to hold back laughter, and Logan rolls his eyes. He glances around to make sure no one heard.
He looks back at Kendall.
He looks back to his left.
Standing about thirty feet away is a tall, dark man and a thin, pretty woman. The woman whispers something to the man, who looks up at Logan and stares with narrowed, horrifying eyes.
"Hey, uh, Kendall?" he says slowly, and Kendall looks up. "Is that a friend of yours?"
The man is looking right at Kendall now, and suddenly, he's shoving his way past everyone.
Right towards them.
"Oh, God," Kendall says, then, "Logan, Kate, when I say run, don't ask questions. Just run."
Katie nods silently, unsure of what's going on, and Logan says, "Wait just a second, don't--"
"Run!"
Kendall takes off as fast as he can across the lot, Kate right behind him, and Logan, after a moment of utter confusion, sees that the same man is chasing after them.
Logan shoots after them too.
Through an alley, across a street, up a few flights of stairs-- and suddenly Logan is on a rooftop, Katie gripping his hand tightly, pulling him forward.
There's nothing between this rooftop and the next rooftop except an exceptionally fragile-looking wooden plank.
"I am not crossing that," he starts to say, but upon looking back and finding the man only a few feet away decides that it is the best course of action after all.
He takes a deep breath and begins walking across.
Kendall and Katie are already on the other side, gently urging him towards them.
"Come on Logan, you can do it!" Katie says. "It's not that far, just a little bit more..."
Logan swallows and takes one more step.
He loses his footing.
His heart is pounding its way out of his chest, and he takes yet another deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. He can't do this. He can't.
"Hey," Kendall orders. "Look at me."
He slowly opens his eyes to find Kendall standing on the next roof, hand held out.
"Just a few more steps," he says softly, and Logan complies, nodding.
A few more steps, and then he grabs Kendall's hand, pulling himself down to the roof.
Kendall grins and says, "That's the stuff," patting him on the back.
Logan exhales loudly.
And they keep running.
This time, there's another dead end, and Logan can hear the man's stomping footsteps coming up behind them, and he has no idea why they're even being followed--
And Kendall jumps off the building.
Kate gasps, and Logan yells, "Kendall!"
Is whatever it is that's making that guy follow them important enough to make someone jump off a building?
Oh no, he thinks suddenly, stomach knotting, head throbbing. He's probably dead. No, no, he can't be dead, what if they blame me for killing him, and I need someone to help me learn how to do this, I can't be a newsie without him, I need him, he can't be gone, he can't he can't he can't--
Just then, Kendall head pops up from the roofs ledge and mouths, Get down here!
Logan's heart nearly stops.
Suddenly, he realizes that there's probably solid ground below that ledge.
He feels angry, embarrassed, and slightly betrayed for reasons he can't quite identify, but he jumps down off the roof anyway, Katie doing the same.
"Shh," Kendall hisses, finger to lips, once they're all down.
Silence, then footsteps, a door swinging open, and a loud voice bellowing, "Kelly! I'll get you back to the Refuge if it's the last thing I do!"
Kelly? Logan mouths, bemused, but Kendall is pulling him along by his hand (again, and it's sort of starting to make Logan feel oddly nervous and warm, which makes him very irritated at Kendall for some reason), so he grabs Katie arm and crawls along until they're far enough away to make a break for it.
They're at the door of some place called Palm Hall, which, to be honest, doesn't look entirely wholesome, where Logan blocks the doorway from Kendall and says, as firmly as he can, "I'm not running any farther."
Kendall looks disappointed for about a split-second before grabbing Logan by the shoulders, looking him right in the eyes, and then patting him on the back and walking right past him.
Logan is so confused.
Kendall and Katie make their way into Palm Hall, and Logan follows, closing the door behind him.
"I want some answers," he demands. "Who is that guy, and why was he chasing you, and what is the Refuge, and why--"
Kendall shushes him, frowning and leaning up against the stair rail beside him. He rubs his hand across his eyes and shrugs.
"The Refuge," he mutters, nearly whispering, "is a jail, okay? This jail, for kids."
Logan stares at him incredulously.
"A jail," he repeats.
"Yeah, a jail," Kendall says snidely. "That guy was Ernest Hawk. Warden Ernest Hawk."
Katie looks up at Kendall, an odd mix of frightened, reverent, and respectful.
"You were in jail?" she asks. "Why?"
"Stole some food," Kendall mutters. "Like I said earlier, Logie, 's a dog eat dog world out there."
"Oh, sure, food." Logan rolls his eyes. "Y'know, Hawk, earlier? He called you Kelly. Why's that, huh?"
"My name is Knight," Kendall snaps. "I'm Kendall Knight, and don't you ever think otherwise. You think I'm lyin'?"
"Well, you certainly have a way of improving the truth," Logan says coldly, arms crossed.
They simply stand there, looking at each other, for a few moments. Logan gulps. If he wants to win this, he'll have to stay aloof.
"Why was he chasing you?" he asks quietly, and Kendall smiles. It doesn't reach his eyes.
"I escaped," he says plainly.
Katie stares up at him with wide eyes.
"Wow. How'd you do it?"
"Well, this bigshot, he gave me a ride out."
"Oh, I'd bet it was the mayor, huh?" Logan says mockingly.
"No, Teddy Roosevelt, ever heard of him?" Kendall says, voice rising, eyes narrowed dangerously. He straightens up, clearly looking to start something, but at that moment the door at the top of the stairs swings open and a woman in an elaborate purple dress peeks her head out, hissing, "What is going on here? Out, out, get out!"
Kendall turns around and says, "Aw, c'mon, Kelly. You wouldn't kick me out without a kiss goodbye, would you?"
The woman's eyes light up. She smiles, and Logan is impressed.
"How ya been, kid?" she laughs, hugging Kendall tightly. "Oh, I've missed seeing you up in the balcony. Everything goin' good?"
Grinning, Kendall kisses her hand. "I'm great. I trust you been doin' well yourself?"
She looks at him with what Logan can only describe as pure affection. If they looked anything alike, he would be sure she was Kendall's mother.
"I've been fine," she sighs. As if suddenly realizing that Logan and Katie are there, she says, "And who are these lovely friends you've brought?"
"This is Logan and Katie," Kendall announces, gesturing towards them. Looking at Logan, he says, "And this is Miss Kelly Wainwright." He twirls her. "The brightest star on any stage in the world. She owns the place too."
"Aw, Kendall!" she says, blushing. She glances at Logan, then at Katie, grinning.
"Cute little family we got here," she says. "And how are you, Katie?"
Katie pauses for a second, then coughs pitifully, looking up at Kelly with puppy-dog eyes, and says, "Miss, would you please buy me last pape?"
Kelly turns around to Kendall, surprised, and laughs.
"Oh, she's good," she says. "She is really good. You been teachin' her, Knight?"
"Well..." Kendall says, shrugging modestly.
"From one professional to another," Kelly adds, turning back to Katie, "I think you've got a great future in this field." She winks, and Katie smirks.
"So, uh, it all right if we stay here for a while?" Kendall interrupts. "Just to lay low 'til a little problem outside blows over."
"Oh, of course!" she says, smiling warmly. "Stay as long as you'd like."
She walks off to the stage, and Katie finds someone selling candy.
"Well?" asks Kendall.
"... Well?" echoes Logan, confused.
Kendall just laughs and grabs Logan's tie, pulling him out towards the seats.
(Logan really isn't sure what's going on, but he's pretty sure he likes it.)
*
"So you like that?"
"Oh, I loved that. I loved it." Logan smiles at Kendall. Kelly really is talented; she has a gorgeous voice and is a fantastic dancer (even if he'd prefer if she wasn't, ahem, that kind of dancer). "She's beautiful. How do you know her?"
Kendall turns and starts walking.
"Oh, uh, she's a friend of my father's," he says lightly.
Logan senses something a little off about that story, but decides to ignore it. He nods.
"Well... It's getting pretty late, Katie. Our parents, they'll-- they'll probably be worried. What about yours, Kendall?"
Turning his head again, Kendall scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh, they're out West, you know, lookin' for a place to live." He smiles genuinely. "Out in New Mexico. Santa Fe. They'll send for me soon as they find the right ranch."
Suddenly, there's a crash from the street. And then yelling, more crashes--
Kendall immediately runs out into the street, cursing to himself.
Logan and Katie follow him.
The scene is absolute chaos: fire raging in the middle of the street, fights breaking out at the drop of a hat, a broken carriage over to the side of the road--
Kendall stares out onto the bedlam with shining eyes, ready to jump in at a moment's notice.
Nervously, Logan says, "Hey, Kendall, why don't we go back to my place? We could divvy up, you could meet my folks."
Kendall laughs.
"It's the trolley strike, gone all outta hand," he yells over the din. He snorts as someone gets thrown across the road. "Dumbass."
Logan can't stand this anymore. It's too dangerous.
"Kendall, let's get out of here," he almost begs, and Kendall shrugs.
"Hey, maybe we'll have a good headline tomorrow!" He throws an arm across Logan's shoulders, bringing his face almost dangerously close to Logan's, and grins. "Finally," he adds, and pulls away.
Logan gulps and notices that his hands are shaking.
"Holy-- She slept through the whole thing!" Kendall says from behind Logan. He cracks up. "Katie's a deep sleeper, I guess." Picking her up and throwing her on his shoulder, Kendall starts his trek down the sidewalk.
Logan's hands are still shaking.
*
When they open the door to Logan's home, the first thing his mother does is cry, "My God, what happened?"
Logan shakes his head and laughs. "Nothing, Mom," he sighs, hugging her. "Katie's just asleep." She picks Katie up, sighing, and carries her off to bed.
"Where have you been?" says his father, frowning. "We've been waiting up for you, dinner and all."
In response, Logan pulls all the money he and Kendall made today out of his pocket and slams it down on the table.
His father stares at the money, then back at Logan, and then back at the money.
"You made all this?"
"Well, half-- uh, part of it is Kendall's."
When he gets a blank stare in return, Logan realizes that he never introduced Kendall to his family.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" he stammers, face reddening. He gestures towards Kendall. "This is Kendall Knight, our selling partner. And, uh, our friend."
Logan's father gives Kendall an appraising look.
"Um, Kendall, my parents, Seymour and Laura Mitchell."
"Nice to meet you," Seymour finally says, smiling and holding out his good hand. His other arm is in a sling.
"And that's my sister, Mercy," Logan adds, pointing to a girl knitting in the corner.
She's technically pretty, Kendall supposes, with her long, thick, blonde hair and shining eyes, but she's glaring at him with utter contempt and just a hint of lust.
(He doesn't think Mercy is a good name for her.)
"Maybe Logan's partner would like to join us for dinner?" Seymour suggests, and Laura nods.
"Would you, Kendall?" she asks. "Really, it would be an honor."
"I'd be glad to!" Kendall says, smiling that charming smile again. Logan doesn't know how he does it.
At the table, when all the food is served, Kendall says, "You know, I knew it from the very first moment today, your children are born newsies. 'specially Katie."
"Well, we all knew that," Logan snorts, and his father laughs with him.
"Oh, I would have expected as much," he sighs. "She's always been a little..."
"Intelligent?" Laura suggests.
"Manipulative?" Logan puts in.
"Bratty?" Mercy mumbles.
"Beguiling," Seymour finally settles on. "Yes, I think that's it."
"Well, I think that beguilingness is working to her advantage here," Kendall says, and everyone else bursts into laughter. "... What did I say?" he asks, furrowing his brow in concern.
"Beguilingness," Laura says fondly. "I think I might have to start saying that."
"Uh, anyway, with Katie and her beguilingness and Logan and his brains, and my experience, we can probably break a thousand papes a week, no sweat."
Seymour raises an eyebrow. "That many?"
"Well, yeah!" Kendall nods. "That is, if the headline's any good."
"So what make a headline good?" Mercy says, the first time she's said anything all night. Her head is propped up on her fist and her head is tilted, eyes wide and staring. It looks like she's hanging on every word Kendall is saying. She scoots in closer to him. It makes him rather uncomfortable, so he scoots in a bit closer to Logan, who doesn't scoot at all.
"Uh, you know, there are just words that make people wanna read stuff. Like..." He ponders for a second. "Like maniac! Or crazed, or riot, or corpse, or... Nude, or romance, or--"
Laura clears her throat, staring down at her food and obviously holding back a smile.
Kendall blushes. "I talk too much," he says quietly.
Seymour glances from Kendall to Logan and slowly says, "Mercy? Why don't you go get the cake your mother is hiding in the cabinet?"
"But that's for your birthday tomorrow!" Laura cries indignantly.
"Ah, I've had enough birthdays. This is a celebration!" Seymour throws his hands in the air. "We've got a good way to make money, a lot of it to make, and we've got ourselves a new friend." He glances at Kendall, who glances at Logan, who doesn't glance anywhere. "Somebody get the knife."
"I've got it!" calls Laura.
"And I'll get the plates!" says Logan, standing up from the table.
It's weird, he knows, but suddenly, Kendall feels like he's home.
*
"So what happened to your father?"
Kendall and Logan are on the fire escape, leaning on the rail and looking out towards God knows what.
Logan shrugs.
"Work accident, down at the factory. They don't have any use for him, so they sacked him." He looks at Kendall. "He doesn't have a union to protect him."
Kendall looks back at him.
There's a split second where they're just standing there on the fire escape, looking at each other, standing almost impossibly close, and Kendall is scared out of his mind.
But Kendall Knight doesn't get scared, so he inches away, clearing his throat.
"Oh," he says, almost inaudibly, looking down.
"Logan?"
Logan flinches and Kendall jumps; they both turn around to see Logan's father, speaking to them out of the window.
"It's time to come in now," he says, and Logan nods, swallowing.
"All right!" he says, voice cracking. He blinks hard, clears his throat, and repeats, "Uh, all right," in a more normal voice.
Kendall snickers. He pats Logan on the back and starts to make his way down the escape.
Logan suddenly turns around.
"Kendall, why don't you stay here tonight?" he says abruptly. Then, as if realizing what he just said, he turns his now-customary shade of red.
"Uh, no, no thanks," Kendall mutters. He looks Logan straight in the eyes, as if that will make anything he says less of a lie than it is. "I've got my own place. But-- but your family's real nice," he adds, half-smiling. "Like mine."
Logan stares at him as if he can see right through, as if he knows that almost nothing Kendall has said to him is true. But if he can see that, he must also be able to see just how important it is for Kendall to keep saying it. So he plays along.
"I'm sure they are," he says gently. "Uh, see you tomorrow." He holds out a hand and he and Kendall shake. They look at each other once more, almost forgetting that their hands are still linked, before Kendall jerks his hand back and stuff it in his pocket.
"Yeah," he mutters, forcing a smile. "Tomorrow."
"Carryin' the banner?" Logan says, and it's so earnest that Kendall can't help but really laugh.
"Carryin' the banner," he replies.
Logan turns away to go back inside, and Kendall is left alone on the escape.
"So that's what having a family is like," he says to himself. He slowly makes his way down the stairs.
But... Kendall doesn't want a family.
All he wants is to get out of this place.
All he wants is Santa Fe.
Author: Ellie (lyricsandhearts)
Disclaimer: Don't own Newsies or Big Time Rush. How very disappointing.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Javid!Kogan, brief one-sided Sarah/Jack!Mercedes/Kendall
Warnings: A bit of language and violence, and as always, possible anachronisms
Summary: In 1899, the newsies go on strike. In 1899, Kendall Knight meets Logan Mitchell. In 1899, everything changes.
Chapter: Three
Author's Notes: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. A couple of events in this chapter were inspired by the novelization of Newsies (which is kind of epic and at some points unintentionally hilarious), so if you've read that, maybe you can catch them. *g* ♥
"So," Kendall asks Logan loudly as they walk, Kate, Race, and the boys following close behind, "You were only gonna take twenty. Why's that?"
Logan looks at Kendall, still judging and calculating and confused.
"Bad headline."
Kendall laughs and says, "There's your first lesson in sellin'. Headlines? Don't sell papes. We newsies, we sell papes."
There's a general wave of agreement from the guys, and Kendall stops walking, instead turning to Logan and smirking.
"Here's what you gotta learn," he says, and Logan gives him a look that clearly means something along the lines of, "Excuse me, but I don't need to learn anything from the likes of you."
Kendall continues on anyway.
"What you gotta learn is that we are the glue of society. The glue, right boys?"
More blind, vehement agreement from behind, and Kendall raises an eyebrow. He gives Logan a once-over, still smirking.
"If we ain't here to tell everybody what's goin' on, they don't know what's goin' on!" he cries, almost like he's spreading some sort of gospel. "We hold this entire town together. We're important, Logan. People depend on us. We got The World at our fingertips."
Logan stares at him for a brief moment, nonplussed, then mumbles something about, "worst pun I've ever heard," before quickening his pace and holding his papes tight to his chest as if he's afraid the wind will carry them away. Kate rolls her eyes and says, "Sorry guys, he's no fun," as she runs off to catch up to him.
Oh boy, Kendall thinks, shaking his head. This is gonna be fun.
*
"Read all about it, read all about it!"
Logan has never been to one of these fights before. His mother has always kept him away from them, telling him that they were dangerous and scary and smelled bad.
She's right.
The yells and curses from every direction are hurting his ears, and fights other than the main attraction are breaking out all over, and the odor of beer and sweat is overwhelming, choking him, and he's been here for twenty minutes and hasn't sold a single paper--
But he made a deal with Kendall, so he keeps on trying. Logan Mitchell doesn't break deals.
"Read all about it," he calls again, pushing his way through the crowd. "Extra, extra, trolley strike drags on!" A large man suddenly bumps right into him from the left. He stumbles, struggling not to fall, and the man snarls, "Hey, watch where you're goin', would ya? Damn kids... Oh, newsie too, eh? Lyin' scum."
"Yeah, uh, sorry," Logan mumbles, staring down at the ground. He continues to walk.
I hate this I hate this I hate this, he thinks.
From behind, he hears Kendall yelling, "Ellis Island in flames! Big conflagration, thousands flee!" Several people immediately run up, nearly shoving money at Kendall's face. "Thousands flee in panic," he repeats, announcements intermittent with exclamations of, "Thank you very much, ma'am!" and "Here you go, sir, have a nice day."
"Wait, what?" Logan pushes his way through to Kendall and grabs one of his papes. "Trash fire next to immigration building," he reads aloud. "Seagulls, terrified, fly out-- what is this?"
Kendall shrugs. "It's the news."
Logan shoves the paper back at Kendall, disgusted.
"You can't just go around--" he starts angrily, but Kendall is already five feet away, waving papers and screaming fallacies.
"Thousands of lives at stake, hundreds possibly already lost!" More sales, more money. Logan can't believe it.
Katie, who Logan hadn't realized was so far behind, suddenly comes running up, almost out of breath.
"Kate, where have you been?" Logan demands, but she isn't paying attention, because Kendall is asking, "Hey, you been practicin'?"
Katie nods and coughs quite pitifully, staring up at Kendall with puppy-dog eyes.
"Mister, would you please buy me last pape?" she asks softly, just loud enough to be heard in the mess of people, but quiet enough to inspire absolute heartbreak. Logan has to hand it to her; she's really good. "I really do need the money, sir..."
Grinning, Kendall pats her on the back. "'Atta girl," he says. "Go get 'em."
She smiles and runs off, calling back, "Thanks, Kendall!"
"My father taught us not to lie," Logan says, incredulous. How could someone teach someone else's baby sister to be a liar?
With an eyebrow raised and his head tilted, Kendall replies, "Well, my father taught me not to starve. So I guess we both got an education, huh?"
"You're just making things up!" Logan cries. "You can't do that, it's not fair! That's not how you make a living. All these headlines?"
Kendall laughs humorlessly.
"Is too how you make a livin', pal. See, what you gotta understand is it's a dog eat dog world out there. Out here." He gestures widely around. "And a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to survive. Anyways, I ain't doin' nothin' the guys who write them papes ain't doin'. And 'sides," he adds, smirking, "it ain't lyin'. It's just improvin' the truth a little."
Logan is just about to retaliate when a bell breaks him out of his thoughts. The fight is starting again, Round 42 by the looks of it.
He watches as punches are swung and hit and missed, as kicks make their way into stomachs and faces, causing blood to flow and red marks to form and teeth to fly, and he's in serious pain just looking at it happen. He can't imagine why anyone would come to one of these things for entertainment.
"Logan, Logan!" Katie screams, running up again. "Look, Logan, five dollars!"
Eyes nearly bugging out of his head, Logan snatches up the dolllar bill. Sure enough, it's a five, looking as real as can be.
"Where did you-- how did you--" he stammers, and Kendall beams.
"Been using my techniques, have you?" he says, ruffling her hair. She giggles.
"Well, not exactly. I, um... See, I saw these guys playing poker, and I asked if I could play, and they said of course I could! So... I won it!"
Now Kendall's eye's widen.
"You can't play a game of poker in what, five minutes, can you?" he asks carefully, and she shrugs.
"After a few minutes, they both folded. I dunno why, it was a really good game."
Kendall covers his mouths to hold back laughter, and Logan rolls his eyes. He glances around to make sure no one heard.
He looks back at Kendall.
He looks back to his left.
Standing about thirty feet away is a tall, dark man and a thin, pretty woman. The woman whispers something to the man, who looks up at Logan and stares with narrowed, horrifying eyes.
"Hey, uh, Kendall?" he says slowly, and Kendall looks up. "Is that a friend of yours?"
The man is looking right at Kendall now, and suddenly, he's shoving his way past everyone.
Right towards them.
"Oh, God," Kendall says, then, "Logan, Kate, when I say run, don't ask questions. Just run."
Katie nods silently, unsure of what's going on, and Logan says, "Wait just a second, don't--"
"Run!"
Kendall takes off as fast as he can across the lot, Kate right behind him, and Logan, after a moment of utter confusion, sees that the same man is chasing after them.
Logan shoots after them too.
Through an alley, across a street, up a few flights of stairs-- and suddenly Logan is on a rooftop, Katie gripping his hand tightly, pulling him forward.
There's nothing between this rooftop and the next rooftop except an exceptionally fragile-looking wooden plank.
"I am not crossing that," he starts to say, but upon looking back and finding the man only a few feet away decides that it is the best course of action after all.
He takes a deep breath and begins walking across.
Kendall and Katie are already on the other side, gently urging him towards them.
"Come on Logan, you can do it!" Katie says. "It's not that far, just a little bit more..."
Logan swallows and takes one more step.
He loses his footing.
His heart is pounding its way out of his chest, and he takes yet another deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. He can't do this. He can't.
"Hey," Kendall orders. "Look at me."
He slowly opens his eyes to find Kendall standing on the next roof, hand held out.
"Just a few more steps," he says softly, and Logan complies, nodding.
A few more steps, and then he grabs Kendall's hand, pulling himself down to the roof.
Kendall grins and says, "That's the stuff," patting him on the back.
Logan exhales loudly.
And they keep running.
This time, there's another dead end, and Logan can hear the man's stomping footsteps coming up behind them, and he has no idea why they're even being followed--
And Kendall jumps off the building.
Kate gasps, and Logan yells, "Kendall!"
Is whatever it is that's making that guy follow them important enough to make someone jump off a building?
Oh no, he thinks suddenly, stomach knotting, head throbbing. He's probably dead. No, no, he can't be dead, what if they blame me for killing him, and I need someone to help me learn how to do this, I can't be a newsie without him, I need him, he can't be gone, he can't he can't he can't--
Just then, Kendall head pops up from the roofs ledge and mouths, Get down here!
Logan's heart nearly stops.
Suddenly, he realizes that there's probably solid ground below that ledge.
He feels angry, embarrassed, and slightly betrayed for reasons he can't quite identify, but he jumps down off the roof anyway, Katie doing the same.
"Shh," Kendall hisses, finger to lips, once they're all down.
Silence, then footsteps, a door swinging open, and a loud voice bellowing, "Kelly! I'll get you back to the Refuge if it's the last thing I do!"
Kelly? Logan mouths, bemused, but Kendall is pulling him along by his hand (again, and it's sort of starting to make Logan feel oddly nervous and warm, which makes him very irritated at Kendall for some reason), so he grabs Katie arm and crawls along until they're far enough away to make a break for it.
They're at the door of some place called Palm Hall, which, to be honest, doesn't look entirely wholesome, where Logan blocks the doorway from Kendall and says, as firmly as he can, "I'm not running any farther."
Kendall looks disappointed for about a split-second before grabbing Logan by the shoulders, looking him right in the eyes, and then patting him on the back and walking right past him.
Logan is so confused.
Kendall and Katie make their way into Palm Hall, and Logan follows, closing the door behind him.
"I want some answers," he demands. "Who is that guy, and why was he chasing you, and what is the Refuge, and why--"
Kendall shushes him, frowning and leaning up against the stair rail beside him. He rubs his hand across his eyes and shrugs.
"The Refuge," he mutters, nearly whispering, "is a jail, okay? This jail, for kids."
Logan stares at him incredulously.
"A jail," he repeats.
"Yeah, a jail," Kendall says snidely. "That guy was Ernest Hawk. Warden Ernest Hawk."
Katie looks up at Kendall, an odd mix of frightened, reverent, and respectful.
"You were in jail?" she asks. "Why?"
"Stole some food," Kendall mutters. "Like I said earlier, Logie, 's a dog eat dog world out there."
"Oh, sure, food." Logan rolls his eyes. "Y'know, Hawk, earlier? He called you Kelly. Why's that, huh?"
"My name is Knight," Kendall snaps. "I'm Kendall Knight, and don't you ever think otherwise. You think I'm lyin'?"
"Well, you certainly have a way of improving the truth," Logan says coldly, arms crossed.
They simply stand there, looking at each other, for a few moments. Logan gulps. If he wants to win this, he'll have to stay aloof.
"Why was he chasing you?" he asks quietly, and Kendall smiles. It doesn't reach his eyes.
"I escaped," he says plainly.
Katie stares up at him with wide eyes.
"Wow. How'd you do it?"
"Well, this bigshot, he gave me a ride out."
"Oh, I'd bet it was the mayor, huh?" Logan says mockingly.
"No, Teddy Roosevelt, ever heard of him?" Kendall says, voice rising, eyes narrowed dangerously. He straightens up, clearly looking to start something, but at that moment the door at the top of the stairs swings open and a woman in an elaborate purple dress peeks her head out, hissing, "What is going on here? Out, out, get out!"
Kendall turns around and says, "Aw, c'mon, Kelly. You wouldn't kick me out without a kiss goodbye, would you?"
The woman's eyes light up. She smiles, and Logan is impressed.
"How ya been, kid?" she laughs, hugging Kendall tightly. "Oh, I've missed seeing you up in the balcony. Everything goin' good?"
Grinning, Kendall kisses her hand. "I'm great. I trust you been doin' well yourself?"
She looks at him with what Logan can only describe as pure affection. If they looked anything alike, he would be sure she was Kendall's mother.
"I've been fine," she sighs. As if suddenly realizing that Logan and Katie are there, she says, "And who are these lovely friends you've brought?"
"This is Logan and Katie," Kendall announces, gesturing towards them. Looking at Logan, he says, "And this is Miss Kelly Wainwright." He twirls her. "The brightest star on any stage in the world. She owns the place too."
"Aw, Kendall!" she says, blushing. She glances at Logan, then at Katie, grinning.
"Cute little family we got here," she says. "And how are you, Katie?"
Katie pauses for a second, then coughs pitifully, looking up at Kelly with puppy-dog eyes, and says, "Miss, would you please buy me last pape?"
Kelly turns around to Kendall, surprised, and laughs.
"Oh, she's good," she says. "She is really good. You been teachin' her, Knight?"
"Well..." Kendall says, shrugging modestly.
"From one professional to another," Kelly adds, turning back to Katie, "I think you've got a great future in this field." She winks, and Katie smirks.
"So, uh, it all right if we stay here for a while?" Kendall interrupts. "Just to lay low 'til a little problem outside blows over."
"Oh, of course!" she says, smiling warmly. "Stay as long as you'd like."
She walks off to the stage, and Katie finds someone selling candy.
"Well?" asks Kendall.
"... Well?" echoes Logan, confused.
Kendall just laughs and grabs Logan's tie, pulling him out towards the seats.
(Logan really isn't sure what's going on, but he's pretty sure he likes it.)
*
"So you like that?"
"Oh, I loved that. I loved it." Logan smiles at Kendall. Kelly really is talented; she has a gorgeous voice and is a fantastic dancer (even if he'd prefer if she wasn't, ahem, that kind of dancer). "She's beautiful. How do you know her?"
Kendall turns and starts walking.
"Oh, uh, she's a friend of my father's," he says lightly.
Logan senses something a little off about that story, but decides to ignore it. He nods.
"Well... It's getting pretty late, Katie. Our parents, they'll-- they'll probably be worried. What about yours, Kendall?"
Turning his head again, Kendall scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh, they're out West, you know, lookin' for a place to live." He smiles genuinely. "Out in New Mexico. Santa Fe. They'll send for me soon as they find the right ranch."
Suddenly, there's a crash from the street. And then yelling, more crashes--
Kendall immediately runs out into the street, cursing to himself.
Logan and Katie follow him.
The scene is absolute chaos: fire raging in the middle of the street, fights breaking out at the drop of a hat, a broken carriage over to the side of the road--
Kendall stares out onto the bedlam with shining eyes, ready to jump in at a moment's notice.
Nervously, Logan says, "Hey, Kendall, why don't we go back to my place? We could divvy up, you could meet my folks."
Kendall laughs.
"It's the trolley strike, gone all outta hand," he yells over the din. He snorts as someone gets thrown across the road. "Dumbass."
Logan can't stand this anymore. It's too dangerous.
"Kendall, let's get out of here," he almost begs, and Kendall shrugs.
"Hey, maybe we'll have a good headline tomorrow!" He throws an arm across Logan's shoulders, bringing his face almost dangerously close to Logan's, and grins. "Finally," he adds, and pulls away.
Logan gulps and notices that his hands are shaking.
"Holy-- She slept through the whole thing!" Kendall says from behind Logan. He cracks up. "Katie's a deep sleeper, I guess." Picking her up and throwing her on his shoulder, Kendall starts his trek down the sidewalk.
Logan's hands are still shaking.
*
When they open the door to Logan's home, the first thing his mother does is cry, "My God, what happened?"
Logan shakes his head and laughs. "Nothing, Mom," he sighs, hugging her. "Katie's just asleep." She picks Katie up, sighing, and carries her off to bed.
"Where have you been?" says his father, frowning. "We've been waiting up for you, dinner and all."
In response, Logan pulls all the money he and Kendall made today out of his pocket and slams it down on the table.
His father stares at the money, then back at Logan, and then back at the money.
"You made all this?"
"Well, half-- uh, part of it is Kendall's."
When he gets a blank stare in return, Logan realizes that he never introduced Kendall to his family.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" he stammers, face reddening. He gestures towards Kendall. "This is Kendall Knight, our selling partner. And, uh, our friend."
Logan's father gives Kendall an appraising look.
"Um, Kendall, my parents, Seymour and Laura Mitchell."
"Nice to meet you," Seymour finally says, smiling and holding out his good hand. His other arm is in a sling.
"And that's my sister, Mercy," Logan adds, pointing to a girl knitting in the corner.
She's technically pretty, Kendall supposes, with her long, thick, blonde hair and shining eyes, but she's glaring at him with utter contempt and just a hint of lust.
(He doesn't think Mercy is a good name for her.)
"Maybe Logan's partner would like to join us for dinner?" Seymour suggests, and Laura nods.
"Would you, Kendall?" she asks. "Really, it would be an honor."
"I'd be glad to!" Kendall says, smiling that charming smile again. Logan doesn't know how he does it.
At the table, when all the food is served, Kendall says, "You know, I knew it from the very first moment today, your children are born newsies. 'specially Katie."
"Well, we all knew that," Logan snorts, and his father laughs with him.
"Oh, I would have expected as much," he sighs. "She's always been a little..."
"Intelligent?" Laura suggests.
"Manipulative?" Logan puts in.
"Bratty?" Mercy mumbles.
"Beguiling," Seymour finally settles on. "Yes, I think that's it."
"Well, I think that beguilingness is working to her advantage here," Kendall says, and everyone else bursts into laughter. "... What did I say?" he asks, furrowing his brow in concern.
"Beguilingness," Laura says fondly. "I think I might have to start saying that."
"Uh, anyway, with Katie and her beguilingness and Logan and his brains, and my experience, we can probably break a thousand papes a week, no sweat."
Seymour raises an eyebrow. "That many?"
"Well, yeah!" Kendall nods. "That is, if the headline's any good."
"So what make a headline good?" Mercy says, the first time she's said anything all night. Her head is propped up on her fist and her head is tilted, eyes wide and staring. It looks like she's hanging on every word Kendall is saying. She scoots in closer to him. It makes him rather uncomfortable, so he scoots in a bit closer to Logan, who doesn't scoot at all.
"Uh, you know, there are just words that make people wanna read stuff. Like..." He ponders for a second. "Like maniac! Or crazed, or riot, or corpse, or... Nude, or romance, or--"
Laura clears her throat, staring down at her food and obviously holding back a smile.
Kendall blushes. "I talk too much," he says quietly.
Seymour glances from Kendall to Logan and slowly says, "Mercy? Why don't you go get the cake your mother is hiding in the cabinet?"
"But that's for your birthday tomorrow!" Laura cries indignantly.
"Ah, I've had enough birthdays. This is a celebration!" Seymour throws his hands in the air. "We've got a good way to make money, a lot of it to make, and we've got ourselves a new friend." He glances at Kendall, who glances at Logan, who doesn't glance anywhere. "Somebody get the knife."
"I've got it!" calls Laura.
"And I'll get the plates!" says Logan, standing up from the table.
It's weird, he knows, but suddenly, Kendall feels like he's home.
*
"So what happened to your father?"
Kendall and Logan are on the fire escape, leaning on the rail and looking out towards God knows what.
Logan shrugs.
"Work accident, down at the factory. They don't have any use for him, so they sacked him." He looks at Kendall. "He doesn't have a union to protect him."
Kendall looks back at him.
There's a split second where they're just standing there on the fire escape, looking at each other, standing almost impossibly close, and Kendall is scared out of his mind.
But Kendall Knight doesn't get scared, so he inches away, clearing his throat.
"Oh," he says, almost inaudibly, looking down.
"Logan?"
Logan flinches and Kendall jumps; they both turn around to see Logan's father, speaking to them out of the window.
"It's time to come in now," he says, and Logan nods, swallowing.
"All right!" he says, voice cracking. He blinks hard, clears his throat, and repeats, "Uh, all right," in a more normal voice.
Kendall snickers. He pats Logan on the back and starts to make his way down the escape.
Logan suddenly turns around.
"Kendall, why don't you stay here tonight?" he says abruptly. Then, as if realizing what he just said, he turns his now-customary shade of red.
"Uh, no, no thanks," Kendall mutters. He looks Logan straight in the eyes, as if that will make anything he says less of a lie than it is. "I've got my own place. But-- but your family's real nice," he adds, half-smiling. "Like mine."
Logan stares at him as if he can see right through, as if he knows that almost nothing Kendall has said to him is true. But if he can see that, he must also be able to see just how important it is for Kendall to keep saying it. So he plays along.
"I'm sure they are," he says gently. "Uh, see you tomorrow." He holds out a hand and he and Kendall shake. They look at each other once more, almost forgetting that their hands are still linked, before Kendall jerks his hand back and stuff it in his pocket.
"Yeah," he mutters, forcing a smile. "Tomorrow."
"Carryin' the banner?" Logan says, and it's so earnest that Kendall can't help but really laugh.
"Carryin' the banner," he replies.
Logan turns away to go back inside, and Kendall is left alone on the escape.
"So that's what having a family is like," he says to himself. He slowly makes his way down the stairs.
But... Kendall doesn't want a family.
All he wants is to get out of this place.
All he wants is Santa Fe.