Throughout It All

2 | The Start | July 18, 1914

He can practically hear Kid Blink accusing him of being a coward. And Jack knows he can't deny it.

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I should find Mush, Jack reasons once he's finished sulking over his cowardice. Mush will know what to do.

He stops.

Why didn't Blink write this all for Mush in the first place? Why Jack?

While he'll never get an answer from Kid Blink, he might get an answer from Mush. And so he'll just have to settle for that.

If I can find Mush, that is.

Mush nearly straight up disappeared after Kid Blink's funeral. Finding him in a huge city like New York with no idea where to look is going to be a big challenge.

That's even if he's in this city at all.

Let alone if he's still in this state.

Jack stops this train of thought before his brain supplies Let alone if he's still in this country.

Well, there's only way to find Mush, and that's not by staying in one place. And so he begins his mission to find Mush, wherever he may be.

It doesn't take long for Jack to realize how hopeless this is. He has absolutely no clue where Mush is, has no idea who to ask, and no real way to find him.

He's out of options.

But that doesn't mean tonight has to be hopeless.

He may not know the whereabouts on his friends from the past...

...but he does know where to start looking for one.

David.

Jack takes in a deep breath.

Now is the time to finally make the confrontation. No avoiding it.

He is so, so not ready for this.

And yet he continues on anyway.

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He's standing outside the Jacobs' appartment, taking deep breaths. He can do this. He can do this. I can do this. Tentatively, he knocks on the door.

The person who answers the door is not David, but it's someone Jack knows: Sarah Jacobs. She's aged beautifully. She stands there with a curious air, eyebrows raised in surprise. It has been eight years since he saw her.

"You look good," is all he can muster.

She smiles with amusement. "I can say the same for you too." After a beat, she asks, "So what brings you here?"

Suddenly, a small child, no more than four or five, comes running up to Sarah. "Who's this, Mama?"

Jack does a double take.

Sure enough, this kid looks a lot like her.

"An old friend," Sarah says, bending over, but with her eyes still on Jack.

"I ..." Jack is forgetting how words work. "A kid."

"Yeah," Sarah chuckles. She scoops the little girl up and kisses her on the forehead. "We're just here visiting her grandparents."