- Chapter 134 - He's Gone Through This All Before lol -
Warnings: mentions of kidnapping, stress, injuries, blood, fear, worry
Canon Era
Third Person POV
A/N, this is Canon Era one-shot that not only has Caleb and Carson in it (for anyone who doesn't know/remember them, they're Race's older brothers who run Queens), but it's also not really a ship one, technically. I may mention him being in a relationship with Spot (probably Spralmer), but it isn't really centered mostly around a ship. Enjoy!
Race groaned a bit, his hand on his head as he sat up. "Geez," he grumbled. "What did I do? Walk into a cupboard?"
A snicker sounded from in front of him.
Race's eyes shot open.
Darkness.
Literally, total blackness.
And Race knew that voice. Race's eyebrows furrowed. "That's not a Manhattan voice... and definitely not Brooklyn or Queens," he muttered, trying to remember the voice.
"That's right, Racer."
Race's eyebrows furrowed further. He knew that voice; it was on the tip of his tongue. "Richmond..." he mumbled, starting to remember little details. "Richmond, Richmond... who do I know was kicked from Rich-" a gasp escaped Race's lips. "Rush."
A snigger came from Rush as a light was turned on. "I'm quite impressed, I must say," he commented.
Race cringed at the sudden bright light, squinting his eyes as he tried to get used to the light. He could tell you one thing for sure; this light wasn't helping the pain coming from his head.
Rush looked him over. "But, what can I say? You were one of the smartest Manhattan boys," he commented, his voice just lower than Race remembered. "And the smartest out of your brothers. You were the math-brained one, I remember."
Race's face scrunched up. "It's creepy how much you remember about me when I haven't seen you in like two years," he commented, just now realizing that his hand was tied to a pole.
Rush's lips seemed to curl upwards in a smirk. "I've had Newsies tailing you for weeks." He gestured to Newsies on either side of the room.
Race just noticed them, starting to study them. When he did get out, his brothers, Jack, and Spot liked knowing who hurt him and who was in on the plan, so picking up as many details as he could helped.
Plus, Race was decent at reading people. If he could figure out who he could press for answers without them snapping, he may get out faster.
"You know, gotta know who you're talking about," Rush told Race, a lazy smirk playing on his lips. "After all, it helps the plan."
Race sighed deeply, looking back at him. "Why am I here, Rush?" he questioned. "Why have you had Newsies tailing me for weeks?" He really couldn't believe that there had been Newsies tailing him for weeks and he hadn't noticed; he was usually pretty observant.
"Aww, Racer," Rush stuck out his bottom lip and patted Race's head, "you're a smart boy. I bet you can figure it out." He smirked at him.
Race scowled, ducking so Rush wasn't touching his head. "Don't touch me," he told him. "And really? What is it? Revenge? You want power? You're mad at one of my brothers?" he questioned, knowing.
Rush blinked. "Uh-"
"Listen, Rush, if you've been tailing me or even just living in the Newsie world for the past few years, you'll know that I've been around the block a few times," Race reminded him. "I've been kidnapped multiple times, even by my abusive father, I was almost murdered, along with my brothers, by two Queens boys who wanted power, and they kinda almost murdered me more than they almost murdered my brothers," he mumbled, "but they still tried," he stated. "I've been kidnapped twice because someone either wanted revenge on Spot or wanted power, so I'm not new to this."
Rush stood there for a moment, a bit concerned.
Race deadpanned at him. "And seriously, you should just surrender now because your scrawny band of Newsies can't beat all of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn," he told him, gesturing to his Newsies.
Rush scowled and threw a punch.
Race cried out in pain, his head hitting the wall behind him and a crack being heard from his nose.
Rush gripped Race's chin and stared into his now hazy eyes. "Maybe the chances that we'll win are slim, but they're there," he told him, his voice low. "Your brothers wouldn't want you injured, and unlike those other people, I know what I'm doing." He dropped Race's head.
Race leaned back against the wall, suddenly feeling very out of it.
Rush stared down at him.
"You can do..." Race started slowly, his eyes crossing as he stared off, "whatever you want to me... but you'll never..." he winced in pain, "never win, Rush... People like you never do."
Rush scowled a bit. "There's where you're wrong, Racetrack," he stated, bending down in front of him. He stared into Race's blue eyes. "We may all seem the same to you, but I'm different. You haven't deal with someone "like me" before," he said.
Race didn't respond, his head leaning back against the wall as he closed his eyes.
Rush scoffed a bit, standing back up. He turned his back to Race and faced his Newsies. "Pathetic," he spat. "They won't know what hit them." He looked at one of the boys. "Watch him, bring Tapes and Scruffy. We're not making the same mistakes Spade did," he stated.
The boy nodded.
"The rest of you, come with me," Rush told them, starting to leave the room. He paused and turned back to the boy. "If he does something, you have my permission to make him pay for it."
The boy smirked a bit. "Yes, Rush."
Rush left the room.
In Brooklyn
Caleb paced back and forth, his hands pulling on his hair and his eyes wide. "I'm going to kill someone, I'm actually going to kill someone," he muttered to himself. "Someone took Race. No one was watching. We don't know who it was," he rambled, panicked.
"He looks like Race doing that," Ace muttered as he watched.
Caleb head snapped up, glaring at Ace. "Shut your mouth and don't say his name unless you know any details about where he is," he snapped. "Race was in Brooklyn when he was taken, not Queens. In Queens, he wouldn't have been kidnapped," he reminded them, clearly stressed.
Carson mouthed an apology to Ace, who just shrugged it off.
"Alright, feisty," Arrow grabbed Caleb and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close, "let's calm it down."
Caleb's cheeks flushed, but he grumbled to himself and stopped, letting Arrow hold him. He glared at Spot. "I'm mad at you," he huffed out after a minute.
Spot nodded in agreement, running a hand through his hair again. "Same here," he muttered, looking worried.
"Bene, cavolo. Ora mi sento male." Caleb looked at his brother.
Carson shrugged.
Caleb sighed, leaning back against Arrow and frowning as he thought. "Mi dispiace, Carse," he muttered. "Sono davvero preoccupato, frustrato e infastidito dal fatto che non siamo riusciti a impedirgli di essere rapito di nuovo," he admitted.
"I just want to give him a hug," Carson mumbled, leaning back against the wall. "What if he's scared?"
With Race
"I'm so bored," Race grumbled, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "Can you turn off the light? It's making my head hurt worse," he said.
Scruffy rolled his eyes. "No."
Race sighed. "Can we at least play cards? I'm so bored," he complained.
Riptide rolled his eyes. "No," he answered. "Shut your mouth."
Race rolled his eyes. "Geez, I'm just trying to find something to do." He turned onto his stomach with a wince and looked at the quietest of the three newsies. "What do you like to do? I usually like math, which is weird because I left school in second grade," he stated.
The Newsie looked at him, tilting his head. He noticed another Newsie watching and quickly looked away.
Race frowned. I gotta get him alone... he'll be the one most likely to help me, he thought to himself.
Scruffy groaned. "I like throwing knives at stupid Queens boys who can't shut their mouths," he snapped.
Race looked at him. "Do you throw knives at stupid Queens boys often?" he questioned, pretending to look interested.
Scruffy scowled, pulling a blade out of his pocket. "Yes," he snapped, "and I'll throw one at you if you don't shut it."
Race fell silent. He wanted to keep going, see if he could annoy them into leaving, but he didn't really fancy getting stabbed again.
"Riptide! Scruffy!" Someone rushed into the room. "We're dealing with the East Side boys again, we need you!"
Riptide nodded. He turned towards Tapes. "Watch him," he told him curtly. "We'll be back."
Race grinned to himself as he watched the three boys leave the room.
Tapes turned to him, flinching when the door slammed behind them. He watched Race, nervously fidgeting with his shirt sleeves.
"You know, if you untie my hands, I can knock you out and make it look like it wasn't your fault I escaped," Race offered, holding up his hands.
Tapes quickly shook his head. "I- I can't," he mumbled.
Race pursed his lips. "Why?"
Tapes swallowed hard and looked at the door. "My- my brother... he'll be mad at me," he whispered. "He's- he's Rush's second..."
Race sighed softly. This was a more difficult situation than he thought.
Race understood the having siblings in power thing. His brothers were the leaders of Queens, he was Jack's second in command, and so on. And this was a bad situation for Tapes; he was trying to prove himself to his brother and Rush.
"Tapes, I'm going to get out sometime," Race reminded him; a statement that they both knew was true. "I'll have my brothers and Spot spare you from any harm if you help me, and, if you promise to keep him from coming after us, I'll let make Riptide go free too," he added, knowing that Tapes cared a lot for his brother.
Tapes was silent for a few minutes, and Race honestly thought that he wouldn't go through with the offer. Then, Tapes walked over to him and cut the rope off of him.
Race beamed and jumped up. He rubbed his wrists. "Thanks!" He cringed a bit. "Man, you all tie those ropes really tightly."
Tapes took a deep breath. "Knock me out," he whispered, trying not to seem scared. "...but is there any way you can make it not hurt?"
Race stared at him for a moment, thinking, before he remembered something. "Yeah!" He grinned. "Spot taught me a pressure point on people's bodies that makes them pass out, mainly for when we need to force Caleb to sleep."
Tapes blinked. "Okay..."
Race took Tapes's blade, causing the boy's eyes to go wide. The blond boy pulled up his pant leg and made a cut.
Tapes stared at him. "What are you doing?!" he whisper-shouted.
"Making it look believable so they think it wasn't your fault," Race answered, splattering the blood around the floor and making a trail to the window. He then smashed the window and handed the blood-covered blade back to Tapes. "I untied the leg ropes and fought you, knocking you out. The blood is for proof that we fought because you do have a blade," he explained. "I used it to break the window and left, leaving you unconscious."
Tapes was a bit shocked as he stared at him. "I don't know whether to be scared or impressed..." he mumbled, "or worried."
Race shrugged. "Be unconscious." He turned Tapes around to find the pressure point on him.
"Hey, Race?"
Race hummed, not entirely focused on the conversation.
"Thank you," Tapes whispered. "I'll convince Rip to flee to Boston with me... we've wanted to go back for years," he explained quietly.
Race smiled a bit. "Of course. Sleep well." He hit the spot on Tapes hard, watching him collapse to the floor.
Race limped over to the window and quickly climbed out.
Step 1, convince Tapes to let him go and then get out, was done.
Now, Race just needed to get back to Brooklyn.
In Brooklyn
Many hours later
Race did manage to make it to Brooklyn, but it took hours. He was in a lot more pain than he thought he was originally and almost ran into Rush and his boys while they were fighting the East Side boys.
Neither borough/group was too happy with Race and his family, so he figured it was better if he were to stay away from both.
"Race!"
Race looked up. He managed a slight, drowsy smile. "Oh... hey, Spade," he mumbled, stumbling over to him. "Nice to... to see y-" he collapsed.
Spade and DD shot forward, their eyes wide.
Spade managed to grab Race before he hit the ground, lifting him up.
"Woah..." Race's head was spinning a bit. "My legs just gave out..." He looked really confused as he leaned against Spade for support.
Spade looked at DD, extremely worried.
"Come on," DD mumbled, picking Race up, "we gotta get him to Spot and his brothers." He held Race in his arms and sprinted down the dock, to the lodge.
DD kicked open the door when he got to the lodge.
Race stumbled out of his arms, leaning against the doors. He looked up, seeing many familiar faces. "Hey, gu-" he paused, gasping, "Charlie."
Crutchie hobbled over to him, his eyes wide. "Race?" He quickly hugged him.
Jack walked into the room. "Spot's wondering what the big bang wa-" he stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening.
Race grinned loopily. "Jackie..."
Jack quickly ran toward, pulling Race and Crutchie into a hug. "Racer, where have you been?" he questioned. He pulled away. "Never mind that, what happened to you?!"
They heard feet pounding on the stairs. "I heard his name!" someone exclaimed, rushing into the room.
Two gasps were heard, and Jack let Race go, only to have him be pulled into another hug by two people.
"Race?!" Caleb stared at him, his eyes wide as he looked him over. "Oh my Befana! What happened to you?! Who did this?!" He cupped Race's cheeks, staring into his eyes. "I will make them pay, io prometto."
Race smiled a bit, hugging his brothers close. "Let's worry about that later..." he whispered. "I just want..." he trailed off, his eyes falling on another person, "...Spot."
Spot stared at him, his eyes wide. Tears stung his eyes. He couldn't believe Race was there. Yet, at the same time, of course, he was. If anyone could escape, it would be Race.
Caleb and Carson let go of Race, despite them wanting to hold him forever. They knew that if it was them coming back from being kidnapped, they'd want to see their boyfriends too.
Race stumbled over to Spot, who quickly grabbed him when he almost fell again. Race giggled lightly. "Man, this walking thing sure is hard when the world is doing circles," he mumbled.
Spot sighed in relief. He had never been happier to hear that obnoxious mix of a New York and Italian accent in his life. "My God, Racer... you scared the dying daylights out of me..." he whispered.
"Me too," Race admitted, his grip on Spot tightening. "I want to stay with you for now... and have lots of hugs... those boys are mean," he mumbled, "well, all but one. He was nice and let me go. He and his brother are going to go to Boston because they've wanted to go back for years," he rambled a bit, sounding tired.
Spot breathed out a relieved and slightly amused laugh. He hugged Race closer. "Never change, Racer... and don't ever leave me again."
"I don't plan on it." Race nuzzled closer to his boyfriend, happy to be back in his home.
2730 Words
This was an okay chapter. It feels a bit rushed, and I don't usually write Race this... laid back and fun when he's been kidnapped haha, but I decided to try it this way instead of how I usually do it for once.
Let me know what you think!