"Get 'em!" With those words the fighting started. The newsboys fought against Weisel's men for the right to be treated as valuable members of the organisation. Elmer looked around. Jack and Davey were tossing Les around in a barrel, trying to keep him out of harms way, while Weisel hit Race on the face. Katherine was trying to help Specs, who got hurt pretty bad. Then that god awe full sound came. The bulls.
"It's about time you showed up! They're slaughtering us!" Romeo exclaimed. He wasn't aware that it's the bulls that take the kids, the newsies, to the refuge. It's the bulls that work for Snyder the Spider and it's the bulls that had almost caught Elmer on the day he decided to become a newsboy.
"Cheese it! It's the bulls!" Jack yelled. The boys sprinted away, but something made Race, Albert and Elmer stop in their tracks. It was Crutchie's screams for help. All three of them turned around and ran as fast as the could to help him. The Delanceys were on both sides of Crutchie while Snyder hit the boy with his own crutch. Albert and Race looked at each other with determined faces and sprinted forward. Elmer was about to join them, but arms that wrapped around his waist stopped him. He struggled and tried to get away, but who ever held him was taller and stronger than himself. He watched as Race was hit on the head by Morris. He fell to the ground unconscious. Albert followed not long after, taken down by Oscar.
"NO! Race, Albert!" Elmer called out, but the person holding him quickly put his hand over his mouth and pulled him away from the scene. He struggled, trying to get to two of the boys he loved. He kept trying to run away as their bodies were tossed into a wagon. He kept resisting the grip even though the boys were long gone. He kept going until his body fell to the ground. His knees giving in and the person behind him helping him to go down gently instead of letting him hurt himself. Elmer let out an angry scream.
"Why?!" He turned around facing the person who had held him back from trying to save his loved ones. JoJo. It was JoJo who had hold him. It was JoJo who was there with him and was rubbing his back gently and it was JoJo who he hit in the face.
"I could've helped them!"
"No. All you could've done was getting your ass in the refuge too." JoJo rubbed his now red cheek.
"Well, then I would've kept them save there."
"You and I both know that that's not what they want." JoJo was calm, soft, in contrary to Elmer's anger.
"I'm not losing them to the refuge. I won't." Elmer already made his way to the refuge, but was stopped by someone stepping in front of him.
"You are no good to them in there." Specs stood with his arms crossed.
"What should I do then? Sit down and do nothing? No way." He tried to make his way past Specs, but the older boy wrapped his arms around him. He could go nowhere, stuck in a grip of steal. He pushed a little harder before his knees gave in one more time, Specs holding his whole weight. Tears trailed down his cheeks. The three of them made their way back to the lodging house. Specs and JoJo both at one of Elmer's side to comfort him, but also to make sure he wouldn't go after Albert and Race after all.
<>
"We have to come up with a plan." Davey stated. He looked around the room at the beaten newsboys. The spirit had been lifted a bit, but most of them still felt miserable.
"How about we burn tomorrows papes?" Finch suggested.
"No, no more violence." Davey rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"Why don't we go talk with the other turfs again?" Specs suggested.
"Or we hold a rally." Davey's face lit up. "A city wide meeting. We- we could take Medda's theater!" He stood up from where he stood. "Who tells who?"
"I'll take Flushing!" Finch shot up.
"I'll go to Richmond." Romeo was the next one to stand.
"Woodside is mine." Kid Blink stood next to Finch with crossed arms.
"I'll pay a visit to the Bronx." Sniper said.
"And who takes Brooklyn? I ain't going there again. And I got to find Jack." Davey asked.
"I'll go." Everyone looked up at Elmer. He had a determined look on his face.
"You sure? Do you really want to confront him?" JoJo asked him quietly. He nodded in response.
"So, tomorrow after selling. Medda's theater. Let's spread the word." With that the boys left.
<>
The walk over to Brooklyn was long and it gave Elmer time to think. No one knew about the relationship between Spot, Racer, Albert and himself, except for the Manhattan boys, and he was planning to keep it that way. But Spot had let them down. If he had been there, Race and Albert wouldn't be in the refuge with Crutchie and they would've won the strike a long time ago, probably.
He was ripped out of his thoughts when he heard someone call his name. He turned around to see Hot Shot run up to him. Elmer looked around and noticed that he was already at the end of the Brooklyn bridge.
"Where is Spot?" He asked without greeting. He wasn't really in the mood for his normal cheerful smalltalk.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just need to see Spot." He seemed to have little patience that day and his usual smile seemed less convincing then normal.
"The docking. You know your way around, right?" Elmer nodded and gave him a small wave goodbye. The docking was not far away and he soon saw Spot sitting in his 'thrown'.
"Hey, Elmer. What are you doing here?" Spot looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.
"We need to talk. In private." Elmer said bluntly. Spot could see the urgency and how serious it was.
"Guys! Clear out. All of you." He yelled at all the boys that were still there. It wasn't much later that they were alone. "What's wrong?" Spot's soft side, that only showed near Race, Albert and Elmer, turned on.
"You should have been there. You should have done something about it!" Elmer started out soft, but ended up screaming at him. Spot climbed down from where he sat and stood in front of Elmer.
"What do you mean?" Spot placed one of his hands on Elmer's shoulder, but Elmer shrugged it off.
"You should have been there! You should have been by our side! This is all your fault!" Elmer began hitting Spot on the chest. Spot just looked at him with wide eyes. Elmer kept hitting and hitting as tears streamed down his face once more. Spot quickly wrapped Elmer in a hug. He struggled against it at first, but soon wrapped his arm's around Spot's back too.
"What happened, El?" Spot stroke Elmer's dark curls as he spoke.
"We were fighting and the bulls came-" Elmer took a shaky breath. "They got to Crutchie. Al and Race wanted to save him, but those damn Delanceys..."
"I'm so sorry, El. We'll get them home. I promise. Even if it will cost me my own life. We'll get them home."
"No-"
"No what?" Spot looked confused at the boy in his arms.
"I- I can't lose you too."
"You won't lose me or any one. Race and Albert are strong." He looked around to make sure that they were alone. He reached his hand up and rested it on Elmer's cheek. He closed the gab between the two of them and kissed the boy he loved.
"I should head home." Elmer wiped away the tears and separated from Spot.
"I love you, you know. All three of you. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"I know." Elmer sighed before turning around. "I love you too." He whispered before walking back home again.
<>
The rally had gone as well as Elmer had expected. Jack had betrayed them, chaos had broken lose and Elmer was close to devastation. He missed his boyfriends. He missed being in the lodging house where everyone excepted their relationship and where he could cuddle up with the three most wonderful human beings of the world. Instead he was in an alley next to the lodging house. He couldn't sit inside without being reminded of their absence. JoJo had come out at some point to tell them about Katherine's plan about the Children's Crusade and about the plan to print it. They were going to do it that night. He had also told him that Jack was back and why Jack had betrayed them. Elmer wasn't one to hold a grudge for long and had immediately forgiven him for what he did when he had heard what had happened.
"El?" Elmer was ripped out of his thoughts when a hand touched his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Elmer looked right into Spot's eyes. Said boy was crouched down in front of him.
"Come with me." Spot said while pulling Elmer to his feet and dragging him along.
"Where are we going?" Elmer asked as they left the alley.
"You'll see." Was the only thing he said. They held hands as long as they could, but Spot's hand left Elmer's when the first stranger came walking past.
Elmer had looked at the ground the whole time until Spot suddenly stopped.
"Where are we?" He asked while looking up. His eyes went wide when he saw the building in front of him.
"We're going to see Race and Albert." Elmer's face lit up. He quickly sprinted to the wall and found his way over it with Spot on his heals. Elmer looked through several barred windows until he finally spotted Crutchie. If Crutchie was there, then Albert and Race should be there too or Crutchie would know where they were. Spot crouched down next to where he sat in front of the window and knocked three times. A dark haired boy came over and opened the window.
"Who are you here for?" He asked bluntly.
"Race, Albert and Crutchie." Spot told him. Elmer was to busy with thinking about what state they would find them in. Jack had told them that Crutchie couldn't walk good anymore, but he hadn't told them anything about Race or Albert. The dark haired boy walked to Crutchie, who looked over at them with a smile. He stood up on his good leg while the dark haired boy walked over to somewhere Spot and Elmer couldn't see anymore. Soon enough Race and Albert were next to Crutchie and helped him to the window. Both had smiles on their faces as if they weren't in the literal hell on earth, but their bodies said something different. Albert had a limp and had bruises and cuts all over him, while Race looked like a ghost with a black eye.
"Spot! Elmer!" Race greeted excitedly.
"Hey." Elmer was a lot softer than him. He felt stupid as another tear fell down his cheek, but he couldn't say if it was from happiness or sadness. The three boys were soon settled on the other side and Albert reached through the bars and wiped away the tear with a soft smile on his face. Elmer took his hand in his own and looked at him. He didn't dare to meet his eyes, afraid of what he may see.
"So what's going on out there?" Crutchie asked to break the silence.
"Well, Katherine came up with an idea that may end the strike and even shut the refuge for good." Spot looked at all three of them with hope in his eyes. He to wanted his boyfriends back and, even though he didn't trust Jack at the moment, he wanted Crutchie to get home too. The boy had been nothing but kind to them and their relationship. He explained the whole plan to them. From the printing press to the confrontation. The three locked up boys smiled, but Elmer didn't move. You would think he was dead if it wasn't for the slow rising of his chest at every breath.
"I leave you four alone." Crutchie said after taking a quick look at Elmer. The same dark haired boy from earlier came up to them and helped Crutchie back to the bed.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let JoJo hold me back. I should've pushed Specs away. I should've-"
"Hey- hey! I'm glad they held you back." Albert interrupted him. He rested his head against the metal bars and Elmer did the same. Their heads didn't touch though. Their hands stayed connected the whole time.
"Me too. I would be devastated if you were in here. Either of you." Race eyed the boys that weren't in the shit hole.
"I really want to be with you, but if being with you means that you are in here, I'd rather spent an entire life time waiting for you." Albert added. Elmer looked up at the boys, his head no longer resting on the cold metal.
"We're going to get you out of here." He said determined.
"Get going. It's getting dark. The boys and Katherine need you both." Race smiled at them. It held more than any word could describe. It gave a sense of comfort, of reassurance, of love. Elmer and Spot gave both boys soft kisses on their bruised knuckles before running off.
<>
"We won!" Jack yelled at the top of his lungs.
They had won. They had won the strike. A smile was on Elmer's face for the first time in days. He gave Spot a hug and hugged some of his friends that were near him. Governor Roosevelt had said some things too, but Elmer couldn't seem to understand what he was saying.
"Officers! If you please." Elmer turned around quickly, ready to fight. Spot rested his hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Look, Jack, it's Crutchie! And Race and Albert!" Romeo exclaimed.
"Hiya, fellas! You miss us?" Crutchie said excitedly.
"Yeah!" Race and Albert didn't say anything. They just looked around the crowd to look for Spot and Elmer. Said boys rushed forward, Elmer wrapping his arms around Race and Spot around Albert.
"I missed you." Race whispered in Elmer's hair before letting go and hugging Spot. Albert came over to Elmer and wrapped his arms around him too.
"I knew you could do it." Albert told him.
They spend the rest of the day cuddled up on a bed in the lodging house. Spot and Elmer didn't let Race and Albert sell after the whole refuge experience, even though both boys insisted on it. They didn't complain though, once they were in each others warm arms. Spot and Elmer told about the whole Children's crusade and erupted in laughter at the memory of Pulitzer's face when he realized that he had lost.
"What's so funny?"
"That face of him when the governor walked in. He looked so defeated. You should've been there."
I hope this strike related Spralmer fic is to your satisfaction. ;)
~ F