Newsies Imagines

Imagine Being Badly Hurt by the Delancey Brothers

"Are you gonna apologize, newsie?" Oscar asks. Morris has you pinned against the wall, his first twisting your shirtfront.

"I didn't even do nothin'!" you respond. That wasn't quite true, but there was almost no way the brothers could pin any of those pranks on you. It could've been any of the boys. Well, come to think of it, maybe you hadn't been as sneaky as you thought.

And the Delanceys aren't going to go easy on you because you're a girl. You dress like a boy, act like a boy, speak like a boy; there's no way you're telling them otherwise.

"You didn't do nothin', which means you did somethin'," Oscar says as Morris shoves you harder against the wall. "It's a double negative. Learnt that at school."

"Didn't know they taught such advanced stuff in the second grade," you taunt, (e/c) eyes flashing in a rush of defiance.

Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say. When two beefy guys have you up against a wall in a dark alley, making fun of their lack of intelligence is the wrong way to go.

Oscar's fist lands squarely just below your ribcage. You pray your cap doesn't come off, revealing the (h/c) braids pinned to the top of your head. What a strange thought to come out of all of the pain.

You make a fist to punch back after the pain subsides a little, but one of them grabs your arms, holding you back. Another blow to your gut. You double over in pain, but a fist connects with your right eye. You see stars, and suddenly you're on the ground. The blows never stop coming.

You try to curl yourself up into a ball, but that only aggravates them more. Oscar hauls you up, grabbing your arm, but that sudden jerking brings the cap off of your head. He drops your arm, and you sink back to the ground, trying not to pass out from the pain.

"Crap," Morris breathes. "We just beat up a girl."

"Let's get outta here," Oscar replies. "Anyway, we didn't know she was a girl. We didn't know."

"Can we just leave her like that? Shouldn't we help her?"

"Are you crazy? There's somebody comin'! Let's beat it!"

The brothers' footsteps retreat. 'At least they have the decency to feel ashamed of beating up a girl,' you think to yourself before everything goes black.

When you wake up, you're in a bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets. You're back at the Lodging House, you realize. You try to turn your head, but you groan instead at the sharp pain. How did you get here anyway?

Suddenly, Race's blond curls and blue eyes are above you. Through your left eye (the other is swollen shut) you can see the concern etched on his face. "What happened to you?" he asks. "You was gone all day, an' nobody could find ya, an' when we did, you was all beat up in a alley! What happened?"

"You... you know how they guys... dared me to-" you slowly and painfully begin, lifting a hand to your forehead to try to clear the pain.

"You didn't actually do it, did ya?" Race cuts you off, knowing the answer to his own question. "So the Delanceys did all this to ya." His face is red, and his jaw is clenched tight.

You nod. "They stopped... when they realized I was a girl."

"I'm gonna kill' em!" Race cries. "I'll soak 'em real good. Don't you worry, (y/n)! I'll get 'em! They'll pay!" He stalks out. You've only seen Race's temper flare twice before, and it's never pretty.

"Race!" you cry, trying to stop him, but he's already gone. You almost pity the Delanceys for what they're about to go through.