Time Truly Divides || Newsies Time Travel AU

Chapter 1

TW: Injuries, blood and mentions of death.

Medda Larkin wasn't unaccustomed to finding people in the alleyway behind her house. Most often it was just drunks who'd gotten very lost during the night - she'd learned the hard way not to try and help them - but never had she found a teenage boy who looked like he'd been beaten within an inch of his life.

"Antonio, Charlie," she shouted into the house. "One of you bring me a phone."

Race was the first to get to her, his phone in one hand as he stabilised himself on the doorframe with the other.

"What's going on?" His gaze landed on the boy. "Who's he?"

"I don't know, baby, but I need to borrow your phone to call an ambulance."

Race seemed to snap to reality and handed the phone to Medda, letting her put in the code to unlock it.

As Medda spoke to the 911 operator, Race looked at the boy. He couldn't be much older than Race, maybe a year or so older, though it was hard to tell as all of his features were either heavily bruised or cut and bleeding.

Without realising it, Race had started to shake as he kept looking at the boy.

"Toni, come here," Medda whispered, opening her arm for a hug.

Race moved quickly and clung to Medda's side. Medda brought her free hand up to Race's hair to play with his curls, a tried and trusted method of helping him relax.

Race blocked out the conversation Medda was having, instead focusing on the steady rise and fall of her chest and the vibrations as she spoke.

"Do you wanna go upstairs and watch a movie or something?" she asked Race. "I have to wait for the paramedics but you don't need to."

"Can I see if Crutchie wants to watch a movie with me?"

"Of course, sweetie. Why don't you go ask him now?"

Race nodded and went back inside the house. Medda could tell that he was headed for his room before Crutchie's based on the loud stomping on the stairs.

"Are you still there, ma'am?" Medda blinked back to reality.

"Yes, I'm still here."

"Okay, I need you to check his pulse," the operator explained. "If his arms appear to be broken, try get it from his neck."

Medda moved over to the boy, turning her phone onto speaker and placing it on the ground beside her.

"He has a pulse. It's not very strong but it's there."

"The ambulance is two minutes out. Is there an easy way for the paramedics to get to the boy?"

"The only other way is by coming through the house," Medda explained. She was going to stand up and get the door open for the paramedics when the boy started to stir.

"He's waking up," she stated.

"Talk to him, see if you can keep him awake for when the paramedics get there."

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Medda asked the boy.

The boy blinked at her a few times and Medda wondered if he'd heard her. He lifted his head slightly from the ground before shaking it. She wasn't sure if he was trying to convey that he wasn't okay or if he was just trying to clear his head.

"Am I dead?" the boy mumbled, barely audibly.

His eyes slid shut and his head started to drop back onto the ground. Medda moved quickly to catch his head so it didn't hit off a particularly sharp stone. Sure, he was already heavily injured but Medda wasn't going to let him become more injured on her watch.