My Ace & My Cowboy

The Angel From Ablaze Pt.2

The second he heard those words escape Race's mouth- Jack made a run for it. At that moment, nothing mattered but to see if Katherine was alive and well. He felt that the sooner he got there, the sooner, if he had too, he could save Katherine. He dodged the pedestrians walking on the streets and jumped in front of many automobiles. He didn't care about the rain, he didn't care about the many people he was pushing past or the traffic he was cutting across. All he wanted was to hold Katherine, to see her physically safe in his arms. When he got closer to Katherine's apartment, he was able to smell the burning building and see the cloud of smoke and the fire which surrounded it. He swallowed nervously before going closer.

When he reached the apartment site, he stopped abruptly, looking around for the familiar site of curly brunette hair and a beautiful face. He continued to look around, pushing past the panic-stricken people, yelling her name in hopes that she would come running towards him. He did this for a few minutes until his name was called. He turned his head quickly, gaining slight whiplash, hoping it was her voice. Instead, he saw that the rest of the Newsies followed him.

"What are ya doin'?", Jack exclaimed.

"Look, you ain't the only one who cares about her!", Crutchie responded.

Jack sighed before turning back around saying over his shoulder in a panicked voice," Please help me find Katherine", before moving forwards calling her name again.

Some of the Newsies did as they were told while others went to go help those who were struggling. Suddenly someone shouted," LOOK OUT!".

Everyone looked towards the flaming building and a side of it fell to the ground, still in flames. People moved backwards, letting out a shriek. This made Jack feel even more panicked. That was the side of the building she lived on. He felt even more frightened when he couldn't find her. Jack looked harder, breathing heavily, tears threatening to escape his eyes. The police force came in, backing everyone up away from the building so the firemen could try and help. They came in seconds later by a horse drawn steam engine allowing some to sigh with relief, except for Jack. He quickly found Crutchie and went to him shaking his shoulders.

"I can't find her!", Jack cried.

Crutchie noticed the pain and fear in his eyes and told Jack to calm down and to look again.

"I already looked everywhere! She ain't here!", he swallowed back a sob," What if she-"

Suddenly, Crutchie slapped him on the cheek, a loud smacking sound and a red, hot cheek as a result. "Don't you DARE think like dat, Kelly!", his voice was threatening, unlike Jack's ever ears before. "You need ta keep positive! She's alive! Keep on lookin!".

Jack sighed, wiping away a stray tear before nodding and running to look again. He was stopped seconds later by a reporter for The Sun. He introduced himself as Billy and asked Jack if he had seen any of the events of the past few moments. Jack looked towards the building and replied in a slightly snarky tone," Heh, yeah. See that there buildin', it's on fire and my goilfriends in there. That's it". His tone sounded stern and finalized, not wanting to answer any more questions.

"May I ask who your girlfriend is...Mr?...".

"Look, I ain't got time for dis.", Jack let out an aggravated sigh,"Just please, leave me alone", he pleaded.

Billy nodded before leaving Jack to himself. Jack looked at his surroundings. The police men were still pushing people back from the building, and the firemen were dealing with the flaming building on the ground since they couldn't control the flames high above. He noticed loads of reporters and people taking pictures. People were still running out of the building and making their way down the fire escapes, but this was slowly thinning down. Some firemen were going inside and taking bodies back out, but none of them were Katherine. He noticed his Newsies standing in the crowd watching the scene in the sky, searching for Katherine or helping those who were hurt. He smiled at them before turning towards the building again. He wanted more than anything to just run into the building and try and find her, but he still needed to be on good terms with the authorities.