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Crutchie still had nightmares about the Refuge and about the fight that left him there.
He remembers so vividly how helpless he felt, pinned to the ground and being beaten with his crutch. Newsies and cops fighting all around him, kicking up dust and knocking over papers. No one there to save him.
He remembers hearing Jack scream for him, unable to help because he was too far away. He remembers being dragged off to the refuge and realizing only after he got to the refuge that his leg foot was probably broken. It hardly mattered at that point, though. It was the one on his bad leg anyway.
Still, it crushed him when Jack peaked in and he couldn't even walk to the window to talk to him.
How helpless he felt then and how helpless he felt now, tormented by his dreams and forced to relive what may have been the worst day of his life over and over again. Only, he wasn't alone now.
No, when he was startled to awakeness, he realized that there was a pair of arms around him. It took him a moment, but he soon processed the fact that it was Jack holding him.
"Shhh, 's alright" Jack muttered, tracing circles on his brother's back. "'S okay. Ya okay"
"Sorry"
"Don' apol'gize, geez" Jack said gently, his hold tightening protectively around the younger boy. "Bad dream?"
"The Refuge"
"Shit"
"I's gonna be fine" Crutchie assured him, though he wasn't sure he even believed it himself. "Just bad memories"
"I'm sorry I's couldn' stop Snyder"
"'S okay" Crutchie shrugged. "All's of us was fightin'. 'Sides, eve'one's got nighma'es. 'M not special"
"Ya jus' deal with enough already" Jack frowned. "But 's okay. I's here now, an' I's not leavin' anytime soon, ya got tha'?"
"Yeah" Crutchie smiled. "I's got tha'"