Never an Absolution
By Seven of Nine


Part One: Starting Over


"C’mon, Derek!" Seven exclaimed. "Open yer mouth so I can give ya yer medicine!"

Swifty shook his head. "No! Dat stuff tastes awful! I don’t wanna take it!"

"You hoid the doctor, ‘e said to ‘ave two spoonfuls of this a day or ya ain’t gonna get well!"

"But it tastes bad!"

"I don’t care, I wanna see ya get bedda."

"I wanna get bedda too, but…"

Seven made her move. She quickly stuck the spoon in Swifty’s mouth and poured the dark liquid down his throat. Swifty made a gagging sound as he swallowed it, and when it was down, he gripped his throat and stuck his tongue out.

"You tricked me!" he exclaimed.

"That’s just the beginning." Seven said smugly. "I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve."

"I wanna cookie now."

"A cookie?"

"Yeah! Cookies’ll probably take dis taste away."

Seven shrugged. "Okay, hang on a sec."

Seven stood up and walked over to the door. She opened it and stuck her head out.

"Hey Kloppman!" she shouted. "Swifty wants a cookie!"

Seven closed the door and plopped down in the chair next to the bed. "Yer cookie’s on it’s way, your royal highness."

Swifty rolled his eyes. "Oh, ha ha ha. Very funny."

"Yer bein’ a baby an’ you know it."

"Hey, if you hadta take this medicine, you’d be sayin’ da same stuff!"

The door opened and Kloppman came in holding a cookie in his hand. He walked over to Swifty and handed it to him.

"Here you go." He said.

Swifty took the cookie. "Thanks."

Kloppman nodded and left the room. When he was gone, Swifty took a large bite out of the cookie and savored its sweet flavor.

"Mmm." He said. "It’s workin’."

Seven watched as Swifty finished his snack in a few brief minutes. When he was finished, he leaned back against his pillow, and then he squinted his eyes and he drew in a deep breath.

Seven knew what was coming, so she reached into her pocket and pulled out a napkin she had taken from Tibby’s the day before. She opened it and covered Swifty’s nose just in time for him to sneeze.

"Blow it out." Seven ordered.

Swifty did as he was told and blew his nose. Seven pulled the napkin away, folded it up and tossed it into a barrel on the other side of the room.

"Oh man, I HATE sneezin’!" Swifty exclaimed. "My nose is all runny now."

"’Fraid I can’t help you with that." Seven said. "Well, I gotta go upstairs now. I’ll be back later ta check on ya."

"Can I have a kiss?" Swifty asked, pulling out a puppy look.

Seven had to chuckle a little bit. She leaned forward and kissed Swifty’s forehead, leaving him with a surprised look on his face. Before he could say anything, Seven stopped him with her own words.

"I don’t wanna kiss ya when yer nose is all runny. See ya later."

Seven left the room with a huge smile on her face. She hummed a little bit as she walked up the stairs and entered the bunkroom. She was greeted by the newsies, and a few asked her to play some poker. She turned them all down and went to her room to read.

* * *


Swifty readjusted his pillow for the millionth time in the past ten minutes. He was bored out of his mind, and uncomfortable beyond belief. He had been in the bed for three days now and the doctor wouldn’t let him get out of bed to walk around and stretch his legs. As he lay back down again, he heard the door open. He sat up to see Kloppman coming in with a steaming cup of something.

"Hey Kloppman." Swifty said. "What’s that ya got?"

Kloppman handed him the cup. "Something for your sickness. It’ll really help with your sneezing."

Swifty took a little sniff of it since his nose was mostly clogged up. Its strong aroma somehow made it to his senses, and he took a little sip of it. His eyes grew wide at the flavor, for it was much different from anything he had ever tasted before.

"WOW!" he exclaimed. "Sheesh, what’s in this?" he asked, taking another sip.

"It’s my own little blend of tea, lemon, honey and brandy."

Swifty forced the strong concoction down and looked up at Kloppman. "Brandy?" he asked.

Kloppman nodded. "Yep. Trust me, this’ll really clear your sinuses."

Swifty took another sip. "Oh man, I’m so bored. I’ve been sick for…how long have I been sick?"

"Well, you’ve been awake for three days, and you were unconscious for a week, so you’ve been sick for ten days."

"At least I ain’t coughing up blood anymore."

"Yeah, I know how that is. Want me to bring you some books? They might bring you some comfort."

"Ah, thanks Kloppman, but I think the brandy’s startin’ ta kick in."

Kloppman raised his eyebrows. "Yep, that brandy kicks in pretty quickly. I’ll go get the books."

* * *


Seven set her book down. She had just finished it for the fourteenth time in six months and she still hadn’t gotten tired of it yet. Just reading it reminded her of Tony, her old boyfriend. He had died almost two weeks ago, but Seven knew that she couldn’t hold onto him forever and decided to move on with her life. Besides, she still had Swifty.

She picked up her book, tucked it under her arm and decided to visit Swifty. She hadn’t seen him in an hour and a half so decided to see how he was doing. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she found Jack and David talking with Spot at the fireplace. When they saw her, they acknowledged her with a hello.

"Hey." Seven said. "How’s things goin’ in Brooklyn, Spot?"

"Ah, just fine. How’s Swifty doin’?"

"’E’s seen better days, but ‘e’s gettin’ better. I’m just goin’ to check on ‘im."

Seven opened the door to the spare room and found Swifty lying on his bed with his eyes wide open. To Seven, he looked like a zombie.

"Hi Derek." She said.

"Hi." Swifty answered, his voice slightly slurred.

"How’re ya doin’?"

"Gewd." Swifty answered, rolling onto his back. "Fery, fery gewd."

Seven sat down next to his bed and saw the cup that Kloppman had brought him. She could smell the brandy, and she knew then that Swifty was drunk.

"Kloppman gave ya a hot-tottie, huh?"

"Fery, fery gewd." Swifty told her. "Gotta ‘ave it sometime."

Seven shook her head. "I don’t think so."

Swifty got closer to the edge of the bed. "My dose ain’t clogged up anybore. Wadda see?"

Seven shook her head vigorously. "No no no. I already see plenty a crusty stuff around it. Anyway, I brought ya somethin’."

"Ya brung me a present?" Swifty asked, tumbling off the bed.

Seven dropped the book on the nightstand and helped Swifty off the floor. It took a while to get him back in bed because he was so drunk.

"I’m alright, I’m alright." Swifty kept repeating.

Seven picked up her book and handed it to him. "Here. You can read dis, dis is my favorite book."

Swifty took the book and held it close. "Dat is jus’ so, so sweet." He said. "Tank you fery much."

Seven nodded. "Yer welcome."

At that very moment, Swifty fell back onto his pillow, still clutching the book and fell asleep. When Seven heard him snoring, she couldn’t help but giggle a little bit. She walked over to him and kissed his cheek.

"Good night, sleeping beauty."

* * *
One Year Later


"GIT UP! EVERYBODY UP! YER SLEEPIN’ YER LIVES AWAY!"

Seven moaned and rolled over. She wished that she had more time to sleep because she hadn’t slept much in the past few days and it stressed her out beyond belief.

She threw her blankets off and could feel the cold air biting her skin. She wanted to crawl back under her covers because she would warm up, but she couldn’t. A few more newsies shivered as they headed for the washroom.

"Hey Chase," Tweetheart, Seven’s sister said, "you cold too, or is it just me?"

"I’m cold." Seven said, frowning. "I’m cold, I’m tired, and I’m going COMPLETELY INSANE!"

"Cheese, ya don’t hafta be so snippy about it!"

Seven rolled her eyes. "I’se jus’ kiddin’, Devin. I am cold an’ tired, an’ my head hurts cuz I haven’t gotten a lotta sleep."

"Well, go ta bed earlier an’ you’ll get more sleep."

"I will go ta bed early in two nights."

"Christmas don’t count, Chase. Go ta bed early an’ you’ll get plenty a sleep."

Seven sighed and headed to the dressing stalls. She changed quickly, despite the layers of clothes to keep warm, and pulled her snow boots on. When she pushed on the door, it wouldn’t open. Frowning, she pushed extremely hard on it, forcing it to open. When it opened, she heard a loud thud and someone shouting:

"YEOUCH!"

Seven gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. She removed her hand and looked around the door to see who she hit. It was Swifty, and he was holding his nose.

"Nice shot." He said.

"Aw gee, I’m sorry!" Seven said, walking up to him.

"Hey, it ain’t dat bad. I’ve been hit harder der before."

Seven smiled a little bit and kissed his nose. "Does that make it feel better?"

Swifty nodded. "Always does."

Seven giggled a little bit, but then she noticed something. "Derek, you haven’t shaved in da past few days."

Swifty grinned and stroked the sides of his face. "Yeah, I know. I jus’ thought I’d grow me a set a whiskers. Whaddaya think?"

Seven made a face. "Yeah right. It is definitely not you."

"Well I like it."

"It makes ya look ten years older."

"Heck, I don’t care."

Swifty leaned in quickly and kissed Seven. She pushed him away and wiped her mouth off.

"Ouch! Yuck!" she exclaimed.

"Ouch?" Swifty inquired. "Yuck?"

"Ouch cuz them hairs on yer face is sharp, an’ yuck cuz a da way it feels against yer skin!"

"I kiss ya an’ ya say ‘yuck’?"

"SHAVE IT OFF!"

Swifty shrugged. "Okay, okay. I’ll shave it off tanight when I’m done sellin’ papes."

"An’ I’ll make sure a dat. I’ll shave it off for ya."

"Very funny."

"I will! Now let’s get our papes, everyone’s gone now."

* * *
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