Misjudged Crimes

Disclaimers: I don't own Little Men, the story belonge to me, everything else belonge to Louisa May Alcott.

Warning: I'm basing this story off what happened at the point they got the truth in the movie, and making his reaction stronger than his just forgiving them for accusing him of theft, so this is going to show the parts of his personality that were hidden away after the argument with Dan and being accused yet again of something he wouldn't do, while Dan's personality has taken on the older brother edge and Nan has unofficially become his girlfriend.

Also this shows how he saw Jo and Fritz and what he was too afraid to say, and their decision to keep them both as adoptive sons before the holidays came and her brother-in-law died, so this is going to show what happened between those points and how the boys had found a new home from that point.

Chapter 5: Waking Up And Truths

"I did say that juvenilism is strictly forbidden on this property, young man and with that, if you have trouble in dealing with the fact that certain areas are not permitted. I suggest you go home, but I also said that discrimination is also not permitted. Your behavior is not tolerated Jack, by your decisions now, you nearly kill your classmate. And it's because you're still holding on to your beliefs of who and what the boys once were."

"You remember the song of amazing grace?" Fritz said sternly and Jack swallowed and nodded to him. "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see, direct translation a lost soul on the edge of no return was pulled back from the brink. And of no return and was blind to the fact that they possibly had a home now." Nan said sharply at him and Dan nodded in agreement as he said it to the sextet gently at that.

"Which we were, we were close to the edge, to the point of no return and someone saved us and have given us a second chance and a new lease on life now. And we were blinding ourselves to the fact we possibly had found a home finally. That someone are the Brookes, the Lawrences and the Bhears, they saved us from the brink. And gave us a home, and now we found a home and family with the Bhears, but for him, me."

"We're scared to let them in completely, because we're afraid of losing our new family, you don't understand that because you never lived with that pain. But you have everything you needed, a family, a home and in a split second you lose everything. As the pain from that loss starts building its taking months to heal from it, until finally. Something like this unlocks the door for the stages of the loss of a loved one."

"Well nice work you two, you just did the deed that caused him to nearly be destroyed and if I hadn't found him when I did, the end of the road is ending up in prison. That's why I despise people like you, you treat us like the gypsy nomads. But what do you people have against people that are not like you exactly. We ask for nothing, but there are many, many out there, that are less lucky then we are right now Jack."

"Like the man that was a friend of his mother, Oliver found a home with him, he then found his lost family, the girl that was his aunt, the young man that wanted to marry her. The man that thought he robbed him and so on, but he was just like Nat, trying to get away from the live he lead, before he was adopted finally. But the man like the one that was trying to set him up for crimes that which we did not commit now at the time."

"Once like the Artful Dodger, I gave it up and reformed, but you're just like the men that thought he was nothing, but gutter trash, a street urchin. Nothing more then criminal's, but we don't steal, no lying, no stealing and no fighting. We should all behave or they won't let you stay, if you were listening to our conversation that day. Well the roles got reversed, your father is philanthropist, but there are some less lucky then we are."

"We ask for nothing, because we can get by on our individual skills, I'm a baker, he's a musician we used that to get enough money to feed ourselves. But we know so many out there, like the gypsies in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame that are less lucky then we are." he snapped at them and they both swallowed hard at that. "I'd consider that a good enough comparision son, and you're very correct." Fritz said gently he nodded to him.

"Not quite, but what Dan told you was the truth, father." Nat said weakly as he woke up then. "Hey brother, I'm trying to arrange several things, but the Bhears are adopting us now, we're staying here, for good now, Nat." Dan said and he nodded, gently. "Nan." he said and she moved to him as she took his hand and gave him a hug as he tightened his arms around then as the duo swallowed hard at the response he gave her.

"On guard duty at the moment, before they got the entire truth, honey?" he asked and she nodded to him and pressed her forehead to his then. "I'm lucky we found you when we did, because at our age, those temperatures and the water temperature. We could have lost you, and unlike the sextet, we: you, me and Dan share this common fact to us that they don't, but it's compiled to three things." she said and he nodded to her gently.

"1) we all lost a parent or both of them, 2) we're from low income families that have to work to put food on the table. And finally 3) we all lost a sibling to the injuries I just took right now, but just how much pain and heartbreak can you take. Before you decide, if they're going to continue treating us like we're two steps above the homeless. What's the point of staying exactly at the moment, but he read it out at the moment now."

"But what do we have in common that they, these two and the other boys aside from Emil and Franz don't, and our adoptive family does?" he asked her and she nodded as the March sisters and the husbands crossed their arms as they got the message. "That we all to have live paycheck to paycheck and we're working at putting food in the table, when we were your age and up to college." Amy said sharply and he nodded to her.

"Yes that's exactly my point, to these families, if they're like Bangs or Jack's family treat us like gutter trash. Simply because we're from low class families, but that man that accused me of being a pickpocket destroyed my father's violin and by the horse and wagon. That violin belong to my father, it's a family heirloom, passed from father to son for four generations, it's all I had left of my father." he said and the trio nodded to him.

"But after the accusation of first lying and now stealing I was now seeing Tommy and Jack in a new light and they weren't not my friends whatsoever. Though the twins, Emil, and Nan were at the time, but the twins, your family. Shared this common factor with us, in truth I found that book you wrote on the shelf mother, as I read through it. And then realized why you were trying to prevent that from giving them ideas now."

"It's because you two, you and Aunt Meg, were from a family just like mine, you two had to work at putting food on the table and help your parents. But though I'm a fast learner, I never went to school, I was from a family just like yours and as was Dan. The oldest child in our families had to switch from school and to learning a trade. And just to put food on the table, but them, that's exactly my point, who was your nemesis mother."

"In school, who is this Belle Gardner and her family, if you were embarrassed at the way you look, your appearance, if Aunt Amy told you that when you were 17, Aunt Meg?" he asked and she sighed as she sat down on his bed and told them the truth. "She was from a very high upper class family, back then I was trying to pretend I was like her till Laurie talked some sense into me at the time, honey, but it was after Father was injured."

"That Marmee made it clear, that she rather I'd married a poor man and for love and be happy then marry a rich man and lose my self respect. Which is just what happened, until we ready to move out, John and I were living with my parents. And as was Jo, but Fritz was like John, he too had nothing to offer in that type of way. But neither of us cared about that, we were happy we found love, and as for Amy now as well."

"The Lawrences were from a family like the Bangs and the Fords, but he, Laurie, loved us, Beth, me and Jo like sisters, and Mr. Lawrence gave Beth his daughter's piano. After she was recovered enough from the fever to start playing again." she said and he nodded "What Dan told you, regarding things before the accusations was true, mother, we got into a fight and I was thinking of how to mend things between us at the time."

"Like he said, he thought I didn't need him anymore right now, sure I fit in, but it just takes one mistake and I'm an outcast as a result. Nan and Dan, they're my equals, he's my best friend and we're heading in the direction of becoming a couple. Though we're 12, but us, we're, in truth, a younger version of you and father. After Jack started bashing Dan, Nan walked up to me and they, she and Daisy decided to help things out."

"By a dance the night that Dan came home, but everything Emil told you was the truth, instead of waiting as I looked behind me to see if anyone was there. He kept coming up the stairs and put himself directly into my blindspot, it's his fault now. That the eggs were broken, that story I told them was really my remembering when my father was still alive and it was just us." he said as he wiped the tears off his face then as he went on.

"My father was like Aunt Beth, thanks to the pneumonia, it weakened his heart, for three years he had to take it easy, and he passed four months ago. Like a month later I got sick and Dan was doing everything he could for me. It may not have been the 4 to 5 year time frame range you had, but it's the very same thing mother." he said and to her and she nodded gently as she pulled him into a hug as he was shaking in grief then.

"That's the piece that wasn't in his record when I sent it to you Jo." John said firmly and they nodded. "I think the lord had a hand in bringing you into my life, Uncle John, a fresh start, but draining what's left of the anger at his leaving me like that here." he said and John nodded. "Tell me, how serious was it and how long were you holding it in?" Laurie asked and he sighed as he looked from them to Jo and Fritz as he said it.

"The pain from his death is still very strong, losing my entire family is bad enough, but just getting a second chance I was starting to heal after two months. Two months here I was happy, one slight mistake that was his fault in truth now at the time. Emil was acting like my equal, we were just playing around, but I slipped on the porch. And if he just stayed out of range, that nickel would not have gone down the tubes at the time."

"And that's why I threw that barb at him the other day, it's so easy for him, to believe it's one of us, us: that is your family, the Bhears and the Brookes. I didn't have to hear the conversation between mother and father, to know they were still concerned here. About making ends meet after I arrived at the moment, given the chance, I could have been using my added skills to help our parents now at the time right now."

"I was starting to see Dan was right, the rest of the boys in this house were from rich families, to them we're two steps away from street urchins. And said street urchins are pickpockets, but Oliver Twist and the Christmas Carol. What's the message in those stories exactly right now?" he asked and Amy crossed her arms at that. "Never judge a book by its cover, and never live your life in sin, said sin is greed and envy."

"We see what you're saying sweetheart and you're correct on every account, but that's why we offer charity to others, by giving toys to homeless children now." Jo said firmly and he nodded to her. "What Dan told you, every part of it was true, I fixed my flaw, I never lied to you since and why start now, you and father. I'm not about to lie to you, but somebody forgot we got a former pickpocket in this house at the moment."

"But look at it like this, I'm clean in my track record, I behave, I refused to start with the added temptations, but the drinking and smoking. I followed your rules, but the boys were acting like sheep, but that goes back to your remark father. It's just not like them: to lie or to go where Dan leads them." he said and the duo swallowed hard at that. "But, of us, my record is the one that's most clean here right now, sure it was just that once."

"But I'm not a thief, my father made certain rules regarding these things and I always obeyed them. I was too young to start drinking or smoking, my lungs are still drained after the virus I caught and I wasn't making it worse. But I wasn't a pick pocket, nor did I never break the law, I followed your rules, and that day in the barn. It's not just Dan, the pain of losing my father hit me, finally, I've been holding it in for months."

"It's not one thing or another, I'm furious he left me, my mother is gone, as is my baby brother and now my father. Just answer this you two, how much pain, how much loss can you take before you decide to just get out, before you take another blow to the heart." he said, shaking in pain and grief then as Dan turned slowly to look at Tommy and Jack and they backed up at the look of anger on his face then as he looked down then.

"And if Tommy had slowed it down and given me fifteen minutes none of this would have happened. But the trio were never forced into smoking or drinking, they did it of their own accord. Tommy smoked the cigar, Emil tried the beer and Jack did both, while swearing right in front of us, everything Dan told you father was just that. And Jack is trying to save his skin from expulsion by lying." he said and their parents nodded firmly.

As Fritz ran his hand through the hair at the back of his head and he buried it into his shoulder as he rocked him. "Nice work you fools, if you just slowed it down and let it go, you wouldn't have him on the edge of an emotional breakdown right now." Emil said with a furious tone at that news as Dan sighed. "I've been expecting this since we got separated Emil, and I was waiting for it to hit him now, he's been holding it in too long."

"Like mother, she laid into Aunt Beth for leaving her, though she was gone, but we've been together for 4 years. But it's done, now, it's not an emotional breakdown, the stages in each piece to the loss of loved one." he said and John nodded. "He's right, Tommy and Johnathan just finished it, by their own actions now. But he's been holding in for closer to 3 years regarding his mother and brother, and now his father, it's done."

"What's the last thing you remember, before we found you son?" John asked and he sighed. "Going that far out, like Dan, I decided to return, but I was keeping away from these two fools after getting snubbed twice in three months right now. So tell me what's your reason for this, because we're from low class families. I notice you don't treat our teachers and their families like this?" he said with a growl and the duo flinched at that.

"He's got a point there Tommy, my parents are a teacher and low class businessman when they were children themselves. They had to work to put food on the table, but my grandmother said that mother should marry for love and be a poor man's wife. Then marry a rich one and lose her self respect, but you know what. In the end father became a businessman and we're mid middle class now." Daisy said as she gave Nat a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you Nat, give me another chance." she asked and he smiled and nodded as he hugged her as he buried his head into her shoulder then. "Love you cousin." he said and she pressed her forehead to his as he closed his eyes as the trio surrounded him. "It doesn't matter what you two say, the damage is done Jack, Tommy, but your bashing of my brother, you call him that, you call me and Nan that."

"You call my parents that, you call the Brookes that, but though we don't have much in funds, we're just as good as you are you two. Sure we come from low income families, and we know how it feels to go without any luxaries, but we're not destitute." he said sternly to them and Meg nodded in agreement to that remark. "I remember that remark, I said the same after seeing what the Kings and Gardners had at the time back then."

"But it doesn't matter, but to put this gently we hate money, but you'd like it a lot more if you didn't have any, case in point right now, my sister became an author. But she's got that on the side, but she's a teacher, and she became like our mother." she said and the trio nodded in understanding then. "To answer the question right now, but these scratches are not from an attack by a wolf, though I did run into a pack of wolves."

"But before I ran into a pack of wolves, after I just caught my dinner, and rather then risking an injury. This was from the thin ice, of the creek ten miles away from here, and my ankle. It was caught on a broken branch and it dislocated it, before I broke the branch to free myself. But I think I had a relapse in that cold he told you about, but the muscle that was torn was in the same leg mother and with that in mind."

"The exposure from the water, it's only been two months, I guess I wasn't as recovered as Dan and I thought at the moment." he said and they nodded. "Well Dan and I decided the three of us are starting our own egg selling business right now. But Tommy lost his for two months, and for jumping to conclusions, again." Nan said and he nodded to her as he pulled her into a hug and she tightened her arms around him.

"At the moment they decided on setting up room settings for us, but us boys are being separated into three rooms and I'm your room mate, brother." Dan said and he nodded. "I'd rather have you then these two anyway Dan, you remember what I said, it's so easy for all you, to believe it was one of us." he said and the duo flinched at that. "I think that's said all there needs to be said, he's still beyond emotionally hurt right now."

"At what you did, you two, so until you make this up to him, you both lost your businesses until further notice." Laurie said firmly, leaning against the wall. "All I really need right now, in visitors are family now, but as now, it's just you, Franz and Emil at the moment, you, Daisy, Demi, Dan and Nan. And with that, until I'm ready to talk about this and let it go regarding these two, it's no contact." he said and Jo nodded firmly.

"And you two until I decided to forgive you, stay away from me you two, your flaws in your personality nearly got me killed. You understand the first thing to the 7 deadly sins, you two, I, like Mama Bhear, Aunt Amy and Aunt Meg are from a family. And below the line on which you stand, my father was a harvester, we don't make that much money. We have to work to put food on the table you two." he said sternly and they swallowed then.