Fic: Turn Up the Fakes and Lies
Title: Turn Up the Fakes and Lies
Author: iron_fist123 and vinvy
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Rating: R (for language)
Word Count: 3493
Summary: Holy shit, he does have a soul.
Warnings: More bunny food, profanity, messy hair dye, belated christmas, ratty couches.
Disclaimer: We take no responsibility for the following side effects: fangirling, squeeing, excessive joy, tension, etc.
Also, we don't own.
Act 1
(Scene 1)
(Scene 2)
Act 2
(Scene 1)
(Scene 2)
(Scene 3)
Act 3
The sky was actually blue out in the desert, the kind of blue Frank remembered seeing up in the mountains when he was a kid. His uncle would take him into the middle of nowhere to hunt and at sunset everything would be a deep blue, the clouds an electrified pink. The sun itself would be a bright gold floating in molten metal on the horizon, glowing cooler and lower until it vanished, leaving a haze of green and violet above it.
The view from the top of D’s safe house was much the same.
He and the Killjoys (it was still hard to think of himself as a part of the gang) had stayed there in relative peace for the last few days. Kobra and Dr. D. had been shut up in the broadcast room for most of that time, connected to computers and trying to hack through the layers of encryption on the flash drive he’d brought them. It’d been hard to give the little plastic stick up after what he’d gone through to get it. Jet Star and Poison took shifts looking after the little girl- the disease had her in constant pain and her sores had come back with a vengeance. Jet, in a fit of morbid despair, had started digging a hole out back to bury her in. Show Pony, for his part, had been harassing Frank mercilessly and the roof was one of the only places he could hide- roller skates didn’t work so well on slanted shingles.
Frank sighed and leaned back on his elbows, tucking up one knee to keep from sliding down the slope. God, his poor mother… she was all alone on the holidays no less. He felt like complete shit for leaving her, even if it were for her own good.
A streak of red and blue darted up beside him from the balcony below.
“Hey, Ghoul,” Poison sat a little too close to him and handed over a bowl. “I brought you something.”
“Lasagna?”
“Its vegan. Don’t worry- I didn’t make it. I wasn’t even in the kitchen.”
He tried a bite of the pasta and made a sound of approval. In the sauce there was a perfect balance of garlic and basil with a hint of sugar. “Thanks, this is good.”
“Really? Good and vegan?”
He nodded and took a second, larger bite to prove his point. “Yup, just because you hate hummus doesn’t mean all vegan food is terrible. Though how anyone could hate garlic and chickpeas is beyond me.”
Poison wrinkled his nose. His damp hair fell across is eyes.
“I promise its not as vile as you think. Try it.” On impulse he offered a forkful with a liberal amount of zucchini and tofu.
Poison leaned over, grinned and wrapped his mouth around the utensil. He pulled back and chewed slowly. “It’s not so bad, but I’m still gonna classify it as bunny food.”
“You and Kobra got a bunny fetish or something?”
He threw back his head and laughed, showcasing the fresh red dye staining his neck. “Oh, that’s rich! I can’t speak for Kobra but for me that has nothing to do with my view of fresh greens.” He paused for a moment, then said, “Hey, on a serious note, I really need to talk to you about something.”
The shift in tonality startled him and Frank said nothing. He focused on staring at a point just above the sun.
“Oh, so you’re not talking to me now.”
“Why should I?” ‘Serious’ conversation made him nervous.
After a moment of silence Poison continued. “Yeah, well, then just listen. Jet said that the whole breaking into your apartment thing was kind of bugging you… and the thing with your ma…”
He sat up and turned to face him. “Kind of bugging me?”
“Well, kind of really bugging you… a lot.”
Frank huffed and went back to staring at the dying sun.
“You’re gonna make me work for it, aren’t you, the forgiveness thing? I see how it is.” He laid back and rested his head on one arm. “Look, back there in the City-” He cut himself off and was silent for a while, collecting his thoughts. “What happened was necessary. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. She’d flipped the panic switch and I lost my cool. I don’t make a habit of shooting civilians, Ghoul, nor do I like to touch them- especially the women. That shit’s not cool. But, look at it this way, I mean, they can’t say she helped us or anything. The kidnapping story will go down well and she won’t get into trouble when they’re looking for you.”
Frank raised his eyebrows and stared at him.
“… Yeah… I’m sorry, Frank.” For the first time since he’d come up on the roof his hazel eyes met Frank’s.
They were both quiet for a minute. A rare wisp of wind sent goose-bumps trailing up Frank’s back. A dim purple had settled over the horizon and a few chilly stars were popping out of the darkness.
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
“It’s okay. I deserved it for being such a bastard. I meant the bit about not touching the face, though. Don’t ever do it again.”
Frank let out a flat chuckle, “Sure thing. Why?”
“Shit happened.”
“Ah, okay-” That’s so specific, thanks. “-and what’s Kobra’s damage?” It slipped out without his permission. He hadn’t even been thinking about the tech genius on the ground floor who’d gone working through BLI’s encrypted earlier that evening. Despite D’s reassurance Frank still did not trust the distant crash queen with the flash drive of intell.
“He can’t help it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” his tone sharpened, “you get enough electricity shot through your frontal lobe and you brain gets rewired. He’s lucky to be breathing.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re pretty much family and when I became BLI’s Most-Wanted Killjoy they decided to go after him first. They weren’t gentle while interrogating him.”
Frank gulped and nodded. He’d snuck a look or two at notes on interrogations that he ran for Ms. F when he’d had to keep them overnight. He knew the particular method Poison was talking about without the details- it involved removing a portion of the skull to place wiring directly on the brain. The pain killed most before any answers could be gotten and it was a last resort following much more medieval tortures like flogging and the humiliating Street Sweeper’s Daughter.
“Enough about that, I came up here to cheer your broody ass up. So cheer the fuck up, Fun Ghoul and live up to your name.”
Frank gave him a lopsided smile. An involuntary shiver made his teeth chatter. Night had settled over the desert and into his bones.
“Cold?”
“Freezing. Fucking climate out here is insane.”
“That’s kind of what happens when you live under a glass jar,” Poison sat up and draped his arm over Frank’s shoulders.
Frank looked over at him, expression blank. “You‘re seriously gonna pull that teenaged bullshit?”
“Is it working?” Poison leaned in.
Frank shrugged, noncommittal, turning back to the starry sky. “Maybe.”
“Frank.” There was a warm hand on his cheek, a thumb rubbing circles into his skin. Frank closed his eyes, waiting. The hand turned his head gently. “Frank, open your eyes and look at me.”
He could feel Poison’s breath ghosting over his lips and smell the sharp chemicals in his hair. What am I doing?
Before he had a chance to obey the Killjoy kissed him.
“Fuckin’ impatient.”
Poison pulled back and smiled, something genuine that reached his eyes. “Duh.” He leaned in again, pressing his chapped lips to Frank’s.
There were no fireworks, nothing magical happened. It was a tentative, tasting kiss. The most it did was warm Frank’s cheeks. But it made him feel good, like he was needed, and Poison was gripping his shirt in what Frank would have thought was desperation if it were anyone else.
Faster than it began, it ended and Poison was standing. “We should go see if Kobra’s done decoding the flash drive.”
Frank cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“And besides, we’re missing all the fun. Christmas comes but once a year. Jet Star is making snugglers and those things are famous.”
He slid down to the gutter and hopped onto the balcony, following Poison into the house.
~~
“Hey, should she be down here?”
Jet Star looked up from the pan he was adding cocoa to and to where Frank had pointed. Grace stood in the doorway.
After a moment of shocked silence he said, “You feelin’ okay kid?”
She shrugged and scratched at a scab on her cheek. “I’m hungry, I guess.”
Jet nodded, “Okay, that I can take care of. We have some food left from dinner- go sit and I’ll bring you some.”
They both stared at the door once she’d left.
“Didn’t you say she was gonna die?”
“Yeah,” Jet sounded amazed, “she should be dead. Once the hallucinations are done with massive organ failure sets in… She really should be dead right about now. Think she likes zucchini?” He pulled open the oven and retrieved the dish of lasagna from it, unceremoniously dumping the remains of it on a plate.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Most kids hate veggies but she’ll probably like whatever she can get. Getting well tends to make one indiscriminately ravenous.” He took the plate that was handed to him- apparently he was playing waiter.
“Oh, Ghoul, I don’t know if Poison told you but I’m making drinks. How many shots of peppermint schnapps do you want in your snuggler?”
“Yeah, he told me and just one shot, thanks.”
“You lack a sense of adventure, man.”
Kobra wandered into the dining room as Grace started eating. He had a laptop under his arm and circles around his eyes. “She’s not dead.”
“Nope.”
The blonde sat in the chair beside the girl. “You’re Grace, right? I’m Kobra Kid.“
She didn’t reply.
“You know, I think you’re up past your bed time.”
Grace’s bright eyes widened and she stopped devouring the lasagna. She looked thoroughly intimidated.
“After you eat you should scamper off to bed like a good little girl- Santa won’t bring you anything for Christmas if you don’t.”
“Who’s Santa?”
He raised an eyebrow and his expression softened. “Who’s Santa? You don’t know about Santa? Jeez, you’ve been living under a rock. Well, Grace, Santa is a great guy. Once a year, on the day most folks now call Solstice, he goes to every single house in the world and brings gifts to the girls and boys who‘ve been good all year. If you aren‘t asleep when he‘s at your house, though, he won‘t bring you anything.”
Frank stared at the scene before him at a loss for words.
“I don’t think Santa would be bringing me anything even if I did go to sleep,” she said in a small voice.
Kobra frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Back there the men in white were always talking about how I wasn’t doing good-”
“The men in white?” Kobra let out a barking laugh, “Let me tell you something about the men in white, Grace. Those are a bunch of mean people who never got presents on Christmas. They don’t know anything about anyone- not you or me or my br- Poison or Jet or even the space-brain midget Fun Ghoul over there. They especially don’t know anything about being good. Fuck the men in white.”
“You said a swear.”
“Yeah, that’s right, I did, didn’t I?”
A little smile touched her lips. “I won’t tell, though.”
“Thanks, Grace. ..You know what?”
“What?”
He leaned towards her and gave her a genuine smile. “I think you really ought to go to bed soon because- and I’m very confident of this- you seem like a kid who’s been very good this year and it would be a shame for you not to get a present just because you weren’t in bed.”
“Okay,” she slid off her chair and made her way back towards the stairs, “Thanks for dinner Mr. Ghoul.”
“Uh, no problem. Good night.”
She waved at them both and left.
Frank stared at Kobra for a long time. Holy shit, he does have a soul.
“You got a problem asshole?”
Sometimes. “Not at all. What’s ‘Santa’ gonna bring her for Solstice?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet. Probably a flasher. Something easy to make from spare parts for sure. Maybe a phaser, since her hands are small.”
“You’re gonna give a kid a gun?”
“I trust her with one more than I trust you.”
“You are such a-”
“Hey now children, play nice,” Dr. Death Defying rolled into the room followed by an anxious looking Party Poison. “You’re stuck workin’ with each other- don’t make it harder than it has to be.”
Kobra cast Frank a smug look. “You’re right D. Look, I’ve got some stuff to take care of and I already know what this little powwow is about so do you mind if I take off?”
“Go on, Kobra. You’ve done enough.”
The man nodded wit ha quick, “Thanks, D,” and was gone.
The atmosphere in the room changed almost immediately as D leaned in. “We’ve got a serious problem, worse than I thought. I always suspected it, but what was on that drive confirmed everything.”
Frank glanced over at Jet- when did he slip in?- who was listening intently. “Wait, wait, what are you talking about?”
“The Zone Virus,” Jet supplied. “You know about that.”
Frank shook his head, still lost.
“Oh, come on. You know what I’m talking about. The Zone Virus. The same thing that almost reduced Grace to dust. We talked about it in the car.”
Frank shook his head again, not understanding.
Poison looked over at him incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re a spy, you should have known this already!”
“I specifically instructed him not to look at any of the info that he passed over back when he began,” D interrupted, giving Poison a hard look. “I didn’t want him to be able to compromise the situation if he got found out and questioned.”
“Okay, well, I’m still here. Why don’t you just explain this now?”
“The symptoms are ugly,” D began, “It starts with a fever, then oozing sores, pain, nausea and hallucinations. Then the body just shuts down- your organs turn off one by one- and you’re dead. BLI had some scientists design it. The idea was to have a super-bug around to use as a deterrent and to keep people afraid of the Zones.
“Somebody fucked up somewhere, though, and let it out early. The reports don’t detail how it got out into the Zones but its been spreading for the last few months. BLI’s been trying to synthesize a cure using children because they’re easy to find and their bodies tend to react to illness faster. Every test subject they’ve used so far has died- including Grace, according to her file. She fell into a coma then flat-lined once she was through the open-sore stage.”
“But she’s fine.”
“Yeah, we know. That‘s the important part: she survived.”
~~
Frank stretched out on the mattress, kicking the blankets off with his feet. The early morning sun was peeking through his window, bringing heat with it. The last eight hours of cold and dark had been a nice reprieve. He would honestly miss them now that the nights were going to start shortening again. He cracked his neck and sighed. He had no work to do, no kidnappers to worry about, no intell to guard and his shoulder didn’t hurt- so far this Solstice was turning out to be the highlight of his year.
Last night… Did that really happen?
Well, something had happened, that was for sure. With the kid alive and the need to figure out how to cure the Zone Virus established everyone had relaxed, sitting around the table and sipping at the spiked hot chocolate Jot Star had provided. (Frank had had soy milk in his, of course.) Kobra had returned around eleven to join them. The Killjoys spent the next hour or so recalling various skirmishes with BLI and rumors about the infamous Boss Lady, bickering over little details and laughing. Frank had watched and listened, content not to be causing any tension in the group.
Then there was Poison, not getting up from his side once during the entire evening. There were no unnerving stares but he’d picked up Frank’s hand telling a story and started playing with his fingers while he spoke. Frank had sat there trying to look as nonchalant as the red head. But Gerard (Frank coveted knowing the name Kobra had let slip and now he couldn‘t help but use it to differentiate between the hard-ass-Poison side, and the bubbly-Gerard-side that the man had recently started showing off) kept his cool like no other and Frank... well, blushing was becoming a very bad habit.
And he kissed me on the roof… He fuckin’ kissed me.
The memory made him grin. That was unbelievable and good. Romantic in a screwed up way and just-
“Merry Fuckin’ Christmas!” The door swung open and crashed into the wall. Poison ran into the room and towered over the bed.
Frank tried his best to shield himself with his pillow. “What is wrong with you? I could have been fuckin’ naked!
“Get up! I think Santa came last night!”
He yelped as the dregs of his blankets and sheets were pulled away. “That shit’s for kids!”
Poison grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. “You aren’t a kid? Your height must have had the old buzzard fooled ‘cause there’s something’ down there with your name on it! Come on!”
Frank let out a cry of protest but allowed himself to be drug downstairs.
Grace sat on the couch rubbing her eyes wearing one of Frank’s old band shirts- it hung to the dirty knees of her white BLI pants. Jet Star and Kobra Kid flanked her, looking like they’d been woken in the same way he was: abruptly and with no concern for their comfort.
“Is he always this enthusiastic?”
Kobra nodded. “Ever since we were kids. This is his favorite holiday.”
One corner of the living room had a cardboard pine tree propped in it. Poison snatched up a package from beside it. It was wrapped with back issues of Better Times and tied with string. He handed it to Grace and waited for her to open it. Kobra’s face was blank but he fidgeted a bit.
Grace tore at the paper, a wide smile on her face. She couldn’t have known what the meaning of it all was, but she was excited nonetheless- presents always did that to people. Frank remembered one of his very first Christmases, before BLI had taken control and made everything meaningless. He’d probably been around five years old and his dad had still lived with them. He had gotten his first guitar that year. He’d been so happy he hadn’t stopped playing for days even though he’d had no clue what he was doing.
The newspaper fell to the floor and Grace sat turning a phaser over in her hands. It was painted in rainbow stripes. Kobra moved forward hesitantly.
“That’s called a phaser, Grace. Its like the flasher I carry. I’m gonna teach you how to use it right,” he told her. “But you should only ever use it when you have to, okay? It’s not a toy- it’s to keep you safe so you can keep runnin’ with us for a long time.”
Grace nodded, still staring in awe at the weapon that fit perfectly in her small hand. “Can I try it now?”
“Yeah, come on, I’ll set up some cans in the back.” Kobra looked pointedly at Jet. “You wanna come with?”
Jet grinned and nodded, following Grace and Kobra out the back door. Frank looked over a Poison, who was shifting side to side nervously. The red head darted forward, placing a package in Frank‘s hands. His fingers lingered, brushing against Frank‘s own. “Told you that Santa brought something for you.”
Frank stared at the package in his hands for a moment before looking back up at Poison. “Ah, I see.”
“Come on, open it.”
Frank sat on the ratty couch and searched for the seam in the paper. He slid a fingertip under it, breaking the seal and taking care not to rip the paper.
“Come on, it’s just old newspaper,” Poison grinned. “It’s not gonna kill you to rip it, right? Or are you that much of a tree hugger?”
Frank mock-glared, then tore the paper, trying to mask the sudden excitement that hit him. When he looked back down at his hands he was confused for all of a second then he smiled. The cut out eyes of a Frankenstein mask stared up at him, its face air brushed purple with black stitching. “This … is beyond fuckin’ shiny,” he turned to Poison in gratitude, “Thank you.”
He clucked his tongue. “No, thank Santa for that. This one is from me,” he quickly dropped something in Frank’s lap.
Frank picked up the flasher and turned it over in his hands. It was bottle green with the word ‘Horror’ etched into one side and a vampire sticker across the barrel. “Gerard, this is amazing. You made this?”
“Just painted it and whatever.” He rubbed the back of his neck and Frank thought he might just be flushed. “I had a spare flasher in the trunk and figured you needed one. … Wait- what did you call me?”
It was Frank’s turn to go pink. “I didn’t- I don’t- I heard Kobra call you ‘Gerard’ back in the diner that first day.”
He fixed Frank with a hard look. He must have decided he wasn’t lying because he nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t go advertising it, yeah? Names aren’t the sort of thing you tell strangers.”
“Absolutely.”
Poison smiled that genuine smile again. “Come here.” He held his hand out. “I wanna show you something.”
Frank set the mask and flasher aside and stood, linking fingers with Poison. The red head’s smile widened and he pulled Frank towards the door and out into the backyard.
“That’s my brother right there,” Poison pointed at Kobra proudly. The man was kneeling on the ground next to Grace, showing her how to aim at the cans he had set up on an old table a few yards away. “He’ll tell you his name when he’s ready, but I just wanted you to know that he’s my brother. The guy you see right here, right now- the one who’s helping that little girl learn how to take care of herself. I want you to remember that.”
Frank nodded, watching Poison carefully- he wasn’t done yet.
“Over there, he’s my brother too.” Poison turned to Jet Star, who was leaning against the house, watching Kobra and Grace with an amused smile. “Not by blood, but I know him and he knows me so well now that we could be brothers.” Poison turned to Frank now, brushing a hand against his cheek. “This is my family, and I want you to be a part of it now, but I need your honesty. I need to know that I can trust you. Can I trust you?”
“Yeah,” he met Poison’s even gaze, “yeah, you can.”
( A note from iron_fist123: OH HEY "EVENTUALLY." GUESS WHAT, BITCH, YOU ARE GONE, BABY.)
Author: iron_fist123 and vinvy
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Rating: R (for language)
Word Count: 3493
Summary: Holy shit, he does have a soul.
Warnings: More bunny food, profanity, messy hair dye, belated christmas, ratty couches.
Disclaimer: We take no responsibility for the following side effects: fangirling, squeeing, excessive joy, tension, etc.
Also, we don't own.
Act 1
(Scene 1)
(Scene 2)
Act 2
(Scene 1)
(Scene 2)
(Scene 3)
Act 3
The sky was actually blue out in the desert, the kind of blue Frank remembered seeing up in the mountains when he was a kid. His uncle would take him into the middle of nowhere to hunt and at sunset everything would be a deep blue, the clouds an electrified pink. The sun itself would be a bright gold floating in molten metal on the horizon, glowing cooler and lower until it vanished, leaving a haze of green and violet above it.
The view from the top of D’s safe house was much the same.
He and the Killjoys (it was still hard to think of himself as a part of the gang) had stayed there in relative peace for the last few days. Kobra and Dr. D. had been shut up in the broadcast room for most of that time, connected to computers and trying to hack through the layers of encryption on the flash drive he’d brought them. It’d been hard to give the little plastic stick up after what he’d gone through to get it. Jet Star and Poison took shifts looking after the little girl- the disease had her in constant pain and her sores had come back with a vengeance. Jet, in a fit of morbid despair, had started digging a hole out back to bury her in. Show Pony, for his part, had been harassing Frank mercilessly and the roof was one of the only places he could hide- roller skates didn’t work so well on slanted shingles.
Frank sighed and leaned back on his elbows, tucking up one knee to keep from sliding down the slope. God, his poor mother… she was all alone on the holidays no less. He felt like complete shit for leaving her, even if it were for her own good.
A streak of red and blue darted up beside him from the balcony below.
“Hey, Ghoul,” Poison sat a little too close to him and handed over a bowl. “I brought you something.”
“Lasagna?”
“Its vegan. Don’t worry- I didn’t make it. I wasn’t even in the kitchen.”
He tried a bite of the pasta and made a sound of approval. In the sauce there was a perfect balance of garlic and basil with a hint of sugar. “Thanks, this is good.”
“Really? Good and vegan?”
He nodded and took a second, larger bite to prove his point. “Yup, just because you hate hummus doesn’t mean all vegan food is terrible. Though how anyone could hate garlic and chickpeas is beyond me.”
Poison wrinkled his nose. His damp hair fell across is eyes.
“I promise its not as vile as you think. Try it.” On impulse he offered a forkful with a liberal amount of zucchini and tofu.
Poison leaned over, grinned and wrapped his mouth around the utensil. He pulled back and chewed slowly. “It’s not so bad, but I’m still gonna classify it as bunny food.”
“You and Kobra got a bunny fetish or something?”
He threw back his head and laughed, showcasing the fresh red dye staining his neck. “Oh, that’s rich! I can’t speak for Kobra but for me that has nothing to do with my view of fresh greens.” He paused for a moment, then said, “Hey, on a serious note, I really need to talk to you about something.”
The shift in tonality startled him and Frank said nothing. He focused on staring at a point just above the sun.
“Oh, so you’re not talking to me now.”
“Why should I?” ‘Serious’ conversation made him nervous.
After a moment of silence Poison continued. “Yeah, well, then just listen. Jet said that the whole breaking into your apartment thing was kind of bugging you… and the thing with your ma…”
He sat up and turned to face him. “Kind of bugging me?”
“Well, kind of really bugging you… a lot.”
Frank huffed and went back to staring at the dying sun.
“You’re gonna make me work for it, aren’t you, the forgiveness thing? I see how it is.” He laid back and rested his head on one arm. “Look, back there in the City-” He cut himself off and was silent for a while, collecting his thoughts. “What happened was necessary. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. She’d flipped the panic switch and I lost my cool. I don’t make a habit of shooting civilians, Ghoul, nor do I like to touch them- especially the women. That shit’s not cool. But, look at it this way, I mean, they can’t say she helped us or anything. The kidnapping story will go down well and she won’t get into trouble when they’re looking for you.”
Frank raised his eyebrows and stared at him.
“… Yeah… I’m sorry, Frank.” For the first time since he’d come up on the roof his hazel eyes met Frank’s.
They were both quiet for a minute. A rare wisp of wind sent goose-bumps trailing up Frank’s back. A dim purple had settled over the horizon and a few chilly stars were popping out of the darkness.
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
“It’s okay. I deserved it for being such a bastard. I meant the bit about not touching the face, though. Don’t ever do it again.”
Frank let out a flat chuckle, “Sure thing. Why?”
“Shit happened.”
“Ah, okay-” That’s so specific, thanks. “-and what’s Kobra’s damage?” It slipped out without his permission. He hadn’t even been thinking about the tech genius on the ground floor who’d gone working through BLI’s encrypted earlier that evening. Despite D’s reassurance Frank still did not trust the distant crash queen with the flash drive of intell.
“He can’t help it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” his tone sharpened, “you get enough electricity shot through your frontal lobe and you brain gets rewired. He’s lucky to be breathing.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re pretty much family and when I became BLI’s Most-Wanted Killjoy they decided to go after him first. They weren’t gentle while interrogating him.”
Frank gulped and nodded. He’d snuck a look or two at notes on interrogations that he ran for Ms. F when he’d had to keep them overnight. He knew the particular method Poison was talking about without the details- it involved removing a portion of the skull to place wiring directly on the brain. The pain killed most before any answers could be gotten and it was a last resort following much more medieval tortures like flogging and the humiliating Street Sweeper’s Daughter.
“Enough about that, I came up here to cheer your broody ass up. So cheer the fuck up, Fun Ghoul and live up to your name.”
Frank gave him a lopsided smile. An involuntary shiver made his teeth chatter. Night had settled over the desert and into his bones.
“Cold?”
“Freezing. Fucking climate out here is insane.”
“That’s kind of what happens when you live under a glass jar,” Poison sat up and draped his arm over Frank’s shoulders.
Frank looked over at him, expression blank. “You‘re seriously gonna pull that teenaged bullshit?”
“Is it working?” Poison leaned in.
Frank shrugged, noncommittal, turning back to the starry sky. “Maybe.”
“Frank.” There was a warm hand on his cheek, a thumb rubbing circles into his skin. Frank closed his eyes, waiting. The hand turned his head gently. “Frank, open your eyes and look at me.”
He could feel Poison’s breath ghosting over his lips and smell the sharp chemicals in his hair. What am I doing?
Before he had a chance to obey the Killjoy kissed him.
“Fuckin’ impatient.”
Poison pulled back and smiled, something genuine that reached his eyes. “Duh.” He leaned in again, pressing his chapped lips to Frank’s.
There were no fireworks, nothing magical happened. It was a tentative, tasting kiss. The most it did was warm Frank’s cheeks. But it made him feel good, like he was needed, and Poison was gripping his shirt in what Frank would have thought was desperation if it were anyone else.
Faster than it began, it ended and Poison was standing. “We should go see if Kobra’s done decoding the flash drive.”
Frank cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“And besides, we’re missing all the fun. Christmas comes but once a year. Jet Star is making snugglers and those things are famous.”
He slid down to the gutter and hopped onto the balcony, following Poison into the house.
~~
“Hey, should she be down here?”
Jet Star looked up from the pan he was adding cocoa to and to where Frank had pointed. Grace stood in the doorway.
After a moment of shocked silence he said, “You feelin’ okay kid?”
She shrugged and scratched at a scab on her cheek. “I’m hungry, I guess.”
Jet nodded, “Okay, that I can take care of. We have some food left from dinner- go sit and I’ll bring you some.”
They both stared at the door once she’d left.
“Didn’t you say she was gonna die?”
“Yeah,” Jet sounded amazed, “she should be dead. Once the hallucinations are done with massive organ failure sets in… She really should be dead right about now. Think she likes zucchini?” He pulled open the oven and retrieved the dish of lasagna from it, unceremoniously dumping the remains of it on a plate.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Most kids hate veggies but she’ll probably like whatever she can get. Getting well tends to make one indiscriminately ravenous.” He took the plate that was handed to him- apparently he was playing waiter.
“Oh, Ghoul, I don’t know if Poison told you but I’m making drinks. How many shots of peppermint schnapps do you want in your snuggler?”
“Yeah, he told me and just one shot, thanks.”
“You lack a sense of adventure, man.”
Kobra wandered into the dining room as Grace started eating. He had a laptop under his arm and circles around his eyes. “She’s not dead.”
“Nope.”
The blonde sat in the chair beside the girl. “You’re Grace, right? I’m Kobra Kid.“
She didn’t reply.
“You know, I think you’re up past your bed time.”
Grace’s bright eyes widened and she stopped devouring the lasagna. She looked thoroughly intimidated.
“After you eat you should scamper off to bed like a good little girl- Santa won’t bring you anything for Christmas if you don’t.”
“Who’s Santa?”
He raised an eyebrow and his expression softened. “Who’s Santa? You don’t know about Santa? Jeez, you’ve been living under a rock. Well, Grace, Santa is a great guy. Once a year, on the day most folks now call Solstice, he goes to every single house in the world and brings gifts to the girls and boys who‘ve been good all year. If you aren‘t asleep when he‘s at your house, though, he won‘t bring you anything.”
Frank stared at the scene before him at a loss for words.
“I don’t think Santa would be bringing me anything even if I did go to sleep,” she said in a small voice.
Kobra frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Back there the men in white were always talking about how I wasn’t doing good-”
“The men in white?” Kobra let out a barking laugh, “Let me tell you something about the men in white, Grace. Those are a bunch of mean people who never got presents on Christmas. They don’t know anything about anyone- not you or me or my br- Poison or Jet or even the space-brain midget Fun Ghoul over there. They especially don’t know anything about being good. Fuck the men in white.”
“You said a swear.”
“Yeah, that’s right, I did, didn’t I?”
A little smile touched her lips. “I won’t tell, though.”
“Thanks, Grace. ..You know what?”
“What?”
He leaned towards her and gave her a genuine smile. “I think you really ought to go to bed soon because- and I’m very confident of this- you seem like a kid who’s been very good this year and it would be a shame for you not to get a present just because you weren’t in bed.”
“Okay,” she slid off her chair and made her way back towards the stairs, “Thanks for dinner Mr. Ghoul.”
“Uh, no problem. Good night.”
She waved at them both and left.
Frank stared at Kobra for a long time. Holy shit, he does have a soul.
“You got a problem asshole?”
Sometimes. “Not at all. What’s ‘Santa’ gonna bring her for Solstice?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet. Probably a flasher. Something easy to make from spare parts for sure. Maybe a phaser, since her hands are small.”
“You’re gonna give a kid a gun?”
“I trust her with one more than I trust you.”
“You are such a-”
“Hey now children, play nice,” Dr. Death Defying rolled into the room followed by an anxious looking Party Poison. “You’re stuck workin’ with each other- don’t make it harder than it has to be.”
Kobra cast Frank a smug look. “You’re right D. Look, I’ve got some stuff to take care of and I already know what this little powwow is about so do you mind if I take off?”
“Go on, Kobra. You’ve done enough.”
The man nodded wit ha quick, “Thanks, D,” and was gone.
The atmosphere in the room changed almost immediately as D leaned in. “We’ve got a serious problem, worse than I thought. I always suspected it, but what was on that drive confirmed everything.”
Frank glanced over at Jet- when did he slip in?- who was listening intently. “Wait, wait, what are you talking about?”
“The Zone Virus,” Jet supplied. “You know about that.”
Frank shook his head, still lost.
“Oh, come on. You know what I’m talking about. The Zone Virus. The same thing that almost reduced Grace to dust. We talked about it in the car.”
Frank shook his head again, not understanding.
Poison looked over at him incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re a spy, you should have known this already!”
“I specifically instructed him not to look at any of the info that he passed over back when he began,” D interrupted, giving Poison a hard look. “I didn’t want him to be able to compromise the situation if he got found out and questioned.”
“Okay, well, I’m still here. Why don’t you just explain this now?”
“The symptoms are ugly,” D began, “It starts with a fever, then oozing sores, pain, nausea and hallucinations. Then the body just shuts down- your organs turn off one by one- and you’re dead. BLI had some scientists design it. The idea was to have a super-bug around to use as a deterrent and to keep people afraid of the Zones.
“Somebody fucked up somewhere, though, and let it out early. The reports don’t detail how it got out into the Zones but its been spreading for the last few months. BLI’s been trying to synthesize a cure using children because they’re easy to find and their bodies tend to react to illness faster. Every test subject they’ve used so far has died- including Grace, according to her file. She fell into a coma then flat-lined once she was through the open-sore stage.”
“But she’s fine.”
“Yeah, we know. That‘s the important part: she survived.”
~~
Frank stretched out on the mattress, kicking the blankets off with his feet. The early morning sun was peeking through his window, bringing heat with it. The last eight hours of cold and dark had been a nice reprieve. He would honestly miss them now that the nights were going to start shortening again. He cracked his neck and sighed. He had no work to do, no kidnappers to worry about, no intell to guard and his shoulder didn’t hurt- so far this Solstice was turning out to be the highlight of his year.
Last night… Did that really happen?
Well, something had happened, that was for sure. With the kid alive and the need to figure out how to cure the Zone Virus established everyone had relaxed, sitting around the table and sipping at the spiked hot chocolate Jot Star had provided. (Frank had had soy milk in his, of course.) Kobra had returned around eleven to join them. The Killjoys spent the next hour or so recalling various skirmishes with BLI and rumors about the infamous Boss Lady, bickering over little details and laughing. Frank had watched and listened, content not to be causing any tension in the group.
Then there was Poison, not getting up from his side once during the entire evening. There were no unnerving stares but he’d picked up Frank’s hand telling a story and started playing with his fingers while he spoke. Frank had sat there trying to look as nonchalant as the red head. But Gerard (Frank coveted knowing the name Kobra had let slip and now he couldn‘t help but use it to differentiate between the hard-ass-Poison side, and the bubbly-Gerard-side that the man had recently started showing off) kept his cool like no other and Frank... well, blushing was becoming a very bad habit.
And he kissed me on the roof… He fuckin’ kissed me.
The memory made him grin. That was unbelievable and good. Romantic in a screwed up way and just-
“Merry Fuckin’ Christmas!” The door swung open and crashed into the wall. Poison ran into the room and towered over the bed.
Frank tried his best to shield himself with his pillow. “What is wrong with you? I could have been fuckin’ naked!
“Get up! I think Santa came last night!”
He yelped as the dregs of his blankets and sheets were pulled away. “That shit’s for kids!”
Poison grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. “You aren’t a kid? Your height must have had the old buzzard fooled ‘cause there’s something’ down there with your name on it! Come on!”
Frank let out a cry of protest but allowed himself to be drug downstairs.
Grace sat on the couch rubbing her eyes wearing one of Frank’s old band shirts- it hung to the dirty knees of her white BLI pants. Jet Star and Kobra Kid flanked her, looking like they’d been woken in the same way he was: abruptly and with no concern for their comfort.
“Is he always this enthusiastic?”
Kobra nodded. “Ever since we were kids. This is his favorite holiday.”
One corner of the living room had a cardboard pine tree propped in it. Poison snatched up a package from beside it. It was wrapped with back issues of Better Times and tied with string. He handed it to Grace and waited for her to open it. Kobra’s face was blank but he fidgeted a bit.
Grace tore at the paper, a wide smile on her face. She couldn’t have known what the meaning of it all was, but she was excited nonetheless- presents always did that to people. Frank remembered one of his very first Christmases, before BLI had taken control and made everything meaningless. He’d probably been around five years old and his dad had still lived with them. He had gotten his first guitar that year. He’d been so happy he hadn’t stopped playing for days even though he’d had no clue what he was doing.
The newspaper fell to the floor and Grace sat turning a phaser over in her hands. It was painted in rainbow stripes. Kobra moved forward hesitantly.
“That’s called a phaser, Grace. Its like the flasher I carry. I’m gonna teach you how to use it right,” he told her. “But you should only ever use it when you have to, okay? It’s not a toy- it’s to keep you safe so you can keep runnin’ with us for a long time.”
Grace nodded, still staring in awe at the weapon that fit perfectly in her small hand. “Can I try it now?”
“Yeah, come on, I’ll set up some cans in the back.” Kobra looked pointedly at Jet. “You wanna come with?”
Jet grinned and nodded, following Grace and Kobra out the back door. Frank looked over a Poison, who was shifting side to side nervously. The red head darted forward, placing a package in Frank‘s hands. His fingers lingered, brushing against Frank‘s own. “Told you that Santa brought something for you.”
Frank stared at the package in his hands for a moment before looking back up at Poison. “Ah, I see.”
“Come on, open it.”
Frank sat on the ratty couch and searched for the seam in the paper. He slid a fingertip under it, breaking the seal and taking care not to rip the paper.
“Come on, it’s just old newspaper,” Poison grinned. “It’s not gonna kill you to rip it, right? Or are you that much of a tree hugger?”
Frank mock-glared, then tore the paper, trying to mask the sudden excitement that hit him. When he looked back down at his hands he was confused for all of a second then he smiled. The cut out eyes of a Frankenstein mask stared up at him, its face air brushed purple with black stitching. “This … is beyond fuckin’ shiny,” he turned to Poison in gratitude, “Thank you.”
He clucked his tongue. “No, thank Santa for that. This one is from me,” he quickly dropped something in Frank’s lap.
Frank picked up the flasher and turned it over in his hands. It was bottle green with the word ‘Horror’ etched into one side and a vampire sticker across the barrel. “Gerard, this is amazing. You made this?”
“Just painted it and whatever.” He rubbed the back of his neck and Frank thought he might just be flushed. “I had a spare flasher in the trunk and figured you needed one. … Wait- what did you call me?”
It was Frank’s turn to go pink. “I didn’t- I don’t- I heard Kobra call you ‘Gerard’ back in the diner that first day.”
He fixed Frank with a hard look. He must have decided he wasn’t lying because he nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t go advertising it, yeah? Names aren’t the sort of thing you tell strangers.”
“Absolutely.”
Poison smiled that genuine smile again. “Come here.” He held his hand out. “I wanna show you something.”
Frank set the mask and flasher aside and stood, linking fingers with Poison. The red head’s smile widened and he pulled Frank towards the door and out into the backyard.
“That’s my brother right there,” Poison pointed at Kobra proudly. The man was kneeling on the ground next to Grace, showing her how to aim at the cans he had set up on an old table a few yards away. “He’ll tell you his name when he’s ready, but I just wanted you to know that he’s my brother. The guy you see right here, right now- the one who’s helping that little girl learn how to take care of herself. I want you to remember that.”
Frank nodded, watching Poison carefully- he wasn’t done yet.
“Over there, he’s my brother too.” Poison turned to Jet Star, who was leaning against the house, watching Kobra and Grace with an amused smile. “Not by blood, but I know him and he knows me so well now that we could be brothers.” Poison turned to Frank now, brushing a hand against his cheek. “This is my family, and I want you to be a part of it now, but I need your honesty. I need to know that I can trust you. Can I trust you?”
“Yeah,” he met Poison’s even gaze, “yeah, you can.”
( A note from iron_fist123: OH HEY "EVENTUALLY." GUESS WHAT, BITCH, YOU ARE GONE, BABY.)