Gravity Keeps Us Falling- master post and part one
Gravity Keeps Us Falling
Character(s) and Band(s): Alicia (Simmons) Way, Mikey Way minor: Gerard Way, Ashlee Simpson, Worm, Gabe Saporta, Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) and a tiny cameo by Green Day
Pairing(s): Alicia/Mikey
Word Count: ~11,000
Rating/Warnings: R for masturbation, copious amounts of swearing and implied violence. [mouse over me for spoilers/warnings]
Summary: When Alicia skips out on her bodyguard to go to a show with her best friend and meets Mikey there. They have instant chemistry, but they sadly have to go their separate ways. When Mikey sees some guy trying to drag Alicia off, he intervenes and saves her. But there is more to both of them than meets the eye, and the road to love is never easy. Vampires!!! Werewolves!!! Soul Mates!!! Intrigue!!! All that and more inside!
Author's Notes: holy crap, last minute much? This will hopefully eventually be part of a much longer, much angstier verse that I will be attempting to write for BBB next year, so have some fluff first! much thanks for beta like duties go to nyx_nox and acountrymouse (my baby sister who beta'd this even though a) it's not her fandom and b) just moved into college across the state YESTERDAY)
cut text from Green Day's Welcome To Paradise
also: sorry for making you scream and freak out so much Alicia :(
Disclaimer: it's all made up. I really don't think they're actually werewolves and vampires. please don't read this if you or anyone you know is a person these characters are based on. but I can't stop you, so if somehow you find this and read it, don't tell me about it
Part One
Part Two
Bonus Material
Fanart:
11 by theopteryx
Fanmix(es):
fanmix by seratonation
Circa 1993
Saturday Night
It all started with the fact that Alicia's father was way too over protective of her, what with being his only child and all. So Alicia had never actually met either of the Way brothers, despite the peace talks between the Way's vampires, the City's vampires and her family's pack. A big majority of the City's wolves were in the Simmons pack, either by blood or fostering, and most of the smaller packs usually followed their lead. So a peace with the Simmons was basically peace with all the wolves in New York City. It would be a major coup if they were able to pull it off, and a big step forward in establishing peace with all of the City's supernatural denizens if the two largest groups stopped fighting.
All of that was fine and dandy, but it meant her father still wasn't letting her anywhere without a bodyguard. Thankfully Worm was a pretty cool dude. Her father had assigned him to her full time when she decided she wanted to go to school out of state (and god, hadn't that been a cluster fuck, thankfully she was back in New York now). But he was good at his job, and even better, he knew there were times when a girl just needed to party without somebody's hairy snout following two steps behind all the time.
But even with Worm's willingness to hang back and not interfere, there were times she didn't want him following her around. Luckily, high school had given her plenty of experience in sneaking out from under the eyes of handlers. It was almost too easy, she thought as she climbed up the fire escape to the roof. She's been thinking ahead in choosing an apartment, and the jump from her roof to the neighboring building's was fairly easy for her. She's always been good at it.
She jumped the last few feet down from the other fire escape, landing in a crouch. She dusted her hands off and checked her watch. She would barely have time to meet Ashlee and make it to the show she 'absolutely have to see them Alicia, trust me. They are going to be huge.' The rub was Ashlee was usually right about these things. Her mother's family had a psychic somewhere a few generations back and those things tended to carry down. But Ashlee's bursts of insight were usually relegated to small stuff, like if that pair of jeans you were trying on were going to go on sale next week, if your train was going to be late, or if somebody was going to puke on your shoes at the bar tonight. Occasionally though she saw big stuff, like boyfriends turning into domineering assholes, or if that really was an A&R dude hanging out at the back of the club at your friend's show.
So she was running late and that's why she wasn't paying attention when she came barreling around the corner a block from the venue, nearly running into a big tall guy wearing a Members Only jacket and dressed head to toe in obnoxious neon colors. Luckily his friend had pulled him out of the way "Oh man, I'm so sorry. I'm running late and-" she stopped, looking around at the people in front of them. "And is this the line?"
Glasses Guy just nodded as Neon Dude grinned widely and looked her up and down, saying "Sure is Betty." She raised an eyebrow and waved her hand toward Neon Dude, an unsaid 'is he for real?'
Glasses Guy leaned in and mock whispered "The 80's never really ended for Gabe."
Alicia snorted. "You should meet some of my dad's friends. The 60's never really ended for them."
Glasses Guy gave her a small smile "I know some people like that too." He held out his hand. "Mikey."
She smiled back and took it. "Alicia."
And it was a stupid thought, and she had always scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, but for some reason she felt like she wouldn't mind staying here like this with him for the rest of forever.
They stood there, hands clasped tight between them, matching goofy smiles on their faces till Neon Guy -Gabe, her mind supplied- elbowed Mikey with a "Hey, you awake? Line's moving." That snapped the two of them out of their reverie and they dutifully followed the line forward into the venue.
"So... um..." Mikey said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "If you're not doing anything later, I don't know if-"
"No," she said absently cutting him off. Mikey's face fell. She immediately realized what it must have sounded like and she tripped over her words trying to fix it. "No! Wait, oh god, I mean, ugh, shit." She ran a hand through her hair. "No, I don't have anything to do later. Well," she amended. "I should probably keep my friend Ashlee from running off and following after the band. She says they're going to be big, but the family would miss her."
"The Family?" Mikey asked raising an eyebrow.
She hid a laugh. "Oh, no, nothing like that." Not exactly anyway, she thought crinkling her nose. "We're related. Really distant cousins I think. But she's my best friend so she'd be family anyway, even if we weren't."
They heard somebody behind them clear their voice and they turned around, embarrassed a bit. They handed over their money and showed their IDs to the guy at the door and he waved them in. As soon as they walked inside though, they heard a voice call out "Alicia!"
They turned and suddenly Ashlee was there. She raised an eyebrow and her nostrils flared as she took in Mikey and Gabe. "So, Alicia, you going to introduce me to your new friends before I steal you away?"
"Huh? Oh, hey yeah. Ash, this is Mikey." She grinned shyly. "And that's Gabe. I literally almost ran into them outside, but luckily Mikey saved Gabe from getting run over."
"That's great." Ashlee said unenthusiastically, tugging insistently on Alicia's arm. "Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to steal her away for a minute. I've got somebody I want her to meet." Alicia waved as Ashlee dragged her off towards the bathrooms. "So?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"So what?"
Ashlee rolled her eyes. "So what's the deal with those two? You've got some pretty impressive hearts in your eyes over the skinny one."
"I do not." Alicia huffed, and then looked around checking to see if anyone was listening in. "Do you think he noticed?"
"Honey, I'm pretty sure he had hearts just as big. But seriously, what's up with them?"
"I don't know." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Like I said, I literally almost ran into Gabe, Mikey pulled him out of the way just in time, and then... You know that story your mom and dad tell? That he just knew the minute they met they were supposed to be together? I think... this might be what that feels like."
Ashlee raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Really? But you've always said they were full of it, that love at first sight was bullshit. But..." she trailed off, not sure what she wanted to say. "Didn't you think they smelled a bit... off?"
Alicia's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Ashlee bit her lip. Was there a polite way to say 'hey, so I think this dude you've got a massive hard on for is a vamp?' Probably not. "It could just be all the people in here, but they smelled kind of..." she struggled to find the right words, but saying 'they smell like somebody's last breath before they close their eyes', was not only blunt, but had way too much purple prose than she felt comfortable with. "I don't know." She finished lamely. She could be wrong after all. She had never been the best at tracking, and the club was really full. Maybe they had just rubbed up against some random vamp here. It had been known to happen. "Just promise me you'll be careful okay?"
Alicia hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Of course. Gotta help your pathetic ass find somebody now." She grinned as she avoided Ash's fist.
"Slut," she grumbled fondly. "Come on, I really do want you to meet the band though. They're going to be huge in a year or two."
~*~*~
"Alright New York City, You still doing good?" The lead singer asked as the packed club screamed back at him. "Well we've got one more for you tonight." He strummed a few chords before the drummer started. "We call it Welcome to Paradise."
Mikey looked around and rolled his eyes as he caught sight of Gabe, arm around a small blond woman and leaning into the personal space of who appeared to be her slightly protective boyfriend. They were certainly going to have a fun night. He sighed and scanned the crowd by the bar one last time. He didn't really feel like picking somebody up and going home with them anymore. Why, he wasn't quite sure, because going out tonight had been his idea. He had just decided to leave when he caught sight of the girl he had met earlier, Alicia. She had disappeared off with her red headed friend and never caught back up with him.
Although now she was leaning precariously into a guy standing next to her, who was looking around surreptitiously, as if he was scared to get caught. He made his way carefully through the crowd towards them and he saw her eyes, barely open and pupils blown. Drugged, he was sure of it. It made his hands curl into fists and his teeth ache, although not for the usual reasons. Seeing this guy trying to make off with her made something white hot curl up in his gut and want to lash out at him.
He made his way through the crowd, not really noticing if he pushed and shoved people a bit too hard. He saw the guy trying to escort Alicia towards the door, but she was ineffectually pushing back at him, trying to make it clear that she absolutely did not want to go with him. But unfortunately it mostly just looked like she was drunk and trying to stay at the bar. He didn't know if she really did know him, but he could tell that she wasn't just drunk.
"Hey, man, I don't think the lady wants to go with you," he laid a hand on his shoulder from behind, startling him.
"Dude, it's okay, she's just drunk. I'm gonna take her home, take care of her, put her to bed you know? The kind of thing friends do." He sounded like he could be telling the truth, but luckily Mikey could smell the faint nervousness radiating off him.
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't know you." Mikey said grinding his teeth. The guy's hand tightened over Alicia's wrist as she tried to pull away.
"Excuse me, man but how would you know? Do you even know her?"
Alicia swayed towards him and he felt another hot surge in his gut, telling him to grab her, take what was his and not let go. He tried to ignore it. "Alicia, love come on, let's go home." He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged gently.
"Mikey?" she said hazily.
"Yeah, come on." She wrapped an arm around his neck and he picked her up.
"You are going to let go of her arm." Mikey said coldly. "And you are going to turn around, go home and never do what you were just thinking about doing to anybody ever again. If you do, I'll know. And I will come after you."
The guy blanched and nodded, backing away, slowly at first, but then faster and faster till he was out the door and down the street. He really hoped his eyes hadn't flashed, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He sighed and cradled her against his chest. "I've got you," he whispered into her hair. "Don't worry." Alicia nodded and let her head collapse down against his shoulder. He didn't notice the eyes on him watching as he carried her out the door.
~*~*~
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
"Gee, you've got to come over!" Mikey hissed into the phone. "I've got a bit of a problem."
"Mikey, it's-"
"I know, I know. It's late." He eyed the window, the dawn rapidly approaching. "But Gee, you've got to know I wouldn't ask unless it was something major."
"But Mikes, I've got about fifteen minutes till rise, and it'll take me at least twenty to get to yours, and I was up at 3:30 getting the gallery ready for last night's show."
"Prague, 1892."
Gerard gasped. "Mikey!" he said pleadingly.
"I'm calling it in."
"Mikey come on, it's been a hundred years! There's gotta be some kind of statute of limitations on this kind of shit!" He sighed. "Jesus Mikey, what kind of shit are you in? You're calling in Prague."
He looked over at Alicia, unconscious on the couch. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
Gerard sighed. "Fuck. Okay. Fine. I'll be there as soon as I can. You fucking owe me one though."
"Yeah, yeah. We'll see... Gee?"
"Yeah Mikey?"
"Thanks. I just... I'm not sure what to do."
Gerard blanched. Mikey hadn't sounded that small and unsure of himself in centuries. "Jesus wept Mikey, okay. I'm hanging up now, and then I'm out the door, I promise."
"Okay, thanks."
"Alright, see you in a bit."
Mikey sighed as he listened to the dial tone. He was well and royally fucked if Gee couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong, both with Alicia, and himself.
Not even ten minutes later Gerard was banging on Mikey's apartment door. "Mikey! What's the problem!" he barged into the room shouting and making a general ruckus.
"Shh!" he hurriedly ran over to Gerard. "You'll wake her up!"
"Fuck Mikey, you called me over because one of your fucking hookups won't leave?" He rolled his eyes. "This is so not worthy of Prague you fucker, I should leave you to her. What is she, a harpy or something?"
"I don't... what? No. What are you even talking about Gee."
Gerard sighed. "I guess you failed to notice while you two were bumping uglies, but your friend there is definitely of the supernatural variety."
"Okay, one? Who the fuck says 'bumping uglies' anymore, seriously? What the fuck, Gerard. Who has ever said bumping uglies? And second, we didn't do anything! I just? God, no! I couldn't do that to her! Gerard, she was drugged. I met her before the show, and after I noticed this guy trying to drag her off, and I just... I couldn't let her go with him, I couldn't let that happen, I don't know why." He didn't even notice moving in between Alicia and Gerard, but Gerard did.
"Woah, Mikey, calm down. Don't worry, I'm not trying to start anything." He held up his hands and backed away slowly. It was then that Mikey realized that his eyes had gone yellow and his teeth had descended. "And I'm not trying to say anything bad against your girl, just..." He sighed. "Damn. I never thought it was real you know? I thought it was just a story passed through time."
"Gerard, I don't understand. Thought what was a story? And do you know why Alicia's still unconscious?" Mikey looked wrecked, like he had been ripped apart at the seams and then put back together wrong.
Gerard ran a hand through his hair. "I know the last one. Your friend there is probably some kind of supernatural being. My best guess would be a were, most likely a wolf. You said you thought she was drugged?" Mikey nodded, worrying his bottom lip. "Weres have different body chemistry than regular humans, they process drugs differently, sometimes radically different and stuff can have an other than intended effect. Wolves especially are sensitive."
Mikey sunk onto the floor next to the couch. "And what about..." he waved his hand toward Alicia. "This?"
Gerard scratched the back of his head. "I'm not quite sure."
Mikey sighed and let his head drop back against the couch. "Wonderful."
"But... my best guess would be that you're soul mates."
Mikey sat back up to look at Gerard. "Come on Gee, we're not fourteen. And that's a bullshit line you feed to somebody you want to have sex with and this isn't some fucking harlequin romance novel. Be serious, come on."
"I am fucking serious Mikey. People throw the word around now and never really mean it, but it used to be powerful magic, still is actually." Mikey rolled his eyes. "You know what the general idea of soul mates is, yeah?"
Mikey tried not to sigh. "Two people put on this planet made just for each other, fated to find one another etcetera and whatev- ow! Gerard! What the fuck!"
"Be serious, asshole. I'm trying to tell you something here." Gerard tried not to look too happy with Mikey's full attention. Mikey couldn't help but think it was just like when they were children and Gerard would make up stories to entertain themselves. "Well, essentially yes, but when it's real it's really old magic. Before written word type magic. I'm not entirely sure what it's totally about, I've only ever read about it. And most people think that it doesn't exist."
Mikey snorted at that. "Really? Big surprise there. So explain it to me."
Gerard settled into 'lecture mode' and sat on the arm of the couch looking over Mikey and Alicia.
"Alright, so. People used to believe that we weren't always male and female people like we are now, but one hermaphroditic entity. And that one day the gods got angry, or jealous depending on what story you read, and split them all into two halves. And now people spend their lives, multiple lifetimes even, trying to find the other part of their soul."
Mikey rubbed his forehead. "So everybody is trying to find their other half?"
Gerard grinned. "Exactly. Everybody is trying to find their other half. But it doesn't always happen, because the planet is a pretty big place."
"And you think Alicia and I are like this?"
"Yes!" He nodded enthusiastically. "You've probably known each other in previous lifetimes too. It's like a mobius strip, or two sides of the same coin. You just keep going around and coming back to each other. You know," he said leaning over Alicia to study her face. "You two do look really good together."
Mikey smiled and thought to himself that they really did. And of course Alicia would take that moment to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and Mikey took a moment to think 'wow' before her eyes focused and she got a good look up Gerard's nose.
Needless to say, she screamed.
Gerard jumped back and made a startled noise as Alicia kept screaming. "Ahhh! Who are you?" Alicia demanded. "What am I doing here? Where am I?" She leaned back and curled herself against Mikey's side.
"Alicia, it's okay, I'm Mikey, remember? That's just my brother Gerard. You're at my apartment, you passed out before you could tell me where you lived."
Alicia mouthed back the words as she shook her head. "That doesn't... I don't remember... I don't remember..." she said again, trailing off, letting Mikey draw his own conclusions.
"Can you..." he began tentatively. "Can you remember anything about last night? Alicia closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "Do you remember who I am?" She shook her head no again. "Do you remember your name?" Mikey asked softly.
Her face screwed up, like she was about to say that was a ridiculous idea, of course she could remember her name, but the only thing that came out was a small "Alicia?" Mikey exchanged a look with Gerard, who shrugged and then looked down awkwardly at his feet.
Mikey sighed. "Can you remember anything else? Anything from before? A last name, maybe?" Alicia shook her head and shrunk into herself.
"Are you going to be okay?" Gerard asked Alicia, reaching out a hand.
She flinched away reflexively, shrinking back into Mikey.
"Okay," Gerard murmured. "'I'll be over in the kitchen for now, but I should probably figure out a way to get home soon. Do you mind if I use your phone Mikey? It's been nice meeting you Alicia." He made like he was going to reach out a hand for her to shake, but she just buried her face in Mikey's neck. "Mikey, call me when you get a chance, okay? We've got some shit to talk about."
Mikey waved Gerard off. "Yeah sure fine, I don't care. You know the way out of the back right?" He asked as he curled an arm around Alicia.
"Yeah," he half whispered, backing into the kitchen without either of them noticing. "So stupid for each other." he murmured, shaking his head.
~*~*~
Sunday Afternoon
Mikey woke up the next night to the phone ringing. He sighed and groped around for the phone before he remembered he was still curled up on the couch with Alicia. he carefully untangled them, making sure she didn't wake up. "Hello?" he mumbled fuzzily into the phone.
"We've got a meeting."
"Gerard? What? But we just had one-"
"I know." Gerard sighed. "I don't know, something's wrong. We're meeting at the Sisters' place at 7:30."
"Gee," he whispered. "I don't think I can leave her. Not by herself. We couldn't-"
"No!" Gerard cut him off. "I'm not sure what to do with her. I'll talk to Shears, see if any of his people can come over and keep an eye on her. Do you have a preference as to who comes over?"
Mikey thought about it, absently trailing his fingers through her hair. "Probably Ana," he said finally. "She might not freak out as much to meeting a woman."
"Yeah, hopefully," Gerard said, still remembering the screech Alicia had let out when she first saw him. "I'll see what I can do. Anyway, somebody will be there at ten till, and a car will be waiting outside the building to take you to the Sisters'. I'll meet you there."
"Alright Gerard, I'll see you there."
"Michael," Gerard said, starting to slip into his 'can fuck your shit up' persona. "Be careful."
"You too Gerard." Mikey whispered as he listened to the click of Gerard hanging up, and then the dial tone. He sighed and brushed a thumb across Alicia's temple before moving her head out of his lap and getting up to get ready for the meeting.
~*~*~
"Alicia, Alicia wake up." She turned and buried her head under her pillow. It absolutely was not time to wake up and face... whatever was going on out there that wanted her to wake up. It couldn't be better than what she was currently dreaming about. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get back to the place in her dream where she was warm and safe, and she knew who she was. Wrapped in... somebody's arms, she couldn't quite remember whose though.
"No, it's sleepy times." she mumbled through her arm, batting the hand away.
"No, it's time to wake up, at least for a while. I've got somebody for you to meet." A hand rested on her shoulder, not quite ready to shake her awake, but a warning that whoever it was could if they wanted to.
"Okay, okay, I'm up. I'm up." she grumbled, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Looming over her she saw a man, dark hair slicked back, dressed in the nicest suit she had ever seen. Well, the nicest suit she ever remembered seeing anyway. She barely recognized him, dressed up and polished the way he was, but she remembered his eyes. They were the same eyes from her dream, belonging to the arms that had held her safe. "Mikey," she blurted out, and before she could stop herself she raised a hand up to his face and ran a fingernail down his nose. "I liked the glasses, but this is good too."
"Thanks." He shivered and ducked his head down, leaning his head into the palm of her hand. Somebody behind him cleared their throat and she startled at the sound. "Oh, right." He straightened up and she saw a woman behind him, with bright red hair and a black beaded dress. "I have to go out for a few hours." She reflexively fisted a hand in his shirt front. "So I asked my friend Ana to come and keep you company while I'm gone."
"I don't need a babysitter, Mikey." she grumbled. "I'm ..." she fumbled. "I'm ..." she started again, but only seemed to get madder when she couldn't remember the answer. "Fuck! I should fucking remember how fucking old I am. This isn't fair!"
"I know, I know." he said, dropping to his knees next to her. "It's not fair, and you shouldn't be stuck here with me, you should be at home. And I'm trying to find out where that is, I promise." He tipped their foreheads together. Ana politely looked away. "You'll remember everything soon, I promise."
It took all of Alicia's willpower to not kiss him right then. He just looked so sincere and honest that she couldn't not believe him, couldn't help wanting to reassure him that she actually didn't really want to leave. She hoped that wasn't just the amnesia speaking, and that after this mess was all over they could go out somewhere and go on a real date. "I believe you." she whispered, their lips almost brushing.
Ana cleared her throat again, but was still pointedly looking out the window. "Right." Mikey said again. "Alicia, this is Ana. She runs a drag club in Manhattan." Alicia thought she should be surprised at that, but for some reason she wasn't really, like running a drag club was something all her friends did or something. For all she knew they did. "I have to go now, but I'll be back in an hour or two. Gerard might be with me, is that okay?"
Alicia flushed as she remembered her first meeting with Gerard. It wasn't that she didn't like him. He had been very nice after she had stopped screaming. He had just surprised her, and she was pretty sure she didn't do very well with surprises. And he was Mikey's brother, so she figured he couldn't be all bad. "Yeah, that's fine."
Mikey smiled, and leaned in like he was going to kiss her, but stopped. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing tight. "I'll be waiting." she whispered, lips brushing his ear. He stood there for a minute, letting her warmth seep into his clothes. Then he gave her one last squeeze before letting go and walking out the door.
~*~*~
7:30 PM Sunday
The first thing Mikey was when he got out of the car at Sisters' was Gerard waiting outside the door with Worm, one of the Simmons's body guards. He was about to walk up when he saw the blur of red hair run up and crashing into Worm. He recognized that hair. It was Alicia's friend, Ashlee, that she had met up with at the club. "Oh, fuck." he breathed, putting the pieces together. Ashlee's presence here could only mean that she was family. And in the bar Alicia had said that they were cousins. So she could only be there because Alicia was missing. Alicia, who must be New York's Alpha's only daughter Alicia. "Oh, fuck" he said again, just for good measure.
It was then, him holding his head in his hands, that Gerard saw him standing there. "There you are. Come on. We've got to get this meeting started."
Jake popped out of the doorway, seemingly from nowhere, but the fey can be tricky, so Mikey assumed he was just invisible and watching the scene unfolding outside his and Ana's club.
"Michael, Gerard. Nice to see you again so soon." He grinned, but it was full of knives. The fey had always kept to themselves, so the Sisters opening their club up for these meetings was an oddity. But Shears had always been smart. Mikey had run into him before and it might have not ended bad, it usually didn't end well. "Are you sure I couldn't convince either of you to stay after? Maybe even take a spin up on the stage yourselves? I'm sure it'll be entertaining."
Gerard smiles ruefully. "Maybe some other time, Shears." Mikey just shakes his head. He's not really up to being here for this meeting at all, much less staying afterward.
"Alright then, if you're sure." He smiles like needles again. Mikey's pretty sure that Shears knows what is about to go down, and it's not going to be pretty. "Let me take you back. They're waiting for you." Shears ushered them back through the club, which had all kinds of tiny, pretty beings dancing up on the stage and serving drinks to the patrons sitting in leather chairs, and downstairs to the large room the meetings were usually held in. Mikey didn't know what kind of room it usually was, but at their meetings there was always a long table and the walls were draped with rich looking fabric. Somehow the color of the drapes managed to match the color of the evening's emotions. When they had first started with these meetings, they were usually darker, rust colored reds, deep greens or rich purples. As relations had progressed the colors had gotten brighter and more vibrant.
Tonight Mikey couldn't tell what color they were. But with the low lighting and the almost oppressive waves of distrust radiating off the people already in the room, Mikey almost thought they were black.
They sat down on one side of the table, facing a table full of Simmons pack members. Mikey shied away from making eye contact with a young woman with dark red hair and pretended to be interested in the table top.
Gerard elbowed Mikey as he nervously tapped his foot on the floor. "What the hell?" he mouthed, turning his head away from the rest of the table.
"Tell you later." Mikey mouthed back. Gerard sighed and rubbed his temples. But just as he was about to actually ask Mikey what the fuck was wrong with him, a hush settled over the room and Simmons walked in. Normally a loud and boisterous man, today his face was hard and withdrawn, and he looked every one of his ninety-some years.
"Gentleman," he started and somebody coughed loudly. Everyone's attention snapped to the young man who was the culprit. Simmons turned and fixed a hard stare on the kid, who flushed and sunk back into his chair. "Anyway," he began again. "I'm sure you're curious as to why I've asked you here again so soon after our last meeting."
"Well, not to be blunt," Gerard said. "But yes. It was surprising especially how our last meeting was less than a week ago. I thought it went rather well." He raised an eyebrow, as if to express his extreme displeasure at the thought that maybe things hadn't gone as well as they had thought. "We were under the impression the last time we met that you thought things were proceeding well too. May I ask what has changed?"
Simmons sighed and beside him Mikey kept up his aura of indifference, but Gerard could tell he was anxious about something. "We've got something of a situation," Simmons said, unaware of Mikey's current distress. "My daughter Alicia-" and 'oh...' Gerard thought as he put the pieces together. 'Alicia with amnesia is Alicia Simmons. Damn, this had the potential to be a huge fucking mess.' "-has gone missing. She was last seen by her cousin being carried away by who she believes to be a vampire. Now, just so you know, we're not blaming you." The kid from before snorted at that, and Simmons glared at him again and he quieted down. "Like I was saying. Most of us don't blame you personally, but old prejudices are hard to overcome. What happened when The Whites stole the city from The Vanderbilts has left it's scars."
Gerard nodded. Anderson had come to their parents begging for help after The Whites had killed off the rest of his extended family and officially took over the city. They had agreed, and Mama and Handsome Don had sent Gerard and Mikey along with some of their best enforcers to depose The Whites and clean up the chaos they had left behind. Four years had passed since then and all relations were still very touch and go between the city's various supernatural creatures and the vampires.
"But if you can find my daughter," he continued. "Or find the people who have taken her, you can prove to all the doubting thomases that you and your people aren't involved."
Gerard sighed and nodded his ascent. They certainly were in for a big steaming shit-pile of trouble if Simmons found out it was actually Mikey who had taken Alicia, albeit accidentally.
~*~*~
Sunday Night/Monday Morning
Ashlee was startled when Michael Way came up to her after the meeting. For some reason he looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"I need you to come with me." He whispered into her ear.
"Way, I don't know who you think you are, but if you think I'm going anywhere with you, you are sorely mistaken." She pulled her arm away and stared him down. "I don't care what you guys said, I know what I saw."
"I know. I just, I need you to come with me, please." He sighed and rubbed at his arm. The gesture seemed oddly nervous and made him seem younger than she knew he was. "Please. I know where she is, and I need you help."
Her eyes widened and she knew right away where she recognized him from. "Mikey," she whispered, and then took a deep breath, preparing to yell for help.
"No! Please!" he looked around, gently covering her mouth with his fingers. It wasn't enough to actually stop her from yelling, but it did anyway. "It's not what you think, I promise. I didn't ... I didn't take her. Not on purpose anyway."
Ashlee eyed him sceptically. "How can I trust you? How can I believe what you're saying?"
"You can't." Mikey sighed. "But Alicia needs your help and I need your help. I'll explain it to you on the ride over."
"Worm has to come with us. If we both disappear they'll know and they'll come after you."
He nodded. "That's fine. That's great actually. I asked Ana go over to keep her company while I was here."
Ashlee stopped in her place and burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you have Ana staying with her?"
Mikey's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't get it. Why is that funny?"
She held up a hand, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Oh, you'll see. If your apartment is still in one piece."
Mikey opened the door and gestured for Ashlee to get in the car. She did, followed by Worm, and then Mikey. Mikey leaned forward to talk to the driver, and then settled into the seat across from Ashlee and Worm. As soon as the car started moving, Ashlee lost all jovality, fixed Mikey with a hard stare and shoved a finger in his face. "Okay buster. I don't care who you are, or who you think you are, we're going to get this straight. What exactly have you done to my cousin, and why are you keeping her at your apartment. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you aren't holding her against her will, but I'm not feeling too charitable at the moment. So talk."
"She's got amnesia." Mikey said bluntly. He figured he might as well just say it, instead of trying to stretch it out and explain it all away. "I know, that's not really an excuse, but I didn't know who she was, and she passed out before I could ask her where she lived. That's why she's at my apartment."
"Okay. Let's say I believe you. Which, I don't by the way. Say I believe you when you say she has amnesia. Will you let us take her home?"
Mikey turned his head and met Ashlee's stare. "Yes. If she wants to go, then yes." Ashlee held his gaze until Mikey cracked and looked away. "As long as it makes her happy." he whispered so softly Ashlee wasn't sure he actually said it.
Part One || Part Two || Bonus Materials
Character(s) and Band(s): Alicia (Simmons) Way, Mikey Way minor: Gerard Way, Ashlee Simpson, Worm, Gabe Saporta, Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) and a tiny cameo by Green Day
Pairing(s): Alicia/Mikey
Word Count: ~11,000
Rating/Warnings: R for masturbation, copious amounts of swearing and implied violence. [mouse over me for spoilers/warnings]
Summary: When Alicia skips out on her bodyguard to go to a show with her best friend and meets Mikey there. They have instant chemistry, but they sadly have to go their separate ways. When Mikey sees some guy trying to drag Alicia off, he intervenes and saves her. But there is more to both of them than meets the eye, and the road to love is never easy. Vampires!!! Werewolves!!! Soul Mates!!! Intrigue!!! All that and more inside!
Author's Notes: holy crap, last minute much? This will hopefully eventually be part of a much longer, much angstier verse that I will be attempting to write for BBB next year, so have some fluff first! much thanks for beta like duties go to nyx_nox and acountrymouse (my baby sister who beta'd this even though a) it's not her fandom and b) just moved into college across the state YESTERDAY)
cut text from Green Day's Welcome To Paradise
also: sorry for making you scream and freak out so much Alicia :(
Disclaimer: it's all made up. I really don't think they're actually werewolves and vampires. please don't read this if you or anyone you know is a person these characters are based on. but I can't stop you, so if somehow you find this and read it, don't tell me about it
Part One
Part Two
Bonus Material
Fanart:
11 by theopteryx
Fanmix(es):
fanmix by seratonation
Circa 1993
Saturday Night
It all started with the fact that Alicia's father was way too over protective of her, what with being his only child and all. So Alicia had never actually met either of the Way brothers, despite the peace talks between the Way's vampires, the City's vampires and her family's pack. A big majority of the City's wolves were in the Simmons pack, either by blood or fostering, and most of the smaller packs usually followed their lead. So a peace with the Simmons was basically peace with all the wolves in New York City. It would be a major coup if they were able to pull it off, and a big step forward in establishing peace with all of the City's supernatural denizens if the two largest groups stopped fighting.
All of that was fine and dandy, but it meant her father still wasn't letting her anywhere without a bodyguard. Thankfully Worm was a pretty cool dude. Her father had assigned him to her full time when she decided she wanted to go to school out of state (and god, hadn't that been a cluster fuck, thankfully she was back in New York now). But he was good at his job, and even better, he knew there were times when a girl just needed to party without somebody's hairy snout following two steps behind all the time.
But even with Worm's willingness to hang back and not interfere, there were times she didn't want him following her around. Luckily, high school had given her plenty of experience in sneaking out from under the eyes of handlers. It was almost too easy, she thought as she climbed up the fire escape to the roof. She's been thinking ahead in choosing an apartment, and the jump from her roof to the neighboring building's was fairly easy for her. She's always been good at it.
She jumped the last few feet down from the other fire escape, landing in a crouch. She dusted her hands off and checked her watch. She would barely have time to meet Ashlee and make it to the show she 'absolutely have to see them Alicia, trust me. They are going to be huge.' The rub was Ashlee was usually right about these things. Her mother's family had a psychic somewhere a few generations back and those things tended to carry down. But Ashlee's bursts of insight were usually relegated to small stuff, like if that pair of jeans you were trying on were going to go on sale next week, if your train was going to be late, or if somebody was going to puke on your shoes at the bar tonight. Occasionally though she saw big stuff, like boyfriends turning into domineering assholes, or if that really was an A&R dude hanging out at the back of the club at your friend's show.
So she was running late and that's why she wasn't paying attention when she came barreling around the corner a block from the venue, nearly running into a big tall guy wearing a Members Only jacket and dressed head to toe in obnoxious neon colors. Luckily his friend had pulled him out of the way "Oh man, I'm so sorry. I'm running late and-" she stopped, looking around at the people in front of them. "And is this the line?"
Glasses Guy just nodded as Neon Dude grinned widely and looked her up and down, saying "Sure is Betty." She raised an eyebrow and waved her hand toward Neon Dude, an unsaid 'is he for real?'
Glasses Guy leaned in and mock whispered "The 80's never really ended for Gabe."
Alicia snorted. "You should meet some of my dad's friends. The 60's never really ended for them."
Glasses Guy gave her a small smile "I know some people like that too." He held out his hand. "Mikey."
She smiled back and took it. "Alicia."
And it was a stupid thought, and she had always scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, but for some reason she felt like she wouldn't mind staying here like this with him for the rest of forever.
They stood there, hands clasped tight between them, matching goofy smiles on their faces till Neon Guy -Gabe, her mind supplied- elbowed Mikey with a "Hey, you awake? Line's moving." That snapped the two of them out of their reverie and they dutifully followed the line forward into the venue.
"So... um..." Mikey said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "If you're not doing anything later, I don't know if-"
"No," she said absently cutting him off. Mikey's face fell. She immediately realized what it must have sounded like and she tripped over her words trying to fix it. "No! Wait, oh god, I mean, ugh, shit." She ran a hand through her hair. "No, I don't have anything to do later. Well," she amended. "I should probably keep my friend Ashlee from running off and following after the band. She says they're going to be big, but the family would miss her."
"The Family?" Mikey asked raising an eyebrow.
She hid a laugh. "Oh, no, nothing like that." Not exactly anyway, she thought crinkling her nose. "We're related. Really distant cousins I think. But she's my best friend so she'd be family anyway, even if we weren't."
They heard somebody behind them clear their voice and they turned around, embarrassed a bit. They handed over their money and showed their IDs to the guy at the door and he waved them in. As soon as they walked inside though, they heard a voice call out "Alicia!"
They turned and suddenly Ashlee was there. She raised an eyebrow and her nostrils flared as she took in Mikey and Gabe. "So, Alicia, you going to introduce me to your new friends before I steal you away?"
"Huh? Oh, hey yeah. Ash, this is Mikey." She grinned shyly. "And that's Gabe. I literally almost ran into them outside, but luckily Mikey saved Gabe from getting run over."
"That's great." Ashlee said unenthusiastically, tugging insistently on Alicia's arm. "Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to steal her away for a minute. I've got somebody I want her to meet." Alicia waved as Ashlee dragged her off towards the bathrooms. "So?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"So what?"
Ashlee rolled her eyes. "So what's the deal with those two? You've got some pretty impressive hearts in your eyes over the skinny one."
"I do not." Alicia huffed, and then looked around checking to see if anyone was listening in. "Do you think he noticed?"
"Honey, I'm pretty sure he had hearts just as big. But seriously, what's up with them?"
"I don't know." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Like I said, I literally almost ran into Gabe, Mikey pulled him out of the way just in time, and then... You know that story your mom and dad tell? That he just knew the minute they met they were supposed to be together? I think... this might be what that feels like."
Ashlee raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Really? But you've always said they were full of it, that love at first sight was bullshit. But..." she trailed off, not sure what she wanted to say. "Didn't you think they smelled a bit... off?"
Alicia's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Ashlee bit her lip. Was there a polite way to say 'hey, so I think this dude you've got a massive hard on for is a vamp?' Probably not. "It could just be all the people in here, but they smelled kind of..." she struggled to find the right words, but saying 'they smell like somebody's last breath before they close their eyes', was not only blunt, but had way too much purple prose than she felt comfortable with. "I don't know." She finished lamely. She could be wrong after all. She had never been the best at tracking, and the club was really full. Maybe they had just rubbed up against some random vamp here. It had been known to happen. "Just promise me you'll be careful okay?"
Alicia hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Of course. Gotta help your pathetic ass find somebody now." She grinned as she avoided Ash's fist.
"Slut," she grumbled fondly. "Come on, I really do want you to meet the band though. They're going to be huge in a year or two."
~*~*~
"Alright New York City, You still doing good?" The lead singer asked as the packed club screamed back at him. "Well we've got one more for you tonight." He strummed a few chords before the drummer started. "We call it Welcome to Paradise."
Mikey looked around and rolled his eyes as he caught sight of Gabe, arm around a small blond woman and leaning into the personal space of who appeared to be her slightly protective boyfriend. They were certainly going to have a fun night. He sighed and scanned the crowd by the bar one last time. He didn't really feel like picking somebody up and going home with them anymore. Why, he wasn't quite sure, because going out tonight had been his idea. He had just decided to leave when he caught sight of the girl he had met earlier, Alicia. She had disappeared off with her red headed friend and never caught back up with him.
Although now she was leaning precariously into a guy standing next to her, who was looking around surreptitiously, as if he was scared to get caught. He made his way carefully through the crowd towards them and he saw her eyes, barely open and pupils blown. Drugged, he was sure of it. It made his hands curl into fists and his teeth ache, although not for the usual reasons. Seeing this guy trying to make off with her made something white hot curl up in his gut and want to lash out at him.
He made his way through the crowd, not really noticing if he pushed and shoved people a bit too hard. He saw the guy trying to escort Alicia towards the door, but she was ineffectually pushing back at him, trying to make it clear that she absolutely did not want to go with him. But unfortunately it mostly just looked like she was drunk and trying to stay at the bar. He didn't know if she really did know him, but he could tell that she wasn't just drunk.
"Hey, man, I don't think the lady wants to go with you," he laid a hand on his shoulder from behind, startling him.
"Dude, it's okay, she's just drunk. I'm gonna take her home, take care of her, put her to bed you know? The kind of thing friends do." He sounded like he could be telling the truth, but luckily Mikey could smell the faint nervousness radiating off him.
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't know you." Mikey said grinding his teeth. The guy's hand tightened over Alicia's wrist as she tried to pull away.
"Excuse me, man but how would you know? Do you even know her?"
Alicia swayed towards him and he felt another hot surge in his gut, telling him to grab her, take what was his and not let go. He tried to ignore it. "Alicia, love come on, let's go home." He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged gently.
"Mikey?" she said hazily.
"Yeah, come on." She wrapped an arm around his neck and he picked her up.
"You are going to let go of her arm." Mikey said coldly. "And you are going to turn around, go home and never do what you were just thinking about doing to anybody ever again. If you do, I'll know. And I will come after you."
The guy blanched and nodded, backing away, slowly at first, but then faster and faster till he was out the door and down the street. He really hoped his eyes hadn't flashed, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He sighed and cradled her against his chest. "I've got you," he whispered into her hair. "Don't worry." Alicia nodded and let her head collapse down against his shoulder. He didn't notice the eyes on him watching as he carried her out the door.
~*~*~
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
"Gee, you've got to come over!" Mikey hissed into the phone. "I've got a bit of a problem."
"Mikey, it's-"
"I know, I know. It's late." He eyed the window, the dawn rapidly approaching. "But Gee, you've got to know I wouldn't ask unless it was something major."
"But Mikes, I've got about fifteen minutes till rise, and it'll take me at least twenty to get to yours, and I was up at 3:30 getting the gallery ready for last night's show."
"Prague, 1892."
Gerard gasped. "Mikey!" he said pleadingly.
"I'm calling it in."
"Mikey come on, it's been a hundred years! There's gotta be some kind of statute of limitations on this kind of shit!" He sighed. "Jesus Mikey, what kind of shit are you in? You're calling in Prague."
He looked over at Alicia, unconscious on the couch. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
Gerard sighed. "Fuck. Okay. Fine. I'll be there as soon as I can. You fucking owe me one though."
"Yeah, yeah. We'll see... Gee?"
"Yeah Mikey?"
"Thanks. I just... I'm not sure what to do."
Gerard blanched. Mikey hadn't sounded that small and unsure of himself in centuries. "Jesus wept Mikey, okay. I'm hanging up now, and then I'm out the door, I promise."
"Okay, thanks."
"Alright, see you in a bit."
Mikey sighed as he listened to the dial tone. He was well and royally fucked if Gee couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong, both with Alicia, and himself.
Not even ten minutes later Gerard was banging on Mikey's apartment door. "Mikey! What's the problem!" he barged into the room shouting and making a general ruckus.
"Shh!" he hurriedly ran over to Gerard. "You'll wake her up!"
"Fuck Mikey, you called me over because one of your fucking hookups won't leave?" He rolled his eyes. "This is so not worthy of Prague you fucker, I should leave you to her. What is she, a harpy or something?"
"I don't... what? No. What are you even talking about Gee."
Gerard sighed. "I guess you failed to notice while you two were bumping uglies, but your friend there is definitely of the supernatural variety."
"Okay, one? Who the fuck says 'bumping uglies' anymore, seriously? What the fuck, Gerard. Who has ever said bumping uglies? And second, we didn't do anything! I just? God, no! I couldn't do that to her! Gerard, she was drugged. I met her before the show, and after I noticed this guy trying to drag her off, and I just... I couldn't let her go with him, I couldn't let that happen, I don't know why." He didn't even notice moving in between Alicia and Gerard, but Gerard did.
"Woah, Mikey, calm down. Don't worry, I'm not trying to start anything." He held up his hands and backed away slowly. It was then that Mikey realized that his eyes had gone yellow and his teeth had descended. "And I'm not trying to say anything bad against your girl, just..." He sighed. "Damn. I never thought it was real you know? I thought it was just a story passed through time."
"Gerard, I don't understand. Thought what was a story? And do you know why Alicia's still unconscious?" Mikey looked wrecked, like he had been ripped apart at the seams and then put back together wrong.
Gerard ran a hand through his hair. "I know the last one. Your friend there is probably some kind of supernatural being. My best guess would be a were, most likely a wolf. You said you thought she was drugged?" Mikey nodded, worrying his bottom lip. "Weres have different body chemistry than regular humans, they process drugs differently, sometimes radically different and stuff can have an other than intended effect. Wolves especially are sensitive."
Mikey sunk onto the floor next to the couch. "And what about..." he waved his hand toward Alicia. "This?"
Gerard scratched the back of his head. "I'm not quite sure."
Mikey sighed and let his head drop back against the couch. "Wonderful."
"But... my best guess would be that you're soul mates."
Mikey sat back up to look at Gerard. "Come on Gee, we're not fourteen. And that's a bullshit line you feed to somebody you want to have sex with and this isn't some fucking harlequin romance novel. Be serious, come on."
"I am fucking serious Mikey. People throw the word around now and never really mean it, but it used to be powerful magic, still is actually." Mikey rolled his eyes. "You know what the general idea of soul mates is, yeah?"
Mikey tried not to sigh. "Two people put on this planet made just for each other, fated to find one another etcetera and whatev- ow! Gerard! What the fuck!"
"Be serious, asshole. I'm trying to tell you something here." Gerard tried not to look too happy with Mikey's full attention. Mikey couldn't help but think it was just like when they were children and Gerard would make up stories to entertain themselves. "Well, essentially yes, but when it's real it's really old magic. Before written word type magic. I'm not entirely sure what it's totally about, I've only ever read about it. And most people think that it doesn't exist."
Mikey snorted at that. "Really? Big surprise there. So explain it to me."
Gerard settled into 'lecture mode' and sat on the arm of the couch looking over Mikey and Alicia.
"Alright, so. People used to believe that we weren't always male and female people like we are now, but one hermaphroditic entity. And that one day the gods got angry, or jealous depending on what story you read, and split them all into two halves. And now people spend their lives, multiple lifetimes even, trying to find the other part of their soul."
Mikey rubbed his forehead. "So everybody is trying to find their other half?"
Gerard grinned. "Exactly. Everybody is trying to find their other half. But it doesn't always happen, because the planet is a pretty big place."
"And you think Alicia and I are like this?"
"Yes!" He nodded enthusiastically. "You've probably known each other in previous lifetimes too. It's like a mobius strip, or two sides of the same coin. You just keep going around and coming back to each other. You know," he said leaning over Alicia to study her face. "You two do look really good together."
Mikey smiled and thought to himself that they really did. And of course Alicia would take that moment to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and Mikey took a moment to think 'wow' before her eyes focused and she got a good look up Gerard's nose.
Needless to say, she screamed.
Gerard jumped back and made a startled noise as Alicia kept screaming. "Ahhh! Who are you?" Alicia demanded. "What am I doing here? Where am I?" She leaned back and curled herself against Mikey's side.
"Alicia, it's okay, I'm Mikey, remember? That's just my brother Gerard. You're at my apartment, you passed out before you could tell me where you lived."
Alicia mouthed back the words as she shook her head. "That doesn't... I don't remember... I don't remember..." she said again, trailing off, letting Mikey draw his own conclusions.
"Can you..." he began tentatively. "Can you remember anything about last night? Alicia closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "Do you remember who I am?" She shook her head no again. "Do you remember your name?" Mikey asked softly.
Her face screwed up, like she was about to say that was a ridiculous idea, of course she could remember her name, but the only thing that came out was a small "Alicia?" Mikey exchanged a look with Gerard, who shrugged and then looked down awkwardly at his feet.
Mikey sighed. "Can you remember anything else? Anything from before? A last name, maybe?" Alicia shook her head and shrunk into herself.
"Are you going to be okay?" Gerard asked Alicia, reaching out a hand.
She flinched away reflexively, shrinking back into Mikey.
"Okay," Gerard murmured. "'I'll be over in the kitchen for now, but I should probably figure out a way to get home soon. Do you mind if I use your phone Mikey? It's been nice meeting you Alicia." He made like he was going to reach out a hand for her to shake, but she just buried her face in Mikey's neck. "Mikey, call me when you get a chance, okay? We've got some shit to talk about."
Mikey waved Gerard off. "Yeah sure fine, I don't care. You know the way out of the back right?" He asked as he curled an arm around Alicia.
"Yeah," he half whispered, backing into the kitchen without either of them noticing. "So stupid for each other." he murmured, shaking his head.
~*~*~
Sunday Afternoon
Mikey woke up the next night to the phone ringing. He sighed and groped around for the phone before he remembered he was still curled up on the couch with Alicia. he carefully untangled them, making sure she didn't wake up. "Hello?" he mumbled fuzzily into the phone.
"We've got a meeting."
"Gerard? What? But we just had one-"
"I know." Gerard sighed. "I don't know, something's wrong. We're meeting at the Sisters' place at 7:30."
"Gee," he whispered. "I don't think I can leave her. Not by herself. We couldn't-"
"No!" Gerard cut him off. "I'm not sure what to do with her. I'll talk to Shears, see if any of his people can come over and keep an eye on her. Do you have a preference as to who comes over?"
Mikey thought about it, absently trailing his fingers through her hair. "Probably Ana," he said finally. "She might not freak out as much to meeting a woman."
"Yeah, hopefully," Gerard said, still remembering the screech Alicia had let out when she first saw him. "I'll see what I can do. Anyway, somebody will be there at ten till, and a car will be waiting outside the building to take you to the Sisters'. I'll meet you there."
"Alright Gerard, I'll see you there."
"Michael," Gerard said, starting to slip into his 'can fuck your shit up' persona. "Be careful."
"You too Gerard." Mikey whispered as he listened to the click of Gerard hanging up, and then the dial tone. He sighed and brushed a thumb across Alicia's temple before moving her head out of his lap and getting up to get ready for the meeting.
~*~*~
"Alicia, Alicia wake up." She turned and buried her head under her pillow. It absolutely was not time to wake up and face... whatever was going on out there that wanted her to wake up. It couldn't be better than what she was currently dreaming about. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get back to the place in her dream where she was warm and safe, and she knew who she was. Wrapped in... somebody's arms, she couldn't quite remember whose though.
"No, it's sleepy times." she mumbled through her arm, batting the hand away.
"No, it's time to wake up, at least for a while. I've got somebody for you to meet." A hand rested on her shoulder, not quite ready to shake her awake, but a warning that whoever it was could if they wanted to.
"Okay, okay, I'm up. I'm up." she grumbled, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Looming over her she saw a man, dark hair slicked back, dressed in the nicest suit she had ever seen. Well, the nicest suit she ever remembered seeing anyway. She barely recognized him, dressed up and polished the way he was, but she remembered his eyes. They were the same eyes from her dream, belonging to the arms that had held her safe. "Mikey," she blurted out, and before she could stop herself she raised a hand up to his face and ran a fingernail down his nose. "I liked the glasses, but this is good too."
"Thanks." He shivered and ducked his head down, leaning his head into the palm of her hand. Somebody behind him cleared their throat and she startled at the sound. "Oh, right." He straightened up and she saw a woman behind him, with bright red hair and a black beaded dress. "I have to go out for a few hours." She reflexively fisted a hand in his shirt front. "So I asked my friend Ana to come and keep you company while I'm gone."
"I don't need a babysitter, Mikey." she grumbled. "I'm ..." she fumbled. "I'm ..." she started again, but only seemed to get madder when she couldn't remember the answer. "Fuck! I should fucking remember how fucking old I am. This isn't fair!"
"I know, I know." he said, dropping to his knees next to her. "It's not fair, and you shouldn't be stuck here with me, you should be at home. And I'm trying to find out where that is, I promise." He tipped their foreheads together. Ana politely looked away. "You'll remember everything soon, I promise."
It took all of Alicia's willpower to not kiss him right then. He just looked so sincere and honest that she couldn't not believe him, couldn't help wanting to reassure him that she actually didn't really want to leave. She hoped that wasn't just the amnesia speaking, and that after this mess was all over they could go out somewhere and go on a real date. "I believe you." she whispered, their lips almost brushing.
Ana cleared her throat again, but was still pointedly looking out the window. "Right." Mikey said again. "Alicia, this is Ana. She runs a drag club in Manhattan." Alicia thought she should be surprised at that, but for some reason she wasn't really, like running a drag club was something all her friends did or something. For all she knew they did. "I have to go now, but I'll be back in an hour or two. Gerard might be with me, is that okay?"
Alicia flushed as she remembered her first meeting with Gerard. It wasn't that she didn't like him. He had been very nice after she had stopped screaming. He had just surprised her, and she was pretty sure she didn't do very well with surprises. And he was Mikey's brother, so she figured he couldn't be all bad. "Yeah, that's fine."
Mikey smiled, and leaned in like he was going to kiss her, but stopped. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing tight. "I'll be waiting." she whispered, lips brushing his ear. He stood there for a minute, letting her warmth seep into his clothes. Then he gave her one last squeeze before letting go and walking out the door.
~*~*~
7:30 PM Sunday
The first thing Mikey was when he got out of the car at Sisters' was Gerard waiting outside the door with Worm, one of the Simmons's body guards. He was about to walk up when he saw the blur of red hair run up and crashing into Worm. He recognized that hair. It was Alicia's friend, Ashlee, that she had met up with at the club. "Oh, fuck." he breathed, putting the pieces together. Ashlee's presence here could only mean that she was family. And in the bar Alicia had said that they were cousins. So she could only be there because Alicia was missing. Alicia, who must be New York's Alpha's only daughter Alicia. "Oh, fuck" he said again, just for good measure.
It was then, him holding his head in his hands, that Gerard saw him standing there. "There you are. Come on. We've got to get this meeting started."
Jake popped out of the doorway, seemingly from nowhere, but the fey can be tricky, so Mikey assumed he was just invisible and watching the scene unfolding outside his and Ana's club.
"Michael, Gerard. Nice to see you again so soon." He grinned, but it was full of knives. The fey had always kept to themselves, so the Sisters opening their club up for these meetings was an oddity. But Shears had always been smart. Mikey had run into him before and it might have not ended bad, it usually didn't end well. "Are you sure I couldn't convince either of you to stay after? Maybe even take a spin up on the stage yourselves? I'm sure it'll be entertaining."
Gerard smiles ruefully. "Maybe some other time, Shears." Mikey just shakes his head. He's not really up to being here for this meeting at all, much less staying afterward.
"Alright then, if you're sure." He smiles like needles again. Mikey's pretty sure that Shears knows what is about to go down, and it's not going to be pretty. "Let me take you back. They're waiting for you." Shears ushered them back through the club, which had all kinds of tiny, pretty beings dancing up on the stage and serving drinks to the patrons sitting in leather chairs, and downstairs to the large room the meetings were usually held in. Mikey didn't know what kind of room it usually was, but at their meetings there was always a long table and the walls were draped with rich looking fabric. Somehow the color of the drapes managed to match the color of the evening's emotions. When they had first started with these meetings, they were usually darker, rust colored reds, deep greens or rich purples. As relations had progressed the colors had gotten brighter and more vibrant.
Tonight Mikey couldn't tell what color they were. But with the low lighting and the almost oppressive waves of distrust radiating off the people already in the room, Mikey almost thought they were black.
They sat down on one side of the table, facing a table full of Simmons pack members. Mikey shied away from making eye contact with a young woman with dark red hair and pretended to be interested in the table top.
Gerard elbowed Mikey as he nervously tapped his foot on the floor. "What the hell?" he mouthed, turning his head away from the rest of the table.
"Tell you later." Mikey mouthed back. Gerard sighed and rubbed his temples. But just as he was about to actually ask Mikey what the fuck was wrong with him, a hush settled over the room and Simmons walked in. Normally a loud and boisterous man, today his face was hard and withdrawn, and he looked every one of his ninety-some years.
"Gentleman," he started and somebody coughed loudly. Everyone's attention snapped to the young man who was the culprit. Simmons turned and fixed a hard stare on the kid, who flushed and sunk back into his chair. "Anyway," he began again. "I'm sure you're curious as to why I've asked you here again so soon after our last meeting."
"Well, not to be blunt," Gerard said. "But yes. It was surprising especially how our last meeting was less than a week ago. I thought it went rather well." He raised an eyebrow, as if to express his extreme displeasure at the thought that maybe things hadn't gone as well as they had thought. "We were under the impression the last time we met that you thought things were proceeding well too. May I ask what has changed?"
Simmons sighed and beside him Mikey kept up his aura of indifference, but Gerard could tell he was anxious about something. "We've got something of a situation," Simmons said, unaware of Mikey's current distress. "My daughter Alicia-" and 'oh...' Gerard thought as he put the pieces together. 'Alicia with amnesia is Alicia Simmons. Damn, this had the potential to be a huge fucking mess.' "-has gone missing. She was last seen by her cousin being carried away by who she believes to be a vampire. Now, just so you know, we're not blaming you." The kid from before snorted at that, and Simmons glared at him again and he quieted down. "Like I was saying. Most of us don't blame you personally, but old prejudices are hard to overcome. What happened when The Whites stole the city from The Vanderbilts has left it's scars."
Gerard nodded. Anderson had come to their parents begging for help after The Whites had killed off the rest of his extended family and officially took over the city. They had agreed, and Mama and Handsome Don had sent Gerard and Mikey along with some of their best enforcers to depose The Whites and clean up the chaos they had left behind. Four years had passed since then and all relations were still very touch and go between the city's various supernatural creatures and the vampires.
"But if you can find my daughter," he continued. "Or find the people who have taken her, you can prove to all the doubting thomases that you and your people aren't involved."
Gerard sighed and nodded his ascent. They certainly were in for a big steaming shit-pile of trouble if Simmons found out it was actually Mikey who had taken Alicia, albeit accidentally.
~*~*~
Sunday Night/Monday Morning
Ashlee was startled when Michael Way came up to her after the meeting. For some reason he looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"I need you to come with me." He whispered into her ear.
"Way, I don't know who you think you are, but if you think I'm going anywhere with you, you are sorely mistaken." She pulled her arm away and stared him down. "I don't care what you guys said, I know what I saw."
"I know. I just, I need you to come with me, please." He sighed and rubbed at his arm. The gesture seemed oddly nervous and made him seem younger than she knew he was. "Please. I know where she is, and I need you help."
Her eyes widened and she knew right away where she recognized him from. "Mikey," she whispered, and then took a deep breath, preparing to yell for help.
"No! Please!" he looked around, gently covering her mouth with his fingers. It wasn't enough to actually stop her from yelling, but it did anyway. "It's not what you think, I promise. I didn't ... I didn't take her. Not on purpose anyway."
Ashlee eyed him sceptically. "How can I trust you? How can I believe what you're saying?"
"You can't." Mikey sighed. "But Alicia needs your help and I need your help. I'll explain it to you on the ride over."
"Worm has to come with us. If we both disappear they'll know and they'll come after you."
He nodded. "That's fine. That's great actually. I asked Ana go over to keep her company while I was here."
Ashlee stopped in her place and burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you have Ana staying with her?"
Mikey's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't get it. Why is that funny?"
She held up a hand, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Oh, you'll see. If your apartment is still in one piece."
Mikey opened the door and gestured for Ashlee to get in the car. She did, followed by Worm, and then Mikey. Mikey leaned forward to talk to the driver, and then settled into the seat across from Ashlee and Worm. As soon as the car started moving, Ashlee lost all jovality, fixed Mikey with a hard stare and shoved a finger in his face. "Okay buster. I don't care who you are, or who you think you are, we're going to get this straight. What exactly have you done to my cousin, and why are you keeping her at your apartment. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you aren't holding her against her will, but I'm not feeling too charitable at the moment. So talk."
"She's got amnesia." Mikey said bluntly. He figured he might as well just say it, instead of trying to stretch it out and explain it all away. "I know, that's not really an excuse, but I didn't know who she was, and she passed out before I could ask her where she lived. That's why she's at my apartment."
"Okay. Let's say I believe you. Which, I don't by the way. Say I believe you when you say she has amnesia. Will you let us take her home?"
Mikey turned his head and met Ashlee's stare. "Yes. If she wants to go, then yes." Ashlee held his gaze until Mikey cracked and looked away. "As long as it makes her happy." he whispered so softly Ashlee wasn't sure he actually said it.
Part One || Part Two || Bonus Materials