Against The Sun We're The Enemy
Chapter Four - Choke
Gerard awoke suddenly, the dreams and nightmares that had plagued his sleep all coming to a head. The memories of the past had managed to rear their ugly heads once again. He had dreamt about the times that he had spent with his childhood friend that was currently brainwashed and tied up in the basement of the diner. Gerard sat up on the bed being careful not to wake up Frank who was currently snoring softly, oblivious to the thoughts that were going through the redheads mind. He rubbed his hands over his face before raking his fingers through his hair in an attempt to wake himself up when in reality he could just as easily fall back to sleep.
Gerard hauled himself out of the old bed and slipped his jeans on, smiling as he felt the familiar twinge in his ass from his session with Frank. He glanced over at Frank sleeping; he wanted to keep him safe along with Ray and Mikey. There was a part of him that wanted to be with Frank exclusively but he knew it would never happen within this life, not with Better Living Industries breathing down their necks. His thoughts were instantly brought back to the draculoid in the basement. Maybe he could get him to remember somehow. Maybe he could get information. Or maybe it was just a lost cause. Either way he had to do something, he had dedicated his life into bringing hope to those who were trapped and he wasn’t about to give that up just because he was scared of the ultimate outcome.
Gerard shoved his t-shirt over his head before strapping his gun to its permanent place on his thigh, he rolled his eyes knowingly as his jacket was nowhere to be seen; still in the diner from where it was thrown haphazardly earlier in the night. He glanced once more at the sleeping Frank before leaving the comfort and security of the bedroom and making his way down towards the basement. His mind was overrun with the need for information regarding his enemy and once Gerard had got something locked in his mind he never let it lie. He had always prided himself on the fact that he was strong willed, if he said he was going to do something he always fucking did it.
“Get up.” Gerard said as he entered the dimly lit basement and stood defiantly in front of the draculoid, his old friend. “I said get the fuck up.” He continued upon receiving no answer. Gerard grabbed onto thee lapels of the draculoid’s white jacket and forced him up to his feet. The draculoid looked fucking rough. His eyes were red and puffy and his pale unmasked skin was clammy to the touch.
“Are you going to shoot me Killjoy?”
“You don’t remember me do you?” Gerard questioned as he desperately tried to find a glimmer of recognition in the dull and lifeless eyes that were staring directly at him.
“Gerard Arthur Way; alias Party Poison, leader of a rebel band of delinquents known as The Killjoys…” the draculoid reeled off automatically. Gerard could feel his temper beginning to rise as he heard the drac use his full name once again.
“Don’t give me that robotic bullshit again. I don’t mean me as the Killjoy; I mean me as the person. You don’t know who I am.”
“I’m not programmed to remember the past before Better Living Industries enriched my life. I have a better standard of living than I ever had before they found me.” He responded “If Korse hadn’t…”
Gerard inhaled sharply at the mention of the familiar name, his body seeming to go completely numb at the simple utterance of the name. Korse. The one person at Better Living Industries that managed to put the fear of god into him. He had encountered him in the past and it hadn’t been pleasant, Gerard had almost died at the hand of the seasoned exterminator when he had escaped from Battery City. It was well known throughout the zones that Korse had a personal vendetta against the Killjoy Party Poison, he wanted to cause Gerard a world of pain for resisting BL/ind’s offers of a better life; the reasons for his fixation on the Killjoys and in particular, Gerard, had never been set in concrete. The majority of the draculoids that the Killjoys had encountered over the years were inevitably workers of Korse, but by some miracle or just sheer luck they had resisted capture and managed to stay under the radar whilst struggling to survive in the harsh desert; biding their time until the right moment came for them to formulate a plan to really give Better Living Industries a right fucking kick in the balls.
“So Korse got to you huh? Pushed the pills and plugged you into whatever sadistic torture device he uses.” Gerard said as he leant against the crumbling basement wall.
“He will get you Party Poison. You have the highest price on your head and he won’t give up until you are ghosted.” The draculoid sneered as he pulled himself up to his feet, the ropes binding his hands beginning to loosen unknown to Gerard. “You are nothing Gerard Arthur Way, just a man who is trying to fight against something where you can’t win. Rebels like you are a waste of space; you’re either dusted or used for personal gain. Korse keeps types like you in holding cells until he decides what to do with them; this is just where you are going to end up Party Poison. Another nameless number that is not worth the cost it would take to rehabilitate you.” He continued, his face close too Gerard’s.
“They lock people up?” Gerard questioned, half mumbling to himself. He couldn’t imagine the feeling of his freedom being taken away not just mentally but physically as well. He couldn’t grasp the thought of innocent civilians being forced against their will to conform to a society intent on exploiting them. Gerard briefly glanced down towards the floor, his mind filling with anger, emotion and confusion as it hit him all at once like a tidal wave.
He didn’t see the ropes fall to the floor before he felt the draculoids fist connect sharply with his chin. The shock of the blood in his mouth and the pain in his jaw instantly brought him to his senses as he swiftly grabbed for the raygun in his thigh holster; but it was a second too late as he felt the full weight of the draculoid tackling him and causing him to fall to the hard floor, his raygun clattering to the cold concrete in an instant. Gerard was usually strong and composed during a fight but he currently couldn’t seem to get his brain to connect with his body. It was all too much to take in.
“Party Poison. What a joke.” The draculoid sneered as the hard punches rained down upon Gerard’s torso. Gerard gagged as strong hands instantly went around his throat as he was pinned to the floor, he could feel the air being squeezed out of him. He didn’t want to die; not like this. Gerard tried to breathe as the fingers around his throat tightened, bruising the pale flesh from the force. Gerard clawed at the draculoid’s hands, skin and blood under his fingernails as he tried desperately to prise the hands from his neck as his vision became blurred. He couldn’t get them off; the drac was far too strong.
Gerard began to choke as the air refused to enter his lungs, his head being bashed on the floor at the same time. He used every ounce of his remaining strength to reach out to his previously forgotten raygun that was on the floor, his fingers gripping the metal as he brought it up to the side of the draculoids head. Gerard saw the moment of recognition within his old friend’s eyes as he pulled the trigger, the laser blast passing through his head in an instant. Gerard gasped for some much needed air as the hands around his bruised throat went limp and the draculoid collapsed in a heap on top of his beaten body, the blood of his attacker beginning to seep through his shirt. He pushed the dead weight off his body before sitting against the wall trying to regulate his erratic breathing.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” Gerard whispered hoarsely, his throat raw. He rested his head against the cold wall, the fact that he had just murdered his childhood friend beginning to sink in. the questions were running through his mind all at once. Could he have saved his friend from his fate? How many more innocent lives was BL/ind going to fuck up before they could be stopped? He wanted this to end; he was going to make them pay for all of this. One way or another.
***
“Gerard…”
“Leave me alone Frank.”
“You’re hurt…”
“I’m fine.”
Gerard didn’t realise just how long that he had been sat on the uncomfortable floor of the basement, his eyes firmly fixated on the body sprawled out in front of him as the multitude of emotions surged through his body. He couldn’t deny the fact that he wasn’t used to any of this; it was usually just kill and move on, he’d never had to deal with knowing his victim personally. But he wasn’t going to let it consume him, he couldn’t, he still had to be a leader to his companions. Gerard hauled himself up off the floor using the wall as support for his aching body. Frank instantly rushed over to the redhead and placed his hands on Gerard’s chest as he helped him upright. Gerard winced as Frank’s palms made contact with the bruises on his torso.
“What the fuck happened down here?” Mikey suddenly questioned as he took in the scene before him “Did he attack you? Why did you come down here in the first place?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you Kobra, so just drop it.” Gerard responded, sounding much harsher than he initially intended to. Mikey sighed in resignation; he had learnt over the years that arguing with Gerard was completely and utterly pointless. If his brother wanted to divulge in what had happened down in the dark basement he would do so in his own time. Gerard gave his younger brother a small smile of encouragement as he allowed Frank to lead him out of the basement.
“What are we going to do about him?” Mikey asked as he pointed to the body on the floor. “We keep our supplies and shit in here; if we just leave him the next time we come back there will be a rotting corpse down here.”
“Burn him.” Gerard said bluntly as he leant on the doorframe “Get Ray to give you a hand.”
Mikey nodded compliantly as he watched Gerard slowly walk away with Frank’s support. Kobra couldn’t deny the sinking feeling that he currently had in his stomach. He knew that Gerard wasn’t one to let things lie, his brother was inevitably going to be driven by the events that had happened that night and the Killjoys would follow him to whatever end.
Frank closed the door to the bedroom, the wood slamming as he turned to face Gerard who was now sitting on the edge of the grubby bed exhausted.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing Gerard? He almost fucking killed you down there! You’re a strong fighter but you’re also a first class idiot. You don’t go after someone like that when you have a personal connection with them, it just complicates things!” Frank shouted at Gerard as the impromptu anger took a firm hold on him. He couldn’t even begin to believe what had possessed Gerard to go down there alone in the first place. Gerard should have known better than to face an old friend firsthand like that.
“There wasn’t a personal connection for god sake!” he retaliated, his throat protesting over the sudden raising of his voice.
“You know him Poison. I think that counts as a connection!”
“Used to know him Frank, that’s the key point here!” Gerard said “The man down in that basement had nothing left of himself. Korse had made sure of that.”
“Korse? We haven’t heard anything about him for months.”
“Just because we haven’t heard anything doesn’t mean that he’s not watching us. Who do you think has been sending the draculoids and exterminators after us? Fucking Santa Claus?” Gerard responded sarcastically. Frank sighed heavily and sat down next to Gerard, the bed creaking underneath the added weight. He wanted to punch Gerard for his stupidity but the redhead looked as if he had taken enough of a beating already. Gerard peeled off his t-shirt and threw it to the floor before leaning his hands on his knees and breathing deeply. His body was tired from the lack of sleep and the beating from the draculoid, his throat was burning and his ribs fucking hurt. Gerard hoped that it was just bruising; he did not want to have to deal with a broken or cracked rib. Frank softly turned Gerard sideways to face him on the bed as he raked his eyes over Poison’s bruises littering his torso, face and neck.
“You really are an idiot Gerard. You’re covered in bruises, especially on your throat.” Frank said as he touched the tips of his fingers gently to Gerard’s throat. Gerard shrugged despondently.
“Just another war wound.”
“Maybe. It’s painful though isn’t it? He must have had a fucking tight hold on your neck; the bruises are already turning purple.”
“I guess I’m just like a blank canvas then. Think of the colourful bruises as artwork…” Gerard replied, a small smirk creeping over his lips. Frank smiled in response and leant forward to press feather light kisses to Gerard’s neck softly. Gerard sighed in content as Frank kissed up his throat, sucking on his Adam’s apple before trailing his wet tongue across his lovers chin until they were face to face. Frank was undeniably surprised when Gerard didn’t pull away from his soft and loving embrace, choosing to close the gap between their lips instead. Frank carefully stroked at Gerard’s face as they kissed, all of the pent up emotions and feelings managing to be conveyed in the passionate embrace.
The kiss wasn’t rough and it certainly wasn’t the usual animalistic lust that fuelled the majority of their encounters, there was pure passion, caring and understanding between them. Frank knew that it wouldn’t last forever, he knew that come morning Gerard would more than likely be back to his determined self; the walls around him would be put back up shutting Frank out in an instant once again. Gerard broke the soft kiss and pulled Frank down to lie on the bed before resting his head on the brunet’s tattooed chest. He didn’t say a word as he draped his arm around Frank’s waist and shut his eyes. Frank threads his fingers through the red hair that was currently splayed on his chest, occasionally running his palm over the shaved undercut. He felt Gerard relax into his body as he wrapped his arms around him.
Frank closed his own eyes sleepily, content in savouring the moment with Gerard before it would inevitably be taken away from them as everything slowly but surely went to hell.