Chapter Nine:

They waited around all day, expecting them to be home any minute. Contro was anxious. What ever. He was fine. She shouldn't be worrying... but... maybe she should. Well, the last thing she said to him was 'bye'. That's appropriate, she guessed, but she kinda wished that she had left them off on a more settle note. Maybe they would've told each other that it was over... whatever 'it' was.

Contro eventually fell asleep in the kitchen, next to Ghoul. Corrupt and Poison were left alone in the kitchen.

Corrupt was sitting on one of the booth's tables while Poison was sitting on a stool near the wall. They were eating some strawberries that they had stolen from a Drac.

"Where do you think they are?" Corrupt asked, shoving a handful of fruit into her mouth. Poison looked down at the tile floor and sighed. He then shrugged.

"I dunno. Hopefully they're on their way home right now. But, I know that's completely unrealistic," Party slowly told her. Corrupt's face lost a bit of it's color. "I was looking around outside... there are tire tracks. They aren't the same pattern as ours though. And there was a white ray gun. Only Contro has one of those and I saw hers on it's holster. So... they were kidnapped."

Poison held back tears, as he feared for the safety of his brother. Corrupt's face seemed nearly transparent now, as all the color drained... "No. No, we have to go save them," she said. She ate another berry and sighed. "This fucking sucks." Corrupt swung her legs back and forth on the table. Poison never realized how long her legs were... he felt like he was staring. Shit. He wouldn't stare at Corrupt. Considering the Killjoys current situation, staring at Corrupt's legs was not needed.

Then again...

"We can't save them. Well we can. I just need to break the news to Contro," Poison sighed. Corrupt nodded. Poison wiped his cheeks with his jacket sleeve, hoping Corrupt couldn't see him crying. She did. But she didn't care. She actually thought it was sweet. She hopped off the table and walked up to Pois, leaving her bowl of fruit on a chair. He looked up and tried to smile. He failed.

She put her hands on his shoulders. He slid off the stool and got to about eye level with her (he was taller). "We'll be okay," she whispered, their faces only inches apart. She wanted to kiss him. Well, who wouldn't wanna kiss Pois? But she fought the urge. She wasn't an ignorant slut. She just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He smelled like cigarettes mixed with gasoline and the slightest hint of paint.

Party took this by surprise, considering that he had been in love with Corrupt since the first time he saw her. He pushed her arms off of him, just to the point where he could see her face. She braced herself. He was gonna do it. Kiss her. He was gonna. He had that look.

And so he did what she didn't have the courage to do. His lips met hers, tingling with surprise. Her brain felt like it melted and all her body heat had gathered to her face. She grabbed his hair and the back of his head. His body against hers, his lips, torso, face, everything... it felt assuring. It felt great. Kissing someone. Embracing someone. Having that extra hope. That extra detail. That extra... love, really.

When she broke it, she bit her lip and looked down. "Yeah. We'll be fine," he muttered, bringing her into another embrace. He hummed a tune into her ear and brushed his lips against her hair.

Corrupt wasn't alone anymore.

They slept outside, under the cold black sky, on the hard, misty sand. Definitely not the most comfortable place to sleep. But, it was what Poison had suggested it and Corrupt didn't really wanna deny him. Before they slept, though, they stared at the pitch black horizon.

"Don't you wish there were stars?" Corrupt asked Poison as she pulled the blanket they shared over her neck. He pondered this for a minute.

"No, actually I don't," he told her, turning away from the sky and to her face.

"Why?" she questioned, surprised. Stars were kinda... romantic, Corrupt guessed. Her experience with romance was limited but she knew what she could.

He pushed his blood red hair out of his face and whispered, "They contradict the whole idea of darkness. When they sky is dark, it should stay dark. Stars are like... holes through death. You know?"

Corrupt frowned but nodded. This was exactly how she thought of her life. But she was the light being penetrated by darkness. "Yeah. I know."

She curled up into his chest and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his warm body.

Whenever she was with him, it was all okay.

She slowly slipped into unconsciousness but before she reached the point of slumber: she heard him whisper something... it was vague. She could be mistaking. But the words, "I love you" seemed to be what he told her. So she muttered the same thing back and had no dreams, other than being with Party Poison... but that wasn't a dream anymore.

"I have to go after them," Contro plainly said the next morning, grabbing her gun and putting it in her holster. Corrupt was awfully close to Poison. Like, latching onto him close. It was strange. Maybe they slept with each other or something. Pois told Contro over breakfast what he had speculated.

"No. No, you aren't going without all of us. And Corrupt can get some of her old group. We can get a whole army!" Ghoul announced as he ruffled his jet black hair. It was rather long... Contro decided that she would fix that soon.

"First, Ghoul, you need a haircut. Second, I'm going alone or with Party." This earned a stunned look from Pois and a hurt expression from Fun Ghoul. She explained, "You have the most motivation to save your brother. Besides, I know all the best ways to get in. It'll be easy. Just the two of us."

Corrupt shook her head. "No. Poison isn't going on some suicide mission. No fucking way."

Pois didn't answer. Then, after a moment of silence from everyone, he said, "I have to. It's our best chance."

Ghoul shook his head too. "No. Come on, Poison. What if you get kidnapped too. Let's get a group. Numbers will beat 'em out."

Corrupt nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Party. Honestly." She looked up at him. He shrugged.

"We need Mikey back," Pois said quietly.

"Mikey?" Corrupt and I asked at the same time.

Ghoul said, "Kobra Kid. His name is Mikey. Michael James Way. You didn't know that?"

Contro looked down. "No."

Ghoul tried to recover, "Whatever. We'll talk about it later. You should cut my hair."

She nodded, grabbing Ghoul's arm and leading him into the bathroom. Poison and Corrupt were left alone.

"No," she said, fuddling with his arms to go outside and away from his grip. He followed her. "You aren't going. What if I loose you? It's taken... what... like two weeks for you to profess your love for me. Come on. I can't loose that. No." He sighed and tried to wrap his arms around her. She pushed him away, kinda pissed he would even consider going to BLI and probably getting killed.

"Why?" he inquired. She held her hand out, expecting him to put a cigarette in her palm but he shook his head. "No way are your lungs gonna get as screwed up as mine."

She growled, "Well, because, I should go with you. And my lungs are capable of holding in some nicotine."

"OH HELL NO YOU AREN'T GOING WITH CONTRO AND I!" Poison screamed.

She submitted and whimpered, "Fine. But you aren't going either."

"I sure am. And it has to be soon, too. Do you want to see Kobra and Jet die?"

Corrupt hesitated. "No. Just be careful. And say goodbye before you go."

He nodded, handed her a cigarette and walked back inside. She smiled and lit it, feeling like a bad-ass. Cigarettes seemed to have that affect on a person.

"Ready?" Contro asked, grabbing a bandanna off the counter and tying it around her neck. Poison nodded as Corrupt and Ghoul walked in from the kitchen. He nodded, taking his black goggles and stuffing them into his Dead Pegasus jacket pocket.

It was the day after Poison agreed to go. They had a huge argument the day before, debating whether or not Ghoul should go. They settled on the note that he was too short and Corrupt needed protection.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Corrupt stood, leaning against the door pane, eyes filled with worry. There was a large possibility that Poison would die. She didn't know if she was willing to risk that over the welfare of Kobra and Jet. But if Kobra died... Contro would probably go mentally insane.

Corrupt pulled Poison outside so they would have a moment alone.

"Be fucking careful," she told him, bringing him into what would be their last hug. Tears formed at her eyes... but Corrupt didn't cry. She couldn't.

"I'll try."

And with that, he kissed her, gave Ghoul a brotherly hug, and got into the Trans-Am.

Contro took a little while longer.

"Ghoul," she started. They were inches apart. She wanted to cry. She didn't want this to be the last time she saw her best friend... "There's about 20 cans of food in the fridge. I should be back before you start running low. When you do, I left a whole instruction note on where to get the food. Don't you dare go do it yourself, give the note to Corrupt. Be safe. Be honest. And... I guess this is goodbye."

He wanted to laugh at how protective she was being but he couldn't. His best friend was leaving. Going away. Possibly, to her grave.

He hugged her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "You'll be fine, Blueberry."

She smiled, wiped away tears, hugged Corrupt bye, and got into the car next to Poison. They started driving. He played Black Parade but, for some reason, he didn't sing along to it. The tension was at an all time high. He looked stressed, too. Completely out of it.

"You okay, Poison?" Contro asked. The drive to Battery City was around 7 hours long, he just left his girlfriend and best friend, and his brother and friend were kidnapped... so she figured he was not okay.

He hesitated. "We should have taken Corrupt and Ghoul. Or maybe some of Corrupt's friends."

She nodded in agreement but just sang onto the words of Black Parade, "Would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?"

The drive was a lot longer than expected. Contro didn't know Black Parade could be played THAT many times. When it got late, they camped out in the middle of Zone 3. They made a fire and ate some food.

"So... you're with Corrupt?" Contro speculated. He smirked, then blushed.

"I guess you could sat that... we're definitely progressing rapidly in our friendship..." he trailed off.

"Don't lie, you're in fucking love with her!" Contro laughed, trying to make the mood lighter. Poison twiddled his thumbs and nodded.

"Yes. I'm in fucking love with her."

She smiled. "Great. Now you have an important female figure in your life besides me!"

"Who's to say you're important?" Party played.

"Oh, Pois. How you confuse your priorities," she laughed.

"Eh, don't call me Pois. Call me Gerard."

"Gerard?"

"Yeah, that's my name."

"Oh, that's cool..."

"I guess... Well, I'm gonna go grab a pillow and blanket out of the car and go to sleep. Night," he said, wandering off. Contro pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

"Night," she whispered, even though she knew he couldn't hear. Deep thoughts clouded her mind. She could barely hear the distant ray-gun fights between other Killjoys and Dracs. She closed her eyes and almost fell asleep sitting up. She felt Poiso-Gerard wrap a blanket around her. She fell back and had a realization.

She needed to save Kobra. Badly.

A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry it was short... I just needed to get the Pois&Corrupt love in there. Haha. Anyyywho, I posted a story that I'm actaully proud of.

It's called I'm Not Okay I Promise. And I really like it... for once. Lol. So please review this one and that one! Go check it out, darlings!

Again, sorry it's short. I planned on it being a lot longer. I have the worst case of writer's block for this story...

Three reviews and I'll update! ;)

-Contro