A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. It's been really crazy and I've been sick again. Ugh I swear I'm dying. Well I'll get right to it, enjoy.

Gerard woke feeling fully rested for the first time in months. He looked down to see Victory still asleep in his arms. She was in the same position as when he'd fallen asleep. He looked to the others who were all still out cold. Slowly he lifted himself from the couch without waking anyone and cracked his back. He felt stiff from sleeping in the same position for so long. Groggily he made his way to the kitchen. He was surprised to find Frank sitting on the counter with a toaster in one hand and a fork in the other. He looked up and smiled.

"Good morning." Frank smiled.

"Morning." Gerard nodded raising an eyebrow. "You seem…alert…"

Frank put the fork down and lifted up a bottle with the BL/ind smiley face on the front.

"Pick Me Ups!" He said with a wink. "They help you wake up in the mornings. Better than coffee!"

Gerard took a seat at the small card table with lawn chairs.

"Right…you don't happen to have coffee do you?" Gerard hoped. Frank hopped down from the counter and opened a rusty refrigerator. He popped back up with a large white coffee maker in his hands. He set it on the counter and brushed the hair out of his face to see where to turn it on at.

"We don't use it much." He said putting the filter and coffee grinds in. "But I guess we can make an exception for guests."

After a few seconds the aroma of coffee filled the kitchen. Frank went back into the refrigerator and came back with a bottle of Coke Zero and a large bag of skittles. He hopped back up on the counter.

"The fridge is broken'm." He said with a mouth full of skittles. "Ba' we can sh-till keep sh-tuff in it."

Frank offered him the bag.

"I'm good man, thanks." Gerard said putting a hand up. He heard a rustle behind him. Bob stretched as he came in to the kitchen.

"Damn, it's been a while since we've had coffee. Frank must like you." Bob said with a chuckle and poured himself a cup. Gerard got up and did the same. They didn't have sugar or milk but it was still good just the same.

"How'd you sleep" Bob asked taking a sip and leaning on the counter where Frank sat. He'd started working on the toaster again. Gerard noticed his eyes flashed to the couch where Victory slept.

"Good, yourself?" Gerard took a sip. It was bitter coffee.

"Damn Ritalin Rats kept trying break into the pharmacy across the street." Bob shrugged. "The guys squatting there kept up a good fight." Bob nodded and took another sip.

"So any news on the BL/ind?" Gerard asked. Bob smiled and took a step forward.

"Funny you ask that I was just…" He stopped and looked past Gerard with distaste. Gerard turned.

"Good morning." Victory said with a sleepy smile. Bob stepped back and leaned on the counter again.

"Morning." Gerard said offering her a seat.

"Ah, thank you." She said with a yawn and sat down.

"Did you sleep well?" Gerard asked with a hint of a smile.

"Yes. Thanks." Victory flushed a little and looked down hiding her grin.

"Gerard, why don't we finish our conversation up stairs…" Bob said setting down his coffee and heading for the steps leaving Gerard with very little choice. Victory glanced at Gerard as he sat up and pursed her lips.

"You kids have fun." Victory fake smiled. Gerard gave her a shrug and headed up the stairs. She let out a sigh and got up to get some coffee.

Frank stopped jamming a fork in the broken toaster and stared as she poured herself a cup.

"You don't still think I'm a zombie do you?" She asked restlessly. Frank bit his lip and raised the fork a little as if he wanted to poke her with it if she attacked. She turned to see Mikey walk into the room.

"What smells so good?" He asked with his nose leading the way. Victory handed him her cup.

"Here it's no good without sugar any ways." She said keeping an eye on Frank's fork. He kept silent as he clutched his toaster.

Mikey took a sip and his eyes grew.

"What is this stuff! It's amazing!" He said through gulps.

"Coffee…" Frank mumbled popping his head up then back down. He bit his lip again.

"You know… My father was a brilliant scientist. He taught me a few things about wiring and electronics." Victory said holding out her hands. Frank pulled back and raised an eyebrow.

"If you have a battery I bet I can help you fix that." She spoke to him as if he were a child.

"We can finally have toast?" He said dropping his guard a little. Victory nodded.

"I miss toast." He said lowering the toaster to the counter. He set it in front of him and went to his own place. "My mom used to make me toast before school…I miss toast."

It was quiet for a moment.

"How old are you?" Victory asked taking a step forward. Frank scratched his neck and then his arm.

"Thirteen…I turn fourteen in October." He said biting his lip and avoiding eye contact. "People think I'm older because of the way I dress and talk."

Victory could see him behind his glassy eyes, who he really was…just a messed up kid like the rest of them. She slowly reached for the toaster and the fork.

"You get the bread. I'll take care of this." She said lifting the toaster. A large smile crossed his lips.

Bob led Gerard up stairs and into the lab. It was obvious the aggression he felt towards Victory. He tried hard not to scowl and ball his fists.

"What is it you wanted to show me?" Gerard said through his teeth. Bob stopped at one of the computer screens.

"How well do you know her…like really know her?" Bob said clicking the mouse and turning to face Gerard.

"I'm sorry?" Gerard bit down and tilted his head.

"Look I'm mean no offense what so ever it's just…well I can't overlook the fact that she's BL/ind's daughter. I'm sure you think she's a great person. I'm just saying. How can you be so sure? You've known her like what, four days?" Bob leaned back. He could see the frustration in his eyes. He was trying his best to keep his cool.

"I know how it looks but she's not like that, man." Gerard assured him. "Her father wasn't even the one who did this. It was that crazy Zulo guy. You said it yourself you saw the paper work. Besides what would she gain from leading us to BL/ind?"

Bob turned the computer screen to Gerard.

"I couldn't sleep last night so I thought I'd do some searching. I spent a few hours trying to hack the BL/ind data base…you know, for fun. Well, I found something…. strange. Korse Xulanburg was working on some strange formula in his labs. He and Zulo worked on it together. They called it M.C.R. which is short for Mental Chemical Reactor. It's supposed to increase brain function as well muscle function and reaction time. They were working on it for the soldiers. They were going to put it in them before they were deployed but the war ended before they had a chance to test it on anyone. They were trying to make the perfect army. Some sort of MCRmy." Bob finished and clicked through something that looked like paperwork and photographs.

"What are you getting at?" Gerard demanded.

"What if she's taking you to BL/ind for them to test you? What if it's all just some sort of set up from the beginning to get test subjects. You don't know who she is or what she's capable of." Bob said slowly.

Gerard exhaled trying to keep his anger in check. He'd heard about enough. It was impossible. There was no way. Victory. She wasn't like that!

"You're fucking crazier than I thought." Gerard snapped and turned to leave. Bob caught him by the shoulder. He spun around ready to swing.

"Look, I know you don't want to hear it but just…keep your eyes peeled." Bob said whole heartedly. Gerard flicked his hand away and turned again.

"Duly noted." Gerard said in a rough voice and stamped down the stairs. He hit the bottom of the stairs to see everyone in the kitchen in a circle around the counter. Victory was the first to stick her head up.

"Toast?" She said with a smile. Frank was the second to pop his head up.

"She did it! She fucking did it! We have toast! Zombie girl made toast!" He said munching into a slice.

Ray stepped back and leaned against the counter.

"Vic'ory fix'd the toas'er." He said through bites.

Gerard tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"How'd she manage that?"

Victory handed him a plate with a small slice and some butter on the top.

"I wired some stuff together and got it working." She said proud of herself.

Gerard took the plate.

"I didn't know you knew how to wire electronics." Gerard said trying his best to push past his own suspicions. Victory smiled ant took a bite of her own slice of toast.

"My dad's one of the best scientists in the world. You don't think I picked up a trick or two." She said with a wink and headed back to the others.

Gerard turned around to see Bob standing at the stairs. He leaned on the archway and met Gerard's gaze with a stern look.

"Boberto!" Frank shouted and held up a slice. "You want some?"

Bob stood up.

"I think I'll pass…" He said and headed back up stairs.

"Sweet more for me!" Frank cheered and bit into his slice. Gerard looked at the half burnt slice of stale bread and tossed it on the counter. He went to the living room to clear his head when Mikey caught him by the arm.

"What's up bro?" He asked Mikey as he turned. Mikey took a deep breath.

"Whenwegetahousecanwegetcoffee? Ilikecoffeealot! Whatiscoffee? Isitlikepoporsomething. Ilikepop,butnotasmuchascoffee. Icoulddrinkcoffeeallday! Coffeecoffeecoffee!" Mikey said all at once and then giggled.

Gerard took a second to try and comprehend what he had said.

"Were those even words? What the hell are you on?" Gerard said trying his best.

Victory stepped up breathing in through her teeth.

"That…might…be my fault…I let him have my cup of coffee." She said putting an arm on Mikey's shoulder.

"I didn't know he'd guzzle it." She said eyeing him up. He made small hops where he stood and had a constant grin on his face.

"Ilovecoffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee!" Mikey said through giggles.

Gerard put a hand to his face.

"Dear god…We're stuck inside with him until this wears off." Gerard moaned.

Victory bit her finger.

"Yeah…my bad…"

They spent the next two hours listening to Mikey ramble on about any and everything. Frank tried to grab Gerard's ray gun after the first half hour to "put everyone out of their misery". Finally Frank gave up and went upstairs to listen to the radio. With headphones of course.

"Doyoueverwonderwhat'sinaTwinky? Ibetit'scockraches. Thosethingsneverdie! . ImissWeezy. Hewasthebest. Doyouguyseverwonderwhat'sinspace? .Ilovecoffee. CanIhavemorecoffee?" Mikey rambled on and on like that.

Ray tried his hardest to be polite and not freak out. Victory kept trying to make up for her mistake by finding meaningless tasks for Mikey to do until the coffee wore off. The whole time Gerard kept saying. "This is your fault."

Finally Mikey was jumping on the couch when he suddenly stopped and sat down. They all froze and looked at him. He tilted his head in thought.

"I think Hula-Hoops need to come back….. There's less violence in the world when people are using Hula-Hoops." He said slowly and then fell face first into the couch. Gerard and Victory came rushing to him.

"He'd better still be breathing." Gerard warned her. They flipped him over and sure enough he was sound asleep.

"Oh thank god!" Ray said taking his fingers out of his ears. Victory and Gerard both sighed in relief slid off the edge of the couch and onto the floor. They all relaxed a little after that.

After a few minutes Frank came back down slowly.

"Is he done?" He asked peeking out from the stairs. Gerard nodded.

"Thank god. I was starting to think she broke him." He said with a sigh and went into the kitchen.

"I didn't break him!" Victory snapped. Ray just shook his head and headed to the kitchen with Frank.

She and Gerard sat in the living room next to each other for a few moments. She could see he was deep in thought. Her mind wondered back to last night when he'd crawled on the couch with her. She'd been dying to talk about it all day but never had a chance until now. She opened her mouth to speak when he cut her off.

"Have you ever heard of a drug called MCR?" He said not looking at her. It was an odd question.

"Why do you ask?" She asked and pulled her knees to her chin.

He made an odd sound in the back of his throat.

"Nothing. Just something Bob said." She could tell there was something he wasn't telling her.

"Lovely. Let me guess I'm the root of all evil right?" She scoffed.

"You didn't answer the question." His tone was much darker. She was slightly offended by this. She didn't want to believe he was giving in to Bob's crazy ideas.

"No. I haven't." She said sternly.

"You're sure? No side project your father was working on while he was building killer robots?" After he'd said it he'd known he'd gone too far. She stood up quickly and balled her hands into fists.

"No." Her voice was sharp. "And I'd appreciate it if you at least tried not to make him sound like the villain in your little cracked up theories. You know, out of respect for the dead!"

With that she stormed off up. She headed for the stairs but didn't make it far before she bumped into Bob. She quickly shoved past him and ran up the stairs and straight for the bathroom.

"What the hell's that about?" Bob mumbled as he sat on the end of the couch. Gerard just sighed and shook his head.

"What have you been up to?" Gerard said getting up and cracking his back. Bob put a hand to his forehead and rubbed his head frustrated.

"I've been working on getting more information on BL/ind. Dr. Death Defying contacted me personally and wanted to know if I could get a lay out of the company. I just spent the past few hours trying to crack its system but it's a little too complex even for me." Bob said rubbing his eyes.

"Maybe if Victory—"

"Stop right there." Bob put a hand up. "No offense dude, but there is no way she's going anywhere near my computer."

Victory stood in front of the mirror for several minutes whipping the tears from her eyes with a dirty cloth she found in the bottom of the closet. She resisted the urge the punch the mirror. How could he even think she was involved in all of this? He made it sound like she was the one who dropped the bombs and turned on the Draculoids. He really was just some outer zone kid! She thought as she washed water over her face. He had no real feelings for her. He was probably just being nice to get what he wanted. He only had me along to guide him. I'm such an idiot for trusting him. Now where did that get her? Stuck in some shitty apartment with people who would probably just as easily give her up to Zulo.

She let out a heavy sigh. She was simply going to leave that's all. If they didn't trust her fine. She'd figure something out on her own. She'd confront Bob first and then Gerard.

She quickly opened the bathroom door and headed for the stairs when she realized the lab door was open. Figuring Bob would be in there she swung it open. She found only an empty chair and several computers. The screen of the center one flashed. Her curiosity got the best of her.

Slowly she edged up to the computer and moved the mouse around. The screen stopped flashing and several documents flashed across the screen. She couldn't understand most of it but a few things stood out.

MCR

BETTER LIVING INDUSTRIES

KORSE&ZULO

She slowly rolled over the next few pages. MCR was some sort of drug. That much was clear, but what did it do. A small box appeared in the corner. It flashed red. It amazed her to see that her own name was flashing across the top in black letters. She brought the mouse to the box and hesitated to click it.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Bob shouted from behind her. He started her causing her to jump and click the button. She looked down and then back up. Several words flashed across the screen.

LOCATION LOCKED
LOCATION LOCKED
SENDING ALL TROUPS
SENDING ALL TROUPS

Gerard was close behind Bob.

"What happened!" Gerard asked in a panic. Victory jumped up and away from the computer.

"SHE FUCKING LED THE TO US!" Bob shouted and grabbed ahold of Victory by the arm.

"I didn't mean to I swear! I just clicked a button!" She shouted as he pulled her down the stairs.

"Let her go Bob!" Gerard shouted and tried to pull him away from her. Bob just shoved him back and pushed Victory down the stairs. She stumbled and caught herself on the railing and rolled the rest of the way down. Ray and Frank came running when they saw her hit the bottom.

"What's going on!" Ray shouted trying to help Victory back up. Bob gripped her by the arm again and pulled her back.

"This little bitch led the Draculoids right to us! She just sent out a signal to our location!" Bob shouted and shook her a little.

"I DIDN'T I SWEAR!" She pleaded tears fell down her cheeks.

"LET HER GO!" Gerard stood next to him, a gun to his face.

"Damn it Gerard! We don't have time for this!" Bob shouted unflinching. "Frank, get the hatch. We only have a few minutes before they get here!"

Frank nodded and opened up a broom closet. He snapped a hidden handle up from the floor boards and pulled open a door.

"Let's just figure this out!" Ray shouted holding his hands up.

"I didn't mean to hit the button I swear!" Victory sobbed. Bob put a hand on the back of her neck. She cried out in pain.

"We'll sort this out when we're safe!" Bob shouted and headed for the hatch. Gerard stepped in his way. The gun buzzed with anticipation.

"We take her with us. I hold on to her." There was coldness in his voice. Bob growled and threw Victory at him. She gasped as Gerard gripped her tightly by the arm. She winced as he tied something around her wrists. It was the handkerchief she'd given him.

"Gerard, please. You have to believe me." She tried to turn to look at him but he just twisted her back around and pushed her towards the hatch.

"Let's get moving." He said darkly. The others followed Frank and Bob down the hatch into the basement.

"There's an exit tunnel just at the end of the basement." Frank said clicking on a light. Just then they could hear the doors being kicked down. Several shots were fired. They could hear feet scramble across the floor.

"RUN!" Bob shouted and dashed for the exit tunnel. Frank and Mikey made it first then Ray and Bob. It was too small to stand up in so they had to crawl. Gerard turned as several Draculoids burst down the steps and towards them.

"CRAWL, CRAWL, CRAWL!" He shouted pushing her forwards.

"I CAN'T! My hands are bound!" She screamed and fell forwards.

He felt one of them grip him by the hair and throw him back. The Draculoid aimed a gun at him.

"JUST GET THE GIRL." The other Draculoid said in its robotic voice. The one holding the gun nodded and picked Victory up off the ground.

"LET ME GO YOU ASS HOLES!" She kicked and screamed. Gerard got back up and fired a few shots at the Draculoid holding her. It stopped and pulled the gun right from his hand. The second one hit him square in the jaw making him fall to the ground. He saw spots when he opened his eyes.

"LEAVE HER GERARD!" Bob shouted from the tunnel. Gerard crawled for the tunnel. The others were only feet in front of him.

"GERARD!" It was Victory's voice. She let out a cry of pain. He heard the sound of some sort of electronic shock. Again she screamed. "GERARD PLEASE HELP ME! AAHH!"

Another shock.

He grunted as he slowly backed up and out of the tunnel.

"Come back! Gerard!" Bob shouted. Soon Bob found himself being forced out of the tunnel by the others.

Gerard jumped up and pulled Victory from the Draculoids hands. He ducked out of a punch. Only to have another Draculoid hit him square in the back, knocking the air out of him. He gasped as he tried to get off the ground.

One of the Dracs lifted him by the hair.

"TAKE THEM ALL." It ordered. A few more came down and pulled everyone from the tunnel and clasped plastic ties around their hands. One by one they were pulled up the stairs and outside. They fought hard but were no match for the metal men. Outside there sat two white vans with the BL/ind logo on their sides.

Gerard was still trying to find oxygen when he was dragged to the sidewalk and thrown into the back of the van. He felt the others be tossed in beside him. He could still hear Victory struggling outside. The doors to the second van opened.

"WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH THEM?" One of the Draculoids asked.

"Take them…to the desert." It was a man's voice with a heavy Russian accent. "They'll make good buzzard food." He chuckled.

"As for you my dear…"

Gerard could hear Victory grunt and struggle.

"I have plans for you." Again he chuckled. Victory screamed as Gerard heard another bolt of electricity.

"Go to hell Zulo!" She said weakly and then got very silent. He heard a thud in the back of the second truck and then doors shutting.

Two Draculoids came to their van and shut the doors. It was pitch black. Suddenly the van started moving.

A/N: This would have been up yesterday but the doc loader was broken