A/N: Chapter title is from the song We Are One by 12 Stones.

Chapter Thirteen

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Three days were everything out in the Zones.

It was three days of rest if there happened to have been a fight; it was three days more that the Killjoys could use to be attempting to plan how they would finally take down BLI. Most importantly, it was seventy-two hours more that they were still alive, still breathing, still rebelling. Nearly all of them had been living out of the city since BLI had brusquely decided to turn the once free place into the unwilling victim of a dictatorship, or otherwise had managed to escape sometime in the following two years. Not many had come after, when they'd put a wall up around the place; whether it was to keep them out or keep the citizens in, it was doing a damn good job at both. And they all had come to realize at one point or another that they had taken advantage of time in their old lives. It takes seconds to remind a loved one just how much you care for them. Mere minutes to give them an embrace, show them you're still there. Hours that could have used to spend time with families, whom some would never see again, had instead been wasted on video games and television. Days once used to be outside and with friends, enjoying life, were instead wasted inside because technology was just that fucking important.

But all that had disappeared with BLI took over. There was no more television, unless you counted the awful, brainwashing cartoons that kids had to exchange their old programs for, watching them because they didn't know better. Video games took weeks to be illegalized. Curfews at times when it was still daylight were set; laws to limit lives were enforced; medication to erase emotions was mandatory. And once the ones who could, and were willing to, escaped and looked back on those mistakes...it was the only thing they wished they could change. They wanted to go back, knowing they couldn't and therefore only needing it more. No one took advantage of time anymore, because in the danger they were constantly in, they'd learned. Learned that at any moment, they could be shot. Ended. Ghosted. That was what they called being killed out here. The only thing that remained of you after you were gone was a shadow never seen, a whisper of memories, a letter in the mailbox shrine or small messages on the sides of it scribbled with virtually inkless markers. Your name was your everything; it was what kept you alive long after you no longer were, when you were merely a ghost of what had once been. Your name and the love that was attached to it by friends and even family, if they'd come with you.

Maybe that was the worst part. All of them had made a choice, and no matter how many of them pushed it off as easy, that wasn't true. For reasons they couldn't understand, adults were the ones who had been affected most by the medication. They had been the ones to agree, to go along with everything they were told without asking. It was the teenagers, the younger adults who had seen what was wrong with BLI and decided to try and do something about it, resulting in the question of just how far they were willing to go to do what was right. It was a hard decision to make to leave their parents, their siblings, their friends, all the while being aware that it would most likely be the last time they saw any of them. Even if they lived, there was the possibility it would be the Killjoy who died. And the fact that all of their families now were gone, that, even if they ever defeated BLI once and for all, they would never see them again...that was something all of them had to live with. Arrogance stemmed from the hurt it had caused, and they'd created the lies that it hadn't affected them too much, that they were okay.

Lies.

That's all they were. Everything in the Zones was a lie. Even time, practically. It passed by without a thought or care, and, honestly was never enough, especially after battles. All of them were so used to having only a very short time to rest because of the need to leave, either to avoid further conflict or simply because they couldn't stay where they were, sprawled out on the hot desert under a burning star that could quite literally turn them into the same golden-colored sand they were trying to regain their breath on. They always needed more time than what they had to recover and yet constantly had to deny it in order to stay alive. You had to keep moving, keep running, no matter how worn out you became. If you stopped running, you were giving up, and giving up meant you were as good as dead. If not anything else, the Killjoys had learned that.

Although this was one instance they had hoped they would get longer than usual—much longer. The group was still wounded, far deeper than what could be seen, some of them worse than others. The two who's legs were injured would obviously have to continue using crutches for quite a while, but the cuts and bruises littering their bodies were slowly healing. The dizziness previously plaguing the youngest of the four had stopped, along with both his and the red head's limps due to the obvious discomfort walking had been bringing them, from what they had all assumed was bruising. Their health hadn't been fully restored, though. Not physically, but more notable, not mentally. They had changed, and while not even Dr. D could quite pinpoint what was different, it was something, and while all of their attitudes slightly differed from what they had been, most evident were Party Poison and Fun Ghoul. They seemed weaker, vulnerable even, and yet none of them were sure whether to be concerned or simply wait for it all to blow over. They had, after all, spent almost five days in the hands of BLI, subject to anything and everything. And no matter how much they all refused to speak anything about what had happened, it wasn't hard to tell they'd been tortured, at least to some extent. That was only validated every time they looked at the injuries they had sustained. The bruises, the limping, and what had confirmed it for Dr. D had been Poison's left arm, which he had initially been favoring so obviously that the man had taken a look at it the first day he'd been awake.

"I'm fine," the red head had attempted to convince him, only getting a doubtful glance from the man as he gently grasped his wrist, comically murmuring, "I'm the doctor here, remember?"

Gerard trembled slightly and didn't laugh as the man turned the underside of his arm up, wincing in discomfort, and after only a moment Dr. D looked at him in utmost seriousness. "Do you know what it was?"

"No." Gerard replied breathlessly, as if someone had punched him. It still baffled him how the man could tell with only a glimpse what was wrong. Not that it was difficult to miss the discoloration around the red dot just above his vein, or the dark black-and-blue rings around his wrists from fighting against the ropes, which gained Dr. D's attention next. "But it hurt like hell."

Dr. D sympathetically nodded, then frowned, at once realizing the quiet words had almost been whimpered, glancing up once more and catching an absolutely grief-stricken expression on the younger's battered face before he straightened up and blinked hard several times to erase all traces of it.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Yes." he mumbled, barely audible, and then shook his head as the man asked him to repeat himself. "No, not enough that I need something for it. Thanks."

He then got up without another word and went off, his head towards the ground, and Dr. D watched him succeed in walking normally until he was mere feet from the warehouse, breaking into a limp just before he disappeared into it, briefly wondered if he should have checked his ankles, too. Then he turned as Skye walked up beside him, asking if he'd noticed anything wrong.

"They injected him with something," he replied, his voice no louder than a whisper so only she heard, despite no one else being close. "I don't know what with, but...if it needed worryin' I think it would hurt a lot more than it does."

"How do you know he's not acting?" Skye questioned out of complete curiosity. They all were aware of the lengths many of them would go to continue on even if they were in pain, specifically for the reason of not wanting to be worried over.

"He is. Just not about that." the man added after a brief pause.

Skye frowned at him. "What?"

"I'm just damn glad that navigation instinct you've got somewhere in ya took us to shelter. We probably would've never found it with me leadin'." Dr. D shook his head and leaned back in his scooter, trying to be a bit humorous and more than anything to get off the subject. Skye picked up on the hints and nodded, smiling slightly. "At least I managed to help at something," she said, sighing softly and then leaving the man alone, of course not noticing that the tiny grin the man had had disappeared the second she turned. Whatever had happened to them, it was clear that even Dr. D was unsure. And even if he was, she had no business in knowing. The only thing she did know, that being that Missile Kid had died in the red head's arms, was already too much for her, and she hadn't even been witness. It, so far, had only been three days for them to rest; their fearful actions were to be expected. The ones who had lost someone and even those who hadn't were hurt, too. Battery City was gone, destroyed, and they'd been forced to flee. It was enough for them to suddenly realize that the entire time they had been in the Zones, they had been waiting for their own deaths. Everything they had done, every time they'd tried to assure the city was safe, and every moment they had dreamed of freeing it again—it'd all been for nothing. It had been doomed from the start.

It was also enough that they were no longer content with hiding in the warehouse. Yes, they were all still hurting—that was no secret. But they couldn't stay forever, anyway, and, instead of waiting to run out of food, they had begun planning on how to resolve the issue themselves.

"We're going towards BLI?" Fire Bullet had exclaimed after hearing their final decision, dumbfounded. It'd been three days and that's the great idea they'd come up with? To go on a hunt for a city that could have been a week's drive away?

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Rejection tried to explain, but Fire shook his head. "Why the fuck would we want to go try and get killed?"

"You can stay here," Moon piped up, shrugging. "And when you run outta food, which shouldn't be too long from now, catch up."

Fire rolled his eyes despite understanding perfectly well. He had never been one to shut his mouth when he needed to. "You should really find a leader who's good at it," he muttered, giving Rejection a glare.

"I'm not the leader here," Rejection murmured, and he snorted, looking off to the side for a moment, where Gerard was silently leaning against the side of the warehouse as several of the others discussed something, his arms crossed and his head slightly lowered. "Yeah?" He focused on her again and leaned a bit closer, as if to accentuate his next words. "Well neither is he."

"He's more a leader than you could ever hope to be," she rejoined, irritated at his remark, and instead of answering, he raised his eyebrows like it'd been a challenge and turned, walking towards the group. "Wait, Bullet—"

The younger ignored her, sauntering up to Gerard, who blinked at him, his lips parting in the beginning of a greeting.

"So we're gonna find the city, huh?" Bullet asked casually before he could say anything, glancing at the others, who had stopped speaking and were now looking at him, already wary of his intentions, as most of them had known him for a while now. Even the ones who had just been around him for the past days knew how he was.

"Yes," Gerard replied uncertainly, and Bullet nodded, choosing his response carefully. "Was that your idea?"

"...It was all of ours."

"Yeah, okay. All of us want to go back." He nodded again, though it was mockingly now. "How're you planning on not getting us killed?"

"Bullet," Rejection finally cut in as she stepped beside him, frowning, and again was ignored.

Gerard frowned, unwittingly stepping into the trap as he stammered, "I-I...we're—"

"You don't have one, do you? A plan, like, y'know, what we're gonna do? Aren't leaders supposed to know that?" He paused. "You are our leader, right?"

The red head subtly flinched, and Moon grabbed Bullet's arm, turning him in the opposite direction and giving him a small shove that was hardly enough to cause him to stumble, more for getting the point across. "Knock it off."

Bullet shrugged without facing them again, though addressed Rejection as he murmured, "Still think someone couldn't do better than him?" Then he went off like nothing had happened, probably smirking, and Moon rolled her eyes, looking back at Gerard and noticing his cheeks were red, his brow slightly furrowed like he was actually contemplating what had been said. She frowned—he'd never seemed like someone who cared what anyone thought of him. Nevertheless she said, "Don't listen to him. I really thought he'd have grown up by now."

"Yeah," was all she got in reply, and then he averted his gaze and straightened up, going off and turning behind the corner of the warehouse, and then was out of sight.

"Party," Rejection tried, but he didn't come back, and she sighed in irritation, glancing back at Bullet, who was talking to some of the younger Killjoys now. Moon smiled a bit, her anger clear, and gently nudged her as she passed. "He'll be fine." She hesitated a moment. "Bullet, too."

"Yeah," Rejection finally replied, her eyes remaining on the sixteen-year-old. He was still young and conceited; his insults hadn't exactly been a surprise. But it was how much he resembled her brother that had gotten to her. They both always had to be right, and got angry when they weren't. She remembered that at one point, her younger sibling had even lost a few friends of his in a fight that he had caused, all over a ridiculous concern of who was 'right' or 'wrong.'

He'll learn, she thought. He'll learn just like Blade would've.

And it pained her to feel like, though she knew it was far from her fault, she hadn't helped as much as she'd have liked to prevent him from just becoming another would have.

Three of the younger, more hyperactive Killjoys had, out of complete boredom, gone off on foot later that day to finally explore the area; armed, of course, in case they ran into anyone or anything dangerous, though it was doubtful they would. Three days was long enough that the initial threat—or, perceived threat—of being tracked down and taken out by BLI had become ignored by all of them. They were taking the time that they had now; any moment they weren't under attack they were grateful of.

"You know," Chaotic Cat began after a while of walking, "maybe we should have told someone we were going off…"

Electrical Wire rolled his eyes, glancing back at her and then Rock Note a bit further back. "They wouldn't have let us go!"

"Maybe that would've been better."

"Stop worrying," Note murmured kindly, catching up to them. "We're not in any danger."

"You don't know that!" Cat protested, twisting her shoulder-length pink hair around her fingers nervously.

"Yeah, I do. Trust me, Wire would never risk not coming back to his future wife."

"Can you not?" Wire shot back almost before the sentence had left Note's lips, his cheeks reddening. He had never told anyone about his crush on Rejection, which meant it had to be painfully obvious from time to time, and that scared him. Not only did he not want Rejection herself knowing about it, as he had a strong friendship with her that he didn't want to end, but he didn't want anyone else to be aware of it, either. It may have been the millionth time he'd stared at her eyes, her lips, her perfect body that had given it away. Or maybe the fact that he blushed whenever she spoke to him, even spoke towards him, or maybe even—something he desperately hoped had never been too noticeable—the truth that, whenever he awkwardly tried to isolate himself from her, it was to get his mind off the thoughts uncontrollably exciting him. It wasn't his fault, however, and he knew that. He was sixteen-years-old, a boy, and couldn't help but become interested in someone. They had been living in the desert for a good part of their lives by now, and no matter how much each and every one of them tried to ignore it, thoughts that roused a part of them purposely suppressed always found a way to overtake them at one point or another. Nothing could be acted on, of course, especially now, and that was half of the reason why it was both embarrassing and something no one ever talked about. And anyway, Rejection had lost her brother, a person she clearly would be mourning for a long while, and then here he was, struggling to resist the urge to fantasize about her. He was aware he couldn't blame himself for it, and that at least some of the others who weren't already in a relationship had to have been feeling the same way about someone, but nonetheless felt terribly guilty.

However Note had figured it out, it irritated him, and, although he wasn't too talkative, Wire still believed he would find a way to accidentally speak about it, which was something he had been dreading happening since he'd started the subtle teasing. Note was always trying to be funny about it, but it came across as anything but. "You're so annoying," he continued, wishing he knew who the other had a crush on in order to taunt him, too, and then glanced at Cat. "We're fine."

"But—"

"Don't have a panic attack," Wire told her sarcastically as she began sputtering possible scenarios of dangerous situations, and she cut off with an offended whimper. They all knew the fifteen-year-old had fairly bad anxiety, even crippling at times. She'd never been properly treated for it, mostly because her parents hadn't had the money to afford medication, and though she had been occasionally seeing a therapist to stifle the panic she almost continuously felt about most things, there was no more of those appointments here. Now she only had the memories of the skills she'd been taught of how to help herself, and though she did try, it never completely worked as well as she would have liked. It had not only prevented her from functioning properly during fights before, but had also caused her to develop a continuous fear of being killed or placed in harm's way; it was even more so than the others, and now, with what they'd witnessed—the destruction of Battery City and all—it couldn't have been easy for her to control it, which was what she was normally fairly well at succeeding at.

And it really had never been something she appreciated anyone taunting her about.

She automatically quickened her pace and reached out to shove Wire. "Jerk!"

Wire turned to her as he regained his balance, frowning at first and then sighing, contrite. "Sorry, okay? I didn't mean it."

Cat's eyes watered and she looked away. "If I knew how to not have them, I wouldn't."

Note eyed Wire with a silent message he understood instantly.

Feel better after that?

Wire bit his lip and reached out to put a hand on Cat's shoulder. "I really didn't mean it. I know it's not your fault." He hesitated and then added, "Do you wanna go back?"

"I…don't know," Cat sniffed, aware that she would be forcing them to come with her if she said yes. She never wanted to agree or disagree with anything if it upset someone else, because it would only leave her with the guilt she unnecessarily felt about too many things already.

Reluctantly, Wire released her and gestured the way camp was. "There's nothing out here, anyway. Let's go."

Note gave him a little respective nod and set off, while Cat only remained frozen, her mouth agape.

Wire frowned. "What is it?" he asked, turning to see where her gaze was fixed on, and then gasped.

Two figures were slowly walking towards them, quite far away still and yet close enough they could see they were thankfully not Dracs as they were used to.

Even so, the moment Note turned back around, his ray gun was in his hands.

"I thought there wasn't a city around!" Cat murmured, and Wire frowned, hardly hearing her words. "I think they're hurt."

Note lowered his weapon a bit, squinting at whoever it was, able to tell now that they were limping.

And then one of them fell, the other dropping to their knees and bending over them immediately.

"Shit," Wire muttered, taking off, slowing down when he was close enough to see the girl who hadn't collapsed was terrified, her wide eyes on him.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you." Wire said soothingly, holding his hands out as he approached.

The girl was fairly young, maybe eleven, and she was dressed completely in black, as was the older girl, whose breaths were coming in gasps. Wire kneeled beside her, placing a hand on her cheek. She was very hot, though he didn't believe for a moment it was because she was sick. She was in black, in a desert—what the hell had they been thinking? It not only was the color that absorbed the most heat (which obviously was the thing you least wanted to do here) but it was also the most noticeable thing you could wear. It just didn't match in with the bright, glowing yellow and places of green-brown grass everywhere else.

"Note, help me," Wire ordered as the others came up beside him, grabbing one of the girl's limp arms.

The younger one whimpered, and Cat crouched next to her. "It's okay, we're gonna help you. We have a camp over there." She pointed and then pulled a strand of pink hair away from her crystal blue eyes. "We have food and water. Okay?"

The girl looked at her for a moment and then nodded wearily, taking Cat's hand as she held it out to her, helping her to her feet. The other two managed to lift the older, and carefully they began walking back to the warehouse.

"How are they?"

Dr. D looked to Wire as he came up beside him, leaning against the side of his van and regarding him curiously. They'd gotten back to camp within only ten minutes, surprising all of them both because no one had known they were gone, and, obviously, that they had two half-conscious girls with them, who Dr. D had instantly been absorbed in trying to assure were all right.

The man nodded. "They're both stable. A little dehydrated and definitely exhausted, but they'll be fine."

Wire sighed in relief. "Great."

Dr. D eyed him, almost smiling, and murmured, "Sure was a good thing you snuck off."

The young Killjoy blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

The Doc chuckled and then shook his head as the boy went off, turning his attention to the two resting girls, wondering what they'd been doing out here in the first place, then frowning at the younger one. She almost looked like…

Dr. D felt a pang of sadness and shook his head, looking away to the darkening sky. He was glad they'd at least been found before night had fallen; they might not have made it through.

"Doc?"

The man turned his scooter towards Ray, frowning as he limped over to him, noting instantly that he was very flushed. "What's wrong?"

The Killjoy blinked like he himself had forgotten. "Mi—ah, Kobra…I need a painkiller. For him, I mean."

Dr. D frowned. "What happened?"

"Ah...his foot...I accidentally hit it."

"Doing what?"

Ray's eyes darted away for a moment. "I don't know," he said at last, uncomfortable, and Dr. D raised an eyebrow, puzzled. But, he didn't ask again, searching for one of the small, single-pill packets he'd been collecting out of every first-aid kit and whatever else he could find from the moment they got out of Battery City, handing it to him. "Be more careful," he said, looking him over, a certain tone to his words that caused Ray to wonder if they had a hidden meaning. Or I'm paranoid. "Um, thanks," he mumbled, and then winced, turning and literally feeling the doctor intently watching him go.

He swallowed hard and went back into the warehouse, over to where Mikey was curled on the floor, holding his ankle. The place was otherwise empty, and he could easily hear the boy's ragged breathing echoing.

"Jesus, Mikes, I'm so sorry," he said, handing him the tablets and his bottle of water, cringing as Mikey made a noise that sounded like he was crying. "I didn't—"

He cut off in bewilderment as he realized Mikey was laughing, shaking his head and glancing up at him with a grimace. "You've never kissed before, have you?"

"I have," Ray protested weakly, frowning and helping him to sit up as he swallowed one of the pills.

"Did you kick them?"

"It was an accident! I just…sorry. I got a little…"

"Excited?" Mikey was clearly amused, and Ray blushed, tensing like he wanted to get away from him at once. This whole situation was bringing back way too many awkward memories of his high school years. "Um, I'm gonna—"

"It's okay," the blonde insisted, reaching up to take his hand. He'd never felt as calm as he did right now, or more like smiling, something he rarely did. "I'm fine."

Ray smiled a bit and cleared his throat, relieved he was all right. He sat on the stool behind him and leaned his crutches against the wall, slowly leaning towards Mikey to kiss him again, noticing with a pang of guilt how he moved his foot back so that he couldn't mistakenly be hurt again, hearing him give a soft moan after a moment and then reaching down to rest a hand on the younger's waist.

While Ray had apparently just not done this in a long time, and despite his prior comment that may have made him seem like the one to know about it, Mikey was completely and utterly new to the entire concept. He'd had crushes, and he'd had urges to kiss them, but it hadn't exactly been something he was so sure he should be doing. His parents would have been accepting no matter what, and he'd known that. Society, though...his friends, his social life, even...those things he had never been willing to risk. He'd seen his brother kiss Frank before, though for the longest time had scrunched up his nose and looked away due to him being afraid that was exactly what he wanted, as well. He'd seen the ridiculing and worse they'd received, and had ignored and denied and even managed to get a girlfriend, quickly realizing that her hands on him were most definitely not what he wanted and ending it, along with his attempts at anyone. He'd only been thirteen, and had been more than willing to simply give up on the whole dating thing. He didn't see a point, it wasn't as amazing as everyone made it out to be. He'd get a pet when he was older, and he was convinced that was all he'd ever need.

But now, as he felt Ray's fingers on his side, there was another feeling there. Not of wanting to jerk away from the touch like he had his first and only try at this, but one that made him sigh and straighten up just so that he could be closer to who was in front of him. Hell, if he'd known anything could make his stomach flutter like it was now, he wouldn't have been so damn scared of love when he was younger. He had always felt an attraction to Ray, something that scared him after certain events that had led up to them leaving Battery (ones he certainly did not want to think about at the moment) and had always immaturely sparked up arguments with him anytime he would start to blush or picture him in a way that was anything more than a friend, and he was thrilled that was over with. I've gotta apologize for that one day, he thought, though was in no hurry to end what was happening here, experimentally touching his tongue to the older's to see if that was what he was supposed to do or not, relieved when either it was or Ray simply didn't mind, merely closing his eyes and cupping the back of his neck with his other hand.

"Um…"

The two jerked away from each other before they were even aware of doing so, and yet weren't quite fast enough, staring at Frank as he stood off to the side, a hand awkwardly holding his other arm, surprised.

"Y-yeah?" Ray began after a moment of silence, Mikey being too startled to speak.

Frank blinked. "Ah…have you seen Gerard?"

"Uh-uh." Mikey dazedly shook his head.

The black-haired Killjoy nodded, then continued to look at them. "When…?"

Ray gave a little shrug and then so did Frank, turning around and walking out.

It was quiet for a moment, and then they both gave an embarrassed and relieved chuckle. Not that they had expected their friend to be anything less than all right with it, but his uncaring reaction had been practically…amusing? That or unnerving; it was hard to tell these days whether a laugh was of pure uncertainty or spite, or really authentic.

"Well," Ray murmured softly, and Mikey glanced at him, wondering if he should say something. Then he instead bit his lip, looking at Ray's, and after a moment the older continued where they'd been interrupted, placing a hand on the blonde's cheek and feeling him smile against him.

It was quite possibly the only good thing that had happened to either in too long.

It was already dark by the time Frank had found where his love had gone. He'd walked off a few yards from the warehouse, in a spot otherwise blocked from view by the cars, quietly sitting with his knees tucked to his chest.

"Gee?" Frank began curiously, and the red head flinched. "You okay?"

"Mm, I'm great." Gerard responded softly, shifting a bit and sliding something into his pocket. He didn't move for a moment, and then his head tilted down a bit. "Frank, I..." he trailed off, hesitated, and then gave an obviously forced huff of laughter. "Hell, never mind."

Frank frowned at the despondency in his voice. "What's wrong?"

The red head shrugged and then heaved a sigh. "Nothing."

Skeptical, Frank kneeled beside him, putting a hand under his chin to lift his gaze to him, surprised when he saw his eyes were red, like he'd been crying. "Tell me."

"Nothing. I'm tired, that's all." Gerard moved away and stood with a wince he visibly attempted to hide.

Frank eyed him, getting to his feet as well and then taking his hand. "Are you sure?"

Gerard smiled, leaning over to kiss him, nodding when he pulled back. "Yes. I'm fine."

His cheeks red in a sudden thrill, Frank hooked his fingers around the belt loops of Gerard's pants, tugging him closer and returning the kiss.

The red head put an arm around Frank's waist, trying to feel something—love, happiness, anything—and then at last broke it when that didn't happen. He looked at his boyfriend and smiled to cover the tears he felt stinging his eyes. That had to go away, right? The numbness? It was just temporary...it had to be. A result of everything that had happened, a side-effect of the drug, even! He couldn't be emotionless for the rest of his life; it just wasn't possible. Or was this because of everything he'd done wrong? Maybe he deserved this because he'd allowed Frank to be—

He cut off the thought and said, "I love you." Then he shook his head, feeling as if that wasn't adequate. "I mean, I really love you. Even if...just, I love you, okay?"

"I know." Frank began, not realizing the older had actually been trying to prove to himself that fact. "And I love you. Really."

"Are you okay?"

"What, from...?"

Gerard meekly nodded. He knew how much he hated bringing up the subject of their abuse; he didn't want to imagine how much Frank loathed it. They hadn't spoken of it since the day they'd awoke, however, and he felt the urge to make sure he was all right.

"Yeah," Frank stated after a few moments, swallowing hard and forcing a smile. "A nightmare doesn't count, does it?" He gave a short sigh that he may have tried to make a chuckle. It wasn't funny at all, though; it was nothing of the sort. He'd woken up the night before in a cold sweat, involuntarily crying loud enough Gerard had stirred next to him, having to calm him down before he woke any of the others, making him feel extremely childish and yet unable to pull away, at last falling back asleep in his arms.

Gerard's brow furrowed in worry. "It was about that?"

Frank shrugged without answering the question. "Are you?"

"Yes."

Like he'd heard the red head's following silent argument of 'hell no' and agreed, he brought him into a hug, nestling his head into his love's chest and giving the comfort both of them needed at the moment.

"Will you come back now?"

"What?"

Frank shrugged, taking a deep breath. "You've been out here for hours."

Gerard tightened his grip. "Miss me?"

The younger scoffed mockingly. "Hell, I was wondering where your overconfidence went."

If only I knew. Gerard pulled back and slipped his arm around the shorter boy again, leading him back towards the warehouse.

"Yes." Frank finally murmured after a long minute of silence, and Gerard glanced at him, tilting his head a bit in a gesture to go on.

The twenty-year-old frowned like he almost didn't want to explain. The words made him feel clingy, no matter how true they were. "I missed you."

Gerard cracked a smile and paused as they reached the entrance to the place, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

"Missed you, too."

"So Battery City is really gone?"

Rejection gave a soft sigh for what must have been the tenth time, looking on sadly at the two in front of her. "I'm sorry."

The older girl, who'd said she was nineteen, was Bell, and the younger of twelve, was Elise. They weren't related, but Bell had made it very clear to whom had been watching her when she'd awoke that she treated her as if she were her little sister, nearly scaring Cat to death before she'd convinced them they weren't a threat. The two, according to Bell, had escaped their own city (at night, which had explained their dark clothes) to get to the now nonexistent Battery City in hopes to find somewhere not getting worse with the amount of things BLI controlled. They hadn't believed it to be such a long distance, which is why they hadn't brought food or water, and had been willing to try even so.

"All we knew," Bell had explained, "is that everyone picked up guard. Everything they might have looked over before, it's gone. They arrested anyone who even looked like they were doing something wrong. Whatever they're planning…were planning—whatever. It's big, and we really didn't want to get involved in all that shit."

"You don't have anywhere else to go?" Rainbow asked curiously, looking at them as they tried to accept the fact they now had been uselessly risking their lives. Battery was the last city they said they were aware of in the entire state of California, and possibly even the states surrounding, though they of course hadn't been since the fires. That was another way BLI kept people from wondering; they refused access or knowledge of any of the citizens to or about any other city. The only way the had come to know about Battery was from stories of a friend of hers who had non-stop talked about it when she'd asked if he'd known of any other place, probably unaware she was going to use the information to map an escape route.

Elise glanced at her, biting her lip for a moment before replying. "No. My parents are…gone."

"And mine?" Bell laughed, shaking her head. "If I ever care enough to find out one day, I'll get back to you." She gestured at Elise. "She's my family now, and I'm hers. That's all we've got left."

"I'm so sorry," Rejection said quietly, and Bell shrugged. "I haven't thought about it in a long time." She nudged Elise's shoulder. "You?"

"No." she murmured, almost incoherently, her eyes having a very far-away look in them. Then she snapped out of it and forced a smile. "No, I haven't."

Bell gave her a quick little hug with one arm and then released her as the door to the place opened, Gerard and Frank entering, instantly uncomfortable under the stares, taking a moment to notice the two unfamiliar girls in the middle of the Killjoys, looking just as surprised as them.

"Oh my God!" Elise exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "You!"

"Um—what?" Gerard questioned, and the little girl gaped at him. "You're Party Poison, aren't you?"

She held out her hands as if to say she didn't need conformation, turning and pointing at Frank, who jerked back slightly at the movement. "And you're…Fun Ghoul!"

Startled, the two only stared, and then Frank murmured, "And…who are—"

"Where're the other two?" Elise asked, her voice excited, and Ray frowned, raising the hand not on the leg of the sleeping blonde beside him in a half-wave.

Elise giggled softly, stepping closer to the two standing. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you...We've seen you before!"

Bell nodded. "Yeah. All over the place. Posters, the news—it's great!" She then smirked approvingly. "You four are exactly the example of what we're supposed to be nothing like."

"I think it's awesome," Elise said, but her grin had vanished. "Only…"

Frank frowned. "Only what?"

Bell looked directly at them, her eyes serious. "You're supposed to be dead."

Gerard tensed, very aware that was exactly what he should be right now.

"A couple days before we left," Bell continued, "we were walking to get food, and on that big screen in the main plaza—you can pretty much see it everywhere—those posters came up on it, all four of yours, and this new lady started blabbering on, and there were subtitles that said they'd finally killed you off, and for this to be an example of what happens if you go against 'em." She lifted her fingers in air quotes and lowered her voice. "'No one will rebel without the consequence of losing their life' and whatnot."

"What 'new lady'?" Ray frowned, and she shrugged. "She's Japanese, I'm pretty sure; never seen her before. But we'd never seen a lot of the people that came in a couple of days ago. Don't even know where they came from; we were leaving anyway, it didn't matter."

"Damn it," Gerard muttered, looking at first to Ray, taking a second to notice his hand was in fact on the person he swore he saw him arguing with two weeks ago, and then brushed off the confusion and glanced at the others.

"What's wrong? They get new guys all the time. No one ever sees 'em get there, but still."

"Everyone—er, most of everyone who used to control Battery City—when they got rid of it…that's what he said they were gonna do—take everyone to a new place."

"Who's he?" Bell questioned, and he didn't give an answer for a long moment. Then at last he stammered, "K-Korse. He's who was ordered to kill all of us out in the Zones."

"He did a pretty damn thorough job, if this is how many's left over."

Gerard flinched and then frowned at her. "Who're you, anyway?" he demanded, his tone irritated.

She looked him over and then stepped over to him, holding her hand out for him to shake. "Bell." she introduced, and when Gerard did not move, she quietly cleared her throat and put her arm at her side again.

"I'm Elise!" the twelve-year-old smiled.

The red head stared at her, solemn, and then he looked away. "Hi," he whispered, feeling his eyes sting.

Frank put his arm around his love's waist, smiling slightly in a hope of comforting him, and though the older Killjoy noticed he simply lowered his gaze again.

Rejection cleared her throat, attempting to change the mood she was too aware of, but Bell cut her off before she could do more than take a breath.

"So what happened?"

As no one answered, Gerard glanced up, seeing the girl was looking directly at him, her expression unreadable. "What?"

"Well, you didn't stop him, so what happened?"

Frank tightened his grip and scowled. "I'm sorry, have you even tried to do anything about what's going on?" He didn't allow her time for an answer. "We did the best we could—and killed a hell of a lot of them, too!"

"Apparently not enough," Bell murmured.

"What the hell's your problem?" Ray demanded, so abruptly loud that he woke Mikey, who raised his head from his shoulder, confused at the arguing.

"That's enough," Moon growled, and Bell shrugged. "Just trying to figure out why you guys are hiding out here instead of doing something."

"We did do something!" Gerard snapped at once, angry. Who the hell did this girl think she was? "And we almost died! A lot of who we used to have did. Don't fucking think we haven't been trying—we did try to stop them!"

"Then why aren't you still trying?" Bell asked, and he took a very small step back. "If all that happened was you lost some people, then why aren't you gonna make another plan and try again?"

"It's not that simple," Rainbow tried sweetly, and Bell sighed. "Look, I know you guys got captured. It was all over—well, everywhere. But if you're so Goddamn good that you being killed is better than any other threat BLI can come up with, than why can't you stop whatever they're trying to do now? If you four are so powerful, than what're you doing hiding?"

"Fuck off!" Gerard suddenly said, and then let go of Frank so forcefully it was almost a shove, not hearing his gasp or noticing the fact he winced and then stepped back from him, holding his bandaged arm close, eyes widened in what may have been apprehension. "What've you done that makes you so fucking important?"

"Stop it!" Rejection ordered, standing, having had enough, and then, with the same chilling calmness she'd had the entire time, Bell replied, "I didn't let a whole city get destroyed."

The red head froze, almost literally feeling the entire weight of the world crash down on his shoulders.

"Hey!" Dr. D's voice called as he entered the warehouse along with the other older Killjoys. "Whatever's goin' on, knock it off. Now!"

Gerard glared at the girl a moment longer and then whipped around, storming past them and out of the warehouse.

Dr. D frowned in surprise and then looked to the Killjoys for an explanation.

Rejection blinked, startled by what had just occurred, and then scowled. She was sick of not being listened to by people who thought it was a hobby to piss others off. It'd happened with her mother, and she was tired of it happening with these people, the people she trusted and loved and would do anything to protect. She whirled to face the new girl, not even bothering to look at Elise, who was standing beside her still, blushing awkwardly and silent.

"Look, Bell. I don't know if you've ever been with a group before, or if you just started up with this whole rebelling thing, but if you didn't know already, we have rules. One—we don't fight with each other." She pointed at the girl, her voice growing louder. "Two—we aren't complete assholes. And three, we do not put blame on each other!" She feigned a smile. "Got it?"

Elise nodded in embarrassment, and then she noticed that Bell actually seemed to be a bit guilty. "Got it," she murmured, lowering her gaze.

Dr. D regarded Rejection for a moment in a mixture of awe and respect, and then he moved his attention to the girls, frowning slightly. "You got a problem with us letting you stay here?"

"No." Bell shook her head, biting her lip.

"Then act like it," he said, letting out an exasperated sigh and looking at Rainbow. "Did you find out how many days we've got enough food for?"

Rainbow immediately went solemn. "Yeah. About four, less now that there's two more. We've got plenty of water, but…it'd be a little pointless."

With another sigh, more of exhaustion this time, Dr. D nodded. "Then we'll have to leave soon. We need to have enough to take with us in case we're on the road for a while."

"It's only about a two and a half day's walk from here," Bell said, trying to be helpful like it would make up for what she'd done. "The city, I mean. It'll take shorter than that to drive."

"Thanks for the tip," Wire muttered, annoyed, and then bit his lip, shrugging. "Thanks. At least we know now."

"We're still going into the city?" Bullet piped up, eyeing the Doc, having been content watching the prior fight in perfect silence until something he cared about came up.

"We need food." the man responded. "Do you have another idea of where to get it?"

"No." Bullet answered flatly. "So we're just gonna drive in like we're not Killjoys?"

Bell crossed her arms, shrugging slightly. "Not that we wanna go back or anything, but…we did sneak out. I guess we can sneak back in."

Candy eyed her. "You know a way all of us can get in?"

Bell gave a small smile. "I think so, yeah."

"Great," Dr. D nodded, knowing they really didn't have any other choice but to trust 'I think so' meant 'I do.'"Then we go tomorrow."

"Gerard?" Frank called again, truly beginning to believe it was better to wait for his love to come back; he'd only been looking for a few minutes, but it was obvious the red head would have spoken if he'd wanted to be found. He'd been going off by himself a lot lately, and the younger feared that, if he only continued to try and find him, he'd only continue wanting to be alone. Frank himself didn't want be away from him, but nonetheless had to respect it. He then heaved a sigh, deciding to start back towards the warehouse, and then paused as he heard a soft whimper from behind the only car he hadn't looked around. "Gee, she was just being an asshole! She didn't mean it."

Frank frowned when he didn't get an answer, crossing his arms and leaning against the vehicle. "I love you," he tried. "Are you okay?"

No reply.

"Doc said we're moving out tomorrow…Bell knows a way into the city. I still don't exactly know how they plan on getting us all in without being caught, but we'll figure it out. Okay?" He straightened up. "Gee?"

He turned and walked around the side of it, eyeing the red head, who had an arm clutched to his chest, gripping it tightly. His head was lowered, and he shook it as Frank came closer, mumbling a very soft, "Leave me alone."

Frank didn't, kneeling next to him and tenderly running a hand through his hair. "You okay?"

Again he did not respond, and Frank eyed his arm. "Gerard...?"

He reached out quickly as he saw something red seeping through the older Killjoy's fingers, jerking his hand away despite his moan of protest, gasping in surprise at the cut on the side of his arm, concerned, pressing his own hand to it to try and stop the bleeding. "What happened?"

"I tripped…"

"Why didn't you say something, dumbass?" Frank rolled his eyes in irritation and wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him up. Gerard shook his head again but didn't fight his love as he set off towards the warehouse.

After a moment, he numbly reached into a pocket with his free hand, running his fingers along the shard of glass gently enough he wouldn't be injured, unsure if he would even notice if he was. Had he felt it just then? He couldn't remember. All he knew was that he'd been angry and upset and what he'd previously found had at last come in handy, and now he felt something—just slightly, but definitely there.

Relief.

It was the first emotion he'd had other than anger, sadness, shame, and misery since the day they'd been captured, and that only added to him wondering if he'd actually been so horrible to do it. He'd just needed to know, to be reassured he wasn't numb, or at least, not completely so.

Then he glanced at Frank as he walked alongside him, biting his lip at his love's concern and immediately repentant, though he couldn't be sure if it was for this or for the hundred other things he'd done wrong.

Sorry. I won't anymore. Never again, I promise.