(no subject)
Prompt: "What did they do to you?"
Rating/Warning: PG13 for violence. Takes place post-"Sing".
Ship: Frank/Gerard, Pete/Mikey (if you squint)
Word Count: 643
Summary: It's the first question out of the mouths of every zone runner and dust bunny he sees.
“What’d they do to you?”
It’s the first question out of the mouths of every zone runner and dust bunny that thinks they know him well enough (and some that really don’t) to ask it after he finally feels up to leaving the diner (and after Doctor D and Show Pony feel sure some latent programming isn’t going to kick in and send him running back to BL/ind, but he wasn’t supposed to hear that, and it’s a fear he’s been nursing himself, anyway). He tells most of them he doesn’t remember much, but it’s a lie, because losing the Killjoys did enough damage to morale without the truth.
What he remembers is coming back to life with a jolt, the first breath like fire in his lungs. What he remembers is fighting the Dracs tooth and nail as they held him down. What he remembers are the straps on his wrists and ankles. What he remembers is the razor in the Drac’s hand, cropping his hair down close to his head. (He remembers actually being grateful to Korse for not removing his tattoos, even after Korse told him in detail why he was allowed to keep them.) What he remembers is catching glimpses of red hair to his right and blond to his left, both being methodically neatened and coated in uniform black. (He remembers equal amounts of panic and relief at realizing he was the only one awake.) What he remembers is the burn of every drop of every drug they pumped through the needles in his arms. What he remembers is finally giving in to the sedative, when he just couldn’t fight it anymore.
What he remembers is the recognition and fear on the faces of zone runners when Korse ordered the four of them out. What he remembers is watching his hands fire a blaster to kill people he knew as friends. What he remembers is hearing himself giving up any information not buried deep enough in his subconscious. What he remembers is feeling himself smile at Korse’s praise, when all he wanted to do was throw up. What he remembers is feeling trapped in his own mind behind a constant and inescapable haze of drugs.
But what he remembered then was a van, and Motorbaby getting away. What he remembered was Doctor Death Defying and Show Pony and the music playing late into the night. What he remembered was throwing water on curls accidentally set aflame and laughing at shouted threats. What he remembered was blond hair under a yellow helmet and the wind in his face. What he remembered was his hands tangled in red hair and a mouth against his. What he remembered was the knowledge that whatever BL/ind did, they were still together, and somehow, they would get back up again.
And later, after a chance encounter at the opportune moment; after Pony’s given him back his coat; after he has a new and better blaster courtesy of BL/ind itself (aside from the paint job); after Doctor D wakes him in the dead of night because Pete is at their door with Mikey in his backseat, half dead and still in the gray suit (and Frank has never been more glad to see Pete fucking Wentz in all his lives); after Mikey’s been through the same detox that had Doctor D calling in half a dozen favors to make sure Frank actually survived it; after he’s traded some of his new knowledge of BLI for bleach and two boxes of dye, while Kobra’s repainting his weapon, Motorbaby gets up the nerve and curiousity to ask the question herself. And this time, when he can look up and catch Mikey’s eye across the room, the answer changes.
What they did was take his family. And what it’s time for them to do is get them back.
Rating/Warning: PG13 for violence. Takes place post-"Sing".
Ship: Frank/Gerard, Pete/Mikey (if you squint)
Word Count: 643
Summary: It's the first question out of the mouths of every zone runner and dust bunny he sees.
“What’d they do to you?”
It’s the first question out of the mouths of every zone runner and dust bunny that thinks they know him well enough (and some that really don’t) to ask it after he finally feels up to leaving the diner (and after Doctor D and Show Pony feel sure some latent programming isn’t going to kick in and send him running back to BL/ind, but he wasn’t supposed to hear that, and it’s a fear he’s been nursing himself, anyway). He tells most of them he doesn’t remember much, but it’s a lie, because losing the Killjoys did enough damage to morale without the truth.
What he remembers is coming back to life with a jolt, the first breath like fire in his lungs. What he remembers is fighting the Dracs tooth and nail as they held him down. What he remembers are the straps on his wrists and ankles. What he remembers is the razor in the Drac’s hand, cropping his hair down close to his head. (He remembers actually being grateful to Korse for not removing his tattoos, even after Korse told him in detail why he was allowed to keep them.) What he remembers is catching glimpses of red hair to his right and blond to his left, both being methodically neatened and coated in uniform black. (He remembers equal amounts of panic and relief at realizing he was the only one awake.) What he remembers is the burn of every drop of every drug they pumped through the needles in his arms. What he remembers is finally giving in to the sedative, when he just couldn’t fight it anymore.
What he remembers is the recognition and fear on the faces of zone runners when Korse ordered the four of them out. What he remembers is watching his hands fire a blaster to kill people he knew as friends. What he remembers is hearing himself giving up any information not buried deep enough in his subconscious. What he remembers is feeling himself smile at Korse’s praise, when all he wanted to do was throw up. What he remembers is feeling trapped in his own mind behind a constant and inescapable haze of drugs.
But what he remembered then was a van, and Motorbaby getting away. What he remembered was Doctor Death Defying and Show Pony and the music playing late into the night. What he remembered was throwing water on curls accidentally set aflame and laughing at shouted threats. What he remembered was blond hair under a yellow helmet and the wind in his face. What he remembered was his hands tangled in red hair and a mouth against his. What he remembered was the knowledge that whatever BL/ind did, they were still together, and somehow, they would get back up again.
And later, after a chance encounter at the opportune moment; after Pony’s given him back his coat; after he has a new and better blaster courtesy of BL/ind itself (aside from the paint job); after Doctor D wakes him in the dead of night because Pete is at their door with Mikey in his backseat, half dead and still in the gray suit (and Frank has never been more glad to see Pete fucking Wentz in all his lives); after Mikey’s been through the same detox that had Doctor D calling in half a dozen favors to make sure Frank actually survived it; after he’s traded some of his new knowledge of BLI for bleach and two boxes of dye, while Kobra’s repainting his weapon, Motorbaby gets up the nerve and curiousity to ask the question herself. And this time, when he can look up and catch Mikey’s eye across the room, the answer changes.
What they did was take his family. And what it’s time for them to do is get them back.