The Punchline to the Joke Is Asking

As we walked back to Pete's from the studio, Andy said, "No offense, but how'd a homeless kid wind up with a signed My Chem t shirt?"
I grinned. "I had the t shirt, and I heard My Chem was playing at a venue near where I was. I climbed through some ventilation shafts, and once I got in I snuck backstage and watched their set from there, and they found me when they went offstage. They congratulated me on being a ninja and signed my shirt." I grinned.
"Oh my God, YOU'RE NINJA GIRL!" Joe yelled, and I looked at him.
"What?" I laughed.
"Gee told us about the ninja girl who got backstage in New York. He thought it was pretty awesome to have a ninja fan." Pete chuckled. "They remember you."
"That's kind of awesome." I grinned, then showed them the spot on my shoulder where Gerard had written "We love our ninja fan- rock on!" and signed it. They laughed.
Back at Pete's place, we just hung around, teased each other, and threw Joe in the pool.

The next day, Pete decided to drag me off somewhere for a surprise.
We wound up at a huge venue, and he took me backstage. My Chem was performing.
I grinned at him, then we started singing along. Right before the end of their set, Pete winked at me and disappeared, saying he'd be back.
When My Chem wandered offstage, they immediately spotted me.
"Oh my God. It's ninja girl!" Frankie yelled, and tackled me in a hug.
"It's My Chemical Romance!" I mimicked, hugging him.
"You're less shy than last time!" Frankie grinned, then passed me to Gerard, who also hugged me.
"Ninja girl! Long time, no see!" he laughed, and passed me to Mikey.
"Hiya." I grinned, before he could make a 'ninja girl' comment.
"Hola." He trumped me, then handed me to Bob, who then passed me to Ray.
"I can't believe you guys remembered me." I laughed, once they were done passing me around, just as Pete reappeared.
"We could never forget our pet ninja!" Frankie yelled, hugging me again. "Especially since she's pretty." He batted his eyelashes at me, making me laugh again.
"Pete! We found our ninja! I TOLD you we had a ninja!" Mikey yelled at him.
"Actually, I found your ninja. "Pete grinned smugly, pulling me away from Frankie and putting an arm around my shoulders. "She's my newest project."
"That makes me feel oh-so-important." I rolled my eyes, grinning at the guys.
"Sweet! Can you teach me to be a ninja?" Frankie asked me.
"Of course." I grinned. I was pretty ninja, after years of sneaking around to get food and stuff. I was a pro at being invisible.
"Cool. So, you a singer?" Gerard asked.
"Yup." I answered.
"She plays guitar and writes all her own stuff, too." Pete put in, and the guys looked at me, impressed.
"I told you our fans were cooler." Gerard grinned at Pete, who scowled.
"Fine, you win this one." Pete admitted grudgingly.
"Kid, what's your name?" Ray asked, making me roll my eyes.
"Why does everybody call me that?" Then I grinned. "My name's Cyn."
"Hello, Cyn." Frankie and Mikey said together, waving.
And that began my day with My Chemical Romance.

A few weeks later, everyone was hanging at Pete's house. I was feeling pretty mellow, just relaxing on the couch with my knees up in front of me, laying on my back with my head on the armrest.
I was kind of zoning out, staring at the ceiling, humming a little as I ran through some words in my mind. Maybe they'd be lyrics if-
I was cut off by Pete putting a baby in my lap, sitting him so his back was against my thighs, and it was staring at me.
"Pete, what just happened?" I asked, wide-eyed, staring at the baby.
"This is Bronx." Pete said proudly, and I could see a lot of resemblance.
"You're a dad?" I asked, open-mouthed.
"Yep." Pete answered, incredibly proud.
I looked at the baby again. "Um, good for you?" The kid was just staring at me.
"Have fun." Pete smiled at me, then turned away.
"No! Hey, c'mon, I don't like kids!" I whined, panicking. Kids weren't too fond of me, either.
Pete glared at me venomously, and all the guys turned to look as if expecting a brutal murder. "Everyone likes Bronx."
I rolled my eyes at Pete, then looked away from him as he went back to the guys.
I glanced at the kid, then glared up at the ceiling, letting my breath out in a rush. I was so not happy about this.
Eventually, Gerard came over and picked up the kid. "You really don't like kids, do you?" He seemed surprised.
"Not at all." I grimaced, then sat up on the couch so Gerard could sit with me. He was still holding Pete's kid.
"I'm a dad, too." Gerard said, playing with the kid's fingers.
I gave him the look I'd given Pete before- open mouthed, shocked, maybe even horrified.
Gerard looked at me, trying to figure me out.
I glanced away, and for a minute, we sat in silence. Then I got up and walked away, out to the porch.

For the next few days, I avoided Pete and Gerard, I wasn't talking to them, making eye contact, anything.
"What's your deal?" Joe asked me one day, when I looked down as Pete walked past me. He seemed to have given up on me.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"You're avoiding Pete." Joe said subtly.
"And Gerard." Pete called from out of the room.
"Yeah, I guess I am." I shrugged, and left it at that.

I was back on the same couch as before when Joe walked over and put Bronx in my lap again.
"Eh, no, I don't want it." I said, immediately freaking out.
"Bronx is a 'him'." Joe replied, and walked away.
I looked after him, pleading, then caught sight of the guys snickering at me.
I glared at them, then looked away from everyone. And when I say 'everyone', I mean My Chem, Panic!, FOB, and Gabe & Bill.
Every now and then, I'd sneak a glance at the kid, who just sat there, waving his arms occasionally, babbling.
Once I glanced over, and the kid was just staring at me, intent.
I glared back. "What?"
Then his smile faded and his eyes started to tear up.
"Hey, no, c'mon kid, don't do that." I pleaded, sneaking a panicked glance at the guys. Pete would murder me if I made his kid cry. Gerard, Bill, and Gabe were watching with interest, snickering at me, but nobody else seemed to have noticed.
"Hey, kid, Bronx, don't cry." I said, trying to stop panicking myself, jiggling him a little with my legs.
He stopped fussing, and a few forgotten tears slid down his cheeks, but he wasn't upset anymore.
"Hey, there ya go." I said softly, and he babbled at me, smiling.
I smiled a little back, not sure how to deal with him, so I jiggled him a little more, making him giggle.
"See? That's not so bad." I smiled at him. "I'm not as scary as I like to pretend." I confided, and he giggled, happy to be in on my little secret. Then I realized what was happening and looked pointedly away from the kid again.
It wasn't long until I was talking to him again, playing with him. I couldn't help it; he was so adorable- and he had me wrapped around his little fingers.
"I told you everyone likes Bronx." Pete said, walking over, Gerard trailing along behind him.
"This kid's using mind control on me. Please take him. Please." I said, not looking at Pete.
Pete sighed, then sat down facing me on the other end of the couch, and Gerard sat on the floor next to where I was on the couch.
"Why do you suddenly not like us?" Pete asked me, as subtle as he always was.
I glanced up at him in surprise, then looked away again. "It's not... it's nothing personal, it's just... you're a dad." I shook my head.
"What's so bad about that?" Gerard asked, glancing at me while he let Bronx play with his fingers.
"Parents are horrible, rotten people. Families are a joke." I looked away from both men and the kid, glaring into space.
"What?" Pete finally asked.
"You heard me." I mumbled mulishly.
"Why would you think that?" Pete pressed.
"My parents were Nazis. My friends' parents were Nazis." I shrugged.
"C'mon, no one's that bad." Gerard grinned, and I looked at him.
"No, I mean Neo Nazi, KKK Klan leaders." I said, and Gerard leaned away as if it were contagious. Pete looked disgusted, and he actually took Bronx.
"I'm not like them. That's why they threw me out. I spent every day fighting them. They even tried drugging me, to make me go along with it, but I just... didn't. I found out they were putting pills in my food, blew a fuse, and got kicked out for it." I shrugged. "I was 10."
"Wait, you got thrown out at 10?" Gerard asked, looking torn between awe and horror.
"Yeah. Between walking and hitchhiking I made it to New York. Learned how to look out for myself." I shrugged again.
"Do I want to know where you started from?" Pete asked apprehensively.
"Oklahoma."
The two men stared at me.
"Like I said, nothing personal, I just really, really hate parents." Once again, I shrugged, then hopped off the couch, right over Gerard, and joined Joe in trying to build a house of cards, which was fun because he was high- again.

"You had such a nice talk with them- why are you still being rotten to Gerard and Pete?" Patrick asked me one day, as we were watching Star Wars with Joe and Andy.
"'Cause they're parents." I said, still watching the Ewoks take down a Walker. I ignored the fact that the guys were all giving me confused looks.