The Only Hope for Me Is You

I watched the van drive off, not really comprehending what was happening until it actually struck me. With that, I turned and ran towards my motorcycle, lifting it up with much effort. We had to go after them. I was not letting them hurt or take Grace like that.

"Midnight, we can't go after them," Gerard said, knowing what I was about to do.

"And why the hell not?!" I asked, angrily. I had grown attached to Grace and I wasn't letting Better Living have her like they had my family. God knows what they would do to her and I wasn't about to lose her.

"We have to get to Dr Death Defying's first. He'll know what to-" Franks started but I cut him off.

"I know what to do! Fuck Dr Death! That's all you asshole's say!" I yelled at them, shooting them death glares that would scare hundreds of Draculoids. "Dr Death isn't almighty! He isn't all-knowing! How the fuck is he gonna, even.." My anger was getting the best of me, I couldn't even think straight anymore.

My eyes trailed over where the van had disappeared and I could barely make it out. If I didn't move now, I would lose it.

"I don't care what you do, but I'm going after her." I said, quickly climbing onto my bike. I kick started it and it hummed to life.

"Midnight, don't you dare! You promised you weren't gonna leave!" I heard Gerard shout over the engine. I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he pull that card on me. Without a word, I turned the throttle and shot off after the BLI van.

I didn't dare look back to see if they were trailing in the car, I just picked up on the speed. My eyes stayed trained onto the van in front of me. It seemed they hadn't noticed that I was tailing them. Or if they did, they didn't care. That thought made me angrier than I have ever been. I actually saw red, and that has never happened before.

My hand slowly itched towards my ray gun, drawing it from it's holster. I aimed and, through my haze of anger, I hit one of their side mirrors. It blasted off, making glass fly everywhere. This action must of warned them that I meant business and I heard a scream that obviously belonged to Grace. This motivated me more.

"C'mon, you fuckers." I muttered under my breath, preparing myself for a full on fight.

As I raised my ray gun to take another shot, I was tackled off of my bike. Literally, tackled. A body sent me flying into the ground, rolling into a ditch on the side of the road, and covering my small body with it's own. I instantly recognized the familiar smell of Frank as I heard laser shots being fired at top speed. Frank's hand found it's way to the back of my head, holding it close to his chest as the ground around us flew up and rained us with dirt. I heard the tires of a car squeal and then more dirt came down on top of us.

It soon quieted down, the only sound coming from the BLI van that kept getting fainter and fainter as it went farther away. Taking Grace with it.

"Are you guys okay?" I heard Mikey ask, his footsteps coming closer as Frank let me go and climbed off of me.

"What that fuck was that?" I exclaimed, looking between the four men and then landing on Frank. "You could've killed me! Fuck, you could've killed yourself!" Frank sort of just sat there, dumbfounded.

"Didn't you hear those fucking shots?!" Ray asked, helping me out of the ditch. "They would of torn you to shreds and that's why we didn't want to go after them to begin with! We knew they had those weapons on them."

Frank climbed out after me and, with much protest from me because I was still angry, pulled me into his arms. He whispered that Grace was going to be okay and that we would get her sooner or later. After awhile, I stopped beating my fists against his chest and just hugged him back.

"We need to get to Dr Death Defying." Gerard said. "And you're gonna have to ride with us for now. Show Pony or Cherri is gonna have to repair your bike."

I looked around Frank, who was still holding me, to see where Gerard and pointed to. I groaned as I watched Mikey push my broken motorcycle. Most of the red paint was chipped off and there were dents in it, some places even had stuff cracked completely off. The two tires were flat and out of shape, the spokes bent at odd angles. I grimaced and sullenly nodded.

Frank led me over towards the car as Mikey got help from Ray to tie the bike to trunk. I climbed into the backseat and moved over so I was behind Gerard. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around the seat and his torso.

"I'm sorry," I said, putting my chin on his shoulder.

"It's okay. You didn't know." he replied, raising his hand up to gently stroke my hair. I smiled softly at him and leaned back into my seat as Frank moved to sit next to me, Mikey sliding in after him. Ray got in the passenger seat and Gerard started the car, quickly maneuvering it until we were back on the Getaway Mile.



It wasn't until the next day that we reached Dr Death Defying's radio station. To say I was paranoid would be an extreme understatement. I was going out of my mind; different scenarios of what could happen to Grace kept playing in my head.

"She'll be fine, Ree-Ree." Frank reassured me once again. I didn't even bother nodding at that point. "She's a tough cookie; she can hold her own ground."

"Alright, motorbabies," Dr Death Defying said, wheeling into the main room that we all had been sitting in, going over blueprints and plans.

Yes, I said wheeling. Dr Death Defying had an encounter with a few Draculoids, if you can remember. Show Pony got the call when they were helping me out. By the time that Agent Cherri Cola and Show Pony got back, the Draculoids had the radio station tore up and Dr Death Defying had lost the use of his legs. Now, he traveled around in a very cool motorized wheelchair, which he didn't seem to mind at all.

"We've lost one of our finest," Dr Death Defying continued, and I could instantly see Frank and Gerard doing hand motions to get him to shut up.

"What do you mean, lost?" I questioned, looking over to Frank who slapped a hand over his forehead. "We're going to get her back, right?" No one answered me. "Right?!"

"Avarie-" Show Pony started, but I cut him off.

"No!" I shouted, glaring at all of them profusely. "How dare you even think about leaving a Killjoy in the hands of Better Living! What the fuck is wrong with all of you?!" I rose from where I was sitting, anger boiling up inside of me once again. It was one thing to stop me from chasing after a van, it was an entirely different thing to abandon Grace all together.

"Avarie, calm down." Ray said, laying a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"It'd be a suicide mission, Av." Gerard said, standing in front of me. "Better Living took Grace because they knew we would burst in after her. They'll probably be waiting for us on the outskirts of Battery City."

"That's not the point!" I yelled right into his face. He just closed his eyes, expecting this outburst. "It's Grace! I've known her for only several days, you've known her for God knows how long! How come I'm the one fighting to get her back?!"

"Ree, we will get her-"

"Fun Ghoul, please." Dr Death Defying said, holding up his hand to silence Frank. "Do not lie to her or give her false hope. We don't need that here in the Zones."

"I can't believe this," I said after a few minutes of silence. "You guys' really are assholes. You care more about your own goddamn lives instead of that of a ten year old! Where the fuck is the guys I grew up with?! The ones who put others before themselves?!"

"We are putting people ahead of ourselves!" Gerard shouted back, his temper bursting through. He would not let Avarie speak down to him like that. "All of those other fucking Killjoys out there, still free and still fighting! If we go in there after Grace and die, those Killjoys' hope dies along with us! If we die, Better Living wins because others will surrender!" And of course, he said the wrong thing.

"Look who's fucking full of himself! They don't need you to fucking carry on. They're all smart and they won't let Better Living win. You might of started this rebellion, but we can sure as hell end it without you!" I yelled and I knew something clicked in his head, something I said upset him to the maximum point.

"You know what?" he said, a little more softly than his previous tone. "Let's go. Let's go and get ourselves fucking killed because that's what Avarie wants, right?" He looked at me, mixed emotions swimming in his eyes.

"You know I didn't m-"

"Drop it, Midnight. We're going, are you happy? We're going to get ourselves killed because you want us to." he said, turning to stalk out towards the car. Soon, Ray and Mikey followed him with Dr Death Defying quickly going after them, shouting protests and warnings. Frank turned and started to follow them as well.

"Frank," I said, grabbing onto his wrist. "I didn't mean it like that, you know that, right? I just want Grace back." When he turned to look at me, I instantly regretted everything I said. His eyes held immense sadness and... something else I couldn't place. It was something like a wanting feeling.

"I know, but the way you said it.." he trailed off, his eyes moving to everywhere but me.

"Forget it, Frank. Go convince the others to come back in. I don't want any of you dead." I wrapped my arms around him, trying to hold him to me.

I was bipolar, that was for sure. I wanted them to go get Grace and bring her back, safe and sound, but I didn't want to lose them either. I just got them back and if they were killed in the process, I would probably kill myself or go crazy. Neither of the two was good.

"You wanted this, Avarie." I squeezed my eyes shut at the pain in his voice and how he didn't use my nickname. "And you were right, we have to get Grace back. Never leave a Killjoy behind."

"Please, Frank.." I said, but he was quickly moving away from me. I knew that he had made up his mind and that the others had made it up awhile ago. They were going and that was it. I had convinced them in the worst way possible.

"Stay safe, at least." I whispered, tears filling my eyes. Seeing this, Frank wrapped his arms around me again, holding me close. He kissed the top of my head, lingering his lips there a little longer.

"Frank.." I went to try again but I was cut off by the warmness of lips pressed against my own. I immediately kissed back, letting myself get lost into the feeling. It was nothing like it was in the movies. No fireworks went off behind my eyelids, but a certain warmth filled me up. Everything was forgotten as we stood there, embraced into each others arms.

We broke apart and rested our foreheads against each others. I slowly raised my eyes up to meet his and was shocked at what I saw there. Pure and utter love, and relief, like he had waited for forever to do that.

"C'mon Frank!" We heard Gerard yell from outside and Frank quickly pulled away from me.

"Frank, no," I started but he turned and winked at me, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Now, I have a reason to come back." he said, smirking then exiting through the front door, leaving me there, still a little dazed.