Danger Days: The True Life of a Real Rebel

The next day, a soft knock woke Faye as she slept in her dark room, having been allowed to sleep late on the grounds that she’d probably try to go on patrol if she got out of bed. “C’m in.” She mumbled, sitting up and stretching slightly as the door opened, revealing a short Killjoy silhouetted in the light from the hallway.
Fun Ghoul stepped hesitantly inside and Faye did her best not to freeze up. When he shot her, he’d just been looking out for his friends, his family, all the Killjoys, the future of the entire world. Even Faye knew the only good Exterminator was a dead one. But she couldn’t stop herself from going paler than she already was, or the apprehension from flickering through her eyes before she hid it behind a wall of nothingness.
“Hey Smile.” Fun Ghoul mumbled, his gaze dropping to the floor. “I… I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be.” Faye replied softly, staring at the blanket she was bunching in her lap. “All of the Exterminators are going to have to die.”
Fun Ghoul glanced up, surprised the young Killjoy was so forgiving. “I’m still sorry.” He said honestly, and Faye glanced up, smiling at him, then holding her arms open for a hug. Fun Ghoul walked over slowly, carefully wrapping his arms around the damaged girl. “My name’s Frankie.” He mumbled, pulling away.
“I’m Faye.” The younger Killjoy smiled back, and Fun Ghoul Frankie looked up in surprise. “Mikey helped me pick it, since they don’t give us names in the city.”
Frankie nodded in understanding, smiling a little, the light starting to return to his eyes. “It’s a nice name.” Just as he started to grin, a noise form the hallway made him flinch and whirl around to look guiltily at the doorway, where Gerard was glaring at him.
“I said-” Gerard began angrily, but Frankie held his hands up in defeat.
“I’ll go. I just wanted to apologize.” Frankie said, then grinned at Faye over his shoulder. “See ya later, alligator.” He marched himself past Gerard, who just gave him an unamused look that could have killed quite a few Exterminators.
Once Frankie was gone, Gerard looked at Faye. “You okay?” He asked, his face softening.
Faye nodded, wincing as the bandage on her neck shifted slightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Gerard sighed. “We’re all just worried.” He glanced down the hallway, towards the kitchen, then stepped inside to sit on the bed with Faye. “Nobody was supposed to wake you up, especially not him.”
“What’s wrong with Frankie waking me up?” Faye asked, tilting her head to one side like a curious puppy.
Gerard raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Seeing him didn’t freak you out?”
“I was a little… unnerved, at first.” Faye admitted, studying the blankets before meeting Gerard’s gaze again. “But I understand why he did it. I don’t blame him for it.”
“The rest of us do.” Gerard shrugged, making Faye frown.
“Why would you do that? He was just looking out for you.”
It was Gerard’s turn to frown as he thought it over. “Well, I guess he was the only one to actually think of you as an Exterminator. To the rest of us, you were always a Killjoy. It was like he shot one of us.”
The girl nodded, able to understand that point of view, too. “I guess I see where you’re coming from, but… don’t be mad at him, okay?”
Gerard sighed, then ruffled her hair. “Sure thing, kiddo.” A grin suddenly spread across his face, and Faye found it contagious. “You hungry? We can raid the fridge since Dr. D’s not home.”
“Where’d he go?” She asked curiously as she slid out of bed, wincing as her muscles screamed in protest. She’d been asleep for a long time, letting herself stiffen up as her bruises settled in. Gerard put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“Mikey, Ray, Dr. D, and Boom Box all went to some Fever Fest out in Zone 3. I think Frankie just took off after them.” Gerard shrugged nonchalantly.
“You didn’t have to stay.” Faye mumbled, immediately feeling guilty. “You should go, too.”
“Somebody’s gotta look after you, kiddo.” Gerard grinned as they reached the kitchen. “Besides, I lost Rock, Knife, Ray Gun.”
Faye rolled her eyes in amusement, limping to the cabinet, cocking her head when she saw something new next to the usual food. “What’re PopTarts?”
“Eat one and find out.” Gerard grinned. “Strawberry or s'mores are all we’ve got.”
Faye gave the man a skeptical look, then grabbed her treat of choice- strawberry- and staggered back to the table. She’d never admit it, but she was glad Gerard had stayed with her- even though he was the most overprotective, he let her do more on her own. Anyone else would either ‘help’ her around the kitchen or, even worse, do everything for her.
-
“Hey kiddo, how’s it goin’?” Gerard grinned, lounging in the doorway and crossing his arms to watch Faye, who was sitting at the table, reading a comic book she’d swiped from his room. He wasn’t sure which one she’d taken, but he was happy she was showing an interest.
“This is the shit.” Faye mumbled, totally absorbed in Watchemen. She’d chosen well by Gerard’s standards. “There was nothing like this in Battery City.”
“So what did you read?” Gerard frowned, crossing the room to sit down across the table from the young Killjoy.
Faye put the comic book down, also frowning. “While I was on the pills, nothing.” She shook her head, disappointed in herself. “When I started hacking the BLI shit, I found contraband files. There were some stories and poetry saved, scanned-in artwork from the masters, as they were called. I liked Edgar Allan Poe, Ellen Hopkins, J.R.R. Tolkein, J.K. Rowling.” Faye shrugged. “The art didn’t really do much for me, but I really liked one by somebody named Van Gough. It was a picture of a night sky, full of stars.”
Gerard grinned. “You’ve got decent taste. Any comic contraband?” He nodded at the book now laying on the table, and Faye sighed.
“I never really got into it, I was always looking at a new novel. This was one of them, and Iron Man, Superman, Batman, and something called the Umbrella Academy that I read the first issue of. That was decent.”
Gerard perked up immediately, his grin widening. “I wrote Umbrella Academy.”
Faye looked at him skeptically. “No way.”
“Way.” Gerard grinned back, then frowned slightly. “How’d you get any of the references? I doubt BLI taught about drugs, violence, and all that shit.”
“I did a lot of research on my own.” Faye shrugged, not noticing the look that crossed Gerard’s face as an alarming thought entered his mind.
“Did you… learn about the… um, birds and the bees?” He asked awkwardly, blushing slightly, his discomfort growing when Faye gave him a blank look. “Well, um, there are guy Killjoys your age, and um, come on, you didn’t see this in all your contraband?” Gerard asked desperately, rubbing the back of his neck.
Faye was giving him a confused look that seemed nearly concerned for his sanity. “What?”
Gerard groaned, realizing this was going to be horrific, awful, and embarrassing. “Well, um, when two people love each other very much, they get together…” He trailed off, wishing that anyone else was home to explain this to Faye.
“I know what marriage is.” Faye interrupted, tilting her head to one side, wondering why he thought she was that naïve.
“That’s good, but… um, this is supposed to come after that, but almost nobody follows that sorta-rule.” Gerard swallowed nervously before forcing himself to continue. “See, guys and girls, especially teenagers, start to change… physically.” Gerard was blushing furiously now, wishing a dark hole would open up and swallow him. “And, um, they start to notice the changes in each other, and… they um, like it?” Now he was just beating around the bush. “’Cause, well, people are just animals, and most people want to have kids-”
“Oh, Jesus, you did not just go there!” Faye yelped, her eyes widening as she finally realized where this was going. “I know about that! Just stop talking! Please!” She shoved her chair back from the table as Gerard sighed in relief, still blushing madly.
“Oh, thank god.” Gerard breathed, letting his head fall onto the table. “Thank fucking god.”