The Only Hope for Me Is You

I walked back out from the kitchen, Gerard and Ray following close behind. I giggled as I saw that Frank and Cy were still kissing.

“Well,” I interrupted, and the two separated, “You two are apparently busy, so the four of us are going to just…you know, go get Revenge and all…” I winked at Cy before leading Mikey out the door, Ray following behind us but Gerard stays behind, talking to them about something but his voice trails off as we reach the car.

“Mikey…your brother will shoot you…” I look at him as he stares willingly at the drivers seat and runs to it, practically throwing himself into it.

I sigh, giggling slightly as I clamber into the backseat next to Ray, knowing that Mikey will soon get kicked out of the drivers seat.

I knuckle touch Ray as I strap myself in next to him.

“You okay man?” he asks, strapping himself in to. I nod.

“Yeah, just a little worried I guess.”

“He’ll be fine.” He pats my shoulder lightly, reassuring me.

“It’s just…Exploder…he wouldn’t…although…”

“Hey,” he says, turning to face me, “everything’s gonna be fine, okay?”

I nod again, before shooting my head to the left, towards Gerard and his raised voice approaching the car,

“MIKEY! NO! OUT OF THE DRIVER SEAT! NEVER AGAIN!” He shouts, practically pulling him out of the car and throwing himself in his place. I giggle as Mikey joins us in the back.

“You did almost kill us last time, babe.” I chuckle, taking his hand in mine. He looks at me and chuckles slightly too.

“Hey Gerard,” I say, leaning forward slightly, resting one hand on the driver seat. Gerard’s head turns slightly and I spot Ray joining him in the front, “you should give your brother some lessons some time.”

“What, and let him destroy my baby even more? No way.” I hit him on the shoulder.

“Hey, come on. Just like, I don’t know take it step by step, give him theory lessons so he knows what he’s doing before he gets in the car?”

He’s about to protest when he stops and consults for a second, lost in thought with his duck face.

“Not a bad idea I suppose…” he sighs, smiling lightly. I smile and lean back in Mikey’s arms, lying myself over the other two seats in the back, and he kisses me tenderly.

“You are brilliant.” He smiles, I giggle and kiss him again but harder this time, sliding my tongue into his mouth and he doesn’t restrain, entwining both our tongues together.

“Guys please, save it for the bedroom?” chuckles Gerard. I laugh in the kiss and pull away, resting my head on his chest, where I end up falling asleep.
______________________________________________________________________

“Lauren…we’re here.” I wake as Mikey whispers to me, kissing my forehead lightly.

“Huh…what?” I ask, rubbing my eyes into the light.

“We’re at headquarters.” He says, reaching over to undo my belt, taking both my hands and pulling me out of the car with him. I stumble slightly, regaining my balance as I wake up.

He chuckles at me doing so, kissing me lightly and pulling up my bandana around my face. I then burst out laughing at Ray, whose bandana is in knots. I run over to him, taking it from his hands.

“How the fuck did you manage this?” I ask, giggling still. I inspect the bandana, looking bewildered at the mess it’s in. Ray shrugs, chuckling lightly. I pull at some of the knots, undoing them, some I have to pull at with my teeth to get them out. I smile at the finished result, straightening out some of the creases and handing it back to him.

“Thanks.” He laughs, blushing lightly, tying it around his neck and pulling it up to his face.

I giggle still, linking my arm in his and taking Mikey’s hand as we walk up to the headquarters, which are still deserted.

“This shit is weird.” I say through my bandana. I see Gerard nod in agreement in front of me.

“Why would they just bail like this?” he asks, one hand on his gun as we approach the doors. He wipes off some of the dust, leaving a clear spot that he glances through before turning back to us, shrugging.

“No one in.” he sighs, pulling down his bandana and rubbing the back of his neck, “Where the fuck could they be?” He walked away from the window, but I inspected it, peering through the dusty glass intensely.

“Maybe not…” I mumble, letting go of both Ray and Mikey who stare at me as I approach the doors.

“Lauren…?” Mikey asks, following behind me, as does Ray.

“Maybe…just maybe…but I don’t know…” I say, a little louder than before as I reach to open the doors.

“Maybe what?” asks Gerard, appearing beside me. I turn to them all.

“Okay we need to split up, they’re in there somewhere...I know it. We need to split up and look for them, all over the place. They could be anywhere, hidden away.” Gerard looks at me, eye squinted slightly.

“You think so?” he said slowly, moving his gaze to the window, then back at me, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yes! This is exactly their plan, they make it seem like they’ve bailed so we don’t look for them in here, oldest trick in the book.” I say, looking at them all in turn.

“Dude…you’re good.” Chuckles Gerard, hands on his hips. “Alright,” he begins, clapping his hands together and we all jolt slightly. “Mikey I want you with me, we’ll stay up," Mikey nodded. "And Lauren, I want you with Ray, you two look down below, basements and all that jazz. No exceptions about who you’re partnered with, I don’t want either of you doing something stupid in the name of love okay?” He says, pointing at me and Mikey in turn.

“Yes sir.” I say, standing up straight and saluting him. Gerard walks through the double glass doors and I take Mikey’s hand again, pulling him towards me.

“Be careful.” He says, leaning in and kissing me lightly before letting me go. I nod as he follows his brother through the doors and they both disappear into the corridors. I turn to Ray, who’s fiddling with his bandana.

“Back door?” I ask, taking out my gun. He looks up from it and nods, turning to walk behind the building, I follow on and we’ve reached it in no time. I lean my back against the wall next to the door and get out my gun, as does Ray, on the other side.

“You ready for this?” I ask, smiling at him.

“You ready?” he asks back, smiling. I nod and we both kick the door open in unison, making it slam onto the floor in front of us, sending a wave of dust ahead of us so we can see nothing.

I cough my way into the building, waving my free hand around to rid of the dust as it soon clears without much waving needed to reveal a rusty old boiler room.

“Shits clear.” Says Ray, kicking at a few pipes on the floor.

“Next.” I say, walking towards the door, having to shove my body against it to get it open and it finally gives in, opening with a giant creak.

“Shit! WATCH OUT!” Shout Ray, grabbing me by the neck of my jacket and hauling me back into the room as a ray gun shot skims my stomach, tearing through the fabric, luckily missing my skin. I look down at the rip in my shirt, my belly button and a patch of flesh now on show for all to see.

“Aw fuck.” I sigh, tugging at it. Ray turns me towards him to inspect me for injuries.

“You okay?” he asks, looking down at the torn shirt.

“Yep, my shirt isn’t though…”

“No uh…that actually looks good, sort of a rebellious punk look.” I chuckle at this, and he smiles back widely.

“Ya think?” I say, looking back down at it.

“Yeah!” He laughs, “Now come on, we need to take out that Drac, it must be guarding something...”

“This shit's gonna be easy peasy pumpkin peasy, pumpkin pie mother fucker.” I smirk; running out of the door and ducking a shot before shooting the Drac in the face, taking it clean out.

“Nice one.” He says, patting me on the shoulder before walking ahead and taking out the lock on the door that the Drac was guarding with one shot.

“Could say the same.” I laugh, following him on as he hauls open the door and I gasp as we see Revenge sprawled out on the floor in a pool of blood.

“Fuck…NO!” I shout, running towards him, dropping my gun and landing on my knees in the blood, lifting him up and shaking him.

“Come on Revenge, COME ON!” I feel tears emerging as I shake him more. I lay him back down, staring at his blood covered face.

“He’s not dead you know.” Says a voice coming from behind me, I turn, expecting to see Ray but he’s replaced by my brother. I frantically look around, but Ray is no where to be seen.

“Where is he?” I ask sternly, standing up and walking towards him, fast as I right hook him in the jaw. He falls to the ground, clenching his jaw, groaning in pain.

“Easy sister. They’re all fine, and yes I mean your boyfriend and that red head too, walked into my trap.” He laughs, adjusting his jaw. I straddle him, grabbing him by the neck of his shirt and lifting him up to my face.

“Don’t think I won’t kill you Exploder. I’m stronger and better than you, NOW GIVE THEM BACK!”