I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember

Chapter 148: Killjoys Don't Retire

Things couldn’t stay exceptional forever, but Gerard was in rebuttal of that until one early morning he stepped out of the shower in a black tank top and black sweats, and was greeted face to face with his cruel reality. Lounging snugly beside a deeply snoozing Frank was a member of the Killjoy family, Dash, adorned all in black except for the rainbow tie dye shirt beneath his leather jacket. Out of all his team members, Gerard never got along with Dash because he was resentful that the rules never applied to him, and that he was invulnerable to any backlashes. It was true, Gerard had been immune from any disciplines, but that all changed when he met Frank and discovered a new aspiration within him. He never flexed the rules til they cracked before until he met him, and for the first time in his life he was held liable for his actions for they were becoming too excessive and treacherous to ignore.

Converting back into his Poison persona in the blink of an eye, Gerard surged forward with only Dash being his prime target until the glare of something polished caught his eyes. Dropping them, he located the cause of it. Dash had a serrated knife hovering over Frank’s pale naked neck, maliciously grinning with certainty because he knew he had the upper hand in this situation. The horror that rose within Gerard was enough to have him momentarily waning beneath Dash’s vigilant gaze until the Killjoy in him pressed him to get himself together and take what little control he had in this situation. First and foremost, he had to get him away from his precious lover, and their secluded family. Gesturing with a wave of his hand towards the closed bedroom door, Gerard waited impatiently for Dash to silently concede to withdraw from the room with him.

Thankfully, he did. If Gerard didn’t loathe him so much, he might have kissed his boots. Watching him go, he then took up the rear until they were out in the hall, and led the way through the slumbering house to the backyard where they would have absolute solitude. Gerard entrusted Dash enough not to assault him within the walls of his own home, but when they reached the backyard and he twisted around to accost him, he had to sidestep a slinging fist. Catching a hold of Dash’s wrist, Gerard heaved a punch right back that popped him in the nose. Oozing blood, Dash shuffled back before rushing forward to tackle Gerard to the cold dewy grass. In eerie stillness, the two men clashed, firing blows, and sometimes kicks when the moment presented itself. This went on until finally Gerard conveyed in a hiss after swiping a foot underneath Dash’s feet and slamming him down onto his back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here, Rainbow Dash, huh?!” Transcending over him, Gerard reached down to snag the front of Dash’s rainbow shirt, which matched his rainbow mohawk, and dragged him up to him. “You come into my home, and threaten what’s mine!? You must have a death wish!”

With swift reaction, Dash snatched two fistfuls of Gerard’s black tank top and headbutted him in the nose, making his nose bleed next as he tumbled back with a groan. Collapsing back onto the well-kempt lawn, Dash caught his breath before bracing himself up onto his elbows to glare at his adversary as he spat blood from his mouth. “I’m here searching for your dumbass, Poison! Just checking to see what you’ve been doing since you seemed to have deserted your fucking place!”

“You don’t need to check up on me anymore, Rainbow Dash.” Gerard growled at him, rubbing the blood from his nose on his arm, smudging red. Looking back, this stopover of Dash was to be foreseen. When a Killjoy goes missing or doesn’t return by their own decision, they’re usually tracked down to find out why. Depending on what the motive might be for their absence, it might mean definite downfall. Dash was doing exactly this, only Gerard had no idea if his little brother was behind this or if he came on his own free will. “I thought my actions have been pretty evident as of late, but since you need me to spell it out for you, I’m separating from the Killjoys. I’m done with you guys.”

Not believing his luck that the prodigal muse of the Killjoys would soon be up for liquidation for him to mutilate with his own blades, Dash bit back a laugh. “You’re ‘retiring’? Is that so?” Towing himself back up onto his feet, he closed the distance between them. He wanted to be close enough when he warned him of the rules of being a Killjoy. “Haven’t you heard? Killjoys don’t retire. The only form of retirement for us is death.”

A gasp was heard from within the house, and both men spun to see Frank stand there trembling behind one of the throw blankets on the couch he had jerked up when he observed Gerard outside with one of his Killjoy buddies. And not just any buddy, but the one with the rainbow Mohawk and the black mask with the faint rainbow iridescent sheen. Hormonal tears obscured Frank’s vision as he stood there suspended, gaping at the man that had once tried to collect him as his prize from Poison. What Frank never understood then was all the times Gerard had tried to protect him from his family’s grasp.

Gerard should have known Frank would have come searching for him soon with his continuing bad luck, but he genuinely thought that last night’s exertions would have comatose him well into the following afternoon. Forgetting the murderous Dash altogether, he strode back into the home to alleviate his trembling and hysterical lover. Cupping his face in both hands, Gerard made Frank stare at him instead. “Hey, look at me. It’s okay. Everything is fine, you have nothing to worry about.”

“G-Gee.” Frank managed to whimper, gawking up at his lover with large hazel eyes twinkling with tears as he reached out to clutch onto Gerard’s shirt for assistance. He didn’t understand what was going on and if it would all be okay like he said. Why was Dash there? What did he want?

Rolling his eyes at the amorous scene, Dash let out a weary sigh. He didn’t have time for this. Well, actually he did, he just didn’t want to drain it on this romantic interval. Resolving to get Gerard back into their exchange, he barked out his Killjoy name. “POISON!”

Tensing up at being rudely stopped, Gerard kept his focus on his lover, whispering against his shivering plump lips. “Please, baby, I need you to go back upstairs for me.” When Frank began to protest with a shake of his head, he pressed on in a pleading tone. “Please, Frankie, you have to do this for me. Let me take care of this alone knowing you’ll be safe out of his reach. Think of our children.”

Nothing else needed to be said after the mention of their family snoozing upstairs. Nodding shakily, Frank swallowed back a bucketful of tears and breathed out. “O-Okay, I’ll go. But please...be careful.”
“I will. I promise I will. Now, go.” Gerard pressed a brief kiss to his forehead before spinning him by his shoulders towards the stairs. He watched him go, clenching the bundled blanket to his stomach to cloak his protruding belly from Dash’s observant gaze. Once he was out of sight, Gerard turned his mind to Dash, glaring savagely at him. “What, Dash?”

“Like I said before, there is no such thing as retirement for us Killjoys.” Dash restated with a vicious grin. “What you’re meaning is death.”

“And you would just love that, wouldn’t you? To slash that blade across my throat right now and watch me bleed painfully in my backyard.” Poison mocked him with a perverse grin of his own before it dissolved. “Oh, but you won’t do it, will you? You don’t want to fuck with me, Rainbow Dash. You know better than to take me on again.”

Dash’s grin turned bitter as he glowered at the man before him. The mention of the past times they went to blows with one another made the scars on his chest pang from where Poison’s blade had carved into him. Early on recruiting into the Killjoys, Dash had tried to let everyone know his place as the King. He couldn’t tell if the others were in understanding or were humoring him, but Poison obviously paid him no mind which only aggravated him. When he strode up to him, the redhead was not hesitant to take him down, lug him up into his room and torture him like he would his prizes. It took Kobra returning back from civilization with Sable to loosen him from Poison’s medieval torture rack because no one else in the house would stand up to him to free him. “So, that’s the way it’s gonna be.”

“That’s the only way it’s gonna be.” Gerard wrapped up before shutting and locking the sliding door between then, finishing their visit with the closing of the curtains.

Now that that business was finished, Gerard had to go and find his lover now to reassure him that everything was fine now...not that he knew if that was really the case. Only two things can come of this session. The Killjoys either leave him alone, or oppose him. Gerard had always had exclusive advantages, but after Dash decided to show up the way he did, he couldn’t be sure the others won’t soon follow. The desolation that could cause…

The sudden cry from Josiah resonated out from upstairs, grasping his attention. Zipping upstairs to pacify his awakened son, Gerard knew he’d have to come up with a game plan in case the worst has still yet to manifest itself.