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

Back in the Iero-Way residence, a freshly showered Masika was pacing the floor of the living room and the dining area while anxiously wringing her fingers to a painful intensity. Donned in the pajamas Frank had lended to her, she couldn’t seem to keep herself still even after all the danger she’s been through. Her mind wouldn’t get off of Michael and Gerard being somewhere out there alone and wounded! The whole not knowing if they were coming back was wearing away both her patience and composure. Sadly, her pacing and wringing her fingers red wasn’t working on calming her down.

Suddenly remembering she wasn’t alone after all, Masika’s brown eyes sailed to the couch, and what she saw had her stalling in her pacing.

Curled up on the couch was Frank Iero with his knees almost to his chest, and a mug cupped in both of his hands. His large hazel eyes were staring down at the liquid within, his face a crushed heartbroken expression that had the power to pull on even a certified Killjoy’s heart strings.

Forgetting her hectic troubles for a minute, Masika awkwardly cleared her throat to capture his attention. It worked according to the flinching of his small frame. Brows furrowed with concern, she softly inquired. “Hey, are you…okay?”

At a snail’s pace, Frank slowly looked up at her from his mug with blank eyes. He looked devoid of life, like everything he had ever loved had been eradicated only an hour ago. “I’m fine.”

Masika knew a lie when she heard one.

Really one didn’t have to know a person to tell if they were lying or not, not when they had that type of look of defeat on their face.

Scouring the absolutely gorgeous home that looked like it came straight out of a Home Depot magazine, it suddenly dawned on Masika that this was Gerard’s new home. My god, this was the first time she was actually seeing it with her own two eyes! The place just oozed ‘Home’ not only because of its decorations and furniture but also due to its atmosphere. Masika had never seemed a true home in every sense of the word before…then again she couldn’t remember anything past her Killjoy life, her past now was a big old blur.

But then again, there was that one house Masika was in for like five minutes. The Killjoys had hunted one of their prey down to their loving grandparent’s home while the elderly couple were out of town. While dragging the female prey out, Masika couldn’t resist admiring the decor along the way, and despised that she had to exit the cozy home so damn soon after entering. It’s funny, now that she and Michael were officially out of the Killjoys for good, a beautiful family home was all she ever wanted for herself and her growing family.

But that was another goal for another day. Right now, Masika felt she owed a severely tormented Frank a diversion from tonight’s events by engaging him in cordial conversation. After all, he allowed her to stay in his home and was Gerard’s prized husband. “Look, I’m sorry to bother you, but I just have to say. Your home is absolutely remarkable! I’ve never seen it’s likeness before.”

“Thank you.” Frank murmured, his eyes still fixated on the liquid in his mug even when his teetering fringe finally gave way and fell across his eyes, cloaking them from Masika’s eyes. He personally didn’t care what she thought of his home. It could be a landfill in her opinion and he wouldn’t budge an inch. What she felt didn’t matter to him.

“I can totally see why Gerard would give up the life of a Killjoy to live here!” Masika advanced on, not letting Frank’s mood and short reply deter her. When his hazel eyes finally shot up to stare at her, they seemed even more distraught than before. Masika tried to assuage him as swiftly as she could, not wishing to upset him further than he already was. “It’s IMMACULATE! Definitely much more of an improvement than whatever a Killjoy could offer anyone, that's for sure.”

Adorably, Frank’s brows furrowed in puzzlement at her statement. It didn’t sound like she was speaking solely about Gerard, but maybe of herself too. “You sound…doubtful of your life choice in becoming a Killljoy.”

Masika nodded, confirming Frank’s suspicion to be true. “Oh, I am. But I, too, have left that life behind me for good. I guess you can say tonight was my last day as a Killjoy.”

“Why?” Frank asked her, genuinely curious as to her reason. He knew why Gerard gave up his life of crime, he was always voicing how proud he was of abandoning it to fully embrace being a husband and father all the time. What would be Masika’s reason for wanting to start life anew from a group of people that had been her family for years?

“I’m pregnant.” Masika confided in Frank, letting the cat out of the bag. She couldn’t recall if Gerard told his husband, but if not, he knew now. She trusted him with the information. Frank, someone she hasn’t even known as long as the Killjoys family, knows she’s pregnant first. How hilarious was that?

Frank’s hazel eyes magnified in size at her confession before lowering to her belly that had a subtle roundness to it that one wouldn’t notice unless they were deliberately seeking out a sign of pregnancy. Returning his eyes to hers, he told her. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Masika smiled at him before cupping her hand over her belly. Frank didn’t seem to want to continue their chat anymore because he lowered his eyes back down to his mug again. Her smile dropped. She had this very strong feeling that he either wished he wasn’t down here right now with her, or that she wasn’t in his home right now. Needing to know, she asked him gingerly. “Frank, um…are you okay with me being here? In your home, I mean. You seem…uncomfortable and I just can’t ignore it.”

Exhaling loudly through his nose, Frank turned his head away towards the vacant spot next to him. He looked like he was looking at someone when really he was trying to mentally disengage himself from the present.

Masika spoke the truth.

Frank didn’t want her here in the home he raised his children in.

Hell, Frank didn’t want Michael Way to drop-on by! And if he had to be honest…he wasn’t too sure he wanted his husband coming back home tonight either.

Frank was an utter mess right now. He felt torn, unclear of what he really wanted. Seeing his husband, his loving doting husband, dressed up as Poison of the Killjoys again…it thoroughly rattled him. The sight had single-handedly reopened Franks’ past wounds, and re-traumatized him all over again.

God, Frank had no idea which one was about to come home to him. Poison of the Killjoys, the man who kidnapped him when he was fifteen on his birthday and held him hostage, or Gerard Way, the man he married and had six kids with.

Frank supposed it took to finally see his beloved Gerard dressed up as Poison for him to realize that he had been completely separating the two men from each other all this time. He had no clue when he started doing that! In his mind, Gerard was just an everyday citizen like him, a beloved husband and the father of his children. Poison had always been the monster that kidnapped him TWICE until he finally gave up being what he was and disappeared back into the world where nightmares were born.

Frank had no clue how he was gonna react when his husband finally walked through to the door…and he genuinely didn't want to wait around on the couch to find out. He didn’t want to be there at all.

Rising from the couch he’d been sitting on for what felt like hours by now, Frank murmured to Masika without glancing her way. “I’m going to bed.”

“Bed?” Masika echoed, her voice filled with surprise that matched her wide brown eyes. She gaped at Frank like he’d lost his mind. She didn’t expect him to be calling it quits so soon, or really at all tonight until his man got home. “I-I’m sorry, I just thought…I thought you were gonna wait up until Gerard got back.”

“My husband said not to wait up…so I won’t.” Frank told her blankly, his face ghostly pale as he spared her one brief glance before making his way towards the stairs. Gerard’s words had echoed in his head when he said that, long after he left too. Frank didn’t know why, but it felt like his husband was trying to smack him aside so he could focus on his brother instead, like he was some annoying fly buzzing way too close to his face. It hurt to be discarded like that despite how dire the situation was at the time. Gerard had always worshiped every second with him like it was his last, but tonight had been the total opposite.