Become What You Know

"Okay," Gerard says, looking around the room and it goes quiet. All the normal cafe customers have gone, leaving just those who have already arrived, "We'll have to move quickly. First thing is first, we need to find where they're keeping Mikey."

There are hums around the room. Gabe and William punch each other in the arm a few times before Gabe clears his throat, crossing one long leg over the other, "I know a guy."

"Alright," Gerard concedes, "I'm going to look into what I see. The spirits have been unnaturally quiet."

Pete snickers and Patrick shoots him a look. Pete has, since the short man in Argyle arrived, decided to attach himself to Patrick's side with a, "We're going to be best friends, Trick. True Blue". Patrick sorta wants to punch him, but he's pretty sure that's par for the course when it comes to Pete. (Also, Bob is maybe a little scary and Patrick doesn't want to piss him off.) Pete just snuggles down into Patrick's side and sighs like a child who's been told off properly.

"Breaking in itself will be easy," Patrick suggests from Pete's left, "You all saw what Jon can do earlier."

"Hell yeah, that's fucking awesome," Pete chirps, "Please tell me you used it to sneak peeks in the girls locker room."

"Umm, no?" Jon looks over at Pete from Patrick's right, "But I did use it to sneak backstage at the Miss Illinois pageant."

"Good man!" Pete crows and the two high five over Patrick's head. The man in the middle sighs and makes a few disparaging comments about the people he hangs out with. Pete's kinda in love already. It's pathetic.

"Okay, so Jon stops time. Then what? His ability won't work on the Neg. What happens if we run into her?" William asks, and they all nod at the question.

"I have a taser," Celeste offers candidly and they all turn to look at her. "What?" She rubs at her neck awkwardly and looks over at Gerard, "I'll take the Neg. It’ll be fine."

"A taser?" Bob teases.

Celeste rolls her eyes and sits next to Ray on one of the couches. Ray puts an arm around her shoulders and turns to Gerard. The cafe door opens and a short blonde girl walks in. She pushes her glasses up her nose and looks around at the group.

"Are we doing something illegal?" she asks, and her eyes sparkle, "And can I help?"

"Nell?" Celeste gasps, and this is a surprise. A nice surprise.

"So, strangest thing," Nell says, walking farther into the cafe, "But here I am, shopping in New York, and all of a sudden I hear some one talking about me."

Celeste's cheeks glow, "Sorry. I was thinking loudly."

"And when you think loudly, coupled with my ability its like mind meld," Nell grins at her.

Celeste's mind flashes through everything she's done since she left her friend. Nell was the first person who'd actually stopped to help her, no strings attached, after she left home. She thinks of exactly why she doesn't deserve that smile.
Nell frowns at her, and rolls her eyes.

"I'm getting those images loud and clear. And you're an idiot," Nell puts her hands on her hips and Celeste flinches when she sends her response back.

"Okay okay," Celeste mutters, admitting defeat, and Nell grins.

"Good. All I'm saying is that next time I'd like a note," Nell says in her most matronly voice and Celeste grins, big and wide. It's the first time she's smiled like that in forever. It's certainly the first time anyone at the cafe's ever seen it. "So, what's this I hear about a neg?"

_________________________

Gerard shuffles papers across Mikey's desk. He's preparing things for the first day the cafe will close. They leave as soon as Gabe and William come back from where-the-fuck-ever, communing with The Cobra, or some shit like that. Gerard's pretty sure they've snuck off to have sex.

He will never admit this out loud.

Nell pushes the door open and sits down in front of him. She kicks her feet up on the desk and looks over at him. "So, you're kinda an idiot," she says.

Gerard maybe blushes and says, "Yeah, I know."

Nell nods, "Just as long as you know. She's pretty retarded, too." Nell nods along to Gerard's silent question, and he shrugs, looking down.

"Is that all?" he asks and she frowns.

"I'll kill you if you don't grow a brain," she says, and maybe sends him a psychic picture of her ripping his balls off. He cringes.

"I wouldn't worry," Nell reassures, "This thing with your brother? It's going to be fine."

"Can you see the future, too?" Gerard asks, thinking of the silence from the Other Realm. He always did have more trouble reading the signs when he was stressed.

"I see bits and pieces. Mostly if they're tied to me or someone I'm close to," Nell nods again, and Gerard has no idea which question he'd silently been shuffling through his head that she'd just answered.

She climbs to her feet, winks over her shoulder at him on her way out, and skips to the kitchen. It's been two months since Celeste had mysteriously disappeared. She'd said she was going out for coffee and hadn't come back. If Nell had been paying better attention to her newly acquired friend she would have heard Celeste saying goodbye as she shut the door.

Nell's talent is one of the only ones that Celeste can't completely block. When she tries all she manages to do is tap into Nell's ability and then they spend the next few hours trying to untangle themselves from each other's consciousness. The first time this had happened Nell had seen violent flashes of Celeste's stepfather withering away.
Celeste could feel the horror that flashed through Nell's mind at the image.

She'd been with her friend for two weeks already. She stayed for another six, becoming closer to Nell, who could hear how surprised she was. Celeste had been an outcast in high school; she'd been the weird kid in a small town full of rumors and lies. Celeste's surprise didn't concern Nell, though, and maybe it should have.

The day Celeste lost her control and nearly killed a kid with a knife on the subway Nell could hear her thinking "oh shit oh shit" and "dangerous dangerous, oh fuck oh fuck" over and over in her mind.

It had kept her awake all night.

Nell lied to herself, wanted to believe that Celeste would realize that accidents happen, and that she wasn't at fault. It wasn't like Celeste had thought, oh hey, I can totally shoot lasers out my eyes.
The next morning she'd left, bags under her eyes, to get a caramel macchiato from the Starbucks down the street. She hadn't come back, and Nell had spent the next month searching for someone who didn't want to be found. It's hard when someone in your family disappears.

And oh, hey, Celeste totally heard that. Nell shoots her friend a smile and waves cutely before she slips into the kitchen door. She really wants to fuck with Bob Bryar. He's kinda scary and Nell digs that.

"Hello Robert," she says happily, sitting on the counter next to where Bob is leaning by Ray. And oh, poor Ray, with all those thoughts.

Bob gives her a mean look, but she can totally hear what he's thinking.

"I guess it’s a good thing I'm a girl then, huh?" she asks sweetly.

Bob maybe rolls his eyes. She knows she walked in on something Ray doesn't want her to know about, because she's reading it right out of his head. Some times it's really hard to shut her ability off. Most of the time she doesn't bother though, she likes to laugh at the things people think.
She sees flashes of Celeste and pulls out immediately, because picking on Ray could be a lot of fun. Being in the middle of a love triangle, especially one with a mystic, an empath and a mimic? Not so fun.

"Green boxers, really?" she grins at him, her short legs swinging wildly.

Bob huffs. Then he pins her with a very serious look. Nell gets a flash of Bob naked looking in a mirror. She squeaks and falls of the counter in a very undignified manner. Celeste walks into the kitchen at the same time, and she holds her hand up in front of her face as if to block a physical attack.

"Jesus Christ, Bob!" she yelps, turns and runs. Nell follows her, because Bob Bryar is kinda scary. And Nell digs that. But Little Bob Bryar? Nell feels a twinge of pain just thinking about it. She can hear Bob's laughter following her out of the kitchen.

________________________

"This is it," Frank says, pointing to The Brother's Way Cafe and the Tarra hesitates at the door.

She can feel inside the place, and most of the people in there feel wrong. Different than last time. She shivers, wipes her hands on the leg of her pants, and opens the door anyway. There are a group of people standing in one corner and her and Frank quickly spot the waitress from before. Tarra winds through the tables.

"We're looking for Gerard," she says and the girl pins her with a look, she nods and leads them through the Employees Only door, back to Mikey's office.

"Who are you?" Gerard asks, and Frank bounces forward.

"I'm Frank," he says rocking on his toes, "You sent me to find a guy named Brian, but a guy named Jimmy sent me back to help you."

"You're the kid with wings?" Gerard asks, looking over Frank's trench coat. Frank nods and Gerard's suddenly grinning, "Sweet, can I see?"

Frank shakes his head disbelievingly, and yeah, okay. But wings! Frank slides off his coat anyway, and the wings spring out. Frank shakes them a few times, leaving white, downy feathers on the carpet. Gerard strokes the wings with this weird, awed look on his face. The waitress finally clears her throat, which is good, because Frank is started to get creeped out by the wing love.

"Should we leave you and the wings alone, Gerard?" she asks, and its not snide. But it is a reminder that there is someone attached to the wings, and that Gerard is maybe being a little too weird. Gerard's hands fall away like he's been burned and he looks up guiltily.

"Who are they?" Gerard asks, and Frank looks over his shoulder at the others.

"This is Tarra, Brendon, Ryan and Spencer. They're here to help too."

"I'm going to go warn Ray that there are more people here," the waitress is out the door before she's even finished talking.

"Wow," Tarra says, following her with her eyes, "Awkward."

"You don't even know," Gerard moans, smacking his head on the desk. Frank's pretty sure he and Gerard are going to be great friends.

___________________

Brendon Urie kinda really loves Ray Toro. No, seriously, there are muffins involved here. Brendon bites into another fluffy blueberry muffin, and god, he knows he's supposed to be a vegan, but right now he's more like a fregan. These are the best muffins he's ever eaten. They're better than his mom's. (His mom's Spencer, his mom's!)

Ryan is slightly more skeptical about Ray Toro, but Ray isn't too hurt by this. Ryan is mostly black swirled with a little silver and gold. Ray has a feeling that Ryan is skeptical about everyone but Spencer and Brendon. Mostly Spencer though. Around Spencer Ryan is mostly gold, with flecks of green and cerulean. It's kind of really pretty.

Brendon looks up when a blonde girl with glasses comes in, holding an empty plate. Wow, he thinks, hott. With two Ts. The girl looks at him, her eye brows arching up.

"That was lame," she says with an eye roll.

Brendon has no idea what she's talking about, because he totally knows he didn't say that out loud. The girl snorts, setting the plate down and pushing back out the door. Brendon has a fleeting thought about her ass and she mutters "Idiot" before the door closes. Brendon really hates when people talk on headsets because it's confusing to the people who are standing there listening to a one sided conversation.

Ray is watching Brendon, one head cocked to the side. He finally shakes his head and offers another muffin. Brendon smiles lovingly and goes to find Tarra. Tarra promised to talk music with Brendon, and he's pretty bored, just waiting to find out what the plan is. They're waiting for two guys named Gabe and William, and Ryan is off following Pete. Pete in turn is following Patrick, who looks like he might kill him soon.
Brendon is really, really bored.

Brendon finds Tarra talking to the blonde about her newly discovered power. The blonde is nodding along to something Tarra said. Brendon's breath catches in his throat, and he thinks "oh, hey, hi". The blonde rolls her eyes over at him, and he thinks, "wow, I can see down her shirt". She looks back over at Tarra and ignores him. This is probably good, because Brendon is busy feeling like a spaz.
Blonde girl is laughing under her breath and Brendon is confused, because Tarra's really not that funny.

____________

Pete is holding Patrick's hand, swinging their arms between them. Patrick has stopped trying to pull away, which is, you know, what Pete considers a win. On Pete's other side Ryan is watching them both with something close to awe carefully hidden in his eyes. Pete can see it, though, because he feels jaded like that all the time. He and Ryan, they're kindred.

"Hey Trick," Pete says and Patrick looks over at him annoyed. Pete is going to break him down though, he's totally loveable. Totally, "Can you fly as fast as Superman?"

"I...um. I don't really know. I try to adhere to the speed limit," Patrick says, brow wrinkled. He plays with his hat subconsciously.

Pete looks at the boy incredulously, "Wait, wait. You mean to tell me that when you fly over, like, school zones you fly 20 mph?"

"Um. Yes?" Patrick asks, his cheeks glowing red. Pete pokes him in a sideburn.

"Dude!" Pete laughs his loud braying laugh, "That's so lame! I'd be flying over assholes pissing on their heads!"

"Oh.My.God." Patrick presses a hand to his head as if he's getting a headache. Ryan is trying really hard not to laugh. His face hasn't changed at all, but Pete knows it. They're kindred, c'mon.

"You should take me flying," Pete says, getting really excited, his hands flapping around by his waist, "Like, right now. Let's go, c'mon Patrick!"

"I'd drop you," Patrick says, and Pete knows there's a "and your fat ass" lurking in there somewhere. Patrick's just too classy to say it. Pete's totally in love. One day he might kiss Patrick.

He'll punch you in the face, whispers through his mind, and Pete fixes a glare across the room at Nell. He really doesn't like her. She shrugs and flips him off, because yeah, the feelings mutual.

Gabe and William come through the front door of the cafe and it gets quiet. They're all set now, everyone who's coming is now there and Gerard shuts the front door, tacks up the closed for renovations sign and locks the door. The actual planning starts then.