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The room was dark. It wasn’t even particularly late, but the diner was silent. That would happen if two of the people that lived there had vanished within the space of a week. The Fab Four had woken one morning to find Cherri Cola gone, without even a note. Before the sting of that particular wound had faded, they watched the Girl get snatched from them mid-clap and had been powerless to stop it. Of the remaining residents of the diner, Party Poison had taken it the hardest. They rarely left their room and hadn’t spoken unless it was to plan the rescue of the Girl.
The rescue that was planned for the next morning.
The door creaked as it opened and Party barely lifted his head to see who entered. It was Jet Star, tiptoeing into the room even though they knew Party wasn’t asleep. It was just a formality, almost a sick reminder of how careful they’d been acting around their partner since the Girl was taken. It made Poison feel useless, that he couldn’t just go about his life the way Jet did. Not acting like everything was fine but at least able to do something about it. No, Party had become a shell of the leader the zones once knew and he hated it.
So caught up in a spiral of self-loathing, Party wasn’t paying attention to Jet until they slid into the bed next to them. Jet lay still on the far edge of the mattress, they didn’t say anything to Party, probably thinking they wouldn’t reply anyway. It killed Party, how distant Jet was. They still shared a bed, and Jet was always at Party’s side, but there was a sadness in their eyes and they never tried to kiss them anymore. There was no more cuddling under the worn blankets, no soft laughter as they talked into the early hours of the morning, the two ‘joys just lay on the mattress, side-by-side but worlds apart.
Not like Party had made an effort recently. Not like he’d been a partner worth holding, not like he’d had anything to say, not like he’d blame Jet if they wanted to leave him.
“Party?” Whispered Jet.
Party didn’t reply. They couldn’t, around the fist they’d shoved in their mouth to keep from sobbing.
“Party, what’s wrong?”
Party didn’t move, staring at the ceiling and rapidly blinking away tears. Not blinking them away, but blinking them out of his eyes. The tears ran down the sides of Party’s face, pooling in his eyes and on the sides of his nose. He opened his mouth to try and breathe quieter, not wanting Jet to notice him falling apart six inches away. But, typical for the last ten days, he had no such luck.
Jet rolled onto their side and up onto an elbow. They stared down at Party and sighed.
“Party,” Jet reached out but froze when Party flinched. “Baby, you’re crying.”
“No’m not,” Party insisted, voice thick in their throat.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here.”
A shudder wracked Party’s form as he took a deep breath, and then another, and then one that was less deep. In no time at all, Party was light-headed, breathing too fast to do himself any good but unable to stop or calm down or think .
“Party, y’gotta breathe. It’s okay,” Jet shuffled closer, stopping short of actually touching Party. “Can I touch you?”
Without an answer, Party rolled towards Jet and buried their face in their chest. They took deep, shuddering breaths and let themself sob. Jet wrapped their arms around Party and ran a hand up and down their back gently.
“Shh, I got you,” murmured Jet.
They let Party cry, soaking their shirt and the pillow beneath them. Jet just held Party tighter as he fell apart, but let him go as soon as he moved back.
“I’m-” Party hiccuped. “Worried about th’ run.”
Slowly, Jet lifted a hand and asked, “Can I?”
Party nodded and lay back as Jet stroked their hair away from their face. They let themself get lost in the repetitive motion and breathed purposely slow.
“I don’t think we’re gonna make it. Kobes still isn’ doin’ good and Ghoul’s got a concussion and I’m. I dunno. I miss her bu’ I don’t know if this is somethin’ we can do.”
Jet hummed, switching from stroking Party’s hair to rubbing soothing circles in his scalp.
“I know this’s what we have t’ do and I know she’s worth more’n any of us but that doesn’ mean I’m not sc-” Another sob wracked Party and they curled away from Jet.
“You don’t have to hide from me,” Jet whispered.
Party shook their head, bringing their hands up to cover their face as tears leaked from their eyes. Jet didn’t push, they lay on their side, Party could feel their solid weight behind them, and just started talking.
“I honestly didn’t think we’d make it this far. I kinda thought you and Kobes weren’t going to make it that first week we met. I was about to be really mad with the Witch that she thought my destiny was to watch you two bite it from zone flu. I thought I wasn’t gonna make it out of that rumble when you pulled Kobes out of the bar in Zone Four. I thought you were gonna kill me when I told you Ghoul was gonna stay with us until he got back on his feet,” Jet chuckled
Party rolled over and stared at his partner.
“When we met, I’d already been waiting for you for years. The Witch told me I was going to go with you to the ends of the earth. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, too, but-”
“I don’t want to die, Jet.”
Another sob ripped its way out of Party’s throat, and they curled back into Jet’s chest. Their hands came up to grip Jet’s collar and Jet buried a hand in Party’s hair, holding them tight. Party could hear Jet’s heartbeat, strong and steady against their ear. Jet pulled back from Party first, only to worm down the mattress until their face was level with Party’s.
Jet kissed Party’s forehead first, then brushed featherlight kisses over his eyelids and across his tearstained cheeks. Jet pressed a barely-there kiss to Party’s lips and moved up to cradle Party’s head under their chin.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, I’m glad I got so much time with you, and Kobes, and Ghoul, and Cherri. And the Girl. You were right, I’m glad we kept her. Everything we’ve done, all these years, I’m glad I got to do it by your side.”
Party fell asleep listening to Jet murmur motorbaby folk tales and old stories about the years they’d spent running together. When they woke up the next morning, Party got out of bed willingly for the first time in almost two weeks, readying the Trans Am for one more run into the city. With one last long look at the diner, Jet climbed into the passenger seat. They grabbed Party’s hand where it rested on the gear shift and squeezed. Party squeezed back, then started the car and pointed it towards Battery City.