Chapter Text
The garish grin loomed and flickered; stark black floated around the white screen on a continuous loop.
Have a better day. Have a better day. Have a better day.
The first few hours Grace was here she had stared at the screen hoping that maybe Mousekat or some other television program would appear. But as the hours stretched on and night fell, it was obvious that the hovering face was the only company she was going to have.
She scuttled around on her lumpy mat and faced the grey chipped wall, putting her back to the screen. She shivered; it didn’t make a difference where she faced, she could still feel the eyes watching her.
She resisted the urge to pound her small fists against the wall because that would have been childish and it wasn’t like she was seven anymore!
She was just… just so…
She struggled for a second to find a word to describe it. So… bored! It vaguely occurred to her that maybe she should be angry at being locked in the holding room. In the storybooks that her dad hid under the floorboards, the baddies always got mad at being caught and put in jail. In fact, they generally vowed revenge in a silly dramatic manner.
But all Grace could seem to care about was when the flap in the door would rattle, announcing the arrival of her protein and pills.
Of course, those exaggerated declarations of anger and revenge were only stories. Grace had long since come to the conclusion that they mustn’t have pills in that far far away kingdom. It was stupid of them really, because everyone knows that bad things only happen when you don’t take your pills.
She picked at the flaking grey paint and found that her fingers were actually shaking a little. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that maybe she was a tiny bit worried? It felt like she’d been in this cell for days and nobody had even talked to her yet! Where they just going to leave her here? What if no one let her out?
Grace had been walking to school when they took her. She had been playing with the fraying thread of her white school-skirt and dragging her feet; not paying attention. Luna had visited her the night before had hadn’t left until after sunrise.
It had been special because Luna never normally stayed after sunrise; she had always used to leave an hour or two before dawn- while it was still ‘safe’ as she put it. Grace had been playing their hushed conversation over and over in her head when the two draculoids had appeared. Grace remembered being unable to suppress a shiver at the sight of them. She knew that the draculoids were there to keep people safe, but that didn’t stop them creeping her out. They had taken her by each elbow and ushered her into the back of a waiting sleek white Scarecrow car and swiftly bound her wrists.
Grace didn’t think anybody on the street even blinked an eye.
She knew she probably should have been scared; but she hadn’t been.
Her parents were already there in the backseat of the car, their hands were bound too, their faces pale and stoic. She had tugged on her mothers sleeve clumsily with her tied hands and tried to ask what was happening. She didn’t answer; she didn’t even look at Grace.
‘Dad?’ Grace had leaned over to her father, pleading; sort of worried now but just… not.
‘Grace, darling, you have to be quiet’ her father had finally whispered, his curly hair bouncing slightly as he straightened himself to face forward again. She obeyed immediately, of course, even though she didn’t understand.
Her mother hadn’t made a sound until they reached one of the smaller Battery Towers. There, two more draculoids had been waiting. At the sight of their beady eyes and scarlet gashes where their mouths should be, Grace felt a weird clenching sensation in her stomach. The second the car had halted they were opening the door and pulling Grace out. She didn’t even think to struggle but it seemed to snap something behind her mother’s eyes.
‘No!’ her mother had cried as she had desperately reached after her. But the car door was slammed in her face and before Grace could even react, the car had zoomed away…
A small sob broke through her lips as she hugged her knees in her darkened cell. She felt cold and shaky now... sort of strange. She wanted her mother, she wanted her dad to sit with her and tell her the stories that none of the other kids knew. She wanted Luna to slip through her window at night and tell her stories about ray guns and adventures. Luna didn’t even need books; she seemed to make up amazing stories all in her head.
It was almost like Grace felt… scared.
The flap in the door rattled and a gloved hand pushed a small tray of protein packs and pills into the room. Grace had crawled off her mat and knelt hastily in front of the tray. She downed the meal in a matter of seconds. It was only now that she realised how hungry she had been.
She sighed and slumped down onto the stiff mat and lay there for a while, feeling calm and kind of sleepy. She lazily eyed the beaming BL/Ind logo.
Have a Better Day, it insisted.
Things were better, she foggily realised. She had been so silly to worry; the aftermath was secondary after all. It occurred to her, as she was drifting off, that she wasn’t sure if she actually understood what that meant.
**
Static. Static. Wait!
…No, just Static.
Out of nowhere Ghoul reached forward from the backseat and smacked Poison’s hand from the radio dial.
‘Cut it out!’ he muttered in mock fierceness, keeping his voice low for the sake of the cars sleeping occupants. Poison glanced quickly next to him at the slumped form of his brother, his blond hair at all angles against the sticky leather seat, before he shot an injured look over his shoulder at Ghoul.
It didn’t last long. A childish look of glee crept over his face and completely ruined any pretence of hurt feelings. Before he knew it the grin jumped and infected Ghouls face too, spreading right to the corners. The Doctor’s broadcast wouldn’t be on until nightfall- hours away- and Poison knew that very well. But he just couldn’t stay still- couldn’t stop his fingers from twitching for the dial- not when they were so close…
They’d been out in the zones for almost five years now and no one was more surprised to realise that they’d survived that long, than them.
Five years of the searing heat of the day and bone chilling frost of the night. Five years of sleeping in cars or on the softest patch of rocky earth they could find. Five years of hoarding water like it was liquid gold.
And yet five years on, it was hard to imagine life any other way.
Every night they spent on the hard desert ground instead of on sterile white sheets brought them a step closer to a free world. A tiny step, an insignificant step, maybe. After all, most of what they did would never make an immense impact on the might that was Better Living Industries; but that’s not what mattered. What mattered was that they chose to fight. They chose to reject a half-life. Eventually it would count for something. It had to.
In all this time their previous lives had become more like murky water in the back of their minds, than memories. It was kind of hard to picture when they tried to remember. Poison would often smirk to himself when thinking of what a past version of him would say if he could have seen what his life would have become. He probably would think he’d fallen into one of his comic books. He’d have probably give Kobra shit for his hair, tell Jet how badass he looked with an eye-patch and let Ghoul know, in no uncertain terms, that he hadn’t grown at all despite all his claiming when they first met that his growth spurt was still coming.
There was one thing he knew his past self wouldn’t be thrilled with. Ha! But with any luck they were about to rectify that. Poison drummed his fingers on the steering wheel excitedly. He was damn-well going to kiss Tommy Chow Mein if he ever managed to meet the fucker! Even Jet, who carefully horded their barter-worthy goods with the stinginess of a pre-enlightened Scrooge, didn’t think twice about their most recent purchase. Poison could still remember the way Jet’s fingers had twitched when Show Pony had radioed in the news of Tommy’s latest items for sale.
Items which now belonged to them. Items which lay in wait for them at Dr Death Defying’s south-east hidey-hole. Even Kobra had cracked a smile and fist pumped the air when the sale had been confirmed. Poison deftly flicked his firealarm hair out of his eyes and hit the gas harder. At this rate they might even get there before the evening broadcast.
**
‘… But she was so very lovely, even in death, and the dwarves could not bear to bury her. So they placed Snow White in a coffin of glass and kept vigil over her night and day.’
Grace snorted and her father looked up, his mouth curving slowly into a confused smile.
‘What’s funny about that?’ he teased her.
‘I dunno… it just seems like a stupid thing to do.’ She tried to explain. ‘I mean they thought she was dead, right? So they should have buried her! Not stand around looking at her,’ she giggled again, the characters in her dad’s floorboard books never seemed to make any sense!
‘They missed her; they were grieving’ her father said quietly. Grace picked up on her fathers tone and her snickering faltered.
‘What’s grieving?’ she asked. Her father had just sighed, closing the book.
‘Not something that you’ll ever have to worry about’ he assured her, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead…
Bang!
The clash of metal ripped Grace from her dream suddenly, her heart racing before she could even open her eyes. Dazed, she blinked a couple of times before launching herself into the waiting arms masked figure before her.
‘Luna!’ she squealed. Her heart seemed to swell so fast she thought it might burst.
‘Quick, motorbaby, we gotta run!’ she grinned grabbing Grace’s hand with one of hers and drawing the shiny red and black raygun, that she never let Grace touch, with the other.
She really was the coolest thing Grace had ever seen.
But she never got to see Luna zap her gun (at least that’s the sound Grace imagined it would make). There were only two draculoids posted by her door and they were slumped, unmoving, on the ground. Grace couldn’t make out what was wrong with them, but whatever it was they wouldn’t be chasing anyone in a hurry. It didn’t mean they were free yet, of course. More draculoids wouldn’t be far away. They’d know. They always knew. Even now as they burst out the front doors she could hear a siren firing off in the distance.
That just seemed to make Luna laugh. Grace had always figured she was a little bit crazy.
They scrambled into Luna’s rusty car. Grace loved it; she had never seen another car like it in Battery City. It was really dirty and had messy red stripes painted over the bonnet. She never understood why her Dad wouldn’t get them one like Luna’s; she could have made it pretty for him.
Luna grinned over at Grace as she turned the key in the ignition. Them with the spluttering grunt of an awakening engine and a squeal of tires they shot off towards the pre-dawn glow
**
The heat was stifling; it seemed to cloud around her body. Grace reached out trying to push the covers off but her sluggish hands found nothing. She blinked blurrily and sat up in Luna’s rumbling car taking only a heartbeat to remember where she was.
‘Morning baby’ Luna cooed, reaching over and ruffling her mop of brown hair.
Grace stared out the window in absolute wonder and tried to ignore the childish idea that maybe Luna’s car was actually a spaceship that had spirited her away to another planet. Grace could see nothing but yellow dust plains for miles! There were these funny little spindly trees everywhere dotting the blinding horizon with green specs. And the sky! The sky was so blue! Had it always been like that?
They were flying down faded grey gravel; faster than Grace had even imagined cars could go. She couldn’t suppress her grin. Oh she really, really liked that. She was flying!
‘Luna, where are we!’ she giggled, reaching for Luna’s shiny red mask on the dashboard and putting it on herself, beaming at her crazy reflection in the mirror.
‘In the desert, kiddo. Out in the zones’ she smiled, pushing back the long black hair whipping around her face. Grace’s giggling faltered; her mouth fell open under the mask.
‘Th… the zones? But Luna wont we die? People can’t live in the zones… they get the sickness!’ she babbled on until Luna put one hand on her lap calming her.
‘Grace, that’s not true. A lot of people live in the zones.’ She assured her.
Grace’s mouth twisted; that’s not what they told her in school.
‘There are parts that can be dangerous, but you know that I wouldn’t take you there,’ she reminded Grace.
‘Then where are we going?’ Grace asked. Luna put both hands back on the steering wheel and bit her lip.
‘First I’m gonna take you to see my friend, Tommy. He’s real nice and he’ll know how to help you through this. And then we can go anywhere we like, motorbaby, I’ll keep you safe.’ Grace thought the last part sounded a bit grim and what did she mean ‘help her through this’? She remained silent though. It was habit she supposed. At school they were punished for speaking out of turn. Luna had always let her though…
‘Luna, we’re gonna go back to get mom and dad, right?’ Grace asked suddenly. Luna’s knuckles tightened on the dusty steering wheel.
‘Right, Luna?’
Luna drew a shaky breath.
Your parents… they were in Scarecrow Towers, baby; real jail. I would have never had a chance. I…’ she paused shakily before continuing. ‘I’m only one woman, Gracie. You were only in a holding room and I… they were going replace you in society,’ her mouth hardened into a grim line, ‘Probably tell you that your mom and dad had died in some kind of accident.’
She wasn’t making much sense.
‘What about your friends?’ Grace countered quietly. Regularly featuring in her whispered midnight stories had been a group of friends, just like Luna, skulking around Battery city masked and armed.
She paused again, this time throwing her mouth twisted into a grimace. She gave shaky sigh.
‘They’re a bit angry at me at the moment, Motorbaby. I suppose you could say they’re not talking to me.’
Grace could see a tear snaking down Luna’s cheek. Grace launched over to give Luna a half hug, like a second seatbelt.
‘Don’t cry, Luna, they’ll talk to you again! And jail is only for bad people, right? Mom and Dad, they didn’t do anything wrong! So they’ll let them out, right? It’s okay we can go back and get them!’ she said to Luna’s waist. She could feel a hand stroke her hair and inexplicably heard Luna give a tiny sob. Hadn’t she been listening? It was going to be okay!
‘Oh, Motorbaby, they’re not going to come back. I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.
Grace pulled back and stared at Luna, watching her wipe her eyes smudging the colours on her face.
‘Remember… Gracie, remember when I told you that you couldn’t let anyone know about me? That you couldn’t tell anyone when I came to visit you?’
Grace did remember. She had looked forward to Luna’s midnight visits since she was a little girl. The visits were their secret. It had used to be just on her birthdays but in the last few years Luna had been slipping through her window more and more often. Her mother didn’t like Luna coming but Grace couldn’t understand why, Luna was so cool!
She didn’t usually catch them but the night before they had been taken, Luna had fallen asleep whispering stories to her. Grace’s mother had woken them when the sleek orange glow of morning was already seeping through the window.
‘You’re going to get us all ghosted, with your carelessness.’ She had hissed as Luna had leapt up. Luna had just given her a swift kiss on the cheek and reached for her mask on the bedside table.
‘See you next time, Motorbaby’ she had whispered as she slipped out of Grace’s window.
‘Grace, are you listening? It’s important, baby’. Luna took one hand off the steering wheel to prod her out of her daydream. Grace was feeling really weird, her skin was crawling. She slouched down in her seat, feeling sweat slide down her forehead; she nodded.
‘… they might have let them go before,’ Luna continued ‘but, baby, they found your father’s books.’ She gave a sad chuckle ‘Your mother always hated those books’.
But Grace wasn’t listening anymore. She couldn’t work out if her skin was too hot or too cold. Her brain seemed to be trying to force its way out of her skull. Luna shot a glance at her as she shivered. She muttered something under her breath and Grace could feel the car speeding up.
She stopped trying to talk to Grace at least which was good because she just couldn’t think straight. It took her a minute to realise that the person moaning pitifully was her. She couldn’t work out what that droning sound was, though. Luna was cursing audibly now, the car going even faster, if that was possible.
Grace was too hazy to think properly but she knew something was wrong, she could tell by the way Luna kept looking at her with a bitten lip and wide eyes.
A small scream escaped Grace, as without warning the car swerved off the road. The bushes here were denser here; their prickly branches pummelled the windows making terrible screeching noises. Noises that were punctured only by the loud drone that was reverberating through Grace’s chest, whatever was making it was very close now.
They hadn’t gone very far when Grace was pitched forward as the car ground to a halt. She felt Luna’s arms around her as she was dragged limply out of the car. She tried to talk, she really did, she tried to walk but she couldn’t seem to make her body do what she told it to. She felt her back scrape against a rough surface and prickly leaves scratch her face as Luna set her down. She heard a strangled gasp: Luna was upset. She tried to comprehend it; to reach out and comfort her, but Luna held her in a tight hug and murmured against her shoulder.
‘I love you my motorbaby… love you. You fucking stay hidden you hear me!’ she gasped ‘Oh God…’.
Grace vaguely realised the droning noise had stopped. She felt a kiss on her cheek and heard Luna pulling her raygun out of its holster and leap to her feet. Grace heard the crunch of dry grass get softer as Luna ran. And then she was alone.
‘Luna…?’ she whispered croakily and then promptly vomited all over the bush in front of her.
The sun was cutting into her neck and yet her skin felt like ice. But it wasn’t just that it… her chest… ugh! She couldn’t describe it properly her chest felt like it was collapsing on itself. It was killing her. It was making her throat swell up and tears pour down her cheeks. What was happening to her? She didn’t understand, she’d never ever felt a pain like this.
She could vaguely make out violent ‘pew’ noises and distant yells. Did Luna get back to the car? What was happening? What… As she felt her brain go cloudy the last thing she remembered was a heart-wrenching scream that pierced her chest.
‘Oh’ she thought ‘I must be dead’ and she fell forward into the darkness.
**
It sounded like radio static.
‘... were right D….I cant… -res nothing left…hell of a fallou- …up there, wait…’
Silence.
Grace wondered if Angels in Heaven used radios. Odd but she didn’t see why not.
Polka Dots.
They were blue.
Surely you weren’t supposed to dream if you were dead. Even if you did she didn’t think polka dots were really the appropriate thing to dream about. Wasn’t her life supposed to be flashing before her eyes? But no- the dots were still there and they seemed to be talking to her now.
‘…from, little critter?’
Grace didn’t think deathly hallucinations should be allowed to ask her questions, especially those that encouraged her to think when all she wanted to do was go back to feeling nothing. She felt two cold fingers press against her neck. She flinched, it felt like rocks were ricocheting off her head and the pain was making it hard to appreciate the assumption that she wasn’t dead after all. Violently Grace pitched over and vomited again. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes; why wouldn’t it just stop? But the dots where talking again.
‘Withdrawal’s a bitch? Huh, kid?’ She could hear them saying sympathetically and she belatedly realised the polka dots were a man. Without warning the ground fell away from beneath her and she moaned weakly in protest. Strong arms slung her around and she reached out and clung to his back, folding her tiny arms in a vice grip around his neck. She was already starting to lose consciousness as they started to roll away, but not before she heard the dot man mumble ‘…you’re cute and all but don’t you dare fucking hurl on me, kid.’
**
‘Oh! Oh baby I’ll never be without you again!’ Ghoul moaned stroking a rusted guitar which had definitely seen better days.
Ghoul didn’t care; he already loved it was all his heart and soul. The underground room was filled with similar orgasmic outcries from the various Killjoys. Kobra was fondling a bass that appeared to be held together with duct tape in certain places. Jet was already shredding, his face a picture of pure ecstasy. Poison fiddled with an amp that, that if its looks were anything to go by, was working only on a miracle.
Stationed in the corner, next to a pulley operated platform beneath the trap door, Dr Death Defying rumbled in silent laughter.
‘Make some noise, boys!’ he laughed, but he doubted they heard him. Poison flew across the room and swooped down to hug the Doctor, quicker than a bullet Ghoul was adding his weight to the pile on. The Doctor gave a strangled cry and struggled against the buddle of killjoy. But he was grinning as he finally got them to jump back by running over their toes with his wheelchair.
‘It’s Tommy you should be thankin,’ he chuckled watching Ghoul dart back to his guitar, as if it were an unattended newborn.
‘Man I remember when Chow Mein still dealt in deadman boots and protein packs’ Kobra called across the room, without taking his eyes from the frets. ‘Where’s he getting this shit?’
Kobra had meant the question rhetorically but Poison caught the doctor’s furrowed brow. He knelt down causally so he was level with the doctor.
‘Where is he getting it from, Doc?’ he murmured, keeping his eyes on his ecstatic gang. He snuck a sideways glance at the Doctor, when he didn’t reply immediately.
‘Word is, he’s got the Android Girls under his thumb now.’ He finally grunted.
Poison’s eyes widened.
‘No Shit!’ he said, catching Kobra’s look of concern from across the room. He replied by shaking his head ever so slightly- they’d talk about it later.
The Android Girls were one of the most ruthless bands of outlaws in the zones. And they damn well had to be, living on the outskirts of Battery City is extremely dangerous for obvious reasons. Most life-valuing Killjoys stayed well away from the city unless they had a very good reason. The Android Girls survived by raiding the city at night. They were good, but the turnover rate in their gang was predictably high, being that close to the city meant they were constantly on Scarecrow’s radars. The only reason they continued to exist was that their ranks were continually filled with runaways. They were usually the first band of Killjoys escapees met when fleeing the city. They favoured the girls, taking them in and training them for raids. Poor kids. They’d have done better to continue out to the zones with the rejected boys. At least they’d have a longer life expectancy that way. But one thing they sure as hell did not do was answer to anybody. Poison smirked, those girls wrote the book on not taking anyone’s shit. So what were they doing turning over their hard earned spoils to Tommy Chow Mein?
Poison was knocked out of his musings by an angelic face dropping, upside down, in front of his own. He jerked back and laughed in surprise, looking up to see Show Pony leaning through the trap door his long dark hair falling around him like a halo.
‘Channelling your inner Spider-man, I see’ he laughed. Show Pony just smiled and fluttered his eyelashes.
‘A pretty red-head below me?’ he leered, ‘How could I resist?’
A hand tugged on the back of Poison’s jacket, landing him in a heap next to the Doctor’s wheelchair.
‘My God, you’re worse than Cherri! What is it?’
The distressed look re-appeared on Show Pony’s steadily reddening face.
‘Doctor, ugh! She won’t stop crying. She’s getting my mat all wet!’ he moaned petulantly.
Ghoul took this as his cue to fill the room with raucous laughter.
‘Trying your hand with the ladies, Pony?’ he laughed. ‘Doesn’t sound like its working out for you!’
‘Yeah I’d say you’re probably doing it wrong,’ Kobra smirked and Jet chuckled softly behind him.
Show Pony flipped them off and disappeared above them in a single sinuous move.
‘Please, Doctor!’ his voice floated down.
The Doctor chuckled at the helpless wail and motioned to the Killjoys to help him up. Jet and Ghoul reluctantly lay down their instruments and climbed up the wooden ladder adjacent to the lift, but their eyes kept flicking back to their guitars as if worried they might disappear. Poison gently pushed the doctor backwards onto the small platform and watched him rise steadily as Ghoul and Jet pulled on the simple rope pulley. He was impressed that Dr Death and Show Pony managed everything, just the two of them and they’d been doing it for years.
Kobra walked over, bass still in hand.
‘What’s up with the Doctor?’ he asked. Poison paused for just a moment.
‘Nothing,’ he said turning to smile at his brother. And it probably was just nothing, he consoled himself- plus they’d gotten instruments out of it hadn’t they? Maybe it would work out for the best.
‘How’s it feel?’ he asked. Kobra didn’t need to ask what he meant.
‘Aw Gee, it’s so amazing.’ He grinned. ‘You forget, you know?’ Poison frowned at the nickname. Kobra was the only one who could ever get away with using his old name, and even then it was only when they were alone. They’d learnt the hard way how important pseudonyms were in this day and age. By now the alias’s they assigned themselves were their names and apart from the occasional slip up, were all they used.
‘Coming?’ Jet called down, breaking Poison’s line of thought. Kobra had already carefully placed his bass in an old crate with the other two and swiftly followed Poison up the ladder.
They made their way through the deserted diner, the last vestiges of light leaked through the windows with a syrupy glow. They made their way over to Jet and Pony who were leaning against the door of a makeshift bedroom in one of the larger former pantries. Over their shoulders Poison spied the crumpled form of a little girl curled up on a sleeping mat, her head buried in the dirty pillow. The Doc was stationed at the foot of the mat watching as Poison knelt down next to Ghoul, who was whispering tenderly in the little girl’s ear. Out the corner of his eye he saw Pony make a disgusted noise and leave. Kobra swiftly took his spot, leaning against the door frame. The Doc watched him go and turned to catch Poison’s eye with an apologetic look. Poison knew what he was thinking. Pony came off as callous and insensitive, the truth was he just really didn’t know how to handle children. Poison turned back to the girl and felt his heart constrict as he watched her tiny shoulders convulse. He laid a soothing hand on her back like he used to when his own daughter had been…. Shit. Shit. He backtracked, refusing to finish that thought. It wouldn’t do any good for there to be two crying people in the room. Ghoul stood and went to stand next to the Doctor, letting Poison take his place.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ he asked The Doc, his voice sounding strained. The Doc sighed.
‘She’s withdrawing off the BLI emotion suppressant drugs.’ He said with a stiff jaw, as if holding back. ‘I hear they’ve been starting kids on it who are barely a year old. Poor kid has probably never felt an emotion to its full extent in her life.’ He spat.
Kobra gasped from his position at the door.
‘Shit,’ said Jet eloquently. ‘That’s… shit… that got to be a whole lot of feelings at once’.
‘… She… she wont explode, will she?’ Kobra added quietly, only half joking. Ghoul rolled his eyes and reached over to punch him in the shoulder for his efforts.
‘It’s not just that,’ The Doc continued, his eyes smouldering in quiet rage. ‘Pony found her on the side of the Getaway Mile, next to a burnt out car, the area covered in scorch marks.’
Ghoul gripped his shoulder a little too hard.
‘Dracs?’ he asked, not needing a response. The Doc nodded.
‘She’s still in her BLI uniform, but judging by the car she was travelling with a zonerunner. Probably an Android Girl, being so close to the city.’
Kobra hissed, subconsciously rubbing the scarring on his thigh. He’d had a nasty run in with an over-amorous Android Girl, not too long ago. She hadn’t taken kindly to his lack of interest. Dr Death whispered something to Ghoul, and he swiftly left the room. But Poison wasn’t paying attention, a high keening was sounding from the little girl; it was truly the most tragic sound. Poison thought he heard her sob words into the pillow. He leaned closed, rubbing her back.
‘What was that, honey’ he asked softly.
A puffy, hazel eye peaked out and met his own. She said it again, but he couldn’t make it out, her breathing was too erratic, too punctured with sobs. She tried again, desperate to make him understand her.
‘Lu- Luna!’ she choked.
It was perhaps the most heart-wrenching sound Poison had ever heard. Before he could stop himself he was on the mat, buddling the sobbing girl into his arms. He rocked her back and forth, whispering God-know-what into her mop of curly hair. He desperately hoped that it was comforting.
He didn’t know how long this went on, but the next thing he knew Ghoul was nudging his shoulder. He was holding a pill and an old jar filled with water. Poison glanced at Dr Death, who nodded curtly. Out the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw Jet turn and leave, wiping his eye discreetly. The girl had cried herself into a stupor and as Poison took the pill from Ghoul and held it to her mouth, she looked up and met his eyes. There he saw the grief he knew all too well. The kind grief he would never wish upon his sworn enemies. The kind of grief that was never meant to blemish the eyes of a child. Meekly she swallowed the tablet and then the water and went limp in Poison’s arms. He lowered her gently, watching how her corkscrew curls lay sprawled in every direction on the pillow. She was asleep before he even pulled the covers over her.
He could feel Ghoul behind him, his hand on Poison’s shoulder. Although it was a few minutes more before he could pull himself together enough to allow Ghoul to lead him away, back into the diner.