FicWad

Gerard moved as if in a daze as he headed to his office; he hadn’t eaten, he hadn’t slept and it showed. The last he’d heard from Mikey was hearing him scream as Iero had one of his thugs lay into him – Gerard’s punishment for talking back. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the photo that he had been shown of Mikey when Iero first approached him. The thought that they could beat up his brother, as he lay handcuffed and helpless, unable to defend himself, made Gerard furious beyond words. He was determined to make him pay for what he had put Mikey through.

“Mister Way!”
“What?” Gerard replied almost irritably as he was pulled from his thoughts.

His secretary smiled, pleased to finally get his attention after calling his name three times.

“You must be very worried,” she said with a comforting smile.
“I am,” Gerard agreed before turning a puzzled glance. “What?”
“About, Mister Wallis… the manager?”
“Yeah…” Gerard shook his head. “Sorry, Sarah, my mind’s on a thousand things. Any news of Philip… Mister Wallis?”
“You don’t know?” Sarah’s eyes widened. “He went into cardiac arrest last night, he’s in the critical care unit.”
Gerard’s eyes widened as he thought about the cause of Philip Wallis’ distress and the fact that the self same man had Mikey.
“Let me know if you hear anything else,” he replied quietly. “Anything at all.”
“Yes, Sir. Oh, and your nine o’clock is here early, he’s waiting in your office.”
“Is he now?” Gerard growled through gritted teeth.
“Is everything all right, Mister Way?” Sarah asked, picking up on Gerard’s unusually sharp replies.
“Yeah,” he insisted. “Yeah, I’m sorry, Sarah. I’m a little stressed. Could you get me a coffee, please?”
“And your client?”
Gerard took a deep breath. “I’ll ask him.”

Gerard headed towards his office, taking another deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping inside. As he pushed the door open, the chair opposite his desk turned to reveal Frank Iero, again immaculately dressed and smiling smugly. The two looked at each other for a few moments before Gerard stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.

“You look tired,” Frank commented with a smirk.
“Do I?” Gerard replied angrily as he rounded the desk and took his seat.
“Yes, you do,” Frank leaned forward, leaning on the desk. “Not too tired to carry out my orders I hope. The last thing I need… no, the last thing Mikey needs right now is for you to be slack.”
Gerard sighed as he switched on his computer. “I know what you want and I told you I’ll get it!”
“Slight change of plan.”
“What now?” Gerard asked irritably. Either this guy couldn’t make up his mind or he was trying to keep him on his toes so that he would never be completely sure of his ground.
“Something I almost overlooked,” Frank replied calmly.
“What?”
“The email with the daily codes,” he began, sitting back in his chair. “You don’t really need it, they just send it to you.”
“So?” Gerard asked, his brow creasing in confusion as the point Frank was making passed him by.
“So, if you normally open it, glance at it, then close it; won’t it look a little odd if you open it today and leave it open long enough to write everything down?”
Gerard drew in a deep breath and frowned.
“And you think that’ll alert someone higher up about a robbery?”
Frank shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“No, you idiot! It’ll alert someone to your role in it.”
Gerard narrowed his eyes; why did it matter to Iero whether or not he was implicated?
“Don’t you realise? I’m trying to keep you out of prison.”
Gerard laughed, scoffing at the idea.
“I’m innocent in this! I’m playing along because you’ve forced me to. Do you think I’d let you kill Mikey?”
“Do you think they’ll care?” Frank shook his head at Gerard’s naivety. “You never heard of an innocent man going to prison before?”
“I never met one.”
“Well, you’ll be that man!” Frank leaned forward again. “An innocent man doesn’t play along. An innocent man informs the police.”
“An innocent man gets killed!” Gerard growled. “Our manager is in CCU because of you! How can you dare come in here saying you’re trying to keep me safe when you nearly kill my boss? And what about Mikey?”
“He’s fine,” Frank cut in with an abrupt tone.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he’s fine. What else do you want me to say?”

Gerard thought for a moment about Frank’s words. There was one thing he did want him to say, but even if he did, could he be believed? Frank Iero was confusing in the extreme. He was a bank robber, a very successful one at that by the impression he gave. He had kidnapped his brother and wasted no time in having him beaten at least twice in order to force Gerard to assist him. He had attacked and almost killed the bank manager. And yet, here he was telling him that there was a change to the plan in an attempt to keep Gerard out of prison should his involvement be suspected. He just didn’t make any sense.

“I want you to tell me you’ll let Mikey go free after this.”
Frank cocked his head to one side and frowned.
“How do you define after?” Frank asked mysteriously.
“When you’ve got what you wanted out of the vault.”
Frank took a deep breath and shook his head.
“No, after for us is after the police trail has gone cold. After you tell them that you know nothing about it, that it’s just as much a shock to you. After all, where’s the incentive for you to keep quiet if we don’t keep a little leverage?”
It was Gerard’s turn to shake his head.
“Then what’s your incentive to ever let him go?”
Frank smiled; this man wasn’t stupid, it would be a shame to kill him.
“On to business.” Frank announced callously.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Gerard pushed.
“No,” Frank answered raising his eyebrows slightly. “I haven’t. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“Trust you!” Gerard fumed. “Trust you?”

Jumping to his feet, Gerard reached across the desk and grabbed Iero by the shirtfront, and pulling him down and forward.

“You bastard! Where is he?” Gerard snapped. “You’re not leaving this office, I’m calling the police, I’m not letting you kill him!”

Frank slammed on hand down onto the desk for balance as he reached into his coat pocket with the other. Seeing what he thought was a move for a gun, Gerard grabbed Frank’s wrist. In retaliation, Frank seized Gerard’s tie pulling it tight and down towards the desk. Gasping for breath, Gerard choked as Frank pulled the tie tighter and tighter. His face reddening and knees weakening as he was starved of oxygen, Gerard tried hard to keep up the losing battle in the hope that he could turn it around. As the pair struggled, locked together in a pointless fight that Frank knew had to end before it drew anyone’s attention, Frank let go of Gerard’s tie and grabbing the name-plate on the desk, swung it up to his opponent’s forehead. Loosening his grip at the dizzying effects of the blow, Gerard felt Frank pull away and shove him back into his chair with enough force as to cause it to roll back a few inches. Straightening his clothes, Frank dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small black box with a silver coloured switch in the centre.

“You remember I mentioned a bomb?” Frank snapped harshly.

Gerard appeared to calm instantly as he sat with his eyes transfixed on the trigger mechanism.

“Don’t… please. I’ll do whatever you need. Just don’t kill him.”
“Better,” Frank nodded. “Now, I want those details.”
Gerard nodded unhappily.
“Hang on, I just need to log in.”
“Turn the computer so that I can see the screen,” Frank ordered.

Gerard’s shoulders sagged; it seemed that Iero had thought of everything and could anticipate his every thought. Logging on, Gerard moved the pointer to open the email he received every morning from head office.

“Wait!” Frank instructed. “You’ll open the email, and I’ll call you. You’ll answer but then write everything down. Hang up, then close the email. That way, it’ll look as though you opened it, then got distracted. Understand?”

Gerard nodded. “Yeah, I understand. But when I’m asked why I was opening a sensitive email and taking calls when with a supposed client, what am I meant to say?”
Frank shrugged. “I can’t do it all for you. Now,” Frank tapped the small device in his hands, “get on with it.”

Lowering his eyes, Gerard opened the email only to hear his telephone ring almost immediately. He glanced at it with a confused expression as he noted the ring was from an internal telephone.

“That’s not you,” he said, glancing back at Frank.
“Then answer it,” Frank answered curtly.
“Hello?”
“Mister Way,” Sarah, Gerard’s secretary began, “you didn’t let me know if your client wanted coffee.”
“No, no thank you. Wait until later please, Sarah.”
“Oh, yes, all right. Let me know when you want some.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly as he lowered the phone. Again, it rang immediately, this time the ring was external.
“Hello, Gerard Way.”
“The information?”

Gerard turned his eyes back to the man seated opposite him and nodded; he had very little choice. Writing the codes and duty rosters held in the email took almost ten minutes, with Gerard checking and double-checking all the entries. Casting a final glance over the notes against what he could see on the screen, Frank nodded, satisfied that the information was correct and complete. Curling his fingers around the top of the pad, Frank pulled it towards himself and lowered it into his briefcase. This was the key to the entire plan. With that information Ray would get them past security, Bob would get them into the vault; the rest was a mere formality. The jewels were as good as in his hands.