FicWad

Chapter One- In the Middle of a Gunfight

The Bar. Always the first place I stopped after receiving my meager allowance for the month. Cheap booze, food, and plenty of willing prostitutes. Even the occasional bar fight to keep me on my toes. This place was heaven.

For most guys in the bar, their bark was worse than their bite. They were all talk, no play. A lot of new guys make the mistake that I'm the same way. They quickly realize what a... misunderstanding... they've stumbled into. Insight often glints brightly off the blade of my knife. Yes, I carry it illegally. Who cares?

When I stepped into the noisy, crowded bar, a young girl in a very revealing outfit glided over to me, her head held high. She could not have been more than sixteen years old, and was obviously a new employee, judging by the way she nervously adjusted her skirt. 

"May I take your coat, Mr..."

"Way. Gerard Way." As I suspected. All the senior employees knew me by name. I had been coming here for years. "And I will keep my coat, thank you." I may have been poor, but I was not ill-mannered. My lack of money came from the impending bankruptcy of my business; nothing more, nothing less. I was a respected man, and was not about to be uncivil to this young lady.

"Very well, Mr. Way. Will you be in need of my services tonight?" the young child, for that's what she was, asked me with eager anticipation in her eyes. What I did next surprised me beyond measure, though at the time it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

"What is your name, milady?" 

The girl looked shocked. "I-I-I... my name... Dawn, sir," she stuttered, wringing her hands. Her face was so full of innocence. It reminded me of my baby brother, before...

No! I scolded myself. Don't think about Mikey now. You've gone eight years. Don't slip up.

I leaned down close to the girl, putting one arm around her shoulders and whispering in her ear. "Well, Dawn, I do not require your services tonight. And, if you listen and follow my instructions, neither shall anyone else. There is no honor in working here. These women, they have missed their chance to leave. They cannot change their ways. You still have a chance; embrace it. Take this," I pressed a fifty dollar bill into her hand, "and leave here. Don't ever turn back. In fact, I know a place where there is a job opening for a secretary. The pay isn't great, but it's enough. Down the road, the big building on the left. Tell them I sent you. Now go."

I gave Dawn a gentle shove towards the open door. She stumbled slightly before bolting down the road. She didn't turn back.

I sighed, completely drained, and crossed the crowded bar, slumping onto the only empty barstool. The bartender, who was also the owner of the bar and a recipient of some generous contributions from my company before the severe loss of customers that my company had been plagued with, gave me a look that was annoyance mixed with pity.

"I see you've dismissed another of my employees, Gerard."

"Don't employ underage women, and I won't dismiss them. I just saved your ass from lawsuit, Bob. I think that deserves a free drink, don't you?"

Bob's annoyance vanished, and he laughed good-naturedly. "Of course, Mr. Way! You HAVE always been nothing but good to me. What'll it be? Anything, on the house!"

"Gin, on the rocks, please," I replied. "No, scratch that. Lychee martini. Dry."

"You got it!" Bob winked, turning on his heel. His hands beat a complicated drum riff on the counter as he searched for the Lychee juice. A bulky man swaggered up to the counter, inter on demanding a drink, but stopped in his tracks when he saw it was I who Bob served at that moment. The man stood, nervous, before scurrying back to his posse after a glance from me. I hardly noticed. My mind had gone back to Dawn.

How I wish I could've sen her to a better company than my own; one where she could receive better pay. At least I can keep an eye on her now. I've done the best I can.

As Bob placed my drink on the counter before me and went to serve another, I glanced around the bar. My gaze zeroed in on a strange-looking couple that had entered only seconds before. There was a tall man who was completely bald and carried himself with an arrogant air. Beside him stood an Asian woman, Japanese maybe?, who was surveying the area.

Her eyes settled on me, which wasn't unusual. My newly dyed, bright-red hair often acted like a beacon in public places. I was about to turn my attention back to my drink, until I saw the most shocking thing- the bald man was holding a pistol.

Now let me tell you, there was an unspoken rule at the bar that though lives were allowed, any gun was strictly banned. We had had knife fights break out before, but blade scars were easily excused. The sound of a gunshot? Not only lethal, but also very conspicuous.

I rapped my ring three times against my glass, the signal among the usual customers that something was amiss. Bob's head shot up from behind the bar, only to duck shin immediately as the bald man fired a shot- right at me.

"Are you Gerard Way?" the man demanded, keeping the gun aimed in my direction. I nodded.

"So you are the one who told my servant, Dawn, to leave? I sent her here to learn, so she could pleasure me. Well, for your ignorance, she has learned." With his free hand, he pulled the girl, who had been hidden in his cloak, into the open and threw her to the ground.

It was definitely Dawn. Her already skimpy outfit was torn, and there was blood running down her thighs and staining her skirt. She screamed in pain when she hit the ground and lay there sobbing, her brunette hair soaked with sweat and tears.

I tore my eyes away from the bloody sight and looked up at the man who clutched the gun in his fist. I slowly rose from stool, my vision clouding red from anger. This man was worse than the drunks who take advantage of the prostitutes. This man was sick; psychotic.

"You sick BASTARD!" I screamed, moving slowly towards the bald pervert. "You stole the innocence of a CHILD! There is NO crime more LOW," I was standing within arms reach of him, "than to destroy the life of someone who has yet to live." He was frozen in shock, the gun off target and limp in hid hands. "And you will pay dearly."

A sudden shot rang through the bar, knocking me and the man to the floor in surprise. The Asian woman clutched a second gun, and was pointing it steadily at my head. As her finger brushed the trigger, I did the most reasonable thing. I leapt atop the bald man.

The third bullet lodged itself into the wood where I had been seconds before. Around us, the bar churned with activity as people tried to escape the war zone. The Asian woman was shocked. She couldn't shoot me without the risk of hitting her partner. Which was just what I needed.

I wrestled the pistol out of the bald man's hands before he gained the insight to try and shoot me again. I pointed the end of the gun at the woman and told her to get on the floor. She looked scared and confused and began to babble in... Chinese? Japanese? I wasn't sure. It was becoming difficult to restrain the bald man, so I pointed to the ground. She finally understood and lay down. I snatched her gun and grabbed a handful of her hair, bashing her skull against the ground and knocking her unconscious.

I then turned the gun on the bald man, who immediately fell still. I sat up, straddling his  chest, malicious hatred lighting my face.

I pulled my switchblade out of my coat pocket, still clutching the gun. I leaned close to him and whispered.

"I told you you would pay dearly."

With that, I slashed the blade across his crotch. He screamed in pain, writhing and flailing, trying to get away. I pressed the blade to his throat, strangled cries still escaping from deep within him.

"Be happy I'm merciful," I told him and, with a flick of my wrist, I slit his throat. He gurgled, and his eyes turned glassy. The room fell silent, other than Dawn's small sobs and my heavy breathing. 

From the back of the bar, I heard a gasp. I looked up to see Bob, white faced and flanked by two police officers.

"Gerard! What have you done?"