FicWad

He got back to the bus in less time than he would have liked. Mikey looked up at him when he walked through the door; he'd been sitting on the floor playing 'Halo' with Ray.

"Hey Gee - good smoke?" he asked. Gerard shrugged.

"Yeah" he said, because it was a better answer than; 'No I met my demonic arch enemy, it really wasn't that great at all.'

Mikey didn't seem to find anything odd with Gerard's answer and for that he was glad. He didn't feel up to being questioned tonight. The good mood he'd received from the show earlier than day had vanished. He felt cold and empty right now.

He silently made his way to his room. He heard voices from the kitchen area of the bus; Bob was yelling and Frank was desperately making protests. Gerard ignored them and continued on his way. He reached the area where the bunks were, walked in and threw himself into his.

"Fuck..." he muttered once he'd gotten into a comfortable position. He sighed and closed his eyes. He could already feel everything peeling away; years off normalcy being ripped away. Worse still he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Like I ever did anything in the first place" he grumbled. He'd been a fool to think that everything was behind him. Hadn't he been warned? When he had agreed to all this shit he had been told, clear as day that there was no backing out. Of course him, being the idiot that he was had still eagerly agreed. Back then it had been the coolest thing ever. He had been so sure.

It had taken him two deaths and one forever ruined life to realize exactly what he had signed himself up for.

"Gee, dinners ready." Gerard looked up; it was Mikey who had spoken. His brother stood in the doorway. "It's kind of burnt, since you know...Frank made it. But it's still dinner..."

Gerard felt a tiny smile spread across his lips at that. It was probably what Bob had been yelling at Frank about.

"Gerard?"

The smile was gone. Gerard sighed and shifted in his bunk.

"I don't feel hungry Mikey" he said. Mikey frowned.

"You okay?"

"Yeah" Gerard replied. "I'm fine. Just not hungry...trust me" he gave Mikey a reassuring look. His brother shrugged his shoulders murmuring a soft "alright then" before walking away. As the door shut Gerard sighed and buried his head in his pillow.

"I'm so fucked..."

He woke up about an hour later. He'd fallen asleep at some point, he couldn't remember when but it hadn't been a particularly good sleep.

Something touched his arm. He swallowed and shifted slightly.

"Frank, Ray, Bob, Mikey...whoever it is...move..." he said, sleepily. There was a loud snicker. Gerard frowned; that definitely wasn't one of his band mates.

He recognized the voice though...it was...

'Shit!'

His eyes flew open and he sat up in one fluid movement.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he yelled, angrily. Staring back at him with wild, red-tinted eyes was a face that he despised more than Charity's.

The same Charity who was leaning on the other side of him...

"Mother of all that's holy!" he spat, glancing between the two figures on either side of him. "What the fuck? Are you guys stalking me or something? Get out of my god- dammed bed and out of this bus and out of this fucking state!"

Another snicker. Gerard felt his temper flare and he spun around.

"I don't have time for this!" he spat, venomously at the hated face. "I don't want anything to do with you assholes. Go!"

The answer he got was more laughter. Gerard felt a headache coming on.

"Fin, that's enough" Charity said, firmly. The name sent another wave off hatred running through Gerard. He leaned over and kept his face a few centimeters away from the other man.

"Get out" he hissed. "Get out right now before I -"

"- Set me on fire?" Fin cut in, grinning mischievously. Gerard caught sight of his sharp little teeth but that wasn't what made him shudder. No, it was the other mans words.

"No" he replied, quickly. Too quickly. "I don't do that stuff anymore. I can punch though...hard. So leave."

It was pathetic he knew but Fin's words had cut through him. The other man seemed to know this because this grin widened.

"Don't do that stuff anymore?" he said, mockingly. "But G-Boy you don't just stop doing that stuff whenever you feel like this. Once a freak always a freak. Once a..."

"...Don't!" Gerard cut in, his voice shaking slightly. "Don't say it. Don't."

Fin grinned. Saliva clung to his sharp teeth. His tongue darted across them and Gerard shuddered because he had seen enough of that tongue to last him a lifetime.

"De..."

"Fuck you!" Gerard yelled, his voice cutting through whatever Fin had been about to say. "Fuck you!"

"What's wrong G-Boy? You're not afraid are you? Because how can you be afraid of what you are?"

"I'm not like that! I'm not like you!" Gerard snapped. He was surprised that no one had come barging in yet from the volume of their voices.

"You're just like us" Fin retorted. He was clearly enjoying this. "Ara made sure of it."

"Stop...she didn't, I'm not like you. I'm human, I'm not..." his voice cut of and he shook his head wildly. His eyes flew over Fin's eager face and he knew...the other man had been goading him into it.

"You boys are ridiculous" sighed another voice and Gerard jumped. He had almost forgotten about Charity. The woman eyed him lazily with those inhuman silvery eyes of hers. As always they gave Gerard the chills. Her eyes flickered from his face over to Fin's, who was still grinning idiotically.

"Fin shut up" she said, and a slightly edge entered her voice. "We're here for a reason, you know that."

"I just want to hear him say it!" Fin whined. "Come on G-Boy, say it out loud, you know you want to."

"Shut up!" Gerard growled.

"Say -"

"FIN!" Fin's mouth snapped shut and he turned to look at Charity. The look on his face reminded him of a dog that had just been reprimanded. It almost made him smile.

"Shut up you worthless toe rag" Charity snarled. All of that 'cool attitude' was gone; she was clearly pissed and not up to putting up with her companion's attitude.

"Fine" Fin mumbled, his brow creasing with annoyance. "I'll stop."

"Good" Charity dragged her eyes of him and laid them back on Gerard. "So, how are you?"

"I'll be good once you're gone."

Charity laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you honey but I don't think we'll be gone for a while."

Gerard didn't like the sound of that, not one bit. He stared at her for a few moments, dreading answering.

"What do you mean?" he asked after a moment. Charity opened her mouth, then closed it and sighed.

"No time. I hear footsteps - someone's coming" she stood up from the bunk and stretched. "Meet us outside in one hour. No earlier, no later - I mean it."

"Why should I?" Gerard couldn't help but say. "I don't want anything to do with you. I'm done with all this. If I don't come then what are you going to do about it?"

"Is he serious?" Fin asked, glancing at Gerard disbelievingly. "I mean, we come all this way to seek him out and he thinks we're just going to leave because he refuses to follow through with our plans. G-Boy this is no joke - you don't come and we hunt you down."

"I don't have time for this. She" Gerard jabbed a finger violently in Charity's direction. "Said someone was coming."

"They've stopped" Charity said closing her eyes briefly. "I hear a cupboard door opening - probably grabbing something to eat. Humans" the last word was scoffed with slight disgust.

"I'm human" Gerard said, defensively. "If you hate them so much then why bother with me?"

"Just come outside in one hour" Charity replied. "Surely you can do that." She frowned and cocked her head to the side. "Hmm...footsteps are approaching again" she smiled and tapped her ear. "Demon hearing is amazing."

Gerard flinched. Fin laughed.

"Yeah - you hear that, G-Boy? Demon hearing. Demons - what we are. What you are."

"I'm not a demon" Gerard snapped.

"No you just have the powers of one" Charity replied, lazily. Then she was gone. Just like that - one minute she was there and the next minute she wasn't.

"See you G-Boy" Fin said, cheerily. Gerard felt something slap against his cheek; he didn't need to look to know that it was Fin's abnormally long, snake-like tongue. Then he too was gone and Gerard was alone.