Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had started as a little cough, but Garcello really should have put an end to this when it started to interrupt his impromptu jam session. Maybe he was just lost in the excitement of singing again. He had flirted with the idea of trying to sing professionally in the past, but that purple skinned creep had put an end to that dream a while ago, not to mention the stress that followed led him to pick up a nasty habit. Clearly his smoking hasn't done a thing to his singing voice, but it has done a number on his lung capacity.

What started as a little cough became sporadic fits, by the time Garcello had wrapped up his song against the little man with blue hair, those coughing fits became more common and painful. It was starting to scare the kid, he lowered his mic and took a cautious step forward. Garcello’s fit finally comes to an end and he stands up straight again, taking one more pull from his cigarette to calm his own nerves before speaking up to let the little man know there was nothing to worry about.

The moment he tries to get a word out however, the words are strangled in his throat.

He tries to force his words out through the fit, but every attempt causes the words to die in his chest. He doubled over, heaving as his coughs grew more violent and viscus. He tried desperately to gulp in more air, but each mouthful felt like it was lined with barbs that tore at his throat. Any oxygen that did make it inside of him only made the constrictive pain in his chest worse. Panic begins to set in which only makes his breaths more shallow as his strength bleeds away due to lack of oxygen.

With one last horrible wheeze, Garcello fell forward and collapsed onto the concrete, his strangled coughs falling silent.

Boyfriend stood in stunned silence before his concern overcame his shock. Tossing his mic aside, he quickly rushes to Garcello’s aid, careful not to trample the man’s cap as he rolled him over. Boyfriend may be small, but there’s a surprising amount of muscle packed into his short frame. Sliding his arms underneath Garcello’s, Boyfriend heaves the man up and props him upright against the speakers, all while his Girlfriend watches the scene play out in grim fascination. Taking his own cap off, Boyfriend fans his hat in Garcello’s face as his mind races to think of a potential fix to his friend's problem.

Thankfully what little he could manage was enough to get Garcello moving again.

The man starts barking out another painful barrage of coughs when Girlfriend leans back and produces a small bottle of water from behind the speakers. Dangling the bottle over his head, Garcello reaches an unsteady hand for it before firmly grasping it and pulling it to his mouth. When nothing comes out, he struggles to pull the cap free, but his hands now lack the proper motor skills to grip around the small cap. Pulling the bottle away for a moment, Boyfriend quickly rips the cap off before bringing the bottle up to Garcello’s lips. Liquid life clears away the fire burning at his throat and chest, but the panicked urgency in trying to chug as much of it down as possible ends up backfiring. Garcello sputters out half of the water in his mouth all over boyfriend as he unintentionally waterboards him, but it was enough to make the horrible burning go away.

Garcello is finally able to get an uninterrupted breath in.

He sits against the speakers with his hands against his chest, gasping in breaths of fresh air faster than his body can take them in. The constrictive pressure around his chest eases off with each breath and after a few moments of controlled breathing, he’s finally able to take a few deep breaths and slow his rapidly beating heart back down to a reasonable pace.

“Are you ok?!” Garcello’s eyes regain focus and he finds the little man he was singing with knelt in front of him. With a couple more deep breaths to make sure he wouldn’t spiral into another coughing fit, Garcello manages to respond.

“Don’t worry about me.” He tries to assure him in a shaky voice. “I’m fine, just overdid it is all.” It doesn’t seem to assure Boyfriend in the slightest and Garcello couldn’t blame him. He didn’t want to flat out lie to the guy, but he also didn’t want him to get all worked up over him. “Sorry I… I’m fine now, I’ll be fine.” Well now he was lying to himself. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, that was probably the most painful thing he’s experienced in his whole life. It felt like he damn near hacked up his very soul onto the ground.

“Does that mean you’re fine enough to go another round?” Garcello doesn’t quite have the strength required to turn his head to face the girl yet, but the look Boyfriend shoots her is one of confusion and frustration. The water she offered was a life saver, but she didn’t seem all too worried about what just happened to him.

“No, no.” Garcello lightly shakes his head. “Sorry guys, but I think I’m done for the night. Maybe some other time.” He really didn’t want to kill the good mood they had going but enough was enough. While the girl seemed disappointed, Boyfriend was fully understanding and offered a hand to him to help him up. Though he was shorter than Garcello by a good couple feet, he was able to help Garcello up to his feet no problem. Once he was on his feet though, Garcello found his legs were just as weak as the rest of him. They felt like jelly, any sudden movement could be enough for them to give out beneath them.

“Here.” Reaching his hand out, Boyfriend holds Garcello’s cap up to him. Garcello didn’t even notice it fell off his head. He gladly accepts his hat back and settles back in its proper place. Scanning the ground to see if he had dropped anything else, he finds his cigarette still smoldering on the ground. Though he was still unsteady on his feet, he stumbled over to it and put it out beneath his heel.

“Again, sorry for being such a bummer, but I think I’m calling it a night.” Garcello tugs his cap down and turns to make his way back home. His pace is slow at first as he tries to work feeling back into his legs, but he’s making progress.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Boyfriend rushes up alongside him, a hand hovering just behind Garcello’s back to give him support if he needs it.

“I’m fine.” Garcello repeats the same lie he didn’t even believe himself. “I’m sure you and your girl got enough problems on your own plates, I don’t want to heap anything else on top of that. Take care of yourself, little man.”

With a half hearted wave, Garcello continues out the alley. He sends one last look back before turning off onto the street to find Boyfriend still keeping a concerned eye on him while his girl hops off the massive set of speakers she brought along. He was a good kid, Garcello just hopes he knows what he’s doing hanging out with that girl. The whole Dearest family was nothing but trouble and clearly their little demon spawn has at least some of their wickedness inside of her. The look he shot her when she wanted him to keep singing was at least a sign that the kid knew there were some red flags, so Garcello can only hope he knows what he’s signed up for.

Walking along the lamp lit streets, Garcello slowly finds his strength again. His legs begin carrying him at a steady pace, his heartbeat settles into a steady rhythm, but there’s still a slight prickling sensation that keeps him from fully filling his chest with air. Something in there hasn’t settled back into its normal place and he’s starting to worry that it never will.

He’s tried to stop smoking a couple of times over the last few years but each attempt didn’t go far. Nicotine patches could only fight the urge so much but even if they had enough garbage in them to satisfy his cravings, he still wouldn’t have anything to do with his hands. Lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag was the only way he could calm himself down when the withdrawals got bad. It was a vicious cycle of trying to quit and falling right back in. The effects of withdrawal shouldn’t be as painful if not more than the smoke itself, but the world wasn’t a fair place.

Wandering onto his street, he has to tug his cap down to shield his eyes as the sun rises over the horizon. He’s not sure when this particular habit started, but he’s made it a daily ritual to always be awake to see the sunrise every morning. At least it was a habit that wasn’t actively killing him. Garcello takes a moment to give his feet some rest as he basks in the glow of the sun as it slowly crests the horizon before moving on. Garcello is one step onto the porch of his apartment building when he realizes with a shock that he could have missed this sunrise. He’s never slept in to miss one for five years now, had he been hospitalized, (or worse, dead) he would have missed it.

The revelation left him completely unnerved as he pushed his way into the apartment building. Passing by the stairs and elevator, he makes his way down the hall to his room on the first floor. Opening the door, he closes it behind him with a huff as he looks over his ‘humble’ abode. There really wasn’t all that much he could afford from what little he made and the few bucks he could borrow. It’s not like he spent much time here anyways, there was plenty of stuff to do outside, he just needed a roof over his head when he finally decided to call it a day.

Cutting across his room and into the bathroom, Garcello flicks the light on and marches straight for the mirror. His heart nearly stopped when he looked at his own reflection. Though he was on the mend, he looked like he was on death's door. Just looking into his own sunken, bloodshot eyes was enough for him to pull his cap over them to keep himself from looking at them. He was a complete mess. He rests his back against the wall and tilts his head up, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath (as deep a breath as he can manage anyways) before opening his eyes again.

When he does, he finds himself looking at a lit flame an inch away from the end of another cigarette that had found itself in his mouth. The process of fetching another cigarette and getting a light for it was such a practiced and ingrained action that it was practically unconscious, he didn’t even have to think about it, it was as easy as blinking. He was stuck in this feedback loop again, desperate to try and stop but too stressed out to actually do anything without a smoke to calm his nerves.

Just one more couldn’t hurt… right? One more to take the edge off and get some sleep.

Looking past the flickering flame towards his disheveled reflection, he’s suddenly struck with the fear that if he does go to sleep he might never wake up again. What happened in that alley way wasn’t just another bad cough, he was dying, and if that blue haired kid wasn’t quick to help him that would have been it for him. He knew that what he was doing to himself would catch up to him eventually, but to come so close to actually facing the consequences made him realize that it wasn’t something that would happen in the future, it was happening now.

He was going to die if he didn’t stop.

Flicking his lighter closed, Garcello spits his cig out onto the floor, hovering his boot over it for a moment before simply kneeling down and tossing it in the trash. No need to trash up his place for no reason. Along with the lone cigarette, he reaches into his pocket and grabs what was left of his pack and tosses that in with it. He wasn’t ready to give up the ghost yet and he wasn’t going to get through this with half measures, he needed to go cold turkey today.

Of course, the moment he commits to it, he realizes he still has pent up stress that now lacks an outlet. His hands automatically drift to his pockets to solve the problem, but his smokes are in the garbage now, his hands drift over nothing and it feels unfamiliar and wrong. Even as he steps away from the bin, he can feel the emptiness in his pockets, the lack of comfort knowing relief was no longer available. Even though it’s the very last thing he needs at the moment, he’s never needed a smoke more in his life.

He needed a distraction.

Too pent up to get any sleep and not trusting in himself to not dig through the trash to get his fix, Garcello headed back out again, desperate to find something, no - someone - to help.

With a quick stop for breakfast, Garcello had regained all of his strength again and was able to cut through town with relative ease. He knew this feeling wouldn’t last though, the weight of his decision and the stress it carried was already pressing down on him. Eventually the withdrawal symptoms would hit, then he’ll really be tested. He tried to push these thoughts out of his head, but his hands refused to keep still, he had repeatedly pulled out his lighter just to find there was nothing to light. Seeing the fire only made him miss the plume of green smoke that would follow after it.

Smoking was an automatic action he took, now that the once automatic function was failing, his brain screamed that something was horribly wrong and that he was broken. His body responded with the same amount of urgency as it would if he had forgotten how to blink or breathe, it was difficult to think straight.

Thankfully, he wasn’t wandering around blind. He had a destination in mind. He typically slept through most of the day and spent most of his time out after dark, but even then there were plenty of odd characters that he had met here in the cities. Folks came in all shapes and sizes here, but while Garcello could recognize plenty of faces, he wouldn’t really consider himself friends with anyone except two people. Even the little man with blue hair was just a stranger he spent some time hanging out with, chances are they’ll pass each other again a week or two from now and give each other a wave and that would be it.

Well, if he made it that long.

No no. Garcello shook his head. None of that right now, just keep your head forward. As much as he tried to ignore it, his situation was pretty grim. He needed someone to take his mind off of this and thankfully one of his two friends was an endless supply of unconditional support and joy. Wandering off into the park, he approaches the park’s court and hears basketballs dribbling against the hard concrete. Walking past the gate into the fenced off court, he finds just the guy he was looking for.

“Sup Hex!” Swiveling his head around to face him, his robotic pal’s face literally light’s up when he sees him.

“Mr. Garcello!” Charging forward, Garcello is suddenly embraced by the lanky robot. He’s not really a hugger and Hex is a collection of cold pointy joints, but there’s an undeniable warmth that bleeds out of Hex that Garcello can’t get enough of. That’s what he loved so much about Hex, despite being a cold machine, he was an endless source of positivity that couldn’t be matched. “It’s been so long since I last saw you! I didn’t expect you to be up so early! Or, would it be more accurate to say I didn’t expect you to stay up this late?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Garcello shrugs as Hex pulls back. “I had energy to burn and thoughts to air out and you’re the only guy I’m comfortable enough to dump it all on.” Whenever Garcello had his really bad days, Hex was always the first guy he went to go see. He’d feel guilty if he forced his problems on anyone else, he still kind of does, but Hex has assured him multiple times that he loves to help him alleviate any burdens he’s carrying. He’s not sure exactly what Hex was built for, but along with being really good at basketball, he was probably the best listener he’s ever met.

“You’ve come to the right place!” Hex proudly exclaims, marching back to the rack of basketballs in the center of the court. Looks like he was practicing his half court shots. Reaching down and clamping down on a ball, he swivels around and tosses Garcello a ball. He catches it as it bounces off the ground in front of him and stares down at the orange ball of rubber in his hands. He was feeling better now, but he’s not sure if he’s quite ready to start running back and forth around the court.

“As much as I’d like to go a few rounds, I don’t think I’m going to be able to.” Garcello sighs, tucking the ball under his shoulder. Hex’s smile seems to dip by a singular pixel, but even that makes Garcello feel like a jerk. He hated to disappoint someone, especially someone as nice as Hex. Of course, he could just be imagining that shift in Hex’s expression, it could have been just a flicker of the screen that he was misreading.

“That’s just fine!” Hex says, not showing a hint of disappointment or hurt. “We can just chat if you’d like.” Hex gestures towards a nearby bench for Garcello to take a seat as he turns to collect the scattered basketballs around the court. Garcello kept his ball in hand, running his fingers against the textured rubber was something that he could do with his hands that kept him from reaching into his pocket. After a minute of clean up, Hex joins him on the bench and leans in close. “What’s on your mind friend? You seem down.”

“I almost died last night.” Garcello explains bluntly, not bothering to sugarcoat the severity of his situation. This time there’s no second guessing himself, Hex’s screen flickers hard and his mile wide smile falters. “I was singing last night, smoking to keep myself calm and I just… I passed out. I couldn’t breathe anymore, my chest felt like it was on fire. I threw away my smokes but I’ve tried to stop before and it never turned out right. I can’t mess it up again though, I need to stop now or this is gonna kill me.”

It was an insane amount of bad news to dump on his best friend, but he was committed to this. No half measures. He needed Hex to know how serious this was and how badly he needed his help. Had he not known Hex, he wouldn’t have anyone he’d be comfortable enough to share that much with them. Hex is Hex though, within seconds, he was already patting his clamp against Garcello’s back.

“I can purchase whatever you want if you need them.” Hex urges. “I am already searching my information banks for potential-”

“Thanks Hex, but I can get those myself. No need to spot me any cash.” Garcello wasn’t exactly living on a stable income, but if there was one thing that he didn’t like more than disappointing people, it was borrowing money. As far as he knew, Hex did nothing but play basketball, but he always offered to lend plenty of cash whenever Garcello was in a tight spot. Hex didn’t need to eat or sleep, so he probably didn’t really have much use for money, but it still felt wrong to take it. “I just need someone to be by my side and help me through this.” Garcello explains. “Someone I can talk to and someone who can hold me back when the cravings start to get bad.” That was what he needed more than anything right now, a distraction. If he’s left alone to his own devices, he’s going to fold fast. Hex is silent for a while, maybe overwhelmed by the request. Looking up to him though, Garcello finds that Hex is slowly regaining his smile.

“Did you say you were singing?”

“I…” Garcello stutters for a second, trying to remember when he mentioned it. “Yeah. I was just out for my usual midnight walks when this little guy showed up with his girl asking if I could sing.”

“Oh! Boyfriend!” Hex jolts up, his face lighting up in a bright flash with his excitement. “He had bright blue hair and a red cap, right?”

“Yeah actually.” Garcello nods. Guess it’s a small world after all. “You just call him Boyfriend? You didn’t get his name?”

“That is his name!” Hex informs with a nod. “He came here with his girlfriend last month. Her name was also Girlfriend.” Garcello wasn’t quite sure if Hex was pulling a prank on him or if he mistook what they called each other as their actual names. Then again, the naming conventions of the Dearest family were already whack, but that doesn’t explain Boyfriend. Garcello decides he’s gonna just stick with ‘Little Man’, it rolled off the tongue a little easier and functioned as a proper nickname.

“So, did they want you to sing?” Garcello asks, his worries already slipping out of his conscience as he gets lost in this conversation.

“I actually approached them first.” Hex corrects. “I saw him carrying around a microphone and jumped at the chance to sing again. I used to be the king of karaoke, you know?”

“Really?” Garcello raises an eyebrow. “You already sweep the court with everyone in basketball, but you’re a virtuoso too? What can’t you do?” It wasn’t like he had any other robots he knew to compare Hex to, but he had to have been programmed for a specific function, right?

“Oh yes, I loved to sing years ago but… Well I lost my singing partner and had no one to sing with anymore.” Hex tilts his head down a little, his screen dimming slightly. With his sudden change in tone, Garcello could only assume Hex’s ‘lost’ partner left him suddenly and painfully. Maybe they were his original creator? A close friend? Whoever they were, Hex is quick to rebound back into his usual chipper mood as he continues the conversation. “So Boyfriend asked if you could sing? I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure to hear your singing voice!”

“I used to.” Garcello shrugs, feeling that itch creep back into his mind. “I was actually trying to make the charts, but that didn’t last.”

“What happened?” Hex asks, tilting his head slightly. “If you don’t mind me asking, I mean. Sounds like you have some history.” That was an understatement, and it was a memory he didn’t really want to tread back on. Simply thinking about the whole situation got him on edge, but trying to move past it wasn’t going to make it go away. Besides, he dumped so much unnecessary weight on Hex’s shoulders, the least he could do is satisfy his curiosity with a story.

“I think it was about three years ago now, but I actually tried to start a music career with another friend of mine. Annie.” And just like that, all the memories came flooding back in. “I think I met her while I was going for my usual walks. She was singing something to herself during her walk home so I complimented it and went on my way. I guess she wasn’t expecting an audience because she seemed startled at first, but then she quickly started asking a bunch of questions like ‘did I sound off tune?’ and ‘did you actually like it or are you just being nice?’. I told her that what I heard sounded great and that she should keep it up before moving on, but I think I left an impression on her.”

Garcello chuckles to himself as he reminisces about his first few meetings. “I think she started following me around after that. I usually try to mix up my routes, but every once in a while I’d find her again, singing some new tune loud enough for me to hear. When we passed, I’d give her some feedback before moving on. Eventually, one of those songs ended up stuck in my head and I started singing along with it too. I was probably halfway down the street, but when she heard me singing it she lost her mind. She was trying to get into making music for a while, so she was excited to have her first big fan.”

“What was the song about?” Hex asks, his smile growing large enough to nearly fill out his screen.

“It was a sad song to be honest.” Garcello recalls, the melody slowly forming in his mind. “Something about wanting to be good enough. She lacked confidence in her voice and when she couldn’t come up with any lyrics, she sort of just sang out her frustrations. Knowing someone actually liked it gave her the confidence she needed to finish it and when she sang it all to me, I couldn’t help but sing along to it.”

“Oh I wish I could listen to it!” Hex sighs. “It sounds like you two became fast friends after that.”

“You might be able to find a recording or two of it.” Garcello suggests. “We ended up hanging out more and more, coming up with new songs and getting practice in. After a while, I ended up saving up enough cash to enter into a local contest. Annie froze up at first, but I eventually talked her into it and we participated. The look on her face when we managed to land first place!” It was probably the happiest moment of her life. She wasn’t even out of high school yet and she was living the dream, sharing her music with the world.

“I feel like there’s a sad twist coming up.” Hex says, still holding onto a shred of hope.

“We kept getting small gigs here and there, but when we started getting more attention, we got the attention of some bad eggs.” Garcello grumbles, applying pressure to the ball in his hands to try and work out the stress that was clouding his mind. “Daddy Dearest, some ex rock star guy with a mean streak, didn’t like how two ‘nobodies’ were starting to get more attention than him. I don’t know if he said anything to Annie, god I hope not, but he made it pretty clear to me that if I kept this up there would be hell to pay.”

“Oh dear…” Hex’s smile begins to falter again.

“I tried to think nothing of it.” Garcello shakes his head. “He was just some bully trying to scare off the competition. I was making good cash off my share of the prize money and Annie was genuinely happy to finally find her crowd, I didn’t want to put a stop to any of that. Then the threats started rolling in.” He really didn’t want to live through all of this again, but he found himself repeating the events anyways. No half measures, all of his problems were going on the table for the world to see. “Late night calls, notes pinned to my door, sending his horned freaks to follow me around at night. I was on edge for pretty much every waking moment, terrified that at any minute one of the Dearest’s goons would show up and do me in. It’s the reason I started smoking, the constant tension was driving me insane and I needed something to take that edge off.”

“But you’re still here, so nothing bad happened, right?” Garcello looks up at Hex to find he’s genuinely distressed. Garcello averted his eyes and tugged his cap down.

“It only stopped because I folded under the threats.” Garcello hisses. “I dropped everything and left the music scene entirely, leaving Annie without her backup. I had hoped she’d manage on her own, but I don’t think she made it to another gig after I was gone. I don’t think I’ve seen her since.”

Other than Hex, Annie was the only other person Garcello really considered as a friend. While he kept up appearances with Hex, he couldn’t say the same about Annie. It’s been years since he last saw her, she’s probably moved on by now. Garcello falls silent for a while, running his nails along the groves of the basketball in his hands when Hex suddenly leaps up to his feet.

“Oh! I know her!” Hex blurts out. Garcello stands up to get a look at his face and finds there’s a video playing across Hex’s display. He catches Annie’s voice through it and suddenly finds her song has wormed its way firmly into his head again.

“So just do it! To hell with it, screw it! I’m so tired of you making excuses!” Garcello is mesmerized watching what was probably the best night of his life play out in front of him. This was a recording from the big one, the gig that got their names out there and opened up their future. It was also the gig that got him put on Daddy Dearest’s list. Annie is giving everything she has into her performance, the shy young girl who mumbled songs to herself in private had finally found the courage to be herself in front of an audience. Garcello saw himself too and while he wasn’t nearly as performative as Annie was, he could still see just how much effort he put into that gig. Not to mention, he didn’t look like the mess he was now. Clean shaven, wearing flashy clothes, it’s only been a couple years but it felt like he was looking at a past life.

“You said you know her? It sounds like this is the first time you’ve seen this video.” Garcello asks. Maybe Annie did keep singing and he had missed it?

“I met her at the town square!” Hex explains, closing down the video and filling his display back up with his contagious smile. “She goes down there all the time! Maybe you could go out there and look for her?”

“I…” Garcello was struck with a strange bout of indecision. He pretty much threw Annie’s dreams down the drain to save his own skin, did she want to see him? He has absolutely no idea if that’s what she thinks of him or if he’s just beating himself up now that he’s in a sour mood.

“Maybe you two could start singing again?” Hex suggests. “You got some practice with Boyfriend, maybe you could pick up where you left off?” The last time Garcello sang professionally was when he wasn’t killing his lungs with cigarette smoke, his little rap battle with Little Man nearly killed him. Just thinking about singing again made him feel short of breath, but at the same time, he can’t help but think back to those days on the stage. He used to just drift aimlessly without much purpose, he still does now, but when he was singing with Annie, it felt like his life was together.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Garcello nods his head, suddenly ecstatic with the concept of getting back into the music biz. He couldn't just amble around blindly and hope his smoking problem would fix itself, but if he had something to work towards, a goal that would require him to improve himself, he might be able to beat his addiction this time. More than anything though, he wouldn’t fail if Annie’s dream was on the line again. “Thanks a lot Hex, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I’m glad to help!” Hex beams and Garcello can only smile back at the robot’s lopsided grin. “I’m always ready to help a friend in need. Maybe you two can come back some time and we could sing together. I do miss my karaoke days and would love to have someone by my side.”

“It’s a promise, Tin Man.” Garcello nods, holding his fist out for a bump. Hex enthusiastically presses his clamp against Garcello’s fist and they both blow their fists back with the impact. “I’ll see you around, you can count on it.”

“You know where to find me when you need me.” Hex nods, giving Garcello a wave as he turns to leave the court. This is why Garcello loved to see Hex when he was down, not only did he have as much unconditional love as a dog, he was also incredibly smart. Garcello didn’t dare think of anything other than going to see Annie, he knew if he let his mind wander he’d fall back on his lack of smokes again. He had a plan now, one that he’s confident will work him out of this rut.

It was a relatively short walk to get to town square from the park, but on his walk he realized just how ‘late’ it was for him. He essentially walked off a near death experience and decided to march around town instead of getting the rest he no doubt desperately needed. As tired as he was, he still wouldn’t be able to sleep, not because of the stress but because of the anticipation of meeting an old friend again after over three years.

The streets were a lot more crowded than he was used to. The most traffic he sees is the late night rush to get back home from work before the sun sets and everyone calls it a night. Getting out and seeing everyone while the town was awake was something he hadn’t done in a long while. His thick dark jacket soaked up a lot of the sun's heat and made him stand out against the brightly colored shops dotting the commercial district leading into town square. Keeping to himself and letting his eyes wander, he can pick out a small handful of faces he recognizes amongst the sea of unfamiliar strangers. Again, none of them were close enough to call friends, at most they’d recognize each other and give each other a wave before going about their business. Maybe he should fix that, but that’s at the very bottom of his priority list. Chances are he’s gonna be a real bummer to hang out with in the upcoming weeks.

Making his way into town square, he finds himself in the center of a large open plaza leading to various different shops and transports around town. Maybe he could have asked Hex if there was a specific place in town square that Annie hung out at, there was a pretty large stretch of land that was considered town square for him to search in. With no clue where to start, Garcello begins to pace around the plaza, his gaze jumping from person to person as he tries to find the girl. Minutes pass with no results, there were simply too many people coming and going to reasonably pick someone out of a crowd.

Without the anticipation of meeting Annie again fading and with the heat bearing down on him, Garcello finds a nearby bench to sit down and lets out a disappointed sigh. He was getting worked up over nothing, the chances of them running into each other by chance was slim to none. He was exhausted and couldn’t think straight. He desperately wanted a smoke but that wasn’t an option anymore, he still had the willpower to ignore his body’s demands but it would get harder and harder to resist. He was beating himself up again, falling back into darker thoughts now that he was alone without a plan. With Annie still firmly planted in his mind and with her newly remembered song stuck on repeat, he finds himself singing it to himself on the bench.

“I wish I was good enough.” His first verse draws some eyes but they don’t linger, they got places to be and work to do so who cared what was going on. “Stop complaining, shut your mouth. Push aside all of your doubts because they’re tearing you apart…” Garcello starts tapping his foot, raising his voice just high enough to not be considered a nuisance to the various passers by. He could already feel a strain on his lungs, but he knew now that if things got tough it was time to quit, he still had some strength left in him. “Take your time, it’ll be ok. Even if you’re not that great you’ve got the fire in your heart…”

“Garcello?!” Garcello’s words suddenly died in his throat with a sputter of coughs as he lifted his head to find the source of that voice. Scanning the plaza around him, he tries to spot the little lady he remembered from the video, but that little lady is nowhere to be found.

Instead he finds his old friend has changed quite a bit in the past few years.

“Oh my god! It is you!” Garcello catches a familiar fit of black and red, but the woman wearing it was almost completely unrecognizable. Before he could get a good look at her, Garcello suddenly finds strong arms wrapped around him as he’s lifted off of his bench into a hug. Little Annie must have hit the gym since he last saw her, she was almost a good foot and a half taller and packing a lot more muscle than she used to. Garcello wasn’t a hugger, but he really did try to return this one, he just couldn’t get his hands free from Annie’s crushing grip.

“It’s good to see you too.” Garcello manages to wheeze through Annie’s grip. She takes the hint to ease off a bit and Garcello finally gets a chance to get a proper look at her. Garcello himself sort of let himself go after they separated but Annie doesn’t look like she changed a bit other than her size. He lets out a mental sigh of relief at that revelation, here he was worried that she might have fallen into a downward spiral just like him.

“What are you doing here?” Annie asks in an ecstatic voice. Clearly her personality hasn’t changed as much as she had physically. “I can’t even remember the last time we saw each other!”

“Well, to tell you the truth, things aren’t going so hot on my end.” Garcello sighs, sitting back down on his bench and leaving room for Annie to join him. “I’m in a tight spot right now and I started getting nostalgic for the good ol days. Imagine my surprise when you show up out of nowhere the moment I start singing your song.”

“I heard you from what felt like a mile away.” Annie comments as she takes a seat. “It caught me so off guard I thought I was hearing things, but it’s actually you!” She missed him as much as he did her. Garcello’s able to breathe a little easier knowing there wasn’t any bad blood between them after they separated. “So where have you been? What’ve you been up to over the past few years?”

“Not much.” Garcello shrugged. “I made approximately one new friend, hit up every burger place in town at least once, got mugged a couple times.” Jeez, now that he’s thinking about it, he really didn’t do much over the last few years. It was nothing to worry over though, everyone goes through life at their own pace. If he wanted to take the scenic back roads through life then that’s what he’s gonna do. “I’m a bit more interested to know what you’ve been up to recently.” Garcello turns the question on Annie. “No doubt your life’s been way more interesting than mine.”

“Oh…” Annie seems to lean back a bit as she begins tugging at the ends of her gloves. “I haven’t been doing anything interesting either.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.” Garcello counters, drawing Annie back to attention. “I’m probably one of the most boring men alive, literally anything you could have done would be more impressive than what I managed.”

“Hey, you’re not boring!” Annie tries to argue. “I wouldn’t have gotten into singing if it weren't for you.”

“And I wouldn’t have come round to hear it every day if you didn’t have some serious talent.” Garcello counters. “You keep downplaying your own accomplishments, you always have. Trust me, I want to hear what you’ve been up to, I’m not gonna laugh or get bored or whatever you think my reaction will be.” She really was the same little lady he met three years ago, unsure of herself, wanting an audience to cherish her while also being terrified of said audience. It was a vicious cycle to be stuck in, kinda similar to one Garcello was in himself.

“I’m serious.” Annie says in a dejected tone. “I didn’t know where to go or what to do when you disappeared…” Now it was Garcello’s turn to fall silent. “Once you were gone, everything piled up so fast. All eyes were on me to keep the show going on my own and… I couldn’t take that much pressure.” Annie takes a moment to take a swig out of a drink Garcello just now notices she has. “Where did you go?” Annie finally asks the question that Garcello’s been trying to find an answer for. “I thought we were doing really well, why would you leave?”

“I left to save my own skin.” Garcello decides to be as honest as he can. “If you didn’t have any problems then I’m relieved, but my life went to hell the moment we started getting popular.” Glancing over at her, Garcello isn’t able to accurately read Annie’s expression with her hair covering her eyes, but if he had to guess she looked more concerned than hurt. “I caught a lot of heat from some very bad people who made it clear that if I kept showing up on stage I was going to pay for it. I didn’t want to abandon you on stage, but my life was on the line at that point. Sorry…” God he’d do anything right now just to get rid of the rising feeling of dread in his guts.

“What are you sorry for?!” Annie suddenly blurts out.

“Huh?”

“Oh my god, did someone try and hurt you?”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why the hell would I be mad?!” Annie boggles. “You could have just told me and we could have done something! Who was doing this? Are they still after you? Where are they?!” That last question sounded more like a demand than a question with Annie slamming her fist into her open palm. Was she actually thinking of fighting the Dearest family on his behalf?! She couldn’t keep her performance up on her own because she lacked confidence yet she was about to throw hands with a demon at the drop of a hat.

“Trust me, I haven’t had any trouble in years since I’ve left.” Garcello tries to calm her down. He didn’t want to get in any fights and he definitely didn’t want other people getting hurt over him. “I stopped singing and they left me alone, that’s all that matters. Though…” Knowing that there wasn’t even an ounce of anger or hurt between them after they split gave Garcello the courage to continue this line of thought. “I was thinking maybe we could have another go at it? Get the band back together again?”

“I…” Annie takes a moment to ponder over that offer, taking a couple swigs out of her bottle as she mulls it over. “I haven’t given any thought to singing again for a little over a year now, but I think you managed to ask me at the perfect time.”

“What makes now so perfect?” Garcello asks, bummed to hear that Annie gave up on her dreams but excited to hear that her interest in music has apparently been reignited.

“I met some guy and his girlfriend out here a few weeks back and they insisted I sing a couple songs with them.” Annie explains. “Apparently the guy’s girlfriend kne-”

“Wait a minute!” There was no way in hell she was talking about who he thought she was talking about. “Was this guy on the shorter side? Sky blue hair tucked under a red cap?”

“Yeah?” Annie nods, unsure of where Garcello was going with this and startled by his sudden interruption.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Little Man really got around, it seemed like everyone he knew had already crossed paths with the upcoming rapper. Eh, to be fair everyone he knew equated to about two people, but still, it was a bizarre coincidence. “Guess he got you thinking about singing again too.”

“You know him?” Annie is caught off guard by their shared acquaintance but quickly moves on. “I gave up trying to sing years ago but I found myself having so much fun when we started going at it. We started to gather a crowd out here in the plaza and as much as it terrified me, I felt like I was back on stage! After that day, I’ve been arguing with myself over whether or not I should even try to get back into music again, but if you’re back then we can totally- wait…” Annie’s rising excitement suddenly breaks off as worry takes over. “Won’t you get in trouble again if we get back on stage?”

“Maybe.” Garcello shrugs. “I didn’t want to worry you too much after meeting up with you again so soon, but trust me when I say I need to do this.” Hex was someone who was really easy to dump all of his problems on, that robot could probably work as a therapist with how good of a listener and advisor he was, but he wasn’t going to offload all of his struggles onto Annie right off the bat. Fighting his addiction was going to be hard, but he wasn’t going to die tomorrow. He could give Annie a little more time with her old friend before dropping the news that he might not be around much longer if he doesn’t win this fight against his addiction. “This time, I’m not backing down when that old geezer starts knocking again.”

“Alright then!” Annie cheers, rising off the bench and grabbing a hold of Garcello’s coat to lift him off with her. “Let's do it! Let’s get back onto the stage and take the world by storm!” Even through the thick bangs of black hair covering her face, Garcello can see Annie’s eyes light up with fire. She had rediscovered her passion for music and was finally taking steps to make her dreams a reality again.

If he needed any motivator to keep himself from smoking again, seeing Annie so happy was enough to get him through anything.

Chapter Text

As desperate as he was to get sleep, Garcello’s eyes refused to stay closed. After reuniting with Annie again, the high and anticipation wore off and left him with nothing but his cravings and exhaustion. He knew where Annie would be the next day and he had returned home to get some shut eye, but sleep evaded him no matter how much he wanted it. He spent hours sitting on his bed waiting for sleep to take him, but he watched in growing frustration as the sun set outside and his body refused to settle.

The garbage wasn’t a good enough place for his smokes anymore, each passing minute made the prospect of digging through it to help himself relax even more tempting. Bagging the contents of the bin, he leaves his apartment to toss it in the dumpster out back. The truck should come round for it eventually, but even now they’re still within reach for him. He’d be a bit more hesitant to go dumpster diving after his smokes but he was already considering fishing them out of his garbage can, the dumpster wouldn't be an impossible barrier for him to cross if he got desperate.

He never got around to getting patches or gum to fight off his cravings but now he wasn’t sure if he wanted to wander out to the shop to get them. He was completely drained and he wanted to pass out the moment his body allowed him to, that meant going on a walk wasn’t an option right now. Some less kind passers-by had made comments about how he looked like a bum, passing out in some alley wouldn’t help his image any.

Guess he’s going cold turkey, no nicotine gum, nothing. He was just gonna have to tough it out until his body flushes the garbage out of his body completely.

Oh this is gonna be hell…

Going back inside and looking for something to eat away at his time and occupy his mind, he got into the shower. He isn’t sure how long he spends in there, but eventually he runs out of hot water. He doesn’t even get out after that, the icy chill running up his spine saps at even more of his strength and he hopes that he might be able to just collapse eventually and be able to sleep. Eventually the water pressure starts to give out too and he takes that as a sign to finally get out.

Collapsing onto the bed, he does eventually get some rest, but it’s short lived. He maybe only gets about three or four hours of sleep before his cravings come back stronger than ever. Seeing the time, he knew he couldn’t sleep in even if he wanted to, he had someone and something to meet today.

Struggling to get himself out of bed, he wanders out of his apartment and onto the streets. He sits down on the front steps of the building as he watches the sky slowly light up as morning approaches. He waits there for the familiar friend he greets every morning to rise up over the horizon, feeling a lot more attached to this morning ritual than he used to. No matter how much he goes through or how bad things get, as long as he’s up to see the sunrise every morning he knows he’s doing alright. He watches as the sky slowly burns from a deep bluish gray to a brilliant orange as the sun finally peeks over the skyline. Garcello takes a moment to take a deep breath while basking in the sun's glow, but sputters out a horribly rough cough as his breath catches in his throat.

Now, he had some time to kill before anyone else would bother to be up and out. Pushing off the steps, Garcello begins walking deeper into town, starving and trying to decide where to eat.

“And there she is!” As noon approached, Garcello had returned to the basketball court in the park to meet back with Hex. It was an easy enough place to find and Hex was always sure to be here, so Garcello had asked Annie to meet him here. She had arrived right on time and no one was more excited to see her than Hex was.

“Hello Miss Annie, it’s so nice to meet you!” Hex holds out both of his clamps and enthusiastically shakes Annie’s hand. “Garcello has told me all about you and I've been counting the minutes before I could finally meet you!”

“I guess that means you're Hex.” Annie replies, shaking Hex’s hand back with an equal amount of enthusiasm. "Wow, Garcello told me you were friendly, but I wasn't expecting this!" Hex was already working his magic to make Annie’s smile just as big as his. There probably isn’t a single person in the world who didn’t love Hex after meeting him. Garcello would bet money that even that vindictive old fart Daddy Dearest would be all sunshine and rainbows around the guy.

“Are you feeling alright Garcello?” Garcello loses the mental image of Mr. Dearest and Hex together to find Annie hovering around him with a concerned look on her face. “No offense, but you look like hot garbage right now.”

“I feel like hot garbage.” Garcello sighs. “I couldn’t get any sleep last night so I’m kinda just running off of fumes right now.”

“You couldn’t get any sleep last night either.” Hex mentions with some worry. “We can meet up at a better time if you need some rest.”

“I’m fine, I just need something to get my blood flowing.” Garcello tries to assure them. He wasn’t gonna hold up their fun. Besides, he needed something to do, if he couldn’t hang out with his friends he’d be bumming around in his empty room. “Come on, toss me a ball.”

Hex brightens up considerably to see that Garcello is finally up for a game. He shrugs off his thick hoodie and catches the ball Hex tosses to him as he moves on to give a ball to Annie.

Garcello never really played basketball with Hex. The cheery robot was built to be an absolute monster at basketball, it wasn’t even a competition. Even if he wasn’t dying, his baggy pants and worn hiking boots didn’t help him move with the grace or speed he needed to even stand a chance. Playing basketball with Hex essentially meant being a moving and unpredictable obstacle on the court that Hex could dribble around before shooting three pointers. Garcello was fine pacing around the court dribbling a ball while Hex did figure eights around him, but Annie saw all this and decided to challenge Hex to an actual game.

Oh this is gonna be good.

Garcello retreats to the other half of the court as Annie takes point in the center. Hex takes on an almost sadistic grin as he waits for Annie to make the first move, a look Garcello recognizes when he made the mistake of actually trying to compete against him a year ago. Annie is unfazed and takes a quick sip from the bottle attached to her hip. Annie was a foot shorter than Hex, but her arms alone were five times thicker than his. She could probably throw that weight around to get an edge over Hex’s spindly limbs, but Garcello knows it won’t end well for her.

Annie drops the ball and jukes left before dribbling to the right. Hex doesn’t fall for the fake out and strafes to meet Annie before she could get around him. Throwing her hand out to his chest, she tries to keep him back as Annie dribbles the ball behind her, trying to circle around while keeping the ball out of his reach. Hex shuffles to meet Annie every single time she tries to get past him so with one final attempt, she gives Hex a light shove. Hex isn’t a pushover, while his limbs were thin and lightweight, his core contained all of the heavy machinery that kept him running. Despite that, Annie had the strength to shove him back a few steps, allowing her to finally make some progress.

Only for that progress to suddenly disappear as Hex decides to start playing offensively.

In the blink of an eye, Hex suddenly charges forward, slipping right past Annie and snatching the ball out from behind her. Annie scrambles to try and get it back, but Hex is already back at half court. Garcello knows for a fact that Hex could score three points right here, but he decides to give Annie a fighting chance. He’s playing with his food. It’s probably been a while since someone actually gave him a bit of a challenge.

He starts slowly making his way to the hoop as every attempt to stop him falls flat. Hex practically dances around Annie’s defense. His moves are so graceful, Garcello wonders for a moment if Hex could possibly dance. He seemed to be a savant at everything else he did. It doesn’t take long before Hex eventually dunks on Annie, completely destroying her and cementing himself as the undisputed king of the court. Garcello returns to their half of the court to help Annie up as she tries to catch her breath.

“Hex is a nice guy, but he doesn’t go easy on anyone if you’re up to ball.” He chuckles as he lifts Annie off the floor. “I was gonna warn you, but I haven’t seen anyone who was actually willing to play against Hex in a while. No hard feelings, right?”

“Only if you play me next!” Annie challenges, taking her bottle off her hip to chug down its contents. She’s got a competitive streak Garcello doesn’t remember her having when she was younger.

“I can promise it’s not gonna be fun for either of us, but fine.” Garcello shrugs. “Going from Hex down to me is like challenging Lebron James to picking a fight with a baby. You’re going to absolutely destroy me.”

“Consider it your punishment for not warning me!” Annie challenges, widening her stance and getting low to the ground, ready to move. Garcello wanders into the center of the court with his ball in hand. He took a deep breath, an uninterrupted one thankfully, and started dribbling the ball.

What follows is a heated back and forth which Garcello honestly didn’t expect to survive. As worn out and sick as he was, he wasn’t lacking in cardio, all he ever did all day was walk around town, he was always on his feet. He never once stumbled or slipped, his feet were always planted firmly onto the ground when he wanted them to be. He couldn’t shoot to save his life, but he was able to defend his ball long enough to get plenty of attempts in. Once the ball was in Annie’s hands though, it was all over. She played rough, and while Hex was durable and agile enough to not have to worry, Garcello was the opposite. She practically bullied him on the court, shoving him around and holding the ball just out of his reach.

Despite the clear difference in skill, Garcello managed to score two points while Annie scored five. He was pretty proud of that score considering who he was up against, but he wasn’t able to savor his victory before his lungs decided to seize up right then and there.

He was about to attempt (and probably miss) another shot when his breath caught in his throat and sent stinging needles all through his chest. He sputters into a painful coughing fit, doubling over as each heaving wheeze strangles the life out of him. He falls to one knee, but after a moment of holding in his breath to keep himself from coughing, the fit stops and he’s able to breathe again. His throat was torn raw and he could feel his thoughts fog over as it was temporarily deprived of oxygen, but he was still conscious.

That meant he was improving, right? That hurt like all hell, but he didn’t pass out again. He was already breathing a tiny bit easier now that it passed, it felt like he had forcibly hacked up the gunk he’s poisoned himself with for the past three years, but that gunk left an absolutely horrible taste in the back of his throat.

“Oh my god, Garcello! Are you ok?!” Annie was quick to kneel down in front of him to check up on him which he was extremely grateful for. His attention drifts down to the bottle attached to her hip though. Every breath he took burned down his throat and made the coppery taste in his mouth all the more noticeable. He needed something to wash it down. Desperate for relief, he reaches out and snags Annie’s bottle off her hip. “Hey wait! Don’t!”

Garcello doesn’t even get a chance to ignore her warning. The moment he pops the cap open on the bottle and brings it to his lips, he catches a whiff of the bottle's contents. His head snaps back as if the bottle had punched him in the face, and with how much the pungent odor coming from the bottle stung at his nose, it might as well have. Words could not describe how powerfully… he couldn’t even settle on what it smelt like. Was it sweet? Bitter? Sour? Whatever it was, the scent lingered in his nose, burning at his sinuses and bringing tears to his eyes.

“God, what is this stuff?!” Garcello tries to peek into the bottle's contents, but only manages to see that the liquid inside is bright blue before Annie snatches it back from him.

“Juice.” Annie responds almost defensively. Garcello eyes her skeptically and to prove it Annie takes another swig out of the bottle. Garcello studies her face to see if she reacts in any way but she easily gulps it down without shuddering or scrunching up her face. Annie must have a steel gut if that stuff tasted anything like it smelled. “Who cares about that though, what just happened?! You scared the hell out of me!”

“I can arrange to have you taken to the hospital at any time, just say the word!” Hex informs, holding out a hand to help Garcello up.

“I’m fine!” Garcello insists, ignoring the hands offered to him to push himself off the ground. “I’ve had worse, trust me. I just need to take a breather.” No one likes that excuse, but none of them push it. Garcello allows himself a minute of deep breaths to make sure he was ok before stumbling over towards the bench. His friends follow not far behind him.

“What was that?” Annie asks again in a much more demanding tone. “I thought you were dying!”

“I kinda am.” Garcello admits to Annie’s shock. He wanted to ease her into his situation, but he’s struggling a lot more than he thought he would. She was worried and he didn’t want her worries to fester, it would be better if he was honest. “I’m trying to stop smoking, but it’s not really working out right now.” He gives Annie a moment to fit the pieces together, but it isn’t long before she asks another question.

“Since when did you smoke?!” Annie interrogates in disbelief.

“Since I started getting threats three years ago.” Garcello explains. He couldn’t blame Annie for not believing him, he was still beating himself up over how stupid he was to pick up the habit. Though, he does feel a bit hurt that she thinks he would lie about something so serious. “I’ve been getting worse and worse over the years and I had a real close call a couple nights ago. I haven’t touched my smokes since then, but it hasn’t gotten rid of the cough yet.” He’s still short of breath actually, even with all the deep breaths he’s been taking. “I’m doing better though, honest.”

As miniscule as his progress has been, he does actually believe he’s getting better, no matter how painfully slow his recovery is. He can’t really say he’s gone through worse than this, he’s starving, he’s got a pounding headache, he feels like he’s a leech on everyone’s good mood by just existing, but he isn’t going to cave in yet. He’s tried to stop smoking before and he’s given up long before this, he’s gonna tough this out no matter what comes next.

Annie looks back at the discarded basketballs on the court before turning back to Garcello. “Do you think you can still sing?” She finally asks. “You said you wanted to ‘get the band back together’, but this seems like a pretty severe handicap.”

“Garcello said he’s still quite talented, even if he can’t sing for very long!” Hex informs Annie, trying to stay positive. “I’ve heard your old performances and was blown away, I’m sure if Garcello even has a fraction of the talent he did back then he’ll be fine!”

“It’s true.” Garcello nods, thankful that they weren’t worrying over him as much anymore. “The little man you two both met gave me an excuse to sing again and I still got it. It caught me off guard how my voice managed to stay intact when everything else was busted. I was singing my heart out almost literally, I pushed myself way too hard but I know better now.”

“Just how much were you smoking?” Annie asks. “It’s only been three years since you started, right? How bad could it have gotten in that time?” That... was a good question actually. Garcello never really put much thought into how much he smoked. Thinking back on his old habits, he tried to put a number on how much he smoked each day and couldn’t think of an exact estimate. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“I’m not sure exactly how much…” Garcello admits. “But I do remember smoking two cigarettes at once to see if it was possible.” He was very bored on the night he attempted that. It was an experience he would never replicate again, even if he still smoked. Having that much garbage in his lungs at once overwhelmed him. “I also perfected this trick where I could balance a lit cigarette on my tongue and keep the whole thing in my mouth without burning myself or putting it out.” Again, he was very bored. Not a lot happens out on the streets at two in the morning, could anyone blame him for trying to keep himself busy?

Judging from the baffled looks on both of his friends' faces, he guesses they were doing exactly that.

“I’m surprised you haven’t burned a hole straight through yourself yet.” Annie can’t help but giggle a little bit at the absurdity of Garcello’s story. “Now I really want to hear if your singing voice is still intact. I thought I caught a glimpse of it yesterday, but I thought it was all in my head. Can you sing now? I don’t want to rush you, but I’m genuinely curious to hear what it sounds like.”

“I’d like a drink first.” Garcello nods. “I can still feel some gunk in the back of my throat.”

“Here you go!” Without warning, Hex suddenly produces a water bottle from seemingly nowhere and holds it out for him to take. “It’s always important to stay hydrated, I keep water on hand just in case anyone wants to play against me.” Garcello thanks him and washes down the last of the raw, burning sensation in his throat. He’s just glad Annie didn’t offer any of her ‘juice’, she’d have to pay him to even taste that stuff. She seems to have no problems with it though which has him curious, just what is that stuff exactly? With how big she’s gotten in such a short time, his best guess is it’s some sort of nasty homemade protein shake of sorts. That still doesn’t really explain the smell or color of the drink, nor Annie’s defensiveness over what it was.

“Is there any song in particular you want to sing?” Annie asks, pulling Garcello out of his thoughts.

“Good enough.” Garcello responds immediately. “It’s been stuck in my head for a whole day now. It’s also the first song we ever sang together.” Annie lights up at the suggestion and Garcello uses that excitement to power through whatever difficulty he might have getting through the song. This was the song that got them together, he wasn’t going to mess this up. Taking a deep breath, he and Annie belt out the first lyric in unison.

“I wish I was good enough.”

Garcello hadn’t heard the full song in years but he still memorized every single lyric by heart. It helped that said lyrics resonated with him a lot more now than it did three years ago. Annie had vocalized her frustrations over her inability to just live in the moment and stop criticizing everything about herself. Garcello didn’t share those issues, but the frustration and doubt he’s felt since going sober felt in line with what the song was trying to convey. That was the beauty of art, everyone could interpret it in their own way. Annie made this song specifically for herself, but it resonated with countless others, even if they felt attached to it for different reasons.

He and Annie are singing along when Hex suddenly joins in with them. He’s probably been listening to their live performance on repeat. Not only does he sing along, he seems to have created an instrumental recreated from the video he watched to sing along to. All they were missing was a cheering audience, but they didn’t need anyone else.

Garcello completely loses himself in the rhythm, putting everything he has into matching Annie and Hex’s performance. In that moment, all of his problems seemed non-existent. His headache had faded, he felt full of energy, the music had drowned out any urges or cravings he would have otherwise been fighting. He felt like he did three years ago; happy and excited for what the future held for him. This is why he needed to sing, this is why he needed to be with Annie again. This music is what was going to help him beat his addiction.

The song came to an end and while Garcello was worryingly short of breath, the euphoric high he got off the song kept him coasting along, keeping the worst of his symptoms at bay.

“That… was AMAZING!” Hex was the first one to cheer as he pulled Garcello and Annie into a hug. “I can’t believe my friends are so talented!”

“I’m sorry if I was a little rusty.” Annie chuckles shyly to herself but Hex quickly challenges her.

“I know rust when I see it and trust me, you’re as polished as my chassis!” Hex boasts. “You were amazing!”

“He’s right.” Garcello nods along. “If anyone’s rusty, it’s the guy who’s been smoking for the past three years. You sound just as good if not better than you did in the past.”

“From what I heard, your smoking habit didn’t do anything to your voice!” Annie playfully punches Garcello in the shoulder. “I don’t even know how that’s possible! You’re way more talented than me!”

“Hey, don’t start arguing over who’s cooler!” Hex interrupts. “You’re both amazing in your own way, there’s no reason to compare yourselves when you’re both perfect!” Garcello’s face was starting to hurt with how much he was smiling. He wanted to hang out with these guys all day, but his body didn’t want to cooperate.

He needed sleep, and he wasn’t going to deny himself that after two sleepless nights.

“Sorry guys, it’s been fun, but I’m about ready to pass out.” Garcello excuses himself. “In a good way!” He clarifies. “I’m not gonna die, I’m just exhausted.”

“Well your need to elaborate has me worried now!” Annie jokes halfheartedly. “But it’s been nice to see you again too! Same time tomorrow?”

“You know it!” Garcello shoots her a weak thumbs up as he grabs his hoodie from the bench and starts making his way off the court.

“You’re still up to start performing again, right?” Annie makes one last call before Garcello makes his leave.

“Absolutely.” Garcello nods before turning his back one more time as he makes his way home.

Garcello went out like a light the moment he hit the bed.

Getting around 4 hours of sleep in the span of 48 hours was not advisable, but he’s pretty sure he went into some form of hibernation. He was dead to the world for a full 12 hours before he started to stir again. In that time, the carefree optimism he felt back at the court had fully worn off and he felt like a corpse trying to get out of bed. Along with his zombie-like sluggishness came an appetite to match. He’s sure the growling from his stomach is what woke him up. He could eat an entire horse but he’s pretty sure there’s no place that’s open this late which will offer him one.

Luckily, there is one place that does stay open at this ungodly hour to serve old early birds and weirdo nocturnals like him. A stack of pancakes as big as his head sounds good right now. With a quick shower, Garcello heads out onto the lamp lit streets as he starts making his way towards a bizarre little café near the outskirts of town. He’s met some strange people out on the streets this late into the night but he’s never found any reason to be afraid of them. He knows there are a lot of folks out here who aren't necessarily normal but he wasn’t exactly normal himself. Some people had things to hide and he didn’t poke his head where it didn’t belong. He’s positive that this café he frequents especially late into the night was meant for them but he’s proved that he wasn’t going to be a bother so he was just as welcome.

The streets seemed especially quiet when he caught a glimpse of the place. Elaine's Earlybird Café, open from midnight to noon. As far as Garcello is aware, no one really shows up after sunrise unless they’re unfamiliar with the café’s usual crowd. Pushing through the front door, he finds that the usual crowd has already found their places,

And they’re all staring at him.

Shady characters all around, but most of them are at least somewhat acquainted or familiar with him. One particularly massive and agitated customer glowers at him with his one eye under his ushanka from the corner of the café. Another jumpy guy in the opposite corner eyes him up and down before casting glances towards the door behind him. Garcello thinks he can see a fuse dangling out the back of his bulbous black head and makes a mental note to not pull his lighter out for any reason. A lot of the people who hang out here are like this, paranoid and ready for a fight depending on who’s walking through the door. He’s sure they have their own reasons, but he’d bet money that the Dearest family is responsible for at least one of these guys being here. It’d make for good small talk to get to know some of these guys, but judging by the fact that everyone’s spread out pretty evenly they aren’t here to chit chat, they’re here to hide.

This place was less of a business and more of a safehouse for misfits and outcasts. Garcello wasn’t exactly the type of person who was wanted here, but no one’s stopped him from coming back. Again, he didn’t butt in where he wasn’t wanted, he stayed out of everyone’s way and they tolerated him. He was welcome as long as he didn’t cause trouble, which was good because this was the only decent place that was open this early.

He ordered as much pancakes as a twenty dollar bill could buy him and found himself a seat tucked away from everyone else's boundaries. He gave everyone their space, but while he ate, he couldn’t help but try and puzzle together what everyone here is doing here.

The first guy he noticed, the giant with one eye, seemed very observant of everyone else in the building. Most other customers who come in usually order something to relax and eat when they might not be able to under normal circumstances, but every time Garcello finds this guy here he’s always seated at an empty table. The Russian looking man spent his time observing everyone else in the café just as Garcello did. Oftentimes they’d end up meeting eyes and he would just stare at him, prodding him to see if he would act up but Garcello always lowered his head and returned to his meal. He must be some kind of bouncer, Garcello guessed. That, or someone who was being chased. He always seems to interrogate everyone who comes through the door and even when they’ve sat down he can’t keep his eye off them.

The other guy who caught Garcello’s attention, bomberman as Garcello has nicknamed him, also can’t keep his eyes to himself. He seems more jumpy than the Russian cyclops though, that guy looked like he was ready to fight anyone he thought was a threat, bomberman looked like he was ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Unlike the Russian, bomberman has ordered a king's feast for himself. There were maybe seven plates at his table, stacked high with flapjacks, French toast, hash browns, and what looks like a whole pigs worth of bacon. Garcello’s appetite seemed to have spiked in the past couple days, but even he wouldn’t be able to scarf down everything on that table, though he certainly would try.

Resting just on the edge of bomberman’s table was his phone which suddenly began buzzing with activity. The sudden rumble against his table startles him, causing the fuse on his head to stand up straight in panic. He snatches up the phone, his burning eyes quickly scanning the message on his screen before he starts to calm down again. Before long, he’s texting away with someone, visibly deflating into his seat as the sudden burst of panic bleeds out of his system. Judging by the smile creeping onto his face, bomberman must have someone who cares about him out there.

Leaving everyone else to their business, Garcello focuses on finishing his food and getting back on the road. It was almost morning. After clearing his plate, he still felt like he could go for more but he elected not to get seconds. His appetite definitely went off kilter at some point. It wasn’t as severe of a problem as his constant pounding headaches or his still severe cough, but he wasn’t going to start gorging himself to distract him from his other problems. He pays for his meal and leaves a generous tip before heading back outside, paying no mind to the Russian staring a dagger into his back.

Looking up into the sky, the pitch black of night was just starting to shift to a dark blue. It wouldn’t be long before he got to see his sunrise. With nowhere else to go, Garcello starts making his way back into the main section of the city, pondering over whether or not Hex would be awake in the park this early. To fill in the silence as he makes his way down to the park, he practices singing some more, training his lungs and endurance. If he was going to get back into performing, he’d have to be able to get through a whole song without winding himself.

As he starts to make it back into the more dense part of town, he decides to take a shortcut and cut through an alleyway. The moment he turns into one, he stops for a moment as something catches his eye on the ground. Tucked underneath a discarded CRT is a twenty dollar bill. He’s not sure if it was left as a payment for leaving a busted old TV in the middle of the alley or if someone somehow managed to lose one there, but twenty dollars was twenty dollars. Garcello knelt down and snatched the bill, stuffing it into his pocket as he stood back up.

The moment he’s on his feet though, he freezes in place as cold metal presses against the back of his neck.

“No sudden moves, got it?!”

Shit…

“Wallet’s in my left pocket, just take what you want and go.” Garcello mumbles as he slowly raises his hands. Walking around town in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly the safest thing to do in these parts. He’s been mugged a few times over the years but he’s never had too much trouble with these guys. It’s not like he had much to steal and as long as he cooperated he got to go back to business as usual with an extra story to tell and a hundred bucks less than he started with. He’s waiting for the gunman holding him up to start fishing through his pocket, but instead they just scoff at him in response.

“I’m not here for your cash, I’m here for you.”

That doesn’t sound good at all. Panic started to rise in Garcello’s chest as he slowly turned to see who was holding him up. He could immediately tell this wasn’t some thug trying to shake him down, this guy meant business. The gun pressed against him wasn’t some handgun, this thing looked like it spat out lead like crazy. Staring him down with a sadistic smirk was a guy a few years younger than him wearing a green long sleeve shirt. He had slicked back ginger hair and malice in his pure white eyes.

“Well sorry to disappoint, but I’m not on the market at the moment. You can take my cash and ju-!” The ginger kid didn’t take kindly to his jokes and smashed his gun into Garcello’s nose. Garcello throws his hands to his face and hunches down, blinded with pain and feeling a steady stream of blood gush through his fingers.

“I’m not playin’ with you!” The kid insists, jabbing the barrel of his gun into Garcello’s temple. “You got two choices bum! One, you come along with me to see an old friend of yours, or two, I pull the trigger and I don’t have to deal with your stench the whole walk!” He makes it very clear that he’d prefer option two.

Garcello weakly holds up a finger to let him know that he’s picking option one. Grabbing a hold of his now stained shirt, the kid wrenches him forward, pressing his gun against his back and ordering him to move. Garcello follows his every instruction to the letter, all too aware of the cold metal pressing into his back and the blood flowing down his chin.

Who was this ‘friend’ he was being taken to? His panic stricken mind tries to come up with answers but his thoughts are too frenzied to settle on one. Did he piss off someone at the café? Was there some random punk who had it out for people like him? His mind formed countless baseless theories as to who could be responsible for this, but eventually his mind offered one idea which settled in immediately.

This kid was taking him to see Daddy Dearest.

Yeah, he’d rather risk a bullet than see that purple skinned freak again.

He didn’t know who this kid was, but that was probably the point. He’d be running the moment he saw the Dearest’s horned goons coming. Whatever the case was, he needed to get away from this kid and he needed to find a place to hide. He couldn’t think of any place he could run and hide anywhere nearby, he had his run down apartment, but chances are if people are looking for him, that’d be the first place they’d check. There was the café, but that was a ways off now and he was currently going in the opposite direction. His options were extremely limited, but he needed to make a move soon.

With another alley coming up and a cough rising up into his throat, he decides now is as good a time as any to act. If he waited any longer, he’d be paralyzed with the endless choices he’d be offered or he’d beat himself up for not acting sooner.

He slowly approaches the alley, the gunman behind him completely oblivious to what he was about to do. He finally releases the cough that’s been choking him for the past minute, doubling over as it’s followed by three more soul wracking coughs. These coughs aren’t fake, they hurt like hell and it’s spattering the blood flowing out of his nose all over the place, but it’s to his benefit right now. The gunman took a step back to give him some space, but it was clear that he was getting impatient. Garcello stumbled towards the alley and leaned against an old fashioned metal trash can, taking a moment to catch his breath.

“Alright charcoal lungs, you good to move?” The gunman starts to march towards him again, his gun hung low to his side.

It was now or never.

Grabbing hold of the trash can lid, Garcello spun around as fast as he could, swinging the lid wildly out in front of him. The lid smashes against the kid’s head, sending him sprawling back onto the pavement and the gun flying out of his hands.

Keeping the lid in hand, Garcello books it down the alleyway as the kid started hurling expletives at him as he got back up.

He didn’t have time to cough or catch his breath, he needed to put as many walls between himself and that psycho before he caught a bullet. He keeps his arm and the trash can lid slung over his back, praying that if the kid shot at him it would be deflected. He’s pretty sure that it won’t work, but he didn’t have any other plan to keep himself safe.

The deafening roar and sudden tug against the lid lets him know that the lid isn’t going to help him any.

The lid is torn away from his hand as a bullet leaves a massive dent in the flimsy metal sheet. Garcello risks taking a glance back to find that the kid is firing blindly down the alley after him while still on the ground. Many of his shots go wide, embedding themselves into the brickwork flanking each side of Garcello, but one of them almost hits his target. Garcello’s heart nearly stopped in his chest as he felt a sudden tug on his hat. Throwing his hand up to smash it back down onto his head, he finds a hole has been punched straight through the brim.

He makes it to the end of the alley and banks to the right, desperate to lose himself somewhere now that he’s out of the line of fire. The sudden onset of panic along with overexertion leaves him gasping for breath after only a few hurried steps down the sidewalk. His panic stricken mind starts going over every direction he could run and tries to calculate the safest possible hiding place. Should he try and find a crowd to get lost in? There weren’t that many people out here this early and he couldn’t risk putting other people in harm's way. This kid was crazy enough to shoot him in the streets, he might be crazy enough to shoot into a crowd to make sure he got his mark. Maybe there was some sort of building he could rush inside, but that carried as many potential dangers as the first choice had. No, he just had to lose himself in another alley and hide somewhere until this kid got frustrated and left.

“GET BACK HERE YOU BUM!” He had no more time to weigh his options, he had to act now. Garcello pushes his quickly failing legs to carry him towards another alley for him to rush down. He turns the corner without a second thought.

He catches a sudden glimpse of red before his shins smash against something hard and he’s sent sprawling to the floor.

He just barely manages to throw his hands out in time to keep himself from biting the pavement or busting up his nose even more than it already was. He quickly tries to push himself back up again, but he suddenly finds himself unable to breathe and starts wheezing against the ground as he tries to get his breathing back under control. Turning his head, shock and confusion disrupt his breathing as he tries to comprehend what he’s seeing.

When the gunman chasing after him rounds the corner after him, he also stops in his tracks as he nearly collides with a familiar face.

“Hi Pico!” It was the Dearest’s kid! Garcello tries to push himself up, but his shins are still busted from bashing them against the speakers the little lady had set up at the start of the alleyway. “Whatcha doing?”

“Out of my way GF, I’m trying to collect a bounty.” The gunman, Pico if he heard right, tries to wave the girl off and march after Garcello, but the little lady hops off her speaker and places herself between them.

“Actually, I can’t let you do that.” The little lady informs Pico, resting a hand on her hip. Garcello really should keep running, but at the moment he was too exhausted and hurt to move. Whatever was going on here, Pico wasn’t shooting at him anymore and he hoped it stayed that way.

“Don’t tell me you’re looking out for him too!” Pico barks out in frustration, wildly gesturing with the gun in his hand. “You’ve stepped in like this on my last three marks too! Look at him, he probably lives in a box!”

In response, the little lady reaches into her massive head of hair and pulls out a stack of cash, more green than Garcello’s ever seen in his life. “I know my allowance isn’t as much as what Daddy’s offering, but I promise you, you’d rather be on Daddy’s bad side than mine.” Pico shifts his gaze between the fat wad of cash being offered to him and Garcello sprawled out in the alley behind her. With a frustrated grunt, Pico rips the money out of the little lady’s hands and shoves his gun back down his pants.

“I’m only doing this for you because you’re keeping little Blue Balls safe!” Pico growls. “If anything happens to him, I’m through with you! I’d put a bullet in your head, but I’m not looking to put myself on your dad’s shit list!”

“You’re so cute when you’re angry!” The little lady giggles in spite of the very clear threat Pico threw her way. “You know where to find us if you ever want to talk to him!” Pico scowls at her, his mood worsening after sending another glance at Garcello. With a huff, Pico storms off, leaving the two of them alone in the alley.

Garcello breathes out a shuddery sigh of relief. He was safe.

The little lady turned to look at him for the first time in her short conversation and stared at him, waiting for him to get up. With a deep breath, Garcello pushes himself back to his feet, his shin still tender from the beating it took. Not once did the little lady offer him a hand.

“What do you want?” Garcello grumbles. He really didn’t mean for his question to come out as rudely as it did. He wanted to start with a thank you, but it wouldn’t really be earnest. He wasn’t one to lump the sins of the father onto anyone, but he knows for a fact that the little lady wasn’t as sweet as she pretended to be. She was still a member of the Dearest family after all. She didn’t help him out of the kindness of her heart, she wanted something out of him.

“To keep you safe, silly!” The little lady replies with a tilt of her head, unfazed by the sudden question.

“Why?!” Garcello demands, raising his voice unintentionally. Adrenaline was still flooding his system, he needed to calm down but he couldn’t until he knew this hell spawn wasn’t trying to hurt him for her own reasons.

“Because Boyfriend was so worried about you.” The little lady answers, clasping her hands and pouting in feigned hurt. “Since your near death in that smelly old alley, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you. I told him that I’d check up on you while I was out in town.” It was a plausible story, and it also hurt to hear. Little Man was a good kid and it hurt him to know that he’s been a source of constant worry for the poor guy.

“Then how did you find me here?” Garcello asks as another question rises to his mind. “That guy was working for your dad! I thought he gave up on me!” Memories of those demonic goons and the threats nailed to his door resurfaced from the dark recesses of his mind. This wasn’t a threat that he could follow or avoid, this was a straight up murder attempt.

Rather than answering the question verbally, the little lady reaches back into her hair (how much stuff does she have stuffed in there?) and produces a small flyer which she hands off to him. Looking over it, he finds it’s a copy of a signup sheet for a local musical fair. There was a singing contest open for performers new and old to compete for the top spot. It was the type of gig Garcello and Annie used to start off with, it wasn’t anything professional, but it would get an audience in front of them. Looking down to see who signed up, he finds that he’s already on the list along with Annie. This was recent, this fair was in a week from now. Did Annie go ahead and sign them both up for it while he slept?

“Daddy really didn’t like to see you were dipping your toes in the pool again.” The little lady hummed.

“But why would he do this?!” Garcello asks in a warbly voice, panic butchering his vocal chords. That was a stupid question, this was Daddy Dearest. Murdering someone for defying him was probably enough of a reason for him. But that was a lot of cash the little lady needed to pay off the hitman he hired, it seemed like way too much effort and money just to scratch off some poor guy for wanting to sing.

“Because you’re not the only one who was stupid enough to get back into music after Daddy scared them away.” The little lady informs, snatching the paper out of Garcello’s hands and tucking it back where she pulled it from. “Santa’s naughty list isn’t even as long as the list Daddy’s got for people he doesn’t like. Actually, I’m pretty sure Santa’s name is on there somewhere. He’s already furious over me and Boyfriend dating, he’s even more livid to see that a bunch of his old enemies are suddenly stepping onto his territory again.”

There's a mischievous glint in the girl’s eye and with a shock, Garcello realizes why she saved his life, why she and Little Man challenged him in the alley three days ago.

“Are you purposely trying to push people into getting into music to piss your dad off?!” The devilish grin the little lady let slip answers his question. This girl was as wicked as her father, but her malice seemed to be targeted towards her dad. Garcello was a part of this plan, which meant that she wanted to keep him safe. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or terrified to know he was under the little lady’s watchful eye.

“Boyfriend is going to be performing at the fair too!” The little lady cheers with genuine excitement. “He’d love to see that you’re ok, you can’t miss it!” She rushes forward and gives Garcello a hug. “We’ll be seeing you there, right?”

The look she gives him makes it clear that he doesn’t really have a choice if he wants to be protected by her. He gives her a quick nod and she beams in response. She pulls away from him and moves to start packing away her speakers before leaving the alley.

Garcello stands there for a moment, completely at a loss. He had to manually force himself to breathe through his mouth as his adrenaline started to finally burn off. As it does, his pulse starts to quicken and his breathing starts to become uncontrollable. He stumbles to his side and hits the wall, sliding down it as panic completely overtakes his mind and tears sting at his eyes.

His eyes focused on the bullet hole in the brim of his hat. He almost died, again! He had trouble with the Dearest family all over again, but they weren’t going to settle on scaring him away with threats of beatings and stalking, they were just trying to kill him now. How cruel and vindictive can that purple bastard be?! He needed to do this, he didn’t have a choice to back out now. Singing with Annie was going to get him through his addiction, he couldn’t back out now.

Oh god… Annie…

She was thankfully spared from Daddy Dearest’s wrath the first time around, but she might not be so lucky this time, especially since he couldn’t get at him. Daddy might take his aggression out on her just to hurt him. With a shock, he also realizes that she’s responsible for the situation he was currently in. She put his name on that list. He held no ill will against her for it, he wanted to go to that fair just as badly as she did, but it meant that not only was she in danger too, but he couldn’t tell her about it. She was already worried for him and ready to throw hands at the mention of the old, much tamer scare tactics Daddy used, but if she found out she was responsible for an attempt on his life…

Christ, he needed a cigarette.

A sudden glint forces him to close his eyes. When he holds a hand up to allow himself to see, he feels the warmth of the sun over his hand. He had completely lost track of time, but it was dawn now, the sun was rising.

Despite everything he just went through, despite his breakdown and the attempt on his life, he was still here to see the sunrise. He made it three days without a smoke, but that goal felt like a small footnote after he somehow managed to survive what he just did. Despite everything, he was still able to be up to see the sunrise. It rose every morning like clockwork, even with the complete uncertainty and vastness of space between it and him. At any moment, a million things could go wrong, but the sun never missed a day.

And neither will he.

Pushing back to his unsteady feet, he basks in the sun's glow for a moment as he wipes his tears and blood off on his sleeve. He didn’t care what came next, he was going to be here tomorrow morning to greet the sunrise, and he’d be here for the next one after that, and the next one after that. Even with the warmth of the sun beaming down on him, the fire inside his chest burned brighter.

Chapter Text

Garcello found himself pacing the streets aimlessly for what felt like an eternity before he had finally collected his thoughts enough to form a plan. Intrusive, panicked thoughts about what could happen next and who could get hurt kept pushing to the forefront of his mind, but he locked in one goal at a time and blindly followed that goal. Currently, that goal was to get his nose fixed. The airways in his nose were completely blocked and flooded with blood which still trickled out in a steady stream onto his white shirt. He was worried by the sheer amount of blood flowing out of his face, but he filed that worry away for now, he just needed to get to a doctor.

As he slowly makes his way towards his destination, he tries to combat the horrible thoughts plaguing his mind with something positive. Hey, his headache and cravings were gone, but that was only because the burning pit of despair boiling away at his guts was taking most of his attention. With how beat up and paranoid he must look now, he won’t look out of place at Elaine’s Earlybird Café, there was that! Not to mention, someone was now looking out for him…

But why?

His body marched him forward on auto pilot as he tried to comprehend just what the hell he got dragged into.

Girlfriend… God, he can’t call her that. It’s such a stupid name. Little Lady got that Pico kid to back off now that he’s under her care. Why she cares so much about him and why she’s going out of her way to keep him safe is something that he still doesn’t know. From what he could figure out, Little Lady held a grudge with her old man and she’s going to somehow use him as a tool in their family feud. What does that mean for him?

He wasn’t the only person under her watch either. Pico said himself that Little Lady stepped in just like she did for Garcello a few times now. What did they all have in common with him that pissed Daddy Dearest off that caught her attention? Was it just everyone who signed up for the fair?

Garcello suddenly stops in his tracks as a drifting puzzle piece clicks into place. He thought it was a strange coincidence that he, Annie, and Hex all just so happened to meet Little Man and his girlfriend all within a month of each other. The kid wanted to sing, and it just so happened that all three of them had a history with singing and tapped into that long forgotten talent. Did Little Lady know about their history? Did she give them all the push to try singing professionally again?

Turning his autopilot off, he takes a moment to figure out where he was and finds that the clinic he was trying to get to wasn’t far off. Putting a pin on his mental conspiracy board, he starts marching towards the clinic while he clears enough space in his head to think properly. Stepping inside, he finds a nurse at the desk who’s at first startled by the blood stains on his shirt, but seeing the relatively calm demeanor he holds as he walks to her calms her down some.

“I busted up my nose pretty bad, can I get someone to look at this?”

It isn’t long before he’s ushered into a doctors office to answer some questions and get checked up. In the short bursts of quiet while he waits for the doctor to take his notes, his mind starts wandering back towards Little Lady’s plans for him. Occasionally, he’s forced back into the present moment whenever the doctor prods at his busted nose or if he asks a question that can’t be responded to with a single word.

“How did you get this exactly?” The doctor asked, running a finger along the bridge of his nose to make sure it was still aligned straight.

“Door slammed into my face.” Garcello explains after a moment of hesitation. He didn’t like to lie, but he could still hardly believe someone had tried to kill him. If he told this guy what really happened, he’d be wheeled off to a psych ward somewhere for being a paranoid loony. “It hurt like hell and had me leaking like a fountain, so I came here as quickly as I could.” That much at least was true.

“Well I’m happy to tell you that it isn’t anything too serious.” The doctor hums pleasantly, firmly applying an adhesive bandage over a break in his skin. “Nothing is too out of place to be severe. Just keep your head up and take it easy for a week or two and everything should settle back in place. I suggest you find some ice and buy something for the pain, but otherwise, you’re good to go.”

The doctor gives him a hearty pat on the shoulder and Garcello lets out a sigh of relief. It was nice for things to turn out alright for once. He sits up to leave when the doctor holds a hand up to stall him for a moment as he reaches down and opens up a drawer. Stashed inside is a large metal bowl overflowing with lollipops covered in multicolored wrappers.

“Want one?”

With a shrug, Garcello leans over to grab one out of the bowl before turning his back to leave. Green apple of course. Quickly shedding the wrapper off the sweet, he sets it in his mouth and closes his eyes for a moment as he lets the sugar beat out the taste of blood at the back of his throat. He takes a step forward and opens his eyes to reach for the door handle when he realizes his lighter is in his left hand, its flame currently setting light to…

In a sudden panic, Garcello spits out and slaps the lollipop out of his mouth. The hard ball of artificially flavored sugar shatters against the tile as Garcello gasps out in shock before questioning what he just did. Something about putting the lollipop in his mouth must have triggered something in his muscle memory. He had unconsciously reached for his lighter to light up a smoke, his cravings beating out common sense as he lit up the stick of the lollipop.

“What was that for?” Garcello startles as he realizes someone was a witness to that weird mental lapse he had and he quickly stuffs his lighter back in his pocket as he turns to face the doctor again.

“Uhh… A bug landed on it.” Garcello fumbled out another lie. “I just woke up, it caught me off guard. Sorry.” Again, another lie followed by a half truth. God, he really was losing it, wasn’t he? “Can I have another one?”

The doctor opened the drawer up again and allowed him to take another piece of candy for the road after Garcello stopped to toss what he wasted. He waits until he’s out of his office and back onto the streets again before he puts this fresh lollipop into his mouth. Feeling the rigid paper stick between his lips, he can’t help but feel that it belongs there. There was always a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and this piece of candy just made him realize how much he missed it. At the same time, the feeling of the lollipop’s handle was close enough to the real thing that he mistakenly lit the end of one thinking it was an actual cigarette.

He shifted it around with his tongue, feeling the paper dart across his lips. It wasn’t the same thing, but he felt just a bit more grounded than he used to. It was a familiar feeling that he desperately needed after all the stress he went through. Guess more lollipops are going onto his short shopping list.

Right, now where did he go?

Might as well get his shopping done first. The bleeding stopped and the doctor said he’d be fine, but it still hurt like a mother and he wanted to fix that. Wandering off in the general direction of the nearest grocery store with a pharmacy, Garcello is left to unpin that conspiracy board in his head and keep working out what the hell was going on between Little Lady and Daddy Dearest.

“I’m only doing this for you because you’re keeping little Blue Balls safe!” Pico and Little Lady seemed to be pretty familiar with each other and it turned out there was someone she was looking out for that Pico wanted safe. The nickname ‘Blue Balls’ seemed like a crummy name to be stuck with, but he could almost immediately pin it on someone; Little Man. Maybe Little Man and Pico had history together, though it didn’t seem likely that a kid like him would hang out with a psycho like Pico.

Was that a fair assumption though? He met both of them for all of twenty minutes, it wasn’t much time to really get a good read on them. Little Man was quick to come to his rescue when he passed out which was more than he could say for his girlfriend. As nice as he was, he kept some dangerous company.

For a short moment, he wondered if maybe Little Man was as wrapped up into this strange game as he was. Little Lady mentioned that dating him pissed her dad off, was he just another tool to antagonize Mr. Dearest? God he hoped not. Little Man didn’t deserve any of this if his girlfriend was only dating him just to piss her dad off. He prayed that, against all odds, there was a genuine connection there and Little Man was a willing accomplice to whatever it was Little Lady was up to.

Right, he’s bumming himself out going down that line of thought, moving on. Little Lady was seeking out and having her boyfriend challenge retired musical artists, giving them the push they need to start performing again. He and Annie are going to perform at a local music fair, Hex would probably love to participate as well if offered. No doubt she convinced other retired musicians to get back into the game as well. Hell, some of them might even hold a grudge against her old man. He didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, but there was enough to work with to get the general gist of the full picture.

Little Lady was going through Daddy’s shit list and gathering them all up. Why she was doing it wasn’t concrete in Garcello’s mind, but he had two guesses.

One: She’s gathering all of Daddy’s enemies in one place in hopes that they’ll finally take a stand against the purple skinned bastard.

Or Two: She’s gathering all of Daddy’s enemies in one place to take them all out at once.

God he hopes it’s the first thing.

The lollipop in his mouth has fully dissolved by the time he makes it to the store. Keeping the stick between his lips, he walks inside and moves to grab the three things on his list. More suckers, something for the pain spreading across his face, and an ice pack. He’s about two steps inside when someone lets out a startled gasp.

“Are you ok sir?!”

“Huh?” It takes a moment for him to register that the woman at the register was referring to him. “Yeah, I’m fine? Why do you…” Garcello catches a glimpse of his reflection against one of the security mirrors on the ceiling. He’d be startled too if someone covered in this much blood wandered into a store. “It was just a real bad nosebleed.” Garcello explains honestly. “I’m just here for some ice and advil.”

That eases the cashier a little bit, but it also puts another task on Garcello’s to do list. Looking down at his stained shirt and gloves, he needed to get changed out of these before he did anything else. Looking up at the hole in the brim of his hat he lets out a disappointed and unnerved sigh. As much as he hates the idea of having a constant reminder of how close he was to dying, this was his favorite hat and he wasn’t getting rid of it anytime soon. He’d have to get it patched up at some point.

Quickly cutting across the tiled floor he grabs his three things as fast as he can, all too aware of the concerned looks shot his way by early morning shoppers. He didn’t think he had a problem with people staring, but he could feel everyone’s eyes burning into the back of his skull. He was scaring them, and he felt awful for doing that.

He’s in and out of the store in the span of five minutes, but now he’s got the long walk home. He cuts through alleys and moves at a fast enough pace to put a strain on his lungs. He didn’t care right now, his whole body was a heap of frayed nerves and rushing adrenaline. He needed to calm way the hell down or he was going to crash hard. He’s pretty sure he’s got some ice cream at home. As much as he wanted to see Annie and Hex again today, having a day to himself to completely unravel on his own time sounded like a better plan. A bucket of ice cream and a sad movie to let his emotions boil over and flush his system, that’s what he needed right now.

Stepping inside his apartment building was a massive weight off his shoulders on its own. He couldn’t wait to push all of his worries and anxieties out of the way and get a day of much needed rest.

He dropped his light bag when he turned the corner and caught a glimpse of his door.

It was wide open, there were splinters scattered about the carpet in front of the door. Cautiously inching forward with his ears perked, he peeks inside to see if someone was still inside. The place was thankfully empty, but what little that belonged to him was scattered all over the floor. The place was trashed, his furniture upended and every possible hiding place was emptied. Someone came in here looking for him.

If he had slept in just a little longer…

He was hyperventilating again. He slowly lowered himself down onto the floor in front of his door and put a hand to his chest. Daddy Dearest wasn’t going to stop, he was going to keep hunting him down until he was dead. Trying to rub feeling back into his legs, Garcello pushes himself back to his feet and slowly steps inside his destroyed home. The moment he stepped foot inside, he regretted it immediately. He didn’t feel safe in his own home anymore, it was as if the person who broke in had tainted the place with their presence. His eyes investigated every single dark corner for someone who was waiting for him, but the place was completely empty.

He couldn’t stay here.

Despite the fact that his joints were locking up and his unstable breathing was making him loopy, he didn’t allow himself time to recover. Instinct took over as he retrieved his bag from the hall and returned to his room to stash the bag full of everything that he could that wasn’t already destroyed. He found a fresh change of clothes and tossed aside his blood stained garments. A black turtleneck was the last thing he needed with the heat outside, but he didn’t care. It was clean. With his bag stuffed with the painkillers and candy from the store and what little belongings he could salvage, he quickly rushed out of his room, not daring to look back and keeping his eyes ahead of him in case anything came around the corner.

He made it outside and marched mindlessly in a random direction to put as much distance between himself and his home. He’s not sure how far he’s walked, but eventually he finds he can’t walk anymore. Feeling his legs give out beneath him, he leans hard against a wall and slides down to the floor as dread completely eats away at his mind.

What was he going to do?! How was he going to get out of this?! What did he do to deserve this?!

He was so on edge right now that every fidgeting movement left lacerations. He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t sit still. Every part of his body was screaming at him that his days were numbered and that he was going to die if he didn’t solve every single problem he had right this minute.

He wanted a smoke so damn bad right now. Or a hard drink. Literally anything to dull the pain and panic. He had a pound of suckers as a bottle of painkillers, maybe he could work with that.

No no no! Think! There’s got to be something he could do, some way he could guarantee his safety! Daddy was angry with him because he was butting into his territory, so what if he just skipped town? Drop the music thing all together, wander off a few states away and make himself out to be as uninteresting as possible?

No, that wasn’t possible. If Mr. Dearest was petty enough to try and kill him for even trying to sing, running away probably wouldn’t stop him. Besides, he couldn’t not sing. Yesterday at the court was genuinely one of the best days he's had in years. The connection he shared with Annie and Hex was special and the talent they all shared helped him push through another day of withdrawals. He needed to keep singing if he wanted to beat his addiction.

If he didn’t, he’d fall back to his smokes for relief and cough his lungs out onto the streets. If he did, some hired thug was going to gun him down in his sleep. The only hope of survival he had rested entirely in Little Lady’s hands and that didn’t make him feel any safer.

Forcing himself to sit up, Garcello starts taking deep breaths as he tries to formulate a very simple plan. As long as he has a very simple goal to follow, he can just function on autopilot while his brain screams at him and threatens to dribble out of his ears. His home was no longer safe to return to so he needed to find a place to stay.

The café was the first place that came to mind. Most of the regulars there had always seemed jumpy and anxious and Elaine’s Earlybird Café was their safe haven. They didn’t ask questions, they were open late into the night, and as far as he could tell, they didn't care how long people stayed as long as they bought something. (Well, except for the Russian giant, but who was going to tell him to leave?) Maybe they’d let him sleep there?

That wasn’t a long term solution though, he needed to think of something else, some place a little more permanent. He couldn’t just get a new place for himself with what he had. He needed…

“Garcello?!” Some help.

With his head down, Garcello peeks through the hole in his brim to find Annie quickly rushing over to see him. A smile spreads across his face, but the dread and anxiety eating away at him doesn’t go away. If anything, it gets worse. Annie was on that list too. She was left alone last time, but if she were to help him out, she might paint a target onto her back. He didn’t want to rely too much on her help in fear that she’d suffer with him, but he didn’t have much choice. He needed her help.

“Take a seat with me.” Garcello sighs, reaching into his bag to pull out a couple lollipops, one of which she offers to Annie.

“What happened to your face? Did you get in a-”

“Please! You’re gonna wanna be sitting when I tell you this.” Garcello pleads with her. A worried grimace chisels its way across her face but she does as she’s told, taking the lollipop offered to her. Popping his own candy into his mouth, he pulls his lighter out almost on instinct. Rather than put it away, he just flicks it open and stares into the flame for a moment as he chooses his words.

“I want to preface all of this by saying you don’t have to help if you’re scared.” Garcello explains. “I’m in some serious trouble right now and things will only get worse for you if you help.” He wasn’t going to force any of this onto her. He’s a possible liability to anyone who tried to help him right now.

“This is about those threats you talked about, isn’t it?” Annie speaks up, taking up a low growl as she speaks. Looking down at her hands, Garcello finds her clenching her fists. Ok, this was a line of thought he needed to kill fast.

“They tried to kill me today, Annie.” Garcello blurts out, trying to smother any plans of fighting back against Mr. Dearest’s goons. It works, Annie’s whole body goes stiff and she pivots her head to face him head on, trying to discern if this was some horrible prank he was pulling. With his busted up nose, bloodshot eyes and blood crusted chin, it didn’t take long for her to realize that he was speaking the truth. She wears an expression of shock and horror as she looks away from Garcello and stares off into the floor as she tries to comprehend just how dire Garcello’s situation was. Pulling her bottle off her hip, she puts it to her mouth and chugs down almost everything in it in one go. Garcello can’t help but stare as she does that, trying to see if she’d react to the nasty stuff at all. With how much she just chugged down, she does react, but it’s still far more mild than he would’ve expected. Her face scrunches up a good bit and she lets out a shudder as it goes down.

“Is…” She starts to speak after a whole minute of contemplative silence. “Is this my-”

“No!” Garcello is quick to snap. “This isn’t your fault!” She must have put together that her signing him up for the fair was what got him in trouble. “You couldn’t have known that something this crazy would have happened. You’d have to be a pretty paranoid and unstable person to even consider you’d piss someone off by signing up for a music fair.” That doesn’t ease Annie’s worry much at all, but what he says next does. “Even with everything that just happened, I wouldn’t go back to keep myself from signing up.”

“Why not?” Annie asks with a shock. “Garcello, someone beat you from the looks of it and you’re telling me someone tried to kill you!” She tries to reason. “I know you want to help me sing, but this is serious!”

“And I’m serious about going through with this.” Garcello nods, fully understanding Annie’s worry. It did make him feel both grateful and somber to hear that Annie would willingly throw her dream away to keep him safe though. “I need to go through with this. I got two choices; one leads to a slow and lonely death, the other leads to a bright future that could be snuffed out at any moment. The risks are high, but this is the only road I can take right now.”

The candy in Garcello’s mouth was all but dissolved by now. With his lighter still in hand, he relights it and pulls the stick out of his mouth to catch it alight. Familiar actions to trick his brain into thinking he was smoking to try and fight back against his urgent need to take the edge off.

“I’m still ready to go through with this no matter what comes my way.” Garcello states with finality. “I don’t have a choice in the matter. But you do.” Garcello turns to face Annie, pained by the overwhelming worry and sadness in her expression. “I need someplace to sleep at night, but I don’t want you to get in betwe-”

“You’re coming with me!” Annie agrees before Garcello gets a chance to finish his sentence.

“Please Annie, think this through carefully.” Garcello pleads. “These are dangerous people who are after me.”

“And I’m not gonna let you sleep on the streets!” Annie pushes herself to her feet before grabbing a hold of Garcello’s thick turtleneck and hoisting him off the floor. “You’re my friend and I’m not gonna let you go through this on your own!”

“Annie…” Garcello half heartedly tries one last time to reason with her, partially arguing with himself over why he’s trying to turn away offered help when Annie makes her decision final.

“I know you’re trying to take care of me and keep everyone safe.” She explains. “You’re probably one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met! You made my dreams come true three years ago, and while they didn’t last, I still think back to those days and our friendship fondly. You pulled me out of a dark place and I thought I could never repay you for that, but here you are now. I know you hate to be a bummer, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I turned you away after all you did for me. You’re coming home with me whether you want to or not!”

It wasn’t up for debate. Annie wraps her arm around him and forces him to move, leading him down the street. He wasn’t going to be able to talk her out of this. He wanted to argue against it, this was his problem and he didn’t want to have it be hers too. This wasn’t his choice to make though, it was hers and she was adamant on helping him out of this. As much as he wants to, he decides to not fight it. It was nice to have someone else make the decisions for once. Annie’s help would solve a lot of his current problems which gave him a surge of relief.

Now all he had to worry about was how this could possibly go wrong for her.

“And here we are!” Annie announces as she pushes the door to her apartment open. “Sorry for the mess, but I don’t get too many visitors here.” Garcello looked around the room and saw nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn’t like everything was tidy, but that just meant that this place was lived in. He wasn’t a neatfreak and with him crashing on the couch for the foreseeable future, it wasn’t going to look any nicer.

“I’ve said it like ten times on the way here, but thank you, Annie.” Garcello repeats. “This means more to me than you could ever know.”

“I got some idea.” Annie responds. “You helped me out and I’m helping you. Make yourself at home.” Stepping forward, Garcello and Annie move towards the couch and take a seat. Pulling the coffee table in front of them close, Garcello clears a space off to take inventory of everything he has on him. He starts emptying his bag of its contents one by one, setting them down on the table in front of them. A few changes of clothes, his toothbrush, his wallet… He really didn’t have much huh? He eventually sets down the few things he had bought that morning on the table, taking a moment to finally take some of the painkillers to help with the physical pain he was starting to take notice of now that he wasn’t in constant mental turmoil.

“What’s with the suckers?” Annie asks. The heavy, one pound bag of candy seems like an odd thing to take with him when he had so little else to his name.

“They help me keep myself from smoking.” Garcello informs, spitting out the empty stick currently in his mouth to replace it with a fresh one. “I guess the feeling and the sugar rush tricks my dumb reptile brain into thinking I’m smoking.” Unwrapping the one in his hands, he pops the fresh lollipop into his mouth. “You can still have some if you want, it’s not like I’ll be ruined if I run out.”

Annie takes him up on the offer and reaches into the bag, shuffling through until she picks out a cherry red. “Is this all you have?”

“Everything that was salvageable.” Garcello nods. “I didn’t have much to begin with, but they stomped down everything they could.” He didn’t lose anything valuable or irreplaceable, it was just the fact that someone came into his home to destroy everything he could have loved that left him horrified and hollow. “This is probably all I would have brought even if my stuff was untouched.”

“Can I ask about the hat?” Annie speaks up. Garcello had kept peeking up at the hole punched through it and he guesses Annie saw that.

“Like I said, I almost died.” Garcello explains, taking his cap off to better present the bullet hole. “I was this close to kicking the bucket.” He pinches his fingers between the brim of his hat and the hole, leaving only centimeters between where the bullet landed and where his head would have been.

Annie pales as she realizes where the hole came from and takes another long chug out of her bottle of ‘juice’. The occasional sips didn’t bother her on the court but the large gulps she forced down did get a reaction out of her, but he wasn’t sure if that was the drink or just the anxiety. The smell of the stuff nearly knocked Garcello out yesterday, drinking that much of it should result in more than just a ‘bleh’.

“Can I ask what’s in that ‘juice’?” He makes the quotations in his voice very obvious as he asks his question. “I still haven’t gotten over how bad it smelled.”

“It doesn’t taste any better either.” Annie admits, holding back a belch as she sets her now empty bottle onto the table in front of them. Garcello can smell it on Annie’s breath and it’s still as pungent as if he smelt it from the bottle. “I’m not even sure why I keep drinking the stuff. I don’t know, it makes me feel strong since I’m able to keep it all down. I guess it's just an acquired taste.” Reaching beside the couch, Annie finds a fresh bottle that she’s kept stashed there and holds it out to Garcello. “You wanna try it?”

Annie jostles the bottle around in her hand and Garcello watches the almost florecent blue liquid inside sloshes around. “I think I’ll pass.” Garcello declines. “The stress is already making it hard to keep my breakfast down, I don’t need something to force it up.”

“Fair enough.” Annie shrugs, popping the cap and taking another sip of the liquid. She makes an effort to remain stoic as she gulps down the liquid, not reacting at all as it goes down. Garcello nods and gives her a light golf clap for pulling it off. He remembers doing dumb stuff like that all the time as a kid, doing stupid dares and eating dirt on the playground to impress the other kids.

“Maybe I’ll give it a shot when my guts have a chance to untie themselves.” Garcello assures. “Speaking of which, I think I’ve calmed down enough to eat something. I’ve just been sucking on these all day.” Garcello takes the bag of candy off the table and sets it down beside the couch.

“Anyplace you wanna go to?” Annie asks. “I can cover it if you don’t have any cash on you.” Garcello is about to argue that he still has cash and can pay for his own food, but a pang of fear keeps him quiet as his brain introduces him to a new potential problem. He doesn’t really want to leave this apartment now that he’s here. Wandering the streets at night was dangerous, but he’s always done it anyway because he was sure anyone who tried to hurt him would leave him alone if he gave them his cash.

If someone like Pico found him on the streets, there wouldn’t be any easy way out of that situation.

“I think we should just make do with what we got here.” Garcello suggests. “It’d be safer that way.” Annie slows down again, the excitement to go out someplace nice smothered as she realizes why Garcello didn’t want to leave the apartment. They were sort of going in a back and forth, happy to see each other and catch up, but constantly being reminded that Garcello’s life was in danger and it was possible that Annie’s was too.

“Sure…” Annie nods, trying to cling onto the feeling of normalcy they kept having and trying her best to simply ignore whatever dangers lurk outside. “We got everything we need here.” Annie moves towards the kitchen as Garcello looks over his belongings one last time, then at the apartment he’d be staying in. Annie’s help is a literal life saver and she’s gone on and on about how she wants to do this, but it still bothers him every time he sees her expression falter when she realizes just how desperate both of their situations are now.

He certainly didn’t deserve this, he didn’t have a single hateful bone in his body. No one bothered him at all, but the second he wanted to express himself he apparently crossed a line that couldn’t be crossed with Mr. Dearest. Annie deserved this even less. Singing was her dream, one that Mr. Dearest indirectly crushed three years ago. Just thinking about this purple skinned bastard made his blood boil. How could anyone be so cruel for something as innocent as this?

He was never one to pick fights, but more than anything in the world right now, he wanted Daddy Dearest to pay for what he did. It wasn’t just him and Annie, no doubt there were countless other poor suckers like them who were scared off or straight up killed for displeasing Mr. Dearest. He wanted to do something proactive to stop the old rockstar, but he had no idea where to start.

The last fight Garcello’s probably ever been in was back in high school, and it was a very lopsided fight against his favor. He couldn’t stand to see people get hurt, it took just one punch on the jackass pushing him around to make him feel like a monster who deserved whatever came to him. Even when he bashed Pico over the head with the trash can lid, he was desperately pleading that he didn’t leave any serious head trauma. Mr. Dearest was an inhuman monster, but he most likely wouldn’t be able to hurt him if given the chance.

Annie on the other hand was quick to suggest fighting back against him. When he mentioned the threats he received years ago and the break in this morning, he saw how she squared up and clenched her fists. Someone had hurt her friend and she was willing to fight on his behalf. He chuckles at the thought of the much smaller Annie he knew three years ago who struggled with stage fright and speaking up. There was still a little bit of that anxiousness, but none at all when she was suggesting beating up demons for pushing him around.

Even though she offered multiple times, Garcello didn’t want her to look for a fight either. Mr. Dearest wasn’t just some bully, he’s a killer. This wasn’t a problem they could just beat up and leave alone, Daddy would likely have them both killed if they tried to hurt him in any way.

If only there was someone else who could stand up to him.

Little Lady appeared to be doing that, but he couldn’t get a proper read on her. She’s still the Dearest’s kid, she’s probably just as ruthless and cruel as her ma and pa. Her stepping in to save him could have been some cruel trick to give him hope in a completely helpless situation.

He drops that line of thought in an instant. If he starts thinking like that, he’ll become a babbling, paranoid loony by the end of the day.

Little Lady had beef with her dad, but how far was she going to go with it? Does she just want to piss him off? Does she actually want to help the people he’s screwed over?

Could she want him dead?!

With how extreme and violent their family history was, it wouldn’t be out of left field for Little Lady to straight up kill her daddy if there was enough bad blood between them. He had no idea what she was planning, only that it involved him and a bunch of other people gathering at the fair later this week. A million different possible scenarios played out in his head, each one more bizarre and unlikely than the last. All he could do was hope that whatever it is Little Lady’s planning, it’ll get her dad off his back.

“You still there, Garcello?” Garcello snaps back to attention as Annie’s voice pulls him back into the present, introducing him to the smell of butter and cheese. “You looked like you spaced out for a good fifteen minutes there.”

“I’m just thinking.” Garcello shakes his head, deciding to push aside his worries about Little Lady and Daddy Dearest. He was never going to figure it out on his own and he’d only worry himself sick thinking of all the potential problems he could run into. “What did you make while I was out?” He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to eat when he suggested it to Annie a while ago, but now that he could smell it, he realized he’s been starving for the past few hours but was too stressed to notice.

“I’m not a cook, but nobody can mess up grilled cheese.” Annie announces, returning from the kitchen with a platter stacked with toasted sandwiches. “I don’t keep much in the house, so I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.” Garcello assures, reaching out and snatching one off the plate before Annie gets a chance to sit down. “Thank you, again.” Garcello moans out after biting down on the crispy, buttery toast of his meal. “I know you’re getting sick of hearing that at this point, but I’m not gonna stop any time soon.”

“I’m sure I’ll get used to it.” Annie laughs as she takes a sandwich herself. They sit and eat in silence for a moment, allowing themselves to just live in the moment and gorge themselves on an unhealthy amount of cheese and butter. For those few minutes there were no problems they had to worry about. No hitmen, no withdrawals, no threats, just each other’s company and the meal they shared together.

Of course, it didn’t last. Eventually, they both stared at the clean plate in front of them, dreading the conversation they were about to have.

“So what’s the plan?” Annie is the first one to break the silence for the both of them. Garcello clears his throat, holding a cough as he does so.

“We’re still going to the fair to perform.” Garcello explains. “I want you to keep following your dreams, but I also have a lot riding on this.” His cravings were still at the edge of his mind, a constant background noise that was noticeable in each and every one of his thoughts. “I’m not gonna get scared out of doing this. And… even if I was, I don’t think I have a choice anymore.” Little Lady made it very clear that she expected him to show up. ”You’d rather be on Daddy’s bad side than mine.”

“The fair is five days from now.” Annie interludes. “I’m glad you’re still committed to it, but what are we going to do now?” Right now, Garcello was scared to even step foot outside of the apartment. He was also worried that Annie might have been seen with him and that she might be followed back to him.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to camp out here for the whole week?” Annie is quick to shake her head no. “Yeah, me neither.” He was never one to lay around the house. Even on a rainy day, he was out on the streets for a walk or hanging out somewhere in the park. He was already denying countless temptations, he didn’t think he could keep himself from his midnight walks too.

“Well we can’t just go business as usual, can we?” Annie grumbles out of frustration, returning to her ‘juice’ to drown out those frustrations.

“I don’t think we should be seen in public.” Garcello finally settles on something. “If the people after me find out I’m crashing with you, they’ll start to follow you too. We’ve been up here for a while now and nothing bad has happened yet. If they have no reason to suspect you, they won’t come looking.”

“Ok.” Annie nods. “That sounds like an actual plan we could follow. Is there anything else?” Garcello takes a moment to ponder this, but his mind draws up blanks as he breaks into a yawn.

“Maybe I’ll come up with something after a good night’s sleep.” Garcello takes one of the throw pillows on the couch and props it up against the armrest next to him. Annie watches him do this as she fights to resist the contagious urge to yawn before looking out the window towards the mid afternoon sun.

“It’s like two o-clock, you’re going to bed now?”

“I would have normally conked out hours ago.” Garcello explains. “Day time’s too much hassle and noise. The city gets real interesting after dark. That, and I always want to be up to see the sunrise. Maybe if this blows over I can take you out to see the sights you only get to see at three in the morning.”

“When this blows over.” Annie corrects him. “We’re going to get through this.”

“Thanks, Annie.” Garcello smiles as he rests his head on the pillow and tugs his cap down low enough to cover his eyes completely. “Don’t worry too much about sneaking around me, I’m a heavy sleeper.”

“Alright then. Good… afternoon, I guess.” Annie goes about her business around the house as Garcello starts to snooze on the couch, leaving the apartment to run some errands at one point. Garcello is slow to drift off, but sleep does eventually find him. Annie has already said that this was her paying him back for giving her the push she needed to start performing years ago, but Garcello still wanted to find some way to pay her back for her hospitality and selflessness.

Annie was a lifesaver and he’s eternally grateful for her help, but he knew this wasn’t over. Far from it.

Chapter Text

Garcello felt like death.

He didn’t stir or jerk awake, he simply stopped being asleep. He found his eyes open and staring into the black void of his cap resting on his face. His mouth and throat felt bone dry, his body felt hollow, his thoughts felt sluggish. Reaching a weak, shaky hand to push aside his cap, his eyes find the roof of Annie’s apartment. He tilted his head to look out the window to see how late it was but the movement alone lit a fire in his brain.

His body had finally crashed after the sudden onslaught of adrenaline and stress. Not only that, but his cravings came in harder than they ever have. He needed to feel the stinging heat at the back of his throat, he needed the smell of burning tobacco in his nose, he needed a smoke.

Pushing himself upright and letting his cap slide to the floor, Garcello desperately reaches for the bag of lollipops next to the couch. He grabs a fistful out of the bag and tries to unwrap each of them but his hand shook too much to properly pinch his fingers over the wrappers. With enough patience and stubbornness, he manages to peel back five wrappers and shoves all the freed lollipops into his mouth at once.

The sudden sweetness in his mouth makes him feel sick but he doesn’t dare spit them out. Needing to keep his hands busy, he looks down at the pile of wrappers in his hands and pulls his lighter free from his pocket. He’d light up the sticks eventually, but he needed something to burn now to fully trick himself into thinking that he was lighting up. Pulling the old plate from yesterday’s sandwiches close, he takes his lighter and holds the flame against one of the wrappers.

It didn’t really help all that much, but it kept him busy and distracted him from the debilitating need to smoke.

Now he was just left with the overpowering surge of conflicting artificial flavors slowly dissolving in his mouth. He wants to spit them out onto the plate, but as nasty as they were right now, they’re the only thing keeping him grounded right now. He lets the burning wrapper he’s holding drop onto the plate, watching as the flames fully consume it before grabbing the next one and lighting that one on fire. Feeling the heat this close to his fingers tickled the same part of his brain that found the hard paper between his lips familiar. The fire was also hypnotizing while he was still this groggy and delirious.

He tries to swallow down the growing pool of multi-flavored saliva at the back of his mouth, but it catches halfway down his throat, causing him to choke and sputter as he rips the lollipop sticks out of his mouth to clear his airways. He barks out over the plate on the table, hacking up colored spittle all over the place in an uncontrollable barrage of coughs. More comes up than just his spit, he feels the same gunk he had knocked loose on the court come up too. He actually forces himself to cough with more force to try and get rid of the gunk in the back of his throat.

Eventually he manages to clear himself out, gasping and gagging as he massages his throat. Tears sting at the edges of his eyes, but he can breathe easy again.

“Garcello?!” He can hear rapid, panicked footsteps stomping behind the wall beside him as Annie stumbles through her room and rushes out to check on him. “Garcello are you ok?!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Garcello assures, his voice raspy and weak after the damage done to his throat. Annie’s hair is disheveled and she has a massive T-shirt which was way too big draped over her. Her eyes were partially hidden behind her massive bangs but what little peeked out were wide and alert with worry. Jeez, he scared her half to death with that. “I just choked a little bit, I’m good now.”

“Are you sure?” She stumbles closer to hold a hand out to him. Garcello reaches out and takes hold of it. He wasn’t going to be going to sleep anytime soon now, not when he’s feeling like this. Annie pulls him up and once Garcello is on his feet he notices two things that are wrong. One, he was missing his hat, looking down on the floor by his feet, he spotted his cap and kneels down to secure it back onto his head.

The second thing he notices is that Annie seems much taller all of a sudden.

He could have sworn the top of her head went as high as his chin. They still didn’t meet eye to eye, but Garcello had to tilt his head up to face her now. Maybe he was starting to slouch, his pounding head made it hard to stand up straight.

“Sorry for waking you up this late.” Garcello grumbles as he rubs furiously at his eyes. “You can go back to sleep, I’m gonna step out for a little bit to give you some quiet.”

“Out?!” That only jolts Annie up even more. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I know a place.” Garcello assures, leaning back and stashing a few more extra suckers into his pocket. “I should be safe there for the rest of the night. I’ll be back before noon, don’t you worry about me.” He needed fresh air and hot coffee. The café would be open to him this late in the night to supply him with what he needed, but he had another reason to visit.

He had questions he wanted answers to.

He didn’t get much sleep but even when he did finally go under, he couldn’t stop thinking about the fair and the Little Lady. It refused to leave his mind, it was a malignant tumor slowly creeping into every single line of thought in his head. Someone at the café must have some connection or history with the Dearests, he needed to find out while also keeping himself safe.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep myself from worrying.” Annie mumbles, but Garcello reaches a hand up and ruffles her hair now that she didn’t have her beanie protecting her.

“Trust me, I won’t get into any trouble.” Garcello pats her on the shoulder. “Get some sleep, I’ll be back before you know it.”

With that, Garcello stumbles towards the door and fumbles with the knob for a moment before he manages to make it out. He hasn’t had a chance to get a shower in a while, he felt as gross on the outside as he did on the inside, but he didn’t care right now. The café would take him in and feed him as he got his questions answered no matter how beat up and gross he looked.

Stepping outside, his busted nose kept him from fully appreciating the misty night time air, but the fresh air alone was already doing wonders to help with his headache. Popping another lollipop into his mouth, he starts making his way towards the café.

His walk isn’t as relaxing as his others, his head was on a swivel and he was more concerned with his route than ever. He wasn’t sure if he should be sticking to alleys he could lose himself in or if he should keep to the streets to surround himself with potential witnesses and rescuers if something happened to him. He tensed up at every car that passed and only allowed himself to breathe once they were past him and showed no signs of stopping. His once relaxing hobby now left his heart pounding in his chest. He could only hope that this constant anxiety passes along with this whole ordeal with the Dearests, he couldn’t live his life looking over his back like this forever.

Annie’s place wasn’t any farther from the Café than his place was, but he had to travel down some more unfamiliar roads to get to it. That made him feel just a bit better on his trip, if someone was after him they’d be searching his usual stomping grounds, not here. He makes it back to the outskirts of town and spots the café in the distance. Desperate to get behind the safety of their doors, he picks up his pace and runs as fast as he can to hurry inside. He runs for about one minute before he’s forced to come to a stop.

He’s left dry heaving out in the cafe’s parking lot, feeling the lining of his throat get torn raw. He spits out more of the gunk at the back of his throat, but it now hurts to swallow and breathe in the cold air. He wanted to just pass out and save himself from any further coughing fits, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he wanted to, he could just tell that more sleepless nights were in his future.

Clearing his throat and trying to compose himself as best as he could, he forces himself inside of Elaine’s café. He notices a lot of the familiar faces he met last night but he takes note of the fact that they all react to his sudden change of appearance and attitude. The Russian guy especially, he takes one look at Garcello’s sickly stature and broken nose before rising to his feet. He marches up to him and pushes Garcello further inside, planting himself in the doorway and looking out into the parking lot.

He was checking to see if anyone was following him.

The action scares the hell out of Garcello, but evidently it scares a couple of the other patrons too. He always felt like a bit of an outsider here, but he was now in the same boat as them and they were startled by how suddenly he went from oblivious outsider to battered refugee in the course of a day. He was one of them now and while they shot him sympathetic looks, none of them asked questions or got in his way. He needed his own space to feel safe, just like them.

He finds himself a seat and the waitress comes with the menu as if nothing was wrong. It genuinely helps him relax a bit and when the Russian concludes that nothing was going to charge into the building after him and he takes a seat Garcello is finally able to push his worries aside as he looks over his menu. He orders the same thing he had the night before with the addition of a cup of coffee with just a bit of milk. With how many suckers he’s been chomping on, he didn’t need any more sugar in his system. With his order made, he leans back in his seat and pulls his cap down to try and relax.

“...And here you are, Whitty. The bacon will still be a while but this should hold you off till then.” The smell of hash browns piques Garcello’s interest and he pops his cap back up to look to the table beside his. It was Bomberman. He had three plates on his table already with confirmation that more was on the way. He didn’t seem to be focusing on his food though, seeing the Russian guard the door shook him up pretty bad and he couldn’t stop shooting worried glances at it.

Garcello came here to ask questions. Bomberman here was jumpy, but he didn’t seem dangerous unlike the guy at the door. Ok no, that’s a lie, his head is a bomb, he’s plenty dangerous. He didn’t seem to be the confrontational type though so after clearing his throat Garcello scoots his seat a bit closer to him before speaking up.

“Psst. You’re Whitty, right?” Bomberman jolts at the sound of an unfamiliar voice saying his name. Turning to see that it was the customer beside him, he gives him a shy nod. “Sorry if I scared you, I was just hoping I could ask some questions. I’m Garcello.”

Garcello holds out his hand for Whitty to shake on it. Whitty hesitates for a moment before reaching out. At first he moves as if he expected Garcello to have something in his hand to take before correcting himself and grabbing hold of Garcello’s hand itself. Garcello shakes Whitty’s very gentle grip before letting him go. Whitty seems confused, but not anxious anymore.

“I don’t know if I have anything you want to know.” Whitty speaks in a low, rumbly voice. Just from his voice alone, Garcello could tell he would be a good singer, which could explain why he hid out in here so often.

“Even if you don’t, I’d like to get to know someone around here.” Garcello shrugs. “Misery loves company after all.” Whitty starts to relax even more, growing comfortable with Garcello’s proximity to him. “I won’t force you to say anything, but I just had a couple questions that I hoped you could answer.”

“Ok.” Whitty mumbles, struggling to keep his attention evenly split between the door, his food and Garcello. “What did you want to know?”

Not wanting to drop a bombshell on the first question (especially with this guy), Garcello starts with an innocent one he wanted confirmation on. “Do you sing by any chance?”

“Yes, actually!” Whitty suddenly lights up. Looks like Garcello hit the nail right on the head with his assumption. “How did you know?”

“I had a hunch.” Garcello shrugs. “I’ve been trying to get back into it and I’ve started seeing a bit of a pattern.” With a sigh, he braces himself to wipe the pleasantly surprised look on Whitty’s face clean off. “Would I also be right in assuming you have some history with Daddy Dearest?”

Whitty suddenly went very still, and to Garcello’s surprise, a good few people in the café did too. Right on the money then. Whitty completely forgets about his food and turns to face Garcello directly, still occasionally turning to peek at the door as if Daddy Dearest would burst through at the very mention of his name.

“Is all that…” Whitty loosely gestures to the bandaged nose and damaged hat that had been perfectly fine the night before. Garcello nods and Whitty turns back to the table, resting his head against his folded hands. He lets out a low rumble from within him and Garcello is almost sure he can see the fuse in the back of his head smoke a bit. “It’s always him.” Whitty growls, his voice taking on a strange, unstable pitch to it.

“Just one more question, if I’m not overstepping anything right now.” Garcello asks cautiously, more than happy to return to his own table and get some distance between himself and the smoking bomb.

“Go ahead.” Whitty replies, shoving forkful after forkful of hash browns into his mouth to smother his rising anger.

“Are you going to sing at the music fair this week?” This question doesn’t earn a reaction out of Whitty right away but after a few seconds Whitty’s eyes suddenly go wide.

“Is something going to happen?!” The urgency and anxiety in his voice was contagious and Garcello suddenly found himself on edge. “That purple bastard isn’t going to do anything, is he?!”

“No, he won’t.”

Someone else answers the question before Garcello gets the chance to. Looking over Whitty’s shoulder, he finds who did it and his pulse spikes. That red dress was impossible to miss.

The Russian in the corner of the café suddenly leaps out of his seat and lunges towards the Little Lady, but she simply holds a hand up to him. “Don’t you dare!” She orders. “If Daddy sees I’m hurt he’ll make sure you feel the same pain ten fold.”

“I know how to hurt you without leaving a mark.” The Russian threatens but Little Lady doesn’t seem intimidated.

“Sit down Ruv, I’m not here to cause trouble.” Little Lady dismisses the Russian's threats with a swish of her hair. “I’m just here to catch up with a couple friends and be on my way. I won’t take long.” Garcello feels that familiar burning pit of dread in his guts again. She was here for him, wasn’t she? Though, looking at Whitty, Garcello could see pure panic in his eyes. He was familiar with the Little Lady too.

The Russian, Ruv if Garcello heard right, backs off with a frustrated scowl, allowing Little Lady to enter the café. She isn’t alone when she walks in, following close behind her is the trigger-happy ginger, Pico. He keeps close to Little Lady and watches her six, idly spinning his gun around his fingers as he dares anyone to touch a hair on the girl's head. The atmosphere within the café has completely shifted, this place of quiet and safety has suddenly become hushed and fearful.

“Hello everyone!” Little Lady cheers as she happily waves her hand to everyone inside, making her way to the other end of the café. “I’m sure most of you already know who I am, but for those who didn’t catch my name, I am Girlfriend Dearest. You may be more familiar with my father, Daddy Dearest.”

Again, the very mention of his name sends a shockwave through the café.

“I have already personally spoken to some of you,” Little Lady turns and shoots a glance Garcello’s way. “But I figured it would be more convenient to speak to all of you at once.” Little Lady brings her hand to her mouth and clears her throat, preparing herself for her big speech. It would have been endearing if she was anyone else. “Almost all of you are either being hunted yourself, or someone you know is being hunted.”

“So you’re just here to threaten us?” Someone calls out from within the café, someone with bigger balls than everyone else in here.

“Shut it and listen!” Pico orders as he lifts his gun into the air. “I hate this chick as much as you do! The sooner this is over with, the sooner we all get to go home!” The café falls silent once more.

“Thank you Pico.” Little Lady beams, earning a scoff from her hired gun. “I figured this isn’t news to you all, but not all of you know that you have someone helping keep my father off your backs.” She holds her hands behind her back and raises her chin high. “I have decided to make sure all of you are protected.”

“But why?” Garcello nearly smacks himself for blurting out at such a stupid time, but curiosity got the better of him. He’s been dying to know what the hell was going on and the Little Lady was right here with him. Pico shoots him a dirty look for speaking up and interrupting Little Lady’s speech, but she rolls with the question as if she expected it.

“Me and Daddy don’t agree on most things.” Little Lady shrugs. “I used to turn the other cheek or convince mommy to change his mind, but recently I’ve had a change of heart. I’ve met someone who’s helped me realize just how cruel and selfish my daddy’s actions were. Someone who my daddy tried to silence just like you.”

Little Man!!!

This news felt like it lifted at least twenty pounds off his back. His mind had come up with countless horrible theories of how the blue haired rapper was being manipulated or tricked into helping with his girl’s crimes, but hearing that there actually was a connection there put his mind at ease. Even Pico seemed to brighten up a bit at the mention of him. Looking around, some of the other patrons calm down a little bit, but there are still a few who were skeptical.

“And you think we’re just going to believe you?” Of course it’s Ruv who speaks up. “You’ve caused enough problems on your own.”

“I’m giving you all a fair warning and keeping you all safe.” Little Lady huffs, crossing her arms. “I’m not expecting forgiveness, but it’s in all of our benefit if you listen to me.” Ruv grumbles but reluctantly concedes, slouching down in his seat and allowing Little Lady to finish. “First of all, I would like you all to meet Pico.”

“Sup.” The ginger gives a small salute with his gun.

“Him and a few of his friends are currently under my payroll to make sure all of the people Daddy is after are protected.” Little Lady continues. “Many of you have recently signed up to participate in the upcoming music fair, which has made Daddy very mad. I want to see you all make it to that fair, so Pico here will make sure you’re alive and well when you arrive later this week.”

“Everyone who signed up for the fair?!” Whitty speaks up at Garcello’s side, panic causing his voice to crack. “What if they don’t have anything to do with your dad!” Garcello remembers the calming text messages Whitty had received the night before. His sweetheart must be singing at the fair and he’s worried sick.

“We’re protecting you and all your loser friends!” Pico confirms. “As long as you aren’t wearing kick me signs and knocking on the purple guys door, nothing bad should happen to you or your buddies.” So that meant Annie fell under the same protection he did. The wave of relief made him melt into his seat. She wasn’t going to get hurt for trying to help him, he had no reason to feel guilt for dragging her into this.

“What’s happening at the fair?” Ruv speaks up one last time, an uneasy tension in his voice. He must be going there too, that or someone he knows is.

“Well typically, Daddy wouldn’t let any of you make it to the fair.” Little Lady explains. “That isn’t happening with Pico and his friends keeping you all under watch. Against his wishes, you’ll all make it to the fair to participate for the prize along with me and my boyfriend!”

“And then…?” Garcello now speaks up, needing to know the answer to his very last question. This was the last thing he needed to know, the last piece of the puzzle he was missing. What the hell was gonna happen once all of Daddy’s enemies were bunched up in one place?

“That’s a secret!” Little Lady gives him a wink, leaving him in the dark. “All I can say is it will be a blast! I can’t wait to see you all there!” She grabs hold of Pico’s hand and starts leading him out of the cafe. “Stay out of trouble, all of you! And just because I’m going to be performing doesn’t mean you should hold back! I want you all to sing your hearts out!”

And just like that the woman who more than half of the establishment feared left the café with a smile. The café was still for a moment, shocked silent by her sudden introduction and speech. So much happened in so little time. Garcello had almost every single question which had been assaulting him all day be answered one by one, it felt too good to be true.

Unfortunately, she left one question unanswered, the one that was still imprinting itself in every other thought that filtered through his head.

How the hell was this all going to end?

“Sorry for the wait, I just saw all of that.” The waitress suddenly approaches Garcello and Whitty with two trays. “Please try to enjoy yourselves.” She places Garcello’s pancakes on his table before dropping off three more plates onto Whitty’s. Once she leaves, Whitty stares down at the feast he’s got assembled on his table, lightly poking at his eggs before scooting the plate over closer to Garcello.

“I don’t think I’m gonna be able to stomach everything here after that.” Whitty grumbles but he doesn’t seem to be as freaked out as some others in the café. “You want some?”

Garcello ended up staying at that café for the rest of the night. Good food and hot coffee helped distract him from his withdrawals, but more than that was the good company.

Little Lady’s sudden intrusion and speech got people talking. Rather than hiding away in their own little corner of the café, everyone started pulling closer to discuss what just happened. Garcello liked the hushed and accepting atmosphere of the café, but what was happening now was exciting.

For example; Whitty was one of those customers who came in, ate, napped, then left. Nothing wrong with that, Garcello’s done the same plenty of times, but he’s gotten a lot more talkative now. All of them were scared of Daddy Dearest, and as skeptical as many of them were to Little Lady’s promises that they’d be kept safe, they were relieved to know that there were others like them who were sitting a couple tables away. No one wanted to step on toes or ask questions people didn’t want to answer, Little Lady made it very obvious that they were all here for the same reason.

Whitty’s story was shockingly similar to Garcello’s own, right down to the meeting of a blue haired boy and his girlfriend. There were a lot of holes and unanswered questions in Whitty’s story, but no one was going to pry. Whitty was threatened by Mr. Dearest and now he’s in hiding, spending his nights here where he hoped he was safe.

A few brave souls tried to ask what Ruv’s deal was with little success. With enough pestering though, he eventually broke and gave the people what they wanted to regain his peace and quiet. He was hiding, but not from Daddy Dearest. Who he was hiding from or why wasn’t explained any further but he made it very clear that he hated the ex rockstar and he now has a sudden interest in him. Someone he knows is going to the music fair and he intends to go too. Knowing that Mr. Dearest could be there made his blood boil.

Garcello sat around and listened to everyone’s stories, slowly picking away at Whitty’s unwanted plate of bacon as he did. There was an aspiring pop star who was quickly run off the charts the moment her fame started leaching into Mrs. Mearest’s. An older rocker boy who had his guitar smashed and his band run out of town. And these were only the first hand stories, there were plenty of rumors about the people who weren’t so lucky.

Hearing even more stories detailing the horrible crimes Daddy Dearest and his family committed should have made him feel worse, but Garcello actually felt a strange sense of relief. The café had turned into a bizarre, impromptu support group for people dealing with Daddy Dearest. Everyone sat alone here before, shooting cautious glances at everyone and questioning if they were here for the same reason. Everyone had grievances to air and the catharsis it gave them overpowered any fear they could have had.

With light starting to fill out the sky outside, Garcello decides he needs to keep moving and get some fresh air. Getting up from his chair and moving towards the door, he’s surprised to find that Whitty actually rises to follow him.

“Hey wait!” He was quick to scramble after him. “Garcello, right?”

“That’s the name.” Garcello nods. “You need something?”

“Oh, I was just…” Whitty hesitates. “I don’t know, I wanted to hear your story.” Garcello pauses at the door as he looks back at the walking bomb. There weren’t that many people who stopped him to ask for stuff, he was someone everyone passed by without a second glance. Something tells him that Whitty isn’t as lucky. Garcello himself already expressed some unease when his fuse started to smoke, but there were people who would be less respectful or polite as he was.

“If you wanna walk and talk, come along.” Garcello shrugs and holds the door open for him. Poor guy probably didn’t get to talk and unwind with anyone while on the run, he’d be more than happy to have some company to distract him from his headache. Whitty lights up (not literally, thank god) at Garcello’s invitation and quickly follows him out the door onto the street.

“Thank you.” Whitty says as Garcello picks out a direction to start walking in. “Carol kept telling me that there were other people in town who wouldn’t be afraid of me, but I was starting to doubt it.”

“Well I’m not gonna lie, the bomb head does freak me out.” Garcello replies honestly. “But you looked like you needed someone to talk to. Your friend Carol’s right, there are plenty of friendly folks out and about, you just gotta seek them out.”

“That’s not really an option I have.” Whitty lets out a dejected hum. “I’m just lucky that Carol managed to find me.”

“Well then it’s your lucky day cause you just got another friend who found you first.” Garcello chuckles, pausing for a moment before breaking off the street towards an alley. “Let's cut through here real fast, I got a place in mind and someone you might want to meet.” Garcello elects to leave out the fact that he saw Pico further down the street with a couple of other shady looking guys. They might be on his side, but he’s still weary of them.

“So what did you do to deserve any of this?” Whitty asks, oblivious to the confrontation Garcello just led them away from. That was the big question, wasn’t it? What the hell did any of them do to deserve this?

“I was a backup singer for one of my friends a few years back.” Garcello mumbles. His story wasn’t nearly as harrowing or intense as some of the others told back at the café, but Whitty listens intently anyways. “I don’t know why, but Mr. Dearest seemed to have it out for me personally. I was threatened and stalked through town for a week before I dropped everything and cut ties with my partner.”

“And he’s still after you?” Whitty asks with a mix of concern and anger. Glancing over, Garcello sees that his fuse is starting to smoke again.

“No, I was left alone for a few years, but some kids convinced me to try and sing again.” Recognition flashes in Whitty’s eyes and Garcello can immediately tell why. “Let me guess, the blue haired little man wanted you to sing too?”

“I didn’t want to, but the little bastard is stubborn.” Whitty grumbles, noticing the smoke coming from behind his head and reaching a hand back to smother his fuse. “Carol wanted me to try and smooth things out between us, but I don’t think we’ll ever be as buddy buddy as she wants us to be.”

“Not everyone gels well with each other.” Garcello shrugs. “You don’t have to get along with everyone. As long as you got a few pals to chum around with when you need them, you’re fine. Continuing with my story though,” Garcello returns to his tale. “I started trying to sing again and my friend signed me up for the upcoming fair to perform with her again. Guess Dearest really didn’t like seeing me pop up again after three years because I had that Pico kid chasing me through the alleys before I even knew what was happening.”

“And you’re just walking around out here knowing that you could be being followed right now?” Whitty asks.

“First, This talk we were having helped me ignore the paranoid half of my brain telling me to watch my back, so thank you for bringing that back to the surface.” Garcello gives him a nervous chuckle as he tries his hardest not to turn around and make sure no one was following them. “Second, it’s almost morning and I’m always up and around at this time. This is hard coded into my routine and I’m not gonna let anyone get in the way of it.”

They make it out of the alley back onto the street. Looking up into the sky, Garcello can tell that the sun would crest over the horizon in only a few minutes. “Tell you what, let's quick find a place high up. I got something I want to show you, it helps me relax so maybe it can help you too.”

“High up?” Whitty looks around for a moment before pointing towards another alley. “There’s a fire escape on that building, we should be able to make it to the roof.”

“Good eye, come on!” Rushing forward, Garcello and Whitty cut across the street and entered the alley. Garcello lets Whitty climb up first before following after him, allowing himself all the time he needs to get up. It’s slow going and Garcello is out of breath by the time he makes it to the top, but they have a perfect view up here on the roof. “Alright…” Garcello huffs, sitting down on the roof and pointing out towards the horizon. “Now we just wait.”

“What are we waiting for?” Whitty asks, taking a seat beside him. “Are we looking for someone?” Garcello doesn’t answer, instead he leans back and watches as the sun begins to peek out over the horizon.

Four days now. Four days since he quit smoking and started turning his life around. He wasn’t going to lie, the last twenty four hours have been absolute hell with all the stress following Pico’s ambush and him going homeless, but he’s still kickin’. Everything’s fighting against him, but he’s still up to see the sunrise. Looking over to his side, he finds Whitty looking towards the sun with confusion, still leaning forward to see if something else was coming.

“I always make sure I’m up to see the sunrise.” Garcello explains, directing Whitty’s focus to the sun. “It’s always going to rise every single morning without fail. No matter how uncertain or out of control your life is, the sun rising every morning is one thing you can count on. I’ve had one hell of a week, but I always have something to look forward to that won’t let me down. It’s a nice little reminder that I still have some semblance of normalcy while everything else falls apart around me.”

“Damn.” Whitty lets out a slow exhale. “I’ve been looking for something like that my whole life and it’s been right here in front of me all this time.”

“All your life?” Garcello raises an eyebrow. “The past three days have been absolute hell for me, what could you have done to piss off Daddy Dearest enough to chase you for your whole life?!”

“That demonic asshole is the least of my problems actually.” Whitty grumbles, pulling his knees close to his chest as he focuses on the rising sun. “People have been hunting me down since I was little.” Garcello was at a complete loss for words. What the hell could you even say after hearing that. Every time Garcello saw him at the café and noticed how jumpy he was, Whitty was living on edge at all times, terrified that his pursuers would find him.

“That’s rough buddy.” He couldn’t just say nothing. It probably did very little to console him but Garcello wanted to show at least some sympathy for the poor guy. Despite Garcello’s inability to think of anything profound to say, a smile started to form on Whitty’s face, followed by a single viscous, black tear down his cheek. “Go ahead and let it all out, it’s bad to keep yourself pent up.”

“Huh?” Whitty turns to look at him before he even realizes he started to cry. He suddenly starts violently rubbing his cheek with his sleeve, staining his hoodie with his black tears. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I can’t actually let myself cry.” He doesn’t stop rubbing until he’s sure that his face is dry. A black smear now stains his left sleeve. “I don’t want to start a fire by accident.”

God damn. Garcello thought he was a bummer sometimes but every aspect of Whitty’s life that he hears about just tears his heart apart.

Luckily for the both of them, he knew someone who had enough joy and kindness to spare.

“Alright buddy, I gotta cheer you up right now! Come on.” Pushing off the floor and looking for the fire escape, Garcello beacons Whitty to follow after him.

“Where are we going now?” Whitty asks as he starts making his way down.

“We’re off to go see a good friend of mine.” Garcello announces. “That’s right, you’re making two friends today!”

The excitement gave Garcello the energy he needed to make his way back towards the park in the center of town. He couldn’t wait to introduce Whitty to Hex, that robot’s been a beacon of light in Garcello’s life and Whitty desperately needed more people like that in his. Not to mention, he never got around to telling Hex what happened the other day. It’d worry him sick to hear that he was in danger, but he deserved to know.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder as they wander into the park, Garcello finds that Whitty seems to be looking much better than he did earlier this morning. He still shot the occasional glance over his shoulder and still flinched at every sudden noise, but those are probably habits that won’t go away any time soon. For the first time since he first saw him at the café, Whitty didn’t have his shoulders tensed up or restless, ever searching eyes. He was finally able to relax in Garcello’s company and it made him feel amazing to know he could have that effect on people. He’s been worrying over freaking Annie out and piling on unnecessary tension and stress, but seeing as how he managed to befriend a complete stranger in a couple hours, he’s confident that he has nothing to worry about.

“Hey wait a minute!” Whitty suddenly speaks up, lifting his head and picking up his pace. “I know this place!” Without warning, Whitty rushes ahead of Garcello, forcing him to run after him to keep up. Without giving him directions, Whitty makes a beeline straight for the basketball court. “Hex! Are you here?!”

Of course they’re already friends, Hex was friends with everyone.

“Whitty!” Garcello manages to make it onto the court just in time to see Hex lunge forward and ensnare Whitty into a hug. By the looks of it, Whitty is even less of a hug person than he was. Nevertheless, Whitty was ecstatic to see Hex. “And Garcello too?! Oh this is the best possible surprise I could have hoped for! I told you there were nice people out here who’d love to be your friend!”

“Guy seemed really bummed out, figured I’d drop him off with the most optimistic guy in town to cheer him up.” Garcello chuckles, wandering over to eventually be nabbed up into a hug he wouldn’t be ready for either way. As he does, he notices there was one other person on the court with them.

“I’d love to hear how you two met each other, but first, I’d like to introduce you to my newest friend!” Hex announces, pointing towards the young man. “This is Darnell, he said he was waiting here for a couple of other friends to arrive.”

“Hey man.” The young man stepped forward, holding out a hand in greeting. Garcello steps forward and shakes his hand, noting the roughness of his palms. Looking down, he notices burn scars running across his arm. Darnell kept his yellow sleeves rolled up a bit and Garcello could see those scars went up pretty far. “You’re Garcello, right?”

“Oh, uh… Yeah.” Garcello stutters as Darnell drops his name out of nowhere. “Did we meet once already?” Garcello tries to discern if he’s seen this guy during one of his walks. He had an impressive flat top haircut and a bright smile that he couldn’t have forgotten.

“Nah, your name was on the list.” Darnell shakes his head. “I’ve actually been waiting for you.” Garcello must have visibly paled at that because Darnell is quick to elaborate. “I’m one of Pico’s boys, the boss lady wanted us to keep watch on you guys and this seemed like a good place to patrol. We’re cool.” Darnell spoke earnestly and made a lot more effort to de-escalate things compared to Pico so Garcello is able to calm down at least a little. “Also, Pico probably isn’t, but I’m sorry for what happened to your nose.”

“I was going to ask, did you injure yourself, Garcello?” Hex steps in close to observe the swollen, bandaged lump in the middle of his face before noticing the hole in his hat. “Oh no! What happened to your hat?!”

“Pico did that too, didn’t he?” Darnell grimaces when Garcello turns to give him a nod. “Hey look, just so you know we’re all cool, I can spot you fifty so you could get a new one.”

“You know, you seem way too nice to be one of Pico’s friends.” Garcello says as he takes his cap off and looks at the hole in the brim. He really liked this hat. He definitely needed a new one, but he didn’t want to throw this away.

“Me and Pico go back a few years.” Darnell shrugs. “He's hot headed, violent, crazy… Ok, he’s a lot of things, but we’ve been friends since middle school. I like to think I’m the only voice of reason in the crazy little squad we got going.”

“I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of context.” Hex fiddles with his antenna in confusion. “No offense Garcello, but your social circle was a triangle a couple of days ago. It looks like a lot has happened over the course of two days.”

“Man, you don’t even know the half of it...”

Bunched up on the bench, Garcello works to fill Hex in on everything that’s happened over the past couple days. Darnell actually chips in a couple times to fill in some blanks for what Pico was up to, but it doesn’t ease Hex’s concern at all. He’s all good though, he’s made one friend today and against all odds Darnell slowly is becoming his second. Turns out, Darnell came here to keep an eye on Hex since he’s also on the fair sign up sheet, Garcello and Whitty were just a bonus.

Of course, despite all the negativity and anxiety, Hex managed to stay positive through the whole thing.

“There’s nothing like adversity to bring people together!” Hex proclaims once everyone is finished with their story. “Just today I made a new friend and introduced him to two more! I’m more than lucky to have you guys at my side and grateful to know that you’re all here to help!”

“The feeling’s mutual, Hex.” Garcello can’t help but smile in the robot's presence. That unwavering charisma did wonders for the bunch of terrified loners who were now bound together by their shared hunter. It was starting to get late, at least for Garcello, so he started to make his excuses to leave. Whitty was going to stay with Hex for a while leaving Darnell to tag along with him, still offering to replace his shot up hat. Taking it off once again, he looks at the raggedy old thing wondering what he could do with it when an idea lights off in his head.

“Hey Whitty!” Garcello tries to frisbee his hat towards the walking bomb but the weathered fabric and the hole in the brim doesn’t make it very aerodynamic. Regardless, Whitty manages to step forward and catch it out of the air before it hits the ground. “I’m not using it anymore, you can keep it if you want.”

“I…” Whitty looks down at the hat in his hands, awestruck for a moment. “Really?” Garcello shoots him a thumbs up. He wasn’t just gonna throw it away, he might as well pass it on to someone who could use it. After hearing what he’s gone through, Whitty deserves to have some generosity and kindness thrown his way. “Th-thank you.” Whitty starts to choke up before locking down and trying his hardest not to cry again.

“Don’t mention it.” Garcello nods, turning to leave with Darnell. “See you around, Whitty! You take care of yourself!” Garcello gives Whitty and Hex a quick wave from behind his back before leaving the court. As they walk, Darnell suddenly speaks up.

“I got the impression that you just met that guy but you two act like you’ve been friends for years.”

“I don’t have too many friends, but I think I’m that way with everyone.” Garcello shrugs, reaching into his pocket to unwrap another lollipop before offering one to Darnell. “I just wanna chill out and make people smile is all.”

“Well you do a damn good job at it.” Darnell nods, taking the lollipop offered to him. Today’s been a pretty good day, all things considered. There was still a dull throb in his head but his craving’s have completely slipped his mind. He just needed to practice singing with Annie and work on his endurance. Everything should be fine. “Yo, what do you think would happen if I lit the fuse on Whitty’s head?”

“What?!” Garcello sucks in a short gasp and catches himself before he ends up choking on his lollipop. “Why would you even think that?!”

“You telling me you didn’t think about what would happen?” Danrell challenges. “It was burnt at the end, what would happen if it burned all the way down?”

“Ok, fine. I thought about it a little bit, but I’d rather not linger on the thought of my new friend's head exploding.”

“I wonder how big of an explosion it’d make.” Darnell ponders, rubbing his chin with his scared fingers. “He could probably pack all sorts of reactive materials in a head that big. I wonder if I could figure out what’s in there with an X-ray or something.”

“Can we maybe move on to a different topic?” Garcello pleads.

“Hey, I’m asking important questions.” Darnell argues. “What’s in his head? Is it reactive with water? If he’s got more than gunpowder in that head of his, he could leave chemical burns or residue behind.” Darnell holds up his hands to show off the scars. “Trust me, chemical burns suck.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this stuff.” Garcello mentions, starting to understand where those scars came from and why he’s associated with Pico.

“Oh yeah, you have no idea.” Darnell chuckles. “I wanted to be a chemistry major when I grew up, but I guess I was a little bit too interested in the different reactions you could create with household stuff. You’d be surprised what a rolled up ball of tinfoil and some toilet bowl cleaner can do, now I’m on the no-fly list!” Alright then, he shouldn’t have given Whitty the nickname ‘Bomberman’, Darnell is the pyro who has an interest in explosives.

Garcello makes a mental note to try and keep Whitty and Darnell as far away from each other as possible.

Thankfully moving away from the topic of homemade explosives and the idea of blowing up Whitty to see what would happen, Garcello and Darnell take some time to get to know each other as they make their way towards one of the markets in the plaza to get him a new hat. Garcello was starting to feel a bit self conscious about his matted, green hair now that it didn’t have anything to hide beneath.

Turns out that Darnell has been close friends with Pico for years and they’ve been inseparable since. Pico must have turned down some dark roads to end up being a mercenary, but it turned out Darnell’s unique passion for fire and chemistry made him a really helpful asset on the job. The sudden change from hunting targets to protecting targets was something the rest of his team despised, but Darnell liked the change of pace. Again, Garcello couldn’t help but think that this guy was far too nice to hang out with the likes of Pico, but there was something endearing about his ride or die attitude towards his friends.

Just as promised, Darnell borrowed Garcello fifty bucks to get a replacement hat once they made it to the shop they were looking for. He wasn’t looking for anything flashy, but he also wanted something to match what he had left which wasn’t much. Not wanting to keep Darnell waiting for too long, he found a collection of flat caps and picked out a black one in his size. To his surprise, it snuggles onto his head just as easily as if it were his old one. Catching his reflection in a mirror, the black cap paired with his black turtleneck is a look that actually suits him. Maybe he should swing by here again some time with Annie to pick out a new look for him.

Oh shit! Annie!

It was getting late, he said he’d be back some time in the morning! Damn it, she must be worried sick about him.

With his hat picked out, he returns to Darnell with his change and makes his excuses to head back home. Darnell offered to escort him back for added safety, but the idea of letting a known mercenary know where he was living, even if he was currently hired to help him, didn’t sit well in his mind. Darnell was more than understanding and wished him well as he started making it back as fast as his body would allow him to. The good news should at least put Annie at ease when he makes it back.

Garcello doesn’t have any problems making his way to the apartment building, a fact that Garcello takes as a blessing. He wasn’t sure how afraid he should be of Mr. Dearest’s goons now. Pico and his posse were now protecting him, but from what? This city wasn’t exactly perfect, but how many hitmen and mercenaries could there possibly be?

He can forget about it now, people are looking out for him. He has nothing to worry about until the actual fair comes around. Pushing his worries aside, Garcello enters the building and takes the elevator to Annie’s floor. He didn’t keep a watch on him so he could only hope he wasn’t coming home too late.

Wandering into the hall, a sudden sense of dread fills his gut. An unreasonable part of his mind worried that he’d find something very similar to what he found at his building. His pace slowed as he prepared to turn the corner to see Annie’s door, praying he didn’t find what his mind was convincing him would be there. Turning the corner, he lets out a shuddery sigh of relief when he finds the door was still intact and closed.

There was nothing to worry about.

Marching up to the door, he tries the knob just to find it was locked. He was confused for a moment before realizing that this wasn’t exactly his place, it was Annie’s. Chuckling at himself, he raises his hand to knock on the door.

“An-”

Without warning, the door suddenly exploded outward. The door flung at him so fast that he couldn’t properly brace for the impact. Luckily his raised arm took the brunt of the blow as he flew back and slammed into the wall behind him, saving him from breaking his nose even further. He brings his arms up around his head way too late to protect himself from the impact with the wall, but he keeps them held high as he tries to comprehend what the hell just happened.

He catches sight of something big rushing at him before a crushing grip smashes his arms against his sides. He lets out a choked yelp as this grip suddenly and effortlessly lifts him off the floor, sending his hat falling to the floor. He kicks out his legs as it’s the only thing he can do with his arms pinned down as he tries to figure out what was attacking him.

The first thing he noticed was a lot of blue. Tree trunk thick, bright blue, almost transparent arms holding him up and crushing the life out of him. He spent so much time fixated on the bizarre skin of his attacker that he didn’t notice some of the familiar aspects of them. While the attacker’s fingertips were cold, their palms and half of their arms were covered with a long pair of fingerless gloves. Trying to look the stranger in the face, he finds rows of sharp teeth clenched with terror and anger. He couldn’t see their eyes underneath the bangs of black hair covering them. Little by little, he’s able to identify more and more features of his attacker and after a moment he lets out a startled gasp.

C-could it be?

“Annie?!”

It didn’t make any sense, but this thing was wearing Annie’s clothes. At the mention of her name, his attacker suddenly stops applying pressure to his sides. Their expression slowly shifts from aggressive and hostile to confused, before suddenly shifting to utter horror. Without warning, they drop him to the floor where he collapses and clutches at his bruised chest. Looking up from the ground, he’s now able to get a much clearer picture of his attacker.

They were massive, he wasn’t even sure how they managed to squeeze through the door. Even now they were hunched over to keep themselves from scraping the top of their head against the ceiling. Just as he thought, it was wearing Annie’s gloves, their hands pressed against their mouth in shock. Peeking through their long messy hair, Garcello could see beady red eyes staring down at him. They weren’t looking at him with hatred or disgust,

But with guilt.

“Garcello?”

Her voice was unmistakable.

Chapter Text

“Garcello! I’m- I’m sorry!” Annie (he still couldn’t believe this was actually her) steps forward, holding her hands out. Garcello must have flinched because Annie stops just before she manages to touch him. “I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s ok.” Garcello wheezes as he reaches his hand out to hold onto hers. “I’m alright, everything’s fine.” Absolutely none of this was fine. Annie had probably left some bruises with how hard she was squeezing him, but that wasn’t his concern right now. What happened to her? When did this happen? Why?!

“I thought you were… I didn’t…” Annie was starting to slur her words as tears started to well up at the corner of her now dark eyes. Garcello propped himself back up onto his feet with her outstretched hand, noting how cold she felt underneath her gloves.

“It’s ok, just… please get inside, we can fix this.” Whatever the hell was going on, Annie was still herself as far as Garcello could tell. They needed to get to the bottom of this and they couldn’t do that slumped over in the hallway. Kneeling down and settling his cap back over his head, he urges Annie to go back inside, giving her constant assurance that he wasn’t mad or hurt. That’s what scared him the most actually, the fact that she tried to hurt someone in the first place. Who did she think was at the door?

Speaking of the door, it wouldn’t close properly behind them. Annie completely destroyed the lock when she slammed the door open into him, it was resting on the floor in the hall along with a chunk of the door. Gently leading Annie inside, Garcello counted at least four empty bottles scattered across the floor with another half drained one resting on the coffee table.

“I didn’t know it was you.” Annie manages to say through her restrained sobs. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“I’m fine.” Garcello insists. “But I don’t know what’s happened to you.” Garcello tries to help Annie take a seat but she now towers over him and he has trouble trying to reach her shoulders. She understands what he wants her to do and bends down to take a seat, stopping before she crashed onto the couch to push the coffee table forward so she could sit on the floor instead. “Tell me what happened. What’s wrong?”

Annie sits in silence for a moment, trying to regain her composure. Garcello gives her all the time she needs as he examines her more closely. It looked like her skin had gone semi transparent, revealing a bubbly blue liquid beneath it. Looking at the bottles scattered about, it didn’t take long to deduce that there was something up with her ‘juice’. He always thought she seemed to have grown really fast since he last saw her, hell he thought she had a strange growth spurt earlier this morning. Rather than bombard her with these questions, he gave her all the time she needed to calm down and get her story straight.

“You left in such a hurry, I didn’t know when you’d be back.” Annie mumbles, burying her face in her arms. “Someone came to the door looking for you before morning. I didn’t know who it was or what they wanted with you but it couldn’t have been anything good that early.” Garcello thought the same, though an optimistic part of his mind thought that maybe it was one of Little Lady’s buddies trying to bring the news to him in case he wasn’t at the café.

Of course, there was also the possibility that it was someone who wanted to hurt him.

“I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do.” Annie reaches for the bottle on the coffee table. Garcello contemplates trying to stop her, but he has no idea what that stuff was. For all he knew, she was entirely dependent on it now. Bringing to her mouth and chugging the rest of its contents in one go, Annie continues her story, dribbling out what she didn’t finish down her chin as she does.

“I’ve just been sitting here, drinking, hoping you’d come back. When I heard someone try to get in, I… I don’t know, I just.” Raising her head, she gives Garcello one more look over. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“It’s nothing I can’t walk off.” Garcello nods. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner, I lost track of time.” Annie might have felt guilty for rushing him down like that, but she had every reason to be afraid. It was him who should feel ashamed, he’s the one who left in the middle of the night and disappeared for hours and hours. He didn’t know what she drank but it was clear that she was abusing the stuff. She said it made her feel stronger, maybe she felt that she needed to be stronger to defend herself.

Grabbing an empty bottle off the floor, he placed it down on the table between them. “What is this stuff? It isn’t just juice, I need to know what’s in here.” He really didn’t want to force an answer out of her, but this stuff terrified him. If it could do this to her overnight, he shudders to think what could have happened if he showed up a couple hours later to let her drink more.

“I don’t…” Annie starts, averting her eyes from him when he leans forward to listen. “I don’t know exactly what’s in it, but it makes me stronger.” So she didn’t even know, she just wanted the positive effects without even considering the possible side effects. “I’ve been drinking this stuff for a year, nothing like this has ever happened before!” She tries to defend her choice as if Garcello were judging her.

“Trust me, stuff like this can catch you out of nowhere.” He’s only been smoking for a few years and he nearly died because of it. Maybe she drank this stuff in moderation before, but the stress from recent days has led her to drink more and more to keep the edge off. Stress that he was directly responsible for…

“I’m sorry.” He could have managed on his own, he shouldn’t have dragged Annie into this. This was all his fault. She probably got hooked on that stuff when he left her years ago. A poor little girl who couldn’t make it on her own so she found an easy way to build up her confidence and strength. Damn, no, that’s too mean. She has way more talent and skills than she gives herself credit for. She shouldn’t have to-

“What do you have to feel sorry for?” Annie’s question breaks Garcello’s train of thought as he refocuses on Annie.

“For scaring you so much, for leaving you, for everything!” Garcello starts to list off. It was pretty obvious that this was all on him. He isn’t able to continue the long list of things that are his fault before Annie leans over the table and puts her hands around him again, much gentler this time.

“I thought we already went through this.” Annie grumbles. “You did nothing wrong, you had to leave!” Being a little less gentle, Annie lifts Garcello off the ground again, earning another startled squeak out of him. “Listen to me, little man! This isn’t your fault!”

Wow, Garcello’s never had the ‘Little Man’ card played against him. This was also probably the least painful context he could have been called Little Man in.

Hoisting him up and over the coffee table, Annie drops Garcello onto her lap. “This is no one’s fault.” Annie wrapped her arms around him and held him close. The chill radiating off her body freaked him out but the gentleness and care Annie was showing him helped him ease up a bit. “This isn’t anyone’s fault.” She repeats.

“I could argue against that.” Annie gave him a light squeeze in retaliation, but Garcello is quick to elaborate. “There’s one guy who’s done this to the both of us. Someone is to blame and if it isn’t me, then it’s him.”

It still baffled him how someone like that could even exist. How one man could cause so much pain and suffering, even indirectly. It didn’t feel right to just pin every bad thing that happens on him though, he still has agency with his actions. He left Annie, he started smoking, he gave up on his dream. Daddy Dearest was the catalyst of most of these choices, but they were still his. He wanted to take responsibility for what happened to Annie but she won’t let him. She made her own choices too and just as Garcello didn’t want to pin all his problems on Mr. Dearest, Annie didn’t want to blame Garcello for her abuse of this strange liquid.

They were both struggling and trying to point fingers wasn’t going to help.

“I won’t leave you again, Annie.” Garcello promises, returning the hug he’s been trapped in for a while now. “We’re gonna get through this together. If there’s anything you need or want to get off your chest, you can tell me.”

The rest of that day was a bizarre and uncanny stretch of three hours. Garcello spent some time trying to figure out how to get the door to close without a functioning door knob while Annie did a little tidying up. He really didn’t want to think of her this way, but Garcello couldn’t help but feel that he was sharing a room with a monster. Being next to Whitty sort of made him feel this way with his bomb head, but seeing his best friend change so suddenly made everything about her current appearance seem wrong. The beady red eyes, the bright blue skin, her cold touch. He wanted her to go back to normal, to see the old Annie again.

Annie was keeping her distance from him whenever she could, keeping her voice low whenever she spoke up. She must be aware of how shocking her appearance was and how intimidating she now looked. She was constantly hunched over to try and lower her profile and everything she did was done with exaggerated care and gentleness. She didn’t quite know her own strength anymore and she already hurt Garcello once by accident, she didn’t want to do it again.

All the while as they worked, they took the time to tell each other everything.

It was incredibly difficult to let himself be this open and vulnerable, but once he started he couldn’t stop. He had plenty of backed up thoughts and worries that needed airing out and he finally had someone who was willing to hear them. And of course, him wanting to lay all of his heavy, emotion packed thoughts onto Annie for his own benefit was something he was beating himself up for and airing out.

“I feel like I’m trapped.” Garcello grumbled as he rested his head against the door he managed to keep closed. “I want help, you want to help me, but I feel like I’m just shoving all my burdens into your arms to help myself.”

“Well I can probably carry them all just fine now.” Annie chuckles, trying to ease some of the tension. “But I know that feeling all too well.” Garcello turns to look up at Annie who has now taken a break from her tidying to take a seat next to him by the door. “I thought I was the reason you ran off three years ago.”

Garcello takes his attention away from the door and sits against it, looking towards Annie. He was terrified that something like this was the case and hearing it now just made him feel worse.

“You were just so nice to me, I couldn’t really wrap my head around it.” Annie continues. “You were so supportive and kind to a stranger you only just met. You kept coming back, helping me out and giving me ideas. When you suggested that I should try and sing professionally and that you’d actually help me, it felt too good to be true.”

“Everyone speaks up to me like I’m some kind of saint.” Garcello boggles. “I’m just trying to make people smile.”

“And you do a damn good job at it.” Annie insists, giving Garcello the lightest possible jab on the shoulder she can. “You might think you’re just being nice, but trust me when I say there’s probably more people out there who just wanna make everyone as miserable as they are. You’re sadly a rarity.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” People rarely got under his skin but there were a few exceptions. The most extreme example was of course Daddy Dearest, but even growing up there were just some kids who seemed to have it out for everyone. These people weren’t like Ruv at the café who’s hostile and rude, he doesn’t actively go out of his way to make everyone else around him miserable.

Knowing that Annie had transitioned only a year or two before he met her, he could only guess that she was a target for people like this. The sudden kindness of a stranger shouldn’t be something to be shocked by, but someone being bombarded with hate would probably be caught off guard by a sudden kind act. People like him who go out of their way to try and make people smile were rare and that was a damn shame.

“It felt too good to be true.” Annie repeats. “So much so that when you eventually left, I thought it was somehow my fault. Maybe I was being too needy, maybe I was too boring and you found something else to pursue. I would never have considered someone holding a grudge against you so the only reasonable explanation was that I was responsible for you leaving.”

“Sor-”

“Nu-uh!” Annie interrupts. “We already established that this wasn’t your fault. As heartbroken as I was to have you leave me alone, I couldn’t be mad at you. Even though you weren’t around to help anymore, you still did so much for me and helped me find others who cared about me and my music. But… I guess I couldn’t live up to their expectations on my own.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.” Garcello shakes his head. “It was your music, you were the leading vocalist, our success was carried by you.”

“I notice you’re underselling your own talent again, but it wasn’t that I was somehow bad at singing all of a sudden.” Annie shakes her head. “At least, I don’t think so. You helped me get to that point, you were right next to me on stage. If I messed up at any point or if something wrong happened, you were there to pick up the slack. Once you left, I was alone up there. Every mistake would be deafening without your backing vocals, every technical hiccup would leave me stunned on the stage for everyone to see. I could have kept going, but the fear of failure kept me from even trying anymore. I completely lacked the confidence to continue.”

“So then you started hitting the juice.” Garcello deduces grimly.

“Not exactly in the way you’re thinking just yet, but yes.” Annie nods. “I wanted to try and boost my confidence and the fastest and easiest method was to try and get physically stronger. I started jogging, working out and getting my diet fixed. Even though your absence led me to stop singing, it actually motivated me enough to find the courage to improve myself so I wasn’t reliant on others to follow my dreams. Though, after a while, I think I just kinda forgot about why I started working out in the first place, it was rewarding enough in itself that singing just sort of slipped my mind. I actually have a couple awards for parkour competitions from back then.”

“Parkour?!” Garcello raises his eyebrows. “Like jumping from rooftop to rooftop and doing flips?” Seriously, stage fright seems to be the worst of Annie’s fears but she’s willing to jump off buildings for fun?! She’s scared of the wrong things.

“It was around this time when I ended up finding ‘the liquid’.” Annie explains, emphasizing the word to let Garcello know that this was the liquid he was worried about. “There was some guy who frequented these same competitions, I forget his name exactly but I wanna say it started with a J. John? No! Jones! His name was Jones!”

“Is he the one who hooked you up?” Garcello asks.

“He drank the stuff all the time.” Annie nods. “He was a pretty built guy and he chugged down a lot of this stuff before each competition. I was curious and asked him what it was and he gave me a bottle to try. He described it as a very literal bottle of liquid courage. I think I had the same reaction you did from the smell alone but he said that it was what gave him the strength and confidence he needed to compete. Those two words were basically my end goal at the time, so I started drinking it too. I thought it was a mostly mental thing, like if you could hold down something this nasty you had to be strong willed or something. I guess it actually worked.”

“A little too well it looks like.” Garcello observes. Annie was growing faster than normally possible, it wasn’t just his mind playing tricks on him. Annie’s active lifestyle at the time would have made it a little less obvious, but now that she’s grown a good two feet overnight, it’s clear that this stuff was no joke. That wasn’t even including the fact that she was now literally blue. “So are you still getting it from him? Where does this stuff come from?”

“There’s this admittedly sketchy shop downtown.” Annie explains. “They sell all sorts of weird stuff there. None of it is illegal I don’t think but they keep a couple shipments of ‘the liquid’ on stock. They sell a bunch of other things like dietary supplements and protein powder and stuff. I don’t think they actually know what this stuff is capable of.”

“It’s not like smokes are illegal either and that stuff’s still dangerous.” Garcello points out. “Plenty of stuff is dangerous in excess, but some of them are harder to drop than others…”

“How are you, by the way?” Annie asks as Garcello falls into an uncomfortable silence. “Are you still holding up ok?”

“For the most part.” He’s practically forgotten what it was like to not have a headache. His body was still screaming at him to go for the fix all solution he didn’t have anymore, but those screams were getting quieter over time. “I’m still holding strong. It shouldn’t be long now before the withdrawals go away. I should hopefully be fine by the time the music fair is on.” Turning to look at Annie again, he continues. “What about you? You’ve changed quite a bit but you’re still acting fine.”

“I feel more than fine.” Annie says, clenching her fists and flexing her massive arms. “I feel like I could lift a car over my head! I honestly hope I end up running into Daddy Dearest so I can smash him flat. Just, BAM!” Annie leans forward and slams her fist down onto one of the empty bottles on the floor. It crumples instantly under the blow and a noticeable crack sounds from underneath it as the floor buckles under the impact. “Oops…”

“But do you want this to be a permanent change?” Garcello asks as Annie pulls her hands back and holds them in her lap so she can’t break anything else. “If you keep drinking that garbage you’re just going to get bigger and more destructive. You were already blindsided by side effects and there could be more on the horizon if you keep going.”

Reaching out for the crumpled bottle, Annie looks it over with a growing frown on her face. That liquid has become an addiction that she won’t be able to easily shake. When she felt small and weak, that juice was what kept her going. When Garcello felt stressed or unfocused, he turned to his smokes to keep his mind at ease. Garcello watched as Annie stared at the bottle, peeking inside to see if there was any left inside of it. She let out a light belch as she did and to Garcello’s disgust some of the liquid came back up and dribbled out of her mouth without her realizing.

“We gotta get rid of it.” Garcello states, pushing himself to his feet.

“Get rid of it?!” Annie suddenly pushes herself to her feet. “Wait a minute, we can’t just toss all of it!”

“Sure we can, it’s what I did.” Garcello counters, kneeling down and grabbing the half empty case of remaining juice. “This stuff is dangerous and drinking any more of it will only make your condition worse. There’s only one sure fire way of fixing this and that’s to cut you off entirely.”

“I don’t know, that seems a bit extreme.” Annie tries to fumble through an argument. “Maybe I could wean myself off of it or something, but just getting rid of all of it doesn’t sound right.”

“What’s happened to you is extreme.” Garcello shuts down the flimsy argument immediately. “Only extreme measures are going to get results now. You don’t need this stuff.” Taking the bottles with him, he walks over and unceremoniously dumped them all in the trash. “I won’t hear any talk about having just one more, it ends now.”

“No half measures.”

Annie looks stunned for a moment, her expression unable to settle on either being furious or grateful. It was one thing for Garcello to make the decision himself to throw his smokes away, but having someone tell her upfront that she has a problem before throwing it away right before her eyes has to be tough. She was staring at the trash can which still contained the intact bottles, they had to go out the back or down the drain to ensure she wouldn’t be tempted.

“You’ve done me a huge favor by letting me stay here.” Garcello continues as he bags up the contents of the bin to run it out to the dumpster. “I know you said I helped you by getting you into singing, but that was just common courtesy from me. Let me do something that might actually save your life.” She put herself on the line to keep him safe, the least he could do would be to return the favor.

“You’re going to be here to help me through whatever comes next?” Annie asks as Garcello nudges the door open to get rid of the liquid.

“Of course.” Garcello responds within a second. “I’m not leaving you again any time soon.”

Maybe the stress got to him, maybe it was just getting late. Whatever the case, Garcello doesn’t remember falling asleep. Trying to force his eyes open, Garcello finds he’s face down on the carpet. His head still pounded with pain, but that wasn’t going away anytime soon. He did notice that the pain was starting to dull, this wasn’t his worst morning he’s woken up to so he’s still getting better.

Working up the strength to push himself off the ground, he notices a loud snoring coming from nearby. Once he actually tries to get up, he finds that his legs are pinned beneath something. Craning his neck to see what's behind him, he finds the source of the snoring. Annie has fallen asleep next to him, lying on the floor and resting her head against the couch. She must have been exhausted with how early she woke up yesterday and how stressed she was waiting for him to come back. She must have slipped at some point in the night because now most of her is lying on top of his legs.

And she was drooling.

No, that didn’t properly convey how much liquid was coming out of her mouth. This was a steady trickle of the blue liquid he threw out pouring out right onto his sweatpants. He lets out a silent scream of disgust and pain as he realizes that they’ve been soaked through and a growing stain was forming around Annie as the liquid soaked into the carpet. Cringing the whole way, Garcello tries to shimmy his way from beneath her while trying not to disturb Annie’s rest.

His efforts are in vain as his attempt to escape ends up jostling Annie awake just enough to notice the horrible taste in her mouth. Sucking in a startled gasp that immediately fills up with the liquid, Annie jolts awake with a sputtering cough, splattering everything in front of her as she tries to clear her throat.

“Good morning.” Garcello greets as Annie presses her palms into her eyes to try and wake up. When she finally starts to gain focus, she turns to look out the window to see how early it was. As she does, she lowers her hands to the floor to prop herself up when she notices how damp the ground beneath her is. “Uh, yeah. You drool in your sleep, just a heads up.”

“Is that what...?” Annie presses her hand against the damp floor again and Garcello nods. “Geez.” Annie wipes her mouth, grimacing at the mess she’s made.

“You’re looking better though.” Garcello points out, desperate to give her some good news to wake up to. It wasn’t much better but her blue skin was starting to fill out again, the black sclera of her eyes were starting to fill in gray. There was still obviously something wrong with her and it looks like her body is just leaking that liquid out of every orifice, but she’s slowly pushing it out of her system and returning to normal.

“I’m not feeling any better.” Annie grumbles, taking on a light green tint around her cheeks. “I can feel it sloshing around.”

“At least it doesn’t smell any worse coming back up.” Garcello comments, struggling to find something positive to say at the moment. “Go ahead and get a shower in to try and clean off, I got some friends who might be able to take your mind off things.”

“What time is it? We’re going out now?” Annie looks back to the window again to confirm it was still dark out.

“Do you think you can get back to sleep anytime soon?” Garcello questions. Annie tries to lean back down but the dampness of the floor and the taste in her mouth unsettles her enough for her to give up and push herself off the floor. “Trust me, some crisp 3 AM air does the soul good.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to head out this late?” Annie asks, the stranger at the door still fresh in her mind.

“Absolutely.”

“Garcello!” Walking into the Earlybird Café always brought a lot of attention to you. Whether you were a regular or a stranger, everyone always turned to get a read on you as you entered. However, it seems the strange change of mood from last night has persisted into today. To Garcello’s surprise, a few of the tables were actually bunched up together and several small cliques had formed. It was such a departure from the original secluded atmosphere of the place that Garcello briefly wondered if he had walked into the wrong building.

Seeing Whitty waving him over confirms to him that this is the right place.

Stepping inside, he turns around and gestures for Annie to come along. She has to duck to get in through the door and for a moment the café falls back into its familiar tense silence as everyone gets a good look at her. Ruv, who’s still standing guard by the door, actually stares wide eyed at her as she steps in. Ruv was still a few inches taller than her but Annie was easily twice as wide to make up for the height difference. Annie stares back at him, clearly startled by the intimidating, one eyed Russian man staring down at her, but she keeps her head held high and returns the glare.

Ruv lets out an amused chuckle and waves her off with a smirk. It must have been a while since anyone had any guts to stand up to him even a little. Quickly returning to Garcello’s side, he and Annie make their way to the bunched up tables at the corner of the café with plenty of familiar faces.

“Uh, who’s your friend?” Whitty asks as he stares up at Annie. There isn’t any fear or concern in his eyes, just awe as he takes in the sight of the massive lava lamp of a woman. Garcello sees that Whitty is wearing the worn cap he gave him yesterday. He’s got it on backwards and he’s threaded his fuse through the bullet hole in the brim.

“My old singing partner I told you about.” Garcello introduces. “This is Annie.”

“I didn’t even recognize you! You’ve gotten so tall!” Whitty wasn’t the only one here at the table. It startled him when he first walked in but Hex was here as well. He was the last person he would have expected to find in a place like this, but he was friends with both of them so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’d tag along to hang out with them. There was one other person in their group and he already had a good idea who she could be.

“That was the first thing you noticed, Hex? Not the fact that she’s bright blue?” There was a shorter woman hugged up next to Whitty. She had a head of hair so poofy and thick that she could probably use it as a pillow if she wanted to. This must be Carol, Whitty’s sweetheart he was talking about the other day.

“I’m…” Annie hesitates as she kneels down next to the table, not wanting to risk applying her weight onto one of the chairs. “I’m just going through some stuff right now.”

“Tell me about it.” Whitty hums, picking at one of the plates he’s gathered at the table. “Go ahead and take a seat, tell us what’s on your mind.”

“Alright, let’s get some basic introductions out of the way.” Garcello announces as he takes his own seat next to Hex. Annie sits down cross legged next to the table, her size still allowing her to sit at eye level with everyone else on their chairs. “You already know Hex, but bomberman here is Whitty and who I assume is his sweetheart Carol.”

“And you must be this new friend Whitty was going on and on about.” The young woman chuckled. “You have no idea what it means to him to have someone new he can trust.” She gives Whitty’s hand a light squeeze in her own. Whitty looks more relaxed and calm than Garcello’s ever seen him. Sitting here surrounded by his friends, he has nothing to worry or fear over. Carol then turns over to look at Annie. “So is she always blue?”

“Like I said, I’m going through a lot of stuff.” Annie replies shyly.

“I’m kinda into it.” Carol leans forward for a closer look. “The red eyes too, and the muscles. Man, Sunday would kill to have someone like you on stage.”

“You’re not freaked out?” Annie asks in confusion.

“I keep company with a walking doomsday device and a robot who was programmed to play basketball. I like to keep things interesting.” Carol responds. Annie might be the biggest, most intimidating person in the room right now, but she wasn’t exactly out of place with the multitude of bizarre characters that frequent this place.

“You may look different now, but you’re still the same deep down.” Hex chips in. “Whatever the reason for your change in appearance, I’m sure you’ll pull through no matter what comes your way!”

“Thanks Hex.” Annie says with a smile. Annie insisted that they tried to stick to alleys and back roads to try and keep her out of sight. Being accepted regardless of her strange appearance helped her relax and feel normal after a very stressful twenty four hours.

Unfortunately, the good mood doesn’t last as someone new walks through the door. Garcello saw the slicked back orange hair and the gun in the kid's hand and swore under his breath.

“Here you all are.” Pico beamed, looking over the crowded café. He makes it a couple steps in, twirling his gun around his finger when Ruv suddenly steps in and bars him from going any further. “Hey, what gives?! I’m here to watch over you dumbasses, am I not allowed in?”

“You don’t need that to be here.” Ruv eyes the large automatic firearm in Pico’s hands. “You leave it with me if you want to come inside.” Pico tries to step past him and instead of shoving him back, Ruv snatches the gun out of Pico’s hand. Ruv swiftly ejects the mag and clears the chamber before sliding it all back on his table. “You can have it back when you leave.”

Garcello can see that Pico wants to argue but the fight leaves him when Ruv stares him down with his one eye. With a frustrated growl, Pico drops it and walks into the café while Ruv returns to his spot to hide the gun he just stole.

“Do you know this guy?” Annie pulls his attention away from Pico for a moment. Looking at the others, he finds Whitty is staring daggers at the merc too.

“Yeah, I do.” Garcello mumbles, lightly scratching his bandaged nose rather than elaborating. He really wanted to just leave it at that and try to return to a normal conversation, but his and Whitty’s glare must have caught Pico’s attention because he marches up right to their table.

“Well here’s the strangest fucking bunch of weirdo’s I’ve ever seen in one place!” Pico barks as he pulls up a seat across from them. “A hobo, a big blue monster, a robot, and a bomb with angry eyes.”

“Hello!” Hex greets, either oblivious to how rude the merc was being or just trying desperately to act friendly in hopes he’ll change.

“Also, like one random normal gal.” Pico waves dismissively towards Carol. “So, what are you misfits doin’ here? Is this where the freaks normally converge?”

“Yes, and you weren’t invited.” Whitty retorts, his voice taking on a distorted tone that slightly rumbles the table they’re sitting at. Carol scoots a little bit closer to him, she’s trying to keep him calm but this ginger isn’t making it easy.

“I crash parties all the time, get used to it.” Pico ignores the warning and leans back in his chair. “If you freaks are just gonna sit here and talk about your feelings or whatever, that just makes my job easier.” Pulling out his phone, Pico makes an effort to ignore their existence.

“Wow, you’re the bodyguard that GF hired?” Carol scoffs, completely unimpressed by the bratty punk sitting in front of her. “I was hoping the life of me and my friends were in the hands of someone more professional.”

“Babysitting isn’t my specialty!” Pico is quick to defend himself. “Shooting people is! Unfortunately, I don’t get to do the job I’m good at until you guys start getting in trouble. If you want to see what I can really do, go ahead and walk outside with big targets painted on your backs, that ought to get Dearest’s attention.”

“I’ve already had my life in your hands once and I slipped away, I’d rather not have you be responsible for keeping me safe.” Garcello isn’t really sure where that outburst came from, he wasn’t really one to pick fights but Pico’s intrusion into this safe haven to pester and belittle them was only fueling his headache.

“You may have pulled a fast one on me, but if it wasn’t for Girlfriend you’d be swiss cheese right now!” Pico’s sitting up in his chair now. Clearly the fact that he let an exhausted recovering smoker outrun him was still a fresh wound.

“Oh, so this is the asshole who broke your nose!” Annie deduces. She flashes Pico her mouth or razor sharp teeth and tries to push herself back onto her feet, but Hex is quick to de-escalate things.

“Hey! There’s no need for us to get violent!” He tries to reason. “This is a safe place! No one is here to hurt anyone!” Annie starts to settle back down onto the floor and Hex turns to focus on Pico. “Clearly you have some troubled history with some of my friends, but you’re helping us now, right? What’s your name, maybe we can work together to work things out.”

“Hey, you’re way more cooperative than the other idiot’s I’m being forced to protect! I like you!” Even someone as despicable as Pico wasn’t immune to Hex’s charm it seems. Hex beams with pride as he effortlessly makes a new friend. “The name’s Pico. I wouldn’t bother learning it though. I don’t plan on doing any more babysitting jobs after this and I doubt any of you have the cash or a grudge needed to hire me. Especially you, tin stuff.”

“Why did you take this job then?” Garcello decides to butt in again despite his better judgment. A small part of him is still curious behind the grander scheme of things and Pico seems like he’d have answers seeing as he was directly hired by Little Lady. “Do you have any personal stake in this?”

“I guess it’s obvious enough that I want no part of this job.” Pico mumbles, stealing something off of one of Whitty’s plates that he hasn’t touched since he walked in. Whitty shoots him a death glare but Pico doesn’t acknowledge it. “Nene’s actually been hounding me over taking this job. It’s slow, boring, and it doesn’t pay nearly as well up front as the alternative job offers from Girlfriend’s dad. You’re right, I do have a personal reason why I’m doing this shit job. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“I thought I caught something about it a couple days ago.” Garcello mentions. “Something about wanting to keep ‘Little Blueba-”

“Do you like breathing through your nose?!” Pico leans forward and gets right up in Garcello’s face. “Finish that sentence and I’ll bust your nose up so bad it will lodge itself into your brain!”

“SIT DOWN!”
“Please sit down.”

Both Whitty and Hex both speak up at the same time. Whitty bellows out his demands with a slam of his fists against the table while Hex makes a desperate plea to Pico to calm down. Garcello isn’t sure which one managed to convince him, but Pico does as he’s told and sits back down. Garcello wipes the back of his hand against his forehead to clear the sweat that started to build up. That was too close.

“I got history with GF’s boyfriend.” Pico explains in a monotone voice. “I don’t like Girlfriend all that much but what she’s paying isn’t that much lower than what her dad’s offering and I don’t want anything bad happening to BF.”

“So what, you’re ex’s or something?” Carol asks, earning her a nasty glare from Pico which earns him a nasty glare from Whitty. Carol only returns a smug look back, Pico couldn’t do anything to her here.

“Like I said, I have my own personal reasons for taking this job.” Pico all but admits that he and Little Man were a thing at one point. Garcello had guessed as much, but it still baffled him that Little Man seemed to have such dangerous tastes. “He’s a dumbass who needed someone to keep him out of trouble. We were together for a few years but things eventually broke off as I started work. I didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone, but I didn’t have much of a choice. So imagine my surprise when I get a job from the biggest freak in town asking me to get rid of the little shit dating his daughter. I leave him alone for one second and he’s already dating a literal demon spawn. I need to keep an eye out for him because he’s too oblivious and egotistical to think rationally.”

“Kinda reminds me of someone.” Annie speaks up, shooting a glance at Garcello.

“I’m not that bad, am I?” Garcello tries to argue.

“You wanted to refuse my help and live on the streets because you didn’t want to bother me, you are that bad!” Annie retorts, crossing her arms. “You could be starving on the streets and you’d probably refuse to take any food offered to you. You’re too nice for your own good.”

“Nah, that’s bullshit.” Pico interrupts. “I still got a lump in my head from his little sneak attack. He can be mean when he wants to.”

“I guess it doesn’t help my case if I say I’m extremely sorry for that.” Garcello mumbles.

“If you’re apologizing for defending yourself, then big blue is right, you’re way too soft.” Pico reaches his hand up to scratch his head but flinches as he brushes against the welt in his head. “Sorry isn’t gonna make this go away though. Now, no more personal shit. Just continue whatever you were talking about before I showed up.” Pico pulls out his phone again, scooting his chair back to give them some space but keep them in his peripherals.

The intense encounter with Pico helped give Garcello a better read on both Carol and Whitty, though he can tell that Whitty’s outbursts were something he tried to restrain. Carol seems to just radiate this smug, laid back aura that could be equal parts relaxing and infuriating depending on the situation. It must be a hard balance to keep, especially with someone like Whitty at her side. As for Whitty, it looks like he’s got a shorter fuse than he thought.

He got loud when Pico started making threats, his fuse had started to smoke and his eyes burned like embers. He was holding himself back with Carol’s help, but things could have easily boiled over if Pico didn’t back down. Garcello couldn’t blame him. He’s put up with so much while trying to be so nice, all that frustration’s gotta be burning him away.

They tried to get back to a more pleasant topic, and to Hex’s credit he managed to get everyone talking about the fair. All of them were going to be participating, Garcello and Annie were a pair and Carol and Whitty were too. Hex was going solo and to all of their surprise, Pico offhandedly mentioned that he was participating too.

“I have other interests.” Pico said when he noticed everyone had turned their attention towards him. “I was with Boyfriend for a few years, remember? I’m not as good as him but I got some bars.”

That got the conversation to shift over to the blue haired rascal. For just a moment, Pico and Whitty shared a friendly conversation about how stubborn and annoying Little Man can be sometimes before they returned to their normal glaring. Even Carol told a couple stories about him from the time he challenged her to a rap off (because of course she met him during a singing competition. That’s how he greets everyone apparently.) Garcello couldn’t wait to see him again, he’s learned so much about Little Man but other than the two songs they shared together he never really got a chance to know him personally.

Some time passes and Garcello pushes off the table, the sun would be up soon.

“It was nice to catch up with all of you, but I think it’s time me and Annie got back home.” Garcello announces as he tries to help Annie off the floor. “We still haven’t even practiced for the fair yet.”

“Oh, it’s almost morning, isn’t it?” Whitty realizes with a jolt and gets up too. “Do you mind if I come with you for the sunrise?” Garcello turns and gives him a nod, beckoning him to follow. Whitty takes Carol’s hand, explaining to her what was so exciting about what was about to happen as Hex stood up too.

“Ah, the sunrise!” He proclaimed. “My reserve power was starting to run a little low, I could use a recharge.”

“Oh, you’re all still in one group?” Pico pulls his attention away from his phone and kicks off his chair. “Cool, don’t gotta waste anyone else's time to keep you all in check.” Guess that means he’s coming too.

Together, their big group of six funnels out of the café, pausing for a moment as Pico recollects his gun from Ruv at the door. Looking up at the sky, they still have a little less than an hour before the sun rises. After a quick ask around, they decide to all converge at the park before splitting off to go home.

Of course, they took the back alleys and side roads to get there. Whitty and Annie were still anxious about being seen in public and Pico wanted as little attention drawn to them as possible. It wasn’t as scenic and it smelt a lot worse with all the dumpsters and garbage piled around, but they kept their spirits high through continued conversation. Annie especially was starting to grow more talkative as they went after being unnerved by the tension surrounding Pico.

Things felt so… normal. No stress, no fear, and to Garcello’s surprise, no headache.

So when Pico suddenly shushed everyone up and pulled his gun, Garcello’s mood came crashing down hard.

“Shut up you idiots!” Pico ordered in a hushed tone. “I think there’s someone following us!” That set everyone on edge. The six of them stopped in the middle of a particularly long alley sandwiched between two apartment buildings. Straining his ears, Garcello can make out footsteps farther behind them, lots of them. “Keep going, quietly!” Pico waves them forward, falling to the back of the group to keep watch of their six as they push up.

Garcello’s heart was beginning to race. Other than Pico himself, he hasn’t even heard of anything going on with Daddy Dearest or the people he was after. Had he been more pessimistic and paranoid he might have thought that the last few days were too good to be true, but he was so carried away with meeting new people and fighting his addiction that the very real threat and price on their heads was all but forgotten. It must have been a growing worry in his subconscious because right now there were days of pent up anxiety bombarding his mind and shortening his breaths.

“Garcello?!” A massive, cold hand gripped down gently around his shoulder. “It’s ok, just breathe.” Annie pulls him a little closer to her and having someone so big loom over him protectively did make him feel a little safer, if not just a bit claustrophobic.

“How much should we be worrying right now?” He heard Carol ask in a whisper. “Most of us are pretty strong, we could take a few guys in a fight.”

“Oh, I don’t want to fight!” Hex lets out a low, electronic whine. “I could easily outrun them if it came to it, but I don’t want to leave you guys behind.”

“If you stay behind me, anyone who tries to hurt you guys will end up in a ditch.” Pico assures, not taking his eyes off the path they came down. “Hey, Gary or whatever, stop wheezing! You’re gonna give us away.”

Garcello couldn’t stop himself, he was hyperventilating. Everything was coming at him way too fast and his lungs were struggling to keep up. The reassuring squeezes on his shoulders as Annie leads him forward are the only thing keeping him from passing out right now. Things were fine, he tried to reason with himself, Pico’s got their backs. They just had to get out of this alley and they can make a rush for-

“We caught our lucky break boys!” Garcello’s insides fill with icy dread as the end of the alley is suddenly blocked off by five very familiar looking thugs. “We got six of them all bunched up together! Daddy’s gonna pay us big time for bringing these idiots in!” Red skin, pointed horns, and a mile wide, toothy grin that contorted each of their faces. These were the very same devils that stalked Garcello three years ago. Turning around, he finds another group of five approaching from behind. They were trapped.

“I wouldn’t take another step if I were either of you!” Pico bellows out, his voice taking on a tense but still controlled tone. “I’m on your bosses payroll! I’d bet all of these guys’ bounties that you’d pay a lot more for hurting me than you’d get paid for cashing them in!”

“Guess that means you didn’t hear the news, red head!” One of the demons in front of them pushed ahead, the only defining feature to distinguish him from the rest being a large gold nugget in place of a tooth. “You and your little rugrat pals have all been promoted to Daddy’s shitlist! He knows you’ve been slackin’ on the job and after two flukes from you already you’ve lost his trust. When he hears that you’ve actually been pallin’ around with your targets he’s gonna be pissed!”

“So…” Pico’s imposing tone crumbles away and is replaced with one that Garcello can’t quite identify. He really doesn’t like the growing smirk on his face though. “Guess that means there’s no easy way out of this then.”

“That’s right kiddo.” With a practiced flair, the lead goon flicks out a knife from his sleeve. “We get to do this the hard way.”

Garcello wanted to back away, but there were five more demons behind them as well as a massive Annie who was still holding her ground. Looking towards the others, they weren’t doing any better than he was. Hex was completely stunned into silence, his body unmoving but his eyes darting from corner to corner of his screen to try and find an escape route. Carol’s cool demeanor was finally starting to crack and she was looking up to Whitty to do something.

Garcello’s pulse might have doubled when he saw that Whitty’s fuse was lit.

He was breathing hard through clenched teeth, his eyes were ablaze with an unfocused fury. He was tapping into a bottomless well of anger and frustration and Garcello didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he finally let loose.

Pico wasn’t phased by the threats at all. As the demons marched forward with their knives, Pico’s grin only grew wider. It wasn’t nearly as wide or cartoonishly uncanny as the demon’s, but it held the same amount of sadistic malice as theirs did.

The six of them were in a standoff as the demons closed in. Whitty and Pico were itching for a fight and he could tell from how tense Annie was behind him that she was going to throw punches if anyone came close to them. With panic surging through his body at a debilitating speed, Garcello wasn’t sure if he would physically be able to throw a punch, let alone work up the courage to actually fight back. Things were looking increasingly grim as the demons got closer and closer, until a warning from a familiar voice sounded off from above.

“HEADS UP PICO!” Garcello shoots his gaze up to find the source of the voice but the sight of something burning flying over his head forces him to duck down. There was the sound of broken glass followed by a sudden heat wave from behind them. The alley was suddenly illuminated in a bright burning flame and the startled screams from behind them helped him conclude that the demons behind them weren’t going to be going any farther.

“GOOD SHIT DARNELL!” Pico cheers, confirming Garcello’s suspicions over who their mysterious savior could be. “HAUL ASS EVERYONE!”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

Chapter Text

Garcello stumbled forward maybe two or three steps before Annie lifted him off his feet. He was haphazardly slung over her shoulder as she charged forward, sparing him from having to witness the collision they were about to make. He was able to get a good look at the fire that had completely consumed the alley behind them though. Thankfully no one was actually caught up in the flames but he could see one of the demons was down, the others trying to beat out the fire clinging to his jacket.

Gunshots rang out behind him and he threw his hands up to cover his ears. The deafening sound bounced around in his skull, completely drowning out his thoughts with an ear splitting ringing. He squeezed his eyes shut and just prayed that Annie could get him away from all of this.

A sudden jolt forces Garcello to pull his hands away from his ears to hold on tight. Annie stumbles a bit but is quick to recover, propping Garcello back up to better secure him onto her shoulder. They just pushed through the gang of demons blocking them off. He could see two of them pushing off the ground to give chase, but even more worrying were the three who were motionless on the ground. Garcello squeezes his eyes shut again, not wanting to see if they were dead or not. He didn’t care what they were or what they wanted to do to him, he didn’t want anyone’s death to be on his hands, even tangentially.

They just kept running. Garcello just tried to keep his breakfast in with all the jostling around. He could probably run on his own but he didn’t want to risk having another coughing fit while running for his life. The bumpy ride was something he’d take over struggling to breathe more than he already was.

After a while, he opened his eyes again, thankful to find that no one was following them. His surroundings were familiar too, they made it to the park. Annie’s steps become more unsteady and slow over time until she eventually comes to a stop. She unceremoniously lets Garcello roll off her shoulder onto the floor as she falls forward and kneels down on the grass.

She then proceeds to vomit uncontrollably.

Garcello pushes himself up onto shaky feet, stumbling over to pat her on the back as she lets it all out. With all the stress, exertion and that nasty liquid sloshing around in her it was only a matter of time before it came flooding out. Desperate to keep himself from blowing chunks too, he tries to block out the splattering sound as he looks up to check on the others.

Everyone else is shaken, but they’re all thankfully ok.

Whitty has his face buried in Carol’s hair as he holds her tight, his fuse much shorter than it used to be but it’s no longer burning. Carol herself seems to have recovered her chill and protective mannerisms almost instantly, working overtime to calm Whitty down and to do the same for Hex. The tall robot made it out just fine, but judging by the bent antenna and the fuzzy resolution on his display, he’s more than unnerved. As for Pico…

Pico had a big smile on his face as he spun his still smoking gun back into his pants.

“Told you I was a professional when I got to do my job properly!” He gloats as he looks over his clients who are either all barely recovering or on the verge of a breakdown. “I could have easily taken them all down, but I guess it’s more important to get you idiots as far away from them as possible.”

“I… I think I knew those guys.” Garcello said with a shudder. “I saw them three years ago. Are… are they dead?!”

“You might have seen them around, but I seriously doubt they’re the same exact ones you met.” Pico shakes his head. “You noticed how they all look exactly the same, right? There are hundreds of those idiots and they all have the lifespan of a goldfish. Don’t get your nuts in a twist over their deaths, they’re soulless husks designed to do Dearest’s bidding.”

That does very little to assure Garcello and he isn’t sure if he should be relieved or terrified. He wasn’t sure what idea scared him more, the fact that Dearest had an army of soulless demons willing to kill in his name, or the idea that Pico was just bullshitting to distance himself from the fact that he just killed three…

“Maybe my hearing is messed up, but I could have sworn I only heard two shots but saw three bodies.” Garcello scratches his ear, there was still a light ringing that wasn’t gone yet.

“You are not mistaken.” Hex confirms. “Pico only fired and hit two targets.” He says this in an uncharacteristic, robotic monotone. He was simply listing off facts, what he witnessed wasn’t something to be cheery about.

“Then what happened to the third one?”

“How much do you guys think this is worth?” Everyone’s attention turns to Whitty. Held in his hand which Garcello can now see has bloody knuckles is the gold tooth belonging to the leader of the group of demons. Guess that answers his question.

“God damn!” Pico says in awe as he leans in to look at the massive gold nugget. “I don’t know how hard you had to have hit him to pull that free, but that’s definitely gotta be worth something. I know a few fences you could pawn it off to if you’re interested.”

“I don’t need the money.” Whitty hums as he turns over the tooth in his hand. He brings his other hand up to scratch at his round head when his fingers brush against his cap. His eyes then turn to Garcello. “Why don’t you have it?”

“Me?” Whitty doesn’t even give him time to object before he tosses the tooth his way. He’s quick to snatch it out of the air, not wanting it to fall into the growing puddle of glowing sick pooling up beneath Annie.

“To pay you back for all you’ve done for me.” Whitty answers the question Garcello didn’t even get the chance to ask. It was too much, he just took a walk with the guy and gave him a beat up old hat, he didn’t need to be paid back for something as simple as that. Thinking back on the conversation about him being too nice and refusing to accept help, he decides there’s no point in trying to argue against the overly generous gesture. He was homeless now, he could really use the money he could get pawning this off.

“You feeling better Annie.” With everyone else accounted for, Garcello returns his attention to trying to help Annie. Annie gives him a weak nod and holds out a hand for him to help her up. She’s left an insane amount of mess in the grass, all of it still an unnaturally bright blue.

“Do I look like I’m feeling better?” Annie asks in a miserable tone, still shuddering from the weakness in her legs.

“Surprisingly, yeah.” Garcello replies. She looked like absolute garbage, there was no getting around that with what she just went through, but there have been some positive changes though. She managed to expel more of that strange liquid and it shows, the darkness in her eyes was practically non-existent at this point, returning her eyes back to their former glory. Her skin had lost some more of its transparency and hue, leaving her to look unnaturally pale. She didn’t look healthy, far from it, but considering the fact that she was bright blue this morning she was swiftly returning to normal.

That said, it couldn’t have been good for her to lose that much fluid that fast.

“You’re just trying to be nice again.” Annie mumbles as she pulls him close. As she does, Garcello realizes with a shock that she’s actually shrunk down too. She was still a few inches taller than him, but she was no longer the imposing giant she became.

“Nah, I’m serious.” Garcello assures. “Sure you look a little worse for wear, but I can fix that up pretty quick. I’ll help you through this.” He gives her a reassuring squeeze before letting her go. She looks completely drained, mentally and physically, but the look of pure gratitude on her face lets him know that she’ll pull through.

Feeling a warmth on the back of his neck, Garcello turns to find the sunrise peeking through the tree line, illuminating the stretch of the park they were all sitting in.

Five days.

It would be nice if every other sunrise didn’t have a life threatening disaster that came before it, but the hardships he keeps enduring just to see it is proof enough that he would stick around to see the next. Looking towards the others, Whitty stares calmly towards the sunrise, Carol following his gaze and leaning into his chest. Hex’s perturbed state suddenly lifts as he starts getting fresh power from his solar panels.

Pico stares at all of them in confusion as they all start to get emotional over something so boring.

“Alright then, what’s the plan from here?” He asks to break up their staring, bringing them all back to the present. Right, they were almost killed in an alley not that long ago. “You guys said you could make it back to your places from here right?”

“I live down in the suburbs.” Carol explains. “It’s not exactly close, but it’s just a short bus ride from here.”

“Maybe I should go with you.” Whitty mentions with some concern. “If ten of them were waiting in an alley for us, there could be more in town.”

“I’ll leave you two to it then.” Pico says. “You know how to bash some skulls in if you need to so I don’t have to worry about you too much.”

“Good, that means I get to see less of you.” Whitty sneers, pushing himself up to his feet and taking Carol’s hand.

“Feeling's mutual, angry eyes.” Pico gives them both a dismissive wave as they start to leave the park. “What about you Hex? Got any place safe to lay low?”

“I’m usually here in the park most of the time.” Hex responds gloomily. “It’s hard to imagine someplace like the park being unsafe now.” Standing up straighter and putting his best face forward, Hex quickly beats back his sadness with optimism. “I may not have a house to hide out in, but I have a hiding place that’s even better! I can guarantee no one will find me until the day of the fair!” With a beaming smile, he turns his attention towards the distance. “Pico, Garcello, Annie. You all stay safe. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost even one of you.”

With that, Hex starts running off through the park.

“So that just leaves you two.” Pico turns to face Garcello and Annie. “Where are you guys crashing?”

“My apartment isn’t that far.” Annie says weakly, leaning against Garcello for support. “We could probably make it there in ten minutes.”

“You think you can make it that far?” Pico asks with a raised eyebrow and… is that a hint of concern? “You don’t look nearly as big or blue. It wouldn’t kill me to see you two back home safely.”

“Thank you.” Annie nods, still leaning heavily on Garcello as he tries to prop her up with an arm slung around her shoulder. “Come on, it’s not far.”

“Lead the way, big blue.” Pico gestures for them to start moving, so with a little push to get her going, Annie begins marching through the park to get back to the streets. As Garcello helps her along, he notices that with a lot of that garbage now out of her system, her body temperature was starting to heat back up to a normal level.

“Ya know…” Pico speaks up from behind them as they continue to walk home. “Big blue doesn’t really work out. You’re still taller than me and the hobo you’re shacked up with and you’re more pale than blue now. I need to come up with better nicknames.”

“We got real names too, you know?” Garcello snaps back. Something about this loudmouthed ginger kid just pushes all of the wrong buttons for him. He doesn’t pick fights and he can brush off insults no problem, but every dumb thing this guy says sticks to him like glue.

“I already told you, I’m not interested in learning them if I don’t have to.” Pico says dismissively before shifting to a more thoughtful tone. “Although, I’m not working as a merc anymore, I’m a bodyguard now. It’s not like you two idiot’s are gonna be popping up on anyone else's hit list any time soon, so what the hell. Lay it on me, who are you two?”

“Annie.” Annie is quick to reply, much to Garcello’s disappointment. He barely wanted to acknowledge this kid's existence right now but the nice, rational side of his brain was demanding he not be rude and to answer the question.

“Garcello.” He grumbles out.

“Oh! You’re the one Darnell was talking about?!” The surprise in Pico’s voice catches Garcello off guard and he turns to look at him. To his shock, the face that looks back at him was almost unrecognizable. “He actually wouldn’t shut up about you. It was like he was talking about a long time friend, not a client he picked up that day. Shit, Annie here isn’t kidding. You must be the nicest guy in the world to win someone over that fast!” The arrogant, dismissive, and frankly psychotic look on Pico’s face was suddenly replaced with genuine interest and kindness. It was such a bizarre look on him that Garcello actually gasped. For just a moment, he thinks he saw the version of Pico that Darnell was talking about, the one that Little Man must have fallen for.

“Darnell was the one who bailed us out back there, is he alright?” Garcello asks.

“Did he throw a molotov?!” Annie asks as well. “How did he even know we were back there?! Does he just carry those around?”

“With work as dangerous as ours, we’ve got a habit of sticking together and keeping an eye on each other all the time.” He explains. “He probably saw us all and the gang trailing behind us and got in position to ambush them. And yes, he does carry molotov’s everywhere he goes. Lucky too, he could have thrown something a bit more volatile if he wasn’t concerned about taking out you guys in the blast.”

“Then pass our thanks on to him when you get the chance.” Garcello asks. “He saved us.”

“Am I gonna get a thank you too?” Pico asks, slipping back into the arrogant persona Garcello was more familiar with. “I took out two of them when they charged forward, I saved your life too.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks Pico.” Garcello mumbles with a bit of a smirk. There was a decent person buried in there somewhere, he just needed to bring him up to the surface somehow. “So, I guess we’ll see you at the fair then?”

“Contractually obligated to be there, so yeah.” Pico shakes his head. “My boys should have things covered while I keep watch from the stage. I guess we’ll be competing against each other too since we’re both performing. Don’t expect me to go easy on you, Wheezer.”

Garcello didn’t have any comeback for that jab that he wouldn’t immediately regret so he elected to stay silent for the rest of the walk. It was something that he was worried about, his cough hasn’t gone away yet and probably wouldn’t any time soon. It would probably take weeks of endurance training and staying away from smokes before his lungs could be considered healthy, but he had a few days before the fair where he’ll be singing on stage.

Worse yet, he and Annie hadn’t even had time to practice anything yet. What would they sing? Good Enough was still fresh on their minds and would surely be a hit, but they’d still need to rehearse. It was kinda hard to focus on singing when they were going through so much.

And it wasn’t over yet, they still had some time to go and problems to work out before they could perform.

They make it back to the apartment without any conflict and Pico leaves them at the front door. Taking the elevator up and jimmying the busted door open, Garcello and Annie find themselves back in the comfort and safety of their home. Together, they both stumble over and collapse onto the couch, completely exhausted.

“Can we both just agree that today is canceled?” Annie pleads, practically melting into her seat.

“Yeah, I had enough of today.” Garcello nods his head. “We should probably get you fixed up before we call it a day though.” He sighs, forcing himself off of the couch.

Annie was starting to look more like herself, but she lost what looked like gallons of fluid as well as her breakfast. She looked frail and drained of all energy, she needed something to replace everything she lost, preferably something more beneficial than that nasty blue liquid.

Wandering around in the kitchen, there wasn’t all that much to work with. He filled up a tall glass of water from the tap at least, something to drink would help a lot but that still left the question of what to eat. Garcello was no cook, his old place didn’t even have a working stove. He spent all of his time on the streets and ate out pretty much every chance he got. Guess there was a first time for everything.

“Alright, brace yourself.” Garcello warns as he returns to the living room with Annie’s glass of water. “I have no idea what I’m about to make or if it will even be edible.”

“Jeez, it sounds like you’re about to make a bomb.” Annie laughs, gracious for the glass of water. “I doubt you’ll burn the house down, you’ll figure something out.” Garcello laughs along and returns to the kitchen with a nervous smile. What was that mixture Darnell was talking about, tinfoil and something? He shakes his head and tries not to think about it too much, he isn’t going to blow something up by accident.

Digging through the cupboards again, he finds something that should be as straightforward and simple as possible: pasta. Filling a pot up with water and turning up the heat, he waits for the water to boil as he works out what to make with the noodles.

“Are you doing alright, Garcello?” Annie calls out from the living room.

“Haven’t burned anything yet, so I’m doing fine.” Garcello replies.

“No, I mean, just in general.” Annie elaborates in a somber tone. “Today was… a lot for me, but you’ve been doing this for a few days now. I feel just… completely helpless to do anything right now, but I don’t have the liquid to help me find the strength to deal with it.”

“You don’t need it.” Garcello is quick to respond. “Trust me, you’re strong enough as is, you can easily overpower this addiction.” She was much stronger and level headed than he was, it shouldn’t be a hard hurdle to cross. He had a lot more going against him but he was still managing with her help. “Besides, you got me to help if things get bad.”

“I know, and I’m grateful for that but…” Garcello looks up to find Annie slowly shuffling her way towards the kitchen. “I’m worried that you might be pushing yourself for my sake.”

Well, it looks like the tables have turned.

“That’s not-”

“You keep marching forward with a smile on your face saying everything’s going to be ok.” Annie continues, interrupting Garcello. “But if you’re going through even a little bit of what I’m feeling now, it can’t be easy to just wear a smile and insist that you’re fine.”

All this time, he’s been trying his best not to be a burden. Annie took a lot of risks taking him into her home, risks she saw consequences for today. He had to keep working to help her through things, he dragged her into this mess, it’s his responsibility. But now that she’s made her worries known, Garcello can’t help but feel…

Burnt out.

His mind and heart haven’t been able to rest for days now, he was always worrying over something, always paranoid and looking over his shoulder. He’s been struggling to take care of himself, putting Annie’s wellbeing over his didn’t help him either. He’s been burning the candle at both ends. Maybe he wouldn’t want a smoke so bad if he wasn’t so exhausted all the time.

But they almost died today. His worry and anxiety wasn’t baseless, he had every reason to be paranoid for not only himself, but for Annie and the rest of his friends. He couldn’t do that if he kept burning himself out though, he needed time to completely unwind, to do as Annie suggested and just consider today canceled, but he couldn’t do that yet.

They still needed to eat, Annie still needed someone to help her with her dwindling health. He still needed to-

“Hey.” A cold, gloved hand takes hold of Garcello’s chin and forces him out of his mind to focus on Annie. “It’s ok to ask for help if you need it.” She tells him, her fingers brushing against the scruff on his chin. “I worry about you too. If you ever hit the end of your rope and you need someone to help, you can tell me.”

Garcello looks into her eyes and sees nothing but concern and hurt. He’s been pushing himself harder and harder for her sake and all she’s seeing is someone hurting himself because of her. His first thought is to try and fix it, but his mind refuses to give him a solution. He looked down at the boiling noodles in their pot and, if he was being honest with himself, he had no idea what to do when they were done. He was just going one step at a time because that was all the mental capacity he had left.

“If that’s the case…” Garcello says, looking back to Annie. “Maybe you can help me out right now so we can finish this faster.”

Annie shoots him a weak but genuine smile as she joins him in the kitchen. With her help, they’re able to pick out a few ingredients to make a plain, but serviceable cream sauce to go with the noodles they already had. All the while as they worked, Annie was humming to herself. It was a somber tune that Garcello didn’t recognize, but one that quickly cemented itself in his brain. When he hears her start and stop whispering sentences to herself, he realizes that she was trying to put lyrics to it. She was making up a song on the fly.

They managed to whip up a bland pasta dish, but they were proud nonetheless. Sitting at the couch, they ate their fill, giving their bodies the fuel they needed after burning up so much energy in such a short time. With their meal finished, their day was over. Both of them were exhausted, both of them were craving something they no longer had, and both of them needed to worry about themselves for a moment. Annie didn’t even bother trying to go to her room, both she and Garcello ended up settling into the couch and dozing right there.

Pulling his cap over his eyes, Garcello drifted off to sleep with that tune stuck in his head, as well as the one lyric he managed to memorize.

You can tell me.

The next few days were a bit of a slog.

Garcello was a night owl and liked long walks. He wanted to be out in the streets the moment the sun went down but with how dangerous things have gotten that wasn’t an option anymore. He could do nothing but sit around the apartment, working through his bag of suckers to stave off his cravings.

Fortunately and unfortunately, Annie didn’t sleep in too long. What was left of the liquid inside of her wanted out and she had woken up feeling horribly ill. With a trip to the bathroom to once again vomit out what she could, she seemed to have gotten rid of most if not all of the juice in her system. She no longer looked monstrous or different, just sick and tired.

Both of them were struggling, but now that they were both awake, they could both distract and support each other as they waited for the sunrise.

They sat huddled next to the window, looking down to the streets below. They had made a lot of friends in a short amount of time, but now they were cut off from them until the fair. It was hard not to worry about the others, especially Darnell and even Pico since they were on the front lines trying to keep them safe. With no way to contact any of them, they were just left to worry and hope that they’d be alright.

It didn’t take too long for the sun to rise and meet them. Six days in, almost a whole week now. It was also Annie’s second sunrise after quitting the liquid. He isn’t sure how long or bumpy the road ahead would be, but he was still strong and approaching his first week of sobriety. He’s had to have gotten past the hard part, meaning he should eventually have enough energy to spare to help Annie get over the same hump.

With them both awake and trapped inside, they finally got to work doing what they should have been doing days ago: rehearsal. Overnight, Annie was workshopping a new song for them to debut at the fair, the same one she hummed to herself as they cooked. With how quickly it had ingrained itself into his mind, Garcello was sure it was going to be a hit.

Once Annie sings out what she had made up so far, Garcello realizes with a shock that it wasn’t just some nonsense melody that she was trying to stick lyrics to. It was a song about them, about their struggle and how much they want to take care of each other.

Wrap your arms around me, take a little bit of time.
You know that I’d do anything to make sure that you’re fine.
And I know you deal with many things that occupy your mind.
You can tell me.
You can tell me.

There was something about the songs that she created, something he noted with her songs from three years ago. They’re always very personal and loaded with emotion. Sometimes it was just a dumb, happy jingle that she made up one night, sometimes it was an internal struggle that she was voicing out in song. No matter what she came up with, it was impossible not to connect with the music because it was always honest and from the heart.

She didn’t have a lot of it down and was still trying to come up with lyrics, but Garcello was able to help her keep it going. They were a duo after all, Garcello had his own worries he wanted heard. They probably sat there in the living room for hours straight, just coming up with new lyrics and trying to get a steady rhythm down. In that hours long stretch of time, their struggles were completely forgotten. The only thing that pulled their attention away from their music was the growling of their stomachs.

“Can you work something out in the kitchen?” Annie asks. “We’re gonna need a backing track for this song for the fair. I should probably start working on it before dark.”

“Sure thing.” Garcello nods, getting up to make his way to the kitchen. “I have a clearer mind than I did the other day.”

And god, how nice it was to not have a constant pounding headache all day. It wasn’t gone exactly, but it felt more like a dull ache after working out rather than the constant pounding behind his eyes. Seeing the smile on Annie’s face and how much energy she still had meant that she must be benefiting from this too. He hasn’t felt like this since they first reunited again, that contagious optimism was more powerful than any drug that he could get hooked on.

Unfortunately, they were running out of stuff to eat. He wasn’t sure when Annie last made a grocery run, but the cupboards and fridge were running empty. It didn’t help that he was emptying them twice as fast now that he was living here. They’d just have to make do with what they had until things cleared up, but that meant they would probably have to skip a few meals. That, or risk going outside.

Now that Garcello had some time to himself and some silence, the sound of a distant police siren out the window piqued his interest. What were the chances that it had something to do with one of his friends or the other singers? It didn’t help him any to worry, but he couldn’t help himself. His friends could be in danger and he had no way of knowing until a couple days from now.

Focusing on a very early dinner, Garcello finished it up a few hours before evening. Annie’s condition may have played a part in it, but she was quickly getting used to Garcello’s night owl schedule. As they ate, she showed him what she had composed for their backing track. He was never going to get the song out of his head at this point. It was an earworm the moment she was humming it to herself last night, but it’s only been getting more and more catchy as they put work into it.

Wanting to get some rest now that she was feeling better, Annie decided to call it a night before the sun even began to set. She wanted to be awake for the sunrise. She retreated to her room to continue what work she could before she fell asleep, leaving Garcello to lie back and take up the whole couch. It didn’t take long at all for him to fall into a deep slumber.

The hours passed with ease until his cravings became noticeable and it became an increasing struggle to stay asleep. He awoke with a dissatisfied grumble. When would he be able to wake up on his own without his brain screaming at him for a smoke? Here he was in the dead of night again, stuffing suckers into his mouth and burning the sticks to trick his brain into shutting up for the time being. He no longer needed the painkillers for his nose anymore, but he was unfortunately running low on lollipops. Jeez, he went through a pound bag in only a few days? His mouth felt sticky and sour.

It didn’t take long for Annie to wake up as well and just like him, the enthusiastic high had worn off, leaving her with the full brunt of her cravings and withdrawals to deal with. Though she had already cleared herself of the liquid, she still made a beeline from her room to the bathroom to retch. It was like her body was just forcing as much fluid out of her as possible in the hopes that she’d replace it with the juice that she was craving.

Garcello was waiting with a tall glass of water when she finally left the bathroom. “G’morning.”

“I feel like death.” Annie whimpered in a raspy voice as she took the glass and chugged its contents in one go.

“It’s gonna be hell for a couple days but it gets better, trust me.” Garcello assures, reaching a hand out to ruffle her hair now that it wasn’t hiding underneath her beanie. “Think you can doze off again or should I get you another drink?”

“More water!” Annie pleads. “I feel like I’ve eaten a pound of sand.”

Garcello did as she asked, going back and forth from the kitchen to the living room as Annie chugged down each refill. After the sixth glass, she was satisfied that she wasn’t going to dry up like a raisin. Once she was walking around again, Garcello noticed that she was now shorter than him. She was back to her original size when she invited him here. That… worried him somewhat. Losing fluids wasn’t great but it was as easy as drinking some water to fix it. Losing body weight this quickly was concerning, and losing height didn’t really seem possible. The liquid didn’t seem possible either, but it did insane things to her body. He could only hope that these were just normal side effects and that she wouldn’t just continuously shrink without the strength enhancing liquid.

With Annie properly hydrated and with Garcello’s cravings silenced, they both camped out next to the window, watching as the sky grew brighter with the approach of the sun.

“I can’t wait until things can go back to normal.” Garcello says with a sigh, unwrapping another lollipop for himself. He was starting to hate the taste of these things, but the green apple ones were still good. “I sure picked a bad time to try and quit smoking. My hands get so shaky anytime I get caught up in what’s going on out there and I would do anything to have a cigarette between my fingers.”

“Is it weird that I don’t want things to go back to normal yet?” Annie’s question catches Garcello off guard and he turns to her for an explanation. “It was what Hex said, all of this drama and danger brought everyone together even closer. I didn’t really have that many friends a week ago until I found you again, now I have Hex and Whitty and Carol.” She leans against the wall, dragging her hand down her pale face. “This week had some highs and lows, but in the end I think this all has been a net positive. Does that sound weird?”

“No, I feel the same way.” Garcello nods, shifting the lollipop in his mouth around so it doesn't stick to his tongue. “I wouldn’t have gone looking for you if I didn’t try and quit and I wouldn’t have gotten to know Whitty if we didn’t have an incentive to stick together.”

“And I wouldn’t have gotten to spend so much time with you if we weren’t forced to hide here.” Annie continues with a smile. “I don’t even mind that we’re stuck up here, I got you.”

“I can promise you it would be way more interesting to be down there on the streets than up here, but thank you.” Garcello returns Annie’s pleasant smile. “I would have lost my mind if you weren’t here to help me out.” After a moment of debate, Garcello continues. “I missed you.”

“Hmm?”

“I missed seeing you when I was forced to break things off between us.” Garcello elaborates. “You said that you didn’t have that many friends, but neither did I. Hex was the closest thing I had to a friend, but that’s kinda cheating. He’s Hex, he loves everyone no matter what. You were the first person who actually went out of her way to see me.”

“I…” Annie paused for a moment, disbelieving in what she was hearing. “I couldn’t have been the only one!” She tries to argue. “What about family? You got someone at home, right?”

“Kinda?” Garcello shrugs, pulling the now finished lollipop stick out of his mouth. “My mom’s a few states over, but we don’t really get along all that well. I was an accident, one that she didn’t really care for. I kept to myself and spent my time outside, out of her way. Other than a roof to sleep under and a few meals a day, she wasn’t really there for me.”

“Garcello… That’s… That’s terrible!” Pulling his lighter from his pocket, he brings the flame up to the stick in his hand. He didn’t like to think about his ma, he didn’t like to get angry with people and it was hard to stay in a good mood when he thought of her. She gave him the bare minimum and not a single thing more. She never hit him, she never scolded him, she rarely spoke to him at all. Outside the basic necessities, he was expected to take care of himself.

Looking at the pained expression on Annie’s face made him want to hate his mom, but that was something he struggled to do. There are certainly people out there who have it worse, folks who don’t accept their kids or those who try and force them to be someone they aren’t. His mom never lashed out at him or was disappointed in him, she was just there, doing what she had to until he was able to take care of himself. He was frustrated, but that was as negative as he could get with her. Maybe it was because he was too nice, it certainly isn’t a trait he got from her.

“Ah!” Garcello flinches as heat suddenly singes his fingers. He was so lost in thought that he wasn’t paying attention to the flame eating down the stick in his hand. He was quick to pick it off the floor and smother the flame. “Yeah, my mom isn’t really someone I coul-!” Garcello is cut off as he suddenly finds himself in Annie’s embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Garcello.” She whimpered, on the verge of tears.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry!” He begs. “It’s not your fault, you don’t gotta be sorry for anything!” He returns the hug, gently running his hand through her hair. He shouldn’t have brought mom up at all, now look what he’s done. He doesn’t want to bring Annie down.

“I can’t even imagine how… lonely you must have been.” Annie mumbles, trying her best to hold back sobs. “I at least had my parents to fall back on when things got rough. But you… you didn’t have anyone?”

“No.” Garcello shook his head. “I took care of myself.” Just walking around, staying up late, minding his own business and taking in the sights. He’s felt lonely at times, but he was used to it, attracted to it even. He was a loner at heart, his mind was clearest when it was just him and the cold evening air. “But…” Annie looks up at him, her face red and puffy.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you guys now.” Garcello says with a shaky breath.

His time with Annie, Hex, Whitty, hell even Pico was unforgettable. He was content to be just an acquaintance to most people, some extra in the background as people went about their day. Now though, he’s been pulled into a spotlight. People are desperate to see him (for one reason or another), people know his name, people are trying to help him. He’s been neglected for most of his life, always tucked away and reserved, but now he’s finally found his people, people who care about him and want him to be safe.

“I don’t even know how I made it this far…” Garcello could feel a warm rush of tears running down his cheek. “I don’t know how I could just be ok with being on my own. I love you guys, you’ve brought me so much joy, more than I would have ever found on my own.”

He’s been deprived of attention for years on end, but now he finds he’s dependent on it. He had to have been the biggest idiot in the world to just abandon Annie all those years ago. He remembered being so happy when he was on stage, and he decided to slink away into the shadows for a smoke instead of standing his ground. Annie’s done so much for him and neither of them realized just how much she improved his life.

“I don’t plan on going anywhere.” Annie promised, holding Garcello tight as he let his tears fall. “You're my best friend, I’d do whatever it took to make sure you were happy, just like you did for me.”

“Thank you.” Garcello choked out, vowing that he wouldn’t run again.

They sat there in each other’s arms, waiting for the sunrise out the window. With the first beams of sunlight filtering through the glass, Garcello closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

One full week. He did it. The worst of it was past him now. Things would only get easier from here, though that didn’t mean he was going to slack off. This was going to be a struggle he always carried with him, but he thankfully wouldn’t have to do it alone.

As much as he wanted to just sit here beside Annie to watch the sunrise, he eventually pulled away. They still had a song to write and rehearse for the big day tomorrow. God knows what was going to happen at the fair, but they were going to bring their best. Whatever opposition they meet, they’re going to face it together.

Chapter Text

Despite the heartbreaking revelations and promises in the morning, the day had gone by like any other. They composed, sang, and rehearsed all day, pausing only to use the bathroom and eat. Their situation was grim, but they were determined to smile through it and waste the hours away until they were safe. By the time they were confident that what they had written was finished, the sky had started to tint orange as dusk approached. It was getting late for Garcello so he was ready to tune out and sleep in. He wasn’t gonna miss the sunrise, but he’d be staying up late for the fair tomorrow so there was no need to wake up before five in the morning.

With one last goodnight, Annie returned to her room to add the last finishing touches to the backing track as Garcello settled in on the couch. Intrusive thoughts started to float up to the forefront of his consciousness about how this could be the last peaceful night of sleep he ever had but he quickly smothered those out. It was out of his hands and worrying about what could happen tomorrow would only eat away at him today. He just had to hope that Pico and Little Lady knew what they were doing and that they’d look out for them if things went bad.

Regardless of his sound reasoning and desire to leave his worries behind him as he drifted off, his anxiety only built up overnight, leaving him to toss and turn for hours on the couch. One thought kept pushing itself into his mind, plaguing his night with the same recurring nightmare.

Daddy Dearest was going to be at the fair.

He was the type who didn’t like to get his hands dirty, who pushed jobs onto his hired goons to clean up the messes he made. Pico was bought off, his demonic henchmen were quickly dealt with. He wanted all his enemies gone before the fair but if Pico and his crew were vigilant, everyone on the list was going to show up.

And so was he.

He’d still have his goons, no doubt about it, but things were going to get personal. Everyone was going to be there, everyone was going to be guarded, but he wasn’t just gonna let them be. He was going to do something, and Garcello could only hope that he could get away before he had to see that purple skinned creep again.

Though he wasn’t quite able to sleep soundly that night, he got the rest he needed. However, something did force him to wake up a bit earlier than he would have liked, a craving he couldn’t ignore. He didn’t need smokes, he was getting better at suppressing his need for nicotine, this was something else. He was craving something that (arguably) did more harm to his health than cigarettes, one that he couldn’t deny any longer.

He wanted McDonalds.

Maybe it was because they emptied the kitchen and there wasn’t really anything good in the house to eat. Maybe the food they did have was just so devoid of flavor that he wanted something unbelievably salty. Maybe there was some kind of chemical dependency he didn’t know about that was hidden inside of their iced tea. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t stay trapped in here for the rest of the day until the fair.

Besides, he was kind of a mess right now.

For the past week, he’s only had a few pairs of sweatpants and sweaters to change between that he grabbed from his trashed apartment. He wanted to be a little bit more presentable if he was going to be going up on stage.

His time locked up in this room was great with Annie at his side, but he wanted to take her out again. It would be dangerous, but now Garcello was questioning just how dangerous it would be. This was the day, starting from 6PM tonight the competition will begin at the fair. Would the demonic goons be working overtime to try and hunt everyone down before then, or would they hold off and wait until the fair was in full swing?

“What are you thinking about?” Garcello is caught off guard by Annie’s voice as she suddenly calls out to him. He was sitting on the couch completely lost in thought, trying to work out the pros and cons of his idea.

“I wanna head outside, do a little bit of last minute shopping.” Garcello explains simply. “There’s a few things I wanna do before the fair.

“Oh thank god.” Annie groans as she crashes onto the couch next to him. “I’ve been cooped up here too long.” She turns to him after a moment. “Do you think it’s safe?”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Garcello grumbles, resting his chin on his cupped hands. “But I got a craving that only McDonalds hashbrowns can satisfy.”

“...What?” Annie was expecting Garcello to start listing off reasons why they shouldn’t go or that it wasn’t safe, not for him to fold so quickly for something so simple.

“Maybe I just want an excuse to go for a walk, maybe I just want things to feel normal again.” Garcello shrugs. “I got some other things on my mind, but I need something salty and cheap.” Garcello looks towards the window. “Those golden arches taunt me from all the way over there.”

“Well, I don’t need any negotiating to go outside.” Annie shrugs. “Let’s go!”

“I didn’t hear any emergency bathroom runs, you feeling better?” Garcello asks as he pushes off the couch and adjusts his cap. “We might have to make a break for it if we run into trouble.”

“Nothing that I can’t handle!” Annie beams. “I’m starving, let’s get out there already!”

“Don’t want to miss the sunrise.” Garcello agrees.

With a quick run through the shower to freshen up before the walk, they head out the door, pausing for a moment to make sure it closed behind them with its makeshift doorknob.

The moment they stepped foot outside, Garcello could feel his hairs standing on ends. Looking down towards Annie, he could already see that her head was on a swivel. They were desperate to get out of the house, but they were both aware of the danger they were facing out here.

Keeping his head held high, Garcello begins to march forward, dragging Annie along with her hand held in his. He was sick and tired of hiding and hoping people would forget about him. To distract from her own rising anxiety, Annie began to hum up a new tune as they began their short walk towards the nearest McDonalds.

They passed by one block without issue, and then another one. By the time the restaurant itself came into view, Garcello was humming along with Annie, slowing down his pace as the sun started to rise behind them. For his eighth sunrise, it was nice to be in such a good mood and to not be in immediate danger. Not wanting to jinx himself, Garcello takes one more look around him before rushing the rest of the way before entering the restaurant.

They made it, see? That wasn’t so bad, was it?

“You’re breathing a little hard there, Garcello.” Annie commented as she started leading the way towards the counter. “You hanging in there?”

“I’ve had a rough week, I’m allowed to be jumpy.” Garcello replies, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, we’re in the clear now.” Annie sighs alongside him. “Let’s eat.”

Cheap, artificial breakfast sandwiches have never tasted better in his life. His appetite was still messing with him but with all the stress on top of that, it was nice to just gorge himself on pure junk food.

With a full belly and a clear mind now, Garcello tried to plot out the rest of the day. He wasn’t ready to hide out for the next twelve hours until the fair was ready, being outside again felt too liberating to give it up again.

They had taken a seat next to one of the large windows overlooking the rest of the city. The morning rush hour had begun and the streets were populated again. Garcello still let his gaze bounce from person to person as he tried to pick out horns and devilish grins on the passers by. As more time passed, the more confident he was that he wouldn’t see them today, at least not until the fair. Things were too busy now for them to possibly start trouble.

Garcello didn’t take his eyes off the window though, it was better safe than sorry. He was about to tell Annie about the rest of his plan when someone walked past the window close enough to get a good look at him. The sight of green and orange made him jump and the sudden movement drew the attention of the ginger menace.

“Garcello?! What the fuck?!” His muted yelling from behind the glass catches Annie’s attention and she jumps when she sees the merc.

“Pico?!”

They sat there for a few seconds, staring at each other through the window before Pico started making his way towards the door to meet them. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially his considering he was on the front lines, but still, it was Pico. Garcello tried to hide his disappointment before the kid showed up.

“What the hell are you two doing out here?!” Pico demanded with a huff, leaning against their table.

“Good morning to you too.” Garcello responds with a smirk. Alright, as crappy as the kid treated him, he was happy to see he was alright. “We were hungry.”

“You came out here for McDonalds?!” Pico boggles. “If I was going to risk my life, I’d pick a better place than this!”

“Wanna hash brown?” Annie offers in an attempt to calm him down. Pico glares at the offered hash brown and the woman offering it to him with disdain before slowly caving in and snatching the hash brown out of her hand. That calms him down a bit. “Have you been holding up out here?”

“Course I have!” Pico snaps. “These henchmen are some of the dumbest jack asses I’ve ever met. There’s just a lot of them and a lot of people I gotta watch over.” It was obvious that Pico could take care of himself, but it’s just as obvious that he’s exhausted. There are bags under his eyes and bruises dotted here and there across his skin. “Doesn’t help that you two dumb asses decided to put your lives back on the line for this.”

“Do you know if everyone else is alright?” Garcello asks, wanting to push the conversation away from themselves and towards his friends.

“Your buddies from three days ago? Yeah, I think so.” Pico nods. “Angry eyes and his girl have been hiding away for a couple days and Nene was able to keep an eye on them when they were on the move. I haven’t seen Hex anywhere, but he did mention a hiding spot so I guess that’s intentional.”

“Oh thank god…” Garcello sighs with relief. Every police siren he’s heard outside since locking himself away has spiked his pulse. Knowing that everyone was taken care of was a massive weight off his back.

“Are those guys still out there?” Annie asks in Garcello’s stead as he relishes in his relief. “You know, the smiling demons.”

“They were…” Pico starts, pausing for a moment. “But I haven’t seen anything all morning.” He finally finishes after taking a second to ponder. “Dumb bastards were stuffed in every alley and corner looking for people on the list. Like you guys, most people got the right idea to hide away while me and my boys cleaned things up. I could barely go a full hour without running into at least one, but things got quiet all of a sudden.”

“What could that mean?” Annie asked, taking a peek out the window herself to see if she could catch one spying on them.

“They’re waiting for the fair.” Garcello and Pico explain at the same time, catching all three of them off guard. “Hey, looks like the mold in your hair hasn’t rotted away at your brain yet, Garcello!” Pico jabs at Garcello’s arm. “You’re right though, it’s not like they all just disappeared. They’ve been called off, but Daddy Dearest isn’t one to give up. He’s either scouring the phone books for someone else to scratch you guys off or he’s planning something.”

“This isn’t mold, it’s naturally green!” Garcello corrects Pico. “And I’m not dumb. You’re the crazy one who shoots people for a living.” As much as he’s grown to tolerate Pico, he still manages to get to him for some reason.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m smart as shit!” Pico taps his forehead. “I graduated with straight A’s, I shoot people for a living because it’s fun.” Yeah, that doesn’t make him sound any less crazy. Why was he friends with this kid again? “So, were you two here just to eat garbage before hiding away again, or did you have an actual reason for stepping outside where you could get shanked at any moment?”

“I was actually about to explain it to Annie.” Garcello tells him, reaching into his pocket. “I have two extra stops I wanted to make before we did anything else.” After fumbling around, he finds what he’s looking for and holds out the golden tooth Whitty gave him. “First, I wanted to pawn this off.”

“Pico, you said you knew someone who would buy that off of him, right?” Annie turns to ask the merc.

“Hell, I’d bet Nene would buy it off of you.” Pico shrugged. “There’s a lot less work until the fair, so I could probably call her up real quick with some cash on hand.” Great, cause he needed to meet another crazy mercenary today. Pico’s mentioned Nene a couple times, he just hopes that she’s more like Darnell than Pico. He needed the cash. He usually paid what little rent he owed with a few odd jobs here and there but he’s been slacking due to his withdrawals and the whole being hunted thing. He’d also need cash for what he wanted to do next.

“After I got rid of this, I wanted to get some new clothes.” He continues, looking down at his sweater.

“Change out of your hobo threads, good idea.” Pico nods along. “Don’t wanna go on stage looking like that.”

“He doesn’t look that bad.” Annie tries to defend Garcello. Thank god too, Pico was starting to push it and Garcello really didn’t need the kid to bust his nose open again because of something he said. “You could use a makeover though, I kinda missed your old hoodie.” Oh yeah, Garcello missed it too. A new hoodie, some new boots, maybe some new gloves. He’s already grown fond of his new hat, a whole new change of clothes would be amazing.

“Alright then, sounds like a sound plan.” Pico nods his head with a smirk. “Things have quieted down a bit, but if you’re looking to sell that tooth I might as well tag along and introduce you to Nene.”

Garcello supposes that’s the best course of action. He didn’t like the idea of Pico keeping them company, but the idea of having a trained gunman watching their backs did appeal to him. Pico got to work dialing up his friend while Garcello and Annie finished their breakfast.

Getting back on the street with someone else to do the worrying on his behalf felt amazing. It’s been a while, but he was able to finally relax as he walked around town. If only it wasn’t so busy out here. They had picked out a clothing store to meet Nene downtown and they took their time getting there. Once they managed to find the place, they were able to pick out the mercenary who was part of Pico’s crew.

She was impossible to miss as she was wearing nothing but the pinkest things she could find.

“You got the gold?” Was the first thing she asked once they got close. She didn’t bother with names at all. She was no nonsense and all work it seemed.

“Yeah, right here.” Garcello nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out the large nugget of gold. She snatches the tooth out of his hand to observe it closer, her eyes going wide once she has it in her hand.

“I thought you said this was a tooth?” She turns and asks Pico. “This thing is massive!”

“You’ve seen the set of chompers on these guys.” Pico tells her. “Each and every one of them has a million dollar smile, the lead goon wanted to stand out a bit more.”

“I was expecting something small, but a nugget this large could get you thousands!” Nene exclaims and Garcello paled with shock at the proposed amount. T-thousands?! Garcello only ever earned a few hundred bucks at a time and that was all he was expecting, but even just one thousand would keep him fed and warm for months. “I wasn’t expecting something like this, so how does a cool two k sound?” Nene offers, reaching into her bag to pull out two fat wads of cash. “It’s kinda lowballing it, but I wouldn’t wanna hold onto something that valuable for too long.”

“No, no! That’s fine. I’ll take it!” Garcello reached out for the cash offered to him and hesitated for a moment. He still couldn’t believe that this money was just being given to him, getting this much money this fast felt like stealing. He eventually pinched his fingers onto the stack of cash and Nene let him take it without any fuss, it was his. She said that it was a cheap buying price for something that valuable, but two thousand already felt like an insane amount of money to keep on him.

“Shit Garcello, keep it in your pants.” Pico sniggers. “I bet you’re already making renovation plans for the box you live in. Hell, maybe you can upgrade and rent out a whole dumpster to yourself!” The homeless card is really the only thing he’s got against him, huh? He does know that he’s partially responsible for his homelessness situation right now, right?

It bothers him that Pico is at least partially accurate with his teasing. He was carrying more money on him than he can ever remember. A couple thousand probably wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but to someone like him, this was a fortune that could keep him afloat for the rest of the year.

Maybe he should get something nice for Annie, help pay her back for all her kindness.

“Now then, make yourself scarce.” Nene orders, forcing Garcello to pay attention again. “Things have gotten quiet recently, but that doesn’t mean you should stick around in one place unless you have a deathwish.” After saying that, Nene folds her arms and leans against the wall of the clothing store they met up at. “Have fun you three.”

“Um…” Annie looks at her as Nene pulls out her phone and begins idly texting away. “So are you going to move out too, or…”

“Don’t question it, let’s just go.” Pico urges, leading them all inside as Nene remains ignorant of them. Garcello guesses that Nene must be pretty confident in her abilities if she’s just gonna sit around and wait for trouble to find her. Pico was good at shooting things and Darnell made bombs in his free time, he wondered what Nene brought to the table.

Eh, best not to stick around and find out.

Once inside the place, Garcello started going through the racks looking for something to wear. He’s only ever gone to thrift stores for clothes (a fact he’s going to keep to himself so he doesn’t give Pico any more ammo to use against him.) and the money in his pockets reminded him that he didn’t need to be frugal. Even so, he had a style that he wanted to retain. Even in his very short days as a star, he still dressed somewhat casually.

Catching his reflection in a nearby mirror, Garcello looks himself over. The turtleneck sweater was really starting to grow on him, that and the matching cap. Really, he just wanted the extra weight over his shoulders that his old hoodie offered him, maybe he could get something to match. Annie’s got a red and black motif going, maybe he could get something green.

No. That’d be too much green. Besides, he didn’t want Pico to start making comments about his clothes going green with mold. He really needs to come up with a decent comeback for when the kid starts making jabs at him again. They didn’t sting nearly as bad anymore, in fact he was getting used to them pretty quick, but he wanted to even the playing field a bit.

“Oh hey Garcello!” Annie calls out to him and beckons him to her side. “Any chance you want some new gloves?”

“Maybe, what do you have in mind?” Looking down at his hands, he’s still wearing his old, white fingerless gloves. There are still some dark stains from the bloody nose he tried to cover with them from almost a week ago. Yeah, he could definitely use some new ones. Approaching Annie, it looks like she was trying to pick something out for herself when something caught her eye.

“I think you’d look pretty cool with these!” Annie says, holding out a pair of black gloves. “If we dress you up in all black, we can make you really stand out with a bit of color!” Grabbing hold of one of the gloves and sliding it on over his old ones, Garcello finds that they fit just fine and blend in perfectly with his sweater. He must have cracked a smile because Annie beams with pride at her selection.

“Alright, what color should I go with?” Garcello asks, wanting to see what Annie could produce.

“Maybe we could go with a red?” Annie suggests, looking over Garcello and pondering over the multiple idea’s bouncing around in her head. “No, that’d be too much. We want something that would match your green pants, unless you wanted to change those out.”

“No, these are staying.” Garcello shakes his head. These were worn in, he didn’t want to toss these out for something that wouldn’t fit right for a few weeks.

“Then we’re gonna need something that contrasts with black but also compliments green.” Annie scratches at her head for a couple seconds of intense thought before snapping her fingers. “What about white?” She suggests. “Or at least a really light gray?”

“Well I’d have to see how it looks.” Garcello shrugs. “Let’s pick something out.” Garcello gestures for her to lead the way as he slips the glove off and holds onto the pair. These were definitely keepers. As they begin to browse through old jackets and hoodies, Garcello picks out Pico’s orange hair at the other end of the store. He didn’t seem to be browsing though, just patrolling, pausing nearby other shoppers to give them a look over before moving on. He was still being cautious, even with Nene outside and the knowledge that the goons wouldn’t show up.

“Oh, here we go! Try this one!” Annie thrusts a white hoodie into his hands, forcing him to pay attention again. Garcello stops for a moment to admire the garment. A light smokey gray color with a textured black interior. It would cling to his sweater pretty well. Looking for another mirror, Garcello tries it on, slipping one of his new black gloves on too to complete the look.

“Woah…” He thought he didn’t care too much about how he looked, but seeing himself now made him question his choices up to this point.

“Lookin good, Garcello!” Annie cheers as she leans against him to get a better look at the reflection. She clearly had an eye for fashion because he looked a million times better with just a pair of gloves and a hoodie. The contrast of the white hoodie over his dark everything else made him pop and the green of his hair and pants didn’t mess with it at all. If anything, the little bits of color reminded him of cool mints.

“How about we go show Pico.” Garcello suggests. “I doubt he’ll have anything to say about this.”

“Are you sure?” Annie asks skeptically. “He’s been relentless to you for a while now.”

“Nah, he’s got one joke that’s already lost its edge.” He shrugs. “Looking like this, it’ll either stop or he’ll find some new thing to pick on me for.”

“At least he’s got nothing on me… yet.” Annie mumbles. After a moment, Garcello decides to speak up.

“Actually, I hope he does come up with something new. He’s gonna make fun of us regardless, I’d rather I take all of it if he leaves you alone.”

“Aw come on, what could he possibly come up with for me?” Annie asks. “I do appreciate the concern though.” Scanning the store again, Garcello finds the ginger hair he’s looking for and starts leading the way. Positioning himself just around the next rack, they both wait for him to make his way towards them before revealing themselves. Pico gives Garcello an interrogative glance before he realizes who he’s looking at.

“Damn!” Pico blurts out. “Looking fresh.” He nods approvingly. “You don’t look like you crawled out of a dump anymore.” Garcello breathes in a sigh of relief. He’s finally free of the kids teasing. “You gonna get the retired Smurfette anything? She’s kind of lacking now.”

Oh god damn it…

“Retired Smur- What?!” Annie stutters as her face scrunches up with confusion. “I’m not even blue anymore! Is that all you got?!” She barks back in defiance. “You can come up with something better than that, you soulless nerd!” It’s nice that she’s not taking it sitting down, but Garcello stiffens a bit as he braces for whatever backlash her outburst might cause.

Instead, Pico just snorts in response and smirks. “Going straight for the ‘gingers have no souls’ card, huh?” He rolls his pale eyes. “I guess we both got some serious work to do on our comeback skills.” Garcello lets out a shuddery sigh, catching Pico’s attention. “What’s wrong, you gonna cough your lungs out again?”

“No, I’m fine.” He assures, pulling a lollipop from his pocket for some quick relief. He really needs to stop being afraid of this kid. “We still got a couple hours to kill before the fair. You got any ideas for what to do next?”

“I plan on regrouping with the rest of my crew at some point today, but after that, I’m bailing until the fair.” Pico replies. “If you wanna tag along and be my punching bag for another hour, go ahead. If that doesn’t appeal to you, get lost and I’ll see you there.” Pico starts to make his way out of the store and Garcello turns to Annie.

“Do we want to keep following him?” He asks in a whisper. “I got nothing else planned.”

“Why is that even a question? No!” Annie responds pretty quickly. “I’ve had enough of him for today.”

“Well that’s a shame because we’re gonna see him again later tonight.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Annie grumbles as she looks over some of the racks nearby.

“You look fine by the way.” Garcello assures her. “I don’t know what Pico was talking about, but you look way better than he does with that weird preppy school kid look he’s got going.” Annie snorts out as she tries and fails to repress her laughter.

“Aw man, that was a good one! Why didn’t you use that on him while he was still here?” She demands.

“I don’t know.” Garcello shrugs. “I didn’t think it was that good.”

“It’s not like Pico’s set the bar too high for you to pass.” Garcello chuckled at that. That was true, he could probably make up complete nonsense and it would be more creative than Pico’s jabs. “I guess there were a couple extra things I saw here that would look nice for the performance.” Annie says as she stops by one of the nearby racks to look through some designer shirts.

“And I could use some new boots.” Garcello adds, looking down at his feet. His old, beat up hiking boots have served him well for a couple years, but it was time they were put to rest.

“Alright then.” Annie perks up. “We’ll meet up back here in fifteen minutes once we have everything picked out! How does that sound?”

“Go wild with it.” Garcello nods with excitement. “I’m paying.”

With fresh threads and high spirits, Garcello and Annie made their way to the fair.

The musical fair was being held in a large community center downtown. It was the obvious place to hold it thanks to the massive concert hall inside where everyone was going to perform.

They arrived early to better prepare for their performance but even now the place was packed. There were already hundreds, close to a thousand people crammed in each room of the community center. Booths and interviews were set up for various performers from around town from promising upstarts to retired legends. Everyone was eager to see the performances of the dozens of contestants who signed up for tonight’s show.

Garcello could feel how anxious Annie was but he couldn’t come up with anything consoling to say to her, he was terrified too. It wasn’t even the thought of the Dearests that was locking up his legs, just the idea that he was going to be performing for and being criticized by all of these people seemed impossible to him. Maybe he was being a bit hard on Annie when he thought she was silly for getting stage fright but was anxiety free when it came to doing parkour and stuff, this was terrifying. Was he always like this? He’s not sure if they ever managed to pull a crowd this big three years ago.

“Hey, do we know that guy?” Annie’s question forces him to hold his breath as he tries to follow her pointing finger to the guy in question. He’s able to breathe easy when he sees it isn’t a goon or one of the Dearests, but Ruv. He wasn’t wearing his ushanka today but it was impossible to miss the massive imposing cyclops. It was nice to see a familiar face again after days of constant worry, even if Ruv wouldn’t be happy to see them.

In fact, he looked absolutely miserable in a crowd this big. He stood out like a sore thumb and it was painfully obvious that he didn’t like the attention his appearance was earning him. He had someone close to him though, a woman with bright pink hair pointing out various booths with excitement and having a much better time than he was. Each time she spoke up, his frown started to weaken. It didn’t go away, the thought of Ruv actually smiling was an uncanny sight to think about, but it was the closest he could get to smiling.

Knowing Ruv was here made him feel infinitely safer. If anyone could stand up to Daddy Dearest, it was the Russian giant with the permanent scowl.

“Keep an eye out for the others, will ya?” Garcello leans closer to Annie for her to hear him through the crowd. “Ruv’s kinda hard to miss, but I haven’t seen anyone else yet.”

“I’ve been trying to.” Annie admits as she tries to lead them through the sea of people in front of them. “I’d feel a lot better if someone like… Hex!”

“Oh yeah, Hex would be a life saver ri-”

“Annie! Garcello!” Oh! Garcello could barely register what was happening before spindly, metallic arms wrapped him and Annie into a hug. “It’s so good to see you two are safe!”

“Aw man, it’s good to see you too!” Garcello replies, returning the embrace with the same amount of enthusiasm as the robot did. “How’ve you been holding up over the past couple days?” Judging from the bright smile stretching from one end of his display to the other, Hex was doing great, but everything else about him seemed a bit disheveled and worn.

“I told you guys my hiding place was perfect!” He beams. “No one got even close to finding me! Though, I think a few bugs and other pests might have been displeased to find me hunched up in their territory.”

“So you’ve just been camped out somewhere up until now?” Annie asked with concern.

“There’s this old drainage pipe on the outskirts of town no one goes to.” Hex nods, proud of his foolproof plan. “I crawled in where it was nice and dark and went into power saving mode until it was time for the fair. What’s with that weird look? Isn’t it ingenious?”

“Man, I got my nicknames all messed up now!” Hex recognizes the voice and unlike Garcello and Annie, Hex lights up at the sound of Pico and his crew approaching them. “So you’re the hobo of the group. No wonder you and Garcello are such good friends.”

“Geez, did he crawl out of a sewer or something?” Nene slows her approach as they get close to the robot, fanning the air to try and fight off the unpleasant smell emanating from him.

“Yes actually.” Hex nods proudly. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you. Are you one of Pico’s friends?”

Garcello decides to pull Annie away as Hex keeps Pico and his two friends busy. They’d have more time to mingle later, but there were still a couple people he wanted to check on. Squeezing through the crowds, Garcello eventually spots Carol’s head of poofy hair. She’s surrounded by a bunch of other people who look like they’re gonna perform but Whitty’s bulbous head isn’t anywhere to be found. He does eventually find his old cap peeking out of a tall hoodie though and starts to move in on him.

“Hey Whitty!” Garcello inwardly curses himself as his sudden call causes Whitty to jolt with panic. He whips around, eyes scanning the crowd before they settle on Garcello and he deflates. “Damn, didn’t mean to startle ya.”

“Just try and keep my name out of your mouth.” Whitty pleads, peeking over Garcello’s shoulder. “I’m already taking a risk being here, I want my presence to stay a secret for as long as I can before the show starts.”

“This about Daddy or are you worried about someone else?” Garcello asks, lowering his voice as much as he can while still being audible through the crowd's ambiance.

“Both, I guess.” He responds. “Also, you don’t gotta whisper, just pretend I’m some guy and not a freak of nature and that’ll hopefully keep any stalkers off my trail.”

“So business as usual then.” Garcello raises his voice again and tries to look a bit more casual. Whitty gives him a smile and visibly relaxes, though his eyes are still wandering.

“Garcello! Annie! Glad to see you made it!” Carol finally pulls herself away from her current conversation and takes notice of them. “Whitty’s been worried sick about you two.”

“Wait… I thought you said Annie was big and blue.” One of the group members spoke up, clad in flannel and dotted with various pride pins. Garcello’s eyes were starting to get heavy with how late it was getting, but they looked like they were on the verge of passing out on the spot. They were practically sleep walking.

“I got better.” Annie explains weakly. “And I don’t plan on ending up like that again any time soon.”

“Damn… Wish I could’ve seen it.” They look disappointed for a moment, lowering their head a little too far. They start to slump over when Carol quickly leans in and snaps her fingers in front of their face, forcing them to jolt to attention.

“Come on Sunday, you knew this fair was going on for weeks, you could’ve fixed your sleeping schedule to be awake for it.” She chastises.

“I don’t need a schedule.” Sunday replies defiantly, though their words come out as a mumble. “I do what I want when I want. I don’t need a bed time.”

“And how’s that working out for you?” Carol crosses her arms.

“Jusss fine.” Sunday smiles lazily. “I just need a pick me up and the show will carry me the rest of the way.” They assure. “My music can wake the dead, I’ll be wide eyed and hyper by then.” This apparently appeases Carol and she backs off, Garcello can’t wait to hear what that’ll be like. “Hey, who’s stirring stuff up over there?” Sunday turns everyone’s attention to a sudden commotion back near the start of the room. Everyone seemed to be packing together near someone.

Garcello tensed up as his mind started throwing the worst possible person into that crowd, but Pico’s voice smothers those worries.

“Back up you weirdo’s! Give them some space to breathe!” If Pico was being defensive over them, there were only two people it could be. Sure enough, wading their way through the crowd with Pico leading the charge were the couple that everyone seemed to already know about.

“Sup, Little Man!” The perfectly named Boyfriend and Girlfriend stopped as dozens of familiar faces surrounded them. It was hard to believe that he hadn’t seen the kid in over a week despite being forced into a feud with the family he spends most of his time with. Little Man lit up when he saw him alive and well after the scare in the alley, but the reactions he earned from some of the other members of their group weren’t as kind.

Pico was happy to see him of course, but his partners didn’t seem to care for him much at all. Hex was already best friends with him because no duh he is, and Annie had a positive reception to him and his girl. The only outliers seemed to be Whitty and, for some reason, Ruv. Whitty had already mentioned something about Little Man being a stubborn brat, but he didn’t seem to hate him, he just tolerated him. Ruv on the other hand wouldn’t stop glowering at the kid, even the woman he came here with soured in mood once Little Man showed up.

This kid seemed to know everyone in town and there were clearly stories between all of them, but they didn’t have time to recount them all.

“So, everyone made it then?” The Little Lady speaks up, her dark eyes counting off each person from the list in her hands. Well, one hand at least, Garcello took note of the large tote bag she had in her left hand. “Alright! Nice work Pico, I might have to throw you a bonus after this.”

“What did you expect?” Pico gloats. “You paid top dollar for professional work, I wasn’t going to half ass it.”

“Never doubted you Pico!” Little Man chimes in at his girl's side. “I knew things would be fine the moment she told me you were on the job!” A light blush starts to fill in Pico’s cheeks which he quickly tries to hide.

“Alright GF, what’s the plan from here?” He asks to try and distract from how he looks right now. “Everyone’s dying to know what the hell you’ve roped them into.”

“I don’t need to remind you what happens if you ruin my night out.” Ruv growls, leering at her with his one eye. While not nearly as hostile as he was, everyone was questioning the same thing. Everyone shared the same fear that something was going to happen tonight, something that they expected her to fix.

“I already told you, what I plan to do is a secret!” She replies with a giggle, one that only agitates the less forgiving members of their extended group. Even her boyfriend doesn’t seem too pleased with that answer after seeing some of the reactions it earned. “But that’s what ”I” plan to do.” She clarifies. “There’s still plenty of work for you guys to do.”

“I’m gonna be on stage, but I can probably slip away after that.” Pico grumbles but nods along. “What do you need?”

“Your friends can keep an eye out around the entrances.” The Little Lady informed. “I wouldn’t want to ruin your performance.” Pico turns to his two companions and they both nod. With that confirmation, Little Lady turns to look up at the couple angrily staring at them. “You two would be doing us a huge favor if you kept an eye out for my Dad too.”

“Why would we do you any favors?!” The pink haired woman at Ruv’s side spats. Garcello catches the silver glint of a cross against her chest.

“I don’t hold anything against you, but Dad might.” She simply informs, retaining her smile even under the intense gazes of the two. “Help me out and hopefully we’ll never cross paths again.”

“If only.” Ruv scoffs. “We won’t go out of our way to help you, but we’ll stay cautious.” Man, Garcello really wanted to know what the deal with these two were.

“That goes to all of you too!” Little Man calls out to the others. “Keep an eye out for her creepy ass dad and let me know if you spot him. I got some choice words for him and I want you all to witness me when I roast his ass to oblivion! I’ll be spittin’ straight fire!”

“I got the gas to light him up whenever you do.” Whitty chuckles darkly. Little Man lights up at that and holds his hand out for a high five. Whitty seems confused by the gesture for a moment before he gently reaches out and slaps his hand.

“I know I didn’t get a chance to really appreciate it, but if your bars aren’t hot enough, I still got a light.” Garcello adds, taking out his lighter and flipping it open. Damn, he missed doing that every day, just opening up his lighter sent a pang of cravings tickling at the back of his mind. The joke seemed to land well though. While everyone’s distracted, he stuffs his lighter back into his pocket and reaches into his other one for another sucker. Deep breaths… “So, we ready to rock up there?”

“Hell yeah I ammmmng...” Sunday cheers before they drain enough energy to start drifting off again.

“Oh this is too exciting!” Hex is jittery with anticipation. “I’m going to give it my all, but you better not hold back to spare my feelings! I want you all to do your best!”

“Good luck everyone.” Annie speaks up, taking Garcello’s hand. “I’m confident that we’ll take home the prize with our song!”

“Just make sure your boyfriend doesn’t hack a lung up on stage.” Pico sneers as he rallies up his crew to position them defensively around the community center. “Later losers.”

“W-We aren’t…” Annie starts to stutter a bit Pico doesn’t stick around long enough to listen. Everyone else begins to drift off in their own groups as the main event draws closer. Annie’s gone flush with embarrassment but settles down when she’s offered a cherry red lollipop.

“Could you blame him for thinking that?” Garcello reasons. “We’ve been inseparable since we found each other again. A lot of the group performances are couples too.” Annie takes the lollipop offered to her and pops it in her mouth, not really wanting to keep the conversation going. “Did you see Pico redden up when BF cheered him on?” That helps lighten up Annie a bit. “Come on, everyone else is lining up over there, I think they’re letting the performers in the back now.”

“Right.” Annie takes a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” Leading the way and dragging Garcello along behind her, Annie marches forward with confidence, trying to keep herself from freezing up with anxiety again. Garcello was going through a similar struggle too. Everything was going down tonight and what they would have to deal with was still a mystery. His chest still felt light and his lung capacity was still awful, but he was going to sing like this was his last ever performance.

Depending on how things go, it just might be.

Chapter Text

Garcello and the others were ushered backstage as they prepared for the performance. Everyone who signed up was then split up into groups based on when they signed up for it. Looking at the list, it looked like a lot of Garcello’s friends were going to be going up first before he and Annie did with a few strangers and Little Man performing after them. There was a camera set up on stage displaying a live broadcast on a TV backstage so they could all enjoy the show before they got on stage themselves.

They couldn’t see past the stage, but the air became dense with noise as the performance inched closer. Garcello knew that seats were packed, but he wasn’t going to be able to comprehend just how many people were going to be watching him until he was on stage staring them down.

Oh yeah, that was stage fright he was feeling. Annie’s worries made a lot more sense all of a sudden, he’d rather be stuck in a room with one of Dearest’s grinning goons than stare down thousands of criticizing glares. Speaking of whom, Garcello looks over and finds Annie is also freezing up as the performance is about to begin. Reaching into his pocket, he’s down to just four lollipops left. Pulling a couple out, he finds a green apple and a cherry red.

“Alright, I’m never gonna tease you for stage fright again.” Garcello mumbles as he offers the cherry sucker to Annie. “I’m freaking out.”

“Oh damn.” Annie sighs. “I was kinda hoping you were gonna be the one to shake me out of this.” Garcello lets out a nervous chuckle at that as he pops his own sucker into his mouth.

“I don’t even remember what I did to not freak out years ago.” He muses. “This is a bigger crowd than we’ve ever pulled but I don’t even know how I’d handle myself in front of a couple dozen.”

“So, you two are melting down too?” Whitty wanders over to their side looking just as stressed as they must have looked. “I don’t think I’ve even seen this many people in one place. My heart’s going crazy.”

“Calm down you guys.” Carol butts in as well, trying to lighten the mood. “We all came up here to have fun! A few boos from the crowd isn’t the worst thing that could happen.”

“Yeah, the worst thing that could happen is Daddy Dearest shoots up the place.” Everyone turns to look towards Pico with a scowl. “Am I wrong? Don’t go crying because people might hurt your feelings, fuck what they think. There’s only one thing worth worrying about right now.”

“Wow…” Sunday sleepily waddles closer to him. “You sure have a way with words, Pico.” Garcello isn’t sure if that was supposed to be sarcastic, they were too tired to really get the tone across. “I’m goin up first. If I’m screaming more than I usually do, then take that as a sign to worry.”

“You do more than enough screaming on your own!” Carol argues as Sunday is led by their bandmates towards their own group. With a sigh, she returns her gaze towards Pico. “I guess you are right though. We shouldn’t have to worry about anyone out there because only one person means us actual harm.”

“That’s not much of a comfort to me though.” Whitty whines, still drowning in anxiety. “There are plenty of people who want to hurt me…” Of all people, Pico is the first one to try and cheer him up.

“Lighten up, Angry Eyes.” He gives Whitty a jab on the shoulder, an action that earns him a deadly glare from the man. “Me and the boys will keep you safe. Besides, I saw what you did to that goonie in the alley, you could probably knock anyone’s ass into next week if they try something! Get hyped!”

Somehow, this attempt to cheer him up actually works. Whitty lets out a grunt and turns away from Pico, but there’s an unmistakable smirk growing on his face.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Everyone’s conversations are hushed backstage as someone steps onto the stage to start the evening off. “It’s so wonderful to see you all come here tonight!”

“Alright, about time!” Their group is parted as Little Man budges past everyone to sit up front by the TV broadcasting the speech.

“I’m sure from the fact that you all made it here that music is very important to you.” The announcer continues. “It’s really magical if you think about it. All over the world for centuries, music has been used to communicate and teach and entertain. It transcends language, skill, everything.”

“Oh god, what is this?” Pico groans. “Why’s he getting all emotional over this? Just let us on stage already!”

“Shut up man, I wanna hear this!” Annie shushes the merc. Garcello is still cautious about speaking back to the kid but he actually quiets down at Annie’s demand.

“As beautiful as music is, many are afraid to show their talent to the world.” The announcer falls into a more somber mood. “Not to mention, there are many who are quick to shut down people's desire to sing or play as well as contributors who wear down people's passion for their music. There won’t be any of that here though!” The announcer returns his attention to the audience with a smile. “Tonight, dozens of talented musicians will be performing for you tonight! From big bands looking for their big break to promising upstarts seeking an audience, everyone performing is here to do one thing, entertain you!”

The crowd erupts in cheer as the announcer finally begins walking off stage, calling out the first contestant.

“Sunday, that’s you!” With a slight nudge from Carol, Sunday snaps to attention after drifting off again. Their band mates help lead them towards the stage while dragging along their equipment. “Well, we’re in for a show at least.”

“Didn’t they say something about their music being able to wake the dead?” Garcello leans in to ask. “What kind of music do they play?”

“You know what, I’m not gonna ruin the surprise.” Carol says with a mischievous smirk. “All I’ll say is just brace yourself, it’s gonna be LOUD.” With that, everyone quiets down as Sunday marches on stage along with their bandmates. While the others get to work setting up amps and tuning guitars, Sunday wobbles over towards the mic.

“Good morn… Evening everyone.” They announce with a mumble. “My name is Sunday and I’m the lead singer and guitarist for my band ‘Punch up, Proletariat’.” This earns a good amount of cheers from the audience as well as a few confused questions. “We’ve had a few local gigs at bars before they kicked us out, but I don’t think this place is gonna file noise complaints.” They smile sleepily as their quip earns a couple rises from the front row. “We’re going to be playing one of my personal favorite songs and show closers. No offense to anyone backstage, but I’m gonna be setting the bar high for the night.”

“Ooh, she’s confident.” Little Lady comments from the back of the room. Garcello raises his head to look towards her and finds that he and almost every other performer is gathered near the tv to watch the performance but Little Lady is hiding in the back. She sat on her speakers, idly kicking her feet out and tapping away at her phone. Garcello eyes the small tote bag sitting beside her on the speakers. What was in there? She kept her money and a few other handheld items stashed in her voluminous head of hair, what did she bring along in the bag?

“Alright everyone!” Carol announces as the show is about to start. “Brace yourselves!” Garcello returns his attention to the tv, hands hovering over his ears with the warning.

After a quick sound check, the air is suddenly filled with the sound of banging drums and distorted guitars.

“CAPITALISM IS A SCAM! THE MIDDLE CLASS IS DISAPPEARING!”

No amount of preparation could have prepared Garcello for this. He wasn’t sure what to expect from Sunday, but he sure as hell wasn’t expecting this much energy from them.

“MINIMUM WAGE CAN’T PAY MY RENT! VALUE OF PEOPLE BASED ON MONEY!”

“Holy shit!” There wasn’t any one person who said this, this was just the general response of everyone in the room. This really wasn’t Garcello’s preferred genre of music but even he could tell that Sunday had insane singing skills. His throat itched just thinking about screaming that loud.

They weren’t done either. As they said before the song started, they played lead guitar too. Before long, they were headbanging with enough force to snap their own neck as they shredded on the electric guitar in their hands.

Some watched in stunned silence, some were banging their heads along with Sunday. Little Man was glued to the screen, mumbling his own lyrics to the guitar solo’s when Sunday wasn’t belting out their own. With one last strum, Sunday finishes the performance with their pick hand held high in the air. As the amps go quiet, the crowd fills in the growing silence with cheers. Packing up their stuff, the band begins marching back towards backstage as the cheers carry on. They are welcomed back with applause.

“Told you I’d kill it!” They’re quick to point out to Carol. “I’m not gonna be able to sleep now that my ears are ringing.”

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” Before Carol could respond, Little Man manages to peel himself off of the tv to rush to Sunday’s side. “Yo, I gotta sing with you at some point! I could totally cover for one of you if you need me!”

“Uh… Sure.” It’s clear that Little Man hadn’t had a chance to meet Sunday in his usual manner yet. Kid’s apparently rapped against half of the people in town so the fact they haven’t had an encounter yet was interesting.

“Alright Pico!” A stagehand calls back into the room. “You’re up next!”

“About time.” The merc scoffs as he straightens himself up and clears his throat.

“Good luck out there Pico!” Little Man cheers as he walks past. “I know you’ll do great!”

“Of course I’ll do great.” He replies with a smirk. “You forget who you’re talking to? I got this!” Pico marches off with confidence, even after Sunday’s killer performance.

“How did you even do that?!” Taking his eyes off Pico, Garcello turns to find Annie has snapped out of her stage fright paralysis and has rushed over to Sunday for guidance. “I already think people find my music weird, but you just walked up there and screamed at them and they loved it! Not that I think your music is weird though, no offense.”

“But it’s supposed to be weird.” Sunday argues with a giggle. “It kinda helps that I’m too zoned out to really know what’s going on, but I think Pico said it best a while ago. Who cares what the haters think. It’s your music, if you love it, they’ll love it too.”

“Now those are some words to live by.” Garcello nods his head in agreement. “I’ve found the same thing goes for people. Be true to yourself and you’ll find the people who like you for you.”

“Shut up guys!” Little Man blurts from halfway across the room. “Pico’s about to start!” The kid’s plastered to the screen again, impatiently waiting for his friend to start his performance. Garcello wasn’t gonna miss Pico’s performance. With all that arrogant confidence he had, he was expecting a show. Whether he had the skills to back up his attitude or not would determine whether or not he was impressed or gleefully cheering in his misfortune.

As he returns to the tv though, he notices that Little Lady hasn’t left her spot at all. She’s still on her phone, still holding her bag close. The threat of Mr. Dearest hasn’t left his mind and he knows for a fact it hasn’t left hers. What is she up to?

“Alright guys, status report. See anything yet?” Pico huffs into his phone as he slips past the backstage door and keeps wandering deeper into the community center.

“Nothing interesting.” Nene replied with a dejected hum over the phone. “The rest of the building’s been completely quiet since everyone packed into the theater.”

“Yeah, same here.” Darnell confirms from his end. “There’s like two security guards patrolling around the whole place but they’ve found nothing. I’m in a maintenance area right now but I haven’t found anything down here either.”

“Just keep your eyes peeled then.” Pico urges, stopping to scout ahead before rushing into an empty room of the community center. He should be safe to continue the call in here. “Daddy Dearest’s solution to most problems is to hire someone to shoot them. He isn’t going to let this night go by without trying something.” Oh how he wishes he was on the other end of whatever’s coming. He wanted to shoot first, playing defensively was not his strong suit.

“So, how did your performance go?” Darnell asks now that there’s a lull in the conversation.

“I fuckin killed it! What did you expect?” Pico’s quick to boast. “We better deal with this shit quickly so I can collect my prize money at the end of this.”

“What about your ex?” Nene interrupts. “Isn’t he also going on stage? Didn’t he beat your ass like a month ago?”

“I’ve been practicing!” He shuts her up. “I ain’t letting blue balls beat me again!” There’s a sudden lapse of silence between the three of them, long enough for Pico to realize what he just did.

“Blue balls…? Oh god, you had pet names for each other?!” Nene cackles maliciously over the phone. Pico’s only solace was the fact that neither she nor Darnell could see how bright his face was burning up. “Shit, what was yours? Hold on, let me guess!”

“Nene…” Pico spoke through gritted teeth. “You will drop this conversation now, or I will shoot you.” His past relationship with BF wasn’t a secret with his crew, but it turned out that mercenaries weren’t really a socially progressive bunch. Nene and Darnell have had his back in keeping his old relationship on the down low but the last thing he needed was for them to know what his nickname was.

“Is that a promise?” God fucking damn it! At least Darnell was smart enough to check out of this conversation, but Pico could still hear light snorts as his restrained laughter slips out. He hopes both of these assholes get shot by the end of the night.

“I’m going to keep patrolling around the theater.” He grumbles through the phone as he tries to regain his composure. “You two keep watching your sections of the center and call in the moment you see anything out of line. If you see someone trespass, call in. If you see one of his henchmen, call in. And if you see the big boss himself, call in and clear the fuck out.”

“Got it boss.” Darnell replies with another half repressed chortle before cutting the call.

“Whatever.” Nene sighs as she hangs up.

With a couple deep breaths, Pico slides his phone back into his pocket and lets his hand hover over his gun. He hated being on the defending side, but he wasn’t gonna let BF down. He didn’t like the idea of being under GF’s payroll anymore than her dad’s, but if blue balls trusts her then he’s working with her.

Peeking out the door into the empty halls, he finds they’re as empty as he found them. He slips out and begins patrolling the hall for potential hiding places or important infrastructure that could be sabotaged. As he searches, he can hear the theater pick up in volume again. Judging by the voice, Hex must be on stage by now.

He’s not gonna lie, BF isn’t the only one he’s looking out for. He was starting to warm up to all the weirdos under his care. Being a gun for hire didn’t really allow him to make friends outside of his employers and colleagues, but body guard duty helped him see new people that he wouldn’t have to eventually shoot.

It was also going to pay out the ass if GF held true to her promise.

Pico startles as he hears footsteps and rushes towards another empty room to hide in. Slowly shutting the door behind him and listening for the steps, he waits until they’re passed the door before peeking out to see who it was. He’s disappointed to find it’s just one of the few staff members in charge of patrolling the halls while everyone else was in the theater. Closing the door again, Pico decides to wait until they’ve wandered off before resuming his own patrol.

A sudden text message from Darnell gets his attention though. What was he doing sending texts?

Pulling his phone out, he quickly glances over the message and his eyes shoot wide. Looks like things are finally starting to heat up.

“Which way do I turn it again?”

“Lefty loosey, numbnuts!”

How the hell did these guys even get past him? These idiots had to be the loudest sons of bitches Darnell’s ever heard!

He was patrolling around a pretty expansive maintenance area in the community center’s basement when he heard a commotion. He assumed they were just staff workers finishing up some work before they went on patrol but the moment he saw red skin he knew what was up. He didn’t get a chance to see what they were doing as he quickly slinked away into an old supply closet to keep himself hidden, but it was obvious that they were taking something apart.

He could probably take these two on easily, but he wasn’t sure if he could do it quietly. The show was still going on upstairs and Pico made it clear that unless it was absolutely necessary, they shouldn’t cause enough of a scene to interrupt it. He had his piece on him and with how loud it was upstairs he could probably pop off a couple shots without catching everyone’s attention, but was it just these two?

“Alright there, it’s loose. Now what?” Yes, now what? Please you dumb as shit demons, narrate the whole plan so he can relay it back to Pico.

“I don’t know, keep doing it I guess. There’s plenty of pipes to go.” Alright, they’re undoing something, but what? His phone buzzes and looking down he finds Pico has replied to his hastily sent text. He’s making his way down.

“You know what, I think I got a better idea!” A sudden loud clang echo’s through the hall, nearly deafening Darnell in the closet. By the time he regains his senses he finds the two idiots are in another argument.

“Dumb ass! That ain’t gonna work!” The smarter of the two scolds. “These are made to be sturdy specifically to keep people like you from breaking them by accident. We gotta let it out slowly.”

“Then why ain’t you helping?!”

“Cause I gotta keep watch!” Yeah, doin’ a pretty good job at it, huh? “Besides, we only got one wrench, now just keep cranking them open. Won’t be long before we’re ready to move and move on to the fun part.” Shit. The fun part didn’t sound like good news. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind now that Daddy Dearest was up to something and that these goons were sent in quietly to set it up, but what?

Overhead, someone new starts to perform on stage, someone who’s voice is so loud and distorted it almost sounds like a roar. Oh yeah, this noise is perfect to mask the sound of any shootout that breaks out down here. Pico would show up any second, once he caught the goon’s attention, he’d burst from the closet and attack their flanks.

With both the goons still working hard on whatever it is they’re doing, Darnell slowly creaks the door open to peek out and get a lay of the land. The moment he does open the door though, he catches a whiff of something very familiar, in fact it’s one of his favorite scents.

Gas…

He thought that maybe there was a spill somewhere that he was noticing, but now that he’s got a line of sight on the two henchmen he can finally see what they were doing. One of them had a pipe wrench and was struggling to bust open the gas lines.

Holy shit! They were going to blow this whole place sky high!

Shit shit shit! Change of plans! He had to deal with these two before Pico got here. He knew the guy, the moment he saw Thing One and Thing Two here he was going to start blasting. They couldn’t ignite that gas. Leaning back and grabbing hold of a broom from the closet, Darnell takes a deep breath before slowly opening the door.

“Alright. You got a couple more and then we gotta bail.” The lookout notes. “This stuff’s making my thoughts fuzzy.” The two are still focused on their work. Darnell adjusts his grip on the broom as he slips out of the closet and begins inching his way towards them. He could probably take the first guy down without much problem, but the other one’s got that pipe wrench.

Knowing Pico was on his way down to ignite the entire basement, Darnell forgoes any real planning and makes his charge.

Extending his legs and breaking into a sprint, the poor excuse of a lookout only manages to turn around in time for Darnell to ram the handle of the broom into his face, letting the hard plastic clack against his big dumb grin. His head snaps back and he begins falling to the floor. Gravity will likely finish him off when his head hits the ground.

The second one is startled by the sudden ambush and in his panic he tries to pull his wrench free from the bolt he was working on. The wrench refuses to budge and rather than take the time to properly free it, the goon decides to ditch it and pull a switch blade on Darnell.

That makes things considerably easier on him.

Darnell is able to force the knife wielding goon to keep his distance with multiple violent jabs with the broom handle. It wasn’t the greatest of weapons and now that he can’t catch him by surprise, Darnell had no way of taking this guy down with just the broom. Reaching behind his back and pulling his gun free, he makes sure the safety is on as he thrusts the broom forward one last time.

The broom handle shoots forward and just barely grazes the goon’s side. Clamping his arm down, the goon catches the broom and pins it to his side, using his free hand to try and pull the broom away from Darnell. Darnell lets him have it and shoves the broom forward, forcing the goon backwards as he draws his gun. Lifting it up over his head, he brings the butt of the gun down hard on his skull.

Just like the first one, the second goon goes limp and crashes to the floor, unconscious.

And that’s why they pay him the big bucks.

Shit, no time to boast now, there was still a massive gas leak. Stashing his gun away, Darnell turns his attention to the long row of pipes that the henchmen worked to break open. He grabbed hold of the wrench and tried to tighten the bolts again, but it was no use. There were so many open lines and with a jolt he realizes that he’s running out of oxygen down here.

“Darnell?!” Looking down the hall, Pico finally found him. With his gun drawn, he quickly closes the distance between them, shooting a glance down at the two unconscious goons. “What’s going on down here and… What is that sme-!” The pieces click together for Pico when he sees the wrench in Darnell’s hand and the desperate work he’s doing to try and close off the lines. “Shit! Forget about it Darnell! You aren’t going to be able to stop it!”

“So what do we do?!” Darnell asks as panic starts to muddy his thoughts, or maybe that’s the gas playing tricks on him. “We’re forcing everyone out of here?”

“I thought this crazy bastard was just going to come after us!” Pico shouts back, his voice going shrill with panic. “This son of a bitch is gonna kill EVERYONE in this building! Come on! We gotta warn the others!”

“Thank you all! You’ve been a wonderful audience!” Garcello couldn’t help but smile warmly as Carol showed her gratitude for the crowd. Whitty’s been anxious all night and he damn near looked like he was gonna pass out when he got on stage, but once she got him going he didn’t stop. It was so nice to see him have a genuine smile and be without worry for once. No doubt he’d fall back into his old paranoid self once the rush faded away, but right now he’s happy and no one can take that away from him.

“Alright! Up next is… Annie and Garcello!” At the sound of his name, Garcello sucks in a deep breath and pulls the now cleaned off stick out of his mouth. He’s rehearsed the song countless times in his head, he’s hyped himself up for the past fifteen minutes, he’s done everything he could but there’s still that little shred of worry keeping his feet planted.

“Still having trouble shaking it off?” Annie asks him, visibly shaken herself.

“I’m not walking out now, but yeah, I’m not sure if I’m fully ready for this.” Garcello’s heart was pounding and he hadn’t even seen the crowd yet. His withdrawals had to be a contributing factor in how awful he felt, but he didn’t want them to hold him back.

“I don’t think I ever got used to it either.” Annie admits. “But I always felt so much better knowing you were up there next to me.” Taking his hand into hers, Annie leads the way. “Come on, let’s do this!”

Well, seeing that smile seems to have had an effect on him. With another grounding deep breath, he marches along behind her as the stage hands lead the way. They pass by Whitty and Carol as they return backstage and both of them give him a thumbs up.

If everyone else's performance was anything to go by, this awful feeling would go away as soon as he started singing. As long as his heart doesn’t give out before then, he’ll be golden. With anxiety building up a restless energy within him and Annie, they both pick up the pace to hurry onto the stage.

Once the spotlight was on them, Garcello was left breathless.

He didn’t know how big this theater actually was but he could swear there were thousands of eyes staring back at him. He just stood there, letting his eyes drift across the endless sea of people in front of him. To his surprise, he recognized multiple faces in the crowd. Other than maybe Ruv and his girl close to the front, he couldn’t put a name to anyone else in the crowd but he’s seen them all the time on the streets. Little acquaintances that he would wave to or pass by without making a deal out of it.

He used to be fine with being in the background, but now he’s center stage, now everyone’s going to know his name.

The excitement nearly strangles him on the spot. He steps back a moment, clearing his throat and trying to hold in a cough. With Garcello falling back, Annie takes the lead and marches up to the microphone.

“Uh… Good evening, everyone!” Annie hesitantly addressed the crowd. In response to her shyness, the crowd cheered out, showing her that they were equally excited for the performance. It’s a little overwhelming at first, but that energy was also contagious. Standing a little taller, Annie continues as that shyness starts to bleed away. “My name is Annie and this is my friend Garcello!” Annie turns to introduce him and seeing the confidence she exudes helps Garcello shake off his own jitteriness as he gives the crowd a lazy wave.

“We tried to make it big years ago with a little success before we parted ways, but after facing our hardships alone, we were quickly brought back together and we started working on our passion project again!” Annie continued, earning more cheer from the audience. “The past week has been some of the best and worst days of our lives, but it’s all worth it to perform tonight for you! Let us show you what we’ve literally risked our lives to give you!”

That gets the crowd going. Garcello can’t help but feel that Annie’s being a bit dramatic, but it’s all true. He’s risked his life to get this far, he would be dead if it weren’t for Annie and this show to keep him off his smokes. The deck was stacked against him in every way imaginable, but he and Annie pulled through. This song was the result of their resolve and teamwork.

“Take it away Annie.” Garcello gives Annie a light nudge as he takes hold of his own microphone.

Without hesitation, Annie begins their song.

Wrap your arms around me, take a little bit of time.
You know that I’d do anything to make sure that you’re fine.
And I know you deal with many things that occupy your mind.
You can tell me.
You can tell me.

He had practiced for hours, knew every lyric in his head, but the moment he heard Annie start singing and the audience quieted down to listen intently, it was hard to believe he had any helping hand in the creation of this song. He’s heard it countless times, but right now it felt like he was listening to a chart smashing song on the radio and he was just mumbling along to it, not actually performing it.

Just as he had suspected, he was quickly lost in the music, the lyrics coming to him so quickly it was as if he was born to sing here. It was exhilarating, and that was sort of the problem.

His heart was beating out of his chest. His pauses between verses to breathe felt way too long and audible through his microphone. Just the fear that his cough would interrupt the song stung at his throat and squeezed air out of his lungs. He wasn’t going to stop though, he had to persevere. It’s been a whole week since he went sober, he’s made it so far after hitting rock bottom, he wasn’t going to fumble now. Despite how dizzy he was starting to feel, he carries on, raising his voice as he and Annie get to the chorus.

“Eyes are getting heavy as we wallow in the warmth.
I know that you’re happy but that’s all that this is for.”

Garcello got shivers when he saw a few familiar faces start to sway with the melody. Further in the back of the crowd, a couple of people take out their phones and turn their flashlights on, lifting them over their heads to sway them gently in the air. Garcello has to hold back his smile a bit as he continues to sing, but he starts to reach into his pocket for his lighter.

“Cause you told me that you wanted this, but now you wanted more.
You can tell me...”

Fishing his lighter out of his pocket, Garcello flicks it open and holds it over his own head, his thumb resting on the striker. He’s waiting to time out his light with the last lyric, when the doors all the way at the back of the theater are suddenly shoved open. He sees Darnell rush inside and concern starts to flair up in his chest again, but he holds strong. He can’t mess up the performance, the show has to go on.

“...You can tell me!” Spinning the striker, Garcello feels the warmth of the lighter's flame hover over his thumb as he starts to sway it around.

A second later, that heat overtakes his entire body before everything suddenly goes dark.

There was so much noise. Garcello could only weakly lift his arms to cover his ears as piercing shrieks and screams assaulted his eardrums. A lot of things hurt right now and Garcello doesn’t want to move in fear that he’ll injure himself somehow. He had no idea what was going on so he remained on the floor as his mind started racing.

What the hell happened?!

He was on stage one second and the next thing he knew he was on the floor, deafened by this horrible onslaught of noise. Did he pass out? Trying to open his eyes, they sting for a moment and he’s forced to try and peek through his tears. There are flashes of white blinking in and out periodically but more noticeable was the empty row of seats in front of him.

People were evacuating.

He tries to force himself up but struggles to get his arms beneath him. He remembers seeing Darnell burst into the theater, was he trying to warn him? His thoughts were still extremely cloudy, all he could do was focus on getting his breathing regulated. Before he could recompile his thoughts again to think of what to do, a strong set of arms lifted him off the ground.

“Garcello! We gotta go!” Garcello catches sight of red gloves and immediately recognizes his savior as Annie. Hearing the panic in her voice dumps every once of adrenaline he has into his system and his legs scramble to plant themselves on solid ground so he could get out of here with her.

The sudden rush of awareness causes him to intake way more information than he could on the floor. That horrible noise that was still damaging his hearing was the fire alarm. He can smell smoke. There are screams of panic flooding the theater where there was once cheers and applause. There were still so many people trapped inside here as smoke started to obscure the ceiling, what were they still doing in here?

He gets his answer when he hears gunshots ringing out in the halls beyond the theater.

“Where do we go?!” Garcello blurted out in an almost incoherent mumble due to the panic surging in his chest. There was a fire in the building and if there was gunfire as well, there were also dangerous people inside too. Best case scenario, Pico was firing on some of the goons who charged the place after whatever caused the fire, worst case scenario was Pico was the one getting shot at. Either way, they couldn’t stay inside and trying to leave could leave them with more holes than swiss cheese.

“I don’t know!” Annie replies in a panic, hoisting Garcello up and giving him the support he needs to stand on his own. “But we have to do something!”

“Maybe we co-oHGH KACH!!” Garcello doubles over, his ribs stabbing into him as his chest begins to constrict against his lungs. “No… Not no-how…” The smoke! It wasn’t as bad as cigarette smoke but it was still burning away at his insides, killing his already diseased lungs.

“No no no!” Annie gives him a few hearty pats on the back to help him hack up what he needed to. “Come on, stay with me man! I’m getting you out of here!” Annie started trying to lead him… somewhere. There wasn’t really anywhere she could think to take him. Garcello was just barely managing to suck in enough air to keep himself moving but every breath was a struggle. The horrible wheeze he let out as Annie tried to lead him off the stage sent shivers down her spine.

“Where…” Garcello had to force himself to take a deep breath before he had enough air for each word. “Where’s the others?”

Answering the question for both of them, there’s a loud thud coming from the roof. Looking up, one of the theater chairs comes plummeting back down to the ground where they find Ruv ripping another one off the floor. Wrenching the seat free from its supports. He takes a step back and hurls the thing as hard as he can up towards the ceiling with enough force to leave a dent in the metallic roof.

He was trying to break a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape from.

“Ok Ruv, stand back.” The woman he brought with holds her hand up and shoos him away. “Things have gone wrong so there’s no use holding back. Let’s just get out of here before the night can get any worse.” Ruv drops the chair he was ready to throw and takes a few steps back with a mixed look of disappointment for the ruined night out and a healthy dose of concern.

Lifting her hand up, about eight more chairs are suddenly pulled from the floor before converging into one large ball in the air. Rearing her arm back, the woman thrusts her hand towards the roof and the chairs shoot upward at an insane speed, punching a massive hole through the roof which smoke starts to funnel out of.

“Come on, there’s no time to waste.” The woman turns to Ruv impatiently. “Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t just leave as soon as that blue haired little shit showed up.” Garcello and Annie watched in mixed horror and confusion as Ruv cautiously approached the woman who wrapped her arm around him and lifted them both into the air and through the newly made exit. God, Garcello wishes he could get to know Ruv some more. There’s just so much about him shrouded in secrecy and every little bit that he sees only fills him with more questions.

Oh right, he was dying right now, he had bigger concerns.

“Back...stage.” Garcello urgently sputters, shaking Annie out of her stunned state after what they witnessed.

“R-right!” Annie nods, fully coming back into awareness and leading Garcello back towards the curtains. Looking back, Garcello can see that people are finally funneling out of the theater. Near the doors, he can see a head of Ginger hair. Pico was safe and leading the others to safety, but there was something that discouraged Garcello from turning around and moving towards him.

Fighting against the crowd to get into the theater were more of those grinning demons.

They were squeezing past and ignoring the crowd, thank god, but it was obvious they were making a beeline straight for the only visible target they had: Them.

“Probably not the right time to have this argument.” Annie starts as she doubles her efforts to hurry Garcello backstage. “But if I had a couple drinks right now I could just bulldoze our way right out the front door.”

“Don’t… need it.” Garcello retorts through labored breaths. “You’re doing… great!” She really was. His reaction to the sudden explosion and fire was made ten times worse because of the smoke, but the fact that Annie had gotten up and come to his rescue so fast was proof enough that she had all the strength she needed. That liquid would obviously make things much easier for them, but that’s just the thing, it’s an easy solution to a problem just like his smokes were an easy fix for his stress. If she gave it enough time, it would become just as problematic if not more so than what they were going through now.

They manage to get behind the curtain to start marching through the short path backstage but they are stopped when a flood of people start trying to push their way out. Annie comes to a stop before she manages to plow into Hex.

“Where are you guys going?!” Annie demands as every second they stay stationary brings the demons behind them closer. “We have to find a back way out, there’s too much going on in the theater!”

“There is no way out back!” Hex informs urgently. “The backstage exits are structurally unsound and dangerous! According to my readings, a massive explosion went off underground and destroyed a lot of the foundation keeping that half of the building stable! The only other place we could possibly go is out the front doors!”

“Not… happening.” Garcello lets out a dejected wheeze, sparking concern out of Hex and the performers behind him.

“Garcello!” Whitty manages to shove his way to the front of the crowd to check up on his friend. “What’s wrong with you? Are you alright?!”

“The smoke…” Garcello manages to blurt out before falling into a coughing fit, nearly taking him to his knees but Annie and Whitty both quickly throw their arms out to keep him upright.

“Why can’t we go out the theater entrance?” Hex asks, running new mental calculations to find the safest exit.

“There are more of those hired goons!” Annie warns, shooting a glance over her shoulder. “They were funneling in and trying to find us!”

“What happened to the funny ginger kid?” Sunday asks from further in the crowd. Weakly raising his head, he can see that the sleepy rocker was now wide eyed and alert.

“I think he was trying to help everyone in the theater get out.” Annie shrugs. “I don’t know, there was fighting going on out there, but people are getting out ok.”

“Well I paid him to keep us safe!” Everyone turns their attention to the Little Lady calmly marching after them with her bag and her boyfriend in tow. “If he’s expecting us to take care of ourselves he can forget about his bonus.”

“No, you got it all wrong!” Little Man tries to argue in favor of Pico. “He’s probably just holding off the guys trying to get in! Remember that vacation trip we went on? He’ll come in and save the day when we least expect it!”

“I also had two rifles pressed into my face for like five minutes before he showed up.” Little Lady huffs. “But if you believe he’ll pull through then I’m sure he will!”

“You two!” After giving Garcello one more cautious look over, Whitty spins around and points a finger towards Little Lady. “You! These are your father’s men after us, right?”

“I can’t tell them what to do if that’s where you were going.” Little Lady pouts. “Daddy’s got final say in whatever they do. They won’t hurt me, but you’re all fair game.”

“I could just lift you up and use you as a human shield.” Whitty suggests with a growl. “Would that work?”

“Up until Daddy himself showed up and saw what you were doing.” Little Lady answers honestly. “After that, he’d probably put a bullet in your brain before you could even blink.” Garcello could see Whitty’s fuse start to sizzle and smoke. Carol tries to calm him down some but she’s starting to panic and seeing that worry on her face only enrages Whitty further.

Garcello flinches when he sees that fuse finally catch light.

“I gotta blow off steam.” He growls, his voice taking on an almost thunderous boom. He turns to face Annie and Garcello sees a twitch in Whitty’s eye. “How many did you see coming after you?”

“Uh… Th-three, maybe?” Annie stutters, clearly startled by Whitty’s furious facade.

Without another word, Whitty starts marching forward. He passes by Annie and Garcello before pausing to reach up and take his cap off, quick to slide his fuse out of the brim before it could catch light. He holds it out to Garcello for safekeeping and he reaches out to take it. He didn’t want to lose it in the upcoming fight. Carol looks like she wants to try and stop him, but the demons in the theater are now close enough to hear. They were on stage.

“Careful…” Garcello really needed to conserve his energy, but he was terrified for the guy. He wanted to do something to help, but his current condition was going to keep him from doing anything useful.

Taking in a deep breath, Whitty lets out a head splitting battle cry as he charges forward. It isn’t long before startled screams and the sounds of bodies being thrown against the stage can be heard from where everyone else stood.

“Well, we have nowhere else to go.” Little Lady suggests. “Daddy’s henchmen are pushovers anyways, you guys can take them.” Garcello can only scoff at that, people like Whitty and Ruv can probably take them just fine but not someone like him.

“Yeah, she’s right!” The Little Man beside her suddenly speaks up. “These guys are idiots! We gotta help Whitty!” His girl clearly had trouble empathizing with others and rallying them together, but Little Man excelled in doing what she couldn’t. This was the kid who convinced everyone in this room to start singing again. With Little Man leading the charge, a couple of the others actually perk up and follow after him.

“I just remembered I wanted to break a guitar on stage!” Sunday cheers out as they brandish their guitar over their shoulder. “Now's my chance!” They charge off after Little Man along with their bandmates. Carol lets out a worried huff but straightens herself out.

“God damn it Sunday!” Bracing for whatever comes next, Carol charges after her friends. Hex stands aside as more performers build up the confidence to follow after them. After a few moments of hesitation, Hex begins to follow after them.

“I’ve never been in a fight before and I’ve never even dreamed of harming another person.” Hex makes his struggle known. “But I can’t stand by and watch my friends get hurt! I will do what I can to make sure you’re all safe!” With his mind made up, Hex joins the charge onto the stage, leaving Annie and Garcello alone with a choice to make.

“Garcello?” Annie looks over to the man leaning heavily into her supporting grip. “Do you think we can do this?”

“I know you can.” Garcello chokes out, speaking a bit clearer now that he’s had a chance to get away from the worst of the smoke. “Go with the others. I won’t be far behind.” As long as he lays low and out of the way, he’ll be able to regain enough strength to run for safety once the path is cleared. He’s good at blending into the background, he’ll be fine.

“I’m gonna be keeping an eye on you.” Annie insists anyway as she lets go of Garcello to see if he can stand on his own. When he shows her that he can keep himself upright, Annie turns to follow after the others with Garcello slowly waddling up behind her. Garcello’s pace is slow as he focuses more on steady breathing than forward momentum which gives him enough time to see that he’s not the only one still back here. Turning around, Little Lady is still waiting back here, checking her bag and acting more alert than usual.

“Are things still… under control?” He tries to ask her as he keeps stumbling forward. Everyone else was in a full blown panic and fighting for their lives, Little Lady seemed bored, but slightly restless. She was still waiting for something.

“I wasn’t expecting the fire, but it hasn’t ruined anything.” She assures. “I still got our fix for this whole mess.” She lifts up and presents her bag, the contents of which were still a mystery to Garcello. He didn’t really have the strength to keep asking questions so he leaves it at that. Whatever’s in the bag will probably get him out of this in one piece. Continuing his march forward, he finally makes it past the curtain and sees the stage.

It’s a full on brawl out here.

Little Lady was right, these guys were pushovers. They were absolutely terrifying when they had them cornered in the alley and they outnumbered them, but with dozens of performers fighting back in the wide open theater it was actually working out for them. Garcello kept his back to the wall to make sure nothing could sneak up on him as he moved across the stage, watching as all of his friends fought back against the demonic goons.

Whitty almost looked like a completely different person right now. There was a crazed look in his eyes as he actively seeked out more demons to pummel into the ground. The fuse in the back of his head was slowly burning up, Garcello can only hope that this all wraps up before it runs out.

Turning his attention to the others, they’re winning their fights as well. Carol and Little Man both went for the mic stand in center stage and when they realized they had to share they each took one part from it. Carol got the stand itself while Little Man kept the mic. Carol batted some of the demons back while she waited for someone, usually Whitty, to come take the guy she was holding back down. Little Man let the mic dangle from his grip on the cord connected to it, slinging it around before launching it at a couple demons and beaning them in the head before quickly rolling up the cord to get the mic back.

Even though Hex decided to try and help in the fight, he was still a pacifist who wouldn’t dare throw a punch. Despite this, he was still winning his fights. A few demons must have seen him as an easy target since he was unarmed but none of them could even get close to hurting him. Hex was fast enough to juke out and trip his opponents, leaving him completely untouched while leaving his attackers wide open for some of the more active fighters on stage.

Like Annie.

God damn, Annie was kicking ass!

Over a week ago when he reunited with her, she made it clear that she wanted to teach the guys who threatened him a lesson. After a week of running and looking over their shoulders, that frustration finally had an outlet and she was giving them everything she had. She didn’t have the insane strength that ‘the liquid’ granted her, but she still had plenty of muscle built up from her long term exposure to it as well as her athletic background. She even used some of her parkour skills in there when she attempted to perform a drop kick on someone.

She fell on her ass immediately afterwards, but the kick landed and it was probably the coolest thing Garcello’s ever seen.

Garcello just kept watch, slowly taking in deep breaths as the burning sensation in his chest started to die down. Even if he was fit to fight, much like Hex, he doubts he’d be able to actually hurt anyone willingly. Thankfully his help wasn’t needed. Everyone was doing more than enough to fight back the horde of demons and their numbers were finally starting to dwindle. Even better, from his vantage point Garcello is able to see Darnell make his way back into the theater now that everyone has escaped. The path was likely clear for them to get away once the goons were taken care of.

Things were finally looking up, so of course everything came crashing down the moment Garcello pushed off the wall to start making his way towards the exit.

As he pushed off the wall, he heard a sudden rumble to his right before the wall suddenly exploded inwards, throwing Garcello to the ground as he’s pelted with rubble. He’s pretty sure the sudden explosion of the wall hasn’t left any serious damage other than bruises, but the impact knocked the air out of him and he’s left incapacitated on the floor as he tries to fill his lungs with oxygen again.

He’s lucky he managed to back away in time, but that wasn’t another fiery explosion like the one that took him out the first time, something smashed the wall in.

After a few more good deep breaths, Garcello attempts to push himself up onto his knees when a strong grip grabs hold of his hood and yanks him upward. Once he’s back onto his feet, cold metal presses against his temple and he freezes. He’s still facing out into the theater and everyone has turned towards him, their eyes filled with fear, their bodies paralyzed from shock.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you bastards face to face!” The gunman holding Garcello hostage greets and his body breaks out into shivers. “Especially you, boy. What was your name again?” Tilting his head back against his will, Garcello is forced to look into the evil red eyes of the devil himself.

Daddy Dearest was here.

Chapter Text

“Garcello!” Annie was the first one to move and Garcello’s veins filled with ice when the gun was taken off of his head and pointed at her. Annie comes to a full stop once she’s staring down the barrel of the gun and everyone around her tenses as they wait for the worst possible outcome. Thankfully, Daddy Dearest doesn’t pull the trigger. With a horrible laugh, he adjusts his grip around Garcello’s throat and presses the gun back into his head.

“Glad we’ve finally come to an understanding!” He bellows out with a wicked chuckle. “Take one more step or try something funny and your friend here gives up the ghost!” To accentuate his point, he jabs the gun against Garcello’s head, grinding the barrel against his temple as Garcello tries desperately to lean away from it.

“What’s taking so long, hun?” Another sultry but still menacing voice calls out from behind them. Daddy Dearest turns around, wrenching Garcello along to keep him close and allowing him to see where this bastard even came from. Jutting out of the wall partially covered in rubble was a limo.

Stepping out of the limo to join his side was Mommy Mearest.

“I thought you said you were done with playing games but here you go with the theatrics again.” She lets out a humorless laugh. “Honestly, I was having fun with the little games we were putting that boy through but this is getting ridiculous. I’m not staining this dress with any more blood than I already have.”

This was so, SO bad! Daddy Dearest was already the worst possible thing that could have happened today, but of course the world had to make even his worst case scenario seem tame. He hasn’t heard nearly as many horror stories revolving around Mrs. Mearest compared to her husband, but she must be as cruel as he was if maybe less vindictive. Daddy was the one with the grudge, Mommy was just here to cheer him on and help where she could.

“You know how I am, honey!” Daddy shrugs his gun arm, taking it off Garcello’s head for a brief blissful moment before pressing it back against his head. “I was born for the stage, I can’t help myself! I gotta make these shit kids know how much I despise their disobedience!” Wrenching Garcello back again to face the crowd, Daddy levels his gun at the others again.

“I’ve tried playing nice with you…” He growls, tightening his grip around Garcello’s throat. “I gave you all an easy out and you took it like good little boys and girls. To spit in the face of my generosity and kindness by marching right back against my orders?! How stupid could you possibly be!” Everyone stared in abject horror, even Whitty was frozen solid with fear.

“And you!” Daddy’s voice lowers down to an almost snake like hiss as he turns his gun onto Little Man. “You dimwitted, obnoxious little roach!” The Little Man broke out into a nervous sweat, but Garcello couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to be standing taller than the others. “You have been the biggest pain in my ass ever since I had the misfortune of setting my eyes on you! The moment you laid your hands on my daughter you signed your death wish, but you just kept pushing it! And every single attempt to scratch you off failed! You cost me dozens of good hitmen, wasted countless dollars, damaged my reputation! You’re a disgusting stain on this earth!”

“Is that all?!” Little Man spats back, earning a startled gasp out of literally everyone in the theater, Dearests included.

“You cocky little shit!” Garcello could almost feel the hatred radiating off of him. “I don’t know why you refuse to just lie down and die, so if I can’t kill you…” Daddy presses his gun against Garcello’s head once again and in his peripherals he can see him rest his finger on the trigger. “I’ll start working your friends down one by one until you finally give yourself up.” Garcello’s pulse spikes to a machine gun staccato in his chest as he breaks out in a cold sweat. He’s the first one to go. At the very least, he won’t be alive to witness whatever happens to his friends.

“You’ve tried to kill me for months and I’m still here!” Little Man shouts back, still standing defiant. “All of us are getting out of this!” Being held this closely by Daddy Dearest, Garcello can feel him twitch with rage. Little Man’s got some serious balls to just keep calling out when he literally had a gun to his head. Those optimistic words weren’t gonna get him out of this though, in fact, he’s just sealed his fate faster.

Closing his eyes, Garcello waits for the inevitable.

When the gunshot rings out, Garcello is jerked back and he falls to the floor, but there’s no bloom of pain or sudden rush of heat. He was just dropped. Throwing his hands out and opening his eyes, he just barely manages to break his fall. Garcello whips his head around to find Daddy Dearest clutching at his hand, his gun lying on the floor. Everyone’s attention isn’t on him, but the smoking gun in one of the aisles leading towards the stage.

“BF! As sick as that was, don’t force me to make a shot like that when there’s peoples lives on the line!” Pico! That marvelous, ginger bastard! That was a scene right out of a movie! He just shot the gun out of Daddy’s hand!

“You ungrateful little shit!” Seeing her husband in pain, Mommy Mearest reaches into her coat for her own gun and Garcello quickly scrambles to his feet. At least, he tries to. He had plenty of time to catch his breath, but the gunshot scared him stiff and his legs refused to cooperate. He was still able to crawl along the floor though and he attempted to pull himself off the stage for cover.

No gunfire rings out. Looking back, the gun is in Mommy’s hands, but her finger is frozen on the trigger.

“Why… Why can’t I shoot you?!” She looks like she’s really trying, but the trigger won’t budge. Garcello really doubts that she forgot to turn off the safety. Recovering from his pain, Daddy kneels down and grabs his own gun. It’s damaged from the shot it took, but he levels it at Little Man’s head and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens, looking closer, his finger doesn’t move, it simply rests on the trigger despite the clear effort he was putting into trying to squeeze it down.

“What the FUCK?!” Screaming out in frustration, Daddy just chucks the gun at the kid. Little Man is startled, but manages to duck under the flying gun before standing tall again with a smirk on his face. Was he doing this?

“Hey dad!” Pulling his eyes away from the furious Mr. Dearest, Garcello turns to find that Little Lady has finally decided to show herself, holding her bag behind her back. He isn’t sure if it’s his eyes playing tricks on him, but he could swear there was a strange red tint to her eyes.

“Sweetie!” Daddy makes an effort to try and calm himself down when he addresses her but a lot of his built up rage still slips out. “Daddy’s working right now! I’ll leave your snot nosed brat of a boyfriend alone, but I’ve got work to do with the others!”

“Just hop in the back seat darling.” Mommy offers, stashing away her useless gun. “We’ll get you a treat to make up for ruining your night out, promise.”

“No.” Little Lady simply states, keeping her face neutral. She holds her stare on her parents, leaving them in silence.

“Sweetie…” Daddy Dearest starts, a hint of genuine confusion in his voice. “You have to let us work. We’ll let you have whatever you want once we’re done.”

“No.” Little Lady repeats, breaking into a devilish smirk.

“GF.” Mommy starts to speak in a scolding tone. “Get in the car. Once we find out whatever the hell is keeping us from…” She pauses for a moment, drawing her gun again. She pops the clip out before sending it home again, she pulls the slide back and sees there’s one in the chamber. She aims at the floor next to her and pulls the trigger.

Everyone jumps when the gun miraculously works again, punching a hole into the wooden stage floor. Mommy gives the gun one last look over before pointing it towards the crowd again, picking Pico out as a target. Once again, her finger idles on the trigger, refusing to be pulled. Pico crosses his arms and shoots her a smug look knowing that she can’t do a thing to him but he certainly can do something back.

“It’s a spell!” She deduces, tossing aside her now useless gun. “Someone is using demon magic against us!”

“It’s a pacification spell.” Little Lady explains. “You’ll have to settle your conflict in a different way.”

“Who the hell knows how to do demon mag-!” Daddy Dearest scanned the crowd for a moment before realization struck. He slowly turned his attention back to his daughter and now Garcello is sure of it, something was off about her. There was an unnatural redness to her eyes and her skin had shifted to a light magenta. He thought it was just the lighting or the angle he was looking at her, but when she tilted her head with a giggle, he could swear he saw a horn peek out from her hair.

“I’ve been practicing for months!” She beams proudly. “Sorry I kept it a secret for so long, but I wanted to surprise you!” In any other context, hearing that would have sounded sweet. Garcello can actually see her parent’s faces shift between wanting to be proud and the realization of why she was doing it now.

“That’s how he’s survived this long…” Daddy gasps, clenching his fists. “You forced every gun to jam, every monster to flee! I’ve ruined my reputation for months because of what you’ve done!”

“Your reputation has been cratering for years!” Little Man speaks up, marching forward out of the crowd. “Your music’s shit! The only reason you’re still on the charts is because you just bully or kill the competition! The first time you gave someone a fighting chance you lost to a kid with like 12 soundcloud followers!”

“Shut up!” Daddy Dearest barks back, the red glow of his eyes becoming even more pronounced.

“That must have stung, huh?!” Little Man continues, marching right up towards the demonic patriarch. “I got skills you couldn’t even dream of! Everyone here does!” Seeing just how confident and daring Little Man was broke everyone out of their terrified shock. Little by little, the others start to inch forward, standing up to the monster who’s hunted them for years. “I can literally rap to save my life!”

“How about you?”

Little Man comes to a stop right at Daddy Dearest's feet. The demon stares down at him, seething with anger and reaching his arms out to strangle the life out of the boy but unable to thanks to his daughter's abilities. Mommy Mearest starts to back away to retreat to her limo but her path is blocked when Nene suddenly reveals herself and she slams the door behind her, brandishing a knife to keep Mommy at bay. From beside the stage, a lighter is flicked open and Garcello turns to find Darnell stepping onto the stage with a molotov and a lighter in hand. Just like that, the tables have been turned.

“You alright Garcello?” Annie holds out a hand to Garcello and he gladly takes it, desperate to stop cowering on the ground. He was breathing easier now since the smoke had an escape, but the heat was still picking up. The building was still on fire and they’d have to get out soon.

“Babe! Lay down the rules!” Little Man readies up his mic and points towards his girl.

“As you’ve already figured out, my powers have limited your ability to inflict violence on others.” Little Lady starts to explain, stepping aside to reveal she was standing in front of a speaker set this whole time. With her newly demonic form revealed, Garcello could only assume that the speakers were somehow magical. “Luckily for you Dad, the spell works both ways so no one here can hurt you.”

“What?!” Whitty blurts out in disappointment.

“Demonic powers are fueled by negativity, but also conditions.” She offhandedly explains. “Same thing with demonic contracts, the more power you want, the more you have to sell off. If I want to keep Dad from strangling my boyfriend I have to make it so he’s protected too.”

“So let me guess.” Daddy growls. “We’re settling this in the same way we did all those months ago!”

“That’s right you old fart!” Little Man snaps back. “Let’s see those ‘top charting’ skills of yours when you can’t just shoot the competition!” Little Man clears his throat and spins his mic around, but stops for a moment to turn and look towards the others. “Actually… I think I have a better idea!”

Whipping the mic around by its cord, Little Man tosses the mic up into the air towards Garcello. He panics, but he manages to snatch it out of the air. He stares down at it in confusion before Little Man speaks up again.

“You cut Garcello’s performance short, more than once if I had to guess.” Little Man grumbles at Daddy Dearest. “Let’s give him the fair fight he deserves!”

“Huh?!” Garcello gawked at the mic in his hand, left completely speechless at the idea.

“We never got to hear you finish your song last week.” Little Lady chimes in. “I’d love to hear it again!”

T-they couldn’t be serious, could they?! He looked between BF and GF, desperate for one of them to say sike and take the mic back to finish things themselves, but they both just stared at him expectantly. Turning around, his friends all give him a nod. Hell, some of them look like they wished they could have had a chance to go head to head with Daddy Dearest themselves.

He had only gotten a taste of the spotlight a moment ago before the performance was ruined, but here he was again on center stage with much higher stakes. He was content to live in the background, but now he’s suddenly found himself in the role of the protagonist.

Stepping past Little Man, Daddy Dearest marches right up to him. Panic flares up in Garcello’s gut as the demon looms over him even when he reminds himself that he can’t be hurt right now. It wasn’t just his imposing figure and radiating malice and hatred, it was the smug look on his face. There was only hatred and scorn directed towards Little Man but when he saw Garcello…

He saw fresh meat.

“How about it, boy.” Daddy Dearest leans down until they’re eye to eye. “Think you got what it takes to face the demon king of rock?!”

God no!

If he was being one hundred percent honest, he did not think he had what it took to beat him. He was just some twenty something bum who’s accomplished next to nothing in his life and never planned to. He was a chronic smoker that nearly died trying to sing a song and not even ten minutes ago he was on the floor struggling to breathe.

Daddy Dearest was an absolute monster in comparison. He was massive and he looked strong enough to rip Garcello in half if he wasn’t being pacified. He was merciless, cruel, and unapologetically evil. He climbed his way all the way to the top of the charts, he fought for his title of rock legend. He was one hundred percent right to laugh in the face of some nobody trying to challenge him.

So when Garcello said yes, that look of pure smug overconfidence shattered like glass.

“Excuse me?!” There was a twitch in his eye as he said this.

“Give me a beat, Little Lady.” Garcello brings his mic up, breaking into a cold sweat as the twitchiness of Daddy’s eyes grows more severe. “I’m not backing down anymore.”

Maybe Little Man’s overconfidence was rubbing off on him, but what he said about Daddy’s actual skills as a musician gave him hope. Garcello didn’t have much going for him, but his friends have done their best to make sure he knew just how talented he was as a singer. Daddy Dearest had to cheat and kill to make sure he won by default, in an actual rap battle, Garcello might just stand a chance. His heart was beating fast in his chest and he was struggling to keep his breathing steady with the adrenaline pumping through him, but he was confident in his choice.

He’s got this.

“Once your father finishes turning this bum into a red puddle on stage you are grounded, young lady!” Mommy Mearest hisses at her daughter as she starts to scroll through her phone for a beat to play through her speakers.

“Actually.” She starts with a sadistic tone in her voice. “You’ll be grounded once he loses.” Reaching into her bag, she finally reveals what she’s been hiding away, her ‘ultimate plan’.

“Yo, what’s with the playstation?” Sunday calls out from the crowd.

“You wouldn’t DARE!” Daddy Dearest growls as he turns to confirm what Little Lady had in her hands. All Garcello can see is an old playstation, vandalized by crayon drawings etched into its offwhite plastic. Garcello wasn’t going to ask questions, the Dearests were afraid of this thing and with the way Little Lady looked while holding it, she might as well have been holding a detonator for a nuke.

“The rules are simple. Whoever wins this battle gets to walk away.” Little Lady announces. “If Daddy wins, then Garcello’s protections will probably fail and he’ll be completely at Daddy’s mercy, all while he still retains his protections meaning your friends won’t be able to help.”

...holy shit… That was not a mental image he wanted.

“And if Garcello wins,” Little Lady gives the playstation a gentle tap, “Then you’re grounded, Daddy.” With that, Little Lady crawls up onto the highest speaker and sets the playstation down on her lap. Letting her legs dangle over the edge, she kicks out and brings her heel onto the speaker and it roars to life.

To his relief, the speakers start playing the same song she started up from the alley a week ago, the one he never got to finish. Well, a mix of relief and anxiety. He was familiar with this beat but just hearing it again is getting his heart to race.

He’s gotten better though, he’d make it through this. He had no other choice.

As the music begins to swell, building up to its first drop, Daddy Dearest can only leer at him, burning holes into his soul with those pure evil eyes. He clenches his own microphone with a white knuckled grip. While Garcello was willing to put everything he had into this life or death performance, Daddy looked like his confidence had all been used up. He was just trying to scare him to death at this point, yet again trying to win by default.

He wasn’t going to give the bastard the satisfaction. It was time to give him a taste of defeat he’s avoided all this time.

“Let’s rock, old man!”

The music finally dips, and he belts out his first lyric.

“So we finally meet eye to eye,
No time for small talk,
Right now, it’s do or die!”

”Listen kid, I’m not gonna lie,
I won’t make this painless,
I want to watch you cry!”

Daddy Dearest already leads off with some threats, but they seem kinda forced against the rhythm Garcello had already set up.

”I was fine to fade into to the past,
But I won't let your tyranny last!”

”Can we please just make this fast?
Stomping through your friends is going to be a blast!”

”Can’t stop, never gonna, I’m here to stay!
I’ll keep marching on to see the next day!”

”You’re up against a rock god, I won’t be swayed!
You’ll suffer ‘til all your debts are repaid!”

”Is that all you got? Just empty threats?
I’m still going, haven’t broken a sweat!”

”You think you got what it takes to get
Out of this alive in one piece yet?”

Garcello quickly settled into a flow that he could consistently carry. His singing was putting a strain on him, but it wasn’t too much just yet. Even if he got to a point where he was struggling to get breaths in, he’d still have a bit of gas left to finish with a bang without passing out. He wasn’t gonna half ass this either, he was going all in.

No half measures.

Daddy Dearest on the other hand seemed to be struggling. There were times where he’d start to go off beat or he’d really have to butcher a word for it to rhyme. And he never stopped with the threats. That’s all they really were, there weren’t any jabs at his appearance or burns, there was no actual wordplay, he was just trying (and failing) to scare him.

The fear and anxiety that flooded his system at the start of the song quickly faded away but he never slowed down. As what remained of the crowd cheered and stomped their feet, Garcello kept giving it his all. He sang with so much passion and intensity that it left him breathless after each line, but he could see worry in Daddy Dearest’s eyes. There was still that undeniable hatred that never left his face, but it was being drowned out by the dawning realization that he was losing.

His chest was starting to burn though.

He kept belting out lyrics and taking deep breaths when he could, but each intake of oxygen only fueled the fire flaring up in his lungs. It took everything he had just to try and hold in coughs, but the effort kept him from breathing properly. He couldn’t hold them in anymore, he had to hack up the worst of the pain in the back of his throat. He was afraid that just one small outburst like that would give Daddy Dearest the motivation to keep pushing him until he collapsed, but that didn’t happen.

For some reason, Garcello coughing only made him madder. One throbbing vein pounded away in Daddy’s forehead as he grit his teeth. He could barely find words anymore. Hell, half of his rhymes were just grunts that vaguely sounded like words. He was absolutely livid because some kid who could barely catch his breath was beating him.

This wasn’t even a rap battle anymore, it was just a test of who’s endurance was stronger. Garcello’s singing voice and degrading condition vs Daddy Dearest’s murderous impulses.

Garcello’s coughs become more violent and intrusive in his song, his deep breaths are reduced to wheezes. He’s passing his limits and venturing into dangerous territory now, but thankfully he seems to be winning this battle of attrition. His breath hitches in his chest and refuses to fill his lungs, but before he has a chance to panic or sputter for a breath Daddy snaps.

Clenching his fist, Daddy Dearest actually shatters the mic in his hand, rearing his arm back to throw the remains at Garcello. He ducks down, taking advantage of the break in the song to force one more good breath into his chest before sputtering out into a coughing fit.

Stomping right up to him, Daddy Dearest looms over Garcello as he falls to a knee to calm himself down. He was stomping his feet, his hands were hovering over Garcello’s head. He wanted nothing more than to kill him with his bare hands but the magic restrained him. Knowing he can’t physically do anything, Daddy just starts screaming at Garcello. It’s a truly horrible sound, but Garcello can only return a smug smirk in response. Little Man was right on the money, Daddy Dearest was mediocre at best and he was having a complete meltdown now that he couldn’t just kill the competition.

The music is silenced prematurely as the victor is clear. The crowd bursts into cheers as they rush Garcello, helping him back to his feet and paying no mind to the still raving Daddy Dearest. Gasping for breath, Garcello tries to voice his thanks out to everyone who helped him but they come out more as croaks than words. He looks over to Little Man and the kid seemed almost awestruck by the performance. Maybe when he wasn’t so winded he’d give the kid a rematch.

“I knew you could do it Garcello!” Sneaking up behind him, Annie wraps her arms around him and lifts him off the ground in a massive bear hug. He wanted to just lose himself in the joy of winning, but his attention was focused on Little Lady and the playstation in her lap.

“Sorry Dad.” She lets out a devious chuckle. “Looks like you lost.”

“YOU WOULDN’T DARE!” Daddy Dearest repeats, all restraint in his voice gone. He used a gentler tone when he spoke to his daughter but that tone was completely gone now. “YOU WILL REGRET THIS!”

“Enough of this GF!” Mommy Mearest marches up to her daughter. “You cannot do this to your own father!”

“Oh, you’re going too.” Little Lady turns and assures her mother. “Wouldn’t want him to get lonely.”

“You miserable little brat!” Mommy now starts to get aggressive but she’s still under the same spell as her husband. They’re both helpless as Little Lady hops off the speakers.

“Sorry, old man.” Garcello manages to grumble out, causing Daddy Dearest to whip his head around and give him a glare that could chip paint off the wall. “Your career has gone up in smoke...”

He really shouldn’t waste too much energy trying to throw out one liners like he was an action hero, but god damn he felt like one right now and he wanted to see the reaction it earned. Reaching into his pocket for relief, he takes out the last lollipop he had left, unwraps it, and pops it in his mouth. Green apple, his favorite.

Daddy’s response was another immediate wave of bone chilling screams of rage. Garcello was able to keep a straight face and stare him down as he did it, but what came after caught him so off guard he nearly spit out his lollipop.

Daddy had started to march towards him again to scream directly in his face but something held him back. He was struggling to move forward and his screams of rage subtly shifted to concern and then rapidly into fear as he started getting pulled backwards. When Mommy’s screams were thrown into the mix, Garcello actually stumbled backwards thinking whatever was happening might drag him in as well. He watched in silent horror as Daddy fell to the ground and desperately tried to dig his nails into the stage to keep himself from being dragged backwards by his legs. Waiting behind him, still wearing that mischievous smile was his daughter. She held out the playstation at a full arms length in front of her with the disc tray open. Some sort of magical energy was swirling out of the disc tray and latching onto her two demonic parents, slowly pulling them closer. They both start hurling threats of increasing severity, starting from groundings to promises that she’ll suffer the same fate as them if they ever escape. Once both of them are close enough, they’re both lifted into the air before spiking downwards into the disc tray. Both of them are mashed into the tiny space, slowly being forced inside before Little Lady slams the lid down on top of them, dispelling the magic and leaving the room silent.

“What…?!” Carol is the first one to speak up but she’s just as lost as everyone else. Little Man cautiously approaches his girlfriend, hesitant to get close to the playstation that she’s still holding.

“So… Did we do it?”

“Yep! All done!” She cheers, the demonic tint of her eyes and skin fading out as she ruffles her hair to hide her horns within it. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief knowing everything was over, but what the hell even happened?!

“Um, Miss Girlfriend?” Hex apprehensively approaches. “May I ask what it is you did to your parents? I thought my sensors were shorting out, did you really shove them into a game console?”

“It’s an old trick my Dad showed me!” Little Lady nods. “He cursed this playstation years ago to be a prison for people he didn’t like, boys who hit on me mostly.” Little Man takes a notable step back away from the playstation. “He’d shove people’s souls in here to dispose of them but also to torture them. He kept the playstation in my room and bought me a bunch of violent games to play. When I went in myself while practicing my magic, I found out that the souls are bound to characters within the games I play and whatever happens to them also happens to the souls.”

“Good god!” Annie shudders by Garcello’s side. Getting killed would be a mercy compared to eternal imprisonment and torture.

“I went ahead and emptied this playstation of all the innocent souls trapped inside to make room for my parents.” Little Lady continues. “There’s still some especially dangerous people locked in here who I’m sure are giving Mom and Dad a warm welcome. A couple years here might make them reflect on their actions.”

“So wait.” Sunday steps forward to get a closer look at the playstation. “You’re saying that if we load up Twisted Metal on this thing, we can run over your dad with an ice cream truck as many times as we want?”

“Ooh… You’re giving me ideas now.” Little Lady smirks, pleased to see that at least one person wasn’t absolutely horrified by what she just did. “Maybe that’s how I can convince my dad’s enemies that I’m alright. I’ll invite everyone over for a playstation party and have them take out their frustrations on him!” Stuffing the playstation back into her bag, she turns her attention to everyone else in the room.

“So… What now?” Garcello asks. The heat in the building was starting to become unbearable and looking back, flames have started to overtake the exits of the theater.

“We should probably discuss this outside.” She announces. “It’s getting toasty in here.” Turning towards the limo that rammed through the wall, she peeks inside to find there’s still a goon waiting for her parents. “Hey you! Back out and clear the way! You take orders from me now!” In a rush, the goon quickly revs up the engine and shifts to reverse, pulling out and leaving a large hole in the wall for everyone to escape out into the cold night air.

Taking in a breath of crisp, fresh air after the smoke and heat from indoors almost makes Garcello shed a tear.

Everyone hurries out and Garcello makes sure to do a headcount as they leave. Pico and his little crew have made it out in one piece, albeit with more bruises and cuts than they started with. Sunday and their bandmates made it out alright, same with Carol, Whitty and Hex. There were also all the other performers, some who had beef with Daddy and some who were completely lost as to what the hell just happened and why.

How lucky must they have been in order to get out of that unscathed?

Gathering in a nearby field lit up by the burning building behind them, they find a large pile of theater chairs that have been scattered through the field. Garcello and Annie share a look as they contemplate whether or not they should tell everyone what happened with Ruv and his date. There was already enough insanity for tonight, no need to sprinkle in even more. Little Lady leads the group and decides to take one of these chairs and prop it upright, lodging it into the ground so it’s stable before doing the same to give her boyfriend a seat as well.

“So…” Little Lady speaks up after she takes a seat in her flimsy throne. “You wanted to know what happened next?”

“Is everything done now?” Garcello asks again. “Can we move on without being afraid that your dad will come back?”

“Yep!” She beams. “You don’t have to worry about the Dearest family ever again. Boyfriend and I would love to keep in touch with you, but if you never want to even think of us again you’re free to do so.” There’s a collective sigh of relief from half of the performers, Garcello included. No more looking over his shoulder, no more listening for people breaking in, no more running away. His performance was cut short from the bombing, but he was now free to go to the next without any fear of being killed for it.

“So what are you gonna do?” Annie speaks up. “Why did you even help us out?”

“Cause her Dad was a piece of shit!” Little Man answers honestly. “He taught her that everything he did was ok but once I took her away from him she saw him for what he really was. With him going after me and all of our friends, she had to do something to stop him!”

“Besides, I don’t want to inherit his enemies whenever someone finally decides they’ve had enough of him.” Little Lady elaborates once her boyfriend was finished. “You guys don’t seem all that scary, but I still wouldn’t want to be hated like my dad. Now that he’s grounded and thinking about what he’s done, I’m going to try and settle things between my family and the enemies we’ve made.”

“And you’ve already done a great job! Look at all the friends we’ve already made!” Little Man proudly announces, gesturing towards Garcello and the rest of the performers. Little Lady breaks into a shy giggle that she tries to hide and Garcello can’t help but smile back. She still scares the absolute shit out of him, but he had a lot of scary friends. It probably wouldn’t take long to get along with her now that there wasn’t an aura of secrecy and danger around her.

“Maybe I can organize another performance.” Little Lady suggests as she turns to look at her boyfriend. “We never even got a chance to sing.”

“YO! THAT’S A GREAT IDEA!” Little Man leaps off of his chair, pumping his fist into the air. “You better believe you’re all invited! Especially you, Garcello!” Little Man points a finger directly at him. “After showing up Daddy Dearest like that, I can’t wait for round two!”

“I’ll take you up on that!” Garcello promises. “Later though, I’m pretty sure I pulled something back there.” There was a dull ache in his chest that refused to go away. The taste of smoke and metal still clung at the back of his throat and flared up with each breath. It wasn’t enough to keep him from breathing but he still wasn’t in good condition.

He’s still leagues better than what he was capable of a week ago. A couple more weeks of sobriety and the cravings and his cough might be gone for good. A little longer and he might get his lung capacity back to a good place.

And he’d need it too. Now that Daddy Dearest wasn’t a problem anymore, he and Annie could finally pursue that dream of hers without interruption. The rush of excitement and energy that flowed through him while he was on stage was a new high he couldn’t wait to get another hit of! Just like his morning ritual, this career would be a marker to show just how far he’s come.

“I’ll leave you all to it then!” Little Lady stands up and kicks her seat back, beckoning Little Man to follow. “I’ve got a lot of work to do. Henchmen to order, hits to call off, bodyguards to be paid. Speaking of which, Pico!”

“Yo!”

“Come along with me and bring your friends.” She orders. “The work you’ve done for the Dearest family deserves proper compensation. Now that I’m the sole proprietor of the family fortune, It’s time you got your pay.”

“Hell yeah! That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear!” Darnell cheers at Pico’s side, holding up his hand for a high five.

“This bodyguard work was kind of a drag, but there’s no denying it got fun near the end.” Nene relents as she starts to follow after Little Lady. “And if the pay’s worth it, I might grow to like this new job.”

“Well you better get used to it fast.” Pico tells her as he leads his crew. “GF here’s the new boss. What she says, goes. Besides, have any of our other bosses given us a limo ride?!”

“Well, you got me beat there!” Nene chuckles as she rushes ahead. “What’s next? Free champagne and business meetings at high end restaurants?” The crew run off towards the now parked limo with the young couple, leaving everyone else behind in the field to move on with their lives now that the danger is gone.

But how exactly did they move on from here?

Some performers did just that. Not all of them had personal links to Daddy Dearest and were just thankful to get out of this whole mess alive. Most of them wandered off after collecting themselves, leaving only five; Garcello, Annie, Hex, Whitty, and Carol. The five of them had personal ties to Daddy Dearest, some as recently as a week ago, some held grudges for years. To think that everything had been wrapped up neatly overnight didn’t feel real. They were just sitting there in the field, waiting for another explosion to knock them off their feet or for the limo to make a u-turn to run them down.

Feeling utterly exhausted, Garcello collapsed onto the grass beneath him. One by one, the others followed suit, gently lowering themselves onto the ground as the fire raged on behind them. Each breath he took still felt heavy in his chest, but he’s still breathing. If he had kept smoking, he would have died from the smoke inside the theater. Reaching up and pulling the now cleaned stick out of his mouth, he reaches into his pocket to burn it up but his hands only clasp empty air in his pocket. He must have lost the lighter in the explosion. It’s probably for the best anyways, it was a constant reminder of his old habit. He didn’t need it anymore.

“So we did it!” Hex cheered optimistically. “Daddy Dearest has been defeated and we can now live our lives peacefully!” This earns a few tired, non verbal cheers from everyone else. “We win!”

“I sure don’t feel like a winner right now.” Garcello croaks weakly, wanting to pass out right there in the grass.

“You looked like one a second ago!” Hex tells him, leaning forward so he could look down at the lying Garcello. “You didn’t even flinch! You looked so cool!”

“Seriously dude, that creep gave me shivers every time he looked at me!” Annie chimes in. “How the hell did you just stand there and stare him down while he was screaming in your face?”

“To be honest, I think the combined effort of trying not to pass out or crap myself from fear took up most of my energy.” Garcello chuckles heartily, forcing a few coughs out of him which thankfully clear up his airways a bit more. “What about you?” He turns to Annie. “I saw you dropkick a guy!”

“Oh my god, what was I thinking?!” Annie laughed back. “I have no idea what was going through my head when I thought that was a good idea.”

“No, I wasn’t asking why you did it,” Garcello shakes his head. “I’m saying that looked cool as hell and you probably looked way cooler than I did. You were fighting bad guys like an action hero, I was just getting screamed at.”

“Hey!” Hex interrupts both of them. “You’re both amazing! There’s no reason to compare yourselves when you’re both perfect!”

God, where would they be now if they didn’t have Hex in their lives?

“So we’re in the clear!” Carol cheers. “We’re all badasses!”

“I won’t deny that you’re a badass.” Whitty nods. “But things are probably gonna be a bit more rough for me.” Ahh damn. He’s right. Daddy Dearest wasn’t the only problem Whitty had to deal with. Tilting his head over and looking towards the burning music fair, there was a pretty good chance that bad guys were going to come looking for him thinking he was responsible.

“Let me at em!” Annie demands, pounding her fist into her open palm. “We took on Daddy Dearest, we can take on a few more goons!” As cool as she was and as cool as Garcello still felt, he still propped himself up to try and talk her out of it. Whitty did a better job than he could have though by being as brutally honest as possible.

“We fought a bunch of idiotic grunts who’s only purpose is to be cannon fodder for the Dearest Family.” He grumbles. “Daddy Dearest would have easily killed all of us if he wasn’t held back and defeated by his daughter. The people after me are way more trained and organized compared to a vindictive rockstar and his henchmen.” Annie visibly deflates as her heroic actions are re-contextualized. “Besides, I don’t want you to hurt him. I’d just be proving him right.”

Whitty’s gaze falls to the ground. It was hard to imagine a threat more personal and dangerous than Daddy Dearest, but that last line of his tells Garcello that there isn’t just hatred between them. Whitty knew this pursuer of his but he didn’t want to hurt him. Seeing how short of a fuse Whitty had, both figuratively and now literally, it was obvious what ‘proving him right’ entailed. Someone thought Whitty was a dangerous monster.

And Whitty partially believed that.

Pushing himself up so he was seated, Garcello reaches into his hoodie and pulls something out for him.

“Here.” Giving it a good shake to try and give it its old shape again, Garcello holds out the old hat Whitty had given him for safe keeping. “I’m pretty sure I sat on it when that limo came through the wall, but it’s not like it was in great shape to begin with.” Whitty seems almost stunned to see the hat again, as if he forgot that he handed it off to him. “I don’t know who this guy is, but he isn’t gonna get you. You got us to watch your back.”

Whitty reaches out and takes the hat from Garcello, looking down at it with disbelief. This guy’s got it harder than anyone else and seeing him freeze up from a simple act of kindness fills Garcello’s chest with a new kind of pain. It’s almost a familiar feeling too. He himself went whole years without anyone really paying attention to him or lending a helping hand. Annie and Hex reached out and gave him the care he desperately craved and he wanted to do the same for Whitty.

Whitty went ahead and placed the cap onto his head, taking a moment to thread his shortened fuse through the bullet hole in the brim. When he looks back to Garcello, he can see little wells of black pooling up at the corners of his eyes. A black, viscous tear slips down Whitty’s cheek and he panics, desperately wiping at his face to keep himself from crying.

“Hey, come on.” Garcello reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder. “I think you deserve to let it out at least once. Everything here’s on fire anyways, no one’s gonna miss this patch of grass if it catches light.”

Whitty looks like he wants to argue, but the moment he pulls his arm away from his face, another tear slips out and leaves an oily stain running down his face. Now that he’s started, he decides it wasn’t worth the energy to stop. Garcello gives him space, allowing him to let the tears fall freely onto the grass beneath him. The only one who stays close is Carol who gives him a supportive pat on the back as she keeps her distance from the puddle staining the grass in front of him.

It’s a happy cry, a cathartic one. Whitty has been keeping his emotions and feelings pent up for so long because of the possible consequences, so finally having the ok to just let it all out is pure bliss. By the time he’s composed himself again, the front of his clothes are stained with oil and the grass was coated black.

“I needed that.” Whitty says with a shudder, leaning back and sitting down beside Carol again. “Thank you.”

“So…” Annie starts now that everything seems to be ok now. “Now what?” Everyone turns to her and she elaborates. “This whole thing’s been taking up all of my attention for the past week. Do we just… go back to business as usual?”

“I didn’t really change my schedule all that much with Daddy Dearest.” Whitty admits. “But it’ll be nice to know there’s one less hunter on my tail.”

“I’ve gotten used to Whitty coming and going at random.” Carol explains at his side. “This was the first time anyone’s tried to come after me specifically, but I think I’ll manage to get back on track.”

“I just can’t wait to get back onto the court!” Hex proclaims. “That, and maybe do some self maintenance. Pico’s friends had quite a bit to say about me after coming out of my hiding place in the sewers.”

“Just seems like something hard to bounce back from.” Annie shrugs. “I was really looking forward to this music fair too. Sucks that we couldn’t finish it.”

“That just means we gotta work to find a new audience.” Garcello tells her. “Sounded like another music competition was in the works and we already got a song lined up for it.”

“Actually, I already had a different song idea lined up.” Annie suggests. “Maybe I’m still just freaking out, but I wasn’t really feeling it on stage.” Garcello wasn’t sure how that was possible. What they had seemed perfect, how Annie could find any flaw in it was a mystery. Now he’s excited to hear what she thinks is perfect. “So what are you gonna do now that you’re safe?” Annie asks him. “Are you gonna head back home?”

“Nah.” Garcello shakes his head. “I didn’t have much to begin with and honestly the thought of going back there still scares me. Hope you don’t mind me claiming your couch for myself.”

“No, that’s fine!” She’s quick to assure. “I like having you around. Maybe we could make it a permanent thing?”

“That would be great.” Garcello chuckles. “I really wasn’t looking forward to using my cash to buy a box to live in like Pico suggested.”

“If it got to that point, I wouldn’t even give you a choice.” Annie tells him. “The couch is all yours. If you want something less springy and old, you get to buy me a new one.”

“Sounds like a fair trade.” Garcello says with a sigh, leaning back and lying down on the grass again.

“You doing alright, Garcello?” Whitty asks after a while.

“I don’t know.” Garcello answers truthfully. “I’m kind of in an in-between of too stressed and hyper to sleep but too exhausted and hurt to want to do anything.

“That’s pretty much just how Sunday is at all times.” Carol comments. “I don’t think it’d help your voice any to just scream yourself to sleep though. Is there anything low effort that you could do to burn what energy you have?” Garcello tries to mull that question over for a bit but he can’t really think of anything. Eventually, the sound of sirens and the lingering smell of smoke does get him to sit up and make a decision though.

“I think I’m gonna go for a walk.” Garcello finally musters, pushing himself to his feet.

“Anywhere in particular?” Hex asks, rising to join him.

“I’ll probably swing by the park at some point, you could follow me on the way there.” Garcello offers, turning to face Annie. “You up for a midnight walk? I said I wanted to take you on one but it’s fine if you’d like to wait until thing’s have settled down a bit more.”

“Let’s go!” Annie tells him as she hops to her feet. “If I go home, I’m probably going to pass out for an entire day. I’d like some time to unwind before that happens.”

“Alright then.” Garcello nods before turning over to Whitty and Carol. “How about you two? Wanna take the scenic route back home?”

“I probably shouldn’t…” Whitty starts, focusing on the oil slick he left behind. “But a walk sounds nice.”

“Don’t worry, Whitty.” Carol assures him. “We’ve got your back. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“Oh this is exciting!” Hex can hardly keep himself still due to his excitement. “It’s been a very lonely past few days, getting to hang out with all four of you at once is almost too much!”

“Do you get around much, Hex?” Garcello asks. “You’re always at that basketball court. You caught me by surprise when you showed up at Elaine’s, I don’t really see you anywhere else.”

“It’s true that I stay at the court most of the time, but Whitty’s taken me to see some interesting places before!” Hex confirms. “Maybe we could go visit some of them before we stop by the park?”

“Oh! Oh!” Carol perks up. “We gotta show you guys this massive abandoned warehouse Whitty found a few weeks back!” She proclaims. “It’s sort of become our little hideout when Sunday’s practicing at home! It’s great!”

“If we’re going on a little tour through town…” Annie joins in. “There was this one rooftop I liked to hang out on whenever I needed a quiet place to think. Maybe we could go up there to see the sunrise in the morning?”

“Sounds like we’ve got a busy night ahead of us then.” Garcello chuckles, glad to have company on his walk. “Maybe I’ll have to show you guys some of my favorite haunts some other day. Whitty, lead the way! Let’s see this warehouse hideout you got.”

“It’s kind of a dump, but…”

“Oh you’re gonna love it, Garcello!” Hex interrupts before Whitty can finish trying to downplay the location. “Every time I’ve been there, it’s been a blast!”

“It’s a big empty building.” Carol tries to reason in Whitty’s place. “We just huddle up in there sometimes to hang out.”

“And that’s what makes it so fun!” Hex counters. “And now we’ll have Garcello and Annie in the mix too!” That smothers any further arguments from the two. With a pleased grunt, Whitty turns to lead the rest of them to his little hideout.

Following along behind them, Garcello takes in another deep breath once they’ve put a bit more distance away from the burning community center. The cool night air comes in and out without pain or irritation. The smoke inhalation from the fair probably set him back a few days worth of progress, but he’s still going strong. He knows his fight with addiction isn’t over, it’s going to be a continuous one he’ll probably be fighting for years, but thankfully he’s got people to get him through it now.

Hopefully by next week he’ll be able to challenge Little Man. Something tells him he hasn’t seen the last of him or his girl. Little Lady was in charge now, but what did that mean for them? There were going to be big changes around town, especially since she seemed to like the idea of hosting her own musical tournament.

He was still all in on the idea of performing by Annie’s side, maybe they’ll make their big break during one of Little Lady’s shows. There’s probably gonna be plenty of competition now that her dad isn’t trying to clear the playing field to stay on top. Whatever, the challenge would only push them to work harder and perfect their craft, though in his opinion, Annie was already perfect. He couldn’t wait until they were on stage again.

Marching alongside his friends into the night feeling free and full of hope, Garcello breathed easy knowing the worst was past him now. It was all uphill from here.