Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

September, 2019

Dr. D’s van was parked outside this desert evening after Poison had borrowed it for a quick adventure out to Zone 4. Poison laughed as they trudged up the ramp to Doc’s station. They had a kid on their back; little Styx. Styx was a bubbly child, a few years younger than Kobra, who had stumbled upon Doc’s station as a lost and lonely Killjoy. Doc had a lot of kids like that; young ‘Joys that needed a helping hand when it came to surviving the desert. Styx and her three best friends were some of Doc’s favourite kids. Poison’s, too.

“We’re back!” Poison called out to Doc the moment they stepped inside the station. Styx giggled and swung her feet, jostling Poison. The redhead smiled and crouched down, dropping Styx off on the floor.

“Hey, Poison,” another kid looked up and smiled from behind a shaggy mess of neon orange hair. H2O—or Hydro, as his friends called him—was on his knees, leaning over a raygun that he was actively painting. Poison grinned at him and sat down on Doc’s couch, watching the little artist work.

“Lookin’ shiny, H,” Poison hummed, and Hydro looked proud of himself.

“Thanks. I need it to match my first one,” Hydro said idly as he focused on the swirly blue details that decorated the barrel of the gun. “I wanna learn to shoot with both hands. Like Jet.”

“Shit,” Poison leaned back. “S’ pretty sweet, kid.” Poison really liked Hydro. He was young and innocent, and yet passionate and protective over the people he loved. He reminded Poison a lot of their younger self. 

Styx flopped down onto the cushions next to Poison and curled herself into their side. She was a touchy one, that was for sure. It wasn’t the best trait to have when her electric touch powers were still pretty random, causing the people she touched to get shocked pretty often. Poison didn’t care, however. Not when that freckled face smiled up at them like that.

“Lemme see this,” Styx grabbed Poison’s left arm and pulled it into her lap. There, on the inside of Poison’s forearm, was the snake tattoo they got when they were fourteen. Kobra had a matching one in the exact same place.

“Like it?” Poison asked the kid.

“Mhm. I want one,” Styx nodded, dragging their fingertips up and down Poison’s arm.

Poison chuckled. “Maybe when ya older,” they said, and Styx glared up at them. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but got distracted when Doc rolled into the room behind two other kids.

“Ah! Back already?” Doc smiled at the sight of Styx cuddled so closely with Poison. “Ain’t even heard you come in. We were a lil’ busy with a minor medical issue,” Doc explained while Styx and Hydro’s two best friends got comfortable in the main room.

Nova Cane, the oldest of their little crew, always had a pair of headphones around her neck and a book under her arm. She sat down in an arm chair across from Poison. Maybe she looked up at them, Poison didn’t know when she kept her sunglasses on indoors. Nova was so much like Kobra, it blew Poison’s mind.

“Everyone okay?” Poison asked, sending Doc a concerned look.

“Yeah. I pierced Freak’s eyebrow yesterday,” Nova explained calmly. “An’ it got infected overnight.”

Poison glanced over to the kid who had sprawled himself out across Doc’s second couch. Freak Show, they called him. He was loud and out there, like Styx, but Poison barely knew a thing about the kid. It didn’t particularly like Poison. It even shot Poison a dirty look when they stared sympathetically at the new bandage on his face.

“All fixed up, though, ain’t we?” Doc smirked softly and patted Freak on the shoulder. The kid grunted and nodded. Doc redirected his attention to the redhead. “Poison, come to the broadcast room for a second?”

After removing Styx off of their body like a leech, Poison followed Doc into the back of the station. They were nervous about Doc’s sudden shift in demeanor; he got quiet and serious, and closed the door behind himself so the kids wouldn’t hear whatever he was about to tell Poison.

“What’s this all about?” Poison asked, sitting down on the futon Doc had behind his desk. “Everythin’ good?”

“Just shiny,” Doc assured them. “I just have a small favour to ask ya. ‘Cause I know how much ya love these kiddos…”

“Babysitting?” Poison asked immediately. “Doc, y’know I’d always say yes to that, you ain’t gotta make it such a big deal every time.”

“Nah, nah, not babysittin’ this time,” Doc shook his head. “Those kids out there. They real good, y’know? They gettin’ older, an’ m’ startin’ to see real ‘Joys in all of ‘em.”

Poison smiled. “Yeah, they’re awesome. I see Kobra in ‘em. Makes me feel like m’ raisin my lil’ brother again when I’m with these kids. I love ‘em.”

“I know you do,” Doc sighed heavily. “But look, Poison. There’s another kiddo I got. An’ she ain’t like the rest of ‘em. She’s stayin’ wit’ a friend right now, but they can’t have her for long. An’ I can’t jus’ give her supplies and send her on her way like I do wit’ the other kids, ‘cause, well…she’s six years old.”

Poison’s eyes went wide. “Six? What happened to her parents?” 

“Dead,” Doc shrugged. “Y’know how it goes out here. Styx an’ the others? They all orphans, too. But I found this lil’ girl…an’ my heart hurts for her, an’ I can’t raise her. M’ too old for that shit. Besides, I gotta whole operation to run an’—”

“An’ you want me to take care of her?” Poison completed Doc’s train of thought, and their heart sunk when Doc nodded his head slowly. “Fuck, Doc, really?”

“Yer jus’ so good wit’ the kids, Poison,” Doc explained. “An’ I know ya’d do a good job. Jus’ look at how Kobra turned out.”

Poison crossed their arms and glanced out the small window in Doc’s broadcast room. They stared at the desert that helped raise the Kobra Kid, and wondered if they really could do it again. 

“S’ a lot more than a babysittin’ job,” Poison chuckled humourlessly.

“An’ I’ll give ya whatever ya need for her,” Doc promised. “Food, clothes, I’ll help Jet wit’ her medical supplies,” he almost sounded desperate and it scared Poison. “This kid jus’ needs a fuckin’ home.”

Poison frowned. “Damn, Doc, ya really ain’t givin’ me much of a choice here.”

“M’ sorry,” Doc leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands together. “Y’know how I get when I see a kid in need.”

“I do,” Poison nodded. “‘Cause I’m the same.”

They hadn’t even met the child yet and Poison's heart was already full to the brim with love for her. They had no idea who this kid was or what she was like, just that Doc thought that Poison should be her new caregiver. And Poison, well, they could only imagine Kobra at six years old, lost alone in the desert, and their heart shattered.

“I really wanna help you out, Doc. I wanna help her out,” Poison leaned forwards to rest their elbows on their knees. “But I live wit’ three other ‘Joys. I can’t just bring a kid home to ‘em.”

Doc sighed like he had expected Poison to say that all along. “S’ alright, Poison.”

“But I’ll ask ‘em!” Poison quickly added, desperate to help Doc. “Maybe I can convince ‘em?” They grimaced slightly. Convincing Kobra, Ghoul, and Jet that they should let Poison bring home a child was not something they were looking forward to. But they’d do it. For Doc and this kid.

Doc looked grateful for Poison’s attempts. “It’d mean the fuckin’ world to this little girl.”

For the rest of the evening, Poison couldn’t stop thinking about that kid. As they spent their night playing games with Styx and helping Nova and Hydro with rationing their new supplies, Poison decided that whoever that little girl was, she deserved to have this good of a childhood in the desert, too.

Ghoul picked them up in his truck that night on his way home from work. Poison was relieved to get away from Doc for a little bit. The way he watched Poison so closely all day was putting pressure onto Poison’s shoulders that they didn’t need. And while Ghoul had his usual CDs playing, the truck was unusually quiet the entire drive back to the diner.

“You good, Red?” Ghoul asked. His eyes didn’t pull away from the road, but his hand reached out and gently caressed Poison’s thigh. 

They exhaled and placed their hand on top of his. “M’ okay, yeah.”

Poison could tell that Ghoul didn’t believe them, but he let Poison be quiet until they got home. All the lights were shut off in the diner—a usual practice for the team, it kept them hidden from any patrols—and when Poison walked inside, they almost didn’t notice Jet slumped over in a booth, surrounded by multiple empty beer cans.

“Destroya, Jetty,” Ghoul groaned. “C’mon, you should be asleep,” he muttered as he crouched down just far enough to haul Jet out of the booth and help her to her room. Poison quickly slipped out of there, letting Ghoul deal with Jet, as they quietly snuck into theirs and Kobra’s shared room.

“Kobes?” Poison whispered, only to be greeted by the quiet snores of their little brother. “Oh. ‘Kay, g’night, Kobes,” Poison sighed, disappointed. With both Jet and Kobra out for the night, that meant Poison would have to wait until the morning to discuss the new girl with them.

They quietly shuffled their feet as they made their way back to the main room in the diner. Ghoul emerged from Jet’s room at the same time, and he dropped down onto the old sofa with a gentle grunt. Poison giggled as Ghoul stretched out like a cat, taking up the whole length of the sofa.

The redhead didn’t ask before they flopped down on top of him. Poison fit comfortably lying between Ghoul’s legs with their face nuzzled into the side of his neck. Without any warning, Poison’s hands snuck underneath Ghoul’s shirt, and he yelped at their sudden ice cold touch against his warm skin.

“Witch, you’re a fuckin’ icicle,” Ghoul complained, but he stopped protesting the moment Poison left a gentle kiss behind his ear. He reached his hand up and combed his fingers through Poison’s hair. Poison sighed at the touch.

“‘Kay, what’s really goin’ on?” Ghoul asked. “Somethin’ ain’t aight with the kids?”

“Mm, no the kids are perfect,” Poison replied quietly. “It’s, uh, Doc…he’s gotta new job for me.”

“Oh yeah?” Ghoul smirked. “You ain’t abandoning me at the club, are ya?”

Poison huffed softly. “Not that kinda job, Ghoulie. Doc’s gotta lil’ kid. A girl, an’ she’s six. He wants me to take care of her.”

“No shit? Like another babysittin’ gig?” Ghoul sounded excited, and Poison felt a pang in their chest.

“Full time,” Poison corrected, and they felt Ghoul go still underneath them. “I know, s’ crazy, an’ ‘prolly fuckin’ stupid,” they turned, pressing their face up against Ghoul’s shoulder with a groan. 

“S’ not stupid,” Ghoul swiped his hand through Poison’s red locks again to get them to look up. “You’re really good wit’ kids, y’know that?”

“That’s what I been told,” Poison frowned. “But m’ fuckin’ eighteen. M’ not a parent or whatever.”

Ghoul shrugged the best he could under Poison’s weight. “As far as I see it, ya been a parent since you were seven. An’ ya still do an awesome job at takin’ care a’ Kobes… An’ takin’ care a’ me …”

Poison scoffed. “Shut up,” they touched their ice cold nose to Ghoul’s neck and he flinched.

“Why the fuck do you got no body heat?” He asked, throwing his arms around Poison and hugging them tightly. Poison shifted so their head rested on Ghoul’s chest, and he pressed his lips to their forehead. Poison had been with Ghoul for only two months now, and yet when they were like this, Ghoul felt like a home that Poison had always known.

“Do ya think the kid would like me?” Poison asked so quietly, Ghoul almost missed it.

“Ya fuckin’ kidding me? Of course this kid’ll like ya,” Ghoul said into Poison’s hair. “Red, I know ya freakin’ out about this, but I get why Doc wants it to be you. You’re perfect for it.”

Poison grunted and squirmed awkwardly. “Yeah, but if I say yes then it means we got a kid runnin’ around the diner. You ‘prolly don’t want that. An’ Kobes an’ Jet ‘prolly don’t, either.”

“Hey,” Ghoul shut Poison up with another kiss. “I can’t talk for the other two, but I know that if ya bring that kid back here, Imma love her as much as you an’ I’ll have your back every step of the way, Red. Promise.”

“Hmm,” Poison felt something in their chest ease up. Just the soft, reassuring words from Ghoul were enough to convince Poison that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. They were Killjoys, they looked out for each other. Who was Poison to refuse to look out for this new one?

“I love you, Red,” Ghoul sighed, his eyes finally slipping shut after a long day. “Don’t forget it.”

“Love you, too,” Poison let themself melt into Ghoul completely, hoping that Ghoul’s body heat would be enough to put them to sleep. “Thanks, Ghoulie.”

Jet woke up with a pounding headache and a knot in her stomach, but she dragged her ass out of bed regardless. In the bathroom, she tried to fix her sleep-matted hair as much as possible and rinsed the sour taste out of her mouth. Finally, when she felt awake enough, Jet joined the rest of the crew in the main room, where they were apparently waiting for her.

Poison had an idea. A stupid one, at that. To bring home a young, six-year-old girl who they’d never met, and raise her as their own. They pitched the idea to Jet and Kobra that morning, with Ghoul’s supportive arm around their waist, hoping everyone would be on the same page and let Poison bring home this girl.

“I dunno,” Kobra shrugged, rocking forwards slightly in the booth he sat in. “Huh— Do we have room?”

“Um,” Poison cringed, glancing at a big empty space in the corner of the diner where tables and chairs used to be set up. “Maybe? We can make it work, can’t we?” They asked, and Ghoul nodded eagerly.

“No,” Jet shook her head from where she stood. “No, are ya fuckin’ crazy? Whaddya know ‘bout raising children in the Zones?” She asked harshly, and Poison wilted.

“I mean, I been takin’ care of Kobes my whole life,” Poison shrugged, and Jet scoffed.

“‘Kay, but ya brother from the city is different. Desert borns are a whole other game, an’ it ain’t fuckin’ easy.”

Poison frowned. “Jet, you were raised out here,” they argued.

“Fuckin’ right. An’ it ain’t pretty,” Jet nodded and finally sat down in the empty spot next to Kobra. “M’ just sayin’. It’s hard not to fuck up a kid out here.”

Jet thought about just how hard her mother had tried when Jet was younger, and even after all that, Jet still came out the other end bruised, broken, and all kinds of messed up in the head. It didn’t matter what you did, desert borns were usually doomed. You either shelter them too much and they get themself killed when they’re older, or you expose them to it all too quickly and they end up like Jet. 

“You don’t think I could do it?” Poison asked.

Jet huffed. Great, now she was the bad guy. “No, Poison. I think ya can do jus’ shiny, but ya way in over ya head here!”

“S’ a child, not a bomb,” Ghoul argued, resting his chin on Poison’s shoulder. “Let ‘em give it a shot, yeah?”

“Jet, if ya so worried ‘bout the kid, don’t ya wanna help me?” Poison asked.

“Nope, nah,” Jet nearly laughed. “No, if you bring that kid home, I ain’t helpin’ raise her,” Jet crossed her arms, sinking deeper into the cushions of the booth. “I’ll only fuck her up more,” she muttered.

And was Jet wrong? Shock and Acid ruined her. Jet wouldn’t even know where to start with raising a kid correctly. She only knew the best and fastest ways to make a complete fuck up. Her father taught her well.

“So, you’ll let me bring home the kid?” Poison’s eyebrows raised with the question. 

Jet sighed. “I can’t tell ya what to do. But I ain’t think it’s a good fuckin’ idea.”

Deep down, Jet knew that Poison would be okay with a kid. They were fantastic at what they did. They were a natural born caregiver and protector. This little girl would be lucky to have someone like Poison look after her. Just as long as Jet’s toxicity didn’t bleed into her, that kid would probably be alright.

Poison considered Jet’s warning. She was right, afterall. Poison didn’t know what it was like raising a literal child in the harsh conditions of the desert. But Poison was nothing if not adventurous, and with Ghoul there as emotional support, Poison decided that this girl was coming home with them one way or another.

They pulled up to Doc’s station in the Trans Am late in the afternoon. Ghoul walked Poison to the door with his hand tightly interlocked with theirs. No one bothered knocking at the station. Poison let themself in and found Doc in his chair, sipping from a soda can. And next to him, in the arm chair, was the cutest little girl Poison had ever seen.

“Hey,” Poison’s voice cracked, causing Ghoul to squeeze their hand tighter. “I—I’m Poison.”

The kid—sitting there in an oversized t-shirt that definitely didn’t belong to her—tilted her head to the side and glanced up at Doc.

“They gonna let you live with ‘em,” Doc explained softly, in that same tone he used with all the kids he took in. “If ya want, that is.”

She thought about this for a moment while Poison stood there frozen. Silently, she hopped off the couch and walked up to Poison. Her too-big boots clunked against the floorboards as she moved. Poison held their breath and let go of Ghoul’s hand. Slowly, they lowered themself to the floor so that they were kneeling right in front of the girl. They smiled softly.

She had big, dark brown eyes that were filled with curiosity and innocence. Her hair was a mess of curls on the top of her head. Poison idly wondered if they could help her make that look better. Her little nose scrunched up as she seemingly assessed the redhead sitting in front of her.

“Party Poison?” She asked. Poison melted. Her voice was sugary sweet.

“Yeah,” Poison squeaked. They vaguely wondered if they were crying. This kid was precious. “That’s me.” She looked nervous. Fuck, had Poison scared her already?

But before Poison could even process what was happening, the kid threw her arms around Poison’s neck and hugged them so tightly, they could barely breathe. Poison gasped softly, but quickly reciprocated the hug like it was second nature. Her small body fit into their arms so perfectly. She was warm, healthy, and seemingly happy. Poison loved her already.

The girl didn’t let go, so neither did Poison. They held onto her with one hand supporting her back, and the other caressing her gorgeously messy hair. Poison glanced up, with tears in their eyes, and met Ghoul’s gaze. He smiled down at them with so much pride. 

Yeah, Poison thought. This was the right choice.

One Week Later

Poison checked on the girl through the rearview mirror in the Trans Am and smiled. She happily hummed to herself and kicked her feet while the music from the radio filled the car. Poison had been trying to take her out pretty frequently to get used to the lifestyle of a Killjoy and meet plenty of new faces. So far, Poison had been having the time of their life with this little kid. But they knew that the shit would hit the fan at some point.

The girl took Poison’s hand and the two walked into the Zone 2 market together. Her pretty brown eyes got impossibly wider as she took in the scene happening around her. A sea of Killjoys moving around between pop up shops without any order, bargaining and trading until they could get their hands on what they needed. It was by far the busiest part of the Zones, save for maybe the clubs at night, and the girl hadn’t seen anything like it before. Poison could sense her initial panic and pulled her closer to them, sending her a reassuring smile.

“We gonna get ya some cute shit today,” Poison explained as they walked the girl up to a stand run by a friendly young seamstress. “Go ahead, pick a colour. Don’t worry ‘bout what anyone else thinks, babygirl,” Poison got down on one knee and hugged the girl from behind. “First ‘Joy lesson; your colour is real important. Make sure ya pick one that ya really love, ‘kay?”

“‘Kay,” the girl nodded and pressed up onto her tiptoes to see over the table.

“Ooh, ya pretty small there, kiddo!” The smiley young woman working the stand commented. “I think you should turn your eyes to the little jackets over here, yeah?” She motioned to a stack of kids’ sized leather jackets that were clearly hand made by herself.

“Um,” the girl dragged her little fingers over the stack of clothing, looking at all the different colours. Killjoys were so bright and colourful. The girl learned that right away, just by meeting Poison and the team.

There was green; cool and vibrant, just like Ghoul. Yellow; like the sun. Poison was a lot like the sun, the girl thought. Bright and shiny. Red; fiery and passionate, like Kobra. Blue; mysterious and comforting, like Jet. She thought long and hard about all of this. Which one was her?

“Purple,” she decided, pointing at the stitched together purple leather jacket with black trim. It was pretty, electric, and vivid. The girl thought that it looked pretty damn cool.

Poison grinned proudly. “That’s my girl!” They embraced her tightly and stood up to meet the saleswoman. “We’ll take the purple!”

All geared up in a shiny new purple jacket, the girl marched around that marketplace with a brand new pep in her step and a confident smile on her face. Poison could’ve cried. She looked like a real Killjoy, and most importantly, she looked like she found her own identity.

Poison made a couple other stops in the market, picking up supplies for Jet and a gift for Kobra, and the girl happily trotted along beside them. She smiled at a lot of strangers, feeling like she had to show off her new look. 

Poison had turned their attention to a man selling first aid kits for a moment too long, and suddenly someone new had taken the little girl’s hand.

“Oh, you poor thing,” the complete stranger yanked the child away from Poison. She frowned down at the girl and started messing with her curls.

“Um, what the fuck?” Poison whipped around, dropping the medkit in their hands. 

“Oh, sweetie, do you know where your mama is?” The woman asked sympathetically. “Where’d you come from?”

“Hey, let go of her!” Poison marched forwards and reached for their kid, but the stranger stepped in front of the girl, blocking Poison’s path.

“I won’t let you hurt her!” She yelled, like Poison was the villain here. She glanced over her shoulder and forced a smile for the little girl. “Is this guy scaring you?”

“That’s my fuckin’ kid!” Poison growled at her. “Let go of her, you’re scaring her!”

She scoffed. “Oh please. Your kid? What are you, seventeen? You think I don’t know you’ve kidnapped this sweet little thing,” she pinched the girl’s cheek and Poison just about punched her.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me!? Kidnapped?” Poison was yelling loud enough to get a few eyes on them. “You’re outta your mind, bitch. Now let go of my child!”

“Sweetie,” the woman knelt down and held the girl by the shoulders. “Do you know this teenager?” She asked, and the girl nodded. “Did he tell you to say that?”

“This is bullshit,” Poison rolled their eyes. “Girlie, c’mon baby,” they said sternly, and the girl shimmied out of the woman’s grip and ran straight for Poison. The redhead wasted no time scooping up the kid and holding her on their hip, flipping the woman off with their free hand.

“Fuck you. Don’t ever come between me and my baby again,” they spat, turned, and left. Without even realising it, Poison had just defended their child . Not the kid they babysat, not the little sister who just moved in with them…this girl was Poison’s baby. They sighed shakily and pressed a kiss to the girl’s head.

“M’ sorry, kiddo,” they muttered. “We gonna go home now.”

After shopping with the girl for a while and getting into that awkward encounter, Poison nearly forgot that they had a shift in less than an hour and they needed to get the girl home as fast as possible before they were late.

Poison barged into the diner after speeding home. Ghoul must’ve already left, and Kobra was nowhere to be seen, meaning the only other person around was Jet.

“Jet! Please, please, please, jus’ keep an’ eye on her for a few hours!” Poison begged.

“Can’t do that, Poison,” Jet shook her head as she pulled on her jacket. Poison had barely been able to catch her on her way out. “We all got places to be.”

“‘Kay, well, what am I s’posed to do?” Poison stressed, dragging their hands through their hair. 

“Take her to work wit’ you, I dunno!” Jet called out moments before she left the diner. “Not my problem!”

The diner door slammed shut, leaving Poison alone with the little girl that sat in a booth. Her wide eyes stared up at Poison patiently.

“Well, fuck,” Poison groaned. 

People were at a loss for why there was a small child sitting on top of the back counter behind the bar while Party Poison was working. They were in a rush, fussing between attending to the ‘Joys ordering drinks, and the needs of the child who was far too young to be out this late. They were so angry at themself for not planning this out beforehand. Now both the customers and the girl were suffering at Poison’s hands.

They even had a glass chucked at them because they were taking too long serving orders. It shattered against the wall, startling the girl, and she burst into tears.

“Fuck, no, babygirl,” Poison stressed, pulling her into a quick hug. “S’ okay. You’re okay,” they promised. But the girl’s cries were getting louder than the music that was playing.

“I ordered like fifteen fucking minutes ago! Where’s my beer!?” Someone shouted, but under the neon dancing lights, Poison could barely figure out where the voice was coming from.

“Fuck! Sorry!” Poison let go of the child and quickly ran to the beer fridge. When they did, the girl let out a high pitched whine.

“Poison!” She cried, and Poison’s heart shattered just like that glass they had yet to sweep up.

“Witch, save me,” Poison gasped, nearly on the verge of tears themself. “One sec, kiddo.”

“Poison?” The voice of an angel came from behind them. Poison spun around in an instant, coming face to face with Ghoul.

“Oh my god,” Poison sighed heavily and dropped their head onto Ghoul’s shoulder.

“Woah, shit, you okay?” Ghoul immediately put his hand on their back, feeling the rapid breaths of Poison’s rising panic. “Thought I heard girlie.”

“You did,” Poison nearly sobbed. “I couldn’t—there was no one at the diner—I had to—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Ghoul shushed them. “Okay, s’ okay. Breathe, baby. Imma take the girl wit’ me for a bit, ‘kay?” He kissed the top of their head. “You gonna be able to handle the rest of the shift?”

Poison sniffled, but they lifted their head from Ghoul’s shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, I can do it,” they sighed shakily. Destroya, they loved him.

“‘Kay,” Ghoul nodded slowly. “Lyte’s ‘round here somewhere. You tell her if ya need a break, aight? An’ don’t you worry ‘bout the kid, I got her.”

Soon enough, the girl was wrapped up in Ghoul’s jacket and comfortably curled up in his arms as he carried her out the back doors of the club, away from the screaming crowd, bright lights, and loud music. He felt the tension in her little body ease up immediately.

“A lil’ much, ain’t it?” Ghoul asked with a gentle smirk on his face. The girl’s hair blew in the night’s wind, and Ghoul brushed it back out of her face so he could see her smiling back at him.

“Is Poison okay?” She asked, and Ghoul’s smile weakened. She was so young, and yet the girl was so concerned about her family already.

“They okay,” Ghoul nodded. “They gonna be okay.”

By the time Poison stumbled out through the back door at the end of the night, sweating and on the edge of a panic attack, the girl was sound asleep in Ghoul’s arms with her fingers tangled up in the collar of his shirt. Ghoul turned around and gave Poison a reassuring smile. 

“We all good out here. Ya ready to go home?” He asked, shifting all the girl’s weight into his left arm so his right one was free to pull Poison into a tight side hug. The redhead groaned softly, utterly exhausted. “C’mon, we all could use some sleep, yeah?”

Ghoul left his truck at the club because he didn’t trust Poison’s ability to drive. He got the girl settled in the backseat of the Trans Am, where she barely stirred before she fell right back asleep. Poison was slumped in the passenger seat. On the short drive home, Ghoul watched Poison shut down.

They lifelessly dragged themself into the diner. Poison hardly knew that Ghoul had carried the girl to his room and let her sleep there still wearing Ghoul’s jacket. Poison was so out of it, they couldn’t even register that Ghoul had walked them to their own bed until they were sitting on the mattress already.

“Fuck,” Poison whimpered. It was the first word they had uttered in a while. Ghoul sat down next to them, making the mattress dip, but Poison didn’t notice. Ghoul saw the way their eyes glazed over, unfocused on the wall straight ahead of them.

“Shit. Hey Red?” Ghoul grabbed Poison’s hand. Nothing.

Ghoul’s stomach twisted with guilt. He wished he had gotten to Poison sooner. He wished he had recognised the signs earlier. What happened today? Poison and the girl seemed to be doing great before the club… and now Ghoul had lost Poison to this overwhelming panic that had taken over the redhead’s system.

“Can ya hear me?” Ghoul whispered as he braved moving closer to Poison. With his body pressed right up against theirs, he could feel the tension they held. “Red? Please?”

Poison’s lip quivered. Ghoul didn’t know what they were thinking about, but he desperately needed Poison to know that he was there. He carefully pulled them into a hug and started rubbing soothing circles on their back. Ghoul somehow knew that he just needed to keep Poison right here; on the edge of breaking. Because when Poison got like this, there was only one person who could actually get through to them. And that person had only just walked in through the door.

“Kobra’s here,” Ghoul said quietly, still not sure if Poison understood. Ghoul held onto them tightly, sitting in this dark room, and waited for that sliver of light from the door to indicate that Kobra was back.

“Hm. Hey,” Kobra muttered softly, furrowing his brows together at the sight of his sibling in Ghoul’s arms. “Pois?”

Ghoul shook his head slightly, and Kobra’s concern only set deeper into his face. He dropped his bag and his jacket off on the floor and settled down on Poison’s other side. Poison still didn’t react. Not until Kobra’s hand landed on their shoulder.

Snapped like a rubber band, Poison nearly pounced onto Kobra. Their arms snaked around his thin torso like they had a million times before. Kobra yelped quietly, but that didn’t stop him from holding Poison close, leaning back until his head landed on Poison’s pillow.

Kobra didn’t want to ask what happened. Not now. That was a conversation for a different time. For now, he waited until he felt Poison’s tears begin to soak through his shirt. 

“Kobes…” Poison sobbed quietly.

“Shh,” Kobra whispered into the dark and quiet room. “Sleep. You need it.”

Poison cried softly for almost an hour, but eventually the exhaustion got the best of them. With the help of Kobra’s relaxing touch, Poison finally faded into a deep and well deserved slumber.

Ghoul left the siblings to it and crawled into Kobra’s bed on the other side of the room. His eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Sleeping felt nearly impossible now.

“Hey, Kobes,” Ghoul muttered.

“Yeah?” Kobra yawned, shifting carefully so he wouldn’t disturb Poison.

“We’re gonna fix this, right?”

Kobra sighed heavily and hummed. “F’ course,” he promised. He looked down at his sibling asleep in his arms. “She’s all our kid. Not jus’ Pois’.”

“Damn straight,” Ghoul exhaled. He rolled onto his side, with his back to the sibling pair, and finally closed his eyes. He was pretty sure he had some babysitting to do in the morning.

Chapter Text

Three Days Later

Poison decided they needed a day off with the girl. They were still embarrassed about their episode a couple of nights ago, and Kobra and Ghoul weren’t doing anything to help. Poison loved them to pieces, but they didn’t need their brother and their boyfriend hovering over them at all times, waiting for them to snap again.

They sat in a booth in the middle of the afternoon with their girl in their lap. She was held in place by Poison’s right arm securely wrapped around her waist. Their left was resting on the table in front of them, while the girl used a little bit of Poison’s paint to colour in all of their tattoos.

They didn’t have colouring books for her. What else was Poison supposed to do?

“Make sure ya stay inside the lines, baby,” Poison giggled. The gentle strokes of the paintbrush against their skin were shockingly calming.

“I am!” She giggled, just as she gave Poison’s snake bright yellow eyes. 

“Wow, it’s way better than before,” Ghoul commented, and the girl smiled up at him with pride. Ghoul grinned until Kobra, who was sitting on top of the next table, reached over and smacked him.

“Hey,” he frowned jokingly. Kobra had that exact same ink.

“What? You want yours done next?” Ghoul laughed, and the girl nodded eagerly. “C’mon, she can make that fuckin’ snake way cooler, right babygirl?”

The rumbling sound of a dirtbike’s engine pulled up outside and the girl’s head snapped up in the direction of the window. “Jet’s home!” She announced excitedly.

Poison turned around to face the door when Jet walked in. She had a helmet under her arm, and her hair was still tied back to expose her sweat-shiny face. But none of that mattered. Poison was more so focused on the blood that was drying all over her hands.

“Woah, what the fuck?” Poison’s jaw dropped as Jet hurriedly made her way through the diner, probably to wash all that blood off.

“What the fuck?” The girl repeated.

“Hey, it’s not cute when you say it,” Poison hugged her tighter. The girl made that adorable expression when her nose scrunched up, so Poison kissed the scowl right off her face.

“Jet? You good?” Ghoul called out when he heard the tap in the kitchen sink running. “What happened?”

“Relax, it ain’t mine,” Jet huffed when she emerged from the kitchen again, wiping her damp hands on her jeans. “Jus’ helped out these guys on the side a’ the road. It, uh, didn’ go great,” she explained to the team. “M’ okay,” her eye caught the concerned look on the child’s face, and something inside her twisted.

“Promise,” Jet nodded to the kid. 

The girl eased up again, visibly snuggling closer into Poison’s embrace. Jet let out a quiet sigh of relief and sat down on the other side of the booth across from Poison and the girl. Contrary to popular belief, Jet didn’t hate this kid. In fact, she was pretty obsessed with her. The girl was so gentle and sweet. Not to mention, fucking adorable. Jet was just afraid of getting too attached. The last thing the crew needed was this child taking after Jet of all people.

Ghoul dropped down into the space beside Jet and reached across her body for the stray pack of cigarettes that sat by the window. He pulled two cigs out and passed one to Jet without even asking her if she wanted one. 

“Baby, my arm’s fallin’ asleep here,” Poison chuckled and lifted the girl up off of their lap so she could have her own seat next to Poison.

“Poison?” She squeaked.

“Yes, sweets?” 

“Why is that man here?” The girl asked as her eyebrows knitted together, the way they always did when she was confused by something.

Poison couldn’t possibly narrow down what she was talking about. “Ghoul lives here, kiddo,” they giggled.

“Fuck off,” Ghoul gasped jokingly.

“No!” The girl interrupted, seemingly frustrated. “ That man!” Her little arm stretched out to point at the empty wall in front of her.

Ghoul blew out a puff of smoke as he turned to where she was staring. “There ain’t no one there, girlie.”

“Yes there is!” She whined, forcing Jet to finally lift her head again and glance across the room.

She froze.

“That guy?” She asked nervously, pointing exactly to where the girl was looking. “The lil’ dude wit’ the green hair?”

“Jet, what the fuck?” Poison asked. They felt like they were going crazy.

“Girlie,” Jet ignored Poison. “How the fuck can ya see him?”

“I—I dunno,” the girl shrugged. She slinked into Poison’s side like she had done something wrong.

“S’ okay, baby,” Poison assured her. “Jet, what are ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

Jet’s eye rolled. “The fuckin’ ghost, Poison!” She exclaimed, reminding everyone of Jet’s power.

“Ya mean there’s some dead guy in my diner!? Get ‘im out!” Poison shivered.

“Your fuckin’ seance can wait,” Ghoul interjected. “How come the girl’s seein’ this shit, too?” He asked, and everyone bit their tongues.

Kobra leaned over the back of the booth, sticking his head between Ghoul and Jet. “That ain’t— hm— part of your power, right?” He asked quietly. “Making others see shit, too?”

“You sure you’re lookin’ at a ghost, baby?” Poison asked the girl and the panic in their voice was obvious.

“I think so?” She shrugged again. “I dunno! He looks…weird.”

“‘Cause he’s dead,” Jet groaned and let herself slump forwards so her face hit the table. “Witch fuckin’ help me,” she mumbled. The kid was seeing dead people…that sort of thing definitely would fuck up a child. Jet knew from experience. 

“Just…” Poison took the girl’s shoulders and turned her around to face her team. “Quit lookin’ at him. He’ll go away soon. Right Jet?” They stared at Jet with a piercing look in their eyes.

“Yeah,” Jet lied. She brought her cigarette to her lips and inhaled deeply. “Yeah, he’ll leave.”

Poison closed their eyes and tilted their head up, trying to calm themself down. Realistically, they knew that the girl had a good chance of developing a power of her own by living out in the desert with them. But she was just so young. And Poison didn’t know a fucking thing about ghosts, nevermind how to help a child when she can suddenly see all of them.

Jet needed to get out of there so badly that she grabbed the back of the booth and leapt over it. She marched through the kitchen and into her bedroom before anyone had another chance to speak. As soon as she had privacy, Jet’s hands were tangled in her hair and pulling hard.

“Witch fuckin’ Destroya, fuck me,” she groaned. Jet was at almost the exact same age when she first started seeing ghosts. And now at nineteen, as she stood alone in the middle of the room, she was reminded of the countless nights spent hiding in a dark corner, watching visions of the dead dance past. Jet was haunted for a decade before she ever truly learned how to control what she did and didn’t see, and even then it was insanely difficult.

Jet’s childhood was taken by the hands of ghosted Killjoys and angry dead Scarecrows. How was she supposed to sit back and watch the same thing happen to the girl?

Poison had their arms tightly hugged around Kobra’s waist. The blonde slowed down as his bike reached the Crashtrack. Really, it was Poison’s bike, but after they acquired the Trans Am and Kobra started showing an interest in racing, that bike was quickly handed down to him.

Poison needed to get away from the diner for a little bit. Kobra knew this. He paid close attention to Poison over the past few days, watching the way they hovered over the girl with increasing nervousness. They looked exhausted at all times. And while Kobra fully believed in Poison’s ability to raise the girl, he also didn’t believe they should ever have to do it alone. Ghoul promised to stay home with the girl so Kobra could take Poison out for a few hours. They deserved it.

Now, Poison hopped off of Kobra’s bike with a soft smile on their face. The last time they’d seen Kobra drive, he’d been so young he basically panicked behind the wheel and gave up. A lot had changed over the past few months for the siblings. Part of Poison hated how far they had drifted from Kobra.

“S’ driving hard wit’ the tics?” Poison asked idly as they walked side by side with Kobra and the bike into the Crashtrack.

Kobra shrugged. “A lil’— huh,” he led Poison past the bustling bleachers full of Killjoys towards an area that was seemingly dedicated to the racers. “I don’t drive on bad days,” he added.

Poison looked around at all the other ‘Joys that were gearing up their bikes, ready for the day’s race. Most of them smiled and waved when Kobra walked in. “Fuck, I can’t believe I ain’t seen ya race yet,” Poison sighed. “I’m a shit sibling.”

“No,” Kobra shook his head. His nose twitched slightly. “Hm. You had your own shit to deal with. Besides, I started— hm— racing to escape everyone.”

Poison frowned slightly as they watched Kobra fish a small plastic case out of the pocket of his jacket. “Hah—mm.”

“What’s those?” Poison asked curiously.

“Hm— Earplugs. Someone gave them to me,” Kobra explained as he shoved the first plug into his left ear, twitching a little as he adjusted to the feeling. “S’ so it’s not loud.”

A sense of relief washed over Poison knowing that Kobra had been keeping himself safe this whole time. Poison tried to give Kobra the space he deserved, but that didn’t stop them from always worrying about their little brother in the back of their mind. They felt better knowing that Kobra wouldn’t let himself get too overstimulated at the Crashtrack.

“Go find a seat,” Kobra pointed at the bleachers. “I gotta go.”

Poison quickly wrapped Kobra up in a tight hug and muttered, “Good luck!” Before they bolted up the steps, trying to get themself the best view of the track they could find.

There were a lot of Killjoys around that day. Poison sat eagerly on the edge of their seat in the middle of the loud, cheering crowd as race after race went by. Their nerves spiked when they saw a racer spin out and crash into the barrier of tires that surrounded the tracks. Did Kobra really do all of this?

And then, Poison saw him. In that neon yellow helmet and bright red racer jacket that read ‘Kobra’ in white tape, the Kobra Kid was straddling his bike with his gloved hands gripping the handlebars intensely. Poison held their breath, eyeing the other racers; Kobra’s opponents. Then the gun went off.

The collective humming of all those bike engines sounded like a swarm of giant bugs making their way around the oval shaped track. The tires spun fast, kicking up clouds of dust that surrounded the thirteen racers. Poison didn’t care about anyone else in that race. They just couldn’t take their eyes off of Kobra.

He was amazing. The Kid controlled that bike like it was an extension of himself. Poison was sure that he hadn’t been racing for very long, and was blown away by Kobra’s rapidly improving talent. When Kobra’s bike swerved, nearly crashing into a fellow racer, Poison gasped and jumped to their feet.

“C’mon, kiddo…” Poison mumbled through their clenched teeth. Kobra had one more lap to go, and Poison felt like their heart was about to stop beating.

Four bikes zipped past the finish line, and the crowd erupted in a mix of excited cheers and loud, disappointed boos. Poison almost squealed in excitement, jumping up and down as they clapped their hands together. The other nine racers crossed the line one after another, and before the race was even over, Poison was running towards the racer’s only area again.

“Dude! That was fuckin’ metal!” Poison yelled as they sprinted across the sand. They all but jumped into Kobra’s arms, hugging him so tight, it was shocking that the Kid could still breathe. “Witch, that was incredible!” Poison had half a brain to pull back and let Kobra take the bulky helmet on. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Poison helped him get the sunglasses out of his pocket to protect his eyes.

“M’ so proud of you,” Poison smiled after Kobra could safely open his eyes again.

“I— Mhm— I got fourth,” Kobra shrugged casually.

“Outta thirteen!” Poison exclaimed. “That’s fuckin’ awesome!” They threw themself onto Kobra again. It was a lot easier to hug him without a giant helmet in the way.

“Thanks, Pois,” Kobra smirked. Poison could feel his hands twitching as he hugged them back. “So you had fun?” He asked.

“A fucking blast,” Poison sighed. “Thank you, Kobes.”

“You’re sulking.”

Jet startled, glancing up to see Ghoul standing in her bedroom doorway, leaning the side of his head against the doorframe, just watching her.

“M’ not sulking,” her eye rolled.

“You’re sulking,” Ghoul repeated. “An’ I know why, so don’t ya try to lie to me ‘bout this. You’re scared about the girl.”

“I’m not—” Jet cut herself off. She sighed heavily and got up off of her bed. “I’m not scared . I jus’ feel like shit.”

“‘Cause of the girl,” Ghoul nodded. “Jet, quit pretendin’ you have zero interest in that child! I know ya love her as much as the rest of us, an’ I know there’s somethin’ about yesterday that ya not tellin’ the rest of us. So spill, bitch.”

Jet’s eye widened at the insult. She flipped him off with both hands and groaned. “Seein’ ghosts just ain’t somethin’ I’d wish on anyone, ‘kay?”

Ghoul sighed. “Yeah, me neither. Can’t imagine what it’s like seein’ dead people when you’re only six.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t gotta imagine it,” Jet shrugged as she slid both her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “They scarier when you’re a kid, y’know?”

“I bet,” Ghoul frowned at her. He sometimes forgot that Jet had been dealing with that shit her whole life. “How bad did it fuck you up?” He asked. And, yeah, maybe it was a little insensitive, but Jet didn’t mind.

She just laughed dryly. “Real bad,” she scoffed. “But parta that was my parents.”

Ghoul knew why she was laughing, because he did it too. Sometimes, the only way to get over the people that ruined your life was to just laugh at their memory until the pain went away.

“Jet, ya gotta talk to her.”

“Who?”

“Fuck off, you know who,” Ghoul shook his head, smirking softly. “Girlie. Look, you’re the only one who’s ever gonna know what ghosts look like to a six-year-old. An’ unless ya want her to go through the same shit you did, maybe talk her through it?”

Jet’s eye closed as she leaned back, stretching out her back, and groaned. “Ugh, fine. I’ll talk to the child.”

“Thank you,” Ghoul smiled. “She’s on the couch. I gotta piss, so see ya later.”

“Wait, what?” Jet blinked, but Ghoul had already run away. “Oh, fuck you,” she mumbled, and dragged herself out into the main room of the diner.

The girl was exactly where Ghoul had left her; sitting on one end of the old sofa, kicking her short legs gently as she kept her eyes fixated on something in the distance. As Jet walked in, she followed the girl’s line of sight towards a short and freckled Killjoy with no life behind his eyes.

“He’s pretty ugly, ain’t he?” Jet asked and sat down next to the kid. The way she looked up at Jet, it seemed like she had only just noticed that Jet was there.

“Can he hear us?” The girl asked innocently. The curious yet frightful look in her eyes took Jet right back to her own childhood.

“Sometimes,” Jet shrugged. “But I ain’t thinkin’ so. He looks kinda outta it, don’t he?”

The girl’s head tilted to the side—causing her to lean into Jet—as she analyzed this ghost's appearance. Jet lifted her arm around and behind the girl, opening up a space for her. “I guess so,” she muttered as she cuddled in closer.

“Nah, I think he’s an old one,” Jet decided. “He’s on his way back to the Witch. We ain’t gonna be seein’ him ‘round the diner for much longer.”

The girl contemplated this. Jet felt the weight on her ribs get heavier and realised that the girl had fully started laying on her now.

“Ghosts are scary,” the girl said, and Jet’s heart ached.

“Yeah. They real scary,” she sighed.

“I don’t like they eyes,” the girl added, and Jet nodded in understanding. Ghosts always had this look in their eyes that was so…well… dead . Grey and lifeless. You never wanted to make eye contact with a ghost.

“I hate ‘em, too,” Jet sympathised. 

The girl turned to look up at Jet. “Do ya see ghosts all the time?” She asked.

“Most a’ the time, yeah,” Jet nodded slowly. “But ya learn to ignore ‘em. An’ if I try real hard, I can get rid of ‘em.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. “You can!?” She said, sounding much more intrigued than she was a minute ago. 

“We’ll try it, ‘kay?” Jet placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders and turned her towards their diner ghost. “Want ya to keep an eye on him, ‘kay? Focus real hard. Imagine that ya pushin’ him away with ya mind. Think ya can do that?”

The girl giggled. “Okay,” she nodded, and furrowed her eyebrows. Her nose scrunched up as she stared down the ghost, and it made Jet chuckle.

“‘Kay, here we go,” Jet said with a soft smile. Jet let the girl do her own thing while Jet closed her eye and started on her usual ritual. She tried to step out of the land of the living for a brief moment and find her way to the spirit that stood a few feet in front of her.

With enough mental strength to make her winded, Jet pushed the dead Killjoy out of the paranormal state he inhabited and watched him fall into the afterlife. As soon as he was out of Jet’s sight, she imagined him landing in the Witch’s hands, finally being carried to the afterlife he deserved.

“Wow!” The girl squealed after watching the ghost disappear into thin air. “We did it!”

Jet chuckled as she tried to catch her breath. “Sure did,” she nodded, squeezing the girl’s shoulders. “Great job.”

The girl smiled proudly before she spoke what was on her mind again. “Is ignorin’ the ghosts hard?”

Jet tried not to let her expression falter. “A lil’. It gets easier. I’ll help ya figure it all out, kiddo.”

Gratefully, the girl leaned back into Jet’s side. This time, she threw her arm around Jet’s middle and hugged her tightly. “If you can do it, Jetty, then so can me.”

Jet’s hand rested on the small of the girl’s back. “Damn right,” she said, cringing at the way her voice cracked. Witch, this child was going to be the death of Jet. Ghoul was right, she loved the kid just as much as the rest of them.

“What’s up, motherfuckers?” Ghoul obnoxiously cheered as he threw open the door to Doc’s station. The Fab Four and the girl were invited over with the promise of free food and drinks; a little thank you for choosing to take in the girl.

“Fucking hell, ya sure know how to make an entrance,” Show Pony giggled, throwing their arm around Ghoul’s shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “How ya been?”

The team got settled in quickly inside Doc’s cozy little station, which got pretty crowded once twelve Killjoys filled the main room. Doc was enjoying every minute of it, however. He loved getting to see all the ‘Joys he thought of as his own kids in the one place.

Kobra dropped down onto the rug in the centre of the room, right beside Nova and Freak. They immediately dealt Kobra into their made up card game that they were playing with Styx, who sat cross-legged on top of the coffee table.

“Hey, kiddo!” Doc smiled as the girl came running up to him, easily climbing into his lap. “How’s life wit’ the Fabulous Four?”

“Shiny!” She replied, flaunting her new favourite word.

“She’s a little fuckin’ angel,” Poison sighed happily and dropped down onto one of the two sofas. They wiggled around until they got comfortable with their head in Jet’s lap. Jet was already lounging back with a beer in her hand that she had swiped from Doc’s fridge.

“F’ course she is,” Cherri chuckled from his spot next to Ghoul. He winked at the girl, who stuck her tongue out at him.

Hydro walked into the room and immediately made a beeline for Jet. He came up beside her while she wasn’t looking and pulled the can right out of her hand.

“Hey, what the fuck?” Jet’s head whipped around to glare up at the kid. “What’s this for?”

“Can you teach me to shoot with both hands?” He asked, pretty seriously.

Jet blinked, taken aback by Hydro’s request. “What?”

“Can you. Teach me. To shoot guns. With both of my hands,” Hydro repeated slowly, making everyone else in the room laugh.

“Witch, kid, what stick is up your ass today?” Jet scoffed.

Poison reached up and slapped her in the shoulder. “Help the damn kid, Jetty!”

Hydro hadn’t taken his eyes off of Jet, but his expression did soften a little. “Please?” He asked far more sincerely.

Jet let out a long, slow sigh. “Fuck it. Why not?” She shrugged. “C’mon, dude. While we still got daylight.”

Hydro’s eyes went wide with genuine excitement. He quickly ran to his pile of gear by the front door and found his two custom blasters. Jet chuckled softly at the kid’s eagerness. He had a lot of passion for a kid who was only twelve and a half. She could admire that.

“Fuck yeah, I wanna see this!” Freak Show exclaimed, jumping to his feet and abandoning his friends’ game. “Hey, Novs,” he glanced down at the blonde girl. “Wanna go watch H fail?”

“Hey!” Hydro flipped him off.

“Definitely,” Nova nodded with an evil grin on her face. She turned to Kobra and grabbed his hand, hauling him towards the door. “C’mon!”

“Nuh-uh,” Styx crossed her arms and shook her head. “M’ still sunburnt from yesterday! Imma stay in-fucking-doors today,” they declared, and sat down in the empty seat left by Jet.

“Sounds like a plan, kid,” Poison smiled and tucked her purple hair behind her ear. “Can I braid this for ya?”

Styx’s eyes sparkled. “Please!?” She exclaimed, already sliding off of the sofa to sit at Poison’s feet.

As the larger group headed outside, the girl shimmied down from Doc’s lap and started following. “Wait—Girlie!” Poison panicked. Jet would be preoccupied with Hydro, so Poison couldn’t let the girl out of their sight and—

“Hey. Quit worryin’,” Ghoul’s voice interrupted Poison’s internal thought process. “I got my eye on her,” he assured them. It was autumn already, which meant the desert sun wasn’t as melt-your-skin-off hot as it usually was. Ghoul didn’t mind spending a little more time out there before nightfall.

“I love you,” Poison sighed in relief.

“F’ course,” Ghoul leaned over the back of the couch and quickly pressed a kiss to Poison’s lips. “Love ya, too.”

“Gross,” Styx pretended to gag.

Outside, Jet walked around to the back of the station where she found an old wooden work bench. She grabbed one end of it and dragged it across the pavement. Jet squinted in the sun, deciding that she was far enough from the station, and set the bench down.

“Yo, kid! Bring some empty cans outta the trash there, ‘kay?” Jet put her hands to her mouth as she yelled to Hydro. The orange haired boy ran to catch up with Jet, and he had six empty soda and beer cans to line up on the bench. They would use these for target practice.

“Alright, dude,” Jet walked Hydro back to the station. “What hand do ya already shoot with?”

“Uh, my left,” Hydro replied nervously.

Jet chuckled. “Ya sure ‘bout that?” She teased. “Kay, kid, use ya left an’ hit that first can over there,” she pointed at their makeshift target setup. “I jus’ wanna see what ya got.”

“Okay,” Hydro shrugged. He still seemed nervous, but he raised that neon orange blaster in his left hand, aimed, and fired. The electric blast shot out and hit the furthest left can perfectly, knocking it off of the bench.

“Shit,” Jet blinked, impressed. “Aight. Sweet. Let’s go to the right.”

“Cool, cool,” Hydro nodded. “How do we do that?”

Jet smirked at him. “My best tip for ya is to jus’ start usin’ your right hand whenever ya can. Drawing, openin’ a can, eatin’, whenever ya need to use the left, use your right instead. Muscle memory, kiddo…”

Jet glanced around the wide paved parking lot that surrounded Doc’s station. She bit her lip and thought for a moment. “Stay here,” she ordered, and ran around the corner again. Hydro stayed nearly still as he waited for Jet to return. When she did, she had a long piece of rope in her hands.

“For now, we wanna force your right hand to do the work,” she explained before she forcibly grabbed Hydro with a lot more strength than he expected. Without a word, Jet twisted the kid’s right arm behind his back and held it there.

“Hey, what the fuck?” Hydro protested.

“Your left is useless to us, got it?” She asked. The rope wrapped around Hydro’s torso twice before Jet tied a tight knot in the back, successfully binding Hydro’s left arm to his body. 

“This hurts,” Hydro frowned.

“Most things do,” Jet shrugged. “Now that ya got no left arm, we can work on the right. So take your—hey, where’d ya gun go?”

“Oh,” Hydro blushed. His free arm reached behind him, and suddenly a bright sea blue blaster appeared out of nowhere. Jet seemed utterly confused, and it made Hydro laugh. “S’ my power,” he explained casually. “I can kinda just make shit disappear. It makes it pretty easy to carry stuff around.”

Jet was kind of obsessed with this kid.

“Fuck. Cool,” she smiled. “Kay, let’s work on this aim.”

Hydro nodded and extended his right arm out in front of him. He tried to point the barrel of his gun at the next can, but he was a little shaky. It was proving to be a lot harder than he thought. But Jet hadn’t said anything yet, so Hydro just decided ‘fuck it’ and shot.

He missed the bench completely. 

Jet laughed at him. “What the fuck, dude?”

Hydro scowled at her. “It’s fuckin’ hard!”

“Hell yeah, s’ hard, but you’re makin’ it a million times harder on yourself,” Jet shook her head with a smirk. “Aim again. But don’t shoot.”

“‘Kay,” Hydro hesitantly did the exact same thing as before.

“See? What the fuck are ya doin’?” Jet took a step forward so she was standing right over him. “Why’s your left eye closed?”

Hydro paused, realising that his left eye was in fact closed.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell ya to never shoot wit’ one eye closed? Ya fuckin’ up your view of the target,” Jet scolded. 

“Jet,” Hydro lowered his gun and turned around completely to face her. He was staring directly at the eye patch that covered her right eye.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jet groaned and pushed Hydro back the other way. The irony was not lost on her. “I do it a lil’ different. But you still got both your eyes, you little shit. So use ‘em!”

Hydro made a conscious effort to keep both of his eyes open and focused when he aimed this time. His right hand was still shaky, but he felt like he had a better understanding already.

“Wait,” Jet stopped him. “Wider stance,” she pointed at his feet. He complied. “‘Kay. Shoot, kid.”

There was a loud zap that came with the shot that Hydro fired. The laser flew through the air towards the bench. Jet watched with bated breath as the shot hit the top of the fourth can, knocking it back off of the workbench. Hydro’s eyes widened with shock.

“S’ that the can you were aimin’ at?” Jet asked.

“Not at all,” Hydro chuckled. “But that was progress?” He grimaced. Jet nodded with a smile.

“I’d call that progress, fuck yeah.”

Sitting in the shade by the station, Nova got bored of watching Hydro and Jet, so she jumped to her feet and ran up the steps of the front deck. She grabbed a teal blue skateboard that was leaning up against the wall, and in one swift motion, skated down Doc’s wheelchair ramp.

Kobra watched her skid to a stop on the sandy and cracked pavement. “You skate?” He asked curiously.

“Yeah. Do you?” Nova asked with a grin.

Kobra shyly shook his head. “Nah— hm. I don’t have— huh —good balance.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Nova chuckled. She pushed off with her right foot and started skating circles around Kobra. “I bet you’d be real good at it,” she said. Kobra found himself awkwardly spinning around just to keep the eye contact going. “Do ya wanna learn?”

Kobra shrugged. “Dunno.”

“It’s easy,” Nova jumped off of her board and rolled it towards Kobra. He caught it under his foot, then glanced up. As if asking Nova what he should do next. “Step up on it.”

Kobra’s nose twitched. “Hm. I told you my balance sucks,” he reminded her, but he stepped up onto the skateboard anyway. Immediately, the wheels began rolling and Kobra wobbled forwards with a sharp yelp.

“Careful!” Nova giggled. She caught Kobra’s flailing arms and realised that she was now standing there with Kobra slightly above her as they held hands. A bright pink blush decorated both of their faces.

“Told you,” Kobra smirked.

Nova sheepishly glanced down at his feet. “Um,” she stuttered. “You should stand wit’ your feet above the wheels. It’ll be easier.”

“Oh,” Kobra nodded. His grip on Nova’s hands tightened as he readjusted his stance. “Better?” He asked, teeth clacking.

“Yeah,” Nova nodded. “Okay, now shift your weight from your heels to your toes. ‘Cause that’s how you gotta steer.”

“This seems complicated,” Kobra mumbled. Nova laughed at him again, feeling how shaky he was getting. She was still holding his hands. 

“It takes some getting used to, I guess,” Nova shrugged. “What if I just…” she giggled mischievously and started walking sideways. The movement pulled Kobra with her, and suddenly the board was rolling.

“Nova!” Kobra exclaimed. “Slow down!”

“No!” Nova laughed out loud and only picked up the pace. Underneath the sunglasses, Kobra’s eyes were wide with fear as Nova dragged him around the pavement. Until one of the wheels hit a small rock and the board jerked, knocking Kobra off.

“Fuck!” He yelled as he fell forwards, right into Nova. She shrieked and caught him, instinctively holding him by the waist to make sure he didn’t go tumbling.

“Uh,” Nova blushed impossibly deeper. “You good?” She asked, hesitantly letting Kobra go.

“Yeah,” Kobra awkwardly adjusted his sunglasses and looked down at his feet. “I’m good.”

“Good,” Nova smiled. She didn’t know what to do or say next. She might have let go of Kobra, but neither one of them had stepped back, which meant the two Killjoys were still standing only a few inches away from each other.

“You like music?” Kobra asked the moment he noticed the music notes that were tattooed into Nova’s skin just above her collarbone.

“Um, yes?” Nova scoffed like it was obvious. “I make mixtapes all the time! I have some in Doc’s office! You wanna hear ‘em!”

“Yeah,” Kobra’s voice was bright as he eagerly nodded his head. Nova wasted no time grabbing Kobra’s wrist and dragging him back inside to show off her music collection.

Ghoul was sitting in the sand next to the girl, watching Kobra’s entire interaction go down with a soft smile on his face. He was proud of the Kid for making new friends. Sometimes, Ghoul felt bad that Kobra had to spend his days with his older sibling and all their friends.

Just as Nova and Kobra ran inside, Freak Show wandered back from poking fun at Hydro. The tall, lanky, dark skinned kid dropped down into the sand next to Ghoul. Ghoul didn’t know anything about Freak, except for the fact that he was not Poison’s number one fan.

“So, you’re the fuckin’ cyborg one, right?” Freak asked out of the blue. “That’s your power? That you’re half robot?”

Ghoul chuckled a bit. “Not exactly. I mean, yeah, I’m a lotta tech on the inside, but that ain’t my power.”

Freak raised one eyebrow. “Really? Then what is?”

“Rapid regeneration,” Ghoul said with a wink. “Basically, my cells can multiply at a superhuman speed. I heal fast.”

“Oh,” Freak nodded. “That’s sick!”

“Thanks, man,” Ghoul took the chance he had when Freak looked away to really take in this kid. He was tall. Like, so fucking tall. He was only thirteen and he made Ghoul look like a child sitting next to him. The last time Ghoul had seen the kid, which was months ago, they had a mop of wild and curly dark hair on the top of their head. Now, that was all weaved into a bunch of bright green braids that reached his waist. Green must’ve been Freak’s colour. Ghoul liked this kid already.

“You gotta power?” Ghoul asked idly. “Or is Hydro an’ Styx the only ones wit’ special abilities?”

“Nah, I got one, too,” Freak admitted with a slow nod. “It’s a lil’ weird, though. Some people don’t like seein’ it happen.”

“Try me,” Ghoul readjusted his position. 

“You sure?”

“Hey. I live with a guy who can murder you by starin’ at ya, an’ a girl who can see dead people. An’ my partner can read my mind,” Ghoul chuckled. “So try me.”

“Aight,” Freak shrugged. Ghoul watched him get to his feet and walk a few paces away. They kept their back to Ghoul, shook out their hands, and then it happened.

Freak’s tall body slowly morphed into a smaller creature. His skin turned into matted black fur, his hands became paws, and a tail emerged out of his spine. Ghoul’s jaw dropped at the sight. Suddenly, Freak was no longer standing in front of him. Instead, a scrappy, wolf-like animal was turning in a slow circle, as if to prove to Ghoul that he was real.

“Puppy!” The girl squealed.

“Yeah, girlie,” Ghoul chuckled. “Wow, Freak, that’s fuckin’ crazy.”

The dog disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and soon Freak was back on his feet, scratching at the back of his neck. Ghoul finally understood why his clothes were so ratty all the time.

“A good crazy I hope?” Freak asked.

“For sure,” Ghoul nodded. “Right, baby?” He turned around to ask the girl, only to find an empty space in the sand. “What the fuck? She was just sitting there—”

Ghoul stopped talking when he saw the little girl a few feet away. She had one foot on the ground, and the other on Nova’s skateboard. 

“Shit! Girlie—” Ghoul shouted. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her for Poison! But he was too late. The girl had leaned all of her weight onto the board, and the wheels slipped out from under her. Her little body fell forwards as she shrieked.

“Oh, fuck!” Freak yelled.

The child tumbled forwards, scraping up her hands and knees, and cracking her forehead against the dusty pavement. The scream that escaped her could shatter glass.

“Witch, fuck me!” Ghoul cried and ran over to her.

Chapter Text

The girl was screaming, crying, and bleeding from the face. Ghoul had her in his arms, not giving a single shit about the blood that was soaking into his shirt. He felt awful for letting the girl get hurt, and the guilt made him sick the moment he pushed into the diner and Poison saw their little girl in Ghoul’s arms.

“What the fuck happened!?” Poison screamed. There was a burning anger in their eyes as they jumped to their feet and ran, immediately taking the child into their arms without even looking at Ghoul.

“M’ sorry! She fell!” Ghoul frantically tried to explain as he pathetically followed Poison into Doc’s kitchen.

“Fell? From what?” Poison snapped. They sat the sobbing girl on top of the counter and grabbed the medkit that sat by the sink.

“A skateboard?” Ghoul cringed.

“Why the fuck was she on a skateboard!?” Poison was livid. Ghoul hadn’t seen them get this mad in a while. This moment reminded Ghoul why he had always feared angry Party Poison.

“M’ sorry!” The girl hiccuped between her loud, snotty sobs. She knew it was her fault. She was the one who was so curiously looking at Nova’s cool skateboard. 

The girl was shaking in fear. Ghoul wanted to hug her again, but he couldn’t risk getting in Poison’s way. Instead, he was forced to just stand there and watch the girl discover the blood that covered her scraped up hands. She only cried out louder.

“Shh, shh, s’ okay, sweetie,” Poison shushed her and swiped the red and sticky hair out of her face. “We gonna fix it, right?”

The knees of the girl’s blue jeans were stained red by that point. The blood that got on Ghoul was already drying, glueing his shirt to his skin. That much blood never bothered Ghoul before, but it was a totally different story when the blood belonged to your kid.

“Jus’ gotta clean you up first,” Poison talked the girl through their process. She flinched when Poison touched a wet cloth to her forehead, but Poison kept a comforting hand on her shoulder to hold her still.

“S’ cold,” she whined. Poison sighed heavily. Warm water was not something that they had access to unless they wanted to leave it out in the sun for an hour. 

“I know, m’ sorry, baby,” Poison frowned slightly. They got to work gently wiping the blood off of the girl’s skin and out of her hairline. “Ghoul?”

“What?” Ghoul straightened his back like a soldier ready to take orders.

“She fell on her face, yeah?” Poison asked, and Ghoul’s brows furrowed.

“Yeah, her fuckin’ forehead smashed into the ground, why?” Ghoul asked, mildly annoyed. This didn’t seem like the right time for this conversation.

“There’s nothing here,” Poison stood up from where they were hovering over the girl. “Ghoul, there’s nothing on her forehead.”

“Well where’s all that fuckin’ blood comin’ from, huh?” Ghoul scoffed.

“You tell me! You were there!” Poison stepped back, revealing the nervous-looking girl who sat there with tear filled eyes. “You were watchin’ her, right?”

“F’ course I was!” Ghoul put his finger underneath the girl’s chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “...What?” He asked.

“See?” Poison exclaimed. “There’s no cuts, no bruises, nothing!”

It was true. The girl’s deep brown skin was completely unharmed, save for the crusted blood that was stuck to it. Ghoul carefully took both of her hands in his and touched her palms, realising that there were no scrapes left behind from her fall.

“No, that’s impossible, I saw her cut herself up,” Ghoul ran a stressed hand through his hair.

“The fuck happened, then?” Poison sighed heavily. “Ain’t no way she just magically healed from—”

Both Ghoul and Poison froze, wearing matching dumbfounded expressions on their faces. The girl sat there in silence, watching her parents just stare at each other.

Ghoul groaned. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

Poison paced back and forth through the main room of the diner. The bottoms of their sneakers squeaked against the tile, but they couldn’t stop themself. Ghoul sat helplessly on top of a table, watching Poison panic.

“Y’know, I knew somethin’ was up,” Jet sighed as she idly swivelled in a barstool by the window. “Ain’t no one ever heard of two ‘Joys wit’ the same gift before.”

Kobra lifted his head. He sat cross-legged on the floor with his back against the couch. “So she’s a mimic?” He asked.

“Guess so,” Ghoul shrugged.

“Which is jus’ so great,” Poison sighed sarcastically. “‘Cause now, girlie ain’t gotta deal with just one power! She’s gotta deal wit’ all of them!” They exclaimed, and Kobra frowned at their concern.

“She’s okay, Pois,” Kobra’s head snapped back against the couch as he grunted. “Hmm. Clearly her power is a good thing,” he raised his eyebrows, silently reminding Poison that the girl had just healed herself from a nasty injury earlier that day.

“M’ jus’ worried ‘bout her,” Poison finally quit pacing in favour of dropping to the floor next to their brother. 

“I know,” Kobra nodded. “Mmm. Worryin’ is what you do best,” he smirked, and Poison rolled their eyes at him.

“I wonder how her sparks work,” Ghoul thought out loud. “How do the sparks even know to mimic someone else’s?” He asked, but no one else really seemed too eager to focus on the science behind the girl’s abilities.

“She’s gotta have ‘em for a reason…” Jet muttered. “The Witch meant somethin’ by givin’ her a gift like that.”

“You think she can control it?” Kobra asked, just as the girl walked into the room with her little hands wrung together nervously.

“Did—” She stuttered, looking fearfully between the four Killjoys. “Did I do somethin’ wrong?” She asked. Everyone could almost hear Poison’s heart breaking.

“No! No, of course not, sweets!” Poison exclaimed immediately and opened their arms, motioning for the girl to join them on the floor. “Your power is jus’ a lil funky, ain’t it?”

The girl sat down between Poison and Kobra and shrugged. “I dunno,” she mumbled.

“Hey,” Poison nudged her slightly. “S’ okay. I promise. We’ll figure it all out, won’t we?” They glanced up, forcing all of their teammates to nod in agreement. Ghoul smiled softly and jumped off of the table to kneel in front of the girl.

“Kiddo,” he winked. “Did ya know what you were doin’ today? When you copied my power to heal yourself?” He asked, and Poison cringed. They didn’t want to stress the girl out too much.

She shrugged again. “Kinda.”

Both Kobra and Poison turned to look down at her. “What do you mean, kinda?” Poison asked.

“I dunno!” She pulled her knees up to her chest and pouted. “I jus’ grabbed it!”

Jet leaned forwards with her elbows on her knees. She tried to imagine what it was like for a kid to reach out mentally like that and consciously grab ahold of someone else’s gift. That took a lot of strength and willpower. Especially for a six-year-old.

“Aight then,” Ghoul nodded and gave the girl a comforting smile. “Did ya choose to grab it? An’ can ya choose to let it go?”

The girl confidently nodded her head yes. Poison couldn’t help it when their lips parted in shock.

“Our girl’s real smart,” Ghoul winked.

Autumn air in the desert was easier to breathe. It hurt less to be under the sun’s rays, and if you caught the few hours between dusk and nightfall, you were in a Killjoy’s paradise.

The girl was having the time of her life running laps around the diner, wielding a cool stick she found while Ghoul chased her. She squealed happily and giggled when he caught up to her and scooped her up into his arms.

“No! Poison, save me!” She screamed, kicking her feet in an effort to wiggle out of Ghoul’s grasp. Ghoul pretended to growl as he dropped the girl back into the sand.

“I gotchu,” he grinned. “Y’know what that means? It means…” Ghoul quickly let go of the girl and started running. “You’re it!”

“ What!?” The girl shrieked. Her little red boots were quickly on the move again. She ran as fast as she could, chasing the other Killjoys through the sand. Jet thought she could hide if she pressed her body up against the diner’s outer wall, but the girl found her and tapped her arm.

“You’re it!”

“Dammit, girlie!” She laughed. Everyone was frozen, staring at Jet to see who she’d target next. She locked eyes with the blonde that stood a few feet in front of her. Even with the sunglasses on, everyone could still see the fear on Kobra’s face.

“Fuck! Wait!” Kobra yelped and nearly tripped over his own feet. He sprinted as fast as he could away from Jet, and she bolted right behind him. 

“Get ‘im! Get ‘im!” Poison shouted, laughing out loud as she watched both Kobra and Jet running at full speed like their lives depended on it. But Jet cut a corner and caught Kobra, slapping him hard on the shoulder. 

“Fuckin’ it!” She yelled.

The girl jumped up and down, clapping her hands together in excitement. Kobra heard this commotion and whipped around to face her. She giggled and started running the other direction away from him.

The Fab Four were the absolute best parents that the girl could ever ask for. She’d never felt so safe with anyone before. Plus, these guys were fun . Girlie was almost out of breath, but she kept running and laughing with her family. As she ran past Kobra, she could feel him near her. Kobra was safe, just like Ghoul, Jet, and Poison. Girlie loved Kobra. So she didn’t think twice about reaching out and latching onto him.

Ghoul was smiling ear to ear until the girl looked at him. Suddenly, his face went pale and the girl didn’t know what was wrong. He coughed violently, gasping for air as if someone had their hands around his throat and was squeezing. He fell to his knees, and the girl couldn’t take her horrified eyes off of him.

“Girlie—” Ghoul choked. He was down in the sand, begging for something. The girl was frozen. She didn’t understand. And why did she feel hurt, too?

“Ghoul!” Poison screamed in terror, grabbing onto their boyfriend. There were tears in the girl’s eyes. Why wouldn’t anyone tell her what was wrong with Ghoul?

“Fuck!” Kobra shouted. The impact of Kobra’s body crashing into the girl’s hurt . She cried out in pain as Kobra tackled her to the ground. She could still hear the distant struggle of Ghoul in the background.

The girl was wrapped up tightly in Kobra’s arms. He had her face pressed up against his chest so she couldn’t see a thing. She sobbed. Why was Kobra doing this to her?

“Let go, let go, let go, let go, let go,” Kobra was muttering. He rocked himself and the girl back and forth, pleading for her to just let go.

“Ko—Kobra,” the girl sniffled. She squirmed and cried. Kobra was hurting her!

“Please, baby,” Kobra didn’t stop rocking. “Huh. Jus’ let go. Let go. Let go.”

The girl released Kobra from her mental grasp. She could feel the energy of his powers slipping away from her. “Oh—Okay.”

“Okay?” Kobra asked, and his painfully tight hug weakened a little.

“Okay,” the girl nodded, still crying.

Kobra shakily let the girl see again. She lifted her face from Kobra’s now-damp shirt and glanced across the sand. Her lip quivered at the sight of Ghoul lying in Poison’s arms while Jet hovered nearby as she held two fingers to the side of his neck.

“I’m sorry!” The girl sobbed. She scrambled away from Kobra, feeling the sand sticking to her hands and knees. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She cried out and gently touch’s Ghoul’s leg. He barely reacted.

“Shh, hey, s’ not your fault,” Poison held out their hand to pull the girl closer. “Look, s’ okay. Ghoulie’s okay. See?”

“What?” Kobra slowly crouched down next to the team, horrified. Ghoul smirked up at him, letting out a weak cough.

“Guess the healin’ powers outweigh your death glare, huh?” Ghoul asked.

“And thank fucking Destroya for that,” Poison exhaled heavily, pressing their face into Ghoul’s hair. “Witch, that can never happen again.”

“What’d I do?” The girl was still crying. She didn’t understand why everyone was so calm now. She hurt Ghoul! And Kobra hurt her!

“Sweets,” Poison caressed the back of the girl’s head gently. “Kobra’s power is real dangerous, ‘kay? Don’t you ever try to copy it. Got it?”

Tears flowed down the girl’s face. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“S’ okay. Accidents happen, baby,” Poison assured her. “But I gotta know if you got it, kay? No copyin’ Kobra’s power.”

“N-No copying Kobra’s power,” she echoed shakily. Ghoul seemed to be gaining his strength back pretty quickly. He already wasn’t relying on Poison to keep his head up anymore. Still, the girl couldn’t shake that sickening feeling in her stomach that Ghoul wasn’t okay.

“M’ sorry I hurt ya,” Kobra’s voice suddenly came from behind the girl. His arms hugged around her shoulders—much more gentle than before—as he apologised. 

The girl frowned. “Is tag over?” She asked innocently, and a smile cracked on everyone’s faces.

“‘Fraid so,” Poison giggled. “But whaddya think ‘bout snack time?”

Girlie’s eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. “Let’s go!” She squealed, grabbing Kobra’s hand and pulling. “C’mon!”

Poison leaned back, dropping their head into Ghoul’s lap. He grunted under the impact and glanced down at Poison’s freckled face staring back up at him.

“Ya clingy tonight,” he chuckled. His hand naturally held onto Poison by their waist. 

“You almost died today,” Poison sighed. “I’m allowed to be clingy.”

Ghoul’s smile softened as he started stroking Poison’s hair. “How ya holding up wit’ the mimic kid?” He asked. Ghoul hadn’t forgotten the numerous anxiety episodes Poison had put themself through over the past week or so.

Poison’s eyes drifted away from Ghoul’s. They stared blankly at the ceiling above them and muttered, “I’m terrified.”

“Yeah?” Ghoul whispered.

“Yeah,” Poison sighed. “But I also don’t think I’ve ever been this happy…”

The hand that was resting on Poison’s waist moved to cup their jaw. Ghoul gazed down at them with heart shaped eyes as he gently swiped his thumb across Poison’s bottom lip.

“I like seein’ you smile,” Ghoul mumbled quietly. “Ya didn’t do it a lot when we first met.”

Poison blushed, but they couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across their face at the sound of Ghoul’s words.

“Yeah, jus’ like that,” Ghoul chuckled, licking his own lips. “M’ blessed by that lil’ girl if she makes ya smile this much.” Ghoul’s hand didn’t move from Poison’s face as they sat up. Instead, Ghoul just used it to hold Poison in place once they were only a few inches away from him.

“You make me smile, too,” Poison whispered before closing the gap between themself and Ghoul. It was a sweet and gentle kiss, since both ‘Joys were so tired, but that didn’t stop the girl from giggling when it happened.

“Ya lil’ gremlin!” Ghoul exclaimed as Poison pulled back. The girl jumped into Ghoul’s bed with them, snuggling herself in between the two.

“Ain’t you s’posed to be asleep?” Poison asked, lightly tickling their fingers into the girl’s side, making her squirm and giggle.

“I wanna sleep here,” she decided, throwing herself at Ghoul and holding her little arms around his middle with an impressive amount of strength.

Poison met Ghoul’s eyes over the girl’s head. They smiled softly and pecked Ghoul on the cheek. “You keep Ghoulie safe t’night, ‘kay?” Poison told the girl as they let themself out. “G’night!”

“G’night,” Ghoul fell back so his head landed on his pillow as he still held the girl close. He felt the heat that her small body radiated and smiled. The girl was probably just as grateful to feel Ghoul’s warmth. They were signs of life.

“Love ya, kiddo,” Ghoul kissed her on the top of her head and pulled a small blanket over her shoulders. “Sleep tight,” he said, but she was already out like a light.