“Welcome back, rock ‘n’ rollers.” Dr. Death Defying grinned as Jet Star and Fun Ghoul slouched into the kitchen, though his grin faded quickly when Jet Star shook his head mutely and skulked off to his room. Fun Ghoul sank into a chair at the table, his face bleak as Party Poison, the Kobra Kid, and Dr. Death Defying stared at him, knowing something terrible had happened. “Where’s the kid?” Dr. Death Defying asked, glad that Boom Box was off in her room, drawing on the walls again.
Fun Ghoul shook his head slowly, staring at the table, still coming to terms with whathe had done had happened. “She was an Exterminator.”
There was a good minute of stunned silence, which was abruptly broken by Party Poison.
“What?!” He roared, completely shocked. He had trusted that girl, and, unlike all the other Killjoys in the room, every person he’d deemed trustworthy had been worth the title.
Fun Ghoul flinched, knowing a better explanation was in order. “We found Dracs with an Exterminator, and we took them down, easy. She and Ray knocked into each other by accident when they went for the one Exterminator, and they knocked each other’s helmets off. They were laughing in the dust, and I turned around after I killed the first Exterminator, and… she was one of them. Drac pale, white hair, and all the piercings.” Fun Ghoul shook his head in sad shock. “Why didn’t we see it? She was just like Show Pony, and she even knew more about the city.” His face darkened as he clenched his fists under the table. “We should have known.”
The Kobra Kid was gaping at Fun Ghoul, shaking his head wordlessly, but Party Poison seemed calm.
“You’re wrong. She’s on our side. You’ve seen the Dracs shoot her! You saw what they did to her!” Party Poison glared, but Dr. Death Defying cut in with an even better, if somewhat different, topic.
“So what happened to the kid?” He asked evenly, his face neutral as he stared at Fun Ghoul. All the color drained out of the Kobra Kid and Party Poison’s faces as they realized what must have happened.
“I shot her.” Fun Ghoul said quietly, shutting his eyes as he hung his head. He hated himself for feeling guilty, knowing that the girl had played her part a little too well. She’d gotten in deep with all of them. At least she hadn’t had the chance to wreck them.
“No.” Party Poison said quietly, waiting for Fun Ghoul to start laughing like a maniac- as usual- and say this was all some elaborate joke, and Smile would burst in the front door, laughing at everyone’s faces as Ray laughed form the hallway….
But Fun Ghoul acted like he hadn’t even heard Party Poison’s plea.

“This is the spot?” Party Poison asked. He’d convinced Jet Star to take him to where the shootout had happened yesterday. The Dracs’ bodies were there, as was the male Exterminator’s corpse, but the only hint at another casualty was a bloodstain in the already scarlet dust.
“It looks like she survived.” Jet Star said quietly, examining the grit. There wasn’t a lot of wind, so the prints and tracks were relatively undisturbed. Both the men could see where the girl had lain, and it looked like writhed in pain, before getting up and staggering off in a random, aimless direction that took her even farther away from the Lair.
Party Poison bit his lip, wondering what to do. Dr. Death Defying would torture answers out of her before killing her if they tracked her down and brought her back. If they left her, she would die slowly of starvation, dehydration, and exposure… if she hadn’t already because of where Fun Ghoul blasted her.
Straightening up and dusting himself off, Party Poison strode off across the dust, not looking back to know Jet Star was following not far behind. Smile’d had since yesterday for a head start, but there was no telling when she’d actually gotten up to stagger off. The only thing the men knew was that she couldn’t have gotten far.
After an hour of walking, Party Poison was feeling sick from watching the tracks in the dust. He could see clear blood spatters, the places where she’d fallen, the places where the girl had curled up in the dirt or writhed in pain before forcing herself onward. There were some places where she’d collapsed and just crawled for a while, fighting to get as far away from the Lair as possible. She wasn’t even moving towards the Drac bases and mines she’d pointed out on her patrols with the Killjoys, she was just heading into nothing.
Party Poison glanced up, tired of staring at the trail in the dirt, and squinted, sure he saw something in the dust up ahead.
“Hey, is that-” Before Jet Star could finish his sentence, Party Poison was already sprinting towards the dark figure in the dirt.
As he got closer, he realized it really was Smile, but not like he’d ever seen her before. She’d flung off her helmet, leaving her short, white hair matted against her head with sweat and blood, tainted slightly pink from the latter. She was curled on her side, her breathing harsh and fast, rasping in her throat as she choked on sobs, tears cutting tracks through the red dust and dried blood on her cheeks. She was curled up, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso and her legs tucked up against her chest. Her eyes were shut and her face was slack, and it was clear she was shutting down.
“Ray, get the van.” Party Poison ordered, dropping to his knees next to the girl as his friend took off for the car. “Smile?”
She didn’t respond, other than her sobs hitching slightly before intensifying, making her cough and dry heave between pathetic whimpers and rasping, desperate gasps for air.
Wincing, Party Poison reached out and gently turned the girl onto her back. “Jesus,” His eyes widened, immediately wishing he hadn‘t had that particular bright idea. Her jacket was open, revealing the open, severe burn over her heart, and there was a burn on the side of her neck, reaching up the underside of her chin and onto her cheek where Fun Ghoul had shot her the first time. “Smile, it’s okay.” He shifted the girl so he was cradling her against his chest, smoothing her hair away from her face. “It’s okay, you’ll be alright.”
“Burns.” She managed to choke out, barely audibly, let alone coherent through her sobs and ragged breathing.
“I know, I know.” Party Poison soothed her, slightly anxious. He could hear Jet Star coming with the van, it would only be a matter of seconds before he made it back and took them back to the Lair. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you home, and then Dr. D will patch you up. You’ll be okay.”
Smile shifted suddenly, her movements jerky, and she pulled Party Poison’s gun out of his holster since hers was long gone; Jet Star had found it in the dust as they tracked her and picked it up.
Party Poison froze when he felt her steal the gun, his pulse thundering unnaturally fast in his ears as he waited to see what she would do.
Smile gripped the gun by the barrel, keeping it pointed at her, offering it to the Killjoy holding her. “Kill me… ‘fore they do.” She breathed. Her breathing was still ragged, but it was slowing down, becoming more and more raspy. “The Dracs… after me, after you… Killjoys after me, too. Kill me… ‘fore they do.”
“We’re not gonna kill you.” Party Poison said, staring at the dying girl holding his gun, trying to convince him to kill her.
“I’ll… kill me.” She breathed, slowly and painstakingly readjusting her grip on the gun, holding it to her face with both her shaking hands. She wouldn’t be able to kill herself like that, but she could sure as hell try.
Party Poison grabbed the gun away from her, wincing as she hissed in pain. “You’re not gonna die.” He tried to say it firmly, but his voice shook, and he was glad when the van finally skidded to a stop in front of him.
Jet Star hopped out and threw open the door, watching solemnly as Party Poison carried the girl inside and sat on the floor, still holding her. Jet Star grabbed her helmet out of the dirt after slamming the sliding door shut behind the pair, tossing the glossy black relic on the passenger seat as he climbed behind the wheel and hit the gas, flying towards the Lair. He couldn’t stomach the noises coming from the back – the sobs, the coughs, the rasping, gasped breaths – let alone look at the broken, bloody girl.