"Come on, stop being a wuss, jump."

I didn't want to, it was too high.
Last time I checked I'm terrified of heights, I don't like being up high and I don't like jumping either.

"You'll be fine, just do it."

I know it was a dare but I'm afraid, what if I get hurt?
I was far up enough that I could break a leg or a wrist or my fucking neck!
I could die, I know I have a devil-may-care attitude sometimes but it didn't mean that I wanted to die as a teenager.

I'd like to get to at least twenty-four first, maybe thirty if things go really well.
I can tell you right now that it's kinda hard to do all the things I want to do when you're in a wheelchair which is more than likely how I'll end up by jumping.

"And what if I fall on a bad angle?" I asked, that was the most likely scenario, I can be a klutz sometimes.

The rope was right in front of me, I only had to grab it and swing, everyone else had done it and ended up being completely fine.
But then again I'm not everyone else.

"For gods sake you won't, just make sure you grab the rope and let go at the right time, stop being a baby."

Why am I always considered a baby when I think of logical stuff like death?
It's like I'm the only one I know with a brain in my head, I actually think of the repercussions of what might happen.

When they die from their own stupidity it'll only by their fault, not mine and not anyone else's.
Oh fuck this, who cares?

"Okay, I'll do it." It took a couple of steps closer to the edge, sucking in a deep breath at the same time in an attempt to muster any courage I might have left.

"On the count of three, one, two, three."

I jumped.

~~~

I jolted as I woke up.
Fuck, I thought I was going to die.
That's what it felt like.

My heart's going at a million miles an hour, this feels like the time I went running from the dracs in Bat City.
The only difference was that when I'd been running from the draculoids I was experiencing an adrenalin rush.

What I'd woken up to, it was pure fear, terror so strong that it made me feel sick.
But as soon as I'd woken up the dream faded away, leaving me with a hollow feeling as I tried to remember what it'd been about.

Whatever it was it'd managed to get to me so it must have been bad.

"Hey, you alright?" Party put his notepad down on the ground next to him and rolled onto his side to look at me.

It took me a moment to collect my thoughts but one I did I turned on my side as well, facing the red-headed Killjoy with a small smile.

"Yeah, I just had a fuckin' weird dream." I mumbled, stifling a yawn since he probably didn't want that in his face first thing in the morning.

"What was it about?"

"I don't know, I'm still trying to calm down. Here, can you feel my heart?" I took his hand and pressed it to my chest, if I could feel the beating then he should have no effort.

"Your heart's beating like the sun." He murmured, spreading his fingers slightly, the feeling of his palm calmed me and my heart began to slow.
He smiled at me, it was gentle and kinda breathtaking, like the moment I first met him.

"And you've still got paint on you." He laughed, holding up a peeling piece from yesterdays paint war.

"You do too." I giggled, running a finger over the red paint on his jaw that ran down his neck.

He sighed and closed his eyes as I continued to trace the crimson red paint splatters.
My hand stopped at the edge of the shirt when I was reminded of the strange texture on his skin that I'd felt last night.

"Party, what's this?" I pulled the neckline of his shirt down and was shocked when I saw the huge scar running horizontally from the base of his throat to his shoulder.

Seeing it made my mind flash back to the club.

'I still owe you a huge scar on your shoulder for what happened to me when you ran off.'
So this is what Party had been talking to Revolver about, this was the scar.

"This," he said, tugging his shirt further down so I could see the rest of the scar, "is what happens when you get abandoned by someone you believe is your friend."

"But what did it?" I ran my finger over the scar, it was fascinating even though Party was giving me a look that suggested he thought I was crazy.

"Laser blast. Remember how I told you, you were lucky it was almost out of batteries?" I nodded and thought of the burn I had on my arm, it'd healed and was beginning to fade away.
Thankfully it didn't seem that bad.

"The drac that shot me, he had a test weapon and well I was lucky and it was low on batteries but it still did this. I'd been running to help Kobra when it happened." He moved a bit in the sleeping bag and reached down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt.

"Then we have these..." He pulled his shirt up to his chin and I tried to stop myself from gasping when I saw the small scars that littered his body.

I don't know how I missed seeing them when we were in the shower together.
The only guess I can make is that I was too deeply in shock to process it.
Damn I'm an idiot.

"I got this one from a scuffle with some waveheads and the rest of them are from when I briefly got caught by BLI." He gestured to his scars with a bragging tone in his voice and I truly realized for the first time how much danger this group was exposed to on a day to day basis.

Small wonder he hates BL/ind Corporations.
With a smile bordering on apologetic Party pulled his shirt down, hiding the scars again.

"I don't like knowing you've been hurt." I mumbled, moving closer to him and snuggling my head against his chest.

There were the sounds of the guys waking up, groans and some random swearing, well there goes any privacy I might have with Poison.

"Don't worry, I've been through worse than any draculoid or Scarecrow could do to me." He said with a reassuring tone in his voice, slipping an arm around me.

I enjoyed feeling his warmth against me, especially since I'd been dreaming of cuddling up next to Party Poison from the moment I met him.
Mind you that was probably the milder of my thoughts.

I've had some really hot fantasies about him that I would not mind acting on especially since I can now kiss him.

"We need to go to Battery City today, would you like to go?" I had to think about it got a moment considering the last time I was in that place I'd almost been ghosted.

I guess there's always a chance I could try to seek revenge on that cheating drac.
Yeah that could be fun.

"What for?" I decided to check a few facts first, I knew I was definitely going but I wanted to know what for.

"Fun really, just mess up some shit for BLI." I laughed, of course if the Killjoys want to do something it'll be to screw with 'authorities.'
I wonder if they were like this before BLI took over.

"I'm in." I told him, he smiled and moved in for a kiss...
Only to be interrupted by Ghoul.

"What's this?" Fun Ghoul leant down and picked up the notepad that Party had put down earlier.

"'If there's a place I could be. Then I'd be another memory. Can I be the only hope for you? Because you're the only hope for me. And if we can't find where we belong. We'll have to make it on our own. Face all the pain and take it on. Because the only hope for me is you.'" Ghoul looked from the notepad to Party and I for a moment, then a grin broke out across his face.

"You're a lovey-dovey bastard, you realize that don't'cha?" He said, throwing the notebook onto Party's chest and having his grin get wider before starting to walk off.

"They're called feelings, try having some." Poison commented jokingly.

"I have, right here." Ghoul replied, grabbing his junk with a smirk, which got a laugh from the guys, and heading for the burnt out campfire.

"When did you write this?" I asked Party, taking the book from him so he couldn't hide it.

"Half last night, half this morning." I flicked through the pages, searching for the one with the lyrics Ghoul had just read out.
Bingo.

"'Alone, how it should be. Many is after the disasters that we've seen. What have we learned? Other than people burn in purifying flame. I'll say it's okay. I know you can tell. Although you can see me smile. I still think of the guns they sell.'"

These are amazing, I began to turn the page, intending to look at some more lyrics but Party snatched the notepad from me before I got the chance.
Damn it.

"Not now, we need to wake Girl up and get some breakfast." He gave me a kiss on the nose and unzipped the sleeping bag.

I'd hardly call Power Pup breakfast, barf is a good word, so is shit, dirt, pet food and garbage.

"And if it makes you feel better, we'll see if we can find some real food in Battery City."
I almost died at the thought of eating some actual food.

"Food." I groaned and he laughed, the Killjoys would definitely enjoy me stopping my bitching over how bad their idea of breakfast tastes.

"Come on, sweetie." Party took my hand and pulled me up.

"Hey, Electric, catch." Ghoul threw a can of Power Pup to me and my heart sped up, instantly seeing a repeat of last time when I got knocked out.

Party's hand flew up, snatching it out of the air before I got hit and I huffed out a breath, thank God.

"Stop throwing things at her. She wasn't able to catch it the first time and she won't be able to catch it now." Party gave Ghoul a glare which he responded to with a casual shrug before resuming his task of eating.

"How 'bout you wake up Girl and I'll crack this open?" Party suggested, holding the can up, I nodded and headed for Bluejay in her sleeping bag.
"Oh, Electric." I turned and looked at Party who'd stopped with a smile on his face.
"Thanks for keeping me warm." He winked and my face went red.

~~~

Since it would be a bad idea to take Bluejay into a dangerous place like Battery City we dropped her off at Doc's before heading to Zone 5 and picking Sunshine up.

Oh there's a new thing I learnt about her place.
Apparently she shared it with four other Killjoys (not including the three droids), one of them I got to meet, Bullet Princess.

She's a cool chick.
But not as cool as me.

Anyhow, the Killjoys and I were now on The Getaway Mile, going through the Zones and heading straight for Battery City.

We'd just passed through Zone 1 and I could already see the beginnings of the city.
Party was telling me the process of what they were planning to do.

There was a warehouse that they liked to visit regularly, it held food, ammunition, health products, stuff like that.
They'd share the stuff with Dr. D and Show Pony, Sunshine's group and keep some for themselves.

The city also had items they couldn't get their hands on everyday, cigarettes, matches, toiletries, other random knickknacks my gang seemed to like.

"Did you know Electric slept with Party last night?" I came back to reality just as Ghoul started up a conversation with Sunshine over the sleeping arrangements.

"Oh my god, really?"

"Slept in with, we did not do anything." I corrected them, Ghoul just liked to talk about random shit until he got a reaction but I didn't want to be involved in it.

"Why were you in bed with him then?" The thing I liked about Sunshine was that she wasn't accusing me, she genuinely asking.

"She got cold. Electric isn't used to the desert so I invited her to spend the night in with me." Party, whose lap I was sitting on, explained and I gave him a thankful arm squeeze.

"That's adorable." Sunshine gushed and I laughed a little, it wasn't that adorable, okay I guess it was just a little bit.

"We're here." Fun Ghoul slowed the car to a stop and looked out the window, checking for any people in a deserted street.

"How long would you say we have before the pigs show up?" Kobra wondered getting out the door like a normal, civilized person unlike the rest of us who climbed out through the roof.

"Ten to fifteen at most, we fried their security system pretty well last time." Jet replied, drawing his zap, clicking the safety off and placing it back in its holster.

"Electric, you go with Kid to hack into the building, the rest of us will take out any dracs that might be hanging around." I didn't appreciate being told what to do even if it was by Party but I decided it would be best to listen to him.

"Over here." Kobra grabbed my sleeve and pulled me over to what looked like a giant rolling door as Party and the gang jogged down the street.

He very pointedly took a fancy looking piece of technology out of his pocket. Kobra pulled a cord out of it and carefully attached it to a part-keyboard, part-card scanner looking thing next to the roller door.

"This is a Vend-A-Hack and you need to learn this so watch closely." He adjusted the screen so I could see it and started pushing buttons, beeping sounds coming from the gadget.

"Breaking into something this complicated requires, this, this and this." He pushed some more buttons and I made sure to memorize them before suddenly being scared by the whirring of machines.

"And they think they're so good at keeping me out." Kobra scoffed, disconnecting the Vend-A-Hack from the keypad and putting it back in his jacket pocket.

"Let's head in, the gang'll come through the back." Without another word Kobra jogged inside, me having to actually run just to keep up.
He was taller than me and cheating.

"Hey wai-whoa." I skidded to a halt, looking at all the stuff in the warehouse, there was much more than I'd expected.

Boxes were everywhere, some open and others taped shut but enough that I almost felt claustrophobic.

"This is the BLI edition of a goody shop," Kobra swept a hand around the room, gesturing to everything with a smile, "feel free to help yourself but be quick about it."
I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do, I was still kinda shocked after seeing everything.

I guess it'd be nice to have a hairbrush if there is one here, my hair is kinda knotty and I don't particularly like it.
Or I could try to find some food because although I may not remember normal food I know that I miss it.

Ha, it's funny how little I'm interested in anything else, I'm almost being selfish.

"Hey check out what I found." Party said, striding into the room with Ghoul, Jet and Sunshine following him.

Sunshine had what appeared to be a motorbike helmet on her head, Jet had some spaceman hat, Ghoul was wearing a creepy plastic mask and Party had two objects in his hands.
The grin on his face made me smile and Poison walked over to me, stopping and holding an object up.

He put the bright yellow, blue dotted face mask on, only his hazel eyes and smile showing.

"One for me," he held up the pair of old looking goggles, putting them on my head, "and one for you." He leant down, placing a brief kiss on my lips that left me wanting more.

"Alright lovebirds, we haven't got time for this, start grabbing shit." Ghoul told the group, pulling the mask on his face back to reveal a smirk.

"Electric, you're coming with me." Sunshine commanded, taking the helmet off and passing it to Kobra who appeared to be waiting for it.

I followed Throttle to a certain pile of boxes and frowned when she pulled out a pocket knife.

"You're a woman right?" More like a girl I reckon, my mind said but I nodded anyway.

"Well from my time with Princess I've learnt that women need stuff, for a monthly thing they have. I don't get it but you probably do, so here." Sunshine cut the box open and pulled some black and white packets out, handing them to me.

"What are these for?"

"Your woman thing." She replied matter-of-factly, as if I should immediately understand the objects.

"I'll take more of these for Princess, if I don't she'll get cranky." Throttle frowned briefly and stood up with an aim so accurate it was scary, threw the box to the open front of the warehouse.

It landed perfectly, sitting upright and not making a sound.
I keep forgetting she's a droid.

"Oh and I've got one more thing." She ran over to a pile of boxes a few feet away collected one and came back, cutting it open with her knife.

"Here, you'll want one of these. Believe me." She muttered, attempting to stuff the small plastic container into my pocket and I jumped back, wanting to see what it was first.

"And what's 'one of these?'" I asked, stopping her from stuffing the tiny box into my shorts pocket.

"Condoms."

"What?! What would I need those?" Sunshine immediately giggled, holding a hand up to her mouth the block the noise.

"I've seen how close you're getting to Party Poison, you'll want them." Not giving me a chance to protest she shoved the condoms in my shorts and walked away as if nothing had happened.

"Damn you, Sunshine." I half growled under my breath and reached into my pocket grab the item but stopped when Party called my name.

"Electric, come over here for a sec." Sighing at having my opportunity taken away I walked over to Party who had now taken his mask off.

"What's up?"

"Give me your hand, please." I looked at him, cocking an eyebrow but holding my hand up anyway.

"Since you like to use it so much," with a bit of effort he pulled a cut off glove onto my hand, "this will help you with your grip on your blaster."
He lifted my other hand and slid the second glove on, doing it up at the wrist with a smile.

"These are really nice." I mumbled, turning my hands over, they made my hands a hundred times warmer as well.

"Then you'll like this as well." Party wrapped a checkered purple scarf around my neck and left his hands on my shoulders, looking me up and down appraisingly.

"You're gorgeous." He murmured, one hand slipping down my shoulder then grabbing my hand and tugging it.

"Let's go outside for a moment." Like a willing puppy I followed him through the warehouse and out the main entrance, onto the street.

"So what was it y-" he cut my joke off with his lips against mine, my heart melting onto the sidewalk at the warmth.

Releasing my hand he hooked his thumbs in the loops of my shorts, leaning against me as I lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck.
His mouth felt perfect against mine, that was honestly the only word I could use.
Perfect, perfection.

Party's tongue grazed my lips and I moaned, enjoying the brief privacy we'd been blessed with.
No one making comments, gagging sounds or threats to throw water on us.

I turned my head up, wanting him to kiss me harder and without a word he complied.

It wasn't just his mouth that was crushed against mine, it was his body, every inch of it.
Okay maybe I can understand what Sunshine said about the condoms.

His moved his hands to my hips, fingers pressing down on my skin, gripping me tightly and drawing another moan from my lips that was instantly smothered by his kiss.

Unexpectedly he pulled back, eyes slightly glazed but he managed to gain focus again.
Party's head tilted to the side as if he were listening to something, a moment passed and he let go of me, swearing under his breath all the while.

"The pigs are coming, I'm gonna head inside and tell the gang. Can you please put some stuff in the car?" I nodded and he pressed the car keys into my hand.

"Thanks, darlin." He kissed me then turned around and ran into the warehouse, yelling to the group.

With a groan from being interrupted I quickly moved over to the Trans Am, opening the boot and filling it with boxes from the sidewalk.
Then I noticed the sirens, the ones Party had heard long before me.

Shit, shit, shit.

I started loading the car even faster after that, there's no way on earth I'm going back to the weird people at BLI.
I'm still not over them trying to shave my fucking hair off for a start.

It was actually surprising how fast I'd managed to put everything in the car, it was all packed away and the Killjoys weren't even back yet.

What am I supposed to do now?
Stand around whistling?

An object caught my attention, shiny and flickering.
I wandered over.

It's a tv in a window, I didn't even know they had televisions out here.
Without thinking of any possible repercussions I started watching, frowning at the images on the screen.

"Please stare into the centre of the moving shape..."

Alright this could be interesting.

"I'm so happy to be alive."

Yeah I kinda guess I am, I've got the Killjoys and everything, especially Party.

"Everything is going to be fine."

I have to disagree with that, nothing's ever guaranteed to be fine, something will always go wrong one way or another.

"Did I take my mediation today?"

Well I don't really need medication, actually I probably do, I have got some serious issues when you think about it.

"Keep working hard to stay alive."

What do these people think I do every goddamn day?!
I've nearly died like five times!

"Goodbye!"

Well that sucked.
Then the video started up again, they should really get a better form of entertainment, these people are probably bored out of their minds.

"Please stare into the centre of the moving shape..."

Yeah this sucks with a capital S.

"I'm so happy to be alive."

And here we go again!

"Electric, stop! Don't watch that!" Party came running over then picked me up around the waist, hurrying me away from the television.

"Hey wait, what's the matter? Everything's fine." I told him, as he dumped me in the car with the rest of the Killjoys who were by the looks of it, waiting.

"Oh crap they got to her." Ghoul said, hitting the gas the second Party closed the door even though he was still trying to adjust me on his lap.

"I'm fine, everything's fine so calm down." Keeping one hand on the steering wheel as he drove but exasperatingly throwing the other one around Ghoul started talking again.

"Congratulations, Party. Your girlfriend is now a numb dipshit like everyone else in the city." I immediately felt my hand twitch for my holstered beamer but reminded myself that we'd called a truce.
Doesn't mean I can't insult him though.

"If you want to keep your soul I suggested you don't call me a dipshit ever again." I growled, my eyes narrowing viciously.

"Hey she's back!" They all crowed, making me feel confused as all hell.

"I never fuckin' left!"