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"Gerard, what is taking so long?" Mikey groaned, scraping his fork absentmindedly across the table.

"I am telling you, these pancakes are gonna be worth the wait," Gerard grinned at him from the other side of the counter. Mikey just rolled his eyes and put his fork down. Gerard frowned, his face twisting slightly to the right.

"Mikey, wait, ready, watch this," he smirked as Mikey looked up. Slowly, Gerard turned around, holding onto the pan with both hands. Then, as ungracefully as ever, he tossed it into the air and flipped the pancake over, revealing the golden-brown underside.

"Ah! I did it!" He beamed, throwing one hand up in the air. Mikey tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress his laughter.

"Look, will you just hurry up," he said, still laughing. "Annalise is gonna be up any minute now, and if you don't get those on a plate we'll both starve."

"The girl can eat," Gerard laughed, raising his eyebrows. "She's only seven, what the hell are we gonna do when she's a teenager?" Mikey shrugged, and grabbed the syrup, as Gerard brought over their breakfast. They ate in silence for a minute or two before the screen door squeaked open. Frank and Ray walked in, letting the door slam behind them. The entire house shuddered. To be fair, it had been through the ringer years ago when the nuclear warfare was at its peak. Gerard shuddered himself, when he thought about those days, sometimes weeks, at a time they had all spent underground.

"I got a letter," Frank smiled, holding up the white envelope.

"From who?" Gerard gestured towards the dining room window and into the empty desert.

"Jamia," he smiled again.

"You still talk to that girl?" Gerard asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, I still talk to her, she's like my best friend!"

"Ouch," Gerard joked.

"No, Gerard I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that-" Frank blurted, not catching on.

"It's okay, Frankie," Gerard laughed. Frank looked down, sheepishly. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of footsteps upstairs. There was a pause as they reached the stairs, followed by a brief crash, causing both Gerard and Mikey to wince. After a second or two they picked back up, proceeding normally down the last few steps. Finally, the sleepy seven year old rounded the corner and entered the kitchen.

"Did you fall down the stairs?" Gerard snorted, trying desperately to hold back his laughter. His sister stared at him, unmoving, her wild hair sticking out every which way. She blinked.

"Where are my pancakes?" She questioned, calmly, as everyone began to crack up. Gerard passed her a plate, still chuckling. She smiled at him and clambered onto Mikey's lap.

"Lisey, you are getting way too big to sit on my lap," he muttered as her elbow dug into his ribs. She silenced him with a glare. Mikey put his hands up in mock surrender. Pleased for the moment, she turned back towards her breakfast and began scarfing down the pancakes.



Several hours later, Frank, Mikey, and Ray sat in front of the TV, laughing as they tried to count the subliminal messages that occasionally flashed across the screen. Gerard shuffled around the house, closing the windows. The nights could be freezing in the desert without clouds to hold in any of the daytime heat. He tried not to slam them, noticing that Annalise was sleeping on the chair near the TV, although every couple of seconds she would jump awake and pretend otherwise. He smiled at her and rejoined his friends on the couch.

"No, that's seven! It said 'Don't Think' I fucking saw it!" Ray protested.

"Oh, shit, I missed it then," Mikey laughed, looking down at the six fingers he counted. Ray giggled.

"Aw, man they got you,"

"Damnit! I'm part of BL/ind now!" Mikey yelled in between bouts of laughter.

"Why do you bother trying to watch TV? It's all just the bullshit BL/ind wants you to see," Gerard gestured towards the TV.

"Oh cause your radio's so much better," Mikey rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. He stalked over to the radio in the corner.

"Let's see, white noise, white noise, white noise,-" he flicked through the channels. Gerard's ears perked up as he heard a brief murmur before Mikey changed the station again.

"Wait, go back, go back," he insisted. Mikey flicked the station back, his brow furrowed in confusion. Gerard shushed the others as he listened intently. He could see his brother's eyes widen as a voice cracked through the static.

"Dr...joys...some noise," only every third word or so could be heard through the weak signal. Then, nothing. The boys all looked at one another, speechless. Ray pointed at the radio.

"That, uh...that was not white noise," he stuttered.

"Who was that?" Frank whispered, squinting at the machine as if he'd be able to see who was on the other end of it.

"Whoever they were, they're gone now," Mikey mumbled. Suddenly, Annalise began to stir. Gerard looked at the clock on the cable box. 12:07. Way past her bedtime. He walked over to the chair, scooped her up gently, and carried her up the stairs. He tucked her into bed, and listened to her soft snoring for a moment before heading back to the living room. When he returned, he found his friends gathered around the radio, looking perplexed.

"Did they say anything else?" He asked. They shook their heads.

"Well, if somebody's out there, I'm sure we'll hear them again tomorrow," Frank sighed. Gerard nodded.

"Maybe we should all get some rest," he added. The others seemed to agree and began to head upstairs to their rooms. Mikey switched off the radio and followed behind. Gerard glanced at the radio one more time before trailing behind his brother.