"Wait, hold on a second!" Gerard shouted at the closed door. He stretched his neck as far as possible to look at the two-way mirror.

"Do I at least get to see my family first?" The thought of being dragged into war without even saying good-bye to his siblings terrified him. Questions began to race through his mind. Was Annalise already working for them? Did she know what was happening? Was she afraid? Alone? What about Mikey, what if he refused the deal? Would he be killed?

"We'll see," a voice clicked through the speaker. Gerard slumped his head back against the wall in defeat. He let out an anxious sigh, and tried not to chew on his lip as his worries swirled around his head. He sat in silence for a few moments before he heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. Suddenly, it burst open.

"-let me fucking see him," Mikey shouted, storming into the room. A teary-eyed Annalise followed quickly behind. She ran over to Gerard and bear-hugged him. He hugged her back with his free arm and breathed a sigh of relief.

"They...wouldn't let me...talk to you!" She blubbered between sobs. Gerard glared at the dark-haired man walking back into the room.

"What the fuck?! You tell me my family's lives are in danger and you don't think to mention that they're in the next fucking room?"

"Don't push your luck, kid. I'll send them right back out again," the man spat. Annalise hugged Gerard tighter, her eyes were wide with fear. Gerard shot him a dirty look.

"You got fifteen minutes," he barked on his way out the door. Gerard immediately turned his attention to his brother.

"Mikey, did they give you a deal?"

"What?" Gerard's face dropped.

"Did they ask you to join them?"

"Yeah, they did," Mikey said, quietly.

"What did you say?" Gerard asked, urgently. Mikey looked down at the floor, unable to meet his older brother's eyes.

"Damn it, Mikey, what did you say? What did you tell them?"

"I- I agreed, I'm sorry, I- they said you guys were going to be killed," Mikey stammered. Gerard shook his head,

"No, you did the right thing. At least this way we might have a chance of survival. But Mikey, listen to me, these people are barely a step up from BL/ind. We know nothing about them, or what they stand for, so we need to be careful. Do what they say but don't tell them anything about yourself, or me and Lisey, or even about Ray and Frank. Until we see if we can trust these people, we keep them in the dark, got it?"

Mikey nodded, relieved that his brother wasn't furious with him. He sat down next to him and gently rubbed his little sister's back in an attempt to calm her down. Mikey had always been the one to hang around with her, keeping her company. He had been to more Barbie tea parties than he cared to admit. He would do anything to protect her, but he knew that when she was scared, she'd run to Gerard for help. Mikey never questioned why that was, he just accepted it. Hell, he still ran to Gerard for help. It was just the way their family worked.

Ten minutes later, the man returned. He grimaced and nodded at the boys in a 'follow me' type gesture. Gerard noticed two larger men standing behind him, ready to step in if he or Mikey tried to pull anything. The man stalked over to Gerard, keys jingling in his hand as he unlocked the handcuff. Annalise tensed up as he leaned over her.

"All right, girl," he said, gruffly. "Time to go," he gently grabbed her arm. She shook her head vigorously and clung to Gerard.

"No!" She cried, beginning to get hysterical as she was forcibly pulled away from her brother. It took all of Gerard's self control to let her be dragged away. He could feel a tear sliding down his cheek. He couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"Let me go! I don't want to-, they're my brothers-, no!" She sobbed as she struggled against the man.

"You'll see them later, I swear," he said. She hesitated a moment, and was silent save for the occasional hiccup or hitched breath.

"Why can't...I see them...now?" She mumbled as she tried to catch her breath. The man turned to look back at them before crouching down to Annalise's height.

"Because they have to be soldiers right now. But when they're done, they get to just be your brothers again for awhile. I promise you'll see them later on tonight, but you have to come with me until then, okay?" She sniffed, and nodded. The man led her out of the room, closing the door behind them. The other two men stayed, fidgeting and exchanging uncomfortable glances as both Way brothers wiped quickly at their eyes, trying to pull themselves together.

"He's telling the truth, you know," one of them blurted. "You'll see her tonight."

Gerard just nodded, barely hearing what he had said. Mikey put his head in his hands. Some soldiers they were going to make.