Safe?.... Hardly! (Re-edited for easier reading)

"Where the FUCK'S that backup?"

Billie grunted, dropping his 5th consecutive cigarette butt to the floor and stubbing it out with the toe of his combat boot. They'd been waiting 15 minutes now, and he was getting pissed off.

"He could be killin' him in there right now, Callum, and we're sat here with our thumbs up our asses."

Frustration making his Californian accent stand out even more than usual.

"I don't know..."

The other detective replied, his voice tight with anger.

"... I say we wait 5 more minutes, then we go in, whether they're here or not"

"Fuck that! I'm not waitin' another second."

And with that, Billie set of at a run towards the warehouse, Callum hissing an annoyed warning at his back.

Reaching the corner of the building, he began a hurried trot around the perimeter, to check for other ways in or out. Apart from the two they had been watching- the large loading bay door at the front, and the smaller side door that Bert's quick figure had darted into, he found nothing. Well, at least he knew the asshole was still in there.
Returning to his partner, now standing at the corner, he leaned on the wall and tried to catch his breath.

"Well?... What did you find?"

Callum asked, still flipping his eyes from one door to the other.

"Those...those are the only exits."

Billie panted, sweating, and thinking how much he wanted a drink right now.
Callum sighed.

"Well, that's something at least. There's a padlock on the outside of the loading door, so we'll have to get in the other way, and McCracken won't be able to get out without going past us, so...."

Billie nodded.

"Lock and load."

He grinned, pulling his 9mm. Callum rolled his eyes at the other man, but quickly drew his weapon and followed him to the small door. Of course it was locked, but it was a simple cylinder lock, and Billie had been picking those since he was a teenager (don't ask).

*click..click..click......CLICK*

Billie grinned up at his partner.

"Hey presto... Ya ready?"

Callum nodded, game face on.

"On three?"

Another sharp nod.

"1...2......3"

Guns in hand, safeties off, the door was silently pushed open, Blue going high and left, Armstrong low and to the right.

Scanning the large space, eyes flicking into every corner, they quickly came to the somewhat confusing conclusion that Bert McCracken was no longer in the building.

"Where'd he go?"

Billie called out, gun still at the ready, just in case the nut job was hiding somewhere.
Callum shook his head, a deep frown settling on his features.

"Dunno..."

He swallowed hard.

"..Check on him..."

He nodded towards the naked figure, still strapped to 'The Chair'.

"I'll keep looking"

Billie nodded his agreement, and crept over to Gerard's side, sweeping his gun about him as he went. When he reached him, Billie shuddered in disgust.

"Holy shit..."

He muttered, swallowing down bile that threatened to ruin his favourite shirt.

"What?..."

Callum called from across the room, turning to see the other mans slightly green complexion.

"I... I..."

Billie shook his head, then resolved to pull himself together and establish whether the man was alive or, as he appeared to be.. dead.

Stepping forward to Gerard's right side, greatly disturbed by his taped, staring eyes, Billie reached out and felt for a pulse at the younger man's pale throat.....

"Oh my God!"

He couldn't actually believe it.

"CALLUM..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a knock at Frank's front door, Bob untangled himself from the whimpering, terrified man... passing him off to Ray, and stood to answer it.

"Hello?"

He said, opening the door a little way and seeing a uniformed police officer staring back at him.

"Hi, I'm looking for Frank Iero? Is he here?"

Bob nodded, opening the door fully and pointing towards his small, weeping friend.

"Frank?..."

Wet eyes lifted up to look at him.

"Hey there Frank..."

He spoke softly as Bob returned to his seat.

"Do you remember me?..."

Frank shook his head, his mind too fuzzy to think of anything but his Geebear right now.
The officer sighed, understanding, and not taking it personally.

"I'm officer Nic Blackwell, I spoke to you the other night?..."

He prompted, gently. Recognition lit up the younger man's eyes slightly and he nodded his head.

"I have news for you..."

He looked around the group.

"...For all of you, actually..."

Four eager pairs of eyes were staring at him, he kinda felt like a goldfish in a bowl.

"A little over an hour ago, detectives Blue and Armstrong entered a warehouse downtown... They didn't find Bert McCracken, but they did find Gerard."

"OhmyGod.OhmyGod... please tell me he's a..alive?"

Frank stuttered out, his voice wrecked from crying.
Pulling free from Ray's comforting arms to slide forward on the sofa, Frank stopped breathing in pained anticipation.

"Yes..."

The officer smiled.

"..he's alive."

"OhmyGod.OhmyGod..."

Frank breathed again, tears of relief flooding already tear stained cheeks, as he collapsed into Bob's arms, shaking and sobbing.
Officer Blackwell cleared his throat, looking down at his hands and not really wanting to deliver the rest of the message.

"He's been taken to the Clara Maass Medical Centre... He's in a pretty bad way..."

Looking back at the quivering mess that had once been called Frank Iero, he found red rimmed eyes staring back at him.

"I'll drive you all over there... If you want?"

Frank couldn't speak, but he didn't need to, as Bob spoke for the whole group.

"Thank you. We'd appreciate that"

After a quiet and tense twenty minute drive, they arrived at the large red-brick building and exited the black and white vehicle, officer Blackwell following close behind. When they reached the reception desk, Bob spoke to the lady sat typing away at an old looking computer.

"Excuse me?"

The woman looked up, she appeared to be about sixtyish, and clearly didn't want to be there.

"Yes?"

She said, shortly.
Bob scowled down at her.

"Our friend was brought in here... Gerard Way?... Can you tell us where he is please?"

She might've been rude, but he didn't have to be.
Frowning through her wire-rimmed glasses, the grouch, who was wearing a name badge proclaiming her to be called "Joy" (oh, the irony), tapped the name onto her keyboard and studied the screen for a moment.

"Critical care unit, second floor, stairs are over there."

She said in a somewhat bored voice, indicating a door to the left of reception.
Without another word, the group headed up, though they chose to take the elevator instead of the stairs, and quickly found themselves in a long white corridor, with a sign in front of them saying that the unit they were looking for was somewhere to their left.

Following the signs, they were soon pushing through a set of double doors into a well-lit, pastel yellow room, with yet another reception desk, and a much younger, and happier looking lady behind it.

"Hi there. I'm Maddy, how can I help you?"

She asked, cheerfully, in her strong Jersey accent.

"Oh, hi. We're here for Gerard Way?"

Bob, the unofficial spokesperson of the group asked, smiling a little at the girl's friendly attitude.
Before she could even respond, a voice drew their attentions to the waiting area on the right.

"Guys?.."

It was detective Blue, standing a few feet away, with a cup of cheap hospital coffee in his hand.
A heartbeat later, Frank had thrown himself at the taller man, wrapping his arms around him in a tight bear hug, narrowly avoiding spilling his coffee, and startling a weird, choked squeaking noise from the shocked detective.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou.."

He mumbled into the other man's shoulder, before raising his head and taking a step back.

".. You found him! I can never thank you enough."

Blue smiled down at Frank, it was the first time he'd seen the man even vaguely happy, and he was kinda proud that he'd had a hand in making that happen.

"No thanks needed Frank. We were doing our job."

"Where is Billie?"

Bob piped up, looking around for the other, slightly off centre detective.
Blue stared into his rapidly cooling coffee.

"He's calling his wife..."

He muttered, and Bob dropped the subject, taking note of the man's sudden change in demeanour.
Shaking his head almost inperceptibly, Blue returned his attention to the group of lost looking men who were apparently looking for answers from him.

"The doctors are with Gerard now. They said they'd come tell us what's happening soon though."

Frank nodded, slumping into an uncomfortable looking chair, as exhaustion started to take him over again.

"Ok."

Was all he had the strength to say right now, though he was 100% certain that he wouldn't sleep, at least until he'd seen that his Gerard was alive, with his own two eyes.

The others all sat too, though Bob didn't seem to be able to sit still for long, and kept fidgeting and pacing nervously from time to time.
After a while, Billie returned and accepted the thanks, and hugs, that were forced on him with a small smile, before joining the others in their mostly silent vigil, both detectives refusing to go into any detail of what they'd seen in the warehouse.

Hours slipped by without news, and Frank started to lose his mind.

"What the fuck's keepin' them?... Why won't they tell us anything?... We been waiting hours!"

He was falling apart, and no one had the answers he needed.

"... Please?..."

He begged the receptionist, who smiled sadly at him before suggesting he get some rest, cos there was nothing else she could tell him right now.

All Frank wanted was to see Gerard. See him and know he was alive. But it wasn't happening. The doctors were still treating him, and deep down, Frank knew that things must be really bad for it to take this long.
Already exhausted, Frank could feel his mind slipping away from him, his body growing weak, and his ability to understand the words being said around him diminishing. And suddenly, he was on the floor...

Bob was at Frank's side in a second, quickly followed by Mikey and Ray.

"Frankie?...Wake up... Come on..."

Bob shook him gently.

"Come on dude..."

"I'll get a nurse."

Billie said, turning and rushing over to the reception desk.

When Billie returned a minute later, he was accompanied by a tall, dark haired nurse, with bright green eyes, and bright red lips.

"Out the way, out the way, give him some room.."

She tutted, shooing everyone back as she kneeled at his side to check his pulse. After a moment, she sighed.

"He's passed out.."

She exclaimed.

".. Probably from exhaustion. If one of you could carry him? I have a room free down the hall. He just needs to rest."

Bob instantly stepped forward and scooped the smaller man into his arms, following the nurse back along the hallway and into a small, dimly lit room, where she motioned for him to place Frank on a bed that stood against the far wall.

"He'll be ok.."

She assured Bob.

".. Just let him sleep."

Then she ushered him back to the waiting room, telling them all that she'd keep an eye on Frank, and that they all should probably try to rest, before going back to whatever job she'd been doing before Billie fetched her.

Some time later, an hour or two at least, a tall, dark skinned man wearing a white doctor,s coat approached the group.

"Are you all here for Gerard Way?"

A chorus of yeses and head nods let him continue.

"Good. I'm Dr. Graham, I've been overseeing Mr. Ways treatment today, and I've come to let you know what's happening."

They all gave him their rapt attention, and he took a deep breath before continuing.

"Mr. Way has sustained a lot of very severe injuries, lacerations to his back and arm, some damage has been done to his lungs, possibly being caused by an attempted drowning.."

He read from the notes he held in his hand.

".. Both of his hips have been dislocated, and he's got burns to his face, and most prominently, his eyes... We won't know for a while if he'll retain any sight."

He looked up from the papers to see five pairs of red-rimmed eyes staring back at him.

"I'm sorry the news isn't better, but he's alive, hold onto that."

He smiled sympathetically at them.

"Can we see him?"

Mikey asked in a small, scared voice, Ray wrapping an arm around him for support.

"He is actually awake right now, or he was when I left him. He's on some very strong painkillers, so he'll probably drift in and out for the next day or so, but he's asked for someone..."

Again he consulted his notes.

"..He asked for a.. Frank?..."

Mikey ground his teeth, Frank? Again? Why was it never him? He was Gerard's brother. Why was he never the one he wanted?
He felt Ray squeeze him slightly, as if he knew what he was thinking, and wanted to take some of the hurt away. But he couldn't bring himself to look in the other's eyes.

"He's sleeping.."

Bob told the doctor.

"..I'll get him."

Then he hurried off down the corridor to Franks room.
Opening the door quietly, he slipped in and crept to the bedside.

"Frank? Wake up... Come on, wake up now... It's Gerard. He's asking for you"

"Gerard?..."

Frank slowly opened his tired eyes and looked up at Bob.

"He's asking for you..."

Bob repeated.
Suddenly all exhaustion seemed forgotten as Frank leaped from the bed and ran from the room, Bob hot on his heals.

"Where is he?... Where's Gerard?"

He demanded, as he practically ran right into the doctor.

"Calm down, calm down... I'll take you to him."

The doctor said, before leading Frank away, as gently as his apparent lack of bedside manner would allow, telling him all about Gerard's injuries.
By the time they reached Gerard's room, Frank was a quivering nervous wreck, on the verge of collapsing all over again.

Notes