Not happening!...(edited)

Frank woke to bright sunshine streaking across the walls, the sound of plates clinking against one another, and the smell of ever so slightly burnt toast...but no Gerard. He figured that some jobsworth nurse had told him to leave, and that he'd be back when visiting hours started up again.

The door to his room opened and a woman with shockingly white hair and a pink and white striped apron walked in pushing a trolley, and brought with her a much stronger scent of overly toasted bread.

"Morning sweetie..."

She addressed him with a warm smile.

"Would you like any breakfast?"

Frank certainly didn't want burnt toast, but he definitely was hungry.

"Sure, what you got?..."

The woman rattled off a list of things, including various types of cereal, yogurts, fruits...and of course, the dreaded toast.

"I'll have some fruit and yogurt please?...if that's ok?"

The woman assured him it was fine and served him what he'd asked for, along with a small carton of soya milk, onto the swingy table thing that sat next to his bed, then left, pushing her trolley noisily away with her.

Frank was pleasantly surprised by how nice the food was, and finished it quickly as he felt like he hadn't eaten in a week.

About two minutes after he ate the last bite, and chugged the last drops of milk, his door opened again and in walked Mikey Way, his hand linked with a shorter guy who looked like he'd slept in a hedge, and a really tall guy with curly hair that sort of reminded Frank of Ray.

"Hey guys..."

Frank said tentatively, as Mikey had never been his biggest fan for obvious reasons, and he had no idea who the other two were.

"Where's Gee?"

Mikey and the strangers looked at each other, confused, then turning back to Frank. Mikey frowned.

"We thought he was with you!"

When Gerard woke up, it took him just seconds for his foggy mind to register that he was no longer curled up next to Frank in the narrow hospital bed. It took him considerably longer to work out where he actually was.

The room was large and dark and smelled quite strongly of damp. It was a basement, and Gerard was sat on a hard backed wooden chair, with his hands tied behind him and a gag in his mouth that tasted of sweat and lighter fluid. As the fear of his current situation started to worm it's way into his consciousness, Gerard started to feel his heart race and his chest heave painfully. He was heading toward a panic attack, and Frank wasn't there to pull him back.

Of course, the most disturbing thing about this whole fucked-up scenario, was the fact that he recognised the basement. It sat under the house that Gerard had grown up in, and had called "home" for the past 14 years...and that meant...dad!

Gerard's head spun with the enormity of this. His Dad, the man who was supposed to protect and love him had him tied to a fucking chair in the basement.

Now, Gerard knew that the Lieutenant General didn't like him, after all, having a "dirty little fag" for a son was not a good look for a respected military man like him, but he never thought his own father would go this far.

Did his dad come to the hospital and just carry him away?...What kind of place was that?...Didn't they have security?...And what about the nurses?...Didn't anyone try to stop him?

And then there was Frank...fuck, he'd probably think Gerard just changed his mind and left. If Gerard ever saw him again, would Frank still want to be with him?...or would he think the whole thing was just too much trouble?

Hot salty tears slipped from Gerard's eyes at the idea of never seeing his little black-haired boy again. Surely his dad would let him go soon...right? He wouldn't keep him there forever...or worse, kill him...right?

Gerard's breathing was becoming way too fast, and as he panicked and struggled weakly against his restraints, black dots started to invade his vision and everything went a bit wonky.

The last thing Gerard Way saw before the darkness took him, was two pairs of feet descending the rough wooden stairs into the basement.

And the last thing he heard, was his father's cold, brutal voice.

"I think you're right, Raymond...this is going to be a lot of fun."

And with that in his head, Gerard slipped into unconsciousness, and could only pray that he'd stay that way for a long while.

Frank sat nervously in his hospital bed while Mikey paced the floor, cellphone attached to his ear as he waited for his mum to pick up.

"Come on, come on..."

He urged, before slamming his fist against the wall as it went to voicemail.

"Dammit..."

He huffed, then left a message.

Mom, it's Mikey. When you get this, can you call me back?...please? Ok, I better go. Please call me. Bye..."

Then he hung up and kicked his left foot hard into the wall.

"Fuck!"

"Calm down baby, we'll find him."

The short guy who'd introduced himself to Frank as Pete, said gently, placing a hand on Mikey's shoulder comfortingly. Mikey's breath shook as he fought back tears.

"But what if something happened to him? He's not strong. He can't fight."

The trembling boy collapsed against Pete and sobbed. The tall guy with the hair, who's name Frank didn't remember and who hadn't said more than "Hi" since he entered the room, suddenly piped up.

"Is there anywhere he might go?...a friend's place maybe?"

Frank looked to the floor as Mikey shot him a disgusted glare.

"He doesn't have any..."

Mikey didn't say "cause of him", but Frank knew that was what he meant.

"And there's nowhere."

The room fell silent again, as they all tried to decide what to do. The tense quiet was shattered by Anthrax's song- Madhouse, as it blasted from Mikey's phone. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen, then instantly put it to his ear.

"Mom...No I...But...Mom that's not...He's..."

He couldn't get a word in sideways.

Ok mom. I'm on my way."

And with that, he hung up. Slipping the phone back in his hoodie's pocket, Mikey looked on the very edge of breaking down. He stared at the floor and didn't make a sound. Frank had had enough of this.

"What did she say Mikey?"

The younger boy looked up with tears in his eyes. He looked at each face in turn, Frank, Pete, then Heath...then turned his eyes back to meet Frank's. Swallowing hard, he relayed the gist of what his mother had told him.

"She..."

He sobbed and dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands.

"She said that Gee went home...that he packed a bag...and he left. She...she said he left a note...saying he was n-never coming b-back..."

He broke then, floods of tears cascading down his thin cheeks.

"Why wouldn't he tell me?...Why would he just go?"

Pete wrapped his arms around his quaking boyfriend and held him close as he wept uncontrollably.

Frank felt numb. This wasn't supposed to happen. They'd just made up...they were going to be together. Why would he choose to leave when things were finally starting to get better?...it didn't make sense.

Something was not right...and Frank was determined to find out the truth, whatever it took.

Gerard's unconscious state didn't last long, as a bucket of cold water was thrown over him, shocking him back awake.

"Wake up you pathetic little freak..."

Don Way hissed in his ear. Gerard flinched away as much as his binds allowed.

"We're gonna have some fun."

Gerard didn't know what his dad meant by fun, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to find out. Looking around the damp basement, he began to realise just how much trouble he was actually in right now. Against the wall to his right was a long table. On that table, was his dad's favourite form of punishment...his belt!

It wasn't a plain belt, it had sharp metal studs all along the length and a large buckle at the end. He'd bought the thing especially for this purpose.

Gerard quaked in fear as he watched his dad pick the length of leather and steel up, and turn it over in his hands. Hot tears streamed down his face as he shook his head violently, pleading with his eyes as he whimpered behind his gag.

That particular belt was only ever brought out rarely...only when the Lieutenant General was especially mad at him.

The last time Gerard saw that belt, was the day he'd accidentally spilt hot coffee on the floor after tripping over one of Mikey's shoes.

Gerard had been unable to even get out of bed for the next two days. Mikey had to sneak him food. That had been about a year ago, and Gerard had avoided such harsh punishments since, by basically becoming a ghost in his own home...silently haunting his tiny bedroom and only creeping out when absolutely necessary.

A small noise behind Gerard's back alerted him to the fact that there was someone else there with them, though he couldn't see who but he could guess.

His dad had spoken to a Raymond before Gerard had passed out, and he'd put money on it being his dad's best friend, Major General Raymond Briggs...and that was very bad news indeed.

Briggs was a tyrant, far worse than Gerard's dad had ever been...and when they got together, you best stay out of their way.

Unfortunately for poor Gerard, he was now directly in their path and he wasn't too sure that he was getting out of this alive.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

Don grinned maliciously, stretching the belt between his fists and advancing on the terrified teen. Gerard pissed himself in fear and wondered if this was his last day on Earth, and if he would ever see his little black-haired boy again.

Frank was released from the hospital later that day, his mum picking him up in her crappy blue VW and fussing over him like he was at death's door, or something.

"Mumma pleeease?..."

Frank whined as she ushered him into their house and straight upstairs to bed.

"I have to find him. He's in trouble. I can feel it!"

He'd been begging Linda Iero, normally a fairly reasonable woman, to let him go look for the missing boy ever since she'd arrived to collect him...no joy...she wasn't having it.

"No Frank..."

She said sternly, steering him toward his bed and trying to remove his hoodie for him. He quickly batted her hands away and rolled his eyes...he was 16, not 3.

"You just spent the night in hospital with concussion and two cracked ribs. You're going nowhere. Now..."

She nodded toward the bed, effectively ending their previous discussion.

"Shoes and jeans off. Get to bed."

Apparently he'd lost the argument.

"Muuuma?"

"Now Franklin!"

"Yes mumma."

Frank dropped his voice and his head, knowing that once she started calling him that, he really had lost the fight. Toeing off his Converse and unbuttoning his flies, Frank raised an eyebrow at his mother and she took the hint to leave his room.

Once the door was shut, Frank did his jeans back up, pushed his feet back into his ratty shoes and headed over to the window. Quietly unlocking and raising the sash window, Frank slipped out onto the roof of the front porch, before lowering it back down and stepping carefully to the edge. There was a railing that ran around the side of the porch, behind the swing that Frank couldn't remember sitting on since he was 9, and he and Gerard used to sit there and eat cookies after school...he really missed that!

Swinging himself off the side of the roof, he used the rail as a step before jumping to the ground and instantly taking off running.

Now, the painkillers that the hospital gave him before he left must really work, cause he couldn't feel a thing except a slight pulling around his ribs, and a pleasant numbness in his brain...but he knew that wouldn't last so he had to make the most of the time he had before crippling pain shot through his body again, and he was forced to crawl back home, tail between his legs, and beg his mother's forgiveness for sneaking off like that.

Racing the two and a half miles across the town...along S Franklin Avenue, over the Second River, back past the Clara Maass Medical Centre where he'd spent all last night, up Newark Avenue, and finally into Salter Place...Frank was panting like a dog as he approached number 69, a house he hadn't been in for 7 long years.

He'd stood outside the house during that time, well, hid in the bushes like some creepy stalker dude anyway, hoping for a glimpse of Gerard looking happy, cause he never did at school, but he hadn't been inside.

Trying to catch his breath, lungs burning and ribs now starting to ache...huh, drugs must be wearing off...Frank was surprised to see the front door open before he'd even had a chance to knock, and a teary Mikey, along with his and Gerard's mom, leaving the house carrying a large, heavy looking suitcase each.

"Mikey?..."

Frank tentatively approached him.

"What's going on?"

Mikey sighed, put the case on the floor by his feet and stepped toward the older boy.

"Mom and me are going away for a while..."

He said dejectedly.

"Gee's really gone Frank."

He whimpered slightly, before bursting into tears and collapsing against Frank's chest, clinging to his hoodie and soaking it as he wept openly. Frank stood frozen for a moment, unsure what the Hell was happening right now, then wrapped his arms round the shaking, wailing 13 year old and tried to comfort him as his own tears made tracks down his flushed cheeks.

"Where are you going?"

Frank finally asked, as he struggled to pull himself together. Mikey pulled back and sniffed pathetically.

"Don't know...Mom won't say..."

He glanced daggers at his mum as she sat waiting for him in the car.

"She won't even tell me when we're coming back."

He moaned. Frank frowned deep.

"I'll find him Mikey...I promise."

Mikey looked away for a minute, just getting his breathing under control again, then turned back, poker face back on.

"You actually love him, don't you."

It wasn't even a question...Mikey knew.

"I do..."

Frank nodded, sadly.

"I guess I always have...but I was just a dumb kid, copying the sentiments of other dumb kids, and I lost sight of who I was..."

He dropped his head to stare at the driveway beneath his feet. He stayed silent for a moment or two as Mikey sniffed and his mum honked the car horn impatiently.

"I'm sorry for everything I ever said and did to Gee...and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to him, if he'll let me..."

Frank met Mikey's watery gaze again.

"I will find him Mikey...you have my word."

Mikey pulled Frank back into his arms and hugged him tight.

"This doesn't mean I trust you..."

He muttered over Frank's head.

"Or forgive you..."

Frank nodded a little.

"But I trust Gee, and he clearly sees some good in you so..."

He held Frank out at arm's length.

"Find him, please?..."

Frank nodded through fresh tears, as Donna thumped the horn twice more.

"OK MOM..."

Mikey shouted over his shoulder.

"I'M COMING!..."

Then he turned back to Frank and pulled a pen from his pocket.

"Give me your hand..."

Frank stuck out his left arm, and Mikey proceeded to write a series of numbers on it.

"My cell..."

Mikey explained.

"Call me when you have news..."

Frank nodded and the horn blared loudly again. Mikey rolled his eyes.

"I better go...before she has an aneurism..."

He smiled wryly at Frank, who chuckled back.

"Take care Frank...don't forget to call?"

Frank assured the younger boy that he would tell him anything he found out, and that he shouldn't worry cause he'd have Gerard home in no time. And then Mikey was gone, and Frank was left there, standing outside Gerard's front door with absolutely no idea where to start his search.

If only he knew just how close Gerard was at that very moment...but he didn't, and with one last glance up at the house, Frank slowly turned and headed back toward home...really regretting not bringing any painkillers with him, as the ache in his ribs and head got gradually worse and worse.

The basement was dark when Gerard regained consciousness. Don and Raymond had spent hours beating him with that damn belt, taking turns when their arms got tired. Gerard's voice was wrecked from screaming and he was pretty sure he'd run out of tears.

He could feel the blood dried on his ripped and torn back, and he had never wanted to die more than he did right now.

Don had told him that Mikey and his mum had gone away, and that he'd never see them again if he had anything to do with it. Gerard was about 99% certain that his dad had worked as a torturer for the army, before he'd retired two years ago. It would explain a lot.

Now, sitting back-to-front on the hard wooden chair, arms and legs bound with rough rope, he wondered if Don had ever loved him as a father should love a son...or was he always just waiting for the time to come that he could destroy his first born?

Thoughts of Frank inevitably invaded his broken mind. Where was he? Was he ok? Was he thinking of Gerard?...Did he even really care?

Gerard thought the answers were probably- Home. Yes. No. and Highly unlikely.

There was no point really. Gerard knew he wasn't getting out of there. After what Don and Raymond had done, the only place he should be now was a hospital...but that wouldn't be happening. They wouldn't risk going to jail, just to save his sorry life.

Hanging his head down, and letting his chin rest against his thin, bare chest, Gerard imagined a better life, one where there was no Don and Raymond...where there were no bullies, and he could be happy with Frank by his side. Gerard choked out a laugh.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen."

God, he wanted to die.

Frank was grounded til the end of time.

After sneaking out, then collapsing from pain on his way back home and having to phone his worried and majorly pissed off mother for a pick-up, he'd be lucky if he was allowed out before he turned 80. Of course, that had never stopped him before and wouldn't now, except that his head and ribs made him wonder if he hadn't actually been trampled by elephants when he wasn't looking.

Sat on his bed, back pressed against the headboard, Frank tapped away on his laptop, trying everything he could think of to locate the missing boy.

Gerard had a Facebook account, and Frank had friended him ages ago, (using a fake name, of course) but with everyone at school hating him, he had few friends on the site and only rarely went on. He hadn't been on since he'd disappeared.

Frank knew that Gerard didn't go on Twitter, ever...cause of the comments he'd received during the two weeks that he'd tried it. Hateful stuff, that regularly told him to go kill himself.

Gerard was not online...anywhere.

Frank sighed deeply, trying to think of what else to try. If Gerard had run away, then he'd need somewhere to stay.

Frank looked up homeless shelters and was surprised that none actually came up in Bellville, but there was one in Nutley, and more than one in Newark, so he started calling each one and asking if Gerard was there. One after another, they all said no.

Where the fuck had he gone?...Was he sleeping rough under a bridge somewhere?...Was he safe?

Tears dripped onto the keys of his ageing computer. He had to find him, and quick...Gerard wouldn't last long on his own out there. As smart as the younger boy was, that wouldn't help him if someone decided to hurt him, and Frank didn't think he could cope if that happened.

He was running out of ideas, and had begun to think that all was lost.

Sobbing desperately, he didn't hear his mother coming up the stairs with his laundry, freshly washed and folded in her arms.

When she walked in his room, she froze for a second, then placed his clothes on his desk and went to sit on the edge of the bed.

Frank jumped slightly as the mattress dipped on his right and he turned to see worried eyes staring back at him.

"Frank?..."

And then he was in her arms, burying his head in her shoulder and crying like a baby.

"Tell me."

She hummed against his soft black hair, gently rubbing comforting circles on his back,. as he sniffed and sobbed pathetically.

"Oh mumma..."

He whined.

"I don't know what to do."

But he was too distraught to carry on.

Linda Iero was a saint...that was the conclusion that Frank had come to anyway. After his melt-down, and after she'd made him a large mug of strong sweet tea, Frank's mum had coaxed his worries out of him, and was now helping him down the stairs so that she could drive him around to look for the missing teenager.

Neither of them really knew where to start the search, but that wouldn't stop them.

"I think we should try down by the river..."

Linda murmured, whether to Frank or herself, Frank wasn't sure.

"There's lots of homeless there. It's a place to start."

Frank hummed in agreement as he stared out the window, checking every pale face, and every black haired person that they drove passed.

As the day wore on, and nowhere produced even a hint of Gerard's presence, Frank became more and more despondent.

"We're not gonna find him, mumma..."

He whined.

"It's hopeless."

Tears fell as he slumped lower in his seat, arms wrapped miserably around his middle. Linda glanced at her son. She knew he loved the little Way boy, but she'd never realised how much.

"No, nothing's hopeless Frank, we just haven't worked this out yet. We'll find him."

Frank loved his mother's optimism, but right now he just couldn't share it.

"But where else is there to look?"

Linda thought for a minute.

"You said Mikey and his mom went away?..."

Frank nodded, not sure where she was headed with this.

"But his dad's still home?..."

She prompted. He still looked confused. Linda rolled her eyes.

"I think we should go talk to him."

Frank's face split into a huge grin. Why the Hell didn't he think of that before?

"You're a genius, mumma!"

He cheered as she turned left onto S Franklin Avenue and headed across the town.

When they reached Salter Place, and pulled up outside number 69, Frank got suddenly nervous. He hadn't spoken to Don Way in over 7 years, but he'd seen the man, and he'd seen how he treated poor Gerard. This was not a very nice guy, and this could go very badly indeed.

With a reassuring smile from his mother, Frank got awkwardly out of the car...ribs hurting a bit, as he'd forgotten his pain pills...and walked up to the front door. Stood there psyching himself up, Frank was just about to knock when he heard what sounded like a scream..and it was coming from inside the house.

Frank looked nervously back at the car, hand still poised to knock, then he slowly lowered it and looked around himself. Both of the Way's cars were missing from the driveway. Donna's blue Lexus, and Don's green truck. So, no one was home?

Frank heard another scream, and this time he was certain that it came from inside, and more precisely, from below him...the basement.

Heart quickening, Frank turned and hurried around to the left side of the house, where he knew there was a small ground-level window into the dark, subterranean room. Pulling aside the scratchy branches of a small bush, Frank crawled in on his hands and knees, wincing as his hand pressed on a sharp stone, and eventually reached the small grubby pane of glass.

The screams were louder here, just confirming Frank's theory that they were coming from the basement. Peering in through the dirty window, Frank felt his heart just about stop.

There, tied to a chair...naked...bruised and bloodied...a gag half in his mouth, half out...was Gerard...his Gee!

"Fuck!"

The window was too small for even Frank to squeeze through. He had to find another way in.

"Frank?"

Frank jumped and twisted awkwardly, falling on his butt in the dirt.

"Shit mumma..."

He muttered, rubbing his sore ass.

"Don't sneak up on me like that."

Linda folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't swear at me young man. And what are you doing, anyway?"

She relaxed her stance and moved toward him.

"I found Gee."

He whimpered slightly and pointed at the little window. Linda tilted her head and frowned, but after a moment she got down on her knees to see what he'd discovered.

"Oh my God..."

She breathed.

"I'll go call the police, you see if there's a way in the house."

"Mumma?...are you giving me permission to break and enter?"

Frank looked at her with wide eyes.

"Whatever it takes Frankie. Just be careful, ok?"

Linda kissed his forehead then got up and headed back to the front of the house, phone already in hand. Frank looked through the window again. The screaming had stopped, and Gerard's head was hung low on his chest.

Frank knocked on the glass. Gerard didn't even flinch. Frank knocked harder and Gerard's head slowly lifted and turned his way.

Big glassy eyes, red from tears and black from bruises blinked up at the small window...the only source of light in the room right now...and saw an angel looking back at him. Gerard was pretty sure he was dreaming, or hallucinating, and he was almost 100% certain that he was just minutes from death right now, cause Don and Raymond had made no attempt to hide their conversation from him...when they were discussing what tools they'd need to dismember a body...his body! Then they'd gone off to the hardware store.

Gerard smiled at the angel, bloody spit dripping from his lips. That angel looked like Frankie.

"Frankie."

Gerard whispered, his voice lost from screaming...and then the darkness consumed him again, and his chin dropped onto his chest as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Frank bit hard on his lip at the horrible sight, hot tears water-falling down his cheeks unchecked.

"I'm coming."

He muttered, then stood and ran around to the back of the house.

The back door had a screen over it, but that was ripped almost to pieces from years of neglect and rough treatment. Frank pulled it open and tried the door. He expected it to be locked. He thought he'd have to break a window to get in...but to Frank's great surprise, the door was unlocked,and opened easily.

Frank slipped inside.

It was a long time since Frank had set foot in this house, but he remembered the layout as of it were his own. Walking quickly, Frank headed to the basement door and prised it open...it squeaked like something from a horror movie and Frank felt a cold shiver run up his spine.

Licking his dry lips, Frank reached into the dark doorway and groped for the light switch. Finding it after a few seconds, Frank clicked it on and blinked at the sudden brightness.

He could hear his heart thundering in his ears, pure adrenaline coursing through his veins as he started down the creaky wooden steps and into the space below. When Frank's foot hit the concrete floor of the basement, he stood frozen for a second or two as his eyes fell on the boy he'd come to find.

"Gee..."

He breathed, almost silently. Then he was across the room in an instant, pulling on the ropes that bound Gerard to the hard, wooden chair.

"I got you Gee. I got you."

He mumbled, fingers working at the knots. It didn't take very long to get the ropes lose enough to free the thin, naked boy. Then Frank carefully wrapped a blanket he'd found on a chair in the corner around the younger boy, and started to pick him up. Just then, Frank's cellphone rang in his pocket...his mum's ringtone.

Frank sat on the chair, with Gerard unconscious in his lap and pulled out his phone. Yep...it was his mum.

"What is it mumma?...I'm kinda busy here."

"Frank..."

She sounded upset, scared even.

.Get your butt out of that house now."

Frank frowned.

"Mumma?"

"He's back Frank. Get out...now!"

She didn't hang up, just held the phone down from her ear so Frank heard as she started to talk...to Don.

"Oh shit..."

Frank sobbed slightly, putting the phone in his pocket and standing up, Gerard hanging limp in his arms.

"Shitshitshitshit!"

Heading up the stairs, he could just about still hear his mother's voice, small and weak through the phone's earpiece. It meant she was still talking to him. It meant he still had time.

Creeping back through the small cramped kitchen, Frank reached out to open the door, freedom just a step away and then...the door was opened from the other side.

Frank's eyes grew wide with fear as he backed away from the man in the doorway. He'd seen this man before at the house, when he'd been creeping on Gerard from the bushes. He was one of Don's friends, and Frank had never seen the man smile.

"Well well. Isn't this interesting..."

The man, who's name Frank didn't know muttered darkly, a sinister glint in his eye.

"Guess it's two for one day..."

He smirked.

"Come here."

He reached for Frank's arm, but Frank's survival instincts kicked in quick and he jumped back, spinning on his toes, then dashed off through the house, careful not to hit Gerard's head on any door frames on the way.

Frank could hear the man charging after him as he sprinted for the ground floor bathroom, the only room pretty much guaranteed to have a lock on the door. He could almost feel the monster's breath on the back of his neck as he swung through the door and slammed it shut, locking it with a fast flick of his fingers.

The man crashed into the door and Frank's breath caught as he heard the wood splintering. Frank sat on the floor with his back to the door and his feet braced against the side of the bathtub, Gerard's limp body pressed to his chest as he sobbed and shook, terrified that the door would give way.

The man was shouting and swearing, kicking at the bathroom door with all his might and Frank just knew that it wouldn't hold.

Somehow, over the noise the man was making, and over the sound of his own desperate cries, Frank heard his mother's voice, shouting distantly through the phone in his pocket. Shifting Gerard's body so Frank had a hand free, he pulled out his cell and lifted it back up to his ear, each kick at the door making him gasp as it shook against his back.

"Mumma?"

He sobbed.

"Frank?...oh thank God! Did you get out?"

She rushed her words like she'd been drinking too much coffee. Frank shook his head, though he was aware that she couldn't see him.

"No Mumma. We're...we're in the bathroom. He's trying to g-get in."

He cried, tears falling as he saw Gerard's eyes flutter slightly.

"Fuck!..."

Linda hissed.

"Look, I couldn't hold him off, he's coming in now...wait, who's trying to get to you?"

She was confused.

"It's D-Don's friend."

Frank stuttered as a particularly heavy kick to the door made him bounce forward a little, gasping in shock.

"Hold on Frank..."

Linda begged her son.

"The cops are coming. It's gonna be ok."

"OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Don shouted through the wood as the hinges started to break free from the wall.

"I love you Mumma..."

Frank sobbed into the phone, then hung up. If this was it for him, he didn't want his mother to hear it happen. He placed the phone on the ground by his side, listening to it start to ring a moment later as he wrapped himself around Gerard's fragile, broken form.

"I love you Gee. I've always loved you...and I always will..."

He sobbed into Gerard's hair as the top hinge broke completely away.

"I'm here baby, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here..."

He chanted as the wood cracked and splintered behind him.

"YOU'RE BOTH DEAD WHEN WE GET THROUGH THIS FUCKING DOOR..."

Don hollered.

"YOU HEAR ME?"

Frank shook and cried, face buried against Gerard's neck, skin cold beneath his touch. Suddenly Frank's head shot up as a small cool hand stroked away his tears.

"Gee?"

He whimpered, seeing those beautiful eyes looking back at him.

"It's ok Frankie angel..."

Gerard smiled softly, the blood on his teeth and lips making him look like an extra in a horror movie.

"You can let go now...I'm done in..."

A pained cough shook his small body and he groaned, eyes rolling back a little before they refocused on Frank's face.

"They've won."

"No. No baby..."

Frank shook his head, fresh tears falling.

"Help's coming baby. Just stay with me...stay with me Gee."

"I l-love...you..F-Frankie..."

Gerard's breath grew shallower and more ragged every moment.

"I..l-ove...y..."

"Gee?..GEEEE!!..."

The second hinge gave way and the two men were in the room, hands grabbing and pulling the boys apart.

GEEEEEEE!"

The last thing Frank saw before darkness took him, as the nameless man's hands pressed in around his throat, was Don Way, dragging Gee's pale, lifeless body out of the room.

In the distance, sirens wailed...but Frank didn't hear them.

Notes