There's A Certain Loneliness In Your Company

"If I'm part of your team, why am I blindfolded and tied up ... again?" Toxic sighed as she sat in the back seat of some vehicle headed in some direction. That's all she knew about what was happening. After she agreed to play by ONE's rules, she was promptly surprised from behind by one of his hit men, which was becoming an unfortunate norm for her, and was thrown into a vehicle without another word.

"Because I don't know if I can trust you." He answered calmly. She could almost hear his smirk that he always seemed to be wearing.

"Fair enough." She shouldn't be so casual with him, but he had put her through so much already, it came off that way whether she wanted it to or not. She felt the car come to a halt and, despite the blindfold, began swiveling her head from side to side trying to pick up what was going on. Her door swung open and a pair of hands pulled her out of the vehicle by her elbow.

"Hey, easy!" She barked, shaking the hands off of her when she was standing up right. She felt her arms fall to her sides as the rope was untied from her wrists. She quickly reached up and pulled the blindfold off just in time to see a hooded figure climb into the car and shut the door. "Hey, buddy, not so rough next time." She attempted to walk up to the driver's side door and tell them off, but the car sped away before she had a chance. She groaned and turned around to face ONE who was watching her with amusement.

"Ready for your first task?"

"Well, I don't know. What is it?" She asked, annoyance in her voice.

"If you remember when you first arrived at the Killjoy's hideout, you were shown a closet with some fire arms. I want you to find that closet and retrieve for me Party Poison's ray gun. It has a distinct design. You should you be able to identify it."

"Hideout? But..." She turned around and realized it was in fact the guys' hideout. How did she not notice that before? She whirled back around to ONE who seemed unfazed by her reaction. "What do you want with his ray gun?"

He ignored her question and continued with his instruction. "Two of the Killjoy's are still here. The other two will be back soon. Get in and out of there as fast as you can without being detected. Do you understand?"

"Sheesh. Gotta be all business, huh?" She looked over her shoulder at the hideout and bit at her lip. "I can try, but why do you need his gun? What if I get caught?"

"Get in there and get out." He repeated his instructions.

"Why them? Why does it have to be someone I know?" Toxic watched his face as he contemplated his next response. He sighed and shook his head, seeming to go against his better judgement.

"I know you're not in any danger here if anything happens. I'm not going to feed you to the wolves your first time out. Like I said, this is new for me, too. You know, ... being merciful." His last words set his facial features straight again causing her to cease her questions.

She turned to the decaying house once more and took a deep breath. Though she had been here before, she hadn't actually seen the whole place inside and out. The front entrance was out of the question. As were the front facing windows. She recalled a side entrance where they parked Eight Legs. She could try to go through that way, but if the other two guys got home before she could get out, she would most likely be caught. Or maybe that could be the distraction she needs to get out. Whatever she did, she had to do it now. She didn't know when they would be back.

She crouched down and ran quickly to the side of the house with the car port. She turned the handle slowly, listening to the gears inside the door turning and clicking into place. She blew out a steady stream of air as she pushed the door open. After looking around through the crack in the door waiting for some sign of movement, she decided it was safe to enter. She quickly stepped in, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible.

Glitch examined the room around her. It seemed to be the remnants of an old mud room. Coat hangers drilled into the wall with a decorative sign that read, "Home, Sweet Home" in a fancy swirly pattern. She realized at one point this house used to belong to someone. A family. Probably with kids. She had a flash of her own house and family but quickly dismissed the thought. She stood pressed up against the wall next to the door frame listening for where they might be. She heard the faint sound of snoring coming from down the hall. At least she knew one of them was asleep.

Suddenly she heard a pair of footsteps coming toward her doorway. Her heartbeat doubled as she looked around the small room for somewhere to hide. Coming up empty, she decided her best bet was to dart back out the door. Before she had a chance to make a break for it, the footsteps stopped. She took one deep breath and held it as she waited to see where they were headed. After a moment she heard the footsteps head back toward the main room. She let out the tank of air she had been holding with relief.

She stuck her head out of the doorway and saw that it was Party Poison walking away from her. His hands were tucked in his pockets and he stared aimlessly at the ground. He's pacing the room. She decided now was her chance and she bolted out of the mud room and down the hall with stealth and long strides making sure to land on her toes. She quickly made her way past the room that one of the other Killjoy's was sleeping in. She wasn't sure who and didn't want to stick around long enough to find out.

Toxic made it to the closet of firearms and had to stop herself from audibly sighing. She reached for the handle and pulled it open, but her heart quickly sank when she scanned all the hooks. Poison's gun wasn't there. She snuck back down the hall and glanced in the front room. It was strapped to his side. Biting her lip to hold back her cursing she also began pacing back down the hall. Trying to figure out her next move, her ears perked up she heard a car engine coming.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" She couldn't help herself this time and hissed her curses through her teeth. She saw that Poison was occupied looking out the front window and she sprinted for the mud room. She pulled the door open and could see Eight Legs in the distance getting closer. There was no sign of ONE anywhere. "Asshole..." She grumbled. What was she going to do now?

With no time to think, she went back down the hall, keeping mind of Poison in the other room and went back to the closet and climbed inside, shutting the door behind her. It was a tight fit, guns touching her from all sides. She did her best not to think about whether the safeties were on or not.

Glitch heard the car pull into the car port and she began to shake. She should have ran out of the house. It was too late now as she heard the mud room door open. The snoring in the room next to her stopped and someone opened the door, walking out into the hall. Poison's footsteps quickly walked to the hall to meet them as well. Glitch heard the side door open followed by Poison's frantic words.

"What happened? Did you find her? You were gone all night!" His voice was short and demanding. Toxic's ears perked up. Who were they looking for?

"We looked everywhere." She recognized Fun Ghouls voice and her stomach knotted up. Were they looking for her?

"Did you hear anything?"

"We checked all the way to Zone 5 and back..."

"Where's Skyla?!" Poison shouted. Toxic's eyes widened and she listened as close as she could.

"We... don't know. No one's seen her."

"She wouldn't just leave and not say anything. Something's not right..."

"Where did she say she was going?"

"I don't know. On a run for something. She ... shit I don't remember!"

"Calm down. We'll find her." Ghoul's voice didn't sound so reassuring. Glitch was trying to process what she had just heard. Where was Skyla? She instantly felt guilty. She should have been with her. What if the Dracs got her? Unlikely. Skyla wouldn't be so careless.

Glitch was brought back to the situation at hand as she heard a set of footsteps coming down the hall. She tried not to panic as she silently hoped they weren't coming headed toward the closet. The handle began to turn and she braced herself for the worst. The door opened, revealing an almost completely calm Fun Ghoul. He barely jumped at her presence, but his eyes did widen in surprise. She bit at her lip, her wide as matching his. Her eyes began to water as she mouthed the word 'please', begging him to keep quiet. She could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed his words. He casually reached past her and hung up his gun before shutting the door once more.

"If you want to give it a once over, be my guest. I can stay here in case she comes back." Ghoul was walking back down the hall towards the group. Glitch closed her eyes and tried to control her panicked breathing.

"You know if I go out there looking for her--"

"I know. What choice do we have?"

"Alright. But when I find who did it... I'll fucking kill them." Poison's voice was quiet, murderous.

"I'm coming with him." Kobra spoke up.

"Me, too." Jet Star chimed in sounding groggy. He must have been sleeping.

"Go. I'll wait here." She listened as the group of footsteps walked out of the house, the door slamming behind them. She stood frozen, unable to reach for the handle. Before she could catch her breath, the closet door flew open once more.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Notes

Oh, hi. Finally updated. Hope it doesn't seem to crappy or filler-ish. I think I'm getting back on track with his story, but it's a little shaky. Let me know what you think. Cheers