Barbed Wire Love

Frank tiptoed down to the kitchen, finding Gerard standing there, leaning his elbows on the breakfast bar and clutching a mug of coffee in both hands.

He pushed a mug across the table to Frank, who caught it quickly before it slid off the end.

"Sit" he said simply, nodding to a stool beside him.

Frank sat, taking a small sip of the coffee.

"Right" he opened a drawer to his right, and to Frank's alarm, took out the same kitchen knife he'd used the night before.

Gerard pointed the knife casually in Frank's direction. "You will not touch knives- or anything that could be classed as a weapon and could harm you- without my permission"

He tossed the knife back and pulled out an empty bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey.

"You can have as much as you want of this, but ask first, okay? You drank the only one that I had left. Understand?"

Frank nodded. "I-I understand. I'm sorry"

"I want to be able to trust you when I go out. I don't want to start locking you in single rooms or cupboards or anything like that-"

Gerard was swiftly interrupted by his phone. He took it out and glanced at the caller ID, before rolling his eyes and answering the call.

"Hey, what's up?"

Frank watched as Gerard's face turned to a more panicked expression, his eyes wide. "Wow. Okay, um... Shit?"

"Well, I don't know Mikey! It's your own damn fault!"

He listened to the response for a moment before impatiently growling; "well if you don't want me to leave him get over here!"

He cut the call off, groaning and running a hand though his hair in distress.

He began pacing; mumbling to himself. Frank watched apprehensively, unsure what the phone call had done that had led him to this.

"Um... Gerard?"

Gerard jumped slightly, as if he'd forgotten Frank was there. He strode back over to where Frank sat, spinning the stool around to face him and put his hands on Frank's forearms, gripping them tightly and somewhat desperately. Frank leaned back, wincing.

"What, Frank? What is it, what do you need?"

"Are you... okay?" He asked nervously, unsure to why he was asking at all.

Gerard took a deep breath, his eyes scanning Frank's face urgently.

"I'm okay" he said eventually, his hands loosening their grip and sliding off Frank's arms. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"I- I'm kinda hungry" Frank admitted.

"Eat, then" he gestured tiredly.

Frank hesitantly stood up. Gerard nodded encouragingly. "Go on. What's mine is yours"

Gerard watched him, draining the remains of his coffee as Frank wandered around the kitchen, opening drawer and taking out a box of cereal.

"My brother is coming over. He's got a little crisis on his hands"

"You have a brother?" Frank asked in surprise, taking out a handful of cornflakes.

"Uh huh" he said distractedly, swirling the last few drops of coffee around the mug.

They sat at the breakfast bar in silence for a few minutes, the only noise was the crunch of Frank's cornflakes. He knew that Gerard was watching him, but he didn't dare make eye contact. Whatever conversation he'd had on the phone, it was not a pleasant one, and he was not in a good mood.

*

In little under an hour Mikey pulled up outside the house and made his way inside after Gerard buzzed him in.

Gerard and Frank were sitting in the living room, watching Young Frankenstein as Mikey walked. Gerard paused the movie and looked over his shoulder. "Hey Mikey"

"Hey Ger-" he eyes travelled to Frank, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "Oh for fuck's sake! I thought we weren't supposed to use our actual names in front of the hostages?"

"It's fine" Gerard said lazily.

"That's your brother?" Frank blinked in confusion, looking up at the man who he recognised from yesterday. So Gerard and his brother worked together? Frank internally snorted. What was this, some kind of sick little family business?

"Yeah, you got a problem with that hoare?" Mikey sneered, walking over and taking a seat opposite them.

"Mikey, play nice"

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Get him to leave, Gee. This is important"

"He may stay if he wishes" Gerard argued.

"No he may not! We don't want to give him any ideas"

Gerard hesitated, then sighed. "Frank, wait upstairs please"

Frank stood up and hastily made his way up to Gerard's bedroom, not wanting to be caught in this little family domestic.

"Right. First of all then, what the fuck?"

Mikey sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry I should have been more wary"

"So she really-"

"Ripped the fucking veins from her wrist with her own teeth? Yeah"

"So she's-"

"Completely gone"

"Shit" Gerard sighed. "How much are we losing out on?"

"Bob tracked her family down. Says we could have got 'bout 100, maybe 150 grand out of them... What do we do now?"

"Not much we can do" Gerard shrugged. "Find out how much we can get from the rest of them and get it over with"

"Speaking of which, Bob found the family of the one you have upstairs"

Gerard blinked. "And?"

"Single mom. Doesn't have a lot of money but we tracked the dad down, and the son of a bitch is loaded" Mikey grinned. "If he's still in a good relationship with his son, he could pay out 400, maybe half a million"

"That's great, but... I don't think... We should sell him"

Mikey's eyes widened. "What? And why the hell not?"

"Because he already knows to much Mikes! If he blabs to the police about us, we could be screwed"

"You can't have told him that much, you're not that stupid Gee. Listen, just... talk to him. Find out more about him and when the time comes to give him back, convince him not to blab okay? If he blabs, we'll be paying him another visit"

Gerard stared at his brother. Mikey's expression was determined, unmerciful.

"...Okay then" Gerard agreed eventually. "I'll talk to him tonight"

Notes