Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frank Iero was rich. Disgustingly rich. His family came from money, as did his wife Jamia's, though there was one key difference the two held in relation to their wealth. Jamia? The money went to her head. She, unfortunately, acted as rich as she was. She went to galas, she bought nothing but designer clothes and shoes and everything, and she only went out to places that needed a paid-in-advance reservation. If anyone was to get into shady circles because of their wealth, it was Jamia.

Frank, on the other hand? He had been famous, once, had given up his life of rock shows and fame for a quiet life producing other people's music. He'd go to maybe a party or two a year with his wife, take her out to those expensive restauraunts, but really? He wanted to be at home playing music. Sometimes he wondered when this had happened, when their personalities and tastes had shifted so drastically, when he had lost his wife to her wealth.

The final straw came on Frank's birthday. He had just turned thirty-three, and the small get-together had wound down to just Frank and Jamia. It was about midnight- six past, actually- when Jamia recieved a call.

"Hello?" Her voice was hushed. "Oh, wonderful. Bring it to the garage. Around back. Gate should be unlocked."

Jamia stood and held her hand out for Frank to take. "I bought you something." Her voice was sweet, and her lips held a smile.

Frank looked at her in confusion, taking her hand and standing as well. "And it's getting delivered now?" He followed her through their large house- mansion, really- and down to the garage. They passed the cars and opened the garage doors.

There stood two men, one with a dolly with a very, very large object on it, covered in a tarp. The man with the dolly set it down, looking around warily like someone would be watching them, despite the fact that the house was nearly two miles from the road and four from any neighbors. The other man held his hand out and, oddly, Jamia began fishing around in her pockets.

"I thought you said you bought it already?" Frank whispered to her.

"Not really, it's a pay on arrival sort of thing." She pulled out a single band of money and handed it over to the man with his hand out. The two men gave her a nod and left, getting into what looked like a blank moving van and driving away.

Frank watched, flabbergasted. "What the fuck did you just pay a thousand dollars for?!"

Jamia rolled her eyes. "Oh, hush, it's barely anything." She walked over and lifted the tarp, grinning wildly. "Come look at it."

Frank sighed and walked over, looking under the tarp-

It was a cage.

There was a man inside.

Gerard… barely remembered his own name anymore. It was the only thing he remembered how to write, and thus he would write it with his finger over and over again. He did, however, feel the starvation. The gnawing, clawing feeling in the pit of his stomach, where it was begging for food. He wasn't too emaciated, thank god- the Master that owned him previously had fed him blood in more generous amounts than he was used to. But he was starving.

Oh, right- Gerard was a vampire. He had small fangs, ones that had been filed down when the adult teeth came in. His owners- Masters, he was ordered to call them- typically underfed him, keeping him weak so that he couldn't fight back.

He kneeled in his cage, using his index finger to write his name on the cold floor over and over again. He was in The Hall, a large corridor somewhere, he presumed, underground. His clothes were… cleaner than they would typically be. His last Master had been uncharacteristically generous for a Master and had given him new clothes, though never had him wash himself or the clothes so they were definitely dirty again. He simply wore a t-shirt and some sweatpants that were getting looser by the day.

A man walked over and tossed a tarp over the cage, shrouding Gerard in darkness. Gerard looked around for a moment, then went back to scribbling his name on the bottom of the cage.

A long while passed. He heard a lot of noises- people talking, doors opening and closing, the passage of items between hands. Eventually, he was shut inside of what he assumed to be a large… thing. He supposed 'truck' was the right word, but the 'trucks' he remembered from before all this didn't look quite the same. He didn't know very much, hadn't had the chance to learn all that much before he was taken and placed in the System.

The ride was long, but Gerard wasn't sure how long. He just sat there in the darkness, eyes closed as it made the whole situation easier to bear. Sometimes, he would try scrawling his name out again, but would give up upon realizing he couldn't exactly see where his hand was moving.

Finally, the truck stopped, the door opened, and he was wheeled out, tossed to the back of the cage by the dolly picking it up. He knew what was coming next- he would be wheeled inside, he would meet his new Master, and return to life as normal.

Once more, the cage was set down, there was the exchanging of items once more, and he heard the men retreat. He heard some angry whispering, then squinted his eyes when the tarp was lifted.

There was a woman, who had a small smile on her face. Not a comforting one- no, she saw him as a thing, that was for sure. Just like the rest, Gerard thought. No, it was the man behind her that confused him. The man had drawings all over his arms and neck, and had short, dark hair and some facial hair. He was broad and stocky, a build that Gerard would be afraid of, if not for the expression on his face.

The man was shocked, eyes wide and mouth agape. The woman looked back at him with a much larger smile than before, hoping to impress him. "I got us a servant! All he eats is raw meat, so he's low maintenance-"

"Get out." The man's voice was calm, but Gerard could tell he was holding something back.

The woman dropped the tarp, plunging Gerard back into darkness. "What? Why? All the folks at the country club have at least one-"

"Get. The fuck. Out." The man's voice was shaking a little bit now. "Text me where you're staying. I'll have my lawyer contact you."

"If I'm leaving, I'm bringing it with me," the woman said then- and Gerard had to assume it was her doing it- tried to drag the crate along with her, but the man stopped her.

"Absolutely not. You bought him, I can't trust you to not hurt him. Get the fuck out of my house, now."

After a few more minutes of arguing, there was some angry stomping, the slam of a car door, and the sound of tires screeching away. The cage was dragged along a few feet, then a garage door was activated, presumably shut. Then the tarp was dragged off all the way, completely revealing Gerard to the man.

He was skinny, as previously mentioned. He had big eyes that darted around the room, taking it all in. His hair was long and shaggy, cut unevenly, and a mousy brown color. He scooted back to the back of the cage, away from the man in front of him. They were alone now; it was time to be scared. Then, the man spoke.

"What the hell am I going to do with you?"

Chapter Text

Frank crossed his arms and sighed. He just stared at the small… man? Boy? He couldn't get a read on how old the guy was, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the guy didn't know either. Whoever he was, he was dirty, and frail, and needed someone to help him. Frank was worried that he wasn't the right guy for the job, but who else would he go to? The police? Sure, Jamia was the one that had bought him, but would they believe that story, or would they arrest him? And, God, what would happen to the boy?

Frank shook his head to snap himself from his thoughts, leaning forward and unlocking the cage. It was a simple dog cage with a lock that didn't require a key, so it confused Frank why the boy hadn't just let himself out. Nevertheless, he opened the door to the cage and beckoned the boy out, kneeling on the floor a few feet from the cage.

"Come on," he said, " there's nothing to be afraid of here. That lady that bought you is gone, I won't hurt you."

The boy narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, clearly confused. He scooted forward, then slowly crawled out and kneeled in front of Frank, hands laid obediently on his knees. He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to decide against it and shut it again.

"No, no," Frank said. "What were you gonna say? You can say whatever you want. I promise."

The boy looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face that Frank feared was going to become quite common. "Why… are you… like… that?" The boy spoke in a quiet, raspy voice, his brows knitting in the middle of his forehead.

Frank cocked his head. "Like what?" He chuckled a bit. "Never had someone be nice to you?"

The boy shook his head. "M' just a vamp're, not like you. Not person."

Frank's soft smile dropped as he realized the gravity of the situation. This poor boy had probably never been treated right in his life. He shook his head and sighed. "You're a person to me. So, what, do you, like… drink blood?"

The boy shook his head again. "Meat juice."

Frank sighed. "That's what I was afraid of…"

The boy cocked his head.

Frank looked at him and realized he would probably have to explain a lot of what he said. "I'm vegetarian. I only eat plants. I don't really like having meat in the house, but if that's all you can eat, then…" He sighed.

The boy frowned. "I'm sorry, Master."

Frank shook his hands in front of him. "No! No, no, none of that. My name is Frank. You can call me Frank." He paused. "God, I'm such an asshole, I never asked for your name. What is it?"

The boy's eyes went wide and he leaned back a bit, wary of the sudden outburst of emotion. My name? He thought. No one's ever asked.

"Gee-… -rard…" The boy said. "Gerard."

"Gerard?" Frank smiled. "That's a nice name. Who gave it to you?"

Gerard shrugged. "S' what Mama called me."

Frank widened his eyes, shocked by that answer. "You… remember your mama?"

Again, Gerard shrugged. "Not much."

Frank was about to say something, but shook his head and stood up, holding his hand out to help Gerard up. "Come with me. We'll get you cleaned up in no time."

Gerard looked at the man with big eyes, looking from his hand to his face then back again and again. "Not supposed to touch Ma- uh. Um. Frank."

Frank sighed. This is going to be a long journey. "Rule one; you can touch me whenever you want."

Gerard nodded softly and, slowly, reached out to grab Frank's hand. His grip was weak, but he managed to pull himself up slowly with Frank's help and-

"Holy shit, you're taller than me?" Frank said, letting out a soft chuckle. "So you're definitely at least a teenager… how old are you?"

Gerard shrugged. "Forgot…"

Frank sighed softly and nodded. "I should have expected that…" he mumbled, mostly to himself. "Follow me." He walked hand in hand with Gerard to the door into the house, opening it and leading him inside. The house was large and decorated with guitars hung in cases and large paintings Jamia had bought at auctions. The walls were paneled with wood, and the floors matched with red area rugs placed sparcely about. It was very open concept with warm lighting and built-in bookshelves along the walls.

The door had opened directly into the living room. There was a forest green couch with a couple leather armchairs, remote forgotten on the arm of the couch and a movie still paused on the screen of the television over the fireplace. The coffee table had a bowl of popcorn sitting on it, with some old magazines scattered about on top. Adjacent to the living room, through an open doorway, there was a billards parlor with a large pool table and a rack for pool cues. Straight ahead, past the living room, was the entryway, a large staircase leading upstairs and a door just beyond that.

Gerard took in his surroundings slowly, hazel eyes scanning the expansive space. He could tell that this man was different from his old masters, could tell that this experience would be different, but how much so? Would he simply be punished less? Would he be given any free reign? Or was all this a front to lock him in another dirty basement and only pull him out for playtime?

Frank led him through the living room and up the stairs in the entryway, then down a hallway and to a door. "This," he pointed at the door, "is my room. If you want, I can label it so you know which one is mine. Knock before you come in, but feel free to knock whenever."

Gerard nodded.

He then turned to a room across the hall. "This one is my studio. I help people make music, so I may have guests over. If there are guests, don't knock on the door."

Gerard nodded again.

Then, Frank led Gerard to the door at the end of the hall, opening it. There was a plain bedroom behind the door- the bed had a green duvet, the cabinet was tall and slightly ornate, and the floor was carpeted. "This will be your room. It was the guest room, but we never have guests stay the night."

Gerard looked at him. "Frank?"

Frank looked at him with a smile. "Yeah?"

"Who… um… who was the lady?" Gerard asked. "And… why were you so mad with her?"

Frank's smile slowly faded and his eyes trailed to the floor for a moment. He took a deep breath before looking back at Gerard. "That was my wife. She… bought you, so I got mad and kicked her out."

Gerard cocked his head. "Why?"

Frank blinked. "Why… what?"

Gerard avoided eye contact, wringing his hands anxiously. "She bought me. This made you mad. Why?" His heart was racing, not used to being able to ask so many questions like this.

Frank frowned, reaching forward to gently clasp Gerard's shoulder. "Gerard, you're a person. You're not supposed to be bought and sold. You do realize that, right?"

Gerard shook his head. "N-No, I'm… I'm a vampire. I'm not like you."

Frank sighed. "Gerard…" He gently guided Gerard over to the bed, letting him sit down on it. He sat beside him, keeping about half a foot of distance between them. "To me, and to any normal person that looks at you, you're a person. Frankly, I really don't believe that you're a vampire. I think it's a lie they told you to make you think-"

"No," Gerard shook his head, letting it hang limply.

"No… What?" Frank asked gently.

"M-Mama was one, too." Gerard looked up at Frank with tears in his eyes. "She made sure we always had blood. She helped doctors, and they let her have blood for us."

Frank looked at him, searching him for any signs of lying. "And you're sure?"

Gerard nodded quickly and sniffled, his lip quivering as he tried to hold in his tears. He was never allowed to cry, especially not right in front of his Master.

Frank wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. "Alright, Gerard, I believe you. I'm sorry I doubted you."

Gerard shook and trembled in his arms, before fully breaking down and letting out loud, heart wrenching sobs. They wracked through his frail body like an earthquake through San Francisco, making him seem even more fragile. He reached out and clung to Frank, his instincts saying to grab on and never let go of this gracious, kind soul that was helping him.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's alright." Frank gently rubbed his back, holding him securely while he cried. "You're safe now. I won't let them get you again."

Safe?

Chapter Text

Gerard's sobs slowly wound down to no more than sniffles, his body trembling marginally less than before. Frank softly shushed him, still rubbing gentle circles into his back.

"Hey, look at me?" Frank requested softly. Once Gerard did as he was asked, Frank spoke again. "I promise with my whole heart, that as long as you're here, you're safe. No one can hurt you here."

Gerard nodded and, slowly, he was starting to believe Frank.

"Now," Frank pulled away, brushing Gerard's dirty hair from his eyes, "you are filthy. Let's get you all cleaned up. Okay?"

Again, Gerard just nodded.

Frank stood again and held his hand out to Gerard, who slowly took it and pulled himself up as well. The stockier man led Gerard to a door in the corner of the room, which opened to reveal a bathroom. Frank sat on the closed toilet and plugged up the tub, turning the faucet on and continually checking the temperature.

"Here," Frank said, "Put your hand in the water. Does it feel good?"

Gerard leaned down warily and put his hand under the running water. It was a little warm, but he could get used to it. He nodded gently. "S' fine."

"Can you handle your whole body feeling like that?" Frank asked, just in case.

Gerard's face scrunched up for a moment before he shook his head. "Too hot."

Frank nodded and turned up the cold water. "Better?"

Gerard felt the water again and nodded. "Better."

Frank hummed and looked over the soaps he had, grabbing a flowery bubble bath solution Jamia had once used regularly. He poured it into the bath until there was a thick layer of bubbles on the surface of the water. "Would you like to be alone when you undress?"

Gerard swallowed a lump in his throat. I need to be bare for this? He just shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Whatever you want, Frank."

Frank sighed and stood up, gently directing Gerard's face to make eye contact. "It's up to you. Would you feel safer with me or without me?"

Gerard's eyes went wide, searching Frank's for any sign of danger. "Um… W-Without?" He said softly, still terrified.

Frank nodded gently. "Alright. I'll step out for a second, so you can get undressed and get in the tub, but I'll be back in to help you get washed, alright?"

Gerard nodded along and wrung the end of his shirt between his hands, watching Frank step out of the room and shut the door. Gerard took a deep breath and looked around, reminding himself of what everything was. Toilet. Sink. Mirror.

Oh no, is that me? Gerard stared into the mirror, looking at his ratty hair, his sunken eyes, the way his clothes hung loosely off his frail body. He raised his bony hands to his face, pushed and pulled at the skin there. He tried to run a hand through his hair but caught on several knots in it. This pulled a soft whine from him, made him furrow his brows and frown. His eyes darted back down to his clothes.

Right. Need to be naked. He let out a breath and slowly pulled his shirt over his head, folding it neatly and setting it on the toilet seat. He did the same with his pants, stepping out of them carefully and folding them on the seat as well. He took another look in the mirror and frowned again, seeing how frail and thin he was. He was basically skin and bones, no meat on his body at all, not to mention all the scars over his skin. Ew. Why do my Masters ever play with me like this?

He looked at the tub full of water and took one breath, then another. He slowly approached it, then stepped in, carefully lowering himself into the tub until his bottom half was fully submerged. The warm water felt nice on his skin, especially since he was always cold.

There was a knock at the door before it cracked open slightly. "May I come back in?" Frank's voice came.

Gerard gulped. "Y-Yeah…"

The door opened again and Frank walked back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. "Oh, you didn't have to fold your clothes, thank you." Frank picked the clothes up and set them in the sink, then sat on the closed toilet again with a soft smile. "Is the water nice?"

Gerard nodded. "Warm," he said, trailing his arm through the bubbles. "M' always cold. Mama said it's cause we don't have enough blood to keep us warm."

Frank nodded and hummed softly. "I see." He paused. "I need to wash your hair. I'm gonna pour some water over your hair to get it wet, alright?" He grabbed a cup off of the side of the sink. "Go ahead and tilt your head back so I don't get it in your eyes."

Gerard nodded and tilted his head back. Frank slipped off the toilet to kneel beside the tub and filled the cup with water, then, with a hand at the top of Gerard's forehead to block the water, poured it over his hair. He repeated the process a couple more times, making sure all of Gerard's hair was wet.

Then he grabbed a brush off of the sink, brushing a lock of hair from Gerard's face. "Gonna brush your hair a bit now, alright? It might hurt, but that's only because it hasn't been taken care of. This should be the only time I ever hurt you."

Gerard gulped and closed his eyes. Frank started at the ends of his hair, going as gently as he could to minimize the pain. The brush caught on a knot here and there, but Gerard seemed to take it like a champ. He didn't make a peep, just sitting there in the bath as still as a statue.

The brushing took a few minutes more than Frank was expecting since Gerard's hair was so full of knots and tangles. But, once he was done, he grabbed the shampoo from the shelf in the shower and squeezed a little into Gerard's hair before showing him the bottle.

"This is shampoo," Frank explained. "It's soap for your hair. While you're here, I want you to shower and wash your hair every day so you stay clean. I'll help you for about a week or so," Frank said as he started lathering Gerard's hair, "but if you want to do it on your own after that, just tell me and I'll let you do your own thing.

Gerard hummed. "Thank you, Frank," he said softly, thinking that doing things on his own like that was a privilege.

"Don't thank me, Gerard. You deserve to learn how to do things on your own." Frank rinsed his hands off under the faucet once he was done lathering, then grabbed the cup again. "Alright, time to rinse."

Frank repeated the motion of pouring water over Gerard's hair, taking a bit longer this time to get all the shampoo out. He hummed a tune softly, making Gerard turn his head and look up at him without saying anything, meaning Frank nearly poured water directly in his face.

"Hey, hey, woah, careful there, buddy," Frank chuckled. "Almost got you in the eyes."

Gerard cocked his head, looking at Frank quizzically. He wasn't sure what to say- was Frank… mad? He didn't seem like it, but Gerard still got the sense he did something wrong. "Sorry, Frank," he mumbled, looking back at the water.

"Woah, you're alright, I'm not upset or anything. I just don't wanna hurt you. Tilt your head back again?" Once Gerard resumed the position, Frank finished rinsing his hair out and smiled. "There, all done with your hair. Time to wash your body."

Gerard looked up at Frank with a fearful expression, otherwise silent.

"What's the look for?" Frank asked.

"Are you… gonna touch me?" Gerard asked in return, crossing his forearms over his lap like he was protecting something.

Frank frowned. That was not a good sign. "Not if you don't want me to, Gerard."

Gerard seemed to relax and nodded, looking back at the water.

Frank sighed gently, then grabbed some body wash and the pink loofah that hung on the handle of the faucet. "Here," Frank said as he squeezed some body wash onto the loofah. "Rub this soap all over your body, just not near your face."

Gerard took the loofah and nodded again, doing as he was told and beginning to scrub himself down. He was slow, careful, but still a bit clumsy with it. Frank tried not to stare, but the poor guy was covered in scars, there's no way they didn't hurt when he ran the loofah over them.

Well I could just… ask, I guess."Hey, Gerard?" Frank said.

"Hm?" Gerard snapped his head up to look at Frank with big eyes. "Yes, Frank?"

"Do… do your scars hurt?"

Gerard paused. Looked down at his body. Scars? He saw all the markings on him, his reminders. He shrugged, having heard that word only a handful of times, believe it or not. "I hurt when I rub this everywhere," Gerard said, hoping that answer satisfied him.

It did not. Frank sighed, pointing at a scar on his chest. "Those marks. Do they hurt?"

Gerard nodded. "Oh, yeah, yes, Frank. They hurt. But it's fine, they're s'posed to."

Frank frowned. "You shouldn't- ugh." He rubbed his face and sighed again. "Whatever. Would you like me to wash your back for you since you can't reach it?"

Gerard gulped. "Can… can I ask you to do some'm?"

"Sure, bud, anything." Frank nodded.

"Stay where I can see you when you do it." Gerard asked quietly, keeping his eyes trained on the water.

Frank nodded. "Of course. I'll just reach around to get it." He gently took the loofah back, squirted some more body wash on it, and reached around to scrub Gerard's back gently. It only took a few moments, and then he was done, setting the loofah aside.

"Alright," Frank said, "just gotta rinse you off and we're all done! I promise I'll leave you alone to go to bed," he chuckled a bit.

Gerard nodded and watched Frank grab the cup again, watched him pour water over where the soap was. Once Frank was done, he stood and stretched, hearing a pop in his back. "I'll be right back," he said. "I'm gonna get some pajamas for you. Just sit tight."

With that, Frank stood and left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Gerard sat in the water, staring at the dying bubble bath before him, watching as the bubbles popped and revealed more and more of his skin under the water. He crossed his arms over his crotch again like he was trying to hide something from Frank.

After a few minutes, Frank stepped back into the bathroom, carrying some folded clothes and a towel. "Alright, you mentioned being cold, so I got some fluffy pajamas for you. They should keep you nice and warm." He set them down on the toilet, then showed him the towel. "You can use this to wipe yourself off that way you're not trying to dress yourself while you're wet."

Gerard nodded and looked up at him. "Close your eyes…? Please?" He requested in a small voice, still getting used to having autonomy like this.

Frank nodded and closed his eyes, even turning away. "Sure thing, Gerard."

Gerard slowly stood up, then tried stepping out of the tub to grab the towel-

Slip!

His feet gave out from under him and he fell forward, right into Frank. Frank, feeling the impact, opened his eyes and helped steady him. Gerard, once he was back on his feet, pulled back quickly and used the towel to cover himself.

"I'm sorry!" Gerard said. "I'm sorry, Frank, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, hey, woah, you're alright," Frank said, hoping to calm him down. "It's okay. You just slipped, it happens. Just means I gotta get a rug for the bathroom."

Gerard sniffled- holy shit, he's almost in tears?- and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "You're not… mad? I touched you…"

Frank sighed. "No, I'm not mad. I'll never get mad over something stupid like that."

Gerard nodded gently. "Close your eyes again?"

Frank nodded as well and closed his eyes, even turning around so Gerard didn't have to worry. Gerard wiped himself down with the towel, making sure he was as dry as he could be before he grabbed the shirt and pulled it over his head. He did the same with the pants, pulling them up over his legs and gently sighing with relief. The set had long sleeves and long pants, something that comforted him greatly.

"Okay, all done," Gerard said softly.

Frank turned around and smiled. "Like it?" This earned a nod from Gerard. "Good. Now, it's time for bed."

Gerard followed Frank out, looking around the room curiously. He was a curious young man, always wanting to see and learn everything he could, even if he never remembered anything. He was too entranced to notice Frank pulling back the covers for him and waiting for him to get in.

"Gerard?" Frank asked, snapping Gerard from his daze.

"I'm sorry," Gerard mumbled, walking over and laying on the bed, pulling the covers up over himself. He rolled on his side and curled up, then looked up at Frank. "Thank you, Frank."

Frank smiled. "Sure thing, bud. I'm gonna go to bed now. Just come get me if you need me."

Gerard nodded as Frank walked towards the door. Frank turned the light out, making Gerard cling to his bedsheets tighter. "Goodnight, Gerard," Frank said.

"Goodnight, Frank."

Chapter Text

The room was dark. The floor was cold. Gerard had been down there who knows how long. He was curled up on the floor, using a dirtied newspaper as a blanket. It was cold, too, so it wasn't working very well. Gerard had been in the dark so long that his eyes had adjusted to the dark and could see that the room was plain, empty. There was a staircase leading up to a door, where the only light in the room peeked through underneath it.

Gerard woke as if in a trance, slowly sitting up and looking around the room. Four walls, a staircase, and a door. That's it. He stood, discarding the newspaper and walking towards the stairs. It was now that his brain registered the fact that he was fully naked, and he turned to go back for the newspaper, before deciding against it and continuing up the stairs.

He got to the second-to-last step when the door began rattling, then opened, blasting Gerard with bright light from the upstairs. He squinted his eyes, using his arm to try and shield them, when a voice came.

"The hell are you doin' up here, boy?! Get the fuck back down there!"

With that, Gerard was pushed. He fell backwards down the stairs, landing on his head. He laid there, feeling a warmth pooling around his head, and smelling the metallic stench of blood. He was dying, he realized, dying, dying, DYING-

Gerard bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. He looked around- he was in a comfy bed, in a warm, inviting room with the sun peeking through the blinds. The walls were forest green, as were the blankets on the bed. He felt a tightness in his chest, like someone was gripping him and wouldn't let go. He swallowed thickly, then remembered everything that had happened.

Frank. Need to find Frank.

He got out of bed and walked to the door, hesitating a moment. Opening a door had led to him getting killed in the dream, so opening this door scared him. He took a breath; there were no stairs to get pushed down, he'd be alright.

So, he slowly turned the handle and opened the door, stepping out and walking down the hall. He knocked on Frank's bedroom door, pressing his ear to it to listen for him. "Frank?" he called out, quieter than he really should, but he never let his voice raise. Not anymore.

He cracked open the door and, upon opening it, saw Frank was nowhere to be found. This made Gerard frown. Was he abandoned? Did Frank not want him? Gerard just shut the door and turned to go down the stairs. The house was bigger than just the upstairs hallway, Frank had to be around here somewhere.

He got to the first floor entryway, looking around. To his right, the living room and door to the garage where they had first met. To his left, a short corridor leading to another room. There was an amazing smell emanating from this direction, so Gerard went left down the corridor.

The corridor opened up into a kitchen and, lo and behold, there was Frank, sitting at the island with a mug in his left hand. In his right was this little black brick Gerard had seen before but never learned the name of, and Frank's thumb moved across the flat face of it insanely quick.

Frank, noticing movement in his peripherals, looked up and smiled when he saw Gerard. He set his mug down and finished whatever he was doing on the brick, then set that down, too.

"Gerard, you're awake," Frank said. "How did you sleep?"

Gerard shrugged. "Bad dream. Normal."

Frank frowned. "You had a nightmare? That sucks. What was it about?"

Gerard looked at him with big eyes. Frank wants to know? "Uh… Master pushed me. Down stairs. Hit my head. I…" he gulped. "I was dying."

Frank shook his head. "That's awful, bet it was scary as hell." He sipped from his mug and beckoned him over. "Come, sit. I'll make us breakfast."

Gerard nodded and walked over, sitting on one of the chairs at the island. He set his hands in his lap and looked around, examining the kitchen. The walls were a warm yellow, the cabinets a deep, earthy brown. The sun came in through red curtains covering the window over the sink. There was all manner of clutter on the counters- a toaster, an air fryer, a jug of flour, for instance. Gerard couldn't name anything, though; just observed the colors and shapes.

Frank had stood up and begun frying up some eggs and vegetarian bacon. The sizzling broke Gerard from his observation and, slowly, he slinked off his chair and over to the stove, peering over Frank's shoulder to see what the noise was.

Frank jumped a little when he sensed Gerard over his shoulder, chuckling. "I'm not gonna get used to you being taller than me," he said. "You have the attitude of someone much younger than me, you should be, like, this tall," he held a hand up around his waist for an example.

Gerard just shrugged. "Okay," he mumbled, not quite sure what to say to that. "What is that?" He asked, pointing at the pan.

"Eggs and bacon," Frank explained. "I'm a vegetarian, so I don't have any real bacon, just some plant-based fakes. But I promise, I'll go out today and buy you some meat so you have something to actually fill you."

Gerard nodded. "Smells good. Why?"

Frank chuckled. "Why? I'm not sure. Food just smells good when you cook it."

Gerard hummed and stepped back, looking around the kitchen again. He looked at the fridge, saw a piece of paper stuck to it with writing on it. "What's this?"

Frank turned to see what Gerard was looking at. "What, my grocery list?"

"Gross-ree?" Gerard mispronounced. "What's that?"

Frank looked at him. Blinked. Holy shit, it's like he's five. Must not have been that old when he got taken. "Like… stuff you get from the grocery store?"

Gerard nodded slowly then looked back at the paper. "What's it say?"

Frank turned back to the stove, muttering a soft 'hold on' before plating up the bacon and eggs for the two of them. He walked over to the fridge. "Looks like we need more eggs, milk, tofu, carrots, and… spinach!" He explained, looking at Gerard.

Gerard wasn't quite grasping it, just shrugged and looked at Frank.

"Did… did no one teach you how to read or write?" Frank asked.

Gerard had to hide how excited he got when he heard that. "I can write my name!" He said, eyes wide as they searched Frank's for approval.

Frank wasn't stupid, he could tell how excited Gerard was when he said that. So, in response, he smiled and nodded. "Yeah? That's- that's great! It's just- by now you should be writing a lot more than just your name, you know?"

Gerard frowned a little bit. "Should I? I'm sorry…"

Frank shook his head. "It's not your fault. Reading and writing is hard when you don't know how, and no one ever took the time to teach you."

"Mama did," Gerard said softly.

"Yeah, I'm sure she did, but that was a long time ago, wasn't it?" Frank said. Gerard nodded slowly and looked down.

Frank then remembered their breakfast. "C'mon, let's eat." Frank ushered him to the table and set the two plates of food down, sitting beside Gerard.

Gerard looked at the food and the silverware in front of him. He tried to pick up the eggs but noticed immediately how fragile they were and stopped, opting to grab the bacon and tear into it. The flavor exploded in his mouth- it had been over a decade since he'd had food that wasn't half rotting or spoiled, so this was a major upgrade. He looked at Frank with big eyes. "This is good, Frank," he said with a full mouth.

Frank chuckled. "You think so? Thanks. I don't cook much, but I can make a great breakfast."

Gerard nodded and ate his bacon quietly. It was at this point that Frank had noticed that, the whole time Gerard had been here, he had not once cracked a smile. Of course, he hadn't been expecting him to- the situation he was in for most of his life was grave, surely nothing but suffering, but he was basically a kid, and Frank wanted to see the kid in him smile.

"So, were you always… like this?" Frank asked. "A human pet?" He needed to know as many details as he could.

Gerard shook his head. "Took me when I was five," he said. "My brother too."

Frank looked at him. "You have a brother?"

Gerard nodded. "Mikey. He was three."

Frank frowned. "God, those people are sick." He sighed and ate a piece of his egg. "I'm so sorry you went through that, Gerard. I'll make sure you have a good life here."

Gerard looked at him with big eyes. "Being here is… good. Frank doesn't touch me. Don't get punished for doing things wrong. It's… it's good." Gerard nodded softly.

Frank smiled. "Good, I'm glad you like it here. Now, go ahead and finish your eggs. Do you know how to use the fork?" He pointed at it.

Gerard looked down at the fork and picked it up, clumsily gripping it in his hand. He jabbed at the egg, frowning at the scraping noise the fork made when it punctured through and scratched the plate. He picked up a piece, lifted it to his mouth, and ate it off the fork, all in a childish manner. It's like he knew how to do all this lifetimes ago, but that knowledge was lost to time.

"Good job!" Frank encouraged. "Go ahead and keep eating, I'm gonna go call a friend really quickly."

Gerard nodded and watched Frank stand and walk just outside of the kitchen, lingering in the doorway. He pulled the brick back out and pressed on it a few times, then held it up to his ear. Gerard ate his eggs and watched him closely, infinitely curious as to what the brick was.

"Hey! Ray, I've got… I've got a favor to ask. I need some stuff… no, no, no one's hurt. Well, I mean…" Frank glanced back at Gerard then away again. "I just need some help. I need…" he sighed. "I need meat."

There was a pause.

"Yes. Meat. Something with… lots of blood in it. Yes, I know I'm a vegetarian. It's for… you'll see when you get here." He chuckled. "No, I'm not sacrificing anything. Just… trust me?"

Another pause.

"Thanks, Ray. I owe you one."

With that, Frank pulled the brick away from his ear and pressed something on it again, then pocketed it. He walked back into the kitchen and sighed when he saw how much of the eggs were still left on Gerard's plate, ignored in favor of watching Frank. "Not hungry?" He asked.

Gerard looked at the plate. "Not for this," he mumbled. "It's good though, very good. I'll finish, I promise." He began eating again trying to go quickly but just ending up fumbling more in the process.

Frank chuckled. "We can just put it in the microwave for later if you don't want it all now. I've got a friend coming over with some nice meat for you, that way you get the blood you need."

Gerard nodded and picked up the plate with two hands, holding it out to Frank. "For later, please."

Frank took the plate and walked over to the microwave, opening it and setting the plate inside. He waved Gerard over and, once he was standing and stood next to Frank, began explaining, "this is the microwave. It heats things up, but not very well. There's certain things made for it specifically, but I wouldn't use it without me around." He put his hand on the edge of the stove. "This is the stove. Do. Not. Touch it. You act too much like a kid to be trusted with it. This isn't because I don't like you or anything, it's just for your safety."

Gerard nodded along quietly, trying ot absorb everything. He was glad he had some restrictions- being given so much free reign kind of scared him.

"Now," Frank said, "come with me and I'll put on a show in the living room for you." He began walking out of the kitchen, through the corridor, across the entryway and into the living room. He gestured towards the couch for Gerard to sit- which Gerard did- and grabbed another black brick with all sorts of buttons on it. He aimed it at the television on the wall and pressed a button, making it come to life.

Gerard had seen televisions before. Didn't know what they were called, but knew that pictures and scenes could be displayed on them. So he wasn't all that surprised by that. What surprised him, though, was the scene that began playing when it was turned on. It was a scene of some horribly deformed man with long nails slashing his own fingers off, resulting in blood spurting from the nubs.

Gerard froze, wide eyed and terrified of the scene before him. Frank was quick to change the channel to the news, even pausing it just in case there was something unsavory going on. Frank walked over to Gerard and sat with him, looking at him carefully.

"Hey," Frank started, "Gerard, you're okay, it's not real. Just some special effects, no one actually got hurt."

Gerard just turned and looked at him, tears welling in his eyes. "N-Not real?"

Frank shook his head and put an arm around him. "Not at all. Just some actors and fake blood. Here, let's find something else to watch." He faced the television, holding Gerard close and flicking through the channels. He found a channel playing an episode of Bluey and stuck there, rubbing Gerard's back gently. "There, ever seen Bluey?"

Gerard shook his head as he looked at the screen, playing with the ends of his sleeves. "Bright," he mumbled, enjoying the happy voices and smiling faces.

"I know, it is, isn't it?" Frank chuckled.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

Chapter Text

Gerard's head whipped towards the sound coming from the door and whimpered, looking back at Frank. "What's that noise?" He asked.

"Probably just my friend Ray," Frank said, standing up. "Stay put here, I'll get it." He walked over to the door, peeking through the peephole to confirm it was, in fact, Ray before opening the door. "Ray! Thanks for getting all that on such short notice, you're the best," he said as Ray stepped inside.

Ray looked around warily, wanting to make sure everything was alright, when his eyes landed on the one key difference. On the couch in the living room, there was a young man with his head turned towards him, staring him down with big, seemingly scared eyes. Ray furrowed his brows in concern and turned towards Frank again, handing off the bags of meat he was carrying.

"Who the hell is that, Frank? Where's Jamia?" Ray asked, clearly worried for his friend. Frank, the one who had refused to even look at a steak since middle school, was suddenly asking for meat and had a strange man in his house. Something was amiss.

Frank sighed and pulled Ray along the corridor into the kitchen. "Okay, the past twenty-four hours have been kind of insane, but you gotta trust me, alright?"

Ray nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Okay," Frank lowered his voice, "Jamia says she has a surprise for me for my birthday, right? We go out to the garage, and there's these men with this crate covered in a blanket. She hands them a fucking grand in cash and they leave. She lifts up the blanket and…" he pauses, looking away and running a hand through his hair. "It's a cage, and that guy is sitting inside. So, naturally I tell her to get the fuck out and… I've been taking care of him since. Got him cleaned up and everything. Only issue is that he claims to be a fucking vampire, and is insisting that he needs blood. He says that animal blood works, so I needed some meat." He exhaled and looked at Ray.

Ray looked at him skeptically. "Okay, so I totally wouldn't believe you if the guy wasn't sitting out there watching fucking Bluey, you know that, right?"

Frank nodded. "He said he was taken around five, and he acts very childish, so yeah, I put on Bluey for him."

"Taken?" Ray said. "You think he was trafficked?"

"Did you miss the 'he was dropped off in a crate and fucking paid for' part of all this?" Frank asked.

Ray looked like he was about to say something when he looked over Frank's shoulder and saw the young man again, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Ray gestured towards him, making Frank flip around and look at Gerard.

"Gerard, hey, buddy, what's up?" Frank asked, stepping towards him.

"Frank was gone," Gerard muttered. "Didn't like it."

Frank sighed. "Gerard…" he said softly, then recomposed himself and gestured towards Ray. "Gerard, this is my friend Ray. Ray, this is Gerard."

Ray and Gerard waved awkwardly at each other. Gerard sort of stepped behind Frank, seeming like he was scared of Ray. Ray couldn't blame him, either- he was tall and built pretty sturdy, so he appeared to be a force to be reckoned with.

Frank turned to Gerard. "Now, Gerard, Ray isn't gonna hurt you. He's a friend. Look, he brought you meat!"

Gerard looked at the bags of meat on the counter and nodded, looking at Frank. "Can I have some, Frank? Please?"

Frank nodded. "Of course, you need it, don't you?"

Gerard nodded and walked over to the bags, clumsily tearing open the packaging to get at the meat inside. He shuddered and sniffled, then raised a piece to his mouth and bit into it, sucking as hard as he could to get the blood from it.

Ray and Frank watched warily, both skeptical of how truthful Gerard had been. They watched as he sucked a piece of meat dry, shocked at the change in the state of the meat. It went from bright red to gray in moments, then Gerard pulled it from his mouth and set it back on the counter. He used his sleeve to wipe his mouth then turned to look at Frank-

Holy shit, is he crying again? Gerard sniffled, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you, Frank." He turned to Ray. "Thank you, Ray."

Ray just nodded, while Frank stepped forward and laid a hand on Gerard's shoulder. "Why don't you go back out and watch some more TV? I've gotta talk to Ray, then I'll be right out, I promise."

Gerard nodded and turned to go back out, glancing back a few times before disappearing around the corner to the living room.

"What the fuck was that?!" Ray whisper-yelled, looking at Frank frantically. "You're letting that thing get attached to you and it can suck you dry!"

Frank glared at Ray. "He's just as conscious as you and me, he still deserves to be cared for. He's basically been a slave most of his life, and I'm trying to give him a better one. If you don't want to help, then you can leave."

Ray looked between the empty space where Gerard had been and Frank. "What happens when he gets his strength back and tries to kill you?"

"One, he doesn't have any strength to get back. Two, then I'll die knowing I was a kind man that didn't turn away someone that might need my help." Frank crossed his arms. "Besides, he already likes me, I don't think he's gonna kill me. Not on purpose, at least."

Ray sighed and looked away, then back at Frank once again. "You're not budging on this, are you?"

"Nope."

Ray shook his head and chuckled. "You're crazy, Iero."

Frank shrugged and smiled. "I know. Now, do you wanna stay and watch Bluey with us?"

Chapter Text

It had been about a week since Gerard had made his way into Frank's life. Slowly, Frank was showing him things around the house- the closet with the towels under the stairs, where all the bathrooms were, what not to touch.

Between all this, in hushed, hidden calls, divorce proceedings were happening. Frank was not going to continue to be married to a woman that thought it alright to buy and sell whole people. His lawyer was taking care of everything, making it easy to care for Gerard, but they had to meet in person for something soon, which meant either he had to leave Gerard alone or he had to have Ray babysit.

It felt weird to say that he needed a babysitter for someone that was actually taller than him, but Frank could find no other word for it. He needed Ray to babysit. Like hell was he leaving Gerard all on his own- not this soon, at least.

The morning of the day he had to meet with his lawyer came, exactly one week after Gerard came into his life. Frank, like usual, was in the kitchen before Gerard. Behind him, on the fridge, there were drawings hung by magnets, all drawings Gerard had made. He had a plate of toast in front of him and was munching on one his hand. Gerard wandered into the kitchen, in yet another set of pajamas given to him by Frank.

Frank looked up from his toast and hummed. "Hey, Gee," he said. He'd started calling Gerard that after a few days, having had to explain the concept of a nickname to Gerard. "I've gotta go out today, but Ray's gonna be by to keep an eye on you so you're not alone. Alright?"

Gerard frowned when Frank said that. "Oh… Okay. Does Ray like Bluey?" Gerard had gotten rather attached to the show after Frank had shown it to him, enjoying the light colors and simple storylines.

"Mhm. He watched it with us last week, didn't he?" Frank said, taking another bite of his toast.

Gerard shrugged. "Doing things doesn't mean you like it," he said. "I gots' to have blood, but I don't like it."

Frank looked up at him. "Oh, yeah?"

Gerard shook his head and scrunched his face up. "Tastes like licking the ground."

Frank chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure. Do you want something to eat before I leave?"

Gerard shrugged. "Dunno. Should I eat?"

"Yes, probably. You haven't eaten since dinner last night." Frank stood and checked the fridge. "Here," he pulled out some peach-flavored yogurt. "Go ahead and grab a spoon from the drawer and you can have this."

Gerard walked to the cabinets and opened a couple drawers before finding a spoon- which was a major improvement. The first time Frank had told him to do that, he opened one drawer, didn't find it, then needed permission to open another drawer. It's like he needed permission to do anything.

Frank handed him the yogurt and ruffled his hair when there was a knock at the door. The shorter man headed down the corridor to get it with Gerard tagging along behind, struggling to open the yogurt container. Frank opened the door and greeted Ray, who was carrying a guitar case. Gerard had lagged behind at some point, standing a few feet away trying to open the yogurt still.

Frank glanced over at Gerard and chuckled, walking over and opening it for him. "There, you go, Gee."

Gerard looked at him. "Thank you, Frank." He then turned to Ray. "Hello, Ray."

Ray gave him a small wave and a nod. "Hey, man. Having a good morning?"

Gerard shrugged. "Frank's leaving."

"Yeah," Ray said, "but not forever. He's coming back."

Gerard looked back at Frank. "You are?"

Frank looked at Gerard with furrowed brows. "You think I'd abandon you that easy? Hell no, you're a part of my life now."

Gerard hummed and ate a spoonful of yogurt, then looked at the case in Ray's hand. "Wha's that?" He asked with a full mouth.

Ray looked down at his guitar case. "Oh, it's my guitar!" He smiled, clearly glad Gerard seemed to be warming up to him. "Do you know what a guitar is?"

Gerard shook his head, "mm-mm."

"I'll show you later."

Frank checked his watch and grimaced. "Alright, I'll be back in a few hours. Gerard, your markers and paper are in the living room if you want to draw. Remember, no drawing on anything but the paper. Ray, make sure he cleans up after himself if he makes a mess. I'll see you guys later." He stepped out of the house and waved at the two, both of them waving back. Ray shut the door and waved for Gerard to follow him to the living room.

"Alright, little dude, you want to watch some Bluey or are you more interested in my guitar?" Ray asked, setting his guitar case on one of the chairs perpendicular to the couch.

"Gee-tar, please." Gerard asked politely, sitting on the couch and looking up at Ray as he ate another spoonful of yogurt.

Ray nodded and chuckled a bit, his hair bouncing as he did so. He unbuckled his guitar case, pulling out the guitar and slinging the strap over his shoulders. "How much do you wanna know about it?"

Gerard shrugged. "Everything?"

Ray nodded. "Alright then. This," he pointed at the body, "is the body. It's hollow, which just means it's empty. Because it's hollow, it echoes sound and makes it louder. That'll happen with anything hollow, really. Like, look." Ray opened his mout and tapped the outside of it, making a noise. "That worked because my mouth was open and empty."

Gerard cocked his head and micmicked him, opening his mouth and tapping on it just like he did. His eyes lit up when he made a similar noise, and he looked at the guitar in amazement. "Do you hit it?"

"You can," Ray explained, "but that's not its primary use. Most of the noise comes from these strings." Ray plucked a few of the strings, making Gerard ever more amazed at the pretty sounds.

Gerard looked up at Ray. "I like the gee-tar, Ray."

Ray smiled at him. "Do you want me to play you a song?"

"Song is… music, right?" Gerard asked for clarification. He even hummed as an example.

Ray chuckled and nodded. "Songs are music, yes. It's pretty art that you can listen to." He sat in the chair and began strumming a tune, even incorporating some slapping against the body as Gerard had suggested. Gerard swayed a little bit, then slid off of the couch to kneel next to the coffee table. There were sheets of printer paper on top of it with some markers sitting beside, some things Frank had Ray pick up in hopes of getting Gerard to open up about his experiences through drawings.

Unfortunately, Frank had had no such luck. Every time he asked that Gerard draw something from his past, from his time as a human pet, the younger man insisted that 'drawings are for happy things, and those aren't happy things.'

Instead, Gerard set his yogurt to the side and picked up his pack of markers, plucking out the red marker and beginning to draw. He gripped the marker in his fist and pressed much harder than he really should be pressing against the paper, the marker making an odd scratching noise as he drew.

Ray watched him while he played a tune, bringing it to a close once he thought that Gerard wasn't playing attention. This, on the contrary, seemed to upset Gerard, who snapped his head up and frowned when the music stopped.

"No more?" He asked in a sad voice.

Ray chuckled. "Do you want more? You started drawing so I figured you didn't like it."

Gerard shook his head frantically. "I do! I do! Music is good!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get upset. I'll play more," Ray said, beginning to strum another tune on his guitar.

And that's how their day went. Gerard nibbled at his yogurt and drew a few pictures while Ray played his guitar. At some point, Ray told Gerard his hands were getting tired and suggested that they pivot to watching Bluey. Gerard had gotten tired of drawing at that point and agreed to watch Bluey instead. He crawled back onto the couch and pulled the blanket off of the back, bundling up in it while Ray turned the television on.

Frank walked in a little while later, looking over to the living room with a soft smile. The couch faced away from the door, but he could see Ray sitting on it, likely scrolling on his phone. He walked closer, about to say something when Ray saw him and shushed him, pointing at the other end of the couch.

There, passed out, was Gerard, curled up as tightly as he could be under the blanket. He had begun to stir when the door opened, but was still mostly asleep.

Frank smiled and sat in a chair perpendicular to the couch, turning off the television with the remote. It seemed like the noise was helping Gerard sleep, because once the sound was gone, he stirred again, rubbing at his eyes and whining softly.

"Hey, Gee," Ray said, putting his phone down. "You awake, buddy?"

Gerard made a noise and nodded a bit, blinking away the grogginess. The world came into focus, and he remembered the day he'd had. He saw the coffee table, all his drawings, Frank in the chair-

Frank was back!

Gerard sat up quickly, attempting to ignore the wave of dizziness that followed. "Frank, hello!"

Frank laughed a bit at the suddenness of the movement. "Hey, Gerard. How was your day with Ray?"

"Good," Gerard said. "Ray played his gee-tar and I draw-ed and we watched Bluey."

"Oh yeah?" Frank smiled. "Let's see what you drew."

Gerard nodded and stood, grabbing his drawings from the table and handing them off to Frank. One drawing was an attempt to draw Bluey, another Ray, and another Gerard with Frank. Frank flipped through them with a smile, looking at Gerard.

"These are great, Gee." Frank said. "Maybe one day you'll be a famous artist."

Gerard cocked his head. "Fame-us?"

Ray and Frank looked at each other, then back at Gerard. "Do you not know what famous means?" Ray asked.

Gerard looked at Ray and shook his head. "Should I? I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Gerard," Frank said. "Someone being famous means that they did something and got a lot of recognition for it, so now a lot of people know who they are."

Gerard nodded slowly, trying to wrap his mind around it.

Frank pulled his phone out and showed him a picture of The Rock. "See this guy? He's a famous actor. He plays in a lot of movies and stuff. Without that, no one would know who he is."

Gerard nodded again. "Okay, that… makes sense."

Frank slapped his knees and stood up. "On another note, I'm hungry. You guys want some dinner?"

Gerard looked up at Frank and nodded, and Ray stood as well. "I can help you cook if you want?" Ray asked.

Frank smiled. "Yeah, sure. Come on. Gerard, you too, I want you to at least watch us so you can get accustomed to the kitchen."

Gerard nodded and they all headed towards the kitchen. They ended up making vegan lasagna, and Gerard even helped assemble the ingredients in the pan. Gerard hadn't smiled yet, but he seemed like he was getting close, Frank thought, and Frank was determined to see it happen.

Chapter Text

"Gerard?"

"Hm?" Gerard hummed and picked his head up, looking over at Frank. Gerard was sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen and Frank was hanging up yet another one of Gerard's drawings on the fridge.

"Do you only know how to write your name?" Frank turned to look at him with a slightly cocked head.

Gerard nodded gently. "Forgot everything else," He said simply, taking another bite of the eggs in front of him.

Frank hummed. "Would you like to learn how to read and write? It'll help you out a lot."

Gerard looked at Frank. "It will?"

Frank nodded. "Yeah, I won't have to read you everything anymore. You'll be able to do it yourself." He sat at the island with Gerard. "Plus, most people learn how to read when they're, like, kids. So you missed out on it."

Gerard blinked and hummed. "I guess I did…" He looked down at his plate and played with his eggs a bit. "Do I need to read?"

Frank chuckled. "It'll make you more independent, that way you can live a normal life without me at some point."

Gerard frowned. "You're leaving me?"

Frank turned and looked at him. Shit. Should not have said that. "No, no, not for a long time, at least. I just figured at some point you would want to live on your own."

Gerard shook his head. "No. Not alone. Don't like alone."

Frank hummed and nodded. He wasn't going to push it any further, figuring that Gerard didn't particularly like talking about things like that. "Well… anyway, if you want me to teach you how to write, I guess we need to go buy some workbooks from the store, hm?"

Gerard cocked his head. "Store?" He said. "You leavin' again?"

Frank shook his head. "No, I was thinking…" he crossed his arms and leaned against the island, "you could come out with me?"

Gerard looked at him with wide eyes. "You want… me… outside?"

Frank chuckled. "Yeah? Why?"

Gerard shrugged. "Never got to go outside…" he looked down at the last of his breakfast, pushing his eggs around his plate.

Frank made an 'oh' face and slowly nodded. "That… makes sense." He stood up straight again and stretched. "I think I've got some shoes you can borrow. We'll get you some while we're out. I want you to start coming out with me more often, too."

Gerard nodded, seeing this as a huge privilege he was being awarded. He had only been here about a month and was already being given privileges only humans got! He scarfed down the last couple bites of his eggs and stood up, placing his dishes in the sink to be washed later. "Okay. I'll be good, I promise!"

Frank smiled and ruffled his hair, something he did more often now to encourage Gerard to not fear touch as much. "I know you will, buddy. You're always good. Now come on, I'll get you some shoes from my room."

They both headed upstairs to Frank's room where Frank pulled some old sneakers from his closet. He helped tie them for Gerard, figuring he either never learned how to tie a shoe or forgot. Gerard was in his usual long sleeved shirt and sweatpants, and his face wasn't as emaciated anymore since Frank was feeding him regularly. Gerard, to an outsider, would most likely just look like he was in recovery from an eating disorder. Frank was dressed in jeans and a band tee, one that showed off the tattoos on his arms.

Once Frank got Gerard's shoes on, he led him downstairs and out to the garage, opening up the garage door and unlocking his car. He opened the passenger side door and gestured for Gerard to get in, which he promptly did. Frank explained the seatbelt to him and had him buckle himself in that way Frank knew he understood, then shut his door and walked around to the drivers side to get in.

"Ready?" Frank asked as he buckled himself in.

Gerard nodded. "Yes, Frank."

With that, Frank backed out of the garage, pressing the button on the garage remote to shut the door behind him. He had a large enough drive way that he was able to turn around and drive straight on to the road, which took a while since his driveway was so long.

"And we're off," Frank said as he pulled onto the road. He turned on the radio, keeping it at a low volume, and put it on the alternative station. "Tell me if you don't like the music, alright? This is just what I like to listen to."

Gerard nodded and listened to the music, finding that, at this volume, he really didn't mind how aggressive it all sounded. He just looked out the window, looking at all the buildings and trees and people.

It took a little while for Frank to get them to the store, but they got there soon enough. Gerard looked out at the large blue and gray building, able to tell there was a word on it but not being able to read it. There was, however, a large yellow star-like shape, so that's what Gerard clung to for his memory.

"We're here," Frank said with a smile as he parked the car. "A little far from the doors, but that's fine. Go ahead and open your door, the handle's right there," he pointed as he unbuckled himself.

Gerard mimicked his actions and unbuckled himself as well, then opened his door slowly. He stepped out and squinted a little in the sun, not used to how bright it was. He had only been under artificial light since he was a small child, hence why he was so ungodly pale. He looked around as he got adjusted, eyes full of wonder and curiosity.

Frank walked over and took his hand. "Do not let go of my hand, alright?" He said to Gerard, looking up at him. "This is a big store, and I don't want you getting lost."

Gerard nodded and held onto Frank's hand as tight as he could, which wasn't exactly very tight. He followed a little bit behind Frank as the shorter man began leading him into the store.

"Some people drive like idiots," Frank began, "so when you're in a parking lot like this, you wanna stay out of the way of the cars." He looked around and pointed at a car slowly backing out of a space. "See how that one has its red lights on? That's how you know a car is about to move in a parking lot, so you can be ready to get out of their way."

Gerard nodded again, trying to absorb all the information. He looked around, not really paying attention to where he was going-

Yank! Frank pulled Gerard to the side and out of an older man's way. "Gerard, buddy, you gotta watch where you're going, okay?" Frank said in the nicest but firmest tone he could.

Gerard frowned. "Yes, Frank. Sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. I get it, it's a lot to take in. I just want you to be careful and not get hurt, okay?" Frank was growing a little worried about how Gerard would fare out in the real world, but tried to dismiss the thought. As long as he kept Gerard close, he thought, everything would be alright.

They entered the store together and the greeter looked at them with a blank expression. She was middle aged and had a blue vest on, her hands crossed over her chest. "Welcome to Walmart," she said in a horribly disinterested voice.

Gerard, innocent that he was, waved at her and stared a bit longer than he probably should have with those big doe eyes of his. Frank gave his hand another gentle yank and whispered to him, "Don't stare, people don't like that."

Gerard looked at him. "Stare?"

Frank nodded. "You know. When you look at someone too long."

Gerard hummed and nodded, making a mental note to keep his eyes moving to avoid doing this 'stare' thing that Frank had mentioned.

"Alright," Frank said after getting a cart. "You can hold onto the cart or my hand, whichever you want. We'll grab the shoes first, then we'll head to the crafts section for some workbooks, then, if you want, we can get some clothes for you since you've just been using mine this whole time."

Gerard nodded. "Shoes. Workbooks. Clothes." He repeated the list back to Frank, letting go of his hand and instead holding onto the cart. He followed along to the shoe section, silent as can be.

"Looks like my shoes fit you pretty good," Frank said, "so I'll just get you some sneakers in that size, but we'll still try them on. Sound good?"

Gerard nodded. "Okay, Frank."

Frank chuckled. "You are a man of few words, Gerard," he joked, looking through the shelves of shoeboxes and plucking one out to have Gerard try on. "Go ahead and sit on that bench," he said, pointing at a cushioned bench specifically for trying shoes on.

Gerard nodded and sat on the bench, watching as Frank helped him try the shoe on. It ended up fitting well, so Frank put it back in the box and set the box in the cart. He helped Gerard get his shoe back on, giving the man a smile.

"Alright, workbook time. Grab back onto the cart and let's go." Frank grabbed the handle of the cart while Gerard stood and held the edge of it, walking with Frank back to the craft aisles.

Frank hummed as he passed by each aisle. Clearance, fabric, loose paper, sketchbooks… Finally, he found the aisle with the coloring books and workbooks, picking a couple up. He even found one that was Bluey themed, tossing that one into the cart as well. Gerard just watched, then looked around at the other people on the store.

At the other end of the aisle was a woman with her child. Her hair was bright pink and blue, which caught Gerard's eye. He turned to Frank. "Frank?"

Frank hummed and looked at Gerard. "What's up, bud?"

Gerard pointed at the woman. "Why's her hair like that?"

Frank's face flushed and he gently guided Gerard's hand back down. "Hey, don't point. People don't like that. And do you mean the color?"

Gerard nodded, his hand returning to his side.

"She colored it like that, probably. Some people like having fun colored hair." Frank explained with a shrug, going to turn the cart around to exit the aisle.

Gerard was quiet for a few moments, lost in thought. Finally, he piped up, "can I have hair like that?"

Frank chuckled and looked at him. "You want bright hair?"

Gerard shrugged. "Could be cool…"

Frank just smiled as he walked along. "Maybe further down the line we can dye your hair. Not right now though."

Gerard nodded. "Okay, Frank."

They were walking along and eventually passed the toy section. Gerard looked at everything with big eyes as they passed, accidentally slowing down.

Frank noticed Gerard slow down and stopped the cart, looking between Gerard and the toys. "See something you like?"

"Can… can I just look?" Gerard asked. "I won't ask for anything, I promise."

Frank shook his head. "No, we can get you a toy if you want. Let's look."

They wandered the toy aisles, mostly skipping over the baby toys. Gerard seemed uninterested in the Legos, shrugging a bit when Frank suggested a few different sets. They happened to walk down the doll aisle when one doll caught Gerard's eye.

She was pink and had long pink and black hair. Her ears were pointy and she had little fangs. Pretty, Gerard thought.

Frank saw it too and picked it up. "Hmm, 'Draculaura'. She's a vampire like you." He smiled at Gerard. "Do you want her?"

Gerard looked at Frank with big eyes. "She's like me?"

Frank chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, bud. You want her?"

Gerard nodded quickly, a flicker of a smile tugging at his lips. "Please?"

Frank absolutely beamed at that. Gerard hadn't smiled once since arriving, and even though it looked like he was fighting it, he still smiled a little bit! He placed the doll in the cart and ruffled Gerard's hair. "Sure thing, Gee. If it makes you happy, you're getting it."

Gerard tried to contain his excitement, his free hand shaking a bit back and forth. "Thank you, Frank. That's very kind of you."

"No problem, buddy. Let's go get you your own clothes now, yeah?" He turned the cart around and walked towards the clothing section.

They wandered the men's half of the clothing section, passing by jeans and flannels and t-shirts. Frank suggested he try on some jeans, but after just touching the fabric, Gerard physically recoiled and scrunched his face up, so that was a no-go.

Gerard didn't mind the flannel- "Feels like it'll keep me warm," he said. "May I have one?" In response, Frank smiled and placed one in the cart, guessing Gerard's size and going one size up from that. The scars on Gerard's body still ached from time to time, so Frank didn't want to irritate them more with form-fitting clothes.

They were looking at the t-shirts next and had just put a shirt with a cat on it in tha cart- Gerard once was owned by a man with a cat, and the cat was the only thing in that house that was nice to him- when something caught Gerard's eye. The t-shirt section was right against the start of the women's section, and there, there was a dress. It was long and formless, a shade of blue that Gerard liked with pink flowers all over it. He looked at Frank with curious eyes, then back at the dress.

Frank had been thumbing through some other shirts, then looked up and saw Gerard eyeing the dress while wringing his hands. Frank, in this moment, had a choice to make. Either he could shut that down and force Gerard into a box, or he could let Gerard wear whatever he wanted and risk Gerard being ridiculed if he ever wanted to wear it in public.

With a soft exhale through his nose, he smiled and stepped over to Gerard. "You can ask for things you want, buddy. You don't have to just stare at it."

Gerard looked at him with big eyes. "Can… Can I?" He looked back at the dress.

Frank nodded. "Of course. But, just so you know, some people get mad when boys wear dresses. If you ever wear that out, you need to be with me. Alright?"

Gerard nodded a bit. "You'll keep me safe, right?"

Frank smiled. "Well duh. I won't let anyone hurt you, Gee." He patted Gerard on the back carefully, watching Gerard slowly nod again and go to pick up a dress off the hanger.

"Let me see real quick," Frank cut in, grabbing a larger sized dress and holding it up to Gerard. He looked at the comparison between Gerard's body then tested the stretching of the fabric. He hummed and picked up a bigger size instead. "Women's clothes run smaller than men's, so a bigger size is always a safe bet, even though you're still pretty thin."

Gerard hummed. "Why?"

Frank shrugged. "That is a very long explanation that you don't need to worry about. Short answer is that the people in charge are jerks and have stupid views of women." He set the dress in the cart. "Let's get you some pants too. Or a skirt or two, if you want."

Gerard nodded and looked through the racks, his hand running across a pair of satin pants. Frank helped him pick out the right size and put one pair in the cart.

By the end of their shopping trip, they were walking out the doors with some workbooks, a pair of shoes, a doll, some shirts, a dress, a couple pairs of pants, and one long skirt that Gerard seemed to really like. Gerard held onto the cart and looked around while Frank loaded everything into the car, accidentally locking eyes with an older couple and waving at them in response. The woman smiled politely and waved back, whereas the man just looked at him confusedly.

Frank shut the trunk and had Gerard follow him to put the cart away. "We always have to put the cart away," he explained, "because people could hit the carts otherwise." Gerard just nodded and, once the cart was put where it belonged, took Frank's hand and followed him back to the car.

Once they were in the car, Frank looked over at Gerard with a smile. "So, how was your first trip to the store?"

Gerard hummed in thought. "It was good." He looked back at Frank. "Lots of people. Very bright. Liked it. The air outside is… different."

Frank chuckled. "That's called 'fresh air', Gerard. Air inside buildings is more stagnant, but outside, the air can move around more."

"Oh. Okay." Gerard nodded and looked out the window as Frank began the drive home.

The drive home was mostly uneventful. Gerard swayed a little to the music and watched the scenery out the window, watching all the commercial buildings turn to residential homes and apartments as they drove along. Frank slowed when they got to his house, but stopped before turning into the driveway.

There was a large black box truck in the driveway, parked close to the house, and there were a couple people wandering the property. Frank frowned and gripped the wheel tightly.

"I don't know anyone with a box truck," Frank said to Gerard. He took a breath. "You know what? We haven't seen Ray in a couple days. Let's go over to his place."

Gerard swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded, playing with the ends of his sleeves.

It's them, Gerard thought.

Chapter Text

Frank parked his car and, looking around warily, ushered Gerard out and up to Ray's door. He kept an arm firmly around him, eyes still darting around as he knocked on the door.

"You're holding kinda tight," Gerard mumbled nervously.

Frank loosened his grip. "Sorry, I just… I'm sorry, Gerard."

The door finally opened to reveal Ray in nothing but a pair of plaid pajama pants. He was holding a steaming mug that Frank could only assume was coffee. "Frank? Gerard? What are you guys doing here?"

"Can we come in?" Frank asked quickly. "Please?"

Ray nodded and stepped aside. "Uh, sure," he said as Frank rushed Gerard in. He shut the door and locked it, furrowing his brows. "What's this about?"

Frank finally let go of Gerard and looked at Ray. "I think Jamia is trying to get Gerard back."

Ray frowned. "Oh, shit. How do you know?"

"We went out shopping today, and when we got back, there was a big box truck in the driveway and some dudes scoping the place out. I don't know if they did anything to the house or what, but I wasn't about to confront them with Gerard with me."

Ray nodded. "Smart. They'd probably just take him then and there." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Do… do you think hiring security might be a good idea? Cause if they're trying to get him back, then they probably aren't going to stop."

Frank sighed. "I was thinking the same thing. I was just worried that having more people in the house would freak him out."

Gerard shook his head and piped up, "I was around so many people today and I was okay!" He stepped closer to be included in the conversation. "No one even knew I wasn't like them!"

Ray chuckled and ruffled his hair. "That's great, Gee. But we're talking about big guys that just hover around to keep you safe. Would you be okay with that?"

Gerard nodded. "Frank said he's gonna keep me safe. If he needs help, that's okay."

Frank just smiled at his innocence. "Well, if you're alright with it, then I'll start making some calls to get some security at home."

Frank and Gerard had to stay at Ray's place for a little less than a week before they could go back home. As it turns out, the two men scurrying around Frank's property were setting up hidden cameras everywhere and it took a good couple days for the security Frank hired to find all the cameras and dispose of them. Finally, though, they were able to go back home.

Upon walking into the entryway, the first thing Gerard noticed was expected- there was a person dressed in all black stationed in each room of the house, even if the rooms were connected like the living room and billiards parlor.

Gerard walked up to one of them, eyes big as he waved at the man. "Hello," he said. "I'm Gerard."

Frank chuckled and took Gerard's hand, pulling him back. "Don't distract him, Gee. He knows who you are already."

Gerard looked at Frank and cocked his head. "He does?"

"Yeah," Frank explained, "they all do. They need to so they know who to protect. And you need to leave them alone so they don't get distracted and miss something."

Gerard nodded slowly and looked back at the man in black. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll leave you alone, I promise."

Frank just shook his head and sighed. He was holding all the bags of stuff they'd gotten from the store, setting them down in the living room to sort through it all. He tore all the tags off of the clothes and folded them into a pile, then waved Gerard over. "Here, Gee, why don't you go put these in your dresser upstairs?"

Gerard nodded and took the stack of clothes, heading upstairs to put it all away. Frank was left mostly alone in the living room, just him and the security guard. He set the workbooks on the coffee table next to all of Gerard's coloring supplies, then took the doll and the shoes and began heading upstairs with them to hand them off to Gerard.

He was stopped at the top of the stairs, however, when he heard the door to Gerard's room click open. He looked down the hall and chuckled as Gerard came running down the hallway in his new long skirt and flannel, coming to a screeching halt in front of Frank and holding his arms out.

"Look, Frank! I'm in my clothes!" Gerard's eyes were bright and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, forcing itself there no matter how hard Gerard tried to force it down.

"I see that," Frank said with a smile. "And you got dressed all by yourself, good job!"

Gerard nodded and looked down at his clothes. "It was a little hard, but I got it. And look!" He stepped back and spun around, his skirt billowing out as he did so.

"Wow," Frank said. "That's pretty, isn't it?"

Gerard planted his feet and swayed a little bit from dizziness, nodding gently. "Makes me… makes me feel pretty." Gerard toyed with the end of his shirt. "I like it. A lot."

Frank stepped forward and ruffled his hair. "I think you've always been pretty, but if this makes you feel that way, then we should get you more pretty clothes."

Gerard looked at him with big eyes. "More?"

Frank nodded. "You only have enough clothes for maybe five outfits right now. Most people have more clothes than that."

Gerard hummed. "Oh. Okay. Does that mean we get to go shopping again?"

Frank nodded. "We'll have to bring one of the security guards with us, but yes, that means we can go shopping again."

Gerard clapped and lurched forward like he was going to hug Frank, but stopped in his tracks and re oiled his arms. "You're holding things," he said. "Forgot. I should… put those away, right?"

Frank chuckled. "Yeah, that would be a good idea." He handed the stuff off to Gerard and, as the taller one turned to go to his room, he called, "you know, Christmas is coming soon. Maybe you'll get more dolls like that one."

Gerard gasped and turned around, eyes big and sparkling. "Is Santa coming? Santa hasn't come for me since- since-"

Oh, shit, he still believes in Santa. Fuck. Frank just nodded. "Yeah, yeah, Santa's coming for you, Gerard. He's got a lot of years to make up for."

That, that made Gerard smile. It was crooked, but it was wide and toothy and excited. He quickly put his things in his room and came back to Frank, bouncing on his toes. "Does this mean we can put up a tree? And we can make cookies and put out milk and everything?"

Frank nodded- they would have to go out and buy decorations since Jamia had been such a Scrooge that she always insiated they go without decorating for holidays. "Of course! Maybe if we get you writing soon enough, we can have you send a letter to Santa so he knows what to get you."

Well that little discussion sparked excitement and whimsy somewhere inside of Gerard, and it all reminded Frank of just how much the boy had missed out on. He took Gerard out to the store again just a couple days later with a guard trailing behind them, heading towards the seasonal section to pick out a tree. Gerard was wearing his blue floral dress with a gray sweater over it and sweatpants underneath to keep himself warm, spinning and prancing around when he had the room just to feel the fabric sway. His eyes were entranced with the lights on the pre-lit trees, and he pointed at one then looked at Frank.

"That one?" He asked. "The lights're pretty."

Frank hummed. "That would definitely make it easier to get it prelit. I'll grab it." He looked for the boxes with the same tree in them and hoisted one uo to put it in the cart. "Now, we need ornaments."

They wandered over a couple aisles to find the ornaments, and Gerard looked up and down the racks with big, bright eyes. "How many do we need, Frank?"

Frank hummed and looked at the packs of ornaments. "Maybe three packs? I'd go with four just in case. I'd rather have too many."

Gerard nodded and looked at all the colors. He avoided anything with boring colors like silver or- god forbid- beige. He picked up one rainbow pack with a couple pink ornaments that caught his eye, one blue and yellow pack, one with mostly red and gold, and another multicolored pack with lots of glitter. He dropped them all into the cart unceremoniously and looked at Frank. "We need a star, too, right?"

Frank nodded. "Yep. There's a few at the end of the aisle there," he pointed them out. "Go ahead and pick one out, any one you want."

Gerard looked where Frank piinted and hummed in thought. Most of the tree toppers were shiny and gold with weird little embellishments that he wasn't fond of. The one that caught his eye was a regular five-pointed star with multicolored panels on each point. There was a small picture at the corner of the packaging showing how it casted a rainbow of colors all fractured across a room. He picked it up and showed Frank excitedly.

Frank smiled. "Oh, that one's pretty, isn't it? Do you want it?"

Gerard nodded and set the star in the cart with all the other ornaments. The two continued picking up decorations and other knick-knacks, such as sparkling red tinsel, some reindeer to go on the mantle, and a wreath for the front door with a fake red cardinal on it. Frank had to tell Gerard to calm down a few separate times since Gerard kept bouncing on the balls of his feet out of excitement.

Checking out went smoothly- though an older man did keep giving Gerard the worst stink eye Frank had ever seen, but one look from the security guard following them was all it took for the man to back off and leave them alone. Ince they were in the car, Frank called Ray asking if he wanted to come over and help decorate with them. Thankfully, Ray was free and did in fact come over.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. Frank and Ray put up the tree while Gerard decorated the mantle with reindeer. Once the tree was set up, Frank helped Gerard decorate it, showing him how far to space everything out and how to properly secure the ornaments to the branches.

Finally, the tree was finished, and Gerard jumped excitedly as he looked at it. "This is so good! Thank you, Frank!" He immediately went in to hug the shorter man, taking both Frank and Ray by surprise. It took a moment for Gerard to process what he'd done before he jumped back, years of conditioning hitting him like a brick as he stared, wide eyed, at Frank. "Frank, I- I'm sorry, Frank, I'm so sorry-"

Frank just stepped closer and wrapped his arms round Gerard, laying his head on his shoulder. "Don't be sorry, Gerard. This is important to you. You can hug me if you want to."

Gerard, who had already had tears welling in his eyes before, broke out into a sob before he clung to Frank. Tears rolled down his cheeks, which he tried to wipe with one hand, but the attempt was futile as the tears just kept coming. He felt a hand on his back gently rubbing and looked over, seeing Ray giving him a gentle smile as he rubbed his back. This just made him sob harder and reach an arm out towards him, inviting him into the hug.

For a while the three stood there, Frank and Ray comforting the crying Gerard in the glow of the Christmas tree. Slowly but surely the cries wound down to sniffles and Gerard gently wriggled out of their grip, looking at them with red, puffy eyes.

"Thank you, so much," Gerard said hoarsely. "I don't know what I did to deserve all this."

Frank just smiled at him. "All you had to do was exist."

A couple short weeks passed, and finally the day came. Christmas eve. Frank had Ray over with them and the three had spent the day watching Christmas movies in the living room- Gerard's favorite seemed to have been A Muppet Christmas Carol. Towards the end of the day, Ray and Frank made cookies, with Gerard 'helping' (see, licking the spoon). Frank helped Gerard plate up a few cookies and a glass of milk and had him set them on the coffee table by the tree.

Then, Frank walked Gerard upstairs and ucked him into bed, making sure he was in comfortable pajamas. His Draculaura doll sat dutifully by on his dresser, as if standing guard. She wasn't the only one standing guard as there was also a security guard stationed by the window of Gerard's room.

"I wonder what Santa's gonna get me!" Gerard whispered to Frank excitedly, snuggling into his comforter.

Frank just smiled at him. "I don't know, Gee. You'll have to just wait and see." He ruffled his hair. "Get some sleep. Want the lamp on?"

Gerard nodded. "Please."

Frank turned the overhead light out after making sure the lamp on the side table was on, then headed to the door. "Goodnight, Gerard."

"Goodnight, Frank." Gerard said witht he smallest smile on his face, nestling into his blanket.

With that, Frank stepped out and shut the door, then, as quietly as he could, he headed back downstairs to see Ray in the living room with a stack of various toys and clothes on the couch.

"Brought everything in from the garage already," Ray said quietly as to not wake Gerard. "You sure you're not spoiling him?"

Frank shrugged and headed to the closet where he'd hidden the wrapping paper. "I feel like he kinda deserves a bit of spoiling, you know?" He brought a few rolls over to Ray along with a couple pairs of scissors and some tape. "Guy lives basically his whole life as a human pet, and finally gets one good Christmas, I'm making the most of it for him."

"That's fair, I guess." Ray picked up the first item- a Frankie Stein doll, one of many other Monster High dolls Frank had bought to be 'friends' with Gerard's Draculaura doll. "Are you ever gonna tell him?"

"Tell him what?" Frank opened up a roll of paper, one with Santa all over it, to wrap the doll.

"That Santa isn't real," Ray said like it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Frank sighed. "God, man, this is like having a kid, There's a reason I got a vasectomy, you know."

"What, you don't wanna take care of him anymore?" Ray cocked an eyebrow. "You seem awfully invested in him to notwant him."

"No, I do! That came out wrong, fuck." Frank rubbed his face. "Just… I never expected to have to deal with this, you know? I thought I could go my whole life without worrying about someone believing in the jolly old fat man. Just…" He sighed again and put his hands on his hips. "Gerard is, like, the best thing to have ever happened to me. He looks at the world with this… unwavering optimism, like everything has the potential for good. It's a fresh perspective."

Ray nodded solemnly. "Kids'll do that," he said with a soft smile.

"He just… I'm worried for him, you know?" Frank looked at Ray. "He's a five year old trapped in the body of what looks like either a teenager or young adult, how soon do you think he's gonna be ready to give up the idea of some guy that just goes around giving presents to people?"

"Yeah, that's… yeah. Poor guy…" Ray just shook his head.

"Let's not think about that, though. We need to get these presents wrapped." Frank laid out some paper and began cutting it when it happened.

Crash!

They both turned their heads immediately when they heard it. It was a window smashing- then, scuffling from upstairs. By the time Frank heard the gunshots, he was halfway upstairs, and byt the time he got to Gerard's bedroom, it was too late.

The window had been smashed. The security guard was dead on the floor, one shot to his head and another couple to his chest for good measure. And, of course, the bed was empty. The curtains billowed in the wind, silence filling the air.

Frank fell to his knees and just sobbed.

Chapter Text

Let it be known that Gerard was not dead.

He hadn't even drifted to sleep when the glass of his window was shattered, startling him into sitting up straight in bed. There, among the shards of glass, were two men in all black and ski masks. One man shoved a towel on Gerard's mouth to keep him quiet and wrangled him out the window while the other quickly shot the security guard before he could do anything of substance.

The cloth shoved into Gerard's mouth smelled funny, and, by the time they got to the ground, Gerard was out like a light.

Gerard came to in the dark. For a moment, he thought he'd gone blind until he began feeling around. The floor was cold metal, and all around him were metal bars keeping him caged. He felt tears well in his eyes and silently fall down his cheeks as the reality of what had happened set in- he was being taken back.

Surely Frank hadn't meant for this to happen… right? He'd done so much for Gerard, given him so much to hold onto. So many good memories. He wasn't even with Frank for two months and it was easily the best time of his life. He had been cared for, wanted, loved.

And now it was all gone.

The truck carrying him came to a halt and the back door slid open. There was a tarp covering the cage so Gerard couldn't see what was happening, but he could still hear everything. His cage was taken out of the truck and along a long path before he was finally set down.

"Fucking finally, Bert. You said you'd have him before Christmas!" It was a woman. She was clearly agitated, maybe even entitled.

"It's not Christmas yet, now is it? Sun hasnt even risen." A man, presumably the one who'd taken Gerard.

Christmas. Gerard was supposed to be home right now, asleep, waiting for Santa. He was supposed to get presents. He was so good!

Something about being with Frank changed something in him. It lit a fire that hadn't been there since he was first taken as a child. He furrowed his brows and banged on the walls of the cage, yelling, "let me out! Take me back to Frank!"

This clearly caught the two off guard, and there was a harsh bang on the cage. "Quiet, beast!" The man- Bert- said. "Who gave you the right to talk?"

"Me!" Gerard wasn't going to quit, not when he had somewhere to go back to, something to fight for. "I'm not a beast, I'm a person! You're just mean!"

The woman chuckled. "Playground insults get you nowhere, little beast." The tarp was flung off, and the woman, who Gerard now recognized to be the woman Frank had been with when he was first bought, glowered down at him. "That man really put some thoughts into your head, didn't he?"

Gerard glared at her. "Frank is my friend! He just wanted to help me!"

"You think he's your friend?" Jamia knelt down and looked at Gerard in his eyes. "You're nothing to him, you monster." She stood back up and smirked as an idea crossed her mind. "You know what? Bert," she looked over at the man, "this bitch needs to be broken back in. Why don't you take him inside and have some fun for a little bit?"

Gerard's eyes went wide. He knew where this was going.

Bert looked at Gerard with an evil grin. "I can do whatever I want to him?"

Jamia nodded. "As long as he's still usable afterwards, you have free reign."

Bert went into his jacket pocket and pulled out a leash and collar he had prepared. He knelt down and opened the cage, quickly hooking the collar on Gerard despite his protests and tugging him out by the leash. Gerard crawled out, grunting and glaring up at Bert. "I'm not gonna give up," he spat at the man.

Bert just smiled. "That's fine. I like a fighter."

Frank was just sobbing for a good ten minutes after he realized Gerard was gone. Ray had to kneel beside him and comfort him, holding him close in a gentle embrace. They both knew that whoever took Gerard wasn't going to be as kind as Frank had been, that Gerard was probably going to get hurt if he wasn't back in Frank's custody soon.

It toom a while for Frank to calm down, but finally, the cries dampened, and Ray was able to say to him, "we'll find him. We'll get him back. We… we have to. For his sake."

Frank nodded. "We have to," he echoed, slowly pulling away and standing up. "I know some people I can call about this."

Ray stood with him. "How the hell do you have a contact to call in this situation?"

"Listen, I used to run in some dangerous crowds, alright?" Frank said with a sigh, heading to his room and grabbing a burner phone from his bedside drawer and beginning to punch in a number as he walked back out to the hall. He held it up to his ear, other hand placed on his hip. "Hey, Tucker? I need a favor."

There was a pause. "I know, I know I never call. I'm sorry, just- listen. Something happened. Someone is going to get hurt if I don't do something. Just- you're on your way? Thank you, Tucker. Thank you."

Frank hung up the phone and tucked it into his pocket. "He'll be here within the hour."

"This close to Christmas?" Ray checked his watch. "It's not even midnight yet. Why's he even up?"

Frank shrugged and began heading downstairs. "I don't ask questions. I feel like they'd be better left unanswered."

Ray followed, heading straight to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. "I'm assuming we're gonna a be up for a while, yeah?"

Frank nodded. "I'm not gonna sleep until we have a solid plan to get Gerard back." He rubbed his face and leaned against the counter in the kitchen with a sigh. "He's probably so scared right now… I said I'd protect him, fuck…" He put his head in his hands. "He's probably gonna be so mad when he gets back."

Ray shook his head and laid a hand on Frank's back. "Hey, why would he be mad? You hired security for the whole damn house to protect him, it's not like you did nothing." He turned to put some coffee into the machine. "Besides, I don't think Gerard is capable of being mad. He's always so apologetic about everything, he'll probably try to make it out to be his fault out of anyone's."

Frank sighed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I guess…"

There was a tense silence for about ten minutes, the two drinking their coffee. Ray sat at the island while Frank paced the length of the kitchen, unable to rest because of all the anxieties and fears swirling in his brain.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Frank rushed to the entryway to let Tucker in. He was holding a large case and followed Frank to the kitchen where Ray was sitting. Frank set his mug down and leaned against the island with both hands.

"Tucker, this is Ray. He's been helping me in this." Frank gestured to Ray.

Tucker nodded in his direction as a hello. "And what exactly is 'this'?"

Frank exhaled. "So. Jamia decided a good birthday present for me would be a fucking vampire. Like, caged up like a fucking slave."

Tucker looked at him incredulously. "You're kidding me. Jamia bought a vampire?!"

Ray made a confused motion. "You're not asking why he thinks vampires exist?"

Tucker shook his head and looked at Ray. "Vampires are notoriously rare in human trafficking rings, they're like prized possessions for a lot of wealthy people. How much did she pay for him?"

"Like, a grand?" Frank shrugged.

"A grand?!" Tucker looked away then back at Frank. "That's nothing, some of those guys go for over ten thousand. She definitely knows people on the inside, this was premeditated."

"Premeditated?" Frank furrowed his brows.

"Frank, your wife has most likely been running in black market circles for the past few years at least. I don't think you really know her anymore."

Frank blinked, processing all the information. "Well I guess it's good I already started the divorce process."

Tucker nodded. "Good. She's not worth it if she's buying people."

"Well, anyway, she bought this guy. I kicked her out and took him in, and he's been living with me this whole time." Frank looked down at his mug of coffee. "He was so excited for Christmas…"

"Is that why there's a pile of toys in your living room?" Tucker cocked an eyebrow.

Frank nodded. "He never had the chance to actually be a kid, Tucker. I wanted to give that to him."

"And you will," Tucker said. "We'll get him back. Jamia is probably the one who took him, do you know where she's staying?"

Frank nodded. "She bought this vacation house a few years ago in New York, it's like an hour drive from here. Hold on, I'll get the address." He pulled his phone out and began typing on it.

"So what exactly do you do?" Ray asked Tucker. "Because Frank called you on a burner phone. It can't be very legal."

Tucker shook his head. "I've got my secrets. Let's just say I have connections to some very powerful people in the area."

Ray nodded. "Noted."

Frank held his phone out for Tucker to see. "This should be it."

Tucker looked at his phone and nodded. "Alright. I can get a team of men together by sunrise, what does this guy look like?"

"Uh, he's got this mousy brown hair, he's pretty frai- wait, why are you asking?" Frank furrowed his brows. "You don't think she has more than just Gerard, do you?"

"It's likely," Tucker said. "You said he answers to 'Gerard'?"

Frank nodded. "It was all he was able to write when he got here."

"Alright." Tucker set the case on the table and clicked the locks open, opening the case to reveal a set of walkie-talkies and some other various equipment. He flipped a screen up and clicked a button, the little computer booting up after a moment. He punched in some keys, the address, and some codes that only the men he was addressing would understand. "Do we think we'll be met with violence?"

"I would be prepared for it. Jamia's not a fighter, but she's always wanted bodyguards and all that shit to go to bat for her," Frank explained. "And whoever took Gerard shot our security guard multiple times, so we have to assume they're armed."

"So bulletproof vests would be a good idea," Tucker concluded, typing in more instructions then hitting the enter key. "Like I said, my team should converge there by sunrise. Is this a 'no man left alive' mission?"

"Well I'd prefer if no one died, but if you need to kill someone in defense, then I can't stop you," Frank said.

Tucker nodded and sent one more message to his men. "Alright. I recommend you try to get some sleep. We have a few hours until sunrise, and even then, there's never a full guarantee that the mission will go smoothly. It may even take a few days before we hear back from them. Missions like these are delicate things, we can't rush in."

Ray was at the end of the island rubbing his face and groaning, "Frank, what the hell have you gotten yourself into? If someone dies and they trace it back to you, you're going to jail. Then who's gonna take care of Gerard?"

Frank looked at him. "There will be no Gerard to take care of if we don't try to save him, Ray! What, you just want me to just let him go? No, no, I can't, he's- he's-…" Frank paused, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. "He's like a son to me. I can't let him get hurt again."

Ray just sighed as he looked back at Frank. "Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Chapter Text

That night with Bert was hell.

Without going into too much detail, Gerard had gotten used to how well Frank treated him. He forgot what real pain felt like. He forgot what it felt like to be belittled, to be abused, to be tainted. Bert didn't stop for hours. He just kept going, and going, and going. Gerard was shocked at the man's stamina.

Don't get it twisted- Gerard fought back. He thrashed and growled and clawed his way through the encounter, even baring his teeth a few times despite the fact that, one, his fangs had been filed down- and, two, he actually hated the idea of having to bite someone. But, no matter how hard he fought, Bert always won out over him since Gerard had so little muscle mass.

The dawn came, and Bert finally relented, throwing Gerard to the floor of the basement of the house. It was cold, and mostly barren, save for some shelving and a pile of dirty blankets on the floor. Gerard glared up at him from the floor, watching him ascend the stairs. He had been stripped of his clothes, now bare except for the collar around his neck.

Gerard scrambled to his feet and hurried after him, only to be pushed back by Bert. He tumbled down the stairs, thankfully not landing on his head like in that horrid dream he had. He just groaned and slowly sat up where he'd landed, looking up at Bert angrily. "Frank's gonna get me! And he won't be nice to you!"

Bert just laughed. "Sure thing. He'll come save a monster."

And with that, he left, leaving Gerard alone with a single window to let in the rising sun.

Gerard wasn't sure how long he was down there. He bundled himself in one of the dirty blankets and sat in the sun, shifting as it moved across the room during the day. It kept him warm and made him feel safe despite the fact that he was naked and in someone's basement in the dead of winter in the north. By the time anything of interest happened, the sunlight was waning, which made Gerard all the more cold.

He jolted when the door opened and Jamia descended the stairs, stumbling to his feet and glaring down at her once she was down the stairs. He clung to the blanket like a cloak, unwilling to let go for his own safety.

Jamia held the chain collar, looking at Gerard with a cocky smile. "You need to learn to behave. I got you for a steal because you were such a well behaved pet, what did Frank do to you?"

Gerard's glare never broke. "He told me I'm not a pet. And he's right. I'll never be your pet." He backed away from her, but she followed until he was backed against a wall.

Jamia just hummed. "Won't you now? Well. I think some persuading could do you some good." She snapped her fingers. "Bert!"

Bert sauntered down the stairs slowly, twirling an open switchblade in his fingers. That evil grin never seemed to leave his face- it unsettled Gerard, but at the same time, he couldn't imagine any other smile on the man's face, as if he was meant to play the villain.

Bert walked over and ripped the blanket from Gerard's weak grip, throwing it to the floor. "You don't need that," he said.

Gerard just glared at him. "I'm cold," he said simply. "Being bare doesn't help."

Slap!

Bert slapped him square across the face, making him recoil and tenderly reach up to his cheek in pain. "You need to learn not to talk back," Bert said.

While Gerard was distracted with the pain, Jamia swooped in and clipped the leash onto the collar so he couldn't run away. "He's right," she said to him. "You're our pet. You shouldn't be talking at all, let alone this much."

"This is why they're taken when they're young," Bert said to Jamia. "Older ones are so hard to break."

Jamia nodded and hummed, looking at Gerard with a smug smile. "He's a lovely Christmas present," she said. "Santa was sweet to me this year, weren't you?" She said to Bert.

Gerard looked at her with a sudden anger. "Santa would never!"

The two just looked at him for a moment, stunned at the sudden outburst.

Gerard took this as a sign to continue. "You're awful! You're mean! You don't deserve presents from Santa!"

Jamia blinked. She smiled- not anything comforting, no- it was the smile of a mean girl that never got over how popular she was i high school. "You… still belive in Santa?" She asked with a snicker.

"What do you mean?" Gerard asked, furrowing his brows. "You don't?"

Jamia scoffed. "No, I'm an adult. I know that Santa is just a made up fairytale parents use to keep their kids in line."

"But… But Frank- Frank said he was coming!" Gerard said, distraught. "He said that he had so many years to make up for!"

The other two looked at each other and just started laughing. It was loud, and taunting, and mean. They just laughed for a while while Gerard just stood there, wide eyes and confused as tears welled on his bottom lashes.

"Santa's not fucking real, you dumb fucking mutt!" Bert said to him. "God, this is the one downside of taking them young, they all end up stupid and childish for the rest of their lives."

Gerard sniffled and felt the tears rolled down his face. Jmia barked a laugh at the sight, just shaking her head. "God, he's pathetic, isn't he?"

"Mhm," Bert hummed, then looked back at Gerard- not to address him, but more as an object of conversation, a piece of meat. "Anyway, where do you want me to mark him?"

Jamia hummed, looking over Gerard. "Well, I don't want to kill him. He's of no use when he's dead, and I don't want to buy a new one. I only got that deal the one time, I'm not paying twenty grand for some pathetic pet." She walked around Gerard, looking him up and down. "And I assume marking on his ass would inhibit your activities?"

Bert nodded. "No one wants a scarred ass."

Jamia chewed on the inside of her mouth in thought then tapped Gerard's shoulder. "There. Plenty of bare skin, right in plain view. Everyone will see who he belongs to."

Bert nodded and lifted the knife, Gerard attempting to step back but being stopped by Jamia. She wound the leash around her wrist to get a better grip, then used her other hand to clamp down on Gerard's shoulder to hold him in place.

Gerard screamed. Jamia almost recoiled at how loud he screamed, but she remained, holding him in place while Bert cut into Gerard's shoulder. He wanted to move, to thrash, to fight, but he didn't want his wound to become any worse than it was going to be. He clenched his fists, his weak muscles flexing under Bert's knife.

Bert didn't take long. He was slow, methodical, but still efficient. He simply carved a 'J' into Gerard's shoulder, blood trickling down his arm, dripping off his fingers and onto the cold concrete floor. Bert wiped the blade off on his shirt then folded the blade back into the knife.

Gerard glared at him, tears rolling down his cheeks from the pain. "You're the monster," he said hoarsely. "Not me."

Bert barked out a laugh. "Says the bloodsucker." He took a finger and ran it through Gerard's blood, holding it up to his mouth. "Want some?"

Gerard scrunched his face up and shook his head, thrashing it back and forth. He pressed his lips together to keep himself from getting the blood in his mouth.

Bert didn't care. He smeared the blood on Gerard's lips, then wiped his hand on his shirt. "There. That's all the blood you're getting for the week."

Gerard just glared at him, wiping his mouth with the back of his clean hand. The sun had mostly set by now, so the only light in the basement came from the open door at the top of the stairs and the fading purple light of the twilight.

"Do you want to play with him again?" Jamia asked Bert, loosening the chain a bit and letting it hang. "All the guests are gone. You can make him really scream now."

Bert hummed. "Why not?" He took the leash from her.

Gerard backed away from Bert, swallowing a lump in his throat. "What, you're not bored of me yet?"

Bert snickered. "No, not yet. Maybe in a couple weeks."

Gerard just glared at him. He wanted to believe that Frank would come for him by then, that he wasn't going to be abandoned, but the fire in him was starting to die, especially after learning that Santa wasn't real. From an outsider's perspective it may seem absurd, but when the thought of something that gave him so much joy in his life of pain ad suffering might not being true crossed his mind, it… it almost broke him.

Bert just hummed and, when the door closed, smirked at Gerard, gripping the leash tighter. "Alright, bitch. Let's play."

Frank had gotten maybe a couple hours of sleep after Tucker had promised a rescue mission. He'd woken back up at about four and couldn't get back to sleep despite another hour of tossing and turning, deciding at that point to hoist himself out of bed to pace the house for a little while. Ray was sleeping on the couch under the blanket that Frank kept in the living room for when Gerard would fall asleep watching Bluey.

Frank eventually wandered to the living room and, for about ten minutes, stood in the doorway and stared at the pile of toys and clothes for Gerard. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks, his hands shaking and his knees growing weak. It was around ten in the morning at that point, and Frank could feel a hole open in his chest. Gerard was supposed to be there with him, tearing into those presents with that big, crooked smile on his face.

Gerard, to Frank, was good. Not in the sense that he was obedient- though he was obedient; what was likely over a decade of indentured servitude does that to a guy- but in the sense that his soul was good. His heart was good. He wanted nothing but the best for the people around him- Frank, Ray, passersby at the store, the security guards, anyone.

He would look at people with those big, sparkling eyes of his, wide and wanting and curious in a way that only Gerard could be. Frank had learned over his time taking care of him that that look in his eyes was his way of smiling at someone. It was like he could only smile with his eyes, could only give people that look and hope for the best.

Frank hadn't realized it, but at some point while he was lost in thought, he'd walked over to the coffee table piled high with toys and began wrapping them, solemn silence leaving and being replaced with the sounds of cutting and taping and the like.

By eleven, Ray was slowly coming back to consciousness, groaning and cracking his neck as he sat up on the couch. He blinked his eyes open and saw Frank criss-cross on the floor, taping the paper onto the last of the toys. He blinked a few times then sighed. "How long have you been up?"

Frank looked up at him with an utterly defeated expression. He looked to his side at the pile of wrapped presents then back at Ray with a shrug. "Three? Four?" He muttered. "Dunno. Couldn't sleep."

Ray sighed and picked up the blanket he'd been using, walking over to Frank and draping it over his shoulders. "Come on. Sit on the couch with me. We can watch a movie or something?" He offered, kneeling down to Frank's level.

Frank looked over at him with tears welling in his eyes. "But why?" He asked with a hoarse voice. "I failed him. I… I should have been there. I should have… I…" he looked down, his chest heaving as he sobbed and fell against Ray's chest.

Ray just wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his back gently. "Hey, no, this isn't your fault. I promise. You did your best, Frank."

Frank just sat there sobbing, body shaking as he clung to Ray. He babbled on- "I need to do something, I can't just stay here, we need to find him, we need to save him."

Ray just let him get it all out. He knew how much Gerard meant to Frank, knew that Frank loved him like a son at this point. They sat there on the floor for a good twenty minutes with Frank crying on and off, staining Ray's shirt with his salty tears. Both their legs were getting sore after a while, so Ray slowly guided Frank to the couch to sit up instead of half laying across him.

"I'm gonna make us some coffee, okay?" Ray said.

Frank just sniffled. "Alright…"

Ray nodded and walked to the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a couple mugs of coffee. He sat beside Frank and wrapped an arm around him after handing him his coffee, holding him securely. It was about now that realized that Frank had been focusing so hard on taking care of Gerard that he'd never had time to take care of himself.

"He should be home by now," Frank said hoarsely. "Tucker said they'd be at the house by dawn. What the hell happened?"

"He said operations like this could take days, remember?" Ray said. "Unfortunately, we… we need to be patient."

"But- but every second that goes by is another second that poor boy is being tortured, Ray," he looked at Ray with teary eyes. "He's probably so scared, they probably already-"

"Frank." Ray spoke sternly. "You can't keep going like this. It's barely been twelve hours. All we can do is wait."

Just then, the burner phone Frank had grabbed from his drawer earlier in the morning began to ring. Frank quickly answered it, sitting up straight so quickly he nearly spilled his coffee in the process. "Hey, hey, Tucker, what-" He paused, like he was cut off. He blinked. Swallowed hard. Hs eyes fell to the ground. "…Alright. No, yeah, I…" He paused again, this time considering his words. "I'll tell Ray. Thanks. Just… you're not gonna give up, right? We can't… we can't abandon him." Another pause. "Alright. Good. Thanks. I'm… sorry. Really."

Frank then hung up the phone and took a shaky breath. "Tucker's team got shot at before they even approached the home. One guy took a bullet to the head. They're… they gotta take a day to recuperate." He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "Fuck, man… God, if I was any good with a gun, I'd go in there and get him back my fucking self."

Ray just slowly nodded, looking off into the distance. "They'll… they'll get him back. You have to keep hoping."

"What if…" Frank swallowed. "What if they kill him?"

"They probably won't," Ray reassured. "Tucker said vampires are usually more expensive, so there's a good chance they'll keep him alive for cost purposes."

Frank nodded and sighed. "I just… I feel useless!" He said and turned to Ray. "I'm sitting here like a bump on a log drinking coffee while Gerard is- is-"

"Hey, Frank, breathe." Ray put a hand on his back. "We need to let the professionals handle this. All we can do while we wait is take care of ourselves and make sure we're ready for when he gets back."

There was a beat of silence. Frank nodded again. "Yeah… yeah, I guess."

"We'll be okay," Ray said. "Gerard included."