Ryan doesn't know what to expect when he opens the door to his house on a warm summer evening. He rarely get visitors, especially at this hour, and for all he knows it could've been a murderer. Regardless, he doesn't bother to check who it is through the peephole and just opens the door.

"Pete?" Ryan splutters, widening his eyes. He's nearly buck naked, only wearing his maroon colored boxers. Since he doesn't want his electric bills to increase, he just sleeps with the window open and barely any clothes on. He should've known better to answer the door with more clothes on.

"Hey Ryan," Pete scans the brunet up and down, smirking a bit. "So uh, how's it going?"

"Cut the shit and tell me why you're here," Ryan rolls his eyes. It's quite perplexing Pete would be the one to show up at his door. He hasn't seen him ever since he left The Sinners with Jon two or three years ago. Let's just say he wasn't very happy about his abrupt disappearance.

"Someone's angry," Pete scoffed.

"There's nothing stopping me from slamming the door in your face," Ryan rolls his eyes as shuffles behind the door.

"Ryan, I need your help," Pete steps into his house, preventing the door from shutting. His eyes roam around his living room, taking steady, deep breaths. "Do you have your phone on you?"

"No, it's upstairs," Ryan shakes his head. "Do you want me to get—"

"A shit ton of people got kidnapped," Pete blurts out, hands clenched into a fist and breath hitching. "Brendon, Mikey, Frank, William, Gabe, Spencer, Patrick, Andy, Z, Ashley, Melanie—"

Ryan nearly chokes at the sentence, "What the hell? Why don't you call the police?"

"The government fucking took them, that's why!" Pete shouts, rubbing his temples.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Ryan sneers. "As if I'm going to fall for that. Get the fuck out of my house, Pete."

"I'm serious!" Pete argues. "Haven't you noticed that the government is fucking brainwashing everyone!"

"Are you high? What do you mean the government is brainwashing—"

"I don't have much time to explain. Do you want to save everyone or not?" Pete interrupts, tugging at Ryan's arm.

"Can I at least put on some fucking clothes?"

"No, we have some clothes you can wear at the base. Now, come on," Pete's dragging Ryan down his driveway and shoving him into a black van with a shitty paint job. You see, Ryan's usually not the one to struggle, but he's kicking and screaming as if he was getting murdered. Pete's really trying to not knock him out.

"We're gonna get caught if he continues screaming," he's surprised to hear Gerard's voice. "Woah, is he in his underwear?"

Ryan's face heats up as he tries to cover himself in embarrassment. Pete heads towards the driver's seat and starts the engine. He gazes out the window and watches his house shrink and fade into the distance.

This is going to be one hell of a night.

~

Ryan's fast asleep in the backseat by the time they arrive at the base. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and it's quite far away from his house back in LA. His eyes flutter open at the sight of the morning sun and he squints.

"Morning, princess," Gerard greets, grinning from ear to ear. Gazing out the window, Ryan immediately recognizes the abandoned diner as the Killjoy's base. It reminds him the days of turf wars and rebellion.

"We're back in Nevada...?" Ryan yawns, stretching. Pete parks the car on the pavement and exits the car. Both Gerard and Ryan follow behind him.

Ryan covers his crotch the whole time as he awkwardly shuffles on the cool pavement towards the diner. Gerard's trying his best not to burst out into laughter, but it's not working. He's snickering as he rips off his own jacket and hands it to Ryan.

"Thanks," he rolls his eyes as he puts on the jacket. It doesn't go past his crotch, but it's better than walking around with his shirt off.

"Your old clothes are somewhere in the diner," Pete interrupts as he shoves aside the makeshift wooden door.

"You mean my rose vest?" Ryan widens his eyes. Pete shuffles around, eventually finding it on the floor. He tosses it towards him, along with a white collared shirt, the red scarf that he use to tie around his waist, and a pair of black jeans.

"Go change, then I'll explain everything," Pete says while heading off into the kitchen. Ryan hands back Gerard's jacket and heads upstairs to change.

"Do you think Ryan can handle this?" Gerard whispers to Pete.

"Everyone else's life is on the line, so we have no choice," Pete shakes his head. "It's just gonna get worse for us."