Frank's POV

I wince as I feel the gun barrel press against my chest, my breath catching in my throat. I make eye contact with Party Poison, silently pleading for my life, as Detonation swiftly pulls the pink gun from her waistband and raises it, aiming at him with one hand while the other continues to support me.

"What the hell," she exclaims, obviously caught off guard by the situation.

"Put the gun down," Kobra Kid warns, raising his own weapon and aiming it at Alison. She exhales and tightens her grip, not lowering her weapon. "I said put it down," Kobra Kid raises his voice slightly.

"Put it down, Detonation," I interject, realizing that our best chance at living is to comply. She glances at me, confused. "Now."

Reluctantly she stashes her gun, keeping her eyes trained on Party Poison. "We're not here to hurt you. Can we please stop with the guns," I speak lowly, attempting to reason with the two Killjoys.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Party Poison questions, pressing his weapon against me with more force.

"My name is Fun Ghoul, and this is my little sister, Detonation Diamond. We were walking through the desert, trying to get away from the city, and we got caught in a gun fight. We stumbled across this place and were hoping to get some help patching me up and maybe rest for a bit."

"How long ago did you leave the city? What pushed you out?" Kobra Kid asks, finally lowering his gun.

"I don't know, a few weeks ago maybe," I answer, realizing that I've not kept track of the days that we've spent wandering. "I was set to be executed by BLI, so I grabbed my sister and hoofed it."

"Why'd they want to off you?"

"I used to be a secretary in their headquarters. I walked in on a private conversation, and I guess they wanted to eliminate any loose ends."

Party Posion gazes intently at me, then at Alison, and finally he lowers his gun from my chest, placing it in a holster on his leg. He moves out of the threshold, gesturing us inside.

Alison and I cautiously enter the building, noticing a boy with curly, brown hair and a black, leather jacket standing behind the bartable- Jet Star.

He makes his way out from behind the counter, crossing the diner floor and clearing off the table closest to the entrance. "Sit here." Detonation and I walk toward the table, and I slowly lift myself onto it, scooting back so my back is flush with the wall and my legs are outstretched in front of me.

The two remaining Killjoys follow suit, closing and locking the door behind them and coming to inspect my wound. Kobra Kid looks over my leg for a moment before nodding and turning away from us. He walks to a small hallway, disappearing from our sight in a matter of seconds, and reappearing with what looks like a first aid kit. He slides into the seat of the booth, opening the box and pulling out tweezers, rubbing alcohol, a cotton ball, and gauze.

"This is gonna hurt, a lot," Kobra Kid says, an edge of sympathy leaking through his voice. Party Poison reaches out and unties the bloodied cloth Detonation tied around my leg.

"You're gonna need to take off your pants so we can access the wound better," he states, "unless you're cool with us cutting them."

"I think I'll just take them off," I chuckle lightly. "It's not like I have enough spare clothes to be ruining them." I lift my hips up so I can pull my jeans down, inhaling sharply as the dried blood that had stuck the fabric to my legs pulled on the skin.

Jet Star grabs a small towel and the bottle of rubbing alcohol, unscrewing the lid and soaking the fabric. He rubs roughly at the bullet hole, clearing the dried blood away. The alcohol hisses as it cleanses my wound, causing me to gasp and grimace in pain. He sets the rag aside and grabs the tweezers.

"I'm assuming," he states, "that this was caused by an ordinary bullet. I mean, there are no scorch marks or anything to indicate a laser gun."

"Yeah," Detonation answers Jet Star's implied question. "The bastard came out of nowhere and shot at us. I- uh- took care of him and then did what I could to patch Ghoul up"

Party Posion nods in acknowledgement, then turns his focus to me. "Be prepared," he says, almost darkly. I raise my eyebrows, watching him grab the tweezers from Jet Star and soak them briefly in the rubbing alcohol. He smiles sympathetically as Kobra Kid pulls at the skin around my wound, causing a sharp rush of pain, and then he inserts the tweezers into my bullet hole. I unintentionally scream out in pain, clutching Alison's arm as I feel every motion of the tweezers shifting inside of my leg, eventually finding the bullet and pulling it out. A fresh stream of blood rushes from my leg and Kobra Kid quickly presses a rag to the injury, telling me to relax my muscles.

"Holy shit," Detonation gasps.

"Just be happy it didn't take longer," Party Poison grimaces, pulling some gauze off of the roll and grabbing the cotton ball. He soaks the cotton in cleaning alcohol before pushing Kobra Kid's hand away and pressing the cotton ball to the injury. Jet Star steps forward and wraps the gauze snugly around my leg, securing the cotton ball in place. As he steps away from my wound, I grabb my jeans from around my ankles, pulling them back up and tightening my belt.

"You can stay here, at least until you heal up," Kobra Kid says, packing the first aid kit away again.

"Hey, you said you killed that guy that shot at you, right?" Jet Star asks suddenly, looking at Detonation expectantly.

"Uh, yeah," she answers slowly, hunching her shoulders uncomfortably under the boy's gaze.

"How many shots did you fire at him to get the job done?" his voice takes on a more business-like tone.

"One, but what does that have to do with anything?" Detonation asks, crossing her arms around her and clutching her elbows in her hands. It's clear to me that she's still on edge about having taken a life.

Jet Star looks at the other two Killjoys and nods his head toward the kitchen of the diner. "We'll be right back," he tells us, then walks away, the other boys following behind him.

Detonation nods and purses her lips, watching them disappear into the other room. "So how do you feel?" She turns to me, smiling sympathetically.

"That shit hurt" I half-laugh. "I took modern medicine for granted- I would kill for a numbing agent right now. But I'm glad that it got sterilized and that we've got a place to stay until I'm in good shape again."

"What do you think they're talking about?" She picks up the bloodied bandana off the table and grimaces, reaching around her back to put it in her bag, but shaking her head and setting it back down.

"Honestly kid, I've got no clue. It could be anything."

As if on cue, the Killjoys return to the lobby of the diner. Kobra Kid grabs the first aid kit off of the table and returns it to the room from which he grabbed it, and Party Poison begins speaking.

"You two get some rest; there's a small loft upstairs. Kobra and I are gonna bunk together in his room, and you guys can take mine." He directs his attention to Alison. "How do you feel about showing us how you are with that gun tomorrow?" He gestures to the pink gun half-visible sticking out of her jeans.

"Yeah, that's fine," she nods, instinctively setting her hand on the grip of the weapon. The boy smiles at her response.

"I'll show you the way," Jet Star offers, grabbing my hand to help me down from the table. Alison and I share a quick glance and a smile, and I know that we're both thinking the same thing: At least for the time being, we have found a home.