crack_van | Giving Up the Ghost by gorgeousnerd (Explicit)

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Bob/Gerard, implied Mikey/Pete
Length: 26,550 words
Author on LJ & DW:

gorgeousnerd
Author on AO3:

gorgeousnerd

Why this must be read: Bob Bryar - also known as Spit Fire, the fifth Killjoy - should've died in the desert after Korse shot him in the head. But death isn't permanent in the zones, and rescue's nearly as ugly.

This fantastic story is a multilayered, deeply engrossing addition to the Killjoys mythos. It tackles questions like the difference between ghosting and dusting and gives us a scenario where the idea of bringing people back from being dead feels plausible. The glimpses we get of the anarchic quality of zonerunner politics and what a final showdown with the repressive government of Battery City might look like feel equally realistic. It also has a fantastic Bob characterisation. His struggle to regain his memories and his humanity is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

Excerpt from the story:

Bob chokes down a can of pup in the front of the garage before the sun sets. The smell of gasoline lingers in the air, and the food in his mouth tastes sweeter somehow.

The setting sun spills through the tilted board they use as a door. Grace stands in front of mounds of dirt in the back, her robot in her arms. Dr. Death Defying sits in his chair, and Pony stands in hir skates and leather jacket, tapping the edge of hir pink laser on the counter.

"What do you remember?" Dr. D asks when Bob's pushed his tin away.

"Not much," Bob says. He drinks from a water bottle. There's a stale taste to it, but it's cool and wet. "Everything past the last couple of days is gone."

Pony tilts hir head. The visor of hir helmet shifts. "But you said..."

"Gerard," Bob finishes. He closes his eyes.

      >> red hair, the edges whipping in the wind, knotted in a mask. A yellow gun raises in the air, and the car <<

"Still with us?"

He opens his eyes. There's no definition to the room at first, but as his sight adjusts to the golden light, lines and edges and shadows reappear.

"Yeah," Bob says. "I just... need time."

Dr. D nods. "We can fill you in, but we're not sure how this works."

"This?"

Grace squeals outside, and Dr. D cracks a smile. "I'll check on the little one."

He stretches his leg and grabs his crutch. Show Pony watches him make his way out.

      >> Bob puts the bandolier on the ground, and his yellow jacket, and dusts them all off with a hand. The clouds
        make the light a sickly yellow. Gerard lifts a mask, the smell of acrylics <<

"You're our guinea pig, Spit Fire," ze says, a little distantly. "Don't wanna scramble your brains more than we already have. Or they have."

      >> close and circles his arms around Bob's waist. He doesn't say a word. Doesn't have to. <<

Bob raises a hand to his head. It aches like it's full.

"Good idea," he says.

Giving Up the Ghost (on AO3) or here (on DW) or here (on LJ)

Giving Up the Ghost by gorgeousnerd (Explicit)

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