Even though the sky was pitch black, and the stars were twinkling above his graffitied Trans Am, Poison was wide awake. He'd guzzled the last few drops of the Starbucks coffee he'd left the car the day before, and now that the caffeine had kicked in, there was no way he was going to sleep. His thoughts were racing, and he had so much energy, more than he knew what to do with. He wanted to draw, write, sing, dance, do anything but stay crammed inside the Trans Am with the other Gerards.

It didn't seem like he had much of a choice though. He was stuck in the backseat, sandwiched between Youngblood and Pepper and the car door, and as it turned out, both of them made terrible late-night companions. Youngblood was already fast asleep, and Pepper was trying to do the same. The only other Gerards that were awake were Figment and Revenge, and to Poison, they were just as bad as Pepper and Youngblood. For someone who'd lived through the apocalypse, Figment was awfully boring, and Revenge was nothing but a painful reminder of the addict Poison had once been.

Poison stared out the window for a moment, wishing that the Trans Am would magically start working again. He was supposed to be with Frank right now, cradled in his boyfriend's arms, but instead, he was stuck in the middle of the California desert with his past and future selves. There couldn't have been a worse time for all of this to happen.

"Hey Figment?" Poison said. "How long is this going to take?"

"You just asked that," Figment said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, like five minutes ago."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Figment said. "Poison, asking me how long it's going to be until my friend shows up isn't going to make him come here any faster."

Poison sighed and then turned toward Revenge. He couldn't stand his past self and his constant obsessions with self-destruction and the color black, but at least he was never boring. "Hey, want to wake up Youngblood?" he said.

"Sure," Revenge said. He glanced toward Youngblood and then said, "I can't believe I wore that leather jacket for two years straight. It looks awful on me."

"It could be worse," Poison said as he reached over to poke Youngblood. However, he accidentally elbowed Pepper in the process, jolting him awake.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Pepper shouted. "I was trying to sleep!"

"Sorry," Poison said. He glanced over to Youngblood, but somehow, he was still asleep. "I just thought you might like to hear more about Danger Days. You know, to save you some time in the future."

"I'm not going to remember it, and besides, I'd rather sleep," Pepper said. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, while Poison rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, he's so lame," Poison complained.

"All of my future selves are lame," Revenge said.

"Including me?" Poison said, rather offended.

"The jacket alone is an affront to nature."

"But why?"

"It has colors in it," Revenge said, disgusted.

"That's just hypocritical," Poison said. "Your eye makeup has some red in it."

"A little red is okay, but your hair's the color of a fire truck, and you've got that blue jacket..."

"Don't you dare insult my hair!" Poison exclaimed. "Do you even realize how much work I put into this?"

"If you guys are going to argue, could you at least do it outside the car?" Figment said. "I'm trying to focus, and Pepper and Youngblood are trying to sleep."

"Sleep is for the weak," Poison said, but nevertheless, he and Revenge went outside.

A cool breeze rustled through Poison's bright red hair as he looked out over the desert landscape. Someday, all of this would be gone, taken over by Better Living Industries. He wondered what living through the apocalypse would be like, if he'd live up to the character he'd created for himself. Figment certainly didn't seem like a brave, rebellious outlaw, but maybe there was more to him than Poison thought.

Despite the impending apocalypse, or possibly because of it, Poison couldn't wait to see what the future held.

For now, he still had Revenge to deal with. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Poison said. "You add these awful-looking vampires to my sand drawing, you insult my hair, you probably haven't showered in a year..."

"I could say the same to you. You've abandoned your roots. My Chemical Romance was born from tragedy. We're supposed to be singing about vampires and making deals with the devil."

"For the last time, why is that your solution to everything?"

Revenge ignored him and said, "My point is that you and I, we're not supposed to be so..."

"Fabulous?" Poison suggested.

"That's not what I was going to say," Revenge said.

"Sure, it was," Poison said. "You don't have to be so afraid of change, you know. It's okay that I'm not the same person I was when I was twenty-seven."

It was more than that though. Poison was proud of himself for moving beyond his addiction, for pushing himself to create, for becoming a better person, for staying alive. He'd defeated his demons, and even he drank occasionally, even if he starved himself to fit into his skin-tight white jeans, even if he was terrified that he was slipping back into his old habits, at least he wasn't like Revenge, dependent on alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of daily life. He wasn't the same person he was at twenty-seven, and for him, that was a good thing.

Revenge was quiet for a moment and then he said, "It's not that. I want to change. It's just that I'm scared of the person I'll be if I do. I already saw my future self slowly going insane in the Paramour Mansion. I already saw him breaking Frank's heart. And now there's you. I just don't think this is the future I want. Maybe if I die now, I can stop it all from happening."

"No way, Revenge," Poison said. "You only saw the worst parts of the future. There were some great moments in there too, and I promise you don't want to miss them."

"Like what?"

"Like when I wrote the Umbrella Academy..."

"Is that where they teach you how to use an umbrella?"

"Shut up," Poison said. "There was also meeting Grant Morrison, and of course, all of that time I spent with Frank..."

"Frank's pretty amazing," Revenge said. "We're lucky to have him."

"I don't believe in luck," Poison said. All of a sudden, he burst into song. As Revenge covered his ears, Poison screamed, "YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD! I DON'T BELIEVE IN LUCK! THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN US! BUT I BELIEVE WE'RE THE ENEMY!"

Revenge rolled his eyes and said, "And this is why I hate you."

Meanwhile, Figment rolled down the window and said, "Could you quiet down please? I can't look for R...I mean, my friend from the Watch if you're screaming."

Poison couldn't care less. His past, his present, and his future were all here, in the same place, and together, they would save the man they loved. Soon, Figment would find his friend from the Watch, and after it was all over, after they'd traveled through time, Poison would come back here, defeat his demons, and keep on living.

Poison knew he wasn't perfect, but he was alive, and he'd scream it from the top of his lungs on the side of a highway at two in the morning if he had to. Maybe, just maybe, someone else would hear him. 

A/N: I'm out of ideas again, so unless anyone has any requests, I'm putting this collection on pause for a little while. Again, thank you so much for supporting my work! :)