Josh waited for the sharp, familiar blast of a bullet leaving a gun, but it never came.

Tyler exhaled and sunk back onto his haunches. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might burst right out of his chest.

Josh was shaking so much the gun fell right out of his hand and clattered to the floor. He clutched at his chest, balling the fabric of his shirt in his fist, and collapsed.

It was a blank.

"Josh, get up," a familiar, broken voice said. "It's my turn now."

Josh's head was spinning as he pushed himself back up into a kneeling position. Still in a daze, he reached down and grabbed the revolver lying on the stage.

"Alright, Mad Gear's turn," Melanie smiled that same insane, completely-out-of-her-mind smile and clapped her hands.

"Let's hope this time it's the actual bullet," Halsey muttered to Kat, who crossed her arms and nodded.

"H-How..." Josh began, his voice coming out as a quiet little squeak. "How do I...?"

He glanced at Tyler, and Kobra Kid followed his eyes. He scowled at him before realizing what Josh had meant.

He walked over to Tyler, black boots clicking on the stage as he walked, and kneeled behind him. Still scowling, he produced a small switchblade from his jacket pocket.

Tyler bit his lip to stifle his groan when Kobra Kid roughly pulled him closer by the back of his shirt.

He held Tyler down and, using his switchblade, he sawed at the thick black rope binding his hands together until it finally cut.

Tyler let out a sigh of relief as soon as the rope fell off his wrists. He stretched his arms above his head, and winced when he heard his bones crack.

Josh spared a glance at Tyler's wrists, as ugly and painful as they looked. The skin was completely red, both from the blood dripping down Tyler's arms and the rope chafing relentlessly against his skin.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Josh thought he saw a bit of bone sticking out. He gagged.

Tyler brought his hands in front of him. He kept clenching his fingers open and closed, open and closed. He stared at them in awe, as if he was surprised he still had them.

Slowly, shakily, Josh handed Tyler the revolver.

Tyler took the gun into his bloody hands. He simply held it for a while, watching the blood dripping off his chin splatter on to the weapon.

Licking his lips, he slowly flicked his eyes up to Josh's.

Tyler set his jaw and raised the gun. A million thoughts raced through his brain, but he could only seem to grasp one:

Josh's pale, lifeless body, lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes would still be open, Tyler thought. They would stare at him, the spark and life all gone from those sparkling hazel eyes.

And it would all be his fault.

A single tear slipped down his cheek as he loaded the gun.

Click-

BOOM.

✗✗✗✗✗

Then it happened.

Blood splattered across the floor.

The Clique stormed the stage.

The Killjoys opened fire.

It was over.

He was dead.

The revolver immediately slipped from Tyler's hands. It fell to the floor in slow motion, seemingly shattering in Tyler's eyes. The entire room went silent. The ringing in his ears became violent.

Numbness spread through his body as if he had just received a fresh shot of novocaine.

His limp body collapsed onto the stage. He weakly pushed himself up onto all fours, coughing and dry heaving on the floor.

It was over.

He was dead.

When Tyler finally raised his head to look at the scene in front of him, it was just like he thought it would be:

His pale, lifeless body was lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes were still opened and staring directly at Tyler, sending shivers up his spine.

It was exactly as he had imagined. Exactly.

Except there was one difference. Just one.

It wasn't Josh's body he saw.

It was Kobra Kid's.

✗✗✗✗✗

"We are so getting promoted."

Andy was too in shock to say anything. His mind could not comprehend what had just happened.

He saw Kobra Kid, laying on the stage at an awkward, obviously unnatural angle. His arms and legs were splayed off in different directions. Blood surrounded his head. And Andy was pretty sure a neck was not meant to turn like that.

"Fuck, Andy," he heard Joe say next to him. He slapped him on his back. "You did it. You fucking did it."

Andy slowly broke out into a smile as he continued staring down at what he had done.

"Well, we're not finished yet," he replied, smirking to himself as he loaded another bullet into place

"Already ahead of you," said Joe. He cocked his gun, closed one eye, and fired without hesitation.

Another Killjoy went down. And another. And another.

It was like watching a movie, or playing a video game. With just one twitch of the finger, Andy and Joe could make an entire body collapse.

Each and every shot was a direct hit. Donnie and Horseshoe were two of the best snipers in the Clique. Experts.

Soon, Kobra Kid wasn't the only one who lay dead in a heap on stage.

Fun Ghoul, Jet Star, the girls, the guards surrounding the pit-they all dropped like rag dolls.

Andy took a step back to reload and wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Not bad, Joe."

✗✗✗✗✗

Tyler was still frozen in his place. His vision doubled-no, tripled. Blood still dribbled from his two wounds, and the drugs the Killjoys forced down his throat churned his insides and clouded his brain.

Someone suddenly tackled him in a tight embrace, wrapping their arms around him and almost knocking him over.

"Oh my God, you're alive. You're fucking alive," Tyler heard a familiar voice say.

He blinked a couple times to clear his vision, then looked up at the person who was holding him.

It was Josh. His Josh. His fucking Josh, alive and breathing and holding him.

"I...I thought I..." Tyler said, his voice breaking. "I thought I s-s-shot you."

Josh shook his head and held Tyler closer than he ever had before. His blood smeared all over his face and clothes, but he didn't care. He didn't even think about that. He buried his face in Tyler's shoulder and dug his fingernails in his back.

"You didn't Tyler, you didn't," Josh rushed out, squeezing Tyler tighter. "I'm okay, you're okay. God, you're okay. I got you. You're safe, Tyler, I got you now. You're alive. I'm going to get a pair of fucking handcuffs and handcuff myself to you so I never lose you again."

Josh pulled away and just stared at Tyler for a moment-his blood covered face, his wide, petrified eyes, his sad smile.

Josh took Tyler's face in his hands and slammed his lips against his.

"I love you," Josh breathed in between kisses. He kept kissing him and kissing him, despite all the blood smearing over his lips and face. "So fucking much. So. Fucking. Much."

✗✗✗✗✗

"Tyler, you need to take your pants off."

Josh had carried Tyler all the way out of the pit and to the infirmary. They were able to escape fairly quickly in the midst of the chaos. Killjoys and Clique members had gone wild, screaming and fighting and shooting.

Now, Tyler was lying on an operating table in the infirmary, Josh next to him. The long room was completely pitch black except for a single lamp over the table Tyler was on. They were all the way in the corner, terrified that a Killjoy would walk past and see them.

"N-No, Josh, I can't-" Tyler began, but Josh cut him off almost immediately.

"Tyler, you have to," he said, reaching for the waistline of Tyler's jeans. "Here, I'll help you."

"Josh, no," Tyler insisted, swatting his hands away. "I-It's gonna hurt. Just b-bandage it with m-m-my pants on."

Josh just rolled his eyes and stood up so he was hovering over Tyler lying there on the table.

"Tyler, come on," Josh insisted. "You've been drugged, kicked, dragged, shot, and God knows what else. For fuck's sake, I think you can handle taking your pants off."

Tyler looked up at Josh before taking a breath and closing his eyes.

Since Tyler's jeans were already unbuttoned, Josh was able to easily slip them off his waist. He made sure to take extra care when he had to pull them over the wound on his thigh, then again at his calf. Tyler winced and bit his lip, but soon his jeans were completely off, and he was left in just his boxer shorts.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Josh laughed a little, but it was without humor.

He stared down in horror at the two wounds on Tyler's legs. Blood was still running out of them, spilling onto the metal operating table and then the floor. The hole on his thigh was worse than the one on his calf, but that wasn't saying much. His flesh had been burned clean off, leaving nothing but blood and bones exposed.

Josh was no medic, but he was smart enough to know a few things. He searched around a bit-under the table, in the cabinets around him-until he finally found a bottle of clear liquid inside. It smelled strongly of alcohol, and not the drinking kind.

Hydrogen peroxide, the label read. The bubbly stuff. (Again, not the drinking kind of bubbly, which Josh would've preferred).

Grabbing a small towel and a roll of bandages, he turned his attention back to Tyler.

When Tyler caught sight of the bottle in Josh's hands, his eyes widened.

"Josh-"

"Before you say anything," Josh interrupted, "Yes, it will hurt, and yes, I have to do it."

Tyler shook his head rapidly and tried to get off the table, but with his injuries it was no use even trying to move.

"Tyler, stop it," Josh said firmly, looking him right in the eye. "You're Mad Gear, you can do this."

"No," Tyler replied. "I-I'm not. I'm Tyler, and I can't do this."

Josh said nothing, only rolled up the small white face rag and handed it to Tyler. "Here," he said. "Bite down on that. It'll save your teeth."

"Don't. Josh, please don't," Tyler begged, his body already cringing and writhing on the table.

Josh sighed and gently ran his hand through Tyler's hair.

"Look at me, Tyler, look at me," he whispered. "I have to do something about these wounds, okay? They're infected, Tyler. And I am not letting you die."

Tyler bit down on his bottom lip.

"It's gonna be okay, Tyler," Josh continued, taking his hand. "I'm right here. It'll be over before you know it. I'll be right here this whole time."

Tyler sharply sucked in a breath of air, squeezed his eyes shut, and nodded once.

Josh gave Tyler's hand a tight squeeze before letting it go and picking up the bottle. As he unscrewed the lid, Tyler put the rag in his mouth, in between his teeth, and bit down.

Josh took a deep, shaky breath and tilted the bottle over the gash in Tyler's thigh. He glanced up at Tyler, who was holding his breath.

"Ready, Tyler?" Josh questioned, but it was rhetorical. Tyler didn't reply, and Josh wasn't expecting him to. "I'm gonna do it now, okay?"

He slowly tilted the bottle further, moving at an agonizingly slow pace, until a single drop of clear liquid fell onto the open wound in Tyler's leg.

Tyler screamed. With just that one little drop, he screamed like he was being murdered. It was muffled by the rag in his mouth, of course, but it was still loud enough to make Josh wince.

Josh waited a few moments for Tyler to calm down before he tilted the bottle again, this time letting a stream of the liquid pour onto Tyler's wound.

Tyler screamed even louder. He grit his teeth and bit down hard on the towel in his mouth.

He squeezed his eyes shut to stop from crying, but he couldn't help it. Every single muscle in his body tenses as he cringed and desperately writhed to escape the liquid being poured onto his leg.

"Almost done, Tyler, almost done," Josh said, watching as the hydrogen peroxide made the infection bubble up into a white foam and sizzle away. "You're doing great, Tyler. You're almost done."

But Tyler didn't feel like he was doing great. He felt like he was on fire, just burning away into nothing. He was now hyperventilating as he bit down on the rag, screaming in between breaths and sobs.

When the last of infection and blood were finally washed away, Josh stopped pouring the peroxide and put the bottle down.

He hastily unrolled a strip of the white bandage and wrapped it around the freshly cleaned wound a few times. He tore the strip off with his teeth, then secured it tightly around Tyler's thigh.

"The worst part is over Tyler, that was all," Josh murmured. He took Tyler's hand in his and ran his fingers gently through his hair. "There's one more, but it's a small one, okay? You can do it. You did great, Tyler. Just try and breathe for me, okay?"

Josh took the towel out of Tyler's breathe, and as soon as he did so, Tyler gasped for air. He threw his head back on the table, quivering and gasping and crying.

"Fuck, Josh," he whispered, squeezing Josh's hand so tightly it felt like it was going to break. "Please, no more."

"I have to, Tyler," Josh said, planting a kiss on Tyler's forehead. It was covered in salty sweat and even saltier blood. "I need to get you fixed up and outta here before the Killjoys find us."

"J-Just l-l-let me go l...l-like this," Tyler said in between breaths. "I-I'll be f...fine. Please just s-stop, Josh."

"I told you I'm not letting you die. Now just take a deep breath, and get this over with. You'll do fine, Tyler. I'm right here with you," said Josh. He leaned down and pressed his lips against Tyler's for a good, long while before pulling away.

"Josh, please," Tyler cried as he watched Josh return to the bottle of peroxide.

"Tyler, come on now," Josh said firmly. "You can do this."

Tyler let out another choking sob before reluctantly putting the towel back in his mouth.

"You're gonna feel a lot better after this, Tyler," Josh said, trying to reassure him and calm him down. "You're gonna be okay, I've got you. We're almost done."

Though his words seemed repetitive and almost useless to Josh, they were working for Tyler. Through everything, his Josh was the only thing that kept him sane.

Josh was right; the second time was much easier than the first. The gash was smaller, which meant less peroxide, which meant less pain for Tyler.

There was still screaming, and biting, and crying, but it was easier.

After Josh had both of Tyler's wounds disinfected, cleaned, and bandaged, he found a pair of sweatpants for him to wear instead of his jeans.

"Can you walk, Tyler?" Josh asked as he went to help Tyler sit up. "If not I can-"

As soon as Tyler was sat up, he wrapped his arms tightly around Josh's neck, practically pulling him down onto the table with him.

"I said goodbye to you," Tyler cried. He buried his head in Josh's shoulder and clutched desperate onto his back.

"Y-You...you what?" Josh whispered, pulling Tyler closer to him.

"On stage..." Tyler whispered. "When Kobra Kid h-had me...I thought-I knew I was going to die. I saw y-you, and..."

Tyler's voice broke, and he simply cried into Josh's shoulder as he held him.

"I thought I was a goner," Tyler said in between sobs. "I thought...I thought that was finally it. I closed my eyes and...and I whispered goodbye."

✗✗✗✗✗
✗✗✗✗✗

Click-

BOOM.

Ha, I really got ya there, didn't I?

-Liz.

Edit: hydrogen peroxide? tyler may be shot but at least he doesn't have ebola anymore