MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ONESHOTS

a talk with death

(trigger warning for violence/gore, death/mentions of death, paranormal deities, mentions of guns, and war)

(not as angsty or spooky or wartime-y as i expected but oh well. also this is kind of short sorry)

(requested by SnippyDaTurtle)

Mikey was keeled over in pain — grunting, hissing, grimacing. He was on his knees, clutching his fists over a gunshot wound when he first heard the voice.

"Oh man, not you."

He looked up. He couldn't see who the figure was; his glasses were broken in a cobweb shape and everything looked insanely blurry, but he definitely could tell who the person was by his voice. He squinted hard as his breath heaved. "Gerard?" he asked, his voice tough from excruciating agony in his side.

"Uh, no. Well, a little bit, yes," was Gerard(?)'s response.

Mikey chuckled breathily, but then coughed and wheezed as a result of it. He felt his side cramping up and even that tiny little addition to his hurting made it that much worse. He quickly pulled off his glasses and watched in annoyance as the lenses completely fell out, shattered. He looked back up at Gerard, and suddenly, everything was so much more clear. He could — somehow — see without glasses.

He held his head in his free hand — his other hand was still gripping his wound — and tried to subdue his dizziness. He looked up again. Gerard's hair was short and shiny white, like an old man, except he still looked young. In fact, he might've looked younger than he did when he had black hair, like normal. He also wore a suit vest and tie, and oddly enough, carried a large scythe. It intimidated Mikey, who was already hurting badly.

"'No'? You sound insane," Mikey grunted.

Gerard narrowed his eyes and twirled his scythe behind his back. He looked bored. "I'm surprised you're not soothed yet. How long is your friend taking?"

"What friend?" Mikey managed.

Gerard laughed. Laughed. At a time like this. "Ray, of course."

Mikey's eyes flickered about his surroundings. It looked like he was in an old city, maybe in England, what with the gothic architecture. London? But no, almost every building was destroyed, and the landscape had no trees or agriculture. This was some kind of doomsday town. Strangely, despite the place, being here felt comforting. Everything felt familiar.

Mikey was about to ask a question, but Gerard dropped his scythe, looked over his shoulder, and held out a finger, gesturing for Mikey to wait a moment. Then he grabbed a silver pocket watch chained to his pants and checked the time. At first he looked confused, then his face relaxed and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"The parade hasn't come," Gerard informed Mikey, shoving his watch back into his pocket. "So I guess you'll probably live a good..." he counted on his fingers hastily, "...seventy-two years or so, to estimate. I don't know, maybe you'll live longer than that. Or... shorter. Anyways, you'll be seeing me again later, but I'm not your brother, really."

Mikey noticed suddenly that he could understand and focus on Gerard more because the pain he felt in his side was beginning to fade.

"I'm the Black Parade," the man explained, "or maybe you know me as 'Death,' but no matter the title, I'll be here if you get another bullet screwed into your side."

Death picked up his scythe wiggled his fingers on his other hand. "I'll be seeing you, Mikey."

● ● ●

He woke up with a gasp, sitting up and groaning when he felt cold sweat. His chest heaved, and he suddenly noticed the people waiting around him: Frank, Ray, Gerard.

"Oh thank God," Ray breathed.

"We were sure you were gone," Frank pitched in.

Gerard just sat and stared. For a good few seconds.

Then he nearly lunged at him and wrapped him up in a giant, sticky, sweaty, bloody hug. "Oh my god, Mikey," he exhaled crazily. Mikey just chuckled, out of breath, and carefully put one arm around his brother. Gerard pulled away quickly and smiled so big that Mikey thought his face might break. "I was so scared, oh my god."

"Me too," Mikey nearly giggled. "But it's okay. I'm not afraid to keep living. I think that includes living right before I die."

He closed his eyes for a moment and saw Death gazing at him proudly in the dark. He reopened them.

"I know you are all here for me."