[ ik it's been a long time but i just got the last bit of inspiration i needed to finish this au / possibly do a bonus thing

warnings: language, guns, blood, etc

if i've already given details on what zone they live in, i apologize but i can't find them so i'm driving myself insane over it

stay safe,
lew. ]

——————

"I dunno if this is gonna work," Lewis mumbled, handing Bailey another screwdriver.

The Kid shushed him. His hands held no trace of their normal tremble as he pulled the android's hard drive from the tangle of wiring in her head. Carefully, he handed it off to the other man, then stood up. "C'mon. I just hope that old computer has enough charge left to reprogram this."

—

"We're in Zone Three. That's as far as anyone actually lives out here. I think." Logan explained to Ronnie as he dug out one of the spare blasters the group tended to keep around. "They'll be coming from Battery City, which means they'll have to come through two Zones to get to us."

"Are we going to try to run for Six?" Harry asked worriedly, a crease appearing in the center of his forehead.

Logan shook his head and handed the gun to Ronnie. "Zone Six is the worst with radiation. I'm not putting all of you at risk like that."

"But-"

"Baby, everything will be okay. Just get ready, make sure we've got a mask and bandana for Ronnie too." Logan kept his voice steady as he stood behind Ronnie, wrapping his arms around him to help him get accustomed to holding the blaster correctly.

He just hoped to hell that this would work. Things had to be okay eventually, right?

—

After testing the android's new programming, Bailey finally took a break, getting his gear on before collapsing on to his and Lewis' bed. "Excuse my language, but... we're fucked, aren't we?"

Lewis sighed and laid down next to him. "I don't know, buddy. But whatever happens, I'm gonna be right there beside you. Okay?"

"If you get the chance, run. Save yourself for once and don't worry about me," Bailey murmured, rolling onto his side to face the older man. "Seriously-"

"If something happened to you guys and I ran like a coward, I'd never forgive myself. But we're gonna make it out. We always do."

It took Lewis a moment or two of staring at the other guy, but soon enough, he kissed him softly. When they separated, he said: "Don't do anything stupid out there."

Just as Bailey opened his mouth to reply, the door slammed open, displaying the silhouette of a man that definitely wasn't any of their friends.

Immediately, the two Killjoys shot to their feet and pulled their blasters, leveling them at the stranger. "Who the fuck are you?" Lewis snapped.

Interrupted must've been a theme that day, because the trailer's back door popped open. As soon as Ronnie stepped inside, he dropped the blaster and ran towards the figure, giving him a passionate kiss.

The four Zone rats all shared bewildered looks, until Ronnie explained. "It's Ezra. We had a plan to end this, but things got a tad messed up."

"What do you mean, 'end this'?" Logan asked warily. "If you're suggesting killing all of-"

"We're not going to kill any of you. My boss is dead. I shot that bitch, and apparently she had a plan in place that would deploy all the SCARECROW units and Dracs in the event of her death." Ezra rolled his eyes, refusing to let go of his fiancé.

"What's the plan, then? We- we can help! We'd just have to get to the Nest and hijack the radio signal, and let everyone know." Bailey blurted out, lunging towards the broken couch to grab his mask.

"Whoa, kid. No. I'm taking the robot, and you four are taking Ronnie out towards the edge of the Zones," Ezra said, time of finality in his voice.

Lewis, Logan, and Bailey all began protesting at once, voices overlapping until Harry stomped on Logan's foot. "Knock it off. I trust him."

Lewis took a shaky breath in. "The radiation-"

"Just trust us. Your android and I need to find the pile of mechanical ruins, somewhere in Zone Two."

"Uh, that's by the Nest," Bailey offered, tucking himself into Lewis' side. "I went ahead and programmed that into Chase's hard drive as a safe place to go to."

"Do you have a vehicle? We've got a motorcycle out there. I'd offer the car, but we need it." Lewis kept his voice steady, arm around Bailey in an almost protective gesture.

"We'll take the bike. It'll be quicker," Ezra decided. He squeezed Ronnie a bit tighter and gave him one last kiss before grabbing the arm of Chase, who heard her own name, activating one of those AI features I can't remember the name of. The two of them left, leaving the other five to nod resolutely.

—

The group in the car had just passed the border from Zone Five into Zone Six when the car's radio crackled to life.

"Y'all are never gonna believe this, but shit's gone all sideways in the best way. Better Living Industries has been taken apart from the inside, and whatever shit they've been doing to cause the radiation in the outer Zones has been turned off.

"We've got a message from Chase the former porno-droid for Neon Suns and his crew- keep going. Wait just outside the Zones. They'll be there soon."

——

TWO YEARS LATER (bc lew is a cheesy bitch)

"Hey! What did Bailey and I tell you, Ty? Stop sneaking out!"

Logan heard his friend before he even opened the door, and he couldn't help laughing. He just walked in, leaned against the counter, and let Lewis go off into an almost familiar rant, directed at one of the super young former Killjoys.

"All you have to do is tell me that you're leaving. How hard is that? Seriously, kid, you stress me the fuck out but I still love you."

"Really, Lew, the overprotective dumbass speech? Did that ever work on Bailey?" Logan chimed in, laughing when Lewis dropped the basket of dirty clothes he was holding to hug him.

"For the record, it might've worked a lil bit. Enough to, y'know, find rings and agree to raise some ignorant Zone Rats together."

"I heard that!" Bailey chimed in, all three of the adults not noticing that the kid had dashed off. "For the record, the speech never worked. Puppy eyes did."

Lewis stuck out his tongue, and Bailey just quickly pecked him on the cheek before picking up the clothes basket.

"How's everyone else?" Lewis asked, finally letting go to lead the other man into the living room, shooing a couple more kids out so they could talk.

Of course, the girls stopped to hug Logan before heading up the stairs. He just grinned, then answered, "They're good. They went on a trip to the city, left me here. So I decided to come visit the zoo."

"Fuck off."

The two of them chartered on for a few moments before Bailey joined them, yet again choosing to sit on Lewis' lap instead of anywhere else.

The group of them, after everything settled, managed to adjust to normal life somewhat easily.

Outside of Zone Six, there were entire former neighborhoods of houses still standing, so many of the former Killjoys flocked there to restart their lives.

Ezra and Ronnie shared a house, and after multiple trips back to the city, they finally got to bring home the baby they'd arranged to have by surrogate before this entire mess started.

Logan and Harry moves in just a couple houses away from Lewis and Bailey. They'd decided to wait until they were sure the craziness was over before they took any more steps.

Chase the android chose to stay with Sierra, formerly known as Cell, to help them run the radio station. Both of them came around often to visit, though.

Life was changing. After twelve years or more of a nightmarish hellscape, things were returning to an almost normal. It was wonderful.

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