Chapter Text
Frank looked around the cemetery for a place to sit, smoke some weed and read comics. He did this almost every day; it was relaxing and he never felt out of place amongst the dead. Plus, creepy things were sort of his aesthetic.
He walked past all the familiar names that were engraved in the tombstones, they were a bit like his friends which was pretty cool, despite how lonely and desperate it sounds (not that he needed to be desperate, he had other friends who weren't buried six feet underground).
Just as he was about to take a seat by good 'ol Deborah Harley, 1916-1998, a name that was even more familiar than the rest caught his eye. It wasn't there the last time Frank was in the cemetery—a new addition to the crew. He walked up to that headstone and sat on the dry grass next to it as he read the inscription. Gerard Way, 1984-2002. "Looks like I'm gonna spend some time with you, Way."
Gerard Way. Frank never really knew Gerard, honestly. They had only spoken about once throughout his whole life, but even just from that small interaction he could tell that Gerard was a pretty nice guy. Total contrast to his brother Mikey Way, though Frank didn't really know him either. It was just a week ago that Frank saw Gerard in the hallways at school, he would've never thought that to be the last time he saw Gerard period. The guy probably didn't even deserve to be murdered.
Whatever, Frank wasn't gonna spend time lamenting the death of someone he didn't even know. He took off his bag and got comfortable by the tombstone, taking out a lighter, a joint (already rolled for his convenience) and some comic books.
As he took a hit, he began flicking through the pages with his free hand, with the comic positioned neatly in between his crossed legs.
Smoking and reading, Frank felt at peace in the cemetery. He felt his inhibitions disappear and indulged in the dead silence and utter isolation of the graveyard.
"Oh man, is that the new issue of Ultimate X-Men? Damn, I've been waiting to read that!"
Frank felt his heart jump out of his chest at the sound of a voice right next to his ear.
He peered over his shoulder and the sight caused him to screech in pure terror, scramble away from the headstone, and choke on his joint.
He hacked and coughed, his heart pounding against his ribcage.
"Oh fuck, are you alright?"
With a hard cough he sent the saliva-coated joint flying from his throat to across the ground. Frank coughed a few more times for extra measure before finally turning around to see if what he saw was actually there. And, yup. Yes it was.
Just a few feet away, floating above Frank, translucent and tinted blue was the very boy who was supposed to be buried in a box below ground. Gerard Way.
Frank let out a shaky breath. "What the fuck was in that weed?"
"I didn't mean to scare you! Just got excited. Plus, when I felt you by my tombstone I kinda expected you to be someone else," the boy said bashfully. Frank, still not able to fully grasp the situation, gawked at the figure in front of him. Gerard was indeed still there, still floating, and Frank was certain what he was seeing had nothing to do with the weed he inhaled.
He leaned in closer, trembling in fear, “G—Gerard?”
Gerard looked at him with a timid smile (He couldn’t believe Gerard had the NERVE to be timid. Frank wasn’t the dead, floating guy—why on earth was he scared?!) and shrugged, “Yeah, that’s me…”
“But…” Frank took a second, collecting his thoughts, then resumed, “you were dead.”
“Still am,” Gerard responded matter-of-factly, as if any of this was normal at all.
“But I can see- … Holy shit. Did my constant exposure to cemeteries awaken some ghost-vision or something?!”
Gerard snickered causing Frank to shoot him an offended glare. He gave Frank a somewhat apologetic look in return, “Um, sorry but you don’t have powers. It's actually the ghost that decides who can and can't see them.”
“Oh,” Frank said in disappointment.
“Would’ve been cool if you did though.”
“Heh, yeah,” Frank forged a laugh, trying to hide how uneasy he felt.
Frank and Gerard were now past the jumpy introductions and have now reached some sort of awkward equilibrium. At least Frank wasn’t scared out of his mind anymore.
After about a minute of silence, Gerard spoke out. "I do remember you,” Gerard began. “From school, you’re in Mikey’s class, right?”
“Oh, uh yeah, I’m Frank. Frank Iero.” Frank held out his hand to shake Gerard’s but quickly retrieved it, wondering if Gerard’s hand would just phase right through his, and instead settled for a short wave.
“Cool! Uh, I’m Gerard Way, though, you already knew that, huh?”
“Yup, pretty sure everyone in town knows your name by now.”
"Really?" Gerard seemed surprised, as if he didn't think his untimely death was that important—in the grand-scheme of things, it probably wasn't, but it certainly shook up the small town they lived in. "Was it like, on the news and stuff?"
"Yeah it was! There were police everywhere- there's an ongoing investigation to find your killers! And there was an assembly about it too. Now the school's raising money to help keep the streets clean from, like, gang crime and shit."
Gerard laughed. "Keep the streets clean? In New Jersey? Good fucking luck."
"Ha, tell me about it!"
They both laughed for a little while and Frank felt the heavy tension steadily disperse. Gerard was a pretty nice guy. Damn. Shame Frank never talked to Gerard more when he was alive, they probably would've really hit it off.
Gerard's face suddenly fell, though, and he began to shift uncomfortably from where he was hovering. "Uh, so, speaking of school, have you, like, spoken to my brother recently?"
Oh geez.
Frank and Mikey weren't close at all. They weren't even friends. Frank hung out with a bunch of hard-core guys in the year above him—they were even thinking of forming a band together—whereas Frank didn't think Mikey even had friends apart from that weird emo kid in their class, Pete Wentz.
And even worse, Mikey hadn't even been in school since the funeral. He must've taken a leave of absences for his emotional recovery.
But Gerard looked desperate for an answer. Frank was an only child so he couldn't imagine how either Mikey or Gerard must be feeling. Frank ultimately decided to dodge the question with a question of his own, "Have you not talked to Mikey yourself?"
Gerard shook his head guilty, "I wasn't able to surface until a few days after my funeral, I guess. In fact, this is the only time I have surfaced!" He changed his position to sit cross-legged, still slightly floating above ground, "I sort of expected Mikey to have visited, then I would appear for him, but…"he trailed off, looking hopelessly into the distance.
God, Frank felt bad for something that honestly had nothing to do with him. He sighed, "Maybe, you should go to him, then."
Gerard shook his head profusely. "Are you crazy?! That'd freak him out so hard! He'd think he was insane and send himself off to a psych ward!"
"Jesus, okay, um. How about…" Frank's mind sorted through a number of different plans that could make Gerard happy, one being 'I'll kill Mikey so you two can be together forever!' But he figured that wouldn't bode well for either brother. Frank eventually settled for a more appropriate solution. "How about I take you to him?"
Gerard tilted his head in confusion. "How would that help?"
"Well I could, like, ease him into it. And me being there would show that he's not crazy, since I can see you too!"
Gerard looked unconvinced, but then that unconvinced face shifted to one of consideration, then realisation, and finally landed on glee.
"Yes. Yes, Frank, that's a good idea!" He flew up close to Frank excitedly. "Could you do it now? I can tell you where I live!"
Frank looked down at the comics he dashed on the ground and the choked-on joint before collecting his comic books and placing them in his bag. "Guess I didn't have any plans. I'll go but won't people react to seeing you all… not dead?"
"It's fine, I'll just make myself visible to you—then no one else can see me!"
Frank slung his rucsac over his shoulder. "That's so weird, how do you even control that?"
Gerard shrugged. "Dunno, just can. It's a ghost thing. You'll understand when you're older, hopefully."
Frank snickered before smiling back at his new ghost friend. "Lead the way, Way."