Left Behind

By: keep.your.groove.on.baby

Disclaimer: No

Chapter One

It was a hot, muggy day all over England. Not very surprising though to its citizens; August never promised good weather…then again neither did any other month in the year. However, in a little town in West Sussex named Crawley, the weather was the same as around the rest of the country but it appeared to be so much worse for one young man…especially when you're air conditioning wasn't working. On a dirty corner of a dirty street stood an organ store named 'Uncle Norm's Organs.' In the window there were old signs for sales from years past and signs for current sales but one could not differentiate due to the fact that none of the signs had a date and all of them were mixed together. The owner, Uncle Norm, refused to take the signs down because he claimed that either way, one of them is going to get a customer inside.

However, in this particular month, it wasn't the signs that were attracting people into the hot and suffocating store. Right next to the window where the signs were was a cashier counter and if you just so happened to be walking by you could see out of the corner of your eye a bright splash of blue from inside the bland music store. Mostly people would stop to stare with their mouths gaping open for a minute before shaking their heads and walking away dumbfounded. Occasionally someone would walk in to stare even more or talk to the man behind the counter about the…blue. If Uncle Norm was lucky…whoever was attracted inside due to the bright blue might buy something that caught their fancy.

The blue, in case you're wondering, wasn't decoration of any kind but instead something you might say Uncle Norm…bought to attract customers, also because this man was an avid learner for the keyboard. That's right…Uncle Norm hired a rather tall, striking young man named Stuart Pot primarily because of his spiky blue hair. The owner didn't question whether it was dyed or somehow natural…it didn't matter because from the moment he hired him people began to come inside to ask about the blue locks and occasionally were convinced to look around the store even though most of them kept their eyes on the hair of the young man behind the cash register.

Today, however, a young woman of a petite size with pretty blonde hair didn't quite catch the blue out of the corner of her eye but instead heard an uppity melody from a keyboard. Then she turned her head to look inside the window, past the clutter of sale signs, and noticed that the tall man playing the keyboard next to the window had blue hair. She cocked her head to the side with a frown and turned around to walk inside the store, immediately regretting it due to the heat coming from inside the store in comparison to the heat from outside. The moment she set foot inside the store the blue-haired man stopped his playing and looked up at her with the prettiest blue eyes she'd ever seen. He smiled at her brightly and said, "Afternoon! Welcome to Uncle Norm's Organ Shop. Lemme know if I can help ya wit' anythin'."

She smiled back at him and walked towards where he was behind the counter, placing both of her palms down on the surface and pushing her breasts forward slightly. She caught his eyes flicker down beneath her face and she smirked rewardingly. She glanced at his name tag that said 'Stuart' and licked her lips before gazing back into his eyes. "Well, Stuart, I was wonderin' if I could ask you about those gorgeous blue locks you 'ave. I've neva seen anythin' like it." She said with a thick British accent. Stuart grinned with his eyes downcast and a light blush gracing his pale skin. She leaned forward even more with her arms tucked snugly underneath her breasts so they were pushed up even more, this only deepened the blush on the young man's cheeks.

"W-Well…believe i-it o' not…i's all natural." He stammered with a smile and a glance that traveled from her breasts to her face, back down to her breasts and then to the keyboard in front of him.

The blonde's mouth dropped open lightly and her eyes widened in shock, "No way! Tha' has to be dyed!" He shook his head and bent his knees slightly due to his height, so when he leaned forward his spiky hair was close to her face. "Feel it," he whispered, "it 'as tha' natural feel to it. I've neva dyed it in my entire life." Biting her lip she slowly and gently ran her fingers through the blue hair and was surprised to find it naturally soft. "Wow," she whispered. Glancing down at his half-visible face she saw that he was grinning from her remark but his eyes were on her breasts. Smiling because she knew the ball was in her court she leaned forward to sniff his hair, her eyes closing to the pleasant fragrance and her breasts almost touching his face. "Mmm…your hair smells good, Stuart." She said pulling away from him and giggling from his enflamed cheeks.

"T-Thank you, m-miss," he stammered again, the blush deepening and his eyes trying their hardest to focus on the keyboard in front of him. She smiled and held out her hand to him, "My name's Kristal."

He shook her hand, mumbling 'Stuart' and then shoving his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. He felt her smiling at him and cleared his throat from the scrutiny; he could really use a cigarette right about now. He glanced up when he heard her sweet voice again, "…too forward, but…can I give you my number?" Stuart grinned, liking where this was going and nodded, "Awright darlin'." He said with a wink that made her giggle. He pulled out a pad of paper from the drawer in front of him and handed it to her with a pen that he'd had behind his ear. She wrote down her full name and her number and handed it back to him with a wink.

"It was nice to meet ya Kristal," Stuart said, taking the pad and pen from her and grabbing her hand and bending down and kissing it, never taking his blue eyes off her. Now it was her turn to blush, her eyes widening as he let go of her hand with another wink and stood to his full height. "Nice to meet you, too, Stuart," she mumbled flabbergasted. He glanced at the number and then back at her with a smile and said, "Dinner sometime?" She nodded and he grinned again, "See you later than Kristal." She smiled at him and waved as she walked out the door into the sun, "Bye Stuart."

Stuart grinned as he watched her walk away from the store, her hips swaying slightly. After she turned a corner and was out of sight, he glanced back down at the piece of paper in his hand and grinned slyly, proud of himself. He shoved the number in his pocket and was putting the pen back behind his ear when he heard screeching tires and screams from people outside. Time slowed down as he began to lift his head to look out the window. Right as his eyes were looking out the door he heard the glass window next to him breaking and then…

2D was jolted awake with a shout, the impact from five years ago that almost happened in his dream causing tremors of fear to run through his body as his brain and everything else worked to get on the same page. He looked around his surroundings before registering that he was in his bed in his room with the lights out. His ears began to register a rushing sound which he quickly realized was his own breath escaping from his lips as he panted from the nightmare. The last thing he realized was that he was wearing only his boxers and covered in a cold sweat. 2D swore out loud and reached his arm over his head to fumble with the light when he felt his hand smack something paper and heard it flutter to the floor. After successfully turning on the light he glanced down and noticed it was the picture of Paula he'd never bothered to take down. Now it was face up next to his foot and he shrugged, kicking it under the bed.

"Sick o' ya anyways…" he muttered. Glancing at the clock he swore again when he realized it was eight o'clock in the morning. So…he continued his usual routine whenever he woke up too early. He automatically grabbed the orange bottle with the white safety cap and fiddled to get it off before successfully opening it and popping one of his precious white pills in his mouth followed by a swig of stagnant water that had been sitting on his nightstand. After ensuring that the pill had made its way down his esophagus into his stomach he picked up his pack of cigarettes only to discover that the pack was empty. His eyes widened only for a fraction of a second from a mixture of panic, fear and anger before he shrugged it off and doubled over to reach under his bed for the carton he bought to keep him well stocked. He felt the cardboard touch his fingers and he pulled on it, realizing that the carton felt a little too light…

2D held up the carton in front of his face, his mouth gaped at the empty cardboard before he lunged to the ground and shoved his head and arms under the bed to search for any cigarettes that may have fallen out of the pack or the carton….

"FUCK!" He shouted after reeling back from under the bed. Nothing. There wasn't anything under his bed that resembled a cigarette or tobacco. 2D glared angrily at the empty carton that was ruining his early morning routine. He had to pop a pill to keep the migraines from coming that were almost guaranteed due to the fact that he gets stressed when he wakes up too early and then to soothe the effects of the pill he smokes a cigarette while he walks upstairs to grab a beer out of the kitchen. NOW he couldn't get a beer because he didn't have a cigarette to keep him company on the way up there. The singer groaned from where he sat on the ground and wiped his hands down his face irritably. Why did that particular nightmare have to rear its ugly face? He hadn't dreamt about that in a few years and he preferred not to. Sure Muds was the reason why he looked the way he did but he was also why 2D was called what he was and was where he is now…

Sighing loudly 2D stood and walked into his bathroom to relieve himself. After that he washed his face and brushed his teeth so he could go out. Might as well be clean when you're running to the store for smokes. Grabbing a pair of pants from off the floor and a shirt that smelled clean from his closet, the singer pulled on a pair of shoes, grabbed his wallet, keys and phone and walked out the door into the car park.

Rubbing his face to help himself wake up, 2D walked quietly, without even thinking about it, past the infamous Winnebago so as not to disturb the occupant(s) inside. He wasn't in the mood to get abused this early in the morning. A safe distance from the mobile home, 2D grinned wickedly when he saw his old car; the banged up and thoroughly used Toyota Camry. He raised his middle finger in a crude salute as he walked past the car to his newest investment and total waste of money.

True, it screamed CELEBRITY every time he drove it, but he was starting to care less and less. It was better than driving something that screamed TOO LAZY TO FIX IT.

2D, a few months ago, had dated a girl from the States whose father owned a Chevrolet dealership. She was cute, but intolerable, so 2D dated her knowing that she'd want to introduce him to 'daddy' whenever 'daddy' visited England. After a month of horrible, but protected, sex 'daddy' finally came over to England to "meet the man that stole his daughter's heart" so he'd said. Well, of course the man brandished several catalogs and magazines for the cars at his dealership. Ignoring the girl and getting chummy with the father, within two hours 2D had arranged to have a custom 2004 Z28 Camaro custom made and shipped to England. The father instantly loved the singer and even offered to pay for the paint job himself; one of the few 'custom' expenditures 2D was paying for. 2D had shrugged at the offer and claimed he wasn't sure what color he wanted so the father playfully winked at him and said he'd surprise him.

Then came the 'money' issue. The father offered incredible financing but 2D was in the prime of his career and not interested in payments so the singer just pulled out his wallet, wrote down his credit card number and expiration date and told the shocked man to charge the whole thing to his card, no financing necessary. Well…needless to say the man practically begged 2D to marry his daughter but 2D just smiled after the meeting and continued to put up with the girl right up until the car was shipped to Kong Studios; then he changed his cell phone number, paid off the credit card and cancelled it to save his ass from any kind of vengeful abuse the girl or her father might plot.

To those of you that haven't already guessed or simply forgot, the father of 2D's tolerated girlfriend surprised 2D by painting the car the exact shade of blue to match the singer's hair with dark tinted windows and an all black interior. This was one of the few things that screamed 'celebrity' whenever he drove it; the others were the custom rims that were platinum and outrageously large and of course an exhaust that woke everyone in Kong every time he started it. Now, 2D wasn't a car kind of guy, but come on…who wouldn't love a car like this?

2D grinned evilly as he unlocked the driver side with the remote attached to his keys and opened the door, gently sitting down inside with a satisfied sigh. Shutting the door the singer inserted the key into the ignition and paused, smiling giddily at what he thought to be the most amazing car in like…the world.

Suddenly he quickly turned the key in the ignition and the car literally roared to life, echoing throughout the entire car park and filtering through the ceiling to shake the floors above with the loud exhaust that continued to growl loudly as it idled. Shifting into drive the singer gently pressed on the gas and drove out of the car park, the Camaro's growl growing louder as the gas pedal inched closer to the floor of the car.

As he exited the car park, 2D failed to see the door of the Winnebago get kicked open and a wide-eyed, half-naked, angry bassist stand in the doorway watching him leave. Murdoc clenched his sharp teeth, his fists balling up at his sides. "I'm gona kill yeh Dullard." He whispered menacingly.

Windows down and the radio blaring at eight thirty in the morning, 2D had a goofy smile on his face as he drove out of Kong Studios to the local gas station not even seven blocks away. He pulled into the parking spot, and exited the car, locking it and arming the alarm with the remote as he walked inside. He grinned at the cashier behind the counter as he walked up. No one else was there and the cashier smiled back at him, automatically reaching behind him for two cartons of cigarettes he knew 2D was going to buy. "Forgot again, didn't ya?" the man behind the car asked as he rang up the cartons of smokes. 2D nodded sheepishly and pulled out his credit card, swiping the plastic and taking the bag with his cigarettes from the cashier. "Yea…I can neva' rememba' to go get more when I'm low." The cashier laughed and handed him the receipt and a pen so he could sign. 2D did so and handed him back his copy of the receipt.

The cashier looked up at him and then past him outside, his mouth dropping open slightly, "Uh oh, ya might wana go incognito, mate. Teeny boppers right outside." The cashier said, pointing behind 2D towards the gas pumps. The singer turned his head and swore upon seeing the fourteen year old girls with their purses and cell phones and one of them even wearing a Gorillaz shirt. 2D turned back around to the cashier and smiled when the man had pulled out a beanie and a pair of large aviator sunglasses. He grabbed them gratefully and pulled on the cap to cover his blue hair and put on the sunglasses with an almost toothless grin. "Thanks, I owe ya one." The cashier, who'd been selling cigarettes to 2D since he started living at Kong Studios waved goodbye as the singer exited the store and quickly went to his car, unlocking it and opening the door in almost the same instant. However his luck ran out as he was closing the door when he heard the one girl with the Gorillaz shirt on gasp and say, "Oh my God…I think tha's 2D from—" 2D didn't wait to hear the rest but started the car immediately and pulled out of the gas station as the teeny bopper girls were running up to his car.

Glancing back in his rearview mirror 2D snickered when he saw a few of the girls stomping their feet obnoxiously and some of them crying. He shook his head and settled himself comfortably into his car and putting his seatbelt on. The drive home was somewhat quiet since the singer was a little spooked to roll down his windows and he hadn't thought to turn the radio on. Once home, he waited for the gates of Kong to open for him before pulling up the long driveway that led to the car park. He parked in his usual spot and turned the engine off, grinning when he heard the echo from the exhaust in the car park. Stepping out of the car the singer retrieved his bag from the passenger seat and gently closed the door with his hip, leaning up against the car and ripping the cellophane off one of the cartons, tossing the garbage inside the bag and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. After ripping the cellophane off that pack he opened the pack and pulled a cigarette out with his lips, grinning from the sheer prospect of smoking. Shoving the pack in one pocket he began walking towards his bedroom and pulled a lighter out of his other pocket to light the beloved death stick. He stopped his walking to inhale and closed his eyes to hold his breath before exhaling slowly with a pleasured smile. "'at's th' stuff."

♥♥♥

White eyes stared mundanely at the steaming pan on the burner, hand poised and ready on the handle. When the steam started to become more frequent the large drummer flipped the hot pan he was holding and caught the half-cooked pancake, its raw side landing down in the greasy pan as the drummer settled it down on the burner to cook some more. Sighing he straightened his spine and glanced over his shoulder at the teenage guitarist sitting cross-legged at the kitchen table, nursing her third cup of tea.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Russel asked again for the second time within the hour. Noodle nodded, her arm robotically bringing the steaming cup to her lips as she sipped the hot liquid in hopes to be soothed.

Both Russel and Noodle had been woken by 2D's car…again. It was more of a routine now than it was an annoyance. Sure the two of them were up an hour than usual, but Russel always made pancakes every time 2D ran out of cigarettes and had to run to the store to complete his morning routine. Yea…they all knew each other's habits and routines pretty much front to back. Noodle however, had sulked into the kitchen wearing long pajama pants and a large hoodie with a saddening frown on her face, like it was her last day on earth or something. When prompted to talk about it the first time the drummer had asked she'd merely shook her head and said it wasn't something she was ready to talk about yet. She wasn't even sure she should talk about it…it wasn't her business anyway.

Noodle stared into her mug, her sad reflection frowning back at her from the dark-colored tea. She bit her lip as what happened yesterday ran through her mind for the hundredth time…that morning.

Flashback

"Knock, knock! Hey, 'D? You in here?" Noodle asked poking her head through 2D's bedroom door and glancing around, hoping he was decent. He sat on his bed with the remote in one hand and the other tucked behind his head. He glanced at her and smiled before focusing back onto his triple screen where a soccer game was playing.

"Whatcha need, love?" he asked, not really paying attention to her as she walked into the room and seated herself on the floor in front of his computer.

Noodle cleared her throat, "I need to check my email and my computer is on the fritz again. Can I use yours?" She asked glancing up at him to see if he minded or was even paying attention to her. He looked at her again and smiled with a wink, "Sure, love. Go ahead."

Noodle nodded and opened the mailbox when she noticed that his mail address was already logged in. Not really meaning to she glanced at his inbox and noticed an email from over a year ago. She snorted lightly with a smile until she saw what was in the Subject box: Child Support Payments.

Noodle's eyebrow quirked up and her mouth dropped open slightly when she read this. Glancing up to make sure the singer wasn't watching her; Noodle double clicked the old email to read its contents. Scanning over it quickly, Noodle's eyes began to widen and she forced herself to bite her lip to keep her shocked gasp from escaping. 2D…2D was a father…of several children apparently. Children that he had been roped into paying child support for and was failing miserably to do so. She reread the email in which her mouth dropped open again…DNA testing to confirm the other cases…

Noodle had seen enough. She looked up and glared at the ignorant singer, exiting out of the mailbox without checking her own and standing up quickly, her fists clenched angrily at her sides. Closing her eyes and shaking her head she turned to walk out of the room, when the singer's voice stopped her in her tracks. "You awright darlin'?" He asked her, his voice filled with concern.

Noodle swallowed the lump in her throat and fought the tears that threatened to fall. "I don't feel so good," she mumbled, "I'll talk to you later, 'D." And with that she slammed the door shut and ran to the lift, her battle with her tears lost as her eyes dripped with anger and regret. Regret for her nosiness and regret for her feelings. Of course the person who cared the most would stumble across such a personal secret, no wonder her other band mates didn't know…it would cause complications.

The Axe Princess stumbled out of the lift into the adjoining room that belonged to her, kicking the door shut and locking it. She fell back against her door, elbowing it harshly with a shout. Clenching her teeth the Japanese guitarist slid down the door with her back, her hands covering her face shakily as she wept and rocked her body against the door. How could this happen? 2D never had women over…ever since that Paula incident from before. Somehow, without Noodle realizing, 2D had gone out, probably during the rise of their first album and impregnated a bunch of women.

Noodle gnashed her teeth, her fingers gripping her hair roughly, "FUCKING IDIOT!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Thankfully, for Noodle, Russel was in the bunker gathering food which usually took several hours since the large drummer had to make more than one trip. Banging her head back against the door the guitarist released her iron-grip hold on her hair and let her hands slide down her face and fall into her lap which were soon followed by an onslaught of angry tears.

Her head rolled back and forth from left to right as she wept out loud, "Why! Why! Why couldn't it have been anybody but him! Why! FUCKING WHY!" She screamed, her body beginning to tremor from her sobs.

Her eyes opened as she looked around her room, desperately looking for a way out, for some kind of release of all of her built up anger and tension. The first thing her eyes focused on, ironically, was the stem of her scythe poking out from behind one closed closet door. Red hot anger pulsed in front of her line of vision and her muscles began to tense, preparing to move her to the scythe so she could destroy, destroy whatever may be in her path.

The eager Axe Princess stopped herself, though, before her body could overpower her mind. Her dreams were already destroyed, destroying her room and anything else that met her fancy wouldn't accomplish anything except a guarantee that Russel would chew her ass off and Murdoc would make her pay for the damage or just make her sleep in the hallway.

Noodle sobbed when her eyes settled onto her alarm clock on the side of her bed: ten o'clock. It was a very early bedtime for pretty much all of the residents in Kong but Noodle didn't care. There was nothing else she could do. She didn't have her license yet, she was only fourteen, because she was only fourteen she couldn't just walk up to a twenty-seven year old man and be like, "Hey, guess what? I have feelings for you!" No, generally there is a more mature way to go about spilling those kinds of beans. Generally.

Sliding her palms behind her up the door, the guitarist pushed herself off the door onto her hands and knees and crawled to her bed, tears streaming out of her eyes and down her already raw cheeks. She knew she was pitiful. As if she couldn't get any lower than she was, she couldn't even bear to stand. She just felt that low.

Once she reached her bed she gripped the edge of the mattress with both hands and pulled her weak body to her knees, letting go of the side of her bed and wobbling slightly in place before she regained her balance. Once steady, Noodle stripped herself down to nothing and crawled under her sheets, curling into the fetal position, naked, and still weeping. Her world came crashing down around her and now nothing was worth any amount of effort. None.

Pulling the covers over her bare skin, the young guitarist cursed her age and cursed her stupidity as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. However, for the Axe Princess, not even sleep would bring much relief. Her dreams were filled with taunting infants and toddlers, all bearing spiky blue hair and fractured eyeballs. Their mothers standing behind them dressed like prostitutes and whores, a cigarette poking out of all their mouths, including the children's. They stood around her in a circle pointing and laughing at her as she stood in the center of them, naked and alone with no one by her side.

Was this a premonition of her future? Would their singer continue his no-barrier sexual escapades without a thought of anyone else in the world while Noodle stood on the sidelines, depressed and alone while the one she loved walked right past her with no more than a smile and a pat on the head? Is that all she would have to settle with? Is that really all she got? It seemed so unfair for her…there was no justice in the world…no justice in Kong Studios…none…

Suddenly Noodle was jolted awake by a loud roaring sound that vibrated throughout the entirety of her body and shook her soul. Her eyes widened and she began to pant in fear as her nerves worked double time to detangle themselves before her body had a complete meltdown.

After several unnerving seconds Noodle groaned and plopped her head back down in her pillow once she realized what exactly had waken her in such a terrifying manner.

"Fucking two floors down…" she mumbled.

End Flashback

Noodle ran her tongue across her front teeth, nodding her head and staring off into space somewhere on the kitchen table. So this is where the memory left her, a complete and total drone. She was still pissed about her discovery from not even eleven hours earlier, but what the hell could she do? Tell her band mates? That wouldn't do her any good, especially since there was an ulterior motive for anything she did regarding the ignorant singer. She'd do anything just to get nearer to him or be with him for long periods of time…so what would ratting him out do to help her? Exactly.

Suddenly there was a plate full of pancakes shoved under her nose and seconds later and fork and knife along with some butter and syrup. Noodle looked up from the plate at the drummer who smiled warmly back at her. "Always makes me feel better to have a full stomach." He said with a wink.

Noodle smiled back at him, "Thank you, Russel." She whispered, picking up the syrup when he grinned and turned his back to her to make another batch of pancakes. Drowning her pancakes in maple syrup, Noodle realized she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. For whatever reason, she couldn't remember, she had skipped lunch and Russel hadn't been able to get into her room to invite her to the late dinner he had made. The guitarist shrugged it off and pushed her tepid tea away, picking up her fork and knife and digging into the large stack of pancakes Russel had made her. She groaned lightly from the delicious taste in her mouth, the noise not going unnoticed by the large drummer who laughed at her reaction.

"I figured you'd be hungry, baby girl. You skipped lunch and dinner yesterday." He commented.

Noodle stopped chewing when he mentioned skipping lunch. Before she could begin to wonder how he would know she rolled her eyes and finished chewing the food in her mouth. Of course the drummer would know, he was the one cooking all the time so he would know if she wasn't there or not. Duh.

Swallowing, Noodle cut another piece out of the large stack of hot pancakes she had and was lifting the fork to her open mouth when suddenly a blood curdling scream pierced the air through Kong like a knife into someone's heart. Noodle's body stiffened from shock and she gasped aloud, her fork slipping out of her hand and dropping almost in slow motion onto the table.

Her eyes widened in fear, "Russel!" She whispered. The large drummer had already turned around though, a pancake on the floor from an attempt to flip it when the scream erupted from downstairs. His face was stern and his white eyes scowling in the direction of the lift.

"Stay here." He demanded as he stomped past her towards the lift. Noodle nodded shakily, too afraid to turn around and see what may be behind her. Trembling, she listened to the large drummer stomp down the hallway and call the lift, in which the door immediately opened from not being used last night and he entered, stabbing the ground floor button, causing the doors to slide shut again.

Noodle's breath came out ragged as she listened for something…anything. She glanced around the kitchen, still afraid to look back when suddenly a loud explosion shook the entire building from the foundation and up. Noodle screamed at the explosion even though she couldn't even hear herself as she covered her ears from the noise. She fell out of the chair she was sitting and managed to crawl under the table, her plate and mug crashing on the ground around her. She covered her face with her arms and knees as she waited for the explosion to die down.

After a minute of thunder shaking Kong, the noise died down and the shaking subsided. Noodle shakily lifted her head from her knees, her eyes slowly going down the hallway until they met with the lift door, which had smoke coming out of it.

"NO!" She screamed, fumbling to get out from under the table. She stood and stared at the smoking lift door before bolting out of the kitchen for the stairs, racing down two flights of stairs and skipping three and four steps and practically jumping down whole flights. Once she reached the lobby downstairs she burst through the lobby door and into the hallway that led to the car park. Running down the hallway, she skidded to a stop and slammed into the door, fiddling with the doorknob to open it but finding that the door was locked: none of their doors were ever locked unless it was a bedroom door.

Sobbing in frustration the Axe Princess stood back against the opposite side of the corridor and kicked out the door, smoke instantly billowing in from the car park. Lifting the hood of her sweater and bring the neck line over her nose, Noodle ran into the smoke-filled car park.

It was a war zone.

To her left past the bunker entrance something was on fire and she couldn't quite tell what it was at the moment. To her right her eyes widened when she saw blood splattered on the back end of Murdoc's Winnebago and a puddle right underneath the bumper.

Suddenly Noodle's attention was drawn away from the Satanist's Winnie to shouts coming from the direction of 2D's room. Noodle gasped, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "No."

Running in a full sprint, the young guitarist dodged several weapons on the ground including knives, a gun, Murdoc's scythe and a broken bass guitar. Her bare feet also slipped in a rather large puddle of blood but she'd managed to catch her balance and continue running until she reached the singer's room.

Noodle stood in the doorway for a fraction of a second before screaming at the top of her lungs from the sight before her. Russel had Murdoc by the throat off his feet against a wall and was slamming his fist into the bassist's already bloody face. Upon hearing her scream he jerked his head to the side to see what was behind him, his expression immediately falling from one of complete anger to one of regret. Murdoc didn't have much of an expression but he must have said something because blood squirted out of his mouth onto Russel.

"Noodle…" Russel whispered.

She looked away from him wide eyed to the bed and cried out in horror from what she saw.

In the center of the destroyed bed lay, face down, 2D. His back was bare where there were cuts and scrapes oozing blood, his pants were ripped to shreds, showing bloody legs as well. His head looked purple due to the fact that his blue hair was covered in blood. Noodle ran over to the bed, ignoring Russel and Murdoc and gently climbing on the torn mattress towards the broken singer. Sobbing hysterically she hesitantly touched his arm opposite her, flinching when the muscles under her fingertips twitched from her touch but no sound came from the singer. Swallowing the lump that was in her throat, Noodle tried to psyche herself so she could flip him over.

She was afraid. Afraid of what she was going to see when she rolled the unconscious singer over. The room was silent save for the ragged breathing coming from the broken bassist as Russel continued to hold him up by his neck. The big drummer watched her with concern, worried over the same thing she was. Murdoc was afraid of what would happen to him once the drummer and the guitarist discovered what he had done to the battered singer.

Noodle took a deep, ragged breath and gripped the broken man's arm and shoulder, a high pitch sound coming from the singer but not quite registering with the others in the room. Biting her lip she slowly pulled 2D's body over, a loud scream coming from the singer that frightened her and caused her band mates to flinch. 2D continued to cry out as he was rolled over onto his back, his bloody face exposed, causing Noodle to reel back and echo him with a cry of her own.

It was amazing that 2D wasn't dead already from such a large amount of blood loss. There was a large gash across his forehead, which Noodle recognized to be from a scythe, and several smaller gashes all over his body testified to the knifes that lay outside in the car park. Noodle's tear-filled eyes roamed over the weeping singer's body in horror as she discovered new wounds all over his body, all from a different weapon. A bullet had nicked the shoulder closest to her and the wound was still bleeding heavily. On the shoulder now opposite of her, the guitarist cried out again to see a small dagger sticking out of 2D's forearm. His stomach had several more knife gashes and bruised all over his body.

Remembering Murdoc's broken bass, Noodle immediately looked at 2D's crown suspiciously and gasped when her fear came true and 2D's head was bleeding from where Murdoc hit him over the head with his bass.

Honestly, Noodle was waiting for 2D to croak right in front of her. It seemed impossible that he was alive still. Then 2D did something surprising to all of them in the room and opened his now bruised eyes. Noodle's eyes widened and she leaned in to look at him since she couldn't tell where his eyes were looking.

"Noodle…" he said through busted lips.

The young guitarist sobbed out again and gently laid her hand on the part of his arm that wasn't bleeding or bruised. "I'm here, 'D. I'm here."

"Help me…up." He said from where he lay.

Noodle nodded and gently slid her hands under his neck and his good shoulder, using all of her weight and strength to lift him off the bed. 2D winced as she lifted and cried out once he was upright, his muscles tensing under his flesh as he tried to shake off the pain. Noodle stopped once she had him in the upright position but he stopped her before she could take her hands off him.

"Stand…I want…to…stand…" He muttered.

Noodle stared at him in disbelief as did Russel. 2D was practically broken from such abuse and he was talking and attempting to stand. Something wasn't right about the whole situation. Nevertheless Noodle nodded and slid off the bed, moving to 2D's other side to support him from his good side but keeping her hand on his good shoulder to support his upper body. However, before Noodle shakily slid her arm around his lower back, he cried out again, stopping her in her tracks as he examined his right side and saw the dagger in his forearm. Then…the singer did something very uncharacteristic for the usually mild-mannered, easy going man: he growled, viciously.

Noodle's and Russel's eyes widened in shock from the angry noise coming from the singer as he growled and then suddenly he grabbed the dagger and ripped it out of his arm, blood splattering all over Noodle as she cried out in shock. She heard a ragged gasp behind her and guessed it to be Murdoc but she didn't care. Aside from being bloody and bruised, something wasn't right with the singer.

Moving, again, to help him stand Noodle reached out to wrap her arm around 2D's back but flinched when suddenly he raised his hand with the bloody dagger in front of his person in a defensive manner. Russel gasped as Noodle jerked him arms away from the singer.

"No." He growled. Noodle's eyes widened at this, he was staring right at her, or so she thought, and he had his arm raised in front of his body with the dagger facing outwards, outwards towards her, and an angry scowl on his features.

Fresh tears began to pour out of the frightened guitarist's wide eyes, "2D…let me…help you…help you stand." She stammered. His scowl deepened and his shook his head furiously, gnashing his teeth and snarling, "NO!"

Noodle's eyes widened even more as she reared back away from him. This wasn't 2D. It couldn't be. 2D would never, ever, get angry with her. Four years she's known him and not once has he ever raised his voice to her in and angry or threatening manner. Behind her she heard Russel choke on his words.

"'D…'D what's wrong with you?"

The singer turned his glare from Noodle onto the big drummer, his eyes widening angrily, "Wha's wrong wit' me! Wha's wrong wit' me! Are yeh jokin' Russ? Fuckin' look at me, damnit!" The singer shouted, causing the three other members to flinch, Murdoc falling to the floor from Russel's slackened grip. This caused 2D to focus his attention onto the bloody bassist, his grip on the dagger tightening as his eyes narrowed accusingly. Murdoc's blackened eyes looked up guiltily at the singer, his face etched with something his band mates had never seen before: fear.

2D glared down at him, "It wasn't enough was it yeh bastard? I 'ad a good life before yeh came crashin' into 'at store an' did 'is to me," he said pointing a finger at one of his black, fractured eyes. Murdoc blinked, motionless and silent. 2D's nostrils flared as he exhaled slowly from them, his eyes still narrowed, "Four years…four years I let yeh walk all ov'r me after 'at," the singer shook his head, "No more," and with that he took a step towards the fallen bassist, his grip tightening on the dagger as he raised it in his hand.

Noodle's eyes widened when she caught the miniscule movement of his muscle's tightening in his hand and she immediately jumped in front of where Murdoc sat helplessly, her legs spread defensively and her palms spread out from her waist to keep her balance. She wouldn't let this happen; the fighting had to stop here, now. This was the last straw…

"2D NO!" She shouted. She knew his black eyes darted from Murdoc to her from the slight jerk upward of his head. He glared at her, taking another step forward threateningly. Noodle frowned, if he didn't back down she'd have to fight him and she didn't know if she could wasn't sure if he could handle any kind of impact on his body.

"Move. Now." He said through clenched teeth. She shook her head but flinched when he through down the dagger, seething.

He glared at each of them individually, starting with Noodle, who was in his way to Russel, who would make him feel guilty about this whole fight somehow to Murdoc…who had destroyed his life.

Spitting blood on the floor he focused on all of them at once and growled, "I'm fuckin' done wit' all o' yeh." And walked out the door. Three of them watched him walk out his bedroom door and into the car park, staring after him in shock before Noodle got a hold of herself and chased after him. He was already three-quarters of the way to the car park bay door that led to the outside.

"'D! 2D, wait!" she called after him but he didn't stop, just dropped his head and shook it, continuing to walk away from her.

Noodle began to cry as she began to slow herself down, "2D!" she cried out.

"NO NOODLE!" he shouted, causing her to flinch and whimper from his harsh tone. He stopped too but didn't turn around, just stood with his back to her rigid and bloody.

"No Noodle," he said again loudly and Noodle watched him walk out the car park for good.

A/N: This is not a One Shot.♥♥♥