Might As Well Be On Mars // Motley Crue

Under the Gun

Friday night was their first show at the Whisky a Go-Go. It was something all the men had dreamed of doing, a sign that they weren't shit. The backstage area of the venue in the hours leading up to the performance had an air of excitement. Well, all their shows had an air of excitement, but all the guys could tell that this particular night was different.

That good feeling was why Nikki didn't want to bring up the drinking situation, but he had made a promise to Evie. And Nikki had a lot of broken promises in his life to make up for.

First, there was the matter of getting Tommy and Vince alone. To do that, he had to coordinate with Doc. Doc was to take Mick outside and keep him busy for twenty minutes or so. Then, Nikki had to kick out Tommy's girlfriend. 'Official, secret band business' made her feel a little left out, but it was good enough.

When the door to the dressing room was closed and the singer and drummer were officially confused, Nikki started his lecture.

"I have to ask you guys a favor."

"If this is something concerning the band," Tommy interrupted. "Shouldn't Mick be here?"

"Yeah," Vince said. "Where is Mick, anyway?"

"This is actually about Mick. He can't know about this, okay. If you tell him about this, I'm gonna have to kick your asses. Both of you. Understand?"

"Do you want to fire him?" Vince looked horrified at the idea.

"No, no, no. The thing is... how do I say this? We're turning Mick into an alcoholic."

The two men stared at him for a moment, then they burst into laughter.

"We know," Tommy said.

"In case you haven't noticed, Nikki, we're not drinking a bunch of fuckin milkshakes every night."

Great start, Nikki thought. "Just listen. Quit being a bunch of assholes and listen to me for a minute." His anger made the men quiet. "I know you think it's fun and rock n' roll and all that shit, but last night our guitarist's daughter cried in my arms because her father is a fucking drunk. She thinks it's our fault and it is. You don't have to stop drinking. I am not gonna stop drinking. But please just stop feeling like every occasion warrants a bottle of liquor. And if you wanna drink, it's fine, just stop doing it in front of Mick. That's all I ask for."

The men were silent for a bit. Tommy was looking down at the ground, and Nikki could tell the message had gotten through to him. Vince, though, was looking at Nikki with fire in his eyes.

"Is that what this is about?" Vince said, finally. "You're gonna stand there and think you can tell us what to do just because you got a crush on a fuckin' girl? Is that the only way you can get Mick's precious daughter to fuck you? By being on a goddamn high horse?"

"Shut your mouth, Vince." His tone was cold.

"Or what?"

Nikki stared at him for a moment. He considered being the bigger person. He chose not to be.

By the time Tommy broke it up, Vince's eyebrow was split open and Nikki's mouth was bloody. The two men stared at each other for a moment, each one waiting to see if the other would throw another punch. Shaking with anger, Nikki soon stormed out of the room.

That was twenty minutes before the show started. After fifteen minutes passed and Nikki didn't show up, the other three men started to get worried that the bassist was ditching them. As far as Mick knew, after all, Nikki was in a bad mood and stormed off after Vince insulted his hair.

But the bassist didn't ditch. He showed up backstage about two minutes before the band was set to play. He hadn't cleaned the blood off his face and his anger was clear, but neither him nor Vince said anything before they headed on stage.