Axel's can of worms (reupload)

Chapter 5

"Okay boys today we're doing something real special." Puff announced to the other martians "Axel, congrats you finally get a solo!" "Umm... Puff I don't sing." Axel explained; singing was really not his strong suit. He was alright at singing, but he was so untrained he consistently switched back into his Canadian accent when he tried. Puff smirked "Oh you don't really need to sing... We're doing a cover... You know that song HashtagSelfie?" "Oh no!" Deejay groaned "Puff you can't be serious can you?" "I'm as serious as Benatar and Axel!" Puff said with a grin and made a heart symbol with his hands. Axel rolled his eyes. Deejay and Puff became aware of his and Benatar's relationship yesterday, and they weren't judging. Deejay said that he's seen it coming since high school, and Puffpuff said that he knew that whole time that Benatar was gay, though the fact that Axel also was caught him off guard. Puffs new favorite activity was to give them shit about it. They still had no idea about Axel's 'condition' though, since he kept most symptoms to himself. After having sex with Benatar the other night he wasn't horny anymore, and he didn't get morning sickness anymore. The baby moved a lot, but since his stomach was only swollen rather than bulging they didn't see the movement. Puffpuff gave Axel a script - originally, he wanted a to a 'rainbow' version of the song by not changing the lyics and have Axel sing it in a stereotypical gay mans voice, but was then forced to change the lyrics slightly to a bitchy straight guy version of it because Axel threatened to toss him out of the window again. He explained that all they needed for this song was Deejay and Axel, since the singer of the Selfie song wasn't so much singing as talking slightly fast in a bitchy voice, and the instrumentals was basically just dubstep. Axel got in front of the microphone and started talking slightly rhythmic; Benatar gave him a reassuring smile and thumbs up, and it made him feel a little better. Deejay was quickly making the beats with his turntables. Axel: "When Julie was at the table I kept on seeing her look at me while she was with that other guy Do you think she was just doing that to make me jealous? Because she was totally texting me all night last night and I don't know if she knows this is just a booty call or not So... like what do you think? Did you think that guy was good-looking? How did that guy even get in here? Do you see him? He's so short and that hair is so gay Who even likes combovers? It's not even summer, why does Deejay keep on playing "Summertime Sadness"? After we go to the bathroom, can we go smoke a cigarette? I really need one But first, Let me take a selfie Puff and Benatar: Selfie! (repeats) [Beat drops] Axel: Can you guys help me pick a filter? I don't know if I should go with XX Pro or Valencia I wanna look tan What should my caption be? I want it to be clever How about "Livin' with my bros, hash tag LIVE" I only got 10 likes in the last 5 minutes Do you think I should take it down? Let me take another selfie Puff and Benatar: Selfie! (repeats) [Beat drops] Axel: Wait, pause, Julie just liked my selfie What a bitch Is that guy sleeping over there? Yeah, the one next to the girl with no shoes on That's so ratchet That guy is such a fake player That chick with him probably bought all of her Instagram followers I'd still do her though OK, let's go take some shots Oh no, I feel like I'm gonna throw up Oh wait, nevermind I'm fine Let's hang out back There's no vodka at this table Do you know anyone else here? Oh my god, Julie just texted me She definitely wants to go home with me. I guess I took a good selfie Puff and Benatar: Selfie! (repeat) Axel: Let me take another sefie!" "Okay great job Axel!" Puff said happily and slapped him on the back "We got it all recorded, so Deejay is gonna edit it and I'll call up Chainsmokers to buy the rights to the song!" He said and shimmied out of the rec room. Benatar came up to his boyfriend "Great job mate. You finally got a solo like the rest of us." "I slipped into my accent so much though." Axel said unhappily and crossed his arms "Deejay's gonna have to clean up the audio a lot. And the song is so annoying. If a met a girl like this who talked like that, I would probably punch her in the face and go to jail." "Puff made me sing about BITCHES with PENISES, you can shut up." Deejay called from the back, and they laughed at the memory of the Transphobic techno song. At night Axel was trying really hard to sleep, but the baby was restless, with only five days left before the 'big day', the thing was really active. He glared at Vincent who was roost on Axel's pillow. Axel was with Benatar in the brits bed, the lucky bastard was sleeping. Sighing with heavy eyes, he sat up, struggling to do so in the limited space of the small bed being shared by two people, and shook Benatar, who woke up with a groan and a yawn "What is it Axel?" He asked sleepily. "I can't sleep!" He hissed. "I'm surprised, you sleep a lot these days." He mused, he grunted when Axel angrily elbowed him again. 'You did this to me! Fix it you bastard!' Axel thought crossly. Benatar slid out of the bed and beckoned for Axel to follow him. They went into the rec room where Benatar grabbed his keytar and sat in the couch of the rec room, motioning for Axel to sit next to him. "I'll soothe you to sleep with a my new song." Benatar said, Axel gave him a look. "How do I know you're not trying to make me commit suicide like the time you played for those zombillies?" Axel asked, though he was teasing. Just because they were dating didn't mean that he would stop giving Benatar shit. "You like video games right? I wrote a song about Halo 4, I was thinking you could relate." Benatar explained. "Ohh..." Axel said, his heart beating fast and the the baby squirming. Benatar starting strumming at the strings of the keytar and began to sing, his high British voice switching to the deeper American he trained himself to use to carry out tones while he sang. Benatar: "I'll never forget eleven years ago, When combat evolved and they called it Halo. You risked your life for the UNSC, But if it was up to me you would've stopped at Halo 3. But for the love of Halo 4, I want more of the Chief and Cortana, I really thought you ended the war. But for the love of Halo 4, and I can't wait for Halo 4, I'm gonna stay up late watching Halo 4! The pillar of autumn where we first met, When the story was simple and easy to get, We did so much in those first six years, Even hated on my friends who played COD and Gears. But then you went to sleep, And came ODST, And RTS that just wasn't for me. I Halo reached for the stars, when the sun goes down. But I'm a different man, When the Chiefs around. So come back." Amazingly, at the sound of it's fathers lively music, the baby finally ceased movement and fell asleep, Axel rested his head on the the others shoulder. Benatar didn't finish and stopped playing to see Axel asleep on his shoulder. Chucking, he placed his keytar back into it's rack and slid his arms under Axel's neck and knees and picked him up, carrying him back to the martians sleeping quarters. He muttered three important words quietly to the sleeping drummer that he didn't think he would catch. "Benatar?" Axel muttered, still partly awake. "Yes?" The brit asked, settling them both down in his bed, letting Axel lay on top of him. "I love you too." Axel nestled his head in the crook of the keytarists neck, and noted barely conscience that Benatar's heart was racing. Six months later... Chancellor was crawling now. As quiet as the little girl was she was also hyperactive, looking away from her for even a second and she would disappear, and she didn't sleep as much as she did when she was a newborn. Axel loved his daughter completely, not able to imagine his life without her there. Puff was practically her nanny. Axel even overheard him telling Deejay he wanted a kid of his own, and cringed at the thought of a mini Puffpuff Humbert running around. Who would he even have kids with? It's not he was with Tig anymore. Chancellor was showing that even though she was born relatively smaller than normal babies, she had grown rapidly and was now bigger than other babies of the same age. She would probably end up being tall like her parents. Like them, she already had a crap-ton of hair; her bangs almost were long enough to go down her eyebrows. Benatar was currently feeding Chancellor, she could eat baby food now. And she would only eat food if it was Benatar feeding her, refusing to eat if anyone else tried. Even if Axel still didn't tell the truth about her parentage, he felt as if she instinctively knew that Benatar was her real father. The brit had once a few months back told him that he loved Chancellor as though she was his own daughter, and it hurt Axel inside when he couldn't muster the courage to tell his boyfriend that she was. He was sure now that Benatar wouldn't leave him just for having a kid, but he might leave him because for not having told him. Axel just didn't know what to do... When would it be too late? "Hey little martian," Axel said to Chancellor "You liked that pureed shit?" Benatar gave him a mock glare behind his bangs "Don't swear in front of the baby!" He reprimanded and wiped her mouth clean with a napkin. "So, you busy tonight?" "You know I'm not." Axel replied. "I was thinking we'd go out to dinner tonight, I already talked to Puff and he says he'll watch Chancellor." Benatar continued. Axel snorted "You probably wouldn't even have to ask him, you can announce it a minute before we leave and he'd decide on his own to watch her." The brit chuckled "But... We're going to a really nice place tonight, so be sure to dress formal." Axel groaned "You know I can't put on ties!" He really couldn't, he never liked ties, if he had it his way he would wear his skull print tee and jeans until the day he died. "It'll be worth it, I promise you." Benatar said, and the undertone made Axel wondered what emotion was passing through his eyes. Chancellor gave them both a big babyish smile. The door to the rec room opened and Deejay entered the room "Hey guys," he said "tomorrow we're having a concert, and Puff wants us to do a new song for it." "A new song?" Benatar asked "For a concert tomorrow night? Isn't this a bit sudden?" "It's Puff we're talking about." The African American shrugged "He said it was a real special concert too." Then Puffpuff came practically dancing in "It's a really big concert!" He announced "YFM has really been blowing up lately! I got the new song from my boy Destorm. Me, Deejay and Benatar will be singing for it." "What songs will we be doing?" Axel asked the lead martian, leaning against the wall, nodding as Puff picked up Chancellor. "Well you'll start us off with the HashtagSelfie cover." Puff said and smirked when Axel groaned in frustration "Hey dude don't sweat it, who cares if you start to sound Canadian? Canadians are metal." He reassured "Then we'll do Alien, Shitty G, Epileptic Techno, My Balls, Road Rage, Booty Store, Jupiter, White boy Wasted and the Saddest Panda. Then we'll finish the night off with the new song." Benatar frowned; Axel did manage to talk Benatar into letting them produce the Saddest Panda song, it was a big hit now but sometimes he couldn't help but get a little shy about it, feeling as though people only liked it because it was silly. "I'm surprised you're giving the other martians solos for a change." Benatar commented. "It's usually your style to hog the spotlight." "Suck a dick Benatar." Puff hissed. Smirking Benatar pointed at Axel with a thumb and Puff blushed at the motion. "What about Chancellor?" Axel asked "I don't like it when you have Brock babysit her, I feel like his doucheness will rub off." "Since this concert is soooo unbelievable special, we'll bring her with us on stage! The fans will get so pumped up to be introduced to the littlest martian!" Puff said, as though Axel had no say in the matter. "Woah woah I don't want you parading my daughter!" Benatar argued with some anger, since he was dating Axel he considered Chancellor his own (not knowing that she actually was). "Shut the hell up limey, the Americans are talking!" Puff shot back. "I'm not American." Axel pointed out before he went back on topic "I guess it's okay if Chancellor is in the concert with us, we didn't announce her to the fans before and I guess now's as good a time as ever." That seemed to calm Benatar down, then again the only thing that made him angry was the fact that Puff didn't ask them first. The four martians and the littlest martian went into the rec room, where they all went to their correct spots and Chancellor was put in the tiny playpen they put in there for when they needed to practice. She busied herself by chewing on the ears of a small stuffed panda (courtesy of Benatar). Puff handed them out the script for the song. "It was real nice of Destorm to write this for us." Deejay said suspiciously. "Well actually..." Puff admitted "Destorm gave us the rights to use it in concerts only, because he wants me to do certain rap parts for a video he's going to do for it." It figured, Puff as a rapper was surprisingly popular among Youtubers. If anything, Benatar and Puff were probably the more professionally popular members of the band, with Puff's rapping, and Benatar producing beats for ERB (something he didn't do for YFM because of his respect for Deejay) "The song is called Invincible, Axel you really need to focus and when you have to input your drums, because it has to time in with the lyrics. Deejay you need focus too since you're doing the lead rap while you're producing beats." And they started. Deejay: "We all been there, That time when you feel invincible. Can do anything, can go anywhere. Then, in the heat of the moment, We sometimes make decisions without.. Thinking about the consequences. Yo, Yo these drinks and these girls, And these girls and the party. Fuck a convo, all you want to see is sweaty bodies. One particular night you barely made it to the lobby. We got a problem, Houston, she screaming "I love it Bobby" You didn't get her name, just know she from Spellman. Shorty do bad, played the game without a helmet. Take her back to your dorm, bragging to your boys, Got the door half cracked so they can hear the noise. Hidden camera in the corner for everybody to enjoy, On the shelf with the team spirit, Really they just decoys. You invincible ain't watching for your health, Six weeks now no more notches on your belt. Slow down, man, you seen the clinic twice, Now you this morning cough going fast like minute rice. Convincing yourself if you good from the neck up, You don't need a doctor, You don't need a check-up. Headaches they coming in the middle of the season, It's the summertime, why the hell are you sneezing? Your nose it keeps running so copping some sneakers, Call shorty from Spellman, But she says she is just fine. Too embarrassed to hit the other girls up, But one of them fucked your whole world up, Was it Lisa or Keisha? Cause she was with Dan, Not knowing that he was with Ethan and Stan." Benatar: "Sometimes I feel like I'm invincible. Sometimes, Sometimes I feel like I'm incredible. Sometimes, When I don't use my head, When I don't use my mind, When I don't think it through, I guess I'm invincible." Puffpuff: "This is my confession, I never wanted to wrestle with depression, Let it get inside my head, Until I'm left with excessive aggression. Now give me a weapon, My self expression is threatened. I'm excessively protective cause my head is getting messed with. And I'll accept this as a lesson, Never question the direction I'm headed. I guess I'm destined, To be a freshman, amongst veterans. "Jane, stop this crazy thing," -George Jetson. I couldn't sleep so I kept thinking, I couldn't face reality so I kept drinking, The more I kept drinking, The more I kept smoking. Choking on the moments, my soul was totally broken. It's so confusing, and so consuming, My life was out of order like a Tarantino movie, So I looked at my reflection in the mirror and I said; Man, fuck my life! I wish I was dead." Benatar: Sometimes I feel like I'm invincible. Sometimes, Sometimes I feel like I'm incredible. Sometimes, When I don't use my head, When I don't use my mind, When I don't think it through, I guess I'm invincible." Deejay: "Sometimes you gotta fall like Rome and then rebuild it, If theres ever snakes in the grass I'll reveal them. All you ever need is somebody on your team, That can make you realize there ain't nothing wrong with dreaming. Fell so hard that they told you you were nothing, Planned your return, but they thought that you were bluffing. Step your game up, You done came up, Now it burns their tongue every time they bring your name up." Puff: "I'm back from the dead, I'm Freddy and Jason! I'm the architect, I hold the key for the matrix. And I hit these cats with a wiffle bat, They so fickle that they go and ask for change in my music, And get a nickle back. I won't die a statistic, I'm living at Xaviers school for the gifted. But I'm back, They said I'd win this, But not only am I back bitch, I'm back with a vengeance!" Benatar: "Sometimes I feel like I'm invincible. Sometimes, Sometimes I feel like I'm incredible. Sometimes, When I don't use my head, When I don't use my mind, When I don't think it through, I guess I'm invincible." Once the music stopped, Chancellor let out a laugh-life gurgle with a big smile, "Dawww..." The four martians cooed collectively. "I have never hated anyone as much as I hate you right now for making me wear this." Axel groaned - he was wearing a short-sleeved black dress shirt with a white tie, and black trousers with black dress shoes. He hated pressed, formal clothes, it never felt right. "You look so nice though." Benatar told him; he was wearing a black blazer over a white dress shirt with the sleeves actually rolled all the way down, black trousers and dress shoes, and a white tie. Though it wasn't that considerable different from what he usually wore, the black and white made him look more sleek. "It's not cricket to go to a fancy place in casual attire. Besides, you were completely fine with putting on that panda costume and walking around Japan for the Saddest Panda music video." The came into the restaurant - it really was fancy, and had a name in some foreign language that neither of two boys knew or could pronounce. A stuffy-looking waitress served them, Axel ordered a steak and Benatar settled on some kind of shrimp salad dish. They ordered wine for the both of them. The wine, of course, came first. Axel poured some for himself and then some for Benatar and they sipped it slowly, letting the rich flavor wash over them. "Hey Benatar, I was wondering... How long did you like me?" "What do you mean?" Benatar inquired, taking another sip. "When did you figure out you had feelings for me? I gave you nothing but shit for years, and we kind of started dating out of the blue." Benatar paused to think for a moment and it made the metalhead sweat a little. "I guess around the time Puff formed the band" Benatar finally answered "We hated each other before YFM if you can recall, but over time I saw how loyal you were to YFM, and what a good drummer you were... It was admiration, and it turned into actual feelings somewhere along the line, then right as we became a couple I realized it was love." Maybe it was the poetic tone, or just the fact that he'd known Benatar for years, but Axel knew for sure that the Brit was being completely honest with him. "What about you?" "We both know I was completely straight right?" Axel began, Benatar nodded "I guess I hated you when we met because I thought you were cute but it grossed me out because I liked girls. When we both joined YFM, I gradually accepted how I felt about you but didn't think you liked me back. Because I'm not gonna lie dude, out of all of us you're the one that all the bitches are after." He put bluntly and Benatar laughed. Part of the reason they gave the keytarist so much shit was because he was a major fan favorite, especially among the female population of YFM fans. Their dinner came and they ate in relative silence, since Benatar didn't like talking while he ate because he felt it was improper. Axel noticed like always that Benatar didn't bother to put salad dressing or parmesan on his salad. It almost made him shudder, because he hated vegatables and the thought of eating it without anything good except for shrimp sounded so gross. Once they were finished with their dinner they still had half the bottle of wine left and decided on another glass, even though neither of them could get buzzed on wine with a full stomach. "When do you want to leave?" Axel asked. Benatar didn't answer him, so Axel asked again but the blonde only continued to drink his wine and stay quiet, finally he got tired of the quiet treatment "Hey asshole what's your problem? You make me has put on stuffy clothes and eat overpriced mediocre steak and you can't even talk to me? What's wrong with you?" The blonde stayed quiet for another moment. "My problem is..." Benatar began, setting the wine glass down and one hand traveling to his lap "Is that I don't know your answer." Axel threw him a retarded look, answer for what? "What answer?" Time seemed to go super slow as Benatar brought up his hand from his lap, and Axel knew that it had been in his pocket. The drummers heart thudded super fast when he eyed the tiny box that was clasped, and then outstretched in the keytarists hand. His heart almost stopped when Benatar opened it slowly and revealed a gold ring with a small, square diamond on it. "Axel Chains..." 'Oh my god, oh my Neil Young looking metal god!' Raced through Axel's brain. "I know this is sudden but I've come to realize you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with... Will you marry me?" They were then thrown out of the restaurant immediately afterward because of the drummers loud yell of; "Yes! Metal god yes! Benatar you are so getting laid tonight!" Chapter 8 The next morning Axel woke up sore, but so incredibly happy that not even limping could dampen his spirits. To spare the baby and the other martians from their uhh... passion, they stayed the night at a motel. Benatar said it was unnecessary, but looking at the utterly trashed condition of the motel room the morning after said otherwise. Given the special occasion of celebrating their engagement, Benatar had Axel top for the first time. Although it was very pleasurable for both of them, Axel could tell that him topping was something only for special occasions. The two musicians took a quick shower had to leave the motel still in their formal attire since they didn't bring other clothes with them, though Benatar didn't seem to mind. "Are you sure we shouldn't straighten up the room first?" Benatar asked, sounding a little guilty as they left the parking lot on foot. Axel shrugged "Hey, the maids don't get paid to do nothing." He assured, then grinned remembering why they were celebrating in the first place "Should we tell Puff and Deejay once we get back, about being engaged?" Benatar thought for a moment "I have an idea..." He leaned over and quietly explained the plan to his fiance. When he was done explaining Axel agreed that it would be the most epic way of informing their bandmates. Puff came up to the microphone for their big concert, a huge crowd standing in the arena where they were performing. His swelled with pride seeing the fame that his band had earned. "Hey Earthlings! You ready for a big night?" He called, and winked at some of the ladies in the front row, the crowd went wild. "Well tonight the Martians have something special planned!" Axel came from backstage, some of the crowd went quiet and some gasped; the metalhead was grinning his trademark gapped grin, with one arm he was holding up the horns of the metal genre with his fingers, and in his other arm he was holding Chancellor. The baby was staring at the bright lights and all of the people with babyish amazement in her big blue eyes. "Hey people!" Axel called out to the crowd, and some of them seemed a little amazed that Axel could actually talk (Even though he did the Hashtagselfie cover...) "It's Axel on the drums here, and I'd like to introduce you to the littlest martian; my daughter Chancellor Raylin Chains!" At the announcement the crowd roared in their approval, several congratulations were thrown as well. So that the bright lights wouldn't cause the baby to have a seizure, or that the loud music wouldn't freak her out, Axel had to hand the baby to Deejays cousin Deejane, who agreed to watch her back stage. Due to just how major this concert was for them, they were sparing nothing. Axel had his special effects and pyrotechnic guys set up great visuals around them, and when he did the Selfie song he was so focused he managed to not slip into his Canadian accent and kept his voice even the entire time, and even kept a mischievous smile in place. They went through the songs, all performing at the peak of their abilities. Puff's rap was smooth and he didn't trip over sounds, Benatar's fingers didn't fumble even once on the keytar, Deejay worked his turntables like a pro. Axel drummed and drummed, not missing a beat once. His heart pumped in tune with the drumbeat and it was probably the same for his bandmates. Finally, Deejay, Puffpuff and Benatar finished the concert strong with "Invincible" and the crowd roared, clapped and cheered. Puff was about to say goodnight to the crowd when Benatar came up to him before he could say anything "Actually Puff, I would like to make a special announcement to the crowd." Puff nodded but gave his second in command a nod anyways and gave him the floor. "People, I would like to give you all an encore." Benatar said into the mic, there were some giggles from the crowd when they heard his high, soft British speaking voice which sounded nothing like the singing voice they were accustomed to. "But not just any encore; I would like to pay tribute to YFM's amazing and talented drummer." Although Deejay and Puff were not informed of this bold after-act, they respected the other two martians enough to clear the stage. Finally there were two wooden stools with a big spotlight in the center of the stage. Benatar sat on one stool with his keytar on hand, and a microphone in front of him, Axel sat in the other stool, in his arms he was holding his sleeping baby daughter. The way they sat allowed them to look at each other and the crowd at the same time. "I call this song "Shooting Star"," Benatar said into the mic "I wrote it for Axel." Playing a soft melody with his keytar Benatar caused a silence to fall over the crowd. He twisted his neck to do a hair flip so that his bangs were out of his face and his maple-brown eyes stayed focused affectionately on Axel as he started to sing. Benatar: "I can be your shooting star, Just catch me when I fall, Each night for you. I can be your hiding place, Keep you safe within my walls, Just never leave me empty. 'Cause somewhere our love, It's so much brighter than it is here. Somewhere our love, Is much safer than it is here. I can be your rolling wave, So when you lose control, I can carry you back to shore. I can be your morning bird, I'll sing you back to life, Just never shut me out. I can be your gentle breeze, I'll climb in through your window, To kiss your cheek and put you to sleep. Somewhere our love, Is much stronger than it is here. Somewhere our love, Sounds much sweeter than it does here. And I can be your gentle breeze I can do all of there. Sing for you, just let me please, I'll never leave. And I can be your rolling wave, morning bird and hiding place. Take you very far away, just let me please. And I'll do these for you, love I'd do all these for you love. Somewhere our love, Shines much brighter than it does here... Somewhere our love, Is much safer than it is here.... And I'll do this for you love. I can be your shooting star... Just catch me when I fall... Each night... For you... ...My love..." The crowd stayed silent when Benatar stopped playing and leaned forward, to kiss the drummer in front of all of them. They broke apart, rose together slowly, then looked right at the crowd; they clasped each others hand so that they could hold their arms up high and show the whole crowd their ringed fingers "As of yesterday; I, Benatar Mcswagger Cale, am engaged to Axel Steven Chains!" The crowd didn't move or make a sound, until a soft clapping started, slow at first but once the whole crowd was going they cheered and clapped loudly. The two taller martians turned to see that both Puffpuff and Deejay were frozen with surprise, Puff's jaw was wide open and Deejay's eyes were popped out so far you could actually see them past his afro. Puff still shocked stumbled to the microphone which he took reluctantly from the brit "Okay... Thank you for the announcement Benatar..." He trailed off, but he quickly bounced back "Oh hell, crowd I'd like to announce something as well! Me and Deejay are also together!" It was Benatar and Axel's turn to drop their jaws. Chapter 9 Once the band cleared out to backstage questions were being thrown back and forth amongst the four martians: "When did you guys get engaged?" "Why didn't you guys tell us earlier?" "When are you going to get hitched?" - Directed at Axel and Benatar. "When did you guys get together?" "How did you two happen?" "You guys are gay?" - To Puffpuff and Deejay. Then the answers: "I asked Axel to marry me." - Benatar. "I said yes, then we had hot celebratory sex." - Axel, who was then smacked in the shoulder. "We've liked each other for years. We started going out five months back." - Puffpuff. "Puff found out he liked me after he went out with Deejane; he only liked her because she was so much like me. We didn't tell you guys because we didn't know how this relationship would turn out." - Deejay. With the air was cleared they started to load the concert equipment. Axel pulled Benatar to the side when he was sure the other two were too engrossed in packing up. "Benatar we need to talk." He said, breathless, he was carrying Chancellor against his chest and shoulder, the little girl was using tiny fingers to explore his ear. He needed to let Benatar know the truth, he had kept it from him for too long. "What is is?" The brit asked concerned, was something wrong? "You love me right Benatar?" Axel asked desperately, heart pounding "And you love Chancellor like she's your daughter?" Benatar wrapped an arm around his fiance "Axel why are you even asking?" He said, face close to the metalheads "I love you with all of my heart; you and Chancellor are my family." It all spilled out of Axel at once; the drunk night that Benatar didn't remember, the three-week pregnancy, the home birth, how much he wanted to tell him but the fear and insecurity of Benatar rejecting him or just staying with him out of pity stopping him, how he considered giving up Chancellor at first. Everything. Benatar turned pale, paler than Axel even. "Chancellor is your daughter Benatar; you really are her father. I don't know how it happened to me, but it did." Axel finished. Benatar stayed pale, his eyes were wide at first but then they went shiny, Axel realized it was with tears "Why didn't you tell me Axel?" The keytarist demanded "Why didn't you trust me? I could have helped you! Don't you know how dangerous it is to give birth alone without medical attention? Women can die of childbirth without medical assistance, and the risk must have been triple for you!" "Benatar I'm so sorry, I love you." Axel said, starting to shake uncharacteristically "I wanted to tell you... But I was afraid of your reaction." Benatar rubbed his tears away "I understand." He finally said, and stared at the baby playing with Axel's ear... The baby he had been helping take care of for months but unaware he had fathered "Axel I can understand why you didn't tell me, I really understand why you did what you did... But," Axel sucked his breath at the hollowness in the brits voice "but I still feel hurt, hurt and gobsmacked... I'm not really sure how I can deal with this right now... I just need some time to think, okay?" "Okay." Axel replied sadly, Benatar leaned in and kissed him before walking away with sagging shoulders. Confused sadness radiating off of him. Sighing, Axel took Chancellor back into the bus. Still sad, the drummer switched off the light and laid down in Benatar's bed where hopefully he would find the blonde with him in the morning, then fell into an uneasy sleep. Axel woke up the next morning cold, he was disappointed to find that Benatar was not with him. Deejay and Puff were awake, eating breakfast at the table. "You look like crap." Puff told him bluntly as Axel trudged in the room, hair and clothes a crumpled mess, his eyes showing stress-induced dark rings under them. "Guys I have to tell you something I didn't tell you before." Axel said, then quickly repeated to them what he told his fiancee last night. They went through the usual routine of questions that came with new information being dropped like this. "Does Benatar know?" Deejay finally asked, Axel nodded. "I told him last night." He croaked. Puff looked around "Where IS Benatar?" He asked the elephant in the room. "I don't know." Axel admitted "He kind of walked off to go think after I told him." Silence. "Do you think he walked out on you?" Puff asked; a bright red haze filled Axel's brain and vision and without thinking properly he threw himself on the lead Martian. His fists repeatedly struck Puff all over in a raged frenzy, and for the life of him could not hold back. He was punching, striking and headbutting Puff with all he had, taking out all of the frustration that he had been bottling up ever since that drunk night. It took five minutes for Deejay to forcefully rip Axel off of Puff, the big disk jockey pulled out a tranquilizing dart that Puff had in his 'inspiration drawer' and stabbed into Axel shoulder. Gradually all of Axel's muscles relaxed and he was placed on a chair, where for safe measure Deejay retrained him with duct tape and tended to Puff's injuries. Puff's glasses were broken, his face was bruised and swollen, his hair was a mess, he had a black eye, his chest and arms were discolored with bruises and there was some blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. The tranquilizer made Axel dazed enough to not be aggressive, but not dazed enough to actually feel bad. "Are you calm now?" Deejay asked the drummer cautiously. Even woozy and dazed from the tranquilizer, Axel growled "If you let me out of here I'll throw Puff out a three-story window, light his corpse on fire and piss on the flames." "Okay so you're not calm." Deejay stated, then grabbed the back of the chair where he dragged it and by extension Axel into the rec room "Okay so you sit tight in the rec room and relax while me and Puff go look for Benatar. We'll take Chancellor with us so you just focus on calming down..." Axel spat at him and threw a string of loud, well-worded curses, insults and threats. Deejay flipped the light switch and filled the room with darkness "You know what? I think you need a nap. Don't worry, we'll find Benatar, we both know that he doesn't have it in him to walk out on anyone." "DEEJAY IF YOU LEAVE ME IN HERE I'LL SCOOP YOUR EYEBALLS OUT WITH A RUSTY SPOON AND REPLACE THEM WITH YOUR BALLS!" Axel screamed and struggled against the duct-tape wrapped around all of his body, but he could only wiggle sluggishly with the tranquilizer still making it's way into his system. Deejay shut the door of the rec room and thanked god that it was a soundproof room. Deejay and Puff (who was carrying Chancellor in a baby harness) looked all around town for the keytarist, but they didn't find him and no one had seen him. After about an hour of fruitless searching around town they decided to go back to the concert arena. He wasn't there, so they visited the security room where they asked if they could look into last nights footage to help them find their friend. The sympathetic guard brought up soundless footage starting with right after the concert last night. They quickly found footage of Axel and Benatar talking. As Axel started to talk Benatar went really place and stiff, then as he himself started to talk he was crying. Benatar kissed Axel before they both parted looking sad. They followed Benatar through footage from different areas. Soon he stopped in some hallway where he seemed to break down. He was shaking and leaned into a corner, his head resting against a concrete wall and hand went to his face though they couldn't see what for. Benatar was standing there for a few minutes when someone else came into the hall - someone decked out in black and had a black scarf wrapped around their face. Benatar didn't notice that person approach him, or that they had a cloth in hand. The security guard, Puff and Deejay gasped when the person snuck up on Benatar and shoved their hand against him face, pressing what they now knew was a chloroform cloth against Benatar's nose and mouth. The keytarist struggled, managing to throw the person off of him, and he tried in vain to run before the drug took over and he collapsed unconscious. In horror his bandmates watched on screen as Benatar was dragged out of the hallway, then outside of the arena where they then lost all sight of him and his attacker. "I need to call the police." The security guard said, pale, as he grabbed the phone and quickly dialed the cops. "I'm going to throw up." Puff told Deejay in a hollow voice as he quickly pulled Chancellor out of the baby harness to give her to his boyfriend, before rushing over to the trashcan and vomiting into it. Somewhere far away, in an undisclosed location, Benatar groaned; an angry headache pounding against his skull was waking him up from uncomfortable slumber, he didn't open his eyes knowing that light would be amplified from the migraine. His mouth was dry; feeling returned to his body, he realized that there was pain on his wrists, and he couldn't move his arms or legs. He opened his eyes cautiously. The room was completely dark. Panicked he tried to move his arms but with grim realization he found that he was restrained; his wrists were secured onto bed posts and so were his ankles. Not only that but he was also gagged; that dry feeling in his mouth was from the bunched up part of the cloth wrapped around his face, the bunched up part filling his maw completely and kept him from opening it further or closing it. He sat there for fifteen minutes, struggling to no avail against his restraints. He had to force his eyes closed when light suddenly filled the room. "Good morning Benny!" He heard a happy squeal, he reluctantly turned his head to the door he hadn't seen earlier because of the dark and saw a young woman standing there looking very happy to see him. She had very pale blue eyes, pale skin, an oval face and black hair. She was wearing a blue casual dress and socks but no shoes. She came over to him and he saw she also had a light dusting of freckles. He figured she was pretty, but it was the very insane, demented, deluded and dangerous vibe coming off of her that was throwing him off. She smiled at him and a slender hand swept his blonde bangs out of his smile was sweet and her eyes were soft, but he only wanted to pull away from the demented creature. He couldn't though, being as thoroughly restrained as he was "Welcome home Benny." She said, and continued to play with his hair. Benatar was trapped. Chapter 10 Two months later... "MPPPHHH!" Benatar gave muffled scream as his kidnapper rode him. As if the kidnapping, starving and restraining weren't bad enough it was the rape he found especially humiliating. Since she had him tied on his back she would ride him; it was so humiliating, only Axel was allowed to touch him there. Dicey moaned his name, face flushed as she continued to go up and down on his cock. She was sweaty and tired but not losing speed, wanting to bring the blonde to completion no matter how much he didn't want to. Benatar mentally could not enjoy this, but his traitorous body couldn't help but love every moment of the stimulation and even though he held on as long as he could he eventually came deep inside of Dicey. Once he did, he felt completely and utterly humiliated, disgusted, and self-loathing; and even though this was completely non consensual and forced, he still felt as though he were being unfaithful to his Axel. Dicey stopped and removed him from inside of her and fell on top of him, in his weak state Benatar found even her small weight heavy on top of him "... perfect Benny!" She squealed between pants, he lost the first part of what she said, he'd lost some understanding of what was going on but he had just enough that he at least knew he hated her even more. She insisted on calling him Benny or Ben, completely unaware that he didn't like it when people tried to shorten his name which was why his bandmates always called him by his full first name. She brought her lips close to his ears and whispered, he lost a lot of what she said but he could catch some "I love you Ben... all mine... I can ... more... faggot Axel." And there was another thing, the demented fangirl decided that Benatar wasn't gay, and that Axel was the enemy and had seduced him to make the 'wrong choice'. The way that she constantly talked shit about Axel was the thing that Benatar hated the most about her. He was in very sorry condition - she didn't ever take the gag off, only replacing it with a new cloth once she sedated him at night, so instead of eating actual food she would inject him with nutrients, but even so she didn't give him enough and the modest muscle mass he had before was gone and made him very skinny and his ribs show. His eyes were bloodshot from crying, and hollow with dark rings, there were probably ropeburn scars on his wrists and ankles. He was only allowed to go to the bathroom once a day, and only after she had sedated him so he was too out of it even remember his name let alone try to escape, the same went for showers. She didn't know he was diabetic, that was probably the biggest health issue with him. Being gagged when he was conscious all of the time he couldn't explain it to her. He didn't ever get the insulin or sugar when his body needed it, and the the nutrient supplements that she was injecting wasn't appropriate for a diabetic lifestyle. He was dying, he could feel it. Soon his body would give up and the diabetic shock. He didn't care if he died anymore. He ignored her as she tucked him back into his trousers, he thought about Axel and their daughter. He wondered if she could walk yet. How long had he been there? He wondered if Puff found a new singer and guitarist. Did Axel forget about him and find someone else? He glared at Dicey's finger, because she hated that he was engaged to Axel she took Benatar's engagement ring and put it on herself, fooling herself into thinking it meant that he was all hers now. His heart very slow, his heart and his pulse, he knew that it would give up soon. He wanted to die, he wanted it all to be over. It was already over for him, no one would save him. He'd never get to see Axel or Chancellor again, and at this point that was his only regret. "... poor Benny." She cooed and swept a soft hand across his forehead "...pale....sick love? ... medicine... some fresh air." She said, more to her deluded self then to him and opened the window of the attic. "You...here...worry ...right back!" 'Just leave me alone to die in peace!' Benatar mentally begged; while dying alone wasn't exactly the way he would prefer to go, it was still better than dying with only her with him. He'd given up a long time ago. Given up hope that he'd be saved, given up hope in living. She gave him a lot of drugs all of the time too, that's why he didn't understand and lost a lot of what she said. Weird drugs, club drugs, roofies, painkillers, antidepressants, depressants, hallucinogens, if it could be put into a syringe it was immediately injected into his bloodstream. He wasn't fully there anymore, it was as though he was always submerged underwater, watching a distorted version of reality and unable to float back up to clarity. He would see and hear things that weren't real a lot. Sometimes nice things, like Axel, Chancellor and the other members of YFM, or fluffy bunnies, sometimes bad things like a giant eyeball demons trying to dig into his chest and eat his heart. It varied a lot. As far as he was concerned, nothing that happened was real anymore, everything was too distorted. He would get bad trips a lot, a lot more often now that he was drawing closer to deaths door; random bad hallucinations, sometimes he would have a seizure or panic attack. Not that Dicey seemed to notice, she interpreted this as him trying to escape. He imagined there was something sitting on his chest now; a blue bird.... No too big to be a blue bird... A blue hawk... It looked familiar too... Then it was gone, another hallucination he guessed, but he didn't know why the hallucination was so familiar. Ever since Benatar went missing YFM ceased all activity, announcing that they would be retired until Benatar was found. No tours, no concerts, no interviews that didn't have to do with detectives or the topic on finding Benatar. All the band was hit hard, even with the large full-scale manhunt being conducted all over the state to find the abducted keytarist. All they knew about the kidnapper was that they were short, only about five-foot-five or so, and slender, probably female. While all the martians were struck hard by the kidnapping of their keytarist and down in the dumps about it, it was rather obvious that the one was hit the hardest was Axel. Even though he was restrained to the chair still when they and a cop announced it to him, Axel had a freak-out attack so bad he actually broke out of all of the duct tape and went on a rampage. It took ten police officers, no seriously ten, to subdue him, and the panic attack that immediately followed once he was fully restrained by the ten police officers was so bad that they actually had to put him in the hospital and keep him under observation for three days to make sure that he wouldn't hurt himself. The poor metalhead hadn't been functioning properly ever since. He rarely spoke, he would mope around and cry alone sometimes, he wouldn't even go near the rec room, and he couldn't take proper care of Chancellor anymore because of his state of mind. Chancellor had to be taken care of Puff and Deejay, and while they did an excellent job Chancellor still wanted her father more. He was also consistently easy confused and air-headed. Once he had been pouring himself coffee and forgot he was doing so, not even noticing that the boiling hot liquid was spilling out of the mug and burning his hand until Puff came into the kitchen and screamed at him to stop. Two months, and there were still no leads, they'd interviewed over a five hundred people who went to the concert, but since over three thousand had went it was basically a wild goose chase and the police felt as though they were going no where. Axel climbed out of the shower and got dressed - a black shirt and gray sweatpants rather than his regular attire. Sighing he shuffled into the rec room, and sat behind him drumset. Not really sure why he started to play his drums but stopped after a few beats, not up to it. He picked up his black electric guitar. Even if he never played it for songs, he actually did know how to play the guitar, after all why else would he own a guitar in the first place? Puff just never let him play it because while all of the martians could play guitar Axel was the only one who could play the drums, besides Benatar was better at playing guitar anyways The grip around the metal guitar tightened thinking about his fiance. He refused to believe that Benatar was dead...But he could sense that Benatar was definitely in deep trouble, really deep trouble. If he didn't get help soon... He was pulled out of his thoughts by a high-pitched squeak - crawling through the ajar door was his daughter. He was surprised to see how fast she could crawl now... He hadn't noticed at all, dad he really been neglecting her so much? She looked different than he remembered... Her crap-ton of really light brown hair could cover her eyes now, making her look even more like her parents, and she had her two bottom front teeth. The baby giggled happily and crawled over to him. "Hey little martian." Axel croaked, his voice hollow and quiet from misuse "You want to hear me play a song?" The baby sat down on her bottom and sucked on her thumb, and Axel decided he would play her a song and settled on "Going in Blind" by Pod. He got off of his seat and sat on the floor, put Chancellor in his lap and started to play a melody on the guitar, then started singing, voice shifting unconsciously to his Canadian accent. Axel: "One day... Someday... This life, not like you wanted it, Wanted it... wanted it... wanted it.. His eyes, I can see again, I need you here... In your mind, nobody's listening, listening It's all right, not to feel again, Just breathe again... Time after time, I walk the fine line But something keeps bringing me back, Time after time, I'm going in blind, I don't know which way I need to go...." He stopped, his throat getting sore; having not used his voice in the past two months actual singing was really straining. No need anyways, it looked like his piss-poor mediocre performance put Chancellor to sleep. He set the guitar back in it's stand and carefully cradled Chancellor, noting that she had gotten a lot bigger in the past two months. He kissed her on the cheek affectionately; he promised himself he would be a better parent from now on. He put Chancellor down in her crib and covered her with her blanket before settling down on his own bed for a nap of his own. He hadn't used Benatar's bed ever since the blonde went missing, sleeping in it alone wasn't the same. He nodded off for about half an hour before he was being woken up again by a sharp feeling against his temple. Vincent was pecking him. "What do you want, Vincent?" Axel asked grumpily as he sat up, then his eyes widened seeing that clasped tightly in the hawks talons was a bright firetruck-red tie. "Is that...?" He muttered; Benatar had only one red tie, and it would be his if... He checked behind the tie and indeed, written on the back of the tie in sharpie was 'Benatar M. Cale' "You know where Benatar is?" He asked his loyal hawk, who nodded. "Is it far?" The bird nodded again. Cursing Axel got off of the bunk and grabbed the bus keys, then went to the wheel. "Lead me to where Benatar is Vincent." He commanded with purpose. The hawk cawed and flew out of the window and started to fly, Axel following close behind, a rather deadly focus in his green eyes. They stopped in front of a house - small house, but he could tell from the open window under the roof that there was an attic, the perfect place to hide a captive. His muscles tightened in anticipation and determination. He noticed a large tree next to the house, which he could climb in order to get in there... But for getting out... He put on a skull print hoodie with deep inner pockets and quickly armed himself with a large switchblade. Vincent rested on Axel's shoulder as Axel scaled the tree hastily and used his long body and arms to stretched himself to reach the window once he was high enough in the tree. He grabbed the rim of window and pulled himself into the attic, stumbling in. He whipped his head around and found the bed against the corner of the same wall as the window. His breathing hitched when he saw Benatar lying there, and he rushed over to the tied up keytarist. Axel's heart broke seeing the condition of his fiance. He was really pale, almost gray, his eyes were closed but he could see that they were really hollow and sunken, dark rings under them. He was really, really anemic; he'd been thin in the first place but now he was just skin and bone. His wrists were retrained above his head but even so Axel could see ropeburn discoloration and bruising peeking out from under the knots. There was a lot of bruising on his bicep, a lot of bruising and bright red puncture marks. His nails were long from lack of grooming, his hair, as limp and pale as it was, was also longer. There was a gag shoved in his mouth, which Axel quickly cut off. Even with his mouth free the unconscious musician didn't seem to breath. Axel managed to squeeze a voice out of the shock gripping his body "Benatar?" He called softly and placed a hand on Benatar's chest to gently shake him - he almost reeled back at how frigid he felt, but he kept his hand there and panicked when he didn't feel any movement beneath the ribcage. "No... No..." Axel muttered quietly, even his pride couldn't keep the tears away "You can't be dead.. .Benatar...? Benatar!" He said, more harsh and loud than he meant and shook him harder, he was relieved to finally feel a weak heartbeat. Thump... Thump... Thump... The anemic blonde sucked in a sudden, deep breath and weakly stirred awake. The metalhead was taken aback when Benatar opened his eyes - the bright maple brown that Axel loved were instead a dull, dead, foggy pale brown. And worst, even though Benatar was looking right at him not a spark of recognition appeared. "Benatar?" He breathed "Benatar it's okay, I'll get you out of here." He assured but the weak brit didn't respond. Axel took out his switchblade and cut the restraints that bound his fiances wrists and ankles to the bed posts, he was angry seeing how deeply bruised his wrists were, it was a lot worse than he initially assumed they would be. And his hands were almost blue, he helped Benatar sit up and took off his skull-print hoodie and helped the other get into it; he felt way too cold to be normal. Then the door opened. "What the hell are you doing?" A shrill voice yelled at Axel; the drummer in question narrowed his eyes angrily at the bitch standing at the door, glaring at him with spite. Vincent flew from Axel's shoulder and with a loud caw racked the claws of his talons across the girls face, she screamed and fell back and Axel heard a lot of tumbling as she fell down the stairs. Growling, Axel left Benatar momentarily and rushed down the stairs - the bitch was holding her bleeding, shredded face and groaning in pain. Axel grabbed the first thing he could find, which was a lamp, and slammed it against the top of her head. With a grunt she blacked out from the sheer force, blood streamed down her head and the lamp lay in broken ceramic pieces around her. Still glaring, Axel kicked her side, not feeling bad about having just hit a women. He noticed Benatar's engagement ring on her finger and ripped it off, not caring if he broke her finger or not, and made his way back up stairs to Benatar. The keytarist continued to give Axel a lifeless, blank stare. "Come on Benatar we need to leave now." Axel commanded gently and wrapped one of Benatar's arms around his neck and shoulders and helped him walk, he snapped the hood of the jacket over Benatar's head hoping it would help warm him more. Jesus Christ, Benatar was stumbling a lot, had he been walking at all in the past two months?! He didn't even have the strength to keep his head up and stayed deathly silent as Axel helped him down the stairs and to the front door "Benatar please say something!" Axel begged "Don't you remember who I am?" "?!" Benatar stammered nothing but gibberish, discouraging Axel further. The confusion made it hit home that he did in fact not recognize him. Axel kicked the door opened then decided to pick up the blonde bridal style to hurry - he winced, Benatar weighed basically nothing - and rushed to the bus, Vincent following in flight "I'm Axel Chains, I'm your fiance; we've been in YFM for years." He explained to him, but he still gained no response. He shoved the bus door open "Puffpuff! Deejay!" He practically screamed, the two came running into the room but stopped abruptly seeing the anemic, feeble mess in Axel's arms. "Is that..." Puff whispered in disbelief. "Yes." Axel confirmed, holding Benatar tightly scared that he'd disappear any moment, Even with the hoodie on Benatar was inhumanly cold. "You need to call the cops now, the bitch who kidnapped him is still in there, I knocked her out but I want to know for sure that she'll rot in prison for what she did!" He held the blonde close to his body hoping he would absorb some of his body heat. Deejay whipped out his phone and dialed the cops, Axel addressed Puff "Puff you need to drive us to the hospital, Benatar's in really bad shape. I know you have a million questions right now but I need you to focus and get us to the hospital." The short nerd nodded and went to the wheel, the bus started up right away and they were driving really fast. Axel noticed Benatar getting even paler by the second and remembered his diabetes, he rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. He tilted the unresponsive brits head back and slowly poured the soda into his mouth. Benatar shivered at the coldness, but swallowed anyways, Axel didn't stop until all of the soda was gone. After a few moments a hint of color returned to the martians pale face.. "It's going to be okay Benatar." Axel said reassuringly, but Benatar didn't seem to register anything of what was happening. Judging by the look in his eyes, he was really distant, not all the way there; Axel felt more hot tears well up in his eyes "Oh my god Benatar, what did that bitch do to you?" He asked, but no reply was given. Shoulders shaking and holding Benatar tightly against him Axel quietly sobbed. Whatever she did to Benatar, it was bad enough that the brit didn't even recognize him anymore. He then felt a cold, comforting hand on his cheek and saw it was from the keytarist - though he was definitely still detached from reality, there was finally some recognition behind the haze... And love. "Axel....?" Benatar rasped, his arms going around Axel's neck "I missed you." Axel's heart fluttered sadly "I missed you too." He whispered. "I was dead..." Benatar said, his voice ghostly, almost disembodied. "But you brought me back." He kept switching between his British and American accent as he spoke, as if he couldn't tell the difference anymore, sadly he probably didn't. Axel didn't respond as the bus pulled to a stop; he looked out the window and saw they had arrived at the hospital. "Why?" "I love you Benatar." Axel replied quietly, then shut, opened the door and ran into the hospital, Deejay and Puff following closely. Chapter 11 Axel was pacing in the waiting room in urgency,unable to sit still while Benatar was being treated by doctors. Puff was quiet, holding Chancellor who was bent on exploring the lead martians ear; Deejay was silent as he was leaning against a wall, staring blankly into space deep in thought. Or maybe devoid of thought, it was hard to get a reading off the guy. "Axel," Deejay finally said "you need to sit and calm down bro." Axel swiveled around mid-pace and glared at Deejay through his bangs "Calm down?" He spat "We finally found Benatar after two months, and he was almost dead and doesn't even recognize us!" "He's in good hands," Puff broke in with maturity not typical of the rapper "we need to sit back and have faith that everything will pan out. Because that's all we can do; we can't undo what's already been done." Axel never once in his life thought he'd ever appreciate Puffpuff for his insight, but right now he did. He sighed and sat down, then sat down "It's just....." The drummer began "He looked like total shit, and when he saw me he didn't even know it was me, it was like he couldn't even see me." And he'd been dead, he was already dead when Axel was there and he brought him back but it didn't change that for a few seconds, Benatar had actually been dead. Silence fell over them, and the three remaining martians and Chancellor sat there waiting for when they doctor would inform them of Benatar. The doctor, a shortish asian women with glasses came out of the room "Boys," she greeted "I am Dr. Akana, I just treated your friend." She turned to Axel "Are you his spouse?" "I'm his fiance." Axel replied "How is he? Is he okay? Will he recover? What's wrong with his brain?" He started to ramble and more questions flew out of him, but Dr. Akana only stood patiently and waited until he would stop. She looked over a clipboard "Mr. Cale was in critical condition when you brought him in; if you hadn't brought him in when you did I don't think he would have made it. You should know that Mr. Cale is very strong; having gone two months in that condition, without the sugar or insulin he needed, it's amazing he survived." Axel winced, then silently thanked the metal god for giving him Vincent "You told me you gave him a soft drink, it was a good call because he was on the verge of diabetic shock....But he was very malnourished, so we put him on a fluid drip and electrolytes." "His hands were blue..." Axel inquired. "Yes," the doctor confirmed "It was because of his circulation being partially cut off, luckily the gangrene of his hands was very minor. We had to perform surgery to correct the infection but he'll regain full use of his hands once he heals. Unfortunately because of the gangrene of his feet we had to remove some of the dead nerves, he'll lose some feeling in his feet but it isn't anything serious." "He didn't recognize me." Axel said, almost to himself. "Why?" Dr. Akana cleared her throat "Well... you see... Mr. Cale is... really high." She finally explained; the three martians gave her an odd look "If you noticed the bruising on his forearms, it was from needles, there were even the tips of needles still embedded in his arm; his captor has been injecting the poor young man with a cocktail of substances over the duration of his capture. We did some blood work, and found many substances; heroine, antidepressants, morphine, hallucinogens, just to name a few....." She trailed off "His metabolism is very slow to cope with the malnutrition, so it may take several days before the drugs work their way out of his system; he won't be competent until it does." "Is he awake? Can we see him?" Deejay asked, grabbing the drummers shoulder to keep the panicking martian from falling over. "He is stable now, but he isn't conscious yet, we had to sedate him because he became hysteric when we tried to put an IV in him." Dr. Akana told them "Hard to believe someone in such a condition needed to be held down by eight nurses..." She muttered, the hustled the three of them into the room, and left them alone with him. Benatar was knocked out cold; a breathing mask attached to his face, his hands were wrapped tightly in bandages from surgery, color hadn't fully returned to his face even with the reassuring drip of the IV. His eyes were closed, not tightly, as though he were just taking a nap, but they were still sunken in his face and dark-ringed. He looked better than earlier... But not better enough. Axel sat on the chair right next to the cot and clasped one of Benatar's limp, bandaged hands in both of his own, the keytarist still felt cold. "Hey Benatar." Axel whispered, not caring if his other bandmates could hear the emotion choking his voice like weeds "I'm really glad to have you back... I really missed you... You probably can't hear me, but please... Just come back to us." Puff handed Chancellor to Axel, Axel leaned the baby in close so she could get a better look at her father. Chancellor let out a giggle and a tiny hand curled around Benatar's currently unruly hair and tugged, Axel gently removed her hand. The brit stayed asleep. "You happy to see your dad little martian?" Axel asked his daughter, trying to keep his voice from breaking "I'm sure if he were awake he'd be happy to see you too." The three musicians stayed in the room for hours waiting for Benatar to wake up, but by the time it got late he still didn't. The doctors allowed for Axel to stay the night since he was Benatar's significant other, but Puff and Deejay had to leave with the baby, but Axel knew they'd take good care of Chancellor like always. Axel went into an uneasy, uncomfortable and dreamless sleep in the chair, leaning over the cot and resting his head on Benatar. One of the nurses kindly covered him in a blanket later in the night. Axel woke up when he felt movement under him; he straightened up swiftly and stared hopefully as Benatar stirred awake. Groggily the blonde's eyes fluttered open and he groaned. He looked right at Axel, who was a little disappointed at the drug-induced lack of focus in his eyes. "Hey..." Axel greeted. "Hey..." Benatar rasped "Are you a nurse?" He was switching between his British and American voices as he talked, the sedation and anesthesia from last night still fogging his brain along with the drug cocktail the bitch had been injecting him with for the past two months, but even though he was slurring and not in the correct state of mind Axel was ecstatic just to have Benatar finally talk to him. "Did the doctor send you?" "No." Axel replied; did he look like a nurse or something? "But I'm here to stay with you, okay?" "You're eye-candy..." Axel felt his face heating up as Benatar continued to talk "You're like, the hottest person I've ever seen... Do you come here often?" "Umm...no?" Axel replied awkwardly; Benatar was never flirty, so this was really bizarre behavior. Kind of cute though. "Who are you, what's your name?" Benatar asked, expression confused and dimwitted. Axel chuckled and decided to humor him "My name is Axel." "You.... You want go to your place later?" Axel almost burst out laughing. "Benatar we live in the same place." He explained, as though talking to a small child... Or Puffpuff. "My names Benatar?" The brit asked stupidly, Axel nodded "Wait why do we live in the same place?" "I'm your fiance." Axel reminded him; the bewildered expression that exploded on Benatar's face as though something just popped out in front of him made Axel start to laugh. "You're MY fiance?" Benatar repeated stupidly "Holy shit..." Axel laughed more "Damn; how long?" "Like, a really long time." Axel shrugged. "Do we have children?" "Yes; we have a daughter, her name is Chancellor." Axel verified, the dumb, gobsmacked expression stayed on Benatar's face. "Oh man... Man have we shagged yet?" The keytarist asked, the drummer only chuckled more "When will we get married?" "Soon." "Oh my god I hit the JACKPOT!" Benatar exclaimed as much as he could in his weakened state. Axel felt a big ego boost right then "Can I see your face?" Axel pushed his bangs out of his face "We're engaged? Wow..." He whispered in awe. A few nurses came in with food for both of them; Benatar had a hard time remembering how forks worked, and Axel found the display funny for a few minutes before deciding to help him. For the next few days Benatar recovered and the drugs were slowly clearing from his system; unfortunately while they were still there the keytarist continued to display odd moods and behaviors; and having trips, some good, some bad. The unpredictability of these trips made the hospital give Axel special permission to stay there as long as Benatar was there because he seemed to be the only one who could calm the brit down if he was having a bad trip. As much as he wanted Benatar to see Chancellor he decided it was best that she stay away until Benatar's head was clear. Once the anesthesia of the surgery wore off after the first morning, and Benatar reverted back to being standoffish and unresponsive. Axel tried to talk to him but the only indication that his fiance could hear him was that faraway stare Benatar would give him when he spoke. A doctor from the police department soon came to collect Benatar's recollection of his experience being kidnapped. "How are you feeling this morning, Mr. Cale?" The doctor asked, Benatar didn't respond, Axel sat by his side. "Uhhemm... Well you see we'd like to put Dicey Young in prison, but in order to do that we need your testimony against her..." Still nothing "As I understand she held you captive for two months after having abducted you from the concert arena by chloroform..." No actual reply, but Benatar's hands gripped the edge of the cot blankets tightly until his knuckles turned white. "Tell me Mr. Cale... Did Dicey Young perform non consensual sex acts on you?" The doctor worded his question carefully to spare Benatar and Axel from the word 'rape'. But the meaning still came across. Silence at first, then without warning "GET OUT!" Benatar screamed, grabbed a bedside potted plant and chucked it at the doctor, who managed to duck away not a second too soon, then Benatar curled up into a ball and sobbed into his hands. Perplexed and protective, Axel asked the doc to leave as politely as he could past clenched teeth and he respected their wishes and left. Axel hugged his fiance, but he was still pissed; pissed at the bitch for doing this to Benatar, and pissed at the doc for bringing it up... Okay he really couldn't get pissed at the doc for doing his job, but the doc brought up something Axel had stupidly not even considered. So far he just thought that the bitch had held Benatar captive, starved and drugged him... But he didn't even consider that rape had occurred. Rape was just something that didn't happen to men, especially someone like Benatar who probably was the last person on Earth to deserve all of this. He was so stupid! Of course there had been rape, the bitch was a psychotic fangirl, and had her biggest fantasy tied up in front of her and unable to fight back. Axel should have beaten the shit out of her more while he had the chance. "Benatar... It's alright, we'll get through this." Axel tried to console him, but he didn't even fully believe himself and his voice cracked. "Axel I'm so sorry!" Benatar sobbed "I didn't mean to! I really didn't, I'm sorry!" Axel was taken aback as Benatar continued to apologize; why was he apologizing? "Benatar stop! It isn't your fault!" Axel tried to protest; then suddenly the blonde stiffened up and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his mouth foamed and his body racked with spasms not brought on by crying. Highly on edge and distraught Axel screamed for the nurse, several came in and shooed him out of the room while they tended to Benatar. After fifteen minutes Benatar's fit was over and they sedated him. Dr. Akana explained to him that the combination of a panic attack and the drugs caused Benatar to have a seizure, they already deduced that he had a few seizures while he was held captive; these seizures were a bad reaction to the bucket of drugs still circulating through his system. Benatar didn't remember the episode the next day; he started the day having a good trip, being in an inappropriately elated mood and telling everyone about the glittering bubbles floating around everywhere that he swore up and down were real. Axel left the hospital when Benatar went to sleep so he could return to the bus to check up on Chancellor; as his daughter she didn't like it when he wasn't around and was getting broody about it. He played with her a little bit before he received a call from the hospital. Dr. Akana told him that Benatar suddenly woke up incredibly paranoid, convinced that the somebody was after him (What kind of drugs did the bitch give him!?) and locked himself in the room and threatening to 'lob himself out of the window' if anyone came inside. The drummer rushed to the hospital and pounded on the door "Benatar! Open the door, it's me." He called, soft but urgent. The door opened a crack and he was dragged forcefully inside the room by the wrist before the door was slammed shut again and locked. Benatar was apprehensive and shaking badly; he was giving off so much fear Axel could almost feel it "What's wrong?" Axel coaxed. Benatar leaned forward and grabbed Axel's broad shoulders and held on as if he would fall over if he didn't "She's out to get me." He claimed, still shaking "Dicey's going to take me away again, I'm not safe... I don't want to go back there..." "Don't be ridiculous!" Axel insisted angrily "Benatar that bitch isn't taking you away from me ever again, she's in prison. Do you understand me?" Benatar stopped shaking and his tone shifted to a darker, more intense one "She kept saying that I wasn't bent, that you seduced me into the lifestyle." He growled "She said eventually I'd want her because she'd 'fix' me...." Axel stiffened up and how tense Benatar became, and how rapidly his demeanor changed. "I hated every minute of what she did to me; because I wanted you! I wanted only you!" With surprising strength accounting for his frail condition the keytarist slammed Axel against the wall making the drummer grunt and kissed him hard. Having been deprived of Benatar's touch for so long Axel melted into the kiss right away and returned it with passion. It didn't matter what that bitch did to Benatar, Axel loved him no matter what. Desperately Benatar pulled away and latched his mouth onto Axel's neck and collarbone drawing out a groan from the slightly taller musician, the keytarists tongue massaged the angry red marks he left there. Axel gasped when a hand groped his crotch. "Benatar stop." Axel groaned and attempted to push his senseless fiance away "We can't be doing stuff here, this is a public hospital." "I don't give a damn!" The brit asserted with uncharacteristic roughness, then got down on his knees as he roughly unzipped Axel's pants and pulled him out. "Benatar stop!" Axel demanded and put his hands on the brits head to push him away "You aren't w-eeellll" He cut himself off in a drawn out moan when Bentar engulfed him completely. "Oh god!" He quivered and shoved his back even further against the wall, his fingers knotting themselves in Benatar's hair as the blonde grabbed his hips and kept them in place "Y-you're fuck-ing cr-crazyyy..." Axel moaned, the will to fight it drained out of him. This was so wrong in so many ways; Benatar was traumatized, drugged up and not competent but damn him if Benatar wasn't amazing at what he was doing. The brit hummed in response, driving Axel close to the edge; he hadn't gotten off at all ever since Benatar went missing and now the slightest thing he did to him was unbelievably hot. Benatar bobbed his head up and down, grazing him with his teeth, sucking hard. He stopped abruptly and pulled away from Axel, who whined in protest. Starring Axel deeply in the eyes with a dominant, almost primal look in his own incompetent eyes Benatar stood up, one hand against the brunette's shoulder to keep him pinned to the wall, The other one was gripped tightly around Axel's hardness and pumping him fiercely. The sensation took away all of the drummers inhibitions and logic,and he was reduced to moaning and arching against Benatar, desperate for release. "Oh fuck!" Caterwauled out of Axel's throat, he arched and climaxed into the others hand. Shuddering he continued to stand there as Benatar tucked him back into his jeans. The brit grabbed some tissues and wiped his hands clean. When he turned back to Axel the brunette was glaring at him "Don't do that anymore!" "What?" Benatar inquired, discouraged "But you liked it!" Axel's face burned as it tinged red "Y-yeah." He verified, but then became stern again "But we can't be doing that kind of stuff when you're like this. You're not right in the head yet Benatar. When you get better we can do stuff, okay?" "Okay." Benatar nodded, sounding sad. Axel made him lay back down on the cot and he started nodding off "Will you be here when I wake up?" The blonde asked, sounding small. Axel nodded and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze as if to prove he was there "Duh, I'm not leaving you; got that geek?" Reassured the brit fell asleep. Getting up Axel unlocked the door. On the other side stood Dr. Akana, her face was bright red "You... heard that didn't you?" He asked. She nodded "If you could talk the surveillance-tech guys to delete that..." "Don't worry," Dr. Akana assured, pinching the bridge of her nose to keep a bloody nose away "I'll have it taken care of... And Mr. Chains, you should probably know that he arranged those hickies in the shape of a smiley face." Axel chuckled nervously at first, but when he realized that she wasn't kidding he grew angry "God damn that drugged asshole." For the next two days Benatar had more off-behavior episodes, but they were less erratic and minor, small stuff like forgetting why he was in the hospital, leaving the room and getting lost, mood swings, and flirting with Axel. He thankfully didn't have more panic attacks or seizures, and he was finally regaining some mass and eating more. Dr. Akana made sure to let them know Benatar's metabolism was working properly again so his system would be clear really soon. And once he was competent he could finally return home. Whether or not he would even remember his time in the hospital once his head was clear was an iffy subject. On the fifth day Benatar woke up, wanting to stay asleep until he was dead; he was terrified of waking up to Dicey. Why did the universe hate him so much? Wait, his hands were free... He could hardly feel his feet though... He tentatively opened his eyes and then blinked several times; was he hallucinating again? He wasn't in Dicey's attic anymore, he was in a white room... Hospital? He sat up confused. His hands were bandaged thickly but he could still move and feel his fingers so that was good. The bruising on his wrists and arm were still there, but it was somewhat faded now. He didn't exactly feel great, but he didn't feel as weak as he remembered feeling... Benatar looked around the room and his heart jumped into his throat. Axel. Axel was there. Sitting in the chair next to the cot and sleeping. He was actually there! Benatar pinched himself to make sure he wasn't having another hopeful hallucination; it hurt so he wasn't. "Axel?" He said and reached over to shake him, he could actually touch him so he really was real! "Axel!" He called with more intensity. "What is it now?" Axel groaned, and groggily looked to his fiance; seeing the clarity and recognition written clear on the blondes face and eyes shocked him, but he knew what it meant. "Benatar... Are you finally back?" He asked in disbelief. Benatar nodded and threw his arms around the drummer, he would ask questions later but right now all he wanted to do was bask in the moment. Chapter 12 Benatar was finally signed out of the hospital after a series of tests to make sure he was right in the mind and body enough that he could function properly outside of the hospital. In a month he would have to return to get the stitches on his hands removed. Puffpuff and Deejay were ecstatic to have Benatar back - Puff even threw himself at Benatar in a hug, which surprised him thoroughly since Puff wasn't the affectionate type when the ladies weren't involved. "Dude you don't know how happy I am to see you...sane!" Puff practically squealed and held on tightly around Benatar's skinny abdomen. Benatar hugged him back which was a bit awkward considering the difference in height. "Good to see you too mate." Benatar chuckled "How has YFM been without me?" "Shitty," Deejay said "once you went missing we put the band on hiatus.... By the way, the fans have been spamming us with so much 'get well soon' shit for you it's ridiculous." "How much?" The brit asked curiously. "Well we found you five days ago and announced it four days ago... Enough to fill three storage units." Axel explained, Benatar gave them an amazed glance. "Really? That surprises me." Benatar commented, but with cocked a grin anyways. "That isn't even counting the two months of letters from fans giving their support, and wishing us luck on finding you." Puff said as he pulled away "I guess you really are a fan favorite." Axel ducked out of the living room while Benatar caught up with the other two and retrieved Chancellor from her playpen "Look who's so happy to see you Benatar!" Benatar paused nervously looking at Chancellor, who he notes with pride had grown in the past two months. She was sucking on her fist and looking at him with wide cobalt eyes behind the pall of her light-brown bangs. "H-hey there Chancellor..." He said nervously and slowly took her from Axel'. This is the first time he'd held her ever since he learned the truth...Pure love filled his chest; how did he not see the resemblance earlier? He hugged her close to his chest "Daddy missed you." He said softly and kissed the top of her head. "Aww." Puff said "I know you and the little martian have a lot of catching up to do, but don't you want to get into some normal clothes first?" Then Benatar remembered he was still in a hospital shirt and pants. "Alright." Benatar agreed and reluctantly handed his baby daughter back to Axel; he went into the bedroom portion of the bus and went through his dresser fishing for his regular attire. He changed into his black skinny jeans, white dress shirt, blue blazer and trademark red tie. He frowned at how loose the clothes were on him... "You alright here?" Axel asked, Benatar was still frowning. "My clothes are really big on me.." He admitted, then bitterly added "I've become a lanky streak of piss." "Yeah you lost a lot of weight. That's okay, you'll gain it back eventually." Axel explained, then cleared his throat "But uh... Oh yeah I have something for you." He opened his palm and put something on Benatar's head that then slid down around his neck; it was the engagement ring Dicey stole from him, but this time it was hanging on a silver chain. He didn't need to explain that Benatar couldn't wear it because his finger was too small now. "How...How did you guys find me?" Benatar asked as he sat down in his bed "Believe it or not," Axel began "Vincent saved your life." "Your pet hawk saved my life?" The blonde echoed. "Yeah; I guess he went around everywhere looking for you, when he did find you he took your tie and brought it to us to tell us he found you, and led us to the bitches house." "Wow," Benatar mused "Dicey ... She's in prison right?" "Yup, serving minimum twenty for kidnapping, minimum twenty-five for torture and minimum fifteen for rape. No chance of parole." Axel verified with a grin, but his grin fell seeing that his fiance was still distraught. Axel sat next to him "Are you going to be alright?" Benatar sighed "I don't think I'll ever forget what that woman did to me," He admitted, but then stole a glance at the drummer "But while I was in that terrible place, dying and in reality-allusion limbo...All I wanted was to be with you, with you and Chancellor." Axel grinned. "I forgive you for not telling me the truth about Chancellor. I'm just glad I'm here with you two again." With that said Benatar leaned over and kissed Axel, pinning him down on the mattress (He was considerable weaker than Axel in his current state, but Axel let him) having been apart for so long they were eager to explore each other and things started to get pretty heated when Benatar pulled away. "Puff!" Benatar called "You, Deejay and Chancellor better leave this bus right now!" "Why?" Puff voice called back in a demand. "I've been gone for two months and I'm finally reunited with YFM's amazingly metal and sexy drummer, why the bloody hell do you figure I'm trying to luzz you out of the bus?" Benatar inquired "Really, you can stay if you want... I dare you." There was some hustling and the sound of a stroller before the door slammed. Axel chuckled at this sudden forwardness. "Now," the keytarist turned his attention back to where it mattered "where were we?" It wasn't until three hours later that Puff, his partner Deejay and Chancellor dared to return. Chancellor was happy to be returned to her parents, innocently unaware of why they couldn't have her around in the first place. "You two are fucking disgusting." Puff growled at the two disheveled musicians sitting at the table with their baby, sipping their drinks innocently. "Anyways, I bought you something to welcome you back Benatar." "What is is?" He asked curiously. Deejay came up and handed the brit something wrapped up in rainbow gift-wrap (he glared at Puff for this) and unwrapped it, then gasped "My word... You didn't." "You bet your faggoty ass I did." Puff smirked and wiggled his eyebrows; the lead martian had given Benatar an unbelievable sleek new keytar; an electric keytar that was navy blue (Benatar's favorite color) and on the side had 'Benatar' written on it in a bright red that matched his tie. "I can't believe you.... This is custom work! This must have cost a lot!" Benatar exclaimed; unable to comprehend that the biggest arsehole on YFM would actually do something this nice for him. "It was no problem, really." Puff insisted "Besides it was Deejays idea." "No it wasn't, Puff just doesn't want to admit he cares." Deejay put it bluntly, making Puff elbow him in the gut angrily. "Hey Puff, you think we can take a trip to Massachusetts?" Axel asked out of the blue with only Benatar seeing it coming. "Massachusetts?" The midget pondered "Why do you want to go there?" "Yes Puff, WHY indeed?" Benatar sarcastically asked, putting down his new keytar and lifting the ring hanging on the chain around his neck, and for extra emphasis picked up Axel's own ringed hand to show him. It slowly dawned on Puff "...Oooohhh." He finally drawled out slowly "Alright we'll take the damn trip; after Benatar get's his bandages removed we'll go so you two can finally get hitched." "Will you two get serious?" Benatar finally asked the two other martians; they gave each other a look before turning back to Benatar. "Actually... Uhh... Funny story..." Puff chuckled nervously "For those five days you were in the hospital the doctors didn't let me around you because they were afraid you would attack me... So me and Deejay took a trip to Iowa..." Benatar finally noticed that they both sported matching rings "... No fucking way." He gaped. "Yes fucking way!" Puff cheered "We're the Humberts now!" "You took Puffpuffs last name? Why?" Benatar asked the sound mixer with a raised eyebrow (not that they could see it but it was still raised) Deejay shrugged "We flipped a coin." Silence. "So..." Axel finally broke the silence, to Benatar "We're taking my last name right?" Chapter 13 The day after returning to his friends Benatar set on trying to reform back to normal life. It was a little difficult though. "When do you want to take YourFavoriteMartian off of hiatus?" Benatar asked Puff that morning, the breakfast the brit was eating was bigger than he used to have it, but that was because Axel was forcing him to eat more so he could get better faster knowing that the way Benatar usually ate wasn't going to make him regain much mass. Puff slowly sipped his coffee "Can you still... You know, play the keytar?" He asked nervously; he was a bit on edge around the keytarist, the way his moods were in the hospital he wasn't sure if Benatar was completely okay mentally. Benatar gave the lead martian the hairy eye "That's a dumb question; I've been playing the keytar since I was ten, I highly doubt two months can change that." He scoffed, the tiniest bit offended. "Your hands are still fucked up." Puff put it bluntly, pointing at the bandages still wrapped thickly around the pale adults hands "You just had surgery." "The doctor says I can get the stitches off in a few weeks." "Okay dude, you made me say it..." Puff trailed off "Can you even pick up your keytar?" Silence. The new keytar that Puff had gotten him was, since it was electric and made of metal, a lot heavier than his old one. Even his old one was considerably heavy since it was made of real, high-quality wood. That was how Benatar was unusually stronger than he looked, because he lugged around a heavy-ass keytar everywhere he went. Not able to respond Benatar did the only thing that logically made sense to him at the time; He very slowly dipped down in his seat until he was under the table and hid under it. "Why is he doing that?" Deejay asked, watching in morbid fascination - Puff only shrugged and Axel spent the next half-hour trying to convince Benatar to get out from under the table. "Peek-a-boo." Benatar said to Chancellor as he moved the pillow covering his face - she giggled but then gave him a long stare. Benatar returned her long stare by moving his hair out of his face but after a good look at still-dead, sunken eyes the little girl then burst out crying. He frowned, Axel came in immediately. "What's wrong?" Axel asked as he picked up Chancellor and bounced her to hopefully put a stop to her crying - she buried her face in his shoulder and started biting there as her crying quieted down. "Our daughter hates me!" Benatar informed him with a sad frown and crossed arms. "She just needs to get used to you again." Axel reassured, and held out Chancellor so she was facing her father again. Once she looked the blonde in the face, she cried more and Benatar got even sadder "Hey don't worry." He said, to both of them as he brought Chancellor close to him "Chancellor isn't used to seeing you look like a zombie." Benatar narrowed his eyes and Axel knew he said the wrong thing "Gee Axel, you really know how to make a guy feel better." He said and stalked off to sulk somewhere. Probably under the table again. Axel sighed and looked down at his daughter, then cringed a little when she bit really hard into his shoulder "You can't even talk yet and yet you still get me in trouble." He said to her, then cringed again when she bit especially hard into his shoulder. Later Benatar was sitting in the living-room portion of the bus in front of the TV, and clicked the on-demand setting. He had a mug of tea to drink as he watched. "What are you watching?" Axel asked as he padded into the with a soda in hand. "Game of Thrones." Benatar answered, taking a sip of tea "The new season came out while I was gone, so I'm going to binge on it." "Have fun with that." Axel said with a roll of his eyes; he never really liked that show... Then a devilish idea came to him. He put his soda down on the small table in front of the couch and sat on Benatar's lap. "You're heavy." Benatar told him, a blush spreading across his face. Axel chuckled and adjusted his weight. "Better?" He asked, stretched out slightly. "A bit." The blonde said, still blushing and tried to focus on the show - deviously Axel leaned up and started attacking Benatar's neck, knowing the blonde was really sensitive there. "H-Hey!" Benatar squeaked and tried unsuccessfully to push Axel off "We're in the living room!" "I know." The drummer murmured against his neck, nonchalant "I don't care." Though he'd only topped once so far in their relationship Axel still felt pretty smug whenever he broke down Benatar's mental walls and made the usually calm and collected brit flustered. It was fun when he was "Besides, I'm going to get you back for leaving SMILEY FACE hickey's on my neck." "I did what?" Benatar asked, still flustered as Axel nipped at his neck. "Yeah; while you were high in the hospital you cornered me you bastard." The brunette growled and pushed Benatar against the back of the couch, pinning him there. He undid his tie slightly to gain better access to Benatar's neck and collarbone and straddled the brits waist. Benatar shivered and his breathing hitched as more marks were made on his neck "What'd I do?" He asked softly; he didn't hurt Axel did he? He'd never forgive himself, he'd be no better than Dicey. "A lot of things, I liked them all." Axel purred and then kissed him - the blonde returned it shyly at first but then with a bit more force as his dominance started to resurface. When they broke apart Axel continued "But I told you we couldn't do stuff while you were in there because you were high as a fucking kite and off your rocker... But now..." The keytarists face burned even hotter and his heart thumped against his ribs as Axel slid off until he was on the floor in front of him. The drummer spread his legs apart so he could be between them and started to undo his zipper "Axel, you don't-" "I want to," Axel told him and pulled him out of his boxers, Benatar shivered at the feeling of his fiances breath on his cock "besides I have to pay you back." He would have asked what he meant by that if Axel didn't right then take all of him into his mouth. The ability to speak disconnected from his brain and Benatar could only groan and bury his bandaged fingers in Axel's thick hair. This wasn't the first time Axel had done this for him, he'd done it a few times because he knew it got him very flustered. "A-aahh..." Benatar moaned and shoved his back against the back of the couch, head rolling from side to side as Axel suckled him. A quiet gasp came out of him as Axel delved the tip of his tongue into the slit on top. After a few minutes Benatar was on edge. "A-Axel," he gasped "I'm g-going to-" He cut himself off with another groan, and bit his lip to keep quiet (they were in the living room after all) and leaned back. As he started to climax a dreadfully familiar voice appeared in his head. 'You like that, Ben?' It said to him, sounding seductive; his whole body grew incredibly rigid, it was Dicey's voice. His mind shut off momentarily in panic. "No... No... No..." Axel heard as he pulled away swallowing; he tucked Benatar back behind his zipper, and frowned at looked up concerned at Benatar. His eyes were wide and unfocused and his pupil was dilated to the point where only a sliver of brown was visible, he was tensing up but also shaking slightly. "Benatar?" He said as he grabbed the others shoulders and shook his slightly "Benatar!" He repeated trying to snap him out of it - he started freaking out seeing that he was shaking more and his pupil went from really wide to nonexistent. He saw this before at the Hospital; Benatar was on the edge of a panic attack. Not sure of what else to do he slapped the brit across the face. The slap seemed to bring Benatar back to reality; he blinked and few times and breathed heavily, trembling only slightly "What..." The blonde murmured as he returned "Happened?" "You almost had an episode dude," Axel explained, standing up "sorry I had to slap you. What were you thinking about that made that happen?" "I don't wanna talk about it." Benatar responded immediately. "And I don't care." Axel scoffed and took a seat next to the stubborn keytarist "We're going to be hitched in a freaking month and I want you to be honest with me - I mean it Benatar, what the hell happened?" He demanded. Reluctantly Benatar told him "I-I thought I was back there..." He didn't finish because Axel, using his Benatar-sense, picked up on the meaning right away. The brunet curled his arms around the skinny blonde and pulled him close in an attempt to comfort him. "Axel I'm really sorry." "For gods sake Benatar stop being sorry!" The drummer warned "If anyone was jacking me off, even if it wasmotherfucking leatherface, I'd come too, so stop feeling guilty damn it." Turning bright red the brit replied "You're... Really vulgar you know." Though he felt better knowing that Axel didn't blame or hate him. "Well someone has to be; it's like you has a mental block or something that keeps you from swearing like a normal person." "Normal person? People in Britain don't use vulgar language near as often!" "And since when are Europeans normal," Axel scoffed playfully "Eh mate?" "You're not American either," Benatar teased back, mood elated from his earlier episode "I'm surprised that Puff doesn't treat you like rubbish, it is to my understanding that Americans think it's cool to hate Canada." Axel switched to his native Canadian accent, which he never used but decided right now that it would amuse his fiance "Shut up; Canada is metal and we both know it." Hearing the accent for the first time outside of Axel's singing, Benatar smiled and chuckled a little. "I don't see why you don't regularly speak with your accent." Benatar mused, then switched to his deeper American accent "I mean, how awkward would it be if I talked like this all the time?" "We'd give you less shit." Axel shrugged, still using his native accent. "No we wouldn't." Puff said as he came into the living room, holding Chancellor under one arm and jutting a hip out to balance her on it "Interesting way of talking Axel." He said; he himself also never heard Axel use his accent outside of his untrained attempts at singing. "See you next Tuesday, Puff." Axel said with his native accent; a British slang term he picked up from Benatar. Puff gave him and odd stare and gently sat Chancellor on Benatar's lap. "You know Puffpuff Axel told me you took very good care of Chancellor while I was gone." Benatar said to the literal face of YFM, who put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Damn straight." Puffpuff huffed "I'll be damned if the littlest martian gets neglected just because you two fagbags are out of commission." "Perhaps you and Deejay should consider having a kid; you seem to have a soft spot for babies." Benatar said as he hugged Chancellor close; Puff's face flushed for a second but it went away. "It's not that simple." The lead martian said as he crossed his arms "Neither me or Deejay can get pregnant like that fucker." He pointed at Axel "How was that even possible? You're a dude, I know for a fact because you flash us all the time." True, the sole drummer had absolutely no shame... None at all. "I don't know how it was possible either!" Axel argued "I mean, it's like one day the universe decided it would be cool if I got knocked up and it's like 'hey, let's get Axel Chains pregnant and let there be no explanation as to how', I honestly feel like that's what happened." Axel said; the fourth wall henceforth shattered. Puff cleared his throat once the fourth wall rebuilt itself "So I was thinking that after you guys get hitched that we buy a house." They gave him a look "Well think about it, we can still live together and be a band and shit, but it looks like everyone's deciding to start a family now. We can keep the bus for long trips and tours, but we really need a house." For a laugh he added "I mean, what if Axel gets pregnant again and you guys have another rugrat to worry about? This bus is waay too small." Axel glared at Puff, and then back at Benatar "Never again," he hissed, remembering the three weeks of straining hell his body went through "I swear if you make that happen to me again I'll push you out of a moving car." Benatar put his hands out in front of him defensively but said nothing. "So you guys are up for looking for a house? With how popular YFM became we have more than enough money. I was thinking about moving to California, you guys want to move to California? Because it's like a thing for famous people to move to California." Puff yammered. "Can we move to-" Benatar began but was cut off. "No." Puff and Axel cut him off in unison, the brit crossed his arms in mock anger in response. Chapter 14 Chancellor was seventeen months old now, having started walking two months prior. She was really quite the quiet baby, which she inherited from Benatar, but preferring action like Axel. She already started talking, able to use one or two words at a time but she didn't speak very often. It worried Benatar a little that she wasn't practicing her language skills much, but Axel assured him that she was probably just more of a listener. Her parents Benatar and Axel were now married; still professionally using their own individual last names even though Axel had his legally changed to 'Cale' at the wedding (What sly, witty, underhanded English trick Benatar had used to convince Axel to do so, no one knew.) Benatar had fully recovered from his experience under Dicey Young; he regained his modest muscle mass and even gained a little bit more because Axel forced him to eat a little bit more than he usually did. YFM had blown up ever since they came out of hiatus following Benatar and Axel's wedding, Axel and Deejay were taking a more active role in the songs, and making several partnerships and collaborations with other music groups. Even though they were still a band they all were also doing their own thing; Puff was doing a lot of 'featuring' rap parts in songs for various Youtubers, Deejay and Benatar were working together producing beats for groups, and Axel doing drum instrumentals for the same purpose. Also they finally bought an actual house; the notoriety they gained gave them the resources necessary for them to buy a nice, big house to occupy the two families. Axel and Benatar decided that they wouldn't have more kids since Axel could only really handle the physical strain of a three-week pregnancy while he was still in his twenties, and they didn't want to have another child so soon after Chancellor. "It's a boooy!" Puff sang as he entered the kitchen with a black-and-white sonogram in hand "Deejane told me that she found out today from the doctors that the baby is a boy; isn't it great Deejay?" He asked his partner; the other three martians were hanging out in the kitchen eating breakfast. Puffpuff and Deejay had a kid on the way - since neither of them had the weird, freaky ability to get pregnant like Axel did (seriously, how was that even possible?) they managed to talk Deejane into having Puff's child (since she was so much like Deejay as it was), and she was currently five months along. Puff we as super excited about it to. "Sure is." Deejay replied with a smile. "That's wonderful Puffpuff." Benatar said, sipping his hot tea. "Yeah congrats Puff; but if your boy gets too close to Chancellor I'll hit the little brat with a wiffle ball bat." Axel started with a congratulations, but ended in a threat. Puff ignored him. "I was thinking we name him P.J." Puff told Deejay. "P.J?" Deejay mimed. "Yeah; Puffpuff Jr." Puff clarified with a smirk "It's clever don't you think?" "I'll think about it." Deejay shrugged, though they all knew he would go with it. The big guy was a big softie for Puff. There was a knock on the door and Benatar went to answer it. "'Ello?" He greeted as he opened the door; there was a sharply dressed woman woman at the other end of the door. "Oh hello are you Mr... Benatar Cale?" She asked. "That's me." He confirmed. "Yes I am from Child services." She said, Benatar's blood ran cold; was there some kind of legislature that passed recently saying that two men were unfit parents? Were they going to take Chancellor away? "Come outside and talk to me."' Benatar closed and door and followed the women to her car "What is this about? Because I can assure you that Chancellor is growing up in a healthy, nurturing-" "Oh no, this isn't about your daughter." The social worker assured "This is about the late Ms. Dicey Young." "Late?" Benatar echoed; Dicey was dead. Well thank god. "You see Ms. Young committed suicide." "Okay...?" "Following her giving birth." Benatar's world froze for a split second "She gave birth?" He whispered, she nodded "She legally left the unnamed baby boy to his father... She wrote in her suicide note that you were the father.. We compared the little boys DNA to the record the hospital had on you from when you were rescued..." Oh no She continued, with softness in her eyes "Mr. Cale, I know that you don't want any of this to be happening considering the nature of your experiences with the late Ms. Young, but you are the babies father and you're all he has now. Ms. Young had no family." "This is... A lot to take in." Benatar breathed; he had a son, he was only twenty-four and he had two children, with two different people. "If you wish to give the boy up to the state we have paperwork for you to fill out -" Benatar cut her off. "No, I'd like to keep him... Just let me get my partner and we'll go to the agency with you." Later the woman drove both of the young men to the agency, she spared Benatar the stress of explaining this to Axel by telling him herself. They rode in silence until they were at the agency. "Does he have a name? Did the bitch even name him?" Axel demanded as soon as they were there, his partner gave him a stern glare for using vulgar language in front of someone professional. "She did not name him, she wrote in her suicide note that she wished for Mr. Cale to name the baby." The woman told him calmly. They filled out some paperwork to claim the boy and the clerk input the data into their computer before a nurse brought them a tiny blue blanket-wrapped bundle. Now unlike the quiet Chancellor... The little boy was completely loud, shrieking his tiny head off and squirming a lot. Nothing like his father or sister. Benatar tucked the baby into his arms as they waited for the birth certificate to be given to them "Wow Benatar he looks just like you." Axel offered awkwardly; it was true, the boy had Benatar's fair skin color, all of his features, even the very same maple-brown eyes... There was one thing that really stood out, he also had a crap-ton of hair like Benatar, but it was soft almost purplish black, black hair like the bitch. "I want to name him after you." Benatar said "Well, give him a first name similar to yours, he'll take my last name since Chancellor took yours, but her first name is similar to mine..." They gave the two men a birth certificate to fill out - the mother and father part were both already filled out, as well as the hospital and birth date. "You can give him his first name since I named Chancellor." After some pondering Axel wrote the first name sloppily in the name slot, Benatar followed with the middle and last name; Thrash William Cale. "I like it." Axel said with a grin, "Hey Thrash, how are you little dude?" The baby wailed and they both winced. "We're going to have a lot of explaining to do when we get home." Benatar grumbled "But it wouldn't be cricket to inform Puff and Deejay over text." "Word." Axel agreed, and the social services lady led them back to her car so she could take them back home. A few nights later... Axel and Benatar were woken up by really loud, high-pitched by now familiar screaming at two o'clock in the morning "It's your turn." Benatar grumbled and buried his head under his pillow to escape the crying. "Fuck you I'm tired!" Axel hissed, and sat there waiting for Benatar to get up; eventually he gave up and went to help Thrash. They already loved the little guy, but his loud crying and fussiness was really giving them hell at night; how can one baby be so loud and want to much? They had a whole new appreciation for Chancellor's quietness. Axel went through the routine of changing, feeding and carrying before Thrash decided to stop torturing him and go back to sleep. They had to use Chancellor's old crib (they had to get her a bigger one a month ago) for Thrash to sleep in and kept it in their room rather than in the nursery since he was a newborn and needed more attention. He threw himself back onto the bed on his stomach "Benatar your son is an absolute nightmare!" Axel groaned in frustration. Benatar sighed and sat up "I know I know, but a lot of parents have to go through this. I doubt your parents would say you were an angel as a baby." Axel crossed his arms across his wifebeater-clad chest "Chancellor never woke me up at night." He scoffed. "All babies are different; and besides she's my daughter too." Benatar scoffed back. They sat in angry silence for a minute before deciding they were too tired to argue and went back to sleep. Thankfully Thrash didn't bother them for the rest of the night. Epilogue Two years. Axel stared at amazement at the date on the calendar; exactly twenty-three days until Chancellor's second birthday. That meant that she was conceived exactly two years ago. It felt as if it had been so much longer, everythings changed so much. Two years ago they were just a small moderately popular band of four friends.... Now they were what they are now. He searched his mind to recap all that had occurred in the past two years. He and Benatar had a drunk night together, Axel found out he was knocked up, they started dating, Benatar beat up a gang of thugs for him, they came out to the other members of the band, Chancellor was born, they discovered that Puff really liked babies, Axel and Benatar became engaged, they announced their engagement to the fans, Puff revealed he and Deejay were a thing, Axel finally told Benatar the truth about Chancellor, Benatar was kidnapped and missing for two months, Vincent found Benatar and they saved him, Benatar was tripping major balls while at the hospital, both martian couples got married, they bought a house, Thrash was born and given to them, P.J (Puff and Deejays new son) was born two months ago... And yet Chancellor wasn't even two yet. It was amazing what chain of events can be started by one drunken night between a quiet keytarist and a metalhead drummer. Axel wished Benatar was with him right now so they could look back on the past two years; but even married and living together the two now rarely had time to spend together. All four martians had professional music careers where they would have to travel to visit various studios and other groups to collaborate with them; that and the kids had to be taken care of so while they were home their time was dedicated to taking care of them. Axel and Puff were the only ones home now, Benatar and Deejay had both taken trips to produce beats for music groups. Puff was asleep in his and Deejays bedroom curled around P.J. The little guy had light brown skin, bluish-gray eyes like Deejay and black hair, but he resembled Puff greatly. Thrash and Chancellor were also taking naps. So Axel was basically alone. Alone and sad that Benatar wasn't with him right now. It was almost a familiar feeling, to have Benatar be there but not be there at the same time. It was eerie really, in the sense that it was almost reverse. When he first discovered he was knocked up, the brit was physically there but couldn't be there for him emotionally since he had no clue about the pregnancy in the first place, and now he was there fully supportive emotionally but almost never home when Axel was. Axel trudged grumpily into the bathroom that was part of his and Benatar's bedroom and took a long, indulgent shower. Usually it made him feel better, but even after he had jacked off and the water finally turned cold he still was in low spirits. Hell, he might even feel better if Vincent were still around, but the hawk was taking his yearly migration trip south. The metalhead shut off the water, climbed out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He went to his closet to look for fresh clothes and almost jumped when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist right above the towel. He stopped tensing when he felt familiar lips on his neck "When did you get home?" He asked Benatar, groaning. "Just now." The blonde said and nuzzled Axel's neck "Don't bother getting dressed; I want you, and I want you now." Axel rolled his eyes from behind his bangs - it was hard taking Benatar seriously with the ridiculously high voice he had "How do you know I want to-" He yelped when Benatar's hand snaked under the towel and grabbed his dick. "We both know you were wanking in the shower." Benatar teased and tightened his grip eliciting a moan from the metalhead. "I-I can't help it," Axel hissed, arching slightly "I barely see you anymore." He was dragged backwards and pushed onto the bed, Benatar was on top of him as soon as his back hit the mattress. "Well we're seeing each other right now and the kids are sleeping so I say we make the most of it." Benatar practically purred against Axel's neck. Axel rolled his eyes at how sappy the brit got around him. "You're such a fucking queer." Axel stated, but his partner only cracked a smirk. "I'm your queer." The blonde pointed out to the drummer pinned below him "Besides I used to like women just fine, but I have it bad for you." Axel grinned "I'm has flattered." He reached up and pulled off Benatar's tie, and began unbuttoning his white dress shirt. Taking the hint Benatar ripped off his blue blazer and his shirt followed suit. Benatar reached down to pull the towel off of Axel but the drummer stopped him "I'm not getting naked until you are." He stated simply. Benatar pouted but started to remove his trousers anyways, then swiftly pulled off Axel's towel before the metalhead could stop him. "Fuck you." Axel growled. "Oh you will." Benatar joked at the other martians poor word choice and slid his boxers down to his knees. The blonde grabbed a foil packet from the nightstand and slid on a lubed rubber. Blushing Axel climbed onto Benatar's lap and slowly impaled himself on the blondes cock; they groaned in chorus and Benatar grabbed Axel's hips, the drummer stopped to adjust and wrapped his arms around the other martians neck. After a minute or so Axel felt he was adjusted and started slowly going up and down. Benatar moaned loudly at the stimulation and dug his fingers into his partner's hips, bucking up his own hips when Axel went down. "Fuck you're tight." The keytarist hissed and arched up into him further and hitting that spot. Axel gasped and tightened his grip around Benatar's neck. The blonde continued to hold onto the drummers hip with one hand while the other one wandered to grab Axel's cock and pump him. The musicians locked lips, Axel slid his tongue into the others mouth and eagerly explored the familiar territory, and their pace slowed down so they could enjoy their session longer. After half an hour of hushed moans and panting they were both close to the edge. "A-Axel..." Benatar panted and pulled Axel's head close to him with one arm so the opposite hand could stay wrapped around Axel's cock "I love you..." May it have been the tight grip around his member or the honest, caring tone in Benatar's statement or the fact that at that very moment the spot in him had been hit again or a combination of all three but something drove Axel right over the edge hard. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his stomach tightened up and with a drawn-out moan he climaxed. He tightened around Benatar and the blonde followed suit. They stayed in position for a few minutes, then Axel sighed and pulled himself off of Benatar and rolled onto his side next to the keytarist. His eyes fluttered shut for a minute but they opened again feeling long fingers stroke his hair. "...If two years ago I told you we'd be like this, would you believe me?" Axel asked out of the blue. "Like what?" "Married, two kids, hot sex." Axel replied, blunt as always. Benatar pondered for a moment "I'd probably think you were tuned to the moon or trying to get my hopes up." "I wouldn't believe it either if I told myself." Axel shrugged "...I might believe the kids part though, because two years ago today was that drunk night you know." "Oh really?" Benatar inquired in awe "It seems like it's been an instant." "I feel like it's been ten years." There was something about their conflicting views, coupled with the natural good feelings of the afterglow... Something about it all that made them bust up laughing. "Basically when it comes to our relationship..." Benatar began, but Axel finished for him. "We owe it all to booze." The two musicians got dressed again, and just as they did there was a small knock on the door - a very familiar, soft knock. Bentar opened the door. "Da?" Chancellor said in a small voice as the toddler looked up at her two parents - she was tall enough to be three years even though her second birthday wasn't for another three weeks, and her hair was quite long, snaking past her shoulders and bangs going over her nose, her cobalt eyes peeked past some of the loose strands of her light brown bangs. She was holding her favoite toy, the stuffed panda her father bought for her while she was still an infant, and was wearing a long purple shirt and sweatpants. "Hey sweetie." Benatar said softly and he picked her up - the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck and put the side of her head against his chest. She stared at her other father Axel. "Hey little martian." The drummer greeted "You know, today is the day me and your other dad kinda-sorta got together." "M... al..." Chancellor tried to say something, after a few babbling tries she managed to squeeze out a single word "Metal." Benatar stared at her. Axel stared at her. And Chancellor broke out into a giggling fit. (THE END...Go home)