Book 4: My Hands Are Tied (Axl Rose FanFic)

Ch. 5: Canter's

"It took me a long time to even sort of understand Axl-if I ever did at all-let alone predict what made him react the way he did." -Slash

"Holy shit!"

"No way!"

"I'm going to buy so much dope."

Izzy and I had wrangled the guys into Canter's Deli to give them a rundown of our agreement with Tom. Needless to say, they all seemed very much down with the signing, but mostly just keen to get their own cut of the check.

"This is insane!" Duff breathed, running his hands through his knotted blond hair. "Fuckin' Geffen!"

"It's the big leagues now, boys," Steven high-fived Slash. Or tried to. Even though it was nearing 1 pm now, they were both still a little stoned or drunk or something from the night before, so it kind of devolved halfway through the air and they mostly missed hands. They both laughed appreciatively and seemed satisfied with it anyway.

While everyone else was rambling on and on about the new deal, I was still struggling to process all that had happened last night. It didn't feel real, but instead like some sort of wild dream that I hadn't actually lived but rather viewed from afar through the lens of an outsider. Well, I guess I truly was an outsider once Brett joined in to "save the day". I frowned deeply.

Even though I had been the one saving her...but it hadn't been enough. I hadn't been enough.

Dammit.

I moved on from that annoying thought, as there were more pressing matters at hand. Like, first of all, I had almost fucking died, which was a whole fucked up feeling in and of itself. But, second of all, I felt like I had learned a lot about that Tiger Woman, while also managing to still know so very little.

Her last name was Cook, and she was a cop. A vigilante it seemed, but still, ultimately a cop. She cared about my well-being, but only to a point: she didn't care about me as a person-as Axl-but as a "civilian", who she had sworn to protect and serve. I'd learned that she was close with her partner Brett, but not so close that she wouldn't ever go against his orders.

But for what? What had she been questioning that raggedy old creep about? If it had just been some sort of drug bust or robbery, she would've been working with her partner, right? Then he at least would've known about it and been quicker to act when things went awry. But, at the same time, it seemed like he did know something about it since he scolded her and had pointed out how she'd done it before. So this was a habit of hers? But why? She obviously took her job very seriously, so what would cause her to risk losing it? What was so terribly important that she would risk everything to have it?

None of this made any sense to me, no matter how I looked at it.

"Axl is brooding again." Slash's voice interrupted my thoughts. I shot him a warning look, but he didn't seem to notice or care. "Even though this is such a good day!"

"He broods a lot. Izzy too," Duff pointed out. "D'you think it's an Indiana thing or somethin'?"

"Must be bad if the guy from Seattle notices," Steven quipped.

I rolled my eyes, though they probably couldn't see it past my aviators. Thankfully, a familiar smiley guy with short, brown hair sauntered over to help bring my mood back up.

"Hey guys!" He greeted us cheerfully.

"Marc!" We loudly applauded his sudden arrival like an episode of Cheers or somethin', causing nearby customers to glare in our direction.

Marc Canter had started out as Slash's friend, but quickly became the band's unofficial sixth member, and our very first number one fan. Marc's family owned Canter's Deli, which Slash frequented, and the rest of us consequently followed. That's where he slowly became ingrained in each of our lives, and subsequently hired himself as our own personal photographer. He was at all of our shows, cheering us on and documenting everything. It really made us feel like a legitimate group, even if we were still a bunch of nobodies to nearly everybody else.