Rebellion

Counseling

Counseling

​He walked slowly down the hall towards Jeremy's room. The therapist had called him a day ago to say he wanted to talk. He sighed. He knew that he was being a little unfair to Dave but it wasn't all his fault. Scott started some of the fights. He just couldn't stand seeing that man all over Chester. He knocked on the door and he heard Jeremey call for him to come in. He opened the door and then walked in. The reaction was immediate from both him and the other man in the room.

​"What the fuck is he doing here?!"
​
​They stood pointing at each other. Jeremy sighed and shook his head. He stood up and slowly pushed them apart into different seats.

​"Alright you two, you've been causing a lot of trouble lately. Now I know you both have feelings for Chester."

​"How can you have feelings for a man you tortured?" Scott hissed at him, "Did it get you off to see him in pain you fucking psycho?!"

​Mike turned to him, "No but it got him off."

​Scott's jaw dropped but before he could shoot back an insult, Jeremy interrupted him.

​"Have either of you talked to Chester about this whole thing? What does it matter who you think is better for him when it's his choice?"

​They sat in silence in embarrassment. Mike realized that Jeremy was completely and utterly correct. What did it matter what they thought? They both wanted what was best for Chester, so even if it wasn't him, he shouldn't want to take out the person that would cause Chester his happiness. He looked over at Scott who was sitting silently in his chair.

​"I'll leave you two to talk it out, please don't kill each other, Dave would be mad at me and I might lose my job."

​Mike watched Jeremy walk out the door before he turned to Scott. The older man was sighing and sitting up.

​"Shrink is right," Scott muttered, "It's a waste of time."

​Mike nodded, "Yea. We've been so focused on trying to get at each other we forgot to care about him."

​"You really love him don't you?" Scott asked as he glanced over at him. Mike looked at the older man before nodding slightly.

​"He's a good man. He saved my life when he had no reason to. He should hate me and I should hate him but I guess if we want this new world to work, we can't."

​Scott nodded his head, "He talked about you. You took care of him after the whole thing was sorted out, I should thank you for that."

​"You don't have to."

​"No, I should," Scott sighed, "I don't want to, but I will."

​"Scott, I'm not trying to steal him away from you," Mike said quietly, "We didn't know you were okay."

​"I know. Well....I...," Scott swallowed and scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. Mike looked at him and he frowned.

​"What?"

​"Well....if I know anything about Chester.....he's really indecisive and I feel like....he'll take forever to decide, especially since we both love him."

​"What are you saying....?" Mike said uneasily.

​"I mean....it's just a suggestion......and I understand if you're uncomfortable with it....I am too....but...."

​"Wait....wait...what are you saying!?" Mike struggled to think of what exactly the other man was implying.

​"We could.....we could all do it."

​It was Mike's turn to not have a comeback. Was Scott saying....was he really saying that? He opened his mouth but no words came out. What was he supposed to say to that? Did he agree? He wasn't sure if he could agree. How would it even work?

​"You're......you're willing to....with me? And him? How the fuck...?" he managed. Scott continued to scratch at the back of his neck. They were way too awkward for this.

​"Well.....I...."

​"What does that have to do with him picking between us?"

​"What if he can't Mike?! Did you ever think that he might not be able to choose? What if he can't pick between us? Then what happens? Look, I'm not giving him up and neither are you. If I have to wake up to see your ugly face on the other side of him to be able to keep him with me then I fucking will okay?!"

​"This is so not okay. No....No way am I doing this."

​They stared at each other for a minute and then they looked away. Mike swallowed. Would he be able to do that just to be with Chester? He shook his head slightly.

​"I can't do that."

​Scott glanced at him, "Well......"

​He was interrupted when the door opened and Dave was there. They jumped when the man came in. It was unexpected.

​"You two, need to come with me."

​Scott sent him a glance but they headed out together. Dave led them to the room that they had deemed as their medical bay. They walked in and Mike's eyes widened as he saw Chester laying there with a blanket covering him. He looked like he was stressed. He and Scott were instantly running to him. Scott pressed his hand against Chester's forehead and brushed his fingers through his sweaty hair. Mike grabbed the damp towel from the nightstand and started gently wiping the sweat away from his face and neck. Mike sighed softly as he leaned over and gave Chester a gentle kiss on his nose. Dave stared at them in shock. Soon the two of them were sitting on either side of Chester with one of his hands clenched in one of their own.

​"You love him," Mike said finally as he looked over at Scott.

​"With every piece of my heart."

​He remembered those words spilling from Chester's mouth when he'd asked about Scott. He closed his eyes. No matter which way this went, one of them would be heartbroken. He sighed and looked over at Scott again.

​"Neither of us are leaving him tonight are we?"

​"I'm not," Scott muttered.

​Mike nodded slowly, "Then I guess you'll be waking up to see me on the other side of him."

​Scott smirked slightly, "Damn I was hoping you would leave too. Well, whatever. Goodnight Shinoda."

​"Night Scott."

​They woke up the next morning when Chester woke up. Mike blinked slowly as he felt Chester holding onto him tightly. He glanced over and, sure enough, saw Scott propped up against the bed frame, still sleeping, with his hand still gripped tightly around Chester's. He ruffled Chester's hair softly and kissed his forehead.

​"Hey, you feeling okay?" he asked softly. Chester shook his head.

​"Cold," Chester muttered. Mike smiled slightly before reaching to take Chester into his arms. The older man accepted it instantly, letting his free hand wrap around him and grip onto his hair. Mike stroked through Chester's hair and he felt Chester shift against him.

​"Did you two stop fighting?" he asked quietly.

​"I think we came up with a mutual agreement," Mike said softly, "Everything will work out Chester."

​"Okay," the older man said softly, "Is Isaiah alright?"

​"He's doing fine," Scott seemed to have woken up, "Dave told me he was in here just yesterday with Larry."

​Chester nodded and Mike remembered how he'd set Chester in between his two boys. They were in a very similar position. He glanced at Scott who looked like he was pointedly focusing just on Chester and not on anything else. If this shit was going to work, they were going to have to like each other at least a little bit. They would have to tolerate the fact they'd both be in the same room, most likely in the same area, just on separate sides of Chester.

​"Hey!"

​He jumped up when Dave came running in again. The president gave them a weird look before shaking his head.

​"Mike, we need to talk."

​Mike climbed out of the bed and glanced down at Chester. He didn't want to leave the older man. He was obviously sick. He was about to ask Dave if he could stay here instead but his thoughts were interrupted.

​"It's fine. Go Mike. I got him. He'll be fine. Come back when you're done."

​It was spoken quietly, but Mike knew Scott had meant it. It was really starting and he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with it but for now, this was how it would be. He nodded, leaned down and gave Chester another quick kiss before hurrying after Dave who was already jogging down the hall to the main room.

​"Brad, Joe, Keith, and Shaun just got back from their trip to Detroit."

​"What about Ryan and Larry?"

​"Exactly. Brad says they vanished. We can only assume it's people who have been working for Charles Bennington or Mark Wakefield."

​"We lost more people?!"

​"We're not really sure. There's no word from anyone about where they might be."

​"It's only been two days right? They couldn't have gotten far from Detroit. I'll go out with a couple guys and get them back."

​"We can't risk it. They wouldn't want that Mike."

​"I know," he sighed softly. He glanced out the window and swallowed. He moved closer and looked out. "Dave. I think I know where they are."

​His friend walked up next to him and they both stared out the window. Trucks had pulled up into the square outside and men were getting out. He saw Larry get pulled out, followed by Ryu.

​"Tell everyone to get armed now. This isn't going to end well."

​Mike nodded as Dave hurried off towards the front. Mike yelled for their friends to join him. Keith, Shaun, Brad and Joe arrived as well as Jeremy. Isaiah stood up from his seat on the couch and walked forward. Mike glared at him but the boy met his gaze. Scott came out with a tired looking Chester but they were both armed and Chester had his gauntlet on. He nodded at them and smiled slightly.

​"We're about to get our asses kicked but whatever," he said as they headed out. He saw Dave standing on the front steps with his hand over his mouth. Mike stared at their leader. He'd never seen Dave cry before but the man had tears running down his face. He heard a surprised gasp from behind him and Scott was holding Chester around the waist as the shorter man had tried to go forward. Mike turned to see that along with Larry and Ryu, there were two women with them. He knew from the reactions that this must be Dave's wife and Chester's wife.

​"I can't," Dave whispered, "I can't save everyone can I?"

​Mike looked at his best friend and swallowed hard, "I trust you. And if you make a choice, we'll be with you every step of the way. I promise."

​Dave turned and before he could say anything, he was being hugged by the man who had appeared so strong in front of everyone else. He wouldn't be able to have these four innocents killed for the nation. Dave turned to the group and he saw them nodding.

​"I'm so sorry guys. We'll figure out something."

​"We get it," Jeremy said quietly as he lowered his gun and nodded, "They're our family too."

​Dave nodded and then turned back to the man who had his gun pointed to Larry's head. Mike watched him step forward and toss his gun down in front of them all. The man made a quick motion and all of a sudden, they were surrounded by men, they were tied up and taken towards the prisons. They should've blown up that damn building too. Mike watched as they were torn from each other. They would all be on the same floor. He was pushed into a cell and another person came in from behind him. He glanced up to see another guy fall in. There were three of them in here. He saw Larry and Dave. He glanced across the hall and saw Chester with Keith and who he assumed was Linsey Farrell. So around them, Brad, Joe, Ryu, Chester's wife, Isaiah, Jeremy, Shaun, and Scott must be divided up somehow.

​"I'm glad you surrendered," the man said with a smile, "I really didn't want to kill any of you."

​Mike glared as he headed out of view. He looked back at Dave who was sitting against the wall. Larry was sitting down across from him. They were prisoners in their own capitol. He sighed. They would have to get out of here somehow. They'd defeated Mark Wakefield, they'd defeated Charles Bennington, they could defeat this guy too.