It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn

The Darkness

Duff's POV

The fighting and screaming next door has been going on for over an hour. Things have been smashed against the walls, glass has been broken, bodies have been thrown against the walls, punches and kicks have been exchanged all interspersed with a heated argument about the amount of money being spent on the tour, about Slash fucked some girl back stage and how Axl considered that to be cheating on him,and then Axl accusing Slash of still being in love with Izzy. Axl screaming about how Slash doesn't love him enough, Slash yelling that Axl doesn't know anything about love and throwing the whole Izzy thing in his face again, how if he knew what love and friendship meant Izzy would still want to be here. (We can all tell that Izzy's only here in body right now, his heart and mind are god knows where; they've been gone since he and Slash broke up). That's when things got really physical. I could hear the punches and slaps and the kicks and I could tell Slash was getting the worst of it because he just wouldn't hurt Axl the way Axl would hurt him. Slash didn't lose control that way. Then there's scuffling and Axl yelling that if Slash wants to cry like a bitch he'll find out what it means to be one.

Then there's more fighting and begging and crying out and grunting and Axl'x laughing darkly and it sounds of pure evil and Slash is screaming into something, probably a pillow. It's a pain filled, horrified, broken sound. This has got to stop. I throw open my door to find Izzy getting ready to pound on it so I step back and he's got a bruised face and is begging me to make what's happening next door stop and then I heard Slash yell in pain again only louder and start to sob and I heard Axl growl and that was it, this was too much. "What happened to your face?" I ask Izzy."

"Earl hit me, he won't move from the door! I look at Earl, Axl's security guard, who looks a little roughed up and is standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. "MOVE," I say angrily as I I walk next door.

"I was instructed not to move for anyone or anything, he says shrugging.

"Axl's fucking raping him dude, get the fuck out of the way!" I hiss through clenched teeth.

"No, Earl says shrugging, "their arguments are not my problem, not what I get paid for. I decked Earl, who is bigger than me and Izzy kicked him in the balls while he was busy with me and we both kicked him hard in the ribs to make sure he didn't get back up and then we took his keycard to Axl's room and opened the door and burst into the wrecked hotel room.

"Stop!" I screamed. Slash saw me and Izzy and turned his face away from us in shame. Axl had him pinned flat to the bed on his stomach, hands bound with that stupid bandana Axl wore on his head and Axl was on top of him grunting and thrusting and making him bleed and Slash was silently crying into the bed , screaming when Axl started to move faster. Axl saw me but he never stopped until I walked across the room and physically picked him up off of Slash and threw him into the wall. He lay on the floor, breathless and glaring at me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing you crazy son a bitch? I ask him?

"Giving the whiny bitch what he deserves!" Axl growls and actually gets up and moves back towards the bed.

"If you move or touch him I will beat your head into the side of the bathtub until it is nothing but a pulp do you understand me?" I roar at Axl stepping towards him. He retreated back towards the wall and I walked over to the bed and picked up Slash. Izzy had pulled his pants back up over his hips and I carried him out of the room; Izzy grabbing his wallet and his suitcase on the way out. He hadn't even gotten them moved from next to the door before the fight started.

I take Slash into Izzy's room and lay him down on the bed and he curls up into a tight ball, still crying but silent now. There's blood coming from everywhere, his face, deep scratches on his arms, just everywhere. "I'll be right back, I'm going to clean you up and get you some ice," I tell him. It will give him and Izzy a chance to be alone for a second too.

Izzy and Slash were lovers for a long time until Axl couldn't stand it anymore and had to take the one thing that Izzy loved that wasn't Axl; Slash. It didn't help that Slash was absolutely devastated by losing Izzy (in part to some heavy manipulation by Axl, he broke the two of them up). Slash coped by numbing himself with smack and booze; so did Izzy. Then somehow Axl got Slash to sleep with him and some sort of relationship came out of that; but Axl did nothing but abuse Slash physically and mentally. Why in the hell he put up with it was beyond me. If I was Slash I would have gone running back to Izzy months ago, God knows Izzy's still loves him, his heart's been breaking for Slash since he caught he caught him in the kitchen one morning being given a hand job by Axl. But Izzy's got pride and he cut Slash out totally.

Slash sat outside of Izzy's bedroom door for days crying and begging him to just listen to what he had to say, to what had happened in the kitchen, but Izzy wouldn't open the door and wouldn't speak to Slash at all. Slash was broken. Izzy was broken. It was the perfect opportunity for Axl to step in and sweep Slash right off his feet, make him fall for him, and then treat him like shit all so that Izzy could see the whole thing happening. Axl is a sadistic mother fucker like that. Now, don't get me wrong, I think he genuinely wanted to be with Slash, but it was partly motivated to show Izzy that if he himself couldn't have Izzy than he would take whatever Izzy had until he had nothing. I'll stick with girls for the time being, too much drama fucking your band mates.

I go into the hallway and fill up the ice bucket and come back in and wet several hand towels with cold water. By the time I get back to the bed Izzy's untied Slash's hands and has covered him up from the waist down. He' sitting next to him running his fingers over the cheek that isn't busted open and whispering that it's going to be ok, that he's going to take care of him. Slash isn't fighting it. Good. Bad thing is he's just crying although I don't know what I expect.

I sit down next to him and hand some of the ice and the rags and towels to Izzy. Izzy slowly, carefully starts to wipe away the blood on Slash's face. Axl hit him with hands full of rings so his skin is broken in several places; he has two black eyes. I fill two towels with ice and hold them to his poor eyes. He just lays there and lets the cold cloth lay on his face. I make another compress for his left cheek which has been busted open pretty badly and another for his lip. His tooth is chipped and Izzy tells him. "I know Izz," Slash whispers.

Izzy and I clean the deep scratches on his arms and rub antibiotic cream on them, we keep tons of the stuff around because we're always slicing our hands and fingers open on our strings. I call down to the front desk and ask for a roll of bandages which they quickly send up and we wrap his arms. "Do you want your ribs x-rayed?" I ask.

"No, they're just bruised or cracked, nothing anybody can fix," Slash answers in a tearful, small voice.

I'm going to bind them then ok? I've got ace bandage in my suitcase from when I wrecked my knee," Izzy tells him and goes to dig through his suitcse for the bandage.

"Ok," Slash whispers.

"Will you let us take you to the hospital?" I ask him.

"No, no hospitals!"Slash answers, his tears spilling over again. Izzy's instantly back at his side; holding his hands and talking to him quietly. Slash immediately settles down when Izzy comforts him; knowing that he's safe with Izzy. I stand up and sigh.

"Slash, I'm going to leave you with Izzy because he's going to have to take your pants off so he can clean you up..."

"I know," he cuts me off. "It's ok Duff." I just look back at him helplessly. I still have the keycard to Axl's room, I think there just might be a certain redheaded singer who needs to get to know my fists a little bit better this evening.
"Ok, I'll see you in the morning, or later tonight if you need anything alright? Just knock on my door.

"Thanks Duff," Slash mumbles through his swollen lips, moving the ice pack enough to talk. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"Yeah, any time. Good night. Night Izzy." With that I turn and leave the room.