Sweat trickled from Matthew’s hairline; he grunted, setting the weight on its stand, blowing hard. His muscles ached, his arms, his back, all over. He’d worked his body hard, practically punishing himself. It was all part of his usual routine, though. Whenever he completed a task, he always wound down with a solid work out.

He draped his arms over his knees, allowing his muscles to release as he supported his weight against the lower half of his body. Closing his eyes for a moment, Matt breathed out slowly; his shoulders slumped forward as he let himself go completely loose.

“What are you doing, Shads?”

He blinked several times, and lifted his head up slightly. It took him several moments to remember that he wasn’t alone in the gym then another few seconds to realise who had spoken to him. Johnny stood opposite him, a scowl set on his features. The shorter man was leaning against a stack of weights, one arm draped over a bar, other still clutching his bass.

Since they had returned, Johnny had not left Matthew’s presence; it was as if the younger man had some kind of aversion to being alone. He hadn’t wanted to go back out to the tent in the yard. Instead, he trailed Matt around the house, like a little lost puppy.

“Huh?” Matthew finally mumbled in response.

He was still getting used to the fact that there was someone else in the house with him, besides his wife and their dog. Of course, Val wasn’t there, and Bella was outside, but that was beside the point. He was comfortable with his solitude when he was away from the barracks, and having Johnny there was a little unsettling.

Johnny wrinkled his nose. “Why are you doing that?”

“Why am I doing what?” Matt stretched his right leg out along the bench and rubbed at the inside of his thigh.

The younger male rolled his eyes. “Killing yourself.”

Matthew glowered darkly at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’re not pissed at yourself for what happened today, are you? I mean…if that were the case, why would you have done any of it?” Johnny looked genuinely confused.

The bigger man stared at him for a long moment. Then he sighed, propping his elbows against his knees. He really wasn’t sure how he felt about the day’s venture. He couldn’t begin to explain the emotions that had come over him throughout the day. He especially couldn’t explain any of it to the man standing in front of him.

Matthew decided he had to say something, though; so, he said in a soft tone, “I’m not pissed, Christ. Everything that happened today… I don’t know what to think of it. Just…” He paused to look at Johnny, his brow furrowed. “I didn’t think you were talking to me.”

Johnny scoffed at the abrupt change of direction. “I just want to know why you’re doing all this.”

There was really only one honest answer to that question, Matthew knew that but he wasn’t ready to voice it. It was far too close to home.

“It doesn’t matter,” he finally answered. “Things change, that’s all.” And how cliché a statement that was, but Matt didn’t have the energy to care. He just wanted to end the conversation. Or at least change the topic. He glanced at the younger man again. “Is that thing glued to you, Christ?”

Johnny blinked, before lowering his gaze to the instrument that he still held close to his chest. He shook his head a little.

Matthew snorted as he swung his feet down to the floor and stood up. “We’ll have to put it somewhere safe…can’t have it out here.” His brow furrowed for a moment, thoughts passing across his eyes.

Johnny tilted his head to the side. “Where?”

A tiny smirk curled at the corners of Matthew’s lips. “I’ve got the perfect place.” He paused, the smile faltering slightly. “You can’t tell anyone, though…”

Johnny’s eyes narrowed, but all he said was, “Who am I supposed to tell?”

Matthew mentally slapped himself for that one. After six years in the clink, of course there wouldn’t be anyone the younger man could speak to. Most likely, all of his friends from his previous life had moved on. No one ever wanted to have anything to do with someone who had gotten into trouble with the law. Especially if The Creed was involved.

“Alright…” Matthew grabbed a towel that was hanging on a rack to the left of the bench. Slinging it around his shoulders, he made for a door at the back of the gym.

The gym was situated at the western corner of the bungalow furthest away from the street. It was quite large, taking up almost a quarter of the house. It had taken several years for Matt to collect the equipment he needed to fully kit out the room, but he now had a complete workout setup, meaning he didn’t need a membership at any local club. As the commander of The Creed it wouldn’t have been right for him to work out anywhere other than the barracks, anyway, but when he wasn’t on site he liked to keep up his fitness.

Val, of course, had been a little weird about the room being turned into a gym. When they’d bought the place she had envisioned the room as an entertaining area. However, Matt had insisted, and she’d relented after he’d promised her the world and more. Not that he’d been able to keep that particular oath…he knew he’d let her down on so many different occasions.

But, there was another purpose for the gym.

When Matthew had been hunting through the real estate guides for the perfect home, he had kept a careful eye out for any property that had a basement. Not many would have one, considering that New Huntington was built on the coast. However, there were certain areas that were elevated enough to have patches of land which could be hollowed out beneath the buildings.

As luck would have it, he had come across the bungalow not long after he started his search, and it had exactly what he was looking for. A subterranean bunker, with the house above it. It was perfect. From the outside of the home, there was no way to tell that there was even a basement. And the only entrance was a single door in the largest room in the house. The one that he’d turned into the gym.

He stood at the threshold, brow drawn tight, before looking back at Johnny who had followed him to the door.

“Remember…”

“My lips are sealed,” Johnny assured him.

Matthew nodded, as he pulled the key from his back pocket and unlocked the door with a click. He motioned for Johnny to go ahead of him; then he stepped in behind him, shutting the door and flicking a switch on the wall beside them.

Johnny blinked several times beneath the garish glow of a single light bulb swinging above their heads. It lit the start of a set of wooden stairs that lead down into darkness.

“What’s down here?” Johnny asked, looking over his shoulder at the bigger man.

Matthew’s jaw tightened slightly, before he said, “You’ll see. Go down the stairs.”

The smaller man hesitated, as he gazed down the steps, obviously a little reluctant to just step down into the dark. Matthew nudged at his back, softly.

“Go on. I’m right behind you.”

Johnny nodded as he stepped down onto the first step; the wood creaked faintly, but didn’t give. The younger male took that as a good sign and finally proceeded to descend into the darkness.

* * * * *

“Unbelievable…” Johnny murmured for about the tenth time since the two men had set foot in the basement room. His bass lay forgotten to one side as he turned slow circles around the large space, looking up at the ceiling and all around him at the walls. Matthew leaned back against a desk which was propped against the eastern wall of the basement, watching the younger man as a tiny smile played across his lips.

Plastered across the walls were several giant posters of the five same men. In large bold, curly type, emblazoned across each poster was the name Rebel Assassin. Beneath each poster was a plaque with the name and date each poster was produced.

Johnny cast a stunned eye over them, before he turned to Matthew with a frown.

“Why do you have these?”

Matthew licked at his lips before he answered, “I found them in The Locker. Thought they set the mood.”

“Mood? For what?”

He didn’t answer right away. Straightening, he walked over to join Johnny in the middle of the room. He indicated the largest poster, which was almost full length, and true to size of the five men.

“See the guy in the middle?”

Johnny blinked. “The one with the bandana and Aviators?”

“Mhm.” Matthew smirked. “That’s Eli Masters. Frontman. He was kind of a pioneer of the new sound that came out in the early sixties. Was a bit of an outcast of society. See the sleeves?”

Johnny tilted his head to one side. “Those are different…”

“He was the first guy outside of a motorcycle gang to go for the full sleeve look,” Matthew explained. “Before that, most metal musicians were less adventurous with their ink work.” He chuckled as he added, “His ink was the inspiration for my own.”

That surprised the younger man; he glanced sideways at the T-One. “Really?”

“Uhuh. Well, at least…he inspired me to go for the full sleeves. The actual artwork I chose is different.”

Johnny’s eyes darted to the bigger man’s muscled arms. “Yeah, yours are pretty cool.” Then he returned his gaze to the poster. “Who’re the others?”

Matthew folded his arms over his chest, as he thought for a moment. Then he nodded a little. “Guy on the far right, the one with the curly afro, that’s Tyler Jackson. Rhythm guitar. Apparently had the voice of an angel.” He tilted his head as he continued. “On the far left is ‘Mr Tough Guy’, lead guitar… he had a reputation with the ladies…mostly bad, though.”

“Who’s the bassist?”

“One on Eli’s left. Jacob Fenton. Interesting character. Never talked much.”

Johnny stepped closer to look at the man standing next to the frontman. Jacob Fenton was a stocky fellow, with a dark stare and grim smile. His hair was swept back; his style was almost sixties/seventies grunge. He glowered out from the poster with a look that spoke volumes: It’s us…against the world.

Johnny moved back and looked at Matthew. “And, the drummer?”

Matthew lifted a hand to point at the figure to Eli’s right. “Matthew Pasan. He’s the one who named the band. They used to call him ‘The Assassin’.”

“Oh…was he the one who tried to kill that politician?”

Matthew snorted. “That’s how the story goes.” He walked over to the desk again and parked his ass in the swivel chair, which was positioned in front of an opened laptop.

Johnny frowned. “Story?”

“The government made a lot of shit up back then,” the bigger male growled, a hint of disgust in his tone.

Johnny blinked. “I don’t get you.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you…you work for The Creed.”

Matthew arched an eyebrow. “And?”

“Why do you have posters of that band all over these walls? And how do you know all this shit? And…and…what do you mean the government made up shit?” Johnny was confused now. He didn’t understand what was going on, and it was unsettling. He shook his head hard as he tried to figure out what was doing. “I mean…having those here…isn’t that illegal? I didn’t think you were one to break the law?”

Matthew stared at the younger male for a long moment, face completely blank, inscrutable. Then he sighed deeply as he turned his head to the laptop, and hit the on button.

“Here, let me show you something.”

Johnny came over to lean against the desk, and craned his neck so he could see the screen. Matthew angled the monitor as the system logged in. The younger man couldn’t help but smile at the desktop wallpaper that was revealed. It was a photo of Matthew with his wife Valary at their wedding.

“You two look happy, there…” Johnny murmured.

Matthew looked at the photo for a long moment before calling up a window that he’d had open earlier. He never actually shut his computer down, just left it hibernating while he was out of the house.

Tapping several keys, he logged onto a program which he’d downloaded to keep his files organised. Val was always on about him being messy, and not having things where he could get easy access. He would beg to differ, considering in his work life he was totally against chaos. Order was the way he liked it. Still, when it came to his personal ‘junk’ that was another story altogether.

Hence the program he had bought off a friend, iPro, which was a freeware program that documented every file on his system. He frowned a little, as he scrolled down the list, finding the file that he wanted to show Johnny.

Matthew called up the file, a video which was backdated a year ago. He glanced over his shoulder at Johnny.

“Watch this…”

Johnny frowned not moving for a moment. “What is it?”

Matthew sighed, clenching his jaw slightly. “Just watch it, Christ. It’ll answer some of those questions you just asked me…” Which really was the only reason he was doing any of this.

Aside from the basement being the perfect place to hide Johnny’s bass, Matt had also decided to let him in onto something he hadn’t even let his closest friends know. It wasn’t a decision he’d come to easily, or made lightly, but considering the position he was in, and also the situation he had found himself in, having to take Johnny in, he believed it was worth it. Besides all that, it wasn’t as if Johnny would blab to anyone. The kid had barely spoken to anyone for the past six years, and as he had so bluntly pointed out earlier it wasn’t like he knew anyone to say anything to.

Of course, Matthew was somewhat nervous. He had been stewing over whether he should show the younger man what he was about to show him. Had even considered showing Zacky earlier. Wanted to, in fact, especially after his friend kept badgering him about what was going on with him, and the whole visit to the Locker and everything else.

But, having decided against that idea, a part of him was now fighting to show someone, to share with anyone what was going inside his head. A scary thought, considering how private a person he was most of the time, but after all the niggling things that had been said by his friends over the past few days, and even longer before that, weeks, months. Especially Jimmy’s continuous ranting about The Creed and about how rock bands were illegal; it was slowly beginning to wear him down.

Matthew sighed again and pushed back from the desk, standing. “Here, sit down…”

Johnny, who still hadn’t moved, slid onto the seat and gripped the armrests, squeezing them nervously. He lifted his gaze to meet the bigger male’s. Matthew leaned over him and hit the play button.

“Watch.”

Johnny lowered his eyes to the screen, a bemused expression on his face. But as the video began to play his eyes widened, and he leaned forward to get closer to the monitor.