“Right…so, I haven’t ever done this before, but…uh…here goes. You might not know me. So, uh…in case that’s how it is, I’m Matthew Sanders. TaskerOne of The Creed. Most of you will probably know what The Creed is, if you don’t, you can always Google it.

Right.

As you can see in this little video…I have this little studio thing going on down here…got my Pro-Tools…a broken acoustic… Hey! It’s not illegal to have an instrument. Anyway, I’ve been writing to a few people out of town. About the whole…no bands situation. And, one of those people… um… here, this letter… this is from, uh… well we all recognise that name, right? Elijah Masters. That’s right, the man himself.

I’ve been writing him for the last several months. He’s…um…in his sixties now. Still going strong. Anyway, he’s said he supports anyone who is trying to fix things in the music industry. After all, the blame was laid on him and his band. Though they never did anything wrong. Except say fuck you to the government.

I did some research into Rebel Assassin. Eli’s band. And, it really fuckin’ got to me. People are so gullible. They’ll believe everything the government feeds them, because the government is meant to be on the people’s side. All that shit about an attempted assassination. All lies. It never happened.

There was some pissed off senator who got his nose jerked out of line, so he took it out on them. And, it makes me sad that The Creed’s whole mission statement is based on falsified documentation that’s decades old. Of course, I’ve had to keep my nose clean, because hell, if I get caught trying to fix shit up, I’d end out flat on my ass, or worse…well… I don’t think I need to tell you what could happen. We all know what happened to…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…Shads, what the hell?” Jimmy interrupted loudly, his voice drowning out the tinny sound of the speakers in the bunker. Matthew hit pause and raised his eyebrows at his friend.

“Yeah?”

Jimmy shook his head, his brow furrowed, expression unusually sober. Brian who was leaning over his shoulder grimaced, looking as confused as his friend was. Johnny and Zacky sat further back in silence as they watched the scene before them.

“What, Jimmy?” Matthew repeated his voice tense.

Jimmy leaned back and crossed his arms as he formulated a response. “Okay…one: are you saying that the Government lied?” Matt nodded slowly. His friend scowled. “That’s some accusation to make.”

“Well, it’s the truth.”

“How do you know that?” Jimmy asked, eyebrows raised.

Matthew sighed as he answered softly, “Eli told me.”

“Eli?” Jimmy arched his eyebrows. “You don’t mean?”

“I do.”

“Shit, I thought he was dead.”

“Nope.” The corner of Matt’s mouth twitched upward in a tight smirk; his friend’s astonishment amused him somewhat.

Jimmy shivered as he muttered in disbelief, “Damn…”

“Hah, so you believe a man who has an agenda?” Brian pointed out.

Matthew grunted as he replied, “I’ve done research, Syn.”

“Still, it doesn’t make any sense, why would they lie?” Jimmy asked. Matt looked at him his eyes filled with a pained expression.

“I don’t know, man. Aside from what I said about that senator.”

“Who was that?”

Matthew frowned as he said slowly, “I’m still figuring that out.”

“Oh.” Jimmy blinked then glanced back at the frozen image on the screen. “Right…second thing…”

“Mhm?” Matt leaned back on his chair and raised his eyebrows.

His oldest friend met his gaze, blues eyes intense, probing as he asked, “Were you planning on showing people this video?” Jimmy nodded to the computer monitor. “The way you intro’d that…”

Matthew grimaced but nodded carefully as he said in a low voice, “Yeah. There’re some underground channels where I could release it, if I wanted to.”

“So, you haven’t?” Zacky interjected, tone sharp. Matt shook his head in the negative; he hadn’t found the right time or place to release it without drawing attention to himself. Of course, now that he’d been demoted…

“Are you gonna?” Jimmy asked

Matthew rocked on his chair frowning as silence fell between his friends. After a few minutes that seemed to stretch on forever, he groaned and got to his feet, the seat he was sitting on apparently agreeing with his sentiment as it squeaked in protest as he eased his weight off it.

“No,” he finally admitted. “There’s no point. Once Papa G’s campaign is released there won’t be any need. It’ll be obvious to everyone what his focus is once it hits the streets.” Matt looked hard at his friends; he wanted so much for them to understand what was going on without having to explain it all. He had never been good at exposition, at explaining things. He was much more practical than that.

Zacky snorted and asked, “And what about us, Shads? You going to make it obvious for us? Or do we have to wait until it’s made public?”

Incidentally that was what his other friends were thinking and they all looked at Matthew with equally pained looks. He sighed, shaking his head.

“Truth needs to be told. All of it. Too much bullshit has been going on, for far too long.” Matt dragged a hand over his head then rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

Zacky blinked. Brian spoke up then, “Are you saying, my Dad’s gonna run a smear campaign?”

“Basically,” Matt snorted. “He’s the first person to even dare it. I’d say, with a bit of hesitation, he may just pull it off.”

“With some help from you?” Brian’s eyebrows lifted in an incredulous gesture.

“Yes. With some help from me.” Matthew’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “I could get into so much shit if I get caught. But…I feel like I have to try something.”

“True…” Brian murmured, then he said, “So, back to this whole…song thing you were talking ‘bout earlier. How are you going to finish that off?”

Leaning against the wall his arms folded as he stood beneath the Rebel Assassin poster, Matthew couldn’t help but snigger a little at the shocked looks on his friends’ faces as he replied, “Well. That’s where you guys come in.”

* * * * *

Valary glanced up from the carrots she was preparing, as she heard the guys coming out of the gym. Funny, she hadn’t heard anything like the sounds she would normally hear if they’d been working out. In fact it had been silent in the gym. She knew there was a basement, though, so perhaps they’d gone down there to have a men’s chat. Then again, she didn’t even know Matt used that space of the house. He never mentioned anything about it.

“Hey, Val!” Jimmy bounced up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, wiggling her gently.

She laughed and pushed him away, “Stop that, Jimmy.” He pouted at her; she just rolled her eyes at him.

Matt padded into the kitchen and smirked, slapping the taller man up the back of the head. “Leave the woman alone. She’s busy.” Jimmy grumbled and moved aside so Matthew could lean next to Valary.

“Yeah, smells great in here,” Brian commented as he propped himself against the bench. “Whatcha cooking?”

“Something special,” she answered, with a smile. Brian grinned at her as Zacky and Johnny joined him. Val set the knife down as she looked up at her husband. “What were you all doing?”

Something, an expression, she wasn’t quite sure what, flickered across Matthew’s face before he responded, “Secret men’s business, love. Nothing to worry about.” Val tilted her head at him, as she narrowed her eyes. He just gave her his most innocent smile before he leaned over and grabbed a piece of raw carrot and stuffed it in his mouth. “Mmmm, good stuff.”

She swatted at his hand, “Stop it. That’s not for you.”

Matthew scoffed, “Who’s it for? Bella?”

“Ha-ha, it will be if you keep touching it,” Val said sternly. Matthew just laughed and squeezed her shoulders.

She blinked at him, noting his change in mood from earlier. He seemed a lot more relaxed, calmer, even, if she dared think on it, more jovial. Almost as if it were the ‘old’ Matt back. The one she had first fallen in love with. Val of course, didn’t dare to hope too much in that regard. Perhaps he was just loosened up due to being in the company of his friends. She noticed, the more time he spent with them, the less wound up he was. Yet, it seemed too soon for that to truly be the case. It was more likely to be a front he was putting up so as not to worry her too much. Though it had the opposite effect.

“So, you’re inviting us to stay for dinner?” Zacky said, after a few moments had passed where the six of them just stood looking at each other. Val smiled in response as Matt hugged her from behind. “I’ll take that as a yes,” the mechanic grinned.

“You would,” Brian scoffed. “All you think about is food.”

Zacky just laughed his friend’s comment off as he looked to Matthew. “If you don’t mind us staying for longer?”

Matt grimaced as he said, “What kinda thing is that to say? Of course you have to stay.” What he didn’t say, but they all sensed it, was that he was grateful for their company. And so it was settled. Valary chuckled as she went back to her preparations while the men spread around the kitchen table and waited.

* * * * *

Several hours later, the others had left, except Johnny of course, and Matthew and Valary were in the living room sitting together on the sofa. Val lay with her head in Matt’s lap, her breathing steady as she relaxed. He was absently running his fingers through her hair as he stared unseeingly at the blank television screen. The quiet between them was more comfortable than it had been for a while, but at the same time there was a sense of anticipation in the air around them. Words that needed to be spoken, but neither of them was willing to voice.

Valary shifted a little so she could look up into her husband’s face. “Matt?”

“Mhm?” Matthew glanced down at her, one eyebrow arched a little.

“Who do you think will win?”

“The election?”

“Yes.” Val licked her lips nervously, “I mean, I know the campaigns haven’t officially begun…but…”

Matt shook his head his hand going still in her hair. “It could be very close…knowing Elliott, he’ll throw everything he’s got into it.” He smiled wryly at his wife. “And, he has the best person helping him out.”

Valary laughed softly sitting up as she slapped at him lightly. “Yeah, right. I’m sure Papa G will have found someone to help him out too.” She didn’t catch the flash of tension in her husband’s face at that statement. And even if she had, she’d probably only interpret it as being torn between who to support. “Right, Matt?” she murmured as she glanced up into his eyes, wondering whether he was going to respond to her question.

Matt smiled and leaned down to peck at her lips softly. “Right. I’m sure he has.”

Val smiled back and settled against his chest as he picked up the remote and flicked the television on.

As the buzz of voices filled the room, she snuggled closer into him, getting comfortable. Matthew wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he absently roamed the channels.

“Never anything interesting on,” he muttered. Val laughed softly and placed a hand over the one he was holding the remote in. He looked down at her. “Yeah?”

She met his eyes, but shook her head as she whispered, “Nothing, hun…just wanted to…hold your hand.” Matthew quirked an eyebrow but nodded and returned his gaze to the TV.

Val leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed softly. She’d lied just then. She had wanted to say something. Part of her wanted to quiz her husband on what he was thinking, on what he thought his immediate future would look like. But, another part, a more circumspect part of her knew that the moment for that would come. Or at least she hoped it would.