Elijah stood in the doorway of his office and frowned at his brother who was seated at his desk.

“Peter?”

Eskino glanced up from the file he was editing on the desktop. “Hmmm?”

“What are you doing here?” the former rocker was bemused. The General gave a wan smile and turned the screen around.

“I’m buying your boys some time.”

Elijah leaned in to read the letter that took up most of the screen space. It detailed the state of Jonathan Seward’s mental health…

Eli blinked hard.

“Wow.” He shook his head. “Will your word be enough, though?”

Eskino chuckled. “Doctor James gladly gave of his services.”

Eli shook his head again. “But…I thought…”

The General looked at his brother. “I was in the band, Eli. It was hard on me too. They were my best friends, too.” There was an emotion in his voice that the old rocker had not heard in a very long time. He couldn’t put words to it, but he recognised it and it made his own heart ache.

“Man…” He walked across to take the seat opposite the bigger male. “We had some good times back then.”

Eskino smiled a sad, wistful smile. “Though I wasn’t very good…”

Elijah laughed, harshness to the sound. “You were dedicated. I’ll give you that.”

The General nodded, glancing at the computer screen. “That hasn’t changed.” He turned the screen back to himself. “Anyway, going to send this, then maybe you and I need to go see how the boys are doing?”

Elijah nodded. “I was going to call you about that.” He crossed his arms. “They’re here.”

Eskino looked at him. “Using your studio?” He frowned slightly. “I had no idea…”

His brother chuckled, as he found it amusing that the General would not have figured that out. “Security is tight here.”

Eskino smiled as he nodded to the computer. “Even your system here is impenetrable.” Elijah just laughed some more as he checked his watch.

“I’ll let you finish up, come meet me out the front in five.”

* * * * *

“Wow, you make me look fucking sane, Shads. How in the Hell did you manage to pull that off?”

The five young men were seated in Elijah’s studio, going through their final rehearsal before the official launch of Papa Gates’ main campaign. They sounded alright, considering only three of them had any official musical background. Matthew had found his inner vocalist, though, which was a good thing. But, their focus wasn’t on the music at that moment in time. They were all staring at the former commander who was leaning back against the wall, Johnny next to him.

It was Jimmy who had spoken up. But the others were all thinking along the same lines. The fact that their young friend was here with them was nothing short of amazing, considering what he had been charged with.

Matthew snorted. “Two words, Jimmy: Insanity clause.”

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow. “You saying Christ’s crazy?”

“I did try to hang myself,” the younger man pointed out, though he too was surprised at what Matthew had been able to do.

Zacky scoffed, shaking his head. “Hear you didn’t even get close.” Johnny flipped him off. The mechanic just rolled his eyes in response. “Well, it’s true.”

“It doesn’t even matter,” the younger male grumbled.

Matthew backed him up, glaring at Zacky. “He’s here, that’s all that counts.”

“Of course,” Zacky sighed. “I’m just worried.”

“You’re always fucking worried,” Brian muttered. His friend glared at him. Jimmy shifted so he was next to him and poked his side. Zacky shot him an annoyed look then turned his eyes back on Matthew.

“When Berry finds out…” The anxiety in his voice was clear.

Matt sighed, “Yeah, we’ll get to that when it comes.” He tilted his head then scratched at his cheek. “There’s something else I should mention.” They all raised their eyebrows at him. He rolled his neck then said, carefully assessing their reactions as he did so, “Eskino paid for the assessment.”

Zacky sat forward, staring hard at his friend. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“Nope. Not shitting you.” Matthew gave him look for look. “Wrote a letter, going to get Dr James to sign it. It’s a done thing.”

The mechanic shook his head an incredulous expression on his face. "Wow. Who'd have thought..."

The door creaked open at that moment. The five men turned then and they stared as Elijah walked in with the General.

"What the Hell?" Zacky exclaimed.

They all stood, grunts of disbelief filling the room. Elijah held up his hands in an attempt to placate them.

But, Zacky glowered at him and practically snarled, “What is he doing here?”

The General, wisely, kept his lips sealed, allowing his brother to diffuse the situation. He could sense their distrust and he wasn’t one to blame them. They believed he was at fault for Matthew’s situation and they also believed he was the bad guy. And, he knew it wasn’t up to him to prove that they were wrong. At least, not until they knew the truth.

Elijah sighed as he looked at each one of them, expression pained. “I know you don’t trust my brother…”

“That’s an understatement,” Zacky muttered. Jimmy actually elbowed him. The mechanic gave him a disgruntled look but pressed his lips together and let Elijah continue.

“But, you have to realise, he understands your position more than most.”

Brian lifted his eyebrows and snorted. “Really?”

Elijah nodded slowly as he crossed his arms. Brian, Jimmy and Zacky shared hard looks at each other, disbelief written all over their faces. Matthew remained detached and Johnny just stared at his feet. Silence filled the room for several long moments then the elder male spoke up again.

“I am not sure what you’ve been told, but before Peter became the General of the Creed…before he even joined…he was our first drummer.” Elijah worked his jaw for a moment, his tone heavy. “He was…dedicated to his art.”

“Not that I was any good at it,” Eskino commented, drily, the first he'd spoken since entering the room.

His brother rolled his eyes.

“You were just happy to play. And the guys appreciated your work ethic.”

“True enough," Eskino agreed.

Zacky grimaced and said, "So, let me get this straight. Since he was in your band years ago, we should trust him now?"

Elijah sighed. "Put like that, I know it's a stretch." He leaned against the sound desk. "I'm not asking you to accept what I'm telling you. I'm sure you want real proof."

Matthew said in a hard voice, "I've already given them that." He crossed his arms in a defensive gesture. Zacky snorted at that.

"He could've done that for his own benefit."

Matthew glowered at the mechanic. "And risk his position for personal gain?"

Eskino frowned, glancing at Johnny who looked uncomfortable, then back at the other men. "I did what I thought was right." His statement was enough to halt the conversation.

Zacky continued to glare sullenly anywhere but at the General, evidence that he didn’t believe the General in the slightest. Brian shook his head and turned back to the notes on the table next to him. Jimmy jumped up and went to the drum kit, not wanting to get drawn into the conflict. Johnny, with one eye on the General, grabbed his bass and fiddled with the tuning pegs.

Matthew sighed and cast an almost apologetic look towards Elijah.

The elder male shook his head and said in a low voice, "I don't blame them, Matt..."

Eskino added, "They're too used to me being against all this." He glanced at his brother, then back at Matthew, brow furrowed in thought. The finally he murmured, "We will leave you to get on. Elijah will keep me informed." There was slight hesitation at his final words.

Matt just nodded in acknowledgment before he joined his friends, leaving the elder men to exit the studio, or not, as they wished.