The Aviators

“Jimmy, you’re a fucking genius. How do you come up with this shit? For real?” Matt leaned forward, elbows pressed against his knees. Jimmy sat on a stool, swinging absently as the demo he’d laid down at home blasted through the speakers. Brian sat opposite with an appreciative grin to match the singer’s.

The drummer smirked. “Easy. I sit down and attack everything. Comes up pure beast.”

“You’re a fucking beast,” Matt, whose smile didn’t last as long as Brian’s, muttered as he settled back on his chair, crossing his arms.

Jimmy glanced across at his friend, lifting an eyebrow. The drummer was very perceptive and always seemed to know when any of the guys was feeling a little out of it. Right now, he could sense the tension in the singer, could almost see the big man’s brain churning over.

“What’s with you, Shads?”

Matt frowned. “Nothing. Just trying to figure out why I like this so much.” He nodded toward the speakers.

“Bull. Shit. Something’s got up your nose.”

Brian grinned. “His nostrils are big enough to fit something up there.”

“What the fuck? No.” Matt made a face. “Nothing’s up.”

The guitarist laughed. “I see you didn’t deny my comment.”

“Just...fuck you, Syn.” Matt shot a hard look at his friend. “I’m really not in the mood for your shit right now. And you should know why.” The expression on his face was dark, lips drawn tight together. His mood since arriving hadn’t improved by much.

Brian held both hands up to the singer in a placating gesture. “Dude, sorry.”

Jimmy, who was now on his back on the stool, spinning around, glanced up at his two friends and scowled.

“What’s with the love fest?”

“Huh?” Matt cocked an eyebrow at the drummer.

“You two are bickering like a married couple.”

There was silence after that statement. Brian stood and went for the fridge. Matt shifted so he was facing the speakers more, shoulders tensed up. Jimmy sighed but didn’t press, returning to swinging on the stool tapping the floor with his sticks. In time to the music filling the space.

After a moment or two of uncomfortable quiet from his friends, Jimmy decided to break it. He could never stand silences. He liked noise and the atmosphere was way too tense for his liking. Springing up from his stool he turned and without further ado lobbed one of his drumsticks at Matt. The singer didn’t see it coming and the end of the stick caught him a glancing blow across the side of his head.

“What the hell?” Matt turned daggers on the drummer, but couldn’t hold the look as his gaze fell upon the madly grinning countenance of his friend. “You fuck!” he exclaimed, bursting into a guffaw while rubbing the side of his head.

Jimmy slapped at his thigh as he fell onto the floor, cacking himself. Brian, who now had a bottle of Jack in his hand, walked back over and stood staring down at his friend with an amused expression on his face.

“What are you doing?”

The drummer quit his laughter, long limbs splayed out on the floor as he looked up at his friend.

“Laughing at Shads. I got him a good one on the noggin.”

“With his fucking stick,” Matt added, gruffly. There was a glimmer of mirth in his eyes, though. He could never really be mad at Jimmy. No one could. A hint of a smirk hovered at the corners of his mouth. Jimmy grinned at him. Brian shook his head at his friend’s antics. Then he cocked his head to the side just as the sound of a car pulling up into the drive drifted through the door.

“Must be JD.”

Matt expression hardened, the smile disappearing from his face. Brian didn’t notice, but the drummer did and he raised his eyebrows at the singer, mouthing what’s up? Matt shook his head, leaning back in his chair, folding his arms tight over his chest.

Brian went out of the garage, and they could hear his voice as he greeted JD, and what sounded like another person. Matt tuned out their voices, by jacking up the speakers and replaying the demo track they’d been listening to. Jimmy sighed, slumping down next to him, twirling his other drum stick in an absent manner, humming along.

After a moment, Matt turned the song down and looked at the drummer. “Where’re Zacky and Christ?”

Jimmy glanced up at him. “They’re getting food from your Mom.”

“Oh, right...why didn’t I think of that...?” Matt snorted, rolling his eyes. The drummer just shrugged, flopping back on the floor, his eyes drifting toward the doorway. Matt followed his gaze. Brian was just about to walk back in; JD was behind him.

Jimmy jumped up, grinning madly again. Brian walked in and propped his ass against a stool, JD following suit. Matt ignored him, though, his eyes still fixed on the doorway.

“Where’s your buddy?” The question almost came out as a growl.

JD gave the singer a weird look, and then looked toward the doorway. “Oi, Rob! Getcha ass in here.” He looked at Brian. “I thought he was right behind me.”

Matt stiffened at the name. But, said nothing. He didn’t want to come across as a suspicious ogre, just over some guy’s name. Plenty of people called Rob lived in Huntington. Still, he couldn’t get passed the thoughts of what he’d done to Val and the why of it.

His focus intensified as footsteps approached the doorway. Part of his mind, the rational side, was berating his irrational side, telling him that it couldn’t be the same person, he was being stupid, and that just because he was suspicious of JD didn’t mean he had to be crazy nervous over his buddy.

All those thoughts were wiped out of existence as the guy appeared in the doorway. Before Brian or Jimmy, or even JD could say anything, Matt’s voice filled the room in a burst. Unexpected and very loud.

“No. Fucking. Way. You goddamn, sonofabitch.” One second, he was sitting on his stool big body tensed up, the next he was at the door with his hands latched onto the front of Robert’s shirt. Jerking him into the room and slamming him up against the wall, Matt felt a pained satisfaction at the way the plasterboard shook at the contact.

Robert blinked, but made no real protest, save grabbing hold of Matt’s wrists, squeezing them hard. Matt responded by shoving him harder into the wall.

“Matt, what the fuck?” Brian’s voice barely registered on his radar, his focus all on the man in front of him.

Matt’s breathing deepened as he leaned into Robert’s face. The other man’s pupils had dilated, and he still had his hands lightly grasping Matt’s wrists. But, there was no real fight in him. Partly because Matt had the advantage, even though Robert was a big man, packing about as much muscle as the singer, possibly more, though Matt was taller. The other reason being he knew there was no point in objecting; he knew what Matt was pissed for, and he wasn’t willing to dispute it.

The guitarist was trying to get Matt’s attention; Jimmy was unusually quiet. And then, JD was right next to them. Not making any contact, just trying to intervene as calmly as possible.

“Sanders...let go...he hasn’t done anything wrong.” JD’s voice was low as if he were talking to a wild animal. An animal that might lash out at any given moment, without warning and with devastating consequences. Matt clenched his jaw, muscle bulging along the hard line.

“Fuck. That. You have any idea what this asshole made me do to Val?” At the word ‘asshole’ his grip tightened into angry fists on Robert’s shirt. Robert swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on Matt’s furious one, watching a wash of red, flash across the bigger man’s face.

“Matt,” Brian got into the mix as well, stepping close to his friend’s other side, his voice soft, cajoling. “Let him go...and let’s talk this out...” He was obviously confused by what was going on; his tone was questioning, but at the same time keeping as steady as possible.

Matt gritted out, harshly, “No. Fuck you. I wanna beat his fucking face in...” He punctuated each word with a thud to the wall. He didn’t feel like being reasonable. He just wanted to smash the guy into a pulp. He wanted to make him feel the way he made Val feel when he’d forced himself onto her. He wanted him to hurt all over.

Brian sighed, heavily. Matt didn’t see the look that passed between the guitarist and the tech, but the next thing he knew two sets of hands hooked onto his biceps, dragging him away from Robert. He ended up on the floor with Brian parked on his chest, holding him down.

He didn’t bother trying to throw his friend off, just lay fuming in silence. Which in itself was unusual. Considering Matt’s red hot temper, he would normally still be raging, and fighting to get a hold of whoever was in his sights. But, the close quarters of the garage were not the best possible space to lose control of his big body in, and he didn’t want to damage any of the equipment. It took a conscious effort for his mind to explain this to him as he remained still beneath his friend’s ass.

Meanwhile, JD remained by his friend making sure he was alright. Robert waved the bigger man away though, turning grave eyes toward Matt, who was still glowering dangerously up at him.

“Look. Getting pissed at me isn’t going to change the situation. And,” he paused looking at the bemused looks that Jimmy and Brian were giving him. “Your buddies have no clue what you’re losing your head over. So, I think we should just sit down and talk this out like mature adults...okay?”

Robert was so reasonable that Matt felt like banging his head against a wall, but he settled for cursing the other man instead. He didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, even if it would help clear things. He just wasn’t in the mood. This, obviously, wasn’t the sentiment his friends shared, because Jimmy started throwing questions at Robert as if they were missiles. And Brian directed his gaze down at him, one eyebrow cocked in a ‘what the fuck is going on?’ pose.

Matt sighed, swivelling his neck so he could keep his eyes on Robert, and JD who was hovering behind him. He scowled at the two men, angry thoughts swirling through his mind. He couldn’t get rid of the images of Val beneath him on their bed, crying while he....

“Fine,” he managed to grit out, forcing the thoughts back, so he could focus. “Talk.” Then he flicked his eyes at his friend. “And get your ass off me, Syn...I’m not gonna do shit...”

Brian grimaced, not convinced that it was safe to let his friend go, because judging by the glint in his eyes he was likely to lose his cool any moment now. Matt actually growled in response at his reluctance to move. Sighing, the guitarist got up, but ready to latch onto the singer at any sign he was going to lunge at someone. Matt made no move to do so, though. He just sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, and gave their guests hard looks.

“Well?”

Robert sighed, rubbing hands over his face. “Shit. This wasn’t something we factored into our...plans.” The hesitation on the final word was evident.

Jimmy caught on and asked, “Plans? Whaddya mean? Plans?” He was frowning, an unusual occurrence for the usually ebullient drummer.

“Jase and I have a business, I s’pose you’d call it. Or maybe...more a public service?” Robert cast a glance over at JD. The dark expression on the other man’s face was giving nothing away. “Bud?”

JD shook his head. “Public service? More like a private service. No one’s meant to know any of this.”

Robert snapped, “Yeah, but no one’s ever caught us out before.”

“So? That doesn’t mean crap. No one is s’posed to know. We can’t afford the-”

“You’re not explaining this shit,” Matt interrupted gruffly.

They turned to look at him again, twin expressions of irritation on their features. They were both reining in their own tempers, minds churning over how they could respond best. It was there written all over their faces.

“We’re part of the Government Anti-Corruption Unit. It’s highly classified.” Robert began pacing, chin tucked into his chest as he talked, voice strained. “Jase and I run a shadow business under the ACU called Hearts Rebels.” He shot a look toward the others; Jimmy and Brian both letting out disbelieving grunts. “Yeah, I know it’s a corny name, but we needed to come up with something that sounded innocent, so no one would suspect us of anything.”

JD added, “Officially we don’t exist, so if you’ve been trying to find anything...”

Matt scowled. “I found zip. Zacky and JB had no luck either.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Being under government auspices does that for one.” JD crossed his legs at the ankles, leaning back against the wall where moments earlier Matt had pinned his friend. He continued, in a rough voice. “HR is responsible, specifically, for keeping tabs on the Guild.”

The singer’s stomach clenched and he felt the muscles all over his body, tightening. “Keeping tabs, how?” He didn’t know if he really wanted to know the answer to that question. He had an awful feeling it had to do with why Robert had shown up on his doorstep and made him hurt Valary. So, he was understandably apprehensive as to the response he would get.

Before JD could answer, though, Jimmy interrupted, “What’s the Guild? And what the fuck does it have to do with Matt?”

JD looked the drummer dead in the eyes as he answered. “The Guild is the governing body that rules over every slave that lives in the US. I think you can figure out what that has to do with Matt.”

“Oh...right...Val...” Jimmy trailed off and sank into his own little world, tapping his sticks absently against his knees. When it looked like he had no more questions, JD turned his attention back to Matt.

Brian was sitting in silence near his friends, listening intently, taking it all in. Matt raised his eyebrows at JD’s black stare.

“You were saying?”

All this waiting for an answer was doing nothing for his temper. He was getting more and more wound up as the moments passed. Both JD and Robert picked up on this, and so they went on, alternating between who spoke.

“Like I said before, it’s classified, so we can’t tell you. Short of killing you, after the fact. Or wiping your identities from existence and giving you new names and shit.”

“But, what we can tell you is that what we do is s’posed to make things a lot better for society.”

“Exactly.” Robert nodded, firmly. “People shouldn’t be bought or sold like cattle. And even if it doesn’t end, people should still be treated as people, with equal rights.”

“Yes. I mean, where the hell is Abe Lincoln when we need him?” JD snorted. “He called it. Too bad The Guild ignored him.”

Matt’s eyes were darting between them attempting to process their speech. His brain sifted through the information that they were firing at him.

“Wait.” He held up a hand to stop the flow of words. They both paused for breath, meeting his evident confusion. “Let me get this...you’re...against the Guild?”

Robert rolled his eyes, chuckling. JD smirked, eyes darker than ever. But his verbal response was guarded.

“We’re not for it. I’ll admit that much.”

Matt tasted bile in his mouth. “Right. Classified shit.”

“It’s safer for all concerned,” JD murmured.

“Just answer me one thing. Jason Denmore isn’t your real name, is it?” The singer’s heart was pounding in his forehead, the bile rising and making him want to evacuate everything he’d put inside him since breakfast.

“You called it. But, Robert is Robert’s real name.”

Matt shot a cold look toward the other man. “Right. So...tell me,Robert. If you’re not for the Guild why did you make me hurt Val?”

His question resounded in the small studio. Jimmy snapped out of his stupor, his eyes fixing on Robert like lasers. Brian tensed on his perch; he knew what Matt had done, so he was interested to hear what excuse...or reason Robert could come up with.

Sighing, Robert shook his head. “I’m sure JD’s mentioned I can be a jerk sometimes.”

“So, what’re you saying?” Matt asked, eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

“That I’m a jerk...and sometimes I just do things because I can.” He excused himself then, knowing if he didn’t he was liable to get attacked.

Matt was right on the edge of his seat, just about ready to launch himself at anyone who set a foot wrong. But, instead of actually lashing out, he turned his livid stare to JD.

“You wanna explain that?”

“Yeah,” JD drawled. “I said he was an asshole.”

Matt began grinding his teeth. “You’d be right, there. Can you give me any other reason, for what happened? I’d be most-”

“Grateful? Look. We gotta keep covered. The Guild can’t know what we’re doing. That means sometimes we gotta force people into situations we’d rather not. What happened with Val is not something I agree with.” JD shifted against the wall, shaking his head hard. Then he stopped and pegged Matt with a level glare. “But, like I’ve said, this is dirty work, and Robert works directly inside Guild HQ. So, he can’t front. They can’t know what we’re about. So...he gets to do the shit work. And, being the compulsive bastard that he is...that often means being the bad guy.” JD grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. He didn’t need to say the words though. It was quite obvious to all concerned that Robert didn’t really care about that.

Matt groaned. “Fuck...I don’t think I can get around this...”

JD nodded slowly. “I can understand that. Look, I only have to really have a quick chat with Zack and Brian about some things, then I can get Robert and leave. If that’ll make you more comfortable?”

The singer shrugged, it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Short of finding someone else to do the tech job, he was stuck with JD. And to be honest, JD wasn’t a big problem, he was more irate at Robert than anything. He looked up at JD, though and decided he had to say something. Jimmy and Brian were looking at him expectantly.

“No. It’s fine. Just...keep him away from me.”

JD nodded again. “Okay. Well...” he leaned his head out the door, then relaxed against the wall. “Looks like he’s gone for a smoke, which means he’ll be awhile.” He glanced at Brian. “We should get to work.”

As the others got to work, Brian popped into the main house to find Zacky and Johnny. And Matt slumped onto his stool praying silently to whatever God there was that as long as the girls didn’t get back until after JD and Robert had left, everything else would be fine.

Notes