Becoming

The Longest Day

The first sign that something was amiss came when Bruce, still embracing Emppu, half-fell onto his partner, his left leg buckling underneath him. Emppu tried to ease him down, only to stagger and start to collapse as well. His guitar, shoved to his back for their kiss, swung down between them and the crowd, and then it gave a horrifying screech and crack and two strings snapped.

Cheers turned to shrieks of alarm as Bruce and Emppu both fell, yelling, "Get back, get off the stage!" to their families and bandmates. The bass drum gave a crack, one of Nicko's cymbals clashed loudly, followed by a deep clang from the gong, then a huge light fixture seemed to explode, showering the stage with broken glass.

"Daddy!" Kia screamed, starting towards the fallen men.

"Everyone down!" Dave grabbed her before she got all the way onto the stage, shoving her back and then knocking her to the floor, covering her with his body as the glass rained down. "Stay down, Kia," he yelled as she struggled against him. "You can't help your dad if you're hurt too!"

Nicko and Adrian ran over to make sure the boys didn't also try anything foolish, but they both had the sense to drop when Dave told them to. They also used their bodies to shield the boys from the flying glass.

Chaos reigned in the crowd for several long minutes as Dave continued to hold Kia in place, then they heard a security guard's radio crackle to life, announcing that the gunman was down and the scene was secure. A pair of EMTs from the nearby first aid station ran for the stage and started to work on the two fallen men.

Dave let Kia get to her feet, but kept his arm over her shoulders so that she wouldn't run over and get in the medics' way. "Sorry for knocking you down like that, but you know your dad would kill me if you got hurt when I could've prevented it," he told her. "And then your mum would find a way to bring me back so she could kill me again."

"I know. I was stupid," Kia said, staring at the medics working on her father and Emppu. "I just... wanted to help him."

"I know, luv, I know," Dave said softly. "So did I."

Austin and Griffin came over with Ade, huddling with their sister as they watched the medics work.

"Austin?" Bruce called to his oldest. "Are any of you hurt?"

"I think we're okay, Dad," Austin called back. "Dave kept Kia from running to you, and he, Ade, and Nicko tried to shield us from the glass."

"Ring up your mum, then," Bruce told him. "Right now, if you've got your phone on you, or as soon as you can get to your phone. Let her know what happened, and that all three of you are okay. You don't want her reading about this in the papers before hearing it from you." He grunted as the EMT picked a bit of glass from his bicep.

"Milla, you'd better call äiti ja isä, for the same reason," Emppu said. "Are you and Eeva okay?"

"Scared, but not hurt," Milla called back. "Rick got us into cover."

"I'll call Ewo," Tuomas said. "I know we don't know anything yet, but he needs to know there's a situation."

Emppu stifled a yelp as the EMT pulled a shard of glass from his forearm. "Yeah. Perkele, we were supposed to take you three to the airport tomorrow; Jukka and Satu have to get back to pick up Niki and Luna."

"My parents won't mind some extra time with Luna and Niki if we have to change our plans," Jukka said. "And I'm not worried about it if we do, I'm more worried about you guys right now, bro."

"Me too," Emppu said quietly, reaching out to take Bruce's hand.

Sirens sounded in the distance, growing closer. Soon the flashing lights of several emergency vehicles appeared, slowly making their way across the field as security opened a lane for them. Paramedics jumped out of a pair of ambulances, hauling gurneys with them up onto the stage. They got Bruce and Emppu loaded up and strapped down for transport.