Becoming

Blood On The World's Hands

Ade woke up with Tuomas shaking his shoulder and pressing a cup of coffee into his hands.

"Your manager Rod arrived some time ago, and wishes to have a band meeting," Tuomas told him. "There is a second cup of coffee if you need it, and more coffee inside - our group has been given a small conference room to use."

Blinking, Ade sighed and sat up, taking the coffee and chugging it quickly. "Right. Band meeting as soon as I get there. Let me dress and I'll have that second cup," he said.

"All right," Tuomas said, retreating to give him enough space to exit his bunk and get clothes on.

As he dressed, he heard Nicko resume snoring and Steve muttering curses. Rubbing his eyes, Ade headed towards the front of the bus, where Austin and Griffin were stowing some bags from the caravan in the overhead racks. Tuomas had another cup of coffee in his hand, which he offered but Ade shook his head. "Think Nicko's gonna need that more'n me," he sighed. "I'll get more inside."

Steve poked his head out of the bunk section just then. "Ade, you go on without us, it's gonna take some doing to get Nicko moving. You willing to help, Tuomas? We might literally have to pull him out of his bunk."

"I'm willing," Tuomas laughed as Ade let himself off the bus in the wake of Austin and Griffin. Kia and the Nevalainens waited outside as well, Satu holding Eeva and Jukka carrying the pack'n'play. Kia had the baby bag over one shoulder, and a tote bag of clothes in the other hand.

"Steve says we should go on ahead, it's gonna take him and Tuomas both to get Nicko moving. Let's go, I gave up my second coffee so Nicko could have a third," Ade said, punctuating that statement with a yawn.

They all headed up to the main entrance, where the volunteer at the information desk directed them to a small conference-type room, where Rod, Janick, Milla, and Rick, plus the two bus drivers Kevin and Dennis, sat with steaming mugs in front of them and a tray of bagels with packets of cream cheese in the middle. Ade promptly poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down to drink it, smiling a bit as Eeva squealed for her aunt.

"I don't know if Steve told you, but Emma's going to be collecting Emppu's parents and some other people to bring them up here, so when you drop Bruce's car at their place, just put the keys in the letterbox," Ade told Dennis as he slurped at his coffee.

Dennis nodded. "No problem."

Steve and Tuomas guided a bleary Nicko into the room and put two more coffees in front of him. Rod gave everyone a moment longer to get themselves their preferred drink and then opened the meeting.

"Right, you lot, as much as I hate to say this, we've got a bloody major disaster on our hands here," the manager said, dialing Dave's phone on speaker as he spoke. "Dave, you got me on speaker?"

"Yeah," Dave and Bruce chorused.

"Okay, well, the worst first, I guess. They identified the shooter, and it's Jones," Rod said flatly. He waited for the angry outbursts from all of Maiden to finish before he continued. "Bruce, I know you don't want to hear this, but the whole story is almost certainly going to come out, so I'm going to give everyone the unedited version now. Dave, do I need to send Ade up to help you keep Bruce calm?"

Dave looked at the already furious singer and sighed. "Yeah, you'd better. I might outweigh Bruce, but even with the injury, he's in much better shape."

"Okay, he's on his way," Rod said, as Ade got up with a nod and left the room. The manager went on to explain the events that had taken place in London during their second show, as well as the reasoning behind them choosing to only press the charges they knew they could get a conviction on.