AN: This small one-shot of our dear Izzy, it's set in the time frame of chapter ten and eleven in "One More, Always More" story of Slash and Nicole. In chapter ten, Nicole and Izzy have a small conversation about Rebecca, bringing the woman into the life of GnRs. You don't really have to read "One More, Always More" to read this one-shot but it would help you to understand where Izzy is at and his relationships with everyone in the one-shot.

Take the Wheel

+ Izzy & Rebecca +

1987

He didn't know what it was that caught his attention, maybe it was the golden tanned legs in those denim shorts or the brightly lit smile on her face. Who was he kidding? Those were the first things to capture his attention though what held him was her perspective of life and ability to somehow make him feel at peace instead of a wandering soul.

When he caught sight of her standing outside with the rest of the backstage crew, he gather she'd be in the costume department, where she didn't have to do much work but she caught him by surprised when Alan was getting them into the bus and the woman happened to be sitting in the front seat, buckled and ready to drive their bus.

The new driver only caused a few wolf whistles throughout the bus, and a fair warning to their bassist to keep his hands to himself if he wanted to keep the piece between his legs. She wasn't the soft sided woman that usually hung around them - Izzy later learnt that her personality was blunt though her skin was as soft as silk. And then there was that fine line between treating her like an equal and remembering that she had female wants as well – not that Izzy found that particular part hard to remember when she had her tanned legs wrapped around him.

Before any of that happened, Izzy had to allow someone else, someone new into his life that wasn't a part of the band. He had practically grown up with Axl then along came the rest of the band with Nicole as Steven's baby sister. Nicole became one of them, and quickly Kelly had become a part of their little family. That's all he really had, but as of lately, Izzy has been wanting more than the usual.

It was at the half hour stop between the coast and Rio, Izzy sitting on top of the picnic table that over looked the vast coastal side, the heat of the sun burning into his legs with the black jeans. "It's beautiful out here." Their driver said, tying back the curtain of straight black hair into a high ponytail.

Izzy simply kept staring at the space in front of him, hearing those lines from a woman wasn't unexpected but looking at his surroundings, he couldn't see what she saw. The ground was rocky with a couple of trees sprinkled here and there providing shade from the sun, the smell of the sea drifting from the coast with a light breeze. No, Izzy couldn't see the beauty in the environment. It was too quiet for his liking, only a couple of cars littered the car park to the road house and there had been nothing for miles, he had no doubt that it wasn't about to change anytime soon. "Just looks like dust."

"You need to be open minded." Izzy finally glanced at the woman, her eyes to the land before them. He waited for her to say something, to explain whatever was running through her mind but she threw him off with her next sentence. "It's going to rain soon."

Izzy turned his head back to the land before them, there was no clouds in the sky. "How do you know that?"

"The ants." She simply said, looking at an ant's nest a few feet from them – the black insects running about the ground with speed. "They are always more active before it rains."

He stared intensely at the ants, wondering how such a creature could predict the weather. He went to question her again, looking to the spot beside him to find her gone leaving him slightly dazed at what had just happened between them.

"Come on Izzy, we're going!" Nicole yelled across the parking lot, distracting him from the pile of ants once again.

"Coming." He muttered under his breath, taking one more glance between the ants and the blue sky before making his way to the tour bus to continue their journey to Rio.

The long trip to Rio - Izzy couldn't keep his mind from wandering to the woman at the steering wheel. As she predicted, late afternoon the clouds did gather and darken to a wet road trip.

He twirled the coke lid between his fingers, eyes on the brown leather seat that had their drivers ass planted in it. His attention was slightly divided when Nicole ungracefully sat down beside him and started a conversation. "You should just go up front and chat to her."

"When did you start giving relationship advice?" Izzy's voice was soft. He loved Nicole, he really did but he didn't want to discuss their bus driver to anyone because Izzy wasn't sure what to make of the feelings swirling around him like a hurricane.

"Wait, you're thinking of getting into a relationship?" He tried not to wince at the hint of surprise in Nicole's tone. Truly they weren't that bad with woman? – Izzy questioned himself.

Izzy shrugged his shoulder at her question. "Just someone to talk too."

"You've spoken to her before?" Nicole questioned. He wasn't sure if the conversation they had before was really...a conversation – He shrugged his shoulders again. "And you want nothing else from her?" Izzy knew what she was implying, her tone expressed her attitude.

"Yes, she's attractive." He said softly as he glanced to the back of the driver's head – she was avenge for a woman and he liked that normalcy.

"Then why not do something?" Nicole said, clearly not getting his reason for hanging back.

Izzy checked for the lead singer's distance, satisficed to find him at the back of the bus. "I wouldn't put it past Axl to try something." At Nicole's questioning expression he continued. "It's always a game to see which one could get the girl, we always do it."

Nicole slumped against the cushions on the seat, making Izzy take a breath at having the woman slow down on the firing questions. Instead of his eyes going to the front of the bus, they went to his longest known friend- Axl. What he had said to Nicole was true, from the moment they were teenagers the game had begun to see who could win – a challenge.

"Maybe you should go talk to him." Izzy threw her words back at her when he noticed her direction of sight was on Renee and Slash. She merely shot him a glare at her that had no effect on him after so many years.

"Maybe you should shut up." Nicole tipped back the beer in her hand making a laugh escaped Izzy at the woman's fiery attitude.

Once the laughter inside of him had died down, Izzy turned his attention back to the driver before finally deciding to take the woman's advice and went over there. He took the spare seat diagonally from the drivers, giving him a view of the right side of her face. "How'd you know to watch the ants?" It was a stupid way to start the question but he didn't know what else to say and to his relief she didn't laugh at him.

"My papa taught me when I was young." She quickly look at him before turning her attention back to the straight road. "Something you learn out in the country, city boy."

He wasn't sure which stuck more, the reference or the tone in her voice. "And I'd probably know some things you wouldn't." When he didn't get a smart-ass response from the woman, he couldn't help the smile. "You could show me what you see."

"There wouldn't be any shopping centres where I go, much less a corner store."

"Even more reason to go." He said, making the woman turn her attention from the road once again to check whether the man was actually stating the truth.

"We just might have to." She answered before turning back to the road and pushing her sunglasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "The names Rebecca."

Rebecca – Izzy let the name rolling around his head for a moment, over all he thought that it suited the woman sitting behind the wheel. He didn't see her as a Cindy, it sounded too soft for the personality he had already seen. "Izzy." He finally managed to introduce himself.

"Of course I know your name." She rolled her eyes at him. "You the Gunner's rhythm guitarist and I'm driving you guys around Brazil." Rebecca answered in a sarcastic tone.

"And I'd rather eat cold pizza… oh and I'm very suspicious of black cats." Izzy couldn't describe the enjoyment he felt at Rebecca's stunned expression.

"Alright so there may be more to than what everyone believes."

"You mean I don't just play a guitar?" A smile still plastered on his face, enjoying the moment of teasing the woman.

"Guess you'll just have to show me."

Challenge accepted - He tried to not show how much her words actually affected him but he could feel the muscles in his cheeks hurting. "I'll take you up on that." He dragged his eyes from Rebecca and glanced around the bus, his eyes landing on Axl. Izzy had definitely spent to long talking to the woman. "See ya around Bec." Without a backwards glance, he got up from the seat and grabbed a coke from the fridge before sitting down opposite Nicole, the younger woman giving Izzy a knowing grin that had him turning his attention to the passing scenery out the window.

It was earlier afternoon outside of Rio, the crew setting up the stage and equipment - they wouldn't need the band for a few more hours so Izzy pulled out his baby. When he got inside the truck, he ran his hand over the back tyre before running it along the leather seat and handle bars. The two enjoyments of his life – his guitar and dirt motorbike. He wasn't going to let anyone take them away from him, he had brought them with his earned money.

With ease he saddled the bike, turning the engine on and revved it for a few moments before taking both feet off the ground and riding down the ramp of the truck. He felt the rumble of the engine underneath him and couldn't help the small smile twitching at his lips before ripping a few skids in the dirt.

A few yells of encouragement caught his attention, a group of crew members over by the rails but his eyes settled on the woman with the tanned legs. Without further encouragement, he made his way over through a few skids into the rid until he pulled up to the railing sharing at the dark brown eyes of their current bus driver. "I didn't think a city boy could ride a dirt bike." Rebecca provoked.

"Get on and I'll show you exactly what I can do." Izzy watched as the woman in front of him suddenly seemed unsure about his propose. "What's the matter country gurl? You can't handle it?" Izzy watched her eyes suddenly flare up at his teasing.

"Let's see what you've got urban boy." She jumped over the railing and walked over to him, hesitantly she saddled the bike behind him wrapping her arms loosely around Izzy's body.

"You might want to hold one tighter." Izzy warned, her response was quietly snorting in his ear. He gripped the handle bars, revving the engine a bit before shooting off quickly back to the open area, making Rebecca suddenly tighten her grip around his mid-section.

He merely picked up the speed, making the wind brush against their skin – a feeling he would loved as it eased the weight off his shoulders for just a few minutes. Slowly but steadily he felt Rebecca's arms loosen around his waist as he continued to drive them further away from the stage and busy crew members.

He rode up the side of a dirt hill and turned the engine off once they reached the top. "Wow." Rebecca whispered behind him as she slowly got off the bike, staring straight ahead of them. From the top of the hill, they were given a view of the concert from the stage to the entrance. "This would look great at night."

"Shame I won't ever see it." Izzy said.

"Right, cause you'll be in the middle of it." Rebecca answered, rolling her eyes as he made it sound like the worse place to be. "You make it sound so bad."

"Because it is." Izzy leaned forward on his handle bars, eyes on the stage. "I use to be high most of the time, everything seemed fantastic from that point of view but slowly I begun to wake up and the thrill of it… is dying."

He was surprised when he suddenly felt Rebecca climb back on the bike and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder – she was comforting him. In her embrace, he managed to relax underneath her. "Looking at everything a new way isn't always bad." Izzy didn't know how to respond to her, he had no doubt that anything he said Rebecca would simply have an answer for.

"Promise you'll come watch me play." It wasn't a question and he half expected her to tell him 'no' but Rebecca yet again surprised her with nodding her head against his shoulder.

When they got back to stage, Axl was waiting for him at the truck. Izzy let Rebecca off the back before riding his motorbike into the truck. As he put the stand down on the bike, he looked up and caught sight of Axl and Rebecca talking close – it made him grind his teeth. "Iz, we have sound check." Axl nodded his head in the direction to the stage where the others would be gathering.

"Yeah I'm coming." He mumbled under his breath, giving Rebecca a small smile before catching up with Axl.

"What's the deal with the woman?" Axl asked bluntly.

"Nothing man." Yes, Axl and Izzy went a long way back but he wasn't sure if he was ready to be talking about it.

"Well you won't mind if take her out then." Axl suggested, watching his brother from the corner of his eye and catching the tense jaw.

"Axl." Izzy said in warning, he didn't want to be playing games.

"All you have to do is admit it Iz." Axl stated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright, I'm interested." He finally said as the rest of the band came into view.

"That's all you needed to say." Axl patted him on the back and left him to speak to their manager Alan.

When Izzy got off stage that night, finishing their concert off with the song "Sweet Child o' Mine" he couldn't stop the summersaults in his stomach at seeing Rebecca sitting next to Kelly on the boxes. Sitting there with the few women in his life made him feel proud that she was accepted by them.

Swiping the sweat from his neck and face, he threw the hand towel in the corner of the stage and walked over to Rebecca planting his hands on either side of her tanned knees. "You came."

"You did make me promise." Rebecca clearly stated making Kelly let out a snort next to her.

"Well in that case, we must have some traveling to do." Izzy said, making the dark haired woman in front of him smile brightly while he could see Kelly looking puzzled at his statement.