Murdoc cursed under his breath, staring at the plain ceiling above him. This wasn't fair! Why did he have to be stuck in the band's hotel room with Noodle while Russel and 2D got to go out and party? Even worse, there wasn't anything to do in the fairly sized room. There was a TV, but then Murdoc remembered his ten-year-old guitarist sleeping in the bed next to him. He couldn't turn the TV on because either the light or sound would most likely make Noodle stir. He had to face the facts. He was BORED!
What stung the most, however, was this: way in the back of Murdoc's mind, he knew he had brought it on himself. The night before, Russel had allowed him to go out, while he, Noodle, and 2D stayed at the hotel. But right before the bassist had left, Russel warned him not to stay out too late, or there would be consequences. Of course, Murdoc hadn't taken it seriously, and got quite a shock when he returned to the hotel around 3:00 in the morning and found the burly drummer still awake and waiting for him. The "consequence" Murdoc had to face was staying at the hotel with Noodle while Russel and 2D went out to party without him.
"Wankers . . . " Murdoc grumbled.
How could they do this to him? Sure, they were on tour, but it wasn't like they had to be on guard 24/7. Murdoc knew one of the most important rules of being on tour: when you didn't have to work, you were supposed to go out and play! So why was he still stuck in the hotel?
Murdoc once again glanced at Noodle, who shifted in her bed. Of course. She was why he was still stuck in the hotel. The bassist sighed. He truly liked the little girl, but there were still days when deep in the back of his mind, he wished she had never showed up in that FedEx crate.
In truth, Murdoc was also a little worried about the little guitarist. So were Russel and 2D. For the past few weeks, Noodle had been waking up in the middle of the night screaming her head off. Nightmares. Apparently very bad ones. It took forever for the older men to calm her down every time.
They had narrowed the sudden change in Noodle's sleep to two causes: the hectic schedule of the tour was getting to her, or quite possibly, but less likely, forgotten memories were trying to come back to her. If they were forgotten memories, she was probably better off forgetting them, considering the condition they left the poor girl in.
Murdoc rubbed his temples. He at least needed a drink. He looked at Noodle again. She seemed okay. Plus, she hadn't woken up in the middle of the night screaming for a couple of days now. Maybe they had finally gone. So what did it hurt if he snuck out for a few minutes to find some alcohol? Careful to stay quiet so he wouldn't wake her, Murdoc swung his legs over the edge of his bed. But just as his feet touched the ground . . .
Noodle shot up and began to scream bloody murder.
Murdoc jumped at the sudden scream, and could only watch helplessly as Noodle's head jerked as she looked around the room. She seemed terribly disoriented. The little guitarist began to crawl across her bed, not looking where she was going. To Murdoc's horror, she plunged head-first off the edge of the bed.
Without thinking, Murdoc half-dove to catch the girl, grabbing her just as her head was about to hit the floor. He gently set her down.
"Sweet Satan, luv," Murdoc grumbled, suddenly realizing how shaky his voice was. "You tryin' to kill both of us?"
Noodle finally seemed to snap back into reality. Trembling all over, she looked at the bassist with terrified eyes.
"M-Murdoc-san?" she stammered out. She was dripping with sweat.
Murdoc sat down on the floor with a THUMP. "Yeah, it's me," he panted, clutching his chest with one hand.
Noodle burst into tears and dove into the bassist, burying her face in his chest.
Murdoc grunted from the sudden impact. "Bloody 'ell . . . " he mumbled. "I knew it was too good to be true . . . "
Suddenly, Noodle's head shot up again. She looked around the hotel room. She stared at Murdoc in horror.
"Where 2D-san?" she stuttered.
Crap. Murdoc almost didn't want to answer. "Uh . . . he ain't 'ere, luv . . . "
"Where Russel-san?"
Pause. "'E's . . . not 'ere either."
Noodle started crying again. "Where they goooooo?" she whined.
Murdoc winced. "Come on, luv. None o' that whining. I got a bloody 'eadache . . . "
"Where 2D-san and Russel-san?"
Murdoc groaned. He reached over and gently covered Noodle's open mouth with his hand. "All right, 'ow bout this? We'll call 'em. Then you can talk to 'em, and we can both go back to sleep. Will that make ya shut up?" He didn't mean to sound so mean; his headache was getting to him.
Noodle nodded.
"Good," said Murdoc. "But ya gotta stop that bloody whining, ya got that?"
He felt a pout form under his hand. Noodle shook her head.
Murdoc sighed. "I guess you don't want me to call 'em, then . . . "
Noodle nodded her head furiously.
Murdoc smirked. "That's a good girl," he said, removing his hand. He proceeded to stand up so he could walk over to the phone in the hotel room.
Noodle, however had other ideas. When she saw Murdoc about to stand up, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. "NO!" she yelled.
Murdoc looked at her, confused. "Noods, I'm just walkin' over to the phone . . . "
"NO!" Noodle yelled again, tightening her grip.
The bassist looked at the little girl and sighed in exasperation. This must have been some nightmare if it had rattled her this badly. "All right, then . . . " he mumbled. He bent over and picked the little girl up.
Murdoc set Noodle down on the hotel room's dresser as he picked the receiver up and dialed Russel's cell. Hopefully, Russel wasn't too drunk to answer the phone. He sighed in relief when he heard the drummer's Eastern drawl on the other end of the phone.
"Lards, it's me . . . No, I ain't callin' to threaten ya . . . Russ, please listen to me. Noodle 'ad another nightmare . . . No, I'm not bloody scarin' 'er!. . .Look, jus' talk to 'er, okay? See if Dullard'll talk to 'er, too . . . Because she won't bloody go back to sleep if you don't!" Murdoc took a deep breath and exhaled. "Thank you," he growled between his teeth. He held the receiver out to Noodle. "Go ahead, luv. It's Russel."
Noodle uncertainly took the receiver and held it up to her ear. "R-Russel-san?" she asked quietly, still quietly sobbing.
Murdoc watched as Noodle straightened up a little at the sound of Russel's voice. She quietly answered any of the questions Russel was presumably asking her. About halfway through the conversation, Murdoc distinctly the higher-pitched voice of 2D on the other end of the phone, meaning Russel had handed the phone over to him. Noodle tried to sound happy, but she still stuttered when she spoke. She just couldn't seem to calm down, even after hearing her band mates' voices.
"Yoshi," she finally said. "Sayonara, 2D-san." She then set the receiver back down on the phone.
Murdoc looked at the little girl. She was still trembling, and slightly sniffling. He rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of Noodle, so he was at eye-level with her.
"All right, luv," he said as calmly as he could. "Wot do we gotta do to get ya back to sleep?"
Noodle looked at her feet. "Gomen nasai . . . " she muttered.
Murdoc just stared for a second. Did Noodle feel bad for making him call 2D and Russel? "No no, luv," he said quietly, putting his hands on Noodle's shoulders. "Don' apologize to me. It ain't your fault . . . "
"Sleep with you?"
Murdoc flinched. "What?"
"Sleep with you, Murdoc-san?"
Murdoc just stared. "Uh . . . oh-kaaaay . . . " he mumbled. He looked around the hotel room. His mismatched eyes stopped at the small outside porch that overlooked the city below. "But . . . it's too bloody hot in 'ere. Okay with you if we sleep outside?"
Noodle gave a tiny nod.
"All right then." Murdoc scooped Noodle up with one arm and grabbed a blanket from his bed with his free hand. He slowly walked over to the sliding door leading to the little porch. Once outside, he sat down in one of the lawn chairs. Noodle then climbed up onto his chest and found a comfortable position. Murdoc draped the blanket over them.
Despite all this, Murdoc felt Noodle's little body trembling against his.
"Noodle . . . " he whispered. "'Ow bout you tell me about the dream?"
Noodle looked up at Murdoc. She shook her head.
"Come on, luv. It'll make you feel better."
Noodle sighed. She clutched Murdoc's shirt, trying to remember what had scared her so badly. "D-dark . . . " she said slowly.
"That's it," Murdoc coaxed. "Keep goin' . . . "
Noodle closed her eyes. "L-loud noise . . . gun . . . heli . . . helicop . . . "
"Helicopter?" Murdoc asked when he realized she was struggling with the word.
"Hai. . ." Noodle nodded. Tears leaked from her eyes again. "B-bodies . . . blood . . . died . . . " She stopped.
"Died?" Murdoc asked. "Someone died? Who died?"
Noodle kept her mouth closed.
"Come on, Noodle luv. Tell ol' Murdoc who died."
Noodle looked up again. "You," she whispered.
"Me?" asked Murdoc, pointing to himself.
"You . . . Russel-san . . . 2D-san . . . " Noodle buried her face in Murdoc's shirt again, muffled sobs coming from under the blanket.
"So that's why you got so freaked out when they weren't there . . . " Murdoc mumbled. Actually feeling helpless to do anything, he did the only thing he could think of: he slowly wrapped his arms around Noodle's little body. "S'all right, luv. It didn't really 'appen. Calm down . . . "
Slowly, but surely, the sobs became quieter until Murdoc couldn't hear them anymore. Noodle's head reemerged from under the blanket. "Murdoc-san?" she asked quietly.
"What, luv?"
"No die . . . "
Murdoc sighed and patted her on the head. "No, luv. I ain't gonna die. An' neither is Lards or Face-ache. We ain't goin' anywhere. You know the only good thing about nightmares?"
Noodle tilted her head.
"They can't 'appen," Murdoc finished. "No bloody way possible. All right? No way any of us can die like that. We ain't leavin' ya at any time, girlie."
Noodle nodded, showing she understood.
"Don' worry, luv," Murdoc continued, beginning to wonder if Noodle was actually listening or if he was just talking to himself at this point. "Before you know it, this whole tour will be over an' we'll be back in Kong Studios. You'll be back in yer own bed, an' this'll all be over. All right?"
"Hai," Noodle answered, no longer crying. A slight pause. Then . . . "Arigato, Murdoc-san." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
"Yeah, yeah . . . " Murdoc muttered as he watched Noodle bury herself under the blanket. She let out a small yawn and closed her eyes. Murdoc couldn't help but give a slight grin. "Dammit, girlie," he thought. "Why do ya have to be so damn cute?" Murdoc tilted his head and looked at the cars zooming by under them. Before he knew it, he felt his own eyelids begin to droop . . .
---
A few hours later, Russel and 2D entered the hotel room, only do find all four beds empty.
Russel immediately began to panic. "Oh man, where the hell are they?" he muttered. "I swear, if Muds snuck out wit' her, I'll . . . "
"'Ey, Russel," said 2D. "Wot's that out there?"
"What?" asked Russel. He turned in the direction 2D was pointing, toward the small porch outside. A grin formed on his face.
Murdoc was sprawled out on one of the lawn chairs, snoring, with Noodle curled up on his chest. A blanket covered them both.
Russel shook his head. "I'm not sure, 'D," he said. "But if you ask me, it's either the sweetest moment or the ugliest lawn ornament I've ever seen."