(Again, I don't own anything. This chapter is full of angst. I think there's only one more chapter left!

Thanks to Anna for being my beta for the first half of the chapter!! I love you! 3)

Chapter Three

Fighting Back

Billy didn't remember much of what had happened the night before. But there's one thing that he was sure of:

There had been alcohol involved. And, judging by the pain in Billy's head, a lot of it. Billy didn't even want to open his eyes--he knew that the light would make him hurt even more. What had gotten him so upset last night that caused him to drink his problems away?

Billy remembered Moist suggesting that he should take a walk. Yes, yes…he remembered taking a walk. Then what? He was walking. There was a sunset. Where was he going? There was no destination. He was just walking, like Moist said to.

Oh. Yes. The next thing that happened was why he had decided that he needed to drink his troubles away. He overheard Hammer bragging about sleeping with Penny. Billy let out a small groan. Just thinking about it made him want to go and drink some vodka or something.

Billy slowly blinked open his eyes, and let out a yawn. He decided that he was going to stay in bed until the headache got better. This was the reason he didn't drink--he got the worst hangovers. Whenever he had a hangover, he couldn't even think about working on his inventions. It just hurt too much.

So, imagine Billy's surprise (and agony) when his cell phone started chirping out it's annoying ring tone. Billy sat up, groaning. Where was the damned thing? He spotted it on his dresser and he slowly stood up and snatched it off of the dresser, pressing the answer button angrily.

"What?" Billy hissed into the phone, not knowing who he was even talking to. He knew it wasn't Penny because…well…Penny didn't have his number.

"Horrible! What are you doing?!" Pink's voice was hushed, as if he was hiding from something.

"Pink? Wh…What are you talking about?" Billy muttered, confused. He placed a hand on his temple, trying to rub his headache away.

"You haven't heard? God, Horrible, you should pay more attention to the news. Hammer has a new punching bag." Pink said, his voice still hushed. Billy rolled his eyes.

"That's lovely. Did one of his fan boys cross the line?"

"It's Moist." Pink's hushed voice said. A pang of terror ran through Billy's body. "Did you hear me, Horrible? While you're sitting at home, dreaming about Jenny or whatever her name is, Moist is getting the shit kicked out of him! …Horrible? Horrible--are you even listening to me?" Pink hissed angrily.

Billy totally forgot about all his cuts and bruises. He forgot about his pounding head. There was something more important to think about. "Where is Hammer?" Horrible asked bitterly.

"The Town Hall. He's…Moist is getting beat up pretty badly." Pink muttered. Without another word, Horrible hung up, quickly going into his closet and pulling out the lab coat that Moist had bought for him. He quickly changed into his evil villain outfit.

Damn it! Why Moist? He's too…scrawny to be able to properly defend himself. What the heck are you thinking, Hammer? Billy hissed in his head as he grabbed his Wrist-Ray, Version 2.0.

While Moist had been running around, trying to find a lab coat, Billy had been working on making his Wrist-Ray stronger. Billy pushed the small ray onto his hand, then he placed the newly added pieces of equipment to his shoulders.

A wire ran down from the dome-shaped shoulder pads and into the Wrist-Ray. It now included shoulder pads, which allowed more charge for the Wonderflonium, enabling Billy to be able to shoot a more concentrated, and thus, much stronger, beam of Wonderflonium at his target.

Billy adjusted the shoulder pads, making sure that they were secure. He let out a sigh, hurrying out his door. He had to hurry. The tone in Pink's voice worried him, and Billy wondered what condition that Moist was in…and if Hammer had already grounded him to a little dampened pulp.

Billy scolded himself as he ran out the door and onto the street. No. He couldn't let himself think of such things. Billy was going to go to the Town Hall and save Moist, and win Penny's love in the process.

A smile crossed Billy's lips. Yes. That's how it would all work out.

In no time, Billy pushed by the group of bystanders and the police who hovered around the front of Town Hall. When an officer tried to stop Billy, muttering about how nobody was allowed inside, Billy pointed the Wrist Ray in his direction.

"Try me." Billy hissed, his eyes narrowed. The officer backed off, and the group of people stared at Billy in horror. Billy surveyed the group, then ducked away from them, walking into the Town Hall.

It was empty. Well, near empty at least. As Billy looked around, and when he spotted Moist, he stopped in his tracks with wide eyes. Moist's arms were tied behind his back, and he had bruises and was bleeding in several places. Billy totally forgot that Hammer was lurking somewhere and he rushed forward, towards Moist.

"Doc. No." Moist muttered, groaning in pain. Billy didn't listen to him, though. "It's a trap." Moist said, his voice hoarse. Billy kneeled down by Moist, starting to untie his arms. "I'll get you out of here, buddy." Billy muttered. Moist shook his head.

"Doc…I'm sorry about last night. I never shoul--"

"Doctor Horrible. I knew you'd show up." A voice came from behind Billy. Moist's eyes widened. Billy's eyes narrowed as he quickly stood up and turned around. "If I captured your little boyfriend--" Hammer sneered, but his words were cut off.

"You listen to me. Moist doesn't have anything to do with this, Hammer." Billy said angrily. "If you want me dead--then kill me! Don't bring Moist into this!" Hammer's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry. I'll kill you, too." Hammer hissed, quickly grabbing Billy up by his throat. Billy struggled against Hammer's oversized hand. Moist gasped, but he was powerless to try and stop Hammer. "And next is your little boyfriend."

"I…I told you…" Billy choked out. "You're gonna…leave him alone…!" Hammer frowned. Billy shot a ray of Wonderflonium at Hammer, who was thrown backwards. Billy crumpled to the ground by Moist, coughing. Moist frowned, watching Hammer stand up.

"Doc--here he comes…!" Moist hissed. Billy rubbed his throat, standing up and meeting eyes with Hammer, who was on the other side of the room.

"So?" Billy called out at Hammer, raising his arms up in the air. "Now that I can fight back, what are you going to do? You can't just stand there and snicker at me this time!" Billy spat. Hammer's eyes narrowed.

"No. I actually think I'm going to kick your balls in. Oh, wait. You don't have any, do you?" Hammer snickered, taking a few steps toward Billy, who had an amused smile on his face.

"Ahh, every time you think you have me cornered you bring up some kind of male organ joke. I'm actually starting to find it amusing." Billy said, chuckling darkly. "Now what? Attempt to strangle me again? Or maybe a quick blow to the head. Oh, the choices." Billy teased. A smirk appeared on Hammer's face."Actually, I have a better idea." Hammer swooped down, grabbing Moist up by his neck and squeezing tightly. Moist chocked out some sort of curse as Hammer lifted him high up in the air. Billy's smile disappeared and was placed with a frantic look. Moist continued to struggle against Hammer. "So, doctor, when it's your boyfriend's life on the line, how will you react?" Hammer asked, laughing at the look of sheer terror on Billy's face as Moist's skin started to turn red.

Billy shakily raised his Wrist-Ray, aiming it at Hammer's head. He let the Wonderflonium charge up as he got his aim right. He didn't want to hit Moist. "Dammit, Hammer, Moist isn't my boyfriend." Billy hissed, shooting the Wonderflonium-Ray at Hammer.

Hammer snickered, throwing Moist onto the ground. He leapt out of the way of the beam, and landed right in front of Billy. "Say goodnight, doctor." Hammer sneered. Billy frowned, looking at Hammer.

"Hey--Hammer, is that Penny? Dear God, what is she doing here?!" Billy hissed, a terrified look on his face. Hammer frowned, glancing behind him. Billy took the chance to shoot a ray of Wonderflonium at the square of Hammer's back, causing him to be sent flying again. Billy shook his head in disgust as he rushed over to Moist, who was coughing and attempting to breathe. "Can you stand?" Billy hissed. Moist glanced up at Billy, shaking his head.

"N-Not well." Moist muttered, glancing down at his bloody leg. Billy frowned. "I didn't think so. C'mon, give me your hand." Billy hissed, grabbing Moist and hoisting him on his back, standing up and running out the doors before Hammer could get back up. When he stepped outside, he was greeted by officers and bystanders. The officers all had guns pointed at him and Moist while the bystanders watched in horror.

"What did you do to Captain Hammer?" One of the scrawny police officers asked. Billy scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"I did nothing to Hammer. Why can't you all see? He's putting on a false front to all of you! Do you see what he's done to this innocent man?" Billy asked, nodding to the half-conscious Moist on his back.

"As if!" One of the bystanders exclaimed. "Hammer's the good guy!" "Yeah!" "He has great hair, too!" The whole group broke out into praising Hammer. Billy scowled. "Worship him, then. See if I care!" Billy muttered. "I'm just trying to make this world a little less of a hell-hole!!" Billy said, getting a good grip on Moist and darting through the crowd. He ignored the yells from the police and the gun shots that rung out. He could've sworn he had heard a female's voice call out 'Billy' as he ran away. He ignored that, too.

Moist groaned, his grip on Billy tightening. "Don't worry," Billy muttered, quickly turning a corner. "We're almost there, buddy. Then we'll have you all fixed up. I promise. I'll make everything better." Billy swallowed, hoping that Hammer wasn't following them.

Moist laid his head on Billy's back. "You always do make everything better. Whenever I'm having a bad day…your smile can make me happy." Moist mumbled. Billy laughed. "You're laugh, too. It's so…settling."

"Hang in there, Moist." Billy muttered again, wondering what made Moist act so weird. "We're just about home."

When Billy was able to run up the stairs and open the door to his apartment, he took Moist straight into his room, slamming and locking the door in the process. Billy sat Moist down on his bed, and as he did so, Moist groaned and laid back on the soft mattress. His leg was still bleeding, Billy didn't even want to know what Hammer had done to him. Billy turned away from the sight of his best friend, walking into the bathroom and grabbing the Peroxide and two washrags, one that he wet with warm water and one that he left dry. When he came back into his room, Moist eyed the peroxide and sat up, wincing.

"No way. It already hurts so much. That'll just make it hurt more. Please. No." Moist said, a hurt look on his face. Billy bent down in front of Moist's leg, taking the wet washrag in his hands. "I'm sorry, Moist. If I don't do this, it'll get infected and you'll get even worse." Billy said with a sigh. He started to clean the blood off around the wound with the wet washrag. When he got done with that, he poured a large amount of Peroxide on a big area of the dry washrag. Moist looked horrified.

"Doc. Really. Don't." Billy glanced up at Moist, who bit his lip lightly. "Brace yourself." Billy muttered, looking back at the wound. Without a second thought of how much pain Moist was already going through, Billy pressed the peroxide-soaked rag to the gash in Moist's leg, squeezing the Peroxide down into the wound as he did so.

Moist bit onto his lip even harder, causing a rush of the taste of iron to flood into his mouth. He tightly gripped the blanket on the bed, trying not to yell out. Billy frowned as he looked up at him. He hated seeing Moist in pain. Billy removed the washrag from the wound, but it was obvious that Moist was still in a whole bunch of pain. Without uttering a word, Billy leaned towards the wound, blowing on it lightly to try to make it feel better.

A confused Moist opened his eyes slowly, glancing at Billy.

"Does that help?" Billy asked, looking up at Moist, who nodded. Billy smiled lightly, going back to blowing on the wound.

"…Listen, Doc…" Moist winced slightly. He was still in pain, but he was trying to get it under control. Moist brought a hand up to his mouth, wiping away some blood that was trickling down his cheek. "Thank you for saving me, again. God, if I hadn't have left last night…this would have never happened." Moist's voice was still slightly hoarse. Billy looked confused as he stood up, grabbing the bottle of Peroxide and the two now-bloody rags and taking them back into the bathroom. "You keep saying that. 'Last night'." Billy said as he went through his cabinets, looking for a big enough band aid. He found one, and he walked back into his room. "What do you mean?" He asked, taking the band aid out and positioning it on the wound.

Moist looked rather hurt. "Oh. Y-you don't…remember." Moist muttered, taking a sharp breath when Billy pushed the band aid down. "That's for the better…I suppose."

"I don't remember what?" Billy asked, standing up and throwing the trash away. When he came back and sat by Moist on his bed, Moist blushed and looked away.

"N-Nothing. It was nothing." Moist muttered. Billy frowned, noticing Moist's blush.

"Seriously. I want to know. I was too drunk to remember…maybe if you say something that I said last night…it might jog my memory?" Billy suggested. Without thinking, Moist blurted out the words that had been clinging on to him all day.

" 'Moist…don't. Don't do this to me. Not now. You can't leave me now. I need you.' That's what you said when I left." Moist muttered. Billy started at Moist, trying to remember when he spoke those words.

"Why didn't I want you to leave?" Billy asked. Moist frowned, still hiding his face from his friend.

"Because. You learned that Penny had sex with Hammer. And…you wanted someone to be with you."

"Then…why did you leave? If all we were doing was talking." Billy asked. Moist frowned, looking back over at Billy with a worried look. "What? Seriously, Moist, what's going on?"Moist let out a sigh.

"You were drunk. And I was in here…talking to you. You…you did something…" Moist's voice trailed off. Billy let out a sigh. "You kis--"

There was a bang at the door. "DOCTOR! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE IN THERE!" Hammer's voice echoed throughout the apartment. Billy's face grew pale.

"Shit. Ohh…Moist. You stay right here. Gah. I need to get this off…it's got your blood all over it. And these. My boots and goggles, too…" Billy quickly took off his bloody lab coat, gloves, boots and his goggles, throwing them on the floor. He messed up his hair a bit. "Under no circumstances are you to show yourself." Billy hissed at Moist. There was another, louder bang at the door. Billy let out a deep breath.

"Urgh! I'm coming, I'm coming!!" Billy exclaimed, walking out of the bedroom and shutting the door behind him. His voice sounded more gruff--deeper than it usually did. Moist did as he was told and sat tight in Billy's room.

Billy walked over to the front door without a shirt on, and with his now-messy hair, hoping that was enough to disguise himself from Hammer. He put on a very irritated looking face before unlocking and opening it. "What do you wa--hey!" Hammer had pushed the door open all the way, inviting himself in. "What the hell, man! This is my home! You're not allowed in here!"

"I'm a hero, Doctor. I'm allowed wherever I want." Hammer said, shooting a glare down at Billy.

"Doctor? Why do you keep on saying that?" Billy asked, looking angry and confused. Hammer let out a laugh.

"Don't play dumb. I knew that I should've killed you when I had the chance, Horrible." Hammer said, grabbing Billy up by his throat and squeezing. Billy let out a yell of surprise. He tried to kick Hammer away from him, but Hammer wouldn't budge. "I'm sure that you'll have a horrible time in hell. I hear that Satan doesn't take kindly to people like you." Billy couldn't focus his eyes in on Hammer's face. He could feel his grip getting weaker on Hammer's hand.

No. I can't give up. I can't die like this. Billy thought. Just when he thought that he was gone for good, a voice rang out.

"Stop it!" Moist called. "I'm the one you want. And that's not even the Doc! The Doc went into hiding. This is my friend--he doesn't even know that I was a friend of Doc's!" Moist exclaimed, leaning on the frame of Billy's door. Hammer frowned, dropping Billy, who gasped for air on the floor. Hammer took a few steps back as Moist rushed towards Billy.

"A-are you okay? I'm sorry to bring you into this." Moist said, putting a damp hand on Billy's arm. "Can you breath?""B-barely." Billy hissed, his voice scratchy. Moist stared at his friend sadly. "I really am sorry. I…I don't want you to be hurt." Despite the fact that Hammer was looming over them with his arms crossed, Moist pulled Billy into a wet hug. Billy coughed slightly. "What are you…?"

"Last night. I…you kissed me. I could've stopped it there, but I didn't. I let things continue…and you were willing to go all the way with me. That's when I stopped it. I…I couldn't let you do something like that without having full judgment and a sober mind." Moist whispered into Billy's ear. "That's what happened. You didn't want me to leave. But…I had to. Even though it was a dream come true…I couldn't do it."

"…Moist, I don't know what to say." Billy whispered back, making sure that Hammer couldn't hear him. Moist pulled away from the hug with a small smile on his face.

"You don't have to say anything. I just…incase this is the last time I got to see you…I wanted to tell you that…that I love you, Doc." Moist's face was red. Billy looked speechless.

Billy mumbled out the first thing that he could. "This isn't t-the last time you'll see me." He said quickly. Moist frowned slightly, leaning close to Billy.

"It just might be." Moist muttered, giving a confused and scared looking Billy a kiss on the lips. Billy didn't do anything. He didn't kiss back, he didn't push Moist off of him…he just sat there. He didn't know what to do. Everything was happening so quickly. Too quickly, if you asked him. Sure enough, Moist pulled away from the kiss before Billy could react. Was he crying? Billy couldn't really tell…Moist always was so wet.

When Moist stood up, Billy did, too. Moist put on a fake smile. "I…I have to go now. So that you won't get hurt." Moist said quietly. Billy shook his head lightly.

"No. No, you don't have to leave. Don't leave." He muttered. Moist frowned. "I just told you. I have to." With a drop of water (or was that a tear?) running down his face, Moist turned around to face Hammer, ready to be taken back to his living hell.

Billy shook his head, looking confused and overwhelmed. He's going to kill you. Moist, don't leave. Why can't you just let him take me? Billy cried out in his head. He just stood there, though, not saying a word to Moist. When Moist took another step towards the door, Billy grabbed his slippery hand and stopped him. Moist turned to face him, and as he did so, Billy pulled Moist into a hug.

"I told you not to leave me. I don't know what I'd do without you, Moist. I've grown attached to you…" Billy muttered, lightly pulling away from the hug to look Moist in the eye. "I can't do anything without you. I'm hopeless, Moist." Billy muttered, making sure that Hammer couldn't hear. Moist just stood there, listening. He didn't know what to say or what he could do. He just wanted to run away and try to forget about not being able to see Billy again.

When Billy leaned forward and kissed Moist, it brought him out of his lost state of mind. Moist pulled slightly away. "D-Doc? What are you--?""I love you, Moist." Billy hissed back. "That's why you can't leave me." Billy watched as Moist stared back into his eyes, noticing the look of skepticism in Moist's expression. Moist didn't believe him. Billy sighed, lightly kissing Moist again.

This time, Moist didn't pull away. He kissed Billy back, putting his arms around him. Billy felt as if he had done this before…maybe his memory of the night before was coming back? Billy hugged Moist tightly, not wanting to let go.

It felt right. It felt as if Billy had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He didn't want the moment to end. He just wanted to feel Moist's lips on his and Moist's damp body against his own.

"Oh, now that's just disgusting." Hammer's voice interrupted Billy and Moist's perfect moment. Hammer grabbed Moist by the back of his shirt, pulling him away from Billy, easily breaking Billy's grip on Moist. "Now I know that you aren't the doctor. He isn't as gay as you are." Hammer mumbled, glaring down at Billy. "But I'm watching you nonetheless. Just in case you are the doctor." Hammer turned away from Billy, who stood there in disbelief. "So don't do anything funny. Because I will know." Hammer dragged Moist out the door, slamming it shut as he left.

Billy stared at the spot where Moist had previously been as the whole thing replayed in his mind. He blinked away a tear, which ran down his cheek and dropped onto the floor. Billy couldn't stop as the tears ran down his face.

He dropped to his knees in agony. He knew what would happen to Moist…and he had been too much of a coward to stop it.

"Why?" He cried out to Hammer, knowing that Hammer was already far away from him. "Why take Moist? Why don't you just…just take me? Moist did nothing to you!" Billy covered his head with his hands, trying to stop the tears. "Why Moist?" He sobbed quietly. "Why…why not me? Why didn't you take me instead?"