Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz, though 2D would be fun to have. He's so cute.

A/N: Thanks guys for all the great reviews- I'm really glad you guys like it. Sorry for messing up a few lyrics in the previous chapter- I had just copied and pasted some interpretation from a website as I had been pressed for time. Sorry ( Anyways, I don't know how long it will be before I update again, so sink your teeth into this and enjoy

The night had grown somber in light of the recent findings by some of our main characters- the nostalgic singer and the sympathetic gal. With Time of the essence, the gal falls back asleep, but the singer crawls back into his room to find Murdoc quite displeased. Soon we shall learn the dept of the cruel Satanist's loyalty to the blue-haired man, and once morning has come, they continue on the their Journey. In a series of strange events, understanding will finally settle, and one of the band member's lives will be changed forever…They continue on, even past any Warning Signs….

2-D closed the door to the balcony silently, his face half in shadow despite the moonlight streaming in through the window. When he looked up he gave a start- Murdoc was standing between the two beds, shirtless, like he always slept in, arms crossed and face like stone. 2-D went rigid and stared at the floor, shuffling his feet nervously when he heard the bassist's voice,

"D."

The blue-haired singer looked up, "..Yea?"

"It's two facking thirty in the morning…and you're bloody smoking."

2-D crossed his arms, "Yea? So what? Come off it Muds."

The singer walked over to his bag lying on the floor and began rummaging around for an extra shirt- Murdoc's eyes never left him, and he felt them like daggers on his back.

"You only call me 'Muds' when you're upset."

2-D pulled his shirt up over his head, donning a light blue sweatshirt. He stood and walked over toward the bathroom, doing his best to completely ignore Murdoc. The bassist's mismatched eyes followed him, "Something's buggin' you. You were singin' that song out there, too- the Dead Planet song."

2-D continued to ignore him.

"You were thinkin' about Her again. You always do the same thing; you're up at un-Satanly hours of the day, smokin' or drinkin' and singin' a Demon Days song."

No answer.

"You're not foolin' anyone, D. We know all those songs are for Her. You get all pathe'ic and shit whenever you start singin' the songs or whatever; it's so predictable. You got to get a hold of yerself, it's been two years-"

"What do you know about it, Muds?" 2-D spat suddenly, fully facing Murdoc now. The bassist didn't so much as flinch as the singer's eyes burned like fire, glinting in the moonlight, his hands balled into fists. He stared daggers at Murdoc, but the man still didn't move. He was like rock, staring him down just as hard as 2-D was. All the blue-haired man wanted to do was cause the older man as much pain as he felt right now. He wanted to crush his face, to tear out those eyes that were so cold and uncaring…But it was looking more obvious every passing second that nothing 2-D could do was make Murdoc hurt. He hated him so much right now. 2-D began to fight back tears of frustration and anger, and pain filled where the gap in his heart had been for the past two years.

The bassist's eyes narrowed, "You're wrong, Stu. I do know. I also know that wot that woman did to you hurt more than anythin' anybody else could've done- even when I ran into your shop wit' the Geep or when I tore out your eyes."

2-D's face went slack as Murdoc's words reached him. Murdoc never called him by his real name unless he was being dead serious or completely sincere with him. He stared at the bassist, emotion rising quickly inside him, swelling inside him, and his arms fell limply to his sides. He couldn't comprehend the look on the Satanist's face- did he see…compassion? No….Yes…! Just a hint, that could barely be registered, but it was still there, behind his mismatched eyes. Tears fell down the singer's face and he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, trying so hard to keep the tears from falling. It became painfully obvious he was losing the struggle.

"I'm sick of this Murdoc.."

The man exhaled softly, his shoulders falling much like a deflating balloon would act, and he closed his eyes.

"I'm sick of crying for her.."

Murdoc grunted, scratching the back of his head and taking a seat next to 2-D as the man began to weep.

"I know," he said quietly, as if he was very tired, and he put a hand on 2-D's shoulder. Though he'd never admit it, he hated seeing him like this. His blood boiled at the sight of 2-D's tears, because the pain he knew that was eating away at him was horrendous, and the idea of him in pain infuriated the bassist. Murdoc had taken it so graciously upon himself to be the big brother figure in D's life, partly because he nearly killed him twice, and the fact that he owned the singer's soul. Although he was usually extremely hateful toward him and bashed him around on a daily basis, Murdoc had a deeper caring for him than he would ever admit. Perhaps it was the ten hours a day he that was required of him to care and be with the singer; perhaps it was the fact that D was the only person that could make music with him and his bass that sounded more perfect than anything his mind could ever imagine. He had grown accustomed to the man; and the idea of it being otherwise touched a bit of fear in his heart. He patted 2-D's shoulder awkwardly as the blue-haired man began sobbing harder,

"We were gonna get married, Murdoc," he wept, burying his face in his hands. Murdoc sighed heavily, "I know, Stu, I know…"

There was another long pause, though all discomfort was gone, the silence stemmed only by 2-D's sobbing. Murdoc's hand on his shoulder suddenly tensed in anger; he couldn't stand it anymore. Without pause, he stood up, grabbing 2-d's shirt and pulling his to his feet. He faced him for a moment before taking him into a brief, one-armed embrace.

"Sorry," he said gruffly, before pulling back and releasing a firm punch squarely in 2-d's face. The singer fell back onto the bed, all tears completely gone, replaced by sheer shock then, gradually, anger, "Wot the 'ell was that for?"
He clutched at his face as his nose began to bleed, pouring out from in-between his fingers, but his eyes never left Murdoc's face, even when the bassist came and crouched down infront of him. Murdoc was silent as his mismatched eyes studied and took in the singer's face, his own visage like stone. Suddenly, he sneered- almost like a smile- and croaked, "Welcome back 2-d"

XxXxXxX

"Will you turn that stupid-ass movie off?"

Murdoc spat from the driver's seat. Kate, Noodle and 2-D were sitting hunched together, watching the movie "Napoleon Dynamite", one of 2-d's favorite films, on his portable DVD player.

"Are you kiddin'- I fuckin' love this movie!" 2-d said, watching intently like he had been for the past hour. They had been on the road for three hours since waking up at the motel. Audrey now sat in the passenger's front seat next to Murdoc while Russel sat in the back where Kate had once been. IN the middle sat 2-D in-between the two girls, watching the movie huddled together.

2-d and Kate had acted normal around each other that morning, and no one would have guessed that they had had any kind of conversation the night before. In fact, 2-D was sitting hap-harzardly between them, his arms plopped around them both, bringing them in closer to see the small screen just a bit better. Kate, however, had found it rather difficult to pay much attention to the subtle humor of the masterpiece film, as she had suddenly become entranced and now drifted readily in and out of reality. The moment 2-d's arm had dropped around her own shoulders and pulled her in closer to his body, she'd been overcome by his scent; it was sickeningly hypnotic, being a mixture of smoke, man smell of sweat and aftershave, and lavender. The latter intrigued Kate more than any of said smells, and realized it was making her stupidly sleepier. More than likely he bathed and showered with a lavender-scented soap, as the flower often made one sleep easier. Now that she thought about it more, it made sense, as she suspected he sometimes liked a more natural approach to sleeping, rather than just being a after-affect of some painkiller. She liked it. It fit the Animated man. 'Especially his hair,' she giggled, but her laughter was gone unnoticed, thanks to Napoleon and his crazy antics.

Noodle, on the other hand, was watching the movie just as raptly as 2D was. As mature as the Japanese guitarist was, the others had to remind themselves many times that she was still fourteen and still a little girl. Often she received odd looks from her fellow band mates when she displayed overt signs of immaturity and her still child-like ways. Yet even before they can think otherwise, she nips it in the bud and returns to her insanely mature nature and APOLOGIZES.

Kate often found herself signing in frustration and empathy- she felt sorry for Noodle. She couldn't be a little kid. Probably couldn't be a GIRL either; surrounded by males all the time, Kate wondered if she EVER got to be girly or do anything feminine without getting made fun of. se felt a maternal tug inside her and felt, for just a moment, angry with the other GorillaZ. Kate blinked, however, and the feeling was lost as they continued on with the movie.

An hour later, when the film had ended and 2D was rummaging around for one of his beloved zombie movies, Kate jumped in the back next to Russel and grabbed a can of soda.

"So, how far til Nashville, Auds?" she called, offering Russ a drink, who refused politely.

Audrey shifted her legs, which she had propped up on the dashboard in the sun and replied, "About two hours. We drove eight yesterday and five today. We saved a few hours, thanks to Mud's insane driving."
Murdoc gave her a sneer- which almost looked like a smile- as the cars flew by like they had been for most of the morning, "We'll be there in an hour," He croaked.

Kate rolled her eyes and hopped back to her seat, giving 2D her half-finished can of soda. When he gave her a questioned stare, which was hard to discern because he always looked confused, she laughed, "You probably should take some pills now, D. Last time you did was at breakfast."

"She's right- take 'em 'fore you start whinin' and cryin'," Murdoc replied.

2D shot the bassist a look but shrugged it off and complied by taking two pills and a long drink from Kate's soda. He nodded his thanks and finished off the can, "Alright, then, let's do it," and started up the movie.

Ten minutes in, however, something happened that would change one of their band member's life's forever.

The movie had just gotten through introducing the first display of all-out zombie gore when Noodle made an odd, squeaking kind of noise. Kate and 2D glanced over at the young guitarist, who was clutching her stomach and had an obvious look of pain on her face. "Noodle, love, are you alright?" asked the blue-haired man, reaching over to take her shoulder but the girl squirmed away from him. She'd made a few comments earlier that day that she'd felt a little funny waking up this morning and that her stomach hurt a bit. Kate studied her carefully and after a moment silently confirmed something in her mind.

"Hey Murdoc, pull over to the nearest gas station, I've got to pee real bad."

He glanced at her through the rear-view mirror, his eyes glaring, but he said nothing as the look on Kate's face rivaled even his own. He shook his head and growled, flooring it and sailing down the exit ramp they had approached. As soon as they stopped the doors flew open and Noodle hurried inside, Kate behind her. The younger girl threw open the bathroom doors and went inside as Kate casually took a stall and Noodle barreled through, slamming the door shut. Kate had barely reached down to unbutton her pants when she heard an ear-splitting scream from the stall next to hers. Kate gasped so hard it caught in her throat and she coughed to try and regain breath as she shoved her door open and knocked hard on the neighboring stall, "Noodle, are you ok?"

She could hear the girl inside, half-sobbing, half-screeching, yelling obscenities in Japanese and English. She caught a few words- dying, blood, THERE, and she banged on the door furiously, "Noodle, open this door RIGHT NOW, WHAT is going on?"

She heard Noodle's frantic voice, "I'm dying, I"m bleeding down..down.."

"Where, Noodle!"

"Down...there..." she whispered the last word as though it were the most vile thing in the world.

Kate's face was blank for a moment until everything registered, "Noodle, hang on, I'll be right back, DON'T move!"

She spun around and flew out of the door, running down every shelf until she found the medicinal aisle. She ran grabbed a package of pads and a bottle of Midol. She didn't realize that 2D had been standing there beforehand, picking out painkillers, but now had a very blank look on his face.

"Um...This a bit awkward?"

She threw the singer a filthy look, making him wince, "Wot's wrong? Wot'd I do?"

"Noodle's in the bathroom and just started her PERIOD," she spat, "Apparently it's her first one, too, cos she has NO idea what's going on and she's FREAKING out cos she thinks she's dying!"

Kate spun back around, only catching a glimpse of 2D's face which had gone stark white and gape-mouthed, and disappeared back into the bathroom. She could hear Noodle still in her stall, sobbing loudly, which tore at Kate's heart. The woman began to talk loudly to her, tearing open the package, "Noodle, calm down girl, it's ok, here, i want you to take this..."
She handed her a pad form underneath the door and instructed her on it's usage and where to place it. She heard a sniffling reply and heard the girl tear open the pad and proceed to follow her instructions. There was a long silence, broken only by Noodle's quiet crying. Kate cleared her throat and spoke gently, "Can I..?"

She heard the door unlock quietly and Kate stepped inside the stall, her heart crushing at the sight that lay before her.

The young Japanese girl was sitting on the toilet with the seat down, her legs curled up against her chest, sobbing quietly into her knees. Kate held her breath and dropped to the tiled floor in front of Noodle, taking the girl's face in her hands. She looked into her young, tear-stained face, "Noodle, it's ok, you're fine-"

"What's happening to me Kate?" she whispered, her eyes full of fear, "Am I..am I dying?"

Kate felt her heart squeeze, "No, baby, you're just fine. There's something happening inside you right now, right here-" she touched her abdomen, "-and it's one of the most beautiful things that ever happens to a little girl, because it means you've become a woman..."

She began to tell Noodle everything that was happening to her, and everything the other band members had never gotten around to. Noodle listened with rapt eyes, understanding dawning finally on her face as the fear and tears gradually left. When Kate was through, the new woman managed to say, "So...I'm ok? I'm not dying?"

Kate smiled, "You're fine, babe. Just fine."

The teen smiled in relief and latched onto Kate, who held her tightly. When she let go, Noodle grimaced, "My stomach still feels weird though.."

"Cramps," Kate answered, almost cheerfully,and tossed her the bottle of Midol, "Take two of these and in twenty minutes you won't be able to feel your legs."

"Wow, really? Huh. Maybe 2D should start taking them then."

Kate laughed, "Bad idea. If he did I don't think he'd wake up ever again."