One-Shot #3: Watching Ships Go By

(Phase 3)

HEYYYYYY ALL THE PEOPLE! I hope that you liked my last chapter. Listen up! I know that the character Sydney's age makes no sense right now, especially because in my first chapter I said that she was about 10 when she was killed, but I wanted to make her older and more mature 'cause I think that she should be more badass than childish. SOOOOO anyway I hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter, it was a burden to write. Let's Go!

Her eyes faded in and out of focus as she stared up at the ceiling. There was a water stained patch there, which she had yet to fix. Droplets of the cold liquid dripped onto her torso as she continued to stare at it. 'This is stupid.' She thought. 'I'm 16 now, I should know how to fix a simple leak.' She looked at the clock. It read: 2:39 AM. She sighed, swinging her long and nimble legs over the side of her too-small bed and set her bare feet onto the cold floor below her.

She sadly looked at her feet. She missed her father. She was only allowed to talk to him when they were recording their songs, and Murdoc always ushered them into the booth before they could say a word. She looked down at the floor. She hated Murdoc. How dare he keep her father locked in a room! And with his worst fear? It just made things all the worse. She wished she could go see him.

Then it struck her. 'Why don't I go see him?' She pulled a small bobby pin out of her long azure-colored hair to go pick the lock. She had taught herself how to do it when she was younger, to escape the cell-like room her mother had trapped her in. She remembered the haven she felt as she stepped outside and put her feet on the cool grass. That is, until her mom had noticed her disappearance and shoved her back inside. She scowled as she remembered her mother. "Bitch." She whispered to herself in the semi-darkness of her underwater room.

She stood up, eyes finally adjusting to the dark. She made her way cautiously to the white door. She could see the paint chipping off of it, and she went out of her way to pick off some of the shards of the dried stuff. It fell to the floor and crumbled next to her feet. She slipped quietly through the semi-ajar door, making sure not to move the creaky door. Murdoc's room was right across from hers, and she anticipated walking by it. She held her breath, and tiptoed as silently as she could. Thankfully, she heard no shuffling behind the metal door. She continued to move down the long and creepy hallway, passing by all of the collaborators doors. The only noise she heard was the soft playing of music behind Daley's door.

She stopped at the last door. It was a large grey door, with the word 'STAIRS' printed on it in bright red lettering. She knew that this was her stop. Thank goodness the door was well oiled and mostly silent, if it wasn't it would have sounded like a garage door opening and it would have woken everybody in the place up. She glided down the stairs, stepping as lightly as she could. When she reached the bottom level, she opened up the door that would lead to another hallway. She started down it, her feet slightly sticking to the cold floors. At the end of the hallway, the last door sat slightly ajar. She was startled by what she heard.

Soft crying sounded from behind the door. A gruff voice could be heard screaming profanities. Several crashes of things falling and someone being slammed against the wall could be heard by Sydney, who was waiting in shock behind the door. She hid silently behind the hinges, and crouched down in the shadows. Whoever had the gruff voice left, not glancing back at her. They slammed the door open hard, hitting Sydney, but she had to stay silent. They stomped out of the room, boots slamming against the floor with much force. She held her breath until she presumed they were up the stairs. She stood up, and checked to see if anyone else was out there. She found only blank silence.

She then immediately rushed inside of the room, seeing only the sight she expected to see. Her father was curled up in a ball, his 8 ball eyes white with fear. He had bruises all over his face, and blood was gushing from his nose and cheek. He looked back up at her, and tried to force a smile. But all he could do was wince in pain, his jaw hurt like a bitch. Sydney kneeled down next to him, only looking at him with a worrying frown. He didn't fight it when she helped him up and laid him down on his bed.

She mended his wounds, putting ointment on all of his bruises, and patching up the cuts on his face. He then started to talk to her. "You have no idea how much I missed you," he said as she added some more gauze to his lower back. "I can't believe Murdoc is trying to isolate me away from my own daughter."

Sydney scoffed after hearing this. "Please. I can believe it. He's a lying, old-ass shit whore who is trying to ruin your life. I can believe that he would do something like this. Remember when I first met you? He didn't leave an inch of skin on your body without a bruise!" 2D nodded as he remembered it. The look of pure horror on her face as he drifted in and out of consciousness. That was only the first time she had ever seen him get beaten by Murdoc. She would have to endure more of her father's pain-filled yells later on in life. She then broke his memory train as she asked another question. "Why the hell did he even do this to you?"

"I just asked to see you." He responded. "I just asked him really quietly, but then he did this and threatened to sic' that dumbass whale on me." She froze at this. This had happened because of her. Now, her worry had molded into anger, like clay into a different shape.

"Wait here," she said. "I'll be back in a few." He nodded as she left the room.

Her face was bright red. Her feet stomped on the floor, so loudly that every single person in the mansion could hear her footsteps. She no longer cared if they could hear her or not, in fact she wanted them to see what was about to go down. The stairs rattled under her calloused, strong but bare feet. She threw open the door, to be met with curious but tired gazes from all of the collaborators. She moved past them in a way that reminded them of a prisoner being held with a steel ball and chain.

She threw open Murdoc's door with so much power that it broke through the plaster covering the wall. Murdoc was lying on his bed, and he immediately turned over to stare at her in shock. He didn't have any time to react before she pulled a gun to his head. He wasn't sure where it came from, and he dared not ask. She was looking at him with such fury, such unbroken hate that he swore her eyes were like daggers, staring down at him as he looked at her with pure terror.

"How. Could. You," her voice cracked and broke with hurt and rage. His gaze softened as he saw tears forming in her eyes. Tears of sadness. "He just wanted to see his daughter. Just asked to see me. DO YOU KNOW HOW GUILTY HE FEELS?!" Murdoc was startled by her sudden rage. "Noodle is gone, and I'M the only thing he has left to love in life. And you just nearly KILLED him! DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT HIM?!" She started crying more now, and she dropped to her knees, lowering the gun but never letting go of it. Her arms fell limp at her sides. "Do you even understand what it's like to have a fucking family? Do you know how it feels to lose someone you love?"

He looked off into the distance. Then, suddenly, he spoke. "No."

She was shocked. Why hadn't he gotten angry? Why hadn't he beat the shit out of her like she anticipated? He stood up, hunched over, eyes glazed and tired. He got up, and walked past her like she didn't exist. Her head turned, as he walked distantly out the door. She followed him in close pursuit, not wanting him to get near her father. Strangely, however, he passed by the stair door, not even looking at it. He made his way outside, and to the beach. His bare feet grazed the shore, while the sounds of water splashing played on a loop in the background.

Sydney noticed his expression. He no longer looked angry, or frustrated, or upset. He looked almost….

Peaceful.

He looked peaceful, just standing there in just his jeans, rum bottle dropped and sinking into the sand next to him. She walked up beside him, and watched the same scene he was viewing. The ocean water glistened in the moonlight, while the waves crashed against the ugly, pink plastic rocks. The droplets sprayed on her face lightly. It was dead silent. She looked over to Murdoc. His face was softened, and Sydney decided he looked better that way. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a red lighter.

She watched as his dirty but skilled fingers quickly ignited the cigarette that was hanging in his mouth. He then held a cig and the lighter out to her. She had never smoked before, but she took them anyway. She held it up to her mouth, and lit the end with the lighter. She took a long drag from it, as she remembered something that Russell told her.

FLASHBACK

"NO!" He said again. "And that's final. Syd, those things are cancer sticks!" He looked at a 13 year-old Sydney with frustration. "I don't want you to get addicted like the rest of us! So give the cig back to Murdoc, and move on!" She pulled a sour face at him, and threw the stick at Murdoc, not caring if it hit him.

She stormed out, upset. Why does he treat her like a child? She was 13. She could do what she wanted.

FLASHBACK ENDS

She remembered how pissed she had been when he yelled at her for trying to smoke her first cigarette, and now she was defying him. He was more like her father than her father was, he was almost like a big brother to her. A single, lonely tear fell from her eye as she remembered him. Suddenly, she felt a wash of shame that ended at the tip of the cigarette she held in her cold fingers.

Although she might never see Russ again, that didn't mean that she could forget the morals he had taught her over the years. She let the cig in her hand slip through her fingers, and it put itself out as the thin sheet of water washed over it. Normally, Murdoc would have yelled at her, telling her that it was a perfectly good cig and that it costed money. However, he was remembering Russ too.

He never wanted to give her that cigarette. Although she hated him, he actually cared for her quite a bit. She resented him with every part of her being, and he knew this quite well. But deep down, Murdoc had a soft spot, and he really cared about her and her health. He knew that there was something wrong with him. But he didn't want the same for her. He remembered when he first got to know her. She was such a sweet and innocent child, corrupted by Paula's brutal and vile ways. He saw her as someone like him, who hadn't had the greatest childhood. Who hadn't been spoiled with toys. Who would come home some days and would never have food. She was like him.

"Why did you do it?" A soft, weak, and shaky voice said. His cold heart nearly broke when he looked back to see Sydney in tears, her mouth slightly open. She looked like she had been trying to stay strong, but broke. He shrugged lightly. Her voice cracked as she raised her tone and asked again, "Why do you do it?"

"I don't know," a deep, gruff voice responded. She looked at him. His face was stern, the lines and tired wrinkles on his face seemed much more prominent. "I guess it's just in my nature. I didn't exactly have the greatest upbringing." She looked at him with curiosity. She was mentally asking him what he meant. "Look kid," he said. "I'm only gonna tell this once. So listen up." He sat down on the shore, and she sat down next to him.

"When I was a baby, my mum decided that she didn't want me. She left me on the doorstep of my father's house in Stoke-On-Trent, 'cause she didn't give a shit about my well-being." He looked pained as he told her this, like the words coming out of his mouth were stabbing him in the heart. "I grew up being abused by my drunk dad, he would hit me and kick me whenever I got in his sights. My brother Hannibal, the little shit, would hit and kick me with his friends until I couldn't move." He gave a soft, humorless laugh. "I wonder what he's thinking now that he sees me here today."

He continued, "Anyway, I never had any friends to play with, or anyone besides myself and my bass. I would play it every day, blast it through the soundproof room so loud that I couldn't hear the screaming and moans coming from my dad's room." He looked back towards the water, seeming more distant than ever. "When I was 9, he sold off my virginity to a woman in a diner. Quite a hot bird she was, but as a kid I was terrified. When I was 11, things changed. He nearly killed me." Sydney's eyes widened in surprise.

"He got high, too high, with some of his friends. He broke the lock on my room, and strangled me. If it wasn't for my prick of a brother, I would be dead. He saved my ass just because he needed someone to push around." There was something in his voice, she realized, that was unfamiliar for him. It sounded almost like… hurt.

"Anyway, I got the fuck out o' dodge as soon as I could. Ran away, with nothing but my C-D player, my bass, and the hopes and dreams of a musician." He sighed. "After that, I did the best I could. I tried to form a lot of bands, but none of them ever got to here. None of them were like Gorillaz." She realized something that she would have never realized before. This band wasn't just a way to earn money. Sure, that was a bonus, but this band meant something more to him. It was the only thing he could hang onto after his childhood. It was him.

"And yet," he said, "Here we are. Making a new album with only half the band. The other half have been replaced by machines." Tears glistened subtly in his eyes as he remembered Noodle. What a cheerful, sweet, and creative girl, only to be destroyed and missing because of his mistakes. Where was she now? He had no idea. He had guiltily replaced her with a robot. An unfeeling imposter. Some days, he liked to pretend that she was the real Noodle. He would talk to her, tell her about his problems. However, he knew that it wasn't the same.

And Russel. He was the family's bond. The glue that held them together. He would break up the fights when they got too intense, he adopted Noodle into the family, and helped them all to learn from their mistakes. But now that bond was gone. They were falling apart, and Murdoc knew it. He knew that he was holding onto the scraps of a broken family, anything that he could salvage from the ashes of the band. He wished they could go back to the old days, when Noodle was just a little girl. When he could have spent time with her instead of shutting her out. Shutting everybody out. He had replaced the only family that he had ever had. But he knew it wasn't working. Hell, he was holding the last remaining piece of their music captive in an underwater room with his worst fear, forcing him to create music. Sure, it ended up well, but it didn't have the same soul. The drumming was boring and sounded very mechanical, and the guitar was empty, like there was no passion left in the sound. He remembered when Noodle would smile when she was playing, how she would press her tongue against her lip in concentration. She would rock out, bobbing her head up and down and dancing around the room, clutching her Gibson Les Paul. Now, the cyborg would just sit there, her empty eyes staring forward.

He was pulled out of his mental spiral by a soft, gentle hand being placed on his shoulder. He looked up through his clouded, tear ridden eyes to see Sydney smiling softly at him. They had finally made their peace with each other.

I Hoped you guys enjoyed, I was going for a less intense chapter. I like the way that the end turned out, because of the humanity of it all. She is accepting that he is an abusive asshole, but she notices that he is still human. They have made their peace. Please review, I want to know what you guys think! Thanks!