Last Man Standing Chapter 6
Title: Last Man Standing
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Benji/Joel
Summary: Benji challenges his other four band mates to test their 'prowess' in a contest. A lot of money is at stake and all five men are determined to win...just as long as no one EVER finds out...
And cue the Disclaimer: I don’t own or know the Madden twins. This never happened. I have not, did not, and will never ever make any money off of this. The story is purely a work of fiction.
Notes: "War...good god ya'll...what is it good for...absolutely nothing...", especially in a brotherly brawl! Three things: TKO is a boxing term. FUBAR is a term from the 40's that I first heard in Saving Private Ryan. Last but not least, no member of GC was cannibalized in the writing of this chapter (trust me, this was a necessary disclosure). Yep, that about covers it! Thanx for rnr :D
Chapter 1 Money Shots
Chapter 2 Dirty Dream
Chapter 3 Anything
Chapter 4 Anxiety
Chapter 5 Shattered
Chapter 6 - TKO
“Start spreading the news…” Benji sings in his best Sinatra voice, pausing to look pointedly at Joel.
Joel misses the cue and continues to look out the window of the bus, lost in his own sad world.
“…I’m leaving today…” Billy sings to make up for it and offers Benji a half-hearted smile.
“Actually, we are arriving today,” Paul corrects the lyrics and points to the gorgeous skyline of New York City. “It’s hard to believe we are now on the second leg of the tour!”
“Yeah, it is,” Benji agreed, his eyes never leaving his twin. Nothing ever made Joel smile anymore. “Better get your stuff ready, guys, because we are almost at the hotel.”
Murmuring agreement, Paul and Billy went to the front of the bus where Deano was already pulling out his bag.
“Joel?” Benji said softly. He had to say it three times and touch his shoulder to finally get his attention.
“Hmm?” Joel turned his vacant eyes to his twin.
“Hotel,” Benji said. “We are almost there.”
“Oh,” Joel answered and looked back out the window. Silently, he hoped his twin would just leave him be. Joel was sick and tired of his brother always being one step behind him. At least at the hotel he’d have a reprieve. Separate rooms and no more Benji to stare at with his newly muscular body and two memories that now haunted him all the time. Joel felt bile burn his throat at his reaction to those memories deep in the night. Focusing out the window, he managed to block it all out and clear his mind even though he knew it would not be permanent.
Benji waited for a few moments then, sighed and went to get their bags together because he knew Joel couldn’t do it for himself. As he collected their things, he thought about all that had happened recently. Twelve weeks had passed since the fateful night Joel’s perfect world had fallen apart. All of the guys had done their best to be supportive. Each of them admired Joel’s dedication because in spite of it all, he didn’t miss one show. Every performance, he gave all he had and then collapsed into his bed afterwards. They had just come off of a 3 week break and were beginning the next part of their tour. After this week in New York, they were headed to Europe for almost 2 months.
The guys had also made a collective effort to help Benji achieve the impossible: taking Joel’s kids on tour. In the last 3 months, more often than not, they traveled with the band along with the twins’ Mom. Unfortunately, the children were still too young to travel abroad, especially under the conditions the band would find itself in, so they were remaining in the States with Mrs. Madden. The kids had only seen their own Mother twice and that had been in the first couple weeks after the split. Benji knew after this tour, they would have to stay almost exclusively in the North American continent in order for his brother to be the parent his kids deserved, since it was painfully obvious Joel’s ex, didn’t give a damn.
“Are you ready, Joel?” Benji asked quietly, standing there with both of their bags. He did his best not to wince at the sight his brother was before him. His twin had lost too much weight and his eyes were sunken in, his cheeks hollowed. It had been a challenge just to get his despondent younger brother to drink enough fluids to keep performing and, for that matter, existing. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get much food down him at all. Benji worked out violently in the gym at every stop on the tour, in an attempt to rid himself of the pain of watching Joel waste away. Thinking about it all and looking at the ghastly reminder in front of him that was his baby brother, made the tumultuous feelings rise up inside him again. Benji was scared that if something didn’t change very soon, his beloved twin would leave him…permanently.
“Joel?”
“Sorry, let‘s go,” Joel said in a monotone voice. He was more than irritated with Benji’s constant hovering. Getting up from the couch, he exited the bus. A few fans were huddled inside the lobby and squealed excitedly when they spotted the twins. Mechanically, Joel signed a few autographs and posed for photos, never once smiling. Benji pulled him away after he had checked in and they headed toward the elevator. It was all he could do not shove his twin against the wall and give him matching black eyes to go with the tiny tattoos on each cheek.
“What room am I in?” Joel asked staring straight ahead.
“The Presidential Suite,” Benji replied. “With me.”
Joel turned his head to look at his twin, perplexed. “Why?”
The doors opened to their floor and Benji walked through them without answering.
“Why?” Joel repeated, moving quickly to try and keep pace with his twin.
Benji opened the door to the suite and entered it forcefully, still ignoring his brother.
“Dammit, Benji,” Joel laughed, shutting the door. “Why are we sharing? We haven’t since…well, since that one night. So why now?”
Throwing their bags down, Benji glared at his younger brother. “Why? Why?! Because I am scared shitless, that’s why!”
“Scared?” Joel raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Of what? The dark? I’m sure one of our groupies would be more than glad to hold your dick…I mean hand…and comfort you.”
“No, you fucking smartass,” Benji hissed, getting right up in his face. “I’m not scared of the damned dark. My fear is about you.”
“Me?” Joel scoffed, circling Benji until there was space between them and his twin‘s back was toward the door. “Are you afraid one of the groupies will stroke my dick…better than you did?”
He looked as though Joel had just slapped him down. “What?”
“That’s all you think about, isn’t it?” Joel pressed on, bitterness in his voice. “Getting me off?” Benji gaped as Joel continued. “Didn’t think I knew, did you? I noticed you don’t go out anymore. I’ve watched you after each and every concert: not one slutty girl or hard-up boy. Shit, you don’t even go out with the guys period. That isn’t the Benji I know. Look, I know I’m fucking sex on a stick, but you really need to get control of your obsession with me before I kick your ass!” By the time he was through with his tirade, he was yelling at his older brother.
Benji closed his mouth and looked down, breathing hard as he desperately attempted to hold on to his temper. “You self-centered prick! Everything…everything, I‘ve done in the last 3 months has been with one fucking goal in mind: to help you get your life back on track. Have I said one word, one fucking word, about all that shit? Hell no! I haven‘t gone out because I was putting your kids to bed. I stayed close to you because more often than not, you zone the fuck out and I was worried the kids would get hurt. As for being obsessed with you? Don‘t flatter yourself, motherfucker!”
“That’s better than being a ‘brotherfucker’,” Joel sneered, panting angrily. “I don’t need a damned babysitter and you are not my fucking keeper!” He shoved his brother hard.
“Back off, asshole,” Benji ground out, his eyes rising menacingly to meet his twin’s. “Trust me, you don’t want any of this.”
“No, Benjamin,” he said, smiling nastily. “I think I do.” He shoved his older brother harder.
Knock-knock!
Staring at Joel a moment longer, Benji backed up and answered the door, never turning around or breaking eye contact with his twin.
“Hey guys,” Paul beamed, walking into the suite only to pull up short at the tension in the room. “Uh, what’s up?”
“I am getting ready to kick Benjamin’s ass,” Joel growled, the same maniacal grin still on his face. “What do you say big brother? How about a different take on your little Last Man Standing, game, huh? We fight and when it’s over, whoever is still upright, wins.”
Benji stared at his younger sibling, his eyes unreadable. “Wins? What the hell would we win, Joel?”
“Well,” Joel said enthusiastically, shrugging off his coat. “If I win, I get the fucking suite, without you, of course, and you leave me the fuck alone…forever.”
“And if I win?”
“I’ll worship the ground you walk on like a good little brother should,” Joel mocked, throwing his coat on the couch. “Or would you rather I just worship your body, in particular your throbbing-”
“Okay guys, that’s enough,” Paul cut in, realizing this was serious. “I think you both need to just take a break, calm down, and then talk all of this out.”
“Benjamin doesn’t like ‘talking’,” Joel laughed mirthlessly. “He’s a man of action. Even if those actions hurt someone else, strip them of their dignity, and cause them to lose everything that was precious and dear to them.”
“I didn’t make her leave, Joel,” he said evenly, taking off his own coat. “She made that choice and I wasn’t a part of it, nor were my ‘actions’, and we both know it. Don’t blame me for something I did not do.”
“Last time I checked,” Joel retorted, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. “Causing someone to live a lie is in fact ‘doing something’. Forcing someone against their will is ‘doing something’. And let’s not forget not mentioning it therefore lying by omission because that is definitely ‘doing something’. Karma bit me in the ass hard for all of that and my world is fucked up beyond all recognition thanks to you. The way I see it, it’s time for you to pay up too.”
“Your world maybe F.U.B.A.R., but it’s not because of me,” Benji shook his head, calming a bit. “It’s because of her. You just want a scapegoat. I’m not it.”
Paul looked from twin to twin. “Benji is right Joel. No matter what it is he’s done or what it is you think he has done, that snotty bitch left you of her own accord.”
“Stop while you are ahead, Paul,” Joel said still smiling, flexing his thin arms. “You’ll live longer. Fear is healthy.”
Knock-knock.
“Whatever, Joel,” Paul shook his head, not scared in the least as he walked over to answer the door it seemed the twins were set on ignoring. “You don’t threaten me. Now if Benji wanted to kill me, then I’d be concerned. You should be too. I’ve been spotting him on his workouts.” Billy walked through the door listening to Paul continue with his warning. “If you do fight him, Benji is gonna kill you, man.”
Billy looked startled, noticing the horrible atmosphere. “Damn! What did I miss? I go get a toothbrush from the concierge and come back to celebrity death match! Are you guys really going to fight?”
“No, we aren’t,” Benji stated, his voice steady and surprisingly sane. “Joel is the one dying to kick my ass for no good reason. However, after hearing his bullshit thinking, I’m just not interested.” He turned his back on his brother and walked toward the master bedroom.
Joel’s eyes narrowed dangerously at his brother’s back. He knew exactly what to say to get Benji riled. He was spoiling for a fight, and his big brother was going to fucking oblige him whether he wanted to or not. “You’re right, Benj,” Joel sighed, causing Benji to falter in his stride as he neared the bedroom door. “I would kick your ass, deserved or undeserved. So it’s best you pussy out now while you can still save face.”
Billy’s eyes widened and Paul shook his head in disbelief.
Turning around slowly, Benji set his legs apart and motioned with his hands. “You want it little brother? Come and get it!”
No sooner had he finished speaking, then Joel flew at him, swinging.
“Shit,” Billy cursed under his breath. “Should we stop them?”
Paul looked at his band mate incredulously. “Do you really think we could? This has been brewing for weeks and quite honestly, I don‘t feel like becoming a punching bag for either of them.”
CRASH!
“Damn, there went the mirror,” Billy winced as Joel slammed Benji’s head against the ornate wall mirror, cracking it. “I don’t know Pauly, I think you may be over-exaggerating about Benji and his workouts.”
“Fucker!” Joel screamed, shoving Benji hard, making him stumble into one of the divans. “Are you gonna hit me or what you son-of-a-bitch?”
CRACK!
“I’m willing to put a Benjamin on Benjamin,” Paul said grimly, looking at the end table Benji had just destroyed in his fury to get back to Joel.
“You want me to hit you, you pathetic piece of shit?” Benji roared, as Joel dodged him and stepped out of his reach. “Then stand fucking still and take it like a man!”
Knock-knock!
“I’ve got two Benjamins on Joel,” Billy advised Paul, backing over to the door to open it.
“You are on,” Paul agreed as Joel shot something round and silvery at Benji.
KABOOM!
“Hey…er…is this World War III or something?” Deano asked bewildered as he walked into the volatile suite.
“No, more like the Civil War,” Paul retorted, looking at the silver wash basin spinning in the floor that Joel had just flung his twin. “It’s brother against brother.”
“Looks more like a damned cockfight,” Deano observed, watching as Joel threw a phonebook at his older sibling, catching him off guard in the face.
SMACK!
“That’s real damned mature, asshole!” Benji yelled, kicking the phone book. “Can’t even hit me with your fists. Are you scared, fucker? Who’s the pussy now, huh?”
Deano smirked. “Anybody taking bets?”
“I got 2 Benjamins on Benj and he’s got Joel,” Paul informed him, stepping back with the other two as Benji closed in on his twin.
“I’ll take that bet…on Benji, most definitely Benji,” Deano confirmed while they watched Benji finally grab a hold of Joel’s shirt.
“Gotcha!”
THUD!
“SHIIIIIIIT!” Benji screamed, falling toward the wall holding his crotch as he slid to the ground.
“Ohhhh,” Billy grimaced in sympathetic pain. “Talk about below the belt.”
“That was dirty,” Deano shuddered. “So against the rules of cockfighting.”
“Such a chick move,” Paul folded his arms over his chest.
Leaning down so that he was right next to his twin’s ear, Joel whispered, “Betcha really wanna ’touch’ my package now, huh big brother? Maybe, if we’re lucky, when I kick you in the nuts again, this time it will take care of your need to touch dicks forever…even your own.”
He straightened up and pulled his leg back to strike once more at his twin’s vulnerable balls. “Say farewell to your manhood, bro.”
Paul, Billy, and Deano all realized at the same instant what was about to happen. But before they could react, Joel released his foot.
CLAP!
“Huh?” Joel looked down. Benji had managed to catch his ankle in his hand and he wasn’t letting go. With a hard jerk, he sent Joel sprawling against the dinette table.
“Fuck!” Joel hissed, his side hitting the wood table hard.
Regaining his feet, Benji trapped Joel against the table and swung a mean left hook right at his face.
CRUNCH!
“WHAT THE FUCK, BENJI!”
“The nose,” Deano said, feeling a tad nauseous. “That was…ugh…look at the blood.”
Billy watched the gory scene with the morbid fascination only a gothic artist can possess.
Paul gagged. “This is going way too far…”
“Benj, you need to stop this,” Billy called out, agreeing with Paul. “Did you break his fucking nose?”
“I don‘t think so,” Benji panted, still holding his brother up by the shirt. Gingerly he checked his twin’s nose, Joel attempting to push him away. “It’s not broken guys, I just nicked him. This is over Joel. It’s TKO, Technical Knock Out: I fucking won.”
Blurry eyed, Joel knew he was too dizzy to continue fighting but he feebly attempted to swing at his brother. Benji easily blocked it and Joel yelled in frustration only to choke terribly on his own blood. Coughing and retching, he had no choice but to allow his older brother to help him. Leaning heavily on his arms, Joel was vaguely aware they were headed to the Master bedroom of the suite. Blood dribbled down his chin, leaving a spotty trail behind them. He stumbled, unable to keep his balance and cursed silently when Benji caught him, not allowing him to hit the floor.
“Show’s over guys,” Benji growled. “Go get something to eat. We’ll see you later tonight at The Gardens.” Not waiting for them to reply, he kicked the door open, dragged his twin inside, and slammed the bedroom door shut.
“How the hell are we supposed to eat after that?” Deano asked rhetorically, his face a bit green.
Opening the door to the suite, Paul let the other two out before he exited and closed the door. “Just give it a few and I think we’ll be good.”
“It was one helluva fight,” Billy sighed, punching the button to the elevator. “But I don’t think it really settled anything.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Paul wagged his finger in Billy’s face. “I see what you are trying to do, Wilma, and it won’t work. Benji won, he said so himself.”
“That isn’t what I meant…”
Deano shoved Billy into the elevator, Paul following close behind. “Sure it isn’t, Wilma. Paul and I won the bet fair and square. Time for you to pay up.”
“I wasn’t trying to get out of it…”
“Good to hear,” Paul interrupted, punching the button for the ground floor. “Cause the two of us are hungry.”
“I thought you guys were sick…”
“Paul’s right,” Deano butted in, grinning. “I think Wilma needs to take us Flintstones out for a really good meal.”
“There’s a great 5 star restaurant here,” Paul mused. “What are you gonna have, Dean?”
“Filet Mignon. You?”
“Lobster.”
“Ew,” Billy made a face. “So gross, you guys know I’m a vegetarian. This is so not cool!”
The elevator dinged just below the third floor, but its occupants were too caught up in their discussion to notice.
“Being a plant-eater is your prerogative,” Paul snorted, dryly. “But we believe man cannot live by seaweed alone.”
“Men are supposed to be carnivorous,” Deano nodded, supporting his friend. “We can’t help it if the only meat you can handle is your own.”
Billy glanced up at the numbers above the door, seeing them flash. “Guys, I think we may have a problem…”
“Nah,” Paul slapped him on the back and continued. “You can just hold your breath and close your eyes while Deano and I devour flesh.”
“Um, no really, something is up…”
“That is a personal issue, Wilma,” Deano snickered, making Paul laugh. “We don’t need a ‘blow by blow’ about your ‘hands on’ experience. Already been there and done that with you in the bus.”
“WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN, FUCKWADS!”
Paul and Deano looked at Billy mutely.
“We aren’t going to dinner.”
“You mean you can’t pay?” Paul guessed.
“Oh I’ve got the money. It just looks like we will be…inclined…to endure each other‘s company a bit longer at the moment.”
“Why?” Deano asked bewildered, but Paul suddenly noticed the flashing numbers.
“Because, Numbnuts,” Paul sighed. “The elevator is stuck. Our phones won‘t work in here either. Billy is right: we are here to stay for a while.”
“That and die of hunger,” Deano grumbled.
“Well look at it this way guys,” Billy said cheerfully. “Meat eaters have been known to starve to death long before us veggie eaters, so at least your wait won’t be long.”
“Wilma,” Deano smirked. “You do know that little thing about carnivores, right?”
“Huh?” He asked, confused.
“Carnivores eat herbivores,” Paul finished.
Smacking his lips as Billy rolled his eyes, Deano pinched his cheek. “Lobster and Filet never looked so good.”
“Do it and I swear I’ll give you heartburn and the worst shits the two of you have ever experienced,” Billy smirked as Paul suddenly went pale.
“Oh god.”
“What’s wrong?” Deano asked, concerned as Paul backed up against the wall hard.
“I think the curse of Montezu-Wilma has already hit me,” Paul groaned.
“Aw hell you mean you gotta…” Deano started, then grabbed his nose.
“I gotta go…” Paul began as the odor hit Billy.
“Shit!” Billy yelped grabbing his nose.
“Exactly,” Paul said pitifully.