When John woke up the next morning, he yawned and looked to his left, but was dismayed to see that Mark was not lying next to him. Strange, the guitarist never got up before him. Especially since he had barely slept the night before and was still tired. John yawned, rubbed his eyes and sat up. He strolled to the bathroom in his boxer shorts and a T-shirt, where he urinated and combed his hair. When he came into the living room, he found Mark. The guitarist was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, holding a coffee cup in one hand and the remote control in the other. He was leaning forward slightly, his blue eyes wide open and focused on the television screen.

"Good morning." John giggled. Mark gasped in shock and immediately turned off the television. He jumped off the sofa, almost spilling coffee on his chest. "What are you doing?" John laughed and walked over to him to look at the TV screen, but it was already black.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Mark said a little too hastily. "I made breakfast. Are you coming?" The guitarist went into the kitchen. John looked at the TV again. What had Mark been hiding from him? He shrugged. Certainly nothing important, otherwise the guitarist would have told him.

*

Mark was tense all day. John wanted to go to a park with him to take a walk and look at the many beautiful, colourful leaves that were gathering in big piles on the ground, but the guitarist didn't want to leave the apartment. The bassist had been a little angry and locked himself in the bedroom to read. Mark was acting strange and he had absolutely no idea why. Was it because of the interview the day before? The guitarist hadn't seemed to mind much. Damn! Mark had kissed him in front of all those cameras. Hours must have passed when there was a quiet knock on the bedroom door. John had put on one of Mark's sweaters, even though it was a little too short for him, but he wanted to be able to smell his boyfriend's scent. He had curled up on the bed with the sweater and pulled Mark's blanket over him.

"John?" He heard Mark's voice through the door. Soft and vulnerable. "John, I'm sorry I didn't go to the park with you. We can go tomorrow if you want." John bit his lip. He was still a little angry with him. "Honey." The bassist's eyes widened when he heard that word. Mark had only used it once. "I... I'm sorry." There was silence again for a while. "I'm going to a bar, okay? Don't wait for me. I don't know how late it will be when I get back." Shortly afterwards, John heard the apartment door slam shut. The bassist rolled onto his back and sighed. Damn, he should have opened the door and hugged Mark. Now he was gone. John took a deep breath. Well, maybe it was better for both of them to keep a little distance.

*

The bassist fell asleep shortly afterwards. He rolled around in Mark's bed when suddenly the phone rang. He groaned in annoyance and pulled a pillow over his head. When the ringing didn't stop, John sat up and looked at the clock. Four in the morning? Who on earth would call Mark at four in the morning!? Illsley got up and went into the living room to answer the call.

"Illsley." He croaked sleepily and rubbed his eye.

"Damn, finally!" A voice called out loudly. John flinched and held the phone away from his ear.

"David?"

"Yes. It's me. Shit, John. Mark is locked up in a police station somewhere and I can't find him."

"Police station?" John asked, now fully awake, his eyes wide open.

"Yes. He beat someone up. I don't know who yet. A friend who saw it called me. I just can't find out which police station he is in. He is being held there until bail is paid. The bail will be used as compensation for the victim." The younger Knopfler explained. John pressed his nose in annoyance.

"Bloody hell, how does Mark always manage to get into so much shit?" David giggled a little. "Where are you, David?" The two agreed on a meeting point. John got dressed as quickly as he could, locked the apartment door and then stormed out of the house. He jogged through London's streets. It wasn't even quiet at night. There were still lots of people walking around on the streets. He turned a corner and could already see the slim man with shoulder-length brown hair he wanted to meet. He stopped next to him and gasped. "What's our plan?" John gasped. David turned around and looked at him.

"Hey." He laughed. "Did you run here?"

"Yes." John coughed a little. "What's our plan?" He repeated.

"I've already called most of the police stations. No one would tell me where he is, but they said he's not with them."

"Who did he beat up this time?" John sighed as the two made their way to the nearest police station.

"Wait...you don't know anything about this?" David asked with wide eyes.

"What should I know about?" John replied, looking at him questioningly.

"Keller." David sighed and stopped to look at John.

"What about him?" John asked, baffled.

"He gave an interview." David bit his lower lip uneasily.

"An interview? I didn't hear anything." Suddenly John understood. "Was it on TV this morning?"

"Yes." David nodded.

"Mark probably saw it. He was pretty angry this morning. And he didn't want to tell me why. What did Keller say?" David sighed.

"He said some pretty intimate things about you. Like...how your relationship was and stuff like that. He told a few lies about you too." John bit his lip. He knew Keller would want revenge. "I think that made our old Mark so angry that he went out tonight to settle stuff with him."

"You mean Mark beat Keller up?" John asked, his eyes wide. David laughed a little.

"He's my older brother, you know? I know how he thinks. And I know how I would have acted if you were my soul mate. So yeah. He tracked Keller down and beat him to the point of hospitalization. And really hospitalization this time, otherwise Mark wouldn't be out on bail in jail." John bit his lower lip. He didn't know what to say. Should he laugh about it? Be proud that Mark defended him? Or be angry that the guitarist was so careless and fell for the teasing. He was famous and couldn't afford to damage his reputation with a fight.

"Let's find him as soon as possible." Sighed the bassist and they set off again.

*

Two hours later, it was already half past six in the morning, they arrived at London's last police station. It was in West London. John was a tired, as was David. They dragged themselves up the stairs to the front door and entered the police station. A young woman was sitting at the reception. She was wearing a police uniform.

"Good morning, what can I do for you, gentlemen?" She asked with a smile. John smiled a little at her as he leaned against the reception counter.

"Do you have a certain Mark Knopfler in custody?" He asked. She giggled a little at his choice of words and nodded.

"Yes. For about four hours now. You are?"

"John Illsley." John sighed wearily and brushed some of his curls from his face. "I'd like to pick him up." David giggled a little, as the statement sounded to him like John was picking up his child from kindergarten. The policewoman nodded and pulled a form out of a drawer.

"Here. Fill this out, please. You can pay the deposit to my colleague over there." She pointed to an older man at a desk. John nodded, sighing, and began to fill out the form with his name and details.

"How much is he costing me?" He asked her. She giggled.

"£205."

"205!?" John exclaimed, wide-eyed. "What the hell did he do to the other guy? Tear his head off?" The woman giggled and pulled out a form.

"Concussion, broken nose, broken cheekbone, black eye, crushed and partially broken ribs, crushed collarbone, ruptured left eardrum..." She raised her head and looked at John, who was staring at her with his mouth open, like a fish out of water. "Shall I read on, sir?" David started to laugh and went out to sit on the bench outside the building. John sighed and wiped his face. The policewoman leaned a little closer to him so no one could hear her. "If you ask me, he did the right thing. What that guy said about you on TV this morning... it was just a disgrace." John nodded silently. He took the papers to the older policeman and paid the bail before being led into the basement where the cells were. There were a few other people sitting in the cells, John looked around. Damn, he had never been in a place like this before. Not in his entire life. The policeman unlocked the furthest cell.

"Here." He said and went back again. John entered the cell slowly. On the tiny cot in the corner sat Mark Knopfler. There was dry blood under his nose. His lip was split and swollen. His left eye was swollen and blue, and there was a slit under his right eye that had bled. The knuckles of his left hand were also covered in blood. And John didn't want to think about the bruises he probably had under his clothes. Mark spoke to inmates from the cell next door.

"...and that's how I got into playing the guitar." The guitarist beamed.

"Wow. That sounds like a very interesting CV." One of the men said with interest. John cleared his throat. Mark looked at him.

"Ah! John! Honey, there you are!" Mark stood up on wobbly legs. "See, guys! I told you he would get me!" The men from the other cell laughed. "I felt like the Count of Monte Christo!" Mark laughed as he walked towards John. "I was almost about to order a pizza and..." John hit him angrily in the face. Mark gasped for air and staggered back. It was dead silent in the basement. The other inmates watched eagerly. The sound of the blow still echoed through the corridors.

"What's gotten into you!?" John shouted angrily. "I've been looking for you all damn night! David and I went to every damn police station before we finally found you! I had to pay £205 to get you out of here! Are you still in your right mind!? I never expected you to beat Keller up over something like that! Mark, you're a famous person! Your reputation is damaged by actions like this! What the hell were you thinking!?" Mark stared at the floor in silence. Fresh blood was now dripping from his nose onto the floor. He looked at the small red drops that were gathering in front of the tip of his shoe. "I expected more from you, Mark! I thought you had enough intelligence to think before you acted!" Mark followed the older man silently out of the police station. When they got outside, the sun had already risen.

"My God, you look terrible!" David exclaimed with wide eyes when he saw his older brother. Mark grinned crookedly at him.

"You should've seen the other guy, little bro." John was still strutting angrily towards the underground. The two Knopfler brothers followed him without saying another word.