New Fic: These Walls - Chapter One
Feb. 23rd, 2008 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: These Walls
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
missmara
Fandom: The OC (Possibly to become crossover with OTH because... well... I'm obsessed with Ryan/Brooke... lol)
Rating: R
Warnings: Angst. Mentions of child abuse, violence, possibly sex in later chapters.
Summary: A decade after being kidnapped by the abusive Atwoods, 15 year-old Ryan Cohen is coming home to a family he doesn't even remember.
Notes: Title comes from the song 'These Walls' by Trapt. Such a good song, and it kinda fits if you look at some of the lyrics.
The call came at 3 in the morning, and it was Kirsten who answered it with a yawn. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Cohen? This is Detective Overman, do you remember me?"
"How could I forget?" Kirsten replied, her tone a mix of warmth and confusion. Malcolm Overman had been one of the officers who'd been involved in trying to find her son when he'd been kidnapped a decade before, and they'd kept in semi-regular contact for years, Kirsten calling every so often to see if they'd found anything. They had long since gotten to be on a first name basis, so the fact that he was calling her 'Mrs. Cohen' sent a chill down her spine. "What's going on?"
"I think we found him," Malcolm said, and she could almost hear the smile in his voice.
"What?" Kirsten gasped, one hand grabbing Sandy's arm and shaking him awake. "What?" she repeated.
"The police found a kid, and they couldn't identify him at first because there was no record of the family he was with having two sons. They figured he was a kidnap victim, so they looked at missing persons, pieced together the fact that his 'brother' said he'd been with them 10 years, and they flagged him as possibly being your Ryan. That flag came into my department since we handled things back then, and I flew down. I've seen him, Kirsten, I think it's him."
"Kirsten?" Sandy asked blearily as he sat up.
"It's Malcolm," she said, tears falling down her cheeks as she grasped his hand tightly. "They found him, Sandy. They found our baby."
"We're comparing a blood sample from this kid to the samples we got from you guys after the kidnapping, see if we can confirm it before you get here..." Malcolm began. "But I think it's him."
"Where?" Kirsten said. "Will you stay with him until we get there?"
"He's in Chino," Malcolm said. "And I'm not going anywhere. As soon as we hang up, I'm going to go talk to him, explain what's happening because I don't think anyone else has."
"Thank you, Malcolm," Kirsten whispered.
~~~
Ryan was more than a little confused and worried. He knew he couldn't be in trouble, he'd have to leave the house to get in trouble with anyone other than Frank or Dawn, and Trey had told him everything was okay before they got separated. But he was alone in a cold concrete room, sitting at a metal table and turning a plastic cup of water around and around in his hands. The last time anyone had talked to him, they'd been asking him questions about someplace called 'Berkeley', which sounded vaguely familiar, and how long he'd been with the Atwoods? Did he remember anytime that he didn't live with them? Did he have any brothers or sisters besides Trey? The more questions they asked, the more confused he got and the harder it got to think straight, and when he started asking for Trey, they'd left him alone for a long time.
The door finally opened and a man he hadn't seen before came in, carrying a bag of fast food that he set in front of Ryan. "I thought you might be hungry, since the cops showed up before dinner," he said with a friendly smile.
"Thanks," Ryan said, warily taking the bag and opening it to see a burger, fries, and a milkshake.
"I asked Trey what you liked before I ordered it," the man said.
"Is he okay? Why can't I see him? He didn't do anything wrong, and if he did, then Frank must've made him!"
"Trey's not really my concern, Ryan. My name is Detective Malcolm Overman, and I'm here about you."
"I know I didn't do anything!" Ryan said.
"You're not in trouble," Malcolm assured him quickly. "Ryan, do you remember ever living with people other than the Atwoods?"
Ryan sighed and resisted the urge to throw the milkshake across the room. "I already told the other cops I don't," he said. "Trey said that when he was 8, he wished for a little brother, and Frank brought me home, then we had money for a while, and then Dawn said they were keeping me. I don't even remember that, though."
"What's the first thing you do remember?"
"I... we moved from somewhere... up north, I think. It was colder in the winter... and we came to Chino."
Malcolm nodded thoughtfully. "Ryan... you know that Frank and Dawn Atwood aren't you're real parents, right?"
"I figured," Ryan said. "I may not go to school, but I know that people usually bring home babies, not five year-olds."
Malcolm smiled slightly, but not mockingly. "We think they kidnapped you, Ryan, from some really good people who lived in Berkeley, California. Do you know where that is?"
Ryan shook his head, and Malcolm pulled out a small map, pointing to a city up north. "It's right here. The couple... their little boy, named Ryan, was kidnapped when he was 5. They paid the ransom his kidnappers demanded, but they didn't get their son back. They never gave up looking and neither did I. And now, I think you're him."
"So... what's gonna happen?" Ryan asked.
"They're on their way here, and when the police had someone take a blood sample, it was so we could find out for sure whether or not you really are their son."
"And if I am?"
"They'll take you home with them," Malcolm said. "They're good people, and they loved their son so much, never really got over losing him.
"What if I'm not? What happens then?"
"If we can't identify you, then I might be able to talk social services into letting Trey have custody of you, since he's over 18 and your two grew up as brothers."
"Really?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"But I think these people are your family, Ryan," Malcolm said, pulling a picture out and placing it on the map so it filled the space between Berkeley and Newport.
Ryan slowly focused on the people, seeing a smiling blonde woman holding a little boy with curly dark hair, while a dark haired man with an even bigger smile held a blonde haired boy. "Is that me?" Ryan asked, pointing at the blonde child.
"If I'm right about who I think you are, then yeah, it is," Malcolm said. "That was taken two days before their Ryan was kidnapped."
"Who's the other kid?"
"His twin brother, Seth," Malcolm said. "Fraternal twins, but best friends when they were little."
"He..." Ryan frowned, eyebrows pulling together as he gently slid his finger over to touch the image of Seth. "He had a horse... a toy one..." he whispered, unsure.
"Yeah, he did," Malcolm replied, nodding and trying to keep his smile small and reassuring, not wide and excited. He was right, this was Ryan Cohen, gone ten years but finally going home.
"Do they still live there?" Ryan asked.
"No, a few years back they moved to Newport," Malcolm said, watching as Ryan touched the place on the map. "I've seen pictures of their house, it's nice. Big, comfortable... there's a pool out back, and it's walking distance from the beach..."
"I can't swim," Ryan replied, still staring at the picture of the Cohens.
~~~
"What did those people do to him?" Kirsten asked as she and Sandy stood on the other side of the mirror, watching Malcolm talk to Ryan. "He loved the water, hated have to get out of the pool when we took him."
"He's coming home, he'll be okay because he's coming home," Sandy said.
"I'll let Detective Overman know you're here and we got the results," the female detective who'd brought them into the room said as she left. A moment later, the door to the other room opened and Ryan looked up, giving them their first good look at his face. He had the same blonde hair, maybe a little darker now, and it flopped in his eyes as he silently looked at the female detective. There was the slightest hint of a bruise on one cheek bone, like it had almost entirely faded away already, a matching barely there bruise on one corner of his mouth. As Malcolm got up, Ryan's gaze shifted to look at the mirror, like he could see them through it, before returning to the picture he had in front of him.
"He's coming home," Sandy repeated, holding Kirsten a little tighter.
To Be Continued...
Like I really needed a new AU... lol... I actually made a little list last night of like 5 or 6 different AU ideas I'm considering, and this one was ont he list so I started writing... lol
Author:
missmaraFandom: The OC (Possibly to become crossover with OTH because... well... I'm obsessed with Ryan/Brooke... lol)
Rating: R
Warnings: Angst. Mentions of child abuse, violence, possibly sex in later chapters.
Summary: A decade after being kidnapped by the abusive Atwoods, 15 year-old Ryan Cohen is coming home to a family he doesn't even remember.
Notes: Title comes from the song 'These Walls' by Trapt. Such a good song, and it kinda fits if you look at some of the lyrics.
The call came at 3 in the morning, and it was Kirsten who answered it with a yawn. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Cohen? This is Detective Overman, do you remember me?"
"How could I forget?" Kirsten replied, her tone a mix of warmth and confusion. Malcolm Overman had been one of the officers who'd been involved in trying to find her son when he'd been kidnapped a decade before, and they'd kept in semi-regular contact for years, Kirsten calling every so often to see if they'd found anything. They had long since gotten to be on a first name basis, so the fact that he was calling her 'Mrs. Cohen' sent a chill down her spine. "What's going on?"
"I think we found him," Malcolm said, and she could almost hear the smile in his voice.
"What?" Kirsten gasped, one hand grabbing Sandy's arm and shaking him awake. "What?" she repeated.
"The police found a kid, and they couldn't identify him at first because there was no record of the family he was with having two sons. They figured he was a kidnap victim, so they looked at missing persons, pieced together the fact that his 'brother' said he'd been with them 10 years, and they flagged him as possibly being your Ryan. That flag came into my department since we handled things back then, and I flew down. I've seen him, Kirsten, I think it's him."
"Kirsten?" Sandy asked blearily as he sat up.
"It's Malcolm," she said, tears falling down her cheeks as she grasped his hand tightly. "They found him, Sandy. They found our baby."
"We're comparing a blood sample from this kid to the samples we got from you guys after the kidnapping, see if we can confirm it before you get here..." Malcolm began. "But I think it's him."
"Where?" Kirsten said. "Will you stay with him until we get there?"
"He's in Chino," Malcolm said. "And I'm not going anywhere. As soon as we hang up, I'm going to go talk to him, explain what's happening because I don't think anyone else has."
"Thank you, Malcolm," Kirsten whispered.
~~~
Ryan was more than a little confused and worried. He knew he couldn't be in trouble, he'd have to leave the house to get in trouble with anyone other than Frank or Dawn, and Trey had told him everything was okay before they got separated. But he was alone in a cold concrete room, sitting at a metal table and turning a plastic cup of water around and around in his hands. The last time anyone had talked to him, they'd been asking him questions about someplace called 'Berkeley', which sounded vaguely familiar, and how long he'd been with the Atwoods? Did he remember anytime that he didn't live with them? Did he have any brothers or sisters besides Trey? The more questions they asked, the more confused he got and the harder it got to think straight, and when he started asking for Trey, they'd left him alone for a long time.
The door finally opened and a man he hadn't seen before came in, carrying a bag of fast food that he set in front of Ryan. "I thought you might be hungry, since the cops showed up before dinner," he said with a friendly smile.
"Thanks," Ryan said, warily taking the bag and opening it to see a burger, fries, and a milkshake.
"I asked Trey what you liked before I ordered it," the man said.
"Is he okay? Why can't I see him? He didn't do anything wrong, and if he did, then Frank must've made him!"
"Trey's not really my concern, Ryan. My name is Detective Malcolm Overman, and I'm here about you."
"I know I didn't do anything!" Ryan said.
"You're not in trouble," Malcolm assured him quickly. "Ryan, do you remember ever living with people other than the Atwoods?"
Ryan sighed and resisted the urge to throw the milkshake across the room. "I already told the other cops I don't," he said. "Trey said that when he was 8, he wished for a little brother, and Frank brought me home, then we had money for a while, and then Dawn said they were keeping me. I don't even remember that, though."
"What's the first thing you do remember?"
"I... we moved from somewhere... up north, I think. It was colder in the winter... and we came to Chino."
Malcolm nodded thoughtfully. "Ryan... you know that Frank and Dawn Atwood aren't you're real parents, right?"
"I figured," Ryan said. "I may not go to school, but I know that people usually bring home babies, not five year-olds."
Malcolm smiled slightly, but not mockingly. "We think they kidnapped you, Ryan, from some really good people who lived in Berkeley, California. Do you know where that is?"
Ryan shook his head, and Malcolm pulled out a small map, pointing to a city up north. "It's right here. The couple... their little boy, named Ryan, was kidnapped when he was 5. They paid the ransom his kidnappers demanded, but they didn't get their son back. They never gave up looking and neither did I. And now, I think you're him."
"So... what's gonna happen?" Ryan asked.
"They're on their way here, and when the police had someone take a blood sample, it was so we could find out for sure whether or not you really are their son."
"And if I am?"
"They'll take you home with them," Malcolm said. "They're good people, and they loved their son so much, never really got over losing him.
"What if I'm not? What happens then?"
"If we can't identify you, then I might be able to talk social services into letting Trey have custody of you, since he's over 18 and your two grew up as brothers."
"Really?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"But I think these people are your family, Ryan," Malcolm said, pulling a picture out and placing it on the map so it filled the space between Berkeley and Newport.
Ryan slowly focused on the people, seeing a smiling blonde woman holding a little boy with curly dark hair, while a dark haired man with an even bigger smile held a blonde haired boy. "Is that me?" Ryan asked, pointing at the blonde child.
"If I'm right about who I think you are, then yeah, it is," Malcolm said. "That was taken two days before their Ryan was kidnapped."
"Who's the other kid?"
"His twin brother, Seth," Malcolm said. "Fraternal twins, but best friends when they were little."
"He..." Ryan frowned, eyebrows pulling together as he gently slid his finger over to touch the image of Seth. "He had a horse... a toy one..." he whispered, unsure.
"Yeah, he did," Malcolm replied, nodding and trying to keep his smile small and reassuring, not wide and excited. He was right, this was Ryan Cohen, gone ten years but finally going home.
"Do they still live there?" Ryan asked.
"No, a few years back they moved to Newport," Malcolm said, watching as Ryan touched the place on the map. "I've seen pictures of their house, it's nice. Big, comfortable... there's a pool out back, and it's walking distance from the beach..."
"I can't swim," Ryan replied, still staring at the picture of the Cohens.
~~~
"What did those people do to him?" Kirsten asked as she and Sandy stood on the other side of the mirror, watching Malcolm talk to Ryan. "He loved the water, hated have to get out of the pool when we took him."
"He's coming home, he'll be okay because he's coming home," Sandy said.
"I'll let Detective Overman know you're here and we got the results," the female detective who'd brought them into the room said as she left. A moment later, the door to the other room opened and Ryan looked up, giving them their first good look at his face. He had the same blonde hair, maybe a little darker now, and it flopped in his eyes as he silently looked at the female detective. There was the slightest hint of a bruise on one cheek bone, like it had almost entirely faded away already, a matching barely there bruise on one corner of his mouth. As Malcolm got up, Ryan's gaze shifted to look at the mirror, like he could see them through it, before returning to the picture he had in front of him.
"He's coming home," Sandy repeated, holding Kirsten a little tighter.
To Be Continued...
Like I really needed a new AU... lol... I actually made a little list last night of like 5 or 6 different AU ideas I'm considering, and this one was ont he list so I started writing... lol
