'After' - Chapter Four - Still Here
Aug. 2nd, 2008 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13FINALLY the fourth chapter... I completely forgot to post it... edited a little bit on re-read to make a bit more impact in one scene and clarify something in another... lol... so maybe waiting was a good thing...
I'm thinking I'm gonna make some more art for this story soon... and I'm actively piecing together a soundtrack for it... but I do still love this story, even if it DID get abandoned a bit... lol...
In case you need a refresher, this is the fic that takes place in a universe where an attack like the one in the show 'Jericho' happened. Ryan Atwood comes home to Tree Hill, California for his adoptive mom's birthday the day before nuclear explosions go off around the country. It's a multiverse story with characters from The OC, One Tree Hill, Heroes (minus superpowers), and Supernatural (Minus ghosts, ghouls and paranormal monsters).
Enjoy!
Previous Chapters:
One - Two - Three
Chapter Four - Still Here
"Ry?"
"I'll be right back! I promise, Seth, I'll be right back!"
Ryan woke with a start, gasping for a moment at the remembered pain and fear. After a few deep breaths, Ryan was able to focus on the walls of his old bedroom and the sounds of a teasing arguement downstairs. He grabbed a long sleeved shirt to pull on over his wifebeater and hide the scars he'd gained in recent years, then padded barefoot into the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe for a long moment to watch Sandy try to keep Kirsten away from the food and Kirsten smack Sandy's hands away when he tried to interfere.
"Ask Ryan, my cookies yesterday were just fine," Kirsten said, spotting her son in the doorway.
"Maybe the whole car accident and nuclear attack just distracted him from the food poisoning," Sandy replied.
"Nah, Kirsten induced food poisoning overides all else," Ryan said with a smile as he walked over and peeked over Kirsten's shoulder. "But that does look pretty good."
"It's almost done, and then you can have breakfast," Kirsten said. "How'd you sleep, honey?"
"Okay," Ryan said. "I've slept in a lot less comfortable places the last few years."
"What, computer programmers don't make enough money to buy a decent bed?"
"Computer prgrammer? Is that what you were doing?" Sandy asked.
"I was fixing errors in other people's programs," Ryan clarified. "Money was decent, but I travelled a lot. There weren't always 4 star accomadations available."
"Matt brought over you bags from the jeep," Kirsten said, pointing to the table, where Ryan's duffle and his messenger bag were resting.
"Good," Ryan said, walking over and sliding into a chair before checking over his things.
"I should get home," Nathan said, looking over at Peyton.
"Do you have to?" she asked. "Can't you..."
"Jamie's probably wondering where I am."
"Probably," Peyton agreed, sitting up. "Where does Haley think you are?"
"Town hall, helping my dad," Nathan said.
"Why not just tell her, Nathan? You said you were..."
"That was before somebody nuked Sacramento and New York," Nathan interrupted. "My dad doesn't need a scandal like this when he's trying to keep control of town."
"And it's always about Dan, isn't it?" Peyton replied. "Just go, Nathan. Go home to your family."
"Peyton..."
"I'm just so tired of pretending not to be in love with you," Peyton said. "Don't you wish..."
"Everyday," Nathan said. "Let's find out what's going on, then... then we'll figure out what to do about us... this..."
"Yeah, sure."
"I love you, Peyton. And I wanna be with you."
"I just wish you could admit it to everyone else," Peyton said.
"Please tell me your open," Ryan said as he stuck his head into Karen's empty cafe. "Because Kirsten tried to cook this morning and I was scared to eat more than two bites when I realized I couldn't identify the taste."
Karen smiled warmly and immediately moved to the door to give Ryan a gentle hug. "My daughter was on the bus," she said. "Thank you so much."
"Which one?" Ryan asked, returning the hug. Karen had always, especially when he still lived with his father, tried to help him out.
"Lily, she..."
"With the asthma," Ryan said, nodding. "She doing okay now?"
"Much better," Karen said, nodding. "Thanks to you. Not that I'm surprised you played the hero, broken ribs and all."
"Well, I can't resist a damsel in distress..."
"I can scrounge up some food for you," Karen said, going back to Ryan's original question. "But it'll take a while because I have to cook it on the barbeque grill."
"It's all gonna go bad, isn't it?" Ryan said, glancing towards the kitchen, where the door to the closed walk-in freezer was just visible.
"I've got maybe until tomorrow morning before it's too far gone," Karen said, nodding.
"What if... what if you cooked it?" Ryan asked. "With all that's happened, I'd say this town could use a morale boost like one of the old town square parties. We cook and serve the stuff that's gonna turn, maybe ask that people bring side dishes, food from their fridges that will turn soon. At least that way..."
"It doesn't go to waste," Karen said, glancing towards the freezer then back to Ryan. "That's not a bad idea."
"Can I get breakfast before I go spread word for you?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"Still thinking with your stomach?" Karen teased "What can I get for you?"
Downtown, things were going from bad to worse as people vied to get gas for their cars.
"Look, buddy, this is our town and our gas. Why should we give some random guy who wandered in any of ours?" one guy yelled at a man who was filling a gas can.
"Look, buddy," the man replied sarcastically, not looking up. "My car ran out of gas, I need at least a can of it to get anywhere, so unless you want me to become a resident, back off and let me get some gas."
"What, you think you're some sort of tough guy?" one of the friends of the guy complaining said, grabbing the other man's arm.
He didn't expect the man to use one leg to put him down on the ground and fluidly stand up, all in one movement. "Back off," he repeated. He saw the fist coming and ducked, slamming his own first into his attacker's solar plexus, then elbowing another man in the face. After a moment, he was overwhelmed by two guys coming at him at once and his head slammed into the corner of the gas pump. That was when he lost his temper and yanked a hand gun out of his jacket and pointed it at the head of one of the guys. "Back. Off." he growled.
"Whoa! Hey! That's enough!" Matt said as he ran over, his own gun pulled.
"These guys attacked me, it's self defense," the man with the gun said.
"Put it away, everything's fine now."
Slowly, the man lowered his gun and tucked it back inside his jacket. "It was self defense," he repeated firmly.
"Why don't you hand me the..."
"Take a look in the outer pocket of my bag," the guy said, gesturing. "You'll find my badge."
Matt holstered his own gun and moved to look, flipping open the leather wallet to find an FBI ID and badge. He looked up at the guys who'd started it. "Congratualtions, you idiots attacked an FBI Agent," he said in disgust. "Sir, I apologize. Everyone's on edge right now..."
"Because of the cloud? Yeah, I saw it and I got one static filled call before my cell went dead. I kept driving, hoping to get somewhere with a field office, but ran out of gas a couple miles outside of town late last night," he explained.
"Who did this?" someone asked, followed immediately by "Where else was hit?"
"I don't know much, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana were hit, but I don't know where else, by who, or why."
"Come with me, we've been gathering all the information we can about what happened," Matt said, gesturing towards town hall. "Anything you can add for us might be helpful."
"My car..."
"I'll send a couple deputies out to get it for you, sir. Just give them the liscense plate so they don't steal someone else's by mistake."
"Dean," he replied. "I was on vacation, and if this is as bad as it seems, there's no more government for me to be an agent of, so I'm just plain Dean Winchester now."
Brooke grimaced at the fact that her makeshift shower, which involved using a washcloth to get her hair wet, lathering it up with shampoo, and then dumping a bucket of well water over her head, hadn't done much to get the greasy feeling out of her hair. She pulled on jeans and a tank top then headed downstairs, stopping when she heard Ryan's voice in the livingroom with Haley.
"So anything you guys can spare that won't last," Ryan was saying. "It might keep people from losing it entirely if we can remind them that we're in this together."
"We've got plenty to spare," Haley replied. "My parents taught me well about always having more than you need, just in case."
"In think this is the situation to use it up in," Ryan said.
"I wonder if you can make cookies on top of a barbeque..."
"Try it, see if it works," Ryan said. "If it does, great. Cookies are definite morale boosters."
"You just want chocolate chip cookies," Haley accused him.
"Maybe a little," Ryan admitted. "But you're in?"
"I'll bring what we've got," Haley agreed.
Brooke didn't have time to flee before Ryan and Haley came into the hall to head towards the front door. "Hi," she said, well aware that her hair was a mess.
"Hi," Ryan replied, smiling.
"Ryan was just telling me that there's ging to be a town square party tonight," Haley said. "Everyone's invited."
"Music, good food, a reminder that we're not alone."
"Sounds good," Brooke said, wishing she'd at least pulled her hair into a ponytail before coming downstairs.
"Starts around 6, at least that's when I'm telling people to show up. Some might come earlier, some later."
"We'll be there earlier," Haley said. "I'll drag Nathan there if I have to."
"You know her?" Ryan asked when he and Haley got outside.
"Brooke and I met during my brief attempt at college, before Dan got re-elected and asked Nate to be his deputy mayor and we moved back," Haley explained. "When she... got tired of how her life was going last year, she called and asked if she could come hide out for a little while, and I got her the job at the elementary school."
"She's... nice..."
"You never have been able to admit when you liked someone," Haley said, rolling her eyes. "Flirt tonight, that's an order."
"She'd probably be happier never to see me again, considering how we met."
"With you saving her and a busload of kids?" Haley said. "Go tell the next person, but try to rest sometime today, okay?"
"I didn't save anyone, Hales. She would have gotten the bus moving on her own eventually, or Matt and the others would have found her..."
"Then why do you let everyone keep saying you did?" Haley asked.
"For once, I'm being selfish," Ryan said softly. "Being a hero is better than being universally hated by everyone, including my own family."
"They never hated you," Haley said. "They just... they were hurting."
"It doesn't matter," Ryan said, kissing her cheek before turning away to head towards the next house. "See you tonight, Haley."
When Ryan got back to town square, he heard the gossip about a Fed being in town and changed direction to go to town hall and check it out. As he entered, he spotted an unfamiliar man getting stitches put into his forehead by Peter. "Great, we've already hit the point of beating up Feds?" Ryan asked as he walked further in.
"You heard?" Nathan asked.
"It's a small town, people talk," Ryan replied.
"Why aren't you home, in bed, resting?" Peter asked. "You broke your ribs yesterday."
"I've been hurt worse," Ryan said. "Besides, I had to spread word about the town square barbeque."
"You people are throwing a barbeque when a frickin' nuclear attack has just taken place?" Dean asked.
"Anything refridgerated is gonna spoil soon, so we're using it before we lose it," Ryan said. "Might be the last really good meal we have for a while, since more supplies aren't going to be coming for a while, and we've got months until fall harvest."
"Why are you here, Atwood?" Dan asked, sneering. "We don't need..."
"The guy who saved almost two dozen kids, including your grandson and your niece, along with you daughter-in-law's good friend, from dying out in the middle of nowhere in a wrecked bus?" Peter said. "Lily's asthma probably would have killed her before anyone else came along, and there are a lot of coyotes out there, too."
"Sounds like you're the local hero," Dean said.
"When I'm not town pariah," Ryan replied. "Any confirmed targets besides Sacramento and New York?"
"New York? I didn't know about New York," Dean said.
"Someone in town has family there, and they had a voicemail... you can hear the explosion before the line went dead," Ryan explained.
"Shit," Dean said. "Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are definite. I got a call right after I saw the Sacramento cloud, and it was pretty static-y, but I know they said mentioned those three. I don't know where exactly in each state, but..."
"I can't speak for Montana, but Wyoming was probably either Cheyenne and F.E. Warren, or the Laramie mountains and the base there. Colorado... could be either Denver or Colorado Springs. Denver's a population center, but Norad is based in Colorado Springs. Both good targets for attack," Ryan said, walking over to the map. "We should use red markers for confirmed hits, Yellow for possible hits, and green for confirmed unhit."
"We don't have any confirmed unhit," Dan said.
"We've got one," Dean said, getting off the desk he'd been sitting on and grabbing a green push pin, which he handed to Ryan.
Ryan nodded and pushed it into the map, at the spot for Tree Hill. "We're still here," he reminded Dan. "For better or worse, we're here."
To Be Continued...
I'm thinking I'm gonna make some more art for this story soon... and I'm actively piecing together a soundtrack for it... but I do still love this story, even if it DID get abandoned a bit... lol...
In case you need a refresher, this is the fic that takes place in a universe where an attack like the one in the show 'Jericho' happened. Ryan Atwood comes home to Tree Hill, California for his adoptive mom's birthday the day before nuclear explosions go off around the country. It's a multiverse story with characters from The OC, One Tree Hill, Heroes (minus superpowers), and Supernatural (Minus ghosts, ghouls and paranormal monsters).
Enjoy!
One - Two - Three
"Ry?"
"I'll be right back! I promise, Seth, I'll be right back!"
Ryan woke with a start, gasping for a moment at the remembered pain and fear. After a few deep breaths, Ryan was able to focus on the walls of his old bedroom and the sounds of a teasing arguement downstairs. He grabbed a long sleeved shirt to pull on over his wifebeater and hide the scars he'd gained in recent years, then padded barefoot into the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe for a long moment to watch Sandy try to keep Kirsten away from the food and Kirsten smack Sandy's hands away when he tried to interfere.
"Ask Ryan, my cookies yesterday were just fine," Kirsten said, spotting her son in the doorway.
"Maybe the whole car accident and nuclear attack just distracted him from the food poisoning," Sandy replied.
"Nah, Kirsten induced food poisoning overides all else," Ryan said with a smile as he walked over and peeked over Kirsten's shoulder. "But that does look pretty good."
"It's almost done, and then you can have breakfast," Kirsten said. "How'd you sleep, honey?"
"Okay," Ryan said. "I've slept in a lot less comfortable places the last few years."
"What, computer programmers don't make enough money to buy a decent bed?"
"Computer prgrammer? Is that what you were doing?" Sandy asked.
"I was fixing errors in other people's programs," Ryan clarified. "Money was decent, but I travelled a lot. There weren't always 4 star accomadations available."
"Matt brought over you bags from the jeep," Kirsten said, pointing to the table, where Ryan's duffle and his messenger bag were resting.
"Good," Ryan said, walking over and sliding into a chair before checking over his things.
"I should get home," Nathan said, looking over at Peyton.
"Do you have to?" she asked. "Can't you..."
"Jamie's probably wondering where I am."
"Probably," Peyton agreed, sitting up. "Where does Haley think you are?"
"Town hall, helping my dad," Nathan said.
"Why not just tell her, Nathan? You said you were..."
"That was before somebody nuked Sacramento and New York," Nathan interrupted. "My dad doesn't need a scandal like this when he's trying to keep control of town."
"And it's always about Dan, isn't it?" Peyton replied. "Just go, Nathan. Go home to your family."
"Peyton..."
"I'm just so tired of pretending not to be in love with you," Peyton said. "Don't you wish..."
"Everyday," Nathan said. "Let's find out what's going on, then... then we'll figure out what to do about us... this..."
"Yeah, sure."
"I love you, Peyton. And I wanna be with you."
"I just wish you could admit it to everyone else," Peyton said.
"Please tell me your open," Ryan said as he stuck his head into Karen's empty cafe. "Because Kirsten tried to cook this morning and I was scared to eat more than two bites when I realized I couldn't identify the taste."
Karen smiled warmly and immediately moved to the door to give Ryan a gentle hug. "My daughter was on the bus," she said. "Thank you so much."
"Which one?" Ryan asked, returning the hug. Karen had always, especially when he still lived with his father, tried to help him out.
"Lily, she..."
"With the asthma," Ryan said, nodding. "She doing okay now?"
"Much better," Karen said, nodding. "Thanks to you. Not that I'm surprised you played the hero, broken ribs and all."
"Well, I can't resist a damsel in distress..."
"I can scrounge up some food for you," Karen said, going back to Ryan's original question. "But it'll take a while because I have to cook it on the barbeque grill."
"It's all gonna go bad, isn't it?" Ryan said, glancing towards the kitchen, where the door to the closed walk-in freezer was just visible.
"I've got maybe until tomorrow morning before it's too far gone," Karen said, nodding.
"What if... what if you cooked it?" Ryan asked. "With all that's happened, I'd say this town could use a morale boost like one of the old town square parties. We cook and serve the stuff that's gonna turn, maybe ask that people bring side dishes, food from their fridges that will turn soon. At least that way..."
"It doesn't go to waste," Karen said, glancing towards the freezer then back to Ryan. "That's not a bad idea."
"Can I get breakfast before I go spread word for you?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"Still thinking with your stomach?" Karen teased "What can I get for you?"
Downtown, things were going from bad to worse as people vied to get gas for their cars.
"Look, buddy, this is our town and our gas. Why should we give some random guy who wandered in any of ours?" one guy yelled at a man who was filling a gas can.
"Look, buddy," the man replied sarcastically, not looking up. "My car ran out of gas, I need at least a can of it to get anywhere, so unless you want me to become a resident, back off and let me get some gas."
"What, you think you're some sort of tough guy?" one of the friends of the guy complaining said, grabbing the other man's arm.
He didn't expect the man to use one leg to put him down on the ground and fluidly stand up, all in one movement. "Back off," he repeated. He saw the fist coming and ducked, slamming his own first into his attacker's solar plexus, then elbowing another man in the face. After a moment, he was overwhelmed by two guys coming at him at once and his head slammed into the corner of the gas pump. That was when he lost his temper and yanked a hand gun out of his jacket and pointed it at the head of one of the guys. "Back. Off." he growled.
"Whoa! Hey! That's enough!" Matt said as he ran over, his own gun pulled.
"These guys attacked me, it's self defense," the man with the gun said.
"Put it away, everything's fine now."
Slowly, the man lowered his gun and tucked it back inside his jacket. "It was self defense," he repeated firmly.
"Why don't you hand me the..."
"Take a look in the outer pocket of my bag," the guy said, gesturing. "You'll find my badge."
Matt holstered his own gun and moved to look, flipping open the leather wallet to find an FBI ID and badge. He looked up at the guys who'd started it. "Congratualtions, you idiots attacked an FBI Agent," he said in disgust. "Sir, I apologize. Everyone's on edge right now..."
"Because of the cloud? Yeah, I saw it and I got one static filled call before my cell went dead. I kept driving, hoping to get somewhere with a field office, but ran out of gas a couple miles outside of town late last night," he explained.
"Who did this?" someone asked, followed immediately by "Where else was hit?"
"I don't know much, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana were hit, but I don't know where else, by who, or why."
"Come with me, we've been gathering all the information we can about what happened," Matt said, gesturing towards town hall. "Anything you can add for us might be helpful."
"My car..."
"I'll send a couple deputies out to get it for you, sir. Just give them the liscense plate so they don't steal someone else's by mistake."
"Dean," he replied. "I was on vacation, and if this is as bad as it seems, there's no more government for me to be an agent of, so I'm just plain Dean Winchester now."
Brooke grimaced at the fact that her makeshift shower, which involved using a washcloth to get her hair wet, lathering it up with shampoo, and then dumping a bucket of well water over her head, hadn't done much to get the greasy feeling out of her hair. She pulled on jeans and a tank top then headed downstairs, stopping when she heard Ryan's voice in the livingroom with Haley.
"So anything you guys can spare that won't last," Ryan was saying. "It might keep people from losing it entirely if we can remind them that we're in this together."
"We've got plenty to spare," Haley replied. "My parents taught me well about always having more than you need, just in case."
"In think this is the situation to use it up in," Ryan said.
"I wonder if you can make cookies on top of a barbeque..."
"Try it, see if it works," Ryan said. "If it does, great. Cookies are definite morale boosters."
"You just want chocolate chip cookies," Haley accused him.
"Maybe a little," Ryan admitted. "But you're in?"
"I'll bring what we've got," Haley agreed.
Brooke didn't have time to flee before Ryan and Haley came into the hall to head towards the front door. "Hi," she said, well aware that her hair was a mess.
"Hi," Ryan replied, smiling.
"Ryan was just telling me that there's ging to be a town square party tonight," Haley said. "Everyone's invited."
"Music, good food, a reminder that we're not alone."
"Sounds good," Brooke said, wishing she'd at least pulled her hair into a ponytail before coming downstairs.
"Starts around 6, at least that's when I'm telling people to show up. Some might come earlier, some later."
"We'll be there earlier," Haley said. "I'll drag Nathan there if I have to."
"You know her?" Ryan asked when he and Haley got outside.
"Brooke and I met during my brief attempt at college, before Dan got re-elected and asked Nate to be his deputy mayor and we moved back," Haley explained. "When she... got tired of how her life was going last year, she called and asked if she could come hide out for a little while, and I got her the job at the elementary school."
"She's... nice..."
"You never have been able to admit when you liked someone," Haley said, rolling her eyes. "Flirt tonight, that's an order."
"She'd probably be happier never to see me again, considering how we met."
"With you saving her and a busload of kids?" Haley said. "Go tell the next person, but try to rest sometime today, okay?"
"I didn't save anyone, Hales. She would have gotten the bus moving on her own eventually, or Matt and the others would have found her..."
"Then why do you let everyone keep saying you did?" Haley asked.
"For once, I'm being selfish," Ryan said softly. "Being a hero is better than being universally hated by everyone, including my own family."
"They never hated you," Haley said. "They just... they were hurting."
"It doesn't matter," Ryan said, kissing her cheek before turning away to head towards the next house. "See you tonight, Haley."
When Ryan got back to town square, he heard the gossip about a Fed being in town and changed direction to go to town hall and check it out. As he entered, he spotted an unfamiliar man getting stitches put into his forehead by Peter. "Great, we've already hit the point of beating up Feds?" Ryan asked as he walked further in.
"You heard?" Nathan asked.
"It's a small town, people talk," Ryan replied.
"Why aren't you home, in bed, resting?" Peter asked. "You broke your ribs yesterday."
"I've been hurt worse," Ryan said. "Besides, I had to spread word about the town square barbeque."
"You people are throwing a barbeque when a frickin' nuclear attack has just taken place?" Dean asked.
"Anything refridgerated is gonna spoil soon, so we're using it before we lose it," Ryan said. "Might be the last really good meal we have for a while, since more supplies aren't going to be coming for a while, and we've got months until fall harvest."
"Why are you here, Atwood?" Dan asked, sneering. "We don't need..."
"The guy who saved almost two dozen kids, including your grandson and your niece, along with you daughter-in-law's good friend, from dying out in the middle of nowhere in a wrecked bus?" Peter said. "Lily's asthma probably would have killed her before anyone else came along, and there are a lot of coyotes out there, too."
"Sounds like you're the local hero," Dean said.
"When I'm not town pariah," Ryan replied. "Any confirmed targets besides Sacramento and New York?"
"New York? I didn't know about New York," Dean said.
"Someone in town has family there, and they had a voicemail... you can hear the explosion before the line went dead," Ryan explained.
"Shit," Dean said. "Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are definite. I got a call right after I saw the Sacramento cloud, and it was pretty static-y, but I know they said mentioned those three. I don't know where exactly in each state, but..."
"I can't speak for Montana, but Wyoming was probably either Cheyenne and F.E. Warren, or the Laramie mountains and the base there. Colorado... could be either Denver or Colorado Springs. Denver's a population center, but Norad is based in Colorado Springs. Both good targets for attack," Ryan said, walking over to the map. "We should use red markers for confirmed hits, Yellow for possible hits, and green for confirmed unhit."
"We don't have any confirmed unhit," Dan said.
"We've got one," Dean said, getting off the desk he'd been sitting on and grabbing a green push pin, which he handed to Ryan.
Ryan nodded and pushed it into the map, at the spot for Tree Hill. "We're still here," he reminded Dan. "For better or worse, we're here."
To Be Continued...
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