Never Again (Chapter Six)
Aug. 4th, 2008 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: Never Again
Author: Mara
Fandom: The OC/One Tree Hill
Rating: R
Warnings: Some violence (Mostly in flashbacks), language, possibly sex
Summary: "You hit me, even once, and I swear to god it'll be the last time you ever lay a finger on me."
Notes: This one... it could have easily been split in two but then you guys might kill me for the would be cliffhanger... lol... so, I made it one long chapter...
Never Again: Chapter Six
"Double chocolate mint?" Ryan verified as he selected the pint of ice cream from the cooler at CJ's Stop & Shop and headed towards the register. "Yeah, I'll be home in like 5 minutes... of course I'll make you a sundae. Yeah, I love you, too, Brooke." He closed the phone and slid it into his pocket as he got on line, offering a friendly smile to Maria, a neighborhood girl who was six months along with her second. "Pete's a jerk," Ryan told her.
"Brooke's lucky to have you," Maria replied, gesturing at the ice cream. "How far along?"
"How'd you know?" Ryan asked.
"That smile for one," Maria said. "So?"
"About 2 or 3 months," Ryan said. "We're heading out of town next week to see her family and friends back east while we can."
"Excited?" Maria asked. "About the baby, not the trip."
"And terrified," Ryan admitted. "But... It's Brooke, and me, and a little baby that I am already completely in love with."
"I swear, when they perfect cloning? I'm asking to borrow your hairbrush or toothbrush or something so I can have my own Ryan Atwood," Maria teased. "Except, no, even your clone would be in love with Brooke."
"Probably," Ryan admitted with a smile. "But..."
"Open the fucking register and hand over the cash!"
Ryan's head whipped around at the yellow, realizing for the first time that someone had come in with a gun. "Fuck," he whispered as the whole world seemed to focus in on the gun and he side stepped to keep between Maria and the robber. "Tony, just do what he says, alright, kid?" Ryan said.
"Shut up!" the robber said, pointing the gun at Ryan.
"Dude, I just want this over fast, okay? I'm trying to do that, so Tony, open the register and give him the cash. It's not worth getting hurt over."
"But..."
"Tony, just do it, okay?" Ryan repeated. "It's not worth getting hurt over."
"Maybe the guy's making some sense," the robber said, turning back to Tony. "Open it up!" Tony quickly did and stepped back while the robber pocketed the cash. "Now the safe!" the guy said.
"I can't," Tony said. "I don't have the combo..."
"I saw you make a deposit!"
"It's a drop slot!"
Ryan knew what was coming and shifted his weight, ready to move. And when it all turned around, it happened fast.
"Open the fucking safe!" the robber said, shooting into the wall to the right of Tony's head.
"Oh God!" Maria screamed, trying to run towards the doors.
The robber spun, gun aiming for Maria.
Ryan pushed away from the shelf he'd been next to and grabbed the gun man's wrist, forcing the shot to go into the ceiling instead of into Maria.
Out of the corner of his eye Ryan saw a cop car pulling in with it's lights off, probably just wanting coffee.
The robber managed to aim the gun down.
Ryan surged forward with all his strength.
The glass doors shattered as a gunshot rang out and the two man slammed into them in a shower of glass and blood.
It all seemed to slow down for a moment as Ryan fell, the shattered glass sparkling in the street lights around the store. But the moment he slammed into the asphalt, it picked up again, and her reacted, slamming the robber's head into the ground then shuffling back, trying to lift his arms to show the cops who'd exited their car with guns raised that he was unarmed, but when he tried to lift his left arm, pain tore through him and everything went black.
~~~
Brooke had heard the gunshots from the apartment and froze as she felt a surge of fear. She grabbed her sneakers and a sweatshirt and ran out the door, sprinting towards CJ's as fast as she could. As she rounded the corner she saw one cop car parked with it's lights off and another pulling in, lights flashing, followed by an ambulance.
And two people on the ground, one being handcuffed and hauled to his feet, the other being hovered over by Tony and Maria. Brooke ran the rest of the way, shoving a cop away when he tried to grab her and dropping to the ground beside Ryan's head. "Ryan? Baby?" she begged, not getting any response from him. "Ryan!"
"Miss, you need to move," a cop said as he leaned down to take her arm.
"No! I'm not leaving him!" Brooke yelled, yanking away and gripping at Ryan's non bleeding shoulder with desperate fingers. "Ryan!"
"Brooke, let the paramedics work, mija," Maria said in a gentle tone.
"I'm not leaving him!" Brooke repeated. "I'm not leaving him."
"It's okay," one of the paramedics said as she slipped an oxygen mask over Ryan's bloody face. "Miss, do you know if he's allergic to anything?"
Brooke shook her head. "Only Vicodin, they gave it to him once and it made him really sick." She gently stroked Ryan's hair. "Please be okay..." she whispered.
"We're gonna do our best to help him," the female paramedic said as she moved to let the male paramedic take over near Ryan's head. "Single gunshot wound to the left shoulder," she told the man. "Looks like it went straight through. Lots of cuts all over, probably from falling through the doors."
Brooke glanced back over her shoulder at the shattered doors and shuddered before looking back down at Ryan, for a moment picturing how he must have looked at 17, a year before she met him, cut up and bleeding after what his foster father had done to him. "Open your eyes, Ryan," she pleaded softly.
As though he heard her, Ryan groaned slightly and his eyes opened sluggishly, confusion thick in them. "Brooke?" he whispered, her name muffled by the mask.
Brooke let out a relieved sob and leaned over more. "Hey," she whispered. "Just lay still, okay, let them take care of you."
"Dropped it," Ryan slurred. "Sorry..."
"I don't care," Brooke said. "You're all that matters."
Ryan smiled behind the mask. "Love you..."
"Shut up and just keep breathing, okay?" Brooke said, running the back of her hand over his cheek.
~~~
Brooke was sitting with her head in her hands when she heard the familair voices and looked up, quickly heading over to the Montengros. "They took him into surgery for his shoulder," she said.
Paulie pulled her into a tight embrace, automatically stroking her hair comfortingly. "He's strong and has plenty to fight for," he said firmly. "He'll be fine."
"There was so much blood..."
"He'll be okay," Beth said, echoing her husband as she took her turn to hug the distraught girl. "Have you eaten anything? Do you want some water or juice?" she asked.
"All I need is Ryan," Brooke said.
"And he needs you and the baby to be okay," Beth said. "So why don't we go get a little something to eat and some nice warm milk, hm? Paulie can stay here and wait for news."
"But..."
"I'll come find you if anything happens," Paulie promised, kissing the top of her head. "Let us take care of you so you can take care of him."
Brooke nodded slowly and let Beth lead her away.
~~~
Paulie and Beth had known Ryan for seven years, Brooke for six of them, and they'd come to love him like family. The first few months they'd known him, he'd always had an air of sadness about him, like he'd lost everything in the world and didn't know how to be happy anymore. But then they'd discovered the reason behind the scars peppering Ryan's arms, and later they discovered his side and back as well, and Paulie had decided to make Ryan a part of the extended Montenegro family, figuring the boy needed to know people cared.
It hadn't taken long for everyone to see an entirely different Ryan, one who smiled, laughed, joked around. A Ryan who was could do the math and tell his coworkers whether they got a good tip or a lousy one in a second of thought, all in his head. The Ryan who spoke fluent Spanish and picked up a smattering of Italian without even trying, and thought learning more of it would be fun. And now that Ryan, the one that Paulie had come to love like a son, was laying in a hospital bed after getting shot protecting a friend.
"We were suppose to fly to North Carolina on Friday," Brooke said from her seat beside Ryan's bed, hand clasping his. "He surprised me with the trip, said he'd been planning it for a long time to celebrate the anniversary of the day we met. Two tickets to my home town to see my family and friends back there..."
"Brooke..." Beth began.
"I don't care about missing the trip, they'll still be there whenever we get the chance," Brooke continued. "But I can't lose him. Ryan's... Did you know he still loves that son of bitch who hit him when he was a kid? Sandy Cohen? He still loves the guy, he's still heartbroken that the guy is sick and maybe dying. It was eating him up inside to think that the last time he saw him they were fighting. And then he goes and gets a verbal beat down from pretty much all of them. And yet he still loves all of them. I don't get how... I have never known anyone who had the capacity to love that he does."
"Ryan's got a good heart," Paulie agreed. "And like finds like," he added, chucking a finger under Brooke's chin. "He'll be alright, for you and that baby, he'll be okay."
Brooke nodded to herself. "You're right," she said. "He'll be okay."
"I am okay."
Brooke returned her focus to Ryan, smiling as he sleepily opened his eyes. "Hey," she whispered. "You know I love you, but you seriously need to stop with this whole hero thing. It's not working for you."
Ryan smiled tiredly. "I'll take that into consideration," he said.
To Be Continued...
Author: Mara
Fandom: The OC/One Tree Hill
Rating: R
Warnings: Some violence (Mostly in flashbacks), language, possibly sex
Summary: "You hit me, even once, and I swear to god it'll be the last time you ever lay a finger on me."
Notes: This one... it could have easily been split in two but then you guys might kill me for the would be cliffhanger... lol... so, I made it one long chapter...
Never Again: Chapter Six
"Double chocolate mint?" Ryan verified as he selected the pint of ice cream from the cooler at CJ's Stop & Shop and headed towards the register. "Yeah, I'll be home in like 5 minutes... of course I'll make you a sundae. Yeah, I love you, too, Brooke." He closed the phone and slid it into his pocket as he got on line, offering a friendly smile to Maria, a neighborhood girl who was six months along with her second. "Pete's a jerk," Ryan told her.
"Brooke's lucky to have you," Maria replied, gesturing at the ice cream. "How far along?"
"How'd you know?" Ryan asked.
"That smile for one," Maria said. "So?"
"About 2 or 3 months," Ryan said. "We're heading out of town next week to see her family and friends back east while we can."
"Excited?" Maria asked. "About the baby, not the trip."
"And terrified," Ryan admitted. "But... It's Brooke, and me, and a little baby that I am already completely in love with."
"I swear, when they perfect cloning? I'm asking to borrow your hairbrush or toothbrush or something so I can have my own Ryan Atwood," Maria teased. "Except, no, even your clone would be in love with Brooke."
"Probably," Ryan admitted with a smile. "But..."
"Open the fucking register and hand over the cash!"
Ryan's head whipped around at the yellow, realizing for the first time that someone had come in with a gun. "Fuck," he whispered as the whole world seemed to focus in on the gun and he side stepped to keep between Maria and the robber. "Tony, just do what he says, alright, kid?" Ryan said.
"Shut up!" the robber said, pointing the gun at Ryan.
"Dude, I just want this over fast, okay? I'm trying to do that, so Tony, open the register and give him the cash. It's not worth getting hurt over."
"But..."
"Tony, just do it, okay?" Ryan repeated. "It's not worth getting hurt over."
"Maybe the guy's making some sense," the robber said, turning back to Tony. "Open it up!" Tony quickly did and stepped back while the robber pocketed the cash. "Now the safe!" the guy said.
"I can't," Tony said. "I don't have the combo..."
"I saw you make a deposit!"
"It's a drop slot!"
Ryan knew what was coming and shifted his weight, ready to move. And when it all turned around, it happened fast.
"Open the fucking safe!" the robber said, shooting into the wall to the right of Tony's head.
"Oh God!" Maria screamed, trying to run towards the doors.
The robber spun, gun aiming for Maria.
Ryan pushed away from the shelf he'd been next to and grabbed the gun man's wrist, forcing the shot to go into the ceiling instead of into Maria.
Out of the corner of his eye Ryan saw a cop car pulling in with it's lights off, probably just wanting coffee.
The robber managed to aim the gun down.
Ryan surged forward with all his strength.
The glass doors shattered as a gunshot rang out and the two man slammed into them in a shower of glass and blood.
It all seemed to slow down for a moment as Ryan fell, the shattered glass sparkling in the street lights around the store. But the moment he slammed into the asphalt, it picked up again, and her reacted, slamming the robber's head into the ground then shuffling back, trying to lift his arms to show the cops who'd exited their car with guns raised that he was unarmed, but when he tried to lift his left arm, pain tore through him and everything went black.
~~~
Brooke had heard the gunshots from the apartment and froze as she felt a surge of fear. She grabbed her sneakers and a sweatshirt and ran out the door, sprinting towards CJ's as fast as she could. As she rounded the corner she saw one cop car parked with it's lights off and another pulling in, lights flashing, followed by an ambulance.
And two people on the ground, one being handcuffed and hauled to his feet, the other being hovered over by Tony and Maria. Brooke ran the rest of the way, shoving a cop away when he tried to grab her and dropping to the ground beside Ryan's head. "Ryan? Baby?" she begged, not getting any response from him. "Ryan!"
"Miss, you need to move," a cop said as he leaned down to take her arm.
"No! I'm not leaving him!" Brooke yelled, yanking away and gripping at Ryan's non bleeding shoulder with desperate fingers. "Ryan!"
"Brooke, let the paramedics work, mija," Maria said in a gentle tone.
"I'm not leaving him!" Brooke repeated. "I'm not leaving him."
"It's okay," one of the paramedics said as she slipped an oxygen mask over Ryan's bloody face. "Miss, do you know if he's allergic to anything?"
Brooke shook her head. "Only Vicodin, they gave it to him once and it made him really sick." She gently stroked Ryan's hair. "Please be okay..." she whispered.
"We're gonna do our best to help him," the female paramedic said as she moved to let the male paramedic take over near Ryan's head. "Single gunshot wound to the left shoulder," she told the man. "Looks like it went straight through. Lots of cuts all over, probably from falling through the doors."
Brooke glanced back over her shoulder at the shattered doors and shuddered before looking back down at Ryan, for a moment picturing how he must have looked at 17, a year before she met him, cut up and bleeding after what his foster father had done to him. "Open your eyes, Ryan," she pleaded softly.
As though he heard her, Ryan groaned slightly and his eyes opened sluggishly, confusion thick in them. "Brooke?" he whispered, her name muffled by the mask.
Brooke let out a relieved sob and leaned over more. "Hey," she whispered. "Just lay still, okay, let them take care of you."
"Dropped it," Ryan slurred. "Sorry..."
"I don't care," Brooke said. "You're all that matters."
Ryan smiled behind the mask. "Love you..."
"Shut up and just keep breathing, okay?" Brooke said, running the back of her hand over his cheek.
~~~
Brooke was sitting with her head in her hands when she heard the familair voices and looked up, quickly heading over to the Montengros. "They took him into surgery for his shoulder," she said.
Paulie pulled her into a tight embrace, automatically stroking her hair comfortingly. "He's strong and has plenty to fight for," he said firmly. "He'll be fine."
"There was so much blood..."
"He'll be okay," Beth said, echoing her husband as she took her turn to hug the distraught girl. "Have you eaten anything? Do you want some water or juice?" she asked.
"All I need is Ryan," Brooke said.
"And he needs you and the baby to be okay," Beth said. "So why don't we go get a little something to eat and some nice warm milk, hm? Paulie can stay here and wait for news."
"But..."
"I'll come find you if anything happens," Paulie promised, kissing the top of her head. "Let us take care of you so you can take care of him."
Brooke nodded slowly and let Beth lead her away.
~~~
Paulie and Beth had known Ryan for seven years, Brooke for six of them, and they'd come to love him like family. The first few months they'd known him, he'd always had an air of sadness about him, like he'd lost everything in the world and didn't know how to be happy anymore. But then they'd discovered the reason behind the scars peppering Ryan's arms, and later they discovered his side and back as well, and Paulie had decided to make Ryan a part of the extended Montenegro family, figuring the boy needed to know people cared.
It hadn't taken long for everyone to see an entirely different Ryan, one who smiled, laughed, joked around. A Ryan who was could do the math and tell his coworkers whether they got a good tip or a lousy one in a second of thought, all in his head. The Ryan who spoke fluent Spanish and picked up a smattering of Italian without even trying, and thought learning more of it would be fun. And now that Ryan, the one that Paulie had come to love like a son, was laying in a hospital bed after getting shot protecting a friend.
"We were suppose to fly to North Carolina on Friday," Brooke said from her seat beside Ryan's bed, hand clasping his. "He surprised me with the trip, said he'd been planning it for a long time to celebrate the anniversary of the day we met. Two tickets to my home town to see my family and friends back there..."
"Brooke..." Beth began.
"I don't care about missing the trip, they'll still be there whenever we get the chance," Brooke continued. "But I can't lose him. Ryan's... Did you know he still loves that son of bitch who hit him when he was a kid? Sandy Cohen? He still loves the guy, he's still heartbroken that the guy is sick and maybe dying. It was eating him up inside to think that the last time he saw him they were fighting. And then he goes and gets a verbal beat down from pretty much all of them. And yet he still loves all of them. I don't get how... I have never known anyone who had the capacity to love that he does."
"Ryan's got a good heart," Paulie agreed. "And like finds like," he added, chucking a finger under Brooke's chin. "He'll be alright, for you and that baby, he'll be okay."
Brooke nodded to herself. "You're right," she said. "He'll be okay."
"I am okay."
Brooke returned her focus to Ryan, smiling as he sleepily opened his eyes. "Hey," she whispered. "You know I love you, but you seriously need to stop with this whole hero thing. It's not working for you."
Ryan smiled tiredly. "I'll take that into consideration," he said.
To Be Continued...
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Date: 2008-08-05 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 07:19 pm (UTC)I love Ryan and Brooke!!