missmara13 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
missmara13) wrote2010-12-18 08:24 pm
missmara13) wrote2010-12-18 08:24 pm
Entry tags:
24 Gifts Of 2010 - Day Eighteen - Cousins (The OC/Criminal Minds, Ryan and JJ)
Originally, there was no Day Eighteen, but I'm filling in the blanks on my gifts caused by some RL chaos... So now there is a Day 18.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned this vague little idea of mine of a fic where Ryan Atwood of The OC and JJ Jareau of Criminal Minds are cousins. Well, here's a little bit of story with that premise. Set just after 'The Heavy Lifting' in The OC and sometime late season 4 of Criminal Minds (after Henry was born). This obviously shifts timelines slightly, but not by too much.
I won't promise that the CMers are perfectly in character, I'm still experimenting with finding their voices in my writing, and how else can one expect to find that voice if they don't, you know, write it and see if other's think they got it? But I did my best for Morgan and Garcia's oh so brief appearance, and I think I have JJ pretty good, at least considering the innate minorly AUness of the fic...
Cousins
JJ glanced at her cellphone display as it rang and smiled at her cousin's name. "Hey, long time no hear, Ry."
"Yeah, well, my life was actually on track for once," Ryan replied.
"What's wrong?"
"There was this kid, Johnny. He... he was friend's with Marissa..."
"You're girlfriend?"
"She was," Ryan said. "Anyway... Johnny had a thing for Marissa, but... she chose me. So he got drunk on the beach with Marissa's sister, and then he decided to climb a cliff, and Kaitlin called Marissa, and we went out there and... I tried to stop him, Jay," Ryan said, his words coming out in a rush. "I tried to grab him, but... he fell..."
"Oh my God..."
"He died, and I... I tried to grab him, Jay, I promise, I tried..."
"I know you did," JJ said.
"They all think I must be happy he's dead because he's not an issue... my best friend said that... and Marissa... she dumped me for not being upset enough... I thought I needed to be strong for her, but... Jay, I saw him fall and smash his head on the rocks..."
"Are you in Newport?"
"Yeah," Ryan said.
"Can you get up to LA? I'm in town with the team for a seminar training the local field office, and they don't really need me right now, we can have lunch, I can show you the latest pictures of Henry that I haven't had the chance to send you..."
"Yeah, yeah I can get there," Ryan said. "Thanks, Jay."
"Anything for my favorite cousin."
"My competition is Trey," Ryan reminded her.
"Which is why it's no competition," JJ replied, giving him the name and address of the hotel they were staying in. "I'll be in the lobby," she added.
"Thanks."
~~~
"Don't you guys have things to do?" JJ asked as Morgan and Garcia joined her in the lobby.
"We wanna meet this cousin you're so excited to see," Morgan said.
"I haven't seen Ryan in person since he was 10," JJ said. "But I've always made sure he had my phone number in case he needed to talk, because my aunt is not the best person to ask for advice from."
"She's in jail in Albuquerque so definitely not right now."
JJ looked up, grinning. "Ry," she said, getting up to give her cousin a hug. "Look at you, all grown up!"
"Aren't you the one that once told me I was a 60 year-old trapped in a 10 year-old's body?" Ryan replied, smiling slightly.
"You are, you're just finally catching up," JJ replied. "Oh, Ryan, this is part of the team I work with. They're incredibly nosy so they wanted to meet you. That's Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia," she said, pointing to each in turn.
"It's nice to meet you," Ryan said. "Jay's told me a lot about your guys."
"Should we be worried?" Garcia asked with a grin.
"Well, she never told any good stories," Ryan replied.
"See, that is why you kept getting in trouble for flirting with other guy's girlfriends, you do it without meaning to," JJ said, laughing. "I was constantly getting calls from him about it and how he didn't thinking talking was flirting but everyone else seemed to..."
"Oh please, the girls were probably ready to leave the boyfriends for him anyway," Garcia said.
"Well, now that you've met the nosy people I work with, let's go get lunch," JJ said, threading her arm through Ryan's and pulling him away. "Besides, Garcia has a boyfriend and you are jailbait," she added to him as they walked outside.
Ryan laughed. "It's really good to see you, Jay."
"It's good to see you, too, Ry," JJ said. "So, have you found out about college yet?"
"Not yet," Ryan said. "I'm not getting my hopes up," he added.
"Why not? I happen to know you're brilliant."
"I also have a criminal record. Grand theft auto, multiple assaults, and attempting to flee an attempted murder charge thanks to Marissa's mom bribing Trey to say I shot him instead of Marissa, and my decision to run when I found out they were about to issue a warrant."
"Your now ex-girlfriend shot Trey?"
"He was choking me to death at the time, but... yeah."
"And then you decided to make a run for it?"
"Yeah."
"And you never mentioned any of this because?"
"It all happened so fast... I didn't... I wasn't... I don't know. I just didn't think I could handle explaining it."
"Where is Trey now?" JJ asked.
"As far as I know? Vegas, dealing Blackjack. I haven't talked to him, but the underage girl he was messing around with before he took off to avoid arrest passed it along."
"He definitely has Aunt Dawn's ability to make really bad decisions."
"I don't exactly have a very good track record on that front either," Ryan pointed out.
"That's ridiculous," JJ protested. "Yes, you've gotten in trouble before, but that was circumstances, usually caused by Trey or Dawn. Or both of them."
"College isn't the be all and end all," Ryan said, getting the conversation back on track. "You don't need a degree from Berkeley to wait tables or work on cars."
"You do to be an architect, and that's what you've always wanted, so that is what will happen," JJ said firmly. "If you don't get in now, then keep your nose clean, no trouble at all, and next year you can apply again, with a letter of recommendation from an FBI agent who works with profilers and knows a little something about people, and you will get in."
"Jay..." Ryan began, laughing.
"And when you do get accepted this year because they'll look at your grades and your application and be begging you to pick their school, you still have to come spend a week in DC with me, Will, and Henry this summer, because I happen to think that Henry needs an older cousin to watch out for him," JJ said.
"He would anyway," Ryan promised. "Every kid does, and I know I turned out halfway decent because of mine."
"I'd say these Cohen people you've told me about can take some credit, too," JJ said. "Although I did a background check on them, and did you know they lived in a mail truck?"
"I've heard that story," Ryan said, nodding. "I missed you, Jay."
"I missed you, too," JJ agreed.
The End
Dawn is the younger sister of JJ's mother. When Dawn got pregnant with Trey, she took off with her petty criminal boyfriend, Frank, and only looked back when she needed money. JJ's mom would 'lone' them money (though it was never repaid) but only on the condition that Dawn and the boys visit Pennsylvania (on JJ's mom's dime) and Dawn would agreed because hey, small price to pay for a break from Frank. When Ryan was 10, JJ's mom tried to convince Dawn to let Ryan and Trey stay in Pennsylvania, and Dawn got pissed and cut off contact. But JJ, who was in college, made sure Ryan knew how to get in touch with her if he needed her.
Opinions? Suggestions? Are the CMers horribly out of character?
I'm pretty sure I mentioned this vague little idea of mine of a fic where Ryan Atwood of The OC and JJ Jareau of Criminal Minds are cousins. Well, here's a little bit of story with that premise. Set just after 'The Heavy Lifting' in The OC and sometime late season 4 of Criminal Minds (after Henry was born). This obviously shifts timelines slightly, but not by too much.
I won't promise that the CMers are perfectly in character, I'm still experimenting with finding their voices in my writing, and how else can one expect to find that voice if they don't, you know, write it and see if other's think they got it? But I did my best for Morgan and Garcia's oh so brief appearance, and I think I have JJ pretty good, at least considering the innate minorly AUness of the fic...
Cousins
JJ glanced at her cellphone display as it rang and smiled at her cousin's name. "Hey, long time no hear, Ry."
"Yeah, well, my life was actually on track for once," Ryan replied.
"What's wrong?"
"There was this kid, Johnny. He... he was friend's with Marissa..."
"You're girlfriend?"
"She was," Ryan said. "Anyway... Johnny had a thing for Marissa, but... she chose me. So he got drunk on the beach with Marissa's sister, and then he decided to climb a cliff, and Kaitlin called Marissa, and we went out there and... I tried to stop him, Jay," Ryan said, his words coming out in a rush. "I tried to grab him, but... he fell..."
"Oh my God..."
"He died, and I... I tried to grab him, Jay, I promise, I tried..."
"I know you did," JJ said.
"They all think I must be happy he's dead because he's not an issue... my best friend said that... and Marissa... she dumped me for not being upset enough... I thought I needed to be strong for her, but... Jay, I saw him fall and smash his head on the rocks..."
"Are you in Newport?"
"Yeah," Ryan said.
"Can you get up to LA? I'm in town with the team for a seminar training the local field office, and they don't really need me right now, we can have lunch, I can show you the latest pictures of Henry that I haven't had the chance to send you..."
"Yeah, yeah I can get there," Ryan said. "Thanks, Jay."
"Anything for my favorite cousin."
"My competition is Trey," Ryan reminded her.
"Which is why it's no competition," JJ replied, giving him the name and address of the hotel they were staying in. "I'll be in the lobby," she added.
"Thanks."
~~~
"Don't you guys have things to do?" JJ asked as Morgan and Garcia joined her in the lobby.
"We wanna meet this cousin you're so excited to see," Morgan said.
"I haven't seen Ryan in person since he was 10," JJ said. "But I've always made sure he had my phone number in case he needed to talk, because my aunt is not the best person to ask for advice from."
"She's in jail in Albuquerque so definitely not right now."
JJ looked up, grinning. "Ry," she said, getting up to give her cousin a hug. "Look at you, all grown up!"
"Aren't you the one that once told me I was a 60 year-old trapped in a 10 year-old's body?" Ryan replied, smiling slightly.
"You are, you're just finally catching up," JJ replied. "Oh, Ryan, this is part of the team I work with. They're incredibly nosy so they wanted to meet you. That's Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia," she said, pointing to each in turn.
"It's nice to meet you," Ryan said. "Jay's told me a lot about your guys."
"Should we be worried?" Garcia asked with a grin.
"Well, she never told any good stories," Ryan replied.
"See, that is why you kept getting in trouble for flirting with other guy's girlfriends, you do it without meaning to," JJ said, laughing. "I was constantly getting calls from him about it and how he didn't thinking talking was flirting but everyone else seemed to..."
"Oh please, the girls were probably ready to leave the boyfriends for him anyway," Garcia said.
"Well, now that you've met the nosy people I work with, let's go get lunch," JJ said, threading her arm through Ryan's and pulling him away. "Besides, Garcia has a boyfriend and you are jailbait," she added to him as they walked outside.
Ryan laughed. "It's really good to see you, Jay."
"It's good to see you, too, Ry," JJ said. "So, have you found out about college yet?"
"Not yet," Ryan said. "I'm not getting my hopes up," he added.
"Why not? I happen to know you're brilliant."
"I also have a criminal record. Grand theft auto, multiple assaults, and attempting to flee an attempted murder charge thanks to Marissa's mom bribing Trey to say I shot him instead of Marissa, and my decision to run when I found out they were about to issue a warrant."
"Your now ex-girlfriend shot Trey?"
"He was choking me to death at the time, but... yeah."
"And then you decided to make a run for it?"
"Yeah."
"And you never mentioned any of this because?"
"It all happened so fast... I didn't... I wasn't... I don't know. I just didn't think I could handle explaining it."
"Where is Trey now?" JJ asked.
"As far as I know? Vegas, dealing Blackjack. I haven't talked to him, but the underage girl he was messing around with before he took off to avoid arrest passed it along."
"He definitely has Aunt Dawn's ability to make really bad decisions."
"I don't exactly have a very good track record on that front either," Ryan pointed out.
"That's ridiculous," JJ protested. "Yes, you've gotten in trouble before, but that was circumstances, usually caused by Trey or Dawn. Or both of them."
"College isn't the be all and end all," Ryan said, getting the conversation back on track. "You don't need a degree from Berkeley to wait tables or work on cars."
"You do to be an architect, and that's what you've always wanted, so that is what will happen," JJ said firmly. "If you don't get in now, then keep your nose clean, no trouble at all, and next year you can apply again, with a letter of recommendation from an FBI agent who works with profilers and knows a little something about people, and you will get in."
"Jay..." Ryan began, laughing.
"And when you do get accepted this year because they'll look at your grades and your application and be begging you to pick their school, you still have to come spend a week in DC with me, Will, and Henry this summer, because I happen to think that Henry needs an older cousin to watch out for him," JJ said.
"He would anyway," Ryan promised. "Every kid does, and I know I turned out halfway decent because of mine."
"I'd say these Cohen people you've told me about can take some credit, too," JJ said. "Although I did a background check on them, and did you know they lived in a mail truck?"
"I've heard that story," Ryan said, nodding. "I missed you, Jay."
"I missed you, too," JJ agreed.
The End
Dawn is the younger sister of JJ's mother. When Dawn got pregnant with Trey, she took off with her petty criminal boyfriend, Frank, and only looked back when she needed money. JJ's mom would 'lone' them money (though it was never repaid) but only on the condition that Dawn and the boys visit Pennsylvania (on JJ's mom's dime) and Dawn would agreed because hey, small price to pay for a break from Frank. When Ryan was 10, JJ's mom tried to convince Dawn to let Ryan and Trey stay in Pennsylvania, and Dawn got pissed and cut off contact. But JJ, who was in college, made sure Ryan knew how to get in touch with her if he needed her.
Opinions? Suggestions? Are the CMers horribly out of character?