fic - instinct
fandom: the oc
title: instinct
disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related.
rating: NC17 eventually
warnings: violence, sex and total crack. CRACK.
part one
part two
part three
"Don't stop, you fucker," Anna groaned, meeting his thrusts and holding his face against hers so she didn't have to stop kissing him.
They didn't bother getting undressed when they were expecting to get busted any second.
Her ankles were locked behind him and he had never been able to fuck anyone as hard as he was fucking her.
"I....usually...hate...missionary...but...you...do...it...so...fucking...good..." she panted, using her legs to lock him inside a moment as she climaxed, sending him into his own from her clenching cunt.
He let himself enjoy it for a moment before rolling off her. "One day we'll be stealth enough to get some foreplay in, but damn, I've never gotten off this much from quickies."
"Well, I've never really had a guy who could get me off like you do before. You're a fucking jackhammer and I just...can't stop thinking about you."
She was blushing and he wondered if she meant more than sex.
What did he have to lose?
"I like you, Anna. I don't know if I'd be settling in as well if it wasn't for you. I'm not really like any of these other kids," Ryan said.
She smiled. "I know what you mean. They got the brains part and we got the kickass parts." She put her finger to the cut on his cheek. "I didn't mean to cut you."
"I didn't mean to choke you," he replied. "But you cut me."
Anna gave him a look. "You could have stopped me whenever you wanted, couldn't you?"
"Hell no, you had me struggling. I thought Caleb would call time out when I got you on the ground, but he just let us go," Ryan said. "You're faster than I am."
"Dude, you're like the wind - I couldn't even see you," Anna snorted. "And in the gym today, I saw that your eyes, they do something weird."
"It's like, I see stuff in frames, snapshots in rapid speed. And I can zone in on things, like I have a zoom lens. I don't know what my eyes look like, but that's what it feels like," Ryan said.
There was a knock on the door and they both pulled their clothes back into place a split second before Kirsten stepped in.
"Oh. Good, you're dressed. I'm very proud of you," she said. "Come down and help us set up for dinner as punishment for last night, but you'll get out of laps in the morning since you aren't naked and horizontal."
"Well, legally, last night we weren't really horizontal and we both still had on some clothes," Anna started.
"Do you want laps on principle?" Kirsten asked.
"No, ma'am," Ryan said, glaring at her.
"Good answer," Kirsten said, patting him on the back when he gave Anna a glare.
"He's sucking up for the both of us, shouldn't that count in my favor?" Anna smirked.
Kirsten sighed and followed them out of the room.
--------------
"So, you can like, fly? Or just jump really far?" Taylor asked, intrigued.
They'd gotten kitchen duty with Che for making out when they were supposed to be running the track. She was so high strung that Che's laid back attitude mellowed her out. And he was pretty good at the sex since he knew spots that she didn't even know were spots.
"I can just...jump. Like, swing my momentum up instead of down," Ryan said, frowning at the mismatched silverware Anna had dumped in front of him with cloth napkins.
"Dude, you have got to teach me that. After midnight, you should come up to the room, we get stoned off the science girl's leftover weed. Untraceable and no smell from the smoke, it's awesome," Che said, munching on a brownie.
"There's eggs in that," Taylor reminded him and he stopped chewing. She turned back to Ryan. "He's vegan, the weirdo."
"What else do you guys do for fun?" Ryan asked.
"Well, before we sneak up to the roof, we meet in the living room and play games until Sandy starts to snore," Che said.
"And we can fuck in the bathrooms on the lower floor as long as we don't make noise," Taylor added. "Like, not all together, but you know what I mean. If Cal and the Cohens are asleep and we're really quiet..."
"And we get weekends to do whatever as long as we're back my midnight and we're with the driver. So, we hit movies and Summer and Taylor get their nails done and I get as much greasy food as I can stomach," Anna said.
"That all sounds like fun," Ryan smiled.
"I think they've got your schedule together now. You get to come hang with me for language tomorrow and then you get Che to work on any acupressure or meditation stuff and then Seth for computers and Summer for weirdness."
"Weirdness? And what about my normal classes?" Ryan asked.
"You tested out of them. All of them," Sandy said, walking in. "Caleb's already working on your diploma, graduating you early and getting social services off your back. You know more than we could teach you right now and we want to give you time to figure out what you want to do next. What kind of college you want or career..."
"Oh," Ryan said.
"Don't stress, they did that for Taylor and Seth, too. They get to do their own thing all day," Anna said.
Taylor was surprised at how close Ryan and Anna seemed to be. Usually Anna was the fuck'em and get bored. And forget making friends without a six month waiting period.
Interesting.
"Caleb will tell you all about it. He's got some fieldtrips planned for you, too, so you can see some different careers to think about when you're settled."
"Planning's a big thing with Caleb, I guess," Ryan said.
"Yeah, but he makes sure we have lots of choices," Taylor said.
"I think I need a few days to settle," Ryan replied.
"I just hope I can learn how to do that jump and flip thing, that was so awesome," Anna said.
Taylor's stomach did a flip just thinking about it. She was fine with her brain just the way it is if having Anna and Ryan's gifts made them want to jump and flip off things. That was just scary.
--------------
Anna watched Ryan focus on the TV while she traced her fingers up and down his thigh absently.
He really wanted to beat Seth, or at least beat Che, but so far, he was totally failing.
He was hot when he was competitive.
She wanted to have him inside her right now, but there was only so much they could do when everyone else was around. She wasn't that much of a horndog.
"So, can we go to the roof now and hit pause on the boring video games?" Summer complained.
"I didn't take you for a stoner," Ryan said, never taking his eyes off the screen.
"I don't smoke, but I'm not going to sit in my room while everyone else is hanging out on the roof," Summer replied.
"Shh, let me listen," Anna said, waiting until everyone was quiet so she could make sure Sandy was snoring.
They'd finally learned that Kirsten would fall asleep first and Sandy wouldn't sleep until she was already down for the night because of his snores.
She had to make her way through the housekeeping staff that was in the same wing as the Cohens but she finally recognized his familiar sinus whistle.
"It's cool," Anna said.
"You're cool," Ryan said, looking at her now that the TV was changed to MSNBC.
"I know," she said, taking his hand and leading him to their secret place on the roof.
"You want to show me the bathroom first?" Ryan asked, stopping her at the stairs. "I'm not really into getting stoned as much as I'm into making out with you."
Anna smiled and immediately detoured to the spare bathroom.
--------------
Ryan had borrowed an 'intro to Spanish' book from Taylor before he went to bed around one.
He wasn't surprised that he tested out of all their exams. He could learn a book in one sitting. Something about his mental snapshots worked wonders when he flipped through a book.
So he skimmed it and went to bed and the next morning, his brain had time to process what he'd learned.
He didn't have the pronunciation, but he knew enough to hopefully get through Taylor's hour.
He knew he liked Anna. And Seth was pretty cool once he figured out that he talked about multiple things in the same sentence. And Che was laid back and open minded which he always appreciated. He didn't know about Summer and Taylor, yet.
Anna had taken up most of his private time and he was sure he smelled Seth's cologne on Summer. Everyone knew Che and Taylor were a thing.
He was nervous about Taylor's class despite his 'studying'. She seemed to be really smart, much smarter than he was. He'd been 'home schooled' for most of his life by his father and only gone to real school a couple of years.
He found her sitting in the lounge, giggling at something on her blackberry.
Maybe she'd let him off the hook for studying and they could just hang out.
She grinned at him and nodded to the couch for him to sit.
"So, where would you like to start? Do you know any languages other than English?" she asked.
"I think I learned Spanish last night, just run through the pronunciation with me," Ryan said.
"Ooh, so you can learn it by looking at a book? Because that's kind of what I do," Taylor said, her eyes perking up.
"Yeah. Like, not instantly, but...I can read something and in a couple of hours, I'll just...know it," he said. "So I read the book last night and today, well..."
"Wow, it's not the same for me, but still, impressive. I translate everything as soon as I learn a few words, my mind just clicks on. You are going to be multilingual in no time, but let's make sure you don't need another Spanish book to go up a level," she said. "Oh - and you have to see the library - if you can soak up information that easily, you can learn almost everything from there."
"They have a library?" Ryan asked.
"Of course, silly, this is a school, come on, but no more English until we're done," Taylor said.
"Si," Ryan smiled.
He could do this.
--------------
Summer wasn't sure why Caleb wanted her to be here to watch Ryan and Anna try to fly, but everyone else was here, too.
It almost felt like they were going to have a picnic in the clearing at the top of the cliff.
She didn't use the 'gym' much, Caleb figured out quickly that she and Seth weren't really the obstacle course type.
She still thought it was here as an proverbial exercise wheel for Anna and her endless energy.
Right now, she was bouncing on her heels and begging Ryan to 'throw her'.
"Summer," Caleb said, waving her over. "Ryan uses the force of the drop to swing himself over. I want to see if you can do anything more with your understanding of energy."
"Cal, I can't land on my feet like Anna can, I can just...stop, drop and roll?" she stammered.
"It's all about control, Summer," Caleb said. He lowered his voice. "And you know as well as I do that there's an invisible net down there, you won't be hurt."
"What if he throws me into the cliff, or a tree?" Summer asked.
Caleb gave her a steady look. "You have amazing control and you'll have a lot of momentum from the jump that you can use. I'll never make you do something you don't want to, but I think this is something you should pay attention to, just in case you change your mind."
She nodded, grateful he wasn't going to make her do it. She walked back over to Seth and sat down beside him on a rock.
"Are you sure about this?" Sandy asked.
"Just...watch. I promise, it's cool, just...be quiet because I have to think," Ryan said.
Summer watched as he cleared a small circle, studied the opposite side of the canyon and then closed his eyes.
Wow.
"Damn," Seth whispered.
Ryan was still in midair, his feet up and his head down as he flipped expertly to land on the other side.
"Ta da," Anna said.
"Oh. It's just momentum. I can totally do that," Summer realized.
"That totally doesn't look safe," Che said. "Even though it looks like hella fun. But it's probably not for Ryan."
"Why do you say that?" Seth asked.
"Because of how he learned," Che replied. "But that's his business and not ours."
Summer felt guilty for thinking of Ryan as a teacher's pet after hearing that.
Ryan was readying himself across the gulch but this time, despite the midair flip, he didn't land as easily as the first time.
He skidded in on two feet but his knee buckled before he came to a complete stop.
"Shit, are you okay?" Anna asked, rushing over to him.
Ryan stood up slowly, stretching out his leg with a wince.
"Let me see," Che said.
"No, it's cool, I just need to walk it off...If I don't it'll get stiff and hurt worse. Walk it off," Ryan repeated.
"Just let him see, Ryan. We'll cut this whole thing short if you don't," Sandy said, putting his hand on his shoulder and leading him to sit down.
"I think he's hardcore for more reasons than I want to know," Summer said.
--------------
The next few days went by without a hitch and he realized that he...really liked it here.
There wasn't a single thing he missed from his life before. Not his father. Not his mother. Not his brother. And he'd never let himself have any friends. One night stands didn't count.
Che was teaching him about the pressure points to help his knee strengthen and Taylor had taught him four languages in four days.
Seth had taught him how to read binary but that was about as far as he got before he started telling him about hacking into his favorite comic artists' emails to see what they were working on.
Summer was teaching him the most even if she didn't know it. Just watching her and the way she manipulated energy was unbelievable.
But Anna was definitely his favorite 'classmate'. They'd been sticking to martial arts since Caleb didn't want him jumping until the orthopedist gave him a brace.
She had moves he really wanted to learn.
But tonight they were going out. Sandy had even given him money, an allowance. And he knew that they weren't giving money to the other kids.
But he figured since both his parents were in jail and they were his legal guardians for the moment that it was part of their job.
Whatever, he was going to take it how it came and a free night out with his new friends might tip him over to the optimistic side of the scale. He'd never really been there before.
He put on his favorite pair of jeans and new sneakers and hoped he looked good enough to be with Anna tonight.
When he saw her he knew he'd never look good standing next to her.
She was gorgeous. He didn't even want to know how she got into those tight pants but he couldn't deny how good it looked. Her dark eyeliner drew his eyes to hers and they were kissing before they'd even greeted each other.
Kirsten cleared her throat. "Please remember to take some time to breathe while you're out. Have fun, and keep your phones on, all of you, I want that nine o'clock check-in text and a call from the driver if you're running late."
"Sure, Mom, we know the rules and we'll make sure Ryan doesn't get lost or molested by anyone he doesn't know," Seth said. "Can we go? The movie starts at seven and you know we want to eat first."
"Go ahead, and be careful," Sandy said.
He let Anna pull him outside and down to the pair of cars waiting in the driveway. "Where are we going?"
"You told me that you never had lobster before so we are headed to the Crab Shack," Seth said.
"We go there every week," Anna murmured.
"And then to the movies and then...more snacks, or something," Che picked up.
"The beach? We haven't gone to the beach in a while," Taylor chirped up.
He settled in for the ride, enjoying the teasing touches and surprise kisses.
Lobster was moved up to the top ten list of his favorite foods, the movie was boring which gave him lots of time to make out with Anna and the moon was full for making out in the sand.
It was a damn good night out.
Anna had him pinned on a blanket, her body splayed across him as they kissed.
He heard the scuffle first.
The sound of a muffled grunt and then the pounding heartbeat that only came from fear.
"Give me your wallet or I'll slit your throat..."
"Did you hear that?" he asked, pulling his lips away.
"What?" she murmured, sucking a bruise into the hollow of his collarbone.
"Somebody's getting robbed, come on," Ryan said.
Anna mumbled disgruntledly but took his hand and followed him silently down the beach.
He felt Anna's fingers tense as she picked up on the same things he had.
She glanced at him before slipping away into the darkness.
Ryan couldn't see as well as he could in complete darkness with the moon this bright, but he saw clearer than the pair of thieves and the skinny victim with a hand over her mouth.
He was calculating how many steps it would take for him to reach them and saw Anna's eyes shine. She was closer to the one without the girl. He gave her a nod and they seemed to fall into step instinctively.
Anna spun in a kick and hit her guy with her boot, knocking him to the ground.
Ryan snatched the knife from the man's hand and twisted the girl away so he could kick her attacker in the balls and knock him down with his friend.
Anna was panting, clearly feeding off the adrenaline, but she snatched the purse from the guy and turned to help the girl to her feet.
"Cops are on the way, let's get out of here," Seth said, waving a cell phone from a nearby dune.
Ryan handed the knife to the shaky girl. "Tell the cops you disarmed them. We were never here," he added.
"But..."
"Now, guys, we're on the clock," Che called.
Ryan and Anna hurried to join their friends.
"Damn, guys, that was pretty awesome, but we're so going to get busted," Summer said.
Anna squealed, swinging him around and kissing him. "That was so much more than awesome - hell yeah!"
He was glad they'd helped the girl, and yeah, it was awesome, but he couldn't help feeling like he'd ruined his chances at pleasing Caleb and sticking around.
"How'd you know to call the cops?" Ryan asked.
"Che picked up on some fear vibe or something, a 'disturbance in the force'," Taylor said, smiling at Che proudly.
"So we snuck over and saw what was going down. I used my phone to call the cops, rerouting my number to a payphone in Vegas and sending the GPS coordinates to their computers to make sure they found it," Seth said.
"Thanks, guys," Ryan said.
Anna put her hands on his shoulders and hopped onto his back, latching on with her vice-like legs and leaning her body onto his back so she could kiss his cheek and neck.
"We are totally going to get our team rules and code names straight tomorrow night - hell, we can skip the movie and just spend the whole night planning…"
"No. No way," Ryan said. "Caleb would never let us out again if he knew we were playing vigilantes."
"He's right, you guys. The stakes are a little higher for Ryan," Anna said.
"Okay, well, we won't build our Batcave just yet, but we can still figure out how to use our powers together. Like, in business like grandpa or lifesaving like Superman," Seth said.
The drivers had already started the cars when they reached the street and he waited until he was in the car to start to breathe again.
--------------
title: instinct
disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related.
rating: NC17 eventually
warnings: violence, sex and total crack. CRACK.
part one
part two
part three
"Don't stop, you fucker," Anna groaned, meeting his thrusts and holding his face against hers so she didn't have to stop kissing him.
They didn't bother getting undressed when they were expecting to get busted any second.
Her ankles were locked behind him and he had never been able to fuck anyone as hard as he was fucking her.
"I....usually...hate...missionary...but...you...do...it...so...fucking...good..." she panted, using her legs to lock him inside a moment as she climaxed, sending him into his own from her clenching cunt.
He let himself enjoy it for a moment before rolling off her. "One day we'll be stealth enough to get some foreplay in, but damn, I've never gotten off this much from quickies."
"Well, I've never really had a guy who could get me off like you do before. You're a fucking jackhammer and I just...can't stop thinking about you."
She was blushing and he wondered if she meant more than sex.
What did he have to lose?
"I like you, Anna. I don't know if I'd be settling in as well if it wasn't for you. I'm not really like any of these other kids," Ryan said.
She smiled. "I know what you mean. They got the brains part and we got the kickass parts." She put her finger to the cut on his cheek. "I didn't mean to cut you."
"I didn't mean to choke you," he replied. "But you cut me."
Anna gave him a look. "You could have stopped me whenever you wanted, couldn't you?"
"Hell no, you had me struggling. I thought Caleb would call time out when I got you on the ground, but he just let us go," Ryan said. "You're faster than I am."
"Dude, you're like the wind - I couldn't even see you," Anna snorted. "And in the gym today, I saw that your eyes, they do something weird."
"It's like, I see stuff in frames, snapshots in rapid speed. And I can zone in on things, like I have a zoom lens. I don't know what my eyes look like, but that's what it feels like," Ryan said.
There was a knock on the door and they both pulled their clothes back into place a split second before Kirsten stepped in.
"Oh. Good, you're dressed. I'm very proud of you," she said. "Come down and help us set up for dinner as punishment for last night, but you'll get out of laps in the morning since you aren't naked and horizontal."
"Well, legally, last night we weren't really horizontal and we both still had on some clothes," Anna started.
"Do you want laps on principle?" Kirsten asked.
"No, ma'am," Ryan said, glaring at her.
"Good answer," Kirsten said, patting him on the back when he gave Anna a glare.
"He's sucking up for the both of us, shouldn't that count in my favor?" Anna smirked.
Kirsten sighed and followed them out of the room.
--------------
"So, you can like, fly? Or just jump really far?" Taylor asked, intrigued.
They'd gotten kitchen duty with Che for making out when they were supposed to be running the track. She was so high strung that Che's laid back attitude mellowed her out. And he was pretty good at the sex since he knew spots that she didn't even know were spots.
"I can just...jump. Like, swing my momentum up instead of down," Ryan said, frowning at the mismatched silverware Anna had dumped in front of him with cloth napkins.
"Dude, you have got to teach me that. After midnight, you should come up to the room, we get stoned off the science girl's leftover weed. Untraceable and no smell from the smoke, it's awesome," Che said, munching on a brownie.
"There's eggs in that," Taylor reminded him and he stopped chewing. She turned back to Ryan. "He's vegan, the weirdo."
"What else do you guys do for fun?" Ryan asked.
"Well, before we sneak up to the roof, we meet in the living room and play games until Sandy starts to snore," Che said.
"And we can fuck in the bathrooms on the lower floor as long as we don't make noise," Taylor added. "Like, not all together, but you know what I mean. If Cal and the Cohens are asleep and we're really quiet..."
"And we get weekends to do whatever as long as we're back my midnight and we're with the driver. So, we hit movies and Summer and Taylor get their nails done and I get as much greasy food as I can stomach," Anna said.
"That all sounds like fun," Ryan smiled.
"I think they've got your schedule together now. You get to come hang with me for language tomorrow and then you get Che to work on any acupressure or meditation stuff and then Seth for computers and Summer for weirdness."
"Weirdness? And what about my normal classes?" Ryan asked.
"You tested out of them. All of them," Sandy said, walking in. "Caleb's already working on your diploma, graduating you early and getting social services off your back. You know more than we could teach you right now and we want to give you time to figure out what you want to do next. What kind of college you want or career..."
"Oh," Ryan said.
"Don't stress, they did that for Taylor and Seth, too. They get to do their own thing all day," Anna said.
Taylor was surprised at how close Ryan and Anna seemed to be. Usually Anna was the fuck'em and get bored. And forget making friends without a six month waiting period.
Interesting.
"Caleb will tell you all about it. He's got some fieldtrips planned for you, too, so you can see some different careers to think about when you're settled."
"Planning's a big thing with Caleb, I guess," Ryan said.
"Yeah, but he makes sure we have lots of choices," Taylor said.
"I think I need a few days to settle," Ryan replied.
"I just hope I can learn how to do that jump and flip thing, that was so awesome," Anna said.
Taylor's stomach did a flip just thinking about it. She was fine with her brain just the way it is if having Anna and Ryan's gifts made them want to jump and flip off things. That was just scary.
--------------
Anna watched Ryan focus on the TV while she traced her fingers up and down his thigh absently.
He really wanted to beat Seth, or at least beat Che, but so far, he was totally failing.
He was hot when he was competitive.
She wanted to have him inside her right now, but there was only so much they could do when everyone else was around. She wasn't that much of a horndog.
"So, can we go to the roof now and hit pause on the boring video games?" Summer complained.
"I didn't take you for a stoner," Ryan said, never taking his eyes off the screen.
"I don't smoke, but I'm not going to sit in my room while everyone else is hanging out on the roof," Summer replied.
"Shh, let me listen," Anna said, waiting until everyone was quiet so she could make sure Sandy was snoring.
They'd finally learned that Kirsten would fall asleep first and Sandy wouldn't sleep until she was already down for the night because of his snores.
She had to make her way through the housekeeping staff that was in the same wing as the Cohens but she finally recognized his familiar sinus whistle.
"It's cool," Anna said.
"You're cool," Ryan said, looking at her now that the TV was changed to MSNBC.
"I know," she said, taking his hand and leading him to their secret place on the roof.
"You want to show me the bathroom first?" Ryan asked, stopping her at the stairs. "I'm not really into getting stoned as much as I'm into making out with you."
Anna smiled and immediately detoured to the spare bathroom.
--------------
Ryan had borrowed an 'intro to Spanish' book from Taylor before he went to bed around one.
He wasn't surprised that he tested out of all their exams. He could learn a book in one sitting. Something about his mental snapshots worked wonders when he flipped through a book.
So he skimmed it and went to bed and the next morning, his brain had time to process what he'd learned.
He didn't have the pronunciation, but he knew enough to hopefully get through Taylor's hour.
He knew he liked Anna. And Seth was pretty cool once he figured out that he talked about multiple things in the same sentence. And Che was laid back and open minded which he always appreciated. He didn't know about Summer and Taylor, yet.
Anna had taken up most of his private time and he was sure he smelled Seth's cologne on Summer. Everyone knew Che and Taylor were a thing.
He was nervous about Taylor's class despite his 'studying'. She seemed to be really smart, much smarter than he was. He'd been 'home schooled' for most of his life by his father and only gone to real school a couple of years.
He found her sitting in the lounge, giggling at something on her blackberry.
Maybe she'd let him off the hook for studying and they could just hang out.
She grinned at him and nodded to the couch for him to sit.
"So, where would you like to start? Do you know any languages other than English?" she asked.
"I think I learned Spanish last night, just run through the pronunciation with me," Ryan said.
"Ooh, so you can learn it by looking at a book? Because that's kind of what I do," Taylor said, her eyes perking up.
"Yeah. Like, not instantly, but...I can read something and in a couple of hours, I'll just...know it," he said. "So I read the book last night and today, well..."
"Wow, it's not the same for me, but still, impressive. I translate everything as soon as I learn a few words, my mind just clicks on. You are going to be multilingual in no time, but let's make sure you don't need another Spanish book to go up a level," she said. "Oh - and you have to see the library - if you can soak up information that easily, you can learn almost everything from there."
"They have a library?" Ryan asked.
"Of course, silly, this is a school, come on, but no more English until we're done," Taylor said.
"Si," Ryan smiled.
He could do this.
--------------
Summer wasn't sure why Caleb wanted her to be here to watch Ryan and Anna try to fly, but everyone else was here, too.
It almost felt like they were going to have a picnic in the clearing at the top of the cliff.
She didn't use the 'gym' much, Caleb figured out quickly that she and Seth weren't really the obstacle course type.
She still thought it was here as an proverbial exercise wheel for Anna and her endless energy.
Right now, she was bouncing on her heels and begging Ryan to 'throw her'.
"Summer," Caleb said, waving her over. "Ryan uses the force of the drop to swing himself over. I want to see if you can do anything more with your understanding of energy."
"Cal, I can't land on my feet like Anna can, I can just...stop, drop and roll?" she stammered.
"It's all about control, Summer," Caleb said. He lowered his voice. "And you know as well as I do that there's an invisible net down there, you won't be hurt."
"What if he throws me into the cliff, or a tree?" Summer asked.
Caleb gave her a steady look. "You have amazing control and you'll have a lot of momentum from the jump that you can use. I'll never make you do something you don't want to, but I think this is something you should pay attention to, just in case you change your mind."
She nodded, grateful he wasn't going to make her do it. She walked back over to Seth and sat down beside him on a rock.
"Are you sure about this?" Sandy asked.
"Just...watch. I promise, it's cool, just...be quiet because I have to think," Ryan said.
Summer watched as he cleared a small circle, studied the opposite side of the canyon and then closed his eyes.
Wow.
"Damn," Seth whispered.
Ryan was still in midair, his feet up and his head down as he flipped expertly to land on the other side.
"Ta da," Anna said.
"Oh. It's just momentum. I can totally do that," Summer realized.
"That totally doesn't look safe," Che said. "Even though it looks like hella fun. But it's probably not for Ryan."
"Why do you say that?" Seth asked.
"Because of how he learned," Che replied. "But that's his business and not ours."
Summer felt guilty for thinking of Ryan as a teacher's pet after hearing that.
Ryan was readying himself across the gulch but this time, despite the midair flip, he didn't land as easily as the first time.
He skidded in on two feet but his knee buckled before he came to a complete stop.
"Shit, are you okay?" Anna asked, rushing over to him.
Ryan stood up slowly, stretching out his leg with a wince.
"Let me see," Che said.
"No, it's cool, I just need to walk it off...If I don't it'll get stiff and hurt worse. Walk it off," Ryan repeated.
"Just let him see, Ryan. We'll cut this whole thing short if you don't," Sandy said, putting his hand on his shoulder and leading him to sit down.
"I think he's hardcore for more reasons than I want to know," Summer said.
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The next few days went by without a hitch and he realized that he...really liked it here.
There wasn't a single thing he missed from his life before. Not his father. Not his mother. Not his brother. And he'd never let himself have any friends. One night stands didn't count.
Che was teaching him about the pressure points to help his knee strengthen and Taylor had taught him four languages in four days.
Seth had taught him how to read binary but that was about as far as he got before he started telling him about hacking into his favorite comic artists' emails to see what they were working on.
Summer was teaching him the most even if she didn't know it. Just watching her and the way she manipulated energy was unbelievable.
But Anna was definitely his favorite 'classmate'. They'd been sticking to martial arts since Caleb didn't want him jumping until the orthopedist gave him a brace.
She had moves he really wanted to learn.
But tonight they were going out. Sandy had even given him money, an allowance. And he knew that they weren't giving money to the other kids.
But he figured since both his parents were in jail and they were his legal guardians for the moment that it was part of their job.
Whatever, he was going to take it how it came and a free night out with his new friends might tip him over to the optimistic side of the scale. He'd never really been there before.
He put on his favorite pair of jeans and new sneakers and hoped he looked good enough to be with Anna tonight.
When he saw her he knew he'd never look good standing next to her.
She was gorgeous. He didn't even want to know how she got into those tight pants but he couldn't deny how good it looked. Her dark eyeliner drew his eyes to hers and they were kissing before they'd even greeted each other.
Kirsten cleared her throat. "Please remember to take some time to breathe while you're out. Have fun, and keep your phones on, all of you, I want that nine o'clock check-in text and a call from the driver if you're running late."
"Sure, Mom, we know the rules and we'll make sure Ryan doesn't get lost or molested by anyone he doesn't know," Seth said. "Can we go? The movie starts at seven and you know we want to eat first."
"Go ahead, and be careful," Sandy said.
He let Anna pull him outside and down to the pair of cars waiting in the driveway. "Where are we going?"
"You told me that you never had lobster before so we are headed to the Crab Shack," Seth said.
"We go there every week," Anna murmured.
"And then to the movies and then...more snacks, or something," Che picked up.
"The beach? We haven't gone to the beach in a while," Taylor chirped up.
He settled in for the ride, enjoying the teasing touches and surprise kisses.
Lobster was moved up to the top ten list of his favorite foods, the movie was boring which gave him lots of time to make out with Anna and the moon was full for making out in the sand.
It was a damn good night out.
Anna had him pinned on a blanket, her body splayed across him as they kissed.
He heard the scuffle first.
The sound of a muffled grunt and then the pounding heartbeat that only came from fear.
"Give me your wallet or I'll slit your throat..."
"Did you hear that?" he asked, pulling his lips away.
"What?" she murmured, sucking a bruise into the hollow of his collarbone.
"Somebody's getting robbed, come on," Ryan said.
Anna mumbled disgruntledly but took his hand and followed him silently down the beach.
He felt Anna's fingers tense as she picked up on the same things he had.
She glanced at him before slipping away into the darkness.
Ryan couldn't see as well as he could in complete darkness with the moon this bright, but he saw clearer than the pair of thieves and the skinny victim with a hand over her mouth.
He was calculating how many steps it would take for him to reach them and saw Anna's eyes shine. She was closer to the one without the girl. He gave her a nod and they seemed to fall into step instinctively.
Anna spun in a kick and hit her guy with her boot, knocking him to the ground.
Ryan snatched the knife from the man's hand and twisted the girl away so he could kick her attacker in the balls and knock him down with his friend.
Anna was panting, clearly feeding off the adrenaline, but she snatched the purse from the guy and turned to help the girl to her feet.
"Cops are on the way, let's get out of here," Seth said, waving a cell phone from a nearby dune.
Ryan handed the knife to the shaky girl. "Tell the cops you disarmed them. We were never here," he added.
"But..."
"Now, guys, we're on the clock," Che called.
Ryan and Anna hurried to join their friends.
"Damn, guys, that was pretty awesome, but we're so going to get busted," Summer said.
Anna squealed, swinging him around and kissing him. "That was so much more than awesome - hell yeah!"
He was glad they'd helped the girl, and yeah, it was awesome, but he couldn't help feeling like he'd ruined his chances at pleasing Caleb and sticking around.
"How'd you know to call the cops?" Ryan asked.
"Che picked up on some fear vibe or something, a 'disturbance in the force'," Taylor said, smiling at Che proudly.
"So we snuck over and saw what was going down. I used my phone to call the cops, rerouting my number to a payphone in Vegas and sending the GPS coordinates to their computers to make sure they found it," Seth said.
"Thanks, guys," Ryan said.
Anna put her hands on his shoulders and hopped onto his back, latching on with her vice-like legs and leaning her body onto his back so she could kiss his cheek and neck.
"We are totally going to get our team rules and code names straight tomorrow night - hell, we can skip the movie and just spend the whole night planning…"
"No. No way," Ryan said. "Caleb would never let us out again if he knew we were playing vigilantes."
"He's right, you guys. The stakes are a little higher for Ryan," Anna said.
"Okay, well, we won't build our Batcave just yet, but we can still figure out how to use our powers together. Like, in business like grandpa or lifesaving like Superman," Seth said.
The drivers had already started the cars when they reached the street and he waited until he was in the car to start to breathe again.
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