OC Fic: Equilibrium Part 2/2
Title: Equilibrium (One-Shot in two parts)
Part 2/2 (Because LJ is such a beast about length.)
Author: ChaseII
Story Rating: PG-13 (language)
Disclaimer: The OC Universe, with all its assorted characters, belongs to Josh Schwartz, et. al. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended, nor is any money being made.
Summary: Start with Second Season Ryan. Add Cliffs. Stir in Storm. Top with a Madman. See who keeps his balance.
A/N: Same apologies as before!
A/N 2: This story is set in Season Two, sometime just before charges are brought against Caleb. Part of this story has been sitting, unattended, since Season Two. I always wanted more Ryan/Caleb scenes.
As usual, this is not beta'd, so all mistakes belong to me. (I only wish the characters did, too.)
Caleb turns toward the sea, walking back to the very edge of the rock promontory. He turns his head to the side, raising his voice so it will carry back to Ryan. “My question now. Why did your mother abandon you?”
Unbelievable.
Ryan closes his eyes. “You tell me,” he says before he catches himself.
Caleb spins just as a gust of wind whips by. One foot slides on loose pebbles and he struggles for balance. Ryan springs to his feet, getting to the man in four swift strides.
He reaches out, and Caleb grabs for him. Caleb’s fingers wrap around his arm like talons clinging to their prey. Ryan can feel the tensile strength in the man’s hand, and he plants his feet and leans backward to counteract the sudden weight that threatens to propel him forward.
Caleb recovers his stability, but he’s slow to release his predator’s grip on Ryan’s forearm. The old man’s eyes find Ryan’s.
They simmer with contempt.
Once he turns Ryan loose, Caleb picks up the conversation as though he hasn’t just nearly plummeted off the rocks. “My game doesn’t work that way, boy. I don’t tell you why your mother dumped you. You have to tell me.”
The rain is coming faster now. The drops are bigger. They make round wet splotches on the rock surface where they land.
Ryan eases away from the ledge, but doesn’t sit back down. He swipes at his face with his jacket sleeve when a sharp gust blows water in his eye. Perfect. The bastard will probably assume he’s made him cry.
But Caleb doesn’t seem to notice. The grey man has his own agenda, inching backward as lightening dances more wickedly behind him. “Kirsten will want to know what happened if I die here while you stand there and watch. You gonna’ tell her you refused to answer a simple question? Is that how you’ll pay back everything she’s done for you?”
Thunder rumbles across the Pacific, voicing Ryan’s thoughts better than he can.
Fucking self-centered bastard.
He squares his shoulders, ignoring the raindrops pelting more steadily. “Fine. You want to know why my mom left me? I’ll tell you. She left because she couldn’t face failing again. My brother had a juvenile record by the time he was eleven. I think Mom gave up on him before he turned fifteen. She used to say I was her last hope. Her last chance for success. But then I got arrested, too. She left because I let her down.”
The sky is split with jagged white, the thunder exploding instantly.
Caleb’s voice carries over a deafening rumble. “You don’t think she let you down?”
Ryan matches the old man’s decibel level. “That’s another question.”
He is surprised when Caleb snorts approval.
The grey man’s face softens for an instant. “I’ve found leaving usually isn’t much about the person left.”
Ryan wonders if the old man is reminiscing. Was he left, or did he leave?
The thunder continues to roll, but it’s gotten a little softer. Lightening forks through the sky at a greater distance.
Caleb pulls at his sleeves, rubbing his shoulders against a gust of wind. “I’ll give you this much, boy. You’ve got more moxie than I thought you had. I didn’t think you’d make it to the last round, but here you are.”
The storm moves further down the shoreline, the brunt of it still well out to sea. A light drizzle continues to fall, the drops fat and cold.
Ryan rubs his neck with one hand, rolling his shoulders to loosen the tension that’s gathered there. As he works at some of his knots, he addresses their source.
“Okay. Last question. What made you into such an asshole?”
Caleb lips twitch. “I was always an asshole.”
Ryan flings his hands out in mock surprise. “Imagine that. Now why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know?”
“Ask a better question and I might.”
Irritated, Ryan starts again. “Seth says you’re self-made. I want to know what drove you to become such an insensitive bastard in the process. You succeed at other people’s expense. Were you abused? Did someone hurt you? Ignore you? Are you all about getting even?”
Caleb shakes his head. “Project much?”
“I’m not like you.”
The man uses one hand to swipe at a thick spatter of drops the wind blows into his face, shaking the water off his fingers sharply. “You’re damned straight you’re not like me. You’re nothing like me, and you never will be.”
“Thank you.”
The man spits back, “That wasn’t meant as a compliment.”
Ryan smiles. “And yet, it was a huge one.”
“Fuck you.”
“No thanks.”
Caleb’s glare dissipates into a grudging nod.
Ryan takes advantage of the grey man’s silence to prod. “So what happened? Or are you too afraid to tell me?”
Caleb’s response comes swiftly. “I’m not afraid of you or anybody else. I never was. When I was eight, I knew I’d own this fucking town.”
“Why? What happened when you were eight?”
The grey man’s face contorts, and he seems lost in memory. He blows out a sharp breath, his head shaking at whatever he’s thinking. When he looks back at Ryan, his expression seems pensive. “Haven’t thought about it specifically in a long time. Odd, what you can harness as a kid.”
“What happened?” Ryan repeats.
Caleb’s voice sounds distant, as though it’s as far removed as his memory. “I had a dog. Great big yellow Lab named ‘Winston’. One of the local trust-fund kids shot him. Brought him down with one bullet. Then he stood there and laughed in my face.”
“Why would he shoot your dog?”
Caleb’s expression hardens. “For kicks. Because he wanted to. Because he could. Because his family had power and position, and mine didn’t. Because he knew I couldn’t do anything about it. That was the day I decided I was going to own this town. That I was going to be richer and more powerful than the lot of the trust-fund set.”
“You should have kicked that rich kid’s ass.”
The old man snorts. “What makes you think I didn’t?”
Ryan chuckles softly to himself. That’s a scene he can imagine.
He tilts his head, looking sidewise at Caleb as he scoffs, “So, is that your final question?”
Caleb shoots him another grudging look of approval. “Smartass.”
“Don’t flatter me.”
The man nods. “Wouldn’t think of it.”
“Good.”
Caleb steps closer, his voice eerily soft. “You think I’m an asshole? Well, maybe you’re right. But you know what? I got everything I ever went after.”
Ryan can’t help himself. He edges backward, careful not to bump into the bench. He frowns at Caleb. “Yeah, maybe you got everything you went after, but at what price? You might go to prison. Kirsten might get caught up in your mess. Is the power and position really worth it?”
Caleb wags a warning finger at him, “Your turn is over. It’s my question.”
Fine. Ryan folds his arms and waits.
“What about you is worth fighting for?” Caleb tilts his head to the side as he appraises Ryan.
Good question.
“Now who’s afraid?” the old man taunts.
“I’m not afraid,” Ryan says.
Caleb narrows his eyes, “Is that your answer? Because if it is, I’m not buying it for a second. You’ve been scared shitless since you’ve been in Newport. Of me. Of Kirsten. Of getting thrown out on your ass. Don’t tell me you’re not. I’m a lot of things, Ryan, but blind isn’t one of them.”
“No. Yes.”
Shit.
Ryan turns away from the man and blows out a sharp breath. He wishes he could deny the charges, but he can’t. Not entirely. He gathers himself together and faces Caleb again. “I’m not afraid to answer your question. That’s what I meant.”
“Glad we got that straight.”
Ryan grimaces. He earned that reproof.
“So?”
Ryan shrugs. “I’ve got a good mind, I guess.”
“You either do or you don’t. Which is it?” Caleb’s lips twist snidely.
God, the man pisses him off.
“I do,” he retorts. His voice snaps as he continues. “I’m a good student. And I’m not just good with school subjects - I read people pretty well, too. I don’t mind hard work. I don’t lie. I don’t care about money or power or social position or things. I care about people and relationships, and I watch out for the people that are important to me.”
Ryan’s breathing heavily by the time he finishes his rant. He can’t believe he just pimped himself like that. He thinks he sounds a lot like Seth.
To his surprise, Caleb smiles. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Ryan frowns, but says nothing.
“Come on, Ryan. It would be a whole lot easier for me to respect you if I had the sense you respected yourself. Mind you, I’m not saying I’d like you. Hell, I can’t stand Sanford, but I respect him.”
This guy is too much. Ryan is seething. “Know this, Mr. Nichol. I don’t like you or respect you.”
“You think I care, Ryan? Do you honestly think your opinion of me matters one way or the other?”
“What I think is that your fucking ‘game’ is over. I win. That’s what I think.” Ryan catches the man’s grey-blue eyes with his, and holds on tight.
Caleb purses his lips, standing there a long moment before he steps away from the edge. “So, thanks to you, I live. Feel good about your day’s work?”
Ryan considers. “No.”
Caleb laughs out loud. “Watch out, kid. I might end up respecting you after all, and you’d hate that.”
Ryan thinks the man is right. He hates the way Caleb’s words make him feel a little proud of himself - like maybe he measures up in some small way to Sandy. Caleb’s opinion shouldn’t matter. He shouldn’t let it matter.
Caleb speaks again. “Why don’t you lead the way back? Unless you’ve lost your nerve.” The old man nods his head toward the narrow arm.
Ryan has been trying to forget he has to cross the strip of rock again, but there’s no way out of it. He’s not about to let Caleb see how frightened he is, nodding his acquiescence because he doesn’t trust his voice.
As he crosses the flat rock face, he feels rather than sees Caleb walking close behind him. He stands at the near end of the arm, telling himself it’s just over five yards to the other side. He’ll have a rock span nearly two feet wide underneath his feet.
But the threatening sound of waves crashing nearly a hundred feet below and the wind still whipping across the Heights do nothing to ease his rising panic. He stares at the rock protrusion in front of him and feels dizzy, like he’s had too much to drink.
He sucks in a breath and takes three steps forward. He tries to stay in the middle of the path, but his feet refuse to move in a straight line. They veer left.
His vision fogs, and his world becomes a blur of cliffs and ocean. Everything moves in slow motion as his body sways out of his control.
Strong hands press against him. He tries to shake them off, twisting his body further.
“God damn it, Ryan, stop fighting me!”
He instinctively obeys the stern command.
Long lean arms wrap around his chest, refusing to let him submit to his own body’s will. He has no motor control, but his senses are in overdrive. He hears the crunch of loose stones under scrambling feet. He hears his own boots scraping against the rock-face. He feels hot breath against his neck. Caleb’s ring has twisted, and presses into his arm. He smells expensive scotch and salty brine, and hears sea gulls screaming overhead.
Slowly he’s pulled upright. Back to the center of the pathway.
“Trust me,” Caleb whispers. “Close your eyes, and let me guide you.”
He has no better option, so he submits. He’s urged forward one step at a time, the man’s hands on his shoulders guiding him until he feels earth and grass under his feet. Only then, when he’s safe, does Caleb let him go.
Ryan steps further away from the precipice before collapsing forward, his hands resting against his thighs.
From somewhere behind him, the man says, “Now we’re even.”
Ryan turns around, still doubled over. He lifts his eyes just enough to see Caleb’s face, and nods.
He notices that the clouds are not so thick now, allowing the sun to break through. From where Ryan is standing, the Nichol patriarch is bathed in back-light, his face cast in shadows.
It looks like Caleb frowns, but it’s hard to tell. The man’s voice isn’t shadowed, though. Its edges are crisp. “Are you going to tell Kirsten about this?”
Ryan raises his head. He breathes his words, but at least he’s capable of speech. “Still thinking of offing yourself?”
Caleb moves closer, his head blotting out a portion of the sun. It’s easier to see the man’s features, but his eyes remain inscrutable. “I’ve decided not to give either you or Sanford the pleasure of my demise.”
Ryan’s breathing settles into something manageable. He straightens, and is relieved to hear his voice sound almost normal. “What ever motivation works for you. As for telling Kirsten? I’ll make you this promise. Unless she asks, I never saw you.”
He doesn’t bother to tell Caleb that Kirsten won’t ask. No one asks him much of anything these days.
Caleb nods. “Fair enough.” Without another word he turns away.
Ryan looks at his watch. If he hurries, he can nearly meet Seth’s schedule.
Except no.
Not this time. He’s got his own ‘thing’. Seth will have to wait.
As Caleb strides toward the crumpled fence, Ryan calls out to him.
“You could have let me fall.”
Caleb stops, and turns around. The sun glints off the silver in his hair. “I thought about it.”
Ryan squints. “Nice to know.”
“Anytime. Don’t mention it.”
Ryan ducks his head, and grinds the toe of his boot into the loose dirt at his feet. When he lifts his face, Caleb is studying him intently, a hint of interest in his eyes.
“Thank you,” Ryan offers.
“Acknowledged. But there’s more on your mind than thanking me, isn’t there?” The man tilts his head like Kirsten does when she’s curious.
Ryan moves toward him, speaking as he walks. “Why risk your life for mine?”
The elder Nichol’s eyes widen just a bit. “Why indeed? What do you want me to say?”
“I just want the truth.” Ryan draws up in front of him.
Caleb actually smiles, although the smile isn’t exactly warm. “The truth? You caught me by surprise. You didn’t kiss my ass.”
Ryan’s lips curl up as he shakes his head from side to side. “You’re certifiable.”
Caleb’s voice lowers as he taunts, “You thought I did it for Kirsten, right?”
Maybe.
“No.”
The grey man nods. “Good, because I’m still hoping she’ll change her mind about you.”
Big surprise.
“About letting me stay?” he asks.
The old smirks, but says nothing. He turns and strides away, leaving Ryan shaking his head.
The man is almost out of earshot when he calls back.
“About your being like her son.”
fin