Fragile Truth and Tragic Freedom 16/?
Title: Fragile Truth and Tragic Freedom 16/?
Series: TDS, TCR, Countdown w/ KO.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or any known political figures who appear in this story.
Summary: Keith-centric AU- Ages and backgrounds have been totally messed with. With the rise of a dictatorship regime in America, comes the rise of rebels. This is the story of the rebel group in New York City, fighting to bring the truth to the people and return their freedom.
Author's Note: Please comment. Feedback is good.
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven
/ Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen / Fifteen
Chapter 16
“I think the medicine went straight to your head,” Keith commented when Jon broke out into another spontaneous giggling fit.
“Works for me. I’m not feeling much pain.” Jon cleared his throat. “Seriously, you know the new security system you told me about a few hours ago?”
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking, since now everyone knows about it, they can figure out a way to… a way to…”
“Disable or counteract it?”
“Exactly. Give it another week and it’ll be business as usual for us all.”
“You do have a point. This string of arrests will stop once we all figure out how the system works.”
“Maybe Cooper will help us out with that.” Jon started giggling again.
“What’s so funny now?”
“I just realized that we’ve never actually seen Cooper’s face.”
“Jon, we realized that five years ago, and he told us why that is.”
“Shut up, I’m high on drugs. Want to know what else I’ve just realized?”
“What?”
“Neither of us are wearing pants.” Jon reached out to pull Keith towards him by the robe collar. “And you are absolutely sexy in that robe.”
“I think that’s the medication talking.”
“Hey, what time did Sanjay say he’s be back?”
“Five.” Keith glanced at his watch. “And where did the day go? It’s already four-thirty.”
“Congratulations, Keith,” Jon replied. “Just hearing your sexy voice has managed to keep me awake for the whole day.”
Keith’s phone rang. “Yes, Stephen?” he greeted.
“Keith, I am going to kick your ass when you get back. You didn’t call me earlier like you said you would.”
“Hi, Stephen,” Jon called out.
Without hesitation, Keith handed the phone to Jon and half-listened to the resulting conversation. He told Jon to wrap it up when he heard the door being unlocked.
“Stephen, I have to go. I love you and will see you soon,” Jon said before hanging up.
Sanjay Gupta came into the apartment with crutches tucked under is arm and a plastic shopping bag. “I take it nothing went wrong, and Jon is awake,” he commented.
Keith nodded. “No reason to call you.”
Sanjay put the bag and crutches down, and told Jon to turn over onto his stomach.
“Yes, sir, mister dreamy Doctor Gupta,” said Jon with a goofy grin.
“He’s not usually like this, Sanjay,” Keith said as he helped Jon turn over.
“That’s right. Don’t pay any attention to the drugged up little man,” Jon mumbled into the pillow.
As Sanjay unwrapped the bandages around Jon’s thigh and inspected the wound, Keith asked, “Will he be this loopy every time he takes the painkillers?”
“No. This slightly delirious effect should wear off by tomorrow evening. It’s happening because he hasn’t taken medications this strong before,” the doctor explained before he started asking Jon questions about how he felt.
Sanjay finished and redressed the gunshot wound. “I’d prefer to keep you here an extra day, but I know that your circumstances and mine wouldn’t make that a wise idea.”
“I’m free to go?” Jon inquired, sitting up.
“Yes,” answered Sanjay. He picked up the shopping bag, and pulled out a pair of jeans, a pair of grey sweatpants, and two t-shirts. He tossed one shirt and the jeans to Keith.
Keith took the clothes and went to the bathroom to quickly get changed. He came back to find Sanjay helping Jon into the sweatpants. “I want you to stay off that leg for three weeks,” the doctor instructed.
Jon groaned. “Three weeks with no action?”
Sanjay chuckled, “Think of it as forced vacation. Regularly stretch and exercise it, but don’t walk on it.”
“Alright. I’ll do my best with that.”
Sanjay escorted them to where Keith’s motorcycle was parked as Keith carried Jon. Keith was glad Jon had rode with him yesterday. Sanjay gave the bottle of painkillers to Jon and settled the crutches between them on the motorcycle.
“Thank you, Sanjay,” Jon said. Keith echoed the sentiment.
“No worries. May you guys stay safe, for all of us.”
***********
As expected, from the second Keith and Jon, using the crutches to help him walk, Stephen did not let Jon out of his sight.
Jon had settled on one of the sofas, lying on his back with his head in Stephen’s lap. Keith and Jon told Stephen and Rachel everything. The discussion was occasionally interrupted when Stephen would passionately kiss his injured lover. When the conversation turned to focus on Jon, Keith’s mind wandered.
Keith had barely made it out of the dining hall when he was tackled into the wall. “What the hell, Scarborough? It’s nearly curfew.”
“We’re not the ones who will have to worry about that,” Scarborough smugly replied.
The air was knocked from Keith’s lungs when Scarborough’s two friends punched him in the stomach. A hard blow to his temple dazed him and made him somewhat complacent as the three of them half-dragged him outside.
Keith came back to his senses when he saw the nearby flagpole. Keith yanked his arms down, which sent Scarborough’s friends facedown into the snow. He made a run for the door, but was brought down by a tackle to his knees from behind.
Keith began to shiver as Scarborough sat on his back and held his face down in the snow. The second Scarborough got off, his friends started kicking him in the side until he was curled up in the fetal position.
The two cronies hauled Keith back up and pitched him shoulder-first into the iced-over flagpole. He let off a punch at one of the cronies, but missed. Keith’s next attempt at fighting lead to Scarborough snatching his glass off his face and flinging them away to land some distance away in the snow. Keith next failed attempt to defend himself was met with a shove that made the back of his head bounce off the steel pole. His senses and compromised vision blacked out.
The next thing Keith knew, he was flat on his back in the snow, hands expertly tied together with a thick rope, and mostly naked. At least Scarborough had the mercy to leave him with his boxer underwear on. Even the makeshift grey bandage on his hand had been torn off.
Keith used the rope securely tied to the flagpole to haul himself up to his knees. It was already dark, the area scarcely illuminated by the security lights. Keith could make out the blurry dark shapes that were his clothes and shoes contrasting against the snow, out of his reach.
Keith tried maneuvering his hands out of the knot around his wrists. When that didn’t work, he tried pulling back as far as he could from the pole, attempting to snap the rope or wear out the knot.
Keith cried out at the sharp cramp that shot through his thigh. He stopped struggling with the rope for a moment until it passed. He knew it was from the extreme cold he was being exposed to.
Keith did not want to be found by the morning security guards like this again. Although if he didn’t get out of this soon, they would probably find him half-dead.
Keith tried to block out the freezing air and snow around him. He steeled himself for another attempt at breaking away from the flagpole, and kept failing.
The cold elements sapped Keith’s strength. He leaned forward against the icy steel pole and watched his breath form into little clouds of frost. He had lost feeling in his toes and fingers a while ago. His wrists had also gone numb.
“No, no, no…” His cries of frustration faded away.
***********
Keith immediately shivered as he came back to his senses, despite the sensation of warmth he was surrounded in. “Andy, Sanjay, he’s waking up,” he heard a feminine voice say from far away. Smooth fingers threaded through his hair.
“Monica?” Keith mumbled, trying to open his heavy eyelids.
“No, it’s Erica Hill,” the voice answered.
It took another minute for Keith to open his eyes. The concerned faces of Erica, Sanjay, and that blue-eyed boy were close enough that he didn’t need his glasses to see them.
Keith was in a bed, under a blanket, and could see the light outside through the partly open curtain. He shot up, and was gently pushed back down by three pairs of hands.
“Hey, Keith, its okay. It’s Saturday. You don’t have to be anywhere,” said Erica.
Keith laid back down and curled up into a ball under the blanket to counteract the feeling of being cold. He discovered that he was still only in his underwear, and that his hand had been re-bandaged in light blue cloth.
“Wh-where am I?” Keith’s managed to get between his chattering teeth. “And why d-do I f-feel s-so cold?”
“You’re in my room,” Erica answered.
“It’s actually warm in here,” Sanjay said. “But the cold you’re feeling is the lingering physical effect from being exposed to the cold weather for so long.”
The microwave sitting on top of the small refrigerator beeped. The blue-eyed boy went to retrieve something from it. Sanjay helped Keith up into a sitting position, with the blanket firmly wrapped around his shivering body. Erica handed him his glasses.
The blue-eyed boy pressed the warm mug into Keith’s trembling hands and helped steady it as he took a long sip of the warmed water. “We went out for a very early snowball fight, and found you tied to the flagpole. It was still dark enough and everyone else was still asleep, so we carried you here.” the boy said.
“Thank you. I wasn’t looking forward to the morning patrol finding me out there again like that.”
“Keith, you really should report Scarborough for this, and all the other times he’s beat you up,” Erica commented.
“I’ve already tried, but they won’t do anything. He’s one of the ‘best’ students. They’re not going to punish him for anything.” Keith took a deep breath. He looked at the blue-eyed boy. “I know Erica from biology class, and I met Sanjay two days ago. I don’t think I ever got your name.”
The boy smiled. “Pleased to officially meet you, Keith Olbermann. I’m Anderson Cooper.”
Anderson Cooper? Was that boy the Cooper who sent him, Rachel, Jon, and Stephen assignments and information? How much of a coincidence would be? Then again, Keith had happened to run into Sanjay again, completely by chance.
“Keith, what’s the matter?” Rachel inquired.
Well, if the Cooper from school and the Cooper from now were indeed the same, and Keith had the feeling they were, then he knew what he looked like. And that would be dangerous knowledge if Keith did end up captured and interrogated. It was also knowledge that his friends couldn’t have.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Keith lied. “Just a random flashback.”
Series: TDS, TCR, Countdown w/ KO.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or any known political figures who appear in this story.
Summary: Keith-centric AU- Ages and backgrounds have been totally messed with. With the rise of a dictatorship regime in America, comes the rise of rebels. This is the story of the rebel group in New York City, fighting to bring the truth to the people and return their freedom.
Author's Note: Please comment. Feedback is good.
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven
/ Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen / Fifteen
Chapter 16
“I think the medicine went straight to your head,” Keith commented when Jon broke out into another spontaneous giggling fit.
“Works for me. I’m not feeling much pain.” Jon cleared his throat. “Seriously, you know the new security system you told me about a few hours ago?”
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking, since now everyone knows about it, they can figure out a way to… a way to…”
“Disable or counteract it?”
“Exactly. Give it another week and it’ll be business as usual for us all.”
“You do have a point. This string of arrests will stop once we all figure out how the system works.”
“Maybe Cooper will help us out with that.” Jon started giggling again.
“What’s so funny now?”
“I just realized that we’ve never actually seen Cooper’s face.”
“Jon, we realized that five years ago, and he told us why that is.”
“Shut up, I’m high on drugs. Want to know what else I’ve just realized?”
“What?”
“Neither of us are wearing pants.” Jon reached out to pull Keith towards him by the robe collar. “And you are absolutely sexy in that robe.”
“I think that’s the medication talking.”
“Hey, what time did Sanjay say he’s be back?”
“Five.” Keith glanced at his watch. “And where did the day go? It’s already four-thirty.”
“Congratulations, Keith,” Jon replied. “Just hearing your sexy voice has managed to keep me awake for the whole day.”
Keith’s phone rang. “Yes, Stephen?” he greeted.
“Keith, I am going to kick your ass when you get back. You didn’t call me earlier like you said you would.”
“Hi, Stephen,” Jon called out.
Without hesitation, Keith handed the phone to Jon and half-listened to the resulting conversation. He told Jon to wrap it up when he heard the door being unlocked.
“Stephen, I have to go. I love you and will see you soon,” Jon said before hanging up.
Sanjay Gupta came into the apartment with crutches tucked under is arm and a plastic shopping bag. “I take it nothing went wrong, and Jon is awake,” he commented.
Keith nodded. “No reason to call you.”
Sanjay put the bag and crutches down, and told Jon to turn over onto his stomach.
“Yes, sir, mister dreamy Doctor Gupta,” said Jon with a goofy grin.
“He’s not usually like this, Sanjay,” Keith said as he helped Jon turn over.
“That’s right. Don’t pay any attention to the drugged up little man,” Jon mumbled into the pillow.
As Sanjay unwrapped the bandages around Jon’s thigh and inspected the wound, Keith asked, “Will he be this loopy every time he takes the painkillers?”
“No. This slightly delirious effect should wear off by tomorrow evening. It’s happening because he hasn’t taken medications this strong before,” the doctor explained before he started asking Jon questions about how he felt.
Sanjay finished and redressed the gunshot wound. “I’d prefer to keep you here an extra day, but I know that your circumstances and mine wouldn’t make that a wise idea.”
“I’m free to go?” Jon inquired, sitting up.
“Yes,” answered Sanjay. He picked up the shopping bag, and pulled out a pair of jeans, a pair of grey sweatpants, and two t-shirts. He tossed one shirt and the jeans to Keith.
Keith took the clothes and went to the bathroom to quickly get changed. He came back to find Sanjay helping Jon into the sweatpants. “I want you to stay off that leg for three weeks,” the doctor instructed.
Jon groaned. “Three weeks with no action?”
Sanjay chuckled, “Think of it as forced vacation. Regularly stretch and exercise it, but don’t walk on it.”
“Alright. I’ll do my best with that.”
Sanjay escorted them to where Keith’s motorcycle was parked as Keith carried Jon. Keith was glad Jon had rode with him yesterday. Sanjay gave the bottle of painkillers to Jon and settled the crutches between them on the motorcycle.
“Thank you, Sanjay,” Jon said. Keith echoed the sentiment.
“No worries. May you guys stay safe, for all of us.”
***********
As expected, from the second Keith and Jon, using the crutches to help him walk, Stephen did not let Jon out of his sight.
Jon had settled on one of the sofas, lying on his back with his head in Stephen’s lap. Keith and Jon told Stephen and Rachel everything. The discussion was occasionally interrupted when Stephen would passionately kiss his injured lover. When the conversation turned to focus on Jon, Keith’s mind wandered.
Keith had barely made it out of the dining hall when he was tackled into the wall. “What the hell, Scarborough? It’s nearly curfew.”
“We’re not the ones who will have to worry about that,” Scarborough smugly replied.
The air was knocked from Keith’s lungs when Scarborough’s two friends punched him in the stomach. A hard blow to his temple dazed him and made him somewhat complacent as the three of them half-dragged him outside.
Keith came back to his senses when he saw the nearby flagpole. Keith yanked his arms down, which sent Scarborough’s friends facedown into the snow. He made a run for the door, but was brought down by a tackle to his knees from behind.
Keith began to shiver as Scarborough sat on his back and held his face down in the snow. The second Scarborough got off, his friends started kicking him in the side until he was curled up in the fetal position.
The two cronies hauled Keith back up and pitched him shoulder-first into the iced-over flagpole. He let off a punch at one of the cronies, but missed. Keith’s next attempt at fighting lead to Scarborough snatching his glass off his face and flinging them away to land some distance away in the snow. Keith next failed attempt to defend himself was met with a shove that made the back of his head bounce off the steel pole. His senses and compromised vision blacked out.
The next thing Keith knew, he was flat on his back in the snow, hands expertly tied together with a thick rope, and mostly naked. At least Scarborough had the mercy to leave him with his boxer underwear on. Even the makeshift grey bandage on his hand had been torn off.
Keith used the rope securely tied to the flagpole to haul himself up to his knees. It was already dark, the area scarcely illuminated by the security lights. Keith could make out the blurry dark shapes that were his clothes and shoes contrasting against the snow, out of his reach.
Keith tried maneuvering his hands out of the knot around his wrists. When that didn’t work, he tried pulling back as far as he could from the pole, attempting to snap the rope or wear out the knot.
Keith cried out at the sharp cramp that shot through his thigh. He stopped struggling with the rope for a moment until it passed. He knew it was from the extreme cold he was being exposed to.
Keith did not want to be found by the morning security guards like this again. Although if he didn’t get out of this soon, they would probably find him half-dead.
Keith tried to block out the freezing air and snow around him. He steeled himself for another attempt at breaking away from the flagpole, and kept failing.
The cold elements sapped Keith’s strength. He leaned forward against the icy steel pole and watched his breath form into little clouds of frost. He had lost feeling in his toes and fingers a while ago. His wrists had also gone numb.
“No, no, no…” His cries of frustration faded away.
***********
Keith immediately shivered as he came back to his senses, despite the sensation of warmth he was surrounded in. “Andy, Sanjay, he’s waking up,” he heard a feminine voice say from far away. Smooth fingers threaded through his hair.
“Monica?” Keith mumbled, trying to open his heavy eyelids.
“No, it’s Erica Hill,” the voice answered.
It took another minute for Keith to open his eyes. The concerned faces of Erica, Sanjay, and that blue-eyed boy were close enough that he didn’t need his glasses to see them.
Keith was in a bed, under a blanket, and could see the light outside through the partly open curtain. He shot up, and was gently pushed back down by three pairs of hands.
“Hey, Keith, its okay. It’s Saturday. You don’t have to be anywhere,” said Erica.
Keith laid back down and curled up into a ball under the blanket to counteract the feeling of being cold. He discovered that he was still only in his underwear, and that his hand had been re-bandaged in light blue cloth.
“Wh-where am I?” Keith’s managed to get between his chattering teeth. “And why d-do I f-feel s-so cold?”
“You’re in my room,” Erica answered.
“It’s actually warm in here,” Sanjay said. “But the cold you’re feeling is the lingering physical effect from being exposed to the cold weather for so long.”
The microwave sitting on top of the small refrigerator beeped. The blue-eyed boy went to retrieve something from it. Sanjay helped Keith up into a sitting position, with the blanket firmly wrapped around his shivering body. Erica handed him his glasses.
The blue-eyed boy pressed the warm mug into Keith’s trembling hands and helped steady it as he took a long sip of the warmed water. “We went out for a very early snowball fight, and found you tied to the flagpole. It was still dark enough and everyone else was still asleep, so we carried you here.” the boy said.
“Thank you. I wasn’t looking forward to the morning patrol finding me out there again like that.”
“Keith, you really should report Scarborough for this, and all the other times he’s beat you up,” Erica commented.
“I’ve already tried, but they won’t do anything. He’s one of the ‘best’ students. They’re not going to punish him for anything.” Keith took a deep breath. He looked at the blue-eyed boy. “I know Erica from biology class, and I met Sanjay two days ago. I don’t think I ever got your name.”
The boy smiled. “Pleased to officially meet you, Keith Olbermann. I’m Anderson Cooper.”
Anderson Cooper? Was that boy the Cooper who sent him, Rachel, Jon, and Stephen assignments and information? How much of a coincidence would be? Then again, Keith had happened to run into Sanjay again, completely by chance.
“Keith, what’s the matter?” Rachel inquired.
Well, if the Cooper from school and the Cooper from now were indeed the same, and Keith had the feeling they were, then he knew what he looked like. And that would be dangerous knowledge if Keith did end up captured and interrogated. It was also knowledge that his friends couldn’t have.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Keith lied. “Just a random flashback.”