Fic: Down the Rabbit Hole (28/?)
Title: Down the Rabbit Hole
Author: slayerkitty
Genre: Romance, Angst, AU
Warnings: Implied rape, Implied incest (I'm not sure I need this one, but Zoe and Luke are technically related)
Rating: R to NC-17
Spoilers: None
Characters: Luke/Reid, Past Luke/Noah, Other Misc characters
Disclaimer: As the World Turns and it's characters are not mine, no matter how much I enjoy playing with them. :)
Summary: What if Zoe succeeded in her plans to have Luke's baby?
Author's Notes: Flashbacks are in italics. This story picks up right after Luke has promised Reid that his foundation will donate money to the new wing.
OH, YOU GUYS. I had to work during today's episode, so I could not live blog with you. PLEASE come fangirl with me in the comments before I explode.
Please try and keep the comments spoiler free. I am spoiler free, as are many others and I don't want them to be spoiled on accident! Thanks! :)
Previous Chapters: Prologue/ 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21/ 22/ 23/ 24/ 25/ 26/ 27
Luke walked quickly through the hospital hallways, headed for the nurse’s station. He rounded the corner, stopping when he caught sight of Reid leaning against the counter, making notes on a chart.
He slowed to stop, staring at him, a smile crossing his face before he even realized it. Reid must have felt his gaze, because he looked up and caught him staring. Luke blushed a little, approaching Reid slowly.
“Hi.” He said softly.
“Hi, yourself.” Reid replied, just as quiet. They stood silently for a moment. “Who has Rose today?”
“My Grandma Emma.” Luke told him. “She felt bad that you didn’t get dessert last night, by the way. She’s insisting you come back.”
“Who says I didn’t get dessert?” Reid smirked, closing the chart he was working on. Luke’s mouth dropped open a little, startled, and then he blushed again.
“Yeah, well, you should see my neck.” Luke said. “And my back.” He’d very carefully hidden his hickey under a collared button down shirt. Reid was smirking again. “Don’t look so proud of yourself.”
“You liked it.” Luke bit his lip, and then realized Reid was staring at his mouth. Reid moved a little closer, a predatory look in his eye. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
“Luke?” The two men jumped at the sound of Lily’s voice, each taking a step back from the other. Luke turned around to see his parents heading down the hall.
“You guys didn’t have to come.” Luke said as they stopped in front of him.
“Where else would we be?” Holden told him, squeezing Luke’s shoulder.
“You know that we think of Noah as family.” Lily agreed, eying Reid as she spoke.
“I know.” Luke replied. “I’m sure he’ll be glad you’re here.”
“How’s he doing?” Lily wanted to know. Luke shook his head.
“I haven’t seen him yet.” Luke answered. “Has he been put in a room?” He asked Reid. Reid pointed to a door down the hall.
“They just took him for some last minute pre-op films. Then we’ll drug him up and get ready to go.” He paused. “You can wait in his room. I’ll be by to check on him when he gets back from radiology.”
“You guys go on ahead.” Luke told his parents. “I’ll be right there.” His mother gave him a long look before letting Holden lead her away.
“Reid?” Luke said his name quietly. “You can fix him, right?” Reid sighed, and then put his hand on Luke’s cheek, stroking the skin lightly with his thumb. Luke leaned into his touch, closing his eyes.
“I’m going to tell you something I should have told you before.” Reid began. “What happened to Noah wasn’t your fault, Luke.”
Luke’s eyes opened, and he could feel the tears welling up.
“You don’t know that, Reid.” He whispered. “You weren’t there.”
“Noah shouldn’t have been messing with those fireworks anyway. He’s not exactly qualified to be working with pyrotechnics.” Reid continued as if Luke hadn’t spoken.
“I was distracting him.” Luke countered.
“Maybe.” Reid allowed. “But you’re either both to blame or no one is. It’s called an accident for a reason, Luke.”
Luke felt a tear slip from the corner of his eye, and Reid wiped it away.
“Thanks.” Luke gave him a shaky smile. “I think I really needed to hear that.”
“It should be coming from Noah.”
“He’s been through a lot.” Luke excused. “He went blind, Reid.”
“I know that, Luke. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Reid said. “I know you said you’d be there for him, and before you jump all over me and accuse me of being jealous, I’m saying this because I’m worried about you. Don’t let him tear you down.”
“He doesn’t.” Luke tried to defend his ex.
“He does.” Reid insisted. “Aren’t you tired of it yet? You sure as hell should be.”
“Reid, please.” Luke murmured. Reid held up his hands in surrender.
“I need to go check on a patient, and then I’ll be back for Noah.” Luke nodded, and Reid put a hand on his arm, squeezing lightly before walking away.
Luke walked slowly down the hallway, and peered in Noah’s room, watching his parents sit and talk quietly. Things still looked awkward between them, and Luke knew it was because his mother had decided she was still in love with his father. He opened the door and slipped inside.
“Reid said Noah should be back any minute.” His parents exchanged a look.
“So, ‘Reid’, huh?” Holden asked, smiling slightly.
“Dad.” Luke complained.
“I thought you couldn’t stand Dr. Oliver.” Holden replied.
“I couldn’t. It’s pretty safe to say I hated him.” Luke looked sheepish. “I think I was attracted to him from the start, he was just…such an ass, and I didn’t want to admit to myself.”
Luke perched on the edge of Noah’s bed.
“So what happened?” Holden asked.
“I’d like to know that myself.” Lilly muttered. Luke glanced at his mother.
“I know you don’t like him, Mom.”
“He just doesn’t seem like a very nice man.” Luke grinned.
“He’s not.” He paused. “He’s rude, and he's cold. He's rude.” Luke told her.
“And you find that attractive?” Lily asked.
“No, it’s just…he’s in your face. He's like ‘okay, here I am, this is what I’m feeling, deal with that.’” Luke answered. “To have a guy like that, a guy who says exactly what he feels at all times...to have somebody like that say that he likes you...feels nice, for a change.”
“What about Noah?” Lily pushed.
“What about him?” Luke countered. “We broke up, Mom. I’ll always love him, but I can’t do to Rose what you and Dad did to us kids.” His parents wore matching guilty expressions and Luke felt bad. “I know you guys didn’t mean to, but I just can’t do that to her.”
“We understand that.” Holden said quietly. The door to the room opened, and Noah was wheeled in by Allison.
“Hey, Luke.” She greeted. “Holden, Lily.”
“Luke?” Noah turned his head.
“Right here.” Luke got up and stepped forward, taking Noah’s hand. Luke followed as Allison pushed the wheelchair to the bed. Luke held his hand as Noah got out of the chair and got settled in the bed.
“I’ll be back to go upstairs with you, okay, Noah?” She said. Noah nodded, and with a smile Allison pushed the chair out of the room.
“They cut your hair.” Luke said, reaching out and touching Noah’s nearly bald head softly.
“Yeah.” Noah replied. “Dr. Oliver’s a genius, but even he can’t operate between hair follicles.” He joked. Luke smiled.
“Are you ready for this, Noah?” Holden asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” Noah answered, smiling. “It means a lot that you and Lily came.”
“We’ll let you two talk, okay?” Lily spoke up, walking over to the bed and dropping a kiss on Noah’s forehead. “No matter what, we love you.” She told him quietly.
“I love you guys too.” Noah told her. They left, and Luke was alone with him. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, and reached into his bag.
“I brought you a couple of things.”
“What?”
“The first one is actually from Faith - it's a CD for after the surgery, when you're bored out of your mind. Her words.”
“That's great.” Noah smiled. “You said 'things'. “
“I brought your video camera.” Luke replied. “Thought we could record something for posterity.” He pulled the camera out and opened, aiming it at Noah, and hitting record. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get your sight back?”
“Umm, go to Disneyland.” They laughed. Noah’s face turned serious, and Luke lowered the camera, hitting the stop button.
“What is it?” Luke asked him. He reached out his hand, and Luke took it. Noah pulled him over, and down onto the bed next to him.
“The first I want to see is you, Luke.”
“Noah.” Luke murmured a gently protest.
“I’m serious.” Noah told him, letting go of his hand and reaching out to touch Luke’s face. “I want to see you.” He paused. Luke was torn between moving Noah’s hand away and letting him have his moment. “I know you said that you’re with someone, but Luke…I’m asking you, once I can see again, if we can give us another chance.”
“Noah, we talked about this.”
“I know you’re hurt.” Noah interrupted. “And you’re worried about Rose.” He continued. “I might not agree with you adopting her, but we can raise her together, Luke.”
“Noah.” Luke said his name more firmly.
“I still love you as much as I ever did.” Noah insisted. “Just…just promise me you’ll think about it.”
Reid chose that moment to walk in, the door opening with a rattle.
“Isn’t this cozy?” He said, and Luke nearly jumped off the bed, guilt on his face. Reid stared at him for a second, and Luke felt his face flush. “It’s time, Noah.”
“Not a minute too soon.” Noah replied. Allison came back with the wheelchair. She and Luke helped Noah into it. “Luke, I…I don’t know what to say.”
“How about ‘see you later?’” Luke told him, smiling.
“See you later.” Allison pushed Noah out the door. Reid turned as if he was going to follow them, and Luke bit his lip, worried again, that Reid was upset. Instead, Reid shut the door, and turned back around. He took a few steps and then he was kissing Luke and turning his brain to mush. Just as suddenly as it started, Reid was pulling away.
“For luck.” He whispered. Luke nodded, resting his forehead against Reid’s. “I’ll send someone out to keep you updated, okay?” One more kiss, and then he was gone too, Luke left alone in the empty hospital room.
*
Luke had lost track of how many cups of coffee he'd drunk, how many hands of cards he'd played with his parents, how many calls he'd made to the farm to check on Rose. All he could do was stare at the clock and count the minutes, and try very hard not to think.
It seemed like an eternity before Reid appeared with Noah’s chart in hand. The nurse had come out only once, to say things were fine.
“Reid.” Luke breathed, getting up. “How is he?” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Reid to answer.
Author: slayerkitty
Genre: Romance, Angst, AU
Warnings: Implied rape, Implied incest (I'm not sure I need this one, but Zoe and Luke are technically related)
Rating: R to NC-17
Spoilers: None
Characters: Luke/Reid, Past Luke/Noah, Other Misc characters
Disclaimer: As the World Turns and it's characters are not mine, no matter how much I enjoy playing with them. :)
Summary: What if Zoe succeeded in her plans to have Luke's baby?
Author's Notes: Flashbacks are in italics. This story picks up right after Luke has promised Reid that his foundation will donate money to the new wing.
OH, YOU GUYS. I had to work during today's episode, so I could not live blog with you. PLEASE come fangirl with me in the comments before I explode.
Please try and keep the comments spoiler free. I am spoiler free, as are many others and I don't want them to be spoiled on accident! Thanks! :)
Previous Chapters: Prologue/ 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21/ 22/ 23/ 24/ 25/ 26/ 27
Luke walked quickly through the hospital hallways, headed for the nurse’s station. He rounded the corner, stopping when he caught sight of Reid leaning against the counter, making notes on a chart.
He slowed to stop, staring at him, a smile crossing his face before he even realized it. Reid must have felt his gaze, because he looked up and caught him staring. Luke blushed a little, approaching Reid slowly.
“Hi.” He said softly.
“Hi, yourself.” Reid replied, just as quiet. They stood silently for a moment. “Who has Rose today?”
“My Grandma Emma.” Luke told him. “She felt bad that you didn’t get dessert last night, by the way. She’s insisting you come back.”
“Who says I didn’t get dessert?” Reid smirked, closing the chart he was working on. Luke’s mouth dropped open a little, startled, and then he blushed again.
“Yeah, well, you should see my neck.” Luke said. “And my back.” He’d very carefully hidden his hickey under a collared button down shirt. Reid was smirking again. “Don’t look so proud of yourself.”
“You liked it.” Luke bit his lip, and then realized Reid was staring at his mouth. Reid moved a little closer, a predatory look in his eye. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
“Luke?” The two men jumped at the sound of Lily’s voice, each taking a step back from the other. Luke turned around to see his parents heading down the hall.
“You guys didn’t have to come.” Luke said as they stopped in front of him.
“Where else would we be?” Holden told him, squeezing Luke’s shoulder.
“You know that we think of Noah as family.” Lily agreed, eying Reid as she spoke.
“I know.” Luke replied. “I’m sure he’ll be glad you’re here.”
“How’s he doing?” Lily wanted to know. Luke shook his head.
“I haven’t seen him yet.” Luke answered. “Has he been put in a room?” He asked Reid. Reid pointed to a door down the hall.
“They just took him for some last minute pre-op films. Then we’ll drug him up and get ready to go.” He paused. “You can wait in his room. I’ll be by to check on him when he gets back from radiology.”
“You guys go on ahead.” Luke told his parents. “I’ll be right there.” His mother gave him a long look before letting Holden lead her away.
“Reid?” Luke said his name quietly. “You can fix him, right?” Reid sighed, and then put his hand on Luke’s cheek, stroking the skin lightly with his thumb. Luke leaned into his touch, closing his eyes.
“I’m going to tell you something I should have told you before.” Reid began. “What happened to Noah wasn’t your fault, Luke.”
Luke’s eyes opened, and he could feel the tears welling up.
“You don’t know that, Reid.” He whispered. “You weren’t there.”
“Noah shouldn’t have been messing with those fireworks anyway. He’s not exactly qualified to be working with pyrotechnics.” Reid continued as if Luke hadn’t spoken.
“I was distracting him.” Luke countered.
“Maybe.” Reid allowed. “But you’re either both to blame or no one is. It’s called an accident for a reason, Luke.”
Luke felt a tear slip from the corner of his eye, and Reid wiped it away.
“Thanks.” Luke gave him a shaky smile. “I think I really needed to hear that.”
“It should be coming from Noah.”
“He’s been through a lot.” Luke excused. “He went blind, Reid.”
“I know that, Luke. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Reid said. “I know you said you’d be there for him, and before you jump all over me and accuse me of being jealous, I’m saying this because I’m worried about you. Don’t let him tear you down.”
“He doesn’t.” Luke tried to defend his ex.
“He does.” Reid insisted. “Aren’t you tired of it yet? You sure as hell should be.”
“Reid, please.” Luke murmured. Reid held up his hands in surrender.
“I need to go check on a patient, and then I’ll be back for Noah.” Luke nodded, and Reid put a hand on his arm, squeezing lightly before walking away.
Luke walked slowly down the hallway, and peered in Noah’s room, watching his parents sit and talk quietly. Things still looked awkward between them, and Luke knew it was because his mother had decided she was still in love with his father. He opened the door and slipped inside.
“Reid said Noah should be back any minute.” His parents exchanged a look.
“So, ‘Reid’, huh?” Holden asked, smiling slightly.
“Dad.” Luke complained.
“I thought you couldn’t stand Dr. Oliver.” Holden replied.
“I couldn’t. It’s pretty safe to say I hated him.” Luke looked sheepish. “I think I was attracted to him from the start, he was just…such an ass, and I didn’t want to admit to myself.”
Luke perched on the edge of Noah’s bed.
“So what happened?” Holden asked.
“I’d like to know that myself.” Lilly muttered. Luke glanced at his mother.
“I know you don’t like him, Mom.”
“He just doesn’t seem like a very nice man.” Luke grinned.
“He’s not.” He paused. “He’s rude, and he's cold. He's rude.” Luke told her.
“And you find that attractive?” Lily asked.
“No, it’s just…he’s in your face. He's like ‘okay, here I am, this is what I’m feeling, deal with that.’” Luke answered. “To have a guy like that, a guy who says exactly what he feels at all times...to have somebody like that say that he likes you...feels nice, for a change.”
“What about Noah?” Lily pushed.
“What about him?” Luke countered. “We broke up, Mom. I’ll always love him, but I can’t do to Rose what you and Dad did to us kids.” His parents wore matching guilty expressions and Luke felt bad. “I know you guys didn’t mean to, but I just can’t do that to her.”
“We understand that.” Holden said quietly. The door to the room opened, and Noah was wheeled in by Allison.
“Hey, Luke.” She greeted. “Holden, Lily.”
“Luke?” Noah turned his head.
“Right here.” Luke got up and stepped forward, taking Noah’s hand. Luke followed as Allison pushed the wheelchair to the bed. Luke held his hand as Noah got out of the chair and got settled in the bed.
“I’ll be back to go upstairs with you, okay, Noah?” She said. Noah nodded, and with a smile Allison pushed the chair out of the room.
“They cut your hair.” Luke said, reaching out and touching Noah’s nearly bald head softly.
“Yeah.” Noah replied. “Dr. Oliver’s a genius, but even he can’t operate between hair follicles.” He joked. Luke smiled.
“Are you ready for this, Noah?” Holden asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” Noah answered, smiling. “It means a lot that you and Lily came.”
“We’ll let you two talk, okay?” Lily spoke up, walking over to the bed and dropping a kiss on Noah’s forehead. “No matter what, we love you.” She told him quietly.
“I love you guys too.” Noah told her. They left, and Luke was alone with him. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, and reached into his bag.
“I brought you a couple of things.”
“What?”
“The first one is actually from Faith - it's a CD for after the surgery, when you're bored out of your mind. Her words.”
“That's great.” Noah smiled. “You said 'things'. “
“I brought your video camera.” Luke replied. “Thought we could record something for posterity.” He pulled the camera out and opened, aiming it at Noah, and hitting record. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get your sight back?”
“Umm, go to Disneyland.” They laughed. Noah’s face turned serious, and Luke lowered the camera, hitting the stop button.
“What is it?” Luke asked him. He reached out his hand, and Luke took it. Noah pulled him over, and down onto the bed next to him.
“The first I want to see is you, Luke.”
“Noah.” Luke murmured a gently protest.
“I’m serious.” Noah told him, letting go of his hand and reaching out to touch Luke’s face. “I want to see you.” He paused. Luke was torn between moving Noah’s hand away and letting him have his moment. “I know you said that you’re with someone, but Luke…I’m asking you, once I can see again, if we can give us another chance.”
“Noah, we talked about this.”
“I know you’re hurt.” Noah interrupted. “And you’re worried about Rose.” He continued. “I might not agree with you adopting her, but we can raise her together, Luke.”
“Noah.” Luke said his name more firmly.
“I still love you as much as I ever did.” Noah insisted. “Just…just promise me you’ll think about it.”
Reid chose that moment to walk in, the door opening with a rattle.
“Isn’t this cozy?” He said, and Luke nearly jumped off the bed, guilt on his face. Reid stared at him for a second, and Luke felt his face flush. “It’s time, Noah.”
“Not a minute too soon.” Noah replied. Allison came back with the wheelchair. She and Luke helped Noah into it. “Luke, I…I don’t know what to say.”
“How about ‘see you later?’” Luke told him, smiling.
“See you later.” Allison pushed Noah out the door. Reid turned as if he was going to follow them, and Luke bit his lip, worried again, that Reid was upset. Instead, Reid shut the door, and turned back around. He took a few steps and then he was kissing Luke and turning his brain to mush. Just as suddenly as it started, Reid was pulling away.
“For luck.” He whispered. Luke nodded, resting his forehead against Reid’s. “I’ll send someone out to keep you updated, okay?” One more kiss, and then he was gone too, Luke left alone in the empty hospital room.
*
Luke had lost track of how many cups of coffee he'd drunk, how many hands of cards he'd played with his parents, how many calls he'd made to the farm to check on Rose. All he could do was stare at the clock and count the minutes, and try very hard not to think.
It seemed like an eternity before Reid appeared with Noah’s chart in hand. The nurse had come out only once, to say things were fine.
“Reid.” Luke breathed, getting up. “How is he?” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Reid to answer.