New LuRe Fic: A Match Made in Oakdale, 1/5
A Match Made in Oakdale, Part 1
by Suz
A 50k Luke/Reid fic, rated R. At this point, I think I'm going to end up going through all the fic tropes one by one ;) Tee hee hee. So, an AU fic that's mostly based in the show canon and then takes a different path. It doesn't follow everything in the show exactly. For the purposes of this fic, Reid has agreed to stay in Oakdale until Noah's surgery is complete, but then he's out of there. He's not the Head of Neurology and he and Luke are still not fans of each other, so it's set relatively early in their storyline :D :D :D The one big difference between this fic and ATWT itself is that Damian's last storyline doesn't happen. He doesn't betray anyone, he doesn't fake his own death, etc. He is still very much in Oakdale because he wants to have a relationship with his son.
The medical stuff in this is iffy at best - much like medical stuff in soap operas everywhere. Take it with a grain of salt. The plot is about as credible as most soap plots too, but hey, that's not why we read these things ;) This is set in a universe where anyone can donate blood, etc, regardless of who they're sleeping with. Shocking, I know.
Many, many thanks to the wonderful nel and d, as always <3
Feedback would be fab! Also posted on AO3 here.
Summary: Reid's having a really bad day when he comes to and realises he's been kidnapped. What makes it even worse is that Luke Snyder's been taken, too, and is currently standing in the cell next to him. Angst, hurt/comfort, sap, fluff.
*
Reid's head felt groggy as hell when he finally reached consciousness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so tired after having a full night's sleep.
His body became aware of more details as he woke up fully. He was pretty cold. His bed felt suspiciously cheap and uncomfortable, not at all like the one he'd been sleeping on in Katie's place for the past month or so. And now that he thought about it, he didn't actually remember falling asleep at all last night. In fact, the last thing he remembered was walking out into the hospital car park, arguing with Luke-
Reid shot up in bed as he finally realised that he wasn't sleeping in his own bed because he hadn't made it home last night. He stumbled around in horror as his brain tried to accept the fact that he was locked inside some kind of prison cell and standing in the cell right next to his, watching Reid carefully, was Luke freaking Snyder.
Reid's brain - still mostly in shock, admittedly - could only jump to one conclusion. “What did you do?”
Having the balls to actually looked surprised at the accusation, Luke made a face. “Seriously?” he gestured around at his own cell, which was just as obviously locked. “Yeah, clearly, I'm the one responsible for putting us in here.”
“Well, you never know with you,” Reid remarked, studying the lock and giving the door to the cell a good shove. Nothing. “You're capable of anything.” He started walking around the cell, testing the strength of each bar, one by one. They'd clearly been there for a while and had seen better days, but were holding fast. “You basically kidnapped me here in the first place-”
“Blackmailed,” Luke pointed out, which really didn't make him sound any better, as he was no doubt going for, “I'd think someone with a head as big as yours would know the difference.”
“You got me arrested,” Reid continued, pressing different points in the wall experimentally. What he wouldn't give for some hand sanitiser right about now...
“You got yourself arrested,” Luke shot back, “and I'd remind you that it was only my testimony that got you cleared of everything.”
“Well aren't you a Good little Samaritan?” he asked, having come to the conclusion that, sadly, he was not getting out of this cell anytime soon. Not without a key, at any rate. A quick feel around his body confirmed that he had no phone, no wallet - not even his watch. Closing his eyes, Reid moved away from the wall and grasped a bar in each hand, letting out a long, slow breath. This was fine. He was fine. He could do this.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked, sounding frankly alarmed.
Reid's shoulder's tensed. He hated the idea of showing weakness - especially to him - but right now, ludicrous as it seemed, Luke Snyder might be his only ally. “I'm not a - fan. Of being contained.”
It didn't take Luke long to work it out. “You're claustrophobic? Oh, that's just what we need-”
“Yeah, sorry that my perfectly legitimate phobia is your main problem right now,” Reid barked, opening his eyes. “But I'll be fine. It's not like there are four walls closing in on me. There's just...two walls...and some bars.” He nodded. “It'll be fine.” He had plenty of room to breathe, he knew that, but he also knew that he was trapped, under someone else's control and aw, hell-
“Okaaaay, Dr Oliver,” Luke's voice said, suddenly a lot closer, “clearly I did not take your claustrophobia seriously, and I apologise.” Reid snorted, trying to get himself under control. “Um,” Luke continued, “try letting something else distract you. Focus on the sound of my voice-”
“Right,” he interrupted, “because the thing I want to focus on the most right now is your voice.”
“Well I don't see any alternatives around here,” Luke snapped back. “Unless you'd rather wait for our kidnappers to arrive - maybe you'd find one of them a better conversationalist.”
That did give him something else to concentrate on, at least. Prying his sweaty hands from the bars, he turned to Luke. “You seen anybody yet?”
“Just you. Haven't heard anything, either. My door wont budge. I've already tested all the bars and walls on my side - there's no way out. Squeezing through the bars was impossible. The window's too small and there's bar across it anyway.” Luke eyed him. “What's the last thing you remember?”
He cricked his head from side to side. “We were arguing. In Memorial's car park.”
“But Dr Oliver,” Luke joked, “that describes so many days.”
That actually made him smile, briefly. Closing his eyes, Reid tried to recall more details. “I remember hearing the sound of tyres squealing, probably as they pulled up, but then there was a pain in-” His neck, he suddenly remembered, hand flying up to the spot in question. He couldn't feel anything there now, but he knew it'd happened. “They injected us with something.” There were any number of injectable drugs they could've used - propofol, fentanyl, diazepam, to name just a few. Not to mention animal tranquillizers, though as with all of the drugs, they'd have had to get the dose high enough to be effective without using too much and overdosing.
Assuming they didn't want them dead. But as they both currently still breathing, Reid took that as his working theory.
“That's what I figured, too,” Luke said, actually agreeing with him for once as he paced around his cell.
“I get why they took you,” Reid observed, still deducing, “your family are loaded.” Luke glared at him, but didn't disagree - he had no room to, because Reid knew he was right. “But why take me?”
“Maybe they needed a doctor?”
“I'm a very specific type of doctor,” he explained, looking around at the crumbling walls that'd obviously seen better days. “And this sure as hell doesn't seem like the kind of place where they'd want me to perform brain surgery.” Hell, he'd flat out refuse to, under these circumstances. Despite what some people thought, Reid very much had a code of ethics. No, the more he thought about it... “Maybe I was incidental.”
Luke clearly didn't get it. “Incidental?”
“You were the target,” he said, “maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Typical,” he shook his head, smirking at himself.
“What is?”
“That I end up kidnapped at all, because of course that's the next thing that was going to happen to me in this hellhole of a town. And the person I end up stuck with?” he glared at Luke. “Is you.”
Completely unimpressed, Luke folded his arms across his chest. “You're not exactly my idea of good time either, Doctor.”
“Hell, this is probably all your fault.”
“And how's that?”
“For being so rich in the first place,” Reid explained. “Your family hoard money like it's running out of style. It's unconscionable, in this day and age. If you and your family didn't have so much cash you probably wouldn't have ended up being held for ransom at all.”
“Right, it's my family having money that's the real problem, not the kidnappers,” Luke said sarcastically, “and that's assuming money is the reason we were even taken.”
“Well, what other reason is there?” For Reid, it was definitely the most logical answer. Then again, he did live in Oakdale now, and it seemed to be the little town that logic forgot.
“I am Damian Grimaldi's son,” he argued. “And though he's changed, a lot, in the past he did some...questionable things.”
“Somebody in your family,” Reid faked a shocked voice, “did something unethical?”
“My point is,” Luke flared his nostrils, arms still tightly crossed, “this could be...revenge, or some kind of power play.”
Great. “So you're telling me I'm probably stuck here because a) your family make Bill Gates look destitute, or b) your family have a history of criminal wrong doing, the type of thing that inspires revenge from the people they screwed over.”
“Yes, Doctor,” he said sharply, “that's what I'm telling you.”
“Wonderful.” Throwing himself down onto the bed, he sat on the edge and kept his back to Luke. “This kind of stuff never happened before you dragged me here. I had a perfectly normal life. I never got arrested before coming here, not even once-”
“And with your shiny, happy personality, too?” Luke asked. “Imagine that.”
Reid made a face even knowing Luke couldn't see it. “And now a kidnapping. My life has been made worse in innumerable ways ever since you made that first damn phone call.”
“Funny,” he remarked, “I never took you for the kind of man who'd sit around feeling sorry for himself.”
Incensed by that comment, Reid stood and spun around to face him. “You think you know anything about me?”
“I've finally started getting good at reading people, Dr Oliver,” Luke told him, “and I know you're the kind of man who just wants to get things over and done with. So tell me - what do we do now? What should our first course of action be?”
Reid was trying to formulate a response when they heard footsteps approaching, both of them turning towards the door at the far side of the room. “Right now,” Reid said quietly, “we separate. And do everything possible to convince them that we can't stand each other.”
“That'll be hard,” Luke muttered, but started moving to the other side of his cell anyway.
When the door finally unlocked and creaked open, a single man walked inside. He was wearing an actual balaclava which, while ridiculous, gave Reid greater hope that they didn't mean to kill them. Hiding their faces likely meant they intended someone to survive and they didn't want to be identified afterwards.
The guy said nothing at all and with only his eyes and his mouth exposed, Reid couldn't really get a read on him. He was carrying a tray of food, at least, the sight of which set Reid's stomach rumbling. It wasn't much - looked like a simple sandwich and a bottle of water - but Reid would take it.
Carefully placing the tray on the floor, thankfully within reach of their cells, he then started backing up towards the exit.
Reid wanted to ask if they were going to get more than one sandwich to share - hell, he wanted to ask a lot of things - but even he thought it would be a bad idea to tick off their kidnapper. Or one of them, at any rate.
Luke, apparently, had no such compunction. “You know who I am?” he demanded, approaching the front of his cell, looking for all the world like being kidnapped was just a minor inconvenience.
“What are you doing?” Reid hissed, but of course Luke ignored him.
“I said, do you know who I am?” he repeated, as Balaclava Guy hadn't done anything but stare at him yet - probably in shock that his boneheaded kid thought he could get away with sassing his kidnapper.
“We know everything we need to know,” Balaclava Guy finally ground out, voice completely unfamiliar.
Luke lifted his head. “What's my name?”
Balaclava Guy glanced over to Reid, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with what was currently happening. “Don't look at me, this is all him.”
Luke's actions seemed to be working, remarkably, as Balaclava Guy finally said, “Luke Snyder. Your family has a lot of money.” Seemed this was about a ransom, after all.
“And my dad's name?”
Balaclava Guy, who until then had had the patience of a saint - despite being a kidnapper - seemed to have reached his limit. “What is this, twenty questions?”
“If you have any hope at all of getting whatever it is you want,” Luke said with determination, “then you'll answer my question.”
Reid stared at him in horror. “What is wrong with you?”
Luke didn't answer, of course, just completely and utterly ignored his existence.
It was kind of annoying, if Reid were honest.
But it freaking worked again, as Balaclava Guy said, “Holden Snyder.”
“Uh huh,” Luke nodded, “and my biological father?”
Even through the balaclava, Reid could see the way the guy's eyes widened, face probably frozen in shock - this was information he didn't have before.
Luke saw it, too. “You didn't know,” he said with amusement, then turning to look at Reid, “he doesn't even know.” Now, at least, they knew it had nothing to do with Damian. “Okay, this is what you're going to do, Frank - I'm going to call you Frank-”
“That's not even my name-”
“I don't care,” Luke interrupted, and holy shit, they were going to die. “Frank, you're going to go back to your little friends and this time, you're actually going to do your homework. You're going to find out everything you can about Damian Grimaldi. G-R-I-M-A-L-D-I. You got that?” Frank nodded dumbly.
So did Reid.
“Good,” Luke continued, “and then you have two choices. Either you can let us go and run, or you can stay and fight. The choice is up to you, of course, but let me make this clear,” he grabbed a bar in each hand, pressing up against the metal, “when he comes for me - and he will come for me - if you're still here when that happens, there'll be nothing left to identify you with.”
Saying nothing, Frank just turned and bolted out of the room.
Luke stood there, for at least another ten seconds, face utterly impassive. Until he turned to Reid, when his face was suddenly animated and overemotional, “Oh my God,” he said urgently, “you think he actually bought that?”
Reid could only stare at him. “That was an act?”
He rolled his eyes. “I'm really not like that, Doctor Oliver.”
“Says the guy who blackmailed me,” Reid reminded. “But why do all that anyway? He could've just as easily have shot you.”
“I didn't see a gun. And now we know why they've taken us,” Luke told him, “plus, I needed to speed things up, try and move along whatever timetable they have.”
Reid didn't get it. “Other than the obvious 'get away from the kidnappers' reason, why?”
“Look, this is not my first time being kidnapped. And it's the...” he thought about it for a minute, “fourth time I've been held against my will.” Wow. Maybe Luke's life hadn't been quite as privileged as Reid had always believed. “They're opportunistic kidnappers. Probably new to the area, heard about a local family that has some money, did some basic digging around before making their move. Would explain why you got tangled up in all this as well.”
Reid could see Luke's logic. If they'd really done their homework they would've picked a time when they absolutely knew Luke was going to be alone, would've known about Damian.
“And because they didn't dig around anywhere nearly well enough, our kidnapping is really not the biggest issue right now.”
Reid gestured to the everything that surrounded them. “How is being kidnapped not our biggest issue right now?”
“Because,” Luke turned to look at the sun through the small, barred hole that served as a window, “two, three? Hours ago. I should've had my meds. And something tells me they don't have any.”
Reid hadn't even known Luke needed meds for anything. “What meds?”
“Azathioprine, among others.”
Surprised, Reid looked over Luke's body. He couldn't see any obvious sign, but then there was no reason he would, yet. “Which organ?”
“The kidney,” Luke confirmed. “And missing even one dose could mean-”
Rejection starting. “Yeah,” Reid said, “I know. How long ago was the transplant?”
“Nearly five years.”
Okay. “Well, look,” Reid began, “you might have missed this one dose but your family are gonna cough up the cash straight away, right? And then we'll be out, they'll get you straight to a hospital, and if need be they'll just buy you a shiny new kidney right away.”
“Why, Doctor Oliver,” he looked amazed, grinning, “are you actually trying to make me feel better?”
“Shocking as it may seem,” Reid sighed, “in the contest between hanging out with you and Frank? Turns out I'd rather hang out with you. I know, I know,” he added, “I was as amazed as anyone.”
Smiling some more, Luke then sat on the edge of his bed, studying Reid. His smile was long gone when he finally spoke again. “That's not going to happen anyway.”
Frowning, Reid stepped closer to the bars separating their cells. “What isn't?”
“My family,” Luke said, “they won't pay the ransom.”
Reid's brain screeched to a halt, and he knew he couldn't have possibly heard that correctly. “Of course they will. Not only can they afford it, your family all have that,” he waved a hand vaguely in Luke's direction, “lovey-dovey supportive crap. They'd do anything to get you back.”
“They would,” he nodded, “if they hadn't agreed to honour my wishes.”
Say what now? “Honour your wishes?”
“You were right,” Luke shrugged, a phrase Reid honestly never got sick of hearing, “we're rich. Kidnapping is a risk that comes with the territory. The only way to stop it from happening is to show them they're not getting what they want.”
Even if that meant putting his own life at risk? And in relation to that, Reid's life? Reid buried his head in his hands. “So you made them promise not to pay up the next time you got kidnapped? Oh my God, why are you such an imbecile?”
“Ah, there's the old Doctor Oliver I know and - know,” Luke finished awkwardly. “We should probably eat that food,” he remarked.
Yeah. Reid sighed. They probably should.
They split the sandwich - it was simple, a peanut butter and jelly - and the bread was dry, making Reid gag for a second but then it went down. When it came to the water, Reid had about a quarter of the bottle then insisted Luke have the rest.
“You need it more,” was all he said, knowing they needed to do the little they could to keep Luke's kidney function as high as possible.
For once, Luke didn't argue with him.
The kidnappers could've easily put something in the food or water, Reid knew that. He also knew that if they wanted to keep Luke healthy, he needed to eat and drink.
They hadn't heard or seen anything from Frank - or any of their other kidnappers - when dusk started to fall. That was also when Luke finally cracked.
“Okay,” he announced out of nowhere, “I'm going to have to pee into his bottle.”
Holding urine in wasn't going to do his kidneys are favours, either. Reid just calmly shifted to give him some privacy. “At some point we're both gonna have to do a lot more than just pee,” he remarked as Luke made use of the bottle.
“How about,” Luke's voice suggested, “we agree that what happens in these cells, stays in these cells? And that even though we poke and make fun, we never use anything that happens or is said here against each other? When we get out,” he added, “because we are getting out.”
Reid couldn't agree with his positivity, but he could agree with everything else. “Deal.”
There was some awkward fumbling, the sound of a zipper being done up, followed by the sound of the lid being screwed on. “You want the bottle?”
“Not really,” Reid said truthfully, even as he turned and held out a hand, “but it's better than peeing on the floor.”
They'd probably end up having to do that anyway, though.
By the time night had fallen, it seemed clear Frank wasn't going to return. At least not today. Luke had already stood on his bed and looked out the tiny window, but said there was nothing identifiable, just trees. Yelling hadn't attracted anyone's attention, either. There didn't seem to be a road or well-worn path within view, though there must've been one once, as this was clearly some kind of abandoned or condemned police station or jail or something.
“When I was a kid,” Luke said quietly, as they lay on their crappy beds in the darkness (Reid was laying in so many germs right now), “I used to hear stories about an old jail. None of my friends ever found it but they talked about it like they had, how the ghost of an old sheriff roamed the halls.” He chuckled to himself. “I wonder if this is the same place.”
“If people knew about it then,” Reid told him, “there's a chance someone could find it now.”
“Maybe,” Luke said, “but I haven't heard anyone mention it in a...long time. And I don't know what good knowing where we are would do, anyway. It's not like we can tell anyone.”
“Not right now,” he replied, “but if the opportunity arose, the information could come in useful.”
“Look at you, being the optimistic one,” Luke teased and Reid could even see his grin through the darkness.
“Sorry, I forgot for a moment. I'm supposed to be grumpy and miserable at all times.”
“That's more like it,” he smiled.
They looked at each other, for a while, before Luke yawned.
Reid shifted. “Get some rest. As the only doctor you're currently able to see, that's an order.”
“Sir, yes sir,” he said back, albeit with a lot less snap than it would've normally have had. Luke snuggled down against his own disgusting mattress, then, and closed his eyes.
Reid just lay there, waiting what he figured was a good hour, hour and a half, until he was absolutely sure Luke was asleep. Then he silently got back up and carefully went over every single millimetre off his cell, looking for something - anything - that'd get them out of there.
He found nothing.
*
Reid slept through most of the night after that, which he found something of a miracle given the state of his 'bed'. He was also more than a little cold. They'd lucked out that the area was apparently a little warmer than it usually was, this time of year, but it was hardly balmy. Sadly, there was no grace period this morning - he knew exactly where he was and exactly what'd happened. When he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up, he saw that Luke was already awake and watching him.
He was still laying on his own bed. But he looked...worried.
Reid had to swallow back something. “How you doing?”
Luke knew what he was really asking. “My back hurts.”
Shit. Already? But, okay, back pain didn't have to mean... “Where?”
“Lower back,” he said slowly, “right where my kidney is.”
Okay, so it did have to mean that. Reid stood up and started pacing. “Frank better get a move on.”
Luke just watched him pace for a while. “What if I did too good a job?”
“Mr Snyder,” Reid assured him, “trust me when I say you don't do a good job of anything - except making my life miserable.”
He didn't react how Reid expected. “You know being mean to me isn't going to work now, right?”
“It's worth a try,” he replied. “But, okay,” he gestured towards Luke, “tell me what you're talking about.”
“When I confronted Frank,” Luke explained. “What if I was too scary?”
“You're about as scary as a newborn kitten.”
“But you bought it, even if it was just for a little while,” he pointed out and honestly, Reid couldn't argue with him. He'd mostly been convinced they were going to die at the time, but he hadn't thought Luke was lying. “What if he did what I said, found out about Damian and just - panicked? And ran.”
Leaving them trapped there. With no food, no water - and no way out.
“Nah,” Reid found himself saying, “they're probably just developing a new plan - properly this time.”
Luke plainly knew he was lying. “Doctor Oliver...”
“Anyway,” he interrupted, “we need to kill some time until Frank comes back, so rather than sitting here in a depressing silence, I will instead bravely sacrifice myself to the cause and listen to you twitter on about whatever that foundation of yours has been doing lately.”
Luke just kept staring at him. “Reid.”
“Mr Snyder,” he emphasised, “please tell me what your foundation has been working on, so you can prove to me once and for-all that your money is actually doing something worthwhile and you're not just using it as some kind of tax break.”
That got some of the fire back in Luke's eyes, at least, as he sat up and started talking.
Reid found it no surprise whatsoever that Luke could talk endlessly if you just left him to it. Reid didn't even have to say that much - a comment in response, an occasional retort that'd get him fired up all over again. He even found himself playing Devil's Advocate for issues he completely agreed with Luke about, just so he'd stay energised and focused.
Some time after the sun had peaked, Luke finally stopped talking. Reid couldn't think up a single other question he could ask about the foundation, so was debating other topics when Luke admitted quietly, “I don't feel so good.”
Reid pressed his lips together. “Symptoms?”
“I feel...really tired,” he confessed. “Run-down. Sore - everywhere, now, not just my back.”
“Over here,” Reid instructed, standing and beckoning Luke towards the bars that separated them.
Complying immediately, Luke stood there patiently while Reid took his pulse, touched his forehead. “Pulse is a little quicker than it should be.” He didn't have his watch to keep perfect track, but he'd been doing this for a long time. “And you have a temperature. Lay down,” he instructed. Probably a fever.
“Because I've been exerting myself so much lately,” he said, though he followed Reid's instructions to the letter and his face was pinched when he got there - either with pain or concern.
There was nothing else for Reid to do. “So, how are things with you and Mr Mayer?”
Luke looked amazed. “You actually want to go there?”
“Why not?”
“Because the last time I mentioned my relationship with him, you said - and I quote - 'I couldn't care less about the personal lives of two idiots who can't make up their minds'.”
Shrugging, Reid remembered it well. “Still stand by that statement, by the way.”
“Exactly,” Luke argued, “so why ask about it now?”
“Because we were in a professional environmental,” he said quite rationally. “Talking about that kind of nonsense when I'm trying to work helps no one, especially your boyfriend.”
He apparently conceded the point. “Don't even know if he is my boyfriend, these days.”
“Aww,” Reid mocked, “are you in the off-again part of your constantly-revolving relationship?”
“I don't get it,” Luke said seriously, “you haven't been in Oakdale that long. How did you get this impression that we're always breaking up?”
“Try working in a hospital some time,” Reid informed him. “Trust me, whether you want to or not, you are going to hear every piece of gossip currently passing through whichever place you're working in.”
“People gossip about us?” he asked, scrunching his nose up and making an unpleasant face, clearly not liking the idea.
“Not exclusively,” Reid replied honestly. “You should hear the stuff I overhear about myself.” Luke produced a small, sad smile. Reid pressed on. “So - seriously. Has your relationship always been like that?”
“I guess?” Luke shrugged, gesturing with his hands. “We had a...difficult start. It's never been easy, if I'm really honest, but relationships take work, right?” Reid really wasn't sure who Luke was trying to convince the most. “I've felt for a while that...Noah always saw me as the perfect package deal. I had everything he didn't have. A big, loving family. Parents who didn't try to kill anyone when I came out.” Reid blinked at that little reveal. “But...I can't live up to that, you know? My family is...more than a little screwed up. And I'm far from perfect. He's never been particularly understanding when I inevitably mess up.”
Ah, Noah was one of those kinds of guys. “Let me guess - but he expects you to support him, no matter what?”
“Right,” Luke nodded, “the way a relationship should be.”
“Sure,” he said, because you could still support someone even if you didn't agree with their decision, “but then he doesn't give you that same support back.”
That seemed to catch Luke by surprise. “Uh, no,” he said carefully, eventually. “I guess not.”
“And you put up with this because...?”
“I...love him,” Luke answered, though it was clear even to himself that he knew that didn't justify putting up with Noah's crap.
“Yeah, well,” Reid remarked, “I'm hardly an expert on relationships, but maybe you should care a little more about yourself and a little less about everyone else.”
“Oh, like you?” Luke shot back. “Because you seem really happy, Doctor Oliver, especially when no one else can stand to be in the room with you.”
Reid had heard far worse. “Hey, if you don't like what I have to say then you never should've asked for my opinion in the first place.”
Luke looked at him like he was crazy. “But I didn't ask, you insisted,” he began and then either realised Reid was messing with him or saw the smile Reid couldn't quite hide completely. “Oh, very funny. Ass.”
“That's my name, don't wear it out.”
“At least you don't try to be something you're not, I guess. There's something almost...nice about that.”
Reid thought about that admission for a moment. “Did you just compliment me?”
“Try not to let it go to your head,” Luke said, eyeing him.
“Too late.”
“Things have been...weird lately,” he blurted out in a sudden change of topic. “With Noah.” He was obviously eager to talk about it with someone, even if that someone was Reid.
“Everything in Oakdale is weird,” Reid felt he had a responsibility to point out. “But what's this especially weird Noah-related incident?”
“Well,” Luke began, “you did get something right - we are 'off' at the moment - Noah said he needed some space, that he needed to figure out who he really was now, now that he's blind.”
Working out the kind of person you really are could certainly be a good thing, but... “And he needs to do that alone?”
“I guess.” Maybe. “But then the next thing he tells me is that he's thinking about moving in with Maddie, and that's just dredged up a whole slew of old issues.”
Reid literally had no idea who that was. “Maddie?”
“Maddie Coleman,” Luke offered, “Henry's younger sister?”
He finally made the connection. “Hank.” Katie's annoyingly dramatic friend. Or ex-husband, as she'd once admitted, though how that had ever happened was anyone's guess. “He has a sister?”
“Two, actually,” Luke said, “though the other one turned out to be a serial killer and as much as I like him, Henry is...Henry. Maddie's probably the only normal person in that family.”
Reid was still stuck somewhere around 'serial killer' so really couldn't be blamed when he said, without thinking, “Guess you know how that feels, huh?”
They were both silent for a few seconds, Reid as he realised exactly what he'd said, Luke as...well as he was probably thinking up the best way to mock him, if he were honest.
He was right.
“I can't quite decide if that's a dig at my family or a compliment to me. Both?” he asked rhetorically. “Either way, Dr Oliver,” he grinned, “you said something nice about me, this time.”
“Curses, the infection's spreading,” he said dramatically. “We need to find a cure, fast, or the next thing you know, people will be complimenting each other all over the place.”
“And God knows,” Luke played along, “we wouldn't want that.”
They smiled at each other for a while. Reid actually didn't want it to end, because at least Luke was happy instead of focusing on what was happening inside his body. “So why's Maddie Coleman dredging up all these 'issues'?”
“Oh,” Luke's face fell. “Well,” he sighed, like he knew he was going to take some crap for what he was about to say, “Maddie's who Noah was dating the first time we kissed.”
Reid certainly hadn't heard that piece of information in the gossip-filled halls of Memorial. “Dating as in holding hands, or dating as in-”
“Sex,” Luke said bluntly, “they were having sex.”
Huh. “So is Noah bi, or was he-?”
“-still in the closet?” Luke finished. “Yeah. He had a super strict upbringing and I think his dad just terrified the idea of being gay out of his head.”
Reid knew what was coming next. “Let me guess - and then you came along? Luke Snyder's gayness just couldn't be denied?”
Luke looked like he had to try really hard not to crack a smile. “You're ridiculous.”
“I'm just saying,” Reid drawled innocently, “you do tend to provoke strong reactions in people. Case in point,” he added, gesturing to himself.
“Trust me,” Luke said flatly, “our reaction to each other is nothing to do with me.”
“So you say,” Reid replied but, despite himself, actually wanted to know how things had worked out. “So, Noah and Maddie were dating?”
“Right,” he agreed, getting back on topic. “And after a lot of drama, Noah finally came out and we started dating. Maddie was...really cool about the whole thing, much cooler than she had any right to be, to be honest. She didn't care that Noah was gay, just that he'd kept lying to her. I mean, he convinced her to change colleges and everything. She was meant to go to Wesleyan.”
Wow. Reid had seen some gay panic in his time, but that took some beating.
“Anyway,” Luke continued, “and I remind you that we agreed we will not be making fun or sharing anything that's said here, because that's the only reason I'm saying this much.” He pointed at Reid accusingly from his bed.
Holding his hands up innocently, Reid bowed his head. “I always honour a gentleman's agreement.” Sounded like this was going to be a doozy.
Somewhat satisfied, Luke drew his hand back and resumed his story, staring up at the dirty ceiling. “It always kind of - bothered me. That he jumped into bed with Maddie straight away and that's...really not happened with me.” Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “And God, that makes me sound like such a bad person, of course he had a bunch of stuff to work out, all this internalised homophobia to deal with.”
“You're human, too,” Reid remarked, because while he couldn't blame Noah for needing time, he also hadn't been the only person in the relationship. “Your needs were no less valid that his.”
Luke turned his head to look at him. “That was surprisingly sweet.” Thankfully for both of them, he pressed on. “Anyway, Noah and I got closer - if not physically - and the last time Maddie came back to town was in the middle of the whole Brian thing.”
“Brian thing?”
“No mocking,” Luke reminded firmly, before saying, “my Grandma got married. And her new husband, Brian, kept hitting on me.”
Reid took a moment to process that he'd actually just heard what he'd thought he'd just heard. “Your Granddad made a move on you?”
“Even kissed me,” he confirmed. “Noah refused to believe any of it,” he continued, like that was a normal reaction for anyone to have. “We were going through a rough patch, I was drinking again,” which explained why he'd needed the kidney, “and we still hadn't slept together. Then suddenly Maddie was there, and the two of them were getting on so well, reminiscing over old times.” Yeah, this story wasn't about to end well. “One night, when I'd had a few drinks, I saw Noah and Maddie leaving together. I thought they were going to have sex, so...I kissed Brian. And Noah saw. Go ahead,” he added, “I know we had an agreement but you can laugh now.”
Reid couldn't do anything but look at him. “I don't think that's funny at all.” It really, really wasn't. It was downright tragic.
Shifting, eyes wet, Luke apparently decided to concentrate on the ceiling again. “Even though the sex thing isn't an issue anymore, Noah and I having trouble again and Maddie being back in town again...it's bringing up these old, complicated feelings.”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Reid said honestly, because when it came to complicated relationship histories, Luke's really took the cake.
Luke just kept looking up. “I never told anyone all that before.” He chuckled a little mirthlessly. “Funny that it would be you.”
“Sometimes it helps to talk to an unbiased third party,” he offered, “or so I've heard.”
“Right,” Luke said, “because I'm sure you go blurting out all your relationship drama to the first person you come across.”
“That is a ridiculous idea,” Reid agreed, “though mostly because there's been no relationship drama to speak of. There's been no real relationships at all, really.”
“Really?” Luke asked, nose scrunching up. “You're - what? Early to mid 30s?”
“Thereabouts,” he nodded. “And you've met me, my personality is not the most approachable-”
“That's an amazing level of insight you have there, Doctor Oliver.”
Reid ignored him, because that didn't even deserve a response. “There were a couple of guys, sure, but they always ended up thinking they could change me-”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Luke interrupted as he sat up, which was strictly against doctor's orders, “you're gay?”
That was some reaction. “Yes?”
Luke looked completely stunned. “Well why didn't you say anything?”
“What difference would it have made?” Being gay didn't change the way he did his job.
“I don't know,” he began dramatically, “it might have helped me and Noah, knowing we had something in common, something we knew you could relate to.”
“Look, I'm just there to do the job,” Reid argued, “I had no interest whatsoever in 'relating' with either one of you.” He paused, disturbed when he noticed the way Luke was grinning. “What?”
“You said 'had',” he gloated, “past tense.”
No doubt about it - he'd been caught out. “Well, having you as virtually my only company for the past God-knows how many hours may have made you a little more bearable.” He shrugged. “It's probably Stockholm Syndrome.”
“Oh, I'm sure that's it,” Luke agreed smugly, “nothing at all to do with the old Snyder charm finally getting through your grumpy facade. So, come on,” he moved on quickly, “turnabout is fair play. Tell me about some of your exes.”
Reid wanted to refuse - he'd never gossiped about exes in his life - but it was keeping Luke awake and animated, so... “Fine. But only if you lay back down.”
Luke rolled his eyes but did as he was told.
Bracing himself, Reid started by talking about Tony, who gave head like a pro - mostly because, as it turned out, he was a pro.
“You're kidding,” Luke gasped, “he was a prostitute?” He paused, apparently searching for the right term. “Hooker? Rent boy?”
Oh, for heaven's sake. “Whatever the name, yes, guys paid to have sex with him.”
“But not you.”
“Not me,” he nodded.
Luke studied him. “And that made you feel really good about yourself, didn't it?”
“Absolutely.” Reid wasn't about to lie. “I wasn't thrilled when I found out what he really did for a living, but the fact that he wasn't charging me when he was charging everyone else? Yeah,” he confirmed, “made me feel a lot more confident about my skills in the sack.”
“Of course it did,” Luke muttered.
Reid generously continued, telling Luke about the others - only three more of consequence, really - and though he listened avidly, it was clear Luke was flagging, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Suddenly inspired, Reid knelt down and studied the metal supports beneath his bed. Despite their age and Reid's not-inconsiderable strength, they wouldn't separate from the floor.
“What are you doing?”
Reid tried heaving it again. Nothing. “Dunno if you noticed, but they weren't exactly tropical temperatures in here last night. Figured if we could push both beds together next to the bars, we could at least share some body heat. Need to do everything we can to stay healthy.”
“Me, you mean,” Luke corrected.
“I meant what I said,” Reid told him, giving shifting the bed another go. “There's been so sign of Frank or anyone else today, so at this point it's smart to assume that they're not coming back. We've both gone the same amount of time without food or water, so we both need to stay healthy.”
Luke said nothing to that, instead just watched Reid fruitlessly trying to move the bed. Hell, even if he managed it, how was Luke going to have the strength to move his own? He had to do something, though, couldn't keep just uselessly talking.
“We could probably get the mattresses off pretty easily,” Luke suggested, “put them on the floor.”
Sitting back, Reid just panted for a few moments. He really needed some water. “I don't like the idea of you sleeping close to the ground. It's always colder the lower down you are, heat rises-”
“Sure,” Luke said, “but it's gonna feel cold either way, and you're gonna warm me up anyway. Right?” Despite how sick he looked, Luke seemed almost hopeful, which was amazing given their currently crappy circumstances. It was clearly what he wanted, however, and at this point, it'd basically make no difference at all. Not to mention, staying close to Luke would make it a lot easier to monitor his condition. If he passed out, at least Luke would be right there instead on the other side of his cell, out of reach.
The mattresses did come off easily and though Reid had to hold back a physical shudder at all the germs he knew he was disturbing, it wasn't long until they were in place on the floor, pressed as closely together as the bars allowed.
The process had completely drained Luke of whatever energy he had, though, and he flopped down onto his mattress afterwards and looked like he'd be happy to never move again. The sun was starting to set anyway, so Reid settled onto his own mattress, looked at Luke's pale face, and told him to get some rest.
Luke just stared at him. “Thank you.”
He snorted. “I didn't do-”
“For distracting me,” Luke continued. “I can deal with the hunger, I can even deal with the pain - but God, Reid, I'm so thirsty.” Reid actually felt his heart clench. “Really wishing I'd thought to ration that water bottle right about now.”
“You made the logical assumption that they'd return - or at least set us free. Don't blame yourself.”
Luke's gaze moved to a very specific spot. “I know this sounds absolutely disgusting-”
“I already know what you're going to say, and no, we can't drink the contents of the pee bottle.”
“Why not?” he demanded. “Apart from it being completely gross. It's...liquid.”
Reid fixed him with a look. “Your kidneys filter salt, right?”
“Right.” At least he knew that much.
“But they need a certain amount of water to do that. Urine is already full of all your waste salts, so you'd need even more water to filter out that salt.”
“It'd just make things worse,” Luke said, working it out. “Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“Haven't heard it put in quite those terms before, but - sure. Why not?”
They both fell into silence, after that, and Reid found himself starting to drift off. Or at least he was, until Luke spoke again.
“I can't believe I was willing to drink the pee bottle. My pee. Your pee!”
“Can you stop saying pee?”
“God,” Luke glanced at him, “you must think I'm so dumb.”
“Nah, not dumb,” Reid shook his head, looking at Luke laying just a few inches away. “Just willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Mr Snyder...Luke,” he corrected, saying his name seriously, holding his gaze when he turned to look at him, “don't lose that.”
Luke stared back at him intently, but nothing else was said before they both fell asleep.
*
Reid got up again, in the middle of the night, silently trying to find a way out.
It didn't work.
*
Luke's condition had worsened considerably by the next morning. He complained of feeling constantly tired and of being alternately too hot or too cold. Reid felt utterly useless and could only lay there next to him, trying to spark Luke into a discussion or argument, the way he had before.
“Reid,” he finally said quietly, “your turn to talk. Tell me about you.”
“But I talked about my exes yesterday-”
“Your exes, yeah,” Luke rasped, and though his voice was weak his determination wasn't. “Tell me about you. Your family. Your life.”
Reid had never really talked about any of this stuff with anyone either - part of the reason none of his relationships had ever worked out, no doubt. But Luke was literally a dying man, and they both knew it. And even if by some miracle they did make it out of this, he at least had Luke's word that nothing he said would go any further.
So Reid started talking - for hours. He spoke, probably more than he ever had in his entire life. He talked about his parents, how loving but flawed they were. How Dad - like a crazy person - loved jazz, and how Mom loved cats so much that they'd had three of them. He told Luke about the Christmas Dad dropped the turkey, and the cats had their best Christmas ever. He told Luke about meeting Jamie, when he was nine, and thinking for the first time that maybe he liked boys instead of girls. He talked about how he told his Mom who just said, “Of course you do, honey,” like she'd known all along. He told Luke about playing chess and how he became some good, that it started ruining everything.
He told Luke about the accident and living with Angus, though he couldn't manage to talk about either of them in any detail. He talked about how education became the only thing he had, and how he graduated from high school, college and med school years early, how everyone had always hated him for it so he learned to hate everyone else, first.
He talked about the first time he got to see a living brain, then his first success as a surgeon. He talked about his work now - well, before Oakdale - and how he knew it was what he had always been meant to do, that the satisfaction of doing his job properly was like no other feeling in the world.
He spoke until the sun rose and started to set, until Luke couldn't keep his eyes open at all anymore, until he had nothing left to say.
Luke had listened to it all without judgement, without comment. When he realised Reid had finished, all he did, bizarrely, was crack his eyes open and reach across the few inches between them to drag his fingers along Reid's jaw.
“It's funny,” he said, “seeing you with a beard.”
At least it gave him something else to talk about - and talk about it he did, even though his voice was hoarse. “Not much of a beard yet, though definitely better than that scruffy-looking thing you're sporting - have you even hit puberty yet? My Great Uncle Nick, though, now that was a beard...”
He went on, bullshitting mostly, saying anything at all that came to mind. At one point he was prattling on about the life cycle of the earthworm - a school project when he was a kid - when he felt Luke's hand creep between the bars, holding one of his own.
Surprised, he focused back on Luke's face only to see that he'd managed to get his eyes open again.
“Reid,” he said, as firmly as he was probably capable of, “we both know how this is going to end.”
Fuck. “That doesn't sound like a man who's doing whatever it takes to survive.”
“I'm...not giving up,” he breathed heavily, “just making some plans, in case.” He was right, damn him, because even if someone swooped in to their rescue right now, the chances still weren't great that Luke would make it. “Tell my family that I love them. That I didn't suffer too much.” Reid's fingers tightened around Luke's reflexively. “Tell Noah that he has nothing to feel guilty about. That I hope he'll have a wonderful life with someone new. And, Reid,” he added intently, “I don't want you to feel guilty, either-”
“Don't,” he hissed back, eyes burning, “don't you fucking dare-”
“-because none of this was your fault,” he continued, because when had Luke ever not said what was on his mind? “There was nothing else you could've done. And God, Reid, you've been amazing, I never would've made it this far without-”
“Stop it,” Reid ordered, having to sit up and turn away, “just stop it.”
Luke didn't even give him the grace of some silence. “I see how it is. All it took is me dying to get some other kind of reaction out of you. You are one hard cookie, Dr Oliver.”
Reid couldn't help it, laughing into his hands, tears in his eyes. “And you are one brave son of a bitch, Mr Snyder.”
“I'm glad you said that,” Luke admitted behind him, “because now I'll feel like less of a wimp for asking you to hold my hand again. I don't want to be alone if...when...”
The very idea was horrifying, but Reid couldn't let him face this alone. Couldn't let him be scared.
So he did what needed to be done. He settled back down onto his shitty mattress, facing Luke. Let Luke link their hands together. Brusquely ordered him to get some sleep.
Reid tried to stay awake all night, tried to watch over him, but in the end, exhaustion dragged him under, too.
The next morning, Luke wouldn't wake up.
TBC
by Suz
A 50k Luke/Reid fic, rated R. At this point, I think I'm going to end up going through all the fic tropes one by one ;) Tee hee hee. So, an AU fic that's mostly based in the show canon and then takes a different path. It doesn't follow everything in the show exactly. For the purposes of this fic, Reid has agreed to stay in Oakdale until Noah's surgery is complete, but then he's out of there. He's not the Head of Neurology and he and Luke are still not fans of each other, so it's set relatively early in their storyline :D :D :D The one big difference between this fic and ATWT itself is that Damian's last storyline doesn't happen. He doesn't betray anyone, he doesn't fake his own death, etc. He is still very much in Oakdale because he wants to have a relationship with his son.
The medical stuff in this is iffy at best - much like medical stuff in soap operas everywhere. Take it with a grain of salt. The plot is about as credible as most soap plots too, but hey, that's not why we read these things ;) This is set in a universe where anyone can donate blood, etc, regardless of who they're sleeping with. Shocking, I know.
Many, many thanks to the wonderful nel and d, as always <3
Feedback would be fab! Also posted on AO3 here.
Summary: Reid's having a really bad day when he comes to and realises he's been kidnapped. What makes it even worse is that Luke Snyder's been taken, too, and is currently standing in the cell next to him. Angst, hurt/comfort, sap, fluff.
*
Reid's head felt groggy as hell when he finally reached consciousness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so tired after having a full night's sleep.
His body became aware of more details as he woke up fully. He was pretty cold. His bed felt suspiciously cheap and uncomfortable, not at all like the one he'd been sleeping on in Katie's place for the past month or so. And now that he thought about it, he didn't actually remember falling asleep at all last night. In fact, the last thing he remembered was walking out into the hospital car park, arguing with Luke-
Reid shot up in bed as he finally realised that he wasn't sleeping in his own bed because he hadn't made it home last night. He stumbled around in horror as his brain tried to accept the fact that he was locked inside some kind of prison cell and standing in the cell right next to his, watching Reid carefully, was Luke freaking Snyder.
Reid's brain - still mostly in shock, admittedly - could only jump to one conclusion. “What did you do?”
Having the balls to actually looked surprised at the accusation, Luke made a face. “Seriously?” he gestured around at his own cell, which was just as obviously locked. “Yeah, clearly, I'm the one responsible for putting us in here.”
“Well, you never know with you,” Reid remarked, studying the lock and giving the door to the cell a good shove. Nothing. “You're capable of anything.” He started walking around the cell, testing the strength of each bar, one by one. They'd clearly been there for a while and had seen better days, but were holding fast. “You basically kidnapped me here in the first place-”
“Blackmailed,” Luke pointed out, which really didn't make him sound any better, as he was no doubt going for, “I'd think someone with a head as big as yours would know the difference.”
“You got me arrested,” Reid continued, pressing different points in the wall experimentally. What he wouldn't give for some hand sanitiser right about now...
“You got yourself arrested,” Luke shot back, “and I'd remind you that it was only my testimony that got you cleared of everything.”
“Well aren't you a Good little Samaritan?” he asked, having come to the conclusion that, sadly, he was not getting out of this cell anytime soon. Not without a key, at any rate. A quick feel around his body confirmed that he had no phone, no wallet - not even his watch. Closing his eyes, Reid moved away from the wall and grasped a bar in each hand, letting out a long, slow breath. This was fine. He was fine. He could do this.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked, sounding frankly alarmed.
Reid's shoulder's tensed. He hated the idea of showing weakness - especially to him - but right now, ludicrous as it seemed, Luke Snyder might be his only ally. “I'm not a - fan. Of being contained.”
It didn't take Luke long to work it out. “You're claustrophobic? Oh, that's just what we need-”
“Yeah, sorry that my perfectly legitimate phobia is your main problem right now,” Reid barked, opening his eyes. “But I'll be fine. It's not like there are four walls closing in on me. There's just...two walls...and some bars.” He nodded. “It'll be fine.” He had plenty of room to breathe, he knew that, but he also knew that he was trapped, under someone else's control and aw, hell-
“Okaaaay, Dr Oliver,” Luke's voice said, suddenly a lot closer, “clearly I did not take your claustrophobia seriously, and I apologise.” Reid snorted, trying to get himself under control. “Um,” Luke continued, “try letting something else distract you. Focus on the sound of my voice-”
“Right,” he interrupted, “because the thing I want to focus on the most right now is your voice.”
“Well I don't see any alternatives around here,” Luke snapped back. “Unless you'd rather wait for our kidnappers to arrive - maybe you'd find one of them a better conversationalist.”
That did give him something else to concentrate on, at least. Prying his sweaty hands from the bars, he turned to Luke. “You seen anybody yet?”
“Just you. Haven't heard anything, either. My door wont budge. I've already tested all the bars and walls on my side - there's no way out. Squeezing through the bars was impossible. The window's too small and there's bar across it anyway.” Luke eyed him. “What's the last thing you remember?”
He cricked his head from side to side. “We were arguing. In Memorial's car park.”
“But Dr Oliver,” Luke joked, “that describes so many days.”
That actually made him smile, briefly. Closing his eyes, Reid tried to recall more details. “I remember hearing the sound of tyres squealing, probably as they pulled up, but then there was a pain in-” His neck, he suddenly remembered, hand flying up to the spot in question. He couldn't feel anything there now, but he knew it'd happened. “They injected us with something.” There were any number of injectable drugs they could've used - propofol, fentanyl, diazepam, to name just a few. Not to mention animal tranquillizers, though as with all of the drugs, they'd have had to get the dose high enough to be effective without using too much and overdosing.
Assuming they didn't want them dead. But as they both currently still breathing, Reid took that as his working theory.
“That's what I figured, too,” Luke said, actually agreeing with him for once as he paced around his cell.
“I get why they took you,” Reid observed, still deducing, “your family are loaded.” Luke glared at him, but didn't disagree - he had no room to, because Reid knew he was right. “But why take me?”
“Maybe they needed a doctor?”
“I'm a very specific type of doctor,” he explained, looking around at the crumbling walls that'd obviously seen better days. “And this sure as hell doesn't seem like the kind of place where they'd want me to perform brain surgery.” Hell, he'd flat out refuse to, under these circumstances. Despite what some people thought, Reid very much had a code of ethics. No, the more he thought about it... “Maybe I was incidental.”
Luke clearly didn't get it. “Incidental?”
“You were the target,” he said, “maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Typical,” he shook his head, smirking at himself.
“What is?”
“That I end up kidnapped at all, because of course that's the next thing that was going to happen to me in this hellhole of a town. And the person I end up stuck with?” he glared at Luke. “Is you.”
Completely unimpressed, Luke folded his arms across his chest. “You're not exactly my idea of good time either, Doctor.”
“Hell, this is probably all your fault.”
“And how's that?”
“For being so rich in the first place,” Reid explained. “Your family hoard money like it's running out of style. It's unconscionable, in this day and age. If you and your family didn't have so much cash you probably wouldn't have ended up being held for ransom at all.”
“Right, it's my family having money that's the real problem, not the kidnappers,” Luke said sarcastically, “and that's assuming money is the reason we were even taken.”
“Well, what other reason is there?” For Reid, it was definitely the most logical answer. Then again, he did live in Oakdale now, and it seemed to be the little town that logic forgot.
“I am Damian Grimaldi's son,” he argued. “And though he's changed, a lot, in the past he did some...questionable things.”
“Somebody in your family,” Reid faked a shocked voice, “did something unethical?”
“My point is,” Luke flared his nostrils, arms still tightly crossed, “this could be...revenge, or some kind of power play.”
Great. “So you're telling me I'm probably stuck here because a) your family make Bill Gates look destitute, or b) your family have a history of criminal wrong doing, the type of thing that inspires revenge from the people they screwed over.”
“Yes, Doctor,” he said sharply, “that's what I'm telling you.”
“Wonderful.” Throwing himself down onto the bed, he sat on the edge and kept his back to Luke. “This kind of stuff never happened before you dragged me here. I had a perfectly normal life. I never got arrested before coming here, not even once-”
“And with your shiny, happy personality, too?” Luke asked. “Imagine that.”
Reid made a face even knowing Luke couldn't see it. “And now a kidnapping. My life has been made worse in innumerable ways ever since you made that first damn phone call.”
“Funny,” he remarked, “I never took you for the kind of man who'd sit around feeling sorry for himself.”
Incensed by that comment, Reid stood and spun around to face him. “You think you know anything about me?”
“I've finally started getting good at reading people, Dr Oliver,” Luke told him, “and I know you're the kind of man who just wants to get things over and done with. So tell me - what do we do now? What should our first course of action be?”
Reid was trying to formulate a response when they heard footsteps approaching, both of them turning towards the door at the far side of the room. “Right now,” Reid said quietly, “we separate. And do everything possible to convince them that we can't stand each other.”
“That'll be hard,” Luke muttered, but started moving to the other side of his cell anyway.
When the door finally unlocked and creaked open, a single man walked inside. He was wearing an actual balaclava which, while ridiculous, gave Reid greater hope that they didn't mean to kill them. Hiding their faces likely meant they intended someone to survive and they didn't want to be identified afterwards.
The guy said nothing at all and with only his eyes and his mouth exposed, Reid couldn't really get a read on him. He was carrying a tray of food, at least, the sight of which set Reid's stomach rumbling. It wasn't much - looked like a simple sandwich and a bottle of water - but Reid would take it.
Carefully placing the tray on the floor, thankfully within reach of their cells, he then started backing up towards the exit.
Reid wanted to ask if they were going to get more than one sandwich to share - hell, he wanted to ask a lot of things - but even he thought it would be a bad idea to tick off their kidnapper. Or one of them, at any rate.
Luke, apparently, had no such compunction. “You know who I am?” he demanded, approaching the front of his cell, looking for all the world like being kidnapped was just a minor inconvenience.
“What are you doing?” Reid hissed, but of course Luke ignored him.
“I said, do you know who I am?” he repeated, as Balaclava Guy hadn't done anything but stare at him yet - probably in shock that his boneheaded kid thought he could get away with sassing his kidnapper.
“We know everything we need to know,” Balaclava Guy finally ground out, voice completely unfamiliar.
Luke lifted his head. “What's my name?”
Balaclava Guy glanced over to Reid, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with what was currently happening. “Don't look at me, this is all him.”
Luke's actions seemed to be working, remarkably, as Balaclava Guy finally said, “Luke Snyder. Your family has a lot of money.” Seemed this was about a ransom, after all.
“And my dad's name?”
Balaclava Guy, who until then had had the patience of a saint - despite being a kidnapper - seemed to have reached his limit. “What is this, twenty questions?”
“If you have any hope at all of getting whatever it is you want,” Luke said with determination, “then you'll answer my question.”
Reid stared at him in horror. “What is wrong with you?”
Luke didn't answer, of course, just completely and utterly ignored his existence.
It was kind of annoying, if Reid were honest.
But it freaking worked again, as Balaclava Guy said, “Holden Snyder.”
“Uh huh,” Luke nodded, “and my biological father?”
Even through the balaclava, Reid could see the way the guy's eyes widened, face probably frozen in shock - this was information he didn't have before.
Luke saw it, too. “You didn't know,” he said with amusement, then turning to look at Reid, “he doesn't even know.” Now, at least, they knew it had nothing to do with Damian. “Okay, this is what you're going to do, Frank - I'm going to call you Frank-”
“That's not even my name-”
“I don't care,” Luke interrupted, and holy shit, they were going to die. “Frank, you're going to go back to your little friends and this time, you're actually going to do your homework. You're going to find out everything you can about Damian Grimaldi. G-R-I-M-A-L-D-I. You got that?” Frank nodded dumbly.
So did Reid.
“Good,” Luke continued, “and then you have two choices. Either you can let us go and run, or you can stay and fight. The choice is up to you, of course, but let me make this clear,” he grabbed a bar in each hand, pressing up against the metal, “when he comes for me - and he will come for me - if you're still here when that happens, there'll be nothing left to identify you with.”
Saying nothing, Frank just turned and bolted out of the room.
Luke stood there, for at least another ten seconds, face utterly impassive. Until he turned to Reid, when his face was suddenly animated and overemotional, “Oh my God,” he said urgently, “you think he actually bought that?”
Reid could only stare at him. “That was an act?”
He rolled his eyes. “I'm really not like that, Doctor Oliver.”
“Says the guy who blackmailed me,” Reid reminded. “But why do all that anyway? He could've just as easily have shot you.”
“I didn't see a gun. And now we know why they've taken us,” Luke told him, “plus, I needed to speed things up, try and move along whatever timetable they have.”
Reid didn't get it. “Other than the obvious 'get away from the kidnappers' reason, why?”
“Look, this is not my first time being kidnapped. And it's the...” he thought about it for a minute, “fourth time I've been held against my will.” Wow. Maybe Luke's life hadn't been quite as privileged as Reid had always believed. “They're opportunistic kidnappers. Probably new to the area, heard about a local family that has some money, did some basic digging around before making their move. Would explain why you got tangled up in all this as well.”
Reid could see Luke's logic. If they'd really done their homework they would've picked a time when they absolutely knew Luke was going to be alone, would've known about Damian.
“And because they didn't dig around anywhere nearly well enough, our kidnapping is really not the biggest issue right now.”
Reid gestured to the everything that surrounded them. “How is being kidnapped not our biggest issue right now?”
“Because,” Luke turned to look at the sun through the small, barred hole that served as a window, “two, three? Hours ago. I should've had my meds. And something tells me they don't have any.”
Reid hadn't even known Luke needed meds for anything. “What meds?”
“Azathioprine, among others.”
Surprised, Reid looked over Luke's body. He couldn't see any obvious sign, but then there was no reason he would, yet. “Which organ?”
“The kidney,” Luke confirmed. “And missing even one dose could mean-”
Rejection starting. “Yeah,” Reid said, “I know. How long ago was the transplant?”
“Nearly five years.”
Okay. “Well, look,” Reid began, “you might have missed this one dose but your family are gonna cough up the cash straight away, right? And then we'll be out, they'll get you straight to a hospital, and if need be they'll just buy you a shiny new kidney right away.”
“Why, Doctor Oliver,” he looked amazed, grinning, “are you actually trying to make me feel better?”
“Shocking as it may seem,” Reid sighed, “in the contest between hanging out with you and Frank? Turns out I'd rather hang out with you. I know, I know,” he added, “I was as amazed as anyone.”
Smiling some more, Luke then sat on the edge of his bed, studying Reid. His smile was long gone when he finally spoke again. “That's not going to happen anyway.”
Frowning, Reid stepped closer to the bars separating their cells. “What isn't?”
“My family,” Luke said, “they won't pay the ransom.”
Reid's brain screeched to a halt, and he knew he couldn't have possibly heard that correctly. “Of course they will. Not only can they afford it, your family all have that,” he waved a hand vaguely in Luke's direction, “lovey-dovey supportive crap. They'd do anything to get you back.”
“They would,” he nodded, “if they hadn't agreed to honour my wishes.”
Say what now? “Honour your wishes?”
“You were right,” Luke shrugged, a phrase Reid honestly never got sick of hearing, “we're rich. Kidnapping is a risk that comes with the territory. The only way to stop it from happening is to show them they're not getting what they want.”
Even if that meant putting his own life at risk? And in relation to that, Reid's life? Reid buried his head in his hands. “So you made them promise not to pay up the next time you got kidnapped? Oh my God, why are you such an imbecile?”
“Ah, there's the old Doctor Oliver I know and - know,” Luke finished awkwardly. “We should probably eat that food,” he remarked.
Yeah. Reid sighed. They probably should.
They split the sandwich - it was simple, a peanut butter and jelly - and the bread was dry, making Reid gag for a second but then it went down. When it came to the water, Reid had about a quarter of the bottle then insisted Luke have the rest.
“You need it more,” was all he said, knowing they needed to do the little they could to keep Luke's kidney function as high as possible.
For once, Luke didn't argue with him.
The kidnappers could've easily put something in the food or water, Reid knew that. He also knew that if they wanted to keep Luke healthy, he needed to eat and drink.
They hadn't heard or seen anything from Frank - or any of their other kidnappers - when dusk started to fall. That was also when Luke finally cracked.
“Okay,” he announced out of nowhere, “I'm going to have to pee into his bottle.”
Holding urine in wasn't going to do his kidneys are favours, either. Reid just calmly shifted to give him some privacy. “At some point we're both gonna have to do a lot more than just pee,” he remarked as Luke made use of the bottle.
“How about,” Luke's voice suggested, “we agree that what happens in these cells, stays in these cells? And that even though we poke and make fun, we never use anything that happens or is said here against each other? When we get out,” he added, “because we are getting out.”
Reid couldn't agree with his positivity, but he could agree with everything else. “Deal.”
There was some awkward fumbling, the sound of a zipper being done up, followed by the sound of the lid being screwed on. “You want the bottle?”
“Not really,” Reid said truthfully, even as he turned and held out a hand, “but it's better than peeing on the floor.”
They'd probably end up having to do that anyway, though.
By the time night had fallen, it seemed clear Frank wasn't going to return. At least not today. Luke had already stood on his bed and looked out the tiny window, but said there was nothing identifiable, just trees. Yelling hadn't attracted anyone's attention, either. There didn't seem to be a road or well-worn path within view, though there must've been one once, as this was clearly some kind of abandoned or condemned police station or jail or something.
“When I was a kid,” Luke said quietly, as they lay on their crappy beds in the darkness (Reid was laying in so many germs right now), “I used to hear stories about an old jail. None of my friends ever found it but they talked about it like they had, how the ghost of an old sheriff roamed the halls.” He chuckled to himself. “I wonder if this is the same place.”
“If people knew about it then,” Reid told him, “there's a chance someone could find it now.”
“Maybe,” Luke said, “but I haven't heard anyone mention it in a...long time. And I don't know what good knowing where we are would do, anyway. It's not like we can tell anyone.”
“Not right now,” he replied, “but if the opportunity arose, the information could come in useful.”
“Look at you, being the optimistic one,” Luke teased and Reid could even see his grin through the darkness.
“Sorry, I forgot for a moment. I'm supposed to be grumpy and miserable at all times.”
“That's more like it,” he smiled.
They looked at each other, for a while, before Luke yawned.
Reid shifted. “Get some rest. As the only doctor you're currently able to see, that's an order.”
“Sir, yes sir,” he said back, albeit with a lot less snap than it would've normally have had. Luke snuggled down against his own disgusting mattress, then, and closed his eyes.
Reid just lay there, waiting what he figured was a good hour, hour and a half, until he was absolutely sure Luke was asleep. Then he silently got back up and carefully went over every single millimetre off his cell, looking for something - anything - that'd get them out of there.
He found nothing.
*
Reid slept through most of the night after that, which he found something of a miracle given the state of his 'bed'. He was also more than a little cold. They'd lucked out that the area was apparently a little warmer than it usually was, this time of year, but it was hardly balmy. Sadly, there was no grace period this morning - he knew exactly where he was and exactly what'd happened. When he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up, he saw that Luke was already awake and watching him.
He was still laying on his own bed. But he looked...worried.
Reid had to swallow back something. “How you doing?”
Luke knew what he was really asking. “My back hurts.”
Shit. Already? But, okay, back pain didn't have to mean... “Where?”
“Lower back,” he said slowly, “right where my kidney is.”
Okay, so it did have to mean that. Reid stood up and started pacing. “Frank better get a move on.”
Luke just watched him pace for a while. “What if I did too good a job?”
“Mr Snyder,” Reid assured him, “trust me when I say you don't do a good job of anything - except making my life miserable.”
He didn't react how Reid expected. “You know being mean to me isn't going to work now, right?”
“It's worth a try,” he replied. “But, okay,” he gestured towards Luke, “tell me what you're talking about.”
“When I confronted Frank,” Luke explained. “What if I was too scary?”
“You're about as scary as a newborn kitten.”
“But you bought it, even if it was just for a little while,” he pointed out and honestly, Reid couldn't argue with him. He'd mostly been convinced they were going to die at the time, but he hadn't thought Luke was lying. “What if he did what I said, found out about Damian and just - panicked? And ran.”
Leaving them trapped there. With no food, no water - and no way out.
“Nah,” Reid found himself saying, “they're probably just developing a new plan - properly this time.”
Luke plainly knew he was lying. “Doctor Oliver...”
“Anyway,” he interrupted, “we need to kill some time until Frank comes back, so rather than sitting here in a depressing silence, I will instead bravely sacrifice myself to the cause and listen to you twitter on about whatever that foundation of yours has been doing lately.”
Luke just kept staring at him. “Reid.”
“Mr Snyder,” he emphasised, “please tell me what your foundation has been working on, so you can prove to me once and for-all that your money is actually doing something worthwhile and you're not just using it as some kind of tax break.”
That got some of the fire back in Luke's eyes, at least, as he sat up and started talking.
Reid found it no surprise whatsoever that Luke could talk endlessly if you just left him to it. Reid didn't even have to say that much - a comment in response, an occasional retort that'd get him fired up all over again. He even found himself playing Devil's Advocate for issues he completely agreed with Luke about, just so he'd stay energised and focused.
Some time after the sun had peaked, Luke finally stopped talking. Reid couldn't think up a single other question he could ask about the foundation, so was debating other topics when Luke admitted quietly, “I don't feel so good.”
Reid pressed his lips together. “Symptoms?”
“I feel...really tired,” he confessed. “Run-down. Sore - everywhere, now, not just my back.”
“Over here,” Reid instructed, standing and beckoning Luke towards the bars that separated them.
Complying immediately, Luke stood there patiently while Reid took his pulse, touched his forehead. “Pulse is a little quicker than it should be.” He didn't have his watch to keep perfect track, but he'd been doing this for a long time. “And you have a temperature. Lay down,” he instructed. Probably a fever.
“Because I've been exerting myself so much lately,” he said, though he followed Reid's instructions to the letter and his face was pinched when he got there - either with pain or concern.
There was nothing else for Reid to do. “So, how are things with you and Mr Mayer?”
Luke looked amazed. “You actually want to go there?”
“Why not?”
“Because the last time I mentioned my relationship with him, you said - and I quote - 'I couldn't care less about the personal lives of two idiots who can't make up their minds'.”
Shrugging, Reid remembered it well. “Still stand by that statement, by the way.”
“Exactly,” Luke argued, “so why ask about it now?”
“Because we were in a professional environmental,” he said quite rationally. “Talking about that kind of nonsense when I'm trying to work helps no one, especially your boyfriend.”
He apparently conceded the point. “Don't even know if he is my boyfriend, these days.”
“Aww,” Reid mocked, “are you in the off-again part of your constantly-revolving relationship?”
“I don't get it,” Luke said seriously, “you haven't been in Oakdale that long. How did you get this impression that we're always breaking up?”
“Try working in a hospital some time,” Reid informed him. “Trust me, whether you want to or not, you are going to hear every piece of gossip currently passing through whichever place you're working in.”
“People gossip about us?” he asked, scrunching his nose up and making an unpleasant face, clearly not liking the idea.
“Not exclusively,” Reid replied honestly. “You should hear the stuff I overhear about myself.” Luke produced a small, sad smile. Reid pressed on. “So - seriously. Has your relationship always been like that?”
“I guess?” Luke shrugged, gesturing with his hands. “We had a...difficult start. It's never been easy, if I'm really honest, but relationships take work, right?” Reid really wasn't sure who Luke was trying to convince the most. “I've felt for a while that...Noah always saw me as the perfect package deal. I had everything he didn't have. A big, loving family. Parents who didn't try to kill anyone when I came out.” Reid blinked at that little reveal. “But...I can't live up to that, you know? My family is...more than a little screwed up. And I'm far from perfect. He's never been particularly understanding when I inevitably mess up.”
Ah, Noah was one of those kinds of guys. “Let me guess - but he expects you to support him, no matter what?”
“Right,” Luke nodded, “the way a relationship should be.”
“Sure,” he said, because you could still support someone even if you didn't agree with their decision, “but then he doesn't give you that same support back.”
That seemed to catch Luke by surprise. “Uh, no,” he said carefully, eventually. “I guess not.”
“And you put up with this because...?”
“I...love him,” Luke answered, though it was clear even to himself that he knew that didn't justify putting up with Noah's crap.
“Yeah, well,” Reid remarked, “I'm hardly an expert on relationships, but maybe you should care a little more about yourself and a little less about everyone else.”
“Oh, like you?” Luke shot back. “Because you seem really happy, Doctor Oliver, especially when no one else can stand to be in the room with you.”
Reid had heard far worse. “Hey, if you don't like what I have to say then you never should've asked for my opinion in the first place.”
Luke looked at him like he was crazy. “But I didn't ask, you insisted,” he began and then either realised Reid was messing with him or saw the smile Reid couldn't quite hide completely. “Oh, very funny. Ass.”
“That's my name, don't wear it out.”
“At least you don't try to be something you're not, I guess. There's something almost...nice about that.”
Reid thought about that admission for a moment. “Did you just compliment me?”
“Try not to let it go to your head,” Luke said, eyeing him.
“Too late.”
“Things have been...weird lately,” he blurted out in a sudden change of topic. “With Noah.” He was obviously eager to talk about it with someone, even if that someone was Reid.
“Everything in Oakdale is weird,” Reid felt he had a responsibility to point out. “But what's this especially weird Noah-related incident?”
“Well,” Luke began, “you did get something right - we are 'off' at the moment - Noah said he needed some space, that he needed to figure out who he really was now, now that he's blind.”
Working out the kind of person you really are could certainly be a good thing, but... “And he needs to do that alone?”
“I guess.” Maybe. “But then the next thing he tells me is that he's thinking about moving in with Maddie, and that's just dredged up a whole slew of old issues.”
Reid literally had no idea who that was. “Maddie?”
“Maddie Coleman,” Luke offered, “Henry's younger sister?”
He finally made the connection. “Hank.” Katie's annoyingly dramatic friend. Or ex-husband, as she'd once admitted, though how that had ever happened was anyone's guess. “He has a sister?”
“Two, actually,” Luke said, “though the other one turned out to be a serial killer and as much as I like him, Henry is...Henry. Maddie's probably the only normal person in that family.”
Reid was still stuck somewhere around 'serial killer' so really couldn't be blamed when he said, without thinking, “Guess you know how that feels, huh?”
They were both silent for a few seconds, Reid as he realised exactly what he'd said, Luke as...well as he was probably thinking up the best way to mock him, if he were honest.
He was right.
“I can't quite decide if that's a dig at my family or a compliment to me. Both?” he asked rhetorically. “Either way, Dr Oliver,” he grinned, “you said something nice about me, this time.”
“Curses, the infection's spreading,” he said dramatically. “We need to find a cure, fast, or the next thing you know, people will be complimenting each other all over the place.”
“And God knows,” Luke played along, “we wouldn't want that.”
They smiled at each other for a while. Reid actually didn't want it to end, because at least Luke was happy instead of focusing on what was happening inside his body. “So why's Maddie Coleman dredging up all these 'issues'?”
“Oh,” Luke's face fell. “Well,” he sighed, like he knew he was going to take some crap for what he was about to say, “Maddie's who Noah was dating the first time we kissed.”
Reid certainly hadn't heard that piece of information in the gossip-filled halls of Memorial. “Dating as in holding hands, or dating as in-”
“Sex,” Luke said bluntly, “they were having sex.”
Huh. “So is Noah bi, or was he-?”
“-still in the closet?” Luke finished. “Yeah. He had a super strict upbringing and I think his dad just terrified the idea of being gay out of his head.”
Reid knew what was coming next. “Let me guess - and then you came along? Luke Snyder's gayness just couldn't be denied?”
Luke looked like he had to try really hard not to crack a smile. “You're ridiculous.”
“I'm just saying,” Reid drawled innocently, “you do tend to provoke strong reactions in people. Case in point,” he added, gesturing to himself.
“Trust me,” Luke said flatly, “our reaction to each other is nothing to do with me.”
“So you say,” Reid replied but, despite himself, actually wanted to know how things had worked out. “So, Noah and Maddie were dating?”
“Right,” he agreed, getting back on topic. “And after a lot of drama, Noah finally came out and we started dating. Maddie was...really cool about the whole thing, much cooler than she had any right to be, to be honest. She didn't care that Noah was gay, just that he'd kept lying to her. I mean, he convinced her to change colleges and everything. She was meant to go to Wesleyan.”
Wow. Reid had seen some gay panic in his time, but that took some beating.
“Anyway,” Luke continued, “and I remind you that we agreed we will not be making fun or sharing anything that's said here, because that's the only reason I'm saying this much.” He pointed at Reid accusingly from his bed.
Holding his hands up innocently, Reid bowed his head. “I always honour a gentleman's agreement.” Sounded like this was going to be a doozy.
Somewhat satisfied, Luke drew his hand back and resumed his story, staring up at the dirty ceiling. “It always kind of - bothered me. That he jumped into bed with Maddie straight away and that's...really not happened with me.” Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “And God, that makes me sound like such a bad person, of course he had a bunch of stuff to work out, all this internalised homophobia to deal with.”
“You're human, too,” Reid remarked, because while he couldn't blame Noah for needing time, he also hadn't been the only person in the relationship. “Your needs were no less valid that his.”
Luke turned his head to look at him. “That was surprisingly sweet.” Thankfully for both of them, he pressed on. “Anyway, Noah and I got closer - if not physically - and the last time Maddie came back to town was in the middle of the whole Brian thing.”
“Brian thing?”
“No mocking,” Luke reminded firmly, before saying, “my Grandma got married. And her new husband, Brian, kept hitting on me.”
Reid took a moment to process that he'd actually just heard what he'd thought he'd just heard. “Your Granddad made a move on you?”
“Even kissed me,” he confirmed. “Noah refused to believe any of it,” he continued, like that was a normal reaction for anyone to have. “We were going through a rough patch, I was drinking again,” which explained why he'd needed the kidney, “and we still hadn't slept together. Then suddenly Maddie was there, and the two of them were getting on so well, reminiscing over old times.” Yeah, this story wasn't about to end well. “One night, when I'd had a few drinks, I saw Noah and Maddie leaving together. I thought they were going to have sex, so...I kissed Brian. And Noah saw. Go ahead,” he added, “I know we had an agreement but you can laugh now.”
Reid couldn't do anything but look at him. “I don't think that's funny at all.” It really, really wasn't. It was downright tragic.
Shifting, eyes wet, Luke apparently decided to concentrate on the ceiling again. “Even though the sex thing isn't an issue anymore, Noah and I having trouble again and Maddie being back in town again...it's bringing up these old, complicated feelings.”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Reid said honestly, because when it came to complicated relationship histories, Luke's really took the cake.
Luke just kept looking up. “I never told anyone all that before.” He chuckled a little mirthlessly. “Funny that it would be you.”
“Sometimes it helps to talk to an unbiased third party,” he offered, “or so I've heard.”
“Right,” Luke said, “because I'm sure you go blurting out all your relationship drama to the first person you come across.”
“That is a ridiculous idea,” Reid agreed, “though mostly because there's been no relationship drama to speak of. There's been no real relationships at all, really.”
“Really?” Luke asked, nose scrunching up. “You're - what? Early to mid 30s?”
“Thereabouts,” he nodded. “And you've met me, my personality is not the most approachable-”
“That's an amazing level of insight you have there, Doctor Oliver.”
Reid ignored him, because that didn't even deserve a response. “There were a couple of guys, sure, but they always ended up thinking they could change me-”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Luke interrupted as he sat up, which was strictly against doctor's orders, “you're gay?”
That was some reaction. “Yes?”
Luke looked completely stunned. “Well why didn't you say anything?”
“What difference would it have made?” Being gay didn't change the way he did his job.
“I don't know,” he began dramatically, “it might have helped me and Noah, knowing we had something in common, something we knew you could relate to.”
“Look, I'm just there to do the job,” Reid argued, “I had no interest whatsoever in 'relating' with either one of you.” He paused, disturbed when he noticed the way Luke was grinning. “What?”
“You said 'had',” he gloated, “past tense.”
No doubt about it - he'd been caught out. “Well, having you as virtually my only company for the past God-knows how many hours may have made you a little more bearable.” He shrugged. “It's probably Stockholm Syndrome.”
“Oh, I'm sure that's it,” Luke agreed smugly, “nothing at all to do with the old Snyder charm finally getting through your grumpy facade. So, come on,” he moved on quickly, “turnabout is fair play. Tell me about some of your exes.”
Reid wanted to refuse - he'd never gossiped about exes in his life - but it was keeping Luke awake and animated, so... “Fine. But only if you lay back down.”
Luke rolled his eyes but did as he was told.
Bracing himself, Reid started by talking about Tony, who gave head like a pro - mostly because, as it turned out, he was a pro.
“You're kidding,” Luke gasped, “he was a prostitute?” He paused, apparently searching for the right term. “Hooker? Rent boy?”
Oh, for heaven's sake. “Whatever the name, yes, guys paid to have sex with him.”
“But not you.”
“Not me,” he nodded.
Luke studied him. “And that made you feel really good about yourself, didn't it?”
“Absolutely.” Reid wasn't about to lie. “I wasn't thrilled when I found out what he really did for a living, but the fact that he wasn't charging me when he was charging everyone else? Yeah,” he confirmed, “made me feel a lot more confident about my skills in the sack.”
“Of course it did,” Luke muttered.
Reid generously continued, telling Luke about the others - only three more of consequence, really - and though he listened avidly, it was clear Luke was flagging, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Suddenly inspired, Reid knelt down and studied the metal supports beneath his bed. Despite their age and Reid's not-inconsiderable strength, they wouldn't separate from the floor.
“What are you doing?”
Reid tried heaving it again. Nothing. “Dunno if you noticed, but they weren't exactly tropical temperatures in here last night. Figured if we could push both beds together next to the bars, we could at least share some body heat. Need to do everything we can to stay healthy.”
“Me, you mean,” Luke corrected.
“I meant what I said,” Reid told him, giving shifting the bed another go. “There's been so sign of Frank or anyone else today, so at this point it's smart to assume that they're not coming back. We've both gone the same amount of time without food or water, so we both need to stay healthy.”
Luke said nothing to that, instead just watched Reid fruitlessly trying to move the bed. Hell, even if he managed it, how was Luke going to have the strength to move his own? He had to do something, though, couldn't keep just uselessly talking.
“We could probably get the mattresses off pretty easily,” Luke suggested, “put them on the floor.”
Sitting back, Reid just panted for a few moments. He really needed some water. “I don't like the idea of you sleeping close to the ground. It's always colder the lower down you are, heat rises-”
“Sure,” Luke said, “but it's gonna feel cold either way, and you're gonna warm me up anyway. Right?” Despite how sick he looked, Luke seemed almost hopeful, which was amazing given their currently crappy circumstances. It was clearly what he wanted, however, and at this point, it'd basically make no difference at all. Not to mention, staying close to Luke would make it a lot easier to monitor his condition. If he passed out, at least Luke would be right there instead on the other side of his cell, out of reach.
The mattresses did come off easily and though Reid had to hold back a physical shudder at all the germs he knew he was disturbing, it wasn't long until they were in place on the floor, pressed as closely together as the bars allowed.
The process had completely drained Luke of whatever energy he had, though, and he flopped down onto his mattress afterwards and looked like he'd be happy to never move again. The sun was starting to set anyway, so Reid settled onto his own mattress, looked at Luke's pale face, and told him to get some rest.
Luke just stared at him. “Thank you.”
He snorted. “I didn't do-”
“For distracting me,” Luke continued. “I can deal with the hunger, I can even deal with the pain - but God, Reid, I'm so thirsty.” Reid actually felt his heart clench. “Really wishing I'd thought to ration that water bottle right about now.”
“You made the logical assumption that they'd return - or at least set us free. Don't blame yourself.”
Luke's gaze moved to a very specific spot. “I know this sounds absolutely disgusting-”
“I already know what you're going to say, and no, we can't drink the contents of the pee bottle.”
“Why not?” he demanded. “Apart from it being completely gross. It's...liquid.”
Reid fixed him with a look. “Your kidneys filter salt, right?”
“Right.” At least he knew that much.
“But they need a certain amount of water to do that. Urine is already full of all your waste salts, so you'd need even more water to filter out that salt.”
“It'd just make things worse,” Luke said, working it out. “Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“Haven't heard it put in quite those terms before, but - sure. Why not?”
They both fell into silence, after that, and Reid found himself starting to drift off. Or at least he was, until Luke spoke again.
“I can't believe I was willing to drink the pee bottle. My pee. Your pee!”
“Can you stop saying pee?”
“God,” Luke glanced at him, “you must think I'm so dumb.”
“Nah, not dumb,” Reid shook his head, looking at Luke laying just a few inches away. “Just willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Mr Snyder...Luke,” he corrected, saying his name seriously, holding his gaze when he turned to look at him, “don't lose that.”
Luke stared back at him intently, but nothing else was said before they both fell asleep.
*
Reid got up again, in the middle of the night, silently trying to find a way out.
It didn't work.
*
Luke's condition had worsened considerably by the next morning. He complained of feeling constantly tired and of being alternately too hot or too cold. Reid felt utterly useless and could only lay there next to him, trying to spark Luke into a discussion or argument, the way he had before.
“Reid,” he finally said quietly, “your turn to talk. Tell me about you.”
“But I talked about my exes yesterday-”
“Your exes, yeah,” Luke rasped, and though his voice was weak his determination wasn't. “Tell me about you. Your family. Your life.”
Reid had never really talked about any of this stuff with anyone either - part of the reason none of his relationships had ever worked out, no doubt. But Luke was literally a dying man, and they both knew it. And even if by some miracle they did make it out of this, he at least had Luke's word that nothing he said would go any further.
So Reid started talking - for hours. He spoke, probably more than he ever had in his entire life. He talked about his parents, how loving but flawed they were. How Dad - like a crazy person - loved jazz, and how Mom loved cats so much that they'd had three of them. He told Luke about the Christmas Dad dropped the turkey, and the cats had their best Christmas ever. He told Luke about meeting Jamie, when he was nine, and thinking for the first time that maybe he liked boys instead of girls. He talked about how he told his Mom who just said, “Of course you do, honey,” like she'd known all along. He told Luke about playing chess and how he became some good, that it started ruining everything.
He told Luke about the accident and living with Angus, though he couldn't manage to talk about either of them in any detail. He talked about how education became the only thing he had, and how he graduated from high school, college and med school years early, how everyone had always hated him for it so he learned to hate everyone else, first.
He talked about the first time he got to see a living brain, then his first success as a surgeon. He talked about his work now - well, before Oakdale - and how he knew it was what he had always been meant to do, that the satisfaction of doing his job properly was like no other feeling in the world.
He spoke until the sun rose and started to set, until Luke couldn't keep his eyes open at all anymore, until he had nothing left to say.
Luke had listened to it all without judgement, without comment. When he realised Reid had finished, all he did, bizarrely, was crack his eyes open and reach across the few inches between them to drag his fingers along Reid's jaw.
“It's funny,” he said, “seeing you with a beard.”
At least it gave him something else to talk about - and talk about it he did, even though his voice was hoarse. “Not much of a beard yet, though definitely better than that scruffy-looking thing you're sporting - have you even hit puberty yet? My Great Uncle Nick, though, now that was a beard...”
He went on, bullshitting mostly, saying anything at all that came to mind. At one point he was prattling on about the life cycle of the earthworm - a school project when he was a kid - when he felt Luke's hand creep between the bars, holding one of his own.
Surprised, he focused back on Luke's face only to see that he'd managed to get his eyes open again.
“Reid,” he said, as firmly as he was probably capable of, “we both know how this is going to end.”
Fuck. “That doesn't sound like a man who's doing whatever it takes to survive.”
“I'm...not giving up,” he breathed heavily, “just making some plans, in case.” He was right, damn him, because even if someone swooped in to their rescue right now, the chances still weren't great that Luke would make it. “Tell my family that I love them. That I didn't suffer too much.” Reid's fingers tightened around Luke's reflexively. “Tell Noah that he has nothing to feel guilty about. That I hope he'll have a wonderful life with someone new. And, Reid,” he added intently, “I don't want you to feel guilty, either-”
“Don't,” he hissed back, eyes burning, “don't you fucking dare-”
“-because none of this was your fault,” he continued, because when had Luke ever not said what was on his mind? “There was nothing else you could've done. And God, Reid, you've been amazing, I never would've made it this far without-”
“Stop it,” Reid ordered, having to sit up and turn away, “just stop it.”
Luke didn't even give him the grace of some silence. “I see how it is. All it took is me dying to get some other kind of reaction out of you. You are one hard cookie, Dr Oliver.”
Reid couldn't help it, laughing into his hands, tears in his eyes. “And you are one brave son of a bitch, Mr Snyder.”
“I'm glad you said that,” Luke admitted behind him, “because now I'll feel like less of a wimp for asking you to hold my hand again. I don't want to be alone if...when...”
The very idea was horrifying, but Reid couldn't let him face this alone. Couldn't let him be scared.
So he did what needed to be done. He settled back down onto his shitty mattress, facing Luke. Let Luke link their hands together. Brusquely ordered him to get some sleep.
Reid tried to stay awake all night, tried to watch over him, but in the end, exhaustion dragged him under, too.
The next morning, Luke wouldn't wake up.
TBC