Combat (1/15)
Title: Combat (1/15)
Author: WibbleyWobbley
Rating: Up to NC-17
Characters: Kevin/Scotty, Justin
Word Count: ~31,105
Spoilers: Will probably reference some episodes, but nothing truly spoiler-y
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: SUPER AU. REALLY REALLY SUPER AU.
"Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow. You sadist."
"Is that the best name you can come up with? You still have to do ten more lifts before you’re done."
"I need something."
"Come on - push against my hand."
"This is killing me. I really need something."
"No, you don’t. You had a pill half an hour ago."
Scotty dropped his head back, panting. "I can’t do it. I can’t."
"Scotty. Yes, you can."
He raised his head again and looked at Ellen. He sighed in exasperation and then nodded in resignation and determination. Grimacing, he lifted his leg, pressing against the counterweight of his therapist’s hand.
Ten excruciating lifts later, Scotty was trying to catch his breath, while Ellen massaged the muscles in his leg. A young man walked into the exercise room, and they both turned to face him.
"Hi Ellen!"
"Hey Justin! You made it."
"Yeah, sorry I’m late. Traffic was brutal."
"Ah, that’s OK. We’re just finishing up here. This is Scotty. Scotty Wandell - Justin Walker."
"Hey man," Justin smiled at him, and Scotty nodded in return.
"I thought you guys should meet."
"Why?" Scotty asked warily.
"Because," Ellen said, patting his leg and handing him his crutches. "You two have a lot in common. And you still need a NA sponsor."
Scotty looked away. "Oh."
"Why don’t you guys go get a smoothie and chat a bit?"
***
Scotty stared at the table, moving the straw around in his smoothie. He and Justin had been sitting in silence for almost five minutes. Scotty sighed.
"So how does this work?"
Justin shrugged. "We figure it out together."
Scotty stared up at him in disbelief. "That’s it? That’s all you got?"
"Hey, this is my first time sponsoring someone. Give me a break."
"So why do you think they put us together?"
Justin took a sip of his smoothie and looked around the grounds of the rehab center. "I was in Iraq too. And Afghanistan before then. And I almost got my leg blown off."
Scotty nodded slowly. "Guess we do have a lot in common."
"Yeah."
Scotty laughed humorlessly. "I never took any drugs before...all this. I don’t even like taking aspirin."
"Not me. I tried just about everything. I finally came here before I went to Iraq. I OD’d when I found out they were calling me up again. Been clean ever since, although it was tough with my leg, I have to admit."
"Why’d you join the Army if you didn’t want to go?"
"I did want to go." Justin looked away. "I enlisted after 9/11. And I did want to go then. But after Afghanistan, I...couldn’t...I didn’t want to watch anyone else die."
Scotty nodded. "I get that."
"What about you? Why’d you sign up?"
Scotty snorted. "I’m originally from Mississippi. I moved to L.A. after graduation, but I’m still a Southern boy. If you’re not smart or athletic enough for a scholarship or your Daddy’s not rich enough to send you to college, then you do some crap manual labor or join the Army. I tried waiting tables a couple years, a few temp jobs, but I...I needed the money. What a noble reason, huh?" Scotty sighed and looked away. "And they don’t pay nearly enough for the work."
"Yeah, no kidding."
***
Kevin rubbed at his eyes and groaned. He turned his head to look at the clock - 6:00. He should leave, call it a day. They were all getting together for dinner at the house tonight, and he couldn’t read one more court document or he’d lose his mind. But he didn’t want to leave yet. Jason might call.
He didn’t know why he thought that. Jason hadn’t called in almost two weeks.
"What are you still doing here, man?"
Kevin looked up at Justin standing in his office doorway.
"Just finishing up a few things. What are you doing here?"
"Ah," Justin said, walking into the office and collapsing into one of the visitor’s chairs. "I’m on my way to Mom’s, just thought I’d check to see if you were still here. Which of course you are, because where else would you be?"
"I could be on a date," Kevin said indignantly.
"On a Thursday night? When Mom's cooking dinner?"
"You never know."
"Besides, you wouldn’t be dating - not while you’re pining for Reverend Stud."
"Jason and I agreed we could date other people while he’s gone."
"How many other people have you gone on dates with?"
Kevin was silent for several moments before changing the subject. "I’m not even on your way to Mom’s."
Justin drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. "I was at the rehab center."
Kevin looked up at him, startled and concerned. "Why? Is everything OK?"
Justin put a hand out and stared at him in mock offense. "Yeah. I’m not using again, bro."
"What? What am I supposed to think?" Kevin closed the folder he was reading and filed it in his desk drawer. Closing the drawer, he stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair.
"I’m sponsoring someone there."
"Really?" Kevin asked as he leaned forward to turn off his computer. "How’s that going?"
Justin shrugged. "We’ll see. The guy seems like he might be pretty cool, but he’s not in a good place right now. Obviously."
"Why’d they ask you? Are you ready to be a sponsor right now?"
"I’ve been clean for over a year."
"Yeah, but - "
"It’s fine. I think it’ll be anyway. And the guy’s a vet. I want to help."
Kevin pressed his lips together and nodded. "OK," he said. "Let’s go to Mom’s."
"Yeah, dude. I’m starving."
***
"So are your parents still in Mississippi?"
Scotty looked up at him. He seemed almost confused or surprised by Justin’s question. Finally, he took a breath and answered. "No, they live in Arizona now."
"Well, that’s not too far away. Are they coming to family day?"
Scotty glanced away. "No."
"You know, my family was wary about coming, but it turned out well in the end. They should give it a shot."
"I don’t want to talk about it."
"OK. Sorry."
Scotty scoffed. "Aren’t you supposed to push me to talk about it?"
Justin made a face. "I’m not a shrink. We’re figuring this out together, remember?"
Scotty smiled in gratitude.
***
"I can’t move."
"Me neither. When did we get so old?" Tommy asked.
"Speak for yourselves, geezers. I feel great," Justin said with a laugh as he collapsed onto the beach next to his brothers.
"Shut up," Kevin ordered.
The three brothers were uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes as they looked around the beach. Tommy and Justin focused on two women tanning a couple yards away while Kevin was distracted by a group of guys playing volleyball. Tommy came back to the conversation first.
"Try not to drool, guys," he said with a laugh.
"Oh, what? Like you weren’t staring too?" Justin asked.
"At least you’re both getting laid on a regular basis," Kevin muttered. He sighed before turning to Justin. "How’s the guy you’re sponsoring?"
Justin nodded. "Good. Of course, he’s still in rehab. It’s not that difficult to stay clean in rehab."
"How much longer is he going to be there?"
"He’s got two more weeks left of the program."
"You know, Justin," Tommy said. "I think it’s really great that you’re doing this."
Justin shrugged before standing and picking up his surfboard. "Gotta go. I’m meeting Tyler for lunch before heading out there."
"Lunch or lunch?"
"Very funny."
"What? She works at a hotel. Access to all the empty rooms."
"Goodbye Tommy," Justin said, ignoring Tommy’s laughter. He waved quickly at Kevin.
***
Justin found Scotty in the exercise room, working on extending his knee.
"Hey! Almost 70, 80 degrees there. Looks pretty good."
Scotty looked up at him. "I thought you were coming at 1:30."
"Yeah, sorry. I had lunch with my girlfriend. We got a little...distracted."
Scotty laughed. "I see."
"You have a girlfriend? Wife?"
Scotty focused back on his knee. "No."
"Well, at least you won’t have to worry about how all this would affect someone else. It nearly broke Tyler and me up. Well, it did. We got back together though."
Scotty nodded but didn’t say anything.
"It’s tough. You’re not supposed to date anyone, really, while you’re still working the steps. Transference and all that. But I was too stubborn to let her go, even when she wanted to give me the opportunity."
"What if you’re already in a relationship? Married or something?"
"That’s what I’m saying! You need your friends and family, right? Tyler helped me through a lot of stuff. Held me when I wanted a fix so bad. E-mails while I was in Iraq. She even helped me deal when I found out I had an illegitimate half-sister."
Scotty looked at Justin in surprise.
"Yeah, my family’s a soap opera."
Scotty laughed.
"But I can see why they say not to start something new. I mean, when you’re first falling for someone, it’s like a drug itself, isn’t it? That’s why they don’t let people sponsor someone of the opposite sex."
Scotty gave him a tight smile before hopping over to his crutches and then leading Justin out of the exercise room. "I’m hungry. You mind?"
"Nah. I could eat."
"I thought you just went for lunch."
"We got distracted, remember?"
As they entered the cafeteria, Justin changed the subject again. "You got any sisters or brothers?"
Scotty shook his head. "No, only child."
"I can’t even imagine what that’s like."
"How many do you have?"
"I’m the youngest of five. Well, second-youngest of six, if you count Rebecca."
"She’s the...?"
Justin nodded. "Sarah - she’s the oldest - runs our family business and has these two awesome kids. Kitty’s in politics; she’s engaged to Senator McCallister?"
"Your sister is Kitty Walker? Of Red, White and Blue?"
"Yeah, you watched that show?"
"All the time. Mostly to make fun of your sister. Sorry."
"Don’t be. We made fun of her a lot too."
Scotty laughed.
"So you’re a democrat, huh?"
"Yeah. Weird, I know. Southern boy. Raised by a religious mother. Joined the Army. Democrat. One of these things is not like the others."
"Hey, I’m with you. Just because I signed up doesn’t mean I drank the Republican Kool-Aid. Actually, my whole family’s almost evenly split along political divides. Tommy - he’s my oldest brother, is a die-hard Republican too, just like our Dad was. Tommy’s the VP of the company, and his wife just had a baby girl last year. Then there’s Kevin, who is a corporate lawyer and yet still the most liberal guy I’ve ever met."
"Big family."
"Yeah, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve let me ramble on and on about myself."
Scotty smiled softly. "I don’t have any siblings; I already told you."
"No siblings, no girlfriend. Your parents won’t come for family day. And the front desk says you haven’t had any visitors besides me."
Scotty was silent for a long time. "So I’m pathetically alone. Happy?"
Justin stared at him. "Not at all, man."
Next Chapter
Main Page
A/N: This story is obviously dealing with medical stuff and military stuff as well as legal issues with Kevin. I have done some research on these aspects, but I am coming across some conflicting information. I am neither in the military or a lawyer (or a doctor or an addict, for that matter), so...let's just assume some of these details are true for the sake of the story! Work with me, people!
Author: WibbleyWobbley
Rating: Up to NC-17
Characters: Kevin/Scotty, Justin
Word Count: ~31,105
Spoilers: Will probably reference some episodes, but nothing truly spoiler-y
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: SUPER AU. REALLY REALLY SUPER AU.
"Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow. You sadist."
"Is that the best name you can come up with? You still have to do ten more lifts before you’re done."
"I need something."
"Come on - push against my hand."
"This is killing me. I really need something."
"No, you don’t. You had a pill half an hour ago."
Scotty dropped his head back, panting. "I can’t do it. I can’t."
"Scotty. Yes, you can."
He raised his head again and looked at Ellen. He sighed in exasperation and then nodded in resignation and determination. Grimacing, he lifted his leg, pressing against the counterweight of his therapist’s hand.
Ten excruciating lifts later, Scotty was trying to catch his breath, while Ellen massaged the muscles in his leg. A young man walked into the exercise room, and they both turned to face him.
"Hi Ellen!"
"Hey Justin! You made it."
"Yeah, sorry I’m late. Traffic was brutal."
"Ah, that’s OK. We’re just finishing up here. This is Scotty. Scotty Wandell - Justin Walker."
"Hey man," Justin smiled at him, and Scotty nodded in return.
"I thought you guys should meet."
"Why?" Scotty asked warily.
"Because," Ellen said, patting his leg and handing him his crutches. "You two have a lot in common. And you still need a NA sponsor."
Scotty looked away. "Oh."
"Why don’t you guys go get a smoothie and chat a bit?"
***
Scotty stared at the table, moving the straw around in his smoothie. He and Justin had been sitting in silence for almost five minutes. Scotty sighed.
"So how does this work?"
Justin shrugged. "We figure it out together."
Scotty stared up at him in disbelief. "That’s it? That’s all you got?"
"Hey, this is my first time sponsoring someone. Give me a break."
"So why do you think they put us together?"
Justin took a sip of his smoothie and looked around the grounds of the rehab center. "I was in Iraq too. And Afghanistan before then. And I almost got my leg blown off."
Scotty nodded slowly. "Guess we do have a lot in common."
"Yeah."
Scotty laughed humorlessly. "I never took any drugs before...all this. I don’t even like taking aspirin."
"Not me. I tried just about everything. I finally came here before I went to Iraq. I OD’d when I found out they were calling me up again. Been clean ever since, although it was tough with my leg, I have to admit."
"Why’d you join the Army if you didn’t want to go?"
"I did want to go." Justin looked away. "I enlisted after 9/11. And I did want to go then. But after Afghanistan, I...couldn’t...I didn’t want to watch anyone else die."
Scotty nodded. "I get that."
"What about you? Why’d you sign up?"
Scotty snorted. "I’m originally from Mississippi. I moved to L.A. after graduation, but I’m still a Southern boy. If you’re not smart or athletic enough for a scholarship or your Daddy’s not rich enough to send you to college, then you do some crap manual labor or join the Army. I tried waiting tables a couple years, a few temp jobs, but I...I needed the money. What a noble reason, huh?" Scotty sighed and looked away. "And they don’t pay nearly enough for the work."
"Yeah, no kidding."
***
Kevin rubbed at his eyes and groaned. He turned his head to look at the clock - 6:00. He should leave, call it a day. They were all getting together for dinner at the house tonight, and he couldn’t read one more court document or he’d lose his mind. But he didn’t want to leave yet. Jason might call.
He didn’t know why he thought that. Jason hadn’t called in almost two weeks.
"What are you still doing here, man?"
Kevin looked up at Justin standing in his office doorway.
"Just finishing up a few things. What are you doing here?"
"Ah," Justin said, walking into the office and collapsing into one of the visitor’s chairs. "I’m on my way to Mom’s, just thought I’d check to see if you were still here. Which of course you are, because where else would you be?"
"I could be on a date," Kevin said indignantly.
"On a Thursday night? When Mom's cooking dinner?"
"You never know."
"Besides, you wouldn’t be dating - not while you’re pining for Reverend Stud."
"Jason and I agreed we could date other people while he’s gone."
"How many other people have you gone on dates with?"
Kevin was silent for several moments before changing the subject. "I’m not even on your way to Mom’s."
Justin drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. "I was at the rehab center."
Kevin looked up at him, startled and concerned. "Why? Is everything OK?"
Justin put a hand out and stared at him in mock offense. "Yeah. I’m not using again, bro."
"What? What am I supposed to think?" Kevin closed the folder he was reading and filed it in his desk drawer. Closing the drawer, he stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair.
"I’m sponsoring someone there."
"Really?" Kevin asked as he leaned forward to turn off his computer. "How’s that going?"
Justin shrugged. "We’ll see. The guy seems like he might be pretty cool, but he’s not in a good place right now. Obviously."
"Why’d they ask you? Are you ready to be a sponsor right now?"
"I’ve been clean for over a year."
"Yeah, but - "
"It’s fine. I think it’ll be anyway. And the guy’s a vet. I want to help."
Kevin pressed his lips together and nodded. "OK," he said. "Let’s go to Mom’s."
"Yeah, dude. I’m starving."
***
"So are your parents still in Mississippi?"
Scotty looked up at him. He seemed almost confused or surprised by Justin’s question. Finally, he took a breath and answered. "No, they live in Arizona now."
"Well, that’s not too far away. Are they coming to family day?"
Scotty glanced away. "No."
"You know, my family was wary about coming, but it turned out well in the end. They should give it a shot."
"I don’t want to talk about it."
"OK. Sorry."
Scotty scoffed. "Aren’t you supposed to push me to talk about it?"
Justin made a face. "I’m not a shrink. We’re figuring this out together, remember?"
Scotty smiled in gratitude.
***
"I can’t move."
"Me neither. When did we get so old?" Tommy asked.
"Speak for yourselves, geezers. I feel great," Justin said with a laugh as he collapsed onto the beach next to his brothers.
"Shut up," Kevin ordered.
The three brothers were uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes as they looked around the beach. Tommy and Justin focused on two women tanning a couple yards away while Kevin was distracted by a group of guys playing volleyball. Tommy came back to the conversation first.
"Try not to drool, guys," he said with a laugh.
"Oh, what? Like you weren’t staring too?" Justin asked.
"At least you’re both getting laid on a regular basis," Kevin muttered. He sighed before turning to Justin. "How’s the guy you’re sponsoring?"
Justin nodded. "Good. Of course, he’s still in rehab. It’s not that difficult to stay clean in rehab."
"How much longer is he going to be there?"
"He’s got two more weeks left of the program."
"You know, Justin," Tommy said. "I think it’s really great that you’re doing this."
Justin shrugged before standing and picking up his surfboard. "Gotta go. I’m meeting Tyler for lunch before heading out there."
"Lunch or lunch?"
"Very funny."
"What? She works at a hotel. Access to all the empty rooms."
"Goodbye Tommy," Justin said, ignoring Tommy’s laughter. He waved quickly at Kevin.
***
Justin found Scotty in the exercise room, working on extending his knee.
"Hey! Almost 70, 80 degrees there. Looks pretty good."
Scotty looked up at him. "I thought you were coming at 1:30."
"Yeah, sorry. I had lunch with my girlfriend. We got a little...distracted."
Scotty laughed. "I see."
"You have a girlfriend? Wife?"
Scotty focused back on his knee. "No."
"Well, at least you won’t have to worry about how all this would affect someone else. It nearly broke Tyler and me up. Well, it did. We got back together though."
Scotty nodded but didn’t say anything.
"It’s tough. You’re not supposed to date anyone, really, while you’re still working the steps. Transference and all that. But I was too stubborn to let her go, even when she wanted to give me the opportunity."
"What if you’re already in a relationship? Married or something?"
"That’s what I’m saying! You need your friends and family, right? Tyler helped me through a lot of stuff. Held me when I wanted a fix so bad. E-mails while I was in Iraq. She even helped me deal when I found out I had an illegitimate half-sister."
Scotty looked at Justin in surprise.
"Yeah, my family’s a soap opera."
Scotty laughed.
"But I can see why they say not to start something new. I mean, when you’re first falling for someone, it’s like a drug itself, isn’t it? That’s why they don’t let people sponsor someone of the opposite sex."
Scotty gave him a tight smile before hopping over to his crutches and then leading Justin out of the exercise room. "I’m hungry. You mind?"
"Nah. I could eat."
"I thought you just went for lunch."
"We got distracted, remember?"
As they entered the cafeteria, Justin changed the subject again. "You got any sisters or brothers?"
Scotty shook his head. "No, only child."
"I can’t even imagine what that’s like."
"How many do you have?"
"I’m the youngest of five. Well, second-youngest of six, if you count Rebecca."
"She’s the...?"
Justin nodded. "Sarah - she’s the oldest - runs our family business and has these two awesome kids. Kitty’s in politics; she’s engaged to Senator McCallister?"
"Your sister is Kitty Walker? Of Red, White and Blue?"
"Yeah, you watched that show?"
"All the time. Mostly to make fun of your sister. Sorry."
"Don’t be. We made fun of her a lot too."
Scotty laughed.
"So you’re a democrat, huh?"
"Yeah. Weird, I know. Southern boy. Raised by a religious mother. Joined the Army. Democrat. One of these things is not like the others."
"Hey, I’m with you. Just because I signed up doesn’t mean I drank the Republican Kool-Aid. Actually, my whole family’s almost evenly split along political divides. Tommy - he’s my oldest brother, is a die-hard Republican too, just like our Dad was. Tommy’s the VP of the company, and his wife just had a baby girl last year. Then there’s Kevin, who is a corporate lawyer and yet still the most liberal guy I’ve ever met."
"Big family."
"Yeah, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve let me ramble on and on about myself."
Scotty smiled softly. "I don’t have any siblings; I already told you."
"No siblings, no girlfriend. Your parents won’t come for family day. And the front desk says you haven’t had any visitors besides me."
Scotty was silent for a long time. "So I’m pathetically alone. Happy?"
Justin stared at him. "Not at all, man."
Next Chapter
Main Page
A/N: This story is obviously dealing with medical stuff and military stuff as well as legal issues with Kevin. I have done some research on these aspects, but I am coming across some conflicting information. I am neither in the military or a lawyer (or a doctor or an addict, for that matter), so...let's just assume some of these details are true for the sake of the story! Work with me, people!