[Ollie/Ty] Rewind the tape, start again

[strangebyrds]

So, Ollie thought, he was having a meltdown. That's what Sam would have told him if his eldest sister was still alive to. Then she'd tell him to give himself twenty minutes to embrace the meltdown and then go deal with the shit. Lenore would have prescribed a long walk somewhere quiet. Carine....would have poured him a drink.

In a way, he did all three before he came back to Ty's wing - sitting with his head in his hands in a quiet corner of Club Castle, then walking through Town and the gardens at Heart Castle, and finally getting Cailean James to pour him a whiskey at his dad's bar on the edge of the Spade and Diamond districts before he walked back. By then, Elisha and Hadyn had left. He imagined Sarah had been by, and Carlos, too, but the hall was empty now except for a nurse in a chair in the hall, and he checked his watch. Just past six, he thought. Still early, but then, every person who cared about Ty was bent on making the people who'd done this pay - including him.

"I brought apology food," he said, lifting a bag up. "It is, unfortunately, the daily special at Mackinnon's, but Cailean assured me it was one of their cook's better attempts."

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[strangebyrds]

Ty might not want to sleep, and they might both prefer staying up and talking, with Ollie trying to fill in months of blanks. But Ty had had a long day; Ollie had barely slept for the last two weeks. He doubted they'd be awake long.

He hesitated a bit about the Dodgers game. Last time he'd gone to one, he thought, was on his last leave before the car accident. With his dad, of course, in their usual seats where they'd been a familiar sight. But that was five years ago now, he thought, and as much as his presumed death made him hesitant to go back to L.A....probably no one would ever think he was that Oliver Byrd. "I don't know if we're up to 200 yet," he said as he turned his head to watch Ty. No, they wouldn't be awake long like this. "But sure, let's do the Dodgers, and I can introduce you to the time honored tradition of swearing at umpires from the stands." He paused. "Though that probably goes across sports, really."

[missinglinks]

"Everyone yells at the ref, that is like...the universal language of sports." It was probably why some people had no respect for certain sports that did not have umpires or referees. "And if we aren't up to 200, we've got a lot of work to get there. I expect that we should start as soon as possible." Maybe even tomorrow, or whenever they find the dickwad with a bomb.

"You'll have to tell me when they play ball," he said in a sleepy voice as he blinked and then sighed before he smiled a little. "You should sleep, before we plan a dodgers trip."

[strangebyrds]

"Mm, I will." It was nearly September now, he thought; baseball season was in the wane, and the Dodgers hadn't fielded a good enough team this year to make it anywhere near the Series. So a Dodgers date - that was a ways off. Next spring. There were plenty of options in the meantime, he thought as he rubbed one of Ty's curls between his fingers.

As for the asshole with the bomb - Sarah had texted while he was getting air, telling him that she was following a good lead. They hadn't had many of those yet, but if this was panned out...Ollie suspected Ty wasn't going to have the opportunity to deal with the culprit. Sarah Kagan, for all that she played the role of the spoiled princess pretty well, had revealed a slightly terrifying and intense side that frankly scared him a little bit. If this lead was right, whoever it was would be dead by morning.

He was rather certain of that. He smiled, though, as he settled back against the pillows. "You should sleep too," he said. "I'll be here when you wake up."

[missinglinks]

He would have hoped that Sarah wouldn't have killed the man, or men. He had questions, and he needed answers but all of that would have to wait. Certainly would have to wait until he was up on his feet and not curled up on the bed. Even if it was next to Ollie.

"You better be," he muttered, before his eyes finally, slowly closed and he started to drift off into his sleep.