Business and Pleasure: Chapter 23

[saiya-tina.livejournal.com]

Title: Business and Pleasure
Rating: WARNING: R for this one! Abuse and non-con are strongly hinted at, so I'm WARNING! you again!
Pairing: Brad/Ryan
Summary for the chapter: Wounds can only be healed when shown to someone you love.

Overall Summary: Brad's running his own large business and has everything but what he wants the most: someone to be there for him. After 'purchasing' Ryan from the Utopia group to serve the purpose, he slowly realizes that he's breaking their most important rule: he's falling in love with him. After two years together, two years of love, the time has come for Ryan to be taken away. The rules will change, the game will too and the three friends are going to go through the ultimate test.

A/N: Well, you guys will get the answer to some of your questions in this one so don't miss it! :D And do leave a comment!

“Did you see that guy’s face?” Ryan laughed as he doubled over, trying to breathe between gasps for air. Brad was in no better condition next to him, both of them winded from the run they had just taken.

 

“I did! I can’t believe he actually thought you were a hooker!” Brad gasped out before falling back into peals of laughter.

 

“I can’t believe I convinced him I was!” Ryan responded, cracking up again.

 

“Seriously, though,” Brad took a deep breath to rein in the giggles he was feeling building up, “how could he believe that crap? I mean, you’re dressed in a tux for crying out loud!”

 

“I was,” Ryan corrected. He had shucked the jacket a long time ago along with Brad and had both rolled up his sleeves and undone the tie in the exact same moment. Brad had followed suit soon after and considering they had spent the last hour or two running from one end of town to the other, their once white shirts were now grimy and sweaty, but it didn’t bother them in the least.

 

“Still, how did he come to the conclusion that a hundred bucks was enough?” Brad grinned, “I mean, I would think he’d offer at least five hundred.”

 

“Five hundred? I don’t know what my pimp’s been telling you, but it’s an even thousand if you want me for a whole night,” Ryan sniffed, looking down at Brad with a snooty air, causing Brad to burst out laughing again.

 

“Hey, check out where we are,” Ryan looked around, recognizing the familiar surroundings. Brad did the same and couldn’t help but smile. They had, unwittingly, run to the same park they had frequented years ago for walks and just to escape from the world for a moment. This particular part of the park was a little away from the road and entrance so most people didn’t venture in, which made it perfect for them to sneak kisses and touches without worrying about being recognized or frowned upon.

 

“What are the chances that out of all the places to run to aimlessly, this is the one we end up in,” Brad said with a smile, happy to be back with Ryan at his side.

 

“Probably reflex from the number of times we’ve darted here before,” Ryan agreed also looking at the dark greenery spread before them. Moonlight illuminated a pond a few yards away from them with a small bridge connecting the two sides. He couldn’t help but remember some of the moments spent on that bridge, just standing side by side and talking about random things that they had seen and had happened.

 

“Yeah, once because I ran into that woman and tripped over her Chihuahua,” Brad said with a grin.

 

“I honestly thought she was going to hit you with that poop scooper thing,” Ryan laughed, “as it is, she threw the bag after us.”

 

“Ugh, that was nasty,” Brad wrinkled his nose, “And I’m kinda tired. Mind if we sit down somewhere?”

 

“Hm, the benches seem to have wet paint on them,” Ryan squinted at a dark sign, “We can sit on the grass though.”

 

“Anything, my feet are killing me,” Brad sat underneath one tree with a groan, leaning back against the trunk and closing his eyes for a moment, feeling Ryan sit down next to him. Taking a few minutes, he just listened to his surroundings, feeling himself automatically relax at the near complete silence. There was a little noise from the street nearby, but it was late and no one was out except for them. All that was there was the sound of the occasional breeze through the trees and maybe a cricket or two.

 

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this relaxed,” Ryan spoke up, his voice quiet but seemingly loud in the serene atmosphere. Brad looked over to see him smiling with his eyes closed, almost as if savoring every part of the environment around and looking to all the world as if he were completely at peace.

 

“Haven’t you ever done this with Colin?” Brad asked, genuinely curious.

 

“Of course not. As far as Greg knows, Colin couldn’t care less about me,” Ryan snorted, “And to prove it, Colin nearly broke my arm.”

 

“What?!” Brad sat up straight in shock, feeling the now-familiar urge to go and beat up something.

 

“That was nearly two years ago,” Ryan waved it off, “And I didn’t know it then, but it was necessary. If Greg thought that there was even a chance that Colin would feel sympathetic towards me, he wouldn’t have kept him in charge of me and I would have never learnt anything.”

 

“Still....”

 

“It was the lesser of the two evils. Plus, I owe him a lot now.”

 

“What all did he teach you?”

 

“Lots of things,” Ryan grinned, “He taught me how to fight-”

 

“Didn’t you already know that?” Brad asked, thinking back, “You mentioned that you were at the top of your class.”

 

“I knew enough to handle a drunken idiot, but not nearly enough to beat a professional hitman,” Ryan corrected, “The first time Greg made an advance, I beat him off. Badly.”

 

“He deserved it,” Brad agreed, smiling at the obvious tone of pride Ryan had in his voice.

 

“But then he came back with about three of his bodyguards and they beat me up so badly, I swear I thought I was gonna die,” Ryan continued, “I couldn’t sleep because my body hurt so much.”

 

There was no bitterness or fear in Ryan’ s voice, just calmness, as if he was talking about the weather rather than about an experience that would have given most people nightmares for the rest of their lives and have them looking over their shoulder and jumping at shadows. It was obvious that Ryan had learnt not to let those experiences hold him back, but rather how to use them to become even stronger. Brad didn’t want to know the price he had paid for that skill.

 

“Ryan?” Brad spoke up after it was obvious Ryan wasn’t going to say anything else.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you....” Brad wondered how to frame what he wanted to say, “Would you....I mean, can you....”

 

“You want to know what’s happened since I left, don’t you?” Ryan cut him off.

 

“Well, I would, but only if you want to tell me,” Brad offered, not wanting to pressure him. Wayne had once told him that if Ryan was reluctant to say something, the best thing to do was to let him take it at his own pace and to assure him that he would be willing to listen.

 

“To be honest, I don’t want to tell you-” Ryan began.

 

“That’s okay then,” Brad said quickly, though he made no attempt to hide his disappointment, “I just thought you might want to talk or something, but only if you want to and you’re ready, so-”

 

“-but you have a right to know,” Ryan finished, cutting him off mid sentence. “You have to promise me something though.”

 

“Anything.”

 

“Don’t interrupt. This will be hard for me to tell.....and maybe even harder to hear. I rather I only have to do this once so pay attention. But let me ask you something: do you really want to hear this?”

 

Brad opened his mouth to respond but then paused for a moment. To be completely honest, he really didn’t want to hear about Ryan’s experiences, but at the same time, he wanted to know what had happened. He still felt it had been his fault that Ryan had suffered so much, still felt that he should have tried harder to find out how he was doing and in a way, he thought that the first step of his redemption would be to hear what had been the consequence of his supposed inaction.

 

“I want to hear it. I need to,” he said firmly.

 

A small smile flickered on Ryan’s lips before it fell away, his eyes blanking out slightly as he lost himself in his memories, talking without even being aware of what he was saying.

 

“When I left you, I was immediately taken to this huge place that was so fortified, I thought the guy must have been an ambassador or something. I already knew that whoever he was, there was a very, very slight chance that my life would be nearly as good as it was with you guys but I had been preparing myself for that ever since I got the letter, so I wasn’t that worried about it. However, you can imagine how badly I freaked out when I found out that the next few years of my life were going to be spent with him.”

 

Brad nodded as Ryan spat out the word. After his previous ‘meetings’ with Greg, he was surprised Ryan hadn’t refused to even step foot into that horror house.

 

“I did, you know,” Ryan looked at him as though he had read his mind, “The first thing I did was call Drew and tell him that I didn’t want to stay there.”

 

“And?” Brad urged on.

 

“He didn’t do a thing,” Ryan’s voice shook a bit but he brought under control with the ease of someone who had done that several times, “He claimed that I was in love with you and that I was lying about Greg just so that I could go back to you. He wouldn’t believe me.”

 

“What about the inspection? Didn’t he-”

 

“That inspection bit was a pile of shit. There was no such system. Drew just ‘inspected’ us because he thought that there was a chance of us falling in love. Since I called him and vehemently protested about Greg, he naturally assumed that there was no way I’d want to stay longer than I had to and so there was no danger of my protesting to another client.”

 

“But didn’t you call him after he....?” Brad gestured at Ryan’s face. Ryan simply chuckled, lightly tracing the scar with his fingers.

 

“Yes. He didn’t believe me.”

 

“What?! Why the hell not?!” Brad moved closer, his hand automatically reaching for Ryan’s.

 

“Because he still thought that I wanted to go back to you,” Ryan slid his hand into his, grateful for the comforting squeeze, “He was right.”

 

“Why didn’t he at least come by to make sure you were okay?”

 

“Because that was the last time I called him. Greg found out and threatened to kill you if he found me talking to Drew again. I couldn’t let anything happen to you....so I listened.”

 

“What about....the beatings?”

 

“Ah, the beatings,” Ryan chuckled, “Those are some of my worst and some of my most treasured memories, you know. Like I said, the first time Greg tried something, I beat him up badly enough to bruise him for weeks. The next time, he came with three other guys who hurt me bad enough that I couldn’t fight back. It became a sort of routine then and I quickly started getting used to it. But everyone has their limits, I guess and pretty soon....I stopped fighting. The result was going to be the same whether I fought or not, so I decided to just save myself a lot of pain.”

 

Brad tugged on his hand, sensing the tremble in Ryan’s muscles, pulling him closer to lean his head against his shoulder and wrapping his arm around him protectively. Ryan patted his stomach in silent thanks but didn’t make any motion to pull away, preferring to move in even closer.

 

“But then Colin came along. Greg’s guards had taken to hitting me for fun then and I swear, it was like being in a school playground with bullies. It wasn’t very bad, nothing like when Greg ordered it, it was mostly just a couple of punches and stuff, but obviously I hated it. Colin defended me against those guys, saying that unless Greg ordered it, I wasn’t to be touched and threatened to tell him that they had been damaging his ‘merchandise’, so to speak. He’d been working for him for a few months by then. He then took me back to my room and treated all my injuries, every single one of them. I asked him why, but he just asked me if I wanted to learn how to defend myself. To this day, he hasn’t told me why he helped me.”

 

“That’s odd,” Brad blinked.

 

“Very odd,” Ryan agreed, “but by then, I hated my life so much, I didn’t care if he wanted to kill me. I wondered what the hell? My life couldn’t get worse, so I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I agreed and he trained me. It wasn’t easy, getting away from Greg and training without him getting suspicious. We’d train in the old garden shed late at night and if asked what was happening in there, Colin would say that he needed to practice his skills if he wanted to maintain his reputation and so we were mostly left alone. No one knew I was in there with him. It was hard and painful but I did it.”

 

“What did he train you in?”

 

“Everything. Colin’s trained in kung fu for years and he’s developed a lot of other skills for his work. He taught me martial arts, climbing, stealth and even how to use the hidden blade,” Ryan flicked his wrist, the metal blade jutting out from under his sleeve and then retracting back, “he made it for me.”

 

“And you don’t know why,” Brad repeated.

 

“No! Brad, you tell me what I was supposed to do! I was in hell and this one guy offers to help me, so what did you expect me to do?!” Ryan attempted to pull away, but Brad simply tightened his grasp, his hand moving up slightly to stroke Ryan’s hair.

 

“Easy, I wasn’t judging,” Brad soothed, “I was just clarifying. To be honest, I’ve been wondering why Colin was helping you out and I thought you might know. I’ve just found it weird that he’s doing this supposedly out of the goodness of his heart.”

 

“I do too, but I trust him now, Brad,” Ryan said, “He may have his reasons for helping or maybe he just wants Greg out of the way. He may not share our motive, but he does share our goal.”

 

“If you trust him, it’s good enough for me,” Brad pressed a kiss to his hair, “Do you still get bullied around?”

 

“No. When they ganged up on me, I was already infuriated by Greg so I didn’t hold back. I broke one guy’s arm, gave two more a black eye and a concussion to one more. I panicked after that because I knew that they’d tell Greg and if he found out that Colin had been training me, he would have fired him. Maybe even killed him. I told Colin about it but he came up with the perfect solution.”

 

“Which was?”

 

“Greg wanted proof, of course. He couldn’t believe that I had beaten his men and made me fight one of them. I lost on purpose. As far as he knows, I still can’t do squat. But his men are too scared to come near me now. Not unless he’s around.”

 

“He’s going to get a shock when he realizes how good you are,” Brad chuckled.

 

“Oh, he will,” Ryan smirked, “he most definitely will.”

 

“So how good are you now?” Brad asked, “I mean, you were pretty bitchin’ in the alley.”

 

Ryan burst out laughing, “I can’t believe you actually said that!”

 

“What?” Brad grinned, “I’m not fly for a white guy?”

 

“Alright, stop it!” Ryan shoved him playfully, “I can’t focus with you making jokes like that!”

 

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry! You were saying?”

 

“Well, not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty good now. I mean, Colin could still probably kick my ass, but I could at least put up a fight. That a leap from the first time we trained because he nearly broke my leg that time.”

 

“Really? How did that happen?”

 

“We were sparring and he kicked me in the thigh hard enough for it to bruise for weeks. Explaining the limp to Greg was a bit of a problem.”

 

“Speaking of Greg, does he still.....you know?” Brad traced a finger along one of Ryan’s scars.

 

“Not on the face,” Ryan shook his head, “He didn’t want to ‘mar my looks’ apparently. He’s stopped that entirely, thank God.”

 

“Good,” Brad murmured, placing a small kiss on the scar next to his eye, “It just hurts so much to see that....”

 

“Not as much as.....um,” it was getting a little hard to think with Brad’s kisses inching lower, “Brad....”

 

“Shh,” Brad shushed him, kissing his way down to his lips and placing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth before brushing their lips together.

 

“Brad,” Ryan pushed him back slightly, but just enough to meet his eyes, “Do you really want this?”

 

“Haven’t I said that several times before?” Brad smiled, his thumb caressing Ryan’s jaw, “I don’t care about your looks, Ry, I care about you. Nothing that could have happened to you could make me want you less and I mean that.”

 

“You know everything and you still....”

 

“Love you? Yes. I never stopped and I never will. I love you, Ryan Stiles, and there is nothing that can ever make me love you less. All that you told me about just made me realize just how strong you are and if it’s possible, I just love you more.” Brad sealed his words with a kiss and this time, Ryan didn’t push him back or even attempt to pull away but returned the kiss happily. This time when he pulled back, it was to grip Brad’s face in his hands and press a kiss to his forehead.

 

“I love you too, Brad,” Ryan smiled, “And I would love to be with you. If you want me.”

 

“I want you,” Brad answered immediately, wrapping his arms around Ryan and kissing him again, breathing between kisses, “I want you so much....love you so much....”

 

Ryan glanced at his watch and saw that it was just an hour before dawn, which meant that if he wanted to meet Colin, he would have to hurry.

 

“It’s getting late,” he murmured, “I have to go.”

 

“Can’t you stay a little longer?” Brad whined a bit, lips brushing his neck.

 

“No,” Ryan brushed his fingers down his cheek, “But you’ll see me again. I promise.”

 

“I’ll always see you in my dreams, love,” Brad smiled, “But will I get to kiss you again?”

 

Ryan laughed, standing up and brushing his clothes off, “Patience, my dear. We’ll be together soon enough!”

 

“Ah, you really are a many splendoured thing,” Brad grinned, taking his hand in his own and kissing it softly, “Come on, I’ll drop you off. The car’s just around the corner”

 

Ryan smiled and kissed him lightly, “Let’s go.”

 

They didn’t stop talking the entire trip and even played a couple of old Improv games in which Ryan beat him easily, showing that the years had not hampered his comic skills in the least. When they finally reached the rendezvous point, Brad watched him walk away towards the nearly hidden car, feeling like a fool for grinning so widely, but he couldn’t help it. It had been too long since he had heard those three words in Ryan’s voice and it felt amazing. It had felt just like old times, the two of them just fooling around and doing whatever they wanted, whether it was normal or not. He had felt like he was 24 again when he had learned that work wasn’t everything and spending time with his friends was more important than anything. As he keyed the engine and started the drive towards his home, he felt like a balloon of happiness had been inflated inside him and like he would float away if he didn’t hold on. Things were going to work out, he just knew it.