Business and Pleasure: Chapter 25

[saiya-tina.livejournal.com]

Title: Business and Pleasure
Rating: PG-13 It's safe!
Pairing: Brad/Ryan
Summary for the chapter: A fight and a memory.

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: I kinda like this one! Please leave a comment!

“I’m afraid I have to protest to that,” Colin’s voice broke into their bubble and both of them turned to see him looking at Ryan disapprovingly, “You won’t be able to get to him.”

 

“Yes I can,” Ryan protested, stepping closer to him, “You said it yourself that I’m the best you’ve ever seen!”

 

“Best I’ve ever seen, yes, but remember that I’ve only been in the business for the last seven years. There isn’t much for me to compare you with,” Colin reminded him.

 

“Hold on, only seven years?” Brad raised an eyebrow, “What, were you thirty three when you joined?”

 

There was silence for a long moment before it was punctuated with Ryan bursting into laughter and Colin actually looking offended before turning away with an honest-to-goodness pout. Brad looked in between the two of them wondering what he had said wrong when Ryan laid a hand on his shoulder both to steady himself and as a form of reassurance.

 

“He’s barely in his thirties, Brad,” Ryan got out with difficulty, “He’s not even three years older than you!”

 

“What?! But he- you-” Brad looked at Colin again, but this time only to see the assassin looking resigned.

 

“My family suffers from premature balding,” Colin muttered, one hand moving up to pat his retreating hairline, “and from grayness as well.”

 

“Oops,” Brad muttered, “Sorry....”

 

“No, it’s alright, you didn’t know,” Colin sighed, “Still, it doesn’t do much for my ego.”

 

“I can’t believe you zinged an assassin,” Wayne commented.

 

“I can’t believe it either,” Brad shook his head.

 

“Anyway,” Colin cleared his throat, “I have my say and I don’t think you’re ready for something of this level.”

 

“I can do it!” Ryan scowled, “You’re just being all teachery because I beat you last time.”

 

Colin froze at that and this time, it was obvious that even the cold and calm Colin had a competitive streak a mile wide, “Say that again.”

 

“Why don’t you try and prove me wrong?” Ryan smirked, folding his arms and giving him a look that could only be described as superior, “I promise to go easy on you.”

 

“You’re going to eat those words, brat,” Colin scowled, getting to his feet while Brad and Wayne got off their seats on the mats and moved to the side. Ryan and Colin began warming up, shooting insults at each other as they did and sending Brad and Wayne into hysterics when Colin called Ryan a “big stick with a big nose”.

 

“I never even thought of that!” Wayne said in between giggles, “Colin told it like it is!”

 

“Shush, Brady,” Ryan called back before taking a position on the mat, facing Colin.

 

“Focus, Ryan,” Colin took a deep breath and moved into a fighting position, watching Ryan do the same, “Ready?”

 

“Very,” came the reply.

 

Colin smiled for a quick second....right before lashing out with a punch that would broken someone’s jaw if it had made contact. Ryan quickly slapped his palm against Colin’s wrist, deflecting the punch to the side and lashing out with his own, which was promptly blocked by Colin.

 

“Not bad, you waited for me to throw the first punch,” Colin sounded impressed and Ryan flashed him a quick grin before lashing out again and this time, they didn’t pause before they were exchanging quick yet strong blows, though neither of them had made contact with the others.

 

“Wow, they are good!” Wayne looked absolutely awed at the fight going on. Brad had to agree. The way the two of them fought, it was like watching a martial arts movie but with two white guys.

 

Colin managed to get the upper hand and deflected a roundhouse at his jaw, causing Ryan to stumble into him as he got him into a headlock.

 

“Now what did I say about this?” Colin asked, holding tight as Ryan continued to struggle.

 

“Something alone the lines of this!” Ryan let out a breathless laugh and stomped down hard on Colin’s foot and then pulling free from his loosened grip. Before he had time to react, Ryan turned and slammed open palms against his chest and knocked Colin a few steps.

 

“Dammit, Ry, that was a cheap shot,” Colin scowled, rubbing his foot.

 

“Wasn’t that the point?” Ryan asked innocently, but there was definitely a mischievous look in his eyes.

 

“Well, if that’s the way you want to play,” Colin shrugged, right before leaping forward and punching Ryan hard in the stomach and withdrawing what looked like a knife, but still in it’s sheath.

 

“Weapons training?” Ryan sounded quite amused.

 

“Let’s see if you’ve learned how to dodge knife attacks,” Colin grinned before swiping at him with the knife. Ryan dodged back and Colin pressed forward, not allowing him to get any time to attack and blocking his escape routes. Ryan’s eyes followed the movement of the knife and finally, instead of dodging the swipe, leaped forward, getting what would have been a slice in the shoulder had the knife been uncovered. Colin had obviously not been expecting that and Ryan lashed out, his hand aiming for Colin’s throat, but Colin caught his wrist with his free hand, holding it nearly a foot away from him.

 

“Not bad,” Colin murmured, “If you had been using the hidden blade, another couple of inches would have killed me.”

 

“Good thing I took it off earlier then,” Ryan’s grin was feral, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t do other stuff!” With that, he brought a knee up to meet Colin’s stomach, causing him to loosen his grip on the knife, which was promptly snatched by Ryan, who tossed it in Brad and Wayne’s direction.

 

“You’ve gotten better,” Colin gasped out, clutching his stomach.

 

“I’ve been working on it,” Ryan responded, allowing Colin a couple of minutes to get his breath back.

 

“What’s the one thing I’ve always told you not to do?” the assassins asked quietly.

 

“Uh...” Ryan blinked, confused, “What?”

 

“Never give your opponent a moment of rest!” Colin sprang up, his hand connecting solidly with Ryan’s jaw, causing him to stumble back before lashing out at his left thigh.

 

Of all the things Brad was expecting, hearing Ryan scream out in pain was not one of them. The moment Colin’s foot made contact with his leg, he literally collapsed on the spot, clutching at the problem area and causing the other men in the room to nearly have a heart attack as they rushed to make sure he was okay.

 

“Ryan?” Brad asked, panic making his voice seem a lot higher, “Ry, are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” Ryan’s voice was tight with control as he fought to hold back some whimpers of pain but his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, betrayed him.

 

“Bullshit,” Colin snapped and Brad was surprised to seeing the man actually looking paler than normal. “There wasn’t enough force in that blow to take you down that easily. What happened to your thigh? You said that it wasn’t causing you problems anymore.”

 

“It wasn’t,” Ryan winced as Wayne supported him into maintaining a sitting position, “But I guess it hadn’t healed as well as I thought.”

 

“Let me see it,” Colin said in a voice that brooked no compromise.

 

Ryan sighed and allowed Colin to ease down his pants to his knee, revealing a large purplish-red bruise that took up nearly the entire side of his thigh and even crept up to his waist. He heard Brad swallow audibly from next to him and squeezed his hand reassuringly, happy to feel him squeeze back and smile at him.

 

“This is fresh,” Colin poked it lightly, “How did you get this?”

 

“It’s just the same injury,” Ryan shrugged.

 

“Ryan,” Colin’s voice was firm and dangerous, “Don’t lie to me.”

 

Ryan opened his mouth to protest but another fierce look from Colin shut him up. He hadn’t seen Colin look that furious in years and it wasn’t a very pleasant thing to behold.

 

“I fell off the roof a couple of days ago,” he muttered quietly.

 

“Off the roof?!” Wayne shouted.

 

“You absolute idiot!” Colin swore, “I told you not to attempt anything like that right now! You could have broken your damn leg!”

 

“I felt that I could do it! I did it once before and I succeeded!” Ryan defended, “it’s not my fault that Greg decides to fertilize those damn plants after a bloody year!”

 

“Ryan, just because I said some of the other assassins can do it doesn’t mean all of them can. Leaping off the roof was stupid!”

 

“And how do you expect me to move around that damn place without being seen?” Ryan shot back, “I can’t just walk around on the ground! They’d spot me easily!”

 

“That doesn’t mean that you should jump off a three storey building,” Colin sighed, “Even I can’t do that and you know it. Leaping from one roof top to another is different since they’re comparatively close together and you can roll to minimize pressure, but jumping off a roof is different. I don’t care if you can do it or not, you got lucky that you just got away with a bruised leg. I’ve seen people do that and end up paralyzed.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Ryan said quietly like a scolded child, unhappy with the fact that Colin was disappointed in him. The assassin chuckled slightly and ruffled his blonde hair slightly.

 

“Just don’t do it again. Or at least tell me if you get hurt. Even better, tell me when you want to practice that and let me supervise you.” Colin helped him pull his pants back up and then stood up, “Well, we can’t continue that fight so how about we just hold it as a draw for now?”

 

Ryan seemed to forget about his pain for a moment and grinned back up at him, “You know I would have won.”

 

Instead of the retort they had been expecting, Colin simply smiled fondly. Proudly. “I know.”

 

Ryan didn’t know what to say in response and Colin quickly changed the subject, “Would you mind helping me get him to his room?”

 

“Sure,” Brad went with what Colin was doing and helped Ryan to his feet, steadying him as he wobbled a bit but apparently, there hadn’t been that much damage done to Ryan’s leg because after a bit of support, he was able to walk on his own. He had to admire how Ryan managed to hide his pain or discomfort so well because even though he knew his leg was hurting, his face betrayed no such thing. It reminded him of that night Ryan had performed even though he had been recovering from a nasty stomach flu.

 

It had been just another night of Improv, but this time Brad had been corralled onto the stage for the game which he quite frankly wasn’t very happy about, especially when Wayne had very gleefully given them a scene that hit a little too close to home. Brad was supposed to be a boyfriend who had forgotten to get something for Ryan, Ryan being a young girl. The game already didn’t seem that much fun but Ryan’s expression at his role had been worth almost the entire game’s torture. It had also marked the first time Ryan had ever said ‘the’ three words to him.

 

Flashback:

 

“I really am sorry!” Brad whined for what seemed like the tenth time and even he could tell that the game was about to fall flat on its face. Ryan wasn’t as active as he normally was because he was still weak from the bouts of vomiting he had been suffering from for the last couple of days and the performance seemed to be sapping whatever was left it.

 

“Sorry! You’re always sorry!” the irritation in Ryan’s voice wasn’t totally fake, but Brad knew it wasn’t him that had Ryan annoyed.

 

“Hey, now come on. I don’t go around telling sorry to everyone! You’re the first person ever!” Brad frowned back, getting a bit more into his character.

 

“Oh, so I should be thankful that you’re apologizing for forgetting whatever I ask you to get?” Ryan sounded incredulous, “Wow, egos really are indirectly proportionate to penis size, aren’t they?”

 

The crowd roared in laughter at that, even more so as Ryan blushed at realizing what he had just said and Wayne was getting hysterical off stage. Brad bit his lip to keep himself from grinning but was slightly surprised when Ryan’s sour mood seemed to get even worse as he let out a huff and spun around on his heel, intending to storm off the stage.

 

At that moment, at least a hundred thoughts ran through Brad’s head: He’s not feeling well. What can I do? Is there anything I can do? Would he appreciate it? Should I do it? Can I even do it? Finally, he decided to just let it all go to blazes and whipped off his jacket to hoots from the audience, but not before drawing a sling shot he had bought from some kid on the street who was trying to learn the value of money and a large thick flower he had gotten from the manager at the Indian restaurant he had eaten at during lunch the same day. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he placed the flower in the sling shot and aimed to the crowd’s cheers before letting it loose. The flower flew straight and true before hitting it’s target: Ryan’s ass.

 

Ryan let out a gasp at the sudden light impact on his butt and turned around with an absolutely shell-shocked expression but Brad could make out the smile tugging at his lips as the audience went wild.

 

“You idiot!” Ryan shouted at him, but Brad could definitely hear the laughter in his voice this time. He lifted the sling shot threateningly and Ryan covered his face in mock fright as though that would save him from the next shot but on hearing the audience suddenly let out a loud ‘Awww...’, he lowered his hands, gasping softly at the sight that beheld him.

 

“You requested something of me but I didn’t obey. I am your sinner.” Brad spoke in a low but sincere voice, kneeling down in front of Ryan on one knee, with his head bowed, much like a knight would before his ruler. Or the way a man would before something he regarded as the most important thing in the world. That last thought had Ryan feeling like the world had been swept out from under his feet; he had never heard that much love in a single voice before. He didn’t even believe it was possible. Brad stood up and held out the slingshot in both hands and Ryan took it quickly, bringing his free hand up to cup Brad’s chin but still keeping a large distance between them.

 

“Whatever your punishment,” Brad continued, the two of them unconsciously circling each other, “I will accept without protest. Maybe that way I’ll finally get the peace I desire from the pain of knowing that I brought a frown upon your face.”

 

Ryan couldn’t help but let a smile cross his face and turned away from Brad quickly, taking a couple of steps towards the edge of the stage so that he was more clearly visible to the audience who were loving the act.

 

“Why did you hit me with the slingshot?” Ryan asked, “It is bad manners. Next time, think twice before you hit someone else like that.”

 

He heard Brad’s low chuckle before he felt two warm hands drop onto his shoulders and an equally warm voice by his ear, speaking loud enough for both him and the mike to pick up.

 

“Who’s got the time or freedom to think of someone else?” Brad asked in a low, sincere tone, “I can only be this impudent with you.”

 

“Why?” Ryan purred with a teasing tone in his voice, “What am I to you?”

 

Brad didn’t respond to that but just stepped back while spreading his arms in a grand gesture, “Now how can I answer that? I can’t say everything because that isn’t even a fraction of what you are to me and I can’t say I can’t live without you because without you.... there is no life to live.”

 

Ryan let out a genuine laugh at that and he could hear someone from the audience shouting at him to forgive Brad as he turned to face his lover, “I love you too.”

 

Brad grinned widely and wrapped his arms around Ryan’s waist, lifting him and twirling him around as the audience applauded loudly, still believing them to be acting out the scene. No one knew the truth behind every word spoken besides the two men on stage and the third in the wings.