HEAVY RAIN

In This Together

Based on an Idea Presented By: Jimmy Hudson 1207

Written By: AwesomeMcGeeofCaledonia

Rated T+ for Strong Language, Violence, (Fictional) Drug References, and Sexual References

Disclaimer: Heavy Rain is owned by Quantic Dream; the events referred to in this story are based on events in Heavy Rain, which was written by David Cage. The basic premise of this story is based on an idea presented by the user Jimmy Hudson 1207. I own nothing.

Quick Synopsis: Ethan Mars had been chased by the cops in the chapter, "On the Loose" with little warning from Madison Paige; but, what if he had received help in the form of Norman Jayden?

Author's Note: When Jimmy Hudson 1207 gave me the basic premise for a new possible fanfic, I immediately saw some potential. As far as "What If?" scenarios go, I'm still debating how much of Heavy Rain's latter continuity will be changed. We'll see. Also, the Prologue's time setting is slightly fooked up; upon seeing the time "On the Loose" starts up, I factored in the sexy-time with Madison, and just assumed where that would take us.

"Everything I did, I did for LOVE." - Ethan Mars

XXX

Prologue - On the Loose

Friday

12:40 A.M.

4.454 inches

Dammit, Blake is going after the wrong guy, and the bastard knows it! Norman Jayden was visibly shaking as angry thoughts of his partner, Lt. Carter Blake, came rushing through his head.

The rain; it hadn't stopped raining since Norman arrived in the city. It had been pouring down all week; hell, for all he knew, all month.

The Cross Road Motel's receptionist looked visably pleased; having the Origami Killer staying at his hotel would probably get him a lot of press coverage.

No, not the Origami Killer, Norman thought to himself, Ethan Mars is not the Origami Killer.

The raid was about to get underway. He was prepared to do anything in his power to make sure it wasn't successful.

XXX

Ethan released Madison from his embrace. He had only just met her less than two days ago, but she made him feel... alive. He hadn't felt this way for the past two years, not since Jason had passed away.

Despite the fact that she had initially lied to him about her identity, he had chosen to forgive her; he knew she was sincere in her apology.

Madison looked deeply into Ethan's eyes, and then slowly turned around. She made her way for the door.

"I'm gonna go and see if I can't find us something to eat," Madison told him, grabbing the handle. "I won't be long."

She exited the room, and closed the door behind her.

I should just leave... she'll only slow me down, Ethan thought, assessing the current situation. Then, once this is all over, maybe I can find her again. Shaun is my number one priority right now.

Ethan turned towards the destiny-defining shoebox on the desk behind him. On it lay the last origami figure, the location of his final trial.

But, maybe I should wait for her, he thought, looking back towards the door, Maybe she can help me.

XXX

"...room 207," the receptionist finished telling Blake.

207, gotta be quick, Norman thought to himself, as Blake continued to talk with the receptionist.

Norman, using the directions the receptionist had given the police squad searching for Ethan Mars, briskly walked towards the back of the courtyard to a flight of stairs.

"Alright, let's go get this son of a bitch!" Blake called, exiting the receptionist's office with the other officers.

Norman's speed increased, his pulse rising. He had to make it to Ethan before the others could. Images of Tripto flooded Norman's mind.

You need to calm down. No, no... you need to take some Tripto, it always helps you think! Norman's inner conflict was making his trip prove difficult.

"You gotta get to room 207, dammit..." he quietly told himself. "Come on."

The footsteps turned into drum beats behind him. He was going to have to move faster. With all his speed, Norman made a straightline through the courtyard, and ran up the first set of stairs. Just as he began to head up the next set, he narrowly missed a head-on collision with a beautiful, young woman. A familiar-looking woman...

Without stopping, he reached the top of the second set of stairs, and yelled back, "Sorry!"

Only three more to go...

XXX

Madison had only just looked up when the pale man almost ran into her; she stopped dead in her tracks and closed her eyes, bracing for the impact, when... she hadn't been knocked over.

"Sorry!" the man yelled from the top of the steps she had just come off of. She exhaled her stored breath.

That was close...

Madison couldn't believe what she was seeing; police officers where strewn all over the motel's courtyard.

Ethan; they're here for Ethan! She mentally screamed. She had to act fast. Wait, was that guy a cop?

It didn't matter; if he was, he'd have already reached Ethan, and she'd be too late. But if he wasn't...

She had an idea; she'd call Ethan's room, and warn him. If the man wasn't a cop, Ethan would pick up.

As quickly as she could, Madison made it to the ground level, and initiated a mad dash for the receptionist's office.

I just hope I'm not too late!

XXX

The pounding on his door had scared him senseless.

"Jesus!" he yelled out, his heart close to jumping out of his chest.

"Ethan!" came an unrecognizable voice on the other side of the door. "Ethan, open the door, I'm here to help you!"

What the hell's going on? Ethan thought. He really didn't have time to think. The police were out looking for him somewhere, and surely it was only a matter of time before they found him.

Fuck it.

Ethan, giving in, walked over to the door, unlocked it, and slowly turned the handle; the door burst open, and he almost fell over. A man in a black suit came rushing in. He whirled around, slammed the door, and re-locked it. He was hunched over, breathing heavily.

"Who the hell are you?" Ethan asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"I'm- I'm," the man studdered, inhaling deeply. "I"m Norman Jayden, F.B.I."

Norman regained his composure, and stood up.

"What are you doing here? Are you here to arrest me?" Ethan asked, slowly backing up towards the sliding door leading to the room's balcony.

"No, no," Norman began, "I know you're not the Origami Killer, Ethan. Don't ask me how, I just do. I'm here to get you out; the police are out there, and if you don't come with me, they are going to arrest you. We need to find your son, Ethan. We need to find Shaun."

Forgive me, Madison, Ethan thought.

Turning towards the shoebox on the desk once more, Ethan quickly glanced at the objects surrounding it; a handgun, a cellphone, and an origami rat. Scooping up the latter two, he shoved them into his pockets. He carefully picked up the gun, and put it inside his coat pocket.

"Alright, let's go," he said.

"Now, hold on," Norman commanded, blocking the front door. "We can't go out this way."

"The balcony!" Ethan exclaimed, turning toward the sliding door. He slid it open, and looked out over the edge. He sighed and turned around, shrugging his shoulders. "The fall would kill us..."

You're not giving up, he told himself. You're going to find Shaun, no matter what the cost. Even if it means trusting whoever in the hell this guy is with your life.

The bed! They could move the bed out onto the balcony, lift it over the railing, and- no, too time-consuming, and worse, probably impossible. The mattress!

"Hey, help me with the mattress," Ethan said, walking over to the right side of the bed, thrusting his hands under the mattress.

Norman, realizing where he was going, reciprocated his action on the left side. WIth a heave, they lifted the mattress off the bed's frame, and maneuvered their way over to the now open sliding door. Turning the mattress on its side, Ethan carefully angled his portion through the frame. Once he made it through, he lifted the mattress up onto the railing.

"Careful, now," Norman warned.

As slowly and cautiously as they could, the two pushed the mattress over the railing, and watched it land flat on the ground.

"We did it," Ethan breathed. He climbed over the ledge, hung above the mattress for a second or two, and then let go; the world flew past him, and suddenly he hit something solid. The mattress, of course. He stood up, his adrenaline high.

Now it was Mr. F.B.I.'s turn.

XXX

I can't do it, Norman told himself. I need Tripto... I need it. It'll calm me down.

Norman reached into his jacket's pocket, and pulled out a tube of blue liquid. Taking the lid off, he inhaled the fumes of the volatile substance.

Almost immediately, his blood pressure returned to normal, his pulse slowed, and he was able to think clearly. He pocketed the tube once more.

Alright, my turn.

Just as Norman began to work himself over the ledge, he heard loud banging against the room's door.

Outta fucking time!

Norman pushed himself from the ledge, and landed on the mattress. Quickly, he stood up.

Ethan motioned towards the other side of the street.

"Come on, we don't have time!" Ethan told him, breaking for their only hope of escape.

"Where the hell are we going?" Norman asked him, genuinely unsure of their next move.

"I have an origami figure with an address on it," Ethan told him, still running. "Once we find a place to rest, we'll check it out."

Norman didn't really have any choice but to listen to him. It surprised him that Ethan was this trusting...

Oh well... it doesn't really matter now. We're in this together. I just hope it wasn't wrong for ME to be so trusting of HIM...

XXX

Mike Vance nodded at the officer to his left; within a second, with their combined efforts, they had kicked the door to room 207 down.

Guns drawn, they both slowly entered.

I'm getting too old for this shit, Mike told himself.

Apparantly, the phone had been ringing before they busted in, as a message was playing over the answering machine.

"Ethan!" came the voice of a woman. "Ethan, the cops are coming for you! Are you there? Oh no... Ethan, I'm sorry!"

Mike looked at the other officer.

"This is the right room..." Mike sighed, pulling out his radio. He pressed a button. "Lt. Blake? The suspect got away."

"God dammit! Too fucking slow for your own good, you know that Vance? God... DAMMIT!" his lieutenant yelled back through the receiver.

Yeah, WAY too old for this shit...

XXX

Author's Note: Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Sadly, I may have emptied all of my creativeness into my other fanfic, but given time (and a rebuilding of my vocabulary), this could turn into something abso-fan-freaking-tastic. Well, if you would kindly, please review this segment; whether it be for constructive criticism, praising me, I don't care. Watch out for chapter 1!