Oceans of Oceans by InSilva
Dedication: Here's to the good, the bad and the ugly – they are all somebody's child.
Disclaimer: Rusty and Danny aren't mine. Any of them.
A/N: Thanks to the Beatles for the chapter title and the line.
Chapter One: Goo goo g'joob
Before he could turn the key in the lock, the door to the hotel room opened and that's when the world started to make complete fish for Danny.
Leaning against the door frame was Rusty. Rusty, whom he had just dropped off at the airport; Rusty, who was supposed to be on his way to Seattle; Rusty, who, unless he had a twin brother that neither of them knew about, was most definitely stood in front of him.
Rusty's face was tight and unsmiling and there was the slightest of tics in his left eyelid which Danny had only ever seen once before. And since that occasion was two days ago when Rusty had had a gun trained on him, Danny's senses were instantly on high alert.
Still, before anything, he had to get over the logistical impossibility.
"Didn't I just-"
"You did."
"Weren't you-"
"I was."
"Then, how-"
"Just come in the room."
Is it…? Danny's eyes flicked beyond Rusty and back again.
"It's not what you think. In fact," Rusty confessed, "I don't know what to think."
Cautiously, Danny stepped in the room and Rusty closed the door behind him.
There were four men. Two sat in chairs by the window, dressed in sharp suits and wearing sunglasses: the other two were casually dressed, lounging on the edge of one of the beds, one in a black turtleneck and the other in a shiny shirt that Danny could have sworn belonged to Rusty: mind you, he thought absent-mindedly, any shiny shirt has the potential to belong to Rusty.
What made Danny's scalp crawl, however, were the inhabitants of the clothes.
He looked at Rusty.
"I see them too," Rusty said levelly.
The impossible man by the window spoke.
"To avoid confusion," he said slowly and Danny almost snorted, "I am Mr Ocean and this is Mr Ryan."
The other impossible man raised a lazy hand.
"My name's Rus," the man in the shiny shirt volunteered, "and this is Daniel." And then, as if trying to be helpful and as if stating the obvious would clear up anything, he added, "you're us. Or, if you like, we're you."
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together…Danny thought. He must have swayed slightly because Rusty's arm was there immediately.
"I realise this is confusing," Mr Ocean continued. "You may want to take a seat."
Forget the seat, where's the-
Rusty pressed a large whisky into his hand and pushed Danny forward towards the couch. They sat down together. Heavily.
"Back in 2001," Mr Ocean began, "there was a successful film detailing the exploits of a con man and his crew and a heist they pull in Vegas."
"It was called Ocean's Eleven."
"Thank you, Daniel," said Mr Ocean as sternly as Saul would have done. "Let me tell the story."
"I was just…"
Mr Ocean took off his sunglasses, placed them on the table and gave Daniel a hard look. Daniel closed his mouth. Rus reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
Danny risked a sideways glance at Rusty who gave the slightest of nods. No doubting who was the boss here.
"The film, as I said, was successful. Two sequels followed. More importantly and please pay attention here-"
"Oh, I am all ears," Danny muttered, taking a long sip of whisky and hoping it would help.
Mr Ocean ignored him. "A fandom sprang up. Are you familiar with that term?"
Rusty and Danny waggled their heads noncommittally.
"Fandom equals fan fiction. The good, the bad and the ugly."
"The ugly," Mr Ryan repeated, pocketing his shades and shuddering.
"Stories that take the original characters from the film and put them in a variety of situations," Mr Ocean elaborated. "Some of these are well-written, keeping the characters true to the way they are portrayed in the movie. Others are, shall we say, improbable. Others still are…"
He tailed off leaving Danny and Rusty to fill in the gap.
"The point is," he went on after a moment, "once the stories are typed, those versions of the characters are created. They live. And they live that story over and over again."
"Like 'Groundhog Day'," Rus contributed and beamed when he got a nod of approval from Mr Ocean.
"These versions are imbued with the intelligence of their creators as well as the characteristics assigned them. Some versions are strong, stylish, intelligent…the epitome of cool."
You think…
Well, Rusty, they certainly do…
"Others focus on…" Mr Ocean paused and looked over to the bed. "Well, perhaps you two could explain."
Daniel looked sulky. Rus patted his arm encouragingly.
"Other versions," Daniel said, scowling at Mr Ocean, "are more in touch with their feelings."
"And their feelings for each other," Rus elaborated. Danny and Rusty both noted that he still had his hand on Daniel's arm.
You think…
Oh, yes…
There was a silence.
"So," Danny said to break it. "You're saying what exactly. That we are all figments of someone's imagination."
Mr Ocean nodded.
"But…I remember the Benedict Job," Rusty protested. "I remember Danny coming to find me at that Hollywood poker game, I remember the pitch to Reuben, I remember walking out of the casino with bags of cash. If I'm a figment, then how can I?"
"Don't you see? We all remember," Mr Ryan said. "We all remember going to see Yen at the circus, speaking to Charmaine-"
"Playing doctor to Saul," Rus added, "standing in front of the fountain…"
"Or in our case, sitting in front of the parole board," Mr Ocean said to Danny, "tracking Linus down in Chicago…"
"Kissing Tess goodbye," Daniel said dreamily.
"We share these memories," Mr Ocean went on, shooting a disapproving look at Daniel, "because we've been written into stories that take place after the Benedict Job."
Danny and Rusty looked at each other.
"Supposing," Danny said slowly, "just supposing this is all true. What are you doing here? Or is this one of those ugly stories? Is this going to turn into some sort of clone orgy?"
Mr Ryan and Mr Ocean grimaced. Rus's mouth formed a wide "O" and Daniel looked thoughtful.
"Nothing so hideous," Mr Ryan assured him. "There's been a slight incident."
"We're not sure how it happened exactly-" Mr Ocean began.
"He isn't all that clear," Rus said, "not that that's really his fault."
"Whose fault?" Danny asked.
"It seems that somehow, some way, there has been a blurring of lines," Mr Ocean went on. "Boundaries have been crossed. We're all proof of that."
"What boundaries?" Rusty wanted to know.
Mr Ocean looked at Rus and Mr Ryan and then with a sigh at Daniel who seemed to be lost in a daydream.
"The original script has been compromised. A character has gone missing. As a result, a degree of fluidity has been introduced to the world of fan fiction. Stories are colliding. Hence…"
He gestured round the room.
"The thing is," he continued, "we need to fix it. If we don't, the ripple of instability will just carry on going and who knows what will happen."
"Luckily, Mr Ocean and myself were among the first to realise what was going on," Mr Ryan said with a hint of smugness. "We decided to address the situation, left our story and set out to find help from our other selves."
Danny glanced over at Rus and Daniel.
"And they found you guys?"
"Well, not straightaway," Rus said. "They paddled through some Benedict/Rusty, Benedict/Danny and Benedict/Rusty/Danny first."
Nobody said anything. Danny turned his head to Rusty who had a blank expression.
Did he just say…?
Yes.
Is that what I think it is?
Yes. Now be quiet, I'm trying to bleach my mind.
Mr Ocean was looking a little sickly.
"It's not a good memory," he confided.
"I never want to see that golf putter again," Mr Ryan muttered.
"Anyway, we found Rus and Daniel and eventually managed to convince them they were not going insane," Mr Ocean said.
"Are there any others?" Danny looked around, half-expecting another dozen Dannys and Rustys to appear.
"Er, no, actually," said Mr Ocean shortly.
"Not everyone was so willing to believe as Rus and Daniel," Mr Ryan added. "In fact, not many have sat for as long as you two have while we explained everything."
"Remember the Danny at that rodeo," Daniel smiled.
"Oh, yes, lovely muscles," Rus agreed.
"You didn't even get as far as introducing us all before he threw the first punch," Daniel remembered fondly. "It broke your sunglasses."
"Yes, well, some versions are written with a bit more of a temper and a bit more physicality than others," Mr Ocean said hurriedly. "I'm a talker not a fighter."
He turned to Danny and Rusty.
"Look, we don't have a lot of time. We need your help if we're going to put this right. Are you in?"
"We…need a moment," Danny said. "We'll just step outside, if that's OK with you gentlemen."
They closed the door on the madness and stood in the corridor.
"This is-" Danny began.
"Completely," Rusty agreed.
"Are we hallucinating? Are we on drugs?"
Rusty considered. "Not that I can remember."
"Those two are so…and those other two are so…"
Rusty nodded. He couldn't have put it better himself.
"Do you believe them?"
"I don't want to. But they know things, Danny…how do they know those things?"
Danny had no answer. He thought of something that had been nagging at him.
"What happened at the airport?"
Rusty unexpectedly coloured.
"What do you mean?"
"I meant what happened at the airport," Danny repeated wonderingly, "but now I want to know what happened at the airport."
"Oh, well," Rusty said hurriedly. "Nothing much. Daniel showed up and I thought it was you obviously."
"Obviously."
"And he, er, he…" Rusty uncharacteristically floundered.
Danny looked at him incredulously. "He didn't?"
"He did."
Danny's eyes grew wider. "Tell me you didn't."
"I didn't know," Rusty defended himself. "I thought it was you and I thought you must have a reason…"
He looked away and then recovered his composure.
"Anyway, then Mr Ocean turned up with Mr Ryan and Rus and before I could call for a straightjacket, Mr Ocean shouted something out into a phone and snap! We were back in the hotel room waiting for you."
They both looked at the door.
"So," Danny said heavily. "What are our choices? Ignore them?"
"Or join them. And what if they're telling the truth, Danny?"
"Then we've got nothing to lose."
"And that's how we always play the game."
OK…
They opened the door and Danny half-expected, half-hoped that their doubles would be gone. They weren't.
"We're in," he said matter-of-factly and was rewarded with a grin from Messrs Ocean and Ryan, a broad smile from Daniel and little claps of joy from Rus.
"So what's first?" Rusty asked.
"First, we share our one piece of good luck with you," Mr Ocean said. "Remember I said a character had gone missing?"
They both nodded.
"We found him. Hiding in a piece of hurt/comfort, licking his wounds. You can come out now," he called.
The bathroom door clicked open.
"About time. I nearly fell asleep in there."
Petulant, he stomped into the centre of the room. It was Linus.
A/N: OK, I know it's craziness but is it good craziness? Please tell me!