Fire and Brimstone
Summary: After Sparta, Tommy returns to Pittsburgh and his life is going better than it ever has before. His relationship with Brendan is mostly salvaged and his nieces know who he is. Even his father is somewhat tolerable. Tommy never had much interest in pursuing girls, until his old high school flame shows up in Pittsburgh and turns his world upside down.
Disclaimer: All rights to Warrior belong to Gavin O'Connor and the cast and crew of the film. I own nothing except the characters not featured in the film. I definitely don't own Tommy Conlon (no matter how much I wish I did).
Chapter One
Once Tommy had allowed the proceedings of his military hearing to go through, he was allowed to return to Pittsburgh. The hearing had gone well, better than Tommy could have possibly hoped. He'd been discharged and wouldn't be allowed to return to the service again. That was fine, he didn't want to return to service. It was because of the testimonies of the men he saved while he was fleeing the country that he was spared a much worse punishment. That punishment could have been a prison sentence. A dishonorable discharge and a stripping of all ranks, awards, medals, etc. were definitely better than prison time. He never wanted medals anyway, or he would have been more open about having been a "war hero," and stayed in Iraq. After Manny had died, he couldn't do it anymore. Everything he'd loved in the world had died: his corps brother and his mother. His brother had been dead to him for so long for abandoning his mother and him. His father…Tommy hadn't even seen him for fourteen years because he couldn't be in the same room with the man.
Things had changed, though, since Sparta. Once a week, Tommy made it to Philly to see Brendan and his family. His nieces knew him now and loved being around him. They would pretend wrestle. Tess and Brendan would watch with eyes glowing. The first time Tommy visited, Brendan almost teared up. It helped that Brendan split the reward for Sparta in half. 2.5 million dollars was enough for Brendan to pay off all of his debts and the house as well as set aside an incredible college fund for Rosie and Emily. They were set for life. Brendan didn't need or want anything more than that and sent the rest to Manny's wife in El Paso while Tommy was being held in military custody. Tommy wanted to kill Brendan when he got out. He didn't like handouts. But it had already been done and that was that.
Brendan went back to teaching and didn't enter the ring again after winning Sparta. Tommy had found a decent job making a decent living at the gym where he'd trained for Sparta, Colt's. He'd been offered a number of sponsorships, but turned all of them down. Tommy wasn't necessarily sure if he was planning on entering the octagon again, but it didn't hurt to stay sharp. Tommy had picked up his real last name again and was putting down a real address now. He'd gotten an apartment, pretty close to the gym. It wasn't much, but it was out of his dad's house.
Brendan and Tommy's relationship with their father also improved after Sparta. Now, he was allowed to visit Brendan with Tommy every once in a while so long as he maintained his sobriety and temper. The girls called him Grandpop. Things really seemed to be going well for that family for once. And, even though the boys never forgave their father for what happened to their mother, they had moved past it. Getting fourteen years of repressed rage out on each other in the Octagon at Sparta had a lot to do with it.
Regardless, sometimes Tommy and Brendan would take a trip up to Frank's gym when Tommy came to visit and the boys would put a beat down on each other. Sometimes Tommy won, sometimes Brendan won. People always watched. The fights were always incredibly intense and always ended in burly bear hugs. They were friendly, though. They didn't have to be pried apart by referees because they were trying to kill each other. It always stayed fun. Of course, Tess never went to watch these sparring matches. After watching them in the cage at Sparta, she couldn't bear to see the two of them go at it again. There were points in the match where she almost hoped Brendan would forfeit because she was worried Tommy wouldn't tap and she knew Brendan would never forgive himself for killing his own brother. Especially right after reuniting again for the first time.
It was the first time Brendan had seen Tommy…not necessarily happy, but not ready to rip someone's head off at every turn. He didn't look like he hated everything anymore. It was refreshing and Brendan was happy to have his brother back, at least in these tiny ways. In the months following Sparta and his hearing, Tommy spent his days at the gym, working and then working out. Once he was done, he usually headed to a local strip club for a few drinks that was right down the street from the gym, on his way home.
He'd only been to that bar a few times, mainly because he didn't really have the time or energy after a day of working and then beating guys up. But, the drinks were good and that was all Tommy really cared about. He didn't give a shit about the strippers, didn't even look at them, let alone tip them. He thought they were trashy and none of them were good looking. Plus, Tommy was always too…Tommy to even care about going after a girl. It was something Brendan insisted on bringing up every single time they got together.
"Tommy, you should find a nice girl. Settle down. You could finally be happy."
And Tommy would always laugh at Brendan and make some excuse about how a girl would yank him out of the ring, just like Tess did to Brendan. That usually got him to shut up about it. If Tommy was being totally honest with himself, the reason he didn't actively look for a girlfriend or even a date was because he wasn't sure how to…handle himself. Not that he got nervous or choked up around girls. That wasn't his problem. He could charm any girl into his bed if he wanted to and had before. He wasn't sure if he could handle a relationship. He wasn't sure if he knew how a relationship worked. The only one he ever saw growing up was his mom and dad's and that was far from functional. And what would happen if Tommy ended up like his father? He didn't want to have that man's disease, that man's curse.
No, Tommy was better off alone. And he liked it that way. He knew there weren't many people out there who could handle his coldness. The way he pushed his father out of sobriety. The way he let Brendan go without knowing their mom was sick until she was already gone. Tommy had a mean streak in him and he knew that. He was open about it. His temper was never in check. And even if he wanted to believe he would never lay a hand on a woman in anger, he didn't want to even take that chance. After all, when he fought Brendan at Sparta, a ref had to pull Tommy off of Brendan to keep him from killing his own brother. Tommy's temper had the capacity to be dangerous.
About three months after Sparta, Tommy was sitting in a bar by himself drinking a beer. It wasn't the strip club this time; it was a suggestion from one of the guys at the gym. Apparently they were a microbrewery and some of the beer they made in house was really good. By Tommy's opinion, it was decent. He preferred what he knew. But nothing had prepared Tommy for what he saw walk into the bar that night, Charlotte Annabel McLane.
Tommy had only had one girlfriend in his life. He was seventeen, she was sixteen and they both were in high school. She was definitely good-looking, but Tommy knew he was going into the Marines after high school and she didn't want him to go. Tommy only remembered the day they broke up because of that fight they got into about the Marines that resulted in him putting his fist through her bedroom wall because he was so angry. He knew how close he had come to hitting her and stormed out, never spoke to her again. Tommy had really cared about that girl for a time in his life. There was a point he even thought he could have loved her. Charlotte. Most people called her by her full name, but Tommy had called her Charlie. She was named after her grandmother. Last Tommy heard, she was in New York City doing something impressive with her life.
After Charlotte, Tommy didn't date; he just had dates. Girls would see him at a bar and recognize him from Sparta or the news or not at all. He didn't have any trouble getting what he wanted from them, but it was always empty. Tommy wasn't lonely, not really. It had been years since he'd even thought about Charlotte and it had been ten years since he'd even seen her. She didn't see him at first, which gave him a moment to look her over.
She had been pretty in high school, but she had really come into her own now. One thing Tommy could always count on when he was seventeen was that he would always know her by her bright green eyes. They were almost a turquoise color on the outside, getting greener closer to her iris. Her brown wavy hair hung over her shoulders. Her full pink lips that Tommy remembered so well. Could it have really been ten years? She was lean, little. She wore a pair of skinny jeans and some leather boots over top of them with a small heel and an oversized green sweater that hung off of one of her shoulders, showing her slightly tanned collarbones. Tommy, though, was definitely not going to say something. Not after how he had left things with her. He downed the rest of his beer and paid his tab and left. He knew she had seen him when he left, looking up from the table she was sitting at with her old high school friends now also all grown up.
Natural curiosity had Tommy asking himself what the hell she was doing here when her life was probably perfect. She didn't belong here anymore either. She was too good for a place like this. But, Tommy told himself he didn't care and that he wouldn't care. She'd go back to her perfect life in a few days most likely and he'd never run into her again.
When he'd gotten home, Tommy just flipped on the TV and flopped on the couch before beginning on his dinner. He never really learned how to eat the food normal people ate. When he was a kid and his father trained him, he ate like an athlete. When he was in the Marines, he ate like a soldier. When he was training for Sparta, he ate like a bodybuilder. It was this combination that made Tommy's tastes somewhat strange. Usually, he just threw some pasta in a pot and ate it like that. Maybe he would throw some sauce in the microwave to throw on top of it. Sometimes he would have a sandwich. Tonight, it was the usual pasta. And a protein shake. It was only about nine at night when Tommy went to his room and went to sleep. He had to wake up early and do it all again in the morning and the gym opened at seven.
After his shift, Tommy always stuck around to get a bit of a work out in. When he trained for Sparta, he exercised five to six hours per day every single day. Now, he usually got about an hour in after his shift. Sometimes, when he needed to be…Tommy, he would stay until the gym closed at 11. Considering Tommy usually got off work at around four in the afternoon, it gave him a lot of time to let loose. It was usually only on days where he really needed time to think or to let his anger out. Seeing Charlotte had shaken Tommy. It reminded him of his mom being sick, of how horrible he could be in some situations, how he tended to only be so cruel to the people he loved like Brendan and his father.
He was really letting loose on the heavy bag when the bell to the door rang. He turned, thinking he would see the normal hotshot guy who watched too much UFC walk in. Most of these guys really just needed to get in the ring and then they tended to realize they weren't meant for any of this racket. The staff and members had thought that about Tommy when he first started working out there. And then he laid Mad Dog Grimes out like he was an amateur, not the number one middleweight in the world.
But it wasn't some hotshot. It was Charlotte. She didn't look so neatly put together today, though. Just a gray v-neck underneath of a black jacket, a pair of jeans and some moccasins. She looked like Charlotte from high school. But Tommy noticed something about her that he didn't notice the night before. She was wearing a pair of pearl earrings. Pearl earrings he had given her in high school that had belonged to his mother.
"What can I do for ya, miss?" asked Colt as he approached Charlotte. Tommy went back to the punching bag in front of him, intent on not looking in her direction if he could avoid it. What was she doing here?
"I don't want to be a bother," she began, "But…I saw something about a Tommy Conlon on CNN during that big fighting tournament a few months ago. It said that he worked out and trained here. Do you know where I could find him?" Her voice was just the same, soft and innocent sounding with a very slight rasp from smoking too many cigarettes. Apparently she hadn't seen Tommy when she walked in.
"Yeah, our one and only Tommy is here, working out over there." Colt pointed Tommy out to her and she headed over in the direction, tapping him on the shoulder.
"What do you want, Charlie?" Tommy asked without taking any of his attention from the heavy bag. He had to hit it a certain number of times before he could rest.
"I don't want anything. I just wanted to say hello. Maybe catch up."
"No…" Tommy hit the bag over and over and over before turning towards her, but looking past her. She took a deep breath when she saw him. He had been a pretty good-sized guy in high school, but now he was nothing but muscle, head to toe. He was huge. "I mean what the hell are you doing back here?"
"My dad is in the hospital. With my parents being divorced and all, you can imagine my mom wasn't going to help. You know I don't have any siblings. I'm the only one who can take care of him."
"Sorry to hear that, Charlie," Tommy grumbled before turning back to the bag. The entire time she spoke, he didn't look at her. "You know…we haven't spoken in over ten years. Why try and talk to me now?"
"Why not?" Tommy hit the bag especially hard when she said that. She had always been that way. Spontaneous and all about living in the moment. "I saw you at that bar last night. I hadn't even thought of you in so long, but I dunno, it just felt like a good time to try and rebuild those broken bridges while I was in town. And, after that thing on TV with the tournament and the Marines. I couldn't believe I used to date a celebrity. Get yourself cleaned up. Have a coffee with me." Yeah, typical Charlie. She was always making demands, bossing people around, all about carpe diem and whatever else she wanted to do. She always got her way, too. She was always so good at convincing people to do what she wanted. She was hypnotizing, more than anything. That was why Tommy wouldn't look at her.
"I don' think thas' a good idea," Tommy said, continuing to abuse the punching bag.
"Why's that, Tommy?"
"We break up on the best terms."
"Tommy it's been ten years. I'm here right now, clearly over it and clearly doing fine. You were the one who ran away…literally ran across my front lawn back home to your mom and never said another word to me ever again." Tommy stopped, letting out a growl-like sigh and finally turned to look at her, but his eyes were anything but friendly, his jaw locked. He peeled the gloves off of his hands and tossed them onto the ground. And then he started to walk away, but she followed him, running up next to him.
"Really, Tommy, after ten years?"
"Look, I'm sorry about your pops. But, I got my own shit and I don't need some old flame popping up in my life trying to be friends. I always liked your dad. Tell the old man I said hi."
"He always hated you."
"You can take your dad and your getting coffee bullshit and take it to some other ex-boyfriend." She stopped in her tracks dead in front of him, blocking his path up the stairs to the locker room. He glared at her but she only glared back, a smirk playing on her lips. It made Tommy roll his eyes.
"Tommy, at least grab a drink with me. One drink. For old time's sake, please," she said, her smirk now a full smile as she pleaded with him.
"Know what? Fine. But you're payin'. Lemme go change." She stepped out of his way as he brushed past her to go to the locker room. He didn't take his eyes off of her as he walked by, staring out of the corner of his eye as one of his massive biceps brushed her tiny shoulder. He was much taller than her, that was certain, much bigger as well. But he could never intimidate her and he knew it too well. He wasn't used to it. Most people were scared of him after seeing his behavior at Sparta, knocking guys out cold with a single punch. Not Charlotte. She stared at him as he went up the steps and once he was out of her view, she went back to the front and sat down in one of the chairs to wait.
He was back out in less than five minutes, hair wet from a quick shower and in a new set of clothes. Granted, he looked very just-rolled-out-of-bed because he seemed to wear nothing but sweatpants and sweatshirts over wifebeaters, but that was just all he kept in his locker. Surely, he owned a pair of jeans somewhere in his house. Of course, he was already chomping away at a toothpick as he headed towards the door and she got up. He held the door open for her, which was a good sign, but the two walked to a bar down the street in absolute silence.
They didn't get a table, but opted just to sit at the bar and Tommy ordered himself a drink, she told the bartender to make it two.
"Still not drinking like a lady, I see," Tommy joked, the first to break the smile as he put his toothpick down on the bar and took a sip of his beer.
"Probably never will," she responded, smiling. "How's your life going? How's your brother and your dad? You never talked about them much in high school."
"Brendan's good, married with two girls. My pops is alright, trying to get sober and shit. How 'bout you?"
"Like I said, my dad's not doing great. I'm only in town to help take care of him and settle some things with the estate. You know how it goes, though." She almost felt guilty for bringing up Tommy's mother. She and Tommy had broken up before she'd died, but she was sick while they were dating and died soon after. It was a big deal in school and everyone knew about it. After that was when Tommy basically shut down. Stopped trying at anything, barely scraped by on grades, stopped wrestling. He did only as much as he needed to get into the Marines.
"Yeah…so you're in New York, right?"
"Yeah…yeah. I ended up there after college. I got a good offer from the New York City Ballet Company there. I couldn't really turn it down."
Tommy turned away from her to look at the bottles of liquor stacked up against the wall behind the bar. She had always been an incredible dancer. Her small frame helped. She'd started dancing when she was three and never really stopped. She was clearly doing well now, making decent money based on her clothes. Tommy didn't know a single thing about dancing or ballet other than the dance he did in the ring. Maybe that was why they'd been so compatible and yet fought so much. She was delicate, small, something that needed protecting. Tommy was rough, big, a protector. But, she wasn't interested in being protected and she liked his roughness. He was always scared he would accidently break her somehow, like snapping the stem of a tulip from holding it too tightly.
They finished their drinks in relative silence, watching a football game on TV. Once they were done, Charlotte paid the bill without a second thought and left a decent tip for the bartender. As she headed towards the door, Tommy stopped her.
"Let me walk ya home."
"That's really not necessary."
"Yeah it is. Town isn't safe for a pretty thing like you to be walking home at night." She didn't respond but walked through the door as he held it open for her. "Where ya staying?"
"The hotel just a few blocks down," she said, pointing down the street where a Hilton rose up above most of the other buildings.
"Fancy, huh?" he joked. She smiled at him. Something was different about him. He was still Tommy, obviously. Still a big ball of repressed anger and a fiery temper that no one ever could predict. But he didn't seem so angry anymore. It was like there was something he'd gotten back that she'd always seen as missing, his family. It was good that he had someone again. After his mom died, he didn't have anyone and that contributed to a lot of the pain he had. But he was always so brave. Now he didn't have to be anymore. It was like a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He seemed more relaxed, more open to the places life had the potential to take him. He would always be the same old Tommy, all asshole and fire, bottled up pain and the ability to be cruel. But he didn't feel like he had to be cruel anymore. He wasn't so defensive.
They walked in silence, both with their hands shoved in their pockets. It was a chilly night, but not terribly cold. The leaves on the trees were beginning to change colors as October settled into Pittsburgh. The walk only took a few minutes and she stopped outside the entrance of the hotel.
"Let me give you my number. In case you want to catch up some more or get together or something," she said, looking at her feet as she stepped on a brown crunchy leaf. Tommy looked skeptical, but agreed and handed her his cell phone so she could type in the phone number.
"Have a good night, Charlie," he said as she turned to head inside the hotel. She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder and for a second it felt like it hadn't been ten years. It felt like walking her home after a date on the town. For a moment they were teenagers again with their whole lives before them and no problems to speak of. For a moment, they both forgot about the distance and the fighting and the pain and smiled at each other before she turned and walked back to him, throwing her arms around his broad shoulders in a bear hug. She could feel him tense up at her touch, like she was burning him. She could feel the strong muscles of his back and shoulders. He wouldn't hug her back and she expected that, but she didn't care. It had been so long since she'd felt those arms and that tension.
"It was good seeing you. Don't be a stranger, Tommy," she said, giving him a light peck on the cheek before running inside. She hadn't changed one bit. She was still as playful and goofy and adorable as Tommy remembered when he saw her that last day they were together. He wondered what would have happened if they had another chance at being teenagers again, if they could do that whole thing over. Maybe his mom wouldn't have gotten sick. Maybe he wouldn't have wanted to go into the Marines. Maybe he would have talked to her about it instead of being a stubborn ass like he always was. But he could ask himself what if and say maybe as many times as he wanted, but it would never take them back to that day when he punched a hole in her bedroom wall.
A/N: Please review. I've already begun work on the next chapter and I'm more than halfway through on it. But if this story doesn't do well, I'll just be writing it for myself and not post it up here. I hope you like it, though! Any suggestions, feel free to post them in the reviews. Any spelling/grammar mistakes, let me know!