A/N: I know, I'm starting a new fic when there are unfinished ones waiting to be written. I got bit really hard by my muse, and I've actually finished this already. I'll be posting a little each day.

Chapter 1

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ryan should have been shocked when the door flew open and he was face to face with a gun. However, he was so angry at the accusation made against his brother, that he discounted it for the moment.

"Did you do it?"

Trey tightened his jaw. "Get out of here Ry."

"Did you attack her?" Ryan demanded again, ignoring the warning.

"I'm warning you Ry." Trey continued.

"Did you try to rape Marissa?" Ryan yelled. He paused as Trey's eyes flickered. He knew at that moment that it was true. "How could you Trey? After what we've both been through, how could you try to do that to someone else – especially my girlfriend!"

"Sir, the suspect is armed. That's a direct violation of his probation. Shouldn't we apprehend?" Officer Michael Grayson asked Detective Monroe. The two members of the Newport Police Department were sitting in an unmarked car outside the apartment. They had received an anonymous tip that Trey Atwood was dealing drugs in the area. After a quick warrant, listening devices were placed throughout the small apartment. They were also watching the situation through a telephoto lens. What had formerly been a boring stakeout had suddenly become very interesting.

"Let's wait and see what else we can get first." Rick Monroe ordered.

"The suspect is pointing a gun at a kid." Michael pointed out.

"A kid that obviously knows him," Rick scoffed. "The kid could be an accomplice."

With that, the two police officers settled back to listen.

"What's wrong with you Trey? You just got out of jail! Now you're waving a gun in my face? Did you want to go back? I supported you when you got an apartment and then when you got the job at the Bait Shop. You have a chance at a decent life now Trey. Why would you jeopardize that by doing stuff like this?" Ryan exclaimed.

"I'm a stock boy at a kids bar while you're living in a damn pool house! You've got a brand new rich family now – the perfect mom and dad and brand spanking new brother! So don't come to me with your fancy clothes and your damn private school education and tell me how good I have it!" Trey exclaimed.

"You couldn't be more wrong! I'm not a member of their family! I'm Sandy's way of getting over his guilt at living in a fucking mansion. If he took in the poor abandoned delinquent then he's still not like those other Newpsies who only care about themselves. I'm just Seth's playmate who he wants around when he doesn't have any other friends to hang out with or to help him in his latest girl crisis. And Kirsten, she informed me today that she let me into her house. Does that sound like they give a damn about me to you?"

Ryan took a deep breath. "I live in the pool house – not the house. I'm still in the same place that I was when I first got there and was only supposed to stay for the weekend before I went into foster care. When you first got out and stayed with them, where did you stay? That's right, the pool house. As soon as you were gone, I went right back out there. I'm not even allowed a room in the main house!"

"Then why don't you grab a few of those expensive items in the house and get yourself a new life?" Trey sneered.

"Because I don't want to spend my life looking over my shoulder. I may not be a member of the Cohen family, but I'm not going to turn my back on the opportunity to improve my future. I'm a year away from graduating from high school. I have been working every summer and saving every penny so that when I turn eighteen I can afford a few months rent and maybe even sign up for some night classes."

"You still want to be an architect?" Trey scoffed.

"Of course I know that won't happen, but I do have a chance to make a decent living and not be back out on the street. The Cohens have given me a chance to make something of myself and I'm going to take it. I might become a contractor or something. Either way, I won't starve or I won't be on the streets. Who knows, I might even manage a college degree someday." Ryan shrugged.

"Mom always said you were the smart one. She always liked you best." Trey said softly, his eyes narrowing in rage.

"You have a chance now too, Trey. You can save some money and go back to school." Ryan urged.

"What about your precious girlfriend?" Trey sneered.

Ryan glared as he was reminded of his reason for being there. "Stay away from Marissa." He stated softly.

"So you do love her." Trey's eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course not. I did, before I figured out that I'm only convenient until some other guy comes along. She proved to me last year when she believed the rich kid that she just met over me. I'll never be anything but the delinquent bad boy in her eyes." Ryan scoffed.

"Then why are you with her?" Trey demanded.

"Because her mother came to me and asked me to get her back so that she wouldn't ruin her life with the girl she was dating. Marissa had been skipping school and getting in trouble." Ryan shrugged.

"And you just do whatever her mom asks?"

"Julie is friends with Kirsten and Sandy. I owe them, and I'm not about to do anything that's going to get me kicked out. Telling Julie 'no' would have made her come after me next. She wouldn't have stopped until I was gone. Besides, Seth likes it when he's with Summer and I'm with Marissa. I told you, I'm not giving up my chance at a real life." Ryan informed him. "But even though I'm only with Marissa because of obligation, she still didn't deserve to be attacked like that. Damn it Trey, we both understand how that feels. Why would you do that to someone else?"

"I was drunk." Trey shrugged.

"You bastard." Ryan whispered.

"Actually, technically, you're the bastard – not me." Trey chuckled.

Ryan stared at his brother in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Why do you think you're so much smarter than me? Hell, you're smarter than any of the Atwoods – including Dawn." Trey sneered. "You're not Frank Atwood's kid. You should change your name to Ryan Johnson because that's what you are: a John's son. Dawn was pimping herself out to make some extra drug money and accidently got pregnant. She couldn't afford an abortion, and by the time she had you she wanted to keep you. Why do you think Frank always beat you a little harder and more often? You were a reminder that his wife was a prostitute!"

Ryan felt his world tilt slightly as his brother explained his parentage. "No." Ryan whispered.

"Oh yes. So I'm not really the bastard here, you are. I can't let you tell anyone that I was the one to attack Marissa. You were right about one thing. I'm not going back to prison." Trey declared, leveling the gun at Ryan's chest. "So I'll just be shooting the half of you that's not my brother."

Ryan heard the explosion and felt something slug him in the chest. Pain exploded and then everything went dark.

"Damn it! All officers move in and apprehend the suspect! I repeat all officers move in! Dispatch, call an ambulance for our position. We have a civilian with a GSW!" Detective Monroe shouted his orders to the waiting police officers who had been poised to arrest Trey Atwood since he had opened his door with a gun drawn.

Michael swore harshly and pulled his own weapon as he opened the driver's door and hurried towards the bottom of the short staircase that led up to the door of the apartment. He glanced up at Trey Atwood, who was even now on the ground at the top of the stairs with a couple of officers handcuffing him. Knowing that the suspect was out of the picture, Michael turned his attention to the teenager at his feet.

Blood was pouring from a wound in his chest and staining the pavement beneath him. Harsh breathing was the only sign of life. Michael pulled off his uniform shirt and wadded it up to place pressure on the wound. He wasn't about to let this kid who he'd just heard say he was just trying to live a decent life die because he had a shitty brother.

It seemed like forever before the paramedics showed up to take over. Michael stood in the parking lot and watched the lights of the ambulance disappear into the darkness. He stood there in his white undershirt holding his blood-soaked uniform as Trey Atwood was loaded into a squad car and driven away. He stood there until Detective Monroe came over to him and led him to their car so that they would be able to contact Ryan Atwood's foster parents and inform them that he had been shot by his own brother.

Sandy had just walked in the door after dropping off his wife at rehab. He tossed his keys onto the foyer table and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. This had been the hardest day in his life. Kirsten was his world, and the thought that she was so sick was devastating. Sandy glanced through the kitchen window and saw that the lights were off in the pool house. The Rover had been gone when he got home, so he assumed that Seth and Ryan had gone off somewhere with their girlfriends. Taking another sip of his water, Sandy started towards his bedroom when the phone rang.

"Cohen residence." Sandy answered.

"May I speak with Sandy Cohen?" A male voice asked.

"This is he." Sandy replied.

"My name is Richard Monroe. I'm a detective with the Newport Police Department. Are you the guardian of a Ryan Atwood?"

Sandy felt his heart skip a beat. "Yes, is there a problem?"

"I'm sorry to inform you that your son was shot by his brother this evening." Detective Monroe declared.

"Seth would never hurt Ryan." Sandy protested automatically.

Rick fought a smile. That statement had been very telling. "Ryan was shot by Trey Atwood this evening at Trey Atwood's apartment."

"Oh my God. What hospital is he going to?" Sandy demanded, tossing the bottle to the floor and running through the house to grab his keys.

"He has been rushed to HOAG. I will meet you there at the emergency entrance." Detective Monroe informed him.

"Thank you. I'll be right there." Sandy hurriedly answered before tossing the phone on the foyer table and snatching up his keys instead. Moments later he was rushing to the hospital and his injured son.

"He's not answering his cell." Seth announced as he ended his attempt to call his brother. "Do you think he would go to Trey's?"

Summer snorted. "He just found out that his brother attacked his girlfriend. What do you think he would do, Cohen?"

Seth sighed and ran a hand down his face. "I shouldn't have told him." The teen groaned.

"Chino needed to know that his brother is a rapist." Summer declared as she turned the car towards the apartment complex that Trey Atwood was currently living at.

"What a mess." Seth muttered.

Just then Seth's phone rang.

"Ryan?" Seth almost shouted into the phone.

"Seth, where are you?"

"Dad? Summer and I are trying to find Ryan. We were going to try Trey's." Seth explained.

"Stay away from there! Trey shot Ryan. He's on his way to HOAG. I just got a call from the police. Meet me at the emergency entrance. Then you two can tell me what the hell is going on!" Sandy ordered.

"We'll be there." Seth breathed. He ended the call and worked hard to control his breathing. Ryan had been shot.

"Cohen? What did your dad say?" Summer demanded.

"We have to go to HOAG. Trey shot Ryan." Seth muttered softly.

Summer almost wrecked. "WHAT?"

Seth rubbed his face and when he turned to face his girlfriend his eyes were filled with tears. "This is all my fault! I shouldn't have told Ryan about any of this. Then Ryan would be home and safe instead of in the hospital possibly dying."

"Now we don't know how bad it is yet Seth. Just stay calm." Summer soothed. She pressed her foot harder and the BMW shot through the dark towards HOAG.

Detective Monroe was standing in the entrance to the emergency room when a harried man came running in the doors.

"Sandy Cohen?"

The man stopped and tried to catch his breath. "I'm Sandy Cohen. Detective Monroe I presume?"

The detective nodded. "The doctors haven't come back out since Ryan arrived. I've been keeping tabs."

"Thank you. Can you tell me what happened?" Sandy asked anxiously.

Rick was further convinced that Ryan Atwood had no idea how his foster family truly felt about him. This was not a man who was going through the motions. Sandy Cohen genuinely cared about the boy. "We received an anonymous tip that Trey Atwood was trafficking drugs. We got a warrant and set up surveillance – including listening devices inside and outside of the apartment. At approximately 7:00 pm, Ryan knocked on Trey's door. He was very angry. It seemed that Trey had attempted to rape Ryan's girlfriend. I believe he said her name was Marissa?"

Sandy swore under his breath and nodded.

"Trey answered the door with a gun pulled. He pointed it at Ryan. The two argued back and forth. Then, without warning, Trey shot Ryan in the chest. My men got to him immediately and he was brought into the hospital." Rick explained. "Normally we wouldn't allow it, but for Ryan's sake I think you need to hear the recording."

Sandy nodded his agreement, but his mind was on his son lying somewhere in this hospital with a hole in his chest. It would occur to him later to question why the police didn't arrest Trey immediately when he pulled the gun.

A commotion at the entrance drew both of the men's attention. Seth and Summer were running into the building.

"Dad! How's Ryan?" Seth exclaimed when he saw his father.

"We don't know yet." Sandy informed him.

Tears were streaking down Seth's cheeks. "I shouldn't have told him that Trey attacked Marissa!"

Sandy pulled his son into his arms. "This isn't your fault Seth. You had no way of knowing that Trey would hurt Ryan. None of us did. I would have forbidden Ryan to go near him if I had known. Ryan needs us now, so no more 'what ifs'."

Seth nodded into his father's shoulder and sniffled. He lifted his head and noticed the detective.

"Seth, Summer this is Detective Monroe. He was at the scene." Sandy introduced.

No sooner had Sandy spoken than a harried doctor came hurrying into the waiting room. "Family of Ryan Atwood?"

Sandy and Seth rushed forward with the detective and Summer right behind them.

"I'm Ryan's father." Sandy identified himself. "This is his brother, Seth."

"I'm Dr. Mitchell. I was the attending when Ryan was brought in. He had a gunshot wound to the chest. We were able to stabilize him. He has been rushed up to emergency surgery. It's going to be a few hours before you'll be able to see him I'm afraid. Even after surgery, I look for him to be in ICU and visitation will be limited. I would recommend going home and getting some rest for a couple of hours. It will be closer to midnight before you'll see him." The doctor informed them.

Sandy sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to leave him."

"Actually, I think that you need to hear what actually happened tonight before you see Ryan again. It's very enlightening." Detective Monroe urged.

Sandy looked at the other man warily before nodding.

Dr. Mitchell smiled. "When you return, ask information for directions to the surgical waiting room. I'll inform the surgeon and nurses that you'll return in a couple of hours."

"Thank you doctor." Sandy said softly before draping his arm over his son's shoulders and letting the detective lead them out of the building.

TBC…