Relationship Matters by InSilva
Disclaimer: did not create 'em. Just enjoy sitting round thinking up the pain and torment. Oh, wait. That's not me either…
A/N: Thanks as always to otherhawk for the pre-read.
A/N: Maia? Think I lied about what was next to update. Sorry. :)
Chapter Fifty-four: Outside
Water ran over Danny's body. Wonderful, warm water trickled over his body as he sat naked on the chair in the wet-room, holding the showerhead and guiding the jets of water down himself.
The catheter had been removed and he was keeping the water away from the dressing and away from his still-wired jaws but there was still the feeling of fresh and clean and Danny revelled in it.
He looked down at his legs. Monday and they were out of plaster and they didn't seem to belong to him any more than his arm had. The flesh was shrivelled and dry and the muscle wasted and they didn't look like they would bear his weight any time soon.
An orderly had lifted him out of the wheelchair to put him in here and when the man had left him to it, the very first thing Danny had done was get to his feet. Almost at once, his legs had buckled and it was only by chance that he'd landed squarely on the sturdy plastic chair rather than the tiles.
Well, he could do something about that. Elaine and his physiotherapists had drawn up a programme of recovery and exercise and Danny was determined to make it work. After all, he had drawn up his own plan of action.
Reuben was sat in his room, chatting to Elaine, when the orderly delivered Danny back again. When he saw Danny, Reuben's face lit up in a happy smile like a gambler whose slot machine had thrown up three bells in a neat line.
"And here's the man himself," Elaine smiled.
"You OK, Danny? Doctor's going to come and sign you out. You ready to get out of here?"
Was he ever.
Elaine studied him thoughtfully and then tilted her head on one side. "So did you try to stand up?"
The question was quick and sharp and unexpected and Danny's face betrayed him.
"That's what I thought," Elaine sighed. "And do you believe me now that it's going to take time?"
"We'll get there, won't we, Danny? Been looking at what they got lined up for you." Reuben held up a sheet of paper. "After this, I'm entering you for the New York Marathon."
Elaine laughed and then her face turned serious again. "You need to follow this plan, Danny. Don't try to-"
"-walk before I can run," Danny finished with an impatient nod. He ran a hand over his beard. "When are they going to get this metal out of my face?"
The words were thick and heavy and now that the plaster casts were stripped away, Danny wanted nothing more than to wrench the wiring from his jaw and be done.
"Not yet," Elaine said firmly. "Another week. Ten days. The doctor will come and tell you himself before you go." She must have caught the gleam in his eyes that was all about a pair of wire-cutters because she went on, "If you try and do this yourself, you're going to ruin everything, Danny. You hear me? Everything."
"He knows, Elaine, he knows," Reuben said hurriedly. "Don't you, Danny?"
They were both looking at him, both waiting for acknowledgement and promise. Reluctantly, he gave both with a nod.
"Right," Reuben said briskly. "Let's get you packed up."
There wasn't much to pack up but Elaine had left them to it and Danny thought that was probably the point. He looked down at the new dressing-gown and slippers that he was wearing and then watched Reuben fussing round the bed and not meeting his eyes.
"I haven't got a toothbrush," he told him. "You can stop hunting."
Reuben paused and looked at him.
"What is it?" Danny asked quietly.
Silence.
"Reuben."
Reuben exhaled and sat down heavily on the bed.
"When I got that call to say what had happened, I think I must have aged thirty years already. And when I came and saw you… Just lying there, broken and beaten and…"
Reuben's hand reached out blindly and Danny gripped it.
"Danny, you only just got better and I don't want you to go kill yourself. Please." Low and raw and already knowing that there was no way Danny was going to go along with what Reuben was asking. "I don't want you rushing in headlong and…"
Reuben tailed off and Danny knew he was thinking about Willy Bank. About Danny confronting the man he held responsible for killing his father. All sound and fury and emotion and Danny could still feel the rage burning through him. Well, he'd been a kid. Things were different now. His face said as much.
Reuben's eyes were full of worry. "You'd better know what you're doing."
"I'm going to be very careful," Danny said. "Very precise. No one is going to get hurt except the bad guys."
There was truth in his voice because he believed and he saw the worry ebb a little.
"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Danny promised.
He wasn't. Stupidity wasn't part of the plan.
They'd said a temporary farewell to Elaine – "Not the last you're seeing of me, Danny Ocean. You come back for your physio or I will come and get you." – and an ambulance had taken them to the house where Carter was waiting with a welcoming smile as Reuben wheeled him in.
"Good to see you, Danny," Carter smiled. "Let me give you the guided tour."
Carter had done an amazing job. Danny saw Reuben nodding happily and shooting needless little glances in Danny's direction to check that Danny was as impressed as he was with everything.
"It's great, Carter. Thank you," Danny said sincerely. He could see the thought and kindness that had gone into the work. He nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. "Guest bedrooms up there, right?"
"You thinking of going into the hotel business?" Reuben grinned.
"You'd be the first to know," Danny told him firmly, smiling. "No, I meant for Rick or whoever."
The glance between Carter and Reuben wasn't even close to being casual.
"You have told Rick about this place?" Danny checked.
"Rick knows what's happening," Reuben said shortly. "If he doesn't want to be here, then he doesn't want to be here."
And that was a dig about the fact that Rick wasn't at his bedside 24/7. Danny's eyes were sharp. "You have given him the address?"
Reuben didn't even try to lie. "Danny, he's been ducking out of visiting you at the slightest opportunity-"
"Rick's my partner-"
"Yes, and you'd never treat him like he treats you!"
"-and you don't get to decide different!" Danny finished fiercely.
Danny's fingers had already found his phone and were punching in Rick's number. He couldn't be sure any voicemail he left would be intelligible. Text. He looked up when he'd finished and his eyes said that the question of Rick was closed.
Rusty's head ached. Alex had been demanding and the morning at Larner's had been busy and he didn't know what to make of the looks that Constantine had been shooting in his direction. The last thing he wanted was this meeting with Rick but it was necessary and he needed to grit his teeth and get through it.
Rick's phone buzzed as the waitress put Rick's coffee down on the table and Rusty watched as Rick read the text without comment. Was that about Danny? Rusty's mouth tightened imperceptibly. Not like Rick was going to share.
Rick grunted to himself and tucked the cellphone away in his jacket and stirred his coffee. "So you two been picking out curtains? You want a house-warming gift?"
Rusty ignored it just like he had the hundred other times.
"You paying attention, Rick? We got a lot to get through."
"Anxious to hurry back to your little lovenest? Someone didn't get enough time in the sack this morning."
God, this was so fucking draining.
"Here are the courier movements for the next two weeks." Rusty pushed them discreetly across the table. "And you need-"
"Yeah, I'll get to them," Rick said dismissively.
"And you need to know how this works," Rusty retorted, a flash of very real anger in his eyes and his voice.
"Then get on with it, hotshot." Rick sipped the coffee and pulled a face.
As good as he was going to get.
"Right. To begin with, the meets are held at the same venue-"
"I told you that-"
"Fucking listen!" Hissed and accompanied by ice-blue authoritative.
Rick sat back with a sulky expression.
Fuck. He hated losing control. It felt like weakness and he wasn't weak. And how many times had Rick provoked him? How many times would Rick continue to dig and challenge? He needed to be smarter than this. Rusty ran his fingers over his mouth, composed himself and then began again, his voice calm and clear.
"The meets are held at the same venue for three months at a time. They're due to switch again next week."
The assurance slipped away from Rick as he shifted in his chair and said nothing. It looked like Rusty at last had his attention.
"There's no phone call or communication. The pick-up guy hits the diner an hour after the plane is due to land and looks for the yellow rucksack. The two of them don't talk, they don't look at each other, they don't do anything except finish their coffees and pick up each other's bag. Which is pretty much what you saw."
Rick nodded slowly and the self-satisfaction was back again like it had never been away. "Told you" was written all over his face.
"The point is the timing, Rick. There's a window of maybe five to fifteen minutes to act. When you swapped out the jewels, you were lucky."
"Well, next time I'll be better informed. You got the new places for the meets?"
"No, but I'll get them."
Rick scanned the list of forward dates. "Looks like they're revving up. Plenty going on here."
He looked at Rusty.
"Looks like I'm going to be kept busy." There was grumble and complaint in his voice. "You have any idea how much money I'm burning flying around the place?"
As if money mattered like that. Money was a facilitator, money was how the take was measured, how the game was played but money didn't matter. There was more than enough of it to go round.
"I'm sure the airmiles make up for it," Rusty said, letting the complete lack of sympathy show.
Rick was silent for a moment then continued, "It's time away from Danny as well. Time when I should be at his bedside. Time when he needs me."
Danny. Rusty's gaze flickered.
"You know…" Rick went on and there was a distinctly malicious edge to his tone, "it's what partners are all about."
It was early evening by the time Rick got to Danny. Carter and Reuben were there and there was Chinese takeout on the table and a glass of gloopy milkshake in front of Danny.
"Haven't you had enough of those yet?" Rick asked, his nose wrinkling.
"They're growing on me," Danny said.
Rick glanced round at the living quarters. It would do, he supposed. Functional. Basic. Hardly five star.
"Where have you been?" Reuben demanded.
Rick shot him a cool look. He wasn't about to explain himself. He didn't have to explain himself. He yawned instead without covering his mouth and sat down next to Danny then grabbed a fork and dug into the chow mein.
"Good to see you up and about," Rick smiled at Danny. "In a manner of speaking."
Danny nodded and there was a faint sheen of exhaustion in his face. Like the time they'd turned over Barry Watson and deadlines had shifted and there'd simply been no time to rest.
"You look tired," Rick said softly. "Busy day, huh?"
Peripherally, he saw the guilty start in both Carter and Reuben and he turned pointedly to look at them. "Bet you're about to leave."
They'd left.
Danny looked like he was about to fall asleep where he sat. He smiled tiredly at Rick. Bed soon, Rick decided and he saw Danny nod agreement.
"You can sleep upstairs," Danny told Rick.
"You sure you don't want me to cuddle you?" Rick asked, finishing the last of the noodles.
"That an offer?"
Rick snorted and nearly choked on the noodles.
"Won't take long before you're better," he said, waving the fork generally at Danny. "And then…"
And then. Rick hesitated, the words bubbling under and then spilling out of him.
"We could get away, Danny. Go somewhere we've never been. Rest up and you can heal properly. Then when you're well again – really well – we can start over. Cons and jobs and all those great ideas of yours… Danny, we can fly again…"
They could go. Walk away and leave this all behind. Leave Rusty behind. Rusty would never know what had happened. The golden hotshot would be left high and dry, whoring himself out and wondering why Rick never answered his calls. Rick thought about the expression on Rusty's face and smiled to himself. It was a happy, happy thought until he looked at Danny.
"Danny…" The happiness was starting to wisp away.
"We're not going anywhere," Danny said and he was frowning and staring at Rick as if he'd spoken in another language.
Right. Revenge. And yeah, yeah, that was important, of course it was. Just that now he'd thought about it, he liked the idea of cutting Rusty out.
"I want you safe," Rick said to Danny and it wasn't a lie and Danny's face relaxed.
"Had that conversation with Reuben earlier," Danny told him, running a hand through his hair and then adding earnestly, "as soon as I can, we're going after them."
"Sure, Danny, sure," Rick said placatingly. "We'll nail them."
Danny slumped back argument won, and Rick thought that he really did look tired. He needed rest and taking care of.
"Rusty hasn't…" Danny broke off and studied his fingers.
It was out of nowhere and there was some sort of emotion in there that Rick couldn't quite pinpoint. Some sort of hurt. Some sort of anger.
"Rusty hasn't been anywhere near you," Rick finished. "Yeah. I told you, Danny, he's bad news. Got to think that maybe he reckons he's got better places to be."
Pain flashed onto Danny's face and off again.
"Maybe," he said so softly that Rick almost didn't catch it and his head was still bent and he still wasn't looking at Rick. "Maybe. But we do this, with or without Rusty."
Without Rusty. Oh, Rick liked the sound of that. And if Danny should find out about what Rusty had been up to all this time, Rick doubted that Danny was going to approve. Then again, if Rusty should mention his involvement… Well. Rick could flat out deny it. He knew which side Danny would come down on.
"With or without," Rick agreed and smiled brightly and Danny raised his head and his eyes were smiling at the determination in Rick's voice. "With or without."
