The Things He Left Behind
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Well, my wonderful readers. This is it. The last chapter. The next chapter will be an epilogue. Next week will be our last update and the story will finally be complete! Thank you so much for getting this far with me and I sincerely hope you enjoy this update! Don't forget to review and I'll see you guys next week!
Chapter 17
RJ had never thought himself stupid before, but right now, yeah, he felt pretty damn stupid.
He had known right away that something was up with the two men that had showed up at his school and he had been right.
After he got shoved into the car, they had taken his backpack, tied him up and then gagged him so he couldn't scream. He had managed to kick his captors a few times, but they had grabbed his legs and tied them up to.
Once he was hog-tied and the car had stopped, they took him into this warehouse where they strapped him to a chair put a newspaper in his lap and took a picture.
After that they mostly left him alone. And though RJ wanted to be brave he found that he couldn't stop himself from crying, because he was scared and hungry and he just wanted to go home.
He tried to listen in on the conversation the other bad guys were having, there were only six of them in total, but he couldn't understand most of it. Something about pressuring the CIB into letting their boss go, but his dad wasn't the head of the CIB, he was just an agent. And RJ didn't know who their boss was, but if he was a big bad guy the CIB wasn't just going to let them go.
So, what was going to happen to RJ when they figured that out? What were they going to do to him?
It's getting late, he can tell because the sun is starting to go down. Wasn't anyone going to come? Did they not know where he was? He didn't want to be here any more, he wanted to go home.
Then in a sudden crash a yellow and black Shooting Star model of car comes through the wall, startling the six men that have been standing a few feet away from him. RJ recognizes that car immediately, he knows exactly who is driving it. He watches the men all draw their guns and panic comes over him.
"Dad, DAD!" he shouts trying to warn him of what's to come as the bad guys opened fire on his car.
Rex could hear his son calling for him over the sound of the bullets.
The car was merely a distraction but it was only a matter of time before they realized that he wasn't in it.
He snuck in through a back door, was moving his way through the shadows. The plan was to sneak up behind them and take everyone out. He wouldn't need a weapon he could do it all with his fists.
The first guy he grabs, no one noticed. He drags him into the shadows in a sleeper hold, man is unconscious in seconds.
The next two he has to sucker punch. The second guy in that pair manages to cry out a warning of just: "HEX" which alerts the other three men in that little warehouse that he is there. They just didn't know where he was.
The next guy he went for pops him one in the jaw, but Rex still manages to get the upper hand. It is that guy that alerts his two remaining friends of Rex's position.
He has to dive out of the way to avoid the bullets. The man he has been wrestling with couldn't get out of the cross fire fast enough though.
He takes out the next guy with a socket wrench, knocking him in the head with it so hard Rex was pretty sure he saw a tooth go flying out of the man's mouth before he hit the ground.
But the last guy, the last guy didn't want to play fair.
He stops Rex in his tracks by putting a gun to his son's head and saying: "Take one more move and I'll shoot him."
When Rex pauses the man seems to think that he had the upper hand.
"Now that you're listening, here's what you're going to do. You're going to release Royalton, no funny business. We'll need a…"
Rex is so angry all he sees is red. He approaches the man with a gun to his son's head, even though the man keeps repeating the words: "Stop, I'll shoot him. I swear!" on repeat, in a different order each time.
He gets to him and punches him. Right between the eyes. So hard the man just drops and for a second Rex just stares at him.
But RJ is crying and he keeps calling for him, so Rex goes to him. Hands to his shoulder he looks his kid over to make sure he's not hurt and he isn't. So psychological trauma is what he's going to have to look out for.
"I'm sorry," RJ keeps repeating as Rex unties up. As soon as his hands are free, he hugs his father, sobbing into his shoulder and though Rex should untie his feet he doesn't. He pauses to hug his child back letting him cry into him.
"It's alright," he whispers to RJ. "It's alright, I have you now, you're safe."
RJ lets him go and Rex unties his feet. "I'm sorry," he says again. "I shouldn't have… I shouldn't…"
"Don't you worry about that," Rex says. "It's not your fault."
Outside came the flashing of police lights and Rex knew if they stayed there, he'd be questioned and he didn't want that, not in his mask.
"We gotta get you out of here, okay? Let's go home."
RJ doesn't complain as Rex leads him to the crashed and shot up Shooting Star and gets his son into the passenger seat. By the time the cops show up the two of them are gone. Rex is taking his son home where he belongs.
The second she sees that yellow and black Shooting Star pull in past the gate Daisy is sprinting out of the house and towards it.
The whole family was there. All the Racers, Sparky, Trixie, Inspector Detector, they had all been there, holding Daisy's hand trying to keep her calm. But she wasn't calm. Her son was stolen and her husband was putting himself in harms way to get him back. Nothing about this situation warranted a calm demeanour. In fact, most people would panic in a situation like this one, she felt like this was a common response to something like this.
But when she gets closer to the car and she realizes is it is smoking and riddled with bullets she is immediately past panicked. She is about to cry.
"Rex, RJ?" she calls as her pace picks up carrying her more quickly towards the car.
RJ is out of the passenger side immediately, even before the car comes to a complete stop, screaming for her. As he runs for her, she looks him over. He doesn't look injured, there's no blood on him, only tear streaks, which makes sense cause he had literally just been rescued.
When he reaches her, he hugs her tightly and she hugs him back. Her boy, he's safe, and that's all that matters.
When she manages to look up Rex has parked the car, his Racer Hex mask is off. He looks fine other than some bruising along his jaw and eye. He doesn't look like he's been shot but he might have been, she might not have been able to tell with all that black he's wearing.
Then she's crying again, because she's got both her boys back and now that all the fear has left her, she's overwhelmed with the relief. She lifts a single arm, outstretching it towards him. He's at her side in an instant, pressing her into his side for a hug. He then wraps his own arms around the two of them, her and their son, his head bowed to hers. They were together, they were safe.
And then the Racer family descends upon them.
For a while it is a mess of hugs and kisses, first for RJ and then for Rex. When they get all the hugging out of their system, they go into the house to get the whole story from the two.
But as they return to the couch, Daisy won't let go of RJ. To the point where he has no choice but to sit right beside her, practically on her lap, because she isn't going to let go of him for a very long time.
After Rex finishes recounting the harrowing tale of the rescue, and after RJ explains how he managed to get kidnapped in the first place, Mom Racer decides to make cocoa and RJ finally begins to squirm.
"You can let go now mom," he says to her but Daisy shakes her head and then presses a kiss to his hair.
"No."
RJ groans and turns to Rex. "Dad tell her to let go."
"No," Daisy said. "No I'm not ever letting you go, never ever, ever."
Rex comes to his son's aid, carefully pulling him out of her grasp and sending him off to the kitchen. Well, now Rex gets to deal with a clingy Daisy because she was also certain she might lose him again today.
As soon as she wraps her arms around his chest, Rex is holding her back. "I was so scared, Rex," she whispers and she feels his sharp intake of breath.
"I was afraid too," he admits. "I know they said that they might target RJ but I never actually thought they would… I'm so sorry that you went through that Daisy."
"I wasn't just worried about RJ, I was worried about you too. I could have lost you both today."
He smiles down at her and she wonders if he truly understands how afraid she was for both her boys today.
"Just promise me I get you for the rest of the night, because I don't think I'll be able to sleep with out you."
Rex bows his head to hers. "I promise," he whispers and then kisses her in both a soft and yet demanding way. Daisy clings to him, he's her anchor once more. He's the only thing keeping her from descending into a hysterics now that the panic has subsided. Daisy has never loved Rex more.
It takes a while but Rex is finally able to pull himself away from Daisy to speak to Inspector Detector. He let the family and the man enjoy their pancakes before he pulled him aside for a private chat.
Detector has been on the phone most of the night. Probably on clean up for the mess that Rex had caused getting RJ back. He wants to apologize and he will, but first he wants to tell Detector his plan.
"Well the good news is, you incapacitated the rest of Royalton's fixing crew. We've arrested the lot of them. And none of them saw your real face so I think we're in the clear."
Rex nods, that is good news, but it doesn't matter. "I think…. I think it's time I retired," he says to his old friend.
To his surprise Detector just smiles. "I had a feeling you'd say that."
Rex glances to the family he has gotten back. And it's not just Daisy and RJ. He has his whole family back and he doesn't want to lose one more moment with them on racing. He wants to spend all that he as left soaking in all that he had missed and not missing a single memory.
"It's time," Rex says again, the reality of what he's doing sinking in. He thought when this day came he'd be more panicked but he's far from it. He feels calm. He feels at peace. He feels excited for what's to come.
"I'll have the paperwork drawn up for you."
Rex nods, hugs his friend and handler and then turns back to his family. Daisy is going to love this gift. He can't wait to tell her.
In the weeks after RJ's kidnapping, Rex had a hard time with Daisy. She was suddenly prone to hysterics, crying fits, and fits of rage.
She got mad at him for quitting the CIB. Because, he was quoting here: "Because he must have quit for someone else because he didn't love her more than racing and cars."
He had never been so insulted in his life.
On top of that she was getting food poisoning from something. Sometimes she'd be sick in the morning, sometimes at night, but it could happen at any point in the day, and if she was sick she wasn't able to work, or function. It was so bad that Rex would have to come home from the Coureier Tire offices to take care of her.
He was starting to think she was allergic to something. But she wouldn't go to the doctor to get tested.
It wasn't that he was falling out of love with her, quite the opposite. He was just frustrated. He didn't know how to get her back to normal, because this wasn't like her at all.
And then she called him. Called him crying, demanding that he come home. She wasn't sick, but she was clearly upset about something. So Rex raced home.
And when he gets back to his place he finds her just sitting in the kitchen eating a pint of her favourite ice cream to herself and crying.
"What… what is happening here?" he asks her as he takes the scene in. "I… what did you call me for? Are you okay? Are you sick again?"
"Nope but I know what's wrong with me," she says and he stops when he's standing right across from her. He doesn't dare get closer, lest he grabbed her and attempted to shake sense into her.
"Okay? What?"
She slides a piece of paper across the kitchen island to him. It's lined with rings from her ice cream carton, and splatters of chocolate sauce.
He had made her go to the doctor. Drove her there himself, she was so mad she wouldn't let him come in with her. She must have gotten the results today. He looks it over and realizes right away what it is.
"You're… you're pregnant?"
She gives him a mhmm as she has a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.
"So happy tears?"
"Who knows my hormones are a mess this time a round," she says and he finds that he has started to laugh.
It's sheer giddiness that has him laughing, that has him rounding the kitchen island and wrapping her up in a big hug.
Another baby. His baby. He could barely believe it. It was another chance, a chance to do things right, to not miss a single fucking thing this time round. He kissed her solidly enjoying the cold taste of chocolate and vanilla caramel swirl in her mouth.
This was probably the happiest day of his life.
He had never thought he would ever get the things and people he left behind back, but he had been lucky. He had managed to fix his mistake, managed to reconnect with his family and the girl he had a loved. He was never going to lose or leave his family behind again.