Note: My thanks to everybody who reviewed, commented, kicked my butt and otherwise encouraged me to keep going. You guys know who you are! *grins* Anyway, thanks for staying with me through all of this; it was a fun ride! Now please, tell me if I did justice to the end … and hopefully see you next fic! DB, 10/2002
Brother, My Brother
Epilogue: Gung Ho!
Months later
"... and this is all, people. The Falcon's Pass Nature Reserve will open as planned tomorrow!"
Applause branded up in the Reservation's Assembly Hall as Douglas Rainsinger, the Tribe's attorney and official spokesperson, closed the thick folder he'd brought. It had taken a lot of hard work on everyone's part, the amount of governmental red tape had been enormous and there had been inevitable delays beyond everyone's control – like the nearly-unprecedented week of heavy rainfall which had only ended in the early hours of the morning – but the Big Day had come at last.
Now, everyone was justifiably excited and psyched; if Falcon's Pass was a success, it would mean financial security and a lot of prestige for the whole Tribe.
The audience slowly dispersed, chattering excitedly and making last-minute plans for the next day. There was to be a grand opening ceremony, with representatives from several Native American nations, as well as officials from the neighboring towns, the state's Educational Board, a number of environmental groups, the Forest Ranger service … even the Governor had promised to drop in for a brief visit.
TV crews were milling around, filming and interviewing everything and everyone who would hold still for just a minute, but the publicity for once was welcomed; after all, the project was supposed to benefit a lot of people, aside from preserving the area.
Small groups stood here and there, talking, laughing, arranging car pools and whatnot. David, Tommy and Jason waited a while for Sam to join them, but the old shaman was talking earnestly to Mr. Rainsinger, with two other Elders listening intently.
"I think this is gonna take a while," Tommy commented at last. "Dave, why don't we just leave word with someone and go ahead? I'm starving!"
"Uh-oh," Jason quipped. "In that case, we better hurry. Never get between Tommy and free food!"
David grinned at his brother as the three young men wended their way through the crowd towards the exit. "I thought Rocky was the bottomless pit among you guys?"
"He is," Jason said drily. "But that doesn't mean that Tommy can't give him a run for his money when he feels like it."
"Like you aren't drooling over the thought of Mrs. Sundancer's brownies?"
Jason looked extremely pious. "I'm not."
David snorted. "Right. But only because she's given you a whole tin just before the assembly started. I saw that."
Jason didn't even try to hide his smug grin. "What can I say? She likes me!"
"Wonder why," David muttered under his breath, dodging Jason's elbow jab with a quick feint. A faint smile quirked his lips, showing that his remark had been meant exactly as serious as Jason's retaliation. Meaning, not at all. He inadvertently bumped into an older man standing right behind him, who gave David a disapproving look. "Sorry!"
Jason just laughed and quickened his pace, being the first to step outside into the warm evening. The big party was going to be the next night, but there was still food aplenty to sample for everybody involved in the planning. David and Tommy followed, and together they walked to the central village square.
Tommy was feeling especially good; he had managed to get the weekend off from his rather hectic racing schedule, and he always enjoyed spending time with his brother and best friend – especially now that the hatchet between them had been buried. Well … except for the bickering, of course. He shook his head, listening to the two argue amiably.
~*~
When Jason had returned from physiotherapy, Tommy had deliberately invited him and David to his birthday. The two had been polite but distant at first, but at least the tension that had spoiled large parts of their ill-fated camping trip had been absent. They were both making an effort for Tommy's sake, and as a result managed to keep the atmosphere relatively easy among them.
At one point, conversation had turned to the plans for Falcon's Pass Nature Reserve, and Jason, who had been interested in the project right from the start, offered quite casually to call up several environmental agencies he'd come in contact with in Switzerland.
"Not that you couldn't do it yourselves, I know, but I've met a few of the national representatives personally, and trust me – even with them, Vitamin C counts!"
"Vitamin C?" David had asked confusedly.
Jason had just grinned and shrugged. "C as in connections."
"Oh."
"Hey, I have them, you need them – why not use 'em?"
David hadn't liked the idea of being obligated in any way to Jason, but he knew the other was right; so, for the sake of the project, he'd agreed to let him help. And it had helped. Before he knew how it happened, Jason was hip-deep involved in the cause, ingratiating himself with his easy manner to a lot of people. In consequence, Jason spent a lot of his weekends on the reservation, staying at Ruth Sundancer's house if he had to … and thus managed to pick up a lot of goings-on of daily life there. David was sceptical and very reserved at first, but in time got used to his presence, even learned to value Jason's input and contributions.
One advantage of Jason's involvement was that there were chapters of Greenpeace and other environment-conscious groups at Angel Grove University, which Jason now attended; he managed to persuade them to take an interest in this local venture, and the publicity was very welcome indeed – more so, because it didn't cost the Tribe anything but time and a concession to promote the groups at the Trading Post.
So, the two had become colleagues of sorts – with David representing the Tribe, and Jason working as liaison to official organizations. It did not make them instant friends, but having to work together built a mutual respect for their respective dedication and talents that left little room for jealousy or overt animosity.
Not that they still didn't verbally spar constantly. Tommy, their families and friends often rolled their collective eyes in exasperation when the two went at each other tooth and nail, but things had progressed to the point where it was more a case of who could come up with the most creative insults rather than who could put the other down most effectively.
~*~
"Mmm, I can smell the food even over here," Jason announced as the three approached the picnic area which had been set up on a piece of lawn right in the village center. A white fence enclosed the area, with several vine-covered arches marking the entrances and exits. Around the fence was a two-yard-wide strip of freshly-turned earth which was supposed to be filled with flowers, but the ground was still too muddy from all the rain they'd had to do any planting. A group of volunteers had offered to do that final chore very early the next morning, providing a chance for the moisture to evaporate overnight. Boards had been laid to protect the lawn from being trampled too much, but even that was still kind of slippery. "Let's get in line, guys; I want to try everything at least once!"
"If you do that, you won't be able to move afterwards," David predicted. "And I for one am not gonna carry you to the house just because you pigged out."
"Hah. Like you'll be able to resist all the goodies? I've seen you lurking around the kitchens, sniffing like a fox at the henhouse," Jason retorted. "Although, come to think of it, maybe the food wasn't the real attraction …"
To his gleeful delight, he saw David blush, despite the gathering darkness. He sniggered for good measure.
"Oh shut up," David muttered.
"Why?" Jason asked innocently. "Don't you want Tommy to know that there's a very lovely young lady in charge of the dessert table?"
Tommy's ears pricked up. "What?" David and a girl? What girl? This was certainly news to him.
Jason winked and grinned, while David could feel his face heat up even more. *Damn Jason for noticing!*
"Nothing," he said, trying for a nonchalance he didn't feel. "Jason's seeing things, is all."
The three young men stepped in line at one of the entrances, shuffling forward slowly with the crowd. A few yards behind them, just out of earshot, Sam and the two other Elders did the same, moving with stately dignity. Their age and stature on the Reservation ensured that nobody would jostle them; in fact, had they so wished they could have moved to the front without anyone protesting. But that was not in their nature; the older men took the opportunity to watch and observe, commenting quietly on this or that as the throng crept towards the enclosure step by step.
"I am so not seeing things," Jason protested. "Just this morning, you were talking to Melissa Runningdeer behind the Assembly Hall!"
"Yeah, so?" David challenged, fighting the urge to run his fingers behind his suddenly too-tight collar. "I was just making sure we have enough Five-Cup-Salad tonight; it's Sam's favorite dessert. What's so unusual about that?"
"Oh, is that what it was?" Jason said, his expression studiedly neutral. Only someone who knew him well could recognize the fiendish gleam in his dark eyes.
Tommy, who was listening and watching with great interest, mentally went on full alert. If he'd known about this, he would have loved to join Jason in teasing his brother; David had, to his knowledge, never shown any particular interest in a girl before. And Melissa was an absolute stunner. *Way to go, brother!* he cheered inwardly. Now if only Jason wouldn't take things too far; he wasn't at all sure how David was going to react to the kind of good-natured needling that was quite common among their circle of friends in all things romantic. He knew; he'd been there twice already.
"Of course. A perfectly normal, innocent reason," David replied. As soon as the word 'innocent' left his mouth, however, he could've bitten his tongue off. It gave Jason exactly the opening he'd been waiting for.
"Innocent. Right. Then I suppose you were only holding her hand because she was unsteady on her feet, or something?" Jason smirked and turned towards Tommy. "You know, maybe David was right to do that; after all, the ground behind the Assembly Hall is sooo unsafe to stand on!"
Despite himself, Tommy chuckled. Behind the Assembly Hall was a perfectly flat, paved parking lot.
"Uh-oh, Dave," he grinned. "I'd say you're busted!"
Flustered, David glared at Jason. "You had to go and open your big mouth, had you?" But he no longer denied the allegation.
He got an unrepentant grin in return. "Just payback for siccing your cousin Mary on me the last time I was here to bring Sam the Greenpeace brochures."
Tommy gasped, torn between laughter and shock. "David, you didn't!"
Mary Trueheart was all of thirteen and had developed a serious case of hero worship for Jason – much to his chagrin. Not that he was ever unkind to the girl, but it was quite embarrassing to have her hover around him all the time, blushing and giggling nervously every time he so much as glanced in her direction. And David had sent her to help him carry the boxes with information material inside … causing poor Mary to literally trip over her own feet because she was watching Jason more than where she was going. When Jason had solicitously tried to help her up, she'd suddenly thrown her child-thin arms around his neck and tried to kiss him.
It had taken all the tact and diplomacy at Jason's command to extricate himself from that situation; he didn't want to hurt the girl, but he also knew he had to nip her crush in the bud as gently as possible. He thought he'd succeeded, too, by hinting he himself was interested in a mysterious girl he wouldn't name, but it was enough to distract the thirteen-year-old – even if she shed a few tears over Jason's supposedly unrequited love.
"He sure did," Jason grumbled, shooting David a venomous look. "I'd have slugged you if you hadn't turned tail and run!"
"Did not," David replied, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "I had to pick up my uniform." He'd completed his Ranger training a couple of months before, and was eagerly looking forward to his first official day of work tomorrow.
"Like that wouldn't have waited for you!"
"Guys, can it," Tommy interrupted. They were nearing the wooden walkway crossing the flower bed. "Don't let's spoil our appetites, shall we?"
"Nothing can spoil yours, Bro," Jason jibed good-naturedly. But he couldn't resist a last sly wink in David's direction. "I wonder – is Melissa as sweet as the desserts she's helped prepare? Because if she is, I may just discover my own sweet tooth!"
He wasn't serious, of course; while the lovely Miss Runningdeer was a genuinely nice person, his own tastes ran to blue-eyed blondes with a bit more spirit than her gentle nature.
David didn't think, he just reacted. Jealousy of an entirely different kind filled him suddenly, and fired his temper. Without further reflection, he balled a fist and punched Jason in the shoulder. As blows went, it wasn't even a very hard punch, but it was enough to let Jason's fighter's instincts kick in. He shoved back.
"Hey!"
"You keep your paws off Melissa!"
"Oh yeah? Why should I?"
"Because I say so!"
"So you are interested in her," Jason smirked. "I knew it!"
"That's none of your damn business," David hissed, calming down a little as he recognized the spark of amusement in Jason's dark eyes. This wasn't a threat to his budding romance, just another of the mock battles the two often engaged in. If he were honest, he even enjoyed them by now – as did Jason, he knew. Over the past months, it had become part of their relationship. 'Cordial dislike', was what Jason had called it once, which was pretty accurate. And yet underneath both were aware that they'd gone long past the stage where it would ever turn into hostility. He glowered at Jason. "Just leave her alone!"
"Make me," Jason challenged with a grin, shoving David again for good measure. He barely avoided being pushed off the slippery boards as David shouldered him aside. To keep his balance, he made a grab for the nearest arm – which just happened to be David's, yanking him nearly off-balance in turn. The ensuing shuffle looked rather alarming to Tommy, who was standing behind the two, and had completely missed the looks and grins passing between his brother and best friend. So, to head off what he thought was going to be a quarrel, he inserted himself bodily between the two.
"Stop it, guys!"
Jason let himself urged back willingly, but couldn't resist aiming another fake punch at David. Tommy blocked it immediately.
"He started it," he claimed in a child-like whine that escaped Tommy's notice.
"Did not! You did," David retorted, pouting unconvincingly as he tried to place a kick against Jason's shin – impossible to do with Tommy in the way. Neither noticed that the people in line before them had passed the entry arch. Everyone waiting behind them stayed well back, not wanting to get caught in a scuffle among three trained martial artists, no matter how benign it was. Several rows back, one of Sam Trueheart's friends turned to the old man.
"What are the young ones up to?"
"The usual," Sam answered placidly. He had observed the change in David and Jason's relationship during the past few months, and knew they wouldn't harm each other, not even in jest. "It's just high spirits, nothing more."
"Hmph."
Sam smiled to himself. Sometimes, his fellow Elders seemed to have forgotten how it was to be young. He glanced back at the still half-wrestling young men. David and Jason were resorting to name-calling now, with Tommy trying unsuccessfully to referee – and still vainly attempting to deflect various kicks, blows and punches, bearing the brunt of them in the process. He was starting to look slightly frantic, totally oblivious to the rather friendly undercurrents between the other two in his near-panic. To the older and wiser Sam, it looked mostly like a playground squabble among very young boys, not like fighting adults, and he smiled to himself. The melée was moving perilously close to the edge of the wooden boards. Only a step or two more to the left, and one or all of them would slide off …
"Injun!"
"Pale-face!"
"Karate klutz!"
"College geek!"
"I'll give you geek," Jason threatened, laughing soundlessly to himself. Ducking under Tommy's restraining arm, he landed a not-quite-gentle blow in David's midsection, who doubled over, his breath whooshing out of him in a rush.
"Oof!"
"Gotcha!"
"Oh yeah? Gotcha back!" David recovered quickly and swept his foot out behind his brother's back, hooking it around Jason's ankle.
Hopping awkwardly out of harm's way and windmilling his arms to keep upright, Jason was irresistibly reminded of the time when he and Tommy had trained for the Team Ninja Competition – each trying to outdo the other instead of working together. *What had Trini said we needed to do? Oh yeah, 'Gung ho'. Working together.* He smiled at the memory. Facing Titanos together certainly had cemented his friendship with Tommy in the end – and they'd won, as a team. *Guess David and I have become a team of sorts as well by now – not as good together as I am with Tommy, but still a team. Good!* It didn't stop him from trying to take David in a choke-hold – very difficult to achieve with a babbling Tommy in the middle … and in the way.
"Jason, stop! Dave, I swear, if the two of you don't cut it out right now, I'll clobber both of you!"
David was shaking with suppressed laughter. All his anger, embarrassment and jealousy had vanished, and behind his brother's back, he winked at Jason while pummelling a broad shoulder with rather weak blows. "You and what army?" he growled.
"Yeah, you couldn't take us on even if you were piloting Dragonzord," Jason jibed, returning David's wink. Really, sometimes Tommy was just too easy! He was so concerned about keeping peace between them, he didn't have a clue that they weren't even serious! Not that they weren't trying very hard to give just the opposite impression. Reaching across Tommy's chest, he gave David another shove. David shoved right back.
Desperate, Tommy took a step forward, interposing himself between the two combatants. He put a hand on either broad chest and pushed hard to keep them apart. However, in his eagerness to stop what he thought was an escalating fight, he neglected to watch his footing. The middle of the boardwalk had pretty much dried out after so many feet had already crossed it, but about a foot on either side was still saturated with rainwater. And therefore extremely uncertain, especially to the leather-soled shoes Tommy had chosen to wear.
His push had been harder than intended; all three lost their balance. Flailing about for a few seconds, David and Jason managed to stay upright, as their respective footwear – moccasins and hiking boots – gave them a much better purchase on the unexpectedly slippery surface. Too, they turned their punches into instinctive grabs towards each other's hands and thus barely managed to stay on the boards.
Not so Tommy.
Finding himself suddenly falling backwards, he shouted in surprise, desperately reached towards any kind of hand-hold … and found none, as David and Jason were busy holding each other up. As if shoved by an unseen hand, Tommy toppled over backwards … and landed with a loud, disgustingly squelching sound smack-dab in the strip of freshly-turned, moist, muddy designated flowerbed.
The wet soil splashed a little on impact, spattering Tommy with hundreds of tiny mud specks all over his clothes, face and hair. Within a split second, he looked as if he'd been walking under a shower of ink drops, or wet black confetti. One especially large glob had even landed on his nose and was now slowly dripping down.
Tommy's expression was … indescribable. Shock and surprise mixed with fury, confusion, embarrassment, outrage, incredulity … in a word, priceless.
David and Jason froze in a moment of stunned silence. They stared at Tommy, exchanged a single glance that conveyed a world of meaning … then, in complete and rare harmony, doubled over with laughter. In fact, they were laughing so hard, they couldn't even help their fuming comrade out of the mud patch, howling even louder when after a first scrambling attempt to get up on his own, Tommy lost his balance again and landed back in the mud – this time face-down.
Everyone in the immediate vicinity started laughing as well, as what had looked like a fight turned into slapstick right before their eyes. Tommy blushed crimson, but accepted the helping hands gratefully which gingerly assisted his mud-covered form back onto the boards. Heedless of his dirty clothes – or their clean ones – he glared impartially at the near-hysterical David and Jason, snatched both into choke-holds before they could get out of reach and marched them away, off the boards and back to the Truehearts' house. The amused crowd parted before the trio willingly enough, watching as they stumbled down the street. Tommy's angry mutterings could be heard as clearly as the others' sniggers while they simultaneously tried to avoid close contact with Tommy's clothes as well as get free from his death grip on their necks.
As the line towards the buffet tables reformed, Sam Trueheart met his fellow Elders' eyes.
"Yes?" he inquired mildly, seeing their disapproval of his foster son, his brother and their friend's behaviour.
"What an unseemly display," one of his friends huffed. "No dignity, no sense of decorum … and with everybody watching, too!"
"They are young," Sam soothed. "There was no harm done."
"Maybe not," his other friend grumbled. "Still, it was not what I expected of them. All three usually are more mature than that."
"Maturity isn't everything," Sam shrugged. "There are times when other considerations are of more importance – like sharing an embarrassing public experience to the amusement of others."
"Do you mean to tell me that you are not going to rebuke them for this?!?" The rheumy voice was very indignant.
"Of course not," the older Trueheart said placidly.
"And why not?"
"Because it is perfectly natural behaviour."
The two Elders looked at their colleague unbelievingly. "What is so natural about three young men fighting in public, behaving like unruly children and embarrassing each other and their family?" one wanted to know. Sam just smiled.
"Don't you see?" he asked.
"See what?"
"It is natural for David, Tommy and Jason."
"How so?"
The wise old eyes of Sam Trueheart gleamed in the light of dozens of lanterns as the three Elders walked into the picnic area at a stately pace. Just before they took their seats at a special table, Sam nodded sagely.
"All the bickering, the fights, the disagreements, the
teasing … it is right for them. Because when all is said and done
… it is what brothers do."
The End.