A/N: Chapter nine is ready, this was a fun one. As usual, I don't own Cobra Kai belongs to Netflix and respective owners, just playing in the sandbox.
Chapter Nine: Brumation Termination Part 2
Robby leveled a glare at both of his assailants. "Like hell," There was no way he was stepping foot in Cobra Kai. "What's the matter? Need the mats to break your fall or save that stupid haircut?"
Kreese chuckled. "You got spunk kid, I like that."
"Yeah, I'm sure you do, so what are you waiting for then?" He arched an eyebrow moving his gaze from Kreese to Hawk. "Still scared of my dad?" He noticed Hawk's fists clenching and unclenching, and the slightest flare of nostrils. "Good news for you, he has no idea I'm here so we can go ahead and finish this." Focus Robby...
"Shut your fucking face nerd," Hawk said. "You're gonna goddamn pay,"
"Then make a move…" Robby taunted glancing over to Kreese momentarily. "Unless you need a permission slip."
That was enough for Hawk. He advanced kicking for Robby's head.
Robby ducked out of the way and punched for Hawk's exposed side. Hawk stumbled slightly, but just as Robby thought advanced again, but this time wrenched Robby's arm back and swept his feet out from under.
As he hit the ground, Robby pulled his arm out of the way, ignoring the pain only biting his lip momentarily and rolled out of the way getting back up. He launched a jump kick which Hawk blocked easily, and was knocked back down. Before he could get up this time, Hawk was on top of him with an elbow jammed into his jaw and more punches coming.
Robby grappled trying to get the other teenager off of him. He kicked out his foot struggling to hook it around Hawk's ankle, and locked his arm managing to block one of the hits finally. He gripped Hawk's arm and pulled using the momentum to dodge away and sit up pushing the other teen to the ground and keeping him pinned, but not moving to hit. He wouldn't, not this time even as Hawk grappled to break his hold. As he did, Robby just tightened his grip.
"What are you doing?" Kreese demanded. "The fight isn't over."
"Yeah it is, you're not my sensei. I'm done with this. I just came to apologize. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Robby said.
"Bullshit," Hawk spat. And with the word, he took advantage of the fatigue he could feel in Keene's grasp. He was getting worn out. He rolled to the side and grabbed Keene's arm flipping him over hard as he jumped to his feet.
Robby's head snapped back as he hit the pavement with force and the last thing he heard was his cell phone's ringtone where it lay several feet away.
When the girls and Daniel went down the hall, Johnny went to the desk.
"Sir, I already told you you can't go back, you have to wait outside. I'm sorry." The receptionist stammered.
"Relax," Johnny sighed. "I just wanna use your phone, or is there a rule against that too?"
The receptionist bit her lip.
"Oh for god's sake. I don't have one of those cell phones . It's an emergency so do you mind?" They worked in a freaking hospital. He sighed. "Please,"
The receptionist pushed the phone toward him.
"Thanks," Johnny said. He took the phone and dialed Robby's cell phone.
He waited as the phone rang.
"Hey, this is Robby, leave a message and I'll hit you up later."
The message, this kid couldn't be bothered to answer. He thought they were past this, and with how he'd been earlier, Johnny was getting worried. "Hey Robby, it's your dad, what the hell was with that stunt huh? You got me and Larusso driving all over. Just call him, me, I still don't have my phone whatever, whoever, let us know you're still alive kid…" He sighed unsure what else to say as the message time hadn't expired, but feeling like he should. "Look...we both screwed up, but well just loop us in would you? We're at the hospital if you're in the neighborhood and not in the patient way, let us know huh? Bye." He finished just as the beep cut him off and slammed the receiver down. "There, I'm finished, hope you enjoyed the show." He put up his hand waving exaggeratedly as he went out the door, nearly barreling into someone in his haste, one of the doctors by the looks of it.
"Sorry," Johnny apologized quickly.
"Oh that's al…" The woman looked up and then blinked. "Wait, Johnny? Johnny Lawrence?"
And then Johnny got another closer look. No fucking way… but the resemblance to that Facebook photo was unmistakable. "Ali?" He said softly, stunned.
"Oh my god, I just got your Facebook request," Ali said. "It's been a while hasn't it? How have you been?"
"Uh, um...kind of a long story. So you work here now? I thought you were in Denver?"
"Long story," Ali replied.
"Paging Dr. Mills-Schwarber, Dr. Mills- Schwarber to OR 3."
"Which I will tell you later," Ali said letting out a nervous laugh. "Um...nice to see you Johnny." She left.
"Yeah…" Johnny said unable to tear his eyes away until she was no longer in sight. Then remembering himself, he went out the door.
"Hey," Sam saw Demetri waiting in the hall as they went to the hospital room.
"Demetri, how are you doing?" Her father asked.
"Hi Mr. Larusso, hi Sam, hey Aisha," Demetri said. "Alright considering…"
"Good, that's good,"
"Not much has changed, but Mrs. Diaz says Miguel can hear us," Demetri said. It wasn't much consolation because what was a conversation when the other person couldn't respond? "She went to the cafeteria, but I told her I'd stay, um...but I'm going to wait out here for a bit,"
Sam's mom had said the same thing, that Miguel could hear them, but the last time Sam was here, she couldn't say anything. Nothing felt right to say. Not then. I'm sorry, well that didn't feel like enough, not possibly enough.
"Want some company?" Aisha asked. "I...I'm not quite ready."
"Sure," Demetri said.
Sam took a breath as her friends went further down the hallway, and it came out choked, despite everything, despite why she didn't ask for Aisha's company, at the prospect of going in again. She didn't look up even as she felt the familiar embrace, her dad's arm around her. "I'm right here…" He said.
Sam leaned in, her head against her dad's shoulder. She could almost forget that she was lying, that she had been lying to both of her parents for the last several hours, because her father was. At least it seemed that way.
They walked together into the room, and the steady beeping that assailed them, well it made Sam's skin crawl.
"You can tell Señor Octopus that my sensei thinks I'm the best student in his class,"
"Best in his class, really?"
"No, you don't believe me? No! Stand up…"
[...]
"Sensei Sam,"
The memory hit about as hard as a kick to the jaw that and about a million others, every single moment that had led up to this as Sam looked down and began to tremble. Despite everything, she still considered Miguel a friend, if not a boyfriend. Well, he'd been her first real boyfriend. She didn't count Kyler, not really not now because it hadn't felt the same looking back on it now. Even if everything was confusing with Robby and Miguel and Cobra Kai and Miyagi Do, they all had that history. This whole blowout couldn't erase that Robby and Miguel were both important to her, that all of her friends were. And this...none of this was right. Any of it. And it was her fault, really. Would Miguel even get to do karate again? Would they all get to at least try being friends again? Would he wake up?
"Oh sweetheart," Sam felt a hand on her cheek, her dad's thumb wiping gently, and that's when she realized she was crying.
"Daddy…" She turned away from the hospital bed and hugged her dad, the tears flowing freely.
It was a good amount of time before Sam could breathe properly again, before she was able to blink away the last of the tears and finally allow herself to be lowered into the chair nearby by her dad, the chair closest to the bed as he took the further chair, giving as much of a semblance of privacy as the room would allow.
"Hey Miguel, it's Sam." Sam blinked as she looked at him in the bed, trying to keep her voice upbeat, but failing miserably as it came out a cracked whisper. "We miss you. Things are crazy, but I guess you can guess that huh? It's, it's gotten a lot worse. Nobody knows what to do without you here. Aisha quit Cobra Kai, Mr. Lawrence, he's...he's lost." Sam didn't know him that well, but she knew he'd been nice to her after the party when Robby had brought her over and she could tell he wasn't the same. "Hawk too, Cobra Kai is in trouble. We all are…Robby, he, he didn't mean it." Sam sighed. As a reflex, Sam reached for Miguel's hand and held it gently, forgetting as she spoke that her dad was in the room, needing to get it all out without judgement, just to get it out. "Everyone wants you to come back. Everything's gone to hell. It's, it's like a warzone... with Kreese..." Karate wasn't supposed to be this, it wasn't supposed to be an act of war. Her dad had always told her that, defense only. But with Cobra Kai pared down, with everyone so angry and without Robby's dad, and without her dad and Miyagi Do, and with Kreese in charge of Cobra Kai, well that's what it was becoming. And Sam could honestly say she was terrified, not just for herself. But for her friends. Everyone was losing themselves in this stupid stupid fight and she didn't know what would happen next.
Sam dropped her gaze, keeping her hand in Miguel's as she took several breaths finding comfort in it even if he couldn't hold back. But then...she felt something, a grip on her hand, not hard. It was little more than a brush, barely a grip. She glanced up and over, sure it was just her dad, sure that he had just come over to be with her like he had before but he was just sitting in the chair on his phone, obviously pretending not to listen. No...way…
She looked back. "Miguel..." She said, louder than her previous whisper, scarcely daring to hope.
The beeping increased in intensity as Sam felt her hand being squeezed again.
Oh god!
"Dad!" Sam got up from her seat at the same time as she heard her dad get up from his own seat.
"Sam, what...what happened?" He went over to the bed and pushed the button quickly that would call the nurse in.
"I...I don't….He...he….I felt it he squeezed my hand." Sam could barely believe it. "Twice."
Aisha came into the room followed by Demetri obviously hearing the beeps, and Sam's explanation as they stood in the doorway.
Sam backed up fast, though it felt like jogging across a freshly mopped floor. She could barely keep a grip herself as she looked closely at the hospital bed unable to tear her eyes away, looking for any sign or indication of what was next, the slightest wrinkle in his forehead a tremor, anything, but unable to see anything as her dad herded them into the hall so the nurses had room.
"What's going to happen?"
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Mr. Larusso,"
The three teens talked over each other looking to the only adult paying them any mind at the moment even as they heard the footsteps of the approaching hospital staff.
Demetri remembered himself and quickly dialed Mrs. Diaz.
Daniel was struggling to remain calm himself even as he tried to focus on calming Sam and her friends. He had been listening to everything Sam was telling Miguel, and once again felt himself going just the slightest bit off kilter. A warzone...a warzone… ? They had messed up big time. This had to be fixed...somehow.
A/N: So yes, I did bring Ali in. How she ended up back in California will come into play eventually.
Some behind the chapter fun: During the composition of this chapter I listened to several songs: Here they are separated by scene: Robby and Hawk fight and Robby shows mercy: Monster by Skillet, No Shelter by Broken Edge, I Fought the Law by Green Day, Monsters by Shinedown: Johnny calls Robby and sees Ali : You are the Reason by Callum Scott, The Ride by the Matches. Sam talks to Miguel and a change in conditions: We Are Warriors by Avril Lavigne, Balance by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson from season 1 Cobra Kai Soundtrack, Kan Geiko from season 2 Cobra Kai Soundtrack by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson, Shochu Geiko by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson and Cruel Summer by Kari Kimmel from season 2 Cobra Kai soundtrack.
Also the fight scene. That was fun. I actually did martial arts for five years and earned my black belt so choreographing fight scenes are always a blast for Cobra Kai, but Hawk in all honesty, he's the most fun but also the most difficult, fighting dirty well it's a completely different headspace but so is Hawk haha.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed.