A/N: You people are wonderful. All you reviewers. You all make my day. Seriously. I hope you guys like this.

Riley

It took me a second to realize what had happened. All I knew was that back in the building, something had jumped up and bit me. I don't know if my processor was running a little slow, or what, but all of a sudden, laying out there on the ground, all the pain caught up with me, and it was like somebody took a blow torch to my arm. I suddenly remembered all those action flicks where the hero gets shot in the arm or in the shoulder, and he keeps on fighting like it's a minor annoyance. What a freaking joke! I could hardly move, it hurt so bad, let alone take on an army or whatever it is those heroic types do.

"Ben," I ground out, squeezing my eyes shut. "Ben, It hurts."

He was gripping my hand hard enough to ground me a little, which was much appreciated. When he spoke again, his voice was all calm and collected, and that made my heart slow down some. If Ben's freaking out, chances are, everyone's probably going to die. But he wasn't freaking out. Which means he knew what to do. Which means I would be fine. I just wished I could convince the pain center of my brain that was the case, because my arm was really, really hurting. "I know. Hang on, Riley. You're going to be fine."

I think I nodded. We were suddenly swarmed by about a thousand EMT type people, and they were calling orders and stats back and forth, and I was lifted up onto a gurney. All of a sudden some idiot pressed down really hard on my wound. He might as well have lit it on fire. I bit down, screaming through my teeth. Poor Ben. I think I just about tore his hand off. But the guy didn't let go.

I let my head drop back to the gurney. "Wh't the heck was that?" It wasn't a whimper. I swear. But my breath came rushing out and the pain slowly subsided to a more bearable level. Barely.

"We have to stop the bleeding," somebody said. It was probably the idiot.

"How necessary could it possibly be to stop the bleeding?" I asked Ben seriously, my eyes still tightly shut. No way was I opening my eyes. It'd be like releasing the floodgates. Some of the people chuckled at my comment. Yeah. So glad they were having such a good time.

"Looks like it's a through and through," a voice said. "You're a very lucky young man."

"You go get shot in the arm," I retorted. I couldn't help it. It hurt so freaking bad. "See how lucky a 'through and through' makes you feel."

Then I heard another voice. "Ben!" I knew that voice. Abi. Man. She had to be ticked.

vvv

Ben

I looked up in time to find my arms full of Abigail. I hugged her tightly. "It's alright. We're okay. We're going to be fine," I assured her. She pulled back, turning to look at Riley, her eyes going straight to the wound high on his left arm.

"I heard the shot," she said blankly, all the fear she must've felt echoing clearly in her voice. She must've been terrified. "Riley?"

"Present," he said, bravely trying to sound normal for her, though I could see the pain etched into his face. I knew Abigail could, too. He's been shot. I don't think it'd quite caught up with me, yet.

"Oh, Riley..." For once in her life, Abigail Chase Gates was speechless. Tears welled up in her eyes as she placed her hand over mine, the one still gripping firmly to Riley's.

"I'm fine, Abs. Swear," he said. Liar.

A medic looked up at me. "Sir, we're going to have to load him up. If you'll step back, please."

Riley's eyes suddenly shot open, his hand tightening it's grip. "Wait!" Kid really hates hospitals. I know this. I wasn't sure at the time why he hated them so much, but there was really no way for me to get him out of this one.

"Riley..."

Riley wouldn't hear of it. "He got hit on the head, though. Concussion," he said quickly to one of the EMTs. "And that wound might need stitches." I couldn't believe it. He was ratting me out. "Shouldn't that warrant a hospital stay?" He looked at me with bright, worried eyes, Don't leave me alone in that place, spelled out in every inch of his too-pale face.

The medic looked at me. "Sir? If you need medical attention, I'm going to need you to hop up here."

Abigail looked at Riley before turning her eyes up to me. She got it. She has more big sister in her than she gives herself credit for. "I'll meet you at the hospital," she said softly. She kissed me. Man, I love that woman. She let go of me, making her way to "James" our driver, who was still waiting by the limo. That man was getting a raise. I turned my eyes back to the restaurant in time to see the three men who'd effectively given me the worst night of my life being led from the building in handcuffs, cameras going off in their faces as the press tried to muscle their way in. I mentally thanked God for the police who were keeping the press and their cameras and their questions away from me and my family. The leader, the man who'd shot my friend, could have killed him, met my eyes. A chill ran up my spine. But he was going to get what was his. He'd be going to jail for a long time.

A local officer walked up to us. "Are you all heading to the hospital?" I nodded. "That's fine. We are going to need statements from the two of you as soon as you feel up to it."

"Not a problem. Thank you," I told him.

"Did you see that jacket Abi was wearing?" Riley suddenly spoke up.

I looked over to see my wife getting into the limo, noticing she was wearing one of the blue jackets all of the officers wore, "NYPD" stamped on the back. I looked at the officer. He grimaced. "We gave it to her because she was cold. But I think it...empowered her. Suddenly, she was all about barking orders. She wouldn't shut up."

I looked at Riley, and we both shared a tired grin. "It wasn't the jacket," I assured the man.

As Riley was loaded into the back of the ambulance, he called, "Can I get one of those, though? That would so beat one of those 'I heart New York' t-shirts." I grinned. He'd be alright.

The man smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

I thanked the man and climbed up into the ambulance, leaning my head back against the wall. My head felt very, very heavy. As the ambulance doors banged shut, I winced. I sought out Riley's eyes, hoping to hear him whine, get him talking. But he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were somewhere else. Far away.

"Riley," I said. He didn't respond. "Hey, Rin Tin Tin," I called with a grin. He didn't even blink. I was getting worried. One of the EMTs looked up, and she also tried to get his attention.

"Mr. Poole. Mr. Poole." She looked nervous. "How much blood did he lose?"

"Not enough to put him in a coma," another answered.

"Riley!" I yelled. He snapped out of it.

"Rick?" He asked immediately, blue eyes clouded and haunted as I'd ever seen.

"Hey. Riley, it's..." I shook my head. "Are you okay?"

"Ben?" He looked scared and almost disappointed for a moment. But the next instant, he was back, and he tried to shrug it off. "I just got shot. Of course I'm not okay." I stared at him. What was going on with him? I don't think even the medics bought that act. And Rick? Who's Rick?

vvv

Riley

Sometimes it's good to be me. This wasn't one of those times. The shot had been clean, and I wouldn't need surgery. That was the good news. So after x-rays and stitches and bandages and everything that comes with, I was finally able to take a breath. It was a shallow breath. My arm had been all anesthetized for the stitches, so it felt heavy and stiff, but as long as I didn't move it, I was alright. I was lying in a hospital bed. Not even taking into account the fact that the idea of a comfy hospital bed is like something you could probably find only in one of those children's story books out in the lobby about "Jimmy's first trip to the doctor," this particular hospital bed felt so starched, every time I moved, I could practically hear it crunch. Needless to say, I wanted to go home. But no. No home for Riley. Not tonight. Tonight would be spent in a crunchy bed trying not to fall asleep, 'cause every time I closed my eyes, the nightmares would start all over again. I really wanted to go home.

Not to mention, the moment somebody switched on the TV, wham, there we were on the news. Something about seeing a shaky image of myself lying on the ground...Too creepy for words. The TV was swiftly turned back off, followed by nervous, sympathetic looks that I pointedly ignored.

Ben and I were sharing a room. Most of me was perfectly happy about that. Part of me, though, was super anxious. Ben had his We need to talk face on, and I knew that as soon as Abi left the room, he'd give me one of those deep, meaningful, serious type looks and start prying into places in my mind that I didn't particularly feel like going. The crowbar method. Ben does it well.

Ben's head actually had called for a stitch or two, and I was right about the concussion. If I was lucky, he'd be just tired enough to forget about the whole thing. But I wasn't taking any chances. As he and Abi were talking, I settled further into the sheets, wincing as my arm protested, and trying to ignore the bed's snap, crackle, and popping. I closed my eyes, taking deep, even breaths, and waited. If I was lucky...

"Looks like he's asleep," Abi commented. She walked closer, and I had to concentrate really hard not to twitch or something. I waited for her to go back to Ben. But then suddenly she ran a hand through my hair and kissed me lightly on the forehead. Surprised the heck out of me. "Sleep well, Riley," she said softly. "If you're not annoying and whiny when I come back in tomorrow, I'll have them keep you an extra day." At first I thought she'd figured out I wasn't really sleeping, but then I heard Ben chuckle, and she walked back to say goodbye to him. I felt kinda bad for the deception. I hadn't even really gotten to thank her for bringing over my pajama pants (though for some reason, she thought it necessary to bring the Alf ones) and a t-shirt, 'cause there was no way that backless hospital dress thing was happening. But hey, I was home free. As Abigail pulled back from the kiss she'd given Ben, I heard her clicking heels walk accross the room and out the door. She was leaving. They'd bought the act, and no way would Ben wake me up to talk to me. I'd just been shot. You don't wake people up who've been shot.

The door shut softly behind her, and I heard Ben get up from his bed. I assumed he was going to turn off the light. But instead he dragged a chair up next to my bed and sat down. What the heck? I struggled really hard to keep a straight face. I could picture him, sitting there in his plaid pajamas, staring me down. Deep, breaths. In-one-two-three. Out-one-two-three. What was he doing?

"I'm not going to kiss you, if that's what you're wondering," he said dryly. "Riley, I know you're awake. Open your eyes."

How did he do that? There was no possible way. I kept my eyes closed. Next came the dreaded words.

"Come on. I need to talk to you. Quit pretending and look at me."

"Ben, I got shot," I kept my eyes closed as I tried playing to his sympathies. And no, I'm not above such tactics. "Can't it wait 'til tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"It is tomorrow," he pointed out.

"My point exactly."

"Who's Rick?" The casual question made me freeze. Rick.

Come on, Ben, don't make me do this. "Sorry?"

He didn't let up. He never does. Guy's like a dog with a bone when he gets his teeth into something. And he calls me dog names? Man's like freaking Lassie. "You asked for Rick in the ambulance," he explained patiently. "I don't know anyone named Rick. Who is he?"

I still couldn't look at him.

"Riley?"

"It's nothing, Ben. Just leave it alone. Please."

vvv

Ben

I watched him, his eyes still stubbornly closed, body tensed. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. Riley doesn't get upset often. Insufferably whiny, sure, but not seriously upset. Not ever to the point where he clams up. When Riley's uncomfortable, I'm usually the first to hear about it. Actually, whoever is in earshot is the first to hear about it, because usually, if he's in pain, he broadcasts it quite loudly. But this went deeper than physical pain. And it was really starting to worry me.

"Riley. Whatever's bothering you..."

"Nothing's bothering me!" he suddenly exploded, eyes finally snapping open. I merely stared at him, waiting. He realized how he'd sounded, and quickly reigned himself in. "I mean, I..." He trailed off. With a weary sigh he finally said, "It's just some memories. Some stuff tonight kinda brought it back, and...well, they're really crappy memories, alright? But I'll get over it. It was a long time ago." His eyes dropped to stare at the bed sheets.

"That have something to do with why you were so angry? Why you put yourself in the line of fire for me tonight?" I had to ask. It wasn't that I was surprised that Riley would stick up for me. More that I was surprised at the intensity he showed.

He sighed. "Maybe some. I guess." He looked up at me. "You're really not going to let this go, are you?"

I smiled faintly. "You know me better than that."

"It's not pretty. You might not want to know."

"Try me." I could tell he was warring with himself on whether or not to tell me. That was fine. I could wait him out any day. Sure enough.

He took a deep breath, and when he spoke, it was obvious he was trying for normal. He didn't quite pull it off. "I have a brother." I think my eyes widened. Okay, that definitely wasn't what I was expecting. How could I not know he had a brother? But then, Riley had never been particularly talkative about his past, which had never struck me as odd until that moment. I waited for him to go on. "We were really close. He was five years older than me, but he liked me anyway, and we sorta stuck together, you know?"

I nodded. "What happened Riley?"

"He, ah," he looked away and cleared his throat, "We were walking home one night. He worked at a youth center, and I always hung around 'til he was done. He got off pretty late, and we were in kind of a bad part of town. It was already past dark. Then we were being followed by some guys. I think I recognized one or two of them from Rick's school, but then we were running, and he shoved me behind some boxes in an alley, and he promised he'd come back, but that I needed to hide, so I hid, but then the guys came around the corner, and they," he swallowed, "they beat the crap out of him. Hard." He shook his head and gave a humorless laugh. "And it was so stupid. I just sat there. I couldn't even move. Not for, like, ten minutes after they left."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. But I couldn't interrupt. He had to get this out.

"Anyway, he wasn't dead, which was a miracle. But he wasn't the same. Even when he was up and around again, he was different. He quit his job. He started going out and staying out with people I never got to meet, he didn't want me around, and a few months later...he left."

"He left?"

"Yeah, he left. I came home from school and my mom was crying and his stuff was gone 'cause he just left." He looked up at me with pain-filled eyes. "He walked, Ben. And I know it was because that night did something to him, and I...I just sat there and watched it all happen." His next words were softly spoken with enough sincerity to blow me away. "I couldn't just sit there and watch it happen again."

vvv

A/N: Okay, call me a liar, but this was in fact, not the last chapter. I'm the worst prediction-maker ever. So sorry. I'm not even going to try anymore. Just know that I'm not cutting off here. There will be more after this. Of that I am sure.