Disclaimer: I blame marathons of Karate Kid movies on TV for making me writing fanfic of it, haha.
Story: When Mike Barnes seeks revenge some other way, Danielle finds healing in two unlikely and unexpected saviors.
Set as a genderbent continuation of the third Karate Kid movie.
Spoilers: Yeeeessss. Yes, yes, yes. Beware?
Warnings: Age difference, initial racism towards Asians, excessive drinking, some violence and language, PTSD, gender roles and gender expectations, societal expectations…
Pairings: Eventual John Kreese/fem!Daniel/Terry Silver.
The Things I Could Do Without
Chapter Two: The World Was Silent
They stared a moment before John jumped out of the car and rushed to the girl.
"Fuck, fuck, Terry," John reached for her neck and felt for a pulse. It was steady and there, but she was cold –almost icy to the touch.
"Is she breathing?" Terry yelled out as he restarted the car.
"Yeah," John affirmed, scooping her into his arms and then running back to the car.
He felt something drip down his arm from her, but the rain was just starting to stop and it couldn't be the rain from the angle. He looked down and saw blood and he cringed, remembering the state they saw her in.
She was standing there still as a statue, just staring at them. Her black dress was torn and roughed up at places, and her face looked like she'd been smacked around a few times.
Her legs trembled and she fell to the ground.
"You got her, John?" Terry asked as he started driving.
John gave a grunt, adjusting the girl in his arms and keeping a general hold on her as he sat uncomfortably on the seat.
"I've got her," he held tight as Terry raced down the road. "Are you heading to the hospital?"
"Of course I am," Terry said. He looked over and saw the dubious look John gave him. "Hey, man! I can be heartless, but I'm not that heartless! Whatever grief we have with her doesn't mean I'd just leave her or dump her somewhere."
John winced. "I know. Sorry…Just…we do have a lot of grief with her. I don't want that to fuck up our thinking about this kind of thing, you know?"
"Don't be an ass," Terry scowled, pushing down on the pedal more to hurry it up. "I ain't going to be an asshole to her when whatever happened to her happened. And that Jap mentor of hers just died –we know he was important to her. That makes us more than assholes to treat her like shit after, I guess, his funeral."
John had never felt right instigating the fight with her again, with this whole stupid business about that tournament. Or the first time around, when he'd pushed his ex-students to defeating her at all costs. But it had been his pride and teachings versus her and that slope.
Fuck, when did everything go wrong and get so complicated?
"I never even touched her," Terry huffed, continuing. "That's why I hired that kid for –Barnes was supposed to beat her down in the tournament. We had a sound strategy –shitty and messed up, but it was sound and legal enough! Basketball does it all the time, intentional fouling and hell!"
"I don't think it's the same," John muttered, tightening his hold on the girl as Terry made a sharp turn into a more civilized and populated area.
"You didn't touch her either, right? You went after the teacher, yeah –but that's teacher to teacher! You left her for your students to go up against in the tournament."
"Stop panicking and ranting and get to the hospital!" John snapped at him.
"I'm trying!" Terry shouted back. "But if you haven't noticed, we've got a girl who looks like she was attacked in your arms right now!"
"I noticed," John was muttering again. "Just get there."
Terry did, running a few red lights and driving too fast for the speed limit and cutting cars repeatedly. With no time to spare, they were finally in front of the hospital, and thankfully closer to the Emergency Room part of it. They both rushed out of the car and then headed towards the entrance of the ER, where Terry shouted out for help.
Seeing the injured and passed out girl in John's arms, a stretcher was quick to be brought to them and they took her from John and slowly lowered her onto the stretcher, laying her out. They started wheeling her away and then it was just John and Terry, and they traded disturbed looks with each other.
"We, uh, take a seat?" Terry asked him.
"I guess so," John said uneasily.
They found seats to the side and isolated themselves, preparing for a long wait there and wondering what the hell had just happened.
It was an hour later when they were found and greeted by a doctor, and they stood up from their seats to meet him.
"Are you family of the young girl that was brought in?" he asked tiredly, gray eyes matching the gray at the man's hair at his temples.
"No," John answered for the two of them. "We found her standing in the middle of the road near St. Andrew's Cemetery. She collapsed and we brought her here. We do know her though."
"I see," the doctor muttered. "I'm Dr. Rosier. You say you know her? Do you know her name and if she has any family around that can be contacted about this?"
"Her name is Danielle LaRusso," John answered that at least. He hesitated. "As for family…"
"Her mother is living out of town and taking care of Danielle's uncle," Terry interrupted. "Up until now, she'd been living with a family friend, but today was his funeral."
The doctor looked surprised. "Is that so? So there's no one around currently that can come for her and help?"
John and Terry looked at each other.
"We could…the two of us…" Terry was cautious to finish off their shared thought.
"We're familiar enough with her, and she should know us enough," John cut in and that was true enough. If maybe not for the right reasons, the three of them were definitely familiar with each other enough.
"Well, she looks young, so she'll definitely need a guardian or at least someone to have medical Power of Attorney over her," Dr. Rosier informed them. "If her mother can't come, we'll need to contact her to fax over some forms and have her assign one to Miss LaRusso, even if temporary. There are certain tests we'd like to perform on her, and we need a guardian's signature. The sooner the better, really."
"I have her mother's current number," Terry said suddenly, and John made himself not look over at his friend in surprise. How the hell did Terry know that?
So Terry wrote it down for the doctor, and John had to speak out about one last thing.
"Can we know what happened to her? Like can we know her injuries?"
Dr. Rosier hesitated. "I can't give you full disclosure until we've obtained her mother's permission, but I can give you a small list of her injuries. We don't have the full story of what happened to her until she tells it, though we can deduce most of it from the injuries she'd obtained. We can't tell you that until later on, but I can say she's got a mild concussion, and mostly just a lot of bruises."
"She was bleeding though," John thought the list of injuries was off. "I felt it all over my arm earlier."
Dr. Rosier shook his head. "I'm sorry, but that I can't tell you yet."
He finished up with them and then headed back to see his patient, while John and Terry were left in the ER's waiting room again.
"How'd you know her mother's number or where she was?" John turned to Terry, deciding to find an answer to something he could actually find out about.
"I researched all about Danielle and her situation and life before approaching her," Terry raised an eyebrow. "I treated the whole revenge thing like a mission."
"You recon the girl?" John asked in amusement.
"Well, I wasn't just going to go into this blindly, huh? You were more familiar with her and all than I was," Terry snorted.
"Yeah, well, I wish we could have recon this and be able to assess the whole situation right now, and not be so blind about things at the moment," John grumbled, taking a seat again.
"God, I wish we knew more about this," Terry echoed him, though he slumped more on the chair. "I don't like flying blind."
Unfortunately though, that was exactly what they were doing until they got more information, which didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.
Thankfully though, by nightfall, the hospital had contacted Lucille LaRusso (who was upset that she couldn't just rush over and help her baby, given there was no one to take care of her incredibly sick brother) and had reluctantly given permission for Terry Silver (who had the money and stability to take over as temporary guardian) to sign the papers. There had been a lot of calls and faxing back and forth, but closer to midnight, everything had been settled for the most part.
"Now that you are in charge of her," Dr. Rosier started, and the two men straightened up. "The injuries, as I told you, were just that. However, the problem earlier not discussed until the patient confidentiality could be waived by your new rights, is the fact that we've come across conclusive evidence that she was raped. She's still unconscious, but as soon as she's awake, we'd like to have your permission to perform a rape kit as soon as possible. The sooner we can collect evidence, hopefully the faster we can identify the perpetrator. Or, if she knows who he is, be able to charge him and use the evidence collected against him."
John stood still then, and he was sure that Terry was the same. That hadn't occurred to either of them. And thinking of it now, it seemed such a strange and unbelievable thing to happen to the girl, because she was usually so headstrong and tough on her own.
"I," Terry started, but then had to stop and clear his throat. "I'll sign whatever. Do you need her to be awake to do it?"
"Preferably," Dr. Rosier told them. "Especially as we'd also like to get her permission."
When John wanted Danielle to pay and to make her suffer, this…this had never been a consideration. This was never, in any way, a possible route.
Damn it all, how the hell did this happen? Who had done this?
Dr. Rosier talked a few more things with them, but he left them in somber silence and the two men sat back heavily onto their chairs.
"Don't I feel like a bastard," Terry murmured to him. "We were all set and determined to make her suffer, and now she is…"
"This was never an option," he snapped at him. "We beat her in a tournament. We beat her in karate. We did things dirty and messed with her head a little, but we don't fuck up women like this. Or anyone outside the rules of the fight we make sure to be set up as obvious."
Terry shrugged. "I know. But it's not changing that, after everything and now this, that I feel like a real cad for doing what we did and wanting what we did, now that this…"
John flinched. He didn't want to think about it. Back in Vietnam, any soldier under his command that had been forceful with a woman (even if the women had been Vietnamese and especially if they had been on their side of the war), he'd beat them down and made sure that they learned their lesson.
"I don't want to think about it right now, Terry," John murmured. "Just…just keep quiet and wait for her to wake up. If you want to apologize, try to declare a truce or give a peace offering, wait for her to wake up for it, will you?"
They collapsed into silence again, only to have a nurse come out half an hour later and inform them that Danielle had woken up and that they could see her. They were warned that she may not react positively to other men, but they could try to approach her calmly.
Led to her room, they saw her awake but staring at the ceiling blankly.
"Hello, Miss LaRusso," the nurse greeted the girl kindly. "I have two guests for you, if you're up to seeing them. They're the ones who found you –Mr. Silver and Mr. Kreese."
Maybe it would have been better if she'd freaked out and started panicking that they were there, but instead she showed no recognition of their names and continued to stare blankly.
"I'll just be outside," the nurse whispered to them and left.
John and Terry gave each other looks and then hesitantly move closer.
"So, I'm still waiting on that rematch," Terry forced cheer into his voice. "Weren't you going to kick my ass for being a 'no-good, lying, sack of bad apples'?"
She stayed silent.
John sighed and pulled a chair closer to her bedside. Terry did the same and they kind of sat there, unsure why they were and what in the hell were they doing.
"I suppose you want to say this is karma," she caught them off guard as she whispered that.
But they caught her meaning and both of their expressions darkened.
"No," John stood and purposely moved over her (slowly though) and blocked her view.
Her eyes finally focused in on him, but there still wasn't much inflection in her eyes or face.
"There are lines that should never be crossed," John told her firmly. "This is something that I will never condone."
"Ever," Terry added seriously.
When she finally acknowledged them, it was with a small nod that showed that she still hadn't been beaten completely yet.
"First things first, we're going to have to update you on a few things," Terry continued. "As of late yesterday, early this morning, I'm your new temporary guardian until either your mother comes back or you turn 18. Whatever comes first. Second, that means you'll be living with me for a time. John lives there too, just so you know. Any questions?"
"What about Mr. Miyagi's house?" she asked quietly, struggling to sit up. John moved to help her, noticing her slightly tensing.
"I don't actually know," Terry frowned. "I'll have to find out, but I could make sure it won't be bought off or anything in the meantime."
Before she could say anything in reply, the doctor came in.
"Oh good! Miss LaRusso, you are awake. I'm Dr. Rosier. A few things first –though I hate to rush you and just spring this one on you, it really is best to follow procedure and get it done as soon as possible, especially to keep from losing evidence. You don't have to press charges with the police, but it's best if you undergo a rape kit so that you'll always be able to have the evidence preserved, should you choose to press charges anytime later on."
"Okay," Danielle said reluctantly. "But I don't want to press charges."
Her answer caught the other three's surprise, and John and Terry definitely gave each other looks.
"Very well," the doctor conceded. "We have the dress you were wearing contained in a bag for evidence, but there are other samples we'd like to collect. I'll have Nurse Jackie do it, so you can be more comfortable." Dr. Rosier glanced at the men there with him. "If you would like these two gentlemen to accompany you…" though he sounded dubious.
"Okay," she said again, though this time she said it more dully.
Though surprised she was letting them come along, they weren't sure what was going on in her head.
They moved to another room where she was laid down. John and Terry stood behind her, away from where the nurse would be and where they couldn't see anything. Soon enough, Nurse Jackie came and told them the procedure.
"Spread your legs, sweetie, alright? We'll get started."
Though the hospital gown went over her knees, it was kept high enough (especially since her legs had to be spread apart) for the nurse to start taking pictures of the area in between them. The nurse then began to swab for samples, and John didn't think this would be so invasive. Or so clinical and practically dehumanizing.
It took hours too, which added to the clinical handling of the girl that was silent near them.
Afterwards, they were escorted back to her room, where she curled into a ball on her bed and ignored everything and everyone.
Silence once again dominated the room.
Started 1/25/16 – Completed 1/26/16
A/n: I really need to stop watching American Crime. It makes me want to write for this story. Also…OMG, YOU GUYS REALLY ARE AWESOME AND I'M SO HAPPY PEOPLE ARE READING THIS XD Seriously, I was worried this was going to be like "Salted Caramel Chocolates" and have no readers, even though I love the story so much. Thanks again and I hope people continue to enjoy and please, please review!
On another note, because I was on such a Karate Kid kick, I have several different stories in mind that I have written first chapters for each one (minus the main fem!Daniel AU of the series), with the one-shot already posted. Do you guys want me to post the other first chapters?