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 Seven: Crown of Thorns
It's been a full month since Danielle had been with them. Today was one of her bad days, as she lay against John and watched the television dully, her eyes not even really watching whatever was on.
She snapped at them halfheartedly a few times that morning, before mostly walking around in a zombie-like state. Sometimes she would be staring off into space, and her flinching around them was worse than normal, especially considering how it had been getting a lot better around them.
Terry didn't know what the fuck to do.
Days like this, they just endured it and tried their best to make her feel better or make the day as less painful and just plain easier on her. They knew she felt bad whenever she lashed out, and that she tried to keep it to herself, but both of them had made it clear it was alright for her to do so and that they understood and could (and would) take it.
"I'm tired," Danielle murmured as she lethargically got up from the couch and moved away from John. "I think I'm going to take a nap."
"Okay," John said quietly, watching her as Terry kept quiet from his spot at a desk. Then John turned to Terry. "I think I'll go for a run, maybe check in at the dojo."
Terry nodded, still not saying anything. Once he was alone, he looked for the cell phone he kept nearby, grumbling to himself how it was so huge and such a pain to carry around. No wonder it was nicknamed "The Brick." Still, the Motorola DynaTAC phone was the best and most well-known phone at the moment, and he was always one to have the best. Maybe Danielle would like one…make it easier on her to contact that girl friend of hers…Ali, he thought it was…
It would be easier on him and John if she had a way to contact them too, if she wanted to go out or hell, if she was around the house away from them or if they were out of the house.
He punched in the numbers to the number he had memorized and waited for the good old doctor to answer.
"Hello, this is Richard Rosier speaking. How may I help you?"
"Dr. Rosier? This is Terry Silver. You gave me your number in case we needed…advice in regards to helping Danielle," Terry reluctantly said in the phone.
"Ah. I see. May I know how she's doing and what's going on now?"
Terry, to the best of his ability, told him how Danielle was and now what was going on between her and them and how she was acting. The doctor hmmed a lot but stayed quiet, making Terry nervous and unsure.
"I think now's the time to be going to a professional," Dr. Rosier suggested gently. "She obviously has been accepting of you two and letting you in, and that's great. Better than expected, especially when one takes in her situation. But as much as she's talking to you, I think what she needs right now is someone more objective and not so close to her or the situation."
Terry grimaced. He wasn't sure of this, and he was definitely not sure that Danielle would like this or go for it.
"I'll talk to her about talking to a…professional," Terry withheld his sigh. "I'll give you a call if she's up for it or not."
"Alright, I'll wait on you. Just keep that in mind, and maybe think about having her go to group counseling with others like her, and maybe get her out of the house more than she has been."
Terry hung up and stared at his phone, glaring lightly at it. He just wanted things to be better. He just wanted things to be back to the way they were, back when it was him and Danielle and they were trading barbs and jokes and sparring –
"Who was that?"
He turned around to face John, who looked only slightly out of breath. That he did at all though, made Terry guess that John had pushed himself harder than ever, probably in an effort to not think about things.
"Dr. Rosier," Terry told him. "I was calling…see if he had any useful advice," Terry slouched in his chair. "He thinks she should talk to a professional."
John almost made a face, echoing how Terry felt about that, but then again…if it would really help her, then they should give it a try.
"He also said that she should think about going to those group counseling sessions with others like her, and that we should try getting her out of the house more."
"She has been cooped up in the mansion since she's gotten here," John mused aloud. "We're not exactly making her stay here, so she's more or less preferring to stay in. Which means we're going to have to convince her to go out."
"You think she's afraid of going out?" Terry said aloud what they were both thinking.
John cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, we'll be there in any case. I can take her on my runs. I know you said she liked doing those a lot before."
"She went for a run whenever she needed to clear her head or was feeling bothered about something," Terry remembered. "I went with her one time. She gets really focused and gets this intense, upset look on her face, and the worse whatever it is, the worse she pushes herself to go faster."
"I didn't know she was kind of self-destructive," John raised an eyebrow.
"She is a bit," Terry muttered. "When she's really upset and down about something, she used to work herself to the bone in our practices. I couldn't help feeling bad about everything then."
Still, he wasn't looking forward to asking Danielle about this, given how much he was sure she'd be pissed he was even suggesting it.
To his surprise, she didn't even flinch at the suggestion, when he found her awake later and talked to her about it. She just looked tired and resigned.
"Will it help?" she asked wearily.
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But it could."
"Then I'll try it," she rubbed her face with her hands. "I'm tired of being like this and feeling so crappy all the time. I'm sure you and John don't appreciate me snapping at you guys, like this morning."
"Which we've told you is fine and we understand," Terry once again said firmly. "And it wasn't even that bad or too many times."
"I snapped at you and John a total of seven times."
"Like I said, not that much."
It made her smile a bit, which made him grin inwardly to himself.
"You kept count?" he continued in amusement, which earned him a blush. "Heh, come on. Let's go eat out for once. We'll have dinner somewhere."
"Eat out where?" though she had gotten up and started to follow him out of her room.
"Somewhere," he said obstinately, causing her to puff out her cheeks cutely. He smiled outwardly this time and even dared to reach out and grab her hand. Since she didn't say anything, Terry felt relieved and relaxed a little.
"Hey, John!" he called out to his friend, who looked at their held hands strangely. He ignored it. "We're going out to eat. Grab a jacket."
"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses," John grumbled, grabbing a jacket for all of them.
As Danielle didn't have one, she'd been tossed one of theirs (John's looks like) and she put it on and looked pretty dwarfed in it. Still rather cutely, Terry added in his head.
They ended up in a 4-star Michelin restaurant, dressed in t-shirts, jeans and laughing to themselves about the scandalized looks they were getting.
Danielle was tensed up and looking around cagily. She knew she should lighten up and she shouldn't really be so freaked out about the meeting with the psychologist…therapist. This was just a counseling session. She was supposed to talk to her and she would tell her some stuff. That was all.
She was not comfortable with this though.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them, she was watching the waiting room and thinking how cold it felt. Wincing, she got up and attempted to walk out of the room. The moment she opened the door though, she blinked in surprise at seeing John and Terry at the other side.
"We figured you wouldn't want to be here and might want to escape," Terry said with a small grin.
They grabbed an arm each and led her back into the waiting room, sitting down with her at some chairs grouped together.
"Don't be freaked out," John gave her a side glance. "We'll be here too, alright? We'll wait with you and for you while you're in there."
She felt a bit better about things, but she still felt a little anxious. Still…now that the two of them were there and holding her hands, she wasn't so bothered about going in to talk to this person who would be analyzing her, picking her apart…
She looked around and saw the empty waiting room, and then looked to her sides to see John and Terry looking at her carefully. She sat back in her seat, but she straightened up and focused her gaze forward.
"I hurt myself sometimes," she confessed quietly, feeling their hands tightened around her hands at that. "Just to…just to see if I can still feel. I don't want to feel numb again, so I focus on the pain. I just can't stop remembering everything."
"Danielle," John croaked out, but she didn't let him continue.
"My head's full of broken thoughts," she bit her lip. "I can't fix them. I don't know if I can. And sometimes…sometimes I want to make everyone hurt around me. To make them feel as hurt as I do all the time. And I'll hurt you too," she blinked back tears. "I'll just let you down, like I always seem to do for everyone else. Why else does everyone keep leaving me? You should just leave before it happens."
She sniffled just as John moved to crouch in front of her, while Terry tightened his hold on her hand even more.
"That is not true at all," John looked her in the eyes. "No one left because of that and we're not going anywhere. And I don't want to hear about you hurting yourself. You feel like doing that again, you just come to us."
She used her sleeve from her unoccupied hand to wipe her eyes. "It's really ironic, you know? After everything, you two have become the sweetest friends I've ever had."
Terry nudged her playfully. "And we'll defend that title to the end."
She choked out a teary giggle, and grinned at the two of them.
"You guys are the best," she gave them a small smile.
John snorted, going back to sit at his chair. "Glad you think so. Everyone else thinks we're assholes."
"But her opinion is the only one who matters," Terry snarked at him, giving a smirk.
"Eh, yeah. I guess you're right. Who cares about everyone?"
"Danielle LaRusso?"
They stopped talking and immediately turned to the office door, where a tall brunette stood waiting, watching them curiously.
Danielle cleared her throat nervously and threw anxious glances at them, but they gave her encouraging grins so she stood up and let go of their hands. She already missed them.
She took another deep breath and willed herself to walk over to the lady.
Danielle was a petite, pretty girl with short brown hair and expressive doe-like eyes. She also remembered her from an article stating she was some sort of karate champion, which was impressive, especially for a girl in this day and age.
Karate competitions were usually a male circuit, and the first year women were allowed to compete in competitions was apparently also the first year Danielle competed. 1984 was a big year for her then.
"Hello, Danielle. I'm Dr. Rosefield," she introduced herself, giving a friendly smile to the nervous girl.
So, so nervous…she noted it in the way she was almost practically clinging to the two men out there in the waiting room. That was also something she noted very easily and was a detail she took note of interestingly.
She didn't think they were related. The way the men leaned into her space was too intimate, and the way she looked at them denied any of that.
"Hi, Dr. Rosefield," Danielle greeted quietly, not looking at her.
Instead of sitting behind her desk, she directed Danielle to one seat and then took the seat opposite her.
"How about we just try to get to know each other?" she told the skittish girl, still smiling. "We can just state some facts, likes and dislikes…just to get comfortable and not rush into things, especially for anything you're not ready for, alright? Does that sound good to you?"
Danielle looked surprised, but nodded slowly. Her smile widened even more.
"Great! Let me start first. I love the color purple and I adore all four current Rocky films, though the third one might be my favorite. Apollo Creed becomes extremely likable!"
Her patient looked at her curiously, and seemed to become more relaxed by then. "I've…never seen them."
And it looks like they were off to a great start.
Started 3/29/16 – Completed 4/1/16
A/n: Pleeease review? No one left one last chapter (pouts). I feel lonely! Don't abandon me, people! Pretty please?