(Yes, I'm back. Yes, I totally suck for slipping off my updates. Hate me. Now enjoy the fic :P Comments and Concrit welcomed)
Perry could imagine many people occupying the lounge when he walked in the next day. Nervous Guy could be begging residents to help him with his patients. Elliot could be going on about whatever she usually said; Perry just put up a mental wall whenever he was around her, and like the glass from his dreams, it never broke. Turk and Carla could be making gross displays of their teddy bear love; Perry liked to do his Mystery Science Theater 3000 impression during these times, where he'd make snide comments and loud, annoying whooping noises.
What he did not expect was an empty lounge, cleared out of fear of the singular woman pacing inside of it. Jordan turned to him, face clenched in an angry, murderous glare, and even Perry was slightly scared now. What the hell could she possibly want?
"You cheating, fucking whore."
Well that was unexpected. "What are you talking about?" Perry asked nonchalantly, walking over to the couch and flopping down. Maybe he should try what JD had done yesterday. The problem was -and this was where Perry got a little annoyed at himself- Jordan was perfectly willing to rip him a new one. Perry couldn't say the same when it came to his relationship with JD.
"I knew you were up to something, I fucking knew it. You didn't want to spend time here treating patients! You wanted to fuck your newest sex toy!"
"Jordan, the fact that you could even think that just makes me wonder what the hell you're on right now."
"I'm more sober than you'll ever be, Perry," she shot back, placing her hands squarely on her hips. Uh oh, she's gone into her 'angry' stance. She's really pissed.
"Jordan, even if I felt the need to have more sex than the zero times a week we get it in, how the hell would I find the time to do it?"
"I already told you," she said exasperatedly, as if the answer was clear in front of his face. "You'd have an easy time of it if the person was already here…" To Perry's surprise, her face morphed from anger to an evil, pleased grin in about five seconds flat. Oh fuck, she did something.
"What did you do, Jordan?"
"What ever do you mean, Perry?" He wasn't buying the innocent act.
"Whenever you get that look on your face, I know you've done something I'm going to regret."
"Nothing really. I just told your boyfriend that he was a horrible home wreaker and that you should both die painful deaths."
"Boyfr- JORDAN!" he yelled, eyes bloodshot. "YOU THINK I'M GAY?"
Oh, thank God they were alone right now. Anyone in the vicinity would've been killed by the sheer force of rage emanating off of both persons in the room.
"Well, considering I told off your BOYFRIEND, yeah, I think you're gay, or at least bisexual. Seriously Perry, how could you be such a horrible bastard as to lead me on all this time? If you'd told me at the beginning of our relationship, I would've been fine wi-"
Perry had stopped listening. It all made sense now. He'd seen JD in the changing room this morning, eyes puffy and worn, and for a moment had wondered if their conversation last night had been responsible for it. But now he realized…
"You think JD and I are a couple."
There was silence. Jordan seemed to realize just how mad Perry was at that moment, because she'd stopped talking all together, preferring to use a defiant stance to defend herself.
"You went to him this morning and fucking accused him of being my fuck buddy? How dare you. HOW FUCKING DARE YOU." If Perry wasn't so angry, he would've found humor in the clichéd line of dialogue.
"He deserved it, he-"
"That kid has nothing to do with us. I've been trying to figure out all week what's wrong with him, and now I finally get it. Good God, Jordan, he's my student, not my hooker! Are you so jealous and possessive that you can't deal with that? Oh my God, Newbie, what the fuck…" He groaned and dropped his head to his hands.
"It doesn't matter anyway Perry." Jordan's voice was slightly filled with guilt, but she wasn't giving up. "We're through. It's not working out. We should've realized before we started this up again just what a disaster it would be. I'm moving out. And as for JD…" He looked up to see her staring at him with a coaxing expression. "If you two weren't a couple before, then you both need to pull your heads out of your asses and realize that you're perfect for each other."
She left quietly, and Perry slumped onto the couch, giving another groan to the empty silence. Christ, this was turning into a mess. Jordan has probably been on JD's case for a while, accusing him of all this crap. And what could JD do? She was Perry's 'live-in-ex;' complaining to him about her wasn't a real option.
Well, all the chips are on the table, Perry thought to himself, rubbing his face with his hands. If Newbie wanted to talk about this with him, then damnit, Perry would be up front about allowing it. It was the least the kid deserved for putting up with Jordan for that long.
>>
"Two beers."
The bartender nodded and walked off, leaving JD and Perry alone, seated next to each other at the bar. There was a momentary silence, and then JD spoke. "So, did you see that Mr. Flenderson's cha-"
"Newbie," Cox interrupted, turning his head to face the other man, "let's get one thing straight. We are not here to talk about work. We are here to talk about whatever is bothering you, to get drunk, and to try and pick up women. That is all. Got it?" JD nodded slowly. "Good. Now, I had an interesting chat with Jordan this morning…"
JD listened intently, hissing at all the appropriate parts and nodding to each new revelation. "So she told me what she did to you, and I've gotta say, Newbie, I'm surprised that you managed to keep your mouth shut about it for so long." JD's eyebrows raised; it seemed he was confused. "She's been hassling you all week, and you don't talk about it till now?"
"Dr. Cox, she only yelled at me this morning."
"…oh. Well… then I'm still confused."
JD grinned. "That happens to me a lot," he said, winking at Perry. The other man grinned back slightly.
"So wait, then why have you been pissy all this week?"
JD's face drooped slightly, and his eyes wandered away. "Eh, it's nothing really…"
"Newbie, I did not come out to a bar with you to get brushed off like a cheap date. Start talking."
"Well…" There were a few moments of JD brushing the back of his neck in embarrassment, and Perry wiping the side of his nose in annoyance, before JD spoke again. "I'm kind of… in love with someone."
Perry was surprised, but needed more information to make any judgments. "Go on," he said, slightly nervous for some reason. Why was he nervous? What did he have to be nervous about? More importantly, where was his beer?
"Well, I love them a lot, and I sort of resigned myself this week to the fact that they'll never love me back in that way."
Oh, so it was unrequited love! Now that made much more sense. Perry nodded in understanding, he'd been there a few times, though he'd realized later that it wasn't love, so much as really needing to get laid. Hopefully JD would realize the same.
"Well," said Perry, trying to be encouraging, "don't give up hope. Ya never know."
JD nodded sadly; he obviously wasn't convinced. "Ah, here are our drinks," he said, changing the subject as the bartender returned with their beers. "Cheers," he said, holding out the bottle. Perry clinked his own against it and sipped, letting the cold liquid wash down his throat. He was paying less attention to the beer, however, and more to JD's expression, which was still pretty down. Hopefully a few more beers would change that.
>>
Perry could sometimes amaze himself by how many beers he could actually drink in an hour. It wasn't enough to really get drunk, but he was definitely feeling pretty happy, and he had a feeling JD was as well. They left the bar early in the night, since both had work tomorrow and wanted to avoid bad hangovers. JD, Perry mused, was not as big of a lightweight as he was in Perry's dream, but he still was a lot tipsier than Perry.
They walked quietly down the street, enjoying the view around them. Perry had to admit, he'd had fun; he never expected Newbie to be that entertaining. When you got a few beers into him, he loosened up and stopped being such a whiny little girl. Though he morphed not into a dude, but into a manly girl, as Perry could swear he'd been flirting with a guy in the next seat over for a few minutes. Perry would never speak of the emotions he had felt as he watched the two make googly eyes at each other. The feelings were proof of nothing, of course. Nothing at all.
"Gah, it'll take us another twenty minutes if we go around, let's take that shortcut."
Perry stopped dead in his tracks. "Wha… how do you know about the shortcut?"
"We went through there one time, remember? When Turk and I were following you around on Jordan's orders, and you caught us taking a pee break back there. Pretty fun night," he said, giggling. "Come on!" He turned and headed towards the alleyway, which was just a block ahead, on the left.
"Hey, moron, stop!" Perry said, grasping JD by the shoulder as he started to move forwards. "Did I not tell you not to go into alleyways alone?" His face was serious, and JD attempted to match his expression before bursting into giggles.
"But I'm not alone! I've got you with me! Come on, Dr. Cox," JD said, smiling at him. "You can play Mr. Knight In Shining Armor, and I'll be the damsel in distress. Tally ho!"
Perry just sighed and followed him.
They headed into the alleyway, and Perry felt like he was stepping into a nightmare. Hell, technically he was. This time, however, JD didn't grasp his arm in fear. Instead, he marched forwards confidently, with Perry hovering around him like a mother hen. After almost causing JD to trip over him for the third time, the younger man stopped walking.
"You know, Dr. Cox, I thought Ted was paranoid, but you're taking the cake tonight. Seriously, why are you so tense?"
Perry fought away the red tinges that were surely creeping onto his cheeks. Damn JD and his isolated instances of intelligence. "Sorry," Perry mumbled. "Guess I'm just a little out of it."
"Aw, don't be sorry," JD replied, smiling up at him. "It's kind of cute."
Wow. The kid was definitely tipsy. No heterosexual male in their right mind would ever call another man cute. Perry ignored the memories of his spunky redheaded patient and her gaydar. That had absolutely nothing to do with this, in the least bit. "Now listen here Amanda," Perry started. "No self respecting hetero-"
JD would never find out what 'no self respecting hetero' would do, because at that instant, something loud slammed somewhere nearby, and in the next moment, Perry had lunged to the side, grabbing JD and slamming him against the wall, with Perry leaning against his front and gripping his shoulders. "Dr. Cox, what the fuck?" JD asked, squirming slightly. "Why are you so jumpy? What is wrong with you?"
Perry looked up at him, breath returning to normal levels. "I.. I'm not sure."
"…oh."
That word had been used in that certain context too often recently for Perry's liking. It always lead up to uncomfortable silences, and that was definitely what this was turning into now. Perry was pressed against JD's chest, face only a few inches from the other man's, and they were staring at each other; JD's eyes filled with confusion, and Perry's contemplating the situation.
"…why haven't you moved away yet?"
Perry answered as he fought against the feelings that were bubbling up inside his chest. "I don't know." He reached up, keeping eye contact with JD, and brushing a lock of hair away from the side of JD's face, causing the other man to shiver slightly.
This was not good, not good at all. Stupid emotions, why were they plaguing him like this? Why couldn't they just have stayed buried? He had to get out of this, he had to run, pretend this never happened, turn the situation around…
"Perry?"
Oh, fuck it. JD's eyes were filled with the same apprehension and fear that he'd held in this alley in the dream, and this time, Perry knew he could fix that.
He leaned forwards, brushing his lips tentatively against JD's, who sucked in a breath of astonishment. Pulling back, he searched JD's eyes again, and still found them fearful, but this time, there was hope.
"Why did you do that?"
"I thought you were smart, Newbie. You should get by now that I have no idea what I'm doing." He leaned forwards again, drawing JD into a deeper kiss to shut him up. JD whimpered a little as Perry practically forced his tongue into JD's mouth and moved his hands, raising them to cup JD's head and pull him closer.
JD's response came quickly, and he kissed back, pushing himself against Perry's chest and wrapping his arms around the other man's waist. Perry groaned in appreciation as JD sucked a little on his tongue, and pulled away slightly afterwards, chewing gently on JD's lower lip before moving back in for another kiss.
The back alley was quiet, except for the sounds of their mouths meeting in tandem. Perry reflected while he kissed JD that if it took scary nightmares to get them this far, he'd have to stop pussyfooting around the issue of taking it even further, or risk another sleepless week.
When they broke apart, panting, there were no words spoken. Perry was too wrapped up in his own thoughts, and had a feeling that JD was doing the same. They walked back to Perry's apartment in silence, and by this time, JD had sobered up enough to drive home without Perry worrying. As JD moved to walk towards the driver's door of his car, Perry grasped him around the waist again and drew him back in for one more kiss. This time, when they broke apart, Perry stepped away and turned, walking up the steps of his apartment. He stopped at the top and looked back, watching JD drive away.
Perry couldn't get to sleep for a long time that night. The last words he said to JD that night were swirling in his head. You should get by now that I have no idea what I'm doing.
>>
If he ever got out of here, Perry mused as he awoke, he needed to get checked out for a concussion. There was no logical reason that he kept fainting in and out of consciousness. He wasn't the one having this shit beat out of him. Speaking of which…
Perry opened his eyes to see that there was no one outside of the box, and was just about to call out for JD when he realized that there was someone inside the box with him. Turning, he gasped when he spotted a prostrate JD lying on the floor. Perry quickly moved over to him, rolling him onto his back and peering down at him.
JD's breathing was shallow but steady. The gash on his cheek was starting to clot, but he sported a new black eye and a round burn mark on the side of his arm. There was also a shallow gash on his left arm, and this was bleeding more profusely than the other one. The broken leg was still, of course, broken and flopping about uselessly. Perry moved it slowly, adjusting it into a position he hoped would be more comfortable for the kid, and his brain worked to calculate a way to set it in a splint as he pulled off his shirt.
He tore into the clothing, ripping a band off the arm and using it to wrap around the gashes on JD's cheek and arm. There was so much blood, streaked on the kid's clothing; red splatters that stood out sharply on his light blue shirt. Perry wiped away at streak that had somehow gotten onto JD's forehead. Damnit, the kid didn't deserve this.
Perry shrugged his half destroyed shirt back on, and rolled JD onto his side. Now it was time to figure out how to untie the kid. He searched his own pocket, and finding that he still had his house key, began scraping it against the rope, which looked similar in dimension to a clothesline. The white fabric slowly began to fray as Perry worked, scraping and pulling against it, his face framed with a look of determination.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the cord finally snapped, and JD was released. Apparently, good things came in double doses, because this was also the time that JD decided to wake up. "Perry?" he croaked, opening his eyes and rolling back onto his back.
Perry leaned over him, giving him an encouraging smile. "Hey, kid," he said, stroking JD's hair out of his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"How do you think?" Perry chuckled at JD's comment; at least the kid still had his humor. "Other than the obvious, my neck is hurting. That's the least of my problems though, right?" He gave Perry a weak smile and pulled his head up slightly, rolling it a few times.
"Here, I can at least help with that." Perry moved JD slowly, until he was lengthwise in the box, giving Perry enough room to sit behind his head and move it into his own lap. "Better?" he asked, looking down at JD. The kid gave a contented sigh and nodded, closing his eyes.
They were quiet for a few moments. Perry absentmindedly stroked JD's hair, his mind wandering to far corners and methodically working to think of an escape plan. After a minute or so, JD spoke.
"Dr. Cox? When are they going to stop?"
He wanted to answer the kid, to tell him that no one was going to hurt him again and that Perry would make sure of it. He knew though, that he couldn't make any promises. "I don't know," he said finally, looking down sadly at JD. "I just don't. But I promise that I'll try to get us out of here before they've got another chance, alright?"
JD nodded up at him, eyes brightening slightly. "I know you'll try. I trust you; completely." Seeing his expression tore at Perry's heartstrings. The kid looked so hopeful, as if Perry's words were magical and prevented anything bad from ever happening again.
"You shouldn't be so trusting," Perry sighed, looking away. "Especially of me; I don't deserve that type of trust. I got us into this damned mess"-he'd resigned himself to that fact, which was based more on his feelings than any concrete proof-"and I don't know how I'll get us out."
"I don't care. You… you always know what to do." Perry shot him a pained look, but JD shook his head. "I mean it. You always figure something out. Even if you don't know what to do right now; you always eventually realize exactly what has to be done. All you have to do is think."
"So that's all you expect me to do right now? Think?" Good god, it seemed like such a small request, but Perry wasn't sure if he could even do this small thing for the kid. Still though, as JD gave him a hopeful nod, he knew he had to try.
His thoughts were cut short, however, when the woman once again appeared, stepping out of the shadows like a demonic hell hound and walking over to the box. Perry growled, glaring at her and placing a protective hand on JD's shoulder.
"Are you tired of these games?" she asked in an exasperated voice. Her tone cut through Perry like a knife. Games? Is that what she thought these were? Fucking games? What type of sadistic bitch was she?
Perry didn't know if he'd ever been this angry in his life. "Why the HELL are you doing this, Jordan," he roared, gripping JD's shoulder harder and making him whimper slightly. "How the fuck could you call this a game?"
She gave another sigh, and the next words out of her mouth were not ones that Perry expected. "My name is not Jordan," she said, rolling her eyes.
"What the fuck are you talking about Jordan? You can cover yourself up, but you can't hide how your voice sounds. I know it's you."
"You're in denial Perry," she spat out at him. "You just can't see the truth." She reached her hand up, gripping the side of the ski mask, and as Perry watched, yanked it up and off of her face.
And then Perry was looking in a mirror, because the face under the mask wasn't Jordan's, it was his own. 'Perry' stood across from him, a maniacal grin on his face, and Perry was sure that he was going crazy. "Wh-what are you?" he croaked, eyes wide in shock.
'Perry' stepped forwards with forceful strides, and Perry shrunk back, pulling JD with him until he was clutching the kid around his waist and leaning him up against Perry's chest. "I'll let you figure that out yourself," crooned the demon, eyes dancing with mirth. "Look inside yourself, Perry, you've got all the answers, you just need to unlock them."
Before Perry could speak again, his clone strode off, leaving the two men alone once more. Perry squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears of exhaustion and hopelessness. This was insane. Obviously he was going crazy. It was the only explanation for why his head was sitting on Jordan's body. Most people found them intolerable separately, but a Perry and Jordan mix? Good god, it was a nightmare.
"Please, Dr. Cox…" Perry looked down as JD began to speak again. "Figure this out." His eyes were filled once more with fear. Perry wanted the naïve hopeful look back.
"I'll try. Get some sleep, kid."
JD yawned in reply and settled against Perry's chest, his back dipping into Perry's lap. The warmth he gave off was comforting; it focused Perry's thoughts away from morbidity and onto figuring out the problem at hand. He soon heard JD's light snores, and found that his own eye lids were drooping. Despite his best attempts, he slipped into sleep, the answer to their problem still unknown.