Title: Rise Up

Summary: This is another deleted scene from LTLA that I couldn't fit in anywhere. Jenny's parents, who Ryan has never gotten along with, pop over unannounced to visit Devlin. This scene takes place while Ryan is still on medical leave from the precinct after getting shot.

Genre: Drama

Characters: Ryan, Alexis

Alexis swung open the apartment door and smiled politely at the older couple standing in front of her, "Can I help you?"

The two looked her up and down a few times with expressions that were less than pleased before the woman spoke, "We're here to see Devlin. We're his grandparents."

Her eyes widened and she swung the door open, "I'm sorry, come in." Once they were inside she shut the door and held out her hand, "I'm Alexis, Dev's nanny." Only once the words left her mouth did she realize how this looked, a young nanny that was dressed in yoga pants and her employers t-shirt at nine am with bed head. She saw their expressions and prayed for a distraction, which thankfully came a second later when Devlin wandered into the room.

A frown covered her face when she saw Devlin looked less than pleased at the new arrivals.

While the woman walked over to the couch with her grandson the man turned to face Alexis, "Where's Kevin?"

"In the shower, he should be out soon." The man harrumphed and walked towards the couch leaving Alexis standing there awkwardly, they hadn't even offered their names.

Ryan came out of his bedroom a short time later dressed in a black Thundercats t-shirt and dark jeans and froze at the sight of the people on the couch. He was standing behind them and gestured wildly to Alexis who shrugged. With an eye roll and a shake of his head he entered the room and smiled, well more like grimaced.

"Christie, William. This is a… surprise," he said evenly.

Both turned and looked at him. "Well we don't like to call because then you're never home when we get here." The room descended into a tense silence until Christie spoke again, "We met your nanny."

Not dignifying that with a response he looked at his son, "You hungry bud?" Seeing his nod he walked to the kitchen and grabbed eggs and cheese to make breakfast. Hearing footsteps behind him he didn't flinch when a soft hand grabbed his arm.

"You relax," Alexis said after noticing he was so rigid with stress that he was beginning to shake. "Have some coffee and just relax."

He nodded and stepped back with a sigh, "They're Jenny's parents. How someone so sweet came from such sour people is a mystery to me. I try to avoid them but they've obviously caught on to that."

Alexis cracked the eggs into the pan and glanced at her boyfriend who was sipping his black coffee. "I'm sure it doesn't help that I introduced myself as the nanny. Sorry."

He shook his head, "Don't apologize, who cares what they think. They've had it out for me since Jenny introduced us, being a cop is apparently too low brow for them. In case you can't tell from all the gold they wear they're very well off. "

"Dev! Breakfast," she called out as she finished the eggs and put them on a plate.

He ran into the kitchen and jumped up to sit at the bar with a smile, "Thank you."

To everyone's disappointment his grandparents followed, William eying Ryan like something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. "So Kevin, still a policeman? Do you pull over many people?"

He half shrugged and forced a smile, "I'm actually a detective, but you know. Whatever."

"If you're working why are you here?" William asked.

Kevin stared at his coffee, "There was an accident at work a few weeks ago, I'm just taking it easy."

"Daddy got shot!" Devlin chimed in excitedly.

Kevin gulped down the rest of his coffee and wished for once there was copious amounts of alcohol in it. He set the cup down as he waited for the inevitable response. "Well if daddy loved you he'd be much more careful." He had expected it but it still stung to hear it.

Alexis stared at Kevin and waited for a rebuttal but it didn't come. Biting her tongue so hard it bled she started to clean up the kitchen.

Dev came to his dad's rescue innocently stating, "My daddy loves me more than all of the stars in the sky combined."

Ryan felt his heart swell at his son's words but reality came back a second later when William spoke, "Does he spend much time with you or are you always with your nanny?"

Ryan's eyes narrowed at the couple as Devlin answered, "Daddy has to catch bad guys to keep it safe for me and my friends, when he does that I get to be with Lex."

Christie shook her head sadly, "So daddy doesn't make time for you often."

Guilt overtook Ryan and he stared down at the floor before excusing himself quietly and going to his room where he closed the door and sat down on the floor next to his bed and stared out his window at the blue sky. It was one thing for Jenny's parents to belittle him but it was horrible when there were witnesses. He had wanted to say something for years but out of respect for Jenny he stayed quiet. Now Alexis had listened to them beat him down and point out how bad he was at parenting.

Logically he knew he did pretty well with Devlin, caring and providing for him while offering all the love and support he possibly could but in the back of his mind he always felt like it wasn't enough. His biggest fear in life, seeing as losing the love of his life had already happened, was letting Devlin down and every single time Jenny's parents popped over the fear flew to the front of his mind.

"No," he said to himself. He was a damn good father and Devlin knew how much he was loved. Who were they to come in here and question things that had nothing to do with them? They only came when it was convenient for them and didn't even try to help him after the funeral was done. He wasn't the bad guy and as much as Jenny loved her parents and always tried to keep the peace he knew she wouldn't want him to keep allowing them to demean him in front of their son. With a newfound determination he lifted himself off the floor and entered the living room where Alexis was standing off to the side glaring at the couple who were talking to Devlin like he was two.

"Hey Dev, could you go show Alexis your homework? I bet she could help you finish your picture." He nodded happily and Ryan felt anger surge up at the relief on his little face when Alexis grabbed his hand and led him away.

Not wasting any time and thankful that Alexis paid attention enough to close the door behind them he turned and faced the two on the couch. "You two need to leave."

Christie began to laugh condescendingly, "What?"

Ryan pointed to the door, "Get out. I'm done with all of it, the comments and looks and everything you've done to me since you met me. You don't respect me or anything I do."

"Can you blame us?" William asked with a scoff. "You run around like some sort of vigilante and get shot. You obviously don't care for your son."

"Exactly," he sneered. "He's mine, not yours. You don't understand that I don't have to let you see him and until you start acting like actual people and not the world's biggest bigots stay the hell away from my son and I."

Both stood stiffly and William came over and stood at his full height as he poked Ryan in the chest, the motion making pain spark through him as the finger pressed down next to his stitches. Glaring up with cold eyes he gritted out, "You touch me again I'll arrest you for assault."

William jerked back and with a final cutting remark, "Nice to see you being a good roll model for your son," they were gone.

He stared at the closed door for several minutes until a frustrated noise came from his throat and he walked to his room. His hand lifted to gently massage his chest which was still throbbing from William and shook his head. "Could have handled that better," he whispered to himself but he had achieved what he wanted to. It felt good to stand up for himself and he wondered why he hadn't done it years before.