Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

August 2007

“Where’s Lou?!”

Tammy watched as Debbie slipped into the car and quickly grasped her hand. She continued to frantically scan the alley behind Debbie, looking for the owner of a velvety voice that had snuck in and stole her heart without a second glance.

“Not here yet,” Debbie’s calm and confident reply only served to make Tammy more anxious.

“What do you mean ‘Not here yet’?! The alarms are going off and you and I both saw the clerk’s finger on the panic button! The police are on the way, WHERE IS SHE?!”

“She’ll be here, just give her a moment.”

“I told you we didn’t have time for her to go into the back and grab ‘the extra special jewellery that I’m sure they hide back there!’ Now we’re going to get caught and it’s going to be your fault for always wanting more!”

“There she is!” Debbie’s hand jerked out of Tammy’s and pointed into the alley where Lou could be seen striding out the side door, empty handed. She swept her bangs out of her eyes and glanced up to the end of the alley, her crystal blues meeting two sets of anxious and warm brown ones that she’d gladly get lost in any day of any given week.

A relieved smile - that was somehow still smug and charming - broke across Lou’s face as she started running toward the car and Tammy breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t wait to get back to their apartment and hold her girls close in her arms and just breathe for a moment. She couldn’t wait for when, for a short blissful moment, she could imagine they were just three normal young women who loved each other and earned honest livings.

Tammy was snapped out of her short, temporary reverie by a loud noise and a sudden, sharp cry. Lou was still several yards away, but she was laying on the ground now, a hand clutching her shoulder.

“Mortherfu-, they shot her!” Debbie was hanging out the window now. 

“What?! What do you mean, THEY SHOT HER?! Who?!” Tammy’s voice was climbing octaves with every other word.

For the first time since Debbie had asked her to come back to bed last night, and she had refused, Tammy saw some fear and uncertainty in Debbie’s eyes. 

“LOU! LOU! Come on, get up, oh my god! Debbie, go get her!” Tammy was screaming now, hands shaking as she turned around to clear off the backseat.

As soon as the words left Tammy’s mouth, Debbie’s car door was open and she was carefully - crouched low to the ground - flying towards Lou’s groaning form on the ground.

Tammy watched anxiously from the car, checked again that the backseat was cleared, stretched to open the back door, and put the car in drive. Her knuckles gripped the steering wheel tightly and steadily, but her arms shook slightly, almost imperceptibly. She watched as one of the loves of her life crawled into a live danger zone and watched as the other one weakly rolled her head in the direction of the car, unable to get up. She watched as Debbie tucked her arms under Lou’s and dragged her back to the car, while leaving a terrifying trail of blood behind her.

Debbie finally got to the car and hauled Lou’s long, limp body into the car. Tammy could see the blood seeping out of Lou’s shoulder and watched as it ran down her body to land on the ground, the side of the car, the space between the door and the seat, and on the seat itself. And Debbie. Lou’s blood was all over Debbie. Her legs, her torso, her arms, and her fingers. Oh god. Debbie's fingers were covered in so much of Lou’s blood.

Tammy drove as steadily and speedily as she could, occasionally glancing in the rear view mirror where Lou lay in Debbie’s arms, her head resting on Debbie’s chest. Debbie was simultaneously trying to stem the bleeding, brush Lou’s bangs out of her eyes, and whisper sweet nothings into her ear. 

“D-D-Deb… Debbie. Th-They shot me!” a faint gurgle escaped from Lou’s thin, pale lips, somehow sounding weak but fearless and frantic at the same time.

“Lou, hey baby! Hi! Keep your eyes on me ok? You’re going to be alright I promise, Tammy’s here and I’m here and we’re going to get you someplace safe and fix you right up ok? You’re going to be just fine!” Debbie continued to apply pressure to Lou’s leaking wound and managed to convey her fear and love for Lou, while maintaining her usual confident command.

“T-Tammy? Is she here too? Where? Debs, I can’t see her!” Lou started to try and sit up, favouring her right side and seeming to forget the hole in her left shoulder.

“No, no, Lou honey! Don’t move, I'm right up here driving ok? I’m here, I promise, you’ll be ok, just try not to move, and hang in there,” Tammy called up from the driver’s seat, glancing briefly in the rearview mirror, her hands still gripping the steering wheel tensely.

“Alright then… Ugggghh God Jesus! Well, I guess we know the adrenaline’s wearing off. I just got shot so you two idiots better listen to me very carefully… please. Holy mother of God this HURTS, oh my God! Please just stop fighting, I love you both and you love each other and at the end of the day, none of the rest of it matters. Please, stop. I love you. OH MY GOD! Oh holy Lord! P-Pl-Please never leave me, either of you, please. Never leave me,” Lou started off, strong and confident, but as she got closer to finishing what she had to say, her breath become more hitched and fear and desperation crept into her voice. The spaces between each syllable extended, and when the last word left her mouth, she managed to firmly catch both their glazes in turn. Then the hand that had been grasping Debbie’s arm that had been wrapped around her midsection grew limp and her head lolled to the side.

“Lou, hey! Hey, hey, hey baby. Stay awake, come on. Look at me, DAMMIT. Lou! No please stay with us, PLEASE! Tammy, she passed out, oh my god. Tammy, there’s so much blood.”

With Lou no longer conscious, she was slipping from Debbie’s hold, lower and lower, sliding into her lap. Debbie was desperately trying to keep her close, her constant shifting and pulling was spreading the blood everywhere, creating scuff marks on the backrest, and streaks on Lou’s biceps, while more rivets continued to run down Lou’s chest.

“Oh for goodness’ sake, Debs! Stop moving her around so much, she’s in pain and losing more blood, stay still, we’re almost there!” 

“Oh god, Tammy. There’s so much blood, how much longer?!” Debbie’s voice was laced with fear and uncertainty, and when her eyes looked up to meet Tammy’s in the rearview mirror, Tammy could see the pain and horror coursing through her veins reflected in Debbie Ocean’s eyes.

An Ocean was never supposed to be scared, or unsure. An Ocean was never supposed to lose control or be caught in a situation that they hadn’t prepared for. It just wasn’t how they worked, it just wasn’t in their blood. But as Tammy watched Lou’s blood seep endlessly from between Debbie’s fingers, she didn’t think about Debbie’s blood. It would only be after, after all this, when she was alone, that she would remember Deb’s fear and Deb’s eyes, she would remember Lou’s blood, and her own blood. She would think about how the blood of the three of them would be intertwined forever, and about whether or not that was a good thing.

Chapter Text

August 2007

“What happened?!” Tess’ initial annoyance at whoever was interrupting their dinner was quickly replaced by shock, and then concern when she opened the door to find her sister-in-law shaken and disheveled in the hallway.

The first thing she noticed was Debbie’s face. Her brow was wrinkled ever so slightly in the middle and the shadows of a mascara smudge could be seen around the corner of her left eye. Her lower lip was in the midst of a constant battle between a little tremor and the stillest pout, but the most noticeable thing about Debbie were the very large streaks of blood on her face, one running from just above her left eyebrow to fade away around the top of her cheekbone, and the second was a wide, scuff mark just under her right eye. 

The blood was alarming for obvious reasons - Tess was immediately set on high alert and she quickly motioned her surprise guests inside - but the placement of the blood was also strange. The longer mark suggested that Debbie had reached to tuck her hair behind her ear, which was a nervous habit that she had quit in high school. She had figured it made her appear weak and feminine - to be fair, she had been young and was trying to make it in a man’s world, and in a profession where masculinity and it’s subsequent associated strength translated to confidence, which would equate to success. It wasn’t until years later that she would discover the wonder, beauty, boldness, and strength that femininity could bring.

The next thing Tess saw was Tammy, who was exuding a calm confidence, while her hands shook slightly and her eyes betrayed her fear and worry. But the most pressing concern that Tess was presented with was the barely-conscious and groaning form haphazardly gathered in Debbie and Tammy’s arms. Lou.

“DANNY!” was quickly called over her shoulder as Tess helped the women drag Lou’s very tall and very uncooperative form across the threshold.

“What?! What is it, honey? What’s wrong?” a panicked Danny Ocean quickly appeared around the corner. 

“Jesus! What the FUCK girls?” Danny’s gruff voice jumped up the octave as he took in his little sister and her two girlfriends standing in his apartment looking like they had tried to outrun the Grim Reaper.

Debbie frantically whipped her wide-eyed gaze at Danny, her mouth moved but all she managed to get out were panicked whimpers and squeaks.

“Job went bad because Debbie miscalculated and figured money, success, and legacy were more important than her girlfriends. Lou got shot by the fuzz,” Tammy’s impartial and even tone interrupted the siblings’ gaze and then everyone was looking at her; she stood her ground and kept her cool, even though her insides were shaking with fear, love, and rage.

“Alright, Danny clear the dining table, we’re going to have to remove the bullet,” Tess ordered, moving past the girls and into the hallway.

“Deb and Tam, lay her on some chairs until Danny’s finished. While you wait, Deb grab some towels from the cupboard and Tam boil some water. I’m going to get some tweezers and scissors from the bathroom,” she continued.

Danny looked at the girls, “Have either of you done this before?”

Debbie’s hands shook as she stammered and Tammy looked sick and shook her head, “With Lou’s medical background we never figured we’d have to do this without her…”

Danny nodded grimly and turned away to continue clearing the table.

Fifteen minutes later, Lou was laying on Tess and Danny’s dining table. The white towels beneath her were already stained, red blotches blossoming as they reached outward, leaking Lou’s liveliness out onto a symbol of sustenance and life. Tess and Danny wore white latex gloves and grim expressions. Sterilised tools were lined neatly next to Tess, like soldiers in the first wave of a war. Tammy was sure it was her imagination, but the knife seemed to be gleaming more than the others, like the malicious wink of a Fortune 500 CEO.

Tess and Danny were positioned by Lou’s left shoulder. They had some experience from when Rusty had gotten shot a few years ago in the Morrocan desert. Debbie and Tammy were tasked with the one job: holding Lou down.

When they started, Lou groaned lowly and she thrashed weakly as Tammy pushed her hair out of her face and whispered quiet reassurances into her. Debbie sat further down and firmly grasped Lou’s hand, running her thumb over her knuckles.

When Tess had to use the knife to expand Lou’s entrance wound, Lou screamed and Tammy felt a horrible twisting and sinking ache in her core. She looked up and saw her own heartbreak, helplessness, and guilt reflected in Debbie’s eyes. They were distracted for one second and Lou jerked her head toward where Tess and Danny were working and she kicked out a leg as she sluggishly tried to drag her body away from the source of pain. Tess dropped her knife with a startled clatter onto the table.

“Girls…” Danny growled under his breath, a warning filled with understanding and urgency.

“Sorry,” Tammy and Debbie muttered. Tammy quickly gathered Lou’s face into her hands again and planted a slow kiss along her hairline. She looked up to watch Debbie pull Lou’s right hand to her chest as she draped her arm across Lou’s thighs.

When Lou screamed again, neither women loosened their hold on her, but they both felt hot tears streak down their cheeks.