Work Text:
Gail is used to answering calls at all hours, regardless of if she knows the number on the screen or not. Being woken up by her phone ringing at 3 am, although not typical does happen. So she thinks nothing of it and answers. Fully alert and ready to work.
“Gail,” Tom’s voice comes through the speakers with a tremble. “I fucked up.”
She looks at her phone again. That’s not his contact, it's a number she doesn’t recognize. She puts the phone back to her ear. Tom is freaking out.
“Tom. Tom,” She calls, trying to get him to stop his rambling. “Calm down. Just tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s… shit I,” He takes a shuddering breath. Two. starts again. “Henry, I killed him.”
“You, what?”
The story tumbles out after that between bouts of crying. An accident. A bit of rough housing gone wrong when Henry slipped and fell on a beer bottle. There’s footage of it though. Iggy had filmed it on Tom’s phone. It looks bad. Murder, man-slaughter doesn’t matter. It could ruin Metalstorm. It could kill Tom’s career. Destroy Gail’s reputation. She tells him all of this. He cries a bit more as she does. She’s already thinking of plans on how to cover this up, when Tom derails that train of thought.
“I should turn myself in,” he says.
“Absolutely not, we can figure this out,” she returns. “I can fix this, Tom.”
“Gail…” Tom starts. There’s reluctance in his voice.
“No, listen,” Gail interrupts, best not to let Tom get any further with those thoughts if possible. “We can… We can get Colt here. Make it look like he killed Henry for replacing him. Put his face on the video using VFX and stage it as a murder, suicide.”
“No, Gail no,” Tom protests, this conversation seems to have steeled him. “We can’t do that. Kill Colt? Are you insane? What will that do to Ryland? No, I should just take accountability. I’m not going to do that.”
It's the best plan she has right now, but if Tom won’t go along with it, the whole thing falls apart. She thinks for just a second while telling Tom to just hang on one moment. She refuses to let him destroy the good things she’s got going with Metalstorm and her producer role. Tom cares for only a fair few things and people, but there’s one he is adamant about protecting. Too easy.
“If you refuse to go along with this plan, you leave me no choice,” Gail smiles, she knows she has him beaten. “I can just send Dressler or someone else on your security team to pay Ryland a visit. They can have a little fun with him first if they like, but it’d be his blood on your hands.”
“They’re my security team,” Tom contends.
“That I contract, They lose that if you go to prison. I can send one over to the loft right now,” She says with conviction. She knows she’s got him. No matter how he tries to argue or resist this is all but decided. Gail puts Tom on speaker temporarily, sending off a text to Dressler to have someone stationed outside Tom's loft for the night. Ryland isn't to leave or go anywhere until morning. They are to snatch him up if he leaves for any reason, even if its with Tom. They will also have to tail him in the morning. Better to cover her bases now. She receives a confirmation from Dressler shortly after. All set then.
She can hear Tom growl on the other side of the call. A few expletives as well, under his breath. He’s trying to think of ways out of this. Eventually he goes quiet, seemingly defeated. She returns the call to her ear.
“I have conditions.”
Oh this ought to be good. What could Tom possibly expect Gail to concede to? She’s got all the cards here.
“Depends on what it is,” She states.
“Ryland can’t find out about this plan, It’ll break his heart,” Tom demands. “Second, no one dies. We frame Colt, but we don’t kill him.”
Gail grins. She tells him that she accepts. She has no intent to follow through on those promises. There can’t be any loose ends. What Tom doesn’t know won’t kill him, at least.
She tells him to go lay low and let her know when he finds a spot. In the process she remembers that the phone he’s using doesn’t belong to him. The reveal that he lost his phone with the evidence is a major inconvenience, but she can figure it out. She’ll send Dressler to his location in the morning with a burner for now. That sorted she starts moving the pieces and planning. She’s got a lot to do to get this underway.
Ryland checks his phone first thing when he wakes up, alone. He knows Tom was out last night, but hadn’t heard anything from him before going to bed. Hopefully he crashed safely at the hotel and everything is fine. His phone does not support those hopes. No calls, no texts, nothing from Tom. He searches the loft to find no sign of him. Worry and anxiety starts to peak, but he tries to reason with himself. Tom’s been good about communicating when he goes out, but sometimes people forget or messages get dropped. There’s no need to panic. Yet.
He can go to set and ask around. Maybe Tom will already be there. Maybe Gail or Jody or even Iggy know where he is. It's not a big deal. These things happen.
Ryland settles his nerves and gets ready for the day. Faster than normal. He needs to get to set early if he wants to try and investigate this.
No luck. He’s nowhere to be found. The cast and crew are panicking about schedules and delays. Ryland’s about to have a crisis. What if Tom is hurt? What if he’s dead? And no one has told him anything. He needs to find Gail. She has to know something. She almost always knows Tom’s business. Tom’s business is her business after all.
Ryland knocks on her trailer door and she greets him politely. She ushers him inside and has him sit on the couch across from her work station.
“I think I know why you’re here,” She starts with a grim look. “I meant to find you sooner, but I’ve been neck deep in questions and planning with all this chaos.”
She motions to her work station and sure enough it is littered with papers. Her phone is even actively pinging messages. He appreciates that she’s ignoring them on his behalf, but a little bitter she didn’t get into contact with him sooner. That he had to find her.
“Do you know where he is, Gail?” Ryland asks, a bit desperate. He’s bouncing his leg trying to relieve some of his nervous energy.
“I need you to listen and do as I say. This is urgent,” Her tone leaves no room for argument. It just makes Ryland more worried. What kind of danger could Tom have gotten into? “First thing, Tom is safe. There was a threat to Tom’s life. He’s laying low for a few days, so it can hopefully blow over. You; however, need to move to the production hotel. One of Tom’s security staff will be with you anytime you are not with others from the cast or crew to escort you. Even then at least one will be close by. I’m also going to give you Dressler’s number. I implore you to check-in frequently.”
That’s a lot. Someone threatened Tom’s life. Was it serious enough that he couldn’t come home? Why hadn’t he called?
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Ryland insists.
“Tom doesn’t want you to look for him. He doesn’t want you to know his whereabouts for now. He thinks it'll put you in harm's way. He just wants you safe,” Gail says with finality. “At the end of the day, Kietel from Tom’s security staff will meet you and escort you to the loft to pack a bag.”
Ryland tries to read her. See if he can find anything off. Gail has always been nothing but professional. Even with the whole mess of that scandal several months ago. This whole situation seems odd, though. She has definitely omitted some details. He wants to push for more, but already knows that it probably won’t get him anywhere. Gail scrawls down the number for Dressler and hands it to him. He has no intention to use it but pockets it anyway.
“It’s only a few days,” she places a hand on his shoulder in what should be a comforting way. A part of Ryland feels like it isn’t sitting quite right. He just can’t place it. “I know this isn’t ideal. I need you to act with discretion for now. Keep all this close to the chest. We don’t need everyone to freak out more than they are,” she directs him to stand and starts steering him to the door. “Everything will be fine. I’m taking care of it.”
The reassurance does nothing for the anxiety sitting in his chest.
Ryland catches who he can only assume is Kietel shadowing him all day. The large, intimidating man keeps his distance, but his presence is still obvious. The only thing it succeeds in doing is making Ryland more troubled. More anxious and afraid. He can’t help but feel perturbed at the constant eyes on him. Like there's a hand gripping him by the back of the neck. That combined with the continuous and constant stress radiating around set from everyone trying to rework their schedules and plans due to Tom’s absence makes for an extremely tense day. Ryland finds himself a fidgety, jumpy mess. A few people have approached him to ask about Tom’s whereabouts. Ryland feels terrible that he can’t answer them properly.
At least the distance Kietel is keeping stops people asking why Ryland is being followed around by a large, threatening man in tactical gear. Tom's security is usually around here and there during production. Seeing one isn't anything new to anyone working on this project, even though without Tom here it is a bit odd.
Ryland can tell that Jody is doing everything she can to hold it together. She's trying her best to not let the stress get to her and keep her cool. She's doing an amazing job of it. Ryland wishes he had some of that resolve, but he just can't find it. Eventually she calls a meeting and announces that they’ll be cutting the day short and to return for a 6am call. Ryland approaches her once most have left.
“Are you doing alright?” He asks. He feels silly for asking. Of course she’s not, her film is going to suffer for this. She’s been working so hard. Jody doesn’t deserve to have this happen, but he just doesn't know how he can possibly help. She’s done so much for him. At least he can be a supportive friend.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jody starts, she sounds distracted. She is probably running hundreds of plans and scenarios through her mind. “I mean we’ll figure this out. Gail’s convinced we can do a lot of the stunt shots we still have remaining. Hopefully that’ll fill a few days and we can figure out where Tom is while we do that. Then we’ll just have his monologues and a few other shots.”
Her wording is strange. Like she thinks Tom is just missing, not in hiding. Maybe that’s the version that Gail told her. Ryland wonders if the narrative he received is the true version. Gail seemed so honest and reliable though. Even if part of him felt that there were some holes in it, he can’t find it in himself to doubt her. He doesn’t know all the variables. She wouldn’t lie to him about something so serious. She told him to be discreet, maybe that applies to Jody as well.
“That’s good,” Ryland says. “Anything I can help with?”
“Nah, I just need to send out some messages, get stunt set up to speed. Gail is working on bringing in a new stunt guy too. Henry also didn’t show up today oddly enough,” Jody puts a hand on his arm. “I really should be asking you if you’re alright. I mean your boyfriend is missing.”
Ryland almost starts crying. She’s the first person that has really acknowledged it since he found out earlier in the day. Jody clearly notices as she pulls him in for a hug. The tears actually start falling with that.
“Oh, honey,” She consoles him as she wraps her arms around him. She continues to whisper assurances as he cries. It's not long, two minutes at most. This feels like it’s been waiting to happen all day. Buried underneath the surface. With all the chaos, he just never had an opportunity. Now, here with his friend, it feels like he has just a scrap of safety
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to burden you with this,” Ryland says as they separate slightly. Jody is still holding onto his arms gently.
“No, it's okay,” Jody reassures. “If you need anything I’m here. Just call me. I have to go to my trailer and do some work. If you want, you can come with?”
Ryland looks over her shoulder to see Kietel. As much as he would rather go with Jody, right now he has an escort waiting on him.
“No sorry, I have some things to do, but the offer to call stands for you too, okay?” He rubs one of his eyes.
They step away and go opposite directions. Ryland ends up in the back of a black SUV that takes him to the loft. He packs a bag to last him a few days. Then he’s off to the hotel. The whole time he’s tailed at various distances by his new formidable shadow. He tries to make conversation, but the guy is the silent type it seems. Having him here doesn’t really make him feel safe. If anything it makes the foreboding feeling of danger more intense. Fear occupies the are around Ryland. The looming pressure of it and the figure that follows him only serve to have him on edge. He can withstand it if it's what is needed to keep Tom safe though.
Ryland can deal with the trembling of his hands, the pit in his stomach and the ache of his heart if it’s for Tom. It feels like he has no other choice, even if he wanted to do something else.
Gail tried to convince Jody that they should bring in Colt, it would’ve made things easier. Especially considering he’s already on the way. Getting Jody’s approval was just a simple formality. Jody may get miffed about it, but Gail is confident she can assuage her when the time comes.
She’s already placing her pieces. Iggy and Doone already know their roles. She has Alma going to retrieve Tom’s phone from Kevin first thing in the morning. It had been found while Kevin was dealing with getting the body on ice. Everything is coming together. As long as everyone does what they are supposed to and no one goes off the book that Gail has planned this will all work out.
Ryland had slept terribly. The swirl of unease, fear and dread inside him had made it difficult to fall asleep at all. The sleep he had gotten hadn’t felt at all restful. He gets ready for the day and heads down to the lobby. His temporary body guard is standing just outside, already waiting for him. He wonders if they had swapped shifts. If someone had been here overnight as well. That could be some good small talk with his new companion. Even if the guy was hardly talkative, it couldn’t hurt to ask.
Distracted as Ryland is, he jumps, with what is definitely not a squeak, when Alma walks up to him. She looks at him with an unimpressed expression.
“Hey boy toy,” She greets with a facetious tone. “Gail sent me here to get this, but you’re probably going to see Tom before me anyway and I have like a million other things to do,”
Ryland focuses back in now that his heart isn’t racing. She’s holding Tom’s phone out. Confusing. Does she not know he is missing? She is one of the busiest people he’s ever met though. Like many assistants on the production she’s always running around doing various tasks.
“Where did you get this?” He asks as he grabs it from her.
“That guy at the front desk found it in one of the rooms,” She uses her thumb over her shoulder to point at him. “Look I have to go, so just, I don’t know, take care of that.”
She doesn’t even wait to see if Ryland is going to say anything else. She just adjusts her bag on her shoulder, spins and makes a speedy exit. Kietel turns to see her leave and spots Ryland in the lobby. Ryland shoves the phone into his jacket pocket and steps outside. As they head to the same black SUV he rode in yesterday. Kietel confirms Ryland’s curiosities. There was someone here last night as well.
Ryland asks Jody if he can hang out in her trailer for the day. If someone needs him, they can still find him. Between his poor night’s sleep, the anxiety that’s been stirring inside him and his general feelings of dismay, he just doesn’t feel like facing anyone. He just needs some time away from big tough security guys, stressed out cast and crew and the few prying eyes that find him.
Tom’s phone is dead. Not that it matters, Ryland doesn’t know the passcode anyway. He also doesn’t plan on digging. It’d be an invasion of Tom’s privacy. One that, even in this circumstance, doesn’t feel appropriate. He still puts the phone on a charger in Jody’s trailer. He cranks his radio up in case anyone uses that to call or find him and lays on the small couch in her trailer. He sets an alarm to wake him if he does happen to doze off. Ryland finds himself scrolling through his gallery. Looking at photos of Tom, with and without himself. It is hardly a band-aid for the situation, but it's something at least. He just needs to push through this. Just a few days. Just till everything blows over. It’ll be alright.
Colt arrives on location a bundle of nerves. He's doing his best to fortify himself for the day ahead, but it's difficult to do with everything else he has to contend with. He feels jet lagged and a bit sore from sitting on that long flight. He needs a coffee like no one’s business. There’s a lot of people and moving parts here. VFX scans his face to be able to accurately map Tom’s (stupid) face onto him as needed. He reunites with Dan. Just to have his first stunt back be a car roll. He feels trepidation about it for more than a couple reasons. He didn’t expect them to have him do anything crazy on his first day. This is the first stunt he's doing in a year and a half. He's rusty. The sand is loose. This is not ideal, but he gets in the car anyway. Once Dan pushes him hard enough. The sight of Jody also an excellent motivator, even if she hadn't been able to tell it was Colt with his helmet on.
He’s gotta do this. For Jody. Beautiful, amazing Jody. She asked for him.
Turns out that Gail is a liar.
Jody didn’t ask for him at all. In fact she did the opposite of that.
Colt gets set on fire and thrown around a half dozen times. Jody starts a very public conversation about how he ghosted her. He still hasn’t gotten a coffee. It’s been a fuckin’ day. One he plans to finish by giving Gail a piece of his mind.
Tired, dirty, and sore Colt finds himself sitting and listening to Gail talk about sexy bacon. She’s not being forthcoming with him at all, but eventually she reveals that Tom is missing. Tom is mixed up with some bad people. She wants Colt to go look for him. Making Tom’s absence known will make the studio suspicious and find out that they are over budget. That will kill Metalstorm and Jody’s chances at ever directing again. Colt can’t let that happen. He leaves with Tom’s patio door code in hand. Written on a sticky note. Tom’s still doing that, huh? Doesn’t matter, Tom’s weird habits have nothing to do with this. Colt just needs to find him and drag his ass back here. He can do that, if it's for Jody.
Making his way to find a vehicle to borrow, Colt finds himself almost knocking someone over as they come around the side of one of the trailers. He comes face to face with none other than his own brother. Confusion hits him first. What is Ryland doing here of all places? That confusion is followed by surprise as recognition crosses Ryland’s face before he turns and quickly walks the opposite direction. Colt’s brain takes a second to process and queue his body to start moving. Colt rounds the corner. Ryland is nowhere to be seen. He sees an intimidating man cross the path but that’s it. He tries to look for him, but comes up empty.
Dammit.
A PA gives Colt keys to a “product placement” truck with very strict instructions to not drive recklessly. The last driver of it had left the radio on. A Taylor Swift song is playing. It hits him right in the heart. He finds himself reflecting on memories past with Jody. His reminiscing is cut off by that very person. She ribs him a bit for crying over Taylor Swift and he tries to play it off, before she gets in the passenger seat.
They’re communicating. She’s willing to work with him. Things can work out. They just have to keep it professional. Super profesh! Colt can do that.
She asks him to drive her to her car, but he still needs to know something. Jody might have the answer.
“Why is Ryland here?” He asks.
She looks at him for a moment, like she’s deciding if she should tell him.
“I don’t know if you deserve to know after the way you treated him,” She states. “What you did to me was bad, but you really hurt him.”
“You know about that?” Colt questions. He leans on the edge of the window with his elbow. He feels terrible about what he did. Having Jody know just adds to the shame and guilt. “You’re right. I have every intention to apologize, I was just surprised to see him here.”
“There’s a lot more to it. He should really be the one who tells you, but I will at least tell you why he’s specifically here,” Jody concedes. “He’s working on Metalstorm as a consultant.”
It gives Colt very little information, but it’s something at least. A starting point. He nods and shifts the truck into drive. Jody’s car is barely 20 feet away. It’s ridiculous. A silly little joke to end the conversation. She gets out and sends him off with a farewell. Things aren’t fixed but they seem better. Workable. For now he has a task before him to complete. He needs to save Jody’s movie.