Work Text:
Fewer people are milling about thanks to Tom and Jody starting filming, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to be discovered. Ryland and Colt hide and slink behind and around equipment and trailers. Stealth takes time, but they finally have Gail’s trailer in sight. Peering around the corner they see Kietel is stationed outside it. Ryland looks at Colt and hands him the radio. Colt nods in affirmation, clips the radio to his side and pulls a bandana over his face.
Ryland suppresses a laugh as Colt calls Kietel an asshat as he rams into him, throwing his balance off temporarily. Ryland watches as Colt takes off in a sprint. Kietel gives chase. One problem fixed. Ryland is on his own now. No one to watch his back. He can do this. Even with the unease flowing through him. He has people counting on him. He just needs to compartmentalize. Take it one step at a time. Ryland allows himself one last glance around before sneaking up to Gail’s door. It opens easily. Thank goodness. It would be awful if he failed before even making any progress.
Ryland knows it might be a risky move. If the phone isn’t here, but in the possession of someone it might warn them that it's being searched for. Regardless he pulls out Jody’s phone and calls Tom’s number. Nothing. But maybe the ringer is off. He can force the ringer with the find my phone app. Still nothing. That doesn’t necessarily mean it's not here though. Maybe it's dead. He starts digging around the main area. Checking drawers and surfaces. This is taking longer than he would like. Every minute feels like an opportunity for something unfortunate to happen. Still he finds nothing. He goes into the bedroom. He really has no interest in digging around in here, but he has no choice.
Still nothing.
He goes back and double checks. Even triple checks a couple spots.
Every drawer. Every table. Every cabinet. High and low.
Ryland checks the find my phone app. It last pinged here an hour and a half ago. It hasn't transmitted a location again since. He feels confident that he's been thorough. It’s not here. It must be off or dead.
Ryland needs to inform someone but he has few options. Colt's phone got waterlogged, Tom's is probably in Gail's possession and he's holding Jody’s. He goes to her contacts. Oh, that might work. He presses call.
“Jody, we're setting up as fast as we can,” Dan says, skipping the greeting. “I can't be on the phone right now-”
"Dan. Dan, wait don’t hang up,” Ryland interrupts frantically. “Can you get a message to Jody?”
“Ryland? Yeah, I can try,” Dan sounds a little confused at first but bounces back quickly. He truly is a ride or die kind of guy.
“The phone isn’t here. Gail might have it,” Ryland trusts Dan will understand with only that bit of information.
“Got it,” Dan hangs up on him immediately.
Ryland pockets Jody’s phone. He peeks out the door to make sure he can safely leave. Looks good. He keeps his head on a swivel and ears open as he makes his way to the filming location, based on the active lift he can see in the distance. Having to be this cautious makes him jumpy and uneasy. He can't afford to be seen, especially by Gail or her lackeys. It could jeopardize Tom or Colt.
He finds a place to crouch behind a van near the back to hide out when he gets close, Tom near the end of his epic monologue. Ryland wants to let himself enjoy the sight. Watch Tom do what he does best. Unfortunately he has to keep his attention divided between trying to watch his back and figure out his next move. He simply doesn't have time to give to Tom.
Ryland finds Gail standing near Jody. There's a couple of tactically dressed guys floating about including Dressler. He hates that the sight of him has his heart rate spiking. Slung on Gail's shoulder is a leather tote. It looks like she's trying to guard it with how tightly she's holding it to her body. It's not a guarantee that the phone is in there, but it's plausible. An assumption like this is better than nothing.
He watches as Tom finishes his monologue, hopping down from the alien vehicle energetically. Jody closes the distance quickly after yelling cut and embraces Tom. As the cast and crew begins moving. Getting ready to move to a new location. A crew member hops into the van he's hiding behind. Ryland opens the back door as the engine turns over. He climbs in the back.
While they journey away from Jody's trailer Tom can't help but feel worried. Jody is making calls with her radio getting people organized. The plan they've worked out is vague. It leaves openings to improvise. Something that Tom is more than capable of doing. At the same time, there's a lot of opportunity for failure. They can't possibly control every variable. Tom frets silently. Not for himself as much as Ryland. He can't wait for this all to be over.
Even if it means being separated.
Ryland will be safe.
Even if Tom goes away for 25 years.
Ryland will be okay.
His heartaches at the thought. Living without Ryland is a price he's willing to pay. It doesn't make it hurt any less. He just needs to keep Ryland's welfare in mind. Use it as motivation. Tom can't let himself back away from this. He owes it to Ryland to be accountable.
The crew is scrambling to set everything up as he and Jody walk up. They stop by a sound tech to get Tom mic'd up. Jody tells them to start recording Tom's line. Keep his mic hot. They look at Jody questioningly, but do it anyway. She bids Tom good luck and takes her leave. She needs to make sure the crew is getting everything properly set. Tom hears her radio Dan and Venti for their locations as she strides away.
He catches sight of a few of whom he now considers no longer part of his security crew. Evans, Mikey and Dressler mill close by. He doesn't see Remar, Kietel or Mitra anywhere. Their lack of presence is troubling. Hopefully Colt can manage to distract them and keep them away from Ryland.
Jody returns. She looks pleased. That must mean everything is going well. Gail takes a path to stand beside her. She notices Tom almost immediately. He frowns. Lets his eyes get a little glassy. Might as well set the tone now. Jody starts rattling off the plan for filming. Monologue, blue screen car set-up, have a stunt driver take the car through the valley and up to the point of the car jump. VFX adds that in post. Gail nods along, eyeing Tom suspiciously the whole time.
They set up for his monologue. The big call to action speech. Tom reviews the script as they finish up. Easy enough. He stands on top of the car. He delivers the lines. Even cries a little. In the midst of it a crew member whispers something into Jody’s ear. Jody nods to them, but doesn’t stop the take. He finishes the monologue by jumping down from the vehicle. Jody calls cut. She strides up to him, Gail following behind. Words of praise fall from Jody’s lips. She comes in for a hug, which he returns.
“The phone wasn’t in the trailer,” she whispers into his ear.
Tom needs to do his part even better now. If they can’t get or find the phone his conversation with Gail might be the only thing to clear Colt’s name and knock Gail down.
Jody pulls away and starts rallying everyone to set up the bluescreen in the next location. He has time now. Maybe he can get Gail by herself. Get her to talk. He takes a deep breath. Figuratively shakes out a few nerves and wanders over. She goes to get in a black SUV. He follows. Evans gets in the front. He slides into the back with Gail. She looks at him puzzled. This is probably as private as he is going to get. He tries to appear downtrodden. If need be he can cry on command again. He'll save that. Keep it in his back pocket. He can't use all his cards at once.
Gail comes out the gate hot, “What the hell, Tom?”
Tom lets his breath hitch. He turns to Gail with a tearful gaze. Not yet crying but close. Gail has always had a bit of a soft spot for him. Hopefully that still exists. He needs something to exploit. This is the best he has at his disposal. Even a slim amount is better than nothing. As long as his scene partner is willing to work with him he can manage.
“Gail, Ryland broke up with me,” He covers his face with his right hand. “You made me the face of this. He said he hated me.”
“Good riddance,” Gail dismisses. “you can do better.”
“‘Good riddance?,'" his voice cracks. “He accused me of causing Colt's accident. You know I didn't. You were…” He freezes and turns to Gail. “Right there?”
“I was,” Gail nods.
Tom stares at her. Horrified. Suspicious. He blinks, “It was you?” Gail doesn't respond. He treats it as confirmation. He's playing this a bit loose, but he doesn't have the time for subtlety, “Why would you do that?”
Gail seems to deliberate for just a moment. The confession is emotionless, “Colt was just an unfortunate casualty. I was trying to get Ryland out of the picture.”
Tom stares at her, beckoning her to continue. To explain, “Why, Gail?”
“He's no good for you. Bad for your image and your brand. A liability. You'll get over it,” she admits. Almost exactly what she had said when she had found out about Ryland in the first place. All things he hadn’t given a shit about then and still didn’t care about now. By the end of all this his brand is going to become a pile of ash anyway.
“This is all your fault,” he lets frustration fill his tone. Allows old habits to come forth. Deflect. Shift responsibility.
“My fault? I'm not the one who killed Henry ” Gail scowls and points at his chest vehemently.
“I was going to turn myself in, you're the one who escalated it,” Tom argues. “It was your idea to frame and kill Colt. Now Ryland never wants to see me again. He despises me.”
“It would've worked, Tom,” she admits. Tom doesn't know if it will hold up, but it might be as good as he gets. She's getting more and more irritable as this conversation goes on. “It's not my fault that you're too chickenshit to do what needs to be done.”
The vehicle stops. Gail gets out. Tom scrambles to meet her on the other side. The blue screen with the car looks fully ready to go.
“You escalated to a quadruple murder,” Tom lets his voice shake. “You were going to kill Doone, Kevin, and Ryland? Just because they were loose ends?” he shifts his gaze to Gail’s face. “And make Colt the fall guy. Deepfake his face on the video evidence and then kill him too. Just to cover up what I did?”
“Okay fine yes, they were all expendable. We need you to finish Metalstorm. We've invested too much in this. I've invested too much. I'm not going to let you drag me down with you.” She scolds him. He starts crying. It feels like the right moment to let it happen.
Let her believe he is devastated. At least more than he actually is. The vague undertone of it does exist. It makes it all that much easier to realistically let tears form and fall.
“I know you're right. It's the only thing I have left anyway,” Tom sobs as they stand beside the SUV. He crosses his arms to emulate a hug.
“Then pull yourself together,” Gail puts a hand on his shoulder. A misguided attempt at comfort. He wants to brush it off. The touch disgusts him. Tom ignores that thought and lets her hand stay. “We can still salvage this. Just let me handle it.”
“I c-can't… Ryland? You're still planning to… kill him?” Tom feels dismay run through him. His tears halt. Eyes widen.
“I know he and Colt are around here somewhere. The security crew will handle it regardless of my presence. I don’t care how it gets done, just that it does. Dressler and Kietel seem to have taken it as a personal investment at this point,” she shrugs. The heartlessness in her tone would have been shocking before. Now it feels all too fitting. “Evans and Mitra took care of Doone and Kevin this morning.”
“Took care of?” Tom questions, the shock on his face matching his tone. He knows the answer. He’s not an idiot. Gail looks side to side. Maybe to make sure they won’t be overheard.
“Killed them, Tom.” she tilts her head. “Kietel spotted Colt already. Ryland can't be too far,” she says in a low volume. “Face it Tom, he chose Colt over you.”
The reveal that all he did was delay the inevitable for Doone and Kevin feels like a gut punch. The distress that he lets show is not an act. He stopped acting when Gail revealed she still intended to kill Ryland. Distress turns to anger. He really would love nothing more than to deck her. He’ll have to settle on imagining it instead. He can’t let his desires take over and jeopardize the plan.
“Just stay out of the way,” Gail says with finality and a pat to the shoulder as punctuation. She stalks off to go stand near the canopy.
Tom takes a second to school his features. Wipes a sleeve across his face. They need to finish this before anything else can happen. He doesn’t know if what he got out of Gail will be enough, but it’s got to be better than nothing.
He finds Jody. Gail is already talking her ear off. Tom locks eyes with Jody. He can't exactly go up to her and tell her that he completed his part with Gail right there. He needs to communicate that they need to pull the recording.
Oh, he's got it. A lightbulb moment.
Thumbs-up.
Immediate recognition crosses her features. She holds up a hand to Gail. Grabs her radio from her hip and makes a speedy exit. Gail turns about looking bewildered. No one snubs Gail Meyer. For all that he is stressed and dismayed he can find a small amount of amusement in that moment. He feels vindictive, but he can’t let it show. Tom has to stifle a smirk. He might have to thank Jody later for putting Gail in her place later. If everything goes successfully of course. It's too early to celebrate any wins, even small ones like this. He keeps his expression as neutral with a lean toward miserable.
Jody returns and tells him what the plan is. The car is outfitted with two steering wheels. A fake one for him to interact with and a real one for the stunt driver to use. He’ll do his close-ups, get out and the driver can take over for the rest.
Kietel called for back up. Fuck.
Nope.
No.
Nuh-uh.
Colt can't let himself have any negative thoughts like that right now. He just needs to lose these three gun toting, body armor wearing jerks. He weaves around canopies. Ducks behind a storage container. Pushes a road box into the path to slow them down a bit. He runs, runs, runs. His breathing grows labored. He has great stamina normally, but it's been a rough couple days. He's not in peak form.
Colt manages to create some distance. With a quick turn around a trailer he breaks line of sight and scuttles under a nearby box truck. He hears more than sees the three security staff run past. Colt rests his forehead on the ground. Takes a few ragged breaths. He just needs a minute. Once his heartbeat feels more regular and his lungs no longer feel like they are burning he crawls out from his hiding spot.
Those three should be busy for a while trying to find him. Colt keeps his ears open and eyes peeled as he sneaks over to a canopy. He unclips the radio from his side. He needs to get a status update and figure out where he's needed. He turns the power/volume dial just a little. It beeps and announces that it's currently on channel one quietly. Colt continues sneaking his way around. Best to stay moving, even if he's not entirely sure where to go yet.
“Jody, do you copy?” He lays on a bit of an aussie accent to try to disguise his voice as he calls. It’s a potentially dangerous move calling when he doesn't know who is around Jody. He waits. Considers calling again. Is it worth the risk?
“I copy, go ahead,” Jody's voice calls back.
“Channel two,” Colt switches over. He gives it a moment before calling again.
“I'm here,” she confirms.
He drops the accent, “status update?”
“Consultant couldn't find the data we needed,” Jody starts. “Tom successful with improv. About to do a few close ups.”
“Copy that,” Colt responds. If he understands correctly that means Ryland couldn't find the phone. That's not ideal. Tom must've been able to get Gail talking. Better than nothing.
“What's your 20?” Colt asks.
“Top of the valley. Need a driver in about 10 minutes.” Jody answers.
“10-4,” he turns off the radio and clips it to his side and books it as quickly as he can.
Ryland gives it a minute before hopping out of the back of the van. He feels a bit off kilter from the ride and almost buckles. Knees a bit weak. He finds a better vantage point behind a truck and crouches down by the tail of it. He manages to catch sight of Gail talking with Jody. Tom wanders into Jody’s line of sight. They seem to communicate wordlessly for a split second before he sees Tom do something that is so typical to Colt that he might’ve laughed in any other circumstance.
A thumbs up.
Ryland can only draw one assumption from that. Tom had done his part. That’s good, but Ryland can’t help but feel they need to go further. He really needs to find an opportunity to go grab that bag. Maybe he can manage it if Tom is close to her. If things go awry Tom would potentially be able to help.
Tom gets in the alien vehicle. He does a few short takes with a couple actors dressed in alien costumes. Ryland notes that more of the security team are present now. All except for Kietel. It's both a blessing and a curse. He now knows where most of them are, which is good. They’re going to be an issue though when he runs out to grab that bag. The only thing he can hope for is that the population of cast and crew prevents them from reaching for their guns. As Tom gets out of the vehicle a chopper flies overhead. Ryland is running out of time. He’s going to have to risk it.
Ryland rises from his crouched position. Takes a shuddering breath. Anxiety pools in his stomach. He’s shaking. Heart racing. Hands wringing.
Okay. Maybe he can give himself a countdown.
Three. He clenches his hands into fists.
Two. Takes a first step.
The number “one” gets cut-off in his mind.
An arm grabs him from behind. Pinning one arm to his side. A second one covers his mouth muffling his shout of surprise.