Chapter Text
If you asked him, Ryland would tell you that Jody was basically his sister. In other circumstances, better ones, she would be his sister-in-law by now. That was not happening any time soon, as fate had it. Sure, some people might think it's a little pathetic to keep in contact with the woman someone in your family used to date —more situation ship as both of them claimed, but if he's being honest they were all but dating— but he loved her. She would have been the perfect addition to the Grace household. She is the perfect addition, even if its now through familial means than marriage means.
So yes, he texted her pretty often. Especially in the last year. They updated each other on their days, their jobs, and upcoming plans. He would rant about the kids and the excitement in their faces when he went off on a tangent about some sort of ancient cell that had evolved. She would complain about the actors she had to film and praise the rest of the crew she worked with and loved.
They went out regularly. Sometimes she invited him to the filming crew's karaoke nights and tried to get him wasted despite knowing he has an early flight in the morning. He would invite her on a field trip his kids were taking and let her wow them with behind the scenes knowledge of Tom Rider movies. Even the painful hour long fights he endured were easily worth it to see one of his favorite people. And… she had been the one to introduce him to Casey.
That's why is wasn't too difficult of a choice to ask one of the other science teachers to take over the summer class. The actual difficult part was officially announcing it to each of his classes.
"What!" The roar of several upset children almost left his ears ringing. Ryland let his eyes sweep over the gathering crowd around his desk. His heart ached at the sight of some of his kids tearful eyes.
"I will not be able to teach this school years summer class as I will be very busy out of the country," he repeated himself.
Abby shoved her way to the front, planting her arms on the desk. "Why? We all know you don't have a girlfriend or anything." OK, ouch. Even if he didn't really care for dating anyone with a few exceptions it still hurt. She was pouting. It was obvious she was trying to be intimidating, but it just came across as a yipping puppy. Some of the other kids let out 'ooo's'.
He had to stop himself from clapping to bring them to a focus. He blurted out "I have been invited to assist in the production of a film."
The room goes silent.
.
.
.
Screams erupt.
"Now-" he could barely hear himself speak. Oh gosh, why did he decide to announce this himself? He could've just not said anything and wouldn't be in this position, dealing with shouting seventh graders. "Now, I'm not going to be in it or anything." That got the kids to settle down. "I will be doing what I do with you. Teaching others about certain sciences to make sure the film can be accurate."
"I will be very busy and out of the country, therefore I cannot teach anything. Mr. Masrani has agreed to teach in my place over the summer."
Kevin, who had been one of the few students to remain at his desk, let out a groan. "Mr. M sucks at teaching science! He just shows us Bill Nye videos and makes us take notes. Mr. Grace, can't you just say no and stay?"
Part of Ryland was flattered that Kevin of all of his kids wanted him to stay. The boy was one of his more disruptive students considering he never listened to any of the teachers. Ryland knew he was a talented kid, though. His homework showed he still absorbed the information, he just struggled with the in-class portion.
It made it hurt even more that he wouldn't get to see them over the summer as originally planned. Then he'd only have one more year with them for eighth grade before they're all shipped off to high school.
"Unfortunately, I can't. It's a favor I'm doing for a friend-"
"Mr. Grace has friends besides Ms. Charity?"
"-and this is the first ever film she will direct, therefore I am not backing out. On the bright side, we still have one more week together before the school year is over. And I promise," he pulled out the printed survey he prepared last night. "We will be having a fun last week, because you will be choosing what topics we cover."
He wouldn't admit it to his kids, but he did consider saying no. Not just because of the day long plane ride that would absolutely wreck him, but because of his name being blacklisted from the entire science field. He had no idea if his name being attached to Jody's passion project would lead to its failure. If people would recognize him and think 'oh, he worked on this? Let it fail'.
He doesn't think all of the people in his field are jerks like that. However, it felt like too big of a risk. Especially for Jody.
Jody and Gail didn't let him go too far with that thought.
Jody told him he wasn't allowed to back out when she needed him most. It would have hurt if he didn't know she was just trying to guilt him out of self sabotaging. Gail claimed to know some people who would guarantee a successful premiere as long as the film itself was good.
She seemed weirdly insistent that he work on Metalstorm. Insisted that he was what they needed to make Jody's vision come to fruition.
So, he found himself promising to help.
A few weeks later he found himself on an airplane headed for Australia, swallowing pills and tablets in an attempt to stop himself from regurgitating everything he ate. Not even taking a nap could help him, his nerves shot and his stomach too twisted to allow his brain to power off even as his eyes grew heavier. He felt horrible once he got off the plane. Skin itchy, hands twitchy, the beginnings of a migraine settling behind his eyes.
Jody had told him to wait at the exit of the airport. That she had someone who would pick him up and drive him to the set. He hoped they got here soon, because all he wanted to do was pass out in whatever trailer Jody forced Gail to give him.
His eyes were steadily closing as he sat on a bench with his two suitcases when he heard the telltale squeals of a tire. Ryland barely had the energy to open them again as the rumbling of an engine came to a stop in front of him. A door slammed close and footsteps approached his exhausted form.
Something tapped against his foot. One. Two. Three.
His eyes flew open.
There, in front of him was the ever familiar white bomber jacket he knew so well. His eyes roamed up from the man's chest to his face, gravitating to the piercing blue eyes.
"Casey," all of his energy rushed back into his body. He jumped to his feet, a smile growing on his face. "I didn't know you were going to be the one to pick me up."
All he offered was "Jody" with a small shrug. He pulled the suitcases away from the wall.
"Oh, you don't have to-" Casey gave him a pointed look as he opened the trunk of his car. "Thank you." It seemed like every inch of exhaustion disappeared at the mere appearance of the other man. His body gaining more energy with each glance and tiny smile Casey gave him. "So… what should I expect for when we get there?"
"The usual. Jody's stressed. Ryder is…" Casey trailed off.
"Ryder?" Ryland finished with a smirk. That's one thing he definitely wasn't looking forward to. Casey glanced at him for a second, a soft snort escaping him as he jerked a nod. "Well, is there anything you've done yet?"
There was a slight tilting of his head as Casey seemed to take some time to think. "Not really, just test driving some cars on set."
"Oh yeah? Any cool ones you would consider taking back to Canada?" He was fighting back a huge grin.
"Oh, Ry. You know I want them all."
The drive to set passed by a lot faster than Ryland was expecting. They didn't really keep up any kind of conversation. Ryland found himself able to sit in complete silence whenever Casey was around. His need to keep up any small talk dissipating.
They pulled up to a lot with several other, far more decorated but just as expensive, cars. A blonde woman stood nearby, focused on her conversation with the black-haired woman next to her.
"Jody!" Ryland called out, waving an arm through the window. Jody's head turned towards them, a wide grin growing on her face as she waves back.
"Ryland!"
He couldn't stop himself from flying out of the car the moment Casey put it in park. They wrapped each other up in a tight hug, squeezing the life out of each other. It had been a few weeks since he had last seen Jody. She's been so busy lately, stressed out from wanting to ensure her film is perfect. The moment she had gotten the green light she had flown to Australia to survey where to film. Maybe they had gotten too attached each other in the past year, but could anyone really blame them? They needed someone who truly understood them after what happened with Colt. It's only natural it was each other.
Ryland released her from the hug, feeling her hands linger on his shoulders. Words spilled out of his mouth, "How have things been? Have you made any progress? Impressed any big shot directors? I'm so happy for you!"
Jody let out a chuckle. "Good, yes, not yet, thank you." She paused, "I'm so happy your here. Some of the people here keep trying to add more sciency things to the script and frankly, I don't understand anything they've been saying."
"Oh, I see. "You just want to use me for my brain, huh?" He let out a tsk, "and here I thought I was wanted. Maybe I should ask Dan if he needs my help. See if he needs some help instead."
"Have you found any stuntmen yet?" He jumped at the sudden voice. Ryland had no clue when Casey had joined up with them. He was like a cat, with the way he always managed to stalk up on Ryland, as is he were unsuspecting prey. "I'm only able to do driving scenes. Dan's getting worried we won't get everything filmed on time."
Jody let out a sigh of frustration. "Still nothing. Gail, you said you were going to see if you can find a good one? Any luck with that?"
"Yes, I've actually found the perfect stuntman, Jody," Gail replied, eagerly slurping away at her rather large cup.