Work Text:
Before Ryland even has a second to analyze the situation he's throwing an elbow behind him. His heart is hammering. Fear takes over. As they grunt in pain, the grip around him loosens enough that he can spin around. He is stopped short of driving the heel of his hand into their nose when his wrist is grabbed.
Recognition has Ryland freezing on the spot. His heartbeat slows.
“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Ryland hisses. He punches Colt in the arm with his free hand.
Colt releases his wrist and rubs the spot dramatically. Ryland knows he didn't hit him that hard. If anything the elbow to the torso was worse.
“Sorry, sorry,” Colt whispers. “Just didn't know how to get your attention without you screaming. You seemed really focused.”
Ryland narrows his eyes then points behind him with his thumb, “I think Gail might have Tom's phone in that bag.”
Colt's head tilts in a contemplative manner as he zeroes in on Gail. He returns his attention to Ryland. He looks positively unimpressed. “So what was the plan? You were just gonna bum rush her?” Colt side eyes him.
“Excuse me for not having a better idea,” Ryland responds. Irritation colors his words. “Whatever, we don't have time to argue about this.”
“Let's do it together. I'll take the bag and get in the vehicle. I can try to slip you the phone if it's in there. Separating the items is a better cover. Security will almost certainly come after me,” Colt proposes.
Ryland grumbles, “That's pretty much the same plan.”
He feels a little annoyed. Colt ignores him. Declares that they'll go on three. He counts up from one. Ryland fortifies himself. He feels way less nervous this time having Colt here to help. Ryland darts out first, Colt close behind.
Colt follows on Ryland's heels. Gail notices them much too late. With little time to react she takes the brunt of it when Ryland shoulder checks her. Ryland lets his momentum carry him. He ducks on the other side of the alien vehicle. She flails. Hold on the bag faltering. Colt uses it as an opportunity to grab it. With a sharp tug it's in his hands. The way she panics at the loss is telling. She rallies the security team. Colt books it to the car while digging into the main compartment of the leather tote. The phone is in the bag. After a quick and discreet hand-off Ryland runs away. Colt throws the bag in the passenger seat. Takes off into the valley.
Two SUVs race behind him. If stunt set did their job they won't be on his tail for long. He hears Dan calling for the smokescreen and the charges. Jody says she’s ready for the jump. Metalstorm is getting the epic ending Jody wanted.
He puts his mouthguard in and hits the ramp.
Hell yeah. Colt cheers with an uproarious laugh as he braces himself in the seat.
The landing is a bit rough. He jostles in the cab. He finishes it off by rolling the vehicle. It lands upright, missing several parts. The outer shell, essentially gone. Somehow his hat stayed in place. He takes it off and fans himself as he unharnesses himself. In the end he couldn’t be more thrilled. That was perfection. Jody says so herself through the radio. Her chosen word is fantastic, but same thing.
The exhilaration is short lived. He’s interrupted mid way through rambling about getting a date by Jody’s frantic voice coming through the speaker, “Colt, we have a situation down here.”
Colt looks down in the valley. Oh, fuck. With Gail’s bag in hand, he starts sprinting. The steep, rocky hill has him stumbling. He doesn’t stop. He needs to get there now.
Chaos erupts as Colt drives off. Ryland hears Gail yell for the security team to give chase as he dashes behind a van. He takes a moment to catch his breath. Calm down. Pats his right pocket to confirm that, yes, he has Tom’s phone. So far it seems like Gail is completely unaware. She took the bait.
He feels his shoulder grabbed and lashes out. His fist connects with their shoulder. Wrenching out of the grip, he goes for a second which misses as they move out of the way.
“Hey, hey, just me,” Tom is rubbing his shoulder. “Nice hit.”
Ryland throws himself at Tom wrapping his arms around him tightly, “Why does everyone insist on sneaking up on me?” he complains while burying his face in Tom’s neck. “Mission complete?”
“I think so, you?” Tom squeezes him back harder.
Ryland nods as he pulls away. He peers around the side of the van. It's an absolute mess in the valley. In the time it takes Ryland to return his attention, Tom has removed the trench coat and hat that goes with his costume. Ryland removes Tom's phone from his pocket, “Here,” Tom accepts it and puts it in his back pocket. “Let's go find Jody.”
They step out from behind the van with their hands clasped. Tom leads as they run. Ryland can see Jody up ahead operating a camera on a dolly with a crew member ready to push it. Ryland fully stops when the alien vehicle makes the jump causing Tom to yank a little before also stopping and following Ryland’s line of sight.
“Holy shit,” Tom says under his breath. Ryland nods even though Tom isn’t paying attention to see it. He shares that sentiment entirely.
There’s the sound of footsteps behind them. Ryland spins around.
Gail pushes the hammer on a pistol down with a click, “So you two broke up, huh?”
“Gail-” Ryland raises his free hand as if trying to appease her. Tom uses their linked hands to pull Ryland closer to him. He lets go briefly, hand finding Ryland’s upper arm instead. Potentially ready to push or pull him in any given direction.
“Shut up!” she shouts. Her tone switches to something more friendly as she focuses on Tom, “Now, Tom, why would you lie to me?”
“It’s over, Gail,” Tom responds. “Just take the loss. You don’t need to do anything to make this worse.”
Ryland can feel the slight tremble in Tom’s hand on his arm even if his voice conveys nothing but cool confidence. Gail’s proximity with that gun in hand doesn’t give them a good chance of getting away if they try to run.
“Is that so? It's over?” Gail sneers, “In that case…”
She adjusts her aim to the left. At Ryland. Time feels strange. Almost too slow. Although it all happens in less than a second. Gail squeezes the trigger. The gunshot rings out. Ryland falls to the ground. Tom loses his balance and crumples. There’s blood. Staining the dirt from a graze on Tom’s arm. Ryland crawls over, kneeling next to Tom. Ryland adjusts Tom so the wounded arm is facing up and he’s laying on his other side. He places Tom’s head in his lap. Tom groans as he does it. His brow is furrowed. He's biting his lip, like he's trying to suppress further acknowledgements of the pain.
“Dressler send who you can to the spaceship set and call in the chopper,” Gail calls over her radio.
“Copy that,” Dressler responds.
Tom looks up at Ryland, “Go, please,” He begs quietly. Ryland shakes his head.
Ryland can’t stop. Can’t leave. Even a graze can be serious. He needs to handle this. Even if it causes Tom pain. Even if it leaves Ryland vulnerable. He can hear the crunch of Gail’s footsteps as she gets closer. This is bad. Absolutely terrible. His heart is racing as he pulls off his hoodie. The wound is bleeding. How horribly he can’t tell. He’s not that kind of doctor. It looks like a lot. He swallows down his panic and presses the fabric to Tom’s arm. Applies pressure. Tom inhales sharply with another pained sound. When Ryland looks back up Gail stands over him. Gun pointed at his head.
“Hmm, not what I was going for, but it’ll have to do,” Gail stares down at him apathetically. Ryland feels repulsed at how little she seems to care. The blood he can feel seeping through his hoodie and staining his hands doesn’t help. He grabs a bit more fabric and creates a second layer.
“Gail. Enough,” Tom chokes out. He probably intended for it to sound more firm, but the tremble to his voice makes it impossible.
“Now, now, listen,” Gail clicks the hammer down on her pistol again. It’s a very clear and real threat. “Tell me what your silly little plan was and get Colt down here to return the bag,” she tosses her radio at them. “Do that and I will wash my hands of this. I know a lost cause when I see one” she glances down at Tom disparagingly. “Tom can have his way and go to prison. At this point all I want is out of this, but I’m not stupid enough to think that you don’t have some way to incriminate me.”
Ryland feels Tom's hand grab his knee and squeeze. Tom nods as if to say it’s okay. Tell her. Ryland feels conflicted. He doesn’t want to let Gail get away. The blood on his hands and the gun pointed at his head urge him to give in. His eyes sting. He doesn’t know if it’s the panic, the frustration or the dread that is the primary reason for the tears. Maybe its the fact that his boyfriend is wounded. The helplessness that the situation makes him feel. He tries to stifle them. He sniffles.
“Ok,” Ryland responds after a moment. Gail smirks. He hesitates. It must be enough that Gail feels the need to escalate as she takes another step forward. The barrel of the gun is almost touching his forehead. Tom’s breathing is getting more laborious by the second. Ryland doesn’t know if that's due to the pain or the stress of this situation. Tom tries to get up. Ryland pushes him back down as gently as he can. Tom still whimpers at the added pressure. Tom is in no condition to do anything at this moment. Ryland needs to do this and be quick about it. They need to get medical attention soon. His voice shakes as he tells Gail about the hot mic that Tom had been wearing. She looks over to the van that’s acting as a sound booth. As she turns to look back at Ryland she grins.
“Guess I won’t need you to call Colt after all,” She says looking over them. Ryland looks over his shoulder to see Colt almost down to the valley. Gail commands him to face forward. He complies. Kietel and Remar stride over to flank Gail. Gail has one of them go over to the van to retrieve the recording. Remar runs off.
Colt comes to stand a few feet to the left of Ryland and Tom. It's difficult for Ryland to see, only allowing himself a slight glance. Colt is wearing a furious expression as he stares Gail down. He looks from her to Ryland and Tom. Assessing the situation. His face only looking more murderous at the sight of a gun only a couple inches from Ryland’s face.
“Give me the bag and you will still have a brother,” Gail holds out her free hand.
Colt complies. How could he not? His only hope is that she doesn’t look inside the bag. That luck will hold out. He almost allows himself a sigh of relief when the bag slips from Gail’s hand to the crook of her elbow unchecked. He can’t celebrate yet. Not as long as Ryland is still in danger. He takes a few steps back. From behind him Remar comes over with a gray case handing that off to Gail as well. Colt recognizes that immediately. She has the recording.
The chopper touches down nearby.
“Well, that’s my cue,” Gail says casually with a smile. Like they’ve just had a friendly chat. “Remar with me. Kietel hold them here. If any of them move, shoot him.”
She indicates to Ryland with her head. She puts her gun away as Kietel steps in to take her place. Remar and Gail run to the helicopter. Gail gets on while Remar stays behind. As soon as it starts to lift off multiple charges go off. The moment of distraction is enough for Colt to wrestle Kietel’s gun away from him and hit him with it. He doesn't hold back as much as he normally would. He's pissed off. Kietel drops immediately to the ground. Out like a light.
Colt wants to stop and check on Ryland, but doesn’t have time. He yells for Ryland to call for an ambulance and the cops. He sees Jody and a camera operator get into the truck with the camera arm. He sprints over. He’s getting that recording back.
Ryland doesn’t even hesitate. He still has Jody’s phone, with one hand he makes the call. He winces at the smear of blood his thumb leaves on the screen. He doesn’t even know where to begin with explaining their “emergency.” So he just goes with the most immediate issue. Attempted murder and a bullet wound.
Any other time with less blood on his hands and less panic in his heart he might’ve been more concerned about the chopper struggling in the air or the large air bag that is pulled around to catch Colt underneath it. He might’ve even cheered at what certainly could be considered a hard fought victory. Instead his focus is almost entirely on Tom. He leans in close.
Ryland pulls his hoodie away. Surprised that the bleeding has already significantly slowed. The wound isn’t super deep, but it will definitely scar. It doesn’t change the fact that it bled quite a lot and also must’ve been extremely painful. He finds a spot on his hoodie that isn’t entirely drenched and reapplies pressure. Tom exhales heavily with a groan that turns into whimper at the end.
Ryland leans in closer, his tone a little watery, “It’s okay, You’re going to be fine.”
“I know, sweetheart,” Tom responds, chuckling. “Still hurts like a bitch.”
“Love you,” Ryland says. He would love to run a comforting hand through Tom’s hair. He doesn’t want to stain it red or snag it with the stickiness that he can now feel on his fingers.
“Love you, too,” Tom returns. “You’ll ride with me to the hospital?”
“If they let me,” Ryland responds. He'll fight for it as hard as he needs to. He's not being left behind again if he can help it.
The police show up along with paramedics.
The helicopter failed to right itself and had an unsafe landing. Gail came away with mild bumps and bruises as well as handcuffs on her wrists.
Colt and Jody join Ryland and Tom shortly thereafter. Jody checks in thoroughly. Asking every question possible to make sure they are alright. Colt looks like he wants to jump in and hug Ryland. Instead he crouches down next to him and puts and arm around him. It's the best they can manage for now with Tom still in his lap. Ryland does manage to hitch a ride with Tom to the hospital with almost no fight needed. Maybe it's the blood covering his hands and splattered on his clothes. It could also be the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Ryland finds he doesn't care what the reason is, just that they let him on board. Ryland’s assessment had been mostly correct. The wound looked worse than it was, but was just as painful as assumed. The paramedics had praised him for taking the right actions in applying pressure to slow the bleeding. Once they are at the emergency room, Ryland finally gets an opportunity to cleanse his hands. They shake at first. That decreases as the water goes from red to pink to clear. There’s still blood on his clothes, but at least his hands are no longer nightmarishly coated. The plan is to fix Tom up and send him home. Or at least that was the plan until the police showed up to interview him.
Ryland glances at Tom. Their eyes lock briefly. Ryland doesn’t care that they have an audience. He kisses Tom. There’s a feeling of finality to it. It’s a feeling that he never wanted to associate with a kiss shared with Tom. One of the officers coughs to get their attention. Ryland pulls away and gently places a hand on Tom’s face, brushing his thumb on his cheek, before backing away. Ryland is ushered out of the room. One officer stays inside while the other guards the door.
They don’t get to leave holding hands together. Instead Tom leaves the emergency room with his own hands joined behind him. In handcuffs.
Tom has made peace with this choice. He needs to hold himself accountable. Maybe they’ll give him a lighter sentence for doing so. He can hope. Either way he knows even if it's a hard decision, it's the right choice. Tom doesn’t delay his guilty plea. His sentencing is expedited to 30 days from his arrest.
Tom is sentenced to five years. It's miniscule compared to what he could’ve gotten. The bare minimum. He is thankful for it. Even more so when Ryland says he’ll be waiting for him when he gets out. Ryland is too good for him. They try to make phone calls work. It’s not 100 percent effective. Letters are mailed between them. Ryland even manages to visit a few times. Tom feels a little bitter when he finds out Gail only got five years as well. Charged as an accessory after the fact and evidence tampering. It makes some sense that her sentence wouldn’t exceed his.
Tom learns from those calls, letters and visits that Metalstorm is going through production hell. The studio decided on doing reshoots to eliminate any sign of Tom Ryder in the film. Tom can see how they came to that choice. His arrest was made very public. They replaced him with Jason Momoa. It means Ryland is staying in Sydney for a while longer. A few months at most. Tom knows he can’t and shouldn’t stay forever. At some point Ryland has to go back to his regular life. Ryland does just that.
One year into his sentence. Ryland stops answering his calls. Stops responding to letters. At first he doesn’t know what to think about that. Did Ryland move on? Did something happen? Tom ends up in a bit of a panic spiral. That just won’t do. He needs information. He doesn’t have a lot of options. If there's one person who might know something that'd be Colt. Tom manages to reach Colt after a few attempts. He doesn’t like what he’s hearing, but there's nothing he can do about it from here.
When Eva Stratt conscripted him to the Petrova Taskforce, Ryland did not anticipate losing all means of contact with everyone he knows and loves. On more than one occasion he has asked, begged even, to make a call. Each time has been denied. He just needs to find a moment. He manages to sneak away while he and his keeper, Carl, are at the hardware store. Carl is nice enough, but Ryland is not looking to get in trouble. He ducks down behind a closed register and grabs the receiver of the phone there. Hopefully it's just like the phones at school and all he has to do is “dial 9 to get out.” He feels conflicted on who to call, but chooses Colt. It feels like the sensible option. There’s no guarantee he’d be able to get ahold of Tom given the time difference and the process needed to make a call to prison lines. The call goes through.
“Hello?” Colt answers.
“Colt it’s me,” Ryland responds, hurriedly.
“Ry, what’s up?” Colt asks. “You’ve been dodging my calls.”
Ryland knows it must feel that way. He just didn’t have any way to make or receive calls. Colt had no way of knowing that. This conversation will clear it up hopefully.
“I don’t have much time so just listen okay?” Ryland starts. Colt almost responds, but Ryland keeps going. “I’m safe. I got pulled into this government research project about the Petrova line and it’s super top secret. They took my phone and everything. I’m safe, though.”
“Ryland this sounds really bad. Tell me where you are. I’ll come get you right now,” It sounds like Colt is legitimately putting on his jacket right then and there.
“No, Colt, this is important. I need to help figure this out. Just trust me,” Ryland begs. He takes a peek over the counter. Fudge. Carl is talking to an employee nearby. He can’t hear the words, but it looks like he is trying to describe Ryland and ask his whereabouts by the hand gestures, “I gotta go. Love you.”
Ryland doesn’t hear Colt’s response as he hangs up. He manages to sneak back up on Carl, claiming he just needed to use the restroom. That earns him a light scolding.
Tom is counting the days. He’s got just under a month left of his sentence.
He tried to keep track of Ryland. Colt sends him what he can. A few newspaper clippings. In the dayroom the television is on the news more and more frequently. Everyone wants to know what little information is out there about the Petrova line and Project Hail Mary. The project Ryland is working on. That’s the part that matters to Tom.
Today is the launch.
When the crew is announced. Tom’s whole world tilts literally and figuratively. He only hears the start of the chaos as his vision goes black.
Ryland Grace wakes up. Not that he exactly remembers his name at the start.
Exploring what he comes to find out is a spaceship he starts to piece it all together.
Sorrow hits him at the sight of the two deceased crewmates. Even if he doesn't exactly recognize them.
The star that's closest to him isn't the Sun. There's not enough fuel in the tanks to get back to Earth.
This is it.
Sentenced to an end alone on a ship, lightyears from home, in a sea of dying stars.