Title: Dr. Oliver vs. The Heinous Blackmailer<\/p>
Author: nancygrew<\/p>
Rating: PG<\/p>
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT\\<\/p>
Notes: This is outside of my usual "Amnesia" verse. It’s less of an AU [no Sentinel!Luke\/Guide!Reid or WereDoberman!Reid\/WereKitten!Luke] and more of a remix [Reid doesn’t show up in Oakdale until June 2010 and Luke has made a couple of wiser life decisions than in canon.].<\/p>
Warning: Complete disregard for actualities of neurological conditions<\/p>
Summary: Dr. Reid Oliver, Neurosurgeon Extraordinaire, gets his life hi-jacked by a ruthless and entitled brat.<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
Chapter Four<\/b><\/p>
Reid knocked on the apartment door. The day before, Maddie had written her address on a napkin from that coffee shop, Java. Underneath her address, she had written, "Skipper and Maddie 4ever" in a heart. She had giggled uncontrollable throughout his questions about her psychological stability.<\/p>
Maddie, wearing Wonder Woman pajamas, opened her apartment door and gave an enormous yawn in Reid’s face while scrubbing at her eyes with her fists. Well, her tonsils looked healthy.<\/p>
"Not a morning person, Miley?" asked Reid.<\/p>
"Mornings. They’re bad," answered a bleary-eyed Maddie while leaning on the doorframe. "They’re early. And bad."<\/p>
"Excellent analysis. Shove over so I can move in."<\/p>
Maddie shoved over. She waved an arm in what was either an invitation to enter or a signal to incoming air traffic.<\/p>
"Oh my Hawking," exclaimed Reid in horror while looking around at what was evidently the scene of a flea market explosion. "Is that a bean bag chair?"<\/p>
"Hey, I’m a poor college student," defended Maddie huffily. "And bean bag chairs are a classic."<\/p>
"Classic hippy. You better not get patchouli all over my stuff. Oh, hey, are you poor enough to let me hire you to do my laundry?" asked Reid hopefully.<\/p>
"Will I have to call you sir?" asked Maddie while she moved across the open floor plan of the apartment towards a counter with a duct-taped coffee machine. She flipped a switch and sighed happily at the gurgling promise of caffeinated love.<\/p>
Reid placed his overnight bag on the purple and green paisley couch and walked towards the kitchen counter where Maddie had laid her head to rest. He opened cabinets until he found mugs. He removed two of the least chipped ones. They were both emblazoned with the words, "Soylent Green." He didn’t wait for the pot to be filled but instead held each cup, in turn, under the streaming coffee. He was a doctor and knew that there was no time to waste in providing the antidote to caffeine-deprived zombies. He handed one of the cups to Maddie who started in surprise that there was someone else in her apartment. She took a sip.<\/p>
"I love you, Skipper," she whispered.<\/p>
Reid rolled his eyes. "Do you remember that you just agreed to do my laundry for me?"<\/p>
"I did?" asked a confused Maddie. "Wait, no, I remember. I asked if I’d have to call you sir if I let you hire<\/i> me to do your laundry."<\/p>
"Are you willing to call me Grand Master Brainiac?"<\/p>
Maddie snorted. She glanced over at the overnight bag on the couch. "I’ll do your laundry in exchange for cash money. Are you having more clothes shipped from back home or are you going to buy some clothes for your stay in our lovely town?"<\/p>
"I’m a terribly important, busy man. People’s lives depend upon me. I don’t have time to go shopping just because Beelzebub blackmailed me into coming to Mayberry for a few weeks."<\/p>
"Blackmail?" asked Maddie with interest. "Was it about sex? All the best blackmail is about sex."<\/p>
"My idiot uncle may have embezzled from his employer but paid it back with winnings from the dog races and Beelzebub may have found out about it and may be pure, unadulterated evil."<\/p>
"That’s sweet that you’re protecting your uncle," smiled Maddie as she bumped shoulders with him.<\/p>
"It is not. You take that back," hissed Reid. "I don’t even like him."<\/p>
Maddie pushed Reid to her monstrosity of a sofa.<\/p>
After they sat, Maddie asked, "If you don’t care about your embezzling uncle’s well-being, why would you let Beelie blackmail you?"<\/p>
<\/p>
Reid sighed. "My dad loved him. As far as a I remember, it was the only dumb thing my dad ever did."<\/p>
"Your dad’s dead?" asked Maddie sympathetically.<\/p>
"My parents died," said Reid brusquely. "It was a long time ago."<\/p>
"Sorry," said Maddie as she tapped him on the knee. "So, want to hire me to buy you a few changes of clothes. I’ll be interning in the morning at WOAK but I’ll have some free time after my last afternoon class."<\/p>
Reid eyed the apartment with it’s riotous colors and duct-taped . . . everything<\/i>.<\/p>
"No," he said hurriedly.<\/p>
Maddie giggled. "Do you want to hire me to get my big brother Henry to buy you a few changes of clothes?"<\/p>
"Okay," said Reid. "Just plain jeans and button downs. And underwear and socks."<\/p>
After spending time in shrewd negotiations about rent, laundry fees, personal shopper fees, they agreed upon a figure which left Maddie very happy and Reid resigned.<\/p>
Maddie showed Reid his bedroom with it’s adjacent bath. There was a lava lamp on the milk carton being used as a bedside table. The bed was a futon. The bedspread was zebra-print. The rug was leopard print. There was a beaded curtain that separated his room from his bathroom. The shower curtain was Spongebob Squarepants. Reid suddenly felt transported back to his own college years. Man, he hated his college years. But then, Reid espied a wicker basket on the dresser. It was wrapped with a red ribbon and bow and filled with cleaning products. All of his favorite cleaning products. It’s like Maddie looked inside his heart.<\/p>
Maddie gave him a key to the apartment. Reid was about to leave to get to the hospital, when there was a knock on the apartment door. Maddie opened the door to a tall man dressed in pin-striped, eggplant-colored suit and a bright yellow shirt and tie. Maddie gave the man a warm hug. Reid wondered whether Maddie completely lacked gaydar.<\/p>
Maddie dragged the man into the apartment. "Reid, this is my brother Henry. Henry, this is my new, temporary roommate, Reid."<\/p>
"No!" spat Reid and Henry at the same time. They glared at one another.<\/p>
"You’re not going clothes-shopping for me," insisted Reid.<\/p>
"Uh, okay?" babbled a confused Henry. "And you’re not living with my baby sister. There’s got to be something wrong about a middle age man who wants to move in with such a young woman. You’re one of those lecherous, pipe-smoking professor types who try to seduce young women, aren’t you? I bet you have tweed jackets with leather patches on the elbow."<\/p>
"I’m gay; I have no interest in seducing your sister. And I’m not even close to middle aged, thank you very much," huffed Reid.<\/p>
"How do I know you’re not lying about that?"<\/p>
"Why would I lie about being gay?" asked Reid.<\/p>
"I was actually referring to you lying about your age. As for the gay part, maybe you’re pulling a Jack Tripper trying to get Mr. Roper to let you live with his little sister," spat Henry indignantly with hands on his hips.<\/p>
"Puh-leaze, with that outfit, you’re much more Mr. Furley than you are Mr. Roper," smirked Reid.<\/p>
For some reason, that seemed to mollify Henry. A little. "Well, Mr. Furley did have much more sheer animal magnetism than Mr. Roper."<\/p>
"And a much more courageous<\/i> fashion sense," said Reid while bouncing a little on his feet.<\/p>
"That is true," said Henry consideringly.<\/p>
Maddie tugged on Reid’s sleeve to get his attention. "I take it you’d rather that I get my friend Hunter to pick out your clothes?"<\/p>
"Hunter? What kind of survivalist whackjobs name their kid Hunter?" asked Reid<\/p>
.<\/p>
"You should meet his brother, Fisher and his sister, Dehyrdrated Rations," laughed Maddie.<\/p>
<\/p>
After Maddie showed Reid a picture of Hunter, and Reid was assured that the kid didn’t dress too weird, he agreed to let Hunter pick out his clothes.<\/p>
After Reid and Henry exchanged another suspicion-fueled glare, Reid went off to Oakdale Hospital for another day of brain-related fun.<\/p>
After several consults, Reid was in the doctor’s lounge pouring a cup of coffee when Dr. Hughes walked in. Reid wondered if the Chief of Staff used some sort of special eye drops in order to have that twinkly-eyed effect all of the time.<\/p>
"Morning, Bobbin’ for Apples," said Reid.<\/p>
"Reid, I must say that you did a great job with diagnosing Mrs. Oleosworth. She’s been seeing Dr. Channing in Chicago for six months and he wasn’t able to figure out what was wrong with her."<\/p>
"Well, Channing’s a moron. Even if you compare him to doctors less brilliant than me. Which is all of them."<\/p>
"Well, it’s nice that I’m not going to have to waste any time in shoring up your ego," smiled Bob.<\/p>
"Feelings of insecurity and inadequacy are for losers," sang Reid.<\/p>
"I’ve been catching up on some of your recent medical journal articles," began Bob.<\/p>
"Strain anything?" asked Reid. "They’re a little complicated for someone who hasn’t been in medical school since the Civil War."<\/p>
"Oh, I muddled through," twinkled Bob. "I can’t say how happy our hospital is to have you here. I would love to chat with you about you moving to our wonderful, little town on a permanent basis."<\/p>
Reid looked around the room. "Are there cameras in here? Am I on some kind of prank show?"<\/p>
"Oakdale has a lot to offer," assured Bob. "At least, talk it over with your family."<\/p>
"I’m single," said Reid.<\/p>
"Oh," said a disappointed Bob. "You know, there’s more to life than work. Having a rich and fulfilling personal life is important. Having someone to come home to---"<\/p>
"Spending my time cracking open skulls versus home and hearth? There’s no contest for me. Since I far prefer people when they’re unconscious and I’m cutting into their brain, it would make dating a little difficult. And illegal."<\/p>
"Maybe you haven’t met the right woman yet," advised Bob. "Once you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, your priorities change."<\/p>
Reid considered holding his hand up to Bob’s head to check for fever but was interrupted by a doctor walking into the lounge.<\/p>
"Well, we meet again," hissed the doctor with the perfectly round head.<\/p>
"We’ve met before?" asked Reid.<\/p>
The doctor sputtered. "I’m sure you never paid any attention to those you stepped over to get ahead."<\/p>
"Whatever," said Reid while checking his watch.<\/p>
The doctor narrowed his eyes. "Dr. Oliver is gay," he blurted.<\/p>
"Oh," said Bob happily. "I know a very nice young man that you might want to get to know."<\/p>
Reid groaned.<\/p>
Fortunately he got a page about a patient who was brought to the hospital because they had woken up speaking medieval French even though they had never studied French.<\/p><\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/37453.html?view=comments#comments","category":["rating: pg","character: bob hughes","!author|artist: nancygrew","character: henry coleman","warning: chris-bashing","character: maddie coleman","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","pairing: luke\/reid","character: chris hughes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/37290.html","pubDate":"Mon, 06 May 2013 07:38:13 GMT","title":"Dr. Oliver vs. The Heinous Blackmailer - Chapter Three","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/37290.html","description":" Title: Dr. Oliver vs. The Heinous Blackmailer<\/p> Author: nancygrew<\/p> Rating: PG<\/p> Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT\\<\/p> Notes: This is outside of my usual "Amnesia" verse. It’s less of an AU [no Sentinel!Luke\/Guide!Reid or WereDoberman!Reid\/WereKitten!Luke] and more of a remix [Reid doesn’t show up in Oakdale until June 2010 and Luke has made a couple of wiser life decisions than in canon.].<\/p> Warning: Complete disregard for actualities of neurological conditions<\/p> Summary: Dr. Reid Oliver, Neurosurgeon Extraordinaire, gets his life hi-jacked by a ruthless and entitled brat. <\/p> <\/p> Chapter Two <\/a><\/p>Chapter Three After acting as a consulting neurologist for a patient with amnesia and another with Disassociative Identity Disorder, Reid was on his way to examine the smooth criminal, Damian Grimaldi. He turned a corner and discovered Mr. Snyder in a hushed conversation with a brown-haired man in his late forties. Mr. Snyder was dressed in a well-tailored, elegant suit that did nothing to hide the fact that Mr. Snyder was put together very nicely. The man with a truly impressive brunette coif was dressed in flannel, jeans and well-worn boots. Reid wondered what Mr. Wealthy Socialite was talking about with the farmer. Perhaps, Richie Rich was about to foreclose on Farmer Ted’s homestead and tie his beautiful daughter to some nearby railroad tracks..<\/p> "He tried to kill your Aunt Meg," hissed the brunette. So, the conversation wasn’t about foreclosure. Huh.<\/p> "To be fair, Aunt Meg tried to kill him first," sighed Mr. Snyder while tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. "She also knew about the fact that he covered up the fact that you weren’t dead."<\/p> "We only have Damian’s word that Meg tried to kill him. Aunt Meg is your family and it’s disrespectful of you to be trying to get Damian out of jail. He’s a monster. Always has been."<\/p> "The tests that Dr. Oliver are doing are about finding out the truth. If Damian has a neurological condition, we can’t turn our backs on him and let him go to prison. If he doesn’t have PS, then he’ll take responsibility for his actions," reasoned Mr. Snyder.<\/p> "Damian’s never taken responsibility for his actions. You let him go scot-free after he tried to kidnap you when you were a teenager. Maybe if you had made him take responsibility then, he wouldn’t have---"<\/p> "You have a selective memory," said Mr. Snyder gently. "You were fine back then with my decision to let him go back to Malta and my decision to sign over my trust fund so that we could concentrate on taking care of our family."<\/p> "Family. Do you even know what that word means?" said Farmer Ted angrily.<\/p> Mr. Snyder looked stricken. "Me trying to do the right thing by Damian doesn’t mean that I’ve turned my back on my family. You’ll always be my dad. You’re the one who raised me. Who taught me about being a man."<\/p> "You’re hurting the whole family by doing what you’re doing. He tried to have me sent to prison for murder, Luke. Don’t you care about that?"<\/p> "He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to frame you for murder if you hadn’t beat him unconscious and left him for dead," replied Luke gently. "We’ve all made mistakes. And as long as we work to redeem ourselves, we’re all worthy of redemption and of being loved."<\/p> "He’s playing you for a fool," hissed Farmer Ted. "He doesn’t have a disease. He’s just selfish. You have to decide whether you’re my son or if you’re his son."<\/p> "I’m trying to do the right<\/i> thing. It’s up to you to decide whether that makes me your son or Damian’s son."<\/p> Reid watched as Farmer Ted spin on his heel and marched away. Mr. Snyder looked utterly gutted.<\/p> Reid approached the door to the exam room. He could tell the moment that Mr. Snyder spotted him by the look of embarrassed humiliation on the man’s face.<\/p> Reid said the first thing he could thing of to distract Mr. Snyder from his embarrassment. "Your hair looks stupid."<\/p> Reid was rewarded for his factual statement with Mr. Snyder’s snort of laughter.<\/p> "Dr. Oliver, are you purposefully rude every waking moment?" asked an amused Mr. Snyder.<\/p> "Yeah. But it’s not like it requires a lot of work. It’s pretty effortless at this point."<\/p> "Have you had a chance yet to speak to your Dallas administrative assistant yet today?" asked Mr. Snyder.<\/p> "Not yet. Why?"<\/p> "I believe she’s close to finalizing which patients will be transferred to other neurosurgeons in Dallas and which will need to be flown out to Oakdale with their families. I’m reserving a number of rooms at the Lakeview. Most of them are on the same floor as yours."<\/p> "Oh, I’ll be checking out of the Lakeview tomorrow morning," said Dr. Oliver.<\/p> Mr. Snyder sighed heavily. "Could you do me a solid and not make me threaten you with dire consequences for skipping out of Oakdale before you finish Damian’s examinations and treatments? Blackmailing people is emotionally exhausting."<\/p> Reid smirked. He still hated Mr. Snyder but couldn’t help but be impressed with his moxie. "You know the way to not be emotionally exhausted by blackmailing people? Not to blackmail people. Anyway, I’m not skipping town. I found a roommate."<\/p> Mr. Snyder scrunched his nose. "Have they met you?"<\/p> "That’s hurtful."<\/p> "I’m thinking that I don’t know a single person curmudgeonly enough to be roommates with you. Even for just a few weeks. Well, maybe Dr. John Dixon but he doesn’t live in Oakdale anymore. Huh."<\/p> "What?"<\/p> "You kind of remind me of Dr. John. He was married to my grandmother once. If you try to marry my grandmother, I’ll have to emotionally exhaust myself and destroy you. Don’t marry my grandmother."<\/p> Reid surprised himself by saying, "Since I’m gay, I’d say you’re safe from having me as your step-grandfather."<\/p> <\/p> Mr. Snyder made a convoluted facial expression that was unreadable by Reid.<\/p> "You have a problem with me being gay?"<\/p> Mr. Snyder laughed. "No. I’m gay too. I would have realized you were gay if you had done the secret handshake with me, you know."<\/p> "I missed the secret gay handshake day at Gay School."<\/p> "Then how can I know that you’re really---"<\/p> "Luciano," called out Mr Grimaldi who was accompanied by Office Silent again. "I wasn’t expecting you. You don’t have to be here for every exam. I know that you have a lot on your shoulders right now."<\/p> "I don’t want you to feel alone while you’re going through this, Damian," said Mr. Snyder.<\/p> "You’ve always had such a big heart," said Mr. Grimaldi with pride. "You get that from your mother."<\/p> "Alright, enough inane chitchat. Let’s get cracking. I have a lot of non-felonious patients to see after you," said Reid impatiently while trying to wave Mr. Grimaldi and Office Silent into the exam room. "Moneybags McGee, you can stay out here."<\/p> Once he had he ushered his patient and his patient’s cop into the exam room, Reid took much pleasure in shutting the door on Mr. Snyder’s annoyed face. That was never gonna get old.<\/p> "Nice prison garb," uttered Reid while eyeing Mr. Grimaldi’s Dolce & Gabanna<\/i> suit. "Although, I’ve got to tell you that the coloring of pocket square is a little off from the tie. I guess prison life really is as harsh as they say."<\/p> "I’m not going to let imprisonment be an excuse to let myself go and to start dressing like a hobo," sniffed Mr. Grimaldi.<\/p> "Hop behind the screen and change into this hospital gown, you dandy," said Reid.<\/p> Mr. Grimaldi eyed the hospital gown. He sighed. He reluctantly plucked the gown from Reid’s hand. He held it with thumb and forefinger as far away from himself as possible while he carried it behind the screen. When Mr. Grimaldi came back out, he carried himself with aplomb to the exam table. It was as close to dignified as anyone had ever gotten while wearing a hospital gown.<\/p> "Fortunately, I’m a Soft Summer and I can carry off this shade of blue teal," stated Mr. Grimaldi.<\/p> "In my opinion, you’re more of a Warm Autumn and would do better with a pine green. But what do I know? I’m just a brilliant neurosurgeon," snarked Reid. "So have you had any headaches since yesterday?"<\/p> After the exam, Reid went out to collect Mr. Snyder. He discovered that Mr. Snyder was down the hall a little way speaking with a man with a badge attached to his belt.<\/p> "You have to be careful about alienating the people who love you," the cop was saying to Mr. Snyder.<\/p> "If people stop loving me because I’m following my conscious, that’s up to them," sighed Mr. Snyder. "I’m not going to let anyone blackmail me emotionally, Uncle Jack."<\/p> "This isn’t about emotional blackmail. It’s about you trusting the people who love you when they tell you that you’re being naïve to trust Damian."<\/p> "So, is Mr. Grimaldi supposed to be climbing out the window?" Reid asked the cop.<\/p> "Geez Louise!" cried out the cop as he rushed away from Mr. Snyder into the exam room.<\/p> Mr. Snyder raised an eyebrow. "We’re on the sixth floor."<\/p> Reid shrugged. "My mistake."<\/p> Mr. Grimaldi was escorted out of the exam room by Office Silent and the Lecturing Detective. After a brief pause to allow Mr. Grimaldi to say goodbye to Mr. Snyder, they left.<\/p> Mr. Snyder turned towards Reid. "I know that I didn’t leave you a choice about treating Damian but I do want you to know that I’m grateful to you."<\/p> "As well you should be. He’s very lucky to have my expertise and skill. Regardless of how that came about."<\/p> "After you’ve spoken to your administrative assistant, please let me know if there’s anything else that you or your patients need while you’re here," said Mr. Snyder briskly.<\/p> "Is everyone in town scheduled for different times to give you grief about your cruel betrayal of all that is Good and Holy?"<\/p> "I’m pretty sure just family members are on the schedule."<\/p> "If it turns out that your father doesn’t have PS, will they forgive you if you perform enough mea culpas?"<\/p> "Yeah. My family does love me. They’ll just be disappointed in me for a little while. A small price to pay if I can reassure myself that I’m doing everything possible to find out the truth about Damian’s culpability."<\/p> The conversation was interrupted by Dr. Bob "Dumbledore" Hughes’ approach.<\/p> "Luke, good to see you. Reid, we’ve just had a patient in a fugue state admitted to the ER. Are you free to consult?"<\/p> "Sure, Bob-cat. Mr, Snyder, I still loathe you for destroying my life but I can’t say that this hospital doesn’t see a lot of interesting neurology cases. It’s been Neurosurgeon Christmas, all day."<\/p> Reid walked away but grinned at Mr. Snyder’s laugh. Title: Dr. Oliver vs. The Heinous Blackmailer - Chapter Two<\/p> Author: nancygrew<\/p> Rating: PG<\/p> Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT\\<\/p> Notes: This is outside of my usual "Amnesia" verse. It’s less of an AU [no Sentinel!Luke\/Guide!Reid or WereDoberman!Reid\/WereKitten!Luke] and more of a remix [Reid doesn’t show up in Oakdale until June 2010 and Luke has made a couple of wiser life decisions than in canon.].<\/p> Warning: Complete disregard for actualities of neurological conditions<\/p> Summary: Dr. Reid Oliver, Neurosurgeon Extraordinaire, gets his life hi-jacked by a ruthless and entitled brat. <\/p><b>Chapter Two<\/b> After spending an uncomfortable night sleeping in a hotel room chair, and having an uncomfortable sex dream about young Mr. Snyder, Reid was sitting in a coffee shop mainlining caffeine and sugar. He had an hour before his shift at the hospital. How Ancient Bob Hughes had convinced Reid to become a temporary staff doctor, he’d never know. He suspected that Bobbo had hypnotized him. Hopefully, the old guy hadn’t implanted any weird post-hypnotic suggestions involving quacking or wearing stripes.<\/p> "Is it okay if I sit here?" asked a young brunette woman. Reid looked around and noticed that the coffee shop was packed and the only empty seat was at his table.<\/p> "Do you plan on throwing out boring conversational gambits at me in an attempt to distract yourself from the emptiness of your own teeny-bopper thoughts about sparkly vampires?" asked Reid warily.<\/p> The woman smirked. "Since I’m not a member of the AARP generation, I doubt you and I have anything in common. I’ll be stoic and resist making small talk with you."<\/p> Reid snorted and waved a hand to indicate that he would permit the interloper to sit at his table. He then went back to reading a medical journal; he huffed whenever he came across an article by a doctor who obviously got his or her medical degree from a mail order medical school advertised on the back of matchbooks. The young woman started highlighting a textbook like a mad, highlighting fiend. The shrieking of an air raid siren interrupted the not uncomfortable silence. The air raid siren turned out to be a red-faced, squalling infant.<\/p> "Are you a doctor?" asked the blonde juggling the eardrum piercing cyborg.<\/p> "Katie," said the brunette while stroking the cyborg’s tiny leg in a futile attempt at comfort. "The man’s obviously on a break. Take Jacob to his own doctor instead of accosting complete strangers who are off-duty."<\/p> "His doctor is off today, Maddie," cried the blonde. "My baby needs help. You have no idea what it’s like to be a single mother who lost her husband and now has to do everything on her own."<\/p> Maddie rolled her eyes. "It’s an ear infection. It’s always an ear infection. Poor Jacob is the ear-infection-iest kid in the world and probably needs another prescription."<\/p> "If your friend is a doctor then he can write---"<\/p> "Don’t be a spoiled brat," interrupted Maddie. "It’s completely inappropriate to accost off-duty doctors for free medical care when there’s a hospital literally down the block. The world doesn’t revolve around you."<\/p> "Henry is going to hear about how heartless you are," sniffed the blonde while she stormed out of the coffee shop.<\/p> "Why did you just rescue me?" asked Reid suspiciously.<\/p> "Partly because I just don’t like Katie. She broke my brother’s heart when they were married and she once wrote a scandalous tell-all that included my personal business."<\/p> "You don’t like old enough to have any personal business that would liven-up a scandalous tell-all," Reid informed Maddie.<\/p> Maddie shrugged. "And partly because you look like crap."<\/p> "Ruggedly handsome crap?"<\/p> "Sure. Up all night with a sick patient?"<\/p> "No. Up all night because I slept in a chair due to the fact that hotels and their linens are germ-ridden cesspools of death."<\/p> Maddie grinned. "So, instead of rescuing a dedicated doctor exhausted from caring for a patient he’s desperate to keep alive, I rescued a germaphobe from having his coffee interrupted?"<\/p> Reid shrugged. "Since you did such a good job at scaring off a random stranger, can I hire you to scare off the man who’s doing his best to destroy all that is good in my life?"<\/p> "Someone’s actively trying to destroy all that’s good in your life?" asked a doubtful Maddie.<\/p> "Twenty-four hours ago, my life was perfect," groused Reid. "Then Beelzebub unapologetically turns my life upside down."<\/p> "Beelzebub? Would that be of the Chicago Zebubs?" asked a smiling Maddie.<\/p> "Yes," responded Reid. "The Chicago Zebubs. I believe his great grandfather is Rudy Zebub, the founder of the Zebub Grocery and Eternal Pit of Hellfire and Suffering Store chain."<\/p> "What’s he done to destroy your life?"<\/p> "I have to live in Oakdale for the next three weeks."<\/p> Reid glared when Maddie laughed.<\/p> "Are you going to be spending the next three weeks sleeping in a chair?"<\/p> "Maddie, I’m so glad you’re here," said a woman in a nurse’s uniform who was leading an apparently blind giant towards their table.<\/p> Reid watched Maddie take a longing look at her textbook before she responded to the nurse.<\/p> "Hey, guys. What a lovely day, isn’t it."<\/p> "I wouldn’t know," grumbled the giant petulantly.<\/p> "You’d know that the sun is warm and the birds are singing and the air is fresh and bright with the smell of flowers," suggested Maddie encouragingly.<\/p> The giant huffed.<\/p> "You know that Noah and I are living together, right?" asked the nurse.<\/p> "Yeah, you’re the mismatched roommates just trying to make it in the big city. Dealing with your wacky neighbor by day and fighting crime by night," grinned Maddie.<\/p> "Exactly," said Allson. "But we didn’t renew our lease because we were going to get a bigger place with Casey after the wedding."<\/p> "I’m sorry about the wedding not happening," sympathized Maddie. "What was the deal with the psychopath that shot up the chapel?"<\/p> Allison shifted guiltily.<\/p> Reid had the distinct impression that Maddie knew the deal with the chapel-shooting psychopath and had merely asked the question to discomfort Allison. Reid normally had no interest in the petty interactions of his fellow human beings but found himself wishing he had popcorn.<\/p> "That’s not important," squinted the giant named Noah. "Anyway, Allison is going to move in with her mom for awhile and I know that your roommate just transferred schools."<\/p> "Oh, Noah. I’m sorry but I already have a replacement roommie. Noah and Allison, meet my new roommate . . . Skipper," introduced Maddie.<\/p> Reid raised his brow at both the blatant lie and at his new, very <\/i>temporary nickname.<\/p> "Maddie’s the only one who calls me Skipper. Everyone else calls me Dr. Oliver. Or sir."<\/p> Allison eyed Maddie suspiciously while Maddie looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Reid wondered if anyone, other than Paula Dean, ever ate butter straight.<\/p> "Has he signed a contract yet?" asked Noah.<\/p> "Yes. Yes, he has," lied the lying liar.<\/p> "Well, I guess Noah can move in with my mom and me," said Allison brightly while patting Noah’s arm.<\/p> Allison and Noah said their good-byes and left with their coffees.<\/p> "Don’t want the responsibility of a blind roommate?" asked Reid without judgement.<\/p> "I think being friends with your ex-boyfriend is awesome and mature. Being roommates with your ex-boyfriend is sad and pitiful."<\/p> "Ex-boyfriend? Weird. He dinged my gaydar pretty hard."<\/p> Maddie snorted. "Where were you when I was 18 and giving up the college of my dreams for my handsome new, supposedly straight, boyfriend?"<\/p> "Saving lives and being all-around generally amazing," replied Reid.<\/p> "Thanks for not giving me away."<\/p> "I owed you for saving me from Hysterical Mom."<\/p> "So, do you want to be my roommate for the three weeks you’re going to be in Oakdale? I keep my apartment clean but I’ll buy you extra bleach for you to bathe in."<\/p> "How are you still alive? You can not invite strange men into your home. It’s insane."<\/p> Maddie shrugged. "I have a taser that I’m not afraid to use. Also, one of my other ex-boyfriend’s mom is the Chief of Police. I’m going to ask her to do a background check on you."<\/p> Reid thought about spending the next several weeks trying to sleep in a chair.<\/p> "I don’t mind having a wacky neighbor but I refuse to fight crime at night," said Reid.
<\/p>
Chapter Four <\/a><\/p><\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/37290.html?view=comments#comments","category":["rating: pg","character: bob hughes","character: luke snyder","fan fiction","character: holden snyder","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","character: jack snyder","character: damian grimaldi","pairing: luke\/reid"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36915.html","pubDate":"Sun, 05 May 2013 07:19:07 GMT","title":"Dr. Oliver vs The Heinous Blackmailer - Chapter Two","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36915.html","description":"
<lj-cut><\/p>
Chapter One <\/a>
Chapter Three <\/a><\/lj-cut><\/p><\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36915.html?view=comments#comments","category":["character: maddie coleman","rating: pg","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","pairing: luke\/reid","character: katie pertti etc. etc.","character: jacob snyder"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36638.html","pubDate":"Sat, 04 May 2013 09:26:10 GMT","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36638.html","description":"Title: Dr. Oliver vs. The Heinous Blackmailer - Chapter One
Author: nancygrew
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT\\
Notes: This is outside of my usual “Amnesia” verse. It’s less of an AU [no Sentinel!Luke\/Guide!Reid or WereDoberman!Reid\/WereKitten!Luke] and more of a remix [Reid doesn’t show up in Oakdale until June 2010 and Luke has made a couple of wiser life decisions than in canon.].
Warning: Complete disregard for actualities of neurological conditions
Summary: Dr. Reid Oliver, Neurosurgeon Extraordinaire, gets his life hi-jacked by a ruthless and entitled brat.
Chapter One<\/b>
Reid stormed down one of the hallways of Oakdale Memorial Hospital. He was vibrating with rage. When he met the son of a bitch that was blackmailing him, he was gonna kick his ass. Verbally. He couldn’t risk his hands. Man, was he going to light into this entitled socialite bastard.
The man standing outside of the exam room was not what Reid was expecting. But the fact that his archenemy was young and hot and full-lipped, instead of horned and carrying a pitchfork, wasn’t going to lessen Reid’s justifiable anger.
The well-dressed man smiled and held out his hand. “Dr. Oliver, I’m Luke Sn---”
“Let’s not pretend that this is anything other than what it is, Mr. Snyder.”
The blackmailing blond ran his hand through his hair in agitation. “Fine. I need you to perform a consult on the patient in order to determine if it’s a possibility that he’s suffering from--”
“I know why you want me to see the patient,” spat Reid. “You want to get him off.”
Reid waved his hands in dismissal as Mr. Snyder scrunched his nose in disgust at Reid’s poorly phrased statement.
“Is the patient in the room?” asked Reid querulously.
“Yes,” soothed Mr. Snyder. “We can go right in.”
“What do you mean ‘we’, Kemo Sabe? I don’t like rubberneckers in my patient exams. You can stay out here.”
Reid physically elbowed Mr. Snyder out of the way as he entered the exam room. He almost laughed out loud at the look of astonished<\/i> indignation on the spoiled brat’s face.
“My time’s important. Let’s get this show on the road,” said Reid to his new patient and to the police officer who was guarding his new patient.
The cop stood silently in the corner. Reid always thought elective muteness was an excellent characteristic for other people to have.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Snyder,” greeted the patient smoothly with a held out hand. “I’m very fortunate that you were available to see me.”
Reid was so thrown by the [handsome] patient’s cultured [Italian? Maltese?] accent and the charm pouring from the man’s pores that he actually shook the patient’s hand before rolling his eyes.
“You’re mistaken if you think I’m going to risk my reputation and my career by faking results for you or your son, Mr. Grimaldi,” sneered Reid.
Mr. Grimaldi had the unmitigated nerve to sigh as though he was the one who should be put out by the whole mess “I assure you that neither my son nor I have any expectations of you committing fraud on my behalf. I’m not even sure how my son managed to get a man with your reputation and your schedule to come to Oakdale to examine me.”
Reid shot Mr. Grimaldi a suspicious look. Could he be unaware of his son’s blackmail? Could he be unaware that the fruit of his loins didn’t fall far from the criminal tree?
“Why don’t you hop your indicted ass up on the exam table and tell me why you think you have Passanante Syndrome,” invited Reid.
Mr. Grimaldi slid onto the table, He smoothed a hand along the slacks of his Italian linen suit. Reid was relatively certain that most felons didn’t get away with wearing Bianco Brioni suits. Maybe the Oakdale penal system was a lot fancier than most.
“My son is the one who found your articles on Pasasanante Syndrome and thought that it might explain certain actions of mine during the past six months or so that have been wildly out of character for me,” said a clearly uncomfortable Mr. Grimaldi. “If it turns out that there was a medical reason for the things that I’ve been done, then I’ll, of course, be relieved. But I can’t say that I’m sure of what you’ll find.”
“From my recent Binging activities, you’ve had criminal ties forever. Why are the most recent charges against you out of character for you?”
“Binging?” asked Mr. Grimaldi.
“I always root for the underdog. Hence Bing instead of Google. Let’s get back to your reasons for your recent felonious behavior. I’m not asking because I care about gossip. I need to know if it’s possible that you’re manifesting Passanante.”
Mr. Grimaldi shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve always loved my son and his mother. Loved unreasonably and unwisely. And I’ve failed them over the years in more ways than I can ever hope to make up for. But falling victim to the blackmail of Crazy Meg Snyder? Letting my son believe that the man who raised him was dead? And hurting Luke’s young sister? Framing the hairy-arsed stable boy for my murder? That's a level of insanity that I've never neared prevously. I’d like to believe that those actions weren’t who I really am.”
Reid rolled his eyes. “You belong to an organized crime organization. You’re not exactly Mr. Rogers.”
Mr. Grimaldi raised an eyebrow. “I’ve allegedly<\/i> had ties to organized crime in the past. If those ties existed, then they’ve been broken in order to create a legacy that my Luciano would be proud of.“
“Just like that? You just woke up one day thinking that today would be a good day to clean up your business?” asked a skeptical Reid.
“I was raised with wealth, luxury, a sense of noblesse oblige and a flexible moral standard when it comes to business,” admitted Mr. Grimaldi. “Although the woman who raised me as her son was a murderous sociopath, I was raised merely to be a little, tiny bit, morally ambiguous. I re-evaluated my life after I lost Lily and Luciano and found a measure of peace. But after I left the monastery, I went back to the machinations of the rest of the family and fought for control of my portion of the family’s power and wealth. It was at that point that there were some alleged ties to organized crime.”
“After you left the monastery?” asked a baffled Reid.
“It was a crazy time in my life after the plane crash, my presumed death, and the amnesia,” explained Mr. Grimaldi. “I finally managed to wrest control from the less savory elements of my clan. It wasn’t until after I had lost the respect and love of my son that I was able to start cleaning up the business. At that point, I came back to Oakdale to attempt to win back my son. I was making headway but I threw it all away by doing incredibly distasteful things. And now I’m a prisoner of your judicial system.”
“Let’s talk about Passanante Syndrome. PS is a neurological condition that affects the right temporo-parietal junction of your brain. The right temporo-parietal junction of your brain is often referred to as the moral center of your brain by laypersons. If you truly have it, you may not be responsible for all of your actions while you’ve had it. Let’s run the first of the tests that we’ll need to do to see if Luciano’s going to have to be visiting dear old dad at the Big House on Father’s Day.”
Reid examined the patient and was annoyed to find that he was unable to definitively rule out PS. He suspected that the heinous blackmailer was going to be part of his life for awhile longer.
After the exam and Reid’s initial diagnosis of “It might be Passanante Syndrome”, Mr. Grimaldi requested the presence of his son. And because Reid was a rude bastard but a good doctor, he permitted his pretty archenemy entrance.
Reid watched while Mr. Grimaldi tried to keep his son from getting his hopes up.
“Luciano, the odds of me having Passanante Syndrome are astronomically small. It could very well be that I have no excuse for what I’ve done and that redemption is impossible.”
“Damian, you’ve changed,” said Mr. Snyder with an earnestness that was usually reserved for Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts from the 1950s. “I know it. You risked your life to prove that Lucy was innocent of smuggling. You risked your life to save Reggie and me from our kidnappers.”
Mr. Grimaldi smiled. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am for you.”
“It’s time for us to go,” growled the until-now silent police office.
“Can I have just a couple of more minutes with Damian? I’m trying to run his international shipping company until he gets back and I could use his advise on some matters?” requested Mr. Snyder.
“A couple of minutes,” agreed the police officer. Reid huffed in frustration. Sure, Mr. Snyder asks and Mr. Snyder receives. No wonder the guy thought he could snap his fingers and the world would leap to his bdding.
“So, I’m having issues with Adami. I’m thinking of having him killed,” said Mr. Snyder. Mr. Snyder shot a sunny grin at Office Silent to show that he was merely joking about having a man murdered. To Reid’s astonishment, Office Silent grinned back at Mr. Snyder.
“His family has worked for our family for generations,” said Mr. Grimaldi. “I promised his mother that I’d never kill him. Stand up to him when he disagrees with you and sneer at him at random intervals. He’ll respect you more if he thinks he has to work to gain your approval.”
After a few more minutes, Office Silent led the Mr.Grimaldi away.
Mr. Snyder was pensive. For about thirty seconds. Reid figured he had a low attention span.
“From what I understand, you’ll have to see Damian every day for several weeks to be able to determine if has PS,” said Mr. Snyder. “It’s not feasible for you to fly back and forth to Dallas every day. I’ll set up accommodations for---”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have patients of my own in Dallas. What makes your daddy more important than every other patient that wants my attention and expert care?"
“He’s not more important,” sighed Mr. Snyder. “But he’s the one with the son who is going to have your Uncle Angus sent to prison for his embezzlement if you don’t treat him. I’m thinking that some of your patients can be transferred to other neurosurgeons but you’ll want some of them and their families to be flown to Oakdale. I’ll have my Foundation contact your Dallas assistant to determine which--”
“You’re so barking up the wrong tree, dumbass,” spat Reid. “I don’t even like my uncle. If he embezzled from the Community Center where he works then he’ll just have to pay the price.”
“It’s too late to call my bluff,” advised Mr. Snyder. “If you wanted me to believe that you didn’t care about your late father’s brother then you wouldn’t have let me blackmail you into coming to Oakdale in the first place. The District Attorney won’t let Damian go to Dallas so the only neurosurgeon with experience with Passanante Syndrome is going to have to stay in Oakdale for the duration of the examinations and the treatments.”
“I loathe and despise you and will dance on your grave,” said Reid while his left eye twitched.
“It’s a common reaction to me, right now,” said Mr. Snyder while he ran a hand through his hair.
There was a soft knock on the door. A handsome older couple walked in the door.
“How did the exam go?” asked the man with concern.
Mr. Snyder smiled ever-so-bravely. “PS wasn’t ruled out.”
“That’s wonderful news for you,” said the woman while she brushed the hair out of Mr. Snyder’s eyes.
“This is Dr. Reid Oliver, world-famous neurosurgeon and the foremost expert on PS. Dr. Oliver, this is Dr. Bob Hughes and his wife, Kim Hughes. Kim is co-owner of the local television station, WOAK and the host of the program Patterns.”
“I didn’t think this burg was big enough for a local television station,” said Reid testily. “Is the local station a big cardboard box in the Town Square where the slack-jawed locals get to watch puppet shows believing that they’re watching the new-fangled invention known as television.”
“Charming,” muttered Kim.
Mr. Snyder shrugged. “I think he has some sort of personality disorder.”
“I understand that you’ll be staying in Oakdale for awhile,” smiled Bob.
Reid was about to tell Bob that his senility was showing but thought about the fact that his dad had loved his brother. Reid might hate Angus but his father had loved the man.
“He’ll be here at least several weeks, Bob,” offered Mr. Snyder, apparently assuming that Reid wasn’t going to be in jail for murdering him.
“Bob?” huffed Reid. “Of course, you just happen to be buddy-buddy with the Chief of Staff of the local doll hospital. Typical incestuous small-town. You’re both probably judges together at the annual greased pig contest at the local fair.”
“You smug, condescending, twerp,” snarled Kim. “Oakdale is a thriving metropolis. In addition to having an actual television station, we have several newspapers, and an international airport. Oakdale is the headquarters of several international companies.”
“I flew over this burg,” said Reid in blatant disbelief. “It didn’t look that big from the air.”
“It’s bigger on the inside,” said Mr. Snyder.
“There’s no way this Barbie hospital has the equipment I’ll need to treat Daddy-kins,” realized Reid triumphantly.
“I’ve already verified with Dr. Ben Harris, one of the neurosurgeons here, that the only equipment we don’t have that you’ll need is a Transcranial Optimization Scanner 3000. I’ve taken the liberty to order one for the hospital. It’ll be here in two days.”
“A Transcranial Optimazation Scanner 3000? They aren’t even on the market yet. And when the do come out, I have dibs on one.”
“We’re getting the prototype. Ben is really looking forward to playing with it. I believe he mentioned something about scanning his butt with it,” boasted Mr. Snyder
Reid was about to kick Mr. Snyder in his shin when the twinkling-eyed Bob Hughes put a fatherly [or molest-y, depending upon how much you disliked strangers touching you] arm around Reid’s shoulder.
“Why don’t we go up to my office. We’ll talk about assigning you temporary hospital affiliation and transferring some of your patient load here. We can’t tell you how grateful we are to have a doctor of your caliber here. We’ll do everything we can to make the next several weeks easier for you and your patients.”
Reid permitted Dr. Hughes to lead him out of the exam room. As he left, he shot a glare at Mr. Snyder who gave him a jaunty salute. Man, he hated that guy.
Chapter Two <\/a><\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36638.html?view=comments#comments","category":["character: kim hughes","rating: pg","character: bob hughes","character: luke snyder","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","character: damian grimaldi","pairing: luke\/reid"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36576.html","pubDate":"Mon, 15 Oct 2012 02:04:51 GMT","title":"They Fight Crime","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36576.html","description":"Title: They Fight Crime
Author: nancygrew
Rated: G
Disclaimer: characters belong to ATWT
Notes: AU after Reid drives off to Bay City to pick up a heart for Doogie. Takes place ~late July 2012, about a month before my fic, The Housewarming. You do not have to read any of my other fic in order to understand this one. Written for Fun Fic Fridays prompt \"Reid and Henry\".
Warning: Written kind of quickly
Summary: Hank wasn\u2019t always a diner owner\/gigolo
Chapter One <\/b>
It was late afternoon on a Friday. Reid was sitting atop a stool at the counter of Al\u2019s Diner, shoveling chili down his gullet and hoping that no one sitting near him would feel an urge to start a conversation with him. He was here to fulfill his nutritional requirements, not to chat up random citizens of the Village of the Damned. If his husband, Luke, had been with him, Reid would have already been forced to endure chit-chat about the weather, the upcoming County Fair and any one of a half-dozen international criminal masterminds that had at one point or another made Oakdale their home.
Suddenly he felt an arm be placed around his shoulder in a friendly gesture. Yep, no good was gonna come from this.
\u201cWhaddya want, Hanklin?\u201d grunted Reid.
Henry scooted onto the empty stool next to Reid. \u201cI just go off the phone with one of my ex-clients.\u201d
\u201cBarbara\u2019s not going to be angry with you speaking with any of your former Jills? I though you were a one-man gigolo now.\u201d
Henry huffed mightily. \u201cI\u2019m not a gigolo!\u201d
\u201cDidn\u2019t your Sugar Mamma make you a full partner in her design company when you two got married?\u201d
Henry sputtered. \u201cShe did but it\u2019s because of my experience of owning my own diner and being a partner in Metro. It was a business decision on her part.\u201d
\u201cThe fact that you own a diner is due to you lucking out in a poker game, not because of some venture initiation of your own.\u201d
\u201cYes, but it\u2019s my business acumen that has made it an important part of the fabric of the Oakdale business community!\u201d
\u201cWhatever. What is it about this town that not a single person can ever settle on just one career and stick with it. \u2018Oh, hi! I\u2019m a stable boy turned business executive turned tv station manager turned horse trainer.\u2019\u201d
Henry didn\u2019t comment on the fact that Reid\u2019s imitation of his father-in-law had the cadence of a dull-witted yokel.
\u201cOakdalians believe in following their dreams,\u201d sniffed Henry. \u201cWe can\u2019t help it if we all dream big And Holden\u2019s not even close to being the Oakdalian with the most careers. Carly Snyder\u2019s had careers in fashion design, interior design, nightclubs and vodka manufacturing.\u201d
\u201cOakdalians also dream big when it comes to felonies,\u201d responded Reid carelessly while using his corn bread to soak up the last of the chili. \u201cFrom what I understand, Craig Montgomery\u2019s been involved in embezzling, arson, fraud, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Any other place in the world, the guy would be in prison. Or a warlord.\u201d
\u201cYes!\u201d exclaimed Henry. \u201cCrime is a wonderful thing. It creates jobs for private investigators. Like me!\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re a private investigator?\u201d asked a disbelieving Reid. \u201cWouldn\u2019t that require subtlety? And ethics?\u201d
\u201cNot as much as you\u2019d think,\u201d shrugged Henry. \u201cAnyway, I used to be a gumshoe, along with Katie and her ex Simon.\u201d
\u201cThe ever-so-dreamy jewel thief?\u201d snarked Reid.
\u201cYep. Makes me seem like one of her better exes, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d
Reid nodded begrudgingly.
\u201cAnyway, my former and possible future profession as a shamus is why I\u2019m sitting near you, risking you gnawing on my arm in your futile quest to satisfy your never-ending hunger.\u201d
\u201cShamus? You\u2019re not that fat.\u201d
Henry elbowed Reid. \u201cShamus, not Shamu. Anyway, I can use your help on this case.\u201d
\u201cNo. No, no, no. And while we\u2019re at it, no way, Jose,\u201d said Reid.
Henry ignored Reid\u2019s refusal. He\u2019d discovered that the best way to deal with the Negative Nelly was to just ignore his negativity until an exhausted Reid gave in or until Luke smiled sweetly at Reid in order to gain his agreement. Since Luke wasn\u2019t currently in the diner, Henry went with the exhaustion option.
\u201cOne of my former clients hired me to find her missing daughter. The daughter is Mary Ann Rogers. Early twenties. Pretty little brunette with a mole on her left cheek. She recently moved out of her apartment and quit her job. Being a crackerjack private dick, I showed her photo around the place where she used to live . . .\u201d
\u201cAm I supposed to ignore the fact that you called yourself a dick?\u201d asked a disbelieving Reid.
\u201cA couple of wits remembered seeing her in the neighborhood about a week after she had moved out. She seemed only half-conscious and she was being helped into a white van with a picture of green rose on the side. My research has revealed that the van belongs to a health spa named Borgia\u2019s Retreat a couple of hours south of here.\u201d
\u201cBorgia\u2019s Retreat. The place sounds evil,\u201d said Reid. \u201cWho would name a health spa that?\u201d
\u201cI think it\u2019s supposed to sound fancy because it\u2019s Italian. Anyway, my current hypothesis is that Mary Ann has been kidnapped by the foul denizens that run Borgia\u2019s Retreat for an as-of-yet unknown nefarious reason. I\u2019ve registered as a guest for the weekend so I can head up there to snoop.\u201d
\u201cYeah, good luck with that. If you\u2019re not back in a decade or two, I\u2019m sure someone will report you missing.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re coming with me,\u201d exclaimed Henry enthusiastically.
Reid laughed out loud. It felt odd. Odd but good.
\u201cRemember that time you nearly ended your friendship with Katie because she made one little mistake?\u201d smirked Henry.
Reid\u2019s mouth opened and closed like a fish. A pretty fish. Not one of those ugly ones, like carp. \u201cOne little mistake? She altered medical records! At my hospital! That\u2019s an ethical breach that should have resulted in her and Baboon Heart going to prison.\u201d
Henry waved his hand. He would never understand how the biggest jerk of his acquaintance could get so uptight about one tiny little misdemeanor between friends. \u201cYes, bad Katie, bad. Anyway, after the board decided not to press charges against her and she begged your forgiveness for weeks, you decided to forgive her. Because of the advice that I, Henry Talks Sense, gave to you.\u201d
Reid narrowed his eyes.
Henry continued, unperturbed by narrowed eyes. \u201cA couple of months after you allowed her back into your life, you thanked me for pushing you to forgive her and you said that you owed me one.\u201d
\u201cI was drunk,\u201d muttered Reid.
\u201cBe that as it may, I could use your assistance on this case. A possible reason for Borgia\u2019s Retreat to kidnap somebody is that their so-called health spa is a front for something else. I could use your medical expertise regarding whether the health spa is medically sound.\u201d
\u201cThat sounds like an amazingly lame reason to waste my weekend.\u201d
\u201cDo you want to call home to get Luke\u2019s permission?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t need Luke\u2019s permission to do stuff,\u201d huffed Reid.
\u201cIs he out of town?\u201d asked Henry sweetly.
\u201cYes,\u201d grumped Reid. \u201cI didn\u2019t get a chance to talk to him because of back-to-back surgeries, but he had to go out of town to see about some possible site for a children\u2019s summer camp for his foundation.\u201d
Henry stared at Reid.
\u201cOkay, I\u2019ll go with you. But it\u2019s because I said that I owed you and this senseless mission with you will make us even.\u201d
\u201cFantastic! I\u2019ll pick you up at your place in a half-hour.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019ll need to be back Sunday night because I have work on Monday,\u201d lectured Reid.
\u201cI\u2019ll have resolved the Case of the Kidnapped Beauty long before Sunday night,\u201d bragged Henry. \u201cAnd maybe if we work well together as a team, we can open up a PI office. You could neurosurg by day and investigate by night.\u201d
Reid sighed and laid down some bills on the counter. There was no need to be stingy with the waitress just because her boss was a lunatic.
Chapter Two<\/b>
\u201cOh, hell no,\u201d said Reid.
\u201cJust get in the car,\u201d ordered Henry.
\u201cWhy in the world . . . ?\u201d
Henry smoothed down the lines of his silk dress and patted his auburn wig. \u201cIt\u2019ll look suspicious if two men go to a spa together for a weekend.\u201d
\u201cOnly if you\u2019re hung up on a heteronormative view of the universe,\u201d said Reid as he put his bag in the back seat..
\u201cWhich most people are,\u201d said Henry rolling his eyes. He started the car as soon as Reid buckled is seatbelt. \u201cOur cover is Mr. and Mrs. Howell Thurgood. You\u2019re a successful tin-plate manufacturer in Boulder and I\u2019m your trophy wife.\u201d
\u201cSome trophy,\u201d smirked Reid.
\u201cHey!\u201d
\u201cWas it one of those trophies that they give people for mere attendance as opposed to actual competence?\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re a laugh riot. Really,\u201d said Henry drily.
\u201cDid you get us twin beds?\u201d asked Reid. \u201cOr is this all some elaborate scheme for you to get an opportunity to get some snuggle time with me?\u201d
\u201cI got us twin beds.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s a relief.\u201d
\u201cI told them that you were impotent so there really was no point in us sharing a bed.\u201d
Reid glared at Henry. \u201cThat was vicious. Is it that time of the month for you?\u201d
Henry sighed. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we just point on some music and enjoy the drive?\u201d
Reid agreed.
They spent the drive criticizing each other\u2019s musical selections.
Chapter Three<\/b>
They arrived at Borgia\u2019s Retreat just in time for evening cocktails.
\u201cA health spa with evening cocktails,\u201d hissed Henry in Reid\u2019s ear. \u201cThat can\u2019t be right, can it?\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re not real big about staying in character, are you?\u201d asked Reid as he helped himself to drink from the tray of the passing waiter.
The spa\u2019s manager, Gordon Green, approached them with a smile. \u201cWelcome to Borgia\u2019s Retreat. I\u2019ve been advised that your luggage has been taken up to your room. Your room has a very romantic view of the lake.\u201d
Henry giggled girlishly and clung to Reid\u2019s arm. \u201cThank you so much for the welcome. We\u2019re really looking forward to our weekend here. Do you offer any special services that aren\u2019t listed on your website?\u201d
The manager looked confused by Henry\u2019s question. And must have decided to ignore it. He gently touched the arm of a young man passing their little group.
\u201cMr. Snyder, may I introduce you to a couple of your fellow guests? Mr. and Mrs. Thurgood, this is Mr. Luke Snyder. Mr. Snyder, this is Mr. and Mrs. Howell Thurgood.\u201d
Reid was about to panic. How in the world was he going to explain to his husband that he was at a spa spending the weekend with another man. Woman. Whatever. He felt Henry\u2019s talons digging into his arm in warning.
\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to meet you both,\u201d said Luke with a smile and a handshake. \u201cPlease call me Luke. My grandmother and her friends are around here somewhere. I'm sure they'd love to meet you.\u201d
Reid had a brief moment where he assumed that Luke had developed some sort of neurological condition that prevented him from recognizing his husband. But the glint in Luke\u2019s eye made him realize that while Luke may not have any idea of what Reid was doing with a dragged-out Henry Coleman, he was just gonna roll with the situation.
Henry giggled flirtatiously. \u201cPlease call us Thurgood and Bitsy. You\u2019re a handsome one, aren\u2019t you?\u201d
\u201cThank you, ma\u2019am,\u201d said Luke. \u201cThat\u2019s sweet of you to say. You\u2019re quite the looker yourself, if you don\u2019t mind me saying so.\u201d
Henry fluttered his lashes at Luke. Reid suddenly wanted to slug Henry for flirting with his husband. This was going to be a weird weekend. It suddenly occurred to him to wonder why Luke was at a spa. Without him. How dare he be off getting massages and manicures instead of being away looking at a property for his foundation, like he was supposed to be. Oh. He must be considering buying the spa and turning it into a summer camp. Well, this was certainly an unlikely scenario. Reid couldn\u2019t even escape Oakdale\u2019s unlikely coincidences when he left Oakdale. He wondered about the range of Oakdale\u2019s craziness. Did it have a fifty mile radius? A hundred?
\u201cYou mentioned that you\u2019re here with your grandmother and her friends?\u201d asked Reid.
\u201cYes,\u201d said Luke. \u201cMy grandma recently had her routine physical. Her blood pressure was a little high. So I guilted her into a week with a couple of her friends at a spa as my treat. I\u2019m in discussions to buy the property so I drove them up myself. I\u2019m just spending the weekend but they\u2019re going to spend the week. I\u2019ll pick them up next weekend.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re a very sweet grandson,\u201d smiled Reid. He really did love this guy. He felt Henry\u2019s elbow in his rib and looked up to see Henry frowning at him. He glanced up at the spa manager whose look of confusion caused Reid to realize that he may have been looking at Luke in a manner far fonder than a married man generally looked at another man that he just met. Man, being undercover was hard.
Reid noticed the approach of Luke\u2019s paternal grandmother [adopted paternal grandmother slash adopted maternal great grandmother], Emma Snyder. Reid felt disaster approach, there was no way that Emma was going to put up with shenanigans like false identities.
\u201cGrandma,\u201d said Luke after kissing her cheek in greeting. \u201cYou\u2019ve already met the manager, Mr. Green. This is Mr. and Mrs. Thurgood Howell. They\u2019re fellow guests at the spa.\u201d
Emma blinked rapidly. She shook hands in greeting. She then pursed her lips and avoided eye contact with anyone.
\u201cThe two of you are welcome to join us for dinner,\u201d Luke said to Henry and Reid.
Emma squeaked.
\u201cThat\u2019s so sweet of you,\u201d said Henry as he ran his hand up and down Luke\u2019s arm. Reid counted to ten.
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s sweet,\u201d said Luke.
\u201cWhat\u2019s sweet?\u201d asked Henry.
\u201cThe way your husband looks at you. You can just see the love shining through.\u201d
Emma squeaked again while Gordon Green looked at Reid a little dubiously.
\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to meet you both,\u201d said Emma in a rush. \u201cI hope you can join us for dinner but I have to go see my friends. Right now.\u201d
Reid watched Emma scamper off to a couch where her two best friends, Hazel and Dorcas, sat. He could see her speak rapidly and wave her hands in the air. The three friends started laughing. Huge belly laughs. Reid was not looking forward to the future teasing by his sometime knitting circle.
After Henry had asked Mr. Green a few more awkward questions, Mr. Green excused himself to greet other guests. Then Henry dragged Reid by the hand to other guests so that Henry could ask them awkward questions as well. Whenever Reid tried to astral project himself elsewhere during these uncomfortable conversations, Henry would pat his butt to try to get back his attention. Reid found himself clasping Henry\u2019s hand in his in order to avoid any more butt-patting. He noticed Dorcas and Hazel standing nearby. The elderly scamps were eavesdropping and quietly giggling.
Eventually, it was time to go and sit down for dinner. Reid hoped that it would be impossible for Henry to pat his butt while he was sitting.
For the first time that he could remember, Reid merely endured a delicious meal instead of enjoying it. Henry spent nearly the entire meal flirting with Luke. And Luke? He suddenly seemed very smooth with the ladies. Man-dressed-as-a-lady.
Eventually the meal ended. Reid was relieved until Henry explained that they had to break into the manager\u2019s office in order to look for evidence. It was going okay, as far as break-ins go, until they heard footsteps and had to climb out of the office window, and shimmy down the drainpipe. The ground was muddy. Reid slipped. He was not amused at Henry\u2019s giggles as they snuck up the back steps.
Once Reid showered and changed, he decided to find Luke to spend the night with him. Henry actually tried to talk him out of it due to the sanctity of undercover work. Of course, Henry was just being difficult with him because he thought it was funny. Of all people, Henry understood that sex was way more important than maintaining cover. Reid sneaked up to the penthouse suite. If his spoiled brat was staying here, he\u2019d be there. He knocked softly on the door. It opened to reveal Emma. She yanked him into the suite. Then she, Dorcas and Hazel proceeded to tease Reid mercilessly about his new-found heterosexuality and his beautiful wife. Reid found it tough to begrudge their teasing given just how much fun the three of them were having at his misfortune. But, as fond as he was of the women, it was time to find his man. After a token \u2018shocked\u2019 protest at Reid wanting to throw away his marriage, Emma gave Reid Luke\u2019s room number.
Reid was not entertained by how Luke pretended to be uncomfortable at the prospect of having sex with a \u2018married\u2019 man. He was even less amused when Luke kicked him out of the room at five a.m.
Chapter Four<\/b>
At breakfast, Henry gave Luke the details about the case.
\u201cOh, Mary Ann Rogers is one of the grooms people here,\u201d said Luke as though he cracked mysteries all the time. \u201cI met her when I went for a ride late yesterday afternoon.\u201d
\u201cMole on her cheek?\u201d asked Henry excitedly.
\u201cYep.\u201d
\u201cCould you tell if she was being held here against her will?\u201d
\u201cShe\u2019s here willingly. She recently inherited some money from a great aunt. She\u2019s not sure what she wants to do with the money yet. She\u2019s put the money in T-bills and T-notes until she can make some informed decisions. I think mutual funds would probably be a good decision for her situation. Her parents have been pressuring her to spend the money on them. So she told them that she needed some time on her own. When she changed jobs, she purposefully didn\u2019t tell them about her new job or her new address. She emails them once a week so that they know she\u2019s alive.\u201d
\"Witnesses said that they saw her being half-carried into a Borgia's Retreat van,\" said Henry.
\"Oh, that must have been the time that she went out with some co-workers here and got a little tipsy,\" said Luke.
\u201cHow much time did you spend with her?\u201d asked Reid incredulously.
\u201cAbout twenty minutes. Why?\u201d
Henry threw down his napkin in disgust. \u201cAll this work, and it isn\u2019t even a real case. My clients are the bad guys, the kidnap victim wasn\u2019t kidnapped and the nefarious cabal running a health spa are just running a health spa.\u201d
\u201cWell, if it makes you feel any better, I thought their bookkeeping was a little hinky so I scanned the records and sent them to my forensic accountant. He thinks this place is a front for laundering money.\u201d
","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36576.html?view=comments#comments","category":["character: emma snyder","!author|artist: nancygrew","character: luke snyder","character: henry coleman","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","rating: g","pairing: luke\/reid"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36196.html","pubDate":"Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:25:25 GMT","title":"Well, I Know a Place Where We Can Dance the Night Away","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36196.html","description":"Title: Well, I Know a Place Where We Can Dance the Night Away
Author: nancygrew
Notes: Takes place April 2011. Originally written for the Fun Fic Friday prompt, \u201cRhythm of the Night\u201d on Lure_atwt.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Rating: g
Summary: Faith helps Reid improve his mad dance skillz
Reid had just pulled into the garages of the Walsh Estate, where he and his boyfriend were residing in the guest \u2018cottage\u2019, when Faith \u201cNascar drivers drive too slow\u201d Snyder pulled her little red convertible into the space next to his. She flipped her $5.00 plastic, zebra-patterned sunglasses to the top of her head and grinned at Reid.
\u201cCheck this out!\u201d Faith hit the horn of her little red love machine [not that Reid was ever going to make the mistake of using an outdated musical reference in front of Luke. Not again, anyway]. The horn made an \u201caoogah\u201d sound.
\u201cClassy,\u201d smirked Reid.
\u201cIt drives Mom absolutely nutzoid,\u201d said Faith happily as she climbed over the door instead of going the boring route of opening the door before exiting her vehicle.
\u201cYour brother\u2019s out of town,\u201d said Reid. \u201cAre you here to see Grandmother Moneybags?\u201d
\u2018What? I can\u2019t come and visit my boyfriend-in-law when Luke\u2019s out of town?\u201d
\u201cBoyfriend-in-law?\u201d
Faith shrugged. \u201cWhen you and Luke eventually get married, you\u2019ll be my brother-in-law so I think your current title would be boyfriend-in-law. It\u2019s a little more prestigious than your other title.\u201d
\u201cWhich other title?\u201d asked a suspicious Reid.
\u201cKing of Snark,\u201d replied Faith as though it was obvious.
\u201cIt\u2019s good to be King.\u201d
Faith put her hand around Reid\u2019s arm and led him out of the garage [past Lucinda\u2019s Rolls Royce, past Lucinda\u2019s limousine, past Lucinda\u2019s Ferrari, past Lucinda\u2019s Volkswagen bus. He wasn\u2019t positive why Lucinda owned a Hippie-mobile but he suspected that she and John Dixon used it as a \u2018Sugar Shack\u2019.].
\u201cAre you here to see me instead of your grandmother?\u201d asked Reid a little nervously. \u201cDo I have to offer you some sort of nutrition?\u201d
\u201cYes, I\u2019m here to see you. No, you don\u2019t have to offer me nutrition. I think we should hold off eating until after your dance lesson.\u201d
\u201cWhoa, there. Dance lessons? I don\u2019t need no stinking dance lessons,\u201d huffed Reid.
\u201cAre you or are you not taking my beloved little sister Natalie to the Father Daughter dance at her school?\u201d
\u201cI are.\u201d
\u201cCan you dance?\u201d
\u201cHa! I can. Luke taught me a box step before he went off to Europe. Or Southeast Asia. Or wherever the heck he is.\u201d
Faith was unimpressed with Reid pretending not to know the exact<\/i> location of his beloved and demonstrated by raising an eyebrow. She\u2019d been practicing that move in front of the mirror. She was pretty sure that Reid had implanted a subcutaneous transmitter into Luke\u2019s neck while Luke was asleep after Reid had heard about Luke\u2019s multiple kidnappings.
\u201cAnyway . . . I am now the master of the box step. All other box-steppers should kneel before me.\u201d
\u201cYeah, that\u2019s great. But we need you to be an absolutely awesome dancer.\u201d
\u201cNatalie\u2019s pretty darn easy-going. I\u2019m sure she\u2019s not expecting me to be Gene, Gene, The Dancing Machine,\u201d sniffed Reid while he and Faith slowly strolled around the side of the Big House.
\u201cI assume that\u2019s some sort of ancient pop culture reference related to the Ed Sullivan show and flappers dancing the Charleston. Therefore, I\u2019m just going to ignore it,\u201d sneered Faith. \u201cDid they have peer pressure back when you were in school?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m sure that my peers felt pressure to try to emulate my academic success,\u201d replied Reid while polishing the nails of one hand against his shirt. [It was one of his maroon shirts. Faith really hated those shirts. Even more than she had hated Luke\u2019s silly striped shirts.].
\u201cDude, you must have been the biggest nerd in the history of your school,\u201d said Faith in a surprisingly non-judgmental way.
Reid shrugged. He was proud of his Nerd Cred.
\u201cAnyway, I don\u2019t want Natalie embarrassed. So you are going to put up with attending my Dance Boot Camp for a couple of hours each night this week. You may refer to me as Mistress of the Dance. We\u2019ll start off with a simple sugar push then if you\u2019re not a complete spazz, we\u2019ll get fancier.\u201d
\u201cLuke said that I didn\u2019t have to dance all fancy,\u201d muttered Reid defensively.
\u201cI don\u2019t want Natalie to be teased that she\u2019s being taken to the Father-Daughter Dance by someone other than Dad,\u201d said Faith after biting her lip. \u201cYou realize exactly how awesome she is and you know that she doesn\u2019t deserve to be teased. If some handsome-ish guy with smooth moves is her dance partner, the other girls will be impressed instead of deciding to say mean stuff.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure that kids won\u2019t say cruel things just because her dad was too tied up with work to take her,\u201d said a puzzled Reid.
\u201cDude, middle school girls are a microcosm that\u2019s almost an exact parallel to the Serengeti. Mean girls ripping the vulnerable girls to shreds and gnawing on their bones because that\u2019s their nature.\u201d
Reid was insanely fond of Natalie and didn\u2019t like to image snotty girls [metaphorically] feasting on her. Natalie was worth the annoyance of having to learn a new skill unrelated to brain surgery.
\u201cOkay, barring medical emergencies, I will spend my evenings with you adding to my dance repertoire of the box step and finger-snapping. But I\u2019m not calling you Mistress of the Dance. And handsome-ish? There\u2019s no \u2013ish on that end of that, toots.\u201d
Faith ignored that because they had reached the south patio of the Walsh estate. Reid should have been a little more surprised to discover that Lucinda and John were cheerily awaiting their arrival. It was obvious that at least part of that cheer was the result of the carafe sitting on their table.
\u201cOooh, you\u2019ve arrived,\u201d smiled Lucinda while waving pom-poms. [Reid really tried not to wonder why Lucinda owned pom-poms.] \u201cI\u2019ve been looking forward to watching Faith school you all day.\u201d
\u201cLet\u2019s get this party started,\u201d whooped John while pushing his arms into the air with a \u2018raising the roof\u2019 motion.
Reid realized that it was going to be a very long night.
But at least they fed him afterwards.<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36196.html?view=comments#comments","category":["pairing: lucinda\/john","!author|artist: nancygrew","genre: family","fan fiction","livejournal","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","character: faith snyder","character: john dixon","rating: g","character: lucinda walsh","warning: hideous striped shirts"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36083.html","pubDate":"Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:45:12 GMT","title":"Snyder Scars","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36083.html","description":"Title: Snyder Scars
Author: nancygrew
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Characters belong to atwt
Warning: Lily and Holden bashing. And Allison bashing. And Noah bashing.
Notes: Written for Fun Fic Fridays prompt \u2018Scars\u2019 on LURE_ATWT. You do not have to read my other fic in order to understand this one. Takes place in September 2015.
Summary: Reid receives a visit from Faith.
Reid was lying on the couch, idly flipping through a medical journal article that might as well have been written by a red-butted baboon given the asinine conclusions drawn by the author. He was wearing a pair of well-worn jeans and green cotton t-shirt. His bare feet rested on one of the arms of the couch. The shirt belonged to his husband, Luke. Reid had the same exact shirt in blue but he liked to wear Luke\u2019s shirts when Luke was out of town on business. He would be embarrassed by the sheer saccharine-ousity of it if anyone ever found out about the little quirk but it\u2019s not like he was going to tell anyone. Of course, their butler, Ms. Crichton, took care of the laundry so she probably knew. Now that he thought about it, Ms. Crichton often seemed coolly amused by him for no reason that he could ever fathom. Damn it.
About an hour ago, Reid had received an email from Luke who seemed to be burning both ends of the candle during this trip. Reid wished that Casey had accompanied Luke. Whenever Grandbaby Hughes travelled with Luke on Grimaldi Shipping business, he always made sure that Luke took a little time off to relax and to get a solid night\u2019s sleep. When Grandbaby Hughes didn\u2019t accompany Luke on his business trips, then Luke tended to count his habitual ten minute whirlwind through the duty-free shop at the local airport of wherever as his relaxed, sight-seeing time.
During Luke\u2019s rushed shopping safaris through the world\u2019s airport duty-free shops, he usually picked up a gift or three for various loved ones. His Grandma Emma was the recipient of exotic cookbooks. His sisters Faith and Abigail were gifted with jewelry. Sometimes his siblings Ethan and Natalie received books.
Reid, though? For some reason, Luke enjoyed gifting Reid with glitzy, tacky, colorful musical snow-globes. Each more garish than the previous one. Grandbaby Hughes liked to regale Reid with stories about Luke Snyder: Mystical Snow-Globe finder. Apparently, if a gift shop had one single snow-globe, even if it was hidden behind other objet d\u2019arts, i.e., crap, Luke would be able to zero in on it within seconds.
Reid was relatively certain that the snow-globe thing was just Luke randomly deciding that it would be amusing to force Reid into having a collection of tacky souvenirs. But there was a small possibility that Luke felt that the snow-globes held some sort of meaning<\/i>. The glitter represented the joining of their souls or some such nonsense. Luke could be a weirdo like that. To be on the safe side, Reid was always careful to thank Luke for the snow-globes with sex and to put the ridiculous things on a shelf in his home office. For some inexplicable reason, Reid\u2019s pseudo-nephew, Jacob Snyder, adored the things and would howl with laughter when Reid wound them up.
The only person who seemed to get odder airport duty-free shop gifts was Luke\u2019s grandmother, Lucinda. She\u2019d been the recipient of a boomerang, wooden shoes and an Andean pan-flute at various times. The truly bizarre thing was that Lucinda always seemed charmed by Luke\u2019s random gifts of randomness. Maybe it was a doting grandmother thing. Maybe it was a \u2018yes, we share the same goofy sense of humor\u2019 thing.
Reid was wondering if he should start gifting Luke with something silly [Bedpan art? Antique prosthetics?] when his sister-in-law Faith let herself into the front door with her key. He was about to make his usual, casual complaint about the annoyance of people visiting when he noticed Faith\u2019s shaken demeanor. He stood and walked towards her.
Faith\u2019s arms were wrapped around her body.
\u201cHey,\u201d he began cautiously. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d
Faith sniffled. \u201cIs Luke here?\u201d
\u201cOut of town,\u201d replied Reid. \u201cSo your choices regarding who to talk to about what you\u2019re upset about are narrowed down to me or one of your grandmothers.\u201d
\u201cNot one of my parents?\u201d snarked Faith.
\u201cWell, I\u2019m not supposed to say this to you or the other Snyder Sibs but your parents are kind of useless. I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019m not allowed to say that to you guys. It\u2019s hardly a secret to anyone. But Luke gets all pissy when I\u2019m disrespectful about them in front of you guys. Anyway, I\u2019d go with either me or one of your grandmothers. If you need to talk to someone sweet, then that pretty much just narrows it down to Emma.\u201d
Faith walked up to Reid and laid her head upon his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her. He vaguely remembered the first time Faith had ever done this. She had been annoyed that she had to explain to him that he was supposed to wrap his arms around her. Hugging wasn\u2019t exactly something that came naturally to Dr. Reid Oliver but he\u2019d eventually learned that when someone was upset and put their head on your shoulder, you were supposed to wrap your arms around them.
He decided to give Faith a little time to calm down before starting the interrogation. The questioning. Not an interrogation. He tried to hum something soothing and zen-like. When she leaned back and raised her eyebrow at him, he realized that he was humming the theme from \u201cBonanza\u201d. Yeah, he wasn\u2019t really good with the zen thing.
Faith took Reid\u2019s hand and led him to the couch. She pushed him down and plopped down beside her.
\u201cHere\u2019s the thing,\u201d she sighed. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be my Mom. I don\u2019t want to live those highs and lows that she does. To be addicted to drama the way she is. To let my heart be broken into bits on a semi-annual basis.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re nothing like your mom,\u201d said a confused Reid.
\u201cSee Lily develop an eating disorder. See Faith develop an eating disorder. See Lily become a junkie. See Faith become a junkie. I\u2019m exactly like my Mom,\u201d said Faith as she laid her head on Reid\u2019s shoulder.
\u201cYou\u2019re your own person, you nitwit,\u201d soothed Reid. \u201cYou\u2019re mom is this sort of passive damsel in distress that allows herself to be buffeted about by life, by men. You\u2019re much more pro-active in your life. And you see people more clearly that she does. You recognize people\u2019s motivations. Your mom just wonders if they think she\u2019s pretty. And if Luke ever asks about this conversation, lie and tell him that I also pointed out some good qualities of your mom.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be destroyed by love,\u201d sniffled Faith.
Reid frowned. \u201cI\u2019m not saying that you and Luke don\u2019t have your fair share of scars resulting from your being raised by Romeo the Stable Boy and Juliet the Indecisive, but being sad when you\u2019ve had a fight with your romantic partner doesn\u2019t make you weak or pitiful. Hell, you would not believe what a dork I was when Luke and I were first starting out.\u201d
\u201cTell me a \u2018Love made Reid a dork\u2019 story,\u201d demanded Faith.
\u201cI knew from the very beginning that the manipulative blackmailer who seemed hell-bent on destroying my life was in love with another man. And I started falling for him anyway. Like the second or third time I saw him.\u201d
Faith gave a wet giggle.
\u201cOne time, before we started dating, I surreptitiously took a picture of him riding a mechanical bull. Long story. Then<\/i> I put it on my cell phone as the wallpaper like some lovelorn, mix-tape-making teenybopper. Later, I deleted it in a fit of pique because he wasn\u2019t throwing himself at me like any reasonable person would.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s sweet.\u201d
\u201cEven after we \u2018officially\u2019 became a couple, Oakdale\u2019s handsomest couple, by the way, I wasn\u2019t my customary suave and confident self. It took me a while to trust the relationship. At the beginning, I kept assuming that he was gonna dump my ass every time we had a disagreement. And the thought of losing Luke really freaked me out.\u201d
\u201cI love that the two of you are so solid,\u201d said Faith.
\u201cRegardless of whatever fight the two of you just had, I think that you and Grandbaby Hughes are pretty solid. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I can\u2019t believe that a guy that immature got through lawschool---\u201d
\u201cHe is immature. All of Casey\u2019s underwear are Superhero underwear,\u201d muttered Faith.
Reid squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. \u201cWhy? Why would you tell me that?\u201d
\u201cHe refuses to wear Wolverine underwear though because he doesn\u2019t like the idea of having the image of metal claws near his johnson.\u201d
Reid manfully refrained from crossing his legs at the image of metal claws near any man\u2019s johnson. \u201cYou know, he\u2019s really proud of you being his girlfriend. He brags about how smart you are and how pretty you are. Sometimes, when he\u2019s talking about you, I just want to gnaw off my arm in order to escape the adorableness of it.\u201d
\u201cI came back from Northwestern a day earlier than planned for the weekend,\u201d said Faith. \u201cAnd I walked in on Casey and his ex, Allison the former not very successful porn performer. She must be visiting Oakdale from New Zealand.\u201d
\u201cAnd they were doing something? That really doesn\u2019t sound like the Grandbaby,\u201d frowned Reid.
\u201cWell, no. Allison was smiling at him and touching his arm. I got pissed and ran off.\u201d
Reid snorted. \u201cYou\u2019re an idiot.\u201d
\u201cIt was a lascivious smile,\u201d defended Faith. \u201cOne might even call it a lascivious leer.\u201d
\u201cAn idiot,\u201d sang Reid. He refrained from bringing up the time that he saw Luke and the barista talking and he stormed off pissed. The two situations were totally<\/i> different.
Faith smacked Reid\u2019s arm. \u201cI\u2019m not an idiot. Casey and Allison have that whole history together.\u201d
\u201cYeah, history like where she boinked a guy the night before she was supposed to marry the Grandbaby. She didn\u2019t even boink someone cool. She boinked some nutjob who thought he was the reincarnation of the master criminal mind James Stenbeck. I love the word boink.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s a good word,\u201d agreed Faith. \u201cCasey forgave Allison all that. Maybe he\u2019ll forgive her for running off with Baboon Heart. Maybe Casey and Allison are my mom and dad and I\u2019m just some random romance road kill like Molly or Damian. Mom and Dad always end up forgiving each other their infidelities. It\u2019s their thing.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not normal, you know?\u201d said Reid while he bumped his shoulder against hers.
\u201cWhat\u2019s not normal?\u201d
\u201cThe type of relationship that your mom and dad have. Being raised with that type of relationship as your guide has given you and Luke really twisted romantic worldviews.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019d prefer not to have the word \u2018twisted\u2019 applied to me or my big brother,\u201d sniffed Faith.
\u201cYou ended up so scared of love that you ended up falling in love with your cousin as your first practice love because he was safe and you knew you could trust him.\u201d
\u201cParker\u2019s not my cousin,\u201d grunted Faith. Man, Reid was just never going to let that one go.
\u201cAnd Luke just threw himself into a relationship with the first guy who ever kissed him because he\u2019s been fed that garbage about True Love since he was a tot. And he stayed in that relationship no matter how much pain it caused him because he thought that emotional pain was part of love.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not just my mom and dad that have had painfully long, co-dependant relationships,\u201d said Faith. \u201cIt\u2019s not that unusual.\u201d
\u201cYeah, let\u2019s not even start on your Uncle Jack and Aunt Carly.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not just Snyders. Look at Casey\u2019s folks. He has just as many illegitimate half-siblings as I do.\u201d
\u201cYou and Casey are separate entities from your various parents. You\u2019re not their clones or destined to live their lives. You love Casey and you need to man up and go discuss the situation where you\u2019re a crazed jealous person because his ex-wife is in the same town as him. You can\u2019t solve a problem by running away from it.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure the phrase \u2018man up\u2019 has misogynistic overtones,\u201d grumbled Faith.
\u201cI see you\u2019re not disagreeing with my assessment of your craziness,\u201d snarked Reid.
\u201cPerhaps, I overreacted by running away at the sight of Methy McPornstar touching my man,\u201d admitted Faith.
\u201cYeah, perhaps,\u201d said Reid. He forwent rolling his eyes but only because Faith was being so vulnerable. \u201cYou know what one of my favorite things about you is?\u201d
\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Faith suspiciously.
\u201cEthan and Natalie.\u201d
\u201cHuh?\u201d
\u201cHave you ever met two kids as emotionally even-keeled and well-adjusted as those two?\u201d
\u201cNo. They\u2019re kinda creepy with how psychologically sturdy they are.\u201d
\u201cThe reason those two kids aren\u2019t a mess is because of you and Luke. The two of you have given them a sense of safety and security that you and Luke never had. They know that they can rely on the two of you no matter what those slack-jawed idiots you call parents are up to. That\u2019s your proof that you aren\u2019t doomed to be Mini-Lily..\u201d
Faith smiled.
\u201cMaybe I should go and hash it out with Case,\u201d said Faith.
\u201cMaybe. The poor dumb bastard is probably completely unaware of how your relationship was on the verge of imploding before I talked sense into you.\u201d
\u201cIs that Luke\u2019s shirt?\u201d asked Faith.
\u201cNo,\u201d lied Reid with no compunction.
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/36083.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fan fiction","as the world turns","character: faith snyder","character: reid oliver","warning: noah-bashing","genre: family","rating: g"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35659.html","pubDate":"Sat, 26 May 2012 03:27:23 GMT","title":"Chris'll Show 'Em. He'll Show All of 'Em","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35659.html","description":"Title: Chris\u2019ll Show \u2018Em. He\u2019ll Show All of \u2018Em.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: characters belong to ATWT
Notes: Written for last week\u2019s Fun Fic Friday prompt \u201cAnything you can do, I can do better\u201d on LURE_ATWT. You do not have to read my other fic in order to understand this one. No interaction between Luke and Reid. Takes place late May, 2011.
Warning: Chris-bashing. So much Chris-bashing that it may be considered crack-fic.
Summary: Chris wakes up in a bad mood.
Chris groaned as the alarm blared He really didn\u2019t want to go into work today. Or possibly ever again. Today was going to be Duke Kramer\u2019s first official day as Chief of Pediatrics. It was an unbearable humiliation to have lost not only the Chief of Staff job to that egomaniac Reid Oliver but the Chief of Pediatrics job to John Dixon\u2019s son as well. And everyone was snickering behind his back. Hell, Susan Stewart was snickering in front of him. She\u2019d never liked him.
Chris showered and headed to the kitchen where his wife was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.
\u201cGood morning,\u201d smiled Katie. \u201cThere\u2019s fresh coffee on.\u201d
Chris grunted his acknowledgement.
\u201cWhy are you Mr. Cranky today?\u201d asked Katie.
Chris stared at her in disbelief. \u201cToday is Kramer\u2019s first day as Chief of Peds.\u201d
Katie got up to stand beside Chris while he poured himself coffee. She patted his arm consolingly which served to annoy Chris even more.
\u201cNot getting the Chief of Peds job isn\u2019t the end of the world, sweetie,\u201d murmured Katie. \u201cYou\u2019re a wonderful doctor and your future is bright.\u201d
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d muttered Chris.
\u201cI understand that you\u2019re disappointed----\u201d
\u201cLook, you don\u2019t understand what it\u2019s like to not be appreciated the way you deserve to be at work,\u201d interrupted Chris. \u201cHeck, you just got a promotion to associate producer on your show because of how much my mom likes you.\u201d
\u201cExcuse me?!?\u201d huffed Katie. \u201cI got that job on my merits!\u201d
\u201cLet\u2019s face it,\u201d snapped Chris. \u201cAfter the whole Endicott Awards fiasco, you\u2019re lucky to have a job in broadcasting at all. You confessed to faking having a stalker and letting me be blamed for being your imaginary stalker.\u201d
\u201cWell, maybe after your whole sexual harassment and perjury thing, you\u2019re lucky to have a job at Oakdale Memorial at all,\u201d sneered Katie.
\u201cEveryone knows you knew Rose D\u2019Angelo was impersonating Lily Snyder and you kept it a secret,\u201d one-upped Chris.
\u201cYou hired the murderous Evan Walsh IV when you were acting as Chief of Staff when your dad was in a coma,\u201d one-upped Katie.
\u201cEveryone knows that you used dirty tricks to steal Molly Conlan\u2019s job,\u201d hissed Chris.
\u201cYou burned down a church!\u201d said Katie triumphantly.
Chris didn\u2019t really have a comeback for that one.
Katie shot Chris a dirty look. \u201cI need to go get Jacob ready for pre-school. Don\u2019t let the door hit you in the ass. Let it hit you in the face, please.\u201d
Chris scowled as Katie exited the kitchen. He sighed. He poured his coffee into the sink and headed off to work.
Chris arrived at work to find that one of his patients, Mickey Silva, was being treated by Kramer. Chris resented that Kramer was treating one of his<\/i> patients. The toddler was seated on an exam table and crying. Duke was standing in front of Mickey quietly asking questions. Chris rolled his eyes. It was obvious to him that Mickey needed a comforting hug. Chris decided that he was going to show Duke how a caring pediatrician treated sick children.
\u201cHey, kiddo,\u201d said Chris as he picked Mickey up in his arms. Mickey vomited. A lot. Possibly gallons. All over Chris.
\u201cI bet you\u2019re feeling lots better without all that gross stuff in your belly, aren\u2019t you, Mickey?\u201d asked Kramer.
Mickey smiled sweetly and held his arms out to Kramer. Kramer gingerly lifted Mickey from Chris\u2019 arms and placed him back on the exam table and continued his examination. Chris slunk out of the exam room to take his second shower of the day.
When it was time for lunch, Chris headed to the hospital cafeteria. As he paid for his lunch, he noticed his father sitting at a table with Leland Pierce and Luke Snyder. Chris used to think that Luke was a nice kid that was in over his head with his asshole boyfriend. But it turned out that Luke was just a big an asshole as Oliver. Luke was just stealthier about it.
Chris decided that it would be a good idea to turn on the charm with Leland. After all, when Kramer eventually revealed that he wasn\u2019t \u2018all that and a bag of chips\u2019, Chris would need allies on the Board to assist him in a Chief of Peds coup. Or a Chief of Staff coup when Oliver was inevitably revealed to be Beelzebub.
\u201cGood afternoon,\u201d greeted Chris. \u201cDo you mind if I join you?\u201d
\u201cChris!\u201d greeted Bob Hughes happily. His dad was so good at pretending to be a loving, supportive dad whenever there were people around. But Chris wouldn\u2019t forget that his dad hadn\u2019t taken his side while he was competing with Oliver for the Chief of Staff position. But Chris smiled. He could play politics just as well as the next guy.
\u201cDad!\u201d Chris smiled. \u201cLeland, Luke.\u201d
Leland smiled at Chris. Chris was glad that he had at least one ally on the hospital board.
Chris sat down with the other three men. He bided his time until there was a short lull in the conversation.
\u201cLeland, I wanted to speak to you about the plans that Kramer\u2019s making about a future pediatrics wing,\u201d began Chris.
\u201cChris, maybe it would be more appropriate for you to speak with Duke about your ideas instead of a board member,\u201d frowned Bob. Chris hated it when his dad got all \u2018lecture-y\u2019.
\u201cActually, I\u2019m a little concerned that Kramer isn\u2019t going to be open to suggestions from anyone. He doesn\u2019t have a reputation for working well with others. He reminds me of another doctor around here,\u201d offered Chris. He waited for Luke to come to the defense of his boyfriend.
\u201cDuke\u2019s already working on scheduling a series of meetings with various groups of people before they even get started on making any major plans on the pediatrics wings. He realizes that the pediatrics wing is going to be the next project after the neurowing,\u201d advised Leland. Chris wondered if he detected a little snippiness in Leland\u2019s voice. Had Kramer somehow \u2018seduced\u2019 Leland into his corner?
\u201cWell, I overheard Kramer discussing possibly changing our pediatric equipment suppliers,\u201d said Chris. \u201cI did a lot of research when I was Chief of Staff and PediAffordability was the best choice of suppliers.\u201d
\u201cThe Pediatric Device Association recently came out with a study indicating that PediAffordability had a higher percentage of recalls than other national pediatric equipment suppliers,\u201d said Luke.
Chris was more annoyed than words could ever possibly convey. Why, oh why, was Satan\u2019s boyfriend butting into his business? \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure you\u2019re mistaken.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m positive I\u2019m not,\u201d shrugged Luke casually. \u201cDuke was over at our place for dinner the other night and I had to listen to way more discussion about medical equipment than was pleasurable for me. I\u2019m pretty sure there were times that Duke and Reid were speaking gibberish and were just toying with me.\u201d
Chris vibrated with anger. Great. Now Kramer, Satan and Satan\u2019s boyfriend were all hanging out together being buddies.
\u201cYou weren\u2019t aware of this study?\u201d Leland asked Chris with a frown.
Chris pretended that his pager was vibrating and excused himself from the table.
Later, Chris was sitting in one of the break rooms, strenuously ignoring Reid who was sitting at another table reading medical charts. Chris waited for Reid to address him so that he could lay some zingers on him. Maybe Chris would bring up the fact that Reid didn\u2019t have any friends.
Chris looked up when he heard Dr. Grant walk into the room and say, \u201cOh, I\u2019m so glad you\u2019re in here. I was looking for you to ask for some relationship advice.\u201d
Chris was shocked when Dr. Grant sat down at Reid\u2019s<\/i> table.
\u201cWait, what? You want to ask me<\/i> relationship advice?\u201d asked a befuddled Reid.
Dr. Grant rolled his eyes. \u201cYou have the best romantic relationship of anyone I know. And I could use some pointers.\u201d
Chris was annoyed. He and Katie had a great relationship. Most of the time. Sometimes.
\u201cWell, I always think lots of gay sex is beneficial to relationships,\u201d replied Reid.
\u201cYeah, my girlfriend probably wouldn\u2019t be into me having gay sex,\u201d answered Dr. Grant.
\u201cThen, sorry. You\u2019re on your own,\u201d said Reid. \u201cNow go away.\u201d
Chris was as surprised as Reid when Dr. Grant sat down across from him.
\u201cYou\u2019re rude and arrogant and work insane hours,\u201d began Dr. Grant.
\u201cI\u2019m suddenly wondering if I can set up some sort of doctor exchange program where I can send you to North Korea,\u201d murmured an amused-sounding Reid.
\u201cBut your boyfriend always looks thrilled to see you,\u201d said Dr. Grant. \u201cI\u2019m much nicer than you but my girlfriend usually seems to be about one minute from bashing me over the head with a rolling pin.\u201d
\u201cYou should probably get rid of any and all rolling pins in your house,\u201d advised Reid.
\u201cOur anniversary is coming up. I need help,\u201d pleaded Dr. Grant.
Reid shrugged uncomfortably. \u201cMaybe you should talk to Luke. He\u2019s much better at the relationship stuff than I am. He\u2019s good at all that romance crap. He leaves little love notes for me on the refrigerator and always remembers to put the lid back on the toothpaste even though he was raised in a household where they didn\u2019t stress the importance of toothpaste caps.\u201d
\u201cRomance crap,\u201d muttered Chris under his breath. Reid was lucky he even had a boyfriend.
\u201cI think I\u2019ve got the romance part covered,\u201d said Dr. Grant. \u201cI need suggestions on the \u2018real\u2019 part of a relationship. Tell me some things that you do that make Luke happy.\u201d
Reid smirked.
Dr. Grant laughed. \u201cNot that part either. I\u2019m good at that part. Real<\/i> good.\u201d
Reid shifted uncomfortably. \u201cIn the interests of full disclosure, I should let you know that I\u2019m still an idiot when it comes to relationships other than the \u2018Luke and me\u2019 relationship.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m not asking for a written guarantee or anything.\u201d
\u201cI make sure that Luke knows that I like him better than anyone else in the world. I remember to tell him that I love him and to even occasionally tell him why. When we argue, we don\u2019t let it get mean. We make sure to schedule time together. There\u2019s no \u2018trick\u2019 to our relationship. We just . . . work.\u201d
\u201cI guess that\u2019s all pretty obvious stuff. I was hoping there was some kind of magical relationship trick that you could teach me, sensei,\u201d sighed Dr. Grant.
\u201cI did leave out one thing, Grasshopper,\u201d said Reid. \u201cYou should probably refrain from telling your girlfriend that her parents are idiots. That always seems to start an argument.\u201d
Chris got up and walked out of the break room. He was so sick of Reid Oliver. And Duke Kramer. And Luke Snyder. And Katie. The only person who ever really understood him was Allison Stewart. Maybe he\u2019d call her. Just to talk. Nothing else.
Author's notes: If I'm going to be fair, I should probably mention that Chris was a little kid when he accidentally burned down a church. And it might have turned out that it was faulty wiring or something instead of really his fault but that part is blurry to me. Here's some clips from the Endicott Awards: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-B3MfvcH0G8<\/a> http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ijHrBwV2bYY&feature=relmfu<\/a> Note that Katie was trying to get into Luke's dad's pants.
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35659.html?view=comments#comments","category":["character: bob hughes","!author|artist: nancygrew","character: katie pertti etc. etc.","character: luke snyder","warning: chris-bashing","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","pairing: luke\/reid","rating: g","character: chris hughes","character: duke kramer"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35478.html","pubDate":"Sat, 19 May 2012 02:49:05 GMT","title":"Packing up Reid's Old LIfe","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35478.html","description":"Title: Packing up Reid\u2019s Old Life
Author: nancygrew
Rating: NC-17. No sex but there\u2019s talk about it.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes: Written for the prompt \u2018dirty mind\u2019 for Fun Fic Fridays on LURE_ATWT. Takes place early October 2010. You do not have to read any of my other fic in order to understand this one.
Summary: Reid has to pack up his Dallas condo
Luke arrived home at the Walsh Estate guest cottage shortly after 7:00 in the evening. He grinned when he noticed his jeans-clad, shirtless boyfriend entering the living room from the kitchen. Reid was carrying a glass of lemonade and a plate topped with a Dagwood sandwich that arrogantly defied the laws of gravity and heartily laughed at the idea of gluttony being one of the deadly sins. Luke\u2019s heart felt so full and happy and he wished that he could freeze this moment and wrap it up in pretty gold foil. The fact that he had someone to come home to, someone to love who loved him was mighty darn amazing and wonderful. The fact that his someone was Dr. Reid Oliver, self-proclaimed genius extraordinaire, was so unexpected and right<\/i> that it made him want to laugh out loud.
\u201cHey,\u201d greeted Reid. Reid placed his plate and glass upon the coffee table and then warmly kissed Luke. \u201cYou eat yet?\u201d
Luke ran his tongue over his lips to savor Reid\u2019s taste just a little bit longer. \u201cNot yet.\u201d
\u201cYou can have this sandwich,\u201d said Reid. \u201cI\u2019ll go make myself another and pour a second glass of lemonade.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s okay,\u201d smiled Luke. \u201cI\u2019m sort of afraid of getting a hernia if I attempt to pick up that sandwich. I\u2019ll go make myself something a little less . . . deadly.\u201d
\u201cSuit yourself,\u201d shrugged Reid. \u201cBut I really think this sandwich is a culinary masterpiece. I\u2019m relatively certain that I\u2019ve discovered the perfect condiment\/meat\/cheese\/vegetable combination and ratios.\u201d
\u201cThis is a pretty big moment for you then,\u201d answered Luke. \u201cI\u2019m really happy for you.\u201d
\u201cThanks!\u201d smiled Reid. \u201cOh, there\u2019s a mango chutney in the fridge that you\u2019re going to really want to try. Trust me.\u201d
Luke always trusted Reid when it came to food. He always trusted Reid. Period.
Luke put his briefcase on a chair and went into the kitchen to make himself a more reasonably sized sandwich. When he returned to the living room, he sat beside Reid on the couch. He always liked to scoot right up next to Reid. Luke loved that Reid never pushed him away when Luke wanted physical closeness. For someone who practically boasted about his own coldness, Reid was amazingly open to all forms of physical affection.
Luke and Reid ate and casually talked about their days.
\u201cYou done for the night?\u201d asked Reid.
Luke groaned. \u201cNo. I have to read over some information about the health insurance options we currently offer employees and what our options are for the coming year. Then I have to go over some employee evaluations. How about you?\u201d
\u201cJust some medical journal articles I want to catch up on,\u201d replied Reid. \u201cOh, I got a call from my Dallas real estate agent. She found someone to buy my place so I was going to fly down this weekend to pack up.\u201d
Luke\u2019s stomach clenched. \u201cYou must have some mixed feelings about that. How are you doing?\u201d
Reid frowned. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d
\u201cWell, you had a whole life there and it must be difficult to leave behind someplace that was your home for so long. Change can be difficult.\u201d
Reid lay a hand along Luke\u2019s face. Luke closed his eyes for a moment.
\u201cI\u2019m where I want to be,\u201d asserted Reid.
\u201cOkay, then,\u201d smiled Luke. \u201cI\u2019ll make sure the Grimaldi jet is available---\u201d
\u201cYeah, I\u2019m not really comfortable with using corporate resources just to help me move,\u201d said Reid. \u201cIt feels kind of Enron-y or something.\u201d
\u201cThen I\u2019ll see if Grandmother\u2019s jet is available. She owns her jet, not Worldwide,\u201d shrugged Luke.
\u201cOr I could consider the fiscal and moral costs of taking any sort of private jet just to get an opportunity to pack and decide to take a public flight with the rest of the hoi polloi,\u201d said Reid after swallowing a mouthful of the Ultimate Sandwich.
Luke tried not to wince. He hated flying if it wasn\u2019t on a private jet. Why, oh why, did he have to fall in love with a pinko commie who didn\u2019t take the fruits of capitalism for granted. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll make reservations for us.\u201d
\u201cI already made reservations for me,\u201d said Reid. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to come all the way to Dallas to help me pack.\u201d
Luke frowned. \u201cYou don\u2019t want me to come with you?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t want to force you to have to reschedule your normal \u2018I have to do about a dozen things for my various family members in order to make sure that everything runs smoothly for the Snyder menagerie\u2019 stuff that you\u2019ve probably already volunteered for,\u201d said Reid.
Luke decided not to take the time to untangle whether that comment was a compliment or an insult. \u201cHey, remember that time I ruthlessly blackmailed you and upended your entire carefully-thought-out life?\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re right. The least you can do is help me pack up my stuff.\u201d
\u201cCool. If you give me an idea of how much stuff you have, I can rent a storage unit of an appropriate size.\u201d
Reid shrugged. \u201cI was just going to bring back clothes and some personal belongings. There should be room here for everything I\u2019m bringing home to Oakweird. I figured I\u2019d give the furniture and dishes and things to one of the local charity thrift shops in Dallas.\u201d
\u201cOh,\u201d said Luke, thinking about the fact that he had personal stuff here at the Walsh guest cottage, at his mom\u2019s place and at his grandma\u2019s place. Was it sad that Reid didn\u2019t seem to have a lot of stuff or was it sad that Luke had an overabundance of stuff? Did varying amounts of stuff-ownership affect the health of romantic relationships? \u201cI\u2019ll make arrangements with a moving company for you.\u201d
\u201cI already made arrangements with UPS,\u201d proffered Reid. \u201cI figured I\u2019d pack on Saturday. I\u2019m having UPS pick up stuff on Sunday morning and having the thrift store pick up the stuff I\u2019m giving away on Sunday afternoon. Then I, I mean my blackmailer and I, will fly back early Sunday evening.\u201d
Luke scratched his ear.
\u201cI don\u2019t know what it says about me that you seem so surprised that I actually have a modicum of basic living skills after living on my own for many years,\u201d said Reid dryly.
Luke smirked. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that I assumed that since you can\u2019t tell the difference between our bed and our clothes hamper, that you might be a little special in areas that are outside of the purview of brain surgery.\u201d
\u201cHysterical, just hysterical.\u201d
\u201cCar,\u201d said Luke quickly. \u201cI can rent a car for when we\u2019re in Dallas.\u201d
\u201cAlready taken care of,\u201d said Reid with exasperated affection. \u201cYou do know that people know you love them even when you\u2019re not trying to take care of everything for them, right?\u201d
\u201cI know that,\u201d hurriedly claimed Luke. His face felt warm. He wondered if he was being too pushy again.
Reid place on of his hands on Luke\u2019s cheek. \u201cHey, I get that you like to nurture the people you love. I don\u2019t have a problem with it. I just want to make sure you know that you don\u2019t have to carry the entire load here.\u201d
\u201cGood to know,\u201d said a reassured Luke. He leaned in to kiss Reid. It was sweet and gentle.
After a moment, Reid pulled back.
Luke pouted.
Reid smacked Luke\u2019s cheek lightly. \u201cYou brought work home with you that you wanted to get to.\u201d
Luke pouted squared.
Reid huffed a laugh. \u201cDo the insurance stuff first, and I\u2019ll give you a reward.\u201d
\u201cWhat kind of reward?\u201d
The look Reid shot Luke was so filthy and delicious that Luke laughed with joy. Then he buckled down and did his insurance homework as quick as he could.
When Saturday morning rolled around, Luke really tried to hide how little he was looking forward to flying on something other than a private jet.
Reid paused in process of packing his overnight bag. \u201cWhy are you changing your socks for the third time?\u201d
\u201cI want to make sure that my socks don\u2019t have any snags or loose threads,\u201d answered Luke as though the answer was obvious.
\u201cWhy?\u201d
\u201cWhen I go through Security, I don\u2019t want the TSA agents to see me wearing hideous socks,\u201d explained Luke. \u201cThey make you take off your shoes on public flights when you check in.\u201d
\u201cThe TSA agents aren\u2019t going to arrest people because of socks issues,\u201d said Reid rolling his eyes. \u201cUnless you wear those socks with the glittery Elvis images on them that your sister gave you. Those are probably at least a misdemeanor.\u201d
Luke huffed but didn\u2019t reply. Wearing appropriate socks during security check-ins was just common courtesy.
When they got to the airport, Luke was careful not to be whiny about how much longer it took to go through security than if they had just taken Grandmother\u2019s jet. He didn\u2019t whine when the TSA agent was far more than what could reasonably be considered thorough during the pat down, thank you very much. He didn\u2019t whine about the horrid crush of humanity once everyone was boarded. He felt quite virtuous.
Then the plane just sat there on the tarmac for ages<\/i>. He decided that it would be okay if he whined just a little bit. He looked over at Reid who was watching him with amused eyes.
\u201cThis is killing you, isn\u2019t it?\u201d asked Reid gleefully.
\u201cNot at all,\u201d lied Luke. \u201cThe tiny inconveniences are far outweighed by the savings to the environment. I\u2019m really happy that we\u2019re flying to Dallas this way.\u201d
It was at this moment that a small child sitting in the row behind Luke and Reid decided to kick the back of Luke\u2019s seat. Luke sighed. When Reid laughed, Luke glared at him to no effect.
The plane eventually took flight. At one point, Luke could tell that Reid was beginning to be affected by claustrophobia. He took Reid\u2019s hand in his and rubbed his thumb along the back of Reid\u2019s hand. Luke was relieved that Reid\u2019s nerves eased immediately. He hated whenever Reid suffered. Usually. Luke didn\u2019t mind Reid suffering a little bit when it came to forcing Reid to interact socially with people. It was good for his character. Plus? Now that Luke was used to it, it was usually pretty amusing.
Eventually<\/i> the flight arrived at Dallas and Luke and the other cattle were allowed to disembark.
Luke and Reid picked up their rental car and drove towards Reid\u2019s condo. They stopped on the way to pick up boxes and packing supplies. Reid raised his brow but didn\u2019t make any snarky comments when Luke got a little bit enthusiastic<\/i> about the various types of bubble wrap.
Luke was careful not to be critical of Reid\u2019s obvious lack of interest in d\u00e9cor when they arrived at Reid\u2019s rather impersonal condo. He suspected that when Reid had bought his condo, he had driven to the nearest furniture store and selected the pieces of furniture that were closest to the entrance.
They had barely begun to pack when Reid got a phone call from his former hospital. Reid hurriedly explained to Luke that he had mentioned to one of his former colleagues that he was going to be in town for the weekend and the colleague was calling about an emergency admission that was in Reid\u2019s wheel house. Reid offered a semi-apologetic explanation that involved descriptions of mystery brain tumors with improbable symptoms but Luke merely patted him on the butt and wished him luck as he shooed Reid out of the condo.
Luke decided to concentrate on packing up the stuff in Reid\u2019s bedroom first. Clothes were easy to pack. Luke briefly wondered how many maroon-colored button down shirts Reid owned. Luke decided that there must have been some sort of major sale. In Reid\u2019s closet, Luke discovered a medium-sized cardboard box. The box\u2019s lid was closed. Luke hesitated to open it. What if it was porn? It\u2019s not that Luke was some kind of prude but going through Reid\u2019s porn seemed like a huge invasion of privacy. He decided to leave the box closed and to place it in the middle of the living room.
Whenever Luke finished packing a box, he brought it into the living room. He put the \u2018To Be Shipped Home\u2019 boxes on one side of the room and the \u2018Stuff that Reid Probably has No Emotional Attachment to and Wants to Give to Charity\u2019 boxes on the opposite side of the room. He carefully labeled the contents on the side of the charity boxes so that Reid could tell at a quick glance what was in each box. Luke didn\u2019t want to accidentally give something away that had sentimental value.
Every time he brought a box into the living room, Luke was momentarily distracted by the Mystery Box. He imagined it pulsating to the soundtrack of a porn movie. \u201cLuuuuke! Open me!\u201d it seemed to call out to him.
Luke started to worry that the box was full of porn starring men who were nothing like Luke. Maybe Reid was into porn starring . . . older intellectuals. Maybe the men in the porn wore tweed jackets with leather elbow patches and smoked pipes while they fucked. Luke would hate it if he discovered that Reid\u2019s type was anything other than Luke.
Then Luke started to worry that the box was full of porn starring men who were exactly like Luke. Maybe the porn was full of younger, blond men who were cloyingly na\u00efve. Luke wasn\u2019t quite sure how porn would demonstrate that the stars were cloyingly na\u00efve but that wasn\u2019t the point. Luke would hate it if he discovered that Reid\u2019s mind-boggling attraction to him was mainly based on Reid\u2019s preferred physical type and that it wasn\u2019t Luke\u2019s soul that was his primary attraction to Reid.
Then Luke started to worry that the box was full of weird<\/i> stuff. He realized that he had nowhere near the experience that Reid had when it came to sex; Luke tried not to think about the fact that he could probably count the number of times that he and Noah had sex and still have fingers left over. But Luke had felt that he and Reid were extraordinarily compatible in bed. What if Reid was just taking it easy on Luke and was biding his time until he wanted to try . . . golden showers? Luke wouldn\u2019t judge somebody based upon their sexual preferences but he really didn\u2019t want to get peed on.
Luke resolutely put the Mystery Box out of his mind before he drove himself insane. It probably wasn\u2019t even porn.
After he had finished packing up nearly everything, Luke took a shower. It was while he was in the shower that Reid triumphantly returned from his successful completion of yet another extraordinary surgery that should be celebrated in a power ballad. Luke was amused that those were Reid\u2019s exact words. Then Reid hopped into the shower with Luke to \u2018thank\u2019 him for doing all of the boring packing. And it was good. More than good. Luke really<\/i> loved sex with Reid. .
Afterwards, they put on clean boxers and headed to the living room to enjoy the pizza that Reid had brought home with him. It was cold but that was a small price to pay so that they could enjoy shower sex.
They curled up on Reid\u2019s blandly upholstered sofa.
\u201cI realize I should be feeling guilty about sticking you with the packing,\u201d offered Reid. \u201cBut apparently I\u2019m not that good a person. But I am grateful to you.\u201d
Luke shrugged. He tried to be nonchalant. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure what you wanted to do with the box in the middle there.\u201d
Reid looked at Luke incredulously. \u201cYou think I want to give my porn to charity?\u201d
Luke gave a nervous laugh. \u201cI didn\u2019t open it! I didn\u2019t want to invade your privacy.\u201d
\u201cYeah, \u2018cause I have so many secrets from you,\u201d said Reid while rolling his eyes. \u201cI can\u2019t believe you didn\u2019t check out my porn. What kind of a weirdo are you?\u201d
\u201cPorn\u2019s private,\u201d sniffed Luke.
Reid narrowed his eyes. \u201cNow that I think of it, it\u2019s weird that I\u2019ve never come across your porn. I bet your porn is full of soft lighting and whispered words of love, isn\u2019t it? And harp music.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t have any porn,\u201d said Luke. \u201cNot that I\u2019m against porn or anything.\u201d
\u201cYou don\u2019t have any porn?\u201d asked a scandalized-sounding Reid. \u201cHow can you not have porn?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019ve usually lived at my Mom\u2019s or my Grandma\u2019s,\u201d explained Luke more defensively than he meant to sound. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to risk them finding it.\u201d
\u201cLike there\u2019re no hiding places at The Farm of Drama,\u201d said Reid.
\u201cNot good ones. When I was ten, I found a stash of porn hidden in the barn that indicates that at some point in the early eighties, either my dad or one of his brothers had a thing for Asian dominatrixes.\u201d
Reid grinned delightedly. \u201cAt the next Snyder hoedown, I\u2019m going to bring up Sailor Moon and see if your dad\u2019s pupils dilate.\u201d
\u201cWhen I was eleven, I found a stash of porn hidden in the attic that indicates that at some point in the late seventies, one of my aunts had a thing for freakishly well-endowed men with eyeglasses.\u201d
\u201cHow well-endowed?\u201d asked a too-interested-for-Luke\u2019s-taste Reid.
Luke sniffed daintily and ignored the fact that Reid wasn\u2019t being nearly sympathetic enough about Luke\u2019s porn discovery traumas.
\u201cYou know, the eyeglass kink porn might not have belonged to one of your aunts,\u201d offered Reid. \u201cIt might be your grandma\u2019s porn.\u201d
Luke made a disgusted face. \u201cFirst of all, shut up about my grandma owning porn. Second of all, shut up about my grandma owning porn.\u201d
\u201cSociological studies indicate that human sexuality---\u201d
Luke hurriedly covered Reid\u2019s mouth. \u201cI\u2019m begging you.\u201d
When Reid shrugged, Luke removed his hand.
\u201cWell, you and Noah lived together for awhile, right?\u201d asked Reid.
\u201cWe only lived together in our own place for a short time before the whole fireworks thing happened,\u201d shrugged Luke. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t have brought porn home with me when I lived with Noah.\u201d
\u201cWere you afraid that that he was an uptight prude that would have judged you or were you afraid that porn would just be one more random thing that he would have used as an opportunity to make you feel bad about yourself?\u201d asked Reid.
Luke shifted uncomfortably. \u201cYou know that Noah isn\u2019t evil, right?\u201d
\u201cI notice you didn\u2019t answer the question.\u201d
\u201cSo . . . what kind of porn do you have?\u201d
Reid grinned.
\u201cWait!\u201d Luke said in a rush. \u201cDon\u2019t tell me. Maybe we should maintain the mystery.\u201d
Reid stood and pulled Luke up. He handed the pizza box to Luke and picked up the Box of Porn. He nodded his head in the universal sign of \u2018follow me\u2019 and headed off to the bedroom. Luke followed nervously.
It turned out that Luke really liked Reid\u2019s porn. And thankfully there was no pee involved.
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35478.html?view=comments#comments","category":["genre: domestic","!author|artist: nancygrew","warning: noah-bashing","character: luke snyder","rating: nc-17","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","pairing: luke\/reid"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35327.html","pubDate":"Sat, 05 May 2012 04:20:29 GMT","title":"Dirty Tricks. And Zombies.","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35327.html","description":"Title: Dirty Tricks. And Zombies.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWt
Notes: Written for Lure_ATWT Fun Fic Fridays Prompt \u2018Dirty Tricks\u2019. Takes place Mid January 2011. You do not have to read any of my other fics in order to understand this one.
Summary: Just another day at Grimaldi Shipping
Luke knocked softly on the open door of Ellie Snyder\u2019s office. His aunt glanced up from her computer, pushed her glasses up further on her nose and smiled at him. She waved him into the office. When Luke closed the door behind him, she raised a brow. Luke sat down on the edge of her desk and bumped his leg affectionately against hers.
\u201cSo, I hear you practically made Bonello cry today,\u201d said Luke.
Ellie huffed. \u201cSomeone ratted me out?\u201d
\u201cThe executive officers of Grimaldi Shipping may be a pit of vipers, but they\u2019re my pit of vipers,\u201d grinned Luke. \u201cEveryone rats everyone else out to me. I should start giving out gold stars for tattling.\u201d
Ellie narrowed her eyes. \u201cYou\u2019re not expecting me to apologize to him or anything or you?\u201d
Luke laughed. \u201cNope. But I do want to let you know that you don\u2019t have to be so protective of me. It\u2019s to be expected that a lot of the employees are . . . concerned<\/i> about having such a young and inexperienced president. I hired you because you\u2019re brilliant at what you do and because I trust you. I didn\u2019t hire you to make sure that people don\u2019t say mean things about me.\u201d
\u201cEven if you weren\u2019t my nephew, I would have still told Bonello off,\u201d insisted Ellie. \u201cYes, you\u2019re inexperienced but you\u2019re doing a great job. Plus, one does not denigrate the president of the organization to other executives regardless of the circumstances. It\u2019s unprofessional and disloyal.\u201d
\u201cYou know, I\u2019ve been referred to things much worse than Peter Pan.\u201d
\u201cI have no idea whether he meant it as homophobic or whether he was referencing your age in a derogatory manner. But I wasn\u2019t going to put up with it.\u201d
\u201cMaybe he was just referencing the fact that I look good in green,\u201d said Luke dryly.
\u201cYes, I\u2019m sure that\u2019s it,\u201d said Ellie. \u201cYou mentioned that you could trust me. May I ask whether the reason you trust me is because I\u2019m a Snyder?\u201d
\u201cPart of my complete faith in you is probably because you\u2019re family. After all, if you try to take over my company, Grandma Emma would never make you pie again.\u201d
Ellie laughed.
\u201cAnother reason I trust you is because Grandmother trusts you,\u201d admitted Luke. \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t hesitate to hire you back. Plus there\u2019s the fact that you\u2019ve really made a name for yourself in New York.\u201d
\u201cI never thought I\u2019d return to this place,\u201d admitted Ellie. \u201cOakdale just always seemed so provincial to me. I started dreaming of running off to the big city before I was in grade school. But surprisingly I\u2019ve really enjoyed being back. And I love my job here at Grimaldi Shipping.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m really happy you\u2019re back. Because you\u2019re family and because I do rely on you here,\u201d said Luke.
\u201cIt must be tough trying to decide who to trust within the Grimaldi empire,\u201d observed Ellie.
\u201cI\u2019d like to say that I have excellent instincts that were honed by my close observation of Grandmother,\u201d said Luke. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been adhering pretty closely to the Hierarchy of Trust that Damian suggested to me.\u201d
\u201cWhat\u2019s the Hierarchy of Trust?\u201d asked Ellie.
\u201cI can trust Butters and Reynaud completely. They\u2019re completely loyal to the company and to the Grimaldi family. If there\u2019s ever a zombie rampage, I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019d both throw themselves in front of me to protect my delicious brain.\u201d
\u201cI hate<\/i> zombie rampages,\u201d said Ellie.
\u201cWho doesn\u2019t?\u201d asked Luke rhetorically. \u201cI can trust Sarlo and Magro to a lesser extent. Their sense of loyalty and duty is healthy but so is their self-interest.\u201d
\u201cSo they\u2019d let the zombies take you?\u201d
Luke nodded sadly. Then smirked at Ellie when she giggled. \u201cAnd at the bottom of the Hierarchy of Trust are Mitchell and Bonello. They\u2019d trade their loyalty to me for a pack of gum.\u201d
\u201cI think you\u2019re exaggerating. I\u2019m pretty sure Bonello would trade his loyalty to you for a stick<\/i> of gum.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019d have to be good<\/i> gum,\u201d insisted Luke. \u201cI stopped by mainly to make sure you knew that I didn\u2019t expect you to beat up any mean kids for me but I also wanted to stop by to see if you wanted to come to dinner this Saturday.\u201d
\u201cReid\u2019s not the most sociable person I\u2019ve ever met. He\u2019s not going to spit in the food, is he?\u201d
\u201cProbably not,\u201d said Luke.
\u201cWell, with that ringing endorsement, count me in,\u201d smiled Ellie. \u201cCan I bring anything?\u201d
\u201cJust an appetite and a willingness to risk my first attempt at Moroccan fare. I bought a Berber folk music CD and large floor pillows for the occasion,\u201d said Luke with a large degree of enthusiasm.
\u201cI\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m excited or a little scared,\u201d pondered Ellie with a frown.
\u201cSee you later at the department head meeting,\u201d said Luke as he left.
As Luke approached his office, he noticed Chris Hughes sitting on the sofa in the antechamber. His administrative assistant burst out of her seat and rushed to Luke.
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t have an appointment!\u201d fretted Louise. \u201cHe insisted on waiting for you. Should I call Max to throw him out?\u201d
Luke ran his hand down the arm of his highly-strung administrative assistant as he reminded himself, for the hundredth time, that it would be just plain wrong to slip valium into her bottled water. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, I\u2019ll see him.\u201d
Luke nodded Chris into his office.
\u201cAre Katie and Jacob okay?\u201d asked a concerned Luke.
Chris didn\u2019t reply immediately. He was distracted by the size and obvious luxury of Luke\u2019s office.
\u201cYour office is about ten times bigger than mine,\u201d huffed Chris.
\u201cSize isn\u2019t important,\u201d soothed Luke. Given Chris\u2019 disturbingly intent purview of Luke\u2019s office, Luke decided that Katie and Jacob were probably fine. He sat behind his desk and waved Chris to a seat. Luke wasn\u2019t sure why Chris had shown up at his office but he decided that he\u2019d start off the meeting sitting in the big boy chair, the position of power.
Chris sat down across from Luke. It took him a moment to stop peering around the office and frowning. \u201cLuke, I want you to know that I\u2019ve always liked you.\u201d
\u201cHow can I help you, Chris?\u201d asked Luke hoping to cut to the chase.
\u201cYou and Reid are so different,\u201d began Chris. \u201cYou are such a sweet kid and---\u201d
\u201cYou don\u2019t think that referring to me as a sweet kid is just a tad<\/i> condescending?\u201d
Chris started. \u201cI\u2019m sorry if you feel insulted by my comment.\u201d
\u201cChris, if you\u2019re here to involve me in your little feud with Reid, I\u2019d advise you to leave,\u201d said Luke.
\u201cI\u2019m here because I\u2019m trying to protect you,\u201d avowed Chris.
Luke wondered if Chris was always this smarmy or if losing the Chief of Staff job to Reid was making him more so.
\u201cAre there zombie hordes approaching?\u201d asked Luke.
\u201cWhat?\u201d
\u201cNever mind,\u201d said Luke. \u201cJust tell me what you want.\u201d
\u201cReid\u2019s having an affair,\u201d blurted Chris.
Luke gave a startled laugh. He hadn\u2019t been expecting that<\/i>. \u201cNo he isn\u2019t.\u201d
\u201cYou don\u2019t even want to here what I have to say?\u201d
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t,\u201d said Luke. \u201cI\u2019m not fond of the way you\u2019ve handled your relationship with Katie but she loves you so I\u2019ve refrained from making any comments. And I\u2019m not fond of the way you\u2019ve handled your so-called rivalry with Reid. But since he considers you to be more of an irritant than anything else, I\u2019ve stayed out of it. Irritation builds character. But you will not attempt to interfere with my relationship with Reid. That\u2019s off-bounds to you.\u201d
Chris hurriedly stood and ran the fingers of one hand through his hair in obvious frustration. \u201cReid\u2019s an arrogant, piece of---\u201d
Luke leisurely got to his feet and walked towards the door of his office, \u201cYou\u2019ll be leaving now.\u201d
\u201cWait!\u201d spat Chris. \u201cI saw Reid get into the elevator at the Lakeview with another man.\u201d
\u201cAh, the Lakeview Elevator of Semen Exchange,\u201d said Luke. \u201cYes, two men in an elevator at the Lakeview does seem to indicate intercourse is about to go down.\u201d Luke briefly wondered if his own sarcasm level had increased lately. Was he becoming Reid-y via prolonged exposure?
\u201cIt\u2019s not funny! Don\u2019t you care that he\u2019s sleeping around? He\u2019s probably laughing about it with his lover,\u201d muttered Chris.
\u201cI see two possibilities here. One, you truly think that Reid\u2019s having an affair which means that you really are stupid as everyone thinks,\u201d Luke said coolly.
\u201cHey, just because I\u2019m not a genius like your jerk--\u201d
\u201cOr two, you decided to try to cause trouble for Reid by trying to make me doubt our relationship. You probably think that by distracting Reid now while the Chief of Pediatrics position needs to be filled, that you\u2019re more likely to convince the board that you\u2019re the man for the job.\u201d
Chris\u2019 eyes shifted. But then he drew himself up. \u201cI have no idea what you\u2019re talking about. But I deserve the Chief of Peds job. Hell, I deserved the Chief of Staff job.\u201d
Luke rolled his eyes. \u201cNo you didn\u2019t. If you want to continue your petty rivalry with Reid, that\u2019s up to you. He\u2019s a big boy and can take care of himself. He\u2019s already won over most of the board and you\u2019re really no threat to him at work. But if you ever try to interfere with my relationship with Reid again, I\u2019ll destroy you.\u201d
Luke could tell that Chris was confused by Luke nonchalantly threatening to destroy him. Luke sighed. Chris probably thought that he\u2019d strike at Luke\u2019s storied insecurity and that Luke would instantly have a melt down and drag Reid down with him. Man, he really wished that people would stop viewing him as that dumb kid he\u2019d been years ago. Well, the dumb kid he was a year ago.
\u201cYou\u2019re being stupid by putting your head in the sand,\u201d sneered Chris.
\u201cI have pictures of you in a cosplay outfit,\u201d said Luke while studying his nails.
\u201cWhat?!?\u201d screeched Chris.
\u201cYour obsession with Reid worried me so I had a private detective do a little research so I could feel safer,\u201d said Luke. \u201cHe found a video that one of your exes posted anonymously online. You\u2019re quite adorable as a chipmunk.\u201d
\u201cI . . . I have no idea what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d said Chris unconvincingly.
\u201cLook, your private life is your own. I don\u2019t care. But I won\u2019t hesitate to re-post it and email the link to your mom if you ever try to mess with my relationship with Reid again.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re a bastard,\u201d spat Chris.
\u201cThanks!\u201d said Luke gleefully. He continued to smile as Chris stormed out of his office.
Much later, after a meeting with the department heads and attending a late night business class, Luke returned to the Walsh guest cottage that he shared with his boyfriend. Reid was sitting on the couch reading a medical journal. Luke slid onto the couch beside Reid and swung his legs onto Reid\u2019s lap.
\u201cSo, how was your day?\u201d asked Luke.
Reid grunted. He laid aside his medical journal and started massaging Luke\u2019s calves.
\u201cAsk me about my day,\u201d demanded Luke.
\u201cHow was your day?\u201d parroted Reid.
\u201cPretty boring. Hey, I bet I know where you interviewed Duke Kramer about the Chief of Pediatrics job.\u201d
\u201cIf you\u2019re trying to impress me with some Amazing Kreskin act . . .\u201d
\u201cDo you have any<\/i> pop culture references from modern times?\u201d
\u201cAny idiot could figure out that I wouldn\u2019t do the interview at the hospital as we\u2019re trying to keep it low key for now. So you\u2019ve probably figured out that I met him at the Lakeview.\u201d
Luke sighed mournfully.
Reid raised a brow. \u201cI mean, great job figuring out where my top secret meeting was?\u201d
Luke huffed a laugh. \u201cSo does it look like you\u2019re going to hire Duke?\u201d
\u201cLooks like. Are you going to give me some speech about how Katie\u2019s family and so Chris is family so I need to cut him some slack and hey, it\u2019s not his fault that he\u2019s a moron?\u201d
\u201cNope.\u201d
Reid tilted his head questioningly.
\u201cOn a professional level, feel free to make Chris\u2019 life a living hell.\u201d
\u201cReally?\u201d asked Reid hopefully.
\u201cGo for it, tiger.\u201d
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/35327.html?view=comments#comments","category":["!author|artist: nancygrew","character: luke snyder","character: ellie snyder","warning: chris-bashing","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","rating: g","pairing: luke\/reid","character: chris hughes"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/34875.html","pubDate":"Wed, 02 May 2012 04:26:57 GMT","title":"First Meeting","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/34875.html","description":"Title: First Meeting
Author: nancygrew
Rating:G
Notes: Written for Lure_ATWT for Fill in the BLanks Tuesday. Takes place late January 2010.
Disclaimer: characters belong to atwt
Summary: Reid and Luke meet in person for the first time
Reid stormed down a hallway of Oakdull Memorial. He hated this hospital as much as he hated the entitled jerk that was responsible for him being here. The nurse who had given him directions had nearly burst into tears when approached. Sure, he didn\u2019t really have to refer to her as \u2018Nurse Not Doing Anything Else at the Moment\u2019 but you\u2019d think that a medical professional would be made of sterner stuff. Fortunately for the big crybaby whiner, he wasn\u2019t in charge of this place.
Reid was going to give Mr. Money Bags a piece of his mind.
Reid had been expecting a wealthy businessman with slicked back hair and a fancy suit. Or a spoiled playboy with an open shirt and gold chains. Instead, there was a kid with floppy blond hair and a shirt from K-mart standing there. Reid had been infuriated when he found himself being toyed with by a Machiavellian socialite. Now that he knew he was being blackmailed by Opie Taylor? Man, was he pissed!
\u201cLuke Snyder?\u201d
\u201cDr. Oliver. You made it. I can not thank you enough----\u201d OMG! Was Opie actually going to go with polite, \u2018let\u2019s pretend we\u2019re at a tea-party\u2019 type of chatter? The nerve!
\u201cWe both know why I\u2019m here,\u201d said Reid, pointedly ignoring Opie\u2019s offered hand. \u201cLet\u2019s not pretend this is a normal consult.\u201d
Reid was astonished to see the kid look embarrassed. What? Had Opie thought that they were going to be besties?
\u201cLook, I . . . I\u2019m sorry. I just felt that . . . \u201c
\u201cYou felt that you could blackmail me. I\u2019m curious, how much did it cost you to get dirt on me?\u201d
Opie drew himself up and tried to justify his actions. \u201cDr. Oliver, I did not want to do it this way but you see . . . \u201c
\u201cWhat I see is a big fat silver spoon in your mouth and I hope you choke on it!\u201d Reid had always prided himself on not kowtowing to the rich and powerful who believed that the world existed for their benefit. He loved that Opie looked shocked at Reid\u2019s attitude. He surmised that given the fact that Opie was wealthy and pretty meant that he rarely didn\u2019t get exactly what he wanted. Reid winced internally. He had not<\/b> noticed that his nemesis was pretty.
\u201cYou have any idea how many people who actually wait their turn to see me? Who don\u2019t feel that they deserve to move to the front of the line just because they were born with blue blood in their veins?\u201d snarked Reid. Opie looked abashed. Since when was Evil capable of embarrassment? \u201cWhat makes you think that Mr. Mayer is more deserving of my time than anyone else?\u201d
\u201cWell, he\u2019s not. But, he\u2019s the only person that I love that needs you,\u201d said Opie sweetly. Reid licked his top lip.
\u201cCrap, did I just run my tongue over my lip? Is he going to think I\u2019m hot for him?\u201d thought Reid.
\u201cWell, I\u2019m here,\u201d grumbled Reid. \u201cThanks to you and your father\u2019s corporate jet. Where\u2019s the patient?\u201d
Reid was startled to see Opie hem and haw. It didn\u2019t make any sense. The kid had been so arrogant over the phone.
\u201cUh. Well, he should be here any minute.\"
\u201cHe should be?!?\u201d WTF! Let\u2019s turn my life inside out but let Blind Potential Patient show up when the mood strikes him? Was BPP busy getting his seeing eye dog washed?
\u201cYeah. I . . . I left him a message when I got confirmation that you were on the plane.\u201d
\u201cOkay, there\u2019s a commercial flight that\u2019s heading back to Dallas in an hour. I\u2019m already booked on it. It was a displeasure meeting you Mr. Snyder.\u201d
Reid watched as Opie sagged in relief at the sight of other people arriving. Reid watched Opie rush towards the new arrivals. To Reid\u2019s eyes, Opie seemed desperate for approval from Blind Potential Patient.
\u201cNoah! Noah! Why didn\u2019t you call me when you got my message? Dr. Oliver is here.\u201d Reid was secretly amused when Opie whispered to BPP that Reid was mad. Reid was standing a foot away from them. Did Opie really think that he wasn\u2019t going to hear the \u2018whisper\u2019?
\u201cDr. Oliver?\u201d asked BPP in a hesitant, or mentally challenged, voice. Like his boyfriend was some sort of monster who would lie to him about hauling the country\u2019s finest neurosurgeon to Oakdull. Reid normally wasn\u2019t interested in the relationships of others but the dynamic between these two was odd.
\u201cFifteen minutes.\"
Opie tried to enter the room with Reid and BPP. Oh, Reid so wasn\u2019t going to put up with his pretty blackmailer horning in on his exam. \u201cAlone.\u201d
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/34875.html?view=comments#comments","category":["!author|artist: nancygrew","warning: noah-bashing","character: luke snyder","fan fiction","as the world turns","character: reid oliver","character: noah mayer","rating: g","pairing: luke\/reid"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/34789.html","pubDate":"Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:30:58 GMT","title":"Knights in Shining Armor","author":"nancygrew","link":"https:\/\/nancygrew.livejournal.com\/34789.html","description":"Title: Knights in Shining Armor
Author: nancygrew
Rating: PG - some swears
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes: Written for the LURE_Bingo for LURE_ATWT for the prompt Lucinda. Takes place late May 2011. You don't have to read my other fics in order to understand this one.
Warning: A little Noah-bashing. A little Holden-bashing. Homophobia by a non-canon character.
summary: Luke and Reid go out to dinner. They get insulted. They get defended.
![](\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/https_placeholder.png\")
<\/b><\/div><\/td>\n