"Jack" Series, Part 1: Jack Arrives

A/N: The remaining chapters in Part 1 are optional – just a few different scenes with point of view from different characters. This series is not heavily plot-based, but the narrative (such as it is) picks up in Part 2. Feel free to skip the rest of this and go straight on to Part 2.

I appreciate the reviews! I'm new to AFF but as far as I can see there's no way to respond. Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss. Many thanks.

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3. Aftermath I: Tiran & Rocky

It was early afternoon when the meeting wound up, and afterwards Tiran, impatient to have Jack back, took him into town for lunch and revelry. The boys, meanwhile, in unspoken mutual understanding, went their own ways with little discussion.

Tiran returned to the big house alone in early evening. Rocky was slouched on the back deck, half-reading, when Tiran came out, looking expectant and conspiratorial.

"So … ?" Tiran asked, his voice filled with that intimacy tinged with amusement that was so familiar to Rocky. "How was it? Tell me everything, Van."

Rocky adjusted himself on the sofa, giving Tiran room to sit down, and then sank back against him with the usual feeling of coming home. He gave Tiran a sidelong grin and paused, as though to savour the moment.

"Great," he said at last, his smile growing softer. "He’s amazing, Tiry. We’re very, very happy." Rocky kissed Tiran’s shoulder. "And grateful, boss. Thank you so much."

"For what, letting you start this cockamamie scheme?"

"No." Rocky shot Tiran a look, still smiling. "Well, that too. But mostly for him. He’s magnificent. Thank you."

Tiran gave a sharp laugh and leaned forward to light a cigarette. "He said there’d be petitions against him by the time we got home."

Rocky raised an eyebrow, mildly taken aback. "Well, I’m not surprised he would think that for now, but I hope you weren’t buying it, boss." He caught the expression rising in Tiran’s eyes and went on quickly. "I’m sorry he thinks so … Of course we’ll try and let him know how grateful we are to him."

"Try?" Tiran sounded stern.

Rocky laughed. "Yes, try … I promise we will, but believe me, Tiry, it’s not gonna be that easy."

Tiran was frowning, watching Rocky through narrowed eyes. "Seems like I’m hearing complaining."

"No sir." Rocky sat straight up and looked at Tiran. "No, you’re not. Please let me be very clear, Tiran. I absolutely have no complaints and I’m very, very happy and grateful, to you and Mr. Obernikoch both. We’re all very happy. I can promise you, not one of us is less than thrilled. I’m sure he’s expecting us to complain to you but we’re absolutely not. We only want to thank you for bringing him into our lives. And I know — you’re absolutely right, it’s our job to show Mr. Obernikoch how we feel. I have every intention of doing that — I think we all do — but Tiry, it’s not going to happen over night. He’s not interested in what we have to say right now. We can show him, but it’ll take a while. We’ll get there in the end, I hope."

Tiran looked at Rocky for a long moment, unyielding. Until, finally, he turned away and looked out over the ocean, a small smile returning as he asked again, "So, how’d it go this morning?"

Rocky smiled back a little, still slightly braced. "Great." He searched Tiran’s face. "What do you want to know? He set out the rules, he made himself very clear, he let us know what we can expect. He got right to work, believe me, we aren’t getting any free rides for the first few days."

"He said he set some examples."

Rocky smiled again, more broadly now. "He kicked my ass a few times," he acknowledged. "If that’s what he meant. And most of don’t have mobiles any more." He laughed. "So don’t expect to reach us that way for now. I guess we’ll all just have to check in more often." He leaned back against Tiran again, comfortably. "And several of us have dates with him in the next couple of days."

"Did anyone talk back or anything?"

"God no. We were fucking terrified. And excited. At least speaking for myself, that’s what I was. Afraid to move for fear of pissing him off, and really, really happy." Rocky hummed in satisfaction, moving his arms around Tiran and closing his eyes momentarily. Tiran looked down at him with amusement until Rocky’s eyes flew open suddenly and he sat up. "But shit, Tiry, I have to talk to him. What if I did do something — I mean, something specific to piss him off? I don’t think I did, when could I have? But what if I did? Fuck, I can just imagine how livid he’ll be if I try to talk to him, but what if I screwed up somehow and never apologize for it?"

Tiran expression darkened. "What did you do, Van?"

Rocky sat still, shaking his head. "I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe he was just making an example of me. That’s fine, only what if he wasn’t? What if I did something stupid without realizing or … or maybe he overheard something or misunderstood something I said that wasn’t appropriate and now he thinks I’m - I'm defiant or something … "

Tiran’s eyes narrowed again. "What the fuck did you do, Rocky?"

Rocky shut his eyes for a second helplessly. "Nothing. Nothing I know of, I swear. I’ve never had a disrespectful thought about Mr. Obernikoch, let alone said anything, and god knows the last thing I am is defiant. I’d happily crawl for him. Which I’m sure I will be soon."

"So what makes you think it's something specific?"

"Well, he — well, just the way he treated me this morning. Not that he needs any reason, I know! I know that, Tiry, he’s totally welcome to make an example of me for no particular reason. But I’m just worried, why me? Was it something I did that made him want to single me out?"

"What do you mean, single you out? What the fuck did you do this morning, Van?" Tiran was sounding distinctly annoyed now, and Rocky turned back, focusing on him again.

"Darling Tiran, I did nothing but follow his orders this morning, I swear. As fast as I could. If he is pissed at me, it’s for something that happened before today."

"Well, how did he single you out? What did he do to you?"

"I told you, Ti, he kicked my ass a couple of times. I thought it was just to show us who’s boss. Like we need a reminder." Rocky smiled a little, despite himself.

"But why you? Why would he pick you, Rocky?"

Rocky shook his head slightly. "Not sure. Maybe because I’m your friend. People think I’m closest to you. Or maybe because I’m the one he thinks is least broken. That I count on my friendship with you to get away with things."

Tiran was leaning back against the sofa, listening closely with a black edge to his expression. He exhaled slowly, and ground his cigarette out in the ashtray. "So you do."

Rocky looked at him sharply. "I know I do, boss. I’m sorry. That’s why I’m so glad we have him here to call me on that shit."

"So … what?" Tiran growled. "He’s going to turn you into another slave, like Solomon?"

"Huh?" Rocky stared, caught by surprise at the sudden change in direction.

"So I should have no friends left, only slaves and underlings?"

Rocky laughed abruptly. "No friends, darling? You?"

But Tiran wasn’t about to be placated. "We talked about this, Van. You know what I want and what I agreed to. You agreed too."

"Yes." Rocky looked at Tiran, thinking slowly. "Yes, boss, of course. This is not going to change anything between us, you know that. Other than to annoy you less often — I hope."

"How do you know it’s not? He’s already trying to break you, you just said that."

"No, boss — well, I don’t know. Maybe he is. But that’s my problem, not his, and not yours. I know I have so much to learn from Mr. Obernikoch — it’s my job to learn the right lessons. For you."

Tiran was still scowling. "This whole thing is like an exercise in reverse psychology. You’re saying one thing but you’re trying to tell me something else altogether."

"NO." Rocky sat straight up again, staring intently at Tiran. He held himself still for a moment and then, abruptly, slid to the floor and knelt at Tiran’s feet. "I’m begging you, Tiran, believe me. There is nothing beneath my words - no subtext. What you hear from me and what you know is the truth is all there is. I’m thrilled to have Mr. Obernikoch here, I can’t wait to learn from him, to let him teach me, but I know that my ultimate responsibility is to you. I don’t expect him to realize everything that’s between us, you and I — how could he? It’s my job to protect our friendship while I work on … on the other things between us, the things I owe you. I know I can make it better for you in the end, I just need time to get there. Please have patience while we work it out … please, Tiry."

He stopped, and they held each other’s gaze for a long moment, Rocky suppliant, Tiran considering. Finally Tiran spoke.

"No subtext, Rocky?"

"None."

"And I’m not going to lose my best friend?"

"Never."

Tiran sighed. "Well, we’ll see how it goes."

Rocky let out his breath in relief, and buried his head in Tiran’s lap. They sat for a moment, Tiran with a hand in Rocky’s hair, and then Tiran spoke again.

"So how were the others? Any other run-ins?"

"No." Rocky looked up. He seemed to suddenly realize where they were and what time it was. "Sweetheart, you don’t even have a drink. Are you hungry? Did you guys eat? Are you comfortable? What can I get you?"

"Don’t change the subject. Who’s on duty?"

"Dusty, I think … "

"I paged, no answer. What the fuck?"

Rocky laughed. "No cells, remember? We’ll have to use old technology till we start earning them back." He got to his feet and reached for the door into the house. "Give me one minute to get things set up for you, okay? I’ll be right back and then you can grill me all you want."

Tiran sat and smoked while he waited, and sure enough, within a couple of moments Rocky was back and soon after that the other amenities began to appear.

"So what did you want to know?" Rock said as he resumed his seat on the floor, this time leaning back against the couch beside Tiran’s feet.

"What else happened at the meeting this morning? Who else got made an example of? What did the others think of it all?"

"It was mostly just a chance to set the stage I think. Mr. Obernikoch explained to us how things would work."

"And were you the only one singled out for special treatment this time?"

Rocky tilted his head, considering, and grinned at Dusty, who had just come outside with a drink and a plate of canapes. "I dunno, Dusty, what do you think? Did anyone else get individual attention from Mr. Obernikoch this morning?"

"Mainly you," Dusty smiled. "Anything else I can get you, boss?" he asked Tiran and, receiving a shake of the head in response, sat down on the deck floor in front of them. "He really gave it to you, didn’t he, Rock? What the fuck did you do to him?"

Rocky laughed, shooting a nervous glance at Tiran and relieved to see that he seemed calm. "I’m not sure. Guess I’ll have to ask him, which I’m not looking forward to. But I already told Tiry about that. He wants other gossip. Anything else you can think of?"

"Hm, well … " Dusty glanced at Tiran and then back to Rocky. "Was it just my imagination or was he surprisingly nice to Gabe?"

"Nice?" Rocky had to think about that. When he looked up, he saw Tiran watching them with interest.

"Gabe?" Tiran asked. "What did he do?"

Dusty laughed. "He was Mr. O’s little pet! Spent all morning trotting around, fetching and carrying for him."

"He was sucking up?"

"No!" Rocky and Dusty spoke at the same time. Rocky grinned at Dusty and let him go on. "It wasn’t his fault — it’s not like he was volunteering. Mr. O just kept ordering him."

"I don’t think it’s so much that he likes Gabe or that he’s being nice to him … " Rocky said thoughtfully, "I think he just accepts him more as a slave — not necessarily a good one but at least he believes Gabe sees himself that way. Whereas the rest of us … "

" … the rest of us are just lying, cheating, exploiting, gold-digging scum trying to scam whatever we can out of Tiran." Dusty smirked a little at Tiran. "This is why Mr. Obernikoch is such a good fit for us."

Tiran rolled his eyes and looked away. "Whatever, Vince. You got a problem?"

"Absolutely not, Tiran." Dusty, like Rocky, changed his tone instantly in response to Tiran’s shift in mood. He spoke forcefully, focusing his gaze directly on Tiran. "I’m happy and grateful for Mr. Obernikoch’s presence."

Tiran was getting to his feet. "I’m going in. I’m telling you, I better not be hearing anything remotely resembling a fucking complaint coming from you — any of you -- after everything you guys did to talk me into this … "

Dusty ducked his head and darted suddenly forward to kiss Tiran’s hand. "I couldn’t be further from complaining, sir. I’m happy and grateful."

Tiran gave Dusty a sardonic look and started into the house, but now Rocky reached up to grab his hand. "Just one second, boss. I forgot to tell you something —"

Tiran paused on his way to the door and Rocky went on quickly. "We’re getting together tonight — the boys, I mean. Just for a quick debrief — to compare notes on how it went today and anything we need to do … and work out some logistical sutff — like not having cell phones, you know -- so you aren’t inconvenienced."

Tiran frowned and shook his head slightly. "What is all this you keep saying about cell phones? You lost them all?"

"Mr. Obernikoch confiscated them," Rocky explained.

"Because we were playing with them when he came in," Dusty added, stacking the empty dishes on a tray and heading for the door.

"Yeah, our fault entirely of course," Rocky echoed quickly. "But now they’re privileges we have to earn back, and I don’t think that’s gonna happen any time soon. So we just need to figure out how to deal without them. Any preference, boss?"

Tiran shook his head and took another step to the door. "Just as long as I don’t have to chase around after you all."

"Yes, exactly — we’ll make sure you don’t. So anyway — just wanted to let you know, in case you notice us all getting together tonight. Won’t be long — just a few minutes to regroup, come up with some plans. Okay with you?"

Tiran shrugged. "Whatever. I’m going out with Jack and Paulie tonight. Seeya later guys."

"Goodnight, sir," Dusty called from inside.

"Goodnight boss …" Rocky said as Tiran went through the door. "I’ll be at Patty’s tonight, seeya in the morning."

There was a pause, then Tiran took a step back outside. "Patty’s place? What for?"

Rocky looked up in surprise. "Just for a place to sleep. That okay?"

"Why there?"

"Why there?" Rocky repeated, puzzled. "Should it be somewhere else, boss?"

"Well, what’s wrong with here? The fuck?"

"Nothing wrong with here, of course not. I can sleep with Gabe, if that’s your preference?"

Tiran stopped and fixed Rocky with a long, grim look. "What the fuck are you trying to pull, Rocky? What’s your point?"

Rocky returned Tiran’s gaze with concern. "Tiry, I’m not trying to make a point. I’ll sleep wherever you want me to. I’m sorry I’m pissing you off. I’m not trying to pull anything on anyone. I just want to keep out of the way."

Tiran’s face cleared abruptly. "Oh, I get it. You don’t have your house anymore."

Rocky smiled, relieved. "Right. Exactly. That’s all."

"And you wanted to make sure I didn’t forget it."

Rocky looked concerned again. "No, Tiry, not at all, of course not. I just wanted you to know where you could find me, in case you were looking. No cell and all that. Look, boss, I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing. Please just tell me what you’d like me to do and I’ll be happy to do it."

Tiran hovered beside the door. "Well, what were you thinking when you gave Jack your house? What did you plan to do? Camp in the yard?"

"I hadn’t made a plan, I wasn’t sure Mr. Obernikoch would take it. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it."

"So talk. What do you want?"

"I don’t — you don’t have to do anything for me if you don’t want, Tiry. I can just go back home —"

"Don’t fucking threaten me, Van!"

"I’m not threatening — I’d never — Christ, Tiran!  I -- I just don’t want you to think I’m counting on you to bail me out." Rocky was on his feet now, torn between anger and frustration. He took a deep breath and turned away for a moment, then back, instantly calmed. Deliberately he leaned back against the side of the couch, lowering himself, backing down. "Forgive me. Please forgive me, Tiry. I was way out of line. I’m so sorry." He searched Tiran’s unrelenting face and then looked down. "Christ, Tiran, this is why we need Mr. Obernikoch, don’t you see? I never stop fucking things up. At least we know he’ll take care of this next week."

Tiran snorted. "Next week? He’ll take care of it before I walk in the door if I want him to."

"Yes, boss." Rocky smiled up at him tentatively. "And do you want him to?" He waited, giving Tiran time to act on his anger or let it roll away from him as it so often did. After a pause Rocky went on softly, "Is that what you want — to see it for yourself, Mr. Obernikoch putting me in my place?"

"No." Tiran laughed slightly, turning away.

But Rocky saw his expression and knew he’d hit his mark. He put a hand on Tiran’s arm and turned him back, gently, smiling. "You’ll have plenty of opportunities for that, boss, don’t worry. For now — will you forgive me for the stupid comment?"

"Yes." Tiran looked at Rocky, his anger gone, a hint of resentment in its wake.

In response, Rocky spoke firmly, evenly. "I’m sorry I screwed up this whole conversation. You’re right, I should have had a plan when I offered up the house you were so kind to give me. I should have talked to you about what would happen if Mr. Obernikoch took it. I didn’t and I’m sorry. I’d like to have that conversation with you tomorrow, when you have some time, if you’d be willing. Or if it’s not a conversation, you can just give me your orders." He gave Tiran a disarming smile. "For tonight, please, just tell me where you want me to sleep so I can stop annoying you and you can get on your way. I have no opinion, no agenda, other than wanting you to know where to find me, in case … just in case you should want me."

They looked at each other, Rocky’s gaze open and inviting, Tiran with a small, wry smile.

"My room," Tiran said at last, his voice low and amused. "When I get back. Be there."

Rocky laughed out loud. "That’s better than I hoped for, darling."

"You’re a lucky bastard," Tiran agreed, and, at last, he went into the house, leaving Rocky alone and smiling.