Mea Culpa 4/? part B

[imogen-lily.livejournal.com]

Second part as promised! Again this begins with a flashback.

, a scowl marring his usually cheerful face. He hadn't smiled much recently. Orlando didn't look at him, as he busied himself tidying the room. "You've got to leave, I can’t keep doing this I don’t want to pick up the pieces when this is all over, I can’t take it any more Orlando" he said, a harsh note in his voice. Orlando didn't look up or give any sign he'd heard, but Dom knew he had, he knew Orlando listened, Mark had made sure Orlando knew how important listening was.

He knew the bruises were there, no matter if Orlando hid his face or not, he knew there were probably worse injuries hidden by the jumpers, even the well-placed blots of concealer couldn’t hide the injuries because Dom always knew where to look, Orlando couldn’t hide from him no matter how hard he tried. That's all Orlando did nowadays ... hide. It was frustrating to say the least; all Dom wanted to do was help, but for every wall Dom managed to partially knock down, there was another barrier immediately springing up, another fake smile masking the all too obvious sadness, the pain. Nothing changed.

Sighing he tried again. "He did it again, didn't he." It wasn't a question and both knew the answer.

"Where was it? The jaw, a rib, your back? Did he kick you this time instead, got to have variety haven’t we? I’d hate to think things got boring for Mark, but then it doesn't really matter does it? As long as he hits you, he's happy and you just fucking take it! You can’t even admit to me or Lij what’s happening. We know Orlando, OK? WE KNOW – we’ve seen the bruises, the cuts, the fucking boot imprints...so stop acting like it’s nothing! Why do you keep hiding, keep pretending?? Why can't you accept what's happening? Fuck, Orlando, he's abusing you, he has been for years! Why the fuck won't you leave?!"

"He doesn't mean to," Orlando sighed, not looking up. "He gets so angry he just can't control himself. You don’t understand…" the voice was quiet, almost accepting of his treatment.

While part of Dom’s heart cried for his friend’s pain, he felt another swell of anger rise up. For a moment, Dom didn’t recognise the person in front of him, he was a stranger. This wasn’t his friend, not the Orlando he knew. Orlando had never given up, not when he broke his back or when Viggo left him, or when he came out. He kept fighting, why wouldn’t he fight now? What had changed?

"Oh, how sad, poor Mark. Forgive me if my heart's made of stone. He never means to, does he Orli? He never means to punch you in the gut, or slam your head against a wall. I'm sure it's an accident when he kicks you – oops, his foot slipped. He's a grown man; he should control himself," Dom said, his voice harsh and unforgiving. He had no sympathy for Mark. No one deserved to be hit, no matter what.

"I've seen what he does to you; don't you dare tell me it was a mistake, or that he loves you. If he loved you, he’d get counseling or stay away. Look at everything he does to you! He controls everything in your life, tells you who to talk to, how to dress, accuses you of sleeping with every man on God’s green earth, and then when he's bored, he kicks the crap out of you because something pisses him off. Well, I'm pissed off now, maybe I should take out my fustration on Mark, think he'd like that?"

"He doesn't...it's not like that" Orlando could meet Dom's eyes when he spoke, but his shouldered shuddered as if he was about to cry. Dom fought every instinct to cradle his friend

"It's exactly like that. You're my friend and I’m not going to let this carry on. I want to keep you safe but I can't do anything if you don't admit what's going on, you have to let me help you. That’s all I want, just let me in" Dom pleaded his voice softening, looking at Orlando, desperation clear in his eyes, he didn’t know how many more chances he’d get at this, he could feel Orlando slipping away each time and he was terrified if he didn’t help Orlando now, there wouldn’t be a next time... He was tidying the bedside table; no doubt that was something else Mark could punch him for.

Dominic ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. This wasn't working; he needed a response, or some sign of recognition from Orlando. He needed to see he was getting through. "How much longer is this gonna go on, huh? How often am I going to have this same conversation with you, why the hell won’t you TALK to me?? What will it take? Maybe a shattered skull, or a coma - would that change you’re mind? Oh I know, how about your funeral?" he growled, fury welling up inside him.

"Have any preferences on funeral arrangements – flowers, music? Because that's how this whole thing's going to end, Orlando. You dead in a box. and Mark ... well, one day Mark could be lying gutted in a ditch somewhere, and I doubt anyone will mourn him. That’ll be it, you’ll be dead and we’ll all be there hating ourselves because you wouldn’t listen, and it’ll be too late, because on day he’ll step over the line Orlando, and we won’t be here to stop him because you pushed us all away. I hate Mark, I hate him for what he’s done to you – what he’s still doing, but for the love of God Orlando, stop pretending everything’s OK! It’s going to kill you. People love you Orli, we all care about you; just let us help you please ... please. "

Orlando stiffened for a moment and Dom was hopeful, maybe he'd managed to reach Orlando, but after a pause he continued his tidying, albeit slower than before. This was impossible; nothing he said would make a difference. He'd become a zombie and that scared Dom more than anything.

Had Orlando truly given up? Did he think he was that worthless, that he didn't deserve saving? If only he could get a spark of anger ... something, anything ... from Orlando. Couldn't he see this was killing him, that Mark was killing him slowly? Orlando would shake his head, try to smile, convince the world there was nothing wrong, but the press had picked up on something.

Gossip columns had talked of Orlando, their own ‘golden boy’ being `over worked' which caused his `tired, drawn appearance'. One had even suggested Orlando was bulimic, Dom had thrown the papers away in disgust.

"Orlando ... I ... I'm worried. I don't want to lose you, I’m scared…I…I can’t keep doing this Orlando, it’s getting too much " Dom whispered, a note of desperation in his voice, seemingly not noticing the tears that were gathering in his eyes. How far were things going to go before they all cracked?

To his relief, Orlando stopped his mechanical tidying. He slowly turned to Dom, tears in his eyes. God, he hated to see his friend so upset, but tears were good, even better than that smile. He didn't even try to smile at Dom as he slowly sat down on the bed. "I can't leave," he whispered.

"He needs me Dommie, he's sick, I’ve got to stay."

Yeah, no shit ... sick in the head, Dom thought to himself. Tears began to roll down Orlando's cheeks and the bruised jaw was more prominent than ever. The cut above his eye would need some a good few stitches as well, it looked like Mark had gone easy on Orlando today. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Orlando finally allowed the tears to fall. He hated hurting his friends so much - that's why he didn't look up anymore, why he tried not to answer them. He didn't want to see the anger and sorrow in their faces, didn't want to know he was causing their worry.

He was so selfish; Mark was his problem, his boyfriend he should deal with it, not drag his friends into the sorry mess his life had become. They didn't need the worry or hassle. He hated himself for being so weak, so vulnerable. He tried not to cry anymore, it never did him any good. It wouldn't stop the pain he felt, or Mark's anger; in fact, it'd make matters worse. Mark hated it when he cried, it made him mad.

Dominic immediately went onto the bed and gathered Orlando in his arms as he began to gently rock him. Neither spoke for a while as Orlando cried quietly, all the fear pouring out of him as Dominic stroked Orlando's head gently. He couldn't be angry with Orlando, not really. How could he when Orlando was suffering so much? Frustration was the word.

He didn't understand why Orlando stayed; it couldn't be love, surely? There was no way this was love, not on Mark's part ... not proper love. Everyone had noticed a change in Orlando. Even when Billy had popped down for a few days, he'd had a quiet word with Dom, but what could Dom say? Orlando had never admitted what was happening, even though the evidence was plain to see. He tried to hide it, covering up the bruises, wearing long sleeves, hiding away.

He'd withdrawn from his friends more recently, and Dom had to wonder if that was Mark's doing. Was he really jealous of Orlando's friendships? He didn't understand that. Orlando was affectionate, yes, but he wasn't a playboy or anything. Despite his age and his free, loving personality, Orlando had surprisingly strong views on monogamy.

Mark seemed to be under the false impression that Orlando, like the majority of celebrities, didn't give much thought to an exclusive relationship, but it wasn't true; when Orlando loved someone he gave them his whole heart, he was one of the most, if the THE most loyal people Dom had the priverledge of knowing.

So why was Mark so terribly possessive? Even as he asked the question he knew. It always came back to the same reason. Viggo. Ever since that reunion party, things had been tense between Mark and Orlando.

Of course Viggo had been there, he was part of the cast, but Orlando had kept his distance. Even Dominic had noticed that. He didn't blame Orlando; he didn't want to imagine how hard it must've been for Orlando to be confronted with Viggo again. Mark had been like thunder after that and had taken Orlando home early. Was that when he started hitting Orlando? Dom felt sick. Someone had made a joke that Orlando was definitely going to get lucky tonight; he hadn't seen Viggo's face, but Dom had been worried. By now Orlando's sobs had stopped and he was simply curled up to Dom, barely moving.

"Orli? You've got to leave," Dom whispered, threading his figures through Orlando's unruly curls. It wasn't a romantic gesture, it was solely comfort. Despite their easy, affectionate manner, there was no romance in their relationship. Similar to Elijah, their relationship was a bond like a cross between friends, brothers and confidents. It would never be romantic love and people seemed to find that hard to believe. So did Mark, it seemed. He'd accused Orlando of cheating on him with both Elijah and Dom. By this time though, Mark had already accused him of sleeping with several co-stars, including Johnny Depp, who Mark had developed an intense dislike for,

Of course this was based solely on Orlando's friendship with him. He didn't like Johnny's compliments of Orlando, or them laughing together. He certainly didn't like them hugging. He also seemed to overlook the fact that Johnny was happily married with two kids. Fortunately Johnny had shrugged Mark's behaviour, at least in public, privately it quickly became clear to Dom, Johnny was definitely apprehensive about Mark, and it had been obvious that the feeling was mutial from the way Johnny had glared and hovered rather protectively over Orlando each time Mark visited the sets. He'd warned Dom and Elijah to keep an eye on him. Johnny, it seemed, had met people like Mark before. But by then Orlando had ceased to correct Mark over his supposed 'affairs', saying Mark wouldn't believe him anyway. It pained Dom to see Orlando so beaten, in both senses of the word. He waited for a response, a sign that Orlando had heard him.

"I know," he whispered, pulling back from Dom slightly.

That was unexpected, to say the least. Orlando had never admitted his abuse, he never talked about it. Dom's heart soared. Would Orlando let himself be helped? Orlando looked up at Dom for a moment and beneath the tear stained, tired face he saw his friend, and Dom wanted to cry himself. It'd been so long since he'd seen any glimpse of his friend. He was beginning to think Orlando would be forever lost. "I ... I ... I'm scared, Dominic. I want to Mark to get better. I just keep thinking, if he can get help then things will get better ... he ... he'll stop and realise what's going on." Orlando paused for a moment.

"But it's not going to happen, I've tried so hard. I love him but ... he won't listen. He thinks I'm cheating on him, again. I'm sick of pretending, of fighting. I just want it to stop. Everything hurts so much." Tears began to fill his eyes again, but he brushed them away.

"Just ... let me get you out of here Orlando, please. We can figure everything else out later. But right now, we need to leave," Dom begged, getting off the bed. He wasn't sure when Mark would be back and he wanted Orlando long gone before that happened. Orlando nodded, not speaking. Dom let out an exhale of relief. Without speaking, Orlando took a bag from the wardrobe and quickly threw some clothes in it, not really paying much attention to what he was taking. It didn't matter anyway, who would care? Suddenly he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Dom asked. He really didn't want to hang around, and he was beginning to feel anxious and wouldn't relax until he had Orli far away from this place.

"Viggo" he whispered.

Dom stopped dead. Oh God. Not now, please, not when he was so close, they had to get out of here, Dom had no idea when Mark would be back and the desire to get out was over-powering. Orlando passed him a worn photo of himself and Viggo cuddled together, their faces beaming, love and happiness radiating from every pore. Dom felt his throat catch. Where had that come from? It must've been taken years ago, several creases making it look rather worn. Of course this is what had started the whole thing off ... Viggo.

Even now, Dom was amazed at how Viggo had got into Orlando's heart and stayed there, there was a time when Dominic would’ve understood that, the devotion a man like Viggo could inspire had been astonishing on the Rings set, Dom had loved Viggo then. He was someone for him to look up to, his love for Orlando had been obvious to her. So why had the stupid man ruined it, he couldn’t fathom how Viggo could be so in love with Orlando to only let him go, to force him away. He just couldn’t understand it.

Orli never talked about Viggo anymore because it `upset' Mark, of course Mark never considered it was painful for Orlando to talk about, no of course not, because Mark felt things mere mortals weren’t capable of, he had to be the more self-obsessed person Dominic had ever met. It was strange, to many Mark appeared confident, out-going...he got on well with people, so where did the paranoia, the innate anger come from? It was sickening to think that Dominic had actually once liked Mark, considered him ‘good’ for Orlando, that he proved a nice contrast to Viggo.

He’d never seemed to hold the artistic insecurities that Viggo had, never gone to lengths to conceal their relationship, if anything Mark had sought to display Orlando to the world. Dom had thought that was good at first. Everyone how Mark had made Orlando open up again.

It was difficult to pinpoint when things had noticeably changed. Orlando’s withdrawal had been so graduate, so carefully crafted by Mark they never noticed. People lost contact, conflicting schedules, photoshoots and globe trotting were all too easy, no wonder Mark had gained such control over Orlando. Everyone knew Orlando suffered from over-work, he’d push himself to the limits before he relaxed, so not seeing him for months at a time had not been unusual for the Fellowship. It was Elijah who noticed first, how Orlando’s eyes began to dim, a slow silence creeping over him, how the clothes slowly changed, bright colours locked away, hiding himself in swathes of dark shapeless fabrics. Elijah had noticed all of these.

His hostility to Mark had grown and still Dom hadn’t been able to see it, had accused Elijah of seeing things…God how he regretted that now. Elijah had the best instincts he’d ever seen, why hadn’t he listened to him? If he had found out sooner, had listened to Elijah he could’ve got Orlando away before things got this bad. Mark’s loathing of Viggo had even forced Orlando to distance himself from those friendly with Viggo: Liv, Beanie, Ian, Henry even Kate of all people (though why Mark thought Kate would in any way be associated with Viggo was beyond him) all this Orlando had done, a fading smile on his face. But it was never enough for Mark. Nothing was.

He knew how much it hurt Orlando. He hadn't meant to cut them out of his life and even though he still kept in contact with them, it wasn't the same, and frankly it wasn't worth the grief Mark would give Orlando afterwards. They'd all been concerned over Orlando's appearance. He thought Ian definitely suspected something; he was sharp and knew what to look for, but hadn't said anything except to tell Dom to take care of him. Beanie had asked Dom outright what was wrong, but he'd just shrugged; what could he say? Orlando would only deny it. Of course, it didn't convince Beanie, but there wasn't much he could do. He briefly wondered if Beanie had told Viggo about Orlando. He wasn't sure whose idea it had been or who started it, but Viggo and Orlando didn't communicate anymore. Not since that party.

He was somewhat amazed that Mark had allowed Orlando `access' to the outside world. This really pissed Dominic off more than anything - the manic controlling. It was as if he viewed Orlando as his possession, his toy to mould into whatever he saw fit, and he would be punished if Orlando did not conform. He hated Orlando acting, his clothes, and his co-stars. He hated his friends, and he absolutely loathed anyone remotely connected with Viggo, or more specifically, anyone who liked Viggo.

When he'd read an interview where Viggo mentioned Orlando, he'd flown up in such a rage that it had taken Orlando two hours to calm him down and convince him that he wasn't have a secret affair or plotting to get back with Viggo. He marveled that Mark could be so blind, Viggo didn’t want Orlando, he’d made that painfully obvious and any sort of reunion between the two was out of the question, although that would be million times more preferable than staying with Mark. ANYTHING would be preferable to this

His mind briefly turned to the media. How they were going to keep this secret was a worry; the last thing Orlando needed was the sodding Paparazzi hounding him. Usually Orlando managed to keep away when he had bruises, but on the rare occasions that the vultures did catch him out and about, he had pretended it had been a stunt gone wrong. It had worked at first, but some of the tabloids were already making speculations, some of which Dom didn't want to know about. No, scratch that. He didn't want to know about any of them.

As an actor, he was still as popular as ever, but Orlando had grown to cherish his privacy. He didn't court publicity, despite what Mark thought. To have proof of his abuse splashed across national tabloids, or even worse, in England where his mum and sister could read it, would tear Orlando apart. He'd figure something out with Elijah; do some recon or plan a diversion of some kind. "That's what love's supposed to be, right?" Orlando asked as he carried on packing, searching for various items. "All smiles and hearts. What a lie," he muttered not looking up.

"Why does love hurt so much? I don't get it, do I have a `hurt me' sticker on my forehead?" he whispered, pausing slightly. Dom didn't respond, what could he say? It was true after all, not about the sign though. Both Viggo and Mark had severely hurt Orlando, although in very different ways. Truth be told, Dom didn't understand either.

"I want you to stay with me for a bit, or Lij, no arguments. I don't care which, OK? I just want you to be safe," Dom said, his voice authoritative. Orlando nodded as he grabbed his bag and took a last look in the mirror, cracking a wry smile.

"You think people will notice this?" he asked, motioning to his eye before he looked back at Dom.

"Yep. Which is why we're out of here," Dom said, as he navigated Orlando out the door to his car ... and to safety. Only then did Dom allow himself to breathe easily. "He'll know I've gone," Orlando whispered, looking back at the house.

"Maybe he could beat himself up instead, would make a nice change," muttered Dom. After all, who else would Mark have to target his anger at if Orli wasn't available? Dom didn't know and frankly didn't care. For all he cared, Mark could destroy the whole bloody place, preferably killing himself in the process. Orlando was away from there, and that was all that mattered. Right now their main focus was keeping Orlando safe and as far away from Mark as possible.

"Look, none of this was your fault Orli, ok?" Dom said, as they stopped at a traffic light. Orli didn't respond at first, he appeared lost in a world of his own. He hoped it was nicer than his current world, but then again, Mount Doom would have been a more pleasant environment. The room, the entire house had taken on a sickening appearance to Dom.

When Boromir had described the very air of Mordor as poison, he finally understood what was meant by that. He felt a knot in his stomach whenever he entered the house, feelings of disgust, sympathy and anger welling up uncontrollably when he thought about Orlando’s imprisonment here. There was something about the way Mark branded things, Orlando, the entire house seemed to permeate Mark’s possessiveness. It was a sickening thought. It almost reeked of it.

Things had come to a head yesterday when Elijah had tried to persuade Orlando to visit him and Billy, who was up for the week in between shooting. Being able to read between the lines, Billy had known something was worried, and his worry for his friends was palpable. It was only towards the end of the week that Orlando had caved into Elijah’s begging and had agreed to meet up with him and Billy, obviously Mark had not approved as Orlando had suddenly declined, pleading a stomach bug a note of almost fear in his voice.

Elijah had been more than a little pissed off at that, and against Billy’s entreats had dragged his fellow hobbit round to see Orlando and ‘shake some sense’ into him (although Elijah himself winced at the choice of words.) Upon arriving, they discovered Orlando, for once, alone, tear tracks visible down his face, several bruises on his too-thin wrists and one hell of a black eye that no amount of conceler would died. His face was almost white, lip bleeding slightly from where Orlando had bitten too hard. To see their once vibrant friend siting on the floor, shaking and trying desperately to wipe his tears away had terrified the two men.

Billy had been horrified at the state of his friend, all his worst fears confirmed and wrapping his desolte friend in his arms, had pleaded with Orlando to come back with them, or at least let them ring the police, both of which Orlando had naturally declined, a look of over-whelming fear and misery on his face. Billy had tried repeatly to persaude Orlando while he tried to comfort the almost petified Orlando but to no avail.

Elijah had finally lost patience and threatened to ring the police and forcibly remove Orlando if necessary. Then things had taken a worse turn. Orlando had got mad, to the astonishment of both men, and warning Elijah if he wanted their friendship to remain, then to stay the hell out of his relationships. Billy, knowing better than to force Orlando’s hand, had reluctantly said his goodbyes to Orlando and dragged the fuming Elijah away.

When Dom had received a furious phone-call from Elijah consisting mainly of ‘fucking bastard…kill him…Sodding git…stupid…cunt and killing the bastard motherfuker’ he’d turned to Billy for a translation, who had explained the unfolding of that afternoon's events. The look on Billy's face told Dom everything he needed to know.

While Elijah was still openly fuming, Billy had quietly taken Dom to one side and warned, with a note of obvious fear, that unless something was done, they would all loose Orlando, one way or another, and an obvious plea not to let that happen. Billy knew if anyone could get Orlando to listen, to get him out of his hellhole it would be Dom and Lij. Billy's worry terrified Dominic, and he decided drastic action had to be taken. This time he wouldn’t take no for an answer, Orlando was coming with him, willingly or not.

"Maybe it was ... maybe I didn't love him enough," Orli whispered, tears forming in his eyes again. When did he become such a cry-baby? Mark hated it when he cried. Mark hated him period; he told him often enough, but then Mark didn't leave him, he never abandoned him. He told Orlando he was weak, and maybe he was.

He'd never be strong, not really, regardless what others thought. He thought he could be happy with Mark. Sure he had a temper, but no one was perfect, right? Maybe Mark did love him, after all, `you always hurt the one you love'. Yes, Mark hurt him, but perhaps with that hurt came love. Could it be possible?

"Bullshit!" Dom snarled. "He's a sick fucking bastard who gets off on controlling you! All you ever did was love him beyond the call of duty. The cunt doesn't deserve you, especially not your fucking sympathy. For fuck's sake Orlando, you did everything you could. Please tell me how you failed him, because I sure as hell can't!" he yelled.

Normally he didn't swear that much, but God damn it! How could Orli even think of blaming himself for this? And for sympathy, forget it! Dom would never forgive Mark for what he’d done, and he sure as hell wouldn’t forget either. If only he could get Orli to ring the police that would be something.

The bastard deserved to rot in the seven circles of hell for his crimes, but failing that a nice cold jail cell would satisfy Dom for now. Hell, maybe Mark would even be on the receiving end of his own treatment. After all, prisons didn’t exactly maintain a…sterling reputation, did they? Mark would make a great bitch for someone. He knew he should be ashamed of his thoughts, he had never wished a person harm, but right then, he didn’t care. If Mark had been in front of him, he could have shot the man with no remorse and that terrified him. He was glad Mark wasn’t here

"Look, sorry Orli, I'm not mad at you, no one is. We'll sort this out, I promise. Lij is waiting for us. Think you can manage some pizza with two hobbits?" he grinned. For the first time, Orlando smiled. It might have been small and slightly uncertain, but it was there. As far as Dom was concerned, that right there was worthy of a celebration.

"Thanks Dom," he said as he bent down to tune the radio, a lingering sadness still hovering about him. So much went unsaid in those two words, both knew it was more than a simple thank you, though it didn't matter. But Dom felt more encouraged.

They had a long way to go yet. It would take a long time for Orli to recover, but now they had a chance, a real one to help Orli mend, and he'd be there for his friend every step of the way, both he and Lij would.

"No worries Orli. That's what friends are for, mate," Dom smiled. Orlando laughed and Dom felt himself chuckle as well.

*** end flashback ***

"So why ..." began Viggo, gazing at Orlando's battered form. Dom shook his head. Viggo really didn't understand.

"Mark forced him back," Dom sighed. "He knew Orlando wouldn't go back willingly, he still had enough self-respect not to do that. Besides, he knew me or Lij would kill him if came anywhere near our house. So he used a little ... 'leverage'. Us." At that Viggo's brow knitted in confusion.

"Hang on. Mark abuses Orlando, so he leaves-"

"He wouldn't leave at first, he wanted to try and get Mark help," Dom snorted, disbelief and disgust clear in his voice. How Orlando thought that someone like Mark could ever be helped was beyond him.

"You have no idea how long it took me and Lij to get Orlando to leave. Every time I saw Orli, he had more bruises or cuts, and every time he refused to leave. When I got him away that time I took him to straight to Elijah's and told Lij not to leave Orli on his own, no matter what. I wanted to call the police but Orlando refused. He was too embarrassed, said no one would believe him, and since there was no restraining order, there was nothing to stop Mark from coming round here, which he did." Viggo said nothing but he felt his blood boiling, remembering Dr. McCoy's words before. He definitely did not like the way this was going.

"He knew that Orli would be round at one of our places. He ... he thought Orlando was sleeping with us," Dominic laughed incredulously. It was a hollow laugh, with no humour, no warmth. It chilled Viggo.

"It was so stupid; I should've taken Orlando somewhere else, anywhere else. You'd think I'd realise it would be the first place he'd come, but at the time I just wanted to get Orlando away. I didn't think." Dom sounded angry with himself, no, furious. Something that Viggo found he could identify with over the last few hours.

"Look, you were just trying to help, don't beat yourself up over it," Viggo sighed, and then cringed at his choice of words. Considering he was a poet, there were times that he could be so dumb when it came to using them.

"I mean, you did what you thought was best at the time, end of story. You got Orlando away from Mark, which sounds like a Herculean task in itself. You were there for Orlando, don't forget that. You can't take into account everyone's actions and thoughts; there's always going to be unforeseen circumstances-"

"But I should've seen that one coming! It was so obvious."

"Most things are, in hindsight," Viggo said gently. "God, the amount of stuff I'd change if I had the chance. At least you had Orlando's well-being at heart; you took the only viable option. I doubt Orlando had anywhere else to go at that time."

"He said he was going to go back to England. He really meant it as well. I really thought things would get better; Mark couldn't follow him to England, but he didn't need to. He used his best weapon against Orlando, his love. He threatened Elijah, me, anyone he could think of. His idea was that Orlando would do anything to keep us safe-"

"Even go back to him," Viggo finished. Shaking his head, he clenched his fist, resisting the urge to punch the wall. "And guess what? It worked. Orlando went back to Mark and the beatings started again. He refused to leave again - didn't want us getting hurt." There was silence between the two men. Viggo's mind began to reel. How long had Mark kept this enforced relationship on Orlando? Dom went to sit down by Orlando.

"Fuck! He stayed with Mark because of me! Me and Elijah, we were supposed to protect him ... he's our friend. I should've known something like this would happen. He was dead already; I suppose he thought killing his body wouldn't make a difference, since he'd already died inside. Perhaps it was an act of rebellion against Mark?" he asked looking up at Viggo, his eyes pleading.

"Maybe it was Orlando's way of fighting Mark," Viggo offered as he moved over to Dom, pausing for a moment. He wanted to offer Dominic comfort, but he wasn't sure how, or even if it would be welcome. He settled for putting a hand on Dominic's shoulder. It wasn't shrugged off. For a long while the only sounds in the room were the quiet beeps and whirls of the breathing equipment.

"I called you because I know Orlando needs you. He still loves you Viggo, and you love him. He needs you to recover." The admission was greeted with silence at first, as Viggo processed the words and the truth that surrounded them.

"I'll stay here, as long as Orlando needs me. I ... I'm here if either of you need me," he added, slightly more quiet. He doubted Dom would be willing to accept his offer. Undoubtedly, he had used up all his credit in Dom's eyes and was only putting up with him for Orlando's sake.

"Thank you," Dom said quietly, which surprised Viggo, but he said nothing at the moment. "Thank you for coming, for just being here. I know how much it hurts you. I've been really harsh with you and I'm sorry. You don't deserve that, you didn't put Orlando here. I'm just so scared. Scared that even if Orlando wakes up we'll still have lost him," Dom admitted. "What if he's never the same again?"

"He can't be the same, Dom. Not after this, nor can we.

Everything's changed. We just have to be there for Orlando, let him know we still love him, no matter what." There was a pause for a moment.

"I can do that," Dom declared.

"Things will get better, Dom. I'm not leaving, not now. I've run away too many times."

"Time to seize your destiny, oh King of Men?" Dom grinned. Viggo smiled at that. He missed Dom's humour.

"Something like that," he answered honestly. He'd ask Dom about the injuries later.

"I…I'm glad you're here Viggo, we both are," Dom sighed quietly. He knew how much the events had taken their toll on Elijah, and Dom himself was tired. He needed someone else to help, someone he could confine his fears in; he needed reassurance that Orlando was going to be alright, even if it was a lie. For the first time since his arrival, he was truly glad of Viggo's company.

"Hey, Vig?" Dom asked, realizing it'd been the first time since his arrival that he'd used Viggo's nickname. It felt good. Viggo smiled slightly. Orlando had always called him that, knowing how much it irratated him but a flash of that charming smile had melted that... Orlando had been able to get away with a lot with that smile...Dom grinned back, for a breif second everything was right.

"Think you can get Beanie, Eric and Karl to help us dismember Mark?" Us? Was Dom including Viggo in that? The smile on Dom's face confirmed it.

"That, you can count on," Viggo said, and he meant every word. And from the look on Dom's face, so did he.

TBC

Comments

[dreamerswings42.livejournal.com]

Heavy stuff, but explains a lot.

I liked Dom and Vig coming to terms with each other. That is the only way for them to work together. Vig has come to a realization I think.... ""Things will get better, Dom. I'm not leaving, not now. I've run away too many times." "Time to seize your destiny, oh King of Men?" Dom grinned. Viggo smiled at that. He missed Dom's humour. " I just hope Orli will come back to them... hoping here...hoping ;-)

Thanks

[lasairfhiona.livejournal.com]

Great part(s). Now we know so much behind what happened and why. Their banding together to help Orli will help them too. Can't wait for more and to see how the others all come to terms with what happened to Orli.