[November 23rd] [The Rockford Files-related] Chronicles of a Friendship, 23

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: Chronicles of a Friendship, scene 23
Day/Theme: November 23rd - Shattered Memories
Series: The Rockford Files (using characters from The Queen of Peru episode)
Character/Pairing: Ginger Townsend, Lou Trevino
Rating: PG-13/T

Part 1 of a two-part thing.


By Lucky_Ladybug

The explosion stunned Ginger. Even after it stopped, the noise was still ringing in his ears.

What stunned him more, however, was the fact that he had been tackled out of the way and shielded. And now, as he lay sprawled on the ground, he could feel the strong arms still around him.

They were limp now.

“Lou?!” Ginger sat up like a shot, whirling to look at his best friend. Lou was laying next to him, still. But, Ginger immediately noticed, he was breathing.

With a momentary sigh of relief, Ginger bent over Lou, checking for damage to his neck and spine. All seemed normal. But, not satisfied that Lou was alright, Ginger looked next for bruises or bumps on his head.

Hopefully, Lou was just stunned from the blast and was unconscious because he had taken the worst of the shock. Ginger couldn’t find serious injuries, just a cut over Lou’s left eye. He took out a handkerchief, dabbing at the blood.

“Lou . . . why did you go and do such a bloody foolish thing?” Ginger muttered under his breath. “You don’t even remember me.”

It had nearly shattered Ginger when he had realized it.

It had all started because Michael had been missing for several days. Lou had apparently received a tip that Michael was wandering alone on the docks, and with Ginger unavailable, Lou had gone off alone to look for him. Hours later he had not returned. Ginger had found him in a drugged daze on the docks, unable to remember anything about himself or the people he loved.

The amnesia hadn’t worn off even after the drug had. The doctor Ginger had taken Lou to felt that Lou had witnessed a horrific calamity, perhaps involving his brother, and had mentally blocked everything out because of it.

Ginger wasn’t entirely satisfied with that explanation. Lou was a strong man. If he wouldn’t block everything out after witnessing Ginger shooting Michael, Ginger could scarcely comprehend that anything else could prompt such an extreme reaction. The doctor had agreed but suggested that perhaps the drug had heightened whatever he had seen and had caused him to want to block everything out, even if the drug hadn’t directly done the blocking.

But regardless of what had caused it, it had been there, and Ginger had been struggling to get Lou to remember something, anything, ever since.

Mostly Lou had been confused and somewhat skittish. He didn’t know who to trust and wasn’t about to trust Ginger just because Ginger said they were friends. And he refused to talk about Michael the few times Ginger had tried to approach the subject.

After a while Lou had started to remember snatches, but it seemed that he was getting back all the worst memories—Ginger shooting Michael, Ginger going berserk on their enemies, and Lou beating Ginger unconscious. But with only part of the story, Lou hadn’t recalled that Ginger was firing an intimidation shot and hadn’t meant to seriously hurt Michael, or that Ginger was trying to protect Lou when he attacked those enemies, or that Lou was possessed when he beat Ginger. Ginger trying to tell him the rest hadn’t gone over well at all, particularly his awkward attempt at explaining possession. Lou had laughed in disbelief and had decided that Ginger was his enemy. It had crushed Ginger, even though he had understood.

Lou stirred now, groaning as he tried to bat Ginger’s hand away from his forehead. Ginger moved his hand and the handkerchief back, examining the cut again. “Lou!” he called. “Are you alright?”

“Ginger?” Lou rolled onto his back, distraught. “Ginger, please forgive me. You’re dead and I couldn’t save you. Oh God, please . . . !”

“Lou, what are you on about?! You did save me. You took the worst of the blast for my sake.” Ginger gripped Lou’s shoulder. “Lou, look at me!”

Lou’s eyes slowly opened. “Ginger?” He reached up, feeling Ginger’s arm to make sure it was real. “You . . . you’re okay?”

“Yes. And you? Lou, do you remember me?!” Ginger watched his friend with desperate urgency. Lou had sounded like he might indeed remember. Ginger wanted to believe it, but was afraid of being disappointed.

“Yeah.” Lou sat up, despite the pain. “Ginger, I . . . I can hardly believe I ever forgot you.” He looked at the older man, anguish clearly displayed on his features. “How can you forgive me for that?”

“Bah! You weren’t doing it on purpose. But what did happen?” Ginger frowned. “Do you remember that?”

Lou thought about it. “Sort of. I remember somebody sticking a needle in me and then telling me I was going to forget things and only remember stuff that would look really bad for you by itself.”

“Narco-hypnosis?” Ginger’s eyes narrowed. “But it’s still not supposed to do things you wouldn’t do.”

Lou looked down. “I was told that I had to do it to protect you,” he choked out. “It works if they can find a way to trick you like that. With the drug in me, it sounded logical the way they said it. Ginger, I . . . I’ve hurt you so much!” He covered his eyes with his hands. “They said if I remembered anything good about knowing you, they’d kill you. But I guess really seeing you in trouble tonight broke all of their post-hypnotic garbage.”

“What about Michael?” Ginger asked. It was a desperate struggle to control the fury he felt over the utter cruelty that had been heaped on Lou. It sounded like something Dr. Portman or one of her students would do. Ginger couldn’t feature anyone else going to so much trouble to drive a wedge between him and Lou.

Lou froze. Then, slowly, he took his hands away and looked up at Ginger, heartsick. “Mike’s dead,” he said. “After they pumped me full of that stuff, they brought in Mike’s body . . . or what was left of it. They said that would happen to you if I didn’t forget our friendship.”

Ginger was not convinced. “You were completely under the influence of whatever they used. How do you know Michael is dead? Did you ever see him when you were in your right mind?”

Lou frowned. “No,” he admitted. “I guess I could’ve been hallucinating, but . . . I touched him! And all that blood. . . .”

“Perhaps you weren’t hallucinating,” Ginger said. “Perhaps Michael was badly hurt, but alive.”

Lou looked ready to be sick. “Ginger, what I saw was . . . dismemberment.”

Ginger stiffened, swearing under his breath. “Where was this?” he demanded. “Do you think you could find your way back there?”

Lou blinked, considering the question. “Maybe,” he said slowly. “So many places look alike around here.”

“Try,” Ginger insisted. “Perhaps it was still a trick. And perhaps they’ve moved and Michael wouldn’t still be there, but we should check, just in case.”

Finally Lou nodded. “Maybe you’re right, Buddy. And even if you’re not and Mike’s dead . . . we have to know that too.” Drawing a deep, shuddering breath, he got to his feet.

Ginger rose with him. “It wouldn’t have been this building what was just blown to bits now, would it?”

“I don’t think so,” Lou said. “Although I don’t know why this place was sent to Kingdom Come.” He sighed and started to shuffle ahead.

Ginger caught up and kept pace with his friend. Lou was still very shaken and really didn’t want to do this. He was terrified of what he was going to find. But at the same time, he knew it had to be done. He would press on no matter what his feelings were.

“Ginger . . . I’m so sorry.”

Ginger looked to him. “You don’t have to say that. I know. And I certainly don’t blame you. I blame the sadistic wretches what took you.”

“I shouldn’t have listened to them, even under the drug,” Lou berated. “Or at least I should’ve had better sense when it wore off.”

“The doctor was right about you witnessing something bloody traumatic,” Ginger said bitterly. “In your situation, I can’t imagine anyone with a heart wouldn’t react the same or similar.”

“I guess.” Lou trudged along for a time in silence. Ginger wasn’t sure how long it had been when Lou suddenly gasped and bent down. “This thing . . .”

Ginger looked. Lou was straightening up holding an arm off a mannequin, coated in what seemed to be fake blood.

“Could that have been what they showed you?” Ginger demanded. “When you were stoned, perhaps it looked real.”

Lou dropped it as though it was filthy. “It could’ve been,” he said. But he didn’t want to fully accept the idea until he knew what had happened to Mike. Seeing a warehouse up ahead, he tried to steel himself and approach it.

Ginger hastened after him. But Lou still got in first, and then Ginger heard an agonized cry. “Mike!”

Ginger wasted no time in rushing inside. Lou was kneeling on the floor next to a complete body, his hands shaking as he searched for a pulse. “Mike, please . . . please be alright.” Gently he brushed Mike’s dark hair away from his closed eyes, as he had done when they were kids. “Please.”

Ginger was already taking out his phone to call for an ambulance. “Is he alive?”

Lou gave a trembling nod. “Yeah. But I think he’s been drugged.”

Ginger’s lip curled. There was no way of knowing whether it was a simple sleeping drug or the same, cruel hallucinogen that Lou had been forcefully given. And if it was the latter . . . what sort of treacherous commands had they fed to Michael?

Hopefully at least now that they knew about the narco-hypnosis, they could help Michael out of any bizarre state in which he might awaken.

“Hello?” Ginger barked as a dispatcher came on the line. “My chum’s brother is lying unconscious and most likely drugged.”

Lou barely heard as Ginger gave the best directions he could for the ambulance to find them. He was staring at Mike’s pale face, simultaneously overjoyed that his brother was still very much in one piece but alarmed and worried over his senseless state.

“Wake up, Mike,” he pleaded. “It’s me. It’s Lou. Can you hear me at all? Do you know I’m here with you?”

Ginger hung up and bent down near the brothers. Seeing Lou’s anguish was making him remember how upset Lou had been when Ginger had shot Michael and had even briefly thought that Michael was dead. Knowing what he had done and how it had hurt Lou had made him furious and upset with himself.

He pushed those thoughts aside. That was all so long ago. Lou had forgiven him and Michael had recovered. But what about this situation now? Would Michael recover from this? Would Lou?

“The ambulance is on its way,” he said. “If it wasn’t for how far we’d have to carry him, I’d say we should get out of here and go back to the car.”

Lou nodded blankly. It had been a struggle just to carry Mike several feet to the car when Ginger had wounded him. There was no way they could carry him all the way to the car when it was maybe even a mile or more away. Especially when Lou was still feeling shaky from the explosion.

Not knowing what to say or do, Ginger laid a hand on Lou’s shoulder.

Lou immediately reached up with his free hand, gripping Ginger’s. So much was said in that desperate action without words at all.

Thank you for not abandoning me, for always being here, even after what I did to you.

Ginger’s grip tightened.

You tried to protect me. I can’t claim as much; when I hurt you, it was thoughtless. And you never abandoned me.

They remained there until the ambulance arrived.