Author's Notes: This is actually a fanfic based on a fanfic. A continuation and different take on Sugah's AU fanfic One Thing. I wrote it in my car during my lunch break one summer. The title comes from the concrete river that features in Sugah's story.
Rating: R
Pairing: Davis/Ken implied
Written: 2004
For the first time since this whole escapade had begun, Ken allowed himself to relax. Not a lot. Just a bit. Relaxing too much got you killed. But Matt and Sora were in the back with Tai. They had already passed the worse of the checkpoints without incident. Everything seemed to be fine.
Maybe it was okay to relax.
The road here was not the absolute best, certainly not the best he'd driven on tonight, but it was better than any of the roads in the slums. None of the streetlights worked and the only illumination came from the van's headlights. But the potholes were few, far between, and none of them were big enough to completely wreck the van should Ken hit one. The pavement wasn't disintegrating along the edges. Nails, jagged metal, and shards of broken glass filled the gutters, but the road itself was fairly clear.
In other words, the road was drivable. That alone made it better than the ones in the slums. Everything was better outside the slums. Story of his fucking life.
Ken needed a cigarette.
"I need a cigarette," Ken announced. He wondered if it was safe enough to take one hand off the wheel and dig through his pockets. Probably not, but he wanted a cigarette so bad he could practically taste the nicotine.
"You know, those things will kill you." This came from Matt. Ken snorted.
"Only if I'm lucky." He almost demanded that Matt tell him why that mattered. Ken would die long before the effects of smoking would make themselves known. Live in poverty, die young. Why shouldn't he enjoy life while he could?
Instead Ken bit his cheek and remained silent after his initial remark. There were times like this when his high town friends and him shared a common goal. It was then that Ken forgot just how different the world he lived in was from the others. Matt would go to his high-rise home, Sora to her middle class neighborhood, and he'd return back to the only place he'd ever known.
Sometimes Ken didn't fucking care. Sometimes it hurt like hell to be reminded of where he would die.
"How much farther till we get to this place of yours Matt?" Ken asked. Matt had said he had some kind of hidey-hole set up in mid-town. Nothing too fancy. They didn't want to attract unwanted attention.
"Not much farther." Matt leaned forward from the back of the van to see where they were. "About four blocks down take a left."
"Right." Given how late it was, Ken didn't think he was going to be returning to his own bed tonight. If he tried to get through the checkpoint into the slums at this time of night he'd get the shit beat out of him for sure. He hoped no one would take his absence as an invitation to move into his space. Even though Ken had acquired a reputation for being someone you didn't mess with, there were always people desperate enough to try.
"Here it is. Turn left. We're only about fifteen minutes and another checkpoint away," Matt said. Ken turned. "You guys can stay if you want. I didn't think it would take this long."
"Hmm." It was a non-committal. Despite the fact that Ken doubted Matt would hurt him, years of survival instinct urged him never to reveal his plans and never to trust anyone. Matt rolled his eyes as he moved to the back of the van once more.
"Is that a yes or a no Ken?" Sora asked. There was humor in her voice. Ken chuckled, briefly to himself. He glanced in the rearview mirror, but couldn't see her expression in the darkness. His eyes returned to the road.
What he saw there made his heart stop.
Davis was standing in the middle of the road. His trench coat flared around him and the headlights glinted off silver chains. Ken could see the red strands in Davis's hair, was close enough to see the reproachful look in his eyes. There was no way Ken was going to stop in time.
That didn't stop him from trying. Ken literally stood on the brake, coming out of his seat and putting all of his weight on it. He smelled burning rubber. The squeal of the tires grated against his nerves. Sora, Matt and Tai slid forward, Matt and Sora yelled in shock while Tai remained blissfully unconscious.
It wasn't going to work. Ken closed his eyes, not wanting to see the impact. He would be able to feel it, there was no getting around that, but at least he wouldn't have to see it. He held the wheel loosely as the back end of the van began to fishtail. Any moment the jolting impact would occur. Any moment...
The van slid to a halt, it's end almost perpendicular to the direction they had been traveling. Ken could hear how heavy his own breathing was. His heart was pounding, hard enough that he could feel it in his veins. Seconds ticked by. The sound of the engine seemed unnaturally loud.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Ken didn't even acknowledge the question. There was no way he could have avoided hitting Davis. There was no way.
Matt was still demanding answers as Ken reached for the door handle. He knew he had to have hit Davis. He needed to see it for himself. Ken's hands were shaking so badly that it took him three tries before he got the door open. Adrenaline was making him light headed.
Ken stumbled out of the van, using its headlights to see the world around him. There was the curb and the gutter filled with broken glass that shown in the light. A blackened wreck stood just off the road. It was barely distinguishable from the darkness. Grass grew bright and green through the cracks in the sidewalks.
I saw him. I know I did. Ken had to wonder what he looked like standing in the middle of the road in his ripped pants, his patched jacket and his stained shoes. He wondered if he looked as lost as he felt.
It was the lack of eyes that warned him that something was up. Ken was use to always being watched, to the ever-present feeling of eyes on him. That feeling was gone. No one was watching. It sent icy fingers down Ken's spine.
At that moment the headlights flickered. Ken swallowed against the fear or being plunged into total darkness in the middle of the street. The engine to the van coughed once and died. The headlights remained on, but were dimmer than they were before.
Ken raced back to the van expecting at any moment to be attacked. He slammed the door shut, locked it, and then reached over to lock the passenger side door as well. "Sora, lock the back doors. Matt, what the fuck happened to the van?"
"Nothing. We didn't touch it. It just cut off." There was a slight note of panic in Matt's voice. Ken could relate. He was this close to panicking as well.
A quick turn of the keys still in the ignition produced... nothing. No ignition. No clicking. Just nothing. Ken pumped the gas pedal and tried again. Still nothing. They were stuck.
"What's going on?"
"We have visitors," Ken replied.
As if summoned by his words, there was a loud thump from the roof. The whole van rocked on its wheels. Sora let out a small squeal and Ken himself jumped. All three of them were staring at the roof of the van as footsteps slowly made their way towards the front.
"Ken, get us out of here," Matt yelled.
"I'm trying." This is what I get for trusting him. Ken kept turning the key, hoping against hope that this time the van would start. I never thought this would happen. Never thought Davis would hurt me. Look where it got me.
"Okay," Ken whispered to himself. "Okay. I need to calm down." He forced himself to relax his grip on the steering wheel. The footsteps were right above him. A cold sweat had sprung up on Ken's skin, but his mind was mercifully blank. "This better work."
"Fix... fix..."
"Ken what the Hell are you doing?" Ken ignored him and continued to hold his hand over the ignition.
"Fix... fix... fix." He turned the key and the van roared to life.
Hang on! Ken didn't know if he said it out loud or just in his mind. He floored the gas. Tires squealed as the van leapt forward, sending Sora, Matt and Tai slamming into the back doors. Overhead, Ken heard the screech of claws on metal as something, someone... Davis... tried to hang on.
Then they were speeding towards Matt's place, leaving the night behind them.