Title: The Downward Spiral - Part Twenty-Five Disclaimer: Never happened. "Everything's gone white And everything's gray Now you're here Now you're away... Don't let the days go by" -- Bush Orlando cursed every single day of the two weeks he spent with Peter and Viggo and John on the South Island, filming the search for Merry and Pippin. It rained almost every day and the gloom seemed to suit Orlando's mood. He was cold and wet and miserable and lost. He had no real idea what he was going to do. He was like a goddamn heroine in some bad Gothic romance novel -- finding his love too late to save them. No...no. Orlando couldn't accept that. Dom was merely infatuated. Who wouldn't be? Karl was the most sensuously sexy man Orlando had ever seen. What was not to want? It would be impossible not to respond to all that raw, untamed sexuality, that masculine grace. I saw him first... But now Orlando knew what was behind the promise in those eyes; he saw the poison, the corruption. A pretty package hiding a hideous truth. Saving Dom from that had become his only thought. He'd tried out idea after idea in his lonely hotel room every night. He'd refused to go out with Viggo and John; all he really wanted to do was go home. Every day he was here -- every day Dom was with Karl -- would just make it that much harder for Orlando to tear him away. There had to be something he could do, some way to reach him. Night after night, in spite of Orlando's best efforts to go to bed exhausted, he dreamed the same dream. Dom, with lifeless gray eyes and cold voice, telling him to go away, to leave him alone. And Karl was always there, laughing at him, drugging him with sweet kisses that enflamed and promised...and then choking him, squeezing the life out of his body as he whispered that Dom belonged to him and only him, forever. It left Orlando shaking every single morning, his bed sheets tangled around legs that tried to run, tried to escape, but how can someone escape their own goddamn brain? No amount of alcohol had helped, no amount of planning could change it. It was the same dream, the same fucked-up nightmare. Delays in shooting caused by the unending fucking rain meant Orlando spent even more downtime in his room, plotting, planning. He was missing something, he wasn't seeing something. How the fuck could Dom just give himself over so completely to Karl like that? This was beyond great sex, beyond Dom's need to belong, beyond Karl's desire to possess. This was fucked-up on an entirely different level. How could Orlando even hope to compare to Karl? Every day Orlando went to work, did his best to forget by losing himself in Legolas, by being calm, cool and collected. Every night, he paced and drank, tried to forget that he'd thrown away his best friend, the love of his life, all for the sake of a little one-upmanship. Fuck. How could he have been so stupid? He'd allowed this to happen as surely as if he'd pushed Dom into Karl's arms and handed him a bottle of fucking lube. Fuck. Orlando was beyond impatient when Peter finally heli'd them off the island, back to the North Island, back to civilization. Back to Dom. Two weeks wasn't so long. Maybe Orlando still had a chance to do something. One thing was for fucking sure, he wasn't waiting any longer. He threw his bags into Viggo's trunk and waited for him to start the car, get them going. Carpooling had seemed like such a great idea on the way out. Now it was just another thing out of his control, another thing holding him back from getting to Wellington as fast as possible. * * * Viggo waited until they'd been on the road for about twenty minutes before speaking. "You wanna talk about it?" "Talk about what?" "What's been going through your head the past couple of weeks. I've never seen you this anti-social." Orlando shrugged, his laugh bitter. "People change." "Not you." "Shows what you know. I never thought Dom could change either, but there you are." God, just saying Dom's name hurt his heart. "Is that what this has all been about? Dom?" "What's to talk about? Dommie's gone purely fucking insane and no one seems to care enough to save him." "How has he gone insane?" Orlando stayed stubbornly silent. It wasn't his fault if people couldn't see things as clearly as he could. A long pause, then Viggo spoke up again. "Can I ask you something?" Another shrug. "Sure." "How long have you been in love with him?" And, just like that, all of Orlando's anger vanished, leaving nothing except despair to take its place. "I don't know," he said, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "Seems like forever, though." "So why didn't you make your move before Dom?" "What're you...?" Orlando twisted in his seat, blinking in shock. "You think I'm in love with Karl?" "You trying to tell me you're not attracted to him? I was there that first night, remember. I saw you two." Someone had turned Orlando's entire world upside-down. "That's not...that's not the point. It's not...I'm not in love with Karl, alright." "So, it's Dom," Viggo nodded. "Then why did the two of you ever make that stupid bet?" Orlando's jaw just dropped. Jesus Christ. Was nothing sacred? "How did...?" "Everybody knew about it," Viggo shrugged. "Sean and I used to joke about who would be the tie-breaker, since you were both so evenly matched." "It was Karl," Orlando mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. The car was suddenly too small. "That explains a lot." "No, it doesn't. It's not about the goddamn bet anymore. I wish everyone would stop mentioning it." "Who's everyone?" "Dommie." "What happened with you two?" "Don't wanna talk about it. I just need to catch him alone, to talk some sense into him, that's all. I can save him, Vig. I can." Viggo took his eyes off the road for a brief moment to give Orlando an incredulous look. "Orlando, have you ever considered the fact that maybe Dom doesn't want to be saved?" "No." Orlando's denial was immediate. "He just doesn't see." "Maybe he does. Have you ever really looked at the two of them together? They fit." "You don't understand what Karl is capable of," Orlando whispered, unconsciously rubbing his neck. His lips still burned at the memory of their kiss. "No, actually, I think I've got a pretty good idea," Viggo countered. "Karl's a very intense man, very focused. I imagine he wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea of someone on his territory." "We're not talking about some fucking piece of property!" Orlando shouted, the sound booming in the small space. "We're talking about my best friend." "No." Viggo didn't raise his voice, but the sound reverberated through the car all the same. "What we're talking about is your refusal to see the facts. Dom wants to be with Karl and Karl sure as fuck wants to be with Dom. They're both adults, they've made their decision. You need to let this go before you get hurt." Orlando blinked back unexpected tears. He hadn't really expected Viggo to understand...how could he, when Orlando didn't understand it himself? "It's too late," was all he said and was quiet the rest of the ride back home. Onto Part Twenty-Six Main The Downward Spiral page If you enjoyed this fic, please leave feedback here. Thanks!