Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: This is a warning to you all. This series will be dark and kind of OOC (out of character).
Broken
Matt sipped the soda Tera had pushed into his hands. Around him, over a hundred teens danced to pounding music and talked amongst each other. An empty-headed red head mindlessly flirted with him. He paid no attention to her, though she was oblivious to the brush off.
The DJ bounced his head to the beat of the music from the records he spun. Tera and Aaron danced wildly on the dance floor with Tai and Sora. Kari had disappeared the moment they had gotten to the dance, but with a brief sweep of the crowd, Matt found her dancing with a bunch of ravers. TK found a cute raven-haired girl that had began dancing with him. Now she was sucking on his neck against a wall off to the side of the room.
He took another drink and looked down at the girl still hitting on him. She pushed herself up against him, giving him the advantage to stare down his shirt. He looked away, disgusted.
His eyes immediately found Taylor. She was dancing with some guy. She danced with the grace of a swan and, he was disgusted to think, sexy. Because she was.
"So, do you think you might want to hook up after the party?" The girl asked seductively.
"No," he replied.
"Why not? What, are you gay?" She snapped.
"No, I'm not. But if I say yes will you go away?"
She stepped back, but Matt maintained his ridged posture. She turned away and cast a glare over her shoulder at him. "Whatever, bitch."
"Do you realize you just got called a bitch?" He twisted around to see Tera, smirking.
"I have to say, I've never been called a bitch before."
"Now I know what to call you." She grabbed his hand. "You're bumming me out." She pulled him out to the dance floor beside Aaron, Tai and Sora. "Now you're going to dance and you're going to like it." He laughed and let her lead.
As the neon and black lights lit the room, his eyes found Taylor again. She was still dancing with the same boy from before and Matt fought a foreign feeling of jealousy.
"I wouldn't go anywhere near her if I were you," Tera warned. "After whatever you did to her after school, she doesn't want to have anything to do with you, and my brother will be on your ass faster then you could think."
"Is she mad at me?"
"No, of course not!" Tera twirled around. "Taylor's never mad at anyone. She's terrified of you right now."
"Scared of me?"
"Yes indeed."
"MATT!" Matt looked up and saw Trevor standing off to the side.
"Am I going to lose my dance partner?" Tera asked with mock sadness in her voice. He didn't answer. Tera gave him a playful shove in Trevor's direction. "Go ahead!"
Matt walked over to Trevor. "Hey man, what are you doing here? I really didn't think this was your thing," Matt called over the music.
"It's not," Trevor shrugged. He wiped his hands on his jeans as if being there just made them dirty. "I came to save you from this preppy hell pit. But apparently you don't need saving." He pointed to Tera who was desperately trying to inch away from some nerd who was trying to dance with her. "Getting it on with Mr. Popular's girlfriend. Score!" He made an obscene thrusting motion and let out a high-pitched giggle.
"Gross," Matt replied. "There is no 'getting it on' with Tera. That's just…not right."
Trevor laughed. "Come on, we're outta here."
"Where are we going?"
"Out." They walked out of the club. Matt glanced back at the others. Everyone was still dancing and talking. His eyes couldn't find TK. "Matt, let's go." They walked out of the club and into the dark parking lot. "That's our ride." A blue Cadillac's lights flipped on, half blinding Matt. Trevor jumped in and Matt slid into the back seat beside Dylan, a green haired speed freak; Justin, a guy who had apparently been out of the closet for a few years; and Janie, Dylan's girlfriend sat in his lap. Jeff was in front driving, with Trevor beside him.
"Hey Matt," Janie greeted with a warm smile. She reached across Justin and stroked Matt's cheek. He pulled away, uncomfortable.
"Hey!" Dylan snapped at Janie, with a grin. "You're mine," he claimed, before launching into a long kiss with her.
"Stop trying to hit on him, Jane, and just jump into his pants!" Justin said as he made an attempt to stick his hand under the waistband of Matt's jeans.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Matt screamed. Justin laughed.
"Hey! No sex in the back of my car!" Jeff yelled.
Trevor laughed. "Calm down Matt. Justin won't do much."
"Yeah," Justin shrugged. "You sure you're straight? You have some definite potential." He played with the diamond stud in his ear.
"Yes, I'm positive! I am straight!" Matt snapped. Justin just didn't seem to get it!
Big gay Justin rolled his eyes. "So in denial."
Matt rolled his eyes. Sometimes he hated the people he hung out with. No, most of the time he hated the people he hung out with. At least Dylan wasn't trying to get down his pants like Justin and Janie. But that just meant he probably wasn't high.
Matt looked out the window, nervous about sitting with Justin. They were driving out of town. Past Saguaro, the high school whose football team was number one in the city. "Where are we going?" He asked as they drove passed the Safeway, the last piece of civilization they hit before desert.
"There's a desert party out here," Jeff said from behind the wheel.
"A desert party?"
"What? People in Japan don't have any fun?" Trevor asked sarcastically. "Yes, a desert party. It's a party in the middle of the desert. There's a lot of drinking and partying."
"And getting high," Dylan laughed. Janie silenced him with a kiss again.
They turned down a dark dirt road. Off in the distance, Matt could see light in the distance. Flames flickering lightly. They pulled up to a huge open field surrounded by giant saguaros. Teens raced around the huge bonfire as they drank and talked while loud music played in the background. Matt recognized a few folks from his school, but no more then ten of the fifty people there.
Trevor, Jeff, Janie, Dylan and Justin filed out of the car. After a minute of hesitation, Matt followed, slamming the car door as he got out. The others had already acquired drinks and joints. Trevor tossed Matt a bottle of beer. "Drink up. There's plenty more of that!"
Matt took a sip. Beer, why did it taste so bitter? "You need to loosen up," Trevor announced suddenly. "You're so uptight and serious. Let's get you hooked up with a girl."
"That's okay," Matt protested.
"Would you prefer a guy? Because I have Justin all ready," Trevor suggested, not a hint of joking in his voice.
"I am not gay!"
"I didn't say you were. Some people just get off that way. Not me personally. I just pimp Justin to folks who like that."
"You're a sick man, Trevor."
"I may be sick, but I have money and all the sluts I want." They started walking around, ignoring the drunkards and potheads.
"Well, if I remember correctly, you're at the bottom of the school popularity chain. And I do believe KaiAnne Thomas," the head cheerleader, "said that she would rather eat dirt, break both her legs and fall during a routine in front of the entire student body then sit next to you."
"Was that before or after she offered you head?" Trevor shot back.
"Before," Matt laughed.
"Seriously, she did?" Matt nodded gloomily. "Did you accept?" He asked, smile gone.
"Hell no!"
"Stupid! Fucking stupid!" Trevor yelled into the open air, almost overpowering the music. "The biggest slut in school with the BIGGEST jugs offers to do you and you turn her down?! What's wrong with you?"
"You're overreacting, dude. I don't like girls like that."
"Sluts?"
"Uh-huh. I just don't want that."
"You just eliminated almost every girl at our school." They both laughed. "Come on man, seriously. Let me hook you up with someone."
"Trevor, I don't want a girl. And I definitely don't want a guy!"
"You're a virgin, aren't you?"
"You need this information why?"
"Answer the question, Matt."
"Yeah, I am. Why?"
"Just cuz. I'll find you a girl. Just call me the Pimp Daddy!"
Matt laughed, coming close to spewing beer out his nose. "You keep telling yourself that."
"I'll be right back." He walked away leaving Matt apprehensive. Maybe Trevor was right, maybe he did need to loosen up. But Trevor hooking his up didn't sound like a good idea. "Okay Matt, here you go." Matt looked up to see Trevor with his arm around the shoulders of a medium height, dark eyed, bleach blonde haired girl. She gazed at him shyly.
"Hi," Matt greeted.
"Hi."
"Matt, this is Erin. Erin, Matt. Enjoy!" He walked off, leaving the two in an awkward silence.
"So, do you come to these often?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.
"No, I really don't want to be here, personally. You?"
"No. My friends were originally going to a night club, but they came here instead." She wrinkled her nose. "This isn't my scene. I'm not having much fun to say the least."
"Yeah, I know how that is," Matt laughed. He took a sip of his beer and smiled at her.
Trevor took a long drag of the cigarette and smiled. Another happy customer. Matt so owed him now. Unfortunately it looked like Erin was falling, fast. That could prove to be a complication.
"Do you hear that?" Jeff asked.
"Hear what-" The sounds of sirens overpowered the music. "Oh shit! Cops!" People began to look up and scatter. Trevor marched over to Matt and Erin who were glancing around at the retreating people. "Did you hear me? Cops!"
"So?" Matt asked.
"Think about it. Under aged drinking, illegal substances. We have to go, now!" Trevor yelled. "Erin, you're going in the car with us, I'm taking you home." He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards Jeff's car. Jeff was in the driver's seat and Dylan and Janie were in back.
"Where's Justin?" Matt asked.
"He found a guy." Trevor pushed her in and Matt sat down beside her. They peeled away from the site. Matt glanced over at her and smiled. She smiled back. "Well, that was interesting."
"Yeah."
"So why is Trevor taking you home?"
"He's my brother. We live in the same house," she laughed.
"You're Trevor's sister?" He said in half disbelief.
"Yeah Ishida!" Trevor called from the front seat. "So don't do anything to her unless you enjoy pain!"
"He won't do anything," she said with a shake of her head. "He really doesn't care. If I didn't threaten his life he would have sold me off to one of his random guy friends." She kicked the back of the car seat when Trevor started laughing.
"Uh-oh. We got company," Jeff announced. A police car followed them, sirens going. "Shit," he cursed as he pulled off to the side of the road.
The cop car pulled to a stop behind them and the officer got out. Jeff rolled down the window. "Evening officer, what's the trouble?"
"The trouble was you were driving in the middle of the road. You were talking up two lanes of traffic, son." The voice sounded so familiar to Matt.
"Sorry sir. It won't happen again," Jeff apologized.
"That's what you said last time." The officer bent down and flashed his flashlight into the car. Matt recognized the officer as Mr. Yoon, Tera's parole officer. The light stopped on Matt's face. "You're Matt, right? From Gennai's home?"
"Uh yeah."
"Step out of the car son."
"What?!" Matt exclaimed. He hadn't done anything.
"People have been looking for you all night. Let's go." Officer Yoon stepped away from the window and Jeff rolled it up.
"Well, I guess we'll see you later, eh?" Trevor asked. "Unless you're really going to juvie of something."
"Uh, yeah." He started to open the door, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Call me," she whispered into his ear. She blew in his ear teasingly.
"Uh-huh," was all he could manage to grunt out. He climbed out of the car and watched as Jeff took off with Trevor waving out the window. He turned to the cop car and saw Officer Yoon waiting with the back door of the car open. 'Oh this will NOT look good to Gennai, coming home in the back of s cop car.' He got into the car without putting up a fight and Officer Yoon slammed the door.
The officer got in the front and started the car up. Ten minutes of driving on a dirt road ended as they drove passed the Safeway that marked civilization. "So where are we going?" Matt asked through the metal gate that separated the front and back.
The officer didn't reply at first. Annoyed, Matt was about to make an unnecessary comment that would have just gotten him into more trouble when he realized the officer was listening to the police radio that crackled and hummed. The operator stopped as Yoon looked up. "Did you say something?"
"Am I in trouble?"
The officer chuckled. "Not with the police. With Gennai maybe, after walking out of the place where all your friends were and going to an illegal desert party instead. And that you probably have a blood alcohol level of more then what it should be."
Matt winced. "Does he have to know that?"
The officer chuckled again and Matt found himself beginning to become quite irritated. "No, I suppose not. As long as I never catch you doing anything like this again. You're just lucky you don't have a record, or else I might have said something to Gennai." The car stopped a red light.
"How do you know I don't have a record?"
"Have you ever heard the expression "There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers"?"
The car took a lazy right turn and Matt clutched the seat to keep from sliding across the seats. "Yeah."
"You just proved it wrong. That was a stupid question." The radio crackled again, but this time Yoon ignored it. "I'm a cop, I have access to all records. Plus, Gennai told me to look them all up before he brought you down from Japan."
They pulled up in front of an extremely large building with TMC (Tucson Medical Center) written across the front. "What are we doing here? Did Sora faint or something again?" He hid genuine concern with fake annoyance.
Yoon turned to look at him with sullen look on his face. "I don't know. I was just told to keep an eye out for you. All I know is that one of your friends is in the hospital."
"No one told you who?" Yoon got out and let Matt out of the back.
"Nope."
They walked into the hospital, past the secretary desk and to the elevator, which they took to the third floor. The small compartment was uncomfortable in the silence that he and the officer stood in. With a ding from somewhere in the elevator, the doors open and Matt followed Yoon out of it. They walked down the well-lit hall way and Matt examined the murals of cartoons that decorated the wall. The walls were painted with Disney characters and Pokemon and almost any other character imaginable. There was even Wilber the Wildcat, the mascot of the U of A the college in Tucson.
They turned into an open room where Matt saw his 'friends'. Almost, someone was missing. "Where's TK?" He asked his distressed looking friends.
Gennai stood up, straightening his pants as he did. For once he wasn't dressed in a business suit, but a maroon button up shirt and blue pants. "Matt, your brother collapsed at the dance. We brought him to the hospital about an hour ago. He's been with the doctors the entire time."
"What do you mean, he collapsed?" Matt shouted at him.
Tai stood up. "He just collapsed. He was dancing and he fell. We tried to wake him, but he wouldn't get up." He spoke softly, as if he made any sudden movements or loud noises Matt would attack him. "There was nothing you could have done, had you been there." Now he was just being spiteful.
Matt glared at Tai. The glare was broken when something plowed into him, almost knocking him to the ground. He looked down to see Kari hugging him tightly. "Matt, I'm so sorry! I feel your pain!" He gave her a look of bewilderment and Tai grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards a seat and forcing her to sit down.
"Your sister's a crack head, dude," Matt muttered to Tai.
"Fuck off," Tai snapped. Although he did have to agree with Matt, Kari was acting weird.
"Matt, why don't you take a seat?" Gennai suggested. "I'm sure we'll hear about TK in a little bit."
Matt collapsed into one of the waiting room chairs unhappily. He watched as Gennai pulled Officer Yoon to the side. They started talking and Matt could see exactly how tired and older Gennai looked. Gennai was not a young man, nor had he been when Matt had met him. Despite the exterior of an unmarried forty-year-old businessman, Gennai was an ever-living man who has seen this world and the Digital World rise and fall, again and again. In his eyes, Matt could see the thousands of years in his eyes. But despite all that destruction and uprising he had seen, nothing had ever run him as ragged as taking care of ten dysfunctional teens.
Matt pulled his gaze away from Gennai and looked around at the others. Aaron and Tera sat with Taylor seated in between them. Eli had his chair by Tera, who looked like she was ready to throw up. Natalie and Sora were gone, which was weird because Tai was ALWAYS with Sora.
About twenty minutes later, Sora and Natalie walked into the waiting area. Tai jumped out of his seat, but approached her slowly. She got up on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. He instantly paled and gave a small nod. With a word to Gennai, Sora and Tai left, leaving Natalie to receive odd looks from Eli and Aaron. Neither Tera nor Taylor was paying attention.
Matt brushed it off when he saw a gray haired doctor walk into the room. "Mr. Harrison," the doctor asked. Matt glanced around, looking for this Harrison guy, but there was no one else in the room.
Instead, Gennai stood up. "How is Takeru?"
"He's stable," the doctor answered grimly.
"But?"
"But he's retracted leukemia for a second time," the doctor answered.
How could he be so calm? Matt felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs and his windpipe had closed off. Or maybe he forgot how to breathe because he wasn't getting any air. TK was sick. Again. Leukemia, again. Why? Why his little brother? Why TK? It wasn't fair. He couldn't suffer through it. Not again, not like before.
"Is it fightable?" Gennai asked.
The doctor nodded. "It's not at a stage where its incurable. Chemotherapy is still an option."
"But does he want it?" Matt asked quietly. The doctor and Gennai looked at him and, by the look on the doctor's face, this was the first time he'd been noticed.
"What did you ask, son?" The doctor asked.
"I know my brother. He won't want to go through chemo again."
The doctor gave an uncomfortable smile that looked pretty close to a grimace and glanced over at Gennai. "I'm guessing you're Yamato."
"Yeah, why?"
"Your brother was wondering if you were here."
"Why? Does he need me? Where's his room?" Matt asked frantically.
"No, he doesn't want to see you. He ordered that we not let you in," the aging doctor replied apologetically.
Matt felt anger rise up inside him. "I don't care," he scoffed indignitantly.
"To answer your question, young man, no, he doesn't want to do chemo. But it's not really his decision, not until he's eighteen. It's up to his parent." He looked at Gennai. "Or guardian."
"Where is the boy? I would like to see him, as would Matt, I'm sure."
"It's down the hall. Room 194," the doctor replied.
Gennai looked at Aaron and the others. "Stay out here and wait for Tai and Sora. I don't know how long they're going to be."
Matt followed Gennai down the hall. "Harrison?" He asked.
Gennai shrugged. "When I came to the real world, I needed a surname." They stopped at room 194 and Gennai opened the door. In the brightly lit, clean smelling room, TK laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling. He looked up when he heard the door closed and watched as Gennai and Matt entered.
"I told them not to let you in," TK snapped.
"Takeru," Gennai started.
"Where were you?" TK demanded. "I was looking for you! I-I needed you!" Tears welled up in his brother's eyes. "I hate you, Yamato!"
I know this chapter took a long time, but this story is a very hard write. I'm trying. This Matt section is a lot longer then I originally planned.
Oh and my apologizes. First of all, I do not believe that gay men act the way Justin did in the fic. I just happen to know a gay guy who's like that and it worked for the story. I am not stereotyping. Second, excuse all the sex references, you have been warned before, but I know people who have very low tolerance for it and for gay coupling or pimping or drugs or any of that crap. There will be more to come so this is another warning.