Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Title: Great Risks
Pairing: Ryan O’Reily/Dino Ortolani (this chapter is entirely Dino-focused)
Rating: R
Word Count: 1040
A/N: Thanks to my wonderful beta history_gurl for taking the time to read this.

Also, a great big thank you goes out to colleendetroit who made the beautiful banner for the series.



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All other parts may be found here.



“Hi.” Dino said, kissing his mother on the cheek after she opened the door to let him in.

“What did you do?” Maria folded her arms in front of her, surveying the damage done to her boy. She could clearly see the blood on his shirt, but wasn’t sure if it was Dino’s or someone else’s. She wondered if she would need to harbor him for a while. She held no illusions about what her son did for a living, after having grown up in their neighborhood and been friends with Nino Schibetta for as long as she could remember.

Maria looked at Dino with that caring yet suspicious gaze that only a mother could produce, scanning him from head to toe. She noticed every gash, every scratch, every bruise, anything out of the ordinary caught her eye. Like the way his tee shirt was untucked in the front, half-blocking the front of his jeans – he could have at least attempted to make himself a little presentable.

Dino followed his mother’s glance until he couldn’t take it anymore. “You should see the other guy,” he began, trying to laugh it off, but one look from her and he knew it wasn’t working. “It was just a little fight, mama. Can I clean up here? I really don’t want Ginny to worry.”

Maria softened a little. “Go on.”

As Dino went up the stairs, Maria went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Her mother’s intuition told her that something was going on, and now was the perfect time for her to have a long-overdue chat with her son.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dino entered his parent’s bathroom. With its wine-colored walls and the lingering traces of floral cleaner, there was nothing to bring back thoughts of the beige shithole he was in less than thirty minutes ago. Nothing except the evidence that he saw in the full-length mirror in front of him. Jesus, he looked like shit. There was a cut on his forehead, a bruise below his left eye, a gash on his lip. The blood streaks on his shirt must have come with the knock into the goddamn hand dryer. Fucking thing should have come with a warning. His hair was a mess. And his clothes. He sighed.

A stray thought came to him then and he had to laugh. There was no way that Ryan O’Reily would want anything to do with him after this. Not after being fucked the only way Dino cared to know how. Well, he’d wanted a way out and he’d surely gotten it.

He pulled off his shirt, feeling every bruise on his chest as the fabric drifted upwards. He slowly unbuttoned his jeans, willing himself not to remember...

...Ryan O’Reily’s fingers in this very spot.

He peeled off his boxers, peeling being the operative word as they stuck to him. Just fucking great. Maybe he should burn them up along with the rest of the clothes. Just throw them all in a great big bonfire dedicated to Ryan O’Reily.

He stepped into the shower. The water felt good, revitalizing. None of it seemed to matter anymore. The pendulum had swung again, smacked him in the head and shoulders, wrenched his knee, wrapped its nimble fingers around his dick and...

Jesus Christ, Dino, your mother is downstairs. Think of something else. Anything else. Nino Schibetta. That summer at the lake when you, him and Petey went swimming. Now there was an image that would kill any hard-on.

Dino turned his thoughts back to business. His head needed to be clear. For things to get back to normal, for him to regain the advantage, he needed to focus. It was in his hands. There was no way he could see Nino this week – the old man was worse than his mother when it came to questions. He’d let Petey deliver any messages. That would give Dino time to plan the next move.

Content with his reasoning, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He grabbed a change of clothes from where he’d stashed them. After the first three such incidents, his mother had determined it was best if he kept at least a few clean items here. So in the past couple of years, it had become a ritual of sorts: fight, come here, shower, change, and toss the other set in the laundry for next time.

Only this time, he bundled the dirty clothing into a garbage bag. He didn’t even want to look at these clothes again, and he definitely did not want his mother looking at them.

He walked downstairs, garbage bag in hand, with every intention of kissing his mother goodbye and heading home, but Maria heard him on the steps and called him into the kitchen.

Two coffee cups were on the table. Dino bit back a feeling of dread. Maria had one hand on the table, pouring the coffee. “Sit.”

At this point in his life, Dino took orders from two people - Nino Schibetta and his mother. So when Maria told him to sit, he sat. She put away the coffee pot and took the seat next to him.

“How’s Ginny?”

“She’s fine.” Dino lifted the coffee cup to his lips.

“You cheating on her?”

It took all of his concentration not to wind up with a lap full of hot coffee. “What? No, mama. No.” It wasn’t a lie. He’d fielded offers from a lot of women over the years, but he’d stayed faithful. The thing with O’Reily didn’t count, of course. It was nothing. Hell, it didn’t even count as sex.

“Why are you scrunching your face up like that?”

“Burnt my tongue on the coffee.”

“So this fight...”

“It was just a little scuffle. Guy had (a hard on for me) it out for me. I handled it.”

Maria’s eyes narrowed. Something wasn’t right. Dino was being evasive, and she knew from experience that she wouldn’t get any further with him tonight.

“Really, mama, you worry too much. This guy won’t be a problem anymore.”

Maria caught the slightest hint of emotion in Dino’s voice. As she nodded her acceptance, she silently prayed that her son was right.

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