For pepper202 - It Begins

[cmk418]

pepper202 requested an OZ drabble with Ryan O'Reily. I also included Cyril, sort of.



The light came through the hospital window, illuminating the pale man lying in the bed. Ryan O’Reily paced the room. Memories from the past twenty-six years flooded his mind. They’d faced so much together, Tessie’s death, his father’s abuse, running the gang.

Cyril was as much a leader in the Bridget Street Gang as Ryan was at this point. The others looked up to Cyril, reacting more to a quiet word from him than a rampage from Ryan.

And that was all gone. Now there was nothing left but quiet words.

His brother would never be the same. There was nothing that the doctors could do.

Ryan knew he needed to get out of there, clear his head. He’d got in the car and drove, watching as everything outside his windows became a blur.

Comments

[cmk418]

Thank you! I love the relationship between them. I especially liked the moment when he found out that they had different brothers and biologically weren't as close as he'd thought. There's real pain in that scene.

That line about Cyril leading the gang is taken more from my own "Great Risks" 'verse than actual OZ canon, but I think it could have happened.

I think Ryan missed having that counsel to rely on.

[murielle.livejournal.com]

Well, we know that they ran the gang together. In the second episode of the series (I think) Ryan is talking to one of the guards who askes him how his brother was doing and Ryan's response--haven't watched the episode in a while--implies that Cyril is running things. Also, his body language in the episode when we're shown what happened to cause the brain injury Cyril sustained, he certainly didn't behave like a minion.

I think you've picked up on something. ;-)

[cmk418]

I think Fontana had second thoughts about Cyril after writing that episode (in fact, he and Lee have a little laugh about it in the DVD commentary - how "hello" was probably the only thing Cyril was saying at that point), but maybe it just shows that Healy is a little out of touch with things on the outside and Ryan is milking the connection that Healy had with the gang.

Good observations on Cyril's body language. I think it showed that his method of leadership was very different than Ryan's, but still effective.