You Found Me (Warrior)

2. I Don't Believe It

I forced myself to watch the whole fight.

He wasn't going to back off of Brendan because of all the hate I knew he felt towards him. Then, Brendan took Tommy's arm. Within seconds, I could tell that he had dislocated his shoulder. I winced. It was hard to see Tommy in so much pain.

I knew Tommy had a lot of anger towards Brendan for staying behind, but Why didn't he just tap out? I thought. Tears began to fill my eyes. By the fifth round, Brendan was squeezing his neck, and he looked as though he was about to pass out.

Finally, he tapped out. I sighed. Tommy was as stubborn as a rock.

I was an emotional wreck. They walked through the tunnel, Brendan with his arm around Tommy. I buried my face into a nearby pillow and drowned out the sound of the announcers.

When the fight was long over, I lied awake in my bed reminiscing.

When I was twelve, the only thing I cared about was being closer to Tommy. I had to go to Tacoma. I had to see Tommy.

By the time I was fourteen I had given up on the thought and it seemed like a stupid fantasy more than anything. When someone's best friend moves away they usually don't follow them, but then something happened. My mom had found a nursing job there that paid well. My older sister, Anna was eighteen and had already moved out.

My mom didn't want to leave Anna in Pittsburgh all alone, but Anna had to beg her to take the job. She couldn't live with herself if she knew she was holding our mom back. She told her she was an adult and could take care of herself now. Which was true. Anna had always been independent. More than I ever was. I had no doubt that she would be fine.

She reluctantly left and took me along. I don't even think she remembered that Tommy and Carol had moved there too.

Tacoma was a pretty big place and I never expected to see Tommy. I hadn't thought about him yet once since I had arrived, but then, on my first day of school, I saw him again.

Tacoma, Washington March 1996 - Henry Foss High School

I was speed walking down the hall trying to find my second period class. The room numbers for classrooms always confused me. I turned a corner and bumped into a figure with his head facing his locker. He turned to me.

"Watch where the fuck you're going!" He shouted.

"I'm really"... I stopped. It was Tommy.

"Shit...Dani!?" He pulled me into a bear hug.

When he released me, he looked me up and down. "Holy shit you look different!"

"Obviously, Tommy. I'm not twelve anymore...And so do you." I said, my smile growing larger and larger. Seeing him again felt good.

"What are you doing here?"

"Shit, Tommy ..." I said. "My mom got a job here. We had to leave my sister behind though." His expression turned sympathetic .

"That sucks.." he answered, running his fingers through his hair, but then his signature smirk creeped on his face. "At least I get to see you again." He playfully punched me in the arm.

"Yeah...plus she moved out anyway.

"Oh."

"I paused. "By the way, if you were wondering about Brendan, he is..." He stopped me.

"Nah, man. I don't wanna hear about Brendan." He spit out his name emphasizing his disgust. There was silence. Then he put on his "sweet talker" smile.

"Hang out with me tonight...like we used to." Pause. " It would make mom happy to see you again."

PRESENT

A month had gone by and I still hadn't heard about anything in the news in relation to Tommy. I mean I couldn't just up and leave to Pittsburgh to get information. Especially not knowing if I could even get into contact with anybody.

The newscaster spoke, "It has just come to my attention that Tommy Riordan, the Iraq War Hero turned MMA fighter who abandoned his unit, was sentenced to serve six months in federal prison, this morning.

His sentence was originally supposed to be longer, but because of the lives he saved during a friendly fire incident on the field, it was said to be dramatically shortened.

He is not expected to return to his previous unit after receiving an honourable discharge, for reasons unknown.

Wow, what a story. Considering all he's been through. He may not have won Sparta, but I would say Tommy Riordan is still one lucky man."

"Six months. OK." I told myself. "Six months until I can see him again. I can handle that." I would leave for Pittsburgh closer to then.

Then, I remembered the injury he had sustained in the fight. I wanted nothing more than to be there for him and comfort him. Flashbacks of the fight flooded my mind. I tried to reassure myself that everything was fine. Tommy and Brendan had reconnected and they would make up for lost time as soon as he got out. But, of course, I couldn't be sure.

It was nearly the end of August when I finally let my bosses know about my short vacation. My friends wondered why I would be travelling so late in the month since Summer was practically over - so I told them about Tommy. Nothing specific, but just that I needed information on an old friend. I was ready to drive the whole way there.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I decided to stop by my sister, Anna's on the way and was ecstatic to see how big my 6-year-old niece, Beth, had gotten. I was exhausted after my 4 and a half hour drive and decided to spend the night. The next morning, when I had finished catching up with my sister, I stopped at a local grocery to get a few things for the rest of my trip.

"Where the hell is the chips aisle in here?" I furiously shoved my cart forward and it ran into someone's foot. A man with his blonde wife.

"Hey, watch it!" The person scolded.

"Crap!" I covered mouth. "I am so..." I didn't recognize him from behind, but when he turned around...

Brendan? I said to myself.

He was angry at first, then his face softened. "Do I know you?" He asked me. "Cuz you look really familiar.."

I smiled and said his name. "Brendan Conlon - wow!" I laughed. "This is so weird."

Then, he really looked at me. "I don't believe it - Dani?"

A/N: Edited.