Making Things Right

Summary: Set after the events of the book. Red isn't the only one who receives a letter
Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for the whole book; AU; references to violence and canon character death

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Simon checked his pocket again, making sure the letter was tucked safely in his breast pocket. Somehow, he'd resisted the urge to have a drink before leaving his parents' home. Truthfully, after everything that had happened...after being stuck in the RV with five people he'd thought he was at least on friendly terms with...he hadn't been able to have another drink. He hadn't really been hurt, outside of the scuffle to get Red back into the RV, but the events had still affected him...to the point that his parents had been talking about him going into therapy.

They still didn't know what he wanted to do, even though it had been cemented in his mind after everything he'd gone through. Somehow, the idea of telling his parents that he didn't want to follow their plan for him was more daunting than telling them he'd been trapped in an RV, along with five other people, at the mercy of a sniper.

Simon didn't know when it had happened, but Arthur must have broken into his parents' house when they weren't there. It was the only explanation for why he'd come back from the hospital...visiting both Red and Maddy...to find a letter from Arthur, along with a huge amount of cash. Money enough for him to take a whole year out and not have to worry, if his parents didn't support what he really wanted to do.

Along with an apology and a brief explanation of why he'd done what he did, Arthur had asked Simon to meet him. That was why Simon was driving along the street, heading to the outskirts of town. The letter was tucked safe in the breastpocket of his jacket; the money was safe in his account, where it couldn't draw any suspicious glances. He didn't know if the money was clean or not. If it wasn't, though, he had no way of knowing...and ignorance was a good defence. He could make use of it if that became necessary.

Getting to the meeting place Arthur had named didn't take very long. There was very little traffic, so he drove outside the town earlier than the time Arthur had asked him to meet on the letter he'd left.

It gave Simon a bit of time to sit and catch his thoughts. At the same time...it also gave him far too much time to sit with his thoughts. Or, to be more specific, it gave him too much time to sit with his memories. The couple who'd come to try and help them, but who'd ended up losing their lives. Oliver throwing Red out of the RV and blocking their route to get to her, culminating in a physical fight so that they could get her safely back inside. And finally, Maddy with that awful white pallor to her face, while she bled out on the floor of the RV and Reyna tried desperately to slow the bleeding enough to buy her time.

Maddy was alive, at least...and it was thanks to Reyna's efforts. Only one of their number had been killed, in the end, but they'd all been affected by it in some way.

The passenger side door was opened and Simon jerked, unable to help it. He only relaxed a fraction when Arthur got into the passenger seat, eyes sweeping over the person he'd thought was his friend to look outside. "Anyone else with you?"

Arthur shook his head. "My brother was arrested. The police caught him fleeing the scene after...after Red was shot." A pinched look came over his face; a slightly hoarse note crept into his voice. "He's still in jail. My dad didn't come with me. No bodyguards. It's just me." His lips quirked into a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I'm at your mercy, if you called the police to this meeting."

"I didn't." Simon glanced away, looking out his own window, before he focused on Arthur's face once more. "I don't know if that was a mistake."

Arthur shifted slightly, looking down at his hands for a moment before raising his eyes to Simon's once more. "You got my letter?"

Simon's hand went to his breastpocket without conscious thought, even as he nodded. "The cash too." He hesitated and swallowed, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to his question, but knowing he had to ask it anyway. "Was it you? Who killed Oliver and Maddy's mom?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good." The vehemence of his response surprised Simon. Maybe it shouldn't have. After all, if it wasn't for Catherine LaVoy, they wouldn't have been in that position at all. None of this would have happened, including Red's own mother being murdered by her best friend.

"It would never have gone to trial," Arthur said quietly. "Even if she'd been arrested and prosecuted...she had too much power and money and influence to spend any time rotting in jail, no matter how airtight the case might be against her."

"And Red said she wanted her to die the same way her Mom did."

Arthur was silent for several long moments before whispering in a low, haunted voice, "I thought she was dead."

Simon's eyes were drawn to the scar that now covered Arthur's neck. It didn't look clean or neat. Instead, it looked puckered...angry. "That scar looks bad."

"It got infected." Arthur pulled the collar of his shirt up a bit higher, almost self-consciously, as if he was trying to hide it.

"What are you really doing here?"

Arthur's eyes darted to Simon's face and he frowned. "To apologise."

"Okay, but you did that when we were all in the RV," Simon said. "And you apologised in the letter, too. Not sure what else you can add to that."

"I wanted to apologise in person." Arthur looked down at his lap, then up at Simon. "And if you wanted to take any kind of physical revenge, I thought I'd give you that opportunity too."

"Physical revenge?" Simon snorted and looked away. "That's not really my style, you know. Besides, you did your best to keep everyone alive. Which is more than can be said for our self-appointed leader." He winced at the stab of shame that went through him. They'd all let Oliver take control...and he'd made mistake after mistake, nearly killing Red, Maddy and even Arthur.

"I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about you."

Frowning, Simon focused his attention on Arthur again. "What do you mean?"

"I lied to you," Arthur said. "I pretended to be your friend in order to get close to Red."

"Then shouldn't you be having this conversation with her?"

"I plan to. But I want to give her time to recover after being discharged from hospital. And give her time to figure out what she wants to do. About me." Arthur shifted slightly. "You didn't need to be in hospital as long, so I...I...." His voice faltered and he licked his lower lip, then cleared his throat. "I thought maybe you'd have had enough time to make some decisions. I know I must have hurt you, even if you pretended otherwise."

"Okay." Simon held up a hand so that Arthur would stop talking, giving him time to catch his thoughts and decide what his next move should be. "Okay," he repeated, when he'd figured out what he was going to do. "I'll make you answer for what you did to me, and then we'll get past it. We'll be friends for real." He looked into Arthur's eyes. "If that's what you want."

"I want that," Arthur whispered. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

The idea had only half-formed in Simon's mind when he said the words, but with Arthur's agreement, it came fully into focus. He reached down and pulled the handle to slide his seat back, creating a bit more space between him and the steering wheel. He then looked back into Arthur's face. "I want you to take your pants down and bend over my knee."

Arthur hesitated, for long enough that it seemed like he wasn't going to obey; that he'd refuse, or tell Simon that this was a step too far. After a few moments, though, his hands went to the fastenings of his pants and he undid them, shifting enough so that he could ease them down his legs. "Underwear too?" he asked, flicking a glance to Simon's face.

"Not yet." Simon placed a hand on his leg, patting it gently, and waited.

It was awkward, with both the steering wheel and the gearstick in the way, but Arthur was finally in position draped over Simon's lap, head resting against the window and feet in the opposite stairwell.

Simon looked down at the back of Arthur's head and allowed himself to think about what the person he'd thought was his friend had done. Arthur had been at least partially responsible for trapping the six of them in an RV, with a sniper outside willing to kill to find out the secret Red had been hiding. He might not have pulled the trigger himself, but two people were dead who wouldn't have been if Arthur had just told the truth to begin with.

Hooking his fingers in the waistband of Arthur's boxers, Simon eased them down off his backside, pushing them down until they were around his ankles. He lifted his hand and noticed the slight twitch right before he smacked Arthur's upper right cheek hard.

Arthur yelped. It wasn't loud, but it still carried to Simon's ears. And almost immediately, a pink mark in the shape of Simon's palm formed where the first smack had landed.

Reminding himself that Arthur had lied to all of them from day one, Simon lifted his hand again and delivered a matching smack to the left cheek. Then, he delivered two more smacks just below the first. He continued to deliver the firm smacks, working his way down to Arthur's thighs before he began again from the top.

Arthur managed not to make any more sounds as Simon continued to smack firmly, turning his skin to a dusky pink under the hard smacks. As the spanking continued, the pink turned darker, eventually shading to red.

When his palm was stinging and he could feel the heat radiating from Arthur's bright red bottom, Simon paused, letting his hand rest on the other's lower back and rubbing lightly for a few moments. "Two innocent people are dead because of the secrets you chose to keep. Maddy and Red ended up in hospital...they nearly died...because of what you did."

"I'm sorry." Arthur's voice was heavy and thick with barely held back tears.

Simon didn't say anything to that. Arthur had apologised multiple times. This wasn't about getting another apology. This was about healing their friendship; making things right between them. "I know you are." That was all he said before he untucked his shirt and undid the belt he had wrapped around his waist.

It wasn't the same belt Reyna had used to tie a tourniquet around Maddy's leg. It would have been a sort of poetic justice if it had been. However, he figured using any belt would be enough to drive his point home.

Doubling the belt over in his hand, Simon brought it down in a firm stroke at the crest of Arthur's backside.

A cry was wrenched from Arthur's throat and his whole body jerked as his tears became audible.

Simon placed his free hand on Arthur's back, pushing him down, as he lifted the belt and brought it down a second and third time, making sure no subsequent strike overlapped with any of the previous ones.

By the time six stripes had landed, Arthur had slumped limp over Simon's lap, six vivid red marks showing up against his already red bottom. He was crying audibly, shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs.

Dropping the belt onto the passenger seat, Simon carefully pulled Arthur's clothing back into place. Arthur's sobs increased slightly when he did so, but he didn't voice any protest.

It was more awkward than getting Arthur over his knees in the first place, but Simon managed to help Arthur into a position where he could wrap his arms around his friend and hold him tightly, Arthur half on his lap and half sitting on the steering wheel.

Arthur brought his own arms up and slowly wrapped them around Simon in return. He breathed in deeply and let his head rest against Simon's shoulder. "Forgive me?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah." Simon's breath came out slowly. "Yeah. I forgive you," he whispered. "Clean slate. We can start over."

"Thank you." Arthur took in a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes, slumping wearily against Simon.

"Okay...hey...you can't fall asleep like this." Simon gently rubbed Arthur's shoulder. "Why don't you get in the passenger seat and I'll drive you to a hotel, so you can get some proper sleep?" he suggested.

"Okay," Arthur agreed quietly. He carefully slid over to the passenger seat, whimpering softly as he sat back. He then picked up the belt and held it out to Simon.

"You should keep it," Simon said quietly. "It'll be a good reminder. Especially about what I'll do if you do anything like this again." He waited for Arthur's nod of acceptance and for him to put his seatbelt on before he put his own seatbelt on and started the engine, beginning to drive towards the nearest hotel.

Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one. Simon could honestly say that a tenson he hadn't even realised he'd been feeling had drained out of him. Apparently, punishing one of his friends and healing the rift between them had helped him a great deal emotionally.

He just hoped that wouldn't be necessary again in the future.

The End