Disclaimer: I do not own any of the awesome characters from "Live Free or Die Hard". I'm just borrowing them for a time.
Author's Notes: If all goes well and people enjoy this first part, it'll probably be a series of one-shots, centering around the developing 'thing' between Matt Farrell and Lucy McClane. Here's hoping.
100prompt: #35 – Hold My Hand

Bedside Manners

He'd done so well for so long. Matt had kept up with John McClane, survived, and maybe even helped at times. The last time John McClane had seen him, he was smiling, trying his best to casually look at Lucy McClane without getting himself killed by her father. He'd suffered a bullet wound to the knee. He'd been laughing and showing off that boyish smile, mostly on account of the morphine he'd been given. His ambulance was right behind theirs the whole time to the hospital.

But when John and Lucy had been examined and walked out of the emergency room, they were surprised not to find Matt following right behind. So they waited. John asked at the desk. Matt Farrell. Checked in, and admitted.

Matt had tried to warn them. When John had brought him to Agent Bowman, he'd asked for some kind of snack. Low blood sugar, he'd said. He'd been ignored. Even when he and John were being transported, he'd asked if they could pull over, some fast food restaurant. Just to grab some ketchup packages. John hadn't listened to him. Of course, he was a little preoccupied with trying to save the country instead of some kid's blood sugar.

Now as John stood with Lucy at the doorway to Matt's hospital room, he chewed at his bottom lip. His daughter gave his hand a supportive squeeze. She noticed how limp his hand was. Normally it would be tense, ready to fight. Now it just held hers.

She looked from her dad to the sleeping figure in the bed. She knew that her father had a begrudging respect for the young hacker. She'd heard stories about other men who had fought with him. Sgt. Al Powell. Zeus Carver. John McClane did not make friends easily, and making allies was even harder. For Matt to have gained that status with John McClane was quite the feat.

And now, for him to be standing there and feeling guilty and responsible for what happened to Matt… From her father's body language, he was not having a good time of it. She knew. She'd inherited that body language, whether she'd wanted to or not.

So she knew what she had to do. She stepped in front of him to block his view of Matt.

"Hey Dad, why don't you go grab us some coffee. Okay?"

John McClane had been sent for coffee more than once in his life. He knew when someone was getting rid of him. But this time, unlike the others, he didn't object.

"Sure honey," was all he said softly, and he was gone.

She stood at the door for another moment before entering. He didn't move as she approached the bed, his breathing continuing its rhythm as he slept. Spotting a chair, she pulled it towards the bed. Unfortunately, it did this with a grinding noise, and when Lucy sat down and straightened herself up, a pair of brown eyes were watching her.

"Hey there."

She smiled at him. "Hey yourself. Sorry I woke you up."

"Oh, it's okay," he said, trying to sit up, "I wasn't sleeping. I mean I know my eyes were closed, but I was just, you know, resting my eyes."

She nodded, not convinced. Seeing that he was having trouble sitting up, Lucy stood quickly. "Here, let me," she said, carefully moving pillows behind him. When he was sitting comfortably enough, he caught her arm gently. "I'm okay. Thanks."

Realizing his action was probably out of place, he quickly withdrew his hand as she sat down. "Sorry, but… I don't want your dad coming in with a reason to kill me."

Lucy nodded. "He's gone to get coffee."

"Ah," was all Matt said, and the two fell into an awkward silence. He thought this was the worst part. She was probably here because… he sighed. "Listen Lucy," he said, and seeing he had her attention, he continued, "I just… I'm fine really. And I don't want you to feel like you have to be here. I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, I do. I have no problem with a beautiful girl sitting next to my bed, believe me. I just…"

"I know."

He stopped at that. She gave him a small smile. "God, this is so awkward."

"Agreed."

"And I'm not here because I have to be or because I feel obligated to, I just… was worried. We both were."

"Both?" He looked at the curiously empty space behind her.

She nodded. "I think… I think he thinks that this," she motioned to Matt's IV, "is his fault."

Matt blinked. "What?"

"I mean, he would have stopped to get you something if he could have, I'm sure."

"Lucy," he said, leaning forward and catching her hand, but not without making sure that John McClane hadn't suddenly returned. She smiled at that as he continued, "Lucy, your dad saved my life. Okay? He saved my life. Like, do you have any idea how much I owe him? Your dad is just… he's a hero."

Matt leaned back but didn't let go of her hand. "Your dad is the hero. I'm the guy with the… the low blood sugar and the weak knees."

She pulled her chair closer to the bed, never letting go of his hand, which in Matt's nervousness, had intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Matt," she said, liking the sound of his name coming from her mouth, her first time saying it, "I know my dad. Okay? I know the guy he is, and I know the guys he's worked with. And you're just as good as any of them. I mean, god, you shot one of them to save m-"

She caught herself before she finished, and corrected it, "To save my dad, the country. You guys took them down. You're a hero too."

"But that's not… that's not who I am. I'm the guy with the HTML coding, not the gun. Geek of the year, that's me."

She shrugged. "I don't see anything wrong with that."

Matt blinked at her. Had he heard that right? "You don't?"

"No," she said, looking at him plainly. She ran her thumb gently across the back of his hand. "Everyone's got their strengths. So what if yours is computers?"

Suddenly shy, she looked down at their hands. "Besides, with all that typing… you must have strong hands and… pretty experienced fingers."

She felt his fingers tense instantly. When she looked up, he was looking back, surprised. He tried a few times to open his mouth, forming words but no sound came out. Finally all he managed was a very unbelieving "Wow."

Lucy was now beyond embarrassed, and pulled her hand away from his. "I'm sorry, I just… no idea where that came from, that was stupid…"

"Lucy…"

"I'm just, I'm not really like that. I mean I'm not that forward usually, but I thought… God, you must think I'm an idiot."

"Did you mean it?"

"What?" That stopped her. She looked at him. He was about as tentative with this as she was.

He swallowed. "Did you… or was it out of… pit—"

"I don't say anything that I don't mean."

He fell silent at that, and when he still failed to respond, she felt a growing feeling of discomfort. She turned away.

"You know what? Forget what I said."

She started to move away, but he caught her arm. "No Lucy, it's not you, it's me. I just… I've never had someone… you're beautiful, and I don't… shit," he said finally, taking a deep breath. He lifted his head and looked at her, open eyes and honest heart, "I work computers. Day in and out. That's all I know. So when a wonderful, strong woman like you comes along and tells me in no uncertain terms that she likes me, I don't know what to say, and so of course I do the worst thing which is start to trip up and stutter and sound like an idiot… when all I really want to do, is tell her… you, that I like her as much as she likes me. So I'm… I'm glad… I'm glad you told me."

She looked at him, sensitive. "Really?"

Matt shook his head, intertwining their fingers again, intentionally this time. "Lucy, you are a hell of a lot of things, I'm finding out. And as far as I can tell, being an idiot is not one of them."

"But being my daughter is."

Matt and Lucy looked up to see an angry cop standing in the doorway. Matt swallowed and the two pulled their hands apart. "And now we come to the part where I die."

Lucy braced herself for the verbal attack like she'd witnessed the last time she was with a boy, but it never came. Instead his face softened and he held out his car keys to her. She looked at the questioningly as he spoke. "A dealership brought a car for us and parked it in the hospital lot. Could you find it for me and bring it around?"

Lucy looked at him for a long moment. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't appear to be angry enough to kill anyone, especially her developing hacker interest. She nodded and took the keys, whispering to him quietly as she did. "Play nice." She smiled at Matt through the glass as she walked alongside him down the hall.

He smiled back until she was gone, and came face to face with a pair of eyes belonging to a very upset John McClane. "Oh God, you are going to kill me."

"I warned you. Don't even think about it."

"But I wasn't-"

"-You were," John McClane said, now pointing a finger at Matt, "I told you once before, kid. Don't lie to me."

"I just… I like her. But not the way you think." He stopped. "I mean, well maybe the way you think, but since I don't know what you're thinking, I can't really make those kinds of assumptions about…"

"Digging yourself deeper, kid."

"I just thought," said Matt, "That maybe you would give the guy who helped you save the country a little bit of leeway. You know? Cut me some slack. Okay? I mean I know she's your daughter, but she seems really nice."

John McClane felt defensive, as though being his daughter and being nice was impossible together. "She is nice. She's a very nice girl!"

"Exactly!" said Matt, continuing quickly, "Which is why I would never try anything, or hurt her. And if I try anything funny, you will no doubt hear about it. And then you have my absolute permission to kick my ass. But I'm pretty sure that if I upset her, she'll kick my ass before you even get there. And then you'll most likely kick it again for good measure."

John smiled at the kid's persistence. He hated that it reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago. With a smirk, he said "You've pretty much got this figured out, haven't you?"

"Well, I've had the time," said Matt, motioning to the bed. He mustered up the most honest face he could and shrugged at the cop. "Look, I just want to talk to her, okay? But if I screw up, then you kill me. Fair?"

John shrugged in response. "Maybe."

Matt sighed in playful exasperation, "So is a 'maybe' actually a 'yes'? I don't speak John McClane."

John turned away from Matt and walked to the doorway. He stopped before he could pass through and instead turned around.

"Hey kid," he said, "You're all right."

Off of Matt's brightened face, he continued. "Better than that other jerk who was trying to take advantage of my daughter."

Matt deflated a little at that but took the bait. "Yeah? And what happened to him?"

"I killed him."

He laughed, but as John's face remained stolid, his laughter became more and more nervous, before finally trailing off altogether. "You didn't, did you?"

He gave the young hacker a half smile as only John McClane could, turning away to show himself out. "Take care of yourself kid," he said over his shoulder.

"I will," said Matt. There was a pause before he hollered at the retreating New York cop. "Hey."

John turned around. Matt smiled. "Thanks again… for saving my life. Doctor says I'm a fast healer, just needed some sugar in me. Looks like I'm gonna be fine."

They both knew what Matt was really trying to say. The sincerity in Matt's face eased some of the pressure in John's chest brought on by guilt. John didn't tell him that though. Never said a word about his concern. Instead, he gave him a nonchalant shrug.

"Don't mention it. Like I said, hate to have to kill you after all we've been through."

Matt nodded and smiled. "You won't have reason to. I promise."

"Good." And as silently as he had arrived, John McClane left.

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