The Defense

Hopefully, a series of one-shots that show the Cohen's defending Ryan at various points throughout the series.

This one is taken from the episode The Second Chance (02x11). This episode had at least one scene where Kirsten could/should have defended Ryan. She just kind of allowed Caleb to get away with insulting him; which is from where a lot of Ryan's anger/trusts issues stemmed, at least in my opinion.

This is during the scene where Caleb, Lindsay, Kirsten, and Ryan are having dinner at the Cohens. Because I don't really like to jump into the middle of an established scene from an episode, I will start at the beginning with the dialogue until I start to diverge from the episode. Oh, and Caleb doesn't have a heart attack.


Caleb: This is the best meal you ever cooked, Kiki.

Kirsten: Oh, its fondue, Dad. Cheese pot. Not so difficult. (Ryan eats and then looks over at Lindsay, Lindsay eats and looks down. Caleb eats and Kirsten looks worried about how the evening is going)

Kirsten: (to Caleb) Did you know that Lindsay plays the obo (Caleb looks at Lindsay)

Lindsay: Not well (nervous smile)

Caleb: (smiles) Do you now, do you play any Brahms?

Lindsay: I try. (smiles) (Caleb nods, Kirsten smiles at Lindsay)

Kirsten: (to Lindsay) Did you know that Dad has box seats at the Hollywood bowl? Have you ever been?

Lindsay: Uh, no, I heard it's amazing.

Caleb: Tickets are yours

Lindsay: Great! Ryan what do you think? (Caleb looks at Ryan, not impressed) A little Esa-Pekka, a little Yo-Yo Ma (Ryan smiles)

Caleb: I don't think Ryan would be interested (Ryan looks at Caleb. Kirsten looks at Caleb)

Kirsten: Dad.

Caleb: What? I'm just saying, a boy like Ryan would probably get bored with a show like that

Lindsay: (looks at Caleb) Right, because they don't have music in Chino

Ryan: It's fine, just let him insult me

Caleb: (to Ryan) I didn't mean to insult you. I just had no idea that you were a classical music fan (Ryan has his eyes closed, Lindsay looks uncomfortable)

Caleb: What's your favorite Brahms concerto? (eats)

Kirsten: (closes her eyes) Ryan I'm so sorry

Ryan: No, its fine. You know what, I'm just gonna go. This was supposed to be about Lindsay and Caleb making up for lost time (stands up)

Caleb: What are you insinuating?

Ryan: Just you guys have a lot to catch up on. I'd hate to see you waste all your time insulting me.

Lindsay: Ryan...stay.

Caleb: Yes, Ryan stay, as long as you like. (Ryan looks at Caleb) Living in this house, eating our food, dating our children, butting into our affairs

Kirsten: (to Caleb) (glares) You are so out of line

Caleb: What, I've forgiven him for burning down my model home, for teaching my grandson how to steal cars (Ryan just stands there) and for starting a brawl at my Man of the Year party, and everyone seems to have forgotten that he impregnated a girl (Lindsay looks down)

Ryan: (can't stay quiet) Something you might know a thing or two about except I didn't pay her off to stay quiet

Caleb: What did you say to me?

Ryan: (hands on his hips) I'm just telling you the truth (walks closer) and you can try and hide from Lindsay, make this all about me.

Caleb: I've had just about enough out of you!

Ryan: (walks closer) That's too bad, cause I'm just getting started! (Caleb stands up)

Before they can continue further, Kirsten is next to Ryan in an instant. She places a calming hand on his shoulder and softly calls his name, "Ryan." She's hoping to break the tension a little bit. She feels him tense even more as soon as she touches him. When he does make eye contact with her however, and realizes it's her, she feels him relax, albeit marginally.

As they look at each other for a few moments, she can see the inferno in his eyes die down a little bit. Almost uncharacteristically of Ryan, he takes a slight step back, allowing Kirsten to take his place just inches from her father.

She recognized it for what it was, his way of letting her take control. She also realized that he could read her. With her eyes, she was asking him to trust her, to let her handle this. That he was willing to take that gigantic step and trust her, only pushed her further to defend this boy, her son.

"Dad," Kirsten started with a false calm, "do you remember what I told you earlier today?"

His gaze moved from Kirsten, to Ryan, to Lindsay, and back to Kirsten. "Now, Kiki….," was all he could get out.

Now it was time for Kirsten's eyes to blaze with righteous fury! She grew to her full height and stepped closer so that she was practically nose-to-nose with her father. Ryan instinctively took a step backward, and bumped into Lindsay, who took Ryan's hand in her own. "Don't you ever call me Kiki again! I told you that Ryan was Seth's brother and a son to me and Sandy. And, that you could lose one, if not two, daughters. Well, there's the door. You are not welcome back in this house until you can apologize for how you've treated him and speak with him civilly!"

Ryan couldn't help but feel more than just a little guilty for cause more problems for Kirsten's family. He didn't notice that Lindsay was standing a little taller and glaring at Caleb with the same intensity as her sister.

Caleb looked between Kirsten and Lindsay, hoping that his younger daughter would come to his aid. When she didn't, he simply glared at the boy he felt responsible for his current predicament and stomped out the door, slamming it behind him.

The three of them just kind of stood there for a moment, processing what just happened. Kirsten slowly turned around a little and glanced at Ryan and Lindsay. She realized he looked almost ashen, like he was going to be sick.

Ryan cleared his throat, and pointed to the kitchen behind him with his thumb. "Excuse me for a minute. I'm just going to get some water." And he was gone.

Lindsay watched him go, torn between being upset after what just happened with her "father" and wanted to console her boyfriend.

After taking a couple of deep breaths to get herself back under control, she affectionately took Lindsay's arm. "I'm sorry about what happened tonight with… him, "pointing to the chair their father had occupied. She couldn't bring herself to call him 'Dad' at the moment.

Lindsay wasn't quite sure what to say, so she just shrugged a little bit, and looked back to the kitchen.

Kirsten lowered her voice, so that Ryan couldn't hear her in the next room, "Thank you for being here for Ryan during this whole thing. I know it must have been hard on you to take a stand like with … him…, but I know that it means the world to Ryan. He hasn't had very many people in his court, so I know it means a lot." Looking into the kitchen herself, she told her sister, "Let me go see how he's doing. Hopefully, with the both of us, he won't shut down completely." Kirsten squeezed her arm and walked into the kitchen.

Ryan was standing in front of the sink staring out the window, at nothing really, with an empty glass next to him on the counter. Kirsten slowly made her over and stood next to him. She could feel he was putting off a very strong "Leave me alone" vibe, and a year ago, she probably would have. But, she also realized that a year ago, he would never have allowed her to handle a confrontation like he did just a few minutes ago. She could see how much, now, they had grown into becoming a much closer family.

She gently rested a hand on his back, and realized that he was shaking slightly. Quietly, just above a whisper, she said, "I am so sorry he said those things to you. He was completely out of line."

With that, he spontaneously turned and wrapped his arms around Kirsten, laying his head on her shoulder. For just a split second, she was stunned. She quickly recovered and tightly wrapped her arms around her son. She found herself running a hand over the back of his head, quietly whispering reassurances in his ear.

She had sudden flashbacks to having to console a much younger Seth after particularly bad days at school. While she hurt for her son, she also enjoyed those bonding moments. She didn't hesitate to use this as one of those times with Ryan. She would let him take as much time as he needed in her arms. After a couple of minutes, Ryan took a couple of shuddering breaths to compose himself and finally managed to disentangle himself from Kirsten's arms. However, he allowed her to keep a physical link by letting her hold his hands.

He looked her in the eye and said, "Thank you!"

She allowed a little confusion to show on her face, "For what, sweetie?"

"For the things you said tonight. Obviously, I've not had a lot of people stand up for me tonight. And I've not had many people, well, want to admit that I'm their son or someone's brother. At least not in a good way like you did."

"Well, it's the truth. And, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I should have said those things, to him definitely, before now. But you can count on a lot more of it in the future." Trying to lighten the mood at this point, she teases him, "You can go ahead and grown now. Seth would!"

With a small, shy smile, he tells her, "Well, Seth has had it his whole life."

She nods in agreement, "Yes, he has." Trying to shake off some of the remaining tension, she pushed him out of the kitchen towards Lindsay, "Now, go thank that girl in there for staying here through all this drama. Also, see if she wants something else to eat. I'm not in the mood for fondue anymore."

With the release of more of the tension, he openly laughs at Kirsten as he makes his way towards Lindsay.

When Ryan is out of the room, she turns back to the window and takes a few more short, shaky breaths, trying to release more of her own tension. She smiles to herself as she imagines Sandy's reaction when he tells him about tonight's events. "He'll probably want to throw a party!", she thinks to herself as she pours some water in the glass Ryan had and downs it.


Credit for the transcript: . ?f=16&sid=7c7561db13aef6a76a3f9dcfe36e59af

I have maybe one other idea for a chapter. If you have any other ideas, please let me know. They could either be from an episode, or an original idea.