Okay, this is my first try at a Brothers and Sisters fic, so it probably sucks. I'm sort of flailing in the dark here…These people are freaking hard to capture. But I'm gonna do my best.

And, I confess, the only reason I wrote this story is because I wanted to see some Scotty limpage. We got to see Kevin all whumped in 3.10 and 3.11, and now I want to see Kevin taking care of Scotty. (Scotty was made to be limped!)

This plotline isn't the most original in the world, but I don't recall seeing one like it in this fandom yet, so I'm giving it a whirl. The story takes place some time into Kevin and Scotty's marriage; Kevin still works for Robert, and Scotty now owns a restaurant.

Please review, and let me know what I can do better in any future Brothers and Sisters fics I might write!

Disclaimer: I don't own Brothers and Sisters or any of its characters. I can't even be sure I actually own this plot. You may sue me if you wish, but you won't get anywhere. All I have is my Cal Leandros book series, which you will not get because I will keep them clutched firmly to my chest and away from the authorities as I am shuffled from prison cell to prison cell.

Title: Cry Ophelia

Fandom: Brothers and Sisters

Genre: Romance / Drama / Hurt/Comfort

Pairing: Kevin/Scotty

Rating: T

Summary: Kevin and Scotty aren't cat people. Really, they aren't.

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Chapter 1—It Happened One Night

The telephone conversation that night had the easy familiarity of one that had been revisited several hundred times over the course of a relationship. The barbs that were traded were anything but insulting, the jokes anything but amusing, and the love in every word a testament to the bond that was shared by the speakers.

"Where are you? I made your reservation for, like, ten minutes ago."

Kevin chuckled. "Somehow, I don't think getting a table in my husband's restaurant is going to be a terribly large inconvenience for the establishment." He laughed again, quietly, as he could practically hear Scotty's eyes rolling at the other end of the line.

"Y'know, I'm beginning to think you're taking me for granted," Scotty replied, a smile in his voice. "Seriously, you were supposed to be out of there an hour ago, and you weren't answering any of my calls. I was worried."

Kevin felt a quick stab of guilt. "I'm sorry. I got pulled into a meeting. Someone's trying to bring a lawsuit against Robert—I'd give you details if I didn't think they would put you to sleep—so we've been working on a retaliation strategy for the last hour and a half."

"Anything serious?"

"Nothing I can't handle, but we're nowhere close to finishing. I don't think I'll be able to get out of here for awhile."

Scotty groaned. "Kevin…"

"I know, I know, I suck. Again. I'm sorry."

Silence.

"I'll make it up to you," Kevin wheedled.

Scotty sighed heavily. "Okay, new plan. There's no one in here tonight since everyone's at home watching the Super Bowl, so I was planning on closing up shop a little early. Why don't I go home, whip us up a fabulous gourmet meal, and you can grab a bottle of wine on your way home? We'll have a nice, quiet night in."

Kevin smiled. "Deal. White or red?"

"White, I think. It goes so much better with chicken. See you in…two hours?"

"Yes you will. Bye."

"Bye."

XXX

Scotty sighed heavily as he hung up the phone. He really wished he could be irritated with his husband, but to be fair, he'd known what he was getting into when he'd agreed to marry a workaholic lawyer. Besides, in all honesty, he would probably enjoy a romantic evening at home far more than he would have enjoyed dinner at his own restaurant and whatever movie was playing at the closest cinema.

So it was with a light heart and a song on his lips that Scotty left the restaurant an hour later. The (admittedly rather tuneless) whistling was put to a sudden halt, however, when he accidentally kicked something just outside the door—something tiny, soft, and very much alive. Frowning slightly, he turned to set the two paper bags he carried on the steps of the restaurant, then peered at the ground around his feet to see what he had walked into. His eyes focused in the dark just in time to see the tip of a tiny, white tail disappearing around the corner of the building into the alleyway next to it.

"Here, kitty, kitty," Scotty called softly, following the kitten and feeling rather guilty. "I'm sorry I stepped on you…"

It didn't take him long to find the kitten; it had proceeded to the very back of the alleyway, jumping on top of a long-forgotten crate. The little creature was entirely white except for a black front paw and a splash of black on its nose, and it was just settling down next to a coal-black, slightly smaller kitten that was already curled up on the crate.

Scotty couldn't help grinning at the sight. He hadn't ever really considered himself a cat person—or, really, an animal person in general—but even the ever-cynical Kevin would have melted at this scene.

Slowly approaching the kittens, he said softly, "Hey, kitties… Where's your mama, huh?"

The white kitten turned its head up to him with trusting eyes, and Scotty fancied that he saw a question there. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch her (he had decided that it was a her), and she allowed it, making a quiet noise that sounded more like a chirp than anything else.

Smiling, he reached into his pocket with the hand that wasn't on the kitten, and hit the number one on his speed dial. The phone rang several times, then went to voicemail, as Scotty had expected it to.

"Hey, Kev. It's me again, your loving husband. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I just left the restaurant, so I should be home in ten minutes or so if traffic is friendly, and I have an extra little surprise for you when you get home. See you there. Love you."

Hanging up, he then reached out to pull a kitten into each hand, but froze when he heard something behind him—the light scrabble of shoes over asphalt. Standing, he turned, and felt his heart drop straight to his feet.

He didn't recognize the two men standing before him, but he didn't need to know them to decipher the identical looks of disgust on their faces. They stood there staring at him for a long moment, and he gazed resolutely back, though he was trembling from head to toe.

Finally, the shorter of the two men broke the silence. "Don't suppose you have any money on you, Master Chef?"

Clever.

Scotty swallowed, and nodded, reaching into his jacket; he found nothing besides his driver's license, and remembered that he'd left his wallet at home because he hadn't thought he would need it. Swallowing again, he said hoarsely, "I don't have my wallet. I left it at home."

The man grinned, and the glint in his eyes made Scotty shift nervously. "I was so hoping you'd say that."

Then his fist connected squarely with Scotty's solar plexus. He went down hard.

Mercifully, it only took one solid strike to the head to send him swirling off into the dark…

XXX

"Ha!"

Robert jumped and swiveled his chair away from his desk, half-turning it to look over at his brother-in-law. "I wasn't asleep."

Kevin ignored this rather transparent statement and stood to drop a thick sheaf of papers on Robert's desk. "I've got our angle and something resembling a plan. Read over it, and if you have any questions…save them for tomorrow, because I have a very annoyed husband waiting for me at home."

"Oh, yeah, it's your anniversary tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and Scotty had this whole pre-anniversary evening planned. He just had to put his two cents in after I told him about my vacation plans for the week, and then I missed dinner, so…"

"Say no more. If Scotty is anything like your sister, you're lucky to be alive right now. Don't push your luck."

Kevin laughed at that. "Night, Robert."

"Night."

XXX

When Kevin got home, it was to find the house dark and silent; Scotty obviously hadn't gotten back yet. Frowning, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and checked the voicemail he had received half an hour before. Confirming that he'd gotten the time of the message right, he frowned more deeply; his husband should be home by now.

Well, maybe he'd just gotten caught up at the restaurant.

After only a moment's thought, Kevin decided to do what any decent husband would do, and meet Scotty at the restaurant. They might miss each other, but it was worth a try.

As he left the house, he tried to tell himself that it was simply a hope of surprising his husband, and not the paranoid knots in his stomach, that were sending him out into the night.

XXX

When Kevin reached the restaurant, it was to find the place dark, with the "Closed" sign on the door and two full paper bags on the step. Frowning, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the number one on his speed dial for the fourth time, getting the voicemail once again.

He had just slammed the phone shut with a frustrated growl when he felt something small, delicate, and unmistakably breathing rub up against his ankle. He looked down, and jumped back as though he had just stepped in something disgusting; he hated cats. And this one was white, which meant it would get dirty more easily; Kevin didn't like dirt, either.

The kitten obviously didn't know this, however, because it darted forward to wrap itself around his leg again, then stepped back to sit and look at him with wide eyes. Kevin stared back, then blinked as it turned and walked calmly towards the alleyway next to the restaurant. Unsure exactly why he was doing it, Kevin followed.

XXX

Kevin was fairly certain that all of his worst nightmares were coming true at once.

Not that Kevin Walker was exactly prone to nighttime flights of fancy. Nightmares were frivolous things, and he simply didn't have time for them. On the rare occasion that he actually gave himself time to sleep, it was so deep that it was more reminiscent of unconsciousness than ordinary slumber.

Not anymore.

Now, Kevin would be shocked if he managed to ever sleep again; he knew he would never do so without being awakened by terrifying memories of the sight he'd just been witness to.

He was still sitting in one of the waiting room's small, uncomfortable plastic chairs, staring blankly at his cell phone, when Nora—the only person he'd managed to force himself to call—came rushing into the waiting room. She immediately spotted him; even if he hadn't been the only person in the room, her motherly instincts would have had her sitting next to him before he even noticed she was there.

Some time after his mother's arrival, Kevin realized that she had been talking to him for the past several minutes, and he forced himself to raise his eyes to hers.

"Sweetheart, come on, now. I need you to talk to me. What happened?"

Kevin blinked at her, trying to force his eyes to focus. When he finally spoke, his voice came out scratchy and hoarse. That couldn't be right, could it? He hadn't cried…

"…Scotty's hurt."

"Yes, dear, I know that much. How did Scotty get hurt?"

Kevin blinked again, more slowly this time. "I don't know."

Nora reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. "That's okay."

They said nothing else for quite some time. Then…

"Sweetie, is your bag moving?"

Kevin looked momentarily confused, then slightly horrified. "Oh, no…I didn't…" He leaned over and quickly unzipped the over-the-shoulder bag he'd carried home with him. It was supposed to hold a (comparatively) thin file folder, and nothing else, but that was no longer the case.

Nora made a surprised noise as the tiny, white kitten jumped out onto the floor of the waiting room, followed by the slightly smaller black one.

"…I brought them with me." Kevin's voice was slightly surprised, slightly confused, but mostly numb. "It seemed important at the time…"

Nora smiled slightly. "I'm sure it did."

"Now what am I going to do with them?" He leaned down to pull the black one into his lap, as the white one wrapped itself around his ankle, as she seemed to be so fond of doing. He stroked the kitten in his lap absently for awhile, then looked over at his mother. "Mom, do you think you could take them back to the house? Just for the night?"

"Oh, no, honey… I just got here. I should stay… I can't leave, I can't just…my son is—"

"I'm not kicking you out, Mom. I'm not. I just don't want us to get caught with animals in here. I'm pretty sure it's against the rules. Just…run to the store and grab some food and a cat box and litter, and close them up in a room somewhere for the night. I'll take them to a shelter tomorrow, or something."

"Well, it's no problem, Kevin, you know that, but…I really don't think I should leave."

"Don't leave for the night. Just…just for half an hour. Just to get them situated. Please?" Kevin didn't know why this was so important to him, but his tone was growing increasingly urgent.

Nora studied him intently for a moment, then nodded. "All right. All right, I'll be back soon, okay?" She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, waved away his offer of his wallet, extracted the kittens from his hands and around his leg, and left the room reluctantly.

Kevin watched her go, and wondered if he should be crying or not. Yes, he should, he decided, as he pulled out his cell phone to make more calls.