Rang De Basanti Drabbles

The Decision

A/N: Karan making his decision after Sukhi's rant. And maybe a squint of Karan/Laxman.

As I always say, keyboard is being bonkers so... sorry about the typos and auto corrects!

Numbness. That was all Karan could feel from the moment he heard his father's name in the news, everything after that seemed to be distant... all he could hear was his own mind turning on him. The scenery did sort of give him some kind of a distraction from his warring mind, but it didn't last long as the shouting started.

And then Sukhi was suddenly shoving a newspaper in his hand and grabbing him by his collar, going on about how he knew about this and how he could easily escape from all this, leaving them to die and he was shell shocked from the words that sprouted from his mouth.

And all he could do was to stare blankly at the picture of his dad on the paper as silent tears started flowing. Distantly, he could see how DJ was trying to calm Sukhi down, all of them gathering around him and comforting him, and then there was a hand on his shoulder.

'Laxman' his mind supplied as he made no effort to hide the tears or sobs that were threatening to flow. Emotions were definitely running high here, since the moment they heard the news that the Defense Minister was hailed for what he'd done for the country, completely shattering the motive of their plans.

"Haar math maan Karan. Sab theek hojayega" Laxman said. "Kya theek hojayega Laxman?" Karan asked softly as he looked back at him. "Ajay mar gaya, humne defense minister ko retaliation me maar diya. Aur ab patha chaltha hai ki mere baap in sab me shaamil tha... whatever we were trying to fight, woh toh mere ghar me hi hai... Aur mujhe aaj tak patha nahi chala" he said.

"Par patha toh chal gaya na? Ab we can take steps to tackle it. If it makes any sense, main bhi us party mein isi liye shaamil hua kyon ki maine socha ki woh log jantha ke liye kuch kar rahe hai. Par tum sab ke saath thodhi dher bithane ke baad, kal jo bhi hua, uske baad... sab kuch ulta hogaya mere liye. Aur us leader ko maine ek baap ke samaan se dekhtha tha..." Laxman said.

"Par humara situation mein bohot farakh hai Laxman. Woh tumhara party leader the, tum wahaan se kabhi bhi baahar aa sakthe the, daag nahi hoga tum par. Par mujhe, woh toh mera baap hai, who is corrupt as hell. Aur woh daag mere saath humesha ke liye mere saath hi hoga. Hell! It bloody makes me feel like mera haath bhi tha Ajay ki maut mein" Karan confessed and Laxman just pulled him into a hug, trying to calm down the now full out sobbing Karan.

The others immediately rushed towards them and pulled them to a more stable spot, noticing that they were too close to the edge and it turned into a group hug, except Sukhi, who chose to stand by the side, still running high from the outburst.

"Guys..." he said after a while, forcefully coming out of the hug. While he appreciated that they were willing to stand with him instead of blaming him... this was his fight and he was going to finish it.

"Ajay ki maut tumhare sar par nahi hai." DJ said forcefully, trying to get it into his head. "Haan, none of us blame you for not noticing this. Par hume abhi ek decision leni hai. Sachaai baahar aani chaahiye. We can't let our efforts go in vain" Aslam said.

"Kal subah, 5.30 sharp, radio station ke saamne hum sab milenge. We are going to announce everything live." Karan said definitively and no one asked any questions, this mood of Karan definitely putting them off a bit. Yes, he was a little serious and brooding, but never had they seen this particular side of his, the authoritative side.

"Karan yaar..." Sukhi started but Karan put his hand up, effectively silencing him. "You brought up a good point Sukhi. Isi liye main aaj raath ghar jaakar unko maarne ke baad hi radio station aaunga" he said, shocking everyone into silence.

"Karan... ek baar soch lo. Pakka hai kya?" DJ asked. "Paagal math ban Karan. Jaantha hoon ki tum dono ke beech mein relationship thoda up and down hai but hadd hai yaar. But on the other hand... Ajay ka maut bhi unke haath mein hai..." Aslam said. "Thoda shaanth hone ke baad ek baar aur soch lo. Emotion mein math bolo abhi. Baad mein regret karega" Laxman warned.

"Baad mein regret... Baad mein regret huh? Arey maine usko maara nahi toh mein regret karoonga. Agar humne kal sachayi kal bola, aur police hume arrest karen ya maar dalen, hum log gaye aur woh? Aazadi mein baahar ghoomega, yahi kaam karke. And I don't want that to happen. Agar woh hua, humara saara efforts barbaad ho jaayega. Yeh toh mera personal problem hai and I will put an end to it" Karan said.

"Maar daal use" Sonia said, trying to sound confident, but her voice waivered slightly, showing her doubts regarding the decision. Karan just stared at her in determination, as if he heard the doubts she was voicing with that one statement. "Agar man ki shaanti milegi toh... maaro use. But just know that any one of us are ready to be by your side." Aslam said.

"Ajay ne kaha tha 'Ghar ki safaai mein kaun haath gandha karga' aur aaj meri baari hai uske liye. I will rather die or go to jail after killing him as is tarah, woh na hi sachaai ko twist karke mujhe baahar nikhalega, na hi woh aazad ghoomega, bina sazaa liye. Aur Sukhi, I'll rather die than get out scot free due to his upar waala contacts. Main yeh kaam akele karunga." he said with finality, leaving no room for discussion.

All they could do was look at each other in concern before letting out collective sighs. "Achcha, phir chalo abhi. Dher ho rahi hai yahaan. Jaantha hoon ki kisi ko neendh nahi aayega par... we definitely need the rest. Sonia, tum maa ke saath hospital mein raho... Humare saath aake tumko kuch hua toh... maa akela reh jaayegi" DJ said. Sonia agreed to the request and everyone filed away to the car, trying to mentally gear up for the next day.

"Theek se soch liya hai na?" DJ asked, just wanting to check in for one last time. "Haan, sachaai toh jaani padegi. Tu ghabra math" Karan reassured and walked away. And the rest, is history.

A/N: So... that was that. Hope you all like it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated! Prompts are welcome!

Playlist for the OS  - 
Nenu Thanani - Oh My Friend
Shoot the Kuruvi - Jil Jung Juk
Manippaya - VTV

Thank you all for reading!!!!!

Rasnak signing off :) ;)

UPDATED ON 11 JUNE 2020