by P. S. Power
It had been so long since they'd opened the door he was a little surprised it still worked. The very thick silver door slid to the right after moving toward him into the room. The thing was at least six inches thick, meant to hold violent super humans in if they had above normal strength or energy powers. It worked pretty well on him too. Early on, frustrated at being locked up, he'd punched it. The thing hadn't even rang. Barely even made a thud even. It had hurt like hell though, so he hadn't bothered trying it again.
When it slid to the side he kind of expected a couple of guards to be standing there, ready to shoot him if he twitched wrong, or maybe even if he did what they wanted. Instead, dressed in black military fatigues and wearing dorky looking IPB issue tennis shoes, stood the kid. Brian Yi.
His nemesis.
Before Denis could attack Brian waved to him happily enough, taking him off guard.
“Hi Denis. Say, I know we'd traditionally have some kind of big fight about now, but how about we save that for later? Or maybe just forget about it altogether and chat instead?” His voice struggled to be gentle and didn't make it, sounding tired and worn. Harshed to tell the truth. A bit dark too, even more so than the last time they'd met. The man was also lean now. Almost skinny, but carrying just enough muscle to hold that state off, like a swimmer or free climber. One of those types of people that got their own exercise videos but never made any money because when you got down to it, no one sane could keep up with their workouts.
Denis just stared for a bit. What was he supposed to do here? If he said anything, he'd be a dick to the guy. He knew it.
Really, for all the books he'd read on the topic, Denis couldn't think of a single thing in any of them that would help. Since the man had just asked if it was alright not to kick his ass, the least he could do was not poke the guy. Crap. What to do?
Taking a deep breath he tried falling into a Zen state. It didn't work, not really, but just trying helped calm him, the pattern a bit familiar and all that now.
“OK.” It wasn't exactly War and Peace, but it beat the “fuck you queer” that had tried to come out. Baby steps. One little thing at a time. First move, don't get beaten unconscious. So far so good.
Yi nodded and walked a bit further into the cell. He looked around for a bit before starting to talk.
“So, um, here's the deal. You stop trying to kill people and torturing them and all that kind of thing and be more polite to everyone, as a rule at least. In return we get you your old job back and a place on a new special team. It's crowd control, so I used that to suggest you'd be a good person for it. There's travel involved, so you won't be locked up on the base, but it's sensitive, so you'll have to be good with the public, even if they don't always deserve it. Trust me, they won't deserve it.”
Denis, feeling blindsided, really wanted to cover with a quip, something about how they finally realized they needed him. It wouldn't come out right, he knew, nothing ever did. Kind of like his mouth had been hard wired to do an end run around common sense. So, he decided, don't try to be funny at all. Don't accuse or anything like that. If nothing else, it was a chance to get out of the cell he was in. Maybe it was a trick, but in the few times they'd met, Brian had never lied to him. Beaten him pretty badly, sure, but no falsehoods.
It took an act of will to do it but he took a deep breath and dove in head first. Gently and kindly. After a fashion.
“Well, that sounds like a nice offer. Is there a catch?” The words weren't what he'd meant to say at all, having been planning to just agree and try to get out, but there it was, his mouth just running on its own. Fuck. Hey gift horse, mind if I check your fucking dental work? Brilliant.
The other man didn't look put out at least.
“Yeah, several catches. You have to be nice to everyone. Like I said. The old way won't work now, things are too tense for the time being for anything less than kindness from the people here. We have to support one another. So that's in there, and it's real too. If you can't or won't do it, the Director said the deal's off. You'll be watched too. Free, but observed.” Yi smiled, it didn't reach his eyes and seemed to promise a beating. Another one. Still, the mouth made an effort to curl up on the sides. That had to count for something.
“Then, that's all of us here, isn't it? Watched. So, you know, watch out with the chronic masturbation if it's an issue. Just a warning, I don't think that the IPB is the only group looking at our tapes and records anymore. Hooper and McCreedy have gotten some emergency anti-Infected stuff put into play, which makes everything a lot more volatile. Basically, even if you're losing your cool, don't say anything. Not even that you dislike someone. If you really need to fight it out, take it outside and off base. For that matter if you need to chat about more than the weather, do the same thing. This is serious.” The man in black leaned forward a bit and stared at Denis, as if trying to convey extra meaning to the words. It wasn't that obvious, but it made the point clear.
This was real.
A billion questions flashed into Denis' head then, but what he said, finally, thankfully, came out being what he wanted. Close enough at least. The tone could be better.
“Alright. Anything else?” He didn't even sound like he was being sarcastic for once. Suspicious though.
“Lots, but the only basic thing is that. Be nice, don't try to kill people. The rest is negotiable. Um, though, a lot of people aren't too fond of you right now. I got yelled at a few times when I told people about this plan. So, you know, I suggest you just start apologizing to everyone and basically bending over backwards to make this work. It won't be comfortable for a long time, but...” He gestured to the cold and ugly walls.
“It's not in here either. If nothing else you can wait six months and then just quit. That's the probation period. Get past that and you're free to do what you like. I'd suggest making contacts here first though, even if you plan to get out. Things are... dark doesn't exactly describe it. You'll want friends in the near future, keep that in mind.”
It was a lot more than he ever expected. Really, waking up under a hail of bullets or poison gas being pumped in had occurred to him more than once. If this was all real, it might be worth giving a try. What's the worst they could do? Kill him while trying to “escape”? If they wanted to do that, it would just happen anyway.
“Alright. I'll try.” Denis took a deep breath, tried to relax and swallowed hard.
“Sorry I tried to kill you all those times.” It sounded sullen and grudging, but Brian didn't seem to care about that. The guy looked down for a second and nodded.
“And I'm sorry I didn't get down here and try to fix things sooner. Would have stopped a lot of trouble if I had.”
That nearly made Denis lose control of his mouth again.
Freaking-A right! If the guy had come and settled things in the first place, he wouldn't have lost six months or longer in this God forsaken hole. The words nearly came out, but even he could tell that wasn't really true. A newb on his second week, training past exhaustion all the time, should have gone off and found him, hidden away from everyone else, then smoothed things over with a guy who had introduced himself as an asshole and then tried to kill him with a gun?
Fucking brilliant to even think it. Given all that Denis kind of wondered why Yi had even bothered to come now. No one in the world would expect a person to forgive someone that kept trying, no matter how ineptly, to murder them. He wouldn't have.
“Not your fault. The screw up was mine and I know it. Um, what now?” It was a good question, because Denis didn't have a clue about how prisoners were released from here.
Yi shrugged and stepped back, “now I go and convince the Director that you really mean to try your best and that we're all buddies now. This could take a bit, but I'll do my best.”
Then, without notice or another warning to step back, the door shut fast enough to kill him if he'd been trying to exit at the time, making a loud and reverberating clang that shook the very walls a bit. Denis shrugged. If it was a
fucking con job, well... at least he'd had a visitor. That was the first person that had come to see him the whole time he'd been down here. Just that had to count as a treat, didn't it?
He read more for a while and put the book back on the tray after dinner. It wasn't a huge bit of text and they'd given it before, so it was simple enough to finish in one day. A book of little sayings about kindness. They were sweet.
The lights went out, dimmed really, and Denis slept, not knowing if it would be weeks, months or even years before he heard anything else.
Maybe never.
If anyone in the world had a right to jerk him around it was Brian Yi. Plus, the guy didn't seem the same anymore, not from the first time they'd talked. Maybe not exactly sane? No big. After all the isolation Denis probably wasn't either. He'd just be all Zen about it and see what came. A tiny sliver of hope wanted to creep into his soul, which got pushed down hard. None of that, he schooled himself, start hoping again and who knew what the hell would come of it? Let downs probably. Just accept the moment and let it be whatever it was.
The next morning when the lights brightened – they never went all the way out here – the small metal slot on his door opened. It didn't have breakfast on it, or a book, just a pair of blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. Under the pile was underwear, another thing that the guards had taken away to try and punish him, and some tennis shoes. No socks. Jerks. Who forgot socks?
Denis grinned anyway.
“OK Tompkins, get dressed and get the fuck out of here. If you attack any of us on the way out, I swear to God I'll shoot your ass right here.” It was one of the voices that liked to play electrocution Simon says with him. That kind of thing made an impression, he really doubted he'd forget that voice for a long while.
Alright fuck-nut, Denis thought, changing clothes as fast as possible, I won't attack you on the way out. What he did later depended on a lot of factors, but that guy was freaking going down. Or at least would be feeling like his balls were in a vice for a while. Torturing someone like that was low and petty. At least when he did it he'd have a good reason. They'd done it to him first.
As he slipped on the white and blue running shoes and rubbed his hairy face, Denis grinned again. Did he really have a good reason for what he did most of the time? Yeah, sure, people treated him like crap, so he responded in kind, but half the time he started the cycle, didn't he? More than half he corrected. Most of the time. Being a prick wasn't helping too much so far in life, was it?
“Look at me, I'm being all insightful and shit.” He muttered as he walked to the still closed door. It opened with a clang and a sudden rush of air.
None of the guards came out to say goodbye, even after all these months, so Denis waved to the air behind him where the silver mirrored glass guard booth was and then started walking out as fast as his little ex-con legs could carry him. That he even managed to keep his mouth shut was impressive. A gold star or a smiley sticker should be in order no doubt. No need to let them shoot him after all.
Class four or not, he wasn't bullet proof and these guards weren't just some guys with a shiny badge and a few months training, they were all un-Infected IPB agents. Most of them had been Green Berets and Delta Force or Navy SEALs before they signed up for even harder jobs here. Not guys he wanted to test really. If one of them said he'd shoot you, it was probably best to just believe him and assume the weapon was already aimed.
The doors, all heavy, all steel, opened in front of him as he walked, slowly though, they crawled open, as if drawing out his approach to freedom. The dicks were screwing with him again, trying to make it seem like he might be denied at any moment. If they did that he wasn't going back as easily this time. Life in a tiny metal box without even a toothbrush just wasn't worth it. If they tried...
They didn't. The last door that opened took him to an elevator, one that didn't have a control panel inside, but did have a nice pumpkin orange carpet. To remind him of the prison uniform? Ugly color maybe, but the walls were wood panel and had a copper looking hand rail, which he grabbed just before the doors slammed shut behind him. Now things moved quickly, trying to scare him or something.
He rocketed up, the force of the elevator being enough to nearly force him to the ground. The a-holes getting their last strike in? Yeah, that seemed about right. Well, no big thing. Be Zen. Denis took a deep calming breath when the box jerked to a stop and the doors opened into a tan and beige hallway.
Great, they'd killed him now and he'd died and gone to the great office building in the sky.
What stood waiting for him wasn't an angel at all.
Oh, it was a woman, a hot one too, dressed in white even, heavy clothes that could take a pounding, since her powers made it really hard to hurt her, she tended to be a little hard on the wardrobe. He could make her suffer, but they'd never gotten into it. Not to that level. Even back when he was a jerk he'd known better. She'd kill him in a real fight. Besides, she was kind of good looking, which made it easier to put up with her. They'd argued back and forth almost daily, but nothing major.
“Marcia! Well, good to see a familiar face. Thanks for meeting me?” He said, trying to remember what some of those books the guards had forced on him said. Steal the march and set the tone. With her in particular, he wanted friendly to take the day. Really it was a good policy with anyone that could pull your arms off.
He needed to keep that in mind, especially here, since that was every third person practically.
She looked at him with so much suspicion that it fairly curdled the air between them. Instead of cursing at him, which would have been fair really, since he'd tried to kill a teammate of hers more than once, she just nodded.
“Good. Brian said you'd agreed to not be as big a pain in the ass to everyone, but this is a really nice start. Better than expected. Walk with me.” Her voice was gruff, hard and still, somehow. As they walked she kept giving him sidelong glances. Like she was waiting for the insults to come.
Forcing a smile to his brown bearded face, Denis fell into step and tried to keep up. For all his regular daily exercise there hadn't been room in the ten by ten cell for much walking and Marcia was super-fast when she needed to be. It seemed today she did. That or she secretly wanted to shake him off and leave him standing in the hallway alone.
Without preamble she began talking.
“You're on my team now. It's a new unit, made up of people from all the main teams, you, technically, are one of the reps for team three. Mark is the other and if it ever comes to it, you take orders from him. Really, for the next six months you take orders from everyone. The maid service outranks you for now. If they tell you to scrub the floor, you'd better be on your hands and knees with a brush before they finish explaining how they want it done, get the idea?” She glared at him but didn't stop walking.
He gets out of prison and now he had to be everyone's bitch? That hardly seemed fair, did it? After a second he nodded and muttered yes. Keep it cool, he reminded himself. In real life no one wanted the would-be killer running the show, did they? Don't say anything stupid. Don't be a tool. It was hard to pull off but he left it at that.
“Good. I won't threaten you, but I will point one thing out here; you were about to be taken out and killed as a liability three days ago. If Proxy hadn't stepped in and put his ass on the line for you there'd be a new set of bones out in the high desert twenty feet down. The paperwork had been signed and everything. It was even legal. If he hadn't threatened to quit it would have happened this morning instead of getting a new job with me and we'd be carting your corpse out right now. Since doing that, quitting, would probably mean his own death, without the medical treatment he gets here after his missions... well, you better not screw this up, understood? Not a lot of people have someone willing to die to give them a second chance like this, don't blow it.”
Ah. Half of that didn't make any sense to him. That was the problem of being locked up essentially alone for months on end. He got the death thing, and the s
tay of execution, but who was Proxy? He'd have to thank the guy. Nice to know someone in the world gave a shit about him. Denis asked, which made Marcia stop suddenly. The look was baffled for a second before a nod came.
“Right, you've been out of the loop. Proxy is Brian, his code name. So, yeah, your best friend in the whole world is the same guy you keep trying to off and he pretty much threatened to kill himself if we didn't let you out and give you this chance. Think about that. There have been some changes. Mainly bad. You're not in the need to know for everything yet, but the current mission, well, I'll fill you in after we get you taken care of. New name, new clothes and for God's sake a new look. What did you call your old one with the mismatched awful suits and bow ties? Ventriloquist dummy sheik? Your face is going public, so clean cut and sharp looking from now on. The beard will have to go too, the “psycho hill folk” look isn't in anymore.”
Denis figured that he'd get a dressing down now, more threats of death if he didn't comply totally and maybe a face to face with the Director, shaming him into being a good little boy. Focusing he dropped into a mentally quiet spot and tried to just accept. He did deserve it after all.
Instead he got taken to Clarice, the make-up lady for the IPB's front branch, team one, and was pushed a little roughly into a chair by the woman, who glared at him.
“Do anything but sit nicely and I'll...” She didn't get to finish, because someone else walked in just then, a pretty brunette bitch.
Denis tried to stop the thought, not because she wasn't a bitch, she really was, her face held a perpetual scowl and bitterness ran through her frame with each breath. It just didn't help him to think things like that, because, well, she was a bitch. Odds were she was about to say something that would piss him off in about five seconds.
She made it happen in two. She was a real pro at it. If she'd been aiming at anyone else Denis probably would have admired her work.
“At least he doesn't look as gay anymore. Clari dear, shave his head and get rid of that mess on his face. A short, light boned man like this can't afford to wear a bow tie, not if we want anyone to take him seriously outside the homosexual community. Even there he always polled low, those people actually have a fashion sense as a group. Wait... Are you gay Denis? We could dress him in a rainbow costume and call him the “purple invader” or something. That would play well with the kink crowd, don't you think Marcia?”
