Confused, Colton gave the slightest indication of tilting his head as Heath withdrew from the 'I owe you'. He wanted something in return. That was fine. It was unexpected, but Colt wasn't in a position to be offended. It wouldn't be much. Right? They were friends. Or well, they were more than acquaintances. He didn't quite know what the term for that was, but he couldn't get wrapped up in semantics. Not now. Still yet, confusion was easily palpable and visible on his sleeve. He didn't know what else he had to offer Heath other than something on the outside.
Fortunately, or rather unfortunately... Heath would make that clear.
That head tilt deepens at the first trail off of Heath's words. As if to say, Have another... what? and when it's punctuated with the term episode Colt straightens. His jaw tightens, the muscles under his cheeks pull taunt as he looks up at the ceiling and then down, letting his gaze trickle to the ground as he turns away. Slowly, he paces, one foot in front of the other in the small storage room. It might of even seemed as though Colton had drifted off from the rest of the conversation and was no longer even listening.
He stops and turns back to Heath when he offers to get him meds. It was an answer to a problem, but not the most pressing one. At least not to Colton. Heath was grinning, as if he had put together the most perfect plan. He looked oh so pleased with himself. Colton frowned, then began pacing again. "Heath no, no, that's not a good idea." his voice turned soft, hinting towards the type of tone a kid would use when they weren't getting what they wanted. But it was more than that. It was a risk.
"What do you even mean by recon? Remember I didn't pass the academy... I can't do this. I didn't even make it through two classes." And what an awful experience that was. The first class he suffered through had passed him most likely just to please his dad, to give Colt a second chance... but it had been nothing but hell for him.
Realizing this wasn't going to make Heath change his mind, he turned and fell to his knees right in front of him and the crate he was sitting on. "I'll do anything else, anything. Heath they'll kill me. I've seen what they do to people that are useless to them, they throw them in the pits." He rocked back onto his heels beneath him.
The sounds of the walls closing in became louder and louder in his ears to the point he had to bring his hands up to them. Trying to block out the noise with his palms. "Make it fucking stop." he mumbled, squinting his eyes closed and gritting his teeth.
Even though Heath was rather pleased with himself and the plan he'd put together quickly, it was clear that Colton wasn't having any of it. He watches the younger man begin to pace again, once more disturbed by the monster in his mind that would only go away if he got himself some proper help. Help that Heath was offering to him, for a price of course. It's only once he's finished speaking that Colton finally decides to let the Military officer know where his mind is at, claiming that the plan was no good.
The smallest twitch makes itself known on Heath's brow.
He's not insulted, not yet, but those words remind him how many times Charles had told him the same thing. That his idea was no good, that he as the captain had a better plan in mind. Arrogance that Heath had been blind to, what with the way he looked up to his friend. But he knew better now, and hearing what he perceived to be arrogance coming from the younger man only sent him down that rabbit hole again. He chooses to be silent as Colton begins talking again, mentioning how he'd never made it through even two classes in the academy.
While he makes no effort to stop the rant, Heath silently disagrees with the statement. He'd used much less trained lackeys before in order to get information. One didn't need to have Military training to be useful after all — besides, Colton had grown up in a Military family. Chances are he subconsciously picked up some skills, even if he didn't realize it... Right?
"You're too much in your head, kid—" Heath begins to speak, but is cut off when Colton suddenly drops to his knees in front of him, begging him not to make him do it.
Those sad, puppy dog eyes staring up at time, a desperate plea for Heath to do something else. Begging him to do something else, with the promise that he would do anything to make it happen. Anything...?
There's a dark stirring in Heath's gut now, something he'd never felt before. Hey, he was still a man after all. When you had someone kneeling at your feet, big round eyes staring up at you with the promise to do anything, chances are you'd cave as well. Truth be told, Heath had never looked at Colton with such eyes before — he was nothing more than Charles's son. But here and now, his mind was beginning to fill his head with thoughts that would send him down a slippery slope, and he quickly brushes the thoughts away. Letting out a sigh, he brushes a hand down his face as he leans away from Colton, eyes turning to look somewhere else in the room — anywhere else. He only barely hears Colton's next words.
"I'll help you, but you're gonna have to— oi!" The man lets out a shout as he turns his gaze back to Colton and sees how the young man is curled up in a ball now, rocking back and forth with his hands over his ears. A flashback of the scene just seconds earlier drives Heath to jump to his feet, grabbing both of Colton's wrists in the process so he can haul the young man to his feet as well. There he holds him, their faces just inches from one another.
"Listen to me. They're not gonna hurt ya, y'hear me? You're too valuable to them. You're a Military captain's son — I doubt they know Charles no longer has the position." He pauses for a moment to huff out his anger before he continues. "You have to let me help you, otherwise you're never getting out of here. But your father fucked me over, Colt, and you have to do me this favour in return. To make it up to me."
The appeal seemed to be working, to some extent, Colton felt for a moment he was getting through to Heath about the dangers of what he was asking him to do. If he wasn't fearing for his life, he may have felt a lift in his self-esteem. That Heath thought he was capable of way more than many, including his own family. There on the floor and on his knees, he realized the shift in Heath's position, the way he couldn't even look at him. Was that guilt? He wouldn't know, couldn't. The room was too loud with noise.
Sharp and crisp like static on airwaves, the creaking of the walls filled his mind. Briefly he wondered how they hadn't been found yet. How could the storage room with the moving walls and screeching sounds of all of it's contents being moved in towards the center of the room -- not be noticed. The thought was fleeting, because he knew it wasn't real. Sometimes the hallucinations fooled him, and during others he even responded to get them to stop... but Heath couldn't hear it, and that was grounding.
Of course that didn't stop the shrilling sounds.
There was that oi! again, though muted, causing Colt to stir and look up as he kept his hands where they were. He had already connected the surprised, perhaps irritated sound with Heath's disapproval. Colt didn't want to get smacked again, and he couldn't be sure he wouldn't be.
Regardless, the response was still quite physical. Colton was pulled to his feet and his hands ripped away from his ears in the process. It wasn't as though his hands were doing much good anyway, just a feeble attempt at shutting out the noise. As he was yanked to stand on his feet, he went ridged with nerves.
They were so close it was impossible to ignore Heath's words. He was much louder than the sounds now, but Colton had to focus. Eyes wide, he reiterated each word silently in his mind; trying to drown out the noise in the process. "Not going to hurt me." he mumbled, as if making sure what he was hearing matched what Heath had said. "Military captain's son." he swallowed hard.
He said nothing more, just seemingly listened as Heath continued. He paused for a moment, staring off into space with his eyes trained at Heath's lips. The silence spread out for almost half a minute as he absorbed what he could before he finally put together a complete sentence. "How-how long? Do I have to stay here?" he looked back up then, appearing as though he had come to terms with what was about to happen. He had no choice, he knew that.
"If I do this, will you get me meds, even when I'm out of here, will you make sure I can always get them? Please?" he wasn't really in any position to try to sweeten the deal, but he had to have something to hold on to. Because if what Heath was saying was true, his father would never return, without him, what would happen then? Money had been scarce, but without his dad... it'd be non-existent. He didn't want to trade a life in the sewers for a life in the gutters. What would be the difference?
This close to one another, just inches apart as Heath keeps his hold on the younger man's wrists — some semblance of trying to keep him grounded, perhaps? — the man can see the emotions rapidly changing on Colton's face. It was almost like he was a picture book, open for reading.
It gives the man a bad feeling.
Would Colton end up blowing this? Would he not realize that he had to keep his mouth shut in order for this to work? The idea screws up Heath's own face momentarily, but it quickly smooths itself out again as he reminds himself regardless of the outcome, he needed this. Now, he had someone on the inside to the gang that would be indebted to him. Most Military officers were only willing to go so far before they ducked out, claiming it wasn't worth remaining undercover. But the good thing about Colton was that he didn't have the sense of safety that most Military officers did. Heath planned to use that to his advantage.
He nods along with Colton's first few words, as if to confirm that what he said was accurate. And in his head, it was. Why would the Jabberwockies be so eager to get their hands on a Captain's son, only to throw him to Infected to be eaten? It wouldn't make any sense. With the scumbags that the gangsters were, he could only assume they planned to use him to try blackmailing the Military in the future.
Silence. Then—
Big wide doe eyes as Colton asks how long he has to stay in the Jabberwockies, and Heath stares at him for half a second before he finally releases his wrists and takes a step back. As long as it takes, the answer rings out in the Lieutenant's head, but he's smart enough to keep quiet about it. From the sheer panic Colton already had at being told to stay put until he could get his medication, Heath doesn't doubt that if he answered the young man that way, he'd be out of the closet and running for the exit in a split second. He couldn't have that happen.
"All I need from you is information that can help me take the Spades down. You want that, right? If I got you out now, they'd be coming for both you and your old man. We need to remove their influence first," he answers, trying to go for another tactic now. In truth Heath wouldn't give a single care if the Jabberwockies did go after Charles's head after this — that man could rot in prison for all Heath cared at that point.
A small glimmer of sympathy, when Colton begs him to give him meds — even once he was out of the Spades... If he got out alive.
"Aye, I can do that for you kid," Heath confirms with a nod of his head. "Remember what I told you, Colt? I'm all you got left. Do this for me, and I'll make sure you're taken care of. Better than Charles ever did," he continues, a snip in his tone as he says his ex-friend's name. "Do as I ask, and I won't throw you to the wolves." Laughable really, considering that was exactly what he was doing. Throwing Colton to the wolves, all so that he could use his newfound spy to do his dirty work for him.
In order to make it through this, Colton realized he had to have a motivation. That part was easy for Heath. He was military. Naturally the jabberwockies were the enemy, and that was his reason. It was certain that making it out alive was probably the priority for Colt, but if he made it to the surface... what would be waiting for him? The few weeks he had been held captive had made him think, long and hard, about his life, about how it wasn't enough. There had to be more. Medication was the way he could obtain more out of his life. He wasn't so far down the rabbit hole that he didn't think he was sick. That would come later if this plan went to hell, but he couldn't think about that right now.
The next step was knowing the timeline, how long would he have to endure this. Heath didn't have an answer. Not a concrete one. Instead he focused on the content of the information, not the time it might take to retrieve it. In Colt's naïve mind, that made sense. Knowing himself, it might not be so easy to round up information. In fact, he knew it wouldn't be. He would probably need more time. Ample amounts of it. That realization made his brows and lips pull into a tight cringe.
He didn't like this. Not one bit.
All he could do was nod at Heath's insistent question that he too wanted to take down the Spades for his own self-preservation. For both him and his father. Colt realized he had let go of his wrists and absentmindedly he rubbed them, like he was remembering the feeling. The grounding of it all and the inability to hold his hands to his ears and tune out the world.
"Maybe we could leave, …. leave Stronghold and just, get away? Maybe it would be … safer." he tilted his head to the side like he was scared of even saying as much, you didn't talk about leaving the city. The city was home, and the fact the son of a Captain was even thinking about it smelled bad.
The thought subsides, at Heath's promise to get him the medication he needed, to take care of him, Colt feels the tension in his shoulder relax just slightly. The promise is a good one, the glimmer of motivation and hope he needed. "Okay." he chews on his lip, clearly nervous, but persuaded. "How are you going to get back here again though?"
A sudden roar of the spectators and crowd surrounding the pits outside of the staff area carried in through an air vent into the storage room. The fight that had been going on was clearly over, and from the sounds of it, it had been an upset. Colton looked up wide-eyed and panic stricken. "I've gotta go! The fights over!" he said in a hushed whisper, dreading, and worried with how he would get back to the kennels without causing suspicion.
"Kid, if you don't like it in here, you wouldn't like it out there," he huffs out his response, a bit of amusement interlaced with his words. Colton already seemed freaked out with the idea of being Infected lunch just from the interactions he was forced into by working for the Spades. Did he really think living outside Stronghold was going to be any better? Granted, Heath himself didn't venture outside the walls for very long, considering his work consisted of keeping Stronghold safe from vermin like the Jabberwockies. But he wasn't stupid — he'd seen firsthand what Infected could do.
It seems that Heath's various different tactics finally get through to the young man, as he seems to accept the only deal the Lieutenant was willing to offer him, was one to work for his medication. Good. Heath nods in approval, and opens his mouth to answer Colton's question when a load roar from further inside the building rings out, signalling the end of another match. Wide eyes stare up at him in a panic as Colton urgently whispers that he had to leave, and Heath stares at him for a second before nodding. Their business was finished anyway.
"Remember that abandoned office building you used to play in when you were younger? Charles and I would bring you there sometimes when we had to work late nights," Heath began to speak, words quick as he knew they didn't have much time. "The Military still uses that as a meeting point for undercover work. In three day's time, find an excuse to get out of here and then meet me there. Now go!"
The building was a small, cramped space stuffed somewhere between commercial buildings and residential buildings. The Military had used it for years for undercover work investigating the Jabberwockies and other crime in the area. Thankfully it hadn't been discovered yet, and so the Military never thought to move the headquarters. It would be the perfect space for them to have a private conversation, where they didn't have to worry about being caught. Well, as long as Colton was sneak enough to get there undetected. Was he making a big mistake?
"Oi!" Heath hisses out in a slightly raised voice, just before Colton leaves the room. "Don't forget: you get me what I want, and I'll get you what you need." Information for medication. That was their deal.
Colton didn't see it in the way Heath had reminded him, but it made sense. There were dangers outside the Stronghold walls, monsters, but the thing of it was -- was that there were plenty of monsters inside too. Colt could only see the problems right in front of him, he didn't have the full capacity to think it completely through in that moment. He saw the opportunity to never see a jabberwockie again and only that made the grass greener on the other side. The truth of the matter was, he wouldn't like it anywhere. So at Heath's reminder, he dropped his head.
It was time to go and Colton was a fresh pile of nerves. He focused as hard as he could on what Heath was saying, remembering and picturing the small building that reminded him of much happier times. He nodded his head quickly when Heath asked if he remembered. "Okay! Okay three days." he agreed, but he already knew getting out of here and sneaking away was going to be mission impossible by itself. He had to figure out a way though. If he didn't get the medication to keep himself out of trouble, it might be the end.
Turning around quickly, Colt made his way towards the door, about to pry it only a tiny bit to take a look into the hallway when Heath spoke again Oi! Colt jumped, his heart in his throat at the noise as he turned back around to stare back at Heath like why'd you do that. He listened and he nodded again "But make sure you bring enough."
Preferably a whole lot. But Colt didn't think that was going happen.
He turned back to the door again and pulled it open just enough to sneak a peek. When it was noted the coast was clear he slid out of the door and quickly jogged down the hallway, and back towards the room that Heath had yanked him out of. Thankfully his boss hadn't returned yet. As soon as Colt stepped back in he buckled over, hands on his knees for a moment as he tried to get his heart to stop pounding through his chest.
This was going to be one of the worst deals in the history of deals. He already knew it. TagHeath Langstrum
Posted 09-23-2021, 01:17 PMThis post was last modified: 09-23-2021, 01:17 PM by Colton Holcombe
Heath remains silent as Colton agrees to the terms, heading out of the room before turning back to remind Heath to bring enough. That was easier said than done — the Military wasn't about to just handle him bags full of the medication or anything. But that worked fine for the Lieutenant. Giving Colton only handfuls at a time meant that the younger man would have to keep working in order to keep being supplied with medication.
He grins as the door slams shut, and settles himself back on the box once more to wait for things to die down again. Pulling a cigarette out from his shirt, the man leans back and closes his eyes as he once more fills the small room with the smell of nicotine. Only when he's certain another fight is underway again — people's attention returning back to the entertainment — does he snub out the cigarette and leave the room, heading back the way he came. His eyes briefly turn in the direction of the fight, but he doesn't linger long enough to see the outcome as he leaves the Jabberwockies' establishment.
Three days. He hopes Colton is up to the challenge. Or else...
Got My Target on You
Posted 09-21-2021, 01:40 PM
This post was last modified: 09-21-2021, 01:41 PM by Colton Holcombe
