Soldiers Of Fortune (For Crim)

Watching him closely, the tall, well built but slender leader of the Aufstand stood rather attentively across from the newest captive. He had the boys file in his hand, having been going over it maticulously; everything that had been observed through the Soldier's training had been noted down in the file. And now Rache had access to it. He knew his weaknesses, his strengths, and anything short of blindfolding the boy, had neutralised his abilities. There was no physical way he could get out of this room, even with his extensive agility.

Clearing his throat, Rache closed the file and placed it on the table beside him. He wasn't an overly tidy man, his 12 O'Clock shadow and toussled hair suggesting he may have had a rough night, or just naturally went for the rugged look. Dressed in a casual suit, the tie lacking and the shirt open, he had the appearance of your average citizen.

At the sign of Alexis stirring, he gestured for the armed guards to leave the room; wouldn't want to startle the lamb before the slaughter.
"Morning sunshine." He greeted, the sliver of ridicule present in his tone. "I saw what you did to Soldier nine-seven-three. Without hardly a scratch, too." Shaking his head, he leant against the table the file now sat on, his fingers curling around the edge of the surface. "Advanced hearing was never one of the Facilitie's strong suits." He was more talking to himself, out loud, than to Alexis himself, but he figured the boy would respond in any way he saw fit, if at all.

"Ugh, just shut te fuck up already. Two sentences already and your voice makes me want to pass out again..." the teen growled, his own voice not helping his headache. he knew the guy wasn't gonna listen, so the next option was to open his eyes and at least get a look at the asshole who ordered his capture.

It was still too bright for him, the walls of white making opening his eyes painful, hissing and shutting them once more. Bastard had the ropes around his wrists and ankles tied to the point of nearly making circulation cut off to his hands an feet.

"Guess the traitorous bitch should have stay with us, would have learnt a lot more than just the basics."

Rache allowed for a small curve to pull upwards at the corners of his lips. 

"You have a smart mouth on you." He commented flatly, standing up from the table. "Lucky we allow that here, or I'd have to beat it out of you." Stepping closer to the boy, the Aufstand leader reached and took a rough hold on Alexis' chin, forcefully lifting his face so he could see it more clearly. "And I'd have enjoyed it too." 

With a sharp push, Rache moved away once more, casually making his way back to the table and taking up the file once more. 
"Alexis, Alexis, Alexis. Says here you've got enhancements in agility and sight." His eyes ran the information for a about the tenth time that evening. "Though, with all your /extensive/ knowledge, I still find myself questioning whether or not you know where you are, and who you're dealing with."

"You could try... to beat it out of me," He huffed, trying to wrench his chin out of the man's grip, opening his pewter coloured eyes to view nothing but a big black shadow in front of him, growling at the rough treatment as his chin was pushed away sharply, causing the bruise on the side of his face to ache a little more.

Taking a moment after the man finished speaking about his abilities, Alexis answered him, staring at the white floor and his knees to focus. "I'll take a guess, but I'm pretty sure I'm in some secret den of traitors, that is if the whispers and rumours around the ranks are true...." After all, whispers and rumours were all that they had to go by when one of their own dissappeared off the face of the planet with no explanation except for that they died. When it was an answer given by the Directors, they didn't really argue.

"As for who I'm dealing with, the bastard in the cheap suit in the room with me, I have no fucking clue," He shrugged.

"The Aufstand, if you please. And we're no more traitors than you are willingly puppets of the Facility." Rache ran his finger along the page absently. "Though of course, you're very unaware of your true position. As are all the new recruits."

Lifting his gaze to the boy once more, he ran his over his tied form, finishing at the bruise on his face. 

"Well, at least Devin wasn't as useless as you made her seem." He murmured; he liked Devin, she was a good soldier. Too bad she was too cocky for her own good. 
"Well, in any case, we'll be slowly and painfully rehabilitate you. Though I'm sure you'll thank us eventually."

What if we weren't willing in the first place? Alexis was shocked and a little worried about the sentence that nearly slipped his off his tongue, swallowing thickly that may have, to the other guy, be a sign of fear for what he had just said.

Pushing the chair back away from the man, the legs scraping the linoleum flooring sharply, the long haired brunette snapped. "If you think I'm joining your stupid, weak, little club, then you have another thing coming! Stupid fucker! Ah, shit!" He shouted, the chair tipping over and jarring his shoulder as he landed on his side, twisting each limb to try and free it from the ropes digging into the flesh.

Well that was amusing. The humorous action even managed to coax a short chuckle, though it was mocking. 
"How do you feel, having achieved nothing with that?"

Leaving the boy there, Rache made his way to the door, giving it one sharp tap before it opened, and he walked out. A few moments passes, and he re-entered, two bulky guardsmen following him. While the leader of the Aufstand stopped, the two soldiers made their way over to Alexis, hauling him up by the chair and carrying him, as he had landed, out of the room.

"It might take a few days, kid, but I promise you'll feel brand new afterward." Rache called out after them, the 'rehabilitation' due to start that very night; it was never a good idea to give these soldiers time to truely evaluate the situation. He'd learnt that the hard way.

Cursing every name he could think of at the man, trying to get a clear picture of him before he left the room, Alexis struggled even harder against the ropes, rubbing skin raw on each limb as he moved before stopping dead still at the sight of the two guards returning with the leader.

Getting a still slightly fuzzy, but better sight at the suit wearing asshole, his scruffy appearance and smug look, it only made Alexis start cursing more as he was picked up, chair and all and carried out of the room.

"Where the fuck are you taking me?! Let me the fuck go, you limp dicked, cock suckers!! which one of you numb nuts were the one who hit me over the back of the head, huh? I'll fucking murder you!"

Rache was only amused at the teens curses and empty promises; they would soon been beaten out of him. Though the Aufstand admired spirit, it made breaking down the Obedience rather difficult in the long run.

"Be silent, child." He ordered teasingly, the smirk on his face beaming with the mock tone he had spoken with. "You'll wake the other recruits." Where they were specifically, was the rehabilitation center of the Aufstand, where they took those deemed suitable for the program to be broken down and brought to light of the reality of their situation. The Obedience was a nuisance, of course, and this was merely a tactic used on those who couldn't naturally get rid of it.

Rache didn't follow the two guards, who seemed to be very patiently ignoring Alexis' angry shouts and abusive threats, but instead took a detour away from their route.

Alexis would be isolated for the next 24 hours, and then if the Obedience was still stubbornly strong in his mind, Rache would have his turn.

It was nothing short of blind white pain that seared through Alexis's body after the punches, kicks and cheap shots he was subjected to for a full hour without pause. Even lifting his hand to give the guards the finger seemed like the impossible when they finally stopped to catch breath and ask how he was doing.

The chair was in splinters, some digging into the rags once called his shirt, his trousers much in the same state but with a little more conservative for keeping him decent, those rags still clinging to his body not doing much bar stick to his skin with the blood shed from the bleeding nose, cuts and marks left behind.

He never said a word as they shut the door, leaving him in the deafening silence of the isolation room, not even his enhanced eyesight picking up the faintest of light from underneath the door or through the cracks of the handle.

The bloodied brunette was determined to win over the bastard, counting in his head the seconds, turning into minutes, turning into... however long he was in here. He had managed to loose count when he thought he heard the pitter patter of rain somewhere, sitting up slowly and painfully, finding the cold wall to lean against to listen for it once more...

He never thought he would miss the streets. Not in a million years.

Was it hours? Or days? Usually those in the detention room couldn't tell.

The door swung open, breaking the deafening silence with sharp, screeching sounds of metal scraping against metal, and a gentle thump as it hit against the wall. A tall, slender figure clad in tight, black latex stood in the doorway, holding a tray of what seemed to be food; a slice of bread, a half a chopped apple and a glass of water. It seemed they at least cared for the health of those they beat down.

The young soldier stared at the mess of a teenager on the floor, his eyes scanning the room a moment from behind his jet black fringe. Hesitating, he took the few steps that separated them, obviously new to the whole process.

"Rache will be with you soon." He murmured, crouching down and placing the tray on the floor, only to notice the other's bond hands and obvious lack of ability to feed himself. It wasn't protocol to stay and feed the 'trainees', but this soft-hearted soldier wasn't about to humiliate Alexis further.

"W-Would you like some.. Some help? Eating?" How did you ask someone beaten, bloodied and bound if they would like help eating?

The noise of the door grating open wasn't as nearly as painful as the light filtering in through the door, not shutting his eyes this time as the black clad shadow set a tray down in front of him, his body curled up despite the aching of potential broken bones for warmth.

This dominatrix looking guy was sticking around, heck, he was even offering to help feed him since he was still bound. Why was this person being nice to him? Wasn't he the bad guy here?

Swallowing to ease his dry throat, Alexis sighed. "You seem like a nice enough person, you also sound like you'll get into trouble if you help me. Do you want that?" He asked, honestly.

The Soldier hesitated before sitting down in front of the other, carefully plucking a piece of sliced apple from the tray. "I won't get in trouble." He assured, more trying to convince himself than Alexis; he wasn't sure, really, whether or not he was actually breaking any rules. He only knew that no one ever stayed to help.

Holding the slice of apple between his fingertips, up to Alexis cautiously, not sure if the 'trainee' would attempt anything, he gave a nervous half smile. "W-We're not the bad guys, y'know?" He questioned, trying to lighten the tense mood with a light, cautious chuckle. "Rache is... He's trying to help."

Inhaling sharply and spitting out the blood clot from the inside of his nose, Alexis laughed a little at the guy's attempt to console him on the situation. He could tell this guy wasn't meant to be a soldier, and was probably stuck doing the simple tasks like this.

"Oh? Maybe you could explain to me then why this supposed 'good guy' decided to kidnap, beat the hell out of me and send my own kind after me? I would honestly love to hear the story he gave you," the brunet asked, tilting his head to the side to remove the crack in it before leaning a little towards the guy, wanting the apple before his stomach gave away exactly how much he had eaten over the past two, maybe three days.

The light smile drifted away at the other's words; of course Alexis wouldn't believe him, especially not at this point in time. Why had he even tried? The boy allowed the other to take the slice of apple, making sure he wouldn't drop it before his hand returned for another.

"He-- Y-You'll understand soon." He swallowed a sharp lump at the back of his throat. "I-I promise."


The moment the words fell past his lips, heavily armed men entered the room, followed close behind by Rache.

"That's enough Rory." The older Soldier gave a waving gesture for the boy to leave, the soldier very quickly standing and retreating from the room, leaving the tray behind.

"You should appreciate that kids actions, Alexis." Rache commented. "It's most likely the only kindness you'll receive for a while."

Alexis was listening intently for some sort of answer to this whole thing, but sighed and sat back with the piece of apple in his mouth, chewing as this guy kindly feeding him stammered out a half assed reply, the tone suggesting that he wouldn't be believed. All the captive wanted was anything, something small, just... a clue maybe.

The dominatrix clad guy was named as the leader and a few armed guards stormed in before Alexis could finish his mouthful, telling Rory to leave them be, Alexis getting to his knees and taking in all the features he couldn't view before of the guy, Rache, due to the blinding white room and the concussion from the hit to the head.

"Didn't say I wasn't greatful for it, did I?" the teen snarked at Rache. "Man, you really are an asshole. Your files don't fucking tell you everything about a person, do they, douche bag?"

"No. But they tell me enough." Folding his arms, Rache watched the teen in front of him, tilting his head slightly. "I think you'll come to realise that I'm not the bad guy, Alexis." He stated flatly, tearing his eyes from the boy and casually making his way across the room, pacing.

Gesturing to the two armed men, he stopped and turned his gaze back on the teen, the two nameless Soldiers making their way over to the beaten boy and, surprisingly, unbinding him with a few sharp tugs before taking their leave, closing and sealing the door behind them.

"We're going to be spending a long time together, kid." He murmured. "And I'm sorry that the first few weeks have to be so unpleasant." Rache seemed to gain a more understanding demeanour now that the other's had left the room, relaxing slightly and actually seeming to feel the guilt of his actions.

He didn't like this process. He hated it. But it was for the greater good.

Okay, the pain of being able to move his arms from the same position that they were tied in made his whole top half ache, watching the two guards leave the room and shut the door behind them, locking both prisoner and warden inside the darkened silence.

But there was a voice now, breathing that wasn't his own to listen for, body heat that he could warm up next to, once he could feel out where Rache was, eventually finding him and running his hand up the man's leg until he found the shirt over his chest as he stood shakily, scruffing it and dragging the man down with his full weight.

"Sit the fuck down, and keep still. I'm cold and want to be warm," Alexis demanded, removing the rags sticking to his body by his own blood, wanting this man to do as he was told.

Rache didn't budge at first, but he eventually gave in and sunk to the ground, obeying the kid's strange request.

"You're a weird one." He commented, frowning slightly in the darkness, his eyes focussed straight ahead despite being unable to see anything. Alexis was different from the other's that had passed through here; most had been scared, some defiant-- never had they requested his body heat. They had all wanted to either kill him or stay clear. There was never a neutrality.

"Will you listen to me, now that we're alone." His tone was flat, hardly questioning. Rache didn't really want to know whether or not Alexis would listen to him. All he wanted was for this to be a quick, easy process that would be over with soon.

He hated the dark.

"I've found that being weird has kept me alive more often than not," the teen answered, makin sure Rache was leaning against the wall before partin the man's legs, sliding in between them to lay over his stomach and chest, arms wrapped around the older man's waist to warm up.

"I'd rather use the warmth in the room to avoid catching pneumonia. It's not a pleasant thing," he added, listing to the heart beating in the chest close to where he rested his head on the adult's shoulder. When asked if he would listen to what Rache had to say, the bloodied brunet sighed.

"I suppose I couldn't hurt any more at this point, so talk."

If he didn't know any better, Rache would be certain that this boy had nothing but an animal instinct to find warmth; the last person that had sat between his legs was now pushing up daisies somewhere in the Alps.

"You could be hurting a lot more, boy." He replied softly, letting out a sharp breath. "Do you remember when you arrived at the facility? When you were first introduced to the life of a Soldier?" He questioned rather lightly, as if starting a casual conversation with an old friend.

His tactics weren't subtle, but they were supposed to try and convince the person to see. To dissect their experience in the Facility and find the abnormalities in the blind pride and obedience they had in Scriosta.

The boy snorted, shifting and getting a little more comfortable in the man's lap before answering. "I do a little, there were a lot of other kids, and it was raining outside..." his fingers curled a little into the man's back unknowingly at the mention of rain.

"there were a lot of people leading us around, finding places for us to sleep and eat our fill. It was like, heaven to us." he added, furrowing his brow in thought, trying to remember faces to names all those years ago.

He would have shook his head, had he wanted Alexis to know he was mentally regretting asking. It was always the same, this idea of 'heaven'. Though, he supposed that if one were to live on the streets, it could seem like a sort of heaven. A roof over your head, food.

"You don't remember the procedures? The tests? The pain?" It was something to do with the obedience that was programmed into their brains that stole their memories of the horrible before-experiences. Anything that couldn't be explained, that could be used against them, was cleared. Blocked, but never completely gone.

Alexis shuddered, half at the intense body heat the traitor leader was giving him to warm up with, the other half with the flashes of needles, operating tables and crying from nearly every hospital bed in the ward he was placed in, including his own.

"I do, sometimes, when things are about to turn pear shaped, I don't sleep well and remember bits and pieces as nightmares..." he answered, choking down the slight fear he remembered after the surgery on his eyes, and being alone for the months after it, blind, bandaged and cold in the hospital room.

That's when he decided it was his turn to do the asking. " what two abilities did you get?"

Questions? Directed at him? Rache leant his head back against the wall, staring in the general direction of the ceiling.

"Speed." He murmured, pausing. "And intelligence." The two aspects of his abilities that actually enabled him to escape. He mulled over the other's words momentarily, thinking on his next question.

"Do you know why you're so obedient? Do you agree with what they did-- what Scriosta is doing?" Questioning the beliefs was always a good start.

Lifting a hand, he scratched at his nose casually, resting his wrist on the top of the boy's head and once again settling.