Quisvis

Chapter Four: Fear


Lucas woke up in stages. First his bodily awareness came back; a
lifetime of waking up in pain had taught him to keep still until he had
taken stock of his injuries. It was a surprise when he realized he
was actually comfortable and relatively pain free. His head was
pounding and his mouth was dry, but he couldn’t feel any new injuries.
He took a deep breath and rolled to his side to get out of bed but
froze when someone sat next to him and the bed shifted. It wasn’t
the first time he had woken up and not known who he was in bed
with, he just needed to give his brain a chance to wake up. Hoping
that his headache wouldn’t get any worse he slowly opened his eyes.

Lucas felt as if he’d been punched as his memory returned. His breath
started coming in gasps and he felt his chest tighten.

“Oh, shit,” he whispered.

“Hey kid, just calm down. Take a deep breath. That’s right in and
out slowly.” Aristotle said quietly as he helped Lucas sit up.

Once he had his panic under control Lucas looked around the room.
Admiral Noyce and the rest of the soldiers were gathered around the
table across the room, consciously ‘not’ looking in his direction. Lucas
turned to the man he had begun thinking of as a possible friend.

“What the hell is going on? And who the hell are you?” he demanded.

“My name is Matthew Mc Graff, code name Aristotle, and I hope that
I am your friend. The rest can wait a few minutes. First I need to know
how you feel. Are you hurt anywhere?” though he knew Barbie had
done a thorough exam he wanted the kid to know he was worried about
him.

“I’m fine. And you are not my friend. I don’t know what you are but you
are ‘not’ my friend,” Lucas hissed.

“I’m a TRU Soldier and I would still like to be your friend.”

“Yeah right,” laughed Lucas harshly. “TRUs are a myth.” His voice took
on a narrator like quality, “A last vestige of the Old World American
government the TRU Soldier is an elite warrior trained to stay in the
shadows of war. Never receiving recognition for the good deeds they
perform… blah, blah, blah,” he mocked. “Yeah, I’ve seen the vid, and
I’m still not buying it.”

“You’d better buy it kid. Because as of right now you are in our
custody,” Robbie Parker said as she turned from the computer work
she hadn’t been doing anyway.

Lucas, who had already been terrified by the situation had to take
several deep steadying breaths. He gave himself a quick pep talk then
opened his eyes defiantly.

“So what is this? Good cop, Bad cop?” he asked, looking between
Aristotle and the stern looking red headed woman at the table. He shrank
back before he could stop himself as she stood suddenly. His eyes flickered
unconsciously back to the blond haired man he had begun to trust.

“No, we’re no cops and you aren’t under arrest,” Parker tried to explain;
she knew the kid was scared.

“It was an expression,” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“I know that kid, but you need to start taking this seriously.”

“My name is not kid, it’s Lucas. And I am taking this seriously. Believe me,
I am. I just, I don’t know, this is just so unbelievable.”

“That’s right, Lucas Wolenczak of 1750 Washburn Circle, New Cape
Quest. Son of Lawrence and Katherine Wolenczak- divorced. Graduated
from Stanford and working on your doctorial thesis,” Admiral Noyce
joined the discussion.

“What is this? I didn’t think the TRUs were with the UEO,” Lucas looked
around in confusion.

“Technically we are a private company with a mission statement, however
to keep the Company from going mercenary we have allied ourselves with
the UEO,” Aristotle explained.

“Listen guys as informative as this is, we need to get back to the task at
hand. Lucas has been here almost three hours, which I am assuming is
his time limit with any target,” Commander Parker paused to let Lucas
confirm her assumption. “Yeah, three hours or if they want longer I
have to call, he gives me two more hours. I never stay over night.”

By the time he finished speaking his face was red with embarrassment
and shame. Aristotle patted his hand comfortingly and heartened when Lucas
didn’t pull away. He just drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms
around them.

They all exchanged a disgusted look before Barbie began speaking. “Well,
we don’t want you to get in trouble again Lucas. So go make the call.
Aristotle, you keep the time. The rest of us will clear the room in front of
the vid-phone.”

Lucas froze. They were sending him back?! He hadn’t wanted to admit it to
them, well he couldn’t as terrified as he was, but he had been incredibly
relieved that someone knew. That it was finally over. And now they were
going to send him back. He slid his back against the headboard until he
reached the edge of the bed with his head between his knees.

Aristotle had of course been paying attention; he wondered what brought
on this round of panic. Was it the thought of asking for more time or just
facing his father? He crouched down in front of the teen.

“Hey Lucas, you okay?”

“He’ll know Ari. If you send me back, he’ll know. He always knows. He’ll
kill me,” Lucas whispered.

“Lucas, we have a plan. When the Admiral leaves your house tomorrow he
is not leaving you there. We are only sending you back for one night.”

Lucas stared into blue eyes trying to gauge their sincerity. He didn’t fully trust
the other man yet, but he could tell he wasn’t lying.

“So, Matthew Mc Graff, huh?”

“Yeah, afraid so,” Aristotle held his breath, hoping the kid would accept him.

“What was your momma thinking?” Lucas joked with a small wavering smile.

Aristotle chuckled quietly with relief, “yeah, I wonder… so can you make
this call?”

Lucas took a deep breath and chewed his bottom lip; his mind was racing
with the possible plans. It wasn’t the first time he had thought about bringing
his father down, but it was the first time he actually let hope bloom.

“Yes, yeah, I can do this,” he hesitated a second, “I’m out of there tomorrow
though, right?” he asked, seeking assurance.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me out of there without you.”

^

“I don’t know, he took like a V-drop or something. He wants me to stay until
it wears off. Those things last, what, like a few hours.”

Lawrence eyed him through the vid-phone. “Where is the Admiral now?” he
asked, his eyes narrowing as he took in his son’s image. His hair was messy,
but then it always was and didn’t necessarily indicate a romp in bed, the boy’s
shirt was off and he had a sheet wrapped around his waist, but there was just
something off about him.

“He’s in the shower,” Lucas’s eyes flicked quickly to the Admiral, who was
standing just outside the vid-phones view.

“And you feel confident that he will fuck you for the camera tomorrow?” Lawrence
was normally not that crude as to use base language but he knew it would upset
Lucas. He watched in satisfaction as the boy nearly collapsed in on himself.

Lucas’s head lowered in shame, he didn’t want to have this conversation in
front of these people. He chewed his lip as he stared down at the table.

“Lucas,” hissed Lawrence through the vid-link.

The teen nodded but didn’t look up.

“Answer me,” Lawrence demanded. “I want to hear the words.”

“Yes, he will fuck me for the camera tomorrow,” Lucas whispered; he felt
like his face was on fire, he was so embarrassed.

“He’d better. Richard and Mr. Porter are just looking for a reason to give
you another lesson. Do you want another lesson Lucas?” Lawrence’s voice
filled with mock concern.

“No Sir,” Lucas whispered. His entire body started trembling and he quickly
forgot about the others in the room.

“Lucas, Lucas, Lucas,” his father sighed. “Are you hurt Lucas?”

“No Sir.”

“Are you enjoying your time with the Admiral Lucas?” a hint of his inner
sadist coming through.

Lucas opened his mouth to answer but no sound came out.

“You are. Aren’t you?”

Lucas could only whimper, he was loosing himself inside the images his
father was calling up. Years of being used, of lessons, of being taught all
about how to enjoy one type of torture, simply because it could be worse.
Too many times he had to choose the instrument of his own pain and had
to thank Mr. Porter for the privilege.

Aristotle elbowed Noyce in the side and pulled the admiral out of his shocked
stupor. No one could believe what they were hearing. Suspecting someone
of being this sadistic was one thing but hearing it was another.

Bill Noyce could ‘t believe what he was hearing, he had eaten dinner with
Wolenczak. He had let the sick bastard in to his home, introduced him to his
wife and kids. His mind was in shock trying to reconcile the two conflicting
images of the man. He glanced up as Lt. Com. Mc Graff elbowed him. Right,
the kid needed help. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Lucas snapped back to himself and looked around. Barbie was standing at the
bathroom door, having just opened it to get his attention.

“Who are you talking to?” the admiral asked.

Lucas looked up, confusion showing on his face.

“It doesn’t matter, come back to bed,” he said as he reached over and shut
off the vid-phone making sure that only his bare arm and not his fully clothed
body showed on the camera.

tbc...