Christian
Christian watched the sunset from the same park bench that he'd gone to after the Hansons had found out he was impersonating Taylor.
He leant back a little a sighed, waiting for the light to disappear. Chloe had just left. She'd been hanging around an awful lot. No doubt Steel knew about it, and Christian wasn't all that sure why he hadn't approached him yet.
Maybe he'd just needed to know he was safe. From what Christian knew of Steel, that seemed pretty usual.
Blakesley
Blakesley tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of the car.
How to do this...
Christian
Christian closed his eyes for a moment as the sun set, then stood and stretched.
He guessed he'd better find a place to crash for the night. Not that Chloe wouldn't be willing, but she was kind of freaking him out at the moment.
He looked around for a moment, then made his way from the park and out into the street, starting to check out alleyways.
Blakesley
Blakesley got out of his car and fingering the syringe in his pocket, started to walk after Christian.
He came up behind the teen and moving swiftly, inserted the needle into the side of his neck, and pressed the plunger home.
Christian
Christian's eyes widened, before he gave the person an atomic shock. He threw them backwards, pulled the syringe out of his neck, destroyed it, then turned.
"Kaleb?" he frowned for a moment, before his eyes widened again.
He knocked the man out then ducked into an alley, trying to find somewhere to hide before he passed out. He almost fell behind a dumpster as his vision blurred and he felt dizzy, then crawled backwards against the wall and fainted.
Blakesley
Blakesley picked himself up, wincing.
He'd seen Christian head over here...
The scientist walked unsteadily over to the mouth of the alley, and spied a foot poking out from behind a dumpster. A quick check, and he verified that it was indeed Christian, and not some homeless person.
He went and got his car, backed it up to the alley and dragged Christian inside.
He slipped a collar around the alien's neck, a rather advanced version of the rudimentary devices used in New York on mutants. And tuned to Christian's powers. When he woke up, he'd be as helpless as a human being. He gagged Christian, and put handcuffs and shackles on him.
Then he injected him with more of the sedative.
Blakesley rested his forehead against the dashboard briefly, fighting the pull of his injuries, and started to drive towards his father's home on Nevada.
Since the government had begun to shut down the labs, he'd...have to take other measures.
Christian
As Christian awoke dazedly, he immediately felt the restraints. They were tight enough.
He felt like a coughing, but he didn't need Kaleb to know he was awake yet. He looked up, aready recognizing that he was in a moving car. There was no one in the passenger seat, so guess who was the driver?
He twisted his wrists silently, before trying to use his atom manipulation on the cuffs.
Zap.
Christian heard and felt the shock, but froze silently.
Blakesley
"You're awake," Blakesley said dryly.
"Well, that's gratifying. The collar you have on blocks your powers, and punishes you when you try to use them. Something I've been working on for quite a while."
Christian
Christian grunted a little, before moving his feet around. He quickly brought his knees in to his chest and brought his hands to the front. They flew to the gag and ripped it from his mouth.
"Just what the $#!+ do you think you're trying to do?!" he demanded, actually getting the gag off and throwing it away.
Blakesley
"A few things..."
Blakesley glanced back.
"There is the slight matter of Rebekah to be addressed. And the damage you did when you escaped. Speaking of which, where is the lovely Spook?"
He held himself ready to duck if Christian tried to use the cuffs to strangle him.
Christian
Christian noticed his position and squinted slightly.
"Chris can go jump off a $#!+ing cliff as far as I'm concerned."
He tried the door handle, but the child lock was on. It didn't seem like Kaleb to think of everything.
He closed his eyes for a moment as he had a dizzy spell, then opened them again.
"Rebekah was quite fun to play with, actually."
Blakesley
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Blakesley smiled grimly.
"Because now comes the time when you pay for it."
Christian
"Really..." Christian drawled.
"Well sorry in advance if I don't live up to your expectations. No, actually, I'm not. I might get some ideas myself actually."
He rubbed one of the cuffs on his wrists with his other thumb, contemplating how to get out of them.
Blakesley
Blakesley smiled.
"Oh, you're going to be such fun to break..."
They crossed the Oklahoma state border on the way to Nevada.
Christian
"I don't think you quite get me yet," Christian glared.
"You can not break me. You can bad mouth me and call me nothing. You can cut me up and beat the living $#!+ out of me, but you will never change what is in my head."
He leant forward slightly.
"You're dealing with someone who has both learnt from and worked with the masters of basically anything you can think of. I am not easy."
He sat back again and squinted out the window, trying to remember the surroundings.
Christian
"That's why it's going to be fun. I haven't had such a challenge for years..."
Blakesley swung onto the next interstate.
Christian
Christian just shook his head. This guy was a loony.
"So what happened to your little soldier boys? Did we scare them off or something?"
Blakesley
"Lets just say that some members of government are less far sighted then they should be..." Blakesley said.
Christian
Christian hesitated, then leant forward again.
"I get the feeling you're trying to make a point that would be of interest to me," he raised his eyebrows slightly.
Blakesley
"Perhaps. But why should I tell you everything? All will become clear in time..."
Blakesley kept his senses tuned for any attempt of Christian's to make an escape attempt.
Christian
Christian nodded to himself and sat back again.
"Chris likes to use syringes too," he cocked his head slightly as he dug some dirt out from underneath his nails, "interested in bringing her in again?"
Blakesley
"She went over the border into Canada...until she re-enters the country, I have no means of getting her," Blakesley said.
"But if I can capture her, I will. Can you tell me the reason behind her changed eyes and what other events happened to make her that way?"
Christian
"I will gladly dob her in for anything," Christian shifted slightly.
"She went to Kansas. You know, Smallville? The place that doesn't exist anymore and has heaps of radioactivity. Apparently she picked up what she likes to call a 'pretty green rock' while she was there, and that's what she thinks mutated her."
He scratched his cheek.
"She's not the only one it's affected. She's started having fits though."
Blakesley
"How interesting..." Blakesley murmured.
"I'll have to make sure to acquire her. We have samples from before she was changed...it would be interesting to see how the mutation affected her basic molecular structure..."
Christian
Christian smirked.
"Go for it. She's yours."
He hesitated.
"How long had you been following me?"
Blakelsey
"A day or so," Blakesley said.
Christian
Christian frowned. That meant he'd seen Chloe. For sure. Well, as long as he didn't know exactly who she was, she was fine.
"You have nothing better to do with your life?" he raised his eyebrows.
Blakesley
"My art is my life," Blakesley said.
"And I have enough money to no longer need employment."
Christian
"You're not employed?" Christian raised his eyebrows.
He hesitated thoughtfully, then looked up.
"Then where the hell are you taking me?"
Blakesley
"A place where people have a long history of ignoring anything that doesn't concern them," Blakesley said.
"And they've learnt to disregard the occasional scream that manages to get past the sound proofing..."
Christian
Christian pursed his lips as he regarded his words.
"I'm already great at ignoring anything that doesn't concern me. Even things that do."
Then he chuckled slightly.
"You couldn't make me scream even if you worked out how to do it with my help."
Blakesley
"With the right stimulus, anyone screams... eventually," Blakesley said with supreme self confidence.
"So many say that...and then they all end up screaming for me."
Christian
"Well as I've told you before," Christian's voice lowered, "you haven't dealt with anyone like me before."
He looked out the window.
"I moved out of a mobile home years ago, and from then on I am no longer manipulatable. I have what I've learnt and nothing from anyone like you is ever going to mask it. I know what you're going to try and do, but it isn't going to work."
Blakesley
"As you wish to believe...if it comforts you for a while..."
Blakesley kept driving.
"I've tortured stronger, more mentally stable and secure beings then you. Things that had already endured great torment at the hands of others. What makes you think that you're so very different from some of the aliens, mutants or demons that have passed under my hands?"
Christian
"Because everyone is different. And you've only tortured minimal aliens as it is. Namely, Taylor. Maybe Jane."
He shook some hair out of his eyes.
"You may have tortured physical soldiers, but I bet anything you haven't met a mental one. Every hardcore $#!+ing hero has a soft side, and once you exploit that you're home free."
He looked up at the rear-view mirror, so he could see Kaleb's face.
"Those types are too noble. And they're afraid to die. It's sickening."
Blakesley
"You've never met an actual demon, have you?"
Blakesley raised an eyebrow slightly.
Christian
"You mean like vampires?" Christian almost snorted.
"They're a part of life. I may know a few, but I don't kill them. We're practically on the same side anyway."
Blakesley
"Vampires are a rather lower class level of demon...although, some of the Masters, such as William the Bloody, or Angelus, Scourge of Europe are supposed to be quite powerful."
Blakesley sighed slightly.
"The one from the Order of Aurelius that I would like to get my hands on is Drusilla the Seer. And that's only the one Clan. Also...ever heard of the Slayer? Well, Slayers now since one Willow Rosenberg managed to perform a spell to unlock, as it were, the Slayer in any who might have been called."
Christian
"I really don't give a $#!+," Christian shook his head.
"I stick to my own species. And sometimes humans. They leave me alone,I leave them alone. Mutual. Anyone pisses me off they suddenly go missing."
He scratched his nose. His thoughts turned to Steel again. Well wasn't he going to be pissed to find out what happened now?
Blakesley
"So close minded..."
Blakesley shook his head slightly.
"Well, you haven't managed to make me go suddenly missing."
Christian
"That's because I don't want you to," Christian replied.
"I don't want you to die without letting anyone you've hurt have the satisfaction of getting their own back. See? Open minded. Thinking of others."
He smirked.
Blakesley
"So, what of Spook then?" Blakesley said in rejoinder.
"You didn't seem overly pleased with her..."
Christian
"$#!+ her," Christian declared, "when have I ever been pleased with her? I was playing her at first. We both got something out of it. Then she turns around..."
He glared out the window.
"You can't screw someone over and expect them to like you."
Blakesley
"No, you really can't," Blakesley said dryly.
Christian
"There seems to be so many people out there with death wishes at the moment," Christian shook his head in mock sadness, "and she's one of them. Just have to time it right."
He pulled on the cuffs a little, before looking down att he shackles on his feet.
"What's the story with Taylor, anyway? He obviously got out again."
Blakesley
"My then superiors decided that since they had one Hanson brother, wouldn;t it be great if they had two? They sent a team to get the telekinetic."
Blakesley sneered in derision.
Christian
Christian snorted, then shook his head.
"Not an easy target. Use to be one of mine, but..."
He trailed off, remembering Tanya's words the day she'd blocked his power.
Who knows... maybe she'd be ready to take them back now. He sighed softly.
"...yeah. Not easy."
Blakesley
"He didn't kill nearly as many people as you did."
Blakesley tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
Christian
"He's too noble," Christian's gaze wandered out the window again, "he has skill, but he's too... I don't know. Hasn't got the guts."
He looked down at the cuffs, and began to try and pick at the lock with what he had of a fingernail.
"Too nice. That's what it is. As Chris pointed out. Doesn't even hold stuff against me."
Blakesley
"I believe he does hold a grudge against me though..."
Blakesley smiled thinly.
"And if he saw the security videos on the server he stole..."
Christian
"Yeah, but you're an exception. See, everyone hates you. Not everyone hates me. I have no idea why, but they don't."
His eyes looked up a little at the floor, and he rememebred the videos of Taylor in confinement... and what Kaleb had been doing to him.
"The YIRAAS just want you dead. They seem to think they can rehabilitate me."
Blakesley
"But can they? Once you see the fear in your victim's eyes, feel that power...can you ever go back?" Blakesley said in a silky voice.
"Having the power of life and death over a person is very addictive..."
Christian
Christian was trying so hard not to smile...
"I had to lay off for a while when I was staying with an agent, but when Chris took me in..." he shook his head, almost laughing as he looked out the window again, "I went back. I can't help it. It is addictive. And sometimes it can be such a beautiful thing... messing with someone's mind so bad that they don't know which end is up."
He leant back into the seat and tried to move his feet around.
Blakesley
Blakesley shook his head slightly.
"How was your time with Christina?"
Perhaps it would soon be time for Christian to fall asleep again.
Christian
"So lovely that I think I'm getting a sense of deja vu."
Christian's look turned into a glare again.
"For all I care, when you get hold of her, you can $#!+ her up as much as your heart desires."
Blakesley
Blakesley chuckled slightly.
"Such animosity in one so young...however, I think it is time that you went back to sleep again."
He got a remote control out of his pocket and pressed a button.
"The drug I just injected you with will suppress any voluntary muscle control for some hours, and you will soon fall asleep where you sit."
Christian
Christian saw what he'd done, and gulped slightly.
That was one thing he didn't take kindly to... drugs. As he'd so often told Christina.
He glared silently out the window for a moment, leaning back so he wouldn't fall. Then the drug finally took over.
Blakesley
Blakesley smiled slightly.
This would be fun...and he was of the opinion that his father would like a chance to practice the Art again.
The sadist kept driving to Nevada.