The Fear principle (Accepting)

Jaguar was disappointed to realize, as she began to casually investigate the matter, that the few people she had hoped might be able to get her into Mason’s cell were not available. Bailey was with Matthis, her new prisoner, and Rinji never knew anything about this sort of thing. Any other guards or staff she would casually ask would no doubt have received orders they couldn’t break, and she wasn’t going to be so invasive as to snatch the information out of their minds.


But there was another way around this, or so she assumed, and so she disappeared into the office she rarely used, sitting at her desk and closing her eyes, concentrating on Mason, his presence in the building, seeking out his mind and his thoughts among all others. She knew that he was not an empath and so most likely would not be able to project back at her, but she could herself attempt to seek out his thoughts and memories, to rifle through to impact him as she wished or hoped, to find the information and emotions she wanted to.


**


It doesn’t strike Rinji until several minutes after she’s entered her desk area that it is now prisoner breakfast time, which means, of course, that she simply has to join them, hangover or no. Although she has typed about 3 words total and done zero real work since arriving, she nevertheless decides it’s time for a break and walks with slightly less pep than usual towards the elevator, taking it to the cafeteria and entering the doors. She doesn’t see Jack, her favorite prisoner, as she looks around, but she greets those she knows- nearly all- by name and with a smile.





“Anything good around here? I totally couldn’t eat because I would, like, puke my guts out, and actually it smells really bad in here. I guess it’s the food and not BO though, right? I wonder if food can sweat? It used to be animals, right, so can it?”
 
((It's cool :) ))


Matthis watched as the woman entered his room, silent and still, and didn't like her almost immediately. Somehow her cheer, however muted, didn't feel real. Like she didn't really feel like smiling at all. He didn't reach out to see if that was true, as his shields were generally meant to not only keep others out but to keep himself in. Still, he felt uncomfortable, like there had been a butterfly's brush against the walls he'd put up around himself, and he shifted slowly to see if it was some sort of physical stimuli, without results.


Finally, after listening to her speak, he eased himself up into a sit to see her better, sliding his feet down to the floor and settling his hands on the bed either side of his legs. He stayed silent for a few moments still, eyes empty but watching, and gave no indication of having heard her.


"Why I'm here. . ." He said eventually, quietly but suddenly. He tilted his head at her, wondering why she didn't know why he was here already. "I'm here because I killed people." He wasn't stupid. He didn't believe he deserved punishment himself, as he'd only been surviving, like everyone else, but he knew that society at large though he deserved it, and so he was here. "I'm here because I didn't run fast enough." Perhaps if he had, he would've gotten away, and would never have had to endure this panic-inducing room.


********************


Rinji. Crane grinned and waved to her, and when she started coming their way List felt the insistent urge to hit his head against something that he usually did when she was around. It wasn't that he dislikes Rinji, it's just that after talking with her - and 'talking' really meant being talked at by her and generally never responding - he usually felt either confused or just very tired. He got enough of those feelings from just being around Crane and didn't really feel the need to get a double dose, but Crane liked the bubbly woman and so he just endured.


Fighting back the urge to sigh, he set Crane's tray in his hands and walked them to a nearby empty table, where they sat and were set upon by the energetic woman once they'd made themselves stationary targets. Crane just smiled and waited for her, giving a sleepy but cheerful "Good morning, Rinji," when she got to them. He had never been good at mornings.
 
"Morning!" Rinji re-greets them both, looking between them with a cheery smile and suppressing a yawn with the back of her hand. She sits, raking her fingers through her hair, as she gestures towards the food on their trays.


"Yeah that looks gross. I don't know how you guys eat in the morning anyway, all I ever want is coffee and maybe like a piece of toast. Food just isn't good in the morning. Lunch time is the right time for food, and dinner, and then snacks in between... what are your favorite snacks? Do they let you have snacks here, I always forget? You know what! I should find out everyone's birthday here. Then on their birthday I could like bring cupcakes! When are your birthdays? Oh you have the same ones since you're twins, right?"


She frowns, puzzling over how she's going to get and remember everyone's birthday, then giggles as it hits her. "Oh right, I can just like look it up on the microchips...that's what I'll do then!"


Having resolved this dilemma, she stretches one arm over her head, slightly showing her navel before resettling. "I don't think I can do candles because, you know, you guys might burn each other to death, but cupcakes are good."
 
Did this woman - this girl - know anything of social niceties? It wasn't exactly good form, looking at what someone was eating and declaring it was disgusting. It wasnt even that bad, List thought. They'd faired much worse when they were out on their own, when they had to run and struggle for survival even as children. This was glorious, compared to that.


"I suppose it's easier to find good food when you're not chained here, hm?" He suggested, though his tone was mild rather than biting. Even so, Crane was frowning moodily at him and List sighed, giving his head a shake. "It's fine. I suppose you would have an easier time eating if you weren't hungover." He had seen the symptoms often enough as a child to pick them out now, and there was still a very faint smell of alcohol coming off of her.


Crane, having forgiven him for being 'mean', simply continued on, latching onto the new subject. "I don't like fire." That was only sort of a lie, List thought. Crane didn't really like fire, but he'd helped burn down one of their safe houses when they had to leave it, so he wasn't afraid. "But cupcakes are nice." Also sort of a lie. List couldnt remember either of them ever having eaten cake or cupcakes on their birthday, or at any time. Crane paused, looking at List with a confused expression. "When's our birthday?"


List sighed again and just patted Crane's back gently. "It doesn't matter, Crane. We've never celebrated." On their birthday, they'd never gotten presents, beyond their mother convincing their father to beat him less, in the few years he could remember her being alive.
 
Jack entered the cafeteria, her eyes narrowing slightly as she surveyed the room. This place always seemed to be so disorganized, people running amok, food practically everywhere. The inmate clocked her tongue against her teeth, making a sound of disgust as she pushed further in, looking for a spot to sit.


It was safe to say that she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed...well in her case, cot. She had been up for most of the night, going over in her head again and again about her encounter with Jaguar. The other woman's actions had severely messed her up, and it had made it difficult to get any sleep. Every time she had closed her eyes, she relived the event, sometimes it even went further...


Crossing the room, she spotted a familiar head of blonde hair and headed in Rinji's direction, pausing when she saw that her friend wasn't alone. Mumbling softly to herself, eyeing the twins with some consideration, she still pushed on, coming up besides Rinji and slipped an arm around her thin waist, almost posesively.


" 'Lo boys..." She had never really taken the time to get to know Crane and Lists, just knew what she had heard others say, mostly about how the two were practically inseparable. It could be fun getting between the two if she ever got bored enough, but right now she wasn't in any mood to make the wrong impression on Rinji. She was really starting to like her. "Morning dollface..." she pecked the blondes cheek, making a face as she pulled away. "Well damn...someone had fun last night...what'd you do? Marinade yourself in martinis or something?" she teased gently, winking at Crane as she snagged a piece of food from his plate.
 
Crane smiled a little, uncertainly, when Jack came to the table, and List picked idly at his own food when Crane looked at him for answers. List had only bothered learning about any of the people here in case they were a danger to Crane, and this one was one he'd heard of. Jack was her name, and she was volatile. Unpredictable, to most. It didn't matter. If she upset Crane, they could move to a different table, and if she tried anything more physical List would just take care of it.


"Good morning. . ." Crane said, a lilt of caution in it only because he didn't know this person and wasn't sure if they liked her or not. List hadn't said anything, but Crane wondered why she'd looked at him like that after taking his food. Was there something wrong with her eye? Or was there a joke he'd missed? He missed a lot of things. "Are you hungry?"


List's hand came down gently over Crane's when the empath started to push his tray forward. "Eat." He instructed quietly, pulling it back into place. "If she's hungry, she can get her own." He gave her a look that was at once blank and meaningful as he pulled his hand back. He was going to watch her, was all. If she did something that was actually a problem, he would stop her. For now, he only replaced the biscuit she'd taken from Crane's tray with his own.
 
"Oh right, you don't get a choice of good food, I guess," Rinji said, but she shrugged this off easily enough, nodding and agreeing with List's comment about being hungover. "I totally am. I don't know why, I didn't drink that much. Not really. Just what people brought me, is all, and I really don't remember it being that much...oh well, it was fun, even if I don't remember most of it I'm sure it was fun! How did you know I was hungover? I didn't think it was that obvious, really. I brushed my teeth and used Listerine."


She cocks her head curiously, genuinely mystified as to how her "clever methods" had failed her. As List and Crane state that they've never celebrated their birthdays, Rinji gasps, one hand covering her mouth.


"Whoa, that is just not cool at all! I mean when I was little I didn't either but I made up for it when I was older and I could make my own birthdays, even if I just had a cake and some beer or something...oh, I totally will bring you cupcakes for your birthday! Pick a day and we can say that's the right day."


She doesn't notice Jack until Jack has sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her, and she turns her head to smile at her, snuggling in close, even as the guards clear their throat at her in warning. Still, Rinji ignores, not moving.


"Hey Jack! No, no martinis, just beer and stuff and shots," she corrected her, again wrinkling her forehead. "How do you guys know this stuff? Are you all empaths too?"
 
"Well you know I am..." Jack follow's Rinji's gaze to the guards and makes a face at them. She wasn't doing anything wrong, not even close. Looking back at the table, she's a little amused, noting how List had replaced the food she had taken from his brother's plate. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed an apple from someone's tray as they walked past and shined it on her jumper before taking a bite, chewing noisily.


"So, twins huh?" she smirked, leaning back, making sure she still remained close to Rinji's side. "Always wondered what that'd be like...do you guys finish each other's sentences...or if one of you gets hurt will the other one feel it?"
 
Crane seemed oblivious to the teasing manner in which she spoke, frowning at the apple she'd taken but not commenting on it. "Feels . . .?" He tilted his head slightly, seeming confused and - almost - a little upset."I'm the only one that feels things. . ." Those things didn't settle we'll with him, List knew. It was part of what drove Crane mad, on his bad days. List had always known the insanity was worse whenever their father hit him, even though Crane had usually shown no signs of noticing beyond a muted sort of distress. Needless to say, neither of them like talking about it - Crane because it 'hurt' and List because it made Crane upset - which made them a difficult case for their 'teacher'.


List, rather than retaliate against her for upsetting Crane, only gave her a very level look out of the corner of his eye, mostly facing his brother and Rinji rather than Jack. "Only idiots believe in twin telepathy."
 
"I know," Rinji replies to Jack, nodding. "You probably know everything about me, right? You probably know what I'm thinking right this second. You probably know everything I ever did or said my whole life. But that's okay. I don't mind."


She twines her own arm around Jack's waist comfortably, leaning into her and lightly resting her head on her shoulder as she yawns again. "I'm so tired today. Do you guys have comfortable pillows to sleep on? Because that would suck if you didn't...too bad you guys can't sleep with each other too, because it's always best to cuddle up to people to sleep good. I guess you guys do that though, right?" she say to List and Crane. "You guys like love each other and stuff."


There seems to have been a general consensus among the guards that one of them would watch Rinji and protect her safety at all times, as long as she insisted on mingling with the prisoners; today there has been twice as many as usual posted in the cafeteria, and one is looking directly at her. Rinji doesn't notice this and wouldnt' have been bothered if she had, however.
 
Didn't run fast enough.


On some level, Bailey could sympathize with that. Wasn't everyone running from something? She may not have been completely sure what exactly it was that she herself was running from, but at night, when it was quiet and she couldn't sleep, she wanted nothing more than for everything to stop, for her to leave and not have to worry about being found or looked for.


The cheeriness clearly wasn't going to work, and she watched him move carefully, still lightly touching the very boundaries of his thoughts with hers in an attempt to keep things at least a little calm. It was obvious that this wasn't going to be easy, that he was going to fight her every step of the process when he could. That alone caused a little anxiety, but Bailey quietly reminded herself that she could do this. She could because she had to.


"Tell me a little about yourself, then." She'd read about him in his file, but... well, "I'd like to hear it in your own words. If you'd like, we can go back and forth, but this is primarily about you."


Quid pro quo, Clarice. To quote a classic film that Rinji had recommended to her when she'd first started working at The Eyes of Man. It seemed fitting, at the very least.


--------


Being finally able to leave his cell and join the rest of the population for meals was, well, a little exciting for reasons unrelated to the solitude Mason had been kept in since his admittance. Mostly, he was interested in getting a feel for the rest of the inmates, for scoping out the layout of the side of the prison he was never able to see during his tour.


This, he decided, was an adventure he was more than willing to go on.


Having been given his tray of food, his eyes roamed the population silently, lips twitching lightly as he glanced around. No, this place wouldn't be that bad after all. Not with so many people for him to play with, had he decided that he was up for it. Of course, he wouldn't be able to play in his usual ways, not with the amount of security in the place, but still.


Ever so slightly, he felt the breath of a touch glancing up his back, as though someone were directly channeling him, but there was no one around him to do so. Someone was keeping tabs on him, that much was for sure, and he had a vague idea as to who it may have been.


He walked toward the closest table with a free spot, inhabited by two men and two women, both of which attractive, and took a seat. "Morning."
 
She'd looked not him, for a moment, like she wasn't sure what to say, or like she was thinking about his words. He she not known? What had they told her? She should've at least been told what he'd been charged for, and probably the things he'd done that they couldn't prove, as well.


Matthis tilted his head a bit, though he wasn't exactly curious, just thoughtful. "You don't know about me?" She should've known already. She was trying to know now, prodding at him in a way he wouldn't have felt if he wasnt so sensitive to the feeling of an empath's touch, if he didn't hate it so much. He solidified his walls, brought them down hard to shut her more completely out. "I don't know what you want me to say. . ."


He shook his head slowly. "I don't want to ask questions. I don't want to know about you." He didn't care to know about anyone, really, even though he didn't quite care if they knew about him either. His attention drifted away from her, eyes floating about the space around them. "I don't like this room. . ."


********************


Last didn't like being surrounded by so many people, even if he knew he could easily step back from the table and be away from them if he felt like it. Crane wasnt entirely comfortable with it either, perhaps feeling the tension from his brother, but he liked Rinji, and so List simply bore with it for now and ignored the newcomer's addition to the table.


"Yes, we share a room," He said, in response to Rinji's rambling. "And yes, that also means we share a bed." List generally ended up acting as the pillow, with Crane attached to him like a monkey, limbs thrown all about. He shrugged fractionally, pushing his food around on the tray. "We're brothers. Why wouldn't we love each other?"


Crane just smiled to himself, nodding a little not so much in response but just because he agreed. "Brothers are s'posed to love each other lots."
 
"Yeah, brothers are supposed to love each other," Rinji agrees with a nod, one hand lightly and seemingly unconsciously stroking over the curve of Jack's side as she continues to lean into her. "It's not good if they don't. Then they might end up like killing each other or something, and then they'd have to come here. So good thing you guys didn't do that."


She doesn't seem to see the huge contradiction of what she says and who she's talking to and where she's at. Instead she says brightly, "So are you like the other twins that got transferred out of here? The ones that had the headlines about how they were totally doing it and stuff?"


When Mason comes to sit across from her, she looks up, recognizing him, and gives him a bright smile, though she is still entwined with Jack. "Hey! You're Mason, right? The hot one that had a pissing contest with Jaguar? I haven't actually got to talk with you yet. I'm Rinji." She holds out her hand to him across the table as though this is a friendly social outing, and to Rinji, it is.


**


Jaguar is getting little in the way of resistance to Mason, but something about the way his aura shifts makes her think that he is dimly aware of her presence in his thoughts. Sitting very still, her eyes open but not really seeing anything before her, she presses harder, with less care than she has previously undertaken, wanting to see what she can before he might shield himself or forcefully thrust her out of his head. Even non empaths, if very resistant or afraid, could sometimes succeed in doing so if she were at too great a distance or not at her peak.
 
The feeling of being shut out so abruptly the way Matthis had done was enough to make her start ever so slightly. It had been obvious from the start that he was wary of other empaths, she could feel it just being in the room with him. The ability that the two of them shared made him outwardly suspicious of her, and, to some degree, she couldn't blame him. It was difficult to trust people who were able to plunge directly into your thoughts, memories, and search out whatever it was that they were trying to find.


"Your name is Matthis Westerfield," Bailey began, her eyes not once leaving the man. "You're a murderer, and, on occasion, a thief. Your parents were murdered during The Killing Times. While you've neither confirmed nor denied it, it's been said you had at least some part to do with the deaths of your parents because your fingerprints were on the gun. In your trial, you refused to comment on their case, but no one can really blame you for that, as you were a child and your case involved an empath."


She paused there, eyes still trained on the man in front of her. "I know your case. As I said before, I wanted to hear it in your words, Matthis." Her expression softened a little when he expressed his distaste for the room, but her voice remained professional when she spoke. "I can't blame you for not liking the room, either. But in order for you to be able to leave the room for anything longer than a meal or time for recreation, you're going to have to work with me. Whether you believe it or not, I am here to help you."


--------


"Pissing contest, huh?" Mason's smile seemed to crawl into place as he reached over to squeeze the blonde's hand, his eyes glancing over what body he could see briefly before sitting more securely into his seat. "I see my reputation precedes me."


Hot? Well, that could certainly work in his favor if he were to see the girl more often. What was someone that upbeat doing in here anyway? Was she even an inmate? It didn't matter. For a few seconds, his eyes stayed glued to her neck before he felt a hard shove somewhere in the back of his mind and nearly knocked over his drink as he moved to grasp it.


There wasn't much room to guess what was going on. F**k off, sweetheart. Mason thought darkly, a deep swell of anger surging in his chest. Give it up. Now.


"And who are the rest of you?"
 
Rinji today is wearing one of her usual "creative" outfits, which consists of rainbow striped toe socks, a short skirt with colorful robots on it, a purple low cut tank top with a peacock feather, peacock and grandfather clock earrings, but she doesn't have anything in her hair. She notices Mason looking her over and smiles, thinking he's admiring her outfit as she replies to him.


"Yeah Bailey told me about it. She said Jag doesn't seem to get along with you much. You know, it's better if you don't fight with her, she's really sweet when you get to know her and everything. You two would totally look good together, I think, so you should try to be nice to her and see how that goes!"


She sweeps a hand across the others, introducing them casually before they can get a word in. "Crane and List. They're twins and they love each other and share a bed. And this is Jack. Isn't she cool? She has tattoos like me," she announces, as though he can't see that with his eyes. "We can't see them all though."


**


Jaguar notices when Mason begins to resist, as it becomes harder to continue through his brain. She can feel the pressure of him pushing back against her, his thoughts closing up before she can quite make them out or see, and though she does not hear his words precisely, she gets the general gist of the message.


He wants her out. He wants her out, and he's getting pissed. But this, she sees as progress.


Grimly smiling, she sends her own message back to him, pushing back harder against his resistance. "Not a chance. You're stuck here, I can leave any time I want, and there's not much you can do about it...how does it feel to be the one who's helpless for a change?"
 
Matthis blinked slowly as she spoke, watching and hearing but not wanting to hear and not wanting to remember. When he spoke it was in a distant tone and with an utterly blank expression. "My own words." He pulled his feet up onto the bed, wrapping his arms loosely around his legs. She wanted him to repeat back at her all the things she already knew, and apparently a few things she could only assume. In trial, surrounded by walls and chains and guns and people - he couldn't have told then. It had been hard enough to stay calm and keep breathing. It was only slightly easier now.


"Mother was killed. I killed Father." He raised a hand, fingers in the shape of a gun pointed right at her and cocked it once in a firing motion but didn't make a sound. "One shot to the head." He looked at his own hand, almost curiously, and let it fall back around his leg again, casting a sidelong glance at the floor. "He made me." He was the only thing that man would be. He didn't get a name, and hardly even a face, but would always be Him. Would always be the shadows in Matthis' nightmares.


"I killed to survive." He said, after a long pause. "Everyone wanted to survive." He'd been lost and afraid and felt ill every time he thought of what he'd done, before he'd finally learned to get rid of all his emotions, seal them up and be done with them so he could never be forced into anything again. "What makes you any different?" She had to have survived somehow. Anyone that was old enough to remember knew the desperation that had driven people to kill for their own life. There was a reason it was called the Killing Times.


*******************


The tension was rising and List didn't like it. The guards had tensed as soon as the new man arrived, and had even started to move forward when he'd grabbed onto Rinji. It was dangerous. Something was obviously going on here that List didn't know about, and this inmate had to be knew or he would've know something about the man that had the staff so instantly on guard.


"We are leaving." He said, after the man had settled back, and got to his feet. "Come on," He hooked a hand beneath Crane's arm and pulled the empath to his feet. "Up." He had Crane pick up his own tray and just led his brother away from what was surely a hair trigger situation, ignoring how Crane pouted at him as they headed for a new , empty table. Whatever happened there, List wanted no part of it, and he didn't want Crane anywhere near it. 
((Gtg to work - bye!))
 
He. Bailey didn't need any elaboration as to who that was, and even if she did, she doubted that Matthis would give her any, closed off as he was. But still, she listened to him, eyes trained on the hand that formed the gun but made no indication that it had effected her at all. In all honesty, it hadn't. Not really. Of course, it made her briefly uneasy, but she wondered if that had been his plan all along.


She was not afraid of him, and she wouldn't be.


The question aimed at her sounded vaguely like an accusation, though it was a question she didn't want to approach or touch with a fifty foot pole. Quid pro quo, though. She took this as a potential chance of some headway, and since he was expected to lay everything out this way, it was clear that she wouldn't gain his trust unless she did at least a little of the same.


"I'm not any different," Bailey said after a moment's pause. "Everyone coped with what happened in their own ways." She wanted to even the playing field a little more, and sat down in the chair near the door, tucking one leg beneath the other, her hands resting comfortably in her lap. "Me? I mostly just did what I could to forget about it. Drank a lot, popped pills on occasion, whatever it took, really. It made the empathy a little easier, or... I don't know, everything, really." She paused for a moment, eyes still trained on Matthis. "That's behind me, now."


--------


"Well," Mason said, his voice sounding pleasant enough as he watched the twins walk away. It didn't bother him at all to be left alone with this Rinji and Jack. It was better this way, actually, and he let another smile crawl onto his lips. This was the same kind of act he'd give to whatever woman he'd gotten to trust him enough into letting him lead her away, it was easy enough. Given enough time, he could easily have some of the inmates, this Rinji girl at the very least, around his finger. He raised his eyebrows, lips quirking into a small smirk at the thought of himself and Jaguar being in a relationship. It wouldn't happen.


"It's nice to meet all of you," He finished and finally managed a drink from his glass.


There it was... another stab right in the back of his head, this one far more urgent than the previous ones had been. Beneath the table, one hand clenched into a fist, his fingernails digging sharp moons into his palm.


Helpless my ass, He thought darkly. The pit of anger in his chest swelled and he stabbed at his breakfast, eating a bite while trying to maintain appearances. This b**ch really thought that she was going to get the one up on him. No way in hell was he going to let that happen. He'd snap her pretty little neck before it ever did.


"So, ladies, who are you sitting under, anyway?"
 
She hesitated, something Matthis took note of and filed away in case it happened to be of further use or meaning. She'd hesitated, but she'd sat down and made herself at least appear comfortable, though he was under the impression that she wasn't. And she answered his question. He hadn't actually expected anyone to answer his questions, had just assumed he would be the only one doing that.


For a long, drawn out minute of silence, he considered what she'd said, staying almost completely still but for the way his eyes drifted slowly around the floor, looking at nothing in particular. ". . . Is that why I'm here?" He asked, after the silence had stretched, his voice sudden after the pause. "Because - Because I coped wrong? Because I didn't drink or medicate? I did 'whatever it took', so why am I different?" He didn't understand, didn't like the way answers circled back to questions and over and over.


"Left behind?" His fingers curled around where they rested against his legs and though his voice hardly changed he was beginning to show the very first slivers of discomfort, of panic, of insanity. "I left it behind. I buried it away and never let it come back. It is always behind me. . ." His voice had raised, if only slightly, and it dropped back to a murmur again, his eyes darting back and forth across the floor before settling an a point not far in front of him, a spot no different from any others. "Always right behind me. . ." In his thoughts and in his dreams - it ruled him, and he couldn't be rid of the fear, nor the troubles his empathy brought to him. But he had moved on from the events, had did his best to block them away and never look back. So why were they different?
 
"Aw, so soon? But we didn't talk much...do you have to use the bathroom?" is Rinji's conclusion to the fast exit as she furrows her brow slightly towards the brothers' retreating backs. She shrugs this off soon enough though, giving a wave towards them even though neither could see it. "Oh well, I'll see you later!"


Turning her attention back to Mason, she looked confused at his question and actually looked up at the ceiling, as though she might literally be sitting under someone and just hadn't realized it. Satisfied that there was no one up there, she met his eyes again, shrugging. "Um, I don't think I'm sitting under anyone? Unless someone has an office or a cell or something directly above my head. But I don't know who that is. I could check later, maybe."


**


The anger in Mason's head reverberates through the majority of his thoughts, tainting any other emotion he might have been harboring, and Jaguar partly revels in this, pleased to be affecting him so strongly, but she is partly irritated as well. She cannot yet tell if the anger is an instinctive reacting meant to cover deeper emotion, or if it really is all that is there for him. She will not back away yet though, not until forced out. Not when she has already come this far.


"What, are you afraid?" she pressed within his thoughts. "You can say whatever you like, but you know you cannot escape me. I can enter you whenever I like, and not in the way you would undoubtedly prefer. You can't hide from me, Mason. I can see whatever I want, whenever I want, and you can't retaliate...and that makes you very, very helpless."
 
Matthis only seemed to be growing more and more agitated the longer she was in the room, but Bailey didn't necessarily think that it was a good idea to leave him in the cell by himself just yet anyway. She'd finally decided to just say the hell with whatever wall he was putting up and pushed her thoughts forward, once again trying to fill the room with as much calm as she possibly could hoping to at least soothe him a little bit, despite how much he seemed to want to shut her out. This would not be able to happen once they'd started their training, so he may as well get used to it now.


"Even doing what you have to do to survive, you still committed murder Matthis. So yes, you coped wrong." Bailey's voice was soft with something not unlike pity as she spoke to him, her eyes still trained on the man, looking very carefully for any signs that he might take physical action. To some degree, she doubted that that would happen, but even still.


"And while you may believe that everything is behind you, it's clearly stuck with you enough to lead you down the path that brought you here. The fact that talking about it makes you this uneasy, this agitated, that you are here at all, is enough to show that you still carry a lot of it with you."


Her face softened slightly and she drew in a deep breath, "Matthis, this isn't the end of the road for you. Far from it, actually. I'm not going to ask you to do anything very far outside of your comfort zone, these things work in stages, but your sentence here depends almost entirely on you, on how you behave during, and respond to, your lessons with me. I want to help you, to get you out of here as fast as I can, but in order for that to happen, I need you to put at least a little bit of faith in me, in this place, because we are here for your benefit. Can you do that? Can you at least try to do that?"


--------


Mason paused with his fork halfway to his mouth as he listened to Rinji's answer... was she kidding? She had to have been kidding. His eyebrows inched toward his hairline as he watched her and noticed that no, she actually wasn't kidding. "I meant..." he shook his head and shoved the fork into his mouth, trying not to grimace at the taste of the food, "Who are your... what are they, teachers?"


Once again, another stab in the back of his head, followed by the voice and he dug his fingernails deeper into his palms. There was absolutely no way this self-righteous bitch was going to get the best of him, though he knew full well that he would need to separate himself from people before he caused a scene, because if he had to tolerate this shit in front of a room full of people any longer, he most certainly would cause a scene. Best for him, and everybody, to clear out.


Forcing a smile, he placed his fork down, "I'm sorry to cut this short, ladies, but I think I'm going to go back to my cell to lie down for a while, maybe try a little harder to get comfortable on these god-forsaken beds."


He waved, lifted his tray, disposed of it and left, gritting his teeth hard enough that he feared for a moment that they might chip. There had to be SOME way to get her out of his head. He understood why she was doing it, of course. Why the hell wouldn't she? Shit, if he'd had the abilities to do what the people here could do, the chances are great that he never would have been caught in the first place, or that they may have even made him a more efficient killer. But this was different, obviously. This was revenge. She had him, at least as far as location was concerned, but there was no way in hell he was going to let this escalate any further.


Stop it. Mason thought, more to himself than to Jaguar as he flagged down one of the security officers to take him back to his cell. There had to be some way to block her out, or at least stifle her, because he was NOT going to live like this for as long as he was sentenced. There was no way in hell. He'd snap her f**king neck before he ever let that happen.
 
For a while, the calming effect she had put out worked. He stayed still and quiet and listened, though he didn't feel inclined to answer. She hadn't answered any of his questions. Not really. Not in any way that explained what he wanted explained. She wanted him to - what? Trust her? Trust her with what? What did he have to do for her to be able to leave this room? Anything to just not be here anymore. But then he felt it, the wall she'd broken through, and everything burst open like a dam.


"Stay out!"


He shoved backwards into the wall, almost hard enough to bruise but it didn't matter. He curled up tight with his hands fisted into his hair, arms curled protectively around his head as if that physical barrier would take away the burning, sickening feeling of someone else inside his mind. It wasn't right he didn't want it get it out. He broadcasted without thinking about it, instinctively trying to push her away with everything he had, took everything he hated and shoved it at her to get her away - fear guilt pain hate terror anger shame lost trapped gone.


"Stay out," He whimpered, quiet and barely audibly, feet pushing unconsciously back and forth at the blanket beneath him though he never lowered his knees. "Stay out, stay out, stay out." She was there and she was pushing at him and the walls were moving in, weren't they? He was stuck here, couldn't get out, and soon he would be crushed to death, until his chest was too tight and he couldn't get air. He was breathing too fast and too hard, tried harder to shut himself in and her out, to hover in that negative space between where it was safe. It was the only space he was ever safe.
 
"No, I don't have a teacher," Rinji says to Mason with a shrug. "I don't have school anymore. I quit a long time ago. And I'm not a prisoner so I don't have one like that either. I'm just a secretary but I like to come and hang out with you guys. It's way more fun than, like, typing and work and stuff."


As Mason makes his exit, Rinji waves him goodbye, easily accepting his excuse. "Okay Mason, nice to meet you! Bye! Maybe we can talk at lunch."


Turning to Jack as he leaves, she asks, "Don't you think he was cute? He seems nice. I wonder why Jaguar didn't like him and was pissing with him and stuff. She can be so moody sometimes."


**


More tension and resistance from Mason, and now Jaguar was starting to enjoy herself. This wasn't strictly professional, what she was doing, nor was it just to help him. In fact, a large part of what she was doing would not pass muster by Jeremiah, because she was doing it to make a point to herself and to Mason more than to try to help him right now, and she could not care less that this was becoming a point of pride and marking of territory, establishing hierarchy, more than to help him. If she looked at it a certain way, putting up boundaries and establishing herself as in control WAS helping him, down the line.


"I'll leave when I feel like leaving, and that's not right now," was what she conveyed to Mason instead. "If I want in, I can come in. Any time I want, however I want, for as long as I want. And you can't stop me. You like to be in control? You like to mess with old men and little girls, so you can be sure that you can always get the best of them? Things are different here, Mason. You're playing with someone your own size, and I will never let you be in control. Now how does that feel?"
 
The violence of his reaction, and the dark wave that washed over Bailey as he flung himself at the wall to get further away from her, scared her enough that she actually flinched. Immediately, she pulled her thoughts back from him, holding her hands tightly to keep them from shaking. Somehow, her eyes never left the man. She drew in a deep breath and rose to her feet.


"Matthis? I'm going to approach you, but I'm not going to touch you with my thoughts again, okay?" Bailey stepped forward and crouched next to the bed, knowing just how vulnerable of a position this put her in. She could not expect him to trust her if she did not show at least a slight inclination toward trusting him, that much was clear.


Slowly, she placed one hand on the bed, not quite ready to touch him, but her eyes stayed level on his form. "I'm sorry," Bailey began, her voice soft. "I overstepped my bounds just now, which was wrong. I should have warned you, or started out slower. From now on, I will let you know what is about to happen during our meetings."


Not knowing what else to say, but knowing that this meeting has to end at some point, Bailey rose slowly to her feet, still feeling as though her gut had been hollowed out from the surge of thoughts Matthis had forced into her. "If there is anything you would like to talk about after I leave, I know that you have it in you to find me, but unless you come to me, I will not come into your cell again until it is time for your first session. I apologize again, and will see you during lunch."


Carefully, methodically, she went through the exit procedures to get out of the cell and spared him another glance before she closed the doors behind her.


--------


Mason paced the space in his cell, fisting a lock of hair in his hand and giving it a small pull. This b**ch. This B**CH! Who did she think she was!? God help her if she was ever in a room with him alone again, because he would make good work of crushing her skull beneath his fingers, make her think twice about EVER pulling this kind of shit again.


She may think she has some kind of power over him, but this lady has got another thing coming. No, he wasn't going to let her get the best of him. Mason bent forward at the waist and touched his toes to stretch out his back and legs before lifting his arms above his head and stretching until several vertebrae popped. He could do this, if he put his mind to it. May not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but if can do one thing while he's caged up in this shithole, it's going to be making every moment unbearable for that stupid empath.


Leisurely, he laid down on his bed and laced his fingers together on his stomach. "C'mon sweetheart," He said aloud, gaze never leaving the ceiling. "Show me what you got."
 
Yes, Jaguar was definitely having some fun with this. She could feel Mason's rage pulsing about her, reverberating off her skin, in a metaphorical manner, because of course, strictly speaking, she had no skin within the walls of his mind. She couldn't quite clearly read his thoughts, but she certainly understood the gist and context, and it was more than obvious that he was not just aware and uncomfortable with her presence, but angered to the point of wanting vengeance for it.


Good luck with that. How could he, when he couldn't penetrate her thoughts as she could his? How could he when he couldn't physically attack her, not if Jeremiah planned to be in the room? She was no child now, no helpless little girl, and she carried a glass knife with her at all times, the better to escape notice of metal detectors. She had been stupid to allow him to hurt her emotionally, and she would never let him hurt her physically.


"Show me what I've got? Why don't you show me what you've got?" she asked with genuine amusement. "Show me what you're hiding in here, show me what freaks you out to the point you'd rather screw a little girl and murder a seventy-year-old man than be a man yourself and deal with it. What's so big and bad to you that you can't stand to even think it? If you're really such a man, you let me see it. Let me see it now."
 
He flinched when she came closer to him, curled into a tight ball and shaking almost visibly. She was lying. She had to be lying. No one ever told him when they were going to just step inside and push him around. It was why he had to keep his shields so tight, stay aware of every thought and feeling he had and keep them in control. If he did that, he would always know if something happened, even if he somehow didn't sense the empath pushing through his barriers.


Find her? Why would he ever want to find her? As much as he kept others out, he kept himself in. Part of it was from a thought that if he didn't like it no one else would - how could they? - and another part was just that he didn't want them following their sense of him back to where he was, back inside his mind. He didn't like her and he didn't want her anywhere near him, so he wouldn't find her. The less he could see of her the better, but he knew he was stuck in this place and had to follow their rules. At least now he might be able to leave the room for meals. Maybe he would feel better when he wasn't stuck in this confined space so long.
 
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