Don't Close Your Eyes: Snapped

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

One of the bad guys has a change of heart. It is not tolerated well.



Kal watched the monitors with his hands on his hips. It was all going to god damn hell in a hand basket. He didn't anticipate the hacker. Running his hand over his head, Kal looked to Vince.

"Arm the bomb. Nightmare wants these fuckers dead. He's had enough time to play with them. He's got the bitch where he wants her. He'll be finishing her off soon."

Vince's eyes twitched nervously between Kal and the bomb and the monitors. Some of the people in there were barely adults. He needed to get his wife back, he needed her to be safe but killing a bunch of kids? Was that really the only way to do it? His fingers tapped out an anxious little tune on the desk. "We're really going to kill them all, then?" He hoped he'd kept the doubt and the nerves out of his voice.

"Well we aren't taking them for tea," Kal said, turning around to glance him over suspiciously.

"That a problem? Cause it'll be a problem for Lucy. She's gonna be really sad without a hand cause her ex-husband got squeamish."

Shaking his head a bit numbly at the vision in his mind of Lucy spouting blood from her wrist, Vince stuttered, "N-no. No, s'not a problem. I just...I thought the boss wanted to do it himself? I didn't think we'd actually use the bomb, just let him kill them off in their heads. Figured he liked doing that sort of thing himself. That's all." Vince could barely think past the twisted knot his stomach had just become.

"That was before th'fuckin' A-Team decided to poke their heads in and jump things ahead of schedule. Boss's busy with the red haired bitch right now. They're all gonna die one way or another," Kal said. He crossed the room quickly, grabbing Vince by his shirt and lifting him out of his seat.

"Now, are you gonna arm the fucking bomb or am I gonna have to make you do it with the use of only one arm?"

Being grabbed like that made Vince's eyes go wide and for a moment there was a clear sign of panic in them. Vince swallowed past it and tired to focus. "What makes you think a broken arm is going to be incentive for me to arm the bomb?" He sounded mostly terrified but there was just the barest hint of challenge in his voice. When he spoke again some of the fear had receded. "What makes you think I can arm it with only one arm? Imagine what the boss would do to you if you fucked it all up for him." Vince was willing to bet that Kal had some pretty impressive nightmares to play with, too. Though it was really more a fool's hope. He was trying to think of a way out of this. Out of Lucy losing a hand. Out of killing a bunch of kids.

Kal laughed. His fear was palatable. He could almost taste it with a spoon.

"The boss trusts me. Why? Cause I follow orders. I don't wanna break your arm, Vinny. Just like I don't wanna kill your ex-wife. But the boss wants what he wants. You do what you're told...you get to see her, tomorrow morning. She's been asking for you. Everyday. Do you really wanna keep her waiting?" Kal said.

"Cause if they win...if they live....your wife won't. Time to make a choice, Vinny. Who's more important? Lucy, or a bunch of people you don't even know?"

His resolve flickered and then crumbled. "I wasn't gonna pick the strangers," he mumbled weakly. "But I can't do anything with one arm either." In a fair fight he might have stood a chance. In a fair fight his hours in underground fights could have paid off. But nothing would be fair in a fight against Kal. Especially not near this many terrified people. And he had Lucy. Vince could image horrible, bloody things Kal would do to her. And he was sure they weren't even the worst of what would really transpire.

"You're right, Vinny. Y'can't. But if you do your job...you don't gotta worry about anything. So where's the problem here?" Kal said, patting him on the head.

"Arm the bomb."

The arming device had been fabricated specifically for this bomb and specifically for a technopath like Vince. It seemed ordinary, really. Nothing more than a clunky, old cell phone. His fingers tapped out an intricate pattern that would have suggested to anyone it was hardly a phone, or perhaps that he was insane. A distant look came into Vince's eyes as he concentrated, fighting himself at each step. The cellular device transmitted the codes and commands through the mansion to the bomb nestled in a gaping globe of a room. He was pale by the time he finished, eyes slowly refocusing.

Vince's voice was a little shaky from the effort of the complicated work of arming it from the device, but mostly but the sick feeling he had. Everyone in here was going to die so he could save his Lucy. "It's done." His eyes fell to the floor. Vince looked utterly dejected.

Kal glanced over to one of the camera monitors showing Cerebro, chuckling with satisfaction.

"Good job. Oh, and Vince?"

He leaned in to whisper into the man's ear as he closed his hand around the back of Vince's neck.

"She's been dead all along," he said.

All the air seemed to go out of Vince at once. His hands scrambled for the cell, his impulse being to disarm the bomb now that there was no real reason for these people to die. All he could think was, Lucy's dea-

Kal squeezed. The resulting snap was akin to breaking a twig. He felt Vince's body seize, then go limp, body sprawling against the keyboard. Grabbing the man by the hair, he pulled him up and let his head drop back,starting into his sightless eyes. He patted his cheek.

That end moment of fear, it was like a flood. A perfect wave. He shuddered at the sensation as he felt his body surge with power. The rush was indescribable. It was almost like being born.

"Night Vinny," he said.

He took a bite of the apple he had been eating, then strode out of the room, the panel closing behind him.