034. - Video - Just Desserts

[brokenweapon]

[OOC: Co-written with Milbury. Thanks for being awesome! There is also a scoschy bit of time fuckery in here because real talk, nobody can be held hostage on the Barge for two weeks without being found. The ship ain't that big, not like it's Tora Bora or anything.]

[The screen flicks on, and the face of Jason Bourne appears - though anyone would be forgiven for not recognizing him at first, due to the haggard look and the beard that he’s sporting. He’s a right mess, with a healing split lip and bruises all over every place the camera can see, and quite a few more besides.

He speaks, and his voice sounds hoarse and rusty from disuse.] “As of the morning of June 5th, I have not been myself. I was kidnapped and impersonated by my inmate, and held captive in another inmate’s quarters.” [He glances off-camera.] “Come here, David.”

	[Sullenly, reluctantly, David walks into view. While not as disheveled as his warden, David’s seen better days himself - his normally straight hair is matted to his head and the shirt he’s wearing is torn at the collar. He’s also got his hands clasped together behind his head - clearly he’s not here of his own volition. He doesn’t look at the camera. His attention is focused entirely on his warden, and the look he’s eyeing Bourne with is a dangerous one - bitter and resentful. He says nothing.]
	“Show them.” [Bourne’s voice is flat and level. His left hand is nearly out of frame, and there’s a gun in it, and it’s pointed directly at his inmate.] “Now.”
	[Gritting his teeth and looking away from the camera, David begins to change. Slowly he begins growing, both in height and mass, his lean teenager’s body bulking up into the body of a man fifteen years or so older. It’s a bit like watching aging flash-forwarded, except that David isn’t just growing older. His entire facial structure is changing as he grows - his ear-length blond hair shortens and darkens, while his eyes go from dark brown to steely blue.
	When the transformation’s complete, no trace of David can be see in the man he’s become. Now Jason Bourne appears to be holding his twin double at gunpoint.]
	[Anyone watching Bourne rather than David would see the anger and hate in his eyes as he watches the transformation. There are two of him now - one whole, perfect, and fake; the other beaten, broken, and the genuine article.] “Demorph,” [he says, and there’s such bitter loathing in his voice it’s surprising he hasn’t pulled the trigger out of spite.
	Looking back at his warden with undisguised hatred, David does as he’s told. Jason Bourne’s form recedes back the way it came, exposing David’s secret for the entire Barge to see.] “Happy now?” [David asks, and while his sullen bitterness can’t match the utter loathing his warden expressed in that one-word command, his own voice is quivering with anger. His hands are clenched behind his head, and it’s quite clear he would enjoy nothing more than seeing the man he just became torn apart, perhaps by rabid lions.]
	[Bourne doesn’t respond to his inmate’s question, but the answer is obviously ‘No’. Though he refuses to take his eyes off of his inmate, it’s clear that he’s addressing the camera:] “I apologize for anything he’s done while using my form since then. This will not happen again. He will be receiving a punishment that fits his crime.”

[He reaches over with his right hand to turn off the feed, the gun still trained on David, and now it’s clear why he’s using his opposite hand to hold a gun on his inmate. His right thumb is still broken and hasn’t yet been treated, hanging down grotesquely. It can be seen for just a moment before the feed switches off.]

[Private to the Admiral, just after Rathammer commences:]
Please revoke David's morphing ability entirely. When I see fit to restore his powers, keep him from being able to acquire or morph any Barge denizen.

Comments

[ Spam ] - Late is better than never, so thank you, bebe. xoxo

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

Yeah, of course, I'll just need to check on Chester later. Sleep.

[She took up a place to sit and made herself comfy, eying his books (he has those, right?) for later entertainment. Course, soon as Jason was out, she had every intention of seeing if this mind-talking worked both ways.]

I'm here if you need anything.

[ Spam ] - Finally getting to all my outstanding tags. Dx

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

Thanks, [he says again, and went to climb into bed, shucking off his jacket in the process. His books were all nonfiction, about international affairs, but there wasn't a huge selection.

He knew he could trust Claire, and fell into a fitful sleep with unusual speed. He'd wake up in an hour or two. Until then, she had run of the place.]

[ Spam ] - WOOT!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire wore her sweet smile until Jason's eyes closed, and immediately it melted away, her face going quite blank. She turned to face the covered cage and carefully crossed her arms.

[ Spam ] - This is just like the first book, except it's David instead of Jake. And he's a rat. :|

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for the both of them, thought-speaking only works in a morph. David can broadcast it, but he can't hear it from Claire.

David has no idea Claire's right outside his wire prison, close enough to touch. He's in the same place he ran to when he first realized Claire was in the room - hunkered down under the running wheel, buried in the shavings, little rat body trembling. His eyes are closed, his paws over them.

To have her see him like this... he doesn't know if he could bear it.

[ Spam ] - Mem-or-ieesss. And permission granted.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[When there was no answer, Claire moved onto to whispering. But she had to be certain that Jason was, in fact, asleep, and unable to hear her.

Leaning forward with her hands on the arm of the chair, she called Jason's name in a hushed tone. Again coming up with no answer, she turned once more to the cage and whispered to David this time.]

Can you understand me?

[ Spam ] - Bourne's gonna be so mad about this if he ever finds out.

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[He could understand Claire. Perfectly. But did he want to answer her?]

[No. He didn't. Answering would be admitting what he was now, what Bourne had made him. Answering her would be showing her his weakness, him at his very most vulnerable.]

[When he speaks, his voice isn't anything like the David Claire's come to know. His thought-speak voice is soft, and desperate, and a little insane.]

< ... don't look at me. Please. >

[ Spam ] - Word.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire hasn't exposed the cage, nor will she now, out of respect for David. Something he hadn't exactly shown to her with the romantic gestures, but hey, hadn't someone accused her already of not demanding enough of it from the Inmates?]

Fine. But don't think you're off the hook. Not for one.second. [Pause.] You owe me an explanation, David.

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[To his surprise, Claire doesn't expose his cage. He can hear her, right beside it. Even whispering, his rat ears make her voice out easily.]

< An explanation? > [He's on the verge of hysteria.] < Bourne's trapped me like this and you want an explanation? >

[ Spam ] - Yay for switching tenses!! :\

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[There was an exasperated sigh as Claire rolled her eyes. But knowing he couldn't see it, she made sure that he heard it in the tone of her voice.]

Not now, because whispering is annoying and I want eye contact. But soon, got it? [Above a whisper.] Real soon.

[ Spam ] - Switching tenses is ossum. :/

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[David is incredulous. How can she be so casual about this?]

< There's not gonna be a real soon. Don't you know what he did? I can't change back. ... Ever. >

[ Spam ] - XD

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

The hell are you talking about?

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

< I'm talking about this is permanent. If I stay in a morph too long, I'm trapped. >

[There's a choked sob from him. Because he really believes Bourne's trapped him like this forever. Though since Bourne's intentionally wanted him to believe that, it's not surprising.]

[ Spam ]

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire drew back from the covered cage, settling her eyes on the sleeping form in the bed. She didn't believe it. Couldn't. No matter the things that Jason Bourne was capable of, she felt there was no way he'd allow his Inmate to remain a rat. How could a rat graduate, after all, right? It seemed too cruel, too tedious. Too...crazy. Jason knew what he was doing. Instilling fear, teaching a lesson.

Swallowing hard, she turned once more to 'David'.]

Seems more like a chore on his end to keep track of a rat than a person...how long have you been in morph?

[Just to be safe, Claire would keep track. Wake Jason at the right moment. Would her blood change him back or heal the rat?]

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[David, on the other hand, had no problems with believing it. Bourne's not even human, as far as he's concerned. No human could do the things he's done to him. He decided Bourne wasn't human when he snapped his thumb to get out of his handcuffs and tried, really tried, to kill him. This just proves it. And as far as he knows, this really is forever.]

< How long does it matter? Nine hours. Seven hours longer than I'd have even if my powers were at their full. >

[The time for changing back, of course, was long past. And for better or for worse, this was the body he was trapped in now. Until Bourne chose to restore his access to his new one. What Claire's blood would do, David certainly didn't know. Possibly no one knew.]

[ Spam ]

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Much as she wanted to yell back and/or hit his cage, that wasn't the way to deal with the panicky. So, she took a deep breath, held it, and slowly released.]

Your limit is two hours, then?

[Okay. Okay, still...the Admiral was surely capable of turning him back.]

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

< It was two hours, > [he clarifies with a broken laugh.] < Twenty minutes now. Or was twenty minutes. Now it's nothing. >

[He's gone beyond panicky now. He's in barely-restrained hysteria at this point.]

[ Spam ]

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Torn between not wanting to overstep Jason's plans and wanting to offer some minor silver lining, Claire scooted as close to the cage as she dared.]

Well, it's not likely to last forever, David. What's one thing you've noticed about the company the Admiral keeps?

[Let him focus on something other than his imprisonment.]

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

< What, they're all fucking insane? Of course it's gonna last forever. Didn't you just hear how my powers work?>

[There's no silver living here that he can see. Except the silver bars of the cage he's in.]

[ Spam ] : Nicely worded.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[She tutted.]

No, we're all humanoid. It's, like, a requirement, it seems. If the Admiral can bring back the dead, don't you think he can change you back? You're being punished not...banished. You fucked up. Not you need to pay up.

[ Spam ] : Thanks.

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[There's a sudden silence from David for a moment. With Claire's last two sentences, she's instantly transformed in his eyes from... what she was before, he didn't even know, but now he knows what she is without question: enemy.]

< Is that what this is to you? Paying up, like this is some kind of fucking toll? Do you even know why he did this to me? You're sick, you and him both. All of you wardens. I swear I'll find a way to kill him, even if I have to sell my soul to do it! I swear! I swear!! >

[David's thought-speak voice is rising in pitch as he talks, higher and higher, until he's screaming. Screaming so hard it hurts to hear.]

[ Spam ]

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[And the same now happened with Claire. Where before she tittered between emotions at the thought that maybe it was David kissing Claire for positive reasons, and not David kissing Claire for hurtful reasons, the moment he wished Jason dead, her protective instincts seized control and made the Inmate enemy.

Wincing and wanting to cover her ears, she instead stood and hit the cage, hard, then tossed the sheet back to expose the rat. Glaring with as much animosity as she could mustered, Claire practical spat:]

If you touch him? I'll find a way to get my blood in you so I can you, over and over and over.

[Claire could be dark. Horribly, contrastingly dark.]

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[The cage rocks when Claire hits it, and when she whips off the cover, David stops hiding. He glares up at the warden, and there's actual rage in his dark little eyes.]

[His screaming stops even being private at that, and now becomes loud enough for Claire, the sleeping Jason, and anyone close to Jason's cabin to hear.]

< You like what you see, Claire? Huh? You like it?! You'd better enjoy it while it lasts!!! Because if I ever get the chance to come back, I'm gonna dedicate my entire life to killing you! Both of you!!! You deserve each other, you're both monsters! So go ahead, laugh while you can! I'll laugh last!!! I don't care if it costs everything, you'll both pay for this!!! >

[In the depths of his rage at this moment, David truly would do anything, anything, to kill the monster who'd done this to him and his grinning lover. He'd do anything. Even give himself to Crayak.]

[ Spam ]

[brokenweapon.livejournal.com]

[The idea of Bourne ever getting any sleep with a screaming rat in the room was laughable. As soon as David gets annoying enough to wake him up - which is as soon as he says 'You like what you see' - he sits bolt upright, throws off the covers, and strides off to the cage, picking it up. He stares down the rat with the icy, dark-circled glare that only a tortured assassin suffering from sleep deprivation can give.]

That's enough.

[His voice is a low, menacing whisper, but it's perfectly audible to the rat. He picks up the cover with his other hand, and carries the rat into the small bathroom, tucking the cage into the furthest corner of the room from the bed. He unceremoniously throws the cover back on the cage, and slams the door shut as he stalks out of the bathroom.

When he gets back into the bedroom, he sits in his chair and puts his head in his hands. If Claire listens closely, she can hear him:]

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking inmate, fucking rat, fuck, fuck, fuck...

[ Spam ]

[sixthanimorph.livejournal.com]

[David literally could not care less about the cold grimace on his warden's face or the quiet menace in his voice. He couldn't care less what Bourne said or did, because nothing could not possibly be worse than this. His psychic screaming just gets louder when he sees Bourne approach, even as he's knocked back down to all fours when Bourne picks his cage up.]

< If it's enough then kill me, you sick psycho! Kill me!!! If you don't, I'll find a way to kill you, I don't care if it takes me a hundred years to do it! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!! I'll kill you!!! >

[Over and over he screams it, even after Bourne's thrown the cover back on the cage and closed the door to the bathroom. He can close the door on him, but he can't shut him up. Not without giving him what he wants, not without killing him.]

[ Spam ]

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Pointless as it was, Claire covered her ears at the screaming while Jason tried to shut David up and away. She was ready to kill him if only to silence his whines and pleas.

She approached Jason with caution, afraid she had overstepped and pissed him off. It was as she drew nearer that she heard his cursing, though barely, given how though screams trumped real life whispers.

Claire knelt at his feet and tried to place a hand on his knee, looking a cross between guilty and furious.]

The CES. I can take him there while you try to sleep. I'm...I'm sorry, Jason, I didn't-

[But she shut up.]