Before They Were Fabulous

“I... I don’t know why Gee left,” Frankie stammered as he stared up at the cold eyes of the exterminator. “We told you, he... he got really angry and...”
“Enough!” Korse growled with a sneer following close behind on his lips. “I can see I’m not going to get anything out of you without... persuasion,” one end of his mouth curled up at the word.
“N-no, please,” Frankie shook his head. “I don’t know anything. I don’t know what you think I know but...”
“Let me show you something,” Korse cut in. “I had this made especially for you. It’s amazing how quickly our tech team can build even the most complex of devices. I assure you, you’ll talk.”

Frankie stared up, unable or unwilling to speak and too afraid to press the matter. Behind him the door to Korse’s office opened and he heard something on wheels trundling along the floor. It sounded heavy and Frankie’s mind was in turmoil imagining what was about to happen to him. As the ‘device’ was wheeled into view, he began slowly to hyperventilate. Before him stood a metal cabinet, roughly five feet high and three feet square at the base. One side of the cabinet was clearly a door with what seemed a sturdy lock which clipped over a latch that pulled the lock tight, sealing it shut. The wheels retracted into the side of the cabinet leaving it settled on the floor. Unlatching the lock and opening the door, Korse offered Frankie a cruel smile.

“I think you’ll find this quite cosy until my interrogator arrives.”

Now struggling to breathe, Frankie felt lightheaded and dizzy at the thought of being locked in the cabinet. Memories of his guardian leaving him for entire days locked in a dark closet without food or water followed by a beating on his release had scarred him deeply and the fear he had felt on all of those occasions was now multiplied a hundred-fold. Partly because he believed he had left it behind with his guardian’s death and partly because Korse had no reason to keep him alive - at least his guardian needed to let him survive if he still wanted to be paid. Worse still, Korse knew that this was his greatest fear, and probably always would be - if he had a future, of course.

“N-no, please!” Frankie stammered. “I’ll do anything, but, please. Please!”

Frankie continued to beg at the man aiming the silent smirk at him.

“Oh, but this is different,” Korse chuckled. “The panels on this cabinet are hydraulic and overlap, do you know what that means?”

Frankie gasped in horror; his skills in engineering, despite his young age, meant that he knew all too well what Korse meant. If it weren’t for the straps holding him to the chair he would be physically shaking. His vision blurred without warning and the room seemed to spin as he grew ever more terrified. Korse laughed at the sight of Frankie’s pallor and growing panic attack.

“You do!” he laughed, before continuing in a casual, almost conversational tone and delighting in the boy’s terror. “Yes, the panels slide against each other allowing the cabinet to decrease in size. Each hour, the cabinet will shrink by two inches in height and one inch in width. I wonder if there’s a limit to the shrinkage? Or will it crush you? Well, when you’re ready to talk, and I mean the truth, just shout. Oh, and bear in mind that there won’t always be someone in this room to hear you.”

As Korse spoke, the two men who wheeled in the cabinet had removed the straps from Frankie’s wrists and ankles, but his terror had robbed him of all strength. Seizing his left wrist, Korse pulled him from the chair and threw him bodily into the metal cabinet, slamming the door shut and fastening the lock loudly. As the darkness closed around him, Frankie sank slowly to the floor, he hugged his knees as his chest heaved, trying desperately to drag air into his lungs.

“I suggest you don’t leave it too long, Frankie,” Korse called in to the petrified boy. “I forgot to mention, it’s also airtight!”

*

Gerard sighed as he looked down at the thin mattress beneath him. He didn’t want to just flop down on it, it didn’t seem thick enough or supportive enough to break his fall. With his hands now tied behind his back, he had no way of breaking his fall if he tried to lower himself down.

“I didn’t think this through, did I?” He finally conceded, turning his head to find Jet staring at him, also considering his predicament.
“I could help you, if you like?” Jet shrugged with a faint smile. “I’m going to have to feed you anyway.”

Gerard’s shoulders sagged and he found himself looking down and shaking his head.

“I really didn’t think this through.”
“Do you want me to tie your hands at the front?” Jet asked quietly.

Gerard turned an expression of absolute disbelief toward Jet; was the boy really that naive?

“I don’t think your friends’ll be too happy about the idea of you untying me while they’re not here,” he offered a wry smile.
“They’ll be fine,” Jet shrugged, briefly throwing his arms out to the side to indicate his indifference.

Gerard stared at the boy, confused not only by Jet’s response, but by the one he himself was about to give.

“Best not,” he replied. “I don’t want you getting into any trouble. They might see it as me making a bid to escape.”
“And wouldn’t you?” Jet queried. “If you had the chance.”
“I’m not convinced I have much to go back to,” Gerard looked away, miserably. “I want to see my brother and my best friend. But everything else?”

Gerard exhaled deeply; his drug fuelled loyalty to BLI now fading rapidly.

“I wasn’t going to untie you,” Jet admitted, eying Gerard with concern for his response. “I just wanted to see what you’d say.”

At first, Gerard turned a puzzled glance towards Jet. The curly haired boy’s face seemed to be set in a questioning expression, as if he were waiting for some sort of make or break response. Gerard lowered and shook his head lightly as he considered his response.

It had taken him a week to get mostly free of the drugs Jakob had given him and he was finally thinking relatively clearly and feeling more like himself. But, Jet would have no reason to believe him and certainly no reason to trust him. Just no longer having the Kanslokal in his system and having negotiated withdrawal meant nothing to the rebels. They would find it hard to believe that at the best of times he would have no intention of hurting them, let alone kill them.

The ludicrousness of the situation occurred to him. He had just told Jet that returning to Battery City wasn’t what he wanted any more - only Mikey and Frankie would cause his return, but he toyed with the idea that they might prefer to join him. That seemed so unlikely. Frankie, maybe, his memories in Battery City were mostly terrible, but Mikey? He had been indoctrinated by Korse and not so long ago had even been keen to execute rebels. Unaware of Mikey’s recent revelations, it seemed to him that his only real option was to return, but equally, the thought terrified him.

Finally his shoulders hitched as he suddenly found amusement in the situation. Still looking down, he allowed a short amused huff to leave his lips before breaking into peals of laughter, drawing a surprised response from Jet in return.

“What’s funny?” He frowned; assuming Gerard was mocking him.
“It’s all good,” Gerard gasped out as he shook his head and began to reign in his laughter. Finally able to speak once more, he turned a lopsided grin at his companion. “It’s just, I’d have hated to think you were stupid. I kinda like you.”

Jet raised his eyebrows at the unexpected words as Gerard continued.

“Can you help me down, please?” He asked kindly. “We can talk,” he tipped his head. “If you like?”
“What about?” Jet asked suspiciously.
“Anything you want,” Gerard shrugged awkwardly. “I’m not trying to trick you, Jet. I just want to talk to you.”

Jet nodded, a smile creeping across his face. Helping Gerard down onto the mattress was easy for him; not only was Jet strong for his age but Gerard had lost weight in the time he had been there, partly from not being able to eat at all and then from there not being much available to eat.

“You want to eat first?” Jet asked kindly, noticing Gerard eyeing the metal plate.

A thought suddenly occurred to him and Gerard looked up and stared with a furrowed brow at Jet.

“What?” Jet asked. “It’s not...”
“I know,” Gerard cut in quickly. “I know it’s okay, I know that now. Have you eaten?”
“Today?” Jet asked innocently. “It’s not my day.”
“Excuse me?” Gerard’s eyes widened. “When do you eat?”
“Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays,” he replied innocently.
“They don’t let you eat every day?” Gerard gasped, astonished at the idea.
“Oh!” Jet laughed, beaming a broad and cheerful smile towards Gerard. “I eat more than they do. They insist, because I’m still growing. I’d be long dead if it weren’t for them. They saved my life.”
“But... but they... they’ve fed me every day,” Gerard merely stared, struggling to truly take in the meaning. “But... how are... if you’re that short on food, how are they able to feed me?”

Jet looked down briefly, worried about how Gerard would take the news.

“We... we’ve all given up a meal for you.”
“What?”

Gerard sounded suddenly small and even ashamed. He didn’t remember most of what he had said to the rebels but he did recall his words in the last few days of the drugs retaining their hold over him, and he knew he hadn’t been kind.

“We had to,” Jet shrugged. “I know it doesn’t seem like it to you, but you’re a patient, not a hostage.”

Gerard swallowed hard and frowned deeply, only now seeing the kindness and sacrifices this band of rebels had made - literally risking their lives to help him.

“I threatened you,” Gerard whispered. “All of you, but you helped me despite everything.”
“Yeah,” Jet nodded. “You were in a really bad way when you got here.”
“You... you do know who I am, don’t you?” Gerard asked carefully.
“Yeah, of course,” Jet replied, frowning at what he viewed as a strange question.
“And you still helped me?” Gerard frowned deeply. “I don’t know whether or not to say this, but you realise that I don’t actually have any real power in Battery City? I mean, I can’t stop what BLI do. I can’t stop the exterminators or the draculoid patrols or anything. Damn! I can’t even get more food out here!”
“We know,” Jet nodded with a kind smile. “He told us that you aren’t the way BLI sell you.”
“Who’s ‘he’?” Gerard asked, furrowing his brows, still trying to work out who had arranged all this.
“I can’t tell you that, sorry,” Jet shrugged apologetically but Gerard, half expecting the response was already moving on to his next question.

“Okay, but... how... how do they...? Do I want to...? No, how do I appear?”
“Like... like you don’t care. Like... well, the face of BLI.”

Gerard lowered his head and sighed deeply. Not only had he never considered how they were using his image but he had no idea how desperate life was in the Zones. He shook his head, torn in his reaction - falling somewhere between sadness and anger.

“Well...” Jet began again on seeing Gerard’s response. “It’s not really you is it? It’s just a picture of you with a meaningless or even harsh slogan.”
“Like what?” Gerard asked quietly.
“You don’t know?” Jet asked, astonished at his lack of involvement.

Gerard shook his head, slowly; he looked pale and drawn. Despite not being happy at BLI, it had never occurred to him to check what he appeared to endorse.

“Anything from ‘The Aftermath is Secondary’ to ‘I won’t stop until all rebels are dead’.”

If it were possible, Gerard paled further.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “When I get back, I’ll do everything I can to help. I’ll find a way, I promise. I’ll get food out to the Zones, water, medication, whatever is needed. If BLI look after people the way they should... the way we’re led to believe... You wouldn’t need to rebel.”
“Don’t put yourself at risk,” Jet warned. “Not everyone will see the benefits in what you want to do and...” Jet lowered his eyes. “They have much more power.”

The words caused Gerard’s heart to seem to leap into his throat, choking off the words he wanted to say. Instead, his eyes misted and a small surprised cry escaped his lips as Jet moved forward to offer a gentle hug.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be going home soon.”

Notes

Hello lovely readers!

Sorry by for the delay, I hope you’ll bear with me but uni is really hectic right now and as it’s my final year, I need to not get distracted.

I hope you you like this one
Sas xx