Fic: "The Demonstration" (Part of The Devil You Know series)
Title: The Demonstration
Fandom: White Collar
Characters/Pairing: Neal, Peter, OCs
Rating: Mature
Contains: Institutional slavery, public humiliation, restraints, non-consensual touching.
Word count: 4800
Summary: Peter agrees to loan out his slave for a presentation on proper slave handling for FBI agents.
Notes: This is set in The Devil You Know series, but you don't really have to have read the other fics to understand this one.
This was also written for the Situational Humiliation square on my Kink Bingo card from last year. I wasn't very good at getting stuff done for that card, but I wanted to complete at least one thing for it before moving on to this years' bingo cards. And the Situational Humiliation was the square I really wanted to fill.
"How would you like to do the Bureau a favor?"
Neal looked up from his work. His eyes were blurry from going through the gigantic stack of mortgage fraud cases that was piled on the boardroom table.
"What type of favor?"
Peter turned to the glass wall and pointed. "See that man?"
Neal craned his neck. There was an unfamiliar man down in the bullpen, talking to Jones.
"That's Special Agent Robert Feldman," Peter said. "He's a friend of mine."
"Okay...."
"He's certified to handle and discipline slaves. He's doing a presentation today for some probies and junior agents on how to take slaves into custody. He usually uses his own slave as an example, but the slave wasn't feeling well this morning. Rob was going to requisition a state-owned slave instead, but he wanted to see if I'd be willing to loan you out."
Neal raised his eyebrows. "Loan me out? Seriously? I hope you told him no."
"Come on, Neal. It's not like that. You'd be helping agents learn how to handle slaves safely and humanely. And I'll be there."
"Do I have a choice in this?"
"Sure. If you really don't want to do it, I'll tell Rob."
Peter's tone was deceptively simple, and Neal was suspicious.
"So there's no consequence for refusing?"
"No...but if you cooperate, you'll be rewarded."
Neal smiled. That was a little more like it. "I could use some new clothes...."
"How about I do you one better? If you help Rob out, he and I will submit the paperwork to get a little time taken off your sentence."
Neal sat up, barely able to contain his surprise. "How much time?" He started thinking about what he'd be willing to do in exchange for a month or two taken off his sentence.
"We're thinking a couple days."
Neal collapsed back in his chair, deflated. "A couple days. Seriously? That's supposed to be a reward?"
"Getting a couple days taken off in exchange for an hour of work seems more than fair to me."
Loath as Neal was to admit it, Peter did have a point. Still, would he even notice a difference of two days after spending four years as a slave? The deal needed to be sweetened.
"Okay. I'll take the two days. But I also want to go out to dinner sometime this weekend. At a restaurant of my choice."
Peter clenched his jaw and grumbled under his breath. "You're getting greedy, you know that? Fine, we'll go out to dinner. But I have to approve your choice."
Neal grinned. "Deal. Tell Agent Feldman I'll be happy to help out."
A few hours later, Peter accompanied Neal downstairs. The presentation was being given in the building, so they didn't have far to travel.
Neal was beginning to have some doubts. As they rode down the elevator, he said, "What's going to happen during this presentation, exactly?"
Peter looked at him and smirked. "Shouldn't you have asked this before agreeing to participate?"
Neal narrowed his eyes. "Is it that bad?"
"No, not at all. Trust me. Rob is going to use you to show various ways of controlling and handling a slave. But he'll be gentle with you. It's just a demonstration."
The room where the presentation was being given was much larger than Neal had expected, and it was half-filled with rows of chairs. Neal had no idea there were so many junior agents in the building.
Aside from a few agents, the room was still empty. Agent Feldman was at the front of the room, going through a large duffel bag on a folding table. Feldman was about Peter's age, but he already had touches of grey on his temples. But he was slim and appeared fit. Neal could imagine him jogging in Central Park on the weekend.
Feldman smiled when he saw Peter. "Hey," he said, "thanks for bringing him."
"No problem. Neal was happy to help you out."
Turning to Neal, Feldman said, "Thanks for being such a good sport. The presentation's only forty-five minutes, and you won't need to do much. If we had more time, I'd run you through it. But I don't think you'll have trouble following along."
Feldman went back to the duffel bag, and Neal took look at what he was unloading from it. He pulled out two thick leather chest harnesses and a black plastic switch like the ones the guards at the slave processing center used. Beside the table was a large metal cage.
"Are you planning on using this stuff on me?" Neal asked.
Feldman looked up. Thankfully, he didn't appear to mind being addressed by a slave. "Just for demonstrative purposes." He smiled. "Don't worry-discomfort will be kept to a minimum."
Even a minimum of discomfort was too much. But it was too late to pull out now. If he did, it would embarrass Peter in front of his friend and the assembled agents. And Neal didn't want to appear weak or intimidated.
More and more agents filtered into the room. The chairs filled up until there was barely an empty space to be seen. Neal recognized a few of the agents. He saw Peter's probie, Diana, in the third row.
Promptly at four o'clock, Feldman switched on the microphone clipped to his lapel, faced the room, and said, "Good afternoon. I'm Rob Feldman, and as I'm sure you all know, this is an introduction to proper slave handling. I'm going to give you a brief overview of what to do if you ever have to take a slave into custody. I don't expect you guys to become experts-today is just an introduction. Quantico doesn't cover slave handling much, so it's normal for agents to need some time to get comfortable. Today is for covering the basics and answering any questions you have.
"Before we start, let me ask: have any of you had to help take a slave into custody before?"
Only two hands went up. Feldman gestured to one of the agents. "Would you like to say anything about it?"
The young man said, "There's not a lot to tell. We arrested a suspect who owned a slave, so we brought the slave in as a potential witness."
The second agent said, "I helped arrest someone for check fraud, and we realized the guy's slave was the one doing a lot of the actual work. The slave had been convicted of washing checks, so he had the skills to do it."
"Okay," Feldman said, "these are two great examples. Most of time when you take a slave into custody, it'll be something like that. Either you want to question the slave because it might be able to provide evidence, or you believe the slave was being used to commit a crime. The most important thing to remember is that you're not making an arrest. Yes, slaves can be arrested, but it's unlikely that you'll have to do that. Even in something like the check fraud case we just heard about, the slave usually doesn't have any criminal liability for something they're made to do."
A hand shot up in the audience, and Feldman gestured for the agent to speak.
"What if the slave isn't being forced to commit the crime?" she asked. "What if the slave is a willing accomplice, or the owner doesn't know what the slave is doing?"
"Good question. In your first example, the slave still might not be liable. Slaves are criminals. A lot of them will give in to temptation if they're given the opportunity. It's the owner's responsibility not to give them one."
Neal bristled at that, but couldn't be too offended. He couldn't deny that he wouldn't jump at a chance to create forgeries again.
"As for your second example," Feldman continued, "it's possible. But most slaves aren't crafty enough to commit federal crimes behind their owners' backs. If you happen to find one that is, you can arrest them like you would a free person.
"Now, let's talk a little bit about how to identify a slave. I know you're probably all thinking that this is obvious, right?" Feldman walked over to Neal and stuck a finger under his collar, tugging on it. "Slave collars are usually easy to spot. But what if Neal here was wearing a scarf or something, and we couldn't see his neck?"
A hand shot up in the second row, and, when called upon, the male agent said, "You could ask him to uncover his neck."
Feldman nodded. He released Neal's collar, and Neal fought the urge to rub his neck.
"That's right. We can do that. However, there is a potential problem. Can anyone tell me what it is?"
Feldman scanned the room, but for a moment, no one responded to his question. Finally, a hand went up. Neal realized it was Diana.
"A freeperson can deny the request unless there's probable cause."
Feldman nodded. "Very good. That's correct. Realistically, any time you're at a crime scene, you'll likely have probable cause to do a basic search of people on the premises. But while slaves are legally required to identify themselves, free people don't always have to prove they're free. It's a bit of a contradiction, I know, but that's the law."
Feldman stepped over to the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Neal saw him pick up a small handheld scanner.
"However, there's no restriction on using a scanner. This can pick up signals both from chips in collars and from chips implanted under the slave's skin."
He pointed the scanner at Neal and pressed a button. It beeped.
"When you enter a crime scene, it's a good idea to do a quick scan so you can find out immediately if there are any slaves on the premises." He set the scanner back down on the table, and then turned back to the audience. "Now, we've identified the slave and need to take him into custody. What's the next step? Come on-I'd like to hear your thoughts."
"Restrain him," someone in the audience said.
"But if he doesn't put up a fight," someone else said, "he doesn't need to be restrained, right? He's a slave."
"You're both Correct," Feldman said. "This is something you have some leeway on. Remember-this isn't like arresting a suspect. We don't need to cuff Neal, but we do need to have him on a leash. Most slaves are trained to accept direction from free people, so you don't get much resistance. All you need to do is attach a leash to the slave's collar and they'll follow you. However, if you do get a slave that wants to put up a fight, the important thing is not to lead them by the collar. It can hurt its neck. If the slave struggles, get another agent to help you restrain it, and fit it with a slave harness."
Feldman walked around the table and lifted up one of the harnesses. "This is a simple chest harness. Fully adjustable, and very easy to put on the slave. It's also one-size-fits-all." He set it down and picked up the second one, which had even more straps. "This one is similar, but it has a crotch strap. Which one would you choose, and why?"
Several hands went up, and Feldman called on a few of them. One agent said, "The one with the crotch strap, because he won't be able to pull it off over his head."
Neal took that as a challenge. He bet he could get out of that harness in a matter of minutes. He was just glad that neither of the harnesses Feldman had on display included a cock ring or a butt plug holder like the one Peter used on him at home occasionally.
After letting a few more agents speak, Feldman said, "Do I have any volunteers to help me put the harness on Neal?"
Slowly, hands started to rise. The agents looked nervously eager to try their hands at restraining a slave. Feldman selected a couple agents, a young man and woman who couldn't be any older than Neal. When asked their names, they introduced themselves and Ben and Natalie. Ben's face showed rapt attention to the proceeding. He also looked more than a little nervous. Natalie was impassive.
Neal was very conscious that the audience had their eyes glued on him right now, and he knew that in a matter of moments, he would have some hands on him, too. He wanted to look at his feet and draw into himself, but forced himself to stand tall and keep a small smile on his face. He had no choice in being a slave, but that didn't mean he had to sacrifice all his dignity. Not visibly, at least.
"Okay," Feldman said, rubbing his hands together. "We're going to pretend Neal is an uncooperative slave who needs to be harnessed. I want you two to hold him firmly, but not too hard. I'll show you how to hold him and secure the straps. Neal, you can give a little bit of resistance."
Neal wasn't one for overt resistance, but he appreciated what he took as carte blanche permission to give Ben and Natalie a hard time.
With Feldman guiding them, Ben took one of Neal's arms and Natalie took the other. Natalie dug her fingers into his skin, but Ben's grip was looser, and Neal considered pulling his arm free. But demonstration or not, he didn't want to give them an excuse to hold him more tightly. He tensed his muscles and pulled at their grip, but not hard enough to break away. He took a peek across the room and saw Peter standing by the door, watching intently with his hands on his hips.
Feldman approached Neal from the front, holding the more secure of the two harnesses. He'd unbuckled all the straps.
"It's tricky to put this on alone," he said, "so it helps to have at least one other agent helping you. I want each of you to take one of the shoulder straps and buckle it. All the buckles secure in the back-it makes it harder for the slave to undo them."
The young agents secured the straps, and the thick leather bit into his shoulders.
"Hey," Neal said, "watch the shirt."
"Careful," Feldman said, "you don't need to make it too tight. Just enough to be secure."
Next came the strap around his waist. Then, Feldman pulled the woven cotton crotch strap between Neal's legs and buckled it at the small of his back. There was a padded leather wrist cuff on either side of the waist strap, and Ben and Natalie efficiently put them on. Neal instinctively pumped his wrists so that the cuffs would be loose.
Finally, it seemed like the harnessing was finished. But Feldman didn't look satisfied yet. "Before you take the slave away, you should check that the straps aren't too tight."
He ran his hands over Neal's torso, slipping his fingers under the various straps to test their tightness. Neal's skin crawled. It'd been a while since he'd endured groping by a stranger.
"With a male slave," Feldman said, "you definitely want to check the tightness of the crotch strap. You don't want it to be too tight against the testicles."
Neal fought to stay still as Feldman pressed of his hand between Neal's groin and the cotton strap. The sensation of Feldman's knuckles brushing against his balls sent a shiver through Neal's back. Feldman pushed his hand between Neal's thighs, forcing Neal to spread his legs to accommodate him. He worked his way from the front of the groin back to Neal's ass.
Once Feldman was convinced that none of the straps were too tight, Ben and Natalie were allowed their own turns.
Neither showed any hesitation to check the straps around his torso, but both employed a lighter touch when it came to the crotch strap. Ben gave it a perfunctory check before backing away, and Natalie bit her lip as she put her hand between Neal's legs.
Neal was too humiliated to defend himself with witty remarks. To distract himself, he tried to loosen the cuffs around his wrists.
Finally, when all three agents were assured that the straps were secure but not constricting, Feldman let the junior agents return to their seats. Then, he hooked a leash onto the D ring on the front of the harness and led Neal back and forth across the front of the room.
"Go ahead, Neal," he said, "try to resist."
Neal had no interest in sacrificing any more dignity than necessary, so he barely dug his heels into the floor. Thankfully, this display satisfied Feldman. He gave the leash a couple more yanks and then unclipped it.
While Feldman continued to talk to the audience about slave restraint, Neal worked on freeing himself from the cuffs. It was difficult with his hands cuffed to his sides, but pumping his wrists had helped keep the cuffs loose, and he was able to catch the sides of the cuffs on the waist strap to hold them still while he tried to pull his wrists free.
Finally, he got the right cuff past his thumb, and freed his hand. He couldn't repress a smile, but it quickly vanished when he caught Peter staring at him, a horrified look on his face.
But it was too late to stop now. In another moment, he had his left hand free. Reaching behind his back, he started to work on the buckles for the waist and crotch straps.
After a minute, Feldman turned toward Neal, saying, "Let me just take this harness off...."
With a smile, Neal pulled the harness over his head and handed it to Feldman. Peter covered his face with his hand, and there was scattered laughter in the audience. Feldman's jaw dropped as he took the harness from Neal.
"Wow, okay. It looks like we have a Houdini on our hands, here." Feldman pasted a smile on his face and turned to the audience. "As you can see, you have to stay on your toes. Obviously, Neal rebelled just now by taking off his harness. But really, he hasn't been too bad, so if I was actually taking him into custody, I wouldn't discipline him much for that one infraction. I'd just give him a couple warning swats with my hand."
He set the harness aside and gripped Neal's shoulder, guiding him so that his back was to the audience. Neal braced himself for a hard slap on the ass. Feldman drew back his hand as though he meant to deliver a real spanking, but Neal was surprised when the blow itself contained no force. Feldman gave him a couple light taps. The gentleness somehow made it more intimate and humiliating.
"Most slaves will respond to a quick swat. Just make sure you aim for the lower buttocks and thighs. If you do need to discipline them more, you can use a standard-issue slave switch." He picked up the small black switch that was on the table, and gently swatted Neal's ass with it.
Neal couldn't see the audience, but he heard a male agent ask, "What if the slave still doesn't cooperate?"
"Great question. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often. But it's still something to be prepared for. Law enforcement agents are legally allowed to give a slave one to eight strikes on the buttocks with an open palm or an approved correctional device like the switch. You can also restrain the slave and lock them in a cage if you're having trouble controlling them. If you need further help, you can contact Slave Control. Officers who are trained and licensed to handle slaves are able to use greater disciplinary measures."
Neal had gotten a taste of Slave Control's brand of discipline. If he had to be spanked by an authority figure, he would take the FBI. Judging by how the junior agents had been watching him today, most of them had never even been in the same room with a slave before. If Neal actually found himself in any of their custody, it wouldn't have been hard to manipulate them and milk them for sympathy.
Diana was an exception. She was kind to Neal at work and showed no prejudice against slaves, but she was also no fool. Last week, Neal had tried to con her into believing Peter had given him permission to leave the office when he hadn't. She'd told Peter, and Neal's ass had paid the price later.
"Does anyone have any more questions at this point?" Feldman asked.
A hand went up in the third row. "Uh, yes. If you bring a slave in, do you have to search them?"
"Great question. You don't need to search slaves routinely, but if you think they might have any evidence or contraband on them, it's a good idea. Now, slaves don't have any Fourth Amendment rights, so you don't need probable cause or a warrant to search them. But if you're going to do a strip search or a cavity search, it's still a good idea to have another agent present to witness it."
Neal's heart started to pound. If Feldman tried to make him take off his clothes in front of all these people....
Feldman continued. "And there's no reason to make things harder on the slave than it has to be. Remember, slaves are usually witnesses and evidence. If you treat them kindly, they'll be more likely to help your case."
He showed no intention of demonstrating a full-body search. Doing so in front of an audience must have gone against the concept of treating slaves kindly. Neal started to relax.
Feldman went to the table and picked up what Neal recognized as a slave tag.
"When you bring the slave back here, the first thing you need to do is make up one of these tags. Fill it out with your name and badge number, and the slave's name and ID number. This helps establish the chain of custody, and makes sure the slave won't get lost. Attach the tag to the slave's collar."
Feldman secured the tag around the D-ring on Neal's collar. Neal bristled at having his collar tugged on, but tried not to show his discomfort.
Feldman looked at his watch. "We're running low on time, so I want to talk about caging protocols." He gestured toward the cage that was off to the side. Neal had almost forgotten about it. "The slave will probably have to do some waiting. You might not get to question them right away, and after you're done with them, you'll have to put them somewhere until Slave Control can pick them up. Luckily, we have a slave storage room next to the holding cells."
He took Neal by the arm and led him over to the cage.
"First, we'll have Neal take off his shoes and belt. This is mostly to keep him comfortable, but there can also be an issue of slaves slipping belts and shoelaces through the bars to try to grab stuff."
Neal realized he was supposed to actually take his shoes and belt off, so he did so, setting his belt on the table and sliding his shoes underneath.
"Now, we'll instruct him to get on his hands and knees and crawl into the cage."
Neal sank down. The rough carpet scratched his palms. He crawled into the cage, which had a solid metal bottom. As soon as he was fully inside, Feldman shut the door. Neal noted that he didn't lock it.
"Here's the important part: protocol says that the cage should be large enough for the slave to sit upright with their legs fully extended. So we're going to ask Neal to do that for us now, so we can see if the cage is large enough."
The cage was an oblong rectangle, and Neal sat with his back against the side opposite the door. He stretched his legs, and his toes barely grazed the door. He lifted his head a little, and it brushed against the top. But when he sat naturally, the claustrophobia was purely psychological. He hated the thought of being locked in there, but he was able to sit up straight and stretch his legs.
"It looks close," Feldman said, "but it's good enough. He should be able to sit in there comfortably."
Feldman turned to the audience, leaving Neal in the cage. He started to take questions, and Neal realized that the presentation was nearly over. While Feldman wasn't looking, Neal got on his hands and knees and, careful not to rattle the cage, reached through the bars to open the door.
As he crawled out, he looked up and saw Peter, who was still standing against the wall by the door. Peter's jaw tightened and he shook his head. Neal understood that Peter was warning him to stay in the cage until given permission to come out. But if Feldman had wanted him to stay, he should have secured the door.
Besides, it was too late now. He was already halfway out of the cage. He climbed out and started to put his shoes back on.
After a minute, Feldman looked over his shoulder and did a double take when he saw Neal out of the cage and putting his belt back on. With a small chuckle he said, "That's why we usually lock cages."
At five o'clock, the audience started to get antsy. After taking a couple more questions, Feldman dismissed them. As the young agents filtered out the room, Peter walked over.
"Hey," Feldman said, "thanks again for loaning me Neal. It was a huge help."
"Don't mention it. I just hope Neal didn't push it too much."
Feldman laughed. "Not at all. It's good to have a little nonviolent resistance at things like this. It shows the agents what they're in for."
Neal plastered his most charming smile across his face.
"I'll put in the paperwork tomorrow morning," Feldman said.
Neal didn't have permission to speak, but after all the groping he'd endured during the harnessing, he felt entitled to some reassurance. "So," he said, "this time off for good behavior thing-how certain is it?"
"Oh, it'll go through," Feldman said breezily. "We have some discretion for taking time off slaves' sentences to encourage cooperation, and no one will question two days being taken off." Turning to Peter, he said, "If I can get the time and funding, I'd like to give a workshop. I was thinking of getting a bunch of slaves so all the agents can get a chance for hands-on experience. Do you think you could spare Neal again?"
"I'm sure it'd be fine. Just keep me updated."
Neal didn't know what to make of the idea. "Hands-on" sounded ominous, especially after his encounter with Ben and Natalie.
Feldman removed the slave tag from Neal's collar, and then Peter said goodbye to his friend.
As Neal and Peter rode back upstairs in the elevator, Neal asked, "Do I have to do the workshop?"
"What's the matter? You seemed to be enjoying yourself when you broke out of that harness."
"Come on-you didn't force me to do this one."
"All right. If you don't want to do the workshop, I won't make you. But if you do it, Rob might be able to get a couple more days taken off...."
"Yeah, speaking of that, if he can have time taken off my sentence for helping with his work, why haven't I had time taken off for all the work I've done for you?"
"Because you don't get rewarded like that for doing routine work for your master. You got time off today because you helped train probies. Besides, if I kept requesting time off your sentence for helping out around the office, they'd get suspicious and start denying it pretty quickly."
Neal leaned against the side of the elevator. He didn't try to keep the sulky expression off his face.
Peter reached out and rubbed his shoulder. "Speaking of probies, they weren't too rough with you when they put the harness on, were they?"
"I think Natalie left bruises on my arm."
"Your discomfort served a noble purpose."
Neal supposed so. Though, he still felt it was easier to work with ignorant agents than ones who knew what they were doing. There was something ominous about an agent who knew how to put on a slave harness.
But deep down, he knew he would almost certainly do the workshop. Peter would want him to, and Neal would be stupid not to take advantage of that.
He remembered the promised dinner out. He was sure Peter would place heavy restrictions on his choice of restaurant. If he agreed to the workshop, maybe he could convince Peter to take him to a sushi place.
This entry was originally posted at http://citrinesunset.dreamwidth.org/123738.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Fandom: White Collar
Characters/Pairing: Neal, Peter, OCs
Rating: Mature
Contains: Institutional slavery, public humiliation, restraints, non-consensual touching.
Word count: 4800
Summary: Peter agrees to loan out his slave for a presentation on proper slave handling for FBI agents.
Notes: This is set in The Devil You Know series, but you don't really have to have read the other fics to understand this one.
This was also written for the Situational Humiliation square on my Kink Bingo card from last year. I wasn't very good at getting stuff done for that card, but I wanted to complete at least one thing for it before moving on to this years' bingo cards. And the Situational Humiliation was the square I really wanted to fill.
"How would you like to do the Bureau a favor?"
Neal looked up from his work. His eyes were blurry from going through the gigantic stack of mortgage fraud cases that was piled on the boardroom table.
"What type of favor?"
Peter turned to the glass wall and pointed. "See that man?"
Neal craned his neck. There was an unfamiliar man down in the bullpen, talking to Jones.
"That's Special Agent Robert Feldman," Peter said. "He's a friend of mine."
"Okay...."
"He's certified to handle and discipline slaves. He's doing a presentation today for some probies and junior agents on how to take slaves into custody. He usually uses his own slave as an example, but the slave wasn't feeling well this morning. Rob was going to requisition a state-owned slave instead, but he wanted to see if I'd be willing to loan you out."
Neal raised his eyebrows. "Loan me out? Seriously? I hope you told him no."
"Come on, Neal. It's not like that. You'd be helping agents learn how to handle slaves safely and humanely. And I'll be there."
"Do I have a choice in this?"
"Sure. If you really don't want to do it, I'll tell Rob."
Peter's tone was deceptively simple, and Neal was suspicious.
"So there's no consequence for refusing?"
"No...but if you cooperate, you'll be rewarded."
Neal smiled. That was a little more like it. "I could use some new clothes...."
"How about I do you one better? If you help Rob out, he and I will submit the paperwork to get a little time taken off your sentence."
Neal sat up, barely able to contain his surprise. "How much time?" He started thinking about what he'd be willing to do in exchange for a month or two taken off his sentence.
"We're thinking a couple days."
Neal collapsed back in his chair, deflated. "A couple days. Seriously? That's supposed to be a reward?"
"Getting a couple days taken off in exchange for an hour of work seems more than fair to me."
Loath as Neal was to admit it, Peter did have a point. Still, would he even notice a difference of two days after spending four years as a slave? The deal needed to be sweetened.
"Okay. I'll take the two days. But I also want to go out to dinner sometime this weekend. At a restaurant of my choice."
Peter clenched his jaw and grumbled under his breath. "You're getting greedy, you know that? Fine, we'll go out to dinner. But I have to approve your choice."
Neal grinned. "Deal. Tell Agent Feldman I'll be happy to help out."
A few hours later, Peter accompanied Neal downstairs. The presentation was being given in the building, so they didn't have far to travel.
Neal was beginning to have some doubts. As they rode down the elevator, he said, "What's going to happen during this presentation, exactly?"
Peter looked at him and smirked. "Shouldn't you have asked this before agreeing to participate?"
Neal narrowed his eyes. "Is it that bad?"
"No, not at all. Trust me. Rob is going to use you to show various ways of controlling and handling a slave. But he'll be gentle with you. It's just a demonstration."
The room where the presentation was being given was much larger than Neal had expected, and it was half-filled with rows of chairs. Neal had no idea there were so many junior agents in the building.
Aside from a few agents, the room was still empty. Agent Feldman was at the front of the room, going through a large duffel bag on a folding table. Feldman was about Peter's age, but he already had touches of grey on his temples. But he was slim and appeared fit. Neal could imagine him jogging in Central Park on the weekend.
Feldman smiled when he saw Peter. "Hey," he said, "thanks for bringing him."
"No problem. Neal was happy to help you out."
Turning to Neal, Feldman said, "Thanks for being such a good sport. The presentation's only forty-five minutes, and you won't need to do much. If we had more time, I'd run you through it. But I don't think you'll have trouble following along."
Feldman went back to the duffel bag, and Neal took look at what he was unloading from it. He pulled out two thick leather chest harnesses and a black plastic switch like the ones the guards at the slave processing center used. Beside the table was a large metal cage.
"Are you planning on using this stuff on me?" Neal asked.
Feldman looked up. Thankfully, he didn't appear to mind being addressed by a slave. "Just for demonstrative purposes." He smiled. "Don't worry-discomfort will be kept to a minimum."
Even a minimum of discomfort was too much. But it was too late to pull out now. If he did, it would embarrass Peter in front of his friend and the assembled agents. And Neal didn't want to appear weak or intimidated.
More and more agents filtered into the room. The chairs filled up until there was barely an empty space to be seen. Neal recognized a few of the agents. He saw Peter's probie, Diana, in the third row.
Promptly at four o'clock, Feldman switched on the microphone clipped to his lapel, faced the room, and said, "Good afternoon. I'm Rob Feldman, and as I'm sure you all know, this is an introduction to proper slave handling. I'm going to give you a brief overview of what to do if you ever have to take a slave into custody. I don't expect you guys to become experts-today is just an introduction. Quantico doesn't cover slave handling much, so it's normal for agents to need some time to get comfortable. Today is for covering the basics and answering any questions you have.
"Before we start, let me ask: have any of you had to help take a slave into custody before?"
Only two hands went up. Feldman gestured to one of the agents. "Would you like to say anything about it?"
The young man said, "There's not a lot to tell. We arrested a suspect who owned a slave, so we brought the slave in as a potential witness."
The second agent said, "I helped arrest someone for check fraud, and we realized the guy's slave was the one doing a lot of the actual work. The slave had been convicted of washing checks, so he had the skills to do it."
"Okay," Feldman said, "these are two great examples. Most of time when you take a slave into custody, it'll be something like that. Either you want to question the slave because it might be able to provide evidence, or you believe the slave was being used to commit a crime. The most important thing to remember is that you're not making an arrest. Yes, slaves can be arrested, but it's unlikely that you'll have to do that. Even in something like the check fraud case we just heard about, the slave usually doesn't have any criminal liability for something they're made to do."
A hand shot up in the audience, and Feldman gestured for the agent to speak.
"What if the slave isn't being forced to commit the crime?" she asked. "What if the slave is a willing accomplice, or the owner doesn't know what the slave is doing?"
"Good question. In your first example, the slave still might not be liable. Slaves are criminals. A lot of them will give in to temptation if they're given the opportunity. It's the owner's responsibility not to give them one."
Neal bristled at that, but couldn't be too offended. He couldn't deny that he wouldn't jump at a chance to create forgeries again.
"As for your second example," Feldman continued, "it's possible. But most slaves aren't crafty enough to commit federal crimes behind their owners' backs. If you happen to find one that is, you can arrest them like you would a free person.
"Now, let's talk a little bit about how to identify a slave. I know you're probably all thinking that this is obvious, right?" Feldman walked over to Neal and stuck a finger under his collar, tugging on it. "Slave collars are usually easy to spot. But what if Neal here was wearing a scarf or something, and we couldn't see his neck?"
A hand shot up in the second row, and, when called upon, the male agent said, "You could ask him to uncover his neck."
Feldman nodded. He released Neal's collar, and Neal fought the urge to rub his neck.
"That's right. We can do that. However, there is a potential problem. Can anyone tell me what it is?"
Feldman scanned the room, but for a moment, no one responded to his question. Finally, a hand went up. Neal realized it was Diana.
"A freeperson can deny the request unless there's probable cause."
Feldman nodded. "Very good. That's correct. Realistically, any time you're at a crime scene, you'll likely have probable cause to do a basic search of people on the premises. But while slaves are legally required to identify themselves, free people don't always have to prove they're free. It's a bit of a contradiction, I know, but that's the law."
Feldman stepped over to the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Neal saw him pick up a small handheld scanner.
"However, there's no restriction on using a scanner. This can pick up signals both from chips in collars and from chips implanted under the slave's skin."
He pointed the scanner at Neal and pressed a button. It beeped.
"When you enter a crime scene, it's a good idea to do a quick scan so you can find out immediately if there are any slaves on the premises." He set the scanner back down on the table, and then turned back to the audience. "Now, we've identified the slave and need to take him into custody. What's the next step? Come on-I'd like to hear your thoughts."
"Restrain him," someone in the audience said.
"But if he doesn't put up a fight," someone else said, "he doesn't need to be restrained, right? He's a slave."
"You're both Correct," Feldman said. "This is something you have some leeway on. Remember-this isn't like arresting a suspect. We don't need to cuff Neal, but we do need to have him on a leash. Most slaves are trained to accept direction from free people, so you don't get much resistance. All you need to do is attach a leash to the slave's collar and they'll follow you. However, if you do get a slave that wants to put up a fight, the important thing is not to lead them by the collar. It can hurt its neck. If the slave struggles, get another agent to help you restrain it, and fit it with a slave harness."
Feldman walked around the table and lifted up one of the harnesses. "This is a simple chest harness. Fully adjustable, and very easy to put on the slave. It's also one-size-fits-all." He set it down and picked up the second one, which had even more straps. "This one is similar, but it has a crotch strap. Which one would you choose, and why?"
Several hands went up, and Feldman called on a few of them. One agent said, "The one with the crotch strap, because he won't be able to pull it off over his head."
Neal took that as a challenge. He bet he could get out of that harness in a matter of minutes. He was just glad that neither of the harnesses Feldman had on display included a cock ring or a butt plug holder like the one Peter used on him at home occasionally.
After letting a few more agents speak, Feldman said, "Do I have any volunteers to help me put the harness on Neal?"
Slowly, hands started to rise. The agents looked nervously eager to try their hands at restraining a slave. Feldman selected a couple agents, a young man and woman who couldn't be any older than Neal. When asked their names, they introduced themselves and Ben and Natalie. Ben's face showed rapt attention to the proceeding. He also looked more than a little nervous. Natalie was impassive.
Neal was very conscious that the audience had their eyes glued on him right now, and he knew that in a matter of moments, he would have some hands on him, too. He wanted to look at his feet and draw into himself, but forced himself to stand tall and keep a small smile on his face. He had no choice in being a slave, but that didn't mean he had to sacrifice all his dignity. Not visibly, at least.
"Okay," Feldman said, rubbing his hands together. "We're going to pretend Neal is an uncooperative slave who needs to be harnessed. I want you two to hold him firmly, but not too hard. I'll show you how to hold him and secure the straps. Neal, you can give a little bit of resistance."
Neal wasn't one for overt resistance, but he appreciated what he took as carte blanche permission to give Ben and Natalie a hard time.
With Feldman guiding them, Ben took one of Neal's arms and Natalie took the other. Natalie dug her fingers into his skin, but Ben's grip was looser, and Neal considered pulling his arm free. But demonstration or not, he didn't want to give them an excuse to hold him more tightly. He tensed his muscles and pulled at their grip, but not hard enough to break away. He took a peek across the room and saw Peter standing by the door, watching intently with his hands on his hips.
Feldman approached Neal from the front, holding the more secure of the two harnesses. He'd unbuckled all the straps.
"It's tricky to put this on alone," he said, "so it helps to have at least one other agent helping you. I want each of you to take one of the shoulder straps and buckle it. All the buckles secure in the back-it makes it harder for the slave to undo them."
The young agents secured the straps, and the thick leather bit into his shoulders.
"Hey," Neal said, "watch the shirt."
"Careful," Feldman said, "you don't need to make it too tight. Just enough to be secure."
Next came the strap around his waist. Then, Feldman pulled the woven cotton crotch strap between Neal's legs and buckled it at the small of his back. There was a padded leather wrist cuff on either side of the waist strap, and Ben and Natalie efficiently put them on. Neal instinctively pumped his wrists so that the cuffs would be loose.
Finally, it seemed like the harnessing was finished. But Feldman didn't look satisfied yet. "Before you take the slave away, you should check that the straps aren't too tight."
He ran his hands over Neal's torso, slipping his fingers under the various straps to test their tightness. Neal's skin crawled. It'd been a while since he'd endured groping by a stranger.
"With a male slave," Feldman said, "you definitely want to check the tightness of the crotch strap. You don't want it to be too tight against the testicles."
Neal fought to stay still as Feldman pressed of his hand between Neal's groin and the cotton strap. The sensation of Feldman's knuckles brushing against his balls sent a shiver through Neal's back. Feldman pushed his hand between Neal's thighs, forcing Neal to spread his legs to accommodate him. He worked his way from the front of the groin back to Neal's ass.
Once Feldman was convinced that none of the straps were too tight, Ben and Natalie were allowed their own turns.
Neither showed any hesitation to check the straps around his torso, but both employed a lighter touch when it came to the crotch strap. Ben gave it a perfunctory check before backing away, and Natalie bit her lip as she put her hand between Neal's legs.
Neal was too humiliated to defend himself with witty remarks. To distract himself, he tried to loosen the cuffs around his wrists.
Finally, when all three agents were assured that the straps were secure but not constricting, Feldman let the junior agents return to their seats. Then, he hooked a leash onto the D ring on the front of the harness and led Neal back and forth across the front of the room.
"Go ahead, Neal," he said, "try to resist."
Neal had no interest in sacrificing any more dignity than necessary, so he barely dug his heels into the floor. Thankfully, this display satisfied Feldman. He gave the leash a couple more yanks and then unclipped it.
While Feldman continued to talk to the audience about slave restraint, Neal worked on freeing himself from the cuffs. It was difficult with his hands cuffed to his sides, but pumping his wrists had helped keep the cuffs loose, and he was able to catch the sides of the cuffs on the waist strap to hold them still while he tried to pull his wrists free.
Finally, he got the right cuff past his thumb, and freed his hand. He couldn't repress a smile, but it quickly vanished when he caught Peter staring at him, a horrified look on his face.
But it was too late to stop now. In another moment, he had his left hand free. Reaching behind his back, he started to work on the buckles for the waist and crotch straps.
After a minute, Feldman turned toward Neal, saying, "Let me just take this harness off...."
With a smile, Neal pulled the harness over his head and handed it to Feldman. Peter covered his face with his hand, and there was scattered laughter in the audience. Feldman's jaw dropped as he took the harness from Neal.
"Wow, okay. It looks like we have a Houdini on our hands, here." Feldman pasted a smile on his face and turned to the audience. "As you can see, you have to stay on your toes. Obviously, Neal rebelled just now by taking off his harness. But really, he hasn't been too bad, so if I was actually taking him into custody, I wouldn't discipline him much for that one infraction. I'd just give him a couple warning swats with my hand."
He set the harness aside and gripped Neal's shoulder, guiding him so that his back was to the audience. Neal braced himself for a hard slap on the ass. Feldman drew back his hand as though he meant to deliver a real spanking, but Neal was surprised when the blow itself contained no force. Feldman gave him a couple light taps. The gentleness somehow made it more intimate and humiliating.
"Most slaves will respond to a quick swat. Just make sure you aim for the lower buttocks and thighs. If you do need to discipline them more, you can use a standard-issue slave switch." He picked up the small black switch that was on the table, and gently swatted Neal's ass with it.
Neal couldn't see the audience, but he heard a male agent ask, "What if the slave still doesn't cooperate?"
"Great question. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often. But it's still something to be prepared for. Law enforcement agents are legally allowed to give a slave one to eight strikes on the buttocks with an open palm or an approved correctional device like the switch. You can also restrain the slave and lock them in a cage if you're having trouble controlling them. If you need further help, you can contact Slave Control. Officers who are trained and licensed to handle slaves are able to use greater disciplinary measures."
Neal had gotten a taste of Slave Control's brand of discipline. If he had to be spanked by an authority figure, he would take the FBI. Judging by how the junior agents had been watching him today, most of them had never even been in the same room with a slave before. If Neal actually found himself in any of their custody, it wouldn't have been hard to manipulate them and milk them for sympathy.
Diana was an exception. She was kind to Neal at work and showed no prejudice against slaves, but she was also no fool. Last week, Neal had tried to con her into believing Peter had given him permission to leave the office when he hadn't. She'd told Peter, and Neal's ass had paid the price later.
"Does anyone have any more questions at this point?" Feldman asked.
A hand went up in the third row. "Uh, yes. If you bring a slave in, do you have to search them?"
"Great question. You don't need to search slaves routinely, but if you think they might have any evidence or contraband on them, it's a good idea. Now, slaves don't have any Fourth Amendment rights, so you don't need probable cause or a warrant to search them. But if you're going to do a strip search or a cavity search, it's still a good idea to have another agent present to witness it."
Neal's heart started to pound. If Feldman tried to make him take off his clothes in front of all these people....
Feldman continued. "And there's no reason to make things harder on the slave than it has to be. Remember, slaves are usually witnesses and evidence. If you treat them kindly, they'll be more likely to help your case."
He showed no intention of demonstrating a full-body search. Doing so in front of an audience must have gone against the concept of treating slaves kindly. Neal started to relax.
Feldman went to the table and picked up what Neal recognized as a slave tag.
"When you bring the slave back here, the first thing you need to do is make up one of these tags. Fill it out with your name and badge number, and the slave's name and ID number. This helps establish the chain of custody, and makes sure the slave won't get lost. Attach the tag to the slave's collar."
Feldman secured the tag around the D-ring on Neal's collar. Neal bristled at having his collar tugged on, but tried not to show his discomfort.
Feldman looked at his watch. "We're running low on time, so I want to talk about caging protocols." He gestured toward the cage that was off to the side. Neal had almost forgotten about it. "The slave will probably have to do some waiting. You might not get to question them right away, and after you're done with them, you'll have to put them somewhere until Slave Control can pick them up. Luckily, we have a slave storage room next to the holding cells."
He took Neal by the arm and led him over to the cage.
"First, we'll have Neal take off his shoes and belt. This is mostly to keep him comfortable, but there can also be an issue of slaves slipping belts and shoelaces through the bars to try to grab stuff."
Neal realized he was supposed to actually take his shoes and belt off, so he did so, setting his belt on the table and sliding his shoes underneath.
"Now, we'll instruct him to get on his hands and knees and crawl into the cage."
Neal sank down. The rough carpet scratched his palms. He crawled into the cage, which had a solid metal bottom. As soon as he was fully inside, Feldman shut the door. Neal noted that he didn't lock it.
"Here's the important part: protocol says that the cage should be large enough for the slave to sit upright with their legs fully extended. So we're going to ask Neal to do that for us now, so we can see if the cage is large enough."
The cage was an oblong rectangle, and Neal sat with his back against the side opposite the door. He stretched his legs, and his toes barely grazed the door. He lifted his head a little, and it brushed against the top. But when he sat naturally, the claustrophobia was purely psychological. He hated the thought of being locked in there, but he was able to sit up straight and stretch his legs.
"It looks close," Feldman said, "but it's good enough. He should be able to sit in there comfortably."
Feldman turned to the audience, leaving Neal in the cage. He started to take questions, and Neal realized that the presentation was nearly over. While Feldman wasn't looking, Neal got on his hands and knees and, careful not to rattle the cage, reached through the bars to open the door.
As he crawled out, he looked up and saw Peter, who was still standing against the wall by the door. Peter's jaw tightened and he shook his head. Neal understood that Peter was warning him to stay in the cage until given permission to come out. But if Feldman had wanted him to stay, he should have secured the door.
Besides, it was too late now. He was already halfway out of the cage. He climbed out and started to put his shoes back on.
After a minute, Feldman looked over his shoulder and did a double take when he saw Neal out of the cage and putting his belt back on. With a small chuckle he said, "That's why we usually lock cages."
At five o'clock, the audience started to get antsy. After taking a couple more questions, Feldman dismissed them. As the young agents filtered out the room, Peter walked over.
"Hey," Feldman said, "thanks again for loaning me Neal. It was a huge help."
"Don't mention it. I just hope Neal didn't push it too much."
Feldman laughed. "Not at all. It's good to have a little nonviolent resistance at things like this. It shows the agents what they're in for."
Neal plastered his most charming smile across his face.
"I'll put in the paperwork tomorrow morning," Feldman said.
Neal didn't have permission to speak, but after all the groping he'd endured during the harnessing, he felt entitled to some reassurance. "So," he said, "this time off for good behavior thing-how certain is it?"
"Oh, it'll go through," Feldman said breezily. "We have some discretion for taking time off slaves' sentences to encourage cooperation, and no one will question two days being taken off." Turning to Peter, he said, "If I can get the time and funding, I'd like to give a workshop. I was thinking of getting a bunch of slaves so all the agents can get a chance for hands-on experience. Do you think you could spare Neal again?"
"I'm sure it'd be fine. Just keep me updated."
Neal didn't know what to make of the idea. "Hands-on" sounded ominous, especially after his encounter with Ben and Natalie.
Feldman removed the slave tag from Neal's collar, and then Peter said goodbye to his friend.
As Neal and Peter rode back upstairs in the elevator, Neal asked, "Do I have to do the workshop?"
"What's the matter? You seemed to be enjoying yourself when you broke out of that harness."
"Come on-you didn't force me to do this one."
"All right. If you don't want to do the workshop, I won't make you. But if you do it, Rob might be able to get a couple more days taken off...."
"Yeah, speaking of that, if he can have time taken off my sentence for helping with his work, why haven't I had time taken off for all the work I've done for you?"
"Because you don't get rewarded like that for doing routine work for your master. You got time off today because you helped train probies. Besides, if I kept requesting time off your sentence for helping out around the office, they'd get suspicious and start denying it pretty quickly."
Neal leaned against the side of the elevator. He didn't try to keep the sulky expression off his face.
Peter reached out and rubbed his shoulder. "Speaking of probies, they weren't too rough with you when they put the harness on, were they?"
"I think Natalie left bruises on my arm."
"Your discomfort served a noble purpose."
Neal supposed so. Though, he still felt it was easier to work with ignorant agents than ones who knew what they were doing. There was something ominous about an agent who knew how to put on a slave harness.
But deep down, he knew he would almost certainly do the workshop. Peter would want him to, and Neal would be stupid not to take advantage of that.
He remembered the promised dinner out. He was sure Peter would place heavy restrictions on his choice of restaurant. If he agreed to the workshop, maybe he could convince Peter to take him to a sushi place.
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