The Rules of Love According to Andreas Capellanus: 4 - Love is always growing or diminishing
Fandom Young Avengers
Warnings: Violence
Marvel owns the world
Word count 2285
Betaed by jazzypom (Thank you SO much for all the time you spent working on this with me!)
Summary: What is the cost of love?
Author's note's: semi-related to a previous fic Stages of Courtly Love, specifically part 2.
Love is always growing or diminishing
Eli stirred, finding himself in complete darkness, bound and gagged in a chair. He scanned the area around him looking for a speck of light, listening for a note of sound, for a clue of where he was and how long he’d been there. All he had to go on was the smell of recycled AC air, the stiffness of his muscles, and the effects of withdrawal from of the lack of MGH in his veins. He tested the cords around his arms; the body warmed plastic had no give, as he tried to recall where and how he was captured. All he remembered was strong pressure around his neck. Who the hell would want to kidnap me?! It was the middle of the day and I wasn’t in costume. He thought it might be the big bad Iron Lad assembled the team for, or the MGH dealers they had been busting in Brooklyn for the past few months. He attempted to shout through his gag, to get a response from beyond the darkness.
A light turned on above him, which made the surrounding darkness even darker by comparison. Someone was waiting for him in the darkness. Someone was watching for him to wake up. His muscles tensed up when he heard the click of heels and a strange rolling sound. He got ready as he could be to meet whoever was stupid enough to have kidnapped him, and blinked in surprise as the villain appeared. A teenage girl with red hair in a sharp pixie haircut stepped into the light, dressed in an outfit that probably cost more than the total of his year’s paychecks. She was carrying a brief case, rolled a chair in front of him with her other hand, and gently sat down.
“I know who you are; I know the whole team and you look to be the best out of the worst.” She gave a Stepford wife smile as she leaned back into her chair, crossed her legs at the ankles and folded her hands in her lap.
“I’ve been watching you all for several weeks now, ever since he started to disappear to be with you guys. I needed to know who he was with; if he was safe.” She opened up her brief case to pull out some papers and then struck him across the cheek with them. His eyes widened as the pain stung his cheek
“He’s not. Look at these. Look at them!” She yanked him by the chin, her french manicured nails cut into his skin with blood rising to the surface, and forced his face down to look at the pictures in her shaking hand: Asgardian falling from the sky into a lake, Asgardian being shot at by MGH dealers, Asgardian running away from police attack dogs, Asgardian getting thrown into a wall. She slapped him across the other cheek with the pictures, blood droplets went flying into the darkness, before she started to speak with a calm voice, “He is not safe at all, but that’s going to change because you’re going to look after him.” Eli noticed a few track marks on her arm as she raised a hand to fix her hair and smile back into place. Great, I’m tied up and dealing with an MGH user who I may or may not have been stealing supplies from. When I get out of this I’m going to add ‘how to escape psychos’ to the training list.
Stepford placed the photos back into her brief case and pulled out a new set; these were of the other members of the team: Iron Lad flying over some building and shooting lasers, Patriot throwing stars at store robbers, and Hulking using a downed street light as a long club on a get-away car.
“Iron Lad may be the leader but he doesn’t have what it takes to watch over the team. Personally I don’t think any of you have what it takes to be super heroes, none of you seem to have a clue about what you’re doing, but you at least look like you’ll do what it takes to get the job done and that’s who I need to look after him.” She put the photos away and leaned back in her chair.
“I’m going to tell you a story so you know how serious I’m taking this whole thing. Okay?” She licked her pink tinted lips and leaned forward into Eli’s personal space, “I love Billy Kaplan.” His eyes shot daggers at her as he tried to remember if he’d been introduced to her before, to figure out how she was able to kidnap him in the middle of the day and how much did she know. The only girls that hang around Billy he can think of who would have the money to pull this off would be the socialite senior ranked girl scouts. Why can’t I remember any of their names?
“I’ve loved him since we were three and the happiest when we were going out; I thought that happily-ever-afters really did come true. And the day he told me that he was gay was the worst day in my life.” She slammed both of her hands onto his shoulders and as soon as she had come close enough he head-butted her. Without a sound she loosened her hands around his neck as she rolled away in her chair and continued her story in a calm voice with blood oozing down her forehead. Escape plan A to overpower the psycho has failed. He realized that she probably shot up before she kidnapped him and now he had a headache on top of being tied up and powerless.
“But I still love him, and he’s still the most important man in my life. And I will do every thing in my power to protect him.” She rolled right back in front of him just out of his reach. Stepford glared at him, before she smiled and wrapped her hands around his neck. Eli’s hands clenched the arms of his chair; he had never wanted to punch a fake smile off someone’s face so much.
“The first boy he ever dated, Edward Dasher, used him. He played his heart strings like a violin and then tossed him to the sharks. He’s the reason Billy gets picked on at school for being gay, and the reason Billy found out he’s a mutant and why he is now on your godforsaken team.” He kept his head high as he listened to her tripe. Why the hell did she kidnap me if she’s angry at Dasher? Why the hell don’t I carry shooting stars with me at all times? I could have cut through these cords and been out of here in less than a minute.
Stepford hands tightened around his neck as she leans even closer to his face, blood dripped down her check and onto his pants. He looked into her eyes and saw a raging, dull blue. Her breath caressed his lips and smelled of Starbucks coffee as she whispered, “Do you know what I did to that little bastard who hurt my best friend? I screwed with his drug test and got him kicked off the baseball team. Then I got his old man fired from his job by starting a group law suit against the company with the only common factor being that the clients were serviced by him. After that I had someone take a closer look at their taxes, and next thing you know their home was foreclosed.”
She loosened her hands around his neck and gently rubbed at the bruises with a smug smile in place, “It took awhile, but I made sure that prick paid for what he did.” Eli wrenched his body away from her as much as he could while he tried to get his breath back. I can’t wait to do the same.
She leaned back out of his personal space, sat back into her chair, and wiped away the blood from her face with a silk handkerchief from her brief case. She sighed as twisted her chair back and forth. Eli watched her as most of the control she had at the beginning seemed to be gone; he wasn’t sure if that’s to his advantage or disadvantage yet. “Think about what I’ll do to you, about how much you can lose.” She brought her brief case up into her lap and pulled out a single picture of Eli shooting MGH into his arm in a dirty alleyway with a whorehouse across the street in the background. “Think about what will happen if the team or your school or your family finds out what you’ve done in the name of being a hero.” He struggled at the bonds trying to get out of the chair, the cords rubbed his skin raw, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to hurt her like she was hurting him.
Stepford smiled at him, “Do you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for you?” She ripped up the picture several times and tossed the pieces into his face, “Don’t worry, that’s only what will happen if you fail. But you and I have a vested interest in you succeeding as a hero and a teammate to my best friend. So!”
She clapped her hands in front of herself before she reached into her brief case and pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with MGH pills. He stopped struggling. “I’ll give this to you, as much as you want as long as you keep him safe. Have we got a deal, hero?” She reached over and pulled down the gag from out of his mouth.
He stared at her for a minute licking his lips, sizing her up. “How-” he coughs and starts again, “How do I know you won’t just screw me over later?” She pulled out a water bottle from a pocket in her brief case, twisted open the top, placed in a bendy straw and held it in front of his mouth. She held it there for a minute before Eli gave in and took a few long, slow gulps.
“If you keep him safe I’ll keep your secrets safe. It’s a fair trade.” She put the water away, got up, walked behind his chair and started to undo the knots, “Like I said before, you’re the best of the worst. Iron Lad is looking towards the future and his goals for the team that he doesn’t see what’s going on in the present. And the other one is a bit shifty in his personal reasons for being a hero. I don’t think he has what it takes to be a hero, long term.” She finished untying the knots and he shoved the chair into her as he stood to face her.
“Billy is a bit naïve, but he’s more loyal than a dog and as stubborn as a badger. Once he’s in your corner he’ll follow you to hell, if for no other reason than to make sure you’re not alone when you face your demons.”
He rubbed his wrists as she walked back to stand behind her own chair, “Speaking from personal experience?”
She smiled as she tossed the promised drugs at him, “He always comes through for me. Take this, for when you need to reach me.” She flicked at him a business card with the name Ariel Hunt in red lettering with her numbers on the back and then walked into the darkness. He watched her every move while he could. The lights came on and he saw that they were in a conference room. “There’s a water fountain down the left side of the hall near the bathrooms and across lobby are the elevators for when you want to leave.” And then she walked towards the door, her eyes never leaving him.
As her hand touched the door handle he asks, “How did you find me?”
“You shouldn’t go after the same dealers so much as to create a pattern, hero. And if I can figure it out, you can be sure as hell the guy you’re stealing from can too.”
Ariel stood tall and waited in front of the door with a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised. Eli had finally been freed, and even with the MGH that flowed through her veins she didn’t know how to fight, it would be so damn easy for him to just punch her into a wall. But he wouldn’t, and they both knew it. He needed her to keep quiet; he needed her steady supply of drugs, and he hated her for it. His jaw clenched as he nodded his head in consent.
“As a show of goodwill, I’ll take care of that little problem for you. Best to stay away from that part of town to be on the safe side. I can get the drug lord not to actively go after you, but if you show up in his territory again….”
Eli nodded his understanding and watched as Ariel waltzed out the door with her Stepford smile in place. He waited a minute to collect himself before he left the room and then the building. As he walked away, he read a sign that proclaimed: “These are the offices of Hunt, Kraynmore, and Presitson.” Billy’s got some friends in high places; he tightens his hold of the bag in his pocket. It’s frightening how bad a person can be and still be on the right side of the law. And it’s shameful how trying to do good put him on the wrong side of it.
Warnings: Violence
Marvel owns the world
Word count 2285
Betaed by jazzypom (Thank you SO much for all the time you spent working on this with me!)
Summary: What is the cost of love?
Author's note's: semi-related to a previous fic Stages of Courtly Love, specifically part 2.
Love is always growing or diminishing
Eli stirred, finding himself in complete darkness, bound and gagged in a chair. He scanned the area around him looking for a speck of light, listening for a note of sound, for a clue of where he was and how long he’d been there. All he had to go on was the smell of recycled AC air, the stiffness of his muscles, and the effects of withdrawal from of the lack of MGH in his veins. He tested the cords around his arms; the body warmed plastic had no give, as he tried to recall where and how he was captured. All he remembered was strong pressure around his neck. Who the hell would want to kidnap me?! It was the middle of the day and I wasn’t in costume. He thought it might be the big bad Iron Lad assembled the team for, or the MGH dealers they had been busting in Brooklyn for the past few months. He attempted to shout through his gag, to get a response from beyond the darkness.
A light turned on above him, which made the surrounding darkness even darker by comparison. Someone was waiting for him in the darkness. Someone was watching for him to wake up. His muscles tensed up when he heard the click of heels and a strange rolling sound. He got ready as he could be to meet whoever was stupid enough to have kidnapped him, and blinked in surprise as the villain appeared. A teenage girl with red hair in a sharp pixie haircut stepped into the light, dressed in an outfit that probably cost more than the total of his year’s paychecks. She was carrying a brief case, rolled a chair in front of him with her other hand, and gently sat down.
“I know who you are; I know the whole team and you look to be the best out of the worst.” She gave a Stepford wife smile as she leaned back into her chair, crossed her legs at the ankles and folded her hands in her lap.
“I’ve been watching you all for several weeks now, ever since he started to disappear to be with you guys. I needed to know who he was with; if he was safe.” She opened up her brief case to pull out some papers and then struck him across the cheek with them. His eyes widened as the pain stung his cheek
“He’s not. Look at these. Look at them!” She yanked him by the chin, her french manicured nails cut into his skin with blood rising to the surface, and forced his face down to look at the pictures in her shaking hand: Asgardian falling from the sky into a lake, Asgardian being shot at by MGH dealers, Asgardian running away from police attack dogs, Asgardian getting thrown into a wall. She slapped him across the other cheek with the pictures, blood droplets went flying into the darkness, before she started to speak with a calm voice, “He is not safe at all, but that’s going to change because you’re going to look after him.” Eli noticed a few track marks on her arm as she raised a hand to fix her hair and smile back into place. Great, I’m tied up and dealing with an MGH user who I may or may not have been stealing supplies from. When I get out of this I’m going to add ‘how to escape psychos’ to the training list.
Stepford placed the photos back into her brief case and pulled out a new set; these were of the other members of the team: Iron Lad flying over some building and shooting lasers, Patriot throwing stars at store robbers, and Hulking using a downed street light as a long club on a get-away car.
“Iron Lad may be the leader but he doesn’t have what it takes to watch over the team. Personally I don’t think any of you have what it takes to be super heroes, none of you seem to have a clue about what you’re doing, but you at least look like you’ll do what it takes to get the job done and that’s who I need to look after him.” She put the photos away and leaned back in her chair.
“I’m going to tell you a story so you know how serious I’m taking this whole thing. Okay?” She licked her pink tinted lips and leaned forward into Eli’s personal space, “I love Billy Kaplan.” His eyes shot daggers at her as he tried to remember if he’d been introduced to her before, to figure out how she was able to kidnap him in the middle of the day and how much did she know. The only girls that hang around Billy he can think of who would have the money to pull this off would be the socialite senior ranked girl scouts. Why can’t I remember any of their names?
“I’ve loved him since we were three and the happiest when we were going out; I thought that happily-ever-afters really did come true. And the day he told me that he was gay was the worst day in my life.” She slammed both of her hands onto his shoulders and as soon as she had come close enough he head-butted her. Without a sound she loosened her hands around his neck as she rolled away in her chair and continued her story in a calm voice with blood oozing down her forehead. Escape plan A to overpower the psycho has failed. He realized that she probably shot up before she kidnapped him and now he had a headache on top of being tied up and powerless.
“But I still love him, and he’s still the most important man in my life. And I will do every thing in my power to protect him.” She rolled right back in front of him just out of his reach. Stepford glared at him, before she smiled and wrapped her hands around his neck. Eli’s hands clenched the arms of his chair; he had never wanted to punch a fake smile off someone’s face so much.
“The first boy he ever dated, Edward Dasher, used him. He played his heart strings like a violin and then tossed him to the sharks. He’s the reason Billy gets picked on at school for being gay, and the reason Billy found out he’s a mutant and why he is now on your godforsaken team.” He kept his head high as he listened to her tripe. Why the hell did she kidnap me if she’s angry at Dasher? Why the hell don’t I carry shooting stars with me at all times? I could have cut through these cords and been out of here in less than a minute.
Stepford hands tightened around his neck as she leans even closer to his face, blood dripped down her check and onto his pants. He looked into her eyes and saw a raging, dull blue. Her breath caressed his lips and smelled of Starbucks coffee as she whispered, “Do you know what I did to that little bastard who hurt my best friend? I screwed with his drug test and got him kicked off the baseball team. Then I got his old man fired from his job by starting a group law suit against the company with the only common factor being that the clients were serviced by him. After that I had someone take a closer look at their taxes, and next thing you know their home was foreclosed.”
She loosened her hands around his neck and gently rubbed at the bruises with a smug smile in place, “It took awhile, but I made sure that prick paid for what he did.” Eli wrenched his body away from her as much as he could while he tried to get his breath back. I can’t wait to do the same.
She leaned back out of his personal space, sat back into her chair, and wiped away the blood from her face with a silk handkerchief from her brief case. She sighed as twisted her chair back and forth. Eli watched her as most of the control she had at the beginning seemed to be gone; he wasn’t sure if that’s to his advantage or disadvantage yet. “Think about what I’ll do to you, about how much you can lose.” She brought her brief case up into her lap and pulled out a single picture of Eli shooting MGH into his arm in a dirty alleyway with a whorehouse across the street in the background. “Think about what will happen if the team or your school or your family finds out what you’ve done in the name of being a hero.” He struggled at the bonds trying to get out of the chair, the cords rubbed his skin raw, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to hurt her like she was hurting him.
Stepford smiled at him, “Do you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for you?” She ripped up the picture several times and tossed the pieces into his face, “Don’t worry, that’s only what will happen if you fail. But you and I have a vested interest in you succeeding as a hero and a teammate to my best friend. So!”
She clapped her hands in front of herself before she reached into her brief case and pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with MGH pills. He stopped struggling. “I’ll give this to you, as much as you want as long as you keep him safe. Have we got a deal, hero?” She reached over and pulled down the gag from out of his mouth.
He stared at her for a minute licking his lips, sizing her up. “How-” he coughs and starts again, “How do I know you won’t just screw me over later?” She pulled out a water bottle from a pocket in her brief case, twisted open the top, placed in a bendy straw and held it in front of his mouth. She held it there for a minute before Eli gave in and took a few long, slow gulps.
“If you keep him safe I’ll keep your secrets safe. It’s a fair trade.” She put the water away, got up, walked behind his chair and started to undo the knots, “Like I said before, you’re the best of the worst. Iron Lad is looking towards the future and his goals for the team that he doesn’t see what’s going on in the present. And the other one is a bit shifty in his personal reasons for being a hero. I don’t think he has what it takes to be a hero, long term.” She finished untying the knots and he shoved the chair into her as he stood to face her.
“Billy is a bit naïve, but he’s more loyal than a dog and as stubborn as a badger. Once he’s in your corner he’ll follow you to hell, if for no other reason than to make sure you’re not alone when you face your demons.”
He rubbed his wrists as she walked back to stand behind her own chair, “Speaking from personal experience?”
She smiled as she tossed the promised drugs at him, “He always comes through for me. Take this, for when you need to reach me.” She flicked at him a business card with the name Ariel Hunt in red lettering with her numbers on the back and then walked into the darkness. He watched her every move while he could. The lights came on and he saw that they were in a conference room. “There’s a water fountain down the left side of the hall near the bathrooms and across lobby are the elevators for when you want to leave.” And then she walked towards the door, her eyes never leaving him.
As her hand touched the door handle he asks, “How did you find me?”
“You shouldn’t go after the same dealers so much as to create a pattern, hero. And if I can figure it out, you can be sure as hell the guy you’re stealing from can too.”
Ariel stood tall and waited in front of the door with a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised. Eli had finally been freed, and even with the MGH that flowed through her veins she didn’t know how to fight, it would be so damn easy for him to just punch her into a wall. But he wouldn’t, and they both knew it. He needed her to keep quiet; he needed her steady supply of drugs, and he hated her for it. His jaw clenched as he nodded his head in consent.
“As a show of goodwill, I’ll take care of that little problem for you. Best to stay away from that part of town to be on the safe side. I can get the drug lord not to actively go after you, but if you show up in his territory again….”
Eli nodded his understanding and watched as Ariel waltzed out the door with her Stepford smile in place. He waited a minute to collect himself before he left the room and then the building. As he walked away, he read a sign that proclaimed: “These are the offices of Hunt, Kraynmore, and Presitson.” Billy’s got some friends in high places; he tightens his hold of the bag in his pocket. It’s frightening how bad a person can be and still be on the right side of the law. And it’s shameful how trying to do good put him on the wrong side of it.