A Plan is Formed
Chapter 8: A Plan is Formed
“Knew I’d left it here!” Sally crowed in triumph as she retrieved her phone.
Ben flipped the sign to Open and shook his head. “You’d lose your head if it weren’t attached to your shoulders, my girl.”
“Probably,” Sally replied absently as she waited for the message on her voicemail to play.
Ben turned to look at her and so was privy to his daughter’s expressive eyes telling him a story he didn’t want to hear. Her face drained of colour and the phone dropped from her hands. “Sally? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“Cody…” Sally mumbled. “He’s gone.”
The world grew fuzzy at the edges for Ben. Not Cody. He was all Ben had left of his husband. The only good thing from the life he’d left behind. “What do you mean gone?”
Sally took a deep breath, bent and picked up her phone. She replayed the message for her father.
“Sally, I have to leave. Patrick…he… I can’t… I’m going to the Dollhouse. I’ll see you guys when everything stops hurting so goddamned much. Love you. Love Dad.”
Ben was racing to the computer in the back even as the message finished playing. “Got it,” he called, grabbing his own phone and dialling. “Hello? I’m looking for a Cody Madison, he… no, he’s… but you can’t… yes, I realise he’s an adult, but he’s hurting. Well, I don’t give a good goddamn where most of your Actives come from, I want my son back!” Ben sighed like a man about to leap off a cliff. “For how long?” He listened to the answer. “Yes. Well… can you, I don’t know, make a note that when his term is up, he’s still welcome at home. Let him know we love him. Yes, thank you… That is vaguely comforting, yes. Goodbye.” Turning to his stricken daughter, Ben said, “Five years. His contract’s up in five years.”
Sally let out a sob.
“Did I miss something?” Dean asked as she walked into the store.
Sally flung herself at the older girl and gripped her tightly. Somewhere, between the sobs and hiccups, Sally managed to relay the story to Dean.
“So, we’re going to go get him, right?” Dean said once she had the gist of the problem.
Ben shook his head. “We can’t. He signed a contract; he breaks it, or we break it for him, and bad shit happens. Didn’t say so, but I know how that kind of place works.”
“But…” Dean floundered. “We can’t just do nothing.”
“We’re not. There’s five of us, counting Karl and Taylor. Six, if we manage to get Gentry in on this as well.” Ben squared his shoulders. “So, we’ll keep an eye on him. From our research about the Dollhouse, it’s not the healthiest place in the world for its Dolls. Even if the handlers aren’t cruel; sometimes the clients are. There’s security, but it all depends. The woman I spoke to said that Cody’s handler is one of the nicer ones. A woman about my age who apparently views her Actives as her children. So all we can do is hope he’ll be treated well, and go visit as often as we think we can fool them into not recognising us. I’m heading out there mid next week, so it doesn’t look planned. We’re not abandoning him, I promise you that.”
Dean nodded and Sally swallowed another cry.
The door to the shop opened and, if looks could kill, the man who just entered the store would have died two hundred years before he had been born. Patrick smiled sheepishly. “I’m looking for Cody.”
Dean was content to let Sally punch the guy as the teenager wound up, but Ben caught his daughter’s arm just in time. “Cody’s gone,” Sally sobbed as she dissolved into Dean again.
“Gone?” Patrick’s eyebrows knitted together. “Gone where?”
“Somewhere far away,” Dean answered. “And he isn’t coming back for five years and it’s all your fucking fault, you son of a bitch, because you didn’t recognise a good thing when you had it.”
“I found him, and you are luckiest, fucking bastard that ever walked the earth that I did,” Ben added with a distinct growl.
“But… I didn’t. It wasn’t my intention… I didn’t intend,” Patrick spluttered.
Dean scowled. “You’re just repeating the same thing in different words.”
Patrick had just wanted to find a way to let Cody down gently; instead he’d ripped the guy's heart out and did a waltz over all the broken pieces. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I never intended to hurt him this badly. I didn’t think…”
“That’s obvious,” Dean interjected. “Go get the medical dictionary and look up: coffee stirrer and eyeball.”
“Why?”
“It’s only fair to let you have an idea of how to remove the one from the other before it’s necessary information.”
Patrick recoiled.
“Relax,” Dean said, “you’re not at risk of bloodshed right now. It’s daylight and public. But if you ever come around again… put it this way, I knew the guy for three months and I’m ready to flay you alive. Never mind how his family feels.”
Sally had left the room and returned with a cup of tea. With a smile as meek as a mouse trained at the Rodent College of Assassins, she offered it. “Here, Patrick. Calm your nerves.”
Mindlessly, Patrick drank down the hot beverage. “Thanks, Sandy.”
Not bothering to correct him, Sally nodded.
Ben stepped forward. “You will leave my store. You will never return. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave town. Because, I swear this to you, Patrick Benjamin Malcolms, if you ever speak to any of my family again, if you try to contact Cody, I will kill you. I was a Torchwood agent for seven years, I’ve been a Hunter for ten and I know how to make you wish you were dead.”
Patrick wisely chose that moment as his cue to leave.
“How could you offer him a drink, Sally?” Dean asked. “After what he’s done to Cody?”
“Retconned him back to preschool for what he’s done to Cody. That’s how,” gone was the giggly teenager that only yesterday had been moony over Gentry.
Dean knew, sure as anything, that Sally had grown up a fair few years in the past hour. That alone made her want Patrick dead, to say nothing of the hell he must have put Cody through to make the young man decide oblivion was the better option. “I’ll hunt that bastard. There will be nowhere safe for him to hide from my vengeance,” Dean swore.
Ben shook his head. “No, everyone gets one. If he tries to contact Cody or any of us again, then I’ll handle it.” He sighed and collapsed into a chair, tears leaking from his eyes as the weight of the situation hit him in full. “My son, my baby,” he muttered. Sally went to her father’s side immediately and threw her arms around his neck, the two of them hanging on for dear life and sanity.
Dean stood up straight. She looked at the two broken hearts across the room. “I’m getting Karl and Taylor. Describe the plan to them and get them in on it. I lost one person I cared for because of someone else’s selfishness. Fuck that six ways from Sunday. We’re taking care of Cody even if he won’t know it’s us.”
“Knew I’d left it here!” Sally crowed in triumph as she retrieved her phone.
Ben flipped the sign to Open and shook his head. “You’d lose your head if it weren’t attached to your shoulders, my girl.”
“Probably,” Sally replied absently as she waited for the message on her voicemail to play.
Ben turned to look at her and so was privy to his daughter’s expressive eyes telling him a story he didn’t want to hear. Her face drained of colour and the phone dropped from her hands. “Sally? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“Cody…” Sally mumbled. “He’s gone.”
The world grew fuzzy at the edges for Ben. Not Cody. He was all Ben had left of his husband. The only good thing from the life he’d left behind. “What do you mean gone?”
Sally took a deep breath, bent and picked up her phone. She replayed the message for her father.
“Sally, I have to leave. Patrick…he… I can’t… I’m going to the Dollhouse. I’ll see you guys when everything stops hurting so goddamned much. Love you. Love Dad.”
Ben was racing to the computer in the back even as the message finished playing. “Got it,” he called, grabbing his own phone and dialling. “Hello? I’m looking for a Cody Madison, he… no, he’s… but you can’t… yes, I realise he’s an adult, but he’s hurting. Well, I don’t give a good goddamn where most of your Actives come from, I want my son back!” Ben sighed like a man about to leap off a cliff. “For how long?” He listened to the answer. “Yes. Well… can you, I don’t know, make a note that when his term is up, he’s still welcome at home. Let him know we love him. Yes, thank you… That is vaguely comforting, yes. Goodbye.” Turning to his stricken daughter, Ben said, “Five years. His contract’s up in five years.”
Sally let out a sob.
“Did I miss something?” Dean asked as she walked into the store.
Sally flung herself at the older girl and gripped her tightly. Somewhere, between the sobs and hiccups, Sally managed to relay the story to Dean.
“So, we’re going to go get him, right?” Dean said once she had the gist of the problem.
Ben shook his head. “We can’t. He signed a contract; he breaks it, or we break it for him, and bad shit happens. Didn’t say so, but I know how that kind of place works.”
“But…” Dean floundered. “We can’t just do nothing.”
“We’re not. There’s five of us, counting Karl and Taylor. Six, if we manage to get Gentry in on this as well.” Ben squared his shoulders. “So, we’ll keep an eye on him. From our research about the Dollhouse, it’s not the healthiest place in the world for its Dolls. Even if the handlers aren’t cruel; sometimes the clients are. There’s security, but it all depends. The woman I spoke to said that Cody’s handler is one of the nicer ones. A woman about my age who apparently views her Actives as her children. So all we can do is hope he’ll be treated well, and go visit as often as we think we can fool them into not recognising us. I’m heading out there mid next week, so it doesn’t look planned. We’re not abandoning him, I promise you that.”
Dean nodded and Sally swallowed another cry.
The door to the shop opened and, if looks could kill, the man who just entered the store would have died two hundred years before he had been born. Patrick smiled sheepishly. “I’m looking for Cody.”
Dean was content to let Sally punch the guy as the teenager wound up, but Ben caught his daughter’s arm just in time. “Cody’s gone,” Sally sobbed as she dissolved into Dean again.
“Gone?” Patrick’s eyebrows knitted together. “Gone where?”
“Somewhere far away,” Dean answered. “And he isn’t coming back for five years and it’s all your fucking fault, you son of a bitch, because you didn’t recognise a good thing when you had it.”
“I found him, and you are luckiest, fucking bastard that ever walked the earth that I did,” Ben added with a distinct growl.
“But… I didn’t. It wasn’t my intention… I didn’t intend,” Patrick spluttered.
Dean scowled. “You’re just repeating the same thing in different words.”
Patrick had just wanted to find a way to let Cody down gently; instead he’d ripped the guy's heart out and did a waltz over all the broken pieces. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I never intended to hurt him this badly. I didn’t think…”
“That’s obvious,” Dean interjected. “Go get the medical dictionary and look up: coffee stirrer and eyeball.”
“Why?”
“It’s only fair to let you have an idea of how to remove the one from the other before it’s necessary information.”
Patrick recoiled.
“Relax,” Dean said, “you’re not at risk of bloodshed right now. It’s daylight and public. But if you ever come around again… put it this way, I knew the guy for three months and I’m ready to flay you alive. Never mind how his family feels.”
Sally had left the room and returned with a cup of tea. With a smile as meek as a mouse trained at the Rodent College of Assassins, she offered it. “Here, Patrick. Calm your nerves.”
Mindlessly, Patrick drank down the hot beverage. “Thanks, Sandy.”
Not bothering to correct him, Sally nodded.
Ben stepped forward. “You will leave my store. You will never return. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave town. Because, I swear this to you, Patrick Benjamin Malcolms, if you ever speak to any of my family again, if you try to contact Cody, I will kill you. I was a Torchwood agent for seven years, I’ve been a Hunter for ten and I know how to make you wish you were dead.”
Patrick wisely chose that moment as his cue to leave.
“How could you offer him a drink, Sally?” Dean asked. “After what he’s done to Cody?”
“Retconned him back to preschool for what he’s done to Cody. That’s how,” gone was the giggly teenager that only yesterday had been moony over Gentry.
Dean knew, sure as anything, that Sally had grown up a fair few years in the past hour. That alone made her want Patrick dead, to say nothing of the hell he must have put Cody through to make the young man decide oblivion was the better option. “I’ll hunt that bastard. There will be nowhere safe for him to hide from my vengeance,” Dean swore.
Ben shook his head. “No, everyone gets one. If he tries to contact Cody or any of us again, then I’ll handle it.” He sighed and collapsed into a chair, tears leaking from his eyes as the weight of the situation hit him in full. “My son, my baby,” he muttered. Sally went to her father’s side immediately and threw her arms around his neck, the two of them hanging on for dear life and sanity.
Dean stood up straight. She looked at the two broken hearts across the room. “I’m getting Karl and Taylor. Describe the plan to them and get them in on it. I lost one person I cared for because of someone else’s selfishness. Fuck that six ways from Sunday. We’re taking care of Cody even if he won’t know it’s us.”