Suspects' Holding Cell

[etcircenses]

The vans drive for what seems like an hour before they come to a stop, and Peacekeepers blindfold and forcefully drag even the most cooperative suspects into a building.

The suspects are all held in one cell, a large, metal room with a thick door and a single ledge that serves as a bench. Bright fluorescent lights beam from overhead. There are no windows and no clocks, no sign of where they might be.

The Peacekeepers take off the blindfolds, though without much care for whether they come off all the way or chafe or stay slung around the suspects' necks. The suspects' hands are left cuffed behind their backs, and even the most ingenious of them won't be able to pick the lock on their restraints, but they're otherwise left to roam freely through the space.

Suspects are removed, one at a time, at unpredictable intervals, by Peacekeepers armed with tasers. Some take three hours to return, while others are back within only a minute. Each of them comes back having been clearly roughed up and pressed for information that they may or may not hold; some are bleeding or sporting the beginnings of black eyes.

They'll be sleeping here tonight.

Comments

open;

[libertin]

Courfeyrac was, for his part, cooperating with the Peacekeeper's demands. Until he got a satisfying answer as to why he'd been arrested and what he'd been accused of, he had no desire to get himself killed prematurely. The longer he could stay alive, the better chance he had at ingratiating himself to somebody. Anybody.

Not quite recognizing everyone in the room, he kept his mouth shut and took up a spot sitting against a wall, knees pulled up to his chest. He tried to stay quiet and just listen to everyone else and ignore the small voice of panic screaming in his head that he wasn't going to make it out of this prison alive.

At least they could've gotten his name right. Friggin' de.

Re: open;

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy should have been cooperating with the Peacekeepers: after all, she HAD been up to no good, she was actually still scouting for blind spots the last few days, so she wasn't surprised they picked her up. Now, though, she had at least guessed that they weren't doing this because of her indiscretions: something had happened. Something big.

And for right now? Mindy was tired of cooperating with these fucking thugs. She'd spent the last few months keeping quiet while her friends had been Avoxed or tortured or auctioned, and now? They could just go fuck themselves and stay in the dark for all she cared. This was why when SHE came back she was decidedly rumpled in hair and looking rather bruised in the face.

It was painful and certainly she was hurting, yet Mindy seemed to look rather pleased with herself.

open

[hiccup1puberty0]

Hiccup was that guy. You know the one. Pacing back and forth through what little space was in the cell, checking every corner, crack, and ledge. At one point, he tried to slip his body through the tiny space in between his arms to get the shackles in front of him, but found the space too small.

His nose was still bleeding slightly from his "questioning."

He looked about an inch away from a whole "Game over, man! Game over!" monologue.

Hiccup had escaped from a prison or nasty dungeon now and again but this was not the kind of prison he was used to escaping, these guards were not as stupid as he was used to, and he couldn't even get his hands a little more free to see if he could use any of the metal bits inside his leg to pick anything. Given these cuffs were way more advanced than anything he'd ever seen, it probably wouldn't have mattered, skills as a blacksmith and occasional locksmith aside. They were also coming to take away and return people too frequently - and like the Tribute Center, he was sure they were probably somehow watching them all with their strange machine eyes.

The pressure was getting to him. He dealt with danger by launching himself head first at it, by taking action, and there was no action to take here. There was a bunch of terrifying, insufferable waiting. Vikings in general weren't good at inaction and he'd always had trouble staying put and doing what he was told.

This Penny person was terrible. He'd been revived right around when she'd been hurting those people on screen. She certainly deserved to die, even someone who was as slow to kill as him thought that.

But if whoever had done it wasn't smart enough to do it in a way that didn't get them all shaken down over practically nothing, as far as he was concerned, they shouldn't have done it. There was a longer game to be played in this place and lashing out at the cruel people without a plan was idiotic.

After pacing the room about the fiftieth time, he turned and snapped a the room, "So whoever did whatever they did, can you maybe confess and get it over with rather than dragging the rest of us down with you? Or before dragging down any people who might do something stupid and panicked because we got dragged off? This isn't just about you and it isn't even just about us. Just some food for thought."

It would've been a lie to say he wasn't scared for himself but, you know, occupational hazard. He'd faced the prospect of death before. The thing he was most terrified of was Astrid trying something and getting killed for it.

Re: open

[hit_girl_mindy]

"You're assuming they even caught the right person," Mindy said, still looking surly and limiting what she had to say. They were in THEIR grasp now, of course. The less said, the better. "Even if they DID catch the person, why the fuck would they say it here to begin with? They'd be dead in minutes."

And the name of the game, of course, was not dying, as far as she knew.

[arosewiththorns]

His little outburst gets Rose to stir slightly from her apparent meditation and Rose just watches him, her stare emotionless. He's a child, really, and sure she could argue what's fair and what's not, but fair really isn't on the agenda here. Fair never seems to have been, and he's not the only one she'd call child here.

"You should sit," she finally says, shifting ever so slightly. "Pacing will only wear yourself out quicker, and tired people do stupid things."

She's not even going to address the idiotic concept that someone should just confess, not now, not yet. She's not really interested in having that conversation so openly, not when they're probably listening for things to twist.

open to all

[dividedgirlofmine]

As the hours wear on, Susannah doesn't always seem like she's quite there. Not just that someone else is at the wheel--although sometimes her expression shifts to one that anyone who'd been around for the maze mini-arena would recognize as belonging to Detta Walker--but there's something haunted about her when Susannah's there too.

When the Peacekeepers come for her, she shifts into full Detta mode, hissing and spitting and swearing.

When they bring her back it's in a similar condition, only this time she's in a wheelchair. Her prosthetic legs are gone.

It's probably going to take a while for Detta to let go of the wheel after that, but she will eventually. Even so, Susannah still has that haunted look to her.

Re: open to all

[hit_girl_mindy]

The funny thing was, Mindy was calmer now. They thrived on the fear they had, but they weren't ready to push hard, not yet. Mindy had done this enough times to know THAT. They were counting on the fear and confusion right now. Hell, the wait could even be happening so they could get other people scared. She wasn't the only one that'd be missed, if she was missed at all.

But Susannah...that was another story entirely. Mindy didn't miss anything, and the look on her face was far from even that way she'd been with her and Harley. Now she was separating from herself, becoming one of them. She didn't know what that would count for here, of course, but manages to shuffle on over.

"So maybe Harley will be the lone mentor now," Mindy croaked. "Isn't that some scary shit right there?"

[hiccup1puberty0]

As the hours had worn on, he'd acquired had more than the bloody nose. Now an eye was blackened, his lip was split, and he was fairly sure there were bruises all over his face.

When he saw the women with false legs wheeled back in without them, he let out a little gasp.

It was a dehumanizing thing to do, to take away what little mobility she had, to make her feel powerless. He wondered how long it would be before they did the same to him.

He limped over to the woman, putting his curiosity over how she looked aside (he'd never seen anyone with skin as dark as hers, even with all his traveling). She looked shaken and terrified and like she was barely hanging on.

"Hey," he said gently, sitting on the ledge near her. "Hey there, you still with us?"

[youbarium]

Carlos approaches her carefully, slowly, knowing it'll be dangerous if he startles her.

"Hey," he says, gently. "Are you okay? For, you know, a given value of okay. None of us are really okay, and we are probably going to be less okay in the immediate future, but what I mean is...how are you doing?"

Open

[justoutrunyou]

Crumpled in one corner of the cell is a tiny frail looking figure that upon closer inspection is none other then Sandy Marko of District Twelve.

She's not nearly as delicate as she appears at first glance. Eating well and training has thickened her out a bit but she is still an awkward and petite girl. All knees and elbows and at the moment...bruises.

Her cheek is swollen on the left side and her eye on the right. So swollen it's nearly shut and the part that can be seen is bloodshot to match her untouched eye which is sporting a dark, exhausted ring under it. Tears stream down her face leaving a sickly pallor to her in the lights of the cell.

She'd always knew this day would come. She'd get too sloppy, say the wrong thing. And BAM! Locked up forever...or worse.

She watched the room from behind her knees as she kept them up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. If anyone drew too close she hid and the shaking increased. Even her own cell mates scared her right now.

Re: Open

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy was not afraid. She was fighting rising fear, of course, but right now they were just using intimidation as their tactic. It was weak, cowardly, and worse of all, predictable. Even knowing all of this, though, didn't make her feel any better to Sandy in her current state. She looked like she got the worse of the beatings they'd got, and Mindy hadn't fared too well herself. She had stayed silent, mocking, and that had earned her a pretty well developed black eye and some major bruises. What the hell had Sandy been doing?

Still, she moved toward the girl, hands up. "Sandy. It's Mindy, relax. Not going to hurt you. I can the bastards already did that. What happened?"

Re: Open

[hiccup1puberty0]

They were torturing little children, teenagers that looked younger than him. They'd taken a woman's false legs.

Children though. That was the worst in his eyes. Children.

"You look really scared," Hiccup said, as he sat down next to her, just enough distance between them so she didn't see it as an attack, but close enough for solidarity. "And I don't blame you. So I'm just going to sit here and if you wanna talk or just hang out with someone trying to make sure you're okay, I'll be right here, and if not, I'll stay right over here and leave you alone. Okay?"

It was an open offer rather than an imposition.

Open;

[arosewiththorns]

Rose is perfectly calm. She has been the entire night, even when when she was yanked out of her suite, cuffed and marched to a van, little care given to her own comfort even with her lack of resistance. She had known right then that resisting would be what would cause the most issue, by cooperating, or appearing to do so at least, it makes her less of a suspect. Not that she even knows what it is she's being accused of, not at first.

She sits quietly against a wall when she's in the cell, eyes closed as if she's resting, as if she has no care that she's here. As if she isn't worried, and in some ways she isn't. She isn't worried for herself at least, she knows she can handle whatever they throw at her, she knows she won't let herself break. It's Dave she worries for, Bro too. She hopes they won't do anything rash, and she knows that it's likely they will. They're her blood after all, the same stubborn heroic side is strong, even though they're loathe to call themselves such things.

She's dragged out at one point to be interrogated, and she's gone for more than the minute or two some are. And when she returns she's pushed into the cell roughly, and it's clear she's been one of the more stubborn ones, a small streak of blood from the cut in her lower lip on her cheek and she's got a slight limp to her step, something off about the way she holds herself. Still, she seems calm, almost emotionless and robotic as she makes her way to the same spot she had before. Without making eye contact she sinks to the bench and she resumes her position from before, shoulders straight and chin up even as she lets her eyes close again. Only this time there's a slight shake to her hands, Rose clenching them behind her back to keep it from showing.

Re: Open;

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I feel like you should have a tea set in front of you," Mindy said from her spot against the wall. She didn't look so great either, but even Mindy hadn't had a limp. What the hell did they do to her?

"You look good. So why'd they even drag you here?"

Re: Open;

[vissernone]

Eva's taken back with the interrogators for hours, but she returns with only a black eye, and not another scratch on her. She gave them names, of course. She gave them dates. She painted herself not in the best possible light, but in a believable light as a woman with selfish, narrow-minded intentions - not the sort of person who would plot an assassination or a coup.

When they were done, she told the interrogator to punch her as hard as he could, just so it wasn't too obvious that she'd been singing like a bird.

She takes a seat next to a stranger - Rose LeBeau or Laxman or whatever her last name is. Eva could continue to maintain the smooth facade, but she, too, is shaking. She looks over at Rose and her voice sounds downright maternal.

"Let them go limp. If you clench them you'll keep the adrenalin pumping."

OTA

[youbarium]

Carlos had, at first, been surprised. Then, he had been exasperated. Now, he's resigned. Those are some, but not all, of the emotions he has been feeling over the past several hours.

He sits on the bench, wearing a pair of thick-rimmed, extremely unstylish glasses. Carlos also has his lab coat on, which might cause a few of the other Tributes to wonder if he sleeps in it, since they were arrested at three in the morning. He has his arms folded and his eyes closed, and seems to be dozing.

When the Peacekeepers take him away for questioning, he looks nervous -- but when he comes back, the expression on his bruised and slightly bloody face looks more like relief. Isn't that odd? Did he sell you out? You don't know.

before her interrogation, after his

[pythianjudgment]

For as much as she's focused on getting herself out of this alive, Terezi isn't oblivious to the people around her. She's taking careful note of each of them. There's only a handful of them that she actually knows, which is a bit of a relief.

Less relieving is the way that Carlos comes back from his interrogation looking better mentally than when he left. Like a man with a weight off his chest. Something good happened out there, and it has warnings flashing through her mind like spaceship on a planet-side collision.

She's not shy about speaking to him--or about the suspicion in her expression. "Feel like sharing the secrets to your success? Didn't know this place came with good news."

[calledmenasir]

Nasir's gaze had darted to Carlos on more than one occasion since their arrest. Their one meeting had not gone well, to say the least.

"Your attempts to please your masters have failed," Nasir said flatly. He wasn't moved to pity by Carlos's bloodied face, especially when it held a look of relief instead of anger or anxiety.

Re: OTA

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Feeling better after your ritual beating?"

Mindy was here, of course, and looking a little more worn over by the peacekeepers.

"You didn't sing, did you?"

OTA

[carsassian]

This isn't exactly novel for Garak. He's disappointed, of course. He'd thought he'd been better at covering any tracks, but perhaps half a decade among pacifist bleeding hearts was too much for anyone. Perhaps, just perhaps, he'd grown sloppy in all that time minding a simple tailor's shop.

Or perhaps, he considered, looking around at the motley crew that had been dragged in with him, the authorities here had no real idea of what was going on at all. Perhaps he had simply, fortuitously, been caught in whatever sweeping intimidation conspiracy they had rushed to cook up. That was probably the best case scenario.

When he's dragged in, he doesn't flinch. When he returns he isn't obviously bruised or bleeding. They don't seem to know how to lean on him properly. He'd critique, but it isn't worth it. If anything, he's cold. It's blessedly dark in the the holding cell, probably another intimidation tactic, but that also makes it uncomfortably chilly for his particular physiology.

There's nothing to do but while away the hours of captivity. Sitting quietly in fear would only be giving the inept brutes that dragged them all together what they want and he's still stubborn enough that doing that seems positively dreadful. Thus, it's spite that causes him to pull himself up, shirk off the shivers threatening to overtake him, and turn to the cellmate nearest to him with a cheerful smile. Garak's voice is broad and booming when he speaks, and only have of his obliviousness toward volume control is for show. "So, what do you suppose you're in for?"

[youbarium]

"My boyfriend is a traitor," replies Carlos immediately, not returning the smile. It's refreshing, though, being honest. "I thought I'd be able to make the Capitol think I never actually cared about him, but apparently I'm not a good enough liar to be convincing. The Head Peacekeeper Avoxed him a few weeks ago, which they think gives me a motive."

open; before or after interrogation

[pythianjudgment]

The raid on the Tribute tower comes as a surprise to her. She doesn't resist the arrest, when they burst into her room in the middle of the night. She knows better than that, but she's not calm or quiet about it either. If anything, she looks terrified as they grab her and lock the cuffs around her wrists. Even more so when Albert involves himself in the matter, trying to defend her. She shouts at him to stop, but she's not sure if he hears her. It doesn't matter either way by then.

No amount of frantic questions or protesting elicit a response from the Peacekeepers. The only reward she gets is a sharp "shut up" and a crack across the side of her head before being shoved into the van.

By the time that the van finally stops, Terezi is almost glad that the ride is so long. She's had enough time to think and process her options. This song and dance is a familiar one for her. It's just that normally, she's on the other side of it. It's reasonable to be scared, but by the time they unload everyone and toss them into a holding cell, Terezi has already made up her mind.

They can "question" her as much as they like. She only has one answer that she can give them: She doesn't know anything. She won't be pressured into throwing blame onto innocent people for the sake of their witch hunt.

Having that resolution eases some of her panic. Some, but not all. She still looks terrified as she curls up against one of the far walls, trying to make herself as small as possible. She does a good job of that, at least. The cut on her temple and the bruise blossoming around it certainly helps. In her heart she knows her fear isn't as much of an act as she wishes it was, but her best chance at surviving these sudden accusations is her age. For once, she would rather be seen as a frightened child than as a competent killer.

===

Coming out of "interrogation", Terezi finds that she doesn't have to pretend anymore. She's gone longer than just a few minutes, and when they finally drag her back, she doesn't look much worse physically. Her hair is wet though, and she's deeply shaken. When they shove her into the cell, she stumbles on her feet, barely making it to a wall before sinking to her knees and then her side. Her eyes close, and the only sign that she's still conscious is the tremors in her body and shakiness of her breaths.

[youbarium]

Oh, no. It doesn't take formal scientific inquiry to figure out what they'd done to Terezi. Slowly and quietly, Carlos approaches, still in his lab coat and ugly glasses, and sinks down into a crouch, leaning against the wall next to her.

"Hey," he says quietly. Nothing else. Just a greeting, for now. He'll wait to see if she reacts.

Open

[calledmenasir]

Nasir had never been tortured before. Whipped, branded, hurt in other ways, but he'd never experienced this. But he still knew, from watching it done to others, from binding Agron's hands and body, that it could-- and would-- be worse.

When Nasir is thrown back with the others, after well over an hour, possibly two, his lip was bleeding, his eye swelling, and several bruises were making an appearance. He licked at his bottom lip to try and keep the blood from running down his chin.

He leaned back against the wall, feeling it cool his body if not his anger-- or concern. If he was here then what would they do to Agron? His brother?

Nasir said nothing but his eyes burned. Resting against the wall, he looked fully capable of the murder they suspected him of, a picture made more complete when he slams his cuffed hands back against the wall in anger.

Re: Open

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Hey, we're buddies!" Mindy is doing her best not to be a Debbie Downer, and is more or less making the best of things. She knows what's to come, and for now, she's not going to give them the benefit of making her scared.

"So what, were they not pleased about your suggestion of drink and orgies? Because I think most of us could go for the former right about fucking now."

OTA

[amoral_savior]

He couldn't stop kicking himself. Of all the nights to return to the tower, Topher had to choose tonight. Since agreeing to work for Penny, Topher had taken to sleeping in his fancy Capitol lab, partially because he missed being in his own lab and partially because he simply didn't trust the scientists in the Capitol to keep their noses out of his business. Last night he had decided to sleep in a real bed and maybe see if he could find Tony or Carlos to run a few thoughts by. Topher looked over at Carlos who was in the same situation he was; this was not how he wanted to talk to the man.

When the Peacekeepers arrive, Topher is tired and confused. He had no reason to be on their radar, in fact he should be their very new best friend. This wasn't right. This wasn't right on so many levels.

Re: OTA

[vissernone]

Eva's gone for a long time, and when they return her she has a black eye for her trouble. For the most part she doesn't talk to the other suspects, deciding instead to keep to herself and stare at the wall, sucking the inside of her cheek and occasionally muttering to herself as if she were playing chess in her head. Eventually she rises and comes over next to Topher, asking in a way that suggests it's non-negotiable that the suspect beside him move so she can take the seat.

"They'll come for you soon, dear."

open; before & after interrogation available,

[dying]

Thane's behavior has been consistently suspicious. He always spent time finding places that were a little more private so he could sneak a few moments with Shepard, and be off camera. He didn't like his privacy invaded. When they came to cuff him, he went quietly. There was no sense in fighting or giving them a reason to get hostile right away.

He stood quietly in the corner of the cell when he arrived. There were people of all sorts here - and all ages (children, even - he couldn't understand the purpose of that).

When he was taken away to get interrogated, he went quietly. Throughout it, his mind vanished away from the torture, but he kept his mouth shut. He had committed no crime, nor had he any reason to speak poorly of the other tributes(and he didn't particularly know them). It was until after the torture did he realize how awful it had been. His body was sore and now he was suffering. They had done so much to him there. They knew that it would have been easy for him to do. His skills were exactly what they were accusing him of - assassination. He would have been glad to, but he was keeping it cool in order to help make sure he'd get to see Kolyat soon. This would seriously hurt his chances.

His cool demeanor buried the pain and anger that he was feeling. He had to, for the others here, and with the hope he could leave and eventually find his son.

before(?) open to whichever you think is best

[assassinat]

"What do we have here?" With a teasing tone that shouldn't be directed at their murderer, Natasha scoots in a bit closer towards him. Fortunate she was to have been placed beside him, hm?

"I suppose you wouldn't tell me if you did it or not, would you? Save the lot of us a lot of trouble if the real murderer was here."

open; before & after

[assassinat]

Murder isn't to be taken lightly here, Natasha notes for the future as she looks around the gloomy atmosphere, taking in the faces and placing names to them when she can. Funny that bit about murder, considering how many of them make a sport of the act here. What difference is it in the Arena? They have the technology to bring the dead back to life, so why not resurrect the corpse and simply ask her who did it?

But then where would the drama be in all that? Sixteen suspects seems to be overkill in a world full of celebrities. The districts aren't spread out evenly, a larger portion of them being on the upper levels, though she doubts that has little to do with why they were apprehended. Recognizing a couple of them, she's not entirely surprised to see them there and well, who is really surprised to find her there? Her entire reputation prior to this world was built on things like this so it's paranoid formality that calls for her presence.

When she returns after being interrogated, it hasn't been very long. A few minutes likely and if she's disheveled in any way, she hides it behind grace as well as a charming smile. Seems she got her answers and she did. Now just who is there she may share them with?

Re: open; before & after

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy can't help but glance up as the red haired woman returns to their shared living space.

She is a member of a very special circle. A circle that Sandy both longs to be apart of and can't imagine joining.

Most of them adults, all of them legends.

And then there she is, the unknown daughter of a low level meta human villain. Tony and Captain America hadn't even heard of him.

It occurred to her how funny it was she couldn't think of Cap as "Mr. Rodgers" or "Steve" but she was already on first name basis with Iron Man.

With her distractied thoughts fading she feels a throb in her swollen black eye and a fresh tear leaks down her cheek burning over her split lip. The red head is smiling?! How could she be so relaxed?

Because she was one of them. One of the legends.

Suddenly Sandy felt that much smaller and even more alone. She was unable to look away even with only one working eye at the moment.