thecapitol | Suspects' Holding Cell

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Suspects' Holding Cell

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.

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Everything seemed to come grinding to a screeching halt in Sandy's brain. All the anxiety and fear and desperation was shuffled out of the way to make way for confusion.

"I...but she...she was gone for weeks! Why would they bring her back? How long has she been back? Why hasn't she found me yet?" She sat up a little taller as the questions fell out of her mouth.

"I haven't been hiding or anything like that!"

"How the fuck should I know?" A fair question. "But she's different. I think some time might have passed since she was here. She might just be adjusting to shit. What you might want to worry about is what she's going to do now that you're captured."

She shrugged. "If you're lucky, maybe nothing. But that's your girl, you'd know more than me."

The thought struck Sandy like a punch to the jaw and her face paled fresh once again.

"Shit." She cursed and thumped her head on the hard wall behind her.

"Shit shit shit. Pruna don't be stupid." She moaned as if somehow the girl could hear her.

"I think Pruna can handle herself. We should probably worry about ourselves though."

She licked her right pointer fingertip and got some of the blood off Sandy's face.

"How good are you at pain?"

Just that gentle contact was enough to make Sandy flinch as her tenderized skin was touched.

"Lousy." She confessed. "I tried to do the stuff Pruna taught me but...they're really good at causing pain." The blackened eye was almost entirely swollen shut now and still leaking tears.

"I thought living through a mangled leg was the worst pain I'd ever felt. But they just keep finding new worst pains."

"Sorry."

Now that she knew that, no point in making that worse. Sandy was in pain. They had really gotten to her, likely because she was a repeat offender.

"It'll get worse if you can't swallow the pain, Sandy, believe me. The worse they can do is hurt you, and they're not done yet."

If only it was that easy.

"I don't know what else to tell them." She groaned and another tremor raced through her.

"What else can I do?" It was a low moan of hopelessness and she curled even tighter against herself.

Her mind raced. Sandy was her friend, and a good kid, but this place would break her. The cuts and scrapes she got, this was only the beginning. Sandy would be pulverized. So.

"Sandy," she said softly, so quiet only the girl could hear her, "if it gets bad, and it will, you tell them I put you up to it. It could be true anyway, but that's what you do. Maybe they'll stop hurting you if you give them some information. Come on. You think Pruna or any of the other people here don't have others that care about them? It'll happen. You just need to...not break."

Sandy's fingers tightened around her knees as Mindy offered her a tempting escape. Somewhere deep down in the reptilian part of her Mindy that was entirely focused on survival she considered it.

Feeling sick to her stomach a muffled moan slipped out.

"That's not right."

"There's a difference between 'not right' and what's fucking smart. I can see in your eyes, Sandy, and you know what? I get it. I've tortured people before, you know that? I know what's coming. If you need to stop the pain, if it gets bad? Just do it."

Because Mindy could take it. If she had to, and she knew she would, she could take it.

She shook her head, slowly at first. Then almost violently.

"I won't." She protested in a trembling voice. "I won't give them what they want. They took everything from me more then once!" While her voice was not raised it came out with enough intensity that it carried across the cell.

Mindy sighed. What the hell. Did she really want to pull this, right now?

"Do you want them to take your health? Your legs? Your arms? You could lose ALL those things, you don't KNOW. Do not underestimate what shit these people will come up with Sandy! I'm not telling you to name me because I feel noble, or because its nice. I'm doing it because it could save you some PAIN, real fucking awful inflicted pain they won't mend so you can suffer! Be smart! Because if someone comes, I'd rather you be in one fucking piece!"

She fell silent again. What was the point of arguing with Mindy? She never agreed with Sandy no matter what they were arguing about. If Mindy wanted to be stubborn then Sandy was just childish enough to return it in kind.

"No."

Mindy clenched her hand opening her mouth, then closed it again. For fucks sake. If she wanted to feel how bad they were, well shit.

"Whatever then. You'll find out soon enough then."

Seriously, couldn't she just take her word?

"Go into the punches. When they aim them. When you flinch, your muscles lock and it just hurts more."

Shepard had long since taught Sandy how to take a punch but she nodded all the same.

"Thanks." She answered as honestly as she could manage. Just thinking about the blows she'd already endured made her face throb with heat.

"I'm sorry I can't let you...you know. Be you." She added burying her face in her knees. Mindy was a hero, a real hero. Not the kind Sandy had always dreamed about or heard stories from her dad about. Mindy protected the weak and killed anyone who tried to hurt them.

Mindy was also stubborn, egotistical and never ever wrong, but this was hardly the time for Sandy to hold those things against her.

"Was Pruna OK?" Thinking back now to the last time Sandy had seen Pruna alive it distracted her from the pain in her body with a fresh stab in her chest. Why had it taken them so long to bring her back this time?

Mindy chuckled, sounding hollow despite her well meaning. "Don't apologize, I wouldn't be looking forward to that. Not looking forward to any of this, really. I've been beaten the shit out of a few times in my life, but at least those times I was free to attempt a hit back. I don't know too many people who are fans of pain."

She wouldn't be looking forward to this, not at all. As for Pruna? Well...

"Not gonna lie: she seemed a little different. I think the time she was gone and the time she came back wasn't instantaneous. So, you know. Might have to work on that, whatever it means. Not that I think its gonna affect what's coming."

Sandy took a shuddering breath and it whistled out through her teeth as she closed her eyes feeling miserable exhaustion creeping up on her. She wouldn't be able to sleep here though.

"What did I miss?" She mumbled more to Pruna then Mindy. Then louder. "I wonder if anyone here actually did anything or if they're just guessing."

Talking to Mindy was helping distract her from the fear. It was still lingering but at least she knew she could trust Mindy. This little corner of the cell was a little safer even with bound hands.

"Ah, who knows? She probably went and slayed some goddamn demons and shit and is all 'I don't need any wimpy feelings' and shit. You know how we murderers roll. We don't have time for stupid feelings or whatever, we're too busy looking awesome. Present time excluded, of course."

Sandy fell silent again lost in her thoughts of Pruna. If Pruna had really been gone for a long time and was denying any feelings...perhaps she'd finally given up on Sandy.

What had started as a happy thought turned gloomy and Sandy gently leaned to one side till her body fell to the floor gently. There she remained curled up in a ball miserably.

"Oh don't be so mopey," Mindy said, rolling her eyes. "You must be on drugs if you think she's happy with you being here, being tortured. So you might as well not sit there feeling sorry for yourself. People miss you."

If Mindy thought that was going to cheer her up by acting like she was angsting over nothing she would be sorely disappointed. She wasn't some over emotional teenager. She was a kid who had died too many times, been beaten senseless and found out her best friend was probably about to do something very...very stupid.

Every time Mindy and Sandy seemed to be on the same wavelength for a few minutes it would get thrown off again.

Mindy, despite sounding bitchy about it, was actually trying to give Sandy some hope. She'd sparred with Pruna enough times to know when the girl wanted something bad enough, she would get it. Beating her had not made her think any less of her capabilities: she was a fighter, and she wrecked motherfuckers when they were in her way.

"But you'll see soon enough. In the meantime, like I said, stay frosty. You might have shit memories of this place, but there's some good things too, with people you care about. Me, I'll think of my own. Me and Clem in the bouncy house. Me and Ellie and Riley playing laser tag. Beating Dave in basketball and winning him a stuffed tiger."

Sandy listened and despite herself this actually helped. She muttered quietly in almost inaudible words.

"Flying my first kite."

She had argued with Mindy plenty of times. Even screamed at her and hated her, but the girl kept coming back to try and help. That much Sandy could be grateful for.

Mindy laughed. It was hoarse, and it cracked her lips, but it was genuine.

"That was fun, actually. I wondered if I was kid enough to come up with that. I'm glad you liked it. I thought you might be bored. Me and dad...we wound go to the park and do it sometimes."

Dad. Bad idea. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Sandy nodded gently and kept her eyes closed. She couldn't sleep though, not here.

"My dad used to take me to the bakery on cold days and we'd get fresh doughnuts. Then we'd take them home and put ice cream on them and make it all melty. It was like a treat when things were rough."

She hadn't mentioned her dad much either since they'd gotten to know each other. Just that he told her stories of more famous people in her world and that he was taken away by the government. It seemed that their fathers both had meant to give them at least some normality.

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