Caged

Caged - 18 - After Glow

Brian covered his eyes against the sudden glare as the door of his windowless, solitary cell opened.

"You okay, Brian?" asked a vaguely familiar voice.

Blinking first against the light, then in astonishment at the FBI agent, Brian gasped. "Bilkins? What are you doing here?"

"Getting you the fuck out, and not a moment to soon, I'd say." The big black man leaned down and helped Brian to his feet. "Sounds like you got yourself into a mess of trouble … again."

"But I can't go," Brian pulled away. "I haven't gotten to Eddy yet."

"Come on, O'Connor, the job's done. Time to go." Sparkling white teeth flashed. "We found the bodies and got enough evidence already to put Jones away for life … and … Eddy's still singing. Who knows what else he'll give us."

"Eddy?" Brian asked in confusion. "He's a monster. He's …"

"Crazy mad for your large friend," Bilkins said with a laugh. "Makes me seriously wonder what Toretto's got in his pants that makes you fella's all fall for him."

"Dominic?" Brian thought he must have gone insane. "You'll still hold up your end of the deal, right? Get Dom an early release?"

"Shit, O'Connor, right now he's waiting in the car for you." Bilkins began leading Brian down the hallway. "Officially he'll still be in police custody, yours as a matter of fact, until the paperwork is completed. Then he'll be free as a bird with a brand new identity--courtesy of the State of California and a very grateful FBI."

"Dom's free?"

"You get hit in the head or something?" Bilkins asked with concern. "I was led to believe you hadn't really been hurt, but if you need a doctor …?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I just don't understand." Brian shook his head as the neared the front gate. "What happened between Dom and Eddy?"

"Tell you what, Brian," the FBI agent said as they neared a large black car. "We're going to drop the two of you off at a hotel to get cleaned up." Bilkins smiled suggestively. "Toretto can fill you in himself … on the details." He was laughing as he opened the back door for Brian to slide inside next to the silent and stoic Dom.

~*~

Dom didn't say a word during the short ride to the hotel and Brian didn't push him. He would find out soon enough what had happened--and if Dom now hated him.

The room they were directed to was nice, but then, after Rumsford anything would have seemed nice.

"Your clothes are over there," Bilkins said and pointed to two nylon bags resting on the dresser. "Go ahead and order room service." Dom turned his back and wandered out onto the small balcony. "I'll see you in the morning, Brian." Bilkins nodded his head toward Dom's stiff back and added softly, "Looks like you two have some talking to do."

The FBI agent left and they were, finally, truly alone.

Brian opened the small refrigerator and was pleasantly surprised to find a six-pack. He pulled out two of the long necked bottles, twisted the tops off, and handed one to Dom.

"Sorry it's not a Corona, but I hope it'll do."

Dom stared at the brown bottle for a long moment before reaching out and taking it. He took a deep swallow before sinking his big frame down into one of the two chairs that sat on the balcony.

They had finished their second bottle before Brian dared to speak.

"I'm so sorry about Tookie - "

"He knew he was insane," Dom interrupted cryptically.

"Took?" Brian asked in confusion. "He wasn't -"

"Eddy."

Dom rose and retrieved the last two bottles of Budweiser.

He stood at the railing and began to tell Brian about the man they had known as Tookie.

~*~

He had been called Lenny back then, or Mr. Perratuecki by his students.

Lenny had been hired right out of college at Grenville Junior High as a math teacher. In January of 1982, he had been a teacher for six whole months and he loved it. Finally, for the first time in his life, he felt like he fit in.

He had always been small, always been shy, always been nervous, and always been smarter than those around him. All these traits had led him down a lonely path. His mother had described him as "bookish"; his classmates had called him a "nerd."

His life changed dramatically, and tragically, when he moved to the upper-class suburb.

Shelly was in his third period Algebra class.

She sat in the first row, directly in front of his desk.

She wore skirts that were far to short to be in style.

She often twisted in her seat and sat with her long, tawny legs crossed--clearly visible in the aisle.

She had glorious mahogany hair. It fell in thick waves around her shoulders and drew his eyes. She would catch him peeping and twist the silky stuff in her fingers.

She had hazel eyes. Green…no, they were brown … no, neither. They were shimmering gray … no, greenish blue. Whatever their color, they held him spellbound.

Shelly was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He was a teacher, she was a student, and she was fifteen.

He would have been able to handle his attraction to her if she hadn't encouraged it. She began by lingering after class, asking for extra help, special tutoring. She couldn't fail, she told him. She would be removed from the cheerleading squad if she didn't maintain a high enough grade point average. She needed his help to pass. Her sparkling eyes delved deeply into his plain brown ones as she begged prettily.

Of course he would help her. How could he not?

Then one day she kissed him, right there as he sat at his desk, and he had been lost. Completely, utterly lost to her. Her painted lips had curled upward in knowledge.

They had met secretly after that, as often as she could convince him it would be safe. He had resisted at first, but he was helpless against her. She could talk him into anything and make it seem not only the right thing to do, but also make him believe it was his idea.

It wasn't all about sex, although the physical side of their relationship was fantastic. She seemed to know all the tricks, special techniques to enslave him. Often she would direct him to lie completely still; all he could do was to blink his eyes as her crimson mouth took control of his body--his soul.

She was his first lover, and love her he did. He ached with the desire to protect her, nurture her, and care for her.

When she brought Brad to his apartment they had been lovers for two months. The boy was younger than she was, but even more eager. Lenny had shaken his head in horror when she whispered her desires into his ear. No, no he had said, refusing her wishes.

"Come on, Lenny," she had said as she pressed close, using her tongue and hands as only she could. "You can fuck us both," she had whispered in his ear. "We want you to."

Later, when the three of them had lain glued together by sweat, lube, and cum he had blinked and blinked trying to clear his vision--trying to figure out how this had happened.

Exhausted, he had fallen asleep.

He awoke to the sight of Brad sitting astride Shelly's naked body--cutting her soft flesh with a razor.

In horror, he had grabbed his briefcase from the nightstand and swung it wildly. The metal tab at the corner caught the boy full in the temple and killed him instantly.

Shelly had bounded off the bed, shrieking at him hysterically. She pounced onto his chest and knocked him off his feet.

"You killed him!" she kept screaming over and over.

"He was hurting you."

"You ass, I hate you." She started hitting him. "You're pathetic. I like being cut, and you're too soft, too insipid, too weak, too spineless to do it," she snarled. "You're so fucking stupid. You believe every lie I tell you," she said hatefully as her lovely face contorted into a hideous mask. "You believed me that all my scars came from a car accident? Idiot." She laughed insanely at him. "You believed that I could love you? I just wanted a good grade in Algebra," she snarled into his frozen face. "You've just killed the only man I'll ever love."

She had screamed and screamed until the police came, then she had pointed her finger at him. Rape, she had cried. Rape and murder.

No one had believed his story, and in the end the truth hadn't really mattered. He had been convicted of the brutal rape and murder of the two kids and sent to Rumsford where he had paid dearly for his crimes.

There are a few things you don't want to be when you get sent inside, one of them is a cop--the other is a murderer and molester of children.

~*~

"Did Took ever tell you how he got the limp?" When Brian shook his head Dom continued. "He was raped, repeatedly, sometimes with a broom handle, sometimes with other things. They perforated his bowel. He lost half his intestines and developed an infection in his pelvis--it ended up distorting the bones before they finally managed to get it cleared up."

Dom turned. His dark eyes held infinite sadness.

"Took spotted Eddy's sickness almost from the first day; he warned me about him. He kept telling me how much like Shelly he seemed." Dom lifted the bottle and drained it. "Don't feel bad about it, Brian. Tookie would be happy he was in time to save you. He liked you, that's why he was keeping such a close on eye on Eddy--figured Eddy'd end up going after you."

"How'd you get Eddy to talk?" Brian asked softly.

Dom snorted in disgust. "After we were all locked up, Mirvin came and told me what had happened. That Took was … that he was dead and what he'd done. Mirvin said you were in solitary, so I knew you weren't hurt too badly." Dom paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts. "Eddy couldn't hear what Mirvin said. Didn't matter though, he already knew all about it--only he thought you were the one dead." Dom lifted his head. "Of course he'd think that. He set the whole thing up."

"I knew Took was right about him, that he was a lying piece of shit, from the day he first tried to imply that you were cheating on me with Markie--but I never knew just how sick he was. He planned the whole thing. Sent Markie a note, supposedly from you, asking to meet him in his cell. He lined Vesneski up good too. Apparently Eddy convinced the stupid Pole, that I was tired of you. That I would be grateful if he got rid of you for me," Dom said in disbelief as he turned to look out toward the darkness.

"Eddy kept telling me how you deserved everything Vesneski did to you. How I deserved better than you. How he loved me. How I should use him in order to work through my anger over the situation. Sick fucker. He wanted me to whip him, to hurt him." Brian watched the broad back tense up. "I refused cut him until he squealed on Jones," Dom said softly. "He was so mad with lust that when I finally did ... cut him,"--Dom's hands gripped the railing so hard that his knuckles turned white--"he sang sweeter than any canary. Sick fucker. He got off on it…being cut."

"I never had a clue, Dom," Brian said as he approached the hurting man. "I thought he was a nice kid right up until I saw the look on his face when Vesneski was about to …"

Dom groaned in anguish. He twisted around and grabbed Brian in a bone crushing bear hug. "Thank God for Tookie," he growled into the hollow of Brian's neck. "I couldn't have handled it if - " Dom tightened his great arms even more, holding Brian still when he tried to move. "Brian, I …"

Brian desperately wanted to see Dom's face. He gasped for air as he struggled to get free of the painful embrace. Dom let him go abruptly and took a step back.

"It's over, isn't it?" Dom asked dejectedly.

Brian knew his lover well. He knew that Dom was feeling rejected, unsure. Warmth flooded through him as took in the beloved face.

"Yes, it's over." Dom dropped his eyes, and nodded in sad resignation. "Over with Eddy, but not with us."

Dark eyes lifted.

"I love you, Dominic," Brian said softly, "and we're just getting started."

Brian watched as Dom first looked hopeful, then looked even sadder than before. He shook his big head from side to side.

"You don't understand, Brian," Dom said in a soft growl. "You did what you had to do in order to finish your assignment and get your man. As for us, well, whatever happens on the inside--in the cage--stays there." Dom's eyes were blacker than the night. "There's no place for it out here, in the world."

"But this is where it began." Brian smiled softly. "You think I went in there to get Eddy? To do a job?" Dom scowled at him. "That everything that happened between us was just to protect my cover?" Brian shook his head. "I went in there to get you." He took a step toward his lover, determined to make him understand. "You're the man I went in there for." He moved close and looked down into the scowling face. "Because I've loved you from the moment I first saw you."

Brian leaned down and gently kissed the lush mouth. Dom stood stiffly, his big arms folded across his chest, refusing to respond. Brian didn't give up though. He nibbled, tasted, and sucked Dom's full lower lip into his mouth.

Gently, Brian pushed at the massive arms until they began to move, to fall away, and to give him access to Dom's perfect body. As Dom began to relax, Brian pressed closer and began to let his hands roam. He slid them up the arms, up over the shoulders, up to cradle Dom's face as he continued to kiss him. When Dom's jaw finally unclenched under his onslaught, Brian began to slip his tongue in. He knew he had his man when Dom's tongue met his halfway.

.