Caged

Caged - 3 - The Deal

Toretto had acquired a lot of clout in the two years he had been in Rumsford. He had risen incredibly quickly to the top of the prison food chain. His intimidating size and temperament had something to do with it--but it was really his intelligence that had allowed him to manage it.

He had been in prison before and had learned the ropes the hard way. Prison life was all about power and there was a delicate balancing act that must be maintained between the rival factions. Most inmates were too proud or too stupid to understand that power must be occasionally given away in order to be received. Dom understood this.

Then there were the screws--they had to be handled as well.

Toretto knew the rules and he was a master at them. That's why he had no trouble arranging things the way he wanted. By the time the inmates were locked in their cells for the night he had already managed to get Brian to the infirmary and get him reassigned as his cellmate.

After the doctor had taped up the broken ribs, the quack had suggested that the ex-cop should remain overnight, but Dom had simply shaken his bald head. He knew Doc's tastes and with an evil leer he had made it clear to the elderly man that the only place Brian would be spending the night from now on would be cell D127--his.

Brian seemed to spend the rest of the day in a daze. His eyes were glassy with pain and fatigue. He obeyed without question Dominic's orders to keep his eyes down, keep his mouth shut, sit here, move over there--whatever. Dom kept him close throughout the day as they spent endless hours in the kitchen before, finally, heading to the cell for the night.

~*~

"Come on, Brian," Dom was shaking him gently. "You gotta' get up."

Soft, blue eyes cracked open and Dom felt a pang of sympathy as he noticed the dark shadows that encircled them.

"Sorry, man, I know it's early but you can't stay in here alone," Dom gently grasped Brian by the upper arm and helped him to sit up on the edge of the lower bunk, "not until you're healed up a bit."

He squatted down on his haunches so that he could look directly into the pain filled blue eyes.

"You're a fool to have agreed to come in here," Dom whispered softly.

Brian blinked his eyes, as if trying to get his brain to function. He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes and groaned as his ribs protested.

"Had to," he muttered. "D.A. promised to reduce your sentence if I can pull this assignment off."

Dominic snorted in disgust.

"I owed you, Dom," Brian said. "It would be me in here serving 10-to-15 for the murder of Johnny Tran, if you hadn't taken the fall for me."

"You're still a fool," Dom said as he helped his friend to his feet. "It was nothin'. I was sure to do time after they caught me and you did save Vince and avenge Jesse. I owed you. There was no sense in us both bein' behind bars." Dom's dark eyes raked over Brian's slim figure. "I knew you'd get eaten alive. You're such a fuckin' pretty thing. I knew your ass would high demand."

It was Brian's turn to snort, which made a shaft of agony lance through his chest.

"Speaking of which," he gasped out, "you could have come to my rescue a little bit sooner."

Dominic raised his arched brows at the complaint.

"You were doing fine," he said, "and besides, getting the piss kicked out of you served two purposes," Dom explained. "You got to show all the other scum bags that you could handle yourself."

"What other purpose did it serve?" Brian asked as he struggled into his shoes.

Dom knelt down to help and grinned up at Brian.

"Watching you taking such a beating satisfied some of their bloodlust." He stood. "Everyone in here knows that you were a cop and maybe, just maybe, seeing you suffer like that, will keep you a little bit safer." Dom got a very serious look on his face. "That's why I was so rough on you."

Brian nodded in understanding.

"I suppose I can expect more of the same from you?" he asked.

"Sorry," Dom headed for the unlocked cell door, "but the harder I appear to be on you, the safer you'll be from everyone else." He stopped in the doorway and raised his voice loud enough to be overheard. "Move your ass, Sweet Cheeks, we gotta' get breakfast going."

Brian shook his head and smiled as he followed his new master to the kitchen where Dominic ruled with iron fist.