[ voice ]

[hostage]

[He's so bored, he can't take it anymore. Asking for trouble, maybe, but there's all kinds of excitement he's missing with the new arrivals, and he's not used to missing out on it. He keeps the video feed off, unlike usual, because both his cell and he himself are a mess. His voice is only slightly hoarse, recovering from a first week in custody that was spent screaming.]

So what's the deal with all you new guys? Usually I do this in person but I'm, uh, a little tied up right now. Anyway, lemme hear it. Where you from? Whatcha usually get up to? How you feeling about being in this skanky shithole up on the moon?

Hope the rest of you guys didn't leave 'em starving.

Comments

[hostage]

My superpower's taking other people's powers. I did that to a few people during the mutiny. Now everybody wants to kill me for it. Assault's the word they used for it, but I didn't hurt anybody. Just disarmed 'em.

[selfequipped]

Ah.

[Give her a moment. She's thinking this through, thinking through decimation and everything the mutants have gone through. Thinking through what the Avengers had to do (break up, that is) following all of that. Thinking through Wanda and trying to get her to grant people their abilities back, only no, it's not so simple, she only helped one of them—]

You can't do that again.

[hostage]

Yeah. I kinda figured that out now.

[selfequipped]

Not regretting anything, but there was a thing back home. One of my best friends, his mom, she did that sort of thing—on a much larger scale, mind you—and even if she wasn't in her right mind for more than one reason, she won't ever live it down.

[hostage]

I get why people're mad about it. Totally get why they'd want revenge and all that. What really pisses me off is people saying I'm crazy, too, though. I was in my right mind. I knew what I was doing. I wouldn't do it again 'less I had to.

[selfequipped]

How were you acting when you did it?

[hostage]

Hell of a lot calmer than everybody else.

[selfequipped]

[She's trying to piece together the picture.]

And you went after these mutineers? What you did ... did it seriously hurt someone? Some people minus powers equals bad news.

[hostage]

All it does is make people human. Even people who used to be dead, like vampires or something, they just get turned to regular living people. So no, it didn't hurt 'em. Even though some crazy people like Sonya was saying I took their souls, I didn't. I don't take souls.

[selfequipped]

So it's the result of exaggerating big time.

You can give them back, right?

[hostage]

I already did.

[selfequipped]

Sorry for the interrogation, but I'm really confused. If I've got this right, you're not actually what they're saying you are ... which would let you out anyway ... but they won't listen for some reason, but you've given back their powers.

I mean, you might've covered it up a little at first, but who says that to a stranger.

[She's working through it.]

How much would they care about a jailbreak?

[hostage]

Whoa, hey, no. They'd care a lot. You'd end up in solitary just like me, except they'd probably take your tablet away, too. Plus, I got nowhere to run, even if I get outta the cell. Somebody'd probably just kill me the second they saw me roaming around in the halls.

[selfequipped]

I'm not a fan of there being absolutely no options like this.

[hostage]

Yeah, well... Me neither. But you definitely won't be winning any popularity contests if you go trying to save me.

[selfequipped]

I don't exactly save people to win popularity polls.

[hostage]

All your people, though - the other vigilantes, I mean - they all think I gotta be in here.

[selfequipped]

Be ready for a string of questions.

[There's a pause.]

Was this the first time you've done this? Were they hurting anyone? Who are these vigilantes? I've got my team. My team. None of them are involved in this.

[hostage]

Yeah and yeah, and - I mean, I don't wanna rat. I don't like naming names. But it's everybody. Everybody's scared of me. Even, um... Even my lawyer thinks I'm crazy, so...

[selfequipped]

What's their reasoning for being so certain about that tidbit?

[hostage]

Nobody trusts junkies. That's just how it is.

[selfequipped]

[Junkies.

The fact makes her think of Eli. All this sympathy and it comes back to that. It wasn't misplaced, and they're being ridiculous. He needs help, not to be locked up and treated this way. The thing is, Kate is fairly certain this place doesn't have anything like that.

She does know that being a junkie comes with certain things. They tend to lie. Their view on things might not necessarily be the truth. Through helping out shelters and the like, she's seen it with her own eyes, people with experiences different from what Eli was going through (though he was pretty bad, and more importantly, it was close to home, so to speak). Even with those factors, those very negative factors, it's not like you just treat someone like they're not deserving of any level of equality.

Her voice is tired, not because of this conversation, but because of the emotions that suddenly occur to her when she thinks of all that.]

Have you been using here? Were you then? [A question that's unnecessary because they could test him, which makes her wonder if they did.]

[hostage]

I been clean since September. Haven't touched anything. I wasn't high when I did it or anything like that. I think it's just... You know, meth? How it makes some people crazy like forever? I think it's that. I think they just think I'm psycho and there's no fixing it. They think I can't tell right or wrong. Whenever I'm mad about something, they just think it's the crazy acting up. Anything happens to me, they think I'm lying about it or I'm seeing things. People talk on the network like I gotta be put down, 'specially all this stuff about how I'm taking people's souls and whatever. They're just scared. But Ros won't let 'em kill me. I don't think she believes in executions.

[selfequipped]

Yeah, definitely no executions.

[It's said absently as she tries to process that. She's going to have to look into this.]

Sounds like an uphill battle. You can't stop proving yourself, but they aren't really giving you the chance. Maybe you did do it because of that, it doesn't matter now. This isn't the way to keep that from happening again.

[She really, really thinks that.]

Can I do anything for you?

[hostage]

Not really. I mean - I'm not trying to be rude. It's nice, you talking to me. But it's Ros who's gonna decide what happens to me, and she ain't real open to suggestions. 'til it happens, I'm just... here.