Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Twelve, Part Two

 Notes: We're ramping up to our next action sequence, yay! First things first, though--have some fraught conversation between people who have no idea how to interact.

Title: Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Twelve, Part Two

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Chapter Twelve, Part Two

 

 

Photo by Louis Galvez on Unsplash

 

Kieron didn’t know what he expected when they got back to Carlisle’s rooms, but it wasn’t to be dumped on the couch instead of the floor. His coordination wasn’t good enough to even attempt escaping yet, but she didn’t slap cuffs on him either, just rolled him over onto his front and applied something cold to the spot on his back where the pain-pack locked in.

“What the fuck happened in there?” she muttered in a low voice to him as she worked the ice over his knotted muscles, gradually reducing the swelling that was keeping them tense. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Mmph.”

“Shut up, I’m talking.” She pressed extra hard into a specific spot on his lower back, and Kieron grunted with pain, then gradually relaxed into it. Battle massage. Part pressure-point focused, part shiatsu, it was a sensation that Kieron hadn’t felt since he last lived here. It was…actually kind of soothing. Elanus had tried buying a few massages for him since they got together, but Kieron couldn’t relax with a stranger putting their hands on him. Machines didn’t have the same effect, and massages with Elanus tended to turn toward the erotic more than the relaxing.

“That was the worst possible place you could have revealed yourself,” she went on. “The General is guarded too closely for you to pull off an assassination. You should have fired on the compound from orbit if you wanted to take him out.”

“Din’t…”

“That’s a lie, you very clearly do intend to kill him.” She pressed in with a nail, and this time the feeling wasn’t soothing. It was pure pain. “Did you think I’d let you get away with it? How stupid are you, Zakari? Where’s the cutthroat negotiator who held Doubles over a gator pit to get his way, huh?”

“I…didn’t…come here for that,” Kieron gritted out, finally jerking away from Carlisle’s touch.

“Bullshit.”

“You fired…on us first.”

“And I wish we’d grounded you with the first shot,” she snapped, letting go of him and pushing to her feet. She still didn’t cuff him, though; she started to pace instead, her movements brisk and furious. “That way I’d have the evidence I need to pull apart your story without having to literally pull you apart. I don’t—I don’t want to—” She stopped, her hands clasping the sides of her head, eyes manic.

“I don’t want to know you,” she whispered. “I don’t want to know anything about you. I don’t want you to be here, you don’t belong here, I pushed you away for a reason.”

Oh, shit.

“You were supposed to be gone forever.”

Oh, shit.

“You were supposed to leave and be safe! You’re not supposed to be here! God damn it, you’re never supposed to be here again!” Carlisle spun around, grabbing the stunner at her waist, and pointed it at Kieron, her eyes wide and her breathing shallow and unsettled.

Whoa, whoa! “Don’t fire,” Kieron said, forcing the words out his mostly numb lips. “Don’t fire.” He couldn’t take another burst from the pain-pack right now.

“You—you can’t—”

Damn, she was panicking and Kieron was still too wrecked to fight her for the stunner. He had two options—he could deny what she was saying and hope she calmed down enough not to shoot him, or he could…well. He could confirm it. He could tell her that her worst fears had come true and that her son, her only child as far as he knew, was back on Hadrian’s Colony after she’d gone to such incredible lengths to get him away. Safe. Ha. Kieron wouldn’t say he’d ended up in a safe environment, and yet…

“It’s okay.” He kept his voice soft. He had to approach this like he was talking to someone he cared about. Someone he loved. He didn’t love his mother; he had never loved her, and she hadn’t done anything since he’d been taken captive to incline him otherwise. But Carlisle, a person who was accustomed to being in control of herself and the dangerous situation she was living in, had been thrown out of her comfort zone thanks to Kieron’s excessive actions. He was responsible for that, which meant he was responsible for her.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said again. “Deep breaths, all right?” He stretched a hand out toward her—not to touch her, but to give her something to focus on other than her body. “Take some deep breaths. You can do it.”

Carlisle didn’t waste any more time stammering, just tried to do as Kieron directed her. She was good, he had to admit it; if anyone knew how to handle a panic attack, it stood to reason it would be the daughter of one of the most genuinely revolting people Kieron had ever known in his life. He’d met some genuine, narcissistic sociopaths on Gania, terrible xenophobes on Trakta, and too many hopeless drifters on Cloverleaf Station, people whose eyes were clouded with the knowledge that they were on their last run. None of those people made Kieron as fearful as his grandfather.

If only he’d been properly prepared to kill the man. If only he’d been mentally ready to hold back. It was too late for regrets, though; he had to deal with things as they were now, and right now he needed Carlisle to be calm so they could talk things through.

“It’s going to be all right,” he said. “Please, sit down.” He gestured to the table between them. “I won’t go anywhere. We’ll figure something out.” There was always another way out. If his time with Elanus had taught him anything, it was that. Of course, for Elanus that often meant throwing around money or tech like it was nothing, and that wouldn’t work here. But it wasn’t hopeless, even now.

Carlisle sat, but her eyes were wet and her hands trembling. She didn’t quite look at him, more past him when she said, “I never wanted to see you again.”

That hurt in a way Kieron didn’t expect. It was stupid; he knew she didn’t mean it the way she was saying it. Context was enough for him to glean that she intended for him to escape from this hellhole and never come back, even if it meant them never seeing each other again. She meant it for his benefit. But the thought of saying that to one of his beautiful girls, so sweet and earnest and genuine in their love for him, was simply impossible. He could never leave Catie or Lizzie with words like that.

Realizing that made the pain he felt melt into pity, because it was clear that Carlisle had no idea how to be a parent. Kieron didn’t know anything about his real father, and he barely remembered most of his childhood, but this woman had only ever been a title to him. He was going to do better for his kids, which meant getting out of here and back to them as soon as possible.

“I never expected to see you again either,” he said as kindly as he could. “But here we are. Now, let’s figure out how we’re going to get out of here.”