GlasgowSmiles
03-05-2011, 06:16 AM
Hokay, my first foray into fanfic for this particular fandom... Bit nervous. But after rewatching Renegades 'Enemy of my Enemy', I was compelled to write...
~~~
Pulling up the relevant security footage was no matter at all, finding where he’d slunk off to terribly easy.
Saying what I wanted to say once I caught up to him there? That would take thought. Still, I could hardly let it alone.
“James?” I approached him—surely by now he has had enough time to lick his wounds on his own.
… Or perhaps not. He jerks back from me, faces the dark corner of the mostly-empty room, muscles tensed.
“G’way from me, woman! Don’t even look at me… not now…”
I have never been much affected by anguish. It would be foolish to say that the love of a good man is all I need to change me—I am unchangeable, wicked, fueled by self-interest, and the only men I am interested in could not be called ‘good’. I am interested in James now.
I have never been much affected by anguish, and this instance is no different, because for all that I do not wish to see him so pained, any pleas for me to leave him to his misery will fall on deaf ears. Misery is something that the strong must push through, and it has always seemed to me that James McCullen is a strong man. Perhaps now he only needs someone to show him how strong.
“Don’t be foolish.” I placed a hand on his arm, firmly. “It doesn’t suit you, you know. Your scheme was ill-timed and perhaps ill-planned, Mr. McCullen, but now you are a part of Cobra. It would be best if you acted with Cobra’s interests as your own.”
“And why should I do that?” He growled, pulling away. “I have nothing left to lose in defying your precious commander.”
“Your disdain is noted.” I returned his sneer with one of my own, aimed ever so slightly towards the security camera just past him. “Still, if you can show yourself to be loyal, you may regain some part of what you lost. Who knows, perhaps you may even rise through the ranks to gain some favour.”
He snorted and began to turn away again.
“More favour than Dr. Binder even, if you play your cards right. If you display the proper spirit. If you can succeed where he fails in the future. Would it not please you to usurp him?”
“Just what are you saying?” He leaned in. So at last I have his attention.
“Show us that we can depend on you.” I said, and then, leaning even closer in, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Show our ‘precious commander’ that you are in his pocket, and that he has no reason to doubt you. Your mistake, my dear Mr. McCullen, was not in defying him. It was in doing so from too weak a position. To play to win, takes time. And no small amount of deceit.”
I pulled back again and fixed him with a smile. “So you will play nice with us now, won’t you?”
“Baroness,” Though the awful mask hid any facial expression, there was something bordering on awe in his voice as he inclined his head towards me. “Let it never be said that you are not a… persuasive woman.”
“I never do.” For a moment, my smile was realer, warmer, than the cool charade I am accustomed to.
I was right to play to the camera as much as I did. I was summoned into the office after the little tete a tete.
“What did you want to talk to our Destro about, Baroness?”
“Obedience.”
“I see. And do you think he can be… trusted?”
I hate his habit of looming, I hate the guttural hiss of his unmodified voice, I hate playing subordinate to this man who, on his own, is no smarter and no stronger than I, but who is so much richer and better connected. I hate so many things about him, but I love that he believes in my unswerving loyalty.
“Trust? Perhaps in time, Commander. Still, I think we can count on fear to keep him in line. Still, if you have strong doubts, I will be more than happy to keep a close eye on him personally.”
“Very well, put him on a short leash. And Baroness… if you see any signs that he will be difficult to control, I leave the rest to your discretion.”
In other words, eliminate him. Oh so careful with risks and rewards, but I’ve slipped through. If James had held on, had played his cards more carefully, he might have escaped his current torment. Still, I believe he can learn from his mistakes. And I know that, if I am ever able to speak with him freely, his sympathies lie in line with my own. So, let our ‘precious commander’ continue his path to global domination. Accumulate greater wealth, greater power. Greater complacency. But when the time is right to strike, to topple him, I could stand to inherit this empire. And if things go according to plan, then… then perhaps I could share that empire with a trusted accomplice.
~FIN~
~~~
Pulling up the relevant security footage was no matter at all, finding where he’d slunk off to terribly easy.
Saying what I wanted to say once I caught up to him there? That would take thought. Still, I could hardly let it alone.
“James?” I approached him—surely by now he has had enough time to lick his wounds on his own.
… Or perhaps not. He jerks back from me, faces the dark corner of the mostly-empty room, muscles tensed.
“G’way from me, woman! Don’t even look at me… not now…”
I have never been much affected by anguish. It would be foolish to say that the love of a good man is all I need to change me—I am unchangeable, wicked, fueled by self-interest, and the only men I am interested in could not be called ‘good’. I am interested in James now.
I have never been much affected by anguish, and this instance is no different, because for all that I do not wish to see him so pained, any pleas for me to leave him to his misery will fall on deaf ears. Misery is something that the strong must push through, and it has always seemed to me that James McCullen is a strong man. Perhaps now he only needs someone to show him how strong.
“Don’t be foolish.” I placed a hand on his arm, firmly. “It doesn’t suit you, you know. Your scheme was ill-timed and perhaps ill-planned, Mr. McCullen, but now you are a part of Cobra. It would be best if you acted with Cobra’s interests as your own.”
“And why should I do that?” He growled, pulling away. “I have nothing left to lose in defying your precious commander.”
“Your disdain is noted.” I returned his sneer with one of my own, aimed ever so slightly towards the security camera just past him. “Still, if you can show yourself to be loyal, you may regain some part of what you lost. Who knows, perhaps you may even rise through the ranks to gain some favour.”
He snorted and began to turn away again.
“More favour than Dr. Binder even, if you play your cards right. If you display the proper spirit. If you can succeed where he fails in the future. Would it not please you to usurp him?”
“Just what are you saying?” He leaned in. So at last I have his attention.
“Show us that we can depend on you.” I said, and then, leaning even closer in, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Show our ‘precious commander’ that you are in his pocket, and that he has no reason to doubt you. Your mistake, my dear Mr. McCullen, was not in defying him. It was in doing so from too weak a position. To play to win, takes time. And no small amount of deceit.”
I pulled back again and fixed him with a smile. “So you will play nice with us now, won’t you?”
“Baroness,” Though the awful mask hid any facial expression, there was something bordering on awe in his voice as he inclined his head towards me. “Let it never be said that you are not a… persuasive woman.”
“I never do.” For a moment, my smile was realer, warmer, than the cool charade I am accustomed to.
I was right to play to the camera as much as I did. I was summoned into the office after the little tete a tete.
“What did you want to talk to our Destro about, Baroness?”
“Obedience.”
“I see. And do you think he can be… trusted?”
I hate his habit of looming, I hate the guttural hiss of his unmodified voice, I hate playing subordinate to this man who, on his own, is no smarter and no stronger than I, but who is so much richer and better connected. I hate so many things about him, but I love that he believes in my unswerving loyalty.
“Trust? Perhaps in time, Commander. Still, I think we can count on fear to keep him in line. Still, if you have strong doubts, I will be more than happy to keep a close eye on him personally.”
“Very well, put him on a short leash. And Baroness… if you see any signs that he will be difficult to control, I leave the rest to your discretion.”
In other words, eliminate him. Oh so careful with risks and rewards, but I’ve slipped through. If James had held on, had played his cards more carefully, he might have escaped his current torment. Still, I believe he can learn from his mistakes. And I know that, if I am ever able to speak with him freely, his sympathies lie in line with my own. So, let our ‘precious commander’ continue his path to global domination. Accumulate greater wealth, greater power. Greater complacency. But when the time is right to strike, to topple him, I could stand to inherit this empire. And if things go according to plan, then… then perhaps I could share that empire with a trusted accomplice.
~FIN~