Viper
“She is no longer saying anything through the door, Viper! It’s been three days! Something is wrong. I feel it!” Poe’s brown eyes pleaded with me, unshed tears making her eyes glassy. I knew I was being an ass. Hell, her, Dax, and Axios reminded me of it every day. Reaper had come by, too. He refused to order me to let Oz out, but he encouraged me to do the right thing.
The truth is I thought I had been, now I am no longer sure. No, deep down in my circuits, I knew what I had done was wrong. I couldn’t bring myself to face the female I had locked away. I had used excuses to justify what I had done. That it wasn’t a cell. That I had tried to make her comfortable. That it was better having her near me so I could keep an eye on her.
But the truth was that Oz had not made one move against me since that first day. She had apologized over and over. Had allowed me to hurt her, to lock her away because of her guilt. And I had taken full advantage of it.
It had been easier to focus on my anger than on the confusing feelings surrounding her. The tiny thread of jealousy that gnawed at me over the fact she had chosen Axios over me. And why wouldn’t she? I had refused her every attempt to make amends.
I sighed. “I have been monitoring her vitals. I would know if she was in distress.”
“You mean you’ve been spying on her like some kind of creep! Monitoring her vitals doesn’t tell you if she is happy or not, if she is letting her demons beat the shit out of her every single second of every day!” The tears Poe had been holding back slid down her cheeks. “You don’t know her like I do. Oz willnevertell anyone she needs help. She willneverallow you to see her pain because she refuses to be vulnerable. She thinks I don’t know…” She hugged herself, letting the sentence trail off.
Suddenly I felt consumed with wanting to know what she had been about to say. “Don’t knowwhat, Poe?”
Poe shook her head. “No. You don’t get to know her secrets. She would probably run from me if she suspected I knew. I won’t help you hurt her further.” Moving into my space, she tipped her head back, her eyes narrowing like sharp daggers. “Youare the one who locked her up.Youare the one who is responsible for her. If something happens to her, I will never forgive you. Grow a pair and go check onher.”
“Fine.” It was the last thing I wanted to do. But Poe was correct. I was acting like a coward all because I had been a fucking fool, and I didn’t know how to fix what I had done. Making sure she truly was okay would be a good start.
Lifting my hand, I knocked on her door. “Female, it is me. Is it alright if I enter?” Silence greeted my inquiry. I knocked harder. “Femal-“ The word died on my lips. She had a name. Time for me to use it.
“Oz,” the tone of my voice softened, “I simply want to make sure you are okay. All your vitals indicate you are fine, but I’d feel better if I could check to make sure.” The words felt good coming from my lips. My visual systems longed to inspect her form and verify she was well. That was a surprise, but instead of hating it I felt relieved, like a weight off my processors had been lifted.
The feeling only lasted a minute, the weight instead migrating to lodge in my chest when there was still no response. As fast as my fingers could move, I punched in the code, throwing the door wide open. The part of me that hoped she would be sitting smugly on the couch glaring at me got frantic when that wasn’t the case.
The living room was in complete disarray. Blankets and pillows had been tossed on the floor along with several items of clothing. The coffee table was littered with plates, small bites taken out of the various food items sitting on them, as if she had gotten tired of eating midway through and abandoned them. Broken pieces of the video files she had hurled at my head lay strewn about, some pieces taped together as if she had attempted to fix them.
The kitchen was in the same state. Dishes piled high in the sink, the smell of rotting food clogging up my nostrils and making me flee back out into the living room, covering my mouth and nose. Everywhere around me was signs of someone that had given up caring.
You drove her to this, my mind taunted.You stole her from Axios. You locked her away and then didn’t even bother to check on her.
Fuck. This was bad. How had I become this big of an asshole?
For the first time since she had arrived, I allowed myself to step into her shoes. Thought about what I would have done if I believed someone I cared for was being held captive or harmed. And the answer to that would be…anything.Could I blame her for doing the same?
“Oz?” I called out softly as I moved down the hall to the bedrooms. Scanning the first one I saw that it sat empty, the bed untouched. Keeping my feet moving, I stopped outside the second one. The door sat partially ajar, and I gave it a hesitate push, letting it swing open.
A small figure was huddled in the middle of the bed, completely hidden under a mountain of blankets. All I saw was a pronounced lump. I raced to the side of the bed, flinging the covers away.
Oz lay curled on her side, her knees drawn up to her chin. Her legs were completely bare, and she shivered as the cold air hit her exposed skin.Where were her pants? And why wasn’t she wearing them?I shook my head. It wasn’t the time to worry about the fact she wasn’t wearing pants. More concerning was the fact she had yet to make a sound.
I sank to my knees beside the bed, ignoring the mess around me. A tiny jolt of shock zipped up my spine, realizing that I was more concerned for Oz than I was about the state of the room. With shaking hands, I reached out, capturing her cheeks between my palms. “Oz?” I said softly, worry coursing along my wires.
She blinked, her eyes darting around the room before they settled on my face. “Viper?”
I nodded, my fingers trembling against her cheeks.
She tugged herself free, scrambling up the bed to put space between us. “You left me here. I’ve tried to do better, but it doesn’t matter …” she trailed off, hugging herself tightly. “Get out,” she croaked, her eyes slamming shut as if she couldn’t even bare the sight of me.
My frame ignored her command. Instead, I climbed up on the bed and gathered her in my arms. She fought me, her hands slapping my arms to get me to release her, but I refused to let go. “Stop!” I ordered. “You are only going to hurt yourself.”
She stilled in my arms and looked up at me, her eyes shining. “I can be better.”
I can be better.Four words. Four simple words that stole the manufactured breath from my lungs and brought a memory rushing back from when I had said the same thing.
The scent of stale body fluids teased my sensitive nose, my skin decorated in a patchwork of dark stains from the fluid that had filled my wires. The rough metal of the cuffs around my wrists and ankles had shredded the synthetic flesh underneath from all the attempts to get free, stripping it bare.
Hanging from the chains here in agony, I was kept anchored to the wall for whatever torments they wanted to dole out. Pain rolled through my circuits on constant repeat, a never-ending cycle my processors could no longer block out due to the attachment they had fused to the back of my neck.