SAY OUT LOUD THESE WORDS I’VE FOUND

Jack had met Marissa briefly, and she did seem to the best of the lot. Then again, the likes of Ash and Mac had set an easy bar to clear for Belmont staff. 

“Fishy?” He asked, genuinely unsure what she meant by that in regards to the service he was offering. “You should definitely come. Come before class, or after. I’m planning my schedule around the classroom schedules.”

Realizing she’d confused him, she gave a wave of her hand in dismissal. “Not you, love. The idea that Belmont would wait so long to hire a personal trainer.” She thought about it for a moment. “I may take you up on that.” She definitely would. Lord knew she needed to get her mind focused on something that wasn’t staging some kind of solo breakout. “No promises.” 

Rory loved it when people willingly went along with his shenanigans. Not only because he was gonna proceed regardless of their shared enthusiasm, but because he like feeling as if he could lighten someone else’s spirits if even for a short time. Or at the very least distract them from the bleak landscape of Belmont.

“Look, I have a lot of ideas.” He warned her, pushing his chair out from the table and jumping to his feet again. “Are you superstitious, Mia?” 

Going along with Rory was always a shot in the dark. You never knew what you’d get and yet...Mia was willing to take the risk. He’d been the only one not to immediately piss her off, so she may have had a soft spot for the guy. 

“Of course you do.” she chuckled. “Superstitious? Good question...I don’t think so, why?” 

Mac exaggerated a pout and fluttered her lashes. “Been thinking a lot about my balls, have you? You know I’m not the stay and cuddle type.” She flashed her teeth at the implied threat, too delighted about a prospective fight to even think about how it might end. She didn’t have the advantage of her powers, and Mia was not someone to hold back. “Well lucky for you, we’ll have plenty of time to get intimate now.”

The more Mac spoke, the tighter Mia could feel her fist clenching. She knew a fight was what was wanted. Maybe a fight was what she needed. There was level playing field; no powers. No advantages. She didn’t dignify with a verbal response, instead her fist colliding right with Mac’s face before she could stop herself. Not that she wanted to. She damn near knocked the other woman over, chair and all. “No one touch her.” Mia growled at the nearby detainees, knowing most of them would want a taste of their own. “She’s mine.” She punctuated the sentence with another punch to Mac’s face. 

Jack laughed again, though it was semi-apologetic this time. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be held inside of this place. His position, as barely more than a volunteer, couldn’t begin to understand what it was like on the other side. 

“As you said, I’m new. I’m sure they’re letting me off easy right now.” He paused, realizing that he hadn’t introduced himself. “I’m Jack.” He nodded in the direction of the rec center. “Gonna be doing some volunteering coaching and/or personal training.”

“I mean...Marissa’s been here for years, still has some innocence. You might luck out.” she offered. “Mia.” Personal training...that sounded interesting and...not at all what she’d expected from Belmont. “I may have to check out your work sometime.  Coaching, personal training, sounds fishy but interesting.” 

Jack laughed quietly under his breath. “I’m not scared of a bad mood.” He assured her, comfortable in taking his chances like this. After all, growing up with Bailey for a best friend really deadened you to the absence of a cheery personality.

He nodded as she said he was new. “Yep. Just thought to myself one day, what better place to spend the winter than Alaska?” 

So Belmont had suckered someone else into the hellhole to work for them. If she cared enough, she’d give them points for keeping up the charade. . If she ever got her power back, she’d have to remember to leave this poor soul off her hit-list of nightmare conjuring. 

“Mm, still have your sense of humor. Hang onto it. They might try and rip it away.” She advised, though with a hint of...something kind in the smirky smile that crossed her lips 

Rory slid into the seat beside her, undeterred by the warning. “Of course I want something. But what’s the rush?” He asked curiously, planting his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand. 

He grinned as she said that she was trying to mentally escape, knowing that game all too well. “You should escape with me, then. It’s more fun as a group activity.” 

“You always want something.” She reminded him, whether it was a laugh  or he was looking for trouble. Green eyes opened to look at him. Oh, he seemed up to something. 

She couldn’t hold back the laugh. “Escape as a group activity? Because that went so well the first time when we tried it physically?” she asked, almost incredulously, yet still amused. They’d probably have gotten away with it had they planned better. “Alright, Bartlett, I’m intrigued.Give me your idea of an escape.” 

“Okay…if you want something, you’ve got 30 seconds. Otherwise…try to do whatever it is you’re doing a little more quietly. Some of us are trying to mentally escape this hellhole.”

“You and me both,” Mac said, dropping down into the chair beside Mia with a family-sized bag of Doritos in hand. Anyone else in her position might’ve worked hard to avoid the very people she sent into this hellhole, but there was also very few people in the world, let alone Belmont, who actually liked Mac. Might as well dance with the devil and all that. Besides, the haters were always way more interesting than any of her lovers. 

“It’s been a while,” Mac remarked, tilting the bag towards Mia with a wolfish grin. She only ever visited the facility once every few months for a day or two at most, and rarely mingled with the detainees. It was nostalgic seeing the faces of her work history glaring back at her these days.

That voice. She’d been trying so hard to forget that voice. The same voice..or one of them, at the least, that haunted her brain with every sleepless night. The same face she’d been wanting to bash in the moment she’d been stripped of everything that made her Mia.

“You’ve got quite a set of balls on you, don’t you?” Inside she was seething. Outside she was trying to play it cool but she was failing and she knew it. “Would’ve preferred it much longer. What the hell are you even doing here? Thought you were the drop them off and run kind of person? Lord knows you got the hell out of here pretty fast before your face could meet my fist.”