The Bad Guy Wins

Cosima gave a quick roll of her eyes as she waved a hand, dismissing his question. The woman really did not care why the other had taken so long to get here, as long as they were here and were doing their job it was enough for her. “ Oh, you knew him. He was far better than you, Kozak. Don’t tell me you already forgot. ” A bitter chuckle escaping her lips as Cosima made her way back to her desk, leaning against it sparing a glance at Ivan, from time to time she enjoyed this. Reminding the other about his long lost friend who he betrayed long ago. After some time the woman proceeded. There was no point in talking about the past anyways when what she needed was something from the present that will shape their future. “ You see, we might be old beyond measure and we might have the rest of eternity for us… some us of at least… That does not mean we can allow time to get away from us. Because next thing you know, you might end up dead.” She had been sure to tell him all of this a long way ago when she recruited him. Though he probably remembered all of it, a little reminder wouldn’t hurt. 

The woman proceeded to grant him her okay to sit down as she walked back to her own chair, folding her hands together on her lap before she spoke. “Now let’s not waste any more time shall we? – I call you here because I have another mission for you. That I hope this time you manage to complete in time.” The words came in a bitter tone as she fished for some papers she had been reading over before. The undertone bitterness hinting at how he had yet to report back to her with any news about 1-8AX. Though she would not be getting into that now. “ I need you to shut down the hospital on The City. Not the one located over at the Police station, but the one who gives out the credits and immortality serums. As well as shut down the one in The Hive. ” She handed the man papers (which now seem nothing but useless but Cosima liked the method of having things in paper rather than in machines that could be hacked by rebels) with the information necessary. Including dates, the exact time and even the way he was to shut them off. The one in the city with a simple casual violation of orders while the on on The Hive with a bomb. Which indicated him to wait until every civilian had cleared the zone before planting it and activating it.

“Promises, promises.” Death was the easy way out, to leave behind everything that hadn’t left him once in all his years and even then, the threat ( as veiled as it might have been ) wasn’t anything more than a promise that wouldn’t be kept. Not as long as he was useful to her. The good little soldier. The one who viewed his own standing more than anything else, not even the people that he claimed to care about as the darkness of his decision was still there – handing over him like a personal rain cloud that only fell on his shoulders.

That was his fault. One that he accepted fully as the twist of his lips was only a fraction of the pain that he felt in the pit of his stomach as nothing else would give away a hint of what he felt. A good little soldier indeed. Cosima TRUSTED him as well as anyone else that believed he stood on their side, but none of them knew the truth that lay within. The fact that he didn’t belong to any but himself. A fact that he felt he’d proven too many times to be allowed anywhere near a single organization. But then again, his memory and lifespan far eluded most others who came and went in the blink of an eye while Ivan stood, still to this day.

Ivan watched her carefully, allowing the hint of amusement on his features to drop off completely in a matter of moments until he stood to full attention like the SOLDIER he’d been turned back into by her forceful hand. One that’d guided him to the place he found himself lost in, secure in the resources that she provided as well as the intelligence to know that he wouldn’t be FOOLISH enough to stand against her after she’d given him so much. ( or would he? ) 

Question sentence starters for @cosimabailey, status: accepting!

                          FIST clenched at her side, shaking with barely controlled power, Aggie levels her gaze to the other woman, jaw clenched. ❝I came to get him back,❞she seethes, voice this side of composed. It’s taking everything in her not to explode ( she wants to, she wants to make Cosima pay — but others will, too, if she loses herself here ).❝I came to get all of them back.❞

                         There’s a streak of self-hate that buries deep inside her gut — when Ivan had saved her from the Garden facilities when she was younger she hadn’t questioned it. Had been so scared and tired and out of it that she escaped with him without a second thought. And in the end it had taken her a few days to realize she’d left them — Atlas & Ares. Her friends. Her family.

                        She hadn’t been strong enough back then to get them back — but now? Her hands vibrate with power, a tilde wave of energy threatening to break free.❝I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else, ❞the young girl grits out, teeth clenched.❝I’m going to stop you. ❞

[ tw: torture, tw: gore, tw: blood - tagging for descriptives ][ flashback – char: jake ]

there’s a laugh that bubbles up from his chest.  gets caught in the craw of his throat, cloying it’s way through the blood that drips in a slow stream of spit and crimson from his lips.  the sound that emerges is a half choked bark, a quick spray of fluid in a mist into the air.  a few minute drops landing on her skin - and he hopes it stains.  taints her supposed ‘perfection’ and shows how truly – f l a w e d - she really is.

“just… peachy.”

the last thing he’s going to do is give her any kind of satisfaction.  it’s been - four days.  and in that time, she’d made him yell, made him scream, stolen his consciousness, bled him, cut him, burned him with fire - and ice.  shoved her hand into a hole in his gut until she was elbow deep in entrails and viscera and fished around his insides like she was looking for a prize in a cereal box.  and that was just a starter for ten.

but he’s never - EVER - going to give her the satisfaction.  he’s not going to beg.  he’s not going to – b r e a k.  not for her.  n e v e r.

he’s under no illusion that there would be any kind of reprieve.  no mercy.  no ‘humanity’.  she doesn’t have a scrap of it within her toxic frame.  nothing but a septic presence, corrupting and stealing things which weren’t hers to touch – no matter how ‘entitled’ she thought she was.  it didn’t matter.  there would be revenge.  maybe not by his hand - but he’s damn sure than no amount of – genetic scrubbing – could cleanse the PURE HATRED inside of him.

“hey c-cosima… h-here’s a suggestion for you.  why d-don’t you cut off a f-finger next – m-make it the m-middle one… and SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS - BITCH.”

Question sentence starters for @cosimabailey, status: accepting! ( torture tw & blood tw )

                          FOR a brief moment all Aggie can hear is the ocean raging inside her head, distorting the question far beyond comprehension. The young woman pulls against the shackles on her wrists, still tryingsubconsciously to break free even though her vision is spinning and off kilter. The pain has dulled to a distant ache, though she doubts it will ever truly fade. She’s back in a room without windows, without light save for a small bulb secured to the ceiling. It’s musky and smells of mold and there’s only one way in and out — a thick metal door Cosima is currently standing in front of.

                          “Pr-retty good, actually,” she grounds out, tongue swiping over her split bottom lip. No matter what happens, not matter how much pain or torture she endures — Aggie will not submit to Cosima. Ever.Absently she pulls at her restraints ( the metal chain pulls feebly at it’s secured point on the floor, stapled unmoving by a flat metal bolt ). Her breath hitches, a sort of wheezing gasp, body teetering on the edge of focused consciousness.

                          Straightening, she sits back slightly on her heals, dragging in a breath — a spark of fire spreads across her chest, starting at her ribs and rushing up her throat. Bruised or broken ribs. The funny thing is, though, Aggie’s been through worse. She’s been through so much worse. “Tell me,” she ventures, clenching her jaw and squaring a glare in Cosima’s direction ( something warm, wet & sticky runs down the side of her face ). “How much does it piss you off that I’m a success, that I can do all of these things – ” her voice is low and broken but holds a level of venom she didn’t know she had. “ – and that I would rather die then do what you want.”

five word prompt

Thewords echoed around the two of them while only one thought came to mind.

OrWHAT?

Whatelse could Cosima do to her at this point? Calliope had already beenlabeled a traitor by the one before her; the one she would have doneanything for without hesitation and did more times than not. What wasleft? What could be dangled over her head if she dared to walk away?Her own life was it and part of her knew that time would comeeventually, but now wasn’t the time for it. Cosima loved holding that ideaof her and wouldn’t dare end it so quick.

“Isn’tthat what you want anyway?” No matter the fact that each breathwasn’t quite steady, her tone was even and the words flood from heras smooth as ever. “You want me to leave and never return. You wantme EXILED. Make up your mind, Cosima. Should I go or should I stay?Did you want me to kneel before you and beg? Because I am TIRED ofit.” There was so much that Calliope was tired of and there wasstill no escaping her exhaustion—just the same as there was noescaping her.

“So…—”Swallowing the lump in her throat before sucking in a deep breath,her heart raced in her chest while allowing the words to pass herlips that she had said a number of times before and now said them ina much different manner. “What would you have me do next?”

Anastasia was breaking. Two young children stricken down, dying in her arms, so helpless to stop it. She couldn’t fight an illness. Watching Selene fall in was the last straw. There had to be a way to save her, to give her a chance to live. Anastasia would give everything to see her live, even her own life. After all she wouldn’t survive losing her.

“Give her a chance, please. She’s only seven. She has her whole life in front of her. She deserves to have her whole life in front of her. I will give anything if you give her that chance, anything you want. Please heal her, let her live”

NO, she didn’t need him. No one did. And yet, he still stood there while his expiration date had long since past. Ivan knew this, didn’t need to be reminded of it by HER of all people and even though they both knew it, Cosima had a way of still getting under his skin and leaving him with a bittersweet taste in his mouth. One that he craved in a way that it clouded his better judgement, saved himself for the better position in her eyes, and KILLED everyone else in his life.

What a guy, right? He was a real prize. One that he wore around her neck like a medal but when he closed his eyes, letting her words wash over him – Ivan felt the noose around his neck, the one that he’d helped her place there.

It was his own fault. One that didn’t stop him from what he did, her bidding to keep him in her good graces but it only lasted so long before he was moving to his next high. His next score. His next moment to hold onto and believe that it would carry him forward longer than this, into the next lifetime and then some. 

Who would he be if there wasn’t someone who needed him? How would he exist if there wasn’t a reason for him? So he had to make the reasons EXIST. He had to work the system in his favor, keep himself employed and NEEDED despite the fact that was glaring at him in the face that he wasn’t. He wasn’t wanted or needed. Not a soldier who couldn’t listen to all the orders and follow them through, not when his own thoughts INVADED his mind to the point of no return.

Faces of people in his past slipped in through his armor, reminding him of how VULNERABLE he was to his own feelings that were better off g o n e. Atticus. Mal. Agatha. They blinked in and out of his field of vision, before they were replaced with the face that’d put him together and remade him in the form of the soldier that he was now. SHE was the one that’d called for him, but would have easily replaced him with another.

Another who deserved better than what he got. All because of IVAN. That was the one she NEEDED. That was the one that she WANTED. But Ivan was the one standing before her as a sick twist to his lips replaced any of the stony exterior that he handcrafted so well with a cock to his head.

“That might be true but guess what? I’m all you’ve got.”

cotgememe: The Children

subject a.23B - Agatha Barlow

subject r.45-3 - Ares Riggs

subject ex.12 - Astoria

TW: dissociation, violence, terrorism