The Lady and her Shadow

The woman watches the man in the cage. He knows she is there, she knows he knows. Now it is a waiting game, one they both had played before. But she had never had to play it with one of Lewis’ pack. His trainees were the best. He only chose the finest to come under his personal tutelage.

"Hello, Tom. I must thank you. Your defection gave me an opportunity, one I took full advantage of. Do you know who I am?" The man never looks at her or acknowledges her presence.

She stares at him, waiting for his answer. At the moment she thought he would ignore her he answers. "You have no name. You are merely devastation and impending death. Why am I still alive? I would assume my death has been ordered."

She notices his demeanor, no fear, no anger, nothing. "Your death has been ordered but they gave you to me. If you die, it will be by my hand, by my order. They have nothing to do with it. They gave me this power long ago, in return for something I did. To remove it from me now would be…unwise."

She comes close and touches his face with a single finger and is pleased to see him suppress a shudder. He had not forgotten their first meeting. "Because of you I have regained something I thought lost. You shall live a while longer. If I can persuade you to see things in my light, you may come to work for me. I have many ways of changing ones mind. We will see."

He glances at the man shadowing her. "I see Lewis is with you. Have you taken him as a lover again? I did not know you were so forgiving of someone who had defied you."

She looks at her shadow, no expression on his face. Her hand comes up and gently caresses his cheek. He does not pull away but his eyes are not dead they blaze in anger as she touches him. "No, Tom. But perhaps I shall. Or perhaps I shall take you as my lover and give him to someone else. No matter. Time is something I have now, and you do not."

She leaves and tells one of the guards at the door, loud enough so he can hear. "Nothing for 24 hours. We’ll see if a little hunger and thirst will help him think." He is left alone surrounded by darkness in a pool of light. She speaks to one of her men in the hall.

"The human woman who was so foolish to bring him to us? Kill her and leave the body where it will be found. I want all trace of her trafficking to vanish." He nods and leaves.

He shivers at the thought of being in her clutches. He looks at the cage surrounding him and wishes he’d just been killed. In her hands he could live a very long time and only long for death.

She looks at her shadow and nods to let him know he may speak. "Hunger and thirst will not break him. I taught him better than that. You taught me better than that. What are your plans for him?"

She slaps him viciously across his face, breaking his lip and causing it to bleed. She then gently kisses him where she had just slapped him. "Do not question me again. Do I make myself clear? You are well trained in the pleasurable arts and I will greatly enjoy it if you come into my bed, but do not presume upon my good graces. I have none."

"In answer to your question, I do not wish to break him. I merely wish to make him more compliant. I shall need to bend his will somewhat. You used drugs on him, which was less than useless. Instead I will encourage him to join me. He will, in return for what he wants. And he wants only one thing. My men are fetching it even as we speak."

"The Parker woman, I should have known. I didn’t know how valuable she was until I had them together. You are right. I should have used her instead of the drugs. I could have bound him tightly to me, but then I would have to let her live. Her death has been ordered, too."

"So it has, however he still is chosen. If she is his mate, she is under his umbrella of protection. Not even the council would interfere with that. As long as he lives, so can she. I may have two aces in my pocket. Let’s see how the game is played."

"At the time I had her, they had not become intimate. This may have changed or may not. She loves him, but he…he is still one of us. We did check his DNA while he was unconscious. The gene therapy did not change him, at least, not permanently. I assume the reason you want all trace of her gone is to destroy the information on the gene therapy."

"Of course, it was a foolish idea in the first place. Come, we can decide upon the next step in my plan. My defiance of the council does not include my death." She looks at him speculatively, "or yours for that matter."

She goes to an empty room to await her guest; her shadow behind her as was his place. Yes, the girl was to be her guest. She had already met Lewis. Her fear should be palpable. Her men entered with the tall redhead. She was fearful, but trying to be brave.

Sloan looks at Lewis standing behind the dark haired woman. Lewis apparently was subservient to her. She was in a great deal of trouble.

"Doctor Parker, please consider yourself my guest for the time being. My men did not harm you, did they?" Sloan shakes her head.

"You may have anything you wish. Anything, that is, except your freedom. You know my Shadow, don’t you?" She says, motioning towards Lewis. "Yes, I can see you do. I suggest you cooperate with me or else he will be put in charge of your wellbeing."

Lewis smiles at her and Sloan gasps. She did not want to have Lewis be in charge of her. She gulped and asked the question that was upper most in her mind. "Do you know what happened to Tom? That bitch took him and he needs help. I’ll do what you want if you help him, please."

She was much more afraid for Tom than for herself, interesting. This was a weakness she could exploit. "The woman you refer to has been taken care of. As to Tom, I think what happens to him is much more dependent upon you. I require his cooperation and I wish for you to help with that. So you see my dear, I wish you no harm, nor do I wish to harm your Tom. But his death has been ordered. If I am to save him, and you, he will have to cooperate. I will tell you more tomorrow. These rooms are yours, but you may not leave. Please tell us what you wish and it will be provided."

She had Tom, but what did she mean ‘taken care of’? "Can I see him? Is he all right?"

"He is well, for the time being. No, you cannot see him, yet. When the time is right, you may. Like I said, I require his cooperation. You will help with that, willingly or unwillingly."

She leaves Sloan alone in the room. As Lewis passes by her, he strokes her cheek, gently. "I remember our time together. I will be pleased to entertain you again."

She looks around the room. It looks like a small living room, with a door at the rear. She goes to the door and opens it. It’s a bedroom with a king-sized bed and door at the side of this room. When she enters this one she sees a large bathroom, with a large closet at the front of it, a shower and whirlpool bath. Inside it is stocked with clothes. Her size and men’s clothes too. Who was to be living here with her?

The day is long and lonely. They have turned the heat up in the room, to encourage his dehydration. He feels a familiar presence. They have Sloan; she is near here. He concentrates on her. They have her, but she isn’t terrified, fearful but no terror. She should be totally terrified but she didn’t know what kind of trouble she was in. He put his hands on the bars and pulled. This cage had been built to hold him. Even if he got out he would have the guards to deal with. He didn’t care. He had to get to her. What that woman could do to Sloan he didn’t even want to think about. He could take it for himself but not for her.

He turns himself sideways and uses his feet and hands to pry the bars apart. He strains and feels the bars move slightly. The guards watch him but do nothing. They were there to watch him, and watch only. If he did escape, he knew they would report it but not stop him. She had not ordered them to. They would not do what they were not ordered to. The fear they had of her was far more than his own was.

He stretches and strains. The sweat was pouring off of him. He knew he was hastening his own demise but that was nothing. He had to get to her and get her out. If Sloan stayed in her hands there was no telling what the consequences could be. And Lewis was here too. He remembers Sloan’s reaction to him. Lewis had an incendiary sexuality. If she was to give Sloan to Lewis, he could lose her, or worse.

The bars let loose slowly. He knew it would take time to move them enough to let him free. If she returned before he was done, no, he refused to think of what the consequences might be, to either of them.

He starts to feel light-headed. He’s got to rest. If he losses too much fluid he won’t be able to think. He lies on the floor gasping. How long he had been there he didn’t know. Time had no meaning here.

He starts awake. He’d fallen asleep. He was more tired than he had thought. His mouth felt thick and constricted. He’d lost a lot of fluid. He knew what that meant; only 3% fluid loss meant dehydration, 15% could mean death. If he died, who would protect Sloan?

The guards were new ones. They had changed while he slept. He hadn’t noticed. He reached out to feel for her. Sloan was there, and close, too. Had they deliberately imprisoned her close to him, so he could feel her? He wouldn’t doubt it. If she hurt Sloan, he would know, and she would. She might do it in front of him or out of his sight, but close enough for him to know. Or worse she might do it remotely and let him watch through a video feed. There would be no way to know if she was alive or dead.

He starts to reach for the bars again when she enters the room. He has trouble concentrating on her. He knows it’s the results of the dehydration. She had been waiting for him to touch the bars before entering. How long had he been out?

"Hello, Tom. I see you have been testing our accommodations. I would have expected no less from one trained by Shadow." She takes his hand and presses a thumbnail against the skin. "Yes, you have been exerting yourself too much. I’ll give you some water, however, in return you must promise to talk to me. We have much to discuss. Including the dispossession of a certain young lady."

He reaches his hand around her wrist and pulls her close to him, where there are only the bars of the cage separating them. "Do not harm her."

"You are not in a position to bargain. I suggest you release me. Her safety depends, in a large part, on you and how you act. Would you like a demonstration?" She nods her head. Sloan is brought in; she must have been brought here after the woman approached him. "String her up and strip her."

Sloan is handcuffed and the cuffs are clipped to a chain. Her arms are drawn over her head, but her feet are allowed to touch the floor. Tom releases her wrist. "No, don’t. I’ll cooperate. Don’t strip her."

It galled Lewis to see his former pupil beg. He had begged her before, but the wrenching in his gut was still there. He moved swiftly to stand between the guards and Sloan. He would do what was necessary but no more.

"I see the young lady has two champions. Very well, I will allow you to protect her sensibilities, to some extent. Shadow; strip her to her under-things. She’s out of your reach Tom." She snaps her fingers. One of the guards brings over a water container. "Here, drink. I assume you were taught how to properly re-hydrate." She watches as Lewis strips the outer clothing from Sloan’s body. He carefully cuts the clothing off down to her slip, then stops.

"You said her under-things, it’s done." He folds the knife in his hand and puts it away.

She nods while looking at Lewis. "I will remember to be more precise around you. Doctor Parker, you are here to remind Tom what he has to live for. You will not be harmed. At least, not yet. I will leave you for a time. Tom, soon we will talk. If you wish to live, we will have to come to some sort of accommodation. Her life is in your hands, literally."

She is right. Sloan is out of his reach. Even if he could reach her, what could he do? He took a sip of water. "Sloan, are you all right? Did they hurt you?" She was very afraid, far more than last night.

She turns so she could face him. "No, they didn’t hurt me. They locked me up last night, but gave me a room and everything. She said I could have anything but my freedom. Who is she? What is she?"

"She doesn’t have a name among my people. Those who know her don’t need a name. Those who don’t know her don’t want to know her name. I suppose some of her victims knew but they will never tell. They’re dead.

"Tom, she said if I didn’t cooperate, Lewis would be in charge of me. I didn’t think that was good for my health. Somehow, now, I don’t think that would be so bad."

"Bad enough. You don’t want him to be in charge of you either. I’m going to have to cooperate with her. I met her years ago when they were still close. I was part of a disposal team. I saw what she did to those she had to eliminate. Those who were alive were empty. They had nothing left, no mind, nothing. We didn’t have to kill them they died because they didn’t know how to live anymore. Those who were dead, well, the way they died was…different. They were not tortured in the traditional sense yet they were. Most of the damage on the bodies appeared to be self-inflicted. They died because that was what she wanted. Now, she wants something from me and the price is you. My life means nothing. I’ve already been sentenced to die."

"Tom, No! What would I do without you? She said if she was to save you and myself, you would have to cooperate. Tom, would she lie? I mean what would be the point?"

He looks at her, arms over her head and in chains and still she worries about him. Ever since the first she had worried about him, she had come when he called, let him put her in danger, and in general been perfectly willing to be his partner. That was what he wanted, for her to be his partner in all things; but not this, not his partner in death. "It’s unlikely she would lie to you. I’ve never heard of her lying to anyone. What she says, she will do. That is what she built a reputation on."

"Then if you cooperate, we both will live? That seems too good to be true. What could she want you to do?"

Tom leans against the back of the cage sipping at his water. He wants to gulp it down but that will not help. The water has a little sugar and salt in it to help him re-hydrate. His dehydration was only minor. It could be much worse. "I don’t know. It’s unlikely she wants me to kill someone. She is far too skilled in that herself. She has something specific in mind, but I don’t know what. The other option is that she wants to show the council the power she has. If this is so, we could be dead already, just not know it."

"What do you mean show her power? She has Lewis under her control, how much more power could she have?"

"I don’t know. That’s what concerns me. Sloan, you may not like the price of my cooperation. The only reason I’m not dead is I was given to her. She can do with me what she wants. Death or life or any of a hundred steps in between. I asked her if she had taken him as a lover again, in the hopes of making my death quicker. She said she had not, however she said she might take me as her lover and give him away. You are here only to make me cooperate. I think you are relatively safe until she wants me dead. But she has never broken her word on anything that I have ever heard of."

Sloan slumps slightly in the chains. "Uhhhh. Tom, I can’t feel my hands. Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, if you can grab the chain of the cuffs and pull yourself up. It will make your muscles work and help blood pump into your hands. It doesn’t matter if you can lift yourself. You just want the muscles to work."

He looks at her and watches as she tries to grasp the chain. She’d waited too long; her hands were too numb to grasp the chain. As he was going to tell her something else to do, Lewis steps through the door. He says not a word but signals for her release. As her hands are released she collapses in his arms. Her head lolls to the side as she goes unconscious.

"Tom, she wants to see you when I’m done." He picks her up and carries her out of the room.

What did Lewis mean? When he’s done? Tom didn’t think she was in any real danger, they needed him, but Lewis was an unknown quantity in this case. He had been made her shadow; not the best position to be in. She said his defection had given her something, he assumed she meant Lewis. She had waited many years to have him returned; only now they were not equals. Whatever Lewis had done to disagree with her, he was paying for now. When this was over Tom would have to pay again to Lewis.

He takes her to her room. He does not have much time; she does not like to be kept waiting. He puts her in her bed and removes the handcuffs. He rubs her arms to encourage circulation. She moans softly, she’ll be awake soon. He looks at her precisely and deftly removes her remaining clothing. He covers her with the comforter. Before he leaves he positions her clothing on the dresser with the handcuffs on top of them. If things go as expected, Tom would understand. He may be foolish to want this woman but he was not stupid.

He returns to the cage where Tom is being held. "Come, Tom. Now you go to see our master."

He escorts Tom down a long hallway. "I suggest you make use of the facilities. Inside is a bathroom with shower and a change of clothes. It will not hurt your case to be properly dressed for this interview."

"Why are you so generous, Lewis? I cannot have made your position desirable. I would say it’s weak at best."

Lewis nods at him. "I have come to the conclusion, that the better your position is the better mine will be, eventually. Sometimes you have to play the odds. Hurry, we have little time."

Tom showers quickly and dresses, black turtleneck and pants. Lewis even has shoes here for him. At least if he dies he will look suitable.

They go to see her. The room she greets him in looks like an elegant living room, but Tom could see it was a charade. Lewis goes to stand behind her, he is her shadow, and anything she wants him to do, he must do. Tom had never seen Lewis be so subservient to anyone.

"Welcome, I see my Shadow has been taking steps again. Someday he will go too far and require discipline. We are here to discuss your cooperation. If you cooperate with me, things will be good for you and your human friend, if not, they could go badly. The choice is up to you."

"Release her and I will do what you ask."

"Oh, no. If I release her I no longer have a force with which to coerce you. The same if I kill her, even though she still is under a death sentence. If I kill you, she has no more value. It’s a package deal, you both live or you both die. She is human; you have the right to own her. It is no concession to let her live under those circumstances."

"She is not property, to be given away or kept. I don’t want to own her. I want more than that. I wish her to be my companion, my partner. But that must be her choice. I will not force it upon her."

"Very well, you have declared your union before two witnesses, she is yours. She is human; she has no say in the matter. As long as you live, she will be unscathed, but do not take this for a weakness. There are many things I can do without laying a hand upon her. Do you agree then, to cooperate with me?"

"Yes" he says reluctantly, "What do you want me to do?’

"That can be discussed later. Right now I only require your word. Shadow, take him to her. You will be fed in about two hours. Do not make me regret my generosity."

Tom nods at her and leaves with Lewis.

"Lewis, do you know what she’s up to? She’s taken a very dangerous position, to allow both of us to live."

"I am her shadow, she shares little with me. I do know she wants you alive. I believe she has a mission for you, however, what it is I don’t know. Even if I did I could not tell you."

"How did you come to be in this position? When the government took you I expected you to be free in a matter of days, a week or two at the most. How did she come to own you?"

"You ask too many questions. But when I was taken she came and got me without any input from the council. As a reward for her quick action I was given to her. For how long I don’t know, until someone needs my talents I suppose. I made too many errors. I assumed my position would protect me. It didn’t. Remember that Tom, no matter how good you are, your failures are remembered. Your successes are forgotten." They arrive at a door with a card lock. Lewis slides his card in the slot and keys the door open with his thumbprint. He opens it and allows Tom to enter. "She’s in the other room."