My half of a trade with @kidhellion based around the story surrounding this gorgeous art he made. 2,335 words, Ortega's pov, no warnings.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised Hollow Ground doesn't do phone calls, but an invitation on a business card just seems tacky. I would have torn it up and tossed it in the trash if it hadn't mentioned Nikki by name.
Thursday. 2pm. East Lounge. Nikki will be there too.
He's using Nikki as bait to make me jump, I just know it. Not that that pendejo has been answering my calls or texts since the party but if he's walking into a trap I can't very well let him do it alone, he's far too comfortable around Hollow Ground as it is. Flipping the card over in my hand, I can see the front is embossed with shiny black letters, The Crane. An upscale bar in the middle of downtown, I've been there a time or two both for business and pleasure, although I'm sure this will be neither.
A quick glance at my watch says its 1:15pm, traffic won't be an issue if I take the bike, I just need to get dressed. Something nice that preferably says 'Fuck You' though I doubt wearing my Charge suit would be appreciated. I send Nikki a quick text, just to check in.
[You going?]
The response is almost immediate.
[already here]
Oh so you can text back you little… But my anger fades into worry, this isn't good. Now Hollow Ground has even more time to get his hooks into Nikki. I dress quickly and am out the door before I can even grab an over coat, much less a helmet. The purr of the bike's engine and the wind in my hair does nothing to alleviate the bad feeling I have in my gut.
"You're late." Jake's annoyingly familiar voice calls out behind me.
I swallow a curse, removing my hand from the stair's railing to turn and face him with a smile.
"Fashionably." My wink gets a scowl in return. Good.
"Elevators this way." He turns and expects me to follow him as if he were bossing around one of his cronies instead of an active Ranger. Or maybe I'm not one today, what kind of Ranger walks into a meeting with Hollow Ground and Heartbreak? Only an idiot, probably. One with too much heart, but the instincts were still there. I had planned on taking the stairs, an elevator could turn into a kill box in an ambush and the stairs here were modern and well lit, different enough not to trigger memories of — no we're not going there, not now.
I have no choice but to follow him, if he wants to share a metal death trap with the guy who can shoot lighting out of his hands, he can be my guest. Its too much to hope for that maybe he'll sink through the floor and I can enjoy the ride in peace.
No such luck after an awkward moment where we both tried to enter the elevator at the same time, he jams the button to the fourth floor with more force than necessary.
"You seem tense." I can't help it, and he deserves it. "Didn't think your boss would have you playing escort duty, isn't this a bit below your pay grade?" And I try not to smile too much watching his shoulders tense with the restrained punch I know he'd love to throw my way. I'd welcome it, a little adrenaline kick to soothe the nerves, I still can't shake my bad feeling.
"Yeah well, consider yourself lucky."
"Ah no, if I was lucky, I wouldn't be here." I push past him to be the first one out the door when it opens revealing the lavish east lounge. Every instinct in me screams to scan the room first but I lock in on Nikki immediately, he's the only thing that matters right now. Safe? Probably not, but he's not hurt I just wish he wasn't turned away from me. I need his eyes to tell me he's OK, or that I am. I don't think either of us are.
"Good of you to finally join us." Hollow Ground's voice is similar enough to Nikki's that it makes my skin crawl. I know they're not brothers, not really, but there are still pieces of that puzzle I don't have and that makes me want to grind my teeth. He seems to have made himself perfectly at home here, lounging casually on the same couch that Nikki is perched on the back of. "Please, have a seat."
"I'll stand, thanks." No need to get comfortable, I want this over with as quickly as possible.
"I insist." Hollow Ground's smile doesn't waver but I get the impression he's not used to being refused. Well, as long as I'm kicking he better get used to disappointment.
"And I insist on standing." I fold my arms across my chest and spare a glance back at Nikki who seems the slouch further. I wish he'd just turn around and look at me.
"Could you not be so fucking stubborn?" To my surprise its Nikki's voice but he doesn't sound angry. He sounds tired. It's enough to put a twinge of worry in my chest and I barely register the heavy hand that clasps my shoulder, forcing me down into the plush leather chair I tried to refuse, sat down in a graceless heap.
"Touch me one more time and see what happens." I glare back at Jake who only shrugs. Asshole.
"Now now, we're all friends here." Hollow Ground's smile could almost pass for genuine, he must have had lots of practice.
"Doubt it."
"Well," Hollow Ground produces something from his pocket but its not a weapon its a small USB that he twirls between his fingers."If I wasn't a friend you would have a lot more to worry about."
"Meaning?" I wish he'd cut the bullshit and get to the point but the longer he keeps talking maybe something useful will slip out, it could be worth the gamble.
'Take a look." Jake tossed him a phone, fancy and high-tech and almost certainly illegal but Hollow Ground inserts the USB and leans forward to hand it to me. I'm proud of my control that there's not even a spark when I take it. I'd love to turn this entire room into the fourth of July if it weren't for Nikki potentially getting caught in the crossfire.
A small video screen pops up and I press play, revealing black and white security camera footage of the interior of a bathroom.
"What kind of sicko has cameras in their bathroom?" I ask trying to quiet the uneasy feeling of deja vu, that bathroom looks familiar
"Not my house not, not my style." Hollow Ground waved a hand. "But you should be grateful I intercepted the footage before anyone could see it."
If Hollow Ground thinks I could be grateful to him for anything he's delusional but my stomach plummets when I see Nikki and I enter into the camera's view. There's no audio and for that at least I am grateful even though every part of me is screaming in hopes that the video will cut out before…
Before Nikki kisses me. Before I kiss him back, again and again. Giving into desperation under the illusion of privacy. That sweet thrill turned sour as I watch my hand slip under Nikki's shirt, despite silently begging my digital self not to. He doesn't listen. The camera's eye doesn't blink as Nikki's tattoos are exposed, even in gray scale they're as plain as day to anyone who knows what too look for, and his enemies certainly do.
I'm such an idiot. Such a fucking selfish idiot. We both like taking risks but this could be a death sentence, was being close to him one more time worth it? I haven't felt this shaken since the crash and only the smell of burning plastic brings me back to the present. I hadn't even realized I was looking at a black screen, Nikki's tattoos burned into my retinas as the USB is nothing more than a smoking ruin in my hand. Small streaks of lightning still arch across my knuckles.
"You have to know that display was unnecessary." Hollow Ground says calmly, unfazed by the sparks as I toss the ruined phone onto the low table between us.
"You still have a copy." I don't phrase it as a question.
"Of course. This is what we call leverage, Charge. Surely you know that."
"Then don't sit here and pretend that were friends." I know my voice is shaking but I don't care. "Or that you have Nikki's best interest in mind. If this leaks-"
"It'll be fine." Hollow Ground doesn't say it to me, but to Nikki, shoulders so tense they're practically around his ears. He squeezes his hand in unearned comfort that makes me want to kick the table right into his shins. Nikki doesn't even flinch at the contact. Would he have if it were me? "And the only one you have to blame here is yourself."
The sparks don't stop. That's not good, I have better control than this, even when angry. So angry I feel almost calm. Everyone in the room knows I could end the plague on this city sitting across from me with one good shot. Nobody moves. Nobody breathes. Until at last the light show's over and I can feel my shoulders sag under the realization that Hollow Ground it right and that he's holding all the cards.
"What do you want?" My tongue feels leaden and heavy in my mouth and its difficult to form the words as if still fighting to admit defeat.
"Oh, plenty." Hollow Grounds smile spreads slowly across his face. It makes me feel sick. "I could press you for Rangers secrets, additional government access or simply humiliate you, well more than you already do yourself, but I'm feeling generous so I'll make it nice and easy so that even a thug like you could understand. Just stay out of my way, stop interfering in my business and it will be like this unfortunate little incident never happened."
"Then you'll destroy the footage?" I hate that it sounds like I'm begging.
"No. Call it insurance. You're a dangerous man Charge but happily you've provided me with the protection I need. Oh don't look at me like that, in fact it would be better if we could work togeth-"
"No." I cut him off before he even has time to finish that train of thought. "Never. Period."
"I'll let you think on it." Smug bastard.
"I want to talk to Nikki. Privately." Not for the first time I wish he could read my mind. Or I his. Still perched silent and still on the back of the couch he might as well be a world away.
"It'll be fine." Nikki mumbles to Hollow ground, still not turning to look at me.
"If that's what you want." Hollow Ground reaches out to pat Nikki's hand once more. "Just don't let him bully you. We can talk later."
Jake is the first to move, positioning himself between me and Hollow Ground as he gets up to leave which he does infuriatingly slowly. Without a glance back their footsteps echo against the tile and even the closing of the elevator doors sounds too loud in the now silent room.
Nikki finally extracts himself from the couch, pacing as if he could outrun the inevitable conversation. I move to join him but he keeps me just out of reach, maybe he knows there's nothing I'd rather do more than hold him right now.
"Nikki…" I don't know where to start but his name sounds safe enough.
"Don't." He glares out a nearby window, still refusing to meet my gaze.
"Nikki we have to talk about this…" I don't care if it sounds like I'm begging. I am.
"I have nothing to say to you." He's turned to me now but his withering gaze is directed at my shoes instead of my face.
"We can't let him get away with this! We-"
"This is all your fault!" He's looking at me now and God I wish he wasn't. I've been on the receiving end of Nikki's temper before, plenty of times, but not like this. This feels dangerous. This is the villain Heartbreak glaring back at me, not Nikki. "Do you really think you can shift the blame here!?"
"Nikki I…" What can I say against the truth? That I'm sorry? That I never meant for this to happen? I know deep down that I wouldn't have traded that night with him for anything. How could something that felt like reconciliation, like bliss, like coming home have turned out so wrong?
"You're a real piece of work you know that?" His voice is low with restrained fury. "That you can call me a monster in one breath and then fuck me in the next. What exactly does that make you?"
My words rarely fail me but there's nothing to hide behind the naked and ugly truth. There's not quip or assurance or argument that can make this right.
"Just leave me alone." Nikki growls, turning on his heel to leave.
It's pure instinct that I reach out to grab him, arm outstretched like the one that couldn't save him from the fall all those years ago, it feels too much like losing him again.
He answers by ducking my arm and striking me in the chest, hard, forcing me back. It's a warning, revived loud and clear. He doesn't say a word as he turns to leave again, taking the stairs two at a time until he's out of sight.
I feel my legs give out as I sink back down into the chair, putting my head in my hands if only to stop staring at the stairwell.
