As A Team
Collab with @Mobley Eats and @Elle Joyner
“You don’t have... to do this, you know.” Gram stood facing Snowman, fingers curling and uncurling at his side with a buzzing energy. Annoyance. Perhaps anxiety, perhaps not. Either way, the sparks kindling within his dull eyes were unmistakable.
“I want to,” Snowman signed, his lips pressed into a thin line. Stubborn. He was always so damn stubborn. Regardless, Gram knew that he could match that stubbornness and he shook his head, a hand raising to stop the white-haired man in his tracks.
“No. You’re staying… here. Your safety has… already been compromised.”
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them vanished. Snowman towered over Gram, glaring down at the man with as much ferocity as his soft disposition could offer. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough to make Gram’s eyes widen ever so slightly before falling back into that blank stare. His fingers were entangled between Snowman’s, though they remained loose and unshaken within the firm grasp.
Snowman didn’t need to sign anything to express his emotions in that moment.
A stifling moment of silence. Then Gram freed his hand, only to cup the back of Snowman’s neck and pull him down until their foreheads touched. Their stares clashed like daggers. “She’s broken you,” Gram whispered firmly, “And Pandora’s broken you… That’s twice. I won’t… let a third time… happen.”
Snowman’s nostrils flared, a thin sheen of wetness collecting within his eyes. He wasn’t stupid. He knew how dangerous all of this was. How much of a gamble it’d all be. This was now an all for nothing battle--a declaration of war. But Romana underestimated the wrong ones. She underestimated a ship’s worth of killers and maniacs hellbound on severing her head from her shoulders.
Slowly, shakily, his lips parted. “We’re… already b-broken. So bring it… on.”
Gram’s other hand came to rest over Snowman’s mouth. He shook his head. “No more of that… I get it.” He got it. If speaking was ripped from his lungs, then Gram understood. He had no chance of convincing Snowman otherwise. “We’ll switch. You… take Archer and I’ll… take Pandora and Twitch.” His grip on the back of Snowman’s neck tightened. “You know what to do.”
Snowman nodded. He did.
They were already broken.
Gram had never realized such an obvious truth until Snowman uttered it into existence. Heh. Well, then, if that were the case, then he wouldn’t mind if the serial killer came back physically decimated as well.
Gram stood before a door--the door holding his targets. His goals. The future source of pain, if Pandora had anything to say about it.
On the brightside, her fury could be fun. Fuck the pain.
His fingers briefly ghosted against the fabric of his sleeve, right where his wrist was, and traced the edges of the device waiting underneath. His trump card.
Then, he knocked.
In the midst of pulling on her tanktop, Pandora's eyes shifted to the door, and a brow rose in curiosity, then concern, “Get dressed…” She suggested to Abe, before zipping up her jumpsuit, shaking tangles from her bright colored hair, before approaching the door.
Pulling it open, the color drained from her cheeks before flooding again, and without a word, she gripped Gram by his arm and slammed the man into the door frame, eyes narrowing as her free arm barred against his neck, “Gimme a damn good reason not to end you, you son of a bitch…”
Tugging the zipper if his jumpsuit Abraham stood, watching with narrowed eyes as Pandora pulled open the door. Frankly it was strange that anyone happened to knock at all, but as Gram came into view, a small chortle fell out of Abe as Pan had him pinned in the next second. “Aw, look at that.” He said with a smirk, standing beside Pandora defensively, prepared to do something if he moved. “It’s our favorite pal Graham Cracker coming to congratulate us on the win.”
Gram’s body grew limp the moment Pandora lashed out, a current of stinging pain traveling throughout his back and throat as she pinned him in place. He refused to stray his gaze from hers and met the fire behind her eyes head on with unshakable indifference. “Break me if… you want,” he wheezed, “But I have a… deal for you, you don’t… want to turn down.”
“Golly gee, Abe. A deal.” Pandora hissed, and despite the amusement in her words, her eyes held venom, posture tense, kinetic, “So your plan to blow me up doesn't work and you think you can appeal to me with… what… fresh sheets and a clean bar of soap?”
Abraham’s brows furrowed, arms crossed. The man was uncharacteristically limp in Pandora’s hold, and seemed a little docile, even. As his hands danced along the side of his thigh, eyes blinking furiously, Abe tilted his head. “I dunno. Fresh sheets and a clean bar of soap sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.” He hummed. “Don’t snap him in half quite yet, love, ‘else we’ll have to deal with the body.”
“The man’s got a point…” Gram drawled. Abe was right--clean sheets and a bar of soap was nothing to scoff at on Hagur, though the serial killer and Snowman were provided just that. Either way, he needed to focus on the matter at hand. “But no, that’s not… the offer. I’ve got an… even better one, in the form of… taking down our favorite… warden.” He held up both hands complacently, like a convict submitting themselves to the authorities. “Willing to hear me… out?”
“Hiding bodies isn’t the hard part, Abe.” Pan said, deadpan, without a trace of irony or humor. A brow rose, however, as Gram continued, and a frown found her lips, “Right. And I’m just supposed to trust that you’re on the up and up with this, and it’s not some pathetic trap to get us killed outside the games? What reason do I have to trust one word that comes out of your mouth?”
“She’s right. You’re not the type of guy I’m dyin’ to believe.” Abe muttered. “How do we know she ain’t watchin’ this conversation right now?” With a toothy grin Abraham poked his head out the door and searched the ceiling for a camera. “Hi, Romana, love! How dumb do you think we are?”
“You don’t have much reason…” Gram admitted. “If Romana knew of this… meeting or was watching, I’d… be dead already.” He gestured to his left wrist, the fabric falling only slightly to reveal a thin wristband with a rounded head. “And to answer your… question, Twitch. She believes you… are the dumbest of them all. But,” he shrugged, “She has a habit of… underestimating everyone.”
Eyes falling to the wristband, Pandora hesitated briefly, before lowering her arm from Gram’s neck. He had a point. Not necessarily that she’d believe he would be dead, but that no one had come yet to stop her from strangling him. Whatever favor he curried with the Warden, that he’d walk away with a sprained or broken thumb and the next morning showed no signs of the injury… she had no doubt she’d have been swarmed if they were watching.
“If she thinks Abe’s the dumb one, she’s stupider than I imagined...Start talking, Gram. I smell anything fishy, I’ll snap you in two…”
“Aww… you don’t mean that, do you? My feelings would be so hurt if she really thought that.” He flashed Pan a genuine smile at her rebuttal, and resumed his stance beside her. Though his posture was nonchalant, he could see the worry in Gram’s eyes, the tenseness of the situation. He nodded slowly, waving his hand at Gram to urge him to speak.
“I don’t mean it. Romana… does,” Gram muttered, though his eyes remained glued to Pandora. Ah, yes. That scalding fury, just as he predicted. He briefly wondered if she would just kill him afterwards but, then again, there was no need or chance or turning back now. Carefully, he reached around in the hold to pinch his wristband and with a confirming beep, a small projection screen emitted from it. On it appeared to be a bar graph titled Popularity Board. “I was given this the… moment I got onboard. Let’s just… say that you’re both very… very popular.”
Staring at it, Pandora’s frown deepened, her eyes shifting from the graph, back to Gram, “...What the hell is this? Prisoner poll?”
“Very popular?” Abraham echoed, staring at the poll. “Probably among the rich fucks that watch the Dog Fights, then?”
“Yeah… No. More than just the super rich,” Gram said, “Anyone on earth who can afford… it, they can watch. We’re all being watched… on a global scale. Every step. Every breath. Every word you say… everything you do. Romana… sees and records all of it.”
Straightening, Pandora stepped back from the serial killer, “...You’ve got to be kidding me. I
knew it! I knew that bitch was manipulating this ship for a reason... “ Smacking her palm into the opposite doorframe, she swore, “We’re a frickin’ sport… a God damn reality show!”
Abe’s eyes widened, but his expression was unchanged, still staring at the projected poll in front of them. “...Oh.” He said softly, raking a hand through his hair. Watched. The Put Down incident… had to be for ratings. Everything he’d done, everything they'd wanted him to do… “Why you tellin’ us, Gram?”
Gram watched Pandora’s reaction while rubbing his neck. Disinterested. But grateful nonetheless to breathe properly once more. He nodded slowly. “Reality show is the… perfect word for it.” His gaze rolled over in Abe’s direction, just taking a moment to catch his breath before speaking again. “Because… I was a fucking idiot and thought… I could trust her. But she doesn’t… give a shit about blood.” His jaw clenched. “And I shouldn’t either… All that matters is… spilling hers.”
Spinning back to Gram, Pandora’s gaze hardened again, her fists balling at her sides, “...What the hell do you mean, ‘about blood’ ??” But she didn’t need the answer. It was apparent enough, “...That’s it. That’s the key, isn’t it? All the special attention, The special treatment. What is she… your sister?”
“Ew. You’re related to Romana? Damn.” Abraham chuckled, though it was somewhat strained. Between Gram’s taste for revenge and Pan’s boiling anger, Abe was trying not to freak out. “What, she break a pinky promise? Threaten your boy toy, now you wanna rope us into your flimsy scheme? Whatever the hell it is?” Abraham shook his head. “Sounds fishy to me. But then again, apparently everything on this ship is.”
A grimace immediately pulled at Gram’s countenance. “No. She’s my… mother’s sister. My aunt.” God. Bile climbed up the back of throat just admitting it out loud. He briefly wondered how his mother maintained sanity with Romana as a sibling. Or him as a son. However, his thoughts screeched to a halt upon hearing Twitch and the flames of annoyance crawled up his back. The prisoner inhaled slowly, shakily, attempting to stave off the emotion before hissing between clenched teeth, “She fucked me over and… that’s all that matters. As of… right now, I’m your best shot… at freedom. Do you want to listen… or not?”
“You realize if you dick us over, and anything goes south with this… I’m not comin’ for you, Gram. And given who your
Aunt is, I imagine you know who I am and what I’m capable of, so I’m sure you know that’s a credible threat.” Unfurling her fists, she leaned against the doorframe, “Talk. And keep it nice and simple. No cryptic bullcrap.”
“Any threat of yours is credible, love, no matter what.” Abe chirped, smiling at Gram. “Freedom does sound nice, though. Real nice. We’ll hear you out. No cryptic bullcrap, remember.”
“You’re not coming for him… either,” Gram muttered, fire flashing in his eyes. She’d had to clamber over his dead body before coming anywhere near Snowman, before yanking loose of his grip beyond the grave. Regardless, he avoided eye contact with the woman, eyes trained to the tiles as he gathered his thoughts. No cryptic bullshit, they said. Fine. He’d be straightforward. “Romana uses Eavesbots all over the ship… to watch us. The cameras are… to mislead you. All of them… are linked to her mind. But… I know how to access the… system. In the conference chamber.”
He made a move to sit on the nearest bed… only to realize that the couple may have had sex in it and opted instead for standing. Disgusting rabbits. “I need the extra muscle… and you two are the only… ones I can ask because… of your ratings. Romana’s only human. She… can’t view thousands of recordings at… once. Especially not with the… games happening. So she won’t be paying… attention to high rankers.”
“...Eavesbots…” Frowning, Pandora shook her head. It made sense. It made too much sense, “It’s not just the games, is it? She’s got her hands in everything.” Looking up at him, she studied him, watching for ticks, for tells, for any indication he might be lying. He wasn’t an easy man to read, but the sincerity was reflected more in his words than anything, “What’s this plan of yours, then?”
Abraham’s foot tapped awkwardly, repeatedly, with agitation. This was fucked in so many ways but was it even surprising? How much of his life had been streamed on TV, how many people had watched, what had Romana seen? “This is bloody fantastic.” He groaned. “Amazing. Stunning. Just tell us how we can kill her already.”
Gram smoothed his hair back with a sigh. “Think about it. If I… hack the system, the same system… that’s linked to her brain… We could have her life at our… mercy, on top of blinding her. Without footage for her… customers, they’ll be pissed. Broadcasting will… stop. Higher ups will be furious and suddenly… her life won’t be so cushy anymore.” Gram didn’t want to just end her life, he wanted to thoroughly ruin it. “Romana is currently with AM… That’s where she always is… during the Dog Fights. Aside from… a few guards, it’s a clear… shot inside. They’ll let us in, but… once my infiltration is noticed you have… to protect me.”
There was logic to it, and Pandora couldn’t deny that… but it wasn’t a foolproof plan, and there were a lot of fools on Hagur, for sure… “So you hack the system and we play bodyguard till the job is done. What’re we supposed to do when it’s done? Walk away, whistlin’ and hop on a space shuttle for home?”
Abe shook his head, foot still tapping. “It’s risky as hell. If you fuck it up for Romana and we don’t escape, she’ll just lock us in the Cage for the rest of our sentence and call it a day. How do we get out of there? And..” He glanced at Pan, jaw tight. “Is it just us you’re askin’? Pan could take ten men bare handed, but I ain’t a heavy hitter. What about weapons?”
“I never said we… would strike today,” Gram said, “Today, we gather those… weapons you’re so worried about. That is… Snowman and Archer’s job.” The real risk of these missions resided in the timing; the periods they had to work with were guaranteed, as Romana never strayed away from schedule or routine, but they didn’t last long. Performing both missions in the same “blind period” was out of the question, but he knew that retrieval on Snowman’s end would draw far less suspicion. Gram could thank his connections with Fritz for that one.
“Tomorrow is when we… act. During the second round… of the Dog Fights. We’ll have even… more time to work then. And once… Romana’s bots are hacked? She and… every guard will be at… our mercy.” His eyes hardened like twin glaciers. “She might be a bitch, but… she’s a cowardly one. She’d never… put her life on the line.”
“Wait, wait… Hang on. Archer??” Her eyes narrowed, and pushing off the doorframe, Pandora shook her head, “No way. I wouldn’t trust that prick to use the same toilet as me. You want me to work
with him on a mission to take down the Warden? You don’t think he’s gonna be just a little salty with us for taking him out of the game to begin with? How’re they getting the weapons?” Looking to Abe, trying to gauge his response to all of this, she shrugged, “And we’re not leavin’ Switch behind.”
Archer. Great. Abe’s jaw tightened, teeth clenched, fingers drumming along his crossed arms. “He’s not gonna be so happy to see us.” Abe grumbled, shaking his head. This plan had holes… Gram was too desperate for revenge. He’d been there before, wrapped up in the moment, thinking nothing could go wrong. Besides the usual jitters, Abe was tense. This didn’t feel right. “She’s right. We ain’t leaving Switch behind. Not anyway in hell. This is feelin’ a little wish-washy to me, Gram. I’m not sure how much I like it.”
“Have no choice to but use… him.” It took all of Gram’s might not to roll his eyes; the bombardment of questions were damn annoying, though he understood why they came. Didn’t make it any easier to practice patience, but still. “You saw the ratings… his is one of the highest and… Romana won’t pay attention to high raters… Hmm.” He hummed while raising both hands, raising and lowering them like the ends of a balance beam. “Get revenge for petty fight… or kill the Warden, who’s… the literally bane of our existence? I… wonder which one he’d choose.” It wasn’t wise to allow so much sarcasm to seep into this tone, but it was there, as bright and clear as day.
However, he just barely held in a sigh when Twitch and Pandora refused to budge without Switch. Ah, yes--the one who had a seizure. He knew all about her little condition. Unimpressed, his glazed eyes rolled over to stare pointedly at Abe. “Bringing Switch along. Doesn’t… that sound a bit… selfish?” His head cocked. “More stress on her? I’m sure… that’s exactly what she needs.”
“If you’re talkin’ about whatever the hell’s wrong with Switch, it ain’t somethin’ you need to worry about. We do this with her, or you find someone else. And from the sounds of it, I don’t think you have that luxury. As far as Archer’s concerned, I don’t buy for a second he’d choose freedom over revenge, because he’s a damn psycho and an idiot, but as long as he plays ball, it’s not any stress on my back. He’s not hard to put down, if I need to. Still didn’t explain how the hell we walk away from doing this without targets on our back… Just gonna ask Romana real nice to let us off the ship?”
Abe grimaced. It was true that he didn’t want to leave Switch, but the Dog Fights was already way too much for someone in a predicament such as hers. A risky plan that could very well end in their demise? Who knew what that type of stress would do to her. Despite his visible cringe, he kept his mouth shut about any resistance, and nodded slowly along with Pan’s words. This was their only chance. Didn’t matter how risky, didn’t matter how untrustworthy… it was a shot.
“What she said.” Abe grumbled, picking at a hangnail.
Gram heaved another sigh. Questions. Questions. And more questions. He never realized how much Pandora could run her mouth until now--he half expected it from Abe, but not her. Regardless, once again, he understood her suspicions. “We don’t need to ask… her for that, at all,” he said. His eyes strayed up to the ceiling, adopting a terribly fake expression of contemplation. “If I recall… correctly… Good ole Luca and Bahram were given… interesting offers recently.” He shrugged lightly. “Shame that they turned it… down. Even with a promise to use… those escape pods.” He tapped his temple as a flash of a grin pulled at his lips. “Gaining access to those… will take less time than cracking… those eavesbots… And fine. The sickly one can… come too.”
The confirmation wasn’t surprising, regarding Switch’s health, but it wasn’t easy to hear. She wondered now, no… didn’t wonder, but knew, rather, that this was what Abe was trying to get Switch to tell her. Which meant that somehow, Abe knew before she did… Abe knew Switch was sick before she’d told her own cellmate… She wouldn’t pretend that didn’t sting a little.
“...You said second round… how are we supposed to swing that, when we’re in the second round? Might’ve forgotten your little trick to blow us up didn’t exactly pan out.”
“Pan out.” Abe echoed with a weak chuckle. “Not surprised the goody two shoes turned down the offer.” The whole situation bothered him, especially the silence on Pan’s end about Switch’s ‘sickness.’ Damn, that was definitely out now. Abraham kept his gaze down.
“What do we both know? That… Romana is a fucking control freak,” Gram started. He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “She needs these fights to… go exactly as she plans. If not… her higher ups will throw a… fit. Those weapons that… Snowman and Archer are jacking?” There was a hint of something sinister in his smile, that wonderful crazed feeling bubbling to the surface. “She can’t perform the… second round without it. She doesn’t… like to compromise or change shit… Knowing her, she’ll put the entire… Dog Fights on hold. Boss gets antsy. She gets… antsy. Distracted.”
Nodding slowly, Pan seemed to consider everything for a moment. There was nothing foolproof about it, that was for sure. In her mind she could see all of the potential flaws… the holes… the possible traps. But in the end it was also better than the opportunity they had on their own. Gram meant business - she could see it in the man’s eyes, and with Abe and Switch beside her, Pan wasn’t too worried about things going wrong on their end. Archer was a loose canon, and the last thing she wanted was to give him access to humanity again but hell if she cared enough not to get off the ship…
But it irked her - putting her life and the lives of her friends in the hands of a man who had quite literally tried to blow her up. It irked her to no end.
“...Alright. I’m in.”
Abe’s gut was twisted with concern, but he knew that this was their best shot. Their only shot. He’d rotted on this ship ten years, his youth, his prime. He was sick of it… especially now, that he had people to fight for.
“..I’m in too.” He muttered with a deep sigh.
If anyone were to point out the relief flooding his grin, Gram would deny it until his dying breath. “Excellent… I believe this is the start… of a wonderful team.”