Walton squinted into the dark night outside his window as a figure approached, for a moment all of his senses were heightened and his mind quickly tried to assess the situation and his probability of coming out of a fight unscathed.  He was by no means a young man anymore and if it were a robber or worse outside ... well there was very little he could do about it.  That was when the figure spoke.  Walton let out a sigh of relief - he'd recognize that voice anywhere.  He stood slowly and moved to the door, removing the dead bolt and opening the door.  A smile touched by confusion crossed his face as his eyes fell upon Rhaef, "Well, I must say, this is quite the surprise.  Not unwelcomed of course." His eyes shifted past Rhaef then and into the darkness, searching for the others, "The rest of the crew staying on the ship tonight?" he asked as he stood aside to allow Rhaef passage inside.

Despite his frustrations, Rhaef stubbed out his cigarette on the porch before entering the house. "Rest of the crew is somewhere off the other side of the universe for all I know. Your lapdog all but threw me off the ship." Rhaef said evenly, trying not to hiss the words in anger. This was growing more difficult as he surveyed the surroundings. It appeared the stamp deal hadallowed the professor to improve his quality of life and the crew was still scratching along, hardly seemed fair. And Kale had let himself get duped. Well not duped, the Professor traded on his loyalty, and to Kale that was all he had, and he'd die before he lost it. The thought made him wince slightly, rubbing more salt in the wounds that had opened since he left the ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:43, Thu 07 Dec 2006.

Walton frowned as he shut the door behind Rhaef, listening to his words.  He took his time latching the bolt to gather his thoughts, "You left Destiny." Walton said.  It wasn't a question.  If Rhaef was here, alone, and in such spirits that was the only logical explanation.  He turned around to face the other man, meeting his gaze evenly, he ignored his comments about Kale being his lap dog or how he had been thrown off the ship.  Walton was sure there was some seed of truth in such statements, at least in Rhaef's mind, but more then that the words were uttered in anger and it was that anger that concerned Walton now, "Why, Rhaef?" he asked calmly.

"Ain't it obivious, Kale finally wised up to the monster he let on board. Called a spade a spade, and pretty much threw me off the ship, although I was pretty much ruttin' ready to go myself." Rhaef growled. The pain was still too fresh, coming here was a mistkae, there was no way these wounds wouldn't be opened. The professor might have been an advisor to him, but he was Kale's friend and mentor, there was no chance of this going well. And yet, even as his mind told him to leave, his mouth kept talking. He'd always been told it would get him in trouble someday. "I called Kale on the carpet after we nearly got blown up. These charity runs were killing us. The ship's falling apart, and we're making free runs. It was a matter of time before someone gets killed and for what." His anger was starting to recede, and he added quietly, "And the Hand was there. You threw me into a job, where the Hand walked in the door. I couldn't stay there, they'd hurt her."

Thoughts of Kale were painful enough, but now the professor had gotten him thinking of Charlie again. He blocked her out of his mind, the look on her face that night, and the way she might have felt when he left. He collapsed into a chair.

Walton stood quietly listening to Rhaef, not offering any interruptions, just letting him speak his piece.  It was obvious however that he was carefully observing the man, "It is rare to meet a man who is both David and Goliath ..." he said, thoughtfully once Rhaef had spent himself, "You realize the paradox in this I'm sure.  You cannot be both the monster and he who slays him - I bid you to take notice of the fact that in doing so, you're only hurting yourself."

Walton moved to the chair opposite Rhaef, picking up a stack of books and laying it upon the floor before sitting down himself.  He looked a the floor a moment, and swallowed hard, his own emotions having to be kept in check, "I am assuming that you blame me for this?" he asked outright, "I sent you on the charity run that caused you and Kale to fight and the Hand to find you, and you to leave?" he paused a moment but it was clear that he was about to go on, "You wanted to protect her ... except who is there protecting her now?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:20, Fri 08 Dec 2006.

Rhaef shurgged, "Can't rightly say, I blame you for the charity run, but the rest of the stuff, well I knew the Hand would find me eventually. But still, I wonder how it feels to sit here among your books when you're sending Kale out to risk his life and the lives of his crew for you. Mean you could not get it done with anyone else, cause you'd have to pay them. Must be nice to have a friend you can rely on like that." Rhaef's voice dripped with sarcasm. Even as he spoke, he pondered the professor's other question. She had to be better without him, I mean at least the Hand would leave the ship alone and she'd be fine.

Walton actually huffed at the impertinant young man, and narrowed his eyes slightly, "As a matter of fact it is nice to have a friend like that, Mr. Sorandash." Walton always used last names when he was angry, "Kale's a good man, and he knows were the coin flipped and it were he that needed help I'd bend over backwards as well, even with these old creaking bones of mine.  It's called trust and respect and you, young man, do not seem to grasp these concepts."

Walton stood up slightly straighter then, "I doubt very much that Kale actually asked you to leave the ship, but feel it would be a very accurate assumption to believe you left on your own.  You pretend like you don't care but you are so terrified of the past that your running from that you have no idea of the future that is right in front of you that you are throwing away with both hands.  You never did tell Charlene how you felt, did you?  You never did explain to Kale exactly what you are running from, isn't that right?  And now you are here, and so I'll ask you again.  Why?"  He moved to his desk then and went back to working on his papers, glancing back a Rhaef, "And no, I don't need you to tell me the reason, but you had better figure it out for yourself or you are truly lost, my boy."

Rhaef growled, "I don't know why I came old man, guess maybe I was looking for someone to be more understanding, someone that'd help me out. But I guess, you're showing your true colors."

He stood and stomped toward the door, "I ain't proud of my past or what I done, but I survived, and no one got hurt cause of me. So no, I never told Kale. He did not need to know. He'd of done something stupid at some point, and gotten himself killed."

He began walking out the door, "And I told her, even kissed her, and she wigged out and pushed me away, Professor. And yet even still, I loved her, and I was not about to let her get hurt cause of me."

He slammed the door, and cursed away. He needed a drink, otherwise, he was going to collapse somewhere and end up doing something else he'd regret.

Walton had been looking back down at his work, a clear dismissal of the man standing behind him.  He couldn't help him if he was not willing to help himself.  Not to mention he had managed to anger Walton, and that was not an easy thing to do.  He listened to Rhaef's angry words though and then the slam of his door as he left.  He heard Rhaef stomping away from his home and he swallowed hard, staring down at his papers but not reading the words, "Oh dear god, what have I done?" he muttered to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~* E N D   F L A S H B A C K *~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rhaef had been thrown onto the ground, his arms secured to the wall so he wouldn't move away.  Not that he even could, his body ached all over.  He tried to move his back off the rough floor, the gashes and welts along the tender skin screamed in agony whenever they came into contact with something.  He could hear the other man moving about.  He always moved slowly, with purpose, half of the torture was the waiting.  What would it be today?  When would it come?

He strained to hear what the man was doing but couldn't really make anything out.  He could hear when he got closer though.  He could hear his breath just a few feet away.  There was a sound of ... paper?  And then the distinct sound of a match being struck.  Rhaef knew it in an instant, after all, he was a smoker himself.  It didn't take a genius to know what was coming next.  The match was dropped onto his chest and the flame smouldered into his skin.  The man didn't say a word ...

Rhaef winced in pain as he hit the ground, his body was bruised and broken, and he knew he was quickly moving beyond the care of most docs. He heard the matches and smelled the sulfur, and then sick smell of burning meat, his own flesh.

Yet he managed a weak smile. His spirit was not broken, and it would not be. And fire torture was the sign of a frustration on the hands of his captors. It was dangerous, and hard to control, and it could easily go awry. They were stepping things up, which meant, either they were getting frustrated and desperate or losing interest - either way meant he was winning. His life for her freedom, that was a price he could pay, he reminded himself, yet again.

Rhaef's smile must have angered the man because this session was particularly brutal.  Perhaps they were getting frustrated ... perhaps they hated him so much that they took joy from his pain.  Whatever the reason Rhaef was barely concious as he was dragged back through the hallway and tossed unceremoniously on the hard, cold ground of his cell.  His chest was a mess of burn marks and his wrists were cut even deeper.  The door slammed shut, and Rhaef was alone ...

Drip ... drip ... drip ...

Rhaef  collapsed where they had left in the room, his body was wracked with pain, so much so that the thought of moving made him shudder. He figured he did not have much longer, not matter how strong his spirit felt he was fairly sure his body would soon be unable to cash the checks it was writing. At this point, all he could was hope that the his sacrifice would be worth it, that the others would be free.

As he thought this, her image came unbidden to his mind, it was the first time, since that night, the night this all started, that it had brought him comfort. Although it hadn't that night....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ F L A S H B A C K ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Siphon was busier then usual that night.  The hot, crowded pub reeked of sweating bodies and too much booze.  Large, burly men with hard faces and gruff voices laughed raciously at each other as the night wore on.  Most people sat in pair of two's or three's ... Rhaef sat alone in the quietest corner that he could find.

"Ya want another one 'o those, doll?" the pretty waitress said, leaning over the edge of his table revealing her ample cleavage.  The woman had been making eyes at Rhaef all night, the fact that he hadn't paid her any mind didn't seem to be deterring her.

"Rosalee, don't ya dare give that one any more ta drink - he'll be causin' us problems ..." an older lady behind the bar barked at the younger one.  Rosalee stuck her tongue out at the woman and turned big eyes back on Rhaef.

"This one's on the house." she said, pouring him another drink just as soon as she was sure the other woman wasn't looking.  She winked at Rhaef.

Rhaef nodded, "Thanks," he said quietly, "But listen to your boss. She's right, I ain't nothin' but poison." He growled lowly.

Time was before he signed up with Destiny, he'd have already taken this Rosalee back to his bunk, bedded her, and they'd getting ready for a second round of action by now. But instead, all he could was think of her. How he'd left her on the ship. Whether he should have told her again how he felt. He could not shake the way she pushed him at the night, after he told her how he felt, and how she avoided him the days later. But what if the professor was right, what he'd left her to a worse fate.

Rhaef looked around the bar unsteadily. He'd had far too much to drink. He'd began drinking heavily since that night at the professor's and even with his improved tolerance, he was not a man built for this kind of liquor consumption. More than anything, it dulled his senses, and that could spell big trouble for him...

Rosalee pouted, "Suit yourself, doll, but I got an eye fer the good ones, I'm tellin' ya.  An' you're one of them." she cocked her head to the side them, "Some brod done broke your heart bad, didn't she?" she said, "Don't feel like ya gotta answer, I'll leave ya be." she disappeared to another table then.

Rhaef watched as she leaned over a neighboring table surrounded by four large men - the typical clientele for a place like this.  The men laughed and made cat-calls at her, one even reached down to grope her backside.  She shot the man a evil looked and tried to bat his arm away.  He deflected her feeble defense with ease and laughed even more along with the rest of the table.

Rhaef grinned, but in the back of his mind, he knew this was a bad idea, but yet another part could not help but laugh, this was the kind of high risk mission that Kale would have loved if he were here. And Charlie'd have never let him stand by for this.

"Pretty clear, that the lady don't want your attention, mate." Rhaef said rising to his full height, amazed that his years with the Hand had given him the ability to focus his mind and his abilities, despite the amount of liquor he had in him. He smiled again, knowing that the glove was off, and his tatooed hand was now there for everyone to see.

"So I suggest you let the girl get back to her job, and enjoy your liquor, cause you keep hassling her, you bound to have trouble."

"Well whatta we got here?  Looks like we pissed off 'er boyfriend, fellas." the man who had initiated the groping said, and the rest of the table laughed.  The man stood up then, accepting Rhaef's challenge.  There was a confident sneer on his face as he rose to his full height - which was considerably taller then Rhaef.  The man was huge, the type of guy most folk wouldn't mess with and he knew it.  "You gonna cause me trouble?" he said in a threatening voice.

"Listen, doll, forget about it.  He didn't mean nothin' Boris." she said turning to the large man and trying to calm the two of them. Boris didn't even look at her, just eyed Rhaef coldly.

"You got yerself a damn stupid boyfriend, Rosie." he said.  It was obvious this Boris guy was a regular.

"He ain't my boyfriend, leave 'em alone."

"Ain't about you dear, although, you might want to re-evaluate your choices in men, I might be poison, but at least I'm man enough to admit." Rhaef said coldly. His mind had all but shut down, he was simply processing the odds, and wondering exactly why'd he done this, wasn't like he was afraid, he'd gotten out of worse scrapes. Hell a month before, he'd walked into the heart of the hand, and lived to tell about it.

"So Boris, I guess, its cliche, but hell, I'm always been one one for tried and true, do you even know who you are messing with?" His hands slid down to the guns, the slightly sickening, familarity of the groves was still there.

"I don't care who I'm messin' with, shorty.  No one messes with Boris an' get's away with it."  He started moving towards Rhaef more when the woman from the kitchen came running out into the main area.

"NO one messes with anyone in my pub!" she shrieked at the two of them and she looked formiddable.  Boris actually began backing off, "You know better Boris!" she whirled on Rhaef then, "And YOU!  You gonna pull out fire arms in my pub?  Gonna start shootin' folk?  OUT!!  I want you OUT!!!  And you leave the customers alone!" she yelled at Boris again.

"Right, right, just one thing." Boris said and his huge fist shot out and connected solidly with Rhaef's right cheek, making his head ring from the blow and the alcohol.

Rhaef shurgged as Boris threatened him, he'd heard it before and worse. Then the old bat came out, shrieking like a harpy, hadn't even seen what happeneing and just kowtowing the local powers. He seen her type before too. The thugs could have anything they wanted, even anyone, as long as they left the pub alone.

He shook the cobwebs out after the punch, "Sorrym M'am. I'm leavin' anyway. Ain't exactly the most hospitable joint." Rhaef walked away with a vicious smirk. Who said anything 'bout firearms, M'am? He said, as his hand shot out, and sunk a bowie knife Boris' arm. "Now we're even friend. You went for my best weapon, and I went after yours."

Rhaef said, as he back out of the pub, realizing he was loosing control and the most was rearing its head. He heard in a voice that did not even feel like his own, "See ya around, Boris."

Boris howled in pain as Rhaef's knife sunk into his arm, Rosalee screamed, the older woman shouted and the rest of Boris's gang all got to their feet.  If Rhaef had been trying to keep a low profile that was completely blown.  He tried to back out of the pub but instead back right into another large man who grabbed his arms securely behind his back in a tight hold, "I think you're going to be regretting that one, mate." the man said, his voice was deep and gravely.

Boris let out a growl but this time not of pain but anger as he turned around, "He sure as ruttin' hell is!" he said, and swung hard up into Rhaef's gut, following it swiftly with a punch to the face with his good arm before Rhaef had much time to react.  The blows landed hard and fast.  Rosalee shouted some more and tried to get Boris to stop - not so much in Rhaef's defense anymore though but because she was worried about Boris's arm.  The older woman however was trying to break the fight up because she didnt' want it in her pub.

Rhaef winced as the blows landed, his body screamed in pain, as he watched the chaos unfold around him. Yet, for him, the fiercest battle was going on inside his head, as the beast struggled with his mind from control, straining against the bonds he'd made, hoping this would finally be the time, he'd be let go again. Rhaef knew what that would mean, both to men attacking him and to all that he had worked for. He'd let the monster out, just for one moment, and this is what it had gotten. A beating he richly deserved. His adrenaline was gone and the alcohol was taking hold. And although it was dulling his reflexes, it also dulled his pain. The last thing he remembered was the sneer on Boris's face as his fist approached his face. Yet, even then, Rhaef knew he'd caged the monster, and he was not what Curio and the others had trained him to be, and with that he passed out. A smile spreading across his lips.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:49, Sat 30 Dec 2006.