Day 265 - Friday, September 12th

[papalobo]

[A Chinese man who is definitely a mature adult and not a teenager checks in to the Hyatt, one of their more exclusive rooms, along with his half-white half brother who is also certainly not a teenager and most definitely not the notorious gang leader wanted on suspicion of a September 11th New York City bombing in retaliation for an angry rogue sect of anti-American zealots.

The entire suite floor has been rented out, and it requires a special key card in the elevator and on the stairs to enter that floor. But they can rent one of the still very luxe rooms directly beneath.

A familiar white limo is in the car garage, though the opportunity to gawk or investigate is slim, between the security cameras and live guards.

There's still no contact from Max, but the Department of Homeland Security has become involved, and has begun to enter Ash's territory with intent to arrest any known figures within his gang to bring in for questioning.]

Day 284, Wednesday, Oct 1st

Comments

[papalobo]

[Closer now, noticing those marks, he grabs that wrist. Suddenly standing, Ash is splayed over Max's desk, surprisingly agile and able to keep him from toppling over the computer with that single motion.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Expecting nothing aside from a clear path, Ash is completely taken off guard. Max knows why he wanted to get to the sink: to wash away the signs of crying.

Green eyes stare up at him, greener for the pale skin that allowed for such easy bruising. Bruises that were all too obviously shaped like finger marks. ]

Max?

[papalobo]

[Ignoring his confusion, his vulnerability, without thinking twice about possibly inflicting a flashback, Max holds that wrist tightly, a vicious shake running through his arms, as his eyes take it all in. He knew it happened. This wasn't a discovery. But the reality of it, as if Ash's tears, Ash's voice hadn't been real, needles into him when he's already been shocked too deeply in his core to take it.

They did this to him. Ash could have killed every single one of them, bare handed, and forced them to gas the room to get him to go down when more came in to try to subdue him directly. But he had to weakly, meekly let them overpower him, because Ash knew the reality outside of that cell wouldn't allow him any escape through violence even if the closed world of the interrogation rooms they violated him in would be within his sphere of control.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Instead of the fear, for now, Ash is overcome with shame. Realization hits him: the makeup is washed off. He's exposed. He'd kept nothing from Max once they were home, regarding the rape, so it's not a reveal, but there's a difference between bruises left in a fight and those left by people clutching your jaw while they forced themselves down your throat. ]

Max, I need to get up.

[ Ash turns his head to the side, trying to hide both his gaze and his bruises. ]

[papalobo]

[The hand not holding his wrist cups his face.]

If Bull's alive, I'll get any of them I can in a cell with him and make sure rumor gets around they're friends of yours. Anything they try to brag about doing to you'll get treated like empty bullshit. They'll remember you kicking even his ass, and show them a real power imbalance.

[His own words disgust him. He's fine with wanting to murder people. But setting up anyone's rape makes his own stomach churn.

But they did this to Ash.

And it's something he can do, in revenge.

He hasn't liked himself in three months. He'll get used to this new side of himself to hate soon enough.]

[jadedlynx]

It doesn't have to go that far.

[ Ash doesn't want it to go that far. The same boy who tried to get Max to be disgusted by his abuse of Ling is now assuring Max he doesn't want them raped. Another person raped adds to the numbers, it doesn't make them go down. ]

It'll be enough if to have them in jail. They'll feel it no matter what they do, what it's like to lose their freedom.

[papalobo]

[A few seconds pass, and something in Max's eyes clears up. There's still the rage at Ash's state, but it's not the raw rush on a raw nerve; it steams to a more manageable level as he releases Ash's wrist.]

...Yeah.

Yeah.

[This is the feeling Ash has when he scares himself. It's not Max's first time with it either, but it's not a good feeling.]

[jadedlynx]

[ It's good to see Max return to his own body. It's not as if Ash has never been so overcome with rage that it felt like the emotion had more control than he did, but that means he knows how unpleasant it feels, both in the moment and afterward.

Released, Ash tries to stand again. ]

I'm going to put the makeup back on after washing my face.

[papalobo]

[Max stands back to let him]

You don't gotta, when it's just us at home.

[jadedlynx]

If I don't, you'll have to meet with the delivery man.

[ Max seeing is one thing. Strange men? That's too much for Ash. ]

[papalobo]

You do the shopping while I just carry stuff to and from the car. Sounds right.

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash keeps walking, but he raises his voice to compensate. ]

How is the healing?!

[ Max didn't just sit down and play the good boy. ]

[papalobo]

Healy!

[He calls back, plopping back into the office chair and looking at the computer screen again, as if he'd just woken up from a dream and is still disoriented.]

[jadedlynx]

I don't know where to go from that!

[ That could mean so many different things.

The sound of water starts from the downstairs bathroom. ]

[papalobo]

[Max doesn't know what it means either. It's just something he said to make Ash not worry about him for now.

He does turn his hand over, flex his fingers a few times. It's painful. His face hurts too, if he stops to think about it. But there's no time or room for that now. Parts of his brain just have to be shut down. Ash needs him now.

Blanca never showed up to help him. For whatever reason he's not smart enough to understand, Ash won't take Eiji. He'll deal with that later too.]

[jadedlynx]

[ When Ash appears, it's with some medicine and a glass of water. It probably would have come up by now if it happened, but as he washed red eyes, it kept nagging at him, mostly because of the pills. ]

They really didn't do anything like that to you?

[papalobo]

[By then, he's writing off an e-mail to Peter. Any follow up on The Unit or where that story's going or has gone can wait.]

If they did, it'd be easier to use that than try 'n handle your identity and privacy here...

[jadedlynx]

No kind of abuse? Hitting?

[papalobo]

Nothin' as hard as you can throw.

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash passes over the medicine. ]

And I bet they wouldn't even give you pain medication after.

[papalobo]

Some part of me figured I was holding out for you, like the more it hurt, the better I was doing for you, so it worked out.

[But he will take it now.]

[jadedlynx]

The world doesn't work that way. I'm taking mine, too.

[ And Ash didn't want Max to hurt.

His phone rang; the caller I.D. showed it to be Peter. ]

[papalobo]

Hold up, gotta take this. [Max picks up the phone.] Hey, I was just writing you.

[jadedlynx]

[ First, he checked in on him, asked how he was. He'd heard about the release and wanted to give him time to make it home.

Then for the bad news. The story, with Ash included, had leaked. His own lawyers had estimated that it would be weeks before Max himself would be released, so Peter brought in Jessica Randy. It was the next closest reporter to Ash that he could find since Max was locked up, and it was better that they tell his story than someone who cared more about the scoop.

Ash himself went to finish ordering groceries. ]

[papalobo]

[She what? Max is pissed, though not at Peter. Peter made the right choice; honestly, Jessica getting the ball rolling even one day sooner was better for Ash... Ash will hear Jessica's name dropped a few times, but for someone prone to outbursts, he's calm. It makes sense. It's right. And they need to ride this momentum. He mentions to Peter a desire to gather up multiple victims, to try to make it less a case of "one rich guy is fucking a journalist and has money so he gets justice," as well as to try to buy Ash some privacy, not make any one person the face of the matter. The goal's to expose crimes, not victims. Max will work with or let anyone else take the credit on any of it, as long as it sets a fire under some asses to get moving on the punishment.

He'll mention, despite Ash listening, having meds and food withheld and some brutality, but he doesn't think he'll make a very sympathetic frontman, and none of his was sexualized, but he'll get some pictures and qualifies as a 'disabled' victim at the moment.

Even while busy, as it may be a long call, he drifts eventually to the front door, ready to meet the delivery man for Ash.]