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A Favourite Situation Chapter 13 By Kendo Kawabata

"I don't like Matt's new attitude. It doesn't suite him in the slightest'' said Troy as he paced back and forth in front of Spencers desk. The big blackwargreymon, was sitting back in his chair, regarding the rat with a look that suggested he wasn't really all that concerned with what he was saying, but he was listening to him anyway. Spencer didn't interrupt Troy as he let the rat air his problems. Spencers office did however not match the current mood between the two. A Christmas wreathe hung above the door, and tinsel decorated the outside windows. With the Christmas season already underway, but the actual day still a ways off, the workers had taken it upon themselves to decorate the warehouse with blinking twinkling lights and bright tinsel. They had even hijacked a stereo system from somewhere and the current song was some tuneless diva stringing out some tasteless cover of a Christmas classic. Spencer couldn't tell if it was Rhihanna or Beyonce, but it didn't matter since he considered both of them talentless bitches. "He's just become so cold lately" said Troy as he walked back and forth, looking like he was talking to the air before him instead of his boss. ''Ever since Timothy started showing up and ...well...you know. Timothy comes around three or four times a week, and he just drags Matt up to his bedroom, regardless of whether or not Matt is working. And he does...honestly, I don't want to know'' Troy admitted. ''And then when Timothy leaves, Matt just comes out afterwards, dressed and showered and goes right back into work, like it never happened. But he just...''Troy stopped as he looked over at Spencer. ''He just looks at us like we're strangers sometimes. It's like...he's trying to keep his focus on something, and he's ignoring the rest of us'' he said as the rat looked frustrated with how he was trying to explain the situation. ''It just isn't like him, this isn't the Matt we know'' Troy said as he looked at Spencer. ''He just seems so cold and distant towards us, and I know he's going through hard times, but honestly, this just isn't like him. We ...we don't like it'' Troy admitted. Spencer said nothing when the rat finished and simply sat there with his hands on his lap and simply looked back at him. A few moments of silence passed between the two of them before Spencer just shrugged his shoulders with a sigh. ''Troy, I fail to see what I'm supposed to do about this'' Spencer said to him flatly. ''Matt has been doing his job lately, and has rarely screwed it up. And yes, I know what TImothy is doing to him and how often he's doing it. But honestly, if you can think of something for me to do, I'll do it. Because I don't know what I'm supposed to do'' he said. "Spencer, there has to be something" Troy said to him as he sounded frustrated. ''Matt respects you more than he does his handler or his owner. And I know for a fact, you two are good friends outside your respective roles'' Troy said. ''Do you really think we haven't noticed that?'' "Go on" Spencer said flatly, after another few silent moments between the two of them. "Matt is treated like crap. He's being forced to have sex he doesn't want, and no-one is able to say boo about it. I don't like the way his owner or his handler treat him, and none of us are rather happy about his new attitude. Something has to be done'' Troy said in frustration. ''Troy, I'm glad that you're so concerned with Matt. But frankly, I really don't care what kind of attitude Matt has, as long as he's not giving me reason to punish him over it'' he said. ''And anyway, what would you prefer him to do?" "I'd prefer him to be happy" Troy said to him. ''I'd prefer him to be happy and well, like he used to be before Timothy started using him like a cheap Chippendales dancer'' he said. "And how exactly is he supposed to do that?'' Spencer asked him as he sat forward in his chair a little. ''Matt has been enslaved for the past six months, and in all that time, in all his suffering and his depression, he has managed to keep his wits about him'' Spencer said. ''Maybe he is cold lately, but he has come a long way from simply curling up in his room every night crying and walking around like a bloody zombie'' Spencer said to him. ''But being cold is not like him at all. It doesn't suite him'' Troy said as he looked at his boss. ''Can't you just...I don't know, go up to him and tell him to be happier?'' he asked as he gestured outwards with his hands a little, in a rather meaningless hopeful gesture. "Troy, Matt has to find some way of coping with all of this in his own way'' Spencer said to him as he pulled his chair up to the desk and sat himself up straight. ''Look, when a slave finds themselves in a position like this, whether or not they expected to be in it, whether it was everything that they expected it to be, or whether it was nothing like they had envisioned, they find a way to deal with it'' he said. ''And perhaps, this is Matts way of dealing with it. Perhaps being cold and distant and having a focus on something, whatever it is, is his way of being able to cope with it and not end up crying most nights'' Spencer said as he shrugged again. ''Maybe that doesn't sit well with you, but I'm not going to go out there and force Matt to wear a fake smile and act all happy and content just because it rubs you the wrong way that he's not'' he explained. ''I ...I don't want you to force him to be happy for my sake'' Troy said as he suddenly looked like he was put on the spot. ''We're trying our best to give him support, but ...it's like he doesn't want it anymore. It's like...it's not making any difference'' Troy said to him. ''We don't like seeing him like this anymore then you do, but there has to be something that you could do to help him be better'' he said. "Troy, you've read the rule book" said Spencer. "You went out, you bought it, read it cover to cover, including the index. You know the positions of Owner, Handler and Overseer as well as I do. You tell me, what am I supposed to do that I don't know myself?" Spencer asked as he looked at the rat. Troy didn't say anything as he was caught off guard by the question "Troy, I would love to do something for him. I would love to be able to openly help him without getting picked on. I would love to be able to change something to help the whole situation better for him. But Thomas is doing everything by the book. He is keeping up with everything that the bureau wants him to do. According to them, Thomas is not doing anything wrong" Spencer said to him. "I know you and the other guys are concerned, but there is nothing more that I can do that I'm not already doing. And if this is the way that Matt wants to deal with what's going on, I'm not going to forcing to change his attitude" Spencer said simply to him. If Troy did have an answer, he was unable to find it. The rat just looked flustered as he tried to find some sort of answer or come back to work Spencer was saying, but he came up with nothing. Spencer saw that Troy had nothing further to add, so he decided to change the subject. "While you're here, do you what's up with John lately?" Spencer asked him. "With John?" Troy asked as he felt a little surprised by the question. "I've noticed a change in his attitude and his behaviour over the last few weeks or more" Spencer said. "I could be wrong, but he seems conflicted about something. Has he said any anything to you or to the others about anything that might be wrong?" Spencer asked him as he looked the rat over. "Nothing that I can think of" said Troy as he thought about it for a moment. He had noticed that John did seem a bit jumpy at times and seemed to be spending a lot of time dashing between his work and the warehouse toilet. But that kind of action usually was the result of indigestion, and he hadn't pried about it. "Well, he hasn't said anything to me if there is anything wrong, so I won't pry any further" Spencer said he stood up, dusting his hands on his dirty looking jeans a little before he straightened up."Troy, I know you and the guys are concerned, but honestly it is not worth risking your job to..." "Spencer, we've got a situation" Spencer looked up as he saw Randall the fennec hurry himself into the office after he banged the door open rather forcibly. The bobble on his santa hat smacked him between the eyes as he hastily batted it out of his eyes. "What's wrong?" Spencer asked as he looked up in surprise. Randall was panting, and it looked like he had just run from the outside into his office. "What's the emergency?" "Matt just came back from his checkup at the bureau, and Luke is with him" Randall said as he took a breath to steady his breathing. The moment the words left his lips, the only sound heard in the office was Rhihannas tuneless rendition of 'Oh Holy Night'. "What?" Spencer said in surprise. The fact that Matt was at his required checkup at the bureau wasn't much of a surprise to him. The fact Thomas hadn't wanted him to come along this time had been more of a disappointment then actual surprise at the time. No, the surprise was hearing Lukes name for the first time in months. "Thomas is out the front. You have to come and get Matt and lock him back up or something. And then he needs to speak to you about some arrangement with Luke and his new owner" Randall said as he took another breath, having used the previous one to say everything in one go. "Luke? What the hell is Luke doing here?" Troy asked, an equal look of surprise was written on his face that mirrored the one on Spencers face. "I thought we got rid of him" he added, as he looked to Spencer for clarification. "You said Thomas took care of him" he added, although the tone of his voice started to sound a little accusatory. "I told you guys that Thomas was going to take care of it, but I didn't know how. The last time I saw Luke was when he came in here and handed in his resignations. After that it was out of my hands" Spencer said to Troy, although he was annoyed by the tone of voice Troy used. "Now, what's this about Luke?" he asked Randall, hoping for more information. "He's... different. Look, Thomas wants you out there right now. I don't know anything else. If you find out, could you tell the rest of us what's going on?" he said as he held the door open for Spencer to walk through. Spencer looked at him with a momentary confused look on his face before he decided he'd ask his questions at Thomas. He was starting to think of a few more then just 'What is Luke doing here? As he was now feeling a very large sense of confusion over what was going on, Spencer left the office with both Troy and Randall following behind him. None of them said anything as they made their way through the aisles towards the entrance of the warehouse, where Spencer could hear voices of conversation going on. Thomas had taken Matt that morning for his annual checkup, but nothing out of the ordinary had been about that. There hadn't been any indication that Thomas was up to something, the only thing he had said was that he could use the free time to catch up on the paperwork and orders since he'd need to with the holidays coming up. So Spencer didn't actually know if Matt had passed his checkup, or even what the heck was going on. But the fact that Luke was now back in the picture was racing a lot of questions in Spencers mind, not the least being where Luke had been since Spencer had last seen him. Spencer gestured for Troy and Randall to get back to their stations, which they did so, although they didn't appear to be in much of a hurry as Spencer stepped outside through the still open front door of the warehouse. "Ah, Spencer. I'm glad Randall found you. I would like you to meet Micah" Thomas said, the father Flamedramon was standing beside his luxury car, dressed as usual in one of his fancy suites. Beside Thomas' car was a beat up looking van that looked like it had been across a cross country trip multiple times and hadn't been washed. Standing next to Thomas was a young guilmon that Thomas had gestured to when he spoke. The guilmon was dressed in denim jeans and a black leather jacket, and a pleasant enough smile on his face. Standing behind Thomas, was Matt, dressed in his public slave uniform. Matt stood rather stoicly with his gaze at the ground and his hands behind his back, in the slave stance when around freemen. Although his face was rather expressionless, he had his jaw clenched shut and Spencer could see the subtle twitches of his body. As Spencer took Micahs hand in greeting, he could tell that Matt was doing his best to keep everything held back. And as Spencer took a quick look behind this newcomer Micah, his eyes found Luke. Spencer had not seen Luke for the last couple of months, and the last time he had seen him, the boy had looked a complete and utter emotional wreck. Looking like he was on the verge of a complete mental and physical breakdown, Spencer at the time had the impression that Luke looked completely and utterly suicidal. Now standing there, the difference between then and now was like night and day. "Pleasure to meet ya mate" Micah said as he squeezes Spencers hand firmly. "Thomas has told me a lot about ya, how you used to be a former master and all. You should come around for a barbie one day and we'll compare notes" he said with a grin on his face. Spencer didn't answer right away as he took in the sight of Luke standing there. He was standing in a pose similar to Matts, but whereas Matt was holding in his emotions, Luke looked genuinely pleased to be there. He didn't seem embarrassed in the slightest to be there. Luke looked like he had put on a big of muscle on his once slender frame, definitely looking like he was on the bigger side this time around. Lukes hair had changed as well, now a brilliantly glossy black and tied back in a rather manly looking ponytail that seemed to suite for him. He was dressed in a pair of overalls that seemed to hug around his body in just the right areas, but not quite painted on. They were rather openly and low cut as well, seeming to show off just the right amount of flesh without showing too much. Several piercings were in his long ears, and a snug looking collar was fastened around his neck. Yet it was so well designed that it looked more like a piece of jewellery then something that a slave would wear in public. "Yeah, nice to meet you too" Spencer said as he took Micahs handshake and gave him a more firmer squeeze then he normally would have, the kind of grip designed to intimidate. But if Michah was intimidated, the grin on his face suggested otherwise. Once they broke the handshake, Spencer turned to Thomas. "May I ask what's going on here?" "Spencer, I'll explain everything in your office in just a few minutes" said Thomas as he gestured with his hand towards Matt, who was still standing silently. "Would you please take Matt inside and reattach him to his tracker please?" he asked. "I have to say, he behaved very well in the bureau today. In fact, the one in charge of his checkup had rather high praise for him" Thomas said to Spencer. "Oh really now?" Spencer asked, although he found himself surprised to hear that Thomas actually looked genuinely pleased about something that concerned Matt. "Yes. A very strange lion in pink scrubs. Never seen such a thing before. Odd name too" Thomas said as he looked at Spencer. "He was rather eager to say that Matt behaved very well, and his condition is rather excellent" he added. "I'm quite proud of him for doing well in his checkup. I think he deserves a reward for that" he said. "Do you now?" Spencer asked. He really wanted to simply add "This is a first", but he kept his mouth shut. If Thomas really was going to give up a reward, he wasn't going to ruin the moment by adding a snide comment. "Yes, I should think so" Thomas said to him with a nod. "Now, I'll be along in your office with Luke and Micah in a minute. I'd like you to reattach Matt to his tracker and take him back to his room. For his reward, Matt will be taking the rest of the day off, as well as tomorrow morning. While Luke is here, he will be taking over Matts normal duties" Thomas explained to Spencer. Spencer had nothing to say at that moment, as he was rather surprised to hear that Thomas wanted Matt to take time off without having a slight argument about it. But he didn't want to say anything negative about it either in case Thomas changed his mind. With a gesture for Matt to follow him, Spencer turned around and walked back into the warehouse. He could tell Matt was following him, but he could also tell just how angry Matt actually was, almost feeling the heat of Matts fury radiate off the boy. "He looks normal" Matt finally let out when they stepped into his bedroom. Literally the moment Spencer had the tacker system hooked up back to the overly large nosering hanging on Matts face, Matt had just opened his mouth and almost shouted the three words. It actually surprised Spencer to hear the level of rage and venom in Matts voice, as it was completely unbecoming of him. Spencer shut the bedroom door rather quickly, hoping the others didn't hear the outburst, especially with Thomas in the building. Slaves were not to show this level of hatred, if any, especially if the owner happened to be around. "Matt, I understand you're not happy with the situation" Spencer said as he turned to face Matt. "I'm not pleased to see him anymore then you are, but ...." was all he managed to get out before he was surprised once again. "He looks normal" Matt said with fury in his voice and in his eyes as he literally glared up at his overseer as if it was all the blackwargreymons fault. "He looks FUCKING NORMAL. I look like a goddam trussed up pig, and he gets to look like some friggin front cover model" Matt said so loudly he could have been shouting. "Matt..perhaps..." Spencer began, as calmly as he could, but this time he was shocked, not surprised, when Matt for once didn't listen to him and actually interrupted him. Obviously, Matt had been holding in a lot more then he had been letting on, and now he was in danger of letting it all out. "He was supposed to be punished. He tried to fucking rape me, and he gets turned into some front cover model for a farm magazine? What the fuck is he doing back here?" Matt by now had started shouting. "I want him out of here, I don't want that bastard anywhere near me. He was supposed to be punished for what he did, not rewarded for it." "MATT" Spencer said very sharply, his own anger and frustration with the way that Matt was speaking had itself broken. "You will not ever, EVER speak to me like that again" Spencer said in an angry tone of voice as he poked Matt firmly in the chest to get his attention. "I am still your overseer, do not ever forget that. And I sure as hell hope that you have a lot more respect for me as a person then to not speak to me like I'm the enemy" he said with a look of fury in his eyes. The look on Matt's face spoke enough to say that he hadn't even considered the situation when he opened his mouth and let his emotions get the better of him. Whatever anger and rage he had been bottling up, very quickly and very obviously died away. Just by yelling at him, Spencer watched as Matt seemed to deflate before his eyes, almost shrinking back into the defeated and unhappy slave that Spencer and the others were used to seeing. Spencer sighed and shook his head. Matt had never been a strong person, at least when Spencer had first met him he hadn't been. And it seemed that no matter how much Matt tried and how hard he focused, he was like a balloon. One mistake and the pin popped whatever defences he had tried to set up. "Matt, I know it's not fair, believe me" Spencer said as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Matt and held him close. He didn't want Matt to break down and start crying, not at a time like this. "It hasn't been fair for the start, and I know it's not getting any easier" he said as he gently brushed the back of Matts head with his fingers. Thankfully, Matt didn't cry, but when Spencer carefully pulled away, Matt still looked miserable. "Why...why does he look normal? Why is he even here?" Matt asked as he looked at the floor. After speaking to Spencer like he had just done, he didn't want to look up at him. "He was supposed to be punished. Did it even matter what he did to me?" he asked, and the look on his face suggested he was about to deflate and break down further. "Matt, I don't know what's going on any more than you do" Spencer said. He wanted to give him another hug, and possibly more, but at the last moment he took a step back from him. Matt did look up when he heard Spencers heavy boots move. "I have to go to my office now, and see what is going on. Now, I want you to cheer up. Thomas has given you the rest of the day off, and tomorrow morning apparently." "Why?" Matt asked quietly, almost as if he was afraid to raise his voice after just being reprimanded for how he spoke. "He said it was a reward. But in any case, I want you to stay up here" Spencer said to him firmly. "I want you to rest up, and take advantage of this. He might not let you have this time to yourself again anytime soon" he said to him. "And I don't want you going downstairs , because I don't think you can handle yourself right now if you ran into Luke" he added. Matt nodded but he didn't want to argue about it either. He had just shouted at his only friend as if he was one of the B.O.S.S. operatives, and he somehow knew that if he did go downstairs, he'd end up doing something about it too. And he didn't want to ruin things any further either. Spencer took a step forward, as if he was about to wrap his arms Matt again, but again at the last moment he seemed to hold back. Only this time Matt saw him hesitate. For a moment the two of them just looked at each other, in complete silence, before Spencer seemed to remember what he was about to do and he quickly left the room, making sure to shut the door firmly behind him. Several months ago, Matt had been granted Sundays to be his rest days, but only if and when he had finished his usual duties. This was the first time in six months Matt was faced with the prospect of having the whole weekend to himself. And it was not off to a good start, not in any way. And now he was standing in a pool of his own shame, guilt and confusion over the whole situation. He had never wanted to speak the way he did to Spencer, but he had done it so easily and so readily that it made him feel horribly guilty he had spoken to his only friend in such a way. How could he have just lashed out like that? And it was the disappointment in Spencers face that had hurt the most. It wasn't the anger or the frustration, or even the accusations that Spencer had thrown his way. It was the way Spencer looked at how disappointed he was in Matts behaviour. Wasn't Matt supposed to be better then that? Blinking away the tears as he suddenly had no strength to stand up, Matt sat himself on his bed as he found himself looking down at his hands between his legs as he slumped forward, feeling rather miserable. And confused as he tried to make sense of what was going on. Luke was back. The very thought of his ex cousin being anywhere near him, was enough to make Matt sick to his stomach, especially with images of their last encounter flashing through his mind. He could actually feel himself shake a little, and his stomach shifted in a very uncomfortable way. And the look. He had seen the way Luke had looked at this Micah person, whoever he was. It was a look that Matt wanted to give Spencer, a look of adoration and warmth and happy servitude. How could Luke freely give this person such a warm look, while Matt had to hide his feelings in case someone got too suspicious? And he looked so normal, that had to be the most hurtful thing so far. Matt had been shaved, tattoed, pierced, and branded and put on display like some unfortunate victim from a Hellraiser test screening. Luke just looked like a teenager that was taking good care of himself and wasn't afraid to show off his body. And to top it all off, what was with his owner giving him a weekend to relax? After the incident with Luke, Thomas hadn't even given him time to get over it, or even ask him if he was ok. Now, because of that employee at the B.O.S.S. had given him a good review, he was allowed not just one, but TWO days off? What was he supposed to do? Normally, he would take the opportunity to go to bed early, or he would chat with his councillor Jeanne, the therapist for legal and non legal slaves. Other times, he would take out his items from his secret stash and amuse himself with them, little trinkets of things that had he found around the warehouse. But Jeanne wasn't normally available during the day. There was no point asking anyone for a dvd of anything for him to watch, as all of the dvd and video functions on his computer had been disabled. Hell, he couldn't even watch youtube. And there were no books or magazines anywhere in the warehouse that he could actually get to. And if he went downstairs to ask for something to pass the time with, what would he do if he ran into Luke by mistake? The prospect of having so much time off, was starting to feel more like a punishment then a reward, considering he had nothing to pass the time with. Now, starting to feel more depressed then he was, he sighed and found himself falling backwards onto his meagre bed, his gaze looking up at the blank ceiling above him. "Perhaps if I fall asleep, it'll be tomorrow when I wake up. And maybe Luke will be gone by then. I doubt it though" he thought to himself as he ended up closing his eyes. The room was already silent, but as Matt calmed himself down, he started to become aware of the sounds outside of his closed door. And as he listened in without being aware of it, he could actually make out a few of them. Falling asleep, even though he hoped he could, proved a bit more difficult then he thought as he listened in on the sounds of the warehouse outside his room. It was different to hear things going on without him being amongst them. Down there with everything going on. While he wasn't there.... "OH FUCK" he shouted in his mind as he ended up sitting up in his bed, a flash of fear running through him strong enough to make him start a cold sweat. "Oh god....no....no they can't be replacing me' he said as he clasped his hand against his head, feeling the fear start to feed deeper into him. "No..no he can't replace me. That can't happen, can it?" he asked no-one in particular as he tried to calm himself down. "NO..no he wouldn't. Thomas said I'm stuck here for life, he said so" 'he said to himself as he panted a bit. "I'm here for life, unless he gets run over by a car. I can't be replaced. There's no way he would replace me with Luke, not after what he did to me" Matt said to himself as he grabbed his blanket and started to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Ok, think about it. Luke is back for two days. Don't know why. I've got the weekend off, for whatever reason. Luke is just filling in for me, Thomas said so" Matt said as he took a few deep breathes to steady his breathing. "I don't think the B.O.S.S. knows what happened, if he was going to replace me with him, wouldn't they have to know about it? I don't think they'd let the two of us be anywhere near each other after what happened" he said to himself. "There is no way he's replacing me, there can't be any way he is" Matt thought to himself as he laid back. Somehow though, it did make sense enough that he could believe it, but there was still enough doubt in his mind to worry about the situation. Matts troubled mind prevented him from falling asleep again, but when he did, it was only a brief sleep, the kind you did when you fell asleep in front of the tv. It was a dreamless and resting sleep that he was jostled out of when he heard his door open and close. Acting out of reflexes, Matt found himself wide awake as he scrambled out of his bed to stand on the floor at attention, as he was supposed to do whenever someone entered his room. Regardless of who it was. Matt was just standing up when he realised who it was standing in the doorway. Luke was standing there, looking at him as Matt straightened himself up. Matt looked back at him, surprise taking over as he could only stare. Luke simply stood there, holding a sleeping bag under one arm and a spare white pillow under the other. "Hello" he said in a rather calm voice as he just simply stood there in the doorway, not moving as he waited for Matt to recover from his surprise. Once Matt did find his voice, he could only ask the one question that came to mind. "What are you doing with those?" he asked as he brought his hand up and pointed at the sleeping bag and pillow under Lukes arms. Luke looked down at them for a moment, as if he realised he was carrying them before he looked up at Matt. "I'm staying the night" Luke said to him, his voice still calm. "Spencer was going to come up and explain everything, but Uncle Thomas said that, you're just a slave and don't need to be told everything because you're not important..." he started to explain, but he was caught off guard very quickly. Luke dropped the sleeping bag and the pillow to the ground as he suddenly found himself shoved back against the wall as Matt now held him by the collar of his overalls. The shock was evident on his face by how quickly Matt had grabbed him, but his eyes went a big wider, almost comically circle wide as he found Matts face was litereally inches away from him. "I'm...not ...IMPORTANT?" Matt seethed, drawing his lips back as his teeth were clenched together. The fury he had been holding back earlier that day, ever since he and Thomas had met up with Luke and Micah at the compound, was now back in full force and threatening to boil over again. "You tried to fucking rape me, and I'm not important?" Luke said nothing as he simply stood there, letting Matt press up against him. He could see the fury radiate out of Matts eyes, and he did shiver a bit in fear, but he didn't fight back, nor did he say anything. "Do you have any idea how much pain i was in? You have any idea how much I suffered that night?" Matt snarled, his face scrunched up in fury. "You have any idea how much I have suffered and had to deal with since you tried to make me you're bitch?" "You know the nightmares I've had? The suffering and humiliation i've had to endure? Walking around and doing my job, knowing that everyone knows what happened?" he practically shouted in his cousins face. "You were supposed to be punished you fucking bastard. And you come back here looking like a million fucking bucks? And now I have to sleep in the same room as you? My fucking RAPIST?" Matt shouted in Lukes face as he looking ready to attack him. "Matt, I didn't decide this. You're owner did" Luke said calmly. Luke still wasn't resisting, as he simply stood there pressed up against the wall by the angry older boy before him. There was deinatley a little fear in his eyes, but he didn't look like he was about to fight back. "Matt, I know you don't want me here, and I know you don't want to hear that I'm sorry. And I'm sure you don't want to forgive me either. And I'm not going to insult you by asking for it" Luke said, still remaining rather calm. "But if you want to beat the crap out of me, I'm not going to argue that I deserve it" he said. Matt said nothing as he continued to seethe in his cousins face, his anger and fury still radiating out of every pore of his body. But slowly, his commonsense was starting to work its way through the haze of anger and fury that clouded Matts mind as he began to think about the situation. There were no cameras in his room. Spencer had apparently been adamant about it, insisting that Matt had at least one iota of privacy in his life. Thomas must have thought so too, because the cameras hadn't been installed there. Whatever Matt did to Luke, no-one was going to see, especially since he had the chance to do it. But tomorrow, there would be bruises. Bruises that Luke was not going to be able to hide. Matt had the impression that this Micah person was someone in authority over Luke, and he was sure that Micah would notice eventually. And, perhaps the most ironic of all, regardless of what Matt had suffered through because of Luke, Matt would be the one to pay the price. Luke was a free man, as far as the B.O.S.S. was probably concerned. And slaves who put their hands on a free man suffered consequences. Regardless of why, the consequences ranged over a number of severe options. None of them were pleasant. And, if Thomas added his voice into the mix, Matt could only guess as to what he would lose if Luke was found beaten to a bloodied pulp. "You...are not worth losing my balls over" Matt said angrily as he felt his anger start to simmer down. Luke had to know, through his handlers course, that, in extreme cases, a slave would get castrated in a move to gain control over them. Apparenlty, slaves who were castrated, or even gelded, were much more docile and easier to handle. Matt wanted to give Luke a good dose of pain right there and then, but he wasn't going to take the risk "Thomas really said you had to sleep in my room?" Matt said, his grip on Lukes overalls loosening just a little. Luke lost the little fear in eyes as he saw Matt calm down, but he was still careful in his answer. "Uncle Thomas ordered it" Luke said carefully. "Everything about this weekend was his idea. He arranged it all" Luke explained. For a few rather tense moments, the two of them just looked at each other in silence, before Matt very slowly let go of Luke. "You are sleeping on the floor" Matt said, glaring at Luke as he spoke. "I am not sharing my bed with a rapist" Matt said before he turned and walked back to his bed, climbing ontop of it without looking back at his cousin. Luke said nothing as he moved to the open space between Matts bed and his desk and knelt down. "If that makes you feel better" Luke said without looking at Matt as he unrolled his sleeping bag and laid it out on the floor. "If you like, I won't even speak to you unless you want to talk" Luke said as he opened the bag and stood up to undress. "Good" Matt said as he got under his blanket and stared up at the ceiling as he laid out on his back. He purposely avoided looking at Luke as heard Luke undress. He could hear other sounds as well, the sounds the warehouse made when it was shutting down for the night. Everyone was now starting to leave, and Matt realised he was going to be alone with Luke for the whole night. He heard the heavy noises the lights made when they were turning off, and the room got darker along with the warehouse. Luke slipped naked into his sleeping bag and drew the zipper up, the movement making a rather loud noise in the silent between the two of them. Luke got himself comfortable and fell silent, as Matt continued to stare up at the ceiling. How long the two of them ended up laying together in silence, Matt wasn't sure. The two of them simply laid there in their respective beds, both looking up the ceiling in silence. Most of Matts anger had faded by now, but there was still a good level of anger and annoyance buried inside him that was going to make sleep difficult. And Matt somehow knew it was going to be a very long night. Questions of all kinds were starting to run through his mind, preventing Matt from even thinking of getting sleep. The atmosphere in the bedroom was tense, even with the silence between them both. Thinking on that, Matt was reminded that he was again alone with Luke in the warehouse, and that Luke had tried to rape him in the past, and he was now forced to share the room with him for the night. "This wasn't a reward" Matt thought to himself as he sighed at the realisation. Perhaps Thomas did have good intent to give Matt a reward for this apparent good behaviour and checkup results, but it really didn't feel like it. It felt more like a sick joke. As they continued to lie in silence, the only sounds were the slight movements made by either of them under the sheets, Matt felt his curiosity grow. Questions began to burn more frequently in his mind, whispering themselves over and over against his ears. They began to burn louder and faster, refusing to let Matt get anything even close to sleep until he had had enough. "What happened to you?" Luke turned over and sat himself up, taking a moment for his eyes to adjust in the dim light of the room. He sat up a bit in his bag, the covering slipping down a little to reveal his slender and bare torso. "What do you mean?" he asked as he looked over at Matt, who was by now sitting up in the bed and looking down at him. Matt pulled the blanket back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed as he fixed his gaze down on Luke. "You disappeared" Matt said as he looked down at the boy on the floor. "I don't know how, I don't know why. I wasn't supposed to know, but your dad came to the warehouse and asked Spencer what happened to you. I want to know what happened to you" Matt said firmly. Luke said nothing for a moment before he nodded. "Ok, if you want to know, I'll tell you" Luke said to him. "If you really want to know everything, I'll tell you whatever you want to know" he said as he made himself comfortable on the floor, before sitting and looking up at Matt. "I want to know where you want and what happened to you" Matt said firmly. "Why do you get to look normal, and I don't. Were you even punished for what you did? And why did you do it, why did you do it to me if you were so pissed off at everyone else?" he demanded. He refrained himself from shouting, as it wouldn't have made a difference in the volume of his voice. But he couldn't help the anger in his voice either, which did not go unnoticed by Luke. Matt, if you calm down, I will tell you everything" Luke said carefully. "If you're angry, you're not going to listen and we're going to end up arguing. I'll tell you anything you want to know, but I don't want to tell you if you're going to be angry from the start" Luke said. He didn't look offended or upset that Matt was angry, he just spoke honestly about how he was feeling. Although Luke was calm, Matt wasn't happy to be spoken to like that. However, he did take several breathes as he closed his eyes to calm himself down. It took a few tried, but eventually Matt felt his anger slip away and he felt himself calm down enough that he could listen. "I want to hear everything" Matt said, and even he was surprised by how calmly he answered. "I can't really apologise for what I did to you Matt. And it's kind of foolish for me to even consider it. I mean, how is saying 'I'm Sorry' really supposed to make up for it?" Luke asked, although he didn't expect an answer. "Why I did it to you, I was angry. That's the only reason I have. And I feel like I've been angry for a long time. Ever since my mom left me, ever since dad dragged me down into debt with him. Hell, I was pissed off because Uncle Thomas had to bail us out, and it felt like it was a dirty deed to him." "I hated the school I was forced into because I honestly felt like I was a charity case and I was looked down upon because everyone else acted like they were better then me" Luke explained. "It felt like no-one was willing to give me a chance at anything because I was just some poor kid who got thrown into the deep end up a giant money pool." "I was only really happy about one thing in my life, and that was my handlers license. I know that's hard to believe, but I always felt like I was getting the short end of the stick in everything, and my dad wasn't one to help me out because he was that pathetic himself. The license was the one thing I was happy with because I was actually earning it." "My teacher told me that I was actually doing better then everyone else in the class, and you have no idea how happy that made me feel. The poor kid everyone thought wouldn't be able to do it, was actually doing it. I was doing better then your brother, who I had the suspicion was sleeping with him a few times. Untill Timothy got pissed when he found out his teacher was straight" Luke continued. "When I got my license, I wasn't happy for very long" Luke said, and he looked and sounded rather disappointed as he looked down at the floor. "I thought people would be proud, but they were more happy to focus on Timothy getting his licence then me. And then I found out that Uncle Thomas had actually paid for my course to be passed, because he didn't believe I could do it" Luke said softly. "I honestly felt like I couldn't take t anymore, and then Timothy framed me for stealing from the family cellar. I...guess I just snapped, and lashed out on the only person I thought I could do it to, to make everyone pay at the same time" Luke said, although he didn't look at Matt as he spoke. Matt was a little confused to hear about the framing part. He didn't know what actually went down between Luke and everyone else, but he didn't comment about it. He didn't want to interrupt just yet. Luke said nothing for a moment before he continued. "After what happened... I resigned from everything. I came to the warehouse that day to hand in my papers and walk away from it all. I didn't want to be a handler or work here, because I honestly felt like I didn't deserve any of it. I thought you'd be better off without me too, not having me around and not having to be afraid all the time" Luke continued, although the tone of his voice had dropped a little softer. "When I was walking away outside, that van you saw outside drove up. The guilmon you saw is Micah. He has a twin brother named Mike. Mike was driving, and he started talking to me. And Micah grabbed me from behind and they basically kidnapped me" Luke explained as he looked back up at Matt. "Wait, they kidnapped you?" Matt asked as he was actually surprised to hear that. But almost right after he said it, the surprise vanished as he figured that that was something he should have expected to have happen. Luke nodded to him. "That's what I thought was happening at the time" Luke explained to him. "I was tied up, gagged and drugged for most of the journey. I honestly think that they enjoyed it. Micah eventually let me in on what was going on. Turns out, Uncle Thomas had some me. Not to the B.O.S.S., but to a real slave owner" Luke explained as he shifted a bit on the bedding to make himself more comfortable. "Wait, a real slave owner?" Matt asked, feeling his surprise return. "What do you mean a real one? I thought all slave owners were run through the B.O.S.S. ?" he asked. He didn't actually think such things happened outside the system. "Only the ones taken by law" Luke explained. "There are other slave owners and masters out there that do it off the records and such. My new Masters name is Isaiah. And he's Micah and Mikes father. And I gotta tell you, the masters and people at the B.O.S.S. have got nothing on him" he said, as he found himself chuckling. "They were right proper assholes to me." "Hey, wait a sec. Did you...really just call him your master?" Matt asked. It wasn't just the surprise of hearing Luke say the word so easily and without embarrassment. He also caught the note of fondness that came along with the word. "Micah made it very clear from the start that his father was in charge, but he was the one in charge of me. Isaiah is very intimidating, and he has a no nonsense attitude. He doesn't take lip from anyone, and he hates it when someone with no experience tries to tell him how to handle things" Luke said. "Just do not get him started on master/slave websites, or he won't stop talking" he added. "But, I don't get it. How can Thomas sell you to another master? Especially one outside of the B.O.S.S.? Isn't that against the rules or something?" he asked, feeling confused. "I thought slaves had to stay with the master they were assigned too" he pointed out. "I thought so to, but Isaiah is a special case. He's off the records of the B.O.S.S., because he designs everything that they use, and it's in his contract that he can't be pursued by them to sign up his slaves" Luke explained. "A...a designer?" Matt asked, feeling both a mixture of surprise and confusion. And a bit of interest as well. "The B.O.S.S. wanted to design all of its own equipement, but they were looking at a very permanent way of doing things" Luke expallined as he moved himself a bit, propping his pillow behind his back as he leant against the wall. "You know that chastity device you're forced to wear? The original design was a ... much more permanent thing." Matt didn't need to look down at his crotch to try and think through the confusion that Lukes statement brought him. Matts chastity device was a set of rings woven around his testicles and attached to a mesh sheath that covered the shaft. Skin tight and locked securely, it wasn't going to come off anytime soon, if at all. "What would be more permanent then this?" Matt asked after a moment, trying to think of it. "They would actually surgically implant the device onto your genitals. I think the best way to describe it would be an electric Jacobs ladder" Luke explained, as he noticed the look of shock htat spread over Matts face. He had a similar look on his face when he had heard it the first time. "It would have required a few hours surgery to insert, and a few more to remove it. The version you're wearing, it can't get taken off easily, but it can get removed" he pointed out. "That...that's horrible" Matt said quietly. "They...were going to do something like that, to me?" Matt asked. "Like I said, Isaiah designs everything. The uniforms, the equipement, the slave wheelschairs, the restraints in the cars. Heck, he even designed the pulley system overhead" Luke said as he gestured with his hand, although in the dim light it wasn't really seen. "And he designed them all to be efficient, but safe for the slaves." "So, does that mean he's one of the masters at the B.O.S.S. then?" Matt asked. "No. He only designs the equipment. He doesn't actually follow their rules, cause he's not even registered with them. That was part of his contract. He gives them the designs to use for their slaves, and they leave him and his slaves alone" Luke explained. Matt wasn't too sure what to think about that. The idea of someone working for the B.O.S.S., but not actually following their rules and acting outside it, sounded a bit iffy. But then again, Spencer worked with them, but he wasn't a typical overseer, and had skipped on a few rules here and there. So, what are your masters like?" Matt asked after thinking about it for a few moments. "At first, I was terrified. They live on a huge farm, although it feels more like a compound then a normal farm" Luke explained. "It's surrounded by a high chainlink fence topped with razor wire, and only one gate in, one gate out. The family lives in this big farmhouse, it's really fancy. And the slaves live in a barn. There are two of them. One for Mike, one for Micah." "They're a two story building, eight rooms on each level. Sixteen rooms all up. The rooms are pretty small. About just over half the size of your room" Luke explained with a gesture. "Mine though, just had a bed in it. No pillow, no blankets, just bare. Micah said I had to prove myself if I wanted to live like the rest of the slaves and get benefits." "When I first met Isaiah, he told me that he was going to be tough on me, and that I would meet no other master like him ever again. And honestly, I was even more terrified of him the next morning" Luke continued to explain as he leant back against the wall. "First thing every morning, I came to find out, we wake up at the crack of dawn. His slaves aren't permitted to wear anything ot bed, and we had to run naked across the perimeter of the compound every day. It's at least 3 miles in total, and they actually time us every morning." "I came last for a solid week, and it was horrible" Luke said, and in the dim light Matt could see the shudder. "Everyone else just flew right past me, and I was exhausted before the first mile even came up. When I did finally get over the line, Micah would just look at me, like ...like I wasn't worth it. Then he'd just point to the showers and not say anything. Anyone who came last, took their breakfast and shower cold. Winner got both, everyone else got either."

"Isaiah and his boys eat in the main house. There's an outdoor cooking and eating area, run by two of the slaves. That's where everyone eats" Luke continued. "But I wasn't permitted to eat at the tables, or eat the same food. I literally got Kibbles'N'Bits and water in a dog bowl with 'Newbie' scratched on it, and I had to eat on the grass, while the others got scrambled eggs, toast and sausages. I could hear every one of then sniggering when I was eating." "Wow" Matt said. It did sound rather pitiful to hear, but he wasn't feeling any sense of empathy toward Luke. After all, Matt had to eat the same bland food every day, and Luke had never sympathised to him about it. So he wasn't surprised he didn't feel sorry. "And after all that, I had to do my job" Luke said as he leant forward a little and wrapped his arms around his covered knees. "I had the most horrible jobs around the farm, and I'm sure they chose those jobs just to humiliate me" he said. "Aside from being the B.O.S.S. designer, he does run an actual working farm." "I had to scrub the main house and the slave block toilets every day. With a toothbrush. I had to empty the greasetraps in the kitchens, without coverage. I had to wash the vehicles with just a bucket and a rag. I had to much out stables and stalls, without boots. I had to do everything with just the barest amount of equipement, and I was usually filthy by lunchtime." "Everyone else had assigned jobs and tasks around the farm, and Mike and Micah made sure we did them. Mike never bothered with me, but Micah was always watching in some way, or he'd get the other slaves to tell on me if he wasn't available" Luke said as he rested his head on his knees. "The other slaves, they were not nice to me" Luke continued. "They got told, while I was in earshot, to not be nice or help me in any way. And I think they took full advantage of that all the time." "They were mean to you, huh" Matt asked, although it didn't sound like a question. He actually felt a little satisfaction upon hearing that coming from Luke. "One day, I had just finished scrubbing the hallway in the main house with just a toothbrush and a bucket of hot water, when two of them walked inside, barefoot. They left big muddy footprints right in front of me" Luke explained. "Another time, I had spent all morning scrubbing the stonework at the eating area, and one just walked up and kicked the bucket everywhere and kept walking. They treated me like dirt, Matt. And I think that they enjoyed it" he said. "I can't tell you the amount of times I laid out on my bare mattress at night and just cried myself to sleep" Luke said. "I was more miserable then I had been since my mom left. I didn't think I'd be happy again, I just thought I'd be there being miserable for the rest of my life." "Well, if that's the case, why do you look so happy now?" Matt asked. "i'm getting there" Luke said to him as he looked up at him. "Anyway, one morning, and I knew I was at my limit. I felt like I was on a hair trigger that morning when I was running. I had been tripped over a few times, and each time I got up off the muddy ground, I wanted to kill someone. By the time I ran over the finish line, I was ready to kill Matt, honestly I was at that point. And then Micah actually spoke to me." "That was a two minute improvement. Not bad" was what he said to me" Luke explained. "I was surprised he actually noticed, and then I realised he wasn't impressed that much, nor did he make a comment on how I looked. I was covered in mud, hurt, seriously pissed off, had shaved two minutes off my time, and all he could say was 'Not Bad'. So I did something about it." "What did you do?" Matt asked him. "I kicked him in the balls" Luke said rather calmly. "WHAT?" Matt said, his eyes doing rather wide opened. "I felt great at the time when I did it, but I'm really ashamed of it now" Luke explained. "I just slammed my foot into his crotch, he went blue in the face and crumpled like a paper bag. I just smiled down at him, glad I gave him a good dose of pain, like it was something of an achievement. Then I realised what I had just done, and I got scared really fast. And I did the only thing I could do. I ran." "Wow. You really fucked up" Matt said, with a light smirk on his face as he leant back on his bed. He was rather glad to hear that Luke had screwed up in such a big way. If Luke did see the smirk, he didn't comment on it. "I kept running until I reached the furthest end of the compound. When I got there, I started to climb the fence. I wanted to get over it and get out, but I was naked with no shoes on, and I slipped and fell off the fence about half way" Luke said. "I landed on my back and just lay there, looking up at the sky, realising how much of a shit hole I had just dug myself into, and then I started crying." "I actually found myself wishing I could die right there. I just gave up. I was alone and I had nothing and no-on" Luke explained, and Matt caught the sad tone in his voice. "My mom had left me, my dad cared more about himself then me, my uncle had sold me off, no-one was going to come looking for me. And I was being treated worse then I had been treating you. I just wanted to die right there and then, and I honestly didn't care if there was nothing on the other side." "I don't know how long I laid there, but Micah eventually came up on an ATV. He found me laying there on the ground, but he didn't say anything. I thought he was going to kill me" Luke said. "And then he surprised me. He sat beside me, pulled me into his arms, and he said he was sorry." "Wait, you kick him in the balls, and he's the one who's sorry?" Matt asked. "He said he was sorry that he had treated me so badly, and that he had pushed me to such a limit that I'd lash out like that. And he was sorry for how broken I was. He just held me there, like I was something precious to him, me, a muddy dirty broken worthless nothing, and he was holding me like I mattered" Luke said as he looked up at Matt. "And then he told me why he had been doing it." "He said I had to be punished, because he knew what I had done to you. And I had to understand, just how a slave feels when you're life is controlled by people who do'nt care about you, be surrounded by people who will either ignore me or do as they please to me, and to be treated like an animal. And Micah wanted me to be broken, to hit rock bottom as I had already hit." "So I see" Matt said, although he wasn't sympathetic. He couldn't count the amount of times he thought he had been able to slowly rise back up, to stand on his own two feet and deal with the situation. Only to be pushed back down without mercy. Matt knew what it was like, but he wasn't giving him sympathy on purpose. "He held me, and told me he was sorry to break me so badly, and that it hurt him to do it. He said it never got easier, no matter how many slaves he had to break. But he wanted to rebuild me" Luke said. "He wanted to break me, so he could rebuild me. Repair me and turn me into someone he could be proud of, someone he could look at and say 'That's my slave'." "So, he really did care about you?" Matt asked. "I thought you sad he was an asshole" Matt said. "I thought he was at first" Luke explained. "But that was then. Looking back on it now, they weren't breaking me like the B.O.S.S. does to their slaves, to remind them how far they have sunk in society. They do it, because they care enough to do it, so they can help rebuild us." "Then Micah sat back and asked me, if I knew why they had such a high fence like they did? I told him I didn't know. He cradled me in his arms and said 'When my dad moved us all up here from Australia, this place has a real shitty fence. Some wooden pickets with about four strings of barbed wire through it. My dad took one look at the fence, and declared his hatred for it." "So he paid a fortune to have the whole farm encased in the big perimeter fence. High enough people can't climb over, deep enough so pests can't dig under it. He had a big smug ass grin on his face when it was finished. He was damn proud of that fence. Minute it was finished though, the complaints came in." "Seems all the people who drove past were disgusted by such a wicked looking fence. And the neighbouring farms complained we had no right to do such a thing because all farms had to conform, or some political bullshit like that. My dad just didn't give a damn. Told them to fuck off and mind their own damn business. See, dad never built the fence to keep us in. It was to keep everyone out so we could be safe." "Dad hates people who walk in and start throwing their weight around because they believe they have the right to. He hates people who have five minutes experience, or get everything handed to them and think they're a seasoned veteran. Dad just wants to do things his way, and do it the right way. Just without the world coming in and interfering" Luke finished explaining. "So, did you actually get punished for kicking him in the balls?" Matt asked, after a few minutes of silent reflection on what he had been told. "He said he felt like I had been punished enough. He got me back on the ATV and took me back to my room in the barn. Told me to take a shower and get some rest. I think i just fell asleep on the mattress and didn't wake up till next morning" Luke explained. "I felt better, but not much." "I had to run the next morning again, but this time it was different. None of them pushed me or shoved me, or said anything rude to me. I couldn't believe it when I crossed the finish line and I had shaved off way more then just two minutes. Micah actually looked proud of me" Luke said, as a fond smile appeared on his face. "After breakfast, Micah took me to a new section of the farm I hadn't been to yet. It was a big garden shed next to a huge fenced off area. The shed was full of brand new equipement. Bags of mulch, containers of fertiliser and food mix, packets of seed and trays of seedlings. Micah handed me the key to the shed and said 'This is your job from now on'" Luke said. Matt watched as Luke brought his hand up to his collar and fiddled with it. Matt wasn't sure, but the tag on the collar looked like a key. "Your job? What was it?" Matt asked. "All the other slaves on the farm get a job that they do, and they don't do anything else. Micah told me this was going to be my job. Isaiah wanted a proper flower and vegetable garden on the farm, but none of the of the other slaves had much of a passion for such a thing. He wanted me to do it" Luke explained. "He left me on my own after that, and I had no idea what to do" Luke said. "I started to get angry again. I felt like they had just thrown me in the deep end and didn't even have the life preserver on hand. Micah didn't tell me what to do, or anything. Seriously, I was pissed off because he just left me with this big empty plot of land and no indication of what to do. So I grabbed a shovel, threw it at the ground a few times before I started digging all over the place." "All I could think of was 'Why this? Why a garden? What do I know? How do they expect me to do this? Why couldn't they tell me what they wanted instead of just saying they wanted a garden?' I just dug through the dirt and threw it around a lot. I was pissed off all day over it" Luke explained. Matt said nothing as he listened. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, but he didn't want to interrupt. "Micah came back at lunch to relieve me, but I didn't see him. I was throwing dirt around with the spade and didn't see him for a while. When I did realise he was there, I saw the look on his face. It was disappointment Matt" Luke said as he looked up. "I stopped right there and dropped the shovel. I..i don't know, I just felt so bad and so guilty knowing I had let him down. And it just took that look of disappointment to make me realise I had screwed up. " "Micah turned and walked off without a word, and I just stood there, afraid of moving. I didn't know what was going to happen. And then Micah returned, with Isaiah. And I knew then I was screwed" Luke said. "Isaiah took one look at the progress I had made, and he just shook his head and looked at me. He didn't looked pleased. I thought I was going to die." "I've seen the way Isaiah disciplines his slaves. He's very hands on and physical about it. He keeps a bullwhip for a reason" Luke said. "He'll pull a slave over his knee and spank him till he screams without getting tired. Or he'll make them do push ups and situps and jumping jacks till they puke. Once, a slave gave him lip, so he stripped him naked and wrote 'cheap whore' all over him and made him work like that all day. He had the bullwhip on his belt, and I thought he was going to use it on me." "He surprised by just walking up to me and talking to me. He said 'Luke, you have no pride in yourself whatsoever. I know everything that's happened to you, your uncle told me all about you when I bought you. I know your mother left you. I know your dads a pansy shitbag. I know you had a hard time as nancyboy school, but mate, you have to get over it." "You had opportunities to turn your life around on your own, but you didn't take them. Instead, you just acted like you are a constant victim and expected sympathy from everyone like some whiney little bitch. You could have turned your life around with that new fancy school, but all you did was bitch about it. You went into the B.O.S.S. course, and yeah, maybe your uncle paid for it, but you had the chance to prove you were better. But you didn't take them. "I paid good money for you, to give you a new start. I know it was hard on my boy, but Micah broke you down so we can give you that fresh start. Turn you into someone we can be proud of. I want to be proud of you, like I'm proud of my sons and all my boys out there. I want to tell everyone out there, 'This is my Luke, and I'm fucking proud of him.' But right now, I don't see a damn thing I can be proud of. "Luke, I gave you this chance to prove to me you can do it, and do it on your own, so you got no-one else to blame. For fucks sake, did you even look in the shed? I got you all the books and guides, sitting in there waiting for you. Not hard to miss mate. I wanted you to take your time with this and do it properly , but all you've done is just piss about and get angry." "I'm disappointed in you boy. I want you to back to bed. I don't want to see you again until tomorrow. You get no lunch and no dinner. Come tomorrow, I want to see some passion in you. I want to see some fire. I want to see the Luke I know you can be, not this disappointing little wreck." "And then they left me. And I felt terrible, all the way back to my room. I couldn't sleep that night. I just couldn't believe I had disappointed them, and so soon. Like, literally after Micah told me how much I meant to him" Luke said with a sigh as he sat back. "And the worst part was, they were right." "They were?" Matt asked. Luke, admitting someone was right about him? This was new. "Matt, I've used everyone as an excuse as to why I'm so angry all the time, but I never did anything about it. Isaiah was right. I had chances to prove people wrong, but I didn't act on them. I had the school, I had the course, I had the job. And I blew it all because I just couldn't stop being the victim" Luke said as he closed his eyes. "I realised all that by the time the morning was coming around. And honestly, it felt like a weight was off my shoulders when I admitted it. And you know what?" Luke said as he looked up. "It felt good to admit it to myself. And after I admitted it, I knew what I had to do. I went straight out to the garden shed. I didn't even bother with the morning run. I went right to the garden shed, opened it up and got to work. And he was right. The books were on the shelf right in front of me." "So, you skipped your mandatory run to go start work early? I'm not sure, but I don't' think they would have liked that" Matt said. "They didn't" Luke said. "Micah and Isaiah eventually found me marking out a section of ground to dig up. Micah did not look pleased. He came up to me and demanded to know why I had missed the run and breakfast as well. And what I was doing here. So I stood up, looked him in the eye, and told him." "I'm not budging from here until I do a good job. You want me to build a garden here, then I will build you the best damn garden I can. I'm not going to let you look at me with disapointement anymore, and I am not going to be the victim of myself anymore. I want to be the best slave you can make me, and I'm starting right now" Luke said with a smile. "I remember right after i spoke, I went cold." "They must have liked that" Matt said. "They just looked at me in silence. I lost whatever bravado I had, and I thought to myself' Oh shit I've crossed the line now'. Isaiah walked right up to me, smoking one of his big ass cigars in his mouth, looking down on me like he was about to squash me" Luke said. "And then he laughed" Luke said with a smile. "He laughed?" Matt asked in surprise. "Hard like literally, bent over holding his gut in one hand and breaking his cigar in the other hard" Luke said. "He was out of breath and kind of purple when he finished, and it took him a couple of tries to stand up properly." "Where the fuck was that fire yesterday kid?" He asked me. "About damn time you found it. You keep it up boy, and I'll be proud of you yet" he told me before he clapped me on the back. Well, it was enough to almost knock me over before he left me with Micah" Luke said. "I was still standing there in shock and surprise about the whole thing before Micah walked and grabbed me. He ripped the back of my overalls off and whacked me on my butt so hard I fell to my hands and knees. I looked up at him and said 'What was that for?' He looked down at me, crossed his arms across his chest and said 'That's for bailing out on your run, and for skipping breakfast so you can play gardener' was what he said" Luke explained. And then he got such a happy smile on his face, one so full of adoration that Matt was sure he imagined it in the dim light. "And then he pulled me to my feet and kissed me hard on the lips. Hard and long Mat" Luke said softly, with a big smile on his face. "Like he had been desperate to do that for a while. Then he pulled off, hugged me tight and told me that he was proud to know he wasn't wasting his time with me. That he was proud I finally had some passion for my life, and for him." "He really kissed you?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah Mat, he kissed me. Told me to keep it up. So I did. Spent the whole day in that garden, measuring out plots for patches and working out what goes where and how to set it up" Luke said. "At lunch, I was presented with my own plate and cutlery, all my name on it. And when I got back to o my room that night, everyone jumped out of my room and shouted 'surprise' at me. They had put new blankets on my bed, put out new clothes for me, even got me own tv. They all accepted me that night Matt. Like I was on equal terms with them all" Luke said with a smile. "It was one of the best feelins I ever had." "So, is that why you're so happy now? Are you actually happy to be a slave?" Matt asked. "Matt, I was miserable being my fathers son" Luke said up to him. "I hated. I felt like the world wanted me to be nothing. I'm not happy to be a slave. I'm happy to be Micahs salve" Luke said, a smile forming on his face. "I'm happy to be his slave. I feel appreciated, I feel like I matter, and even feel loved by him" he said. "Wait, when you loved...do you mean it?" Matt asked, feeling surprised. "Micah, Isaiah and Mike all have open relationships with their slaves" Luke said, a blush so vivid forming on his face that he almost glowed in the dim light. "And so do the slaves. Well, when permitted" he pointed out. "But trust me Matt, when Micah gets a hold of me, he doesn't leave me any doubt in my mind that he's the dominate one" he said, the blush on his face getting brighter. Matt said nothing to that. It wasn't anger or annoyance forming in his heart, hearing that. It was jealousy. He found himself jealous that, while Luke was a slave, he was free to love his master and owner and the other slaves. And Matt couldn't even risk a hug to Spencer half the time without worrying about being caught. "So, you're really happy to be a slave, even to them?" Matt asked. Luke caught the unhappy tone in his voice. "Why do you get to be happy being a slave and I don't? How is that a punishment to you? You were supposed to be punished" Matt said in frustration. "Not given a new chance at life and actually succeeding in it." "Matt, I know the B.O.S.S. do everything they can to break you down and keep you that way, trust me I know. But they take care of you too" Luke said to him. "There are laws and regulations made to keep you safe and out of harms way, and you are looked after" Luke explained. "Maybe not in the greatest of way, but you do have a roof over your head, three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, and medical care when you need it." "Well I don't feel so fucking lucky" Matt said angrily. "How am I supposed to feel, having suffered liek this for the last six months and being miserable? How am I supposed to feel, knowing oyu violated me, and two months later you're in better condition than I am? You tell me how I'm supposed to feel Luke, cause I don't feel happy about anything." Luke was silent for a few minutes, and Matt was sure he didn't have an answer to it. It was starting to get to him, knowing that Luke was much better off then he was, that the universe had somehow rewarded the boy who had tried to rape him, and it was still punishing Matt for a few broken mailboxes. It felt like he was getting pushed down again. For a short while, Matt believed that Luke had suffered and would continue to suffer. Now, Luke was happy being a slave, being a fucking slave. That was the part Matt found so hard to believe, that Luke could be happy to be a slave. Did Matt have to finally start giving in, if he ever wanted ot be happy again? He shook his head to those thought. No, he wasn't giving in. He had made a promise to himself to reach his evaluation day, pass it, and slap his father in the face in his first minute of freedom so hard he'd dislocate his jaw. He had six months left for that to happen, and he wasn't going to think about submitting now. A few tense minutes passed between them both as Matt sat in silence. He was aware that Luke was looking at him. But Luke didn't answer the question. Maybe he just didn't have an answer. Unless he did and the answer wasn't a good enough one. "If you're really happy with them out there, why are you here?" Matt finally asked as he broke the silence. "It's because my dad wants to buy me back" Luke said softly as he relaxed his legs in the sleeping bag. Matt had not been expecting that answer, and he was momentarily stunned. "What....what do you mean? I thought you were sold off" Matt said, as he looked down at the boy on the floor. "I was sold. I was sold to Isaiah to be punished, and to turn my life around. I've done both" Luke said as he looked up at Matt. "I have been punished, and I have made my masters proud of me. But Uncle Tomas thought it would be a good idea to give my father the option to buy me back. Apparently, I've improved enough." "Do you even want to go back to him?" Matt asked. "Honestly, no" Luke said after a moment. "I don't want to go back to my dad. What have I got to go back to? An empty house? School full of people who don't care about me? A dad who lets his brother ran his life because he is that incapable of doing it himself?" "I guess you have a point there" Matt said quietly. If truth be told, he could actually see that Lukes life as a slave was better than his old life by leaps and bounds. "I don't want my dad to buy me back. And I know for a fact he can't afford it" Luke said as he sat back, resting the back of his head on the wall behind him. "Anyway, even if he did, I wouldn't stay. I'm run away from him. Go where I'm actually wanted" Luke said calmly. Silence fell between the two of them again, and Matt found himself struggling with his inner emotions. This wasn't right to him. How could Luke be the one to end up happy in a relationship, and he was stuck in this empty room with an overseer who, at times, seemed afraid of showing emotion? Why was life working for Luke and not for him? But at the same time, could Matt actually stand in the way of Lukes happiness? Luke had been punished, quite a lot it seemed. And the difference between Luke three months ago and the Luke before him now, was like chalk and cheese. Luke deserved his life to be happy for him, didn't it? Yes, Matt was unhappy that Luke had a better life then he did, and he could tell that Luke had suffered. But Luke, he had the feeling that Luke was sorry for what he had done, and that he had paid the price. He had paid for his mistakes. In a big way. But there was another question on his mind. Could Matt actually forgive him? Matt wasn't ready to forgive him, and he didn't know if he ever would. What Luke had done to him, was not something he was going to forget easily or soon. There was probably someone out there, most likely a holier then though religious freak, who would probably tell him to be the bigger man and forgive him so that Luke could move on with his life before Matt could move on with him. But Matt was not going to lie about someting like this. but that was not ready to work, and he didn't know if he ever would.what Luke had done to him, was not something he was going to forget, and he was not in the mood to forgive him at all.there was probably someone out there, most likely a religious nut, who would probably tell him that he had to be the better man and actually forgive Luke for what he had done to him so that the two of them could move on the livestock After several more minutes of silence between the two of, Matt finally spoke. "Luke, I'm not going to lie. In a way, a very small way, I'm glad you got your life back together and you're in a better situation then I am" Matt said. Luke sat up a little as he heard Matt speak, but he didn't interrupt him. "But what you did to me, I can't forgive you. You hurt me, you violated me, you treated me worse then I ever treated you, and you did it all to me. You did it all to me, because you were too busy playing the victim to change your life" Matt said flatly. "I accept that you are sorry, but I am not going to forgive you. Not now and probably not ever." The silence that fell between them both was long and heavy, and it stretched over several minutes. The light in the room had grown so dim that it was becoming a near darkness, but neither of the boys moved as they looked at each other. Luke was the one to break the silence eventually, but when he spoke, he didn't sound angry or upset. "Matt, if you don't wish to forgive me, I'm not going to ask for it. Nor am I going to insult you by demanding it or trying to guilt trip you" Luke said. "What I did to you, was wrong on every level. And you have every right not to forgive me for it." "'Well, to be honest, I don't think you've been punished enough" Matt said flatly. Luke couldn't see it, but he could actually feel the glare from Matts eyes. "If you think that, then you have every right to punish me" Luke said after a moment or two. "And like I said before, I won't stop you if you want to punish me. I owe you that much" he said. "So you'll just go along with it? You'll just sit there and take whatever I want to give to you?" Matt asked. He hadn't expected that to come from Lukes mouth. "Matt, if it will make it up to you, and make you feel better and make you feel like I've been punished enough, I will literally kiss your ass" Luke said. Matt said nothing for a moment. It didn't feel like a trap. Luke actually sounded rather genuine. Slowly, Matt stood up and got off the floor, his figure looming over the boy on the floor in the darkness. "Close your eyes" Matt said flatly . "I don't want you to see it coming" he said. Luke nodded in the darkness as he shut his eyes, feeling a little afraid, but he was determined to give Matt the satisfaction that he was owed after everything he had been put through. Something soft, but heavy collided with the side of Lukes head and knocked him to the floor in a tangle of his sleepingbag. Luke shook his head to clear the surprise as he looked up. He could just make out Matt standing there holding his pillow in his hand. "That was for raping me" Matt said. "and since it won't leave marks, I can safely hit you with it" he added. Luke wasn't sure, but he though Matt was grinning. "Ok Mat" Luke said with a slow nod as he went to sit himself back up. But another heavy collision struck him in the face and he was knocked back on his backside. He shook his head again to shake the surprise from his mind as he looked up again. "That was just because I feel like it" Matt said again. This time, Luke was sure Matt was grinning at him. "So, you're just going to keep hitting me with the pillow till you feel better?" Luke asked as he couldn't help but feel a smile of his own creep over his face. "Pretty much" Matt said, not trying to hide the smirk on his face. "And I think I can keep it up for a good while too." "Oh yeah? Well two can play at that game" Luke said as he grabbed his own pillow and brought it back up. Matt brought his arm down to defend himself, but Luke managed to strike him twice across his legs with his pillow rather firmly. "hey, no fair. I didn't say you could fight back" Matt said as, for the first time in month, he actually found himself laughing. As Luke stood up and started to hammer him with his pillow anywhere he was able to strike him, Matt was surprised to find that he was actually smiling, laughing and actually having fun as he brought his own pillow back and proceeded to assault his cousin. For the first time in months, they two of them forgot their positions as slaves, handlers, and anything else they may called themselves. The two of them just found themselves as cousins on equal footing.

"You set this up. You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Aaron shouted at his brother. For the first time in years, Aaron actually had the courage to yell at his brother, such was the amount of anger and fury he was feeling. Thomas sat calmly in the living room of his brothers home, as his brother stood before him with a red face full of anger and fury. There was no fear, no concern and basically no emotion in Thomas' face as he allowed his brother to vent and rage at him. "My son was supposed to be returned to me today" Aaron spat at his brother in anger. "Instead, he got sent back to that farm you sold him to. You told me, no. No you PROMISED me I would get my son back where he belongs. You lied to me Thomas" Aaron shouted. "Aaron, I explained everything to you before I brought Luke home" Thomas said calmly. "I told you everything, and I didn't leave any details out." "You told me you were going to have my son punished, not sold off as a farm slave" Aaron shouted as he stood before his seated brother. "I gave you the option on how to punish him" Thomas calmly said. "Either hand him to the B.O.S.S., and have him given a life of a hard manual labour slave. OR, you keep out of it and I handle it so he will be punished, but looked after. Luke has been punished, albeit not in the most common of ways, but he has been looked after. I kept my word" Thomas said. "As a fucking slave" Aaron shouted. "I met Isaiah at the B.O.S.S. when I was making some purchases. He is a slave owner, yes, but he is an off the record slave owner. How he trains his slaves is his business. We both had a lengthy discussion about Luke, and he kept me updated on his progress through his time on the farm. And I have to say, I'm pleased with his turn around" Thomas said calmly. "But you promised that I could buy him back and have him as my son again" Aaron said as he clenched his fists. The adult flamedramon looked like he was ready to hit something, or someone. "You lied to me. He was supposed to be returned this morning. Instead, you let him go back to wherever they are and kept me out of it." "Aaron, it seems I have to explain this to you, again" Thomas said, although he sounded a bit less calm. "I told you, Luke was coming back to for the weekend to help out at the warehouse, so I could see his results for myself. Luke has changed beyond my expectations. He has finally pulled himself out of the mess you created for him, and has managed to turn his life around, which is what I have always expected him to do. I was proud of him, as both a slave owner and an uncle" Thomas said. "Then why didn't you buy him back like you promised" Aaron demanded. "I told you this weekend you had the option to buy Luke back, provided you matched the amount of money that Isaiah used to purchase him." Thomas said as he continued to explain. "This was going to be your only chance to buy him back, and you were to take it seriously" he continued. "You said you would take care of it" Aaron shouted in exasperation "I told you, I would take care of the money, if you had problems getting it" Thomas said, although his voice was rapidly losing its calmness. "At which point, you had to ask for it Aaron. If you didn't ask, I wasn't going to put any money down for him" he said. "You know I didn't have the money" Aaron shouted. "You knew I have nothing to match that amount, you should have bought him back." "You had to ask for the money Aaron" Thomas said. "And you didn't. So I didn't buy him back. I told you this before, and I am telling you now. That is what happened. I didn't set you up" he said firmly. "That's how you set me up" Aaron shouted, his face slowly turning purple. "You set me up, and you set my son up. You never intended to buy him back. You just wanted him out of your life, and you're twisting things around so you don't feel bad about it." "Aaron, I am done explaining this to you. You had the chance to help your son. You didn't take it, and blaming me is not going to help. It never has, and it never will" Thomas said as he stood up off the couch and proceeded to leave the room. He didn't get very far before he was grabbed by his brother and shoved backwards against the wall. Thomas found himself with his angry younger brother glaring him in the face and holding onto the front of his tailored shirt like he was ready to break him in half. It actually surprised Thomas. Not once in the past ten years had his brother ever done something like this. "You don't care about me" Aaron seethed at him. "You never cared about me. All you ever cared about was yourself and your success and your fucking money and your fucking reputation. You never cared about me or my son. You've ruined our lives too many times, and I'm sick of being your bitch" Aaron shouted. "I'm done with you as a brother Thomas. I fucking hate you." There was plenty more that the flamedramon wanted to say to his brother, now that he had him where he wanted. How he was tired of living under his rules. How he was sick of having to beg each month for money. How he had to be reminded to comply or the money would go away. How his brother could take it all away and leave him in the mess he had originally helped him out of. Having his son removed from his life, this time seemingly for good, was finally the last straw. The anger and fury that Aaron was feeling was strong enough for him to actually pin his brother to the wall and force him to listen to him. But whatever Aaron had left to say to his older brother, he never got the chance. Thomas seemed to explode in front of him, grabbing his younger brother by the throat and slamming him against the wall opposite. Aaron felt his own courage and anger fade as he sure the look of utter fury that was burning in his brothers furious features. "How dare you" Thomas said in such a furious and low voice that Aaron thought he was going to wet himself in fear. "How dare you say I never about you, or your son. You ungrateful sack of shit, how dare you." "You're wife left you because of the debts you created for the family. She couldn't take it, having to watch you gamble everything away as you sunk the family into debt. She left because of you, of how weak you are" Thomas seethed. "And you came to me, literally begging on your knees to save you from the mess you had created. Because you didn't want to be held accountable for your own actions. You spewed excuses and cry-baby whining at me as you got on your knees and begged me for a handout, like you were a mandatory charity case" he growled. Aaron couldn't' say anything as he whimpered in fear. He was no longer feeling brave. He knew what was going on. He had stuck the hand that fed him, and now it was time to pay. "I had nothing to gain by giving you that money. Nobody told me to, nobody influenced me. My reputation, my business, nothing stood to gain from me helping you. I helped you because you are and will always be my brother" Thomas said, his face inches away from Aarons frightened features. "Ten years I have helped you. Ten years of writing cheques and receiving broken promises in return. Everytime you came to me for money, I gave it to you. With only one rule" Thomas seethed. "Pull yourself out of the shithole you made for yourself and your son and get your life back on track. And you couldn't even do that." "I warned you time and time again that if you proved to me you couldn't, that if you just used me as the lifeline with no intention of letting go, I would stop helping you. I would just leave you in the filthy hole you created for yourself and leave you to sort your own problems out. And now you have the gall to tell me I don't care?" "I paid off your debts. I paid off your house. I paid for your sons schooling. I paid for everything, and you dare tell me you hate me and that I don't care about you?" Thomas shouted in his brothers face. "You insolent little shit stain." "Thomas...I'm sorry" Aaron managed to get out as he whimpered in fear. "Please...I'm sorry brother. I'm sorry, I was wrong. Please....please just calm down....we can talk about this" Aaron managed to speak. "No, I will not listen to you anymore" Thomas said angrily. "I am done helping you. I promised you, what would happen if you proved to me you couldn't handle your life. You have proven to me, that all you will ever do, is expect me to do it all for you. To save your sorry blue ass time and time again. I am done helping you. We are through." "Thomas, please.. you can't be serious" Aaron said in fear. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had lost his son, and now he was going to lose everything else. For ten years, his brother had helped him with everything. Provided for him, paid for everything. And now it was all going to be taken from him and he'd be left with nothing. "You're son managed to turn his life around. It's just a shame it took him being sold into slavery for that to happen" Thomas said as he gripped his brothers throat tightly and then hurled him to the ground. Aaron cried out in pain as he landed on the carpet with a heavy thud, wrapping his arms around his head as he felt it collide with the floor. Thomas looked down at his brother in disgust before he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his check book. A pen soon followed as Thomas ignored his brothers pained writhing and wrote something across the blank page. Sliding the pen back into his pocket once he was done, he ripped the cheque from the book and dropped it to the ground like it was a piece of trash. "That is enough to keep you going until the end of the month" Thomas said as he straightened his tie. "After that, if you wind up in the gutter because you gambled away your house and everything you had, it's on your head. Not mine" he said firmly, with a seriously angry tone in his voice. "Thomas, please...." Aaron begged as he saw the cheque land in his field of vision. He had always been afraid of this day, the day that he had failed one too many times and that his life would end up in ruins. It had finally arrived, and his whole world was crashing down so fast he couldn't keep up, nor could he save it. Thomas said nothing as he turned around and walked out of the house. He pushed the front door open as he heard his brother cry out behind him, calling for him as he cried, begging for him to come back. Thomas however, ignored him as the pleas fell on deaf ears. The day had finally come that Aaron was at last paying for the mistakes that he had cause his family, his wife and his son, who had all suffered because of himself. The day had come, when Aaron now only had himself to rely on. And that day, was looking pretty bleak.