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Time Served

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Despite having worked for over a month in the prison, Officer Gimlet had been posted at the

entrance. He'd spent his days working with visitors, speaking with the public, and facilitating

phone calls. Out of all the possible jobs at the Vaskirk Correction Facility it was probably the

least dangerous and the least stressful. Why the management had decided to move him, however,

was beyond his understanding.

His instructor for the day, an aging, scruffy-looking wolf named Dax Oliver wasted no time

familiarizing him with the equipment. "This door only opens with an electronic key card,

biometric recognition, and a correct pass code." Officer Oliver moved his body to make it

impossible for the rookie to see the pad.

"How am I supposed to use the keypad without knowing the code?" he questioned.

"Relax, Nathan." the more experienced officer responded casually, "We each get our own code...

but for now you're still in training and the Warden'll want to make sure you have what it takes

to cover this wing before investing in ya."

"Well... that makes two of us." the rookie officer acknowledged.

"Don't sweat it, chimp." the wolf countered, "The only one you really have to worry about is

Pike."

Something about the name sounded familiar, "Pike?" Officer Gimlet questioned before Officer

Oliver's comment sank in, "I'm a monkey. There's a difference." he brushed at the sleeve on his

uniform, knocking loose a small speck of what might have been sock lint.

"Geez, Nate, calm down... it's not a big deal." the wolf rolled his eyes, pushing the door open

after a loud buzz signaled it had been unlocked.

"It's just not PC!" the rookie objected, "It's like me calling you a dingo, or a fox."

"Jesus, Nathan." the wolf let out a sigh, "Alright, Officer Gimlet... you need to learn how to

let go of some of that stress... you're WAY too high strung." and he continued down the hall,

looking neither to the left nor the right.

Nathan followed after him, adjusting his uniform for what must have been the tenth or eleventh

time; he tended to be preoccupied with appearances when he was exposed to a new situation. "This

is ultra high security... how am I supposed to relax?"

Officer Oliver laughed at that, a short, triple bark of a sound, "Simple: you realize that the

security measures we have in place do the job for you, and you just make sure you don't do

anything stupid." he stopped and motioned down a side hall, "Besides... you only have one

prisoner to worry about."

"Just one?" the monkey paused, and looked to the end of the walkway and the sealed metal door,

"Jefferson Pike." Nathan read.

"Or 'Pike' for short." the wolf nodded in confirmation. He stopped beside the door and opened up

a small metal receptacle hanging from the wall, "Here... it's regulation-- you wear these

whenever you're around him." and Officer Oliver handed him a pair of what looked like green-

tinted sun glasses.

"In doors?" the monkey raised an eyebrow.

The wolf grinned and slid on his own pair of glasses, "You didn't bother watching much news in

the past few years, did you, Nate?"

"I was going through classes in college." Nathan uncrossed his arms and accepted an offered pair

of sun glasses, "Not a lot of time for news."

The wolf began to count off on his fingers, "Assault-- accessory. Aggravated Assault-- accessory.

Murder-- accessory. Breaking-and-entering-- accessory. Vandalism-- accessory. Grand Theft

Auto-- accessory... and rape."

The rookie whistled, "That's a lot of accessory counts."

"More than one in every case." the wolf acknowledged, "And the rape was all him."

Nathan scratched the back of his head, "So how does that end up putting him in here? He can't be

that dangerous if he just sits off to the side and observes... or, god forbid he might hold a

weapon." he snickered.

"The 'Accessory' charges are all the courts could get him on, smart ass." the more experienced

officer bristled slightly, "It's a little more complicated than that."

"And yet he took the hands-on approach for the rape counts, huh?" the monkey leaned against the

wall as Officer Oliver started going through the security measures.

The wolf looked back over his shoulder as the door opened, "He's a hypnotist, kid."

"A..." the comment stunned Nathan, mostly because of the sheer stupidity of the comment, "You

mean... like one of the guys who goes up on stage and convinces someone to cluck like a chicken?

You're fucking kidding me!" and he started laughing.

"Do NOT take off your shades." Officer Oliver spoke over him, "Do not release his muzzle, and for

god's sake, do NOT let him get his talons on anything shiny... do you understand?" and he ushered

the monkey through the door.

"This is a joke... right?" Nathan turned around to address the wolf.

"See you in eight hours." the experienced officer responded, and the door slid shut in his face.

Officer Gimlet let out a sigh, first rolling one shoulder then the other as he turned back to

look at the room in general. He was standing in a nondescript hallway that ran some 20 feet to

terminate at the far wall. There were a set of bars half way down the hallway on the right side,

and, from his vantage, the monkey could clearly see an blackish-colored talon grasping one of the

bars; it withdrew once he noticed it.

"What in the--?" the monkey approached the cell slowly and with purpose, keeping his weight

spaced evenly on the soles of his feet for quick movement if it were required. The room was

dark, and green tinted thanks to his shades; despite the silliness of the wolf's suggestion that

the prisoner was some kind of mental manipulator, Nathan just couldn't force himself to remove

his eye covering. His reluctance became that much stronger when he looked into the cell.

The space housing the prisoner was easily three times the size of the average holding room. It

was meticulously kept, with a book shelf, a television, and a small dresser. Nathan saw a small

divide made of wood and cloth, most likely hiding the toilet. Unlike the other cells the monkey

had seen, the space before him had a twin sized bed instead of a simple cot. Everything looked

new, and in perfect condition, except for an ancient prison-style sink, which appeared to be

leaking. Drip... drip... drip... he pushed the sound from his mind the moment a more distinct

tapping drew his attention to the far side of the cell, where the prisoner stood.

Jefferson Pike might have been easily mistaken for any other lizard on the street; he was thin,

but not particularly skeletal; he was of slightly greater than average height, but not so much as

to stand out; he was well cleaned and presentable, right down to the manicured cuticles of his

long, three inch claws. Nathan was surprised that they hadn't been ground down like the other

prisoners' natural weaponry. It also surprised the monkey to see that Pike was muzzled; that was

certainly not standard prison protocol. The sink continued to drip.

The lizard winked at him, and, only at that point, did the rookie realize how oddly the

prisoner's eyes appeared. Thanks to the green tint on his shades, Pike's eyes looked cloudy,

save for the horizontal, reptilian slits for pupils. The monkey shivered subtly at the look.

What's wrong with his eyes? he asked himself, scowling as the sink's repeated dripping distracted

him yet again.

Just as his inspection of the prisoner was ending, the officer was surprised to see Pike reach

back to the book case and pull an erasable whiteboard off of the shelf. He turned it to the

guard, allowing him to see the words MY TALONS CANNOT BE CUT BECAUSE THEY ARE EXTENSIONS OF MY

SKELETON. Each letter was perfectly formed and clearly scribed as neatly as if a computer had

done it.

"What?" Nathan questioned.

The rookie saw a faint twitch behind the prisoner's leather muzzle, hinting at a smirk. Pike

turned the board around, revealing the words YOU WERE LOOKING AT THEM.

For a moment, the monkey was taken aback. He hadn't recalled seeing the lizard write anything,

at least, not after he'd done the precursory examination of the room. He was almost about to ask

Pike if he'd had that written before he came in, but he threw the thought out of his mind...

especially after the prisoner smudged the words out and began to write something new. Nathan

waited patiently, unsure of why he was bothering to humor the prisoner, but he saw no reason to

end their one way written conversation. If anything, it helped distract him from the sink's

incessant dripping.

"Can you do anything about the sink?" Nathan questioned the lizard. Pike turned his white board

around, giving the monkey reason for pause: THE SINK IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. HOW LONG UNTIL IT

CAN BE FIXED? The coincidence was unsettling, but the rookie powered past it, "So... you're some

kind of hypnotist, are you?" he asked, pulling a chair away from the far side of the wall and

dragging it closer to the bars. He turned it around and sat down in it backwards, legs

straddling the back.

Again, Nathan saw the hidden smile from behind the prisoner's muzzle, and the lizard nodded

vigorously, obviously impressed with himself.

"Who makes others commit crimes for him?" the rookie pressed. Again, the prisoner confirmed the

words with a grin behind his muzzle.

"So what about the rapes then?" asked the monkey, "Why not just hypnotize someone into having sex

with you?"

Pike winked, and began writing out on his board. Several seconds passed in near silence, only

the sound of the repetitive drip-drip-drip accentuating the soft scraping-squeak of the marker in

Pike's talon as it worked across the white board. The lizard turned it around so the rookie

could see what he'd written, BECAUSE I ALREADY HYPNOTIZED THEM INTO COMMITTING CRIMES.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at that, "You mean, the people made do all those acts... you raped them

after?"

The lizard looked down at the pen in his grasp and gave it a vigorous shake; the monkey didn't

miss the fact that it coincidentally matched the tempo of the dripping water. Damn sink, he

thought to himself, making a mental note to have someone take a look at it-- too many days

listening to it would drive him insane.

Pike turned the board back around to face Nathan, DO YOU BELIEVE IN HYPNOSIS? and it was followed

by an inked smiley face above what looked like a spiral drawn beneath it.

"I tend to believe only what I can see and here." the monkey replied with a frown, then sighed

when the lizard started to rotate the white board. "You're REALLY doing this, aren't you?"

Nathan questioned with a sigh, "That's why I have these apparently." and he motioned to his

glasses, tapping them, surprisingly enough, in time with the water dripping in the sink. Stupid

sink! he cursed it, scowling as he took his anger out on the leather straps in his hands,

wringing it in frustration with his fingers.

"I've always found sun glasses to create a certain type of mystique." Pike announced, his voice

fluid, mellow, and smoother than silk; it made Nathan shiver, as if the words were permeating him

"to the core." the lizard murmured, finishing the monkey's thought before even he had.

"WHA?!" the rookie suddenly jumped back, the prisoner's muzzle falling out of his surprised grasp

to land on the floor in a jumble, "What the fuck?"

"You said you didn't believe in hypnosis, Officer." Pike crooned, leaning against the wall of his

cell, a predatory grin on his elongated snout; Nathan could almost count each tooth.

"You can't hypnotize me." the monkey countered, "I'm wearing the drip-drip!"

"Oh, my dear, dear primate..." the prisoner tsked softly, "Did you just say 'drip-drip'?"

"What?" Nathan questioned, glancing to the sink and then to the lizard, "No... I said I'm

dripping the glasses."

"Ah..." Pike chuckled, "That's what I thought."

"Why won't that sink stop dripping?!?" the monkey demanded, staring holes into the knobs on the

fixture.

"Like I already said..." the lizard inched closer, practically oozing his way to the front of his

cell where his talons slid their way around the bars, "it's broken... Officer Gimlet."

The monkey paused at that, his breath caught in his throat, "How do you know my name?"

"It's on your uniform." Pike smiled in response, reaching out to brush his claws across the front

of the monkey's chest. Nathan went to withdraw, but his reaction was far slower than he had

expected, and he pulled away, leaving his correctional officer shield in the prisoner's grasp,

"Oops..." the lizard smiled, "how clumsy of me..." and he held the metal up for the rookie to

see, "I'm terribly sorry."

Nathan reached for the badge, but paused when pike gave a faint flick of his wrist, catching a

small mote of light along the edge of the worked metal. Something about the glinting reflection

struck the monkey deep down, and he was surprised at how amazing it looked. He slowly withdrew

his hands and, as a reward, Pike rotated the shield again, granting the guard another glimpse of

the magical spark of light. It was all so amazing that the dripping of the sink no longer

bothered him.

"Why don't you take off those glasses, Officer Gimlet?" the soft hissing suggestion made the

monkey shiver.

"I..." he paused, remembering something about wearing them for a reason. Pike's eyes gazed

straight at his through the bars, the eerie, milky absence of color in them making the horizontal

pupils all the more alien. "...alright." he confirmed, realizing that the shades--

"are an incredible inconvenience." Pike spoke the monkey's thoughts aloud for him. The lizard's

smile widened as Nathan removed the glasses, and the expression was mind blowing to the guard.

Nathan's gaze was stuck immediately to Pike's, his vibrant, green eyes scintillating with a

thousand more motes of light than the badge had. Nathan realized that he was lucky-- nobody else

would ever get to see such an amazing sight.

"There's only one problem, Officer Gimlet..." Pike crooned.

"Hmmm?" the monkey questioned numbly, agitated that he had to wreck the perfect moment by making

a sound.

"You've somehow found your way into my cell..." the lizard's tail arced languidly one direction

before swaying the other, not unlike a metronome... or the ever-present dripping of water, "and I

appear to have ended up on the outside."

Nathan paused, taking a step back and breaking eye contact with the prisoner. He turned around

once, then again, realizing that he was inside the holding cell! "What the fuck?!?!" he shook

the bars.

Pike smiled calmly, "Now do you believe in hypnotism, Officer Gimlet?" the lizard chuckled

calmly, reaching out to caress the monkey's face tauntingly.

Nathan reacted by pure instinct, quickly grabbing for the lizard's wrist with one hand while the

other pulled at the key ring on his belt. "You exchanged places with me?!?!" he shouted, barely

able to believe his own words.

"You don't have to be so rough, Nathan." the lizard smiled, wincing once as the monkey bent his

arm a little too far, "If I'd wanted to get away I would have."

"Yea... just keep telling yourself that." the monkey growled, finally finding the right key.

Keeping hold of the prisoner, the rookie walked the door open, and then reached past it, grabbing

the lizard by the back of his prison jump suit, and pulling him into the cell while, at the same

time, exiting himself. He rapidly shut the door and pulled the key free of the lock. "Where's

my fucking shades?" the monkey scowled, not registering that the lock was on the 'wrong' side of

the cell.

"Right here." Pike acknowledged, kneeling down to pick up the shades where they sat on the

ground. Nathan paused, recalling that he'd dropped them outside the holding room, not inside.

The lizard handed them back to the monkey, which confused him all the more. The action stopped

him as he tried to sort out the past few minutes of events, and he continued contemplating it

even as Jefferson Pike casually strolled off down the hall, leaving the officer confused and in

the cell.

* * * * * *

Nathan awoke on the twin mattress, feeling like his head was stuffed with cotton. It took him a

few moments to realize where he was but, once the realization set in, the monkey jumped up,

letting out a cry of pain as he did so. Looking down in disbelief, Officer Gimlet found that his

uniform slacks were down around his ankles, and spotted with blood, "...the fuck?" he demanded of

nobody in particular.

The sound of a security door buzz caused him to quickly hike up his pants, tenderly buckling it

against the discomfort underneath his tail. He remembered the interaction with Pike, but he

couldn't actually remember the lizard.... 'doing' anything like his injuries suggested. He lost

the ability to dwell on the thought as Officer Oliver's scowling muzzle appeared on the other

side of the bars, "What the FUCK did I tell you about removing your glasses?"

"The... uh..." Nathan rubbed his head, moving over to the sink, "the faucet is broken..." and he

reached down to show his superior-- but the dripping had already stopped.

"For fuck's sake, kid." the wolf unlocked the cell, "Get the hell out of there."

Nathan did as he was told, sheepishly extending the question, "...the prisoner?"

"Caught in the hall." the older officer stated, "Like I said... good thing you didn't have your

own code."

"Where is he?" the monkey asked, feeling another twinge of pain from beneath his tail; he didn't

like what it suggested.

"In solitary." Officer Oliver stated, "Which is where you'll wish you were once you speak with

the warden."

"The... warden?" Nathan's fur stood on end, I'm fucked. he informed himself.

"Yea." the wolf acknowledged,"He's been informed about all of this, and he's waiting in his

office for you."

The monkey sighed, "Am... I fired?"

"Couldn't say." the wolf shrugged, "You fucked up something bad, Nate... if I were you I wouldn't

keep him waiting."

The march to the warden's office was a long one-- nearly half way across the prison. Nathan had

only ever visited the warden's office once, and that was on the day he started. The warden was

out, but he remembered how imposing it looked. Stepping up to the threshold, he reached up and

gently knocked on the door three times, realizing that the trepidation he felt during his first

visit was nothing compared to his newest misadventure.

"Come." a deep, imposing voice announced from within. The monkey took hold of the knob and

turned it; the metal felt cold in his hand, and he shivered. As he entered, Nathan realized that

the office felt much larger than it had the first time, everything far more imposing due to his

pending... reprimand?... demotion?.... he swallowed the developing knot in his throat, ...firing?

Nathan moved quickly across the thick, wine-red carpet, barely pausing at the large, wall-sized

mirror to the right. He glanced only once to the left, where two large windows looked down on

the prison grounds... and then his attention was drawn to the enormous desk, with an even larger

chair behind it. The cloth creaked as a black-furred hand squeezed the arm wrest, "I'm told you

fell prey to Mr Pike."

"Sir... uh..." Nathan shifted from foot to foot, "Uh... yes, sir."

A thick arm, connected to the hand, reached out and pulled a file off of the desk, high backed

chair still facing away from the rookie guard, "It says here--" and the deep voice suddenly

stopped. "Nathan Gimlet?" the warden gasped, "Nate?!"

"Yes, sir?" the monkey inquired, uncertain what to think of the sudden outburst. The chair

swiveled around immediately, and Nathan paused, stuck with a strange sense of vertigo. His

vision cleared up after a single breath, "Ted?!"

The warden had an easy time leaping over the desk; despite being slightly older in his years,

Theodore Auger was a gorilla, and had a natural talent for getting from point A to point B,

heedless of obstacles. Nathan smiled, remembering well the time they shared a bobsled, and Ted

had to drag it home after a really bad crash... Nathan had a cast on his leg for months!

"Holy SHIT, boy!" the warden laughed, all premise of official capacity lost to them as they

embraced deeply, "I can't believe you actually went through with criminal justice!"

"Following in my best friend's footsteps, I guess." Nathan's smile was from ear to ear, and he

never questioned how he and a gorilla almost three times his age could have played together when

they were kids. He also didn't question when the warden stuck his tongue into the monkey's

mouth. The young guard vaguely remembered having a girlfriend at home, and being decidedly NOT

gay, but he realized the events of the day only had him confused-- whoever was at home didn't

matter... THEO was with him there, at that exact moment.

"I thought about writing home so often..." the warden announced, pulling his tie free as he

started to unbutton his shirt.

"I left after high school... it wouldn't have reached me." Nathan answered, grunting as the

gorilla mightily hiked him up, setting his rump down on the large, oak desk. Nathan started to

pull at the warden's slacks, "Oh, God, I've missed you, Theo..."

"I've been dreaming about this for the past thirty years." the gorilla huffed, pulling at the

guard's uniform, yanking the button securing it apart. Nathan did a double-take... thirty? No,

the monkey realized, Theo must have said thirteen. The young guard didn't have any more time to

think about it, however, as the large gorilla plowed into him with abandon. Nathan let out a

cry, gripping the edge of the desk as Warden Auger pushed himself in to the hilt, "Oh... you're

as tight as I remember." the gorilla crooned.

Behind the one way mirror, Jefferson Pike chuckled, sipping on some freshly brewed coffee he'd

obtained before Nathan had entered the office. He set his feet up on a table in front of him as

he admired his handiwork. The warden buggered the new guard with abandon, as if they were long

lost butt buddies. He contemplated for a moment whether he wanted to have them remember the

moment, or if he was going to clear the events from their mind once he'd finished having his fun.

Taking another sip, the lizard decided he'd enjoy the show and worry about it afterward; paying his debt to society was much more enjoyable than he had first suspected.