I walk to the train station and Lansing is right--there is nothing incognito about me. I try and blend into the crowd but I know I stick out, especially since I have no idea how to ride the trains these days. I finally figure out how to scan my  second Syndicate as payment and hunch down in my seat as the train heads for the Sprawl.

I’m exhausted from traveling and keeping myself hidden by the time I make it to the back alley entrance to Control two hours later. I have to rally, remind myself that I just need to set the record straight with Haley to protect my family. I scan my second Syndicate at the back entrance and carefully walk the steps down to Control.

I come out from the stairwell and into the heart of Control. The bar in the brothel is dark, but the air smells clean and the mostly wooden interior is passively interesting.

I didn’t want to book directly with him so I’d used a fake name and  made a consultation appointment with a married couple who were into an extreme version of S&M with a very real expectation of danger.

There’s a good group gathered in the bar and I expect them all to turn and stare at me, the tall newcomer, but no one in the brothel even bats an eye at me. Their  collective attention is rapt on what is happening in the center of the small bar tables.

I hadn’t expected it to be this easy to spot him.

Haley, his hair unmissable, is on his knees on one of the wobbly tables, wearing a threadbare RLA sweatshirt several times too big for him and making out aggressively with the young man standing in front of him.

I’d never seen him with anyone else and it was the hottest kiss I’d ever seen. Judging by people watching them I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

They were fighting for control, their bodies rutting together, trying to overpower one another. The young man clawed at Haley’s sweatshirt, snagging a loose thread and ripping a seam, revealing the tattoo covered skin on Haley’s slim shoulder. The client turns and---

Shit.

I knew the asshole making out with him.

Colfax fucking Winthrop. The spoiled little prince of the Winthrop family who thought he was god’s gift to nepotism. Even as a baby, during the few times I went home with Cassia in college, he’d been a demon. But it was no matter. Her father begged me to have her spared from execution for her war crimes--which I did. That family owed me.

“Lionel! There you are,” a female voice says next to me. She’s using the fake name I gave when I scheduled the consultation appointment.

I turn to see a stunning couple my age, looking exactly as they had  on the Control website though I can’t recall what there names were. They were dressed impeccably; the woman in a  black leather knee skirt and white top, the man wearing a serious looking suit.

Behind me I hear Haley make a defeated noise and I turn to see Colfax has a hand around Haley’s neck. Haley’s eyes are closed and I take a moment to stare but the woman turns my head back to face her. It’s a small move of dominance I’d find impressive if I wasn’t so preoccupied.

“We have a private offi--”, the woman reaches for my shades and stops short. I can see her confidence slipping. She freezes, her hands quickly leaves my face and the man, her partner, comes up to her.

Fuck, she knows.

“Don’t be so rude,” the man says throwing his partner  a look of confusion. “It can be too rowdy out here for some and we have a private office where we can discuss your expectations and hard lim--”

“No offense but I’d like a drink first,” I say because I want to stay in this bar where I can keep an eye on Haley.

The man nods and guides me to a seat while the woman orders drinks from a beautifully voluptuous female gimp manning the bar.  It’s obvious the woman in the couple knows who I am but the man has no idea and he doesn’t seem to get any of her less than subtle cues.

Still, their attention is intoxicating. The way he subtly starts removing buttons from my shirt, complimenting my body and how they  talk about fulfilling my sexual pleasure with no limits. It’s  intriguing to me but I’m barely listening. I’m too busy looking around, which makes the woman nervous. Professionally, this place is a nightmare for me but personally I could put together a wild weekend for Lansing and I.

Someone in the bar makes a “woop” sound and I turn to see Colfax dragging Haley by his hair towards the bar. They grapple violently with each other for a few seconds and then Colfax easily lifts and throws Haley on top of the bar before getting on the bar himself. Colfax cages Haley’s supine body on the bar with his own, spits on him and then whispers something in his ear as he pulls a small piece of fabric down Haley's thighs.

“This is a rare performance...he’s usually holed up in his room,” the man says turning my head back to his attention. “He’s the most authentic thing Mr. Dory has in here. But you have to have a good constitution to be into that sort of thing..”

“Well, we don’t know if he really has any connection to the RLA….it’s all just part of the transaction.” the woman adds in quickly and the man frowns at her.

She must know I’d run most of my campaigns on eradicating and vilifying the RLA.

“Is he popular ?,” I ask.

“With a certain set,” the man says. “He rarely collaborates, although he’s been more flexible lately. I can talk to Mr. Dory about him joining us. He could be our son who catches us and needs to be punished. I hear the kid knows how to take a real hit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s much too unstable.” the woman says. “I feel like we haven’t worked out any of your scenes...Lionel. Like, I said we have a small suite if you want something more domestic but there is also a dungeon we rent...”

I’m not listening and trying to find something reflective to look at so I can see behind me when a I hear someone sitting at a table shout “fuck yeah” and the crowd laughs.

I turn around again and see Colfax and Haley still on top of the bar, but now  Colfax has tied Haley’s wrists above his head with his underwear and is sloppily taking down his own zipper. I advert my gaze too soon and get an unfortunate eyeful of Colfax

The crowd claps and whistles. I think it’s just because everyone loved  seeing something that represented the RLA get fucked.

I hated how much I recognize Haley's body, even with all the new tattoos Forge must have given him when they were locked up together. The ripped sweatshirt and the way his leg is positioned covers most of him, but I still  know the arch of his back, the flush on his neck, the way he bites his lip while he’s being fucked.  I hated that I felt possessive of all of it.

My eyes are deadlocked on the two of them going at it when I suddenly catch his eye.

Only I don’t just catch his eye.

He catches my eye.

Deliberately.

He’s staring right at me, his gaze intense like he’d been looking for me.  His eyes lock on mine as Colfax’s frantic thrust jostle him against the bar.

His left cheek trembles for a moment, the barest glimpse of a smile.

Remember how much  you wanted this ? To fuck me for the whole world to see ? He seemed to be saying

From this distance his eyes look shiny and damp, bigger than I remembered. It takes me a moment to break my eyes away from his intense stare down and turn back around.

Maybe he was drugged and I was reading too much into it.  

The crowds jeers and I  hear Colfax throwing a fit and calling Haley names. The spoiled emasculated bastard may have been hung but he had barely gotten four thrusts in before  blowing his load.

“Is that what you like ?,” the man from the couple asks me running a finger over my chin. He was clearly pissed he didn’t have my full attention. “We can put on a show too if you’d like.”

“No, I’m just...I’m new at this,” I lie.

Against my will I turn around again, but both Haley and Colfax are gone. The leatherbound bartender is cleaning the bar and most of the guests have crawled back into the dark corners.

I didn’t see where Haley went so I stay and  listen to the man and women talk while I work out my next steps. I need them to take me to the rooms in the back and then I need to somehow find Haley’s door.

If he’s even still here. I’m surprised he hasn’t called security on me

I’m about to ask my hosts  for a tour, so I can get a better feel of the place, when a full shot of whiskey is slammed down in front of me. It’s the expensive, imported whiskey that I drank like a fish in my younger years. Everyone at the table jumps.

I follow the hand holding the shot of whiskey up to a  forearm covered in tattoos, the most prominent one being the words Property of the Republic Liberation Army followed by a prisoner id number in a detailed script.

That one, regrettably,  had been mine. I couldn’t reconcile myself with the man who’d chained him to a table to make him get that tattoo.

But then I look into his pretty face and remember that he’s the bastard who’d try to kill my children only a few weeks ago.

He’d changed into ripped dark pants that molded to his body , a thin scrap of a shirt  and a faded pink unzipped hoodie that looked like it was made for a child but still hung haphazardly from his thin shoulders. I’d never seen him in such a feminine color, it softened all of his features despite the blank look on his face.

He smells like shampoo and soap, my soap---the expensive body wash I wore  even though I couldn’t afford it back when I was a Camp Harmony.

It was a soap I was sure they’d stopped making.

His body standing over mine radiates heat, even the errant strands of his fine hair that tickle the side of my face are warm to the touch. Our years in the RLA had been rough. I’d never seen him cleaned up; no bruises, scars or dirt distorting his features.

My dom couple have both gone silent and almost look terrified of Haley. His face is still empty  and I can’t read anything in it as he walks to the bar, looking over his shoulder to see if I was following his lead.

And I was.

He pulls out a bar stool, but instead of sitting on it he uses it to give himself leverage to get up and sit on the bar. I sit on the  worn barstool and with him sitting on the bar we’re eye to eye.

I want to be angry with him, take out the gun and end this now-- but for a moment I feel like we’re back in Ft. Pride. I used to like when he sat on my desk or in my lap, easily managing our heights so his mouth would always be accessible to me.

Now, he just looks at me expectantly.

“I’m not drinking tonight,” I tell him, placing the whiskey shot he’d given me gingerly on the bar.

He stares at me and then  turns around on the bar,  nods to the gimp bartender and then leans behind the the bar to mess with something. I have to remind myself not to look at his tight ass or the tattoo just above it; the word fuckwhore around the diamond and rose of the RLA insignia. In the beginning of the Federation, when I was on the task force,  we’d created a class of non-punishable Indecency Laws to make it extremely frowned upon to display the RLA insignia like his.

Everything about him was forbidden and it stirred up carnal feelings I thought I’d left behind.

When Haley  turns back around  he sets a small clear glass mug of steaming coffee on the bar,  I follow his every move as he rips open three sugar packets with his uncannily straight teeth and stirs the sugar into the coffee  with his middle finger before sliding the mug closer to me.

He remembered how to make my coffee.

The coffee is familiar to me--a light roasted Chicory blend imported from the Eastern State.

It was the same coffee I’d obsessively drank  every morning with my husband. Ever  since I’d discovered it two years ago during a trip, anytime Lansing or I went to the East I made sure we brought back atleast 12 bags. He hated that I never deviated from it.

I’m not sure how Haley knew what my favorite coffee was or how he even got it but thinking of Lansing reminds me of why I am here.

“Do you still believe in a god ?,” I ask Haley, attempting to take a casual sip of the coffee.

It was exactly what I needed. It calmed the nerves I didn’t even know I had.

He still wore the saltire, even though it rests above a series of unholy vulgarities at his collarbone. I didn’t know if it was the same one he’d worn in Ft. Pride but if it was I hope he’d atleast gotten it cleaned.

“Do you ?,” he asks, turning the question on me in that voice I hadn’t heard in years.

“No.”

“You should.”

“Should I ?”

“Yes. It’s the only reason I put sugar in your coffee instead of arsenic.”

He puts the finger he used to stir the coffee in his mouth and my face heats at my stupidity. I let go of the mug. I should have been more suspicious of taking a drink from him, I sure as hell couldn’t die in this place.

We sit in silence for a moment and he tilts his head back, slowly taking  back the entire  shot of my abandoned whiskey. Releasing a deep breath he pulls his hair into a ponytail, revealing where a scar ran through the numbers on his neck. Stretching, he adjusts the pink hoodie that had been hanging off his shoulders.

He zips the hoodie up to his neck and although it was faded and ripped, I recognize the unicorn printed on the front of it as  the same unicorn on Phoenix’s favorite pillow. The one he slept on every night.

I snap.

I was willing to play games but not this one.

My hand goes to his shoulder and I shove Haley off the bar. He’s still downing the last remnants of the whiskey and doesn’t see it coming, he makes a shocked scream as he smacks into the floor on his side. I shove my barstool back and we fight as I roughly grab the collar of the hoodie, drag him across the bar and slam him into the wall.

He tries to look indifferent but I can feel the tremors in his body despite his bravado--he was still terrified of me.

“Enough with the fucking head games. Was that little show with Colfax earlier for me ? The coffee ? The whiskey ? That fucking thing on your shirt.” I spit grabbing a handful of the pink sweatshirt. “You knew I’d be here. How did you know I was coming here tonight? Are you spying on me ?”

He frowns slightly, looking more confused than angry.

“You wanted me to know.” he says. “I can see the log of people who are coming, Lionel Carver.”

“Bullshit, that’s a name I made up--”

“No you didn’t.” he retorts. “He was a corporal in Ft. Pride. He tried to help me escape once. He suffocated in a storage trunk during the prisoner breakout.”

I remember the death because we discovered the body weeks after the prisoner breakout, the body was barely recognizable as human by the point. I’d made Haley search through the remains until he could find some identification but I didn’t remember the name. There’d been so many dead corporals in the years were spent in that hell hole

“I thought I’d made the name up,” I tell him, letting him go. “You remember all their names don’t you ?,”

Instead of responding he walks to a table and sits down. There is a couple sitting at the table eating dinner, deep in conversation ,but they scatter when he sits down and I follow, sitting across from him.

We sit in silence for a moment and then Haley leans forward in his chair, cutting his eyes up at me.

“ ‘I first encountered the true horrors of the RLA sexual politics when I arrived at Ft. Pride.’” he says “ ‘ I met a young man who I won’t name to protect his dignity. This consort at Ft. Pride came with the assignment and was the flaxen haired wet dream of some long gone general.’ ”

He was quoting from my book. He’s not even wearing a Syndicate, he had it fucking memorized.

I’d written the book at my campaign manager’s insistence when I first ran for senate years ago. I’d had to talk about Haley because the few living  former soldiers at Ft. Pride had mentioned him in opposition interviews. The RLA hadn’t kept the best records about Ft. Pride and I’d admitted I’d slept with a prisoner while at Ft. Pride but had been able to obscure some details.

I’d said he was already at Ft. Pride as someone else’s whore and I’d invited him into my bed at  a moment of weakness until it became a regretful slippery slope.

It was my new truth. The only truth Lansing chose to  know.

“ ‘. I suspect he’d been innocent once but could now only perceive the world through was his body could offer because it was better than a cell’--,”

“Enough--”

“Despite my convictions, transactional sex was encouraged by the RLA, especially in outposts like Ft. Pride and few months into the assignment I fell weak to my natural desires. But I made sure to treat him with humanity and my kindness endeared him to me in a way---”

“Alright,” I bark, cutting him off. “Do you have a point to this little exercise--”

“I didn’t even get to the part where you said I fell so in love with you that I killed a soldier out of jealousy and have to be reprimanded to a cell where you think I may have died.”

“I--”

“Why did you come here ?,” he shouts. “You got away with everything and you have everything you always wanted--”.

“I’m not here about me.” I tell him. “You see  a few weeks ago you pointed a gun at my family--:

A small smile plays on his face and I decide to fuck doing the right thing  and  reach for the gun holster on my side.

Only the gun is missing.

Haley reaches down  and, pulls my gun out from behind his back  and lets it clatter on the table. The bullets are in his hand, he rolls them around like marbles and  I try and think when he could have taken it.

“I wouldn’t suggest shooting me here,” he says.”If something happens to me the cartel has a hitman who wouldn’t think twice before torturing and killing little Gemma and Ph--”

“Don’t you fucking dare use their names. What you did wasn’t funny or cute. They are children and you hurt them.” I snap. “If you felt like you needed to kill me because I was hard on you--”

“You held me captive and tortured me  for 7 years--”

“I didn’t do shit,” I argue. “ You think I wanted to be out there ? It was the RLA’s orders. I didn’t know the war would end. I thought we were going to be out there forever. If I didn't keep my subordinates in line I would have been killed. I was just as much a prisoner as everyone else--”

“No, you weren’t. All you did was drink, take drugs, bark orders and humiliate me. I did all of your dirty work--”

“I did what was asked of me. You did your own dirty work. You should be lucky you weren’t being passed around the penitentiary where you belonged.  I was your superior--”

“I remember. Remember how you made me remember ?,” he says harshly, standing to  unzip and  lower his pants to show  where the lieutenant bars and my initials were tattooed into his skin just below the sharp lines of his pelvic bone.

The bullets that were in his hands  roll loudly on the floor and I cringe when I catch a glimpse of his penis through his underwear, it looked like it was now covered in ink like the rest of him. I could only imagine how Forge got those tattoos on him.

“Alex,”  I say. “ I don’t want to fight anymore. I didn’t think we were ever getting out of that place alive and I did some things I regret.”

“You did this to me--”

“Shut up and let me speak, you’ll want to hear this.” I say holding up a hand. “If you want to kill  me fine. Tell me the time and place and I’ll be there. That’s what I came here to tell you today. I came here to give you that gun not shoot you with it.. You can do whatever you want to me on one condition.”

He folds his arms , assessing me.

“I need you to promise me that you will leave my family alone. I love my family, they mean everything to me and I need to protect their sanity. So, you can take me, do whatever you need to,  but I need you to promise you won’t come after them. I want to go home and tell them that even if they lose me, they never have to worry about you or any of these cartel  people coming after them.”

Haley is silent.

He  walks around the table toward me  and gets in my chair, straddling my lap with his knees, causing the chair I’m sitting in to nearly topple over and my cock to get a mind of its  own. He takes my hand and guides it to sprawl against the small of his back to steady him.

He seems to suddenly remember his pants are unzipped and I don’t dare move as he slowly zips and buttons them back.

“I--Y-you can’t kill me now though,” I clarify. “I have to get some things in order first--”

“I’ve been given very specific orders by the cartel never to touch you again. I can’t do anything, even if I wanted to. Minnow Dory and Rias Washington like having you in their pocket too much.” he says. “Besides, I’m too busy to kill you.”

“Are you still fucking with me ?”

“No,” he says. “I promise I won’t kill your children or anyone in your family as long as I never have to see you again.”

That was all the answer I needed.

I stand quickly, pushing him out of my lap before my cock  took over my brain and I ended up paying him. I needed to get the fuck out of here.

“You need help,” I tell Haley as sincerely as I can as  I re-do my shirt buttons and put my shades back on. “I know we saw some shit but I moved past all of that  RLA shit years ago.  You’re re-traumatizing yourself on a daily basis...let me atleast pay you to get some of those tattoos removed--”

“Fuck you, Maxwell.” he says, pushing his hair back. “I don’t need your money. I have money. You don’t think I’ve tried to have them removed ?  You know what ? I like my job. The reason this place is called Control is because I get to be in control. And I probably could have maybe forgiven you for what happened if you hadn’t left me in that cell with Forge with that fucking gag in so I couldn't even scream for help. Why did you leave me in that cell like that? Why didn't you take me with you ?”

The truth was I assumed Forge would have killed him in the first day with his overzealousness but I forgot Haley was a fighter.

“Because I knew I did a bad thing,” I tell him. “And I needed to get away with it.”

I'm turning to leave when I hear the cadence of his feet, I turn back too late and he has a fork in his hand. I put my arms up and he lunges for me like a little blonde feral animal. I throw him back but he  makes for me again, reaching his arm out and stabbing the fork’s tines into my face before jerking it down my cheek. The pain is sudden and insatiable, the dom couple and two others quickly come to restrain him, a pair taking his arm and the other pair taking his leg to hold him back.

“Have fun explaining that to Lansing,” he calls as I exit the club.

On the other side of the door I  come face to face with Jean Dory and a young woman, her head dipped over a tablet.

“ So the rumors are true, Mr. Attorney General,” Jean Dory says, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing at my face. It stings like a bitch. “ What brings you to our debaucherous neck of the woods ?,”

“I didn’t want to cause trouble. I  just had to make sure Haley--”

“Then you should have come to me.” Jean Dory says icily.

He turns to the door of Control as the bartender totters out on her silt like heel holding my gun and bullets. She gives then to Jean and he gives the gun to me and drops the bullets in my shirt pocket one by one.

“Haley is alive. You and your family are alive. My sister gave you your money,” Jean Dory says. “ Haley has been given specific instructions not to come near you.. Everyone has what they wanted so I never want to see you around here ever again.”

-3-

Maxwell had been an unexpected visitor to Control but Haley’s next visitor was even more so. This visitor was technically his new boss, a newly minted 18-year-old, who strode into Haley’s room in a well tailored three piece black suit.

The guest had  knocked three times before stepping inside, giving the room a quick appraisal and then focusing his attention on Haley.

Haley had been lying in bed, free for the next few hours and  trying to pass the penultimate level in Puzzle Warrior 17. He stands when the door opens, thankful he’d been dressed while he was lying in bed.

“Rias ?,” Haley says, not believing his own eyes.

Zacharias Washington looked different today and it takes Haley a moment to realize what was so off.

He was alone. It was like seeing a marionette walk without it’s puppeteer close by.

No Minnow Dory or Sara Banner by his side, gently ushering him through the day.

Rias removes his dark suit jacket and sets it on the desk, rolling up his white shirt sleeve to reveal the stunning array of colorful tattoos Pretty Boy had been inking up his left side the moment the new cartel boss turned 12-years-old. Unlike Haley's they'd been done by a laser, perfectly painless and vividly colored.

Haley’s  eyes follow the abandoned suit jacket and his stomach turns at the prospect of what Rias might want from him this afternoon. Rias had only been 18 a few days,  the exact same age he’d been when Maxwell had taken advantage of him. He wasn’t sure he'd be able to have sex with someone so young.

Especially not to Luce’s little brother.

“Rias I--”

“Thought  I’d tell you personally,” Rias says crossing his arms. “Twyla’s gone.”

“Fuck,” the curse spills from Haley lips and he covers his mouth. “Maxwell must have done it. He’s  vain and when he came here I scratched his face--”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Rias says, pacing the room. “ She left voluntarily with Colette, her Santoro Family friend, though I suspect it’s more than that. She left a note and everything...we have no idea where she is right now.”

“Is that….is this a good thing ?,” Haley asks.

“It’s unprecedented,” Rias shrugs, leaning against the wall. “ I know she’s safe .Colette knows how this life works, how to stay off the system. She got Twyla a new syndicate and everything.  They’re  living of off the  radar for now.”

“It might be for the best,” Haley says. “It was hard being cramped in that safe house...I can’t imagine being stuck there alone.”

Rias nods and then looks up at Haley through his thick lashes.

“It’s just funny,” Rias says. “The only reason Minnow and I made that deal with Maxwell is because of Twyla’s involvement in the assassination attempt not yours. We were protecting her but now, not even we know where Twyla is and if my mother can’t find her, I doubt the Federation can.”

“Funny ?,” Haley asks, as politely as he can despite wanting to know what Rias was really up to now that he’d cut his apron strings.

“I don’t know...I’m just saying, officially the cartel has said that you’re not supposed to touch Maxwell anymore,” Rias says. “But if you decide to disobey I’m willing to look the other way. Just know you’ve got nothing to lose but yourself if you fail.”

“What about the money Minnow said I had to pay back ?,”

Rias shrugs.

“I mean...you still have to pay it,” Rias says. “If you got yourself killed we’d take what you have in the bank and any commissions from recordings….my father would have gotten  an enforcer to threaten your sister for the rest. Although let’s face it,  it won’t come to that because Luce would  sell his entire car collection to pay off your debt if you died.”

Rias takes a gun out of his back holster and places it on the bed with a white Syndicate.

“This firearm is a gift from the Icelandic ambassador to my father...it’s supposed to be some idiot proof firearm that always hits its mark and this Syndicate is encrypted to open any door.”

“I don’t understand,” Haley frowns. “The last time I pointed a gun at Maxwell you cut my finger off--”

“I didn’t do that because you pointed a gun at him,” Rias says, in a way that strikes Haley as very Rayne like. “I did it because you went rogue and did it at a public MBC event in a room with my little sister. People don’t respect me as it is, I couldn’t let the members think I let someone like you ignore Cartel orders-”

“Someone like me ? You mean a whore?”

“Frankly….yes. I hear you’re good at your job but you can’t be good at mine too.” Rias says. “Look, I know enough to know I don’t want to run the cartel like my father. It’s impossible to decipher all his relationships and deals. Everything is complicated with deep seeded resentments and secret deals. With Twyla safe we’ve got nothing to lose if you try again. But don’t get me wrong, if you royally fuck this up we don’t know you.”

Haley had never had much of an opinion about Zacharias Washington, but he could see that now that Rias had his throne he intended to keep it. He was going to show them all up for underestimating him. Haley wanted to take a page out of that book.

“The rules have changed. You’re really giving me permission to kill him ?,” Haley asks, picking up the gun

“I just want you to get your revenge,” Rias says. “Be as creative as you want. Especially since now he won’t see it coming.”

End

A/N

This story came about because  I wanted to reunite Haley and Maxwell and see where that went. I also wanted to write Maxwell and Lansing's relationship. Also, in that last scene in Virtue, Haley is intentionally baiting Colfax to be rough with him because he knows Maxwell is watching.

Also I am throwing in as much Rias-slowly-turning-evil-backstory as I can because I’m not sure I’ll ever really write it fully.

I’m just not sure what would be the perfect revenge for Haley, so I’m leaving it ambiguous