Begin Again ((Yuri))

[Elena Babineaux]

There wasn’t much that was complicated about Elena’s job – she was supposed to study the mutants, put together files (to study later), research buyers, and begin matching. There were problems there, sure, but they were generally few and far between – it was when the buyers showed up themselves (as they often did) and she had to do all the matching on the fly. It was so hard with people being nervous about what they were doing and fudging the information so Elena couldn’t make the right matches – she didn’t like sending the mutants to someone who was going to treat them like they were animals. Yes, she had heard Schneider’s logic about selling them, and she even thought there might be something to it, but that didn’t mean that the mutants needed to be treated poorly. So she’d thrown in the towel and gone to Schneider to demand help, even if it was just one of the bigger guys to stand in the room and look intimidating. It had taken some work, but eventually he had lent her Erik – who could certainly do the big and intimidating thing – but it didn’t work. Schneider didn’t seem to think their agreement meant much, and called Erik away too often and without warning, and there were too many times when she was still left to her own devices. The same problem arose when the other mutants who had the run of the house tried to help, and Elena decided she might as well just not have anyone. Except that put her back at square one . . . The next time she met with Schneider, she asked for one of the mutants in the basement (they weren’t being used for anything anyway! Well . . . sorta . . .). She had thought the first request took some convincing, but it was nothing compared to this one. Fortunately, she could be stubborn when she wanted to, and after a week of pleading, threatening, and conniving, she’d convinced Schneider to sell her one with the agreement that she would work off what part of the debt she couldn’t pay right away. Then Schneider had asked which one . . .

That was why she was standing at the bottom of the basement stairs, nervously trying to work up the nerve to go in and talk to one of the mutants in there – her mutant, now . . . the thought made her stomach heave with nerves and more than a little disgust. She had bought another person, like he was – no, not another person, a mutant. It was different. She shouldn’t feel so bad about it. Er . . . rather, she didn’t feel bad about it . . . of course she didn’t.

Groaning at herself, Elena shoved through the door and shuffled nervously toward the cell in the corner. This was a tough walk to make on a good day – it was a hundred times worse when she couldn’t be sure what the outcome would be. “Morning!” Her voice sounded fake even to her, but Elena strove to smile like it wasn’t – which was stupid, Yuri would probably know anyway. But she was nothing if not stubborn, so she clung to the pretense as she peered into the cell. “I’ve got some news for you. And, um . . . I want your help with something.”

ATTIRE Ta-da! LYRICS young – hollywood undead NOTES Hope it's okay - she's different to write in posts than ICing.WORD COUNT 562 CREDIT sam ! of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you.

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[Yuri Petrov]

Yuri eyed the makeshift tic-tac-toe board - consisting of the concrete floor and some charcoal - with tactical precision. Though simple and often times a game based on chance alone, tic-tac-toe was becoming the local entertainment for the imprisoned mutants. This was practically television... at least, it was for the prisoners who remained calm enough to watch. The others seemed perfectly content to scream, cry, and beg all day long to an unwavering crowd of Schneider's pets. The Mute didn't consider himself one of those people. He was conniving, patient, diplomatic, but most importantly, he was going to win this game.

"Three in a row, kid." His competitor - a boy hardly older than thirteen - was a small one; not even his voice had dropped. He was... skittish, to say the least. Yuri couldn't remember a single day where the kid hadn't jumped at the sound of clanging metal or stomping feet. But tic-tac-toe, now that could keep the boy calm... for once. Now while Yuri wasn't the best parental figure per say, he had babysat his masters' kids enough times to know how to keep them busy, or in this case, how to stop them from losing their shit inside a cell. Even though the boy lost almost every time, it kept him happy enough. But just before the gleam of contentedness could reach the kid's face, footsteps sounded from the top of the stairs and sent the shy prisoner jolting back to the back of his cell.

A jeer and a hiss started up from one of the cells, to which Yuri silenced with a simple stomp of his foot; he saw who was coming downstairs... it sort of made his day. "Elena." The prisoners looked on in awe and curiosity. They could hardly fathom how The Mute could achieve any connection to the goons... but they admired him for the success. But Yuri wouldn't cast much more than a few glances at his admirers; he had business to take care of. Already Elena's words had caught his attention. "What sort of news?" He moved towards the front of the cell, feigning disinterest.