August

March 15

"Hi, Ashby. Welcome back."

Adrian smiled warmly at his student, taking care not to show any aversion, no pity or worry or any emotion that might injure the young man. Ashby had been gone just a week - in the past, the same sort of rehabilitation could have taken months. Adrian thanked the advancement of carrier studies for his pupil's swift return, then put out his hand to take the package Ashby was offering him.

"What's this?"

The young blonde shrugged and rubbed his arm at the elbow.

"It's, um...it's my medicine."

Adrian looked up at him. There were seven bottles of pills in the bag.

"Oh. Okay. Do you need to take this right now?"

Ashby shook his head.

"No, I just - um, I have to take it four times a day? And the doctors said I should give my daytime stuff to you, because I'm not allowed to have it."

Adrian nodded and took it with him over to the locked medical cabinet above the emergency sink in the corner.

"OK. Let me call and find out your schedule, for when you're supposed to take it, and in the meantime I'll put it away, OK?"

Ashby nodded and looked relieved, but when Adrian turned back from the cabinet, the boy hadn't moved. Adrian met his eyes.

"What's wrong, Ashby?"

Ashby bit his lip, his hands clenching and unclenching in small fists by his sides.

"They know." Adrian resisted the urge to point out that of course 'they' knew - 'they'd' all been there. Ashby's eyes seemed a bit damp. He clenched his fists again, repeatedly. "They all know, and they're going to make fun of me."

The malicious part of Adrian felt there may be some measure of justice in this - it wasn't as if Ashby had ever been the most charitable of students, and certainly he'd been at the head of more than enough bullying himself. This same malicious part of Adrian wanted to offer the boy no comfort, to say nothing kind to him at all. The malicious part of Adrian wanted to see Ashby hurt. Luckily, the malicious part of Adrian did not get a chance to speak. Caddy interrupted him.

"No, they won't, Ashby." he was standing behind the blonde, wearing a charcoal-smudged apron, one arm occupied with carrying the life-size doll he'd been practicing diaper changes on. Ashby turned, chest heaving, eyes wide as if Caddy were some ghost, an apparition; some vision of an unexpected savior. Caddy reached out the other arm to his classmate, his expression steady and voice calm. "It's OK." he promised. "They won't make fun of you. I won't let them."

~:~

"I fold. And I hate you. And I'm never playing poker again."

Sheridan crossed his arms over his chest and theatrically turned his head away. James chuckled, eyes still on his own cards.

"This is Go Fish."

"Whatever."

James shrugged.

"Tell you the truth, I'm getting a little tired of the game myself. How about we go find us some mid-morning victuals?"

Phidias shook his head and put down his hand.

"You guys go ahead. I'm not really so hungry lately."

Both sets of eyes snapped up to him.

"You pregnant?" Sheridan asked bluntly. Phidias scoffed.

"How? Immaculate conception?"

Sheridan relaxed again.

"Oh."

James was quietly gathering the deck of cards from across the table.

"Hmm. I'm pregnant."

Again, both sets of eyes snapped across the table.

"What?!" Sheridan cried. "Since when?! With who??"

James reddened a little, but he was almost smiling, so Phidias figured it couldn't be too bad of news.

"Um, three weeks, and...it was Harley. Actually."

There was silence. On Phidias' end, it came from the fact that he had no idea who Harley was. On Sheridan's end, it came from the fact that he knew exactly who Harley was.

"But...he..."

James looked up at Sheridan with a hard look.

"He what?"

Sheridan hesitated.

"Is that a good choice?"

James set his jaw and focused on the cards.

"It's done, Sher. Not exactly un-doable."

Sheridan looked like he wanted to say more, but fell silent instead. James swallowed, and glanced at Sheridan, who was looking away.

"It'll be fine." he said. "It will be fine."

Phidias watched them both as he stacked the deck.

~:~

He'd gotten a note after lunchtime telling him that his private counseling session had been postponed. After that, the note gave no further information: just a room number and a time, both circled in red. He had seven minutes.

The door was blue, and unmarked save its number. Phidias twisted the paper nervously in his hands for a minute before raising one fist to knock. A chaperone opened the door before he could, and he was left standing there, feeling dumb, with his fist raised like a rebel in front of him. The chaperone stared. He went in.

There was no one else in the room. Just a desk, empty of papers, and a chair on other side. And a clock. Phidias looked up nervously at the clock. His appointment time came and went. Time was ticking. The chaperone hadn't moved from the door. Phidias picked at the skin on the side of his left thumbnail. Why was he here? For what? Who wanted him? Waiting like this made every second seem like an eternity.

The door opened with such force and such suddenness that Phidias actually jumped, and turned around to peer through his glasses at what the hell might be coming in behind him. There was one man, flanked by two chaperones. And he looked pissed. Fear fought confusion for control of Phidias' mind. The man went to the opposite side of the table, leaving the door gaping open behind him. The first chaperone closed it.

The man flew past, followed by his own two chaperones, who spread out behind him. As they passed Phidias in the small room, he realized that they were men - not chaperones at all. This thought dawned on him with a sizeable amount of shock - chaperones were built and designed beasts of men; titans of muscle and mindless. To see men of equal size and blank face frightened him. He jerked his hands to his lap. The angry man, who now looked tiny in comparison to the giant men behind him, glared at Phidias and dropped a folder down on the empty desk.

"Do you know who I am, Phidias Alexander?"

Phidias blinked.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM, PHIDIAS ALEXANDER?!"

Phidias turned once to look behind him, wondering if there was still an open door; this was a mistake. He was met, upon turning back, with the sharp side of the little man's fist. Phidias nearly fell out of the chair, taken completely by surprise by the blow. He looked up at the man in bewilderment. The man was calmly readjusting his tie.

"You will not look away from me for any reason, Carrier."

Phidias stared at the man, who leaned over the table now, spreading his hands on either side of the cast-down folder between them.

"My name is Officer Kosin. And you are in a lot of trouble."

~:~

Officer Sean Wick met Adrian outside his doctor's appointment promptly at 2. The carrier shook off his irritation at this and kissed his fiancé's cheek.

"Sweet of you to show up. How did you know?"

Sean shrugged.

"Called in and checked your schedule."

Adrian bit back a protest. There was no room for it now.

"Oh." they began to walk the short distance down the hall to the appropriate room. Outside the private examining room, Adrian paused and turned to Sean. "You don't have to do this, you know."

Sean frowned.

"Yes, I do. This is what a Dothan man does. We do this, Adrian."

Adrian looked at the floor, then up at his mate.

"Other people do this alone all the time."

Sean's eyes sparked and his face took on a determined set.

"Other people aren't us, Adrian." the soldier cocked his head. "What's gotten into you?"

Adrian fiddled with the doorknob and looked not at Sean.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean what's with the whole thing? First you run away from home like some kind of wildcat in heat. Then I come after you to try and keep you safe and you tell me to stay the hell back. I give you space and you go off and try to get married. To someone else. Not one of us. And then you finally get your act together, and now suddenly you act like you don't want me around. Like you're worried someone might see me being nice to you. Like you're ashamed of who we are."

Adrian bit his lip and muttered the line he'd been taught since childhood.

"Valor in discretion, Sean."

Officer Wick shook his head.

"Adrian." Sean said, his voice taking on that firm but patient tone that Adrian had heard his father use all his life. Immediately, it relaxed him; he was at home. Sean stepped forward and touched his cheek. "I am your husband, and I am coming with you."

~:~

The veins strained in Kosin's forehead. Phidias was mesmerized by them.

"Would you care to explain, carrier," - he put a special distasteful emphasis on that word - "Just what the hell you were thinking with this?"

With one finger, Kosin flipped open the folder on the table to reveal Gender Stratification in the ... Phidias knew immediately. It had been his last project: the beginnings of a thorough inquiry into the extent and effects of gender on life quality in the southern half of the Union. Dr. Long had praised it, called it clear and unforgiving. Suddenly, the reality of what he was doing in this room came crashing down on him. There was only one way out.

"I - I'm sorry, sir, I wasn't a carrier at the time, I didn't know exactly what - "

"Save it."

Kosin's voice was sharp. He got to his feet, took off his jacket. Phidias' heart began to palpitate a little.

"It wasn't meant to be subversive. It wasn't meant to be anything. I'm not a saboteur, I have a good behavior record, I'm in an accelerated program, I wasn't - "

Kosin handed his jacket to one of his large men. Phidias' mouth felt dry. Kosin began to unbutton his sleeves and roll them up. Phidias tried to swallow.

"I wasn't causing trouble."

"You asked to have your files brought here."

"I forgot! I didn't realize! I've written so many papers - I forgot it was even in there. But it's not my project anymore, I don't need it - please, you can just throw it out!"

Kosin laughed, a short hyena's laugh.

"Oh, I will throw it out, Phidias. But before I do that, you and I are going to have a little talk."

Kosin withdrew a skinburn from his pocket and held it out to him. Phidias knew what this was. He hoped Caddy didn't. He hoped they hadn't gotten to Caddy.

"Put it on."

Phidias shook his head reflexively. He couldn't imagine a worse pain.

"No...no, please don't do this, I wasn't - "

Kosin's expression darkened.

"Put it on, carrier."

Phidias stared at the dangling strip of latex. Panic was in him, over him, engulfing him. He felt helpless, suddenly - weak. Had they gotten to Caddy? He hadn't even thought to check. The latex swung lightly where it hung in front of him. It was going to hurt. Phidias shook his head again.

"I - I can't."

He didn't even see Kosin make a motion, but suddenly the two giant men were moving, and as he tried to track them with his eyes, Kosin attacked him from the front. It felt like he was getting hit everywhere at once. Kosin hit him in the gut and his stomach lurched. The men were at his shoulders, his ribs, his thighs. Kosin shouted at one who aimed too high - spare the face, he heard him say, leave his face alone.

Then there was the hair-pulling tightness of the latex band being snapped over his wrist, and Phidias had half a second to worry before his world enveloped into searing pain. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but cry out and try to escape the agony. He didn't know how long he lay there, writhing on the bare cement floor, the skinburn broadcasting its fire-torture across his entire body, and still managed to be conscious. Then suddenly the pain seemed to retreat - to pull back from his skin, away. Kosin had one hand on his wrist. The man looked into Phidias' eyes.

"Don't you ever. Ever. Try to undermine this government again."

Then the hand moved again and the agony was back, fierce and hungrier than ever. The last thing Phidias remembered before he passed out was seeing was Kosin's expressionless face appear over him, then disappear as the man very calmly walked away.

~:~

That afternoon, Adrian and Sean Wick decided on the name Jonah.

~:~

When Phidias came to again, he was in the infirmary and he had an envelope laid across his right hand. He tried to move - his skin seemed to ache. His glasses were missing. With some struggle, he managed to slip a thumbnail under the flap and open the envelope enough to remove a folded group of papers. With shaking hands, Phidias unfolded them and peered at the first one; it appeared to be a list of some sort, printed neatly on the letterhead of the Office of the Chief Investigator.

1: The authority of the CEC and the Investigator's Office are to be respected, at all times, in all circumstances. Further violations of the rules, regulations, and expectations of either will be considered a punishable offense.

2: You will not be found in possession of any artifacts relevant to your previous work. Possession of such will be considered a punishable offense.

3: You will wear a natori, the clothing of your station. Possession of conflicting articles will be considered a punishable offense.

4: In light of recent events, this office has elected to reduce your match timeline to two months, and extends our best wishes to you in your future relationship.

Should you have any questions regarding the above, or wish to file for an appeal of action, please contact the CEC main office in Crow North 120.

Tucked behind the letter was a red flyer that instructed him where and when to surrender the remainder of his contraband items. He crumpled it and threw it to the side. Folded in last was a single-sheet letter, also brief and printed on letterhead. Phidias scanned it, but in his confused state, couldn't make sense of it. He re-read the opening line:

Regarding your request for continuation of previous employment...

Phidias scanned to the bottom of the sheet; a red stamp above the signature read 'Denied, No Appeal.'

The letter was signed by Kosin.

~:~