Quaranteam: Off the Grid Ch. 11-13

She headed out of her room and started over towards the wing where the less cooperative men were being housed for their "safety." Weaver had made it clear during her brief interview that this place was going to collect as many men and smaller kids as possible. No one had come out and said that they would be the currency of the new world... but they were totally trying to start a bank here.

As she entered the hallway she almost walked into the back of Hayes. The smaller woman wasn't on guard but she was definitely hovering and gazing intently down towards Issa's destination. The door in question was cracked open and the sounds of two men arguing was coming down the hall. Issa froze. Hayes was a bit creepy with the lurking but Flannery's voice was crystal clear in the debate against the deep baritone she recognized as Grace's man. What fucking crazy bitch had put those two together? Sullivan would know exactly who Flannery was and might be willing to take a swing. From the sound of it... oh snap, they were already halfway to a brawl from the sound.

She would have loved to eavesdrop a bit more but Hayes had seen her. The woman was on Issa's shit list for masterminding Flannery's breakout and probably at least an accomplice in the murder of US Air Force security forces and the theft of the serum back in July. And now she was training up the women in the compound to resist any police or federal agents who might try to stop them from collecting men from the surrounding area. The blush that spread across her face was fascinating. Hayes opened her mouth as if to speak but only a squeak came out. As the older woman rushed off, Issa pursed her lips. Definitely something to follow up on. For now... she felt that a chance to listen to her nemesis and her potential savior arguing would be an excellent use of her expanse of free time.

-o0o-

There were a couple of things that could have been worse for Colin than sitting around and waiting for another tragic handjob from the woman who he had spunked into a coma. Over the last 24 or so hours he had discovered that sharing space with Jerry-fucking-Flannery was very much one of those things.

The man was loud, conceited, violently arrogant, and just constantly bitched about the accommodations. He remembered reading at one point about Vietnam War soldiers who hated their officers so much that they would "frag" them by dropping grenades in their foxholes during a battle when there was no one to see it.

Never before had he empathized with those men like he did at that moment nor wondered how this man had avoided the practice.

Colin had made it very clear as soon as he could speak that Grace was not going to be a topic that came out of the other man's mouth. Flannery had shrugged and given a knowing smirk. "Well at least I was proven RIGHT about the girl, hmmm? Would have been WELL worth my time to scoop her up!"

Things went downhill from there. There was a frosty silence in the room. Silence repeatedly broken by Flannery sighing and muttering about how bored he was, where were his personal belongings (the agreement was to bring his golf clubs, you know), where was his personal assistant, Montressor, and blowing his mustache loudly or whistling off key versions of John Phillip Sousa. Colin was about ready to scream when the guards arrived with lunch.

Ham sandwiches on white bread. The only seasoning seemed to be the salt from the ham and mayo. They were even served on paper plates just to make sure that there was no possible weapon to be used to escape. It was still a welcome distraction. Flannery finally trailed off when Colin refused to engage in conversation or rise to any of his muttered comments that seemed designed to invite a response. Colin sat in the room's lone chair and put his feet up to read while Flannery found the oatmeal from breakfast that had never been cleared out before it went cold. The older man gave a pleased chuckle and began eating it even though it had congealed into a single blob. Christ almighty, he even smacked his lips and chewed with his mouth open.

Colin spent the afternoon trying to exercise while Flannery took a turn reading. The books available were about as interesting as staring out the window at the groups of women moving around below but he appeared to be giving it a go. The blessed quiet lasted until night began to fall. A bland dinner of chicken breast and unseasoned rice came in and the garbage was removed. Even as Flannery tried to make small talk again Colin just rolled over and tried to sleep.

Too bad the fucker snored like trying to saw wood across the grain.

The next morning Colin showered and came back out to find Flannery glued to the window instead. He was short enough for Colin to look over his shoulder and see that the platoon of women from the prior morning were out doing calisthenics again.

"Well, may as well pick one out, HMM?"

There was a moment of confusion before Colin realized what he was suggesting. "What, you think Weaver brought you here to bond with these women?

Flannery gave a sly smirk and tapped the side of his nose. "Maybe not YOU since you caught the fancy of that plain faced Jane, but I plan on getting a TIDBIT or three for my trouble! These women don't even know what they're MISSING in a leader!"

Colin pinched the bridge of his nose. Grace certainly hadn't been wrong about this man's ego. He considered his next words carefully. "Yes I can see why they would want to give all the power around here to someone with so much experience."

Flannery spun and narrowed his eyes. Oops. Colin realized that he had missed "dead pan" and wandered straight to "murderously sarcastic." The shouting match that resulted was probably going to drag the guards down the hall. He started worrying about getting shocked at first but that feeling rapidly went to worrying that he would get shocked before he got the chance to throttle this smug son of a whore. Flannery was proving that he had a pathological inability to keep his trap shut. "And if YOU hadn't put your nose into that fight on the road?! I would ALREADY be in charge around here! Only ten doses is nowhere NEAR enough to get things rolling, especially since YOU are bogarting the women!"

"Ex-fuckin-scuse you. It's the end of the world and this is... what? A chance to get your dick wet one last time before you hit the old folks home? Are you planning to revolt and go full 'Heart of Darkness'? Or are you just a sociopath who wants to play god until the feds show up and ventilate you?"

The Colonel puffed up like a rooster and bumped off of Colin's chest. "Listen here! I did not serve my country for 35 years just to take this kind of SHIT from a jumped up ginger FUCKnugget with delusions of CHIVALRY!"

Colin's next answer was cut off by a feminine cough from the doorway. Both of the men turned to see a beautiful woman standing in a white and red dress. Tall at perhaps 5'10" and with dark tan skin, her deep honey brown and slightly tilted eyes flickered between them. Her dress seemed to have been made for someone slightly shorter than her which left her toned legs bare to the knee. Dark hair was loosely braided and draped over her shoulder as she leaned against the door frame. Full lips were curved in a slight smirk as she crossed her arms. "Oh, Jerry. You're ruining the image I had of you as my one and only white knight! Here I thought we had something special."

Flannery's jaw dropped open for a moment. "Isabella! They... let you out. I would have thought that you would be under lock and key until you went MAD waiting for me!"

The smirk changed to an outrageously fake pout. "Aw, did you think that they would be eating out of your hand, Jerry? Or that I couldn't convince them that I was manipulated and taken advantage of by the big, bad Colonel?" She snorted and raised an eyebrow as he turned red with rage and opened his mouth. "You never were all that smart but holy shit. You just confessed to setting up an operation that killed American soldiers and delivered classified materials into the hands of insurgents for your own gain. Bravo, I've never seen someone incriminate themselves so perfectly outside of Hollywood."

With a finger raised accusingly, Flannery made to stalk forward towards her. "Look HERE you daffy fucking CUNT. I-"

The stress of the last day and a half got to Colin. Flannery had been pushing the line of getting his ass kicked for almost every waking moment and now he had completely tuned Colin out so he could face off against Isabella.

Tough shit for him.

Having once spent a year working as a hospital security guard, Colin knew how to fight dirty. He grabbed the Colonel by his thinning hair with his left hand and the Colonel's wrist with his right. As he pulled back, a hard kick to the back of the knee made Flannery drop with a squawk. Colin had his weight pressing down against both wrist joint and hair. This left Flannery on one knee and his face towards the ceiling as his back was forcibly arched as far as Colin could pull. Flannery let out a hiss of pain and a look of hatred, rolling his eyes to search for eye contact. Colin looked down at him from inches away. "Jerry I may not have been in the military but I will happily start serving my country by snapping your spine and breaking your traitorous balls like a pair of shriveled grapes. How about you keep your forked fucking tongue behind your teeth and you can still pretend to have some dignity, hmm?"

The man at least knew that he wasn't getting to move until Colin let him. His voice still dripped with venom even if he didn't struggle. "Oh yes, come to the DEFENSE of another useless little WHORE. You already stole CressMAN. You aren't getting little Isabella from me, NO."

Isabella was looking at Colin with surprise splashed across her features until Flannery spoke again. A look of pure disgust and regret crossed her face. Shaking her head she spoke even as she looked like she wanted to spit instead of speak. "Let him go. As much as I want to let you snap him in half.... I do need him for now."

Colin connected the dots and reluctantly let Flannery go. The shorter man scrambled to his feet, trying to keep an equal distance between the other two in the tiny room. "You had better not fall ASLEEP first, Sullivan. I will fucking kill you with my bare-"

With a bitter laugh Isabella cut him off. "Shut up Jerry. No you won't. I'm going to make sure that you get a different room tonight."

He growled in fury and gritted his teeth. "STOP interrupting me! I will FUCKING end BOTH-"

Isabella screamed.

The abruptness of it shocked both Colin and Flannery into stillness. Her leg whipped out and caught Colin in the jaw, knocking him to the bed. Even as he bounced she ripped the front of her dress before slamming herself into the door. It shut with a resounding crash and her arm drooped awkwardly as the impact dislocated her shoulder. Her non-injured hand grabbed Flannery's and dragged him close, pinning his hand against her braid as she fell to the floor wailing. All the Colonel could do was flail about and sputter in confusion as the stomping of boots heralded the arrival of the guards that had been stationed at the ends of the hall.

Colin was watching with a critical eye (the one that hand't just been kicked) and could see that Flannery jumped back the moment that Isabella let go of him... Which was right when the guards booted the door open. She scrambled away with the hair that had been in a braid pulled out and draped over her face. Flannery had his hands out but the guards were in zero mood to listen. At the same time that his collar was activated he took the butt of an AR-15 across the nose. He dropped with a gurgle as two other women checked on a softly crying Isabella.

As Flannery was dragged out of the room a guard checked on Colin. He was sure that he would bruise and the side of his face was feeling like it was going to be swollen. Isabella haltingly told the guards that she would be ok after she had her shoulder shoved back into place and a sling applied, but that she wanted to talk to Colin. That he made her feel safe. They nodded and made comforting comments as she told them that Colin had tried to defend her. That Flannery had sucker punched him. And that Flannery tried to lay hands on her. She was bloody convincing.

The guards nodded approvingly at Colin as they left the room and made sure that Isabella knew that she could just shout and they would come running if she needed them. As the door clicked shut Isabella put her head back against the wall and gave a smile, sniffling softly and clearing her throat. "Well. That was an exciting way to get the room to yourself, right?"

Colin let out a breath and shook his head. She frowned and shifted her shoulder with a wince. "Sorry about the face. Flannery was all bluster and wasn't going to get a clean shot at you to make that work if I let him take the swing himself. I don't think I need to explain why I wanted him out of here?"

He adjusted his jaw a bit more than he probably needed to just to show her that he still felt the bruise. "Being done listening to him flap his cock-holster wasn't all you were after? Nice show to get him out, by the way. But what exactly is so important that you needed me alone?"

She stood up and sauntered over to the other bed. He could tell that she was showing off for him with a bit of a sway to her hips in addition to trying to stretch her legs and unslung arm. If he wasn't so much on edge from the last five minutes of her making everyone dance to her tune she probably would have been much more effective at distracting him.

"I wanted him out of here because he is the subject of my investigation. I'm Special Agent Montressor with the Office of Special Investigations. And I'm also the one who warned Grace about Flannery in the first place."

Nodding slowly Colin glanced at the door before fixing his eyes on hers. "Thank you for that, Special Agent Montressor. So what is it exactly that brings you here to me right now?"

Crossing her legs and leaning back against the wall she studied him. Whatever she saw made her nod and give a lopsided smile. "I need to get the fuck out of here. So do you since Grace won't last forever without you there. Together we have more of a chance."

Colin raised an eyebrow. "What about Flannery? You're on the same timer that Grace is, which means that we need to take him with us."

She blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes at the mention of her baggage. "I know. The man is a tool and not even a useful one."

"He is a disgrace to every tool in the history of things with handles."

For a woman who had just dislocated her own shoulder and conned a pack of armed guards, Isabella had a surprisingly girlish giggle. "Shit, don't make me laugh, Colin. They might get suspicious if I do. Can... can I call you Colin?"

He flashed a tired smile at the vulnerability in that question. "Call me whatever you want, Special Agent Montressor. Or Isabella if you prefer."

Another giggle, a little softer this time. "Call me Issa. No one except my papi calls me Isabella."

She had just a faint bit of an accent and Colin knew it immediately. "So where in LA are you from that taught you to dodge questions like that?"

Her thick eyebrows went up for a moment and she blinked. "Well done. Most people don't catch that tiny sliver of chola still in there. And yeah, LA is like that. Everyone has an angle and you keep things close to the chest or you get rolled and left behind."

"You certainly count as everyone then. Recreating Fight Club like that? Right down to using a trick shoulder to sell it."

There was a pause. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head as she reassessed him. "I was a kid and I bit it hard on my longboard. After that it can pop out if I hit it just right. It was a really good way to get a day off of school if I needed it." She sighed and leaned forward. "And yeah. I have an angle. I really don't want to be stuck in this Handmaid's Tale fucking sideshow any longer than I have to be. Jerry up there is gonna have a hell of a time convincing anyone of anything. And I don't think that I made it easier to get him out, but that's show business."

She shrugged, wincing as her shoulder reminded her of the abuse she had just put it through. "We'll figure something out to spring him. That is... if you're with me to break out of here?"

Colin wasn't sure if that edge of vulnerability in Issa's voice was real. She was fucking amazing at manipulation but... she was also basically a cop. He knew that cops could lie but it wasn't like he had done anything wrong. And more than that there was zero chance that he would leave her to deal with fucking Flannery on her own. Not like he had any other options to help him escape. He nodded to her. "I'll help. Grace is probably having kittens about watching me get hauled off like I did. What can I do?"

She let out a breath that seemed to be relief. "Wait for my signal. It will take a couple of days and we'll see if they let their guard down. I'll keep tabs on the Colonel. Is there anything you need in here?"

He looked over his shoulder at the pair of books on the desk. "Some reading material will probably help the time move faster."

Issa nodded and grinned. "Hang tight, Colin. We'll get this shit sorted out."

She left the room and she could hear the muffled voices in the hall. A guard glanced in and gave him an approving smile when she saw him sitting on the bed. She tossed him an ice pack which he gratefully put against his face. The morning was still young and he could still hear the exercises of the all female militia drilling outside.

Hang tight. Sure. Easy.

-o0o-