Love Beyond Lies (closed)

[Asa]

Tala came walking down stairs with Momma and Wolf and seemed far more calm.

Neal?

Momma guided her to him and stepped back getting Wolf to help her cart out more and more food for everyone.

 

[kizkiz]

"Biscuit?" Neal asked back, pushing a half-eaten biscuit Tala's way. He popped a slice of apple into his mouth and resumed his sculpting of the apple. A few of them were arrayed around him. One of the apples was a jack-o-lanter, another a globe, and the third (which he was working on now) looked more like a girl's face. He sliced off minute sections of the apple's pulpy flesh, drawing out the girl's face with each flick of his knife.

Hocus reached over, picking up the jack-o-lantern Apple and started to devour it. He gulped. His hands shook, but he pretended like he wasn't trying to resist pissing in his pants.

 

[Asa]

Wolf just got everybody some coffee and cleared his throat to get the hint to Junior to go talk to her. Momma was... A little more heavy handed with a swat with her aged hand to the back of Neal's head. Tala simply dismissed his change in apparent want to hold her to whatever this was as how it would be anx turned to Hocuspocus.

I am Tala and sorry for earlier... I have not been myself lately.

She glanced again to Neal and grabbed a couple of untouched apples and glanced to Momma.

I am going to be out back checking on Kassy and Thunder.

Maybe the horses would at least jog his memory.

 

[kizkiz]

Neal found no comfort amongst animals, although he was good enough at faking his true feelings that they never seemed to take notice. Still, one memory clung to him. Watching a foal being born from a mare. It was shortly after he'd been "rescued." What amazed him was how steady the foal was. He'd never known that kind of easy confidence, even if he excelled at portraying it. Not only did the foal have a family but it was in full command if its capabilities within hours of birth.

He saw Tala brushing Thunder. This mare was old but not quite a nag. Tala had always favored Thunder, and Neal had always assumed she just liked the name. However, watching Tala with Thunder he felt like there was a deeper reason.

"Boom," Neal said, a shy smile finding its way onto his lips. "Or is it crackle?" He gave a cheeky little frown before shrugging. "I can never remember the word for the sound of thunder..."

He propped his elbows on the worn wooden top of the stable door. Tala had left the top off open and pushed against the wall. Or someone else had. Neal still had his sling bag on his back, but instead of being wrapped around his Colts, his hands picked at the splinters in the wood.

"So we are supposed to what? I feel like we used to just fit together, and now we are all broken pieces." His eyes watched Tala work out a tangle in Thunder's mane. He slowly looked up into her face.

 

[Asa]

We are here with Wolf and Momma Niel we are safe and whole. Berkhardt's manipulations can't control us here.

Thunder nudged him gently as if she just like Momma viewed the two of them as hers.

Sorry about your friend... Something about him seemed off in comparison to their normal guests.

She set the brush down and looked at him.

We are not so broken here not were we that night... The photo... Berkhardt must have had another agent there or handlers we didn't know about.

Talking about it she was I consciously scratching at her wrists a little and biting her lip.

 

[kizkiz]

Neal didn't comment on Berkhardt immediately, instead he got caught up in Thunder's nudge. He rubbed the ridges around her eyes. "It makes you wonder why we call him Wolf and her Momma. Why don't we call him daddy?"

Neal bent his forehead to Thunder's. "These horses were broken. Domesticated. They have a decent enough life, but they can't leave their stalls without their master's permission. After all we've been through, doesn't it make you wonder what kind of person would keep such magnificent animals as these captive?"

Neal shrugged and lifted his head back up and looked at Tala. "Sure, Berkhardt is all puppy dog tails and big fat snails, and Wolf and Momma have always been sugar and spice and everything nice, but I can't help feeling that if we have a mean master or a nice master, we are still slaves."

Neal turned to look at Tala, taking her wrists in either of his hands. He bent and gave a butterfly kiss to the underside of both wrists. "It's only ever been us. That's what I think." He looked back up into her eyes. "That's why the thought of you not wanting me is so terrifying."

 

[Asa]

She looked at him.

He is right you are still not fully you Neil... Why?

She walked a little closer to him with a sigh.

What's wrong? Who led your reprogramming?

 

[kizkiz]

Neal looked at her. His eyes unblinking. They were dark and eternal things, far too old for his face. "Tala you are my reprogramming." His hands slid along her wrists, up and around her arms and down her waist, pulling her closer until their lower bodies were plastered against each other. "They all thought they broke me, programmed me, and made me theirs. But I am the rider not the horse, don't you see?" His eyes widened. "I fashioned a persona for them to program. I watched what they did and always made sure to play their games. It's what I do. They just never realized how well I did it."

He paused, as a smile spread across his face. "I never realized how well I did it." He chuckled and gave his head a tiny shake. He squeezed her into a deep hug. "I don't want to talk about any of them anymore. I just want to feel you. To be here with you."

 

[Asa]

What of Momma and Wolf or did you con the people that saved our lives and raised us too?

Momma and Wolf were the only family she had ever known and they meant the world to her.

 

[kizkiz]

Neal sighed and pulled away, opening up a good foot of distance between them. "C'mon Tala, they were the ones who taught us about recruiting assets. Wolf used to be the head of beast, how do you think he got there? He had the best two assets in the entire roster. Would I be dead without dear old dad and mom? Sure. But they didn't pick up all the orphans on the streets, did they? They picked up us. They were looking for us. Momma's probably the best operative before us, because she's so fucking awesome at asset management. I don't hold it against them, but let's not kid ourselves either."

He turned and reached a hand out to Thunder. He ran his hand down the side of her cheek. "Tala, if we really loved Thunder and Thunder really loved us, we wouldn't need to lock her in a 6 foot cell when we were done using her." He smiled a sad smile. His lips compressed and he turned his head.

He looked back at her. "You are the only person in my life who has loved me without condition or restraint, so you are the only person in my life that I love, hold allegiance to, or care about."

 

[Asa]

What changed Neil. You... You used to love them so much too. You would even get in my face if I questioned Wolf. You say I am all that matters well they still matter to me. That should mean something. Yeah they may have taken us in for various reasons yours... That old dog Sarge loved you and Momma always wanted a son you weren't an operative to begin with. Not like I was. And Wolf was the head long before we came along.

She sighed how could he be so different. Her mind already trying to decipher who had headed his reprogramming and kill them just as she wanted to kill Berkhardt.

As for having domestic animals in stalls is to protect them just like Wolf burying it in our minds that this place was safe. Protecting what is loved and cherished.

She held her hand out to him.

Who do you remember from the board being around you the most lately?

 

[kizkiz]

"Because you asked," Neal said, sighing and putting his right forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose.

When Neal looked up, he had an easy smile. "Yo, shortie. So hoc and me was rolling a fat joint bout a week back when this squinty eyed fuck caught up with me. No, that was after the blunt, when I ran out to the dinner to stuff my face. The munchies, yo right?" He pulled his bottom lip in the opposite direction of his front lip. "Anyways, these MIBs rolled up. A deuce looking like most of my shits. They gave me a package and departed." Neal squinted his eyes in mockery of the Japanese. "You know, japs, squints, whatever. Who'd that be? Honzo?"

Neal made swishing movements with his hands held together wielding an imaginary katana sword.

 

[Asa]

Tetsuo?

She seemed to quickly sink into deep thought.

Another target... Berkhardt and the Asian. Good

She dropped her hand from reaching out to him.

Guess you don't want us to be as close as you said.

 

[kizkiz]

"Tetsuo?" Tala said.

Neal shrugged, "Yeah sure, Tets as bad as any of the other fuckers."

He watched her get that far away look, mumbling about targets like a monk receipting the Lord's Prayer. Then she dropped her hand from reaching out to him. "Guess you don't want us to be as close as you said," Tala said.

"You'll always be my bitch-" Neal blinked, smiling so much that his eyes crinkled. "That one can be a little vulgar." He shrugged, raising his hand to the exact place where her hand had just been. "All of us agree..." He walked back through the space between them and pulled her close to him. "That we'd love to fuck your brains out right here." He ground his cock into her pussy, albeit with both of them still clothed. "But I haven't really gotten the vibe." He tilted his head and lowered it towards her face, his lips but a breath away from hers. They shared the same air. "Or did I miss something?"

 

[Asa]

There is no we Neil you are one person albeit acting a little weird but...

She moved her hand to his then felt him move closer. She leaned to kiss him

You miss something... How would you do that?

 

[kizkiz]

"There is no we Neil you are one person albeit acting a little weird but..."

Neal smirked, pulling back. "I'm fairly sure I've always been weird."

She moved her hand to his then felt him move closer. She leaned to kiss him, then pulled back enough to whisper, "You miss something... How would you do that?"

He kissed her harder. Only a whisper of space existed between their lips when he'd finished. "Your right." He pressed her harder, his lips against hers. Then he picked her up, spun, and dove with her into a pile of hay.

 

[Asa]

She laughed when he dove into the hay with her.

They have always protected us and always will. Just like we will always find our way back together.

 

[kizkiz]

"Sure." He kissed her again, working his fingers under her shirt, snaking his right hand along the small of her back while his other continued to pull her against him. "We'll be together." He kissed along her jaw until he found her ear, nibbling on one of her lobes. His right hand found the middle of her back where her bra strap interrupted. His hand dissolved that obstacle in one practiced flick.

 

[Asa]

She purred at that practiced flick. Her hands moved to his shirt with her left hand and her right in her hair wondering if this fractured Neil would remember the little soft clawing she always did at the base of the skull there in his hairline.