(Untitled)

[lost_undercover]

Who: Major West, Billy Costigan, Paddy, and Shinzon; [CLOSED]
Where: On deck
When: The day after the flood ends
What: Paddy, Costigan, and West decide Shinzon needs a little old school education.
Warnings: Lots and lots of violence.

Comments

[voiceshall_echo]

He had cried, when he'd first found his way out here. Cried and wished he'd never have to leave, never have to return to the black pit of the dilithium mines. The Romulans told him he would be a starship captain - and then they buried him where he would never see the sun or stars. Seeing it then, for the first time in years - long before Shinzon actually saw the stars again - had nearly been too much. He'd slept up here. He'd barely left.

And he was back now, several feet taller, decades older, and wishing things had been different. He wanted that chance to explore, he wanted the adventure that the Romulan senate had promised and stolen from him. It wasn't fair. He hadn't cried in decades.

Shinzon held tight to the railing, shoulders tense, caught up in the sights surrounding him. It was almost possible to forget the Barge out here, almost possible to lose himself in the stars he didn't know and desperately wanted to name. But speech interrupted him. As Shinzon turn,he shifted his weight slightly, feeling his dagger at his waist, in easy reach but hidden by the coat. His eyes narrowed at Costigan, dry and wary.

"Why?"

[christ_onabike]

Paddy was armed with nothing but his fists, but perfectly happy, after the weekend he'd just had to go along with this. He might have thought twice if his weekend hadn't brought a ton of issues surrounding his dad - and by proxy, Shinzon flooding back. He was going to get the beating he'd promised himself, at least, and didn't really care if he got caught for it. Whatever happened happened, this needed doing. He hung back just a little, because he'd attacked the guy last time, and the last thing they needed was for him to run for it.

So he waited a little further behind, but close enough, and gave his St Christopher a slight adjustment, and added, in a level voice, "Because we'd like a word." If the accent didn't put the fear of God into the guy, nothing would. Having said that, Paddy had no idea what did put the fear of God into some people around here.

[major_west]

Typically, beating somebody up wasn't really West's style. He was a leader, not a thug; he had others do the fighting for him. However, on the Barge, he understood that occasionally, one must take a stand to make the proper impression on the others. It wouldn't do to order the other inmates around, if didn't have much to show for it himself. And besides, regressing to a child had been immensely unsettling, and now that he had his adult body and mind back, he was filled with a load of pent up frustration and anger towards the Barge and all of the shit it threw at him.

However, since this wasn't his typical way of dealing with a problem, West hung back. He would join in once the kicking actually commenced. That was how he rolled.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan was acutely aware of where everyone was at this moment. He noticed Shinzon being tense, Paddy closing in, and West hanging back; the latter worried him a hint, but West had said he was good for it and he was trusting that a military man would keep his word. Paddy had vouched for him, after all. The former cop's attention was primarily on Shinzon, however, moving the opposite of Paddy to somewhat box him in if he decided to run. It probably looked like exactly what it was now, but his experience with the inmate had shown him to be apathetic and elitist, so Costigan suspected the guy wouldn't bolt.

It seemed like everyone had been traumatized by this flood except for Costigan, but his heightened anxiety was still running over from the port where he had killed someone in cold blood and nearly raped a friend. It was enough to push anyone to their limits, to do things that they might normally have considered unnecessary; he wondered if Paddy and West felt the same about their own issues. No one here on the Barge went untarnished.

"Let's not waste anybody's time, shall we?.. You know what you fucking did and we're here to see that it doesn't happen again." Approaching Shinzon, he held his hands out in an almost innocent gesture to try to get closer before making a move.

[voiceshall_echo]

No. No on was innocent here. Shinzon's eyes narrowed and he moved away from the rail - slowly. He wasn't in a rush. Rushing meant fearing, and h wasn't about to give that impression. He remembered, though - remembered yesterday, when these men would have towered over him, when he would have been far more inclined to find a safe place to hide than risk their anger. They were bigger. They were stronger. They may as well have pointed their ears and bled green for all that it mattered.

But he wasn't afraid of Romulans - or anyone else, for that matter. Shinzon spotted Paddy, and a sneer started to twist his mouth. "You're inmates," he spat, looking at them, to a man. "You're all inmates." He moved again, trying to break the formation they were forming around him. Trapping him, he didn't--

Shinzon lifted his jaw, feeling the weight of the dagger under his coat. His lip curled. "Is this a sad way of instituting your hierarchy? I'm not interested in being your example."

...okay to throw the first punch, guys?

[christ_onabike]

Paddy closed in a little when Shinzon tried to move out from between them, not about to let him escape at all. His hand was twitching just a little to get the punch in first, but held back for a second. Making him realise that he deserved this was as important as delivering it, "Un-fucking-fortunately, you don't get a fucking choice in the matter. You don't kill people on that scale and then get a right to fucking choose."

And then he decided that none of the talking was worth it, and his fists were far more eloquent, so Paddy swung his fist towards Shinzon's face.

Ros said to skip West this round.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan moved to cover the vacancy left by Paddy's moving forward, to catch Shinzon if he decided to try to bail. Paddy was Mr French, he was Costello, and West was idling back as.. well, as what Costigan would have been. The similarity of his present actions to the evil mentor of his past bothered him and he recognized it as a continuation of the way he had been in port, but some part of him didn't care because he could justify this. This was a bad guy that needed to be taught a lesson in a language he understood; some fucking people needed violence to comprehend.

So he cast West a short glance, then started closing in slowly to ensure that they had command of the situation.

[voiceshall_echo]

Shinzon had been a soldier throughout the Dominion War. He'd won twelve campaigns for the Romulans. He knew how to direct a battalion, he knew how to use all manner of phaser weapons, and he certainly knew how to use a knife. Brawling, as short as he had always been, had never been his strong suit. Paddy's fist cracked against his nose, and he tasted blood in the back of his mouth.

Like old times, then.

He lifted his foot and kicked out hard, aiming for Paddy's leg, just above the knee. Shinzon had no intention of allowing these men to beat him to death, not for crime that felt more like justice. "What scale is acceptable, then?" His words were muffled by what was likely a broken nose, and blood. "If thirty offends your sensibilities," he backed away, looking for room without taking his eyes off either of them, "is twenty tolerable?"

[christ_onabike]

Paddy grimaced and pulled away a second to shake the immediate pain out of his leg, then turned back and went to smash his fist as hard as he could into Shinzon's ribs. If there was one thing Paddy was good at, it was a street fight. "The numbers don't fucking matter. It's that it was indis-fucking-criminate. Body count's got fuck all to do with it, you cunt."

[voiceshall_echo]

Breath left his lungs as Paddy punched him again, but Shinzon used that. He grabbed at the larger man's forearm, fingers digging in as his other arm lifted. He tried to slam his elbow into Paddy's neck, but his aim was hindered by the rasping breath he tried to take. He couldn't breathe, couldn't throw an insult at the hypocrisy of this. Shinzon moved back, and went for his knife, holding it tightly in his left hand.

[christ_onabike]

Paddy spotted the knife and took a slight step backwards, realising that if he tried to get another punch in right now, he might get stabbed. Instead, he tried to kick straight down Shinzon's shin, determined to inflict as much pain as he could.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan hurried into the fray as soon as he caught sight of the knife, approaching Shinzon from the side opposite Paddy and almost behind him, punching for the back of his head. He was used to the kind of situation that didn't involve fucking around; you either killed them or they lived long enough to come back and kill you. In this case, it might be both, but he tried to ignore that bit.

[voiceshall_echo]

He saw both blows coming, but couldn't get out of the way of both. Shinzon threw up his arm, trying to block Costigan's punch, but only managing to make the shot to his head glance, instead of hit read on. His shin was hit hard, but he didn't make a sound, gritting his teeth and striking out at Paddy, aiming for a wide slash across his chest.

[christ_onabike]

Paddy jumped back, and the knife still caught him, ripping his shirt and grazing his skin a little, "Ah, fuck, fuck fuck." Well, might as well go for it. After spending a moment just to recover himself, he took a few steps to the other side of Costigan and threw another punch at Shinzon.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan followed Paddy's lead in that he stayed where he was to be opposite the elder inmate, making it more difficult for Shinzon to respond. When Paddy opted to aim high, this time Costigan aimed low, kicking at the backs of Shinzon's knees to try to force him to collapse to the ground. It was a lot easier to beat on people when they lost their footing or their ground, after all.

[voiceshall_echo]

He couldn't do this alone. it was an interesting moment, when he realized that: he couldn't do this alone. He certainly wasn't going to win. It would be a small miracle if they didn't kill him. Shinzon threw up an arm to block Paddy's shot, but Costigan's kick had one knee give out, and that was it. It was all but over, but Shinzon didn't plan to go without taking a piece of them with him. He shifted his grip on his knife and turned, trying to plunge it into Costigan's thigh.