Tainted Love - Chapter I
Genre: TT
Time: Early Season 1
PG: PG-13
Story: Trudy never agreed to see Zoot; he does not know about Brady and is still alive and ruling the Locos. Street fighter Moz got captured by slave traders and becomes a Loco under Ebony’s guidance, awakening Zoot’s interest in the new girl.
Pairings: Zoot/Ebony, Zoot/Moz, (Bray/Tai San)
How dare you say that my behavior is unacceptable
So condescending, unnecessarily critical
I have the tendency of getting very physical
So watch your step cause if I do you'll need a miracle
You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone
What you are doing is screwing things up inside my head
You should know better you never listened to a word I said
That it's me that has all the control // Does it thrill, when you feel what I bring
You'll understand what I mean when I say // There's no way we're gonna give up
And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe
Chapter one - Take No Prisoners
Ebony
They sit there, lined up like little dogs in a pet store. Pitiable. If we knew pity.
Zoot looks unimpressed, but then again, he always does. It wasn’t his idea to come here, it was mine. Just as moving the Locos to Horton Bailey Hotel was. He agreed, but he’s not happy about it. Slavery, he says, he’s okay with, but do we have to buy them? We’ve agreed on window shopping for now.
“The tall one, in the blue shirt”, he declares out of nowhere. “He looks like he’d make a good fighter. What do you think, babe?”
“We’re not here to recruit. We’re here for slaves.”
He looks a little annoyed now, you can tell from the way his eyes get even colder and his chin moves up. Listening to a girl seems to be troublesome for Mr Power and Chaos today. He knows my ideas are good for the Locos; he knows we’re doing better than ever.
“We’ve got something special today”, Troy, the slave trader, adresses me, because Zoot keeps ignoring him. “You wouldn’t think how much strength there is in this stubborn one. Like a mule, really!” He laughs. “And she’s nice for the eye, too. Now, we haven’t found out her name...”
The girl whose chin he grabs glares at him, her eyes on fire with a level of hate you’ve got to admire. They’ve put tape over her lips; she might have bitten his hand the last time, it’s swollen and red in one place. More of a predator than a mule, if you ask me.
“How long has she been with you?”
“A week, well, two. Three,” he admits, staring nervously at her carefully brushed, shiny hair someone has put in a strict ponytail. “She’s really healthy, good teeth and bones...”
Is he kidding me? “I’m trying to buy slaves, not horses. Can she speak?”
“I’d rather not...,” he exchanges a glance with his woman, Susanna, who just shrugs.
I ignore their silent converstion and rip off the tape, before he can look again. “You. What’s your name?”
“Fuck off!”
“Nice one. Did your parents pick that for you or do you just listen to it?”
“I don’t listen to anybody!” She keeps on glaring.
“That’s what the tape was for,” Troy explains, looking a little exhausted.
“Do you do deals with the Demon Dogs?,” Zoot interrupts him, before he can tell how healthy his rude slave girl is by pulling at her pony tail.
“Sometimes.”
Zoot nodds, still not offering anything for at least one slave. They’re getting nervous now, very nervous. Troy’s sweating, holding his greasy big hand over the slave girl’s head, who looks at him with a sick smile, although as if she’s sorry he’s such a loser.
“What do you want for her?”
Troy looks down in surprise; she looks up at me in disgust.
“Who says we’re buying?,” Zoot hisses at me.
“I’m just asking,” I whisper back furiously.
“If you want her for your guys, she’ll be no good,” Troy mumbles. “You’d have to tie her down, and she’s really agressive - well, if that’s what they’re into...”
“We’re not buying any sex slaves!” Honestly, what does this guy think who we are? “We’re the Locos, not some horny bunch of brainless Demon Dog idiots, understood?” I take a deep breath. “I want her for myself.”
Troy’s mouth is open now, even Zoot looks mildly interested. Slave girl just raises an eyebrow, blinking a couple of times.
“As my bodyguard.” Now they’re all disappointed. Stupid boys!
“She’ll murder you in your sleep,” I hear Spike’s voice behind me.
“She might try.” My eyes are fixed on hers; it is as they are mocking me, as if she doesn’t even feel the need to agree with Spike in so many words. Her eyes do it for her. “Power and Chaos,” I whisper to her, loud enough that Zoot can hear it.
“Him, him and him,” he tells Troy. “And the girl. Untie them.”
“We haven’t talked about a deal ... maybe we should first...”
“NOW!,” Zoot bellows at him, and he draws back slowly, opening the girls handcuffs first. She throws herself at his throat, Spike jumps forward on Zoot’s command and drags her back, getting scratches and punches in every possible body part during.
“Congratulation,” Zoot directs the untied slaves and then spits it in Troy’s direction, “you have all been chosen to become Locos. We’re leaving. Now.”
“But... the payment...,” Troy stutters.
“We’re not making deals with a pack of scum, who deals with the Demon Dogs,” Spike bellows at him, holding his shoulder, where I’m pretty sure you can see a bite wound.
“Let’s go!”
She stares doubtful at the empty hotel room. “Is this some kind of trick?”
“Nope. All yours.”
Her eyes flicker between the clean sheets and the opened window to the pool site. Her long, thin fingers touch the bed sheets, the window frame, the dark wall paper. They’re really pretty despite their short nails and the dirt on her skin. Long, slender, fast. Piano hands, if you want to say something nice. Thief hands, if you want to name something useful.
“So, I could kick you out?” Her eyes are glittering too much at that aspect.
“Well, not me. But you could kick Spike out. You bit in his shoulder this morning,” I add, when she just stares at me. She nodds, apparently unimpressed by this piece of information. “Listen. We’re all street fighters here, but we don’t normally attack each other. If you want to fight someone, wait for a Demon Dog or one of the Roosters.”
“Why, is he your boyfriend or something?”
“Spike? God, no! I’m Zoot’s woman!” This information fills me with pride, every time I can tell someone. Most girls just know and stare at me in awe, this one just repeats her eyebrow thing from earlier today.
“Like property?,” she asks, a tone of disbelief in her voice.
“We’re a team, not that it is any of your business. I’m his second-in-command, his girlfriend and his most trusted warrior. Do you have a problem with that?”
She just gives me a bored look. “You’re a team, but he tells you, what to do, right? Who you can be around, and you’ll always be number two, until he decides he’s had enough. No, I get it... Been there, done that.”
“Obviously you haven’t!” Why do I even feel the need to defend myself to her? She’s nobody! “I’m very sorry you’ve been disposable to someone, but I’m not. I AM this place, I’m the number one here, at Zoot’s side. We are power and chaos!” I swear, I’m going to shave her eyebrows up, if she does that one more time!
”Which one of you is which?”
Very funny!
“Getting to know your place?,” Zoot adresses the girl, stepping inside the room. “Ebony, I need you outside. You, what’s your name?”
She hestitates. “It’s Moz,” she finally tells him. “I’m Moz.”