Hollow Man (ficlet covering Tuesday night and Wednesday)

[abetterlie]

Somewhere, sometime, in one of your lives, someone told you a story. You cannot remember who anymore, or which life. Sometimes, these things run together. It is a story about a man who hands over his heart to be eaten, bit by bit, by someone who uses a spoon, and when it is all used up, the hollow place inside is filled with glass

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[original_goblin]

The temperature by the fireplace drops considerably even after Connor has lit the fire. Bailey doesn't seem to mind the cold, but she suddenly jumps up from her place laying at Connor's feet to bark at thin air. She can't see Norman, nor can Connor, but he's smirking at the pup trying to defend her bruised and brooding master. His son is so fond of the puppy that sometimes Norman feels the slightest twinge of guilt for denying Harry a pet when he was a child.

"My first impression of you, after believing that you were merely latching on to Harry for his trust fund, was that you were a fighter. You didn't put up much of a fight to keep Harry out of that institution." Norman says, as he stands behind Connor. "What was it that you told him? You'd do anything but leave him?"

[abetterlie]

Connor recognizes the voice, though he has heard it only twice, and not since Greece. At first, he intends to ignore Norman, but then he decides that Norman Osborn might as well confront someone who wasn't vulnerable to his taunts. Or maybe he just wants to lash out at someone other than himself.

"You know," he says out loud, refusing to answer the charge which he had raised against himself whenever he wasn't focusing on tracking down the goblin and letting rage fill him, "that was clumsy. Hate to tell you, but as far as mindgames go? You suck. When it's not someone who loves you, and I don't. See, Norman, my father did that kind of stuff for centuries, and in comparison? You look like the pathetic amateur that you are."

[original_goblin]

"He doesn't believe you'll come back for him. Did he confide that to you in the precious few hours you had left before he signed over his legacy to you? When he was digging his nails into the palm of your hand and lost the ability to speak, did he find a way to tell you that his true fear of being locked up is that the one who has the power to release him, won't?"

Norman's tone of voice is soft. In fact he almost sounds kind. The dog is still barking which annoys him.

"That's my fault of course, but we both know I fail him. I didn't think Parker would be able to manipulate him quite to easily or that you'd just stand aside and give Parker the opportunity to convince Harry he was a monster just like me. Parker never believed Harry was innocent and that is why my son allowed himself to be sacrificed in the name of this cause. He believes he deserves it, and I suppose you so readily agreeing to his arguments instead of fighting with him to convince him the sins of the father do not belong to the son only convinced him he was doing the

[abetterlie]

"He knows I'll come back for him