A/N: I do not own Gone in Sixty Seconds. That would be awesome, and I'd use my shit ton of money to commission a comic series, though whether it would be about before or after the movie I don't know...
So second actual fanfiction, and I hope you enjoy part one. Part two should be up sometime soon.
"C'mon Sphinx, don't be like that, we were handling it okay-" Kip Raines shut his mouth quickly when the visibly agitated and heavily muscled man took a step towards him. He gulped but refused to lower his gaze. The small concrete room the Sphinx had dragged them to in his mortuary was gray and bare as a prison cell, a long slab of concrete attached to one wall as a table the only furniture. It made it hard not to realize just how close he had come to once again getting his crew thrown in jail or killed-especially with the Sphinx glaring down imposingly at him. If he hadn't come along when he did...Kip gulped again. Mirror Man suddenly bobbed in between them hands waving, and tongue going a mile a minute.
"Look man, now, this is how it went down-see, I know it looks bad, but if you think about it, since we weren't actually boosting cars no promises were broken." He held a hand up in front of an unmoving, displeased Sphinx as though warding off an argument, "Now, now I know what you're gonna say-uh, that is what you're gonna think," Sphinx growled, and Mirror Man began speaking even faster, "it was risky, but a little risk can-oh god, I know you're a giant, don't eat me man." Sphinx had leaned down so he was right in the much shorter man's face and Mirror Man darted backwards until he was against the far wall, next to where Tumbler was leaning, arms crossed across his chest and looking decidedly unimpressed.
"You okay?" The wanna-be mafioso hissed out of the corner of his mouth, eyes glancing at Mirror Man as he shifted nervously around eying the door.
"Man, I got to get the fuck out of this room before the not-so-jolly giant smashes my ass. I got to get out of this room now." Tumbler frowned. He didn't think that would go over very well. He glanced at where the other two members of the crew, Freb and Toby were standing off to the side away from the stand off going on between Sphinx and Kip. Freb seemed to be doing his best to keep an increasingly freaked out Toby calm, but he was Freb so it wasn't going as well as it could have.
"Look, what do you want me to say?!" Kip burst out, and the few eyes in the room that hadn't been on him shifted that way, "Yeah, okay, we fucked up-I figured that out when I got a glock shoved against my head-but what's done is done, alright? Can't change it anymore. Are we done here? Can we leave now?" Things might have exploded then-for a moment it seemed that Sphinx was prepared to pull back his fist and knock Kip to kingdom come-but Toby let out a small, terrified whimper and the whole atmosphere of the room changed. No one liked to see Toby, so young, and so recently healed from his gunshot wound, upset. Sphinx regarded the young man for a moment, his face rapidly shifting back to calm, then gentling even further as he took a step forward, his large dinner plate of a hand resting gently on the blond head, then coming around to cup the back of it. The others, who had as one shifted forward when Sphinx had moved towards Toby, slowly relaxed.
Sphinx stared directly into Toby's eyes for so long it seemed they were reading each others thoughts. Then, looking almost sorrowful, he shook his head slowly and Toby, biting his lip, nodded back. "You're right," he whispered, "we might as well have broken the promise. And you had to save our butts. I'm sorry." It was Sphinx's turn to nod, accepting the humble apology. He patted Toby's head once and then stepped back, turning so he could observe everyone. The fight seemed to have gone out of the room, although Tumbler was still doing his best to look unimpressed.
Kip, subdued and thinking Toby had the right idea, spoke up, "I'm sorry Sphinx-I do know we screwed up." He bowed his head, shame rising to the surface now that he'd buried his anger. When that gun had been against his temple, before Sphinx had come out of nowhere and somehow knocked it away before anyone could react, he'd thought, he'd thought..., Kip gulped and looked up not even able to finish the sentence in his head. "I'm really sorry."
More apologies came from the others, even Tumbler managing a sincere sounding grunt and nod. It had been risky without their connection turning out to be a group of thugs only interested in rolling them for their money and who knows what else. Kip still wasn't exactly sure how Sphinx had known to show up-and it wasn't like he'd get an answer if he asked-but if he hadn't...
The Sphinx nodded but made no move towards the door. Instead, in a horrifying and somewhat baffling move, his hands moved to his belt buckle and began unfastening it and pulling it free from the loops. There was a moment of complete silence, and then a chorus of protests broke out.
"The fuck? Are you serious?" Tumbler came up off the wall like he was looking for a fight, gaze angry and hard as it locked onto Sphinx, who just continued to observe the room calmly as he folded the belt in two, buckle end secured firmly in his hand.
"What the hell man?!" shouted Mirror-Man in a unexpectedly squeaky voice as headed for the door. "I don't know what the hell your crazy ass thinks it's doing, but you ain't my daddy, and there is no way..." He trailed off as he got to the door and discovered you needed to enter a code on the keypad to get out. After yanking on the handle fruitlessly for a minute he moved over to stand in front of Toby and Freb, where the roles of comforter and comforted seemed to have switched, Freb having lost all color at the sight of the belt.
Kip whose mouth had dropped open quickly regained his voice, "Yeah right, no way. Even try it and I'll be on the phone to my brother in two seconds." He slid his phone out of his pocket, and to his surprise Sphinx made no move to protest, in fact nodded at him to go on. Kip considered this, realized how his brother was likely to respond and slid the phone back into his pocket. Memphis wouldn't whip him, but...
"You're just giving in?" Tumbler said incredulously, disgusted, taking another step away from the wall, hands clenching into fists at his sides. "Unbelievable." He seemed to dismiss Kip then, moving his attention from the back of his friend's head to staring right at Sphinx, "Look, I know we fucked up, and I know you saved our asses. We owe you-but not this. And, I think you forgot one thing. There's five of us and one of you. Don't care how tough you are, that's shitty odds."
Sphinx cocked his head to the side, studying Tumbler, puzzled. It was true there were five of them-though only three were likely to fight. But even altogether they were no match for him, and it hadn't occurred to him that they would try. The only possible advantage they could have was that he was not willing to truly harm them, and while he thought it unlikely, he could not rule out the possibility that they might not have such qualms themselves.
Tumbler tried not to squirm as Sphinx just kept looking at him, and it was only when he was sure he could not feel anymore uncomfortable that the man straightened his head...and smiled. Amused. At him. Tumbler growled, not sure if he was more freaked out or more pissed, but either way his fight or flight response had been triggered and for him there was only ever one option-fight.
It was over before it even began. Tumbler charged forward, fists flying-and Sphinx caught his hands and pinned them to his sides before he knew what was happening, tucking Tumbler under one arm with ease. Sphinx was done playing around. He'd already decided on the necessary course of action, he merely needed to carry it out. And with a quick and fluid movement he had crossed to the long slab up against the wall and propped one hip on it, almost casually pushing the dragged along Tumbler over his leg and holding him there. The younger man cussed and sputtered, kicked and even tried to stomp on Sphinx's feet, the fight not out of him by a long shot, but the Sphinx just ignored him, using his other leg to trap Tumbler's struggling ones. The others watched, eyes wide as the belt rose in the air, rooted to their spots. "This is not right man-this shit ain't right at all." Mirror-Man mumbled to himself, shock heavy in his voice. Freb wrapped his arms around his middle, silent and horrified, slowly backing up until he was pressed against the farthest wall.
The belt landed with a crack that echoed around the small room, and Tumbler jerked forward, letting out a pained grunt and a whispered, "Fuck you, you bastard." The belt slammed down with a heavy, measured cadence, a good few seconds between each echoing "crack" or "whack", and Tumbler jerked or gasped at each one. Kip cringed in unison knowing not only that he was probably next, but that this was mostly his fault. He'd been the one to find out about the job and talk the others into it, he'd been the one to make contact and arrange everything...
After the fifteenth stroke Sphinx let the belt fall slack, and Tumbler's ragged breaths seemed to fill the silent room. The hand that had been holding him in place lifted and patted him firmly on the back a few times as the leg that had been holding his released them. It took a few seconds for him to get his breathing under control, and then he pushed himself up from the table quickly, taking a step back as soon as his feet were steady. Sphinx reached out and nudged his shoulder, and Tumbler froze at first before looking up, and to the others surprise he nodded and said, "Yeah. Yeah, I get it. It was fair. Sucked balls, but it was fair." Sphinx clapped him once on the shoulder and Tumbler quickly headed to the other side of the room. His anger might have drained away, but he still wasn't exactly happy.
Sphinx turned and looked at Kip, who knew without a gesture exactly what the other man wanted. He still stayed right where he was until Sphinx raised a hand and crooked his finger at him in a "come here" gesture. And shit...well he couldn't bitch out now, not when Tumbler had already got his ass whupped. So he trudged the short distance across the room, walking as slowly as possible, not that it did any good. He stopped when he was right in front of the Sphinx, not sure what to do next, "Uhhh..."
Taking pity on the young man Sphinx grabbed his arm and bent him swiftly over his leg. It went much as before, there was no point in dragging it out so he brought the belt down as soon as he had Kip positioned. Kip hissed as the first swat landed low, the belt licking right along the bottom curve of his jeans and bringing a hint of tears to his eyes. He steadied himself for the next few blows, not wanting to cry out when Tumbler had at the most grunted. It was harder than he thought it would be. By the time the tenth blow landed, right on the top of his thighs and overlapping with the one before it, he gave up that fight and was crying out audibly at each smack-*Whack!* "Ahh!" *Smack!* "Shittt..." *Whack!* *Grunt* *Smack!* "Oww..." *Whack!* *Sob*. Kip broke just a little on the last strike and Sphinx rubbed his hand up and down his back until he'd calmed a little, patting here and there and then helped the young man to stand. Kip took a couple of shaky breaths with Sphinx's hand on his arm, steadying him, and then said with a faltering smile, "So, no more almost getting killed, right?" Sphinx raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'You think?' and let the boy walk away.
Freb, who had been quietly falling apart since Sphinx had started to unbuckle his belt, an out of his depth Toby doing his best to calm him down, had retreated to a corner of the room when Kip had sobbed, and he huddled there, an increasingly worried Toby hovering next to him, and Mirror-Man was standing in front of them like an incredibly tiny bodyguard. Sphinx turned and looked expectantly at Mirror-Man who straightened up and started spouting off immediately.
"Ohhhh hell no! Motherfucker you got another think coming if you think I'm just gonna let you beat my ass. This is some fucked up shit going on in here-I'm half expecting you to go all silence of the lambs on us and start eating motherfuckers in here-it ain't gonna put the lotion on it's skin, you got that?" But even as he ranted it was clear that this was less furious protest, and more, 'how long can I distract him with bluster.' Sphinx just crossed his arms, waiting him out. "We are in a mortuary! You brought us to a mortuary and locked us in this tiny goddamn room with no windows-does everyone else realize we are in a fucking mortuary right now? With dead bodies and shit?" He shot a quick, incredulous glance around the rest of the room, most of them just shrugging, because, yeah it was kind of creepy, but Sphinx was a mortician. It was what he did. "And who do you think you are anyway? Except for maybe Kip, we hardly fucking know you! Three months and what, you think you're fucking family? I don't even know you man! You won't talk even though we all know you can, so how the fuck is anybody supposed to know you!"
Sphinx paused, honestly taken aback. The bluster had turned deeply real with those last few sentences. He knew his silence could be more than off-putting, but it had been a long time since it had bothered anyone he did not wish to bother, his close companions having grown used to it. He was troubled by the hurt on the young man's face, in his voice. Despite what he might say Mirror-Man was family-they had all become family on the Calitri job, like it or not, and since he'd been partnered with the hyper little man for most of it the two had stuck up a strange friendship. Mostly the lad insisted on introducing him to music he had no desire to listen to and gadgetry he didn't understand while talking a mile a minute-and seemingly without thinking about or realizing it he insulted him on a regular basis. Full of cheek. And yet still, there was no harm in it, and he'd grown to more than enjoy the company. He'd assumed that with his own inability to shut up Mirror-Man hadn't minded his silence.
Perhaps there had been a moment when words had been needed and he hadn't realized.
That was the problem with being mostly silent-words were for the most part unnecessary. Most things in everyday life body language could handle for you-it amazed him sometimes the way other people depended on words. But when you were out of the habit it could be too easy to not realize when speaking was necessary.
Still, no need to be too loquacious when simplicity would do. So he spoke. Softly, but firmly.
"Mirror-Man. We are very much family, for as I'm sure you know, along with blood, time, and the like, great strife can form deep bonds, and we have gone through that together. I believe it is my duty to guide and protect those younger in my family. To make my point clear; I will not have you putting your life at risk."
Well, he always had been prone to speeches. Part of why he didn't speak most of the time.