Author's Note: Honestly, I am so sorry for the complete neglect of this account. I really don't know how to thank each and every one of you for your support and patience, as well as kicking myself mentally for all of my procrastination. I'm a slow writer, and am currently weathering the start of my final high school year as well as writing several original short stories and novels, so as you can imagine, my fanfiction schedule is a little skewered. Be prepared for a huge spike of procrastination towards the end of the year, feat. Me picking a good university for next year! Until that happens though, I aim to be consistent with writing and publishing fics from my favourite movie 'verses for your enjoyment, so be on the lookout for my profile being more active. Think of it as a thank-you basket for your continued patience with my lazy self. I should not be given the privilege of being called a writer, honestly.
Anyway, this piece is brought to you from the 2008 movie, Gran Torino. Initially an English project, I decided to put this up here after much internal debate concerning the quality. I hope you all really like it, and hopefully I'll see you in the next story!
I do not own nor attempt to pretend that I own any of these characters. They are owned by Warner Brothers Pictures and Clint Eastwood only. I only own the (admittedly, overly done) plot and dialogue herein. So, please do not steal any dialogue or sentences without my permission (or anyone's stories, because generally, that sucks and is a complete insult to the writer themselves) and do not credit me with the characters, due to the aforementioned clarification. With that said, read on!
She opened her eyes.
Stark overhead light painted his tall build in the shadows, allowing her a clear view from outside the cell. The dark, mottled brick was chipped, it's colour slowly ebbed away from the old age, from the exhaust and the stink of dead bodies and violence. He was being kept here for the rest of his life, and although part of her was grateful that Spider would never see the light of day, the other part, the darkest part of her, thought it wasteful and unjustified. After all, Walt was dead and Spider was still here. That ought to count for something.
The guard stood a few steps behind her, his burly arms crossed as he studied her. "Are you sure about this?"
Her frown deepened, adding to the creases when she felt her brows knit together. She turned to face the guard, tall, male, and unmistakably of Polish descent. "I can do this on my own, you know."
Deftly, the guard shook his head. "It's not that. You're still grieving. Maybe give yourself some time."
"I've had too much time," she interrupted darkly, and at the sound of her interjection his expression was a mask of deepest scorn. She glared into his eyes – pale blue with flecks of green showing through – and held her ground, her challenge to continue silent but threatening all the same.
"Sue," the guard pressed, "you're not thinking this through properly."
He was right, of course. These days, she had hardly felt the need to do even the simplest of tasks, because what was the point of washing the dishes, or taking a shower, or even eating, when Walt wasn't there for her? She closed her eyes briefly, rubbing the spot at her temple where she always got headaches, and despite the fact that she knew she would have a killer migraine later on, she turned to meet the guard's polite, if not darkening, gaze.
"No, I'm fine. Just … I just need to do this, okay? One visit."
His nod, one that Sue doubted he would give, came brisk and short. "Careful, though. You know what he's like, I'm sure."
Sue, her body slack with exhaust, studied her cousin from behind his cell – his back was turned, his shirt brutally torn and bloody from prison fights, and the beginnings of a black eye were forming around his left eye. She staggered back, bile paving her throat, burning her glands as though it were acid. Shrinking back away from the sight, she turned and, with a gasping breath, nodded for the guard to move them both to the interrogation room.
They sat opposite each other, Spider with his wrists shackled, Sue's folded neatly in her lap. Her mouth contorting into a small smirk, the taunt was out before she could stop herself. "Looks like they treat you well here, cousin."
His eyes gleamed, half surprise, half terrible rage. "No thanks to you and your old man."
Her eyes glistened, burning with an erratic glow, and briefly she wondered if he had found a way to set her on fire. Her lips thinned slightly, crinkling her nose at the impossibly rancid smell. Where the walls should be smooth and to a glossy finish, the murky grey overlapped it, chipped and split open, a rotting wound at the bases. Cobwebs hung about in almost each corner of the room, and to Sue it gave her excuse to avoid her cousin's burning glare.
He settled back in his seat, pressing his lips into a snake-like smirk, and she felt her stomach contort in venomous disgust. "So, what gives me the pleasure of your company?"
Sue knitted her brows together, confusion and repulsion coming together in an even blend. "What makes you think I have something for you?"
"Because you're obviously not here on a social call," he rasped, pulling at his handcuffs as he observed her. "Not after what I did to you, anyway."
Blind anger clouded her vision, and before she knew it she was up and fighting, the angle of his chair the only thing keeping him safe from her vicious attempts. She felt a small thrill of pleasure as she felt, rather than saw, his body shrink back, eyes glazed with a burning surprise.
"Careful," came Spider's low growl. "I could do it again, you know. Nothing stopping me."
She went rigid – her heartrate, that runaway train, sped up with every second. Finally, he had knocked the power out of her, and her mouth went agape as she churned through the meaning of his words. Dumbly, she shook her head, dizzy from the onslaught of memory, of pain. She was able to make out a reflection of his twisted grin, and at his haunting expression of pride, Sue faltered. She remembered her body, concave after the beatings, pleading with Spider even as she felt the tears blur and distort his sinewy figure, even as he reached down to unclasp his belt.
Her eyes pooled again as the memories overshadowed her mind. She sat, seemingly impassive as they throbbed and pulsed like the veins she tried so hard to open after the fact. The pain, she knew, would stain her long after tonight's confrontation. It would stain her for the rest of her life, the sickening taste of her own blood against her tongue, coppery and slick, like metal. The feeling of being dragged onto the ground, the crack that resounded even after her back grazed the floor, Spider hovering over her, and the false comforts and lecherous growls that made her cry even harder.
"Nothing except me, you mean."
Briefly, her brain slewed to a halt as she gave herself pause to identify where exactly the confidence came from. Usually her feelings melted like cobwebs upon dissipating, never to be seen again. This time, it was different. Somehow, seeing Spider there, his dark figure hunched and impassive as he stared, it filled her being with a vicious thrill of energy. She observed his reaction, and as she felt his dark eyes on hers again, she shrank back, crinkling her nose in disgust.
"You?" His mocking grin pierced through her, and she froze in her seat as he lowered himself to meet her gaze. Transfixed, albeit in a sickened manner, she had no choice but to hear him out. "What would you do to me? A girl with your sense."
The compliment, though genuine, was laced with undeniable mocking and hatred. Struggling to breathe, let alone think clearly, her fingers absentmindedly traced the scrapes they'd given her – beaten and bloody all those weeks ago, the cut was almost fully healed; that was nothing compared to the scarring it had given her, the scarring that Sue knew she would never be able to erase.
"I'm your own cousin, for fuck's sake," she breathed, moved to continue even as Spider swam away from her vision. For a moment the tears threatened to blind her, to make her pay for committing such a stupid mistake, before the finally slid down, and at the brittle sting she knew they had glided through the still-healing wounds. "Why would you hurt me like that? Why Walt?"
His non-committal shrug gave her the terrible urge to reach up and scratch his eyes out, let him feel some degree of the pain that she was feeling, that she would always feel. Because maybe if he was feeling pain, then she could take her mind off of hers for once; let her feel something other, something human, rather than this concave state she would forever be chained to.
"You know, I do so many things." His reply, bitter and rough at the edges, was mocking. "Thao would've made us stronger. Why would he want to hang out with that white fuck anyway? It's his kind that were treating us like shit. Waste of time, if you ask me."
His sudden growl was punctuated by a slight shift of his head. Sue realised, with sickening afterthought, that he was snarling at the guard. Her cousin's racism was nothing new, but to rationalise his actions on what he believed Walt was like, rather than what Sue knew him for, was horseshit. For a moment she studied them, pleased to note the guard had shifted a bit at his position, a wolf ready to strike down his rival. Sue, finally composed, gave the guard an apologetic glance, and understanding, the guard nodded before resuming his former position.
"He didn't waste anything," Sue hissed back, "except maybe his time with you."
"Tough words," came Spider's brittle growl. "You should really give respect to the people who deserve it."
For the first time since she'd last seen him, she really, truly, observed him. The air of absolute confidence was still clinging to him, even though the blood and bruises still mapped his figure. The dark eyes were vacant and still, that of a panther's, and he observed her back with an air of interest. His eyes glittered suddenly, wild with the desire to get his hands around her throat and repeat that night again, if only to show her who was in control, that he could correct the bitch's smug demeanour. Relaxation fluttered around Sue as she met his eyes, and a thrill of shock coursed through her body as she realised, no, it wasn't just a trick of the light. His eyes genuinely burned into her petrified gaze.
Swallowing, she rasped, "Are you still harping on about that superiority bullshit? You think I owe you respect? Fat fucking chance."
He made a wild lunge for her throat, his fingertips barely grazing her body before he realised he'd not get far. The straps supporting his weight kept him restrained at the chair, his ankles bound with thick metal cuffs to keep his lower half secure. They'd deemed him unstable, and at the realisation he let out a growl of frustration. His cousin, knowing the futility of his bind, smirked and settled deeper into her own seat. "Enjoying your short leash?"
"Bitch," came his snarl, and Sue had to flinch back to avoid the rabid spittle that was gathering at his maw. "You think you're so clever."
"Is it that obvious?" The remark thankfully flew over his head, although he did swing his head over to meet her gaze once more, solely to allow the dark eyes to pierce through her again.
Shaking her head slightly, Sue allowed herself a final glare at his expense. "Well, it's been a pleasure," she quipped, the acid in her voice unmissed by Spider.
"Don't be a stranger, Sue," he growled, the glitter in his eyes rabid and hungry. "It gets lonely here sometimes. There's nobody to confide in."
Her withering eye was all the response he needed. Turning away from him, she stalked to the door, her grasp on the knob clammy with effort. Wrenching it open with the help of the guard, she flickered her eyes to his once more, sensing his burning glare trained on her as she left.