"Shilo!" Nathan gasped as he woke, eyes shooting open as he tried to sit up, binging his hand to where he'd been shot. A GENtern eased him back down, Nathan only persuaded because of his utter confusion. Swallowing his demands, he looked around, panic rebuilding quickly. Why was he in a hospital room? He hadn't been in one since his job was no longer as a surGEN. More important, why was he in a hospital bed? Nathan tried to shoot up again when he realized, but the assisstant had strapped his wrists to the bed to prevent this. Looking down at his bindings as his hands writhed under them, he instead caught sight of something much worse.
His thin, bare chest now held livid scars, just recently stitched closed. Operation scars. The type people with bad financing got after receiving organs- not carefully sewn to be seamless, ugly and quick. Or, he thought miserably as he lowered himself all the way back down, trying to not hyperventilate. Or, the scars on cadavers coroners left, stitching them back together for their funeral after a reposession.
Finally, he turned his head slowly to face the GENtern. She turned a judging eye to him, smirking slightly, assumable at the hopeless expression on his face.
"Why am I..." Nathan shut his eyes tight, too pained to finish the sentence, to validate what had happened.
"We decided," he didin't open his eyes, stomach dropping at the sound of Ambers voice as the door opened. It shut metallically, her heels clicking on the white tile towards him. "That the new management of Gene Co needed its best repo man, despite old rulings and decisions." He could practically hear the smug triumph in her voice. Nathan blanched as she ran finger up his chest, following one of the rows of stitches, nail catching the thread and puling his tender skin. "All the surGEN's say it was one of their most miraculous surgeries. It'd cost more a few fortunes if we didn't come up for a financing while you were out."
He finally glared up at her, eyes stinging with moisture.
"Where is Shilo." The infuriating Largo children wouldn't, couldn't phase him, no matter if the last thing he remembers is lying in a pool of his own blood, Rotti on the stage floor as well. Shilo's footsteps leaving him as his vision faded, and waking up to this. He could see the brothers leering through the observation window. Where was Rotti, to call off his torturous offspring? Luigi called, voice condescending, through the glass.
"Repo, you had died. Your little whore bailed as soon as she thought you stopped breathing." Nathan listened with a sinking heart, paying little attention to the enraged obscenities that followed- something about their father's death, crashing coming from the observation room. He looked up at the ceiling, breathing slowly. Perhaps he could will himself back into oblivion, where he belonged.
"Nathan." Amber snapped her claws in front of his face to catch his attention. She leaned over the bed, forcing him to make eye contact when he didn't look over. Her long red hair irritated his skin, but he didn't respond, looking off to the side with his eyes. "Your payment method is one of community service. You'll simply continue to be Gene Co's prime repo man, without pay. And-" The girl held up a hand as he started to protest. "If you do good work, as you pay off your debt to the company, your reward will be being able to speak with your daughter."
Nathan's brow furrowed, but she explained before he could even ask. Amber leaned down, smirk brushing his ear as she pushed her hair out of the way and over her shoulder.
"We have ways of contacting her. Maybe," she stood straight again, gesturing for the GENtern to release him. "If you're very good, you can even see her." Nathan didn't speak, sitting up and looking at his chapped hands. The man didn't move until the siblings had left view. Slowly, he brought his shaking hands to his face, and wept. Wept half naked and scarred, not caring that the GENtern was still supervising him, watching with no sympathy to his pain.
A few hours later, he was led to a more open exam room, the escort leaving him with two more waiting GENterns and Pavi. Nathan suppressed a shudder at the sight of Rotti's son, arms wrapping defensively over his chest against the chilled air. The papery shirt he'd donned rustled with the movement. Despite his efforts, the GENterns walked over in step and removed the article.
"We must test your mobility after the reconstructive surgery and three weeks of bed rest. Mr. Largo is here to observe." Nathan's mouth formed a thin line as he looked up at Pavi. The younger man was moving his hand on his new chin as if in thought, head tilting either which way. Jaw twitching, he turned his attention back to the brunette GENtern's instructions. "-your arm above your head, please." The irritation in her voice made it evident she'd said it more than once. Nodding slowly, he did so, hissing in a breath when the blond second robbed his arm and move it faster. The brunette wrote on her clipboard, murmuring the muscle groups affected by the stitches that they would have to ensure weren't affected by any scar tissue.
The tests continued like this, gauging his fitness level with the decreased level of activity. It was noted he should be put into the repo trainee's exercise regimes- without any weapons that could be a danger to others or himself- while he recovered to get him back up to prime. Nathan moved mechanically, already looking to the time in the future when he would be able to see Shilo. He would do anything to know she was alright. Shilo was his everything, even if she didn't know he was alive.
/AC: Okay guys, not a full length chapter by any stretch. What do you think? Overdone? IC? Reviews please!