A/N: Ah you're all so awesome ^_^ Thanks for all the reviews guys, they really make this story worth writing! Hope you all like the latest chapter - the real action is starting soon :D
Chapter Twenty Eight
Recruitment
Ah, Jimmy Hopkins. Deliciously moronic and wonderfully dumb. Gary had lay awake many nights, trying to imagine the look on that idiot's face when he finally saw him again. He had thought he had come up with some pretty good ideas of what that look would be, but nothing could beat the real thing. Gary felt tingly at the sight of Jimmy's gaping mouth and the way his squinty, angry little eyes blinked repeatedly while his brick of a brain tried to register the sight before him. The sight was pure ecstasy for Gary, and he wasn't aware how hard he was squeezing Petey until he heard him gasping from under his arm. Gary released him, deciding that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to choke him to death. Petey dropped to the floor with a thud, gasping for breath, but Gary didn't take note of him. All his attentions were on Jimmy.
'Aw, c'mon, psycho!' he grinned. 'Not even a hello? You're leaving me hanging here.'
Jimmy's face contorted into a mixture of pure rage and complete bewilderment. 'You!' he cried, voice strained.
Gary chuckled gleefully. 'I'm glad you can still put together comprehensible words, Jimmy! You had me worried for a minute there.'
Jimmy started forwards, fists balled so tight that his knuckles were snow white. Before he had taken two steps though, Gary grabbed Petey by the back of his shirt and hauled him between them, clutching tightly onto the smaller boys shoulders.
'Now, now, Jimmy-boy,' Gary smirked. 'I hope you're going to play nice with us. We've gone to an awful lot of bother to come and pay you a visit.'
Petey squirmed in Gary's tight grip. 'Gary... stop it, man...'
'Shut up, Femme-Boy.' Gary snapped, digging his fingers into his shoulders. 'The men need to have a little chat.'
'What the hell are you doing here, Gary?' Jimmy snarled. 'I thought they'd locked you up and thrown away the key.'
'They should have, really,' Gary sighed, shrugging. 'But the idiots keep the keys on this little ring thing on their belts... I guess if they'd thrown it away then I wouldn't have been able to take little Petey here and frolic away with him.'
Jimmy bared his teeth. 'So this is it, huh? You're using Petey to get at me? So what was all that about the Preps, huh? Just some spin to keep me distracted while you get in here?' He turned his angry glare on Petey, which caused the smaller boy to whimper pathetically. 'Do you really hate me that much, Pete? What the hell have I done to you that's so bad? I got you the Head Boy gig! You weren't getting bullied anymore! And this is how you repay me? By bringing this sociopath right to my door? By killing my girlfriend?'
'I didn't kill her Jimmy!' Petey whined. 'I didn't! I... Gary offered to help me! I couldn't think of anything else I could do because he was the only person who would listen and... and I'm sorry Jimmy! I didn't want it to be like this!'
'Oh shut up, both of you.' Gary sighed, bored. 'You sound like you're in a daytime soap opera.'
'I've a good mind to kill both of you!' Jimmy yelled, advancing another step.
'Jimmy, please!' Petey begged, now with tears soaking his pale face.
'Now hold it there, pal,' Gary said, holding a hand up. 'Believe it or not I didn't come here for a fight.'
This silenced both the boys. Jimmy blinked at him stupidly (there was no other way Jimmy could blink really), while Petey turned his neck and stared at Gary.
'I'm here to help my little buddy Petey,' Gary smirked, patting the smaller boy hard on his chest. Petey wheezed and doubled over, but Gary pulled him to attention again. 'I gather he's already told you our little theory.'
Jimmy's eyes flicked between the two of them. Then he nodded. 'Yeah.'
'Well?' Gary waited for a response. 'What do you think?'
'What do I think?' Jimmy cried. 'I think you're both psychopaths!' He turned and stalked to his desk, snatching up a newspaper. He clumsily unfurled it and held it up for the two of them to see.
Gary giggled at the sight of the two photographs that graced the front page; the image on the left was Petey's yearbook photo and the one on the right a picture that the prison had taken of Gary before he had been incarcerated. He shook Petey, who had gone quite limp. 'Look at that, Petey! We made the front page!'
Petey made a low, strangled sound and said nothing more.
'It says here that you tied some guy to his chair after hiding in the back of his van!' Jimmy cried, shaking the paper. 'And that you threatened his girlfriend with a knife!' He threw the paper across the room. The pages separated and fluttered down onto the bed. 'How the hell do you expect me to believe a word either of you say?'
'Uh, I dunno,' Gary replied, mocking thought. 'Maybe by using that lump of meat in your head that's called a brain for once in your life?'
Jimmy scowled. 'Screw this.' He growled, advancing again.
'Think about it, Hopkins,' Gary frowned, tone turning serious. 'This is Petey we're talking about.' He shook Petey, much to the boy's discomfort. 'Petey Kowalski. Little Femme-Boy. The kid who never did nothin' to nobody and got a whole lot of stick for it. The kid who never thought of getting a new school shirt when someone threw in a red t-shirt with his washing. The kid who literally cried when he got a paper cut.' He took one of Petey's arms and waved it around. 'It's a wonder he can barely pick up a brick let alone cave some chick's head in with it!'
Jimmy's jaw set, but he was listening. He eyed Petey thoughtfully, and then looked back to Gary. 'Okay. Say Petey didn't do it. Then why the hell would Derby Harrington go to so much trouble to cover it up?'
Gary sighed in exasperation and pushed Petey away. Petey stumbled and hit the bed, sliding into a sitting position on the floor and hugging his knees to his chest. 'Well it's not going to look very good for the Harringtons if it came out that one of their blue-blooded offspring had gone down for murder. You really think that they would risk their whole empire over one dead Townie?'
'So you're saying Derby did it?' Jimmy frowned, two red spots of colour flooding his pale cheeks.
'Not necessarily, although it certainly looks that way.' Gary replied. 'Could have been any of them. Even if Derby was buddies with some lady-killer then it could certainly damage daddy's reputation.'
Jimmy stared hard at Gary, apparently trying to find loopholes in the theory. But it made sense. Jimmy's eyes moved to Petey, who was still snivelling on the floor. He took a step towards him and thrust out a hand. Petey yelped and recoiled, then peered at Jimmy's hand in bewilderment. Tentatively he took it, and Jimmy hauled him easily to his feet, almost throwing the smaller boy across the room.
'Ah, wonderful,' Gary beamed, clapping his hands. 'Nice to see your reasoning skills are in good working order.'
Jimmy shot Gary an annoyed glare. 'I believe that Petey didn't do it. But I still don't trust you, Gary. I don't believe that you're doing all of this just to get Pete off.'
Gary held out his hands defensively. 'Really?' he cried, pretending to be upset. 'Oh Jimmy, that hurts. You really think I'm incapable of doing something nice for a fellow human being?'
Pete stood by Jimmy, looking at Gary warily as he rubbed his arm. Jimmy also looked at him, obviously wanting nothing more than to beat him senseless. The fact he wasn't tickled Gary and set him off chuckling again.
'You'll see.' Gary smirked. 'Anyway, I think it's time we paid our good friend Derby a visit. Don't you think?'
Jimmy and Petey exchanged glances, and then Jimmy nodded. 'Okay.' He said. 'I'll see this through. But you try anything, Gary...'
'Oh I'm sure you'll punish me for it, Jimmy,' Gary smirked. 'Now get a move on, girlies. I locked the front doors to keep those sodomites out while we talked, but no doubt the Prefects will have turned up to see what all the fuss is about.' He opened the door and grinned at the other two. 'Out the bathroom window, ladies. Let's get this party started.'
