Author's Note: Some offensive words are used to refer to homosexuals in this chapter. No offense is meant, and I'm not a homophobe. I'm just trying to write in character.

January VIII

She was new, and Law watched her intently every time she passed. Not really what he'd call pretty, but it might have been the uniform. There were only three other women working here by his count, not including the med ward. All the nurses and some of the doctors were girls, too. Were any of them pretty? He couldn't really remember.

His mind was wandering, and he snapped it back to her with a quick flash of anger. Damn it, why wasn't he turned on by her? He could imagine her buck naked and not feel even a flicker of arousal. Same thing with the other women here, but he'd figured he was just bored with them.

Had he become queer? No! he quickly answered himself. You don't like men, either! And that was true, despite the slightly hysterical tone of the words in his mind. He hadn't even fucked Harry in almost two weeks. Sex with Harry was a friggin' chore. And Roach-

Well, Roach was dead.

Okay, calm down, least you're not a fag. Then what the hell was wrong? Was he never gonna want sex again?

And someone must have heard that thought and laughed, because there she suddenly was, standing just outside the bars. She was trying for that look of bored distaste the other guards always seemed to wear, and not having much success. He could almost smell her nervousness and fear.

"Come on, Alston. Random drug test."

He smirked at her out of pure habit, then let her cuff him. Be great to get out of here for a few minutes. Sometimes pacing back and forth or doing push-ups just didn't cut it. And he was finding out that there were only so many hours you could sleep per day.

And shouldn't the door have opened by now?

She was being cautious, checking and rechecking her equipment and fiddling with the buckle over her stun gun. Trying to prove she was ready to handle the extremely important and dangerous job of walking a cuffed prisoner down a hallway. Law rolled his eyes. "Come on, girl, I ain't gonna bite ya."

She gave him a harsh look, and her fingers curled around the buckle. He shrugged and took a step back. Just my luck, ta get a skittish rookie. Probably she's trigger-happy, too. Apparently satisfied, she went back to messing around with her stuff.

It suddenly occurred to Law how vulnerable he was right now. What if Harry wanted revenge? Would this bitch even interfere? Starting to feel very uncomfortable, he gave the guard an impatient look which she didn't notice. Or pretended not to notice. He tried to turn around to check on Harry, but he couldn't make himself move. He heard Harry coming; he'd feel the first strike any minute now…

"What are you doing, Alston?" the guard asked warily.

He had her full attention now, and it must be because Harry was getting close and maybe she was trying to decide whether to just walk away or stay and watch. Harry was saying something, but Law couldn't make it out. It was just a confused jumble of noises. It was getting louder. What the hell could he do? If he could get him on the ground, he might be able to take him out by kicking. But I'll never knock him down with my hands cuffed! He began tugging at the restraints, trying to at least get his arms in front of him.

"Hey. Shut your mouth, Alston. Now", she said.

But Law was beyond hearing her. He didn't even hear himself anymore. But he was speaking. "Get away from me, get away from me, get the hell away from me, you asshole, get away from me, I'm gonna kill you, get away from me!"

The guard grabbed her baton and whacked the bars a few inches in front of his nose. The effect this had on Law was galvanic. He screamed, spun around, and ran at Harry, who was already cowering in a corner. As it turned out, he could knock him to the ground with his hands cuffed. Easily. And as far as taking him out by kicking him, he didn't have anything to worry about. He didn't stop until the new female guard pressed her new stun gun against his neck.

*******

It was cold. How long had he been here? Couldn't be long, because his neck was still throbbing painfully. He gently felt the raised burn mark there. Another scar. No big deal. He'd been stupid. Why in the world had he attacked Harry with a guard standing right outside? Try as he might, and there was precious little to distract him in here, he couldn't remember what had set him off.

Where was he, anyway? Maybe this was the hole. That would make sense. But if so, it wasn't anything like he'd heard. The lighting was bright fluorescents. There was a toilet in one corner and a bare mattress against the other wall. The mattress was bolted to the floor. He woken up lying on it, wrists free of the cuffs. There were four featureless walls instead of bars, and a door with a tiny barred window and a food slot.

Other than being cold, it wasn't too bad. Maybe they'd give him a blanket before lights out. Law began walking around the room, running one hand along the wall. On the third lap he began to hum tunelessly. This occupied his attention for nearly three hours. Then he curled up on the surprisingly comfortable mattress and went to sleep.

Sometime later, a voice called, "Wake up! Chow!" A tray was shoved through the slot and Law groggily went to get it. He ate, then immediately went back to sleep. Between what had been injected while he was unconscious and what had been added to the food, he had enough sedatives and tranquilizers in his bloodstream to sleep for at least twelve hours and be slow and clumsy and easy to handle for another twelve. And that was how Law spent his first night in the psych ward.