Title: In Thade We Trust 13/?

Author: veiledndarkness

Warning: The usual disclaimer, not my property, just playing with the characters. Takes place shortly after the end of Planet of the Apes (2001).

Summary: In the darkest parts of the human mind lies the ability to be needlessly cruel and inhuman, a baser nature that separates us from the animals.

XX

Senator Sandar tented his fingers under his chin, his gaze flicking to the clock on the left hand corner of his desk. "Ari, really, I don't have much longer until my next appointments. Surely, this can wait?"

"Father, have you heard a word I've spoken to you?" Ari slammed her hands down on the finely carved wood desk. "He's to be taken to the high courts! You know what will happen there, I know what will happen, and you…you're sitting there as though this isn't a big deal! How? How can you sit there and act like nothing is amiss?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. "Thade, give me strength…Ari, please. I'm simply swamped with appointments and hearings. Just this morning, I was informed of not one, but two calls for harsher punishments on the field workers. That is certainly more pressing than the fate of one human."

"One human...!" Ari reared back as though slapped. "Father, you can't be serious."

Sandar moved one hand up to massage his forehead. "He is one human, however special his case might be. I cannot interfere with the high courts."

"That has never stopped you in the past!" Ari spun away from the desk, disgusted.

He winced. "Your affection for these…humans, it's unbecoming. No suitor will take you seriously if you spend all your days protesting and fighting a pointless cause."

Ari rolled her eyes. "I could give a fig about suitors. I'm not interested in being married off to someone who will benefit you at the cost of my happiness. And don't change the subject. Leo is a human, yes, but he's so much like us, Father, I swear it."

Sandar frowned. "I think I was too hasty in letting you go off to that public school. You've become…human in your own way. It's not a trait to be desired. If Leo is put to death, so be it. It will be one less human for us to be concerned about!"

"No! I will not stand for this," Ari paced a length of the office, her hair swaying in her face. She shoved at the offending strands with great irritation. "Leo is not like the others. You know this; I know Naira shared the results with you. You've seen him in action, how can you deny that he is different?"

"He is human, no more, no less. And yes, perhaps he is more advanced, but these ridiculous stories I've heard about his origins," he waved one hand, "Utter rot. Fell from the sky. Like an angel or a messenger of Thade."

"He did fall from the sky! Leo is connected to Thade!"

Sandar sat upright. "Ari, I will not even entertain that idea."

Ari inhaled sharply and turned to glare at him. "Naira gave you his reports. Did you even bother to read them?"

"I perused them." Sandar sniffed and looked away.

"You mean you skimmed over them," Ari gave a bitter laugh. "I might have known."

"I'll not be scolded by the likes of you, my daughter," Sandar drummed his fingers on his desk blotter. "I am the one who authorized the testing on Leo. I allowed Naira to continue with his bizarre requests to test Leo in his rooms, an idea that was not as easy to approve as you might think. I answer to many people, Ari, I am not the infinite power and ruler of the governments and science world, like you might believe."

"If I believed those things, then perhaps, I'd have more faith in you, Father," Ari's voice shook with barely restrained fury. "Disown me, publicly refuse to support me, do whatever you must to help you sleep at night, but I will not be silenced, Senator. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a crusade to continue." The door swooshed shut behind her, echoing loudly.

Sandar sighed. "So very much like her mother..."

XX

"Are the rumors true then? That you were attacked by one of the humans?" the reporter shoved his microphone closer, his brown eyes impatient and eager to hear more.

Lights flashed, more cameras pushed towards the group proceeding up the stairs to the facility. Calder paused on the top step and looked back at the hordes behind him. He cleared his throat and shook his head.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the details of the case at this time," his mouth curved upwards, an almost smirk, not quite smile. "However, some rumors have much truth to them."

The throng of reports surged forward again, their voices coming together in a wave of questions, more clicking and flashes from the many cameras.

"So, you're saying that the human who attacked was the same as the one that crashed at the Thade Memorial?"

Calder merely chuckled and turned away from the reporters. He turned to the large ape beside him and nodded, dismissing his protection. "Things happen as they should, I'm afraid," he drawled. Ignoring them, he strolled into the building, his eyes alight with amusement.

"Dr. Calder!" a young chimp ran after them, "Sir!"

Calder stopped again. "Yes, what is it now, Riva?" he snapped.

He panted, winded from his run, "The labs, Sir. Dr. Sorel needs your assistance. The human, he's..." he rested his palms on his upper thighs. "He's fighting the sedation."

"For the love of..." Calder stomped towards the rows of elevators that lined one wall. "I give simple instructions that even a first year assistant could understand, and those are too difficult to follow?"

Riva flinched. "I...I was, I did give him the sedation, he's fighting it, Sir. Sorel instructed me to find you. The human attacked each of the guards."

Calder hissed out a breath and stepped into the waiting elevator. He jabbed the button with one finger. "Beast," he muttered. "I'll have him dissected before the month is out."

"Sir...he looked right at me," Riva ventured after a moment of silence. "Before he attacked...He laughed at me, swore and then started screaming. Sir, we weren't told that he's capable of proper, multi sentence speech! This changes so much."

"It changes nothing!"

Riva swallowed hard. "Yes sir," he whispered.

The elevator opened on the tenth floor and Calder stormed down the white hallway, a faint scream echoing down to greet them. Calder gritted his teeth and swiped his security card over the white panel until the door swooshed open, the screams hitting them full force. Riva hesitated in the doorway, hiding behind Calder.

Leo was backed into a far corner, his eyes wild. He bared his teeth at one of the assistants, daring him to come closer. The assistant moved in, a hypodermic needle in his hand, poised to inject him.

"C'mon, you chickenshit!" Leo raged at him. "C'mon! Let's see you try!"

The assistant scowled at him and lunged forward, moving fast. Leo turned to the side, tripping the chimp and knocking him down. He shoved him to the tiled floor and jammed the needle in his arm.

"Yeah, nap time is right fucking now," Leo crooned, patting the assistant's head. He stood up and stared at Calder. "I ain't going down like this. Kill me, end this...now."

Calder pushed his fingers into his coat pocket and pressed down on a button attached to his swipe card. "Leo...you must realize that this is a foolish tactic," he walked over slowly, gauging Leo's responses closely. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, boy."

Leo growled. "Don't you call me that! I want Naira; I ain't performing for any of you."

"Naira is no longer in charge of you," Calder picked up the shock control pad from the nearby table, weighing it in one hand for a moment. "You're under my custody until the high courts are ready for you."

Leo took a step back, his gaze landing on the control pad. He darted a quick look to Calder, the metal collar digging into the sensitive skin of his neck. Calder smiled, chuckling quietly.

"Yes...You've felt this before. Naira used it on you in the beginning. Leo, let me make you aware of something, something of terrible importance." Calder edged him further against the wall, the control pad looming over Leo.

"What will happen to you in the high courts, it's much worse than any test you've endured. Torture...yes, torture is your future. You will not escape these facilities, you will never know freedom again, and I alone have the power to let you die with some dignity before the real torture begins."

"I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life in a cage," Leo spat at him. "And when I get outta here, you're gonna be the first one I kill."

Calder smiled with no humor or amusement lingering now. "So you believe." He pressed his thumb down on the button, triggering the device.

Leo fell back, his hands clawing at his collar. He shuddered, the bolt running through him, liquid fire. He screamed and dropped to the ground, convulsing.

Riva turned away, a hand over his mouth. "Thade," he breathed, sick to his stomach.

Calder eased his thumb off the button and waited, listening to Leo's pained and panicked breaths. "Get up."

Leo curled into a ball, trembling. Calder pushed down on the button, upping the voltage. Leo cried out, convulsing harder. His hands clutched at nothing, his fingers flexing and curling. Calder eased the level down once more and stood back.

"I told you to get up, Leo. Defy me again and I'll leave you under that dose for much longer."

Leo sobbed harshly into the tiled floor, the pain agonizing. "I...I c-can't."

Calder snorted. "Please. I've seen you accomplish much more than that in the past. Get up, Leo. This is your last warning."

Leo curled his hands into fists and pushed upwards on all fours, trembling. Calder smiled and rested his hand on Leo's head, stroking his short hair. "There...that's a good boy, hm?"

"D-Don't you touch me," Leo rasped.

Calder dug his fingers into Leo's chin, yanking his head up to look at him. "What you want is not of any concern to me, boy. Stand up!"

Leo shuddered, gasping as he slowly stood up. He paled and staggered back to the tiled wall. Calder eyed him and sniffed. "Pathetic."

"Sir," Riva crept further into the room, "The cuffs or sedation?"

Calder held his hand out, "Needle, half dosage, medium strength cuffs."

Leo bit back a whimper. As if in a dream, he watched Riva pass a needle to Calder. He hardly felt the sting of the needle tip entering his skin and sighed when the pain eased, his body relaxing under the familiar sedatives. Cuffs were placed around his wrists, and Leo was led from the room.

Calder had Leo brought to one of the containment cells. Leo stopped short at the sight of the cell, shaking his head. "No...No cages, Calder..." he looked to him, pleading silently.

"Need I remind you of what happens when you refuse an order?"

"You don't hafta cage me," Leo whispered, stalling at the opening. "Naira trusted me..."

"Naira was a fool!" Calder advanced towards Leo, the control pad clutched in his fingers. "Get in the cage."

Leo cringed back from him, hateful tears in his eyes. He ducked his head and shuffled into the cage, his shoulders hunched. Calder slammed the door shut and snapped the lock on. Leo sat down in the corner of the metal cell, his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Don't give me a reason to punish you, Leo. Riva will be on guard until I need your services," Calder straightened up and pocketed the control pad. He nodded to Riva. "Do not leave him alone, do not let him out of the cage for any reason what so ever. Is that in any way unclear?"

Riva shook his head. "No sir."

"Good," Calder nodded to Riva. "Send an alert if the human gives you any troubles."

"Yes sir."

Calder gave Leo one last look and left the room, his white coat floating behind him on the slight draft. Riva blinked, startled by the sudden silence of the room. He sat on the chair by the desk, staring at Leo.

"You gonna stare all night long?" Leo asked after a long moment.

Riva blanched a bit and glanced back at the doorway, hesitating. Leo snorted, shifting inside the cage. He curled up more and rested his head to his arms. "I'm not gonna blow up. You can relax."

Riva sat forward on his chair, his eyes wide once more. "You really can talk?" he whispered, in awe. "I heard rumors...but Thade...it's amazing!"

Leo tilted his head to look at him. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Fucking...such a strange word," Riva mused. "And yes, I'm serious. I've never seen a human captive that could speak like you."

"Well then it's your lucky day," Leo drawled.

Riva scooted closer to the cage. "Did you truly fall from the sky? Are those rumors true?"

"I didn't fall, I crash landed. There's a difference."

"They said you were one of the human angels, the ones in the legends. The two races that fought over the earth humans and apes before Thade came and rescued us. He brought an end to the fighting and we triumphed," Riva recited, his excitement growing. "Are you one? There have been countless prophecies about the human angel that was sent to destroy Thade, but none have ever been proven."

Leo chuckled. "Unbelievable. You guys...you're all nuts. Thade was a monster, a brutal fucking monster. And here you are, worshipping his almighty ass."

Riva gaped at him. "Y-You...That's sacrilegious!" he sputtered.

"To you," Leo shifted down to his side, drowsing in the haze of sedation. "I don't worship an ape, so it ain't sacrilege for me."

Riva inhaled and glanced back at the door, checking for any sign of Calder. "Leo," he murmured. "Don't sleep yet. Please...I've waited so long for the chance to work with a human like you. Can you...can you do something that the others can't?"

"I don't do parlor tricks," Leo yawned. "Where's Naira? He's gonna be so damned pissed when he finds out I'm gone."

"Calder didn't say, but I know that he's being brought to the trial," Riva rocked in the chair, unable to sit still. "The judges need his testimony."

Leo nodded. "Oh..."

"You were allowed far too many freedoms, and his lack of control over you, well, that does not bode well for him."

"You don't know shit," Leo snapped at him. "Let's see you be caged an' tied up, an' tortured for someone's amusement!"

Riva shrugged. "That wouldn't happen. Humans are necessary for the use in developing vaccines and for testing of surgeries. Some of our greatest discoveries have come from human testing."

"Yeah? Well it happened where I come from!" Leo moved fast, pressing himself against the cage bars. "You would have been my fucking pet! My assistant in testing! You listen to me, you little shit, if the tables were turned, you'd be screaming for mercy!"

Riva yelped, jumping back from the side of the cage. He scrambled backwards, one furry hand clasped to his chest. "I...I..."

Leo bared his teeth at him. "You don't know the first thing about bein' caged, Riva," he hissed his name. "Back off an' leave me the hell alone, or I'll show you why the other docs are scared of me!"

"Y-You...Calder is right about your kind," Riva sat on the chair, breathing in quick gulps of air, "Vicious...Unstable."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Pussy," he muttered. He moved back to the corner of his cage, yanking at the wrist cuffs.

"Don't, your cuffs need to stay on." Riva smoothed his hand over his head, gathering himself.

"Didn't I just tell you to back off?"

"I don't take orders from humans!"

"Uh huh," he smirked. "But you take them from Calder, an' he's as bad as Thade, which makes him an' awful lot like me. Funny how that works."

"Calder is in charge of my learning program," Riva picked up a pen from the desk, tapping it nervously on the desk top blotter. "Of course I take orders."

Leo picked at the wrist cuffs, falling silent for a moment. "Riva," he said finally. "You can take the damn cuffs off me. I'm in a cage, I can't go anywhere."

Riva shook his head rapidly. "No...Oh no, I can't do that."

"Sure you could," Leo coaxed. "I'm locked up; you're safe here with me like this, right? I can't do anything if I'm in a cage."

Riva bit his lip. "No! No, it's...he told me not to..."

"Actually, Calder said I wasn't allowed out of the cage, he didn't say anything about me bein' cuffed, if I recall," Leo widened his eyes and smiled a little. He could see Riva wavering. "C'mon, seriously, what can I do, huh? In this cage, no real room to move. Still got my shock collar on, right?"

"I...I suppose," Riva took his keys out and approached the cage. "Leo, please don't force me to use the control pad. I...I don't want to have to shock you."

Leo nodded. "Scout's honor, just uncuff me, ok? It's damned uncomfortable in these things." He put his hands to the bars, shifting impatiently.

"What's a scout?" Riva crouched down and unlocked the first cuff.

Leo nearly sighed with relief when the first cuff dropped off his left wrist, "A kiddie group or something. I never was one."

Riva unlocked the second cuff, dropping the keys into his lab coat pocket. "Oh I see, and you wanted to be one...?" he trailed off, Leo's arms coming between the bars and grasping the fabric of his coat. "Leo! Oh Thade...Please don't!"

Leo leaned in, grinning widely. "You're really somethin', Riva. Now, be a good little monkey and open my cage," he said, moving one hand to Riva's wrist. "Don't scream, don't shout, just open it and I won't do anything to hurt you."

Riva gaped at him, his chest hitching. "Ah ah, no screaming," Leo whispered. "Open the cage, now."

"I...Leo, I can't," Riva choked out. "Calder..."

"Will never know you did it voluntarily. Tell them I overpowered you; just let me out, Riva. I don't wanna hurt you like this, but I'll have to."

Riva gasped, terrified. He scrambled to dig out the second set of keys and unlocked the padlock on the cage. The door swung open, clanging against the bars. Leo moved fast, out of the cage in seconds. He backed Riva up to the wall, looming over the smaller chimp.

"Thanks, Riva," he smiled. "Now, you're gonna help me out of this building, clear?"

"Are you insane?" Riva whispered. "You'll never make it out alive!"

"Oh I will, but first you're gonna send a message to Naira for me."

Riva reached for his pocket, fumbling with the keys. "Leo, I can't, I simply can't. I...I've done too much already."

Leo plucked the keys from Riva's shaking fingers. "Do it, don't think, don't stop, do it. Or..."

"Thade...Calder's going to have me drawn and quartered," Riva moaned. He reached for the phone on the desk, dialing as fast as he could manage.

Leo palmed the keys, keeping one eye on the doorway. Riva put the phone down a moment later, his eyes darting fearfully to the door. "Dr. Naira is on his way," he mumbled.

Leo nodded. "Good." He paced the length of the room, tugging at his metal collar. "Tell them I fainted or something. You went to check an' I overpowered you. Can you do that?"

"I...think so, yes," Riva crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh Thade, how angry they'll be. I never should have done this, I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to keep my job."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Leo stopped by the door and looked back at him. "All this, it's not your fault, y' know? But I can't do this; I can't lie down an' wait for them to kill me. I'm not an animal, and I'm not supposed to go down like this."

"Aren't you afraid? If they catch you..."

"They won't," Leo straightened his back at the sound of Naira's approaching footsteps. "'Bout time you got here," he said, poking his head out to see Naira jogging awkwardly over to him.

"None of that smart mouth attitude of yours, boy!" Naira snapped, despite the clear relief in his eyes. "Leo, I swear, you vex me so!"

Leo grinned and ducked back into the room. "Ah, you love me. I give you so much to learn, yeah? Now get me the hell outta here."

Naira swished the door shut behind him, panting a little. "Riva, listen to me," he commanded. "You must do exactly as I say. Forget what Dr. Calder has told you."

Riva bit back a whimper and nodded several times. "Yes sir."

"I already told him what to say," Leo tapped his bare foot on the floor. "Can we go? I need a head start."

"Wait ten minutes before contacting the guards. Put out a level two alarm at that time. Call Calder and inform him that the prisoner has escaped," Naira instructed, ignoring Leo's huff of annoyance. "Is that understood?"

Riva nodded again. "Yes sir."

"Ten minutes and then the alarm, not one minute sooner."

"Sir...if he doesn't make it..."

"No ifs," Naira said. He turned to Leo. "I'm sorry, Leo. I should not have left you unattended."

"Get me outta this building and we'll call it even."

Naira's lips quirked in an almost smile. "Stay behind me. We must leave immediately."

Riva watched as they left, his whole body shaking. "Please...Thade, show them the way," he mumbled, looking to the clock for the right moment.

XX