Ch10

Wufei walked into the cell block with his left forearm wrapped up and bandaged and heads turned. Wufei's last fight had ended with a man dead and before that another inmate with a bloody head.

What had he done now? It was on everyone's face as he walked through. Who had challenged him, and what happened to the other guy. Wufei ignored it and went straight up the metal stairs to his cell.

Trent of course showed up two minutes later. "What happened to you?" He asked. His green eyes were inquisitively looking at Wufei.

"An epiphany." Wufei threw out.

Trent rolled his eyes and sat across from Wufei's bed on the floor. "No really, what happened to you?"

Wufei didn't bother saying anything; he lay back on his bed. It was a more compromising position, but his instincts weren't firing nearly as hard anymore around Trent. The guy had been harmless. Especially after finding himself curled up on the floor next to the man. Wufei cringed inwardly. He still thought of that moment as his weakest point so far. He let his guard down next to a man he knew next to nothing about. Except that was associated in the yard with Marcus Clealis's group occasionally.

"Why are you in here?"

Trent looked startled at the question. He shrugged and sat across from the lower bunk on the cement floor. He was getting on Wufei's level. He seemed to know that it would put Wufei more at ease since they were both in compromising positions. "I followed my friend."

Wufei frowned at him. "What do you mean?" Trent shrugged and looked out through the bars of their cell; they weren't shut, but he still looked at them as if they were haunting him in some way.

"I don't want to talk about it."

He stated and sat there starring out of the cell till lights out was called. They lined up on the platform outside and then came back in for bed.

It was the first time Trent was silent for a night.

Time moved slowly and endlessly in the graying walls of the facility that was home to those that had been deemed unsafe to normal society. The hours dragging on by clanging bar gates and calls for lights on and lights out.

Wufei had ventured closer in the yard twice a week to use the weight racks. The first time the other inmates grudgingly moved off the equipment. More to see what he could do then anything.

The surprise and awe at his abilities to squat two fifty had caused a ruckus in the groups. Whether it was mockery because a little pip-squeak like Chang could out lift you or because of a desire to fight him. The inmates had been watching him and his martial dance in the corner of the yard. Three of inmates in his block had expressed interest in learning. Including Trent.

While he wasn't the most excited about possibly training others it would be a way to stay motivated and keep boredom at bay. So perhaps it was a good idea.

Wufei was quickly learning that boredom would be his number one enemy in this place. Boredom caused laziness. Laziness caused complacency. And that would lead to losing your edge and in a place such as this losing an advantage was not without consequences.

There had been multiple fights in his cell block. While no one challenged him since T. They were leaderless. Some had tried to take that spot. Most failed. Bloodily.

He was losing focus again.

So using the weights was allowing him to drastically tone up and define his physique more then he imagined he would. He was definitely adding muscle since he had to move up a size in the prison uniform. He would stop soon, too bulky and he would lose his speed and flexibility. What was the point in that? There was none except to get yourself killed.

Wufei sighed and stared at the cement wall in front of him. He couldn't seem to concentrate on anything today.

Another month had flown by; he had started to carve lines in the walls next to his bed. Five long months. No word from his public defender or anyone else. "Lights out!"

Wufei got up and walked to the walkway where Trent joined him. Another day passing.

They walked back into their cell and Wufei stretched before going into his bunk below. Trent squatted down next to him and Wufei glanced over, slightly bewildered to see Trent's face so close to his. He narrowed his eyes as the fluorescent lights went out.

Trent licked his lips and whispered, "Look Wufei, I'm getting concerned for you. Marcus wants results and you've given him nothing." He glanced out of the bars as if worried someone was eaves dropping. It was unlikely as mainly it was the groaning of mattresses as everyone slowly went to sleep. "He doesn't like that kind of behavior. If he gives you an order, he expects it to be followed."

"Why tell me this? Did he tell you to?" Wufei growled, "I've seen you hang out in his corner of the yard. How come you are not in his cell block?"

Trent sighed and whispered sharply, "I'm telling you this because I care about you. You've been a good friend and cell mate and I don't want to risk ending up with someone like T again if you end up six feet under. More like twelve."

Wufei looked at Trent's face and accepted what he said. He was surprisingly honest for a criminal. "Thank you. I will take your warning into consideration."

Trent nodded and hesitated before standing and hoisting himself into his bed. Wufei relaxed as the springs above him settled. He had been watching since his lack of trial occurred two months ago. He had been. Hard.

The tranques were and excellent possibility and he had mapped out most of the channels to and from his cell block in his head. He knew how to get to the warden's office and back, how many key codes he needed and didn't have access to. He knew of the double doors that the guards escorted them through leading to the jail blocks and that he needed to get into the control room to the left of it to let anyone out. He knew that there were eleven guards at all times in the cafeteria and three covering his block.

The problems were in that he did not know the other cell blocks. He did not know where the maintenance rooms were. Anything in the yard was useless with the guards patrolling with stun guns. The other jail mates' fighting or stealth abilities were unknown as well.

There were countless unknowns and he had no way of determining them because he was stuck in the cell block without a network. Without the man power needed to organize a break out. He needed to fill in the blanks. He needed to organize his block.

It looked as though the cell block would become his after all.

Wufei was already awake the next morning stretching on the floor when Trent hopped down from the bed above. He was stumbling towards the toilet when Wufei spoke, "I need you to organize a meeting with Marcus in the yard today. Unobtrusively."

Trent's eyebrows rose but he nodded and continued on his way doing his business. When the doors clang open, Wufei went and stood out on the platform outside his cell observing the layout and the prisoners. There were subtle looks up towards him.

This was the first time Wufei had taken a blatant interest in the ongoing of his cell block The Western cell block. Normally he would tuck himself away in his cell or go about his day with disinterest, but today he was clearly looking to do something.

Wufei watched as inmates went to the bathroom and the showers and waited. Until... there. A tall blonde man had left his lower left cell close to the entrance of the block and went to the shower room.

Wufei walked quickly and smoothly carrying his towel weaving between the other prisoners. He entered the steaming tiled room to see the three people in the shower room including the tall blonde one. Ulviric. He had expressed interest in learning Wufei's 'strange movements' as he had called them. "Everyone out." Wufei called.

Each person looked up and moved out, when Ulviric moved to go Wufei shook his head. He came closer and started the spray of the shower next to Ulviric and stripped down on the pretenses of taking a shower. The spray would mask any of their conversation. "Why are you in this prison?"

"I vas an assassin." His accent was thick. Sounded very Eastern European or from a heavy populated Russian colony at Lagrange 3 district. "Many of zee Romafellar and zhe ESUN heve fallen from me." Wufei looked him up and down; he was well built sinewy muscle. Tall about six five, six six.

"You asked to learn martial arts from me. Are you still interested?" The man nodded. Wufei glanced over his shoulder and looked back at the man in front of him. "Do you want to leave this place?"

"Zee shower?"

"No. The prison."

The light of yearning in the man's eyes was unmistakable. He wanted out. And he wanted out now.

TBC