I'm bumping the rating up because of this chapter because it actually gets kinda dark sorry. Warning for a short torture scene (it's not graphic but still).
The movie was good. Bad Cop got the feeling that Benny could probably recite the whole thing from memory. He seemed the type.
Once it was done, Benny made more popcorn and Bad Cop picked another tape at random. This one was a bit more serious – something about aliens and mythology and interplanetary portals. Benny was excited for that one too, and the funny thing about watching movies with him was that he got so into them that Bad Cop had to as well. His enthusiasm was infectious.
They watched nearly all the movies Benny had brought.
Towards the end, Benny began to nod off and slouched against Bad Cop. He'd taken off his helmet off at some point, and his wildly fluffy hair tickled against Bad Cop's neck.
Bad Cop went perfectly still as the spaceman's breathing evened out. Onscreen, the end credits rolled, and trying to move as little as possible, Bad Cop reached for the remote and switched the TV off.
What should he do?
He thought about waking Benny up and telling him to go home to his own bed, but he looked so peaceful Bad Cop couldn't bring himself to disturb him. So he just sat there, the distant sound of traffic trickling in through the window with the warm summer breeze, Benny snoring gently into his shoulder.
And in that moment, Bad Cop felt like maybe everything was going to be okay after all. Slowly, he let his own eyes drift shut.
Fear. Pain. The metallic tang of blood on his tongue. The coarse rope burned against his wrists where they were tied behind his back. He was sagging forward, would have fallen if he weren't tied to the chair. Business was talking, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't hear through the agony anymore. Everything hurt. He'd always been the stronger of the two, but he didn't know how much more he could take.
Then Business started on his face. Distantly, he could hear screaming, and realized it was his own. It surprised him, in a detached sort of way. He thought he'd already lost his voice. Everything seemed far away now. Yes. Far away. That was where he had to go. The further he went, the less it hurt, so he kept going, going…
Gone.
Bad Cop awoke to frantic shouting, and someone was holding his wrists, trying to hold him still. Panic overwhelmed him, and he struggled to escape his captor, kicking and screaming.
"B! Bad, listen to me!" a familiar voice was saying. "B, it's okay, it's okay, wake up!"
His vision began to focus, and Benny's worried face swam into clarity. He was on his couch, in his apartment. It was morning. Benny had him pinned to the cushions. "Let go," he gasped. "Ben, let go, let go."
Benny drew away fast as he could. Bad Cop curled in on himself, shaking and panting.
"Bad Cop?" Benny asked hesitantly.
Bad Cop put his hands over his head, dug his fingers into his hair, cursed himself. He'd been having nightmares, but this was the worst one yet. The most vivid. He never should have let Benny stay. "Please leave," he said, his voice cracking.
Benny put a hand on Bad Cop's shoulder. Bad Cop flinched, and Benny withdrew. "I can't," he said.
"Of course you can," Bad Cop snapped, curling up tighter.
There was shuffling, and he felt the couch dip a little as Benny sat. "I can't," he repeated. "I can't leave you like this."
Bad Cop was going to cry, and he didn't want a repeat of Benny's first visit. He didn't want to show the spaceman that level of vulnerability again. He didn't want to show him a deeper level. "Just leave," he whispered. "Just leave me alone."
Benny was quiet, but he didn't move. Finally, he said, "You really are alone, aren't you? It's just you now."
Bad Cop choked back a sob.
"Bad," Benny said, scooting a little closer. "What happened?"
Bad Cop shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.
"You were talking," Benny said after a moment's hesitation. He spoke haltingly. "In your sleep. Something about Lord Business. You sounded like…" Benny swallowed. "You sounded like you were in a lot of pain."
Bad Cop didn't want to talk. He didn't. But his mouth opened and words came out anyway. "It was Good Cop," he said, breath hitching. "I could. I could feel him. Going. Fading away." A sob caught in his throat. "He was in so much pain and I. Oh god. I felt him die."
Benny didn't have any words. He just placed his hand softly on Bad Cop's side.
Now that he'd started, Bad Cop couldn't stop. He told Benny everything. His parents, the Kragle, what Business did, what he did. The words fell off his tongue, one after another, pouring out, parting around hics and gasps. He begged for forgiveness and hated himself for it. Somehow he'd ended up in Benny's arms again, wound tight and trembling, and Benny curled around him and didn't say anything. He just listened, and that was what Bad Cop needed most right then.
And even after a long while, after Bad Cop gradually unwound and his breathing calmed, Benny just continued to run his fingers through Bad Cop's short wiry hair and remained silent. For that, Bad Cop was glad, because it was a comforting quiet, and there wasn't really anything to say anyway.