Work Text
Upon first glance, it would appear as though the boy sprawled out on the bottom bunk of the two tiered bed was asleep; Eyes closed, breath slow, and of course, the lack of moment were heavy indicators.
However, should one look closer, they would find a slight murmur in the boy’s fingers, very subtle taps that could’ve been the beat to a song, or even morse code. They may have even noticed the slightly furrowed brows, too tense, or the almost scornful look that adorned the boy’s face.
The midday sun shone through the barred window, gently cascading onto his face. The sky was a bright blue, a constant on the Iberian peninsula, and a light breeze fluttered the trees that were planted around the area.
Julius Grief was not sleeping at the time, rather thinking.
It had been almost two months since he’d been brought to Gibraltar, coming close to the time he took to recover after the science lab fire at Alex Rider’s secondary school. A sudden burst of fury ignited in him at the thought of the teenager whose face he wore, but he crammed it back down, striving to not allow Rider to ruin his mood, like he’d done with his entire life.
He would allow the malicious thoughts from the depths of his brain to crawl in later, but instead, he focused on his current living state; It was something he hadn’t presented himself with the opportunity to do until that point.
It was a strange place, the prison. Built to hold the deadliest of people, while simultaneously giving the appearance of a small, heavily closed off village. Julius wondered when he’d first arrived if it was supposed to put him at a facilitated ease, or a cruel vision of what would be a gilded cage; not that it mattered, though, a prison was a prison, humanely presenting or not.
The people there were nothing short of a lively bunch, each like him, and still different in many ways. Mr. Someone, for example. A man shrouded in mystery, and yet clearly a threat to the good of humanity. It wasn’t something Gibraltar needed to prove, Julius could tell with just a glance.
He had taken something akin to an alliance with the man, their similar intelligence, as well as their recounts of their earliest kills, had given the two something to bond over. They weren’t necessarily friends, Julius didn’t have friends, but Mr. Someone had been the only person there he could bear associating with without having to restrain a primal urge to strangle.
As for the others, most of them were less than notable. The Miller siblings, neo-nazis from America, locked up after failing to nuke the heart of the very country. Julius noted quite a few beliefs of theirs aligning with his father’s, but he definitely wasn’t planning to get to know them. They were way too robotic for his taste.
Jayne Chomley and Ali Glasim seemed content in minding their own business. Jayne had made small talk at one point in time, though it seemed her participation in the conversation seemed more forced than Julius’.
Ali spent his time sunbathing, reading, strangely satisfied for a man who would most likely see his final days in the walls of the british prison. He didn’t talk to the boy, and the versa was consistent. It was better for the both of them.
Then there was Henry Mellish. Julius’ lip unintentionally curled into a sneer at the thought of the man, feelings of downright repugnance clouding his senses. He didn’t think there were categories he could slot the people he hated in, but his feelings towards Mellish burned differently than others; Not worse than how he felt towards Rider, but badly enough.
It was Mellish who’d approached him when he’d first arrived, immediately introducing himself to the teenager. Julius wasn’t an idiot to not see the clearly artificial niceties of the older man, who undoubtedly wanted something by the way his eyes flashed when he assessed him.
Was he sure of what yet? No. His first assumption had been something related to his abilities, finding it entirely possibly Henry Mellish thought he could help him escape the confinement. It dawned on him quickly though, unless everyone had received an itemized folder of all the things he was capable of, it was more likely to be something else. Had the other inmates known he would be there?
Julius had thought up a few other hypotheses, but soon stopped diverting so much attention into trying to figure it out. He wasn’t going to give Mellish whatever he wanted, especially not when he constantly caught the man staring at him, or making every excuse in the book to try and talk to him.
He wasn’t creeped out by Mellish (at least never that he’d admit, to show a weakness like that…), but something unfurled in Julius’ chest every time he’d made a move around him, something unfamiliar and unwelcomed.
Then there were the guards of course, hostile and supercilious, as well as the Governor; He combated their superiority complexes by making his mission to constantly ruin their day, despite how much trouble it may have gotten him in at times.
Julius sat up suddenly, eyes snapping open. There was no discernable threat, nothing that would cause such a reaction from the boy, other than he’d simply been sick of lying around. The constant mood flips and changes had started to appear more frequently, demented states of mind constantly disturbing his brain, then leaving just as quickly.
Julius Grief was by no means a good person, wasn’t created to be good, but the mania ebbing in the corners of his brain was an unfamiliar realm, even to him. He scanned the room once, twice, then made up his mind.
Recreational activities had been in progress, this being the time he would’ve spent at the gym. For lack of better options, it was there he’d decided to go.
—----------
Coincidentally, it was at the gym, a few days after his reflection, where he’d run into Henry Mellish. More specifically, it had been the locker room to the gym, where Julius found himself alone, a towel wrapped around his neck and a pair of black basketball shorts that chafed where the waistband was.
The air and concrete surfaces were cold to the touch, and the sweat clinging to his back and legs only furthered the chill. He had just finished an intense workout, burning off the steam of having to deal with another one of Dr. Flint’s therapy sessions.
The appointments, along with the woman herself, irritated him to no end, and he was content to do something that could actually regulate the flaring emotions that occasionally engulfed him, instead of playing word association bullshit.
Carefully placing the workout kit in the small metal locker and slamming the door shut, Julius turned to look for his shirt, when he’d caught onto an unfamiliar sound of heavy footsteps descending down the stairs.
He didn’t recognize them as the guard’s, the man at the top never came down without reason anyway. (‘Reason’ consisted of him berating anyone who wasn’t out in a timely fashion, hence how Julius had quickly grown accustomed to the sound of the guard.) Mr. Someone wouldn’t be detected that easily, too light on his feet, and the Miller siblings always traveled in pairs. The others rarely went to the gym.
Julius had to admit he was a bit surprised when Henry Mellish had entered the basement, though quickly was the feeling overrun by vexation and a bit of edge. Out of all the places the man could find himself to be, it was the once place Julius was making peace with himself.
To contribute to his annoyance, this was the first time Julius had ever seen him down there. His first impression wasn’t that of a man who strives to keep himself physically fit, and this had been proven accurate after the teenager’s first couple of days. So why was he there now? To improve himself?
‘Unless he’s not here to work out’, His brain helpfully supplied.
Julius resisted the urge to say anything, not wanting to give the Mellish an excuse to talk to him, and continued the hunt for his shirt.
“Ah, Julius.” Fucking hell. “Just finished a workout?”
Julius looked up, blinking at him for a few moments, then responded sardonically. “No, actually, I was having a cuppa, sending my praises to the great queen.” Rolling his eyes at Mellish’s laugh, fake and unnecessary, he’d finally located his missing article of clothing half hidden under one of the metal benches.
“You are quite the character, Julius Grief.”
Silence followed.
Mellish tried again, a similar statement.
The same reaction occurred.
His lack of a response was taken as an invitation to approach him, much to Julius’ frustration. Due to his undesired proximity, and inability to take a hint, Julius was prepared to hurt this man if he needed to. Some part of him was already grappling for an excuse to do just that.
Henry started again. “I figured you weren’t in your room-”
“Is there something I can help you with?” He cut him off irritably, as Mellish not-so-subtly moved to stand in front of the opening of the door. Julius wondered how much force he would need to kick this man out of the way. He hoped it would be enough to break his ribs.
Henry Mellish adjusted his glasses, eyes moving between Julius’ mouth, to his naked chest. The scrutinization had nearly caused him to snap his fingers, as if he was getting the attention of a rather stupid dog.
“Actually, there is. See, I’ve been meaning to have this discussion with you for quite a bit of time Julius; There’s something I think we could do to…
help
, one another, that I think may very well intrigue you.” He waited for the teenager to prompt him, or at least give some sort of indication that he’d like him to continue.
Julius simply raised an eyebrow. There was a slight chance that he could benefit off whatever Mellish was going to say, as he didn’t get into Gibraltar on good behavior, though he was almost certain he was going to regret giving this man the time of day. It felt less of the decision of listening, and more contemplating if he should permanently cripple the man so he could leave.
Henry Mellish looked somewhere between disappointed and irked at Julius’ non-verbalness, but eventually began speaking once more. “We’re both going to be here for some time, you know that as much as I do. And while I’m, of course, no longer in my youth, you’ll find I’ve had quite a few run-throughs on my count, if you know what I mean.”
Julius did not, and frankly, he was moments away from finding out what the penalty was for killing a man here. “You’ve got fifteen seconds to get to the point.”
“Yes,” Mellish stammered, getting on with it. “It isn’t hard to see that you are clearly a young, growing boy, and it’s obvious you’ll have needs that’ll need fulfilling, with the changes you’re going through, and all.” He easily gained confidence as he spoke on, even abandoning his place at the door to make way to the teenager.
“What I’m trying to say, is that you and I,” His voice lowered significantly, something sinister slinking into his tone. “We can do things together. I can show you stuff you’d never think you could learn, especially in a place like this.”
Mellish had been directly in Julius’ personal space. “We can be something more than friends.” He made direct eye-contact, hand reaching out to rest on Julius’ cheek, a thumb on his lip. The skin was harsh and scratchy, a contrast to the contact it made. “As long as you can keep a secret…”
“Mellish! Grief! Quit pussying around and get up here!” The guard rang true to his earlier description, concealed footsteps slowly making their way down the stairs.
Mellish quickly pulled his hand back, playing it off to adjusting his clothes and glasses, despite the guard still being out of sight. “Think about it. Everyone could use a special friend,
Jules
.”
And just like that, he was gone, up the stairs and out of the gym.
Julius stood stiffly, harrowingly frozen, absorbing everything Henry had just told him. The sentences, one after another, bounced around his head painfully, all combating each other in attempting to be the most repelling. He couldn’t find the strength to react when the man spoke, nor when he grazed Julius’ face.
But he should’ve.
He should've shattered Mellish’s hand when it had made contact with him, broken all the bones in his body, should’ve maimed the man the moment he suggested it. In fact, even before that, he should’ve done something after the first indicators that Mellish wanted his body in that type of fashion.
At that thought however, Julius deflated momentarily, a different one probing his mind. The teenager hadn’t any idea the man had seen him that way, striking something deep in his chest. He wanted to chastise himself for his stupidity, but at the same time, he didn’t accept the full responsibility for it.
Back at Point Blanc, he and his brothers had been educated early on about the anatomy of the body, puberty, as well as several types of royal courting procedures done in the past; Particulars that were beneficial to know for someone attempting to rule as an older european king, to name an example.
All of it had remained strictly informative, however. Hugo Grief’s strive at global domination hadn’t factored any sort of relations for Julius, or any of his brothers. And why would it? An attempt that matched his current situation this would’ve been unseemly and dubious, especially when his father owned the world; Meaning, edification to aid recognizing signs had never occurred in teachings.
He almost wanted to be irritated with his father for his ignorance, but it was almost instantaneously overruled by a developing wrath at the thought of someone trying to take advantage of his. The more he contemplated it, the worse his temper became.
Mellish hadn’t even tried to disguise his lusting. Rather, portray himself as such a considerate person, as well as bringing up Julius’ young age and developing mind, clearly thinking he could use that to sway the decision in his favor.
Julius let out what should’ve been a disgusted scoff, but had actually come out as more of an affronted giggle. Henry Mellish actually thought he could manipulate his way into having sex with him.
“Goddamn it, Grief!” The guard had made his way to the bottom of the stairs, standing in the doorway of the locker room basement. Julius turned his head sharply and stared, noting how the guard faltered. After a brief pause, the guard asked: “The hell are you smiling at?”
Was he smiling? He hadn’t noticed. Even then, it didn’t come out of a place of happiness, but rather malicious, critical planning, and ire. Clearly, the guard had noticed that as well, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did.
“Nothing in particular,” He replied, willing his face to relax.
The guard eyed him suspiciously, but eventually let it go, unable to punish him for anything other than grinning creepily. “Then get a move on. Dinner will be starting soon.” He watched Julius for a moment longer, then made his way back up the concrete stairs.
Julius allowed his emotions to lead him up the steps and out of the gym, organizing and plotting the entire way back to his room. A plan was formulating in his mind, something small in comparison to the things he could do, but it would be enough to assure Mellish understood his refusal loud and clear.
—-----------
Julius had been one of the first people in the dining hall; In accordance with his plan, he had to find a place where he could momentarily make himself and Mellish the center of attention when the time came. Most of the prisoners stuck with following their own personal schedule, so making his way before most everyone had proven to be easy.
Surveying the large, rectangular table, the median of it would serve well, though he’d shifted a bit to the right so he wouldn’t be dead center. It would bring people closer if he wasn’t directly in the way.
Mr. Someone was already there, (he was always the first), having acquired his bowl of what Julius assumed was Fiduea, already starting to feast on the steaming food. He hadn’t missed the man’s inquisitive glance, as if he could tell he was plotting something, but neither of them spoke of it.
The only other person there was Jayne Chomley, who was walking over to the serving hatch with a book of crosswords tucked under her arm. She didn’t seem to care about Julius’ early arrival, but the same couldn’t be said about the guard she’d just moved past.
“Oh, so you’ll be joining us today, Julius,” the guard, Issac, snarked as Julius hurried to get his bowl and take a seat. “You almost got my hopes up.”
“You know I miss you too much. Besides, if it makes you feel better, I’ll have you know that I thought about you the whole time we’d been apart.” He grinned at the scowl he received, feeling his teeth palpitate in anticipation.
He had skipped dinner after the first confrontation with Mellish, using that time to compose his plan. Breakfast and lunch had been to draw attention to himself with his absence, as well as manipulate a way to find himself alone with Henry without everyone else listening in.
—
“You haven’t been showing up to meals, Julius.”
Julius knew Mellish would pick the library as his compulsory recreational activity. Staking out by the building, making himself look busy by playing Solitaire to shake off any interrogative guards, Julius waited until he spotted the man walking along a distant foot trail.
Mellish hadn't seen the teen due to his being covered by another building parallel to the library, which Julius had been accounting for to keep him out of sight.
Hastily shoving the cards back into their box, he jumped up, making his way inside. Pretending to look around, he found his way to a shelf hosting the James Bond series as his target stepped into the building.
“I’ve been busy.” He could feel Mellish leering over him as he pretended to nonchalantly flip through a copy of the ‘Dr. No’ novel. “I’ve decided to spend the time meditating and working to become a better person.” The statement was a blatant lie, and it was obvious to the both of them.
Julius turned around to face the man, whose face briefly flashed with irking. “You shouldn’t do that. People will think you’re trying to avoid something.” The teenager let out a little ‘hm’, and turned his attention down to the book in his arms.
He could feel the impatience radiating off of Mellish, and a small part of him found it crudely humorous; he wondered if his absences had some sort of effect on him. After a moment of being ignored, Henry asked, “Have you thought about what I told you?”
There hadn’t been a point where he’d been able to take his mind off of it. “Mm, jog my memory?” Then returned the frustrated look. “Like I said Mellish, I have been busy. I’m just, you know, trying to become a valuable member of society again. I’ve got a lot on my plate.” He smiled dazzlingly. Henry looked unamused.
“In the locker rooms.” His voice had dropped considerably, nervous vexation making very brief lines across his forehead. Going too far into explanation in a place where people could overhear was hindering Mellish, his previous behavior stifled by witnesses.
Henry Mellish was becoming much less challenging to read. Julius’ efforts in attempting to speak to Mellish had only been considered after he recalled the man touching his face, as well as how brisk he was to cease the action when the guard had called out for them.
Julius had speculated the night before about the possible weaknesses he could use against Henry, and while the sudden break off may have just been his lack of wanting trouble, Julius couldn’t help but deliberate on whether it was something else.
Mellish was a spy, meaning he knew what the consequences of exposed secrets could be for him; one of them had been the reason for his imprisonment. So, theoretically, it would leave a bad taste in the man’s mouth, to not only to have someone expose his confidentials, but also to have no control over the situation.
Now, all Julius had to do was prove himself correct, making sure all of his efforts wouldn’t backfire on him.
“Oh, right.” He strung out the words, as if finally remembering what occurred the day before. “It did cross my mind once or twice.”
“And?”
Choosing what to say next carefully, he asked, perhaps a bit loudly, “Hypothetically, what would you do if I said no?”
Carlos the librarian glanced up momentarily, surveying the two of them. He looked slightly curious, much to Mellish’s agitation, before losing interest and going back to scanning returned books into the system.
As if he could make up for Julius’ increase in volume, Mellish’s voice dropped to a hush. “What do you mean no?”
The sudden switch in behavior, the drop of niceties, the briefly visible annoyance in his face, Julius was quickly picking up the hostility coming from his possible refusal. If this was his behavior in the confidence of just the two of them, how was he going to react later that night?
Henry Mellish had placed his bets, and was clearly on edge to see how it would play out.
Julius held his hands up as a sign of peace. “Just a question, Mellish. I didn’t say I would say no, I’m just wondering if I’ll have to start watching for glass in my food.” He laughed it off like a joke, gouging Henry’s reaction.
Mellish paused, then smirked. “I would just have to see how much weight I would need to hold you down.” He chortled, appearing to be proud of his response.
Great!
Julius felt his eye twitch. Letting a humorless giggle out, he directed his attention down to the Ian Fleming book to avoid showcasing any sudden emotions (As if Mellish could detect homicidal tendencies through his eyes). Opening the novel, he went back to skimming it. “Okay.”
Henry’s gaze remained on him until he left the library a few minutes later.
—
As annoying as the visit had been earlier, he’d collected all of the necessary evidence for himself, as well as some information he didn’t realize to be helpful until then. For example, his absences proved to be beneficial past bringing attention to himself; They left Mellish tense.
Julius had just barely gotten his food back to his desired spot before the rest of the prisoners came trickling in. The Millers arrived first, assuming their customary soldier’s march to the serving hatch, then to their seats on the far left end of the table, the furthest away from where the food was being distributed.
Next was Henry Mellish, who surveyed the room, eyes landing on Julius momentarily, before making his way towards the kitchen. He sat himself in between Mr. Someone and Julius, on the opposite side of the table.
Ali Glasim sat closest to the serving hatch, the last person to come into the dining hall.
Casual conversations started to pick up as the room became situated, the prisoners having already begun enjoying their last socializing hour of the night. The plastic silverware made clicking noises against the ceramic bowl as almost everyone consumed their food.
Julius, on the other hand, had found that the adrenaline left him without an appetite. He couldn’t bring himself to take a bite, not when the overwhelming feeling of giddiness threatened to suffocate him. Generally, such emotions wouldn’t occur so easily in the teenager, but the constant reflecting of the locker room experience had only increased his drive to viciously humble the ex-russian spy.
The time was quickly approaching, and he couldn’t wait.
“Ah, Julius,” Mr. Someone spoke to him after a bit. “Don’t think I haven't noticed you’ve been missing. Planning something?” He glanced over to Julius, once again hosting a suspecting look in his eyes.
“Yep,” He replied, popping his lips at the P. “I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf, become a better person.” Julius gave the same response to the older man that he had with Mellish, partially resisting the urge to turn over to see his face.
Practically feeling the turning moment arriving, he knew he had to make sure to hold out until then. If someone saw the absolutely wicked look in his eyes, it would take away from the effect of it all.
Mr. Someone clicked his tongue. “Shame, I was hoping you were finding a way out of here.” It was clear he believed something was going on, but he played along. Julius had a suspicion he was going to be interrogated after this.
“You’ll notice that I am; Through friendship, dedication, and kindness, I’ll get out by showing the world I can be a hard working member of society.” Mr. Someone chuckled and shook his head. “But, if I find anything faster, I’ll be sure to let you know,” he added with a wink, catching Mellish shift out of the corner of his eye.
“Excellent.”
It was then he felt his heart skip a beat, as the window of further commentary would be open for just a bit longer. Now or never.
Mellish opened his mouth, about to insert himself into the conversation, when Julius seized the moment to cut him off with a sneer curling his upper lip, stating: “Though, between you and me, next time, we keep the pedophile out of the discussion.”
“Last we need is any sort of
urges
,” Julius enunciated the word, side eyeing Mellish as he said it. “-ruining a good old fashioned escape attempt.”
Mellish had been caught by surprise with that statement, though it was a bit remarkable how fast he’d attempted to defend himself.
“He’s lying!” He sputtered, face burning a deep red. “I have never-”
“What?” Julius interrupted him again, the returning hysterical energy bubbling venomous giggles out of him. “So you’re saying you
didn’t
tell me you wanted to fuck me in the locker room yesterday? Quite a few people saw you go down there Mellish, and as sweaty as you were, you definitely didn’t stay around long enough to actually work out.”
Julius wasn’t sure whether or not anyone else had seen Henry go down into the gym, but at that moment, it mattered very little to him. Henry’s look transformed from greatly mortified to absolutely infuriated, and he
reveled
in it.
The air in the room could’ve burned, and everyone would’ve behaved the same. Mr. Someone's eyebrow had risen, and stayed there; Jayne had glanced up from her crossword, staring at Julius; The Miller siblings had hushed their Germanic discussion to listen. Even the guards, who would boredly chat away with each other, had turned to face the middle of the long rectangular table.
Letting out a loud gasp, he covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh wait! I was supposed to keep that secret, wasn’t I? I forgot you didn’t want the others to know you were a disgusting fucking pervert, sorry.” His mouth split into a grin, something malicious and demonic.
No one was quite sure how to react, not that he cared. Even though the man would most likely suffer no repercussions, Julius had gotten what he wanted. Henry Mellish was embarrassed, angry, and anything he truly wanted to say to the teenager would only further prove him right.
Ali Glasim was the first to recover. His longer finger stood out, as he pointed directly at Mellish, and let out a loud laugh.
That had been enough to break the stand-still, as Henry lunged across the table, wrapping his hands around Julius’ neck.
—---------
“You’ll find that chess is much better when you’re playing, rather than using psychological warfare on it.” Julius looked up from the chess board he was starting at to find Mr. Someone hovering above him. The man wasn’t smiling, but had a friendly enough look on his face. Sitting down on the bench across from Julius, he moved a white pawn forward.
Julius mirrored his action, shifting a different black pawn towards the opposite side. “It also helps to have a good opponent. I hope you won’t disappoint.”
It had been four days since the alternation with Henry Mellish.
The two had been dragged apart by the guards after a fight had broken out. It had been quick, messy, and quite a few nasty bruises had formed across the teenager’s body, which were still a little sore to that day. At least they weren’t bite marks, which couldn’t be said for the other man.
After being tended to at the medical wing, they were both corralled to the Governor's, who was, as expected, thoroughly unhappy about the situation. Julius had been given three days of solitary confinement for instigating a fight, while Mellish received two weeks for actually starting it.
Dr. Flint had come as soon as he’d gotten out. He refused to let her know of what happened though, instead finding more comfort in sitting silently. The woman could probably get her own interpretation of what occurred anyways, so why waste his time?
Visiting the gym had been, interestingly, incredibly boring. Though, he refused to dwell, instead finding a random book and sitting outside, to which he read absolutely none of it. Perhaps the strange feelings would go away after the annoyance of solitary confinement had departed.
Julius and Mr. Someone silently took turns, until once again, the older man shattered the stillness.
“Quite a show you put on there,” He stated, moving his rook to take one of Julius’ bishops. “And there I was, thinking I’d have to demand some answers out of you after dinner.” That much was obvious to him.
Moving his queen a few spaces over, he responded to only the first comment. “You think so?”
Mr. Someone nodded. “I’ll admit, I was a bit surprised when you’d chosen to announce it to everyone, but it’s clear you’d struck a nerve. You did your homework.” His comment sounded something close to a ‘well done’.
“Yeah, well, the other option was just garroting him. It seemed less effective though.” Julius captured the man’s knight. “Check.”
He moved his king. “Sure, but it looks as if now you’ve put a pretty big target on your back. Mellish won’t respond to what you did well.” Julius moved another pawn, a sacrifice to Mr. Someone’s rook. “You may have made a smart tactic, but be aware of who you’re dealing with.”
Julius stopped playing for a moment. “I’m not scared of Mellish, Mr. Someone.”
“And it would be stupid of me to assume you were. Your move.” He waited until a turn was played, then started again. “But if I may offer you some advice, Julius. You’re cocky; While this may serve you in a few situations, understand that it will be your downfall if you aren’t careful.”
He looked at Mr. Someone, narrowing his eyes. “Sure. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Mr. Someone moved his queen, folding his hands on the table afterwards. “I would simply be careful if I were you.” Standing up, he began walking towards the footpaths. Patting Julius on the shoulder as he walked by, he added: “We should do this again.”
Julius frowned, looking down at the board, finding his king fully cornered in by opposing colors. Interesting.