Chapter Text
“He’ll try to get information out of you,” Captain Delgado’s boots tack-tack-tacked along the harsh contours of the block. “Where you live, who you live with. News from the outside world. It’s important that you don’t give him that information.”
The smell of bleach was so sharp you could almost feel it. They were taking him the long way round to bypass the cells, but the near-silence was unnerving. It was hard to imagine there was an entire community here, confined in concrete and metal. Spider tugged his hoodie sleeves over his hands and crossed his arms to guard against the cold draught funnelling down the hallway.
Captain Delgado stopped at a security door and the warden stepped forward to run his card through the scanner, glancing at Spider before entering the access code. Spider awkwardly turned aside, making a demonstration of staring at his high-tops. You’d think they weren’t the ones who’d wrangled him here.
The door opened, and a long string of fluorescent lights zinged on down the corridor.
“We’ll be monitoring your conversation through the one-way mirror,” Captain Delgado added, picking the pace up again. Tack, tack, tack. Spider followed, and the warden took up the rear. “If you’re ready to leave, step back towards the door and we’ll extract you.”
There were two armed guards waiting for them when they rounded the next corner. They’d arrived. Spider felt his stomach suddenly contort. What the hell was he doing? This wasn’t safe- this wasn’t-
“Picture a line cutting halfway across the table,” Captain Delgado added. “If you don’t cross that line, he can’t touch you. Stay on your half of the room, get the intel quickly if you can, come back to the door for extraction.”
Spider opened his mouth to form the word ‘wait’ but Captain Delgado seemed to see it coming because he put his hand on Spider’s shoulder and turned him around to face the door, nodding to the warden to open it. A palm between Spider’s shoulder blades pressed him over the threshold, and the door closed behind with a resounding slam.
Spider stared at the sheen of the epoxy-coated concrete floor. He didn’t want to look up.
“It’s been a while, son.”
It took every bit of courage he had in him just to lift his head.
Miles Quaritch sat like he owned the place, which Spider supposed he sort of did right now. He had the same military haircut and was still built like a quarterback under his shapeless prison uniform. His face was more weathered than Spider remembered and his eyes were blue lasers, raking Spider up and down.
“You gonna sit down?”
Spider’s throat was thick and gummy. Quaritch’s ankles were shackled to his chair, the chair bolted to the floor. It was physically impossible for Quaritch to stretch his cuffed hands more than half-way across the table, just like the Captain had said.
He walked over to the free chair and sat.
“Atta boy,” Quaritch said. His mouth smiled but his eyes were scrutinising. “How did you get so big?”
“The passage of time,” Spider ground out.
“…Yeah.” Quartich’s eyes turned to the one-way mirror that ran the length of one wall. “That’s nine years I can’t get back.”
Even though he wasn’t the one the malice was directed at, Spider felt the potency of it in the room. To think that there was ever a time he’d felt safe with this man.
“They said if I came, you’d give up the Wedgewick Killer,” he said.
Quartich pursed his lips, turned his searchlight stare back on Spider. “That why you came, tiger?”
Spider almost choked on the childhood nickname. “Yeah. They said a lot of people are going to die if they don’t intercept him now. They said you told them you know who he is.”
Quaritch nodded slowly. “That’s right. I know who he is.”
“Well…are you going to tell me?” Spider tried not to plead. If he could just get a name or an address, he could get out.
“I’ll tell you,” Quaritch leaned forward, resting corded forearms on his side of the table, “but you gotta tell me a few things about you, first.”
Oh hell, no. Spider tried to surreptitiously wipe his palms on his cargo pants. “I’m not allowed to do that.”
Quartich studied him, frowned. “You’re surely not living with the McCoskers?”
It felt like a trap-door had opened beneath Spider’s seat. Quaritch couldn’t know that, he couldn’t possibly know that.
“I thought so,” Quaritch said, cataloguing every twitch in Spider’s expression. “It’s the accent.” And then, with a slight curl of his lip: “and that hair.”
Spider should deny it, but denial would only confirm it. “I’m not allowed to tell you anything,” he repeated.
“That’s alright, son,” Quartich gave him a shark-grin that stretched back to his molars. “I understand.”
I’m not your son. But he didn’t dare voice that.
“What about school? Hobbies?” Quaritch probed, cocking his head. “What do you like to do?”
Spider jutted out his jaw. “I like to not visit prisons.”
Quaritch chuckled. “I’m not so keen on this place either.” And when Spider stared blankly: “Hey, kid, you gotta give me something here.”
Spider grabbed for something that might appease him. “I do track, rock climbing…”
“Yeah?” Quaritch looked pleased. Spider didn’t want him to be pleased for him. “What else? You got a girlfriend? Boyfriend?”
“I… I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Did you follow the trial?” It came quick on the heels of his answer that Spider felt blindsided.
“I... was seven.”
Quaritch’s gaze pinned him. “You’re not seven now. You never looked it up? Never questioned it? Even after my letters?”
“I haven’t read them.”
“I know you haven’t, or you wouldn’t be scowling at me like that. I didn’t do it, you know. I was stitched up.”
Spider sprang up from his chair like he’d been shot, his arm trembling out between them, palm half-raised as if it could hold Quaritch’s words back. “I’m not listening to this.”
“I’m a cold-blooded killer, is that what you want me to say?” Quaritch held his cuffed palms out, his smile almost predatory. “I’m a bad guy? I’m dangerous?”
Spider could feel his throat closing.
“It’s true,” Quaritch said. “I am those things." He let the silence fall between them for a beat. "But I didn’t kill your mother.” Those cold eyes bored into Spider’s like he could penetrate his mind. “Do you believe me?”
Spider shook his head, numb.
“That’s a real pity, Miles. It would have made things a lot easier,” Quartich sighed, straightening his muscular back before relaxing in his seat. “Well, come and give your old man a hug, and I’ll give you what you came for.”
Spider cut his eyes sideways to look incredulously in Captain Delgado’s direction, but it was just his own terrified expression looking back at him.
“Uh uh uh, don’t look at them,” amusement was back in Quaritch's heavy-lidded eyes. “C’mere."
“No.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Quaritch’s voice rolled out low and coaxing. “I promise.”
Spider took a step away from his chair, expecting the cell door to slam open behind him any moment. But there was only silence, as if they were alone. As if every particle in the interview room hung in anticipation.
There’s hundreds of people at risk from Wedgewick killer. His feet are chained to his chair. He’s not going to do anything.
Slowly, he approached. In response, Quaritch rose from his seat. Spider was tall enough for his age, but Quaritch towered over him. This was a mistake, a mistake-
But he had committed now. Quaritch carefully lifted his cuffed wrists over Spider’s head like he was dealing with an easily startled animal, and wrapped one strong arm around Spider’s back, steering him into Quartich’s chest.
He smelled the same. Spider felt a jolt of raw emotion spring up his throat and into his eyes. He wanted to push him off, he wanted to lay his head on his shoulder. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been held like this, enveloped.
“Robert Murgatroyd, 38043 Union Hill Road, Redmond, Washington,” Quaritch breathed in his ear, sending goosebumps down his neck. “Say it back to me.”
“Robert Murgatroyd, 38043 Union Hill Road, Redmond, Washington.” It felt like someone else was talking, his body so preoccupied with holding perfectly still.
“Good boy.”
He was squeezed once, the heat rolling off Quaritch’s skin, then the pressure on his back lifted, and Quaritch’s bicep brushed his hair as his arms lifted past his shoulder.
He didn’t anticipate the hand which cupped the back of his neck at the last moment, pushing it towards Quaritch. He flinched when Quaritch planted a kiss on the top his head, but then he was released and backed off, almost falling over his own feet as made for the door, keeping his eyes locked on his once step-father.
Robert Murgatroyd, 38043 Union Hill Road, Redmond, Washington. Robert Murgatroyd, 38043 Union Hill Road, Redmond, Washington.
Quaritch carefully sat back down again, hold his cuffed hands up to the mirror as if to say I’m done.
They weren’t coming nearly quickly enough for Spider’s liking. He gave the door a couple of slaps, trying to size up how quickly Quaritch could cross the room if the shackles broke.
Apparently it was a shared concern.
“Back against the wall, kid,” Captain Delgado called before the door was barely cracked open. An armed guard passed Spider as another reached out and practically yanked him back over the threshold.
Spider pressed his back against the cool of the wall outside, his breaths coming in shallow heaves. He wished he had his inhaler on him, even though he hadn’t needed it for months. He exhaled slowly through his nose, measuring his breaths out, trying to get himself under control.
“He told you?” Captain Delgado said.
“Robert Murgatroyd, 38043 Union Hill Road, Redmond, Washington.” Spider panted out. “And don’t ever ask me to do this again. I don’t care if someone’s going to assassinate the president or blow up half a State and he’s the only person that can stop it. The answer is no."
X-X-X
It wasn’t exactly out of his mind a week later, but he had other things to worry about.
“So what do we do when we’re finished our math quiz?” Leo called out.
Mrs Patel looked at him witheringly. “We sit quietly, Mr Escarra and let our classmates finish theirs.”
“Well that seems like discrimination against smart people-”
Spider reached a leg out to clip Leo’s heel under his desk.
“-who really shouldn’t be punished because other people are too dense to-”
“Shut up, Leo,” Max groaned from the front of the class.
“Concentrate on your test, Mr Wilson,” Mrs Patel said. “Mr Escarra, if you continue to disrupt this class, I will consider your test null and void, how about that?”
“Godddd…” Leo groaned theatrically, sliding down his seat.
Spider smothered a grin, tried to make sense of question thirteen. Leo cleared his throat and made to pass his paper over. Spider rolled his eyes and give a minute shake of his head. Leo raised his eyebrows at Spider’s paper as if to say really? With those answers?
The classroom door opened. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Mrs Patel, I need Mr Socorro to come to the office.”
Spider knew, just from the look on the Deputy Head’s face. He put his pen down with a clunk.
“Bring your bag and coat,” the Deputy Head said. “Thank you, Mrs Patel.”
“What’d you do?” Leo hissed, delighted. Spider gave him another tiny shake of the head as he scraped his chair back and shrugged his bag over his shoulder.
When he was outside in the corridor and saw the police officer waiting, he knew for certain.
“If he lied, he lied,” he said. “I’m not going back to speak to him.”
“I’m just going to radio in and confirm that I’m with you,” the officer said. “I’m afraid I don’t have any information at present. I was advised to stay with you until back up comes.”
“We’re trying to contact your foster parents,” the Deputy Head added. “We’ll see if we had any luck while I came to fetch you.”
It wasn’t that Quaritch had lied then. Spider could think of only one other reason… but it was unthinkable. He could feel his world pivoting.
He sat in the staff office with the policeman at his side, rubbing his nail against the laminated tabletop, while another four police officers arrived on the premises, until eventually, an hour later, Captain Delgado and his boots came striding in.
“I have some bad news,” Captain Delgado said without preamble. "A little over two hours ago there was a coordinated attack on Hampstead Penitentiary. Only one prisoner is unaccounted for and believed to be at large.”
Spider was expecting it, but he felt himself shutter.
“Your step father may try looking for you,” Captain Delgado added. “We think it’s best that we put you into protective custody.”