Checkmate [Ren and Gil]

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

    If I'm going to hell
        I won't be going alone...

Gilbert stood on the floor of the factory, surveying his surroundings with something like disbelief building in his chest. It didn’t look like much, a thick layer of dust coated everything, and with every step Gil took, more and particles took flight, dancing languidly in the golden light of the setting sun. The machines were old, abandoned in the 80’s during the death throes of the Soviet Union, but no amount of time managed to rid them, or the building of the fish smell that still clung stubbornly to the air. He had a lot of work to do. The building had to be cleaned, the machines had to be replaced with modern manufacturing technology, the security had to be shored up if Gil was ever to get the final approval to bring mutants here to work. But still… he was one step closer.

This was it. Gil could feel it in his bones. A place where mutants could work, could feel like part of a team, rather than merely something to owned. This was where they would learn how to work towards a common goal, where they would build the first connections, take the first steps towards organizing. This would be the platform where they could finally take their freedom, topple the corrupt system that had stripped them of their humanity and condemned them to a life of misery. This would be the bridge to connect mutants with the Freedom Fighters, this would be the beginning of a united front. This would be the start of everything.

The thought sent a tremble of excitement through Gil and he crossed his arms over his chest to keep himself in check, his eyes dancing in the gathering dusk. All those years, all of his plans, every sacrifice…it was so very close now. After nearly a decade, he finally had something concrete to show West. He was going to do more than rescue his brother, he was going to help destroy the world that kept him in chains.

But first thing’s first. He had to do something about that fish smell. “One step at a time,” that’s what his Opa always said. “If you want something to last, you have to spend the time to build a solid foundation.” Gil couldn’t help but smile, remembering his stern grandfather—the first person who ever treated Gilbert like he was worth the time. The one who taught Gil the importance of loyalty to one’s family, to protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. He was the first one to place value in the sickly little boy with the strange colored eyes and defiant soul.

He was going to do this right. For West, for Opa, and for himself. He was going to prove that their faith in him wasn’t misplaced, that he was the protector they had believed him to be. Grinning from ear to ear, Gil turned his back on the main floor, intent on dragging in the cleaning supplies from his car. Sure the cleaning crew was going to be there in the morning, but Gil was all too happy to get a jump on it all if it meant he got to bask in this newest victory for just a few more hours.

It was then that Gil noticed the other figure and his heart froze in his chest. It was figure he recognized all too well. He just wished to God that he didn't.

word count: 572
tags: Ren Kondou
notes: And here we go...

by worldie for kat

[Ren Kondou]

"I'm a hungry spider and you're a beautiful butterfly" ☒ Gilbert Beilschmidt ✐ 735 ✉ End my misery quickly XD MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

Though the city of Arcadia itself was calming down after the news of the mutants breaking out as time passed, some people were just not allowed to take a break from the ever annoying calls from overly frightened citizens who had to know the answer to every detail of a concern regarding the movement of the police about the incident. Unfortunately, Ren Kondou was one of them, who had to handle panicked mothers on the phone with babies crying in the background, and angry businessmen who claimed they couldn’t walk outside without fearing every person they pass by having the potential to kill them in an instant. Though it was understandable, Ren had to bite his tongue every time those calls were sent to him from the inexperienced policemen, and just listen to the headache of concern while trying to calm them constantly whenever he had the chance to speak… If he ever could. Seriously, this wasn’t the first time mutants were going missing, and it wasn’t going to be the last. The Asian man also figured a mutant walking by a random person would avoid hurting them, seeing that would only make it easier to be caught and sent back to the very place they were running from in the first place. With so much stress circling in his office all day, even months after the incident, Ren found himself working overtime every day. He was only glad he didn’t have any family members waiting at home, unlike some of the others who suffered not being able to see their wives or children as often as they wished, but that didn’t make it any better when it came to exhaustion that came with the very job itself. Weekends were rarely called days off, seeing his phone was constantly buzzing for people asking for help (really, the missing mutant case was only one case in itself… Ren had more than just one task to focus on), that some days Ren found himself just turning the device off just so he can have a smoke, or sleep a simple hour or two at night. So at this very night, when he decided to focus on a job he could work on his own, he decided to turn off the phone and only bring along his trusty shepherd, Hachi. He was going to try to find clues regarding the long missing mutant, Ludwig Beilschmidt. This fire-controlling mutant was still deemed dangerous, but with all the other mutants breaking out, his case was just kept being pushed behind the paperwork of others. With most of the biggies caught now, he could try to slowly clean up the jobs he was left halfway from doing. The first thing that came to Ren’s mind when regarding this missing mutant was the fact, that he had a very interesting brother, that he had the honor of meeting. It wasn’t in any means a pleasant event when it happened, but it surely left a lasting image in the Japanese man’s memory. If he remembered correctly, he was told that the man was trying to build a factory of some sorts that the mutants could work in… Right. Now that he thought about it, there had been reports about a company buying some property near the port. He had yet to check it out just yet, so while to also get out the cramped office to walk and get some ideas while having a calm mind, he decided to go and take a visit. Ren wasn’t surprised one bit to see that the place still had a long way to go. As he moved his hair out of his only good eye, he sighed. This couldn’t be a big company, if they couldn’t afford a decent manufacturer to provide all the necessities for starting this place up. While in thought, Ren was interrupted by his dog suddenly tensing, causing him too to blink and glance over in the direction Hachi was staring at, his pointy nose acting almost like an arrow to show exactly what he was looking at. ”…Greetings.” Ren said calmly, having spotted the albino as well, almost the same time the other found him. ”I hope you don’t mind, I am just doing my job and all… Any updates on your bro--… No, I’m sorry, how rude of me to refer to him as your family… On Ludwig Beilschmidt?”

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

 If I'm going to hell...
       I won't be going alone...

Gil felt the bile rise in his throat, his red eyes fixated on the slim Asian man and the dog at attention at his side. He would have given anything to never see that pair again. He still had nightmares of those cold eyes, of the threat lying in wait beneath those silken words. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, couldn’t let his brother, his friends, his allies (especially not Al) know just how much his stand off with the Inspector had shaken him. He couldn’t let his façade of confidence show so much of a crack. He had to be the strong one, the businessman absolutely confident that his plans, his goals, his dreams, would succeed. He couldn’t face the alternative.

And he had managed it. Mostly. Maybe he didn’t sleep as well as he used to. But who needed sleep? He had finally gotten permission from the government of Archadia. He finally had the plant. Soon he would have the mutants to fill it. Everything was finally, finally, falling into place. Gil knew it was too early to celebrate, but it had been easier to dismiss his less than palatable exchange with Ren the more time passed.

Or at least it had. Because now Ren was back, like a spectre from the darkest corners of his nightmares. Gilbert carefully schooled his expression. He had to be careful, very careful around this opponent. He and Ren both knew that Gil had only just escaped the detective’s grasp . Ren was circling, waiting for the slip up, for the first sign of guilt. Gil wasn’t about to give him his victory. He paused, fighting the urge not to bristle as Ren made the same snarky comments about West as he did during their first encounter. Ren was just trying to set him off, to trick him into giving the bastard some hint to track West down. Gil wasn’t about to let that happen, he was no amateur when it came to mind games.

“Detective.” He stepped closer, giving the customary nod of politeness before moving past him, opening the trunk of his car. “Sorry… I can’t provide the same warm welcome that you gave me the last time we met. I’m still in the process of cleaning this place up before the contractors come in to retrofit it for manufacturing. I wasn’t expecting visitors, especially this late at night.” He turned his back to Ren, casually demonstrating a lack of fear that he did not feel towards the man, his tone still carefully congenial. Grabbing a bucket he turned back to Ren and leaned against his car, pondering his inquiry.

This was a trick. It had to be. How could Ren not know where West was? But if it was a trick, Gil couldn’t understand what the endgame was. And with no idea of what Ren’s motives were, Gil had no choice but to simply play along.

“Ludwig? Why would you be asking about him?” He asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “Ludwig is in the Underground. He was found and returned last week.” That was the hardest part: to say all of this so calmly, as though the fact that his brother was back in that hell hole didn’t make Gil physically ill. But if that’s what he needed to win this round, Gil would count himself lucky.

word count: 572
tags: Ren Kondou
notes: 

by worldie for kat

[Ren Kondou]

"I'm a hungry spider and you're a beautiful butterfly" ☒ Gilbert Beilschmidt ✐ 851 ✉ Was that a slip up, my dear? MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

Ren kept a careful eye on the male as he moved to step closer to him, raising a curious brow at the motion. He stayed silent at the statement of the other not being able to give him a warm welcome (whatever that may mean at the moment, Ren honestly wasn’t expecting any welcome anyway) and simply placed a small smile on his face, one he used always with random strangers. Just to show that he wasn’t meaning them any disrespect, but enough to be seen as fake by any experienced adult who happened to know how to sneak around rules and systems of society. Though he wasn’t able to set the man off with comments of the brother he obviously cared deeply for, Ren was satisfied with the own information he managed to squeeze out the man. Tugging on the lead in his hand, Ren made Hachi sit down next to him, though the ears perked up and facing towards the other human was more than easily noticeable. The man telling him he wasn’t expecting visitors made the Asian man just shrug his shoulders a bit. There wasn’t much to comment, there. He didn’t expect to see the foreign male here in the first place; his original plan was to just check out this area and hopefully find the missing fire-mutant hidden in the mess. When the man however turned to face him again and leaned against the car with a bucket in hand, Ren was met with an answer he didn't quite expect, exactly. “Ludwig is in the Underground. He was found and returned last week.” Oh, so the so-called ‘missing’ mutant was back in the underground? How strange, he must’ve missed that report somewhere in the piles of paperwork stacked on his desk. Perhaps the reports were all just mixed into one large stack and thrown onto his desk these days; he wouldn’t blame them. There were too many risk factors that the government was going mad when the announcement came out of the mutants breaking out. And because he mainly was focused on tracking down the main suspected culprit of the mutants, a little Italian kid with a strange curl growing out the side of his head, he barely focused on those who were also running around the city. Bad choice, no doubt, but Ren figured that was for the best. Instead of focusing on a hundred at a time, he’d rather focus on one and get them caught as soon as possible. So there wasn’t any doubt if Ren would’ve not known that the German mutant, too, was on the loose yet again. But that was another story. For now, Ren was more focused on the fact that, this man, who claimed to have not known his brother’s whereabouts before (that he only seen him and spoke briefly with him), now knew that the mutant was returned to the underground a week prior. If that was a true statement, that would mean that this man had contact with the mutant yet again sometime after the two had spoken. It wasn’t like they would announce it largely on the newspaper or tv networks, seeing mutants missing would only send the city in more panic, so Ren had been on the search on his own with his very small team, just asking people around the city as they walked by. Again, no reason they would know the mutant was returned, either. So why did he? There was only one way, in Ren’s eyes. This man met with either his brother, or with the person who ‘stole’ his brother, after being interrogated. So much for such a helpful citizen, concerned of the humans’ safety above all. If he was, he could’ve easily reported to Ren or the team that his brother was returned, or at the very least, when he knew where his brother was, after having been released from the interrogation. Ren caught the small slip up, but didn’t say anything for now. Only a small gleam in his eye showed the puzzle pieces in his mind click together, but that too was quickly pushed back away when he put on his usual fake smile. “Is that so?” He muttered, trying to play around with his words in mind to hopefully pull this man deeper into the very hole he dug in front of him, “I must’ve missed that information… Strange. It’s not like it was on the news or anything, or I would’ve picked up on it. I love having the lovely lady read off the news on the radio while I work, you see?” He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. Ren gave a small pause before continuing again, though, soon after. “Ah, but it makes no difference I suppose. If that’s the case, I will head off to the Underground, then. I have quite a few things to ask the returning mutant… Hopefully it’s a cooperative one, or else I might have to ask the lab to euthanize it. You know, too dangerous to keep a mutant who knows too much, don’t you agree?”

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

 If I'm going to hell...
       I won't be going alone...

Shit. Gil knew he’d messed up the instant he caught that gleam in Ren’s eye. He had fully expected them to report West’s recapture on the news. Given all the fear that had permeated Archadia following the breakout, it only made sense to Gil that they would want to report something about the capture of one such ‘dangerous mutant.’ And Gil had been so engrossed in his work that he’d not bothered to check the news. Shit, shit, shit! Gil took a slow breath, trying in vain to calm his racing heart. He had to think. There had to be a way for him to talk his way out of this, to offer some sort of rational explanation for his knowledge. He was well connected to the Underground, it would only make sense that he was privy to all sorts of sensitive information regarding the whereabouts of the mutants. He just had to… he had to make it sound convincing and—

Gil watched the detective rub his neck in that false act of innocence. He heard the smugness in Ren’s voice as he spoke. But then…

But then Gil’s world stopped.

“I might have to ask the lab to euthanize it….”

Euthanize it… euthanize… Kill…

Everything went still in that moment. It was as though his brain simply refused to exist in a world where the possibility that anyone could kill West was even conceivable. And yet, Gil knew that Ren was not simply throwing out an empty threat. There was a dark certainty to his eyes, reflected in the tone of his voice. He was out for blood… he was going after West with the same single-minded brutality of a shark going after a wounded seal. And Gil knew what he would do once he captured West. But he couldn’t accept it. Ren couldn’t have West. Not his brother, not the solemn little boy who had climbed into Gil’s bed to ride out thunderstorms, not the little brother who had clung to his sleeve, who had begged Gil to be the one to take him to his first day of school. Not West.

Not. West.

Gil’s brain finally roared back to life. But there were no thoughts, no more schemes, no more maneuvers to plot against Ren. There were only two realities that existed.

1) This man was going to kill his little brother.
2) This man cannot be allowed to live.

Before Gil’s mind fully accepted those two facts, his body was in motion, swinging the bucket of cleaning materials until they collided into Ren’s temple. The man seemed to buckle, stumbling drunkenly as his body fought to regain balance. Except Gil wasn’t about to give him that opportunity.

Later, Gil would think back to that moment, think back to the blood pounding thunderously through his veins, think back to the roaring in his ears, the hatred that blotted out everything but the need to end this man before him. And when he poured over the act of it, he would wonder at how the lead pipe had even found its way into his hand. All he knew was that it was there and it felt so right that he hadn’t questioned it at the moment.

He was on Ren in a heartbeat, pinning him to the ground before the pipe made its appearance. The first blow landed with a sickening crunch as bone and flesh and muscle gave way, and Gil reared back for a second blow and then a third. There were no words. He was past words. Even if Ren had begged, pleaded, sworn to stay away from West, it was too late. A fourth hit, a fifth. Gil actually let out a feral snarl, teeth bared. He wasn’t human in that moment, he was a monster, a bear protecting its own.

He got to his feet slowly, surveying the broken man before him. Ren thought he had won, thought he was in complete control of his world.

How wrong he had been.

word count: 668
tags: Ren Kondou
notes: ... not terribly happy with this but meh...

by worldie for kat

[Ren Kondou]

"I'm a hungry spider and you're a beautiful butterfly" ☒ Gilbert Beilschmidt ✐ 685 ✉ Not the best post, but it's a post. ^^; REN IS OUT. -POOF- MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

He should’ve been more aware. Though Ren expected this man to be one of his enemies, definitely, he didn’t categorize him as dangerous. He seemed collected, reserved for the most part, but smart. He expected the man to come up with interesting excuses that could borderline be unbreakable in looking for an alibi, and play his role almost perfectly of the man who owned this business and didn’t think much of his brother other than a childhood playmate. Sure, he expected this man to tense, to panic, to show a hint of pleading from his eyes. This was his little brother, and though he tried so hard to not show it, his worry and care for the mutant was still clear. Having been one to distant himself from his family, Ren was unable to understand exactly how this worked. He understood humans feeling love for their loved ones, but mutants were mutants. They were dangerous, so it should be easy to cut ties with them upon discovery. If anything, the government was keeping them safe by locking up these vicious creatures, so this man too, would be smart enough to appreciate him and the government overall, right? Oh, he was so wrong. Ren was off guard when he noticed the bucket suddenly swinging towards him, hitting him with a loud clang on his temple. As the dog stood for attention once more beside him, the Japanese man stumbled at the sharp pain, quickly bringing his hand to the injury. No words passed him; only a small hiss and a gasp when the German moved once more immediately. Ren had no time to react as he was pushed down to the ground and a metal pipe was brought into the man’s hand. His eyes widened; he knew what was about to happen. He could almost feel the desperate murderous rage practically raiding off this man. Though the first blow was quick in real time, it felt slow and dreading for Ren as he began to struggle under the German. And then, a new sharp pain registered in his head before everything was turned off. In the dark world of unconsciousness, Ren was almost swimming through his life. Maybe one blow after another still washed upon him, but he didn’t feel it anymore. All he knew was that he could see his parents before him, in what he figured were memories of his childhood. All the way up to when he felt the impact from the car crash that caused his life to go downhill, when the third blow hit him from the metal pipe in the real world. Perhaps mutants weren’t the one he was supposed to be watching out for. He, for sure, underestimated the strength of a human… This man, Gilbert Beilschmidt, was perhaps more dangerous than a trained mutant who was made to rot in the Underground. Sure it wasn’t his job specialty, seeing he only was really able to focus on the mutants on duty, but that surely didn’t give him an excuse. Well, that was an interesting world. Mutants of course were interesting all together, but humans, too, somehow had the strength to pull such an act of killing him. He never expected his life to end this way; it sure was an interesting turn. A grin crept in the mind of the man just when even his unconscious state slipped from him when the pipe was brought down once more, breaking his neck and skull. It was over. - - Hachi barked and barked as loud as he could as the strange man attacked his human, his tail high in the air and his canines showing at every bark. But he was not allowed to attack, unless his human said so. And his human was now on the ground, broken and bloodied. Soon the black shepherd found himself grow quiet, keeping his stance on the ground, his leash having been let go from the man when he was pushed to the ground and straddled upon. After one careful growl, the armature police dog stepped back, before fleeing from the scene.