Chapter Text
I didn’t notice I was holding my breath until I was suddenly gasping for air. I had always hated Father’s lab, and what went on inside it. I don’t even know why I agreed to come in today. Everything was so white and smelt sterile, like how I imagined a real hospital or a dentist to smell like. The guards escorting me to my father’s office moved like robots, like this is all they were programmed to do, it was rather scary.
The door was held open for me, and I thanked the man as I stepped into the small, cold office. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin, I should have taken a jumper with me.
“Hello, daughter,” I haven’t heard that voice in a while, “take a seat, please.” He smiled, stretching his arm out to the chair opposite his desk.
I sat down, clasping my hands together in my lap. Father took his jacket off, passing it to the guard who opened the door for me, were they even guards? He then sat at his desk, filing through some papers before he found what he was looking for.
“You know why you’re here, don’t you?” Brenner asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head, remaining silent. “I would like you to work for me, Mia. But I’m afraid you’re unqualified since you didn’t attend school as a child, but I had an idea, would you like to hear it?” He leaned forwards, his hands clasped together, resting on the table, putting on a friendly face. I hated the way he still spoke to me like a child.
“Yes…” I answered, although it sounded more like a question.
“Wonderful!” He smiled, “I was thinking we could teach you here. I have assigned one of my orderlies with the highest IQ score to be your teacher, think of this like college, like university. You will stay here and learn what you need to know to pass some tests, then you can work for me. How does that sound?”
I thought for a moment, I wondered whether working for my father was such a great idea or not. But there was no way I could get a job in the real world, I had never gone to school, the best job I could get would be cleaning public toilets or something along those lines, even then I didn’t know which chemicals I would have to use. I was fucked. This was all I had going for me.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh, “when do we start?”
Father smiles again, the smile he wears on his face when something goes how he had planned. This smile was never a good sign.
“Great! You can start tomorrow. I would like you to move in, if that isn’t too much of a struggle for you. It would save us money on travel,” of course, he only cared about himself, what a surprise, “but you’ll be free to leave on weekends if you would like to go shopping, however we can only afford the necessities, unless you pay!”
I thought over everything again, wondering if sacrificing my freedom was worth it. But when the tall blonde with entrancing blue eyes, dressed entirely in white entered the room, I was willing to agree to anything my father wanted from me. He looked like the men from the television shows, the ones that always ended up with the pretty girls and then they got married. I want to get married.
“Mr Ballard here will be your teacher, Mia. You will treat him with respect, and I expect him to do the same.”
“You can call me Peter,” the man said, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Brenner.”
His smile was so genuine, it was contagious. I didn’t realise I was smiling back until I felt my mouth begin to hurt.
“I look forward to teaching you,” he said with a nod of his head, before turning to my father, “would you like me to take her to her room?”
“Yes, thank you, Peter.” Brenner had said without even looking up at the man, instead he was busy writing something down. That right there was my entire childhood.
I stood up from the chair and walked towards the door which Peter had held open for me.
“So,” I say, trying to put an end to the silence between us as we walked down the halls, “how long have you worked for my father?”
“Longer than I had wished for, sweetheart.” He said with a sigh, “how old are you?”
“Eighteen, although it’s my birthday next month. Father wants me to have passed the tests by then so I can spend my birthday trapped in here.” I say, jokingly, although I saw Peter slightly winced. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.” He answered, “ and I’ve spent too many of my birthdays trapped in here.”
I reached out to push open the door in front of me, but Peter’s hand got there first. As my hand laid on top of his, I couldn’t help but notice the size difference. His long, slender fingers, the veins, the- I quickly realised I had been touching him for longer than I should have, causing myself to quickly retract my arm, gasping slightly at the realisation, earning a slight chuckle from Peter.
“Here’s your room. It’s not the best, but it’s something.” Peter said, a taint of sadness in his voice as he unlocked the door.
As I stepped inside, I realised why he had sounded sad. It was a small room, a bed opposite the door, against the wall. There was a door that led to an even tinier room, there was a toilet and a sink, and a broken light?
“I’ll talk to someone, make sure they get that fixed before tonight.” Peter said, pressing the switch over and over again, yet no light turned on. “Do you have your belongings with you? Or will you need someone to take you home to get them?”
“I didn’t bring anything with me,” I frowned, “I thought I was only coming in for a meeting with my dad to discuss working for him. I didn’t know I was going to be… one of them.”
“One of who?” Peter raised an eyebrow.
“His children. Trapped. They’ve probably spent more time with my father than I ever have.”
“It’s not just the children who are trapped,” Peter said under his breath, yet it was loud enough for me to hear, “I’ll call someone, find somebody to take you home. Whilst you’re there I’ll get someone in to fix that light for you.” Peter stood up, walking towards the door.
“Thank you.”
Before he left, he gave me a smile, then opened the door.
“Oh, Mia, don’t forget to bring some warm clothes. It gets pretty cold at night, you might want some extra blankets, too.” And then the door shut behind him.
There was something I felt when he said my name that I hadn’t felt before. It made my belly warm, the way I would feel when my father would hug me, not that he had done that since I was 6.
It only took a few moments before I heard a knocking on my door, followed by a gruff voice asking if I were in the room.
There were guards, again, ready to escort me home. It was a short, extremely quiet journey, but once I was home I plucked the spare key from beneath the flower pot and let myself in. Two guards waited by the front door for me. I felt special. Like I had bodyguards.
I grabbed a suitcase down from the top of my wardrobe and unzipped it, beginning to fill it with underwear, then some tops, joggers, I debated on taking jeans but I hated jeans so I gave up on that idea, jumpers, cardigans, my fluffy robe, fluffy socks and finally some books. I dragged the suitcase with me to the bathroom, hoping I would have some room spare for some toiletries, my body wash, shampoo, conditioner, face wash, pads- no tampons.
When I was sure I had everything I needed, I zipped the suitcase up and began to head back downstairs.
“Ready, Miss Brenner?” The guard asked as I shut and locked the door, slipping the key into my pocket so (hopefully) nobody would break in whilst I was in the lab.
“Yep.” I gave him a smile, getting ready to drag the suitcase back to the van with me, but he took it instead. What a gentleman.
...
When we arrived back at the lab, I was told my suitcase would be scanned for any weapons and then brought to my room for me. When I was inside, I found Peter waiting for me.
“I was asked to show you around earlier, but I had forgotten. Please do forgive me.”
“That’s okay.” I smiled sympathetically; Brenner must have scolded him for this.
“Would you like a tour? There are some rooms you are forbidden from entering but they’re around the back. I can still show you the rest.”
“Okay, sure.” I say, wondering what my father could possibly be doing in a room in an illegal lab that was forbidden.
“Great, follow me.” He said, his hands falling to his sides as he began walking through the halls.
I tried to keep up with him, but his legs were much longer than mine. But I was too afraid to ask him to slow down.
“This is the rainbow room,” Peter said, opening the door, “I was supposed to be here today, watching over the kids, but then your father told me I’ll now be in charge of looking after you.”
Looking after me? I wasn’t 5.
“Oh, sorry I guess.”
“No, I would much rather do this! It makes a change to talk to somebody over the age of 12.” He chuckled.
“They’re that young?” I gasped.
“Some of them, the one’s I’m put in charge of are. They range in age groups, there are 7 to 12, 13 to 16 and then 17 to 19. It’s only fair that they compete with people of their age and level. Think of it like school.”
Yeah, because I know a lot about that.
“So you work with the 7 to 12 group?” I asked, watching the children as they moved things with their minds, it was quite incredible, their powers, but being kept in a lab like an animal for testing was cruel. So, so cruel.
“Yes, they seem to be afraid of the other orderlies. They appear to trust me, however. I don’t frighten them. I talk to them and treat them like they’re people, because they are.”
“If only everyone thought that.” I sighed, both of us knew who I was referring to.
“What’s your relationship like with your father, Mia?” Peter asked after a moment of silence, not taking his eyes off the children playing in the room.
I turned to face him, frowning as he also turned and looked down at me.
“I don’t know if I even have a relationship with my father,” I sighed, “he’s never been there for me, he’s always been more interested in his little experiment than me. He would only come home once a month, I thought maybe he had forgotten about me as a kid. I thought it was my fault, maybe if I tried being a better daughter he would stay more. So, I thought maybe working for him would bring us closer together, but I’m not so sure.”
Peter took my hand in his, squeezing it lightly.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He said, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb- I could tell why the younger children preferred to work with him. “No little girl deserves to grow up without her father, and believe it was her fault that he wasn’t there.”
I looked down at our hands, his big, soft hand caressing mine.
“I should take you back to your room, it’s getting late. The children will be taken to their rooms soon.” Peter said, dropping my hand and leading me through the halls again.
We walked in silence, but it felt comfortable. I looked at all the numbers on the doors, 002, 003, 004, 005… why wasn’t there a 001?
“I’m looking forward to starting our lessons tomorrow, Mia.” Peter said with a smile, opening my door for me, “Oh, and I got that light fixed for you.”
“Thank you, Peter.” I said, a smile creeping on to my face as I sat on my bed, he remained stood at the door.
“No worries. Sweet dreams.”
That was the first night I dreamed of Peter Ballard, he held me as I cried into chest, however I wasn’t sure why I was crying. The feeling he created inside of me was something so unfamiliar. He talked to me the way I had always wished my father would have, soft and caring, like he wanted to hear what I had to say. I had only known him for a few hours, but I believed I could trust him.