a familiar face

Frustrated Max slammed her fist against the steel door. What a fucked up night! How could they dare to treat her like this, using her like the cheapest whore in town? And the worst part was: she still hadn’t made any progress on the whole fighting-your-conditioning-thing!

“Max?”

Max’ head shot up at the surprised familiar voice. Her brain managed to place it within the blink of an eye, but at the same time it defied to believe what her ears told it. It was impossible! The guy was dead! It was all over the news!

Slowly she turned around, her heart beating at about a million miles per hour. Her eyes immediately confirmed what her ears had told her, yet she still struggled to comprehend.

“B… Bruno?” she stuttered, flabbergasted, “But… how?”

The burly man who sat in the shadows in the corner of the cell grinned widely at her reaction, his eyes roaming over her slim figure in the skimpy policewoman-attire, a trail of milky-white liquid running down her leg. “Actually, my name is Marco Drake now. But for old times’ sake, you can call me Bruno!”

Max thoughts raced: Bruno Anselmo was a hitman for the mob who turned against his old employer and was about to be the key witness in court, resulting in him being chased by his old pals. Max had saved his life as a favor to Logan, even though she would have let him die without a second thought, and Bruno had thanked her by selling her out to the REDs. Just as he left the site of his betrayal unprotected he was gunned down and news said he had died in the hospital.

Max had never wasted another thought on the backstabbing sonofabitch, the world was a better place without him. Yet there he sat, making this nightmare of a night a whole lot more twisted.

“I guess I should be dead, huh?” Bruno said in a relaxed manner, “At least that’s what everyone thinks. Truth is, I was close… But that dumb bastard they hired to take me down wasn’t even able to kill me from less than a meter distance. The bullet missed every important organ! But since my old buds would’ve killed me and endangered my daughter if they knew I was alive, the cops agreed to give me a new identity in exchange for quite a chunk out of my portfolio. The only thing is: since they can’t make a mistake while setting this up, so I have to lay low. And being in one of these cells is about as low as it gets… And since I am not really a prisoner, those good gentlemen of the police give me a treat in form of a chick every few days… now having you here IS something special! I would’ve never thought that they would be able to tame a wildcat like you! I’ve been dreaming of this little ass of yours since that day in Sonrisa’s office when you first used it to tease me. Now I’ll have my way with it!”

Panic filled Max’ throat as she realized what was planned to happen in here. Not this, not Bruno. This man was beneath scum. She wouldn’t fall that deep! Her eyes darted around the room in terror, looking for a way out as Bruno slowly got to his feet, a predatorily grin on his face when she suddenly realized that no orders were currently given to her! The cop had just shoved her into the cell without another word and Bruno had never given her anything remotely comprehensible as a demand.

She realized she had to act fast! She had to take him out before he knew what hit him, otherwise she was completely at his mercy…
Within the blink of an eye Max had crossed the room and stood now right in front of Bruno, who’s eyes flew open in surprise, and before he could react in any way her fist connected with his jaw. His head flew back and he stumbled, but Max didn’t stop there. She had to knock him out, otherwise she’d loose every shred of pride she still had.
So she followed his stumble, then rammed her knee into his stomach, causing him to fold together. Finally she hit him hard to the brow, sending him to the floor, motionless.

“That should do it” she muttered. Then she focused her attention on the little barred window through which a ray of moonlight fell into the cell.