"In no way, shape, or form is this better" I whispered harshly to Gerry.

"Well it was the only way to get you out of the... other place" Gerry said. He made an attempt to step around me toward the throne but I quickly blocked his with my body path. Putting my shackled hands on his chest, I looked up at him in the eyes, pleading.

"Please don't make me stay chained to...to...that" I was practically begging.

Gerry put his hands hesitantly on my upper arms. Bingo! I struck a sympathetic nerve.

"I-" but before he could say anything, I was yanked, quite violently, I might add, around and dragged to the throne's side.

"What the hell?!" I snapped at Brock.

"Sit" he commanded.

I dropped to my knees stubbornly.

"This is wrong and you know it" I grumbled.

"It seems befitting to me" he said, "criminals are put in chains for their punishments".

"I'm not a criminal!"

"There is a warrant out for your capture and return for your treasonous actions against myself and my group members. And now I can add on another broken law" everything that came out of his mouth was made to sound so logical.

"What treason?! What other law?!" I snapped. I was tired of being treated as the assailant when I was obviously the victim.

He gave me a cold glance then said, "Your recent infraction being the fact that you completely altered your physical appearance and created an alias to become another person in order to infiltrate my city".

"Are you kidding me? You're citing me on violating a law that was put in place years ago to prevent villains from commiting murder and then going into hiding? That used to be illegal, times change. Extenuating circumstances" I can't believe him. That law was created by the authorities when the pods first came out in order to keep people from making exceptionally drastic changes to their appearance without getting proper documentation and permission.

"Laws are created for a reason. Time changes nothing" he said.

"There's a law that says you can't enslave people" I sneered, whipping my hands into his line of sight.

"I am not enslaving you. Have you been made to clean anything? Carry something? No? Then you are not a slave. You are a prisoner and I was nice enough to let you out of your cage"

"Aren't you just a mother fu-"

"Hey, I brought, err Mina" Gerry said awkwardly.

"Mina?!" I said, turning around with a smile. She stood there, in shorts and a tshirt, looking even tinier next to Gerry. She waved awkwardly to me and I two-hand waved back.

Gerry brought a chair over for her, which she blushed at, but declined. Instead she sat down next to me on the ground.

'I am sorry you have to sit like this' Mina signed.

"It's ok" I whispered with a smile.

Brock looked at me from the corner of his eye for a brief second before returning his attention to the field.

I sighed, not enjoying his eavesdropping.

"Look, can I get chains that allow independent hand movement?" I asked him.

"No"

"Why?"

"I cannot trust you not to kill yourself" he said bluntly.

"As long as I don't have to be around you too often, I won't" I mumbled.

"What?" he asked through slitted eyes.

"Nothing. Look, I won't kill myself. I promise. I'll volunteer to have my feet chained. I'm in your line of sight, what all can I do?" I did not enjoy pleading with him for a basic right.

He seemed to be thinking about it for a few seconds before he stood up. Gesturing to a man to his left, he had two more chains brought to him. He clicked them snuggly on to my ankles. Then he inserted a key into the solid part between my cuffs on my hands. The manacle seperated into two parts, the locking mechanism stuck to my right cuff. The right cuff still had the chain stuck to it, but my left hand was free. He ran the chain from my left leg up through my left cuff. With those three chains, he had control of all four of my limbs. He left just enough slack that I could sit with my legs stretched out and have decent arm movement.

"Thank you" I said, trying to be sweet, but sounding more like a five year old.

'Now we can sign' I signed with relief.

'Your signing is so...odd' Mina said.

'I've been signing for decades. I started off the proper book way but the longer you sign with people, the quicker you pick up little quirks. Like having an accent when you speak, people have dialects of sign language' I explained.

'I see. You seem so confident and comfortable with it. You make me look like a fool' she said, looking saddened.

I reached out and touched her hand.

'You are so impressive. You taught yourself sign language with no one to help you. I had to be taught and it took me years to get it' I said.

'Years?! It took me a few months...' she looked shocked and embarrassig.

'Exactly! You are a genius' I signed with a smile.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gerry asked, pulling his chair closer to us.

"Sign language" I said, signing while I said the words.

"But all you're doing is waving your arms around like crazy" Gerry was immensely confused.

"It's a language, I promise" I said with a smile.

'He is many things, but book smart? Not so much' Mina signed.

'And yet you still like him' I replied with a teasing smile. Mina's blush was probably one of the most adorable things I had ever seen.

'That is not true!' she vehemently signed.

"What's going on?" Gerry asked, intently watching Mina.

"Nothing" I said with a smile while I signed 'Yes you do'.

'No, I do not! I can not. He barely even knows I exist' she signed sadly.

'Hey, he's an idiot. He'll figure it out eventually' I explained with a laugh. I smiled at a confused Gerry and then turned to watch the field.

'If you say so' Mina scooted closer to my side.

'I do... So what is he competing in today' I motioned to Brock.

'Archery'

'Seriously?! Fuck him' I signed angrily.

'I do not know what that last word was but I can imagine it was not good'

'It wasn't. Don't resign me'

'Why do you hate him so much?' she asked.

'Wow! You don't know about these supposed heinous crimes I committed against him and his people?'

'I do not know much of anything. People do not tell me many things. They assume that because I cannot speak, I cannot listen' Mina signed sadly.

'Oh... well we have a past. I... trusted him and his men and it got me killed' damn my feelings.

'I see. Have you talked to him about it?'

I held up my chained hands and feet with a raised eyebrow, 'Does it look like we've resolved our issues?'

'Perhaps you should. He is normally a fair man. If he is angry, it must be for a reason. Obviously there is some sort of misunderstanding. Based off of what you have said and what he has said, he believes you betrayed him and you believe he betrayed you'

'...You are vastly underappreciated' I signed, not necassarily agreeing with her, but I was impressed with her deductions.

'Thank you....' I could tell she wanted to say more.

'What?'

'Well...' she continued, 'I have never seen him express any emotion physically. But you make him so angry, something that is shocking to me. I think that... well it is my belief that...' at my impatient face she inhaled and continued, 'I feel that the only way to get true hatred is if there was another emotion. Something more powerful and positive there before. I think you are good for him. And he is so attractive and such a great leader, it would be a shame to see him alone forever' she finished with a blush.

I turned to look at Brock, not really caring whether he saw me or not. Of course he noticed, but I continued to scan his face anyways. He was attractive, beyond belief, but it was his insides that ruined everything. Mina was wrong, he never cared for me or for anyone.

'You're wrong. It's a nice idea, humanizing him, but you're wrong. He can't feel. He can't care. For anyone. But especially not me' I signed to Mina, never breaking eye contact with Brock.

"Do you have a question?" he asked finally.

I sat silent for a few seconds before I raised my hand high into the air. He gave me a blank stare to which I responded "Umm, yes teacher, can I take these chains off and go back to my dark hole?"

"No" he said curtly, then, shockingly continued "I like you seeing humbled by something I did. After all, this is how I like it, remember?" Brock said, a chill seeping from his words that made me went to flee.

"You are a sadist" I mumbled, hugging my knees to my chest.

"Then you are a masochist, Little Dove" he said, looking out over the field.