Re: Tau Upsilon Gamma [M+/M+] [update - 7/26/23] NEW POLL
Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:09 am
by wataru14
Chapter 10: Reunion
The TUG House resembled a wasp hive. People scurried about, busy with tasks and assignments, planning and strategizing. Ready for battle. No one, not even Jean-Marc or Leo, was idle. People scurried in and out of the council room, which Brett had turned into a makeshift command center. Mason and Bryan’s computer setup took up most of one side, and was connected to the monitor on the wall behind the council table. Flanking the monitor were Brett and Santucci. Displayed on the screen was the image of a young man in cowboy clothes.
“Boys,” Santucci said. “Meet Sam Whittaker. Thanks to Leo’s… recon, we managed to get access to the cameras and got a plate on the truck that Cody was carried off in on video. It’s registered to this asshole out of Claremore, Oklahoma.”
There was a low grumble from the assembled brothers. Hoss, in particular, was eager for action. “So what’s the plan?” he asked. “We find this fucker and break his legs?” The ROTC crew seated to his left all gave murmurs of approval.
“Pretty much,” Santucci said. But he frowned when Wade cleared his throat from the corner. “Dammit. No. Our objective is to find Cody. If he’s OK and this is just a misunderstanding…” He shot a look at Wade and said through gritted teeth “…although I don’t think that is very likely considering how things went down… then we just take him and go home. If Cody is being held against his will, then you boys let me and the established authorities handle it. Last thing I want is for you guys to get an assault charge. Or worse.”
Hoss grumbled and sat back in his seat, grabbing his Styrofoam cup and spitting into it angrily.
Brett took over. “The truck has been seen in Metro City, so we’re dividing up into groups to go search. Maintaining contact at all times so we don’t overlap. Wade will stay here with Mason and Bryan to coordinate and be our eyes in the sky. Mason and I made your group assignments and assigned your coverage areas. There are 21 of us, so there will be seven groups of three. We have a lot of ground to cover, so if anyone happens to spot Cody or Sam…”
Brett stopped as a sheepish knock was heard on the council room door. “Huh?,” Danny asked. “Who the fuck is that?”
Hoss got up and opened the door. He looked down at Travis standing there, awkwardly.
“Yo, not a good time,” Hoss said, and moved to close the door.
“Wait!” Travis said. “I know something happened to Cody and that all of you are going to look for him. Cody was always good to me and I want to help.”
There were rumbles of disapproval from most of the Brothers in attendance, but Brett said “Stand down, Sergeant-at-Arms.” Hoss frowned and stepped aside, letting Travis into the room. “Travis, without your tip to Nate, we wouldn’t have anything to go on in the first place. You’ve already helped us more than we can say. Let us handle this. Clay won’t be happy if you’re seen here.”
Travis’ face turned a slight shade of red. “Fuck Clay!” he said. “He’s my brother, not my keeper. Cody is my friend and if he’s in trouble, I want to help him out. Please!”
There was a stunned silence from the gathered Brothers. Santucci and Brett exchanged small smiles and then Brett said “Well, welcome aboard, then. Ray, Travis will go with you, Pablo, and Tak.”
Travis let out all the air he had been holding in and said “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Great,” Santucci said. “Now that our little kumbaya love fest is over, let’s get out there and pound some pavement! Cody needs us!” And with that, the assembled teams formed up and everyone headed out.
---
Ryan emerged from the motel room first and stepped out into the Metro City morning. “Let’s go!” he called out, “We’re burning daylight.”
Cody felt a slight nudge on his back from Sam and he stepped out onto the sidewalk. He looked left and right at the people all around, walking past and going about their business. “If they only knew what was going on right in front of their noses,” he thought. Cody was wearing jeans, black cowboy boots, and a leather biker jacket. Hardly out of place for a bustling Midwest metropolis like Metro City. But it was what was underneath the jacket that would have caused people alarm. Cody’s arms were not in the sleeves of his jacket. Instead, they were cuffed behind his back, hidden by his clothing. The actual arms of the jacket housed two mannequin arms, each with a leather glove on the end to disguise the white plastic hands. His upper body was bare except for a leather S&M harness with a large steel ring in the center of his chest. His mouth was stuffed to the brim with cloth and sealed with duct tape that wound around his jaws seven or eight times. But no one could see that, because his entire lower face was hidden by a black bandana, tied like a bandit mask. His trademark black cowboy hat topped off his ensemble.
Even though he was tightly bound and gagged, Cody’s predicament was totally concealed by his zipped-up jacket and mask. To people on the street, he just looked like a cowboy on a day out. Nothing to look twice at.
Sam followed close behind him and closed the door. “Morning in Metro City,” he said, looking up at the high-rise buildings with the Skyline visible beyond the rooftops. “Bit different from the ranch in Wyoming, ain’t it?”
Cody had to agree. He had been sightseeing in Metro City with LJ before he headed to school a few months ago, but other than that he had never been here. Not this far off-campus, at least. The grandeur of the place made him forget his situation. Almost. Just for a second.
Ryan put his foot up on the stoop and said “OK, mastermind, what’s on the agenda? Where are we taking our prisoner today?”
“I have something special planned for tonight,” Sam said, “but you probably won’t be interested in that. In fact, I know you won’t be. So for now, I guess we can just go and see the sights. Just us and our hostage.” He chuckled at the use of the word ‘hostage.’ That’s technically what Cody was, having been snatched from the Halloween party and shuffled off to a musty basement. But Cody wasn’t exactly unwilling. He was a little weirded out by the circumstances, but he couldn’t stop himself from appreciating the lengths and the risks that Sam had taken for him. This was all being done for his benefit, after all. Misguided as he was, Sam thought Cody would be titillated by being kidnapped, bound, and paraded around the city in secret bondage. And Cody couldn’t help but feel a little turned on by the strangeness and naughtiness of it all.
Sam looked at the City Map on his phone and said “We’ll start that way.” He pointed down the street towards a busy intersection. He and Ryan got on either side of Cody and the trio started walking down the sidewalk.
Now, people in Metro City are always in a hurry, and three people walking side-by-side on a sidewalk is blasphemy to them. The three country boys walked at a leisurely pace, one not matched by others on the street. More than once, a rushed passerby would push right through the center of their group to get around.
“Stop blocking the sidewalk, you stupid hicks!”
“If you’re gonna walk so slow, go single-file, assholes!”
One harried businessman in particular pushed right into Cody as he went through. Cody thought for a second that his left mannequin arm was going to get knocked loose and fall from his sleeve. But it held, swinging from the impact in a strange, lifeless, alien way. He was so startled by the man pushing his way through that he bent over. When he did so, his jacket rode up and his cuffed hands were visible for a fleeting moment under the hem of the back.
“Did he see?” Cody thought, holding his breath. If he did see, he would definitely call the police. And he would be rescued! But is that what he really wanted? Cody wasn’t sure anymore. Not fully, at least. A little nagging part of him was enjoying the danger and tension of his situation. And wanted to see it through. But that was crazy talk, right?
The businessman didn’t seem to notice the peek-a-boo of Cody’s cuffed hands, but Ryan definitely did. He quickly stepped behind Cody, covering him up and blocking the view of anyone behind them that happened to be looking in their direction. “Yipes!” he said. “Things almost went to shit already. We gotta do something about that.” He turned Cody to face him and straightened him up. “Your jacket is too loose. Need to fix that.” The belt attached to the waistline of Cody’s biker jacket was only cursorily cinched. So Ryan unbuckled it and tightened it up two notches. Cody felt the slack around his waist disappear as the belt was secured back. Now there wouldn’t be enough space for his hands to slip out again if a similar situation happened later.
“Much better,” Ryan said. “Now we can go.” Not wanting to draw any more attention, the group rearranged themselves single-file, with Cody in the middle, and moved to the far right of the sidewalk. As the locals had so “kindly” suggested. Faster-paced walkers moved past them with no hassles, paying them no heed. After a minute or two, the group reached the corner and saw the entirety of Thompson Square spread out before them.
“OK, cowboy,” Sam said, patting Cody on the shoulder. “Now for the real test. Let’s go!” And they stepped off the sidewalk into the street.
---
Mason set down his headset and gulped down the last of his fifth coffee of the day. He had been watching traffic cameras all morning and felt like he was going crosseyed. Still no sign of the truck. He had been checking public parking lot security feeds to try to find where the truck was. If he could spot it, they could focus the search to that area. Or post a sentry to intercept Sam when he returned to it. But Mason had no idea how many parking garages there were in Metro City and progress was slow. Bryan was scanning the street cams with similar bupkis to show for it. But Wade had the hardest job of all.
Being the nerve center of the search, Wade was responsible for keeping the groups in contact with each other and passing on any possible hits that Mason or Bryan found. And boy, did he have his hands full! The ROTC guys were accosting anyone they could find that looked even remotely “country” and menacing them with “Where did you take our friend?!?!?” So Santucci and his team always had to be nearby to diffuse the situations they created. Brett chose to let money do the talking for him, and had paid several people who swore they “just saw him” to send his team on wild goose chases. Wade also had to fill Sergeant Gonzalez in on their activities (with Santucci vehemently protesting) to head off any Karen calls to the precinct about “a gang of young men wandering through our residential neighborhood and looking around suspiciously.” If he had any hair, he would have been pulling it out.
Mason decided to take a break and check in on Ray. Pablo had been calling in their position diligently, so Mason knew right where they were. He looked through the street cam feed to see what his best friend was up to. Mason felt a pang of guilt as he zoomed in on Ray and Travis asking a trio of businesswomen out on a coffee break if they had seen the boy in the picture. Mason’s social stock had been rising ever since he joined TUG. He was becoming more confident and outgoing, and under Danny’s wing he had become quite popular. And this surprised nobody more than Mason himself. But he thought about Ray and the promise they had made that night in the locker room at the beginning of term. How Ray said he would help train Mason up and be his wingman. And how Mason had jumped ship for Danny the second the opportunity presented itself. Outwardly, Ray was all smiles, saying he was glad that his friend was getting the guidance he needed, regardless of who it was from. But Mason knew him better than that. Internally, he would be stinging from the slight. Ray wasn’t used to taking a backseat to anyone and Mason had solidly put him there to go off training with Danny. He’d have to find some way to make that up to him. Well, if Leo’s hairbrained scheme about Travis played out, Ray would soon have someone else to mentor. But would it be the same? Mason didn’t know.
After filling his sixth cup of coffee, he went back to work at the monitors. He started from the top floor of a garage on 6th Avenue and Hamilton and worked his way down. But after so long, every garage started to look alike to him. He was on the fourth level and about to go down to the third, however, when he saw something that made his heart almost stop. It was the truck! He was sure of it
“Wade!” Mason shouted, “Look at this!” Wade finished his call with Shane’s team and came over.
“What?” he said. “Are Ray and Travis making out in front of Nakamura Fountain? Romantic as that is, we have more important things to do right now.”
“No! I mean, well… maybe,” Mason stuttered. “But forget about that. Look at this!” He pointed at the screen and Wade’s jaw dropped.
“Is that…? You found it??? Boy, I could kiss you!” Wade crowed.
“Who’s in that area?” Mason asked.
Bryan brought up his tracker. He had locks on everyone’s phone and their positions were illuminated on his map like little red bugs. “Leo, Omar, and Danny are a few blocks away.”
“On it!” Wade said, and immediately rung Danny.
---
Cody’s trip through Thompson Square was fairly uneventful. It was awkward jostling around in the crowd, but no one detected the strange lumps under his jacket outlining the telltale position of his cuffed arms underneath. Or the strange way his arms hung limply at his sides as they walked. Cody was sure that they were going to be found out when Ryan stopped to get a group picture with some dude in a Party City Mario costume, and they almost did. When the three lined up with the costumed character he put his arm around Cody’s shoulder. Cody was sure that he would feel something was amiss, but the oversized novelty gloves and padded suit must have muffled his touch. The man indicated for the group to remove their masks, but as he and Ryan shed their surgical coverings, Sam thought quickly.
“He has to keep his on,” Sam said. “Doctor’s orders. He has a compromised immune system and he needs to keep covered.” He elbowed Cody playfully in the ribs. Cody involuntarily let out a muffled “mmppggh” at the impact and he was sure the Mario impersonator would pick up on it, but the character just shrugged and got into position for the photo. A thumbs up from Mario, and big beaming smiles from Sam and Ryan, and then the picture was done. Ryan paid for it and they moved aside.
“That was exciting, wasn’t it?” Ryan said, giving Cody another playful jab. “Almost got found out, didn’t ya? That guy was just a second away from noticing you.” He grinned impishly. Sam was sweating bullets.
“We’re not being careful enough,” he said, taking off his cowboy hat and wiping nervous sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “We can’t be doing stuff like that, Ryan. Do you want to end up in a jail cell for kidnapping?”
Ryan waved Sam off. “Relax!” he said. “We got that covered. And what’s the point of this little hullabaloo if we don’t push the envelope a little? If you’re not gonna take risks, you should have just stayed at home.”
“I guess you’re right,” Sam said, but he didn’t fully agree. He didn’t want things to get mucked up before the big finale.
They spent the next few hours visiting monuments and famous stores. No one bought anything, but window shopping was an Olympic sport in Metro City. Sam watched Cody like a hawk, heading off anyone who veered too close and distracting anyone who tried to look at him more closely. On several occasions, Cody considered grunting like mad to a nosy sales clerk, but something in him just wouldn’t let him. When they left the largest electronics store in the state and crossed over near Birchfield Park, Ryan stopped them.
“I’m hungry,” Ryan said. “You two hungry?” He spied a cart selling dirt water dogs and said “Now THAT’s what I’m talking about. Mystery meat on a bun!” And he took off for the cart like a man possessed. Cody and Sam jogged after him, Cody’s limp mannequin arms flopping around randomly beside him. Mason would have called it “Something Straight Out of the Uncanny Valley.” They caught up to Ryan and joined him in line.
When it was their turn to order, Ryan said “Two dogs, please sir” and tipped his hat. Cody glared at him. He was hungry, too. He squirmed a little, causing the bulge from his cuffed arms to move into an odd position under his jacket and grunted.
“Mmmpgggh mghhooo!” he uttered. Sam went white.
Ryan just calmly said “Mmmmm is right, partner. Those dogs smell just dee-vine.” He whapped Cody in the belly, which caused him to straighten up and bring his bulges back into position. “But none for you. You’re on a diet, fatty. Remember?” Cody rolled his eyes as Ryan whapped him in the belly again. The vendor was not amused.
“You three done?” he barked. “I got a line. I can’t deal with tourist bullshit all day.”
“Yeah, we’re done,” Sam quickly said, still nervous. “Two is fine.” He paid for the dogs and pulled the others away, dragging them to a low section of wall at the edge of the park. Cody glared at both of them.
“Don’t be like that,” Ryan said. “If you were gonna eat, we’d have to take your gag out. And how would that look in front of all these people, huh?” Cody paused and realized Ryan was right. Still, he wasn’t happy about it. “And besides, how you gonna eat with your hands cuffed behind you? I sure as hell ain’t gonna feed ya. This whole thing is weird enough without going there!” He took a big, taunting bite of his hot dog and sat on the wall. Cody let out a sigh and sat down next to him. Sam stood while he ate, facing them both.
---
A short distance away, Scott, Gavin, and Jaquan turned the corner. They stopped at a sporting goods store and looked through the main window. “This is a famous store,” Jaquan said. “Like the FAO Schwartz of sports gear. Sam might have gone inside.”
Scott nodded and said “Let’s check it out.” He turned to look over towards the park one last time. The streetlight changed and a mob of people stepped off the curb and into the intervening crosswalk. Cody, Sam, and Ryan were completely obscured by the crowd. If Scott had looked a second earlier, he would have seen them clearly. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go in.”
---
After they were finished eating, Sam looked at Ryan. “Hey,” he said. “Can you give us some time? I haven’t had Cody to myself since we got here.”
Ryan gave Sam a wry grin and said, “Sure. There’s a whole park over there. Just don’t go too far. I’ll just hang out here. Maybe check out some stores? We’ll meet back at this spot in an hour. OK?”
Sam agreed. He took Cody by the (mannequin) arm and helped him stand. “Damn, that thing feels weird,” Sam said with an awkward chuckle. Cody just shrugged. Not much else he could do. They walked away from Ryan, to a small gate in the wall, and headed into the park, through some trees.
“Now this is nice,” Sam said. “It’s good to see they still have some nature left in all this concrete and steel.” Cody did have to admit, it was pretty beautiful. They walked for a short while, until they came to a rock outcropping by a small pond. No one else around. Sam sat down on the grass and Cody sat on the rock.
“I know you can’t answer me,” Sam said. “On account of the tape over your mouth. So I’m just going to talk, OK?” Cody nodded. “I’m glad to finally get some time alone with you. That was the point of this whole thing. But I couldn’t pull it off without Ryan’s help.” He paused for a moment, then picked up a stone and skipped it across the pond. “The rodeo hasn’t been the same without you,” he said, after taking a deep breath. “It feels like something important is missing without you there. Now I know you have your own life and your own dreams, and college is going to help you reach them. And I’m proud of you for going after what you want. But there’s a big hole for those of us left behind.”
Cody looked sadly at Sam. Being as quiet and shy as he was, Sam wasn’t very popular among the teen riders. And he wasn’t all that good, either. A mid-card rider at best. Ryan was always friendly to him, but it seemed like Cody was the only one who really liked him as a person. It must really be hard for him to be out there on his own. Especially now that he aged out of the teen circuit and was riding against experienced adults. He felt a tinge of pity. Pity for his kidnapper? Was this Stockholm Syndrome? Or was it something else?
“I wanted to visit you,” Sam said. “See how you were doing. But it’s not like we were best friends or anything. I don’t know if you ever talked about me to your new friends. I assume not. They probably wouldn’t have let me come in. But I just had to try. You know… I’m really kicking myself for not taking that chance and kissing you at the goodbye party. Especially after what Ryan says you told everyone. But I guess that’s all ancient history now. Especially after all this. You probably want to get as far away from me as possible and I can’t blame you.” He paused, staring out at the lake. “You know, I did this because I thought you’d like it. Find it exciting… and hot. But I can tell how weirded out you are by all of this. I kinda blew it, didn’t I?”
Cody didn’t respond. His front brain was in total agreement. Sam could have just called. Or emailed. Or even just shown up on the TUG doorstep unannounced, for Pete’s sake. Hoss would have been wary, but he would have let Sam in with Cody’s sayso. This was… a whole other level. But something in Cody’s rear brain said something different.
“He did this for you,” his brain said. “Like when you made that birthday breakfast for LJ when you were eight. And even though he hated runny eggs with a passion, he ate the whole thing with a smile. Because he knew that what you did for him was done out of love. Is this so different?” Cody had to think about that. “Look,” his brain continued. “He doesn’t know anything about this world you’ve entered with TUG. Hell, you didn’t either until you joined up. Are his misconceptions really THAT misplaced? Wouldn’t you think the same in his shoes? And do you know the risk he’s taking doing this? Do you think that the cops will just laugh it off? Will Hoss? Will LJ? Those two would put him in the ground without a second thought for this. And he knows it, too. And he still did all of this. For you.”
Cody blinked a few times. This was crazy… but he couldn’t help but agree. He looked at Sam, who had gone quiet and was starting out absently at the rippling pond water. Cody could see the fear in him. The regret. The “What the hell have I done?” look in his eyes. But he also saw the desire. The honest sweetness that drew him to Sam in the first place at the rodeo. The qualities that made Cody think, “It’s OK if he kissed me” all those months ago. Sam looked like he was about to cry. Or pass out. Or jump in the pond and drown himself. Cody knew what he had to do.
“Mpppggghh!” he grunted, snapping Sam out of his torpor. Cody turned his head and pointed at the rock next to him with his nose. Confused, Sam got up and took a seat. The two were facing the pond with their backs toward the path. Sam leaned in close and asked “Huh? What is it? Do you have something to tell me?” Cody leaned in and pressed his mouth against Sam’s.
Now, it wasn’t a kiss. Not exactly. Cody’s mouth was stuffed, taped, and hidden by a bandana. But he knew he was getting his point across. Sam’s whole body tensed up for a second, and then he started returning the kiss as best he could. Cody could feel Sam’s lips even through the layers covering his mouth. His cowboy hat fell from his head and landed behind the rock.
---
Nate, LJ, and Jean-Marc had been in the park for a while now, after getting Wade’s call and the order to move into the downtown area. But they hadn’t seen anything significant. Scott said he saw a country-looking guy about the right age in the sporting goods store a few minutes ago, but the face didn’t match their target’s. It clearly wasn’t Sam, so they left him alone. The trio was about to head back into Thompson’s Square when LJ said they should split up and take one more loop around the park. Nate chose a path and walked down it, approaching the pond.
When he got there, Nate stopped, feeling a little ashamed at intruding on what he encountered. He saw two men with their backs to him, locked in a kiss. They were both clearly young, but he couldn’t see their faces. One was wearing a leather jacket, but his head was bare. The other gave Nate a weird feeling. He was the right age. The right build. The right hair color. Could it be? And the other guy did sort of look like Cody. As much as Nate could see from behind. Hmmm…
“No,” Nate thought. “It couldn’t be. If this guy kidnapped Cody, there’s no way they’d be out in public together at all. Let alone kissing. It doesn’t make any sense. And this guy isn’t tied up or under guard or anything. Who would take their kidnapping victim for a romantic walk in the park and just let him go around free like that? It can’t be them. Nate took a sheepish step back, hoping to vanish before the kissing couple noticed him gawking. He had just melted back into the trees when he got a text from LJ.
“Anything by you?”
He texted back “Negative. Heading back to the meetup point.”
---
Sam broke away first and gazed deeply into Cody’s eyes. His face was beaming. “I guess that’s my answer,” he said with a small relieved chuckle. “It’s what I was hoping. Man, you don’t know how much this means to me.” Cody smiled. Sam couldn’t see it with the bandana covering his face, but Cody’s eyes said it all. He said “I guess this means you’re OK with… all this.” Cody just nodded and shrugged, still smiling. “Well, I guess I could uncuff and ungag you. No more need for that now, is there?” He reached for Cody’s face, but stopped. “No, not yet. I have to get rid of Ryan first. We agreed that no matter what happened, you’d stay tied until we got back to the motel. But when we meet up with him I’ll tell him that he can go back himself. That you won’t give me any trouble. You won’t, will you?”
There was such an earnestness to Sam’s question that Cody couldn’t help but smile again. He slowly shook his head “no.” Sam grinned and got up, then helped Cody to his feet and retrieved the fallen cowboy hat. “And besides, there’s somewhere I wanted to take you before we go back. I’m not gonna tell you where it is, but if you like what’s happening to you now, I think you’re really gonna love it!”
He placed the hat on Cody’s head and the two of them walked side-by-side back to the gate.
Coming Soon: Halloween Conclusion – The Red Light District