Mellow Yellow (2/100)-"The Code-Box"

[walkwithheroes]

Title: The Code-Box
'Fandom': Mellow Yellow
Claim: General/Character Development
Prompt: 019. White
Word Count: 1,958
Rating: PG, for curse words.
Summary: Everything was so white and clean.
Author's Notes: This is my second entry in the ‘fandom’ of Mellow Yellow. Written for 100_original

Feedback would be lovely, thank you. 

Weston Northsea Docks
Southern Side

Boyd Sirk was considered to be one of the worst criminals in the universe. He had done it all: thief, murder, rape, the genocide of an entire race, he had even once worn socks with sandals. It was whispered in the pub of St. Anne’s that Boyd Sirk had no soul. It was rumored that Boyd Sirk was pure evil.

Boyd gently brushed some hair out of Lily Henry’s face. She was curled up in a fetal position and sleeping soundly on his bed. He and Billy Tennant had brought her back to their rooms only half an hour before. She had been so tired, that she had passed out mere moments after lying down on the uncomfortable mattress.

"You keep touchin’ her, and I’ll start think’ you’ve got that soul they say you don’t got." Boyd glanced to the doorway, to see Billy casually leaning against the frame. Billy gave the scene in front of him a hard look. "Oh, Me." He rolled his dark eyes upward. "You don’t want to...our kind of people don’t take strays in, Sirk!"

"She’s alone. Alone, and it’s a great big universe." Boyd took a long look at Lily. "A universe that she won’t understand. A universe that won’t understand her."

Billy really couldn’t argue with that bit of logic. But, he did anyway. "Your logic is flawed. Your intelligence is doubtful. And your heart really isn’t all that black, is it?" He shook his head. "You old softie. You want to take in a stray, and you don’t even want to rape or kill her or anything." Billy chuckled softly to himself. "What will all the other bad men say?"

"Shut up." The older man hissed. Boyd kissed Lily on the forehead, before getting up from the bed. Lily made a small sound. Boyd ignored it, went to the door, and pushed Billy outside. As he closed the door behind him, Boyd whispered harshly to Billy. "You don’t go in there. You hear me?" To farther his point, Boyd poked Billy in the chest.

With a scowl, Billy rubbed his poked chest. "You sir, are an ass. An. Ass." He paused in thought for a moment. "And, you’re going to get yourself in a hell of a lot of trouble to boot."

Boyd sighed heavily. "Maybe." He headed toward Billy’s bedroom. "Tomorrow we’re taking her to Doc’s. She’ll have to have that code box removed from her chest. It’s a dead give away."

"Now hold on...wait, what are you doing in my room?" Billy’s question was met with a pillow being thrown in his face. "You can’t just take my room. I’m not sleeping on the chairs out here!" That was met with a ‘Shut the hell up’ and a blanket being thrown in Billy’s face.

______________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, the sun shone brightly over the Southern side of the Weston Northsea Docks.

Boyd had awoken to find Lily up and about, trying to tidy up the small apartment. Billy was passed out on a chair, drooling on a pillow, holding the blanket tightly.

"Good morning, Mr. Sirk." Lily waved cheerfully and wildly, even though Boyd was no more then ten feet away from her.

Boyd offered her a warm smile, which she returned. "Morning. You sleep all right?"

"Oh yes, thank you." Lily chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "Though, it was awful odd to sleep high up. Awful odd to sleep on somethin’ other then a dirty ol’ mat."

"I’d have taken an ol’ dirty mat over this lumpy chair." Came Billy’s sleepy voice. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. Then, he tried to flatten his hair, which was currently sticking out in several different directions. "I’m not sleeping here again, mate."

Lily smiled, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "You could have your bed back, Cap’n."

"‘Cap’n’?" Billy gave Boyd an amused grin. "Oh, I like that! Baby girl, you got a talent for words." He spread his arms out, as if he were holding a sign. "Cap’n Billy Tennant. Captain’s posh, but Cap’n. Now, that makes me sound down to the ground and loveable as all fuck."

Boyd whirled around and glared at Billy. "Don’t say f-u-c-k in front of the k-i-d."

"Um, I can spell, sir." Lily spoke up. "And I heard worse on Rome. It weren’t like there was much to do. So, some of the fellas used to make up curse words. Got rather heated once. There was a disagreement about if you could or couldn’t have sex sideways with a Rilkantens’s mother." Lily shook her head lightly. "In the end, it was decided that no, you can’t. Too big."

Boyd and Billy just stared at her, mouths slightly agape. Lily blinked, shrugged, and went back to tidying up the place.

______________________________________________________________________________

Alicia "Doc" Price had once been a universally renowned doctor. Now, she worked for anyone with enough credits. Things or parts put in, taken out, changed, she did it all. If the price was right, of course. Her offices were located in one of the more upscale neighbors of Weston. It was by appointment only. Boyd, Billy, and Lily had no appointment, but they went anyway.

The three of them sat in the lavishly decorated sitting area, all feeling a bit awkward and nervous. It was cold, and felt like they were all waiting for their turns at the gallows. The threesome had been there for hours, just sitting. They didn’t have an appointment, which meant they had to wait until the doctor was free. It also meant they had to face the glare of the nurse every time she came out to get a new patient. So, the three of them sat.

Boyd had watched the three screens, each showing news off the Network. Billy flirted with anyone that was under sixty. Lily just gazed around in wonderment.

Finally, at half past four, the nurse poked her red head out of the door. "Dr. Price will see you now, sirs and ma’am."

The three of them exchanged a look, got up, and followed. They were placed in a surgical suite. It was large, cold, and white. It made Lily utterly uncomfortable. She was used too small, hot, and brown dirt. This whole place was so unlike Rome. Lily was beginning to wonder if she should have stayed on Rome.

"Good afternoon." Everyone looked up to see a tall woman entering the room. She was dressed in a white lab coat, her brown hair pinned into a tight bun. "Gentlemen, you did not have an appointment."

"No." Boyd stood up from his chair beside Lily. "This is more of a hush-hush matter, Doc."

"Doctor Price."

"Doctor Price." Boyd nodded, not fully intending to call her that again. "This," he gestured back to Lily. "is our new companion, Lily Henry." Lily smiled brightly and waved. Something that made Alicia roll her eyes. "She’s . . . new. And, she happens to be in need of a rather unusual surgery." He leaned closer to Alicia. "A very private surgery. It’s why we came to you, you see."

"‘Cause you won’t run your big mouth." Billy added helpfully. He was leaning against a wall, arms crossed over his chest. "Just think of this as a favor, with pay."

"Right." Alicia gave Lily the once over. The girl was no older then fourteen, and seemed like she would be much too naive and much too sweet and all together too innocent. "What exactly does she need done?"

"She needs something removed." Billy filled-in. "I don’t think you’ll have done this one, afore." He tapped Lily on the shoulder. "Go on, take off your top, Lily love."

Lily looked up at him, disgusted. "No. I don’t think that’s how doctors work." She looked back to Boyd and Alicia, both of whom were glaring at Billy. "Is that how it works? I’m . . . new."

Boyd sighed. "No, no need to take it off." He moved back to her side. "Just...pull your shirt down a bit, yeah?"

Lily did as she was told. It caused her code to be exposed. It caused Alicia to gasp in a mix of surprise and shock.

"Is that . . . that’s a code-box for prisoners on the..." Alicia moved closer, wanting to get a better look. "We learned about this at the medical academy. We learned how to put them in, and how to take them out of dead bodies. Because . . . "

"No one gets off alive?" Billy offered cheekily.

Alicia shot him a look. "Yes." Her eyes moved to Boyd and narrowed. "Are you telling me this kid got off one of the planets? Some have tried, but . . . you don’t get off unless you die."

Boyd shrugged. "So, she died. That part doesn’t matter. What does matter is---can you take it out? It’s broken now, but it’s still a dead give away."

"Sure, sure. I can remove it." Alicia nervously cleared her throat. "Put your shirt right, Lily." Lily did as she was told. "We’ll do it now. It doesn’t take very long, actually. Lily," she locked eyes with the young girl. "is it okay if I put you to sleep? I’m going to cut into your chest and take out your code-box. Then, I’ll move everything back to where it should be and sew you back up." Alicia looked between Boyd and Billy. "You two can wait outside. It’ll take . . . three or four hours, relative time." She turned her attention back to Lily, her voice motherly. "I promise to try and make the afterward as painless as possible."

Lily nodded. "Thank you." As long as it didn’t hurt as much as it had when Holliday had bitten into her, Lily knew she’d be alright.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Alicia’s nurse had given Lily a white gown to wear. It was long and smelt clean and fresh. They laid her down on a white and cold bed. Everything was so white and clean. White walls, white sheets, white gowns, white pills to make her sleep. Alicia Price’s white surgical mask was the last thing Lily saw before the black darkness took hold of her.

______________________________________________________________________________

Lily awoke hours later, to find both Boyd and Billy sitting beside her bed. The first thing she felt was the nearly unbearable pain in her chest. It was coming from the place where her code-box was supposed to be. She let out a pained moan, as her right hand flew to her chest.

"Steady on." That was Billy, putting a comforting hand on her forehead. He pulled her right hand away from her chest. "Here." He pressed a button near her bed, a moment later the pain lessened. "There you go, doll."

Boyd smiled from his seat beside Billy. "Doc took your code-box out, Lily." He clicked his tongue. "Sadly, she destroyed it. A good thing too, as it was fairly disgusting. All wires and guts."

The code-box had been rather large, about the size of one of those old paperback books from the first Earth. It had been hard, metal. Alicia had been forced to move Lily’s heart a bit. Not that it mattered, the thing had practically been shoved to the side in order to make room for the code-box. Alicia had told Boyd and Billy to be careful of Lily’s fragile heart. Poor kid’s organ had been nearly fried to make room for the stupid box.

"Boyd and I have been talkin’." Billy whispered to Lily. "How would you like to come on a trip with us? Mm? We’ve got business on Ord and it might be fun for you."

Lily could only manage a weak smile, before her eyes drifted to the ceiling above her. The last thing she saw, before sleep took her, was the color white.