Chapter Text
Giovanni was a fucking creep. That was Alex’s grand conclusion after however-many-weeks it was that he had been here. The guy had a permanent smirk etched on his face, and his eyes lingered a little too long on Alex for comfort, as if sizing him up for some unseen agenda. It wasn't just the unsettling way he carried himself; it was the way he seemed to move with impunity in the prison. Alex couldn’t help but wonder if the man had or was secretly making some kind of weapon.
Whispers and glances followed Giovanni wherever he went. The man seemed to have some sort of pull in the prison. The other inmates seemed to make an effort to not be on his bad side. Except for Ali. The man seemed determined to either piss off Giovanni or protect Alex. He wasn’t quite sure why. Alex kept a wide berth from the guy, understanding that crossing paths with him could lead to trouble. Plus, the guy set off every stranger-danger alarm in his head.
It didn’t help that the man. Would not. Leave. Him. Alone. It felt like everywhere he turned there was an obnoxiously friendly Giovanni trying to ply him with small gifts for something . The warden seemed to have done his best to arrange it so they had opposite schedules. It did not seem to matter to Giovanni. That, or he had bribed the guards somehow into letting him do whatever activities he wanted, regardless of when things were scheduled.
The guards seemed plenty happy to just watch what happened, so Alex wasn’t sure he trusted them to intercede on his behalf if things got rough. That said, it seemed that the oldest prisoner stepped up to bat. Ali was old enough to be his great grandfather. Alex wasn’t sure why the man liked him, given the history the UK had with Iraq, but maybe that had been before the old dude’s time? Either way, he wasn’t about to bring that up until he at least knew Ali a little better.
Ali yanked him into a camera blind spot one day. For a decrepit old dude, he was surprisingly strong. Then again, he claimed to have once been part of a military. “You must stay away from Giovanni.”
Alex gave Ali an incredibly dry look. These people really seemed to think he was dumb or something. The interrogations and weapons expert returned it without blinking. “I figured that out, thanks.”
Ali made a grumbling noise. It sounded vaguely like Arabic, but Alex wasn’t entirely sure. “He is the type to buy young catamites. I know his kind. There were a lot of them in the slave markets of-”
Alex was sure that he and Ali would have been able to continue this fascinating conversation later if Giovanni hadn’t barged in on them. He immediately pulled his features into something passively neutral. “Telling old ghost stories already? What are you going to do ne-”
CRUNCH!!!
Ali’s furious expression would be burned into Alex’s memory forever. Blood gushed from Giovanni’s broken nose. Alex knew that the punch could be fatal if the nose was broken just right. The books from the letter had explained these things in great detail.
Giovanni’s eyes flashed as he drew what looked to be a homemade weapon. He glared and uttered a slur directed at Ali. The pointed edge gleamed in the low light. Their eyes burned as they eyed each other. “You’re going to regret that.”
Ali didn’t bother responding before he tackled Giovanni.
THUMP!!!
It was probably the most vicious tackle Alex had ever witnessed. Ali attempted to slam Giovanni’s head into the concrete floor several times.
This was going to be an ugly fight. Alex had only been in two truly life-threatening fights before, but he knew enough to recognize one. There were muffled thumps and swears as the two grappled on the floor.
Alex felt his heart beginning to pound as he heard a faint alarm go off in the background. A flash of light caught his eye as Giovanni tried to stab Ali.
Some sort of reflex kicked in at that point as Alex ran towards the two and grabbed Giovanni’s wrist with both hands and twisted until it popped.
Giovanni swore loudly and managed to throw Ali off, attempting to rise from the ground and accidentally putting weight on his injured wrist. Alex watched him wobble slightly as he advanced towards Alex.
Suddenly, everything fell into place. Giovanni was trying to groom him. Ali seemed to object on moral grounds of some sort. Did Ali still have morals? Did anyone in this prison? The warden had tried to warn him.
A lunge from Giovanni closed the distance between them, but Ali had recovered just enough to stick his leg out to trip Giovanni.
Time seemed to slow as the Italian man fell forwards. He was taller than Alex, and stronger, but headed face first towards him.
Alex felt his heart skip a beat as his hand clamped around the blade. His vision swam with red as he slammed the knife into Giovanni’s left eye.
Blood gushed from the wound as Alex ripped the knife out. He faintly heard screaming in the background as his ears rang. It vaguely registered that the screaming was him. All he could hear was his own heartbeat as the doors to the room slammed open to reveal six guards.
Two of them tackled Ali. Alex hoped that the man didn’t get any broken bones from that. Two more went after the now-corpse-formerly-Giovanni. Honestly, Alex was out of fucks to give if his corpse got desecrated.
Two of the gingerly approached him. Each of them carried a small dart. Alex promptly dropped the weapon as his vision swam with black.
A gentle hand was laid on his shoulder. The guard said a few words to him that Alex couldn’t make out through the pounding in his head. He felt a faint pinch in his bicep. A hand clamped around his other arm as a wave of dizziness spread through him. The floor seemed to surge up towards him and he knew nothing more.