So…have you ever had a story concept sneak up on you? You know, the sort that looks like some nice, fluffy little bunny, a short one, a little one, one that will take oh, maybe an hour or two to whomp out and then it’ll be out of your system. But when you pick up the nice fluffy little bunny it suddenly morphs into this monster thing with teeth and claws, demanding huge amounts of planning, plotting, characterization, world building…you know, that sort of bunny? *glares at the Bunny o’Doom growling at her menacingly*

Yeah. Well, let this be a lesson to you about picking up bunnies without proper protection. I picked this one up yesterday, thinking, eh, it’s a little idea, not a big deal, but it consumed—quite literally—about eight hours yesterday. Just on planning, mind you, not on any writing at all! It made me go out to find actors to play the various characters in my head—which was great fun, but still: eight hours! And then finding the actors made me come up with relationships between them. And then I had to find my Bad Guys. And then plan out (a little—I think I’ve got a clue but I’m not 100% sure yet) what the Bad Guys were doing. And then the Bad Guys had to have confederates and agents and supporters, and … well, let’s just say this went from a one hour riff to what could be a whole flipping trilogy if I let it.

But on the plus side, I cast my favorite actors from Smallville, CSI, and Torchwood as characters (plus a small handful of young blond actresses as seductive slave girls who shall be plot foils at times, but will be Otherwise Ignored). This is most definitely not an AU blend of Smallville, CSI and Torchwood. This is an original fic with specific actors chosen to play the roles of specific characters, just ‘cuz I like how they look and sound. Consider it like being cast for a movie without them getting to veto me or demand pay. Of course, they also don’t have to do anything but lend me their faces and metaphorical voices, so it’s all good. *Grin*

So who’s who (as if you care at this point)?

Tom Welling (Smallville) = Jacob Baird, a brand new Debt Slave
Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) = Tommy Leigh, a somewhat hardened and cynical Debt Slave
Kristen Kruek (Smallville) = Emma Lopez, a brand new Debt Slave who’s a brainy little twit who Shall Get In Trouble Inevitably
Erik Szmanda (CSI) = Jeff Cooper, an experienced & very happy Debt Slave

William Peterson (CSI) = John Boles, a rich businessman & the new owner of Jacob & Tommy, as well as long-time owner of Jeff
John Glover (Smallville) = Greg Harper, another rich owner, this time of Emma. He’s also John’s best friend.
Naoko Mori (Torchwood) = Felice Hong, a BAD rich owner, formerly of Tommy and currently of several of the seductive blond girls.

Angelina Jolie (Just ‘cuz I like her!) = Debt Slave Services Agent Carol Martin, the agent in charge of this group of debt slave’s wellbeing.

That’s just the beginning. I’ve got James Marsters (my baddest Baddie), Christian Bale, John Barrowman, George Eads, Robert Downey Jr, and a few others in the mix as well. XD See what I meant about pulling in my favorite actors? Much fun!

So what’s the concept that ate me alive? Very simple: what if people were allowed to pay off their debts by becoming Debt Slaves? Not true slaves, who are just property, but debt slaves, like being an indentured servant. Their movements would be limited, they’d have to do what their master ordered, but they’d still be people, and would still have rights, and couldn’t be sexually or otherwise abused. What would that do to a society? How could you loose your rights and could you become a true slave? What happened to you then? These questions (and about a million more) hit me as I started hearing Jacob (Tom Welling) and Tommy (Mike Rosenbaum) comparing notes as they were being processed for training as Debt Slaves. So, in the hope that this will appease the monster-bunny a bit, here’s a bit of the story. Consider it a prologue or intro or maybe just a disconnected little riff of writing floating out of my head. Read if you like, not if you don’t but comments are always much loved! (Just don’t feed the bunny—it’s already eating me alive!)

Author: me_ya_ri
Story: Debts to Recover: Prologue
Rating: PG
Warning: Slave Fic, very AU of our world, original fic.
Word Count: Approx 1300 words
Summary: Three young debt slaves start training (or retraining in one case) so that they can serve their new masters, repay their debts, and become free citizens once again.
Feedback: Comments (even if it’s just that you read) are much loved and concrit is much appreciated!

The private processing center wasn’t that bad, Tommy thought. He’d seen worse. His second master’s processing center had been a meat market. The first had been a brothel. This was like a small college campus, with dorms, classrooms, and a nice electric fence with barb wire and television monitors around the outside. Don’t want us escaping, I guess, Tommy thought sourly.

Agent Carol Martin was nattering on, explaining the facilities, what was going to happen to them, what she’d be doing for them. He didn’t listen. He’d heard her spiel twice before, and could probably recite it for her. The big kid listened hard, nodded frequently and took it seriously. The little girl had a puzzled expression as she clutched her orientation folder to her chest.

“Tommy, at least pretend to listen,” Agent Martin said, giving him a glare, pout and flip of her hair over her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Tommy said, grinning unrepentantly at her.

“Try not to get in more trouble,” she said, shaking her head in dismay as they headed inside. “I’ll go process the paperwork and be right back. Make yourselves at home. And no trouble, Tommy. I mean it!”

/>The waiting room was nice, with comfortable chairs, bottled water, muffins and honest to goodness pastries for them to eat. Tommy wasted no time in grabbing two maple bars and a bottle of water. He hadn’t had pastries since he’d been sold three years ago. The girl hovered, looked at the food, hesitated, sat down, stood up, sat again, and generally looked as lost as was humanly possible. The big kid grabbed a muffin and bottle of water, sitting next to Tommy.

“This is nice,” the kid said, munching on his muffin.

“This is fucking unheard of,” Tommy disagreed, greedily inhaling his first maple bar. “First time you’ve been sold?”

“Yeah,” the kid said, swallowing, wiping his hand on his jeans and the offering it to Tommy. “I’m Jacob Baird. Call me Jay. How about you?”

“Tommy Leigh,” Tommy replied, shaking the kid’s huge hand. Made him feel tiny. “Third new owner for me. I um, kind of have had trouble ‘adjusting’.”

Which was code for his being stupidly stubborn, doing what was right, not what his masters ordered, and being a general busybody who couldn’t keep his nose out of trouble. Jay didn’t seem to get that, from the puzzled expression in his eyes, but he turned to the girl, smiling somewhat hesitantly at her. She started as they looked at her, got up and went to check out the door.

“Um, yeah, not one of your more social people,” Tommy muttered to Jay. Jay grinned at him. Tommy grinned back, and then they were laughing like old friends.

“So what happens next?” Jay asked, looking around. “I expected to be sold as a farm laborer. I grew up on a farm and did this to pay of the debts. I never expected to end up someplace like this.”

“Odd, you must have done well on the testing,” Tommy commented, eating his second maple bar a lot more slowly, savoring it. God only knew when he’d get another one, after all. He still had something like $85,000 to pay off on his debt; damn his father’s gambling anyway.

“Well, they did give me a ton of tests and then make these approving humming sounds as they reviewed the results,” Jay said, shrugging. “Don’t know why. I’m not that smart. Besides, all I’ve ever wanted to do was run the family farm. That’s why we went the debt slave route when the loans got too much to handle. Gave the parents a chance to pay everything off, get themselves on their feet again, and me—supposedly—a chance to learn more about farms from other farmers. I’m planning on going home again once this is all over.”

“That doesn’t look like it worked out so good,” Tommy quipped, getting a laugh from Jay.

He stiffened as an obvious Master swept into the room. He was older, with long brown hair, a full beard, wearing an expensive suit and a worried expression. Tommy had seen far too many of them in the last three years. Some of them were good guys, but most of them tended to think that because they were rich and powerful, they had the right to order everyone around. If you were a debt slave, it was worse. You were supposed to check your brain at the door and do as you were told. Tommy had never been any good at that. Unlike Tommy, the girl relaxed the instant she saw the Master.

“Oh, thank goodness,” the Master said, going over to her. “I was so worried that you’d been sent somewhere else accidentally, Emma. I’m glad that I found you. We’ll just get you out of here and everything will be fine.”

“Thank you, Mr. Harper,” Emma said, beaming at him. “I really wasn’t sure that I was supposed to be here, but Agent Carol said that I was.”

“You’re most certainly not supposed to be here,” Master Harper huffed. “I’ve already got your quarters and job duties set up. We’ll get the paperwork completed and you’ll start your new job right away.”

A second Master came in, chuckling at Master Harper. He was older, with graying hair, a beard, and a commanding presence. His eyes flicked over Tommy and Jay, taking them in. Tommy’s throat just about sealed up. This was one he better not piss off. He wasn’t going to take any shit from Tommy; that was clear. Even Jay seemed to see it, sitting up a lot straighter, brushing the crumbs off of his lap. Tommy set his last two bites of maple bar aside. He didn’t think he could eat them now.

“Now, Greg,” the second Master said to Master Harper, “you know the girl needs a proper orientation.”

“Not at all,” Master Harper said firmly. “Emma’s the one I outbid you on, John. Emma Lopez, this is my best friend and conscience Mr. John Boles. John, this is the doctoral student Emma.”

“Oh, yes!” Master Boles said, nodding and shaking Emma’s hand warmly. “I remember that little bidding war. At least we priced you right out of Felice Hong’s hands. That wouldn’t have been a good thing for a nice girl like you.”

Emma and Jay didn’t seem to have a clue who Felice Hong was, but Tommy flinched, feeling himself go pale. He knew who she was, and hoped he never had another encounter with her. She was one of the bad Masters, the ones who thought they owned your soul when they paid off your debts. He’d been lucky to escape her with as few scars as he did. Master Boles saw the flinch, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Jay and Tommy. The intense gaze made Tommy tremble in spite of himself. Damn it, he hadn’t even said anything yet!

“Ah, you’re here,” Agent Carol said, sweeping back into the room with stacks of paperwork. “Perfect. We have forms for you to sign, Mr. Harper, Mr. Boles. While you’re working on these,” she plunked two big stacks of paper in the Master’s arms, “I’ll work on updating their implants to reflect the sale.”

Tommy tried to calm down as Agent Carol came over with the implant reader. He wasn’t in trouble. He wasn’t in trouble. Please, God, let him not be in trouble before he’d even opened his mouth! Jay’s hand rested on Tommy’s shoulder, large, warm and surprisingly reassuring. Tommy smiled at him, more than aware of how weak the smile was, but grateful for the comfort. Hopefully they wouldn’t be split up immediately. He kind of liked the kid and it’d be nice to have an ally against the other slaves if this turned out to be another one of the bad Masters. Please let the third time be the charm!


Now let’s see if I can get back to Kio’s Dance and Forbidden Fortress, or heaven forefend actually complete the next part of the Twinverse. e_e