JP - Cook Already Knows

Min was very stiff at first, but she put her arms around Elizabeth and relaxed slightly.

Cook chuckled and smiled at Min. “She really cares about you. Don’t hesitate to tell her anything.” He told her.

Min’s face turned red again.

Elizabeth smiled as she finally let go and was dancing around the room like some hyperactive ballerina. Cook watched and shook his head. “I wish I had that kind of energy,” He said.

Min shook her head. She never had a fraction of that energy.

“Think she’s like this because she’s an experiment?” Cook asked Min.

“Maybe?” Min shrugged. “I hardly know anything about metas and the experimentation that had gone on in that place.

“A lot of experimentation goes on, sadly.” Elizabeth spoke up. “I was born in a tank. Literally. There are some people that are metas who got brought in and…Thrane’s done some horrible things to them.” She had a disturbed look on her face and shuddered.

“I’m glad I’m not there anymore.” Min said, hugging herself. She did not like thinking about what they would do to her. They wanted her to bear that monster’s child.

“I think we all are,” Elizabeth smiled brightly. “Thrane used to make me sleep with a lot of the guards and some other metas, but I never got pregnant, so I think I’m…uh…uh…what’s the word?”

“Oh.” Min never got pregnant because she had been on the pill. She looked at the floor.

“I’m glad you didn’t get pregnant with that idiot’s babies. It means I can spoil you!” Elizabeth said proudly.

Cook chuckled. “That’s not how it works, Elizabeth.”

“But I want to show her that there are people that care because…because I care!” Elizabeth blurted and waved a hand playfully at him. “We’ll get you comfortable, find you nice clothes, and you’ll never have to get hurt again!”

Cook didn’t say much now. He didn’t want to. He’d looked up about Min and knew the kind of work she’d been doing. The look he gave her said she would be fine.

“I couldn’t get pregnant, I was on the Pill…” Min looked at Cook, confused by his look.

Cook looked at Elizabeth. “Can I talk to Min privately for a moment?” He asked.

“You ain’t gonna do anything, are you?!” Elizabeth gave him a warning look that he was not impressed by. “Hm…okay.” She stepped outside, knowing he could be trusted.

Once Elizabeth closed the door, Cook looked at Min. “I know the kind of work you did and you won’t ever have to go back to that again.” He told her in a calm voice. “You deserve to have a better life.”

“How’d you find out?” Min asked, flushing in shame and looking at the floor.

“MegaCorp seems to have files on everyone.” Cook said. “I was worried and looked it up, but I didn’t read more than a page or two. Don’t feel ashamed of it, okay? Everyone does what they have to in order to survive, Min. Even I did…” He had worked for the fuckers known as MegaCorp after all.

“It’s how he found me, got me…” Min still stared at the floor. “He… he was the worst.”

“And the last, Min.” Cook got up and walked over to her. “Elizabeth and I are here for you now.” He gently tugged her chin up and smiled. “Be proud.”

Tears flooded Min’s eyes and her shoulders shook with sobs. She did not think she had done anything to be proud of.

Cook pulled Min into a gentle hug and gave her a kind smile. “I know you probably don’t think you have a damn thing to be proud of, but who is the one alive and standing in this room with me, hm? You are.” He reassured her.

“What does being alive have to do with anything?” Min asked, wiping her eyes, still sobbing softly.

“Most of that monster’s victims usually break completely or die.” Cook told her. “You lived, though. Even if people saved you, you still had the will to keep living, Min. That should count.”