The Shrink Program

Chapter 121

"You have five minutes."

The calmness of Apollo's tone is what caught my attention. After who knows how long of frustration and anger, the almost tired tone defined these words from his previous threats.

"If you don't come out before then, I will use my own means to make you." With a sigh, the giant boy flipped to lay on his back. "And this is your last warning."

Well, I was going to come out earlier than that, since its pretty boring under here, but since you insist...

"I know that this is hard for you to believe, considering our recent history, but I'm the last person you should be worrying about here." Apollo murmured in a bored tone, finally regaining his composure.

"In fact, I'm probably the closest thing you have to an ally at the moment."

Startled by the admission, I glanced up, looking through the distant crack to see Apollo's head lying flat so that he was looking up at the ceiling.

The fact that he didn't want to look at me when he spoke could mean many things. Like he was lying through his teeth just to get me out... Or that he was embarrassed because he was being honest...

"I suppose if I want you to trust me, I should explain why I'm here... After trying so hard to throw a wrench in my father's plans and all." He muttered sarcastically, his voice bitter.

In the end, the better you know a person, the easier it is to understand their body language.

Apollo sighed heavily. "...but it's complicated, not to mention all sorts of private... Just... Damn it, Maddison, I know that I'm not exactly the nicest person you've ever met, but surely you don't think I'm capable of....!" He began to sit up, propping himself up on his elbows before he thought better of it and sank back to the floor with a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever, I don't care what you think. You better just pull yourself together before you crawl out from there. Curling up and crying won't buy you any mercy in the Underground."

I probably didn't know Apollo that well to trust him, or to read into his motives. Hell, I didn't know him well enough to understand his body language.

All I knew was that Apollo had never before had any trouble in the past, looking me in the eye and lying straight to my face.

And right now, he was floundering like a fish out of water, completely out of his element.

Which was probably meant was being sincere.

Damn. And I was so looking forward to getting my revenge on him. Life just isn't fair.

I'd like to say that it was courage that finally broke my silence. But if I were to be completely honest, I would have to admit that indignation played a far greater role.

"Excuse me?" I hissed angrily in the darkness, making Apollo visible stiffen in surprise. "I am not crying. Apart from staying outreach of the snarly rage monster, I have been spending my time thinking."

"Say it isn't true," Apollo muttered dramatically, turning his head to sarcastically roll his one visible eye at me.

Crossing my arms, I gave him my haughtiest glare... More for my nerve than anything else. "I'm afraid that it is all too true, and that you have once again underestimated me Apollo. No, my time under this wardrobe was cunningly spent contemplating the great questions of life."

I smirked, holding up a lecturing finger.

"Questions like "What the hell is Apollo doing here cooperating with the underground?" Or "Why the hell is usually stoic Apollo freaking out like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar?" And my personal favourite, "Why the hell did Apollo fall for the dumbest trick in the book?"

Apollo's eye narrowed, not seeming all that impressed.

I smiled, nodding knowingly to myself.

"Then I asked myself, what was Apollo doing when he freaked out at the possibility of someone being behind him?"

My smile softened a little, only because I was pretty sure he couldn't see me properly in the dark.

"What Apollo was doing was giving Jump Boots to the prisoner."

Apollo remained silent, sitting up so that I could no longer see his face.

The poor kids in awe of my brilliant intellect, obviously.

"So, from his actions, we can tell that Apollo is obviously not cooperating with the Underground." I continued smugly.

"But the fact that Apollo panicked at the thought of being caught giving me the boots, as well as me using them to escape..... Oh, and the way he has been so stressed out his emo hair looks fit to start falling out... Draws me to the conclusion that Apollo desperately doesn't want anyone to know that he isn't an obedient little pup."

Crawling to my knees, I begin to make my way out.

"So, Apollo is cooperating with the Underground, meanwhile going out of his way not to cooperate with the Underground. The risk of being caught not cooperating is driving him up the wall, obvious because of the one thing that could make him cooperate with the Underground in the first place. The thing that, up until this point, he thought was perfectly safe, tucked away in the Shrink Program."

Apollo made no move to grab me as I finally crawled out from underneath the wardrobe. Climbing to my feet, I delicately brushed off my gown, before meeting his guarded gaze.

"Let me guess, they decided to bring big brother home to quell little Apollo's rebellious phase," I smirked, hands on hips. "And now that they have Artemis under their thumb, you have to listen to whatever daddy tells you to do."

Apollo's glared down at me, jaw clenching with obvious annoyance.

Good.

"You seem rather confident with your theory Maddison." He said darkly. "Tell me then, oh wise one, why did I give you the boots. As you said, I have every reason to do as I'm told. What exactly do you think could motivate me to go against orders and help you, considering what is on the line here?"

Before he could finish the question, I was grinning at him, hands triumphantly placed on hips.

"That's the most obvious thing of all Apollo. Obviously, there is a plot afoot. Someone here has a plan, and that plan involves the almighty me, saving your asses."

I gave him a superior wink. "Not that I blame you for hero-worshipping me. Not only am I your senior in all things." I drew myself up to my full, minuscule height.

"I'm also ninety-nine percent sure that I am in fact, taller than you."

Apollo facepalmed.

"Do you really think you should be lording that particular advantage over me at the moment?" He growled, but I only snickered at his ignorance.

So long as he is shorter than me, not a single day will pass without me mentioning the fact!

Underneath my amusement, lurked dread.

Once again, I had become the pawn in someone's plan.

But on the bright side, at least there was a plan now.

Knowing that there was some hope, enough that Apollo would risk his brother's safety, gave me all the courage I needed.

I was more than ready to get out there and kick Underground in its special place... But first... One last thing to be set straight.

"Fine, I get it. But seriously, Apollo?" I rolled my eyes, giving him a disgusted look. "My enemies enemy is my friend? Did you think you could escape my wrath just by associating yourself with me for our mutual benefit?" I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. "If you really want to establish a truce with me and avoid my revenge, you're gonna have'ta start begging for my forgiveness quick smart kiddo."

Apollo's eye twitched once. And that was all the warning I needed.

"Ah...but under these extenuating circumstances, I feel it may be best to postpone the begging for later." I pointed at him warningly. "But doesn't mean you're getting out of it!"