(insert name here) is a naive, entirely benign young soldier who has just been made captain, and is newly engaged to the wizard Harry Dresden. Just as his life seems like it couldn't get any better, he is framed as a spy/traitor/murderer/(insert other suitably nasty crime here) by four men, each with his own sinister aims, and sent to life imprisonment in whichever suitably fortress-like island prison you choose. During his years in prison, (insert name here) meets Shiro Yoshimo, a fellow prisoner who becomes his close friend. Shiro educates him in a variety of subjects, helps piece together the truth about his imprisonment, and before dying, tells of a treasure of unthinkable magnitude buried on the island of Demonreach. (insert name here) manages to escape, and finds the treasure. He returns to Chicago as the mysterious, brooding, immensely wealthy and highly cultivated Gentleman John Marcone. He discovers that the men who sent him to his fate have all become very rich and powerful, and sets about using their own evil pasts and tainted passions to enact an elaborate and cruel revenge on all of them. Would prefer it to end happily for both Harry and John, in a departure from the original novel, and for Morgan, the Denarians, and Mab to appear in some form.
Well, I just bought the ebook of Count of Monte Cristo to study up before I think about this prompt more. If anyone else is interested, please have a crack at it, otherwise I'll just tack this on to my list of prompts to get around to...oTL
It could be months before I get to this, but if no one else does, I will do my damnedest to give you something, anon <3 Because CoMC is my favorite Dumas book and this prompt is epic.
I have no restraint left when it comes to kink meme, that is the only explanation for this. God help me, I actually did RESEARCH for this one. Also writing this story is like riding a bull, every time I figure out where it's going it heads off in a different direction.
**
It was just a cheap motel room, with no more furnishing than a bed, and a fan turning gently in the humid summer air. The lights of the traffic going past threw shifting shadows on the two men on the bed. They kissed lazily in a post-coital tangle until the older man pulled away.
He was a fraction shorter than his companion, with a stockier build and his dark hair was in a buzz cut. He ran his hand through his lover's hair. “I have to go,” he sighed.
The other man smiled sadly “Last time though, right?”
“Last time,” the first man promised.
He washed in the bathroom while the other lay on the bed and watched him through the open door.
“Harry? Can you hand me my travel kit?” the man in the bathroom called. The younger man groaned as he rolled off the bed and padded over to the duffel bags on the floor. He rooted through on and pulled out the needed case. He paused as he saw what lay under the case.
“Mark, what is this?” he asked, holding up the box.
The other man winced when he saw it. “You weren't supposed to see that yet.”
“Mark?”
“I know it's only been six months but I'm never going to feel this way about anyone else.” His lover opened the box to find a pair of rings. “I wasn't going to ask you until I got home. I... Anything could happen and I don't want you to put your life on hold. Don't answer me until I get home, but since you found them you can hold onto one for me until I get back. If you want to...”
Harry's answer was to kiss him; hard, fast and passionately. “I'm not saying anything now.” The other man said smiling down at him. “But as soon as you ask me, I'm saying yes.”
They kissed some more, no longer lazy but trying to fit as many as they could into the time left. At the door Harry held his lover and whispered fiercely in his ear. “Come back to me. On time or late, whole or broken, only come back.” The last kiss was fierce, a fight and a benediction, a promise and a pledge. Harry watched Mark until he was out of sight.
******
A few nights later, Captain Mark Jones sat in the commissary of Fort Leonard Wood MO, with his friend Jim Harding, smiling at the ring tangled in the chain of his dog-tags.
“You still planning on leaving?” Harding asked
“Yeah. He's the one, I know it Jim, and it's just not worth being away from him. I'm not cut out for this life anyway. Unlike some people, I'm not an adjunct to the colonel at the age of 23” Mark slapped Jim on the shoulder and strolled out of the commissary.
There was a snort behind Harding. He turned to see his boss Colonel Vargassi looking past him at Mark. “What is this army coming to? Drunks like Mendoza,” he nodded at the Private who was drinking himself into a coma in a corner “and fags like Jones everywhere. I wish we could just get rid off them all.”
“Jones is leaving soon. It will all be over soon.”
Mark fingered his tags and felt the ring spin around the chain. He smiled in spite of himself as he thought of Harry. Somehow he would get out of here; if for no other reason than to keep his promise to Harry.
He had been here for nearly two years as far as he could guess but it felt like longer. He had used a spring from the mattress to scrape mortar from around a stone on the floor. After six months he had finally managed to lift the stone to reveal the packed dirt underneath. From then on he used the spring to loosen the dirt and then dug with his bare hands. It had taken him another year and three months but tonight was the night. He would be in the jungle and on his way to Harry by morning. He scraped away the dirt that blocked his escape to reveal... stone.
He slapped it angrily and it rang hollow. A minute later there was an answering knock. He rapped again rhythmically and the rhythm was repeated. "Who is there?" he called. "Shiro, a prisoner here like yourself."
"Captain Mark Jones, US Army. Can you lift the stone if I push it?"
There was a considering pause. "Yes."
With effort and cooperation the stone moved and Mark found himself in a cell identical to his. Its occupant was an old Asian man. He looked like the mentor in every martial arts film ever made. "What were you doing?"
"Trying to escape. I thought I had dug far enough. What's outside your window?" he said nodding at the grating high in the wall.
"A courtyard. Beyond the door is a corridor filled with Red Court Vampires. I am afraid your efforts have not brought you much success."
"Vampires? Red Court?"
Shiro looked hard at Mark. "You don't know anything do you?"
"You're the first person I've seen since January of 1996. My platoon was returning to the evac point after a raid on a drug-lords compound. We were ambushed and I woke up here. Where ever this is."
"This is the Castillo De Casaverde; home of Don Paolo Ortega, Duke of the Red Court. He uses the dungeons as a prison for those who he can neither allow to roam free nor kill. Why he should imprison you rather than kill you I don't know. Tell me about yourself."
There wasn't much to tell. Mark was an orphan, joined the Army at 17 where he met Jim Harding in base training and became best friends. Mark had risen to become a Captain in Special Ops at 25. "Then, two years four months and five days ago I met the love of my life, Harry Dresden. I was going to leave the Army to marry him after this mission. There was no reason for any one to toss me in prison."
"You were a well-placed man in the Army, you were in love, you were happy. Three reasons for many to hate you. People do not like to see others succeed where they have failed. Tell me about the investigation you mentioned?"
"There was talk that someone was smuggling drugs through the base. I know Colonel Vargessi was stressed about it but Jim said there was nothing to worry about."
"Who knew about your mission?"
"The colonel, the men on my team, Jim, who ever ordered it at the Pentagon. Oh, Archeleone probably knew too."
"Who?"
"Nicholas Archeleone. CID sent him down to the base to look into the drug running."
"Did you ever speak to him?"
"Yeah, we caught a couple of privates and a corporal in the motor pool. I was the one that overheard them. There wasn't much I could tell CID though. They mentioned the name Niccodemus and Anduriel but I didn't get any context. Archeleone and Vargessi were pretty mad I arrested them. They wanted to set up a sting but I spoiled it."
"I imagine they were. The Vargessis are a famous crime family, they have strong ties to the drug lords you were working against. As for Nicholas Archeleone, he is a 2000 year old demon; head of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. His true name is Niccodemus Archeleone and he works in partnership with the demon Anduriel. I had heard he was working with Ortega. You were set up. If anything I would say you are lucky to be alive. Ortega must have his own plans for you."
Mark blinked in shock. "No, Jim would have known if something was going on."
"I would say he's working with them. Even if he wasn't he's in love with you."
"I would have noticed." Mark said desperately.
"As you noticed the drugs passing through the base? You were head over heels in love. You wouldn't have noticed a circus setting up camp at the gates unless it stopped you seeing Harry." Mark nodded wryly. "Everything you have described about him says that he was in love with you and consumed with jealousy towards Harry. Ortega and Vargessi were channeling drugs through your base; Niccodemus went to the base to provide a pretense at an investigation; and probably to get his claws into Vargessi. You stumbled upon an expendable link in their organization but if you mentioned what you heard to a real investigator it could expose them all. You had to be disposed of. Three powerful men needing you gone to continue their trade in peace and the only man who might stumble upon the truth hating you for rejecting his love."
Mark snarled and Shiro nodded. "I can see that you want revenge. That can be good. Take that energy and channel it for yourself. You don't know anything about the world your enemies work in. I can teach you and together we can escape."
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timeasmymeasure
Dresden/Marcone - The Count of Monte Cristo. Yes, I am a nerd.
Date: 2011-02-23 08:04 pm (UTC)During his years in prison, (insert name here) meets Shiro Yoshimo, a fellow prisoner who becomes his close friend. Shiro educates him in a variety of subjects, helps piece together the truth about his imprisonment, and before dying, tells of a treasure of unthinkable magnitude buried on the island of Demonreach. (insert name here) manages to escape, and finds the treasure.
He returns to Chicago as the mysterious, brooding, immensely wealthy and highly cultivated Gentleman John Marcone. He discovers that the men who sent him to his fate have all become very rich and powerful, and sets about using their own evil pasts and tainted passions to enact an elaborate and cruel revenge on all of them.
Would prefer it to end happily for both Harry and John, in a departure from the original novel, and for Morgan, the Denarians, and Mab to appear in some form.
Re: Dresden/Marcone - The Count of Monte Cristo. Yes, I am a nerd.
Date: 2011-02-23 11:09 pm (UTC)It could be months before I get to this, but if no one else does, I will do my damnedest to give you something, anon <3 Because CoMC is my favorite Dumas book and this prompt is epic.
Re: Dresden/Marcone - The Count of Monte Cristo. Yes, I am a nerd.
Date: 2011-02-24 12:13 am (UTC)OP
Date: 2011-02-24 05:05 pm (UTC)Fill: The <insert title here> of <insert place here> 1/?
Date: 2011-03-13 01:47 am (UTC)**
It was just a cheap motel room, with no more furnishing than a bed, and a fan turning gently in the humid summer air. The lights of the traffic going past threw shifting shadows on the two men on the bed. They kissed lazily in a post-coital tangle until the older man pulled away.
He was a fraction shorter than his companion, with a stockier build and his dark hair was in a buzz cut. He ran his hand through his lover's hair. “I have to go,” he sighed.
The other man smiled sadly “Last time though, right?”
“Last time,” the first man promised.
He washed in the bathroom while the other lay on the bed and watched him through the open door.
“Harry? Can you hand me my travel kit?” the man in the bathroom called. The younger man groaned as he rolled off the bed and padded over to the duffel bags on the floor. He rooted through on and pulled out the needed case. He paused as he saw what lay under the case.
“Mark, what is this?” he asked, holding up the box.
The other man winced when he saw it. “You weren't supposed to see that yet.”
“Mark?”
“I know it's only been six months but I'm never going to feel this way about anyone else.” His lover opened the box to find a pair of rings. “I wasn't going to ask you until I got home. I... Anything could happen and I don't want you to put your life on hold. Don't answer me until I get home, but since you found them you can hold onto one for me until I get back. If you want to...”
Harry's answer was to kiss him; hard, fast and passionately. “I'm not saying anything now.” The other man said smiling down at him. “But as soon as you ask me, I'm saying yes.”
They kissed some more, no longer lazy but trying to fit as many as they could into the time left. At the door Harry held his lover and whispered fiercely in his ear. “Come back to me. On time or late, whole or broken, only come back.” The last kiss was fierce, a fight and a benediction, a promise and a pledge. Harry watched Mark until he was out of sight.
******
A few nights later, Captain Mark Jones sat in the commissary of Fort Leonard Wood MO, with his friend Jim Harding, smiling at the ring tangled in the chain of his dog-tags.
“You still planning on leaving?” Harding asked
“Yeah. He's the one, I know it Jim, and it's just not worth being away from him. I'm not cut out for this life anyway. Unlike some people, I'm not an adjunct to the colonel at the age of 23” Mark slapped Jim on the shoulder and strolled out of the commissary.
There was a snort behind Harding. He turned to see his boss Colonel Vargassi looking past him at Mark. “What is this army coming to? Drunks like Mendoza,” he nodded at the Private who was drinking himself into a coma in a corner “and fags like Jones everywhere. I wish we could just get rid off them all.”
“Jones is leaving soon. It will all be over soon.”
“It had better be.”
Fill: The Gentleman of Chicago 2/?
Date: 2011-03-18 04:06 am (UTC)He had been here for nearly two years as far as he could guess but it felt like longer. He had used a spring from the mattress to scrape mortar from around a stone on the floor. After six months he had finally managed to lift the stone to reveal the packed dirt underneath. From then on he used the spring to loosen the dirt and then dug with his bare hands. It had taken him another year and three months but tonight was the night. He would be in the jungle and on his way to Harry by morning. He scraped away the dirt that blocked his escape to reveal... stone.
He slapped it angrily and it rang hollow. A minute later there was an answering knock. He rapped again rhythmically and the rhythm was repeated. "Who is there?" he called. "Shiro, a prisoner here like yourself."
"Captain Mark Jones, US Army. Can you lift the stone if I push it?"
There was a considering pause. "Yes."
With effort and cooperation the stone moved and Mark found himself in a cell identical to his. Its occupant was an old Asian man. He looked like the mentor in every martial arts film ever made. "What were you doing?"
"Trying to escape. I thought I had dug far enough. What's outside your window?" he said nodding at the grating high in the wall.
"A courtyard. Beyond the door is a corridor filled with Red Court Vampires. I am afraid your efforts have not brought you much success."
"Vampires? Red Court?"
Shiro looked hard at Mark. "You don't know anything do you?"
"You're the first person I've seen since January of 1996. My platoon was returning to the evac point after a raid on a drug-lords compound. We were ambushed and I woke up here. Where ever this is."
"This is the Castillo De Casaverde; home of Don Paolo Ortega, Duke of the Red Court. He uses the dungeons as a prison for those who he can neither allow to roam free nor kill. Why he should imprison you rather than kill you I don't know. Tell me about yourself."
There wasn't much to tell. Mark was an orphan, joined the Army at 17 where he met Jim Harding in base training and became best friends. Mark had risen to become a Captain in Special Ops at 25. "Then, two years four months and five days ago I met the love of my life, Harry Dresden. I was going to leave the Army to marry him after this mission. There was no reason for any one to toss me in prison."
"You were a well-placed man in the Army, you were in love, you were happy. Three reasons for many to hate you. People do not like to see others succeed where they have failed. Tell me about the investigation you mentioned?"
"There was talk that someone was smuggling drugs through the base. I know Colonel Vargessi was stressed about it but Jim said there was nothing to worry about."
"Who knew about your mission?"
"The colonel, the men on my team, Jim, who ever ordered it at the Pentagon. Oh, Archeleone probably knew too."
"Who?"
"Nicholas Archeleone. CID sent him down to the base to look into the drug running."
"Did you ever speak to him?"
"Yeah, we caught a couple of privates and a corporal in the motor pool. I was the one that overheard them. There wasn't much I could tell CID though. They mentioned the name Niccodemus and Anduriel but I didn't get any context. Archeleone and Vargessi were pretty mad I arrested them. They wanted to set up a sting but I spoiled it."
"I imagine they were. The Vargessis are a famous crime family, they have strong ties to the drug lords you were working against. As for Nicholas Archeleone, he is a 2000 year old demon; head of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. His true name is Niccodemus Archeleone and he works in partnership with the demon Anduriel. I had heard he was working with Ortega. You were set up. If anything I would say you are lucky to be alive. Ortega must have his own plans for you."
Mark blinked in shock. "No, Jim would have known if something was going on."
"I would say he's working with them. Even if he wasn't he's in love with you."
"I would have noticed." Mark said desperately.
"As you noticed the drugs passing through the base? You were head over heels in love. You wouldn't have noticed a circus setting up camp at the gates unless it stopped you seeing Harry." Mark nodded wryly. "Everything you have described about him says that he was in love with you and consumed with jealousy towards Harry. Ortega and Vargessi were channeling drugs through your base; Niccodemus went to the base to provide a pretense at an investigation; and probably to get his claws into Vargessi. You stumbled upon an expendable link in their organization but if you mentioned what you heard to a real investigator it could expose them all. You had to be disposed of. Three powerful men needing you gone to continue their trade in peace and the only man who might stumble upon the truth hating you for rejecting his love."
Mark snarled and Shiro nodded. "I can see that you want revenge. That can be good. Take that energy and channel it for yourself. You don't know anything about the world your enemies work in. I can teach you and together we can escape."
Re: Fill: The Gentleman of Chicago 2/?
Date: 2011-03-18 07:18 am (UTC)Oh, Hai Shiro! :D
Re: Fill: The Gentleman of Chicago 2/?
Date: 2011-03-18 11:11 am (UTC)Re: Fill: The Gentleman of Chicago 2/?
Date: 2011-03-18 04:50 pm (UTC)