It had been forever and River still had not seen or heard anything about Tahk. He’d been tossed into a training facility and immediately underwent the most rigorous training he’d ever imagined. It was worse than the military, he imagined, because he was the only one there. One little step out of line and there was Col. Barry Sanderson, screaming down his neck. He learned all kind of martial arts, different teachers all of the time, teaching him different methods, different techniques, different styles. His body was pushed to the limit daily and his mind constantly underwent abuse as well.
He didn’t know what day it was and he never got a day off. Everything blended together and he quickly forgot about complaining, only about learning, training, become better, faster, smarter.
He didn’t get to decide what he ate, when he slept, or what he did when not training. Food was brought out to him and he was watched and forced to eat all of it. They told him when to go to sleep and watched to make sure he did. They woke him up when they felt like it and when he was too exhausted to move, they watched to make sure he didn’t. He wasn’t sure if he was still sane or not. He hated how they constantly watched everything.
At one point, one had asked if he needed to jerk off and without River replying simply turned his back and said he wouldn’t look. River had told him to fuck off and stared at the stainless steel wall of his room for an hour.
He stripped down to shower and when he looked in the mirror, he didn’t recognize his body anymore. They even watched him in the shower to make sure he didn’t do anything they didn’t want him to do.
“How long have I been here?” he softly asked Col. Sanderson one day when he was watching him eat.
“Around six months,” replied the enormous blonde man.
“Am I ever going to get to see Tahk?” he asked sadly. The man growled and told him to shut up and eat his food.
“How is our little wrench today?” Agent Cossack said with a smile as he came down a flight of metal stairs, using his favorite nickname for River, who he felt was the wrench thrown into their plan.
“Why am I doing all of this?” River asked him, “I’m doing everything you’ve told me and I’m getting nothing for it except pain in muscles I never knew I had. Now tell me what is going on.”
“Funny how that was exactly what I was planning on doing today.” He sat across from River and smiled. “What do you want to know first?”
“Why am I going though all of this training?” asked River.
Cossack smiled, “Tahk wants you with him all of the time and that means you’ll have to be able to help him carry out his orders.”
“Where is Tahk?”
“Safe. He’s going through different training in a different facility.”
River sighed… “What is he?”
The grin that spread across Cossack’s face made River feel ill. The man had been waiting for him to ask this question. “He’s a lab rat. Twenty years ago we opened a research facility trying to make a human-animal hybrid. We needed human test subjects, so we found orphans. No one notices when a few of them disappear off of the street. Tahk was found and thrown in. He was almost completed when the facility had a freak explosion. No one knew what happened.” His smile let River know that he knew and was more than likely responsible.
“We thought that everyone had been killed in the fire, but Tahk managed to escape. Because the facility had been destroyed, all technology linked to his homing chip inside went dead. When he was hit with the dodge ball, it set off the chip, alerting us of his life and where he was.
“His transformation process had only been half-way completed when we found him. He refused to cooperate without you. So we got you and were able to complete his transformation. He’s learning how to use his new body while you are learning how to be his compatriot.”
River growled, “What have you done to him?”
“He’s alive and well. He’s in no pain… now. You’ll see him when you are both ready.”
“What… what are we going to be doing together?” River didn’t want to hear the answer.
“There are some… unsavory people overseas,” grinned Cossack, “You’re jobs are going to be… getting rid of them.”
River closed his eyes, “You want me to murder people.”
“Assassinate is the word, actually,” chuckled Cossack, “And you are going to do it or you and your little kitten are going to die. And I don’t mean your stupid cat.”
Licking his lips, River said quietly, “He’ll be safe as long as I cooperate?”
“Mm-hm. And in time, so will America, thanks to the two of you. Got it?”
River nodded. His empty food tray was taken away and Cossack left. River was forced to go back to his training. Then frowned and muttered, “I forgot to ask who those guys were I attacked with that baseball bat…”
Col. Sanderson started yelling at him and River began doing push-ups.