Work Text:
It was raining, a cold dark night not too dissimilar to those prior. Matt pulled his overcoat over his head to protect his hair from the water and picked up his pace slightly. Late night work sessions had become more common place, but The Leader asking to see Matt specifically, that was new.
He wasn’t really all that privy to much of what Tord got up to, Matt scoffed at the thought. He presumed that Tord, like most people, thought he was as dumb as a bag of rocks. This wasn’t entirely true. Sure, Matt was one of Tord’s right hand men, after Pat and Paul of course. An old friend turned great ally. Matt could never wrap his head around why Tord had put so much trust into those two knuckleheads, when he'd been friend with Tord almost his entire life. He worked alongside Tord, almost acting as a jury for decisions they were making and helped brainstorm new ideas, though most of the time Matt just sat around being pretty. Despite all this, The Leader still had his secrecy. Lots of vague phone calls, mystery meetings and piles of blueprints and schematics for things Matt couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Matt rubbed his temples furiously and quickly, readjusting his jacket as he finally made his way to the entrance of the Red Army Base. Calling it an Army Base was rather generous. It was more of a big industrial laboratory mixed with a hospital of sorts than a typical army base, huge metal gates and surveillance drones travelling around to different wings and facilities.
He walked past one of the security guards, grabbing his ID badge out of his pocket and holding it up to them before adjusting the lanyard around his neck. Matt caught his reflection in the chunky metal gates as they opened slowly. He looked down at the ground as he walked up to the front desk. The sight of his own reflection disgusted him. He remembers how he got to this state so clearly, no, too clearly.
A car crash. Slippery winter roads leading to being flung out of the front seat and through the windshield due to the sheer force and recoil. Jaw bashing into the pavement, glass cutting into him and shards lacerating his eye. The only thing keeping him from passing out was adrenaline. And, as if a miracle had been granted, a blessing from God himself, Tord was right there to see it all. Well, Matt presumed he saw all of it. Matt saw Tord out of the corner of his eye, Tord realising it was Matt before Matt realised it was Tord. Matt could hardly speak, but Tord reached out an eager hand and picked him up with a devious grin, strapping him into the backseat of his car before speeding off to what Matt later learned to be the base. Matt did eventually pass out on the ride there, and when he was awakened again the pain was excruciating. He was strapped onto some sort of operating table, positioned vertically, Tord peeking at him through a large glass window on one of the walls. When he noticed Matt was awake, that same hungry grin came back. He walked in with such purpose and said in that sinister voice of his ‘Do you want to be part of a little experiment? Do you want me to make the pain go away? All of this, go away?’ Matt agreed. Of course he would! Nobody else showed him any sign that they cared for him, Tord had just saved his life for fucks sake.
That was one of the worst things he’d ever said yes to.
Matt shook his head and brushed a tense hand across his metal jaw, attempting to come back to reality push the memory back into his brain, the glare of those vicious grey eyes burned into his retinas. The woman working the front desk perked up as she heard Matt’s footsteps.
“Good evening, sir!” She put on a fake smile.
“The Leader requested my presence.” He responded, quietly, but just loud enough so only she could hear.
“Right, let me just…” She typed a few things on her keyboard before calling up a number on the answer phone. A few ‘Yes’ and ‘Nos’ to folks on the other end before her attention was diverted back to Matt.
“Top floor, office, end of the hallway.” She said directly, pointing to the elevator.
“Thanks.” Matt walked without much thought.
The elevator was silent. Not many people were still here this late, it was a nice change of pace. Matt stared at the carpet and listened to the sound of it going up and up and up and up and up.
“Would you shut up?” Matt muttered under his breath as a small voice inside of his head giggled.
“But why? It’s going up and up and up and up-”
Matt groaned and rolled his eye, the voice took the hint and shut up.
The elevator dinged and he walked across the hall way, The walls were red, adorned in various photographs in decorative golden frames picturing the influential people and political figures The Leader has done business with. The carpet was a dark maroon, it looked particularly clean in comparison to the rest of the building. The door to the office was a dark oak, an ornate gold plaque with red lettering reading 'THE LEADER, OFFICE'.
Matt knocked with his fist twice, paused for a second, and then knocked once more. A little thing they’d set up so Tord always knew it was him. The door flung open and Matt walked inside, it slamming shut behind him. The Leader spun around on his grandiose office chair, legs crossed and shadows covering him, all you could see was the smirk painted across his face.
“Well well well,” He began, flicking one of the lights nearest his desk on, gesturing for Matt to come sit down. “How’s my brave solider, hm?”
"I'm alright." Matt sighed and composed himself before taking a seat. He could see more clearly now. Tord sat at his desk, the same dark oak as the door. The room was big, various book shelves across every wall. A corkboard, a couch, a coffee table and a fireplace on the right side, opposite the desk. He was able to get a better look at Tord too, red hoodie tucked under his army uniform. An eyepatch covered his right eye, his hair messily pushed over on the top to one side in an attempt to hide the bald spot from his burns, the rest of his hair slicked up into his signature horns. A half smoked but still lit cigar held in his robotic arm. He tapped it anxiously against the ash tray on his desk before pressing it against his lips, taking a sharp inhale before blowing the smoke directly into Matt’s face. Matt coughed, Tord chuckled.
“What is it you even wanted with me?” Matt spat out. Tord’s smirk turned into furrowed brows and a frown. He put his cigar out hastily and looked up at Matt.
“I have something important to show you,” He stood up out of his chair, walking with a slight limp as he made his way to the corner of the room. "But this has to be kept secret. I know you can do that for me, right?" The Leader stopped in his tracks and glared at Matt. Matt nodded anxiously.
Tord lifted up a red book from the bookcase and, with a click, a door slid to the side. It was another damn elevator.
“Why do you have a special personal elevator hidden behind a bookshelf?” Matt raised a brow.
Tord didn’t say at word as he stepped in, his expression unmoving, grabbing Matt by the arm pulling him in too. He pressed a button and the elevator began moving at a rapid pace.
“Don’t worry, it’ll only be quick.” Tord hummed.
The space between them was uncomfortable, Tord almost pushing Matt up against the wall. Despite being noticeable shorter than Matt, and most people for that matter, Tord did everything he could to make himself the biggest person in the room.
He was right, the ride was quick. Only a few seconds later, a ding and then the doors were open. Tord stepped out first, slamming his fist into the wall to turn on the lights. They flickered on, slowly, the dim bulb only gently illuminating the room. It was some sort of dingey storage basement, full of what seemed like old equipment draped in white cloth.
The Leader chuckled again, walking over to a large cylinder that was covered up. Matt followed behind him, slowly and hesitantly, attempting to keep a distance between them.
“I wanted to show you…” He pulled of the cloth in one swift motion.
“THIS!”
Tord's booming voice echoed throughout the small room. Before them stood a strange chamber full of a blue bubbling liquid. The Leader has a big proud smile on his face, flipping a switch on the side on the chamber. It became illuminated, the liquid moving around and being filtered by some long tubes coming off of the device. Inside was a humanoid form, curled up into itself with various tubes and wires connected to parts of its body and back to the tank. Matt squinted his eye and stepped closer to get a better look.
It was him. It looked just like him.
“What. The. Fuck.”
The Leader was laughing manically, it was actually kind of comical how villainous he was trying to be. Matt glared at him angrily. The Leader flicked Matt’s forehead with his middle finger and shoved him aside with ease, resting his hands on the glass and shoving his face right up into it.
“I just- How? Why?” Matt’s voice was shaky, not because he was afraid, but because he was just confused. He didn’t know what The Leader was capable of.
“My little experiment…” He sighed fondly, rubbing the tank gently with his robotic arm, recalling the memory that makes Matt’s stomach churn to even think about. Matt winced.
“Ever since that little clone incident I’d always wondered how easy it would be to make one of my own.” He turned his head to look up at Matt and pointed his index finger at Matt’s chin.
“All I needed was a little DNA sample.”
The Leader chucked to himself, Matt didn’t say a word. The Leader pulled back, composed himself, and brushed some dust and debris off of his shirt.
“We need soldiers” He said, rather calmly “And, despite what you may think about me," The Leader turned to Matt and took one step closer.
"I am not a monster,”
The Leader took another step and he stood, on his tip toes, so close to Matt that their noses were almost touching.
“I don’t want innocent people to die,” He turned back around, dropping down with a clack, to once again adore his darling creation.
“I needed, a way to produce soldiers but for nobody to die…” He pressed a few buttons on the control panel on the side of the tank, located near the switch. Droplets of color being pumped out of the large tubes and moving through the water, clinging to the incubated clone’s skin, it wriggling and writhing around in response.
“And this was it.”
Matt stared in him in awe. “Why me?”
“Oh come on,” Tord rolled his eye. “If anyone would want to see hundreds, if not thousands, of their stupid face waltzing around, the answer was always going to be you.”
Matt sighed and rubbed his eyes furiously.
“So, min kjære. What do you say?”
“What?” He was confused not only by what phrase he just said, but what he was getting at.
“Let me do this, for you, for us!” The Leader grabbed Matt by the shoulders, devilishly smiling from cheek to cheek.
“Let us make an army. An army of Matt.”