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ohanny · 9 months ago

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pitbabetober whump edition

day 3

SET UP FOR FAILURE

FINGERPRINTS I WRONGFULLY ARRESTED

“I WARNED YOU”

kenta / kim. pg13. 818 words.

during his captivity, kenta visits kim exactly once.

by then kim’s lost the track of time. he’s huddled in a corner like a kicked dog and very much feels like one with the way his entire body is one big, throbbing bruise. he doesn’t even know if it's day or night when kenta finally slinks in. the older man closes the door quietly and pauses, arms folded awkwardly in front of himself.

“i’m –"

“i don’t want to hear it.”

kim is shocked to hear how raspy his voice is but guess that’s what stubbornly refusing to say a word and choking down your screams while getting beaten up by thugs does to your vocal chords. it also hasn’t put him in a particularly forgiving mood. he has half the mind to drag himself upright and try something stupid but it’d be a waste of time and energy. he knows he won't be allowed to leave and while kenta would probably let him get in a punch or two, he's way too weak to make it count. instead he tilts his head back and settles on a withering glare.

“i warned you,” kenta tells him. “i told you to back off.”

kim scoffs. sure, kenta had shut him down every time he asked questions - why me? what’s tony’s deal with the x-hunters? is babe being targeted? how did you get that bruise? - but there's a big difference between a more or less gentle “mind your own business” and a “hey, honey, i am involved in human trafficking and black-market organ trade, you're gonna get yourself killed.”

not that it would've made much of a difference. kim can admit he is really fucking stupid when it comes to certain things. he would've gone at it differently, though, with plenty of backup. and less feelings caught during secret midnight dates. probably. even now he can't quite bring himself to regret those nights.

“i tried to keep you safe,” the older man pleads.

“and did you ever stop to consider i might have been trying to do the same? that i wanted to get you out?” kim hisses, finally looking kenta in the eye. “i saw all the scars. i knew you were in some kind of trouble and figured it must be your father pulling the strings.” he laughs humorlessly. “but instead you were right up there with him, weren’t you? giving the orders.”

kenta flinches but hurting him back isn’t as satisfying as kim would have thought. he knows the older man isn’t a monster because a monster wouldn’t be on the verge of tears right now. but kenta isn’t a very good person. he’s a spineless coward who was beaten into submission a long time ago and if violently kidnapping his lover to drag him to the wolves didn’t snap kenta out of it, kim isn’t sure anything ever will.

“i’ll get you out,” kenta tells him quietly. “i promise, kim. i won't let you die here.”

he sounds like he actually believes it but for kim it rings hollow. he looks down and stares at his bruised hands. he busted his knuckles during the fight in his hotel room and henchman #1 broke two of his fingers when he made a go for the man’s gun in the elevator. his eyes travel down to his knee that is visibly swollen and certainly fucked up. he’s no expert but he's pretty sure if he doesn’t receive medical attention soon, the damage will be permanent, in which case he'd have to kiss his career as a top racer goodbye. kenta keeping him alive doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t have a life to return to.

that zaps the fight out of kim. he lets his body tilt all the way to the right until he's laying on the floor, back to the wall, all curled up to keep himself warm and protected. it's exhausting, being this angry all the time. he figures he's allowed to take a small break to wallow in self-pity now so that he can keep fighting the good fight tomorrow. or later today. fuck, he really wishes he had a window.

“please leave,” he whispers and closes his eyes.

kenta calls his name for the last time. it comes out so soft, like a prayer, and kim's mind flashes to kenta that night they first fell into bed together – wide-eyed and shy, inexperienced but oh so desperate to please. but that memory is tainted now by kenta standing his ground next to tony. he made his choice. he didn’t even blink when he handed over the knife that could easily have ended kim's life right then and there. he bites his lip and says nothing as kenta finally walks away.

the door to his cell closes and kim is left alone. he should be relieved but somehow it hurts more than all his injuries combined.

#oh boy the angst #set during captivity era #picture kenta getting kim out and them living happily ever after #kentakim #pit babe fanfic #pitbabetober #kimkenta #pit babe the series #also yes I'll have my beta look over these eventually #and post the edited versions on ao3 #EVENTUALLY

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delurkr · 1 year ago

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The Canadian Clarke AU - The Draft Lottery and the Move to Canada

This post concerns events that took place in 1970, 1971, and early 1972. Skip the first heading if you don't want an explanation of the relevant real-world info:

Background:

The Vietnam War had technically been going on for most of Dennis's life and it escalated in the 1960s, as did many Americans' resistance to the draft. From 1969 through 1972 the U.S. was drafting young men into the military through a lottery system. The function of the lottery was to assign a random number, ranging from 1 to 365 (or 366), to every day of the year, namely to every possible birthday. Each year, the numbers were drawn in an event publicized through every media outlet. The assigned numbers determined the order of who would be drafted in the following year: the first number called was 1, and the numbers increased until the cutoff the next year (December 31 unless otherwise extended), and then the next lottery would be drawn if needed.

To be clear, if you were a young man in the correct age bracket targeted by a given year's lottery, the random number assigned to your birthday told you how likely you were to be drafted the next year. The draft calls started with 1 and worked their way up throughout the year. The first Vietnam-era lottery, held in 1969, called men during 1970, and at the end of 1970 the highest number called turned out to be 195. That number sort of set the standard for individuals concerned about being drafted in future lotteries, although the numbers in following years never reached that high again.

So that was me trying to explain the relevant parts as clearly as I could, but here is the U.S. government webpage on the topic, with charts of the numbers assigned to every birthday in each year's lottery: Vietnam Lotteries | Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov)

The effect on Dennis:

Dennis was born on April 29, 1951. The draft lottery held on July 1, 1970, targeted men born in 1951. The number randomly assigned to his birthday was 111 out of 365. In 1971, number 111 was drafted, the highest number called being 125.

My best guess is that Dennis would have received a notice of induction into the military towards the end of 1971. Obviously there's no reason to assume he is a military member in canon, but at the same time there's no other canon-supported reason to believe that he would have grounds to be excused from the draft in real life, so that's why this AU exists.

Story:

In 1970, the Clarkes of course know that there is a chance that 19-year-old Dennis could be drafted next year. On the first day of July, the family watches and listens to the lottery broadcast as the numbers are called. Dennis is assigned number 111. It is not high enough to keep them from worrying. It's only halfway through 1970, and the previous lottery is still underway; no one yet knows how high "high enough" is, but the numbers climb as the year goes on, and when the previous lottery expires after reaching 195, they can reasonably fear that Dennis's number will be snatched up before the end of the year 1971.

Cue the Clarkes spending a year and a half in anxiety that Dennis will be forced into the military at age 20. He will perhaps be sent to the war in Vietnam and potentially never make it back home, like thousands of soldiers already - perhaps even a few they used to know. They stew over it, but for the sake of Megan in particular they rarely speak of it out in the open. The issue is merely added to the pile of mounting pressure created from the failing factory and, once October comes, Megan's increasingly disturbed behavior and whatever else.

(Note that these details are still open to adjustment, I'm always learning new info.) Early in 1971, Dennis has a pre-induction physical examination, which basically works as a head start to establish that he's eligible to be drafted when/if his number comes up. Bad news for him: he passes, and the military officially classifies him as 1-A, fit for military service if he gets called.

Then there's a point soon after when Anne puts together a letter to the draft board inquiring about the possibility of him getting conscientious objector status, but James makes sure it is never sent. It's not a completely unreasonable fear that the letter would only bring attention to Dennis and potentially get him a draft order sooner or even prevent him from getting completely overlooked if there was any tiny chance of that happening.

In November, Dennis receives an order of induction in the mail. He is given a certain date on which he is required to report and be sworn into the military and then be shipped off to basic training immediately, a date that's probably only a month or less away. It seems Dennis doesn't have a choice, except - there is always a choice, if the nation's many thousands of war resistors, including the ones fleeing to countries out of reach of the U.S. government, have proven anything.

James knows what he wants. It's no secret that he has always hated this war and its politics; he has two young sons, his sons, and they aren't going off to die in Nixon's war on his watch (no he doesn't care that President Nixon didn't start the conflict). In line with his usual m.o. of outwardly ignoring problems and hoping they go away, James insists that they ignore the draft notice, end of story. Maybe the draft board won't follow up on it. If they do, well, he'll take care of it then.

For Anne, it's more complicated. If your country calls, it's a duty to answer, and on a practical level Dennis does not have any other legal options. Of course she doesn't want to see him in a war, and if they had acted earlier he might have had a chance to join the reserves or something, but it's too late for that now, so why prolong the inevitable? The best thing now is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best like everyone did in the wars of her generation and every generation before.

Dennis himself is mostly unsure about what he should do; all over the country there's all sorts of clashing opinions to reckon with and the war is still very confusing, even though lately he couldn't help but tune in to more of the discussions, knowing that it was likely only a matter of time before it all affected him. But one sure thing is that the negative publicity and extensive media coverage of this war leaves no room for heroic fantasies, and it would be nice to not end up numbered in one of the daily casualty reports on the nightly news. So if dad says he doesn't have to go, then... he doesn't want to go. And then, too soon for any of them, the date passes when he was supposed to report, and he didn't go.

So on January 16, 1972, the family is in limbo. They don't know what's going to happen next, and they can't really ask around to find out. Dennis is breaking the law, and if the wrong person finds out he's knowingly ignoring an induction order, they might inform the authorities and who knows what would happen then. The one thing they all know is that Dennis's days with the family are numbered - realistically, it's only a matter of time before the draft board doubles down on the matter. The only options the Clarkes see are for Dennis to join the military, or pack his bags and sneak out of the country.

At the start of February, they are driven to action. It's a Wednesday when Dennis gets a second notice from the draft board with a new induction date; it serves as another chance in case he missed the first order, but it's also a warning if he's been intentionally defying it.

So the Clarkes don't push their luck any further. Dennis has already made his decision to leave the country if it came to that. There's a quick few days of hurried packing and realizing they are thoroughly under-researched and unprepared for what his move to Canada may entail, but that Sunday Dennis's luggage and most of the Clarkes are piled into the family station wagon on the multi-hour trip to Montreal, Quebec. (Only Tanya opted out of the trip, and Dennis will spend the next few years being bitter about that.)

The tension in that car gets stronger and stronger as they approach the border. They've heard tell of so many other draft dodgers escaping to Canada, but were those Americans privy to some insight the Clarkes don't have? They don't know if they will be refused entry if they pick the wrong point of crossing, and they can't even be sure there isn't a chance that Dennis could be arrested on the spot if they give the wrong answers to the wrong questions.

But the crossing is unexpectedly smooth after all. They're visitors, they tell the border official, and they make a quick and quiet entry into Canada.

There isn't much for the Clarkes to do when they reach Montreal. It's a big city, and somewhere there's folks who help people like Dennis, but James and Anne hardly know more than Dennis himself does. "Find the Americans" is the best advice they can give. They have to leave in a few hours; tomorrow is a workday. They find a cheap room for Dennis to stay in and give him some cash, and they promise to help him with the immigration process when the time comes. They can mail him whatever papers he needs. They can mail him any of his possessions if he left something important back home. They can mail letters, and he can write back.

"Call us in the morning," they tell him, and several hours later the Clarkes are down one member on the return trip to Little Hope, while Dennis is left by himself in a hotel room in Montreal with some very dim-looking prospects and no idea what to do next.

Aaaand that's the start of the AU. Congratulate yourself if you read this far, and here's the timeline for good measure 🙂

#too many words lol but there is way more that has to be explained #i'll cover his first few years in canada in other posts eventually #canadian clarke au #little hope au #dennis clarke #the clarke family #the dark pictures anthology #little hope

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