Hero X Villain

the rest of his life either.  He supposed it was better than the hospital room and the paper clothes, but it wasn’t living, either.  Nic fell asleep at some point, and when he woke up it was because Alyson was shaking him awake.
“Up, little boy,” she said to him.  “We’re here.”  The van door opened and Nic was ripped out of the vehicle by a large guard.  A hand held him by the back of his neck like one would a kitten.  Crane chuckled as he took in the sight of Nic bound in chains and held by a man of ridiculous size.
“Nicholas,” Crane said as his grey eyes fell on Nic’s face.  “The man holding you is Baron.  He will be the one watching over you for me from now on.”  Nic nodded as well as he could manage.  Shame washed through him as he listened to Baron and Crane laugh together.  His gaze fell to his feet, and there it stayed until he was jerked along to walk.
Nic was brought to a great white box with a glass door on either end, and then he realized it was a tram.  Baron steered him inside and forced him to sit on the bench to the left which faced towards the property.  Nic sat ramrod straight in his seat with his fingers laced together.  He tried not to bounce his leg as Crane and Alyson climbed in with a few other men.  Baron’s steel gaze on him helped keep the bouncing at bay.  The last thing Nic wanted was to give them a reason to put chains on his ankles, too.
“Baron,” Crane said smoothly as the tram started up the hill.  Baron turned his gaze to his boss, his meaty hand on Nic’s shoulder to keep him from escaping.  Nic kept his gaze firmly on his shoes.  The humiliation of being the fallen hero was beating him around the ears again.  His face was like stone as he sat there waiting for them to talk.  “You installed the restraints for his bed, didn’t you?”  Nic stiffened.
“I did,” Baron replied.  Baron was given the name by the Emperor, and it was his ‘true’ name now, according to him.  Nic wasn’t sure what that meant.  He didn’t think he wanted to know.  His thoughts were a little more preoccupied with spending his days bound in bed, just in a different room.  “For when he refuses to comply, you said.”
Ah.  They’re just blatantly threatening me, not actually- okay.  Okay.  I’m fine.  I’ll be fine.  Nic resisted their urge to tap his foot at machine gun pace.  He allowed himself one little tap to release a little bit of pent up stress, and then he was done.  Hopefully no one noticed it.
Alyson noticed.  She smiled a little to herself and Nic saw her out of the corner of his eye.  The grip on his shoulder tightened and then the tram came to a quick, clean stop.  Nic was pulled to his feet, and Baron pulled out a handkerchief and threw it over Nic’s head, blinding him.  He was led into the compound from there, a white brutalist compound covered in vines and lovely blossoming flowers, which Nic saw as a sort of greenish blur as the blindfold went on.
Nic wasn’t sure how long he was made to walk, but he could feel when he was brought on and off an elevator.  That happened twice.  He heard a door open and he was pushed inside.  Nic stood there waiting for Baron to shove him around some more, but he heard the door shut instead.
“Before I leave you in here, here’s the breaks: this room is coated in the black rock that limits your powers.  You can use them in here, but don’t try anything funny, and don’t think you’re getting out.  Emperor has you pinned, and there are cameras everywhere in this room.”  Nic felt like a little boy who’d been sent to one of those boot camps, the ones where they kidnapped the children in the night.  He felt like he was being hazed.  This is my supervillain origin story.  I’m going to go nuts in here.
“Okay,” Nic said quietly.  He couldn’t see anything.  He tried to stop himself from trembling, and he hated how pathetic and weak he felt standing in chains like this.  Look how subservient I’ve become.  But what choice do I have?  He hated it.  This feeling crawled on his skin and drove needles into his veins.
“If we ask you to do something, you will not argue,” Baron said.  His voice cut like steel.  “If you are asked to kill, you will be rewarded.  You won’t be forced.”
“I won’t argue,” Nic repeated.  He forced himself to stand up straight.  He heard a few footsteps and then the blindfold was removed.  Baron looked him in the eyes.  Nic met his gaze and Baron removed his chains with one easy sweep.
“If you try anything,” Baron said in a low voice.  “I will bring Alyson to remind you how to behave.  Is that clear?”  Nic could feel the tension rolling of this man.  It frightened him, not his raw strength, but Baron’s capacity to remain chillingly calm as he gave his threats.
“Yes,” Nic said as he swallowed.  “Clear as crystal.”  He wanted to die.  Well, maybe not.  But he hated this.  It made his very soul itch.  Baron kept a hard stare aimed at Nic as he walked away, and then the thick wooden door slammed shut and locked.
Ah, fuck, he thought.  I forgot about the key lime pie.  How could I forget my goal?  
Maybe it’s a sign that it’s not a good goal.  Nic wasn’t sure what to think.  He tried to tell himself that it was okay to not always know what to do.  He tried to think about what he’d be allowed to do now and his brain broke for a minute.  In the end, he