This was your punishment.

And it also appeared that this was the punishment of the man sitting across from you in the back of the van. The air is thick, stagnant and sweaty. It feels as though the world is doing everything it can to make this one of the most uncomfortable experiences of your lifetime. And this guy… you rake your mind for exactly what his name was, but the sedatives in your system make it fuzzy. Vance, was it? Vincent maybe? No, Vale. Vale is what you settle on, at least.

His head leans back against the metal of the van, he stares at the ceiling with an expression that gives no hint of what might be going on inside of his brain. So instead you work on figuring out things about him from what you can see. He has powers, obviously, because so do you, and so has everyone you’ve been made to work with so far. His hands together on his lap, hidden in this heavy steel contraption. Something like handcuffs, you suppose, but they completely hide his hands. So his power comes from his hands, meaning it isn’t a psychological power.

He has been sedated too, though you can't tell if it is not yet wearing off or if he really is just this bored out of his mind. Strands of messy black hair stick to his forehead, his cheeks are flushed an uncomfortable red colour.

You’ve been set together to fulfil a task for the government you once betrayed, in one way or another. You wonder, briefly, what it was that Vale did. But you don't ask. He doesn't ask anything about you, either. After being caught in your crime, you got one chance at keeping some slivers of freedom. That was what this program was.

You’d be given a picture of your target, dressed up in whatever clothes you were given, and transported to a classified location. Here you would be able to use your powers to kill this person. It wasn’t great, far from it. But if you were to even consider stepping out of line you’d face dire consequences. Vale probably has the same consequences looming overhead.

Your wandering mind is suddenly interrupted by Vale shifting in his seat, leaning forward and pinning that intense gaze right onto you. He scrutinises you for a stretch of time, before speaking suddenly, “it is impolite to stare.”

His voice is low, smooth. The kind of voice that could very easily hide any hidden agenda that it wanted. Though you doubt anything, this time at least. The amount of surveillance the two of you are under would make it very difficult to get up to anything he wasn’t supposed to. He sighs and tilts his head to the side slightly, allowing his hair to fall so it gets out of his eyes. For someone so keen to point out staring is very happy to stare back at you.

Or maybe it is just because you started first.

Vale’s gaze goes elsewhere, however, when the van comes to an abrupt stop. He rises to his feet like he's done this countless times before. More times than you, that's for sure. There is a hiss as the metal around his hands seems to loosen then a loud thunk as it drops to the floor. He sighs and shakes his hands and rolls his wrists. That thing cannot be comfortable.

He glances back over at you for a moment, still gawking. He shakes his head, then instructs, “get up, come on. The quicker we do this the quicker I can show you how to squeeze something more exciting into our time out here.”