Chapter 4: BEAST

After returning home from her disastrous blind date with the sweet but boring Ivan, Ashleigh did a critical self-assessment of herself. Ivan found her attractive because he liked big women, DeAngelo had been into her because he wanted her money, but Ashleigh wanted someone to want her for just being Ashleigh Marie Dalton; whether she was big or small. But the key fact is that she wanted someone that she was physically attracted to. Oh she could sit there and think about how she had no room to be judgmental, but if toned, in-shape guys wanted the toned in-shape women, then she'd just have to be that person…or she would have to settle for being with someone that she didn't find physically attractive. And that was all there was to it.

So she tossed out the cakes and chips knowing that keeping them in the house would be too much temptation. She bought boneless, skinless chicken breast patties to put into the boiler, turkey lunchmeat and salad packs. And when Monday rolled by she bought her gym membership. Ashleigh had never even been to the sub-basement and was a bit intimidated by the underground facility as she was given a tour.

"Now, I just want you to understand that when the red light flashes it means that the floor is going on lockdown while they transport prisoners. You'll have five minutes to move around before the doors and elevators lock."

"When you say lock…you mean locked in the basement with prisoners?"

"Well the prisoners never come into this section and you wouldn't have access to their section. It's just a precaution to make sure that you are completely secure in the area that you're located in."

"But you said the elevators lock…"

"Oh that. You'll have time to move from floor to floor before that happens, so don't worry."

Ashleigh was worried. She had a slight case of claustrophobia and the idea of being in a basement was disturbing enough, but the high ceilings and openness helped. Yet the whole trapped-in-the-elevator thing was a little different.

"Has anybody ever been trapped in the elevator before?"

"Oh yeah, but it's no big deal. Lockdown never lasts longer than ten minutes. And there is a call button inside of each elevator and stairwell."

"Oh! Can you show me the stairwell?" That would be much better for her. It would only be two flights of stairs; the basement, then the sub-basement, much better than to risk being trapped in an elevator. The woman led Ashleigh from one corridor to another, explaining how to follow the ever-changing diagrams until they finally reached the stairwell. She gave her a dubious look.

"Oh don't worry, you'll find your way around here in no time."

"Now, I'm not going to accidentally walk into a restricted area, will I?"

"Oh no. You'd have to have card access for that."

Ashleigh sighed in relief. Tomorrow she would come to the gym before work and she'd do it each day until coming to the gym became like any other routine. For the first time in a month, Ashleigh felt like she was actually doing something to put back the shattered pieces of her life.

~*~

Christopher Henry Jameson stared at the monitor screens. Most didn't actually stare at them the way he did. Most talked on their cell phones to their girl friends or they played on their handheld gaming systems. Some even snuck magazines and books in even though to get caught would be a boot to the rear end.

But Christopher actually enjoyed watching the monitors. The people entering and exiting the buildings had lives that he caught a glimpse of and in his mind he would recreate them into an image that he would find more acceptable than the ones they probably led.

"Beast. Beast?"

He finally tore his eyes from the screen. "What?" His voice sounded even more rough than usual. He didn't spend much time talking and wasn't much of a people person. It tended to cause many to take it that he was a bad ass when actually he was just a loner. With his looks it had been a choice not all his own, but being alone was something he'd gotten used to regardless of whether or not he would have wanted it differently.

"Go take a break. I'll take over."

Bruce was his supervisor and someone he thought of as a friend. Though to Christopher, a friend was just someone who didn't take pot shots at you. Bruce treated him fairly and therefore Christopher thought of him as a friend.

He got up out of the rolling secretary chair and headed for the commissary where he went straight to the refrigerator for his bag lunch. It wasn't quite the bag lunch that would come to mind for the average person. His was an actual grocery bag half filled with food. Of course Christopher Henry Jameson—also known as Beast- wasn't the average man.

He stood 6'5" and weighed three hundred and two pounds. He didn't like the extra three pounds. He rather liked being in the two hundred weight range even if it was by just one or two pounds. Regardless, there wasn't an ounce of fat on his perfect body. Beast was muscles on top of muscles, yet not hulking like some of the others that worked in the Marine Corps division assigned to The Department of Home Land Security, or better known as DHS. Too big made you slow. He'd seen guys bigger than him hospitalized during the CRUCIBLE training.

Crucible had been a breeze for him. He'd long ago pushed his body to its limits. He never needed much sleep, and he learned a long time ago to keep his mouth shut and to see without being seen. Even now, as he watched the monitors for the Federal Building and the Federal Courthouse, he saw the same people arrive each morning; how they dressed, who they hung around with, and not one of them had ever seen him.