His lips twitched, the laugh bubbled up, and he couldn’t stop it. Sebastian glared at him, but his angry expression gave way for amusement. He grinned, then shook his head.

“What are you up to?”

Ollie darted panicked looks between them. “Look, this was my idea, not Rory’s.”

Sebastian stepped into the cell, then leaned back on the door. “What was your idea?”

“Teddy had some maggots and I got the guards to kill them. He was upset and I felt shit. I asked Rory to help me get some more.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Help you get maggots?”

“And I tried to go through the bin, but I couldn’t do it, so I begged Rory.”

“That explains the smell.” Sebastian smirked.

“The short story is, Rory found a dead rat.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and took a step closer. The amusement had gone, and the anger returned in full force.

“Have you got this rat?”

Ollie nodded. “Rory’s got it—”

“Give it to me now.”

Rory hesitantly held out the bag, and Sebastian snatched it away.

“It was moving with maggots.”

Sebastian reached into the bag and pulled out the rat. Ollie scrunched his eyes shut and turned to the sink.

“This is mine.” Sebastian muttered.

Rory blinked—he swore he’d heard wrong. Every long serving inmate had lost their mind. Teddy, obsessed with maggots, and Sebastian territorial over dead rats.

“It’s yours?” Rory said.

“I’ve been waiting for it.” Sebastian ripped the rat open with his hands. “My old one got found by the guards.”

Rory pinched himself. It must’ve been a dream. He wanted to wake up, it was too strange, the stress of being undercover had lost him his mind.

There was no blood, or guts, or smell. Sebastian grinned, then turned the gaping rat to Rory.

“They look good, don’t they?”

Rory leaned closer. “It—it’s fake.”

Sebastian nodded.

“But it was moving?”

Sebastian opened up the rat like a purse, and Rory spotted something inside.

“Take it…”

Rory reached, and his fingers closed around something plastic. A flip phone. He smirked and studied it intently.

“As I said, I’ve been waiting for a new one.”

“Did he just rip the rat’s head off?” Ollie whispered.

Rory turned to him. He was leaning over the sink with his eyes still scrunched shut.

“No, he didn’t.”

Sebastian took the phone from Rory and shoved it in his pocket. He dropped the scraps of fake rat in the bag, then smiled.

“All done.”

“Done?” Ollie asked.

“Yep.”

Ollie opened his eyes. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Sebastian said, “and don’t worry about the maggots. I’ll speak to Teddy when he comes back on the wing.”

“Yeah?” Ollie said.

“Yep,” he turned his attention back to Rory. “We’ll speak later, but…”

“But what?”

“Make sure you have a damn shower first…”

****