Author: Maggie MacAlpine

AND OH MY GOSH. Newton would be distraught if he thought he didn’t deserve Hermann’s sympathy, the love of his life has a chain around his neck and he’s holding himself partway responsible for it and he can’t even promse that he won’t be forced to hurt him more in the future. I’m SO UPSET for them both 😂

On top of that, Newt ghosted Hermann and has been avoiding him. He can’t have failed to learn from his secretary and the receptionist that Hermann has tried and failed multiple times to contact him. Also Hermann was furious when he saw Newt Drifting with Alice. 

As far as Newt knows, Hermann was there to confront him out of anger of breaking off their engagement (partially true) and is now a prisoner who just had his whole life and career taken from him, with a death sentence hanging over his head either from the Precursors or from the end of the world. And he actually asked Newt if he was a willing accomplice, which indicates to him that Hermann had so little confidence in him  that he truly thought he’d help destroy the world willingly. Then Hermann goes completely silent and won’t talk to him for three weeks… 

Yeah, Newt is feeling like the villain right now and while he knows he didn’t ask Hermann to come there so that at least isn’t his fault, it’s hard to be defensive about his own tough situation or even acknowledge it to himself when Hermann is in chains and that was the best case scenario, and it could still take a turn for the worst. 

So yeah, I’d say “distraught” is a pretty good word for it.

I’m so worried for Newton because at least Hermann still has control over his own mind and at least he can plan to escape. Newton can’t even let himself consider it without risking everything.

DING DING DING, and there we have the tragedy of the whole set up in a nutshell!

Yeah there’s going to be a pretty running theme in The Prisoners’ Dilemma (kidnapping au) of how Hermann and Newt are both prisoners in different ways (hence the placement of the apostrophe in the title) – Newt has full autonomy of movement, technically. At least he can leave the apartment and talk to other people, browse the internet, or go shopping. But his thoughts are entirely imprisoned, he has to work to do the Precursors’ bidding, and if he steps one toe out of line beyond daily routine, he’s either frozen or punished.

Hermann can’t leave the apartment, but at least his mind is his own. He has the solitude and freedom of his thoughts. And honestly? From where Hermann is standing, he got the better deal. He has not illusions that they’re both captive here, that Newt is his cellmate and not his jailer. Of course, Newt’s wracked by guilt over the whole situation right now and in a very dark place, so he doesn’t always see it that way, especially now that he’s forced to collaborate with the Precursors. It’s going to be very interesting what happens next in the story to address this… :3

avelera:

The Prisoners’ Dilemma (21088 words) by Avelera
Chapters: 3/?
Fandom: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Characters: Newton Geiszler, Hermann Gottlieb, Precursors (Pacific Rim), Alice the Kaiju Brain (Pacific Rim)
Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Imprisonment, Mind Control, Possession, Past Relationship(s), Precursor Emissary Newton Geiszler, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Broken Engagement, Hacking, Engineering, Chains, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Dark, POV Hermann Gottlieb, BAMF Hermann Gottlieb, Worried Hermann Gottlieb, The Drift (Pacific Rim), Drift Side Effects, Ghost Drifting, Science, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Blackmail, Hostage Situations, Pining, Mutual Pining, Love, Romance, Fluff, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rescue
Summary:

One year after Newt abandoned Hermann to work for Shao Industries, Hermann decides to confront his ex-fiancé. Not with any intention of trying to win Newton back, of course, but only to gain some kind of closure, some answers for why he vanished so suddenly and avoided even speaking to Hermann ever since.

Except when Hermann confronts Newt in his home, he learns that Newt is under the control of the Precursors, and that they have every intention of killing Hermann to keep their secret. Newt strikes a desperate bargain to save Hermann’s life, which the Precursors accept with the condition of Newt’s good behavior, and that Hermann can never be allowed free again.

Now a prisoner, it is up to Hermann to try to free them both, while keeping the secret of his plan to do so from the man who knows him best in the world.

–
WHEW I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S FINALLY DONE! Special thanks to Sansael for the beta assist, and all the wonderful encouragement! I hit a road block for this chapter made up of realizing JUST HOW COMPLEX the situation really was, and that took a while to work out and about three separate drafts. Later chapters shouldn’t take NEARLY as long to get out. I hope you enjoy!