Archive of Our Own

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POV: Virgil Virgil places his chunky headphones over his ears and selects a playlist as he steps off the bus, looking over the park with a soft smile. He takes in a deep breath, taking a moment to note the scents, the fresh air reminding him once again where he was. The pine trees, the dirt, even the tang of fuel all amazing as he appreciates the new area, just down the street from his apartment. He takes a moment to enjoy the freedom of these thoughts, to be able to consider all of the amazing things his new home had to offer. Of things being his own, his own home, his own plans, his own choice. Now, In just a few minutes, his new friends would arrive and he would get to spend the day forgetting himself (in the best way possible), forgetting anxiety, forgetting the bitter memories, replacing them with new, pleasant ones. Just a quiet day, with his friends.
Freedom The thought felt foreign, his mind still trying to be on high alert to any danger, any mis-step that he could use against him. Prepared to run or hide at any moment. He had checked the lock on his door so many times the first week he had been in town, so afraid of being found. Patton had texted him reassuracnes almost hourly, reminding him that he had not made a poor choice by escaping Dmitri. It consistently made him aware of things engrained in him from his ex. He had cowered when Patton hurried to hug him one day, or being silent to avoid saying something that could be used against him.
Virgil pauses for a moment, taking a steadying breath to calm his rushing thoughts as he continues down the little path through the park. Even now, he had to remind himself that his friends were not looking to hurt him. That his rushing thoughts were not one of survival but now of trivial worries. Again, he takes a deep breath and looks around the park to help distract himself. He focuses on noticing the world around him and its beauty. One side of the trail seemed to be a wall of trees, sturdy and protecting as they shaded the asphalt walkway, the other way led to a field of grass. A fork up ahead offered two routes, one was where children could play, swings and slides and a little climbing wall. Several small children ran around, their laughter occasionally reaching through in the quieter moments or pauses of his music. The second path, and the one he would follow, led to a warm picnic area, an ideal spot to meet up at as it the space of the feild allowed for lots of groups without feeling crowded. Patton had said it had a pavillion and several tables so that even if anyone else was there, they would have plenty of options, including the grass.
The park, beside the half a dozen parents and their children, was mostly empty. The fall morning was warm, but most children had returned to school, leaving the options of park attenders to the groups that were there, Preschoolers, parents, homeschooled kids, and college students. Virgil, despite not attending college, was in that last group, meeting on the only day all three of his friends did not have a morning class. Virgil was often the earliest to arrive, he had found, so used to attempting to please Dmitri that he would always predict where he would be needed and be there. He was often about 10 minutes early, and had been working to not be so uptight about it. If he wanted to be early, by all means he did. But if he had no reason to hurry, he tried to slow his foot steps, to pause and notice his reality so he did not end up alone and waiting. While Logan and Patton were usually at least on time, Roman was unpredictable, often running late as the others would give up hope of his arrival. Once, he had been 2 minutes early and Logan taunted him of being a clone, as this was apparently a first for Roan. He had sworn up and down the other night that he would be there so Virgil hoped this would hold true, as the group never felt nearly as balanced if one of them was absent.
He felt the small grin pass over as he thought of that. Each of his friends had agreed that Virgil was the balance they had been missing, another rational person to even out the trouble. This thought still made Virgil feel unbelievably happy, as he had long worried about being only a nuiscance or someone they merely tolerated for Pattons sake. His dark days he would believe it, but today his bubbly mood had him believing they were telling the truth, that the four of them were a quality pair.
His gaze moves over the trees, searching along for any birds or squirrels, the same half smile stuck on his lips as his eyesroamed the branches, his hands in his hoodie. The worn, frayed sleeves tickling his knuckles when they shifted the pockets. The hoodie was a trademark for him, he had worn it daily. Once to cushion Dmitris blows and hide the bruises, now he wears it to stop the concerned stares. It also happened to be very comfortable and he liked it, Virgil reminded himself. He was wearing this because he chose to, he wanted to. He resumed the hunt for wildlife to keep his mind focused on the positive, It was almost enough to quiet him, almost peaceful.
His gaze is so focused upon the treeline, that he very nearly yelps when he suddenly knocks shoulders with someone walking the other way. They offer no word of apology and continue and when he turns to apologize, the words stick in his throat as he stares at the retreating figure. His brain shifts into overdrive as he forces himself to rationally process the situation.
He blinks, and blinks again, straining to calm himself against the immediate rush of panic as it roars to new heights. He scolds himself for being so tense, so dramatic. He stiffly makes himself turn back to his path, dragging his feet forward as his anxiety roars to life. All thoughts he had on finding a bird to watch may as well be dust, they seem so small. His mind has completely reverted in a moments notice to the fearful mess he had once been, panicking over the very idea of Dmitri.
Him-It can't be-He found me-Hes across the country- Hes going to kill me-He would have stopped you, grabbed you, it isn’t him-He found me.
Virgils mouth is dry, full of cotton as he keeps pushing himself to walk, to keep functioning, to not panic. He is overreacting, he is simply worried, Calm Down.
His next steps aren’t straight, his breathing has gone from labored to erratic as the panic starts to push past his rational thoughts. They turn to pure panic, overwhelming him as the complete fear over takes him. He reaches to sturdy himself against the trees, expecting the trees and foliage to offer the firm wall they seemed to suggest. Instead, he falls through the branches, onto the ground. He registers the painful scrapes from fingernails, Twigs, Virgil, You idiot! Virgil gasps softly, blood pounding through his ears, as he curls up tightly in the dirt. Nails start to draw blood as he squeezes his hands into tight fists, he covers his face as a meager attempt to protect himself. The hits would come any moment.
He hears his footsteps approach, and prepares for the worst, prepares for the pain that is sure to blossom. I was so stupid, how could I think I could escape. He will always find me. I am so stupid, so pathetic, I can’t escape him.
Nothing seems real, the world is only black as he lays there, eyes screwed tight, waiting for the hits to land, for the burn to start. For the pain to begin.
He distantly hears him call his name and barely chokes down the pitiful cry he makes. His lungs burn as he gasps for air that doesn’t seem to reach his lungs, Virgil still waits for the pain, more terrified every moment that seems to pass without impact. God he must be furious. Dmitri only waits when he's truly angry, like when I broke the kitchen plate, I couldn't stand the next day. God, He is going to actually kill me.
The fear continues to keep a grip around Virgils mind, the swirled panic of thoughts, making him oblivious to the reality, to the true surroundings.
His eyes don’t open when he hears his name repeated, it takes hands on his face that he tries to open them, the blur of tears keeping him from clearly seeing who was before him.
He whimpers as his realizes theres not just one, but two. Two people there to make him suffer. Dmitri seemed to be in the background, this person touching his face was going to go first. First to hurt him, first to... Oh God...
He works on trying to focus on the one with his hands on his face, only to let out a strangled cry as he blurrily sees a mockery of Patton, his best friend, his savior. This stranger even sounds similar, creuly mocking him, his voice starting to make its way into the haze of Virgils senses. Mockingly comforting him, speaking softly.
This only works to shatter Virgil further, as he breaks into distorted sobs, murmering apologies and begging to the other figure. He had been foolish to believe he could ever escape, to have freedom, and he would never try anything again. Ever.

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Chapter TwoPatton POV Patton parked his car on the far side of the parking lot, so parents with small children would have closer access to the park. He smiled softly at the little children running around, his eyes focusing on a chubby baby girl on a swing, giggling as her parents pushed her gently and cooed. So sweet to see the smile across her face, her world no bigger than just her parents. He couldn’t help making a silly face at the little child as he walked by, delighting in the shrill giggle she responded with. moving down the trail that led to where he would be meeting his squad (As Roman insisted on calling them) for a quite day together.
His focus moves off the cheerful baby to his anxious friend, he had worked so hard to help Virgil. His eyes focus on the gravel in front of him as he goes over the his mental checklist, a phone was being ordered for him, he had been shopping for new clothes, the apartment was well furnished. School, car and a job were the next projects, but he was giving Virgil space to choose when he was ready to do those things. He wanted to pester and ask Virgil constantly about these, but Virgil had quietly asked for the ability to do it himself, with no pressure. To do his own agenda, Patton understood of course, Virgil had spent the past few years obeying someone elses agenda constantly. He felt so fiercely protective of Virgil, whom he had gone to High School with. They had met in a Home Ec class, when the Emo had been paired with none other but the male Mom Friend to the school. Somehow, through burnt smores and a paper towel fire, they had decided to at least be aquantices, and ended up building a strong friendship from there. Though when Patton moved out of state for school, the two lost contact with each other. He hadn't been able to find him on social media (he later learned that was due to Dmitri as well). They had reconnected a few years later by chance when Patton had been visiting his old home town.
Virgil had been with a tall man, he looked exhausted and the stranger had kept his arm stiffly around Virgil. When Patton had cheerily called Virgils name to say hello, he saw the grip tighten, saw the flash of fear in Virgils eyes. Immediately, he thought it was trouble, and felt strangely defensive. Surely he was being overdramatic, he was often very in tune to body language to an uncomfortable amount and so he was surely just mistaken, surprised by Virgil being in a relationship. He hadn't been completely out as interested in men in school, so he must clearly just be surpised. It didn't bother him, just seemed unlike the storm cloud he had known in High School, but surely he was not the same either. People change so much, he chastized himself, even you are so different, this should not put you so on edge Patton. Now, it seems there may be a reason why.
It had been a stiff reunion, Virgil stared at the ground and shifted, checking his answers with the strange man he was with, who had introduced himself as Dmitri, Virgils boyfriend. The firm grip on Virgils arm never shifted. Patton could have sworn at one point the man bared his teeth when Patton offered Virgil a hug. He didn't let the awkward tension deter his spirit though, cheerfully making small talk. He gave Virgil his cell phone number, as he truly had missed his friend; saying how eagerly he wanted to reconnect. Dmitri answered that Virgil didn't have a phone. Dmitri answered, he often cut over Virgils answers, something that he would never have allowed when they were in High School. Patton recalled the rather angry look Dmitri had given Patton when Virgil still took the scrap of paper extended to him. Tucking it into his jean pocket. Dmitri had ended the conversation very quickly after that. Patton pretended to not notice the bruise he saw when Virgil shook his hand. Surely, he was over reacting. Surely.
Even the memory of Dmitri is enough to make Pattons blood boil, he only knew a small part of the torment he had caused his dear friend, but it was enough to make his stomach churn. Sick, twisted things. When Virgil had reached out, he jumped on the chance to help him. A call in the middle of the night, had startled him awake. He answered hazily, but was awake the moment he heard Virgil, but that wasn't what had woken him, it was the fear in Virgils voice.
“Patton!”
He’s jarred from his thoughts when someone shouts his name, he looks up to see Roman running towards him. Once Roman has Pattons full attention, he gestures for him to follow and makes a beeline for the trees. Patton frowns as he picks up the pace, moving quickly to follow after him. The tone of his voice seemed to be more than a simple heroic, “I will rescue the baby bird!” This was serious. Maybe a lost child, or something Roman needed a second hand with, while bravery was not uncommon for Roman, his worried tone was, the frantic look was. Pattons quick steps break into sprints as he hurries to keep sight of his friend.
When he looks back to where Roman was, he barely catches the glimpse of his red shirt disappearing through the tree line. what was he doing?
He keeps moving after and pushes through the branches, his stomach seeming to drop to the ground when he sees Virgil before him, curled tightly on the ground. Panic attack, it must be, Patton notes to himself as he hurries forward to the huddled pile of hoodie.
“Virgil!” He calls, kneeling. Sticks and pine bristles crinkle under his knees as he hesitantly touches Virgils shoulder. The mess cries out in a panic and curls up tighter, “I’m sorry! IMSORRY.” He repeats, and the protective rush surges over Patton again, as Virgil begs forgiveness to some twisted vision in his mind. It isn’t hard for Patton to know who is haunting the anxious hoodie.
He moves closer, trying to push Virgils hands from his face, stomach lurching at the blood. blood On Virgils hands, his nails have reopened old wounds in his palms, crescent scars and scabs already coat his palms, his cheeks scratched, surely stinging from his salty tears. Patton worries that Virgil has scratched himself in his panic.
Hesitantly, Patton touches Virgils cheek, starting to speak in a calm leveled manner, the opposite of how he feels inside. Roman stands back, unsure of how to help. The tension sits across his shoulders before he speaks in a tumble of words.
“I saw him fall, he seemed as if he was in a fit and when I came to find him he was… Patton oh God is he having a seizure?!” Romans own words are in his rush as he dramatically looks around. Patton has to tune him out,as he focuses on Virgil, working to get him to open his eyes.He just needs to see those eyes, his eyes. They always were so reflective of Virgils emotions.
After a moment, Virgil does open them, they are unfocused, as if they don’t truly see him. It sends ice through Patton as he tries to get Virgil to focus, to melt the glassy stare. He murmers another reassurance as he looks over Virgils eyes, his friend gives a cracked cry. “No! No please not him!”
Patton frowns at the statement, Virgil seemed to be looking at him, but why would he…
Virgils sobs turn to heavy gasps, his muscles quivering at the ache of being tense so long. “Not him… No please not H-him…” Virgil gasps to whoever he thinks is tormenting him. Surely, he does not believe I am the one hurting him
Patton feels helpless, finally making a bold choice. “Roman, help me get his hoodie off!” He orders firmly, cringing when he sees Virgil flinch at the loud voice.
Roman himself seems confused as he kneels, helping Patton to pull the hoodie off Virgil. Romans gasp reminds Patton that he had never seen… the marks… The scars that covered Virgil, the worst ones of course covered by Virgils shirt, but his arms still spoke about the Hell he had lived through.
“Patton…” Roman chokes, staring at his friends arms.
“Not now, Roman.” Patton states firmly, remembering his similar reaction to when he had seen the marks. The horror, the fear, but right now, he has to help Virgil. He focuses on Virgil again, bundling the hoodie to rest Virgils head on, still firmly speaking comforts. He gets Virgil to look at him, wiping tears.
“Virgil Foster. You are at Centennial Park. You are not being harmed. You are not with Dmitri. You are with people who care. You are with Patton and Roman. Virgil you are not going to be harmed.” Patton states firmly, one hand holding Virgils, his other hand brushing tears. He repeats these facts over and over, waiting for them to settle in his friends mind.
Slowly, almost agonizingly so, Virgils trembles and begging start to slow down, his gasps getting shallower. His breath is shaky when the gloss seems to leave his eyes and he truly sees Patton, for the first time.
“P-Patton…” His voice cracks as he closes his eyes, Patton feels himself relax as he watches Virgils muscles unclench, “I…”
“No… You don’t have to make any excuse Virgil…” Patton interjects, “You are healing, you are not to blame… I am just glad Roman alerted me…”
Virgils head turns softly as his eyes rest on Roman, give a hollow laugh that holds no joy. He sounds so exhausted. “Ro… Roman… Not…”
Patton nods, not making him finish the sentence. Roman thankfully does not say anything about Virgil fearing him to be his abuser, opting to stand guard to anyone who may come. The two give him as much time as Virgil needs to calm his breathing, to bring himself to a semi decent state, wiping his face and running a hand throuhg his hair, before they help him sit up. Pine needles stick on his skin and clothes, Patton occupies a moment brushing them away. Roman seems very focused on not looking at Virgil, unsure what to say.
Of course, He had known Dmitri was abusive… But he’d never seen the extent… Never seen the damage the monster had caused, at least the physical ones. They all knew better than to surprise Virgil or startle him. Poor Logan had once made the mistake of raising his voice when he argued with Roman, and it had taken them 15 minutes before they found Virgil in the closet, hiding. It had been the first time they all met together, only two days after Virgil had arrived in town. Patton had told them only what they absolutely must know, the rest he was allowing Virgil to share at his own rate, when he was ready. This was not something that would magically heal, nor would it ever be easy. He would let Virgil share his story with those he chose, when he chose.
Soon, Virgil starts to stand. Roman immediately rushes to his side to help him, and its a good thing, as the boys legs fail to support his true weight longer than a few seconds. Patton pushes himself up and helps Virgil on his other side. Together, the three of them exit the trees, silent as they start to head to the clearing they had scheduled to meet.
Virgil is silent for several steps, as he focuses on getting his wobbly legs to cooperate like they are supposed to. To bend and step and not tremble, to support his scrawny frame. Patton suddenly returns to the grove, pulling Virgils hoodie into his arms, returning to help Roman. He sees how tense Roman still is, his eyes occassionally searching the scars he touches, as if scared Virgil will scream in pain at any moment.
“T… Thank you…” Virgils mouth finally opens, his head down as he works hard to get the words out.
Pattons heart swells in a rush of emotions, to Virgil, against Dmitri, but he refuses to let anything but love go into his next words, “Of course Virge… Its what friends are for…”

Chapter 2.5

Patton POV

The first time Patton sees Virgils scars.

Patton was the first, and so far only person Virgil had trusted with a key to his studio apartment. Patton had been the one to help him get it. Virgil had inherited a large amount of money when his grandfather died a few months back, allowing him to safely get an apartment without a job in the new town. It was also just a few blocks away from where Patton lived, with Centennial park a nice middle ground for them to meet at. Patton loved the park so much and spent a lot of his free time there, the joy it gave him is partly what got Virgil to choose this apartment. Patton often had his car parked in Virgils spot, He spent so much time over at Virgils. >
Pattons knocks had gone unanswered, his call through the door had not been returned, and Virgil had asked him to stop by today. Patton checked the time again, he was certain this is when Virgil had asked him to be over, though he did have a habit of inviting Patton over early and falling asleep by the time he gets there. Patton waits for a moment longer, no way to tell if he was home, as Virgil had no car and they were still waiting for the cell phone to arrive. Virgil had barely been in town two weeks now.
Patton knocks again, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waits, listening for any noise within the apartment. Finally, its been long enough, and he fishes his key out of his pocket. Pushing it in the lock and carefully opening the door. He announces himself as he opens the door so he would not startle his jumpy friend. He looks around and sees Virgil, sleeping on the hide a bed couch.
His approaching grin drops to horror as he looks at Virgil, well, his chest. The sleeping friend was in his boxers, a sheet covering his legs and mouth drooling softly in peace but his chest… Patton felt sick, across Virgils chest, the scarred words “Whore” were carved, and looked as if they had been cut more than once. Deep bruises in various states of healing still littered his skin. Three weeks he had been living here and they were still so deep, Patton shuddered to think what they had looked like three weeks ago. Thin and thick scars. When Patton related the looks to Logan at a later time, he informed him they were likely from Fingernails, whips, knives, belts.
“Oh Virgil…!” Patton chokes out and it startles his sleeping friend, who rolls onto his stomach as he wakes up in confusion at Pattons voice. Patton did not think it was possible to be more horrified but so it came, as Virgils back was possibly worse, two deep brands claiming him as ‘Dmitris Slut’ marked a shoulder and the small of his back. More bruises, crossing scars, circles of what he could only guess were cigarette burns.
Pattons stomach churned as his eyes filled with tears. Virgil groans and sits up, focusing slowly on his expected, but still surprising guest.
“Shit… Sorry Pat I fell asleep… I didn’t…” His words trail off as he sees the now crying Patton. He gets no warning as Patton throws himself into a tight hug on Virgil, leaving him stunned. He would not admit how touch starved he was, that the hug sent his mind into panic, but his soul into overload. A kind touch. How unheard of.
Patton sobs apologies, holding tightly to Virgil. “I am sorry! I should have known! I should have made you run the first time I saw you I am so sorry Virg!” Patton wails, and Virgil suddenly stiffens as he realizes what was happening. Patton had seen them, the scars he had worked very hard to keep his big hearted friend from seeing.
Patton clings to him, sobbing messily as Virgil starts to push him away. He doesn’t release him at first, until Virgil gives a gasp and he remembers the scars, how they must hurt, how painless contact must seem so impossible to him. He forces himself away from Virgil, still gasping as his eyes glisten in sorrow.
“He… He…?”
Virgil scrambles to get his hoodie on, his safety, that kept the prying eyes from seeing the horror his body was. The reminder of what he was. Nothing more than his.
Virgils eyes are trained on the ground in uncomfortable silence, as Patton tries to work through what he had seen, that he had not rescued Virgil the instant he remet the old friend-how he had ignored the gut feeling that something wrong and he allowed Virgil to be taken out of his sight. Virgil seems to sense the conflicted words in his mind,
“Pat… Pat you didn’t know… Really… Its fine…”
“He did that to you....”
“Its fine. He didn’t mean to… He loves me… I deserved it.” The lies slip past still so smoothly, the scars were his fault, punishments for his failures. He had made Dmitri do this. He deserved so much worse than what Dmitri had done to him… Dmitri had been kind to not do worse.
Pattons heart burned at Virgils words, “No one. No one deserves to be tortured Virgil. Especially not you!” His words burn with anger as he looks at where the scars would be. Virgil looks down, silent. Believing the bristling sight of his friends anger to be directed at himself.
“I did… I disobeyed…”
Patton was shocked each time as his anger towards Dmitri was fueled higher and higher each word Virgil spoke. The actual torment he had put Virgil through. He felt the desire for justice. The man of peace wanted this monster to pay, to suffer for what he did to Virgil.
That fire never died. Patton pushed it into love for Virgil, determined to help his friend escape every part of the abuse he had gone through. He would make sure Virgil was safe, if it meant killing Dmitri. If it meant jail. He would give Virgil peace of mind.
“Pat…” Virgil watches the fire in Pattons eyes, the furious flame that had set off at his self deprecating words. He feared he had angered Patton, and that Patton would begin to change the way Dmitri did. The tender words would surely become just as bitter. He couldn’t stomach the thought of it, of this friend who had promised to save him becoming his next Master.
But he feared it so, and soon he fell upon his knees, begging Patton for forgiveness, to not be cross with him.
That was finally enough to bring Patton from his anger, seeing his battered friend beg for grace and promising to be good for Patton. That he had seen the anger in Pattons eyes and been afraid of him.
Pattons heart shatters again, as it has over and over when it comes to Virgil, and he kneels beside the trembling form. Assuring him that he was safe, that he would not harm him.
Patton was careful after that, to not bad mouth Dmitri in front of Virgil, he was still healing. He still believed himself to be in the wrong. It would take a lot to help him learn that it wasn’t so. It would not be easy, but Patton pulls Virgil into a warm hug, a promise on his lips, “Virgil… I will never hurt you… Ever…”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 3:

Roman POV

Roman was surprised that his limbs were not reflecting the trembling he felt in his soul. He had helped Patton sit Virgil down and was now sitting across from him on the park picnic table. He was unsure of what to do, what to say. He felt so surreal, his eyes on Virgil, who had occupied himself with picking the sleeves of his hoodie.
Dmitri, the villain, had truly done a number on this new friend of his. He thinks over the scars that had layered his arms. Patton only had said that Dmitri had abused Virgil, but he had not thought it was as bad as it was. Surely, surely. Surely what? What was he so desperately trying to convince himself of? He knew that this was simply how the world was, cruel.
Patton takes a phone call to help Logan who had gotten himself turned around and steps down the walkway. Virgil doesn’t move, just stares at his sleeve. Roman shifts, before he reaches a hand across the table.
“Hey… uh, Virgil…?” He tries to make sure he seems unthreatening, “I… I uh, want you to know, that I am here… If you… need someone to talk to… Or to… Well I am just here if you need anything… Anything at all, just let me know…”
Virgil looks up at him, his mouth stuck in a small O. Before a slight blush creeps into his cheeks. “Uh… Uh t-thanks….”
“Sorry… I know it is random, I just, I wanted you to know… If you ever need anything… Gosh sorry I know I’m awkward I just Sorry I just I want you to know I am here for you And you aren’t alone…”
“You’re rambling…” Virgil interjects, breaking into a soft smile as he looks at Roman. Romans face burns in a blush and he finds himself only letting out a trail of useless syllables.
Virgil breaks into a laugh now as he sees how flustered Roman has become, “Wow Princey… Didn’t take you for someone so easily flustered…”
“Princey?!” He looks a bit outraged at first, not daring to admit how much he actually thought it was a fitting nickname.
“Patton mentioned that you are a complete Disney Nerd… All for the knights in shining armor deal…”
“Well of course! To save someone in need is the highest honor and to do it while singing…!”
“Because just like the movies… After some time… Some things go bad…” Virgils grin drops, and he looks back to his hands. Roman practically sees the storm cloud cover over Virgils eyes.
Roman grabs Virgils hand, tugging it over his own heart. “Virgil that man was scum… He is hardly worth air to speak his name and I take it as my personal quest to prove to you that you are worthy of being treated as a royal.”
Virgils mouth drops, as he stares at Roman, who pretends to not be surprised at the words that just tumbled from his own mouth. The boy had just escaped a torturous boyfriend and here Roman was not only declaring himself an ally, but as a possible lover. Roman’s stomach flipped, but he was not sure if it was because of his words or the adorable confused face that Virgil was making.
“Are you… asking me out Princey…?”
“I… While you are ever so enchanting Little Storm Cloud… I could hardly ask after what trials you have conquered… And how poorly you know me…” Roman looks down at Virgils hand within his own, giving it a comforting squeeze.
Virgils face burns as he stares at their entwined hands, and nods, “Thank you… For the kind words… For understanding…”
The two sit in silence and Virgil scrambles to release his hand when he hears Patton and Logans voices approaching. Roman blinks but gives him a soft smile, this storm cloud may just lead to be a rainbow before too long. Chapter 3.5

Virgil POV

Virgil curls his arms around Dmitri, kissing him gently, his eyes half closed. It was one of those quiet nights, where work had gone smoothly for Dmitri, leaving his boyfriend in a pleasant, loving mood.
Virgils body still ached from the bad mood Dmitri had been in yesterday. He tries to ignore how heavy the guilt he feels is. If Dmitri had seen him make that spill today, he surely would not be in such a good mood. But he can’t bring himself to say anything, to tell his lover.
Dmitris kisses start to deepen, and he twists his fingers into the waist line of Virgils jeans. He does not dare speak the truth that he’d rather not, that he wanted time to heal. No, he would not bring that harm upon himself. He would please Dmitri in a good mood rather than face the punishment of telling him no. Even the thought of telling his insistent boyfriend no feels him with more dread.
Virgil makes sure the relief doesnt show on his face when his phone on the counter buzzes, giving him good reason to break away. He closes his eyes as Dmitri starts to kiss his neck, and checks to see what caused his phone to make noise. He can not turn the screen off quick enough.
“Who is Christopher?” Dmitris voice is cold.
“J-Just…” He truly didn’t know, the person had messaged randomly and he hadn’t blocked them yet.
“You’re cheating on me.”
“N-No! No Dmitri I would never!” The words come quickly, they are true, but no excuse, truth or lie would have saved him now. It had been too late.
“You whore!” Dmitris first hit catches his jaw and he grimaces. Unsure whether begging or silence would be the best approach at this time. Dmitri is fuming.
“I let you live with me…! I do nothing but cherish you…! And you turn into a fucking cheater!” Dmitri hits him again, and a third time. A fourth. Each blow burns and Virgil is soon curled on the floor in silent tears.
“N-No Dmitri I… I would n-never!” He wails as DmitrI rips Virgils shirt off. He throws it onto the counter and they both watch as it hits a cup, pushing both over the edge. The glass shatters as it hits the tile. Dmitri chuckles, kicking at Virgil, “Go clean it up little whore… Maybe give me a reason to show that you aren’t completely worthless.”
His words sting as Virgil crawls to begin cleaning, he knows better than to try and stand while Dmitri is angry like this.Virgils hands tremble as he starts to pick up shards, when Dmitri stalks over, a dark grin on his face. Swooping down, he grabs a larger chunk and drags it down Virgils bare back.
The boy cries out, arching away from the sharp sting. When Dmitri grabs his hair, starting to quickly cut into his back over and over. He feels the blood rolling down his sides in a matter of minutes and can only cry pitifully. He knows the wounds will require stitches.
Dmitri enjoyed causing the need for stitches, as he had medical training and could do them himself. Meaning no questions and that he could use it to his advantage. He would prod or take them out. Or wait to put them in. He nearly had Virgil hospitalized after a particularly bad bleed. He was furious at Virgil for not speaking up about it sooner.
Dmitri has stepped into the kitchen, giving Virgil a moment to breath, the glass in one hand having cut into his hand as he clenched his fist in the pain. More stitches, it likely seemed. He looks at the thin lines in his right hand when a sudden burn spreads across his back.
It burned like fire, though felt gritty, almost sandlike. He screamed to the floor, though Dmitris hand was no longer on him the pain didn’t stop. He turned to look at his boyfriend, who stood with the table salt in his hand. He reaches just out of Virgils sight, and Virgil tries to crawl as the bottle is brought into his sight.
Lemon juice. His boyfriend was going to pour lemon juice-AHH. Virgil lacks time to panic, or even process what is happening as Dmitri dumps the juice across his back. Virgil heaves as his stomach churns at the sharp lemon smell, mixing with blood and the coffee that had spilled from the glass. He floor tilts as he feels his body shudder, close to something, though he doesn’t know what. This seems to bring some mercy back to his lover, who drags him to the bathroom to patch him up.
After a cold rinse in the shower, Virgil stares at himself in the mirror as Dmitri works on stitching him back together. He looks at his thin framed reflection. The hickeys were indistinguishable from his bruises. He no longer knew what scars were from himself or his boyfriend. He had once used eyeliner for a dark under eye, though it now occurred through his sleepless nights. He could see streaks of gray from stress, once a popular trend at his High School, though the look was usually gained through hair dye. Had he always been able to see his ribs so easily? Had his eyes always been this hollow? Has his relationship always been this toxic?
The thoughts only make his tender stomach church more and he closes his eyes, willing himself to just float away, from everything, from life.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 4
Virgil POVThey had spent the day talking, getting to know each other with cup after cup of coffee at a local Coffee Shop. Though Patton had traded every other cup for hot chocolate, leaving him bubbly and extra talkative. Logan took it upon himself to help temper Patton.
Virgil found himself talking lots to Roman, grinning and laughing. They discussed Disney and argued over coffee preferences. Virgil was surprised to find himself smiling as he looked at Roman, who had occupied himself by ordering another cup of coffee. Though he quickly stopped when he caught himself and stared at the table.
Patton and Logan soon had their heads pressed together as they discussed something that seemed very important them. Virgil watched them quietly, jolting when Roman huffed down beside him.
“Ugh they’re at it again.”
“What?” Virgil stopped watching and turned to look at Roman.
“Them… They’re practically dating but neither will admit they have feelings… Well, Logan won’t, and believes Pattons are more familial… As Patton insists on telling us all that he loves us… Just wait till they’re holding hands… Its so cute it’ll rot your teeth…” He sounds so mixed, jealous and fond and layer upon layer more.
Virgil gives a small chuckle, looking over at the two again who were still deep in conversation.
“And this is just Patton on a sugar high… It’s even worse when they’re drunk… I think they made out a few months back at a Christmas party, no joke.” He finishes, catching the scoff Virgil had started. The idea of such tender memories mixed with liquor was so foreign to him.
“And you?” He asks Roman.
“And me, what?”
“Are you practically dating anyone, or really dating anyone or- Right.” Romans passionate words flash back into his memory and he cuts himself off, “Sorry… I’m so stupid sometimes, I just forget, God I’m an idiot I’m sorry…”
“You mustn’t apologize like that Virgil… You are not an idiot…!” Roman seems so determined when he says it, as if he truly knows that Virgil isn’t the bumbling idiot he is. That he doesn’t see Virgil stutter or slip up or every other thing that made him so truly worthless.
But it isn’t worth arguing with Roman, who seems the type to fight past his own exhaustion. Patton perks up suddenly, looking at the two other boys, “Lets have a movie night! We can go to my house and we can cuddle and-!”
“Oh yes lets do it!” Roman interrupts him, suddenly pulling Virgil up by his arm. Virgil looks surprised at the contact and at Romans eagerness, when he had just been focused on Virgil only a moment ago. Patton squeals happily and soon is pulling Logan up with equal fervor.  *************** Virgil isn’t sure how he ended up with his head on Romans shoulder. Or when Romans arm had wrapped itself carefully around his shoulder. They were both pretending to not hear Pattons giggling as Logan kept giving him little tickles.
Another fifteen minutes and Patton was asleep, drooling softly on Logans chest. Logan had kept very still, lovingly stroking his hair so that he could rest. Roman and Virgil both still pretended they didn’t see anything going on when it came to those two.
Virgil fought to keep himself from burrowing closer to Romans warmth. After he had worked himself through the panic of the contact, he allowed himself to relish in the protective stance. He distracted himself with the movie, determined to not freak out, to not over react to how sweetly Roman was rubbing his shoulder with his thumb. He tried again to focus on the movie. The argument Logan had put up against The Little Mermaid, had been humorous. He argued it defied logic, reason, all sorts of things.
‘Its Disney!’ Roman had cried, looking as if Logan had offered to sacrifice someone.
‘Its nonsense.’ He had cut back shortly.
Virgil couldn’t remember how the argument ended, but they were now watching The Little Mermaid, so Roman had won it seems. Maybe that was actually why Roman was pretending to not see Logan, to stop more fights.
“Virgil…” Roman whispered softly in his ear,
Virgil tried to pretend his blood didn’t feel cold, that he didn’t feel the urge to run from the room as he looked to Roman.
Roman offered a small warm smile, that helped relax him, he was safe here… His friends would not hurt him.
“I… I was thinking… Maybe… Maybe sometime we could… go do something… Coffee, or dinner, or something… We could start to get to know each other.”
Virgil cocked his head slightly, surely Roman wasn’t asking him out on a date, why would anyone care for such a pathetic mess as him? His words earlier had just been an act.
“Uh…” Idiot
“I we the two…?” Pathetic.
“Y-yeah…” VIrgil finally got the word out, giving a soft nod with it, “That… that could be fun…” He’ll get bored so quickly.
Virgil has to take another moment to chase the cruel voice out of his head, the one that sounded so much like Dmitri and never was any use, just mercilessly mean.
Surely, Roman hadn’t just asked him on a date, surely he was seeing some perfect somebody that he hadn’t spoken up about yet and he was simply being nice for Pattons sake, yes that was it, he was only doing this because Patton had wanted them to be friends. He would cancel the day before and Virgil would not need to worry about a date, or not date.
Right? Chapter 4.5

Roman POVRoman sat across the couch from Patton, watching as he took another sip of his drink. His Christmas hat was lopsided and his grin almost matched. Roman frowned around the room, he was determined to keep an eye on Patton, who could get a little friendly when alcohol was involved. Nothing dangerous as long as someone was with him.Roman took a sip of his soda and kept it close in hand, pretending not to see the couple across the room loudly making out. Surely they could go find a spare bedroom, they would enjoy the peace and he would enjoy their absence.Romans heart gives a soft jump, and he frowns into the lid of the can. They simply felt the need to show everyone how in love they were. Roman felt it more as rude, a sharp reminder that he was single at Christmas time. Usually he didn’t mind, but whenever he saw other couples he couldn’t help but ache towards having someone else.Sure he had tried dates but no one really seemed interested. Roman had even wondered if something had been wrong with him. Patton had helped that, staying awake with him all night to show him how wonderful he was.The thought of his grinning friend momentarily distracted him from his self pity. How could friendly lovable Patton still be single? He was the sweetest human being on the planet, Roman often teased him of causing cavities. Patton would reply that he should go to the dentist, at tooth-hurty. Everytime.Roman smiled at the memory and looked over at Patton, who had finished his drink. He moves to stand when Roman cuts him off with a water bottle, “You’ll thank me later… Just wait before you drink anymore…”Patton grinned at him, his face red as if he had been running, as it did most times when he drank. He opens it and takes a few sips, leaning back into the couch cushions. Roman watched him closely, watching for any signs that Patton would need protection or help.Logan wanders over and Patton bounds off the couch, leaning slightly as he stands. “Logan!”“Hello Patton…” Logan smiles at him, tipping Roman off that Logan was also buzzed, not as much as Patton, and either boy could be considered drunk, his less that professional response was a good indicator. On Halloween they had gotten very drunk in Pattons room and had gotten Logan to quote several viral videos. Roman still had them, and every once in a while would tease to use it as black mail, though he never would actually, as it would damn him as much as Logan.“You look very… bubbly…!” Logan smiled, sitting himself down where Patton had just been sitting. Patton wastes no time in simply sitting on Logans lap, which makes the three of them laugh, though for different reasons.“Logan, where is your tie…?” Patton asks, looking over him, true to the question, his friend was lacking his usual tie. Logan merely shrugged and looked at Patton, as if studying him.Roman soon stepped away to grab another water and some snacks, and when he returned his two friends were making out. They nearly competed with the couple on the couch, though Roman found him preferring his friends. They seemed tender and curious as they had their arms wrapped around each other.Someone calls Logan and the two break away, breathless. Logan excuses himself and quickly steps away as Roman takes a seat on the couch again. He looks at Patton curiously, “So…?”Patton didn’t respond, still staring slightly wide eyed at the retreating form of Logan, entranced by whatever had just happened. When he returned to Earth he looked surprised to see Roman beside him, so Roman dropped the question, he could always tease them later.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 5: Patton POV Patton smiled as he heard his phone buzz again, Virgils three step vibrate signaling him to who it was. Romans long buzz had gone off just a few moments before, as both boys texted Patton, unaware the other one was doing the same.

‘Pat this boy is so marvelous! Simply enchanting… Our dinner went splendid last night… And… I know this is only the second date but… I did kiss his cheek.’ (8:47)
‘I just reread that and now I realize how insane I sound.’ (8:52)
‘Shit. Padre I KISSED him!” (9:04)
‘Pat.’ (7:54)
Virgils messages, had a different approach, though they recounted the same events.

‘You can tell Roman that he doesn’t have to be nice anymore… We can cancel dinner…’ (6:42)
‘I’m not worth dinner anyways…’ (6:43)
‘Pat he brought me flowers.’(7:13)
‘Why am I blushing Patton. I… I… help.’ (7:18)
‘Dinner is over.’ (8:37)
‘Oh God.’ (8:53)
‘He…’ (9:15)
‘PAT HE KISSED ME.’ (9:16)
‘On the cheek.’(9:42)
‘But STILL.’ (6:15 AM)
‘Should I have kissed him back?’ (6:24)
‘I… do I want to?’ (7:01)
‘Yes.’(7:34 )
‘Oh my God Patton I want to kiss him.’ (7:43)
‘This is bad…’ (7:59)
Work had left Patton exhausted and unable to reply until the morning and the texts from them both were quite funny when he looked at them. He was almost tempted to just screenshot them the other persons messages, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of them.
They would be cute together…
His phone buzzing in a phone call draws him to finally put his glasses on and sit up as he pushes the phone to his hear, “M’yellow?”
“Patton. Can you come over?”
“Virgil?”
“Yes. I- you. You didn’t answer my texts and I oh… Roman. Can you come over?” Virgil keeps talking in a rush, a mix of panic and excitement.
“I’ll be over in a half hour?”
“Perfect. Thanks.” Virgil hangs up, as quickly as he had called.
Patton blinks, before pushing himself up again with a sigh. He stretched and began to get ready for his day. Virgil had seemed pretty intent on talking to him.
He pulls on a light blue t-shirt and checks his hair in the shower, pausing for a moment to make sure he didn’t look so startled awake.A cup of coffee and toast later, he moved to his car, before deciding to walk to Virgils apartment. He is just passing the park when his phone starts to ring again, he grabs his phone, shocked to see that its Virgil calling.
“Hey-A Verg!”
“D-don’t. Come. Over.” Virgil’s voice is tense and sharp.
“What? Virgil you just-” He stops when he hears a distant voice somewhere in the background.
“Just. Don’t come over. P-plans change.”
“Virgil are you safe?”
The phone hangs up and Patton blinks as he processes the bizarre phone call. So abrupt… He wouldn’t have invited him if he had someone else over…
Patton breaks into a sprint, rushing up the sidewalk to where his friend lived. Where he had just been. His mind races as he runs to the apartment, hardly noticing the ache in his legs, the burning of his lungs as he hurries. He crosses as soon as streets are clear, not waiting for traffic lights in his mad dash.
He can see Virgils building. He can almost make out the stairwell to Virgils landing. He pushes himself harder, he will make it. He will get there. He dodges around a black car as it rushes past him in the parking lot. He sprints up the stairs two at a time as he counts the floors. One… Two… Three… And, Four!
He works to pull his keys from his pocket while he’s running and pulls them free as he stops at Virgils door. He pushes the key in and turns the lock. Throwing himself against the door, and it doesn’t budge.
He… He had just unlocked it, hadn’t he? Virgil always kept his door locked. Hands shaking, Patton pushes the key the other way, listening again as he hears the lock click, and it allows the door to be swung open.
Patton forgets all worry about his keys in the door as he looks around the empty apartment. He always forgets how low his stomach can drop as each thing he notices make it feel like its dropping lower each time. There was glass shattered in the kitchen… Virgil hadn’t put away his bed to make it a couch… A picture was knocked off the ground and there was a hole in one part of the wall. A Virgil sized, pushed into the wall kind of hole. Patton stumbles further inside, “Virgil?!”
There is no answer, but he shouts it anyways as he checks the bathroom, under the mattress, under the table. Places Virgil obviously isn’t but he can’t be gone. He can’t be gone he just called him. Scared.“Enough I’m gonna call the landlord!” A voice snaps behind him, a female in the doorway of the apartment. Patton blinks at her, and she blinks back.
“Your not the kid who lives here…”
“Why would you call the landlord?”
She frowns at Pattons question, looking him over before giving a sigh, “Because him and someone else were just having… a fight or something. Just a minute or two ago, you must have just missed him. Whats going on?”
Again, Pattons stomach drops lower than he had previously believed possible. A fight. Virgil had been… Kidnapped.
Patton feels the ground sway and he lurches to the toilet as he feels the overwhelming urge to vomit. He kneels and retches but nothing happens. Nothing comes up. He stands shakily and moves to the counter of the bathroom to splash some water on his face, and thats when he sees it.
A paper, hastily ripped from a notebook and on the counter by the sink. Written quickly, with something red dropped on it. Patton does not recognize the handwriting reading:
“Virgil’s going home. Stay away.”Patton carries the note out and the girl is gone. Apparently satisfied that the noise was done, unaware. Unassuming. Hands trembling, Patton pulls out his phone and puts the receiver to his ear. He was going to need help if they were going to save Virgil.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Virgil sits silently in the back seat, his head hanging down as the car moves forward. He felt so cold. He briefs a look up at Dmitri, who continues to grip the wheel tightly.

“Babe stop!” Virgil jumps forward to try and force the car to move as Patton seems to jump out of nowhere. Panicked and red faced. Patton barely notices in his rush that he has missed the chance to see Virgil.

Virgil doesnt care about Dmitris anger, he couldn’t have let Patton be victim to a hit and run.

“Patton!” He shoves his weight against the door, tugging the handle uselessly. He already knew it was locked, childlocked to be exact. The windows also prevented him from escaping.

Unsurprisingly, Patton doesn’t notice. He runs towards Virgils apartment building with all his force, and hopes he won’t be too late. Virgil wishes he wasn’t too late too. He goes back to hanging his head miserably in the back seat.

He feels his newly forming black eye pulse in time with his heartbeat and tells himself the burning he feels is too, that it is not tears. He will not cry. He won’t. He won’t! The tears fall slowly as Virgil works hard to keep them from being noticable.

He had only been here just over a month. Just long enough to begin to relax… To trust… His heart already ached when he thought of his friends. Of Roman, who he had promised to call later that night. Would he be mad? Relieved? Or what about Patton… Who would soon discover the empty apartment. Would he find the note? Or would he call Logan, who would find it. So calm. How was he always so calm!

Calm was the furthest thing from how Virgil felt, the mix of emotions churning inside him as he sits still. Thoughts, injuries, worries, all of these keep mixing to a point that Virgil feels he may soon burst if he thinks any longer. If he feels any longer.

“Who is Patton Cakes?”

Virgils head jerks up quickly, and he focuses slowly. He sees Dmitri, holding his phone. Virgils phone. In his hand. It was buzzing. How long had it been buzzing? He hadn’t even noticed it, though it had been with Dmitri so he wasn’t too confused as to why he hadn’t heard its echo.

“I-it… Its a f-friend…” Virgils mouth feels chalky, its not a lie. So why does it feel so impossible for him to be able to talk, to form a sentence that wasn’t just incoherent babbling.

Had Patton made it to the apartment? Has he found the note…?

Virgil isn’t sure what he wants to be true. If he wants Patton to know who has him… Or to not have any idea. Both leave him feeling nauseous.

The call ends and a minute or so later, it notifies the car that a voicemail has been left. Virgil reaches his hand to grab it and Dmitri smacks it hard. Virgil recoils like a wounded animal, nearly in a ball in the back seat.

“It was rather sneaky of you to run off like that Babe... To leave your phone… Lie to me… When we all know how pitiful you would be without me…” Dmitris words sting, just as sharp as a knife.

“I was so worried about you Babe… I missed you…”

Virgil still doesn’t reply, his eyes focused on the chair back in front of him.  He only sits up to pay attention when the car starts to slow down.

“Unlock your phone.”

“What?” Virgil frowns and looks up at Dmitri.

“Unlock. Your. Phone.”

“Why?” He adds, not looking at him, the fire in his eyes.

Virgil gasps as Dmitri grabs his hair, pulling him forward, “Unlock it!”

Hands trembling, Virgil does as he was told, seeing that he has several more missed calls from his friends and lots of missed texts. He slowly hands it to Dmitri’s open hand and watches as he starts to look it over.

“You… He kissed… You cheater!”

Virgil jumps back, missing the punch Dmitri had thrown his way. Virgil doesn’t even try to argue. He had. He had allowed Roman to kiss him. He pushes away the roll of emotion that thinking of Roman brings.

“Virgil! Virg where are you! Was it Dmitri? Virgil please call me back!” Pattons panicked voice pours out of his phone, and he looks at it, feeling tears burn again at his eyes.

“Virgil were going to come get you! We won’t let you stay near that monster!”

“Monster? Are they refering to me?”

“Yes!” Virgil finally snaps, his hands starting to shake as emotions of all kinds start to take over him. “Dmitri this is an abusive relationship and I just want out! Let me out Dmitri!” The shout leaves and Virgil takes a deep breath, looking at his clenched hands.

Dmitri frowns, pausing for a moment, looking over Virgil.

“Oh?”

Virgil already feels the pit in his stomach and it just worsens when Dmitri rips the keys from the ignition. Virgil looks around, finally realizing they’re at a rest stop. Even worse, a deserted one.

He moves to the opposite side of the car, away from his ex as he moves out of the car angrily. He throws open the back door and Virgil pushes himself against the other door, desperately starting to pull the handle, it just moves uselessly and he kicks as Dmitri leans in, grabbing his foot and dragging him out.

“If you want a monster Virgil I’ll show you a monster!” Dmitri’s voice is cold as he yanks Virgil out.

“Lemme go,” Virgil tries to pull his foot free and pushes away when Dmitri drags him up. Dmitri twists his arm and pushes him almost easily towards the rest stop, despite Virgil squirming and dragging his feet. Doing anything he can to stop Dmitri dragging him forward.

“Stop fighting me Virgil!”

“Go to Hell!”

The only reaction Virgil gets is his slammed into the door as Dmitri pushes him into the Family bathroom. Virgil stumbles as Dmitri releases him as he locks the door, too stunned by the stars in his eyes.

“Are you going to use that mouth for anything good?” Dmitri growls, to which Virgil takes the last bit of defiant energy he has left to spit at Dmitri. It lacks any shock, as it merely dribbles down his chin. Causing Dmitri to pause with a chuckle before getting into his backpack.

He’s back before Virgil can react, tying his hands tightly.

“You want to see a monster… I will show you a monster Virgil… You will regret even looking at me angrily.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Roman weaves his way through traffic, speeding through and hurrying as he watches the clock closely. His heart was still pounding from Pattons phone call. Three calls to Virgil had been ignored and he still couldn’t believe what Patton said was true. It couldn’t possibly be true.The light ahead turns yellow and Roman pushes the gas, rushing through the light. He cuts off another car as he continues desperately. As if his speed can some how turn back the time.He clenches the wheel tighter as he rushes to park at Virgils apartment building. Repeating the floor and apartment number over and over as he parks quickly and takes off desperately to the stairs. He takes them several at a time as he rushes up, running down the hall as soon as he can. He can feel his heart pounding as he runs into the open door.He stands still in the entry. He had never been inside Virgils apartment. Patton leaps off  what must be Virgils bed, “Roman! You’re here!”“His… His ex kidnapped him?” Roman pants, still not believing this horrible thing could be true. Patton holds up a crinkled paper, a menacing note for people to stay away, that Virgil was ‘going home’Roman blinks, looking at Patton.“You know where he lived with his ex right? Where this home would be?”“Yes but-”“Well then lets go! We can’t waste anymore time.”“Roman we can’t just lea-!”“Patton I am not letting this happen! We’ve got to save him!” Romans voice cracks and he looks at Patton, silently urging him to understand the urgency he felt. He had seen those scars, Patton had seen the worst of them, and they couldn’t just sit idly and give up. They couldn’t let him go back.Patton looks like he may argue when Romans phone buzzes, he pulls it out quickly and looks at it. He gasps, covering his mouth and stepping back. No… Patton leans forward to look at Romans phone, but he immediately regrets it.There on the screen, a wounded Virgil lays in a bathroom floor. He looks so impossibly hurt, covered in blood and sweat and several other things Patton didn’t recognize… Or wouldn’t allow himself to recognize. More cuts, more bruises. Virgil looks more like a horror victim than a person anymore. Patton gags, forcing his eyes away from the sight. It still feels burned in his memory, his mind still dissecting the horror he had seen.Romans hands shake slightly again and he looks at Patton with more focus.“We’re going. Call Logan. We’re saving him. Now.” Patton doesn’t talk back this time, he just nods resolutely and swallows weakly. The image of Virgil flashes into his memory again, and it continues to make him feel ill.Romans phone buzzes again, this time the notification tells the two that it is a video message. From Virgil.Roman looks weakly at Patton, before opening it with a shaky finger. A buffer brings up the video, before it finally starts, echoing from the close space the speaker seems to be in.A ghostly arm moves the camera, “Say hi Virgy… Tell your boyfriend to stay away. Tell him…” The voice is cold and mocking and he sees Virgil flinch at his name, surely this person didn't mean Roman when he said boyfriend, even though the message had been sent to Roman himself...The Virgil on screen, that couldn’t possibly be the same boy who he smiled with at Dinner just last night, sits up feebly, his body trembling at the effort. He seems to not be completely conscious either. He can't seem to open his eyes fully and his nose drips blood. He seems to endlessly drip blood as he tries to focus on the lense of the phone, but fails.“D-don’t…” His voice is so quiet… So broken… Roman feels so angry at this person, at who did this to Virgil. He would pay“I-I’m oh… Okay…” Virgil finally gets out, slumping back on the floor and curling up feebly. There is an uncomfortable noise he makes when he falls back.  Roman feels overcome with the desire to protect Virgil, and anger at this obvious failure of it. The beautiful boy he had kissed last night was now in a bathroom being tortured. He feels a weight in his stomach, guilt pitted inside him.“R-Roman…” Roman is pulled from his horror when he hears his name leave the boys lips, so quiet he almost missed it. The hand holding the camera shakes it slightly, obviously they did not miss the slip up.“Roman?!”The screen is a mess then an upwards angle, as its been dropped. Roman is stuck with a view of the ceiling and shadows. He is left with no idea what is actually happening, but he can hear it so completely.“I’ll teach you! You ungrateful whore!” The mysterious voice shouts and Roman hears Virgil scream. He hears… what could only be described as… strangling. Muffled, broken noises in the vague sound of Virgil.“How dare you speak his name! You will never see him again!” Dmitri yells again and Patton has stepped back, looking horrified at the sights and sounds. Theres another heavy thud and he sees the shadow of Virgil being thrown to the ground.He finally sees a face to match the demon of a person who is doing this, as Dmitri picks up the phone, smirks, and ends the video.Patton is on the bed, looking as if he may pass out and Roman takes a deep breath. About to speak when Patton says it for him.“Lets go.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Virgil closes his eyes and just watches the floor move slightly with the bumps along the road. He would like to pretend that he felt empty, that nothing was left to hurt him, but it was untrue. He felt raw, bruised. Every worried text Dmitri read from his friends only made him feel another painful pang of emotion. Roman who had been valiantly texting that he would come rescue him. Pattons gentle texts of assurance. Even Logan had texted him help lines and texts of helpful information. Dmitri read each one as his phone buzzed, mocking the concern they poured out. He finally shifts and looks at the floor.“Hey… uh… Dee… I need to go pee…” It had been five hours since they had stopped at the abandoned rest stop, and he could see how the gas dial had been approaching closer and closer to empty. It wouldn’t be long before the gaslight would come on, and hopefully, Dmitri would let him out to go pee. Virgil didn’t even have the energy to consider doing anything beside what he said he needed to, let alone plan an escape attempt, which he knew would be a main reason that Dmitri would refuse him.He also didn’t feel like sparking Dmitri’s anger any more when this theoretical escape plan inevitably failed. So he just sat back, watching Dmitri go over the words that Virgil had told him. Weighing his options, weighing the gas in the car. All sorts of things. He knew that he was going through every idea and what Virgil would do, how honest he considered him and how much he felt like enduring. He never gives him an answer, but opens the door when they stop for gas. Virgil hurries out, and rushes immediately to the bathroom, relieved to go pee. The single stall bathroom had a dirty mirror and he looked himself over. Finally, he tugs off his shirt, using paper towels to slowly clean himself up from his earlier torture. To scrib all the traces of what had happened from his skin. When he deems himself to looking more presentable he leaves and looks out the gas station glass front, seeing Dmitri still at the car when he looks out the window. He takes the chance to purchase a water and some food, starting to hurriedly eat it as soon as he has the receipt. Eyes glued to Dmitri, tense as he prepares to be caught and punished for eating without permission, he starts to chug his water next, and as soon as Dmitri starts to approach the gas station, Virgil hurriedly shoves everything in the trash and heads towards the doors.Dmitris scowl lessons to a smile when he sees Virgil, and he takes his arm gently. “Hey Babe… I was worried…” He presses a kiss to Virgils temple, but pulls him tighter when Virgil cringes away. “Virgil.”Virgil jerks his arm free and climbs in the back seat of the car again. He wouldn’t play nice anymore. He wouldn’t fight Dmitri, but he would not show him affection, he lacked the effort it took to do so even if he wished to keep Dmitri pleased, so he would not give into the attention, especially not in public.Dmitri frowns but gets in the car once again, immediately taking off again. The ache has started to subside, as he goes back to feeling numb, as he once had when he had lived with Dmitri. The push of hunger and needing to pee being gone allow him to start to shut down. He pretended that thinking of Roman didn’t bring a surge of sadness. He simply pretended that he was going to appease Dmitri. That survival was all he needed to do. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ He wakes up to Dmitri tugging on his jacket. “Come on V… We’re staying at a hotel tonight…”Virgil gives a small stretch as he sits up and blinks as he urges himself to wake up, the fog refusing to fade. They move inside, Dmitri already has his key so he must've checked in while Virgil slept in the car. He still feels the rock of the car, the ache where the seatbelt had pressed into his hip while he slept. He moves forward as Dmitri curls an arm around him, starting to kiss him as soon as the elevator doors shut. They're thankfully alone, Virgil returns it tiredly, breaking it only to yawn.“I love you V…” Dmitri murmers sweetly when he does, and Virgil just returns the kiss, unsure  of what to say. Too afraid to tell him no and unwilling to say he loves him, trying to remind himself that this is the man who tortured him, just hours before he had Virgil begging him to let him go, and here he was, returning Dmitri's affection as if he truly cared.They arrive to their floor and Dmitri leads Virgil to their hotel room quietly, still trying to kiss Virgil in moments that he could pause. His hands wandering across Virgils body shamelessly. He shuts the door and catches Virgil in another passionate kiss. Starting to pull his clothes off gently, covering him in kisses.“I do V… I love you… I want you…” Virgil closes his eyes against Dmitris words, trying to not let himself fall again, to remind himself that this was not healthy. Dmitri presses another kiss to his throat.“Baby I love you…” Dmitri continues to murmur kind words and gentle kisses as he tugs Virgil’s clothes off.Slowly Virgil starts to return the kisses and attention, pushing away the voice that tells him to run. This was his Dmitri… Dmitri was back and wouldn’t hurt him anymore unless he messed up… Yes this was his old boyfriend… He feels his cheeks warm and he curls his arms around Dmitri's waist, closing his eyes. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Dmitri sleeps peacefully beside him, Virgil nestled under his arm. Though Virgil is far from asleep. His stomach rolls with emotion as he tries to focus on what he should do. What he needed to do. He no longer knew, he had spent the month telling Patton the horrors he had been through… He had nearly forgotten these tender moments when Dmitri treasured him. These moments he wondered if he was making a good choice.And the thought of Patton inevitably led to thoughts of Roman. He knew he had emotions for Roman, strong real emotions. But he still cared for Dmitri as well. This had been his first boyfriend, his first everything. And this time at the hotel only made him feel more turmoiled. His head screamed as he remembered his day earlier. Everything Dmitri had done to him… Out of anger…It clashed with this current moment, where he felt so warm. So protected. As if they were two completely different people.Finally, he pulls himself from under Dmitris grip to look in the mirror in the bathroom. He looks over the reflection completely. Staring at the person he tried to ignore so often in the mirror. Every new bruise, the finger marks around his throat, the scabs and scars and where words had been driven in. Dmitri had caused every one of the marks.Sure, few were from accidents or little spills Virgil had, but Dmitri had reopened every one, worsened them. He had burned him with cigarettes and done so many horrible things to him.He thought about Patton, about Logan and Roman. None of them had any reason to hide their body. They all wore t-shirts and muscle shirts (though the last was mostly Roman) and they were not covered in scars. They did not flinch when touched or clammed up if startled.He takes a deep breath, reminding himself endlessly that this was not a good relationship, that this was creul to him and he did not deserve it, it was not healthy, and that he needed to escape, to flee.Virgil slowly redresses, watching Dmitri closely as he grabs the car keys from Dmitris’ pocket. He isn’t sure what his plan is as he slowly gets the hotel room key and makes his way to the door. He moves silently out and runs down the hall.He bounces on the balls of his feet as he watches the elevator lower itself, dinging at each floor. He moves across the lobby with a stubborn intent, his heart pounding in his chest as he does. He hurries out the front door and runs to Dmitris car. He throws open the door and pulls his phone up as quickly as possible. Hands shaking as he looks through his messages, nearly crying in relief when he sees that Patton had texted him they were coming. They were going to rescue him.He anxiously hits the button to call Patton, holding the phone in trembling hands as it rings. It is answered quickly, “I am going to find Virgil and ki-““P-Patton its me!”“Virg!”He hears the background noise of Roman and Logan starting to talk about it being Virgil. How he had called.Virgil feels tears start to drip down his face as he hears their voices. He felt so entirely relieved to hear from them. To know they were coming.“Virgil where are you! We are coming!”Virgil doesn’t answer as he just cries, holding his phone tightly and cherishing their voices. He had not expected it to feel so amazing to hear Pattons voice, to hear them talking anxiously in the background, that he was able to hear them.Virgil turns to look at the name of the hotel and nearly drops his phone as he is nearly face to face with Dmitri. Virgil stammers weakly as he stares at Dmitri, who looks livid.“The… The C-country i… inn…” Virgil manages, before dropping the phone and trying to move away from Dmitri’s angry gaze. His mouth felt dry and he felt his heart pulse within him as he stares at Dmitri.“Dee! Hey babe I j-just… I…”Dmitri scoops up his phone and presses it to his ear. Virgil can hear Patton talking distractedly on the other end and Dmitri stiffens in possibly more anger.“Stay away. Virgil is happy. Coming for him will not make him happy.” He hangs it up and looks at Virgil, “I see we don’t get to stay the night…”

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Chapter 9:Logan POV: “Roman it is impractical that you continue to drive at this speed, this exhaustion level, and this stress level.”“Logan we are only a half hour home from where Virgil’s home should be!” Roman snaps, his hands white knuckled on the steering wheel. Romans driving had approached reckless, crossing over to illegal after the call from Virgil. All three of them were antsy to try and save their friend, but it did not mean that he needed to put their own lives in danger.“Let me drive.” Logan insists, watching the fire in Romans eyes, how they reflected the occasional lights of other cars, the empty energy drinks that littered the floor.“No! I am not stopping unless its an emergency or gas!”Logan glances at the clock again, it ticks away just past 3:30 A.M. Roman had started the trip, napped shortly, and insisted on driving again. And most of the time, Logan allowed it, but as his MPH approached 90’s and his driving got more erratic, Logan couldn’t help but feel anxious about their own safety.“At least slow down, we can’t risk getting a ticket.”Roman glared at Logan briefly, and Logan resumed as if he meant to add more, “It would put us another half hour behind at least, we will save no time speeding.”Roman still seemed to seethe with anger but slowly the car slowed to 80’s range. Acceptable.Patton sat in the back seat, he was still quite pale and it worried Logan to see him this way, he wanted to comfort him, assure him that all would be well.Though, the truth was he did not know, and he was unwilling to lie to Patton, so he kept quiet.“I have an address.” Patton whispers, almost lost in the hum of the car engine and distracted thoughts.Logan turns more so in his seat to peer back, “You do?”Pattons hand trembles softly as he nods, turning the glowing screen to Logan. He blinks as his eyes react to the bright light for a moment and bites back a sickened groan. On the screen, sat Virgil, his hands handcuffed above him and hooked over what must be an unfinished ceiling. The most prominent part is what makes him sick, is the simple amount of blood.Logan finally moves down the screen to see the text from Virgils phone, listing an address and the sickening addition of: ‘Come join us… Can’t have people knowing about Virgy...’“Patton-” Logan looks to where the figure of Patton should be, though the phone makes everything beyond it black and hazy. Patton cuts him off immediately.“Yes Lo, we’re still going.”Logan gives a worried slight nod, and resets his phones map from Virgils previous address, to this updated one. Roman glances at him as he does, “What? What tell me?! Logan!-”“He invited us to the address… There is a picture of Virgil in a… less than ideal state. The message implies that he wishes to harm us… Or even kill us.”The car jerks slightly as Roman tenses, and Logan watches the speedometer begin to go up again. Logan doesn’t argue this time.“What do you mean less than ideal?” Roman asks through gritted teeth, the fire alight again in his eyes, giving him an almost deranged look.“He… he appears to be in a basement… his is… covered in what I presume to be his own blood… He… He is not well Roman… He is not well.”Logan looks down as he finishes, it was sad to see Virgil this way. And if the way Romans behavior and body language around Virgil was accurate (and considering he had noticed and studied it he was certain that it was.) he cared deeply, if not loved the newcomer.Logan paused to look at Patton, who looked miserable and close to tears in the back seat. His heart stung at the idea of someone even hurting him a little. The idea of seeing Virgils scars on Pattons body, just the thought made his heart lurch and his eyes sting with emotion. Though he hated to acknowledge the lack of reason emotion often brought.Surely, they would arrive soon, and they could return home, and this would all simply be, a nightmare. Something unreal.He knew it was foolish, the statistics were there. Abuse, in all its forms were common. They sadly had horrible statistics and it seems, they were about to become some of them. May he be on the small side, may Virgil, be on the small side. “Take exit 387 B and head down Forest Highway for 3.6 miles.” The female voice makes them all jump, but Roman diligently obeys, moving to the exit and starting to slow down. Logan looked at the sign up ahead, the nearest town was still 5 miles away, and they were headed adjacent to it.His concern increased as they turned. Roman speeding up again to hurry on their way, Logan watched the speedometer continue to rise past the legal limit once again. This wasn’t going to simply be a house or an apartment, near people who could help. The forest blurred past them as the group drove in silence.No. This would be around nothing, where they would not be heard or bothered.Logan glanced again at Patton, who seemed to be worrying about something similar as he gazed around the area.The world outside their car was black outside the headlights, and gave them little idea what kind of area they were in. Patton had lived here as a child but Logan wasn’t even sure what direction they were facing anymore.Logan looked at his phone again, and checked their estimated arrival time.“10 minutes. It says we will be there in 10 minutes.”

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Virgil lifts his head tiredly as he hears tires crunch on the gravel of the drive way. His heart dropped, there were only two options. More people to come torment him, or his friends. They had come and now Dmitri was going to hurt them.He shifts slightly and his shoulders burn. The muscles exhausted after being extended over his arms for so long. He looked at them feebly, as if any chance to escape had appeared anew in his hours of quiet he had been trapped down in the basement. Of course, nothing new had developed, he was still trapped with his hands hung on a support beam.Dmitri has several friends upstairs, he’s heard them drinking all night. A few voices he recognized, and their noise made his stomach coil. He tried to keep track of how many, but had failed. He simply knew there were enough of them that his friends would be harmed. He had to protect them. Even when he was stuck here he would do anything he could to keep his friends out of harms reach.The conversation upstairs hasn’t slowed, meaning they had hopefully missed the sound of the car. Virgil hears the doors open and close quietly and looks out the basement window, he sees the soft flash of a flashlight. He can barely make out figures walking as quietly as they can and Virgil waits anxiously, listening to the drunken men and trying to listen for his friends.He stares at the window when suddenly, theres a muffled thud and there Roman sits in the window well. His face brightens when he sees Virgil and he starts working at the window, sliding it carefully open. Virgil shakes his head frantically, terrified that Dmitri would come down and discover them. He wasn't sure what would happen, but he knew it would be horrible, as Dmitri had no problem giving them the address to come to the cabin. He wasn’t exactly sure when the change had occured, but Dmitri had at some point stopped telling them to stay away, instead, he started telling Virgil what he would do to them.Even the thought of Dmitri putting a knife to Roman made his blood run cold and he shakes his head frantically at Roman. Mouthing no over and over as the boy ignores him, stepping through onto the basement floor. He shakes as he watches Roman, desperately listening to what was happening above for any indication of discovery. He wouldn't allow himself to even hope they'd escape.“Roman please he’s going to kill you!” Virgil croaks, as quiet as he can be.“Oh Posh my sweet Virgil, I am here to rescue you!”Roman at least had the common sense to stay quiet, hearing Dmitri above them. He moves and Virgil shakes his head, starting to cry.“No, no Roman please listen to me he’s going to hurt you and Patton and ohmygodromanpleaseleaveican’tlethimhurtyou.” The words blur together as Roman gets closer but its a gunshot that makes him whiten.He immediately examines Roman for a wound, and finds nothing. But quickly hears the scuffle through the window.“Aye!”Voices seem to blur and Virgil breaks into tears again as he hears Patton and Logan, struggling outside. They’re outnumbered. Easily. Surely taken by surprise.“Roman leave!” Virgil begs, trying to kick the other away, he hears them pulling his other friends inside and feels like he may break. He kicks at Roman to keep him away, hoping desperately that the boy will listen and escape while he still can.“Hey Dee. Lover boy has some company downstairs.” A voice cuts from the window and Roman frowns, “I’ll get us out of here.” Virgil shakes his head as Dmitri opens the basement door. Roman immediately dashes out of sight, hoping to surprise him.Dmitri, though is prepared, heading down the stairs with a gun aimed.“Dee please no!” Virgil immediately screams, starting to squirm what little he can. He wanted to desperately pull his attention from where he would find Roman.“Please let them go! Dee please!”His abuser ignores him as he steps down the stairs, shooting as soon as he sees Roman. Virgil screams in time with Roman, who falls back. Blood quickly blossoming from his leg. He grimaces in pain, tears running down his cheeks and he starts trying to stand.Dmitri crosses over to him quickly and shoves him against the wall. Roman shoves him back, but is unsteady as he is forced to stand one footed, still in shock from the wound.Dmitri wastes no time, pulling out rope from his pocket and binding Romans hands, before attaching him like a dog in trouble to a post of the room.“You foul villain! Why I will-” Romans indignant words are cut off as Dmitri shoves a washcloth into his mouth.“Dmitri please don’t hurt him!” Virgil starts again, screaming as loud as he can now, shaking in desperation, “Dee please! I’ll be so good… I’ll make you feel so good p-please!” He chokes out. Roman shakes his head and yells muffledly, making faces of horror at Virgil.“Is that so…?” Dmitri smirks softly at Roman and moves over to Virgil, finally reaching up and unlocking one part of the handcuffs. Virgil drops into his arms and whimpers softly, nodding. His legs refuse to hold his weight and he feels the blood rushing back to his fingertips. He holds tight to Dmitri's arms, trembling.“What would you do baby…?” Dmitri prods, propping Virgil up. Roman continues to make muffled screams, over and over he shakes his head as frantically he can.“I… Anything Dee… I would do whatever you want… I wouldn’t run or complain… I would…” Dmitri cuts him off with a firm kiss and Virgil makes an odd noise. But soon he returns it, kissing Dmitri and closing his eyes.“Lets go  upstairs then…” He chuckles, and Virgil looks back at Roman anxiously, worried.Dmitri frowns and jerks him forward, and Virgil watches Roman disappear as he moves up slowly. He enters the kitchen and gasps as he sees Logan and Patton tied and stuck on kitchen chairs. Virgil glances at Dmitri and starts to drag his feet, moving towards the two on the chair. His two friends look over towards him as he walks past.Dmitri notices immediately and grabs him, “No. Upstairs Babe.” He orders sharply and Patton looks up and pales when he sees the two. Dmitri shoves him to the next set of stairs.“Virgil. Virgil no run!” Patton screams, starting to squirm against the zipties that are keeping him to the chair.“Patton be quiet.” Logan mutters, he doesn't struggle and from the looks of his wrists, he hasn't tried to fight since they've forced him in the spot.Patton makes no acknowledgement that he hears as he keeps shouting, Virgil hangs his head and just moves up the stairs. Pausing as they get up to the top, “y-you’ll leave t-them all alone? You won’t hurt anyone?”Dmitri smirks softly at him and shoves Virgil hard into the bedroom, “Have at ‘em boys! Just don’t kill them!”“No!” Virgil shouts, running forward and trying to get past Dmitri and back to his friends. “No! No Dmitri you promised!” He screams, trying anything he can to get past him. Dmitri stands firmly, before starting to shove Virgil back into the room again. Virgil grits his teeth, starting to cry once again as he fights against Dmitri, who wins easily. He keeps pushing him back towards the bed, and soon has Virgil with his hands tied to the headboard. Virgil tugs desperately at them, looking at them frantically, "Dee! Dee please!" He trembles as Dmitri starts to tugs Virgils pants down. “Don’t worry babe… You’ll get to help hurt them soon too…”

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Patton looks over at the stairs where Virgil had just disappeared. Haunted by seeing him willingly follow his tormentor so calmly. He looks over at Logan, who had continued to show nothing but a stone face except when he had shouted at Patton. Even now he looked almost robotic as he stares at the floor, Patton was unsure what kind of thoughts were filling his head. He couldn't bring himself to try and say anything to Logan, and was worried his voice would betray the fear he felt.“Have at ‘em boys! Just don’t kill ‘em!” The voice of Dmitri echoes throughout the house and he hears Virgil start yelling as soon as he hears what the monster said. Pattons stomach turns as he starts to hear footsteps approaching, there's enough of them though that they seem to be cornering him on all sides. He closes his eyes tightly, whimpering and then peeks his eyes open to look over at Logan, who has his head bowed down finally.“This one looks sweet.” A hand suddenly grips the chair Patton is stuck on and wheels it to face this person. He reeks of sweat and alcohol and Patton finds himself hoping that this is merely a nightmare, that this wasn’t real. He tightens his eyes tighter, trying to curl himself away from the smell and closeness of the stranger.“He looks like a good sub if I do say so…”  Another adds, Patton whines wills himself to not know what they’re thinking about, that they can’t possibly think of doing something that horrible. Even the scenario they seemed to be discussing was meant to be consensual and this was anything but. It was horrifying and he hated that Logan was hearing every word they said.“Mmmm… I don’t want to wait to find out, I want him now. Get him up.” One roughly grabs Patton and cuts the ties off quickly. Patton pushes at the strangers chest as he pins Patton against the counter, starting to cut his shirt off. Patton gasps as the knife knicks his stomach, the man chuckles at Pattons fear, starting to tug at Pattons jeans.“Wait! Please let me take his place!”Logans voice cuts through to Pattons soul immediately, he makes eye contact with his stone faced friend and shakes his head. “L-lo… N-no…” He starts to argue against it, shaking his head furiously as Logan stares at the man trapping Patton in his grip. He makes no acknowledgement that he can see or hear Patton shouting at him.“Please.... I would be much better than my friend… I have studied how to pleasure males and have had some practice and-” he blinks back sudden tears that spring to his eyes as he drops his head, “Please… Do not molest my friend… I will do everything in my ability to make the trade worthwhile…”“Logan No!” Patton shouts and they all ignore him, his captor staring at Logan, who stares at the floor. Patton trembles as the man moves a bit back from him, Patton screaming again for Logan to stop what he was saying.“Or I could just take you both, you’re in no place to be making offers.”“You could get your pleasure by force… Or I would work to please you in ways you’ve never known…”“Logan shut up! Stop it!!” Patton screams at him, looking horrified at what Logan was saying.“And if you don’t…?”“You already have us bent to your will… You simply get to do it the original w-way… Please… D-don’t hurt him…” Logan gasps, looking up at them desperately. He could feel his hands shaking against the ties that kept him from moving.“N-no… No Logan nonono!! No don’t touch him!” Patton screams, kicking hard at the man as he turns to grab Logan, the boy swallows weakly and tries to keep his face calm. He takes a deep breath as they cut him free and push him upstairs. One man stays firmly with Patton, who desperately keeps trying to push around him, screaming Logans name repeatedly.“Cute little Lover boy has a thing for you… Offering himself up instead of you…” Pattons captor murmurs, breathing against his neck, and Patton shakes his head, short of breath.“No… No he was protecting m-me… he… he doesn’t… Logan!” Patton whimpers softly, leaning forward and taking a deep breath.“He isn’t protecting you from anything but sex sweetheart.”“Wha-” Patton tries to jerk back as the man grabs his arm and pulls him over to the stove, lighting the gas quickly.He sets the flame and wastes no time jerking Pattons arm over it. Patton yelps almost instantly, trying to tug his arm out of the fire. He gasps and jerks his arm, getting more and more frantic as the burn starts to worsen, the pain spreading across his arm. He watches it in horror, trembling and looking at the man occassionally. He doesn't break his gaze from the flame across Pattons skin.“S-stop… stop!” Patton whimpers and the man watches him with a soft grin, offering no give as he watches the sharp burn. Its not until Patton starts screaming that he turns the stove off, dragging Patton to the sink and running water against it. Patton cries out again and stares at the charred skin along his forearm.“Does that hurt cutie…?” He smirks, grabbing Pattons burned skin, causing his knees to buckle as he sinks down, gasping softly.He nods quickly, desperately trying to get him to release it.“Well… this was a mild start but I am tired… We’ll pick this up in the morning…” He laughs, tying Pattons hands again and pushing him onto the couch. Leaving Patton in his own tears, trying to pretend he doesn’t hear whats going on upstairs. He shifts desperately to find any position that muffled the noises and kept him from feeling the pain of his arm.

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Virgil closed his eyes, his body ached and he was exhausted. He didn’t know what time it was but was stuck just worrying about his friends. He had heard Logan and Patton but he had no clue if Roman was ok. He could only hope he was alright. He wasn't sure if it was worse to know where they were, or to have no clue where they were.He stands slowly, whimpering softly as his body protests anything that wasn’t being unconscious. His stomach churned as he moved and he covered his mouth to stop the gag from moving into a full reaction to barf. He had nothing to throw up but the bitter threat of being sick was enough to make Virgil feel even worse. Of moving quickly or making a mess he would have to clean up.He pulls on his underwear and has to sit to rest, the act of sneaking around so he didn’t wake Dmitri exhausting him further as he tried to get his clothes on. He moves to the bathroom and rubs himself down to wash the sweat away. Eventually, he tugs his old clothes back on and takes a deep breath.Slowly, he makes his way downstairs. No one is on the main floor of the house but that does nothing to comfort him. There were few other places Logan and Patton could go and none of them had good intentions. Virgil sloppily fills two cups with water, drinking one immediately after before grabbing some towels.He slowly makes his way downstairs, trembling as he takes each step. Unsure if he hopes Roman is dead so his suffering stops or if he is alive so Virgil is not alone or if he has company or if he has been alone since they left. None of the options make him feel any better.Virgil whines softly when Roman gets into his sight. They boy is sagging, hanging from his arms in an odd zoned out state. His white shirt was sweaty and spotted with blood. His leg… Virgil couldn’t really stand to look at his leg.He pushes forward again and the movement causes Roman to give a start. He pants and looks up, ready to fight whatever attacker has come his way. He sets the water on the stairs, sighing. Virgil looks down as he approaches.He only meets Romans eyes when they are mere inches apart and even then he looks ashamed. He refuses to try and read how Roman feels as he reaches to free his hands. Roman groans softly as his arms drop. He falls forward slightly onto Virgil as his leg refuses to cooperate and Virgil, still too weak to hold himself up, let alone Roman, staggers down too.The two land in a painful heap of limbs and each cries out. Virgil covers his own mouth quickly, tense and waiting for the inevitable sound of Dmitri. No sounds interrupt them and he leans forward in relief. After a moment of trying to calm his breathing, he moves to help Romans leg.He looks at it hesitantly, biting his lip. “I… I don’t know what to do Roman… I don’t know how to help bullet wounds....” He finally chokes, looking at Roman helplessly.Roman just takes his hand, closing his eyes briefly.“Virgil… I drove across the country… A meager wound isn’t going to stop me…” He murmurs, tugging Virgil's hand to his lips and kissing it. Virgil closes his eyes softly and enjoys the tender touch, despite being warry.“You… You shouldn’t have come… I’m not worth this…”Romans eyes light up passionately and he frowns, “Virgil don’t you ever say that! You are amazing! You are beautiful! You are passionate and interesting and worth a thousand sunsets of royalty! And I love you for every bit of it damn it!” He takes a deep breath, still looking at Virgil with firm ferocity.“You… you said you love me…”Romans breath catches and he stares at Virgil before nodding, “I did. I do. I love you.”Virgil's hands tremble within Romans grip and he just stares at him, unsure of what to say or do. He knew he felt the same way, but with Dmitri…“You shouldn’t…” He finally murmurs and Roman scoffs, boldly pulling Virgil into a careful but passionate kiss. Virgil jerks away immediately as he copes with the turn that had just happened, after a second or two he moves in and gives Roman a hesitant kiss.“I… I think I love you too…” He murmurs, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Roman’s. The two sit in the heap they landed, both with their eyes closed and breathing slowly.Finally Virgil stirs, pulling his meager supplies over and starting to wrap Romans leg, unsure of what he was doing. Roman looks on quietly, not saying anything as Virgil works.“Ok… we gotta pull out this bullet…” Virgil murmurs, looking at the wound carefully. His hands float in different places as he refuses to actually touch the spot yet. He goes quiet and bites his lip, looking at it slowly. “I can’t though… I have nothing to stop infection… Nothing to even grab it… I just can’t…” His words seem to simply be said, no longer any form of conversation, just words spoken to no one.He moves again, adding some gauze and simply wrapping the wound, finally looking up to a grimacing Roman. Who of  course stops the moment he sees that Virgil is watching him.“You did excellent my love…” He says gently, catching Virgil's hand and pressing another kiss to it. Virgil held his breath as he willed himself to relax, to enjoy the quite moments that they had.Its ruined all too soon as Virgil hears solid footsteps above them. Virgil feels his stomach tighten as the basement door opens. “Oh Virgil…” Dmitri’s cold voice flickers down the steps and Virgil holds tighter onto Romans shirt, looking away.“I know you’re down here…” His voice is sickeningly sweet, and Virgil doesn’t move. He isn’t sure if he won’t, or can’t move by this point.Dmitri takes a step, and Virgil's entire body gives a tremble. Dmitri takes another, then a second. Third. He continues until he can see in the basement and gives a dark grin when he sees the two boys cuddled within each other.“Oh… How tender…” He muses, stepping further down the stairs. Virgil suddenly stands, looking Dmitri hard in the eye, similar to a cornered animal. “Leave him alone.”Dmitri ignores him, stepping closer, one hand held behind his back. Virgil raises his fists and Dmitri laughs softly, before shoving him hard.Virgil stumbles back, tripping over his first aid kit and tumbling to the ground. He gasps in pain as his body protests. Trying desperately to push himself to his feet as Dmitri laughs, hauling Roman to his feet. Roman cries out as Dmitri pushes on the bandages, smirking softly at Roman’s misery. He easily rehooks the rope and soon, Roman is stuck against the beam again.He attaches a black band around Romans throat, and Roman growls as he does. Virgil blinks, trying to figure out what the item was, his heart jumping as he sees Dmitri with a small remote in his hand.“Lets start training…” He laughs, and Roman glares at him.A light on the collar goes red and it makes a warning noise. Roman and Virgil both frown, and Dmitri chuckles as he walks towards Virgil.“Don’t you touch hi-AHHH!” Roman’s brave cry is cut off as he gasps in pain, Dmitri had pressed a button on the remote. The pieces start to put themselves together in Virgil’s mind and he gasps, “Dmitri you can’t-!”“Hush!” Dmitri cuts him off as Roman give a cry again, this one sounding worse. Dmitri smirks at Virgil’s horrified face, “See… Now our little pet, and you, will learn to behave… He gets mouthy, or you act up… and zzzttt!” He grins, a bit too wide to be comfortable and Virgil looks at Roman.They were stuck, Virgil would not be the reason Roman was caused pain, he just couldn’t stand the idea. He looks at Dmitri weakly, his eyes again full of tears, and finally, he nods. He felt defeated, hopeless, and accepted this as his life. He could never escape, he would not escape, and if he even looked the wrong way, Roman would suffer the consequence.“Good boy…”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Patton ran through the bushes as fast as he could. His lungs and legs burned in protest as he hurtled himself along. He felt as though he couldn’t think, focused only on escape. On freedom. He had to make it somewhere, anywhere that he would be able to get his friends help.

He stumbled on the uneven forest floor and rolled as he fell, trying to push himself up as quickly as his exhausted body would carry him. Every noise made him feel on edge again and he looked wildly around. The forest held nothing threatening that he could see, but that was long from the truth he quickly learned.

He angles himself towards the road again and takes off again, pushing himself forward with every step as he wills his strides to be longer, his lungs to breathe in air. He gasps, face red as he continues to move as quickly as possible. He hears a gunshot in the distance and makes an odd noise, still pushing himself on.

He falls again as his feet trip on the suddenly flat surface of the trail, his hands skidding and burning across the gravel that had been put there. If he had found a trail, surely he was in the right direction.

He looked both ways, and a little ahead, he saw someone walking. “Wait!” Patton choked, rushing towards the retreating figure. The stranger pauses and turns around, grinning darkly as he sees Patton. Patton immediately knows he’s made a mistake.

He tries to turn, but his body has seemingly turned to jello as the man catches his arm, chuckling.

“That was a good hunt… The thrill of catching you… If only I couldda brought my gun…” The man chuckles and Pattons knees seem to crash together as he catches his breath. This had been the third time they had released him. Hunting they called it.

Patton tries feebly to tug his arm away and the man laughs, shoving Patton against a thick tree. He pushes the boys shirt up, gazing over the blood soaked skin.

“Ah… So Jay caught you already too? And Willy? Well I’ll be kid that's been quite a hunt so far…” He laughs, before pushing his blade to the small of Patton's back, the poor boy screams into the bark, desperately hoping there is someone to hear him as the man carves his own initials into Patton's skin, along with the other two. He chuckled, pushing his fingers along it to check out the letters after he’s finished. Patton makes a miserable noise against the tree, his exhausted overtaking him as he sinks down, unable to continue to stand anymore. His entire body felt tingly as it tried to recover from the run Patton had taken. Patton lacked the energy that crying took, breathing itself was becoming an arduous task that seemed nearly impossible.

The man grabs him, throwing Patton easily over his shoulder, walking along the trail to a four wheeler, where he tied Patton's hands, stuck him in a trailer behind it, and took off back towards the house.

Patton stared at the blurred green foliage as it passed above him, watching again as his run in hope for freedom had been marred. He didn’t have it left in him to run again, leaving him to the men's mercy.

He started to wish maybe he had met a bear that would have ended the misery, or perhaps have a heart attack from the stress. Patton blinked again and chastised himself, he had to be there for the others, he needed to have hope. They would be free, they couldn’t be here forever.

He pushed away the nagging voice trying to tell him otherwise and watched the trees rush past him again. He worked on catching his breath, slowly becoming able to slow it down to a reasonable rate. Exhaustion radiated from him so completely, and eventually his eyes started to close more completely.

The next moment, he’s jostled awake as they pull him out. The cabin shades him as they pull him from the trailer. He blinks groggily as they cut his hands. He sees again the man who he had mistaken for someone who could help, as well as the man who had drug off Logan just the night before.

Logan, the thought made his stomach twist with a reminder of what he had done to protect Patton and he tries not to think what he had gone through at these peoples hands. What Virgil and Roman had suffered through. All of this made him just want to weep, the flurry of emotions filling him up so completely that he felt he might shatter if he was there any longer.

But he was there longer, the men kept him in the middle as they talked and joked about things Patton didn’t bother to try and know about. They talked as his they weren’t mocking hunting a young adult and torturing his friends inside. They seemed almost normal. It made Patton sick and he stared at the ground, he still wasn’t sure how he was standing, or even functioning. But here he was.

He was jolted from his thoughts when someone grabbed his burnt arm, he cried out as the person squeezed it, laughing as Patton faltered and desperately tried to stop what was happening. He gasped weakly, trying to move away but he was simply stuck as the man continued to prod at the tender skin. It wasn’t easy to pull tears from Patton's eyes and soon after Patton was released, he hugged his arm close and stared at the dirt.

Suddenly, someone presses their lips to his, kissing him happily, Patton left unable to move back. He blinks, startled and shocked enough to miss the quick poke of a needle, and he finally manages to jerk away, making an odd noise as he does.

He hugs his arm closer as they start to jostle him inside, his feet trudge along tiredly, his exhaustion seeming to seep over him more insistantly now. But they don’t take him anywhere, stopping shortly before shoving him into a small coat closet off the front door. Patton blinks, trying to adjust to the sudden darkness as he feels another wave of exhaustion wash over him. He opens his mouth to ask, shout, to do something, but his body refuses to respond. Refusing to cooperate as he tries to make himself function. Its not long before spiders begin to pour in. They come from the ceiling, the walls, the crack under the door. They swarm towards him as he gasps. They crawl and bite, crawling down his throat and into his eyes. Patton screams, desperately swiping them off his body as fast as he can, but they continue to just cover him. He tries to run, to push himself against the door but he’s trapped as the tiny legs go all over him. He feels them in his stomach, in his ears and throat and crawling within his brain. They’re biting and prestering and he screams again, terrified as the small creatures continue, wave after wave to torment him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Virgil's hands trembled as he looked at Roman, the exhausted boy hung from his wrists, his eyes tired and red. Beneath his chin, that stupid shock collar. Romans throat definitely had seemed to have swollen as well as gone red. Roman hadn’t moved in a few minutes.

Dmitri catches him a moment later, “Ah, Ah, Ah!”

Virgil's eyes snapback, horrified. His cries for Dmitri to stop as he pushes the button, Roman twitches and gives a hoarse cry of pain. It doesn’t stop after that, finally, Roman breaks into tears, giving into the pain that had coursed through his body over and over again. Virgil cringed at the noise, too afraid to turn around for fear of hurting Roman more. He stares at Dmitris feet and his hands continue to shake, over and over reminding himself to not look at Roman, to not acknowledge him.

After a moment, Dmitri pulls Virgil to his feet, pushing him back around so he was on the back of the same beam Roman was stuck on. He swiftly ties Virgil's hands, and he just watches weerily, he would not fight. He couldn’t fight, not if he wanted to protect Roman. He glances up at his hands as Dmitri gets them hooked over his head. He allowed himself to balance on the tips of his toes, hanging. He stays still as Dmitri moves.

Then Dmitri is out of sight, Virgil too afraid to risk moving his head as he hears noise behind him. Soon after the noise starts, he hears the thump of Roman hitting the ground, the boy giving a pained grunt. He doesn’t know what is happening as he hears more movement. Several feet going… upstairs? He hears the door shut, and tugs weakly at the restraints, testing them, despite knowing the answer already.

By the time he gets the courage to look around, both Dmitri and Roman are gone. Leaving Virgil once again tied alone in the basement. Its worse this time, because he’s sure Roman is suffering at Dmitris hands, instead of being far away. He was alone, and Roman had felt like he needed to save him and now Roman was facing the consequence. It made him weak and sick to think of what would possibly be happening to Roman upstairs, but there was nothing else to think about.

Virgil closes his eyes, trying to push himself to zone out, to not notice the feeling of his fingers going numb or his protesting muscles.He tries to not imagine what creul ideas Dmitri has cooked up for his friends. He tries to think of music and picnics and his movie marathons.

He doesn’t notice when the door opens, and only notices when he feels something around his throat. A choker, with two prongs. His stomach sinks as he opens his eyes, looking at who was in front of him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Roman hopes Virgil can’t feel the way his hands tremble as he tightens the shock collar around the beautiful boys face. He feels shameful as Virgil opens his eyes, his mouth dropping slightly when he sees Roman before him, he can’t even formulate a sentence as he stares at him. Roman looks at the collar, shame burning his face as he continued.

He knew there was every chance Dmitri was lying. But there was also the chance of truth. The chance of honesty in his statement.

He reaches into his pocket and grips the remote. Testing the warning button. The noise makes his own arm hairs stand on end and he sees Virgil’s eyes widen. He softly mouths no, with a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.

Roman sets his jaw, and stares at this beautiful boy he had tried to rescue. But he must continue to try. He must. It was, hopefully, for good.

“You disgust me.” He is surprised that his voice does not betray the waver of fear he feels.

“You are so pathetic and desperate for love and you are the reason we’re all here.” He hesitates just a moment before pushing the button. Glad Virgil's eyes are closed so he can’t see Roman cringe back as Virgil cries out in pain. Tears have already started to form in the others eyes and they seem to burn Roman personally as they roll down his cheeks.

“It is your fault that Patton and Logan are dead and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize how stupid you are…” The words burn Roman as Virgil stares at the floor, crying out at another round of electricity. He does not argue or interject, he simply allows Romans words to push over him.

Roman hears his tears and his hand shakes as he shocks Virgil again. The anguished cry Virgil gives makes Roman feel like he could burn in his skin. He felt ill at what he was doing to the one he had just proclaimed to have love. But he had to run the risk that Dmitri was telling the truth, he would release Logan. Logan would know to get them help once released surely but Virgil must think he hates him. That their friends are gone.

Virgil looks up at him, his eyes desolate, “t-they’re dead…?”

Roman crumples under the weakened gaze and drops the remote. “N-no! No he made m-me! I-m sorry I love you!” He chokes out, falling to his knees at Virgil's feet. Virgil makes no noise, just looks hurt and confused. His hazy state makes Romans words, despite desperate and kind feel just as painful. He doesn’t understand why Roman would do this to him. Why… Why…

“Pathetic.” Roman jumps as he hears Dmitri just behind him, grabbing at Roman hair, “You had the chance to really help yourself.”

He grabs Roman and drags him back up the stairs. Virgil hasn’t made noise, he just watches, his mouth open as he struggles to process any of the past few minutes events. It is simply unreal, it surely has all been a cruel dream.

Roman watches the door push shut and Virgil is again, trapped alone in the basement. No one is better off, he had failed. Shame flickers across him as Dmitri forces him to kneel. He is not stupid, he knows what Dmitri is wanting, but he will not give it. He will not suck this creature off. He turns his head away, and manages to hold still when Dmitri growls at him. He refuses to open his eyes, keeping his head turned away. He knows this is a mistake but he couldn’t stomach the idea. He would face the punishment.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Logan wearily opens his eyes as the light filters into the bedroom. He is alone, and the idea mildly relieves him, until he moves in the slightest and the world breaks down upon him,  reminding him what horrors have been forced upon him.

He had held to his promise, working every skill he knew, heard, and read to make the men feel as if they were going to burst with the pleasure he provided, but it hadn’t been enough. No.

They wanted him weak, they wanted him suffering and open for them to enjoy. His muscles were still sore where an enema had stretched his muscles, they had laughed and pushed onto his distended stomach with degrading words until he was forced to relieve himself. This had happened at least 5 more times and every time he tried to resist, tried to control his body to not let the liquid escape and each time he failed.

Then they had gagged him, with a circle of metal. Leaving his mouth open, unable to protest or prevent him from using aggression. They had enjoyed it so thoroughly, mocking him and cheering as he screamed or struggled to breath.

They combined the gag with worse. They had sex with him, pounding him from every end and more than he could handle. Then, they decide it was enough.

They had called it a ring, but he simply knew that it prevented his body from coming, and despite his hatred of what was happening, his body had responded. The ring around himself was torture, as they soon brought out toys. Vibrating and pulsing toys that they pressed against his prostate as his body felt electric, trying desperately to push past the prevention.

They had done it for what felt like forever. They mixed the horrors together until Logan stopped feeling the pain as individual torments and just laid in the haze of misery. His body seemed electrified by every touch and they reduced him to nothing more than an item.
 
And the memory of it all wasn’t enough. When they had left, they had stuck a plug inside of him. Left the other torture instruments as they were, so when he finally sunk into a fitful rest, he awoke sticky. Covered in fluids of every variety. His mouth and throat felt foreign, dry and rough as he willed saliva to return to his mouth.

He cringed as any movement showed how crusty he truly was, the substances of men, a mixture of smells that made him nauseous.

He manages to look around, finding himself in what seemed to be a master bedroom, he crawled to the master bathroom, where he ran a shower of scalding water. Logan removed the gag, allowing the water to pour over his dry tongue. He removed every horrible item, before scrubbing himself vigorously. He scratched at the red skin until it felt raw, and he still felt dirty. Seven different times he had washed his skin down, and it stung from the soap. He continued to scrub and scratch, desperate to peel off the horrible feeling, and to bring some warmth into his soul.
 
It refuses to come and he finally lays on the floor, allowing the hot water to continue to bite into his skin. Perhaps if he stayed here long enough, he would simply cease to exist as a human anymore.

The idea seemed so ideal at the moment, until the persistent little thought popped into his head. He had  done this to protect Patton. This would have been done to him.
 
The shame and hate doesn’t immediately wash away at this revelation, but it makes the scalding water a little more like a warm hug as he remembered, he at least had spared Patton this fate.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Patton kneels on the floor, as it seems the world rocks around him and he wills himself to keep calm. He pants feebly as he feels the blood dripping down his skin, stinging. Whatever they had injected him with left him feeling horrible, he still felt as if his skin was covered in little critters.If he tries to move too quickly it would make the nausea worsen. Slowly he rests his head down on the floor, working to calm his breath down. The door flys open and he winces as the sunlight seems to blind over him. He’s left blinking as he tries to reorient himself to the bright light. He gasps and gags softly as someone drags him to his feet, he whines pitifully as he tries to close his eyes against the intruder.“These took quite a number on you…” Patton presumes the owner of the hands match the voice as they run over his skin. The wounds sting against the explorative touch and he shudders.“Patton-.” Patton's eyes fly open as he hears Logans hollow voice and he looks around frantically to see where the voice came from, where he was. The light still makes it difficult to see but eventually, his eyes come into focus and adapt to the sun. Logan is kneeling on a couch in his boxers, staring over at Patton with heartbreak. He stares with his mouth open, looking Patton over. Patton looks away softly, not wanting to even guess at what he looked like at the moment. “Quiet!” A man kicks Logan hard in the stomach and Patton flinches as Logan curls up. He whines and tries to step towards him. The one holding him keeps his grip firm and soon pulls Patton to the bathroom. Gripping his hair so he is forced to look at himself. He looks away, his stomach drops as he realizes what he saw in the mirror. His nails were bloody and raw from the scratches he had ripped into his skin, dragging down his skin where he had tried to force the hallucinated creatures away from himself. “Oh God… Look how beautiful….” The man grabs Patton's hair and forces him to look at himself in the mirror again. Patton whimpers softly as he’s forved to look himself over, what the drug had caused him to do.“I think we should give you another dose… I want to see more of those beautiful marks…” He traces the lines on Patton's face, “Don’t you see how gorgeous you look… I need to see more…”Patton trembles against the touch, whining, “P-please… please no… no m-more…” He chokes, trying to keep tears away, for the invasive touches to go away.He watches the man reach into his pocket, pulling out a syringe.“No please!” Patton full on screams this time, dropping to his knees in tears. His hands trembling at just the sight of what he presumed to be the same horrible drug.He hears Logan shouting his name, and he trembles violently, clinging to the mans legs. He continues to beg, feeling pitiful as he shakes against the man.The man smirks, watching as the poor kid responded the way he predicted, and he started to unbutton his jeans, before pushing them down.“Then show me… Prove to me how badly you want this to stop…” He runs his hands through Patton's hair and he feebly looks to the face of the man, before nodding. He grits his teeth as he hears Logan screaming for Patton to not give in. To run. And it may be the worse punishment to Patton.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Virgil cringes as he hears Roman scream again, he had heard it so many times and each one still made his heart sting. He looks up at his hands, moving his fingertips feebly. He had to escape. He had to.

He blinked again, staring at the spot furiously where he was kept trapped. He looks around, desperate for anything that could help him. And he slowly starts to formulate a plan.

His desperation increases when he hears Roman scream again, and he pushes against the bar. After a few tries, he finally manages to get his wrists over the hook. He gasps as he goes crashing to the floor. Once he lands, he curls up, taking a few minutes to catch his breath, before he desperately started to search for anything to free his wrists. Luck hits his side as he manages to break his bonds enough that he can at least use both hands.

Virgil's heart pounds as he slowly creeps up the stairs. Listening at the door. He hears no one, so he slowly pushes the door open. The kitchen is desolate as he enters. And he feels his heart soar as he sees someone has left a phone on the counter.

His hands tremble as he picks it up, dialing the police and looking around anxiously.

“-Whats your emergency?”

Virgil nearly drops the phone as he realizes the calm voice is talking to him. He is actually talking to his freedom. Shakily, he starts.

“M-my… my name is Virgil… I was k-kidnapped… And my friends…” He starts talking quicker, giving the address to the cabin and begging them to come quickly. He doesn’t hang up until the woman has assured him that she has dispatched officers to his location.

Virgil hangs up the phone, his heart pounding as he sets it on the counter. They… They were going to be rescued…

“Shit…”

The strange voice makes him turn quickly and he turns face to face with one of Dmitri’s friends. His eyes focused on the phone. Virgil pales and tries to step back, reduced again to a whimpering sight.

“Dmitri! Bastard called the cops! We got 10 minutes tops!” His voice booms across the house and Virgil flinches at the volume. He hoped it was faster, please come faster.

“Kill them all!” Dmitri yells back and Virgil gasps, trying to run upstairs as he hears the words. Roman was with him, he was going to kill Roman.

“No!” Virgil's voice breaks as he tries to get past the man. He holds Virgil back easily, before he wraps his hands tightly around Virgil's throat, squeezing mercilessly.

Virgil gags, prying at the man's arm and scratching as he fights for some kind of breath. He trembles as the man's hands tighten and he immediately watches the corners of his vision fade.

He loses track of time, as he hears blood in his ears as his body screams for him to breath. And just as quickly as it started, the man is gone. Virgil drops to his knees, missing the dozen men that flee the cabin as quick as they can.

Virgil has one thought,

Roman

, he has to know if Roman is ok. Desperately, he runs up the stairs. He pushes the black crowding his vision, urging it to go away. He sees flashes of red and blue streaking his vision as horrible sirens echo in his head. He tries to block his insanity, pushing to where Roman had sounded.

Black still threatens his vision, and he sways as he looks horrified at the bathroom. Shouts echo around him and for a moment, time is frozen. It stands still as he takes in the nightmare before him.

The water still runs in the tub, nearly overflowing as Romans legs stick out. Virgil can’t see his face, but he doesn’t move. Laying in the water. He was too late. Dmitri had succeeded.

Virgil's legs buckle as looks horrified at the scene before him, a broken wail tearing from his throat as his body finally takes over and he crumbles unconscious to the floor.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Logan blinks blurrily as he sees the flashes of red and blue. He blinks again, determined his mind his playing tricks on him. The men who had been with him are gone. They hadn’t bothered to untie him from the makeshift stockade they had trapped him in, his body still buzzing with the unwanted arousal they had encouraged.

He pulls himself back to reality. He had entered a state away from what was happening, and it left him confused. He had heard shouting, but he didn’t know where they had gone. For now, he was relieved. Logan closes his eyes, trying to ignore the shrill sirens that he finally seemed to hear.

Sirens… Lights…

He opens his eyes again, looking desperately around as the words start to trigger in his mind. Sirens! Lights! Help!

Logan made to yell but it turned into a pitiful noise through the ring gag. He had forgotten it was there. He didn’t care as he made the noise again, terrified that the rescuers would leave him here by accident.

The fourth time he makes the noise, the door opens, and he stares into the face of a police officer. The man's mouth drops and he steps away quickly, looking away. Logan makes a desperate sound as the man moves from his sight. He couldn’t just abandon him here!

More shouts come, and soon another officer comes, this one female. She brings a bag of supplies. She drapes a blanket around Logan and frees him from everything that trapped him. She worked the gag off and cut each rope free. Her eyes watered as she saw him, collapsed on the floor as he worked up the strength to stand.

He doesn’t understand a word she seems to be saying as she ushers him downstairs. She guides him to an ambulance, and he looks to see another one leaving.

The woman seems to see his fearful look, “We discovered one in the coat closet off the door. He seemed to be hallucinating and we are sending him to the hospital immediately… Do you know-”

Shes cut off as more shouts come from the home. He looks to see several men, and his stomach churns as he sees the two stretchers. One, sits Virgil. And the other, sits Roman, soaked and dripping. Neither of them are awake, and he prays neither are dead.

Chaos surrounds them as the medics immediately start at Roman, pounding at his chest. Logan can’t seem to breath as he watches, and they move him into the ambulance. Some more tense moments pass until finally he hears the most angelic words he has heard in the past few days.

“He’s got a pulse! Lets go he’s in critical condition!”

Logan watches Roman and Virgil become loaded into more ambulances, and they take off, medics in the back working frantically as the doors shut. There is a slight less urgency with Logan as they load him up as well into an ambulance.

Exhaustion seeps over him, and he allows himself to zone out the best he can as they start to frantically work on him.

A small smile crosses his battered face, they were free… They were free...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Romans mind was awake long before the rest of his body decided to join him. His entire body ached as he sluggishly tried to figure things out. He thought to before he had blacked out. Dmitri was strangling him underwater.

Perhaps he had died. This was death and he couldn’t decide how he felt about that. He still hurt, he still felt. He seemed aware of his body and a ticking that wouldn’t stop! Beep beep beep! It was growing infuriating and Roman was angry he couldn’t make it stop.

In a foggy distance, he could hear voices. He couldn’t understand any of them, but he heard them. Sometimes there were many, othertimes it was just one or two.

He felt things he could not see press against his body, something soft on his head, something in his arm, it seemed that all of him was being touched by something. This also was frustrating.

This dead world sucked and he continued to grow angrier and angrier. Roman screamed in his mind, over and over. By the seventh time, his body made a tiny twitch and a small grunt.

Perhaps he wasn’t dead. The voices were becoming clearer, he dreaded the idea of more torment. Or more hurting Virgil.

The beeping jumped and more voices entered his fog as he thought of Virgil. Where was Virgil? Roman steadied himself, he needed to wake up. He needed to find Virgil!

Romans arm gave a twitch, he felt it as he willed himself awake.

Agonizingly slow, his senses started to return with realness, he seemed to be waking up. Though he had no idea how long it was taking, or had taken. He felt his throat, parched and painfully dry. He started to feel he was under a blanket, with a pillow and on a mattress.

The garbled voices were starting to become distinct, and there were none he could recognize. He startled to smell something crisp… clean almost. He wills his body to move, or to make noise.

Its slow to respond, but finally, his fingers curl. He starts to drag his eyes open with untold effort. White blinds his vision and he curls back, trying to block it out desperately. There were more voices, tense. Then someone new. Someone… Virgil.

Virgil was there.

Roman willed his eyes open faster, blinking hastily in the light as he blindly tries to locate the other. Something grabs his hand, holding it closely. A shadow moves in front of the light and slowly, Roman focuses on it. There, above him, was Virgil.

He tries to cry his name, to squeeze his hand back, but his body refuses to cooperate. He blinks a few more times and Virgil comes into focus more, and Roman gives a small croak of noise. Something wet splashes him, and it takes another moment to realize that Virgil is crying. Virgil kisses his cheek as Roman finds the control to squeeze Virgil's hand back gently.

He had only been awake moments, but he still felt exhausted. Virgil crawls into bed, ignoring the doctors who tell him to stop. He curls beside Roman and starts to cry earnestly against his chest.

“I thought you were dead! You were dead! They brought you back! Roman I love you! And we’re free! We escaped! You were dead! God Roman I missed you! I was so scared! I’m sorry! You’re so bruised I’m sorry!” Virgil wails, clutching Romans sheer hospital gown and soaking it in his tears.

Roman lets his words sink in, trying his best to ignore the revelation that he had in fact died, and was no longer dead. But the later words, they were free. They weren’t under threat of Dmitri anymore.

It makes his heart burn happily as he finds the energy to slowly wrap an arm around Virgil, closing his eyes and letting the relief, love, and exhaustion feel him.
 
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
 
Virgil wouldn’t leave Romans side, he talked to Roman when either of them got nervous. It had only been a few hours, but they hadn’t been able to check on Logan or Patton yet, but they had been assured that both boys were at the hospital. That they were also safe.

Roman kept cuddled beside Virgil as he heard the list of injuries he was being treated for. The bullet in his leg, the near drowning, the suffocating, the shocks, the cuts, the list felt as if it would never end. Soon, he claimed exhaustion, so they would leave and he could silently relish in Virgil's presence. Occasionally, Virgil would kiss his hand, as Roman had once done to him. It made Roman smile, as he stared at Virgil.

Neither had anything to say at the moment, so they let the TV play and simply sat in each others company. Awaiting news on their friends as soon as they could.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Logan had arrived in Patton's hospital room in the early morning, watching the smaller boy breath softly in his sleep. Patton had a fair amount of bandages, and some self applied bandaids on his skin. His burned arm wrapped carefully. There were still places that bandages revealed the many little lines from him scratching at his skin.

It had been three days since they had escaped Dmitri, and poor Patton had been alone most of it. With Roman comatose and Virgil being treated for his own injuries. Logan had promised to visit Patton as soon as he could, having briefly stopped by once to drop off a handwritten letter of him making this promise. It had been hard to create, but he knew if anyone would appreciate the effort more than the turnout, it would be Patton.

He set a hot chocolate on the counter beside Patton and sank into a chair, taking a slow sip of his own coffee. Black, its familiar bitter taste was about all he had been able to stomach since their escape.

He knew the recovery would not be easy for any of them. He had already scheduled his own trips to different professionals and working with the Police Force to get them any information he could, left him exhausted.

Though, he welcomed it. He loathed sleep currently, as it always seemed to trap him in the horrific nightmare again. This mornings had been Patton being stolen away from the high school he was at. Logan decided this was concern of losing Patton, and the high school represented innocence loss. The thought of losing Patton hung as a thick worry while he got ready for the day, so he decided to come see Patton finally.

Logan was the only one out of the hospital, though from what he had gathered, Virgil and Patton were going to be able to leave in a few days time as long as all went well. That left only Roman, who he hoped would be alright.

Logan is pulled from his thoughts as Patton shifts slightly in his sheets, Logan looks at him immediately, his brow knitting into concern.

It takes another few minutes of shifting for Patton to wake up, his eyes finally blinking open. Logan watches as they roam the room softly, and pause on Logan, both unsure how to act.

“I… I brought you a drink…” Logan gestures to the cooling drink near Patton as he stands and moves closer.

Patton gives a tired smile of gratitude and takes a sip. He lets out a more genuine smile as he takes a few more drinks. Logan sets his own drink beside it as Patton sets his back down.

“I realized something Pat…”

Patton quirks his head, he had been ordered to rest his voice as much as possible, as he had screamed himself nearly hoarse from his ordeal at the cabin. Slowly, Logan reaches forward and takes his hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of it in careful circles.

“I… I have come to the conclusion… To the logical stance that… my behavior… And my, feelings… Seem to indicate that I have strong romantic feelings towards you and if you would agree, I would like to see where a serious relationship would go forth with us…”Logan only looks up at the end, and drops Patton's hand as he sees the beautiful boy with tears in his eyes.

Patton nodded, looking at Roman and nodding some more. He lifted his hand, extending his thumb, pointer and pinky finger. It was ASL for ‘I Love You’; Logan had researched it for Roman when he was working with a deaf actor.

Logan broke into a grin, taking Patton's hand again. The twist in his stomach seemed to have let up some as he stands, tenderly pushing a kiss to Patton's forehead. He pauses to smile at Patton under him and Patton uses the moment to push forward into a full kiss with Logan.

They both broke into laughter as Patton's monitors started beeping faster with the increased heart rate and Logan smiled fully now. He was starting to feel at peace finally, as Patton seemed to offer some kind of safety to him.

Patton blushes as a nurse hurries in, checking on him to make sure he was safe. Its not hard for her to guess what had happened and she frowns, shooing Logan out of the room quickly. It seems to feel painful as he has to leave the room, he runs forward to give Patton another brief kiss before he obeys, exiting the room quietly and waving goodbye, finally returning what Patton had signed, ‘I love you too…’

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Logan had spoken briefly to Virgil as Patton had been signing paperwork to be released, and returned that they were all going to visit Roman in a few hours, as he was the last one to be sent home from the hospital.The doctors had said he would be there for at least two more days, and longer if he stopped improving.

Patton nods, slowly pushing himself to his feet. Logan wraps his arm around his waist, supporting his tired legs. He still felt as if the cool building would melt away like the hallucinations he had suffered before his rescue.

Patton didn’t realize that Logan was talking until long into the subject, and he had no clue what was even being close to being said, “And pickup will be after Romans release and we will arrive home approximately…” Logan trails off as he sees Patton's tears, he pauses, tugging the shorter man in front of him gently.

“What is it love? Are you in pain?”

“I wasn’t listening…” Patton's voice breaks and the tears start to slide down his cheeks, “I didn’t know you were talking and I didn’t hear any of it… I, I’m sorry…” Patton lets out a quiet wail and leans onto Logans chest. Logans heart catches as he wraps his arms around Patton.

“Its alright… Patton I understand… Please, don’t cry…”

Its several more minutes in the hospital hallway until Patton can compose himself, and the two continue to make their way to check out. Patton feels the exhaustion still pulling at him as he signs things over and over and tries to calm down,  but every noise makes his chest clam up and his pulse feel close to stopping.

Logan helps him, tenderly pointing out errors in spelling or a misplaced signature he had missed. It helps, but adds to Patton's frustration as he continues to mess up. He is relieved when Logan finally hands the papers to the receptionist and they make their way to go visit Roman.

They have to pause just over half way when Patton nearly collapses in exhaustion. He barely allows himself time to breath before he pushes on. He ignores Logans worried looks and ignores him each time he starts about Patton resting, or needing a break.

By the time Romans room is down the hall, Patton's entire face is flushed and sweaty as he trudges forward tiredly. His entire body trembles as he draws up the strength to knock on Romans door. Virgil calls for them to come in and he smiles as the two lay curled up on the bed, their feet intertwined as Virgil is stuck to the side and just above Roman.

Finally, Patton feels some of his panic move away, he was finally truly seeing everyone together. They all had truly escaped the horrors that had been the past two weeks. He sinks into the chair, already overwhelmed to tears as Logan grips his shoulder.

No one says a word for a long time, the tense silence only interrupted by Romans monitors and Patton's own sobs. As they finally realize, they are free, safe, and soon will be going home.

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In the weeks that followed, the boys healed quickly. Their relationships blossomed as their friendship grew to double dates and marathon movie nights. They each attended therapy separate, as couples, and as a group.Virgil joined them in school, doing well in his tests and they met every day for lunch. Slowly, they all healed. Scars faded and the nightmares stopped. Virgil took to social media, talking about what he had gone through, he offered support and advice to others, as of last week, Virgil has started to earn a following and has received messages that he has helped people in some way or another. Virgil wears less of his hoodie, starting to even expand his wardrobe to short sleeve shirts. Virgil also took up journaling, filling book after book with stories and tales of his days as he finds the moments that brought him joy. He highlights them in yellow, and his journal continues to get more and more yellow as time goes on.Roman continued his pursuit in theatre, and was soon cast as a main lead in the colleges newest musical. The other three attended every night, cheering the loudest and bringing Roman flowers each time. Roman was contacted by Broadway, being offered an internship in its extension theatre, a new project that they were eager to start and have him join. Roman plans to join.Logan is set to graduate from his Law degree in just under a year, he has several schools pursuing him for a masters program, and he often relies on Patton when it comes to the nitty gritty details of emotions, therapy has also been beneficial to that. He loves waking up to Patton every morning and has promised to continue to do so. He has adopted a cat, who also had a rough start in life. Her name is Tigress and he loves her dearly, spoiling her more than Patton does, but he would never admit it. Tigress continues to live a seemingly royal life in Logans apartment, basking in the sun and eating the best food Logan carefully researched for her. She enjoys being around the calm boy, and finds time spent near him to be helpful indeed.Patton found joys working with children and family, and has since changed his major to be a teacher, and he’s planning to be a kindergarten teacher at the moment. He proudly shows off his and Logan's engagement rings to anyone who will listen. The silver bands are engraved on the inside, ‘A step forward, an escape’ Logan had spoken those words just a few days back into the normality of life, they stuck with Patton in a way he hadn’t expected.  They had truly been moving on. Their step forward was an escape. Patton found strength with his friends, and found power in his boyfriend. He sometimes joined Virgil online, adding to it his experiences and thoughts, and those were often the tales that gained them the most attention. He had interviewed with several news studios and they had all given him beautifully written publications in return. He has started to write, and is set to release his first short story on e-reader in the spring. He enjoys Tigress, and she enjoys him, but they both agree she is Logans cat indeed.It is two months back into reality when they are contacted for the trial. The police had caught at least three men, including Dmitri. The court sides with the boys easily, due to the undeniable proof that lies in DNA, kindly supplied along with the horrors the boys recounted, easier than they had expected. There were many tears of relief when the judge declared that the three men would serve life in prison. With no chance of parole. Virgil had spoken of different ideas on how to punish the horrors that passed as people, but due to the illegality of his ideas, these were the best they had. They watched as Dmitri and his two friends were locked away, and while there were others, who had not yet come to the light, that they were at least safer now than they had been before. This safety allowed Vigils nightmares to stop, and he slept easier than ever. The weekly therapy sessions slowly progressed to monthly, and each group session was celebrated with dinner, and they found more reasons to smile in life, as life offered them more reasons everyday. The [Happy] End(?)

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“Let me see!” Patton screamed at Logan, grabbing his boyfriends arm as the other tried to turn away. As if they could hide the blood that had dripped onto the tile of the bathroom floor. Logans hands tremble as he shakes his head, trying to ignore Patton's tears.“L-lo…” Patton's voice is a broken whisper, and only them does Logan open his hand to reveal the razor blade he had been trying to hide. Patton makes a hurt hiccup as he pulls it from Logans fingers, staring at the blood that comes with it. Logan shifts, not looking at Patton as he drops the blade in the sink. Patton's fingers tremble as he grabs Logans sleeve, pushing it up. He only gets it to Logans elbow before he pulls away. Patton gasps as he looks at Logans skin. Fresh cuts lined his forearm, at least four. Others scabbed over, some scarred, some pink as the scabs had just healed.“How long?” Patton finds himself voicing the only question that seems reasonable to his fragile mind.“Patton you don’t-”Patton stares Logan in the eyes, his own glassy in tears as they pour down the face. This is why Logan hadn’t wanted him to find out, why he hid the pain he caused himself. But he knew he deserved it, deep down. He hadn’t protected Patton as much as he could have, he was filthy, he was ruined and didn’t deserve Patton's tears, he didn’t deserve Patton if he was honest with himself.He tried to pretend that Patton wasn’t going to discover the ones on his upper arms, on his thighs. Patton had started to worry when Logan found himself so often faint, and hadn’t allowed Patton to see him in anything other than long sleeves and long pants. Now, Patton knew why.“Since we returned…” Logan hates the cry Patton gives at the statement, he hated how much Patton seemed to cry, and how often it seemed that he caused it. He hated it all, he hated himself. If Patton would only listen and let them break up, Patton could find someone better than his ruined Logan.But Patton was greedy, and kept Logan close as he cried. The two were still, in love, if it could be called that. They both felt half human and clung to the other in a fetal attempt at feeling real again. The [Sad] EndRoman and Virgil were similar, but in the most opposite ways. The two often found themselves in screaming matches until their were knocks on the apartment door, neighbors asking them to quiet down.Roman realizes why first, and feels awful. He carries the guilt heavily as he purchases flowers, returning to Virgil's apartment. He presses his key into the dead bolt and it refuses to slide in, so he turns it, again, the key refuses. With trembling hands, he turns it over and over as he tries to get the key to turn in.Finally Roman gets the message, Virgil had changed the locks. Virgil had really locked Roman out, after doing it in the relationship for so long. Roman felt guilt that he was relieved. The two had only fueled each others unhealthy strategies for coping their situations.Ironically, they both seek comfort in the bars, but in very different ways. Roman builds a tab, drinking himself sick nearly every night to forget the burning emotions that eat away at him. He spends most of his free time intoxicated now, the liquid offering the quiet he so desperately craves.Virgil on the otherhand, finds release in others. He no longer remembers when he last slept in his bed, every night he finds another man to go home with, someone else to press against as he pursues another one night of pleasure. He tells himself he deserves it, that its fine. But slowly, it sinks to more dire situations, as he begins to go home with any man who seems even slightly interested.Its a long time before he realizes his ache is for Roman, and the realization does nothing to change the life he has decided for himself now. So he accepts that he wont see Roman again. He deletes his number, and begins his life bitter and in solitude.

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So this seemed like the best place to say, put or whatever. Anyways, I started another fic off of this one, going from the sad ending. Its a stripper au pretty much and this is just a little, announcement page I guess cause I don't know another way to do that. So uh, yeah check it out if you feel like reading some more angst. Unedited and right from my brain so it may be kinda rough...