CONTAINS CONTENT:
Torture (violative), strong violence, minor gore, minor assault, forced removal of clothing (no assault.)
{{Unedited}}
Marielle stirred, realizing that she must have dozed off at some point and looked into Austin’s eyes. They were fixated on her, unblinking.
What time was it? She must have slept for quite a while. It felt like hours, and she had to use the bathroom.
He knew, and nodded, getting up, and going to the end of the bed where he sat against the frame, turned away from her, and rested his cheek against the wall to give her as much privacy as he could offer.
She was able to go the bathroom, rinse her hands, drink some of the water and come back to the bed, switching places with him so he could do the same.
Then they returned to their positions on the mattress.
“They’re going to kill you, you know?” she asked.
He gave her the most comforting smile that he could muster. “I know.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t care. I only care about you.” He felt in many ways that he was ready for death. He’d had his fun; he was straightening out. He was certainly in a much better place mentally and spiritually than he’d pretty much ever been in his entire life. Death didn’t seem like the worst thing that could happen to him. But not her, not her.
She was staring at him. It was difficult for a moment to find him in there. She was so used to seeing him hiding behind his dark hair, or slowly putting it back behind his ears, or flicking it from his face, and just like that, they’d taken away a large part of who he was. No, he wasn’t his hair, but everyone knew that it was important to him. It looked good, and he knew that it did and had used it to his advantage several times; touching it, playing with it.
Vincent himself had said, “he gets like ten points for the hair alone.” She’d laughed and replied, “But is he only hair?”
He wasn’t; even without hair he was still incredibly handsome.
She looked away, again, her teeth chattering loudly. “God, it’s so cold,” she breathed raggedly.
He pulled her even more tightly against him, and rubbed her left arm with his right hand, trying to cause friction.
She was looking down; it appeared that she was trying to hide her face and appearance from him, and that hurt his heart as well as his head. She had no hair… but was she ugly? No, not in the slightest.
As he stared at her and her feeble attempts to hide the fact that she was wiping away little tears with the wrist sleeve and he eyed her dark, bald head, he forced a small smile at her frailty. He wasn’t laughing at her, but realizing her innocence in a new way. She’d never been through anything like this. He had.
“Before all of this, you were mad at me. Are you still angry with me, darling?” She shook her head. “I am sorry…” and he’d said this before, but this time, she could tell that he truly meant it. It was in his tone, his expression, the quietness of it, all reflected the shame that he truly felt, and she knew that it wasn’t the kind of narcissistic shame that happened when you were finally caught. No, this was true and real shame and sorrow.
She couldn’t keep silent, “I forgive you, Austin.” He closed his eyes tightly as if he hadn’t expected that. “I forgave you for everything a long time ago.”
“You don’t hate me?”
“I could never hate you, Austin.” she breathed.
He narrowed his eyes. “Why?” he pressed, wanting to hear her say those words that he so desperately longed for now- the same ones that he couldn’t bring himself to say.
She didn’t answer, but repeated herself. “I could never hate you, Austin.”
He breathed out a sigh, as if he’d been holding it in for a week. They paused for a moment. “Have you ever gone through something like this?” He eventually asked, still gently rubbing her arm. She shook her head in response, and wiped a single tear away. “This is going to be hard, then,” he whispered. He ran his fingers over his shaved head, “It’s already hard.”
“Vincent’s coming… we’re going to be rescued, you know?”
He did know. “Yeah, but… not before a few things happen,” he replied, knowing that they were formulating a plan and that torture would occur before that plan was enacted.
She tried to swallow her anxiety. “What do we do?” She asked through trembling again.
“You can try recall, but you’re not trained in it and I’ve never been able to do it,” he sighed. He chuckled, ironically. “You’ve literally been locked in here with the worst person to try this technique with…” he paused, shaking his head slowly from side to side, “You need Vincent,” he intoned, defeated.
To his surprise, he felt her fingers intwine with his, and squeeze; he squeezed back.
He took in a deep, ragged pull of air at her touch as it stabbed him in the chest. “We’ll be okay,” she whispered. It was strong, but the dread hidden behind it brought tears to Austin’s eyes, and he pinched them away.
They finally looked at one another, eyes locking.
-It’s okay, Marielle. I’ll be fine with this torture.
-How do you know?
-Because I’ve been in torment every day since I met you. And it’s worse than bleeding but far more appealing to me than my need to escape from it…
Both took a few deep breaths, letting the words pass through them, and she pressed her face to his chest. He closed his eyes, and pet her, gently, wanting more, feeling the rise in him; he knew she could feel it, too… restraining. Both ignored this. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt him excited against her.
“Can I ask you another question?”
“You can ask me anything that you want, Marielle.”
“How do you deal with… the aftermath? The trauma?”
He sighed, “You also need Vincent for that,” he growled. “In our line of work… they teach you to create something- something new… He paints.”
“You?”
A pause and a sad exhale. “I can’t create anything new, anymore,” he looked distant for a moment, “I don’t have anything. I used to write songs on my piano. But I haven’t been able to create anything new since college.” He breathed out. “So, I borrow someone else’s song, or words and pour myself into them until I’m drained and bled of everything. And if I’m still struggling, I just do it again.” He was rubbing her arm again, trying to warm her. “I’ve cried over that piano more times than I can tell you… and laughed,” he smiled, softly, his fingertips tracing over her left ear, “and dreamt of you.” She swallowed hard, her chin trembling. He wanted her to respond to those words; wanted her to tell him how she dreamt of him, too. She said nothing. She was good at restraint. “You- you can cook. You can uh-” he was searching for a way to put it, “you can make a new recipe, or… Um, invent some dessert for you and Vincent or-” he stopped. It was too hard to keep going, he was pushing his lips together. A shaky hand reached up and pretended to brush her hair back behind her ear. There was no hair, now. Her eyes filled with tears at this action. She looked away, feeling disgusting. He turned her chin to him, and gently pulled her hand down away from her face.
-Stop hiding.
-I’m…so ugly.
-Your lack of hair… does not make you ugly. Does my lack of hair make me ugly?
-No.
-Am I lying to you?
-No.
He continued to caress the curve of her left ear. -Then stop hiding from me.
She nodded, and their eyes locked again as he gently caressed her left ear, exploring its curves and dips with the tip of his finger. “Do you know when I knew that you were going to be a problem for me?” he asked.
She sniffled. “When?”
He chuckled, “Well, I knew the moment that I started studying up on you that I wanted you-”
“You did?” She broke in.
“Yeah, I stalked your social media for like a week.”
“My social media?” She felt her cheeks filling, “Like, what?”
“I enjoyed your week in Mexico from three years ago, quite a bit,” he admitted.
Her face turned ten shades of red, “Oh,” she growled, knowing fully well that there were at least three or four string bikini photos in that line up.
He smiled at her; her abashed demeanor was so cute. “But I knew that you were going to be a problem for me in a deeper way the moment that I shook your hand and you threw my name on purpose,” he smirked and shook his head at her adoringly. “Because I knew that I was in trouble… because you’d have me worked out far too quickly for me to move in, and you would resist me.” He swallowed. “You could get into my head. I just didn’t expect how much you could get into my head at the time,” he chuckled. “Or my… you know, body,” he added, glancing down. Neither of them had expected any of that; her ability to move into him, their shared thoughts and feelings. He bit his bottom lip for a moment and pulled her against himself even more. She couldn’t be any closer unless she was going inside of him, or they were making love. “I knew you were going to be a problem.”
“A problem, huh?” she asked with a silent chuckle.
“A deep problem.”
There was a pause as she bit her bottom lip in thought. “Why can’t we both just say what we need to say?”
He swallowed. “We have our reasons,” he whispered rubbing his hand up and down her forearm. She was still shivering. “You have Vincent, and your fear… I have my own fears.”
Marielle thought for a moment. “What are we afraid of?”
“Currently? We’re both afraid of me,” he explained. She looked at him; questions in her eyes, “You’re afraid that I’ll break your heart.”
She was pressing into him more, wanting the warmth that he’d promised. It was barely working. “And you?”
“I’m afraid that you’re right,” he said.
This realization opened something inside of her that hurt more than she thought that it would. Yes… that was the reason; for all of it.
Both were afraid of the same thing. She was afraid that if she gave into him, he’d use her, and leave. Or that he’d use her, be faithful for a time, then grow tired of her, or his eye would fall on some other beauty, and then cheat on her.
He was afraid of the same thing, even though he didn’t want to do either. He’d already been through abandonment once with Erin, and once was enough for a lifetime, considering how much pain he’d caused.
Marielle understood. He hadn’t exactly been in love with Erin, but the failure of the whole thing hurt to him; the abandonment, the pain he’d caused someone else.
His path had escalated, and there was only so much Erin could take.
Their relationship had been based purely on something carnal. He loved her, but he’d never truly been in love with her… he’d never truly loved anyone until…
It took a moment for them both to realize that they’d been staring at one another the entire time that Marielle had that thought process and she was certain that he was tracking some of those thoughts.
He couldn’t stop himself. He was uncertain why this was the moment, especially after some of those thoughts; but it was. Maybe he had a deep desire now to prove them both wrong, or maybe the idea that he was going to die soon made him throw all caution to the wind… screw it.
Marielle wasn’t going to stop him either- not now. She’d deal with the consequences later.
There was a brief pause, Austin’s lips found hers, and he gave her a tender, innocent kiss- one that exploded in her chest and left her confused and aching.
She’d always thought that a kiss from Austin would be like watching a porno; wet, sloppy, hungry, and full of chaos.
This had been shaky, shy… sweet.
Tears fell from her eyes as he pulled back, but lingered for a moment near her lips and pressed his forehead against hers, “my secret,” he cried, softly waiting a beat as if afraid to finally say the next part out loud, “is that I’m in love with you,” he said brokenly.
The flood gates of her tears were broken open, and she clung to him, holding him close. He shushed her through his own tears. They cried together before either of them spoke again. “Is- is that what you said on the plane?” she stammered.
“Something to that effect,” he replied, wiping his face of moisture. He shrugged a shoulder, looking down into her green, childlike eyes, “there was something in there about you riding me all night long, too… but what do you want? It’s me,” he chuckled, feigning innocence.
She laughed, too. Then there was a pause as the realization of what’d just happened sunk in. “You gave me your kiss.”
“Take it,” he breathed, pressing against her like all that he wanted was to be one entity. “Take them all.” He was coming back for another, and again, she wasn’t going to stop him.
Their lips brushed, and again, he gently kissed her. It was perfect, not possessive, or corrupted. He’d waited years for this.
When he pulled back, he gave her a quick one, and another, and then kissed the tip of her nose, then her cheek, then the other cheek, then her forehead. She smiled, and laughed a little. That was what he’d needed. To hear her laugh. “You let me kiss you,” he said with a pleased smirk.
“I’ll admit, it wasn’t the way I thought you’d kiss me.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “How did you think I’d kiss you?”
“Like you were going to eat me?” She chuckled.
“Oh, I want to do that, too,” he groaned. “It’s been a while.”
“It has?”
“A kiss…” he bit his bottom lip -is not the only thing I haven’t done for a while.
She felt that excitement passing between them, again; it was moving from innocent to ready for more play. She inched back a little, and he nodded. –Not ready for that. Got it.
She’d let him kiss her and it was more than he deserved at this point… it was enough.
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and both stood quickly, pressing themselves against the wall.
Four men, clad from head to toe in black body armor entered the room with big guns and urged them out. Austin swallowed hard, and glanced at Marielle, trying to communicate something. She wasn’t looking at him.
“This isn’t a debate,” hissed the one nearest to him and at this, he smashed the tip of his rifle into Austin’s left kidney, causing him to fall to his knees like someone had pulled a rug out from under him. He clutched his side, as he gasped for air.
Marielle started to dart for him, “Leave him alone!” She cried. One of the others had wrapped their arms around her midsection, and was pulling her back. She tried to smash into his side with her elbow, but he was heavily armored and the man- whose badge said, “four two seven,” was chuckling now.
“So much fight,” he growled, at her salaciously.
Austin jerked to a standing position, his eyes fiercely murderous and fixated on the man who was slightly taller and heftier, “Take your hands off of her,” he growled, pain abated.
The brute gave him a wry grin, and leaned into Marielle, giving her one long stroke with his tongue right up the side of her face.
She jerked to the side, and raised her left hand to wipe her face. He was laughing heartily. Marielle could see murder in Austn’s expression.
“The moment I’m free I’m going to kill all of your friends in front of you,” Austin said with a chillingly controlled smile. “Then I’m going to break your neck… but I’ll make sure that you know that you’re going to die before I break the last bone, four two seven,” he added turning that smile into a smirk. “I promise.”
Four two seven gave Austin an unimpressed chortle, then rolled Marielle to one side of his body, standing her upright and shoving her out the door. She didn’t protest anymore, but her eyes never left Austin, who was forced quickly after her, also saying nothing.
They were marched at gunpoint down the hall, and to an elevator. Austin was taking note of everything surrounding them. Near the end of the hall- there was an obvious emergency exit, and beside it, a fire alarm, a fire extinguisher in glass, and a hose. All useful information.
In the elevator there was an emergency phone with a cord and the upper half of the walls were mirrors; this was also useful information.
They went up three floors, and the hall they were pressed into resembled the one below them- the emergency exit, the fire extinguisher, hose, alarm… He only glanced at them, taking stock, as they shoved them into a large empty room that almost resembled the one that they’d been removed from, except that in the back was a network of computers, wires, and machines on the wall, and behind the computers were desks and chairs.
Once they were positioned in the middle of the floor, they were met with four more men and women in lab coats. Two of them- the two men, came to Austin, and took his jumpsuit down placing suction cups on his upper body, and back. He was getting the idea now. They knew about Marielle’s ability to phase, and they wanted to see her do it.
He looked to her, wondering if she was catching on as well. However, his heart sank and he pulled his gaze away. They were callously violating her as well, and she was topless in front of them as they place suction cups.
In the moment that he saw her, he noted that she was covering her breasts with her hands, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. But the look of sadness on her face was gut wrenching; her eyes were pinched shut, and tears were flowing down her pale cheeks.
He closed his eyes and turned his face to the wall, an insurmountable rancor boiling just beneath the surface.
A moment later, the scientists were gluing little white discs on both of their temples as well.
From the back of the room, the man who’d ordered their heads shaved approached as the men and women finished with them, and zipped their suits back up. Marielle was still holding herself, and shaking.
The man spoke, “Well, boys and girls,” he began in a chipper voice that let Austin know that this man enjoyed what he was doing to them. “You’ve probably figured out what this is about,” he said gesturing to their situation.
“Why don’t you explain it… doc,” Austin growled, noting that there were two men on each side of the room at the wall who were geared up in a way that was familiar to him. They were both holding shock sticks; torture if they didn’t comply; useful information.
“I’m sorry, I should start over,” he said, readjusting his glasses, “I’m Doctor Richard Kyle,” he turned to Marielle who was distant now. “You’re Marielle Jeanne Chaenes, or Masin…” he turned to Austin, “And you’re Austin Michael Rancor.” He gestured upward, “This is one of Kingdom’s many research facilities. We specialize in radianite, radianite research, and understanding radiants,” he looked to Austin, who was not amused, “what they do, and how to harness their powers for our own specific purposes … research.” Austin rolled his eyes away from the man, “Barbara Hammond sold the two of you out to us so that we could study you,” he added with a smirk. “She’s been watching you both very closely and witnessed your rare ability.”
“Thought she worked for the U.S. government,” Austin hissed.
“She collects a paycheck from both, funny how that works, isn’t it?” Doctor Kyle chuckled coldly. “Now that we’re all acquainted, we’re holding this little class because we want to know how and why you can do what you do,” he said with a small, sardonic smile to Marielle.
Marielle was still staring at the wall. “Y- you took our powers away,” she stammered, quietly.
“No, just his,” he gestured to Austin. “Yours should be functional again right about now,” Doctor Kyle glanced at one of the scientists behind him, “which, by the way, we’ll need to dose him again in about-” he checked his watch, “half an hour.” Useful information.
Austin saw one of them preparing a needle. They set it aside. “We know you can phase through him,” Dr. Kyle said, flatly, “we also know that you’re the only person on the planet that we’ve found who can do this, and that he-” he gestured to Austin, “is the only person that you can do it with… we just don’t know why.”
Marielle took in a deep, ragged breath, “Welcome to the club,” she whispered.
“We want to study it; we need to understand it.” He narrowed his gray eyes at the two of them, and glanced to one, then the other, “Do either of you know how you do it?” he pressed. Neither responded at all. “I’m guessing no, then.” He lifted a hand, shrugging, “We’ll just have to figure it out.”
“Why do you want to know?” She pressed.
“Are you kidding me, Marielle? You can move through walls,” he said tauntingly. “And you can move through organics, specifically, a person… one person. Can you imagine if we figured that one out?”
“They’re online,” someone said from the back of the room. “Both of them are coming through clean.” A machine was making a repetitive beeping sound. “Heartrate strong.”
Marielle turned away from Austin entirely, knowing what was coming. “We need you to phase through him, sweetheart,” Doctor Kyle said, gently as he stepped forward and lifted a hand to caress her face, tenderly cupping her cheek. She met eyes with him, and glowered.
Austin hung his head, hating himself. Yeah, he’d be able to endure this torture; because the torture was hers, not his. He’d love having her go through him… but not like this. He felt stupid for even suggesting that it’d be difficult at all, earlier.
Neither of them moved, and Doctor Kyle’s charming, fatherly demeanor slowly melted into something sinister.
He lifted his hand away from her cheek and brought it back hard against her face.
Austin flew at him, raging, but the men with the guns were already on his back, jerking him away from her and the doctor.
He was foaming at the mouth to get to Doctor Kyle, but the men were holding him still, one was pressing a gun to her head. “Just do it, love, and I won’t hit you again.” He glanced at the men with the shock sticks, “Or anything else,” he explained. For a moment no one moved or said anything. “Or can you still move through a corpse, do you think?” The very idea brought waves of sickness over Marielle, she gagged and let out a little terrified noise. “We can always try.”
Austin was seething, he lifted his hands up, signaling surrender and pulling away from the men, and Doctor Kyle nodded for them to back off. They did, going back to their four corners like trained dogs.
Austin cleared his mind and met eyes with her, reaching an open hand out. Dazed, she looked at it. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
She took his hand mechanically, and he gently pulled her to him, taking a moment to hold her. She was shaking, and he clenched his eyes shut, feeling the weight of the helplessness that filled him, uncertain whether it was him feeling it, or her. “It’s going to be okay,” he breathed. Then he looked down at her, and tilted her face to look at him. “I promise,” he added. She narrowed her eyes at him, searching. She knew what he meant when he said the word promise. She nodded and put herself against him again, and he held her tightly with a deep, desperate sigh, hating this…loving this… hating it more. Hating that he wanted it even now. Promising that he’d kill this part of himself later, and never ask for this again if it caused her pain. Of course it would, they were forcing him to violate her. She’d never forgive him.
Slowly he urged her at her lower back. “Come on,” he breathed, eyes closed, waiting.
She could feel his heartbeat speed up in anticipation.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly pressed against him, then further into him until she could feel his skin start to give as well as hers. A little pleasured sound escaped his lips that he despised.
For a moment their flesh melted together, becoming one thing… one entity, and as she took another small step, that feeling of completion, desperation, obsession, addiction, calm, and ecstasy washed over him in waves. He hated that he couldn’t help feeling that way, even now.
His head rolled back, and he let out a ragged gasp as he found his hands pressed against his stomach because she was no longer there, but inside of him.
For a moment, the entire world felt perfect, complete, new; he thought he could see colors and shapes that didn’t exist. Then he felt the separation, the despair, and the anxiety as she left him; out the other side, and he took in a quick, gasping breath.
Like they had in his house, he looked over his right shoulder and turned to her.
However, unlike that night, she wasn’t looking at him. Her back was to him, and he could visibly see her shaking. He whirled, putting hands to her shoulders, and held her against his chest from behind, trying to soothe her by whispering into her ear. She didn’t know what he was saying, only that it was gentle, sweet words.
Doctor Kyle was laughing, a hand in the air as if praising what they had just done. He threw a glance to the man at the back of the room, monitoring them both. All that he said was, “Heartbeat strong, inconclusive,” he shook his head and shrugged.
“Again! We need it again!” Doctor Kyle cried.
Austin’s face drained of color. “She can’t do it again,” he broke in.
Doctor Kyle looked unimpressed, “She’s going to do it again,” he insisted.
Austin felt his heart speed up, “You’ll kill her,” he growled, turning to him. “She can’t do that more than once an hour or so.” His expression was pleading with this man, “It’s an ultimate,” he reminded, “it drains her.”
“I think that I can do it again, Austin,” she whispered, defeated and broken.
He turned back to her, and put his hands back on her shoulders, she was still staring in the same place. “No, you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said gently.
“If she thinks she can do it, let her do it!” Doctor Kyle said darkly.
“No!” Austin cried, turning to the man and it was loud and sharp enough that it echoed off the walls, “I won’t allow this. You’re not going to kill her to figure this out, you’ll have nothing!”
Doctor Kyle looked to the men with the shock sticks. “No, Austin, no, let me try… let me try,” Marielle was saying, finally turning to him. “It’s okay,” she said through her tears.
“You see? She can be reasonable,” Kyle chided.
Austin pulled her against him almost violently and let out a soft, pained moan. She was quivering, the adrenaline from the last phase not yet gone from her body. “God, please… God…” Austin was whispering, but he didn’t try to push her through him again. After a moment, she did it without physical prompt.
This time was even more pleasure inducing than the first time that she’d done it. Their skin stuck for a second longer, as if it had a mind of its own and it was afraid to let go and the moment that she fully vanished inside of him, his adrenaline sky rocketed.
For a moment, she stayed there, focusing on the sounds that she heard. The sound of muscles, veins, nerves, and neurons firing.
She could hear him swallow, and suck in air like it was thunder and lightning surrounding her and she was in the eye of the storm. She could feel the pounding of his heart as it beat against her entire body, and she could sense the way that his blood was moving rapidly downward.
Somehow the intensity of the thing doubled itself, and as Marielle passed through him, he actually went to his knees, gasping in perfectly delicious tormented bliss as it rippled over him again and again.
“Fascinating,” Doctor Kyle whispered, wide eyed. His expression almost reflected jealousy. He looked at Austin on the ground, still gasping as if in the throes of pleasure, and her as she tried to catch her own breath and stood on wobbling legs. “Now tell me how you both feel,” he said, pushing his glasses back up. “Although… I’m pretty sure I can guess in his case,” Doctor Kyle mocked, glaring down at Austin’s trembling body as he put his knuckles to the ground, and leaned over his propped-up knee. Neither of them answered him. This was too much. “How do you feel when she does this to you?” Doctor Kyle asked, bending slowly down to Austin’s level. He was still shaking. “What do you feel?” he pressed.
Austin swallowed and let out a long breath, his eyes stayed closed. “Ecstasy,” he breathed, raggedly. “Completion.” A tear rolled down his cheek.
Doctor Kyle went to her, and bent down as well as she’d gone to her knees in exhaustion. “And you, dear,” he said tenderly, “What do you feel?”
Austin sat back on his knees so now she and him were nearly back-to-back, and continued to try and calm himself as he listened.
He’d never actually asked her what this made her feel, and he found for the first time that he was intensely curious. Then he hated himself for never actually considering it, before. How come he’d never wondered? He knew what it did to him, and that made him crave it. But what about her? What if it had been hurting her? He cursed himself for what was possibly deep selfishness. Turning, he looked at her back over his shoulder, and then moved completely to her. “Answer me,” Doctor Kyle pressed, growing more impatient.
She sniffed, “Euphoria,” she replied, in a breathy whisper.
Austin’s eyes rolled back and closed tightly. This might have been worse to hear. It was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. This was why she wouldn’t give this to him again when he asked… because for both it was an intense, addictive drug, and if they both kept doing this drug together, they’d lose themselves to it.
“Why do you think this is allowed for both of you?” Kyle pressed.
Austin put his hands on her shoulders, shushing her. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it, either. “She doesn’t know!” Austin barked.
Marielle was sobbing now, “I don’t know,” she cried, repeating him.
“What’s the machine say?” Dr. Kyle asked, eyes still glued to both of them.
“Dopamine, serotonin,” the man at the back shrugged. “It’s almost like they’re-”
“In love…” he looked down at them both. As far as Austin knew, she wasn’t in love. She might have felt those highs like he did, but in love? No. “What a boring answer… and considering that there are billions of people on the planet who are in love, radiant and not, that’s not helpful to us… there has to be more.”
It was at this point that Austin knew what was coming, and he knew that she wouldn’t survive it again.
He glanced around the room, noting each person and position, radius, weapon, and step count and he started imagining every single scenario.
For a moment, the room froze in his mind. There are eleven people in the room, total. Four unarmed scientists, all at the back of the room, distracted, no threat. One or two of them might know how to shoot, but they’ll be dead before any of them can reach a gun- I’ll take them out easy. Two men with shock sticks, their armor will make them slow and clunky, no guns, I only have to worry about the initial shock, after that? Face shot, dead. Four men with large weapons, get one away, kill the other three. Once I start moving, the first one to move is going to be four two seven, he has something to prove, now. Get Marielle a weapon so she can watch my back, take out the men with the sticks… Kyle, Marielle, me. Once I’m finished with them get into the building quickly, they’ll know what’s happened quickly, and we’ll have about fifty seconds before big guys with guns come after us. There are maybe twenty more men- they won’t all be coming from the same place. Get into the hall, utilize everything in arms reach. Cory? Probably back in his home dimension- he said he was following Tundra shortly. Tundra? Unknown, he was anxious to get his hands on Marielle, I’ll bet he’ll be back as soon as possible if he’s not already here. He could be a wrench in this… Barbara? Unknown… watch for her as well. How do I do this?
“What is the readout?” Doctor Kyle was asking.
Austin was gently rubbing Marielle’s shoulders, raging at himself because he was already trying to think of a way to coax her back into him soon. But not now, she couldn’t do that again. A third time would actually kill her. He could tell. She was having a hard time breathing, and she looked like she was going to fall forward at any moment.
One of the scientists was looking over a long, curling paper. He shook his head, “no.”
“Then let’s see that again, sweetheart,” Kyle said, waving his hand.
“No,” Austin barked. “No, that’s it. We’re done. Later, not now,” he hissed through his teeth.
Doctor Kyle lifted his fingers and snapped, and the men with the shock sticks began to move in. Austin pulled her to him protectively, and took the brunt of the first shock, which coursed and burned through his body, forcing them apart. He fell to the floor and gritted his teeth. This was the torture he could endure… but he could not watch her go through it.
They knew this, and once he was down, they immediately turned their sticks on her.
When the stick made contact with her, she writhed, crying out, reaching for him, but Doctor Kyle was pulling him back from her.
He let his head fall forward and took in a deep gulp of air, filling his lungs to capacity, and then some, and he slowly breathed it out, knowing what he was about to do.
Her jerked away, and Doctor Kyle dropped him and raised his hand, calling a cease fire to the shock stick men.
Marielle lay splayed on the floor, whimpering in anguish.
Austin lifted his head, and glanced around the room, taking stock again. Then he met eyes darkly with the doctor. “I’m going to kill you,” he panted.
“Why?” Doctor Kyle asked tilting his head at them. “Because I took your pretty hair?” he mocked. “Or because I took your pretty girlfriend?” He snapped, gesturing for the men to come back with the sticks.
Austin had pulled Marielle up and they were looking at one another now.
The pain in her eyes was unbearable. -I can say it. She was panicking in her mind; she was about to lose him forever. They wouldn’t need him anymore; they’d have Tundra back. –I can say it, Austin.
-Don’t you dare right now. Listen to me… I’m going to take the room.
Her eyes widened in terror. -That’s insanity.
-I can do it. When I throw you a weapon, you take out the men with the sticks. I know you can. Trust me. I promise.
She nodded.
The machines in the back beeped loudly and Doctor Kyle raised a hand, “Wait, Wait, wait,” the men with the sticks stopped advancing. “I think we missed something,” he said, frozen in awe. He leaned in a little towards them both. “Are you two… talking to each other?” He looked from him, to her, then back to him. “You are, aren’t you?” he marveled. Marielle closed her eyes, briefly, and then his eyes widened at another realization as Doctor Kyle drummed his cheek thoughtfully. “The drugs are not… suppressing this.”
Both Marielle and Austin glanced at one another, also considering what this meant. Yes, she had her abilities back but why could he still hear her? How could he create a guided fantasy for her? Neither of them had even considered this until this moment.
The ability was like it was part of them now, not radianite enhanced, but in them, connecting them forever regardless of attempts at suppression. “When did it start?” Doctor Kyle asked, curiously. Austin shook his head rapidly, signaling Marielle to stay silent. “When?” Austin did it again. “Before or after the first time that she passed through you?” Marielle and Austin stayed visually locked on one another, not breaking their stare. “Before… or…after?” Doctor Kyle’s patience was wearing thin.
He lifted his fingers and snapped at one of the men with the guns.
Austin knew who it was as he lumbered over and Austin smirked. Timing was everything, and he was timing this perfectly in his head. “After,” he whispered quickly, then he sprung up, grabbing the tip of the weapon from Four two seven and jerked it clean away from the man with such force that it tripped him forward, where he planted his face.
Austin aimed and with precision, control, elegance, and perfect timing, he shot each of the other shielded men with the guns in the face in the order that made the most sense. The second had been advancing, and Austin used his hand to palm strike up the face shield, as he grabbed the tip of that man’s weapon as well, forcing it upward, whirling it off the guard and around his back by the strap in one elegant movement.
The guard dropped, blood spurting from under his helmet. He tossed that gun to a stunned Marielle, who was already mid movement, turning to fire at the first staggering man with the shock stick. He dropped. Then, she whirled and for a moment she flickered out of existence as bullets sang through the air. Since she disappeared, they didn’t hit her, and when she popped back into reality, tired, but alert, she and did the same to the shocked gaurd, who also went down.
Austin was on the third shielded man who’d gone down and he jerked his weapon up into his hands, then took out each scientist as they dove for cover, leaving Doctor Kyle for last. This had taken all of four and a half seconds if that.
Doctor Kyle was backing up, hands in the air. “Read this,” Austin said flatly before firing. The man fell back, pouring rivers of blood from a hole in his face.
Austin whipped the weapon around, slinging it onto his back by the strap, and coming back to Four two seven.
Marielle had her weapon trained on him, waiting.
Austin yanked Four two seven up to his knees, and put him in a powerful chokehold. “Remember what I said?” he hissed into the man’s ear, and he slowly twisted.
Marielle shied back, hearing the gasps and gags of the man as he wretched; first clawing uselessly at Austin’s arm, then partially tearing at the air as if he could reach something unseen. Austin’s face twisted into something sinister and determined, as he squeezed more tightly, then he slowly began to turn the man’s head.
Marielle heard the first disgusting pop break the room apart. His eyes bulged as he realized he was about to die. “I… promised,” Austin hissed. Then he jerked Four two seven’s neck in such a way that a series of bones popped and shattered, and the man went limp and fell to the ground.
Austin stood for a moment, closing his eyes, and taking several deep breaths as blood dripped down the walls, from the ceiling, and ran down his face.
Then he looked to Marielle who was in shock.
He raised a shaking hand to her and approached slowly. “Hey,” he whispered. “Hey, it’s me.” Her eyes were big, full of tears and horrified.
He took a few more steps towards her and for a moment she looked like she was going to try to phase through the wall just to get away from him. His expression twisted in internal agony, and he swallowed hard, pausing before going to her, and pulling her against him. “It’s me,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her little frame. “it’s me.” She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trembling against him. “I couldn’t let them do that to you again, I’m sorry.”
There was a pause as she panted. “Even if I also like it?” she asked.
“That’s when I knew that I had to stop it,” he replied. “If you love it, but you still don’t want to do it, then no one should force you to.” He was removing the white nodes from her face, and she had started to do the same to him.
Then they both turned around, as if giving one another a moment of privacy to remove the rest, which were still down their suits. “you’ve changed…” Marielle said under her breath.
“I think I was supposed to,” he replied quietly, and both zipped their suits up again, coming back to each other. “We don’t have any time, they’re going to come after us soon,” he explained. “I know that this is really difficult to process right now. Don’t try, be in the moment,” he was instructing her. She nodded, taking in every bit of what he was saying, but her eyes had wandered to one of the dead bodies lying in a pool of blood, ichor, bone, and brain matter nearest them. He took her face in between his fingers and thumb, and forced her to look at him. He was speaking quickly, “I’m telling you, do not try to process this right now. If we can get out of here, Vincent or I can help you work through it then, but right now, you have to be in this moment, and every moment until we get out of here, understand?” She was nodding swiftly. “Every time your mind tries to consider what’s going on, don’t let it. Take a deep breath, and as you exhale, ground yourself. You’re here, now, with me. Nothing else matters until we’re out of here, got it?” Her panic obvious. “Hey,” he whispered. “Hey,” he cupped her cheek. “We’re going to do this. You and me. We can do it. I believe in you. I’m with you.” She still looked terrified, “We’re going to be able to do this because we’re together,” he repeated, more slowly.
She took a deep breath, “Is that why?” she asked, shakily.
He tilted his head slightly at her, and a sad smile crossed the left side of his mouth, “yes,” he said as if it was and always had been obvious.