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darker_london2008-04-11 09:50 am
shadows-sun.livejournal.com) wrote in darker_london2008-04-11 09:50 am
Underground - Ry / Stephie
His eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. There was no way that he could pretend to himself that he wasn't shaking, but as he drew nearer to the door he was striding towards, his sense of purpose, and possible achievement of his goal, became more tangible.
When he found the cell they were keeping Stephie in, those thoughts zapped out of his mind. It was only when she cried out, "Ry!" that it booted him into moving again, and he crossed the distance separating them.
"Lyon told them. Told them where to find me!" Steph's voice was shakier than his own. She spoke with a tongue that had, fortunately, not been burned or cut yet. Moving it around in her mouth testingly, she reassured herself that that lack of injury was still true. She'd been ready to tell Ry such things as 'Get out of here!' and 'What are you doing here?' when she'd first seen him in the doorway, but the truth was, he was free, and she was not. If he could get her out, she could yell at him for putting himself in danger for her later.
"He's not here. He's not anywhere around here." Ry tried like hell to keep his voice steady, and reassurances of Lyon's lack of presence came out of his mouth smoothly from months of practice. The sight of her like this was like every nightmare he'd ever had, and stood for every reason why he'd continuously tried to stop her from going out on these missions. That it seemed it hadn't been one of 'Those in the know's' assaults that had led to her being tied here like this, didn't even matter.
Steph heard the click at the doorway before Ry did, and she squirmed, and breathed Ry's name. By the time he turned around, a faceless Templar looked back at him. He'd never seen the face of one of these guys before, but he'd supposed they looked more or less human.
"Well this is interesting," he said, in a deep voice. "I'd only expected to find one person in here. Did you come to watch?"
As the Templar strode into the room, Ry watched him carefully. Maybe one he could take. Jocelin had shown him some things over the years, and sure, he didn't have a knife on him, but he didn't think he could have struck true with a knife anyway. More than likely, the Templar would have gotten the blade off him and used it to his own detriment.
"Nothing to say? I assume you're here to save the girl. Stephanie. Interesting that. With all her dirty friends, I'd half expected a pack of lesbians to come to try to rescue her."
Remembering what had been done by these guys to Scarlett, and what could be done to Steph, Ry grew enraged. He hadn't felt such force of feeling since he'd been faced with the shadow of the demon who had made him into what she had been.
"Well? Aren't you going to do anything?"
"Don't tempt me," Ry said.
The Templar's eyebrows raised. "Since you came here to watch, I suppose, let's get on with it." He walked further into the room, away from Ry, towards a table of sharp and blunt implements, which Ry just kicked himself for not having seen earlier. "Hot needles first, I think. They always get such a reaction."
The instrument that the Templar was holding wasn't a mere needle. It might have been the vague shape of a needle, but it was at least an inch thick. The Templar was moving towards Steph's prone body, and she stiffened, and gasped while trying not to cry out. She had always been the stronger one of them, and now she was restrained. It should have been him in there. His rage fled out of him, replaced by fear.
"No," Ry said, getting the Templar's attention once more.
"No?" he was asked back, in reply.
"Not her," Ry said.
"Ry! What are you doing?" Steph said, in her Most Not Pleased voice.
The Templar, however, looked interested. "You would take your lover's punishment for your own?"
"No!" Steph yelled, straining against her restraints.
"Yes," Ry said, not looking at her.
"I suppose you both have been living in sin. And sin, as you know, must be punished." The Templar indicated towards shackles attached to the wall. "Step back."
"Ry, no!" Steph gritted.
"This will only hurt, a lot," said the Templar, once Ry's arms were restrained in place.
Ry gasped as pain went straight through his palm in the first sign of a Stigmata. The shock of it stole his breath the first time, and he almost gagged on his own tongue with the force of his inward breath. He wasn't able to last through the sheer pain the second time. He cried out, his wrists only staying where they were because of the shackles, while the rest of him arched as far away from the wall as he could bend. He was only vaguely aware of Stephie's cries through the flood of pain that engulfed his senses.
"Let me be near him! Let me be near him!"
At some point, Ry realised Stephie was saying the same five words over and over again. He had no idea how many times she said it before he finally tuned in, but once he heard it, his eyes met hers across the room, and stayed there. She stared right back at him, giving him a stable point despite the pain.
The Templar moved as he noted the change in Ry's focus, and turned himself to behold Stephie. Ry just struggled to keep on breathing regularly. He could feel the blood from his palms making their way down his forearms as he sagged in his shackles. His hands. He wouldn't be able to write with these injuries. What if the damage stripped the use of his hands forever?
"Ry..." Stephie stumbled across the room to him, and then their positions were reversed, and she was tried to use her non-injured hands to free him from his shackles. He stumbled as soon as the shackles were no longer holding up his weight. He tried to fall in such a way that he would not fall on, and crush, Steph. He was dimly aware that she was crying for him, for herself, and he tried to comfort her, but the words swirled around in his head and never grew the drive to be said from his mouth.
Her arms were haphazardly around him, trying to take stock of the damage that had been done to his hands, but not touching for fear that that would cause him more pain. "Damnit, Ry," she said, taking anger to hide the anxiety she felt for him. "Why did you do this?" Her tears fell from her cheeks, onto his arms and t-shirt.
Ry's head felt dizzy with pain, but he finally made himself speak. "Is it over?" he asked croakily, blinking several times so as to get a clear vision of Stephie kneeling in front of him.
"It's over," she said, blinking through her own tears. "You stupid, stupid man, yes it's over. And we have to get out of here now."
Ry nodded his head, or tried nodding, but the vague movement sent a new tide of dizziness over him. He took a deep breath and tried to rise above the pain. Stephie was helping him up, her arms around his waist, dragging him up at the same time as she lifted herself. Looking down at his hands, Ry tried to clench them, just a little bit. He couldn't. The tendons had been snapped. Swallowing, he tried to distract himself with the passage that had brought him here.
"I came through that way," he said.
Renee and Scarlett and Deirdre and Peter, Tasha and Evey and Chloe and Justine, Lee and Lucas and Tamm and Jocelin were all standing at the mouth of the Templar hideout when Ry and Stephie reached them, but before any of them could speak or crowd around them, Stephie cried out.
"He needs help!"
Ry thought he heard an edge of hysteria in Steph's voice, and tried to quell it with his own words. "I'm fine." A smile directed at Renee should have convinced them all of that. At the very least, it shouldn't have increased the look of worry on Renee's face as she, and then Jocelin, strode towards him.
"We need to get him to a doctor," Renee said, looking up towards someone who had a car.
"Ry, you need to hold on. I can't lose you again," Steph said, taking up his whole line of sight as Tamm and Jocelin took over physically supporting him into a car. "I can't lose you." She stayed right by him
"Isn't that what I said to you after Josie..?" Tamm settled Ry in the backseat, with his head on Stephie's lap, before he got into the front and began to drive. Jocelin pointed the way.
"Shh," Steph said, her fingers starting stroking the edge of his hairline to keep herself from looking further down at his hands.
Ry lifted his hand to brush against hers, and when the answering burst of pain woke him up, he shuddered, and looked at his hand. "Fuck," he breathed, bringing his other hand up to his face. Both of them passed the inspection, of course, but it caused Ry to heave no less a sigh of relief. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, while he let his heart beat slow back down to normal.
Even when he felt ready, he still took quick look around the room to realise properly that Steph really wasn't there.
"Damn," he said, letting himself lie in bed a little longer. He'd woken up before his alarm, so he was in no hurry.
20 minutes later, when his alarm really did sound beside his bed, Ry pulled himself up out of bed and pulled on clothes for the day at uni. He looked around the room again, assessing that everything in here was, in fact, how he'd left it the night before, and everything in here belonged to him. Jocelin was in the next room, and Justine in the room beyond that, though she had probably disappeared for work already.
Leaving his bedroom, he grounded himself in the look of the living room, with its deck chairs, and the linoleum floor that looked far, far different from the tiles that had adorned the kitchen floor in his old house. Not really feeling in the mood for breakfast, he quickly checked he had everything he'd need for classes in his bag, lit a smoke, and left the house.
When he found the cell they were keeping Stephie in, those thoughts zapped out of his mind. It was only when she cried out, "Ry!" that it booted him into moving again, and he crossed the distance separating them.
"Lyon told them. Told them where to find me!" Steph's voice was shakier than his own. She spoke with a tongue that had, fortunately, not been burned or cut yet. Moving it around in her mouth testingly, she reassured herself that that lack of injury was still true. She'd been ready to tell Ry such things as 'Get out of here!' and 'What are you doing here?' when she'd first seen him in the doorway, but the truth was, he was free, and she was not. If he could get her out, she could yell at him for putting himself in danger for her later.
"He's not here. He's not anywhere around here." Ry tried like hell to keep his voice steady, and reassurances of Lyon's lack of presence came out of his mouth smoothly from months of practice. The sight of her like this was like every nightmare he'd ever had, and stood for every reason why he'd continuously tried to stop her from going out on these missions. That it seemed it hadn't been one of 'Those in the know's' assaults that had led to her being tied here like this, didn't even matter.
Steph heard the click at the doorway before Ry did, and she squirmed, and breathed Ry's name. By the time he turned around, a faceless Templar looked back at him. He'd never seen the face of one of these guys before, but he'd supposed they looked more or less human.
"Well this is interesting," he said, in a deep voice. "I'd only expected to find one person in here. Did you come to watch?"
As the Templar strode into the room, Ry watched him carefully. Maybe one he could take. Jocelin had shown him some things over the years, and sure, he didn't have a knife on him, but he didn't think he could have struck true with a knife anyway. More than likely, the Templar would have gotten the blade off him and used it to his own detriment.
"Nothing to say? I assume you're here to save the girl. Stephanie. Interesting that. With all her dirty friends, I'd half expected a pack of lesbians to come to try to rescue her."
Remembering what had been done by these guys to Scarlett, and what could be done to Steph, Ry grew enraged. He hadn't felt such force of feeling since he'd been faced with the shadow of the demon who had made him into what she had been.
"Well? Aren't you going to do anything?"
"Don't tempt me," Ry said.
The Templar's eyebrows raised. "Since you came here to watch, I suppose, let's get on with it." He walked further into the room, away from Ry, towards a table of sharp and blunt implements, which Ry just kicked himself for not having seen earlier. "Hot needles first, I think. They always get such a reaction."
The instrument that the Templar was holding wasn't a mere needle. It might have been the vague shape of a needle, but it was at least an inch thick. The Templar was moving towards Steph's prone body, and she stiffened, and gasped while trying not to cry out. She had always been the stronger one of them, and now she was restrained. It should have been him in there. His rage fled out of him, replaced by fear.
"No," Ry said, getting the Templar's attention once more.
"No?" he was asked back, in reply.
"Not her," Ry said.
"Ry! What are you doing?" Steph said, in her Most Not Pleased voice.
The Templar, however, looked interested. "You would take your lover's punishment for your own?"
"No!" Steph yelled, straining against her restraints.
"Yes," Ry said, not looking at her.
"I suppose you both have been living in sin. And sin, as you know, must be punished." The Templar indicated towards shackles attached to the wall. "Step back."
"Ry, no!" Steph gritted.
"This will only hurt, a lot," said the Templar, once Ry's arms were restrained in place.
Ry gasped as pain went straight through his palm in the first sign of a Stigmata. The shock of it stole his breath the first time, and he almost gagged on his own tongue with the force of his inward breath. He wasn't able to last through the sheer pain the second time. He cried out, his wrists only staying where they were because of the shackles, while the rest of him arched as far away from the wall as he could bend. He was only vaguely aware of Stephie's cries through the flood of pain that engulfed his senses.
"Let me be near him! Let me be near him!"
At some point, Ry realised Stephie was saying the same five words over and over again. He had no idea how many times she said it before he finally tuned in, but once he heard it, his eyes met hers across the room, and stayed there. She stared right back at him, giving him a stable point despite the pain.
The Templar moved as he noted the change in Ry's focus, and turned himself to behold Stephie. Ry just struggled to keep on breathing regularly. He could feel the blood from his palms making their way down his forearms as he sagged in his shackles. His hands. He wouldn't be able to write with these injuries. What if the damage stripped the use of his hands forever?
"Ry..." Stephie stumbled across the room to him, and then their positions were reversed, and she was tried to use her non-injured hands to free him from his shackles. He stumbled as soon as the shackles were no longer holding up his weight. He tried to fall in such a way that he would not fall on, and crush, Steph. He was dimly aware that she was crying for him, for herself, and he tried to comfort her, but the words swirled around in his head and never grew the drive to be said from his mouth.
Her arms were haphazardly around him, trying to take stock of the damage that had been done to his hands, but not touching for fear that that would cause him more pain. "Damnit, Ry," she said, taking anger to hide the anxiety she felt for him. "Why did you do this?" Her tears fell from her cheeks, onto his arms and t-shirt.
Ry's head felt dizzy with pain, but he finally made himself speak. "Is it over?" he asked croakily, blinking several times so as to get a clear vision of Stephie kneeling in front of him.
"It's over," she said, blinking through her own tears. "You stupid, stupid man, yes it's over. And we have to get out of here now."
Ry nodded his head, or tried nodding, but the vague movement sent a new tide of dizziness over him. He took a deep breath and tried to rise above the pain. Stephie was helping him up, her arms around his waist, dragging him up at the same time as she lifted herself. Looking down at his hands, Ry tried to clench them, just a little bit. He couldn't. The tendons had been snapped. Swallowing, he tried to distract himself with the passage that had brought him here.
"I came through that way," he said.
Renee and Scarlett and Deirdre and Peter, Tasha and Evey and Chloe and Justine, Lee and Lucas and Tamm and Jocelin were all standing at the mouth of the Templar hideout when Ry and Stephie reached them, but before any of them could speak or crowd around them, Stephie cried out.
"He needs help!"
Ry thought he heard an edge of hysteria in Steph's voice, and tried to quell it with his own words. "I'm fine." A smile directed at Renee should have convinced them all of that. At the very least, it shouldn't have increased the look of worry on Renee's face as she, and then Jocelin, strode towards him.
"We need to get him to a doctor," Renee said, looking up towards someone who had a car.
"Ry, you need to hold on. I can't lose you again," Steph said, taking up his whole line of sight as Tamm and Jocelin took over physically supporting him into a car. "I can't lose you." She stayed right by him
"Isn't that what I said to you after Josie..?" Tamm settled Ry in the backseat, with his head on Stephie's lap, before he got into the front and began to drive. Jocelin pointed the way.
"Shh," Steph said, her fingers starting stroking the edge of his hairline to keep herself from looking further down at his hands.
Ry lifted his hand to brush against hers, and when the answering burst of pain woke him up, he shuddered, and looked at his hand. "Fuck," he breathed, bringing his other hand up to his face. Both of them passed the inspection, of course, but it caused Ry to heave no less a sigh of relief. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, while he let his heart beat slow back down to normal.
Even when he felt ready, he still took quick look around the room to realise properly that Steph really wasn't there.
"Damn," he said, letting himself lie in bed a little longer. He'd woken up before his alarm, so he was in no hurry.
20 minutes later, when his alarm really did sound beside his bed, Ry pulled himself up out of bed and pulled on clothes for the day at uni. He looked around the room again, assessing that everything in here was, in fact, how he'd left it the night before, and everything in here belonged to him. Jocelin was in the next room, and Justine in the room beyond that, though she had probably disappeared for work already.
Leaving his bedroom, he grounded himself in the look of the living room, with its deck chairs, and the linoleum floor that looked far, far different from the tiles that had adorned the kitchen floor in his old house. Not really feeling in the mood for breakfast, he quickly checked he had everything he'd need for classes in his bag, lit a smoke, and left the house.