Title: Captured
Warning:
Violence
Trying to land on Arus
had gone wrong from the very beginning; the tracker beam had locked on and
pulled their tiny shuttle onto a Doom warship before they even had time to
react to it. Doom soldiers ushered the team off the shuttle and corralled them
with the other prisoners to become slaves. Each member of the team had been
tattooed like a common slave with the symbol of Doom Skull on the back of his
left shoulder. It didn't take anyone with much intelligence to figure out that
the five men were not from Arus, but a team sent by
the
Keith paced around the tiny cell and slammed
his fist against the metal for the umpteenth time, cursing himself for the
team's capture. The mission was suppose to have been
easy but he failed it before it could even truly begin… and worst yet he failed
to protect the team.
Sven was sitting against one of the cell
walls, eyes closed, arms crossed, and his legs crossed in front of him. Sitting near the cell bars, Hunk was watching
one of the guards angrily with Pidge sitting next to
him ready to hit Hunk to keep him from pissing off one of the guards.
Lance was sitting Indian style near Sven,
his elbow resting on one of his knees so his hand could prop up his head. He glanced at the others, a totally bored
expression on his face. "Well, this
is an interesting way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Any ideas on what we do now?"
“If I had an idea don't you think I would've
said something by now?” Keith asked a little crossly. He doubted at this point
if any of them would take any of his suggestions into consideration, after all
it was his leadership that led them here in the first place.
"Temper, temper. None of this is your fault Keith,
so chill out!" Lance said before lying down on his back with one knee bent
to prop his other leg. He stared at the
ceiling and chuckled. "Man! Even the ceiling is dirty!"
Well, that little 'observation' brought a
brief smile to everyone's faces. Sven
shook his head. "Figures
you would notice that."
Lance responded by sticking his tongue out at him.
Keith rubbed his hands over his face and
promptly hit the wall again. The sound was loud enough to make one of the two
guards look at him. “What the fuck are you looking at?”
The guard snarled but did nothing. If the prisoner wanted to beat up the wall,
even he could go right at it. Not like
the prisoner could break out by doing it.
“Hey, shit for brains I was talking to you.”
Keith snarled at the guard.
"Why don't you just shut up!" The guard snarled as he moved to stand in front of
the cell, his partner close behind him.
They were so focused on Keith that they didn't notice Hunk move closer
to the cell bars.
“Why don't you make me?” Keith challenged.
"Gladly!" The guard quickly handed his weapon to the other before reaching into
the cell and grab Keith's shirt collar, yanking him into the bars. "Now shut up!"
Keith flinched slightly as he hit the bars.
“I don't think so.” Keith said as he reached one hand through the bars and
slammed the guard's head forward against the bars. He grabbed the keys off the
now unconscious guard's belt at the same time.
The second guard didn't have time to react
before Hunk ripped the gun from his hands. “This is for the damn tattoo.” He
growled and shot the guard.
Keith reached out through the bars to unlock
the door. The angle was rather hard to reach so he made sure he kept a tight
grip on the key ring. After trying several keys he managed to find the right
one and shoved the door open.
"Well that beats anything that McGyver would have tried in the classics." Lance said
as he glanced down one end of the corridor.
"Okay...now what?"
“We get off this fucking floating prison and
come back with some real firepower to get all the other prisoners out.” Keith
said.
"Sounds good." Sven nodded as he picked up the other gun, handing the extra guns to the
others. "Though
it is going to be a challenge to get to our ship."
"That and we need to do something about
that tractor beam or this will be a really short trip." Pidge added.
“Well, do any of you have any brilliant
ideas on just how we are going to accomplish these things? I'm open to
suggestions.” Keith said.
Lance shrugged. "No clue. I'm just the pilot. Just get me to the ship and I can fly us out
of here!"
Keith didn't comment, he just continued down
the corridor ahead of the others watching for any sign of trouble. He rubbed
his aching ribs as discreetly as he could, not wanting to admit just how hard
he had hit the bars.
When the corridor branched into two, the
team separated and leaned against the walls to look over either side...Sven,
Hunk, and Pidge on one wall while Lance and Keith
took the other. Seeing no one, they
merged and, taking a right, continued cautiously down the corridor. Though not before Lance placed a reassuring
hand on Keith's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "Take it easy Tiger. Don't need you to hurt yourself
anymore."
“I'm fine. I think I just got the wind
knocked out of me when I hit the bars.” Keith said, smiling reassuringly at
Lance before resuming the lead. “This damn place is like a bloody labyrinth.”
Keith mumbled under his breath as they came across several more corridors and
had to turn around at least twice because of dead ends.
The team had just turned down another
corridor when suddenly electronic barriers appeared in front of them, blocking
their path. "Oops! Wrong way!"
Lance shouted.
"Really? Whatever gave you that
idea?" Pidge mumbled as the team raced back the
way they came.
Just as they reached the branched corridors
and turned down another one, Lance yelped as an arm suddenly wrapped around his
waist, jerking him back. The others
stopped dead in their tracks, turning to see Lance struggling against a guard
the size of a grizzly bear.
"I suggest all of you freeze if you
know what is good for you." The guard sneered at the others as he clamped
a hand around Lance's throat, squeezing tightly.
Keith's black eyes were blazing as he glared
at the guard; his gun leveled at the guard's head as he debated if he could get
off a clean shoot without chancing Lance's safety. Even though Keith had a dead
on aim he didn't want to take the chance.
The guard held Lance too close for any guarantees, but Keith still kept
the gun aimed at the guard in case an opening did appear.
Lance struggled in vain to pull the guard's
hand off his throat. What was this guy
made out of...stone? The arm around his
waist and throat felt like granite!
"Don't...stop!" His eyes pleading to the others, Lance barely
managed to gasp out the words before the grip tightened even more, ending any
further conversation, not to mention any breathing.
Keeping his prisoner between himself and the
humans, the guard glared at the others.
"Drop your weapons now!"
Keith's eyes narrowed at the guard but
softened to concern and worry as he looked at Lance's face. For a brief moment
he felt his heart stop when it was obvious that Lance was barely able to, if at
all, breathe. He threw his gun at the guard, and glanced at Sven. “Drop it.”
Sven nodded, quickly throwing his gun on the
ground. Pidge
and Hunk followed suite, mumbling death threats at the guard. The guard grinned cruelly. "Now let's walk back to the cell. And I suggest we hurry before your friend
here runs out of air."
“Let him go now.” Keith said,
his voice dangerously low. He slowly approached where the guard held Lance
hostage.
"I don't think so." The guard
snickered, tightening his grip around his prisoner's waist and lifting him up
off the ground. Eyes almost closed,
Lance barely struggled as the guard jerked his head back so that it rested on
his captor's shoulder. "He's
already practically out of air. But we
can keep wasting his time if you want."
“Let him go NOW!” Keith growled as he
charged at the guard, knocking all three to the ground.
In that brief moment the guard let go of
Lance, allowing Keith to quickly roll Lance out of harm's way before repeatedly
pounding the guard with his fists as other guards seemed to swarm in from the
shadows like mosquitoes.
Gasping and unable to move, Lance could
barely hear the sounds of footsteps, fighting, and lots of cursing. He could dimly see the shapes of the others
fighting desperately as the guards came out of nowhere. His vision cleared just in time to see the
blunt end of a gun come down toward his head and then nothing.
########################################################################
There proved to be far too many guards for
the four men to fight. Badly beaten the five members of the team where taken
back to the cell. None of them were very aware of what was going on at first,
and it took them several moments to realize that Hunk had not been brought back
to the cell. As the panic began to set in, at least four guards appeared at the
cell. Hope soared that they were bringing Hunk back, but that proved not to be
the case. With guns drawn two guards came in and took Pidge
away. All Sven and Keith could do was watch helplessly as Pidge
was carried roughly out of the cell.
Keith leaned back against the wall, forcing
back the tears that burned in his eyes. Lance was still unconscious, his head
on Keith's lap. Keith absently ran his fingers through Lance's hair, berating
himself for the failed escape plan that placed them all in even graver danger.
Sven was pacing worriedly around in the
cell. Sighing he plopped down next to
Keith. "It's not your fault
Keith. They must have had hidden cameras
or something to know that we escaped!"
“I should've put more thought into the
plan. At least before… none of us had
been harmed. Now…” Keith's voice trailed off for a moment. “We don't even know
where Hunk and Pidge are or... or if they are even
still alive.” Keith's words came out slightly choked as the tears he had been
trying so hard to hold back began to streak down his cheeks. “I messed up and
now everyone is going to pay the price.”
"You did the best you could
Tiger." A weak voice mumbled from Keith's lap. "That's all anyone can do."
“About time you woke up.” Keith said,
breathing a soft sigh of relief. “How are you feeling?”
"Oh, like I was choked and then
clobbered in the head with a gun butt.
Other than that, I feel okay." Lance smiled weakly. "Sorry I blew it guys. You should have kept running."
“It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your stupid
plan to try such a pathetic escape attempt.” Keith said. “First off, none of us
would've left you and secondly… with the way all those guards swarmed in we'd
been taken down anyway.”
A noise from the door stopped the
conversation. This time there were at least six guards that they could see,
probably because the remainder of the team was more awake now than before. Two
of the guards lowered their guns at Keith and Lance and the other one took a
step toward Sven. “You are coming with me.”
Lance growled and started to move forward,
only to be stopped by Keith's arms tightening around him. "Fucking
bastards." He mumbled under his breath.
Keith looked at Sven, he didn't care at this
point that tears were flowing freely down his cheeks as he thought of how this
could be the last time he ever saw Sven alive. “I'm so sorry Sven.” Keith
whispered.
"They haven't licked us yet. We don't go down easy. None of us!
Remember that!" Sven smiled reassuringly at Keith before calmly
walking out of the cell with the guards.
Unable to say or do anything, Keith wrapped
his arms tighter around Lance and leaned forward until his head was touching
Lance's.
"I'm sorry Keith." Lance whispered as he reached up and
awkwardly caressed Keith's face.
"But Sven is right. We're
not down yet!"
“It's over...we lost… I screwed up and got
everyone killed.”
"Only if you give up now!" Lance glared. "We believe in
you! I
believe in you!" He gently kissed
Keith's lips. "We don't know if the
others are dead. And I'm willing to bet
that they are still fighting. Which
means you need to too!"
“I don't know what to do.” Keith admitted
quietly. “I….” Keith's voice trailed off and he shook his head, leaving
whatever he had been about to say unsaid. He hugged Lance closer. He wondered
how long it would be until the guards came to get one of them.
"I don't know either love." Lance
whispered as his hands clung to Keith's arms.
"We will just have to improvise.
No matter what happens though, you can't give up...for the others
sake."
Keith didn't say anything in response, so
instead he gathered Lance up into his arms and slowly sat back against the wall
while holding his lover close. “I love you Lance…”
"I love you too Keith." Lance
whispered as he leaned deeper into Keith's embrace, resting his head on Keith's
shoulder. "I always will...no
matter what happens. That will never change. Remember that Keith."
########################################################################
Time seemed to tick past slowly, though it
was little more then ten minutes later when the guards returned. Lance growled as he clung to Keith's arms
that were still wrapped possessively around him. "What do you fucking want?"
“You are coming with us.” A guard replied.
“Like hell he is.” Keith growled, holding
Lance so tight that it was almost painful.
Then without warning, a second guard slammed the butt of his long
blaster into Keith's shoulder causing Keith's grip on Lance to loosen.
Lance growled in anger at Keith's pained
expression, kicking his legs out wildly and managing to knock at least two
guards down with painful kicks to the knees.
But there were too many of them, and he was soon jerked roughly out of
Keith's arms and dragged out of the cell.
Lance could hear Keith cussing and fighting with the other guards. "Remember what I said Keith!" He
yelled before he was pulled out of sight.
Keith rushed towards the bars, gripping the
bars so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. “YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!
YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!” Keith yelled futilely. He yelled for several
more minutes before slowly sinking to his knees, his hands still holding the
bars in a light grip. “I won't let you get away with this.” He vowed in a
whisper.
########################################################################
Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity for
Keith before the guards came back. One
of them opened the cell, while the other three kept their guns on Keith. The guard sneered. "Your turn."
“Go to hell.” Keith growled.
"I said move it!" The guard yelled
as he jerked Keith to his feet.
"Don't make this any harder than it is!"
Keith rolled his eyes and shoved the guard
against the bars...after all things couldn't get any worse or harder as the
guard put it.
One of the other guards rushed forward,
hitting Keith in the gut with the end of his gun. As Keith doubled over, the first guard
punched Keith in the face, knocking Keith to the ground. The guard glared down at the prisoner. "Behave or your crew
suffer more!"
Keith glared up at the guard with defiant
eyes but he made no move to attack. He slowly wiped the blood away from the
corner of his mouth and stood up.
"Let's go!" The guard roughly
grabbed Keith's arms and shoved him out of the cell.
########################################################################
Keith soon found himself in a dimly lit room, there was only one light hanging over head. He could clearly see one chair, which he was
roughly shoved into. Two guards stood on
either side of him. Keith could barely
make out two shapes, one larger than the other, in the shadows sitting in front
of him.
The larger figure waved his hand in the air,
speaking in a deep voice. "I wish
to welcome you and your team, Captain Kugane, to my
ship. I'm General Shirak
and my companion here is Captain Hugane."
“With all due respect, General,” Keith spoke
his voice dripping with sarcasm. “My team and I want to leave your ship.”
"So I noticed after your escape
attempt." General Shirak laughed bitterly.
"Which was very good I might add. It would have succeeded if it weren't for the
fact that Haggar planted magical alarms. Since you can't see or sense them, I strongly
suggest none of you try it again. Not
like any of you will be able to."
“Oh, we will be leaving here.” Keith said, his voice confidant. He narrowed his eyes at the
general. “Since you are obviously a man of great intelligence I imagine you are
smart enough to tell me where my team is.”
"And you must be a man of little to no
intelligence." Shirak sighed. "You will be leaving only to fight in
the arena on Planet Doom. King Zarkon is really looking forward to your performance. Which unfortunately means
we can't do any permanent physical damage to get our questions answered. However..." He chuckled softly. "That doesn't mean that our techniques
will not still be very painful."
Keith's eyes were blazing with anger as he
glared at Shirak. “If you harm any of my team I will
personally kill you.”
"I seriously doubt that. They are only getting what they deserve. Each one refused to answer my questions. But you will see them soon enough."
Keith stood up quickly knocking the guard to
his right sprawling to the floor. He grabbed the gun from the guard's hands as
the guard fell and aimed the weapon at General Shirak.
“This little game of your is over.” Keith said evenly as he slowly stepped
towards Shirak.
"Oh it has only just begun." Shirak laughed as he fired a shot, knocking the gun out of
Keith's hand. The two guards immediately
rushed forward, hitting and kicking Keith before shoving him back into the
chair. Shirak
chuckled. "That is one advantage of
being in the shadows. Your enemy never
knows when your gun is drawn or not."
“JUST WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT, ASSHOLE!”
Keith yelled at Shirak as he struggled against the
guards.
Shirak growled. "I want to know
what five space explorers with extensive
military training were doing in the Arusian
System! That system is way out of the
“We took a wrong turn at Jupiter.” Keith
replied with a small grin.
That earned a hard slap across the face by
one of the guards. Shirak
snorted. "If that is true, I
suggest you find a new pilot. We will be
happy to illuminate the one you have for you." He chuckled cruelly. "He is obviously worthless to you."
“Touch him and you die.” Keith said coldly.
“That is not a threat but a promise.”
"Then it is an empty promise,
considering we have already touched him and the others." Shirak sighed at
the stubborn and furious look on his prisoner's face. He stood up, unconsciously stepping into the
light and allowing Keith to clearly see his tormentor. Dressed in attire
typical of Doom military, the blue skinned general was tall for his race, only
making him more intimidating. His face
was hard and cold, covered with battle scars.
Shirak turned to Captain Hugane. "He is at your disposal. Get as much information out of him as you
can. Remember though that King Zarkon still wants them fit enough to fight in the
arena. However..." He quickly
turned back toward Keith. "His
Majesty won't mind if there are only four.
And pilots are only a dime a dozen these days, making them very expendable."
Keith struggled against the tight grip of
the guards, managing to twist away. He charged at Shirak
and tackled the general to the ground. He slammed his fist against the blue
man's face, smiling in satisfaction as he felt Shirak's
nose snap beneath his fist.
Shirak howled in pain as the guards and captain struggled to pull the enraged
man off of him. By the time they had
pulled Keith off and had him subdued in the chair, Shirak's face was bloodied.
Shirak was fuming as he punched Keith several
times in the face. Captain Hugane had to literally pull the general away.
"SIR! Don't waste your time with this
worthless human!" Hugane gasped as he struggled with the very angry general.
Shirak took a deep breath.
"Okay...but make sure he suffers greatly. Physically and mentally!" He glared furiously at his prisoner before
quickly storming off.
Hugane chuckled slightly as he turned back to the prisoner. "You better pray that he cools down, or
you have just ensured your pilot's death."
In the light, this blue man was not as intimidating as the general, but
his cruel yellow eyes still promised extreme pain.
“And you just better pray that nothing
happens to him, or any member of my team.” Keith said,
his voice dangerously low. His face ached from the repeated blows but he refused
to allow any pain to show in his eyes.
"It's a little late for that. They are already paying for their
actions." Hugane chuckled softly. "As will you if you don't answer our
question correctly!"
Keith couldn't help but swallow slightly. He
couldn't believe how bad things had gotten, it was
like something out of a low budget horror movie or a cheap sci-fi... only
difference being none of the heroes were going to make it to the end of the
movie.
"Now...why were you flying near Arus?"
"Arus? Oh that was the name of that
planet you guys found us near. I didn't really know the name of it before since
it wasn't where we were heading."
Hugane frowned. "And where were you heading?"
"To the Pysiee
Quadrant. The
"I see." Hugane
narrowed his eyes slightly. "Well,
there is one way to make sure you are not lying." He motioned to the guards. "Secure his arms in front of him and do
not loose your grip on him." Hugane smiled evilly at Keith. "How would you like to see what we are
doing to your crew?"
"I told you what you wanted to know so
LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
"Just consider this a test in
honesty." Hugane laughed as Keith struggled with
the guards. Once the prisoner was
subdued, Hugane walked toward the door. "Let's go. We will be observing each one from behind a
glass wall. We can see in and hear them,
but they can't see or hear us. The glass
is electrocuted as well. So don't get
any wild ideas about trying to help any of them."
########################################################################
As he was lead down a corridor, Keith
struggled against the tight grip of the guards but couldn't break free. Each
time he struggled, their grip grew tighter until he was sure his bones were
going to snap under the pressure.
Finally they reached a window. Looking in he could see Hunk pinned to
the floor by a heavy plank that covered him from his shoulder down to just
above his ankles. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?" Keith yelled
in shocked rage.
"We are just testing his physical
endurance. Judging by the number of
stones on the plank, he is doing quite well.
And his answer seems to be the same as yours...so far." Hugane grinned
wickedly at Keith. "You like
it? It is rather barbaric using the very
earth against your enemy, but it still does the trick."
"YOU SICK SON OF BITCH!" Keith
struggled harder with a ferocious determination to escape and save Hunk from
this torture and to save his whole team before any of them could be hurt any
worse than they had already been… or worse yet be killed. Keith pulled away
slightly, and a guard shoved him forward against the glass that separated them
from the room Hunk was in. Keith gave a sharp cry of pain and dropped to his
knees. He would've fallen to the floor if the guards hadn't grabbed him again
and roughly hauled him to his feet.
Hugane sighed, shaking his head as if he was lecturing a small child. "I told
you about the protected glass. Shall we
proceed to the next window?"
Keith glared at the pain, but didn't answer
the question. This time Keith didn't even struggle as he was led further down
the corridor to the next window.
Peering through the electrified glass window
Keith could see Pidge strapped to a wooden table, his
hands and ankles spread eagle. Keith tried to tear his eyes away before he
could see Pidge suffer, but his eyes remained fixated
on the youngest member of the team wishing there was something he could do to
help, but knowing there was nothing he could do.
"You know how tall trees grow. Well here we use wood to grant the small
young man his dearest wish. To grow taller."
Hugane chuckled.
"You bastards." Keith growled through clenched teeth.
He felt sick to his stomach as the guard in the room with Pidge turned a large old crank wheel a notch, stretching Pidge's arms and legs even further.
"Amazingly, he, like the larger man,
barely cry out.
And he insists on the same story.
Let's continue. Ahead we have an
entertaining use of water."
Keith closed his eyes for a brief moment as
he was forced down the corridor. He didn't know how much more suffering of
those he cared so much about that he could watch. They stopped before a third
window where Keith could see Sven bound tightly, suspended by his wrists above
a large tank of water. Sven's wet
clothes clung to his body, indicating that Sven had already been emerged in the
water at least once. Keith's heart was beating loudly in his ears, as Sven
barely looked conscious. "LET HIM GO YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
Hugane blinked innocently at Keith, though the look was tarnished by an evil
glint. "Now why would you want
that? We are only testing his lung
capacity. That is very important for
space exploration, isn't it?"
Keith watched in horror as Sven was slowly
lowered under the water struggling to escape the restraints that held him under
and deprived him of air. "STOP IT!" Keith yelled as he struggled out
of the guards' tight hold. "SVEN!" He yelled
in panic as Sven's struggles started to grow weaker. He lunged forward, slamming
his fists against the glass. The jolt knocked him back several paces causing
him to drop to his knees and crumble to the ground.
"Tsk, tsk. You really are
a slow learner. At least he makes less
noise than you. He told his story once,
and has been silent since then." Hugane smirked.
"Though that could be because he is having
to focus on breathing."
"You… son of a bitch." Keith cursed through clenched teeth. He didn't want to get up from the
floor knowing the next person he would be forced to see suffer was Lance, and
he was already near the breaking point.
"So...had enough? I am sure the only reason why the stories are
the same is because you told them
what to say! I'll admit that their
loyalty is impressive, but frankly it is getting annoying."
"The stories are the same because it's
the truth you fucking moron." Keith said slowly pulling himself to his
feet only to be grabbed by the guards before he could strangle Hugane.
"Whatever." Hugane
rolled his eyes. "Would you like to
see the last window? We couldn't even get a story from that one. He has such a fiery temper, not to mention
quite a vocabulary."
Keith glared at Hugane
as he spat in the captain's face. "Here's some vocabulary for you, you
fucking little bastard… YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE FOR THIS!"
Hugane glared, wiping his face before slapping Keith across the face. "Bite your tongue! Let me show you what we do with fiery
tempers. Maybe that will clean out your
mouth."
The guards threw Keith into the fourth
window, the jolt knocking him to the ground.
Inside Keith could see Lance bound to a table. Breathing rapidly, Lance was jerking
violently against the restraints on his ankles and wrists, his head thrashing
around with his teeth clutched and eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Hugane laughed at the pained expression on Keith's face. "We fight fire with fire so to
speak. A very nice drug...makes one's
very blood feel like liquid fire as it courses through the veins." He shook his head in amusement. "It is usually very effective, but he
remains silent. Well except for the
occasional cursing."
Keith could feel hot tears burning in his
eyes, his whole team was suffering and he was to blame. He had gotten them
captured and now they were all suffering because of him. Keith wanted to turn
his head away, seeing Lance suffer like that cut through his heart like a
knife. But he couldn't tear his eyes
away. He was losing the last shred of hope that he had been so desperately
clinging to.
Then from out of nowhere Keith could hear
Lance's words, as clearly as when Lance had spoken them...remembering Lance's
vow of never-ending love and Keith's own promise to not give up. Keith pulled
himself to his feet with a renewed energy and grabbed Hugane,
slamming him against the window. As Hugane fell
forward Keith grabbed him again and held his struggling form against the
window. Keith could feel some of electricity flowing into his own body, and
after a long moment snapped Hugane's neck as the
guards stood watching, completely dumbfounded.
After a few moments, one of the guards
snapped to action grabbing Keith and pulling him away from the captain's body
while the other checked the captain's vitals.
Shaking his head, the guard immediately left the body and also grabbed
the prisoner. However, the electricity
had totally zapped Keith's strength. His
heavy breathing froze though when Keith glanced back into the cell. Lance had stopped moving completely; in fact,
Keith couldn't tell if Lance was even still breathing!
"Let me go!" Keith growled,
struggling as hard as he could against the tight grips, but his attempts were
futile. His eyes were wide and panicked as he watched Lance's body for even the
smallest sign of life. 'Please,
Lance...just do something to let me know you're okay...PLEASE!'
If Lance ever gave a sign, Keith never saw
it as the guards quickly dragged him to another room. Once there, they practically threw him onto a
table, knocking the breath out of him enough to secure his ankles and wrists
with rubber straps. Then one guard
quickly left the room, while the other stood watch.
Keith pulled against the restraints, finding
they wouldn't budge. Giving up with a soft sigh he dropped his head back
against the table, wondering what torture these sick minds had in store for
him.
Keith didn't have long to wait...it wasn't
but a few minutes before General Shirak came storming
in with a fresh scar on his face.
Another guard followed. Eyes full
of hate, Shirak slapped Keith brutally across the
face. "You are just screaming for
punishment, aren't you!" He growled.
Keith flinched from the force of the blow
but turned his head back to look at the general. "You're the one who's
screaming." He smirked.
That earned Keith another blow to the
face. Shirak
glared furiously at Keith. "Not
only did you attack me, but you also killed on of our finest captains! I am so
going to love breaking your spirit!"
"The only thing broken here is your
nose." Keith said, his black eyes shone with
defiance.
"You have already done that punk!" Shirak snarled
as he pulled up a small hand held rod.
"Have you ever been hit by lightening?"
Keith eyed the rod warily, trying to hide
his nervousness. "Nope. You?"
"Nope. So please tell me what it's
like." Shirak grinned evilly. "Normally we start with the lowest
setting, but for you, I'll make an exception." With that, he jabbed the
rod into Keith's left side.
Keith clenched his teeth against the pain as
his body arched off the table. He refused to cry out and allow Shirak to know just how much pain he was in – he refused to
give the other man that kind of satisfaction.
Shirak continued the jab-pause technique on several areas of Keith's body for
several moments, how long Keith wasn't sure.
He lost track after the twentieth jab.
Shirak chuckled bitterly at the gasping man
below him. "I see you are as
stubborn as your crew. I will just have
to modify my technique."
Keith dropped back down limply against the
table. His breath was in deep, short gasps and his eyes were closed against the
pain. Keith's eyes jerked open though
when cold water was splashed over him. Shirak smirked at the realization lighting his prisoner's
eyes. "Maybe you are smarter than
you look. So tell me...why were you and your team in the Arusian
system."
"Already told you why." Keith said. "If you forgot already well that's your problem."
"No, I haven't. Seems all of you have the
same story, so maybe you are telling the truth." Shirak shook his
head. "However, your behavior still
calls for disciplinary action.
So..." He quickly jabbed Keith's soaked side.
Keith nearly bit his tongue as his body
arched off the table. Still he refused to cry out in pain. His whole body was
trembling in pain. Shirak held the rod against
Keith's side for a long moment, before pulling it away and allowing Keith's
body to drop back against the table. After the fourth hit Keith couldn't help
but scream in pain as the tip of the rod was held against his clothed right
nipple.
"Amazing." Shirak laughed. "You started screaming about the same time
as the others. Well, except for
one. His body gave out before he could
scream."
Keith's eyes flashed with concern.
"What do you mean…gave out?"
"Just that...gave out. Though you have more
important things to worry about right now." Shirak
smirked as he started with his 'playful' jabbing again, holding each one longer
than the one before.
Keith groaned and cried out in pain praying
for the blackness to over take him, but it never did. His mind was too busy
racing with the possibilities of Shirak's implications
on 'gave out' and just whom the general was talking about.
After about five minutes, Shirak sighed. If he
kept going, he would kill his barely conscious prisoner thus earning Zarkon's wrath. Not
a pleasant thought. "I guess that
is enough...for now."
Keith lay almost motionless on the table his
heart pounding so hard in his chest that he felt like it was going to explode.
His breathing was labored catching each breath seemed to be a struggle in
itself. After a moment Keith opened his eyes and glared Shirak.
"Oh good. You're still there." Shirak smirked, when suddenly his eyes took a devilish
glint. "After losing one, I can't
lose another. His Majesty wouldn't like
that."
"Bastard." Keith snarled, his black eyes flashing with building rage. "If you
did then you are the next one who will die."
Shirak chuckled. "I think not,
though I am glad to see you still have some spark left in you. It's not my fault his body just couldn't take
it."
"Take what?" Keith asked
nervously, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. No matter
what the answer was the thought of any member
of his team being killed, especially as a result of the violent tortures that
had been inflicted on them, upset him deeply.
"Oh, you will find out soon enough. Though, tell me..." Shirak
teasingly held the rod over Keith's face.
"Who do you think it
was?"
"Well, Captain Hugane
is dead and he never had the chance to scream…."
Shirak snarled. "You saw to
that! Oh you never heard your teammates
scream. I had the guards intensify their
little games after I heard about Hugane. It was music to my ears."
"I'll fucking kill you." Keith
growled pulling as hard as he could against the restraints.
"I seriously doubt that. We will be arriving at Doom in thirty-six
hours. Then all four of you will be out
of my hair, permanently!" Shirak rolled his eyes before signaling the guards. "Secure him and return him to the cell
with his remaining crew." As the guards worked with Keith's bonds, Shirak
turned and walked toward the door.
As soon as the restraints were removed,
Keith slammed the guard against the side of the table and pulled the gun away
from the guard, shooting Shirak in the knee. The blue
skinned man howled in pain as he dropped to the ground clutching his bloody
knee. Keith rushed over and pressed the muzzle of the gun against Shirak's head as he flipped the man over. With the gun
pressed to Shirak's forehead Keith yanked the
electric rod out of Shirak's hands. "It's your
turn to find out what lightening feels like."
The other guard stared in complete shock,
clueless on what to do. Shirak growled, his eyes burning with rage. "You honestly think you can get away
with it! I think not!"
"It doesn't matter who you killed, you
are going to pay for it with your life." Keith said,
his voice dangerously low. He pressed the rod against the base of Shirak's throat and held it there for a long moment.
"So you tell me what does it feel like to be hit by lightening?" He
asked once he pulled the rod away.
Shirak howled in pain. Every time he tried to push Keith off resulted in another jab with
the rod. "GUARDS!"
He screamed before Keith jabbed him again.
Before the stunned guards could react to the
order, or get enough courage to follow it, Keith slammed the rod into Shirak's mouth. "Like I said you are next to
die." Keith said nastily as he pulled the rod's trigger, killing Shirak instantly.
Before Keith could turn and fire on the
guards, one jerked him off of the general's body and slammed Keith into a wall. Keith saw flashing lights for a brief moment
before crumpling into darkness.
########################################################################
Keith moaned lightly as consciousness slowly
began to return, along with the pain. He felt a hand against his head and tried
to twist away from the light touch.
"Take it easy. It's just
me." Sven's calm voice gently pushed threw the darkness.
"Sven?" Keith said groggily as his eyes slowly blinked open, finding himself
looking up at Sven's concerned face.
"Yeah, now don't move." Sven
smiled reassuringly before looking up and jerking his head toward Keith. "Pidge...he's
awake."
Pidge's worried face soon appeared. He
quickly checked Keith over before finally smiling in relief. "About time you woke up. We were getting worried. Now keep still. Your body may still be in shock."
"I'll be fine… just give
me a couple minutes to wake up." Keith said. His black eyes looked
distant, and he avoided looking Sven or Pidge in the
eye.
"What's wrong Keith?" Sven asked, his eyes worried.
"Is something wrong?" Hunk's worried voice called from some where in the room.
"What makes you think there's anything
wrong?" Keith questioned sarcastically, closing his eyes, hoping that the
next time he opened them he would find this had all been nothing more than a
bad dream.
Pidge rolled his eyes. "Your tone of voice for that matter. Now spill."
"This place is just a never ending
nightmare…" Keith mumbled.
"You can say that again. But this is one nightmare that we are going
to see through to the end and survive to severely kick some Doom butt."
Sven growled. "Which I might add,
I'm really looking forward
to!" Pidge
nodded his head in agreement.
"I'm sure you are." Keith said,
though with no enthusiasm or the typical teasing of his brother's 'dark' side.
"For what little it's worth there is already two
less of them."
Pidge smiled. "Thanks
to you. Because you did that, the
poor solider next in charge was so scared that he ordered all 'games' stopped
and brought us all back to our cell."
Sven frowned slightly. "But that's not what's bothering
you. Now what is it?"
"I don't want to talk about it so just
leave me alone." Keith mumbled, turning his head to one side and brushing
a stray tear from his cheek against Sven's leg.
Sven sighed.
"So I got a little water logged.
It's not your fault. All that
surfing I did growing up paid off. I was
able to hold my breath for long periods."
"I learned a new way to stretch my
muscles. At least I gained a couple of inches."
Pidge laughed.
"And Hunk has always been great at bench pressing."
From a distance, Hunk growled. "I am in a hell of a lot better shape than Zarkon
will be once I get my hands on him!"
Keith choked back a sob; the last thing he
wanted right now was to be reminded of anyone's suffering. "Just… please
leave me alone… I just want to be left alone."
"Keith, that's the last thing we are
going to do." Sven sighed as he ran his hand through his brother's
hair. "I know you feel responsible
for this. But you were in no more
control of the situation than we were.
There was nothing you could do, any of us could do. We all know that. And we know you saw everything." He chuckled at the confused look on Keith's
face. "You talk in your
sleep."
"Oh…" Keith said quietly.
"Then why do I need to bother talking now since I did all the talking in
my sleep?"
"Because you still need to get
it out. And
some of what you said made no sense whatsoever!" Sven chuckled softly.
"And just what made no sense?"
Keith asked. He wished that they weren't so determined to make him talk, as
talking was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He knew the answer to the
question Shirak had raised, knew whose body had given
out… but also knew if he heard the words spoken out loud it would completely
shatter his spirit.
Sven frowned a moment. "I think you mumbled something about
losing one..."
Pidge shook his head. "Actually, I
think it was one dying."
"Whatever. Either way, it made no sense." Sven
shrugged.
"Just… leave me the fuck alone. I
already told you that I don't want to talk about it." Keith said, his
voice sounding more depressed then cross.
"What
do you don't want to talk about. We are all fine! All five of us!" Sven sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "Or at least four of
us. You must have been shocked
one too many times. You are making even less sense than usual."
Keith blinked. "What do you mean
five?" He asked, with a slight hint of hope in his voice. "Shirak said…"
Pidge rolled his eyes again. "Sven
means exactly what he said. Five! Did you mess up your hearing? And we have no fucking clue what the hell Shirak said!"
"That one of you died… from
the... torture… because I killed Hugane." Keith said.
"Keith..." Keith slowly turned his
head toward Hunk's quiet voice. Not too
far away against one of the sidewalls, Hunk had his arms wrapped around Lance's
sleeping form. "Lance is
alright." He paused, arms tightening as Lance jerked slightly. "The jerking is decreasing, so the drug
must be finally leaving his system. But
he will be fine. In fact, a few times I
think he mumbled something about detention." Hunk chuckled softly.
"Figures since he spent so much time
there at the Academy." Pidge laughed before
turning angry. "Luckily he passed
out before Shirak ordered an increase in the
treatments. The guards just ignored
Lance. If they had given him another dose, it would have killed him!"
Sven smiled down at Keith. "So to repeat what I said earlier, we
are all going to be fine. Shirak was just trying
to break your spirit. I bet he was planning to hide one of us to try and crush
us."
"Yeah… well he did… but he also broke
my temper…" Keith smiled slightly, a genuine smile. Keith tried to sit up, but dropped back down against
Sven's lap. His eyes were fixed on Lance when he became serious again. "I
really thought he had killed one of you… and when Lance was the only one not
talking… I thought it meant he was dead."
Hunk chuckled. "Oh he's talking alright. Just not loud enough for
you to hear. And some of the
stuff I'm not going to repeat!"
"I'm just glad that everyone's
okay." Keith said. "But I don't know how we are going to get out of
here."
"We will worry about it later. We will be landing on Doom in twenty-four
hours. So I suggest we get some
sleep." Sven said, shifting Keith's head off his lap so that Keith could
get more comfortable. "We will need
all our strength soon."
Hunk smiled as Sven laid
down next to Pidge, wrapping his arm around him. Wincing slightly, Hunk carefully picked Lance
up and walked over to where Keith was lying.
"Lance will probably sleep better next to you than me." Hunk
winked as he laid Lance down next to Keith.
Rolling onto his side, Keith wrapped an arm
around Lance and lifted his head enough to brush a tender kiss against Lance's
cheek, before laying his head back down and snuggling close to Lance.
"I see I was right." Hunk smiled
broadly as Lance unconsciously shifted closer to Keith, mumbling something
about strawberries. Hunk was sure that he didn't
want to know anymore! He then went and laid down on the other side of Pidge,
his large arm covering both Pidge and Sven.
They were still together. And come what may together they will overcome
any obstacle that lay ahead.
owari