Chapter 7: You Haven't Lost Me Yet
These days pass me by I'm so confused But you haven't lost me yet
I dream with open eyes
Nightmares haunt my days
Visions blur my nights
What's true of false
What's fact or fiction after all
I feel like I'm an apparition's pet
x~X~x
Beeeeep.
Alert. The sound bounced off in the distance, a mind engulfed in darkness. It echoed around her, dragging her tired body back into an agonizing existence. Pain welled in her abdomen, dreary eyes struggling to open. She wanted nothing more than to stay in her weary state of oblivion, let the dark corners take her prisoner and release her from her pain.
Beeeeep.
Her mind shattered again, forced to her to ringing around her. Her mouth felt dry, chest rising and falling with labored breaths. Heat engulfed her stomach then the pain more acutely recognizable. She groaned a little, pushing her eyes closer together as flashes on light began to explode and push their way into her welcomed darkness. Her eyes blurred at the edges, a brain mashed with uncertainty and a longing for familiarity.
Beeeeep.
"Brooke," she heard her name, a small smile encompassing her lips as she heard him, the voice of an angel. She willed herself to move towards him, his voice seemingly so far away. If she could only reach out to him. She needed to propel herself forward, take his hand and...
… she could not. Wrists writhed under their captors, the material wrapped tightly around and holding her in place. Clockwise circles twisted and turned, futile in their attempts to be released from the grips that held them down. She was trapped, a prisoner and unable to move towards the voice she heard, towards Lucas...
"Brooke."
Beeeeep.
Emerald orbs shot open at once. It wasn't his voice. He was gone and a new voice surrounded her. It was laced with the same emotionless tone she had fought long and hard to be free from. In and out she breathed, trying to regain her composure. Met with the graying walls of the tiny hospital room, the brunette vixen turned her head to face the owner of the voice, empty hazels staring back at her. She pulled at her wrist binds once more, an annoyed growl escaping her lips as her captor moved closer.
"I wouldn't bother Miss Davis," Peyton began, titling her head to the side as she looked at the woman who lay bound to the bed. "You will not be leaving this place any time soon." Reaching out, a delicate hand slid down the brunette beauty's face with determination. Heavy breaths fell from Brooke's quivering lips, ignited by the anger that welled within her. Moving her face away from the touch of the enemy, a hard grip pushed into her cheeks with painful force. Pulling Brooke's eyes back so that they were squarely looking into her own, Peyton stared down at Brooke with vacant eyes.
"Now you are going to tell me everything you know about The Resistance. It will make your final hours on this world honorable."
"Fuck you," Brooke blurted, spitting in the honey-blonde's face. Closing her eyes, Peyton reached across to the bedside table and pulled out a tissue, wiping her face clean. She remained unfazed, hazel orbs once again landing on the insurgent that writhed beneath her strong grip.
"I'd rather not," she spoke evenly, focusing on the job at hand. "I have standards to adhere to. Now tell me what you know." Bony fingers dug into creamy cheeks once more, the pain undoubtedly soaring through the restrained brunette's face. In spite of the pain however, she remained unmoved, glaring at Peyton's face with sheer defiance.
"Must we really play this game?" Peyton sighed, eyes boring down on her captive. "We already have Nathan, we now have you and we doubt morale in your tiny camp of deflectors is going to be very high when that fact becomes known." she blinked but once, her composure never wavering. It never ceased to amaze Brooke how humanity somehow managed to accept their fate as robotic puppets of Dan Scott. Lost was their drive to fight, instead replaced with fear of further wars. It was enough to make her heart break. Yet for this very woman standing before her, causing a pain to roar across her face, she felt no sympathy. Her eyes were dead, much like the other pill-induced citizen of Hope City, but there was also something calculated about them. She was dangerous- a killer by blood. It did not take a free man to see this. Her words were drenched with venom, chosen specifically to cause the most harm possible when spoken aloud.
She had to have been that way before they drugged her. She was chosen by The Father himself.
Brooke could suddenly see why.
"You know," the brunette rebel breathed out painfully, gasping a little under the hold of the blonde assassin. "For someone who has no feelings, you sure are acting like a bitch."
Wicked eyes moved in closer, Peyton's breath hitting Brooke's face as she growled at her. "I hear that is what happens when whores try to move in on married men." The brunette's eyebrows rose a little at the statement, giving the mechanical woman reason to push forward. "Oh yes," she replied, realizing Brooke was now becoming acutely aware now of why she had been captured. "We know about you and your obvious plans for my husband. But you see, Miss Davis, Lucas Scott is unique. He is meant to be the leader of Hope City one day. The Father has always believed thus."
"Sorry to ruin your plans," Brooke smirked, faux-innocence encapsulating her features. "Oh wait, no I'm not."
"Ruin our plans?" came the stoic reply, Peyton matching Brooke's sarcastic expression with her own mixture of faux-confusion. "On the contrary, you have shown us how one can be infiltrated and for that we thank you."
"You thank me?" scoffed whispers expelled from snarly lips. "You really are delusional. All those non-sensing pills have gotten to your head." She shook her head from side-to-side, mimicking a crazy person.
"You don't seem to understand, Miss Scott, so I will speak a little more slowly for you." She released Brooke from her grip, sliding her body onto the bed beside her as she placed strong hands on either side of the rebel for support. Piercing hazel eyes bore down on her, Peyton unrelenting in her quest to make the brunette whore acutely aware of just how grim her situation had become. "My husband is to be re-conditioned. All he needs is to be injected with FS2012 again and we will return our future leader to his rightful place."
"If that were possible you would have done so with Nathan." Brooke spat back, a slight fear welling inside her as she thought of poor Lucas- how they might hurt him in the hopes of reconditioning him.
It broke her heart.
"And why on earth would we have done that?"came the incredulous reply, face unchanged. "Of both these men, Nathan is the one with the intelligence we need regarding your pathetic little band of outlaws. Once we have exhausted every last bit of information we can get from him, he will be standing on the same little cinder block that you exited the world from. Believe me."
"You will not get what you came for," Brooke vowed, wriggling in her restraints and pushing herself upwards to meet the bitch before her head on. "I would rather die than give you anything you needed."
"And that you shall," Peyton acknowledged, standing to her feet as she looked down at the vehement infidel before her. All that mattered, her only mission, was to ensure that the reformation of her husband was successful. Nothing Brooke had to offer anymore was of any consequence. She was unnecessary.
And she would be disposed of.
"Enjoy your last day on earth Miss Davis," came the dominant tone, eyes frozen in a narcissistic glare. "May hell welcome you with open arms."
x~X~x
A cool damp surrounded rough fingertips as they dug their way into the rocky floor, alerting the fallen soldier to a state of complete awake. Gasping as the oxygen invaded his lungs with the force of a turbulent hurricane, heavy eyelids shot open with surprise. The dimly lit rock walls that blurred into vision were caked with drizzling streams of musty water, greening at the edges. The air smelled damp as well, a long and agonized groan escaping his lips as he pushed himself onto his back. The near-complete darkness swirled around him and his shoulder ached from where he had been injected.
Yet he could feel. How was this possible?
"Good evening big brother."
Shooting into an upright position, Lucas gazed through the prison bars at the younger brother who sat on the same rocky ground In the cell beside him. It was the first time he had seen Nathan since his mind had been freed from the control of FS2012. The raven-haired warrior simply gazed at him with a tiny smirk, raising his eyebrows a little as Lucas looked at him.
"You could say it back, you know. May break the ice a little."
"I, uh- I'm sorry," Lucas stammered, rubbing his head as he looked around the jail cell he now found himself in. Immediately his eyes focused on the bars, scrutinizing their every aspect in search of weakness. As if he could read into his thoughts, Nathan shook his head and sighed, the move pulling his brother's attention right back to him.
"Don't bother. Reinforced steel, no expense spared. There's no way of getting out."
Groaning as he got to his feet, Lucas trudged over to the cell wall that divided them. A weird feeling washed over him then, watching his brother trapped behind the bars. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, what it meant. But it hurt to see him stuck there, by his own hand. It boiled within him and made him want to hit something. But how was that possible? He still bared the marks of the needle stab, still recalled he feeling as the liquid flowed through his veins.
"I feel-" Lucas began, lips quivering slightly as he tried to get his bearings. Immediately, Nathan was on his feet and charging for the bars, taking his brother by surprise. He raised his finger to his lips, demanding the blonde's silence. It was not safe to be speaking such things aloud. Especially not in the dungeon-like prison cells of Hope City.
"I know," Nathan growled, his tone flooded with such a serious intensity Lucas could see why he was feared amongst all men. "But now is not the time nor place to be making such statements."
"How do you know?" Lucas questioned, his mind whirling with the days events. Or was it still that day? He'd made the assumption that he had awoken the very same day they had drugged him into unconsciousness, but in all actuality he had no idea what the time or day was. How long had he been down there? He needed answers. "Tell me everything."
"Everything is a lot to tell," Nathan replied, his voice dropping to a low, melodious hum. He leaned against the bars for support, taut muscles misshaped against the cool, metallic beams. "But I will do what I can seeing as you are most definitely not the crackhead you used to be."
As the cool metal sank into his heated flesh, the raven-haired rebel gazed over at his brother and nodded his head with satisfaction. He was pleased with what he saw. He hadn't seen his brother like this for as long as he could remember. His memories were the only things he held that reminded hi,m that something humane welled with his brother. It was those memories that had pushed him to fight for Lucas. No matter what the cost.
"I can tell you, Brooke did an amazing job. We none of us were sure she could get to you. But she did."
"You know Brooke," Lucas smiled, groaning a little as she shuffled in his position. Suddenly his brother's words dawned on him and his baby blues shot up to meet a cerulean pair of orbs. "Was this the plan all along?"
"I doubt she meant to fall in love with you," Nathan sniggered, a cheeky grin slipping over his lips as he stared down at Lucas. "But the moment I saw the two of you together I knew that is what had happened. I'm sure your wife would be flying into a jealous rage and spitting chips had she soul enough to feel. Alas, you married the devil big brother. Nice move."
"Our Father is the devil," Lucas corrected him, feeling the need to defend his wife who was innocent in all of this. She had been fooled like the rest of them into believing Dan's lies once they had been medicated. How could she have possibly known the real world that was out there? How could she have known her husband and her father-in-law were going to be pitted against each other one day? "Peyton is merely washed up in this mess."
"Oh contraire Luke," Nathan growled, his voice filling with a haunting tone that left the blonde military leader feeling uncertain."She was hand-picked by daddy-dearest himself. After all, he was broke at the end of the war. He needed capital somehow and the lovely then-Miss Sawyer was more than happy to fund that lovely drug we use today." His voice dripped with the obvious disdain he felt for the wife of his brother, no more than a traitor of humanity in his eyes. "Well, most of us use."
"How do you know all this?" Lucas questioned, shocked beyond belief at the level of deception and betrayal he had been oblivious to. "I have slept beside this woman for years..."
"The memories will come," Nathan promised, his voice and eyes softening as he watched his brother's face crumble. "It just takes some time. It is when they do that you completely grasp just what has become of us all. And what you must do to save us."
"You targeted me?" Lucas suddenly cut in, almost as if the thought had suddenly remembered to emerge. He gazed into the cerulean eyes of his blood, Nathan looking at him and waiting for the rest of what Lucas intended to say. "You could have done this all on your own. Why risk it?"
"Two reasons," Nathan responded, glancing around quickly to ensure no one was within hearing distance. It amazed Lucas just how in-tune his brother was with his surroundings, the blonde military leader believing this gave his younger brother the upper hand in all battles. Including when he tried to kill their father those many weeks ago."Our leader, the Resistance and all those opposed to Dan's totalitarian rule needed his toughest soldier taken down. A weakened defense was the only way we could get to him."
"But you knew I would be there on Commemoration day," Lucas interrupted, not understanding the Resistance's decision at all. If they were to take down The Father without his wall of defense, why choose the day when he was to be the most heavily defended? "You attacked anyway."
"How else was I to get to you?" Nathan scoffed, his tone illuminating his surprise at Lucas' inability to put two-and-two together. "Only you would have put in charge of the interrogation. Only the best would have been sent to aide you..."
"Enter Jake Jagielski," Lucas whispered, the complete motives behind this whole scenario now playing out before him in his mind. He silently cursed himself for not registering this sooner, although now glad of the fact that he had indeed failed.
"Enter Brooke Davis." Nathan smiled at his brother then, his pride in their plan evident for all to see. Lucas had to admit, it was genius. He wanted to congratulate his brother on being stronger than he was, of being the one to ultimately save him. But staring at his younger kin through iron bars, watching him live in the sub-standard conditions of Hope City's prison cells, made Lucas' heart ache in a way he never imagined possible.
It was the price he had to pay for feeling.
"But it places you behind bars," the blonde warrior digressed, wrapping thick fingers around the metallic cage. "That was a huge risk. You could die because of this."
"It was a risk I was willing to take," Nathan replied, not an ounce of regret in his voice. "The good of mankind depended on it. We were left with no more alternatives."
"What was the second reason?" The question escaped Lucas' lips in a hurry, his need to understand everything consuming him.
"You're my brother, Luke," came the heartfelt reply, Nathan moving closer to his brother as he spoke. "Although you may have forgotten it, I still hold the memories. There was never going to be a day where I gave up on you. I would have died trying." Blue eyes bore into one-another as Lucas' heart warmed for the man before him. "I may still yet. Shit happens."
"No," Lucas growled,unwilling to accept that as a possibility. H is hatred for his father grew so immensely strong, flowing through his veins like a river flowing to the sea. He could not lose his brother, that was for sure. He could not die. "I will not let you die because of me. We will fight and we will beat our father together."
"In order to do that you need Brooke," Nathan answered him, turning his head as he heard a noise in the distance. He dropped his voice to a whisper, always on high alert. "She knows her way in and out of the city like it was her own personal shopping center." He chuckled at the reference, Lucas gazing back at him with a look of confusion. Nathan sighed, shaking his head at just how many memories his brother had lost. "You will understand that reference in time. She alone would be the one capable of getting us out."
"They have her," Lucas choked out, his heart dropping into a pit of unrelenting at the fact. "The thought alone makes me feel like..."
"Quit it," Nathan growled, more noise echoing in the distance. He reached through and grabbed the material of Lucas' shirt, pulling him in nice and close so that he could keep their words between them. "That word is now banned for you. Got it?"
"Right," Lucas nodded apologetically, realizing his mistake. "But I can't let them hurt her, Nathan. She has saved me too many times..."
"Look," Nathan muttered, glancing around again as a noise bellowed out around them. Metal clinked in place, boots scuttling along the uneven ground that was littered with rocks and debris. "What is life without a little risk? As it so happens I have been waiting for hours for you to wake your lazy ass up." A cough resonated in the difference and Nathan shoved Lucas backwards, the blonde soldier falling backwards on to the ground. "Lie down in your cell and shut up, they're coming."
"What the hell was that?" Lucas asked bewildered, blue eyes darting back towards his brother.
"Patrol. Every ten minutes. Once comes and then ten minutes later another turns up. Seems they do not trust us. Smart for a zombie, no?" Nathan smiled, raising his eyebrows in his usual sarcastically playful manner.
"So what do we do?" Lucas whispered, flames in the distance lighting up the darkened cells. They were nearly upon them. "Ten minutes is not enough time to get us both..."
"It is, just follow my lead," Nathan growled, pointing to the ground with vigor. "Lie down and shut up."
Lucas did as he was instructed, eyes closing just as a body made its way into the secluded prison cell arena. Chocolate orbs lit up when they landed on the younger Scott, lips curling up into a snarl of satisfaction.
"Ahhh, Nathan Scott. Big bad boy of the Resistance regime. You don't look so scary stuck behind bars." White teeth beamed as they glowed in Nathan's face, the younger Scott undeterred.
"Felix Taggaro I presume?" He looked the young officer up and down, unimpressed to say the least. His look did not phase the young fighter in the slightest, Felix barely noticing the look Nathan had given him.
"I am not surprised you have heard about me," he replied, his monotone voice ringing throughout the quiet dungeon. "It would serve you well to fear me. A feeling I can accept in this circumstance."
"I have heard Sir," Nathan replied, walking towards the front of his cell to look at the smarmy traitor head-on. "That when the foul stench of rotting dog shit invades your nostrils, Officer Taggaro is near. I hear it comes from years of sticking his nose up The Father's ass. It amuses me just accurate that statement is..."
"Silence," came the non-threatening reply, his tone so lifeless and dead it was impossible to fear. "You will regret the day you ever tried to cross me."
"Cross you?" Nathan chuckled, leaning against the cool bars at the young, infant-like boy before him. "Oh sweetums, what makes you think you're that special? I'm all about saving my brother and fucking up our father, haven't you heard?"
"Seems to me like your little bitch brother is still out for the count," Felix replied trying his best to out-smart the youngest Scott warrior. He had spent years playing third best to these two,and now with both of them behind bars it was his turn to shine and finally take control of the military. He had earned it. "Perhaps he should feel a little sorer when he wakes up?"
Nathan slammed his open palms into the bars that kept him at bay, venom dripping from his voice as he growled at the insufferable man before him."You even try kicking him and it will be to your disadvantage, I wouldn't recommend it."
"And what will you do about it behind those thick, steel bars?" Felix laughed at Nathan's inability to do anything about it, opening the lock that led to Lucas' cell. He glanced down at the sleeping form, a wicked smile crossing his lips as he raised his leg. Toned legs thrashed out with intense force, a growl resonating into the air as the arrogant military member lashed out at his defenseless victim.
Or so he thought.
In a flash Lucas' blue eyes shot open, a thick hand lashing out and grabbing hold of the lanky foot that threatened to squash him. Felix called out in surprise, brute force propelling him backwards as Lucas fended him off. Within seconds his back had connected with the cool bars behind him, thick arms wrapping around his neck as Nathan grabbed hold. He tried to call out but it was no good, his voice gone as he felt the life choked out of him. His body convulsed in violent spasm as air began to escape him. Lungs burned with fire from the deprivation of oxygen, gasps sputtering recklessly in a closing throat. Nathan's hold did not relent, the body beneath his grip weakening from his hold. Slowly, Felix's body began to lose the will to fight, collapsing in the warrior's arms as Nathan let him slide to the ground, unconscious.
"Nice work," Lucas breathed, pulling himself to his feet and kicking the limp body slightly to make sure he was well and truly out of it. "How did you know he would try and kick me?"
"Brain-dead idiot couldn't come up with an original idea if it jumped up and bit him in the ass. Of course he would do exactly what I told him not to." Nathan sniffed then, straightening himself up as he looked around the prison. "Grab his keys, Luke."
Diving for the body, thick hands patted over the uniform as Lucas searched for the familiar sound and feel of metallic keys. Resting in the side pocket, the blonde brooder picked out the object of his desire and stood to his feet. Racing across the uneven graveled flooring, he slid to a halt before Nathan;s cell, reaching for the lock. Springing it free, Lucas pulled open the bars that had held his younger brother captive for so long. He stepped forward, looking around at the freedom that was right within his grasp. The air was already tasting sweeter, freedom a euphoric feeling in its own right. He was thankful his brother had let him taste it.
Cerulean eyes fell on baby blue orbs as Nathan reached out and took his brother into his arms, holding him close. He wanted to remember this feeling for as long as he lived. As quickly as Nathan had pulled Lucas to him, he pushed him back harshly, slamming his cell closed as his brother looked on in bewilderment.
"What are you doing?"
"You have eight more minutes until they come around again. That is not enough time for both of us to escape." Nathan looked at his brother with determination, knowing he had a few precious minutes to convince him of what he had to do.
"So we quit?" Lucas growled completely taken aback by Nathan's apparent resolve to give in. "We let them keep us prisoner?"
"No brother," Nathan sighed, moving forward and leaning against the cool metal bars that kept him prisoner once again. "We let them keep me prisoner. Take Officer Taggaro's clothes."
"What are you talking about?" Lucas shook his head, trapped in his own confusion.
"Change clothes Lucas, then dump Felix's body in the cell. Hurry, you don't have much time." he pointed his brother in the direction of the fallen soldier, his insistence that Lucas swap clothes now making the younger Scott's plan suddenly more obvious. He wouldn't do it. He'd only just managed to find his brother again that it made Lucas sick to his stomach that he would leave him behind now. Sure, time was against them, but was it not Nathan who had just asked what life was without a little risk? He couldn't leave him behind. Not now.
"I will not leave you."
"And what of Brooke?" Nathan urged, seeing the way his brother's face fell. He knew the minute he had seen them together in that room that somehow, although no-one believed she could, Brooke had managed to get the ice-cold military leader to fall for her. She was Nathan's only hope of saving his brother now, the only bargaining chip he had left. He needed Lucas to escape, because he was the key to it all. To taking down down, to stopping FS2012.
To saving all humanity. The idea of Brooke in pain or harmed or hurt- it tortured Lucas in an all-new way. He had only just begun to feel again, which meant everything was heightened- amplified. Nathan had to count on that to persuade his brother to run.
"They will surely kill her in no time at all. They have kept me alive for a reason. I will be safe. You can come back for me when you have gathered support but right now, the whole reason any of us did this was to get you out. To save you. Don't let us down."
Lucas began to open his mouth but found he couldn't find the words to say. He felt things, millions of emotions wrapped up inside him, pushing to break free. He looked at his brother and felt his words wash over him, stabbing at his heart like no other pain he had endured. Nathan had laid everything down on the line for him. To save him. Whatever his purpose was in life, Lucas knew that Nathan believed in freedom above all others. Above love, above revenge... above his own life. Stepping forward, he reached out and wrapped a hand around his brother's head, pulling him close so that their foreheads touched and their eyes locked.
"I will come back for you." Lucas vowed through clenched teeth, relenting to Nathan's request. They stared at each other for a moment before Lucas let go, Nathan nodding his head as his blonde brother disappeared into the darkness of the prison's tunnels. He slid to the floor of his cold, damp cells, beads of sweat sticking to his clammy forehead as he gazed out, surrounded by the cries of agony of his comrades being tortured around him.
"I know," came his final whisper, closing his eyes as a slight smile etched at the corners of his lips.
x~X~x
Yep, I'm back. I wasn't sure how long this chapter would take because I kept starting and stopping, typing then deleting. It has probably become my fav fic to write at the moment and I sincerely hope you like the next chapter. A big thank you to everyone who read, fav'd and alerted. A big thank you to my reviewers:
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SPECIAL NOTE: A friend of mine and I have created a new website to discuss tv shows and the like. We would really love for everyone to come and join. We have a special Roleplay (RP)section and need more people to join. RP is a great way to improve your writing skills as well as come up with ideas for your own fics. You also get to meet great people. If you are interested, please PM me here or leave a note in a review and I will contact you with the site details. I hope toy see lots of you there as we have many more characters up for grabs!
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