Chapter 12-

Jaime awoke groggily, his head aching and his body sore. He blinked open his chocolate colored eyes and lifted his head to look around. He found himself strapped to a metal table in a dark room (he could barely see the outlines of objects), the smell of rust was in the air and a soft 'ding. ding. Ding' echoed softly through the room.

The boy took a deep breath in before releasing it. His memories of the other night filled his mind and he let out a soft whine. The cackle belonged to his fath- Alberto- and the man somehow escaped prison. Again.

"Khaji?" Jaime whispered.

No response.

'The man must have, somehow, gotten the device back' Jaime noted and looked around for a way out.

He tested the bonds when he saw a window and the more he moved the more they dug into his wrists and ankles. The boy closed his eyes and hoped that his Scarab could hear him.

"Khaji, if you can hear me, please send out a distress signal" he whispered so that only he could hear.

The boy waited for anything to change. The door creaked open and Alberto stalked in holding a whip, dagger and a brander.

Jaime paled and began struggling as the man smiled and headed to him. He placed the dagger and brander down before lifting the whip over his head and brought it down on the pinned boy. Jaime yelped when the spiked end made contact. The man continued to raise it up and bring it down until the child was in tears. One last whip to the boy and he held back a whimper.

Alberto changed the whip to a dagger and began carving into the young Hispanic. Jaime bit his tongue to keep any noise from escaping and tasted some blood when his tongue began bleeding. The man moved the dagger from Jaime's arms and legs to his chest and stomach. The older Hispanic stabbed and twisted the knife in many different angles. Jaime couldn't keep the cry of pain from escaping when the man did this to his diaphragm.

The insane man grabbed the brander and put it over a controlled fire before returning to torture the boy some more.

After two minutes he grabbed the brander and, before Jaime could react, pressed it against his sons' bare chest.

Jaime screamed and tried to pull away but the man didn't let up. The smell of burning flesh and blood made him nauseous.

{Rebooting}

Jaime felt relieved when Khaji's voice sounded. It was short lived when the man removed the brand and produced a machete. Jaime's breathing picked up and his vision swam.

'Kha-Khaji. S-send a distress si-signal. Ple-please'

Jaime gasped when a sharp pain slammed into his stomach and looked down to see the machete handle sticking out.

{JAIME REYES!}

Blood dripped down his mouth and his breathing hitched every third breath.

The boy coughed weakly and shivered, "I-I'm sor-sorry"

He didn't know who he was apologizing to. Maybe Milagro for not being there, Bianca for not hearing the man coming up the stairs, Impulse for hurting him in the future, Tye for putting him in danger, The Runaways for being a burden, the Team for tricking them, Bart's Future for enslaving it. Everyone.

'I'm sorry everyone'

"You should be" Alberto snarled as he twisted the weapon.

Jaime groaned and blinked when he felt a needle enter his arm, he looked over to see light green liquid being pushed into his system. The sound of Khaji Da's voice disappeared and Jaime closed his eyes.

'See you soon Milagro' he thought to himself as his breathing and the beating of his heart slowed down.

The last thing he heard was the door slamming open before everything went silent.