"We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves." - Tom Robbins
Eric shut the front door behind him, ignoring the maid that reached to collect his coat and say her customary greetings.
"Haley!?" he yelled out, voice vibrating against the very foundations of his home. Lurking in the darkness of the long hallway, a meek noise rose up. Without a care if he brought the dirt on his shoes with him, Eric strolled forward to find its source.
This brought him to one of his many offices, and soon Eric was flinging the door open. Haley jumped at the sound, fingers frozen as they hovered above a keyboard.
She gave a worried smile, still remaining seated at Eric's desk and before a computer.
"You're back already? That was rather quick, don't you think?"
The muscle above Eric's left eyebrow twitched, and before Haley could say another word, he silenced her with three words.
"Who's Max Flores?"
She paled for a second, eyes momentarily not meeting his. But he had taught her well, as she recovered quickly. Flashing a confident grin, she leaned both elbows upon the wood of the desk, "Mr. Flores has been trying to get a hold of you for days, wanting to boost himself to something of a higher pay load." She waved it off, "You know how those vultures can be, so I filtered his calls. Didn't want him to take up your time and energy."
Eric made the few steps to the chair opposite of hers, letting the legs scrap viciously against the floorboards as he pulled it back for enough room to sit in. Crossing his own legs, he let a smirk settle into its rightful place on his face.
The erection was nearly gone now, but still enough to be an inconvenience. The movement of one of the men coming back inside re-situated his focus on his more pressing issue, the looming possibility of dying at the hands of hired men.
Eyeing Kyle like some strange animal, he walked up the man at the radio. He hunched over, whispering in the fellow's ear. It didn't take Kyle very long to figure he was the leader of their little group. Why? Kyle wasn't exactly sure.
As the other pulled away, the leader that Kyle had dubbed Captain Douche-bag in his thoughts, started speaking. It was quite the event, as Kyle had begun to believe that Captain Douche-bag was a mute, but this moment proved otherwise.
"Go help him with the concrete." Captain Douche-bag sneered, addressing the last kidnapper in the shack, Asshat McGee. Nodding, Asshat McGee rose to his feet, peeling himself away from the valuable task of sorting the tackle-box, and followed First Mate Herpes out the door.
"Can I go too?" Kyle called out, letting sarcasm sink into the thick air. Captain Douche-bag smirked, and for the first time ever, he removed himself from fiddling with the radio's knobs.
"Sure. How about a nice swim?"
Grunting as he was hauled into the air by the ropes wrapped around his torso and arms, Kyle stumbled as Captain Douche-bag dragged him out of the fisherman's shack.
"It's much too cold for me, maybe later." Kyle mumbled under his breath, fear returning again full swing.
"Trust me, the cold is the least of your worries."
Eric crossed his legs over one another, "I can appreciate an abduction as much as the next person, it takes a lot of guts and planning to pull. That is, if you do it right."
Haley's smile remained in place, never faltering as Eric went on.
"But when it affects me...well, I'm not too fond of that." Quietly Eric eyed a droplet of sweat form on Haley's forehead, rolling down the side of her face into the curtain of her hair.
She began to open her mouth, but Eric rose a single finger, silencing her once more.
"You may have collected a friend or two, Haley. But all of those people crave one thing. Money. And I have lots of it, and experience. Did you seriously think I wouldn't know about Kyle's disappearance? You know I keep constant tabs on everyone, especially the trio of dickwads. I never thought you could be so reckless and blind."
That made her snap, face flushing with rage as she leaned in close to Eric, "You want to talk about blindness, fine! Some asshole almost blinds you, and I'm the piece of shit?! How is any of that fair to me?! I'm the one that took care of you, and I still do! But no, I'm the appetizer, and no cares about them! And what's Kyle?! The dessert! Something bought and savored to the very last second!"
"And what? You thought taking my dessert would make me suddenly crave you?"
Haley's fist smacked the desk hard, a thunder of sound. Trembling with her anger, she stood on her feet, making sure she towered over her boss.
"At least it's a start! Heaven forbid you ever show compassion ever in your life!"
Eric jumped to his own feet, glaring, "Haven't you figured it out?! I'm greedy, sadistic, I'm everything that you shouldn't love! I've spent the majority of my life doing things to belong, and actually feel for once! What made you think you were different?!"
Haley couldn't help the flinch that overcame her, "Because...I-"
"Because I what? Was nicer to you than the others, picked you?!"
Tears fell from Haley's red cheeks, splattering against the wood, "Yes! Because for once I felt like I mattered to another human being!"
The air caught in Eric's throat, forming a massive lump as he stood, watching Haley unravel. He hated seeing her like this, but he needed to crack her open, in order to bare their wounds and finally let their scars heal. There couldn't be anymore lies or misunderstanding between them, never again.
"I can never love you." Eric whispered, but it still felt as if he screamed it. Haley shuttered and formed into a mass of hiccups, gasping for air to steady herself. Still, Eric knew not to comfort her now, to don more false smiles. That was a brief fix, and definitely not the solution.
"Not how you want me to" he added, staring deep into the other's eyes as he let himself, for once, be honest.
"I need you as family, a sister. Someone to come back to, someone that wouldn't do this." He gestured at the situation they were in, "I've spent my whole life this, hiding. I don't want to do that anymore, I can't. Throughout my whole life..." He paused, gazing at the back of the computer as he furrowed his brow, "I wanted unity. A family to call my own. I may have had my mother, but it was always a game to get something out of her, and it was clear I was only there to fill a gap in her that could never be complete."
"A-and Kyle...what is he to you?"
Eric turned back to Haley, the tears had stopped, but her cheeks were still sticky from it.
"He's like a breath of fresh air, always there, but invigorating every time. I can't explain it, he..." Eric wet his lips anxiously "...I don't know, he's unpredictable. Maybe it won't work out, but he feels right to me. I've known him since we were kids, and still he manages to evoke something in me. We have something that's constantly shifting, and despite who get's hurt, it's fun. We both expect that, and accept it. I'm not sure whether to be terrified or giddy."
Reluctantly Haley's shoulders slumped, and with a sigh she fell back into her seat.
"And what about us? What do I possibly get out of being your sole family?"
Eric seated himself as well, body less tense but still buzzing with an unknown emotion. Whatever it was, he was sure to associate it with Kyle.
"I'll return the favour."
"What, you'll be my family?" Haley broke out into a series of snickers, "I hate to break it to you, but I already have a family."
"Really? Because a second ago you said you wanted to matter to another human being. Haley, you never take holidays off. Or go prancing in the snow with your family, exchange presents, or whatever people do. And don't you dare blame that on me! You may have confused your true feelings with lust, but I always knew what you wanted from me."
Haley's once sluggish form perked up, arriving to attention with a sneer, "Oh? Please enlighten me, Mr. Cartman."
So he did just that, and calmly as he could, he said, "You're just as lonely as I am, Haley. The only difference between us being you're just desperate to have a connection with another human, to share the little things. And despite whatever I did or said in the past, I have grown to care for you, Haley. Immensely. If I were a child again, you'd be the mother I'd want, that I'd finally find peace in."
Captain Douche-bag dragged the terrified Kyle the rest of the way to the garage meant for boats, tossing him to a corner of the building as he popped his head out for a second.
From his spot, Kyle could roughly make out Captain Douche-bag muttering "Where the fuck are those two idiots?" over the crash of the waves.
Only a couple of minutes had past before the two men showed up again, wearing ski masks this time. Silently Kyle had wished they had drowned on their way to grab the concrete blocks.
"What the hell is this?! I said no masks! I don't care how cold it is out here, take those off! And where's the concrete?!"
Asshat McGee briefly gave an affirmative glance to First Mate Herpes before he punched Captain Douche-bag, sending him stumbling backwards. He stepped too far, falling straight into the gap for the boats, causing him to catch his chin on the edge of the docks.
His chin spouted a nasty stream of blood, and rendered him unconscious as he sunk into the icy waters below.
Kyle spun around from the sight to watch as his other two kidnappers remove their new masks, presenting Stan and Kenny.
"Oh shit." Stan groaned, and sprinted to Kyle's side. "Don't move" he mumbled, removing a pocket knife from his trousers, and immediately started cutting his way through them.
After a few painful and drawn out seconds, Kyle's bindings were gone. And even if he'd mostly lost feeling in them, Kyle rubbed at his arms and the bruises that covered them.
"H-how'd you know I was here?" Kyle croaked out, relief causing tears to swell at the corners of his eyes.
Simultaneously his rescuers said, "Cartman."
Kyle let out a loud groan, "Oh course it was him!"
Kenny stepped forward, dropping his mask to the ground, "Look, I'm all for happy reunions, but we need to leave. The rope we used on the other guys was garbage, and I'm pretty sure Kyle could use a hospital visit."
Nodding his approval, Stan gripped one side of Kyle, while Kenny grabbed the other. Together they hauled the complaining lawyer out of the garage, and up the winding path where Kenny's car was hidden. The exact trail that Kyle had used on his way to this hellhole. Just as they were coming up the edge of the treeline, a sound had them twisting around to look once again.
Asshat McGee and First Mate Herpes had freed themselves from their bonds, and started to make their way towards them.
"We left your boss in the garage's water, you might want to fetch him before he drowns!" Kenny bellowed out to them. And that had the two men halting before they ran as fast as they could towards the garage, leaving the trio of young men to complete their escape.
Neither said anything until not only was everyone in Kenny's car, but he had navigated through the trees safely and had pulled onto a highway heading towards the nearest town.
From the back seats, Kyle called out, "Kenny, can you do me a favour?"
Kenny laughed, "You're asking for favours after I just saved your ass?!" Kenny flashed the redhead a comforting smile through the car's mirror, "Sure, why not. What do you want?"
"I need you to take me to Eric."
That demand almost made Kenny crash into a tree, but thankfully he swerved just in time. Rolling to an abrupt stop, Kenny shared a grimace with Stan before looking over his shoulder towards Kyle.
"Uh, if that's what you want. Sure."
"It is. And guys...? Thank you."
Kenny and Stan's face blossomed into a very humble smile, and a quiet "You're welcome" was said by both.