He had finally had enough. A bleaker, more tenebrific storm cloud than any that had graced the starless velvet sky above, the black-and-scarlet rage that had taken an unyielding dominance of the grizzled bear was more than enough of a force in its own right to overcome the remaining dredges of sedatives his unconscious body had been fed over an hour ago, and unfortunately for the intruders, the father had the suffering of his girls to fan the dwindled kindling in his crimson soul. Whatever the bird was to him now that his trust had been broken to a billion little pieces in one bloody showing, Barry had been pushed well beyond his limit of endurance watching the intruders take it in turn to have their way with the broken avian, switching places and awaiting their moment until at last they had decided to cooperate and share their victim. The fractures in their affiliation ran deep, but at least the schism between parent and child was not to be dubbed irrevocable just yet; the damages - both physical and mental - would leave more than emotional scarring, and that would be irreversible in the unthinkable event that nothing changed soon. If it wasn't already too late to save her. Witnessing his girls crying in such distress was enough to gash beneath the flesh and boiling blood, seeping beyond the bone all the way down to the marrow, but to see anyone getting treated the way that Robin was, it was truly the most deplorable thing the ex-officer had ever seen, and the man had lived a rather full life these past forty-odd years; no matter what happened between her and Chris, all that mattered at this moment was to save the girl. Once it was all over though and the scumbags had paid their dues (the rest being tied up with a pretty little bow), his gracious suspension of that issue would be at an end, and it was anyone's guess as to what would happen after that... For the love he bore his eldest daughter, the pilot wanted to just forgive and forget what he had discovered, but this soon after receiving the wound - at this stage it very well could have proven to be fatal still - it was tough to say when the bandages could come off, if they ever could... Chris was the weapon specialist's best friend, or so he had thought, but according to this boy's tale, there was a lot of backstabbing about, but all the same, she was his daughter!
Crying out for her older sister desperately from down the hall, Moira managed to break free from her captor once more to make it back just shy of the living room and the horrific scene it encompassed, her voice cracking into tears as she was caught yet again and carried bodily back up stairs to her bedroom, "Robbie, you can't let this defeat you, you're stronger than that! Show these bastards what you're made of and send them packing!" Listening to her sibling's plea but unable to do anything but close her eyes and her heart to the voice and sweet soul it belonged to, Barry looked on as the bird acquiesced to the defeat that overwhelmed her once more, and even being whisked away Ira must have too, because she shouted with renewed purpose and determined intensity, "I don't care what I promised you in that damn dress shop, you have to carry on so you can follow your heart and be with the one you love! If you really love Chris then prove it right now," Moira was being carted off like a sack of potatoes, and Polly was most likely just standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for their one guard, but though they were all too far to hear it, they could all envision little Pol gasping at the audacity of her elder sister for spilling the beans just like that, "Robbie, you have to be the woman he fell in love with, not-" There was scarcely a way to tell if she had just been carried too far from their range of hearing or if she had been struck and rendered unconscious, but they could all tell where the tongue-lashing was going; Moira was trying to boost moral in her own way, but she was right, Robin was a woman now, which meant that she had every right to find love with whomever she desired, as well as much else. And she was just as right in saying that this needed to end now.
Flexing his muscles subtly as to not draw undue attention to himself, the sandwich expert spent the better part of this nightmare jolting his wrist this way and that so he could wear the bands down enough to snap himself free - Jill might have been the master of unlocking, but the father bear wasn't so terrible at playing the master of escape - Barry broke his bonds at long last, irritated with himself for taking so long to recover from the sedatives. Unseen by the duo that squabbled over their prize and only felt by the woman equally pinned to his side in the gallery, he could sense the twin pinpricks of deadened moonlight falling upon him between lashes that were seeped in tears that threatened to fall at any moment; the songbird had tried to keep her gaze averted from them (from shame, although the father bear could not tell if it was more guilt or humiliation), but all the same he could feel her eyes on him, imploring. Imploring for help, for forgiveness, for an end to it all. Even if he hadn't been gaged at the present and had been able to offer the young woman words of comfort, he wouldn't have known what to say in that moment - he could have promised her that one way or another her suffering would cease, or he could have have sworn that she would be save after he had taken care of these two scumbags. He even could have warned her to roll away and help the rest of the family, but there was little need to, because at the heart of it she was his daughter and had learned to read him like a favorite book. So she could tell that there would be more to settle once this situation had been dealt with, he could see it in the slight nod she tipped his way, in the sheen of terror in her eyes, but he saw the understanding in her face even before he stood to remove the fetters that had been twisted and warped from all the worrying and manipulation. Half to remove herself from the danger zone and in part to act as quickly as possible, the girl used the element of the unexpected to kick out once more at the two with her worm-legs, corkscrewing her body to the side so that she fell to the floor at her mother's feet, legs curled up so that his path was unobstructed when he rushed at the pair of them. The landing hurt like hell - her shoulder was definitely going to bruise, but if she was lucky that would be the worst of it - but it was no worse than anything else that had befallen her that night, or even what the guys were all experiencing as they broke through the low table as one massive jumble of limbs. While Barry charged to defend his family, the girl heeded Ira's words and dug deep, summoning what strength was left to her as she wiggled to the bag of weapons and supplies they had so carelessly left in plain sight, finding a box cutter that would do well enough to cut herself free so the athlete could see to her mother and the girls.
However she had found the reserves to pull it together in that final moment, Robin never knew, but she used it gladly while it was available to her, awkwardly managing to angle the impromptu knife in her mouth so she could pass it off to her mother so the woman could use it cut the bird free so that the favor could be returned with steady hands (the jock had the sneaking suspicion that if she had tried it with just her mouth she might slice Kathy up to pieces). Once her hands had been restored her, Robin sawed through the remaining hardened plastic wires, liberating her mother's ankles before her own so that they could get the girls out to safety (but before that she restored her pants to their proper place, sickened by all the wetness that was now being rubbed against her skin). At least she would have gone off with her mother, if she hadn't realized just before leaving the room that Barry's feet were still cinched together - turning to glance at her mother before dashing off to where she would be of more use, Kathy dipped her head, agreeing that she would be more than enough to collect Moira and Polly on her own. Barry needed the girl, or really just help, but at the present the bird was the best they could hope for. Go help your father, I can handle getting the girls out myself, Kathy seemed to say with her own glittering orbs, help my husband. But so help me if he dies, I will never let you rest. Ok, so perhaps the teen imagined that last bit, but still it didn't change the fact that thanks to whatever defective product Bex injected himself with, Barry would need a helping hand to get out of this mess if he was to have any shot of living to see the dawn. After everything the pilot had done for her, and everything she had done to him, the least the athlete could do was to die in his place, even if her sacrifice only prolonged his own life by a few moments... I lost my other family and wasn't able to do anything about it, but this is different, and I'm stronger now, a completely different person, the teen tried to bolster her spirits as she saw what might have been her only chance to interfere effectually, throwing herself on top of Bex from behind as he advanced on her surrogate father, my spirit might be broken and all joy sucked from my world of gray, but if I can do anything for my sisters, for the woman that should have been my real mother, and most importantly for the father I so betrayed, I'm going to do it!
Scratching, clawing, biting, and punching every last inch of the bastard that the lonesome dove turned spider monkey possibly could, Barry watched with no small amount of pride as he himself dealt a heavy-handed blow to the other soon-to-be dead man, sending him sprawling back to the floor with his pants still around his ankles, which evened things up rather nicely to be honest. However it happened Barry was going to do whatever it took to get his family out of this, but he would have preferred if the thing could have been accomplished with some small trace of honor at least. Honor was always an important trait, or so he tried to teach his girls, but it remained to be seen if the lessons had taken just yet. "You son of a bitch! Doing this to my sisters, to my folks," with each word she screamed, Robin and Barry both retaliated for what they had suffered, and in Robin's case, she paid with interest, sliding her elbow around his throat so that he started to sputter and gag as her grip forced the apple of his throat all the way back, her fingers lashing for his eyeball. If she had been a lady - or even still a Burton for that matter - the bird might have taken a second to consider her following actions, however the fury and loss was still fresh, and after all she was her mother's blood, so there was absolutely no hesitance in the bird's being as she jammed her fingers up the socket, gore gushing around her fingers as she clamped down on her prize, motion lightening quick as she ripped his orb out with a sickeningly wet plunging noise. Screaming out in agony, Bex tried to toss her from his back but her arm was around his neck too tight, so in effect he was basically strangling himself, her heel digging into his gut just below the naval while the other spiraled around his knee like a ribbon, doing what it could to lock him in place. Still clutching his eyeball in her palm, the bird purposely closed her hand around it until it popped, even more pinkish juice running between her fingers. Reflecting even as she took satisfaction in her bloody vengeance (they all told how making the bastards that hurt you pay wasn't worth it, but the wounded fowl had to heartily disagree), the bird asked herself that since he had cost her a part of herself that she could never get back, why shouldn't she have returned the favor? As if this was enough to make up for what he had done to her!
However sweet she found that bitter drought, the girl would quickly be ruing her short-lived victory as his body sudden't froze in place, bones turning to such heavy boulders as the rest of him became water that was barely able to maintain its shape much longer; maybe it was having his eye torn out, or losing all that blood all at once, or perhaps it was the stress of the counterattack, but whatever caused it, he could feel it in his very cells that she was going to pay for her crimes, the stupid bitch! Growing warm all over as his blood began to boil in his veins, his body swayed dangerously in place and Bex could tell that for a moment his enemy thought he was about to topple to his knees, but he would have to disappoint her once again, because that place of submission was not his, not any more - if she was lucky, he might consider making it hers, at least for a moment. Hearing his very atoms speaking to him, the teen knew that the skin was trying to knit itself back together from the regenerative properties of whatever call-back virus he had taken, yet as the hole in his eye closed up with what looked like soggy purple scabs - more mauve kissed by midnight than a healthy sort of pink that meant proper healing - it felt as if everything that had ever made him mad came rushing back in full force. No, you can't eat that cookie from the cookie jar, it'll ruin your dinner. No, I won't go to the dance with you! You're gross! No, you can't get that shirt! No. No, no, no, no. No! That was all he had ever heard all his life! Don't do this, don't do that, you can't have this, that won't do, all he ever heard was no! It was all no, and this bitch here, she was the worst offender of all! She even took half his sight from him! For a brief instant it seemed as if all would go well for him, but the dangling magenta worm dripping with scarlet refused to go anywhere, so it was quickly surrounded; catching a glimpse of him from the reflection of the television set, both Robin and Barry were sickened to see what reminded them of a hibiscus made of flesh. Fueled by his own anger and using her momentary disgust to his benefit, Arron threw himself down on his back, using the jock as a pillow to cushion the blow - landing mostly on the floor, Robin's head hit the corner of the coffee table and the last thing she was aware of was her father to the side, grappling with Murphy, the bear overpowering his rival...
Author's Notes: Alright, sorry that this one got delayed for bit! But wow, 600 views! They seem to be faster and faster now! The eyeball thing just came to me if truth be told. In my defense - if I even need to, which I doubt that I do - I've been reading A LOT of A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm trying to read the whole series before the next season starts in April), and I recently went past some Kill Bill, so yeah... Not the best combination I'll wager. Well not for ideas at any rate. Oh well, too late now. Again, I'm really sorry about the delay, but hopefully it was worth it!
Like I've said to hooray4natasha, this is some hardcore material I'm working on, and I really would thank you all for the support! I know I supper appreciate hooray4natasha for the reviews, which totally help light the fire under my butt to work and put the next chapter out that much quicker! Having said that, it would really be nice to get some feedback from other people too! I'm just saying.
Music: "The Animal" by Disturbed. Now this was a song I planed on two or three chapters back. In fairness it was another one I was thinking of from her perspective, but when I actually started on the chapter it turned into Barry's POV, and then it evolved from there.
Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.