Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, Edd was out on the town, having decided to run a few errands while he had a little time to himself. Several bags were resting in the passenger seat beside him, full of various items that were needed at the house such as garbage bags and toiletries. It never failed that, sometime in the middle of the month, it was these specific items that he'd need to replace, so best to get it done now.

Turning down a familiar street, he noticed that a particular car was absent at the car lot. There weren't any cars around, for that matter, sending a startled chill through him. Without a second thought, he made a right turn and drove around to park behind the building. His mind raced with questions as the opportunity to finally speak to Eddy became more and more of a reality. What was he to ask? Where could he possibly begin?

Did he even matter to him anymore?

Shaking that thought away, Edd stepped out of the car and walked slowly towards the open window of Eddy's office. The air was chilly and yet so eerily silent, growing heavier with each step he took. Edd felt his heart flutter in his chest and he began muttering to himself practice greetings, trying to fend off the butterflies flitting about in his chest with whatever words he could think of. His air flow felt constricted by that vicious, anxious sensation that could only be roused by the notion of seeing someone he hadn't seen in what seemed like eons.

Stopping by the window, he paused. Should he just…go inside? Wouldn't that be better than lingering outside and acting as an observer? From within, he heard a muttered curse amidst a pained hiss. The minor panic ebbed for but a moment at that as confusion took hold instead. Perhaps…he should look in first…

Brow furrowed, he pressed himself against the wall and mustered his courage to carefully lean towards the window. Upon peeking inside, a knot settled heavily in his throat. There was Eddy at his desk, shirtless and contorting himself a bit as he tried to touch his own back. Some sort of gel or cream — Edd couldn't clearly discern, his vision blurring with rage and horror — was covering his fingers as he tried to smear it over the expanse of flesh. Flesh…Edd felt ill…laden with angry red marks. Layer upon layer of screaming, glistening crimson with a concerning discoloration creeping beneath. But that wasn't the only atrocity of note. Yes, the bleeding gashes were bad enough to see marring his dear Eddy's back, but — and the sickness was rising again — there wasn't much to Eddy's frame anymore. He was skin and bones compared to his former size, more closely resembling the crude yet educational videos they'd watched in school on the horrors of slavery. As Eddy relaxed again, slumping against the desk, Edd could only gape in anguish. He stopped moving altogether after that and, were it not for the lethargic way he reached for a mug of coffee and the haggard rise and fall of his back, Edd might have assumed he'd keeled over dead.

Quivering, Edd grit his teeth to fight back the sob that tried to burst forth as he retrieved his phone. He had to document this. To preserve some kind of proof of this horrible display of inhumanity. As he snapped the photo, he felt another chill accost him, this one due to his own behavior as of late. His guilt weighed heavily upon him and he could feel it slowly tearing him apart. To think that he'd been giving into his baser urges at Matthew's hand while Eddy had struggled under such barbaric conditions. The infidelity and the fact that he'd given mini-Stalin an inch tugged at his emotions like nothing else.

The heart was a traitorous thing.

Another pained sob bubbled up in his chest, but he wasn't able to silence it this time. The sound seemed to catch Eddy's attention with a jolt. He briefly went stiff before turning to the window. For but a moment, their eyes met. Edd saw a wave of emotions cross Eddy's face, too quickly to decipher them all. Eddy's gaze flickered to something behind Edd, who turned to follow his line of sight. In the distance, he caught sight of Malcolm Holmes in his Rolls Royce, pulling up to the lot. With a grimace and cursing softly under his breath, Edd pocketed his phone again and whipped back around to Eddy. With a regretful look, he raised his hands in a heart shape, knowing they wouldn't be able to actually speak, before making a mad dash back to his car.

Fumbling with his keys a bit, he quickly departed from the car lot and onto the street before Malcolm could pull in. He needed to get away from there and fast. Trying to control his breathing, he could only hope that the old bastard hadn't seen him. But where would he go now? He certainly didn't want to go home — he was too emotionally compromised. He needed time to cool down. Resolutely, he allowed instincts to take over as he drove without a second thought to the bar. Who else could he run to, after all?

There's only one person who could help him now.

Ababaababababa

The crowd at the Fuzzy Peach was as slow as could be on a Monday night between holidays. Not that Sasha was particularly in the mood to complain about that. Gave him plenty of time to take care of the more tedious tasks at hand. From some routine inventory to giving the bar a festive makeover, there was finally time to tackle what needed to be done. However, it also resulted in there not being much left to be done. At the moment, he'd just finished putting up Christmas decorations, much to the chagrin of some patrons and the joy of others. Can't make everyone happy, he supposed.

Thus, with little else to do, he engaged one of his regulars, a butch lesbian named Heather, in light conversation on correcting a dog's behavior. He's happy to say she had some useful tips, too. As an animal control officer and part-time employee at the local animal shelter, she knew the strange psychology of dogs like the back of her hand. In fact, she'd been responsible for picking out the three dogs Sasha had become acquainted with and subsequently adopted.

Upstairs, Hiroshi was watching the dogs for him so that they wouldn't destroy the house while Sasha worked to maintain the business. A duty he seemed to enjoy more than he might've wanted to let on. But Sasha couldn't say he was too terribly surprised by that. Hiroshi had taken the news of the dogs pretty well when he came back from Japan. Sasha figured he would, but he can't deny he'd been relieved and then downright elated when his partner blatantly began to fall in love with the little darlings.

The sounds of relative silence and quiet conversation were suddenly disturbed by a loud slamming of the entrance door. Sasha cringed a bit, his immediate assumption being that Matthew had come back for revenge. He tried not to show it, though, keeping his back to the door and masking his fear with his favorite defense mechanism; sarcasm.

"Uh-oh, drama alert!" he announced mockingly, "Sociopathic, violent, stalker ex-boyfriend that could nail a Cartman look-alike contest at five-o-clock."

"Uh, Sasha," another patron, Kaleb, mumbled after a moment, "it ain't him."

"Huh…?" Sasha furrowed his brow as he shot a glance Kaleb's way, muttering to himself, "Well, if Matthew ain't here causing a scene, then who…?"

Turning to the door, he got his answer as Edd stormed inside and took a seat at the bar, body shaking and tears shining on his face. Well, though it wasn't Matthew per say, Sasha knew it had to be related to him or his cohorts to get that kind've response. And here Sasha was thinking it was going to be a forgettable night…

"That sadistic, atrocious, deceitful, overindulgent snake!" Edd ranted through his tears without skipping a beat as Sasha approached him at the bar, "I'm going to dismantle him and anything he stands for. I have proof of his barbaric business practices after all." He glanced at Sasha with a manic look. "In your fantasy novels, he would've been the mad prince, drunk off his father's power, only to get his comeuppance after making the main character's life a living hell!"

'Must be talking about Lucas…' Sasha thought as he instantly poured Edd a glass of the house special of the day; Mulled wine.

"Why don'tcha have a drink and tell me all about it?" Sasha offered, hoping to console Edd and his never-ending troubles with Peach Creek's most spoiled manbaby.

Edd opened his mouth to continue only bury his face in his hands, unable to stop the anguished cries as they tore from him. Any mirth Sasha might've tried to emanate all but dissipated at that. This was worse than normal.

"Hey…" he breathed, wary of touching him, but hoping to get a little closer to calm him down, "Take a deep breath…alright?"

After taking a few long, shaking moments to do just that, Edd finally looked up at him without bursting into hysterics.

"Good," Sasha murmured, "Now…what happened?"

Gulping down more tears, Edd sat up a little straighter.

"I just got back…" he answered hoarsely, "The car lot…I…" He huffed a bit as he tried to gather his scrambled thoughts, "I was doing errands and…when I drove by I…Lucas wasn't there so I…I wanted to…" He gripped the glass in shaking fists and threw it back in one gulp — any thought about having to drive home clearly far from his mind right now. "I had to see…I had to know…what Eddy's current condition was…to know if he was okay, but…B-But…"

A heavy weight settled in Sasha's gut as Edd devolved into further hysterics. Almost robotically, he refilled Edd's drink; "But…?"

No answer, but Edd did reach into his pocket and struggled to withdraw his phone, which he then flipped open. His hands shook so terribly that Sasha briefly wondered if he could do whatever it was he was aiming for. That is, until Edd turned the phone to him.

"Look!" he sobbed, "Look at what that monster did to my Eddy!"

"Shit!" Now it was Sasha's turn to want a drink.

The image was horrific. Eddy had clearly lost an unhealthy amount of weight and had glaring lashes across his neck, arms, and back. Sasha knew those marks well — only a carefully-aimed whip could do that. It was clear that this had been going on for a while and it was just as clear who the culprit was. Before he could say anything more or linger on the image any longer, Edd turned it back towards himself and gazed at it in mourning.

"I-I tried…" he wept, "I wanted…to console him — t-to take him home and tend to his wounds, but…" He grit his teeth again. "But Malcolm Holmes' Rolls Royce was pulling up in the distance and I panicked." He closed the phone, clutching it close to his chest. "It was all I could do to get this photo and return to my vehicle. I'm positive I violated a few traffic laws on the way here too."

Sasha watched him collect himself a moment, pondering what kind of drink would quell his own nerves as Edd curled in on himself.

"I hate to say it," he mumbled after a moment, drawing Edd to look at him again, "but chances are that if Lucas is abusing Eddy like that, there are definitely no cameras at that lot. Though, I guess that's good news for you since you technically trespassed onto the property. Not-so good news…is that there's no evidence of how long this has been going on."

"Isn't Kevin employed there?!" Edd asked desperately, "Shouldn't he know?!" His jaw dropped with a gasp. "Good lord…For that matter, if he's treating Eddy this horribly, what makes you think he isn't doing the same to Kevin?! Particularly after Kevin wounded his 'dear friend, Matthew'."

Sasha grimaced and shook his head; "As far as I'm aware, he hasn't been subjecting Kevin to any physical torture." He scratched the back of his neck. "That being said…he's definitely not treating them well. Not as bad as Eddy but…not great." Edd gave him an insistent look, drawing him to sigh. "I spoke to Kevin recently and he told me that he and Marie Kanker have been working a fuck ton of overtime, with Lucas barking orders and berating them at every turn. He also mentioned that neither of them had gotten a good look at Eddy in weeks, so I guess it's not unheard of that they wouldn't know what's been going on there."

"That's despicable!" Edd snarled.

"It gets worse…" Sasha grumbled back, "Apparently, our golden boy, Lucas, also cheated them out of their latest paycheck. Kevin did put up a fight there, though. And when Lucas made…other threats, ol' Kev reminded him that he still has an order of protection against Matthew and that Lucas cannot bring that asshole around without getting arrested. So, at least in that regard, he's been keeping Lucas on his toes."

"That settles it!" Edd replied breathlessly, "Lucas Holmes should be turned into the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and thrown in jail." With that, he knocked back his second drink before looking Sasha over, seemingly insulted that he wasn't as revved up to get some sweet revenge. "What are we waiting for? For Lucas to commit murder?!"

"Hey—Hey!" Sasha snapped to get Edd to focus on him, "Relax. Before you go in half-cocked like Galahad; you need to have a game plan." When Edd settled at that, he continued, trying to keep his tone level. "Now, we need to gather more evidence of…everything if we wanna save Eddy. If you go to the police with what you have now, they and possibly Lucas' high-powered lawyer will laugh you right out of the building."

"Oh?" Edd deadpanned, "So that means I'm going to have to get photographic evidence of them torturing that pedophile, right?"

Sasha sucked in a breath, his fingers curling into fists; "I…really hoped it wouldn't come to that."

"Come to what?" Edd snapped, "This is serious, Sasha! Lucas is obviously preparing to torture Ted Luster by practicing his despicable tactics on my Eddy! I fear what would happen if we don't do anything and just running away or allowing it to play out the way they want it to will do nothing!" Taking a breath, Edd forced himself to calm again. "Listen; Matthew mentioned a so-called camping trip when he was on the phone with Lucas earlier. That could be our chance to strike!"

"How in the hell did you—" Sasha stopped himself before he could finish that thought, glancing around before leaning closer towards him, "Look, I don't know what you expect from me. I mean, you basically described all of what my life has been with him and more importantly, Matthew; running from them. I don't even remember a moment's rest from Matthew's torment until he quit school and I damn well couldn't stop it then, nor could I stop it when it showed up here a few years ago." With a frustrated sigh, Sasha reached under the bar and grabbed a bottle to pour himself a drink. "Goddamn, I hate Everclear, but this'll do."

As the alcohol burned Sasha's throat, Edd spoke meekly; "If not for yourself…then perhaps, you can do it for Eddy?" Sasha slammed the glass down, wincing. When he said nothing, Edd continued, leaning against the bar to speak even more softly "I know you're a victim, Sasha. What happened with…that man…and of course all of the bullying and intimate violence from Matthew…" He chose to let those settle rather than go into too much detail. "But, that happened in the past…There's nothing to be done about it. Eddy's torment is happening right now — as we speak. I can't do this alone…I need someone in my corner. With your help, I can find out where they're going to take Ted and maybe call the cops with the location."

"Gee, tell everybody my life story, why don't you?" Sasha hissed as he looked around uneasily. Feeling Edd's eyes locked on him, he sighed and then looked around again, licking his lips. "Alright…you didn't hear this from me…but the Holmes family has a cabin near the Canadian border. I'm with you — I don't buy that 'camping' story for a second. If there's anywhere they're gonna take…" He grit his teeth against the name and shook his head. "If there's any place they're gonna do it, it'll be there."

"Thank you," Edd said, heaving a sigh of relief. After a moment, though, he cast the other man a concerned look. "How do you know about this cabin? I mean…obviously, I don't assume you were ever really 'friends' with any of them, so how would you know about that?"

Sasha shrugged reluctantly; "I regret to admit I've been there. Not by choice, of course. Matthew and his friends once beat me up and stuffed me in the back of that old Rolls Royce the same day Malcolm surprised his 'darling' son and friends with a surprise camping trip." Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared off into the ether. "I rode in the trunk of that car for two days." He gestured with two fingers up for emphasis.

"Dear lord…" Edd mumbled, looking sick at the very idea.

"When Malcolm stopped at the cabin," Sasha continued, "I crawled outta the trunk like the undead and heard Malcolm yell at Lucas in Russian. Of course, when Malcolm's bleach-blonde secretary walked in, he completely ignored all of us for the room we weren't allowed to enter. Lucas called it the "whore room." Like I even knew what a whore was at the time…"

"Sasha…" Edd shifted awkwardly, "I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but could you perhaps give me the Cliffsnotes version of this?"

"I was getting to that," Sasha hushed him, "Also, I'm dredging up horrific memories from the past, so please don't interrupt." Shaking his head, he continued, "Anyway, The Gruesome Trio spent the next four days doing what any bully would do; they would prank me so bad with common schoolyard pranks and treat me like an unpaid servant or their damn momma. Especially Matthew…" He grimaced, pressing his arms more firmly against his chest. "I got so many purple nurples from him. And they would demand that I get them drinks all the time. I've never seen someone go through so much pop. Regular soda for Matthew and Seth. Diet soda for your 'mad prince'. And to top it all off; they called me 'bitch boy' during the whole thing."

"I'm…sorry for making you recollect such a terrible event," Edd nodded in sympathy, "But it does help me understand why you'd think of the cabin being a possibility for this barbaric plan of theirs. From what you've described, it seems to be the prime location for them to cause harm to individuals they deem worthy of punishment." He then paused, waiting for Sasha to calm down before asking uneasily. "So…how do you propose that I defeat him?"

"Well, that's the rub isn't it…?" Sasha asked cryptically, "How does one beat an illusionist like Lucas?"

"If that's a pop culture reference, I don't get it," Edd replied blankly, "Now's not the time for your weird jokes."

"Well, I guess you're at a quandary," Sasha mused before sighing resolutely, "Alright, I'll be your cab driver, but you're on your own tackling the Holmes Family. There's otherwise not much I can do for you."

He suddenly noticed a hum of voices and glanced up and around. Seems like happy hour had begun for these folks. With a sigh, he nodded to Edd.

"Well, sorry to cut this short, but I gotta get to work," he announced with a shrug, "You can stay, of course, but I can't guarantee I won't be busy as all hell."

"I understand," Edd replied with a smile, "It would appear you'll have your hands full for a while with this influx of customers, so I'll leave you to it." With that he stood, but his smile faded to a grimace. "Frankly, I should be heading back anyway before Matthew decides to invite another floozy to my house."

"Y'know, if I didn't know better," Sasha called as Edd walked to the door, "I'd assume that you were jealous!"

Edd paused, his fingers curling into a fist as he shot a glare back at him.

"Did I not mention before?" he retorted cooly, "Your weird jokes are not funny!"

Without waiting for a reply, Edd stormed out the door.