Prompt(s) Filled: 26. No One Left Behind
After Gordon had fallen asleep, Scott had contacted John and the rest of their family. It had been a whirlwind of emotions and explaining why they hadn't told them sooner, but when everyone had seen Gordon with their own eyes, all was forgiven.
Then came the sickening reality of what Gordon had been through in the past month when the doctor told them the extent of his injuries. That was only the surface of his pain, and they all knew there was much more that they wouldn't know from just his physical scars. That would have to wait until Gordon was ready to talk.
Gordon slept through it all, and it wasn't until the evening when he woke up again.
Only a couple of them were allowed in his room at a time, and when he woke up, it had been Scott and their dad.
He roused with a groan. Scott had been close to falling asleep in his chair, but the small noise jolted him awake.
He sat up straight and looked over at the bed. His dad was ahead of him, and was already leaning close to Gordon as his eyes fluttered open.
He thankfully seemed less afraid this time when he woke up. He blinked up at the man for several long moments, before his gravelly voice spoke.
"Dad?" He turned his gaze to the rest of the room. "Where's Scott?"
The slight rise of panic in his voice had Scott reaching out to gently lay his hand on Gordon's arm.
"I'm right here, Gordo." He smiled so his brother wouldn't see how his heart clenched at the way he still didn't feel safe, not even with his dad right there.
Gordon visibly relaxed when he saw him, and settled back against the pillows.
"Do you want a drink?" Their dad asked next.
Scott could see how he was disheartened by Gordon's reaction, and was trying to make up for it somehow.
Gordon nodded, and their dad stood up to grab the jug of water that had been left on the side table. He filled up a small cup with a straw, and then helped Gordon take some sips.
"How are you feeling?" Scott waited until Gordon had finished his drink and seemed a bit more settled.
Gordon didn't reply, and instead creased his brow as he thought about it. Scott and Jeff both gave him his time to come up with an answer. It was probably an overwhelming question to try and wrap his head around.
Then, his eyes widened.
"Where's Fuse?" He tried to push himself up, but Scott was quick to coax him back against the mattress.
"Fuse? What do you mean? Who's that?" Scott frowned as he looked his brother over. Maybe this was a result of the concussion, and he considered getting a doctor.
"You need to find him! He-he's all alone. I-I don't know what they're doing to him." Gordon started to get worked up and anxious again, though Scott still didn't understand why.
He sent a glance to his dad, who looked just as confused and concerned as he was.
"Gordon." Scott sat on the edge of Gordon's bed, and grasped one of his hands. "Just breathe."
Scott took slow, deep breaths, and encouraged Gordon to follow along. After a moment, he did just that, and they spent the next couple of minutes just breathing.
When Gordon had calmed down, they started from the beginning.
"Who is Fuse?"
"Fuse was ca-'' Gordon froze on the word. He swallowed and breathed deeply before he continued. "Captured along with me. He helped me get out, and I promised that if it worked, I was going to get him out too."
There was a whole lot to unpack there. Gordon had just confirmed what they all suspected, but had never known for sure. He was kidnapped, and most likely tortured based on his wounds and behaviour.
Scott had so many questions about what exactly happened this past month, and the agony of not knowing every detail of his brother's torment was killing him, but he would not force that out of Gordon right then. They had to take this step by step so as to not overwhelm him, and it seemed Gordon had decided what that first step would be.
"Alright," their dad spoke up. "I think we need to get a GDF officer in here to get all the details so they can start the search, okay?"
Gordon nodded eagerly, and then stared at their dad in expectation. Jeff realised that he was waiting for him to do something, so he stood from his chair.
"I'll make the call," he said, and then made his way out of the room.
Gordon didn't say much else as they waited for the GDF to arrive. He seemed lost in his thoughts, and a distant look passed over his face, but Scott left him to it. He didn't want to push him.
When two GDF officers arrived, Gordon seemed ready to speak, but it seemed that it was more difficult than he realised it would be.
Whether he had forgotten the details or just didn't want to think back to those dark times, he was having trouble giving them the information they needed.
"It-it was underground. I think." Gordon frowned as he clenched the sheets in his hands.
"Okay, and what did it look like?" One officer asked as he took down some notes. He was giving him an encouraging smile to keep going, but Gordon wasn't looking at him.
"Big. Really big. Endless hallways." Gordon's eyes were distant as he saw something that wasn't there. Something that none of them would ever see. "Cold."
He shivered, and pulled the sheet closer to his chest. Scott could see his hands were shaking.
The officer sent a look towards Scott and Jeff, before he went back to his notes.
"What about when you left. Do you remember what you saw?"
Gordon seemed to think about it for a moment, before he shook his head.
"It was really bumpy, and it hurt." His breathing started to pick up and he began to grow hysterical. "T-then there was a… a riv-river."
He hiccupped as tears started to spill. The sheets were in a vice grip, his knuckles white. His chest heaved as he was plagued by the memories tormenting his mind.
"I-I tried to count, but the pain was too much and I forgot where I was and-"
"Hey, hey, shh. It's okay." Scott quickly got out of his seat to pull Gordon into his arms.
Gordon didn't hug him back his time, and stayed lost in his thoughts as he continued to shake in Scott's arms.
"I think it's time we gave Gordon a break." Jeff stood from his chair and the officers followed. The next thing he said was hushed. "Scott, you got this?"
"Yeah, sure. Go." He waved the man off as he also spoke in a whisper, so a certain someone couldn't hear. He knew that his dad would feel conflicted between comforting Gordon and trying to help this case.
Jeff sent him a grateful smile as he followed the officers out of the room.
"So? Anything that could help?" Jeff turned to the officers after they had closed the door to Gordon's room.
"We'll get in touch with the driver, see where they found him and what they know," the officer who had been asking the questions said. "That, along with the information your son gave us should help us at least whittle it down, maybe even find the right location. If not, then we can come back when Gordon is feeling up for it."
"And what will you do? When you find it, I mean."
The second officer spoke. "We'll need to put together a plan before we even think about going in. If they see us coming, they could flee or do more harm to any hostages. Depending on what we can do with this information, that could take days, maybe more."
Jeff frowned. The fact that he had his son back safe and sound was enough for him, but Gordon really seemed to care about this other man he'd mentioned. If it would help with Gordon's recovery and state of mind to get him back, then he would fight tooth and nail to do just that.
Besides, this also meant they could bring justice to the monsters who thought they could do this to his son.
"Get it done as fast as you can." Jeff may not have been their commander, but he still held some rank with these men. One of the many perks of having Colonel Casey as a close friend and ally.
"Yes, sir." They both replied. Jeff made sure to shake both their hands and give them thanks for all they were doing, and then they went on their way.
Jeff then turned back to the door that held his broken son. He knew they were due a swap and soon one of his other sons would be coming to kick them out so they could take over. But before then, he needed to be there for the son who he had let down in worse ways than just being lost in space.
He took a deep breath, and opened the door once more.
After Scott had eventually managed to calm him down, Gordon fell asleep. Soon after that, Virgil and John arrived to take over for the night shift.
Jeff and Scott got them up to speed on everything that had happened and all the information they had so far. There were still a lot of missing pieces, as to what had happened to Gordon and how he'd gotten out of there, but they were pieces they may never fill. If they did, then that would be down to Gordon.
The night was fairly uneventful. Gordon woke up a couple of times, and at first was confused when he saw that his dad and Scott had been replaced by his two other older brothers, but it didn't take him long to get settled again.
They tried to get him to eat something at breakfast, but he claimed he still felt too nauseous and instead slept for most of the day.
By the time the hospital was serving dinner, Gordon was a bit more awake and aware, so they managed to convince him to eat some toast.
Currently, Alan had placed his tablet on the table across Gordon's bed, and had put on one of their favourite childhood movies. They were both engrossed in it as Gordon munched on his toast. Alan kept making comments on what was happening in the film, whilst Gordon was just content to watch.
Jeff watched them both fondly. After everything that had happened, not just with Gordon but also after his time in space, it was so nice to just spend time with his boys. He would have preferred it to be under better circumstances, but now they were all together again, that was all that mattered.
Someone cleared their throat, and Jeff turned in his seat to see one of the officers he had spoken to last night at the door. He gestured at him to step outside, so without alerting his sons, Jeff slipped out of the room.
"What have you got?" Jeff cut to the chase. He knew the man wouldn't have come back so soon if he didn't have anything.
"We think we have the location."
"So soon?" Jeff was sceptical to trust them when it had only been a day.
The man nodded, and pulled out a tablet.
"We spoke to the driver and found where they hit your son."
Jeff grimaced. With everything going on, he had almost forgotten that amongst it all, Gordon had been involved in a car accident.
"We found the river that your son had mentioned and, assuming he swam downstream, we followed it up until we could find any underground structure that Gordon could have been talking about."
He pulled up a map on the tablet, and showed Jeff the river he was talking about. It travelled through a forest, but Jeff couldn't see anything else.
"At first, our records showed nothing but forests that went on for miles. People tend to only go around those parts to camp, hike, or use the roads to come in from Idaho."
He started to flick through the tablet until he found what he was looking for next.
"So, then we started to look through our old records, to see if we could find anything that may have been lost or erased from them. Still, nothing could be found near this river, until I remembered what Gordon said."
Jeff thought back to the small bits of information Gordon was able to offer, trying to think of what the man meant.
"He said it was bumpy when he left, which I think means he left in a car or another vehicle. So, we widened our search a bit, and then we found it."
He turned the tablet back to Jeff. It showed the blueprints of a building, and it took him a moment to realise what he was looking at.
"A bunker?"
"Yeah," the man nodded. "It was built during the Global Conflict. Was never actually used and ended up being abandoned, and soon any memory of it was gone. It would explain how someone has been operating out of it for a stretch of time with no one knowing about it."
"And you're sure this is it?" Jeff asked, not willing to hope just yet.
"We won't know until we infiltrate it, which is why I wanted to give you a heads up now and not inform your whole family just yet."
Jeff was glad for that. No need to give Gordon hope and then let him down later.
"But it's in the right area, close enough to the river for them to take your son there, and for him to make his way to the spot the driver found him. There's also a dirt road to it which leads off the main road, which is likely how they get in and out." As he spoke, he showed all of this to Jeff on the map again.
"When are you going to head in?" He asked after he had taken it all in.
"We're putting a plan together right now." The man lowered the tablet and turned fully to Jeff. "We don't want to rush into it, and we think it will be better to do it at night. All being well, we'll set off tomorrow evening."
Jeff would have liked it to be sooner. He did not like the idea of the people who had hurt his son being able to just walk around freely. He also couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong by then, such as what if the group fled the bunker by tomorrow and they were too late? This might not even be the right place.
However, Jeff knew he would just have to suffer and wait. The GDF knew what they were doing, and he would just make it worse trying to get them to move faster.
"You'll keep me updated?" Jeff asked, and the man was quick to nod.
"Yes, sir."
Jeff nodded in response, pleased, and went to head back to his sons. But before he did, he still had one last thing to say.
"Thank you." He meant it. These men had no reason to work this hard to help his family, but they were doing it anyway. He couldn't be more grateful.
The other man seemed surprised at the gratitude for a moment, but then he smiled, before he went on his way.
"What was that about?" Alan asked in a hushed tone as soon as he stepped back into the room.
Jeff wondered why he was being so quiet, until he noticed that Gordon had fallen asleep. He fortunately seemed to have finished his toast, but the plate was still on his lap.
Alan picked it up and put it on the table next to the tablet, before he went to pause the movie.
"Just some updates about the investigation. Nothing useful yet."
Alan eyed him up for a long moment. He didn't seem like he believed him, but rather than ask him about it any further, he relented.
"Alright." He picked the tablet up and distracted himself whilst he waited for his brother to wake up again.
Jeff allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts as he went over everything the officer had said. He really hoped everything went to plan, as it would be instrumental to Gordon's recovery.
If there was one word that Gordon could use to summarise how he felt, it would be awful. His head throbbed, his whole body ached, he was exhausted, and he felt nauseous. The doctors said that was either a result from the infection, concussion, or all the medication he was on.
Gordon suspected it was all of the above.
He was getting tired of sleeping all the time, but he could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't know where this exhaustion was coming from. He didn't feel so tired before he woke up at the hospital, but now he did nothing but sleep.
However, he was slowly managing to stay awake for longer at a time, but that had its own consequences. It meant he had to endure the pain that made itself known all over his body. Even with the painkillers, it wasn't erased completely.
He had taken a peek at his injuries when the nurse had come in to change his bandages. His leg looked better than it had before, but was still gnarly and would most definitely leave a scar.
Just one more to add to the list.
That was all just how he felt physically. He couldn't even begin to unpack what was going on in his mind, but if he pressed too hard at those thoughts, he felt something grip his heart and suck the breath out of his lungs.
It was just easier to just push it all away.
Right now, his focus was on Fuse. He couldn't rest until he knew the man was safe. It wasn't fair that Gordon was back with his family, when Fuse was still going through all that pain.
He constantly asked for updates throughout the day. He knew it had only been a couple of days, even though it felt like much more, but every moment that passed was another moment that Fuse could be going through pain.
Then the morning came. Virgil was sitting with him whilst he ate breakfast. He felt like he could stomach a bit more than just toast now.
However, he had pushed aside the bowl of porridge he was given. It made him sick just to think about it, and instead, he was enjoying the sweetness of the little pot of jello.
He was just wondering if he could convince Virgil to go and steal him some more, when his dad came into the room.
The man had been seeming antsy all morning, until he got a phone call which made him leave the room. He had been gone for a long while, and Gordon wondered what was going on, but wasn't sure if he had the energy to ask.
But then he didn't think he'd have to ask, as Colonel Casey followed their dad into the room.
"Hi, Gordon." She smiled as she came over to his bed. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Gordon put the empty pot and spoon on the table. He could sense this wasn't just a friendly visit, and the woman was here for more than just to see how he was doing.
She sent a look to his dad, and Gordon could feel his heart start to race.
"What is it?"
His dad came over to sit on the edge of the bed, and Gordon tried to search his eyes to find out what this was all about.
"The GDF found the place that you were being held," he eventually said.
"What?" Gordon sat up straighter, but winced as the abrupt movement pulled at his injuries.
"Careful." Jeff waited a moment for Gordon's pain to dull before he continued. "They infiltrated it last night, and-"
"They found Fuse?" Gordon looked hopefully up at Colonel Casey.
"Is this him?" She handed over a tablet and Gordon grasped it in his good hand.
The face peering up at him was the same one he had spent all of the past month with, and Gordon's heart leapt.
"Can I go see him?"
He went to push the blankets off, but was stopped by both his brother and dad placing their hands on him.
"No, son. You're not going anywhere just yet."
"What if he comes here?" He turned to Virgil in the hopes his brother would be easier to push over.
It seemed he wasn't, as he shook his head.
"You still have an infection and need to take it easy. Maybe later."
Gordon couldn't help but take note of the maybe.
"There's just one more thing." Colonel Casey added, and she seemed reluctant to say whatever it was she was going to say next. "We need you to identify the suspects, so we can confirm we have arrested the right people."
She reached over to the tablet and swiped away the photo of Fuse until a photo of another man appeared.
His features were familiar, and it took Gordon a moment to place them.
Then it hit him.
He could see the man holding a knife above him as he made continuous slashes across Gordon's body.
He swiped the photo away, and another mugshot came up.
He remembered the gleeful smiles and laughter as water was forced down his throat and nostrils.
He couldn't breathe.
The next face he saw in flashes as he was beaten again and again. He saw it between fists that hit his face and made him see stars.
There was a vice around his throat.
"Do you recognise any of them?"
Gordon nodded shakily, his words gone.
He swiped again. His body was hit by electricity that burned every fibre of his being.
A fist in his chest squeezed his heart.
"Gordon?"
His back was on fire. Shadows danced in his vision. Blooded pounded in his ears, but couldn't drown out the thunderous laughter that echoed around him as he was hit over and over and-
The tablet was ripped from his hands.
Gordon blinked. His vision was blurry with tears.
"That's enough for now."
Gordon looked up to find Virgil standing as he held the tablet out for Colonel Casey. She took it from him, but sent a sympathetic look down at Gordon.
Gordon dipped his head and wiped at his tears. He heard the door close, and then it was silent.
Someone grasped his hand, and he looked over to see Virgil was back in his seat.
His brother didn't say anything, and just squeezed his hand to remind him he was there.
Gordon squeezed his hand back, albeit weakly, and sunk back into the pillows as he let his emotions wash over him.
