Chapter 4

Shaman Wolf: Yours? What do you mean Bryan is yours? *Snatches Bryan back*

Bryan: -_-;; Why me...

Krixel: So glad you are liking it. Angst and Dark are my main areas in my writing. I only recently picked up an award for 'best death fic'. I can only keep improving, and I can only keep hoping that you continue to like it. ^_^

Jay Kamiya: You don't like Bryan? You don't happen to be a Ray fan do you? :p

LadyOrient: Do you like dark? There are a few other great dark fics around. One of the better is by Ladya C. Maxine titled Resurfacing. The quick way to find it is by my profile and go into my favourite authors. Trust me, that's a dark fic if ever there was one.

Torture in this chapter.

Disclaimer: See first page

"He's gone again."

Spencer glanced at Ian, then around the room where the students were running drills. Sure enough, there was no sign of Boris anywhere.

Ian looked at him. "Maybe… maybe he just went to the bathroom."

Spencer nodded, feeling his stomach twist. "Maybe."

Ian shivered, rubbing his hands over his arms, trying to get some of the warmth back into them. "This is bad, Spence. He's torturing them, I know it."

"Don't worry yourself." Spencer patted Ian on the back, shifting in his spot so he could take in another group. "Bryan and Tala are strong. They will take it."

"It's not that, it's…" Ian swallowed hard. "I think…"

Spencer looked at him. "Ian?"

"Boris does things… Not to me, but to…" He shivered again, hugging his legs to his chest. "He had him cornered in a disused training room, and he was… he was touching him."

Spencer looked down at his comrade. "What you on about?"

"Boris." Ian looked up at him. "I think Boris molests Bryan."

Spencer stiffened, pieces to a puzzle he had been years trying to solve starting to fall into place. "What you saw… what was Bryan doing?"

"He was injured, like someone had been belting him up. He looked as if he was dazed, not really there."

"As if Boris had sedated him," Spencer said, eyes narrowing before he stood. "Come on."

Ian blinked, clambering to his feet and hurrying after him. "Where are we going?"

"To do some investigating," Spencer replied. "First, we need to know if Tala and Bryan are in the dungeon, then, where the hell Boris has gone."

~~~~*~~~~

Tala bit back the cry of pain. No, he would not give Boris that pleasure. He could feel the blood and sweat running down his chest, his arms. More ran down his face, mixing and concealing the tears that escaped his eyes.

"You're as stubborn as Bryan," Boris commented, then smiled. "You were raised to be strong. This is good, however frustrating."

Tala didn't reply. He couldn't trust his voice.

Boris stepped away, dropping the needle back onto the tray and turning toward them, eyes drifting from one to the other, receiving equally fierce glares from both. "If only looks could kill. Fortunately, they do no damage at all. I must commend you, my boys. I've spent the entire day working at you both, and I have not as yet received even a whimper for my efforts. It just means I must go up a level, but I had thought this one would be high enough."

He glanced at his watch. "Once again, I must leave you. But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow."

He stepped out of the room, taking the tray with him, closing and locking the door with a boom that echoed through the semi darkness. The light faded as Boris moved away, taking his lantern, the last door closing.

Bryan's attention automatically focused on his comrade. "You okay, Tal?"

"Damn that last one hurt." Tala's eyes moved toward him. "I don't know how you do it, Bry. You make it look so easy."

"I've done this too many times." He met Tala's eye. "I channel my pain."

"Channel it? Into what?"

"My anger. My hatred of him." Bryan looked toward the door, frowning. "I thought maybe he would release us tomorrow, but he plans to continue. He's serious this time."

Tala drew a shaky breath, pain starting to fade. "Perhaps we can negotiate."

"Save your breath, he will not listen. Even if he did, he will agree to let you go only if you do him one favour."

Tala frowned. "A favour?"

Bryan nodded. "Just one."

Tala shuddered as he remembered all he had learnt the day before. "I could never do that."

"Then do not negotiate." Bryan looked into the darkness. "I never did him that favour either. I chose to withstand the pain. Eventually, he learnt other ways of getting what he wanted."

Tala stared toward the chains at his feet. "I hate him. I hate that bastard. I hate how he thinks he can do this to us. I hate what he's doing to us. And most of all I hate what he's done to you."

Bryan raised an eyebrow. "You never cared before."

"I didn't know before." Tala sighed, watching Bryan's face. "And I've always cared about you."

Bryan looked at him, searching for sincerity. "You'd be the first. No one else does."

Tala's long eyelashes brushed his cheeks as he closed his eyes. "Perhaps if you paid more attention, you'd realise that many people care for you, and none more than the Demolition Boys."

Bryan watched him. "Ian and Spencer don't give a shit about me, you know that. They've even made a point of telling me on occasion, quite loudly and directly."

"To say something and to mean it are two completely different things."

"Such as?"

"I could tell Boris he's like a father to me, but what I actually want to say is I hope the arsehole burns in hell."

"Hell is too good for him." Bryan smiled faintly. "So you… care about me?"

Tala nodded. "I do."

"Is this some ploy to make me feel good about myself?"

"Bryan, you're a jerk. You know you're a jerk. I know you're a jerk. What's to feel good about?"

Bryan chuckled. "You're a real charmer, Wolf."

"Comes from being around you too long, Falcon." Tala shifted, straining against his chains and leaning toward Bryan. "Look Bry, despite what you think or what Boris says, we need you. If you weren't around, we'd be a mess. I can't handle Ian, you can. When someone threatens any of us, you're there to scare them off or belt the crap out of them. And when I fall apart, you're the pillar that I lean on. So don't think you're unwanted. Don't think we don't care about you, cause we do, understand?"

Bryan sighed, shaking his head. "You're too convincing for your own good. Yes, I understand."

"Good." Tala frowned, looking at his chains, then at his position. "I just closed the gap between us by half."

Bryan took at the distance between them. "You're right, you did."

"Pull against your chains, I want to see if we can touch."

Bryan shuffled, twisting and tugging at his bonds, closing the gap further, but not enough. "Not working, Tal."

"No, I think it still might. Our heads."

Bryan raised an eyebrow. "You're very bored, aren't you?"

"Extremely. Come on, let's try. For curiosities sake."

They twisted, laughing as they found they were able to press their foreheads together with room to spare.

"Well how about that," Bryan said, meeting Tala's eye. "You were right."

"Told you. See, maybe you should listen to your old captain every so often."

"You're not old."

Tala smiled faintly. "Sometimes I feel like it."

They sat there, heads touching, feeling each others breathe play across their cheeks. Tala closed his eyes, savouring the contact, Bryan following suit. For a long while neither spoke, Tala finally pulling back to stare into Bryan's eyes. Bryan met his eye, falling into the icy pools and being set adrift, Tala finding himself lost in the lavender orbs of his comrade, neither noticing that the distance was closing.

Lips touched gently, experimenting before the kiss deepened, the two losing themselves on a wave of passion. They longed to draw the other into their arms, but the chains held them back, keeping them from being truly together.

They had only the kiss.

O_o;; Things are really heating up in the dungeon, that's for sure.