Hello everybody!
I have to issue a warning here about graphic description of physical abuse, rape and torture.
Be careful!
Enjoy your reading,
Pavs.
Chapter Thirty-One: Timeless
[Gabrielle]
I felt like my blood was transformed into liquid fire, and I knew I fucked up. I could hear my father's heart beating in his chest. I could smell the smoke, feel the wind, then the vibration of the chopper. I could feel people touching me as if their fingers were made of fire.
But I couldn't talk, couldn't move. I was frozen in time, again.
I couldn't forget.
I couldn't.
Gunnar: Lover. Gone.
Christmas: There. Important.
Barney: My dad.
Tool: Family.
Toll: Friend.
Hale: Friend.
Yang: Answers. Trust.
Trench: Help. Safe.
Everything went dark.
Then everything was bright.
Way too bright.
I screamed.
Then everything went dark again.
[Team]
They had transferred her to Santa, and Doc wanted to make sure that she would be getting as much blood and fluids as possible. Fast. He removed her bullet proof vest and quickly realised the girl was bleeding from multiple wounds. Hell, even her nose and ears were bleeding.
''What the fuck?'' asked Doc as Barney was starting to lose his shit.
''Can you say anything other than 'what the fuck'!?'' Ross exclaimed, and Yang explained that this was a side effect of the poison, which was confirmed by Booker.
''Alright, I'd better hurry up on closing whatever's open then,'' said Doc before he tore open Gabrielle's shirt.
He froze.
''What the fuck are you waiting for Doc? Move!'' Gunnar exclaimed before he saw what Doc was looking at.
His legs gave out on him.
''Gunnar!'' Toll exclaimed while he prevented his fall.
Then he saw her wounds and froze too.
''Gabrielle,'' Tool said, his voice shaking while tears rolled down his cheeks.
''What is happening back there…?'' began Trench while approaching them with Lee not far behind. He didn't finish his sentence. Lee became as pale as a ghost.
Yang was looking on the ground while the kids were trying to avoid looking at Gabrielle. They'd seen enough.
''No!'' Barney exclaimed before he begged. ''Please no.''
He was crying while caressing his daughter's hair.
She had deep scars made by hot irons and knives from her neck to her hip bones. There were also cigarette burns, scratches, big old bruises and burns made from chains and ropes. She was thin and pale as if she'd almost died of malnutrition. The guys sat close to her in silence. Nobody knew what to say.
Barney was still holding his daughter's hand as Doc undressed her, only to discover she'd been whipped on her back until it made scars. He felt like throwing up but knew that this was not the end of it. He finally removed her shirt completely and saw her arm. He felt the bile rise up and had to turn not to throw up.
Still, he had a gag reflex. Trench turned pale, as did Tool, Gunnar, Toll, and Lee. Luna started to cry at the sight of these letters.
MINE.
Barney screamed and hit the wall of the plane before he started sobbing. Lee took him in his arms, but he said nothing.
What the fuck were any of them supposed to say any way?
Then she screamed.
[Gabrielle]
I was in an ocean of pain. I could barely breathe. It was as if I was drowning.
[Plane]
''Fuck! Help me put her on her side!'' Doc shouted to no one in particular, but Yang had dealt with this before, so no one got in his way.
She was choking on her own blood.
[Gabrielle]
''You have to make it stop!'' She could hear a familiar voice say.
''Gunnar,'' I managed to say between two coughing fits.
But it wasn't right.
''You're gone. You're not here. Where am I?'' I still managed to say before I felt a sharp pain in my chest. ''Gunnar where are you? Why are you still gone?''
[Plane]
Gunnar could feel his heart shatter, but he was not about to let it get in the way. He saw her thrash around as soon as Doc or Yang were trying to touch her.
''Please, princess, tell us how we can help,'' he begged. ''You need help, you're safe.''
[Gabrielle]
I could hear the words ''help'' and ''safe''. Yes, I needed that. I needed.
''Trench,'' I choked. ''He's help. Safe.''
[Gunnar]
Gunnar swore his whole body froze. It hit him right there and then exactly why Gabrielle had seemed to hesitate when he'd asked her to marry him. It was the same reason she'd been almost unable to confess anything to him about how she was changed by their world, the same reason she had froze instead of jumping into his arms.
He'd thought it was because of Lee and her potential feelings for him. But of course, the fact that he'd abandoned her, repeatedly... He'd been…gone. He'd been gone.
He'd been gone.
Fuck.
It hurt like a mother fucker. She looked at him, and he could feel her pain as she looked into his eyes. He'd understood without her having to say a word. He hadn't lost her because he couldn't protect her. He'd lost her long before that when he'd given up on her, because he'd been gone.
Fuck, that was painful.
And Stonebanks was the one to make him realise that?
It hurt her like a mother fucker too. He had to do something. Anything.
''I am here Gabrielle,'' Trench said while getting closer to her.
''Please don't go. Safe,'' she managed to say through the pain, and Gunnar took a couple of steps back before he let himself fall on one of the benches. He took his head in his hands and began to cry.
For him, Gabrielle was gone.
Again.
[Trench]
''I am not going anywhere,'' Trench told Gabrielle with a shaking voice. ''I am staying right here.''
Not even Satan himself would prevent him from holding her hand. He felt the tears rolling down his cheeks and tried to wipe them with his shirt. He saw a tissue being handed to him instead.
Yang.
''If Stonebanks is to take me with him again and he…you… can't stop him, you have to promise to kill me,''
''I've asked him as a life debt!''
Trench could still remember how shocked and angry he'd been then. But now… He saw Doc covering Gabrielle's chest only to remove her pants. He felt bile in his mouth, rage in his heart. He'd been in this line of work far too long not to recognise signs of rape. The bruises, the cuts. He actually had to contain himself not to scream.
He turned to Tool and Barney, finding them as pale as he was.
Stonebanks had had it way too easy.
''I'm sorry,'' Gabrielle said, her voice shaking, but steadier. ''Please don't look. I know I can't look. It makes me sad.''
Trench was about to reassure her when he noticed that she wasn't looking at him.
She was looking at Tool.
He looked at her again. Her tattoos were destroyed. He knew what it had meant to her.
Fucking. Stonebanks.
[Lee]
He had long stopped looking out of respect for her, and, to be honest, to not go insane. His heart was beating in his temples. He wanted to resuscitate Stonebanks just to torture him more. He'd been able to keep himself sane these past months by telling himself that Gabrielle couldn't suffer anymore now that she was dead, and all this time she'd been…
He wanted to scream and destroy everything in his sight.
''Please don't look. I know I can't look. It makes me sad.'' He heard her plead and saw Tool crying openly.
Lee then noticed a pile of old blankets under the bench. He went to retrieve them, quickly followed by Toll. They both shared a look, and in a silent understanding, began to make makeshifts curtains.
[Toll]
He'd helped Christmas as soon as he understood what he was about to do. The kids helped them too. They were now all sitting in silence with only Barney and Trench with Gabrielle behind the curtains. Then they heard her heartbeat getting slower, steadier, and both the men came to join them while Luna had gone to dress Gabrielle with some of her spare clothes.
The facial expression Barney was making was heartbreaking. But still, in all this shit show, one thing caught Toll's attention.
Trench's eyes.
He remembered all too well what they were all like when they thought Gabrielle had died. All except him. Trench had been somewhat more isolated, and if he'd been affected by her being gone right when it happened, the man had gotten a grip on himself very quickly. He'd returned to his job much sooner too.
Toll frowned.
''Wow, that's almost romantic. Although I am much more surprised he didn't fuck you like one of his multiple whores. I'd ask if you went as far as to fuck him too but I guess I should ask Mauser instead. He seemed very close to you from what I've seen since you been back, Gabrielle,'' Stonebanks mocked while playing with his watch. ''Is that why you couldn't stand kissing your old boyfriend? Well, one of them?''
He still looked at the man while he was sitting down.
''I took a job…at Trench's hangar.''
They all stayed silent, so she continued.
''I just felt like I needed to go there and deal with it. And Dad, please don't get mad. He didn't know I was going to see him,'' she said, and Barney tried to look as relaxed as he could.
.
''Hey, when is Gabrielle supposed to come back?'' Barney asked.
''She's still with him?'' Yang countered.
''Yeah. Apparently, she likes it there,'' Tool answered, looking at Barney with an amused smile.
.
Gabrielle slammed her car door shut, and they could hear her coming closer.
''Gabrielle, stop!'' Trench shouted while he got out of his truck.
The guys looked at each other with a questioning look before they got even closer. They didn't have time to get outside before Gabrielle entered the shop. She was on the verge of tears, and Trench was still following her.
She looked at them, and they could see the blood drain from her face.
''What the hell is happening here?'' Barney asked, and Gabrielle turned to send a pleading look to Trench.
But he was having none of it.
''Don't look at me like that. You need help. You were so scared that you almost shot me this morning,'' Mauser stated.
.
''First of all, I am sorry that I hid things from you, one of these things being that I didn't only go back to the hangar to see Trench but to ask him to train me. I didn't only want to be able to get past the shock, I wanted to be able to fight it. He agreed to do it, and it did really help, even more than working in his hangar did,'' she explained.
''Is that why you got worse?'' Gunnar asked, and she shook her head.
''No, he actually waited until I was better to start the lessons. At first, I really was only working on his plane,'' she answered before she looked at Lee. ''The morning I came to see you in your room I was just…fed up with being left out. I knew that you all wanted to protect me after how I reacted to killing those men…''
Toll gave her a surprised look. She never talked about it with them.
.
''I knew I trained you well!'' Trench exclaimed when he saw her, and Gabrielle ran into his arms.
''Careful, your ego will make this whole thing collapse,'' she retorted back, and he laughed. ''I missed you.''
''Me too, kid,'' he said.
''Can I help you?'' asked Trench with an everlasting sadness in his eyes.
Toll shook his head no, but he was now suspecting that Trench and Gabrielle might have been way closer than they'd all thought. Why wouldn't they have?
Mauser had been taking care of her and trained her as they all were pushing her away. Fuck, how strong did Trench have to be to be the one to help them getting out of the airport when Gabrielle died?
This was fucked up. Every single fucking thing about this Stonebanks and Villain situation was fucked up.
''You truly are my best friend.'' she'd said. Then why on Earth was he only noticing things like that now?
Why the fuck couldn't he protect her?
[Plane]
''I should have gotten her to safety,'' Toll whispered without noticing.
''She would have fought you,'' Yang said.
''How do you know?'' Barney asked in a broken voice.
''I saw everything,'' admitted Yang, and Barney looked at him.
''Yeah, you seemed to know a whole damn lot,'' Gunnar said with anger in his voice.
''Calm down Gunnar,'' Barney said. "Yang, please.'' Jensen's anger would only delayed answers. He had the feeling he didn't want them, but he still needed them.
''Barney I can't…'' Yang began before Barney shut him up with a dark look.
There was a moment of silence before Trench spoke.
''We've seen the scars, and I know Maggie was the one who found her. Then Woodsman found you, and you rescued her. I know about your son and how she asked you to... She asked me the same thing, and I refused,'' Trench admitted.
''What the hell did she ask you?'' Gunnar asked, clearly irritated.
''She asked me to kill her as a life debt for saving me and my son, Bohai,'' Yang replied calmly. ''If I had any doubt that Stonebanks or Isaacs would bring her back to where they kept her, I was to kill her.''
There was a long pause while everyone was processing what Yang had just admitted. Barney closed his eyes and took a very deep breath. He wanted to be mad at her, but he couldn't. How could he ever be mad at her for not wanting to be in pain anymore. It's not as if Yang would've…
''You said yes,'' Lee stated with a shocked expression on his face. Why else would Mauser have specified that he had refused?
Yang said nothing. Tool looked at him with a horrified expression.
''What the fuck?'' he half-whispered.
''Yang!'' Toll called, but the man stayed still.
''No,'' Barney said, refusing to believe it.
''You're fucking dead,'' Gunnar said as he got up suddenly.
[Gabrielle]
I woke up to familiar voices. My whole body was hurting and my mind was struggling to stop the flow of memories that invaded my thoughts. My head hurt so fucking bad.
Gunnar: Lover. Gone.
Christmas: There. Important.
Barney: My dad.
Tool: Family.
Toll: Friend.
Hale: Friend.
Yang: Answers. Trust.
Trench: Help. Safe.
They were here. I could remember them safely. Then I heard Yang.
''She asked me to kill her as a life debt for saving me and my son, Bohai,'' Yang said calmly. ''If I had any doubt that Stonebanks or Isaacs would bring her back to were they kept her, I was to kill her.''
Woodsman: Dead.
Billy: Dead.
Hale: Hospital.
Fuck, that hurt. Pain.
Stonebanks: Danger. Pain. Dead.
Isaacs: Alive.
Gunnar: Gone.
I could feel myself starting to panic. My heart was already beating too fast. I felt nauseous.
''You're fucking dead,'' Gunnar said, and I heard him get up.
I felt a push of adrenaline as I remembered vaguely Yang and Maggie helping me to get better with Woodsman.
''No, he isn't,'' I said as I tried to get up. ''He's trust.'' I fell instead, taking one makeshift curtain with me.
''Fuck,'' I said while trying to get up. I felt someone helping me and looked up to see a familiar face. Gunnar.
''Please don't kill him,'' I barely managed to say before my pain level shot through the roof.
It felt like someone was bashing my head against concrete. I looked at Gunnar and saw both reality and memories at the same time. I could hear Isaacs asking me if I felt that good to my boyfriend too, that it was a shame Gunnar left such a good whore. I threw up in my mouth a little.
''This isn't real,'' I told myself. ''You're here. ''
''Gabrielle?'' I heard both Gunnar and Isaacs say.
''SHUT UP!'' I screamed to Isaacs. ''Get the fuck away from me!'' I felt him back off and let myself fall on my knees.
''Gabrielle, please. You can trust me,'' Gunnar pleaded, but when I looked up Isaacs was there too. I turned my head not to look at him and saw Yang being held up by Tool.
''Yang,'' I managed to say while sobbing. ''You promised to kill me! You promised me I'd never go back to Isaacs. Why is he still here? You have to kill me! I don't want him to hurt me again! Please just kill me…you promised me you loved me too much to let me get hurt…it hurts, I want it to stop…''
[Toll]
Toll was about to help Gunnar killing Yang for the betrayal when he heard Gabrielle. Yang was trust? He frowned. Then he remembered Yang saying this was a life debt.
Had she black mailed him?
Yang had a bigger sense of honor than both Barney and Trench's egos combined. It would make sense for him to honor a life debt. Speaking of Mauser, the man hadn't been mad either, just worried and sad. Fuck. Had Gabrielle been so desperate not to hurt again that she had begged and forced two people she considered family to kill her?
His heart suddenly felt very heavy. She was his best friend; he had to help her. Fuck, he was sorry for Yang that he had to deal with that. He made eye contact with Lee, then Tool, then Barney. Had no one understood that?
[Gunnar]
He felt pure rage at the idea that Yang had agreed to this, he was about to fucking kill that little Happy Feet, he would…
''No, he isn't. He's trust,'' Gabrielle said.
''What…'' Gunnar whispered to himself as he watched her fall. He caught her just before she hit the ground.
''Please don't kill him,'' she said as her nose started bleeding again. He saw Yang trying to get to them only to be stopped by Tool.
''Gabrielle?'' he asked, now not only worried but confused.
''SHUT UP! Get the fuck away from me!'' she screamed, and Gunnar let her go with a shocked and hurt look on his face. Then he looked at her and noticed that she was as far away from reality as possible.
''Gabrielle, please. You can trust me,'' Gunnar pleaded with a slightly shaking voice. He wanted to bring her back with him, back to a safe place. He saw her looking at Yang, her facial expression going from suffering to pure agony.
''Yang,'' she managed to say while sobbing. ''You promise to kill me! You promised me I'd never go back to Isaacs. Why is he still here? You have to kill me! I don't want him to hurt me again! Please just kill me…you promised me you loved me too much to let me get hurt…it hurts, I want it to stop…''
He felt his heart break so bad he swore it could be heard from outside the plane. She was begging to die. He saw Yang crying and noticed that his pain was reflecting hers.
Yang had never wanted to kill her, he realized. A look at the others told him that they'd all seen that.
''You know they are safe,'' she said in a low voice. ''I can die now.''
''No,'' Gunnar begged before he started crying.
He refused to believe that not only she'd sacrificed her life you him, but she'd been tortured for it too.
[Team]
Tool felt his chest tighten as he felt like all his oxygen had left his lungs at once. Barney barely kept himself from falling by gripping his friend shoulder. Lee felt like screaming. Trench looked at Gabrielle and thought about when he'd help Gabrielle after her first kill. She'd wanted to die then too. But back then he could tell her she had reasons not to. She still did, but she had way much more to go through now.
For the first time since he'd known her, he was doubting her strength. Was this going to be too much? He felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Was he going to lose her again? Yang was kneeling beside Gabrielle, caressing her hair, and Toll was looking at her with sadness and pain in his eyes.
''I am sorry Gabrielle, I can't,'' Yang told her with a shaking voice. ''I don't think I ever could.''
''You promised,'' Gabrielle cried again.
''I know I did. But I love you too much to let you go. I am sorry,'' Yang said again as she cried even harder, preventing her from responding to Yang's apologies.
[Barney]
He watched Doc inject his daughter with what he assumed was something calming while she was distracted by Yang. They then both put her back on her makeshift bed. He still said nothing. He knew that the second he'd open his mouth, he would lose it. This was worse than death, and all he could do was try to hold on as much as he could to the hope that this was only the poison talking.
''Barney, I really couldn't have done it,'' Yang advised when he saw Barney looking at him.
''Really?'' asked Barney in a cold voice.
''DON'T YOU DARE!'' screamed Yang, and everyone froze.
Yang never raised his voice.
''You didn't see her! You think those scars were bad?!'' Yang continued, crying. '' I saw her bend and break; I heard her scream and beg until she…she gave up on herself. She broke and it broke me.''
There was a moment of silence.
''Maggie had camera footage of it all. She hid it so I wouldn't see…'' Yang said with a trembling voice. '' I shouldn't have insisted. Barney there is no coming back from that. And don't think for one second that I don't hate myself for thinking for even one second that killing her would be more merciful than risking her going back to Stonebanks. But I could never lose her. I promised something I knew I couldn't do because I was scared that she would kill herself if I refused. She called me trust, and I lied to her!''
Barney felt like he'd been slapped in the face. The look on Yang's face was pure agony. What the fuck had happened to Gabrielle?
''Where's the footage?'' he finally asked.
''Barney, don't,'' Yang insisted. ''It should be her decision, not mine.''
''Thorn, get your computer, tablet or whatever,'' ordered Barney.
''Don't,'' Trench said while looking straight into Barney's eyes.
''This is none of your business,'' Barney said. ''She's my daughter! I have a right to know.''
''And she's got a right to her private life,'' stated Tool. ''She didn't even want us to look at her. You're telling me you're gonna force her to expose herself like that?''
That should have shut him up. Except it didn't.
''I need to know what the fuck is scaring my little girl to literal death! I need to know what would make Yang lie and her falling to her knees! I need to know how the fuck I screwed up. I need to help her. I can't go in blind!'' Barney pleaded, and Tool felt himself give up. ''Don't you need to know what really happened?''
There was a moment of silence as everyone took in his words. Then Yang took out a USB stick out of one of his pockets.
''I hope you know I kept it from you because I had good intentions. This footage was cut from hours of footage that served escape plans, which means it only contains the torture sessions,'' Yang said, thinking back when Maggie had warned him too. ''If any of you don't want to be haunted for the rest of your lives, I suggest you leaving to the back of the plane now. And put on head phones if you have them''
[Team]
The young ones plus Galgo and Booker did just that. Drummer was already at the front of the plane, and Yang went to join him. The other ones simply sat down, waiting for Barney to set up Thorn's laptop.
They could help her better if they knew, right? Barney took a deep breath, and they all prepared themselves. It took them about thirty seconds to regret their decision as they saw Gabrielle naked in a room made of concrete with one metal door. Tool and Trench both closed their eyes, knowing that they would be unable to see more. They could still hear her though, as could Booker.
Doc forced himself to watch since he knew he'd probably have to take care of her medical needs. Toll got up and turned when he realised that Gabrielle would be raped right in front of his eyes. He couldn't watch this. Neither could Barney as he closed his eyes while still holding the laptop, only opening them when the sexual assaults were over. Lee looked at the ground and Gunnar's eyes were turning almost black from rage.
And Gunnar could only feel anger and regret as he saw her stop begging for him to come back as the days passed and Stonebanks convinced her that he wouldn't be there for her anymore.
They saw her stop having nostalgia written all over her face when she asked for tea in a big cup to Woodsman.
They heard her scream and beg. They heard her list going shorter and shorter as her escaping attempts were getting weaker and weaker. Yang was forgotten, along with the fact that Stonebanks was an enemy.
Gunnar had gone as the bloody letters had appeared.
They heard her promise Isaacs that Stonebanks would get what he wanted, and Barney couldn't help but notice that this was the day Woodsman had left Russia. He saw how close to death she'd been when Stonebanks had realised that.
They saw how violent Isaacs and Stonebanks's men could be. It was a wonder how she'd survived even one training session. Trench watched with a heavy heart as she forgot his name without forgetting what he'd made her practice all those months ago.
They heard no more of the list as her last memories were fading. The only proof of her love being the way she caressed her scarred tattoos with tears in her eyes, or how she held Christmas's gift as if her life depended on it.
Tool felt guilt as he could so clearly see the bridge that had called out to him for years when he heard Gabrielle wonder to herself the reason why she was still fighting while looking at her bleeding thighs.
Barney felt his very soul shatter when she called Stonebanks dad after Gabrielle had finally defeated a couple of Isaacs's men.
Yet, she still refused to hurt them.
Lee felt the urge to hold her through the small screen as she screamed his name, holding her moon pendant for dear life through the torture sessions. Then he cried when she still held it with a sad look on her face at Christmas dinner.
Then they saw her look at her favorite painting at the museum, one Stonebanks had apparently bought for her, and extended her hand as if Toll would be there to take it.
Toll broke down in tears: he'd been the last one she'd remembered. She'd needed him to hold her hand.
The screen went black and Barney slowly put the laptop down. They'd been so focused on it that nobody had noticed they'd arrived at Barney's hangar. The back door of the plane opened, revealing Maggie and Bohai. Yang and Drummer got up and exited the plane with the kids. Galgo, Doc, and Booker helped get Gabrielle out of the plane and into an ambulance that Drummer had called. Barney still hadn't moved, so Doc went back and took him by the hand like a small frightened child and forced him into the ambulance too.
The rest of them were still on the plane, not able to even breathe too loud. Then something clicked in Gunnar's brain, and he got up to leave.
Of all the things they could have noticed, they'd ignored one they shouldn't have. Gabrielle hadn't just hallucinated Isaacs back before Doc had put her to sleep. She hadn't mentioned Stonebanks at all. And that could only mean one thing: Isaacs was still alive.
Gunnar went straight to his truck and sped up to where he'd heard the kids would be staying at. It was time for Thorn to prove that he was as useful as he claimed to be.