(Trigger Warnings: Multiple Executions, Descriptions of Graphic Violence and Torture.)

Chapter 71

Your Torturous Ways

Early Morndas morning, Bishop took Karnwyr with him and met up with the six Specialists and the two Muscle that he'd be working with down in the dining area. He groaned inwardly at the sight of Joren. He really couldn't stand the dunmer man. He'd been trying to work his way up into the Whips and was nearly as depraved as the rest of them.

The other five he recognized but didn't really know too well since he tended to keep to himself most of the time and often worked alone. They consisted of three male nords, a female nord and one altmer man. He was also surprised and not very thrilled to see Slash and Lars with the group. But if they were Collecting from the Thieves Guild it was probably better to have more Muscle than not, not to mention magic and Lars specialized in that.

Slash gave him a nasty grin, showing off his pointed teeth as he came down, "Was wondering if you were still going to show. Thought you got scared and ran off."

Bishop just rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and said, "So what's the plan Slash?"

"Hold on, still waiting for our Thieves," he said.

Thorn had called the six Thieves into his lair first thing that morning. It seemed he wanted to personally vet them for the job, which Bishop knew was a cover for his real plans. He wanted to strike fear in them, make sure they knew he was watching. He probably wanted to see how they all reacted to his questioning and Bishop had no doubt that he was busy torturing some poor soul in front of them to show them just what he was capable of as well.

Bishop had warned Jules, told him to be ready for it and Jules in turn prepared the others. His brother was most worried for Elise though. She'd panicked the day before when he told her what was going on and Jules had to stop her from running. They spent a good two hours trying to calm her down up in their room and Bishop had to reiterate over and over again that if she ran, she was dead. He spent the entire day coaching her on keeping a straight face too for this exact situation.

Things were getting tense, but they just needed to get through the day. One day, just one day, he kept reminding himself, just hold your shit together for one god damned day.

Finally, after another twenty minutes of waiting the six Thieves arrived. With them were Jules and Elise as well as a breton woman, Rey, a dunmer man, Vilvik, a nord man Thogas and a young khajiit woman Anri. It was everyone from Jules' tight knit group of friends and they all looked incredibly shook up, though unharmed, thankfully.

Slash and Lars both had wicked grins on their faces as they watched the young Thieves come down. They all stood by and waited for orders. Slash stepped forward and said, "Alright, good, everyone's here. So as you already know, we're heading to Riften to shake down the Thieves Guild and put those cretins in their place. For too long we've been putting up with them beating us to every single job out there. Mercer Frey owes us plenty for all the jobs he's swiped out from under our noses. Make sure you're armed and ready. If they know what's good for them they'll start making regular payments."

He turned to Bishop then and said, "You'll be our messenger Bishop. Make sure you're clear on the terms," Slash gave him a sheet of paper outlining everything Thorn was demanding. He folded it neatly and put it away in his pocket. The group set out then taking the path towards Riften.

They stayed in their collective groups too, leading the way ahead were The Whips, behind them the two orc Muscle, Biggs and Wedge, then the Thieves, then Bishop and Karnwyr and the Specialists all behind them. Bishop noticed that his fellow Specialists would intentionally fall behind and slow their walking if any of the Thieves started walking slower or straying a little. Vilvik was the jumpiest of them all, probably, Bishop assumed, because he was the reason they were all there in the first place. It was his damn fault for leaking information on all their jobs.

Finally, Jules went over, grabbing Vilvik's arm and yanked him in with the rest of the group, forcing him to keep pace and whispered something most likely along the lines of, don't do anything stupid.

The entire half day's walk to Riften was quiet between them all. Not a word was spoken by anyone which only served to make things that much more tense.

Once they neared the gates Bishop called everyone back and made them stop saying, "We need to split up into groups going in. The guards here are all backed by the Guild and if we all go in at once they'll get suspicious and figure out what's going on."

Slash agreed and paired everyone off into groups of two and three. He made sure to pair each Thief up with a Specialist, however, so they couldn't try to escape.

Once everyone was paired up, Bishop getting stuck with the two Whips, they started sending them all in at spaced out intervals. It took a good two hours getting everyone inside so as to not make it extremely obvious they were all together.

After waiting around another twenty minutes Bishop and the Whips went inside. They went around the old river and took the steps down into the Ratway below meeting the others inside.

"Anyone see you?" Slash asked.

Biggs, or Wedge, Bishop couldn't be bothered to tell them apart, held up the corpse of some Ratway thief and tossed his body aside. "Just one," he grunted, "Already took care of it."

"Good," Slash grinned then looked at Bishop and motioned a hand forward saying, "After you."

Bishop rolled his eyes and went ahead of the entire group, Karnwyr following close by him. They took out a few more brigands down in the sewer, though Bishop was pretty sure one of them was just a crazed madman and not one of the Guild members.

Once outside the Flagon doors he looked to everyone and said, "Wait here for a minute. I'll go in and arrange our meeting with Frey."

Slash raised his furry brows and crossed his arms, "How brave of you. I see why Thorn likes you so much Bish. Shame you refuse to join the rest of us at the top."

Bishop cringed at him and turned away, Karnwyr close at his heels. He went inside and the place still smelled like shit and piss, as always. He figured anyone working or even living down there must have burned off all their nose hairs just to make it bearable.

He stepped around the foul cistern in the center of the room and walked up the board planks into the Ragged Flagon, the nastiest bar he'd ever had the displeasure of entering, even worse than the one at Lost Knife. He saw Delvin sitting at a table, shuffling through some papers and made to go over to him when a really big guy stepped in front of him, arms crossed and said, "You got business with the Guild?"

Bishop looked him over and said, "Just with Mallory."

"Oh really?" The big guy turned back and said, "Hey Delvin. This fella brought half his group here just for you. You musta done something pretty bad to piss off the fuckers over at Lost Knife."

Delvin looked up from his pile of papers and grinned, throwing an arm over the back of his chair and said, "Come on now Bishop. We saw you and your people comin' miles away. Funny, how you bothered to split yourselves up comin' in here though. Complete waste of time. Now, you and your folks got somethin' to say to us, then bring them in."

"I'm here to deliver a message," Bishop said firmly.

"So what's the message then, eh?"

"It's for Mercer Frey," he said.

Delvin smirked at him, "I'm his eyes and ears. Whatever you want to tell Mercer, you can tell me."

"For his eyes and ears only," Bishop reiterated.

Delvin chuckled, shaking his head, "How long you want to play this game Bishop? You're not gonna see Mercer, so you might as well have a seat and talk to me, before Dirge here gets the sense to snap your neck and drown your mutt."

Bishop eyed the big guy again and edged around him. He noticed two women and three men at the bar, standing by, hands to their weapons. He ignored them and went over to Delvin's table and took the slip of paper out, passing it to him. Delvin opened it and read it over, his small smirk turning into a bigger and bigger grin before he laughed loudly, "Gotta say, your boss has some mighty big stones peddlin' this shit to us," he smacked the paper with a hand, "Eighty-five percent - of everythin' we steal?" He looked up at Bishop again and said, "You read this shit? Your boss is takin' too much Skooma if you ask me."

Bishop said nothing, maintaining his stern gaze.

"You know he ain't gettin' a lick, right? None a yah," he crumpled the paper up and tossed it over his shoulder then and said harshly, "Tell your people that if I see any of them in my sewers again, they'll be havin' themselves a nap at the bottom of Lake Honrich."

Bishop said severely, "That's not an option Mallory. You ever met Thorn? You know what he does to people?"

"I heard things. That he's some sick, twisted fuckhead that likes to pull people's guts out while they're still squirmin' around. But you should know, none of that scares me Bish. Before all this," he waved a hand to the dirty sewer and narrowed his eyes, "I was Dark Brotherhood. I know all about his kind," he shifted his shoulders and gave him a bored look, "If you know what's best for you, you'll get out - and not just out of my face or my Ratway, but out of Lost Knife too."

"Not an option," Bishop said, giving Delvin a pleading gaze this time. One that was asking for help.

Delvin looked a bit sympathetic then and sighed, "I wish I could help you lad, I really do. But you're in too deep on this one. I mean 'ell, look where you're standing now, what you're demanding of us. Its madness is what it is."

Bishop got angry then. They were only there because the Guild went ahead and started stealing from Thorn. If they'd just backed off and not made it so damn, fucking obvious what they were doing in the first place then he wouldn't be there, making outrageous demands of them.

He thumbed his dagger and his eye twitched slightly as he felt his blood boiling and a vein throbbing in his head. "You assholes got my brother mixed up in your shit and now we're here," he slammed his hands on the table, shaking it and scattering the papers and got right in Delvin's face, "This is your fucking fault! All of it! You could have told our Thieves to piss off when they came here looking for work and now Thorn's threatening all their lives, you fucking pieces of shit."

Delvin looked him over and asked, "Who's your brother?"

"Jules," he said.

Delvin pursed his lips and turned his gaze away, "Damn shame. Poor kid. He's a good one."

"Bring me Frey, now," Bishop demanded.

Delvin met his angry gaze and said, "Can't do that."

Bishop had enough. Clearly his brother meant nothing to these people. If they wanted him to bring the fucking hammer down, then he would. He whistled sharply and Karnwyr raised hackle, growling at Delvin suddenly while the rest of his group came in.

Slash and Lars led the way with the Muscle right behind them, then the Thieves and then the Specialists.

Slash walked over with both orcs flanking him. Biggs and Wedge made the big guy guarding their entrance look like a small child compared to them. Dirge tried to keep up his intimidating face but he just looked stupid as both orcs plowed right by him, nearly knocking him into the cistern.

"So, this is Frey?" Slash asked looking over Delvin.

"No," Bishop said, "This is one of his fences."

Slash sighed, his tail flicking annoyed behind him, "Not here to talk to the fence. We're here to talk to Frey and go over our terms for all the jobs he's been stealing from us."

"Yeah," Delvin said, "I read your demands. It's shit, so I tossed it."

Slash looked over at the bar, taking notice of the two women and three men standing by. They had their weapons drawn now and were looking warily at the group standing by their front doors.

"Bring Frey here, or we will bring the Whip down," Slash said.

Delvin smirked at him, arms crossed as he casually leaned back in his chair, "You idiots have no idea who you're messin' with. Go ahead and try threatenin' me again, I dare yah."

Slash looked back to the others and said, "Do it."

The Specialists each grabbed a hold of their own Thieves and forced them to move forward.

"What the hell!?" Jules barked as he struggled against Joren who had a tight hold on him.

"Wait! Wait! What the fuck, what is this!?" Thogas, the nord man roared.

"Lemme go!" Anri the young khajiit woman hissed.

The others cried out, trying to fight back too, but the Specialists had been ready for it and they were much better trained than any of them.

The Thieves were hauled over to the edge of the cistern and forced to kneel in front of the nasty waters. The Guild members just stared astonished at this new turn of events.

Bishop stormed right up to Slash and said, "WHAT THE FUCK SLASH!? LET HIM GO, NOW!"

Slash ignored him though and said to Delvin, "Which one is the rat?"

Delvin carelessly glanced over the group and said nonchalantly, "Never met a one of 'em."

"Then they all die," Slash said.

Bishop started to shout, "THE FU-!" But one of the orcs grabbed him, by both arms, holding him back. Karnwyr lost it, barking madly and went in to kill, when the other orc wrangled him, taking his vicious bites like a champ, while he gave the poor wolf enough of a chokehold to make him pass out.

The Specialists all drew daggers and pressed them to the throats of the Thieves. Elise was sobbing hysterically, taking sharp breaths and pleading, "Please! Please! Please don't hurt my baby! I'm pregnant! I beg you please!"

Jules looked over at her, brows knit together and eyes wide, astonished and mortified, "Elise…"

Slash grinned wickedly as he looked over Delvin's face, who couldn't stop himself from reacting to the spectacle. He got up from his chair and said, "Now hold on here. You'd murder a bunch of your own... why? What's the point?"

Slash sneered, "Our own? I believe these Thieves belong to all of you, don't they?"

Then another voice carried in from behind them all, coming from what appeared to be an old larder. A breton man with dirty light brown hair, stepped into the room. He was flanked by another man, with long red hair and many more Guild members followed in after, all armed to the teeth, ready to go down with a fight.

"You're right," the breton man said in a deep, scratchy voice, "They are our own. Now, if you want to negotiate, I'd ask that you let our men and women go."

Slash looked the man up and down and inquired, "Mercer Frey?"

The breton man replied, "You're talking to him."

"Good," Slash said. Then he looked at Bishop and said, "I can't whistle Bish, so do me a favor and give me a nice sharp one." Bishop looked at him, perplexed and Slash said, "Do it now or I'll have them cut your brother's baby out of his girl's belly and see if she's telling the truth."

Bishop who was still being held tightly by the orc pursed his lips and gave another sharp whistle.

(Recommended background music Seymour's Theme or Kuja's Theme from FFIX and FFX Soundtracks)

Thorn and the rest of his Whips walked in then, along with plenty of other people from their group, practically filling up the front end of the Flagon. Bishop noticed most of them were Thieves, and he saw that Elska's daughters were with them too. Freya, Venus and Qetesh all started whispering to one another, looking confused and shocked by the scene in front of them.

Thorn stepped forward, arms crossed and grinning. Bishop didn't understand. He had no idea what was happening. Why was Thorn there? Was he going to kill him and his brother finally? Then why all these theatrics? Why any of it? Why not just do it in their sleep at Lost Knife?

Mercer Frey moved ahead too, crossing through the bar area and onto the platform in the middle of the cistern with just the small pool separating them, while his second in command followed close behind him. The two leaders stared each other down for a moment before Thorn said with a smile, "Mercer Frey. Nice to finally put a face to the shitbag that's been stealing from me."

"I take it you're Thorn," Mercer gleaned, then said, "So what can I do for you and your," he glanced around at the massive number of brigands now in his Ratway, "...people?"

Thorn started pacing back and forth at the edge of the cistern, in front of his prisoners, "You can start by handing over everything you stole from your last eight jobs. Because let's see... oh right... those were our jobs."

Mercer shrugged and said, "Can't help it if we got to them first. You just have to work faster," and then he said remarking on the large group, "It's quicker with a few of your best thieves instead of using huge untrained groups you know. Might give that a try next time."

"Next time?" Thorn grinned wickedly and then he looked back at Vilvik and leaned down to him, "Yeah... next time you won't have this one running his mouth to you."

Vilvik looked terrified and shrieked, "WHICH ONE OF YOU RATS SPILLED YOUR GUTS!? HUH!? WHO TOLD HIM!? I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Thorn sneered, "None of them."

Vilvik stared at him, his red eyes bulging wide.

"The only one spilling their guts today is you Vilvik. Like right now, when you just admitted it was you who ran your mouth to the Guild. Now tell me, how many jobs was it? Eight... ten? I think it was quite a few. I'll round up," Thorn stood up and spoke to the Specialist holding Vilvik, "Hold him aside for me."

The Specialist forced Vilvik onto his feet and stood at his side while Thorn went around to his back. He got really close to Vilvik then, pressing his cheek to his ear and grasping half the dunmer's head with his other large hand so that his fingers nearly pressed into his bulging red eye.

Thorn spoke loudly, mainly addressing his own, "I want every damn Thief in here to pay close attention now. This is what happens to those who cross me." He looked right at Mercer and drew his blade and leaned back, still holding Vilvik's head and slowly dug his sword into the dunmer's back so that it speared out his front. Then he slowly pulled it out and did it again all while Vilvik screamed in agony. Thorn counted sinisterly with each squelching thrust, "One... two... three..."

Vilvik gasped painfully when he could scream no more and the other Thieves and even the Guild members all watched in silent horror. Thorn made sure to spear him ten exact times as the man shuddered and shook in his grasp.

"...ten," he finished. And without breaking eye contact with Mercer he tossed the barely living dunmer facedown right into the slimy water with a loud splash.

Thorn spun his blade in hand and sniffed a little, "Well. Now that, that's taken care of. Who wants to go next?"

The other Thieves on the ground looked up at him shocked and the red headed man spoke up then, "Let's sit down and talk, Thorn. Just leave the lads and lasses out of it."

Mercer glared at the red-headed man and said, "We don't negotiate with lunatics Brynjolf, you know better than that."

"They're our own Mercer, you were ready to talk a minute ago, why not now?"

"That was before I realized I was dealing with a madman. Can't talk sense into these types," Mercer looked back over at them all and said, "Sorry kids, it's just business."

Brynjolf was pleading with his eyes and whispered, "Mercer…"

Jules looked sick as he stared over at Elise who was trapped in her own shaking terror, sobbing hysterically and had her eyes shut tightly, trying to look away from the corpse of her friend floating in the dirty water.

Bishop pulled uselessly against the orc holding him, his heart was pounding in his chest. Why was this happening? How could he have let this happen? They should have run. Did Thorn really have that much of a hold over him that he truly believed he couldn't have run?

Thorn shook his head and grinned at Mercer, "Well, it pleases me to know you don't mind having more blood on your hands. I know I certainly don't."

He turned and grabbed the breton woman Rey by the hair, yanking her away from the Specialist holding her. She started screaming terrified and Thorn released a disgusting sexual groan, twisting his head back taking pleasure from it, "Mmm, yes! Scream for me sweet thing," his eyes rolled a bit as he yanked harder on her hair, causing her more pain and then he held her head up, waist length to him and took his sword, aiming for her neck and in one swift motion beheaded her. Her body slumped to the ground and Thorn held her lifeless head up and gave it a kiss on the lips before smiling cruelly and tossing it over at Mercer's feet.

Mercer didn't even look down at it. He just stood there, eyes locked on Thorn with his arms crossed. Brynjolf said, "Mercer, this has to stop. We can't just let him…"

Mercer gave his second in command a look of warning, but didn't budge, waiting for Thorn to make his next move.

"Eighty-five percent," Thorn said suddenly, "First you give me everything you owe me from all the jobs you stole and then you pay me eighty-five percent of everything thereafter," he looked around the Flagon laughing a little, "Which I assume won't be much considering the squalor you're all living in."

Mercer just cocked a brow and said, "You really are a madman."

"Thirty percent," Brynjolf said quickly.

Mercer looked back at him, "Like hell we're giving him anything!"

Brynjolf gave him a fierce glare and said, "I'm not just going to stand here while he kills these people right in front of us."

Thorn grinned wickedly again, "Seventy-five," then he stooped down next to Thogas and said, "Let's hear it Thogas. Just had a baby with the wife, hmm? Things were going good?"

Thogas was crying almost as much as Elise when he nodded, unable to speak it seemed.

"Good, good," Thorn stood up and looked over at them, "So? Seventy-five? I think I'm being quite generous."

"No deal," Mercer glowered back.

Thorn looked back at Thogas and said, "I'll be sure to give your lovely wife my regards when I drag her down into my lair tonight."

Thogas whimpered and sobbed and pleaded, "Please... not my wife."

"You seem like a nice fellow Thogas, so I'll give you a choice. You want to die quick by beheading like Rey here," he nodded to the bloody headless corpse next to him, "Or would you prefer the slow and painful method Vilvik got?"

Thogas looked absolutely mortified and opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Thorn looked over at Mercer again, "Last chance. Seventy-five percent."

"Forty," Brynjolf said.

Mercer shouted, "NO! No deals with this lunatic!"

"Shame," Thorn said and swung his sword without warning, sending Thogas' head across the floor where it rolled right into the water joining Vilvik's corpse.

Anri, the khajiit woman started screaming which only served to put a more sinister smile on Thorn's face and he groaned, "Oohh yes… I love the sound you're making cat. Keep screaming for me!" He looked wild eyed now, facing Mercer Frey again and said, "I'm feeling pretty good right now, so let's make it seventy percent."

"Fuck you," Mercer said.

Thorn took his sword and raised it over his head, aiming for Anri and she shrieked even louder. He swung it down, hard, right into her skull. Her screams stopped abruptly and she made a strange, garbled noise as her eyes rolled. He yanked the blade from her head and let her slump onto the ground.

Next was Elise and Jules started shrieking, "NO! TAKE ME! TAKE ME!"

Bishop roared at the top of his lungs, "STOP!"

Thorn looked back over at his favorite pet and cocked his head, "Ah Bishop. Here we are again, same as two years ago when I took you and your brother in," then he looked down at Jules and said mockingly, "And this is how you repay me? Joining the Thieves Guild and cooking their books? Telling them about my jobs and my people?"

"It was Vilvik," Jules said, his chest rising and falling quickly as his body shook madly, "Just Vilvik. I worked for them, yeah, but I never said a word about the jobs. Elise wasn't involved at all. She had nothing to do with any of it. Please, just let her go."

"No…no," he said, placing the tip of his bloodied blade to her chin and lifting her head up, forcing her to look at him. She whimpered and her lips trembled. She was incredibly pale with fear. "I know she worked for them too. Had my Rats on the six of you for months."

Thorn knelt down right in front of Elise and placed a hand on her abdomen and she flinched. "Congratulations on the baby, Elise. Been meaning to tell you that for the last two months now. Think it's a boy? Or a girl? Let's say we find out now?" He flashed her a wicked grin.

"WHY!?" Bishop roared, "WHY WON'T ANY OF YOU STAND UP TO HIM!? HE'S JUST ONE FUCKING MAN! DO SOMETHING!" He writhed against the orc holding him, bruising his arms in the process, but the Muscle held him very tightly and wouldn't budge. None of the Thieves or the Specialists, or any of them made a move at his outburst though.

Thorn had done his job. He'd instilled the fear of himself into these people. And for some of them, he'd given them something good. Food, shelter, work. He'd given them their lives back, no matter how awful a person Thorn was, they'd remain loyal... or end up like the four dead Thieves in front of them and the two about to get the Whip.

Jules was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Brynjolf barked, "Half! We can give you half! Give us those two and you can have half."

Mercer glowered at him, "I'm not making any deals with this freak Brynjolf."

Brynjolf had enough, "NO MERCER! I won't stand for this!" He got right into Mercer's face and said, "I fucking told you not to go after every damn job that gray-skin brought us. I told you it'd just bring us trouble. Look at them all, we're outnumbered as it is. The only madman here is you for letting it get this far in the first place!"

Thorn grinned at their little exchange but was still haggling it seemed when he said, "Sixty-five percent and you get the girl."

Mercer opened his mouth again but Brynjolf shouted over him, "Deal! We'll take it!"

"Deal," Thorn grinned, "Now come get her."

A white haired woman behind them uttered, "Brynjolf…"

"Shut it Vex," Brynjolf hissed back and started walking around the cistern to go collect Elise. He glanced at Bishop, giving him a sympathetic look and continued around, eyeing all of Thorn's people. He knelt down beside Elise and said, "Come along lass," then he looked over at Jules and said, "I'm sorry lad."

Jules just nodded and choked out, "Get her out of here."

Brynjolf tugged on her as the Specialist holding her let her go. She threw her arms over Jules though and cried into his shoulder, "Jules! I wanted to tell you about the baby... I love you, Jules..."

Jules pressed his face to her hair and said, "I love you Elise. I've always loved you. Never forget that."

"Time to go pretty thing," Thorn said impatiently, "before I change my mind,"

Brynjolf grasped her arm and guided her to her feet. He threw Thorn a nasty look as he walked the shaking woman back up to the bar area. He pushed her into the arms of a raven haired woman who ushered her out of there.

Thorn prowled around Jules then, tracing the tip of his sword around the floor near him as he looked him over. "Hm, hm, hm. What to do with you now, Jules."

Jules looked up at Thorn, a hateful glare burning behind his dark eyes. Thorn just laughed and said, "Don't look at me like that boy. This is your own damn fault and you know it. But look at it this way, at least your legacy lives on."

"Wait!" Bishop shouted, "Take me."

Thorn looked back at him and sneered, "I already own you Bishop. You've got nothing left to offer."

"If you kill him… then I'll have no reason to live and I sure as fuck won't keep working for you," he said, "And I don't care what kind of sick torture you threaten me with. Torban was even sicker than you. I already know every trick in the fucking book thanks to that twisted piece of shit."

Thorn laughed, "Oh I know you can take your beatings, Bish. That's why I took you and your useless brother here in. If not for you carrying the weight of the two you, I'd have gut you years ago. Shit… even the dog's worth more than you boy," he said to Jules.

"Give him to the Guild and take me," Bishop said.

Thorn looked at him with half-lidded eyes, "Got anything new to offer me?"

"My allegiance, my loyalty. Whatever you fucking want," he said, "Name it."

Thorn continued his circle around Jules and thought for a moment. "You work whenever I want. You work for free. You get whatever scraps I'm willing to feed you. You bow to me Bishop. You belong to me."

"Fine," he said.

"Kneel before me," Thorn said maintaining his nasty grin, "Lick. My. Boots."

The orc let him go and he rubbed at his arms and walked over to Thorn and stood in front of him. He felt disgusted with himself at what he was about to do, but if it saved his brother's life he'd do it.

He met Thorn's piercing gaze with his own hateful one and knelt down, getting on his knees. Jules just knit his brows together, pleading with his eyes for him not to do it.

Bishop leaned over Thorn's scummy boots, covered in bits of mud, blood and whatever the hell else he'd stepped in over the years. That's when he heard the mad barking of his wolf coming to. Karnwyr ran in, leaping over the dirty cistern and buried his jaws right into Thorn's leg, making him howl in pain.

Karnwyr ripped a huge chunk of flesh from Thorn's leg and ran to Bishop's and Jules' side, still growling fiercely. Thorn lifted his sword, roaring in anger and made to kill the wolf when Bishop threw himself in front of Karnwyr and felt the blade swipe across his back, from shoulder to hip. He grunted, taking the hit and grit his teeth, dealing with the pain.

"THAT DAMN DOG! THAT DAMNED FLEA RIDDEN BITCH!" Thorn roared furiously.

"Stop!" Bishop pleaded. He tried to calm himself because he knew Karnwyr was reacting to his emotions, "Just calm down boy. It's alright. Everything will be alright," he stroked at the wolf's fur, feeling the blood on his back welling and trickling steadily through his clothes.

"You know what? Fine. Keep your damn pet, Bishop. But I'm punishing you for this. Severely. Bring him," he motioned for the Muscle to collect him and the big orc grabbed him by the arm again.

"Sixty-five percent," Thorn said to Mercer Frey, "I expect it on the first of every month. Do not be late. Oh and I'll give you a week to bring me everything you stole from the last ten jobs. And if you try to fuck me over, I will be back, and I will not hesitate to wipe this shit stain you call a Guild right off the face Nirn."

Bishop took one last glance back at Jules before he was hauled away with the others.

(Recommended background music Black Water from FFVII Advent Children Soundtrack)

Thorn spared no time in punishing him for the chunk Karnwyr took out of his leg.

He and the other Whips hauled him down into his torture chamber the minute they got back. The entire room was disgusting, covered in old and new blood. The corners of the walls and floors were festering with bugs and he saw a few skeevers coming and going, no doubt looking for scraps of raw human flesh to eat.

There were three dirty tables laid out in the room, each with iron cuffs nailed into them to hold down their victims. There were several meat hooks in the ceiling too and in one of the corners was a hanging prison with buts of rotted flesh, scummy flesh still stuck to it.

There were chains and an assortment of torture devices hanging all over the walls, blood drips were permanently stained to the walls where the tools sat.

They stripped Bishop shirtless and bound his arms tightly then hung him up on one of the large meat hooks from the ceiling. They even chained Karnwyr up nearby. It seemed that Thorn wanted to punish the wolf as well.

Thorn pulled down an actual whip from his wall and he circled Bishop predatorily and said, "I'm not disappointed in you Bishop. I knew it would take more than you to get Mercer Frey to show his face. In fact, you did everything exactly like I planned. You actually did well. But this has been a long time coming and you know it," he grinned and said, "Now, I'm not cruel Bish, I need you in decent working condition. So I'm thinking, six lashes for the six little shits that fucked me over. Sound good?"

Bishop said nothing, he merely turned his gaze away from the deranged man and steeled himself for what was to come next.

Thorn walked around to his back and said, "Hmm... That looks bad. Might get infected from my dirty blade. Ah well. I'm sure you can visit the brothel after and the ladies will fix you up," he laughed and uncoiled the whip.

The first lash against his back sent a sharp shuddering pain through his entire body. He grunted but grit his teeth. He would absolutely not give Thorn the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.

Karnwyr started barking loudly and writhing wildly against the chain tethering him back. The wolf even leapt backward a few times trying to break free. He started snarling and growling, foaming at the mouth.

Thorn laughed at the wolf and let the first lash settle for a minute and then hit him again, this time it pelted his rib cage as his body slowly spun in a circle from the force of the impact.

Again and again and again. Six times he was hit.

Thorn came back around to his front and sighed, "Well I am rather disappointed that you didn't scream. How's that feel though? Sting a little? Bet I hit harder than Torban ever did," he smirked.

Bishop said snidely, "How's your leg feel?"

Thorn frowned at him and then walked by him, Bishop noticed, limping a little and he said to the others, "Let him down."

Bane and Lars pulled him down from the hook and he crumpled to his knees. The stinging pain on his back, sides and abdomen was immense. Then he heard Thorn speak one more time, "Oh and Bishop, if I catch you running off to the Guild to even look at that little brother of yours, I'll fucking gut all of you once and for all. I don't care how good you think you are."

They all left him there and he waited, trying to let the stinging pain settle and he waited for Karnwyr to calm before he finally forced himself up and collected his shirt and his wolf and left.

(Recommended background music Tifa's Theme from FFVII Advent Children Soundtrack)

He put his top back on, not wanting anyone to know what he'd just experienced. Instead he held himself together and hurried up the path to his room with Karnwyr at his side. He was nearly there when he heard a woman's voice call to him.

"Bishop wait!" He looked back to see Freya running up to him. He turned away from her and continued walking, but she grasped his arm and said, "Wait... Bishop, please, what did he do?"

"Don't want to talk about it," he said shortly, "Maybe another time."

She wouldn't let go and she said, "Please, let me help."

Even at his most humiliated he couldn't say no to a beautiful woman. He relented then and said, "Fine, follow me."

He led her up to his room and they went inside. Karnwyr hopped up onto Jules' bed and put his head on his paws. The wolf actually looked as sad as Bishop felt, knowing Jules was gone and they wouldn't get to see him anymore, at least not for a long time. But he was relieved too. Jules was safe... and he was going to be a father.

"That fucking idiot," Bishop murmured as he mindlessly undid his top, forgetting Freya was still there. He pulled it off and she gasped. He spun around and she held a hand to her mouth as she looked over the flayed flesh on his body and the blood dripping from each wound. He turned his head away and said, "Not as bad as it looks."

She fished through a pouch on her belt and pulled out one of Qetesh's potions and said, "Sit down. Let's get you cleaned up, alright?"

He sat down at the edge of his bed and he pointed to a dresser drawer and said, "Got some more medical supplies in there, cleaning cloths and all that."

She went over and pulled out the items she'd need then stepped back over to him and knelt down in front of him. She knit her brows together and poured some of the potion into a clean cloth and started dabbing at the wound on his abdomen. He allowed himself to hiss with the pain of the stinging. It felt good to let out some noise after holding back while he received his lashes.

Freya had gentle hands as she worked over each wound, with him slowly turning so she could get to each one. She bandaged him up and gave him a fresh bottle of potion to drink when she was done. He downed it and it helped immensely with the pain.

She sat up on the bed next to him and said sadly, "I'm sorry about your brother."

"I'm just glad he's alive," he said.

"I'm glad you're alive too," she said.

He looked at her and she flashed him a pretty white smile. He smiled weakly back and asked, "So, what did Thorn tell you before leading you all down there?"

"Said we were running a job in Riften and he needed all the Thieves. You know how it is, he cracks the Whip and we all go running," she put her elbows to her knees and pressed her face in her hands and said, "I hate it. Working for him, being in this place. I'd rather do anything else, honestly."

He cocked a brow, "Anything?"

She laughed, "Well, except what my mother does for a living. I already get enough men chasing me down and groping me when they think I'm not looking, ugh."

"Want me to gut 'em for yah?" He offered.

She smiled again and this pleased him. He liked to see her smile.

She said, "No. I usually do that myself. Oh by the way..."

"Hm?"

"I know you just borrowed that kiss the other night, but I've been really needing it back," she flashed him a flirty smirk and he returned it with his own.

"Well, if you insist. I suppose I could part with it again," he leaned over, looking deeply into her eyes and barely touched his lips to hers before she quickly closed the distance and kissed him herself. He groaned under her mouth as she moaned under his and both their hands started roaming.

It really did help to numb the pain he felt when he made love to this beautiful woman after everything he'd experience on one of the worst days of his life. And after that they continued to see one another.

It was good with Freya for a few months. It was wonderful. Thorn kept him busy with endless work and little food, but she made it bearable, until she didn't anymore. Until their romance turned from playful and fun, to irritating and frustrating. For Freya it was a lack of seeing Bishop, because he was so busy all the time. For Bishop it was her endless accusations and the constant fighting with her.

(The Song is Torture by Les Friction)

The memories fractured then, showing them pieces of everything. Their twisted relationship and the twisted man that Thorn was and how he affect Bishop's life on a day to day basis.

Rona watched all of it, spiraling down like shattered glass as Bishop's feelings rang through it all in the form of a beautiful and heartbreaking song.

"Savor the time and the trouble
Just leave me trapped in the maze
I'll live and die in this bubble
But I'll never give in to your torturous ways

I cower when you're near
It's torture, torture

Never considered it futile to carry the weight of your pain
A gift conceived by angels
Dark blessings offered in vain

I stood outside when the roof gave in
You called from the wreckage you were lying in
You were out of reach and we're out of time
But I took it all and towed that line
You held my hand and pulled me down with you"

For two years Bishop tried to make it work, he made promises to Elska and her girls, he became their family, their friend. He carried their burdens on his back. Because that's what Bishop did, he tried to save people, to help them.

And for two years he tried to escape this woman he'd tangled himself with as she chased off him into the arms of other women with her viciousness, only for her to manipulate him right back into her clutches.

It was Freya's own form of twisted love, Rona was sure of it. Freya had grown up in that life, broken and downtrodden like the rest of them. She didn't know the meaning of keeping a healthy relationship. Bishop was much the same in that regard. For them, this was normal.

The screaming, the accusations, the fighting, the abuse, all of it. To anyone outside of it, it was insanity. But to them, it was normal. And Thorn, on top of it, only added to the mess. It was torture for Bishop.

Rona found herself falling into a familiar shard of glass, into a memory she'd seen once before. They were up at Arcwind Point, standing in a flurry of snow. Bishop held his brother in his arms, crying into his chest. And then someone came at him with his sword. Bishop turned and faced Casavir. The Paladin roared at him, accused him of murder and made to kill him.

Bishop broke then. He murdered his brother. After all of it, he couldn't stay. To go back to Thorn, to go back to the abusive relationship Freya offered him... he didn't want it. None of it. He ran to the cliff edge, away from the Paladin who attacked him. He slid down the icy slope and escaped. He ran and ran and he nearly got kicked in the face by a white mare with a young woman riding. She shouted, "Hey! Watch it!"

He ran by her and roared, "Out of my way!"

And Rona took a breath and said, "Bishop?"

He stopped and looked back confused.

"Bishop," she said, "Wake up. You're dreaming. Wake up!"

He took a sharp breath and opened his eyes. Gazing back at him were Rona's beautiful, serene green ones.

She put a hand to his arm and whispered, "Bishop... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..."

He uttered a sigh of realization as she wiped at the tears on his cheeks. He choked out, "You saw?"

She nodded slowly and he quickly sat up, trying to shake himself out of the dream. His heart was pounding like he was still there. He looked over at their quiet campsite. The sun was barely rising and everyone was still asleep on their bedrolls.

Serlas was snoozing near the fire and all four sisters were completely out still.

Rona sat by him and glanced anxiously over at him. He took a deep breath of the cold air and asked, "Want to get some breakfast?"

"Yeah," she said. The two stood and wandered around to the front of the inn. They both went inside and took a seat at one of the private tables in the corner. Mralki came by and they gave him their food orders and he left them again.

Bishop held the side of his head in his hand as he continued to mull over the dream. It wasn't really a dream though, it was like one of his nightmares, the ones he always had before he met her. Were they coming back?

She touched his hand with hers and he looked back up at her.

She knit her brows and asked kindly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He searched her face. Here was the woman he loved, who just watched him make love to Freya, in his dreams, more than once and she just looked... concerned. He didn't understand her. He wanted to be like her. She was so strong that way, never letting things like that bother her, when it would have bothered him immensely.

"What do you wanna know?" He asked in return.

She looked at him surprised and seemed to think for a moment before she asked, "All of that really happened?"

"All of it," he confirmed, "Exactly like you saw."

She turned her face away and said, "Oh Bishop... he did that to you?"

"I really did have worse," he smiled weakly, "Torban hit way harder than Thorn ever did. But I guess it's different when you're beating your own hated offspring."

She gave him the saddest expression he'd ever seen and he chuckled, "I'm just... kidding Ladyship... sort of."

"I wish I could heal your pain."

"You can," he said, "You do it all the time."

"Not physical pain," she said, "Emotional."

He smiled warmly at her, "You already have."

Then he took a breath and asked something that had been on his mind since the day they left Solitude, "What's been bothering you Rona? The last day... it's not because you think I slept with Freya, is it?" Rona turned away blushing and he raised a brow and asked, "So you do think I slept with her?"

"I saw you two," she said, "I saw you... up on the archway in Solitude."

"Ah fuck," he smiled and shook his head, "I completely forgot about that." She stared at him in disbelief and he said, "I swear I would have told you. Freya just got finished... telling me what Thorn did to her. She was hysterical Ladyship, she just threw herself at me. I didn't want to push her off because I don't know... it was stupid. I let it happen," then he looked right at her, meeting her eyes, "But I swear to you Rona, I didn't try to kiss her back or touch her or any of it," he grasped her hands then, running circles in her palms with his thumbs as he said, "You're too important to me. I would never throw away everything we have now for some tryst with," he scoffed, "pft, Freya of all people. And considering you were just crawling around in my head just now... well I hope now you know why."

She could barely hide her smile, which pleased him greatly. It pleased him more than Freya's rare, sweet smiles ever did, because Rona's was genuine.

He leaned over the table, tugging her over to him and she met him halfway. He kissed her, deeply, affectionately. He made sure she knew he loved her and always would.