Thank you all for the kind reviews! You guys rock!
Protect the head! Protect the stomach! Gold curled up tight into a ball trying to protect himself from the onslaught of kicks and stomps raining down on him. Hook's attacks were strategically placed to cause the most pain without leaving any lasting damage. Come tomorrow he'd be black and blue from head to toe but he'd be able work. He knew this for sure because this wasn't the first time he had been on the receiving end of one of Hook's beatings. Any time that he missed one of their set deadlines, had a weapon perform badly in a trial, or Cora simply thought he needed a little extra encouragement, he had the pleasure of being acquainted with Hook's violent side. This time it was because the new short range missiles he had drafted, and designed had been duds when tested. When word had gotten back to Cora about it she had been absolutely livid.
"You failed Crocodile. You failed again. You are a failure. You are a worthless failure. You are never going to get out of here. You are never going to see your son again. You failed him. You are a failure." Each sentence was punctuated with a kick or stomp to a body part. His shoulders, his ribs, his back, his head, his ankles, his kidneys, again and again and again.
Pain radiated throughout his body but as intense as it was, Hooks words were what hurt the most. He was a failure. He couldn't get out of here. He might never see Bae again. He was a failure. He was a failure. He was a failure. Failure. Failure. Failure.
Gold didn't know how long Hook's beating went on, he might have even blacked out at some point, but when it was finally over he was a bloody mess wheezing on the floor. Hook took a seat in Gold's usual seat, propping his feet up on Gold's work bench, his boots dirtying up his newest plans. "Get up Crocodile."
Rum ignored him, he was more concerned with trying to breath without coughing up blood than he was with whatever Hook wanted. He couldn't keep going on like this. Living day after day always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was barely surviving and it could be all for naught. He didn't even know if Bae was alive.
"Are you deaf Crocodile? I said get up! You've got work to do." Hook gave him a not so gentle nudge with his boot causing Gold to start coughing again.
"No." Gold's voice was barely more than a whisper but he tried to put as much power as possible behind it. Even so Hook looked down at him with an amused look on his smug face.
"What was that? Did the croc just try to snap? As amusing as that would be, get up!"
"No."
"You must have enjoyed getting your arse kicked. Unless you are ready for round two you will get up and get to work."
"No. No work. I'm not doing your work anymore!"
"You want to be responsible for your son's death? If you want your precious Baelfire to stay safe you will get your pathetic arse up and get to work!"
"I'm not working until I see Bae!"
Hook lunged forward and pulled Rum up until they were face to face. "You don't make the rules Crocodile! You work, your boy stays safe. You don't work and your boy gets to know my hook. Understand?"
Gold's mind told him to back down but his heart wouldn't let him. He met Hook eye to eye and glared the best he could with one eye swollen shut. "You won't hurt Bae."
"So sure Crocodile?"
"If you kill Bae you have nothing to hold over me. If you want me to work I want to see my son. I'm not working again until I see that Bae is safe."
Hook snarled and shoved him back to the floor before storming out of the room. Crumpled in a ball on the floor, wheezing for breath and bleeding in several spots, Gold was smiling. He had them. They had to let him see Bae now! They just had to!
Please leave a review and let me know what you think!