p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;"Jake groaned, being woken by Roxy smacking his shoulder, "Jake! Jake!" She hissed, hitting his arm until he moaned, "Bugger off…" He grunted, curling nearly on himself in his chair beside the computer. Roxy grabbed a handful of his hair, yanking hard since the smacking wasn't working. He cried out, waking completely. "Jesus Roxy!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head and she snarled, "Wake up! I found him!" Jake frowned, not understanding what she meant for a moment before he jerked toward the computer screen. There was the cropped picture on one side and a nasty looking mugshot of the said individual on the other. The word 'Match' in capital letters on top. Roxy had her hand over her mouth as Jake glanced at her and read the readout of information./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;"Name: Nathanial Bartholomew Morrisbr /Aliases: Nathan Morris, Bart Morris, Daniel Clemons, Archer Haldenbr /Age: 26br /DOB: 08/21br /Place of Birth: Austin, Texasbr /Hair C: Brownbr /Eye C: Bluebr /Height: 6ft 3.2inchesbr /Weight: /Sex: Malebr /Race: Caucasianbr /Nationality: North Americanbr /Occupation: Full-time student (Harvard Medical)br /Scars and Marks: Mole on left /Charges:br /-Multiple counts of assaultbr /-One count of kidnappingbr /-Two counts of statutory rapebr /Location:br /909 Navasota Stbr /Austin, TXbr /Notes:br /Currently on house arrest. Trial is currently postponed due to prosecutors daughter missing and judge ailment./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Jake leaned back in his chair, heart-stricken and panic in his eyes, "Oh my god-" He whispered and Roxy swallowed, "What are we going to do with that, Jake?" The Englishman couldn't speak at all for a few moments, "We have to get to the address, right now." He told her so softly his voice could have been a creak in the window, "Go wake Jane- I'll get the coats." Roxy frowned turning to him in her spinning chair, "Jake- we aren't heroes anymore- we can't just break into someone's house or-" She blinked her eyes to look back at him. Jake was very pale and looked almost sick. Without saying a word Roxy stood to move toward Jane's apartment and letting herself in. Moments later Jane was putting on her coat behind Roxy, eyes tired and clear that she hadn't been sleeping. "Tell me on the way." She waved off Jake's explanation as they took the elevator down. Jake stared at himself in the reflective surface. em"What have I done?"/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;"xXx/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk nibbled on the end of the slice of apple he had been given. Nathanial had come in, screamed at them for a little while before leaving. It was unnerving, but it wasn't any worse than Jake and him on a bad day when they fought. Their captor had returned to drop off a basket of food briefly. Some of it was rotten while the more recent bits were still somehow good. Jenna had cut apart the apple with a piece of glass she's managed to hide. Not to mention the girl was surprisingly good company. Dirk somehow saw a lot of Jane in her. Chipper attitude, down to Earth at the same time, and had a nice smile. They were in a conversation about foot supplies at the moment, between Dirk asking questions about escaping. "Don't worry, for about a week after you first get here he only drops off a bit of food. He won't be coming back for a bit. Though it's going to be a bit harder with the supply with two people, but I'm sure we'll manage." Jenna sounded calm about that, like she had lived through it a thousand times and would a thousand times more. "So he drops off food weekly for us to live on?" She nodded, trying to keep what was good fresh in a little make shift box she'd gotten. Dirk frowned, "Makes escape a little difficult." He drawled, more than a little sarcastically." Jenna shrugged one unbandaged shoulder, "Escape is impossible while he's here. I've only tried once and I'm not too keen on doing it again." There wasn't a hint of regret in her voice, just a bit of pain. "Skin sells for five hundred dollars a yard according to Nathanial." The bandages made sense now./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk bit off some of the apple now, "Jenna, we have to escape here." He urged quietly, about to add something when she laughed under her breath, "Where do you think we are, Dirk?" The question he hadn't expected, "Subway station? Pump room?" There were dials on the wall that should have been for a pressure tank but past that he wouldn't know without seeing the rest of the machinery- or else he might explode something- especially if it was for gas. Jenna shook her head, "No Dirk, we're in a house somewhere in West Texas. I saw the entrance when he brought me here, but past that I have no idea where we are- too drug to care at the time. And there are a million and a half things that will get in the way of us escaping. Bobby made it the farthest I guess- he tasted fresh air before he got a knife in his back. Literally." Dirk let out a long sigh, "This is such a shit situation…" She murmured her acknowledgement before shrugging, "But hey, we shouldn't give up hope. You may be the lucky one." Jenna smiled at him, "You have people to go back to right?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk shrugged, "Probably not. An hour before I got kidnapped my boyfriend told me he hated me, my sister defended him and my best friend is in love with my boyfriend so the avenue has probably already been taken." Jenna looked up, making a face, "Ouch." Dirk nodded, "What about you, don't you have someone to go back to?" She shook her head, "No… it's been seven months… I'm six months pregnant… I doubt my fiancés still there." Dirk's eyes widened slightly, immediately noticing the time difference. That bastard had raped her… and… His eyes fell to her stomach that protruded largely. "I'm so sorry, Jenna." She looked up, following his line of sight and she shrugged. "Bad things happen sometimes… I fought… and… I lost. You come to terms with that after being down here long enough." She whispered softly before turning her head to look at him. Tears in her eyes but a smile still on her face. The man shook his head, "You shouldn't have to be so strong, Jen. I'll figure out a way to get us out of here… both of us." He murmured and Jenna laughed again, "It's alright if you don't though. Even if I'm still around when you leave, I'll manage." Dirk shook his head, "There is a difference between managing and living, and you deserve to live. Don't forget it." Jenna smile broadened, and now he could the difference between her fake and her real smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" She scooted over to her him on her knees, "Alright, I'm going to have to set this bone now." Jenna let out a long breath, "Don't worry, I went to nursing school." He chuckled, "Did you… that makes me feel better." Jenna shook her head, "No sarcasm from you, you're worse than my fiancé. My mother called him 'The Smartass' for the first two years we dated." He nodded, showing he was listening to her as he tried to relax now she could set the bone without too much difficulty. She started to talk to herself like she was reading from a manual. "You need to realign the bone in the proper place. In this situation, the two bone fragments are essentially sitting next to each other and you need to move one on top of the other. This means you will be doing the same thing you would do for a simple fracture, but more extreme. You need to pull the one bone fragment hard enough that you can replace it at the end of the other bone fragment and then line everything up…" She whispered and looked up at Dirk who had his orange eyes narrowed a bit- learning, just in case he needed it for another time. He tried to stretch his arm out but it hurt something terrible. He couldn't keep in that position so Jenna moved it while he was in the process. There was a scream and pound of a fist into the ground before he took several seething breaths through his teeth. "Have that bastard come at me again- I'll show him what a broken boon feels like." Jenna winced before grabbing a few broken sticks from the litters of piles around them. Nothing was really useable. The room had a bit of everything in it- like a storage room that had gone terribly wrong. She found some twine and made a tourniquet out of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" "Don't try to fight him Dirk… Bobby made that mistake." She whispered glancing at where the body had been. Nathanial had taken it down in his rant but the blood stain where the body had dripped was still there. The rust was hard to tell the difference from the blood in the room and Dirk lowered his gaze. "We should fight- just to make that bastard know we aren't going to be treated like this." The light moved from where it hung as someone walked above them and he squinted up, the light making his eyes burn. Jenna took that moment to switch the subject. "You have light sensitivity?" He nodded, lowering his gaze again. His head had stopped hurting as bad as it had but it was still a dull ache. "Photophobia, yeah. I have a lack of pigment in my eyes... My sisters albino." He told her and she blinked, "Did you go to school too for medical? Not a lot of people know the other term for light sensitivity." He shook his head, managing a very small smile. "Google." Jenna grinned again, "That emis /emmedical school now days." Dirk chuckled and she sighed, leaning back against the wall had was doing, "You know what I miss the most?" Dirk hummed softly, letting her lean on his uninjured shoulder and he rested his head on top of hers, both of them seeking small comfort of human touch that wasn't abusive. "Chocolate." She sighed, "And wine. Maybe together. I'm going to eat and drink a truckload of it." Dirk smiled, never actually liking sweets too much- or alcohol for that matter. "I think I could go for some of that myself." There was pounding on the floor above them. He swallowed as there were sounds of Nathanial coming back downstairs. Jenna's eyes were wide, "He never comes back this early." She whispered, scurrying away to another corner now Nathanial wouldn't think they were plotting something. The door banged open and Nathanial snarled at Dirk. "Someone is sneaking around my house." He snarled at him, "Someone is on my property that looks like your friends!" He came toward him, brandishing a hammer from his belt. "Did you call for them?! I told you no guests!" Nathanial roared and Dirk stood slowly, back to the wall. Nathanial shook the hammer at him, "I took care of you and gave you time with your friend! Jenna! How dare you want to call more! There is just no room!" Dirk held up one hand, "Nathan- please, I didn't call-" He didn't have time to brace himself before the hammer went across his face, knocking him into the wall. Dirk was dazed and it hurt nearly more than the break in his arm had. emHe's going to beat me to death with a hammer… /emHe felt the next hit connect with the shoulder connecting to his broken arm, that time it knocked him down. "I take care of you! You're safe here! Why do you want to leave!?" He screamed at Dirk, who was on the floor now. Nathanial kicked him in the back, thankfully missing the sowing job for his missing kidney. Nathanial tossed away the hammer and rolled him over, straddling him with his hands wrapped around his throat. Dirk seemed to get some of his facilities back and tried to pry the hands from his neck as they squeezed. He choked, feeling his air supply cut off./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" For a moment he saw Roxy, Jane and Jake at a grave. He saw his brother on a swingset watching the other three Beta Kids play with their guardians while he sat alone. His eyes were wide, staring up at Nathanial while his nails went into his large hands. emI'm going to die here. /emHe couldn't breathe and started to see his vision tunnel- his body was still fighting but Nathanial was just too heavy. He could hear someone yelling- Nathanial? Jenna? He couldn't tell. Nathan let go of him though and his eyes started to clear to see Jenna kissing Nathanial. "There there, it's alright- he didn't mean it." She whispered to Nathan, who had his jaw set staring at her. "It's alright…" Jenna brushed Nathanial's hair out of his face. She looked scared out of her mind, but focused on saving his life. Nathanial looked down at Dirk, who couldn't hide behind glasses anymore. "Promise me those aren't your friends?" He whispered and Dirk croaked, "I promise…" Nathanial nodded, getting up and away from them, picking up the hammer as he left. "I'll hold you to that, Dirk. You're mine." He growled and Jenna spat soon as he left. She was shaking as she looked over Dirk. "Any permanent damage?" He shook his head, coughing. Jenna swallowed, "He tastes like blood." She whispered to no one, sitting back and hearing pounding upstairs./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;"Name: Nathanial Bartholomew Morrisbr /Aliases: Nathan Morris, Bart Morris, Daniel Clemons, Archer Haldenbr /Age: 26br /DOB: 08/21br /Place of Birth: Austin, Texasbr /Hair C: Brownbr /Eye C: Bluebr /Height: 6ft 3.2inchesbr /Weight: /Sex: Malebr /Race: Caucasianbr /Nationality: North Americanbr /Occupation: Full-time student (Harvard Medical)br /Scars and Marks: Mole on left /Charges:br /-Multiple counts of assaultbr /-One count of kidnappingbr /-Two counts of statutory rapebr /Location:br /909 Navasota Stbr /Austin, TXbr /Notes:br /Currently on house arrest. Trial is currently postponed due to prosecutors daughter missing and judge ailment./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Jake leaned back in his chair, heart-stricken and panic in his eyes, "Oh my god-" He whispered and Roxy swallowed, "What are we going to do with that, Jake?" The Englishman couldn't speak at all for a few moments, "We have to get to the address, right now." He told her so softly his voice could have been a creak in the window, "Go wake Jane- I'll get the coats." Roxy frowned turning to him in her spinning chair, "Jake- we aren't heroes anymore- we can't just break into someone's house or-" She blinked her eyes to look back at him. Jake was very pale and looked almost sick. Without saying a word Roxy stood to move toward Jane's apartment and letting herself in. Moments later Jane was putting on her coat behind Roxy, eyes tired and clear that she hadn't been sleeping. "Tell me on the way." She waved off Jake's explanation as they took the elevator down. Jake stared at himself in the reflective surface. em"What have I done?"/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;"xXx/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk nibbled on the end of the slice of apple he had been given. Nathanial had come in, screamed at them for a little while before leaving. It was unnerving, but it wasn't any worse than Jake and him on a bad day when they fought. Their captor had returned to drop off a basket of food briefly. Some of it was rotten while the more recent bits were still somehow good. Jenna had cut apart the apple with a piece of glass she's managed to hide. Not to mention the girl was surprisingly good company. Dirk somehow saw a lot of Jane in her. Chipper attitude, down to Earth at the same time, and had a nice smile. They were in a conversation about foot supplies at the moment, between Dirk asking questions about escaping. "Don't worry, for about a week after you first get here he only drops off a bit of food. He won't be coming back for a bit. Though it's going to be a bit harder with the supply with two people, but I'm sure we'll manage." Jenna sounded calm about that, like she had lived through it a thousand times and would a thousand times more. "So he drops off food weekly for us to live on?" She nodded, trying to keep what was good fresh in a little make shift box she'd gotten. Dirk frowned, "Makes escape a little difficult." He drawled, more than a little sarcastically." Jenna shrugged one unbandaged shoulder, "Escape is impossible while he's here. I've only tried once and I'm not too keen on doing it again." There wasn't a hint of regret in her voice, just a bit of pain. "Skin sells for five hundred dollars a yard according to Nathanial." The bandages made sense now./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk bit off some of the apple now, "Jenna, we have to escape here." He urged quietly, about to add something when she laughed under her breath, "Where do you think we are, Dirk?" The question he hadn't expected, "Subway station? Pump room?" There were dials on the wall that should have been for a pressure tank but past that he wouldn't know without seeing the rest of the machinery- or else he might explode something- especially if it was for gas. Jenna shook her head, "No Dirk, we're in a house somewhere in West Texas. I saw the entrance when he brought me here, but past that I have no idea where we are- too drug to care at the time. And there are a million and a half things that will get in the way of us escaping. Bobby made it the farthest I guess- he tasted fresh air before he got a knife in his back. Literally." Dirk let out a long sigh, "This is such a shit situation…" She murmured her acknowledgement before shrugging, "But hey, we shouldn't give up hope. You may be the lucky one." Jenna smiled at him, "You have people to go back to right?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" Dirk shrugged, "Probably not. An hour before I got kidnapped my boyfriend told me he hated me, my sister defended him and my best friend is in love with my boyfriend so the avenue has probably already been taken." Jenna looked up, making a face, "Ouch." Dirk nodded, "What about you, don't you have someone to go back to?" She shook her head, "No… it's been seven months… I'm six months pregnant… I doubt my fiancés still there." Dirk's eyes widened slightly, immediately noticing the time difference. That bastard had raped her… and… His eyes fell to her stomach that protruded largely. "I'm so sorry, Jenna." She looked up, following his line of sight and she shrugged. "Bad things happen sometimes… I fought… and… I lost. You come to terms with that after being down here long enough." She whispered softly before turning her head to look at him. Tears in her eyes but a smile still on her face. The man shook his head, "You shouldn't have to be so strong, Jen. I'll figure out a way to get us out of here… both of us." He murmured and Jenna laughed again, "It's alright if you don't though. Even if I'm still around when you leave, I'll manage." Dirk shook his head, "There is a difference between managing and living, and you deserve to live. Don't forget it." Jenna smile broadened, and now he could the difference between her fake and her real smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" She scooted over to her him on her knees, "Alright, I'm going to have to set this bone now." Jenna let out a long breath, "Don't worry, I went to nursing school." He chuckled, "Did you… that makes me feel better." Jenna shook her head, "No sarcasm from you, you're worse than my fiancé. My mother called him 'The Smartass' for the first two years we dated." He nodded, showing he was listening to her as he tried to relax now she could set the bone without too much difficulty. She started to talk to herself like she was reading from a manual. "You need to realign the bone in the proper place. In this situation, the two bone fragments are essentially sitting next to each other and you need to move one on top of the other. This means you will be doing the same thing you would do for a simple fracture, but more extreme. You need to pull the one bone fragment hard enough that you can replace it at the end of the other bone fragment and then line everything up…" She whispered and looked up at Dirk who had his orange eyes narrowed a bit- learning, just in case he needed it for another time. He tried to stretch his arm out but it hurt something terrible. He couldn't keep in that position so Jenna moved it while he was in the process. There was a scream and pound of a fist into the ground before he took several seething breaths through his teeth. "Have that bastard come at me again- I'll show him what a broken boon feels like." Jenna winced before grabbing a few broken sticks from the litters of piles around them. Nothing was really useable. The room had a bit of everything in it- like a storage room that had gone terribly wrong. She found some twine and made a tourniquet out of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" "Don't try to fight him Dirk… Bobby made that mistake." She whispered glancing at where the body had been. Nathanial had taken it down in his rant but the blood stain where the body had dripped was still there. The rust was hard to tell the difference from the blood in the room and Dirk lowered his gaze. "We should fight- just to make that bastard know we aren't going to be treated like this." The light moved from where it hung as someone walked above them and he squinted up, the light making his eyes burn. Jenna took that moment to switch the subject. "You have light sensitivity?" He nodded, lowering his gaze again. His head had stopped hurting as bad as it had but it was still a dull ache. "Photophobia, yeah. I have a lack of pigment in my eyes... My sisters albino." He told her and she blinked, "Did you go to school too for medical? Not a lot of people know the other term for light sensitivity." He shook his head, managing a very small smile. "Google." Jenna grinned again, "That emis /emmedical school now days." Dirk chuckled and she sighed, leaning back against the wall had was doing, "You know what I miss the most?" Dirk hummed softly, letting her lean on his uninjured shoulder and he rested his head on top of hers, both of them seeking small comfort of human touch that wasn't abusive. "Chocolate." She sighed, "And wine. Maybe together. I'm going to eat and drink a truckload of it." Dirk smiled, never actually liking sweets too much- or alcohol for that matter. "I think I could go for some of that myself." There was pounding on the floor above them. He swallowed as there were sounds of Nathanial coming back downstairs. Jenna's eyes were wide, "He never comes back this early." She whispered, scurrying away to another corner now Nathanial wouldn't think they were plotting something. The door banged open and Nathanial snarled at Dirk. "Someone is sneaking around my house." He snarled at him, "Someone is on my property that looks like your friends!" He came toward him, brandishing a hammer from his belt. "Did you call for them?! I told you no guests!" Nathanial roared and Dirk stood slowly, back to the wall. Nathanial shook the hammer at him, "I took care of you and gave you time with your friend! Jenna! How dare you want to call more! There is just no room!" Dirk held up one hand, "Nathan- please, I didn't call-" He didn't have time to brace himself before the hammer went across his face, knocking him into the wall. Dirk was dazed and it hurt nearly more than the break in his arm had. emHe's going to beat me to death with a hammer… /emHe felt the next hit connect with the shoulder connecting to his broken arm, that time it knocked him down. "I take care of you! You're safe here! Why do you want to leave!?" He screamed at Dirk, who was on the floor now. Nathanial kicked him in the back, thankfully missing the sowing job for his missing kidney. Nathanial tossed away the hammer and rolled him over, straddling him with his hands wrapped around his throat. Dirk seemed to get some of his facilities back and tried to pry the hands from his neck as they squeezed. He choked, feeling his air supply cut off./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 17.5559997558594px;" For a moment he saw Roxy, Jane and Jake at a grave. He saw his brother on a swingset watching the other three Beta Kids play with their guardians while he sat alone. His eyes were wide, staring up at Nathanial while his nails went into his large hands. emI'm going to die here. /emHe couldn't breathe and started to see his vision tunnel- his body was still fighting but Nathanial was just too heavy. He could hear someone yelling- Nathanial? Jenna? He couldn't tell. Nathan let go of him though and his eyes started to clear to see Jenna kissing Nathanial. "There there, it's alright- he didn't mean it." She whispered to Nathan, who had his jaw set staring at her. "It's alright…" Jenna brushed Nathanial's hair out of his face. She looked scared out of her mind, but focused on saving his life. Nathanial looked down at Dirk, who couldn't hide behind glasses anymore. "Promise me those aren't your friends?" He whispered and Dirk croaked, "I promise…" Nathanial nodded, getting up and away from them, picking up the hammer as he left. "I'll hold you to that, Dirk. You're mine." He growled and Jenna spat soon as he left. She was shaking as she looked over Dirk. "Any permanent damage?" He shook his head, coughing. Jenna swallowed, "He tastes like blood." She whispered to no one, sitting back and hearing pounding upstairs./p