Interesting Times, by GirlX2

Chapter Sixteen

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After twenty minutes of waiting, the woman in the cage was barely awake. She was slim, dark haired, and, as far as Barney could tell, drugged out of her mind.

She blinked blearily at him, and made a small noise of surprise. "Who'r you?"

"Barney Stinson." He mumbled awkwardly. What should he do? Try to comfort her? Question her?

She regarded this information for a moment. "Run. If you c'n…"

"Easy Adele. I'll explain everything." Their captor peered into the cage, grinning wickedly. The woman closed her eyes and laid her head down softly.

"I guess I gave her a bit too much. She'll come around in a while."

Barney's back was pressed to the far wall of the cage. "What the hell do you want with us?"

"With Mosby? Nothing." The man nodded at Ted. A silver strip of tape covered Ted's mouth. He glared at the man silently. "You and Adele, however, are worth a lotta money."

The woman let out a thick laugh. "Bobby owes mooooooney…"

"Shut-up, bitch." Bobby growled at her and nudged the cage violently. Barney grabbed the bars for support. She just closed her eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"How are we worth money?"

"Easy, little man. Lilliputians are valuable on the black market."

"You're…going to sell us?"

Bobby let out a harsh laugh. "Hell no! That'd net me a quick buck, but not nearly the amount I deserve. Naw, what I've got planned is a hell of a lot better. You and Adele are gonna…so some things for me." He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

A queasy feeling crept into Barney's stomach. 'He can't mean what I think he means…'

A video camera appeared in Bobby's hands. "Some people will pay to watch the two of you. And I know exactly who they are."

Adele let out a whimper and curled in on herself.

"If I sell you, that's a one-time profit. But this has…long term potential." The man savored the words as someone would a foreign delicacy.

Ted made a muffled sound of protest, struggling against his bonds. This was worse than the nightmares, far far worse.

"I won't do it." Barney wished there was a way to look intimidating at three inches tall. "Do your worst."

"That's alright. It's what I expected, really." Bobby set the camera down and produced a knife. Barney tensed, every instinct screaming at him to flee. But even if he wasn't locked up, the cage was five feet in the air.

He might as well have been in a coffin.

Bobby smirked, turned sharply, and aimed the knife at Ted's throat. "What was that, you were saying about 'the worst' Stinson?"

"Leave him alone!"

"If I want good footage of you, I can't exactly have you bleeding out, or all banged up, can I?" Bobby trailed the knife down Ted's throat. "That's the problem with Lilliputians; they're too easy to kill. But your buddy here…"

"Stop it!" Barney rattled the cage door uselessly. The latch was much too strong for him to undo.

Ted twisted as much as the tape allowed, but he couldn't free himself. Bobby grabbed his chin, forcing him to look forwards.

"Stop thrashing. You'll just make it worse." He drew the knife down Ted's arm, slitting the cloth. "Just…stay…still."

He dragged the knife down, producing a long, but shallow scratch. Ted let out a muffled cry, sounding more angry than hurt. Blood flowed freely from the wound.

Adele twisted at the sound, curling into a ball. "Bobby, no…"

Barney shook the bars of his prison to no avail as the man drew more cuts on Ted, shredding his shirt in the process. The cuts looked painful, but it wouldn't kill him.

"I'm not going to rape anyone!"

The man turned back to Barney. "Stinson, we both know you'd be hitting on her if you saw her in the dive you and your loser friends go to each night. You'd have fucked her real quick, just to say you did. So what's the problem? Do you want me to keep this up?"

"You're a sick freak." Barney growled. How long had this man been watching them, waiting for his moment to strike? How much did he know about their lives?

And what, dear God, had he done to this woman in the meantime?

"Wrong answer." The man punched Ted in the face, rocking the chair back nearly to the tipping point. Ted snarled something behind his gag.

"You want to find out how much blunt-force trauma a person can live through, Stinson?"

Ted caught Barney's eye and shook his head desperately before the next punch. 'Don't give in Barney…please…he's gonna do this to me no matter what you do…'

Adele was coming awake with the sound of each successive blow. "Bobby? Who've you got?"

"Shut up Adele." Bobby snarled, stopping his attack. "This doesn't concern you. Yet."

She looked at Ted in horror. "Wha…is he here for me too?"

Both Barney and Ted shuddered at the implications of that statement.

She looked back at Barney, finally awake enough to be frightened. "Don't touch me! I swear, if you come near me-"

"I—I'm not going to do anything." Barney stammered.

Adele struggled to her feet, still unsteady from whatever Bobby had given her. She pressed herself to the other side of the cage, as far from Barney as she could get. Her eyes were wet.

"Yes, you will. Eventually, you will." Her voice shook. "They both have before."

"That's enough, Adele." Bobby stalked over and threw the door of the cage open. Adele and Barney shrank back as he reached inside. He picked her up by the scruff of her doll-clothes. She began to scream.

"Let her go!" Barney rushed forwards as he withdrew his hand, having no idea what he'd do if he managed to get there in time.

Staying still was unthinkable, even now.

The man slammed the cage door as Barney closed the distance. "She's not your concern right now, Stinson. Now, I suggest you and Mosby take this opportunity to really think about what you're willing to do to get out of here alive."

"He's lying!" Adele screamed. "He's going to kill your friend, and you're gonna—"

He shook her viciously, cutting off the last words. "Bitch, mouthing off was always your problem."

With that, he rushed into another room, slamming the door behind him.

Ted stared at him helplessly. He shook his head, knowing it couldn't convey one-tenth of what he wanted to say. The apologies for allowing this top happen…the plea that no matter what happened to him, Barney couldn't give in…

The begging for forgiveness, for not being good enough to protect him.

Barney pressed a hand on the cage door. Ted's face was already a map of bruises. The blood had slowed to a trickle, but he was covered in a thin sheen nearly to the waist.

"I'm so sorry, Ted. This is all my fault."

Ted shook his head. How could Barney possibly blame himself?

"If I'd just stayed at home…gone with James…God, he wouldn't have taken you too."

Ted let out a few muffled words of protest. Barney gave him a sad smile.

"See, this is why I'm your best friend, not Marshall. I know exactly what you'd tell me. It's just-"

He nearly didn't draw back in time as the door swung open. It hadn't latched properly when Bobby slammed it.

Both men regarded it for a moment.

"What was it you said that one time about my body weight and the laws of physics?"

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A/N It's been crazy this week, and next week is gonna be a little nuts too (I'm going on a short trip). Never fear; I will update.