~oOo~
"Damn it!" Ellison yanked harshly against the restraint that kept him bound. Pain spiked from his handcuffed wrist and lashed up his arm. It landed abruptly, slamming into his bicep, the pain akin to the full force of being thrown up against a solid brick wall.
Gritting his teeth, the sentinel banged his head back against the wall. A tight ball of pure hatred in his gut fuelled what was needed to go up against the bastard who had done this, but it was wasted energy. He was trapped. The handcuff, the immovable metal pipe to which it was attached, and a root cellar that had been designed to withstand the onslaught of a full-grown grizzly, yielded nothing that would help aid their escape.
Lucas lay on the ground, still unconscious and just beyond his reach, and Blair – god, he didn't even want to think about where he might be. Jim tried to focus, tried to scan the area with his hearing in an attempt to get a fix on him, but the attempt was in vain. The location of his son was impossible to discern over the lunatic stomping through the bush on the outskirts of the cabin as Robert Wilder let loose his psychotic rage.
"Cat, if you can hear me, Blair needs you more than ever before." While the wolf pup seemed to be a permanent fixture in his son's life, the jaguar, and more recently the cougar, came and went at will. Jim tried hard to focus on the positives. The pup, like his son, was young and inexperienced, but if the cat wasn't around, then at least Blair wouldn't be alone. He had to take solace in this; if he didn't, he'd go insane with worry.
Feeling slightly woozy, Ellison levelled his breathing and attempted to sort through the array of tricks he normally used when trying to make his senses cooperate. None of them appeared to be working. Frustrated, he slammed his head back again. "You're nothing but a fucking circus freak," he hissed, angrily.
And then it registered... faint at first, but oddly familiar to his subconscious. Closing his eyes, the sentinel concentrated. A heartbeat. It was a heartbeat. Slow and sluggish, but with every passing second it became stronger, more defined and more recognisable.
"Lucas."
A sound, which couldn't even be described as a groan, came from the boy.
"Lucas," Jim tried again, just as the door swung open.
Footsteps, cautious and unsure, padded down the stairs and the single light bulb, which hung from the overhead beam, was flicked on.
Max Wilder stopped, eyeing Ellison cautiously before hesitantly moving to Lucas's side.
To Jim, the man appeared to be torn; torn between coming to his son's aid and the fear of possible retribution if he did.
As Max reached down and palmed the kid's forehead, Jim knew he'd just found the man's Achilles' heel.
"I can help him, you know." Jim clanked the manacles against the pipe. "I've had some medical training, but I'm not much good to him shackled to this."
For a brief moment, Max seemed to consider his words, but it wasn't enough to elicit the response Jim was desperate for. He tried again, despising what he was about to say. "He's a good kid, you know. A good kid, who needs a father in his life. I know he thinks about you and I know he misses you."
"He does?" Max's words were spoken in quiet surprise, but their tone gave Ellison an inkling of hope that he just might possibly coerce the man into letting him help Lucas.
"Of course he misses you." Another voice was added to the mix, shattering Jim's hopes. "You're his father. Every boy loves his father."
Max stiffened at his brother's voice. "I wasn't doing anything. I just wanted to make sure he was okay."
"I know." Robert moved to squat down beside Max. His dark eyes bore straight into Jim's, almost if challenging him for his brother's loyalty. "I know because we're a family and families never betray one another." He took hold of Max's hand, their entwined fingers reaching out to dust over Lucas's chest. "Families care." Robert popped open the buttons on the teenager's shirt. "Families cherish." He caressed the smooth skin beneath their combined touch. "Families love." He guided their fingers down, stopping at the waistband of Lucas's jeans. "Families obey." Still joined, he forced their hands to slide under the loose-fitting material before stopping and cupping Lucas's crotch. "And," he said, slowly and seductively trailing his tongue up the side of his brother's face, "all the best families copulate together."
As much as Jim wanted to yell and to scream and, with the way his current train of thought was leading him, to kill, he remained quiet, not taking the bait. Any action by him would exact a reaction from Wilder; for Lucas's sake, it wasn't a risk he could afford to take.
"But I guess you already know about sex, don't you cop?" Wilder squeezed his nephew's genitals. "Look what you've had laid out on a platter for the past eight months. Tell me, what's it's like to have a sixteen-year-old and a toddler sucking on the end of you dick at the same time?"
Jim remained unresponsive, but Lucas stirred. His eyes moved sluggishly beneath stubbornly closed lids. "'im." It was weak and it was raw with pain, but there was no mistaking the name.
"Well, well, seems our boy here would agree." Robert squeezed harder. "Let's see if we can incite some sexual tension into his voice. I could do with a peep show."
"Robert, I think we should stop. He's not doing so well."
"Huh, an opinion!" Robert feigned shock. "My baby brother seems to have found his balls." He pulled his hands from Lucas's pants. "What else has the cop been saying to you to give you this new-found courage, brother?"
"Nothing." Max yanked his hand free as well. "I'm just concerned for Lucas, that's all."
"I see," Robert replied. "So concerned that you take it upon yourself to make the rules."
"No," Max stuttered.
Ellison noticed the fine tremors that began to take hold over Max. Whether it was nerves, or whether Max was in need of another hit, he couldn't be sure.
"A relationship, brother, is a fine, but fickle lady. Treated well, she'll give you all the attention your heart desires. But if ignored, her blood will turn to ice." Robert rose to his feet and unbuttoned his jeans. "You wouldn't want her to go cold on you, would you?" Reaching into his pants, he fisted his cock. "Think of all the wondrous things she gives you."
Without question or a second thought, Max took over, aiming to show Robert his unwavering obedience. Freeing his brother's penis from his pants, he wrapped his lips around it, suckling hard, just as Robert liked.
"All she asks for in return is your love," Robert crooned. Running his hand through Max's hair, his breath hitched as he came close to release. "Your love, your obedience and your undeniable loyalty."
Semen flooded Max's mouth and, with the submission that was expected, he allowed not one drop to spill.
Robert breathed heavily, a trickle of sweat running down the side of his face. He patted his brother's shoulder. "Go upstairs. What you need is in my bag."
Without even a glance toward his son, Max left, taking the steps two at a time.
Wilder laughed with satisfaction. "You have approximately twelve hours before your services will no longer be required, cop, and if you wish to keep the current state of health you're enjoying at the moment, I wouldn't try that again." He adjusted his pants back into place. "Guilt trips don't work on the hopelessly guilty. Lucas may be his son, but dear brother has long passed the point of standing up for the boy." Locking his fingers around Lucas's wrist, Robert dragged the teenager to within Ellison's reach. "I want him up and functioning come morning. I may have certain specialised tastes that I like to indulge in, but necrophilia ain't one of them."
The stairs creaked and the door and the bolt clicked shut. Jim left out a sigh of relief. "Fuck," he swore under his breath. Wilder was one serious bucket full of psycho. He'd come across some sick bastards in his time, and his ability to deal with them was pretty well refined. But this time he had personal attachments, and they fuelled a rage that he'd never quite felt before. Ellison knew that he was about to cross the line from being a cop to being one hell of a dangerous man.
Turning his attention toward Lucas, Jim pressed his finger down on Lucas's neck, relieved to find a pulse that was strong and steady. Although he was concerned by the boy's lingering state of unconsciousness, Lucas's breathing was even and steady and, when pushed, he seemed to respond to stimuli.
With nothing available to help him treat the kid, all Jim could do was to keep talking, keep stimulating and try to bring Lucas around. "I'm sorry kiddo, I'm so very, very sorry." Sorry that I wasn't around to take you away from it a long time ago, and sorry that I couldn't do anything to stop it just now.
He ran his fingers through Lucas's hair. "I'm going to do everything I possibly can to get you out of here, Lucas." His thumb drifted across a cold and clammy cheek. "But I'm gonna need your help. You need to wake up so we can blow this joint, Half-pint." Jim's touch became firmer, in an effort to try and rouse the kid. "'Cause I promise you, before this is over, this place will blow, and it'll blow hard."
With his survival drive for his boys running on overdrive, Jim was determined that when the last man stood, that man would not be Robert Wilder. He had killed in the line of duty before, and at this very moment his interpretation of 'the line' had become a whole new shade of grey.
~oOo~
"Try and breathe through it, okay?" Each passing hour had seen Lucas's condition slowly improve and, despite the pain of his own injury and his limited range of movement, Jim had successfully encouraged the kid to move in between his legs and lean back against his chest. "That's it, just keep it up and let it pass."
Fighting off the nausea that had begun over an hour ago, Lucas sucked in heavily. His confusion was slowly abating; he was becoming more aware of what was happening and what had happened. "Blair?" he mumbled.
"He got away."
"You can hear him?" Lucas breathed.
"No, I can't find him."
"Need to concentrate." Lucas still struggled with the fog that was clouding him and even the act of talking was taking its toll.
Ellison let out a small huff. "Yeah," he agreed. Hell, if I concentrated any more, Uri Geller would be outta business and this pipe would be history, he thought. Not that he had any intention of sharing his problems with Lucas. The kid had enough on his plate without needing to worry about the screwy senses of an incompetent sentinel.
"You were shot?" Lucas tried to wrap his thoughts around the memory. "You were shot," he stated.
"Just a little," Jim quipped.
"It'll need to be bandaged ... stop the bleeding."
Jim wrapped his free arm around Lucas's chest to stop the kid from moving and ran his hand up and down his arm. "It's taken care of," he assured. "My shirt's seen better days though," he added.
"I'll buy you another one for father's day," Lucas responded, quietly.
Jim pulled the boy closer. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."
"I'm sorry, Jim," Lucas whispered.
"Hey, don't go there, okay? None of this is your fault. You are not and never have been responsible for that bastard's actions."
"But if I'd never meet you guys..."
"Then my life would have been a whole lot emptier. I wouldn't have you and there's a very good chance I might never have seen Blair again." Jim tightened his grip. "Now, enough talking. You need to rest."
"I won't back down from him, Jim. I promise."
"Lucas, you're not to challenge him," Jim ordered. "He hasn't restrained you yet, so that's your trump card, kid. The first opening you get, I want you to hightail it into the scrub and get as far as way from here as you can."
"I'm not going to leave you," Lucas rasped.
"Yes, you are, and when you do, you're going to find Blair."
"But he'll kill you."
Jim was well aware that in a game with stakes this high, anything could happen, but he had an advantage that Wilder didn't. He hadn't underestimated his enemy.
The father was also a cop and an ex-ranger, who had no intention of tossing in his cards or revealing his hand too early. To stay alive, he needed to play the game with caution and with subterfuge. Wilder would have no idea what he was up against until it hit him with full force.
"Promise me you'll find Blair, Lucas."
Lucas leaned heavier into Jim's chest and closed his eyes. "I promise," he whispered. I just can't promise that after I do, I won't come back for you. "I won't let you down," he mumbled.
Jim pressed a light kiss to the side of Lucas's head. "You never do kiddo, you never do."
Succumbing to his own weariness, Jim leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Blair's face filled the darkness, his beautiful, cheeky smile warming his heart and reminding him of just how very much he had to live for. Taking comfort in that thought, Jim held onto the vision for as long as he could. Be safe baby, just please be safe, because Daddy can't live without you.
~oOo~