Dollhouse Part 6

XXX

Kota

Creeping down the carpeted staircase, my heart in my throat, I silently counted each step down. North took point, his face a mask of focused rage. I tightened my grip on my 9mm and forced my own anger down. While I was unbelievably pissed and disgusted at the dire state of the two small Ayers brothers upstairs, I knew I needed to focus right now. Sang's life depended on our ability to concentrate and take out the threat that was Dr. Adam Ayers. Just the name of the psychopath who was responsible for the agony and slow destruction of my team these last 6 weeks was enough to set my skin crawling.

North reached the closed door at the end of the hallway and glanced back at us all, to which I nodded my encouragement. I counted two breaths in and out before North leaped into action and charged inside, the rest of us close at his heels. I saw him freeze only a heartbeat later, but it wasn't until I fanned out to his right that I was able to see what had given him pause. Taking in the scene in front of me, I felt the air rush out of my lungs as if I had been savagely sucker punched in the gut.

It had been a total of six weeks, two days, and five hours since I had last seen Sang Sorenson, the girl who had completely changed my life for the better and whom I loved desperately. Sang had always seemed delicate, but now she looked so tiny and fragile in the small wooden chair. Despite the eerie make-up, hair, and dress, she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I quickly assessed her current state, reassuring myself. Ten fingers and ten toes. Her body, however, was strangely inert and I remembered with absolute disgust the effects of the drug she had been captive under all these weeks. Six weeks, I reminded myself again. The sight of the strong arm across her chest and the large surgical scalpel at her jugular sent a jolt of bitter fear through my system. It was her big green eyes, alight with pain and fear that broke through the shock that had momentarily seized my body.

A deep dark rage that I had been carefully pushing down, deeper and deeper as the weeks dragged on, filled my chest. As I stared upon the monster responsible for so much agony and despair, I had to will myself not to put a bullet between his crazed, soulless eyes. The blood rushing through my ears made it difficult to focus on anything being said around me. The roar in my head drowned out my own thoughts and I had to focus my eyes elsewhere or I wouldn't be able to control myself further. I found my gaze dragged back down to Sang's delicate neck as agitated fingers dug the scalpel further into flawless pale skin. Blood welled up at the edge of the blade as one drop, two, flowed slowly down the creamy white expanse only to pool in the small hollow of her throat.

I had been so transfixed by the small pool of scarlet that the moment Sang suddenly pitched forward caught me by complete surprise. It took the span of only a half of a heartbeat to realize what was happening and my own cry of desperate panic was lost to the roar of five others. The look of complete bewilderment on the bastard's face as he stared at the bloody scalpel would have seemed hilarious in another context. Now, it just made me want to rip it off of him with my bare hands. My sheer fury left me in a brief moment of indecision. Sang needed help, but this man needed to be taken down. My decision was made for me when a bellow of absolute and total rage echoed through the room and a blond blur tackled the mad man with great force.

I couldn't see Luke's face, but the power of his first blow to the quack's face left little doubt to the sheer fury that was coursing through him at this moment. With everything that Luke had gone through these last six weeks, I felt he deserved to be the swift hand of justice at the moment. After all, he was merely doing what I and every member on this team had yearned to do from day one.

"Kota! I need you over here, now! North, get Luke off of him and make sure Ayers is secured."

I was next to Mr. Blackbourne in a heartbeat. As I took in the violent spasms that wracked Sang's petite frame, bile rose up my throat. The involuntary cramping and clenching of her muscles looked frightening and painful. Silas was holding her as stationary as possible in the recovery position. Mr. Blackbourne held her feet down and Nathan had his over-shirt pressed tightly to her neck. Pink foam was frothing out around the edges of his shirt which was quickly darkening with blood. Oh, God! Sang's blood!

"Kota! Mr. Lee! I need you to run up and grab Sean, now!"

I forced down the panic that threatened to overthrow my reason and glanced down briefly at Sang's face, which was quickly becoming tinged with blue, and bolted up into the hall and upstairs.

"Doc! Doc! DOC!"

Dr. Green pounded through the kitchen and met me into the living room, concern and fear bright in his eyes. Green like mine. Green like Sang's. I counted my heartbeats in an attempt to get air into my lungs but only managed to get out a few pitiful phrases.

"Sang...she's seizing,,,and there's blood, oh God, so much blood..."

Apparently it was all the Doc needed to hear, for he was quickly sprinting around me and down the stairs. I chased after him and within moments, we were back into the damn nightmare that had become our lives. The Doc rushed over to Sang's side and instantly took charge. I wanted to desperately see how Sang was doing, but she was completely blocked off from my sight. I knew that I would only be in the way if I went over there now.

Another bellow of dark rage drew my gaze and I saw North desperately trying to pull Luke off of the bloody and stationary form of Dr. Ayers. Luke was throwing hit after hit savagely, blood covering his fists and front. I indulged the thought that maybe the bastard was dead, but a small shift of his shoulders quickly dispelled that notion. The arm closest to me inched out to the side and closed around something small, a bright glint catching the light and I was suddenly moving forward as fast as I could. It was as if my senses went into hyper-awareness as I advanced across the room.

"Luke, North! Move back!"

I infused as much authority into that one command as I was able and it probably saved Luke's life. Luke immediately stopped fighting North, who yanked his brother back swiftly as Dr. Ayers swung the scalpel in a wild arc. He caught Luke across the chest from the bottom of his right rib cage to his left shoulder. North's roar of anger blocked out Luke's cry of pain and then I had the bastard's hand in my grip. I broke his wrist without hesitation, forcing him to drop the scalpel with a loud yelp. I kicked the blood coated weapon across the room and out into the hallway and twisted his wrist further. The shriek of pain that met my ears sent a dark thrill of excitement through me, but I controlled the urge to drag this out any longer. I withdrew my gun once more and struck him hard across the temple.

The psychopath dropped like a stone and then I was turning my focus on Luke. North had dragged him across the room and set him against the wall. He had ripped Luke's slashed shirt and was now using it to staunch the steady flow of blood. A the sight of the crimson sheet across Luke's chest, I felt my stomach clench in anxiety. I was really coming to hate that shitty color. I reassessed the state of the mad man at my feet to ensure he was really out for the count. And if I just happened to deliver a sharp kick to the ribs to make sure, well, no one would blame me.

Without so much as a groan from the sick bastard, I rushed over to help North out. Luke's skin looked unusually pale and his face was drawn tight with pain. Bead's of sweat dotted his forehead and as North pressed down tighter on the deepest portion of the cu and he bit off a low curse. North's face was a mask of black fury and concern as he attempted to stem the bleeding. I knew that if Luke hadn't been injured seriously by the quack, we'd have one less psychopath on our hands.

"North, how deep did he get him?"

"That fucker only got him with a glancing blow, thanks to you, but that scalpel was fucking sharp and I think it went down to the bone."

He sent me a quick glance and I saw the gratitude deep in his gaze. We both knew that if I hadn't been paying attention, Luke would have probably got that swipe across the throat. And it wouldn't have been a glancing blow. We both shared a small grimace as I ripped off my own shirt. I balled up the material and pressed it to the lower portion of the cut along his ribs. The addition of my own firm press forced out a sharp curse from Luke and he leaned his head back as he clenched his eyes in agony. The tendons and veins in his neck were visible in stark relief under his suddenly red skin and I offered a soft apology before I pressed that much harder.

/

Jaimie

"-imie...Oy, Jaimie! I need you to stay with me, big guy. There you are. That's right kiddo, keep those pretty gold eyes right on mine, okay? I know that you're tired, kiddo, but you need to just keep awake until the ambulance comes here, okay?"

I really wanted to do what the nice boy, Gabriel, was asking of me, but I was really, really sleepy. The pain had faded away awhile ago and now Gabriel's jacket was keeping me warm. After the intense fear and agony of this evening, I felt exhausted. It felt like I could float away at any moment and my body felt heavy. If it wasn't for Victor and Gabriel's prodding, I'm sure I would have fallen asleep ages ago. It was getting harder to pay attention.

A commotion in the living room had drawn the really nice Dr. Green away and I hadn't seen him since. He was very gentle and kind, unlike Sir. His eyes were a pretty, sparkling green, just like Sang and Seth's eyes. Just like mommy's eyes. Last year, when Seth told me the truth about the dolly mommies and our mommy, he had shown me a picture of her. In the picture, mommy was holding a giggling Seth in one arm and me in the other. Seth looked just like her. His hair, his eyes, his cheeks, his nose, all were exactly like mommy. Seth promised that I looked just like mommy too, but I knew that was a lie. My eyes weren't dark like Sir's, but they weren't pretty green like mommy's. My nose was just like his and my chin came from him as well. Maybe if I had looked like mommy more, she would have loved me like she loved Seth. Maybe she wouldn't have tried to leave and Sir wouldn't have killed her or the others,

"-y! Jaimie, come on kiddo. Focus on me. You're doing such a good job. I know, why don't you tell me about your brother, Seth, huh? You obviously care a lot for him and he really loves you, I can tell. It's a big brother thing. I...I had a little brother just like you and I loved him very much. Can you talk to me Jaimie?"

Weird chills followed by strange waves of warmth chased one another through my body and I felt my trembling get a little stronger, despite the warm jacket that smelled like oranges and mint. The weird sensations felt funny and were scaring me a lot. However, at the mention of Seth, I felt it slightly easier to focus. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts before I looked at Gabriel's bright blue eyes. They swam a little in my sight but I found them very pretty. I also liked the matching blue earrings he had in each ear. They twinkled in the poor lighting of Seth's room.

"Y-you know, you h-h-have ver-ry pr-rett-y b-lue eyes-s."

I saw Gabriel's face frown at my response and wasn't sure why. He did have very pretty eyes, just like a pretty summer sky. Or a little blue bird. I was also frustrated by my uncooperative mouth. I knew what I wanted to say, but I was having trouble getting it out. I felt my face scrunch up as I concentrated and got out a couple of slow sentences.

"They are r-really prett-ty, Gabriel. Like a b-blue sky."

There, I got it out a little more clearly and I got my point across. Gabriel's mouth just pinched tighter, but he didn't say anything else about it, so I think he got my message. I then remembered Gabriel's question about Seth and felt a small smile cross my face in response.

"Seth...he's m-my best fr-iend. He p-protects me from S-s-sir. He gives me hug-gs and plays with m-me. He's strong and sm-mart and kind. He giv-ves me the b-best hugs. I d-do l-lo- I l-l-lov-"

It was getting really hard to say what I wanted to. Suddenly I felt Gabriel's hands on my cheek and his blue eyes were suddenly really close to mine. I noticed the ring of icy blue around the center of his eyes as they expanded and contracted. There were other layers of warmer blues surrounding it and I watched in fascination as they began to spin, faster and faster. The whole world started spinning faster and it hurt my head to keep up. A stinging pain on my cheek brought the whirling to a halt and I could suddenly see Gabriel's face clearly. He looked scared and I could see his mouth moving up and down. He looked like a large goldfish and that image made me giggle.

Suddenly, two men I had never seen before replaced Gabriel and I was very scared. I wanted Seth, with his warm hugs and teasing grin. I wanted Sang, who smelled like mommy and held my pinky. I wanted North with his strong voice and gentle hands. I wanted Dr. Green, with his kind green eyes. I wanted Gabriel with his pretty blue sky eyes and his big smile. Who were these people? Why were they touching me? No, no, no, no, NO! I was suddenly screaming for anybody to come save me from these scary people who were taking me away.

A warm hand gripped mine and sky eyes stared into my own. Oh, he hadn't left me. I gave him my biggest smile as I felt the strangers pick me up and set me on an uncomfortable table. Darkness flickered at the edge of my vision and I looked around for Seth. I needed to see him before I went away forever. I saw two other strangers working around Seth's broken form, but it was the person standing behind them that made me start crying. The prettiest green eyes I've ever seen turned up in a smile as mommy leaned down and gave Seth a kiss on his forehead. As I fell completely into the black void, I felt gentle lips on my own forehead and I had to smile. Mommy had come for me after all.

/

Kota

I could feel Luke's blood soaking through the thin membrane of my shirt, but thankfully our combined pressure appeared to be slowing it down. Luke's teeth were tightly gritted against the pain, but he hadn't made a sound in a while. I glanced behind me to make sure the psycho was still knocked out, relieved he hadn't moved an inch. Reassured, I turned forward once again to focus on the task at hand. I resisted the urge to look over at the mass of my teammates hovering around Sang. The Doc knew what he was doing and he'd keep her stable until help arrived. I was silently counting off the seconds in my head to keep myself focused.

I'd estimated that about five minutes had passed since Luke had been cut and I wasn't liking how pale he had gotten. Blood loss aside, I could kick myself for forgetting about the possibility of shock, Cursing softly under my breath, I turned to meet North's dark gaze, a silent question in his steady eyes.

"North, I need you to press down on my shirt. I'm going to grab the blanket and put it over Luke. Hey, Luke, focus on me, man. Be honest, do you feel light headed or dizzy? Cold? Shaky?"

"No, I'm fine. This hurts like a bitch and I'm a little dizzy, but that's from the blood loss. I'm not going into shock, okay?"

I ignored his tough talk and shifted out of the way when North took over for me. As I stood up and rushed over to the small bed, I got a quick look at Sang between the others. She didn't appear to be seizing any longer, but she was now frightfully still and obscenely pale. My view was swiftly cut off by Silas' strong back and I struggled to refocus on my own task at hand. I needed to make sure Luke was okay until we could get him to the hospital. I yanked the dainty pink comforter from the small bed and sent a silent prayer above that Gabriel hadn't come down. Between Sang's freaky state of dress and the color theme of this shitty room, I think he'd have an aneurysm. As it was, I really wanted to throw up myself.

I stopped by the quack's side and checked his breathing. As much as I wanted to kill the son of a bitch, I had a sudden brutal impulse to make him pay for every death and wrong doing he had committed. Death was way too much of a mercy right now and most definitely too kind a fate for this monster. Not after pulverizing the shit out of his own kids. Not after slashing one of my brother's. And you can be damn sure that it was too good a fate for the man who had taken Sang from us and tortured her these past few weeks. Six weeks. I had counted every second of every day of them just to stay sane. Unable to repress my anger any further, I jabbed a swift kick back to his ribs, but still he remained unresponsive. Good, the piece of shit.

I nudged North to let him know I was back and between the two of us, we got Luke leaning forward enough to drape the rose printed comforter around his back and shoulders. He twisted his mouth at the almost cheery pattern but took it in stride as he clutched the edges around his body. That was, until North began to give him shit.

"Dude, you look way too comfortable in that girly fucking blanket. If you like it so much, maybe we should have Gabe redecorate your fucking room pink."

"At least Sang would like it, dipshit. She'd want to stay in my room way more often then that dreary piece of shithole you call your room. Besides, this smells like her."

All hints of teasing drained out his voice at this last comment and he looked suddenly vulnerable. I could see North tense up at the emotion in his brother's voice. He had been trying so desperately to break through Luke's self imposed punishment out of misplaced guilt since Sang had been kidnapped. I had zero doubt in my mind who was truly at fault for this whole damn mess, and it sure as hell wasn't Luke. Luke had been distracted for less than a minute on the phone. Less than one damn minute before Sang had been pulled out of his line of sight. It was just shitty luck and coincidence that that bastard had been able to take Sang out from under our noses. Just a few more seconds earlier and Luke would have seen the little kid leading Sang away. Just a few seconds more and Nathan would have seen the quack attacking Sang. Just shitty timing and shittier luck.

But now that we were here and Luke was in pain with Sang just across the room, alive I added, Luke's shell was coming down fast. Anguish crumpled his face and his eyes grew glassy with tears. He locked eyes with his brother's and North suddenly looked terrified. Luke's hand quickly clenched into North's shirt and then he was crying, begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry I lost her, North, I'm sorry!"

North pulled Luke into a one armed embrace, carefully maintaining pressure as he cradled his fragile older brother. I had always felt that it was ironic that North was the younger brother when he always seemed like the older of the two. However, in that moment he did everything he could to hold Luke together, as if letting go would result in Luke shattering into a billion tiny, jagged pieces. I felt tears in the back of my throat, but I swallowed them down and watched over my friends as they finally addressed Luke's self-disgust and deep guilt.

A thundering down the stairs drew my attention and suddenly paramedics were on scene. They rushed over to Sang's side and Dr. Green quickly filled them in on her condition. Silas and Nathan came to stand by our small group and I was concerned by how pale they appeared. We all sat back in shock as the EMT's got Sang strapped onto a gurney and then they were out the door. The suddenness of their retreat left me more than a little stunned. Dr. Green had followed the EMTs out of the small room, but Mr. Blackbourne rushed over to our side. I dimly noted the blood that coated Nathan's hands and I found myself looking at my own. Sang's blood. Luke's blood.

God, what a disaster.

"Mr. Lee, Mr Taylor. What the hell happened here!"

I was jolted out of my thoughts at Mr. Blackbourne's barking command. He must had been livid

to be swearing right now, I thought dimly. What happened here? A fucking psychopath happened. I was tempted to say as much, but somehow felt Mr. Blackbourne wouldn't appreciate that comment.

"North was trying to get Luke off of Dr. Ayers, but he was having trouble because Luke was fighting hard. North had almost succeeded when I saw the doctor grab the scalpel. I was able to just warn them when he cut at Luke."

"And it's a damn good thing he did. That fucking bastard would have slit Luke's fucking throat otherwise. I think it glanced off his ribs, but I'm positive it missed anything vital and we got the bleeding down."

Mr. Blackbourne frowned at our report before raking a hand through his normally perfect hair. He turned and paced away from our group before he stopped at the comatose form of Dr. Adam Ayers. Judging from the rigid set of his shoulders and the shaking clenched fists at his side, he was glaring in complete anger at the man. I wonder if Mr. Blackbourne was tempted to get a few pot shots in too at the son of a bitch. Without looking at us, Mr Blackbourne's icy, clipped voice reached us across the room.

"Mr. Taylor, Mr. Korba, Mr. Griffin, you three are to get Luke to the hospital to get that cut looked at and cleaned up. Afterward, you will wait for the rest of us in the waiting room to hear about Miss Sorenson and the two Ayers children's conditions. You will update me as the situation progresses. Do I make myself clear?"

Grunts and nods of assent followed the orders and within moments, North and Silas had Luke suspended between them and were hurrying out the door. Nathan stopped at my side, placed a hand on my shoulder, and I could see the concern and question in his eyes. Are you okay? No, I really wasn't, with Luke's blood covering my hands and arms and Sang's blood now soaking through my shirt. In fact, I was about as far from okay as was possible, but Nathan didn't need to worry about that. I merely gave him a tight smile and a quick nod of the head that I was positive looked more like a grimace, but he seemed to understand. He gave me a small squeeze and then he was out the door.

I found myself staring at the rigid set of Mr. Blackbourne's back and waiting for him to make the first move. Obviously, he had had me stay behind for a reason, but I wasn't in a rush to find out what. It was obvious that he needed to calm down and regain control over himself and I really didn't mind waiting. Everything that we had set out to do tonight had been done. We had found our girl. We had rushed to the aid of her and the two young boys. We had removed them all from the clutches of a psychotic, abusive murderer. They were on their way to get the medical aid they all so desperately needed. Said murderer was now at our mercy and incapacitated. After all that, whatever came next didn't worry me at all and so I waited for Mr. Blackbourne to speak.

"We contacted the proper authorities around the same time as the ambulances. However, the hospital is much closer than the high security facility that will be taking Dr. Ayers. I just received a notification that they are still a half hour out. While I commend your speedy dispatch, we need to secure him completely until they arrive."

I bit back any further questions I might have had and walked over to help Mr. Blackbourne out. He dragged over the small wooden chair and set it next to the unconscious man and stared down at him with an unreadable expression. He knelt in front of him before he roughly yanked at the bloodstained button up shirt, pulling the man up into an awkward sitting position. I jumped forward to help and after a few awkward moments of juggling the bastard's dead weight, we got him situated in the chair. Mr. Blackbourne held out several clothe ties to me and I grabbed them up. We worked in unison to tightly secure the unconscious man to the small chair and afterward stood side by side regarding him.

It was the first time that I was able to really look at the poor excuse for a man. I felt grim satisfaction settle into my chest as I took in the state of his face. It was swollen and misshapen from Luke's frenzied punches, but judging from the fact that his face wasn't a complete battered mess, I supposed that North had tried to stop him fairly early on. Too bad, the bastard deserved way worse. I suddenly felt my two hard kicks to his side were well deserved. The bruise from my gun on his temple stood out brightly against his pale skin, further pleasing me. He looked so deceptively normal right then. He really was completely average. There was no other way to put it.

A small groan escaped his busted up lip and I felt myself tense instantly in response. His dull brown eyes opened slowly and he appeared to be having trouble focusing. The dim light in the room caused him to wince before he reopened them and glanced around. As soon as they focused on us, he froze in surprise. Confusion quickly gave way to anger and he frantically began darting his gaze around, searching. He obviously didn't find what he was looking for because he was suddenly bucking wildly against his restraints, howling like a stuck pig. I fought to keep my face impassive and bland, mimicking Mr. Blackbourne's expression of cool disdain.

"Where is she!? Where is my wife!? Where have you taken Eve!? I'll kill you! I'll kill you for taking her from me! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARDS!"

He was practically frothing at the mouth as he continued to shout obscenities and threaten us, bucking so violently that the wooden chair would groan frequently in protest. I blocked out his insane ramblings, intent on watching his every move to make sure that he remained restrained. A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and the loud sound of metal against flesh echoed through the room. I stiffened in complete shock. Mr. Blackbourne had just struck the son of a bitch with his gun, right across the face. Mr. Blackbourne had freaking pistol whipped the bastard! Judging by the stunned expression across Ayers' face, he hadn't been expecting it either.

I found myself openly gaping at Mr. Blackbourne in shock when Ayers appeared to recover from his surprise and pain. The bellow of rage that followed made me startle a little bit, but Mr. Blackbourne merely pinched his lips further together in displeasure. The absolute disgust and loathing in Mr. Blackbourne's eyes was honestly staggering as he regarded the renewed struggles of our captive. Without a single change of expression, he calmly raised his gun once again and with lightening speed, struck Ayers across the same temple I had hit earlier. I'm pretty sure it was intentional.

Ayers dropped his head forward in an instant and I was positive he would have collapsed to the floor without the cloth ties securing him in place. A cut had opened across his temple at Mr. Blackbourne's last strike and it sluggishly oozed down his lax face and dripped from his chin. I really fucking hated that color now. I knew my lips were curled in complete disgust at the moment and I really willed the man into the deepest circle of hell right then. I had never really considered myself a religious guy before tonight, but for this monster? I really hoped that hell was as horrible a place as it sounded, because this son of a bitch deserved VIP seating.

"Mr. Lee. Are you okay?"

I had been staring blankly at the drying blood on my hands when I registered the words. Why did people keep asking me that? It wasn't until I heard the concern in Mr. Blackbourne's smooth voice that I realized I was shaking really hard. Firm hands gripped my shoulder and I was suddenly staring into the piercing steel gaze of the man I looked up to the most. He wordlessly searched my eyes and I felt my trembling begin to subside. I needed to snap out of it, now. Mr. Blackbourne seemed to sense that I had recollected myself because he gave me a small nod in response. He stiffened momentarily before whipping out his cell once again.

"Mr. Lee, the others have made it to the hospital and Miss Sorenson and the two Ayers children have been rushed to emergency surgery. Luke is getting his cut examined currently and will be getting several stitches. It looks like he missed anything vital."

Before he could finish his report, a commotion upstairs distracted us both. "Looks like the facility personnel have arrived to apprehend Dr. Ayers. After we get this all squared away, we will head over to the hospital to join the others. And Mr. Lee? Everything is going to be okay. The hard part is over and I promise you that I will make sure that this man pays for everything he has done to our family and the others."

The silent 'trust me' went unsaid. I'm not sure how he was able to know exactly what I needed to hear, but I did trust him. I trusted him with my life and the livess of my family members. The leashed and controlled fury within his icy gaze told me more than any words could. Mr. Blackbourne would make sure that this son of a bitch paid for each and every sin he had committed and he would pay very dearly at that. Mr. Blackbourne would get his pound of flesh and I felt a morbid burst of humor as I thought that the mad doctor would not like Mr. Blackbourne's price. I was only disappointed that I wasn't the one who would be collecting his due.