"Wait- hold on- just hold on." Madeline was not mentally or emotionally prepared for what the big man was telling her. She needed a nap and some Tylenol and food and a fucking hoodie or something because she was freezing her ass off. And now on top of all that the big burly men were dropping bombshells on her left and right.

The pounding in her head hadn't lessened the least bit, it had only gotten worse. She had no idea how long it had been since the goons had electrocuted the hell out of her. Too long. She'd been out for too long and didn't even want to think about what had been done to her in that state.

She still had all her clothes on (so there was that to be grateful for) minus her shoes and socks. Her toes were bare against the cement. She figured they'd taken them to make her escape that much harder. Madeline knew that if she was on the other side of the bars bare feet would not factor into getting the hell out.

Still, though- they'd had taken her goddamn shoes.

The thought made her temples throb harder and her skin crawl. At least it hadn't been Bruised Nuts and Broken Nose that had come to collect her. But she couldn't focus on that- she had to remain in the present. And presently everything sucked but with what she'd just been told- it could have sucked worse.

She had a handle on her predicament- kidnapped to be experimented on and then forced to have sex with someone she didn't know. It was sick and twisted but not beyond reasonable doubt. What Brown Eyes had just told her zoomed right past any kind of reasonable doubt and landed light-years away.

"Wait, wait." Mads had to grip her head again. Her brain felt pressurized like it was going to explode out the back of her skull. It probably didn't help that her fellow captives kept dropping bombshells on her. Tears blurred her eyes imagining their lives. "Are you telling me that you were... created by these... fuckwads... and have been kept in these cages all of your lives... being experimented on and tortured for... all of your lives?"

It was unbelievable. Every single part of what he'd just told her was utterly unbelievable. Even as her head reeled she knew that it was true. Madeline Thorn held no delusions of people and what exactly they were capable of. People were horrible and cruel. That was a lesson she had learned well in her life. So, it really wasn't a stretch to believe the horrible truth about the three men in the cages around her.

It was terrifying and sickening but as her mind settled- not altogether shocking. Lab created human hybrids who'd been tortured and experimented on their whole lives? They'd been in cages, treated like animals- not even animals- things. The thought sent her into another red haze where she could do nothing but curse vehemently for a few minutes. It was either that or cry and she sure as hell wasn't gonna cry.

"You say many curses I have never heard before. I like it." Yellow eyes claimed her attention with an amused tone and startled her out of her anger. His lips were pulled into a half-smile, his fangs on display, and he cocked his head at her. "What is Popsicle stick?"

She tried. She really fucking tried to keep her tears in. To not cry. To be strong and stoic and not a sissy but it was useless. Madeline burst into tears at his innocuous question. It was ridiculous and stupid but the fact that he had no idea what a Popsicle stick was tore at her heart. And damn, she liked to pretend she didn't have one, but she did and it hurt. They probably didn't know what ice cream was or teddy bears or parks or swings or anything a childhood should have had. All they knew was the worst side of people and their cages.

"Why are you crying? Is it bad?" He suddenly looked alarmed and pushed up against his bars to get closer to her.

A howl rent the air and Mads jolted around to watch as Brown Eyes lifted from his haunches and gripped the bars like he was trying to bend them.

"Do not make her cry! Do not say such things to her!" He was growling and pissed and it was as surprising as it was sad.

They had no idea why she was crying or what the hell had made her cry which in turn only made her cry harder. Which was just ridiculous and she knew it. Giggles started taking over the silent sobs and soon she was laughing as tears fell down her face. And shit, her head was killing her. She was losing it.

"Mads." Brown Eyes was on his knees now and looking all earnestly at her. "Do not cry. He did not mean it."

"I told you her mind would break."

Another growl ripped out of Brown Eyes' throat and he was on his feet again.

She had to stop. They were freaking out and pretty soon she would tumble down the rabbit hole into actual hysteria. She had to pull her shit together. Mads held her breath until she couldn't giggle or sob and wiped at her eyes. It took her a minute to get under control again. Dark eyes kept up his pacing only to pause every few seconds to stare at her. Yellow eyes looked perplexed and sheepish like he was somehow to blame. And the green-eyed one was at his door again scowling at her.

"No- I wasn't crying because of that- it doesn't mean anything bad." Mads wiped at her eyes again and took a deep breath. "I'm not insulted or broken." She glared towards the one scowling at her. "Have a little faith, shit."

"Then why were you crying, Mads?" His rough voice drew her attention away from glaring at the third male and back to the mesmerizing man.

"It wasn't- I was- because I was mad. Those fuckers created you guys- you've been tortured and experimented on-" How the hell did she put her craziness into words? "You don't know what a Popsicle stick is and that made me sad thinking about what other things you don't know about all because these assholes have kept you locked in cages your whole lives."

"You cry for us?"

"Well, yeah." Mads rubbed away the last of the wet on her face and carefully placed her face against the cold metal bars. The startling cold felt good against her aching skull. "It's sad."

There was a long silence where no one spoke or growled. Mads didn't want to take her pounding head off the cold bars to look at the men around her.

"You are a strange human." That was Green Eyes' voice. It was less rough and clipped then she'd become accustomed to.

"I probably am compared to the scum buckets you've known." Mads lifted her face away from the bars to look at the man across from her cell. "I won't say that most people aren't dicks- but there are also some good ones too. There are lots of people that would be horrified if they knew what these assholes are doing."

"For what you must endure now, I am sorry." His voice was a somber and his bright green eyes locked on hers.

Tears blurred Mads eyes again but she pretended that she wasn't on the verge of breaking down and pressed her face against the cold metal once again. Everything she'd learned whirled inside her mind and made her head throb and goosebumps rise on her skin. Dick had experimented on and tortured the men around her and he was planning on doing the same thing to her. They were going to hurt her with drugs, they were going to make one of the three men rape her, they were going to try and impregnate her, and then they would kill her.

No. She couldn't think about it at that particular moment. She was too close to crying already. Mads forced her eyes back open and locked her gaze on Brown Eyes. He was hunched over on the concrete as close to the bars as he could get and was staring right back at her. She'd somehow forgotten that she'd woken up to them discussing killing her. She should have been scared or, at the very least, a good three feet away from the bars. But she couldn't bring herself to move away. He'd said that he wouldn't kill her and Mads wanted to believe him. No matter how stupid it was to want.

"What's your name?" She couldn't keep calling him Brown Eyes.

"743."

"743?" Her head tilted again and then her shoulders tensed. "I mean your birth name. Not the one these fuckers gave you."

"That is his name." Yellow eyes spoke up this time. "I am 633." He pointed at his chest and then at Green Eyes. "That is 189."

"They numbered you?" Yet more information that sent her grappling with anger and sadness. Tears leaked down her face again but she ignored them. If she didn't she'd start sobbing again. "They fucking numbered you?!"

"Do not cry, Mad."

"I'm not." She was. She needed a break. A time out to sort through all of the shit they'd just piled on. She needed to sleep off this headache. "Look," Mads gripped her head once more and tried to locate the thin mat she'd seen earlier without moving her head too much. "I'm gonna sleep off this headache and then... fuck, I don't know... escape- preferably."

"You are strong, Mads." 743 caught her gaze and stared hard into her eyes. "You will survive this." So he kept saying.

Mads couldn't help but shiver at the intense eye contact. He kept reminding her of that but she didn't feel strong. Not in the least bit. She could feel tears still leaking out of her eyes, her hands and legs were trembling, and her whole body was a giant throb of pain. She felt like a pile of shit and probably looked like one too. But he was right. She would survive.

Mads pulled away from the bars and his intense stare and dragged her body to the tiny mat three feet away. She curled up on the slightly-softer-than-cement rectangle and willed herself to sleep.