I'm so sorry for what I've done to these guys!
Prompt(s) Filled: No 6 - "It should have been me.", No 11 - Captivity, No 15 - "I'm fine.", No 18 - Tortured For Information, "Hit them harder.", No 20 - "You will regret touching them.", Alt 15 - Reluctant Whumper
Virgil paced back and forth across the dimly lit room. It was cold and damp, and there were no windows, only one small bulb that swung softly from the ceiling and created the limited light.
Virgil wasn't concerned about any of that though. He barely paid attention to the cold he felt or where he was or how he'd gotten there. No, right now he was only concerned about where his brother, who had been at his side not long before they had gotten into this mess, was now.
Virgil rubbed a hand over his face as he spun on his heel and paced across to the other side of the room. If he could remember what had happened, he could figure out why he was there and maybe put together a way to get out.
And a way to find Gordon.
As he reached the other wall, he turned around to continue burning a hole into the concrete floor. But then he heard a creak echo through the small space, and he froze on the spot. The sound came from the door, and he whipped his head towards it so fast he heard his neck crack.
Before he had time to register that the door was opening, his younger brother was shoved roughly into the room.
"Watch it," Gordon grumbled at the gruff man that stepped into the room behind him as he stumbled.
Virgil caught him, and Gordon had no time to register that he was there before he was pulled into a crushing hug.
Virgil squeezed him so tightly, he heard the breath of air that got expelled from Gordon's lungs with a muffled "oof" against his shoulder.
"I'm fine, Virg," Gordon tried to reassure him, but Virgil had to see for himself.
He stepped back, but kept his hands on Gordon's shoulders as he scanned his eyes over him. He did appear to be unharmed, and only his ruffled hair and uniform were any indication that something was out of place. However, that didn't mean that his brother was completely fine.
"Sorry to cut the reunion short, but I'm getting impatient."
Virgil straightened as the familiar voice sent a chill down his spine. Without hesitation, he pulled Gordon behind his back and stepped in front of him as he faced the other man.
He had been so busy checking that Gordon was okay, that he didn't even notice that the Hood had joined them in the room.
"What do you want, Hood?"
"What I always want. I want the Thunderbirds, and you're going to give them to me." The Hood didn't even waste any time getting to the point.
Virgil resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the predictability of the other man, but he didn't say anything. There was no point in risking making this situation worse. Gordon, however, didn't seem to share the same qualms as him.
"Nice try, but I think we all know how this goes. Don't you have anything better to do? Or do you enjoy failing?"
Virgil put a warning hand on Gordon's chest as his brother went to step around him, and he sent him a quick glance that he hoped Gordon understood as his way of telling him to shut up. His brother seemed to get the message as he stayed where he was and stopped talking, but he continued to glare at the Hood.
The Hood just seemed amused as he chuckled slightly, but he didn't move from his spot by the door. It was then that Virgil realised he was the only other person in the room with them. His goons must have left when Virgil wasn't paying attention.
"I assure you, I will not fail this time. You will give them to me. That is, if you want to leave here in one piece." He spoke so calmly as he clasped his hands behind his back, and his voice had Virgil's hairs standing on end. "Then again, I will so enjoy watching you break."
Virgil scowled at the implication of those words, and he took a step closer to the other man.
"If you touch him, you will regret it."
The Hood still didn't seem phased by his words, and instead just smiled.
"Oh, it won't be me hurting him."
Virgil's brow furrowed further as he glanced around the room. There was still no one else there with them, and unless the Hood meant that one of his goons was going to come back, Virgil didn't know what he was talking about.
His eyes landed back on the Hood and his twisted grin, and a fury burned inside him. He was tired of the games. He wanted to get Gordon out of there and go home, and the Hood had just reminded him of a way out. There was no one else in there with them, so there was no one there to protect the Hood. It was the perfect time to strike.
Without another second to spare, Virgil darted at the other man. In the same moment he started moving, he pulled his fist back to strike. The distance between them was small, so it only took him a few strides before he was within reach.
He sent his fist towards the other man, but he never made contact.
Virgil froze, his hand a few inches away from the Hood and his feet stuck to the floor. He looked at his fist, but he couldn't get it to move, no matter how much he tried to will it to.
He felt his heart start to pound as he looked at the Hood again, and he found that the man hadn't even flinched. Their faces were so much closer now, and Virgil could see the glowing yellow of his irises.
"What-?" Virgil murmured as his fist dropped and he took a step back. He didn't even realise he was moving until he stood in the centre of the room again.
"Like I said. It won't be me hurting him. It will be you."
Before Virgil had a chance to register what that meant, he spun on the spot and swung his arm around. The back of his hand made contact with Gordon's cheek and sent his brother stumbling.
"What the hell, Virgil?" Gordon cried out as his hand flew to his cheek and he winced.
"I-I don't know what that was." Virgil drew his hands back like he'd burnt them, and he suddenly seemed to have control over his limbs again. "That wasn't me!"
Gordon grew quiet as his gaze slowly dropped to Virgil's hands, and then moved to look past Virgil's shoulder. Virgil followed, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he heard the Hood's words again.
It won't be me hurting him. I will be you.
As Virgil looked back at the Hood, all he saw was his grin that still hadn't swayed, and then Virgil felt his body move of its own volition again.
He lurched as his arm was pulled again, and he had no time to realise what was happening before his hand was wrapped around his brother's throat. Gordon was lifted from the floor and his back was slammed against the wall as his eyes grew wide.
He clawed at Virgil's grip as he gasped for a breath, and Virgil moved similarly as he grasped at his arm with his free hand and tried to pull his own arm away.
"Stop it!" Virgil cried as his body betrayed him. Gordon continued to try and fail to get in a breath, and he looked down at Virgil in alarm.
"I can if you give me what I want," the Hood said from behind him like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"I can't," Virgil choked out.
In response to that, he felt his fingers tighten and his nails dig into skin. A noiseless choke escaped Gordon.
Virgil scratched his own arm, his skin turning red and sore as he desperately tried to get himself to let go of Gordon. Gordon's feet feebly kicked the air beneath him, and his heels hit the wall that he was held against.
Then, Virgil felt his heart plummet as he noticed Gordon's movements had begun to weaken, and his own movements grew more frantic. Gordon's grip around his wrists grew slack and his eyes started to flutter.
"Let him go!" Virgil begged as he continued to yank and pull at his own, unresponsive limbs.
Abruptly, Gordon was thrown to the ground with a strength Virgil didn't know he possessed. Virgil wasn't expecting the sudden movement, and he tripped and nearly lost his balance, feeling like he had a taut rope connected to his body that had been snapped.
Control over his limbs hit him again, and Virgil wasted no time in hurrying to his brother's side and dropping to his knees.
Gordon was gasping for air, and with one hand he pulled his collar away from his neck, like that would help him breathe easier. His other arm held him up from the ground, but Virgil watched it wobble, like he was going to collapse at any moment.
Virgil went to put his hand on Gordon's shoulder like he always would when he was comforting his brother, but he hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to hurt his brother again.
His hand hovered, unsure what to do. But as Gordon rubbed at his throat and threatened to topple over, instinct took over once more.
Virgil grasped onto his brother to keep him upright, and to let him know that he was there.
"Are… are you…" Virgil wasn't sure what to say. It was ridiculous to ask his brother if he was alright. Of course he wouldn't be. Besides, he wasn't sure if he was asking because he was concerned, or to reassure himself.
"I'm fine." Gordon's voice was raspy and quiet, like his throat was already swelling. Just those two words must have been painful, which was obvious in the way Gordon couldn't hide the crease of his brow as he spoke.
"I'm so sorry," Virgil couldn't help but utter. "I-"
Virgil honestly didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure what was happening. He was moving without his control. He was hurting his brother, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop it.
"Don't you see what's happening?" The other man in the room spoke, and for a moment, Virgil had forgotten about him.
He darted his gaze in his direction, wondering if he had said his thoughts out loud.
"Oh, you don't have to say anything for me to know what you're thinking," the Hood answered the unspoken question. "I have control of your mind. I know what you're thinking, I know what you're feeling. I can make you do whatever I want."
As his smile grew, so did the intensity of the yellow of his irises. They glowed brighter, so much so that it gave Virgil a headache.
The pressure in his head seemed to grow, like there was a vice tightening around his scalp, and Virgil cried out as the pain increased.
One hand fell from his brother as he clutched at his head, like he could rip out whatever was going on in his mind.
"S-stop it," he muttered out through teeth that he grinded together. "Get out of my head."
"Not unless you give me what I want."
With each word, the pain increased, and Virgil squeezed his eyes shut as he clamped his hands over his ears.
However, the voice of the Hood didn't go anywhere, and he could hear the man's words echo around his thoughts, blocking anything coherent out until it was all he could hear.
"Give me the Thunderbirds."
"Get out," Virgil cried, and curled in on himself.
"No."
"Get out!"
"Virgil?"
"Get out of my head!" Virgil's eyes flew open and his arm swung towards the closest thing he could make contact with.
He was left panting as the noise in his head faded, and all that could be heard were his quick, harsh breaths. He blinked, his surroundings rushing back to him, and he was met with the sight of his brother crumpled on the floor in front of him.
"Gordon!" Virgil went to move towards him, but he couldn't move from his spot.
Gordon was slowly pushing himself up on trembling arms, and Virgil could already see the blood that trickled from his split lip.
"I'm… I'm fine." Gordon's shaky voice said he was anything but.
"Hit him harder."
"What?" Virgil said in disbelief whilst his fist clenched unwillingly.
Nothing else was said to prepare Virgil for what came next. Before Gordon even had a chance to get up, Virgil's fist met his cheek and he was sent back down to the floor.
"Harder!"
Another punch, and then another.
Hit after hit, Virgil was forced to endure the feeling of Gordon's bones breaking against his fists. Blood splattered against his knuckles, which was a mixture of Gordon's and his own as the skin on his hands split.
He couldn't block out the pained whimpers that escaped his brother, whimpers that he knew were because of him. Even if Virgil tried to fool himself that maybe he wasn't hurting his brother as much as he thought, the cries and the view of his bloody brother beneath him told him otherwise.
Soon, tears started to drip down his cheeks and they mixed with the blood that he knelt in. Virgil closed his eyes so he didn't have to see, but they were quickly forced back open. Thankfully, the Hood couldn't stop the tears from blurring his vision.
Not that it made it any easier.
Fists beat against skin and bone until his hands were raw and cracked, and the body beneath him was limp. Virgil continued to sob, and he wasn't forced to stop.
Virgil tipped his head back against the wall as he carded his fingers through Gordon's hair. He kept getting stuck on matted bits with drying blood, but he tried to smooth it back out.
Gordon didn't stir, his head pillowed on Virgil's lap as his face creased in pain. Virgil tried to smooth that out too.
He tried to avoid touching Gordon's skin where it was bruised or bleeding. His neck was swollen and dark with bruising, and Virgil winced at the sight of nail marks. His nail marks.
With a sigh, he closed his eyes, and saw the events of before flash across his mind.
"It should have been me," he said out loud to no one in particular.
It was all his fault. He should be the one who was unconscious and in immeasurable amounts of pain after what he'd done to his brother.
He was certainly hurting, not just from the split knuckles, but also in his heart. That was nothing compared to what Gordon was going through though. Virgil deserved to hurt worse.
He knew who he wanted to blame for his brother's pain, but he also knew whose fists were the ones that made contact. The Hood may have been controlling his actions, but without Virgil there, Gordon wouldn't have gotten hurt. Maybe if Virgil had been stronger, he could have resisted the Hood's mind control.
At least for now they had been left alone. Virgil didn't want to think about what would happen next, but he feared that this was only the start of their torment. He felt sick at just the thought that this would only get worse. He didn't think he could go on for much longer, not like this.
Even if they did get out of there, would Gordon ever forgive him for what he'd done? Maybe that was the Hood's intention, to break them so badly that they would never be able to put the pieces back together again. To torture them so terribly that it could never stop.
Maybe that was how the Hood would win in the end.
He didn't want to think about that, so Virgil put those thoughts to the back of his mind for now. He pulled Gordon even closer, if that was possible, and wrapped both arms around him protectively. It was Virgil's fault that Gordon was hurt, so it was down to him to find a way to get them out of there.
Even if Gordon couldn't be saved from Virgil, he could be saved from this place.