AN: Things get darker in this chapter. Not as dark as it's going to get, but darker. Warning for non-consensual touching.

We're back with the boys! I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!


Josh stared up at the bars of their cage. Without a clock or a watch, he wasn't sure how long they had been there, but he was sure it had been close to a day, judging by how hungry he was. He hadn't been able to sleep much, his anxiety keeping him awake, but at least Drake was asleep. Josh was laying on his back, with Drake curled up on his side next to him, Drake's head on Josh's shoulder, and his hand clutching Josh's shirt. Josh's arm was wrapped around Drake, holding him close. Under any other circumstances, they wouldn't have been caught dead doing that, but this wasn't exactly a normal circumstance.

Drake whimpered in his sleep, twitching against Josh as a nightmare all but surely raged in his mind. Josh knew his brother needed the sleep, and being awake was probably worse than the nightmare in his mind, but he couldn't just lay there and let Drake be scared, facing it alone.

"Drake, wake up," Josh calmly said, gently shaking Drake's shoulder. Drake's breathing picked up and he whimpered again. "Drake, come on, dude, I'm right here, you're okay," Josh lied.

Drake woke with a start as Josh jostled him again, breathing heavily as he laid against Josh, hand clutching Josh's shirt even tighter. He took a deep breath, and let it out. It was stuttering.

Josh didn't bother asking Drake if he was okay. Obviously neither one of them were okay. It would've been pointless to ask.

He rethought his tactic of staying silent as he heard Drake let out another stuttering breath, one that sounded a lot like he was crying. Josh lifted his head up just enough so that he could look down at his brother, and saw that Drake was hiding his face in Josh's side as his shoulders began to shake.

"Hey, it's okay," Josh lied again. "I'm right here." Josh's own eyes welled up with tears as he wrapped his other arm around his brother and held him close.

"I'm sorry, Josh," Drake repeated.

"Stop, this isn't your fault." Josh would tell him that as many times as it took for Drake to actually believe him.

"I just wanna go home," Drake said brokenly.

Josh just nodded and turned slightly to hold him tighter. There was nothing he could say in reply. He didn't know how to make Drake feel better when he was just as scared. Josh squeezed his eyes shut against his tears and forced himself to focus on nothing but the comforting feeling of his brother right next to him. They had each other. They would be okay.

After a few minutes, Drake let out another shuddering breath, the kind you breathe out after you've had a good cry.

"Did you get any sleep?" he asked, his voice monotone. Drake didn't make any move to get out of Josh's arms, and Josh wasn't about to make him.

"A few hours," Josh lied. It was more like a few minutes, if that. But Drake didn't need to know that. "You should drink some water," Josh said, but he didn't make any move to grab the water bottle.

"So should you," Drake retorted, also making no moves. They kept laying there, silently, giving each other the only comfort they could, for another hour or so before the telltale sound of the deadbolt jolted them from the relative calm they'd attained.

Drake and Josh scrambled up into a sitting position, still holding each other, but not before Miguel and James saw Drake laying in Josh's arms.

"No," Miguel growled, storming towards the cage. "You'll poison each other. You must be purified." He leaned down and undid the padlock on the cage as Josh and Drake moved all the way to the opposite side, their hearts racing as they tried to stay away from the serial killer, but the cage wasn't big enough to stay away from him. Miguel reached in and grabbed Drake by the ankle, yanking him away from Josh.

"Let me go!" Drake screamed, kicking uselessly against Miguel as he scrambled for Josh.

"Leave him alone!" Josh shouted. He grabbed for Drake and tried to hold onto him as Drake kept kicking at Miguel, desperate to get away. "Let him go!" he shouted. His attention focused on getting Drake away from Miguel, Josh didn't notice James' hand snaking through the bars of the cage until a hand grabbed his collar and yanked him back, choking him.

"Josh!" Drake cried out as Miguel manhandled him out of the cage and threw him against the wall, quickly pinning him there with his body.

"Stop moving!" Miguel shouted. It was only then that Josh noticed the knife in Miguel's hand, the knife that he was pressing against Drake's outstretched wrist, mere inches from where he'd been cut before. Josh stopped immediately, and allowed James to pull him to the side of the cage, and once again cuff his hands behind his back around the bars of the cage.

"I stopped moving, okay? So let him go," Josh pleaded, but Miguel didn't move to let Drake go. He stayed right where he was, pressing Drake into the wall. Drake's eyes were squeezed shut, and he was shaking. Miguel had his nose in Drake's hair, and it looked like he was whispering in Drake's ear. Judging by the way Drake shook his head and whimpered, it hadn't been anything good. Josh's rational thought to stay quiet went out the window the moment that Miguel started grinding his hips into Drake's. "Just leave him alone!" he shouted, pulling uselessly against the cuffs once again as Drake cried.

"You're right, you're right," Miguel said with a sigh and a chuckle. He stopped grinding against Drake, but didn't release him from his grasp. "It's not time yet. If I don't let James have his fun, then I can't either. But you must be purified from the other's poison. James, hold him."

James left Josh restrained and stepped over to Miguel, taking a hold of Drake's thin wrist and keeping his arm stretched out, despite his brother's struggles against them.. He pulled Drake's sleeve back, exposing the pale skin beneath. With that, Miguel slid the knife across Drake's wrist.

He cried out as blood immediately began spilling from the wound. Even with the bad angle, Josh could tell that the cut was longer and deeper than the last one had been.

"Drake!" Josh thrashed against the cuffs, but it did nothing. "Leave him alone!" Josh could do nothing as Miguel slid the knife across Drake's wrist again, more slowly this time. Josh grit his teeth and seethed as Miguel stared at Drake's blood, utterly transfixed. Drake's eyes were squeezed shut, and Josh could see him biting his lip in an effort to keep quiet.

"You will be made holy for me," Miguel whispered, just loudly enough to be heard. Miguel sighed, then stepped away, pushing Drake into James' all too willing arms as he did so.

"Get him back in there," he said, jerking his head towards the cage. "Don't let him be near the other one."

Drake didn't put up a fight as James dragged him back over to the cage and forced him inside, but he didn't go quite so easily away from Josh. The moment he was in the cage, Drake crawled over to Josh and grabbed onto him. His pleading eyes looked at Josh, and it was all Josh could do not to fall apart right there.

"It's okay, we're gonna be okay," Josh insisted as his tears broke. Drake nodded at him and held onto Josh's shirt.

"Get over here!" James shouted, making both brothers flinch. Drake shook his head and held onto Josh as more tears fell. His breathing got faster as he grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

"No!" Drake shouted in anger, uncaring as James reached through the bars and grabbed at him. Drake snarled and fought against the hands, breaking their grip on him and remaining right in front of Josh.

"Drake, it's okay," Josh tried to say, despite knowing it was pointless, and untrue.

Drake kept fighting against James to stay right where he was. James grabbed Drake by the collar through the bars, but Drake reached around and grabbed his arm, yanking him down and making James slam his face into the cage.

James cried out in pain.

"You little bitch!" he shouted, reaching back for Drake again.

Josh sucked in a breath of air as he felt cold steel against his neck and fingers gripping his scalp.

"That's enough!" Miguel shouted, loudly enough to get Drake's attention, forcing him to see Josh with a knife to his throat.

The moment Drake stilled, eyes wide, James grabbed him again, and none too gently tossed him to the spot in the cage farthest away from Josh. This time, Drake didn't resist as his hands were grabbed and he was cuffed. He sucked in a breath as James grabbed his still bleeding cuts and harshly cuffed over them.

"Do you not remember being told that if you tried anything, it would be your friend who suffered?" Miguel asked, his voice deadly calm. Josh's stomach dropped as Drake's face went deathly pale.

"I'm sorry," Drake said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please don't hurt Josh, it's my fault, not his, he didn't do anything," he begged. Josh could see the panic building in his brother's eyes and the way his chest began to rise and fall so much faster as his breathing picked up.

"Drake, it's okay," Josh repeated, despite the feeling of the blade moving on his neck as he spoke.

"Are you really sorry?" Miguel asked, stilling his blade.

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry," Drake repeated. "I'll do anything you want, just please leave my brother alone." Normally, Drake could get anyone to do anything by looking up at them with his big brown puppy dog eyes, and they would cave, Josh included. This time, those brown eyes were pleading, and filled with tears, and this time, Josh hated that it was still going to work.

"Anything?" Miguel asked again, a hungry edge in his voice that told Josh all he needed to know. Based on the way that James began adjusting himself in his pants, he was thinking the same thing.

"Don't touch him," Josh interjected. "Don't you dare touch him." He flinched as the cold steel bit into his skin, and warm blood slowly trickled down his throat. It was just a nick, but it was enough to scare Drake.

"Yes! Anything!" Drake shouted. "I'll let you do anything, I won't fight you, just please leave Josh alone."

Josh could only watch as James knelt down behind Drake once again and stuck a hand in his hair. Drake flinched and started shaking, tears breaking free once more, but didn't try to pull away, even as James leaned his face through the bars as much as he could and started biting Drake's ear.

"What's your name?" Miguel asked, not moving the knife from Josh.

"Drake," he answered, crying silently as James then moaned his name into his ear, loudly enough for Josh to hear him too. He squeezed his eyes shut as James slid his large hand into the cage and under Drake's shirt. Josh grit his teeth in an effort to keep himself quiet. Speaking had only made things worse, and he couldn't let things get any worse.

"Well, Drake, it's your lucky day," Miguel said with a disappointed sigh. "Because as much as I would love to bask in your worship right here, right now, you still must first be purified. You must be made holy before I can have you."

Miguel snapped his fingers, and James stilled. James briefly glared up at Miguel, then dropped his gaze in submission and took his hand out from under Drake's shirt, and out of the cage, before standing up. Josh could see his brother relaxing slightly as James stepped away, and his tears slowed, but he was still drawn up in tension.

"And you, Josh," Miguel said, drawing out Josh's name like he was trying it out. "Would you do the same for him? Does your brother mean as much to you as you mean to him? Would you offer your body to me to save him?"

"Of course I would," Josh immediately responded. It wasn't even a question. He would do anything for Drake, no questions asked. Drake just looked at him, almost confused, with pleading in his eyes.

"Interesting," Miguel said, his voice lower than it had been before. "But it's no matter," he continued at a regular volume. "You still must be purified. You dirtied each other. You're unclean." Without another word, Miguel dug the blade into the side of Josh's neck.

Josh cried out in surprise and pain and barely registered Drake screaming his name. He focused on breathing and forced himself to calm down. It was just a cut. It wasn't deep enough to cause any real damage, it just hurt. Josh forced eye contact with Drake and nodded. He was okay.

"You will not hinder your own sanctification," Miguel said as he walked to the door and right out.

James followed, but stopped in the doorway to turn around and looked at the boys again. He grinned, licked his lips, then finally pulled the door shut behind him. The deadbolt echoed in the small room.

As the echo faded, Josh could feel some of the tension leaving his body. They were okay. They were a little more banged up, but they were okay. He could relax. As much as his Nichols instincts told him to freak out, he knew that would only make things worse, and forced himself to remain calm.

Josh's ability to relax vanished the moment Drake's breaths started coming in quick gasps. He was hyperventilating. Drake was having a panic attack, and Josh couldn't hold him to comfort him like he had last time - months ago, when a bad day had led to a bad night which led to a night terror about his father, leaving Drake gasping for breath after screaming himself awake, calmed only by being in Josh's arms, where he eventually had fallen back asleep. Their parents had been terrified - even Megan had been concerned - and had immediately sent Drake back to therapy with his old psychologist, Dr. Stein. But this time, Drake was sobbing and gasping for breath, and Josh was handcuffed to the bars of the cage a few feet away, unable to do the one thing that Drake needed. Even if he stretched out his leg as far as the cuffs would allow, he still wouldn't be able to touch Drake. He couldn't physically ground him in any way, and during a panic attack, that was what Drake needed most.

"Hey, hey, hey," Josh rushed out. "Look at me, look right at me, I'm right here." Drake lifted his head from where it was resting on his knees to look at Josh, and Josh was devastated by the terror he saw there. "We're okay. They're gone for now, we're okay. You have to breathe, Drake, you're gonna pass out. In." Josh forced himself to take a deep breath in, watching as Drake tried to copy him. He held that breath for a moment. "And out. Then in." Josh took in another breath. "And out." He repeated that pattern again and again and again until Drake could finally match his breaths a minute later. "We're okay," he repeated. It was all a lie. They were so far from okay it wasn't even funny, but what else was he supposed to say?

"I'm sorry, Josh, I'm sorry, I'm just- I'm so scared," Drake admitted, tears still streaming down his face.

"I am too," Josh admitted, his own tears stinging the cut on his neck. "I don't know what we're gonna do, I don't know how to get us out of this, or how we can get away. I don't know how to protect you, I just don't know what to do." Josh took a breath, then ducked his head, catching Drake's gaze. "But I do know that I have you, and you have me. We're not alone. Whatever happens, I'm with you, and even though I'm over here and you're over there, I'm still with you, okay?" Drake nodded, his tears having slowed. "But Drake, you can't give yourself up for me like that, okay? Do you realize what they wanted from you?" Josh asked, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe he was hoping that somehow Drake was naïve enough to not know what Miguel and James would've done to him, that he hadn't been knowingly offering his body up like that to protect him.

"Yes, Josh, I know what they wanted," Drake responded, almost angrily, as tears spilled out of his eyes once again. "I know I'm stupid, but I'm not- I'm not stupid like that! I know what it means when someone looks at me like that, and touches me like that. When he had me pinned to the wall, do you know what he said to me?" After a moment, Josh shook his head, realizing that Drake was waiting for a response. "He said that he couldn't wait to fuck me, okay? So yeah, I know what they would've done to me if they'd agreed. Why else do you think I can't stop crying? I'm so fucking scared right now and I know I make out with a lot of girls, but I've never done anything like that before, and I'm so fucking scared, Josh, but if it's me or you, I'm gonna try to make it me."

Josh was silent for a moment. He had known that that was the truth, and he wasn't sure why he thought it would've been better if Drake hadn't known. Maybe something about how Drake had always seemed to have this innocence and naivety about him, and Josh never wanting him to lose it? He didn't know, and this certainly wasn't the time to ruminate about it.

"And just like I told him," Josh finally responded. "I would do anything to make it me instead of you. I know it's hard for you to believe sometimes, and we don't have to talk about it right now, but I love you so fucking much, Drake, and I would do anything in the world for you. I just need you to believe that." Josh didn't swear - neither one of them did with any frequency, but especially Josh - so he hoped his word choice would show his brother just how much he meant what he was saying.

After a moment, Drake dropped his head to his shoulder and tried to wipe his tears with it, then nodded.

"Okay," he quietly said. "I love you, too, you know."

"I know," Josh replied with a gentle smile, the first real one since they'd been kidnapped. "Now we both really need to stop crying, because we don't have access to water anymore, so we really can't afford to keep dehydrating ourselves," he continued, his grin growing despite what he was saying. If he didn't laugh, he would be crying again.

Drake scoffed humorlessly, then let out a little grin of his own.

"I guess maybe we should've had a little more of it when we had the chance, huh," he said, nudging the water bottle with his foot.

They'd only had a few sips from it, having been trying to conserve it as long as they could, but now they couldn't get to it at all. When Miguel and James had come in, they hadn't even tried to "purify" them the way they had the first time. That meant that the serial killers already knew that their water intake was low enough that there was no point, or, in the chaos, they'd simply forgotten. From what Josh could tell, the killers wanted to purge them of everything, of food, of drink, of comforting touch, even of bodily waste, and "unclean" blood. And somehow they had gotten it into their minds that that would make the boys "holy", and able to worship them, in some perverse twist on sanctification of the church.

"Yeah, I guess we should've," Josh said, his grin falling. After a moment, Drake's grin did the same.

What were they going to do?