Team whump Idea
A team of heroes hunted down one by one, held in seperate cells. but cells all in a line. Communicating while captured is something akin to Chinese whispers. At one point, the only two not captured are youngest, and Leader. The entire team prays to whatever deity that they believe in that youngest keeps managing to elude the Whumpers. Leader on the other hand?
Well, they all know Leader isn't coming for them. Leader is presumed dead, and has been for over a year.
One day, Medic is dragged from their cell and never brought back. The Team doesn't know what happened and can only speculate. Some hope that Medic found a way out. Others say that death would have been kinder. And then, Just when they've nearly all given up hope. who should burst in to the rescue? Leader! with Youngest and Medic in tow. Battered and Battle-Hardened, Leader thoroughly kicks Whumper's ass to the whooping, cheering and applause of the others. That's their team. their Family that Whumper's held in cages for nearly two years and Leader is one ticked-off Parental figure.
"Thomas."
The retired hero blinked, looking up from his phone to see Virgil.
"Hey. You've grown."
"Not the time. Thomas, they're gone."
"... who."
"The team, all of them. They're gone, they've all been captured, and no one is doing anything about it!"
"Okay, okay, hey..." Thomas stood up and walked over to Virgil. "Deep breaths. I'll help you. Okay?"
"Okay..."
"Now. Do you know where they are?" Virgil whined softly and shook his head. "Okay, that's okay. You're okay... let's go back to base, okay? I'll go get changed."
"Okay..."
~~~
Logan's legs ached as he ran. It was a miracle he'd made it out, really. How long has he been gone? It had been approximately two months between his capture and the twins', and another month since then. It was long enough for Remus to go silent.
The twins had both come in defiant, Roman spitting hexes in their faces and Remus creating colorful swears. Their captors had quickly realized Remus enjoyed them trying to torture information out of him, so they switched to a different tactic.
"Hey- hey, what are you doing. What are you- hey! Don't touch him! I swear to god, if you hurt him I will kill all of you and I'll enjoy it- get your fucking hands off my brother!!"
It got worse the more Remus shouted. He started cursing under his breath. Screaming at night. Scratching the walls. And then... he stopped. Logan still didn't know why. But he couldn't just sit there and let it happen. So the next time they dragged him out, he ran.
He was currently headed west. He found a road, identified it, and carefully committed it to memory. Even with his powers so heavily dampened, he had quite a sharp recollection. He followed the road into town, ignoring the way his breath caught, not tracking how many times he stopped to rest. Thankfully, he knew how to get to his apartment from here.
After a long conversation with the front desk manager, Logan made it into his room and barely resisted the urge to collapse on the couch. He had work to do. He wrote the directions on the back of his hand, before putting on his mask and breaking the emergency amulet he kept stashed away. The shock of the teleport took a lot out of him, and he only had time to catch someone's eye and nod before he passed out.
~~~
Virgil paced back and forth. They wouldn't let Thomas in because he was retired. Which Virgil thought was stupid, because Thomas was the only one willing to help and-
"Shadow?" Virgil looked up at the woman who approached. A new one. "There is a matter that would appreciate your attention."
"I'm not going unless Stardust comes with me."
"... fine. I don't have time to argue, come in."
And oh, Virgil thought as they were led through the underground base, whatever's going on must be really important. Everyone's running around, or whispering, and if I'm right about where we're going...
"Is- are we we going to the medbay?"
"We are. One of your teammates has returned."
Virgil looked back at Thomas. That wasn't very specific. That didn't tell him who it was, or what condition they were in, or if there were demands with their release. Thomas looked equally on edge.
"Can... you tell us anything else? Shadow prefers having all the information."
"Why don't you take a look?" She opened a door, and Virgil immediately ran forward. Laying there in a bed was Logan. Unconscious, bandaged, so fragile under the bright lights.
"What happened?"
"He escaped."
Thomas chuckled softly. "If anyone would do it, it would be him. What's the plan now?"
"There were directions written on his hand. Once he is awake and can give us more information, we are going to assemble a team to-"
Virgil tuned the rest out. Of course, they wouldn't send a team until he'd already dragged Thomas into this. They just wanted to spite him. He'd heard them talking about putting him on a new team. Abandoning his friends. Virgil refused to let that happen without a fight. And that was why he grabbed Thomas.
"Sounds like a plan. Is it alright if we stay by him?"
"Of course. I'll leave you be."
Virgil glared daggers at the nurse's back as she left, all the way until the door was closed. "... he'll be okay?"
"Yeah... he will. He's already almost entirely better. The healers know what they're doing."
"Okay."
"Do you want a hug?"
"Yeah..."
"Okay."
~~~
Patton winced as he was thrown back into that little room, landing on his shoulder and definitely making it worse. He heard knuckles drumming against the wall and chuckled softly.
"Hey Jan."
Two sharp knocks.
"Yeah... really hurt. But I'll live." If Logan was here, he'd tell Patton what he should and shouldn't put pressure on, what to prioritize. Tell him stories, try to distract everyone.
Logan wasn't here.
"Can you see Remus?"
Two knocks, then one. No change.
"Any idea what happened?"
One knock. Patton sighed.
"Okay... I'm gonna try to sleep."
No knock. That was fine. Patton dragged himself into the corner and tried to get some rest.
~~~
Don't tell anyone, but Roman was starting to go a bit insane cooped up alone like this. He'd been told they had all been separated to avoid schemes of escape, which… okay, that's fair. But honestly… he was getting tired. The only interaction he got was when they brought him food or took him out for interrogations. Both of those were getting far less frequent. Maybe he was imagining it.
So you can understand his confusion when another hero stood before him, one who seemed quite familiar (though he was too tired to place why), he figured that surely he was imagining this? He was losing his mind from the isolation? No matter, he'll make the most of it. “Hm? Oh, hello there. What brings you to my humble abode?”
The hero laughed. “Good to know you're still cracking jokes. Come on, we're getting out of here, can you stand?”
“Ah, let's see…” Roman tried to support himself on his feet. Tried, because he failed. His legs gave out underneath him, hitting white concrete with a wince. “I'm afraid not, my knight in shining armor. You'll have to carry me.” If he were feeling better, he may have placed a hand on the back of his forehead and swooned dramatically. But as it stood, he was very hurt, and shaking still.
He heard the door open, be picked up, it was warm, oh gods it was so warm- Roman leaned into it.
“Hm… thank you, my fair knight. If I may have a name to use when I regale my subjects of your deeds?”
The hero smiled, holding him closer, making him warmer. And with his voice, something finally clicked in Roman’s mind. “You can call me Thomas.”
~~~
Janus was bored. So, incredibly bored. There was nothing to do in his cell. He could stare at the wall, watch Remus dissociate, perhaps dissociate himself. He knew they wouldn't bring him out, he couldn't share any information. Remus was in no mental state to be getting hurt, Logan and Roman had never come back. So it was just Patton. Just Patton…
He heard voices again. It was far too soon to be a retrieval, they usually waited at least one meal before another interrogation. Was it time for a meal? No. No, these footsteps were too… rushed. Then what…
“It was down this hall, I believe. I remember the numbers.” Janus immediately sat up, that was Logan. Logan was here. Why was Logan here. Why was he talking. Talking to someone else. Someone who wasn't making him beg for his life. “And if my calculations are correct… hello.”
Indeed, Logan was standing there. In a mask. Covered in bandages. Wearing a spare suit. And that was Virgil beside him. Why wasn't Patton saying anything?
Janus immediately knocked on the glass to get their attention and started signing. Asshole, we didn't know what happened.
“Ah. Apologies, I couldn't let anyone know. I escaped, made it back to base and alerted someone who could help.”
“Yeah. I grabbed our old friend to help, and Logan came back, and… here we are.” Fingernails tapping on plexiglass. “Is Patton okay?”
He's the only one they can interrogate. I can't talk, and look at Remus.
“Ah… yes, that makes sense. Apologies. How can I help him?”
We don't have time here. We have to get out, meet back up with Roman. I assume he's with you?
Virgil and Logan looked at each other. Virgil shrugged. “If he got out, I haven't heard about it. And I've been staying on top of every development with you guys. Or rather, the lack thereof up until this week.”
Janus's heart sank a bit. Oh. Well, the Agency, then. We can meet up with the Agency and then we can find Roman. We have to get out of here first.
Virgil sighed and nodded, pressing his hand against the wall. There was a slight sizzling noise, before all of their cell doors slid open. “There. Can you walk, or do you need one of us to carry you?”
Janus easily pulled himself to his feet. Balance is a bit off, but I'll manage. They need it more than I do.
“Very well, then. May I carry Patton, since he's injured?”
“Yeah. Good idea.” Virgil walked over to Remus’ cell. The once lively chaos gremlin still continued to sit there, unaware of his freedom. He barely reacted to being picked up, to Virgil awkwardly reassuring him.
Janus held onto the wall as he stepped outside. Logan was already securely holding onto Patton. “I am ready when you are.”
“Ready…” Virgil continued to look at Remus worriedly.
Then let's go. We have nothing else to do here.
~~~
Time was a blur. Remus had a vague awareness of when he was given food, and he tried to eat it. He didn't tend to eat much. He drank the water, though, that was easy. It was a comfortable life, honestly. As long as he didn't look up and see the empty cell across from his own.
He was also aware of being picked up. He let out a small confused whine, barely able to be heard. But they were carrying him. What did they want? Wasn't taking his brother away the worst torture they could have done to him?
… why were they stopping in the hall? Why was the person carrying him talking… did they just say Princey? That.. that would mean…
Remus turned around, tried to look over his shoulder. The voice under him said something about being careful, but if he was right-
“Roman.” His voice was barely a whisper, but it caught the figure’s attention, and oh. Yes, that was Roman. Roman was okay.
Remus immediately rolled out of Virgil’s arms. This was the most walking he had done in… however long it had been. But it was for his brother, so he pushed through. And Roman had the same idea, shakily standing and holding onto whoever had been carrying him for support.
He collapsed forward into his brother's chest, arms wrapping around him in response. His voice still broke as he responded. “... I thought you were dead.”
“What- dead? Pfft- no, they would have to try a lot harder than that to-” A weak knock on Roman’s chest made him shut up. “... I'm not dead. I promise, I'm not dead.”
“Good. Cuz I was really sad.”
“Wait,” Logan cut in. Remus gave him a half-hearted glare, which was ignored. “Where were you, then?”
“Was told we all got split up to avoid scheming.”
“... that is not what happened.”
“Yeah, I… I realize that now.”
“Good. Then we must depart. The power suppressants in your systems should wear off within 24 hours, until then please be careful.”
Remus chuckled weakly, that was basically impossible for him. But… he didn't want to pull away. Not yet. He'd just gotten Roman back… and Roman seemed to have the same idea, arms around him tightening just barely.
“Oh-” The figure beside Roman chuckled. Remus looked up, smiling weakly at Thomas. “I think I can carry you both. Is that okay?”
“Mhm… not letting go.”
“Don't worry, me neither.”
They were both picked up, held. Virgil carried Janus, shook his head at any protests. And they all left.
(Even for years to come, Remus would have nightmares about losing Roman. Roman was always right there when he woke up to comfort him.)
