CW/tags: torture, blood, injuries, angst, fc5, Jacob Seed x Staci Pratt
There was blood in his mouth. Thick around his gums and oozing from his lips, igniting in the lacerations that split them into ribbons of flesh. A hole throbbed where one of his molars was missing, and his incisor trembled with each ragged exhale. Saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth, itchy where it ran down to his bruised chin.
His head pounded, so dulled by the throbbing headache that he couldn’t lift his neck. His vision doubled and tripled, danced and flickered. Flashed with light and dark and red, but always that dim room. The depths of the bunker, where he was made to wait, to rot.
His body rippled with pain. Bruise upon bruise. Scratches, cuts, puncture wounds. Burns marks and crushing bindings. A couple of ribs had to be broken, rubbing at his lungs in his mind’s eye, each breath rattling. The rest was numb, cold, shivering.
Didn’t matter. Because he wasn’t fuckin’ weak anymore. He would prove it. He would.
It was murmured, quiet resignation. Anticipation, perhaps. He stood at the monitors, back to him, haloed in the light of all those screens. Was smilin’ when he turned, all calm, eerily so, even for him. The shift in his demeanour was subtle, unnoticeable by any else, maybe, but it was all Staci could see. Jacob Seed, the soldier, his gaze hard set. His mission nearing its end. He’d sent Rook after Eli, and all that was left was to put him down.
When he crouched at his feet, Staci didn’t move. He wouldn’t flinch, wouldn’t blink, cuz’ that was weakness, and even now — even now! — he wanted to serve, to bow his head. Jacob chuckled at him anyway. Touched him, like he did sometimes, all soft, reassuring. Set fingers on his jawline in a way he remembered too well. Staci almost leaned into it, part of him conditioned, part of him comforted.
“And what will you do?” Jacob breathed. Rested a hand on his knee to stroke and squeeze. Staci’s eyes hung on it, miserable for that fluttering in his abdomen.
The hand on his jaw slid forward, coaxing. Agony crackled through every laceration and Staci remained silent, his lips parting for Jacob’s rough fingers. Something was placed onto his tongue, pressed down hard.
“Now you hold that there,” he murmured. “Until I get back.”
Staci hummed — I promise — the muscles in his neck screaming away. Then Jacob left, and he almost cried.
Did, a little. Too dehydrated for much, considering it was all goin’ to his mouth. It was hard not to choke on the metallic tang that bled into his tongue. His jaw began to weaken, too soon, so he pressed harder, a whimper loosed when he almost spat it out, bile torching his throat. Touched the tip of his tongue against it and felt letters — that misspelling he used to stroke under his thumb. The numbers he’d memorized as he watched Jacob’s chest rise and fall as he slept. He could taste him, taste Jacob, and steel, and blood.
Time began to blur. What could’ve been only minutes stretched into hours, days. Staci could focus only on the task he’d been given, keeping his lips together, keeping that strip of metal pinned to the roof of his mouth. Any time his eyelids fell and his shoulders slumped, he forced himself awake, tipping his head back and almost swallowing the fucking thing. He stared at the monitors and slipped away, vision blurring.
He would survive this. He would survive like he had the helicopter crash, the abduction, the conditioning. The weeks of torment and wolves and teeth. When Jacob’s eyes began to linger and the nature of his touch changed while the whispers of praise stayed the same. He was strong now. He would survive.
And when Jacob returned from killing his partner, Staci would open his mouth for him to take it back. For him to see — he was good. He wasn’t weak, wasn’t a traitor. Rook had to go. It was better this way. Better he wasn’t a distraction, wasn’t that obsession. Staci would be for Jacob what Rook couldn’t be. He would be strong, loyal, and Jacob would—
When Staci lifted his head, his insides went cold. His mind, silent. He stared back, listless, as Rook stepped into the room.
“Hell,” Rook cursed, his gaze pitying, or guilty. He set his gun on the floor and reached for him. “I've got you.”
No. Staci kicked back, a motion that took Rook by surprise. No, no, no.
“Staci?” he tried again, wavering. “It’s me, partner. It’s Rook. I’ve got you, okay?”
He had enough left in him to cry, after all. Felt the heat of it on his raw skin, cheeks burning. He dropped his head, squeezing his eyes shut, screaming through his teeth, his lips. Steel rattled in his mouth and he screamed around it, saliva trailing onto his thighs.
“C’mon, Pratt, hey, look at me—”
Staci shivered. Lifted his head, guided by Rook’s touch.
“He’s dead,” Rook breathed. “It’s all over.”
His tongue twitched. Brushed Jakob.
“You’re gonna be okay. I promise.”
He succumbed to that agony in his neck. Dropped his head, letting his jaw fall. The dog tag tumbled down his lap. Hit the ground with a soft ting, ting! Rook looked at it with a frown, and Staci only wept.