Ransom Video | “I’ve got a pulse” | Screams from Across the Hall
Warning: kidnapping, ransom video, torture, hot poker, fire poker, fireplace poker, metal rod, burns, burning, clown mask, fear of clowns,
Word count: 1450
@whumptober-archive
You don't value yourself as a particularly valuable member of the team. You were there and occasionally found leads, but you never felt that you were anything special. You were no Agent Reid, after all. But you were useful. Which is why this particular situation was amusing. They had taken you, of all people, thinking it would slow down the investigation. Morons. Honestly. You knew that the team would notice that you’re gone, obviously, but they would still be able to work the case, there’s seven other members of the team. Taking one person out of the equation isn’t going to stall much. You were just worried what was going to happen to you when the unsub realised this.
You looked up, glaring at the unsub as he walked into the room, tripod with a camera attached in hand, “Now, all I need you to do is sit here and look pathetic and useless,” He grinned, patting your cheek, “Perfect, you’ve already got it nailed,”
You glared at him. He had learnt pretty quickly that you had a smart mouth and so he duct taped your mouth shut. Despite your awkward position, you managed to flip him off. The unsub just chuckled, turning to his table, which he had placed his laptop on, ready to connect his camera to the police’s computers. He turned everything on, setting everything up ready to go when he looked up, meeting eyes with you, “Everything's ready,” He chimed.
You swallowed, fear settling in your stomach. The sick bastard had put on a clown mask. “I heard you don’t like clowns. I can change though, if you want.” He smirked, “Just say the word.”
You glared at him, not even attempting to say anything, your mouth had been duct taped. He was just being a bastard. It didn’t matter if you did try to say anything anyway, it wasn’t going to make the unsub change. So, you decided, you would keep your dignity. “Ooh, defiant,” He teased, “I like it.”
He turned back to his computers, mildly adjusting the camera. With a sigh, he reached into his pocket, drawing out a match box. He struck a match against the side of the box, watching it spring to life. He gazed at it for a moment, before throwing it into the fireplace and it roared to life. The unsub absentmindedly placed three fireplace pokers into the flame.
Looking at the camera, checking what was in frame, one more time, he turned it on.
…
Garcia gasped as your face came on the screen, “Sir! Sir this is not good!” She exclaimed, placing her laptop onto the table. Emily and Rossi stared at the screen.
“Hey, have we found anything?” Luke asked, sipping his coffee as he did so. He wasn’t happy when Emily had made him take a break. You had been missing for two days, he hadn’t slept, hadn’t really eaten, he was living off of coffee and vending machine snacks. Thirty six hours in, Emily asked Matt to take Luke back to the hotel and made sure he slept and had something decent to eat. Luke was reluctant, he didn’t need to sleep. He needed to be doing something. He needed to find you. It was driving him crazy not knowing where you were, not knowing if you were okay. His eyes were bloodshot and his body ached but he pushed it aside, craning his neck to look at the laptop screen.
His stomach dropped. You were bloodied and bruised, your hair thick with blood and sweat, clinging to your forehead. “Where is he?” He asked, his voice urgent, he turned to Garcia who was frantically typing on another laptop. “Garcia, where is he?!”
“I- I-” Garcia rushed, “I don’t know! He’s covering his tracks!” Luke dragged his hands through his hair, resting them on the back of his head as he turned to the screen once again.
“Hello there, BAU.” The unsub’s voice made Luke feel sick. Luke watched as you refused to react, simply continuing to glare at the man behind the camera. The unsub sighed, there was a small amount of fumbling before he then came into the view of the camera. He ducked under your arm, standing behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder. Luke’s jaw tightened when he saw the unsub was wearing a clown mask.
“(Y/N) has coulrophobia,” He mumbled. Luke felt pride bubble in his stomach as you continued to stare at the camera, not reacting to the unsub’s mask.
“You’re little team member here has been quite the hassle whilst in my… custody, let’s say,” The unsub smirked under his mask, running a hand along your back. Despite your attempts to hold it back, you shivered. “But that’s okay, really, it is. Because he’s going to learn his lesson. He’ll be nice and quiet after this. But first, we need to hear him scream a little bit - otherwise there’s no fun!”
Luke ground his teeth together. The unsub looked a little to the left of the camera before smirking.
“And so, for our first round: human body versus fire poker,” He exclaimed, “Who will win?!” He turned to you, ripping the duct tape off his mouth. “(Y/N), what do you think?”
“Fuck you.”
“Suck a foul mouth for someone in such a dire situation.”
The unsub walks past the camera to somewhere behind it. Your heart feels like it’s in your throat. But you keep staring ahead, at the blinking red light. The team was watching. They were going to get there. Luke was watching. Luke was going to get here.
The unsub grabbed the poker, tightening his grip as he turned to you. “I’m going to need you to take a deep breath.”
You swallowed your fear. Fear wasn’t going to help you now. It would do no good to be scared, you need to take some deep breaths and try to calm down as much as possible. You were not going to break. You were not going to let him win. You keep your eyes focused on the blinking red light, thinking of Luke. The pain is unexpected, despite you expecting it completely. It’s a red hot burning pain and it’s everywhere, not just where the poker was pressed.
Luke shut his eyes as your screams filled his ears. He felt like he was going to be sick. “Garcia?”
“I’m nearly there,” Luke didn’t reply, just nodding.
You hadn’t felt pain like this before. The pain was unimaginable. It was a searing pain spreading throughout. And then the pain was gone and replaced with a long and heavy ache.
The unsub returned the poker to the fire, grabbing the one next to it. “Let’s try that again.”
It takes fifteen minutes for Garcia to locate an address, after five minutes and multiple burns that will scar the unsub gets bored and he stands back for a moment; watching you try and breathe through the pain and then he grabs one of the rods, this one not hot and starts to hit you with it. As Garcia relays the address and sends it to them, Luke’s ordered to stay behind without a gun. And so when they get there, Luke’s standing by the SUV waiting for the message to come over the radio that he’s allowed in. As soon as the radio cracks to life, he’s running in.
Tara and Spencer drag the unsub out, handcuffed. Matt’s the one that unties you, gently lowering your arms, apologising as you wince, JJ’s gently cutting the rope holding your legs to the chair.
You stand, shaking, but refusing to let anyone think any less of you. Luke’s by your side in a matter of seconds - Emily (and Rossi) refusing to let him in until the unsub is clear of the building. His hands are on your shoulders, bringing them close to him as he gently kisses your forehead. “I was so worried baby,” He mutters, you wrap your arms around his waist, ignoring the discomfort it caused. Right now, all you wanted was to be wrapped in his arms. “I’m so sorry,”
“Why are you sorry?” You asked, moving your hand through his hair, his face buried in your shoulder.
“I couldn’t stop it,” You rolled your eyes.
“You aren’t to blame you dimwit,” You muttered, “I won’t have you bully my boyfriend like that, you know.”
Luke bit back a chuckle. “How can I make it up to you then?” He asked with a grin.
“What about a get well kiss?” You chuckled, wincing at the pain that spread through your abdomen.
“You’re such a dork,” He muttered, gently connecting your lips.
Prompts used: “Trust me, you don’t wanna do that.” fire poker
characters: merlin, arthur, percival, gwaine (those are the main ones in this one, anyway)
warnings: a sword in someone’s shoulder
words: 531
@themerrywhumpofmay
Arthur walked through the woods, the knights following close behind and Merlin leaning heavily on him. They’d managed to get away from the bandits with little damage, that being some sort of enchanted sword in Merlin’s shoulder, of course.
Merlin tripped over his feet and nearly fell, Arthur being the only thing preventing him from falling face-first onto a pile of sharp rocks.
“Okay, I think that’s as far as we can get tonight,” Arthur said. He sat Merlin against a tree and set his bag on the ground. “I’ll see if I can help this in some way.”
Percival and Gwaine tied up the bandit they brought with them to a tree and started a fire while Elyan and Leon started to look for something they could kill.
“Merlin,” Arthur said, “Any ideas? I need to fix this somehow, but I have no idea what to do. You need to tell me.”
Merlin’s eyes were glassy and unfocused. He blinked a few times, trying to concentrate on what Arthur was saying, but all he could think about was the searing pain in his shoulder. He lifted his hand up to it weakly, grabbed the hilt and pulled.
The bandit laughed. “Trust me, you don’t wanna do that. It’s enchanted to get hotter every time it moves against something, so if you pull it out, you’ll probably end up with that arm not working anymore. Especially with all the nerves and veins right where it is.”
Arthur grabbed Merlin’s hand and pulled it off the hilt. He looked at Gwaine and waved him over. The king stood up and walked in front of the bandit, “How do I take the enchantment off?”
“You can’t,” she snorted. “Only someone with magic can.”
“Like you?”
“Yeah right. Like I’d do that for you. After you stole me away from my family, dragged me through the forest for hours and tied me to a tree? The only way I’d do that is if he was Emrys. Which, he isn’t, by the way.” She retorted.
Arthur tilted his head, “Who’s Emrys?”
Percival lifted his head, “Some legend the Druids have. He’s supposedly immortal and going to bring respect for magic back to the world.”
Merlin mumbled something and reached for the sword again. The bandit looked at him, her brows furrowing in confusion.
Before, when she looked at the sword, it emitted an energy, something she could barely see, but now? It just looked like a normal sword. There was no way this…servant had magic powerful enough to remove the enchantment without a clear mind or even knowing the spell. But that was the only explanation. But, the only sorcerer with magic that powerful was…no. This wasn’t Emrys. Why would the most powerful sorcerer ever work for the king? But then again, the sword didn’t have an enchantment anymore.
She shook her head. There was no way she’d let Emrys be found out. Not like this at least. She sighed and said the incantation to remove the enchantment.
“There,” She said. “Now you can remove it and patch it up. Don’t move it around any while pulling it out or else it’ll cause more damage.”
