To Each There Is A Time To Fall || Master Caretaker, Master Andrew Johannson, Master Blaine Anderson, Master Hunter Clarington, slave Nick Duval (Ducks), slave Jeff Sterling (Mianach), slave Kurt Hummel (Kitten), slave Kenna Moretti
Tagging: The Caretaker, Master Blaine Anderson, Master Hunter Clarington, Master Andrew Johannson, slave Kenna Moretti, slave Nick Duval (Ducks), slave Jeff Sterling (Mianach), slave Kurt Hummel (Kitten)
Timeframe: July 9th, 2014, a little after 5:00pm
Summary: The Masters confront the Caretaker resulting in the end of the Caretaker's reign of terror.
Warning: Bondage and mild violence.
The Caretaker: There hadn't been a power outage in a couple of years which only solidified the Caretaker's decision to replace the guards on the island. Only incompetent fools would allow such a thing to happen, especially with the hints of unrest that he'd detected among the Masters following his punishment of one of their own. Thankfully he had a lamp that lit up his office that didn't run on electricity so he was still able to continue working without any interruption. Not a few minutes ago a guard had run up reporting a slave escape attempt and it was obvious to him that the slave was responsible for the power shutting off. "Fools," he muttered as he quickly wrote out orders for new guards and for the current annoyances he had to be removed. He was going to regain control of his island by whatever means necessary and teach these far too soft Masters exactly where they fell short.
Hunter moved once the power was off, but he held back as he waited for Blaine, Andrew, and their slaves to go ahead. Their jobs were the guards outside his father's door. He and Nick had to take on his father. If he were in his right mindset, he would have hated this plan, he would have argued and fought and ultimately refused to let his claim anywhere near anything like this and he damn sure would have refused to bring down his father. But Hunter wasn't in his right mindset. It was going to happen with or without him so he'd said yes and just sort of...shut down. "You can do this, Nick," he said quietly, giving the boy's hand a squeeze. "Just remember what I told you and you'll be alright. I'll be there the whole time. Quick and then it's over." Hunter glanced over at his slave, at the boy who trusted him so much. "I love you, my beautiful boy. Everything's going to be fine," he whispered, moving in to steal a quick kiss before he tugged Nick past the fray and to the double doors of the Caretaker's office.
Nick was a nervous wreck right now, cautiously following behind his Master whose reassurances were reminding the boy why he was putting himself through such an ordeal. He nodded at the words offered to him, lingering on the kiss that seemed to fill him full of a new found strength, converting some of that fear into fight. "I love you too, Master." He whispered back in a very quiet tone, before letting silence fill the air once more as the small journey to the door was completed. Nick had never actually seen it before, and the mere sight of it made the knots in his stomach tighten further. He turned to Hunter, looking between them and the door. "So... We-We just charge it, right? We get the door open and we dart straight for him?" He felt slightly strange talking about his Master's Father like this, but if it was what Hunter wanted, then Nick was willing to do what he needed to give his Master that.
The Caretaker could hear a bit of commotion outside his door and paused, his hand over a document. That was strange, only the two guards outside his door were supposed to be in the hallway. Only two other guards were anywhere near his office unless there had been some Masters in the meeting room a few doors down. But no, he would have known if they were meeting, a guard always informed him whenever anyone went into the room, especially if multiple masters went into the room. The last master that had even come near his office was his eldest who had done his usual review of the island and left as normal. No, something else was going on, something more than just an escaped slave.
Hunter nodded at Nick, his mind too much on the task at hand to speak out loud. He reluctantly dropped Nick's hand and took a deep breath. This was it. They could do it. Nick could do it....He could do it. Without another second to waste, he leaned forward and turned the knobs of the doors, shoving them both as hard as he could. They parted open inward, the wood slamming into something and more or less announcing their presence. Fuck. "Now, Nick," he hissed, his eyes trained on his father behind the desk.
Nick could feel his heart begin to pick up as soon as Hunter's hand had let him go, so by the time he heard the thud of the doors, it felt like it was going 500 beats a minute. The next few moments seemed to almost go in slow motion then, Nick hearing the words of Hunter, composing himself for a split of a second and then taking off, sprinting in the Caretaker's direction and diving forward in an attempt to take the man down, next feeling the harsh solid floor accompanied by a thud and a small groan from himself.
The Caretaker saw the door opening and knew that this was so much more than just a simple scuffle. This was all planned. How they'd managed to plan something like this without his knowledge was beyond what he could consider in a brief second. Quickly he reached into his toy drawer, thankful that he hadn't locked it again after fucking that slave a few hours before, and pulled out his favorite flogger. "Enough," he roared standing up from his desk and moving around it quickly, flicking out his wrist as he moved to keep the slave away.
Hunter watched Nick dart into the room and moved a second later, taking the opposite way once he could see his claim had his father's attention. But then the boy was on the floor and Caretaker had a flogger in his hand--a nasty one--and he almost froze. Everything in him screamed to move, to abort, to disobey his orders and protect Nick. He had to get in between them...But he couldn't. Nick had known the risks going in and had agreed. Hunter slipped up behind his father and reached out quickly, decisively and snagged the man's wrists. Tugging them behind his back was a little harder than he'd thought, Caretaker was stronger than he'd realized, but he had this. "Drop it," he commanded, applying pressure to his father's wrists as he twisted them back.
Nick's initial response to the sight of the man towering above him with the flogger was one that froze him in fear, the boy having to mentally calm himself to prevent from curling up into a ball and instinctively flinching from the pain, but he had Yoga to thank for the calming techniques. The boy instead tried to move himself out of the way of the hands, having then noticed his Master holding the other back which gave Nick further reassurance and time to roll out of the way. Watching carefully now to see what the next move would be.
The Caretaker pulled his wrist easily out of the hand coming from behind him only to realize with a snarl that it was the arm not holding the flogger. "You will remove your hands this instant," he snarled trying to turn around to see who was trying to get the best of him. The slave seemed cowed already and he'd done nothing more than attempting to hit it with the flogger in his hand. He would have to take a closer look at the slave later and remove it from whatever Master owned it. A slave that cowed at the sight of a punishment did not need to belong to a Master that would send it into a situation such as this. Only to his frustration, whomever it was behind him also was preventing him from turning around. He let out a growl of anger and tugged sharply against the hands holding him still.
Hunter let out a growl of his own as his father was able to slip free from his hold, but thankfully, Caretaker's attention still seemed to be somewhat on Nick. Of course, Hunter didn't like the idea of his sweet claim being in the man's sights period, but it was necessary. "I don't take orders from you anymore, Father," he said in a low voice. Outing himself probably wasn't the best idea, but he didn't care anymore. He twisted ruthlessly on the wrist he still held, using the moment of pain to reclaim the one his father had managed to free. But even restrained like this wasn't enough for Hunter, not now. Without thinking, he kicked out hard, the hit connecting just below his father's knee. He wanted to see the old man down on his knees where he'd kept everyone else.
Nick was now a safe distance away and back onto his feet, looking around for something to grab as use of a weapon. He knew it looked like his Master had this all under control, but the boy knew that this operation required extra care being taken as error would mean the end of probably everyone that he had come to care for. He ended up taking a particularly heavy paper weight, still facing the man but also making eye contact with his Master now as he watched the man fall, causing Nick to move backwards a little, still remaining quiet as this confrontation was between Father and Son, with Nick acting as a protector.
The Caretaker scoffed as he recognized the voice. A fine time for Hunter to grow a backbone when it came to him. He was weak for a Master but had been showing signs of potential once more over the past few weeks, a change he fully attributed to the near constant attention of his eldest son. "You will let me go and I will see that you go without punishment," he spoke in a low but threatening voice. "I may even allow you to keep your slave. Defy me and you will never see your family nor your precious slave ever again." The kick to his knee wasn't unexpected, it was one of his own favorite tricks to use to subdue, although he was a bit miffed that it was being used against himself. As he went down, he glared at the hovering slave. "You! slave! Stop that incessant hovering and release me at once!"
Hunter laughed, but it was bitter. "Even on your knees you're acting as if you rule the world. Sorry, but I'm the only one of us capable of doing that." He honestly wasn't scared of anything Caretaker had to threaten him with. Even if this failed...It felt too good to finally stand up to the man. But then his father was talking to Nick, ordering him and that was just too much. "Shut your mouth, now. Don't you dare talk to him like that," he growled as he twisted his father's arms painfully, leaning into the motion to add extra weight to it. Surely Blaine and Andrew would be here any second. Surely they would. They'd better be....Because Hunter wasn't sure he could be trusted alone for much longer with the tyrant.
Nick looked down at the man, his threats whilst supposedly empty still put slight fear into the boy as he could no longer imagine a world without his Master. However, no level of threat would sway his loyalty to Hunter so once the man started giving orders, Nick didn't so much as flinch, instead making eye contact with his Master, smiling once he heard his protective tone, but not keeping that face for long once he recalled the severity of this situation. He looked from the door to Caretaker and then back to Hunter, realising now that this was a waiting game that needed to end soon to prevent an overload in tension.
Andrew moved purposefully, aware of Blaine and the slaves behind him but focused completely on getting to his father's office. He felt nerves jump in his chest but ignored them, taking a deep breath as he shoved open the familiar door and strode in. It was now or never. "Hello, Father." the blond said coolly, taking in the scene before him. He nodded to Hunter, and gestured for Jeff to go stand with Nick leaving Blaine to handle his claim and rental.
Blaine took a deep breath, glancing up briefly as Andrew and Mia ducked into the office to make sure Hunter was doing all right. He let it out slowly as he snapped a zip-tie around a guard's wrists. It was important to maintain a composed exterior, he felt, for the sake of the slaves - more so Andrew and Hunter's than his own scrappy duo. "All right, now," he said, giving Kurt a split-second's meaningful look, "Both of you grab the arms and pull together - no, not this guy. I'll deal with him. The one Andrew knocked out. Make sure you get him fully inside so I can bring the other guy in and shut the door." As they started to obey, Blaine, panting, moved to zip tie his guard's ankles together. The last two minutes or so had passed in a blur - Andrew had handled the guard posted on the left side of the Caretaker's door almost on his own, but this other guard, the one Blaine was still restraining, had been a little harder to put down. Blaine had sent Kurt in first, telling him to stay low to the ground and try to tackle the guard as a sort of bait-and-switch. Kurt sprung at the guard bravely, and sure enough, the guard had lashed out at him, striking him across the back with his little whip, which had allowed Blaine to jump him, punching him in the side of his head and then getting him into a choke-hold. Even then, the guard had struggled, until Kenna had very helpfully put her knife against his throat. As useful as she was, Blaine almost regretted giving her that thing. She seemed to be enjoying herself almost a little too much. Grabbing the bound and gagged guard by his feet, Blaine followed Kenna and Kurt into the office in that awkward, backward shuffle one uses when dragging something heavy. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, tugging the grumbling guard off to one side.
The Caretaker was just about fed up with the entire thing. In the few moments since Hunter had pushed him down, he had pieced together the entire plan and had figured out exactly who was involved. He should have known. If Hunter was a part of this, his so-called boyfriends had to be involved somehow and he knew that his eldest wouldn't let Hunter do anything dangerous without his being a part - a weakness he needed to beat out of him. The affection the two had for each other was at an end. Once he regained control he would see to it. The commotion outside grew louder as he mused until he could see more slaves running into the room merely confirming his suspicions. "Let go now and your punishment will be merciful," he warned Hunter obviously eyeing Nick.
Hunter barely noticed the very big entrance his backup made; he was still focused on his father. "How generous, Father. Too bad we didn't take that after you," he said, his voice almost mocking. The room was suddenly a lot fuller and noisier and he knew that meant his part was over....but he couldn't let go. Something inside him wanted to hold on, wanted to hurt the man that had brought him into the world. Wanted him to suffer as everyone else had at his hand. Hunter didn't acknowledge his brother, nor Blaine. Instead he stood still, restraining his father and doing his best to restrain his own urge to do more.
Andrew nodded in response to Blaine. At the Caretaker's words he scowled, slapping his whip sharply on his Father's cheek to capture his attention. He hated that he was trying to intimidate Hunter. "Wasn't it you who always told me the truly foolish were the ones who tried to give orders from their knees?" he glanced around the room at Kenna twirling her knife with a frankly disturbing grin on her face, Kurt strung taught as a bowstring, then finally his own slave armed with a riding crop and his brother restraining the man he loathed to call father. Taking a few steps, he placed himself firmly between the Caretaker and his desk where he knew the panic buttons were before turning his attention to his brother. He was stiff, ignoring both Blaine and Andrew himself, who had a feeling he was working hard to restrain himself. "Hunter? Hey, help Blaine restrain him." he said, voice calm but firm, wanting to snap his brother out of the daze he was in.
Blaine was already moving toward the Hunter and his father. "Hi," he said, simply, as he knelt on the floor next to them. Hunter didn't respond immediately, other than a slight tightening in his jaw, but for the time being Blaine could work with that. He slung his bag off his shoulder, whipped out another zip-tie, and sat on the Caretaker's legs, yanking off his shoes and socks, then binding his ankles together. It wasn't an easy task - the Caretaker apparently had no intention of going quietly. "Kitten, Mia, come help us sit on him, would you?" When he turned around, Hunter still hadn't moved a muscle, so Blaine leaned forward and whispered directly into his ear. "Hey, you've done enough for now, don't you think?" And then, a little more firmly, he added, "Let me take your place, Sweetheart."
Jeff blinked up at the command and nodded as he moved over to Blaine quickly. Okay, so maybe he wasn't too crazy about being near his Master's dad...and brother, but he'd promised to do whatever was asked of him. He watched Blaine for a few seconds before finding somewhere he could be useful.
Kurt hesitated before slowly making his way over to the Caretaker. He'd made it his mission ever since he'd gotten there and first seen what the caretaker was like to avoid him and now he had to sit on him? Warily he sat down near his feet, eyes flickering back and forth rapidly between Blaine and the Caretaker ready to bolt as soon as things got messy.
Hunter didn't budge, not at first. He'd been given his orders and he just...And then Blaine was beside him and there were slaves moving and doing things. A part of him wanted to snap, tell them to back off. Finally, he glanced over at Blaine at the sound of the nickname and blinked a few times. "I-I...." Hunter didn't really know what to say so with a nod, he relaxed his grip a little. Then a little more and more until finally, he'd released his father.
The Caretaker spat on the floor angrily. "Those that are truly foolish believe they can plat at militia." Yes he'd definitely underestimated the relationship between these three and their slaves. No matter, within a few moments, more guards would arrive and help subdue them and he'd be sure to split all of them apart. This time his sons had gone too far. "You will release me and remove that filth from my sight. And to think you held potential. Your mother would be ashamed she gave birth to such a failure."
Andrew's hand clenched white around his whip, the only tell that the words registered to him. "And yet we are the ones in control, and you're the one zip-tied and held down beneath two loyal slaves and a Master you probably thought would never betray you. We don't take your orders anymore." He straightened his back at the mention of his mother, storm clouds growing dangerously in his eyes. "Perhaps she will and perhaps she won't, but I think in time she'll see how poisonous you really were. Either way, it's not like she'll ever really know what happened here." Collecting himself for a moment, he eyed the guard whose ribs Kenna was digging her heel into. "Perhaps he ought to be knocked out. Collateral damage if he hears what he something he shouldn't."
Kenna grinned, digging her heel in deeper at Andrew's words. "My pleasure." she said, shifting so she could slam her heel into his nose. A smirk took over her features as the man's eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.
Blaine nodded. “Not the worst idea,” he agreed, then smirked as Kenna went right to it. He took Hunter’s place with a zip-tie ready in hand, and quickly bound the Caretaker’s wrists before his son had completely let go. “Thank you,” he murmured, searching Hunter’s face for a second… but as much as it pained him, he didn’t have time to worry about him now. Instead, he shoved the Caretaker forward onto his face, and beckoned the timid slaves with a slight roll of his eyes. “C’mon, guys, put more weight on him than that. Don’t be scared. He’s harmless now.” To illustrate his point, Blaine lifted his ass and bounced back down onto the Caretaker’s lower back. “See? Just sit down right on him. I know Kenna wouldn’t be scared to do it, but she’s not heavy enough.”
Andrew and Hunter would have been more reliable than the slaves, but from this part, at least, Blaine wanted to spare Andrew and Hunter. Pulling a pair of shears, he sliced through as much of the Caretaker’s black leather clothes as he could and tore them away, even the undergarments beneath, though he left those partially intact as much for his own sanity as anything else. He’d practiced this whole thing on Kitten with black bondage tape, which was only designed to stick to itself and therefore painless to remove. His first instinct had been to use the same on the Caretaker. But as the day had drawn closer, Blaine had realized that duct tape was more secure, and… as he’d eventually forced himself to acknowledge, they’d never be needing to remove it. So he’d brought two black rolls of duct tape, and he used it now, slowly mummifying the Caretaker from his neck down his chest, along his thighs, nearly to his knees. Then Blaine forced the Caretakers legs to bend double and taped them together, and when he’d finished, he duct-taped both arms together as well. The hands and feet he had planned to wrap as well, fearing that any wrinkled skin would give them away, but now that he got a better look than he’d ever wanted, Caretaker’s skin was remarkably well preserved. He must have been observing a skincare regimen to make Kitten proud… which was a thought that he really didn’t need to have. Blaine pushed it down deep inside, somewhere near the inner voice that he couldn’t quite turn off - the one telling him that this was an old man, and he should stop hurting him.
He had chosen an easy tool, and he was efficient enough - the whole thing took only a few minutes, even with various slaves needing to move on and off the different parts of the Caretaker's body.
The Caretaker was furious that his threats and orders were going unheeded. This hadn't happened since he created the mansion and business, before he proved himself to be a formidable master. The slaves had forgotten who they truly belonged to and the masters, including his sons, were openly defying him as if he were an inconsequential slave. And somehow, no guards were coming to investigate the racket - an impossible thing when they were trained to race to the nearest racket and put an end to it, unless a Master was openly punishing a slave. He wasn't anywhere near enough to reach out and press any of his buttons to immediately call all his guards which only meant that these masters, if he could even refer to them like that anymore, had found a distraction for the guards that would supersede their standing orders. The slaves sitting on him merely added insult to injury. How dare they touch him let alone sit on him! His own slave wasn't allowed to touch him without permission. "Get this filth off of me!" he roared struggling even as he hit the floor. "You dare to let a slave touch me?" He was so preoccupied with knocking the slaves off of him that he failed to notice at first that his clothes were being cut off until the first brush of air hit his skin. He was never without his long sleeves and pants, more out of habit than anything else. He was stunned for a moment before renewing his struggles. "Anderson! Remove yourself and your filthy slave immediately." He gave it one more attempt at throwing the shorter man off of him before growling and trying to kneel instead of being face down. "I should have brought you to your knees and taught you your place the first time I had to punish you."
Andrew couldn't help the sadistically pleased grin that spread across his lips, watching his father's futile struggles. The man was so unwilling to admit he'd been beaten, that there was really no chance for him to regain control of the situation. It made him look pathetic, and the more he thought about it the more he realized that most of his father's actions had been just that over the years. Pathetic. "You really don't get it, do you?" He asked incredulously. "Here you are, taped up with not a single person trying to help you, and yet you lay there, for lack of a better work, bitching about Blaine. You've lost, father. Accept it. None of your guards are coming for you. They're busy with other problems. All you've got here is us, and do we seem particularly friendly to you?"
Blaine shook his head as he finished up with the tape. If the Caretaker had begged for his life, or cried out in pain or fear, Blaine would hardly have been able to go on. As it was, the man’s sheer arrogance made it easy… or at least, easier. Reaching into his bag, Blaine pulled out the very last items he’d brought: a black hood, and a ball gag. He held both items up so everyone could see. “If no one has any objections?” He wanted more than anything to just go ahead, but in his mind, it was Andrew and Hunter’s decision when the conversation was over.
The Caretaker snarled and struggled against the tape hiding his dismay when he realized it was holding firm. "I object," he bit out glaring hatefully at Blaine before turning his gaze to Hunter and Andrew. "I will skin you alive and feed it to your slave and when I am finished with you, I will destroy each and every one of you." His gaze turned back to Hunter and Andrew. "If you think my punishments were harsh before, what you have opened yourself up to will be beyond your wildest dreams. You can say goodbye to any freedom you had, any chance you had at any sort of life. The slave I gifted is more of a credit than either of you could ever be."
Andrew bit back a snarl, though he couldn't stop the curling of his lip. Without letting his gaze stray from his father, he held out his hand to Blaine for the ball gag. "Serena is a fair bit stronger that us, because she is forced to deal with that pig of a head guard every day knowing the man who is supposed to be her father just gave her away. Do NOT bring my siblings into this."
Blaine looked towards Hunter for confirmation, but Hunter wasn’t saying anything. He hadn’t said anything in a long time, in fact... Pushing his worry aside, Blaine handed over the gag, then helpfully lifted the Caretaker's head by the hair, and pinched his nose closed to force his mouth open. “Obviously,” he said, in as light and disaffected tone he could muster, “I didn’t mean you.”
Andrew shoved the gag roughly into the Caretaker's mouth, fairly sure he'd broken a tooth or two in the process. After it was securely buckled, he stood and stepped back with a last disdainful glare. conflicted as he was, he could not wait to be rid of the weight of his father's shadow. "You know the rest of the plan?" He directed to Blaine, raising an eyebrow. "Everything in place?"
Blaine slipped the hood over the Caretaker's head, tightening it around his neck, then taping it down. "As far as I know," he said, standing. "But we just have to trust now." He stepped forward, taking Andrew's hand. "They say possession is nine-tenths of the law,” he said, gesturing to the Caretaker’s seat. A smile briefly flickered across his face. “Hold the fort, sir. Whatever happens now, it’s been a pleasure.” Turning, he addressed the slaves. "You four. Stay here, and whatever happens, protect Andrew. Defend him at all costs.”
Kenna whined a bit, kicking the unconscious guard before stepping forward. "Not that I don't love the idea of being Malfoy's glorified guard dog, but I still think you should just let me slit his throat." she said offhandedly, 'accidentally' stepping on the Caretaker's foot as she darted in to give Blaine a quick hug and whisper, "Be careful, Honeybear," into his ear. "We've got this." She said louder, stepping back to sling an arm around Jeff's waist.
Kurt hesitated before rushing across the room to wrap his arms around Blaine's neck. "Please be careful," he whispered, squeezing tightly. "Come back to me. I like Master Johannson but I don't want him to be my new master."
Jeff was glad to be rid of his task of holding down the Caretaker. He moved into Kenna a little as she wrapped an arm around his waist. He really, really wanted to go to his Master, to hug him or kneel at his feet. But he'd been told to stand and fight, defend him and that's what he'd do. "Yes, Sir, Master Blaine. We got this."
Andrew raised an eyebrow at the bloodthirsty slave, and allowed Blaine's claim his moment before speaking up. "Fairly sure that law doesn't apply to secretly-hostile takeovers, but I get your meaning." He said, clasping Blaine's hand in a firm grip. "Don't do anything unnecessarily stupid." Dropping the other man's hand, he turned his eyes to Jeff and gave him a reassuring smile before moving to press a gentle kiss to Hunter's temple. "Be careful, baby brother. Come back all in one piece, yeah?"
Blaine wrapped his arms around Kenna, then lifted Kurt off his feet, kissing him deeply, but all too briefly. “Hunter and I will be back in three hours or less. That's a promise," he told Kurt, when he set him down again - but he said it loudly enough that everyone could hear him. "I want you guys to lock the door behind us, and don’t open it again until you hear our voices. Okay?" He looked around the room at all of them. "Patch up any cuts you may have, okay guys? Even minor ones. Oh, and group project," he added playfully, catching Andrew's eyes. "Help Andrew come up with a new title for himself as head-of-state. The old one won't work anymore." Blaine bit his lip. They didn't really have time to be saying all this, and he knew it. "Hunter? Are you... ready?" He tried to read Hunter's face, unsuccessfully. "Come help me lift him?"
Hunter had been quiet during the whole process. His part had been done and he knew better than to step in when he was...in the place he was in right then. There was a plan. He just had to follow the plan. The kiss to his temple stirred him back to the here and now a little and he turned at the sound of his name. He blinked at Blaine. Lift him, him being his father. It was...time. He gave a nod. "Yeah, let's go. Let's get this over with," he replied, moving to help Blaine.
Blaine ran a hand over Hunter's shoulder, squeezing it protectively. He knew he couldn't stop to comfort Hunter now; there just wasn't time. But god, he wished he could. "The legs should make a good handle," he said, instead. "I'll take the front, you take the back - let's just hurry." Opening the door, Blaine looked both ways before returning to pick up the Caretaker. "Bye guys," he said, one last time - and then they shuffled out the door.