This has spoilers for tocs 2 end game

[reanbeanmachine]

[Crow's wounds required immediate treatment, and while he was in the care of Heimdallr's hospital something went... Wrong. Word got out somehow who he was, leader of that terrorist group, the sniper whose bullet set off the war. Some bribes, some shady dealings, and before the intelligence agency or RMP could react, he was home from his room.

Luckily for Crow by the time he's kidnapped he's in stable condition, and his captors want him to recover, so he's been transported carefully. Where he finds himself though, well that's hard to say when he wakes up chained to a bed in a featureless room with no windows, and a drain on the floor. At least his bandages are fresh.]

Comments

[reanbeanmachine]

[Asset some hours the man and his helpers return, opening Crow's cage and dragging him up.]

Have you contemplated your crimes, terrorist?

[filetofish]

[He resists just on principle. He doesn't really want to be, y'know, in a cage, but he also doesn't want to be manhandled, so he digs his heels in.]

I've contemplated your awful hospitality.

[reanbeanmachine]

[Resistance just means he's being handled more roughly.]

Very well. It wouldn't matter in any case.

[He drops Crow on the floor, holding his hand out, the other members of this little revenge team handing him a number of devices that he starts fastening to Crow.]

We'll continue from yesterday.

[filetofish]

[He'd rather be treated roughly than know he's being agreeable, so has has no regrets in struggling. In fact he's trying to jerk away from these mystery devices, too.]

Not interested. Get your hands off me!

[He doesn't care about anyone's revenge fantasy. Bad things happen all the time. His own actions weren't really justified, but in that vein neither is this.]

[reanbeanmachine]

[Naturally he's being ignored, his hands yanked up by the shackles to get them out of the way as the devices are attached to his skin,]

And now we'll begin, criminal.

[Still holding his arms up, the man presses a switch, activating the orbments and sending shocks through Crow.]

[filetofish]

[Crow continues to be difficult even when he's being so well restrained. He's strong enough to be hard to hold onto, but even so he utterly fails to escape.

That's disheartening in itself, but he's too busy trying to get away to be discouraged. And then the switch is flipped and he's too busy screaming.]

[reanbeanmachine]

[The man smiles, but it's a cold agile. Satisfaction, not happiness. He lets go of Crow, and steps back. When it oils like Crow might pass out he turns the switch off and gives him two minutes to recover.

But then it begins again. It's methodical, and Crow is given only two minutes between each set of shocks.

The actual intensity of the shocks, however, varies greatly. As does the duration. It lasts an hour, like before, but this time after the hour is up the man gestures to one of his helpers and activity starts at one of the tables.]

So criminal, how do you feel?

[filetofish]

[He feels like he looks: tired and in pain, twitchy, collapsed in a pile and pressing his face to the floor just for the grounding sensation of cool concrete against hot skin.

If he felt like jelly yesterday, now he feels like pure mush. None of his muscles want to respond to him. Everything burns. And he's emotionally twitchy as well. The off-and-on pain just leaves him bracing for the next blow now that it's stopped.

And he knows there's going to be one. That's about all he does know about this situation. Still, he endeavours to be cool, even with all his nerves blaring warnings.]

Pissed off, that's how.

[reanbeanmachine]

[The man rolls Crow to his back with his foot than kneels, pulling a syringe from a little box of them and sticking it into Crow's neck above the collar, injecting something solid under Crow's skin.]

Still no remorse.

You will undergo one hour of punishment for every life you've harmed. That is not nearly enough to satisfy the losses of those hurt, but if we took the proper time we would be here for centuries.

You may, at times, feel like you're about to die. But you will not. Rest assured we're monitoring your vitals closely. You will not escape so simply.

If at any point you wish to apologize, we will stop to listen.

[He picks up another syringe and this one injects some sort of clear fluid into Crow's arm.]

We will spend the next three hours on this punishment.

[It feels like fire flowing through his veins.]

[filetofish]

You know I'm not the only person who's ever hurt someone.

[There are definitely people who've done way way worse than Crow. He was expecting to maybe go to jail after all that happened, but this? This is beyond a sane punishment. He's not going to accept it.

He can't stop it, but he can make them fight him for every step. Although after all those shocks his struggle has next to no force.]

You're a bunch of sick bastards.

[His voice is tight and hoarse, but he's doing his best not to scream this time. Instead he attempts to get up, as useless as that might be. His pride won't allow him to just lay on the floor and take it.]

[reanbeanmachine]

Perhaps.

[The man doesn't deny it but he does pull up a chair.]

In any case I'm told this drug is very potent.

[The heat should be spreading through Crow's whole body at this rate, bringing with the pain a humiliating sort of arousal.]

[filetofish]

[He's feeling it, but when he realises what's going on he's even more determined not to show weakness. He's flushed, but rather than let himself freak out he just gives the man a withering glare.

At least he's gotten to his feet. That feels better than being on the floor, and he has room to back up as far as the chains will let him.]

Are you sure you're doing this for revenge? Looks to me like it's just for fun.

[reanbeanmachine]

Are they mutually exclusive, I wonder?

[He does nothing, just watched Crow with that slightly mad light of hatred in his eyes.]

[filetofish]

Yeah, kinda.

[What can he do? It hurts enough to make him want to collapse. He's turned on enough to want to squirm, and that makes him feel humiliated enough to run away. But he can't run, and he won't let himself do the rest. He's stuck there, at the end of his chain, angrily trying to rid himself of anything left on his skin, orbment or mark or otherwise. It's gross. He feels gross.]

I can stand here all day, asshole.

[reanbeanmachine]

Go ahead.

[He seems quite content to wait, watching Crow creepily but still not actually doing anything for now. After all, this is part of it, breaking Crow for revenge doesn't always have to involve touching him at all. Though the hands on approach is far more satisfying.]

[filetofish]

Hmph.

[He has no response to that. He's just going to stand there, arms crossed and nails digging into his own skin. He won't whine. He won't fall, even though his legs feel weak and he's dizzy from exhaustion and drugs and fever and pain. It's embarrassing to be stared at this way, but Crow's stubborn enough to avoid making it worse for himself.

He's trying to look bored instead of frazzled, but it's not working.]

[reanbeanmachine]

[The man smiles, leaving Crow to his stubbornness for half an hour before standing and picking up the chain, pulling Crow sharply towards himself.

He picks up another syringe, stabbing it into Crow's arm as soon as he's close.]

[filetofish]

[Crow spends that half hour trying to get a better view of the room. What's within his range? What could he use as a weapon? To free himself? There's no easy answers there, but thinking about it is a good distraction.

He flinches when the man stands. He'd resist being pulled, but he's having a hard enough time just standing, so rather than putting up a good fight he just stumbles right into the man. Of course he immediately tries to shove away, but that does nothing to stop the needle.]

Fuck off already!

[reanbeanmachine]

[He smiles as he injects Crow, setting the needle down and letting him go with a lingering touch along his arm.]

Your pride is pointless, criminal.

[filetofish]

I have a name, jackass.

[He's also backing the hell up again, trying to ignore how that touch makes him shiver. He wishes he could move farther. He wishes he could be literally anywhere else.]

[reanbeanmachine]

[He sits down again, keeping a hand on the chain casually.]

How do you feel?

[filetofish]

Sick.

[True. He's not sure if that was more of the same or something new, but so far he just feels nauseous with stress, waiting for it to kick in.]

Like I want to punch you in the mouth.

[reanbeanmachine]

[It's more of the same, but far more of a dose than one should have at once.]

Still unrepentant.

[filetofish]

I always will be.

[He's feeling it now, though. He's not sure if this hurts less or more than the shocks, but it is easier to think through, so that's a bonus. It's not a big enough bonus to make up for being so aroused it hurts, however, so he'd gladly go back to the shocks.

He's still refusing to whine, or give in to the want. But as it really sets in he can't keep standing no matter how hard he tries. His legs go out from under him, and he lands hard on his knees, unwilling to stop hugging himself in case he does something embarrassing. No, his hands have to stay occupied, so he's got his arms wrapped tight around his middle and his nails digging into his ribs so hard only the thin cloth of his hospital shirt is keeping him from leaving bloody gouges in his own skin.

He won't cry, either, but he is shaking, trembling with pain and desire and the effort to shut them both out. To keep himself under control, he counts his breaths -- four counts in, four counts out, over and over so as not to hyperventilate.]

I'm sorry for whatever happened to tick you guys off in the process, but I... I won't regret what I did. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, so you can just--

[He has to rein in the anger, or it'll become panic. His voice is choked with agony, but he's giving all he's got not to let it be cut through by tears.]

Kill me if you want. I'm not changing my mind.

[reanbeanmachine]

You won't die for a long long time, as I said.

[He watches Crow drop to his knees and lets him stay there trying not to squirm, at least for a while, it's gratifying to watch him suffer but this still isn't enough so he stands and walks over to him, kneeling to brush his fingers over his face to see how he reacts.]