The Glass House: Chapter Twenty Five
Jan. 30th, 2009 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfanficsTitle: The Glass House
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderfulrana_narsilion <3
Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig, Hamish/Andy (after a fashion. XD)
Word Count: 4,720
Chapter: 25/32 [Previous]
Warnings: language, sexual torture
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Author's Notes II: Well, that'd be right. One simple change and the whole thing changes. XD On the plus side, I don't need the extra two chapters. Win. :D
Summary: Word spreads of the labour camps where the halfwings were sent and battle plans must be revised, Caleb and Charles continue their search and Andrew reaches his limit and refuses to do the voice's bidding any longer.
Chapter Twenty Five
Their new town base had become stilled with anticipation since Andrew had fled with Chris and Craig. With little news filtering through, no one was quite sure if they were all still okay. Adam wasn't happy about the situation. The last thing he needed was a rogue agent out there. The State could attack them at any time and here they were, worrying about three of their own. Surely the energy they spent looking for Andrew could be put to better use. Intellectually, it was an argument Adam agreed with. However, he knew as well as anyone else that they couldn't just let them go. He needed them back.
Adam was distracting himself now. If he didn't think about Andrew, he wouldn't worry so much. It wasn't proving that simple. Adam knew Andrew's military record. He made it his business to look into everyone's past before letting them into the rebellion. If Andrew snapped, he had the knowledge to cause Chris and Craig incredible pain and torment. Adam was quite sure that shouldn't happen. He could only hope Charles and Caleb found them in time.
Hamish found him standing by the window of his small office, looking over the township they'd hijacked. Hamish had sent out for newspapers and his scout had finally returned.
"Got the papers, Adam. Shall we see what lies they're spreading this time?" Hamish said as he entered.
Adam turned around. "Oh, sure, good idea."
Hamish sat down on the sofa and set the papers down on the coffee table. Adam joined him and picked up one, gazing at the headline. "Should we be surprised they've managed to spin that defeat at our old warehouse into some sort of victory?"
"Not really. There are bureaucrats dedicated to spinning everything the Army does to spur on the people. It's how they keep the people loyal. It's stupid though. They get defeated all the time and screw up constantly and yet the people think they're invincible. The people are supposed to fear them and they wouldn't do that if they heard about how pathetic they really are," Hamish said.
"Hmm, that's a good point. We'd better be careful. Says here they're preparing for one final assault on the rebellion. Apparently they've been amassing their forces. And the labour camps are going up all over the place. I'll get Julian to warn Charles when they're next in contact. Labour camps mean many more soldiers to contend with," Adam said.
"And all sorts of atrocities being committed to the people held there. This is not going to be good. Ahh, shit, apparently there's been some sort of riot at one of the camps. Apparently, it was our fault. Strangely, I don't think it was this time. We don't have moles in there yet, do we?" Hamish said.
"No, we don't. The rebellion has priority. I've pulled out as many of our agents as is safe to do so in preparation. If there are rebels in the labour camps, they're not working under our authority. What happened anyway?" Adam said.
"It just says there was a riot and the prisoners killed the guards and escaped. There's nothing here that says what happened to them, though I'm sure we can both guess. They haven't specified where the camp is either. They're probably afraid of provoking us too much. Maybe they really are scared of us," Hamish said.
"Of course they're scared of us. We're a threat to their authority. And for once, we are powerful enough to be scared of. We've got enough fire power to take them down, thanks to the Chinese. It's high time they started taking us seriously for once," Adam said.
"So what do we do?" Hamish said.
"About what exactly?" Adam said.
"The labour camps. We never counted on that actually happening. What are we going to do with everyone caught in the camps? We can't just leave them there. We should free them. They're mostly halfwings anyway," Hamish said.
"Oh, gods. Not more work to do. Christ. Look, I'll go talk to Wil and Jules and everyone, see what they think we should do. I'm not making any promises, alright?" Adam said.
"Fine. Just as long as we do something with them. We don't want to leave them standing. That will do nothing for our credibility," Hamish said.
Adam nodded his agreement as he continued to flick through the papers. He had a lot to think about. How could they factor in the camps without compromising their rebellion? It would require a rethink and perhaps a total redesign of their attack plans. This was not what he wanted to be going so close to the date they're supposed to attack.
"You're going to leave me again, aren't you? Got plans to make, hey?" Hamish said.
"What makes you say that?" Adam said.
"It's that look on your face. You're annoyed I've ruined your wonderful battle plans. Go on then, go badger Wil and Jules again. You won't be happy until you have, you know," Hamish said. He set his paper down as he gave Adam a stern look. "Go on! Shoo! I'll scan the papers for you and let you know if anything important's there."
Adam handed him his paper, appreciating his offer. "Thanks, love. I'll be back soon, alright?" he said, kissing his forehead.
"I won't see you til lunchtime. I know you too well," Hamish said.
Adam ruffles his hair as he leaves, anxious to redraw their battle plans now that they have the labour camps to think of. Hamish curls into the couch and flicks through the papers some more, making a note of anything that Adam should know about.
Adam finds Julian in his room, having just successfully subdued Chas. Chas was now chained up on the bed while Julian sat at his desk and began his work.
"Was someone being a tad distracting this morning, Julian?" Adam said, gazing at Chas in amusement.
Julian turned to face him. "Honestly, sometimes I really miss that bloody cage I had for him. Some days I just never get any work done," he said.
"You would work all the time if I wasn't there to distract you. I'm doing you a service. Oh, and hi Adam," Chas said, thankful Julian had merely tied him up and hadn't bothered gagging him.
"Hi Chas. Listen, Jules, we need to talk about the plans and what to do about the labour camps. I'm going to gather everyone down in the basement for a meeting, alright?" Adam said.
"Sure, sounds good to me. I had wondered about that myself. I'll go get the others if you want. I was going to go see them now anyway. Give me ten?" Julian said.
"Go for it. I'll go get some coffee," Adam said.
"Julian, if you're going to leave me, would it kill you to untie me first? I am not staying like this," Chas said.
"Alright, fine. I'll untie you. You'd better give me a hand, Adam. He'll just wriggle otherwise," Julian said.
"I thought that was part of the fun?" Adam said, going to help Julian anyway.
"Not when we have more important things to worry about," Julian said.
Chas pouted adorably as he was finally freed again from his bonds. Julian received a playful lick and had Adam not been there to whisk his Julian off for Very Important Things, he may have just started distracting him again. With Chas finally settled, Adam heads off to find coffee while Julian goes to get the others.
Everyone gathered in the basement, well, those who were able to leave their duties long enough to do so. No one quite knew what to be focussing on, with the search for Andrew tearing away concentration on the rebellion itself. Still, that there were eight of them gathered here was better than nothing. Adam had already handed out coffee. Now it was time to get down to business.
"You'll all have seen the papers, yes? Hamish rightly pointed out to me this morning that we need to factor the labour camps into our plans, because as you know, we never thought things would get that bad. But apparently we were wrong. So now we have to do something about them. Any suggestions?" Adam said.
"We can't just leave them. They're full of halfwings. It's our duty to free them. We need to find out where these camps are and how many there are. That will make it easier to work out how to tackle them," Julian said.
"Wil, got any ideas about recon? Are there any around here that we know of?" Adam said.
"The Government are being incredibly sneaky about this. They're only referring to the camps by code names, and that code doesn't give away locations. We'd need someone to infiltrate very high up to get a list of where the camps are, and I doubt that's within our power to obtain. We may have to wing it and free the camps we happen to find. I only have a list of about 15 code names, and word is there are many more than that across the country," Wil said.
"We need to get word out to our interstate allies that they need to check for these camps. The more of them we know, the better. Once we have a master list, we might be able to work out how to get to them," Adam said.
"They'll probably be in remote locations, or ones that are hard to get to. They wouldn't be stupid enough to use abandoned warehouses in restricted zones as camps, would they?" Chas said.
"You'd be surprised at the levels of stupidity in the Armed Forces. I wouldn't put it past them to do exactly that to throw us off the trail. Did anyone check if the code names matched up with restricted zone numbers?" Andy said.
"No, we never thought they'd be that thick. Let's check the maps though. Wil, get me those maps of the restricted zones around our old base," Adam said.
Wil retrieved the maps and spread them over the old pool table. They showed the old metro area with restricted zones circled in red lines and their assigned number in the middle.
"The list of camps I've got have code names involving a colour and a number. They may very well match up with these. I wasn't aware that the zones had different colours though," Wil said.
"They don't. They've probably used some arbitrary system to divide the zones into smaller groups and given them colours. The numbers would probably stay the same, so they'd know which one it meant, rather than have one zone with two numbers. What numbers have you got anyway?" Andy said.
"The ones I've got are 12, 25, 53, 62, 81, 83, 123, 168, 172, 175, 201, 219, 241, 295 and 297. I haven't been able to confirm they are only New South Wales zones. They could bleed into Victoria or Queensland," Wil said.
"They should all be New South Wales. The zones are divided into groups by state, like post codes are. Three hundred and below are us, Victoria has three to five hundred, Queensland has up to seven fifty, South Australia closes at a thousand, and Western Australia has til twelve fifty. The Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania have what's left over. If we mapped those numbers to their zones, we'd be able to work out the colours. It wouldn't tell us where all the camps are, as they probably won't use every restricted zone, but it will give us the locations of those ones. We won't get a full map until we have all the camp numbers," Andy said.
"Andy, you and Wil get those zones plotted. If there are any camps that cross our battle plans, we'll take them. What should we do with survivors though?" Adam said.
"We should get them secured with our own men and set them up as hospitals. We can treat those who need it and keep the people safe as well, especially if they're old warehouses. We can survive there with little activity being visible and use them as safe havens between battles as we go. I can't think of anything more to do than that. Of course, any able-bodied halfwings who wish to fight with us can join us," Tim said.
"I suppose we'll need a bigger armoury of weapons if we'll be recruiting from labour camps as we go. We'll have to restock, maybe raid another army camp and grab what we can. The Chinese have given us all they can. The rest is up to us, and we don't have the unfettered access to weapons that the Army does. A raid or two might be worth our time, but far away from here to avoid suspicion. Pin down some easy targets away from our camps and get some raiding parties organised. Kill anyone you find. I don't want us getting reported. I know I don't always advocate killing, but we're so close to this rebellion I'm not willing to take any chances. If they offer to join us, kill them anyway. It might be a ruse to spy amongst us and I won't have our new location compromised. Understood?" Adam said.
"I'll get right on it. Chas, come on, we'll go get some raiding parties together," Tim said.
And with that, the meeting ended. Tim and Chas went off together, Wil and Andy poured over the maps, trying to locate the labour camps they knew about, and Adam took Julian, Dom and Shane aside to discuss acquiring weapons and organising any halfwing prisoners they found. Logistics were everything and they had to get this right.
Charles and Caleb continued their search and found that the next town was even more dismal than the last. There were only a few houses, one pub-cum-hotel and a general store. Charles thought it a good thing they filled up on petrol at the last town. For lack of anywhere else to go, they pulled up outside the pub and decided to see if there was a room available.
The pub was dingy and empty. Perhaps it was too early for the blokes out here to start drinking. The carpet was dingy, there was a smell of must in the air, and there weren't any lights on at all.
"I wonder where everyone is?" Caleb said. He wandered over to the bar and ran a finger along it. "Damn. It's dusty, Charles. I don't think anyone's here."
"Let's look around everywhere first before we make that pronouncement, and keep an eye out for anything salvageable," Charles said.
"If this place has been abandoned, I doubt there'll be any food worth stealing," Caleb said.
"Well, you never know. With towns like this that get abandoned, it can take a while before anyone realises and shuts off the power and water. There might still be some food available," Charles said.
"We'd have heard any fridges or generators if there was still power here. Listen. It's totally silent. No power. Might still be water, but don't bank on it. This place has long been abandoned. The only reason it still looks okay is that no one bothers looting towns this far out. There's nothing worth stealing, except perhaps generators, though most of the time they're more trouble than they're worth. Come on, let's keep going. We might find another town that's still inhabited before day's end," Caleb said.
"Hey, since when did you become the boss? I outrank you," Charles said.
"Since you decided to sub to me, bitch. Feel free to take the power back if you like. I mean, it does look a bit pathetic to have a grown man taking orders from a teenager," Caleb said.
Charles went to answer, but didn't think it was worth it. There was something about Caleb that made Charles defer to him. It was annoying, but it seemed to work.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Charles said.
They spent a while in the truck looking at the maps to work out the best way to go before heading east along an old mining track. Charles drove while Caleb manned the radio and read the papers. They would find Andrew's hideout and they would bring them all back unharmed. Charles wouldn't let Andrew get hurt anymore.
Back in the cave, the voice abruptly roused Andrew from his sleep. He found himself wide awake, lying on his back, staring up at the dark rocky ceiling of his room.
'It is time. Wake, dear Andrew. Today is the day we have been preparing for,' the voice said, intruding into Andrew's sleepy head.
"Please, don't make me do this," Andrew murmured, realising what was supposed to happen today.
'You would be wise to obey us today. We will withhold food from you next if you do not obey, and we're sure that's more important to you than dirty sexual pleasure,' the voice said nastily.
Andrew whimpered quietly, silently agreeing with the voice. He may have shit food, but he'd rather that than nothing at all. He let go and the madness took over again, resigning himself to the voice's commands.
'But we are also benevolent. It is clear you need another day to prepare yourself for what is to come. Eat and wash. We will tell you what to do after that,' the voice said.
Andrew didn't bother replying. He got up wearily and went to eat what amounted to breakfast before making his way down the long corridors towards the showers again. He discovered a makeshift toilet this time, saving him from going in some old bucket he'd found on his last exploration. Stripping off, he coaxed the shower into working again and washed happily under the lukewarm water. Sure, it wasn't the most ideal shower in the world, but it was better than nothing. Andrew found it remarkably peaceful, considering the circumstances.
Once dressed, he headed back to his room to wait and find out what the voice had in store for him. He sat on his bed, wondering what 'preparing himself for what is to come' will entail.
'Take the winged one. Take him to the dungeon. We will teach you what you must do,' the voice said.
Andrew sighed as he got up. He walked through the corridors to the cavern where Chris and Craig were. Kneeling in front of the cage, he glanced at them reluctantly before opening the cage and pulling Craig out, badly catching his wings on the bars, causing Craig to cry out with pain and try and manoeuvre his wings out without hurting them (or Chris) too much.
Wordlessly, Andrew led Craig to the dungeon he'd prepared earlier at the voice's insistence. Inside, he wanted to run away and take Craig with him, but the voice was in control and there was no disobedience now.
"Wait there," Andrew said as he left Craig standing in the middle of the dungeon.
Andrew surveyed the weapons on the bench in front of him, keeping his back turned to Craig. He didn't need to look to know that Craig wouldn't escape, even though he was much stronger than Andrew and could fight him off easily. Something else was making him stay, and Andrew figured it was Chris. Maybe he didn't want to see him harmed. Maybe he did love him after all. Andrew was almost right. Craig didn't try and escape because Andrew was his friend, and Craig was determined they were all going to get out of this alive and not end up dead, injured or arrested.
Andrew rested a hand over one of the knife blades. All the memories he'd suppressed from his military days were making themselves known at the edge of his conscious mind, almost daring him to pretend he didn't know what he was capable of. He was in a situation that was both utterly familiar and dangerously foreign that Andrew had no idea what he would do. He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered the last prisoner he'd tortured. He couldn't even remember his name now, but he'd been a Kiwi soldier. He'd been ordered to interrogate him and find out where one of their weapons caches was. The poor boy barely lasted twenty minutes before he was saying whatever Andrew wanted him to say. In the end, he'd been executed and his information rendered invalid. Andrew barely grieved, until now.
"He was only seventeen. What the hell did he do to deserve that?" Andrew whispered. He fought back the tears that wanted to flow. He was made of stronger stuff. Falling to pieces in front of Craig would do him no good at all.
'Whip him. Confiscate the canary's clothes and beat it. It doesn't deserve such human things,' the voice said, quickly dehumanising the fullwing standing in the middle of the room, wings blazing behind him at their full span, finally free of the tiny confines of the cage.
Spurred out of his memories and his grief and back to obeying the voice, Andrew grabbed one of the whips off the table and turned to face Craig again. "Strip."
Craig merely looked at him and raised his still-bound wrists, trying to plead for some sort of sympathy.
Andrew glared at him and reluctantly unbound his wrists. He cracked the whip at Craig's feet to make him hurry up. "Strip! Don't touch the gag."
Craig obeyed, carefully undressing before Andrew. He wasn't in a position to care about being seen naked. He left the gag in place, wondering how soon it would be before that whip hit his skin.
Andrew pressed against Craig, whip trailing on the ground as it was held loosely in one hand. Andrew brushed a finger down Craig's jaw line gently.
"Such a beautiful creature. Such a shame we have to hurt you," Andrew said nastily.
Craig swallowed as Andrew pushed him back. Another crack of the whip made Craig stop. Andrew held the whip in his mouth while he secured Craig's wrists to shackles hanging from the ceiling. Craig stood there, unable to escape, head bowed. He knew what was to come. He knew how much it would hurt. He didn't see the point in fighting it. If he gave in, maybe Andrew'd get bored with him sooner.
Andrew was unnerved at his silent acceptance. He had hoped he might struggle a bit. Annoyed, he brings the whip down against his stomach, watching the whip wrap around his body. Craig lifted his wings out of the way to avoid his feathers getting caught in the tangle. He inhaled sharply as the pain struck. It made a burning line all around his middle. He may as well have been cut in two for all the pain that was biting into him.
The whip retrieved and hanging loosely by his side again, Andrew watched Craig for signs of resistance. Seeing none only made him angrier. He whipped his body again, trying to get a reaction out of him. Again, Craig remained unnerved.
Dropping the whip, Andrew pressed against him, gently running a finger along the red welts striping across his belly, hoping for some kind of reaction. Craig inhaled sharply but that was all. Andrew moved his hand lower, gently taking his cock in his hand as he began stroking him, hoping to arouse him.
That Craig was unable to resist for long. Soon he was mewling urgently, his cock hard and thick in Andrew's hand, unable to stop himself giving into him at last. He threw his head back as Andrew reached down further between his legs, finger teasing his hole mercilessly. Craig growled in frustration as best he could as Andrew stood there grinning nastily, pleased that he'd found something that worked. Andrew pulled away, hand still stroking him. He let go at last as he stood there.
"I think we found ourselves something that works," Andrew said, unbuckling his jeans and stepping out of them. He threw off his shirt and stalked around behind Craig, leaning against him, his own erection pressing into Craig's arse as a hand slipped around the front to continue stroking him. It helped that it wasn't something that involved causing Craig physical harm.
Craig swallowed, utterly turned on by Andrew's actions. Andrew's hands were doing distracting things, tracing patterns on his sensitive skin, ghosting across the welts, causing Craig to shiver.
"Want me to fuck you?" Andrew whispered harshly into Craig's ear.
Craig groaned as he grew harder at the suggestion, well aware of how hard Andrew was. He nodded his head a little too enthusiastically.
"Want me to fuck you," Andrew pulled back, ready to push forward and inside him, "real hard? How badly do you want it, bitch?" Andrew purred.
Craig was at the point of frustration now, trying to encourage Andrew to thrust inside and get it over with. He had no answer to Andrew's questions.
Andrew sensed his frustration and moved in front of him again, kneeling at his feet. Looking up at him as he gently stroked him, Andrew slowly began sucking him, taking in as much as possible, loving the sound of desperation Craig made at his teasing. A malicious hunger had taken over Andrew's mind now, spurring him on as he made Craig as sexually frustrated as possible.
In spite of his obedience to the voice in his head, Andrew kept on resisting the urge to fall back into his interrogator mindset. The voice wasn't able to turn Craig into a faceless prisoner and that kept Andrew from hurting him. Indeed, not even the voice goading him could make Andrew actually have sex with him, even as he was standing behind him, ready to push forward. Andrew refused resolutely. He knew what Craig had gone through when he'd been tortured and he was not going to stoop to rape. It was a barrier he would not cross. He knew it would cause more trauma than he was willing to bear responsibility for.
Andrew was knocked to the ground as a wave of nausea hit. His defiance was not to be tolerated. Craig turned his head as best he could to see if he was okay. He would cry out, but he was still gagged. He tugged on the chains, testing their strength. Andrew was curled up in pain, clearly fighting some invisible enemy. Craig wasn't sure he could take this much longer. He tugged on the chains again, wondering if he yanked hard enough, they would break. He kept glancing at Andrew. His suffering was breaking his heart. Craig didn't like that this thing that was controlling him was hurting him. It wasn't right.
Craig figured he had to use all his strength left to break the chains holding him to the ceiling. They were rusty and old. Perhaps they wouldn't be so hard to break. He concentrated hard, trying to muster what energy he had left. With a cry of pain, Craig yanked down on the chains, trying to snap them. With his wings, he managed to break them, and the iron crumbled under his efforts. Craig fell forward as he was freed. He flung the gag off and hurried to Andrew's side. He brought him into his arms, hoping he was alright.
"Andrew? Shit, come on, man, you gotta fight it. Be strong for me. Don't let it fuckin' win, whatever it is," Craig muttered.
Andrew curled up again, his body wracked with pain. The voice was very angry now. Its plans were not going ahead as it requested. Andrew was actually afraid he was about to die. Would the voice really kill him over this? No, he didn't regret anything. He would not hurt Craig, not like that.
Craig could do nothing but hold him and hope he didn't lose. It wasn't the sort of battle Craig could even fight for him. Craig panicked when Andrew went limp and lost consciousness. Craig picked him up and headed off to find a bed. He had to get him comfortable and then he'd free Chris and then they'd fuckin' get out of here. No way were they staying here, not with Andrew like this.
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderful
rana_narsilion <3Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig, Hamish/Andy (after a fashion. XD)
Word Count: 4,720
Chapter: 25/32 [Previous]
Warnings: language, sexual torture
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Author's Notes II: Well, that'd be right. One simple change and the whole thing changes. XD On the plus side, I don't need the extra two chapters. Win. :D
Summary: Word spreads of the labour camps where the halfwings were sent and battle plans must be revised, Caleb and Charles continue their search and Andrew reaches his limit and refuses to do the voice's bidding any longer.
Chapter Twenty Five
Their new town base had become stilled with anticipation since Andrew had fled with Chris and Craig. With little news filtering through, no one was quite sure if they were all still okay. Adam wasn't happy about the situation. The last thing he needed was a rogue agent out there. The State could attack them at any time and here they were, worrying about three of their own. Surely the energy they spent looking for Andrew could be put to better use. Intellectually, it was an argument Adam agreed with. However, he knew as well as anyone else that they couldn't just let them go. He needed them back.
Adam was distracting himself now. If he didn't think about Andrew, he wouldn't worry so much. It wasn't proving that simple. Adam knew Andrew's military record. He made it his business to look into everyone's past before letting them into the rebellion. If Andrew snapped, he had the knowledge to cause Chris and Craig incredible pain and torment. Adam was quite sure that shouldn't happen. He could only hope Charles and Caleb found them in time.
Hamish found him standing by the window of his small office, looking over the township they'd hijacked. Hamish had sent out for newspapers and his scout had finally returned.
"Got the papers, Adam. Shall we see what lies they're spreading this time?" Hamish said as he entered.
Adam turned around. "Oh, sure, good idea."
Hamish sat down on the sofa and set the papers down on the coffee table. Adam joined him and picked up one, gazing at the headline. "Should we be surprised they've managed to spin that defeat at our old warehouse into some sort of victory?"
"Not really. There are bureaucrats dedicated to spinning everything the Army does to spur on the people. It's how they keep the people loyal. It's stupid though. They get defeated all the time and screw up constantly and yet the people think they're invincible. The people are supposed to fear them and they wouldn't do that if they heard about how pathetic they really are," Hamish said.
"Hmm, that's a good point. We'd better be careful. Says here they're preparing for one final assault on the rebellion. Apparently they've been amassing their forces. And the labour camps are going up all over the place. I'll get Julian to warn Charles when they're next in contact. Labour camps mean many more soldiers to contend with," Adam said.
"And all sorts of atrocities being committed to the people held there. This is not going to be good. Ahh, shit, apparently there's been some sort of riot at one of the camps. Apparently, it was our fault. Strangely, I don't think it was this time. We don't have moles in there yet, do we?" Hamish said.
"No, we don't. The rebellion has priority. I've pulled out as many of our agents as is safe to do so in preparation. If there are rebels in the labour camps, they're not working under our authority. What happened anyway?" Adam said.
"It just says there was a riot and the prisoners killed the guards and escaped. There's nothing here that says what happened to them, though I'm sure we can both guess. They haven't specified where the camp is either. They're probably afraid of provoking us too much. Maybe they really are scared of us," Hamish said.
"Of course they're scared of us. We're a threat to their authority. And for once, we are powerful enough to be scared of. We've got enough fire power to take them down, thanks to the Chinese. It's high time they started taking us seriously for once," Adam said.
"So what do we do?" Hamish said.
"About what exactly?" Adam said.
"The labour camps. We never counted on that actually happening. What are we going to do with everyone caught in the camps? We can't just leave them there. We should free them. They're mostly halfwings anyway," Hamish said.
"Oh, gods. Not more work to do. Christ. Look, I'll go talk to Wil and Jules and everyone, see what they think we should do. I'm not making any promises, alright?" Adam said.
"Fine. Just as long as we do something with them. We don't want to leave them standing. That will do nothing for our credibility," Hamish said.
Adam nodded his agreement as he continued to flick through the papers. He had a lot to think about. How could they factor in the camps without compromising their rebellion? It would require a rethink and perhaps a total redesign of their attack plans. This was not what he wanted to be going so close to the date they're supposed to attack.
"You're going to leave me again, aren't you? Got plans to make, hey?" Hamish said.
"What makes you say that?" Adam said.
"It's that look on your face. You're annoyed I've ruined your wonderful battle plans. Go on then, go badger Wil and Jules again. You won't be happy until you have, you know," Hamish said. He set his paper down as he gave Adam a stern look. "Go on! Shoo! I'll scan the papers for you and let you know if anything important's there."
Adam handed him his paper, appreciating his offer. "Thanks, love. I'll be back soon, alright?" he said, kissing his forehead.
"I won't see you til lunchtime. I know you too well," Hamish said.
Adam ruffles his hair as he leaves, anxious to redraw their battle plans now that they have the labour camps to think of. Hamish curls into the couch and flicks through the papers some more, making a note of anything that Adam should know about.
Adam finds Julian in his room, having just successfully subdued Chas. Chas was now chained up on the bed while Julian sat at his desk and began his work.
"Was someone being a tad distracting this morning, Julian?" Adam said, gazing at Chas in amusement.
Julian turned to face him. "Honestly, sometimes I really miss that bloody cage I had for him. Some days I just never get any work done," he said.
"You would work all the time if I wasn't there to distract you. I'm doing you a service. Oh, and hi Adam," Chas said, thankful Julian had merely tied him up and hadn't bothered gagging him.
"Hi Chas. Listen, Jules, we need to talk about the plans and what to do about the labour camps. I'm going to gather everyone down in the basement for a meeting, alright?" Adam said.
"Sure, sounds good to me. I had wondered about that myself. I'll go get the others if you want. I was going to go see them now anyway. Give me ten?" Julian said.
"Go for it. I'll go get some coffee," Adam said.
"Julian, if you're going to leave me, would it kill you to untie me first? I am not staying like this," Chas said.
"Alright, fine. I'll untie you. You'd better give me a hand, Adam. He'll just wriggle otherwise," Julian said.
"I thought that was part of the fun?" Adam said, going to help Julian anyway.
"Not when we have more important things to worry about," Julian said.
Chas pouted adorably as he was finally freed again from his bonds. Julian received a playful lick and had Adam not been there to whisk his Julian off for Very Important Things, he may have just started distracting him again. With Chas finally settled, Adam heads off to find coffee while Julian goes to get the others.
Everyone gathered in the basement, well, those who were able to leave their duties long enough to do so. No one quite knew what to be focussing on, with the search for Andrew tearing away concentration on the rebellion itself. Still, that there were eight of them gathered here was better than nothing. Adam had already handed out coffee. Now it was time to get down to business.
"You'll all have seen the papers, yes? Hamish rightly pointed out to me this morning that we need to factor the labour camps into our plans, because as you know, we never thought things would get that bad. But apparently we were wrong. So now we have to do something about them. Any suggestions?" Adam said.
"We can't just leave them. They're full of halfwings. It's our duty to free them. We need to find out where these camps are and how many there are. That will make it easier to work out how to tackle them," Julian said.
"Wil, got any ideas about recon? Are there any around here that we know of?" Adam said.
"The Government are being incredibly sneaky about this. They're only referring to the camps by code names, and that code doesn't give away locations. We'd need someone to infiltrate very high up to get a list of where the camps are, and I doubt that's within our power to obtain. We may have to wing it and free the camps we happen to find. I only have a list of about 15 code names, and word is there are many more than that across the country," Wil said.
"We need to get word out to our interstate allies that they need to check for these camps. The more of them we know, the better. Once we have a master list, we might be able to work out how to get to them," Adam said.
"They'll probably be in remote locations, or ones that are hard to get to. They wouldn't be stupid enough to use abandoned warehouses in restricted zones as camps, would they?" Chas said.
"You'd be surprised at the levels of stupidity in the Armed Forces. I wouldn't put it past them to do exactly that to throw us off the trail. Did anyone check if the code names matched up with restricted zone numbers?" Andy said.
"No, we never thought they'd be that thick. Let's check the maps though. Wil, get me those maps of the restricted zones around our old base," Adam said.
Wil retrieved the maps and spread them over the old pool table. They showed the old metro area with restricted zones circled in red lines and their assigned number in the middle.
"The list of camps I've got have code names involving a colour and a number. They may very well match up with these. I wasn't aware that the zones had different colours though," Wil said.
"They don't. They've probably used some arbitrary system to divide the zones into smaller groups and given them colours. The numbers would probably stay the same, so they'd know which one it meant, rather than have one zone with two numbers. What numbers have you got anyway?" Andy said.
"The ones I've got are 12, 25, 53, 62, 81, 83, 123, 168, 172, 175, 201, 219, 241, 295 and 297. I haven't been able to confirm they are only New South Wales zones. They could bleed into Victoria or Queensland," Wil said.
"They should all be New South Wales. The zones are divided into groups by state, like post codes are. Three hundred and below are us, Victoria has three to five hundred, Queensland has up to seven fifty, South Australia closes at a thousand, and Western Australia has til twelve fifty. The Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania have what's left over. If we mapped those numbers to their zones, we'd be able to work out the colours. It wouldn't tell us where all the camps are, as they probably won't use every restricted zone, but it will give us the locations of those ones. We won't get a full map until we have all the camp numbers," Andy said.
"Andy, you and Wil get those zones plotted. If there are any camps that cross our battle plans, we'll take them. What should we do with survivors though?" Adam said.
"We should get them secured with our own men and set them up as hospitals. We can treat those who need it and keep the people safe as well, especially if they're old warehouses. We can survive there with little activity being visible and use them as safe havens between battles as we go. I can't think of anything more to do than that. Of course, any able-bodied halfwings who wish to fight with us can join us," Tim said.
"I suppose we'll need a bigger armoury of weapons if we'll be recruiting from labour camps as we go. We'll have to restock, maybe raid another army camp and grab what we can. The Chinese have given us all they can. The rest is up to us, and we don't have the unfettered access to weapons that the Army does. A raid or two might be worth our time, but far away from here to avoid suspicion. Pin down some easy targets away from our camps and get some raiding parties organised. Kill anyone you find. I don't want us getting reported. I know I don't always advocate killing, but we're so close to this rebellion I'm not willing to take any chances. If they offer to join us, kill them anyway. It might be a ruse to spy amongst us and I won't have our new location compromised. Understood?" Adam said.
"I'll get right on it. Chas, come on, we'll go get some raiding parties together," Tim said.
And with that, the meeting ended. Tim and Chas went off together, Wil and Andy poured over the maps, trying to locate the labour camps they knew about, and Adam took Julian, Dom and Shane aside to discuss acquiring weapons and organising any halfwing prisoners they found. Logistics were everything and they had to get this right.
Charles and Caleb continued their search and found that the next town was even more dismal than the last. There were only a few houses, one pub-cum-hotel and a general store. Charles thought it a good thing they filled up on petrol at the last town. For lack of anywhere else to go, they pulled up outside the pub and decided to see if there was a room available.
The pub was dingy and empty. Perhaps it was too early for the blokes out here to start drinking. The carpet was dingy, there was a smell of must in the air, and there weren't any lights on at all.
"I wonder where everyone is?" Caleb said. He wandered over to the bar and ran a finger along it. "Damn. It's dusty, Charles. I don't think anyone's here."
"Let's look around everywhere first before we make that pronouncement, and keep an eye out for anything salvageable," Charles said.
"If this place has been abandoned, I doubt there'll be any food worth stealing," Caleb said.
"Well, you never know. With towns like this that get abandoned, it can take a while before anyone realises and shuts off the power and water. There might still be some food available," Charles said.
"We'd have heard any fridges or generators if there was still power here. Listen. It's totally silent. No power. Might still be water, but don't bank on it. This place has long been abandoned. The only reason it still looks okay is that no one bothers looting towns this far out. There's nothing worth stealing, except perhaps generators, though most of the time they're more trouble than they're worth. Come on, let's keep going. We might find another town that's still inhabited before day's end," Caleb said.
"Hey, since when did you become the boss? I outrank you," Charles said.
"Since you decided to sub to me, bitch. Feel free to take the power back if you like. I mean, it does look a bit pathetic to have a grown man taking orders from a teenager," Caleb said.
Charles went to answer, but didn't think it was worth it. There was something about Caleb that made Charles defer to him. It was annoying, but it seemed to work.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Charles said.
They spent a while in the truck looking at the maps to work out the best way to go before heading east along an old mining track. Charles drove while Caleb manned the radio and read the papers. They would find Andrew's hideout and they would bring them all back unharmed. Charles wouldn't let Andrew get hurt anymore.
Back in the cave, the voice abruptly roused Andrew from his sleep. He found himself wide awake, lying on his back, staring up at the dark rocky ceiling of his room.
'It is time. Wake, dear Andrew. Today is the day we have been preparing for,' the voice said, intruding into Andrew's sleepy head.
"Please, don't make me do this," Andrew murmured, realising what was supposed to happen today.
'You would be wise to obey us today. We will withhold food from you next if you do not obey, and we're sure that's more important to you than dirty sexual pleasure,' the voice said nastily.
Andrew whimpered quietly, silently agreeing with the voice. He may have shit food, but he'd rather that than nothing at all. He let go and the madness took over again, resigning himself to the voice's commands.
'But we are also benevolent. It is clear you need another day to prepare yourself for what is to come. Eat and wash. We will tell you what to do after that,' the voice said.
Andrew didn't bother replying. He got up wearily and went to eat what amounted to breakfast before making his way down the long corridors towards the showers again. He discovered a makeshift toilet this time, saving him from going in some old bucket he'd found on his last exploration. Stripping off, he coaxed the shower into working again and washed happily under the lukewarm water. Sure, it wasn't the most ideal shower in the world, but it was better than nothing. Andrew found it remarkably peaceful, considering the circumstances.
Once dressed, he headed back to his room to wait and find out what the voice had in store for him. He sat on his bed, wondering what 'preparing himself for what is to come' will entail.
'Take the winged one. Take him to the dungeon. We will teach you what you must do,' the voice said.
Andrew sighed as he got up. He walked through the corridors to the cavern where Chris and Craig were. Kneeling in front of the cage, he glanced at them reluctantly before opening the cage and pulling Craig out, badly catching his wings on the bars, causing Craig to cry out with pain and try and manoeuvre his wings out without hurting them (or Chris) too much.
Wordlessly, Andrew led Craig to the dungeon he'd prepared earlier at the voice's insistence. Inside, he wanted to run away and take Craig with him, but the voice was in control and there was no disobedience now.
"Wait there," Andrew said as he left Craig standing in the middle of the dungeon.
Andrew surveyed the weapons on the bench in front of him, keeping his back turned to Craig. He didn't need to look to know that Craig wouldn't escape, even though he was much stronger than Andrew and could fight him off easily. Something else was making him stay, and Andrew figured it was Chris. Maybe he didn't want to see him harmed. Maybe he did love him after all. Andrew was almost right. Craig didn't try and escape because Andrew was his friend, and Craig was determined they were all going to get out of this alive and not end up dead, injured or arrested.
Andrew rested a hand over one of the knife blades. All the memories he'd suppressed from his military days were making themselves known at the edge of his conscious mind, almost daring him to pretend he didn't know what he was capable of. He was in a situation that was both utterly familiar and dangerously foreign that Andrew had no idea what he would do. He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered the last prisoner he'd tortured. He couldn't even remember his name now, but he'd been a Kiwi soldier. He'd been ordered to interrogate him and find out where one of their weapons caches was. The poor boy barely lasted twenty minutes before he was saying whatever Andrew wanted him to say. In the end, he'd been executed and his information rendered invalid. Andrew barely grieved, until now.
"He was only seventeen. What the hell did he do to deserve that?" Andrew whispered. He fought back the tears that wanted to flow. He was made of stronger stuff. Falling to pieces in front of Craig would do him no good at all.
'Whip him. Confiscate the canary's clothes and beat it. It doesn't deserve such human things,' the voice said, quickly dehumanising the fullwing standing in the middle of the room, wings blazing behind him at their full span, finally free of the tiny confines of the cage.
Spurred out of his memories and his grief and back to obeying the voice, Andrew grabbed one of the whips off the table and turned to face Craig again. "Strip."
Craig merely looked at him and raised his still-bound wrists, trying to plead for some sort of sympathy.
Andrew glared at him and reluctantly unbound his wrists. He cracked the whip at Craig's feet to make him hurry up. "Strip! Don't touch the gag."
Craig obeyed, carefully undressing before Andrew. He wasn't in a position to care about being seen naked. He left the gag in place, wondering how soon it would be before that whip hit his skin.
Andrew pressed against Craig, whip trailing on the ground as it was held loosely in one hand. Andrew brushed a finger down Craig's jaw line gently.
"Such a beautiful creature. Such a shame we have to hurt you," Andrew said nastily.
Craig swallowed as Andrew pushed him back. Another crack of the whip made Craig stop. Andrew held the whip in his mouth while he secured Craig's wrists to shackles hanging from the ceiling. Craig stood there, unable to escape, head bowed. He knew what was to come. He knew how much it would hurt. He didn't see the point in fighting it. If he gave in, maybe Andrew'd get bored with him sooner.
Andrew was unnerved at his silent acceptance. He had hoped he might struggle a bit. Annoyed, he brings the whip down against his stomach, watching the whip wrap around his body. Craig lifted his wings out of the way to avoid his feathers getting caught in the tangle. He inhaled sharply as the pain struck. It made a burning line all around his middle. He may as well have been cut in two for all the pain that was biting into him.
The whip retrieved and hanging loosely by his side again, Andrew watched Craig for signs of resistance. Seeing none only made him angrier. He whipped his body again, trying to get a reaction out of him. Again, Craig remained unnerved.
Dropping the whip, Andrew pressed against him, gently running a finger along the red welts striping across his belly, hoping for some kind of reaction. Craig inhaled sharply but that was all. Andrew moved his hand lower, gently taking his cock in his hand as he began stroking him, hoping to arouse him.
That Craig was unable to resist for long. Soon he was mewling urgently, his cock hard and thick in Andrew's hand, unable to stop himself giving into him at last. He threw his head back as Andrew reached down further between his legs, finger teasing his hole mercilessly. Craig growled in frustration as best he could as Andrew stood there grinning nastily, pleased that he'd found something that worked. Andrew pulled away, hand still stroking him. He let go at last as he stood there.
"I think we found ourselves something that works," Andrew said, unbuckling his jeans and stepping out of them. He threw off his shirt and stalked around behind Craig, leaning against him, his own erection pressing into Craig's arse as a hand slipped around the front to continue stroking him. It helped that it wasn't something that involved causing Craig physical harm.
Craig swallowed, utterly turned on by Andrew's actions. Andrew's hands were doing distracting things, tracing patterns on his sensitive skin, ghosting across the welts, causing Craig to shiver.
"Want me to fuck you?" Andrew whispered harshly into Craig's ear.
Craig groaned as he grew harder at the suggestion, well aware of how hard Andrew was. He nodded his head a little too enthusiastically.
"Want me to fuck you," Andrew pulled back, ready to push forward and inside him, "real hard? How badly do you want it, bitch?" Andrew purred.
Craig was at the point of frustration now, trying to encourage Andrew to thrust inside and get it over with. He had no answer to Andrew's questions.
Andrew sensed his frustration and moved in front of him again, kneeling at his feet. Looking up at him as he gently stroked him, Andrew slowly began sucking him, taking in as much as possible, loving the sound of desperation Craig made at his teasing. A malicious hunger had taken over Andrew's mind now, spurring him on as he made Craig as sexually frustrated as possible.
In spite of his obedience to the voice in his head, Andrew kept on resisting the urge to fall back into his interrogator mindset. The voice wasn't able to turn Craig into a faceless prisoner and that kept Andrew from hurting him. Indeed, not even the voice goading him could make Andrew actually have sex with him, even as he was standing behind him, ready to push forward. Andrew refused resolutely. He knew what Craig had gone through when he'd been tortured and he was not going to stoop to rape. It was a barrier he would not cross. He knew it would cause more trauma than he was willing to bear responsibility for.
Andrew was knocked to the ground as a wave of nausea hit. His defiance was not to be tolerated. Craig turned his head as best he could to see if he was okay. He would cry out, but he was still gagged. He tugged on the chains, testing their strength. Andrew was curled up in pain, clearly fighting some invisible enemy. Craig wasn't sure he could take this much longer. He tugged on the chains again, wondering if he yanked hard enough, they would break. He kept glancing at Andrew. His suffering was breaking his heart. Craig didn't like that this thing that was controlling him was hurting him. It wasn't right.
Craig figured he had to use all his strength left to break the chains holding him to the ceiling. They were rusty and old. Perhaps they wouldn't be so hard to break. He concentrated hard, trying to muster what energy he had left. With a cry of pain, Craig yanked down on the chains, trying to snap them. With his wings, he managed to break them, and the iron crumbled under his efforts. Craig fell forward as he was freed. He flung the gag off and hurried to Andrew's side. He brought him into his arms, hoping he was alright.
"Andrew? Shit, come on, man, you gotta fight it. Be strong for me. Don't let it fuckin' win, whatever it is," Craig muttered.
Andrew curled up again, his body wracked with pain. The voice was very angry now. Its plans were not going ahead as it requested. Andrew was actually afraid he was about to die. Would the voice really kill him over this? No, he didn't regret anything. He would not hurt Craig, not like that.
Craig could do nothing but hold him and hope he didn't lose. It wasn't the sort of battle Craig could even fight for him. Craig panicked when Andrew went limp and lost consciousness. Craig picked him up and headed off to find a bed. He had to get him comfortable and then he'd free Chris and then they'd fuckin' get out of here. No way were they staying here, not with Andrew like this.