diversified | Everyone's got their chains to break. [ closed ]

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Everyone's got their chains to break. [ closed ]

WHO Jacob Kane (

insertdadjoke), Abel Fletcher (

sociopapathic).
WHAT Do not fuck with these brothers. Not even if you want to experiment and find out why one is immortal. Just don't do it.
WHEN Late 2014, several months after Cain and Abel have been working together to down the Death Erasers.
WHERE nfc.

"What do you mean, you don't know how to text?" asked Cain. He glanced over the lid of his laptop to give his brother a dubious look. There was a whole lot Abel had simply never picked up in his time as an Enforcer and Cain was painfully aware of how much personal experience Abel was lacking in his unlife. There was nothing to be done for it except curse the Reapers and move forward from there. Still... "Everyone knows how to text, Abel."

It was a bit egregious when Abel had a thirteen year old daughter (granted that she was adopted) who was quite the typical teenager in some respects and still Abel couldn't do much more than make calls with his phone. That just seemed like willful ignorance on Abel's part. Cain was going to have to fix that. There were worse things he was going to have to help his brother get through; this one would be a piece of cake.

Didn't mean he couldn't rib the hell out of Abel for it, though.

"Do you even know how to get to the text menu? Can you even turn your phone on? My God, does Holly have to charge it for you?" he asked, tone going more and more obnoxious as the questions came. Sometimes he even got a reaction for it. Those were always awesome.

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Out of all the people he's killed or seen die, it's Cain's temporary death that truly gets to him, something that finally broke through the wall surrounding the memories of his life. It's a shock and he's quiet for a long moment as the memory hits him like a sack of bricks. He remembered his brother injured, laying on a bed and bandaged heavily while he stayed by his side, checking his time nearly constantly the entire time.

It took a moment for him to snap out of it and hear the operator's words. He frowns slightly and peers out at him. "No. Not while he is unconscious."

The operator paused all together, taking his free and out to readjust his hair net and try to look as if he were unaffected by the show of resistance. Instead he eventually pulled his other hand out and wiggled his fingers to show that he was letting the healing take place. There were plenty of other locations to mess around with while making sure Cain would stay conscious. It would be like a challenge. The operator was already moving on to some other part inside Cain's chest cavity when the blood on the floor and his lips rippled, moved, actually lifted through the air back into the wound for the shortest route to safety.

Cain sputtered quietly, coughed, breathing ragged and uncertain before it quickly started to smooth out. He was silent for a long moment, eyes firmly shut while he tried to moisten them up again. It was during that time where he reoriented himself to the situation and eventually asked, "How long?" He had expected quite some time to pass while they had absolutely nothing to worry about from a semi-dead experiment subject.

"Not long. I stopped singing and he allowed you to heal." This wasn't the time to mention the memory, deciding on telling him later when they weren't stuck here. He was still a little shaken up by Cain's death and the memory that he had drawn from it.

Since the operator allowed Cain to return to consciousness, Abel returned to singing. It was a good distraction for both of them and he didn't seem to mind doing it. And now it seemed that he had returned to the children's songs singing another one for Cain's sake and wanting to see if he knew it like he did the last one.

While the brothers were speaking in Latin, the operator had begun to mutter to himself. "Sure, La, keep it aaall in control. Be the cool cucumber. Nothing ever gets to you. Am I really such a sap?" It looked like he had his own problems well before he decided that cutting up a living cadaver was the best idea of a career choice.

Cain stayed relaxed, trying to ignore the odd not-feeling of someone working on his insides. If he let that get to him and focused on it, there wouldn't be a chance to escape whenever it presented itself. He would be too distracted. Instead he watched Abel idly, letting the music wash over him. It was another familiar song. He dug deep inside, listening to Abel's tune and started to mumble along in time. They had known a lot of children's songs back then, even when they had grown out of it.

There was a slight raise of Abel's eyebrow at the operator. All of them seemed to be strange and considering that most Enforcers weren't exactly the most normal people to begin with, it was really saying something if Abel though them to be strange.

He had to hide any sort of amusement at Cain joining in. The songs kept Cain distracted from what was going on inside his body and that was a good thing. The better he distracted Cain now, the better it would be for them to escape because even now Abel knew Cain was in a better position to escape than he was.

Cain devolved into mere humming as the pain medication began to wear off. It was difficult to ignore when he felt the twinges in his side, the burning of his chest and the sensation of movement where there ought be none. He grimaced to himself and tried not to make a deal of it.

Then the operator began to sing along. He had no idea for the words, but had caught up on the tune and was approximating the sounds of a language he didn't know in order to join in. It seemed like he was having fun with it, but for as much as he loved the idea and usefulness of music, it certainly did not love him back.

He could tell that Cain was starting to hurt. Call it brotherly instinct or just being perceptive, but Abel knew and he was keeping an eye on the operator to see if he was going to notice and do something about it. If not, the singing was going to stop again and Abel was going to make sure his brother was not in pain.

As soon as the operator started to attempt to sing along, Abel changed pace and song to something more frantic and harder to keep up with. He definitely didn't want to hear the operator sing again and was going to do his best to make sure it didn't happen.

Cain lost track of the song easily. When Abel switched, he petered out and simply balled his hands into fists where he tried to let the sound alone wash out the pain stirring inside him. He gave a pained gasp when the operator snipped something else out; this time, he gave it a few good stabs before he set it aside in one of the containers and moved back to his work.

At the change in pace, La simply began to speed up his dance instead of sing along. For the moment, anyway. He paused when Cain's breathing became ragged and labored, his whole body shuddering from the pain it could do nothing about. He went to discard his gloves and clean his hands before he administered the pain medication again, then found another pair of gloves and got back to work. Even in their environment, apparently he was worried about health and safety. His humming along to Abel's tune did not bode well for the hopes that he would be deterred from joining in for much longer.

Cain remained stiff and uncomprehending until the world started to lose its edge once again. He eventually let out a small sigh and stared off into a corner. "You gotta stop, dude," he said up to his operator. "You're destroying the song."

Seeing the operator give Cain more painkillers, Abel relaxed slightly. Good, he won't have to worry about his brother being in pain for a while. He kept up singing for his brother's sake, switching the speed once again to soothe his brother into the lack of pain once more.

Once Cain spoke though, Abel immediately stopped singing and glanced up at his brother, silently wondering why he was being an idiot. "That is rude," he said bluntly before switching to Latin. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Isn't it enough that he's cutting me up?" asked Cain. It sounded somewhat petulant, like he was forgetting the actual danger of their current situation. He simply wanted the man to work in silence while Abel sang to him, which he really didn't think was too much to ask. "He doesn't need to break my ears, too."

"That is very rude," La agreed. He lifted his scalpel out to point it toward Cain's face in emphasis. "Don't harsh my vibe. I am not ruining the song and you're getting delirious so obviously you should shut up and let me work. Never got this much lip in medical school," he muttered to himself.

"Ignore him and focus on my voice. The doctor said to behave and we will," Abel answered calmly. He didn't want to upset the operator and leave Cain without painkillers and this was obviously the best way to do it. "Think of his singing as a punishment for you not telling me."

"Everyone's a critic," Abel replied to him as he shrugged. "Don't mind him. If you wish, you can continue singing with me."

Automatically, Cain's lips pulled together and pursed as if Abel's words reached out and held him there. That was fair. That was more than fair. If Abel wanted it to be punishment for Cain being a bad brother and not telling him pertinent information when it would have actually been useful to know, who was he to complain about it? "Of course, brother," he said slowly, a softness to his voice that indicated complete trust in Abel's judgment. If Abel said to focus on him, then Cain was going to do just that. "I'll behave and listen."

"You bet. Go back to the one with the..." La paused for a moment, humming out the tune and some fragment of a phrase from one of Abel's earlier songs. The one about the horses. "That one. It was good."

"Good." Well, that was one thing taken care of. As long as Cain behaved and he sang, this session should go well from now on. Hopefully, nothing changes and ruins all of the hard work Abel's put into making sure this goes well.

"If that's what you wish, then I will." And he immediately started into that song, singing loud and clear for both Cain and the operator. Thankfully, he enjoys singing it or otherwise this would be somewhat annoying to him.

Cain did indeed continue to behave. Their progress went on in the younger brother's sullen silence, sometimes humming along. He seemed to fade out the longer the experiment went on and more organs were removed; La made an offhand comment about wanting to get at his heart next, but thought better of it for that session when he remembered how Abel would not sing if Cain were rendered unconscious. It was a strange relation, where their captor was willing to capitulate to ridiculous commands while still wielding the utter authority.

When he was done, the operator pulled out an injector from within his scrubs and gave it to Cain before he left. Seemed like the doctor wouldn't be back to administer the sedatives to Cain himself. In the next hours while Cain was asleep, people came in and out, taking small samples of blood and skin and hair from Cain to contain and test in the very same room. The Death Erasers knew that there was no point in wasting time with their test samples when they would crawl back to Cain after an extended period of time. It went on like that for ages. Their captors were very careful not to mention specific times or bring in anything that would reveal the date or hour, making for a very disorienting experience on top of Cain's fading resolve. It was definitely wearing him down to be the center of so much attention, forced to partake in drugs crumbling his walls and sometimes blocking out the world entirely.

He never stopped looking for an escape.

Opportunity finally struck when La was operating once again. He had quite a lot of enthusiasm that day, spinning and dancing and shaking around like the world couldn't see to some tune stuck inside of his head. He had already gotten ready for the experiment, small plates of hard plastic being suspended by wheeled poles places around each of Cain's major joints while he pulled out a wicked looking hand saw. Cain watched with exhausted wariness as La cut his arm apart between his wrist and elbow, then inserted the plate between them to prevent the limb from reattaching. Even through the pain medication, Cain's body was reacting with adrenaline and building panic. He took deep, sickened breaths to keep from reacting.

La spun around to start shifting his utensils around on the tray behind him and Cain saw a way out. As quietly as he could, he leaned to the side, toward his severed hand and the plastic between them and pushed. His body continued to react with fervor and he shoved it all aside. His hand was sliding, falling through the other side of the restraint. When it landed on the floor with a thump, La didn't even notice due to his own dance scenario going on and Cain let the stump of his arm lower toward the ground where his hand wobbled and then rose through the air to return to its rightful place. Through sweat and tears, Cain forced his nerves to obey his commands and used his one good hand to force La's hand open when the operator spun around, stealing the bone saw and lodging it forcefully across the man's neck and torso at a gruesome angle.

He yanked it away when La dropped and began to frantically work on the bangle on his right wrist with the saw. Even if it went dull, it was still a tool that could work the joint down until his own strength could do the rest. They were going to get out of here now and nothing was going to stop them.

"Abel," he said breathlessly, exertion mixing oddly with the stillness that had been the last countless hours of torture. "Abel, you ready to get the hell out of Dodge?"

Over time, anger had turned into disinterest and Abel stayed in the back of his cage now, no longer really reacting to the operators coming in and doing their experiments on Cain. Time ticked by slower than what he was used to, but he kept track where his brother couldn't. It wasn't that long when you looked back at it, but during it, it of course felt like months had passed when they really hadn't and Abel was too angry and bitter to tell Cain how much time had elapsed thus far.

He had started to feel strange not too long after the first visit by La. It had to be the collar causing the strange feelings in his eyes and abdomen that he had never felt before in his unlife. So when Cain finally broke free and started speaking to him, Abel felt out of sorts, but did his best to hide it from his brother and made his way to the front of the cage, peering up and out at Cain while rattling the cage.

"I've been ready for a while, brother," he answered with a hint of relief in his voice. He honestly could not wait to get out of this cage.

Cain worked quickly, frantically as he knew their time had started the moment he struck La down. Someone would soon notice in the security footage and be on their way. When he had finally freed his hand and both feet, he hopped off the chair — and swayed dangerously, grabbing onto it for a moment of support. He dashed for the tray and made for the door, only to jerk back with a powerful, "ow, fuck!" as he pulled on the IV line buried in his neck. With an irate motion, he snapped it with the saw and then finished shoving the tray underneath the door, running off to grab a few other tall objects to jam the knob.

That done, he removed the electric saw from its holding spot and pulled it across to Abel's cage. It was a tight pull, but he managed to angle it against the lock and began to whiz through it. When the lock clicked apart, Cain stood back to let his brother out. This was it. They were finally going to get out of there.

Abel waited patiently until Cain opened the door to his cage and then he pounced, immediately moving out of the cage with a fluid movement that brought him up to standing in Cain's personal space. He reached out and grabbed Cain's neck, for a moment appearing as if he was going to choke him, but then he's running a finger along his neck where his time is and carefully counting it.

Once he was content that Cain hadn't lost any time outside of naturally, Abel let go of him and started checking out the medical equipment to see what exactly they could use for weapons. He found an array of cutting instruments and grinned widely. They were going to have to fight their way out, but Abel didn't mind that one bit. He'd have so much fun doing so.

"The drugs they put in you won't slow you down, yes?" He finally glanced back at Cain, studying him carefully. He could deal with Cain if he couldn't handle this if he had his Enforcer powers, but without he didn't know if he could. "Grab anything you think would make a good weapon. We need to do this quick, brother, so that we have the surprise still."

Cain nearly tumbled at the motion, but kept still at Abel's methodical counting. Even through the haze of urgency and drugs clogging up his mind, he knew what his brother was doing and how important it was to let him finish. When Abel pulled away, Cain twisted to watch him go and then followed, beginning to pull out tools of his own. He would have to leave the saws, one because it was wired and the other because he had practically ruined it by working it against the restraints, but there were so many other goodies to make quick work of whoever would stop them.

"No," he said confidently. He sounded like he was tilting to his own ears, some balance taken off his stance, but while the drugs were still running their course, he could ignore whatever exhaustion and aftereffects his body would be pulled into. "They won't. I can still cut through some scientists and their bodyguards even if I was missing an arm."

There were plenty of things to choose from when it came to weapons and Abel grabbed whatever he could that would prove to both be useful and not weigh him down when they stormed through the facility. He picked up numerous scalpels for use as throwing weapons and found himself one of the amputation knives.

"Good. That makes this easier." Which means he won't have to worry about Cain lagging behind much. He'd still keep an eye on him, but won't worry about him as much as he would otherwise. "Tell me when you are ready."

Cain stuck a few makeshift weapons in pockets and shook his hands out as if to focus himself. It was only for a moment, then he nodded and moved to the door. "Let's go," he said. "We're wasting time. They've probably sounded the alarm, what with the security cameras everywhere. Doubt it's a literal alarm, though, or we'd be hearing it... You want to take lead or should I do that? What are you used to anymore?"

Even despite his babbling, Cain worked about getting the blockades moved aside, seemingly unworried but definitely hurried. He was determined to get them out of there with no chance of being taken back and prevented from every trying again. He would not let these bastards win the war. Fuck their war.

"I'll lead. You'll follow. That will be easier." He walked over near the door and waited for Cain to finish removing the blockade from it. If Abel was in the lead, then he could take any damage meant to slow down Cain. Unlike his brother, Abel's body wasn't human and was devoid of most things people had. Such as nerves, which meant a lack of pain.

He had an amputation knife in each hand and spun them around as if he was bored. Abel might not have access to his Enforcer powers, but he was still eager to get loose and murder people. Part of him wished he had his guns, but he could deal with bladed weapons. That just would prolong the suffering and the Death Erasers deserved it after everything.

Cain nodded in agreement. Once the door was open, he swung behind it to let Abel go ahead and check the other direction. It was a plain hallway with a plaque on the door reading Music Room in plain, boring font. There were few other doors in the hallway that were all clearly labeled as supplies or more helpful subjects to say what machinery it held or work went on inside. The coast was currently clear, but there was a charged air to everything that put Cain's hair on end.

Looking both ways outside the door, Cain let his brow furrow. "Which way, do you think?" he asked. They were fucked if they ended up cornered somewhere with no idea on where to go. "Think they've got any maps of the place? We could use one of those. Get ourselves right on outta here."

As soon as they left the room, Abel was in hunter mode. He looked both directions and seemed displeased. What instincts he had weren't much help inside of a building. Tilting his head slightly, he closed his eyes and tried to listen for any noises to indicated people.

"You mentioned security cameras. If that's the case, then there must be a room where they watch. If we find that, it may help us find a way out." He looked to Cain as if to wait for his approval on that idea or that he should figure something else out.

Cain thought about it for a moment, then let himself nod. "Yeah, good point. Add it to our possible ways to go. If we find it first, good. If we find the exit, we take that. Otherwise we just mow our way through and get the fuck out."

He motioned for Abel to go ahead. They were both working blind and they had to get moving as soon as possible, get as much distance as they could — if they found the security room, they could even find their way out while crippling their enemies and making a cleaner escape. Definitely worth a shot. Why hadn't Cain thought of that?

He picked a direction at random and heads down the hall that way, not looking back to check if Cain is following him. Of course he is, why would he even need to check? As he passed other doors, he looked at the plaques on them to see if there was anything useful.

"Check what the doors say for me, brother. Your English is better than mine." He's not afraid to admit that he's still not very good with reading, especially to Cain.

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Everyone's got their chains to break. [ closed ]

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