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Post by Cedar on Jun 29, 2018 12:23:49 GMT -4
"Again, sir, I understand your hesitancy," Turiano replied. "But this is an official investigation, and I need your cooperation in order to do my job." Getting that cooperation wasn't going to be easy, but the more he spoke with Logan the more he became convinced that sending in a tactical squad was just going to endanger Ceil and compromise the mission. Making some sort of compromise was going to be their best bet, even if it put them at a disadvantage. He surveyed his assembled officers and Ceil's four friends, who were waiting restlessly by their car. The last thing he wanted to do was endanger more civilians, but all of them had made it clear they were willing to help, and they might just be his best shot right now. He grasped the bridge of his nose, willing away the stress headache that was forming behind his eyes. "Look, like I said before, my first priority is ensuring Ceil's safety, and as much as I want to believe you, I'm not permitted to just take your word for it. I need to follow protocol, which means I need to send someone in. That's a simple matter if you choose to cooperate, but if you don't, I'm going to have to assume that Ceil is in danger and you're hiding something from me. I will have to enter by any means necessary. But I don't want it to come to that, because I think you're a reasonable man and you're worried about Ceil's safety. You have some valid concerns. I don't want Ceil waking up to strangers either, and I don't want you to have to leave his side. So I have a suggestion. Some of Ceil's friends are with me, the ones who reported him missing. They're very worried about him, and I think he'd like to see them too. So how about I send one of them in, accompanied by one of my officers. They won't interfere with the medical treatment you're providing, they'll be unarmed, and you don't have to leave the facility, but I can get confirmation that Ceil is okay and we can avoid the risks you're worried about. Then once that's squared away we can continue working together to intercept our suspect."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jun 29, 2018 14:15:56 GMT -4
Luci immediately straightened as Turiano mentioned them, and with determination shining in her face she strode over to him. Silas followed a little behind, wondering what the hell she was doing. “Send me in,” she said quietly, trying to ensure Logan couldn’t hear her voice. “I’m medically trained, I don’t have powers - I won’t be a threat to him.”
“Ceil’s friends?” Logan repeated, drumming his free hand on his leg. He had to buy a little more time - if they sent people in and they saw Ceil up and talking, it would look worse than him simply being unhelpful with this detective. “You mean the rebels who have been dragging him around the country, putting him in danger while they run from the law? The murderers and criminals who have been keeping him in harms way all this time? You say that they are unarmed, but some of them are not human - those who have powers are always armed. Do you honestly believe that they would be good to have around him when he’s in this condition?”
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Post by Cedar on Jun 29, 2018 15:33:00 GMT -4
Turiano held a hand up in Luci's direction. She was eager to help, and her offer made sense, but he was still in the middle of negotiations and he needed to focus. "I mean the people who extracted him from a country where he was in constant danger simply for being nonhuman, and brought him here to seek help," the detective said, his voice slightly sharper than he intended in response to the accusations. He had cross-examined Gyvres' story thoroughly, and he was inclined to believe it over the story of this sociopath. Keep cool, he reminded himself. You're too close to endanger this now. "I've investigated their circumstances," he clarified, "and I am confident they have no intentions of harming Ceil. I acknowledge your concerns, and I will ensure that the people I send in do not have powers. But I still need to send someone in, with or without your permission. You have a kidnapping victim on your property and I need to ensure his safety. So here's the deal. I'm sending one of Ceil's friends and one of my officers to your front gate. They will be unarmed and unempowered. If you don't let them in, I will assume you are attempting to obstruct justice and endanger a civilian, and I will have my tactical squad enter by force." He hit the hold button and turned to Luci. "Okay, I'm sending you up. Detective Martinez?" The detective in question snapped to attention. "Sir?" "I want you to accompany Doctor Bloom. I know I'm asking you to go into a potentially hostile situation unarmed, so I want to make sure. Are you prepared to do that?" "If I wasn't, I would have taken a desk job, sir." "All right, then. Take your car and drive her up to the front gate. I want both of you wearing wires while you're in there. I'll be sending the tactical squad behind you, and if Logan doesn't let you in, step aside immediately and let them take point. If he does, you need to find Ceil, make sure he's safe, and get him out of there. I don't know exactly what Logan wants with him, but I don't want to leave him in there long enough to find out. Understood?" "You got it, boss." Turiano nodded. "I know you do. Stay in contact, and good luck." He shook her hand briefly, then lifted his phone to his ear again. "Logan? They're on their way up now."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jun 29, 2018 16:51:37 GMT -4
Luci nodded, relief fluttering in her chest. “We’ll get him out,” she vowed, and she turned to follow Detective Martinez and get a wire fitted when Silas caught her hand. Her gaze flickered over to him, and for a second she thought that he was going to argue against it and insist he go instead. But the look on his face was just concerned, not argumentative, and he gently squeezed her hand. “You’ve got this,” he said, and she nodded. She squeezed back once, and they let go. She sent Martinez a grim smile and carried on moving. She didn’t want to waste any time.
Logan gritted his teeth as the detective put him on hold, and quickly dialled the number of the secretary he had given the note to. She picked up within two rings, fortunately. “Send someone to collect Ceil. Have his powers removed.” He hung up before she had time to reply, and stood up again. He was still on hold, and he used this time to start approaching the front gate. He needed to focus on damage control at this point, and ensure that Ceil had no chance of saying anything that would contradict his story. It was a shame that he hadn’t had more time, but it couldn’t be helped. When the detective spoke again, he fought to keep his irritation hidden. “I suppose if that’s what you think is best for Ceil, I don’t really have much of a choice. I’ll see them on the door.”
Ceil stood just behind the door of the office he’d been left with, clutching the snowglobe tightly in one hand. He knew the room pretty well by now - one step and a pivot and he’d be perfectly facing the door, another and he’d be through it - but he had no idea what the outside of it was like. His head was clearing, although very slowly - sometimes his legs swayed beneath him and threatened to buckle, and sometimes he forgot why he was standing here, and what he was waiting for. But eventually it would come back; Logan was here somewhere, and had left him in this room. Whoever would step in here next wasn’t going to help him - so he had to fight and run. Maybe if he got out of this corridor he could try a disguise, like a random guard he’d seen over years of being in Logan’s bases. Or a scared kid who’d wandered a little too far. He’d be a lot less likely to get that wrong. He jumped when he heard the footsteps outside the door shift slightly, and he tensed as he listened for the exact sounds of what they were doing. Gloves on the door handle, twisting it, the wood creaking as it opened in a slow arc. “Ceil?” A voice he didn’t recognise, the ruffle of fabric, a half-step over the threshold. Almost in range. “We’re here to-” He didn’t hesitate. He shot forward and swung.
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Post by Cedar on Jun 29, 2018 18:30:59 GMT -4
Juana stopped the car in front of the gate and stepped out. She felt too light without her firearm, but she knew that this was a delicate operation and they couldn't risk sneaking weapons in. They'd find Ceil a lot more quickly if they weren't fighting their way through whatever security personnel Logan had stationed here. The main problem was going to be getting the kid out. High fences, barbed wire, security cameras... she had no idea how they were going to pull this off. The kid's life was depending on it, though, so she'd be damned if she didn't get him out somehow. Even if she had to fistfight this Logan bastard personally. "Are you at the gate?" Turiano's voice crackled over the comm. "Affirmative, sir" she replied, adjusting her wire slightly. "Waiting on Logan." "Good. He's agreed to meet you. I'll be listening, and I have a squad on standby. If anything goes wrong, backup will be on the way immediately." "Copy that." She straightened and looked over to Luci. "You're going to have to leave your medical bag in the car. I don't think Logan will be too happy if you waltz in there with a bag full of scalpels. And unfortunately we need to keep the sonofabitch happy until we get your friend out of there." She waited for Luci to stow her bag, then squared her shoulders and strode up to the front gate. The entrance swung open as she approached, revealing a man who she assumed to be Logan. "Hello," she greeted, before he could get a word in. "I'm Detective Martinez, and this is Ceil's friend. If you would take us to where Ceil is, please."
Oryn watched Luci leave with Martinez, the sensation of helpless dread returning to the pit of his stomach. He had no doubt that the two of them were competent, but they were walking alone and unarmed into a base full of Logan's people. Something was going to go wrong. "I have to do something," he muttered to Ellia, and she sent him a tired look. "What could you do in this situation? Logan only agreed to let Luci and Martinez in, and you can't risk doing something reckless and putting them in danger." "I know that. I'm not an amateur. But we all know Logan's only going to cooperate as long as he absolutely has to. The moment they try to get Ceil out, he's going to stop playing nice, and getting out of that base is not going to be easy." She stared at him for a long moment. "...No. No way. No. You are not just going to -" "I'm going to talk to Turiano." "He'll never allow it." A deeper voice cut across their conversation. "I'll never allow what?" Oryn turned to the detective, face set. "They're never going to be able to get out of there without backup. There's too much security - there's no way they'll be able to get Ceil out without getting caught. I know you don't have a lot of options, but... I think I can help." Turiano hummed. "I'm listening." "I was special ops," Oryn said. "You know this, I told you what I did in the empire. I specialized in espionage, and I can hack into almost anything. If I can get access to the system, I can disable Logan's security measures and give Luci and Martinez a better shot at getting out of there with Ceil." "We have a surveillance van equipped with computers," the detective told him. "You're welcome to make use of them. I don't see why I wouldn't allow you to help from afar, we could certainly use it." Oryn grimaced. "That's... the thing. I can't do it... from afar. Logan's security system is closed circuit. There's no way to get onto the system from outside. I need to be on one of his computers." "You can't go in there," Turiano said. "If Logan catches you, this entire operation is done." Oryn's eyes narrowed. "I can get past his security without getting caught. The cameras are rotating, they have temporary blind spots. I timed them, and I can get over the fence fast enough to avoid detection. He'll have security inside as well, but getting in is always harder than moving around once you're in. I know the risks, and I know you don't want to send anyone else in. But this is what I'm trained to do. I've done it hundreds of times before. I can get in, override the security system, and provide backup. I'll respect your decision and stand down if you say no. But I know I can do this, and it increases our chances of success exponentially." Turiano was silent, staring at him for a long time with a gaze that Oryn couldn't read. He was about to turn away and acknowledge defeat when the detective finally nodded. "For the record, I don't like it. But you're right. We're low on options and I don't know how they're gonna get out without assistance. So... go. Get a wire, get the gear you need. Don't make me regret this."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jun 30, 2018 15:23:27 GMT -4
Luci didn’t try to hide her glare when Logan answered the door, but she did hold herself back from punching him in the face. His gaze slid over her and Martinez, and there was no surprise in his face at the sight of them, although there was a flicker of recognition. His suit was still crisp and unruffled, and the only trace of stress was a subtle tightness around his eyes. He looked like he’d only been asked to step out from behind his desk; like this entire situation was a minor inconvenience at worst. He didn’t look like a man who’d had a teenager kidnapped earlier in the day and was frantically trying to cover his own ass, and that just made her even angrier. “Of course,” Logan said in response to Martinez, taking a small step back to let them come through. He wasn’t fidgeting - he didn’t even look nervous. “I’m afraid he’s quite deep in the facility… our medical sector doesn’t usually get much use, but I like to be prepared for every eventuality.” I bet you do, she thought venomously, but she didn’t say the words. “How is he?” she asked instead, staring straight at him to watch his face for any trace of a lie. “You said he was unconscious, but is he injured? When exactly did he arrive, how long has he been unconscious for?” Logan hesitated, and he kept his gaze straight ahead as he replied. “I don’t know the extent of his injuries. As far as I’m aware, he has bruising to his chest and rope burns on his wrists. He arrived not too long ago, I believe it’s been less than half an hour - however I don’t know how long he was unconscious for before he arrived. He hasn’t woken up at all since coming here.” Luci’s chest went tight at that, guilt and worry twisting in her stomach, but she tried to keep her face neutral as she nodded. That didn’t seem like much of a lie, at least. Even though that was awful, it could have been worse. No broken bones. No head wounds. He’d still need to be checked over by a doctor, and would need to eat something, but maybe, physically, he’d be okay. “I am surprised by your concern,” Logan said, voice conversational, and Luci’s head snapped up. “From what Ceil told me, it seemed like you despised him.” Anger burned in her chest, and she could feel her expression twisting. “I’ve been taking care of him for two years,” she stated, voice tight. “He’s like my little brother. And I thought he was unconscious, so how was he talking to you?” “He contacted me a few days ago,” Logan answered easily. “He seemed very upset. He believed you all hated him and wanted him gone, merely because he was a shapeshifter.” Luci took in a deep breath, fighting down the anger, the shame, and the almost unbearable desire to hit him. He was trying to get a rise out of her, she was sure; but she had no idea what he’d get out of that except his own satisfaction. Her hands were tight fists at her sides, so strained that her fingers ached. “He’s like my little brother,” she repeated. “I could never hate him.” Logan hummed. “A shame he didn’t hear that earlier, before all of this.” He told me a lot of things about you, she wanted to spit back, but she held her tongue. They’d only just managed to get inside, she wasn’t about to risk it by confronting him now.
He hit something. For a second, just the feeling of his hand colliding with something solid was enough to make hope swell inside Ceil - he’d hit something, he’d surprised them, he could get out! They were swearing, and making other pained noises, and he knew that this was his chance. He shoved the person in front of him as hard as he could, keeping his weapon clutched in his hand, and they actually moved - he heard them stumble away as they cursed, three quick, clumsy back-steps, away from him. He shot forward, moving as quickly as he could, stepping out into the corridor they had been standing in. His left shoulder hit a wall hard, the force of the collision sending shockwaves of pain through his chest that stole his breath, but he didn’t stop. He pushed off it and carried on moving, but as he did he felt a hand close around his arm and yank him back with force. He stumbled, a sharp ache shooting down his arm, and he pulled against it as hard as he could. “Get off me!” he shouted, his dry throat straining with the volume. “Let go!” “Stop it, kid-” an unfamiliar voice growled, and Ceil abruptly remembered the weapon in his hand. It was attached to the arm the stranger had hold of, so he quickly swapped hands and swung as hard as he could at where he heard the guy’s voice come from. His arm was yanked again, throwing him off balance, but he didn’t let his momentum slow. He hit something, and the grip on him slackened enough for him to pull himself free. His arm was throbbing now, and as it moved with him the flares of pain shooting up and down grew even stronger. He dropped his weapon, needing a free hand for the door that would be at the other side, and he kept running. He was getting out, he was getting out- They were gaining on him. Their footsteps were sloppy, their voices were raised and shouting at him to stop, but he didn’t. He kept moving, and when he ran into a surprisingly cold wall he cried out. His arm burning, his chest aching, his ears ringing, he frantically ran his hand over the wall, searching for some kind of door, some kind of handle. All he could feel was metal beneath his hand, and then plaster when he moved too far. His hand returned to the metal, moving it in the opposite direction, and he came across a thin slit running from the middle all the way down. An elevator, he realised with a sinking feeling. There was an elevator at the far end of the corridor, and he’d spent too long trying to get it open. Hands grabbed him again, seizing his injured arm with enough force to make his head spin. They were saying something, swearing at him, but he wasn’t listening to what they had to say. He’d messed up. He’d tried to get out, and they’d caught him, and now there was no chance that Logan would let him leave here alive.
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Post by Cedar on Jun 30, 2018 19:25:40 GMT -4
Oryn crouched behind a large rock, meters away from the high wall that surrounded Logan's base. If he angled his approach just right, he would have twelve seconds in the cameras' blind spots. Enough time to get over, but there was no room for error. One mistake and they were all done for. He let out a slow breath and checked over his equipment again. Sweat coated his palms, and he wiped them on his slacks before sliding on a pair of gloves. He'd replaced his blazer and dress shoes with a bulletproof vest and tactical boots, and his gun and knife were secure in their holsters. He tapped his comm unit experimentally. It stayed in place, and he gave a satisfied nod. "Okay," he said quietly. "I'm in position." "Good luck," Turiano's voice replied, directly in his ear. "Don't screw up." "Not planning on it." He turned to watch the cameras again, silently timing their movement for his opening. Three... two... one... He broke from his hiding spot and sprinted towards the wall, arcing his path to stay out of sight. His heart pounded in his ears, his mind ticking away the seconds he had left. He launched himself up, right foot planting partway up the wall and arms reaching upwards to maintain his vertical momentum. He latched onto the top of the wall with one hand and swung out to grab the metal support for the barbed wire with the other. Six seconds left. He pulled himself up until he could hook one foot over the support, then paused for a moment at the top, braced with one foot on the support and the other against the top of the wall. Three seconds. There were no cameras or guards immediately on the other side, but there was a dumpster and what looked like a service entrance nearby. Two. He took a deep breath; tensed his muscles. Then he shot himself upwards, over the barbed wire, twisting 180 degrees in the air so he came down facing the other way. The jolt that ran through him when he caught the support on the other side nearly dislocated his shoulder, and he hung there for a second, breathless. Then he grinned and dropped down, rolling to soften the impact. He'd pulled it off just in time. Perfect. He could hear a pair of voices drifting from around the corner to his left. He quickly took cover behind the dumpster before they could round the corner and notice him. The voices came closer, pausing next to him for a second. He heard the telltale sound of a keycard swipe, and the service door creaked as it swung open. Oryn waited for them to make it all the way through before he slipped out of his hiding spot and caught the door just before it latched. Their footsteps receded down the hallway, and once they had faded completely he reopened the door and stepped inside. He immediately pressed himself against the wall, out of sight of the security cameras. "I'm inside the main building," he informed Turiano. "Looking for a computer to get onto the security system. Give me just a moment." He scanned the hallway critically. There were security cameras at regular intervals, but avoiding their blind spots wouldn't be too difficult. At the other end of the hallway one door stood ajar, and he made his way towards it, keeping a careful eye out for anyone else in the building. There were a few tense seconds where he had to take cover around a corner while a woman strode out of a room on her phone, but otherwise he made it down the hall without incident. The room was an office, and currently unoccupied. Steam was still rising from the coffee mug on the desk, however, so presumably the owner of the office would be back any moment. He had to work fast. It took him a matter of seconds to log onto the computer, and another minute or so to gain partial access to the security system. He remotely disabled the security locks on one of the nearby offices, and hurried over to continue his work there, safely away from the coffee drinker. After locking and barricading the door behind him, he logged onto the new computer and got to work. Hacking into the full security system was a slightly more involved affair, but the moment he got camera access did his eyes widened at what he saw. Ceil was not unconscious in the medical wing like Logan had said - far from it. He was awake, fighting tooth and nail against one of Logan's lackeys. There was no audio, but he could see both Ceil and his captor screaming, desperate and angry as the man wrestled Ceil into an elevator. "Turiano, put me through to Martinez and Luci. I'm in the security system and I have eyes on Ceil." His comm clicked. "Go ahead," he heard Turiano say. "Martinez?" he tried. "Luci? This is Oryn. I'm in Logan's compound, I got access to the security cameras. Ceil is on the third floor. He's conscious and fighting one of Logan's men, who's trying to get him into the elevator. I think they're trying to get him somewhere to take his powers before we can get to him." "Play it cool, all of you," Turiano said. "Don't attack Logan or do anything reckless. Follow him, try to get to where Ceil is without raising suspicion. Gyvres, keep us updated."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jul 1, 2018 14:13:31 GMT -4
Don’t attack Logan, Luci repeated over and over, when more than anything she wanted to scream and tear him to pieces. She wanted to beg Oryn to do something, for Turiano to send one of the teams in if he hadn’t already - so they could do something to save him. But what could they do? If they let Logan know what was going on, he’d attack - the presence of various armed individuals milling around, trying to look like they were just going about their business cemented that fact. For now, she couldn’t do anything - all she could do was go along with it, and hope they weren’t too late. He was leading them down a long, very clean and very monochrome hall that was interspersed guards and large grey crates that Luci was certain didn’t have anything good in them. It was a lot like the base that they had been in to get the plane, really, except so far she hadn’t seen anyone practicing drills with the weapons they were holding. There was an elevator at the end of the hall, she realised, and a couple of heavy-looking doors on either side of it. One probably led to a staircase, the other somewhere deeper in the facility. She had to resist the urge to run over to the elevator the moment she saw it - Logan might try to lead them anywhere, and she wasn’t supposed to know anything. Besides, there was no way to know how many elevators might be here in the base - this could only be one of many, and if she wasted time at the wrong one… “Where exactly is your medical sector?” she asked, fighting to keep her voice under control. “I’m afraid it’s in the basement,” Logan answered, continuing to walk toward the elevator. Luci kept her eyes on it, watching the light above the doors flicker. It was moving, she thought - Ceil was in there, and it was moving. She started walking faster, hurrying toward it despite herself, and she felt Logan’s eyes watching her. “The elevator isn’t working at the moment,” he said. “We’ll have to use the stairs. I hope that isn’t too inconvenient.” “It looks like it’s working,” she stated. “Are you sure it hasn’t been fixed?” “I’m certain.” “Would you mind if I tested it, just in case? I want to get to Ceil as quickly as possible-” “You’d just be wasting your time. If you truly want to get to him, you’ll have to use the stairs.” “I’ll use the stairs after I test this,” she argued, voice tight. “If it’s broken, fine. Obviously I won’t use it. But we need to get to Ceil.” She could feel Logan’s glare on her back as she hurried forward, but she knew as well as he did that if he tried to forcibly stop her he would simply be incriminating himself further. He wouldn’t do anything, not yet. Still, she desperately hoped that if he did try something, Martinez would be able to back her up. She reached the elevator and pressed the button to summon it, taking a step back and craning her neck to see the numbers above it. 1… her heart began to pound, waiting for it to open, and she heard a quiet rumble… then -1, and her heart sank. It had passed this floor - if Ceil was inside, she’d just missed her window. “If you’re done, we’ll go,” Logan said from behind her. Although he was trying to hide it, she could still hear the smugness in his tone. “Fine,” she said. “Lead the way.”
Ceil was roughly dragged into the elevator, his arms pinned, and with every struggle pain shot through him. He couldn’t stop, though - he couldn’t just let them do this to him. He had to fight. There was another set of footsteps following them, and then a quiet chime somewhere to his left. He jerked in that direction, knowing there’d be buttons that he could press to slow the inevitable, but the guard still holding him pulled him back into place. “Just give it up, kid,” the guy holding him said. “You’re just making this worse for yourself.” Ceil was about to say something when something heavy and solid was driven straight into his ribs. He almost doubled over, gasping for breath as his knees almost buckled, only the arms holding him up stopping him from collapsing. It hurt too much to breathe - for a moment he just hung there, unable to think, before he tried to take a shaky breath that burned in his chest. “You almost cracked my head open, you little shit,” a male voice snarled, and Ceil tried to shake his head. I’m dying, he thought, his rapid heartbeat making every part of him throb. I’m dying. “I’m blind,” he reminded them, barely able to push out the breath to speak. “And you’re hitting me.” “You attacked us, when we were just going to take you to Logan. I guess you didn’t want a second chance.” “He’s… going to kill me… anyway…” Ceil breathed. His hands were tingling, and beneath the pain and the feeling of his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, he could feel something else rising. Not the fear, not the panic, not the desperation that was making it difficult for him to hold still, even through the pain. It was something else. It was almost like how he could feel the shift when he changed his face, or his body - when he changed how others saw him. But shapeshifting wouldn’t help him now. It couldn’t hurt them, couldn’t make them let go of him - all it could do was buy him a few more seconds. He needed to be alive as they ripped it out of him, stealing what was his, what made him special, what had kept him useful. They’ll take his powers, the only part of him that Logan had ever actually cared about, and then they’ll just kill him. Maybe the others would find him, but it would be too late. Maybe he was right, and they still cared - maybe they’d avenge him, and destroy Logan. But he wouldn’t be there to watch them do it. A desperate illusion was rising inside him, one he couldn’t feel it twisting his face, or his body - but nevertheless he could feel it growing. He let it - what was the point in trying to stop it now? “What the fuck?” one of them said, and Ceil felt the grip on him slacken slightly. He threw himself back toward where he thought the buttons were, and heard a series of small chimes. There was a juddering noise, and Ceil’s panic spiked. The doors were opening. The doors were opening. But the guards weren’t moving. “What the fuck have you done?” the one holding him demanded, a trace of panic in his voice. He shook him when he didn’t answer, and Ceil winced. “I thought you were a shapeshifter!” Confusion cut through the panic, but not enough to smother anything else. “I can’t see,” the one who had hit him said, voice shaking slightly. “I can’t see a thing!”
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Post by Cedar on Jul 1, 2018 16:26:11 GMT -4
Oryn tightened his grip on the mouse, only able to watch as Logan's men dragged Ceil into the elevator and pinned him down. The boy was still putting up an impressive fight, but he was obviously injured and would have been outmatched anyway. Oryn grit his teeth. The elevator was in a different sector of the building, and even if it had been close by, he couldn't abandon his post. There was too much at risk, and the others were relying on him to navigate and keep tabs on Logan's people. There was nothing he could do but watch. And then the elevator camera went black. Oryn let out a surprised string of curses, desperately enlarging the image to pinpoint the problem. But the camera was fine, he could see the timestamp in the corner. What the hell? Had the guards done something? It was just this camera... No - they had been too busy struggling with Ceil. Something else had happened, something he couldn't explain with the technology he had. "I've lost eyes on Ceil," he said. "He's still in the elevator, but the camera's gone dark. I don't know what-" He broke off as one of the other cameras panned around. The elevator doors were opening to the basement. He didn't have a good view inside the elevator, but it looked like one of the guards was stumbling back. "Fuck, where's the..." He scrambled for the intercom controls. There. The elevator speakers. He pressed the button to start an announcement and grabbed the headset off the desk. "Ceil," he hissed into the microphone. "This is Oryn. Get out of the elevator, turn right, and run." He let go of the announcement button with a shaking hand. "Luci, Martinez, I'm sending him towards you."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jul 1, 2018 18:14:43 GMT -4
Hope and relief swelled inside Ceil’s chest, warm and strong and almost enough to bring him to tears. Oryn was here. He was here, he’d come for him, they hadn’t abandoned him, they were here, they were here! “What the hell was that?” one of the guards cried. He drove his elbow back into the guy who had hold of him as hard as he could, broke free of his grip and staggered forward, out of the elevator. He spread out his uninjured arm, trying to see where exactly the elevator ended so he didn’t run straight into a wall, and once he passed that he turned right and ran as fast as he could. He was limping slightly, running awkwardly so that he didn’t hurt his chest and arm even more, but he didn’t care. It didn’t matter - Oryn was here, and Oryn told him to go right, so he was damn well going right. If he was going the wrong way Oryn would let him know, he was sure - he’d help him get out. He’d help him survive. Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you- It was one hell of a long corridor in the basement, but he kept running as fast as he could. His feet almost slipped on the tiles a few times, but he still managed to keep himself upright and keep going. He couldn’t hear running behind him, but that didn’t mean anything - those guards could have been following him, although something had happened for them to be so shaken. Had Oryn done something in the elevator? Was he helping him even then? There was the creak of a door opening somewhere near him, right up ahead, and then voices drifted through. “What…?” The quiet utterance was almost enough for Ceil to scream, and he stumbled over his own feet in his shock. He hit the wall as he almost fell, clinging to it, and pulled himself to a stop. Oryn had told him to go right, but that was Logan’s voice - Logan had found him, Logan knew that he’d fought and had come to deal with him himself- “What’s going on?” another voice demanded, a familiar voice, one that made relief and panic twist over one another in his stomach. Luci. Luci was here too, but Luci was with Logan - had Logan done something to her, or to the others? Was he threatening them? Had he had them kidnapped too? He couldn’t take Luci’s powers, she didn’t have powers, but was he going to do something else to her that was even worse? “Why aren’t the lights working?” “They… there should be light,” Logan said. He sounded genuinely bemused. “Even if we lost power, there are backup generators and floor lights…” They can’t see anything, Ceil realised. They can’t see me. A thought occurred to him, and the sudden thrill of fear almost made him change his mind. “Then why is it so dark down here?” Luci demanded, and Ceil moved a little away from her but kept her location in his mind. He wanted to tell her he was right here, to hear the relief in her voice if she genuinely had come here to save him, but there was something else he had to do first. “I don’t know,” Logan said, and Ceil listened. He was right there, and he probably hadn’t grown so much in the last two years for his aim to be completely off. He pulled his uninjured arm back. “As I said, there should be-” He swung, hard, and had the satisfaction of hearing a thud right as his fist collided with Logan’s face. The man cursed, and Ceil scrambled back as quickly as he could, utterly satisfied although he was still terrified, and reached for Luci. “Luci,” he said, voice shaking. He heard her breath catch, and the feeling like an illusion flickered for a moment before it came back full-force. “Luci, it’s me. I’m here-” Her hand caught his arm a little hard, but it was an anchor and she was there. “Oh my god, Ceil,” she breathed, her voice choked, and she was pulling him forward. He tensed, fear and adrenaline still filling him, and he gave a pained inhale when she let go and instead wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. His hand reached up to touch her face, her hair, needing to be sure that it really was her, while she just held him tighter. “I was so scared.”
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Post by Cedar on Jul 1, 2018 23:50:45 GMT -4
Juana reached out in the darkness, moving closer to Luci's and Ceil's voices. Logan was still stumbling off to the side, cursing, but he didn't seem to be an immediate threat. Apparently he couldn't see anything either, which at least put them all on even footing. Her hand hit something warm and solid, and she grasped what she quickly realized must be Luci's shoulder. She might not be able to see either of them, but it was still her job to keep the two of them safe, and she wasn't about to lose them in the dark. "Ceil," she said, keeping her voice low. "I'm Detective Juana Martinez. I'm here with Luci. We're going to get you out, okay?" Well, as soon as she figured out why she couldn't see a damn thing. Gyvres had mentioned something about the elevator camera going dark - maybe he knew something. She was about to ask him when his voice crackled over the comm. "Martinez? Luci? Do you have Ceil? The cameras keep going dark, I can't tell what's going on." The other cameras were going dark too? What the hell? "Yeah, we've got the kid," she said. "Logan's still here, but none of us can see anything." There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. "I can't see any of you either, but only the cameras closest to Ceil at any moment are blacking out, so I can track your position from that." Was Ceil blacking out the cameras somehow? And making everything dark? She knew he had shape-shifting powers, but how... no, it didn't matter how. "Ceil," she said. "Whatever you're doing, I think it's what's making it so none of us can see. You need to..." "He needs to keep doing it," Gyvres interrupted, and her brow furrowed. "What? We can't see." "Neither can Logan, but I can tell where you are," he said. "I need to talk to Ceil." "...fine. This better be good." She groped around briefly until she located the boy. With her free hand, she removed her earpiece and held it in between her own ear and Ceil's, turning the volume up. "Go ahead." "Ceil, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. No one around you can see, which gives you an advantage. If the three of you stay together, you can move without anyone seeing you and I can guide you out." Okay, Juana had to admit that wasn't a bad idea. But even if no one in their immediate vicinity could see them, they were still on a base swarming with Logan's soldiers - not to mention Logan himself, who was probably still close by. She pointed that out to Gyvres. "I know," he replied. "I... have an idea. Just get moving. The stairs are next to you, you'll want to go up them and turn left at the top." Whatever his idea was, it had better work. Juana put her earpiece back and laid her hand on Ceil's shoulder. "You heard him. Let's get moving."
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Post by Cuppy/Wonders on Jul 2, 2018 12:37:33 GMT -4
Ceil listened to Juana and Oryn, growing more confused by the second. So none of them could see, and he was supposedly the one who was causing it? There had been that feeling, the rising illusion that was rushing beneath his skin but that wasn’t changing his face or his body, but he’d never been able to change how they saw something other than himself. He’d never tried, but if that was what this other illusion was doing then sure, he could try to use it to his advantage. If it would help, if it could get them all out… then even if he didn’t really know what he was doing, or how he was doing it, he could try to keep it going. He could hold onto the feeling. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “Okay.” He heard Logan laugh behind him, and he immediately started to move away, toward the stairs. “I see that Silas did have an effect on you,” he said, voice full of derision. “You were never violent before.” Ceil bit his tongue but didn’t respond, hearing Luci and Juana move so that they were on either side of him, ready to help him and shield him. Luci was still holding onto him, but to his uninjured arm so she wasn’t hurting him. “Stay the hell away from him,” Luci snarled, voice filled with so much aggression that Ceil was taken aback. “Why? Because I am suddenly a great criminal, now that he’s regained consciousness while I was bringing you to him? After he assaulted me without provocation?” Ceil leaned into Luci a little, trying to tell her not to answer him without saying the words. The more she spoke the more Logan would hear, the more he’d know where they were. She seemed to understand, and didn’t speak as they hurried toward the stairs. He almost tripped on the first step that was in front of him, but Luci kept hold of him. “I’m right here,” she said, voice quiet and calm, incredibly soothing after the raised voices of the guards, and Logan’s lies. “I’m with you.” “You’re abducting him now?” Logan’s voice was incredulous, and closer than Ceil would have liked. He was following them - he wasn’t giving up, although he knew he couldn’t attack them without incriminating himself. “He’s rescued from one ordeal and you drag him into another? He was taken under your watch - when he needed you, you let him be taken away. Do you believe the authorities will let him stay with you, after all of this? He came to me drugged, injured and alone, and you think you deserve to have him back?” “No,” Luci stated. Her grip on Ceil’s arm was resolute, but gentle as they guided each other up the stairs in the dark. “I don’t deserve to. I let Ceil down when he needed me, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for that. But this isn’t about me. This is about making sure that Ceil is as far away from you as possible, so you can never hurt him again.” “I assure you,” Logan said, sounding almost amused, “you and your ‘friends’ will hurt him more than I ever could. It’s what you do, ‘doctor’ - you leave people worse than you find them. You decide you can save them and ruin them further.” “And you turn destroying lives into a game,” Ceil said, pushing the words out through the burning in his chest. “Go fuck yourself.” “I gave you a home,” Logan replied without missing a beat, following behind them. “I introduced you to the woman who adopted you. I helped you when you had nothing, and you call that destroying your life?” “You used me,” he hissed. “I let you help me, after you begged me to. But now it seems you’d rather be led away by criminals.” He paused, and when he spoke again his voice was colder. “This situation is not legal, detective. This woman is not his legal guardian, nor a family member. If he leaves, you are knowingly placing him in danger and removing him from-” “You’ll kill me if I stay,” Ceil stated, interrupting him. His voice didn’t shake, and he walked with Luci up the last few stairs and turned left. “We all know that’s true.”
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