Chapter One

Ever

I rush to Luc’s side, checking his pulse, my heart going a mile a fucking minute, “He has a pulse, and his breathing is fine. Someone call an ambulance.”

“On it,” Peter says, the panic in his voice prominent.

“Don’t touch the file. He seemed to think that there was something on it that triggered this.” Atlas orders.

“What?” Alaric barks and I turn to see him on the phone, his eyes are frantic, but they gradually calm at whatever is being said. “Got it.”

“Who was that?” Trick asks as he paces while on his crutches.

“Luc is going to be fine. We should still take him to the hospital just in case, but he should be okay.” Alaric replies.

“Explain,” I ask with more bite than I intended.

“That was the guys that took the intruder. They said that he was quite chatty, and he had told them that he was told to wear gloves when he handled the files because they were coated in something that can make a person pass out; there is no lasting damage. It’s just so that the person cannot get away with the files and can be caught in the act before they do.” Alaric explains.

My body relaxes somewhat, but it won’t relax completely until I know that he is definitely okay. “You better be fucking right.”

“That’s what he said, Ever, and he has no reason to lie. He had no idea that we had already found it,” Alaric replies.

Peter comes rushing back into the room, “The ambulance is outside, they are heading in now. It's an organization one, so they have been briefed properly.”

“Good work, thanks, man,” Trick says as the paramedics rush into the room.

“Don’t touch his hands, before he passed out, he was fairly certain that it was something that he touched that caused the reaction, and there’s no telling whether it's still on his hands.” Atlas warns them.

They both nod; they have already got gloves on, and they make a concerted effort to make sure that they don’t touch his hands as they put him on a stretcher and take him out of the room.

“Ever, you go with him,” Trick orders, “we’ll grab the folder and meet you at the hospital.”

I nod, but I don’t bother replying as I rush after them. I am focused and calm, at least on the outside. I know that I'm going to freak the fuck out when I know for sure that he is okay; that is my general rule, freak out after the incident, not during.

The paramedics don’t bat an eyelash as I hop in the back; I start to reach for his hand in order to hold it before I remember that would be a terrible idea and land me in the same situation as Luc.

“It might be a good idea to bag his hands or something; I have no idea if there is enough poison on his hands that it can be transferable to someone else still, and the last thing we need is one of the doctors going down as well,” I explain.

“You got it Ever,” one of them replies and they make quick work of putting bags over his hands and making sure that they are secured in place properly.

I nod in reply; that is probably my capacity for talking until I know for sure that he is okay.

As we drive, I intently watch his chest to make sure that he is breathing, and that it doesn’t seem laborious or like he’s struggling. I don’t know if it is more worrying that he just appears to be in a deep sleep than if there was something visibly wrong. As we pull up to the organization’s hospital, I am forever grateful that we have so many of these spread throughout the country and, in fact, the world. Although, in some places, it's less conspicuous for us to have a section of an existing hospital, than it would be for us to have an entire building.

I am aware that my mind is distracting itself, but I’m also aware that it’s what I need right now in order to cope with what is happening to Luc.

They quickly whisk him into the hospital, and I run alongside them. Fortunately, no one tries to tell me that I can’t be with him; I don’t think I would be able to handle that right now. I do, however, make sure that I stay out of the way and let them work; I know that if I get in the way, they won’t hesitate to make me leave. I also make sure to tell them what Alaric said about the poison.

They take his blood, swab his hands, clean them thoroughly, and then go through all the usual checks. Finally, they are done, and the doctor comes to talk to me.

“We are still waiting for results on the swab and blood test, obviously, but I can tell you that he doesn’t appear to be in any distress. His heartbeat and breathing pattern are both normal, and there is no sign of anything untoward, if I didn’t know better then I would just assume that he was asleep.” He explains.

“Is that good?” I ask, frowning and trying not to fidget with my hands since that would be a big giveaway for just how hard my anxiety is riding me right now.

The doctor pulls a face, “I don’t know; if what Alaric said is right, then I would have assumed that he would have woken up by now. He may be having a reaction to whatever the poison is, that could mean that he is going to stay asleep for longer than was suggested. We are monitoring him closely, and if anything changes, we will let you know immediately. For now, it’s just a waiting game. I have put a rush on the bloodwork and poison analyses, so hopefully, we should get some more answers then. We don’t want to wake him up or introduce anything to his system unless we really have to because we have no idea what effect it could have on the poison.”

I nod, although my mind is racing, and panic is once again trying to rise, “That makes sense. Will you know if it starts to have a negative effect on him? Not just making him sleep?”

The doctor nods, “Yes, as I explained, we are monitoring him closely. Some patients take longer to come around from sedation than others, and if we look at it like that, then it's not as scary. He is in good hands.”

I nod, “Okay, thank you.”

“Ever, what’s going on?” Trick asks as he walks into the hospital room, moving surprisingly swiftly with his crutches, the others following closely behind him.

Everyone looks worried and I nod to the doctor in thanks, waiting until he has left the room before I start to explain to them everything that the doctor just told me.

By the end, just like me, none of them look particularly comforted by my words. Letting them process, I move to Luc’s bed and hold his hand.

“At least he’s not in pain, I guess?” Jensen says, coming to stand behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

“I suppose,” I reply.

“I really don’t like this,” Trick mutters, looking stressed.

Alaric frowns, “I will get them to question the guy that we took in again to see if he can tell them anything else. He knew that the poison was on the file so there is a chance that he might know what it was.”

“Can I question him?” I ask.

Alaric’s eyebrows raise, and he studies me closely, “Can you honestly tell me that you can question him without losing it if he doesn’t give you the answers that you want?”

I sigh and shake my head, “Honestly, probably not. If I think he is hiding something from me, then I am likely to resort to Shadow techniques.”

Alaric nods, “That’s what I thought. You guys just stay here and keep an eye on Luc’s condition. I’m going to get some cameras and sensors set up outside Luc’s parents' place just in case Hunt sends anyone else to check the place out when the guy we have doesn't return to him with the file. Although, I am fairly certain that he most likely already knows that his attempt to get the information was not successful.”

“Hopefully, it’s left him scrambling and possibly panicking; that would make me feel a bit better,” Riot mutters.

“I’ll send you the link to the camera that I install since you will be the team that’s in the area, so if you get the alert, you’re going to need to check it out,” Alaric replies. “I will call if I get any more information. The file is on its way back to the HQ already, so they can start testing it as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, man,” Atlas replies, sighing heavily.

“We’ll sort this out, and Luc will be fine,” Alaric replies.

We all watch as he leaves, and a nurse pokes her head through the door.

“We figured that you would all want to stay for a while. You can grab some chairs from the waiting room down the hallway.” She says with a soft smile and then adds, “We will be in regularly to check on him and to make sure that there is no change in his condition. The doctor will be back in as soon as we have the results from the test.”

“Thank you,” Rage replies for all of us.

“Come on then guys, let’s go and grab some seats,” Trick says.

Everything feels so much more scary as soon as they have left the room. I didn’t realize how much it was helping to have them here with me. Now it’s just me and an unconscious Luc, the beeping of the machines and my thoughts that are trying to terrify me. Fortunately, I am not left on my own for too long, and they are all soon coming back in with their chairs and setting them up around the room, as Atlas puts one right next to Luc's bed for me so I can still hold his hand.

When it has been silent for a while, Rafe asks, “Did anyone see what was on the file before it was bagged?”

Peter shakes his head, “No, I didn’t. I think we were all too focused on trying to make sure that no one else touched it.”

“It should be back to HQ by now, it’s a long shot but I’ll call Mr R and see if he can get a copy to us or something,” Trick suggests.

“Good idea,” Peter replies, “I’ve got my laptop on me, he can send it over the secure email and then we can get a look.”

“Sounds good.” Trick replies, as he presses a few buttons on his phone and then holds it to his ear. “There’s a chance that they haven’t had time to secure it yet, so it might not be possible, but it’s worth a shot.”

We all stay silent as we listen to half of the conversation, and I stare at Luc, willing him to wake up. It is making me really nervous that he is still asleep; and he shouldn’t be. I am trying really hard not to lose it, but I can feel my grip on my freak-out slipping quickly.

When Trick hangs up, we look at him expectantly, and he launches straight into an explanation.

“Mr R says that they haven’t received the file yet. Apparently, I thought it had been longer than it actually has,” Trick says with a frown and then looks at his watch, “well shit. It’s only been an hour or so since Alaric left.”

“We’re worrying about Luc, and it’s making time go a lot slower than it would normally,” Peter replies.

Trick hums in agreement and then continues, explaining everything that Mr R said, “He said that as soon as it’s safe to handle, they’ll get copies sent through to Peter’s secure email.”

“So, we’ve just got to sit tight until then,” Rafe finishes Trick’s sentence, and Trick nods.

“I hate waiting,” Riot says.

“Me too,” Jensen replies, bouncing around on his feet.

“We could get a hotel or something?” Atlas suggests, “I would say we could go to the parents, but it’s just going to worry them, and then it could get complicated.”

“They’d all be here as soon as they possibly could if they knew Luc was in here,” I reply with a smile, my eyes obsessively watching Luc’s chest rise and fall.

“We could, but it would just mean that we are sitting around the hotel waiting to hear news and further away if we do get a call that something has happened. None of us are likely to get much sleep while we are waiting for news about Luc,” Cash replies.

Atlas frowns, “Yeah, that’s a good point.”

“Alaric’s sent the video feed link over. I will set up the notification to let us know if any of the feeds catch something they shouldn’t,” Peter suddenly announces.

“It might be a good idea to make sure that it actually sounds like an alarm, just in case we do fall asleep,” Jensen suggests, his chair close to mine as he holds my hand, the one not already holding onto Luc’s hand.

Peter nods and goes back to typing on his laptop.

It once again falls quiet and my mind quickly begins to spiral, silence has never really been my friend in stressful situations. The silence just lets my mind run wild, and my imagination, which I usually love, turns on me, making me see the worst-case scenarios possible. Before I manage to get too far into the spiral, I deliberately try to distract myself.

“Do you think maybe he’s not waking up because of the trauma of being back in the house?” I ask.

“Maybe,” Rage replies, his features falling into a deep frown as he adds, “I suppose it is a possibility We all know that he never really had any happy memories there. It could be that even though he appeared to be handling it well, on a subconscious level he was struggling, and now his mind has shut down in order to protect himself.”

“Is that even possible?” Rafe asks, “I’ve never heard of that happening before.”

Rage nods, “Yeah, I think I read about it once, but I don’t think it is probable in this situation. In the article I read, it happened to someone who had just experienced the torture. They got knocked out and then didn’t wake up for a long time. The doctors said that it was the brain's way of protecting itself.”

“I thought brains only did that with physical trauma, like a self-induced coma, if a person is severely injured or if the brain has been injured and needs time to heal?” Cash asks.

“You know this is a conversation that Luc would love,” Jensen points out with a smile.

“Very true,” Rage agrees and then answering Cash’s question adds, “I don’t know man, I just sort of stumbled across it when I was doom scrolling: What I know is pretty much what I told you.”

I smile at his words, “I’ve done that; I know a lot of useless information thanks to that.”

“Exactly. It’s actually quite nice that some of it has proven to be useful,” Rage replies. He crosses his arms over his chest and adds with a frown, “Although we still don’t know why Luc hasn’t woken up yet.”

Jensen shrugs; he says jokingly, “Maybe he is just being lazy? And he has decided that now would be a really good time for a nap.”

The guy's chuckle, but no one actually replies as all their attention turns to Luc in the bed. He is still breathing steadily; there is no change to that, and the heart rate monitors are still steadily going, signifying that all is as it should be, or at least it is as far as I know. Outwardly, he appears to be fine, but it’s what is happening on the inside that is worrying me, I know that Rage said that it is unlikely, but what if he is stuck inside a nightmare? Or worse, memories of things that happened in that house?

His dad is a monster. That is clear from what he did to Luc and also what he put Luc’s sister through; I suddenly feel incredibly guilty, like I should have stopped him from going. I should have known that it would have a negative effect on him. Of course, if I told him not to go, then that would make me super controlling because let’s face it if he wanted to come, then there’s fuck all that I could have done to stop him, and it would have undermined his bravery to tell him not to.

Not that I have that kind of control over him anyway, and I would not want to.

I feel like I am digging myself a hole that I had no intention of digging and I’m not quite sure how I got here. My panic is starting to bubble over. I am also assuming that the reason that he has not woken up is because he is experiencing some sort of trauma-induced reaction to being in the house but what if it is simpler than that? What if he is experiencing some sort of allergic reaction?

Would the doctors be able to pick that up without him being awake to tell them? I mean, surely, they would be able to tell that, right? But what if they can’t? What if he is in pain or something and can’t let us know?

I am aware that I am now completely in spiral mode, but there is no stopping it at all. I know, it is happening, and there’s fuck all I can do about it.

He could be dying right now, and we may not even realize it. His father was a piece of work; maybe he put a poison on it that he knows Luc is allergic to because he knew that Luc knows about his safe, so he is likely to be one of the only people that would get into the safe. Especially since Luc knows the code, and it would take a long time to break into it otherwise. That would, in theory, give him a chance to get to them and intervene before they could open it and escape. We could be assuming that it is far more complicated than it is, and it could simply be an abusive father trying to catch his son stealing information from him.

I would not put it past him, he seemed like the type who would be that vindictive. I remember Luc saying that he used to go through his father’s things to see what he was up to when he could.

I will kill him. I am going to find out exactly where Mr R imprisoned him, and I am going to pay him a visit.