All about control

...but who saves you? (may)

Another wave of icy water slams into Theo's chest, electricity briefly arcing through it, skittering across his skin. It's barely more than the ghost of tickle. His smirk holds fast, more on the edge of fang than tooth, despite the current and hours he's already been subjected to it. Persistent as they are, he was beginning to wish the bastards would find some new tricks. The whole electricity wall and water was outdated even before the last time they caught him. 

Credit where credit is due, they did learn occasionally. Handcuffs rattle around his wrists as he shifts his weight, bracing against the grating behind him. The lead hunter – Miranda, someone had called her, but he's not quite sure it's actually her name – starts stepping around him, the taser rod in her hand crackling at uneven intervals. 

"What do you know?" Her voice grates on his nerves with every word, nasally and high-pitched.

A wry, huffing chuckle slid through his blood-tinted lips. She's getting impatient, trying to rush and skip steps. Typical hunter. He rolls his eyes. That's not the way the game is played. He would know. This is a game he knows how to play all too well, one he's quite good at after all the time he's spent playing it. If there is such a thing as a master, he might as well be one.

He lifts his head, ignoring how heavy it feels to flash a smile. "A lot about a lot of things, you're gonna have to be more specific."

The woman squints at him, a smirk building on her face as her hand disappears under the table. He braces, waiting for the tell tale click s that inevitably follow, setting his jaw in preparation. If there's one thing he categorically refuses to give them it's the satisfaction of his body's inherent reactions. The current ripples through him again, stronger than before. It's enough of a jump in voltage that his legs spasm, leaving him hanging by his wrists.

Another handful of seconds pass before the dial's turned down and he fights against the urge to slump back into the grate. Ozone coats his tongue as he tries to even out his breaths, though his lungs are stuck on the idea that he's still being shocked. 

"What, that's all you got?" Theo asks through gritted teeth. "Figured, by now, you guys would at least have an original idea or two," he says, leveraging himself back to his feet. "This is all beginner crap. None of you have the stones to try anything new?" He draws out his half-hearted laugh shrugging. "Yeah, wait, that makes sense. New things, things you don't know, that's what scares the piss out of you guys, isn't it?"

The woman quirks an eyebrow at him, twisting the dial again.

"Any higher and we risk killing him," whispers a blond next to her at the controls.

Looking at the hunters, a spark of pride and vindication surges through him. They're all staring at him wide-eyed. Sometimes he forgets how good he is at this, how anyone else would barely be conscious, drowning in the pain he doesn't even register.

"Go tell the boss he's being a little shit." The snarl on the hunter's face as she turns to the blond is almost comical. "She wanted time with him before we do too much anyway."

When one of them leaves, Theo's smirk widens. So far, so good. Everything is going according to plan. It shouldn't be as surprising as it is, but the percentage of plans made in Beacon Hills that actually work has outweighed his near flawless record prior to coming back since the moment he stepped a toe over the city limit. The fact that he could have turned tail the second things started going south two years ago crops up again, the niggling nips of his coyote spurring them on.

The damn coyote. Spirit of self-preservation. He's spent so much time listening to it, surviving. It's been quiet lately, taking a back seat to the newest voice that won't leave him alone; one he hopes never will. Losing him for a month was bad enough, if he ever loses the version that lives in his head, he might really lose it. He's tried so hard to be good, to be better, to be worthy of the looks that Liam gives him. It's not possible, and he knows it, but he's still trying. He's always going to try. That's why he's doing this, taking the beatings and punishments the pack can't handle, protecting them, protecting him , hard as the dumbass makes it at times.