Whumptober 2024

Day 2: Trust Issues

Tags: Hurt OC, trust issues, barbed wire, past abuse, Niel Shader Whump, Original Work, if there are any other tags I need to add let me know.
Also, sorry this is so late!

"Hey, has anyone seen NiNi?" Shane grumbled kind of annoyed.

"I swear, we just got back from a mission and the boy disappears! Would it kill him to spend a little time with the people who saved his life?" Abigail huffed angrily.

"There, there, Abigail. Don't forget: he's only a kid." Connor patted her on the shoulder, but something in his tone suggested he was messing with her, she shrugged his 'comforting' hand off in an irritated gesture.

"Shouldn't we go look for him? He could be in trouble.." Rose fretted, Abigail sighed, clearly giving in.

"You're right. That boy's a magnet for trouble. You boys are coming with us, though. We can't carry him by ourselves." Abigail sighed.

"What??! Why do we have to come?" Shane whined.

"Don't you remember how we first met him??" Abigail snapped back.

"If I remember correctly...he was very light." Connor added in an almost bored tone.

"That's not the point!" Abigail shouted.

"Then what was?" Conner drawled, and, fortunately, before Abigail could snap back, Rose interjected.

"The point is finding him and making sure he's okay!" exclaimed Rose.

"Right, right. Let's go find our runaway, angsty, teenager." Shane sighed, climbing to his feet and ruffling Rose's hair which got a confused little squeak out of her.

"Where do we start?" Abigail asked.

"Did anyone notice him come in?" Conner asked, finally seeming not so bored. There was a silence as everyone thought for a minute, then, without a word, they rushed for the front door, and started hunting around the house, when they finally found him, Connor screamed. High pitched and ear splitting, like a terrified young girl.

"Was that Connor or Rose screaming??" Shane asked, trying hard not to focus on what was in front of him.

"Niel Shader what is happening here??!!" Abigail shrieked, but still somehow semi-holding onto that stern, motherly, demanding, tone.

"I-I-I-" Niel stammered, looking up from where he was seated on the ground, clothes soaked in his own blood. His leg was a mangled mess, tangled up in barbwire. It looked as if he was trying to remove it, but was only making things worse.

"I-It's not as bad as it looks! I'm fine." Niel blurted out.

"Are you sure about that, dude? 'Cause from where I'm standing.....it looks pretty bad." Shane said, stepping forward to try and help him, but, to his surprise, Niel leaned over it, almost as if trying to..protect it? Despite the fact it was probably putting him in more pain, potentially jostling the wound and possibly having that barbed wire cut in more places.

"I said it's fine." Niel mumbled, which..wasn't very convincing..as you could hear the pain in his voice. And his leg and blood soaked clothes spoke for themselves quite clearly that it was not, indeed, fine.

"NiNi-" Shane started, but Niel cut him off with a firm and angry: "Niel."

Shane sighed, but decided not to provoke him right now.

"Niel, it's okay. Let us help." Shane tried to coax him, realizing now that Niel seemed almost...scared..of them. Which would be ridiculous to think as they had done nothing but try to help him, but Shane had seen a lot in 21 years. Okay, to be fair, not a lot when he was a literal baby, but you know, around 7-8 years old, he was finally able to properly understand what was going on around him, growing up, he'd seen people who had been hurt by others, scared to trust anyone again, scared to get hurt again...Niel was acting exactly like them.

"I don't need your help." Niel mumbled quietly.

"Fine, you may not need it, but it'll sure make your life easier." Shane said, calmly raising his hands in a surrendering gesture hoping that'd work, before quickly dropping them back to his side upon noticing Niel flinch away.

"Well, I guess fortunately for me, I never seem to be able to take the easy route in life. Leave me alone." Niel huffed mirthlessly.

"Niel....please....let us h-help you.." Rose managed to mumble between sobs. Niel seemed at a lost of what to do, and for a moment, Shane thought he might just let them help.

"How'd you even get back here like that??" Connor asked in disbelief.
"How did we not even notice?" Abigail asked, guilt flooding her words.

"Uhh, because he disappeared halfway through the mission. We didn't see him again 'till now. And, Niel, if you didn't disappear on the regular, we might have been able to notice something was up and help you sooner." Shane tried his best to make it clear he wasn't angry or upset with Niel, just.. sad.

"Leave." Niel whispered, the poor boy sounded like he was about to cry, and if his head wasn't ducked down, he could figure out how accurate that assessment was.

"Enough! I'm getting a First-Aid kit! Niel. Stay there." Abigail huffed before storming off back inside, the door slammed behind her and Niel recoiled even further into himself.

"Abigaillll....." Shane groaned into his hands. "Don't worry Niel, she's just worried." Even Shane knew his words must sound hallow.

By the time Abigail got back she seemed to have calmed herself a little.

"Okay, Niel. Let's see what we're dealing with." She said, setting the First-Aid kit down and plopping herself down next to it. But, before she could even try and start to help him, in a swift movement, he pushed back away from her, (somehow) managed to get to his feet, and stumbled/limped/ran back to where the back door was.

"Niel!" Abigail shouted in alarm.

"What on earth just happened?!" Shane barked, taking after the runaway who was surprisingly fast for someone almost toppling over when they tried to stand up. Connor, speechless with disbelief, just took  off after Shane.

When they got to the back door area, the door was open, a small trail of blood leading inside.

"Niel? We're not gonna hurt you." Shane called into the house, there was no response.

~~~

Niel could try and argue that he wasn't scared. That he didn't just turn tail and run like an abused puppy. But....he'd probably be lying to himself. Besides, he wasn't even sure how he managed to clamber back into the vents like this, he just knew he did. And now, he was painstakingly trying to untangle the barbed wire from his mangled leg. Though he barely managed to bite back a scream at some points, maybe. Was he almost certain he was going to pass out at other times? Perhaps. Did he manage to get the job done without revealing his position too much? Hopefully. Now the fun part. Niel look forlornly over to the First-Aid kit he kept up here... Time to bandage the wound. With a soft, quiet, groan, he started rifling through it for the gauze.

[FLASHBACK]

"Useless scum! How are you supposed to be helpful if you can't even get through a 'sparring' match without crumpling to the ground." Zack sneered as he punctuated his words with a kick to Shader's most definitely broken ribs. Shader let out a cry of pain and Zack just made a disgusted face. Shader tried to curl further in on himself, only to softly whimper realizing that hurt even more.

"You'll never truly belong here. You're just my dad's plaything. Something to toss aside once it becomes boring. Realize that." Zack finished off with another kick for good measure before stalking off, leaving Shader on the ground.

[END FLASHBACK]

Yeah. Safe to say assassin's weren't the most caring people, Niel thought dryly as he examined his handiwork, not the cleanest job in the world, but it'd do it's job just fine. He sighed and leaned against the wall of the vent, he was exhausted.