Inside this Twisted Labyrinth

Chapter Eleven

AN: See chapter one for warnings

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Vic reached a door at the end of the hallway at the same time as Tony and Jaime, and shoved his way inside just as a plume of smoke encompassed the entire room.

"Where did he go?" he heard somebody say.

"Does anybody see him?" he thought it was Mike who asked.

The smoke quickly dissipated, but it was the longest moments of Vic's life. For when it cleared, he'd know for certain what had befallen his partner.

He noticed Justin first, lying on the floor near the door, his bloody, bandaged hands clutched to his chest. Nick and Jack were lying not too far away, chests heaving, and faces scrunched up in pain.

And then he saw him, slumped over, naked from the waist up, and eyes squeezed shut, but still breathing, still alive, still here.

Vic rushed forward and crashed to his knees in front of his boyfriend. Kellin's face and chest were heavily bruised, back a bloody mess, eyes glossy and dazed. But he was the single greatest sight Vic had seen in weeks.

Kellin raised his eyes to meet his, and started crying, tears running from his eyes. Alarmed, Vic wanted to wrap Kellin up in his arms, to hold him tightly. But with the state his body was in, he knew he would only cause him pain.

"I'm here," Vic softly whispered to him instead, settling for cupping the sides of Kellin's face with both his hands.

"You can't be here. You can't. He'll kill you," Kellin frantically said.

"It's okay, love. I'm okay. We're here to rescue you," Vic said, gently wiping the tears from Kellin's face. Kellin blinked slowly, trying to process the information. "You're safe now," Vic said, tugging his jacket off and draping it over Kellin's thin, trembling shoulders. Kellin's fingers clutched weakly at the fabric as Vic tenderly brushed the hair from his forehead and placed a kiss there; the only part of Kellin that didn't seem injured.

"I'm gonna be sick," Kellin mumbled, tears still pouring from his eyes.

Vic frantically searched around the room, before his eyes settled on the bedpan. He shoved it into Kellin's hands just as his boyfriend began to retch, bringing up nothing more than bile. He resisted the urge to rub Kellin's shoulders, instead letting his hand lightly touch his forearm, enough to let Kellin know he was there, but not enough pressure to aggravate the wounds covering his body. "It's okay, let it out," he gently whispered to him. "Deep breaths."

He pried the bedpan from Kellin's stiff fingers after he was done, and shoved it away from them. Kellin's eyes met his again, and then despite the pain he must have been in, he launched himself into Vic's arms.

"Are you really here?" Kellin asked, body trembling and twitching worryingly in his arms.

"I'm really here," Vic said, wrapping one arm around Kellin's lower back and one around the back of his head away from most of the cuts. "You're really safe now."

"You came for me?" Kellin said, though it almost sounded like a question.

"Of course I did," Vic said, pressing a kiss into Kellin's hair. "Of course I did, baby. Always."

Kellin started crying harder, almost chocking on his own sobs. And there was nothing Vic could do, but hold him and let him cry while his heart slowly crumbled, aching for all the suffering his boyfriend had been put through.

"Baby, I need to talk to the guys. Why don't you lie down next to Gabe on the bed?" Vic asked, just barely stopping himself from rubbing Kellin's back when his cries slowed. Vic wanted to keep Kellin in his arms forever, but they needed to get out of this hell. Now.