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theherosvillain · 13 days ago

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Teach you a lesson (Angel arc part 1)

(Try Not To) Kill All Your Friends masterpost - Next: Part 2

Contains: kidnapping, captivity, torture, broken bones, restraints, forced to watch

The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous. If Ryker and his men didn’t come soon, Vale was going to kill all of them. They shouldn’t have even let this happen—they were professionals, for God’s sake. Vale couldn’t fathom how he and Phantom had been captured in the first place.

“Are you making any progress?” Vale asked, for what felt like the umpteenth time. He hated to repeat himself, but Phantom hadn’t updated him in a while.

Phantom made a face, staring up at the ceiling as he focused on the ropes restraining his hands. “Um, sort of,” he said. Vale sighed, and Phantom muttered, defensively, “Let’s see you untie knots with your mind.”

“Phantom.” Vale could really do without the attitude at the moment. It was bad enough that he’d been kidnapped, sitting on the floor of some concrete cell God knows where, but it was even worse that he had to rely on Phantom to get them out. The boy was talented, certainly, but Vale preferred not to put his skills to the test when both of their lives were potentially at risk. “Why don’t you untie me first?”

“Because I’m halfway done with mine already,” he retorted, hands shifting behind his back.

“Well, hurry up,” Vale snapped. Phantom fell silent, getting that teenagery, exasperated look on his face that said, Yeah, yeah, I’m on it already. Vale took a deep breath, flexing his wrists, already feeling the ache in his muscles. “I’m impressed,” he admitted, “that you’ve managed to stay calm during this.”

Phantom’s eyebrows flicked up, and he shrugged. “Well, this isn’t my first kidnapping.” He frowned, eyes roaming the ceiling as he thought. “Actually, it might be the … fourth?”

Vale frowned back at him. “Fourth?”

“Yeah, there was Amoret, and then … you,” he said, “and then that time with Oliveri, and now this. That makes four.”

“Ah.”

After a minute, Phantom spoke again. “Did you forget that you kidnapped me?”

The boy had always had a smart mouth; the question shouldn’t have surprised Vale. He sighed impatiently. “Phantom, this is hardly the time.”

“I’m just wondering,” Phantom said, “because how else would you lose track of something like—” He cut himself off, head swiveling toward the door. “Someone’s coming.”

Vale struggled to his feet and moved away from the door, watching it warily. Phantom joined him. Vale hoped whoever came in wouldn’t check the restraints.

The door opened, and a woman stepped through. She was wearing fitted combat fatigues with platform boots, her hair in loose curls around her shoulders, and her makeup was just slightly too gaudy to be tasteful. A handful of others spilled into the room after her, but they were all dressed in the same sort of plain black attire that Vale’s own men wore, which indicated that they were lackeys, not the ones in command.

The woman’s pink lips split into a slow grin as her eyes roved over Vale and Phantom. “Well, well, look at this,” she said. “The great Axton Vale, finally brought down low. How does it feel, hmm? I just want to get a baseline before I drag you down lower.”

Vale schooled his expression into one of annoyance and disdain, which wasn’t far from how he was actually feeling. “Who are you, and what do you want?” he asked flatly.

The woman cocked her head, resting a manicured fingernail on her chin. “You don’t remember me? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. It was the worst day of my life, but for you—I’m sure that was just an average Tuesday for you, wasn’t it?”

Vale tried again. “Who are you working for?”

Her laugh was so high-pitched it would’ve made a dog whimper. “Oh, that’s rich,” she said, a broad grin spread across her face. “My name’s Danielle Angel, and I happen to be the one in charge here, honey.”

Oh, just perfect. Vale had not only been kidnapped, but kidnapped by some kind of living Barbie doll. He took a measured breath. “And what is it that you want with me?”

Her unnervingly white smile never wavered. “Weren’t you paying attention? I want to kick you off your high horse, Axton.”

He felt a twinge of irritation at the disrespect, but he managed not to show it. “Really?” he asked indignantly.

“Oh, absolutely,” said Angel. “And I think I’m going to start with …” She pointed a shiny pink nail to Vale’s right. “You!”

Phantom bristled, taking a step back, which put him right up against the wall. “I don’t think that’s—” Before he could finish, two of Angel’s men marched forward and grabbed him. The last man pulled Vale back by his shoulders.

Vale stumbled, struggling to keep his footing as he was dragged away from Phantom. “Leave him alone,” he said, keeping his voice steady.

“Sorry, Axton,” said Angel, “but you’re not the boss around here—you don’t get to make demands. Now, if you asked me nicely, I might consider leaving him alone, but otherwise …” She snapped her fingers, and one of her men drove his fist into Phantom’s stomach.

Phantom doubled over, wheezing. Vale surged forward, only for the henchman to yank him back, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his tied wrists. It shouldn’t have been enough to keep him restrained, but he just couldn’t get any damn leverage. “I said, leave him alone,” Vale snapped. The henchmen were twice Phantom’s size. With his hands tied like that, he didn’t stand a chance.

“You’re not a very good listener, are you, Axton?” Angel stood back with her hands clasped in front of her, watching her men rain punches down on Phantom. Vale set his jaw and watched.

Phantom put up a good fight, all things considered; Vale was proud of him for that. Each time he went down, he got back up, trying to ram the men with his shoulders. He tried to use his powers on them; that became clear when one of the men winced in pain, grabbing at his leg. Then the man struck Phantom across the head, dazing him. There was only so much Phantom could do with his powers when he couldn’t focus, and each injury was just another distraction.

Finally, Phantom collapsed on his knees, blood dripping from his nose. Vale watched him intently. Get up. Don’t just quit. Get back up. Phantom began to rise, but one of the men shoved him down by the shoulder, and he winced as his knees hit the floor. Angel laughed, flicking her gaze over to Vale. “He’s a fighter, isn’t he?” Then she sighed and tilted her head at her men. “I can’t help but feel, though, like you guys are going too easy on him.” Phantom’s shoulders stiffened. His eyes were glassy with barely-restrained tears. A single one traced down his cheek. “I think you should break his arm,” Angel said.

“No.” The word slipped out unbidden, barely a whisper. Vale pressed his lips shut.

It was too late. Angel’s head swiveled toward him, her ridiculous hair bouncing. “What was that, Axton?” she asked sweetly. He glared at her, refusing to give her the satisfaction. It didn’t matter; regardless, she wasn’t going to stop.

She watched Vale for a moment, then shrugged, turning her attention back to her men. “Well, go on, then,” she said, motioning them into action. “You can even untie his hands; won’t that be nice?”

The men yanked Phantom to his feet, and one of them pulled out a switchblade to saw away his restraints. Phantom winced as the ropes fell and blood trickled down his wrist. His face went white as two large hands gripped his forearm. “Please, don’t,” he breathed. His gaze flickered over to Vale, and then landed on Angel. “You’re—you’re trying to get at him, right? He doesn’t care. I promise, he—”

Angel sauntered forward and grabbed Phantom by the chin, her long nails digging into his jaw. She locked eyes with Vale. “That’s an interesting theory,” she said. “Let’s put it to the test, hmm?”

Vale wasn’t going to react. All Angel wanted was a reaction. She stepped back and signaled to her men. Phantom’s arm cracked down over the henchman’s knee.

“Stop!” Vale lurched forward, but a pair of hands held him back, fingers digging into his shoulders. Phantom’s knees buckled, and the henchmen held him up, one pair of hands under his armpits and the other still on his arm, hanging at an unnatural angle. The hand on his forearm squeezed. Phantom let out a choked noise that barely sounded human. “Stop, please!”

The room went quiet. Slowly, Angel turned to Vale, her face lit with a predatory grin. “Oh, that was delicious.” She stalked over to him, snapping her fingers, and Vale stumbled as the henchman released him. When he righted himself, he found Angel standing too close for comfort. He tilted his chin to look her in the eye. “All I wanted was for you to ask nicely,” she said, pouting. “Can you do that for me, sweetie?”

Vale clenched his jaw. For a moment, the room was quiet. The silence was broken by a single, strangled sob. Vale’s hands curled into fists. “Please, stop.”

“Oh, come on.” Angel’s finger traced down his jaw. His muscles rippled with involuntary repulsion. “You can do better than that. Get on your knees.”

Vale swallowed. From behind Angel, he heard a flinching sort of noise, anticipating pain. Slowly, Vale sank down.

As he looked up at Angel, he imagined himself plunging a knife into her chest, slitting her throat, carving that smug grin off her face. But the thoughts didn’t change his reality. She gently tilted his chin up. “Now ask nicely,” she whispered.

“Please. Stop hurting him.”

For a long moment, Angel gazed down at him, drinking in the sight. This wasn’t going to help. She wasn’t going to stop.

Then, suddenly, she ruffled Vale’s hair and straightened up. “Was that so hard?” She snapped her fingers, and her men stepped away from Phantom. “I think that’s enough for now. Let’s leave them alone for a little while.” Vale stared, open-mouthed, as Angel sashayed out of the room with her men, locking the door behind her.

“I can try to untie you, if you want.”

It was the first time Phantom had spoken in hours. Vale looked up to see him slumped against the wall on the other side of the cell, right where he’d collapsed when Angel left. There were bruises on his face, a crust of blood beneath his nose, and his arm was arranged carefully in his lap. “Your arm is broken,” Vale said, feeling as though it was a redundant observation.

Phantom shrugged one shoulder, his face expressionless. His cheeks were tacky with dried tears. “My other arm isn’t.”

Vale wasn’t sure it would stay that way if Angel found out about this, but his hands had gone numb a while ago, and he suspected they would both be better off if Vale had his hands free. He crossed the cell and sat with his back to Phantom. He exhaled slowly as the boy started tugging at the ropes.

They didn’t need to talk. Vale had always preferred silence. But for some reason the quiet was poking at him now, like an errant feather out of a down pillow. “I could have ended it sooner.”

Phantom’s fingers went still. “What?”

“All she wanted was …” Vale took a deep breath, forcing away the memory of his knees hitting the ground, of her nails under his chin. “I could have given it to her. I just …” Didn’t think it would help. Didn’t want to give in. Thought that you could handle it.

This was exactly the type of situation Phantom had been trained for. He’d been through the same interrogation and captivity trainings that all of Vale’s men went through. This wasn’t even the worst he’d been injured in recent memory; he had collected more than his fair share of scars. But this was the first time that Vale might have prevented it. There was no reason he should have wanted to, given Phantom’s role. Some people had taken to calling him Vale’s guard dog. Vale thought it was a crass moniker, but he had to admit it was fitting. A guard dog did the protecting; it didn’t need to be protected.

“Is this your way of apologizing?”

Vale bit back the instinct to chide Phantom’s tone. “I suppose so,” he said slowly.

Phantom silently picked at the knot. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “It was a power play. You couldn’t have known she’d actually stop.”

Vale’s shoulders relaxed as much as the restraints allowed. “That was my thought, yes.”

Phantom paused. After a long time, he spoke in a quiet voice. “Now that you know, though …” He left the sentence unfinished.

“We’re going to get out of here before that happens again.”

“Right.”

There was a world of uncertainty in that single word. Vale decided that silence was best.

Title credits: Just One Yesterday - Fall Out Boy

Tag list: @toyybox

#original writing #wip #fiction #whump #whump writing #torture tw #forced to watch #kidnapping tw #captivity tw #broken bones tw #original fiction #oc: the phantom prince #oc: axton vale #oc: danielle angel #(try not to) kill all your friends #IT'S HEEEEERE!!#guys i'm so excited to post this you have no idea

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