#kane & jim

[soranatus]

Gotham’s Finest Family & Friends By freelance illustrator, Gabriel Larragán

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 2x12 - "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job"

[ID: A Leverage gifset. Sterling walks into the bar that the crew is in, and and Nate briefly looks up to meet his eyes before saying, “Eliot, I’m gonna ask you not to do anything violent.” Eliot frowns, “What? What are you talking about? I only use violence as an appropriate response.” Sterling is revealed standing behind Eliot.

Sterling smiles and says, “Hello, Nate,” and Eliot’s expression freezes before slowly gaining intensity. Eliot shoots out of his seat and delivers a strong right hook to Sterling’s cheek.

Eliot looks furious, and the camera freezes over Sterling’s shocked face before swiveling to Parker and Hardison standing at the bar. The bartender starts to move away, but Hardison hands him a wad of dollar bills and shakes his head. The camera stays on Parker and Hardison, who smile with clear amusement and appreciation. End ID]

ID courtesy of @princess-of-purple-prose

[garpen]

Gotham Tarot Cards

Will be linking explanations as I make them.

The Fool: Harley Quinn

The Magician: Duke Thomas

The High Priestess: Barbara Gordon. 

The Empress: Poison Ivy

The Emperor: Bruce Wayne

The Hierophant: Lucius Fox

The Lovers: Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn

The Chariot: Damian  Wayne

Strength: Cassandra Cain

The Hermit: Alfred Pennyworth

The Wheel of Fortune: Gotham City

Justice: Jim Gordon

The Hanged Man: Jason Todd 

Death: Jason Todd

Temperance: Barbara Gordon

The Devil: Ra’s Al Ghul

The Tower: Bane re: Knightfall

The Star: Dick Grayson

The Moon: Scarecrow and Arkham Asylum 

The Sun: Duke Thomas

Judgement: Harvey Dent

The World: The Batfamily

Stephanie Brown: Six of Swords, Page of Wands, and The Two of Pentacles (was a contender for the Fool and the Star cards, but ultimately the characters who were chosen were better fits)

Tim Drake:  Two of Pentacles, Page of Swords, and Seven of Wands. (Was considered for The Magician, The Fool, and the Hierophant cards, but ultimately the characters who were chosen were better fits)

Kate Kane: Queen of Swords, Queen of Wands, and Nine of Wands (Was a contender for the strength and high priestess card, but ultimately the characters who were chosen were better fits)

Luke Fox: Page of Pentacles, Knight of Swords, and Ten of Wands (was considered for the emperor, and the chariot cards, but ultimately the characters who were chosen were better fits)

I do plan to eventually get to the explanations of the minor arcana as well. Though it’s slow coming, as I debate the characters, do some research on them, and deep dive into the meanings of the cards. 

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #56: Else

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: recovery and lots of it, angst, sickfic, accidental emotional whump, fear of starvation, vampire whumpee, whumper turned whumpee (turned caretaker), reunions

Whumpmas in July Day 18: "Or else"

i'm sorry for being so slow with k&j chapters! i'm going to try to be quicker with them in the future. here's one people have been waiting for for a very long time!

-

“You’re sick.”

Jim blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“You’re sick,” Kane repeated, taking another sip from the bowl. One of his last bowls before he was to start finding his own elsewhere. “I can taste it.”

“What? What kind of sick? Is it serious?” Jim asked with increasing urgency. Kane could see it in his eyes: he knew fear, and he hated to see it in Jim.

He wanted more than anything to reassure him, but he couldn’t lie. “I-I don’t know?” he admitted. “I don’t know much of human illnesses. You seem… fine?”

“Shit. Shit shit shit.” Jim grabbed his coat. “I’ll be back soon. I gotta… go to the doctor, or something. Door,” he warned.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll be okay! You can’t even feel it! You’re a healthy young man!” Kane assured him, ducking into the kitchen.

“Thanks for warning me!” Jim’s voice was laden with nerves. A flash of sunlight made Kane shiver, and he only returned to the living room when it was gone.

Kane knew what this meant: Jim would likely not finish out the week. This was his last meal given. He would have to go to vampire territory tonight, or else he would have nothing to eat come tomorrow. He had to find blood tonight, or else he’d starve. He’d go back to that horrible, empty state, always wanting, always in pain.

He knew Jim wouldn’t really let that happen, but it wasn’t fair to rely on him for blood forever, either. Kane had taken enough, with and without permission. It was Jim’s turn to rest.

Still, the fear of hunger never left him. It was a part of him now, permanently, no matter how much he fed.

And this meant one thing. The thing he’d been putting off and dreading since Jim set him free.

He would have to go to vampire territory and talk to his parents. He knew already that it would not go over well. Father would be either furious or crushingly disappointed that he’d allowed himself to be humiliated by humans, and he wasn’t sure which was worse. Mother would undoubtedly be the latter. He wondered, not for the first time, if they preferred him ‘dead’.

It shouldn’t matter. He knew now that they weren’t… good people. He could see that. He had a new family of sorts, now that Jim had taken him in.

But Jim wasn’t his legal next of kin, and Jim wasn’t the one he had to ask if he wanted his money returned so he could buy blood.

He could always get a job. But it seemed ridiculous to do when he had money sitting right there, and he would likely be found by his parents at some point anyway. There was no avoiding it forever.

Kane drank the bowl down quickly.

-

It was a flu, apparently. Nothing life-threatening, but it set Jim’s anxieties alight. His parents had died of illness, he explained.

While Kane had managed to catch it early, Jim started to devolve within a few hours of arriving home.

Kane knocked on his bedroom door. “Jim? Can I come in?”

“Ugh. Yeah,” he agreed.

Carefully balancing the tray, he entered. He found Jim curled up in bed, looking miserable.

“I’ve brought you lunch.” He’d been practicing his human food skills. He was still quite afraid of the stove, so though he used it when feeling especially brave, he mainly stuck to things that didn’t require cooking. He’d written down several combinations of foods that humans found appetizing, which could often be served in between slices of bread as a ‘sandwich’.

But he needed a tray instead of a plate, because despite his strength, he simply didn’t have enough hands to carry the six cups of water circled around it.

“Lotta water,” Jim noted weakly, grabbing a glass and taking a sip when Kane brought it close. His hand shook, the liquid threatening to spill. Kane watched it close, ready to steady it in a heartbeat if Jim needed him to.

He spoke gently, like he was worried speaking too loud would break Jim in his fragile state. “...Like I’d mentioned, I don’t know much about human illness. Most of what I know comes from you. I just remember… you wanted a lot of water, last time.”

He thought about that time a lot. How he was so close to losing Jim, because he was too proud to listen.

“Ah. Yeah.” Jim wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I remember.”

Kane set the tray down. “I should have taken better care of you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I mean–I shouldn’t have had you in the first place, but I did, and you were my responsibility, and I didn’t care for you like I should have.” A hint of tears in his eyes, he took Jim’s unusually-sweaty hand. “I’ll do better this time. Anything you need, I’ll be there.”

That earned a small smile from Jim. “Guess it isn’t so bad being waited on. ‘Specially because you can’t get sick, right?” The smile faded. “…Right?”

“I can’t,” Kane assured him. “You don’t need to worry. Just rest, and I’ll take care of anything you need.”

Jim huffed an almost-laugh. “You really changed, man.”

-

Liz did come over to visit come nightfall, which was good, since despite his promises, Kane had to leave. He didn’t like the thought of leaving Jim alone at night. He knew it made him scared, and Jim deserved to never feel afraid ever again. She brought a container of soup, a yellow liquid with colorful plants and large white orbs floating in it.

He waited, patient, until Liz emerged from Jim’s room. “Liz?”

“Hey. Thanks for looking after him,” Liz said.

“Of course!” The praise spread warmly through him. “There’s, um, something I wanted to talk to you about, if you have the time? Advice, I suppose.”

“Shoot,” she encouraged, flopping over on the couch.

Kane took a deep breath. “So, um, I assume now is a good time to start getting my own blood.”

“Yyyyeah.” Liz shot a glance to the stairs leading to Jim’s room. “I’d say that’s about right.”

“Blood… isn’t free. I have the money–had the money, but I’ve likely been assumed dead for many years. I’ll need to go to my parents to get it back,” he explained. “My parents are not kind people, I’ve come to realize.”

Liz raised an eyebrow, but politely refrained from making any comments about his former obliviousness. “You think they won’t give it back? Isn’t there, like, laws? This can’t be the first time this has happened with vampires, you guys are too good at not dying.”

“No! No, that’s not it, they’d give it back. It’s just, um, they’ll be… quite upset with me, I think. Especially my father.” He sighed. “I didn’t want to talk about it with Jim. I was worried he would feel pressured into giving me more blood than he’s comfortable with. I don’t know. It shouldn’t be as big a deal as it is. I’ve been through so much worse, I don’t understand why this is so terrifying. I suppose I’ve just never failed this badly before.”

“Hey, you made it out of five years with those monsters, alive. Bet there’s not a lot of vampires who could say that,” Liz pointed out.

“Ah, that’s just… not how Father would see it,” Kane said vaguely. Humans were supposed to be the weak ones. The fact that it took him five years to be freed, and he couldn’t even do it himself, would make him an utter embarrassment in their eyes.

And it was all because he couldn’t use persuasion. Everything they’d always believed about him, proven true.

Liz pursed her lips, lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t remember my parents that well,” she admitted. “I know yours suck pretty bad. I don’t think you have to admit more than you need to, right? Like, do they even need to know where you’ve really been? You could just make something up, for the sake of keeping the peace.”

“Make something up…” Kane murmured. He shook his head. “I’m not a very good liar. They’d see right through me. It’s fine, actually, the more I talk about it, the more I realize I’m being a bit ridiculous.” He forced a laugh. “It’s one uncomfortable conversation and then I can come back home.”

“You’ve got this.” Liz patted him lightly on the back, a modification from her usual clap she’d learned tended to scare him. “You’re tough.”

Kane certainly didn’t feel ‘tough’.

“Thank you. It was nice to at least… get it out of my system. Oh, and congratulations. Jim told me about you and Laken.”

Liz smiled. “After what happened, I just knew I had to say something, you know? If they could just be taken from me at any moment. Stuff happens. People die. I didn’t want something to happen to one of us before I could tell them how I feel.”

She stood. “I can give you one more night’s worth, maybe two. If you need some time to think about it and all.”

Kane startled. He and Liz had grown far more amicable over the past months, but he hadn’t expected this from her.

Maybe he should have. It wasn’t the first time. He thought of Jim, on that first night, vehemently denying Liz’s offer to provide blood, vowing to do it himself.

“...Thank you. That means so, so much to me. It’s alright, though. I’ll go tonight,” he decided.

“Good luck. We’ll be here when you get back,” she promised.

And that was all he really needed, in the end.

Kane got up, heading to the door with a quick glance back to make sure it was alright. For the freedom he’d earned, he hadn’t gone more than ten feet from the house since he’d returned with Laken. But of course, Liz made no move to stop him. “I’ll see you soon.”

-

The night was as beautiful as ever, even in the cool autumn air. He liked it better this way, in fact. It made it more comfortable to wear more clothing, the long pants and long sleeves and jacket he liked, especially when he ran. When he went this fast, he hardly felt the cold, and his mind was occupied elsewhere.

What if his parents made demands of him in exchange for their help? What if they expected him to return to vampire territory, to isolate himself out of the way in a socially-acceptable manner? Now that he’d tasted true companionship, he almost couldn’t bear to give it up. And what about Jim? Ever since Laken’s abduction, he’d been more scared at night. The very least Kane owed him was his protection.

His petty worries disappeared the instant he realized he could hear a vehicle coming closer.

Kane ran faster, opposite the sound. He’d likely been pushing fifty miles an hour before, and could make sixty if he tried–but he was out of practice, and the vehicle was faster.

A glance behind him showed moonlight glinting off a silver crossbow.

“I have permission!” he wailed as the off-roader gained, heart threatening to burst from his chest. This couldn’t happen, not again, no. Jim and Liz wouldn’t even think to look for him until a day had passed, a day that could easily be spent baking in the hot sun. “Liz Lieberman granted me permission to cross! Please, I didn’t do anything! Mercy!”

“Kane?” an unfamiliar voice called. The vehicle caught up to him, but there was no attack. “Oh shit, it’s you!” the driver said. “It’s so dark, I almost didn’t recognize you from the picture Laken showed us. Thanks for bringing ‘em back.”

Kane slowed, just a bit. “What?” he squeaked, tears streaming down his face.

The hunter in the passenger seat elbowed his partner, making quick movements with his hands that Kane could not understand. A signed language of some sort, he assumed. Though he didn’t know much about such things, other than that spoken orders under persuasion often didn’t work on humans who utilized it.

“Uh, my partner wants to know if you’re good? Like, you’re alright?” The driver asked. “Did we scare you? Sorry. Just, uh, you know, gotta be quick with the other guys. One second wasted and you miss ‘em, and that’s someone’s whole life, y’know.”

“Oh. Um, yes, you’d–you’d frightened me. I’m sorry.” Kane wasn’t quite sure what he was apologizing for. “Am I… free to go, sirs?”

“Yeah! Yeah, you can go… sir? Shoot, don’t let us keep you,” the hunter assured.

The one in the passenger seat made more hand-signs, waving him goodbye after. “Nice to meet you!” the other translated, finally driving away.

Kane picked up speed again and didn’t stop until he was sure he’d left the border far behind. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

He was so close to going back to the pain. If they hadn’t recognized him, he would have been skewered with silver–likely soon killed, not tortured, given they were from Liz’s guild, but still, he would have died in pain. No matter how hard he breathed, he felt like he couldn’t get enough air, and he wasn’t sure if it was that he’d been sprinting for too long or the sheer horror.

He wanted Jim. He wanted Jim to hold him and tell him everything was alright, that he was safe, that no one was going to hurt him. But Jim was miles and miles away, and could not help him here.

And he couldn’t cry on the ground forever. He was burning moonlight, and he needed blood.

Kane forced himself to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. If he squeezed his eyes tight, he could pretend he wasn’t alone, for just a moment.

After a minute like that, he started running once more.

-

By the time Kane reached his parents’ estate, he’d mostly calmed down. It was hard to feel as though hunters would ambush him out of nowhere when he went deep enough into vampire territory to see buildings and people. Any hunter here would be apprehended in seconds.

He touched the gate, brass-coated, though he knew there was silver underneath. There seemed to be some sort of electronic device attached to it, a new addition since his last visit, but he wasn’t sure how to use it. He could climb it, or simply shout, and one of the staff would likely hear him. If he wanted to be extra polite, which he did, he could simply stand here until someone came or went and ask to be let in.

And then that would be it. Kane would be standing face-to-face with his parents. He would accept Father’s ire without complaint. He’d had worse, he reminded himself, even when it came to the comparable. The hunters had spit on him while calling him worthless, ground his face into the floor while forcing him to decry himself as beneath them. It had been so much worse.

His hand shook against the gate.

You’ve really changed, man.

Had he? If he was still back here, ready to take whatever judgments his parents threw at him, debase himself and eagerly beg for their forgiveness, had he really changed? There were humans in there. Captive, hurt humans who he could never in a thousand years be able to free if he tried, locked away in their quarters. What happened to all his regrets? His vows that he would never associate with anything of the sort again?

What would he have done differently here before, if he’d realized back then everything he knew now?

Kane left.

-

It took him a bit to find it, he hadn’t been to this town before, but it wasn’t far, and he knew the address.

There was a different kind of dread this time. If he was rejected here, it might be even worse than his parents. But as he rang the doorbell, he knew this was what he had to do.

The man who answered looked almost exactly the same as the last time he’d seen him, thirteen years ago. The same dark skin, perfect hair, typically garishly-colorful shirt.

Bellamy’s eyes went impossibly wide, as though he’d seen a ghost.

“Kane?”

taglist in reblogs, chapter 57 coming july 30th :)

@whumpmasinjuly

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage S01E12 The First David Job/S02E12 The Zanzibar Marketplace Job.

[pop-art-sixties-seventies]

Jim Morrison par Art Kane, 1968

[bookburners]

Batfamily Superpowers

Alfred Pennyworth: Gun

Bruce Wayne: Genre awareness

Dick Grayson: Performer

Jason Todd: Gun

Barbara Gordon: Smart ass

Tim Drake: Chameleon with a stick

Cassandra Cain: Cocky little bitch

Kate Kane: Gun

Stephanie Brown: Dies on every hill, picks every battle

Damian: Vicious mockery

Duke: Has never been yelled at for holding the flashlight wrong

Jim Gordon: Gun

[why-i-love-comics]

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #77 - "Suit Up" (2023)

written by CRC Payne art by Starbite, Geoniya Acuna, Suzi Blake, & C.M. Cameron

[whatelsecanwedonow]

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS S02E03 | Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

[glitterxdeath]

[heartilator]

this is potentially the worst thing ive ever done

[the-overanalyzer]

Two fixations for the price of one!

(Don't ask how long I spent editing that Azrael jpeg)

Batwoman art from Detective Comics Rebirth, by Andy Macdonald

Catwoman art from Catwoman v3, by Adam Hughes

Jim Gordon art from Batman Eternal, by Jason Fabok

Alfred Pennyworth art from Batman vs Robin, by Mahmud Asrar

Bluebird art from Batman Eternal, by Alvaro Martinez

Talia al Ghul art from DCeased: Hope At World's End, by Marco Fallia

Azrael art from Batman & Robin Eternal, by Roge Antonio

Wayne family art from Batman: Year One, by David Mazzuccelli

Text from The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 2x15 - "The Maltese Falcon Job"

[whumperstorm]

Suppressing Fire - Part 1

Content: Vampire whumper, human whumpee, defiant whumpee, kidnapping, bad blood drinking etiquette

Hi!!! I've finally edited the first few chapters of @whumpsday and I's RP!! It features Kane with a different, more spicy victim instead of Jim. My OC Keegan!

Next

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keegan jogs her way down the dimly lit street of her neighborhood. It’s her third time around the block tonight and her restlessness is still not abating. Running used to be one of her favorite hobbies, but ever since she became Lohitha’s guardian, anything other than work feels like a waste of time. Unfortunately, her coworkers practically forced her out the door to take the night off.

She already tried calling her hunting partner twice. The first time she talked Keegan down by saying how important it is to ‘rest your body and mind’. The second time she basically told Keegan to fuck off, as this was also her night off, though she said it in a much kinder way. So now Keegan is stuck here, finishing another lap and trying desperately to relax.

After another ten minutes or so, Keegan comes to a halt at an empty bus stop. Her hands itch for her missing hunting gear. She pulls out a cigarette instead. ‘I’ll have to take a shower when I get home,’ she thinks as she lights it. Otherwise her sister, Lohitha, will yell at her again when she smells the smoke clinging to her skin. Keegan leans back against the rain cover and takes a long drag, watching the moths fluttering around the lamp post.

---

That one.

She looks young enough to last a long time, but still fully-grown, full of all the blood an adult human should have. She smells absolutely delicious. And she's just standing there, all alone.

Kane crinkles his nose at the smell of that thing emitting smoke at her mouth. He'd heard of humans doing that, but he'd never seen it in person. But it won't be a concern once she's his. Running fast enough to catch her off guard in lieu of his missing persuasion, Kane snatches the human girl, holding her tight in his arms as he dashes back to where he parked his car.

---

It happens so fast that for a moment Keegan doesn't even register what is going on. The world is a disorienting blur around her. Then, she recognizes the speed, and the strength of the arms that have grabbed her.

Fuck. Now of all times?

She lets out a shout of surprise and rage and kicks wildly against the monster's hold on her. This fucker chose the wrong human.

The human's kicks are weak, as expected. Kane is definitely glad he took the car, though: dealing with this the whole way back would be incredibly annoying.

"Stop fussing," he snaps as he tosses her into his backseat, quickly grabbing the rope he brought with him.

Keegan whirls around instantly when she hits the seat and aims a kick to his face. 

"Fucking leech!" She snarls.

She won't win a wrestling match with a vampire, not even close, but anything to make him flinch will give her the chance to grab her weapon. A small stake, hidden away in her boots. She may be off duty, but no way in hell does she ever leave the house without one. For this reason exactly.

Kane isn't really hurt, but he is stunned for a moment, long enough for the human to get out the stake she was apparently hiding.

"Shit," he hisses under his breath. He grabs her wrist as fast as he can, holding it tight. "Drop it," he orders.

Keegan is surprised that no persuasion follows the order. It's a blessing that she's been able to fight back at all so far. She doesn't have time to wonder why. She yanks her arm with a growl, but the vampire has an iron grip on her wrist. He grabbed her before she could even attempt a strike. Still, she does not drop the stake.

Kane snatches the stake with his other hand and tosses it from the car, then holds her down with a knee to the abdomen so he can use his hands to tie her up.

"Stop struggling!" he orders, frustrated. It's supposed to be easier than this.

Keegan watches helplessly as the vampire tosses away her only weapon. 

"Fuck you!" She spits, fighting with all her might against the knee on her stomach. 

Her struggles are practically useless. She sees him reach for a coil of rope and her stomach sinks as she begins to realize how fucked she is. She's trapped and alone with no backup. Where are her fellow hunters??

Any moment now this thing is going to get sick of tussling and hypnotize her. She freezes, staring into the vampires angry, red eyes. She's not going to win this fight. Her only hope now is to stall him until someone takes notice. So, she grits her teeth, swallows her pride, and shouts for help.

"HELP! VAMPIRE! HELP ME!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Kane drops the rope and grabs the duct tape instead, hastily plastering some over the human's mouth. He then gets set, tying her up for the car ride home, looking around frantically as he does so, even though he feels a little pathetic for it. They're just humans.

When he has the human all tied up, he slams the door and gets in the front seat, beginning the drive home.

The vampire silences her with the tape and Keegan screams in rage, which morphs into fear as she's restrained and the door shuts on her. She kicks at the door but can't get a good angle the way she's been tied. She feels the engine rev to life under her and the car starts to move. Her heart beats a mile a minute and she swirls her head around hoping to find something, anything that can help her. But there's nothing.

It all happened so fast that it didn't matter if people were nearby. No one came in time. She's restrained and she's lost her stake. There's nothing she can do. She's being taken. Frustrated, fearful tears well up in her eyes. She stares at the back of the Vampire's head as he drives. Where is he taking her? The blood farms? Why didn't he hypnotize her? Does he want her lucid?

……Is he going to drain her like the one who took her mother?

---

Kane’s irritation fades into giddiness as he drives away. He's done it, he's caught a human of his very own!

It's about an hour's drive back home. He plays classical piano on the car radio, a wonderful invention.

He parks in his driveway, opening the car door to retrieve his prize. "No more struggling," he orders, hefting the human up and taking her inside.

Keegan's panicked thoughts turn to Lohitha as she's stolen away from home. Who knows what's in store for her, but her sister? She'll be all alone. She's only 12… Too young to fend for herself. God, what if she goes back to their dad? anything would be better than that. She prays that her friends will help her out. Her hunting partner always liked Lohitha, maybe she'll take her in?

Her worries are interrupted when the Vampire stops the car and returns to grab her. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead the moment the door opened. She glares daggers into him but remains still as ordered. She's not getting anywhere tied up like this. Her best bet is to save her strength. Still, she can't stop shaking.

‘Perfect,’ Kane thinks. She was probably just lashing out because it was so sudden, and now that she's had some time to calm down, she'll behave.

Kane carries her into the house and immediately into the human quarters, setting her down on the bed. “I am Kane de Sang, seventh-born of Aldrich de Sang. From this day forth, you will serve as my source of human blood.” He rips the duct tape off. “I presume you have questions.”

Keegan is relieved at least, to arrive at a house. Being a personal bloodbag is probably the better option… Of a terrible selection of outcomes. She immediately takes note of the path from the front door as she's taken deeper into the building.

The vampire's name is apparently Kane. Good for him. She'd much rather call him Dickhead.

Keegan has many questions. The smart thing to do would be to lay low; feel out her situation and start planning an escape accordingly.

Instead, she spits in his face the moment the tape is removed.

"Ugh!" Kane wipes his eye, immediately pissed, and grabs her tightly by the chin. "You little shit! You are going to learn some respect, or you will regret it," he warns. "Do you understand me?"

Oh, Keegan does not Like him touching her face. He could snap her neck easily with just a flick of his wrist. Her only solace is that he'd probably have done that already if that was his plan. If she's to be his food source, then he'll want to keep her alive. She glowers at him. 

"You kidnapped the wrong person if you're looking for respect." She growls. "Why haven't you hypnotized me?"

Kane barely restrains himself from violence. It's her first day. He's better than her juvenile retorts.

“I do not require such rudimentary tricks in order to keep one measly human in line," he huffs instead, not looking her in the eye. "You will behave, human."

He lets go of her, pointing to the two other doors as he speaks. "Kitchen, bathroom. There's a notepad in the kitchen where you can write down anything you need. Your sustenance is my sustenance." He starts to untie her. "I will come in here to feed from you once per night."

Keegan picks up on the defensiveness immediately. She decides that she's probably pushed her luck enough for now and doesn't comment, instead filing the information away for later.

She remains still as Kane unties her. Bolting for the door immediately will get her nowhere. "That's all?" She asks, unable to hide her nervousness. "Just the feeding?" 

She's dealt with plenty of vampires before and has her fair share of scars. She can handle a little bite. As long as this vampire isn't some kind of sadist, she'll be fine.

"Yes. That is your purpose," Kane confirms matter-of-factly. "You will provide me with blood, and you will behave while doing so. No more spitting. I won't hesitate to discipline you if I have to."

discipline. Like a misbehaving child. Keegan scowls at the phrasing.

Kane gathers the rope. "Do you have any actual questions?"

"No. You eat and I waste away in a windowless room for the rest of my life. Seems self-explanatory." Keegan says sarcastically. Doesn't matter, she won't be here for long.

"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow evening." And with that, Kane leaves her to her devices.

The moment the vampire is out the door, Keegan is up and searching the rooms for anything that could be used as a weapon. The kitchen is stocked with quality knives, not fatal to a vampire, but they'll hurt just the same. She also checks for anything that she could possibly whittle down into a stake. Wooden cooking spoons, a broom handle, even a table leg would do.

She grows increasingly more frustrated as her search turns up nothing. It makes logical sense, but it pisses her off anyway. She kicks the wall next to her in anger. The knives are much more risky, but if she can slice up his ankles or knees then he'll be incapacitated. Hell, cutting up his throat would choke him out, though this all depends on if she can avoid his iron grip.

Keegan flops back down on the bed and holds her head in her hands. She roughly wipes away a few tears that have gathered in her eyes. She is not gonna cry. She needs to be strong. Stay focused and get out.

For now though, she needs to try and get some rest. She’s exhausted. She lies down on top of the covers, not bothering to change her clothes.

----

Kane comes back the next night, full of excitement. He finally has his own human, just like he's supposed to! Sure, she's a bit feisty, but he's sure she'll mellow out with time, once she learns her place. He feels a little bitter that he can't just make her behave with persuasion, but he'll show that he doesn't need it. He'll show them all.

"Good evening, human," he greets as he enters the human quarters the next night.

"My name is Keegan." Keegan says from her place on the bed. She sits up with a huff. She didn't get a wink of sleep. Her head feels foggy. No escape attempts tonight.

“You presume too highly of your status if you believe we are on a first-name basis,” He condescends. This isn't something vampires with persuasion need to deal with. He'd be mortified if his family ever saw his human conversing with him in this way. “Speaking of which, you will refer to me as either Master or Sir.”

‘Oh, absolutely not.’ The idea alone sours her stomach. "You presume too highly of yourself," She mocks, "to think I'll be doing that, vampire."

Kane rolls his eyes and lets it go for now. There will be plenty of time for minor details like that: it's time for the actual important part. "Whatever. I'm hungry." He approaches his human. "Move your head to the side," he orders.

Keegan sighs and strips off her outer shirt, not wanting to risk it getting bloody. Her scars are now on full display. She has a few more than is usual for a hunter, as she tends to take more... active approach to hunting. Her coworkers might call it reckless, she calls it efficient. 

There's a handful of scratches down her arms and a bite around her wrist, but the most prominent one is a trio of deep gouges into her left shoulder. That one needed a lot of stitches.

"Does it really have to be the neck?" She asks. "The arm would work just as well." She holds her right one out.

Kane lowers her arm back down for her. "Yes," he insists.

He suddenly realizes he's not quite sure how to approach this. He never received lessons, like most nobles would. He tests out a few different angles before giving up on trying to figure it out and just biting down on his human's neck.

Keegan watches warily as the vampire scrutinizes her neck. She would much rather he bite her arm, the throat is so... vulnerable.  She focuses on keeping her breathing steady and tenses up when Kane seems to find what he's looking for. She cries out in pain at the bite. It’s so much worse than she expected.

He's not doing it correctly. He's not quite sucking blood so much as catching the blood that's coming out of her neck and into his mouth, too fast for him to swallow it all. Some blood spills down onto her collarbone.

Keegan’s eyes widen in alarm when she feels hot blood pouring down her neck. Fuck, he's going to kill her! She shoves against his shoulders in a panic, trying to pry him off. "Stop- Fuck, STOP!"

The shoving is bad, it's making everything worse. Kane rips his fangs out to speak. "Stay still!"

Normal vampires don't have to deal with this, a human who screams and fights back. It only sours his mood more. But- “That wasn’t right. It’s not supposed to go like that,” he mutters to himself.

Keegan scrambles back as soon as he lets go, covering her gushing wound. Kane's face is stained red and for a moment, all Keegan sees is the monster... It looms menacingly over her, eyes glowing. It's maw glistening with the blood of her mother who lies motionless behind it-

It takes significant effort to push past the memory. She blinks hard, focusing on the pain to keep her grounded in the present. "N-no shit!' She sputters.

Kane grimaces, frustrated with himself and his human alike. "Respect," he snaps, reminding her.

He dashes over and removes her hand from her neck, leaning in again.

The vampire has already torn open her throat, and now he's coming back for more. Keegan screams and tries to block him with her arms. "No! Don't touch me, you're going to kill me!"

"You idiot." Kane yanks her arms out of the way, then swipes his tongue across her wound. The blood quickly clots, stopping the bleeding. "Stop being so prone to panic. We're done for tonight." 

Keegan relaxes somewhat when Kane only closes the wound. She feels woozy from blood loss but at least she won't lose anymore. She slumps back against the wall.

" You tore a damn hole in my throat!" She says. "Haven't you done this before??"

“I… have not,” Kane admits begrudgingly, frustrated. "So you're simply going to have to be patient while I figure it out."

Keegan stares at him incredulously. "Wh- seriously? I'm the first?" Maybe that’s a good thing. If he's an amateur then he won't be expecting any serious resistance. But only if he doesn't kill her by accident.

"Well, here's a tip. Maybe avoid the artery next time." She says sarcastically.

Kane glares at her. "Watch the tone. We'll try again tomorrow." He sighs, shaking his head, agitated. "Do you have a list?"

One aspect of having a human with no persuasion that's actually good is that they can pick out their own food. A human would know best what a human eats, and if they eat well, so will he.

Right, the grocery list. Keegan was so caught up in her search for a weapon and general distress that she completely forgot that little detail. She remembers seeing a strange assortment of foods in the cupboards during her search. Keegan doesn't think she can make much out of just those ingredients, this isn't an episode of Chopped. She grimaces. "Right, uh. Give it here and I'll write some shit down real fast."

Kane's glare deepens. "Tone. This is your final warning. You do not give me orders, human. I give the orders, and you listen." He points to the kitchen. "Your notepad is in there. Write down your list and don't keep me waiting."

Keegan rolls her eyes. "Was less of an order and more of a suggestion. You just spilled my blood everywhere and now I'm lightheaded. But fine, since it's such an inconvenience for you.”

She snatches up the notepad and writes a short list of the first things that come to mind. Milk, cheese, rice, some vegetables, etc. After a moment of thought she adds hard cider, mostly out of curiosity to see if he'll get it. She tears off the paper, fold it in half, and hands it to Kane as she walks back into the bedroom.

Kane takes the note without looking at it, surely full of human foods he won't recognize anyway.

He doesn't like the way his human talks to him. "You will come to understand that you are the prey and I am the predator. You will do as I say and you will treat me with respect while you do it. Do not test me."

He leaves her, for now.

‘I've killed more of your kind than you have fingers on your hands,’ Keegan thinks. He'll realize who he's dealing with soon enough.

She takes a quick shower to rinse herself of blood and changes into one of the plain outfits provided for her. The pants are too small and don’t cover her ankles. She sighs in irritation. Then she rummages around in the kitchen to actually eat something, as that is probably a significant reason for her dizziness. She didn't exactly have an appetite yesterday after being kidnapped. Her neck aches fiercely all throughout.

After getting herself settled and fed, she lays out all her potential weapons on the counter. Time to make a plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @whumpsday @not-a-space-alien @anomalys-taxonomy

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[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim AU: Slow Cooked

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: vampire whumpee, torture, burns, body horror / gore, isolation, touch starvation, rescue, caretaking

just some whump that wouldn't leave my head. i'm on an AU kick. 2 pieces in a day!! woo!!! also posted a catharsis chapter earlier :D

-

It was day one-thousand one-hundred and thirty-three since they’d left Kane in the sun.

Unlike in his cell, it was easy to count the days out here. Impossible not to, unless he lost count amid the endless pain. He couldn’t see, hadn’t opened his eyes in years, but fire licked at his toes once more, slowly working its way up.

Kane did not scream. The last time he’d screamed, a hunter had wrapped a cord around his throat and threatened to leave it there forever if he made another sound, leaving his lungs perpetually empty. That was day 14.

He had air. As his already burnt-beyond-recognition body lit up once more under the unforgiving heat of the sun, Kane reminded himself he could breathe. It was the only thing he had left.

It hurt. It hurt, hurt, hurt, always. There was no end to it, not even at night, when his wholly maimed form was given far too little time to even start to heal. There was only agony at night and more agony in the day.

He missed his cell. He would do anything to go back to his cell, in the blessed dark.

The morning sun rose enough to reach his face, his entire body once again swallowed as he burned alive.

Please. Please make it stop. Please, somebody help me! I’ll do anything. I just need it to stop. Mercy.

Every day, the same wish, unanswered. Kane was left to his unbearable existence, forgotten.

-

Somebody touched him. It was the first time Kane had been touched in over three years.

It was a light touch, just the graze of what he thought to be a hand to his jawline. Not enough to make it hurt more than it already did. Whoever it was said something, but he couldn’t make it out. Melted flesh had filled his ears for quite some time.

Kane did not move. He didn’t think he was capable of moving, anymore. But he had to do something. Maybe if he did, they’d let him inside, just for a little. Just for a few days. He would do anything to be allowed inside for a few days, even if they tortured him.

Please, I need help, please help me! Make it stop!

A small, raspy whine escaped the back of his throat, muffled further by his sealed-shut lips. It was all he could manage.

The hand retreated.

If Kane was capable of crying, he would. If Kane’s tear ducts hadn’t melted away under the sun years ago, he’d never have stopped.

Please. Please. Somebody. Help me.

His heart cried out, yearning for the touch to return. Even if they never helped, even if they hurt him. He just needed to feel for one moment like he wasn’t alone.

He keened again, a quiet thing, though he tried. Wordless begging to not be left.

The hand returned to his cheek, and he quieted once more. If the agony never stopped, at least he had this. The ability to breathe, and one gentle touch.

Without warning, something pierced his chest, and his cursed consciousness was blissfully lost.

-

Kane did not wake outside.

His arms and legs were no longer spread into the corners of the board, ensuring every vulnerable inch of his front was exposed to the sun. The board no longer touched his back, in fact. Instead, he laid on something soft. The sun did not shine.

Either it was nighttime, or he’d been allowed inside.

It was almost unthinkable that he’d be allowed to rest on something soft and let inside. Surely, it had to be nighttime.

Despite his relative freedom–he could still feel a shackle on one ankle, not silver, but nothing else–he was far too mangled to move around. He simply laid there, trying to bask in the wonder of the soft thing.

“Kane?” a voice asked, hours later. He could hear it, he realized. His ears were cleared.

He knew that voice. That was the human’s voice. Jim’s voice.

The fragile hope that he might be allowed to remain on the soft thing vanished.

“Are you awake?” Jim asked. “I saw you… twitching and stuff.”

He would cry if he could. He was crying, he realized, tears falling down his burnt-up cheeks.

“It’s okay, don’t be scared. I mean, that’s–that’s a tall order, yeah. You’re not going out there again. You’re gonna be okay.”

That gentle hand returned, to his hair this time. There wasn’t much of it left, he was reasonably sure. Jim stroked what was there, his touch feather-light, like he was afraid Kane would break into pieces.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. It’s over,” Jim promised. His voice shook like he might be crying, too.

Kane wanted to believe it so, so badly. It was everything he’d ever wanted, for someone to help. Finally, finally, for the pain to end. It hadn’t even ended yet, his body was a horrific mess of seared skin, but it had been promised. No one had ever promised to help before.

He couldn’t be dreaming. It never hurt this badly in dreams, his only refuge.

“Can you open your mouth?” Jim prompted.

No. He couldn’t. He tried, just to prove it, and…

His lips popped open, revealing a perfectly-preserved, unburnt mouth.

How long had he been out? Days? Had he not been touched by the sun for days?

“You’re doing great,” Jim encouraged. “I know you’re hurting pretty bad right now. So, um, I just…”

“Here, I’ve got it.” A different voice, female, unfamiliar. Before Kane could even worry about who she was, a lid opened with a pop, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Kane did manage more than a whine, then. A desperate howl of need.

The blood poured into his mouth, cold and refreshing and salty and sweet. There was so much of it. He drank and drank and drank until there was no more. He was actually sated for once.

“That’ll help him heal faster?” Jim asked.

“Yeah. Should do the trick.”

“...Do you think he’ll be mad at me?”

Mad? How could he possibly be mad? Jim took him away from the sun. Jim let him inside. Jim gave him blood. He was going to be allowed to heal!

“I think he’ll just be happy to be out of the sun,” the other voiced his thoughts.

There was a creak on the soft think–a bed? A couch?--as someone sat next to him. “Three years ago, the hunters told me they had you,” Jim said.

Three years. That was the end of it, then? Kane had paid his price, he wouldn’t have to do it anymore? It felt too good to be true.

“I told them to kill you,” he continued. “I was scared. I thought you would be like… before. I thought you would come after me. I didn’t know what they were doing, and they told me they’d done it. I thought you were dead. I never wanted you to suffer, not like this.”

Did that mean no more? It was truly over?

“No m-more?” Kane rasped out, his voice struggling to find itself after so long.

“No more.” That gentle touch returned to his hair, and for the first time in years, there was hope.

-

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[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage Redemption S01E13 The Hurricane Job.