We are the Hunted (Invite only)

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

The man was scared now, the signs only too easy to read. Sweat beading on a brow raised high in accommodation for a wider eyed expression. Quick, unsteady breathing - noisy as all hell given that he only had the option of breathing through his nose. Tithe might have been a bit more empathetic if the fool weren't wasting his time. The man should have answered his questions, should have ran when he couldn't - Tithe might have let him go. In his experience, security guards never really knew anything useful and killing them took more time than it was worth. At least, the direct approach did. If a few died when he took down a whole building, well, that never took much effort.

Instead, the man had gone for his gun. Hardly a threat but the noise would have attracted attention - that and a floor littered with crushed bullets and not a single drop of his own blood had become too much of a calling card for him. He didn't need anyone knowing he was here, at least, not yet.

"Shut up." Tithe hissed, tightening his hold over the man's mouth and shoving his head back hard against the wall. The crack that echoed his words might have been satisfying if the man were even remotely capable of crumpling to the floor quietly. Tithe stepped over him, summoning the elevator he'd been waiting for when the guard had walked in. He knew where he was going - all these damned facilities were almost exactly alike. Once the door opened, he grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him along for the ride. A body left unattended and in the open was only too likely to cause problems, especially since all the other wannabe boys in blue only ever kept an eye on the upper levels.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Eventually, they all looked the same. White lab coat, clipboard, sometimes another painful dose form a syringe, just to spice things up. Features of the 'good doctors' became a blur to Tobin, he couldnt care less who had blonde hair, glasses, or a speech impediment. To him there was only a verry-go-round like vertigo of pain, a feeling of deep hatred towards the beings that held him, and a vague sense of hoplessness at the thought of ever seeing the sun on his own again.

Today seemed like any other day as they all bled together, he had been filled full of wires and dunked into a frothing tank of green liquid, his only saving grace a small oxygen mask. The liquid stung his eyes and so he had given up trying top open them to peer out into the sterile environment, merely letting them fall closed and focusing on the stead hum of the tank slowly feeding him oxygen.


Something moved in the tank with him, and he had only a moment to prepare himself before the plunge of a needle into his spine made him jerk in the tank, momentarily parylyzed by the pain and vaguely stunned. The needle eventually pulled away, letting Tobin fold in on himself as the liquid took effect, sending fire through his muscles as it spread.

Cracking an eye open into the murky non-water he looked out at the glass warped figure before him, slowly succumbing to the cocktail of drugs he had just been shot with. His eye rolled and his vision wavered, causiing him to close that one eye and fade into unconciousness. Only one last thought penetrated his fuzzy mind as his focus died.

What did I do to deserve this hell?  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe leaned heavily into a corner as the elevator lurched downward, his hands gripping the railing hard enough to make it groan. He’d never much cared for elevators. Something about being sealed into a small, enclosed space, one that had the potential to simply drop...

He was quick to banish the thought, staring ahead more intently. The thing that stared back at him from the metallic shine of the elevator doors had no business bowing to fear. Those cold reptilian eyes - drowned in red and bits of black with a sudden burst of gold around sharply slitted pupils - knew the face of fear like that of an old friend. The course black scales that coated his body like a second skin only served a more perfect shield against the old demon’s touch and the fire in his lungs drove away the chill of it. Fear was a thing to be respected, but Tithe was not its b***h anymore.

The floor numbers above the door slowly illuminated, one by one, and Tithe could feel the subtle drop in temperature for every floor he descended. He wondered vaguely if he was underground yet and if so, how far, but it didn’t really matter. Getting back up was the only thing he really needed to concern himself with and he already knew he wasn’t going to go back quite the way he had come. As the illuminated numbers drew closer to the floor he was heading for, Tithe stepped away from the wall, jumping up on the railing and pushing up the emergency hatch on the ceiling. Pulling himself through the opening would have been so much easier if he still had two arms to do it, but he managed well enough with just the one. He stood, moving carefully across the top, standing beside the cables as he waited for a few more floors to pass. Below him, the elevator dinged a warning as it stopped at his floor and the doors opened. Tithe tangled a hand in the cables, drawing a deep breath that rumbled in his chest as it ignited. He leaned down as he exhaled, flames erupting from his mouth and licking at the cables, eating away and rubber and steel alike. The smell was foul but Tithe only had to put up with it for a moment before the cables snapped and the elevator dropped out from under him, leaving him to swing one handed. The remaining end of the cable tapped against his stomach as he swung, melted rubber and glowing steel still hissing but the heat didn’t bother Tithe. His scales were fireproof, the skin beneath more than adequately protected. He watch the elevator drop floor after floor beneath him, counting the seconds until it hit bottom. It was a long way down. Most likely the guard he had left inside was dead.

Leaning back hard, Tithe got the cable swinging and then launched himself through the still opened doors of the floor he’d wanted. He hit the tiled floor hard, rolling on the impact and using the momentum to get himself up and running. He didn’t have much time to waste. He had only just ducked into the nearest room when people came running - white coats mostly. Tithe waited, tuning out the shouting and confusion. They would either rush to the bottom floor to check out the damage or start searching - or perhaps they’d be smart and go both routes. Either choice would meet an end that suited him. Searching would get them out of the labs. It would also split them up. A damage check would get them out of the way entirely. All he had to do was wait for them to make up their minds.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Blaring alarms startled Tobin from his drug induced slumber, and fearing the unknown, he pushed past the irritating burn and opened his eyes. Mildly disoriented by the warp of the glass, he took a few moments to readjust, slowly focusing on the scene in front of him. A flurry of activity met his vision, blurry figures clothed in white scurrying about as they made their way to the exit across from his cylinder prison.

Watching as the last figure left through the double doors, the brunet closed his eyes. No one had so much as given him a second thought as they left. He vaguely wondered if this was an evacuation, and he had been left to die in whatever destruction that was to come. Half of him rejoiced at the thought, no more tests, no more prodding...no more pain.

But another part of him was alight with panic. Tobin didn't want to die. Not even because he was afraid to. He didnt want it to be here, in this place. Home was in the forefront of his mind. Wanting nothing more than to go to his cozy, albeit empty house. To eat in his kitchen at the breakfast bar, play with his cat out on the porch steps in the mid morning sunshine.

The thought warmed him as exhaustion slowly fell across him like a warm blanket. Fatigue was etched deep into his features, long nights and even longer days spent kept awake by the men in white. This was how it was to be then. Sleep was once more pulling at him and he was in no position to deny it.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Things didn't quiet so much as burst into an endless assault against Tithe's ears. An alarm? Really? Idiots. How were they supposed to get anything accomplished if they couldn't freaking hear?

"Rats," Tithe laughed, pushing through the door and walking calmly down the now mostly vacant hall. "That's all they really are." No real predator would let his prey know that they were being hunted and no hunter worth his claws would leave his prey unattended.

Tithe searched every room he passed but most of them were empty. This floor was not a place where experiments ever lingered long. Most would be sent to lower floors. Only successful experiments were moved higher. Anything below this floor... Tithe was hoping the one he'd come here for hadn't been one of the lucky ones. It was an ugly thing to wish for but all the same - he really didn't want to have to leave here with dead body in tote.

It wasn't a relief when he found the right room. As much as he wanted the boy alive, the alternative really wasn't something to celebrate and Tithe didn't waste time thinking about it. Whatever he felt when he recognised the boy in the tank, he buried it quickly. He didn't need the distraction and it wasn't as if he would be so easily recognised.

Tithe eyed the machine inside the tank, noting the empty syringe. He didn't see any fresh track marks on the boy's arms. Tithe frowned but reached inside the tank anyways. Movement after a lumbar puncture was not a great idea but leaving him behind was definitely the less forgivable choice. The boy could survive a spinal headache - he wasn't going to last much longer here.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

It was beginning to get annoying,being woken up repeatedly. Tobin couldn't tell how much time had passed since he had last closed his eyes, but it felt as though he had been cheated from any sleep at all. A disturbance in the liquid around him had jumpstarted his mind back into the waking world.

Usually the tank was emptied before anyone tried to move him, and he had definitely not been in the thing all day, the alarms were still ringing. He guessed he had been roused within the hour of his last waking moments, judging by the sound. Venturing forth once more he steadily opened an eye, feeling the normal sting fromt he green water around him.

Black met his vision immediately outside the tank and all the brunet could do was watch curiously. The figures features were distorted by the glass, as well as by the boy's wavering sight. Were people usually so dark skinned? He couldn't remember. At least this one didnt have one of those horrid coats on.

But why was he sticking his hand....where was his other hand? A second green eye opened in an effort to focus his tired gaze upon the man in front of his tank. He couldn't make out another hand, or arm for that matter. It didnt frighten him, he only wondered what the hell was going on.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe grabbed hold of boy, lifting him from the depths of the tank. He paused once he had the boy clear of the greenish liquid, eyeing the oxygen mask. "Take it off or get clothes-lined. Your choice." He said sharply, giving him only a moment to comply before he hauled the boy out of the tank entirely. He knew better than to let the boy go once him more or less on his own two feet. There was no way of knowing how long he had been in that tank but Tithe wasn't betting high on the possibility that the kid could walk two feet let alone as far as he needed him to go.

Tithe pushed the boy against the tank wall to free his arm. He offered no warning when he grasped the boy's chin, tilting his head so he could peer into his eyes. What he saw told him enough. "Dead weight," He muttered. He'd be lucky if the boy could even keep his eyes open. To the boy, he said quickly, "Anything I should know about before I start hauling you around or are you too out of it to string sentences together?"

Movement in the hall distracted him for a moment. He turned his head sharply, his eyes trained on the door as drew a breath, heat pouring off of his body as the fire rumbled in his chest but there was no sudden onslaught of white-coats or security guards and the hall quieted once more. Tithe exhaled, smoke pouring from his nose. False alarm.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Barely a moment had passed before the frightening experience of being lifted from the weighty liquid happened. HIs first instinct was to flail, but whatever they had dosed him with was making movement difficult. The words uttered from the strange being took a moment to register and Tobin struggled with the straps for a few moments, barely taking it off in time before he was moving once more.

Held up against the tank, he got his first good glimpse of the man that had pulled him free. Blinking away drops of stray liquid he stared dazedly. It probably would have scared him to see such a creature before coming ot this place. But after being here so long he got used to seeing the other experiments. Had he escaped and come looking for others?

Hearing the scaled being ask a quick question, the brunet fought hard to reply, his voice hoarse with disuse. " Shouldn't take me. Slow you down." His words were halted, as though they took great effort to utter. He was useless like this, they had probably added a mild paralytic to that cocktail running through his nervous system.

He didnt want the other man to be caught, just knowing another had gotten free made him smile. "Go."  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

"Not what I asked." Tithe said simply, lifting the boy again and hauling him over his shoulder. He could play twenty questions all night but getting a straight answer, let alone the one he was looking for, would probably actually take all night and that was time they didn't have right now. If he was going to suddenly die on him, he was going to have to do that on the way out the door.

"Do me a favor, Tobin," Tithe said as he scanned the hallway. "Try to stay awake and start counting. If we're not out of here by the time you get to 900, you can sleep all you want." He broke into a run after that. Getting out wouldn't be enough in fifteen minutes. They needed to be gone.

He didn't bother to head for the other elevator. Even if it wasn't locked down or in use, there was just no way in hell he was going to do that again. The stairs were also closer and slightly less expected. He didn't think much of actually using the boy's name. With the condition he was in, it didn't seem likely that the boy would question it, if he even noticed. He'd have to come up with some excuse later.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Tobin had begun to reply when the world tilted and moved as he was hefted over his rescuer's shoulder. The jarring motion pulled a wince and small groan from the boy, his vision whiting out at the edges from the rough treatment.

He spent a few moments regaining his bearings, staring down at the tiled floor as he gulped for breath. His brow furrowed in confusion when he heard his name. Not even the people here called him by his own name. But the thought drifted away quickly as the rest of the mysterious man's words penetrated his brain.

He didnt question the command, starting to count immediately as they made their way out of the room and down the hall. It hurt to be moving so fast, but the numbers kept his mind off the pain and as they made their way up the stairs hope slowly grew in his mind. Maybe they would actually make it.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

I'm torching the place next time, Tithe thought to himself after the sixth turn around the stairwell. It's so much ******** easier than this. We could have walked out.

He was out of breath by the time they were above ground again. The windows on this level were too tinted to see through but Tithe felt the difference. He paused then, listening for what number the boy had reached. There wasn't much time left but there was a window at the top of the steps. "Cover your eyes." He hissed at the boy, shaking him to be sure he was listening. "And don't open them again until I tell you, understand? Got them closed?" He only waited long enough to get an answer and then he was running up the stairs. There was only one problem: the stairwell on this floor wasn't empty.

The men surrounding the stairwell were not white coats and they definitely weren't the usual security guard. Tithe recognized the look in their eyes, so empty and cold. They looked normal enough but Tithe knew. If he got a good look at their ribs there would be numbers tattooed into their side - same as him. Places like this, they created their own soldiers - monsters without minds.

Tithe didn't stop. When one of them got in the way, he barreled into him, throwing all three of them through the glass. The sunlight was a shock after the darkness within the building - exactly why he'd told Tobin to close his eyes. He didn't know how long the boy had gone without proper light, the last thing he needed was to blind the kid. He wasn't so lucky. His was better suited for the darkness - this was like taking a knife to the eyes. It was difficult to see - which only meant he needed to move faster. He shoved Tobin out of the way before they even hit the ground, grabbing hold of the brain dead soldier instead. They hit the ground hard but the soldier reacted on impact, using the momentum to get himself out from under Tithe. His hands were around Tithe's neck a moment later, cutting off his air supply almost instantly. Smart. Fire breathing wasn't so easy to do if he couldn't breathe. It was all too easy to out do him though. He should have made sure Tithe couldn't move, let alone fight back.

Tithe reached up, grabbing the man by the hair and dragging his head down to his level. His teeth flashing in the sunlight before he buried them in the man's throat. A quick jerk backwards and the man was as good as dead, bathing Tithe in his blood. Tithe shoved him off and crawled quickly to where Tobin had wound up, pushing him flat to the ground.

700...800...900...

Tithe dropped down over the boy, covering his body with his own as much as he could. When the first bomb went off, he had enough time to cover one of the boy's ears with his hand and press the other to his chest before the noise killed his own hearing. He could feel the next several bombs going off, the way the earth trembled, the shock waves, the fire and debris rolling over his back but all he heard was a loud, shrill ringing.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Tobin almost missed his savior’s words, so immersed in his counting. Raising shaky hands to his eyes he covered them, giving a short reply of confirmation. But soon enough as they bolted up the stairs; he heard and felt their impact with another solid bodied person.

The jarring of that added to their impact with the glass lost him his already weak handed hold and they fell away. Even through his eyelids the bright sudden light burned. He couldn’t remember how long ago he had last seen the outside, but non artificial light was nothing in comparison.

Barely a chance to adjust, he felt himself being thrown away from the scaled man, rolling across the dry ground with a startled groan. He cracked his eyelids, squinting in the light to see as he slowly rolled onto his stomach, attempting to push himself up.

He didn’t get very far before he was pushed once more to the ground. He immediately began to struggle. His sight still hadn’t adjusted but as his small fist came in contact with rough scales he relaxed, recognizing the feel of his nameless rescuer.

He was quickly pressed uncomfortably close to the dirt and he protested, but the sudden quaking of the ground quieted him. Instinctively he curled up under the man, trying to hide himself as much as he could, taking odd comfort at being pulled close to a coarse scaly chest.

The dry rough ground beneath him itched, and belatedly he realized not every part of him was safe beneath his scaled blanket. One of his legs was uncovered below the knee, he panicked, hoping against the odds that these tremors were just earthquakes, but the muffled sounds coming from beyond his protection didn’t sound at all like an ordinary quake. A flame licked his naked leg and he screamed, jerking as it flickered across the sensitive flesh. It was gone as suddenly as it had come, but the stinging pain remained, making his eyes water.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Tithe felt the boy spasm underneath him only just before the smell of burning flesh found his nose. He couldn't hear the boy's screams over the ringing in his ears but he was glad for that. It wasn't a sound he wanted rattling around in his head late at night. His arm tightened instinctively around the boy though he had no comforting words to offer. He wasn't the sort of person who knew how to deal kindly with people right now and it was not a good idea to mix personas. The moment he had pulled the boy from that tank, things had begun to overlap - things that were better left separate. Memory, emotion, manner of thought - his personas were separate for a reason. Blurring the lines ruined the balance, made things confusing.

Surviving meant being the monster. Survival was all a monster was good at, not comfort. Right now Tobin needed to live more than he needed a pat on the back.

When the ground stopped shaking, Tithe let the boy go and sat up, shaking shards of glass and metal from his back. Something didn't feel quite right but as long as he could still move, it wasn't worth his notice. His ears hurt like hell and his world was still reduced to that god awful ringing but he knew from experience that it would pass sooner or later.

He examined the boy quickly, his hand hovering over the burned leg but he made no move to touch it. His scales were not pretty and smooth - only a sadist would introduce a fresh burn to something that felt more like sandpaper than glass. There wasn't anything he could do for him here besides getting him somewhere where he could.

He was more careful this time when he picked the boy up, bracing him against his hip rather than hauling him over his shoulder. With as much damage as he had done to the facility, there was no real need to run, they just needed to move.  

[Ma Sai The Caged Tiger]

Panting for breath, the boy tried to put the pain to the back of his mind.It hurt a great deal but he still couldnt tell if they were home free or not. The quaking seemed to go on for more than a few moments, and his skin felt as though fire were still climbing up it.

Feeling the scaled man pull away, he cautiously opened his eyes, blinking in the warm sunshine. His eyes still watered, but he was able to focus if he didnt move his head, still inder the effects of the unknown drugs in his system. Glancing down he breathed a sigh of relief, the wound on his leg was nothing to scoff at, but it didnt look third degree, and it hadnt melted away or anything...

He tilted his head slowly, turning to face his rescuer and found him staring right at him. His eyes...he had never gotten a good look but now, in daylight, they looked....fascinating was the only word. He wanted to get closer but his world was displaced once more when he was lifted and placed against the man's side. It was an easier pace this time, and from this position there wasnt much jarring.

Still, his head was starting to pound, as the adrenaline and excitement died down, he took stock of his aches and pains as they made themselves known. He couldnt help it, turning his head he rested his cheek against a strong shoulder, looking over the rubble of the building in awe.  

[Sorrow_Mirth_and_Sin]

Any other time, Tithe would have taken the most twisted, round about way he could possibly have come up with to get himself home. This wasn't any other time. He wasn't going to draw out the walk home any longer than it absolutely needed to be, not with Tobin in tote, not when he was injured. He still took as many back-roads and alleys as he could find but nothing too out of the way.

He'd never really thought much about how he'd chosen to live his life before. Right then, he was glad that his apartment was small, that the little he had in it was hardly worth stealing. It meant that he could leave the door unlocked, that he didn't have to put Tobin down to get inside. A quick kick got the door open, a bit of foot manoeuvring got it shut again. The size of the place also meant he didn't have to walk far to get where he wanted.

The curtains in his bedroom were thick, blocking out all but a hint of light. It was a good place for day sleeping - Tithe figured it would be easier on Tobin's eyes. He set the boy on the bed, pulling a blanket from the closet since the bed had none and a clean shirt as an after thought and dropping them beside the boy. He said nothing as he left the room, grabbing a pair of jeans on the way out and heading across the way to the bathroom. Once there, he went straight to the shower, cranking the water to the coldest setting. It helped. As dirt and blood and soot washed away and swirled around the drain, the scales became easier to retract and the heat beneath his chest cooled to something a little more bearable, though it would never be normal. He would never be normal. He could nix the scales and turn down the heat but they always came back and his eyes... there was nothing he could do about them, other than hiding them behind the contacts he usually wore. Tonight he was just too damned tired to care.

He dressed quickly and then made a quick search of all the drawers and cabinets. A bit of rummaging in the far back corner beneath the counter produced a jar of burn salve - it might have been easier to find if he had any use of it but for now he was simply glad he had any.

He winced as he straightened, a sharp pain in his back reminding him that something wasn't right. He turned, glancing in the mirror, glaring at the damage. Shrapnel. The needle nose pliers was ridiculously easier to find than the burn salve had been. Bits of bloodied metal soon littered the sink. Tithe didn't bother to clean it up but he dig out a set of needles and a pack of dental thread. He'd stitch himself up as best he could later. Instead he grabbed the burn salve and turned back for the bedroom.