This is a long chapter-.

Tord's Perspective

I awoke to loneliness. Cold, eerily silent loneliness. I assumed that he had slept in his den, which I didn't mind. I slowly got out of bed and slinked out to the bathroom, taking a piss and continuing my sluggish train of thought. I should go check up on Matt today, see how he's adjusting to his new additions. Now, I would have taken the time to stop pissing and continue my bathroom routine like a normal person, if not for the sudden blaring of sirens. That made it very convenient that I was already pissing, because otherwise I would have needed new pants. I quickly got myself together and looked around for the spare radio Thomas kept in his room, which I only knew existed because of procedures. I yanked it out of his nightstand drawer and listened to the reports being shouted in, hectic and unorganized. I could make out something very important despite the chaotic overlapping of voices. "Blue Angel" was missing, so the base was of course having one hell of a fit.

I listened to the many channels as I pulled on a coat and picked out a handgun. There were reports of checking the cameras of footage, searching through the past hours of radio reports for a location check-in, and many other things. Now, I may have thought Tom was still in his den, but people would still be able to detect his heat signature in his fox-hole if he was in there. Once I carefully loaded the handgun I picked out from the case under Tom's bed, I walked out of the room to see soldiers walking in an orderly fashion. They were a bit panicked, but kept form and calmly walked through the halls. Once one of them noticed me, they walked over and saluted. "Sir, please allow me to escort you to one of the designated safe areas." He requested politely and I sighed. "Of course soldier, lead the way. And update me in the situation, I want to know what's going on." I added and he quickly nodded, taking a defensive position to escort me through the halls. He hovered over me with a loaded gun, keeping himself ready for an attack.

The base was definitely on a higher scale alert, because as we walked through the halls I could see medical staff already being sheltered and preparing for anything. It was rather normal for this protocol if any high-ranking soldier went missing, but people were more high-strung because it was the leader. "Red Leader sir, the base is on a lockdown and search drill because Blue Angel disappeared around ten minutes ago. Right now we're reviewing footage and checking radars for any sign of him, but it's as if he's been wiped off of the continent." The soldier reported and stopped near one of the walls, knocking to open up the panel that held protected personnel. The panel opened up once a camera spotted us, letting the soldier escort me in. He then left me in a group of people worriedly glancing at each other like a nuke was coming. The panel promptly closed, and I felt a little hand tug on mine.

I looked for the source of physical contact to see JuJu crying. I gently scooped up the crying girl and comforted her, holding her close. "What's wrong JuJu? What happened?" I asked and sat down on a crate, holding her close. She kept uncontrollably sobbing and clung to the blue jacket I wore. Eventually after a lot of comforting and reassurance, she looked up at me with her pretty blue eyes. "Th-The n-nice man- taking care o-of me- he- he- he died-!" She choked out before sobbing once more, burying her face in my neck. I slowly rubbed her back and sighed, trying to soothe her. For many minutes, she continued to cry and cling to me. Then, she started to get sleepy and tried to get comfortable in my arms. I let her rest in my lap, the very least I could do to comfort her in the situation. What a poor little girl. I had to turn my attention away from her as one of the personnel, seemingly a cook, gently tapped my shoulder. I looked up at the worried person and they nervously smiled, trying not to look like they're about to have a panic attack.

"Sir- Blue Angel was abducted by a group of cult looking figures in robes. We've already sent out soldiers in their last seen location." They reported and I looked down again at JuJu. "Thank you." I said to the cook and slowly rubbed JuJu's back. If she doesn't have an assigned caretaker right now, and Thomas isn't here to stop me, so.. I'm adopting her for now. I carefully took off my coat and wrapped it around the sleeping child, making her warmer as time went on. She seemed happy to rest in my care, trusting me with her life. I turned off my radio as to not awake her, slowly rubbing her back. The room was soundproof, so it was already very quiet. The only noises were breathing, shifting, and the quiet chatter of radios. My content attitude was ruined by a soldier reporting more bad news to the group. Apparently, a number of soldiers who had been guarding Tom or near him were also snatched, and names were being listed as he read them off from the radio. Most of them were soldiers I didn't care about, but one of the people I recognized instantly.

Matt had been grabbed, along with at least six others. I know it's bad that I didn't feel the need before, but now I really do need to go save them. I gently handed off the sleeping JuJu to a sitting soldier and got up, marching out of the hidden spot. Before many of the concerned soldiers could ask to escort me back, I ran past towards the reported location that the searching soldiers were walking. They were outside, loading into vehicles and shouting orders to each other that higher-ups had given. I got into one of the jeeps and sat in the back along with another ready to shoot soldier. "It's nice to see you joining us sir." The soldier said and gave me a friendly smile. I returned the smile and got comfortable, laying back. "We're going after the last known sighting of Blue Angel, sir. If you didn't already know, I mean." He said a bit awkwardly and i sighed tiredly. "And where exactly is that anyways?" I asked and he shifted, spreading his legs to get comfortable in the seat.

"It's about fifty miles from our base, in a small town nearby. Our soldiers already control it, but we only have a few stationed there." He reported and I rubbed my face. "And I haven't even had breakfast-." I groaned and the soldier chuckled. "I've got some food if you'd like sir, I took it before I had to come out here." He told me and opened up his pack, taking out food that had been loosely wrapped with aluminum. "Ah, that's very kind of you." I spoke politely as he offered a breakfast burrito. I had never had one before, but it looked delicious. "No problem, Red Leader." He said with a warm smile as I took it from his hands. I carefully ate the mix of food and discovered exactly how much "breakfast" was in breakfast burrito. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, and a bunch of veggies with some tomatoes included. It was absolutely amazing, and I'm going to order it for the rest of my life. I glanced over at the soldier who was chowing down on another breakfast burrito. He had a scar along the side of his face that looked pretty deep.

"How'd you get that?" I asked curiously and he swallowed before replying. "Oh, my face scar? I just got it during that attack a few years ago. Y'know, the one where you turned into that big uh.. I don't know what you'd call it. But anyways, I got attacked in the first group when the enemies came in. Now I've got a kick-ass battle scar." He said with a proud grin. "Not as cool as yours though." He added and playfully punched my shoulder. "Fuck yeah." I chuckled and kept eating, sharing a look with the friendly soldier. After finishing a delicious breakfast, the soldier sitting in shotgun looked back and glanced between the two of us. "You guys want some coffee? I brought my Thermos." He offered and held out the warm bottle of metal. "Yeah sure, hand it over." The solider beside me grunted and roughly yanked it from the guy's hand. I watched as he unscrewed the cap and chugged at least a cup of coffee in one go. He then held out the open Thermos bottle to me and I stared at it in a bit of disgust. It's not that other people's saliva is beneath me, I watch way too much porn for that. I suppose Thomas' snobbish habits are just catching on.

I hesitantly took the Thermos and chugged at least a quarter of the bottle before giving it back to the soldier in the front. "Nice one dude." The soldier beside me said with a grin and held out his hand in a fist-bump position. I grinned and returned the gesture, lightly colliding our fist in a sort of "bro moment". I've never really been one for social interaction, but this is nice. Once the Jeep arrived in a small town, everyone unloaded off of their cars and walked in form through the town. All of the villagers stared with wide eyes, but didn't seem so afraid. They were used to the presence of Red Army soldiers, just not this much of a presence. Soldiers went through different houses and asked the locals questions, still trying to be as minimally disruptive as possible. I walked around the village looking for any evidence of Thomas, any scent even. Without my amplified senses, it was very hard to interact with the environment like I used to.

"Sir we have a lead! Two miles North and moving!" One of the soldiers shouted to the captain of their troop. They quickly retreated back to their vehicles and I followed suit, getting into the same Jeep as before. The car ride was silent between the passengers, aside from speaking between radios and shouting updates. Soon, I could see a small cluster of discreet black vehicles in the distance. The windows were tinted so that none of the passengers could be viewed, but I did borrow binoculars from the driver so that I could more closely examine the vehicles themselves. They seemed to be pretty standard vehicles, aside from upgrades like tinted glass, reinforced armor, and bulletproof tires. There were no distinguishing features like a logo or color scheme, so it was hard to tell who exactly had kidnapped my soldiers. The cars sped up suddenly, going over a hill and out of sight. Once we went over the hill in pursuit, the cars were gone.

The soldier in shotgun looked at our radar and angrily slammed his fists onto the dashboard. "Fuck! We have to find it manually or turn back. At least we know the location of their base." He hissed and the car came to a hault. Our troop quickly came out of their vehicles and the captain set down a shield. Soldiers began quickly pulling out technology and weapons from the cars, and I aided in bringing technology over to the edge of the forcefield for use. Once everything was situated for usage, the captain divided off the troop by vehicles to safely use the equipment. He also shared the standard procedure and did a quick review, which I already knew. Now came the semi-hard part of finding their hiding lair. I, being assigned the supervisor of my group, instructed them in detail to use on-body shields and throw out the sensor disks around the designated searching area. Once the group got moving, I joined them in dispersing the sensors.

The other groups were moving along with preparing to sweep the base and communicating new information to our main base. It took around ten minutes of throwing disks around the perimeter and checking the connection to the main computer before we got a good visual of the underground base's layout. The captain reorganized the groups for our next phase, which was going into the base and locating the hostages. He handed out protective gear and reviewed the strategies most everyone knew, dusting off memories from back when I was being trained in the army. My adrenaline really got pumping once we opened up their hatch and stormed the underground facility. It was a full blown base with many soldiers and a lot of push-back, along with doors sealing shut and many other obstacles. At one point, I got pinned up against the wall and a knife began to dig in my neck, face-to-face with an angry Norwegian soldier.

"Dette blir ditt siste åndedrag, avskum." He grumbled deeply and yelped when the butt of a gun slammed into his head. The man stumbled off of me and yelled in pain when he was stabbed. I quickly ran off to join my group as they pushed through the hoards of soldiers. I listened in on the radio as shouting echoed through the halls. Apparently one of the mini-troops found where the hostages were being held, and they were closing in. The captain ordered other sections of the troop to fall back to that location, so we did in a semi-frantic way for our lives as the enemies pursued us. The soldiers closest threw back shock bombs and ran as fast as possible, leaving the crowd behind a seizing mess. Once we arrived at the group of soldiers pursuing the hostages, The captain pulled me aside out of the gunfire. "Sir they demand to see you personally, or they will shoot the hostages." He informed me and my heart froze. The situation was me, or all of them being killed immediately.

"Is there any way around it?" I asked hopefully, though I knew it was a useless question. "Not with the equipment we have sir, this is the only way." He told me and I sighed deeply. I already knew what I had to do, but I didn't know if I was prepared to do it. But life isn't about being prepared, so I went ahead and did the right thing. The enemies ceased fire along with my soldiers as I stepped between them. Two soldiers escorted me behind their group and lead me into the room where the hostages were kept. "Well well well Red Leader, it has been quite the trip to get you here. It's nice to know that you showed up." A deep voice purred maliciously, stepping out from behind two guards. I stared at the opposing creature, inhuman in stature. The dangerous beast slowly circled me with slitted eyes, staring down at me like prey. The demonic being rested behind me, slowly trailing his clawed hands along my shoulders towards my neck.

"Such a delicate little flower compared to before. Your father would be so disappointed, min delikate blomst." He purred and grabbed my neck tightly. "And all of your power is in a useless mutt of a beast, where I can harness it easily." He whispered sickly in my ear. I looked down at the tied up soldiers and Matt, seeing that Tom was not in the group. "Where is Thomas?" I asked with narrowed eyes and attempted to look at the creature behind me, wincing when he grasped my skull and forced me to stare down at the captives. "Oh, that little useless clump of fur? He's having his body weaponized as we speak. No use in taking self-destructive power if you can force the stupid beast to suffer instead." The demon growled into my ear and dug his nails into my neck. "So, now that you're here, I think I'll be keeping you and your little ginger friend for a long time~ and the soldiers? I'll devour them whole." He purred cockily and I choked as his grasp became deadly.

"Please- don't- don't kill them-." I begged and gasped for air, wincing as blood slid from my new cuts. "Haha- what's stopping me, lille jævelen?" He teased and released his grip on my neck, tossing me to the floor. "You're so pathetic, it's honestly ridiculous. You make all the wrong moves at all the wrong times, and you even gave up your immortality for a useless sack of shit. Absolutely pathetic." He growled and I grunted when his boot hit my spine. "And I'll enjoy seeing you suffer for your stupidity." He hissed and I struggled against the guards as they tied me up and threw me next to Matt. Matt was staring at me worriedly. "Are you okay?" He asked and I nodded, smiling reassuringly at the ginger Brit. Matt smiled in return and leaned over, resting his head on my shoulder. "I know it's weird, but I'm glad you're here even if it's not a good thing. It makes me not as stressed." He admitted and I rested my head on top of his. "Good." I simply responded and enjoyed how fluffy his orange hair was under my chin.

Yes I was concerned, scared, and under a lot of pressure, but Matt came first in this situation. He was not nearly as used to stressful situations as I was, so I needed to be the person he depended on for safety. Usually, I'm pretty sure that's Tom's job. He seems like the type to parent the two emotional babies he was stuck with. I closed my eyes and hummed quietly to the cyborg snuggled up to me. He seemed comforted by it, his breathing slowing and his body relaxing against mine. The wholesome moment didn't last long before we were forced to our feet and dragged to cells deep underground. As we neared our cells, I heard desperate animal cries that sounded too familiar. It was Thomas. He was crying out for help. I looked around for the source of the cry, only to see him in a very secure cell. He was chained up and in half-beast form, with needles being forced into his neck by an automated collar.

A soldier stood in front of him with a button which seemingly activated the collar, also holding a whip. "Obey me, useless pet. Just give up already damn it." The soldier hissed coldly and pressed the button again, which shoved the needles into his neck and injected some sort of liquid into his bloodstream. Tom cried out again and desperately attempted to break free in vain. After a few seconds, his expression shifted to a calmer one and his head hung low. I watched while being escorted into a cell, very worried as to what was going on. "Much better, now that the drugs are in your system. That should keep your dull brain complacent while I test you." The soldier muttered and picked up a kit off of the ground, approaching the drowsy beast. Tom barely acknowledged his presence with slow breathing and relaxed hands, not turning his head to look at him. He let out a weak whine as the soldier drew his blood for testing. I heard the soldier mumble to himself before lightly smacking Thomas.

"Stupid beast, you can't win this fight. Don't complain, you're our property now." He spat and Tom growled lowly at the man. The soldier punched his jaw before walking away with the kit nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. Tom growled loudly and glared at the man as he left, clearly pissed. I approached the bars nearest to him and called out to him. "Thomas! Thomas I'm here!" I yelled and Tom quickly turned his attention towards me, his expression softening. He aggressively fought against his chains to no avail, wincing when the needles in his neck tore his skin from the movement. "No no don't move- it's okay Thomas-." I tried to calm him and watched as he angrily fought harder against his restraints. "Tom- please stop-." I pleaded and heard him whine as the needles hurt him more. "It'll be okay Tom, just relax for now." I told him and watched as he gave up. He stared at me with desperate eyes and whimpered. "I know, I know. Just relax Thomas." I told him and looked over at Matt who was trying to fix his hair.

I chuckled at the sight and helped him to smooth out his messed up hair. After a while of hanging out with Matt and having surprisingly calm conversation for what seemed like hours, a soldier opened the door and locked it behind himself. "Time for some punishment, per my Leader's orders." He spoke with a sadistic grin, harshly gripping the whip in his hands. This must be the same guy who was with Tom. "Both of you." He added and I stood in front of Matt, crossing my arms. "You can hit me all you want, but you aren't hurting him." I growled and the soldier scoffed. "Fine then~ you get two people's lashings." He stated and I glanced back at Matt. He seemed very scared and backed away slowly. "Fine, get it over with." I said and glared at the man staring menacingly. "Hm, you really are as stupid as our leader said. Strip, scum." He ordered and I begrudgingly stripped off my clothing, staying in black briefs. "All of them, worthless trash." He demanded and I angrily muttered before taking off my last article of clothing.

A bit of graphic violence is up ahead!

Matt's probably covering his eyes anyways, and I wasn't embarrassed about my body. "Finally." He scoffed and narrowed his eyes. "Turn around." He ordered and I complied, staring at Matt who was indeed covering his eyes. I couldn't tell if it was out of fear for what was about to happen or the fact that my dick is out in the open. I winced when the whip swiftly marked my body, leaving a swelling mark. I braced myself as the whip struck me once more, hitting again and again as I clenched my jaws. "Haha, trying to be tough huh?" The soldier mocked and I hissed in pain as I was lashed again. After more minutes of painfully enduring lashings, I was on the floor with tears in my eyes. I let out a cry of pain as the soldier abusing me aggressively kicked me, forcing me onto my side. "Worthless piece of shit. So ridiculous that you can't even fight back." He spat and I glared at the male injuring me.

He swiftly kicked my stomach, which forced me to cry out and shakily hold my stomach. "Such a weak little pussy." He hissed and kicked my ribs. I weakly attempted to block myself, crying out loudly as I was abused more. "Such a stupid man, no wonder you were overthrown." The man hissed coldly and pulled me off of the ground, violently throwing me to the floor. My injured body reacted badly, and I curled in on myself in a desperate attempt to stop the pain. I was abused like this for countless minutes, until the beating suddenly ended. "Well, no broken bones, but it'll have to do." The abuser scoffed and left the cell. I slowly sat up and felt soft arms wrap around me, holding me and cradling me. "Thank you so much Tord.. I'm so sorry..." The sympathetic ginger whispered and held me tightly. I weakly wrapped my arms around the comforting male and closed my eyes, trying to resist the tears flowing down my cheeks. It hurt so much. Everything hurts. I rested my head on Matt's shoulder and sighed tiredly, feeling a sort of tired rest claw at my soul. Matt propped me up against the back wall and helped me to get dressed again before holding me close in his arms. I easily welcomed his warmth as he slowly rocked my tired body in his arms. It was soothing in my pained state, though it didn't help with my bruised and swollen body. It would have to do as I faded from consciousness.