A/n: see look jailbreak so soon time for recovery and fluff!!!! (Im lying get ready for trauma, nightmares and angst)

Eugene heard muffled screams as soon as he crept into the dungeons. He followed the sound, a cold chill running down his spine as he walked past all the prisoners that were staring down the dark stairs that lead to the screaming.

"I guess the guards forgot to close the doors behind them today" Eugene heard one of the prisoners whisper to another, "the screams aren't usually so clear. I wonder who's down there, being treated so poorly."

Eugene tried to ignore them. He continued walking and his heart dropped as he strolled past the prisoner and made his way down the rusted stairs. He gulped. The sunlight from the prison's windows disappeared as he ventured further down to where the screams were coming from. They were raw wails of pure agony echoing off the walls, followed by dry coughs and sickening cracks from whips.

He finally got to the lowest level, hoping and praying that this wasn't Varian and that wasn't where the boy had been kept. Peering over to the darkest cell in there, he found that nobody else was on that level, aside from two large figures in the cell, towering over a small boy. Eugene felt sick to his stomach. That was Varian, alright.

He snuck closer to the cell, where a small, bright lantern illuminated the guards faces. He looked a little closer into the cell, squinting. He saw Varian a little clearer now. He was bare of any clothing, his body engulfed by the light orange glow. He was curled up and shaking while the guards lashed his back with a leather whip.

The barely even conscious boy was in the farthest, coldest cell of them all. Eugene retreated slowly, covering his mouth. The screams were heart wrenching, and he couldn't believe what was going on. He didn't recognize the guards, so he figured that they must have been recruited semi-recently.

"Stop fucking crying!" One of them shouted, "you should know by now, screaming gets you no where! Shut up and take it!" He grabbed Varian harshly by his raw, bruised wrist and slammed him onto the floor, cuffing some wall attached chains to his arms behind his back so he couldn't move. Eugene made a mental note of what he looked like. Broad shoulders and muscular. Tall. Curly, brown hair, with a face of handsome features. Eugene wondered how someone so horrible could have such a good nose.

"Jefferey" the other guard said. Eugene cut his eyes over to him. The other guard had deep red hair. He was muscular as well, and a little shorter than the other. He was still taller than Eugene, though, "let's hurry this up...Stan and Pete think we're just giving him some lunch."

Jefferey scoffed, "Frank...those two are idiots. And the king said to treat him however we please" he turned to Varian, sickeningly sweet, "hey kid, hungry?" Eugene didn't even want to watch what was happening. He was horrified. But at least now, he had two names. Jefferey and Frank. He made a mental note, not to forget their names.

Varian's glistening eyes looked up, wide. He tilted his head, a questioning look in his eyes, as if asking if it was a trick.

The guard barked out a laugh and held the scraps further away from the boy, "at this point, you actually thought we were going to feed you? And something not rotten, at that? You should know the drill by now, kid. Scum like you don't deserve food!"

Varian's eyes hardened, and he nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest, hanging his head.

The guard, Frank, scoffed, stomping the food under his boot. He grabbed Varian's chin roughly, forcing him to look up at him and smirked, "you certainly are good at thinking, aren't you, pretty boy?" He asked, brushing sweaty bangs from his forehead.

Eugene's stomach curled in disgust. He hated the way that nickname rolled off of the guard's tongue. And it didn't help matters that Varian was legitimately naked.

The guard squeezed the boys pale, thin face in his hand and growled, "were you listening, by the way? Through all that thinking?" He squeezed harder, his other free hand running down Varian's back until it got a little too low for comfort, "Repeat what I said. Say it, boy. Say it."

Varian coughed weakly, his voice a croaky whisper, obviously sore from all the screaming, and in dire need of water. Perhaps screaming was all the boy was allowed to use his voice for, aside from moments like these. He licked his dry, cracked lips and repeated the words with a far off look in his eyes as if it was something he'd heard time and time again, "Scum like me don't deserve food."

Eugene's mouth was gaped open. And just like that? Varian didn't even argue? Just nodded along and took it? Had he been treated like this the whole time?  Being starved and beaten, and dehydrated, and—and—naked? Why was he naked?! Oh, it It took all of his willpower to not run over there and strangle those guards. But he had to keep his composure, or he'd never get Varian out of there. And he was going to get him out of there.

Jefferey cut in, "this pain will mean nothing once the execution day comes! The king still hasn't decided how he wants to kill you!"

Frank loosened his grip on Varian's chin, harshly pushing him to the ground by it. The boy fell to his knees and whimpered, and Frank just scoffed, "Please, Jefferey, there's been no official confirmation for an execution. Though i'm sure the King has been considering."

Eugene's mouth fell in complete and utter shock. He backed away, placing his hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp. The king was considering execution? For a child? Oh, these guards better just be bluffing. Quietly, he exited the hallway and ran back up the stairs. He needed to speak with Rapunzel. Now.

He turned around to leave, completely missing when Frank traced a gentle finger along Varian's jawline, not hearing how he purred, "you're lucky I don't take you now...slam into you, raw. Make you scream with pleasure~"

It was a good thing Eugene left. He wouldn't have been able to take it if he saw when Varian had those disgusting touches placed over his body. Or when he vomited and passed out. Or when he woke up, dazed, and the guards forced his head into his pile of vomit and made him to eat it. No, Eugene was long gone by the time the guards left, turning their lanterns off and leaving Varian in complete darkness. There were quiet sniffles, followed by violent wrenching, another splash of vomit, a thump and then silence.

—————————————————————————

Eugene ran through the castle's hallways like a complete madman, calling his girlfriend's name. What he had seen in those dungeons was absolutely horrifying, and they needed to regroup immediately. Any doubt Eugene had in the kid had completely vanished after what he'd seen. The kid clearly wasn't a threat anymore, and if they didn't get him out of those dungeons, he probably wouldn't survive.

The guards were very obviously torturing the boy. Eugene gritted his teeth as he thought back to what they'd said. How harshly they'd speak to him, how they'd touch him.

It left a growing feeling of worry, gnawing in his gut. It was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The guards were obviously lowlife scum that had stooped to the lowest of levels. There was absolutely nothing the kid could have done that could possibly convince Eugene, or any sane person for that matter, that Varian deserved what was happening to him.

The guards spoke of execution, which seemed like an obvious fear tactic. Something they said to make him obey their every word. But knowing the king, Eugene at least needed to inform Rapunzel about the rumored execution, and try to get him out, death or not.

Eugene called Rapunzel's name again and finally, he received a response, "Eugene!" She shouted, sprinting over as if her life depended on it. Eugene ran up to her as well, and they met halfway.

He stopped and began to pant, "man blondie, you are really hard to find! Never mind that—we need to talk, about you know who! I snuck around to see what was going on, and it was horrible, by the way! But they talked about the king ordering an execution? I—"

"I know" Rapunzel sighed, "about the whole excecution thing. I just spent thirty minutes in the throne room with him explaining that he couldn't just hang a child. A child who was misguided and scared."

"Did the queen know?" Eugene questioned seriously.

"Yes! She's the reason he didn't do it! Apparently, rumors were floating around about execution because he mentioned it in a meeting and someone went off and blabbed about it!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "what was he thinking?! He told me he was never going to do it, and it didn't take much convincing to make him realize how bad it was, but still! Even considering—" her voice broke, "That would make him just as bad as any criminal, to kill a child like that!"

"Yeah, the kid doesn't deserve that" Eugene muttered, "he...I—the last time we saw him, he was bad, I will admit. Something had to be done, obviously, but the kid didn't need such harsh treatment. He needed help."

"Eugene..." Rapunzel began, "what did you see in the dungeons?"

Eugene bit his lip, "Blondie, we can't talk about it here. We need to regroup somewhere safe. I'm going to go get Lance. You find Cass, and she can tell us about what she found out about her father. Just know, I saw something horrible in those dungeons. Long story short, we need to get him out."

  Rapunzel nodded curtly, "of course. Let's meet in my room."

—————————————————————————

Before any words about Varian were spoken, Eugene had to make sure they could trust Lance. That he understood this wasn't just some stupid secret that could be blabbed off. That this was serious. Lance agreed to not tell a soul, and they made there way to Rapunzel's room, where Rapunzel and Cassandra were already talking about what they had gathered. Eugene closed the door and they all sat down, "Guys. We need to get Varian out of the dungeons" he stressed, standing back up to pace the moment he sat down, "we needed him out like, last year. Seriously. It's bad."

"How bad?" Cassandra demanded, "my father showed me his file! Everything is fine according to him! The guards are friendly, he's well behaved, he's fed, he gets water, everything is good!" She was clearly trying to convince herself.

"No!" Eugene exclaimed, "no, no no! They're trying to cover it up! What's happening to that boy, I—" he took in a shaky breath.

"How bad?" Cassandra demanded again.

"It's..really bad.." Eugene repeated, "he..the guards are keeping him on the lowest level, freezing in the dark. As you know. But. But, they're starving him. He's so small, and frail, and his voice, his screams, he sounds like he hasn't been given water frequently in a year, and they keep him...naked."

"Oh my..." Rapunzel gasped.

"And it's really creepy! Like, i'm grossed out!" He cried, "i'm sure it's all just normal guard teasing, but they were calling him pretty boy. I'd write it off as mocking any other day, but—but Varian is being kept naked down there."

"We need to tell my dad" Cassandra said, her gaze hardened, "this isn't okay."

"That isn't all. Guys, they're beating him. Keeping him chained, and screaming at him, forcing him to repeat horrible things! And I think they've been doing it the whole time. You can hear echos of the screams from the first floor of the dungeons. He's sitting in puke and grime and god knows what, and he's covered in bruises and cuts. He's severely ill. I don't think they even
bathe him."

"Wait wait wait!" Lance began, furrowing his eyebrows, "So let me get this straight. You watched this naked, malnourished child get beat and then you just left him there?" Lance asked, furrowing his brows. Originally, when Lance had been told that they were trying to break Varian out of prison, he was against the idea. Who could blame him? What he did was horrible. But after hearing about the abuses he went through in that prison, he was all for the idea of getting him out.

"Hey, Lance that isn't fair, I couldn't get him out!" Eugene said seriously, "I would have been caught! You know that I would have got him out if I could!"

Cassandra let out a shaky breath, "oh boy...that's bad. Very very bad. I need to let my father know, immediately."

"An—and..he's so small" Eugene's voice wavered, "he looks like he's barely eaten anything in a year. Which might be true."

Rapunzel's gaze turned to stone, "right. Cassandra?" She asked deathly quietly, "was there anything, anything at all about this on his file?"

"No. And to make matters worse, my dad hasn't checked up on him. He was switched. Though, even if he was switched, as captain of the guard, he still should have checked like—at least a few times every momth. It's part of the job" Cassandra sighed, "both he and the King haven't been checking up on him properly. And the file and all of his reports are complete fakes. This is illegal in so many ways, so, what do we do?"

"My dad..he said that he won't execute him. I explained a lot of stuff to him, and he agreed that he was acting and thinking rashly. I reminded him on how horrible it felt when he lost me, what he did to find me and keep me safe...he tore apart families to try and find me, sent guards to imprison anyone who he thought was connected, and he seems to understand better now..I think..." she sighed, "but i'm not waiting. We are seeing Varian right this insta—"

"Your father banned you, remember?" Cassandra cut in, "besides. It's best not to overwhelm him. Eugene and Lance can go. Figure out a good time and break him out. We'll set up a guest room for him in the west corridor, farthest away from the king's room. We'll get the bed set up" Cassandra said, wasting no time, "i'll get medicine and bandages."

Rapunzel nodded, "yeah. Yeah, let's start on that. Oh, dad's going to be in so much trouble" she muttered as she picked up her handbook on Coronan law, "i'm pretty sure it's universal across the seven kingdoms that you don't put kids in prison."

"But this is treason and kidnapping we're talking about..among many other things" Cassandra pointed out, "it's not like the kid did something simple like stealing something or getting into a fight. This is serious business. You can't just give him a slap on the wrist and let him go. He wouldn't learn anything."

"Cassandra's right" Lance said, "though while his sentence may be agreeable among law enforcers, his treatment isn't justified. If what Eugene is saying is true..we may need to kidnap him."

Rapunzel shrugged, "technically, kidnapping him from the dungeons wouldn't be against the law since what's happening to him is also against the law! It says right here that harsh, cruel and unusual punishment for children aren't to be used! That along with the starvation and these guards could get put in jail! We're basically protecting him..and if we kidnap him we can just call it even!"

"I—I don't think that's how that works, princess" Lance said, "but you're right. Varian shouldn't be treated this way. He was what? Fourteen when the crimes were committed? That's really young. And if he gets help now, later down the line he'll have a lot of improvement."

"Yeah. Let's go get him" Eugene nodded to Lance, "wait wait—no. Let's get a plan going. We can't just waltz in at any time."

Rapunzel nodded, "well since me and Cass don't have much..experience with breaking out of prison, I guess we'll leave the experts to it. And if Eugene is right and Varian really isn't safe there, we have to keep this totally under wraps. Nobody can know. Except maybe Cassandra's dad...for obvious reasons. We don't want him thinking he escaped and cause a panic."

Cassandra nodded, "we'll go find a good, very big room with lots of space that's away from everything. We'll tell you which one it is before you go."

Eugene nodded as the girls left, before turning to Lance. Time to do what they did best. Thieving.
Except, they were stealing a human so technically this was kidnapping. But they didn't think about it that way. They were saving the boy, after all.

"Rapunzel, you need to prepare yourself" Cassandra told her, "I don't think Eugene is just being dramatic this time. You haven't seen anything like this before in your life, so it's going to be a shock when they bring him in here. Do you think that you'll be able to handle it?" She questioned.

Rapunzel nodded seriously, "Varian needs us. I've failed him once, I won't do it again. Help now, break down later. That's my new motto."

Cassandra nodded, "Okay, good. Let's get going."

—————————————————————————

The two men waited until it was deep into the night. After a bunch of eavesdropping, they found that the guards weren't as strict in protocol with Varian because he couldn't possibly escape. They just went down whenever they were bored and wanted to cause some pain. So obviously, during the wee hours of the night, the guards were slacking. Eugene and Lance took their perfect window of opportunity and made their way to Varian's cell.

They went down to the dungeon, each having a bright lantern in their hands to illuminate the dark cells. Nobody was there. It was the perfect opportunity.

They crept down the stairs and to the end of the hall where Varian was, and set down the light. The boy was turned away from them, shaking like a leaf. Lance cleared his throat before setting down the lantern and looking at the boy in horror. The kid really didn't have any clothes on.

He looked...horrible. His stomach was vacuumed in, his ribs were visible and his collar bone was poking out against his skin. He had faded cuts and burns all over him, and he was sitting in a pile of dust, dirt, puke and grime. He was shaking from how cold he was, and he was covered in bruises and what Eugene just knew was blood.

There was so much of it.

He was also unconscious, his skin a light, pale shade amongst dark purple bruises. His lip was busted and his jaw was bruised. He had snot dripping from his nose and blood coming out from the corners of his mouth. And his back. The harsh whip marks against his skin, it was...devastating.

Eugene was too shocked to even think about how atrocious his hair looked. It was overgrown, tangled and unkempt. It obviously hadn't been brushed, cut or managed since he got there. His bangs covered his face, long and thick, and most of it had gained quite a few inches. He heard Lance breathe in sharply and squeak. Nothing was said, but the feeling of horror was evident in the air. It was absolutely freezing down there, and Eugene imagined that the rough stone floors were even colder.

"Lance" Eugene said seriously, "give me one of those bobby pins you always keep even though you don't have any hair."

Lance didn't even quip back, too shocked to say anything. He simply gave him the bobby pin and allowed him to pick the lock. His eyes never left the boy in front of him. It took a while, the lock was a little more complicated than regular ones, but once the cell was opened, he stepped inside and worked on the cuffs.

"Hey kid" Eugene said, "are you awake?"

Varian moaned in pain, body jerking away, "please don't hurt me again" he rasped, "I promise not to get s-sick" he whimpered. His eyes never opened, and his body shivered.

"Kid, it's not them. We are safe. We won't hurt you" Eugene said.

Varian cracked his eyes open, squinting, "who are...who are you?" He questioned.

And before either could even respond, the boy fell limp in Eugene's arms.

"L-Lance" Eugene began, looking up in fear, "you pick him up and i'll lead us out" Eugene said when they popped off. He cringed in sympathy when he saw the kid's thin, bruised wrists.

He faltered for a moment when he saw that the boy had dark hand imprints on his shoulder blades, chest and upper thighs. He paled in disgust, hoping that wasn't from what he thought it was.

—————————————————————————

When Rapunzel opened the door after hearing frantic knocking and saw the boy, a shivering pile of bones covered in blood and bruises with a thin cloth wrapped around his waist, she immediately ushered them in, refraining from screaming until she closed and locked the door.

"Oh...oh my word..." Cassandra breathed, gasping lightly. It was a very good thing that she'd decided to stock the room with first aid kits and medical supplies.

"This is worse than we ever could have imagined" Rapunzel said, her voice a breathless whisper as tears welled in her eyes. How was he even alive? Was he alive? "He really is naked!" Rapunzel cried, covering her eyes.

"Rapunzel, keeping him alive is more important than modesty, open your eyes and help" Cassandra snapped, the stress of the situation getting to her, because Varian really looked like that and they really just broke out a prisoner, holy shit— "why the hell is he even naked?!"

"I—I don't know!" Eugene exclaimed, "oh. Oh sun, we were running through the castle with a completely naked child prisoner in our arms, oh my—sun forbid anyone saw us!"

Cassandra nodded, breathing slowly and simply instructing Lance to set him down on his back so she could begin tending to his injuries as Rapunzel questioned the men thoroughly.
Cassandra wiped off the blood from his back, assessing the damage. There were deep marks in his skin, from what she could only assume was a whip, "these...are so going to be infected" she muttered at the pussing, festering cuts, burns and boils that littered his skin, "he's freezing" she muttered, "Eugene, grab that robe hanging from the drawer."

Cassandra was by no means a medical expert. Her knowledge was limited, but she had enough to keep him alive, at least. She thought for a moment that they'd need to get a professional sooner or later—one that would keep this secret for them. But she would have to work all of that out later, because Rapunzel was literally throwing up and Cassandra didn't think she was far away from doing the same.

Sure, Cassandra had seen and tended to nasty injuries. But none to this extent, and none on a kid. A teenager. It was brutal, what happened to him. Just seeing his body alone was grounds to make anyone nauseous. His stomach looked like it was vacuumed in all the way to his back. His collarbones were so prominent that they looked sharp. He was so skinny, it was a wonder that he was alive at all.

Eugene quickly obeyed Cassandra without protest, bringing the robe over and setting it to the side while she wrapped bandages around his newly cleaned wounds and even wrapped some gauze around his chest, closing her eyes to will away the tears. The bruising there was horrible, and until they could find a trusted doctor, she wasn't taking any chances of letting a possibly broken rib get worse. There was a huge gash across his chest that was steadily leaking blood, and once she sopped all of it up she began to stitch it shut.

  When all was finished, it felt like hours had passed. Rapunzel had recovered from her spell of sickness and had been wrapping, bandaging and disinfecting cuts right alongside Cassandra. They both took a good look at the boy—the bandages already had blood leaking through. He was in dire need of a bath..and a haircut, but that was the very least of their worries. The older cuts and bruises littering his skin were heart wrenching to look at.

"Why—why does he have all of those handprints?" Rapunzel whispered, staring at the boy, "and that one—that one on his thigh is just a blob. Were they...were they squeezing him there?"

Cassandra's face paled as she wrapped the large, fluffy robe around the boy, "I certainly hope not" she muttered watching as he snuggled deep into it. She draped a thick blanket over him for good measure. "He must not have had a shower or anything in a long time. His hair is shinier than the freshly polished guard armor. And its so dirty. So was the rest of him. They've really been neglecting the poor kid" Cassandra sighed.

"How could this have happened?" Rapunzel whispered, "I—I need time to process, I..." she was too shocked to freak out right now, but she could feel her heart pumping, and knew once the adrenaline faded, she would be collapsed onto the floor, sobbing her heart out. Lance was sure to be in no better condition.

Cassandra bit her lip, "Raps, I have to tell my dad. I won't tell him where we have him, but he needs to know that Varian hasn't just escaped. There's no need to start any sort of panic. I'll tell him that we have him safe and under control, and i'll convince him to keep this from the king while we figure things out" she said, "this may take a while. If the bandages bleed through, clean and change them. Otherwise, just so you guys know, do it every three hours to prevent further infection. But I will be back by then, surely" she explained, "I'm just as stubborn as my dad."

"Okay" Lance finally spoke. He had never felt so upset in his entire life, just staring at the sleeping boy, "you can count on us."

"I doubt that" Cassandra sighed, "see you later. Wait, actually—Eugene? Did we get any sort of names of the guards who did this? Did you get a good look at them?"

Eugene nodded. He had barely spoken a word the entire time, just standing off to the side with trembling hands. He couldn't believe any of this was real, "yeah. Yeah—Jefferey and Fran are the names of the guards who have been doing this. Jefferey has brown hair, Frank has red hair. Really tall and muscular, you can't miss them."

Cassandra nodded, "okay. While i'm gone, Somebody at least wash him with a cloth, okay? And try to replace the sheets. They're already disgusting."

They heard what she said, but didn't make a move. They watched the boy, unconscious, bruised and battered. They stayed silent, content to watch him in horror. The only good thing about this was that he was breathing. And at that point, Rapunzel was sure death would have been better than the abuse the boy must have faced in prison, as horrible as the thought may be.

—————————————————————————-

The Captain of the Guard was making his rounds of the hallways as per usual when he heard frantic yelling and a series of crashes, followed by two guards, Jeffery and Frank if he remembered them correctly, running up to him.

"Captain!" Jeffery shouted, "the prisoner, Varian, has escaped!"

The Captain's eyes went wide, and he pushed past the men, grabbing a lantern. He ran down to see things for himself. But once he got down there, he stopped in his tracks. He'd barely crossed the threshold of the doorway to the hall, when he noticed it. There was a smell. Something horrible, something rotten, something nasty. He shivered. Had it always felt like an ice box down there? It was freezing.

He ventured further towards Varian's cell, and the smell got worse. When he finally got there, he found the cell door wide open. He covered his mouth as he walked in.

There was puke in various corners of the room. He noticed blood—some of it old, dry and crusted. Some of it new. Red, wet and splattered across the walls and floors. There were piles of—of something festering all over the floor. Probably feces and urine if he had to guess.

"Did you ever clean this cell? Did you—what, what happened here?!" The Captain barked. There were signs of serious neglect. Serious abuse.

"We were just roughing him up, sir!" Frank exclaimed weakly.

"Roughing him up?! No wonder he wanted to escape! If I had to guess, he didn't escape for evil intentions, he escaped because of these horrible living conditions!" He glanced outside the cell, and saw a whip covered in blood, "were you guys beating him?" That much had been obvious by the blood, but seeing the whip confirmed his suspicions.

"He kept on sneezing" Jeffery argued, "we told him to stop, and that counts as disobedience—"

"IT'S TWELVE DEGREES DOWN HERE, OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO GET SICK!" The captain barked, "I have a good mind to fire you! To put you in a cell and forget about you! This is no way to treat our prisoners! Especially if they happen to be children! This is child abuse!"

"Dad!" He heard coming from the top of the stairs, "Dad! Are you down there?" A voice called.

"Cassandra! I'm right down here!" He called, "though I'm a little busy at the moment—"

"Dad, I have something to tell you about Varian, but we need to talk in private" she said seriously, running up to him. It was then that she noticed the guards, looking at them in pure disgust, "are those his guards? Varian's?"

Her father gave her a small nod, and she was quick to disarm them and take their keys, forcing them into a cell and locking them in. Her voice broke, "You're lucky I don't kill you right now." She gagged at the smell, and looked into the cell. She turned away from it with tears in her eyes. That cell looked horrible. She took her father's arm, "leave them and come with me. We need to talk."

"What is it, Cassandra?" Her father questioned as he was lead away, not commenting on Cassandra's sudden burst of violence, "what's going on?"

She sighed, "As you probably know now.." she gestured to the cell, "the guards haven't been treating Varian kindly. The files were fake. It goes so much farther than harsh words. Dad, they haven't been feeding him. They haven't been giving him water. At least not regularly" tears glistened in her eyes, "his stomach is to his back and—and he was covered in blood, and—bruises. Horrible marks and cuts. I had to give him so many stitches, and now he's just so sick and cold, and he hasn't woken up."

Her father had tears in his eyes as she told him, and she continued rambling, her voice breaking as she did so, "what i'm trying to say is, how he was being treated is unacceptable. They've been hurting him, dad. And so, the princess and I got Eugene and Lance to break him out. They kept him naked down here, dad, and I don't know if it was for perverted reasons, or to make him suffer in the cold, but the guards cannot get away with this!"

Her father opened his mouth but she interrupted, "don't worry. He's safe, with no alchemy or dangerous weapons, in a nice, warm, place. I've already tended to his many injuries, and we're going to start to slowly work some food into him. If he ever wakes up."

"Cassandra..." his father was completely conflicted. It wasn't often she saw her daughter so emotional, and it especially wasn't so often she saw her daughter breaking out their prisoners. He knew it must've been for a good reason, and his daughter was no liar, "I know that boy no longer means harm, but the king—"

"Is going to have to deal with it" she snapped, "everybody involved has made mistakes. You, for not checking up on your supposedly most dangerous prisoner, the guards for thinking that this was possibly okay, the king for promising to take care of him—get him the help he needs, only to let him rot away in a cell, and then ban the only person who cared about him, the queen, from seeing him—i'd say that the poor boy has had enough consequence! And he is not going back to the dungeons!" She cried.

"You..you're right" he sighed, "That boy has been through so, so much...and as captain of the guard, I declare that his prison sentence is over. You're a good friend, Cassandra. Make sure he gets better" he smiled, "and you're right. I should've checked up on him more. But I was commanded not to, you must understand."

Cassandra nodded, "I believe you have some work to do...go deal with the guards who did this to him. I need to go make sure Eugene and Lance don't accidentally kill Varian trying to help. Bye."

The captain nodded, "Can I see him?"

Cassandra bit her lip, "I don't think that's such a good idea..at least not now. I told Rapunzel we'd keep him hidden."

He sighed, "okay, Cassandra, but just in case, please don't give him any alchemy."

"Wow, a please? For little old me? Oh, alright" she smirked, "Besides, he couldn't move his arms to even use alchemy if he tried. I promise i'm not exaggerating, dad. He won't even be able to walk, trust me."

She left him there and he went back to the guards to question and lock them up. Beat. Freezing. Starved. Naked. How could he have allowed this to happen?

—————————————————————————

It actually wasn't until late into the next day when the boy finally blinked himself lazily awake.

They'd barely left his side the entire time. All of them just stayed in the room for most of the day. Of course, they had to leave to keep up appearances, and to check in with the captain to ask questions, but aside from normal everyday duties, all their time was spent with Varian. And one person at least was always with him.

Cassandra found him a hospital gown for quick and easy wound dressing. She'd been tending to his wounds every few hours, as the bandages soaked through frequently. She had Eugene and Lance bring a tub over to wash all the grime and excess blood off of him. She had a feeling that if she did it the boy would never look at her again.

They all held their breath as he shivered a bit and blinked his eyes open. They formulated a plan—make him feel welcomed, don't overwhelm him with questions at first. Just make him feel safe, let him know they aren't the enemy.

Panic set in after he awoke, of course. Noticing the worry in his eyes, Rapunzel stepped in immediately, "hey, Varian..it's okay, buddy, calm down."

"What—" his voice was a low, raspy whisper. He hacked up a few coughs before widening his eyes and covering his mouth with a flinch, before laying his head on the pillow, his eyes screwed shut. He opened them slowly in confusion, squinting from how bright it was. Were they...not going to hit him? "W-who are you?" His eyes were barely even opened, glazed over with tears. He placed a hand over his face, "it-it's so bright..why is it so bright? I w-was just in the dark place..."

They adults exchanged varying looks of concern, and Cassandra went to dim the lights so they could still somewhat see, and close the curtains completely. Varian immediately relaxed.

"Varian..it's me" she inched closer, her voice going lower, "it's Rapunzel. And Lance, and Eugene, and Cassandra."

Varian cracked his eyes open further, sitting up quickly, before wincing at his ribs, and immediately falling back down, before staring at the princess, "Rap—Rapunzel...?"

"Yes" she said, inching closer until she was slowly sitting on the edge of the bed, "do you remember me?"

  He nodded, his mumbled words slurring together, "you'reall I think 'bout..."

Rapunzel frowned, "are you angry?"

"N-no! Nonononono! I'm sorry" Varian said, tears running down his face before they even got the chance to collect in his eyes. Snot began to run down his face as well, and he kept opening and closing his mouth in frustration. His voice just wouldn't work.

"Varian" Rapunzel said gently, "it's okay now, really. I am so sorry for what you went through in the dungeons. If I had known this would have happened, I never would have left you here.." she whispered, "I would have taken you with me...or—or something. Anything else."

Varian tried to process what was being said, but everything was so loud. He shivered, curling into the bed, and just nodded at her, "It-it's okay, 'Punzel" he mumbled, "i'm not angry..not anymore..."

Obviously, a lot more needed to be said. A lot more needed to be done. But it was a start.

"Do you remember anything? From...from the dark place" Rapunzel said, her heart clenching. Varian's mind clearly wasn't in the right place. She needed to use simpler language.

Varian blinked. His memories were a little fuzzy at the moment, but he could faintly remember screaming until his throat was raw and no more sound would come out. Crying until he had no more tears left. Sitting there silently as the whips cracked down his back. His ears stuffed with cotton as the guards screamed down at him.

Varian shook his head yes, but didn't elaborate. Cassandra mumbled something to Rapunzel that Varian didn't hear, probably that he was delirious, but the princess nodded. Varian figured that she was told not to question him right now.

"Hey, kid" Cassandra said after rummaging around on the bedside table, a glass of water in her hand, "you need to drink this. It's been a long time since you've had water if I had to guess" she frowned. His voice was quiet and his throat was raw. Scratchy and croaky.

She sat him up a little and brought the glass to his lips when his arms wouldn't cooperate. He took a few sips from the water before he whimpered a little and his face went still. He grabbed his stomach and puffed his cheeks and Eugene had never ran to grab a puke bucket so fast in his life.

The boy heaved up stomach acid and the little bit of water he had, and then he promptly passed out.

Looking at the frail, sick boy in front of her who had been hurt more than she could even imagine, she wondered how her father could still see any evil in him.

Oh, right. Because he hadn't seen him.

"Rapunzel...how about we go make some broth for him or something?" Cassandra whispered, "I don't.." she swallowed thickly, "don't think he'll be able to handle solids...not for a while. Broth is going to be his best friend for a long time..."

Rapunzel nodded, "yeah...yeah, alright. Eugene, Lance, are you-"

"We got him" Lance murmured, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Varian's bed. Eugene had never seen Lance so quiet, moving so carefully and gingerly.

She nodded, "Eugene, lock the doors when we leave. Nobody can know about this."

Eugene nodded, "bring him some more water back" he murmured.

"Okay" she replied gently, staring at Varian, "let's go Cass.."

"If he wakes up don't make your stupid quips, fitzherbert. He's delusional, sick, and sensitive right now. If you make him cry i'll beat you up."

"Awe, looks like someone cares~"

Cassandra gave him a dry look, clearly not in a joking mood, "of course I care" she hissed, "look at him!"

"I'm sorry, i'm sorry!" He defended, throwing his hands up, "humor is how I cope!"

"Well cope in a different way for now, because I can not deal with this" Cassandra hissed, "Lance. Keep Eugene in line, you're in charge while me and Rapunzel are gone."

Lance grinned brightly as Eugene's mouth fell open in shock, "what?!"

"You heard me. Oh, i'm going to regret this" she groaned, running a tired hand down her face, "goodbye."

"You hear that, Eugene?!" Lance smirked, "I am in charge!"

"Oh, please, you?! In charge?! I'm on my way to being captain of the guard! Heck, i'm going to be king one day!" Eugene argued, "you can barely even handle being in charge of angry and red, it feels more like they're the parents and you're the child!"

"Aht aht aht, Eugene, is that any way to talk to someone who's in charge?" Lance teased.

"Oh I am so over you! Why am I even your friend? I am far too good for you, honestly. Cassandra was wrong to put you in charge, so very, very wrong" Eugene pouted.

"Now, now! No need to get jealous of me!"

"JEALOUS?!" Eugene seethed, "jealous?!"

A/n: yippee new chapter this one was long asf almost 7k words oops