For the past two days I've been in nothing but boxers and a t-shirt

I'm a mess

Trigger Warning: Kidnapping, blood, death,

AU
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Patton could taste the metallic blood pooling around in his mouth, drooling down from the corner, creating a puddle where his head laid. Unable to move, he had stayed still on the cold, concrete ground for what feels like forever, his wrists bound tightly together behind his back, badly irritating the skin.

With no glasses, he could barely see anything around him, adding to that it was almost pitch black, the only light coming from the barred window above, and the orange glow seeping through from under the metal, presumably locked door, opposite him. With every small movement he made, pain would shoot up through the shoulder he was laying on, as if he was being shot every time.

Closing his eyes, be gulped in deep breaths of air, wanting nothing but Roman to come and save him. But, from what he can (barely) remember from before he was in this room, was Roman being knocked out, just before Patton was. The usually bubbly, happy boy knew Roman was either in the same situation or...worse, which made him sick to the stomach.

Fearing he might pass out from pain, he forced himself up into a sitting position, whimpering and hissing in pain as he rolled his shoulder, trying to reduce the pain from laying on it in an odd angle for so long. With his legs luckily not tied up, he used the wall behind him to help him stand up, body swaying from lack of food and water, he slowly dragged his feet to the door, bending down and almost falling over to peer through the small keyhole, unfortunately seeing nothing but another metal door opposite, dark wooden walls either side.

Slowly sitting down, he moved his arms from behind him, under his legs and to his chest. Even if they were still tied, now he could feel around the walls for anything. Weakly rising from the unforgiving ground, he first looked for a light switch, but after searching around the entire quite spacious dark room, he found nothing. Feeling defeated, he slumped down into the corner, holding his legs to his chest, wondering if his friends were currently wondering where he and Roman were. He couldn't tell how long he was there, but when he was knocked out, it was early in the morning, now from looking outside, the moon was high in the sky.

Straining his hearing, he could hear the noise of heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway. Shuffling further backwards until he physically couldn't, keys jangled and clanged against the metal, opening the door wide for him to see a tall, bulky man throw in another man, glaring at the two before shutting the door hard, locking it again and walking away.

Paralysed in fear, Patton couldn't see who the man was, only realising it was Roman after he adjusted to the darkness once more, and noticed the ripped, bloody red sash across his chest.

Gasping, Patton shuffled over on his bruised legs, holding his hands under his head to rest it on his legs, gently stroking his cheek as he brought in shallow breaths of air, eyes closed, blood staining him entirely.

"R-Roman?" Patton whispered, voice cracking. The older man didn't respond, leaving Patton helpless as he watched his boyfriend lay unconscious in his lap. Laying him down gently, Patton yanked and squirmed at the rope around his hands, whimpering and yelling out in anger when he couldn't get it undone.

Using his teeth, he tried and tried, but in the end his still tied up hands fell against his crossed legs, head tilted downwards in defeat.

Slowly shuffling back to Roman, he dragged him as best as he could to the corner, hugging the man close to his body protectively, kissing his forehead every so often, whispering soothing things into his ear even if he couldn't hear him.

"We'll be okay..." Patton drifted, slowly falling asleep, cuddled up to Roman.

The next time Patton woke up, he wasn't next to Roman like when he fell asleep, he also wasn't in the same room.

Blinking, his narrowed, stinging eyes edged around the room, the only light being a single bulb hanging above his head. Looking down, he noticed he was tied to a wooden chair. He glared at the door opposite, if only the kidnappers realised their mistake, Patton wasn't as dull as they thought.

Slowly standing up, he jumped in the air, forcing his body backwards so the chair would impact the floor, hard. It only being a weak chair, broke under his weight, leaving him in pain but free. Slowly standing, he looked around the two metal tables, picking up a knife and hiding it behind his back, cautiously nearing the metal door.

He tried it, but huffed in the realisation it was locked.

Keeping the knife clasped tightly in his grip, he silently crept along the room, flicking on a light switch attached to the wall, but instantly regretting it after seeing what it lit up.

Before him were two long rows of body bags. Filled body bags.

Backing away, he covered his mouth, the stench suddenly hitting him, filling up his nose enough to make him turn and vomit across the floor, tears springing at his eyes.

As he gripped the wall to steady himself, the door swung open with a loud clash as it rattled against the wall. Patton screamed for them to stay back, holding the knife outstretched to them, body shaking.

"Patton, it's me, Roman!" He quickly calmed the shaking man, bringing him into his arms, stroking his hair. "I'm here, you're okay" he whispered, Patton crying onto his shoulder.

Roman slowly pulled away, kissing him softly. "Quickly, we need to go" gripping his hand tightly, Roman rushed towards the door with Patton close behind, peering down both hallways.

"Stay with me, I'll protect you" Roman told him firmly, waiting until Patton nodded before taking a dash down the right, both men running down the halls as quickly as their starving, dehydrated bodies let them. Which, surprise, wasn't that fast.

Coming to a large room with a double door, Roman and Patton stopped before it, able to see the outside world through the windows. Hearing footsteps nearing, Roman scrambled for the set of keys he had in his pocket, clumsily unlocking the door and dragging Patton outside, yelling at him to run as he locked the door.

Patton was only halfway down the stairs outside before Roman scooped him up from behind, somehow using the last of his energy and adrenaline to carry him down the dark, empty road, tall trees either side. Knowing a car would follow, Roman split from the open to hide in the trees, collapsing against the cold, leaf covered floor as he used the last of his energy.

Patton yelped, cradling the man to his chest, shuffling against a tall tree.

"They won't find us..." Roman whispered, passing out in his lap, leaving Patton to carry (mostly drag-) his body to a thick bush where he hid Roman's body under, quickly shuffling in beside him completely hidden from view. Softly cuddling up to his chest, Patton tired to ignore the dull pain surrounding every inch of his body and muscles, falling asleep once again against Roman's chest, praying they would wake up like this in the morning...

As the sun rose over the horizon, Roman was the first to awake out of the two, grumbling at the noise of loud birds chirping from every angle. Noticing Patton pressed against his body, he sighed in relief, dragging himself and the man from under the bush. Although the much needed sleep gave him a little energy, he still needed food and water. So, leaving Patton where he would find him, he followed the noise of running water, gulping down the liquid from the small stream. He didn't care how unclean it was, the refreshing coldness that ran down his insides was enough to make him smile in joy, but the situation prevented that.

Rising, he scooped up Patton, and ventured towards the road, making sure no cars were around before beginning the long walk towards any civilisation, having no idea where they were.

Half an hour passed before Patton stirred in his arms, cracking open his eyes to stare at the blurry face of his boyfriend. "Roman!" He croaked, throat burning but he ignored, leaning up to kiss him gently.

Setting him down, Roman hugged him tightly. "Are you okay, Cookie?" Roman murmured, resting his hands on Patton's waist. The man nodded with a light blush, smiling weakly at the man he loves.

"I'm okay with you!" His voice as rough and scratchy, Roman felt bad for not waking him up to drink, but they need to keep moving.

"Hopefully a car will come along" Roman commented, the two hugging hands as they walked down the side of the road, not able to see any sort of buildings in the distance, unfortunately.

As they walked in silence for another few hours, their prayers were answered as in the distance they could see a nearing black car. Roman told Patton to stay on the side as he crossed to the middle of the road, waving his arms frantically.

The car slowed to a stop, and the drivers side window opened. Sighing in gratitude, Roman rushed over, noticing how the car was filled with three, kind looking men. "Hey! Are you okay?" The one driving asked, eyebrows creased in worry as he took the man in.

"You seem malnourished, how long have you been out here?" Another man with glasses inquired, leaning a little to catch a closer look at the man who shrugged, looking towards the way they came.

"I'll explain everything if you let us in, please" he begged. They all glanced at each other, turning to the third man who wore a black and purple jacket, he bit his lip, looking at the other man who hugged what seemed to be a ripped, grey cardigan close to his body, head tilted down.

"...sure"

Thanking them profusely, Roman rushed over to Patton, gently tugging him over. The two sat in the back, Roman in the middle, Patton to the side, the weak man leaning on the car door, eyes drooping as Roman wrapped an arm around him, brushing back his unwashed hair.

"It seems we will all be in here for awhile, so I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I am Logan" the man with black rimmed glasses spoke, turning in his seat to stare at the two as he spoke, becoming increasingly worried over the smaller man's state.

"This is Virgil, he is a little anxious around new people" Logan then gestured to the man beside Roman who sent a little glare at Logan, waving a little at Roman who smiled back. "And I'm Thomas!" The man who was driving grinned, glancing at them through the mirror.

"Greetings, all, I'm Roman and this is my boyfriend, Patton..." he looked down at him, noticing how his skin had paled, and he was barely able to keep himself up. Roman wasn't in any better state as he suddenly felt himself weaken, a headache forming. Falling forward a little, Roman groaned, gripping his head with one hand as he used the other to keep Patton from falling.

"Oh my!" Thomas quickly parked the car, turning in his seat along with Logan to watch them fall against each other, unable to hold themselves up.

"What's going on?!" Virgil exclaimed, pressing himself against the door as he stared at his friends wildly. "Not...eaten...in...days" Roman rasped out, eyes shutting on their own as he lost the last bit of energy he had. Before anyone could ask anything else, he and Patton passed out once more, leaving the three men to silently stare at each other, wondering what to do.

"We need to get them to a hospital" Logan stated firmly, grabbing his phone to search for the nearest one. "If we follow this road, there should be one in a few miles" he explained, Thomas quickly speeding down the road, not worried if anyone would catch him, only focused on the fact that the two men might die. 

Virgil stared at the two for a few seconds, finally noticing the scars under the ripped clothes layered with dried blood, the bruises covering every inch of the skin he could see, and the deep coloured dry blood staining their clothes. Pressing himself back further, he couldn't tell if they were attacked by an animal or a human.

"Guys..." he alerted his two friends, Logan turning around to see what he needed. "Have you noticed all the blood...?" He questioned slowly, gripping the door and seat as he averted his eyes to Logan who peered closer, nearly flinching back in shock. How had they not noticed before? "Thomas, I advise you to go faster" Logan turned to him, Thomas bit his lip, nodding and pressing his foot down further, the car whizzing down the tree-surrounded road.

"Roman..." Patton murmured, the only noise he could hear being a loud, continuous beep.

"Roman!" He suddenly yelled out in fright, sitting up on the bed he laid on, wildly looking around until he felt two arms softly push him back down. "Patton, calm down, Roman's right here" Patton stared, mouth open, trying to speak but he couldn't say anything. He knew it was one of the people from the car, but he was too out of it at the time to catch his name.

Slowing down his breathing, he turned his head and saw a sleeping Roman in the bed beside him, realising the beeping was from the hospital machine. Wait, when did they get to a hospital?

"I-is he okay?" Patton gulped, turning back to the man who brushed back his brown hair, nodding quickly. "The doctor had to put him out for a bit longer, he was in a worse state than you, he should wake up soon" the man explained and reassured. "If you can't remember I'm Thomas, me and my friends brought you here"

Patton nodded, finally relaxing against the white pillows again, getting irritated with the lack of glasses. He glanced down at himself, noticing bandages wrapped around parts of his body, smiling a little at the lack of pain he felt. "If you do not mind me asking, we were very curious why you were out in the middle of the road as rough as you were" a man with glasses spoke, standing beside Patton's bed.

"I am Logan, might I add"

"Hey, Logan! And, uh...we..." he chuckled awkwardly, sitting up further. "I think we got kidnapped..." he drifted, hearing shocked gasps come from Thomas and the man who sat beside him. "You...think?" Logan repeated, raising his eyebrow and adjusting his glasses further up his nose. Patton nodded, fiddling with his fingers on his lap.

"We were kidnapped, I don't remember much...we escaped pretty quickly, but there were..." he drifted as the images of the bodies reappeared in his mind, the once soft beeping speeding up worryingly fast, Thomas quickly jumping up and gesturing Logan to stop asking questions.

"Patton, Patton, look at me" Thomas soothed, holding his hands gently until his brown eyes averted to meet his. "Breathe, okay? Think about...think about Roman, how do you know him? Where did you meet?"

Patton bit his lip, glancing at the sleeping Roman. "We...met...at a play, he was the lead character" Patton explained, remembering the day clearly, a small smile resting on his lips as he gripped the blanket covering his body. "After the performance he met me before I could leave..." a blush began to rise on Patton's cheeks, his heart monitor calming down a bit but still beeping rapidly, they all knew this time it was for a different reason.

"He told me he couldn't stop staring at me throughout the performance because I was too beautiful..." he giggled, biting his lip and hiding his face behind his hands. Thomas smiled, thankful he wasn't thinking about what he went through days earlier.

Virgil slowly moved up from the corner of the room, glancing at Roman, wincing at the bandages covering nearly all of his arms. He was relieved to see they both survived, but none of them wanted to admit to Patton how close Roman was to death...

Awkwardly sitting beside Logan on the seat, Thomas sat on the other side, talking with Patton happily, Logan sometimes chipping in. While staring down at his phone, Virgil didn't notice Patton glance over at him, his eyes lighting up in glee as he leaned closer to the man. "Woah! I love your jacket, Virgil!" Patton complimented happily, Thomas telling him his name earlier in the conversation.

Virgil quickly looked up, flushing. "Oh-Er-...thanks"

"He made it himself" Logan commented, only smirking as Virgil shot him a glare with no real hate.

Patton gasped, tilting his head. "You did? Can I feel it?"

Virgil bit his lip, slowly reaching out his hand, Patton gently stroking the soft material, his eyes gleaming in awe, making Virgil smile a little. No one had had this reaction to his jacket before.

He cleared his throat, retracting his hand back to his body. "If-if you ever wanted me to, I could fix your cardigan" he gestured to the ripped piece of clothing on the stool, "or make you a new one..." he offered, Patton gasping in shock and happiness as he shuffled across the bed closer to Virgil.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah...why not?"

"Awh! Thank you, Kiddo!" Patton exclaimed, throwing his arms around him to hug him warmly. Logan and Thomas went to quickly pull Patton back, as usually Virgil hates human contact, especially from new people, but both men paused their movements in shock, noticing Virgil slowly hug the man back, hiding his face in his shoulder.

A little while later Roman slowly stirred and woke up, a little dazed as his eyes focused to the bright white ceiling above, twitching his hands, slowly clenching and unclenching them. As his hearing slowly began to work, he focused on the conversation beside him, smiling a little as he heard familiar voices. Slowly letting his head fall to the side, his eyes adjusted and he saw his boyfriend, sitting up and happily talking to the three men who saved their lives.

He tried to speak, but his throat was still trying to work, so he waited a little while until there was a break in the conversation.

"Cookie" he called, voice a little shaky and croaky.

Gasping, Patton jumped and looked over at Roman, grinning in delight. "Roro!" He yelled, rushing up from the bed but collapsing to the floor, yelping out in pain. "Are you okay?!" Thomas and Roman asked at the same time, Roman slowly sitting up to watch Thomas help him stand on shaky legs.

"You're still weak" Logan commented, letting Patton lean on him too as they brought him over to Roman, sitting him beside his boyfriend, watching Patton gently hug him, kissing his cheek a few times, murmuring how much he loved him. Roman doing the same back.

Later on the doctor arrived and did a few check ups, also making Patton lay back in his own bed. He didn't protest, but frowned sadly as he had to be removed from his boyfriend once more.

It took awhile, with Thomas and his two friends agreeing to stay in the motel near by, but after a month the two were able to leave, very grateful that their new friends were happy to take them home, becoming ecstatic once they found out they don't live too far away from them all!

"Thank you, guys...I don't think we would've survived without you!" Patton hugged each of them tightly, smiling a little wider at Virgil who blushed, looking down, fiddling with his sleeves.

"Do not thank us yet, you still must inform the police" Logan commented, gesturing to the station behind them. Patton nodded, looking at Roman who was hugging him from behind, head resting on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to keep helping? You've already done so much!"

"Of course we do! We're friends, right? It's what friends do" Thomas smiled widely, watching Patton smile just as wide back, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Let's go defeat whoever dared to hurt my Cookie!"

Five months later...

Patton skipped down the stairs in his house, quickly brushing his hair back before opening his front door, grinning at the sight of his three friends. "Guys!" He cheered happily, pulling each of them into a hug. "You're here!" He quickly let them all inside, closing the door behind them as Thomas and Logan headed to the living room, Virgil staying beside with Patton.

"Hey, Pat?" He spoke up, a little nervous as he covered his hands with his sleeves. Patton smiled gently, tilting his head. "What is it, Kiddo?"

Glancing at the bag in his hands, he breathed in deeply. "I've been meaning to give you this...you won't like it, but...here" handing it over, Patton slowly took it, smiling widely.

"I'm sure I'll love it, Virgil!" Patton reassured, pulling out the item of clothing from the bag. Patton went silent, staring wide eyes with a parted mouth at what was in his hands, bag dropping onto the floor as he held the cardigan out to see it fully. It was grey like the cardigan he owned before, but had a few little stitches like Virgil's jacket.

"AWH!" He squealed, throwing Virgil into a tight hug. "I love it! Thank you so much, Kiddo!" Patton quickly put it on, nuzzling it against his skin. "It's so soft! Ahh! I love it!" He bounced up and down, hugging Virgil again who chuckled quietly, hugging him back.

"No problem, Pat, I'm...happy you like it"

"Like it?! I love it!"

Patton sprinted to the living room where his boyfriend and two friends currently resided, Virgil able to hear his excited squeals about it, Roman quickly joining in, yelling about how amazing it was.

Shaking his head, Virgil chuckled gently, standing in the doorway and watching happily.

—

Thank you for the request!

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