Captivity Meme, anyone?

[gibken]

THE CAPTIVITY MEME

You've been captured -- or maybe you've been held captive for a while now. Whatever the case, you've lost your freedom, and there's a specific person responsible for that. You might be a prisoner, a mental patient, a kidnap victim, or someone's pet. Maybe you're there willingly, or maybe the choice has been taken away from you completely.

Both smut and non-smut scenarios are possible. If you don't want to play smut, please indicate so in the title line of your tag.

1. Leave a tag with your character. Be sure to include any limits on what you are willing to play, as this meme has the potential to be triggering.
2. Someone else tags in and uses RNG to generate a number between 1 and 9 (or pick your favorite). The second character is holding the first character captive now.
3. ???
4. Profit!



1. For their own good. Does this person really think they could make it on their own? It's a big, scary world out there, and you need to protect them from it, whether they like it or not.

2. For the good of society. Forget protecting this person -- it's your duty to protect the world from them! Maybe they committed a terrible crime, or maybe they were falsely condemned, but it's your job to keep them locked up where they can't do any more harm.

3. Because they're not well. How's your bedside manner? Whether you're Florence Nightingale or Mildred Ratched, you're in the position of ministering to the mentally ill. Maybe this person genuinely needs your help, or maybe you're just turning a blind eye to their true sanity.

4. For the money. Higher aims? What higher aims? This person is your meal ticket, and they're staying put until their loved ones pay up.

5. For their love. It might be a case of yandere, or it might be a consenting BDSM relationship. Whether it's by mutual agreement or by force, you're keeping them simply because you love them.

6. Because they're cute and fluffy. Who's a cutesy wutesy? They are! Yes, they are! This person is your pet now. Maybe they're a different species from you, or maybe you just don't care that you're both people. Maybe you're even an alien zookeeper looking after a new acquisition.

7. Because they're your property. Slave? Livestock? Who cares what they think - they're your property, and you decide their fate.

8. For the lulz. Hey, what's a little bondage between friends? You'll let them go, once you're done laughing and snapping photos... maybe.

9. Choose a scenario, or combine several.

Comments

[interpolate]

I wince a little at that, but it's fair. I step away from him and duck my head. I actually bow. Huh. This guilt is real, then.

Too bad it means nothing.

He's right. I don't deserve his trust.

"Just let me see my brother."

[red_pleather]

I nod, hating that the disappointment on his face actually affects me. This is stupid. He might not be responsible for what's happened but it was still his body and I have still been utterly wrong to trust.

"Through here."

[interpolate]

I remain silent as he leads me in.

And it's a trick, too, because once I see my poor little brother there, looking for all the world like Messiah succeeded and he's dead, I want to scream. I want to tear the walls down.

I stumble. I can't remember the last time I stumbled, but I do, and my knees hit the floor with a crack.

"Non..."

[red_pleather]

I pause for a second, because why does it bother me if he's upset, after everything he's done?

Then I curse under my breath and go down on one knee next to Ent- next to Emeric, an arm around him. I am an inch away from cracking. But I can't leave such pain unanswered.

[interpolate]

He's touching me. His arm is around my shoulder, and he's not scared of me, and for a second, just for a second we're able to share pain, and I understand finally that maybe he does care, almost as much as I do.

I wonder what I've missed in my brother's life. Do him and Hiromu share something special? More than just co-workers, more than just companions and comrades?

Will I ever get a chance to find out?

And then I shove it all away. Deep down, buried where it can't be a problem. And I'm up, I'm moving to the edge of the bed, I'm touching gently. I need to fix him. I will fix him.

[red_pleather]

He gets up and moves to Etienne's side. I take a shuddery breath and stand next to him. I allow myself to stroke poor Etienne's hair back, tucking it behind his ear, then I jam my hands in my pockets.

Fix him, Emeric. Please.

[interpolate]

I watch Hiromu tuck his hair back. He wears his hair longer than mine is, and he's not well, so it's all disheveled. He might be sleeping off a bad cold, just looking at him, but I know there's more to it. Something's wrong inside, I'm sure of it. Messiah doesn't really understand humans. It attacked Etienne the way it would attack a machine.

"I need a computer." I say softly, wondering if that's something I'm going to be allowed.

[red_pleather]

I freeze.

"To do what, exactly," I ask flatly. "I will not give you access to EMC systems."

[interpolate]

That's to be expected. He shouldn't trust me, but I need him to trust me, and the precarious balance holds my brother's life in its sway.

"I don't want that. I need access to his systems." That might sound insane, but then again, I'm not sure if the Go-Busters are aware of just how much machine they are.

[red_pleather]

I look at Etienne's face, tense with pain, and at Emeric's. Also tense.

If he'd truly wanted to kill him...

I close my eyes for a moment, but once I make a decision it stays made. "A moment." I send a message to the guards then step to the doorway.

[interpolate]

I nod, stepping closer to the bed as he moves closer to the door.

I'm amazed that I'm not shaking. I would like to be, because then I could get some of my tension out that way. But I'm steady as a rock when I place the back of my fingers against my poor brother's cheek.

"Je t'aime..."

[red_pleather]

The guard hands me a stripped down machine, with no access to our systems -- except if he can manage wireless, which I'm sure he can, but I have to take some risks to try to get Etienne *fixed*.

The door closes behind me and I hear weapons cocking. It's reassuring. If I fall, they won't b taken by surprise.

"Here," I say, handing the tiny machine to Emeric.

[interpolate]

He's my everything. He's all I have left, I have to have him back.

I half-turn and accept the sad little excuse for a computer. I think it might do what I need, or at least confirm something.

I don't want to ask Hiromu for access to my cables, so I won't. I'll try to do this without them. It might be tricky.

I find a chair to pull up next to the bed, boot up the computer, and my fingers fly away across the keys.

[red_pleather]

I watch for a moment, but I can't follow a quarter of what he's doing, so I let my hand come up to rub my face for a moment. I'm so damn tired. Can't sleep, though. Not even if I tried. I know it wouldn't work.

[interpolate]

"Merde," I mumble to myself when I figure it out. "This is bad."

I sigh, figuring I should at least muse aloud. Hiromu might be able to help me figure out how to fix it. And he should know anyway.

"I'm not sure how, but Messiah has found some way to... exacerbate his... Weak Point, as you call it."

[red_pleather]

I blink at him. "That-- that makes sense." A horrible, painful kind of sense. "Except we've never been able to wake him up before. So I can't just intensify our usual efforts. We don't have usual efforts."

I scowl. "How do we fix it? Do you know?"

[interpolate]

"No. He wouldn't. When he sleeps in that way, he is... It's as though he's shut down. Is rebooting. It happens entirely of it's own accord..." I shake my head. "I don't know how to fix it. I could try. But I don't..."

I wince. "I'm worried I might do more damage."

[red_pleather]

I look at the monitors, and I look at Emeric.

"He doesn't have long," I say, voice cracking. "Please. Anything you can do. We are out of options."

[interpolate]

I suppose I don't have a choice. I need to wake him up, somehow. I need to override or bypass whatever mechanism it is that causes him to reboot in that way.

I bite down hard on my lip as I continue to type away, tapping in wherever I can find purchase, trying to reroute simple signals around the damage Messiah caused.

[red_pleather]

It is only my last shreds of military discipline that allow me to keep mostly *still* while he works. I can't distract him.

I do, however, reach out carefully, slowly, to take Etienne's hand.

[interpolate]

I think I've managed something. Etienne doesn't wake up, but the creases in his forehead indicating pain smooth out, and his breath evens, and I sit back from the bed with a gasping sigh. I'm actually sweating.

"I think. He might be okay."

[red_pleather]

...

He looks better.

He actually looks better, and his heartbeat's strengthened.

I wipe away a tear that's trickling down my cheek. "Thank you," I breathe.

[interpolate]

I close the computer with a weary sigh, setting it down on the floor and reaching for my brother's hand. I pat it gently, glad to feel some bit of warmth there. He'll be okay, I think. He'll be fine. But Ryuuji won't come back. Neither will the other one, their friend.

"You should probably kill me now."

[red_pleather]

My head jerks around sharply. "No. I don't kill," I say, all surprise and terseness. "Not in cold blood. And definitely not you."

[interpolate]

"It would be doing me a favor." I say wearily, shifting a bit to lean closer to my brother, lifting his hand to press my lips to it. "And protecting yourself, Etienne, and Youko. I'm dangerous, so much more dangerous now than I was. I'm just a weapon now."