Voices spoke through a tunnel, echoing with strange vibrations in his head. Buck moaned, struggling through confusion as thick as molasses. Pain throbbed in the center of his belly and his back hurt, his spine was stiff with strain. He felt cold but heat pulsed through him, burning at the point of agony in his abdomen. Something brushed at the edge of his consciousness. Something important he was supposed to remember. What was it?The pressure in his gut abated. The object in his navel pulled out with a painful sucking sensation. His body responded, his muscles tightened and locked with the release of pressure and he sighed with a heavy groan. A gentle touch ghosted against his stomach and the tightness that splayed his navel open unclasped. The relief from pain spread like warm water through his body.
Muffled clinking and whining pulled him toward consciousness but he resisted. A brief period of silence was broken with a loud clanking sound. A presence seemed to hang over him, pressing downward to suffocate him. A finger of pain stabbed into his gut, centered through his navel. After that initial fierce bright spear of pain, the pressure grew consistent and finally stopped. Once again, he was pinned to the arching surface beneath him, impaled through the navel.
The discomfort was familiar and he floated in dark oblivion, caught between waking and sleeping. He drifted deeper, carefully avoiding concentrating too much on the discomfort in his back, shoulders, hips and belly. His joints ached from holding their positions too long -- the stretched out pull that elongated his arms and legs.
Heat spread and slowly grew from simple warmth to being uncomfortably hot. He felt perspiration bead on his skin, gathering in slick puddles in the grooves of his ribs and the shallow indention of his belly around the probe. He moved on the curved surface under his back. Agony brought him fully awake and he opened his eyes. The evil contraption that hung overhead slammed him into reality. He turned his head.
JD! The young man lay still as death on the table next to him. Dark hair fanned out against the wooden surface, contrasting sharply with creamy skin that glistened under a thin veil of sweat. His arms stretched out behind his head, his wrists caught in leather bonds similar to Buck's. His legs were pulled taut by wide bands around his ankles. His shallow breathing moved his rib cage in and out. The nail board set over his middle displayed a different, thinner rod than the last one Buck remembered. Its length was riddled with holes and the tip disappeared in a deep indention in the center of JD's belly. He couldn't tell how it was held in that position.
Buck turned his head and looked around the room. The two men were gone. The sunlight outside the window was waning and shadows were beginning to grow across the floor. Across the room a bright fire burned in a wood stove, heating the small area with its blaze. The four lamps that hung from the corners of the ceiling glared with brightness. He turned back to JD.
"JD!" His hissed call drew no response. Fear tightened his chest. Straining against the awkward position he was in, Buck curled his shoulders up higher. His abdominal muscles tightened more and he pressed his lips together, fighting against the pain that shot through sore and abused tissues. He tucked his chin against his chest and peered down at his body. The rod that sunk into his navel was thicker than the first one. Its blunt tip was about the same size as the small opening in his body and his skin stretched around it, accommodating the thicker size. He looked back at JD. "Kid -- wake up!"
JD's eyelids fluttered but didn't open. His head turned to the side. He held an expression of pain even while he was unconscious. His dark eyebrows were pulled together, creating deep crevasses across his forehead. Long lines of pain were drawn on either side of his open mouth and his cheeks were hollow with shadow. Buck grimaced with the understanding of what the kid had been through. He watched JD draw short quick, panting breaths, obviously trying to avoid stabbing the probe deeper into his belly.
"JD!" His shout was louder this time and JD responded by blinking open his eyes.
"Buck?"
"Yeah, kid, it's me. Look at me."
JD focused with difficulty on the blurry figure at his side. "Is it over?"
Buck shook his head then answered when he realized JD wasn't fully awake yet. "No. We gotta get out of here. No one knows where we are."
JD's eyes opened wider. He blinked again and seemed to become aware of where he was. "What are we waiting for then? Let's--"
"No, wait--" Buck's warning not to move was drowned out by JD's loud groan of pain. He had curled off the table, attempting to sit up and see what could be done. His movements drove the thin metal rod deeper into his belly. It held firm, unmoving, and pushed hard into JD's body. JD fell back to the table. His back arched and he bucked helplessly into the pain -- pounding, driving, and hammering the rod deeper.
Buck clenched his hands into fists and watched helplessly. Spasms jerked through JD's body, bucking him up into the rod. The surface of his belly grew taut with strain and rose higher, lifting under the nail board. The kid bowed off the table hard and held a tight arch of pain, impaling himself into the rod. JD's groans turned into a scream. With mounting horror, Buck watched as JD pushed higher and the rod sunk past its point into the kid's navel. The tip had broken through.
"NO!"
His shout brought footsteps. Their two captors entered the room and quickly moved to JD's table but they made no move to help him. On his table, Buck struggled with his bonds and ignored the building pain in his abdomen.
"Help him, dammit! He's stabbed himself on that thing -- he'll bleed to death." He could see JD's wound and the thick bubble of blood rising up around the metal rod sent new fear shooting through him.
Set turned and glanced over his shoulder at Buck. He looked at Loki. He raised one eyebrow in an expression of surprise, then turned his back to Buck. Nodding to his assistant, Set reached out and forced JD's hips back to the table. The young man's mouth was open wide but no sound emerged. His breathing was erratic, pumping loud and heavy through his mouth. Slender rib bones spread out, opening his rib cage and accenting the long slender abdomen beneath.
Loki picked up the mallet from the table and placed the blunt end on the head of the narrow rod running into JD.
"NO! You'll kill him!"
Buck's shout didn't deter the men from their task. Loki pressed downward with the mallet. The rod slipped deeper into JD's belly. The youth threw his head back. He pulled his arms taut, forcing the edges of the leather cuffs into the meaty flesh of his palms and cut into the skin. His back bowed slightly off the table but his shoulders and hips remained pinned to the surface.
Set reached beneath the nail board. He pulled something out. Buck strained to see what he held in his hand and finally glimpsed a tiny pin. The man bent over to peer under the nail board again. Loki pressed harder on the rod, forcing it deeper into JD. Set placed his palm on JD's abdomen. He splayed his fingers out. The metal rod pressed into the fleshy juncture between his thumb and forefinger. He shoved down on JD's body, the tips of his fingers creating deep indentions in the kid's abdomen. JD screamed. His muscles quivered with tight strain in his chest and the tendons in his shoulder joints bulged.
Buck jerked his arms and legs uselessly against his bonds. The bright stab of pain shooting through his belly grew stronger, harder to ignore.
Set reached under the nail board with his free hand and slipped the pin into the hole closest to the top. The rod held in place, firm and strong. The tip was buried deep inside JD's belly through his navel, pressing and pushing against tissues to the point of penetration. The young man trembled on the table, his eyes open wide, and his mouth slack in an unmistakable expression of agony.
Set removed his hand and wiped it on his overcoat. A smear of blood stood out against the dirty white material. Buck shivered in revulsion. Anger flooded his body, protecting him from the piercing pain in his abdomen. He ground his teeth together and focused on the two men.
Before he could threaten them with the hell he envisioned for them, Loki walked over and threw the lever that thrust the rod deeply into his navel. Buck's head whipped back on his neck. He felt the strain through his throat reach down deep into his chest. Tension corded his muscles tight and his belly grew taut and quivering with the pull. The man yanked the U-shaped lever again and again, pounding the dull tipped rod time and again into his navel. When the hammering stopped, the throbbing in his navel was so powerful Buck was unaware of the respite.
He swam in a red fog of torment, dreaming that he hung suspended from a rope that was knotted deep inside his navel, anchoring him from falling. His weight pulled his body down, bowing him back and creating more strain and pull on his abdomen. He reached feebly for the rope that held him and wrapped trembling hands around it. His belly bulged out at the point of contact and his touch on his abdomen sent him screaming, falling down a dark hole.
He landed with a hard thump and opened his eyes. He lifted his head. Loki stood beside him, his hands on the crank overhead. He turned it slowly, pushing the thick rod in tiny increments deeper into his body. Buck dropped his head back to the curved surface beneath him and swallowed with difficulty through his dry throat. He'd been without water for nearly twenty-four hours and the pain of thirst was nearly as powerful as the agony sinking deeper into his body.
Set moved to his side and leaned over him. "We're attempting to stretch your navel open, Subject One. We want it dilated before we return to the more slender rod so that we'll have room to observe the results when we stab into your abdomen." He glanced over his shoulder at JD. Continuous moans sighed from the young man with his choked exhales. "Subject Two succumbed sooner than we would have wished." Set turned back to Buck. "But no matter. We still have you to contend with."
He reached out and placed his palm on Buck's lower abdomen. Buck tucked his chin against his chest and noticed bloodstains on the man's hand -- JD's blood. He grimaced and allowed his head to fall back. He felt weak and the horror of knowing JD was beside him, probably dying, and he could do nothing about it filled him with useless frustration.
The man pressed into his body and Buck grunted when the pressure forced air out of his lungs.
"The intestines are located here, Loki. After we are finished exploring the upper abdomen, we can start here next." Set's touch moved and palpated Buck's belly around his navel, moving higher up his abdomen to just under his ribs. Buck struggled not to cry out. The rod continued to sink into him, pushing against unresisting flesh. He felt as if the damn thing had driven itself halfway through his body.
He heard Set sigh and remove his touch. "Lower it another half then lock it."
A gear clanked and wheels turned. The rod stabbed deeper, pushing a bright point of pain so agonizing through his navel that Buck gave into a helpless scream. His back tightened and he bucked against the intrusive rod but it held him so firmly against the half moon that he couldn't move. Gasping in agony, he peered down at his body. The deep indention created by the thick rod tunneling into his belly held dark shadow. The rounded edges of the hole gleamed with sweat, throwing off light from the surrounding lamps in bright reflection. His gently swelling lower abdomen moved and undulating with his heavy breathing.
Laying his head back, he let it roll to the side and gazed in depressed horror at JD. The young man lay unresponsive, the slow rise and fall of his chest and belly the only sign that he still lived. Blood had oozed out of the wound in his belly and flowed down the curving sides of his body to pool beneath him on the table.
Buck closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. He knew when the men came back they would replace the thick rod with the slender rod and stab him with it until it broke through and sliced into his abdomen. He could never survive that and JD would slowly bleed to death on the table he was bound to, ignored by their captors.
He had to do something. They had to escape.
Part 5
Buck jerked awake. He squeezed his eyes shut when his quick movements jarred the thick rod reaming a tunnel into his navel. His back ached from the awkward position of arching over the half moon. His knees were numb and he yearned to bend them. Thick leather cuffs and chains held his ankles fast to the table; he couldn't budge them an inch. He'd twisted his wrists until his flesh was raw. Blood and sweat had combined to wet the leather enough to loosen it. The bands around his hands had slipped up to the base of his thumbs. He felt certain that he could pull out of the cuffs given a little more time.But time was something they had precious little of.
He turned his head. JD lay so still. Dried blood was a black puddle on his belly, punctured through with the slender metal rod. The only way he knew the kid lived was the shallow hitching pants that lifted and spread his rib cage. Occasionally a moan slipped out from between his slack lips, but he wouldn't respond no matter how many times Buck called to him.
The last thing Buck remembered was whispering JD's name, pleading with him to answer. Exhaustion and pain had finally conspired to close around him and send him spiraling down to darkness. He hadn't meant to fall asleep.
Now the square of freedom visible from the room's lone window was dark. Lamplight and firelight kept the room bright. Throbbing shadows played in the hollows of JD's face. Buck shivered at the posture of death the young man held.
A bright rectangle of light opened against the far wall. Loki stepped inside the room and shut the door. He crossed the room, mumbling to himself. Moving with the familiarity of habit, he grasped the main crank and began turning it.
Buck immediately tensed then hissed through his teeth when the rod in his belly moved. Instead of sinking impossibly deeper, it rose. Sore tissues throbbed with the release. The cranking stopped. Fingers touched his abdomen, pressing around his navel. Buck flinched and curled his fists tighter. Spasms vibrated the muscles in his thighs when he fought to bend his legs, pulling against his restraints.
"Just as I thought -- this isn't working." The fingers continued to explore, prodding into his navel and palpating his belly around the abused opening. Loki's touch was cold and clinical. He examined Buck's torso; pressing his fingers deeply into the gunslinger's belly and moving lower.
When his palm brushed uncaringly against Buck's groin, the trapped man stiffened and a hissed curse squeezed out between clenched teeth: "Son of a bi--"
If Loki heard he didn't react. Instead, he reached for the flange that still lay on the edge of Buck's table. "The larger rod isn't dilating your navel fast enough, Subject One, just as I predicted." He sounded smug, pleased with himself. He forced the cold metal into Buck's navel, working the edges around until it fit to his satisfaction.
Buck pulled his head back in an effort to escape Loki's touch. His breathing seized in his chest when the man tightened the wing nuts. The two pieces of the flange separated, opening his navel to cold air, creating a vulnerable hole of flesh that lead to his insides. His shoulders quivered with strain. His captor forced two fingers inside his navel, pushing the narrow opening farther apart. Buck shuddered and felt the strain of tight muscles through his hips and thighs.
With a soft whine of protest, "This won't do," Loki cruelly yanked the flange out. Buck cried out, his back coming off the half moon as he arched helplessly in pain. He struggled to relax muscles that had locked with strain.
Loki moved over to the many shelves lining one whole wall. He returned to Buck's table with a small container in one hand. Dipping two fingers into the bowl, he scooped out a generous helping of a dull yellow paste.
"This should help." With that brief explanation he spread the goo on Buck's stomach, taking special care to work the substance deeply into the captive man's navel.
Buck cringed with the feel of the man's palm on his abdomen. The gentle caresses quickly turned rough and Loki began kneading heavily into his belly, pushing and prodding into his navel. Pain ebbed and spiked as the man worked over the sensitive area. Buck trembled and pressed his lips together, clenching his jaw tight to keep in the cries of pain vibrating in his throat. Sweat broke out across his body, beading thickly on his face, neck and chest. Perspiration rolled a slow tickling path down his sides, adding to his torment.
Finally, Loki stopped. He took the time to wipe his hands clean before picking up the flange again. Buck moaned helplessly and rolled his head to the side. The cold metal hooked inside his navel and the tightening and stretching continued.
Defenseless against his body's response, his chest arched up, lifting his shoulders off the half moon. His throat was so tight he couldn't breath. A choking grunt burst painfully from his constricted lungs when the flange stretched the opening to his navel wider than before. His belly throbbed with heat and white stabs of pain dug deep into his center. Loki finally removed his touch.
Quiet sounds of metal on wood, muffled clinking and hollow thumps followed. Buck kept his eyes closed. He knew the man was changing the rods -- removing the thick one and replacing it with a slender one. The thought of that dull pointed knife being thrust into his navel filled him with dread and horror.
When the cranking started, Buck's muscles tightened to the point of pain. The first touch of metal in his navel felt like glass slashed across his skin. His gasping breaths turned panicked, deepening into loud, heavy pants that pumped his belly up and down and sucked his flesh in and out of his ribs. Pressure built inside his navel. Metal gored into tender tissues, drilling a hole down into his belly. The knife-edged pain swelled, burned fire-bright in his abdomen.
He twisted his hips and cried out when the point of the rod rolled against the center of his navel. Pain burst bright and sharp deep in his stomach. The rod pushed into him, digging into his navel, applying pressure to tissues deep inside his body. The agony was like having his guts removed from the inside out. It burrowed into him, diving into his navel, tunneling into his abdomen and nosing deep inside his intestines and bowel.
A storm cloud brewed overhead in the heart of the machine. With a mighty crack of agonizing thunder, lightning bolted in a jagged, razor sharp thrust straight into the center of Buck's navel. Through the debilitating agony, he realized the rod had punctured through his navel to the underlying belly beneath. The stabbing metal drilled deeper, pushing through layers, prodding past thick organs to reach the core of his being. With a deep-throated roar, Buck tumbled into darkness.
Loki flinched slightly when Buck screamed. The tight body beneath his machine grew slack and bulging abdominal muscles receded. Blood rose to the surface inside his victim's navel, flooding around the rod and welling up to slide in slick rivulets down heaving sides. He reached for a cloth and wiped the thick blood away, leaving a grisly swipe of red across Buck's stomach and down his side. The wide-open navel filled again and in agitation, Loki sopped up the extra fluid quickly, trying to see into the shallow opening. The tissues in his victim's navel pulsed, throbbing with the beat of Buck's heart as blood rose to the wound. Keeping his eyes on the navel, Loki slowly turned the crank just above his head.
The skin around the rod made a deep depression as if it were being sucked down into the hole made by the instrument. As the slender piece sunk deeper, Buck groaned. His body tightened again, even though he was unconscious. Loki nodded and smiled to himself, knowing Set would be upset with him in the morning for advancing the experiment this far without his assistance.
Chains rattled and Loki glanced to the side to see Buck's hands claw at the air. He toyed with the thought of loosening one arm just to watch his victim try and protect his belly, try and remove the imbedded rod from his navel, but in the end he discarded the idea. Maybe in the morning when Set was present.
Subject One groaned again and drew in a deep breath. His belly flattened and the flesh under his rib cage cupped inward, accentuating the long slender bones. Filled with curiosity, Loki reached out and tentatively touched Buck's abdomen with the tips of his fingers. Feeling braver, he spread his palm on the man's belly. Quivering muscles shivered under his touch, pulling the sweat slick flesh under his hand tight.
Buck arched abruptly into the rod. His movements forced the metal deeper into his body and fresh blood welled up. Loki quickly withdrew, unwilling to dirty himself on the man's blood. After locking the mechanism and making sure it would stay in the same position all night, he quietly left the room, wondering if either subject would still be alive in the morning.
Part 6
JD screamed. The sound echoed back to him, bouncing off the walls of his nightmare. Blackness sped by. The horrible feeling of falling sucked at his gut. Air rushed from his body, creating a vacuum in his chest. He clawed through space, the need to stop his descent more demanding than the need to breathe.With a starburst of light, the ground abruptly appeared far below. One tall narrow spike jutted up from the surface, the tip honed to a razor sharp point. He fell unerringly toward the spike, pulled by gravity's grip to his death.
Distance shrank and he reached the bottom with a hard thump. The horror of feeling the sharp tipped spike pierce into his navel and skewer through his belly was more shocking than the abrupt stop. He sucked in his breath loudly and pushed against the floor. The excruciating agony that tore through his gut pulled a raw scream from his throat and he awoke.
Bright lamplight disoriented him. He glanced to the side and saw the dark square of night through the window, a flat black shape in the otherwise brightly-lit room. He tugged his arms and felt the familiar sting of pain ringed around his wrists. What the hell? Memory returned in a rush and he whipped his head to the opposite side. Buck!
The gunslinger lay arched over the half moon shape under his back. The thin metal rod protruding from the heavy machine over him pushed a dark tunnel into the man's belly, creating a black puddle of blood in his navel. A sliver of metal shown dully through the flood of red, indicating the flange still hooked inside his navel. Narrow streams of blood undulated down the man's side, curving around tight muscle and slender hip bones to drip onto the dark wooden table.
JD swallowed. Fear gripped him hard but he thrust the debilitating emotion off with a sharp shake of his head. Rapidly blinking back heavy tears that blinded him with his movements, he dragged in panting breaths and whispered harshly across to his friend. "Buck!"
The older man didn't respond. With a grunt of determination, JD curled his shoulders off the table. Pain stabbed deep and bright into his abdomen. He squeezed his eyes shut and fell heavily back to the table. Breathing in quick burst, building up his supply he gathered his resolve for another attempt. Slowly, he curled up from the table. As his muscles tightened through his abdomen he clenched his jaw and breathed through his nose. Agony speared through him. He called out again. "Buck!" The movements he made pulled the last of his energy from his body and he collapsed back to the table, spent and wet with sweat.
A muffled groan made him hold his breath. He opened his eyes and snapped his head to the side. Buck's eyes slowly blinked open. They were limpid with unshed tears. The man's face was etched in pain, evident in long lines bracketing his mouth and feathering from the corners of his eyes. His eyelids closed and opened again with a fluttering motion, as if they were too heavy to lift.
"Buck!" The joy contained in JD's too loud response made the young man wince. He controlled his breathing with difficulty, listening intently for returning footsteps. When several moments passed and neither of their captors entered the room, JD turned back to Buck.
"We gotta get out of here, they'll be back soon."
Buck nodded -- a slight movement of his head that JD would have missed if he hadn't been watching closely. "I'm just 'bout loose."
"Huh?" Not understanding, JD curled up higher from the table. The metal that was stabbed into his gut pressed deeper into his navel with the change in his position. For a moment the room disappeared in dark pain. Streaks of red agony tore and ripped through his body. He was aware of nothing but the pain in his abdomen and the white noise of his throbbing heartbeat in his head. An eternity later, he heard Buck's hoarse voice, calling to him from across a great gulf. He turned his heavy head to the side and opened his eyes.
"Stay still, kid. I think I'm about out of these cuffs, then I'll get you loose and we can get out of here."
JD smiled. "Sounds -- good -- to me." His voice had grown airy with only a hint of sound to carry the words but he saw Buck smile in return. Then the older man's face grew still with concentration. Veins stood out in bulging branches on his forehead and his neck corded with strain. His biceps swelled and his clenched fists turned white as he pulled against his restraints.
With a grunt of pain, Buck succeeded in pulling one of his hands out of the cuffs. He didn't stop to inspect the damage on his wrist but continued pulling the other one. His free hand trembled and he reached for his belly. Shaking fingers quested blindly for his abdomen and cupped gently around the flange opening his navel. His breathing strained through clenched teeth and with a loud gasp, the other hand came free. He lay still for a moment, both hands clasped carefully around the rod buried in his gut.
JD waited and counted the beats of his heart. They sounded unnaturally loud in his head and an answering throb pounded in his stomach. Finally, he drew in a deeper breath. "Buck?" He watched as the gunslinger squeezed his eyes shut. Buck swallowed hard, his throat corded tight with pain.
"In -- a minute." He held still a moment longer. The tips of his fingers pulsated gently against the metal flange in his navel, vibrating with the blood pumping through his body. He blinked open his eyes and pulled a breath in through his nose. Pain ricocheted through him, crackling with static strength through his abdomen and rippling out through every inch of his aching body. He locked down on the agony, bundling it up into one tight fist of pain and shoving it down a dark hole. It was up to him to get them out of here. He was free; now all he had to do was remove the rod jabbing through his middle and get JD out. Simple.
He half smiled at the irrelevant thoughts running through his head. The very real threat of Set or Loki returning to check on their "subjects" sobered him. Taking a firm grip on the flange prying his navel open, he held his breath and pulled. With a long drawn out groan, it ripped free with a sharp tearing sensation in his gut. He trembled with pain, exhausted with that simple feat, and allowed the horrible contraption to rest against his stomach. He'd have to unscrew the wing nuts in order to get it off and he couldn't spare the time or strength for that. Besides, once he removed the rod, the flange would fall off too.
He reached for the blunt ended cylinder that held the rod in place above him. Muscles stretched and pulled through his belly and he clenched his teeth tight to keep his groans under control.
"Buck? What are you--?"
Knowing if he stopped to explain he'd never be able to summon the strength again, Buck ignored JD's question for the moment. He clasped weak fingers around the cylinder. Now that he was no longer in the chains and cuffs he could move more freely, but cupping his body up, curling his shoulders off the half moon was putting more strain on his abdomen and the piercing rod in his belly than he'd anticipated. He squinted, fighting to concentrate through the crippling pain and blinked away the stinging sweat rolling into his eyes.
His belly hurt; throbbed white-hot and a moan hissed helplessly through his clenched jaw. He heard JD's answering moan and the kid called softly to him. Buck gripped the cylinder tighter and rotated his wrists, struggling to turn the stubborn piece of machinery. Agony pulled through him, connected from his hands to his navel, and wrapped around him, cramping hard through his back. He gasped out a breath. The abrupt release of his diaphragm drew his belly in and the rod scrapped through his raw navel. With a final desperate grunt, he tightened his hold on the machine above him and twisted. He felt the give in the connection. It turned.
The rod loosened in its mooring as the cylinder opened. He twisted again, strengthened with success, and the rod was free. It stood quivering in his belly, no longer pressed downward by the firm hold of the wood and metal machine. Blood welled up slow and thick in his navel and slid warm down his cool skin to pool at his back before oozing down the curved surface of the half moon. His panting, irregular breathing pumped his abdomen up and down and he could feel the tip of the rod move in his belly, almost as if it were pricking the lining of his stomach. He grimaced with that grisly thought. Gritting his teeth until his jaw hurt, he reached for the undulating rod and grasped it firmly with both hands.
The pulsing agony intensified. It threw his head back and pulled him taut again, arched over the half moon. He straightened his legs and the cuffs around his ankles bit into tender skin, but he didn't feel the insignificant pain because of the excruciating agony probing like a giant blunt needle into his navel. The pain dug deeper, skewered through his spine and exploded out the top of his head. With a strained groan, he pulled the rod from his navel. His arms collapsed to open at his sides and the metal spike fell from his numb fingers to the wooden floor with a muffled thud of sound. Without the rod to hold it in place, the flange slid down the slick path of blood covering Buck's side and dropped with a metal clank to the ground.
Darkness tinged his vision and he closed his eyes. Air rushed in and out of his body and he wished for nothing more than to be able to live without breathing. The life giving movements of pulling oxygen into his lungs expanded his ribs and flattened his belly, pounding the open sore wound in his navel with every breath. He drifted, floating on top of the pain, afraid of drowning if he opened his eyes.
"Buck?" The plaintive voice pulled him back. Consciousness held the agony he knew it would but he opened his eyes and turned his head. JD was watching him; his eyes wide and filled with worry.
"S'okay, JD."
The young man smiled tentatively and lowered his head back to the table.
With a heavy sigh that hurt, Buck lifted his head and gazed down at himself. His abdominal muscles quivered with weakness. The thought of sitting up and removing the cuffs from around his ankles filled him with wretched despair. The alternative of remaining while Set and Loki "experimented" more on he and JD was enough to push him upright. He rolled sideways to clear the machine, then sat up. He had to bend nearly double to avoid the metal contraption overhead and reach his ankles. The unwanted pressure against his belly nearly brought the darkness back but he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and gathered his resolve.
There was enough room left on the table beside the half moon to allow him to remain seated and remove the cuffs. His fingers were clumsy, nearly numb with fatigue, but he finally managed to unfasten the leather and slide his feet free. It felt so good to be unfettered but he didn't stop to enjoy the release. Instead, he slowly pushed himself off the table. His knees nearly buckled when his weight settled on his legs. He supported himself against the table and fought to keep his balance. He lifted a trembling hand to his belly and pressed his fingers against the weeping wound in his navel. The pressure hurt and he dropped his hand back to his side.
Lifting his head, he crossed the distance to JD's table with short, shuffling steps. He had to rest a minute and catch his breath before talking to JD. His weakness worried him. He wondered what chance in hell they had of making it out of this mess alive.
"Okay, let's see how they got you set up, partner." Holding his breath against the pain he knew his movements would cause, he bent over slightly to peer under the nail table above JD's middle. The holding pin was set about midway down the metal rod. Imagining the entire length pushed into a man's belly set his teeth on edge and he had no doubt that's exactly what their captors had in mind.
Straightening slowly, he shuffled to the head of the table. "First things first." He reached for the cuffs holding JD to the table. The leather was stained with sweat and blood. Unfastening JD's cuffs, Buck noticed the blood and torn skin on his own wrists. Ignoring his injuries for the moment, he succeeded in freeing JD. The young man's hands went immediately to his belly.
"Hold on, JD." Buck made his shuffling way to the foot of the table and released JD's ankles. His shoulders slumped with weariness and he was finding it more difficult by the moment to keep his groans from scratching out of his throat. The throb of hot agony in his belly was constant.
He moved back to the nail table over JD's middle. The young man had rested his hands at his sides and his fingers curled with pain into the wood. His eyes were shut and sweat glistened on his pale face, beading heavy over his lip and across his forehead.
Buck leaned over to look at the underside of the board. The holding pin was flush against the wood with no room for maneuvering. Grasping one of the four bolts holding the nail board to the table, he strained to loosen it. The metal was locked tight, put into place by a strong man who hadn't been suffering through pain. When he realized what would have to be done to free his friend, Buck felt cold with shock. Bracing himself on JD's table, he placed his other hand on the top of the nail board. "JD."
The young man opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to lick his lips. "It's bad, idn't it?"
Buck pressed his lips together. "I ain't gonna lie to you, kid. This ain't gonna be easy." He glanced at the rod pushing into JD's belly then turned his head to look over his shoulder. Holding still for a moment, he let himself listen to the silence. His head told him it was early morning, probably just past midnight. He had no way of knowing what their captors' routine was, but his gut instinct told him they would be up early. This had to be done now and it had to be done quickly.
Grimly, he turned to face JD. "That rod's in there good, JD. There's no give in the pin. I'm gonna hafta push it in to get that pin out."
JD's eyes widened. "Can't you just take the thing offa me?"
Buck's mouth worked and his nostrils flared. He wanted to shout at someone, punch his fist into someone's face or take a gun and blow the nail board to bits. JD trusted him to get both of them out of this. But in order to do it, he was going to have to hurt him. That not only went against his nature, it created a bottomless hole of despair inside his soul and he fell screaming down into the abyss. Turning a deaf ear to the wail of grief inside his heart, he looked at JD and shook his head.
"No, I can't. They're too tight and I can't get them loose." The admission turned him cold.
"Try again, Buck, I bet if we both --" JD reached for one of the bolts but stopped short of his goal. He shut his eyes and curled his hands around the rod in his navel. His breathing thickened and rasped harsh through his mouth.
Buck placed his hands over JD's and squeezed. After a moment the young man's breathing calmed and JD opened his eyes.
"Do what you gotta do, Buck."
The older man felt his mouth press into a tight bloodless line. He'd be damned if he'd let JD's trust down. With a quick nod, he gently pulled JD's hands away from his belly. The pain in his navel had quieted down to a dull roar as if JD's pain drowned his own out.
Setting his teeth, he reached under the board and got a firm hold on the pin. He reached for the top of the rod with his other hand and braced the side of his wrists against the surface of the nail board. He looked at JD. The young man took several shallow breaths. He tucked his chin against his chest and locked his eyes with Buck's intense stare. Slowly, he reached for Buck's wrists that held the pin and wrapped slender fingers around the older man's bony joint. After an endless moment, he squeezed.
Buck gathered his strength and breath with one long pull, then bared down hard on the rod. It lowered, pressing deeper into JD's body. The strange feeling of penetration vibrated through the rod and he felt his stomach tighten with nausea. He saw the kid's eyes open wide and his face grow red with strain. His mouth dropped open but no sound emerged.
With an abruptness too sudden to recall, the pin slackened inside the hole and Buck pulled. It came free and he released the pressure on the rod. The thin metal spike rose slightly and he quickly pulled it out. JD arched helplessly into the pain, his grip on Buck's wrist maddeningly tight. The kid collapsed back to the table and his eyes rolled back in his head. Buck grasped his forearms and moved to the head of the table. Locking his feet against the floor, he pulled and slid JD's body from under the nail board. His gut tightened, reawakening the agony in his belly but he pulled harder. His feet slid out from under him and JD tumbled from the table, crashing into Buck and dropping them both to the floor.
When Buck fought his way through the darkness he blinked his eyes open. He strained to look over the table. The window revealed the gray square of coming dawn. Panic reached deep inside and forced him to his knees. Blood had dried around his navel and his movements pulled the skin apart, reopening the wound. His cried out and pressed a hand to his belly. JD lay next to him, a tangled mess of limbs. The kid's abdomen held dark bruises and his navel was hidden beneath a dark scab of dried blood.
Lightly tapping JD's face, Buck whispered fiercely to him, hoping his urgency would get through quicker than the words. "JD! We gotta get out of here! Wake up!"
The youth groaned and sluggishly opened his eyes. When he caught sight of Buck, his eyes widened and he glanced around the room. He grasped Buck's arm and the two of them struggled to their feet. Groaning, bend double with arms wrapped around each other and around their bellies, they staggered to the window. Other than the door leading into the other part of the house, it was the only way out.
A small shelf sat conveniently beneath the windowsill. Buck helped JD to the top of the structure and tried to aid in his balance while the young man pulled himself out. Their breathing was loud and huffing through the quiet room and strained groans tightened their wounds painfully. JD's feet disappeared through the opening. Buck pulled himself with difficulty to the window and awkwardly pushed his way through. He hit the ground with a hard thump and lay stiff for a moment, one hand clutched to his gut. Warm blood pooled beneath his palm and slid wet and sticky between his fingers.
"Buck -- gotta -- keep -- goin' --"
JD's quite admonition pulled him from the dark well of pain he'd been sinking into. He opened his eyes and found the young man kneeling beside him. JD was on his hands and knees, his body curled over in pain. His hair hung in lank strands around his pale face and his abdomen pumped with his breathing.
Nodding in agreement, Buck silently pulled up from the ground. He kept the immediate thoughts of leaving the house behind in the front of his mind. The more distant adventure of walking through miles of woods and prairie to reach home pushed through, demanding attention, but he steadfastly ignored it. One step at a time. They were free, and that was the important part. Getting home would have to wait.
Sparing one arm to hang onto JD, Buck led the way into the surrounding woods. Dawn was siphoning away the night, lighting the sky and stealing their chances of escape with every moment. The need to flee was like a wailing howl in his head and he struggled to answer the call, determined to get he and JD to safety, or die trying.
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