He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing. He realized he was laying on a very hard, very cold floor. He slowly sat up, trying to figure out where the hell he was.
'Thank God! I was worried they'd killed you and just left you there.'
He turned towards the voice and looked over to see Jeremy with his hands and ankles tied.
“What the hell?” He hurried over and after quite a bit of cursing he managed to get the other boys hands undone and then helped him with the bindings around his legs.
“What happened? Where are we?” He finally took the time to look around and let the situation sink in. He felt his heart drop as he looked around the tiny room that seemed almost like a metal cell. “No….” He ran his hands over his face. “No, no no. Not again.”
Jeremy looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, Mitch. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late.”
He should have said it was ok, that it wasn’t his fault, but all he could think about at that moment was Scott. “He was finally getting better. Things were good, we were finally fucking happy.” His shoulders slumped as he slid down the wall, already giving up.
“We’re gonna get out of here. You’ll get back to him. We’re going to be okay. They won’t just leave us here.”
Mitch shook his head, the cold metal on the back of his hair giving him goosebumps. “Even if we do somehow manage to survive this, and we somehow get out of here and get to go back home, it won’t even matter. Scott isn’t going to be able to just bounce back from this again. He’s never going to be the same. Scott's gone.” He looked down, picking at a thread on his jeans. “I’m sorry he dragged you into this. Kirstie is probably going out of her mind right now.”
Jeremy looked like he might cry, but he knew he needed to stay strong, not only for himself but for his friend who had already been through this hell once before. He knew Kirstie was strong and strong-willed. She would be ok, no matter what happened. He just hated that she had to go through it.
He was amazed that after everything he’d been through that Mitch was so calm, but it also bothered him that he’d seemed to already give up.
“I’ll get you back to her. Somehow.”
He gave the other man a weak smile. “And I’ll get you back to Scott… somehow.”
______
He couldn’t deal with it. Kirstie’s crying was driving him insane. He felt like he was suffocating. The FBI was back, and the familiar faces just were not very comforting. Scott’s phone had been confiscated again along with Kirstie’s and it was giving him anxiety like nothing else. They’d all been relocated to some ‘safe house’ in the middle of God knows where and he could feel the tension radiating from everyone.
It was making him crazy. He wanted his phone back. No one had called and asked for anything yet, no demands, no requests, no contact at all. He knew it didn’t bode well. At least if the psycho was trying to torture Scott then they knew he had a reason to keep him alive. What if he was just dead somewhere? What if he never found him and that was what that bastard meant to do, leave Scott in limbo forever, never knowing what happened to him, never having closure.
He picked at the skin on his bottom lip, leg bouncing with nerves.
Mitch had already been through so much, too much. This wasn’t fair.
He’d let his guard down and he’d lost the man he loved more than anything. What was he going to do without him? He already felt a giant void inside of him, he wasn’t sure he could continue on without him by his side.
What now?
-----
The days passed, he couldn’t sleep. They’d let him go home after the apartment had been thoroughly searched for any kind of monitoring devices. They gave him back his phone but he was sure they were tracking the information to and from. Luke, Avi and Kevin were alternating staying with Kirstie and helping with Olaf. They kept trying to get Scott to go over there, to be around people, but he just couldn’t do it. His parents tried to come stay with him, Mitch’s parents as well… but he just couldn’t. He needed to feel closer to Mitch and all the people, all the noise, all the smells would distract him from that. He didn’t want distraction, he wanted focus.
He kept living, kept existing, but he was just going through the motions. His mind remained only in one place.
After day 8 the security detail outside of his apartment finally let up. He lay in Mitch’s bed, curled up in his covers, his stuffed animals in his arms. He didn’t lay on his pillow, didn’t want it to stop smelling like him, so he just laid next to it.
Wyatt didn’t seem to understand what was happening, why he was there and Mitch wasn’t, but mostly he was picking up on Scott’s heartbreak, sadness and fear. He stayed close, always right behind Scott everywhere he went. He constantly curled up right on Mitch’s pillow and Scott couldn't help but break down every single time.
Every moment that passed without Mitch there with him he lost a bit more hope. Every day that went by with no demands, no taunts, no indication at all of what he wanted Mitch for or what he was going to do with him or to him… chipped away just a bit more at his heart. He wanted to drink, to find some way to escape for just a while, but every time he brought a glass or a bottle to his lips he thought of Mitch and what would happen if there was finally contact and he was too drunk to do anything about it.
He was nearing his end. The not knowing was killing him. There were too many what ifs and if something didn’t happen soon he was going to completely lose his mind.
___
Day13
He went to Starbucks, just like every morning. He bought two drinks, just like every morning. He ate his breakfast and watched Spongebob just because Mitch would… every. morning. He cried into his hands…
...just like every other morning.
But today was different. Today there was a knock on his door.
He figured it was one of the agents or one of his friends checking on him, but what if it wasn't? What if they were here to tell him he was gone? What if they'd found him and he was dead?
No. He refused to even entertain the idea so he forced himself to turn the knob, but there was no one there on the other side. Instead he found a package there on the ground.
He didn’t know what to think as he quickly ripped it open and found… Mitch’s old phone, the one that had originally disappeared when Olivier had.
He held it in his hand as he closed the door behind him.
It was strange, but as it began to ring he finally felt… hope.
----------
13 days of captivity, of worry, of hunger.
Thankfully he and Mitch had been moved to much better accommodations. They’d gone from cold metal storage container to a really dingy room with a bed but no windows and no way out. At least there was a bathroom.
Even with showers they both reeked pretty hardcore.
He tried to get Mitch to talk, but he just didn’t seem to want to do anything but stare at the wall.
They were fed once a day, poptarts of all things. They were drinking water from the sink in the bathroom. It really could have been worse, but it really could have been better.
They were left to their own devices mostly, except when they’d moved them and he’d been stuck in this room alone for hours before they finally tossed Mitch's small, unconscious body in to join him once again.
He didn’t want to know what they’d done to him in the meantime, but he worried that Mitch was slipping away. The man with the sassy mouth, always a word or 20 to toss into a conversation, was silent. It was disheartening.
He found himself sleeping most of the time away, dreaming of his girl and his puppy waiting back home for him. He missed them, missed Olaf’s crazy energy, Kirstie’s smile. He tried to stay strong, to remain positive, but your mind starts to play tricks on you when you’re trapped like this, with barely any human interaction, with no indication of what time or day it was.
His stomach had cramped up a few days ago, but the constant pain was gone now. Now he was just left with silence and the shell of what used to be his friend.
Now was the time to get creative. He had to think of something.
____
"Is he dead?" He couldn't stop himself. He knew he shouldn't be so eager, but he needed to know. He could hear him laughing and wanted to crawl through the phone and strangle him.
"That would be far too easy, my friend."
"What do you want me to do? I'll do it."
"Always so accommodating, aren't you."
"Just tell me and I'll do it."
"In due time, Scott. All in due time. No uniforms this time, this is between you and me. I'll be in touch."
He nearly collapsed when the line went dead.