FIC: Where the bad things are (2/?) HIMYM AU (Changed!Verse)
Part 2
Ted raced down the stairwell of the deserted police station. Barney wasn't far behind him, making the occasional grumble of complaint about the narrowness of the corridors and the number of feathers he'd lost during this mission so far. The place was shrouded in semi-darkness lit by tiny emergency lights at floor level. The power grid in Queens had mostly shut down a month ago.
New York City had descended into barbarism.
There was still a tiny oasis of safety of course, in central Manhattan, where the good folk, (those that had discovered their mutations during the first wave of change), had banded together to protect each other. Not everyone had useful skills and those that did were quickly being co-opted. Even though Barney could fly, his feather-wings were too vulnerable for aerial defense against anything from gorgons to godzillas. The dragons were simply better equipped. Similarly, Ted's talent for walking through walls didn't exactly help many people.
However, they were perfectly suited for rescue missions, which required stealth and smarts.
When Ted got to the holding cells, he gestured at Barney to remain outside while he went ahead and scouted. It was weird how the first couple of times they'd done this, both men had play acted like they were in some kind of movie with loud, dramatic dialogue and gung-ho action. They'd quickly learned that real life wasn't anything like they'd ever seen on TV.
Ted closed his eyes briefly and melted through the wall of the first cell. He could see down the line, rows of bars and bars, but none of them were occupied. Returning to Barney he shook his head and indicated that he'd keep looking. Barney smirked and simply gestured with two fingers to his eyes and Ted's and Ted knew it was a warning: Stay alert and stay focussed.
Quickly working his way through the basement, ears straining for the sound of movement or voices, Ted finally came to an enclosed cell at the end of a corridor and he could hear rustling.
His heart lurched.
Okay, maybe he should go back and get Barney? But if it was Lily - what if she'd been hurt? What if she was dying? Marshall would never forgive-
Ted bit off the thought. Wherever Marshall was now, he doubted he spared a single thought for his wife. If the thing that Marshall had become could think at all?
It was too much. In the last six months Ted had lost forever his best friend and the woman he'd once thought he'd marry, all to a mutant virus that killed indiscriminently and destroyed lives. Now he was stuck in a dingy police station in Queens and he might die here. He had to get Lily back.
Ted took a breath and reached out for the door handle, more out of habit than anything. Before he had time to think about what he was doing, he twisted it and hit the door with a roundhouse kick, slamming it dramatically open.
*--*--*
Lily sobbed, face pressed into the crook of her arm. She cried, even though her chest ached. She cried out of the depths of despair because she was trapped in this awful, waking nightmare. She cried because, even now, the throbbing ache between her legs was getting worse again.
Living like this, on the edge of intense sexual need, yet bombarded with horrific images that paraded across her psyche on an hourly basis - it was quickly eroding her sanity. She knew, with a cold finality, that soon she'd be reduced to the point where he, her captor, her tormentor, would be able to ask her to do anything and she'd comply simply because she would have no rational mind left.
The need inside her was building, he must be closer now, he must be coming to visit her. She even imagined that she heard someone outside, someone moving around outside her cell.
Lily hated his visits.
She'd tried so hard, every time, to resist him. Sometimes she managed it, although the agony she experienced was excruciating. It felt like every nerve ending was on fire when he was near. It felt like her clit was swelling fit to burst, like it was suddenly the size of a man's penis. It felt like her nipples were ice, so sensitive that even the thin fabric of her dirty shirt brushing against them made her moan.
At times, she almost begged him to fuck her.
She hated how he'd smile down at her, knowing what he was doing to her. She hated the questions he's ask, about things that were happening over on the other side of the river. She hated when he asked her about her friends, her visions of lives destroyed by the Change.
She hated that he made her scream, how he seemed to enjoy getting the scraps of information he'd managed to torture from her weakened body.
Soon, Lily knew, soon she'd be utterly and completely his.
"Marshall," she said, hot, fat tears rolling down her face yet again. She was amazed that she still had enough moisture in her to cry. She prayed for death, because rescue seemed so unthinkable.
Then, without warning, the door to the cell crashed open and she screamed.
*--*--*
"Marshall?" Ted yelped, stumbling backwards and falling right through the wall behind him to land on his ass in the corridor outside.
There was a noise and a battering-thump behind him and when Ted looked up, there was Barney, quickly reaching down and pulling him to his feet. Barney had a gun in his hand.
"Dude! Where did you get that?" Ted yelped.
"The guard, you doofus. I heard a scream. What the hell's going on?"
Ted gestured to the open cell door and the man standing in the middle of the tiny room.
"Marshall? Where the hell is Lily?" Barney said, stepping closer. Ted grabbed the back of one wing and yanked him back, his hand coming away with one dirty feather.
"Jeez, careful!" Barney complained. "Marshall?"
The tall man in the cell turned to face them. He was hunched over and his face was composed but sad. He was very definitely human, not the ravening monster he'd been when he'd Changed.
The walls inside the cell, every one, and most of the floor, were covered in scratches, gouges and rust-colored filth. There was a nasty, iron-tinged scent in the air.
"Oh my god," Ted said, stepping back, as he saw his former friend's golden eyes turn towards them.
"Close the door, dude!" Barney barked at him, trying to push past him. "Close the god damn door! Don't let him get out!"
But Marshall was already blocking the doorway and when Barney fired the gun into him at point blank range, Ted shrank back, sprawling across the floor and coughing at the stench of blood and cordite.
Marshall was still standing.
Slowly, he reached forward and grabbed the gun out of Barney's hands. The smaller man looked up and him and gulped. Ironically, all Ted could think was that, okay, there were worst places to die. And at least the bad guys hadn't set up base in New Jersey.
Part Three
Ted raced down the stairwell of the deserted police station. Barney wasn't far behind him, making the occasional grumble of complaint about the narrowness of the corridors and the number of feathers he'd lost during this mission so far. The place was shrouded in semi-darkness lit by tiny emergency lights at floor level. The power grid in Queens had mostly shut down a month ago.
New York City had descended into barbarism.
There was still a tiny oasis of safety of course, in central Manhattan, where the good folk, (those that had discovered their mutations during the first wave of change), had banded together to protect each other. Not everyone had useful skills and those that did were quickly being co-opted. Even though Barney could fly, his feather-wings were too vulnerable for aerial defense against anything from gorgons to godzillas. The dragons were simply better equipped. Similarly, Ted's talent for walking through walls didn't exactly help many people.
However, they were perfectly suited for rescue missions, which required stealth and smarts.
When Ted got to the holding cells, he gestured at Barney to remain outside while he went ahead and scouted. It was weird how the first couple of times they'd done this, both men had play acted like they were in some kind of movie with loud, dramatic dialogue and gung-ho action. They'd quickly learned that real life wasn't anything like they'd ever seen on TV.
Ted closed his eyes briefly and melted through the wall of the first cell. He could see down the line, rows of bars and bars, but none of them were occupied. Returning to Barney he shook his head and indicated that he'd keep looking. Barney smirked and simply gestured with two fingers to his eyes and Ted's and Ted knew it was a warning: Stay alert and stay focussed.
Quickly working his way through the basement, ears straining for the sound of movement or voices, Ted finally came to an enclosed cell at the end of a corridor and he could hear rustling.
His heart lurched.
Okay, maybe he should go back and get Barney? But if it was Lily - what if she'd been hurt? What if she was dying? Marshall would never forgive-
Ted bit off the thought. Wherever Marshall was now, he doubted he spared a single thought for his wife. If the thing that Marshall had become could think at all?
It was too much. In the last six months Ted had lost forever his best friend and the woman he'd once thought he'd marry, all to a mutant virus that killed indiscriminently and destroyed lives. Now he was stuck in a dingy police station in Queens and he might die here. He had to get Lily back.
Ted took a breath and reached out for the door handle, more out of habit than anything. Before he had time to think about what he was doing, he twisted it and hit the door with a roundhouse kick, slamming it dramatically open.
*--*--*
Lily sobbed, face pressed into the crook of her arm. She cried, even though her chest ached. She cried out of the depths of despair because she was trapped in this awful, waking nightmare. She cried because, even now, the throbbing ache between her legs was getting worse again.
Living like this, on the edge of intense sexual need, yet bombarded with horrific images that paraded across her psyche on an hourly basis - it was quickly eroding her sanity. She knew, with a cold finality, that soon she'd be reduced to the point where he, her captor, her tormentor, would be able to ask her to do anything and she'd comply simply because she would have no rational mind left.
The need inside her was building, he must be closer now, he must be coming to visit her. She even imagined that she heard someone outside, someone moving around outside her cell.
Lily hated his visits.
She'd tried so hard, every time, to resist him. Sometimes she managed it, although the agony she experienced was excruciating. It felt like every nerve ending was on fire when he was near. It felt like her clit was swelling fit to burst, like it was suddenly the size of a man's penis. It felt like her nipples were ice, so sensitive that even the thin fabric of her dirty shirt brushing against them made her moan.
At times, she almost begged him to fuck her.
She hated how he'd smile down at her, knowing what he was doing to her. She hated the questions he's ask, about things that were happening over on the other side of the river. She hated when he asked her about her friends, her visions of lives destroyed by the Change.
She hated that he made her scream, how he seemed to enjoy getting the scraps of information he'd managed to torture from her weakened body.
Soon, Lily knew, soon she'd be utterly and completely his.
"Marshall," she said, hot, fat tears rolling down her face yet again. She was amazed that she still had enough moisture in her to cry. She prayed for death, because rescue seemed so unthinkable.
Then, without warning, the door to the cell crashed open and she screamed.
*--*--*
"Marshall?" Ted yelped, stumbling backwards and falling right through the wall behind him to land on his ass in the corridor outside.
There was a noise and a battering-thump behind him and when Ted looked up, there was Barney, quickly reaching down and pulling him to his feet. Barney had a gun in his hand.
"Dude! Where did you get that?" Ted yelped.
"The guard, you doofus. I heard a scream. What the hell's going on?"
Ted gestured to the open cell door and the man standing in the middle of the tiny room.
"Marshall? Where the hell is Lily?" Barney said, stepping closer. Ted grabbed the back of one wing and yanked him back, his hand coming away with one dirty feather.
"Jeez, careful!" Barney complained. "Marshall?"
The tall man in the cell turned to face them. He was hunched over and his face was composed but sad. He was very definitely human, not the ravening monster he'd been when he'd Changed.
The walls inside the cell, every one, and most of the floor, were covered in scratches, gouges and rust-colored filth. There was a nasty, iron-tinged scent in the air.
"Oh my god," Ted said, stepping back, as he saw his former friend's golden eyes turn towards them.
"Close the door, dude!" Barney barked at him, trying to push past him. "Close the god damn door! Don't let him get out!"
But Marshall was already blocking the doorway and when Barney fired the gun into him at point blank range, Ted shrank back, sprawling across the floor and coughing at the stench of blood and cordite.
Marshall was still standing.
Slowly, he reached forward and grabbed the gun out of Barney's hands. The smaller man looked up and him and gulped. Ironically, all Ted could think was that, okay, there were worst places to die. And at least the bad guys hadn't set up base in New Jersey.
Part Three