I.O.U
Title: I.O.U.
Author: forcryinoutloud
Rating: PG
Summary: “What can I say? The hospitality was too good to refuse.”
Notes: Written for trobadora
“Son of a bitch,” Brendan snapped, breaking into a jog when he saw his front door ajar. Inside the place was trashed, furniture over-turned, books and papers all over the floor, TV smashed…and Emmett was no where in sight.
They’d been chasing Roland for four months now and were no closer to finding him. He always seemed one step ahead and recently he’d made it his mission to break Brendan by any means necessary-and that apparently meant going after his roommate.
Freya was behind him, slightly winded and wild eyed as she looked around the apartment. He heard her hitched intake of breath and was at her side in seconds, staring down at a pool of blood. His own blood ran cold, his stomach clenching in anger and fear. “If that bastard has…”
“We’ll find Emmett, Brendan.” Freya soothed quietly, a hand on his arm as she tugged him towards the door. “Let Jones’ team check the apartment out.”
Brendan pulled his arm from her grasp, striding towards the door and down the front steps. He got in his car and pressed his foot to the gas pedal, flooring it, his tires squealing as he left the parking lot. He could see Freya in his rear view mirror, arms crossed, mouth set in a tight straight line. He didn’t have time to worry about her right now-he needed to find Emmett.
--
“What the hell do you want with me?” Emmett demanded, blindfold blocking out all light. He turned his head at the sound of steps on his right, tensing at the silence. He wasn’t braced for the fist that snapped his head back but he supposed in hindsight he should have been. It wasn’t like his abductors had been gentle in the first place.
He spit out blood, his tongue skimming the cut on his lip. “Well that wasn’t called for,” he sniped, bracing for another blow that didn’t come. Instead, just behind him, he heard a low throaty chuckle. Swallowing thickly, wincing at the coppery taste in his mouth he tilted his head to the side, hands clenching into fists. “So do I get to know why I was abducted or is that part of the surprise?”
“Your partner got too cocky,” the voice, still low and gravelly said matter of fact. “And you get to pay the price.”
Emmett frowned. “My partner?” He shifted in the seat, fingers curling around the rope binding him. “Look, I don’t have a partner. I work alone-I’m a herpetologist. Obviously you have me mistaken for someone else. Now if you untie me we can pretend this never happened.”
This time it was a backhand snapping his head back and he swore at the sting, spitting out more blood. The disembodied voice snorted. “Don’t play dumb, Doctor, it’s not a good look for you. We know all about you and Agent Dean.”
“Brendan?” Emmett slumped in the seat. “I cannot believe this shit. Look,” he snapped, raising his head to face front and center. “I don’t know what the hell you think you know but Brendan is not my partner, he’s just my fucking roommate.”
Emmett gasped in pain as his head was yanked back, the hand in his hair tight and unforgiving. “Come now Doctor,” the voice hissed in his ear. “We’ve done some digging.” Emmett’s head was yanked back further, a hand suddenly on his crotch, gripping him painfully. “We know how much you both like cock, faggot.” Emmett clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath through his nose before spitting in the general direction of the voice.
The punch to the gut he got in return was totally expected.
--
Roland was surprisingly easy to find. Brendan figured that probably should have set off the warning bells.
He groaned, rolling to the side and pushing himself into a seated position. His ribs hurt, his head was pounding and he could still taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
“So nice of you to join us,” Roland sneered above him. It took some blinking but eventually Brendan’s eyesight settled, the double vision clearing after a few moments. He grinned up at Roland, wiping the trickle of blood from his mouth.
“What can I say? The hospitality was too good to refuse.” Brendan stumbled to his feet, wary that Roland didn’t have him bound but definitely not complaining. “Where’s Emmett?”
Roland bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin. “Oh he’s fine-for now.” He took a step back and for the first time Brendan noticed the open door and the two goons standing outside it. “Make yourself comfortable,” Roland sneered. “The show will be starting soon.”
A shiver ran down Brendan’s spine. “Fuck.”
--
Emmett blinked as the light burned his eyes when his captors removed the blindfold. “Back so soon?”
The goons had left him a while ago. Blindfolded he couldn’t tell the passage of time and as he blinked the room into view he realized even without the blindfold he wouldn’t have been able to. The room was dark and dingy most likely an old abandoned warehouse somewhere in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere. Fantastic. He was absolutely going to kick Brendan’s ass for getting him into this.
“We have a surprise for you, Doctor.” An ugly man in his mid to late thirties, greasy hair, bad clothes, scar above his right eye that left him disfigured, said to him full of false cheer.
“Another one?” Emmett quipped, trying not to squirm too much. “That’s very generous but I couldn’t, really-save it for someone else.”
The man smirked at him, nodding slightly and suddenly two men were beside him. His hands were untied and he was yanked from the chair. The brief feeling of joy at being released was short lived as the goon on the left sucker punched him sending him to his knees. The goon on the right proceeded to deliver half a dozen vicious kicks to Emmett’s ribs and stomach before he was once again hauled to his feet.
‘Slick’ (which Emmett had decided to call him in his head) moved closer, the two goons holding Emmett propped between them. He tilted Emmett’s head to the side, tsking at the obvious damage before landing another half dozen successive punches to Emmett’s stomach and face.
Pulling out a handkerchief and wiping away the blood from his knuckles, ‘Slick’ motioned towards the door. “Throw him in with our other guest.”
--
Brendan tensed when he heard the lock sliding back on the door, ready to make his escape attempt but the moment the door was opened he found his arms full of a bloodied and bruised missing roommate. “Jesus, Emmett,” Brendan breathed, lowering his friend to the floor of their make-shift prison. “What did they do to you?”
Through swollen eyes Brendan could just make out a sliver of blue. “I’d think that was rather obvious, Agent Dean,” Emmett rasped. Brendan helped him sit up, bracing him against his chest. “You know, if I could actually move right now,” Emmett continued, voice barely above a whisper, “I would kick your ass.”
Brendan laughed, settling Emmett more comfortably against him. “I’ll consider it an IOU.” He swallowed thickly, his stomach turning at the sight of Emmett’s battered body. “They did quite a number on you. You going to be okay?” Brendan asked quietly.
“What, this?” Emmett tried to wave his hand, giving up mid-movement. “Just a couple bruises,” he continued, eyes closing. “Give me a couple minutes and I’ll be ready for round three.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” Brendan sighed, shifting them a little more so he could lean against the wall.
“Well it wasn’t exactly what I’d signed on for when I agreed to move in with you.” Emmett agreed with a smirk, wincing at the pull on his split lip. “And I definitely think I should get at least a month’s free rent out of this.”
Brendan snorted, shaking his head as he patted Emmett’s arm. “You got it,” he said.
“Hey,” Emmett said, chuckling a little, his arm going to his ribs. “Did you know we’re partners?”
“What?” Brendan frowned, looking down at the man propped against him.
Emmett nodded, eyes slitting open again. “That’s what ‘Slick’ thinks-why he had his goons grab me.”
“You don’t even work for the NSA,” Brendan said in confusion.
Emmett licked his lips, grinning a little. “That’s what I said-apparently that’s not the kind of partner he meant.”
Brendan blinked, brow furrowing more before his eyes widened comically. “Oh. Oh.”
Emmett snorted. “Yeah. How crazy is that?”
Brendan swallowed again because honestly he’d been attracted to Emmett from the beginning but had held back for various reasons that all added up to him being a coward. He knew how bad he was at relationships and Emmett was a great guy, had become a great friend and Brendan really didn’t want to ruin that. “Yeah, crazy,” he whispered, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes for a minute.
Emmett was quiet long enough that Brendan thought he might have passed out but then he shifted, groaning at the movement, tilting his head to meet Brendan’s eyes. “But then I started thinking,” Emmett continued as if he hadn’t stopped talking before.
“Thinking?” Brendan asked quietly.
“That maybe it isn’t so crazy…”
Emmett was cut off as the door was flung open and both men turned to stare in surprise at Freya. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Brendan.” Freya grinned, moving towards them.
“How did you find us?” Emmett rasped.
Freya knelt in front of him, her hand cupping his cheek gently, wincing in sympathy. “Roland isn’t really all that bright,” she grinned. “He wasn’t that hard to find.”
“Where is he now?” Brendan asked, his jaw clenched tightly. Freya’s eyes snapped to his, her brow furrowing at the images she saw floating in his mind.
“We got him, Brendan,” she said quietly. “He’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.”
Brendan looked away, hands involuntarily squeezing Emmett before he took a shuddering breath. “Emmett needs to get to the hospital.”
“You both do,” she said wryly, alerting the waiting paramedics to their location. She glanced between them both, breaking into a large grin. “I should probably go make sure the medics can find you.” She winked at Brendan before moving quickly towards the door and out of the room.
“That will never stop being freaky,” Emmett said, leaning his head back against Brendan’s chest.
Brendan grinned, leaning closer to Emmett. “Not so crazy huh?”
Emmett turned, his crooked mouth curling slightly. “I’d show you just how not crazy but I just had the shit beat out of me and I can’t feel my lips anymore.”
Pressing his forehead to Emmett’s Brendan grinned. “I’ll consider it an IOU.”
Author: forcryinoutloud
Rating: PG
Summary: “What can I say? The hospitality was too good to refuse.”
Notes: Written for trobadora
“Son of a bitch,” Brendan snapped, breaking into a jog when he saw his front door ajar. Inside the place was trashed, furniture over-turned, books and papers all over the floor, TV smashed…and Emmett was no where in sight.
They’d been chasing Roland for four months now and were no closer to finding him. He always seemed one step ahead and recently he’d made it his mission to break Brendan by any means necessary-and that apparently meant going after his roommate.
Freya was behind him, slightly winded and wild eyed as she looked around the apartment. He heard her hitched intake of breath and was at her side in seconds, staring down at a pool of blood. His own blood ran cold, his stomach clenching in anger and fear. “If that bastard has…”
“We’ll find Emmett, Brendan.” Freya soothed quietly, a hand on his arm as she tugged him towards the door. “Let Jones’ team check the apartment out.”
Brendan pulled his arm from her grasp, striding towards the door and down the front steps. He got in his car and pressed his foot to the gas pedal, flooring it, his tires squealing as he left the parking lot. He could see Freya in his rear view mirror, arms crossed, mouth set in a tight straight line. He didn’t have time to worry about her right now-he needed to find Emmett.
--
“What the hell do you want with me?” Emmett demanded, blindfold blocking out all light. He turned his head at the sound of steps on his right, tensing at the silence. He wasn’t braced for the fist that snapped his head back but he supposed in hindsight he should have been. It wasn’t like his abductors had been gentle in the first place.
He spit out blood, his tongue skimming the cut on his lip. “Well that wasn’t called for,” he sniped, bracing for another blow that didn’t come. Instead, just behind him, he heard a low throaty chuckle. Swallowing thickly, wincing at the coppery taste in his mouth he tilted his head to the side, hands clenching into fists. “So do I get to know why I was abducted or is that part of the surprise?”
“Your partner got too cocky,” the voice, still low and gravelly said matter of fact. “And you get to pay the price.”
Emmett frowned. “My partner?” He shifted in the seat, fingers curling around the rope binding him. “Look, I don’t have a partner. I work alone-I’m a herpetologist. Obviously you have me mistaken for someone else. Now if you untie me we can pretend this never happened.”
This time it was a backhand snapping his head back and he swore at the sting, spitting out more blood. The disembodied voice snorted. “Don’t play dumb, Doctor, it’s not a good look for you. We know all about you and Agent Dean.”
“Brendan?” Emmett slumped in the seat. “I cannot believe this shit. Look,” he snapped, raising his head to face front and center. “I don’t know what the hell you think you know but Brendan is not my partner, he’s just my fucking roommate.”
Emmett gasped in pain as his head was yanked back, the hand in his hair tight and unforgiving. “Come now Doctor,” the voice hissed in his ear. “We’ve done some digging.” Emmett’s head was yanked back further, a hand suddenly on his crotch, gripping him painfully. “We know how much you both like cock, faggot.” Emmett clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath through his nose before spitting in the general direction of the voice.
The punch to the gut he got in return was totally expected.
--
Roland was surprisingly easy to find. Brendan figured that probably should have set off the warning bells.
He groaned, rolling to the side and pushing himself into a seated position. His ribs hurt, his head was pounding and he could still taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
“So nice of you to join us,” Roland sneered above him. It took some blinking but eventually Brendan’s eyesight settled, the double vision clearing after a few moments. He grinned up at Roland, wiping the trickle of blood from his mouth.
“What can I say? The hospitality was too good to refuse.” Brendan stumbled to his feet, wary that Roland didn’t have him bound but definitely not complaining. “Where’s Emmett?”
Roland bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin. “Oh he’s fine-for now.” He took a step back and for the first time Brendan noticed the open door and the two goons standing outside it. “Make yourself comfortable,” Roland sneered. “The show will be starting soon.”
A shiver ran down Brendan’s spine. “Fuck.”
--
Emmett blinked as the light burned his eyes when his captors removed the blindfold. “Back so soon?”
The goons had left him a while ago. Blindfolded he couldn’t tell the passage of time and as he blinked the room into view he realized even without the blindfold he wouldn’t have been able to. The room was dark and dingy most likely an old abandoned warehouse somewhere in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere. Fantastic. He was absolutely going to kick Brendan’s ass for getting him into this.
“We have a surprise for you, Doctor.” An ugly man in his mid to late thirties, greasy hair, bad clothes, scar above his right eye that left him disfigured, said to him full of false cheer.
“Another one?” Emmett quipped, trying not to squirm too much. “That’s very generous but I couldn’t, really-save it for someone else.”
The man smirked at him, nodding slightly and suddenly two men were beside him. His hands were untied and he was yanked from the chair. The brief feeling of joy at being released was short lived as the goon on the left sucker punched him sending him to his knees. The goon on the right proceeded to deliver half a dozen vicious kicks to Emmett’s ribs and stomach before he was once again hauled to his feet.
‘Slick’ (which Emmett had decided to call him in his head) moved closer, the two goons holding Emmett propped between them. He tilted Emmett’s head to the side, tsking at the obvious damage before landing another half dozen successive punches to Emmett’s stomach and face.
Pulling out a handkerchief and wiping away the blood from his knuckles, ‘Slick’ motioned towards the door. “Throw him in with our other guest.”
--
Brendan tensed when he heard the lock sliding back on the door, ready to make his escape attempt but the moment the door was opened he found his arms full of a bloodied and bruised missing roommate. “Jesus, Emmett,” Brendan breathed, lowering his friend to the floor of their make-shift prison. “What did they do to you?”
Through swollen eyes Brendan could just make out a sliver of blue. “I’d think that was rather obvious, Agent Dean,” Emmett rasped. Brendan helped him sit up, bracing him against his chest. “You know, if I could actually move right now,” Emmett continued, voice barely above a whisper, “I would kick your ass.”
Brendan laughed, settling Emmett more comfortably against him. “I’ll consider it an IOU.” He swallowed thickly, his stomach turning at the sight of Emmett’s battered body. “They did quite a number on you. You going to be okay?” Brendan asked quietly.
“What, this?” Emmett tried to wave his hand, giving up mid-movement. “Just a couple bruises,” he continued, eyes closing. “Give me a couple minutes and I’ll be ready for round three.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” Brendan sighed, shifting them a little more so he could lean against the wall.
“Well it wasn’t exactly what I’d signed on for when I agreed to move in with you.” Emmett agreed with a smirk, wincing at the pull on his split lip. “And I definitely think I should get at least a month’s free rent out of this.”
Brendan snorted, shaking his head as he patted Emmett’s arm. “You got it,” he said.
“Hey,” Emmett said, chuckling a little, his arm going to his ribs. “Did you know we’re partners?”
“What?” Brendan frowned, looking down at the man propped against him.
Emmett nodded, eyes slitting open again. “That’s what ‘Slick’ thinks-why he had his goons grab me.”
“You don’t even work for the NSA,” Brendan said in confusion.
Emmett licked his lips, grinning a little. “That’s what I said-apparently that’s not the kind of partner he meant.”
Brendan blinked, brow furrowing more before his eyes widened comically. “Oh. Oh.”
Emmett snorted. “Yeah. How crazy is that?”
Brendan swallowed again because honestly he’d been attracted to Emmett from the beginning but had held back for various reasons that all added up to him being a coward. He knew how bad he was at relationships and Emmett was a great guy, had become a great friend and Brendan really didn’t want to ruin that. “Yeah, crazy,” he whispered, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes for a minute.
Emmett was quiet long enough that Brendan thought he might have passed out but then he shifted, groaning at the movement, tilting his head to meet Brendan’s eyes. “But then I started thinking,” Emmett continued as if he hadn’t stopped talking before.
“Thinking?” Brendan asked quietly.
“That maybe it isn’t so crazy…”
Emmett was cut off as the door was flung open and both men turned to stare in surprise at Freya. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Brendan.” Freya grinned, moving towards them.
“How did you find us?” Emmett rasped.
Freya knelt in front of him, her hand cupping his cheek gently, wincing in sympathy. “Roland isn’t really all that bright,” she grinned. “He wasn’t that hard to find.”
“Where is he now?” Brendan asked, his jaw clenched tightly. Freya’s eyes snapped to his, her brow furrowing at the images she saw floating in his mind.
“We got him, Brendan,” she said quietly. “He’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.”
Brendan looked away, hands involuntarily squeezing Emmett before he took a shuddering breath. “Emmett needs to get to the hospital.”
“You both do,” she said wryly, alerting the waiting paramedics to their location. She glanced between them both, breaking into a large grin. “I should probably go make sure the medics can find you.” She winked at Brendan before moving quickly towards the door and out of the room.
“That will never stop being freaky,” Emmett said, leaning his head back against Brendan’s chest.
Brendan grinned, leaning closer to Emmett. “Not so crazy huh?”
Emmett turned, his crooked mouth curling slightly. “I’d show you just how not crazy but I just had the shit beat out of me and I can’t feel my lips anymore.”
Pressing his forehead to Emmett’s Brendan grinned. “I’ll consider it an IOU.”