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“You may have escaped once, doctor. But you will not make it out this time.”
Morphling’s smile stretched across his face as he slammed his fists into Grian’s torso again and again.
Grian tries to get away, desperately-but can’t.
Not with the roots digging into his lower legs and arms, keeping him trapped against the chair. He screams and Morphling continues to punch him, now punching all over his body as he starts to talk.
“You know how to stop this. Just tell me Ringmaster’s name, and all of this will stop. You can end this.”
Grian squeezes his eyes shut, trying to escape mentally, but then a punch hits his face. Really hard. Grian’s head snaps back and he gratefully falls into the inky black of unconsciousness.
He wakes up with a scream, jolting awake to be in a hospital bed, with an IV attached. The white room felt unfamiliar, causing Grian to panic even more. Not only that, but someone that looks like Scar is sitting right next to him, reaching out with worry etched into his face.
Grian tries to back away, toppling from the hospital bed. The IV needle in his arm is yanked out and he starts to bleed. He lets out an involuntary scream as his ribs scream from the jostling and pressure on them, and Scar rushes to his side.
“Grian! Grian, are you ok???” Grian wants to say no, relax in his arms, but he knows that if the Gs could have had one fake Scar, they can have more. So he just tiredly answers,
“I’m not going to tell you anything. You don’t have to-“ he cuts himself off with a coughing fit, his ribs flaring with pain. Eventually, after sitting up, he manages to control his breathing.
He continues, “Go ahead. Just beat me up. Electrocute me, punch me, feed me drugs. Just please. Please stop pretending to be him.”
Fake Scar’s face crumbles, and he pleads, “Grian I promise. Ask me anything that only I would know, and I’ll answer.”
Grian asks, “What did Ringmaster say right before he kissed me?” And Fake Scar’s face softens just a little as he answers,
“Forgive me for what I’m about to do.” Grian’s eyes widen and he can feel tears running down his face. God, he misses Scar. He misses a time where he could smile and laugh and be with his boyfriend. But you aren’t! He reminds himself. You can’t trust them.
They could’ve found that out-Morphling could have heard it from his perch in the tree.
Fake Scar tries to reach out again but Grian scoots away the best he can, his body screaming in protest. Scar tries to calm Grian down by telling him,
“Grian. You’re okay. You have been in the Agency for a couple of days, healing. The Gs are gone. I’m here, my name is Scar.”
Grian gasps, terrified. The only way that the Gs could have figured that out is if he had told them, or they captured Scar. And if they captured Scar, Necromancer could control him! Or Grian betrayed his friends, his boyfriend…
As Grian spirals, his breaths become shallower and faster, not getting enough oxygen in his brain. He wasn’t even sure which would be better, betraying his friends or Scar getting captured. Both are horrible. Both are HIS FAULT. Fake Scar who might be real softly takes Grian’s hand, causing his entire body to jolt, then tense up.
Fake Scar softly traces the lines on Grian’s hand, telling him, “It’s ok, Grian. You’re okay.” Grian suddenly needs to explain to Fake Scar why he’s wrong.
“No no no I’m not ok. The only way you could know his name is if he was captured and tortured too or if I finally told you and I don’t know what to do because everything was my fault!!!” Scar’s eyes widen, and his voice suddenly becomes a little more strangled.
“Grian, they…they tortured you for information?” Grian just tells him, “You know that. You helped. Please, please stop pretending to be him.”
Scar just tells him, “You learned Jimmy’s name when Liz accidentally said it, but you called him Timmy afterwards. Next, you learned my name while you were drunk, and then stared at me blushing for like 10 minutes. You learned Lizzie’s name last, accidentally looking at her texts from her boyfriend, Joel. Is there anything else I could do to convince you that I’m me?”
Grian just trembles in the corner, waiting for the act to end. Scar just gently takes his hand, ignoring his gasp and tensing up, and softly traces patterns into it.
After a couple minutes, Grian manages to calm down. He starts to remember getting out, being reduced, Scar rescuing him. He collapses into Scar’s arms ignoring the pain all over his body, crying.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t trust you. You don’t deserve it, I’m sorry I’m really sorry!!!” Scar interrupts his apology, stating,
“Grian. It’s okay. It’s a very normal trauma response. I love you.” Grian quietly says, “I love you too.” There’s quiet for a moment, until Scar asks, “Earlier you said something about finally telling them my name? I thought they just tortured you to frame us…did they try to get information too?”
Grian curls a little tighter, then says quietly, “Yes. They would punch me, burn me, drug me…every single time I said no. I told them only about the bank robbery, but I swear I didn’t mean to. I-I I mean Necromancer-she-“
Scar, noticing that Grian is starting to panic again, interrupts with, “Grian. You are an untrained civilian, yet you somehow withstood torture that a kind of trained supervillain/hero couldn’t. (Terra) If you told them everything you knew about me, I wouldn’t care.”
“Wh-what?” Grian asks, confused.
Scar repeats, “You suffered through so much. If you had told them anything, anything at all, I wouldn’t have minded.” Grian exhales, and relaxes into Scar’s arms. Soon, he finds himself slipping away to sleep.