Page 31 of Aftermath

Blood trickled down Austin's arms, jaw, legs, and hairline.

He screamed out, white-hot pain spreading through him in radiating waves, when his arms were twisted and yanked up farther, dislocating his left shoulder.

Next, his other shoulder was pulled out of its socket, too.

"You—you—" Austin coughed and spluttered; he'd bitten his tongue, so blood slowly filled his mouth with a coppery flavor "—goddamn c-coward!" He glared at the shorter man. "You won't fight fair; you w-won't even show your face."

Austin really needed to stop goading him.

Then again, if you thought you were about to die, you wanted some pride restored before you went, right? And Austin did believe this was it for him. His thoughts were filled with memories, the moments in his life he cherished the most. The day his daughter was born, the day he graduated from graduate school and his parents were beaming with pride, the moment Jade announced she was pregnant…

"I will kill you last, Sam. You know why? Because I want to draw it out. Betrayal is the biggest crime, in my opinion."

11

To Cam, it felt like forever before Austin came around. And if this was how Cam acted during an anxiety attack, he couldn’t understand how his family—Austin included—handled it. 'Cause seeing Austin so distressed and completely out of it was fucking painful.

He wondered how aware Austin was of his surroundings—if he knew they were on the patio floor. It was when Austin had nearly fallen over that Cam had guided them both down here. Now he was leaning against the back wall of the house, and he had Austin half-lying in front of him, his head on Cam's naked chest. Over and over, Cam murmured words of no significance to Austin, hoping he was listening. They weren't back in hell. They were here. Safe. Together. No one was gonna torture them.

Cam wasn’t sure if he admired Austin or if he was frustrated with him. Even in the middle of panic and anxiety, the man broke down in silence. He was crying, but he didn’t make a sound. His breaths were shallow and rapid, but there was no plea for help.

"You're safe," he whispered and kissed the top of Austin's head. Reaching down, he threaded their fingers together. "If you hear me, can you please give my hand a squeeze or something?" He needed Austin to be all right, for fuck's sake.Now. He had no patience.

It also infuriated him to think that Austin's wife was a goddamn bitch who wouldn’t help. Not that Cam was sure he wanted that, but technically…she should. Yeah, Cam liked the feeling of being helpful—especially with this man—and there was an odd sense of satisfaction from being the one to whom Austin turned. But he hated that Austin didn’t have any other options.

"Thank Christ," Cam mumbled when Austin gave his hand a weak squeeze. Tears continued to soak Cam's chest, but at this point, he was just relieved. Austin evidently needed this, and Cam was determined to be the strong one this time. "I'm here," he murmured, slightly uncomfortable. Not with Austin, per se, but displays of affection weren’t Cam's forte. He wanted strict directions on how to help; now he was doing this blindly, not knowing what worked.

"S-sorry," Austin croaked minutes later.

Cam rolled his eyes, as he didn’t see the big deal. There was no reason to apologize. "Shut the fuck up and cry or whatever." He winced, regretting his wording. "I meant what I said." He cleared his throat. "I'm here—for you. And, um, you don’t have to be so fucking strong all the time." Okay. He exhaled. That was a little better. He hoped. Then he remembered the shrink's words about letting it all out—it was healthy and shit. And Austin had made Cam do that, too. "You're supposed to talk about it," he said quietly. "What were you remembering?" Austin let out a shuddering breath and began to sit up, but Cam didn’t let go. "Fuck that. Stay here." He wrapped his arms around Austin's shoulders. "If not for you, then for me."

Austin seemed relieved as he melted into Cam's arms. He was clearly not used to leaning on others—physically or metaphorically. He didn’t ask for help—goddamn masochist. Then again, was Cam any better? Hell, no.

What a fucking pair they made.

"You got shot…" Austin mumbled, which was all he needed to say for Cam to be clued in on what period of time in captivity he was stuck in. "We were so damn helpless."

Cam pressed down his own anxiety and focused on Austin. That time in the cell had been one of the worst, and Austin was right: they'd been helpless. There had been nothing to do to prevent torture and death. All because of one raging lunatic.

Cam hissed in pain as he finally managed to reach his cot. It had taken a solid hour for him to drag himself a few feet and then pull himself up to the cot. His shoulder was burning, a warm trickle of blood steadily oozing out of the front. Only one trickle, which meant there was no exit wound. The bullet was still lodged inside him.

His eyes stung with sweat and silent tears, and he wished he could at least get rid of the motherfucking handcuffs. But his misery aside, he was also worried about Austin. After the shit they had pulled, he had a feeling Psycho wasn’t gonna go easy on Austin.

"You okay, man?" Chase asked.

"Fuckin' peachy," Cam groaned. Everyone already knew what had happened, but a failed attempt at escaping was quickly becoming old news.

Before long, it was Austin's turn to tumble down the uneven stairs, and Cam held his breath, for unknown reasons visibly upset at the thought of his cellmate being tortured. Annoyed, Cam tried to blink back his tears, but they kept rolling down his cheeks. Fucking pussy. He hated showing weakness.

First, the hatch opened, and Psycho peered inside, spotting Cam on the cot. Then the door was pushed open, and Psycho himself dragged Austin's body inside. He dropped two keys and a larger medical kit on the floor, said, "Patch each other up. I'm not ready for either of you to quit the company yet," and then left.

An iron fist squeezed Cam's heart as he remembered Austin's lifeless body.

He guessed it was the fact that a single man had caused so much pain to ten strong men that made them angry these days. It wasn’t necessarily pride that got wounded; it was disbelief that made him rage. Regardless of the prison-like setting, the handcuffs, the guns, the mind games, and the torture, it was difficult to believe that one man could have so much control.

It seemed to have hit Austin the hardest. The man always needed to be useful, and for some reason he couldn’t see that without him, Cam would definitely be dead. Austin failed to realize just how much he'd helped Cam.

He let out a labored breath and nuzzled Austin's hair. "You always patched me up. Don’t forget that." Not to mention the countless times he'd helped Cam with his anxiety attacks.

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