#dragon!john

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Chapters:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Other:

Taskforce 141 members shifters profile Side characters shifters profile Taskforce 141 members aesthetic Taskforce 141 barracks sims build

Painful rut (Price centered) | 18+

Lore/worldbuilding:

I stalk silently through the dark hallways, weapon raised, Soap guarding my back. We blend into the shadows as we move toward the target. We had managed to shut down the siren, but the emergency lights are still flashing through the hallways. I peek around the corner and signal for Soap to follow. When I spot the right door I signal to Soap again. He quickly moves to the other side of the door. I swipe the stolen keycard and push the door open. Soap enters first while I watch his back. He gives the all clear and I move into the room.

We’re in a large lab. There’s cabinets, desks and surgical equipment scattered all across the room. The smell of blood, fresh and old stings my nose. A large surgical table stands in the middle. A young woman strapped to it, clearly abandoned by whoever worked on her. As I move closer to her I start feeling sick at her state. They had cut her open, bellybutton to sternum. Clamps hold open the sides of her torso, giving me a clear view of her organs.

I hear Soap curse softly behind me. We look at each other, minds blanking on what to do. Just as I turn toward her to check her pulse, she moves. Her eyes blink open and her head rolls in our direction. Soap curses louder this time, his fluffy tail swishes nervously behind him. He takes a step back and pulls me with him. The woman’s eyes start to fill with tears and I take a weary step towards her.

She says something, but I can’t quite catch what she’s saying. I lift my hand, gently brushing her hair back and lean closer. “There are others,” she rasps. Her head rolls away, gesturing towards the only other door in the lab. I nod curtly and radio in for a medevac. After explaining her condition I signal to Soap to follow.

We approach the door and slip through. The room is pitch black and smells horribly. Soap turns on the light and my heart aches as I take in the sight before me. The room is filled with tiny cages, about the size of a large dog crate. There must be about two dozen, all filled with people. There are even children. They cower away from us, blinking blearily at the light.

“They’re all shifters,” says Soap, speaking with barely restrained anger. “It’s okay,” I try to reassure them, “we’re gonna try to get you guys out of here.” I move closer to the cages, trying to figure out a way to open them. There’s a normal lock that requires a key, rendering the stolen keycard useless. “The head doctor is the only one with the key,” whispers a woman with scaled skin. I clench my jaw and reach for my radio.

“Crow to Bravo 1, Crow to Bravo, do you copy?” There’s a bit of static before the Captain’s voice filters over the radio. “This is Bravo 1, send your traffic.” “Price, we found the captives locked in cages, they say that only the head doctor has the key to open them.” Price is silent for a few seconds before replying, “Copy that, Ghost, have you found the doctor yet?”

“Affirmative, on my way to the lab,” he responds. “Copy that, hurry up, we don’t have much time,” orders Price. I turn back to Soap, “stay here, I’m going to check on the other woman.” He nods hesitantly, clutching his weapon. I walk out of the room and return to her side. My hands flutter uselessly, not knowing what to do. I’m not even sure there’s anything I can do. I don’t see any active bleeders and she’s hooked up to a working machine that regulates her blood. I can see her organs moving. Her heart beating, her lungs expanding with every breath.

I radio Gaz, who has the most medical knowledge out of all of us, asking if there’s anything I can do. “You said she’s conscious, right?” he asks. “Ask her if she feels any pain or if she can move.” I do as he says. “I don’t feel anything,” she mutters, still out of it. “I kind of feel a dull pressure, but I’m not sure if I actually feel it or not. I can’t move either.” I relay her response to Gaz. “You can’t really do anything, just keep her as comfortable as possible until medevac arrives.” He advises. “You do have to try to make sure that you don’t get too close to the incision, you’re not sterile.” “Copy that,” I respond.

The woman smiles droopidly, “He sounds nice,” she mutters, “there’s not many nice people in the world.” I sign, pulling a stool closer and sitting down by her head. “Can you tell me your name?” I ask gently. She hums, “it’s Nadia… but here the doctors call me subject 21.” “That’s a beautiful name,” I smile, choosing to focus on the positive side by not mentioning the doctors. “What about you,” she asks, “what’s your name?” “Just call me Crow.” She laughs before whincing, “I like that.”

I lift my hand and gently run my pointer finger from the tip to the root of her nose and back. It’s a soothing gesture that has calmed me many times. Nadia smiles loopily, looking kind of peaceful. “Feels nice,” she slurs. “I know, my roommate at the compound I grew up in used to do it to me,” I smile, “it basically conditioned me into calming down when I was stressed.” 

Suddenly the door to the hallway opens. I shoot up from the stool and drop into a defensive position, gun ready. A frazzled looking man wearing a lab coat runs in, looking absolutely freaked out. He spots me and runs towards me for some reason. “You have to help me!” he exclaims, “he’s coming!” This grown ass man whimpers as he hides behind me. Soap appears in the doorway leading to the cage room, gun raised, looking confused. I shake off the man’s hold on my arm and take a step back, putting myself between him and Nadia.

The man continues pleading for me to help him, whimpering like a frightened puppy while keeping an eye on the door. Just as I want to ask what on earth he’s talking about, Ghost appears in the doorway. The man lets out a frightened scream and scrambles backwards. He trips over his own feet and scoots backwards on his butt. I look from Ghost to the man and smirk. “You must be the doctor,” I purr. Ghost stalks into the room. His eyes glowing white beneath his mask. He stops in front of the doctor and tilts his head to the side, eyes glowing more intensely. The doctor curls up into himself and grabs his head, muttering like a madman.

I come to stand next to Ghost, Soap at my other side and smirk down at the doctor. I crouch down to his level, “you have something we want.” I hold out my hand, “give me the keys to the cages.” He shakes his head, muttering incoherently. I look up at Ghost and he narrows his glowing eyes. The doctor lets out another scream, before reaching into his lab coat and pulling out a set of keys. He holds one of them out to me, begging me to make it stop. “He’s going to kill me,” he whimpers, “he’s going to eat me.” I snort. “Don’t be silly, Ghouls only eat corpses.”

With that I just stand, ignoring his pleas. “Soap, help me with the others, Ghost, can you keep an eye on him?” Both nod, Soap following me back to the cages. I start unlocking them as fast as I can while he helps them out and steadies them on their feet. When the last cage is open we have freed twentyfive prisoners. The woman shy away from Soap, not feeling comfortable with a man. My blood boils when I think about all the potential reasons. In the other room I hear Ghost talking to the medevac that’s here for Nadia. Soap and I gently coax the prisoners out of the cage room and into the lab. I make my way to Nadia, who looks absolutely terrified. “It’s okay, Nadia,” I reassure her, holding her hand even though she can’t feel it., “they’re going to take care of you, you’re going to be okay, they can’t hurt you anymore.” She gives me a hesitant smile, believing me. I help the medics lift her as they wrap her torso in some kind of sterilization wrap. They move a brancard board under her and cary her away, my hand falling from hers. “I promise,” I call after her. Ghost follows shortly after them, dragging the still whimpering doctor by the arm. He’s still whimpering about not wanting to get eaten.

I turn back towards Soap and the prisoners. “Let’s get you all out of here.” We organize them in a tight group. Soap leads the way. I’m about to follow them when my eyes fall onto a jar filled with a murky liquid. I turn the jar to read its label.

‘Tail of a 25 year old fox shifter, taken from subject 21.’

I swallow down bile as I realize that this is Nadia’s tail. That this is a bodypart that they took from a 25 year old woman, just like that, just like it’s nothing. After debating for a bit I leave the jar, there’s no way they can reattach it and I don’t believe Nadia needs the reminder. Soap pops his head in, asking what’s keeping me so long. I walk out of the lab without looking back.

I spot Price as we make our way out of the building. He’s manhandling the doctor into a jeep before signaling to the driver to take off. He and Ghost turn towards us. Now that we’re in the daylight I can properly see the condition of the freed prisoners. They look hollow, unnaturally skinny and filthy. Almost all of them are covered in bandages, some fresh and clean, others stained with blood. Price, Soap and quickly usher them into the bus that will transport them to safety. I close the door after giving them a reassuring smile and give the driver the go ahead.

As we watch the bus drive away, Price comes to stand next to me. “It was awful in there, Price,” I say. Price nods, “we knew what this place does to shifters,” he says gently, brushing his hand against my own. I swallow heavily. “But we got them all out, these people can’t hurt them anymore.” 

“Where’s Gaz?” Asks Soap. “He went up to check the surroundings,” responds Price and on que, Gaz lands before us. “They’ve got reinforcements coming,” he reports, “we have to go.” We all nod in understanding and spring into action. We get into the only jeep left. Price behind the wheel, Ghost in the passenger's seat and me and Soap in the back. Gaz retracts his golden red wings before he gets in on the other side of me. 

Price stops a few clicks from the building, “all clear,” he reports, “bring the rain.” A confirmation sound from the radio and we hear the heavy thumps from a helicopter, before a loud explosion sounds as they blow up the building. The five of us watch with satisfaction as it goes up in flames. Then Price drives away, leaving the horrors we just saw behind.

After a while Price’s radio crackles to life. Laswell’s voice sounds, telling him to switch to his ear comm. Price obeys with a frown and listens to what Laswell says. After giving a confirmation, he looks in the rearview mirror. “One of the prisoners, the one who was cut open..” He hesitates as he looks at me, “she coded during transport, she didn’t make it.” My vision starts to blur and I hold in a sob. “Nadia is dead?” I whisper. Price nods, sorrow showing in his eyes. “I told her they wouldn’t hurt her anymore,” I choke out. “I promised her that she was going to be okay.”

Tears start to fall. Tears for Nadia, tears for what she went through, tears for those other prisoners and all other shifters that experienced the same. Tears for the unfairness of it all.