#media.warning.restrained

“I’m...not telling you...anything.”

Villain smirked and grabbed Hero’s chin to yank them close, pulling them taut against the chains holding their arms to either side of them. 

“So confident.” Villain brushed a thumb over their bloodied cheek, expression deceptively soft. “Perhaps I haven’t been pushing you hard enough.”

“It’s been five days since you got me and you’re just now realizing that?” Hero rasped, trying to salvage some of their bravado underneath the pulsing fear and pain in their veins.

Villain let go of their face to let them sag in the chains and walked to the back to grab a new torture tool. “Well, you assassins typically aren’t the strongest type from my experience, but it looks like the guild finally decided to hire someone good enough to withstand my work.”

Hero swallowed and ducked their head as Villain sauntered back over and held up a wicked-looking knife with a curved blade. 

“I’ll ask again, where are the headquarters located?” They walked behind Hero. “What is your leader’s name?” The cold bite of the knife pressed in between Hero’s shoulder blades. “And finally, what are the plans to take down my team?”

Hero clenched their jaw and said nothing, heart pounding traitorously in their chest.

The first cut was fast and shallow--supposed to be tolerable, but then came a horrible, horrible burning sensation that traveled through their shoulders and up their arms, a literal fire under their skin. They couldn’t help the cry of pain that hissed through their teeth.

Knives weren’t supposed to do that.

“Wh-what--?”

“Poison. Engineered by one of my top lab scientists,” Villain explained. “Pretty painful, huh?”

Hero could barely shake their head before Villain made another swipe, this time on a barely healed cut from a few days ago.

It was pure, fiery agony from that point on.

Hero held on as long as they could, forcing screams back down their throat, telling themselves they could withstand the pain, the blaze of the caustic poison running through their blood and over their body. But their resistance didn’t last.

“O-okay!” Hero blurted, squeezing their eyes shut. “S-stop...hngg...please, I’ll t-tell you what you want...what you want to k-know.”

Villain walked in front of them, a smile on their face. “Oh darling, that’s all I needed to hear.” They pulled a small syringe from their pocket and stuck the needle into a vein in Hero’s neck before pressing down on the plunger.

The flame went out.

Hero gasped in relief, gulping lungfuls of cold air, sweat running down their face and soaking their torn shirt. Two cuts. That was all it had taken from Villain to get them to talk. A burn of shame almost akin to the poison colored their cheeks red.

“I didn’t think it’d be that easy, to be honest.” Villain tilted their head, that knife still in their palm. “Stamina running low?”

Hero snarled, tears pricking their eyes. “It’s been almost a whole fucking week, Villain.”

“Precisely why it was the perfect time for me to use this beauty. Probably wouldn’t have worked three days ago.” Villain put the silver blade down on a nearby desk. “Guards!”

Hero blinked, snapping their head up at the order from Villain, who only raised a brow at them. Two henchmen came into the room and unhooked Hero from their restraints, hands on either arm to keep them steady.

“Take them back to their cell and give them some water and food,” Villain said, watching Hero with a refined interest at the way they had slumped against the guards, barely able to keep themselves up from exhaustion, or pain.

“I’ll ask you tomorrow for the information that I need,” Villain clarified to Hero, stepping closer and carding a hand through their hair. “And you’ll give it to me. Just like you promised.”

Just before Hero was led out of the room, the assassin twisted in the guards’ grip and managed a small but effective grin. 

“I never promised anything, Villain.”

.

Hero clenched their fists in the restraints holding them down to the chair, keeping their head down as Villain circled them with slow steps.

“What...what’re you going to do to me?” Hero breathed, trying to steady the absurd speed of their pounding heart. Cold sweat beaded on their back as Villain stopped pacing just behind them, where they couldn’t see.

Ohgodohgodohgod—

“It depends,” Villain noted, voice grating, deep. “Are you willing to talk?”

Hero almost yelped in fear when Villain placed a hand on their shoulder, slender fingers curling around the fabric of their shirt. They tensed, keeping their eyes forward and away from the hulking figure of their captor.

“I-I...please just don’t hurt me,” Hero managed to say, throat tight, spine rigid against the chair. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

There was an unsettling pause.

Hero panicked and they jerked against the ropes tying them down, losing what little composure they had before. Knife? Did they hear a knife coming out of its sheath? “Villain, I swear, I swear I’ll tell you whatever you want to know please—,”

“Shut up,” Villain growled from above them, harsh enough for Hero to stop in their efforts out of pure terror.

They swallowed hard as Villain walked back around to the front to face them. Oh that was definitely a blade...that was a blade in their hand. Hero shuddered, eyes burning. They didn’t want to get hurt. They would’ve told Villain what they wanted to know but the sick bastard just wanted to see them in pain...

Villain watched them in silence, probably basking in their terror.

“Do you think I’m going to hurt you?” they said huskily after a moment.

Hero glared at them through the blur of their tears. It was all a tease. “You have a fucking knife in your hand. You tell me.”

Villain tilted their head and glanced at the silver blade, fingering the sharp edge. “Answer the question, Hero.” Their tone was far from safe territory.

“Yes!” Hero blurted, voice raw, angry. “Yes, of course I think you’re going to hurt me!”

Villain blinked at them before they approached, lifting the knife and resting it on their arm, near the length of rope holding their wrist down.

Hero squeezed their eyes shut, waiting for the sting of the dagger to slice through their skin, through their flesh—

Then they heard the sound of rope being cut, felt the release of the coarse pressure around their hand.

What? Hero opened their eyes to peek at Villain, who had finished cutting off the second rope and now moved down to remove the ones around their ankles. Hero sat back in the chair, rubbing their raw wrists as they stared at Villain in pure confusion.

When they were done releasing Hero, Villain stood up, sheathing the knife at their belt and raising a brow at the shock written all over Hero’s expression.

“W-why? What...I don’t...” Hero ran their hands through their hair. “I-I don’t understand. Why did y-you...”

“My intention was never to hurt you, Hero,” villain explained slowly.

“T-then why the knife?”

“For show. Perhaps to give you a little scare so that you wouldn’t lie to me about whatever I wanted from you.” Villain slid their hands into their pockets, a smile on their lips. “I guess it worked a little too well.”

Hero frowned and made way to stand up, but Villain stepped forward, pushing them back . “Not so fast.” They braced their hands on the arm rests of the chair, leaning close to Hero. “You still need to tell me what I want to know, and knife or no knife, I’ll get what I brought you here for.”

Hero took a breath, trying to calm themselves. “It’s not going to be as easy.”

“No, it won’t,” Villain admitted. “But I assure you, it’s going to be a lot more fun.”

Villain was dragged into a large cell by the group of heroes, thrashing as their wrists were locked above their head into cuffs.

“Let go of me!” Villain snarled, yanking at the restraints futilely.Their struggles were instantly hindered by a swift kick to the stomach and they doubled over, coughing.

Superhero made their way to the front of the band, chin infuriatingly high and their expression spiteful. “You know the drill,” they said to Villain as they sucked in a ragged breath. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Villain grunted, hands twisting in the cuffs. “I told you, I didn’t do it. The bomb was—,”

Superhero slammed their knee into Villain’s ribs before grabbing their chin roughly. “You are always the source of trouble around here. Don’t think you can get away with lying to me or anyone else here,” they spat. They shoved Villain away and walked to the back of the room to grab something.

“I’m...” they wheezed, “I’m not lying. I swear...” They abruptly cut off as Superhero walked back with a horrid looking whip in their hands, the tip glistening with something sharp.

“No, nononono!” Villain shouted, jerking against the shackles again. “No!! I-I’m not lying!! I didn’t do it! I didn’t set off the bomb!!”

Superhero walked behind them and cut their shirt off, exposing their back. “Then who would’ve done it, Villain?” The whip uncoiled, hitting the ground with a loud slap.

“I-I don’t know! Supervillain? Rival? It wasn’t m-me, I swear!” Villain thrashed, panting hard.

“Do you have any proof?” Superhero’s voice was much too gentle for the pain they were about to bring to Villain.

The captive swallowed, falling still for a minute. Then they whipped their head around to lock on the familiar eyes of Hero, who was standing near the back of the group. “Hero, Hero please. You have to believe me. I didn’t do it,” they rasped. “Please.”

The room fell silent. Hero stepped forward after a minute and looked up.

The disappointment was all too clear to see in their usually tender gaze.

“I’m sorry, Villain,” Hero said softly, then turned to Superhero and nodded. “Whip them.”

“No—!”

Villain’s outcry soon became a plea for mercy.

.

Hero had only heard the horrid stories of what Villain’s prisoners had to endure in captivity. Or what they could endure, before they broke. Or died.

They never thought they’d become one to experience it.

They sat in the small cell they’d been tossed into a day or so ago, back against the stone wall, wrists in tight shackles that left deep red marks against their skin. Tear marks from their quiet sobs streaked their cheeks, brushing off grime and dirt from their recent scuffle with Villain.

It had been a day or so since they were caught, but they were already flinching at every noise outside their door, cowering at the distant screams down the hallway, shuddering at Villain’s unintelligible murmurs through the walls. They couldn’t block it out, couldn’t ignore it. They curled in on themselves, shivering as they buried their hands in their hair.

A few hours later, the sound of footsteps outside their doorway ensued a nauseating wave of sheer panic.

Please not me. Not today. Please—

All hope drained wholly from their soul when the squeak of rusty hinges filled their ears and the room was suddenly bathed in light.

Hero whimpered, pressing themselves into the corner, too afraid to look up and see Villain’s face. Tears were already spilling from their eyes and their breathing was ragged, choppy. They were going to die here in this hellhole. Villain was going to kill them. They weren’t going to make it back—

“What a sorry sight you are,” Villain’s smooth voice broke through their haze of terror. “The brave Hero reduced to a trembling little ball of patheticness.” They walked closer and fit a cool hand on Hero’s chin and tilted their head up, who in turn flinched so hard at the unexpected touch they nearly whacked their head against the wall.

Villain laughed in disbelief. “Aw, what’s wrong? Scared of me?” They used their free hand to reach into their pocket and bring out a small knife, dangling it in front of Hero mockingly. “Scared of this thing?”

Hero sobbed, unable to form words. They were shivering violently, eyes wide and tearful as they stared up at the face that haunted their dreams.

“Aww.” Villain clicked their tongue, grinning. “How sweet. Too terrified to even talk to me.” They brushed a thumb over their cheek. “That’s all right, dear. After all, screams are so much more lovely than words.”

All Hero could whisper was “Please,” before Villain began to work.

.

.

part one

Villain didn’t have to do much before Hero broke.

It hurt. It hurt too much. The cuts were long, methodical—settling on as much exposed skin as possible. Their mouth only moved to loose a sob of utter terror or to scream at another burning slice of Villain’s blade. They couldn’t form the words that they needed in order to tell—no, to beg Villain to stop.

After another simple slash across Hero’s collarbone and a hoarse cry of pain, Villain finally sheathed their knife and smiled lazily. “You seem like you’ve had enough, darling.”

Hero only nodded, all tears and hiccuping breaths as blood slid down their body and limbs.

Villain cupped Hero’s face in their hands, using their thumbs to brush away their tears. Hero sucked in a sharp breath, trembling so hard they could swear they their bones rattled along with them.

“Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what I want to know then, hm?”

It took them a few minutes to stop shivering and crying so that they could work up the courage to talk, but Hero didn’t need to be asked twice.

Anything to stop the pain. Anything to make Villain leave. Even if it was at the expense of their friends. They could take care of themselves, couldn’t they? They weren’t stuck in a cell with Villain, getting tortured for information.

When they finished letting blurting the location of the Hero Headquarters, all the passcodes, traps to watch out for, and the names of each member on the team, Villain promptly stood up with a satisfied expression, sliding their hands into their pockets.

“I wonder, just how cowardly can someone like you get?” they said, the mocking in their tone all too clear.

Hero winced, eyes shuttering.

“You just betrayed each and every person that could’ve ever cared about you, all because you couldn’t handle a little fear.” Villain sneered. “The brave Hero who can’t handle a little fear.”

Hero absentmindedly touched a cut on their arm, fingers becoming sticky with their own blood.

The blood they shed, all for nothing. All because they were a coward. Completely pathetic.

When Villain walked out of their cell to put Hero’s spilled information to use, Hero shattered.