[Commentlog Style]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[A small, dark room greeted them upon awakening; the only light bled in as diluted moonlight from a small window about eight feet off the ground. The floor was concrete and dipped in the center toward a drainage grate; occasionally sewage trickled beneath it and made the room smell, but it wasn't anything its occupants weren't used to.

One shadowed figure was propped upright against a nearby wall, his wrists snapped in cuffs anchored to the brick with iron bolts and chains, just short enough to keep his arms above his head and unable to fully rest.

Another figure lay across the room, huddled in a corner and unmoving. The only sound was the plip plip of sewage and their ragged breathing.]

Comments

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

Good.

Take some time to calm down. I'm not gonna talk for a minute, so don't freak out. [Oh God, this is going to hurt. Leo -in a flash of last-minute insight- unwinds a wrist guard and stuffs it between his teeth before he starts dragging himself across the floor.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[That's easier said than done when you've got an imagination like Mikey's. He worries his lower lip and twists his wrists, eyes flicking up to the window then back down to the grate, then over to his brother.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[It takes a lot longer than he would've liked, but eventually Leonardo makes it to the drain and just collapses with a gasp, breathing raggedly and desperately attempting to collect himself before he scares Mike any more than his poor brother already is.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[YEAH PRETTY SCARED RIGHT HERE. He has no idea how Leo managed to drag himself across the floor with two broken legs without making a damn sound, but at least that breathing means he's still alive.]

... Leo?

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[About now Leo wishes he has some sort of operator. She would say pleasantly "please hold while we attempt to reach your Leonardo," and he could just sit there and catch his breath while Mike listened to some sort of classical rendition of a popular rock song.

...yeah, he's losing it.]

I'm all right. Give me a minute. [His voice is raspy like he'd been smoking half his life, but there's little he can do about it.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

Not reassuring me here, bro.

[Mike tugs at the chains again, feeling the skin on his wrists rub against the rusty restraints. Too tight to slip his hands through, but too loose not to rub painfully when he struggles.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

Just- [He coughs, clears his throat and tries again.] -I'm fine. Hold on, I'll try to pry this loose. [The grate thankfully isn't welded down; just a disc that fits into the slotted hole on the ground. Leo wasn't sure what he would've done if it had been bolted down. Possibly cried.

The grate scraped against its holder before he finally managed to work a part of it up- he grabbed the lip of the grate and slid it away from the drain.] Watch your feet Mike. [Then he laid it on the ground and scuffed it towards Mike, hopefully not into his toes.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Feeling the grate grind to a stop near his feet, Mikey stretches and tries to drag it closer with his toes. It's heavy, and now he's got it, he realizes it's too heavy. There's no way he could maneuver it to break the chains.]

Leo, it's too heavy.

[Frustration and panic bleed into his voice. He feels completely useless.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[Fuck.

...Leo wasn't a fan of cursing, but that was the best way he could express himself. So he thought it, with great feeling.

Fuck.]

I'll be right there, [he grated out, and resolutely stuck the leather between his teeth again to make the trek over to Mike. At least it isn't as far.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Glancing around again, Mike's chest heaves with painful breathes as he watches Leo move, then looks up to the window and the moonlight shining through.

He wants to tell Leo to stay put and rest, but whoever put them here might come back, and who knew what they'd do to them. They had to escape they had to, if they stayed there they could be at the mercy of some crazed maniac who took sick pleasure out of cutting up mutants, someone who wanted to see how they ticked and how their insides worked.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[Leonardo makes a set of goals for himself; whenever one faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge, set a series of checkpoints to serve as goals so you can complete the task. His first goal was to make it out of the dip in the floor.

His second was to touch the metal grate with his fingers.

His third was to drag it toward himself and make it to the wall.

He got that far before his vision violently swam and he choked against the leather between his teeth, in too much pain to even cry out properly. He spat out the wristguard before he gagged on it and let himself collapse on the floor against the wall, right next to Mike's legs, and tried not to pass out. Breathed. Concentrated.

Don't black out, don't black out, do not black out.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Mikey's breathing hitches at that sound, and he tugs at the restraints worriedly.]

Leo ...?

Leo, stay with me bro.

[Please don't leave me alone here.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[Leonardo can't spare the breath to reassure Mike, but he does reach over and grip Mikey's ankle, both to anchor himself and to hopefully let Mike know that he's still conscious.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Letting out a shuddering breath of relief, Mike closes his eyes and lets his head hang. This is so bad this is so bad and he doesn't know how to help.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[It's an agonizingly long wait, but the vertigo passes and Leo knows he's back in the land of the coherent.] Sorry, [he rasps, and shifts to lift himself back up on his elbows.]

Is it too heavy for you to use at all, or could you just not reach it? [Oh please let it be that Mike couldn't lift it with his feet, please. Please. Leo doesn't think he can stand without falling over in a dead faint.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

It's too heavy.

[Mike demonstrates by trying to grip the grate. There's not enough slack in the chains, and the grate is just too heavy for him to lift.

He already knows what Leo is thinking.]

You're not standing up to do this. Leo.

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm sure as hell not going to levitate. [Leo twists himself around and grits his teeth against a sound as he props his shell up against the wall.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

Leo, you've got broken legs!

[That panic is bleeding back into Mike's tone, but there's anger too. Leo always wants to push himself that little bit harder, be that little bit too reckless, and here when they're alone and vulnerable and can't see and don't even know where they are and who's got them, it's all the more frightening a prospect.]

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

You know, I thought that might've been it. [That's it Leo, just laugh it off. Won't be so bad if you can laugh about it. He takes a few deep breaths, tilting his head back until it rests against the brick wall. It's a nice night outside, probably.

Well. Now or never.

He twists to grip the bricks.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[sdfkdjsfhkjdhf]

Leo I am so not carrying you out of here!

[Channeling his fear into anger seems to be working for now, and the temptation to try and kick his brother is right there, if it weren't for the fact that he might hurt him worse and with his reach it'd be more like tickling with his toes.]

[ochluckycharms.livejournal.com]

[Luckily, neither of them have to worry about Leonardo trying to stand on a set of busted legs, because at that moment the steel door on the far side of the room clicks as the deadbolt turns. With a whine of disuse it swings open and faint, sickly yellow light slaps across the ground to illuminate a figure in the doorway.]

Tsk. You lads weren't supposed to be moving around.

[betterthanraph.livejournal.com]

[Leonardo quickly tucks the grate beneath his thigh as silently as he can managed, fixing the man with a glare.]

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Mikey's stomach sinks and he clamps his mouth shut, eyes wide.

Oh shit. Shit shit shit.]

[ochluckycharms.livejournal.com]

[The man ambles in, fixing Leonardo with a surprised look.] Tough little fucker, aren't you? How about you drag yourself back into that corner over there?

[When Leonardo doesn't comply, the man sighs and reaches into the inside pocket on his jacket, withdrawing a pistol. He chambers a round with practiced ease and presses the muzzle of the gun against Mike's forehead.] Please.

[thepartydude.livejournal.com]

[Mikey instinctively tries to rear back from the gun, but there's nothing behind him except rough, damp brick. He swallows hard and his eyes are wide and fixed on the man.]