Haven (5)

[recommended listening: Marsh DJ Set - Live From Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wales, UK]

Her

Exhaustion was written on his face as he stared back up at her. Almost gone was the anger and resentment from before, he just looked obliterated, physically and emotionally. Sadie's heart swelled a bit for him as she clipped his leash back on and drew him towards the Keep. He followed behind her, shuffling slowly as the cries of the woman across the courtyard carried through the space, but he didn't seem to hear or notice.

As she led him into the complex, Sadie considered what a stark difference this was from anything she had expected or imagined. The boy - if it was even fair to call a man clearly several years older than her such a thing - was shattered. The constant struggle, the fight, the battle to survive every single day beyond the walls of her comfortable home, had practically consumed him. Sliding into the easy domain of obedience now seemed almost a relief for him as he walked compliantly behind her towards the elevators.

She drew him in, not waiting for the customary escort, and touched the button for 'three.' He stood in the corner of the lift, quaking ever-so-slightly, and she couldn't help but press against his chest and caress him as he trembled. Reflexively he tried to shy away but his physical capacity was so diminished at this point that he could barely react. He was literally putty in her hands.

Sadie had planned a whole spiel in advance of this, to explain the system that operated in Haven as she led her prize upstairs. She had been hyping herself up for it briefly in the APC, preparing to go tête-à-tête with the angry, stubborn boy she had caught, but as she looked at the poor soul now all of that was forgotten in the wake of her empathy. As the initial wave of adrenaline he had clearly felt during the fight and his capture waned, profound weariness swept in, and now he looked almost as dead on his feet as the walkers out there beyond the walls.

"Come," she said quietly as the elevator doors opened, and she led him out of the lift and down the hallway. They came to a set of double doors and went through them. On the other side, a woman stood in the middle of a large space that sat in the center of four other chambers that seemed like they could have been interrogation rooms from a long lost world. Windows looked in on each of the side rooms from the central one, and within each were a collection of benches and shackles, along with a shower unit in the far corner.

The woman and Sadie acknowledged each other with a nod, as Sadie led her captive through the nearest door and closed it behind her. She positioned Andrew in the middle of the room, and then kneeled down to secure his ankles in the fixed iron manacles on the ground. Once locked, she lifted up and drew the shackles from the ceiling down, carefully sealing his wrists in them as she took off the cuffs that had previously bound his hands behind his back.

She moved to the wall and pressed a button, causing the ceiling ropes to pull upwards. Andrew's wrists were swiftly brought above him and held in place, and he was now imprisoned and stretched vertically from ankle to finger tip. Sadie took a brief breath, her nervousness at getting him this far having been somewhat eclipsed by her surprising degree of concern for his wellbeing. But now he was here. Naked and helpless. Completely at her mercy. She needed to gather herself.

She moved back in front of him, leaning against the table behind her that ran just under the one-way mirror looking in on the room. They stared at each other for a moment, and the male struggled for a brief moment in his restraints, to no avail.

"Okay Andrew," she said finally, "Here's what's going to happen. In a moment, I'm going to leave the room, and then the shackles around your ankles and wrists will unlock. In the back of the room is a shower. We have plenty of hot water here, and there are soaps along the wall for you to wash with. I can't imagine when the last time you got to take a hot shower was... feel free to take as long as you want."

Sadie moved forward and drew a towel from the cabinet underneath the bench that ran along the right wall, laying it on top.

"When you're done," she continued, "I would ask that you return to this spot in the middle of the room, and place your ankles and wrists back into these shackles. Once you're restrained again I will come back in and we can continue. I'm not going to be tapping my watch or anything for this, so you can take your time, but if you don't re-assume this position... we will have no choice but to gas the room and render you unconscious. You'll end up in the same place either way."

Andrew blinked wearily at her, his eyes slightly glazed as he tried to listen.

"Okay, sweetie. Enjoy your shower. I hope you'll be good for me afterwards... a hot meal and a comfy bed await you if you behave."

Sadie turned and left the room, the door sealing shut behind her as she turned to watch through the one-way mirror. Ajora was waiting for her, and shot her an encouraging smile as she moved next to her in front of the glass.

"Amazing work, sis. You're doing great. Seems you clocked just the right approach with him."

For once in her life Sadie accepted her sister's praise with no resentment or second guessing. She looked up at Ajora and gave her an appreciative smile, but her concern was with the boy on the other side of the window. She reached up and pulled the lever that unlocked his shackles, and watched avidly to see what he would do.

*****

Him

Had this girl really just said "hot water?"

Like, seriously? A hot shower?

Andrew had heard little after that, although she continued to say things and move about him as he hung helpless and naked from the ceiling. A towel appeared from somewhere and she lay it on the bench to his side. A few moments later she was leaving the room, and shortly after that a muted buzzer sounded and his shackles suddenly sprang open. It happened so suddenly he nearly collapsed to the ground, but he managed to catch himself at the last second.

Andrew stepped away from the ankle manacles warily as he rubbed his wrists, trying to get the circulation going through them again. Slowly he turned and looked at the back of the room, where a large shower head hung from the ceiling. A small shelf that had soap and bottles on it sat just above a pair of handles along the wall. He moved towards the corner uncertainly, before finally reaching out and turning the right tap as far as it would go. Within a minute the blast of water that came out was beginning to steam.

His breath caught slightly at the sight. The Citadel had never had running hot water. Andrew literally couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd had a hot shower. He slid the left tap down slightly, until the temperature of the water reached a barely-tolerable point, and then stepped into the stream.

For a moment, or possibly many, he just stood. Tears flooded down his face, washed away by the powerful onslaught of water, as he relished a sensation long forgotten. Andrew stood in the shower and sobbed quietly for a time, as everything that had happened slowly crashed over him like the scouring hot water that now cascaded down his body.

Eventually he did get around to using the soap they had available, and began washing thoroughly. The amount of grime and scarring that had built up was alarming even to him as he cleansed himself. He went a little too hard in some places and reopened a couple of scabrous wounds in his zealousness, but he didn't really care. The scalding water poured over him and it felt like rebirth, seemingly washing away dirt in equal parts with pain and memory.

He lost track of time completely, with no idea of how long he'd been there. He looked down as the water coursed over him, noticing his fingers were wrinkled up like raisins. It had clearly been a while. Everything seemed muted and fuzzy in his fatigue. At last, he reached up and turned off the taps, and the relentless downpour ceased. He just stood there for a few more moments, before finally turning around and moving towards the towel Sadie had left out.

It was soft and plush as he wrapped it around his shoulders. He considered toweling off fully, and then simply sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands. He couldn't rest long though, if he sat there for more than a couple of minutes he was likely to just pass out. He weakly ran the towel over his head and across his limbs, before lifting back to his feet again with great effort. As he looked upwards he saw a track running across the ceiling of the room, leading from the center area back towards the shower. He vaguely wondered what it was for, but lacked the throughput to think about it.

He wasn't sure what to do. Sadie had said, but it had passed through one ear and out the other. He stared down at the leather padded restraints on the floor, and realized he had to submit once again. She wanted him to place himself back in the shackles, or else something... bad would happen.

A different version of himself would probably have taken a more aggressive approach. Perhaps examining the room carefully, looking for anything he might be able to use. Measuring the dimensions, trying to orient himself in the building he was now in. Maybe even seeing if he could ready a subtle trap, although he figured they were almost certainly watching him. But Andrew simply didn't have the mental or physical energy for any of that. With some resignation, he shuffled over to the middle of the room, and placed his ankles back in the manacles. He lifted his wrists towards the ceiling and pressed them into the bindings above him, and a moment later the same muted buzzer from before sounded as both sets snapped shut around his extremities.

The door opened and the girl came back in. She had changed her clothes, stripping off the cumbersome kevlar plates and vest, and was now wearing just a small t-shirt and a pair of small cotton shorts. She bore a bright smile as she approached, sliding up against him immediately and running her hand up his torso again. "Good boy, Andrew," she whispered, and he was too tired to even feel resentful. Absent her armor, her soft, supple body pressed into him far more intimately, and he could feel her pulse. She leaned into the crook of his neck and nuzzled against him gently, her nostrils flaring. "Mmm... squeaky clean. Much better," she said with a giggle.

Sadie stepped back and stood in front of him. "I haven't had the chance to wash up since the mission, I hope you don't mind waiting for me," she said with a coyness. She turned away from him and pulled the elastic band from her hair, shaking it out and tossing the band onto the table. With a deliberate slowness, she sensually bent forward and slid her shorts and underwear down, baring her exquisite bottom.

Exhausted he might be, but he was still alive, warm blooded, and male... Andrew's breath caught as she turned back to him, crossed her arms and drew her shirt up and over her head, leaving herself as naked as he was. He swallowed hard as his heart began to race.

Christ, she was fine.

She met his gaze with a rather wicked, knowing smile as she moved forward, and once again pressed in against him. Her bare flesh against his was overstimulating, and as she ran her hand up and down his belly once more he shuddered at the sensation. Her fingers ran down, delicately grazing and fondling his caged member, and Andrew did everything in his power to control his breathing as he struggled uselessly against the bondage she had placed him in. She gave him a little wink and then moved past him, towards the shower in the back of the room. He couldn't turn to see her, but he heard the water come on.

Sadie did not spend nearly the luxurious amount of time in the water that Andrew had, merely having a quick rinse, and soon stepped out to retrieve a towel of her own. She returned in front of Andrew, not really bothering to cover herself, but rather just clutching the towel against her as she lightly teased at her hair. She tossed the towel behind her onto the table, and took another step forward, bringing herself only inches from him. Andrew's heart was beating triple time as she lifted her arms up around his neck, he could feel the droplets of water running down her body and into his own.

"I think you're going to be a good boy for me, aren't you Andrew?" she whispered, her lips just millimeters from his.

A small gasp escaped him as she brought their lips gently together, slowly, teasingly... Her tongue slid shyly in to greet his as her fingers worked the back of his neck, massaging and toying with his hair. In spectacularly delicate, feminine fashion she gradually stripped the very last of his resolve away.

Some time later, he couldn't be sure how long, she pulled away from him and brought his wrists back down from the ceiling, locking them in cuffs behind his back once more. She freed his remaining restraints and reattached the leash to his cage, and then drew him softly towards the door.

He followed obediently. There wasn't any other choice.