Chapter Text
Neil had just finished his usual afternoon run and was taking off his sneakers when his phone buzzed with a text from Andrew.
@ Bee. see u in an hour.
- ill be here
Neil shrugged off his clothes and was in and out of the shower in minutes. After he finished he threw on a pair of sweatpants that he soon realized were Andrew’s because they weren’t only too short, but they also said ‘03 Minyard’ down the side. Neil kept them on as they were bright orange and Andrew never wore them anyway. He then put on the tv for some background noise and sat down to do his homework.
It didn’t take him long to realize that something was wrong. Neil froze the second he heard something that surely wasn’t a key slip into the lock to his dorm. Neil silently bolted to the bedroom and put on his armbands then pulled a black sweatshirt over them. Neil had grown up with fear but he just wasn’t used to fear there .
Neil had the bedroom door closed and locked before he heard the front door open. He was just about to slide one of the windows up when he heard voices come from the other room. All of them were unfamiliar.
“Where the hell is he?” a voice asked.
“This is his room,” another one said as Neil quietly slid the window open.
“If he’s not here we can always try the other Minyard,” the third person said and Neil stopped moving and his panic skyrocketed. He wondered when his priorities had changed so much. He may not like Aaron yet Neil wasn’t letting anything happen to the Foxes.
Neil looked around the room and slid a history book off Kevin’s desk that landed on the floor with a bang.
The three people in the other room went quiet and Neil knew that he had gotten their attention. He forced himself to stay calm as the bedroom door was clearly being lock-picked and he slid one of the knives into his hand.
The door banged open seconds later and Neil was met with three guys staring him down. They closed in on Neil without wasting a second.
The first guy swung for him and Neil slashed his arm down the side as another person landed a punch across his face. Neil swung his back leg up and hit the one that wasn’t bleeding right in the gut. The third guy grabbed him in a headlock from behind and Neil used all of his power to flip him forward and onto his back. He loosened the grip on Neil enough that he managed to slip out. One of the other guys grabbed one of his arms while the other came at him with the butt of a gun and jammed it right on his nose. Neil was able to kick the gun out of the guy’s hand as he stuck the knife in the guy who was holding him. One guy then laced his fingers behind Neil’s neck and slammed his face into his waiting knee. Neil staggered back but was only met with the headlock-guy from before who then grabbed one of his wrists and twisted it backwards and between his shoulder blades. The other one kicked him in the back of Neil’s knees which sent Neil right to the ground. He punched Neil square on the face as he felt something metal click around his back wrist.
Fuck.
Neil tried to bite down against the panic that was threatening to pull him unconscious as the second cuff clicked around his other wrist.
“Let’s go,” the guy said. “If you try to make any move to save yourself, people will die, it’ll be your friends, and it’ll be your fault.”
Neil grunted his response as they shoved him out the door after checking to make sure the hallway was clear. He was only pushed down one flight of stairs, which surprised him considering that they had been on the third floor. They shoved Neil through another door that he had never used before. Neil heard a lock slide into place behind him as he realized that they were in the old, abandoned parking garage. Neil was then thrown back onto his knees. Exy practice was going to hurt if he ever made it out.
“Neil, right?” one of the guys asked as he kneeled in front of Neil on the floor. Neil didn’t recognize him, which had to be a good sign?
Neil grit his teeth and said nothing.
“We’re looking for your friend Minyard,” he said.
“Aaron?” Neil asked. He knew they didn’t want Aaron. The guy punched Neil across the face and that time he tasted blood.
“Wrong one,” he said. “Andrew. Where is he?” Neil grimaced.
“How the fuck would I know?” Neil asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not like you live with him or anything,” the other one said from somewhere behind Neil.
“I hate the guy,” Neil said. “I have no clue where he is.”
“Phone,” the guy said to the person behind him. “Look for it.” Neil grit his teeth and the guy started to run his hands over his body, clearly wandering farther than he needed to. The guy touching Neil looked over at the other guy who just shrugged at his curious expression.
“You really think I care?” he retorted to the look. The other guy got on his knees in front of Neil and started to run his hands under his sweatshirt and up his jagged torso.
“You like this, Neil?” he whispered against Neil’s ear. Neil froze. It sounded too familiar.
“Get the fuck away from me,” Neil spat and the other just shook his head. The guy then slipped his fingertips under the waistband of his pants and Neil craned his head back and threw it forward against his nose. He could feel the guy’s blood hit his forehead and Neil couldn't help his smile nor did he regret it. The other guy stepped up to Neil, ignoring his partner on the floor.
“Now. Where is your phone?” he asked.
“I didn’t bring it, asshole,” Neil lied.
He then yanked his head back by his hair as the other got up and punched him. Neil smiled.
“What fucked you up?” the guy asked. The other one behind him then put a knife to his throat and slowly slid it across his collarbone. It wasn’t deep enough to need stitches but it was enough to flood his brain with panicked memories from Riko and his father. Neil’s breathing started to speed up.
“Ah. Now I know how to get to you,” the guy said and dragged the knife until it hit the top of his sweatshirt. He had gone through worse yet it still felt like fire was slowly opening up against his chest. “Find the phone.”
The other got up and traced his hands over Neil’s ass at least twice before pulling out the phone he had found minutes before. He then flipped it open and Neil mentally cursed.
“Ah. Andrew will be back in thirty minutes. Imagine what we could do in that time?” he asked.
“You can help us think up the best things to do to your friend,” the guy told Neil.
“Why do you want him?” Neil asked, all venom in his voice.
“I think Cass misses him. I just wanted to make our family whole again, even if we have one less. All the more reason to bring Andy home,” he said. Realization dawned on Neil. The flaming anger that tore through Neil would have burned down cities if he let it out. Fuck them.
“What’s your name?” Neil asked.
“Jesse.” Neil had heard that name once before. He heard it during Aaron’s trial when Andrew had to put everything that happened to him on display for a courtroom full of people. “That’s Samuel.” Neil was radiating anger. He was surprised they didn’t notice. Or maybe they did. “The person you killed upstairs was Steven.”
Neil’s head started ticking off what he knew about them. All three of them had raped Andrew; Jesse had choked him, Samuel had fucked with his head, Steven made him say please. Neil was fucking pleased that he had killed Steven. He wanted them all dead. Slowly, though, and in ways that would have made his father proud.
Neil did know one thing: the only way they were getting to Andrew was over his fucking dead body.
Jesse looked down at him.
“How close are you with our Andy?” he asked. Our. Neil bared his teeth.
“I already told you. I hate the guy,” Neil said.
“Bullshit,” Samuel called out, looking up from the phone. “They text constantly.” Neil said nothing.
“So they’re close,” Jesse said, turning to Samuel. “What if we play with him instead? He clearly wants to protect Andrew so wouldn’t that hurt Andy more?” Neil hated the sound of his voice with passion.
“See, we only have half an hour, though. What’s the fun in that?” Samuel asked. Neil grit his teeth.
“Fine,” he said and he let his voice break a little. He knew he was screwing himself over but he thought it was justified. “Text him and say that I went for a run. It’ll buy you at least two hours.”
He really hoped that he would figure out a way to get out of that within the next minute, but really, it didn’t matter unless they got to Andrew and Neil was not going to let that happen.
Samuel looked to Jesse with complete intrigue. It made Neil sick. Jesse looked less on-board.
“I’m telling you the truth,” Neil said. “I’m a fucking athlete. I run like four times a day.” Jesse’s eyebrows went up and he typed a quick text into the phone then threw it in the far corner of the parking garage. Shit.
“We’re also underground,” Jesse said. “It’s not like anyone would hear you scream.” Neil’s stomach bottomed out.
“Do you want to go first, or should I?” Samuel asked Jesse.
“Go ahead. I’ll watch this one,” Jesse responded.
Samuel got down in front Neil and left him cuffed as he looked at him.
“If you hurt me it’ll break him,” Neil said.
“What if I break you first?” Samuel asked.
“Go to fucking Hell,” Neil spat.
“You stupid fucking idiot,” Samuel whispered against Neil’s shoulder. “At least you’ll enjoy it. I mean, Andy always did.” Hot rage enveloped him.
“If you touch me, I’ll kill you,” Neil said and Jesse laughed.
“You stupid asshole. I know you fucking wanted this,” Samuel purred behind his ear. Neil bit his lip and thought about creating another identity just so he wouldn’t have to go through that as Neil Josten, though he didn’t have much time to think about it. Samuel pushed Neil’s sweatshirt over his head and to his cuffed hands. Neil fought the urge to scream as Samuel pushed him down and dragged his mouth over his torso.
-
The first red flag that something was wrong came when Andrew’s phone buzzed with a text halfway through his session with Bee and Aaron. Bee was pleased that they were both voicing their opinions but they were really just talking - or yelling, if you were Aaron, who was clearly pissed off- through Bee to get to each other. Andrew almost felt sorry for her.
The second flag was that it was a text from Neil. Andrew never got texts from Neil during his sessions considering that he’s the fucking martyr that set them up.
The third was the text itself.
Going on a run, Andy. ill be back in two hours.
What had him freeze in the middle of Aaron yelling at him was not that the stupid text said that Neil was going for another run. It was that Neil always called him Andrew or Drew on a few occasions but never that name. Fear, an emotion that Andrew dismissed whenever he started to feel it, laced through his entire body.
Only one person ever called him that. He knew who it was.
And that meant that Neil was with him. Andrew stilled. The thought was choking.
“Andrew?” Bee asked. “Are you ok?”
No.
No.
Neil was not ok.
Andrew sure as fuck was not ok.
“No.”