Chapter Text
Cecil opened his eyes, alert. This was not where he slept last night. In fact, he didn’t remember going to bed. As he sat up, he put a hand to his head to try to ease the pain of a throbbing headache. The room was brighter than he was used to, only making the pounding worse. Dark reddish-brown splotches of... of something was splattered and smeared along the walls. He shuddered.
Rubbing his head, he groaned. Where was he?
The room was unfurnished besides- besides the red blinking light in the corner of the room, similar to the one described to him on the ‘mountain’.
“Hello?” He called out, hesitantly.
“Ah, good evening, Mr. Palmer,” called out a voice, from somewhere within the room. It had sort of a familiar quality to it, except deep and almost mysterious. “It’s good to see that you’re finally awake.”
Cecil turned, startled. “Who are you?” he shouted. “What is this...this place?” he asked, not even giving the voice time to respond.
“Mr. Palmer- Please calm down. Everything will be explained. There is no reason for distress.” The voice continued.
“Why am I here?” Cecil pressed. “I can’t even remember how-” His voice trembling, furious.
“Mr. Palmer, relax. Everything will be explained to you shortly.” The muffled voice sighed. “We will not harm you any more than is necessary if you behave.”
“I don’t know who you think you are but-” Cecil started. The voice cut him off.
“You are to refer to me as Doctor. If you would like safety to be an option for you and your loved ones, I suggest you listen very carefully.
“You see, here at Strex, we were assigned to get a few people who have made us... less productive in our line of work. With the uproar you have caused, we figured it would be best to give you a chance to help us.”
“Strexcorp?!” Cecil spat. “And why would I even consider helping you?” anger was rising in him. He would slow them down further, of course. It wasn’t very “productive” of them to even think that.
“We figured you would have a hard time accepting this, and so we decided to… motivate you. We have your scientist, Mr. Palmer.”
Cecil’s heart skipped a beat. “Ha! You almost had me there,” he said, a little nervously. “Carlos is safe. He’s… he’s safe.”
“Oh, dear, Mr Palmer, I wouldn't be too sure of myself. He was safe, yes, but then he... misbehaved. Since the unfortunate accident, we’re keeping a good eye on him. He’s a smart one. I believe he’ll learn quickly.”
“No…. no, you couldn’t have him… I- I don’t believe you,” Cecil stammered, his voice filled with panic, with worry. The man disappeared from the screen of the monitor and a new image appeared. It was a little dark at first, but he saw a figure. Cecil peered closer at it and it clicked.
Carlos.
He was sitting in the corner of a dim room, gagged and hands behind his back. His face wore a painful expression… There was a slightly bloody bandage covering his forehead slightly, just below his hair. He put his hand up to the screen, blurry now with the tears filling in his eyes.
“Oh.. Carlos… What have they done to you?” He took his hand off the screen and wiped his eyes dry. “What have you done to my Carlos?! You’re all such...such monsters!”
This image of Carlos lingered for a moment more. Frustrated, Cecil yelled once more.
“Answer me, you bastard!”
Slowly, the man appeared again.
“That’s Doctor, to you. But anyways, I’ve told you. Carlos has misbehaved. So he was to be punished. Same thing will happen to you, if you are not careful, Mr. Palmer.”
“You leave my Carlos alone! He has done nothing concerning you!”
“Then at least hear us out. You are strong. We like that about you. But, you have a few issues. We can help fix that though. All you have to do, is trust us. You’ll be in good hands. You should’ve seen Kevin. He might have even been a little more stubborn than you at first, actually. Once we fixed him, he’s never been happier! Just think of how productive you’ll become!”
“Absolutely not. I bow down to no Smiling God.”
“If that’s how you feel, so be it. But, you should consider your decision carefully instead of jumping to conclusions, Mr. Palmer. That is very unwise of you.”
“Oh? And why would I need to be fixed when there is nothing to fix about me? Why would I ever want to give in?”
“Oh, you poor thing. You’re so naive! Have you ever taken into account what Strex will do?”
“I don’t care what they do.”
“Well… If you insist.” The Doctor took his phone out and started speaking into it to someone. “Cecil has declined our offer. I guess he needs a little more motivation to think about it… Yes, sir.” Hanging up, the other man paused. Sighing.
“Declining our offer is a bad decision, Mr. Palmer. I am to show you this…” The voice lingered, almost hesitating. “I’m sorry.”
The monitor switched images again, back to Carlos. He was sitting in a similar position that he was in earlier.
Why am I being showed Carlos again?
He knew he was there. But something had changed. Carlos was still sitting in the same position but was he was- Cecil let out a pained gasp. Carlos was crying.
“Carlos…” he whispered, desperately wishing the other could hear him. “Please… please don’t cry…”
Somewhere offscreen, he heard a door open and Carlos’s head shot up in alarm. He couldn’t see who entered, but the look on Carlos’s face was enough. Carlos started struggling, making himself even smaller than he already was against the white wall. He started pleading, and-
Cecil couldn’t bear it.
“No… no, please!” Cecil cried out, expression twisted in panic. “Don’t hurt him, please! I-I-I’ll do anything!” he stammered, tears streaming down his face. “Anything!” he called out in the room.
Silence filled the room, louder than anything.
He glanced back at the monitor.
It was obvious Carlos was waiting for the first blow. But it never came.
Cecil crumbled to the floor, weak.
“I assume you change your mind now, Mr. Palmer?” The voice appeared once again.
“It’s not too late to protect him, you know.”
Cecil looked at the screen once more. At Carlos. At his boyfriend. His boyfriend who was sitting in the dark alone trembling terrified and-
“Please… Just leave my Carlos be.” Cecil pleaded.
“Set Carlos free. He has agreed to help us.” Cecil fell back relieved as he heard the voice once again spoke into what he assumed was some sort of superiors.
Cecil put his head in his hands. How did he get into this? What’s going to happen?
He touched the screen once more. Once more at his beautiful, kind, loving and- He sobbed, hurt, boyfriend.
“You’re safe now.” he whispered meekly at the screen.
And saw Carlos looking up. It was almost as if he was looking into his eyes. His eyes lifted, searching for something.
“Cecil..?” he asked weakly.
The monitor shut off.