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grey-writes-stuff · 6 months ago

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The Jade Incident (TJI)

This has been worked on for over a year, with major help from @divoha4 ! Please check their work out at @eldritcmor

Jade ends up taking Moose and Storm hostage for information, and it ends badly.

Warnings for Torture, Violence, Death and Strong Language.

Words: 6502

Ferret PoV

“So if you take the next left, you should see the warehouse. That’s where Vaughn’s men are meeting.” Ferret spoke into the radio.

“Copy that, Kid. Thanks.” Moose’s voice sounded over the headset, before another voice joined in.

“Hey, Ferret? So, how come couldn’t you come with?”

“Hurricane can’t even guide himself out of a paper bag, Lumberjack’s got medical checkup, and Cotton is on medical training exercises. That leaves just me around. That a problem, Stormy?”

“Not a problem at all.” Storm chuckled. “You just don’t seem like the navigator type.”

“Someone’s gotta direct your dumbasses, no?” Ferret responded with a short laugh.

“Fair, fair. Hey, you said big warehouse, right?”

“Mhm.”

“...It’s empty.”

“Come again?” Ferret sat up properly in their chair.

“It’s empty. Nobody is here. Moose is checking up on the catwalk. You sure it’s the right one?”

“Yeah? It’s next to an old church right?”

There was a pause.

“Yep.”

Another pause, and what sounded like a clatter of metal hitting metal.

“What was that?” Ferret asked.

“Dunno. Maybe Moose dropped something.”

Ferret sighed and tapped the desk. Something deep down warned them of something, so instinctively, they turned on a recording software.

“Could you check on him? You know how stubborn he is asking for help.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure thing.” Storm sighed.

Ferret listened closely to each step.

“Moose, you up here, old man?” Storm called out.

Nothing.

“Where the hell…?” Storm muttered.

Ferret could hear low mumbling. "Storm, what is that?"

"I'll check."

There was a low clunk of footsteps as Ferret listened to Storm check the area. Suddenly, they heard a yell, a thud, and the whoosh of air before another thud, this time it was more sickening.

Ferret could hear Storm gasping for air and letting out small whimpers of pain.

"Storm?! Are you okay?!" Ferret panicked.

There was one last thud, before Ferret heard the radio being picked up.

"Don't bother looking, Joseph. They'll be dead before you can send your little friends. Have a nice day now." Then, silence, as the person on the other end turned the radio off completely.

Everything in Ferret froze. They know that voice. It haunts their dreams sometimes from previous incidents, one that nearly took theirs and Moose’s life before. They knew it was Jade, and that this was going to end badly.

They grabbed their laptop and uploaded the sound file to it, before sprinting out of the room, shoving past a few people, making a bee-line for Laswell’s office.

They skidded to a halt outside the office door, and knocked on it rapidly. “Laswell?!”

The waited impatiently before hearing “Come in, Joseph.”

Ferret opened the door, and spotted Bes standing beside her desk, now looking rather intrigued.

“Well?” Laswell asked with a soft expression she usually had for Ferret.

Ferret took a deep breath. “Moose and Storm’s been kidnapped.” they blurted out.

They saw Bes tense up, and Laswell’s soft expression turned into one of concern.

“How do you know?” Laswell’s question was tense.

Ferret handed her their laptop, and Laswell played the audio file. Clear as day, they heard the radio recording, and soon, Jade’s voice.

Ferret watched the pair, Laswell looked increasingly concerned, and Bes was mad.

Bes turned and looked at Laswell. “What do we do?” It sounded like he was holding back from going on a murder spree.

Laswell hesitated.

“We get them back.”

Moose PoV

Moose didn’t know how long he was out for. He had moments of wakefulness, but even then he saw nothing. He guessed it was a blindfold covering his vision, but he knew one thing. Jade was behind this. He had seen the man moments before being knocked out.

The blindfold was forcefully ripped off, and stood before him was Jade. Moose glared up at him.

“You son of a-” Moose started to growl before Jade punched him in the gut.

“Now now. None of that, Wilson.” Jade knelt down to Moose’s level, a sinister smile on his face. “If you speak out of turn again, it won’t be you getting punched.”

Jade nodded his head to a direction, and Moose looked up and saw Storm, tied and blindfolded.

Moose felt a pit in his stomach, and he was pissed.

“I swear, if you’ve hurt them!”

“Calm down, Captain.” Jade soothed sarcastically. “They just had a bit of a tumble. Surely they’ll be fine, eh?”

Jade stood up and walked to a table. “Now then. I ain’t gonna hurt either of you yet. However, I want…information.”

“You’re not getting shit!” Moose spat.

“Oh no, not from you, dear Captain.” Jade hummed. “I know the teams are fiercely protective of you both. Like you’re both made of glass. I know both of your hearts aint doing too well.”

Moose sneered at Jade.

Jade turned and smirked. “I think if I started interrogation right away, one of you two might have a heart attack, and that’d make it harder to get information, wouldn’t you agree?”

He then turned back to the table. “No. I’m going to ask your fellow teams to give me information, in exchange for yours and the kids safety.”

“They won’t tell you anything!” Moose retorted.

“Oh, they won’t? I suppose it depends on who I send it to. The 141 might not give information…but what if I sent it to little Ferret, or the Safe House Six Captain? Now I bet they’d be eager to give information, hm?”

“Bes?” Moose scoffed. “Man, you don’t know him that well, do you?”

Jade raised an eyebrow. “Nonetheless. Someone in those teams will break. After the first set of photos, with no response? Things may start getting violent for you both.” Jade took his phone and snapped a couple of pictures, before taking sending them to various numbers.

“Now, we wait.”

Ferret PoV

Ferret was pacing back and forth outside of Laswell’s office. Outside of it, sat Hurricane, Cotton, and surprisingly Ratchet, who flew out as soon as she heard Moose was gone. Ferret was surprised she cared that much.

“How much longer do they need?” Cotton asked nervously.

“They did just get sent a ransom request, Sister.” Ratchet replied bluntly. “They gotta plan out what’s best.”

Hurricane groaned. “Not even Vaughn is this bad. I remember he never wanted anything to do with Jade. That man feared him to the point he didn’t dare send any of his test subjects near him.”

Cotton just nodded, before looking at Ferret. “Jo, please sit down.”

“Can’t.” Ferret responded. “If I do, I’ll start chewing my lip till it bleeds.”

“You need to find better coping strategies, rodent.” Ratchet muttered.

Soon enough, the door opened, and Laswell came out, followed by Bes, Price and Lumberjack.

Ferret stood firm. “Well?”

Laswell sighed. “We won’t be giving Jade information…”

Ferret looked like they were going to complain, but Laswell continued.

“But I’m sending the teams out to retrieve them both. They’re both resilient, and will hold out for as long as they can. Mouse is going to help the teams into the territory.”

“How’d you get Mouse to help?” Hurricane looked surprised.

“It’s more of the fact that Moose is Ratchet’s father than anything else.” Laswell responded.

Ratchet shrugged. “I may not show it, but I care about the old bastard.”

While the group talked, Ferret went over to Lumberjack.

“Did they look okay in the photos…?” They asked quietly.

Lumberjack sighed. “They look a little beaten up, but other than that, I couldn’t see anything major. Storm looked knocked out, Moose looked pissed off. All things considered, they’re doing fine.”

“What information was that bastard after anyway?” Ferret growled. “What the hell warrants him hurting my dad and my sibling?!”

Lumberjack shrugged. “With that man? Any information.”

He placed a reassuring hand on Ferret’s shoulder. “They’ll get them back.”

“They? I’m going with!”

“Laswell wants you to hang back. She thinks you might panic.”

“To hell I am! James, I’m going with, whether she wants it or not!” Ferret snapped.

“Joseph. The other young’ins wont panic as much if they find Moose and Storm hurt. Cotton’s a paramedic, Hurricane would be on guard, Ratchet is already detached from her emotions, but you’re currently acting Captain, and your job would be to assess the situation, and the situation will send you into a downward spiral if it goes wrong.” Lumberjack explained.

Ferret glared, but didn’t respond further.

“I can’t stop you if you end up going, but just, take what I said into consideration?” he asked.

“Fine. Whatever.”

Moose PoV

It had been several hours since Moose had woken up, and he was worried about Storm, who was still knocked out, though he just decided it was due to the fact Storm was tackled off the catwalk.

He looked up when he heard the door open, and saw Jade walk in. He glared at the man, who had a scowl on his face.

“Seems your team declined to send me information.” Jade hissed.

“I told you they wouldn’t.” Moose pointed out. “That’s not how they work, you dumba-”

Moose’s word were cut off when Jade punched him right in the jaw with a sickening crack. If Jade had punched any harder, Moose’s jaw would have broke.

“Watch your damn mouth, Wilson.” Jade snarled, pacing.

He then paused, and smirked.

“I guess I could convince them otherwise…” he picked up some tools on the table, studying them. “Hm. Might save these for when that kid is awake…” he muttered to himself.

Moose growled. “You touch them, you’re dead!”

“You’re in no position to make threats.” Jade walked over, looming over the man. “Now then. Maybe you could give me information?”

“Go to hell!”

“Already there, dear Captain.” Jade smiled sweetly, before punching Moose in the gut several times, leaving the other man coughing and gasping for air.

“I thought about killing you when you walked into the warehouse, and just taking the kid. But I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere with Dante, except for asking for a measly piece of information to trade for your corpse.” Jade chuckled. “But where’s the fun in that? Now I see why Vaughn loves tormenting you all. So easy to capture. So easy to break!”

Jade backed off.

“Now then. Why don’t we wake them up, so they can join the fun?”

Storm PoV

Storm would have preferred to stay unconscious, not forced back into the waking world with the harsh scent of smelling salts. They coughed, and tiredly opened their eyes. However, the tiredness vanished rapidly as they saw Jade standing over them, and behind him, a tied up, beaten Moose, and a video camera in the corner.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Jade chuckled darkly.

Storm struggled against their restraints, a slight look of panic appearing on their face.

“Now, now.” Jade patted their head, causing them to flinch away. “Struggling won’t do you, or your old man any good, will it?”

Storm tried to bite at his hand, causing Jade to slap them across the face.

“You haven’t changed one bit, child.”

“I’ll give you some bite scars to remember me by!” Storm spat angrily. “What have you done to Moose?!”

“I just gave him a little…convincing. Though, can’t get through that dense head of his.” Jade chuckled. “Now…how to get through to you, I wonder. Seems like normal interrogation methods won’t work on you.”

“Damn right it won’t!”

Jade smirked. “I knew you would say that.” He walked over to the table, picking up a knife, and a metal baseball bat.

Storm tensed and glared when he turned to them. However, the glare turned into a look of fear as Jade wandered over to Moose, placing the baseball bat against the chair.

With Jade’s back turned, Storm began to tug at the binds roughly, pushing them against the sharp points of the chair.

Jade grabbed Moose by the hair, forcing the older man to look up. He looked back at Storm, causing them to freeze. “Maybe there’s another way to get you to talk.”

With that, Jade sliced the knife across Moose’s cheek, slowly going down to his mouth.

Storm saw Moose shut his eyes tightly in pain. He looked as though he was trying not to make a sound, to not give Jade the satisfaction.

They began to tug more roughly at the binds desperately, until they felt a shudder, and then a snap.

With a screech, they lunged at Jade.

However, Jade didn’t even hesitate. He grabbed the baseball bat, and swung low, right at Storm’s knees.

Storm could feel and hear the sickening crunches and snaps, and they collapsed to the floor, crying out in agony.

Jade looked down at them smugly. “Too predictable.”

However, what he didn’t expect, was Moose to do the same technique of cutting the binds.

Storm watched as Moose grabbed Jade from behind, having him in a choke-hold.

Jade thrashed around wildly, clawing at Moose’s hands and arms, before managing to grab a hold of the knife.

Storm tried to yell out a warning, but it came too late, and the knife was plunged deep into Moose’s gut.

Moose let out a choke of pain. He tried to maintain the choke-hold, but Jade soon overpowered him, knocking the man to the ground and kicking him repeatedly in the chest, and the stomach, right where the wound was, until Moose stopped moving as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“Fucking bastards, the lot of you!” Jade yelled, grabbing Storm by the hair and slamming their head against the ground. He grabbed zip-ties and bound their legs and arms together. He looked at Moose, and shrugged. “Have fun watching him die, brat.” Jade snarled, kicking Storm one last time, grabbing the camera, and storming out of the room.

Ferret PoV

Ferret had sneaked aboard the air plane the teams were on. They sure as hell weren’t being left behind, especially on Laswell’s orders, when their dad and their sibling were in danger, hurt, or even dead.

They heard someone walk past their hiding place, and they tensed up, accidentally knocking into something. The footsteps halted, and Ferret could hear the person turn. In a short moment, their hiding place was uncovered. It was Price.

“Seriously?” he sighed.

Ferret glared up at him, as if daring him to turn the plane around.

“You seriously can’t follow her orders, huh?” Price grunted.

“I decide what missions I go on!” Ferret hissed.

“All right, all right, calm down. We do need extra hands anyway, just in case. Don’t be surprised if Laswell sticks you with training recruits when we get back.” Price sighed.

Ferret shrugged, and hopped out of their hiding spot, to the surprise of practically everyone else.

“How the fuck did you fit in there?!” Hurricane sounded surprised.

“Because I’m short, Franky.” Ferret sighed, and sat next to them. Cotton ruffled their hair.

“Glad you’re with us, Jo.” Cotton smiled.

“Right. We’ll be landing in ten minutes. Mouse says we have five hours to find Storm and Moose, and to get back to the plane. No fucking around, straight shot in, straight shot out. Understood?” Price’s voice was loud over the planes engines.

“Yes sir!” The teams replied in unison.

Ferret glanced over at Bes, Fen and Merc, who each looked equally mad and worried.

They knew the trio were worried about Storm, though they’d probably never admit it. Especially Bes, who Ferret learnt was just a dense person, sometimes an asshole. Though, who were they to judge?

The air plane soon landed, and Mouse’s voice filled their radios. “Guard activity is scarce. Not normal. Keep an eye out, and be careful. Act as though Jade is watching your every move.”

“Copy that, Gunter. Land the plane elsewhere until we need you back.” Price spoke into the radio.

“Okej.” Gunter turned his radio off, and waited for the teams to exit the plane, which they soon did cautiously.

The surrounding area was almost like a wasteland. Craters were visible as far as the eye could see, with scarce greenery, trees blackened with ash, broken and abandoned buildings littering the area.

“Right. We got a report that Jade’s base is to the north. Watch where you step. We don’t know if he’s trapped the place.” Price spoke calmly, though there was a tinge of worry. He knows things can and will go wrong.

Ferret quietly caught up to Price as the teams walked carefully. “Do you think they’re all right?” They asked nervously.

Price let out a sigh. “Any thing’s possible right now. Though…” He gave a soft smile to Ferret. “I know those two probably gave Jade a scare.”

Ferret could imagine just that. It eased their mind slightly. “Has Laswell received any more from Jade.”

Price paused. “Now that I think about it…I hadn’t checked.”

He took his phone out to check for any messages. The teams all paused too, scanning the area.

After a while, Ferret saw Price’s face drain to a pale colour.

“What?” They asked.

Price whistled over to Bes, who quickly walked over. “What’s up?”

Price showed the phone to them both, and he pressed play on a video.

It was the interrogation and torture of Storm and Moose.

When the video finished playing, he looked at them. “We need to move. Now. Jade will want to finish them off sooner rather than later.” He growled.

Ferret suddenly felt restless, and Bes looked just the same. Price whistled to the rest of the teams, and they moved on, though much quicker than before.

Storm PoV

Even though the light was dim, it still hurt their eyes. Their head was throbbing from the impact of the floor.

Unsure how much time had passed, they tried to sit up despite the zip ties holding their arms and legs together, only to gasp in pain as the agony in their legs came slamming back like a freight train. They took some deep breaths, trying to fight through it.

Once the initial pain had passed just for the moment, they gazed around, before their sight settled on Moose, who was still on the floor.

He looked awful. His skin was pale, and blood had soaked his shirt. If it weren’t for the light rise and fall of his chest, Storm would have thought he was dead.

“Moose…?” They rasped, but he didn’t stir.

They struggled against their arm zip ties momentarily, to no avail.

“Moose, wake up, please!” They tried to rouse him again. This time, he seemed to have heard them.

Moose let out a ragged cough, spitting up blood, and letting out a raspy breath.

“Oh thank fuck…” Storm felt relief surge through them. He wasn’t gone yet, that was something. “Can you move?”

Moose tried to speak, but it was hard in his current state. “Can’t…” He croaked.

“Okay, that’s fine! How are you feeling?” Storm couldn’t help but feel anxious.

There was another pause. “N-Not great…h-hard to…breathe…”

The door slammed open, causing them both to flinch.

Jade stormed in, grabbing his tools.

“You’re just leaving us here?!” Storm weakly yelled at him.

Jade sneered at them. “You’ve both run your course of usefulness. I’m leaving this place to get levelled. Seems your little military buddies found out where you are after all.”

He grabbed his bag, and quickly left. A bit too quickly for Moose’s liking.

After a few minutes, something clicked in Storm’s head. “Levelling the place? Isn’t that the term for detonating a building?”

That’s when they heard a faint, fast paced beeping. Dread filled them as they realised.

Acting quickly, and moving faster than Storm would have thought he’d be able to in his condition, Moose threw himself over Storm, mere milliseconds before an explosion rocked through the building.

Ferret PoV

Ferret watched in horror as the building they were nearing exploded, sending plumes of dust and debris everywhere. The teams took cover pretty quickly to protect themselves from anything hurtling their way.

Once the dust cleared, nobody was sure what to do. However, Ferret sprinted towards the building.

“Joseph! Get back here!” Price yelled, running after them. The teams followed after.

They all came to a stop at the foot of the rubble.

“They gotta be here. They gotta be!” Ferret yelled out in panic.

Price sighed, before deciding to humour them. “Everyone spread out! Start moving what you can!”

As the teams spread out, Ferret chose a place at random, and began to furiously dig. “Please be here…” they begged quietly.

After what felt like several hours, though it was only one hour, Ghost suddenly yelled. “I think I got them!”

Ferret’s anxiety spiked and they clambered over the rubble towards Ghost, as the teams did the same.

“Can you see how they’re doing?” Cotton asked with worry.

“They aren’t moving.” Ghost remarked darkly.

“Are they…?” Hurricane didn’t dare finish his sentence.

Ferret however, narrowed their eyes. “Open the hole up a bit more.”

Ghost just nodded and continued moving rubble.

Once the hole was big enough, Ferret managed to crawl inside.

“Be careful, Ferret!” Ratchet warned. They could have sworn they heard a tinge of worry.

Ferret soon dropped down onto solid ground and quickly crawled over to Storm.

They looked like shit in Ferret’s opinion. Blood trickled from their mouth, nose and head, their skin peppered with small flecks of shrapnel. Ferret took a look at Storm’s knees and grimaced. They looked completely mangled.

Ferret checked Storm’s breathing and pulse. Weak, but it was still there. “Storm’s alive.” Ferret called up. “Their knees are fucked though.”

“What about Moose?” Cotton asked worriedly.

Ferret saw Moose nearby. His skin was pale and he was covered in blood. Ferret rolled him onto his back and their heart dropped into their stomach. They saw the stab wound to his gut. Carefully, Ferret checked his breathing, and to their horror, there wasn’t any movement in his chest.

“Shit…shit shit shit!” Ferret swore, before starting to do compressions on Moose’s chest.

“Ferret, what is it?!” Price called down.

“Moose isn’t breathing!” Ferret yelled back up. “Throw down a medical kit, now!”

There was a moment of hesitation, before they heard Ghost.

“Wouldn’t it be better to…give them mercy?”

“The fuck do you mean?!” Ratchet snapped.

“It might be too late for them. I’m just trying to be realistic.” Ghost shrugged.

”Fuck that!” Ferret yelled. “Thrown down a med kit now, or so fucking help me, I’ll come up there and shoot the lot of you!”

Ferret heard a shove and then a thud as the kit was dropped down. They scurried to it and grabbed it, and got to work.

Storm PoV

Storm had moments of wakefulness. They saw Ferret trying to revive Moose, then cut it to them being on a plane, before everything went dark again, and then peaceful for a while. Every now and then, they swore they could hear chatter from people around them, but they couldn’t pick out a voice. The dark was comforting, and they preferred it that way. Nothing could hurt them here. No visions, no enemies, just a blanket of warm darkness.

Until they opened their eyes.

They heard the steady beeping of a few machines, and the hissing of an oxygen tank just behind them.

Storm blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light. Softly, they let out a groan of pain as the light hurt their eyes and head.

Then, they heard someone open the door. Storm looked up, and saw Ferret.

“Avery?” Ferrets eyes widened.

They suddenly rushed to them. “Oh my god, you’re awake! I didn’t think you’d wake up this soon!”

Before Storm could even attempt to speak, Ferret crushed them in a hug. “Everyone was so worried! Even Bes!”

Storm blinked in confusion, trying to remember what happened.

Ferret released them from the hug, before giving them water, which Storm gladly took. After a few sips, they finally found their voice.

“What…What happened…?” they asked.

Ferret fidgeted uncomfortably before handing Storm their cherished Dinosaur Plushie, which they clung to.

“So uh...what do you remember?” Ferret asked.

Storm gave a weak shrug. “Not much. I remember…Moose being there, I think?”

Ferret nodded, before sighing.

“Maybe it’s for the best you don’t remember…”

Storm tilted their head. “Where’s Moose? I thought he would be with you.”

Storm saw Ferret visibly tense up.

“What is it?”

Ferret fidgeted again. “Pa was with you…during the torture Jade inflicted upon both of you.”

Storm froze, their mouth agape.

“What?”

“We saw the video Jade sent of you and Pa getting tortured, so we headed out to get you back, but when we got there, the building you two were being held in…exploded.” Ferret mumbled. “When I got down there, you both were hurt and-” they cut themselves off with a pitiful whimper.

“Is he alive?” Storm asked a bit more firmly.

Ferret sniffled and nodded. “He’s in a coma, like you were. But…yours was a natural coma, Moose had to be medically induced into one.”

Storm lowered their gaze. “Our injuries were that bad?”

Ferret nodded sadly. “I had to revive Moose before we could move either of you, and then you both died momentarily on the way here. You got stable by the time surgery finished. Moose died on the surgery table for a minute or two…” they explained. “It was bad for both of you…”

Ferret then took another breath. “Your kneecaps were completely shattered. It’ll be a while before you can even walk…so you’re confined to a wheelchair.”

Storm hugged their dinosaur plushie tighter. A low whimper escaped their throat, before they looked around, spotting a huge amount of cards, small tokens, and flowers. Their eyes widened.

Ferret gave a small smile. “Like I said, everyone was worried.”

Storm picked up one of the cards, and looked inside. It was labeled from each team, from 141 to Ashes.

“Ashes know?” Storm asked.

“You kidding? Sage was frightening when she found out.” Ferret laughed. “She sent Steve and Kasey to check up on everyone.”

“I see.” Storm sighed, their hand trailing over the trinkets everyone had brought, before they decided to ask: “Can I see Moose?”

Ferret hesitated. “It’s probably for the best that you don’t for a while.” Ferret admitted. “How he looks right now might upset you. Hell, it was hard for Cotton to see him.”

“I…think I remember what happened to him? Though, I’m not too sure…”

Ferret just nodded and patted Storm’s shoulder gently. “Get some rest, heal up more, and maybe I’ll take you to see Pa, yeah?”

“Fine, fine…” Storm sighed, settling against their beds pillow, though they now felt restless. “Promise I can see him?”

“Yeah. I promise” Ferret nodded

Ferret PoV

Ferret was so damned tired. They had been back and forth between Storm and Moose for nearly two months. They almost practically lived in the hospital, sleeping in the corners in case something happened. Moose hadn’t woken up yet, and they were getting worried. They knew the longer he was out, the less chance he has of coming back at all.

They were visiting Storm again, who was determined to see Moose again. Storm had previously seen him three weeks ago, a week after they woke up. They were indeed shocked by how Moose looked. The man still looked almost dead, covered in stitches, gauzes, his skin pale. It was horrible for them both.

Nowadays, Moose looked better. The stitches had been taken out, the wounds now in late stages of healing, or already scarred, though he still looked like shit. As Ferret sat beside Moose while Storm busied themselves scrolling through their phone, Ferret braided Moose’s hair, which had grown a bit since the incident. It helped calm them quite a bit.

They made sure Storm kept up on their medication, and dragged them to their numerous physio appointments. However, on their way back from the latest one, they were stopped by one of the doctors that tended to Moose, and were told that Moose was waking up.

Storm must have thought they were on a roller-coaster with how fast Ferret got them both to Moose’s room, and there, they waited for him to wake. Ferret was giddy with excitement to see their dad wake up, and Storm seemed equally as happy.

Ferret’s eyes trailed over the small cards and gifts others had left Moose. They wondered if he’d be grateful for the support from the other teams, before thinking to themselves Ashes and the rest of Dante’s reaction to Moose being awake. They giggled to themselves at the thought of Steve going werewolf mode and barrelling straight into Moose, and Sage nearly trampling the poor man.

They both heard Moose stir and looked at him, and saw him open his eyes slightly.

“Pa?” Ferret gently murmured, to not startled the older man

There was confusion in Moose’s eyes, before he saw Ferret, and then Storm. The confusion turned into instant relief.

Ferret assumed he couldn’t talk properly yet, which was fair in their opinion. He was out of it for 2 months after all.

They just gave a soft smile. “You’re safe now.”

Moose seemed to understand and gave a weak nod. Ferret could notice a look of relief when he saw Storm. They guessed he was happy Storm was safe, and somewhat okay.

Moose PoV

It had been two weeks since he had woken up. He had managed to get his voice back, but relearning to do things was a pain in the ass.

“I know how to hold a fucking spoon.” Moose muttered.

Ferret giggled “You know its standard procedure. Remember pa, you were gone for two months. They were worried about brain damage.”

“I’ll give them brain damage if I have to put up with this.”

“Hey, you can’t complain. Avery had to do it too.” Ferret pointed out.

“How are they doing?” Moose asked.

“Exhausted after their physio. You got yours tomorrow.”

Moose grunted. “At least it’s helping them some.”

Ferret went silent, and Moose noticed their unease.

“What’s on your mind?” Moose asked, his voice now soft.

Ferret sighed and leaned back in their seat. “We could have lost you both. I heard Storm get knocked off the catwalk, and Jade being his taunting self. And then the pictures and videos came in and I just…” they took a shaky breath. “When we got there, and the building had blown up, only one thing ran through my mind. Would that place be the only burial you two would get?”

Moose sighed sadly, but listened carefully to Ferret’s thoughts.

“Ghost wanted to mercy kill you both when he heard you weren’t breathing. I am still going to tear his fucking ears off for that!” Ferret hissed bitterly. “And then on the way to the hospital, you both stopped breathing, and everyone was just panicking.”

“I’m sorry we worried you, kid…” Moose hummed softly, weakly ruffling their hair.

Ferret quietly sniffled. “I was happy hearing that Storm was out of surgery, but yours took longer. Way too long.”

“In their defence, I was stabbed and beaten within an inch of my life. God knows what was broken.” Moose pointed out.

Ferret sniffled, and looked at Moose. “You died again, you know?”

“Yeah. I could guess.” Moose sighed. “As usual, I didn’t feel shit. Just felt like infinite nothingness.”

“I hope you know you’re grounded for like, ever.” Ferret muttered.

“I sure as hell ain’t!” Moose glared.

“You are. I’m acting Captain, and you’re grounded!” Ferret glared back.

Moose blinked, before sighing. “Shit. I forgot that was a thing…”

Ferret looked smug at finally winning an actual argument with Moose.

“Wipe that look off your face. As soon as I’m recovered, you’re going on training duty. Don’t think Price hasn’t told me that you disobeyed Laswell.” Moose smirked.

Ferret froze. “He what?!”

“Mhm. While I’m glad you came to help us, she’s going to murder you.”

Ferret groaned and leaned back in their seat.

Storm PoV

“So you have another apartment here?” Storm asked, as Ferret pushed along their wheelchair.

“Just a short term lease. I told the Landlord and he’s letting me stay until you’re both well enough. You seem better, just waiting on Moose now.” Ferret hummed.

Storm nodded. “How long till Moose is out?”

“Not sure.” Ferret sighed. “The doctors still aren’t happy with his oxygen levels, and a few of his injuries are still causing issues.”

Storm let out a sigh. “This fucking sucks.”

“It really does.” Ferret agreed, before stopping the wheelchair and unlocking a door, and pushing Storm’s chair inside.

The apartment was decently sized, everything on just one floor.

“You’re staying here till Bes can come get ya.” Ferret shrugged off their coat.

“Actually…” Storm mumbled. “I told him I wanted to wait nearby until Moose was out of hospital.”

“Really?” Ferret raised an eyebrow, pushing Storm into the living room.

“I just want to make sure he’s okay, you know?” Storm admitted.

Ferret just nodded, though looked a bit absent-minded.

Storm noticed it, however. “You good, Ferret?”

Ferret jumped slightly. “Uh, yeah. Just the last few months have been hard, you know?” they sighed “I mean, Dante is grounded, your team is keeping to themselves when not visiting you, and for the last few months, I’ve been back and forth between you and pa, so my minds a bit frazzled, you know?”

Storm hummed and nodded. “Sounds like you need a weeks long nap.”

Ferret scoffed. “If only I could.” they sighed. “Paperwork has to be done.”

“I can do it.” Storm pointed out.

“Nope. You’re meant to be resting.” Ferret responded, narrowing their eyes.

“I get we do this stuff with Moose, but you don’t have to do it to me.”

“Too bad storm cloud, I’m doing it to you too.” Ferret hummed.

“You are such an ass.” Storm muttered.

Ferret just hummed in response. “Bedroom is the door to the left.”

Storm sighed. This was going to be a long stay.

Jade PoV

Jade paced back and forth with irritation. He had planned this perfectly.

Torture them, and drop a building on them. That should have killed them!

“Fucking cockroaches!” Jade suddenly yelled, kicking a wooden chair across the room. “Should have killed Wilson the first chance I got and send the brats corpse back to her team.” he spat.

But suddenly, he had a thought.

He sat at his table and scrolled through pages on his laptop. “Gotta be someone else…”

He had already made a promise to himself to get back at SWARM and anyone who worked there, including their families. He’s already killed Skipper’s family, and was working on Ratchet’s, but it was proving difficult, since her family was mostly military.

“Henry…absolutely not. Lucan…?” He grunted. “Maybe. Carnell would snap my neck…”

Finally, he found who he wanted to target next.

Jerry Wilson, Carnell’s little brother. An aspiring Medic in Training, newly out of the academy and working in Carnell’s Squad.

“That would be too easy…” he muttered, but smirked to himself. If Daniel cared about these two brats, it’d break him down more.

He sat back and thought for a while, ideas going by of what to do with the kid. He’d have to be careful though. No doubt Carnell would come after him if he ever laid hands on Jerry, so he had to be careful.

Maybe appearing in one of their missions would suffice.

Moose PoV

It had been a month since Moose finally left the hospital. Stable enough where the doctors were 99% sure he wouldn’t drop dead, but he knew he was still healing. The stabs of pain in his still raw injuries were a constant reminder.

Needless to say, Lumberjack grounded him. Imagine being grounded by your own husband.

He had managed to escape from Lumberjack’s constant mother henning and into his office. While he loved his dork of a husband dearly, he wasn’t used to the constant attention. Even his own kids were being mother hens. Ferret and Cotton most of all. Hurricane was just happy to fetch Moose a coffee every now and then. But holy shit, Cotton was relentlessly checking his health, and Ferret usually followed him around.

And then there was Henry.

God fucking damn that man.

If he were still dead, he’d have risen from his grave to cuss the ever loving life out of Moose for nearly getting killed. Maybe that’s why SHC brought him back. Who knows?

He sat in his chair and let out an exhausted groan. He’s happy he was cared about, but it was getting too much, and he just wanted to sleep.

His hopes were dashed when he heard a knock on his door.

“Unless you’re here to put an end to my misery, or you have good coffee, piss off.” Moose grumbled.

“I have one of those things?”

Moose sat up once he heard Bes’ voice. The hell was that man doing here. “Come in, I guess.”

Bes walked in with two cups of coffee, a concerned expression on his face.

“Thought you’d be looking after Avery.” Moose sighed.

“They’ll be fine without me for a few hours. They got Michael and Taylor.” Bes responded as he handed Moose one of the cups of coffee. “Besides, I needed to talk to you. It’s been a while, after all.”

Moose grunted in agreement, sipping the coffee. The last he saw Bes was when he was still in the hospital.

“You didn’t come here just to check up on me, did you?” Moose asked.

“Partially. The video Jo sent me of James mothering you was hilarious, but also, you need a break.” Bes chuckled.

“Isn’t this break enough?” Moose pointed out

“I mean a proper one, Wilson.” Bes put his cup down after taking a sip. “James told me you’re itching to get back to work.”

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

“It is if you’re only a month in from being away from the hospital after nearly kicking the bucket three times. Or is it four?” Bes snorted.

Moose shrugged. “Big deal. I’m alive and breathing, I can get back to work.”

“I’ve spoken to your team-” Bes started.

“Oh that’s just fucking great.”

“-and they agree you should recuperate properly, where you aren’t going to exhaust yourself. That includes no paperwork.”

“What, you gonna send me back to Texas or something?” Moose retorted.

“No. I’m sending you to a Safe House of ours. Has a few sixes there. Some new, some that’s been there for a while. They’ll be happy to have you.” Bes responded.

“That’s a shit idea and you know it.” Moose leaned back in his seat with annoyance.

“You’re going anyway.” Bes hummed. “If I don’t make you, your kids and husband will, and I guarantee you, it won’t be pleasant.”

Moose let out some mumbled protests, mainly how it was unfair and how he was being treated like a child.

“Fine.”

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grey-writes-stuff · 6 months ago

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Snippet - Safe House

It had been quite a few months since anyone in the Safe House had seen the rest of SH6, let alone Storm and Moose. A few rumours appeared. Maybe Moose finally retired? He looked like aged milk when he was tired. Or maybe he got transferred? There were more rumours than actual concrete evidence.

“Hey, Isaac! They got a new rumour!”

Isaac looked up from the papers with a tired gaze. “Can’t we let the poor guy rest, Micah?”

Micah shook his head with a teasing grin. “Nah, they all live on rumours!”

Isaac hummed and leaned back in the chair. “Let’s hear it then.”

”Maybe! Maybe he’s on a honeymoon!”

“For four months?” Isaac raised an eyebrow. “Doubt it.”

“You never know!” Micah grinned.

As the two bickered about the rumours, with Isaac growing more irritated by Micah’s claims, someone wandered into the room.

Isaac gazed up and looked at the newcomer. “Need something, Finn?”

“You’ll never guess who showed up.” Finn responded, wandering over to the coffee dispenser.

“Uh…” Micah thought. “Jesus?”

Isaac promptly smacked Micah over the head. “Moose?” He guessed.

Finn nodded. “He’s in the infirmary. Looks like he took on a God and lost once or twice.”

“What, like last time?” Micah quipped, which resulted in a styrofoam cup bouncing off his head.

“Is he okay?” Isaac asked.

“Eh, not really. He’s real quiet, and Josefine accidentally spooked him when she walked up on his left side.” Finn responded as he sipped the coffee he had just made. “Think he might be half blind now.”

“Damn.” Micah hissed with sudden sympathy. “That bad? What even happened?”

“Dunno.” Finn shrugged. “All I saw from the paperwork is that he’s here to recuperate, and that O’Neil wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“O’Neil huh?” Isaac whistled. “Must be serious then.”

“Whatever happened, gotta leave him alone for a while. He’s jumpy.” Finn murmured.

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grey-writes-stuff · 1 year ago

Text

The Jade Incident (W.I.P)

@divoha4

WARNINGS - Contains torture, injuries, and mentions of death.

Marking as Mature

Characters: Avery "Storm" Scott, Daniel "Moose" Wilson, Jake "Bes" O'Neil, Joseph "Ferret" Payne, (This is a wip, I will add the rest of the characters when I finish. Even if they're just mentioned, they're getting shoved in here.)

Words: 5641

This story is LONG! and full of mistakes, and is multiple POVs between three different characters! Read at your own risk!

Ferret PoV

“So if you take the next left, you should see the warehouse. That’s where Vaughn’s men are meeting.” Ferret spoke into the radio.

“Copy that, Kid. Thanks.” Moose’s voice sounded over the headset, before another voice joined in.

“Hey, Ferret? So, how come couldn’t you come with?”

“Hurricane can’t even guide himself out of a paper bag, Lumberjack’s got medical checkup, and Cotton is on medical training exercises. That leaves just me around. That a problem, Stormy?”

“Not a problem at all.” Storm chuckled. “You just don’t seem like the navigator type.”

“Someone’s gotta direct your dumbasses, no?” Ferret responded with a short laugh.

“Fair, fair. Hey, you said big warehouse, right?”

“Mhm.”

“...It’s empty.”

“Come again?” Ferret sat up properly in their chair.

“It’s empty. Nobody is here. Moose is checking up on the catwalk. You sure it’s the right one?”

“Yeah? It’s next to an old church right?”

There was a pause.

“Yep.”

Another pause, and what sounded like a clatter of metal hitting metal.

“What was that?” Ferret asked.

“Dunno. Maybe Moose dropped something.”

Ferret sighed and tapped the desk. Something deep down warned them of something, so instinctively, they turned on the recording software.

“Could you check on him? You know how stubborn he is asking for help.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure thing.” Storm sighed.

Ferret listened closely to each step.

“Moose, you up here, old man?” Storm called out.

Nothing.

“Where the hell…?” Storm muttered.

Ferret could hear low mumbling. "Storm, what is that?"

"I'll check."

There was a low clunk of footsteps as Ferret listened to Storm check the area. Suddenly, they heard a yell, a thud, and the whoosh of air before another thud, this time it was more sickening.

Ferret could hear Storm gasping for air and letting out small whimpers of pain.

"Storm?! Are you okay?!" Ferret panicked.

There was one last thud, before Ferret heard the radio being picked up.

"Don't bother looking, Joseph. They'll be dead before you can send your little friends. Have a nice day now." Then, silence, as the person on the other end turned the radio off completely.

They grabbed their laptop and uploaded the sound file to it, before sprinting out of the room, shoving past a few people, making a bee-line for Laswell’s office.

They skidded to a halt outside the office door, and knocked on it rapidly. “Laswell?!”

The waited impatiently before hearing “Come in, Joseph.”

Ferret opened the door, and spotted Bes standing beside her desk, now looking rather intrigued.

“Well?” Laswell asked with a soft expression she usually had for Ferret.

Ferret took a deep breath. “Moose and Storm’s been kidnapped.” they blurted out.

They saw Bes tense up, and Laswell’s soft expression turned into one of concern.

“How do you know?” Laswell’s question was tense.

Ferret handed her their laptop, and Laswell played the audio file. Clear as day, they heard the radio recording, and soon, Jade’s voice.

Ferret watched the pair, Laswell looked increasingly concerned, and Bes was mad.

Bes turned and looked at Laswell. “What do we do?” It sounded like he was holding back from going on a murder spree.

Laswell hesitated.

“We get them back.”

Moose PoV

The blindfold was forcefully ripped off, and stood before him was Jade. Moose glared up at him.

“You son of a-” Moose started to growl before Jade punched him in the gut.

“Now now. None of that, Wilson.” Jade knelt down to Moose’s level, a sinister smile on his face. “If you speak out of turn again, it won’t be you getting punched.”

Jade nodded his head to a direction, and Moose looked up and saw Storm, tied and blindfolded.

Moose felt a pit in his stomach, and he was pissed.

“I swear, if you’ve hurt them!”

“Calm down, Captain.” Jade soothed sarcastically. “They just had a bit of a tumble. Surely they’ll be fine, eh?”

Jade stood up and walked to a table. “Now then. I ain’t gonna hurt either of you yet. However, I want…information.”

“You’re not getting shit!” Moose spat.

“Oh no, not from you, dear Captain.” Jade hummed. “I know the teams are fiercely protective of you both. Like you’re both made of glass. I know both of your hearts aint doing too well.”

Moose sneered at Jade.

Jade turned and smirked. “I think if I started interrogation right away, one of you two might have a heart attack, and that’d make it harder to get information, wouldn’t you agree?”

He then turned back to the table. “No. I’m going to ask your fellow teams to give me information, in exchange for yours and the kids safety.”

“They won’t tell you anything!” Moose retorted.

“Bes?” Moose scoffed. “Man, you don’t know him that well, do you?”

“Now, we wait.”

Ferret PoV

“How much longer do they need?” Cotton asked nervously.

“They did just get sent a ransom request, Sister.” Ratchet replied bluntly. “They gotta plan out what’s best.”

Hurricane groaned. “Not even Vaughn is this bad. I remember he never wanted anything to do with Jade. That man feared him to the point he didn’t dare send any of his test subjects near him.”

Cotton just nodded, before looking at Ferret. “Jo, please sit down.”

“Can’t.” Ferret responded. “If I do, I’ll start chewing my lip till it bleeds.”

“You need to find better coping strategies, rodent.” Ratchet muttered.

Soon enough, the door opened, and Laswell came out, followed by Bes, Price and Lumberjack.

Ferret stood firm. “Well?”

Laswell sighed. “We won’t be giving Jade information…”

Ferret looked like they were going to complain, but Laswell continued.

“But I’m sending the teams out to retrieve them both. They’re both resilient, and will hold out for as long as they can. Mouse is going to help the teams into the territory.”

“How’d you get Mouse to help?” Hurricane looked surprised.

“It’s more of the fact that Moose is Ratchet’s father than anything else.” Laswell responded.

Ratchet shrugged. “I may not show it, but I care about the old bastard.”

While the group talked, Ferret went over to Lumberjack.

“Do they look okay in the photos…?” They asked quietly.

“What information was that bastard after anyway?” Ferret growled. “What the hell warrants him hurting my dad and my sibling?!”

Lumberjack shrugged. “With that man? Any information.”

He placed a reassuring hand on Ferret’s shoulder. “They’ll get them back.”

“They? I’m going with!”

“Laswell wants you to hang back. She thinks you might panic.”

“To hell I am! James, I’m going with, whether she wants it or not!” Ferret snapped.

Ferret glared, but didn’t respond further.

“I can’t stop you if you end up going, but just, take what I said into consideration?” he asked.

“Fine. Whatever.”

Moose PoV

It had been several hours since Moose had woken up, and he was worried about Storm, who was still knocked out, though he just decided it was due to the fact Storm was tackled off the catwalk.

He looked up when he heard the door open, and saw Jade walk in. He glared at the man, who had a scowl on his face.

“Seems your team declined to send me information.” Jade hissed.

“I told you they wouldn’t.” Moose pointed out. “That’s not how they work, you dumba-”

Moose’s word were cut off when Jade punched him right in the jaw with a sickening crack. If Jade had punched any harder, Moose’s jaw would have broke.

“Watch your damn mouth, Wilson.” Jade snarled, pacing.

He then paused, and smirked.

“I guess I could convince them otherwise…” he picked up some tools on the table, studying them. “Hm. Might save these for when that kid is awake…” he muttered to himself.

Moose growled. “You touch them, you’re dead!”

“You’re in no position to make threats.” Jade walked over, looming over the man. “Now then. Maybe you could give me information?”

“Go to hell!”

“Already there, dear Captain.” Jade smiled sweetly, before punching Moose in the gut several times, leaving the other man coughing and gasping for air.

Jade backed off.

“Now then. Why don’t we wake them up, so they can join the fun?”

Storm PoV

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Jade chuckled darkly.

Storm struggled against their restraints, a slight look of panic appearing on their face.

“Now, now.” Jade patted their head, causing them to flinch away. “Struggling won’t do you, or your old man any good, will it?”

Storm tried to bite at his hand, causing Jade to slap them across the face.

“You haven’t changed one bit, child.”

“I’ll give you some bite scars to remember me by!” Storm spat angrily. “What have you done to Moose?!”

“Damn right it won’t!”

Jade smirked. “I knew you would say that.” He walked over to the table, picking up a knife, and a metal baseball bat.

Storm tensed and glared when he turned to them. However, the glare turned into a look of fear as Jade wandered over to Moose, placing the baseball bat against the chair.

With Jade’s back turned, Storm began to tug at the binds roughly, pushing them against the sharp points of the chair.

Jade grabbed Moose by the hair, forcing the older man to look up. He looked back at Storm, causing them to freeze. “Maybe there’s another way to get you to talk.”

With that, Jade sliced the knife across Moose’s cheek, slowly going down to his mouth.

Storm saw Moose shut his eyes tightly in pain. He looked as though he was trying not to make a sound, to not give Jade the satisfaction.

They began to tug more roughly at the binds desperately, until they felt a shudder, and then a snap.

With a screech, they lunged at Jade.

However, Jade didn’t even hesitate. He grabbed the baseball bat, and swung low, right at Storm’s knees.

Storm could feel and hear the sickening crunches and snaps, and they collapsed to the floor, crying out in agony.

Jade looked down at them smugly. “Too predictable.”

However, what he didn’t expect, was Moose to do the same technique of cutting the binds.

Storm watched as Moose grabbed Jade from behind, having him in a choke-hold.

Jade thrashed around wildly, clawing at Moose’s hands and arms, before managing to grab a hold of the knife.

Storm tried to yell out a warning, but it came too late, and the knife was plunged deep into Moose’s gut.

“Fucking bastards, the lot of you!” Jade yelled, grabbing Storm by the hair and slamming their head against the ground. He grabbed zip-ties and binded their legs and arms together. He looked at Moose, and shrugged. “Have fun watching him die, brat.” Jade snarled, kicking Storm one last time, grabbing the camera, and storming out of the room.