#colleen stormbeck is a mean mean lady

[whump-tr0pes]

Honor Bound 2 - 60

This is a series. Start here, continued from here.

This is a sequel to Honor Bound. 

AO3

Cw: isolation, dead family mention, thoughts of death, mention of suicide (to escape torture), panic attack mention, Colleen Stormbeck, gendered slurs, ableist slur, death, death threats

Ellis couldn’t even pace around this fucking cell. They couldn’t move around, couldn’t walk, could barely stand up with their wrists chained to the wall. Alone, for at least a day. Ellis had no idea. They’d kept the lights on the whole time, although Ellis had slept and then been awake long enough that they thought it had to be afternoon. Truly, though, they didn’t know. And they had no way of knowing when, if ever, they’d see anyone ever again.

They’d been left with enough food and water to make it through the day, and had been given one bathroom break. Otherwise they’d been left alone in the cell, with nothing to do. Nothing to think about, but their own horror.

And their rage. Their entire body quivered with a wrenching, burning rage that consumed them. Rage at Colleen, rage at the syndicates, rage at the whole goddamned world. At the twisted fucking system that let the families with the most power and least scruples take over the fucking world. Or whatever was left of it; Ellis had no idea what lay beyond the region they’d lived in their whole life. It was too dangerous to travel for it to be worth it most of the time. There was only running, and hiding. They’d tried to hide with their family, before they’d been taken from Ellis. Before Gavin’s fucking uncle Benjamin took them from Ellis.

That old agony washed over them, the familiar abyss they were constantly one bad day from falling into. Christopher. Galen. Chloe. The ones who still haunted Ellis’s dreams, who still called to Ellis from wherever they were, every day. Maybe they were nowhere. Maybe they were gone forever, and that’s what Ellis would be, once Colleen killed them.

They didn’t understand why Colleen hadn’t killed them already. They figured the others were being held together, what was the point of specifying they be in solitary if Colleen was going to separate them all later anyway? No, they were probably held together. And Ellis couldn’t bear to think about what was happening to them right now.

Maybe she knows I’m the one who loses my fucking shit when I’m alone, Ellis thought bitterly. Maybe she knows about my family and just fucking assumes I’m the one who lost my fucking mind when I was first alone. Ellis had done more than lost their shit. They’d done things that they couldn’t bear to think about. They’d disappeared down a path that consumed them, one that they traveled for a year before Gray found them—

No. Can’t think about Gray either.

Other than Tori, Ellis had known Gray the longest. Seven years. Tears burned Ellis’s eyes and they let their head fall back against the wall. I was the first one they saved. The first one. Now Gray was halfway across the region, completely unaware that they’d been taken at all. Unless Colleen sent them a message to brag. But no, that wasn’t possible. If Colleen knew where Gray was, she’d have sent people to wreck the north months ago. There was no way Colleen would know where Gray was. Unless one of us tells her under torture.

Ellis’s heart lifted for a moment. She doesn’t even know they’re still alive. She doesn’t know about Edrissa, either. They’re both safe. Colleen wouldn’t even think to ask.

Ellis’s hands curled into fists and they screamed into the cell, just to hear something besides silence. They didn’t fear torture, or punishment. They knew it was probably coming at some point, and their body rebelled against the thought, but their mind was awash with a slippery sort of apathy.

What they really feared was the isolation. Their hands trembled. I’m going to lose my shit. I’m going to be alone until she kills me.

They let their eyes close, their mind drifting from thought to thought. Where in the house am I? How often am I going to be fed? What time is it? How long is it going to take before I start hallucinating? Briefly, they hoped they would hallucinate their family. Honestly, why the fuck not?

They didn’t know where they were in the house, but they did know where they were in relation to the room they’d all been brought to last night. They’d memorized the route, forcing themselves to repeat it over and over and over in their head. Take a left, hallway turns to the right, pass three doors, go through the fourth on the left, go down the steps, first cell on the right. Not too complicated. All they’d have to do to get back to that first room was do it backwards. Not that there was any value in getting to that room, but it was something. It was the only information they had. It had to be important.

Not that they figured escape would happen, either. There was absolutely nothing they could use. They’d been thoroughly searched before being thrown into the cell and chained to the wall. The guards had taken their knife and the shoelaces from their shoes. Can’t have me trying to kill myself, Ellis thought with a vicious stab of hatred. God fucking forbid I escape that way.

But they had to focus on something. Had to… maybe not hope, but wait. Maybe an opportunity would present itself. Maybe it wouldn’t.

All Ellis wanted, all they really wanted, was to be back with their family. They wanted to be back with Finn, back with Isaac… they wanted to see Sam again, with their almost-annoying ray-of-sunshine soul. They could use a little sunshine now. They wanted to be around Tori, around Vera…

A dark cloud settled over their mind as they thought of Gavin. The others trusted him so much, even Isaac and Vera. The two people Ellis thought would never let him in. And yet, they were the ones who protected the family the most. They had more reason than anyone else to be suspicious of Gavin, and they trusted him. A tiny, nagging doubt scratched at the back of their mind. Maybe Gavin planned this whole thing. Maybe he sold us out to his mom. Maybe the whole thing, the whole thing, has been a trick from the beginning.

Their mind went to how Gavin had looked yesterday, bleeding, screaming as that fucking idiot Leo tortured him. Remembered the fucking brokenness on Gavin’s face as he gave away Isaac’s worst fear. There was no one on earth who could fake that. No one who was that dedicated to a lie.

It hadn’t even been Isaac’s worst fear.

Ellis knew Isaac’s worst fear just as well as anyone else in the family. They’d seen it as Isaac had unraveled, fallen apart and then slowly put himself back together again over the past few months. They’d seen the panic attacks, heard about the nightmares. They’d been there as Isaac had begged to the empty air not to be left, sobbing that he could be good. Ellis knew that Isaac’s worst fear was abandonment. And Gavin had somehow kept that to himself, despite the torture. As Leo’s knife had cut into him, he’d somehow found a way to spill Isaac’s secret, with the only other witness standing over him, and spill it in such a way that Leo might not even think about the fact that Gavin was wrong. There was no way Gavin could have done that if he’d betrayed them all. No way in hell. For a dizzying moment, Ellis thought, holy shit. He must care about us so fucking much.

Unless Gavin legitimately didn’t know that waterboarding isn’t technically Isaac’s worst fear. Could Gavin just have completely missed it, both during Isaac’s torture and during his recovery up north?

No. Gavin’s a dumbass, but even he isn’t that stupid. Gavin knew, and Gavin lied. And Gavin had screamed as Isaac was drowned right in front of him. Sobbed like his heart was being torn out.

Ellis let the image slide from their mind.

They weren’t sure how much longer they were left alone; it could have been minutes, or it could have been another hour. The door of the cell opened, and two guards walked in.

Behind them was Colleen, Mommy Dearest herself, queen of Colleen’s Fucking Crazy Castle. She stared down at Ellis with a smug grin spread across her face.

Ellis shot to their feet, grinding their teeth together. Their wrists pulled against the chains. They weren’t going to be able to break them, they’d tried for hours when they’d first been brought in. But in that moment, all they wanted was to tear the chains from the wall and beat Colleen to death with their bare hands.

“Afternoon, Ellis,” Colleen said, her voice twisting sinuously through Ellis’s ears. “How are you faring?”

“Suck my entire asshole, you vicious bitch, come over here and I’ll show you how I’m faring,” Ellis snarled.

Colleen let out a peal of delighted laughter. “Lord, you’re all so feisty! I enjoy this to no end. Such a fire in each of you. It’s like a new advertisement for anger management each time.” She gestured at Ellis. “Shut them up, please.”

Ellis leaned forward, a flush creeping up their neck and over their face. “Fuck you, you flaming piece of shit, I’ll take your whole fucking arm and tear it off your fucking body and shove it up your—”

They growled as a guard slapped his hand over Ellis’s mouth, reaching for the gag that hung around their neck. Ellis twisted their head and bit down hard on the guard’s hand.

The guard yelped and pulled their hand away from Ellis’s mouth. They slapped Ellis across the face with the other. Ellis staggered and lunged forward again, wincing at the pinch of the manacles on their wrists and not giving a single flying fuck. They shrieked as one guard grabbed them by the hair, the other shoving the gag back in their mouth. Both guards stepped away.

The bitten one shook out his hand, glaring at Ellis. “Fucking psycho,” he hissed at them. Ellis raised both hands as far as they could go and flipped the guards off.

Colleen laughed. “I could have warned you against that, Jones. I’d avoid going near any of their mouths. Apparently Vera’s habit of biting has spread to all of them.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the guard muttered, and stepped back against the wall with the other.

Ellis turned their glare on Colleen, wishing her head would burst into flames. I would die for the chance to kill you. Maybe that’s what they were hoping for. Not rescue, but the chance to kill Colleen Stormbeck.

Colleen smirked. “Something I love most about the gag is that…” She took a sauntering step closer. “…you’re left with nothing but your eyes. That’s the only thing you can use to tell me how much you hate me.” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. She took another step closer. Just out of range of a kick, or a headbutt. Standing there, calmly, grinning at Ellis with an open posture. If I wasn’t chained up, she wouldn’t be so fucking smug. She’d be fucking dead.

Colleen tilted her head at Ellis. “Do you know why I decided to keep you separated from the others?”

“No, I have no fucking idea. Let’s have a fucking conversation about it,” Ellis mocked through the gag.

Colleen huffed out an amused breath. “Cute.” She licked her lips, as if in anticipation. “I kept you separate from the others because… I can’t even imagine what losing your family for the second time must do to you.”

Ellis’s eyes fell closed for a fraction of a second but they opened them again, throwing a look of pure hate at Colleen. They forced down the tears that welled up in their eyes because there was no way, there was no fucking way they were going to show her how much this hurt. Colleen could burn in hell if she thought she was going to get a reaction from that. It hurts more than anything else in my entire fucking life.

Colleen’s lips quirked up. “Thought so. Although… just being separated from them… is that really just punishment for the one who kidnapped my nephew?”

A trickle of dread rolled down Ellis’s spine. No. No.

Colleen shrugged. “No. I mean… obviously we’re going to put you to work, I can’t just have you wasting away in this cell doing nothing. I have yet to decide what your assignment will be, but I’ll figure something out.” Colleen’s eyes locked on Ellis’s. “Although I won’t bother you much. You won’t see me again until I’ve killed another one.”

The air rushed out of Ellis’s chest like they’d been punched in the gut. Their eyes moved frantically over Colleen’s face, searching desperately for a sign she was lying: a shifting of her eyes, a twitch of her lip, a motion made just a little too quickly. They found nothing. Nothing but a cold, placid stare that betrayed nothing but truth.

Ellis cried out and fell to their knees. Who was it? Was it Isaac? Was it Vera? Did she kill her for killing those guards? Oh, god, oh god no, was it Sam? No… no, god, please no, they’re innocent, they didn’t do a fucking thing to Colleen… Tears streamed down their cheeks as their shoulders heaved with sobs.

“Wouldn’t you like to know which one I killed?” Colleen said, her voice smooth and dripping venom. Ellis looked up at her, their heart beating out of their chest, terrorized with their need to know, and wishing they could drown out Colleen’s voice so they wouldn’t have to hear which one of their team, their family, was lying lifeless somewhere.

Colleen’s face slid into a poisonous smile. She opened her mouth to speak and paused for just a moment. Relishing it. When she spoke, each word fell from her lips like a physical weight.

“Finn Dunham is dead.”

Ellis let out a scream. They sagged forward, gasping desperately around the gag, struggling to draw a breath as they wailed against the floor. They panted as they sobbed, trying to breathe around the tearing in their chest, trying to grasp the words that were echoing through their mind: Finn Dunham is dead. Finn Dunham is dead. Finn Dunham is dead. Finn Dunham is dead. Finn Dunham is dead. Finn Dunham is dead.

NO. FINN’S NOT DEAD. THEY CAN’T BE DEAD. THEY CAN’T BE… NO NO NO NO NO NO.

Colleen smirked and turned to go.

Ellis dragged the gag out of their mouth. “SHOW ME THE FUCKING BODY,” they screamed.

Colleen paused and slowly turned around, her face twisted into an amused half-smile. “Excuse me?”

“SHOW ME THE BODY,” they sobbed. “I don’t… I don’t believe you.” THEY CAN’T BE DEAD, PLEASE, NO, FINN CAN’T BE DEAD.

Colleen scoffed. “When I’ve killed them all, I promise I’ll take you to them. That’ll probably be months from now, but once they’re all dead, I promise, I’ll take you to all of their bodies. You can take one last look before I put a bullet in your head and dump you all into the same grave. How sweet is that? You can all be together then.” Colleen grasped Ellis’s hair and dragged their head upright, her gaze moving over Ellis’s face as they wailed. “But until then,” she murmured, leaning towards Ellis, “That’s more goodbye than you deserve.”

She dropped Ellis’s head and turned on her heel. Ellis sagged forward, their forehead pressing to the floor as they buried their face in their hands and sobbed.

Continued here

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[whump-tr0pes]

The Collection Box/Honor Bound crossover AU - part 5

Omg folks, @whump-it is letting me use her darling boy Callum for this AU. We had this idea to make a short collab featuring Isaac, Sam, and Callum as an adult. If you haven’t read her Collection Box series, it’s a box boy AU where people can donate themselves to an Appointed Person where they can then be Selected by anyone who wants them. Anyone. You have no more rights, no protection, no documentation.

Callum donated himself when he was around 20. He was selected by some dick who made Callum call him Master Hayden, and then proceeded to torture him for 3 years before Rory (Callum’s Appointed Person and soulmate) was finally able to get him back. Years later Callum is a doctor, and uses his training and authority to help other Donations.

In this universe, Sam themself is a Donation. Isaac (and Vera, mentioned) are a duo that goes around saving Donations from abusive Selectors. It just so happens that Sam may not have been of age when they Donated themself… or were Donated by someone else. Now they’re injured, confused, and just want to be back with their Selector… or they might pay the price.

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Cw: human trafficking, past whump of a minor

~

Isaac stood just outside the curtains around the kid’s bed. All around him he heard the sounds of the hospital. Nurses chatting, machines beeping, children crying… It felt strange for the kid to be in the locked pediatric ward. They may be eighteen. But it was the best way to keep them safe, for now.

He’d been guarding the kid for days. Hardly sleeping. Vera had come in to relieve him a few times, but he had insisted on staying by the kid’s side as much as he could. He felt so protective of them, anchored to the spot, connected with them in a way they’d never felt connected to the other Donations he’d rescued. He couldn’t explain it.

Behind him, the kid – Sam, their name was Sam, it was better if he called them that – stirred in their bed. The sheets rustled against the mattress, the mattress crackled as it moved under their weight. The kid was waking up.

Isaac put his face in his hands. All night he’d stood, or sat, or paced by Sam’s room, waiting for the moment that seemed inevitable. He waited for the moment when the kid’s AP, that prick Leo Tierney, showed up to take them away. Or worse, Colleen Stormbeck herself. Technically it was her legal right. She owned Sam, owned their body like they were a thing. Like they were something to be bought and used and hurt because she felt like it. Sam had been tortured because someone felt like it.

Isaac’s chest burned with a rage he’d tried so hard to douse his entire life.

The kid groaned and tossed against the bed. I wonder if I could get the kid some breakfast. Then, a darker thought: I wonder how often they’ve gotten to eat in the past few months… or years.

Then the kid let out a whimper. The sound cut right to Isaac’s heart. He turned, his hand brushing against the curtain around their bed. He clenched his jaw and stopped himself. What if they don’t want to see me? What if it makes them worse? I took them away from their home. They’ve done nothing but beg me to take them back, for days.

The kid let out a scream. Isaac tore the curtains back and darted to Sam’s side.

Sam thrashed against the sheets, their eyes closed, their face twisted in a desperate sob. Isaac immediately stepped forward, his hands outstretched to them, before he stopped. His hands shook. Uncertainty muddied the waters of his mind.

“No, please!” the kid sobbed. All of Isaac’s hesitancy was knocked out of him in a moment.

“Sam, wake up,” he said urgently, shaking their shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re not back there. You’re safe.”

“No!” Sam sobbed, twisting away from Isaac’s hands. “No no no no please, I’ll be good, ma’am, please, please don’t hurt me, please…” They clawed at their neck, trying to tear away a collar that was no longer there. The torn skin and scars remained.

“Sam,” Isaac hissed, before they could get the attention of the whole ward. “Sam, stop. You’re safe. You’re alright.”

“NO!” Sam shrieked. Isaac grabbed their shoulders and shook them until their teeth rattled. Sam jerked awake and cringed back from Isaac’s hands.

“Sam?” Isaac croaked. “Sam, I…”

Sam squeezed their eyes shut and turned their face away. They tilted their head back, exposing their neck, holding out their hands to Isaac, their palms together. As if offering him… to tie their wrists. Isaac scrambled back off the bed with a gasp.

“I’m sorry,” Sam whispered. “I’m yours. I’m yours to do with as you please, ma’am.”

“No,” Isaac whimpered. “Sam, open your eyes. Look at me.”

Sam’s lips trembled. Their hands squeezed into fists as they held them out to Isaac. “P-please…” Their voice faltered. “I’m sorry. I can be good. D-do you want to… to tie me? Or should… um…” Their throat bobbed as they swallowed. “Should I kneel?”

Isaac took a heavy step forward. “Sam… please… stop…”

Sam whimpered and tilted their head back further. “I can wear the collar today. Do you want to, um… to cut me? Or… or the whip? Or…” They whined softly, their voice beseeching, as if… trying to guess what Isaac wanted. What their… owner… wanted.

“Sam,” Isaac rasped. “Sam, just…” he reached out and gently took their wrists in one hand. They shuddered and bit down on their lip. Isaac guided their hands down to rest in their lap. “Sam… open your eyes. Look at me. Please.”

Sam stifled a whimper. Their eyes fluttered open and slowly – slowly – brought their gaze to Isaac. Their lips trembled. “I-Isaac?”

Isaac let out a gusty breath of relief. “Yeah, Sam,” he said softly. “It’s me. You’re not, um, not there.”

Sam’s gaze bounced around the tiny room, moving past the curtains, the tiny table at their bedside, the machine behind them that normally monitored vital signs but had been turned off yesterday. “They’re medically stable. No need making them uncomfortable with all the wires and such,” Dr. Callum had said.

Sam swallowed hard. “M-Ms. Colleen, she—”

“She’s not going to find you,” Isaac said gently.

Sam whimpered. “But sh-she has, um the legal right to—”

“Not if you were underage when she took you,” Isaac said, hoping, praying this wasn’t what would shatter the delicate trust Sam had placed in him already.

Sam’s eyes went wide. Their chest began to heave with panicked breaths. Their hands fisted in the sheets. “N-no,” Sam whispered. “No, I’m… I’m not underage. I’m not underage. Ms. Colleen bought me with, with, with… within the constraints of the law…” Sam’s voice took on the dull, flat tone of someone reciting something they’d been forced to repeat over and over and over. “And I’m not… no… d-don’t say that…”

“Sam…” Isaac sat slowly on the side of the bed, careful not to touch them. “If we can prove you were underage when she took you, you’ll be free. She can never hurt you again. S-so…” He wet his lips. “…um… Sam, we need to know. We need to know how old you are. We need to know when she took you.”

Sam’s hands tightened around the sheets. “She’ll always get me,” they whispered. “She can, can always find me. I can n-never go f-far enough away from her to—”

“I’ll protect you,” Isaac said fiercely, the bite in his voice making Sam quiver and sit back against the pillow. Isaac squeezed his hand into a fist and forced himself to take a calm, slow breath. “We all will. Me… Dr. Callum… Rory…”

Sam’s eyes flicked to the blanket covering them. They opened their mouth to speak, then closed it again. Then, so quietly Isaac could barely hear, Sam said, “Dr. Callum’s like me.”

Isaac’s throat tightened. “Yeah, Sam,” he said heavily. “He is.”

“And… and he… he l-left. Escaped. He’s… he’s a doctor. He… um… he became something.”

“Yeah,” Isaac said softly, his eyes burning with tears. “He did. You can, too. We’ll get you away from Colleen. Get her arrested. Or, or something. Or…” Isaac clenched his jaw. “…or I’ll send you away from here. Somewhere far away, where she can’t get you. And I—”

“I’m eighteen,” Sam whispered. “I’m eighteen. I was, um, sixteen when she took me. Sixteen and a half.” They ducked their head. “I’m… I’m eighteen.”

Isaac bowed his head, the tears in his eyes running down his cheeks. “Oh,” he murmured.

“I… I told you… I… no,” Sam whimpered. “She’s… she’s going to be so angry…”

Without thinking, Isaac pulled Sam into his arms. Rather than pull away, Sam buried their face in Isaac’s shoulder and sobbed.

“We’ll keep you safe,” Isaac murmured against their hair. “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll protect you, so she can never lay a hand on you again.”

Sam trembled, their hands tightening in Isaac’s shirt. He held them until they pulled away.

“You want some breakfast?” Isaac said softly.

Sam licked their lips and nodded.

@pepperonyscience , @whumpygecko , @newandfiguringitout , @orchidscript , @gottalovethemwriters

[whump-tr0pes]

are we sending anon hate? well I’m sending mine to Coleen Stormbeck

[whump-tr0pes]

I just want Colleen to be like “oh my god ur home I’m so happy u brought that Vera bitch with u, now we have playthings” and Gavin just being like they’re not playthings they’re human and Colleen just slaps him across the face and tells him how much of a disappointment he is and how he’s responsible for his dads death

Anon, she would never.

She would never be so crass as to slap her own son.

She'd have someone else beat him, instead.

[whump-tr0pes]

What does Joseph's wife think of him being a rapist?

Discomfort: 2/10

Cw: really, really terrible thoughts about rape and noncon

"What? It's not... Sweetheart, I think there's a fundamental lack of understanding here about the word 'rapist.' Fucking a plaything is not 'rape.' It's simply what you do with a plaything. If she were a regular woman, perhaps, but... we're syndicate. Other people do not exist, except to fulfill the purposes we assign to them."

"So I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use that ugly word in relation to my late husband. He pursued his interests the way anybody else does. To suggest otherwise betrays a level of oversensitivity that borders on malicious ignorance."

[whump-tr0pes]

Gavin Whump Anon: What if, at some point during the family's time in Stormbeck "hospitality," Gavin stopped calling Colleen "Mom"

Now that 50 has come out, how much more likely do you think this is??